![]() ![]() They are known to leap right over a seine and like other “topminnows” they dive down to the bottom to avoid capture. That ability makes the foureyed fish extremely difficult to catch with a seine since they are able to see you (or an eagle, or other bird of prey) coming from a long ways away. The reason for the Foureyes’ common name is actually due to the presence of two pupils in each eye, one in the upper and one in the lower half and separated by a band of tissue enabling them to see above and below the water while they cruise at the surface of the water body. Captain Dow collaborated with two associates to send over specimens from over 1500 samples in Central America to the U.S. Dow, who skippered the steamer “Guatemala” of the Panama Railway Company. This was a species I’d read about prior to making the trip, so when I heard the student’s cry I became quite excited! At a site on the Choluteca, near the village of Zamorano, the school’s students and I seined up the Pacific Four-eyed Fish ( Anableps dowi). The streams we sampled were the mainstem and tributaries of the Rio Choluteca, the major river on the Pacific slope of Honduras that winds through mountainous terrain until it empties into the Gulf of Fonseca (an estuary shared by El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua). Where the fisheries instructor there graciously allowed me to accompany them on trips to waters near the school. After the rest of the group left I stayed behind to travel to the Pan American School of Agriculture near Tegucigalpa, In 1999 I accompanied members of my church on a mission trip to the area of Siguatepeque, Honduras, to assist in building cement block housing for victims of Hurricane Mitch (in 1998 Mitch was responsible for the death of at least 11,000 people in Central America) that caused a flood perhaps 40 feet deep in a valley near Siguatepeque. Yes, just a few feet away from me cruised the rare and dangerous (dangerous if you’re an insect, that is) Pacific four-eyed fish! Alright, enough of that… “There I was, standing in the river with my doughty crew, when one of the young stalwarts excitedly shouted “Quatros ojos, quatros ojos!””. (Imagine me affecting a British accent here, to make my story sound more adventurous). I sometimes get to share the fact that I once caught a four-eyed fish, and would like to share some very interesting information about the species. ‘Cause that would be combining two insults, the discrimination against an ocular disability and the idea that you were kind of cold…or wishy-washy…well, anyway. But I bet none were ever taken to the level of “Hey, four eyed fish!”. Sure, those of us who wore glasses when we were younger may have been called “Hey, four eyes!”. ![]()
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