Jewel # 134 (April 2, 2013)

            

"And they shall be Mine, saith the Lord

of hosts, in that day when I

make up MY JEWELS."

(MALACHI 3:17)

To my dear grandchildren,

The Colorful Parrot Fish

"Thy way is in the sea, and Thy path in the great waters. . . . 

The sea is His, and He made it." 

(Psalm 77:19; 95:5)

The interesting parrot fish received its name because of its bright green and red colors and its parrot-like jaw.  Great schools of a million or more live in southern oceans.

This fish has about fifty bluish-white teeth that are so strong it can pull apart and chew hard, brittle coral to get at the tasty algae found in it.  A mature parrot fish chews enough coral each year to make thirty pounds of sand.   Over the centuries this has resulted in many pretty sandy beaches along the shores of Australia and other countries.  But, sad to say, much beautiful, valuable coral is destroyed by these fish since they do not distinguish between rare, priceless coral and ordinary varieties.  

In June the parrot fish have a strong urge to leave the quiet, shallow, protected reef where thy live and swim into areas where the water is 80 feet deep or deeper.  They  join millions of their kind there that have obeyed the same God-given instinct.  They all become excited, and soon they are swimming violently around until, as if by a signal, all dash to the surface and them immediately turn and swim down toward the bottom.  As they descend, the females release millions of eggs that the males cover with a substance called milt.

This same event is repeated many times by different groups at these spawning places.  Soon it is over and the group breaks up, all going back to the quiet waters of their homes and leaving innumerable masses of eggs to hatch out later in the open sea.

One variety of this fish blows a cocoon of mucous around itself at night, carefully leaving small holes for breathing.  This gives it an appearance of having been carefully wrapped in a silk blanket, which it discards in the morning.  This process is repeated each night.  Although it is uncertain why this variety does this, it may be a provision made by the Creator for protection from night-prowling enemies.

Does the Lord God, their Creator, care about parrot fish?  Yes He does, for the Bible tells us, speaking of all the fish in seas, "These wait all upon Thee, that Thou mayest give them their food in due season.  That Thou givest them they gather: Thou openest Thine hand, they are filled with good" (Psalm 104:27-28).

We also know from the Bible that in greater measure His love has been shown to all the people of the world.  The psalmist joyfully said, "How precious also are Thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!  If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand" (Psalm 139:17-18).  We should gratefully thank Him every day for His wonderful love and care over us.

Love you all,

Grandpa