The Fishy Smiths

by Mike Bruton

  ‘It was very good of you to send all this information about the Duckbill Sting Ray that you caught. It must have given you a good fight, the few I have had on my line have proved exceedingly difficult to kill. This particular species is found over most of our coast from the Cape right through to Delagoa Bay, though not many fall to anglers. It is a great pity that you did not keep one of the young specimens which we should have valued greatly for our collections. Can you tell me the approximate size of the young and were they much the same shape as the mother?’

  JLB Smith’s response to anglers’ queries was often supplemented by advice on how to improve their fishing success. On 26th August 1958 he responded to enquiries by LA Pretorius of Flagstaff about the senses and food preferences of trout:

  ‘Apparently all fishes have a sense of smell, of varying power. Generally speaking, fast moving fishes such as trout rely more on sight than on smell in catching food. At the same time trout apparently have quite a keen sense of smell, since it appears to be well established that they find the smell of human hands unpleasant, and when trout are caught on bait such as worms, repeated experiment has shown that if one handles the bait in rubber gloves, results are better than otherwise. I have also been told by several experienced trout fishermen that they never tie or handle flies except with gloves. … As far as is known a trout’s eyesight is good, but that only within a limited range. That is, while he may see and be frightened by a moving object some distance off, he can distinguish details only fairly close by. However, it is advisable to keep low down and concealed when fishing for trout in still clear water. … Most food found in all but very large trout consist of insects of some kind and it would appear that the trout probably prefers moving bait, which would show that it is still alive.’

  On 5th March 1959, he wrote to Mr C Cousins of Grahamstown:

  ‘This is a fine specimen of the famous Bonefish, which has been made famous by Zane Grey. It is found in almost all tropical seas throughout the world, preferring shallow mangrove and sandy parts. A great fuss is made of it in America, but we get even finer specimens on our South and East coast. It is only very rarely found as far as south as the Western Cape, being a truly tropical fish. The photograph is returned herewith.’

  On 11th April 1960 JLB received an enquiry from Rabbi AH Lapin of the United Hebrew Congregation of Johannesburg, ‘In recent months there has been imported into the Union from Norway sliced pieces of what is known as “Saithe”. Could you tell me whether this fish has scales?’ JLB answered, ‘Yes, the saithe, Gadus virens [now Pollachius virens] does have scales, as well as fins, both of which are required for a fish to be kosher’.

  Smith often added notes about the culinary properties of fishes to his letters. On 23rd March 1960 he replied to JA Steyn of Green Point in Cape Town:

  ‘Thank you for your letter recently received together with the drawing. This is so good that it leaves no doubt as to the identity of the fish which is: GONORHYNCHUS GONORHYNCHUS. No. 102 in my book on South African fishes. It is a fish that lives in fairly deep water and is known as SANCORD by the trawlers, which often catch them at the Cape and on the South Coast. It is not at all rare, and not really worthwhile to take a great deal of trouble about sending, though you might perhaps send it to the South African Museum at Cape Town. I am very much obliged to you for taking the trouble to send this description and drawing, it could well have been a rare fish which we should have been greatly pleased to have had. So next time you get anything out of the way, please notify us again, we shall be pleased to hear from you. This fish, strangely enough, is quite good eating, and grows to about 2 feet in length.’

  Saithe, Pollachius virens.

  In a letter to D Paton dated 3rd February 1964, he gave advice on fish preservation:

  ‘I have little doubt that this is ALECTIS CILIARIS, No 527 in my book. The illustration given there is of a fish larger than yours and considerable changes take place with growth. The cross bars on the body vanish with age. This is quite a rare fish, specimens are only occasionally seen and curiously enough although it extends right through the Indian Ocean and into the Western Pacific as well, specimens are more common in South Africa than in East Africa. If possible next time you encounter any rarity of that size, please try to catch it. If you have nothing else just put it in a small plastic dish with salt; that will preserve it sufficiently for identification at least. Otherwise try to get a little methylated spirits, mix four parts to about one of water and use that.’

  JLB was always happy to share his knowledge of fishes, in very concise and easy-to-understand terms. On 21st February 1957 he wrote to MHH Partridge in Salisbury (Harare):

  ‘The temperatures at which fish normally feed depend on the temperatures to which they are accustomed. Fishes generally live and feed within a range of 8–10°C, that is 17 or 18°F. Outside that range they generally do not feed and cannot reproduce. Some fishes feed all the year round, others apparently feed very little during very hot or very cold weather. … The reading of scales in determining the age of fishes is not at all easy except where there is a considerable difference between winter and summer temperatures. In the tropics where there is little variation it is sometimes extremely difficult to find any difference in the annulation on the scales. As far as the age of game fishes is concerned, scales may sometimes be used, but in other cases that is almost impossible and this is generally done by means of the otoliths or earbones.’

  The Smiths occasionally received letters from persons who were frustrated by not receiving an immediate response, but they were always polite in their replies. On 13th February 1967 JLB replied to a letter sent on 1st February 1967:

  ‘This is the first we have heard about the fish you mention. We have a rigid routine covering the receipt of specimens at this Department. On arrival they are immediately entered into our Accessions book with all details of donor, locality etc. and the same day an acknowledgement of receipt is sent. If I am here the identification and other details are included in the letter. If not the specimen is placed either in deep freeze or preservative to await my arrival.’

  JLB then indicated that the specimen, which was supposed to have been hand-delivered, had never been received, and recommended that future specimens should be sent by post as the South African Post Office would deliver any parcel weighing up to 22 lbs (10 kilograms) free to the Department of Ichthyology if it was labelled ‘Fish specimen’.

  Both JLB and Margaret Smith were positive ambassadors for South Africa in their correspondence with scientists and anglers abroad, and regularly sent gifts to these friends and acquaintances. On 21st November 1967, JLB wrote to Marie-Louise Bauchot in Paris:

  ‘I am having sent to you a South African journal named PANORAMA for 12 months. This is a reflection of life in South Africa … well illustrated and produced and I think you will find it interesting. Also there will be coming a package of special fruit which you have had before. Please accept these as a token of my appreciation of the very great amount of trouble which you continually take in assisting my work and which I do appreciate very greatly.’

  They also reached out to other scientists in need. Dr H Aldinger of Stuttgart, Germany, mentioned in a letter to him (31st March 1950) that the coelacanth scale that Smith had sent him during the war had been confiscated by the censors and that he had ‘regretted this loss deeply’. On 15th May JLB wrote to Dr Aldinger:

  ‘It was a great joy to receive your letter of the 31st March last, and to know that all is well with you, or at least as well as can be expected after so great a catastrophy [sic] as this last war. As a scientist I do sincerely regret such indiscretions, and wish that man could settle his differences by more sane methods. I regret very much indeed that you have suffered such great loss of books and other personal possessions, and it is a great pleasure to be able to send you a copy of the monograph on the Coelacanth as a very slight contribution towards the regeneration of your library.’

  Coelacanth scale.


  A considerable amount of JLB’s correspondence during the 1950s and 1960s was concerned with his health. On 6th November 1950 he wrote to a medical doctor friend, Dr WF de Villiers, a urologist in Port Elizabeth, that ‘possibly as a result of the neurotoxin of our friend the Stonefish, but possibly also merely because of A.D. I think it would be advisable to have an overhaul by some specialist who deals with heart’. Dr De Villiers referred him to a cardiologist.

  On 23rd March 1951 Smith wrote again to Dr De Villiers, this time about his problematic kidney:

  ‘Casting back over my life, I had a very severe fall when I was about 17. Travelling at night on a bicycle downhill at between 30 and 40 miles an hour [48–64 km/hr], I hit an unknown gate and was flung about 50’ [15.2 metres] through [the] air, coming down on my back, and though fortunately protected by a roll of blankets, this was as you can imagine a severe bang which knocked me unconscious. Although I came through relatively unharmed and actually walked about 30 miles until the bicycle was repaired, and then rode another 100, I recollect during my years before and around the twenties suffering from considerable pain in the region of the right kidney, which did not incapacitate me and which medical advice dismissed as without significance.’

  On 30th May 1951 he wrote again:

  ‘Pleased that you think the kidney is functioning properly, and just hope that our gloomy view on the right ureter will not hurry me unduly into the grave. I have more or less constant pain in the right kidney region, have had it for many years, and now that you think it likely to be a result of scarring, it doesn’t worry me. Actually and possibly because of that, the bouts last [a] very much shorter time than ever before, as now I can say, “Wa to you, I know it isn’t a stone or a blockage, its just that old tissue and you can’t scare me” and it just retreats into its hole, growling.’

  The day after Smith wrote this letter he set off on his next expedition to northern Mozambique. While exploring the vicinity of Vamizi Island he experienced intense pain of a new kind.

  ‘The infernal wind continued to rage and that afternoon after returning to Kifuki I was taken with an acute attack of internal trouble with severe pain, which had all the characteristics of a complete intestinal obstruction; no pleasant experience in so remote a spot’ (Smith, 1968b).

  On 25th February 1953 he wrote again to Dr De Villiers:

  ‘I have for some time been suffering from internal trouble quite probably resulting from an earlier operation. … The trouble is in the transverse colon which appears either to be adhesive to the old operation scar or to be suffering from some degree of constriction. … The symptoms are almost continuous discomfort in the region of the scar, aggravated very much by any hard straining such as rowing and [lifting] fish from the water with a net. It has proved extremely aggravating in our field work.’

  In a letter dated 26th May 1958, he hints that he is aware that he has a defective kidney:

  ‘During that time I developed an uneasy pain in the right back between the pelvic bone and the lower ribs. It is more discomfort than anything else and may well be muscular. For some time it has been coming and going, and as it is in the region of my defective kidney I naturally wonder as I seem to feel off-colour when [that] part is uncomfortable’.

  The doctor recommended a low-calcium diet:

  ‘Take plenty of fluids, other than milk. Restrict the use of milk, cream, ice-cream; Do not eat any dried fruits, nuts, chocolates or sea foods; Butter can be used freely, but cheese is forbidden.’

  The ban on eating seafood must have been difficult for Smith to accept.

  On 3rd June 1958 Smith again writes to his doctor and provides some insights into the state of his health:

  ‘Any medical man has a hard life and at times must wonder very forcibly why he ever took it up. However, I think that you must receive some satisfaction and compensation from the very sincere appreciation that you repeatedly receive from persons like myself, whose body is a machine to be kept functioning for a definite purpose. It is difficult to express to you how much I do appreciate your continual consideration, concern and kindness in looking after my defective organism. Yesterday was a great mental relief in that I hope still to accomplish quite a good deal before all the pipes close up, and that would be specially hard now that my mental powers are probably higher than they ever have been or are ever likely to be.’

  On 22nd July 1960 he shared a thought with Dr De Villiers, who was experiencing his own medical problems:

  ‘How true it is that “Others he saves, himself he cannot help”. How little others know of what lies behind success and achievement and the price that these exact from human souls.’

  In a letter to De Villiers’ wife on 12th December 1961, he wrote: ‘It is a very great comfort to me to be able to come to your husband as I did yesterday when in great need. I count myself very fortunate to have “discovered” him, for life becomes quite a problem at my age and to have someone who is able, and who will tell you honestly what is wrong with your insides, is of tremendous importance to someone like myself.’

  In fact, JLB’s doctors never determined during his lifetime that he had only one functional kidney.

  Now that their major expeditions were over, the Smiths became totally absorbed in sorting, identifying, illustrating and publishing the results of their research on the vast collections they had made in East and South Africa. Their initial plan was to produce a companion volume to the Sea Fishes, this time on the fishes of the Western Indian Ocean, but this goal was never achieved. At one stage JLB Smith even considered abandoning his cosy nest in Grahamstown and taking up an appointment at the Natal Museum in Pietermaritzburg (as mentioned in Chapter 15), which was closer to the East African coast. He told a Trustee of the museum that he was planning a major work on the fishes of the Western Indian Ocean (WIO), which would be ‘… at least 4 times the size of my current volume and would probably occupy 6–10 years’ (Skelton & Gon, 1997).

  In 1950 he received a grant of £1,800 for the WIO book project from the CSIR and, in 1955, he received a further grant of £5,000 but used these funds, quite legitimately, for the Ichthyological Bulletin series (Gon, 2002). In the introductory pages to the 1953 edition of the Sea Fishes book he wrote:

  ‘A vast collection of East African fishes and many hundreds of valuable photographs and colour sketches have been assembled. There is at present in preparation a Companion East African Volume, in the same scale as this, and as fully illustrated, so as to cover the fishes of the whole Western Indian Ocean’ (Smith, 1953; Skelton & Gon, 1997).

  As it turned out, this was wishful thinking. By the end of 1956 Smith realised that he had underestimated the enormity of the project and expressed doubts that he would ever be able to finish it (Gon, 2002). On 1st December 1959 Dr Stephan Meiring Naudé, President of the CSIR, wrote to Smith, suggesting that he should relax his work load and stating that his ‘… work is of such inestimable value to the country that you owe it to South Africa to take good care of yourself’. Yet, on 12th June 1967, just six months before his death, Smith still wrote to Dr Meiring Naudé that he was hoping to ‘… live long enough to complete [the project] as it is likely to be the biggest work of all’, and referred to it as the ‘Sea Fishes of Mozambique’, which suggested that he had scaled down his vision for the WIO book.

  The Smiths and their collaborators subsequently produced a series of well-illustrated and carefully researched scientific papers on the taxonomy and distribution of Western Indian Ocean fishes, family by family, which were published in the Ichthyological Bulletins of Rhodes University, financed by the CSIR, starting in 19561. By the time of JLB’s death in January 1968, they had produced 32 well-illustrated reviews in the Ichthyological Bulletin series with a total of 682 pages, 100 pages more than the original Sea Fishes book; these Bulletins are available in two bound volumes (Smith, 1969, 1973). They had, therefore, achieved their goal from the scientific point of view, but the Bulletins were not designed for use by laypeople.

&nb
sp; Margaret and JLB Smith examining colour plates of parrotfishes prepared for the first Ichthyological Bulletin of aRhodes University in 1956.

  Their Fishes of the Seychelles (Smith & Smith, 1963), in contrast, was ‘designed to be of optimal value to anglers, skin divers, and other naturalists as well as scientists’. This book was published by Cape & Transvaal Printers and covers 880 species, of which 95% are also found in other areas of the tropical Western Indian Ocean (Skelton & Gon, 1997). Fishes of the Seychelles was a further step in the direction of producing a WIO book. The Smiths chose the Seychelles as almost all the fishes there (92%; Smith & Smith, 1969) also occur widely in the west Indo-Pacific Ocean, so the book was useful to people fishing, diving or researching in any part of this large region. In reality, Fishes of the Seychelles was little more than an illustrated catalogue of the fishes of that archipelago as it did not include any anatomical descriptions, notes on fish biology or identification keys. As a result, it did not have the gravitas of the comprehensive Sea Fishes book or the many authoritative Ichthyological Bulletins.

  Portrait of Phil Heemstra by artist Dave Voorvelt.

  Fishes of the Seychelles was intended to be an adjunct to the Sea Fishes book as it mainly covered fishes of the Western Indian Ocean to the north of South Africa (Smith & Smith, 1963). Many tropical fish species in Fishes of the Seychelles were re-illustrated by Margaret and her co-artists from fresh material, and the cost of these new colour plates was covered by the CSIR and private donors (Smith & Smith, 1963). This book was in great demand internationally and was reprinted in 1965 and again in September 1969, with the addition of further species, especially sharks, rays and clupeoids (herring-like fishes), courtesy of a generous grant of R5,000 from the Rhodes Foundation Trust.