"Catfish Pearls"

  Mark and I were on the pier this afternoon when I spied something rather unique.  Two small "pearls" were sitting atop the old crab box. Aha!  I picked up the two stones and asked Mark if he knew what they were.  "Shells?" Well, his answer was not quite right but, then again, he did not really examine the two stones at close range.  Not many folks would know just what these things are.  Pop showed me these years and years ago.  He was the one who told me that they were "catfish pearls" which is sort of a misnomer.  Although Pop knew exactly what the stones were he used the common name for them instead of the highfaluting word of Otoliths.  

  Otoliths are also known as fish "earbones".  Earbones?  I am not sure fish even have ears!  Actually, these otoliths were from the skull (right at the base of the spine) of the saltwater catfish.  (Most fish have them, to be honest.  These just happen to be from the catfish.) This is the same catfish that we call a  Hardhead Catfish (for good reason).  The otoliths are used by the fish to keep balance much like how our inner ear helps us with equilibrium.  Without these we are liable to see lots of catfish swimming upside down!

  
  These otoliths are what rattle if you shake a dried catfish backbone. Many folks collect the dried backbone because of the legend of it being a "Crucifix Fish".  In an earlier article, I wrote about this legend and how the image of the Crucified Christ can be found on one side of the backbone and the Roman shield on the other side.  If the backbone is shaken, a rattling sound can be heard which is supposed to represent the dice that were tossed for Jesus' robe.  It is those "dice" that I picked up from the crab box.  When you think about it, all of this is rather interesting. The thought of finding Christ in a lowly catfish confirms a good bit of faith.  It just goes to show that you can find God in a lot of unexpected places but only because he is in your heart to start.