Glynnis Reed

Imagine the bones of African ancestors who jumped or were pushed off of slave ships during the era of the Transatlantic Slave Trade come to life again, reincarnated as deep ocean creatures, loved and protected by Yemaya/Olokun, Yoruba deity of the ocean. In my imagining, Yemaya sent her children out into the deep sea habitat to try to make their way shaping their bodies and minds, each with its own unique defense/offense system.

The rattail fish is highly sensitive to vibrations in the water, particularly those made by potential prey. But the rattail fish could be a species of the New Age, sensitive to the minute vibrations and movements of others surrounding it in its deep underwater space. It could be prepared to escape predators or join friends who resonate on its wavelength.

Almost as if it were a cultural retention from African ancestors, the rattail fish can communicate through the drumming sounds from their swim bladder. As a deep sea creature that dwells on the ocean floor, rattails bear the tremendous pressure of thousands of meters of water above it. They also have large eyes to pick up the faint bioluminescence of sea creatures that bear their own light in the depths where photons of light cannot reach. Rattails, like many deep sea beings are survivors, uniquely adapted to thrive in a most inhospitable habitat. Yemaya, who is the Mother of Fish, loves these creatures under the sea, far into the depths. Rattails are blessed with long lives, living up to 70 years old. They maneuver largely in the dark, with large eyes that catch the faint, hopeful glimmers of light that flicker from the bodies of friends, foes, or prey.

Rattails are hopeful for the future of their young, producing over 100,000 tiny eggs at a time that float up to warmer waters where they develop, if they survive, and then return to the dark depths of the ocean as they mature. Rattails believe in giving their progeny a fair shot in life, allowing them to rise up to waters more conducive to their development and the young can decide for themselves to return to their ancestral home or not.

Rattails feel at home in the dark. For them eternal night is not a frightening place to be. They have adapted to it. The ancestral call, like a homing device draws the young back to Yemaya’s motherly love in the ocean depths and they continue a life that has been adapted over centuries.

References

Falola, T., & Otero, S. (2013). Yemoja. State University of New York Press.

Fish, Rattail. Marinelife.ac.nz. (n.d.). Retrieved November 29, 2021, from http://www.marinelife.ac.nz/species/775.

Fulton-Bennett, K., & Dalit, M. (2021, February 10). Rattail Fish. MBARI. Retrieved November 29, 2021, from https://www.mbari.org/products/creature-feature/rattail-landing-page/.

Weird and wonderful: The curious deep-sea … – youtube. (n.d.). Retrieved November 29, 2021, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZVwGkAAYV0.