DAILY CALL SHEET: JANUARY 18, 2026

Island of the Fishmen (1979) Castaway military doctor Claude de Ross and a bunch of shipwrecked convicts (aka fishman fodder) wash up on an uncharted island where Professor Marvin is transforming humans in Creature from the Black Lagoon knock-offs. The well-meaning Marvin hopes to save the planet's ecology by creating fish/human hybrids who can live off the unlimited resources of the ocean, but his evil benefactor Rackham just wants to use the scientist's creations to plunder the lost city of Atlantis. Smitten with Rackham's daughter (Barbara Bach), Clause decides to try and escape with the girl. Meanwhile, the island's local voodoo priestess Shakira (no, she doesn't dance) plots to destroy the entire island. If released 10-15 years earlier, Island of the Fishmen might be more fondly remembered for the Hammer-style creature feature it is. Alas, post-Star Wars, it was a bit too old-fashioned to make many waves.

There are, of course, no patron saint for fishmen. For fishermen, though, there's a few. St. Andrew the Apostle, who was himself a fisherman, is traditionally the go to for this role. However, St. Anthony of Padua is often invoked as well, particularly in the coastal regions of Portugal, Italy, France, and Spain, due to a famous miracle known as the "Sermon to the Fishes." The story goes that while preaching in Rimini, St. Anthony couldn't get the local heretics listen to him. Irritated, he went to the seashore and called on the fish to listen instead since the heretics were too stupid to do so. So many fish poked their heads up to hear Anthony's sermon that the heretics were shamed into converting. Interestingly enough, St. Anthony is also the patron saint of lost things and lost people, so if you combine his different patronages, he could qualify to be the patron saint of people lost at sea, which works pretty good for the characters in Island of the Fishmen.

The Incredible Mr. Limpet (1964) Although America hasn't entered WWII yet, milquetoast Mr. Limpet attempts to enlist in the military to please his super-patriotic wife, but is rejected due to his weak eyesight (and weak everything else to be honest). Wishing he could just be a fish, which he prefers to humans, Limpet accidentally falls into the ocean and finds himself transformed into an animated denizen of the deep (who still needs glasses). In no time at all, Limpet befriends Crusty the hermit crab, gets a girlfriend he names Ladyfish, and discovers he has the ability to unleash a massive underwater roar he calls a thrum. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Limpet offers his services to the Navy, using his thrum to signal the location of German U-boats. But what happens when the Nazis catch on and develop thrum-seeking torpedoes? And what will Limpet's wife have to say about his new finny female friend? There are better Don Knotts movies from this time period, but this will do in a pinch.

The little fish outline decal many Christians have on their cars is actually one of the oldest and most recognizable symbols of Christianity in history. The Ichthys (from the Greek word ἰχθύς, meaning "fish") was adopted by Christians in the 2nd century AD as way to identify other believers during the Roman persecutions. One person would draw part of the symbol in the sand, and if the other person was able to complete the fish shape, then both parties knew they were safe. It was also used to identify Christian meeting places. The name of the symbol is actually an acrostic. The Greek letters ΙΧΘΥΣ stand for:

 Ι — Ἰησοῦς (Iēsous) = Jesus

Χ — Χριστός (Christos) = Christ

Θ — Θεοῦ (Theou) = of God

Υ — Υἱός (Yios) = Son 

Σ — Σωτήρ (Sōtēr) = Savior.

Combined, this forms the phrase "Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior."