Rip Van Fish

A Rip Van Fish is a sleeping variety of fish found in the game Super Mario World. If Mario swims to close to a Rip Van Fish, it will awaken and start to chase Mario. The fish will pursue Mario until the plumber can put significant distance between them. If Mario escapes, the fish will go back to sleep.

Rip Van Fish can also be awakened by the whistle of a Chargin' Chuck. Whereas Mario can only awaken one fish at a time, the whistle can awaken all the fish in an area.

They act and appear just like Piscatory Pete from Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. The only difference is there's no facial expressions and they don't sleep.

In Yoshi's Island DS, Rip Van Fish appears again underwater.

Trivia

 * Rip Van Fish is named after the literary character Rip Van Winkle, who fell asleep for twenty years.