IN| | 3 1761 03673222 0 | Oo 2S se oa 4 7 a hi 7 i we ‘ ne Te wea he is 4 ; , i . i . i r., i i . c 2 . { ~ 1 . . 1 ‘ - e ¢ ‘ ‘ i ’ * a LIST OF TEXT ILLUSTRATIONS PacE Whitefish, showing parts referred to in See De of soft- rayed fishes : XXX Small-mouth Black Bass, showing parts referred to in de- scriptions of spiny-rayed fishes. : on SKE Knot for attaching leader to line for fly fi ishing : : xliv Overhand Cast . 5 : : : : : : xlvi Fiip Cast . ‘ ‘ ; i ; ‘ ; : ; xvi Wind Cast . : 2 : : : ‘ : : ‘ xlvii Underhand Cast . : é : : : 3 : ; xl vii Switch Cast ; : ‘ : : ‘ ‘ ; F xl viii Clark’s Spey Cast . : ‘ : : : : 4 1 Paddle-fish : : ‘ : ‘ ' ‘ : ; I Common Sturgeon : ‘ : : : : : : 8 Lake Sturgeon. ‘ i ‘ : ‘ : F : 10 Short-nosed Sturgeon : : t : : : : 12 Shovel-nosed Sturgeon : : : : : s : 13 Blue Cat : : : , F : : ‘ : : 17 Channel Cat : ‘ : : : : . ; . 21 Eel Cat : : ; : : ‘ : ‘ : : 22 Black Bullhead. : , : : : : : ; 30 Flathead Cat : : : : ‘ ‘ ‘ : ; 31 Mud Cat : : : ; ‘ : : : : ‘ 32 Stone Cat . , ‘ : : ‘ : ‘ : : 34 Common Buffalo Fish : é : : : : : 39 Eastern Carp Sucker . ; : : : : ‘ : 43 Gourd-seed Sucker é : 2 : : : . 3 44 Mountain Sucker ; ‘ : ‘ , : 5 : 45 Flannel-mouth Sucker ‘ : 5 ‘ ‘ : : 47 Platte River Sucker . : : F : : . % 48 Sacramento Sucker : ; . : : : : : 50 Common Sucker : : ‘ : ; : : : 51 Utah Lake Mullet ‘ d : : : ‘ ; 3 52 Moogadee; Sucker ‘ ‘ : i ‘ , : 53 June Sucker of Utah Lake : : : : ; : 54 Klamath Lake Sucker ‘ : : ; : - : 55 XVil List of Text Illustrations PaGE Tswam; Sucker : : : : : : : : 56 Razor-back Sucker : : : : ‘ : : ‘ 58 Chub Sucker : : 5 : : : : é ; 59 Spotted Sucker . : : : - : ; : : 59 Common Redhorse : . ; : : : : 60 Hare-lip Sucker . ; : ‘ ‘ ‘ : 66 Hare-lip Sucker, showing lower lip ; : : : 66 Squawfish : : : 3 , : : ; ; 68 Utah Lake Chub : : : : : : é : 70 Common Chub . : : : : . ; : - 75 Tarpon : 7 gl erie eae at ee 85 Bony-fish; Ten- “pounder : : ‘ ; : : : 86 Bonefish : : ‘ : : : ; ; : 88 Mooneye. . : : : : : . ; g2 Southern Meoneye ‘ : : : ; : ; ; 93 Awa or Milk-fish : : : : ; E ? : 94 Common Herring : ‘ : ; ; : : , 96 Tailor Herring . : ck ; : . : ‘ : 102 Alewife 3 : F : : . : : : ; 103 Glut Herring : : : : ; ; : . - 104 Common Shad _ . : : : : ‘ ; ‘ ; 105 Alabama Shad . ‘ : : : : : , : 108 Menhaden . : : : : : : * 109 Rocky Mountain Whitefish : : ; : t : 119 Blackfin Whitefish : : : : : : ? , 139 Humpback Salmon : : i : ; : : 149 Adult male Blueback Salmon , : : : : 156 Adult female Little Redfish ; : ; : : : 157 Adult male Little Redfish, showing condition at end of spawning season . ; : : : ; : : 158 Lake Tahoe Trout ‘ : ‘ ‘ : ‘ ‘ : 180 Utah Trout . : : : : : : ; ; : 182 Rio Grande Trout : é : ‘ . : : , 185 Colorado River Trout : : ; : ‘ ‘ : 186 Waha Lake Trout : é : . : j : ; 187 Green-back Trout : , ; : : : : ; 188 Yellow-fin Trout : : : , : : : ‘ 188 Steelhead Trout : : a ee : : : : 190 Rainbow Trout . : : ; : . ; . ; 195 Great Lake Trout , : ; , y : ‘ ; 203 XVili Brook Trout Dolly Varden Trout Sunapee Trout Oquassa Trout Arctic Grayling Michigan Grayling Montana Grayling Capelin : : Eulachon; Candle-fish Pacific Smelt American Smelt Alaskan Blackfish Gommon Pike . Muskallunge - Houndfish; Agujon Common Half-beak Sharp-nosed Flying-fish California Flying-fish Trout Perch : Pescado blanco de Chalco Common Mullet White Mullet Lisita; Mullet Chznomugil proboscideus Dajao; Mullet Joturo; Mullet Great Barracuda Threadfish : Common Sand Launce Marian; Squirrel-fish Red Goatfish Mulloides rathbuni Salmonete Common Mackerel Chub Mackerel Frigate Mackerel Little Tunny : : Long-finned Albacore Spanish Mackerel Sierra; Kingfish Xix List of Text Illustrations PaGE 207 210 2n3 219 221 232 223 226 227 228 229 232 236 237 241 242 243 244 247 248 252 254 255 256 257 257 259 262 263 267 269 269 270 273 276 277 278 3 ‘ 4 282 4 : : 285 : : : 286 List of Text Illustrations Cutlass-fish Sailfish : Pez de Gallo Leather-jack Pilot-fish California Yellowtail Rudder-fish Scad Xurel : Goggler ; : ; Hemicaranx amblyrhynchus Moonfish Bumper Round Pompano Mazatlan Pompano Coal-fish Dolphin Harvest-fish Butter-fish Crappie : Round Sunfish Mud Sunfish Sacramento Perch Apomotis symmetricus Red-breasted Bream Long-eared Sunfish McKay’s Sunfish Common Sunfish Walleyed Pike Sauger : Yellow Perch Snook White Bass Striped Bass Speckled Hind Black Jewfish Guaseta ‘ Dermatolepis zanclus Mycteroperca boulengeri Bacalao Hypoplectrus unicolor Spotted Cabrilla Rock Sea-bass Squirrel-fish Flasher Pargo Raisero Lutianus viridis Cagon de lo alto Arnillo Escolar Chino Gray Grunt . Lythrulon opalescens Pigfish Common Scup Chopa Amarilla Pinfish Irish Pompano Hermosilla azurea Common Weakfish Spotted Weakfish Bastard Weakfish Mademoiselle Red Drum : Carolina Whiting Black Drum Freshwater Drum Hysterocarpus traski Abeona minima Cymatogaster aggregatus White Surf-fish Rachocheilus toxotes Hypsurus caryi White Viviparous Perch Cunner ; California Redfish Creston Tang; Barbero Nesro Ocean Tang Rock Shellfish, Ostracion friqueter Common Trunkfish, Ostracion trigonus Common Cowfish, Ostracion tricornis List of Text Illustrations PAGE 395 396 398 399 400 404 406 417 418 419 423 430 434 437 443 444 448 451 456 458 459 460 461 465 466 468 470 47° 47! 472 473 473 474 477 479 487 488 490 490 491 List of Text Illustrations Common Trunkfish, Ostraciton trigonus Sunfish; Mola Ranzania truncata Rosefish Black Rockfish Coal-fish : Atka Mackerel Rock Trout Alaska Green-fish Common Greenling Southern Rock Trout Cultus Cod ‘ : : Pacific Hake, Merluccius productus Common Pollack Alaska Pollack Tomcod California Tomcod Common Codfish Haddock Freshwater Ling Summer Flounder Rusty Dab Winter Flounder Arctic Flounder Eel-back Flounder Starry Flounder Window Pane Bat-fish XXil INTRODUCTION “Of Recreation there is none So free as Fishing is alone; All other Pastimes do no less Than Mind and Body both possess; My Hand alone my Work can do, So I can fish and study too.” A THE aim of this book is to furnish that which well-informed men and women, and those who desire to become well informed, might wish to know of the food and game fishes which inhabit American waters. Though primarily a popular treatise, its method is in part technical, for the characters we call ‘‘technical”’ are the ones we can trust in distinguishing one fish or group of fishes from another. These distinctions are the ones established by Nature herself, and the study of natural objects is useful to us in the degree that we are willing to overlook artificial or temporary characters in our search for real ones. Thus to know that a salmon has red flesh and a pike white flesh is to know nothing about either salmon or pike. The real differences appear on comparison of the fins, the teeth, the skeleton, and the facts we have gained as to the origin of the different forms. The use of technical terms therefore finds its justification in that the facts they set forth would be unintel- legible without them. But the technical terms used in describing a fish are no more difficult to understand than those used in describ- ing anything else. Head, snout, maxillary, jaw, fins, and the like are quite as simple as head, nose, arm and foot used in naming the parts of our own body; or petal, stamen, stem, leaf and pistil in describing a flower. To understand or to be able to study any subject one must necessarily know something of the language of that subject. A book which does not take for granted a certain amount of intelligence on the part of the reader has no excuse for being. This book presupposes on the part of the reader a knowledge of ordinary English, as used by Americans of fairly good education, and a willingness to make an honest effort to find out more about the food and game fishes of our country. XXxlil Introduction The aim has been to make a book by the aid of which any one of average intelligence may easily and readily identify any American fish that is used as food or game, and the book is technical only to that extent. For those who do not care for these facts the part of the text which refers to them has been printed in smaller type. The small type is therefore for those who would study fishes with specimens in hand; the large type for those who would read about fishes, whether the fishes themselves are present or not. The second purpose of the book is to give individuality to the different kinds of fishes treated, by some account of their geo- graphic distribution, habits, life histories, commercial and food value, and interest to the angler. These facts and discussions are, indeed, those which are given greatest prominence in the book. About 12,000 different species of fishes are now known, besides a vast and varied assemblage of forms now extinct. These 12,000 species are arranged in about 200 groups called families. The families are of very unequal size, some containing hundreds of species, others but few or even only one. In some cases the group is now at its height, more forms existing than ever before. In other cases one poor little species may be the sole survivor of a once mighty race. ; Of the species of fishes which are known about one-fourth (3,300) are found in the waters of North America, that is north of the Isthmus of Panama. All of these the present writers have described in detail in a book of four volumes and 3,313 pages, called ‘‘The Fishes of North and Middle America,” to which those who wish to study our fishes more seriously are referred. The present volume covers the same geographic area, but its treatment is limited to those families containing fishes useful as food or inter- esting to the angler from their display of those qualities we call ‘‘game.” Not all the species of any family are of equal value as food or game; indeed, many families, containing most excellent food and game species, contain others of no value whatever for either of those purposes. Then again, some species, as the tarpon, possess game qualities in a high degree, but are not valued as food. We have, however, usually included mention at least of all the species of those families any of whose members are game or food for man; and, it is believed, that any one who really cares to XXIV Introduction do so, can, with this book, accurately identify any specimen he may obtain, if it belongs to a family containing any American food or game-fish. We have left out the vast array of little fishes, too small to be worth eating—except to bigger fish. These swarm in all waters— minnows and darters in the brooks, silversides and killifishes in the estuaries, anchovies in the surf, and many even in the open sea, the prey of the mackerel, the bluefish, and other pelagic pre- daceous species. We have left out or briefly mentioned rare fishes, those which occasionally appear on our coasts. We have not con- sidered the many strange fishes of the depths, soft-bodied, black in colour, and often provided with luminous spots which serve as lan- terns in the watery darkness. These would be food-fishes if we could get at them, and game-fishes likewise, for they will take the hook at the depth of half a mile, with ferocity and_ persistence. But the reader of this book will seldom angle for them, and, if he does, he will know how to look elsewhere for their descriptions. Then, too, we omit the groups which lie below the true fishes—the lampreys without limbs or jaws, which are not true fishes themselves, but merely fish-like animals that live by sucking the blood of real fishes; the sharks and rays or skates, with large fins and often with large teeth, and a skeleton of cartilage. It is true that lampreys are much eaten in Europe and sometimes in America, for we ourselves have eaten canned lamprey on the Col- umbia River and found it excellent; that from the fin-rays of certain sharks the Chinaman prepares a delicious soup; and that the skate with brown butter, raze au beurre noir, is a delicacy of the French chef. But in the United States none of these is a food-fish. Our people are too well fed to care for the coarse rank flesh of sharks, however much its flavour may be disguised by the ingenious cook. Other coarse-grained fishes, such as the sea catfish, we have omitted or noticed only in passing. There are certain fishes whose flesh contains poisonous alka- loids which, in the tropics, become greatly developed, and, when eaten, producing the dangerous disease called ‘‘Ciguatera.” These are the file-fishes, trigger-fishes, globe-fishes, porcupine-fishes and puffers. In Hawaii one of these species, Tetraodon gibbosus, is known as Muki Muki, or Deadly Death, its flesh being poisonous in the highest degree. In general, however, these fishes cease to XXV Introduction be venomous in the colder waters of our northern coasts. They are by no means food-fishes, and are mentioned here only that they may be avoided. Setting aside, then, all these, the small, the lean, the coarse, the poisonous, the rank, the rare, and the inhabitants of the oceanic abysses, we still have left a royal assemblage of food and game- fishes, and all these are treated in the present volume. Of these, the total number of species is about one thousand, fully one-third of all the food and game-fishes of the world, or nearly one-third of all the fishes of whatever kind known from American waters. A few which may be called unimportant are important to some- body and are therefore included, even though scarcely mentioned in any other work. Thus the great catfish of the Rio de las Balsas in Mexico (/stlarius balsanus) is important to the natives of Morelos, though unknown to every one else. On the other hand, we may have omitted species important to somebody because they do not concern the reader and have never interested us. The line between those we include and those we pass unmentioned is often a very narrow one which might easily be shifted either way. This book is a treatise on a branch of Ichthyology, and Ichthyology is the science of fishes. The word ‘‘fish” is a hard one to define because it is used in science with several different grades of meaning. Ordinarily it is the name of a cold-blooded vertebrate which is adapted for life in the water, and has its limbs, if present, developed as fins, never as fingers or toes. This is the broadest correct definition. It excludes the whales, porpoises and seals, which are warm-blooded mammals, looking like fishes only because they lead a fish-like life. It excludes the frogs and sal- amanders of all grades because even those which have gills and live in the water have fingers and toes instead of fins. But for scientific purposes we usually adopt a narrower definition. We exclude the tunicates, which have no skull and lose the backbone in the course of development. We pass by the lancelets, fish-like certainly, but having neither brain nor skull. The higher group of lampreys is also excluded from the circle of fishes, for the lamprey has no jaws, no limbs, and no trace of the bones to which limbs should be hung. This would leave us, then, the following defin- ition of a fish: A ‘‘fish” is a cold-blooded vertebrate adapted for life in the water; breathing by means of gills which are attached to bony or cartilaginous gill-arches; having the skull well-developed XXVi Introduction and with a lower jaw; with the limbs present and developed as fins, or rarely wanting through atrophy; having the exoskeleton developed as scales or bony plates or horny appendages; and with the median line of the body with one or more fins composed of cartilaginous rays connected by membranes. But a still narrower definition is sometimes necessary, and we may separate from the true fishes the various lower types developed before the formation of the paired fins and jaws of the fishes of to-day. The sharks are not true fishes, for they have no membrane- bones or gill-covers, and the upper jaw is simply the front of the palate, no upper jaw-bones being developed. The same is true of the skates, the chimera and the lung- fishes. The lung-fish, like the bichir of the Nile, another fish- like creature, not a true fish, has, instead of pectoral fins, long- jointed appendages with a fringe of rays along the side. From the structure, as seen in the bichir (Polypterus bichir), it is not a great change to the forked limbs of the frog, and it is from air- breathing amphibious fishes like these that the original salaman- ders and frogs of the coal measures were descended. All these forms, as well as the mailed and helmeted monsters of the Devonian, are fishes in the broad sense of the term, but not in the narrow one of ‘‘true fishes.” A true fish is an aquatic ver- tebrate fitted for life in the water, breathing by means of gills, having brain, skull, and lower jaw, the upper jaw formed origin- ally of at least two pieces (premaxillary and maxillary), one on each side, with developed limbs, the pectoral and ventral fins being composed of fin-rays not attached to an elongate jointed axis. All of those mentioned in this book are true fishes, and each one can verify this definition, although in a few of them the ex- ternal parts or fin-rays of pectoral or ventral limb are lost altogether. The nomenclature and arrangement of species in this work agree essentially with that adopted by the present writers in their ‘‘Fishes of North and Middle America,” with such changes and modifications as more recent investigations and studies seem to require. Perhaps the most important departure from that work is in the use of fewer trinomial names. This is especially to be noted among the Salmonid@. Usually the Sebago salmon and the ouananiche have been regarded as subspecies of the Atlantic salmon and have been given trinomial names—Salmo salar sebago XXVIi Introduction and Salmo salar ouananiche. Various subspecies of Salvelinus fontinalis and of the cut-throat, steelhead and rainbow trouts have been recognized. These forms have, in most cases, perhaps, been regarded as subspecies chiefly because they differed but slightly from related forms. Whether a given form should be regarded as a ‘“‘species” or a ‘‘subspecies” is very much a ques- tion of material, both from a geographic and a numerical point of view, as Mr. Robert Ridgway has well said. With greater material, and from properly selected localities, many forms, which have been considered specifically distinct, are shown to be con- specific; and forms that have been regarded as subspecies are in many instances found to be good species or to have no existence at all. The existence of a subspecies implies greater or less geographic or environmental isolation and the presence of intergrading forms. However great the differences may be between two forms, if com- plete intergradation is known to exist, the one is regarded as a subspecies of the other. On the other hand, even though the dif- ferences are slight, if intergrading is not known to exist, they are to be regarded as distinct species. Of the various forms of salmon and trout, which we have formerly regarded as subspecies, but few, if any, are known to intergrade with related forms. Although the ouananiche and the Sebago salmon do not differ greatly from the Atlantic salmon or from each other, intergradations are not known. We therefore prefer to regard them as three distinct species, which they prob- ably are. The same is true with respect to the various forms of trout in the West; most of those which have been recognized as sub- species are certainly distinct species, while others are of very doubtful validity. Among those whose status is problematical are the Kamloops, Kern River, Shasta and Noshee trouts. They may be species, subspecies or nothing. Investigation of the geographic distribution of the various trout is very much to be desired. While it is not likely the number of species will be reduced, their exact relations need to be made out. XXVili B HOW (TO. MDENTIFY A RISH Ir is easy to know a fish, or even a true fish; but a more interesting question is: What kind of a fish is it? There our difficulty begins. We can readily say that a certain specimen is a fish, or even that it is a bass, a perch, a herring, or a trout; but which particular species of the several kinds of bass, perch, herring, cr trout is it? Just what species of fish ts it? This is what every angler, every commercial fisherman, and everyone interested in nature wishes to know, When we get hold of a fish our first desire is to know its name,—what species il is. The vague knowledge that a form is something like a perch, a bass, or an eel will not suffice. The works devoted wholly to sys- tematic ichthyology are in the nature of things entirely technical, and they are not easily followed by the untrained student. Though most of our fishes are not difficult of identification, many of them are. There are now known from America north of the Isthmus of Panama more than 3,300 species of fishes and fish- like vertebrates. Many of these are so closely related and the characters separating them so hard to make out, that the difficul- ties are real and not easily to be overcome except by one trained in the methods of systematic zoology. But fortunately such is not the case with the vast majority of fishes, particularly the food and game species. Most of these are fairly easy to identify. A little time devoted to an examination of the specimen in hand and a careful reading of the keys will enable one to locate it. It has been the aim of the authors of the present work to make a book which any angler or intelligent fisherman can use easily and with satisfaction. In the first place, in studying a fish, there are some things regarding its anatomy which one must know. He must know the names of the fins, the parts of the mouth and other parts of the head and body; also something about the different kinds of teeth and the bones upon which they are placed, the different kinds of scales and their arrangement, and how to contrast one character with another. XX1X Distance from snout to nape or occiput. Depth. Base of Caudal. Snout. Eye. Head. 14. 5 16, 17. 18. 10. ja) je3) % (e4 isa) & Q % al = 4 <= =) n P n & % < im & (e) ‘ 3 na - i 56 8 . eS = o , 9toumeen ventral 6 to 9. Body elongate; snout very short and obtuse, x to 4 length of head; barbels short and simple; skin between rows of shields with many rows of prickle-like plates; shields rather large and smoothish; anal fin about half size of dorsal and wholly below it. Colour, dusky or even dark above, paler below. Length 2 to 3 feet. r2 StAjsoMnadg dasuaiy NOUDUNLS CASON-LUOHS — a w” = a — . = =? +e ry p ee yee 6 a Ra 5 ye . oe) ee ; 2 wap a k gf tn ain doe ae ee Ole GENUS SCAPHIRHYNCHUS HECKEL Snout broad, depressed, and shovel-shaped; caudal peduncle very long, strongly depressed, broader than deep; rows of bony bucklers confluent below the dorsal fin, forming a complete coat of mail on the tail, which is produced in a long filament beyond the caudal fin, this longest in the young; gillrakers somewhat fan-shaped; no pseudobranchize. The single species of this genus is an inhabitant of the United States, but others closely related, forming the genus Kess/eria, are found in Central Asia. Shovel-nosed Sturgeon Scaphirhynchus platorynchus (Rafinesque) The shovel-nosed sturgeon is known only from the upper and middle Mississippi Valley. It is probably most abundant in the larger streams of the Central States, especially in the Ohio, Illinois and Missouri. During the month of May it is caught in consider- able numbers at the Falls of the Ohio. At that time it is run- ning up stream and, as it then swims near the surface, the fishermen capture it by means of seines weighted to fish the top rather than the bottom. It is found associated with the paddle- fish and the Ohio shad, which run at the same time. The shovel- nose is also taken on set-lines baited with cut-bait or small fish. According to the books, this species reaches a length of 8 feet, but we have never seen an example even approximating that size. Numerous specimens examined by us in the Wabash and Ohio rivers did not show any exceeding 4 feet in total length. The average length of 62 individuals examined by us at Louisville was 2 feet and the average weight 24 pounds. The largest example among these was a female, 28 inches long, and weighing 41 pounds. Examples from the Wabash River, seen at £3 Shovel-nosed Sturgeon Terre Haute, were 14 to 4 feet long and weighed only 3 to 12 pounds! The female shovel-nose, as is the case with all other stur- geons, is usually considerably larger than the male. The flesh finds a ready sale, it being cut into steaks or smoked. The roe, however, is the most valuable part of the fish, and, though the amount furnished by a single fish is not large, it is highly prized, it being made into caviar. Not until recently has it been utilized for this purpose, but now the more progressive fishermen in the Mississippi Valley are careful to save the roe of both the shovel- nose and the paddle-fish, as well as that of the common lake sturgeon. Head 4; depth 8; snout 14; eye very small; D. 32; A. 20; dorsal shields 15 to 20; lateral 41 to 46; ventral 11 to 13. Body elongate, tapering into a slender, depressed tail, which is extended beyond the caudal fin in a slender filament, very long in the young, but usually lost in the adult; bony shields opisthocen- trous (i. e., with the spine behind the middle), sharply keeled, the series confluent below the dorsal, obliterating the smaller plates between; 2 occipital plates, each with a short keel; a preocular spine and one at the posterior edge of the “‘shovel”; a few spines on the snout in the young; barbels nearer mouth than tip .of snout; none of the fulcra enlarged; dorsal and anal small; the anal little more than half length of dorsal and entirely behind it; gillrakers small and lamellate, ending in 3 or 4 points. Colour, pale yellowish olive. 14 hie CAT PISHES Family II, Stluride Bopy more or less elongate, naked or covered with bony plates; head with eight barbels, the base of the longest pair formed by the small or rudimentary maxillary ; margin of upper jaw formed by premaxillaries alone; opercle present, subopercle absent; dorsal fin short, above or in front of the ventrals; a small fatty or adipose fin back of the dorsal; front ray of dorsal and ventral spinous; air-bladder large, and connected with the organ of hearing by means of auditory ossicles ; lower pharyngeals separate. The family of catfishes is a large one, the total number of re- cognized genera being more than one hundred, and the number of species nearly one thousand. The majority of the species are fresh-water fishes, inhabiting the rivers of warmer countries, par- ticularly South America and Africa, being especially characteristic of the Amazon region; only a few species are marine and they are mostly tropical. The total number of species known from North and Middle America is one hundred and eight, of which about one-third are salt-water species belonging to the genera Felichthys, Galeitchthys, Sctadetchthys, Aspistor, Selenaspts, Netuma, Tachysurus and Cathorops, only the first two of which have species on the United States coast. In the fresh waters and on the coasts of southern Mexico, Central America, and south- ward, are about a score of species of the genera Rhamdia, Pimelo- della and Pimelodus, but none of them is of any importance either for food or as a game-fish. In the United States and Mexico we Have about 34 species, only about a dozen of which are of sufficient importance to merit any consideration in the present work. Most of the others are small species known as stone-cats or mad-toms, be- longing to the genera Noturus and Schilbeodes, characterized by the possession of a poison gland at the base of the pectoral spine, and by the connection of the adipose fin with the caudal. Of the 30 species of fresh-water catfishes occurring in the United States, all but 4 are confined to the Atlantic, Mississippi Valley and Gulf States. One species (/ctalurus meridionalis) is known only from the Rio Usumacinta, in Guatemala; another Is The Catfishes (Ameiurus dugesi) is known from various parts of the great valley of the Rio Lerma in Mexico, a large stream which flows through Lake Chapala into the Pacific Ocean; another (/stlarius balsanus), is a very large catfish in the basin of the Rio Balsas, described from Puente de Ixtla, in Morelos, Mexico; and another (Ameturus pricei), from San Bernardino Creek in southern Arizona, also tributary to the Pacific. No species of catfish is native to the fresh waters of the Pacific Coast of the United States, though 2 species, Ameiurus nebulosus and Ameiurus catus, have been introduced from the East and have become very abundant in the Sacramento and San Joaquin. a. Adipose fin with its posterior margin free. b. Premaxillary band of teeth truncate behind, not produced back- ward at the outer angles. c. Supraoccipital bone continued backward from the nape, its notched tip receiving the bone at base of dorsal spine, so that a continuous bony bridge is formed under the skin from snout to base of dorsal; tail forked; ..../ctalurus, 16 cc. Supraoccipital not reaching interspinal bones, the bony bridge being, “more or less incomplete;:./- == .en oer Ameturus, 23 bb. Premaxillary band of teeth with a lateral backward extension On. eachi “Sidesti..+.4 22% seu Vone eee eee Leptops, 31 aa. Adipose fin keel-like, adnate to the back and continuous with the; Caudal fins... /55-y So ees oe ee ee Noturus, 33 GENUS ICTALURUS RAFINESQUE The Channel Cats Body elongate, slender, compressed posteriorly ; head slender and conical; mouth small, terminal, the upper jaw the longer; teeth subulate, in a short band in each jaw; dorsal fin high, with one long spine and usually 6 rays; adipose fin over posterior portion of anal, which is long, with 25 to 30 rays; ventral fins, each with one simple and 7 branched rays; pectorals, each with a stout spine, retrorse-serrate within, and about 9 rays; caudal fin long, deeply forked, the lobes pointed, the upper the longer. Colour, pale bluish, lead colour, or silvery. This genus is confined to the fresh waters of North America and contains four known species, all except one (/. meridionalts, 16 The Blue Cat which may be an Ameturus, known only from the Rio Usumacinta in southern Mexico) being important food-fishes. a. Anal fin very long, its base nearly one-third length of body, SMA RON A arte a ec ooo hos th eM ln gee furcatus, 17 aa. Anal fin shorter, its rays 24 to 29. b. Cranial bones lighter, the supraoccipital long and narrow, its Sper sotace neatly ‘smooth; .....°-< 2. aca -'. punctatus, 21 bb. Cranial bones heavy, the supraoccipital broadly triangular, its Wppen siliace: linely SrooOved: .....- 2-0. % ss.) 35> anguilla, 22 Blue Cat; Mississippi Cat * Ictalurus furcatus (Le Sueur) This is the largest and most important of all our catfishes. It —is,found throughout the Mississippi Valley and the Gulf States in a the larger streams and lakes and bayous. It is_ particularly abundant along the lower Mississippi, and in the Atchafalaya River in Louisiana, from one to two million pounds being shipped annually from the latter stream. It is not certainly known whether this fish 1s distinct from the large catfish of the Great Lakes. The blue cat attains an immense size. The largest specimen on record weighed 150 pounds, and was caught in the Mississippi at St. Louis. Examples weighing 80 to 100 pounds have not been infrequent. Very large individuals are not often seen now, however. Of 374 examples weighed and about 2,000 others examined at Morgan City, Louisiana, in 1897, the largest (a ripe female) weighed 35 pounds, but the average weight was uy) The Blue Cat only a few pounds. The species reaches a maximum length of five feet. The most important fishery for the blue cat is in the Atcha- falaya River, and the industry centres chiefly at Morgan City. The methods of the fishery are interesting and merit a brief de- scription. Ordinarily the fishing season extends from September to May, though some fishing may continue throughout the year. Practically all the fishing is done with ‘‘trot lines” and ‘‘brush lines.” The length of the former may vary from a few rods to more than a mile, depending upon the character of the body of water in which it is set. The snoods are usually 18 inches long, and placed 3 feet apart. All river fishing during fall and winter is done at the bottom, while lake fishing is at the surface. The bait used is classed as ‘‘live bait” and ‘‘cut bait,” the former consisting chiefly of fish such as the hickory shad, mooneye, etc., and crawfish. The ‘‘shad” are the best bait, and 100 of them are said to be worth 200 or 300 crawfish. Though the crawfish will live longer on the hook, the ‘‘shad” is more tempting. ‘‘Cut bait” consists of larger examples of these and other fishes cut into the proper size. Eels are said to make ex- cellent cut bait, but are hard to get. Live bait is most used from September to November, inclusive, November being the best month. It is preferred to cut bait at any time, but can be obtained in quantity only in the fall. Live bait is used, however, whenever it can be gotten, and occasionally a fisherman is fortunate enough to secure good supplies during the spring fishing. These fish are influenced in their movements by the tem- perature of the water. During the winter they come farther down the river where the water is warmest, and in the summer they run farther up stream or into deeper water. During the spring rise in the Mississippi hundreds of square miles of the adjacent country become flooded, and then the catfish leave the rivers, lakes and bayous, and ‘‘take to the woods.” Here the fishermen follow them, and ‘‘ woods” or ‘‘swamp”’ fishing is resorted to. Short ‘‘ brush” lines with single hooks are tied to limbs of trees here and there through the forest, in such a way as to allow the hook to hang about six inches under water. The trees selected are usually those along the edges of the ‘‘float’’ roads, and, that he may readily find his lines again, the fisherman ties a white rag to each tree to which he has attached a line. 18 The Blue Cat The lines are visited daily, or as often as practicable, and the fish are piaced in a live-box, where they are kept until the tug- boats from Morgan City make their regular collecting trips. Then they are transferred to the very large live-boxes or cars carried in tow by the tugs, and are taken to Morgan City, where the fish are dressed, put in barrels with ice, and shipped to the retailers in many States of the Union. In spite of popular prejudice to the contrary, the flesh of this catfish is of excellent quality, firm and flaky, of very delicious flavour, nutritious in a high degree, and always commanding a fair price. Of all the catfishes it is the one most deserving of cultiva- - tion and popular favour, and which could with profit be introduced into other countries. This, however, would probably not meet with the approval of Punch, if we may judge by the following protest printed in that periodical, apropos the proposed introduction of the catfish into England. ‘“ Oh, do not bring the Catfish here! The Catfish is a name | fear. Oh, spare each stream and spring, The Kennet swift, the Wandle clear, The lake, the loch, the broad, the mere, From that detested thing! ‘* The Catfish is a hideous beast, A bottom-feeder that doth feast Upon unholy bait; He’s no addition to your meal, He’s rather richer than the eel; And ranker than the skate. ‘* His face is broad, and flat, and glum; He’s like some monstrous miller’s thumb; He’s bearded like the pard. Beholding him the grayling flee, The trout take refuge in the sea, The gudgeons go on guard. ** He grows into a startling size; The British matron ’twould surprise And raise her burning blush ue) The Blue Cat To see white catfish as large as man, Through what the bards call ‘water wan,’ Come with an ugly rush! ‘¢ They say the Catfish climbs the trees, And robs the roosts, and down the breeze Prolongs his catterwaul. Oh, leave him in his western flood Where the Mississippi churns the mud; Don't bring him here at all!” The spawning season of the blue cat in Louisiana is during the months of April and May. Out of 374 fish examined at Morgan City, Louisiana, April 22-24, more than 94 per cent. were spent fish or fish ready to spawn. In Louisiana this, the most valuable of all our catfishes, is known as the blue cat or poisson bleu. Elsewhere in the Mississippi Valley it is the Mississippi cat, the great forktailed cat ot chucklehead cat. Whether the names Florida cat, flannel- mouth cat, etc., apply to this species is not certain, as the blue cat and the large northern catfish (Ameiurus lacustris) have not been clearly differentiated. Head 4 to 44 in length of body; depth 4 to 5; D.I, 6; A. 323; distance from tip of snout to origin of dorsal fin 2% in body; greatest width of head 14 in its length; interorbital width 2, equalling width of mouth; maxillary barbel not reaching beyond head ; humeral process about 4 length of pectoral spine; anal base nearly 4 longer than head, or 4 length of body; head small; mouth narrow; eye small, wholly anterior, the middle of the head being behind its posterior margin; dorsal a little nearer snout than adipose fin; caudal deeply forked, the upper lobe usually longer and narrower than the lower. Colour, dull olivaceous blue o1 slaty, pale or whitish below, without spots anywhere; barbels usually the colour of the body, rarely black. 20 The Channel Cat Channel Cat; Spotted Cat Ictalurus punctatus (Rafinesque) Rivers of the Great Lakes region and the Mississippi Valley, and streams tributary to the Gulf of Mexico; generally abundant in the channels of the larger streams, especially southwestward. The channel cat has frequently been confused with the pre- ceding species, and its geographic distribution and size have not been definitely made out. It is certain, however, that while the blue cat is a fish of sluggish waters and the lowlands, the channel cat prefers the flowing water of the clearer, purer streams. It does not reach so great a size as the blue cat; the largest the writers have seen was about 2 feet long. It is doubtful if this species exceeds 25 or 30 pounds in weight. It is not nearly so abundant as the blue cat in the Atchafalaya River and elsewhere in the South, but in the Wabash, the Tennessee, Cumberland and Gasconade, it is the more common species. The manner of its capture is the same as for the blue cat. It is a trimmer, more active fish than any of the related species, and, living as it does in clearer, more swiftly-flowing water, it is more cleanly in its habits, and its flesh is rather firmer, more flaky, and possibly somewhat better in flavour than is that of any other catfish. The spawning time in the South begins in early April, while in the Wabash it is in June. Head 4 in length of body; depth 5; body long and slender, the back little elevated; A. 25 to 30; head rather small, narrow, 21 The Eel Cat and convex above, so that the eye is little nearer the upper than the lower outline; eye moderate, the posterior edge of the orbit at middle point of head; mouth small and narrow; barbels long, that on maxillary usually reaching beyond gill-opening; spines long; humeral process long and slender, more than half length of pectoral spine, which is strongly serrate behind. Colour, light olivaceous or bluish above, paler on sides, the belly white or silvery ; sides usually, perhaps always, with irregular, small, round blackish spots; fins often with dark edgings. Eel Cat; Willow Cat Ictalurus anguilla Evermann & Kendall This interesting catfish was originally described from the Atchafalaya River, but has since been seen by us in the Ohio at Louisville. It does not appear to be a very common species, not more than thirty examples having as yet been noted. It is, how- ever, well known to the Atchafalaya fishermen, by whom it is prized equally with the blue and channel cats. Its spawning time in Louisiana is in April and May. Head 4; depth 4.5; eye 7; snout 2.8; maxillary (without barbel) 3; free portion of maxillary barbel longer than head; D. I], 6; A. 24; vertebre 42; dorsal spine 2 in head; pectoral spine 2; width of mouth 2. Head large, broad and heavy; mouth un- usually broad; cheeks and postocular portion of top of head very prominent ; interorbital space flat; body stout, compressed pos- teriorly, back scarcely elevated; base of dorsal 3.5 in head; longest dorsal ray 1.75 in head; dorsal spine strong, entire on both sides; pectoral spine strong, entire in front, a series of strong retrorse serre béhind ; humeral process 2.2 in pectoral spine; ventrals 22 snsopnqou snampomy ‘CVAHTING NONWOO SYDIDU SHANIAMY ‘LVO MOTICA Snsojnqgau snAéniMy ‘AVAHTINGA NOWWOO or i a ie ie > oe a vss ty . Px er x r ee pian Ris MY is oes 4 The Bullheads barely reaching anal; caudal moderately forked. Colour, uniform pale-yellowish or olivaceous, no spots anywhere. Length 18 inches or less; weight, 3 to 5 pounds. There is a fourth species of this genus in American waters— I. meridionalis, known only from the Rio Usumacinta, in southern Mexico, but nothing is known of its game _ or ‘food qualities, nor is it certain that the species is not, like Am- eiurus dugesi, a fork-tailed Amezurus. GENUS -AMEIURUS RAFINESQUE The Bullheads Body rather stout, the caudal peduncle much compressed ; head large and wide; mouth large, the upper jaw usually the longer; teeth in broad bands on the premaxillaries and dentaries; band on upper jaw convex in front, of uniform width, and without backward prolongation at angle; anal fin of varying length, with 15 to 35 rays; caudal fin truncate in most species, forked in some. Species several, swarming in every pond and sluggish stream in the Eastern United States and the Mississippi Valley; one or more species introduced on our Pacific Coast, where they are now abundant; one species occurring in China. The species are very variable and not easy to identify. The lack of connection between the supraoccipital and the interspinal buckler is the only charac- teristic by which this genus can be separated from /ctalurus. Most of the species are small, but they all possess a certain food value and some reach a large size. The species may be distinguished by means of the following key : a. Caudal fin lunate or forked. PewAmal rays 25. tO. 35-2-- --+- eee tee ce ee eens tees lacustris, 24 Bee AMaly FAVS 19 110) 24) 5006+ sok ee eye pate see lee: catus, 25 aa. Caudal fin entire, truncate, or slightly emarginate behind. c. Anal fin long, of 23 to 27 rays (counting rudiments), its base more than 4 body;....-.+- seer veer eceeenee cers natalis, 25 The Great Lakes Catfish cc. Anal fin moderate, or short, of 15 to 22 rays, its base 4 to 5 in body. ad. Lower jaw’ projecting 32.20 Gee. =. wee var ook - a) Oe dd. Lower jaw not projecting. e. Body rather robust, the depth in adult 3} to 4} in length; head not very flat. f. Pectoral spine long, 2 to 2}in head; anal rays more than 20; BL yeed ig Wisc: Ve eae leas SUSPCUe eT ete tes Eee wee ema sie'e +s < HCDULOSHS IIE ff. Pectoral spine short, 2} to 3 in head; anal short, its rays only 17 to 19, Counting” TUdinTeMisy ete et eee melas, 30 ee. Body slender and low, varying with age, the depth 5} to 8 in length; head in adult broad and very flat;....platycephalus, 31 Great Lakes Catfish Ameturus lacustris (Walbaum) Arctic America and southward, in the Great Lakes and else- where. The Southern habitat (Florida, Louisiana) currently assigned to this species has resulted from a confusion of this species with the blue cat (/ctalurus furcatus), and it is not certain just what its range really is. It is probably chiefly or even entirely confined to the Great Lakes and northward, including possibly the upper Mississipi. Nor is it certain what size this species attains. Very large individuals have been seen by the writers in Green Bay, Wisconsin, weighing 20 to 35 pounds. The large ones noted from the South doubtless belonged to the blue cat. At present the best that can be said is that this species is apparently best represented in the Great Lakes and that it there attains a weight of 15 to 35 pounds. It is a fish of considerable commercial importance, and is usually taken on set lines. It is espe- cially abundant in the northern part of Lake Michigan. In the lakes of British America it is also abundant and its Indian names mean ‘‘ugly-fish,”” while the trappers have called it the ‘‘land cod.” Head 4 in length; depth 5; D:I,,5; A. 25 to 325) Plo ueeam rather stout; head broad, 2 its length; interorbital width more than half length of head; width of mouth 2 in head; eye moderate, wholly in front of middle of head; top of head quite flat, so that the eyes are much nearer the upper than the lower surface; bar- bels long, the maxillary barbel reaching beyond head; humeral process short and blunt, about 4 length of pectoral spine; caudal 24 — The White Cat; Potomac Cat deeply forked, the upper lobe rather longer and narrower than the lower; -origin of dorsal a little nearer snout than adipose fin; anal base as long as head. Colour, olivaceous slaty, growing darker with age; sides pale, no spots; anal dusky on edge; barbels black. White Cat: Potomac Cat Ameturus catus (Linnzus) Delaware River to Texas, most common in the coastwise streams and swamps, especially in the Potomac and about Chesa- peake Bay, and in Florida. It has been introduced into California, where it is becoming abundant. As a commercial fish it ranks with the Great Lakes catfish, and always finds a ready sale at fair prices. The adult fishes are remarkable for their wide head and large mouth. Anal rays 19 to 22, base of anal 44 to 5 in body. Body stout, slender in young, the head very broad in the adult ; barbels long, except the nasal; caudal fin deeply forked, the upper lobe the longer; humeral process extremely rugose; dorsal fin inserted about midway between snout and adipose fin. Colour, pale olivaceous or bluish, silvery below, without dark spots, but ‘sometimes mottled or clouded. Length 2 feet or less. Yellow Cat Ameturus natalis (Le Sueur) Great Lakes southward to Virginia and Texas. This catfish is one of the most common and best known fishes throughout its range. It is usually abundant and extremely variable, several different varieties having been recognized, ll agreeing in the long anal of 24 to 27 rays and the squarely cut caudal fin. We are not sure that Amerurus lividus, the common yellow cat, is not different from the short and chubby original A. natalts. We have seen the latter in the United States National Museum but have never taken it in life. The yellow cat rarely reaches a weight of more than a pound or two, and is usually not distinguished by fishermen from the com- mon bullhead and the black bullhead. All three species frequent similar waters and all are often found in the same stream or lake. 25 The Bullpout; Common Catfish A. 24 to 27. Body rather short and chubby; head short and broad ; mouth wide, the jaws subequal. Colour, yellowish, more or less clouded with darker. Length 12 to 18 inches. Bullpout; Common Catfish Ameturus vulgaris (Thompson) Vermont to Minnesota and Illinois, chiefly northward; not rare, although by no means the common species as its name would denote. This species closely resembles the common bullhead, not only in structure and general appearance, but in habits as well. It is frequently taken in Lake Champlain and the smaller lakes and ponds of that region, and is of considerable value as a pan-fish. Head 34 to 4; depth 4} to 5; A. 20. Body moderately long; head longer than broad, rather narrow forward; mouth wide; barbels long; profile rather steep, evenly convex, the dorsal region more or less less elevated; lower jaw more or less distinctly projecting; in other respects scarcely distinct from the common bullhead with which it may intergrade. Colour, dark reddish brown or blackish. Length 18 inches. Common Bullhead; Horned Pout Ameturus nebulosus (Le Sueur) Head 3% in length of body; depth 4 to 44; eye 74 in head; snout 23; D.1,7; A. 21 or 22. Body rather more elongate than ~ in the yellow cat or in the black bullhead; head heavy; upper jaw usually distinctly longer than the lower; humeral process more than half length of pectoral spine, which is rather long; dorsal in- serted somewhat nearer adipose fin than tip of snout; base of anal fin about 4 length of body. Colour, dark yellowish-brown, more or less clouded with darker; sometimes the colour is quite black. Length a foot to 18 inches. This species ranges from Maine westward through the Great Lakes to North Dakota, and southward to Florida and Texas. In the East and North it is the common bullhead or horned pout; in Pennsylvania it is the Schuylkill cat; and everywhere, the small catfish. It is usually abundant in every pond or small lake and in 26 a The Common Bullhead; Horned Pout many streams. It has been introduced into many rivers of the West,—particularly the Sacramento, San Joaquin, Gila, Humboldt, and certain small lakes of southern Oregon, in all of which it readily established itself and is now exceedingly abundant. The species is quite variable. While this species does not usually much exceed a foot or 15 inches in length, and one or two pounds in weight, examples are sometimes taken several inches longer, and weighing 4 to 6, or even 7 pounds. ‘‘The horned pout,’’ says Thoreau, ‘‘are dull and blundering fellows, fond of the mud and growing best in weedy ponds and rivers without current. They stay near the bottom, moving slowly about with their barbels widely spread, watching for anything eat- able. They will take any kind of bait, from an angleworm to a piece of tomato can, without hesitation or coquetry, and they seldom fail to swallow the hook. They are very tenacious of life, opening and shutting their mouths for half an hour after their heads have been taken off. They spawn in spring and the old fishes lead the young in great schools near the shore, caring for them as a hen cares for her chickens. A bloodthirsty and bullying set of rangers with ever a lance at rest and ready to do battle with their nearest neighbour.” The following description of the habits of the common bull- head, written as a burlesque by George W. Peck, gives a vivid and truthful idea of the life history and game qualities of this fish: “It seems that the action of the Milwaukee common council in withdrawing the use of the water works from the fish commis- sioners will put a stop to the hatching of whitefish. This is as it should be. The whitefish is an aristocratic fish that will not bite a hook, and the propagation of this species is wholly in the in- terest of the wealthy owners of fishing tubs, who have nets. By strict attention to business they can catch all of the whitefish out of the lake a little faster than the State machine can put them in. Poor people cannot get a smell of whitefish. The same may be said of brook trout. While they will bite a hook, it requires more machinery to catch them than ordinary people can possess with- out mortgaging a house. A man has got to have a morocco book of expensive flies, a fifteen-dollar bamboo jointed rod, a three- dollar trout basket, with a hole mortised in the top, a corduroy suit made in the latest style, top boots of the Wellington pattern, 27 The Common Bullhead; Horned Pout with red tassels in the straps, and a flask of Otard brandy ina side pocket. Unless a man is got up in that style a speckled trout will see him in Chicago first, and then it won’t bite. The brook trout is even more aristocratic than the whitefish, and should not be propagated at public expense. ‘* But there are fish that should be propagated in the interest of the people. There is a species of fish that never looks at the clothes of the man who throws in the bait, a fish that takes what- ever is thrown to it, and when once hold of the hook never tries to shake a friend, but submits to the inevitable, crosses its legs and says, ‘Now I lay me,’ and comes out on the bank and seems to enjoy being taken. It is a fish that is a friend of the poor, and one that will sacrifice itself in the interest of humanity. That is the fish that the State should adopt as its trade-mark, and cultivate friendly relations with, and stand by. We allude to the bullhead. ‘The bullhead never went back on a friend. To catch the bullhead it is not necessary to tempt his appetite with porter- house steak, or to display an expensive lot of fishing tackle. A pin hook, a piece of liver, and a cistern pole is all the capital required to catch a bullhead. He lies upon the bottom of a stream or pond in the mud, thinking. There is no fish that does more thinking, or has a better head for grasping great questions, or chunks of liver, than the bullhead. His brain is large, his heart beats for humanity, and if he can’t get liver, a piece of tin tomato can will make a meal for him. It is an interesting study to watch a boy catch a bull- head. The boy knows where the bullhead congregates, and when he throws in his hook it is dollars_to buttons that ‘in the near future’ he will get a bite. ‘*The bullhead is democratic in all its instincts. If the boy’s shirt is sleeveless, his hat crownless, and his pantaloons a bottom- less pit, the bullhead will bite just as well as though the boy is dressed in purple and fine linen, with knee-breeches and plaid stockings. The bullhead seems to be dozing on the muddy bottom, and a stranger would say that he would not bite. But wait. There is a movement of his continuation, and his cow-catcher moves gently toward the piece of liver. He does not wait to smell of it, and canvass in his mind whether the liver is fresh. It makes no difference to him. He argues that here is a family out of meat. ‘My country calls and I must go,’ says the bullhead to himself, and he opens his mouth and the liver disappears. 28 The Common Bullhead; Horned Pout ‘“‘It is not certain that the boy will think of his bait for half an hour, but the bullhead is in no hurry. He is in the mud and pro- ceeds to digest the liver. He realizes that his days will not be long in the land, or water more properly speaking, and he argues that if he swallows the bait and digests it before the boy pulls him out, he will be just so much ahead, Finally, the boy thinks of his bait, pulls it out, and the bullhead is ilanded on the bank, and the boy cuts him open to get the hook out. Some fish only take the bait gingerly, and are only caught around the selvage of the mouth, and they are comparatively easy to dislodge. Not so with the bullhead. He says if liver is a good thing, you can't have too much of it, and it tastes good all the way down. The boy gets down on his knees to dissect the bullhead, and get his hook, and it may be that the boy swears. It would not bé astonish- ing, though he must feel, when he gets his hook out of the hidden recesses of the bullhead like the minister who took up a collection and didn’t get a cent, though he expressed thanks at getting his hat back. There is one drawback to the bullhead, and that is his horns. We doubt if a boy ever descended into the patent insides of a bullhead to mine for limerick hooks, that did not, before his work was done, run a horn into his vital Danis) » But the boy seems to expect it, and the bullhead enjoys it. We have seen a bullhead lie on the bank and become dry, and to all appearances dead to all that was going on, and when a boy sat down on him and got a horn in his elbow and yelled murder, the bullhead would grin from ear to ear, and wag his tail as though applauding for an encore. ‘‘The bullhead never complains. We have seen a boy take a dull knife and proceed to follow a fish line down a bullhead from head to the end of his subsequent anatomy, and all the time there would be an expression of sweet peace on _ the countenance of the bullhead, as though he enjoyed it. If we were preparing a picture representing ‘Resignation,’ for a chromo to give to subscribers, and wished to represent a scene of suf- ering in which the sufferer was light-hearted, seeming to recog- nize that all was for the best, we should take for the subject a bullhead, with a boy searching with a knife for a long-lost fish hook. ‘*The bullhead is a fish that has no scales, but in lieu thereof has a fine India-rubber skin, that is as far ahead of ay The Black Bullhead fiddle-string material for strength and durability as possible. The meat of the bullhead is not as choice as that of the mackerel, but it fills up a stomach just as well, and The Sun insists that the fish commissioners shall drop the hatching of aristocratic fish and give the bullheads a chance.” Black Bullhead Ametiurus melas (Rafinesque) This is our smallest species of Amezurus, and rarely exceeds 6 to 10 inches in length. It is found in brooks, ponds and lakes, from northern New York westward to Kansas and Nebraska, and south to Texas, and is usually abundant, especially west of the Mississippi. It closely resembles the common _bullhead, but can usually be easily distinguished by the smaller anal fin, the light rays and dark membranes of the anal fin, and the smaller size. : Its habits are essentially those of the related species. It thrives in small ponds, especially in those with muck bottom, and on this species in Wyoming County, New York, the senior writer made his first experiments in fish-culture. Head 33 in length of body; depth 34 to 43; A. 17 to 19. Body very short and deep; head broad behind, rather contracted anteriorly, the front steeply elevated; pectoral spine short, 2} to 3 in head; base of anal fin short, only about +4 length of body; jaws nearly equal; barbels longer than head; humeral process rather long and rough. Colour, almost black, often varying to yellowish 3° The Flatheaded Cat; Brown Cat and brown; anal rays white, in marked contrast with the dusky membranes. Flatheaded Cat; Brown Cat Ameturus platycephalus (Girard) Head 34; depth 5} to 8; A. 16 to 20. Body extremely long, mesially nearly round; head low, flat and broad, especially in old examples, its width 3 to 5 in length of body; upper jaw strongly projecting; dorsal fin high, 2% length of head, its spine nearer snout than adipose fin; caudal fin emarginate. Colour, clear olive brown, varying into yellowish or greenish; a dark horizontal bar at base of dorsal. Length 15 to 18 inches. This is the most slender species of the genus, and is almost entirely herbivorous as to its food, its elongate intestine being usually well-filled with water plants. It is abundant in the streams of the Carolinas and Georgia from Cape Fear to the Chattahoochee. It is regarded as a good food-fish. GENUS LEPTOPS” RAPINESOUE Mud Cats Body elongate, slender, and much depressed anteriorly; head large, very wide, and depressed; skin very thick, entirely con- cealing the skull; eye small; mouth very large, the lower jaw always projecting beyond the upper; teeth in broad villiform bands on the premaxilliaries and dentaries; adipose fin large, its long base over posterior half of anal; anal fin small; caudal 31 The Mud Cat oblong, subtruncate, with numerous accessory rays, recurrent above and behind; pectoral with a_ broad, compressed __ spine, serrated on both margins, and with a prolonged fleshy integu- ment, obliquely striated. Only one species known. Mud Cat; Goujon Leptops olivaris (Rafinesque) Body slender, depressed anteriorly; the head very flat, the lower jaw projecting; barbels short; dorsal spine very weak, half the length of the fin; caudal slightly emarginate; anal short, of 12 to 15 rays; humeral process short. Colour, yellowish, more or less mottled with brown and greenish; paler below. The goujon is a large, coarse fish, said to reach a length of 5 feet, and a weight of 100 pounds. A ripe female examined by us at Morgan City, Louisiana, was 41 inches long and weighed 46 pounds. This fish dressed 27 pounds. Another, 38 inches long, weighed 37 pounds, and still another 37 inches long weighed 364 pounds. This species is found in all suitable waters throughout the Mississippi Valley and in the Gulf States from Alabama west and south to Chihuahua. It is a fish of the lowlands, and is most abundant in the lower courses of the large streams and in the bayous and overflow ponds of the lower Mississippi Valley. It is perhaps most plentiful in the lowlands of Arkansas, West Tennessee and Louisiana. In the Atchafalaya River it is, next to the blue cat, the most important food fish. It is caught in the same ways during the same seasons, and is dressed and marketed in the same manner. Its flesh is of fine texture and of exellent flavour, and there is no really good reason for the prejudice against it which obtains in many localities. The fact that it is a large, rather repulsive looking fish, not 32 The Stone Cats any too cleanly in its habits doubtless has somewhat to do with this prejudice. In different parts of its range, the goujon is known by many vernacular names, In Louisiana it is called the goujon or yellow cat, and the latter name is in common use throughout most of its habitat. In the South it is known as the ‘‘ pieded cat,” Opelousas cat, and mud cat, the last of these being also generally used in the North, where it is also called granny cat. The names Bashaw and Russian cat are sometimes heard, but their origin has not been explained. The goujon is more voracious than the blue cat, and large individuals are apt to feed upon small ones of the latter species when confined in the same live-box. To prevent this, it is said that the fishermen sometimes sew up with wire the mouths of the very large goujon. We have seen, on the Rock Castle River, in Kentucky, the blue cat used as live bait on hooks set for. the goujon. Occasionally large catfishes, of this species and the blue cat, crawl into the hollow cypress logs which are usually left in the water until ready to be sawed. The catfish may be unable to pass on through the log, and, being unable to turn around or back out, remains in the log until it is placed on the carriage, and the pres- ence of the fish is then discovered by the saw crashing into it The spawning season of the goujon in Louisiana seems to be during April and the early part of May. As we proceed north- ward it is correspondingly later, being as late as June in the north- ern part of its range. ‘Don’t talk to me o’ bacon fat, Or taters, coon or 'possum; Fo’ when I’se hooked a yaller cat, I’se got a meal to boss ’em.” —The Darkey and the Catfish. GENUS NOTURUS RAFINESQUE Stone Cats Teeth as in Leptops, the band in the upper jaw having a backward prolongation on each side from the outer posterior angle; 33 The Stone Cat; Little Yellow Cat adipose fin adnate to the back; a poison gland at the base of the pectoral spine. This genus, which contains but a single species, is close to Schilbeodes (the mad-toms), the species all having the poison gland and the adnate adipose fin, and all being small fish, lurk- ing among weeds in stony brooks. Stone Cat: Little Yellow Cat Noturus flavus Rafinesque Head about 4} in length, its width 53; depth 5%; dis- tance from snout to origin of dorsal about 3 in length; A. about 16. Body elongate, the head depressed, broad and flat, nearly as broad as long; middle of body subcylindrical; caudal peduncle compressed; a strong keel on back between dorsal fin and adipose fin, the latter deeply notched; dorsal spine very short; pectoral spine retrorsely serrate in front, slightly rough or nearly entire behind, its length 4 distance from snout to origin of dorsal; caudal rounded behind; humeral process very short and sharp. Colour, nearly uniform yellowish brown, sometimes blackish above; fins edged with yellow. Length, a foot or more.’ Great Lakes region, and westward and south to Montana, Wyoming and Texas, rather common, especially westward. This is the only one of the catfishes with adnate adipose fin attaining sufficient size to give it any food value. Ordinarily it is used as food only in those regions where food fishes are not numerous. Related to the stone cat, are in America, ten or a dozen species of small catfishes belonging to the genus Schzlbeodes, and known as mad toms. They are all very small, none of them ex- 34 The Stone Cat; Little Yellow Cat ceeding three or four inches in length, all have the poison gland well developed, and are able to inflict a very painful wound with the pectoral spine, They live usually in shallow water, in running streams, or lakes, and may often be found hidden under small rocks or other objects affording protection. The species of Schilbeodes occur only in the Eastern United States from Vermont to Florida and west to the Dakotas and south to Texas. Istlarius balsanus is an important food-fish in Morelos and the Mexican States to the Southwest, through which the Rio Balsas flows. In size and appearance it resembles the channel cat. In Jalisco, and in all tributaries of the Rio Lerma and Rio Santiago, Ameiurus dugesi is very common, being in size and value as well as in appearance similar to Ameiurus catus. The Mexicans call all catfishes Bagre. Those in the streams are Bagre del Rio. 35 THE SUGKERS Family IV. Catostomide Bopy elongate, usually more or less compressed; head rather conical; opercles normally developed; nostrils double; no barbels; mouth usually greatly protractile and with fleshy lips; jaws toothless; lower pharyngeal bones falciform, armed with a single series of numerous comb-like teeth; branchiostegals 3; gill-mem- branes more or less united to the isthmus, restricting the gill- openings to the sides; gills 4, a slit behind the fourth; pseudo- branchiae present; scales cycloid; lateral line decurved, sometimes absent; head naked; fins not scaly; dorsal fin comparatively long (of 10 to 30 rays); anal fin short; pectorals placed low; ventrals abdominal; no adipose fin; fins without true spines; alimentary canal long; stomach simple and without pyloric coeca; air-bladder large, divided into 2 or 3 parts by transverse constrictions. The sucker family is a large one, embracing some 15 genera and more than 70 species, 2 of which occur in Eastern Asia, while the others are inhabitants of the fresh waters of North America. The members of this family are very widely distributed over the United States, there being scarcely a State which has not several species, and at least two extend their range far into Canada and Alaska, while others are found southward into Mexico. The family includes not only the species commonly known as suckers, but also those known as tedhorses, buffaloes, quill- backs, and freshwater mullets. Most of the species do not exceed a weight of 4 or 5 pounds, though some of them reach an immense size. As food fishes they do not occupy a high rank. Though the flesh is well flavoured, it is exceedingly full of bundles of small fagot-bones, which are very troublesome to one who attempts to eat it. The great abundance and the large size of many of the species, however, render them of considerable commercial importance, thus entitling them to a place in this work. 30 The Suckers .~ None of the species has any rank as a game fish. They rarely or never take a hook, except on set-lines. The methods employed in their ,capture are varied, but haul-seines, gill-nets, pounds and other traps, and set-lines are the kinds of apparatus in most general use. The habits of all the species are much the same. They are all bottom feeders, feeding chiefly upon vegetation and the less active and soft forms of smaller animal life such as worms, larve, and eggs of various kinds. They are all spring spawners, and nearly all have the habit of running up stream at spawning time. Illinois is called the *‘Sucker State” because its first settlers came up the river in the spring when the suckers were running. Only the genera and species of some commercial importance are considered at length. a. Dorsal fin long, with 24 to 30 rays; air-bladder in 2 parts. b. Fontanelle present; body ovate; scales large. c. Mouth large, more or less terminal, protractile forward. Large Sects eaten COIOL cs. uh fae fe gh es ee Ictiobus, 38 cc. Mouth small, inferior, protractile. downward. Smaller species of pale coloration ;. : . Carptodes, 41 bb. Fontanelle obliterated ‘by ‘the union of the "parietal bones; Paonia FONTS AC Cie rena ete ta rata are ae 1a ie heya oe te Cycleptus, 44 aa. Dorsal fin short, with only 1:0 to 18 rays. d. Air bladder in two parts. e. Lateral line complete; scales small, 55 to 115 in lateral line. f. Fontanelle nearly or quite obliterated in adult; jaws with hard sheaths; posterior division of air bladder slender; Pantosteus, 45 ff. Fontanelle broad and evident at all stages of growth; posterior division of air bladder broad. g. Nuchal region without a hump, the interneural spines normally developed. h. Mouth small, inferior, with thick papillose lips;..Catosfomus, 46 hh. Mouth very large, terminal, oblique; lips thin and nearly smooth. peGiliakers simple, frnee-like} 25-005. sete as Chasmrstes, 54 7. Gillrakers broad, shaped like the Greek letter ZS (delta), their Eamesnentikex and. UNabinied sn. 2h aateters abies a Deltistes, 57 gg. Nuchal region with a high, sharp- edged hump;..Xvrauchen, 57 ee. Lateral line interrupted or wanting; scales large, 40 to 50 in a longitudinal series. j. Lateral line entirely wanting;......-..-.-..++.--. Erimyzon, 58 jj. Lateral line more or less egeloned: eopecaih in adult; Minytrema, 59 37 The Buffalo Fishes dd. Air bladder in three parts. k. Mouth normal, the lower lip entire or merely lobed. /. Pharyngeal bones moderate, the teeth compressed, gradually larger downWatd>2-—- 22. een ee Moxostoma, Il, Pharyngeal bones very strong, with the lower teeth much en- larged, subcylindrical and truncate;....... Placopharynx, 64 kk. Mouth singular, the upper lip not protractile, greatly en- larged, the lower lip developed as two separate lobes.... Lagochila, 65 GENUS ICTIOBUS RAFINESQUE The Buffalo Fishes Body robust; head very large and strong; fontanelle large; well-open; opercular apparatus well developed, the subopercle broad, the opercle strongly furrowed; mouth large, terminal, pro- tractile; mandible strongly oblique; lips little developed, the upper narrow and smooth, the lower full on the sides, but narrow in front; pharyngeal bones rather weak, the _ teeth numerous; scales large, thick, and nearly equal over the body; lateral line well developed, slightly decurved anteriorly; dorsal rays numerous, the anterior somewhat elevated; caudal not much forked. Large, coarse fishes, usually dark in colour, inhabiting chiefly the larger rivers and some of the small lakes of the Mississippi Valley. Only four species known, the three following and a fourth from Guatemala. a. Mouth large, terminal, protractile forward; lips very thin; lower pharyngeals and teeth weak;........ cyprinella,. 39 aa. Mouth smaller, more or less inferior, protractile downward, and with thicker lips; lower pharyngeals stronger, the teeth comparatively coarse and large. b. Back scarcely elevated, the depth 3 to 34 in length. c. Mouth rather large and oblique, approaching that of /. cvprinella, more oblique. than inthe) Mext;.-3- 3-5 ee ke Bae -UurUus, 40 cc. Mouth small,’ inferior: 3: - cesee- se erie aeee re meridionalis, 41 bb. Back elevated and compressed, the depth 23 to 2$ in length; bubalus, 41 38 The Buffalo Fishes Common Buffalo Fish Ictiobus cyprinella (Cuvier & Valenciennes) This species reaches a length of 3 feet, and a weight of 50 pounds or more. In certain lakes in the Mississippi Valley (notably Lake Washington, Minnesota and the Okeboji lakes in northwestern Iowa) extraordinary runs of very large buffalo fish occur occasion- ally. These runs take place in the spring at the spawning time of the fish, and usually at the time of a heavy rain when the tribu- tary streams are full and the connecting marshes are flooded. Then these fish come up from the lake, in great numbers, crowding the inlets and spreading over the flooded marshes. They remain only a few days, and soon disappear as suddenly and mysteri- ously as they came; but their brief stay has been long enough to permit great slaughter by the farmers of the surrounding country, who kill great numbers with pitchforks, clubs and other primitive weapons, and haul them away in wagon loads. After returning to the lakes nothing more is seen of them until the next spring, or possibly not for several years. In these northern lakes these fish rarely or never take the hook, nor can they be _ successfully gilled, but in the lower Mississippi Valley they are frequently taken on set-lines baited with balls of dough. In Louisiana, where they are known as the gourdhead buffalo, they are of considerable commercial interest. The flesh, though 39 The Buffalo Fishes nutritious, is coarse and not highly flavoured. This species is also known as the red-mouthed buffalo, and big-mouthed buffalo. Head 31; depth 2). to @s 7m 32g 020 e296 a8 OO; eee 7-37 to 41-6. Body stout, moderately compressed, the outline somewhat elliptical, but the back rather more curved than the belly; opercular apparatus very strong, the opercle itself nearly half length of head. Colour, dull brownish-olive, not silvery; fins dusky. Black Buffalo; Mongrel Buffalo Ictiobus urus (Agassiz) This species is close to the common buffalo, from which it can be distinguished by its smaller, more oblique mouth, and its much darker colour. It occurs throughout the Mississippi Valley in the larger streams, it being most abundant in those of the South, where it is said to spawn in March and April. It reaches a weight of 5 to 35 pounds, and resembles the preceding species in habits and food value. In Louisiana it is sometimes called ‘“chopper.” Head very stout, about 4 in length, strongly convex; depth 3 to 31; eye about equal to snout, 5} in head; D. 30; A. 10; scales 8-41-7. Body much less elevated and less compressed, the head thicker, larger and less pointed, and the eye much smaller than in the small-mouthed buffalo; back not at all carinated; axis of body above ventrals about at the lateral line, and but little farther from the dorsal outline than from the ventral; mouth large, well forward, considerably oblique, approaching that of the common buffalo; mandible longer than the eye; premaxilliaries somewhat below the suborbital; dorsal fin low and less rapidly shortened than in the next species, the longest ray scarcely half as long as base of fin; anal rounded, its rays not rapidly shortened, the middle ones not much shorter than the longest. Colour, very dark, the fins almost black. Small-mouthed Buffalo; White Buffalo Ictiobus bubalus (Rafinesque) This is the most abundant and best known of all the buffalo fishes. It reaches a weight of 35 pounds or more and 40 The Carp Suckers a length of 3 feet. It is found in all the larger rivers of the Mississippi Basin and in some of the small lakes, where its habits are essentially the same as those of the big-mouthed buffalo, the latter species, however, being less of a bottom feeder than either of the two others here described: In the South all three species spawn in March and April; as we go northward the spawning season is correspondingly later, it being in May and June in Minnesota and Wisconsin. fiend, 4 depth, 25; snout 34; eye 5; D. 28° or 29; A. 10 or 11; V. 10; scales 8 or 9-35 to 39-5 or 6, 12 or 13 before the dorsal. Body short and compressed, the dorsal strongly arched and subcarinate from occiput to origin of dorsal fin; ventral out- line only slightly convex; head small; mouth small, subinferior, and protractile downward; lips papillose; opercle strongly striate; caudal peduncle deep and compressed, its least depth 12 in head; axis of body above the ventrals, below the lateral line, and nearly twice as far from back as from belly; fins moderate, the first 7 or 8 dorsal rays lengthened, as long as head, rays of short portion 3} in head; longest anal ray 14; pectoral short, not reaching base of ventral, 12 in head; ventrals longer, 1.1 in head; caudal deeply lunate, the lobes longer than head. Colour, pale, almost silvery; fins scarcely dusky. Ictiobus meridionalis is a southern species known only from the Rio Usumacinta, Mexico. GENUS CARPIODES RAFINESQUE The Carp Suckers This genus is very close to /ctsobus, the species being smaller, the colour paler, and the dentition weaker, but there are no im- portant technical characters separating the two groups. Of the five species referred to under this genus, one occurs in the Potomac and Delaware and the streams about Chesapeake Bay, one in the St. Lawrence basin, and the other three in the Mississippi Valley and Texas. Only two of the species are of any commercial value. a. Body subfusiform, the depth about 3 in length;.....carpio, 42 aa. Body ovate-oblong, the back elevated, the depth about 2} in length. 4I The Carp Sucker b. Opercles strongly striate. c. Lips thin, silvery-white in life, the halves of the lower lip meeting in a wide angle, as in C carpio. d. Head large, the snout blunt, the nostril near its tip; eye large, 3h to 4 in head.) yee ee ee difformts, 42 dd. Head small and pointed, the snout projecting; eye small, 5 to 52 in ‘head! -eac Ora er eee eee thompsoni, 42 cc. Lips full, thick, reddish in life, the halves of the lower meet- ing at an acute angle; first ray of dorsal usually very long. velifer, 43 bb. Opercles nearly smooth; otherwise essentially as in C. velifer. cyprinus, 43 Carp Sucker Carpiodes carpio (Rafinesque) The carp sucker is the largest of the genus, reaching a weight of 2 or 3 pounds. It occurs in the Ohio Valley and southward to central Texas, but does not appear to be very abundant any- where. It is used for food along with the other members of the family, but is perhaps inferior to most of them. It is caught on setlines and in seines. Head 4 to 5; depth 22 to 3; eye 4} in head; D. 30; A. 7; scales 36. Body more fusiform than in any other species, com- pressed, but not much arched; head rather short; muzzle short, but projecting beyond the mouth; anterior rays of dorsal short, and not- ably thickened and long at the base, especially in the adult, the first ray nearer muzzle than base of caudal fin, the longest ray a little more than half base of fin; caudal moderately forked. C. difformis is an unimportant species occurring in the Ohio Valley and westward in the upper Mississippi Valley. It closely resembles the quillback, but differs in the character of the lower lip. C. tumidus is perhaps a distinct species found in the lower Rio Grande and southward. Lake Carp Carpiodes thompsont Agassiz This fish occurs in the Great Lakes and lakes tributary to the St. Lawrence. It reaches a considerable size; an example take 42 Eastern Carp Sucker in Lake Champlain about April 23 was 21 inches long and weighed 7 pounds. It was a nearly ripe female and the roe alone weighed 2.5 pounds. The food value of the flesh of this fish is essentially the same as that of the species of /ctiobus. By the fishermen of Lake Champlain this species is known as Sbuitalo;” *‘ carp sucker,” or ‘‘ drum.” Head 4 to 4.5; depth 2.5; eye small, 5 to 5.5 in head; D. 27; A. 7; V. 10; scales 8-39 to 41-6. Body short and stout, the back much arched; head small, the snout pointed; lips thin and white, meeting at a wide angle; tip of lower jaw much in advance of nostrils; maxillary reaching vertical at front of orbit; scales closely imbricated; dorsal rays considerably elevated, } as long as base of fin; origin of dorsal fin about midway of body. C. velifer, the quillback, spearfish, sailfish, or skimfish, is a small species found pretty well throughout the Mississippi Valley. It is distinguished from other species in the same waters by the produced first dorsal ray and the character of the lower lip whose halves meet at an acute angle. 5 DD J2) aS ee ep Eastern Carp Sucker Carpiodes cyprinus (Le Sueur) .In the Potomac and the streams about Chesapeake Bay occurs C. cyprinus, the Eastern carp sucker, which resembles C. velifer except that its opercles are smooth. Neither of these species is of much or any food-value. s 43 GENUS “CYCLEPTOS RAFINESOUE This genus differs from J/ctiobus and Carpiodes, the only other genera having a long dorsal fin, in having the fontanelle obliterated by the union of the parietal bones, and in the very elongate body. Only one species is known. Gourd-seed Sucker; Blackhorse Cycleptus elongatus (Le Sueur) This singular and interesting fish is known only from the Mississippi Valley, where it is rather common in the larger streams. It reaches a length of 2 to 2.5 feet, and is perhaps more highly esteemed as a food-fish than any other member of the family. It is usually caught in seines or on set-lines. Besides the vernacular names given above, it is also known as ‘‘Missouri sucker,” ‘‘sweet sucker,’ and ‘‘suckerel.” Head 6 to 8.5; depth 4 to 53 eye 6 to. 7 in heads ame, A 7 or 8; V. 10; scales 9-56-7. Body unusually long and slen- der, moderately compressed, not much elevated; caudal peduncle long; head very small, short and slender, its upper surface rounded; mouth small, entirely inferior, overlapped by the pro- jecting snout; upper lip thick, pendant, covered with several rows of tubercles; lower lip moderate, formed somewhat as in Catostomus, but less full, incised behind; jaws with rudimentary 44 The Mountain Sucker cartilaginous sheath; eye small, behind middle of head, not high up; suborbital bones small and narrow; opercle smooth and narrow; isthmus moderate; gillrakers moderate, soft; pharyngeal bones strong, the teeth rather wide apart, increasing in size downward; scales about equal over the body, with wide, exposed surfaces; lateral line nearly straight, well developed; fins rather large, the dorsal beginning in front of ventrals and ending just before anal, strongly falcate in front, the length of the first and second developed rays more than half base of fin, the following rays rapidly shortened to about the eighth, the remaining rays all short; caudal fin large, widely forked, the lobes equal; anal fin quite small, low and_ scaly at the base; pectoral long and somewhat falcate; air-bladder in two parts, the anterior short, the other long; sexual peculiarities marked, the males in spring with black pigment and the head covered with small tubercles. Colour very dark, the males in spring almost black. GENUS PANTOSTEUS COPE The Mountain Suckers This genus resembles Catostomus, from which it differs chiefly in having the fontanelle nearly obliterated, and in having a more or less developed cartilaginous sheath on each jaw. The species are all western, chiefly in the Rocky Mountain region and west- ward, mostly in rocky brooks in the arid districts. The 8 known species are each of rather small size, and scarcely valued as food. eS Nae! euee a) Hae Ta Mountain Sucker Pantosteus jordant Evermann Pantosteus arizone reaches a length of g inches, and is known only from Salt River at Tempe, Arizona. P. generosus, 45 Fine-scaled Suckers known as the mountain sucker, is abundant in the streams in the Salt Lake basin, and southwest in the Sevier basin. It reaches 8 or 10 inches in length. P. plebetus reaches a foot in length and is found in the Rio Grande basin and southward into Chihuahua. It is very common. P. delphinus, the blue-headed sucker, attains the length of a foot, and is abundant in the upper portion of the basin of the Colorado. P. guzmaniensis is known only from Lake Guzman, Chihuahua. P. jordani grows to a foot or more in length, and is found pretty generally distributed in clear streams in the upper portions of the Missouri and Columbia basins. It is of more value as a food fish than any other species of the genus. P. arwopus from the rivers of Nevada and the Kern River, California, and P. clarki from the Gila basin, are rare and little known species. GENUS: CATOSTOMOS TE SUBUR Fine-scaled Suckers Body rather elongate, more or less fusiform, subterete; head rather long; eye small and high up; mouth rather large, inferior; upper lip thick, papillose, protractile; lower lip greatly developed, with broad, free margin, usually deeply incised behind, so that it forms two lobes which are often more or less separated; opercle moderate; pharyngeal bones moderate, the teeth rather short, compressed, rapidly diminishing in size upward; scales small and crowded anteriorly; lateral line nearly straight and well developed; origin of dorsal nearly midway of body; anal short and high; ventrals inserted under middle or posterior part of dorsal; caudal forked, the lobes nearly equal; sexual peculiarities not marked, the fins usually higher in the male and the anal somewhat swollen and tuberculate in the spring; breeding males in most species with a rosy or orange lateral band. Species about 20, all belonging to North America except one (C. rostratus Tilesius) which is said to occur in Siberia. Our species are not well differentiated and are difficult to distinguish. In the following key have been included only those which are of commercial value: a. Head transversely convex above, the orbital rim not elevated; scales in lateral line 60 or more. 46 Flannel-mouth Sucker b. Scales very small, much reduced and crowded anteriorly, the number in lateral line 80 to 115. c. Upper lip broad, with 5 or 6 rows of papille. ad. Dorsal fin with 11 to 13 rays and very high; Latifpinnis, 47 dd. Dorsal fin with 10 to 12 rays and only moderately devel- CGO ie Ear ap rian oetuesixiaiele le aaa telg is ome sepa griseus, 48 cc. Upper lip comparatively thin and narrow, with 2 to 4 rows of papillz. . g@eescales in lateral, line -95 to 115};20..s..... <2. scalostomus, a9 bb. Scales small, but larger than in the preceding group, the number in lateral line 56 to 75. f. Scales in lateral line 7o to 75; lower lip broad. g. Dorsal fin short, of 11 to 13 rays; head small, conical; occidentalis, 50 gg. Dorsal fin long, of about 15 rays; head large;...macrocheilus, 50 Ff. Scales in lateral line larger, 58 to 70 in number; lower lip with about 4 rows of papille. h. Mandible short, 34 to 3% in head; upper lip narrow; commersonii, 51 hh. Mandible longer, 3 to 34 head; upper lip broader; ..ardens, 52 Flannel-mouth Sucker Catostomus latipinnis Baird & Girard This sucker is known only from the Colorado River of the West, and its larger tributaries. It is said to be quite abundant and ascends the rivers in spring. As a food fish it is of some importance, particularly to the Indians. Head 42; depth 54; D. 11 to 13; scales 17-98 to 105-17. Body elongate, the caudal peduncle long and slender; head rather slender, with prominent snout and rather contracted, inferior mouth; outline of mouth triangular, the apex forward; lips very thick, greatly 47 Platte River Sucker developed, the lower incised to the base, its posterior margin extend- ing backward to opposite the eye; tubercles on lower lip small behind; jaws with a slight cartilaginous sheath; eye small and high up; scales long and low, posteriorly rounded; fins greatly developed, especially in old males, the free border of the dorsal deeply incised; height of vertical fins in the male greater than length of head; origin of dorsal nearer snout than base of caudal; caudal very strong, the rudimentary rays unusually developed. Colour, dark olive, abruptly paler below; sides and fins largely orange in both sexes, the anal and lower lobe of caudal tuberculate in breeding males. Length 2 feet or less. Platte River Sucker Catostomus griseus (Girard) Upper Missouri River basin, particularly abundant in the Platte and the Yellowstone. This species is close to C. catostomus, apparently differing chiefly in the larger mouth and the broader upper lip. Head 4 in body; depth 53; D. 10 to 12; scales 16-90 to 110-14. Body long and slender, subterete, compressed behind, the form essentially that of C. catostomus; head large, the interorbital space broad and flat, 2} in length of head; eye small, high up and rather posterior; mouth large, about as in C. /atipinnis, the upper lip very large, pendant, and with 5 to 8 series of tubercles; lower lip incised to base, the lobes long; horny sheath pretty well developed; dorsal fin not long, nor especially elevated, its origin rather nearer base of caudal than tip of snout; caudal long and strongly forked; anal long and high, reaching base of caudal; ventrals not reaching vent. Colour, dusky brown, sometimes with a dusky lateral band, gigs irregularly mottled or barred; snout dark. Length 1 to 2. feet. 48 Long-nosed Sucker; Northern Sucker Long-nosed Sucker; Northern Sucker Catostomus catostomus (Forster) The long-nosed sucker is one of the largest of the family, reaching a length of 2 to 24 feet, and a weight of several pounds. It is found from the St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes westward in the Upper Missouri basin and to the Upper Columbia, thence northward to Alaska; the most widely dis- tributed sucker; but probably not occurring south of 40° north latitude, except in West Virginia where recently obtained by Prof. W. P. Hay. In the Great Lakes and northward this species is a food fish of considerable value. It is usually taken in hoop or trap nets, or gillnets. Its spawning time is in the spring, in most localities as early as May. Head 41 to 42; depth 43 to 6; eye 6 to 8; D. 10 or 11; A. 7; scales 14 to 17-90 to 117-13. Body elongate, subterete; head very long and slender, depressed and flattened above, broad at base, but tapering into a long snout, which overhangs the large mouth; lips thick, coarsely tuberculate, the upper lip narrow, with 2 or 3, sometimes 4 rows of papillz; lower lip deeply incised, the lobes shorter than in C. griseus, and _ the mouth narrower; lower jaw with a slight cartilaginous sheath; eye small, behind middle of head; scales very small, much crowded anteriorly. Males in spring with the head and anal fin profusely tuber- culate, and the side with a broad, rosy band. 49 Sacramento Sucker Nf // Peryipe p santo si eras. ? MOA; 9, & EASA ERY Sacramento Sucker Catostomus occidentalis Ayres Streams of California, especially abundant in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers. This species was formerly of consider- able importance to the Indians, who caught it in great numbers. It reaches a foot in length. Columbia River Sucker; Yellow Sucker Catostomus macrochetlus Girard Columbia River basin and other rivers and lakes of Oregon and Washington, generally abundant; not known from the Snake River basin above Shoshone Falls. It is abundant in the Redfish Lakes of Idaho and in Flathead Lake of Montana. During the spring and early summer it is found in the streams, but in July or earlier it retires to deeper water, entering lakes when- ever opportunity offers. It attains a length of 12 to 17 inches, and is a food-fish of considerable importance, particularly to the Flathead Indians and other Indians in the regions where it is found. Its flesh is sweet, firm and flaky, the fish usually in- habiting cold waters. At the Redfish Lakes in Idaho this sucker was noticed in August and September toward the close of the day swimming about in great schools at the surface of the water, sometimes with their noses projecting. The schools would gather about: ° wn Common Sucker; White Sucker the mouth of some inlet and swim slowly about in this way for an hour or more just at sundown. The meaning of this particular habit has not been explained. Head 4 to 42; depth 5; eye 5° to 6 in head; snout 2;. D. ite 14; A. 7; scales .12, to. 14-65. to 75-10 or 11, about 40 before the dorsal. Body rather heavy forward, the caudal peduncle slender; snout blunt, overlapping the horizontal mouth which is quite large, with very large lips, the upper full and pendant, with 6 to 8 rows of moderate papille; dorsal fin much longer than high; pectoral long and narrow; caudal well forked. Colour, rather dark; a dusky lateral streak; abruptly pale below. 3 i € : a aS eke EEE OR RE Aes wie eek eR -< x ee X¥¥¥ VR ; , ; EX RAAYY ERKA. XII pone RESTA er SOUS EO 7 oe = paar Common Sucker ; White Sucker Catostomus commersonii (Lacépéde) This. is the most abundant sucker in the streams and lakes from Quebec and Massachusetts westward to Montana and Colo- rado and southward to Missouri and Georgia. Specimens from Montana to Colorado have the lips broader and with more numer- ous papillee. In the smaller streams this species reaches a length of but a few inches, while in the larger streams and lakes it attains a jength of 18 inches or more and becomes a food-fish of consid- erable importance. Though quite bony, its flesh is firm and flaky and very sweet. In some parts of the country this species is caught in large numbers and salted for winter use. It is usu- ally taken by means of seines, traps or gillnets. 5r Utah Lake Mullet In the spring of the year, as the spawning season approaches, they run up the streams in great numbers and spawn upon the riffles. This is, in most parts of its range, in May or June, and the fish is called the ‘‘ June Sucker.” Head 4 to 42; depth 4 to 5; eye 6 in head; snout 21; D. 12: A. 7; scales 10-64 to 70-9. Body rather stout, varying with age, subterete, heavy anteriorly; head moderate, conical, flattish above; snout rather prominent, scarcely overpassing the mouth, which is large, the lips papillose, the upper with 2 or 3 rows of papille (4 to 6 in western specimens); scales small, crowded anteriorly, larger on the sides and below. Colour, olivaceous; males in spring somewhat rosy; young brownish, more or less mottled and blotched with dark. Utah Lake Mullet Catostomus ardens Jordan & Gilbert This species is very close to the common sucker, differing chiefly in the larger mouth and lips. Abundant in the Snake River basin above Shoshone Falls and in the lakes and streams of the Great Salt Lake basin. It swarms in myriads in Utah Lake, ‘‘the greatest sucker pond in the world.” In Heart Lake of Yellowstone Park this fish is infested by a parasitic worm (Ligula catostomi) which is often larger than the fish’s viscera. Like all other suckers, this species is a spring spawner, and at that time immense numbers are said to come into the shallow 52 Moogadee water of Utah Lake, Jacksons Lake and other lakes which it inhabits. This species reaches a length of 18 inches or more, and holds rank with the others of the genus as a food-fish. Head 32; depth 44; eye small, 7 in head, 3} in interorbital waigti. snout ‘2. in head D. 12 or 13; A.. 7; Scales’ 12-70: to 72-12. Body rather long, little compressed, the back broad; head broad, conical; mouth entirely inferior, the mandible nearly hori- zontal; upper lip wide, full, pendant, with 4 to 8 rows of coarse, irregular papillz; lower lip very broad, coarsely papillose, cut to the base; dorsal fin long and low, its anterior rays 4 longer than the last; pectorals, ventrals and caudal short; anal long. Colour, black- ish above, paler below, the fins dark; breeding males with the sides rosy. Besides the 7 species described above, 12 others of less im- portance are recognized as occurring in North America. - Sis POT T seen sea Moogadee Catostomus pocatello Gilbert & Evermann One of these, the Moogadee of the Fort Hall Indians of Idaho, is of some food value. 53 GENUS CHASMISTES JORDAN Head large, broad and flattish above, the sides vertical; eye small, high up, and rather posterior; mouth very large, terminal, the lower jaw in the closed mouth being very oblique; lower jaw long and strong, more than half length of head, its tip, when the mouth is closed, about on a level with the eye; upper jaw very protractile; upper lip thin and _ nearly smooth: snout usually elevated above rest of head; the premaxillary spines gene- rally forming a conspicuous nose; ‘lower lip moderate, consisting of a broad flap on each side of the mandible, reduced to a nar- row rim in front, the surface of the lip nearly smooth, without papilla; nostrils large; fontanelle well developed; gillrakers simple, fringe-like; air-bladder in 2 parts. Species of rather large size, inhabiting the Great Salt Lake Basin and the Klamath Lakes of southern Oregon. Six species are recognized, only 4 of which seem to be of any commercial importance. a. Scales moderate, 60 to 65 in the lateral line. b. Scales 9-63-8; dorsal usually 11; nose prominent; /sorus, 54 aa. Scales small, 75 to 85 in the lateral line. c. Snout prominent, premaxillary spines strongly protruding, form- ing a prominently projecting snout;....-.......- stomias, 55 cc. Snout not prominent, premaxillary spines not forming a pro- minent hump. @., S@ales! a7 5= 0s. ries 6 oe ioe sae ee brevtrostris, 55 dd. ScaléSx13*80=12'20 02:0): (7s 5 nae esti ee ee copet, 56 JUN aun Ri ee Rahn oe ON adnan HR yy oR a y oe ‘ ; An i nS us ee S ’ June Sucker of Utah Lake Chasmistes liorus Jordan Known only from Utah Lake, where it is exceedingly abundant, 54 Short-nosed Sucker contributing, with Catostomus ardens, to make that lake the ‘‘greatest sucker pond in the world.” Head 32; depth 5; eye 6 to 7; scales 9-63-8; D. 11; A. 7; inter- orbital space broad, 24 in head; width of the open mouth 33 in head; dorsal elevated in front, its longest ray twice the length of the last and about equal to base of fin; caudal deeply forked, the lower lobe the longer; lower fins small. Colour, dusky above, pale below; back and sides profusely covered with dark punctulations. Length 18 inches or less. Short-nosed Sucker Chasmistes brevirostris Cope This species is known only from the Klamath Lakes of Oregon. It attains a length of 12 to 18 inches and is a food-fish of some value to the Indians, who know it as the ‘‘ Yen.” Snout 24 to 22 in head; mandible 14 in snout; interorbital width 24 in head; D. 11; A. 9; scales 13-73-12; premaxillary spines not produced to form a hump on the snout; lower lip fold present on the sides of the mandible; each lip with small, inconspicuous, sparse tubercles, in 3 or 4 series on the upper lip; ventrals extending 2 distance to vent; scales with strong concentric striz. Colour, dark above, silvery on lower part of side and on belly; fins all dusky. Klamath Lake Sucker Chasmistes stomias Gilbert This is another species ot Chasmistes inhabiting Upper Klamath 55 The Tswam Lake, which is a close rival of Utah Lake for the honour of being the ‘‘ greatest sucker pond in the world.” It is the most abundant species of the genus in the Klamath Lakes. It reaches a length of 15 to 18 inches and is of great value to the Indians, by whom it is known as ‘‘ Kahptu.” From all other species of the genus, except C. brevirostris and C. copet, it is distinguished by its small scales (14 or 15-76 to 82-11), and from C. brevirostris it differs in the deeper head, larger man- dible, more oblique mouth, and by the prominent hump on the snout; mouth inclined at an angle of 40°. Colour, dark above, whitish or silvery below, the two colours separated along a definite line travers- ing the side midway between lateral line and insertion of ventrals. aoe ransens a) Ay bx 7 a by Tswam Chasmistes copet Evermann & Meek This is still another species of Chasmistes, inhabiting the Klamath Lakes. It closely resembles C. sfomias, but may be distinguished from that species by its larger head, larger, more oblique mouth, less prominent snout, and very small fins. This sucker reaches a length of 16 or 18 inches and is used as food by the Klamath Indians. The Indian name is ‘‘ Tswam.” Head 32; depth 4; eye 64; snout 23; D. 10; A. 7; scales 13-80-12. Head very large, cheek very deep; body stout, back scarcely elevated. Colour, upper parts dark olivaceous; under parts whitish; a dark spot in upper part of axil; dorsal and caudal dark; pectoral dark on inner surface; ventrals and anal plain. 59 GENUS: DEL TIS TES SEALE This genus is close to Chasmistes, from which it differs chiefly in the structure of the gillrakers, the very long, slender head, the small horizontal mouth, and the thicker lips. The gillrakers are broad and shaped like the Greek letter A (delta) and their edges are unarmed and entire; lower pharyngeals weak, with numerous small teeth. The single known species is the Lost River sucker (D. /uxatus), which is the most important food-fish of the Klamath Lakes region. It is apparently resident during most of the year in the deeper waters of Upper Klamath and Tule lakes, running up the rivers in March and April in incredible numbers, the height of the run varying from year to year according to the condition of the streams. The Lost River fish are the most highly prized, and are said to be much fatter and of finer flavour than those ascending the tributaries of Upper Klamath Lake. This species reaches the largest size of any of the Klamath Lake suckers, examples over 3 feet in length and weighing several pounds having been examined. It is of vast importance to the Klamath Indians, who, during the spring run, catch it in immense numbers and cure it for winter use. An attempt has been made to preserve the meat in cans, but apparently without success. Oil has been extracted from the heads and entrails, said to be worth 60c. to 85c. per gallon. Head 4; depth 4%; snout 22 in head; D. 12; A. 7; scales 12-76 to 81-9. Body elongate; head very long and slender, the snout and cheek especially long; mouth inclined upward at an angle of about 35°; fontanelle large; premaxillary spines forming a decided hump on snout near its tip. GENUS XYRAUCHEN EIGENMANN & KIRSCH The characters of this genus agree in all respects with those of Catostomus except that behind the occiput is a sharp-edged hump produced by the singularly developed interneural bones, giving the adult fish a very grotesque appearance. 57 Razor-back Sucker; Hump-back Sucker Only two species are known, both from the Colorado River. Only one of these is of any food value. The other (X. uncom- pahgre Jordan & Evermann) is known only from the type, a specimen 7 inches long, and may be the young of X. cypho. Razor-back Sucker; Hump-back Sucker Ayrauchen cypho (Lockington) Known only from the Colorado Basin, where it is quite abundant and of considerable value. It reaches a weight of 8 to 10 pounds. Head 4; depth, 4; D. 13 or 14; A. 7; scales, 13 tO 15-750 77-13. Body stout, compressed, the head low, the profile ascending to the prominent hump; mouth wide, inferior; upper lip with 2 rows of papille, the lower deeply divided and with 8 rows ; dorsal fin long and low, with concave edge; caudal broad and strong, with numerous rudimentary rays; scales loosely imbri- cated; anterior part of hump scaleless. Colour, plain olivaceous. GENUS ERIMYZON JORDAN The Chub Suckers This genus may be known by the entire absence of a late- ral line and the plain colouration in the adult. The young have a broad black lateral band and are easily mistaken for Cyprinidae. > 55 Chub Sucker Chub Sucker Only one species is known, EF. sucetta, the chub sucker or creekfish, which reaches a length of about to inches and is widely distributed from the Great Lakes and New England south to Texas. Those in the northern part of the range have been regarded as a subspecies, E. sucetia oblongus. GENUS MINYTREMA JORDAN This genus may be known by the incomplete lateral line and the presence of a small blackish spot at base of each scale on side, these forming interrupted longitudinal lines along the rows of scales. e ee es = Doe Dy : 2355 Spotted Sucker The single species is M. melanops, known as the winter sucker or spotted sucker. It reaches a moderate size and is of 59 The Redhorses some value as a food-fish. It occurs in the Great Lakes region and south to North Carolina and Texas, being most common westward. GENUS MOXOSTOMA_ RAFINESQUE The Redhorses Body more or less elongate, sometimes nearly terete, usually more or less compressed; head variously long or short; eye usually large; suborbital bones very narrow; fontanelle always open; mouth varying much in size, always inferior in position, the mandible horizontal, or nearly so; lips usually well developed, the form of the lower varying, usually with a slight median fissure, but never deeply cleft; lips with transverse plice, rarely broken up into papillae; jaws without cartilaginous sheath; oper- cular bones moderately developed, nearly smooth; isthmus broad; gillrakers weak, moderately long; pharyngeal bones rather weak, as in Cafostomus, the teeth rather coarser and strongly com- pressed, the lower 5 or 6 more strongly than the others, which rapidly diminish in size upward, each with a prominent internal cusp; scales large, more or less quadrate in form, nearly equal in size over the body, and not especially crowded anywhere; lateral line well developed, straight or anteriorly curved; fins well developed, the dorsal inserted about midway of the body, its first ray usually rather nearer snout than caudal; anal fin short and high, usually emarginate in the male; caudal fin deeply forked; air-bladder with three chambers. Sexual characters little marked, the males during the spawn- ing season with the lower fins reddened and the anal rays somewhat swollen and _ tuberculate. 60 a 7S me ; COMMON REDHORSE SUCKER, Movxvostoma aureolum cee e si % y oa Ze = . . 4G Md i ee LAKE CARP SUCKER OR QUILLBACK. Carpiodes thompson weeuerr* ff The Redhorses This is a large genus, comprising not fewer than 20 species, all of which occur in the eastern United States in the Atlantic and Gulf drainages. There is no representative of the genus on the Pacific Coast. They inhabit both streams and lakes, but prefer the streams. Their spawning time is in the spring, when they run up the rivers and into the smaller streams, sometimes in very great numbers. The species are difficult to distinguish and have been unduly multiplied by authors. They are less tenacious of life than the species of Cafostomus, but equal them in food value. Of the 20 species only about 5 attain a sufficient size to make them of much value for food. The remaining 15 species, which are mostly of small size, are the following: Sucking mullet (M. collapsum), lowland streams of North Carolina; thick-cheeked sucker (M. bucco), Missouri River at St. Joseph; Pedee sucker (M. pidiense), Great Pedee River basin; blue mullet (M. coregonus), Catawba and Yadkin rivers; white mullet (M. album), Catawba and other rivers of North Carolina, green mullet (M. thalassinum), Yadkin River; Texas red-horse (M. congestum), rivers of Texas; Mexican mullet (M. austrinum) Rio Lerma, Mexico; Yadkin mullet (M. robustum) Yadkin River, a doubtful species, perhaps identical with M. macrolepidotum, which occurs from Delaware to the Carolinas; picconou (M. lesueuri), Albany River, Canada, and elsewhere in the far north, the most northern species, but not well known; Neuse River mullet (M. conus), Neuse and Yadkin rivers, perhaps not _ distinct from M. breviceps; Tangiopahoa mullet (M. pecilurum), southern Mississippi to eastern Texas, jump-rocks (M. ruptscartes ), rivers from North Carolina to Georgia; and jumping mullet (M. cervinum), rivers of the South Atlantic States from the James to the Neuse, abundant about rapids and rocky pools. a. Lips full, the folds broken up into evident papille;....... papillosum, 62 aa. Lips plicate, the folds not forming distinct papillz. b. Dorsal fin large, of 15 to 18 rays; lower lip V-shaped, somewhat papillose;..........-..- sees eee eees anisurum, 62 bb. Dorsal fin smaller, of 10 to 14 rays. c. Caudal fin with the upper lobe not conspicuously longer than the lower. ad. Dorsal fin with its free margin nearly straight; lower fins always red in lifej....--...-+--2.- sees eweeee aureolum, 63 White Mullet dd. Dorsal fin with its free margin always more or less incised or concave; lower fins always pale in life. e. Head moderate, 42 in body; back not elevated;........... macrolepidotum, 61 ee. Head very short and blunt, 5 in body; back elevated;... crasstlabre, 63 cc. Caudal fin with the upper lobe more or less produced 61 and falcate Fcc oe. ae eee eee breviceps, 64 White Mullet Moxostoma papillosum (Cope) Coastwise streams from the Dismal Swamp to the Ocmulgee River in Georgia; said to be common. Head 4 to 43; depth 4 to 4}; D, 12 to 14; scales 6-42-5. Body comparatively stout, the dorsal region somewhat elevated and rounded; eyes rather large, high up and well back, the preorbital space longer than in most species; top of head flat; lips moderate, deeply incised, the folds more broken up than in other species; caudal lobes equal. Colour, silvery; back with smoky shading; lower fins more or less reddish. Length 1 to 2 feet, White-nosed Sucker Moxostoma anisurum (Rafinesque) This species reaches a length of 1} feet or more, and is not uncommon in the Great Lakes region and southward in the Ohio basin. Head 3% to 4 in length; depth 3 to 4; eye 4 to 5 in head; depth of cheek 2 in head; D. 15 to 18. Body stout, deep and compressed, the back elevated; head short, heavy, flattish and broad above; eye rather large, midway in head; muzzle rather prominent, bluntish, overhanging the large mouth; upper lip thin; fins very large, the dorsal long and high, its height 14 in length of head, its free border straight, the first ray about as long as the fin; pectorals nearly reaching ventrals; upper lobe of caudal narrow, longer than lower. Colour, very pale and silvery; smoky above; lower fins white or pale red. Common Redhorse Common Redhorse Moxostoma aureolum (Le Sueur) The common redhorse is found from Lakes Ontario and Michigan to Nebraska and south to Arkansas and Georgia. West of the Alleghanies it is everywhere an abundant and-well-known fish. It reaches a length of 2 feet or more and is the most im- portant food-fish of the genus. In the upper Mississippi Valley states it has always been held in considerable esteem by the farm- ers, who were in the habit of snaring, seining, or catching them in traps in great numbers in the spring of the year and salting them for winter use. Like most other well-known species of wide distribution, this sucker has received many common names, among which are the following: mullet, white sucker, large-scaled sucker, and redfin sucker. Head rather elongate, bluntish, broad and flattened above; body stoutish, varying to moderately elongate; lips rather full, the bluntish muzzle projecting beyond the large mouth; greatest depth of cheek more than half distance from snout to preopercle; dorsal fin medium in size, its free edge nearly straight, its longest ray shorter than the head. Colour, olivaceous; sides silvery, paler beneath; lower fins red or orange. Sucking Mullet Moxostoma crasstlabre (Cope) Streams of eastern North Carolina, where it is very abundant. It reaches a length of nearly 2 feet, and, in the spring, is taken in large numbers in the shad seines. Among the vernacular names applied to it are redhorse, horse- fish, redfin, and mullet. Head 42 to 5 in length; depth 34; eye 33 to 4; D. 12 or 13; scales 6-42 to 44-5. Body robust, the back elevated and com- 63 Short-headed Redhorse pressed; head short, broad, flattish above; mouth moderate, the lips full, the lower truncate behind; snout short, little projecting; dorsal fin elevated in front, its edge much incised, its first ray longer than the base of the fin and about as long as the head; caudal lobes equal. Colour, silvery, with smoky shading above, some of the scales blackish at their bases; caudal and anal with some red; top of head, humeral bar and a broad shade across dorsal fin, dusky. Short-headed Redhorse Moxostoma breviceps (Cope) Great Lakes and Ohio Valley, abundant in Lake Erie. This species reaches a length of a foot or more. Head 5 to 54; depth 34; eye small, 5 in head; D. 12 or 13- scales 6-45-5. Body deep, compressed; head small; snout short and sharply conic, overhanging the very small mouth; form sug- gesting that of the white-fish; caudal fin with the upper lobe fall cate and much longer than the lower, at least in the adult; dorsal fin short, high, and falcate, the anterior rays 14 to 14 times base of fin, the free border much concave; anal long, falcate, reaching beyond base of caudal. Colour, silvery, the lower fins bright red. GENUS, PLACOPHARINX GGre Suckers much like Moxostoma in all respects, except that the pharyngeal bones are much more developed and the teeth reduced in number, those on the lower half of the bone very large, 6 to Io in number, nearly cylindric in form, being but little compressed and with a broad, rounded, or flattened grinding surface; mouth larger and more oblique than usual in Moxostoma, and the lips thicker. Only one species known. Big-jawed Sucker Placopharynx duquesnit (Le Sueur) This interesting sucker reaches a length of 2 to 2} feet and is not uncommon from Michigan to Tennessee, Arkansas and 64 Big-jawed Sucker Georgia in the larger streams; it is probably most abundant in the French Broad River and in the Ozark region. Nothing peculiar in its habits is known, and it ranks with the species of redhorse as a food-fish. Bead) 4) im length; depth 3%;.Dy 12 or 137, A. 9. » Body oblong, moderately compressed, heavy at the shoulders; head large, broad, and flattish above, its upper surface somewhat uneven, eye small, behind the middle of the head; mouth large, the lower jaw oblique when the mouth is closed, the mouth, therefore, pro- tractile forward as well as downward; lips very thick, coarsely plicate, the lower lip full and heavy, truncate behind; free edge of dorsal concave, the longest ray longer than base of fin, 14 in head; upper lobe of caudal narrower than the lower and some- what longer. Colour, dark olive green, the sides brassy, not silvery; lower fins and caudal orange red. 65 GENUS LAGOCHILA JORDAN & BRAYTON This is the most peculiar genus of suckers and may be known readily by the nonprotractile upper lip and the split lower lip. The CP Ras ON PANO Ae a a yy sae. y Ae Hare-lip Sucker single species is the hare-lip sucker, cutlips, split-mouth sucker, rabbit-mouth sucker, pea-lip sucker, or May sucker, L. Jacera. Hare-lip sucker, showing lower lip. It is found in clear streams in the Mississippi Valley, as the Tippecanoe, Wabash, Clinch, Cumberland, Chickamauga and White River of Arkansas. It is most common in the Ozark region. 66 THE MINNOWS Family V. Cyprinide FisHES with the margin of the upper jaw formed by the pre- maxillaries alone, and the lower pharyngeal bones well devel- oped, falciform, nearly parallel with the gillarches, each with 1 to 3 series of teeth in small number, usually 4 or 5 in the main row, and fewer in the other rows if present; head naked, body scaly, except in a few genera; barbels usually not present, but 2 or 4 _ Small ones present in some genera; belly usually rounded, rarely com- pressed, never serrated; gill-openings moderate, the membranes broadly joined to the isthmus; gills 4, a slit behind the last; no adipose fin; dorsal fin short in all our species; ventrals abdo- minal; air-bladder usually large and commonly divided into 2 parts; stomach without appendages, appearing as a simple enlarge- ment of the intestine. The Cyprinide constitute a very large family of fishes of mod- erate or small size, inhabiting the fresh waters of the Old World and North America. The family contains about 200 genera and more than 1,000 species, of which about 225 are found in our waters. This number greatly exceeds that of any other family of fresh-water fishes. Not only are the species very numerous, but the individuals are usually exceedingly abundant. Most of our species are very small fishes, usually not exceed- ing a few inches in total length, and, on account of their great uniformity in size, form, and colouration, they constitute one of the most difficult groups in all zoology in which to distinguish genera and_ species. Our Eastern species rarely exceed a foot in length, but in the West are several very large species, some reaching a length of several feet, and all of these are of some food value. Several of the smaller species are good ‘‘boy’s fishes,’ and one or more species can usually be found on any boy’s string. They are all sweet, delicious pan-fishes, albeit exasperatingly bony, and various species of minnows constitute the very best live bait the angler can get. The spring or breeding dress of the male is often very pecu- liar; the top of the head and often the fins and portions of the 67 The Squawfish body are covered with small tubercles, outgrowths from the epider- mis; the fins and lower parts of the body are often charged with bright pigment, the prevailing colour of which is red, although in some genera it is satin-white, yellowish, or even black. Although nearly all the Cyprinide are very small fishes, there are a few species the individuals of which reach a large size. As so few of the many genera of American Cyprinid@ have any commercial species, generic descriptions have been omitted in the hope that the specific descriptions may suffice. Se es Squawfish Ptychochetlus oregonensis Richardson The squawfish is one of the largest of the minnows. It reaches a length of 2 to 4 feet, a size which shows strikingly that ‘‘minnows” are not necessarily little fish. Its geographic range is from British Columbia southward in Pacific Coast drainage to central California. In the Columbia River basin it ascends as far as Shoshone Falls in Snake River, and at least to Flathead Lake in Clarks Fork. It is abun- dant inthe Fraser, and also in the Sacramento, San Joaquin, Salinas, and other lowland streams of California. It is very abundant in the Redfish Lakes, and other lakes of Idaho. Dur- ing the fall and the latter part of summer large schools of this species could be seen, particularly in the evening, swimming about the mouths of the inlets, usually at a depth of 5 to 40 feet, but toward evening they would come to the surface and 68 INTRODUCED GOLDEN TENCH, Tuzca tinea. NTRODUCED I Cyprinus carpio. GERMAN CARP, i: The White Salmon feed greedily upon various insects that had fallen upon the surface of the water. Their manner of taking these insects is very much like that of the trout. Frequently they would jump entirely out of the water in their eagerness to secure the falling insect. They will rise to the artificial fly quite freely. By using Royal Coachman and fishing as if for trout excellent sport may be had. They rise to the fly promptly, strike quickly, and fight vigorously for a few moments, after which they allow themselves to be pulled in without much struggle. They will rise to the fly best in the evening, but will at any time take the hook baited with salmon spawn. During the spring and early summer the Squawfish run out © into the streams, where they seem to prefer to spawn, but in the fall and winter the streams connected with lakes are apt to be deserted by this fish. In the winter it is sought as an article of food, and fishing through the ice for squawfish is one of the popular winter amusements at the Idaho lakes. In these lakes it rarely attains a greater weight than about 4 pounds, and the usual weight is not over a_ pound. This fish is highly esteemed by the Indians, hence its most popular name. Other names by which it is known are Sacra- mento pike, chub, big-mouth, box-head, yellow-belly, and chappaul. Head 33 to 4; depth 42 to 54; eye 74 in head, 23 in snout; snout 3; D, 9; A. 8; scales 15 to 17-70 to 80-8, 42 to 60 before the dorsal; teeth 2, 4-5, 2, strong and well hooked, but without grinding surface. Body rather robust, with stout caudal peduncle; head long and pointed; mouth large, the max- illary reaching front of pupil; eye small, much larger in the young; lateral line strongly decurved, much nearer belly than back. Colour, muddy, greenish above, sides somewhat silvery, but chiefly dirty yellowish; belly yellowish or pale; in spring the fins are reddish or orange and the scales more or less dusted with dark specks; young with a black caudal spot. White Salmon of the Colorado River Ptychochetlus luctus Girard This species differs chiefly from the squawfish, which it closely resembles, in the much smaller scales, there being 83 to 69 The Utah Lake Chub go in the lateral line. There are no other important differences. Colorado basin; very abundant in the river channels as far up as the mountains of Colorado. This is the largest of the American Cyprinida. It reaches a length of 5 feet or more, and a weight of 80 pounds, though examples of this extreme size are infrequent. At Green River, Wyoming, individuals of 8 and 10 pounds are not at all rare. It is known variously as the whitefish, white salmon, or salmon, and in the Colorado basin, where species of food-fishes are not numerous, it is a fish of considerable importance. Nothing distinctive is known of its habits or methods of capture. : datatias Seas ae ny) Wy RES he 5 py ‘ie pe Gime Utah Lake Chub Leuciscus lineatus (Girard) Head 33; depth 34; eye 7; D. 9; A. 8; scales 10-55 to 65-5; teeth 2, 5-4, 2, short and stout, one of them with grind- ing surface. Body robust, elevated anteriorly, the sides com- pressed, although the back is very broad; head broad, the interorbital space flattish; adult with the profile concave, straight or convex in the young; snout broad, elevated at the tip; premaxillary on level of pupil; mouth very oblique, the mandible projecting; maxillary reaching front of eye; scales large, sub- equal, broadly exposed, firm; lateral line decurved; dorsal nearly median, inserted directly over ventrals; caudal evenly forked, the peduncle long and deep; pectoral short, reaching % distance to ventrals; ventrals about reaching vent. Colour, dark, the scales much dotted, the edges quite dark, often forming lines along the rows of scales. Length 12 to 15 inches. One of the largest and most widely distributed species of the genus, abundant everywhere in the Great Basin of Utah, and 7° The Hornyhead in the Snake River basin above Shoshone Falls. In Utah Lake it is exceedingly abundant, as it is also in Jacksons _ Lake, Yellowstone Lake and other similar waters, where, owing to its large size, it is of some importance as a food-fish. It is said to be very destructive to the eggs of trout, a belief which may be justified by the facts, but we are not aware that the matter has ever been fully investigated. Besides this species of Leuctscus there are in America about 24 other species, all of which are small and of little importance except as boy’s fishes. With a few exceptions they are species of the Western States, and are perhaps most valuable to the Indians or in those regions where better fish are rare. Then in Lake Tahoe, the Klamath Lakes, and various other lakes of Nevada, California and Oregon are found three species of the genus Rutilus, closely related to Leuciscus, none of them of much food value. Hornyhead Hybopsts kentuckiensts (Rafinesque) The hornyhead is found from Pennsylvania to Wyoming and south to Alabama, on both sides of the Alleghanies; everywhere common in the larger streams, seldom ascending small brooks; one of our most widely distributed and best known minnows. In different parts of its range it is known as the hornyhead, river chub, Indian chub, or jerker. Wherever it is found at all, every boy who goes a-fishing is familiar with it. As a game-fish it is the most active and vigorous of its tribe. Any sort of hook baited with an angleworm or white grub is a lure the hornyhead can seldom resist, and he bites with a vim and energy worthy of a better fish. The fight he makes, though it would not wholly satisfy the veteran black bass angler, is quite enough to fill the youthful Walton with unbounded joy and pride. But as his experiences widen his chief interest in the horny- head lies in the fact that it is one of the best of live baits for nobler fish. For muskallunge, pickerel, walleyed pike, and black bass of either species, as a live bait it is not surpassed; large individuals for muskallunge and increasingly smaller ones for the others, those for the small-mouthed black bass being not over 3 to 5 inches in length. 71 The Cone-head Minnow A hardy, active minnow, and of an attractive colour, as a live bait it is unsurpassed. Head 4; depth 44; D. 8; A. 7; scales 6-41-4, 18 in front of dorsal; teeth 1,4-4,1, or 1,4-4,0, sometimes 4-4. Body stout, little elevated, and not much compressed; head large, broadly rounded above; snout bluntly conical; mouth rather large, subterminal, little oblique, the lower jaw somewhat the shorter; upper lip below level of eye; maxillary not reaching front of eye; barbel well developed; dorsal fin rather posterior, slightly behind insertion of ventrals: caudal broad, little forked; scales large, not crowded anteriorly; lateral line somewhat decurved. Colour, bluish-olive above; sides with bright green and coppery reflections; a curved dusky bar behind opercle; scales above with dark borders; belly pale but not silvery, rosy in males in spring; fins all pale orange, without black spot; males in spring with a crimson spot on each side of head; adults with top of head swollen, forming a sort of crest covered with tubercles; young with a dark caudal spot. Length 6 to 12 inches. Cone-head Minnow Mylopharodon conocephalus (Baird & Girard) Head 31; depth 42; eye 7; snout about 3; D. 8; A. 8; scales 17-74-7. Body elongate, subfusiform, compressed ; head broad and depressed; the snout tapering; mouth horizontal, the jaws about equal, the maxillary extending to the eye; eye small, preorbital elongate; interorbital space as wide as length of maxillary, 3 in head; scales rather small, loosely imbricated ; dorsal fin a little behind ventrals; caudal fin 14 in head, the lower lobe the longer; caudal peduncle very long, 44 in length of body. Colour, dark, paler below, no red. This minnow reaches a length of 2 or 3 feet and is of some value as a food-fish, It is found only in the Sacramento-San Joaquin basin. Columbia Chub Mylochetlus caurinus (Richardson) The Columbia chub occurs in the streams and lakes of British Columbia, Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Oregon, chiefly in the Columbia River basin and waters about Puget Sound. In the Columbia basin it ascends in Clarks fork at least as far as Flathead Lake, and in Snake River to Shoshone Falls. 72 The Fallfish In the Snake River this minnow is one of the most abundant fishes, and is locally known by the misleading names “fresh-water herring” and ‘‘ whitefish,’ and, at one place, they are even called trout. The name ‘ whitefish” for this minnow is rather more than local in its application, as it is used not only on Snake River, but at Flathead Lake and perhaps elsewhere. At the salmon fisheries along the Columbia and Snake rivers it is quite abun- dant, and, after salmon fishing has begun, schools of 30 to 50 or more can be seen at any time. They are particularly attracted by the offal thrown into the river when the salmon are dressed, and by throwing a few salmon eggs into the water, good-sized schools could be called up at any time. This fish seldom attains a greater lenesth than a foot, and is, like most members of the family, a bony species; nevertheless, it possesses some importance as a food-fish. At some places in the Columbia basin it is served as ‘‘ whitefish” at the hotels, and elsewhere it is peddled over the country as ‘‘trout” or ‘‘ fresh-water herring.” It takes the hook readily and possesses considerable game qualities. The best bait seems to be salmon spawn, but it will bite at almost anything, a piece of liver, a grasshopper, or a fish’s heart or eye. It will fight vigorously for a time, and large individuals will often continue the fight until brought to net. Head 42; depth 44; eye 5; snout 34; D. 8; A. 8; scales 12-77-7; teeth 1 or 2,5-5,2 or 1. Body moderately slender ; head bluntly conic; interorbital space broad, convex; mouth horizontal or nearly so, the maxillary not reaching front of eye; suborbital bone wide; preorbital elongate; teeth hooked in the young, some of them becoming blunt with age. Colour, dark olivaceous above, yellowish silvery on sides, white or pale beneath; a dark or red- dish lateral band, below which is a pale stripe, under which is a dark stripe which extends about to vent; fins pale; belly and sides with much red in breeding. males. Fallfish Semotilus corporalis (Mitchill) Length a foot to 18 inches. Abundant from the St. Lawrence basin to the James, east of the Alleghanies, in clear, swift streams, rock pools, below dams or falls, and in clear lakes; not found west of the Alleghanies. i The Fallfish The fallfish is much the largest of our eastern Cyprinidae, ranking with the western and some European forms. Though ordinarily not exceeding a foot or 15 inches in length, examples 18 inches or even longer are not rare. An example weighing 34 pounds has been recorded from Canadian waters, and several ex- amples, each weighing 3 pounds, have been taken in the outlet of Lake Winnepesaukee. The veteran angler, William C. Harris, has taken a 2-pound fish of this species on the artificial fly from Lycoming Creek, Pennsylvania. Many anglers who are familiar with the fallfish speak enthus- lastically of its game qualities. The character of the waters in which it lives and the large size which it attains would readily suggest a minnow of unusual strength and gaminess. The common names which this fish has received are numer- ous. The early Dutch settlers of New York called it corporaalen or corporal, and elsewhere it has been variously called chub, roach, silver chub, or wind-fish. Thoreau says it is a ‘‘soft fish and tastes like brown paper, salted.” Head 4; depth 4; eye 43; D. 8; A. 8; scales 8-49-4, 18 to 22 before the dorsal; teeth 2,5-4,2, hooked, without grinding sur- face. Body oblong, robust, little compressed; head large, convex, the snout bluntly conic; mouth large, terminal, somewhat oblique, the lower jaw included; premaxillary below the level of the eye, the maxillary barely reaching front of orbit; eye moderate, rather high up and anterior; a small barbel on maxillary just above its extremity, not at its tip as in most American minnows, not always evident in the young; scales large, not much crowded anteriorly; dorsal fin somewhat behind middle of body, just behind ventrals, or midway between nostril and base of caudal. Colour, brilliant; steel-blue above, sides and belly silvery; males in spring with the belly and lower fins rosy or crimson; no spots on the fins. 74 The Common Chub dS Common Chub Semotilus atromaculatus (Mitchill) This fish closely resembles the preceding, from which it may be readily distinguished, however, by the more posterior position of the dorsal fin (midway between middle of eye and base of caudal, and well behind ventrals), the closer crowding of the scales on anterior part of body, and the presence of a large black spot on base of anterior dorsal rays. The scales also are somewhat smaller, the number in the lateral line being usually 50 to 55. Colour, dusky bluish above, side with a _ vague, dusky band, black in the young, disappearing in the adult; belly whitish, rosy in males in spring; dorsal fin always with a con- spicuous black spot on base of anterior rays which is bordered with red in the male; a dark vertebral line; scales everywhere edged with dark punctulations; a dusky bar behind opercle; males with snout coarsely tuberculate in spring; young with a small black caudal spot. The common chub is found from Maine westward to Wyom- ing and south to Georgia and Alabama, everywhere abundant, particularly in small creeks, where it is often the largest and most voracious inhabitant. It reaches a length of a foot or less and is one of the most common species seen on the small boy’s string. Its food value is not great, though it serves a useful purpose in many a region where better fish are rare. Moreover, it is an excellent bait minnow for bass, walleyed pike, pickerel, and muskallunge. Among the common names borne by this fish are horned dace, chub, and creek chub. 75 THE TRUE EELS Family VI. Anguillide ‘““A youthful eel resided in a tiny tidal pool; He was lithe as gutta-percha, and as pliable; From his actions and contractions he appeared to be a fool, But his virtue was completely undeniable.” —Carryl. THE true eels are characterized by their peculiar fine imbedded scales in association with a conical head and a general resemblance to the conger eels. The scales are inconspicuous, narrow and placed in series at angles with each other. The Anguillide approach more nearly than most of the other eels to the type of the true fishes. In one respect, that of the minute ova and concealed generation, how- ever, they differ widely from the true fishes. The single genus of this family is Anguz//a, with one species in our waters. Common Eel Anguilla chrysypa Rafinesque The common eel is familiar to every one who has lived in Eastern North America, and who has given any attention to things out doors. On our Atlantic Coast it ranges from New- foundland to Mexico and Central America, and is also abundant among the islands of the West Indies. It is found likewise along the Gulf Coast. Unlike other eels it ascends freshwater streams long distances, and may be found even in the head- waters of nearly all the rivers of the Atlantic Coast and the Mississippi Valley. It is frequently found in lakes which would seem to be difficult to reach from the sea, but however great the barriers appear to be, it is certain that they have not been in- surmountable, and that the eels got into the lakes from some connecting water. The eel is really a freshwater fish, whose real home is in the freshwater rivers and lakes, but which runs down tto salt 76 ANCHLIT'OO 8 N3Ie Ssniine “AZISTIVYUNILVN €&, LNOEV ‘(WdASAUHO VTTINONY) ‘133 NOWWO9 The Common Eel water only at spawning time. Such fishes are called catadromous species, and their movements at spawning time are in marked contrast with, and the exact opposite of, those of the anadromous fishes (such as the salmon and the shad) whose true home is in salt water, but which run up freshwater streams to spawn. The method of reproduction of the common eel was long a mystery, and even to this day it continues to be such among the illiterate and uninformed. While its method of re- production has long been fully understood, scarcely a_ year passes that does not bring to the U. S. Fish Commission a communication from someone who claims that he has discovered that the lamprey—an animal belonging to an entirely different class from the eel, and only most remotely related to it—is really the female eel! Jacoby has remarked that the eel was from the earliest times a riddle to the Greeks; while ages ago they knew the manner of reproduction among other fishes, they were not able to make any such discovery regarding the common eel. The Greek poets, following the usage of their day, which was to attribute to Jupiter all children whose paternity was doubtful, were accustomed to say that Jupiter was also the progenitor of the eel. Aristotle states in his ‘‘ History of Animals” that eels have no sexes, nor eggs, nor semen, and that they rise from ges entera, the entrails of the sea. Some have thought that by this expression Aristotle meant earthworms, while others have claimed that the Greeks used this term for all sorts of creeping, limbless things living in soil or mud, and that these were spon- taneously generated. ‘‘When we bear in mind,’ says Jacoby, ‘‘the veneration in which Aristotle was held in ancient times, and _ still more throughout the middle ages—a period of nearly 2,000 years—it could not be otherwise than that this wonderful statement should be believed, and that it should become embellished by numerous additional legends and amplifications, many of which have: held their own in the popular mind even to this day.” There is no other animal concerning whose origin and ex- istence there is such a number of false beliefs and _ ridiculous fables. Though Aristotle’s absurd views continued to receive cre- 77 The Common Eel dence for many centuries, there were those who accepted them only in part, or rejected them altogether. Pliny maintained that young eels spring from the slime and fragments of skin which come off when eels rub themselves against the rocks. Albertus Magnus (1,200 years later) accepted Pliny’s views, but says he has heard that eels are also born alive from eels! Rondelet (400 years still later) says that eels are born not only from putrefied matter, but also from eggs produced by copulation of male and female eels. Walpiglie (17th century) declares that the ovaries of eels are fatty productions, which he calls ‘‘striz adipose.” Redi, of the same period, claimed that eels are produced just the same as other fishes are, while Leuwenhcek, an expert microscopist, found certain small parasites in the bladder of an eel, and, mis- taking the bladder for the uterus, thought these parasites were young eels. Not until the 18th century was the presence of ovaries in the female eel demonstrated by Sancassini, a learned surgeon of Comacchio, Italy. But his demonstration was questioned by other investigators. Apparently the first to describe fully the ovaries and eggs of the eel was the Italian naturalist, Mondini, in 1777, so that the discovery of the feinale eel must date from him. The search for the male eel was scarcely less prolonged or less interesting. The details need not be given here. Not until 1873 was anyone successful. On November 29 of that year, Dr. Syrski, then at Trieste, made the important discovery, which many other investigators have since verified. It is now comparatively easy to distinguish the sexes of the eel. In the first place the male is smaller than the female of the same age. The ovaries of the female are two yellowish or reddish-white elongate bodies, as broad as one’s finger, lying along- side the backbone, arranged in numerous transverse folds, extending throughout the entire length of the abdominal cavity. These two bodies are so large as not to be easily overlooked, but they contain such a quantity of fatty cells, and the eggs imbedded in them are so small and delicate, that one might easily believe, even after a superficial microscopic examination, that the whole organ consists only of fat. The testes, or spermatic organs of the male, are not ribbon-shaped like the ovaries, but represent two 78 Ddishsyo DMBUY “TA NOWNWOO The Common Eel longitudinal rows, each with about 50 lobules. These spermatic organs can be distinguished at once from the ovaries, not only by their lobular form, but also by their shining glassy appear- ance. In 1877 Jacoby made careful investigations of a number of problems concerning the eel, and since then other investigators have worked upon the same problems, until now all essential or important facts in the life history of the eel are well under- stood. These may be briefly stated as follows: The common eel spawns in salt water, usually off the mouths of rivers, on mudbanks, to which they go in great numbers at the spawning time, which is in the fall. On these mudbanks the eggs are laid, fertilization takes place, and the young eels develop within two or three months after hatching. At the beginning of the second spring these young find their way to mouths of the rivers, which they ascend in incredible numbers. In these freshwater streams and lakes they remain until of adult size, when they return to the sea for spawning purposes. This seaward migration takes place in the fall, at which time large numbers are caught in traps. During this migration, the eels, like the salmon and the shad, do not take any food. Having once reached the sea, they do not remain close to shore, but go out a distance to deeper water, where the development of the reproductive organs takes place very rapidly. This development is extraordinarily rapid when the immature state, in which the migrating eels are found, is considered; they probably become sexually mature within five or six weeks after reaching the sea. The spawning then takes place, after which both the old males and females die, never returning to fresh water the second time. The very unusual rapid development of their reproductive organs has such an effect upon the systems of the adult eels that they die soon after the act of reproduction. This is the reason that adult eels are never seen migrating up-stream. The down-stream movement occurs usually at night, com- mencing soon after sunset, is strongest from midnight to 2 o'clock a.m., and ceases an hour or more before sunrise. The common eel is remarkably prolific. The number of eggs produced by a single female 32 inches long has been esti- mated at 10,700,000. In the spring of the year thousands of young eels may be seen at the foot of waterfalls and dams, 79 The Common Eel trying to make their way up stream. Professor Baird has esti- mated that in the spring and summer one might see hundreds of wagon loads of young eels at the foot of Niagara Falls, crawling over the slippery rocks and squirming in the seething whirlpools. In their feeding habits eels are chiefly scavengers, feeding upon all manner of refuse, but preferring dead fish or other animal matter. They are a very undesirable inmate of rivers in which fish are caught in gillnets. It is said that the des- truction of shad and herring by eels in the Susquehanna and other Atlantic coastal streams is enormous. It is not infrequent that when a gillnet is lifted the greater part of the catch con- sists simply of heads and backbones, the remainder having been devoured by myriads of eels in the short time the net was left out. The spawning shad is considered by them a_ special delicacy, and are often found emptied at the vent and com- pletely gutted of the ovaries. Sometimes a shad, apparently full, is found to contain several eels of considerable size. The commercial value of the common eel as a food-fish has long been well established. It justly holds a high rank as an article of food among all who are familiar with it, and in the markets it always brings a good price. The eel is caught in all sorts of ways—in traps, eel-pots, seines, and on set-lines; and ‘‘ bobbing for eels” is a classic in angling methods. Body elongate, compressed behind, covered with imbedded scales which are linear in form and placed obliquely, some of them at right angles to the others; lateral line well developed; head long and conical, 2 to 2} in trunk; eye small, over angle of mouth; teeth small, subequal, in bands on each jaw, and a long patch on the vomer; tongue free at the tip; lower jaw projecting ; gill-openings small and_ slit-like ; nostrils superior, well separated, the anterior with a slight tube; distance from front of dorsal to vent 14 to 2 in head; pectoral fins 22 to 32 in head Colour brown or yellow-olivaceous, nearly plain, paler below, the colour, quite variable. The common eel reaches a considerable size. An example taken in 1899 in Lake Maxinkuckee measured 43 inches in length, and weighed 6} pounds. Examples 4 to 5 feet long have been reported, though the average length of those caught probably does not exceed 2} to 3 feet. 80 THE! GONGER? EELS Family VII. Leptocephalide Tus family includes those eels which are scaleless, and have the tongue largely free in front, the body moderately elongate, the end of the tail surrounded by a fin, the posterior nostril remote from the upper lip and near the eye, and the pectoral fins well developed. All the species are plainly coloured, gray- ish or dusky brown above, silvery below, and the dorsal edged with black. The 3 recognized genera contain about 15 species, inhabiting most warm seas, usually at moderate depths. Most of the species undergo a metamorphosis, the young being loosely organized and transparent, band-shaped and with a very small head. a. Vomerine teeth in bands, none of them canine-like. b. Dorsal fin inserted behind the pectoral, but nearer pectoral eee ott Be tole ste, 0.) aia) S's. gosta mime os =: oh ewe Leptocephalus, 81 bb. Dorsal fin beginning over the gill-opening; Congermuraena, 81 aa. Vomerine teeth uniserial, some of them canine-like; Uroconger, 81 The 2 species of Leptocephalus in our waters are L. conger and L. caudilimbatus. The former is the conger eel which is generally common on both coasts of the Atlantic, from Cape Cod to Brazil in America. It occurs also on the coasts of Africa and Asia, but is not known from the eastern Pacific. It reaches a length of 7 or 8 feet and, though not much used in this country, it is an important food-fish in Europe. The other species (L. caudilimbatus) is found in the tropical parts of the Atlantic. It is not uncommon in the West Indies where it is used as food, and it ranges north at least to Pensacola and the Bahamas. It also occurs about Madeira. Five species of Congermurena are found in our limits. They are all of small size and of little food value. Only one species of Uroconger is known from our waters. It is of no value as a food-fish. 8r THE MORAYS Family VIIT. Murenide THESE may be distinguished from all other eels by the small round gill-openings and by the absence of pectoral fins. The body and fins are covered by a thick leathery skin, the occipital region is elevated through the development of the strong muscles which move the lower jaw, and the jaws are usually narrow and armed with knife-like or else molar teeth. The morays inhabit tropical and subtropical waters, and are especially abundant in crevices about coral reefs. Many of the species reach a large size, and all are voracious and pugnacious. The colouration is usually strongly marked, the colour cells being highly specialized. a. Vertical fins well developed, the dorsal beginning before the vent. b. Posterior nostril an oblong slit, the anterior in a_ short tube; Enchelycore, 83 bb. Posterior nostril circular, with or without a tube. c. Teeth all, or nearly all, acute, none of those in jaws obtuse or molar-like. d. Anterior nostrils without tube; vomerine teeth in many series; lips swith airee’ folds... .ceQcccreek cite ae Pythonichthys, 83 dd. Anterior nostrils each with a long tube; vomerine teeth in 1 or 2 series; lips continuous with skin of head. e. Posterior nostrils without tube, the margin sometimes slightly raised. f. Dorsal fin inserted behind the head, over or behind the gill- OPEV Ss LPT Me ake os A ie oan Rabula, 83 ff. Dorsal fin inserted on the head, considerably before the gill- OPENIIT 2. -4.(5 weap ek Cae ema ee meres Gymnothorax, 83 ee. Posterior nostrils, as well as anterior, each with a conspicuous PUES eis: ch. areuel Slate tin ee eee cote oe Oe iin: eee ee Murena, 83 cc. Teeth mostly obtuse, molar-like;.... ..........-- Echidna, 83 aa. Vertical fins rudimentary, confined to the end of the tail. g. Cleft of mouth short, not half length of head; snout moder- ate, about half the gape; tail about as long as trunk; Uropterygius, 83 gg. Cleft of mouth long, nearly half head; snout very short, less than one-fourth the gape; tail very short, about half rest of GLY, © spon. cn inn sel foke seit eae ieee ene Channomurena, 83 The Morays Of these 8 genera only Gymnothorax contains any species of much importance to us. The species of Gymnothorax are numerous in our waters. They are the most active and voracious of eels, many of them very pugnacious, and most of them live in shallow water about rocks and reefs. The common spotted moray (G. moringa) is found in the West Indies, north to Charleston and Pensacola and south to Brazil. It is the most abundant eel in the West Indies, reaches a length of 2 to 3 feet, and is used extensively for food. The conger eel of California (G. mordax) is found from Point Conception to Cerros Island. It is abundant about the Santa Bar- bara Island and is remarkable for its ferocity. It is a food-fish of some importance. There are about 15 other species of Gymnothorax in our waters, but none of them possesses much food value. Enchelycore has one species, common in the West Indies, Pythonichthys, Rabula, Echidna, Uropiervgius, and Channomurena, have each from 1 to 4 species, in our tropical waters. None is of much food-value. 83 THE ARON Ss Family IX, Elopide Bopy elongate, more or less compressed, covered with silvery cycloid scales; head naked; mouth broad, terminal, the lower jaw prominent; premaxillaries not protractile, short, the maxillaries form- ing the lateral margins of the upper jaw; an elongate bony plate be- tween the branches of the lower jaw; eye large, with an adipose eye- lid; bands of villiform teeth in each jaw and on vomer, palatines, pterygoids, tongue, and base of skull; no large teeth; opercular bones thin, with expanded membranous borders; a scaly occipital collar; gill-membranes entirely separate, free from the isthmus; branchiostegals numerous (20 to 35); gillrakers long and slender; belly not keeled nor serrated, rather broad and covered with ordinary scales; lateral line present; dorsal fin inserted over or slightly behind the ventrals; caudal fin forked; no adipose fin; dorsal and anal depressible into a sheath of scales; pectorals and ventrals each with a very long accessory scale; pyloric coeca numerous. Genera 3, species 4 or 5, forming 2 well-marked subfamilies, both widely distributed in the tropical seas. The species are not much valued as food, the flesh being dry and bony, but they are among the greatest of game fishes. In our waters we have two genera, each represented by a single species. a. Pseudobranchie none; body oblong, covered with large scales: anal fin larger than the dorsal; last ray of dorsal produced into a done filaments. (0, 220. Gene an ere ee Tarpon, 85 aa. Pseudobranchize large; body elongate, covered with small scales; anal fin smaller than the dorsal ; last ray of dorsal not produced Is Ae AAGNEN bs. s55 - depth 4; eye27~ Ds 12; A. 275~scales 50. Body more slender than in the other species, little compressed; not much elevated, the belly mowhere carinated; eye very large; pectoral not reaching ventrals; colouration, clear silvery. 93 THE MILK-FISHES Family XII. Chanide Bopy oblong, compressed, covered with small, firm, adherent scales; lateral line distinct; abdomen broad and _ flattish; snout depressed; mouth small, anterior, the lower jaw with a_ small symphyseal tubercle; no teeth; eye with an adipose eyelid; gill- membranes broaaly united, free from the isthmus; _ branchioste- gals 4; pseudobranchize well developed; an accessory branchial organ in a cavity behind the gill cavity; dorsal fin opposite the ventrals; anal shorter than the dorsal; mucous membrane of the cesophagus raised into a spiral fold; intestine with many con- volutions; colour silvery. The Awa or Milk-fish This genus contains 3 species, only one of which is found in our waters. This is Chanos chanos, the milk-fish, or awa, a fish of very wide distribution. It is found on most sandy shores of the Pacific and Indian oceans. It is very abundant in the Gulf of California and among the Hawaiian Islands, where it is an important food-fish. In the Hawaiian Islands it is found with the ama-ama, or mullet, in the artificial fish-ponds of the old kings. The awa reaches a length of 2 to 5 feet, 94 THE HERRINGS Family XIII. Clupeide Bopy oblong or elongate, usually much compressed, covered with cycloid or pectinated scales; belly sometimes rounded, sometimes compressed, in which case it is often armed with bony serratures; head naked, usually compressed; mouth rather large, terminal, the jaws about equal; premaxillaries not pro- tractile; teeth mostly small, often feeble or wanting; gillrakers long and slender; gill-membranes not connected, free from the isthmus; branchiostegals usually free, 6 to 15; pseudobranchie present; no lateral line; anal fin usually rather long, caudal forked. This is a large family, embracing about 30 genera and 150 species. Most of the species are saltwater, inhabiting all seas, and usually swimming in immense schools. Many species are anadromous, ascending freshwater streams to spawn, and some species remain in fresh water permanently. The northern and freshwater species, as in many _ other families, differ from the tropical forms in having a larger num- ber of vertebre. None of the species is considered a game-fish, but many of them are among the most important food-fishes. In American waters the family is represented by 16 genera, and about 38 species, some 10 of which are of commercial importance. a. Scales with their posterior margins entire and rounded; in- testinal canal of moderate length. Be Vomer with. tecth:... =. 08% -<-- soe. e scene eae access Clupea, 96 bb. Vomer without teeth. c. Ventral scutes very weak, the belly more or less rounded; ventrals under middle of dorsal;.....----.-- Clupanodon, 99 cc. Ventral scutes strong, the belly compressed; ventrals below or slightly behind front of dorsal. d. Premaxillaries meeting at a large angle, so that the tip of the upper jaw does not appear to be notched; cheek longer than deep;..-...-.--+- esse tees tees Pomolobus 101 dd. Premaxillaries meeting in front at a very acute angle, so that the emarginate front of the upper jaw receives the 95 The Common Herring slender tip of the lower; fore part of the cheek very deep, deeper than’ lomg5:-s00= 4.72 -p- = -) ae Alosa, 104 aa. Scales with their posterior margins vertical, and pectinate or fluted; intestine’ \elonSareg-2- ieee Brevoortia, 108 GENUS CLUPEA LINNAGUS The True Herrings The true herrings have the body elongate, the vertebre numerous, the ventral serratures weak, and an ovate patch of small but persistent teeth on the vomer. The few species belong to the northern seas, where the number of individuals is very great, exceeding perhaps those of any other genus of fishes. In America there are but 2 species, both of which spawn in the sea: a. Belly serrate both before and behind ventrals; anal _ rays oh Hey Rd. OL ea Te | ee: harengus, 96 Common Herring Clupea harengus Linnzus The herring is beyond question the most important of food fishes in the Atlantic, if not in the world. Distributed as it is throughout the whole of the North Atlantic, it affords occupation for immense fleets of fishing boats, and according to an esti- 96 The Common Herring mate made by Professor Huxley, the number taken every year out of the North Sea and Atlantic is at least 3,000,000,000, with a weight of at least 1,500,000,000 pounds. This estimate is probably too low. Carl Dambeck estimates the average yield of herring in Norway from 1850 to 1870 at 1,452,000,000 pounds, and the annual yield on the Swedish coast has been put at 300,000,000 pounds. In 1873 the catch on the Scotch coast was 188,000,000 pounds, which employed 45,494 men, using 15,095 boats. In the same period 15,331 boats were used in the English fisheries. If to these we add the yield on the coasts of Ireland, Germany, Belgium, France and America, the total is enormous. But 3,000,000,000 herring is probably no greater than the number contained in a single shoal, if it covers half a dozen square miles, and shoals of much greater size are on record. And, according to Professor Huxley, there must be scattered through the North Sea and the North Atlantic, at one and the same time, scores of shoals, any one of which would go a long way toward supplying the whole of man’s consump- tion of herring. The herring is found in the temperate and colder parts of the North Atlantic. On our. coast it has been found as far south as Cape Hatteras, though it is not abundant south of New England. It rarely enters brackish water, but spawns in the sea. Unlike many other fishes, the herring, as well as other species of C/upeidw, are regarded as particularly delicious at spawning time, and most of the herring fisheries are carried on when the fish are in full roe. The herring fishery in America is entirely a shore fishery. With the exception of a few occasionally taken for bait by the line fishermen on _ the banks, our herring are all caught in the immediate vicinity of the shore. Although the herring fishery in America has never assumed the importance which it has long held in Europe, the herring is probably no less abundant here than on the other side of the Atlantic. The principal herring fisheries on our coast are north of Cape Cod, and Newfoundland is the most northern point where important fisheries are located. From the Bay of Fundy to Cape Cod the fishing-ground is practically continuous. The herring fisheries are carried on chiefly by means _ of brush weirs, gillnets, and torching. The latter method is the most primitive, and is saia to be effectual only after the 97 The Common Herring weather has become cool. Formerly a_ birch-bark torch, now one of oil, was fixed to the bow of the boat, which is rapidly rowed through the water by several fishermen, while another with a large dip-net is stationed in the bow. The fish rise toward the light in numbers so long as the boat is kept moving rapidly, and large quantities are dipped into the boat. At other times the torch is used to lure the fish into the weirs, the light being then extinguished, and the operation repeated as often as necessary. Géillnets, however, are now the appliances chiefly in use in the herring fishery. They are set at some distance below the surface, and anchored at one or both ends. The quantities caught are very great, frequently sufficient to sink the buoys. The food of the herring consists of small animal organisms, chiefly of two small crustaceans, viz.: copepods, or ‘‘red seed,” and schizopod crustaceans, or the ‘‘shrimp” of the fishermen. Among the enemies of the herring which may be mentioned are the cod, haddock, pollock, hake, dogfish, albacore, squid, por- poises, seals and finback whales, each of which is very des- tructive. As a food-fish the herring is of very great importance. It is utilized in many different ways. The great quantities brought to Gloucester, New York and elsewhere in winter from New- foundland are sold fresh. Those caught on the New England coast are smoked, salted or pickled, packed as sardines or used as bait chiefly in the cod fisheries. On the Maine coast the most important use is as sardines. Head 41; depth 44; eye 4; D. 18; A. 17; scales 57; ventral scutes 28-+13; vertebre 56. Body elongate, compressed; scales loose; cheek longer than high; maxillary reaching middle of eye; upper jaw not emarginate, the lower jaw much _ projecting; vomer with a small ovate patch of small permanent teeth; pala- tine teeth small or absent; tongue with small teeth; gillrakers very long, fine and slender, about 40 on lower arm of first arch; eye longer than snout; abdomen serrated in front as well as behind, the serratures weak. Colour, bluish, silvery below, with bright reflections; peritoneum dusky. 98 California Herring California Herring Clupea pallasit Cuvier & Valenciennes The California herring, known in some earlier publications as Clupea mirabilis Girard, is found in the North Pacific from San Diego to Kamchatka and is everywhere known as “herring.” It is scarcely different in size, appearance, or qualities from the Atlantic species. It is found the entire length of our Pacific Coast, being exceedingly abundant northward. All the bays and outlets of Puget Sound are filled with them in summer. South of Point Conception they are seldom seen except in winter. They are so abundant in San Francisco Bay in spring that prac- tically no market can be found for them. At San Diego they spawn in the bay in January. Farther north the spawning season is later. They are fattest and bring the best price in early winter. They are smoked and dried, or salted, or sent fresh to the markets. Sometimes oil is expressed from them. The California herring is an excellent food-fish, and large quan- tities are used annually. It reaches a length of 18 inches. biead= 475 depth 4 D. 16; A. ‘143. ‘scales’ 52, Lower jaw strongly projecting, the upper not emarginate; belly scarcely com-: pressed in front of ventrals, serrate only between ventrals and anal; gill-rakers very long and slender; vomerine teeth weaker than in the Atlantic herring; usually a few teeth on tongue and premax- illaries; insertion of dorsal slightly nearer front of eye than base of caudal. Colour, bluish above, silvery on sides and below; perito- neum dusky. GENUS CLUPANODON LACEPEDE The True Sardines This genus is close to C/upea, which it resembles in form of body and the weak ventral serratures. It differs, however, in having no teeth on the vomer; teeth in jaws mostly weak; scales thin and deciduous; adipose eyelid present; gillrakers very numerous. There are about 6 species in this genus, all confined chiefly to the 2 temperate zones, and all closely related to the 99 California Sardine European sardine, Clupanodon pilchardus, with which they all agree in richness of flesh. The 3 genera, Clupea, Clupanodon and Pomolobus, are all closely related and perhaps should be united. a. Opercle conspicuously striate; side with a series of round black SPOts 5. a whitefish taken in Lake Erie ranges from about 14 to 5 or 6 pounds, but seldom exceeds 4 or 5 pounds. This applies to all parts of the lake, but the average size may differ more or less in different places or in the catch by different kinds of apparatus. The species, however, attains a weight of 12 pounds and more, and some have been reported weighing as high as 20 pounds, but these extreme sizes are now practically extinct. Individuals weighing 8 or 9 pounds are con- sidered very large for Lake Erie at the present time. It has been impossible to ascertain satisfactorily the average size of the fish in the catch of any one fishery. In several fares landed by the gillnmet tugs at Dunkirk in August, 1894, the average by actual weight was found to be between 2} and 3 pounds, only a very small number weighing as low as 14 and 1? pounds, while the largest weighed about 5 pounds. Accord- ing to the statements of the fishermen, the average weight on the platform ranges all the way from 24 to 4 pounds, these figures, which are only estimates, being based in part upon the poundnet and in part upon the gillnet catch. The dealers would prefer to handle no whitefish weighing less than about 14 pounds, and some would place the minimum Size suitable for market as high as 2 pounds. From the observations of fish-culturists, the smallest fish from which eggs may be obtained on this lake weigh from 14 to 2 pounds. In that event the genera! catch of whitefish on Lake Erie may be expected not to include immature fish, and the minimum size desired for market would about correspond with their earliest mature size, 14 to 2 pounds. It is questionable, however, especially in the case of a rapidly decreasing product, whether its extensive capture in the first year of maturity should be allowed. It is claimed by some that very large quantities of immature whitefish are caught in certain places, but the evidence in respect to that matter lacks confirmation. According to the testimony, comparatively few whitefish weighing under 14 pounds reach the 127 The Common Whitefish platform, the number being somewhat larger in the spring than in the fall, but at no time great enough to make their capture a question for serious consideration. Nothing is definitely known regarding the general distribution and habits of the young, but they are supposed to remain chiefly in the deep waters of the lake. Many are reported to be taken in the herring gillnets in that region, and also in the poundnets on some parts of both the north and south shore, but the men actually concerned in those fisheries deny that the quantity is ever excessive. The subject is important and should be further investigated. As far as known the habits of the common whitefish in other lakes do not differ from those of Lake Erie, and the de- crease in the catch in other waters has been proportionally great. The spawning habits of whitefish confined in pens have been observed. The fish rise to the surface, occasionally in pairs, sometimes, but rarely, in trios of 1 female and 2 males, the female emitting a quantity of spawn at each rise. The males, always the smaller fish, persistently follow the female and dis- charge milt at the same time the eggs are emitted. Whitefish reach maturity in the 3d or 4th year. A full- grown individual deposits from 10,000 to 75,000 eggs, depend- ing on the fish’s size. A rule for determining the approximate spawning capacity is to allow about 10,000 eggs for each pound of the fish’s weight. The eggs are % of an inch in diameter, and 36,000 make a fluid quart. In nature the eggs of the whitefish are subjected to the at- attacks of many enemies for nearly 5 months. The mud-puppy, commonly known as ‘‘lizard” or ‘‘water-dog” by the people along the lakes, is especially destructive. During the month of January, 1897, many of these animals were pumped up with the water supply of the Put-in-Bay station. The stomachs of a con- siderable number of them contained whitefish and cisco eggs, the contents of 1 stomach being 288 whitefish eggs and 4 cisco eggs. Another voracious destroyer of whitefish eggs is the common yellow perch (Perca flavescens). The deck of a boat has been covered with the eggs of the whitefish and cisco pressed out of the stomachs of perch taken from gillnets the last of November on the reefs, where they had gone to feed on the eggs. The various smaller Cyprinid@ and some other fishes, craw- 128 The Common Whitefish fish and wild fowl make the eggs of fishes a considerable por- tion of their diet, those which require the longest period in hatching, of course, suffering most. The artificial propagation of whitefish has long since passed the experimental stage and has attained a high degree of perfec- tion. The work can be carried on with great facility, and its value is especially apparent when it is considered that under natural conditions only a very small percentage of the eggs hatch, while through artificial propagation from 75 to 95 per cent are productive. Practically all the eggs taken for hatching purposes are obtained from fish caught by the commercial fishermen, which would otherwise be lost. In the fiscal year 1897-98 the United States Fish Commis- sion hatched and planted 88,488,000 whitefish fry, and in 1898- 99 152,755,000 fry were hatched and liberated in suitable waters. The whitefishes are by far the most important group of fresh-water fishes of North America, and probably of the world. The common whitefish is the best of the tribe, but some of the others nearly equal it in merit, and all are more or less esteemed as food. Among the fishes of the Great Lakes the common whitefish ranks next in value to the lake herring, lake trout, and wall-eyed pike. In 1897 the catch in the United States amounted to about 8,000,000 pounds, having a value of nearly $300,000. If to this is added the yield of lake herring and other species of whitefish. the aggregate is over 57,000,000 pounds, having a value of nearly $800,000. The market value of the whitefishes taken in 1898 in the British Provinces was reported as $877,000, a sum representing about 18,400,000 pounds. The common whitefish reaches a larger size than any other species of whitefish in the United States. Examples weighing over 20 pounds have been taken, but the average weight is under 4 pounds. Whitefish fishing is done chiefly with gillnets set at or near the bottom in comparatively deep water, although considerable quantities are also taken in pound-nets, trap-nets, and seines. A very large part of the catch reaches the market in a fresh con- dition, although formerly considerable quantities were salted. The leading centres of the trade are Chicago, Detroit, Sandusky. Cleveland, Erie, and Buffalo, whence the fish are shipped frozen or in ice to all parts of the country. 129 The Humpback Whitefish Head 5; depth 3; eye 4 ta75;D: a1; A. a1; Seales, o-7a- vertebre 59; gillrakers usually 10+17 to 19; maxillary 4. Body oblong, compressed, always more or less elevated, becoming notably so in the adult; head small and short, the snout blunt- ish and obliquely truncated, the tip on the level or lower edge of pupil; width of preorbital less than half that of pupil; maxil- lary reaching past front of orbit; gillrakers moderate, about 2 in eye. Colour, olivaceous above, the sides white, but not silvery; lower fins sometimes dusky. Humpback Whitefish Coregonus nelsoni Bean This whitefish occurs in Alaska from Bristol Bay northward, where it is said to be not uncommon. According to Dr. Bean, Nelson’s whitefish has long been known from Alaska, but it has been confounded with a Siberian species, C. syrok, from which it is really very different. The Russian name is Korabati, while the Tenneh tribes of the Yukon call it Kolokuh. Dr. Dall speaks of it as a common species, and says it is rather bony, inferior in flavour, and that it is generally used for dog-food except in times of scarcity. Head 5; depth 4; maxillary 4; D. 12; A. 12; scales 10-88-8; gillrakers 26 in number, their length 2 in eye. Allied to C. clu- petformis, but distinguished by its arched and compressed back. Colour, plain whitish. GENUS ARGYROSOMUS AGASSIZ The Lake Herrings or Ciscoes This genus is very close to Coregonus, from which it differs in the larger mouth, and more produced jaws, the premaxillaries being placed nearly horizontally, and the lower jaw projecting decidedly beyond them. The gillrakers are very long and slender. with about 30 on the lower limb of the first arch: vertebre 55, These characters are associated with greater voracity, and, in general, greater activity of the species. The species of Argyrosomus are numerous in northern parts of 130 Smelt of the New York Lakes Asia, Europe, and America, and all are valued as food, though not held in as high esteem as the species of true whitefishes. a. Body long, herring-shaped; scales small, uniform, the free edges convex. b. Lower fins pale or merely tipped with dusky; scales punctate with dark points. c. Eye large, not much, if any, shorter than the snout in adult; its length 3} to 43 in head. d. Head long, 4 in body; body slender, its depth 5 to 6 in length; distance from occiput to snout 24 in distance from occiput to dorsal; teeth on tongue; maxillary 3 in head;.osmeriformts, 131 dd. Head long, 4} in length; distance from occiput to snout nearly half its distance from front of dorsal fin. e. Maxillary 31 to 34 in head; gillrakers long and numerous, about CORRE Cig a ets Gute te ric eye lean ANSE lial tliat a aaa eat artedt, 132 ee. Maxillary longer, 23 to 3 in head; gillrakers fewer, about 14+25; hoyi, 136 ddd. Head shorter, about 5 in length; distance from occiput to snout about 2 distance to front of dorsal fin;.......... pusillus, 137 cc. Eye small, shorter than snout, about 5 in head. f. Head short, about 5 in length. g. Body rather slender, the depth equal to length of head; distance from occiput to snout 2} to 23 in its distance from dorsal; base RANG AN SINO GU leon! 4ss ocho! a oie, Saad ales JS Sites sicugerea ws luctdus, 137 gg. Body deep, the depth in adult greater than length of head; dis- tance from occiput to snout 24 to 2} in its distance from dorsal; Masenol dorsal longen)= 2. oa..vscie Ski: wees laurette, 137 fieeenieadJone; A to-45 im length; 2=..%s6.. 022).6,45 4. prognathus, 138 Bomecower tins. all blue=black$ « «0.102 6 s:0555) 0) sae nigripinnis, 139 aa. Body short, deep, compressed, the curve of back similar to that of belly; scales large, larger forward and closely imbricated, the ieesmiarPins SGancelysCONVER 1 '.. hae. eee le ek tullibee, 140 Smelt of the New York Lakes Argyrosomus osmeriformts (H.M. Smith) This small fish has been recorded only from Seneca and Skanea- teles lakes, New York, where it is known as smelt. It doubtless inhabits others of the deep-water lakes of northern New York. Nothing is known of its habits; and its small size, 10 inches or less, renders it of little value as food. Head 4; depth 5 to 6; eye 4; D.9; A. 13; scales 9-83-10; maxil- lary 3; mandible 2; gillrakers 20+ 35, very long and slender, as long as eye. Body very slender, back not elevated; head rather large, its 131 Lake Herring width equal to half its length; eye large,-equal to snout; dorsal fin high, its height equal to 4 depth of body, and 15 times length of base of fin, its origin nearer base of caudal than snout, its free margin nearly straight and vertical; longest anal ray $ length of base of fin; ventral long, equal to height of dorsal, its length equal to ? of distance from ventral origin to vent; ventral origin midway between base of caudal and pupil; adipose fin long and slender, of uniform width which is + its length; mouth large, lower jaw projecting; teeth on tongue. Colour, grayish silvery above, sides bright silvery, white below; tips of dorsal and caudal dark. Lake Herring Argyrosomus artedi (Le Sueur) This important food-fish, named by Le Sueur in honour of Petrus Artedi, the ‘‘Father of Ichthyology,” the friend and associ- ate of Linnzeus, and perhaps the ablest systematic zoologist of the 18th century, is found throughout the region of the Great Lakes, from Lake Memphremagog on the east to Lake Superior on the west, and northward into the Hudson Bay drainage, and to Labrador. Throughout its range it is the most abundant member of the family. It is taken in enormous quantities each year, and in most of the lakes is the object of a special fishery. The quan- tity taken each year in the Great Lakes is greater than that of all other whitefishes combined, but in value of catch and in food value it does not equal the common whitefish. The species is most abundant in Lake Erie, while Lake Michigan ranks second in importance. The lake herring has a large number of vernacular names. The most widely used are lake herring, or merely herring, and cisco, either of which is, in most places, distinctive. In Lake Ontario it is usually called cisco. The etymology of the word is in dispute. - One assigned derivation is from a fish peddler named Cisco, who, about 1830, took the fish through the northern part of New York State and sold it to the farmers as ‘‘Cisco’s herring.” ‘‘Sisco” is merely a recent variation in the orthography. Other names for this fish in Lake Ontario are herring, blueback, greenback, blueback or greenback herring, and grayback or grayback herring. These different names are simply 132 Lake Herring the fisherman's way of distinguishing individual variations in colour, sex, age or time of run. Usually the fishermen claim that the graybacks run in the spring, and that the spring or early sum- mer is their spawning time. The greenbacks and bluebacks run in the late fall, and are regarded, very naturally, as a better fish than the graybacks. In Lakes Erie, St. Clair, Huron and Superior, as well as throughout Canada, this species is known as_ herring or lake herring. In Lake Michigan the names Michigan blueback and shore herring are sometimes heard. Unfortunately the name herring is also applied sometimes to other species. The lake herring has the same general habits as the white- fish, but seems to be more widely disseminated during most parts of the year. During the summer and winter it is mainly restricted in Lake Erie to the deeper waters in the middle of the lake, in its eastern half, and along the northern shore east of Rondeau. From the deep-water region there are two great migrations into the shoaler and more changeable portions of the lake. In the spring, when the shoal waters become warmer, the fish emerge from their winter habitat and move shoreward and upon the edge of the platform, evidently in search of food. The volume of this migration is less than that of the fall run, and is more fluctuating and irregular. Their presence is generally first noticed in early April, and occasionally large lifts are made in the latter part of that month, though the best fishery is in May. Some are caught in June, but by the first of that month the bulk has left the United States coast for deeper water, although on the Canadian shore east of Pointe Pelee they remain through- out the summer. During the summer months the gillnet tugs from Cleveland and eastern ports find them in deep water well out in the lake, the best season off Erie, the principal fishing centre, being from July to September. The fall migration corres- ponds in a general way with that of the spring, though the incentive is different. Then large bodies of herring seek spawning beds on the platform, over which they become widely distribu- ted. The distribution of their spawning grounds on the platform is less restricted than those of the whitefish, and the herring are not confined to the reefs and rocky bottoms when discharging their eggs. There are doubtless important spawning grounds east of the platform, though their exact location has not been determined. 133 The Cisco of Lake Tippecanoe The spawning of the lake herring takes place in the fall, chiefly in November. The average weight probably does not exceed a pound, and the maximum weight 2 pounds. It is usually caught in gillnets and pound-nets. Head 4 to 5; depth 4 to 4%; eye 4 to 5; snout 4 to 5; D. g to 11; A. 10 to 13; scales 8 to 10-62 to 87-7 or 8; maxillary 3 to 32; mandible 2 to 24; gillrakers 45 to 58; vertebre 57. Body long, slender and somewhat compressed; dorsal and ventral out- lines but little arched; head pointed; mouth large, jaws subequal, or the lower somewhat projecting; maxillary long, usually reach- ing to vertical of pupil, its length 2} times its width; supplemental bone broad, about half length of maxillary; mandible long, but not usually reaching vertical of posterior edge of orbit; middle of upper jaw on level with lower edge of orbit; caudal peduncle slender but not much compressed, its least depth equal to distance from tip of snout to middle of eye; dorsal fin small, its base about 2 in head, its longest ray 13 in head; pectoral 12 in head. Colour in life, back dull bluish-green, this colour extending down on sides nearly to lateral line; lower part of sides silvery; under parts white or silvery; dorsal fin usually blackish or bluish-black on distal third, sometimes plain, the membrane often punctate with dark; caudal bluish-black at tip; anal and ventrals pure white; pectorals white, edged with dark above. Sometimes the anal has a few black specks at base and on anterior part, and the snout is often more or less dark. The amount of individual variation in this species is very great. The Cisco of Lake Tippecanoe Argyrosomus sisco Jordan In certain small deep-water lakes in northern Indiana and Wisconsin is a small lake herring described originally from Lake Tippecanoe, Indiana, from which fact it has received its verna- cular name. It has been reported also from Crooked, Shriner and Cedar lakes in northeastern Indiana, and from Geneva, La Belle, and Oconomowoc lakes in Wisconsin. ; To the angler the cisco of Lake Tippecanoe is by far the most interesting of all the American whitefishes, although, like the mountain herring, the fact that it will rise to the fly or that it can be taken on the hook at all, is not generally known. But its 134 The Alaska Herring praises have been sung by William C. Harris, the veteran editor of The American Angler, and that is praise from Sir Hubert himself. In Geneva Lake, Wisconsin, this fish is an abundant species, and is regarded by local anglers and others who have had ex- perience with it as one of the most attractive and interesting fishes to be taken with rod and line; and the fact that it can be taken only for a few days each year adds zest to sport already fascinat- ing. Only during the last days of May or the early ones of June, when the Mayfly is on the wing, is the cisco seen. Then the anglers go in boats out on the lake where the water is 50 to 100 feet deep and where experience has shown the cisco may be found. Until casting begins not a fish can be seen, nor the slightest ripple upon the water; but no sooner have a few impaled ephemeras dropped upon the surface than the ciscoes begin to appear. They can be seen coming up from the depths, ‘‘ their pearly sides burnished by the gleam and glint of the afternoon sun.” In a moment the water all about the many boats is a- ripple with eager fish, every hook has been taken, and the happy anglers are busy removing the catch and dropping it into their boats. The Mayfly is the lure in almost exclusive use, though Mr. Harris succeeded in taking a few fish with an artificial fly. The great tenderness of the mouth of the cisco does not permit the angler to play his fish except at the almost certain risk of losing it. So far as we have been able to learn this species has not attracted the attention of anglers elsewhere. In the small Indiana lakes in which it is found it comes into the inlets or other shallow water for spawning purposes usually between the middle of November and Christmas. The cisco reaches a length of 14 inches and is regarded as a delicious food-fish. This fish does not differ greatly from the lake herring. The head seems to be longer, the eye smaller and the mandible and the maxillary a trifle shorter. The fish is rather smaller than the lake herring. The colour is not especially different. Alaska Herring Argyrosomus alascanus Scofield This herring is known only from 3 specimens, 1 from salt water at Point Hope, Alaska, and 2 others from freshwater at Grantley Harbour, near Bering Straits. 135 The Mooneye Cisco The species reaches a foot in length. It seems most closely related to the lake herring, from which it differs chiefly in the fewer gillrakers. Nothing is known regarding its abundance, distribution, or habits. Mooneye Cisco Argyrosomus hoyt Gill This fish, which is thus far known only from Lake Michi- gan and, possibly from Lake Superior, does not appear to be an abundant species. Until 1894 only 2 specimens were known, but in that year the investigations of the United States Fish Commission showed it to be one of the principal fishes taken in the deep-water gillnet fishery in the western part of Lake Michigan. Very little is known as to its habits. It seems to be a deep- water species and it is not known to come into shallow water. Examples taken between November 5th and 2oth were all ripe or nearly so, indicating that to be their spawning time, and_ its spawning beds are probably in deeper water than those of other species. Among other names by which this species is known are mooneye, cisco, kieye, chub, and Hoy’s whitefish. It reaches a length of 12 or 13 inches and is one of the smallest and hand- somest of our whitefishes. From A. prognathus, which it resembles, Hoy’s whitefish may be distinguished by the larger eye, the shorter maxillary and the darker colour. Head 44; depth 43; eye 44 to 43; snout 32 to 33; maxillary 22 to 3, reaching vertical of middle of pupil; mandible 24; D. 10; A. 11 or 123 scales 8 or 9-73 to 80-7; gillrakers 14+25 or 26, slender, about 2 in eye; vertebre 56; B. 8 or 9. Body rather slender, compressed, the back somewhat elevated; mouth large, subterminal, the lower jaw shorter than the upper even when the mouth is open; tip of muzzle rather bluntly truncate, some- what as in a true Coregonus: head rather long, slender, and pointed; suborbital and preorbital long and narrow; distance from tip of snout to occiput 2+ to 22 in distance from occiput to origin of dorsal fin; fins low; free margin of dorsal very oblique, the length of anterior ray 12 in head, that of last ray less than 136 The Leart Whitefish half that of first; longest anal ray 2% in head, and more than twice as long as the last; pseudobranchie very large; tongue with traces of teeth. Colour, light iridescent blue on_ back, with a few fine dark punctulations reaching about 2 scales below lateral line; sides and under parts rich silvery, brighter than in any other of our Coregoninew, much as in Hiodon and Albula,; top of head light olivaceous; cheeks silvery; dorsal, caudal and _pec- torals with some dark on their margins; anal and ventrals white, with some’ dark dustings; the male perhaps a little richer, more iridescent blue on back, and with the scales a little thicker and less closely imbricated. Leart Whitefish Argyrosomus pusillus (Bean) This is perhaps the smallest of American whitefishes, rarely reaching a foot in length and 4 pound in weight. It has the reputation of being more bony than any other species. Its habitat includes practically all of Alaska except the south-eastern portion. It is little used as food except for dogs. Nothing is known as to its habits. Great Bear Lake Herring Argyrosomus lucidus (Richardson) The herring of Great Bear Lake is little known. The only specimens we have seen are 2 obtained in 1894 by Miss Elizabeth Taylor and donated to Stanford University. These are each 16 inches long and are the only specimens received by any museum since Richardson’s time, more than half a centurv earlier. Lauretta Whitefish Argyrosomus laurette (Bean) This species is known only from the Yukon River northward to Point Barrow where it is said to be not uncommon. Nothing is known regarding its habits. It is close to A. /ucidus, but seems to have a longer dorsal fin. The Bloater Whitefish Bloater Whitefish Argyrosomus prognathus (H. M. Smith) The bloater is known also as bloat, longjaw, silver whitefish, and, sometimes, cisco or ciscoette. It is known from all the Great Lakes except Lake Erie from which as yet no specimens have been reported. It is probably most abundant in Lakes Ontario and Michigan, where it has good rank as a food-fish. The flesh is firm and of good flavour. By many people it is scarcely less highly esteemed than the common whitefish. It is highly prized in Lake Ontario where it often brings the same price as C. clupetformis; elsewhere it usually sells for a few cents a pound less. When properly cared for on being caught, this fish is delicious, says Mr. Charles H. Strowger. ‘‘When salted it keeps well, and does not lose its freshness when cooked. A great deal of prejudice against the longjaw is enter- tained because of the soft and damaged condition in which the fish is usually sold to consumers. It is a fish that ought to be iced as soon as it is taken from the water and kept cold until used, as it easily softens, and on cooking becomes too greasy for ordinary human palates to enjoy. When fresh caught it is equal, in my judgment, to any fish for delicacy of flavour. It is a splendid fish for baking when of full size, but small- sized fish are always of less value and should not be caught.” The longjaw reaches a length of 8 to 16 inches and a weight of a pound or less. Very little is definitely known regarding the habits of this species. It seems to be an inhabitant of the deeper parts of the lakes and is not often seen in shallow water. In Lake Ontario it is taken only in depths of 200 to 400 feet. There is much difference of opinion among fishermen as to the spawning time of this fish. Fish with mature roe have been reported as early as May 17, and we have seen ripe fishin late June and July in Lake Ontario. Ripe fish have been reported in July also from Lake Huron. The indications are that the bloater has a prolonged spawning period and that it is somewhat earlier than that of the common white- fish. Scarcely anything is known as to the location of the spawning 138 - The Blackfin Whitefish beds, except that they are probably in relatively deeper parts of the lake. Head 41; depth 33 to 4; eye 5; maxillary 2}; mandible 18 to 14; D. 9 or 10; A. 10 to 12; scales 9-75-8; vertebrz 55; gill- rakers about 15+28. Body oblong, much compressed, back elevated, the body tapering rather sharply toward the narrow caudal peduncle, the adult having a slight hump as in C. clupetformis ; mouth large and strong; snout straight, its tip on a level with lower edge of pupil; maxillary long, reaching opposite pupil, its length 35 times its greatest width; mandible very long, projecting beyond upper jaw when the mouth is closed, reaching to or beyond posterior edge of the eye; head rather short, deep and pointed; cranial ridges prominent; dorsal rather high, the longest ray 4 longer than base of fin; origin of dorsal nearer tip of snout than base of caudal. Colour, sides uniformly bright silvery, with pronounced bluish reflections in life; back dusky; under parts pure white without silvery; above lateral line the upper and lower edges of the scales finely punctulate with dark, the central part unmarked, producing light longitudinal stripes extending whole length of body; fins flesh-colour or pinkish in life, the dorsal and caudal usually showing dusky edges; postorbital area with bright golden reflection; iris golden, pupil black. Blackfin Whitefish Argyrosomus nigripinnis Gill The blackfin whitefish is known certainly only from Lake Michigan and Miltona Lake, Minnesota, though it has been re- ported from other small deepwater lakes of Minnesota and Wis- consin. It has also been reported from Lake Superior, but all 139 The Tullibee the specimens of so-called blackfin or bluefin that we have seen from that lake are the longjaw. The blackfin is probably the most abundant fish of commercial importance in the deeper waters of Lake Michigan. It occurs in schools, like other members of the group, and is associated with the lake trout and other deep- water species. The spawning season is the same as that of the common whitefish—in November to December. Then the fish come out upon rocky bottom where the eggs are deposited. A favourite resort for blackfin is said to be the Mudhole, a large depression 20 miles east of Sheboygan, in which the depth is about go feet. The principal method by which the blackfin is taken is in the gillnets. It is regarded as a good food-fish. It reaches a length of 18 inches, and a weight of one to 2 pounds. Head 4; depth 4; eye 44; D. 12; A. 12; scales 9 or 10-73 to 77-7 or 8; vertebre 57; gillrakers about 18+ 30, rather long and slender, 14 in eye or 2 in maxillary. Body stout, fusiform and compressed; head and mouth large; lower jaw slightly pro- jecting; the maxillary 4 greater than eye and reaching vertical of front of pupil; distance from tip of snout to occiput about 33 in distance from snout to origin of dorsal fin; back not arched, profile from occiput to origin of dorsal fin very gently curved; eye rather large, longer than snout; teeth very feeble but appre- ciable on the maxillaries and tongue. Colour, dark bluish above, _sides silvery, with dark punctulations; fins all blue-black. This species attains a larger size than any of the other ciscoes, and has a larger mouth than any other except the bloater. It may be readily known by its black fins. Tullibee Argyrosmus tullibee (Richardson) This species was first described from Pine Island Lake, Cum- berland House, British Columbia. It is now known from Lakes Onondaga (New York), Erie, Superior and Michigan; also from Lake of the Woods, Lake Winnipeg, Albany River, Qu’ Appelle River, and other waters northward. It has not been reported from Lake Ontario or Lake Huron. The tullibee attains a length of 18 or 20 inches, and a weight of 34 pounds. It ranks high as a food-fish, but its commerciai importance is as yet limited. The Tullibee In the Great Lakes it is not at all common, but in Lake of the Woods it is quite abundant, and considerable quantities are shipped to Sandusky. In the provinces of Assiniboia and Mani- toba the fish is taken in large numbers for local consumption, in gillnets and in traps made of brush and stones. Writing of the tullibee in the lakes of the western territories of Canada, Mr. F. C. Gilchrist, of Fort Qu’ Appelle, says: ‘“In September they will again be found gradually nearing the shoal water, feeding heavily, and plump with fat and the now swelling ovaries. Later on they appear to eat little or nothing, and devote all their time to playing until about the 25th of October, when they have settled down to the business of propagation, which they have finished by November to. They prefer shallow water close to the shore with clean sand _ to spawn on, and during the day they may be seen in pairs and small schools, poking along the shores, but at night they come in thousands and keep up a constant loud splashing and flutter- ing, very strange and weird on a calm night. Two years ago | carefully counted the cva from a ripe fish 2} pounds in weight, and found there were 23,700, closely resembling whitefish eggs in appearance, but somewhat smaller. After spawning the fish are very thin, lank, dull in colour, and quite unfit for human food.” Mr. James Annin, Jr., in speaking of the tullibee of Lake Onondaga, says they generally commence running up on to the shoals about November 15, and the season’ extends _ into December. They come up to the banks or gravelly shoals and spawn in from 3 to 6 and 7 feet of water. They have never been caught with hook in this lake, and an old fisherman told me that he had tried almost every kind of bait, and had used the very finest gut and the smallest hooks baited with Gammarus (freshwater shrimps) and: other kinds of natural food—that is he supposed the food was natural to them. At the same time he claims he could see them in large schools lying in the water 8 or 10 feet from the surface. Head 4 to 44; depth 3 to 32; eye 4 to 5; snout about 5; D. 1o to 12; A. 11 or 12; scales 9-68 to 71-8; gillrakers 16 to 18-+30 to 34, 1 to 14 in eye; maxillary 34; mandible 2 to 21. Body short and deep, compressed, the dorsal and ventral outlines similarly curved: head small, conic, and compressed; mouth large, lower jaw project- I4I Bissell’s Whitefish ing; middle of upper lip on a level with middle of pupil; maxillary long, moderately broad, reaching anterior edge of pupil, the width about 3 in its length; supplemental maxillary bone well developed, nearly half length of maxillary, its width 23 in its length; mandible long, reaching posterior edge of pupil; distance from tip of snout to occiput half that from occiput to origin of dorsal fin, which is midway between tip of snout and base of caudal fin; caudal peduncle short, compressed and deep, its least depth about 2} in head; fins all rather large; height of dorsal 14 in head, its base 12 in its longest ray; anal base very oblique, equal to longest ray, which is about equal to base of dorsal fin; pectorals and ventrals long, almost equal to longest dorsal ray; scales firm, considerably enlarged anteriorly; free margins of the scales less convex than in other species, often emarginate, especially on anterior part of body; lateral line straight and in a line with upper rim of orbit; tongue with a patch of fine teeth near the tip ; gillrakers numerous, long and slender. Colour, iridescent bluish above, sides and under parts silvery; older individuals darker above, and with more golden reflections on sides; fins all more or less evidently black-tipped; upper edge of pectoral margined with black. From all other whitefishes the tullibee is easily distinguished by the short, deep body and the closely imbricated scales whose margins are scarcely convex or even emarginate. Bissell’s Whitefish Argyrosomus bissellt (Bollman) In Rawson and Howard lakes, Michigan, and perhaps in other small lakes of that state, is found a whitefish closely related to the tullibee and possibly intergrading with it; the maxillary seems, however, to be somewhat longer, the scales are smaller, the lower jaw longer, and the supraorbital bone elongate pear-shaped. Nothing has been recorded as to the habits, size or abundance of this fish. Inconnu Stenodus mackenzti (Richardson) The inconnu is a_ large, coarse salmonid inhabiting the larger streams of Alaska and northwestern British America. It is known from the Yukon and Mackenzie rivers, and the tribu- taries of the latter below the cascades; locally abundant and reaching a large size, usually 5 to 15 pounds, but sometimes 30 142 The Pacific Salmon to 40 pounds. Its large size and comparative abundance render the inconnu of considerable commercial importance, especially in the Yukon since the great development of the gold-fields of that region. Little or nothing is known of the habits of this species. Head 4%; eye 6; D. 12; A. 14; scales 100; gillrakers 7-+17. Eye less than snout, nearly equalling the narrow interorbital; maxillary reaching the vertical of posterior edge of pupil, its length very slightly more than 4 head; supplemental bone long and narrow, nearly as wide as the maxillary, the anterior end notched, the angle above the notch sharply pointed, the lower angle bluntly rounded; the gillraker in the angle very stiff and bony. GENUS "ONGORHAYNCHUS 'SUCKLEY The Pacific Salmon Body rather long, subfusiform, and compressed; mouth wide, the maxillary long, lanceolate, usually extending beyond the eye; jaws with moderate teeth, which become in the adult male enormously enlarged in front during the spawning season; vomer long and narrow, flat, with a series of teeth both on the head and the shaft, the latter series comparatively short and weak; palatines with a series of teeth; tongue with a marginal series on each side; teeth on vomer and tongue often lost with age; no teeth on hyoid bone; anal fin comparatively long, of 14 to 20 rays; pyloric coeca very numerous; gillrakers numerous; ova large and comparatively few. Sexual peculiarities very strongly devel- oped, the snout in the adult males greatly distorted during the breeding season, the premaxillaries prolonged, hooking over the lower jaw, which in turn is greatly elongate and somewhat hooked at the tip; the body becomes deep and compressed, a fleshy hump is developed before the dorsal fin, and the scales become em- bedded in the flesh, and the flesh, which is red and rich in the spring, becomes dry and poor. The American species of this genus, 5 in number, are mostly salmon of large size, ascending the rivers tributary to the North Pacific in America and Asia. The genus is very close to Salmo, differing chiefly in the increased number of anal rays. 143 The Pacific Salmon Concerning the habits and distribution of the salmon we quote (with such modifications as later observations necessitate) the fol- lowing, based upon investigations made by Jordan, Evermann, and Gilbert. Of the species of Oncorhynchus, the blueback (O. nerka) pre- dominates in Fraser River and in the Yukon River, the silver salmon (O. kisutch) in Puget Sound, the quinnat (O. tschawytscha ) in the Columbia and the Sacramento, and the dog salmon in most of the streams along the coast. All the species have been seen by us in the Columbia and Fraser River; all but the blueback in the Sacramento, and all in waters tributary to Puget Sound. Only the quinnat or king salmon has been noticed south of San Francisco. Its range has been traced as far as Ventura River. Of these species, the king salmon and blueback salmon_habit- ually ‘‘run” in the spring, the others in the fall. The usual order of running in the rivers is as follows: nerhka, tschawytscha, kisutch, gorbuscha, keta. According to early authors, the fscha- wytscha precedes nerka in Kamchatka. The economic value of the spring-running salmon is_ far greater than that of the other species, because they can be cap- tured in numbers when at their best, while the others are usu- ally taken only after deterioration. To this fact the worthlessness of Oncorhynchus hela, as compared with the other species, is prob- ably chiefly due. The habits of the salmon in the ocean are not easily studied. King salmon and silver salmon of all sizes are taken with the seine at almost any season in Puget Sound. This would indi- cate that these species do not go far from the shore. The king salmon takes the hook freely in Monterey Bay, both near the shore and at a distance of 6 to 8 miles out. We have reason to believe that these 2 species do not necessarily seek great depths, but probably remain not very far from the mouth of the rivers in which they were spawned. The blueback and the dog salmon probably seek deeper water, as the former is seldom taken with the seine in the ocean, and the latter is known to enter the Straits of Fuca at the spawning season, therefore com- ing in from the open sea. The run of the king salmon and the blueback begins generally at the last of March; it lasts, with various modifications and interruptions, until the actual spawning season, August to November, the time of running and the propor- 144 The Pacific Salmon tionate amount in each of the subordinate runs varying with each different river. By the last of July only straggling blue- backs can be found in the lower course of any stream; but _both in the Columbia and in the Sacramento the quinnat runs in considerable numbers, at least till October. In the Sacra- mento the run is greatest in the fall, and more run in the summer than in spring. The spring salmon ascend only those rivers which are fed by the melting snows from the mountains, and which have sufficient volume to send their waters well out to sea. Those salmon which run in the spring are chiefly adults (supposed to be at least 3 years old). Their milt and spawn are no more developed than at the same time in others of the same species which are not to enter the rivers until fall. It would appear that the contact with cold fresh water, when in the ocean, in some way causes them to run toward it, and to run before there is any special influence to that end exerted by the development of the organs of generation. High water on any of these rivers in the spring is always followed by an increased run of salmon. The salmon canners think, and this is probably true, that salmon which would not have run till later are brought up by the contact with the cold water. The cause of this effect of cold fresh water is not understood. We may call it an in- stinct of the salmon, which is another way of expressing our ignorance. In general, it seems to be true that in those rivers and during those years when the spring run is greatest, the fall run is least to be depended upon. It varies for each of the different rivers, and for different parts of the same river. It doubtless extends from July to December. The manner of spawn- ing is probably similar for all the species, but we have no data for any except the quinnat and the redfish. In these species the fishes pair off; the male, with tail and snout, excavates a broad, shallow ‘‘nest” in the gravelly bed of the stream, in rapid water, at a depth of 1 to 4 feet; the female deposits her eggs in it, and after the exclusion of the milt, they cover them with stones and gravel. They then float down the stream tail foremost. As already stated, a great majority of them die. In the head waters of the large streams, unquestionably all die; and we now believe a// die after once spawning, regardless of where the spawning beds may be. The young hatch in 120 to 180 days. The salmon of all kinds, in the spring are silvery, spotted or 145 The Pacific Salmon not, according to the species, and with the mouth about equally symmetrical in both sexes. As the spawning season approaches the female loses her silvery colour, becomes more slimy, the scales on the back partly sink into the skin, and the flesh changes from salmon-red and becomes variously paler from the loss of oil, the degree of paleness varying much with individuals and with inhabitants of different rivers. In the Sacramento the flesh of the quinnat, in either spring or fall, is rarely pale. In the Columbia a few with pale flesh are sometimes taken in spring, and a good many in the fall. In Fraser River the fall run of the quinnat is nearly worthless for canning purposes, because so many are ‘‘ white-meated.” In the spring very few are ‘‘ white- meated,” but the number increases toward fall, when there is every variation, some having red streaks running through them, others being red toward the head and pale toward the tail. The red and pale ones can not be distinguished externally, and the colour is dependent upon neither age nor sex. There is said to be no difference in the taste, but there is no market for canned salmon not of the conventional orange colour. As the season advances, the difference between the males and females becomes more and more marked, and keeps pace with the development of the milt, as is shown by dissection. The males have (1) the premaxillaries and the tip of the lower jaw more and more prolonged, both of the jaws becoming, finally, strongly and often extravagantly hooked, so that either they shut by the side of each other like shears, or else the mouth can not be closed. (2) The front teeth become very long and canine- like, their growth proceeding very rapidly, until they are often 4 inch long. (3) The teeth on the vomer and tongue often disappear. (4) The body grows more compressed and deeper at the shoulders, so that a very distinct hump is formed; this is more developed in Oncorhynchus gorbuscha, but is found in all. (5) The scales disappear, especially on the back, by the growth of spongy skin. (6) The colour changes from silvery to various shades of black and red, or blotchy, according to the species. The blueback turns rosy or brick-red, the dog salmon a dull blotchy red, and the quinnat generally blackish. The distorted males are com- monly considered worthless, rejected by the canners and salmon salters, but preserved by the Indians. These changes are due solely to influences connected with the growth of the reproduc- 146 The Pacific Salmon tive organs. They are not in any way due to the action of fresh water. They take place at about the same time in the adult males of all species, whether in the ocean or in the rivers. At the time of the spring runs all are symmetrical. In the fall all males, of whatever species, are more or less_ distorted. Among the dog salmon, which run only in the fall, the males are hook-jawed and red-blotched when they first enter the Straits of Fuca from the outside. The humpback, taken in salt water about Seattle, have the same peculiarities. The male is_ slab- sided, hook-billed, and destorted, and is rejected by the canners. On first entering a stream the salmon swim about as if playing. They always head toward the current, and this appear- ance of playing may be simply due to facing the moving tide. Afterward they enter the deepest parts of the stream and swim straight up, with few interruptions. Their rate of travel at Sac- ramento is estimated by Stone at about 2 miles per day; on the Columbia at about 3 miles per day. Those who enter the Columbia in the spring and ascend to the mountain rivers of Idaho must go at a more rapid rate than this, as they must make an average of nearly 4 miles per day. As already stated, the economic value of any species depends in great part on its being a ‘‘spring salmon.’ It is not generally possible to capture salmon of any species in large numbers until they have entered the rivers, and the spring salmon enter the rivers long before the growth of the organs of reproduction has reduced the richness of the flesh. The fall salmon can not be taken in quantity until their flesh has deteriorated; hence, the dog salmon is practically almost worthless, except to the Indians, and the hump- back salmon is little better. The silver salmon with the same breeding habits as the dog salmon, is more valuable, as it is found in the inland waters of Puget Sound for a considerable time before the all rains cause the fall runs, and it may be taken in large numbers with seines before the season for entering the rivers. The quinnat or chinook salmon, from its great size and abundance, is more valuable than all the other fishes on our Pacific Coast taken together. The blueback, similar in flesh, but much smaller and less abundant, is worth much more than the combined value of the three remaining species of salmon. The fall salmon of all species, but especially of the dog salmon, ascend streams but a short distance before spawning. They seem 147 The Pacific Salmon to be in great anxiety to find fresh water, and many of them work their way up little brooks only a few inches deep, where they perish miserably, floundering about on the stones. Every stream, of what- ever kind, has more or less of these fall salmon. It is the prevailing impression that the salmon have some special instinct which leads them to return to spawn on the same spawning grounds where they were originally hatched. We _ fail to find any evidence of this in the case of the Pacific Coast salmon, and we do not believe it to be true. It seems more probable that the young salmon hatched in any river mostly re- main in the ocean within a radius of 20, 30 or 4o miles of its mouth. These, in their movements about in the ocean, may come into contact with the cold waters of their parent river, or perhaps of any other river, at a considerable distance from the shore. In the case of the quinnat and the blueback, their ‘‘instinct’”’ seems to lead them to ascend these fresh waters, and, in a majority of cases, these waters will be those in which the fishes in question were originally spawned. Later in the season the growth of the reproductive organs leads them to approach the shore and search for fresh waters, and still the chances are that they may find the original stream. But undoubt- edly many fall salmon ascend, or try to ascend, streams in which no salmon were ever hatched. In little brooks about Puget Sound, where the water is not 3 inches deep, are often found dead or dying salmon, which have entered them for the pur- pose of spawning. It is said of the Russian River and other California rivers, that their mouths in the time of low water in summer generally become entirely closed by sand bars, and that the salmon in their eagerness to ascend them frequently fling themselves entirely out of water on the beach. But this does not prove that the salmon are guided by a marvellous geographical instinct which leads them to their parent river in spite of the fact that the river can not be found. The waters of Russian River soak through these sand bars, and the salmon instinct, we think, leads them merely to search for fresh waters. This matter is in much need of further investigation; at present, how- ever, we find no reason to believe that the salmon enter the Rogue River simply because they were spawned there, or that a salmon hatched in the Clackamas River is more likely on that 148 The Humpback Salmon account to return to the Clackamas than to go up the Cowlitz erithe Des: Chutes: Commercially speaking the Pacific salmon are unquestionably the most valuable fish in the world. The market value of the entire salmon catch on our west coast, including Alaska, exceeds $13,000,000 annually, and this vast amount is represented chiefly by the 2 species, the chinook and blueback, the catch of the 3 other species being in comparison insignificant. No other fish is so extensively canned or is held in such high esteem. a. Gillrakers 20 to 25, comparatively short and few. b. Scales very small, more than 200 in a longitudinal series; caudal SD Gis Anoe nODIONG garers werls ose snens wel Set -l23e gorbuscha, 149 bb. scales medium, 138 to 155 in longitudinal series; pyloric coeca about 150. c. Anal rays 13 or 14; black spots small or obsolete ;_ bran- EiMlostesalss nhs Ob, (Ase tiara cies «WN Is se a aree oof keta, 150 cc. Anal rays about 16; back and upper fins with round black Spois¢y-biranechiostegals:,.15/t0 19), e's 46s: tschawytscha, 151 bbb. Scales comparatively large, 125 to 135 in longitudinal series, Py OME REOE GAMO MO COG yh wayne Gee lhe oe kisutch, 154 aa. Gillrakers comparatively long and numerous, 30 to 40 in number; scales large; lateral line about 130; back in adult usually unspotted; clear blue in spring. red in fall; young more or TEGeRISPOLted sree nts: clea Ape FERS AE A eae aA Le nerka, 155 Humpback Salmon Oncorhynchus gorbuscha (Walbaum) The humpback salmon reaches a weight of 3 to 6 pounds 149 The Dog Salmon and is the smallest of the genus. It is found on the Pacific Coast and ascending the rivers of America and Asia from California and Japan northward. In the rivers of Alaska it appears every year in great abundance; in Puget Sound there seems to be a periodicity in its movements, the runs of the alternate, odd years (1887, 1889, etc.) being much larger than in the even years. In the Sacramento River it occurs each year but in very limited numbers and is there known as the lost salmon. Among other names applied to this species are haddo, holia, and dog salmon of Alaska, though it is not the real dog salmon. Branchiostegals 11 or 125 gillrakers 13--15; A. 15; DiSae scales 210 to 240, about 170 in the lateral line; pyloric coeca very slender, about 180. Body rather slender, in the female plump and symmetrical,in the fall males very thin and compressed, with the fleshy dorsal hump much developed, the jaws greatly elongated, strongly hooked, and with extravagant canines in front, ventral appendage half as long as the fin. Colour, bluish, sides silvery; back posteriorly, adipose fin, and tail with numerous black spots, those of the caudal fin oblong in form and especially large; fall males red, more or less blotched with brownish. This species may be known at once by the very small scales and the coarse, oblong spots on the tail. In Japan is a very similar species, Oncorhynchus masou Brevoort, with equally small scales, but the tail unspotted. The humpback salmon has not usually been regarded as possessing any food-value, but in some of the salmon canneries it is now canned and shipped East and South, where it is put upon the market under fictitious labels and retailed as one of the cheaper grades of salmon. It is often called ‘‘negro salmon” at the can- neries, but when prepared, the name ‘‘ pink salmon” is in common use, as distinguished from the ‘‘ red salmon,” Oncorhynchus nerka. Dog Salmon Oncorhynchus keta (Walbaum) The dog salmon reaches a weight of 10 to 12 pounds. It is found usually in great abundance from the Sacramento north- ward to Kamchatka and Bering Straits, ascending all suitable streams in the fall, and spawning at no great distance from the I50 The Chinook Salmon sea in the smaller streams, which they enter in marvellous num- bers, crowding upon each other in the most appalling manner. As a food-fish the dog salmon (also known as the calico salmon, hayho, or lekai salmon) is the least valuable of the genus. Not until recent years was it used at all by the can- ners, and even now when used it is put upon the market under fictitious names. At the time of its run the males of this species are much distorted, and the flesh is valueless. This species is the common large salmon or sake of the rivers of Japan. Head 4; depth 4; D. 9; A. 13 or 14; scales about 28-150-30; branchiostegals 13 or 14; gillrakers 9+15; pyloric cceca 140 to 185. General form that of the chinook, but the head rather longer, more depressed and_ pike-like; preopercle more broadly convex behind, and the maxillary extending considerably beyond the eye; gillrakers few, coarse and stout; accessory pectoral scale short, less than half length of fin. Colour, dusky above; sides paler, little lustrous; back and sides with no definite spots, but with fine punctulations which are often entirely obsolete; head dusky, scarcely any metallic lustre on head or tail; caudal dusky, plain, or very finely spotted, its edge usually distinctly blackish; fins all mostly blackish, especially in males; breeding males gen- erally blackish above, the sides. brick-red, often barred or mottled. Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tschawytscha (Walbaum) Other. names by which this fish is known are quinnat salmon, king salmon, Columbia River salmon, Sacramento salmon, tyee, tchaviche, and tschawytscha. It is found on both coasts of the Pacific, from Monterey Bay, California, and China, north to Bering Straits, ascending all large streams, especially the Sacramento, Columbia and Yukon, in all of which it is very abundant. It ascends the large rivers in spring and summer, moving up without feeding, until the spawning season, by which time many of those which started first may have travelled a thousand miles or more. The run begins in the Columbia River as early as February or March. At first they travel leisurely, moving up only a few miles each 151 The Chinook Salmon day. As. they go farther and farther up-stream they swim rather more rapidly. Those that enter the river first are the ones which will go farthest toward the head waters, many of them going to spawning beds in Salmon River in the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho, more than 1,000 miles from the sea. Those which enter the river later travel more rapidly, but do not go so far toward the headwaters, while those last to pass by Astoria have so long delayed the movement that they are nearly ready to spawn and, consequently, must travel rapidly and enter the first small tributary streams which they reach. Those which go to the headwaters of the Snake River in the Sawtooth Mountains spawn in August and early September; those going to the Big Sandy in Oregon, in July and early August; those going up Snake River to upper Salmon Falls, in October; while those entering the small Jower tributaries of the Columbia or the small coastal streams spawn even as late as December. Observations which we have made at various places indicate that wherever the spawning beds may be, spawning will not begin until the temperature of the water has fallen to 54° Fahr. If the fish reach the spawning grounds when the temperature is above 54°, they wait until the water cools down to the required degree. It has been often stated and generally believed that the sal- mon receive many injuries by striking against rocks and in other ways while en route to their spawning grounds and, as a result from these injuries, those which go long distances from the sea die after once spawning. An examination of many salmon at the time of arrival on their spawning beds in central Idaho showed every fish to be entirely without mutilations of any kind, and apparently in excellent condition. Mutilations, however, soon appeared, resulting from abrasions received on the spawning beds while pushing the gravel about or rubbing against it, and from fighting with each other, which is sometimes quite severe. The spawning act extends over several days, the eggs being deposited upon beds of fine gravel in clear, cold mountain streams. Soon after they have done spawning both males and females die, each individual spawning only once. This is true of all, whether spawning remote from salt water or only a few miles or yards from the sea. The cause of their dying is not conditioned upon distance from the sea, but is general in its application to all species of Pacific Coast salmon. 152 SALMON JUMPING A FALLS The Chinook Salmon There is no other species of fish in the world equalling the chinook salmon in commercial value. Of the 5 species of salmon on our west coast it is approached in value only by the blue- back. It reaches an enormous size; examples have been taken in Cook Inlet weighing 100 pounds, and individuals of 40 to 60 pounds weight are not infrequent. The average weight of those taken in the Columbia River has been stated to be 22 pounds, and for those of the Sacramento River, 16 pounds. The chinook salmon does not take the hook when in fresh water, though it is occasionally taken on the trolling spoon, particularly in the lower Columbia, and at Williamette Falls and in the Sacramento River. In Monterey Bay the chinook salmon is an important game-fish at certain seasons. It is taken ex- clusively by trolling. The best season is from the middle of May to the end of June, though they may be taken as early as February, and rarely, even in January. The anglers usually use a 30-ply line, a 4-inch hook, a 3 to 5 pound sinker, and let out about 150 feet of line. The sinker is attached by 24-ply line 20 feet above the hook. A sailing speed of about 4 miles an hour, with the hook sunk 20 to 50 feet beneath the surface (depending upon how the fish are running), is most effective. The best time of day is. from sunrise to noon. Trolling spoons are rarely used, a hook baited with common sardine being much better. The fish caught range in weight from 8 to 60 pounds, the average being 25 pounds. The fish bite freely, but 25 fish by one line is regarded as a big day’s catch. They are very game, and jump out of the water frequently. This splendid salmon is unknown in Japan, its range ex- tending little south of Kamchatka on the Asiatic side. ead) Ae wdepthi4 Doi; A. 165° Br. 15. 0f 16.to, 1S,or 19;, the number on the two sides always unlike; gillrakers usually 9+14; pyloric coeca 140 to 185; scales 27-146-29, the number in longitudinal series varying from 135 to 155; vertebrae 66. Head conic, rather pointed in the females and spring males; maxillary rather slender, the small eye behind its middle; teeth small, longer on sides of lower jaw; vomerine teeth very few and weak, disappearing in the males; body comparatively robust, its depth greatest near its middle; ventrals inserted behind middle of dorsal; ventral appen- dage half as long as fin; caudal strongly forked, on a_ slender peduncle. Colour, dusky above, often tinged with olivaceous or bluish on sides; silvery below; head dark slaty, usually darker 153 The Silver Salmon than the body, and with few spots; back, dorsal fin and _ tail usually profusely covered with round black spots, sometimes these are few, but never wholly absent; sides of head and caudal fin with a peculiar metallic tin-coloured lustre; flesh rich salmon- colour in spring, becoming paler as the spawning season ap- proaches. In the late summer and autumn the jaws of the male become elongate and distorted, the anterior teeth become greatly enlarged, and the colour more or less tinged or blotched with dull red. Silver Salmon Oncorhynchus kisutch (Walbaum) The silver salmon is blessed with a large number of ver- nacular names, among which may be mentioned hoopid salmon, coho; kisutch, skowitz; quisutsch, and bielaya ryba. Next to the chinook and the blueback it is the most important of the genus. It reaches a length of 15 inches, and a weight of 3 to 8 pounds, and is abundant from San Francisco northward along both the American and Asiatic coasts, entering the shorter coastal streams late in the fall. It occurs in Asiatic waters as far south as Japan. In our waters it is especially abundant in Puget Sound, the fjords of Alaska, and in the shorter rivers of Washington and Oregon. As a food-fish, though inferior to the chinook and the blue- back, it is of great importance. Large quantities are canned every year on the Oregon and Washington coasts; it is one of the best species to ship fresh. Its spawning season is later than that of the chinook. They first appear in the southern end of Puget Sound about the first of September, and the run usually lasts until the first or middle of November. An examination of more than 2,000 examples at Celilo on the Columbia River in September and October indi- cated that their spawning time would not be later than October. This species is common in Japan. Head 4; depth 4; D. 10) A.- 13 of 14; Bro 13 or 445 pyleme coeca very large and few, 45 to 80; scales 25-127-29; gillrakers 10+13, rather long and slender, nearly as long as eye. Body slender and compressed; head short, shorter than in chinook of same size, very conical, the snout bluntly pointed; interorbital space broad and strongly convex; opercle and preopercle strongly 154 Blueback Salmon; Sockeye Salmon convex behind, the preopercle very broad, with the lower limb little developed; eye much smaller than in chinook of same size; maxillary slender and narrow, but extending somewhat beyond the eye; teeth very few and small, only 2 or 3 on the vomer, those on tongue very feeble; fins small. Colour, bluish green on back, the sides silvery, with dark punctulations; no spots except a few rather obscure ones on top of head, back, dorsal fin, adipose fin, and the rudimentary upper rays of the caudal; pec- torals dusky, and with dusky edge; sides of head without dark colouration as seen in the chinook; males mostly red in fall, and with the usual changes of form. The silver salmon is easily distinguished from the chinook, which it most resembles, by its fewer scales, fewer pyloric coeca, and fewer branchiostegals. Blueback Salmon; Sockeye Salmon Oncorhynchus nerka (Walbaum) The blueback salmon is found from the coast of southern Oregon, north to northern Alaska and Kamchatka, and Japan. It has been occasionally reported from the Sacramento and Kla- math rivers, but is not at all common south of the Columbia. The principal rivers in the United States which it frequents are the Columbia, Quinialt and Skagit, in each of which very great runs occur. It enters the Fraser in enormous numbers, and _ is the most abundant and valuable salmon in Alaska. The runs in the different rivers begin at different times, depending partly upon the distance of the spawning beds from the sea, and the temperature of the water. The run in the Columbia begins in March or April, and the fish ascend to the headwaters of the Salmon River in Idaho, which they reach in July and August, a journey of some 1,000 miles from the sea. In the Skagit the run begins somewhat later, the fish reaching their spawning grounds in and above Baker Lake in August and September. The run in the Fraser River is synchronous with that in the Skagit, or possibly a little !ater. In Alaska most of the streams which it enters are relatively short, and the runs do not begin until a short time before the spawning period. So far as known the blueback enters only such rivers as have lakes in their head- 155 Blueback Salmon; Sockeye Salmon waters, and the spawning beds are always either in the inlets to the lakes or in the lakes themselves; so far as known there is no exception. Adult Male Blueback Salmon In the Columbia River this salmon is called the blueback; in the Fraser it is the sockeye, sawkeye, or sau-qui; in Alaska it is the red salmon or redfish, while among the Russians it is the krasnaya ryba. In certain small lakes in central Idaho, northeastern Oregon, Washington and British Columbia are found 2 forms of this salmon, one weighing 3 to 7 pounds, and known as the redfish, the other 10 to 12 inches long, and weighing one-half pound. The latter is known as the little redfish, Kennerly’s salmon, or walla. It has been definitely proved that the large redfish come up from the sea and are identical with the blueback salmon. The little redfish does not appear to differ structurally from the large redfish, and has been thought to be the young of that species; if it is not, then the young blueback is unknown. The migra- tion from the sea of these small fish has not been observed, and there is some strong evidence showing them to be resident in the lakes in whose inlets they have their spawning beds. 156 Blueback Salmon; Sockeye Salmon Adult Female Little Redfish These small redfish are known from the Redfish Lakes of Idaho, Big Payette Lake in Idaho, Wallowa Lake in Oregon, Washington, Sammamish, and Ozette lakes in Washington, and many small Jakes in British Columbia and Alaska.. Next to the chinook salmon, the blueback is the most im- portant fish on our west coast, while in Alaska it is more val- uable than all other species combined. In the Fraser River it is exceedingly abundant, and is extensively canned along the lower course of that river, and about the northern end of Puget Sound. The annual catch of salmon in Puget Sound amounts to more than $4,000,000, and consists chiefly of bluebacks and chinooks. The blueback salmon reaches a length of 2 feet and a weight of 3 to 7 pounds. It is one of the most beautiful and graceful of the Sa/monide, and as a food-fish is scarcely inferior to the chinook salmon. Its flesh is of attractive colour, rich in oil, and of superior quality when canned. We have carefully observed the spawning habits of both forms of the redfish and the chinook salmon in the headwaters of Salmon River, Idaho, during 2 entire seasons, from the time the fish arrived in July until the end of September, by which time all these fish had disappeared. A number of important questions were settled by these investigations. In the first place, it was found that all of these Msh arrived upon the spawning- beds in perfect physical condition so far as external appearance indicated, no sores, bruises or other mutilations showing on any of more than 4,000 fish examined. During the spawning, how- Blueback Salmon; Sockeye Salmon SRE, Adult Male Little Redfish, showing condition at end of spawning season ever, the majority became more or less injured by rubbing against the gravel of the spawning-beds, or by fighting with one another. Soon after done spawning every One of these fish died, not only both forms of redfish, but the chinook salmon as well. There was no tendency to run down stream, but they all died on or near their spawning-beds. The dying is not due to the injuries the fish receive while on the spawning-grounds; many were seen dying or dead which showed no external or other injuries whatever. The dying of the West Coast salmon is in no manner de- termined by distance from the sea. Observations made by us and others elsewhere show that the individuals of all the species of Oncorhynchus die after once spawning, whether the spawn- ing-beds be remote from the sea or only a short distance from salt water. The cause of the dying is deep-seated in its nature and general in its application. The cause is the same as that which compasses the death of the ephemera or may-fly after an existence of but a few hours, or of the corn-plant or melon- vine and all annual plants at the end of one season. This species, known locally as benimasu or red salmon, is landlocked in a few lakes (Akan, etc.) in Nemuro, in northern Japan, but it is rare on the Asiatic side south of Kamchatka. Head 4; depth 4; D: 11; "A. 14 to 16; ‘scales 20-133-20% Br. 13 to 15; gillrakers 32 to 40, usually 14 or 15-422 or 23, as long as eye; pyloric cceca 75 to 95; vertebre 64; snout 2} in head in fall males, 34 in females; mandible 14 in head in fall males, 13 in females. Body long, elliptical, rather slender; head short, snout long, pointed, sharply conic, the lower jaw included; maxil- 158 The Salmon and Trout lary rather thin and small, reaching beyond eye; teeth all quite small, most of them freely movable; vomer with about 6 weak teeth which grow larger in spawning males; preopercle very wide and convex; opercle very short, not strongly convex; preopercle more free behind than in the chinook salmon; ventral scale about 4 length of fin; caudal fin narrow, widely forked; anal fin long and low; dorsal low; flesh deep red; males becoming extra- vagantly hook-jaweé in the fall, the snout being then much pro- longed and much raised above the level of rest of head, the lower jaw produced to meet it. Colour, clear bright blue above; side silvery, this overlapping the blue of the back; lower fins pale, the upper dusky; no spots anywhere on adults in spring; the young with obscure black spots above. Colour of breeding male, dark blood red on back and sides, with dark edges to some of the scales; middle of side darker red, but unevenly so, usually darkest at middle of body; under parts dirty white, with numerous fine dark dustings; entire head light olive, tip of nose and sides of jaws dark; under part of lower jaw white; dorsal fin pale red, anal darker red; adipose fin red; ventrals and pec- torals smoky, somewhat red at base. Colour of breeding female, essentially the same, but rather darker on the sides. The small form of redfish is a rich metallic blue on the back, becoming silvery on the lower sides and under parts; back with a few small black spots. During the breeding season it becomes a dirty red, brightest on the middle of the sides; under parts dirty white; top and sides of head dark greenish olive; snout black; lower jaw white, black at tip; dorsal pale red; anal dirty red; other fins dark smoky. The female is darker than the male and not greatly different in colour from the black-speckled trout. GENUS SALMO (ARTEDI) LINNAGUS The Salmon and Trout Body elongate, somewhat compressed; mouth large; jaws, palatines, and tongue toothed, as in related genera; vomer flat, its shaft not depressed, a few teeth on the chevron behind which is a somewhat irregular single or double series of teeth, which in the migratory species are usually deciduous with age; scales large or small, 100 to 200 in a longitudinal series; dorsal and anal fins short, usually with 10 to 12 rays each; caudal fin truncate, emar- ginate or forked, its peduncle comparatively stout; sexual pecu- liarities variously developed, the males in typical species with the 159 The Salmon and Trout jaws prolonged and the front teeth enlarged, the lower jaw being hooked upward and the upper jaw emarginate or perforate; these peculiarities most marked in the larger and migratory species. The species of this genus are of moderate or large size, black- spotted, and abounding in the colder creeks, rivers and lakes of North America, Europe, and Asia; no purely freshwater species occurring in America east of the Great Plains; 3 Atlantic Coast species, One marine and anadromous. The non-migratory species (sub-genus 7ruifa) occur in both continents, are extremely closely related and difficult to distinguish, if, indeed, all be not necessarily regarded as forms of a single exceedingly unstable, and variable species. The excessive varia- tions in colour and form have given rise to a host of nominal species. European writers have described numerous hybrids among the various species of Sa/mo, real or nominal, found in_ their waters. We have thus far failed to find the slightest evidence of any hybridism among American Sa/’monid@ in a state of nature. Puzzling aberrant or intermediate individuals certainly occur, but such are not necessarily ‘‘ hybrids.” The following interesting and pertinent observations on the species of trout are taken, with some modification, from Dr. Giinther: There is no other group of fishes which offers so many diffi- culties to the ichthyologist, with regard to the distinction of the species, as well as to certain points in their life history, as this genus. The almost infinite variations of these fishes are dependent on age, sex and sexual development, food, and the properties of the water. The colouration is, first of all, subject to great varia- tion, and consequently this character but rarely assists in distin- guishing a species, there being not one which would show in all stages the same kind of colouration. The young in all the species of the genus are barred, and this is so constantly the case that it may be used as a family character, When the young have passed this ‘‘parr” stage the colour becomes much diversified. The males, especially during and immediately after the spawning sea- son, are more intensely coloured and variegated than the females, immature individuals retaining a brighter silvery colour and being more like the female. Food appears to have less influence on the 160 The Salmon and Trout colour of the outer parts than on that of the flesh; thus the more variegated examples are frequently out of condition, whilst well- fed individuals, with pinkish flesh, are of more uniform though bright colours. The water has a marked influence on the colours. Trout with intense ocellated spots are generally found in clear, rapid rivers and in alpine pools; in the large lakes, with pebbly bottom, the fish are bright silvery, and the ocellated spots are mixed with or replaced by x-shaped black spots; in dark holes, or lakes with peaty bottom, they often assume an almost uniform blackish colouration. Brackish or salt water has the effect of giving them a bright silvery coat, with or without few spots, none of them ocellated. With regard to size, the various species do not present an equal amount of variation. Size appears to depend upon the abundance of food and the extent of the water. Thus the migratory species do not appear to vary considerably in size, because they find the same condi- tions in all the localities inhabited by them. A widely-spread species, however, like our black-spotted trout, when it inhabits a small mountain pool, with scanty food, never attains a weight of more than a few ounces, while in a large lake or river, where it finds an abundance of food, it reaches a weight of 10 to 15 pounds. Such large trout of the rivers and lakes are frequently described as salmon trout, bull trout, silver trout, steelheads, etc. The proportions of the various parts of the body to one another vary exceedingly, in the same species, with age, sex, and condition. The fins vary to a certain degree. The variation in the number of rays in any one genus (except Oncorhynchus) is inconsiderable and of no value for specific determination. Although some species appear to be characterized by comparatively low dorsal and anal fins, yet the proportion of the height of these fins to their length is a rather uncertain character. In most of the species the fin-rays are longer during the stages of growth or development. The caudal fin especially undergoes changes with age. The young of all species have this fin more or less deeply incised, so that the young of a species which has this fin emarginate throughout life is distinguished by a deeper incision of the fin from the young of a species which has it truncate in a young state. The individuals of the same species do not all attain maturity at the same age or size. Finally, to complete our enumeration of these variable characters, we must mention that, in old males, during and after the spawning season, 161 The Salmon and Trout the skin on the back becomes thickened and spongy, so that the scales are quite invisible or hidden in the skin. After this cursory review of variable characters, we pass on to those which we have found to be constant in numbers of individuals, and in which it is difficult to perceive signs of modification due to external circumstances. Such characters, according to the views of the zoologists of the present day, are sufficient for the definition of species; at all events, in every description they ought to be noticed. The confused and unsatisfactory state of our knowledge of the Sa/monid@ is chiefly caused by authors having paid attention to the more con- spicuous but unreliable characters and who have but rarely noted any of those enumerated here : 1. The form of the preopercle in the adult fish. 2. The width and strength of the maxillary in the adult; in the young and in females the maxillary is proportionately shorter than in the adult male. . The size of the teeth, those of the premaxillaries excepted. The arrangement and permanence of the vomerine teeth. The development or absence of teeth on the hyoid bone. In old examples these are often lost, and their absence in a species usually provided with them is not uncommon. 6. The form of the caudal fin in specimens of a given size, age or sexual development. 7. The size of the scales as indicated by counting the number of transverse rows above the lateral line. The scales in the lateral line are always more or less enlarged or irregular, and the number of scales should be counted higher up; this is one of the most constant and valuable specific characters. 8. A great development of the pectoral fins, when constant in a number of specimens from the same locality. 9. The number of vertebre. 10. The number of pyloric cceca. 11. The number of gillrakers. hae a. Vomerine teeth little developed, those on the shaft of the bone few and deciduous; sexual differences strong; breeding males with the lower jaw hooked upward, the upper jaw emarginate or perforate to receive its tip, size large;.......-.-. salar, 163 aa. Vomerine teeth well developed, those on the shaft of the bone dentary bone, this rarely obsolete; mouth large, the maxillary 162 Common Atlantic Salmon 13 to 2; in head; hyoid teeth usually present but very small. SVE ec STE OUI Ry te te ete dice clarkit, 176 bb. Scales moderate, 130 to 180 cross-series; no red on throat; a red- dish lateral band usually present; mouth moderate, maxillary 2 in head; hyoid teeth wanting. Size very large;..gairdneri, 190 bbb. Scales typically large, in 120 to 130 cross-series; usually no red on throat; a red or yellowish lateral band; mouth small, maxil- lary 2 to 2} in head; no hyoid teeth. Size moderate; irideus, 198 Common Atlantic Salmon Salmo salar Linnzus The Atlantic salmon is perhaps the best and most widely known of all game fishes, and it was doubtless this fish which was sought by the earliest anglers. ‘‘In Aquitania the river salmon surpasseth all the fishes of the sea,” wrote Pliny eighteen hundred years ago. This was the salmon’s christening, and though more than too species of Salmonide have been de- scribed, the salmon has always stood pre-eminent as a game- fish, like a Scottish chieftain, needing no other name than that of his clan. The luxurious Romans prized highly the salmon streams in their Gallic and British provinces, if we may trust Pliny and Ausonius, and that this fish was well known to the early English is evinced by the many Saxon names, such as peut pearl” “smolt,”) ‘ grilse,” —‘‘kipper,” and: “‘ baggit,” given it in different stages of its growth. The Normans brought over the name of Latin origin, which they applied to the per- fect adult fish, ready for the banquets of the conqueror. When Cabot discovered Newfoundland in 1497, he found salmon in its waters, but the red men had long before this learned the art of killing them with torches and wooden spears. Salmon inhabit both coasts of the North Atlantic and all its suitable affluents. How far beyond the Arctic circle they range no one knows, though their occurrence in Greenland, Iceland, northern Scandinavia, and middle Labrador is well established. They occur in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, entering the Baltic and the waters of Russia, and, according to some writers, the White Sea. They abound in all the British Islands, where they are protected and fostered with great success. They are, or 163 Common Atlantic Salmon were, also common in France, Belgium, Holland, and Prussia, as- cending the Rhine as far as Basle. The southern limit of their distribution in Europe is Galicia, the northwestern province of Spain, in. Jatitude 43°.. *‘ There. is;aimiver, in Macedon; 7 veayea Fluellen, in ‘‘King Henry the Fifth,” ‘‘and there is also moreover a river at Monmouth: it is called Wye, at Monmouth; but it is out of my brains what is the name of the other river; but ’tis all one, ’tis so like as my fingers is to my fingers, and there is salmons in both.” But Fluellen was wrong, for there are no salmon in any part of the Mediterranean water system. On the American side of the Atlantic, the presence of salmon in Hudson Bay and on the Arctic coast is not certain. They range far north on the Labrador coast, and in the waters of the Great Lakes system they ascended as far as Niagara Falls. Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Maine have many salmon rivers. New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Connecticut, a very few good ones. The salmon was at one time very abundant in the Connec- ticut, and it probably occurred in the Housatonic and Hudson. They have also been taken in the Delaware which probably marks the southern limit of their distribution on our Atlantic Coast. Salmon were marvellously abundant in Colonial days. It is stated that the epicurean apprentices of Connecticut would eat salmon no oftener than twice a week. ‘‘Plenty of them in this country,’’ wrote Fuller, ‘‘though not in such abundance as in Scotland where servants (they say) indent with their masters not to be fed therewith above twice a week.” There can be no doubt that one hundred years ago salmon fishing was an im- portant food resource in southern New England. Many Connec- ticut people remember hearing their grandfathers say that when they went to the river to buy shad the fishermen used to sti- pulate that they should also buy a specified number of salmon. But at the beginning of this century they began rapidly to dimin- ish. Mitchill stated, in 1814, that in former days the supply to the New York market usually came from the Connecticut, but of late years from the Kennebec, covered with ice. Rev. David Dudley Field, writing in 1819, states that salmon had scarcely been seen in the Connecticut for 15 or 20 years. The circum- stances of their extermination in the Connecticut are well known, 164 A110 5 OPS ‘NOWIVS OLLNVILV _ . - i ¥ ‘ ~ , : = 4 7 i , 5 a : i ot . 7 " ) 5 « ia : - i } 3 -<— } ¥ = A . ca y = 2 | a ? | ‘ = > A) ‘ Common Atlantic Salmon and the same story, with names and dates changed, serves equally well for other rivers. In 1798 a corporation, known as the ‘‘Upper Locks and Canal Company,” built a dam 16 feet high at Millers River, 100 miles from the mouth of the Connecticut. For 2 or 3 years fish were seen in great abundance below the dam, and for per- haps 10 years they continued to appear, vainly striving to reach their spawning grounds; but soon the work of extermination was complete. When, in 1872, a solitary salmon made its appearance, the Saybrook fishermen did not know what it was. At least half of the salmon’s life is spent in the ocean. ‘‘ He is ever bred in fresh rivers,” said Isaac Walton, ‘‘and never grows big but in the sea.” ‘‘He has, like some persons of honour and riches which have both their winter and summer houses, this fresh water for summer and the salt water for winter to spend his life in.’ Most of his tribe, however, are peculiarly fresh-water fishes, though several share his sea-dwelling habits, and others, like the brook trout, descend into salt water when not prevented by temperature barriers. A'l of the family run into very shoal water, and usually to the source of streams, for spawning purposes. ‘‘] am inclined to the view,” writes Dr. Goode, ‘‘that the natural habitat of the salmon is in the fresh waters, the more so since there are so many instances—such as that of the Stormontfield Ponds in England—where it has been confined for years in lakes without apparent detriment.” That the chinook salmon has been kept for years in fresh water ponds in France is another strong evidence of the correctness of this view. The Sebago salmon of the New England lakes, and the ouananiche of Canada never visit salt water, finding ample food and exercise in the fresh waters which they inhabit. Salmon while in salt or brackish water feed on small shrimps, young crabs, and other crustaceans and their eggs. When in the rivers they are supposed to eat but little, though they will make voracious rushes at the angler’s fly. Dr. W. C. Kendall of the U. S. Fish Commission has made a special study of the Atlantic Salmon and the Sebago salmon, and furnishes us the following regarding their habits: The assumption that salmon do not feed after entering fresh water is founded upon the fact that seldom is anything found in their stomachs when caught in traps or by hooks. In traps and 165 Common Atlantic Salmon weirs it is the habit of most fishes either to disgorge the food from fright or, if not immediately removed, to digest it. Most fishes, and salmon ought not to be an exception, take the hook presumably because they are hungry, and except in the case of some gluttonous species, not when gorged with food. It seems more reasonable to believe, and all the evidence is in support of it, that the fish do feed in the early runs, and that they enter the rivers for that purpose. It is hardly credible that salmon would leave regions of abundant food, at a time when there are no other physiological demands, fast for at least 6 months, reproduce, survive and return to another period of feasting. It is also hard to conceive that the fish takes the lure to gratify the angler or just for the fun of the thing. The belief has become almost proverbial, and is perpetuated in fish literature, that the early summer salmon after entering the rivers remain there until the spawning function is performed. It is well known that in some of the smaller streams there are 2 distinct runs, spring and fall; the first, for some unrecognized purpose, the other for reproduction. In Denny’s River, Maine, for example, according to a reliable observer of long residence in the region, the early migrations extend from May 15 to July 30 or thereabouts, and the other from October 1 until November. The first run does not remain in the river. What obtains in small streams ought to hold good in large ones. The closely related landlocked salmon in Sebago Lake pur- sues the smelts up the tributary streams as they are on their way to the spawning grounds in the spring, and descends with the return of the smelts to the lake. The fish then bite the hook. In the fall there is another ascent of the streams for spawning purposes, and the fish will very seldom if ever take the hook at that time. The first run is evidently for the purpose of feeding upon the smelts, and, as the early spring run of Atlantic salmon is known to accompany the run of smelts and other species, it would seem to be for the same purpose. We believe the spring run of the Atlantic salmon is a quest for food, and that the fish return to salt water to again ascend the streams late in the fall for spawning purposes. Though salmon enter the rivers in the spring when the temperature of the water is rising, their spawning takes place on a falling temperature, and usually not until the water has 166 Common Atlantic Salmon cooled down to about 50° Fahr. In America the more southern rivers are the first to be entered, and the most northern ones last, the range being from April and May in the Connecticut, to even as late as October in the Miramichi. s Ordinarily the salmon will go well toward the headwaters of the streams to establish spawning beds. As the spawning season approaches they lose their trim appearance and their bright colours. They grow lank and misshapen, the fins become thick and fleshy, and the skin, which becomes thick and slimy, is blotched and mottled with brown, green or blue, and vermillion or scarlet. These changes are most apparent in the males, whose jaws become curved so that they touch only at the tips, the lower one developing a large powerful hook. When in this condition, and after spawning, while returning to the sea they are called ‘‘kelts.” While the eggs are laid late in the fall, they do not hatch until early the next spring. When the fry are 2 or 3 months old they begin to show the vermillion spots and transverse bars called parr-marks, which entitle the fish to be called a “parr,” and which it retains while remaining in fresh water, and sometimes until 7 or 8 inches long. It remains a parr until the second or third spring, when it descends to the sea, assuming at the time a uniform bright silvery colour, and the ‘‘ parr” becomes a ‘‘smolt.’’ After remaining a time in salt water, the time varying from a few months to 2 years, it returns to fresh water either as a “‘grilse” or ‘‘salmon.” The “‘grilse” is the adolescent salmon, weighing 2 to 6 pounds, and is even more graceful than the adult fish.. ‘‘There is nothing in the water that surpasses a grilse in its symmetrical beauty, its brilliancy, its agility, and its pluck,” wrote Thaddeus Norris. ‘‘I have had one of 4 pounds to leap from the water 1o times, and higher and farther than a salmon. Woe to the angler who attempts, without giving line, to hold one even of 3 pounds; he does it at the risk of his casting line, or his agile opponent tears a piece from its jaw or snout in its desperate efforts to escape.” Quoting again from Dr. Goode, who can wonder at the anglers enthusiasm over ‘‘a salmon fresh run in love and_ glory from the sear’ Hear Christopher North’s praise of a perfect fish: “She has literally no head; but her snout is in her shoulders. That is the beauty of a fish; high and round shoulders, short 167 The Sebago Salmon waisted, no loins, but all body, and not long of terminating— the shorter still the better—in a tail sharp and pointed as Diana’s when she is crescent in the sky.” The salmon reaches an immense size. The largest of which we have seen a record was one of 83 pounds, brought to Lon- don in 1821. Perley mentions one of 60 pounds taken long ago in the Restigouche. In the Penobscot examples of 40 pounds have been taken, though that weight is very unusual. The maximum weight of those taken in Maine rivers now does not exceed 25 pounds, and the average is about 10 pounds. The catch of salmon by anglers in the Penobscot Pool at Bangor in 1893 was 87 fish, with a total weight of 1,477} pounds. The largest weighed 30 pounds, and the average was nearly 17 pounds. The catch in 1900 was. 67 fish, with a total weight of g70 pounds. The largest weighed 23; pounds, and the average was nearly 14} pounds. Head 4; depth 4; Br. 11; D. 11; A. 9; scales 23-120-21; ver tebre 60; pyloric cceca about 65; gillrakers 8+12=20. Body moderately elongate, symmetrical, not much compressed; head rather low; mouth moderate, the maxillary reaching just past the eye; in young the maxillary is proportionately shorter; preopercle with a distinct lower limb, the angle rounded; scales compara- tively large, rather larger posteriorly, silvery and well imbricated in the young, becoming embedded in the adult males. Colour, in adult, brownish above, the sides more or less silvery, with numer- ous black spots on head, body and fins, and red spots or patches on sides in males; the ‘‘ parr’ with about 11 dusky or bluish crossbars, besides red patches and black spots; the colour, as well as the form of the head and body varying much with age, food and condition; the black spots in the adult often X-shaped or XX-shaped. In the lakes of Maine, New Hampshire and New Brunswick and in Lake St. John, the Saguenay and neigbouring waters in Quebec, the salmon is represented by 2 land-locked forms, one in each region, which are here recognized as species. Sebago Salmon Salmo sebago (Girard) The sebago salmon receives this name from Sebago Lake, the locality from which it was first described. It originally occurred in 168 o3pgas oujvs ‘NOWIVS ODVAAS CAMIOTANVI 4g The Sebago Salmon 4 river basins in Maine and perhaps in a few lakes in the British Provinces. In Maine the original habitats were Presumpscot River or Sebago Lake basin, Union River or Reeds Pond (now known as Green Lake) basin, Sebec Lake basin and St. Croix River basin which includes the Schoodic Lakes from which the fish derives also the name of ‘‘Schoodic salmon’; but it is more commonly called landlocked salmon. By fish-cultural operations it has become pretty widely dis- tributed, especially in New England and in New York. As a rule it differs from the sea salmon in the smaller size, rather plumper form, much harder skull-bones, larger scales and different colouration. The Sebago Lake salmon originally attained the largest size, the Green Lake next, followed by the Sebec Lake, those of Grand Lake of the Western Schoodic Chain being the smallest. This condition obtains in part to the present day. At least the Sebago Salmon are the largest and the Grand Lake salmon the smallest of the 4 original regions. Though the stocks of Sebec, Sebago and Green lakes have been perhaps, adulterated by introduc- tion of salmon from other waters, that of Grand Lake has been maintained in its primal integrity. The salmon of Grand Lake seldom exceed a weight of 5 pounds or average more than 2 pounds. In the fall of 1901, among many salmon taken in the weir at Sebago Lake, for fish-cultural purposes, were one of 23, many of 15 pounds and over, and the average was about 10 pounds. The habits of the fish are apparently almost in every particular analogous to those of the sea salmon, modified more or less by physical conditions. In Sebago Lake, in the fall, structural and chromatic changes occur, and it ascends tributary streams to spawn. After this function is performed it returns to the lake, which is its ocean, and resorts to deep water. In the spring, as soon as the ice breaks up, when smelts, upon which it extensively feeds, are running up the streams to spawn, the salmon follow them to the shore and up the larger streams and descend with them. During summer they remain in deep water, though they occasionally appear at the surface coincidently with the surface schooling of smelts. 169 The Ouananiche As a game-fish it ranks high but is reputed to be inferior to the ouananiche of the Grand Décharge. In lakes it undoubtedly possesses these qualities to a less degree than the ouananiche of the turbulent waters of the Grand Décharge. But this is not due to inherent inactivity but to external conditions. Rushing waters, single hook and light tackle are + of the game qualities of any fish. The customary angling appliances on Sebago Lake are a stiff rod, a derrick-like reel, a phantom minnow, archer spinner or murderous gang, all of which, combined with the quiet lake or still waters of Songo River, disincline the fish to prolonged antagonism. But let the angler use a light rod, single baited hook or artificial fly in the quick waters of the Presumpscot River or Grand Lake stream, and he will find at least an epitome of the Grand Décharge. Ouananiche Salmo ouananiche McCarthy The ouananiche is another land-locked relative of the Atlantic salmon. While best known as an inhabitant of the Lake St. John region, Mr. Chambers presents evidence showing it to have a much wider distribution than has been generally assigned to it. He reports it from Arnold Bog, and in the lakes of the Goynish, which enters the St. Lawrence north of the island of Anticosti. It is also said to occur in many streams and_ lakes in the interior of Labrador. Though in most, perhaps all of these waters the ouananiche would, if it so desired, have free access to the sea, it appar- ently does not avail itself of that possibility, and is therefore land-locked so far as all questions of geographic distribution are concerned. The name ‘‘ouananiche” is of Montagnais Indian derivation, and is popularly supposed to mean ‘“‘little salmon.” But Mr. Chambers shows that it is probably derived from owen-a, a Mon- tagnais interrogative ‘‘Look there! What is thate” The name is frequently written ‘‘Winninish,” ‘“ Winnonish,” ‘‘ Wananishe,” and a score of other ways, all variants of the same word. 170 The Ouananiche As a game-fish, those who have had experience with the ouananiche think it has no equal. They may be taken at any time between the going out of the ice and the middle of Sep- tember, though the best fishing is said to be late in May. During the early part of the season it may be taken with bait of worms, pork, pieces of chub, or even ouananiche itself along the shore of Lake St. John. It is occasionally taken then with the artificial fly, but fly-fishing for the ouananiche is usually not a successful method of capturing it. ; According to Mr. Chambers, who has written a delightful volume on the ouananiche, no better direction can be given for angling for the fish in the lake itself than some of the quaint instructions for catching salmon, of Thomas Barker, in Barker's Delight, or the Art of Angling: ‘The angler that goeth to catch him with a line and hook must angle for him as nigh the middle of the water as he can with one of these baits: He must take 2 bob-worms, baited as handsomely as he can, that the 4 ends may hang meet of a length, and so angle as nigh the bottom as he can, feeling your plummet run on the ground some 12 inches from the hook: if you angle for him with a flie (which he will rise at like a trout) the flie must be made of a large hook, which hook must carry six wings, or four at least; there is judgment in mak- ing these flyes. The salmon will come at a gudgeon in the manner of a trouling, and cometh at it bravely, which is fine angling for him and good. You must be sure that you have your line of twenty-six yards of length, that you may have your convenient time to turne him, or else you are in danger to lose him: but if you turne him you are very like to have the fish with small tackles; the danger is all in the running out both of salmon and trout, you must forecast to turn the fish as you do a wild horse, either upon the right or left hand, and wind up your line as you finde occasion in the guiding the fish to the shore.”’ At the Grand Décharge the ouananiche will take the fly at any time, but not so freely after the middle of July. In the northern tributaries of Lake St. John they may be taken at the surface during July and August. The Rev. Henry Van Dyke writes thus entertainingly of the ouananiche; 171 The Ouananiche ‘‘But the prince of the pool was the fighting ouananiche, the little salmon of St. John. Here let me chant thy praise, thou noblest and most high-minded fish, the cleanest feeder, the merriest liver, the loftiest leaper and the bravest warrior of all creatures that swim! Thy cousin, the trout, in his purple and gold with crimson spots, wears a more splendid armour than thy russet and silver mottled with black, but thine is the kinglier nature. His courage and skill, compared with thine, ‘Are as moonlight unto sunlight, And as water unto wine.’ ‘‘The old salmon of the sea who begat thee long ago in these inland waters became a backslider, descending again to the ocean, and grew gross and heavy with coarse feeding. But thou, unsalted salmon of the foaming floods, not land-locked as men call thee, but choosing of thine own free will to dwell on a loftier level in the pure, swift current of a living stream, hath grown in grace and risen to a better life. ‘‘Thou art not to be measured by quantity but by quality, and thy five pounds of pure vigour will outweigh a score of pounds of flesh less vitalized by spirit. Thou feedest on the flies of the air, and thy food is transformed into an aerial passion for flight, as thou springest across the pool, vaulting toward the sky. Thine eyes have grown large and keen by peering through the foam, and the feathered hook that can deceive thee must be deftly tied and delicately cast. Thy tail and fins, by ceaseless conflict with the rapids, have broadened and strengthened, so that they can flash thy slender body like a living arrow up the fall. As Launce- lot among the knights, so art thou among the fish, the plain- armoured hero, the sun-burnt champion of all the water-folk.” According to Eugene McCarthy, who has written much and entertainingly concerning the ouananiche, this fish when hooked will jump out of the water 5 or 6 times on an average, and sometimes will jump 10 or 12 times. : ‘‘And such jumps! Two or 3 feet out of the water, often toward the fisherman, then a rush deep down—a pause—a suc- cession of jerks that would seem to tear the hook loose—a wild rush of varying distance, and a run back, almost to the angler’s feet. A fish weighing 31 or 4 pounds will make a fight lasting 10 or 15 minutes, often longer, and that means hard work for every moment for the fisherman.” E72 The Ouananiche The average size of the ouananiche is 2} to 34 pounds, though examples weighing 8 pounds are often taken. The ouananiche does not differ greatly from the Atlantic salmon, and is apparently even more closely related to the Sebago salmon. Some ichthyologists and many anglers have maintained that all 3 are identical, and that the Sebago salmon and the ouananiche are not worthy even of a subspecific rank. But spe- cific or subspecific rank is not determined by the amount or greainess of differences, but rather by their constancy. However small the differences may be, if they are real and constant, and do not intergrade, they indicate specific distinctness; however great they may be, if not constant, or if they show intergradation, they can be of no more than subspecific value. Subspecific char- acters are usually associated with more or less definite geographic or environmental isolation, and the characters of the subspecies and those of the parent species* will intergrade where the two habitats join or overlap. It seems certain that both the Sebago salmon and the ouanan- iche are geographically isolated forms, each possessing characters by which it is readily distinguished from the other, and from the Atlantic salmon as well. Whether the differential characters intergrade or not has not been fully determined. If they do not, then each should rank as a full species, and bear a_ binomial instead of a trinomial name. Comparing the ouananiche with the grilse of the Atlantic salmon, Mr. Walter M. Bracket, as quoted by Mr. Chambers, says the eye of the former ‘‘is much larger, the profile rounder, the dark spots larger and much more numerous. In fact, the grilse is much more of an aristocrat than his freshwater cousin, being finer in his proportions and much purer in colour—due, no doubt, to his different habitat and food.” But Mr. Bracket’s use of the term ouananiche includes the Sebago salmon also. Mr. Chambers: says of the ouananiche, ‘‘Its fins are larger and stronger [than those of Salmo salar]. . . . Its tail is unusually broad. . . . The eye of the ouananiche is much larger than that of the ordinary salmon, the St. Andrew’s cross-marks upon the sides are closer together, and there are larger and more distinct * Used for convenience for the earlier described form, which may, in reality, be the derived form. 173 The Trout of Western America black spots upon the gill-covers, in shape both round and irregular.” Mr. J. G. A. Creighton says ‘‘the teeth in the ouananiche are larger than in Salmo salar, . .. the fins are proportionately much larger, especially the tail. . . . The eye is remarkably large, about three-quarters of an inch in diameter in the adult, with a pupil 1inch in diameter. These measurements are much greater than in the sea-salmon of 15 to 20 pounds’ weight.” The evidence seems to indicate that the ouananiche is specifi- cally distinct from the Atlantic salmon and from the Sebago salmon, and for the present we prefer to so regard it. The Trout of Western America In the western part of America are found more than a score of trout of the genus Sa/mo all closely related and difficult to distinguish. There are representatives in the headwaters of the Rio Grande, Arkansas, Platte, Missouri, and Colorado; also in the Great Salt Lake basin, throughout the Columbia basin, and in all suitable waters from southern California and Chihuahua to Alaska and Kamchatka. Among the various more or less tangible forms that may be recognized, 3 distinct series appear which have been regarded provisionally by us as distinct species. These have been termed the cut-throat trout series, the rainbow trout series, and the steel- head series, each of which has been sufficiently characterized in the key on page 163. The steelhead, or gairdneri series, is found in the coastwise streams of California and in the streams »f Oregon and Washing- ton, below the great Shoshone Falls of Snake River. In the lower course of the Columbia and in neighbouring streams they are entirely distinct from the cut-throat or clarki series, and no one would question the validity of the 2 species. In the lower Snake River and in other waters east of the Cascade range, the 2 forms or species are indistinguishable, being either undifferen- tiated or else inextricably mixed. The rainbow forms are chiefly confined to the streams of California and southern Oregon. The cut-throat forms are found from Humboldt Bay northward in the coastwise streams of northern California, Oregon and Washington, and all the clear streams on 174 The Trout of Western America both sides of the Rocky Mountains, and in the Great Basin and the headwaters of the Colorado. Along the western slope of the Sierra Nevada there are also forms of trout with the general ap- pearance of steelheads, but with scales intermediate in number (in McCloud River), or with scales as small as in the typical cut- throat (Kern River). In these small-scaled forms more or less red appears below the lower jaw, and they are doubtless what they appear to be, really intermediate between clarkit and gairdnert. A similar series of forms occurs in the Columbia basin, the upper Snake being inhabited by clarkiw and the lower Snake by clarkii and gairdnert, together with a medley of intermediate forms. It seems not improbable that the American trout originated in Asia, extended its range southward to the upper Columbia, thence to the Yellowstone and the Missouri via Two-Ocean Pass; from the Missouri southward to the Platte and the Arkansas, thence from the Platte to the Rio Grande and the Colorado, and then from the Colorado across the Sierras to Kern River, thence north- ward and coastwise, the sea-running forms passing from stream to stream as far north as the Fraser where the Kamloops trout would mark one extreme of the series, and re-entering as a dis- tinct species waters long occupied by typical clarkiz. The various forms of cut-throat trout have usually been re- garded merely as subspecies of the species originally described as Salmo clarki, but as none of them is really known to intergrade with any other we now think it best to consider them all as distinct species. Most of them certainly are good species while a few others may prove wholly undefinable. a. Black spots almost as numerous on the head as on the pos- terior part of the body. b. Scales usually about 160 to 170. c. Spots rather large, irregular and profusely scattered, usually none on the belly. d. Red marks under dentary bones always present. e. Black spots encroaching somewhat on belly;...... clarkit, 176 G@eaeelack Spots mot eneroaching on belly;............. lewist, 179 dd. Red marks under dentary bones obsolete or nearly so; wibbsii, 179 cc. Spots rather large, 5 ees Scattered, some on belly and lpweny Side. Ol Head’: «2).(215.).'2)- sores -henshawt, 180 bb, Scales very small, about 200 transverse. series; - fahoensis, 181 LV ie) The Cut-throat Trout bbb. Scales large, usually about 145. Body profusely but finely spotted, ‘the spots numerous both anteriorly and posteriorly; virginalis; jordant; bathecetor, 182-183 aa. Black spots placed chiefly on posterior half of body. 7> No black- Spots Except Pom! sane ore ae miau as. declivifrous, 184 Jf. Black spots on body. g. Scales not very small, about 160; spots of moderate size (Rio : ‘Grande: Basin) 25h aya ose eee eee spilurus, 185 gg. Scales very small, about 180. h. Spots rather large; lower fins distinctly red, rarely orange. 7. Spots very numerous; a red lateral band (Colorado Basin) ; pleuriticus, 186 it. Spots less numerous, none anteriorly (Waha Lake); bouviert, 187 mt. Spots few and large, chiefly on the tail (Arkansas and Platte niviers) = Hae of se einte ts eete, claret eioas eee Name stomias, 188 hh. Spots all small; lower fins bright yellow; a yellow lateral shade, (Twin jlakes, Coloradoje.. Misgee. oar macdonaldi, 188 Cut-throat Trout Salmo clarkii Richardson The cut-throat trout, probably the parent form from which all others of the series have been derived, is found in all the coastwise streams and lakes from northern California to British Columbia and possibly into southeastern Alaska. In the Columbia River basin it is found as far up the Snake River as Shoshone Falls and into the headwaters of the Pend d’ Oreille. In the waters about Puget Sound it is very abundant, as it is, in fact, throughout most of its range. It is known variously as cut-throat trout, black-spotted trout, Columbia River trout, and by many other local names. In the earlier books this species was identified with the Mykiss of Kamchatka and was called Salmo mykiss or Salmo purpuratus. But recent investigations have shown that it is not identical with the Kamchatkan species, and that there is a wide region between Kamchatka and southeast Alaska in which no trout are found. The cut-throat trout and all of this series spawn in the spring and early summer. Those in the streams seek the shallow waters of the smaller creeks while those of the lakes come to the shallow waters near shore or upon the bars; in many cases they ascend tributary streams. 176 CUT-THROAT TROUT, Salmo clarkii The Cut-throat Trout The silver trout of Lake Tahoe and the yellow-finned trout of Twin Lakes probably spawn in deeper water. The cut-throat trout and its different derived forms vary greatly in the sizes at which they reach maturity, the chief factors being, of course, the size of the body of water they inhabit and the amount of the food supply. Those species or individuals, dwelling in lakes of considerable size where the water is of such temperature and depth as insure an ample food-supply, will reach a large size, while those in a restricted environment where both the water and food are limited, will be small directly in proportion to these environing restrictions. The trout of the Klamath Lakes, for example, reach a weight of at least 17 pounds, while in Fish Lake in Idaho mature trout do not exceed 8 to 91 inches in total length or one-fourth pound in weight. In small creeks in the Sawtooth Mountains and elsewhere they reach maturity at a length of 5 or 6 inches, and are often spoken of as brook trout under the impression that they are a species different from the larger ones found in the lakes and larger streams. But as all sorts of gradations between these extreme forms may be found in the intervening and connecting waters the differences have not even subspecific significance. The various forms of cut-throat trout vary greatly in game qualities; even the same species in different waters, in different parts of its habitat, or at different seasons, will vary greatly in this regard. In general, however, it is perhaps a fair statement to say that the cut-throat trout are regarded by anglers as being inferior in gaminess to the eastern brook trout. But while this is true, it must not by any means be inferred that it is without game qualities, for it is really a fish which possesses those qualities in a very high degree. Its vigour and voraciousness are determined largely, of course, by the character of the stream or lake in which it lives. The individuals which dwell in cold streams about cascades and seething rapids will show marvellous strength and will make a fight which is rarely equalled by its eastern cousin; while in warmer and larger streams and lakes they may be very sluggish and show but little fight. Yet this is by no means always true. In the Klamath Lakes where the trout grow very large and where they are often very loggy, one is occasionally hooked which tries to the utmost the skill of the angler to prevent his tackle from being smashed and at the same time save the fish. An instance is on record of a most enthusiastic and skilful angler who required one hour and three-quarters to bring to net a7. The Cut-throat Trout a nine and three-quarter pound fish in Pelican Bay, Upper Klamath Lake. These trout can be taken in all sorts of ways. Trolling in the lakes with the spoon or phantom minnow is the usual method, but they rise readily to the artificial fly, the grasshopper, or a buncn of salmon eggs. In the larger streams they may be caught in any of these ways, while in the smaller streams casting with the fly or with hook baited with grasshopper or salmon eggs is the most successful way. To enumerate the streams and lakes in the West where one may find good trout-fishing would be entirely impracticable; they are numerous in all the Western States. One of us has found exception- ally fine trout fishing at the Dempsey Lakes in Montana, in and about the Payette and Redfish lakes in Idaho, in Pacific Creek, and in the Klamath Lakes. Near Redfish Lake, in Idaho, is a small lake known as Fish Lake. Its area is about 25 acres. It is nearly circular in form, very shallow, and 9000 feet above sea-level. In this little lake a particularly beautiful form of cut-throat is exceedingly abundant. In August they could be taken on the artificial fly as rapidly as one could cast, averaging more than one per minute. They bit vigorously, and were very gamy, often jumping 2 or 3 times out of the water. In this region the best fishing in the small streams is in the spring and up to late July. In the small lakes it con- tinues good through the summer. In the streams somewhat larger, summer fishing is fairly good, but not until October is it at its best. But while some seasons are better than others, the angler will quite certainly always find good cut-throat trout fishing at whatever season he cares to try it. The typical cut-throat trout (Salmo clarkit) may be described as follows: Head 4; depth 4; D.. 10; As. 10; ceeca 43; scales smaliain 150 to 170 cross series. Body elongate, compressed; head _ rather short; mouth moderate, the maxillary not reaching far beyond the eye; vomerine teeth as usual set in an irregular zig-zag series; teeth on the hyoid bone normally present, but often obsolete in old examples; dorsal fin rather low; caudal fin slightly forked (more so in the young). Colour, silvery olivaceous, often dark steel colour; back, upper part of side and caudal peduncle pro- fusely covered with rounded black spots of varying sizes and shapes, these spots often on the head, and sometimes extending on the belly; dorsal, adipose, and caudal fins covered with sim- ilar spots about as large as the nostril; inner edge of the man- dible with a deep-red blotch, which is a diagnostic mark; middle 175 ap ©. The Yellowstone Trout of side usually with a diffuse pale rosy wash, this sometimes quite bright, and extending on to side of head; under parts silvery white. The red blotches or washing on the membrane joining the dentary bones of the lower jaw are usually constant, prob- ably always present in the adult, and constitute a most important character. This species has been called Salmo mykiss in various publi- cations by the writers and others, but the true Salmo mykiss is allied to Salmo salar, and has never been taken outside of Kamchatka. Yellowstone Trout Salmo lewist (Girard) The Yellowstone or Lewis trout inhabits the Snake River basin above Shoshone Falls, and the headwaters of the Missouri. It is abundant throughout this whole region in all accessible waters, and is particularly numerous in Yellowstone Lake. As already stated the trout of Yellowstone Lake certainly came into the Missouri basin by way of Two-Ocean Pass from the Upper Snake River basin. One of the present writers has caught them in the very act of going over Two-Ocean Pass from Pacific into Atlantic ‘drainage. The trout on the two sides of the pass cannot be separated, and constitute a single species. Silver Trout Salmo gibbsit Suckley In the tributaries of the Columbia, between Shoshone Falls and the Cascades, in the lakes and larger streams, there is a trout which may be called the silver trout. It is particularly common in the Des Chutes River, and in the Payette Lakes in Idaho. Examples about 15 inches long taken in Big Payette Lake, Septem- ber 27, had the spots small, half circles, few below middle of side; rosy wash on side and opercles, brightest in the male; scarcely any red on throat; belly silvery, back dark-greenish; scales about 140 to 145. On this date, while sailing across this lake, trout could be 179 Lake Tahoe Trout; Truckee Trout; ‘‘Pogy;” ‘Snipe’ seen jumping in various places; usually as many as 15 or 20 could be seen at any moment. They would take the trolling-spoon readily, and proved very gamy fish. Lake Tahoe Trout; Truckee Trout; ‘‘ Pogy’’; «Snipe: Salmo henshawit Gill & Jordan This interesting trout is found in western Nevada and neigh- bouring parts of California in the region comprised in the basin of the old post-Tertiary Lake Lahontan. It is known from Lakes Tahoe, Pyramid, Webber, Donner and Independence; also from the Truckee, Humboldt and Carson rivers, and from most streams on the east slope of the Sierras. It is also found in the head- waters of the Feather River, where it has probably been introduced. The Tahoe trout reaches a weight of 3 to 6 pounds, is a food and game fish of considerable importance, and is often seen in the San Francisco markets. It spawns in the spring, entering the shallow water of the streams for that purpose. Head 3%; depth 4; D. 11; A. 12; scales 27 to 37-160 to 184- 27 to 37, usually about 170 in a longitudinal series; caudal fin short, rather strongly forked. Colour, dark green in the pure waters of Lake Tahoe; pale green in the salty waters of Pyramid Lake; side silvery, with a strong shade of copperv red; back about equally spotted before and behind, the spots large and mostly round; spots on side rather distant; belly generally with round spots; head with large black spots above, some even on snout and lower jaw; dorsal and caudal fins spotted; a few large spots on anal; red dashes on lower jaw present; young less spotted. 180 Silver Trout of Lake Tahoe Silver Trout of Lake Tahoe Salmo tahoensts Jordan & Evermann In the deep waters of Lake Tahoe is found a trout of im- mense size, known to the anglers who are familiar with that lake as the silver trout. So far as known this trout is never seen in the shallow water, but remains at considerable depths, and spawns in the lake itself. It is a large, robust fish, profusely spotted, the spots often oblong, and the general colouration more silvery than in the ordinary Tahoe trout. An example, the type of the species, 2 feet 4 inches long, and weighing 7} pounds, caught by Mr. A. J. Bayley, presented the following characters. Head 4;';; depth 34; eye 72; D. 9; A. 12; Br. 10; scales 33- 205-40, 140 pores; P. 13; maxillary 13. Body very robust, com- pressed, unusually deep for a trout, the outline elliptical; head large; eye smali, silvery; mouth large, maxillary reaching well beyond the eye; scales small, reduced above and below; caudal fin slightly lunate, almost truncate when spread. Colour, dark green above; belly silvery; side with a broad, coppery shade covering cheek and opercles; sides of lower jaw yellowish; fins olivaceous, a little reddish below; orange dashes between rami of lower jaw moderately conspicuous; back, from tip of snout to tail, closely covered with large, unequal black spots, those on nape and top of head round; posteriorly the spots run together, forming vari- ously shaped markings, usually vertically oblong, which may be regarded as formed of 3 or 4 spots placed in a series, or with I or 2 at the side of the other, the longest of these oblong markings being not quite as long as the eye; spots on side of head and body very sparse, those on head round, those behind vertically oblong; belly profusely covered with small black spots which are nearly round; still smaller round spots numerous on lower jaw; spots on caudal peduncle vertically oblong or curved; dorsal and caudal densely covered with oblong spots, smaller than those on body; anal with rather numerous round spots; pectorals and ventrals with a few small spots, the first ray of each with a series of small, faint spots; adipose fin spotted. r8r The Utah Trout Utah’ Trout Salmo virginalis (Girard) In all suitable streams and lakes of the old Lake Bonneville basin, of which the waters of the Great Basin are the present vanishing remnants, is found a trout which is profusely and finely spotted, the spots being numerous anteriorly as well as poste- riorly; scales a little larger than usual, in 140 to 150 lengthwise series, and anteriorly less crowded than in the trout of the Rio Grande, or in the green-backed trout. In partly alkaline waters, such as in Utah Lake, this trout reaches a very large size, ex- amples of 8 to 12 pounds being not uncommon. In these waters it is very pale in colour, the dark spots being few and small, and mostly confined to the back. The Utah trout is found in the streams and lakes of Utah west of the Wasatch Mountains, especially in Bear, Provo, Jordan and Sevier rivers, and in Utah Lake, where it is a very abundant and important food-fish. Jordan’s Trout; Spotted Trout of Lake Southerland Salmo jordanit Meek In Lake Southerland, west of Puget Sound, is found a black- spotted trout of the cut-throat series which, in colour. seems to resemble the Utah trout. It is, according to Professor D. G. Elliot, a ‘‘beautiful and exceedingly gamy trout, taking the fly readily even as late as October, a great leaper when hooked, and fights @ J’outrance. In appearance it resembles Salmo 182 Long-headed Trout of Crescent Lake gairdnert crescentis of the neighbouring lake, being fully as_ bril- liantly coloured, but can be at once distinguished by its orange or orange-red fins, red on the jaw, the number and blackness of its spots, and the darker back and top of head. At no stage of its existence that I have seen, from fingerlings to fish weigh- ing over 4 pounds, is there any silvery lustre, but the colours are all bright-hued, some even metallic. It is one of the most attractive of its tribe, and I have had them leap after taking the fly, in such rapid succession and with such dartings about the lake, that it was impossible to imagine where they would next appear. I believe it spawns in the spring, as in the middle of October, the eggs of the females we caught were not enlarged, and showed no indication of the approach of the spawning season.” Head 34; depth 4%; eye 54; snout 44; maxillary 13; scales 146; D. 10; A. 11; Br. 10 or 11. Body elongate, not much com- pressed;. head short, maxillary not extending far beyond orbit; origin of dorsal fin midway between tip of snout and base of caudal. Long-headed Trout of Crescent Lake Salmo bathecetor Meek According to Professor Elliot, who collected the type of this species, this is a deepwater fish, keeping always near the bot- tom, never coming to the surface at any time, and, of course, not taking the fly, or indeed the spoon, or any kind of lure. The only way it can be captured is by the set-lines sunk within a foot of the bottom, and it seems there are only a few places in the lake where it can be caught even by this means. It is a brightly coloured fish, but lacks some of the iridescence of the speckled trout of Crescent Lake, which it otherwise resembles. Head 3% to 34; depth 5y5 to 5%; eye 6% to 72; snout 34; maxillary 12; D., 10; A. 11; scales .150, to .1525 gillrakers ..7 or 8+11 to 13; Br. 9 to 11. Body slender, head much pointed; maxillary very long and very slender, reaching considerably beyond orbit; teeth on jaws, vomer and palatines large, the dentition strong; mandible very strong; gillrakers short and thick. Colour, much as in the speckled trout of Crescent Lake, but lighter; head, 183 Salmon Trout of Lake Southerland body and tail profusely spotted with black; ventrals and pectorals dark; no red on lower jaw. This trout differs from Salmo crescentis in being more slender, in having the back much less elevated, the head more slender and pointed, the gillrakers shorter, and the maxillary straighter, narrower and longer. It is probably more closely related to the steelhead trout series than to the cut-throat series, and perhaps should be placed as a subspecies of Salmo gairdnert. Salmon Trout of Lake Southerland Salmo declivifrons Meek The general colour of this trout closely resembles that of the blueback trout of Crescent Lake. It is, however, some darker, and has no spots except on the caudal fin. The upper ante- rior profile is also much more curved. Head 34; depth 4%; eye 54+; snout 43; maxillary 1%; scales 148; D. 10; A. 11; Br. 10; gillrakers 7-++10. Body elongate, back elevated, anterior profile much decurved; tip of snout below axis of body; gape nearly horizontal, more so than in other trout; max- illary reaching beyond eye; dentition strong. Colour, dark blue above and on side to lateral line posteriorly, becoming abruptly silvery; belly nearly white; no spots on head or body or elsewhere except few on caudal fin; upper margin of lower jaw black, a dark blue patch on cheek, extending obliquely upward and backward to near upper edge of opercle; pectorals, ventrals and anal yellowish. Known only from Lake Southerland where it is occasionally taken and where it is called ‘‘Salmon trout,’’ according to Profes- sor Elliot, who collected the type. He says, ‘‘it is easily recog- nizable, not only by the sharply curved upper outline of the fore part of the body, but also by its quite different style of colouration, which resembles somewhat that of the blueback of Lake Crescent. ‘‘As there is no water connection between these 2 lakes, and Lake Southerland is 75 feet lower than Crescent Lake, and, moreover, the fish of that lake having no communication with the sea on account of a very high precipitous fall a short dis- tance from its outlet, it cannot be supposed that these two 184 Rio Grande Trout forms are in any way identical. Out of a large number of trout caught by me in Lake Southerland only 2 or 3 of this form were procured, and they were all of small size. This could not be the fault of the lake, which is exceedingly deep and nearly 3 miles in length. It is a gamy fish, takes the fly, leaps out of the water, and is a good fighter for its size.” It reaches a length of 10 inches. Rio Grande Trout Salmo spilurus (Cope) This trout is known only from the upper Rio Grande basin and southward into the mountains of Chihuahua. It is abundant in most mountain streams, but irrigation operations in Colorado and New Mexico have proved very destructive to it on account of the small fish running up the ditches and out upon the fields where they perish. Del Norte and Wagonwheel Gap, Colorado, used to afford excellent trout fishing. The trout were abundant, of good size (2 to 2} feet), and were very gamy. Inead. 34> depth 45) D: 11; Az: 10; scales’ 37=160-37> Head rather short, its upper surface considerably decurved; interorbital Space transversely convex, obtusely carinated, the head more convex than in any other species; mouth large, maxillary reaching past eye; teeth on vomer in 2 distinct series; dorsal fin low in front, high behind, the last ray more than 2 height of first; last ray of anal rather long; caudal witi: its middle rays about as long as the others. Colour, back anu sides profusely covered with round black spots, most developed posteriorly, few on the 185 Colorado River Trout head, most numerous on the caudal and adipose fins; side with pale blotches. Very much resembling the Colorado River trout except that the scales are considerably larger and less crowded anteriorly. Colorado River Trout Salmo pleuriticus (Cope) In all the headwaters of the Colorado is found another re- presentative of the cut-throat trout series. It is abundant through- out western Colorado and in all clear mountain streams in Arizona. It is common in the Eagle and Gunnison where it reaches a good size and is a game-fish of very high rank. Opercle short, 42 to 5 in head; scales small, 185 to 190 in lateral line. Close to typical Salmo clarkii, but the black spots gathered chiefly on posterior part of body, the head being nearly immaculate. The colour is extremely variable, but the lower fins are usually red, sometimes orange; usually a red lateral band. A large, handsome and variable trout, sometimes profusely speckled, sometimes with large spots, and occasionally with strong golden shades. 186 Waha Lake Trout Waha Lake Trout Salmo bouviert (Bendire) This curious and interesting trout is known only from Waha Lake, Idaho, a small mountain lake without any present surface outlet. These trout reach a weight of 3 pounds though examples of that size are not often seen. The usual size is 6 to 7 inches. They do not take the fly well until the middle of the summer, as the water of Waha Lake is uncommonly cold. Then they rise readily and are as game as most lake trout. The food- quality of this trout is said to be unsurpassed. Professor J. M. Aldrich, of Moscow, Idaho, who has had much experience with the Waha trout, speaks in the highest praise as to its delicacy and delicious flavour. ipeady Apdepth 4; eye: 47D. os A. 113 Br r2sscales. 173; maxillary 24. Similar to typical Salmo clarkii, but with dark, spots only on the dorsal, caudal and adipose fins, and on the caudal peduncle behind front of anal, where the spots are very profuse, smaller than the pupil; anterior regions dusky-bluish, not silvery; red blotch on throat very conspicuous; head shorter and deeper than in the typical cut-throat trout, the snout shorter and blunter, not longer than the eye; opercle and preopercle less convex; caudal moderately forked. 187 Green-back Trout Green-back Trout Salmo stomias (Cope) This trout is known only from the headwaters of the Platte and Arkansas rivers and is abundant chiefly in the smaller streams and brooks and in the shallow waters of lakes. It is the common species in Twin Lakes, Colorado and in the waters about Leadville. It is a small, black-spotted trout, not often exceeding a pound in weight, closely resembling the typical cut-throat trout, but differing chiefly in the much greater size of its black spots which are mainly gathered on the posterior half of the body. Mouth small; scales small, about 180; back deep green, sides sometimes red; flesh deep salmon coloured. Yellow-fin Trout Salmo macdonaldi Jordan & Evermann This interesting and beautiful trout is known only from Twin Lakes, Colorado, where it occurs in company with the green- 188 Yellow-fin Trout back trout. The 2 are entirely distinct, the size, colouration and habits being notably different. The yellow-fin reaches a weight of 8 or 9 pounds while the other rarely exceeds a pound. The former lives on gravel bottom in water of some depth while the latter is a shallow-water trout running into small brooks. The yellow-fin trout is apparently derived from the Colorado River trout which may be descended from the Rio Grande trout which, in turn, is probably derived from the green-back trout of the Arkansas. As a game-fish the yellow-fin trout has attracted much attention from local anglers by whom it is very highly regarded. It is taken chiefly by trolling, though it rises promptly to the fly and is a splendid fighter. Head 4; depth 43 to 5; eye 54; snout 44; D. 12; A. 11; Br. 10; scales 40-184-37, about 125 pores. Head long, compressed, the snout moderately pointed; mouth rather large, maxillary 1% to 2 in head; hyoid teeth present; scales small, irregularly placed. Colour, light ‘olive; a broad shade of lemon- -yellow along side; lower fins bright yellow: no red anywhere excépt on throat; posterior part of body, and dorsal and caudal fins profusely covered with small dark spots smaller than the nostril; head and anterior part of body with few spots or none. KEY TO SPECIES OF STEELHEAD TROUT SERIES: a. Scales rather small, averaging 150 to 155. b. Sides bright silvery, usually with a broad flesh-coloured or rosy lateral wash, brightest on opercles. Sea-running forms, reach- ing a large SIZE eS POCA ets aust co eto te eairdneri, 190 bb. No silvery or rosy anywhere. Probably not sea-running; crescentis, 191 aa. Scales larger, about 130 to 145. c. Sides very silvery and bright silvery below; a broad band of bright light rose colour; spots few;............ kamloops, 192 cc. Sides little silvery; under parts white, not silvery; no rosy lateral ANG yet Seon ena wer cio oz Saks sates Sata aks beardsleet, 193 189 Steelhead Trout 53 ai yy hh cape My, is LR ) Steelhead Trout Salmo gatrdnert Richardson This species is variously known as the steelhead, steelhead trout, salmon trout, and hardhead. It is found in all coastwise streams from the Santa Ynez Mountains, Santa Barbara County, California, north to British Columbia and probably to Sitka. It is especially abundant in the lower Columbia, ascending the Snake River as far as Augur Falls, and the Pend d’ Oreille probably to Metaline Falls. It is more or less common in all the shorter coastal streams and is said to be abundant in the Russian and Klamath rivers. The steelhead is more or less anadromous in its habits, being migratory like the salmon, and ascending rivers fully as far. The spawning season of the steelhead seems to be a prolonged one and varying greatly with the locality. In the headwaters of Salmon River, Idaho, where there are important spawning beds, spawning takes place in May and early June. In Payette River they spawn a fortnight earlier, and in the shorter tributaries of Snake River from April 15 to May 10. Still Jower down the Columbia basin they probably spawn increasingly earlier. Of 4,179 steelheads examined during the last week in September, and the first half of October, at The Dalles, Oregon, 1,531 were males and 2,648 females; 476 males and goo females were well developed, and probably would have spawned in 4 to 6 weeks. The remaining 2803 apparently would not have spawned until the next spring. The run of steelheads in the lower Columbia is heaviest from August to November. They reach the Sawtooth Mountains early in May and the headwaters of Payette River early in April; while they reach that portion of Snake River between Weiser and Lower Salmon Falls early in September and remain until spring before they spawn. bqeye) Speckled Trout of Crescent Lake In the streams tributary to the northern portion of Puget Sound they arrive in September and October while they do not usually appear in numbers about Seattle until 2 months later. The steelhead is a large and very important food-fish. The average size of those reaching the Sawtooth Mountains is about 8 pounds, the extremes being 2 and 14 pounds. The maximum weight of the species is probably about 20 pounds, and in streams where it is resident it does not usually exceed 5 or 6 pounds. Unlike the Pacific salmon the steelhead does not die after once spawning, though some individuals probably do. Except during a period follow- ing the spawning season, the steelhead ranks as one of the very best of food-fishes. Great quantities are taken every year in the Columbia and either canned or sold fresh. The shipments of steelhead trout to the East have rapidly increased during recent years until they are now very large. The steelhead ranks very high as a game-fish and trolling for steelheads in the bays, sounds and river-mouths along our Pacific Coast affords excitement and pleasure exceeded among the Sa/monida@ only by trolling for chinook salmon. When in fresh water the steelhead does not bite well except where it is resident, but in waters in which it is permanently resident it takes the trolling spoon well and will also rise to the artificial fly; and its large size and gameness make it a fish much sought after by those who have the opportunity. The steelhead is propagated by the United States Fish Com- mission with marked success. The Commission has introduced it into Lake Superior and its tributary waters in which it found a congenial home and in which catches of some very large steelheads have been recently made. Speckled Trout of Crescent Lake Salmo crescentis Jordan & Beardslee In Crescent Lake, Clallam County, Washington, is a trout which has been regarded as a subspecies of the steelhead. It reaches a length of 27 inches or more, and a weight of 8 or 10 pounds, and is regarded as an excellent game-fish. It is very close to the steelhead, from which it differs chiefly in colour, which, in alcohol, is very dark steel-blue above, be- Igt Kamloops Trout; Stit-tse coming paler below, and nearly white on belly anteriorly where only the margins of the scales are punctate; no silvery anywhere; lower jaw dusky; a large black blotch on cheek between sub- orbital and premaxillary; sides, top of head, back, and dorsal and caudal fins with few small dark spots; pectorals dusky, slightly spotted at base; anal somewhat dusky, without spots; ventrals dusky with a few spots in the middle; adipose fin with a few spots; lower fins all tipped with paler, probably yellowish red in life; spots all very small and not confined to posterior part of body. Kamloops Trout; Stit-tse Salmo kamloops Jordan This is an interesting trout found in Kamloops, Okanogan, Kootenai and other lakes tributary to the Fraser and upper Columbia ‘rivers. It is locally abundant, and is a fine large trout, slender in form, graceful in appearance and movement, some- what different from the common steelhead, but not distinguished by any technical character of importance, and probably intergrading fully with the latter. It is said to be a very fine game-fish, which is taken chiefly by trolling with the spoon. Head 41; depth 44; D. 11; A. 11 or 12; scales 30-135 to 146- 26, 65 before the dorsal; gillrakers 6+-11 or 12; Br. 11+11. Body elongate, somewhat compressed; maxillary extending beyond eye, its length not quite half head; snout slightly rounded in profile, the profile regularly ascending; teeth moderate, some of those in the outer row in each jaw somewhat enlarged; opercles striate, not much produced backward; dorsal fin rather low, its longest ray slightly greater than base of fin, 1% in head; anal fin rather larger than usual in trout, its outline slightly concave, its longest ray greater than base of fin, and little more than half head; caudal fin rather broad, distinctly forked, its outer rays about twice length of inner; pectoral rather long, 14 in head; ventrals moderate, 1 in head; gillrakers comparatively short and few. Colour, dark olive above, bright silvery below, the silvery colour extending some distance below the lateral line, where it ends abruptly; middle of side with a broad light-rose-colored band, covering about 4 total depth of fish; back above with small black spots about the size of pin heads, irregularly scattered, and somewhat more numer- ous posteriorly; a few faint spots on top of head; dorsal and 192 Blueback Trout of Crescent Lake ‘ caudal fins rather thickly covered with small black spots similar to those on back, but more distinct; a few spots on adipose fin which is edged with blackish; lower fins plain; upper border of Beer dusky; a vague dusky blotch on upper middle rays of anal. Blueback Trout of Crescent Lake Salmo beardsleet Jordan & Seale One of the most interesting trouts, recently brought to the attention of anglers and ichthyologists by Admiral Beardslee, is the blueback or Beardslee trout of Crescent Lake. This lake is in Clal- lam County, Washington, in the northern part of the Olympic Mountains, 700 feet above the sea, and the blueback trout is known only from it. This trout lives in deep water. Examples caught by Admiral Beardslee in October were taken at depths varying from 30 to 50 feet. Others caught on April 18 were taken at a depth of 30 to 35 feet, and so far as we have learned it has not been secured in shallow water. The best sea- son for getting this trout seems to be in the spring, probably April to June inclusive, though good catches have been made in October. It is taken only by trolling with the spoon, or, at least, chiefly in that way. They may be taken by trolling with a baited hook, a strip of trout belly being the bait used. Probably various other lures would prove successful. The blueback has the reputation among those who have had the pleasure of catching it of being a very great game-fish. Admiral Beardslee says they fight hard until brought near the surface, when they give up. When landed they are generally puffed up with air, a condition following their quick transferrence from considerable depths to the surface. Examples taken in the spring and put in pools in moun- tain streams with other trout died very soon, while the others lived. A to-pound fish taken by Miss Sara Beazley, of Columbia, Missouri, ‘‘made a fierce and prolonged fight, racing along with the boat for a long distance and making several desperate and out-of-the-water leaps and plunges to get away. Miss Beazley followed the plan of rowing along slowly, stopping rowing altogether for a few moments, and then starting off again slowly. 193 Blueback Trout of Crescent Lake Both large fish were taken just as the boat started up, after one © of three brief stops, during which the troll had gone down to a greater depth than when the boat was in motion.” The blueback trout reach a large size. Four examples caught by Admiral Beardslee weighed, 6, 11, 114, and 11} pounds re- spectively. One taken by Miss Beazley measured 29} inches long and weighed strong 10 pounds. Another caught by Mr. Ben. Lewis, and forwarded by Mr. M. J. Carrigan, of Port Angeles, to Stanford University; was 32 inches long, and weighed 14 pounds. Head 34; depth about 4; eye 4% in head, 13 in snout; snout 38; D. 10; A. 113; scales 24-130-20 ,about 70 series in front of dor- sal, counting along median line, or 60 if rows along upper side are counted; Br. 11; gillrakers 8-+13, rather long and_ slender. Head pointed, mouth rather large, maxillary extending to posterior nargin of eye, 14 in head, with about 20 teeth; preorbital very narrow, the maxillary almost touching the orbit; several large teeth along side of tongue; no hyoid teeth; teeth on vomer in zig-zag series; origin of dorsal at middle of length; origin of anal midway between that of dorsal and base of caudal; caudal broad, nearly truncate. Colour, on the back a deep dark-blue ultra- marine of a peculiar transparency, dotted with small round black spots about the size of a pin head; side abruptly brighter, with many scales silvery; lower parts white; sides, top of head, dor- sal, and caudal fins covered with very small spots; pectorals and ventrals nearly colourless, without spots; adipose fin with 2 spots; no red on lower jaw. The flesh is light lemon-colour before cooking, during which process it whitens. It is devoid of the oily salmon flavour, and is very excellent. KEY TO SPECIES OF RAINBOW TROUT SERIES: a. Scales well imbricated; upper ray of pectoral usually more or less spotted. b. Scales comparatively large, 120 to 150 Series. c. Scales decidely large, in 120 to 130 series; body elongate; no red on throat. Brook forms, mostly of small size; sea-run examples occasionally large; confined to streams of the Coast Ranges. d. Mouth moderate. Coastwise streams of California;....... trideus, 195 dd. Mouth very small. Coastwise streams of Oregon and Washingtons . 022 ioe stetiee olb wt nyele ees bets te cc. Scales medium, in about 140 series; body rather deep; a small dash of red usually present on the throat. Size 194 INTRODUCED r10. , Salmo fa VON BEHR TROUT RAINBOW TROUT, Salmo irideus Rainbow Trout medium, 2 to 8 pounds. Streams of the upper Sacramento basin, not running down to sea;.............. shasta, 198 bb. Scales small in 150 to 185 series. Size large. - e. Back profusely spotted anteriorly as well as posteriorly; some red on lower jaw. Kern River, California;....giberti, 201 ee. Back with the spots chiefly posteriorly; no red on lower jaw. Upper Sacramento basin;........... aretel bers ota ey tens stonei, 201 aa. Scales very small and not well imbricated; upper ray of DE CHORAL MUMS DOLCE secre alee, dd sivas 8406 hy 6) 5 oct agua-bonita, 201 Rainbow Trout Salmo trideus Gibbons In mountain streams of the CoastRanges of the Pacific States and on the west slopes of the Sierra Nevada Mountains are found the various forms of trout which are collectively regarded as con- stituting the rainbow trout series. Members of this series are distinguished from those of the steelhead series by their larger scales and, generally, by their smaller size and brighter colouration. From the cut-throat series they differ in their larger scales, brighter colouration, and, usually, in the absence of red on the throat. As already stated, however, in some parts of their range these series are inextricably mixed, and present classifications can be regarded only as _ provisional. The typical rainbow trout (Salmo irideus) is found only in the small brooks of the Coast ranges in California, from the Klamath River to the San Luis Ray in San Diego County. It is subject to large local variations, some of these land-locked in peculiar brooks, as in Purisima Creek in San Mateo County, 195 Rainbow Trout where the individuals are small and brightly coloured, and popularly regarded as a distinct species. It is thought by some anglers that the young fish hatched in the brooks from eggs of the steelhead remain in mountain streams from 6 to 36 months, going down to the sea with the high waters of spring, after which they return to spawn as typical steelhead trout. Those which are land-locked, or which do not descend, remain rainbows all their lives. As against this view we have the fact that to the northward the rainbow and the steelhead are always distinguishable, and the scales in the latter are always smaller than in typical rainbow trout. Salmo irideus reaches a weight of a half pound to 5 or 6 pounds, though in most of the streams in which it is found it rarely exceeds 2 or 3 pounds, By many anglers it is regarded as the greatest of all game-fishes. The consensus of opinion among anglers, however, involves and is based upon experience not only with typical zrideus but with most others of the rainbow series as well. While this is true, there is no doubt but that typical irideus is a trout of exceeding gameness and is possibly a greater fighter than any other of the group, when its weight Js considered. But the various forms of rainbow trout, wherever found, may safely be said to have few, if any, equals among the Sa/monide. In beauty of colour, gracefulness of form and movement, sprightliness when in the water, reckless dash with which it springs from the water to meet the descending fly ere it strikes the surface, and the mad and repeated leaps from the water when hooked, the rainbow trout must ever hold a very high rank. The gamest fish we have ever seen was a 16-inch rainbow taken on a fly in a small spring branch tributary of Williamson River in southern Oregon. It was in a broad and deep pool of exceedingly clear water. As the angler from behind a clump of willows made the cast the trout bounded from the water and met the fly in the air a foot or more above the surface; missing it he dropped upon the water only to turn about and strike viciously a second time at the fly just as it touched the surface; though he again missed the fly the hook caught him in the lower jaw from the outside, and then began a fight which would delight the heart of any angler. His first effort was to reach the bot- tom of the pool, then, doubling upon the line, he made 3 jumps 196 Western Oregon Brook Trout from the water in quick succession, clearing the surface in each instance from 1 to 4 feet, and every time doing his utmost to free himself from the hook by shaking his head as vigorously as a dog shakes a rat. Then he would rush wildly about in the large pool, now attempting to go down over the riffle below the pool, now trying the opposite direction, and often striving to hide under one or the other of the banks. It was easy to handle the fish when the dash was made up or down stream or for the opposite side, but when he turned about and made a rush for the protection of the overhanging bank upon which the angler stood, it was not easy to keep the line taut. Movements such as these were frequently repeated and 2 more leaps were made. But finally he was worn out after as honest a fight as trout ever made. The rainbow takes the fly so readily that there is no reason for resorting to grasshoppers, salmon-eggs or other bait. It is a fish whose gameness will satisfy the most exacting of expert anglers and whose readiness to take any proper lure will please the most impatient of inexperienced amateurs. Western Oregon Brook Trout Salmo masont (Suckley) The common brook trout of the tributaries of the lower Columbia and of coastwise streams of Oregon and Washington is very similar to the typical zrideus and is readily distinguished from its associates, the steelhead and the cut-throat, by its larger scales. Compared with the cut-throat, it is less slender, the snout is more rounded, there is no red between the branches of the lower jaw, there are no hyoid teeth, the maxillary is broader and shorter, the opercle more evenly convex, there are fewer spots below the lateral line, and the red markings on the sides usually coalesce to form a red lateral band; scales 120 to 130. Apparently merging into the ordinary irideus south- ward, if indeed, the 2 forms are distinguishable. This trout rarely weighs more than a pound. It is found from Puget Sound to southern Oregon in streams of the Coast Range, and is locally abundant. It is interesting to note that the type of this gamy little trout was caught by George B. McClellan. In describing it Dr. Suckley says: ‘I obtained this species at the Cathlapootl River, August 1907 McCloud River Rainbow Trout 2, 1853, and am indebted for it to the skill of Capt. Geo. B. McClellan, as he took it with the artificial fly at a time when they did not readily bite at any bait.” McCloud River Rainbow Trout Salmo shasta (Jordan) The home of this fine trout is in the streams of the Sierra Nevadas from Mount Shasta southward, the limits of its range not well known. It is best known from the McCloud River where it has been handled for many years in the fish-cultural operations of the United States Fish Commission, this being, in fact, the ‘‘ rainbow trout”’ of fish-culturists. Through the operations of the United States Fish Commis- sion this trout has had its range greatly extended. It has been successfully transplanted into many mountain streams in different parts of the United States where it was not previously found, where it grows and multiplies rapidly, as is shown by the many favourable reports. The best results, however, seem to have been obtained from the plants made in Michigan, Missouri, Arkansas, throughout the Alleghany Mountain region, and in Colorado and Nevada. It was introduced into eastern waters in 1880. It is believed this species will serve for stocking streams formerly in- habited by the eastern brook trout in which the latter no longer thrives owing to the clearing of the lands about the sources of the streams, which has brought about changed conditions un- favourable to the eastern brook trout. The rainbow is adapted to warmer and deeper waters, and is therefore suited to many of the now depleted streams which flow from the mountains through cultivated valleys. Rainbow trout differ widely from brook trout and other pug- nacious fishes in that they feed largely upon worms, larve, crustaceans, and the like, and do not take so readily to minnows for food. They should be planted in spring or early summer when their natural food is abundant. They will then grow more rapidly and become accustomed to life in the stream, and when worms, larve, etc., are no longer to be found, their experience and size will enable them to take anything in the shape of food that may present itself. Fish hatched in December and January can be safely planted in April or May. 198 McCloud River Rainbow Trout The size of the rainbow trout varies greatly, depending upon the volume and temperature of the water, and the amount and character of the food-supply. In the streams of the Sierras, where it is native, it reaches a length of 10 to 30 inches, and a weight of 2 to 8 pounds. The average weight of those caught from streams in the East is probably less than a pound, but examples weighing 6% pounds have been taken. In the Ozark region in Missouri they are caught weighing 5 to 1o pounds. In some of the cold mountain streams of Colorado their average weight is but 6 or 8 ounces, while in certain lakes in the same State, where the water is moderately warm, and food is plentiful, they reach a length of 25 to 28 inches, and a weight of 12 or 13 pounds. In the Au Sable River in Michigan they reach a weight of 5 to '7 pounds. The largest example ever produced in the U. S. Fish Commission ponds at Wytheville, Virginia, weighed 6% pounds. The average growth of the rainbow trout under favourable artificial circumstances is as follows: One year old, from % to 1 ounce; 2 years old from 8 to 10 ounces; 3 years old from 1 to 2 pounds; 4 years old from 2 to 3 pounds. Like all other fishes, they continue to grow, at least until they are 8 or Io years old, the rate diminishing with age. Some, of course, grow much faster than others, even under the same circumstances, but the rate of growth, as with all fishes, is largely a question of tempera- ture, food, and extent of water-area. In water at 60°, with plenty of food, fish 1 or 2 years old will double their size several times in a single season; while in water at 40°, with limited food, the growth is very slow indeed. The rainbow, like the brook trout, will live in water with a comparatively high temperature if it is plentiful and running with a strong current; but in sluggish water, even when the temper- ature is considerably lower, neither species will do well. The rainbow, however, will live in warmer water than the brook trout, and is often found in streams where the temperature is as high as 75° or even 85°, especially where there is some shade. The water of the streams in which the rainbow is native, varies in temper- ature from 38° in winter to about 70° in summer. For hatchery purposes spring water, with a temperature from 42° to 58°, is best. The spawning season of the rainbow trout in California ex- 199 McCloud River Rainbow Trout tends from early February to May. A curious change in the season has occurred with those cultivated in the East. In Colorado the season is from May to July, while at Wytheville it extends from early in November to the end of February. The males are good breeders at 2 years-old, but the females rarely produce eggs until the third season. The number of eggs produced depends upon the age and size of the fish. The maximum from 3-year-old fish, weighing 4 to 1} pounds, is 500 to 800 eggs; from 6-year-old fish, weigh- ing 2 to 4 pounds, it is 2,500 to 3,000 eggs. The eggs vary in size from 44 to 5 eggs to the linear inch, the larger fish usually producing the larger eggs. All that has been said regarding the game qualities of the typical rainbow trout (Salmo trideus) can be said of the rainbow trout of McCloud River. It may lack a little in the wild gameness of typical zrideus, but that is made good by its larger size. There is, however, no comparison between the rainbow in its native California mountain streams and those introduced into eastern waters, where the warmer temperature has_ enervated them, and where they have grown large and fat and sluggish. In the cold waters of Colorado, however, they have lost none of their wild nature and superb game qualities. Head 4; depth 3%; eye 5; D. 11; A. 11; scales 20 to 24-145- 20, about 65 before the dorsal. Body comparatively short and deep, compressed, varying considerably, and much more elongate in males than in females; head short, convex, obtusely ridged above; mouth smaller than in most species of trout, the rather broad maxillary scarcely reaching beyond the eye, except in old males; eye larger than in the steelhead; vomerine teeth in 2 irreg- ular series; dorsal fin moderate; caudal fin distinctly though not strongly forked, more deeply incised than in the typical cut-throat. Colour, bluish above, the sides silvery; everywhere above profusely but irregularly spotted, the spots extending on the sides at least to the lateral line, and covering the vertical fins; top of head well spotted; fins usually not red; almost always a light dash of red on throat; much red or rosy on cheek and opercles; belly partly red in males; side with a broad but more or less inter- rupted red lateral band, brightest in males. Eern River Trout Kern River Trout Salmo irideus gilberti (Jordan) The Kern River trout very closely resembles the McCloud River rainbow, but has the scales smaller, there being as many as 165 transverse series. The body is robust, the mouth moderate. Its distinctness is doubtful. Colour, back and sides profusely spotted; old examples with more or less orange on lower jaw, this faint or wanting in the young; upper ray of pectoral spotted. This beautiful trout is known only from Kern River, Cali- fornia, and is abundant in the river channels below the waters inhabited by the golden. trout. The Kern River trout reaches a good size, examples weigh- ing 8 pounds having been recorded. It is a voracious trout, biting freely, and fighting vigorously and with great persistence. Nissuee Trout; Noshee Trout; Stone’s Trout Salmo trideus stonet (Jordan) This is a large, voracious trout of the rainbow series found in the upper Sacramento basin, especially in the McCloud River above Baird. It is much larger than typical zrzdeus, and reaches a weight of 10 to 12 pounds, but is doubtfully distinct. Depth 4; A. 11; eye 43; maxillary about 2; pectoral 14; scales 140 to 155, about 82 before the dorsal where they are small and embedded; teeth fewer and smaller than in the Shasta trout, those on the vomer in a single zig-zag series. Colour, upper parts plain greenish; spots few and confined chiefly to the posterior part of body; spots small and sparse on dorsal, adipose and caudal fins; a red lateral band usually distinct; cheek and opercles with red; no red on _ throat. Golden Trout of Mount Whitney Salmo agua-bonita (Jordan) The most beautiful of all our many beautiful western trout is the famous golden trout of Mount Whitney. It is an inhabi- 201 Golden Trout of Mount Whitney tant of small mountain streams on the western slopes of Mount Whitney, tributary to Kern River. It is locally abundant in Vol- cano Creek and the South Fork of Kern River. It has also been introduced into streams about Owen Lake, on the east slopes of the Sierras, which were formerly without trout. The golden trout has been derived apparently from the Kern River trout. It is a small trout, reaching a length of only a few inches, and is remarkable for its unexcelled gameness and its unsurpassed beauty. Head 3%; depth 44; eye 4%; snout 45; maxillary 13; D. 12; A. 10; scales 160 to 180, 123 pores; pectoral 17; ventral 2; cau- dal 12; gillrakers not very short, 10+11. Head rather long, bluntish at tip; mouth moderate, the maxillary extending a little beyond the eye; hyoid teeth not evident; opercle moderate; post- orbital bone very small; scales very small, round, not imbricated; fins moderate; anal high; caudal moderately emarginate. Colour, olive above; sides and belly light golden, always showing the parr marks of immature trout; middle of side along lateral line with a deep scarlet lateral stripe, broadest under the dorsal, where it is about as wide as the eye, thence narrowing to either end and not reaching either the head or the caudal fin; middle line of belly with a broad scarlet band, extending from chin to anal fin and equally bright all the way; a fainter shade along lower part of side from anal fin to tip of caudal; no crimson dash on throat, the whole region uniform bright orange; opercles largely orange; dark spots chiefly posterior, large and well marked, some on tail and posterior part of body as large as the pupil, smaller but well marked on the dorsal fin; a few small spots scattered along anterior part of body in some ex- amples, none in front of adipose fin in others; upper anterior angle of dorsal abruptly yellowish-white, this colour edged by a dark oblique streak made by coalescent spots, the rest of the fin light olive with 4 or 5 rows of small black spots; pectorals largely orange; ventrals deep orange, with faint blackish tips, the anterior edge of the fin conspicuously and abruptly whitish, as in the eastern brook trout; anal dusky orange, the tips of the last rays blackish, the outer anterior corner abruptly white, the white stripe wider than the pupil and separated from the body colour of the fin by a dusky shade; caudal olive, tinged with orange on its lower edge, and profusely spotted with black; in- side of mouth pink, the gill-cavity light orange. 202 GENUS CRISTIVOMER GILL & JORDAN The Great Lake Trouts This genus contains only 2 species,—large, coarse charrs, distinguished from Sa/velinus by the presence of a raised crest behind the head of the vomer and free from its shaft. This crest is armed with teeth, and the hyoid teeth form a strong, cardiform band. The typical species is a large charr or trout, spotted with gray instead of red, and found in the larger lakes of northern North America. a. Body elongate, covered with thin skin, there being no special development, of the fatty, tissues. )05) ...: <.. namaycush, 203 aa. Body deeper, covered with thick skin, there being an excessive development of; fatty” tSSUe 3-46 ..2/a8 2 Gio. ciale., 5/8 siscowel, 205 Great Lake Trout: Mackinaw Trout Cristivomer namaycush (Walbaum) The namaycush trout is found in most large lakes from New Brunswick and Maine westward throughout the Great Lakes region and to Vancouver Island thence northward to Northern Alaska, Hudson Bay and Labrador. It is known from Henry Lake in Idaho and elsewhere in the headwaters of the Columbia. It is known also from the Fraser River basin, from Vancouver Island, and various places in Alaska. 203 Great Lake Trout; Mackinaw Trout In addition to the vernacular names already mentioned this fish is known by still others in different parts of its range. In Vermont it is called ‘‘longe,” in Maine it is the ‘‘ togue,’’ while among the Canadian Indians it is the ‘‘ namaycush” or ‘‘ masamacush.” It is the largest of all the trouts, reaching a length of several feet and a weight of 60 to 125 pounds. The average weight probably does not exceed 15 or 20 pounds. In the Great Lakes it is exceeded in weight only by the lake sturgeon. The lake trout is omnivorous in its feeding habits and possesses a ravenous appetite. It greedily devours all kinds of fishes possessing soft fins, and it is said that jack-knives, corncobs and other equally indigestible articles have been found in its stomach. The eggs and fry of the lake trout suffer from the same enemies as the young of other fishes, but the mature fish are entirely too formidable for other species to prey upon. They are not often troubled with parasites. Occasionally individuals, very thin in flesh and sickly-looking, known as ‘‘racers” by fishermen are found swimming near the surface; no sufficient cause has been discovered for this condition, as they are no more afflicted with parasites than healthy fish. The lake trout fisheries of the Great Lakes are exceeded in commercial importance only by those of the whitefish. At one time the trout was so abundant that it did not command a price at all commensurate with its edible qualities, but as the catches decreased the price went up, until in 1886 it equalled that of its more delicate rival. In that year the artificial propagation of the lake trout was begun by the Federal and certain State governments. The output of the hatcheries increased gradually until, in 1895, that of the Government hatchery at Northville alone amounted to over 11,000,000 eggs; and the species had become so abundant in the lakes in 1896 that the fishing boats ceased operations, the market being glutted, and the price obtainable not justifying the labour involved. The method of capturing the lake trout is by gillnets, pound- nets, hook and line, and, in winter, by spearing through the ice. The majority, however, are taken by means of gillnets operated by steam tugs. Some of these tugs carry 5 or 6 miles of nets and catch in one lift from 1,000 pounds to 4 or 5 tons of trout. 204 = s S = S S = S = S & 2 S o Pp Cc 5 = 62} is < a The Siscowet Fishing is done from the time the ice breaks up in the spring until late in the fall. Lake trout spawn on the reefs and live in deep water at other times. The spawning season begins in Lake Superior late in September, in Lakes Huron and Michigan the height of the season is in early November, and spawning continues into December. The spawning grounds are on the reefs of ‘‘honeycomb” rock, 10 to 15 miles off shore, and in water 6 to 120 feet deep. The number of eggs produced is not large; a 24-pound fish produced 14,943 eggs, but the usual number does not exceed 5,000 or 6,000. As a game-fish the lake trout is held in different degrees of esteem by different anglers. There are those who regard it with slight favour, while with others it is rated as a fish which can give the angler a great deal of sport. It is usually taken by trolling either with the spoon or live minnow, and, as it is a powerful fish, strong tackle is required. Thaddeus Norris, most delightful writer among American anglers, mentions hooking several trout on stout o o Kirby hooks baited with a white rag and a piece of red flannel, and the hooks in every instance but one (a small 8 pound trout) were straightened or broken and the fish lost. Head 41; depth 4; eye 44; Br. 11 or 12; D. 11; A. 11; scales 185 to 205; maxillary 2; interorbital 4. Body long; head very long, its upper surface flattened; mouth very large, the maxillary extending much beyond the eye, the head and jaws proportionately lengthened and pointed; caudal fin well forked; adipose fin small; teeth very strong. General colouration, dark gray, sometimes pale, sometimes almost black, everywhere with rounded pale spots which are often reddish tinged; head usually vermiculate above; dorsal and caudal reticuiate with darker. Siscowet Cristivomer siscowet (Agassiz) The siscowet differs from the ordinary Great Lake trout in having a deeper body which is covered with a thicker skin, beneath which is an excessive development of fatty tissue. The scales are somewhat larger and the colour is usually somewhat paler. This fish is practically confined to Lake Superior where it is abundant in deep water. Occasional examples have been taken in Lakes Huron and Erie. GENUS SALVELINUS RICHARDSON The Charrs Body moderately elongate; teeth of jaws, palatines, and tongue essentially as in Salmo, the hyoid patch present or not; vomer boat-shaped, the shaft much depressed, without raised crest, with teeth on the head of the bone but none on the shaft; scales very small, 200 to 250 in a lengthwise series; fins moderate, the caudal forked in the young, truncate in some species in the adult; sexual peculiarities not strongly marked, the males with the premaxillaries enlarged and a fleshy projection at the tip of the lower jaw. The scales of the charrs are, in general, smaller than in any other Salmonidaw, and they are imbedded in the skin to such a degree as to escape the notice of casual observers and even of many anglers. ‘*One trout scale in the scales | lay (If trout had scales), and ‘twill outweigh The wrong side of the balances.” —Lowell. Colour, usually dark, with round crimson spots, the lower fins sometimes with marginal bands of black, reddish, and pale. Species numerous in the clear cold streams and lakes of the northern parts of both continents, sometimes descending to the sea where they lose their variegated colours and become nearly plain and silvery. The members of this genus are by far the most active and handsome of the trout, living only in the clearest, coldest and most secluded waters. ‘‘No higher praise can be given to a Salmonoid than to say it is a charr.”’ As now understood by most ichthyologists this genus is re- presented in America by 4 species and some 6 or 7 subspecies. Perhaps it is just as well to recognize most, if not all, of these subspecies as full species. This is certainly best in all cases where intergrading has not been proved. a. Back unspotted, strongly marbled with dark olive or black. b. Colour, dark olive; side with numerous red spots; fontinalis, 207 206 Brook Trout; Speckled Trout bb. Colour, pale grayish; very few red spots;..... AgASSIZ11, 210 aa. Back not marbled with darker. c. Back with red or orange spots like those on sides; parket, 210 cc. Back unspotted, the red spots confined to the sides; maxil- lary usually not reaching beyond the eye. d. Gillrakers numerous, 6+12 to 16; head rather large, 4 to 4} in body; body rather stout; belly orange in breeding season. e. Gillrakers longer and straighter than in the next, 2 length of EME WAN IIT, AMUN SYS tele - Aoe oicdintc cae cece a hae alipes, 212 ee. Gillrakers quite short, not 4 length of eye, about 6+12 in Lai UNA CLS aOR Avene Anes en PURE ne ear 0 eo i Ce eat aureolus, 213 dd. Gillrakers fewer, 6+11, small; head small; 44 to 5 in length; [ES PEST ISON FS) GRINS Rr ch et cena eo on SRB Pa oguassa, 217 Brook Trout; Speckled Trout Salvelinus fontinalis (Mitchill) ‘‘And when the timorous Trout I wait To take, and he devours my Bait, How small, how poor a thing | find Will captivate a greedy Mind; And when none bite, the Wise I praise, Whom false Allurement ne’er betrays.” The game-fish which has been most written about and which is, perhaps, best and most widely known among the anglers of 207 Brook Trout; Speckled Trout the world is undoubtedly Salvelinus fontinalis. It is one of the most beautiful, active, and widely distributed of American trouts. Its natural range is from Maine to northern Georgia and Alabama in the Appalachian Mountains, and westward through the Great Lakes region to Minnesota; and in Canada from Labrador to the Saskatchewan. It has been extensively introduced into many waters in which it was not native, in the eastern and upper Mississippi Valley States, in the Pacific and Rocky Mountain States, and in many foreign countries as well. With the possible exceptions of the rainbow and _ steelhead trouts it is the hardiest member of the salmon family and will make a brave struggle for existence even in an unfavourable en- vironment. Not every stream, however, can be stocked with this species; the temperature of the water must not be too high, nor the flow too sluggish, although a high temperature is not wholly prohibitive, if there is a strong current resulting in the proper aeration of the water. The best streams are those with a gravelly bottom, clear shallow water, steady, fairly strong cur- rent with occasional rapids, deeper pools and eddies, abundant natural food, and banks overhung with bushes which afford more or less protection. The brook trout spawns in the fall when the water is grow- ing colder. The season extends from late August in the Lake Superior region to October and November or even later in New England, New York and southward. At spawning time the fish will push far up even the smallest creeks where the spawning beds are selected upon gravel bottom in shallow water. There the eggs will lie until the next spring—anywhere from go to 210 days—when the water begins to grow warmer and the eggs begin to hatch. The number of eggs produced varies with the age and size of the fish, yearlings usually producing 150 to 250, two-year-olds 350 to 500, and older ones 500 to 2500. The size of the brook trout varies greatly; in small streams they may be mature at a length of 6 or 8 inches and a weight of but 2 or 3 ounces, while in larger bodies of water and with an abundant food supply they reach 18 inches or even more, and a weight of several pounds. Forty years ago brook trout weighing 4 to 6 and 8 pounds were not uncommon. 208 sypunuol snut1a2vS ‘LNOUL MOOUd NUALSVA Brook Trout; Speckled Trout But as the trout streams everywhere came to be fished more and more, the trout became smaller and smaller, until now it is a rare trout that escapes the angler’s fly until he has reached a greater weight than a pound or two. The trout are rapidly disappearing from our streams through the agency of the lumberman, manufacturer, and summer boarder. In the words of the late Rev. Myron W. Reed, a noble man, and an excellent angler,—‘‘ This is the last generation of trout- fishers. The children will not be able to find any. Already there are well-trodden paths by every stream in Maine, New York, and in Michigan. I know of but one river in North America by the side of which you will find no paper collar or other evidence of civilization. It is the Nameless River. Not that trout will cease to be. They will be hatched by machinery and raised in ponds, and fattened on chopped liver, and grow flabby and lose their spots. The trout of the restaurant will not cease to be; but he is no more like the trout of the wild river than the fat and songless reed-bird is like the bobolink. Gross feeding and easy pond-life enervate and deprave him. The trout that the children will know only by legend is the gold-sprinkled living arrow of the white water; able to zig-zag up the cataract; able to loiter in the rapids; whose dainty meat is the glancing butterfly.” The brook trout is exceedingly variable and many local varieties have been described. The following description will apply well only to typical examples. Head 43; depth 44; D. 10; A. 9; scales 37-230-30; gillrakers about 6+11. Body oblong, moderately compressed, not much elevated; head large, but not very long, the snout bluntish, the interorbital space rather broad; mouth large, the maxillary reach- ing beyond orbit; eye large, somewhat above axis of body; cau- dal fin slightly lunate in the adult, forked in the young; adi- pose fin small; pectoral and ventral fins not especially elongate. Colour, back more or less mottled or barred with dark olive or black, without spots; red spots on side rather smaller than the pupil; dorsal and caudal fins mottled with darker; lower fins dusky, with a pale, usually orange, band anteriorly, "followed by a darker one; belly in the male often more or less red; sea- run individuals (the Canadian ‘‘salmon trout”) are often nearly plain bright silvery. 209 Dublin Pond Trout Dublin Pond Trout Salvelinus agasstzit (Garman) In certain ponds or lakes in New Hampshire, notably Dublin Pond, Lake Monadnock, Centre Pond, etc., is found a trout whose colouration is pale grayish, and with fewer red spots, thus resembling the lake trout. Otherwise it does not appear to differ from the brook trout, except that the young are said to be rather more slender, the caudal notch slightly deeper, and the sides more silvery. The young are much darker than the adults. This trout reaches a length of 7 or 8 inches. Dolly Varden Trout Salvelinus parket (Suckley) This interesting charr is found in the streams and lakes of Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon and California, south to the Sacramento basin, and northward in coastal streams to the Aleu- tian Islands. It is found only in Pacific drainage. Though res- ident in fresh water, and scarcely at all migratory, it often descends to the sea, and is frequently taken in salt and brackish waters. In small mountain brooks at Unalaska and elsewhere dwarfed forms occur. This is the charr which has been known in the books until recently as Sa/velinus malma, under the belief that it was identi- cal with the malma of Walbaum from Kamchatka; but recent investigations have shown the American fish to be distinct from the Kamchatkan species. 210 Dolly Varden Trout In Montana this charr is called salmon trout, in Idaho it is the bull trout, and elsewhere it is charr, western charr, Oregon charr, or Dolly Varden trout, the last being one of the few book names of fishes which have come into general use. This interesting trout is one of the best known species in the West. It reaches a length of 2 to 3 feet, and a weight of 5 to 12 pounds. An example 26 inches long weighed 5 pounds and 1 ounce. Like its eastern relative it is a voracious fish, feeding freely upon whatever offers, and especially fond of minnows, © of which it devours great numbers. At Lake Pend d’Oreille, where the bull trout is an abundant and popular game-fish, we have found 2 species of minnows and one millers thumb all in the stomach of one fish. It has been our pleasure to fish for the Dolly Varden trout in many different waters, among which we recall with particular satisfaction the Pend d’Oreille River from the Great Northern Rail- road to the international boundary, Lake Pend d’Oreille at Hope and Sand Point, the Redfish Lakes and Upper Salmon River, high among the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho, and in a little stream near Unalaska, in which dwells a dwarfed Dolly Varden of unusual beauty. During July and August, as well as in early spring, it may be caught in any of these waters. In the smaller lakes it is most abundant about the mouths of the inlets, but the best fishing is usually in the streams, as the fish there will rise to the fly more readily, and are usually more gamy. Anything will serve as a lure—artificial fly, grasshopper or any other insect of fair size, small minnow, a piece of fish or other meat, salmon eggs, trolling spoon or frog, and even the bright coloured leaves of the painted cup or other flower. The gameness of the Dolly Varden trout varies greatly with the character of the water and the season, just as with any other game-fish. Those taken in lakes are apt to be sluggish, but when taken in cold streams, with a good, strong, steady current, or in the rapids where the water tumbles and boils, then the Dolly Varden displays the superior game qualities which show its kinship with its eastern and better known congener. Head 34 to 3%; depth 4¢ to 6; eve 6} to 7; snout’ 3 to 4; maxillary 12 to 3; D. 11; A. 9; scales 39-240-36; pyloric cceca large, 45 to 50; gillrakers about 8+12. Body rather slender, the 2IT Long-finned Charr back somewhat elevated, less compressed than in Salvelinus fontinalis; head large, snout broad, flattened above; mouth large, the maxillary reaching past the eye; fins short, the caudal slightly forked or almost truncate. General colour, olivaceous, the sides with round red or orange spots nearly as large as the eye, the back with similar but smaller spots, and without reticulations, a feature of colouration which at once distinguishes this from all other American trout; lower fins coloured much as in S. fontinalis, dusky, with a pale stripe in front, followed by a darker one. Sea-run examples are silvery, with the spots pale or obsolete. Long-finned Charr Salvelinus alipes (Richardson) In northern Europe, from the Swiss lakes and the lochs of Scotland northward, in all cold waters, is found the Saibling or European charr, Salvelinus alpinus. This charr is represented in America by several forms, most of which have usually ranked as subspecies. The first of these is the long-finned charr which in- habits the lakes of Greenland and Boothia Felix about Prince Regent Inlet. In this charr the body is elongate, the head moderate, the snout long and pointed, with the lower jaw projecting beyond the upper; teeth small; maxillary long and narrow, reaching beyond the eye; preopercle very short, with a very short lower limb; opercle and preopercle very conspicuously and deeply striated; fins much developed, the dorsal much higher than long; pectoral very long, reaching more than halfway to ventrals, which are very long; caudal well forked. Greenland Charr Salvelinus stagnalis (Fabricius) This is another charr occuring in the waters of Greenland, Boothia Felix and neighbouring regions. Body rather elongate; pectoral short, 13 in head, not reaching half-way to ventrals; dor- sal about as high as long, the longest ray 1% in head; gillrakers g+15; slender and nearly straight, the longest 23 in eye. Colour, dark green, with lighter irregular green streaks, silvery below; sides everywhere with pale pink spots, the largest 212 The Arctic Charr smaller than eye; upper fins greenish, the lower fins pink. Sea- run examples nearly plain silvery. This trout reaches a length of 1 to 2 feet and is a food-fish of considerable importance to the natives of that region. Arctic Charr Salvelinus arcturus (Ginther) This charr is known only from Lake Victoria, Floeberg Beach, in lat. 82° 34’, andis the most northern Salmonoid known. It has the body rather slender, head small, snout obtuse, mouth moderate, the maxillary in the male reaching to posterior edge of orbit; teeth small; a band of hyoid teeth; caudal miouerately forked; head 4+; depth °5; D. 11; A. Yo; Br. 11; pyloric coeca 31 to 44. Colour, dull greenish, silvery or reddish below; lower fins yellowish; probably no red spots. Sunapee Trout; American Saibling Salvelinus aureolus Bean The golden trout of Sunapee Lake was not known to anglers until about twenty years ago, and it was not described and named until 1888. Through the interesting writings of Dr. John D. Quackenbos and others its name is now a familiar one to anglers everywhere, though but few have a personal acquaint- ance with the fish in its native waters, for this beautiful trout has a very restricted habitat. So far as known it is native only 213 Sunapee Trout; American Saibling to Sunapee Lake, New Hampshire, and Flood Pond, near Ells- worth, Maine, but through fish cultural operations it has been in- troduced into a number of other lakes. The water of both Sunapee Lake and Flood Pond is ex- ceptionally pure and cold, the bottom temperature varying from 38° to 52°, according to the depth, as giving by Dr. Quacken- bos. The maximum depth of each is over 100 feet, the bottom is of white sand and gravel, and there is in each an abundance of crustacea and other fish-food. These are the environing conditions which have made the Sunapee trout a fish of surprising beauty and gracefulness. According to Dr. Quackenbos who has a more intimate ac- quaintance with this fish than any other who has written about it, the distinguishing characteristics are as follows: ‘‘ The presence of a broad row of teeth on the hyoid bone between the lower extremities of the first 2 gill-arches; the absence of mottling on the dark sea-green back, and the excessively developed fins; in- conspicuous yellow spots without areola: a square or slightly emarginate tail; a small and delicately shaped head; diminutive, aristocratic mouth, liquid planetary eyes, and a generally graceful build; a phenomenally brilliant nuptial colouration, recalling the foreign appellations of ‘blood-red charr,’ ‘gilt charr,’ and ‘golden saibling.’ As the October pairing time approaches, the Sunapee fish becomes illuminated with the flushes of maturing passion. ‘‘The steel-green mantle of the back and _ shoulders now seems to dissolve into a veil of amethyst, through which the daffodil spots of mid-summer gleam out in points of flame, while below the lateral line all is dazzling orange. The fins catch the hue of adjacent parts, and pectoral, ventral, anal, and lower lobe of caudal, are marked with a lustrous white band. “It is a unique experience to watch this American saibling spawning on the Sunapee shallows. Here in all the magnificence of their nuptial decoration flash schools of painted beauties, circling in proud sweeps about the submerged boulders they would select as the scenes of their loves—the poetry of an epi- thalamium in every motion—in one direction, uncovering to the sunbeams in amorous leaps their golden-tinctured sides, gemmed with the fire of rubies; in another, darting in little companies, the pencilled margins of their fins seeming to trail behind them 214 Sunapee Trout; American Saibling like white ribbons under the ripples. There are conspicuous dif- ferences in intensity of general colouration, and the gaudy dyes of the milter are tempered in the spawner to a dead-lustre cad- mium cream or olive chrome, with opal spots. The wedding garment nature has given to this charr is unparagoned. Those who have seen the bridal march of the glistening hordes, in all their glory of colour and majesty of action, pronounce it a spec- tacle never to be forgotten.” That so conspicuous a game and food-fish could have been aboriginal to Sunapee Lake, and for 100 years have escaped the notice alike of visiting and resident anglers, persistent poachers, and alert scientists is accounted for, as suggested by Dr. Quacken- bos, by its habit of remaining almost constantly in deep water, by its spawning on mid-lake reefs late in the fall when angling is out of season and the locality of the beds dangerous of access, and by its comparative scarcity prior to the introduction of black bass in 1868. Quoting still further from Dr. Quackenbos, to whom we are indebted for our account of this fish, ‘‘the Sunapee saib- ling takes live bait readily, preferring a cast smelt in spring, when it pursues the spawning Osmerus to the shores. As_ far as is known, it does not rise to the fly, either at this season, or when on the shoals in autumn. Through the summer months it is angled for with a live minnow or smelt, in 60 to 70 feet of water, over cold bottom, in localities that have been baited. While the smelt are inshore, trolling with a light fly-rod and fine tackle, either with a Skinner fluted spoon, No. 1, or a small smelt on a single hook, will sometimes yield superb sport, as the game qualities of the white trout are estimated to be double those of fontinalis. ‘The most exhilarating amusement to be had with this charr, after the first hot June days, is in trolling from a_ sailboat with a greenheart tarpon rod, 300 feet of copper wire of the smallest calibre on a heavy tarpon reel, and attached to this a 6-foot braided leader with a Buell’s spinner, or a live minnow on a stiff gang. The weight of the wire sinks the bait to the requisite depth. When the sailboat is running across the wind at the maximum of her speed, the sensation experienced by the strike of a 4 or 5-pound fish bankrupts all description. A strong line under such a tension would part on the instant; but the ductility of the wire averts this accident, and the man at the reel end of the 215 Sunapee Trout; American Saibling rod experiences a characteristic ‘give,’ quickly followed by the dead-weight strain of the frenzied Salmonoid. To land a fish thus struck implies much greater patience and skill than a suc- cessful battle, under similar circumstances with a 5-ounce 6-strip and delicate tackle. The pleasure is largely concentrated.in the strike, and the perception of a big fish ‘fast... The watchful- ness and labour involved in the subsequent struggle border closely on the confines of pain. The ductile wire is an essentially dif- ferent means from a taut silk line. The fish holds the coign of vantage; when he stands back and with bulldog pertinacity wrenches savagely at the pliable metal—when he rises to the surface in a despairing leap for his life—the angler is at his mercy. But, brother of the sleave-silk and tinsel, when at last you gaze upon your captive lying asphyxiated on the surface, a synthesis of qualities that make a perfect fish—when you disen- gage him from the meshes of the net, and. place his icy figure in your outstretched palms, and watch the tropeolin glow of his awakening tones soften into cream tints, and the cream tints pale into the pearl of the moonstone, as the muscles of respira- tion glow feebler and more irregular in their contraction—you will experience a peculiar thrill that the capture neither of ouana- niche, nor fontinalis, nor namaycush can ever excite. It is this after-glow of pleasure, this delight of contemplation and specula- tion, of which the scientific angler never wearies, that lends a charm all its own to the pursuit of the Alpine trout. ‘‘Finally there can be no doubt as to the economic value of the American saibling. It is .one of the most prolific of our Sal- monoids, the female averaging 1200 eggs to the pound, and cast- ing spawn when only 2 ounces in weight. It is also a singularly rapid grower where smelt food abounds. The extreme weight proved to have been attained is about 12 pounds, although ac- counts exist of much larger specimens weighing from 15 to 20 pounds. As a rule the greater the altitude the smaller the fish, but the more intense the colouration. This charr is exceptionally hardy and easy to propagate. The eggs bear transportation over the roughest roads without injury.” According to Mr. Merrill, of Green Lake, the saibling fry remain perfectly healthy at a temperature which proves very trying to brook trout fry; both the eggs and the fry display wonderful hardiness under the most trying circumstances. 216 Oquassa Trout; Blueback Trout The young are persistent hiders; any crevice in the bank or lump of clay affords a hiding place. When fed, they will emerge and rise for their food, but will immediately hide again. In feeding, they remain near the bottom, darting up after their food and going back quickly. Thev are much cleaner feeders than either trout or salmon, picking up all the food that sinks, allowing none to waste. Dr. Quackenbos recommends it in the highest terms to fish culturists and regards it as ‘‘ facile princeps, from its rush at the cast smelt to the finish at the breakfast table.” Oquassa Trout; Blueback Trout Salvelinus oguassa (Girard) The blueback trout is the smallest and one of the most handsome of the charrs. It rarely exceeds a foot in length and a few ounces in weight, and is known only from the Rangely Lakes in western Maine. Although quite different in appearance, it shows no important structural differences separating it from the European saibling. Formerly this fish was very abundant, running up the streams in October in immense numbers—running up at night and drop- ping back before morning, so that none was to be seen in the day time. Then the fish were small, only 6 to 10 inches in length, and 4 to 6 to the pound. Now they are very scarce, and the few that are caught are much larger, sometimes weighing as much as 23 pounds. Head 5; depth 5; eye 34; D. 10; A. 9; scales about 230; gill- rakers about 6+11. Body elongate, considerably compressed, less 217 Lac de Marbre Trout; Marston Trout elevated than in the other species of charrs, the dorsal outline regularly but not strongly curved; head smaller than in any other trout, its upper surface flattish; mouth quite small, the maxillary short and moderately broad, scarcely reaching posterior edge of orbit; jaws about equal; scales small, those along the lateral line somewhat enlarged; pectoral and ventral fins not elongate; caudal fin well forked, in small ones more so than in other species, but more nearly ‘‘square” in large individuals; no concentric striz on opercles. Colour, dark blue, the round red spots much smaller than the pupil, and usually confined to the sides of the body; sides with traces of dark bars; lower fins variegated, as in S. fontinalis. In lakes of Arctic America, about Discovery Bay and Cumber- land Gulf, is found another charr, Salvelinus ogquassa narest (Giinther), usually regarded as a subspecies of the Oquassa trout, from which it does not differ greatly. It reaches a length of a foot or more. Nothing is known of its habits. Colour, green- ish above, sides silvery or deep red, with very small red spots, much smaller than the pupil; lower fins deep red, the anterior margins yellowish white; dorsal fin reddish posteriorly. Lac de Marbre Trout; Marston Trout Salvelinus marstonit Garman This interesting charr was described in 1893 by Professor Samuel Garman, from specimens sent him from Lac de Marbre, Ottawa County, Province of Quebec. The distribution of this trout has not been determined. If it is identical with the so-called red trout of Canada, as seems prob- able, it will doubtless be found in most of the suitable waters north of the St. Lawrence and tributary to it. Besides the speci- mens which Professor Garman had from Lac de Marbre, which is near Ottawa, other examples have been obtained from one of the lakes of the Laurentides Club in the Lake St. John district, others from Lac a Cassette, in Rimouski County, only a few miles from the St. Lawrence, and, more recently, many fine examples were secured by Mr. J. W. Titcomb from Lake Saccacomi and the Red lakes in Maskinonge County, township of St. Alexis des Monts, Quebec. These red trout were at first thought to be bottom feeders, and that they would not rise to the fly, but they are now known 218 Lac de Marbre Trout; Marston Trout to take the fly readily, and must be classed among the most beautiful and active of American game-fishes. It is regarded by Professor Garman as allied to the Oquassa trout, from which it differs in the longer maxillary, stronger den- tition, deeply notched caudal fin, larger size and different colouration. It seems even more closely related to specimens which have been identified by Dr. Bean with Sa/velinus rosst of Richardson, which may be identical with the Greenland charr. Little or nothing has been recorded regarding its game qualities, but its trim appearance and rich colouration, together with the cold water in which it lives, would indicate a fish well worthy the attention of anglers. Head 5; depth 6; eye about 5; snout 33; interorbital 34; D. 13; emis. Or Pe 145) Br. Kl 123) ).vertebre, 60; gillrakers./8--14. Body subfusiform, compressed, pointed at the snout, slender at the tail; mouth large; maxillary straight, extending almost to pos- terior edge of eye, bearing strong teeth nearly its whole length; teeth on intermaxillary and mandible stronger; a series of 4 strong hooked teeth on each side of tongue; opercle thin, with few striz; scales very small, apparently about 230 in the series immediately above lateral line, and more than 250 in a row 5 or 6 scales above this; dorsal and anal slightly emarginate; pectoral and _ ventral small, base of the latter slightly behind the middle of that of dorsal; caudal peduncle very slender; caudal lobes pointed, the notch very deep. Colour, back dark brown, unspotted, with an iridescent bluish tint; dorsal dark, clouded, without spots or bands; pectoral, ventrals and anal orange in the middle, yellowish or whitish toward bases and at their margins; dark colour of back shading into whitish tinged with pink below lateral line; ventral surface white, no doubt reddish in breeding season; head black on top; cheeks silvery, whitish beneath; caudal fin yellowish toward base, brown distally; faint areas of lighter tint suggest a few spots of red in life along lateral line; flesh pink. It reaches a length of a foot or more. 219 THE GRAYLINGS Family XVI. Thymallide Tue graylings agree very closely with tiie Sa/monide in external characters and in habits. They differ notably in the structure of the skull and the presence of epipleural spines on the anterior ribs. The parietal bones meet at the middle and separate the frontals from the supraoccipital bone. The conventional statement that the graylings are intermediate between the whitefishes and the trout is not born out by the skeleton. The family contains one genus and about 5 species, all beautiful fishes of the rivers of cold or Arctic regions, active and gamy and delicious as food. The French call the grayling ‘‘ un umble chevalier’ and say he feeds on gold. ‘‘And some think he feeds on water-thyme, for he smells of it when first taken out of the water; and they may think so with as good reason as we do that the smelts smell like violets at their first being caught; which I think is a truth.” (Izaak Walton.) And St. Ambrose, the Bishop of Milan, calls the grayling ‘‘the flower of fishes.” GENUS THYMALLUS CUVIER Body oblong, somewhat compressed, not much elevated; head rather short; mouth moderate, terminal, the short maxillary extend- ing past middle of the large eye, but not to its posterior margin; teeth slender and sparse on the maxillaries, premaxillaries and lower jaw; vomer short with a small patch of teeth; teeth on the palatines; tongue toothless or nearly so; scales small and loose; dorsal fin very long and high; caudal well forked; air-bladder very large; pyloric appendages 15 to 18. Three species, all very closely related, have been recognized in American waters. ’ Arctic Grayling; Poisson Bleu Arctic Grayling: Poisson Bleu Thymallus signifer (Richardson) The Arctic or Alaska grayling is known from the Mackenzie, Kowak and other rivers of Alaska, and is said to abound in most clear cold streams even to the Arctic Ocean. It reaches a length of 18 inches and is an excellent food and game fish. Head 54; depth 42; eye 3; maxillary 6; D.24; A.11; scales 8-88 to 90-11; cceca 18. Body elongate, compressed; head rather short, subconic, compressed, its upper outline continuous with anterior curve of back; mouth moderate, the maxillary extending to below middle of eye; jaws about equal; scales moderate, easily detached, lateral line nearly straight; a small bare space behind isthmus. Colour, dark bluish on back, purplish-gray on sides; belly blackish- gray, with irregular whitish blotches; 5 or 6 deep blue spots anteri- orly; head brown, a blue mark on each side of lower jaw; dorsal dark gray, blotched with paler, with crossrows of deep-blue spots, edged with lake red; ventrals striated with purplish and whitish. 22t Michigan Grayling Michigan Grayling Thymallus tricolor Cope The Michigan grayling is known from various streams in the Southern peninsula of Michigan and from Otter Creek, near Keweenaw, in the northern peninsula. It was formerly very abundant in the Au Sable and Jordan rivers, and other streams of northern Michigan, but through the destructive and wholly in- excusable methods by which the lumbering and logging operations have been carried on in that region these streams have been ruined and the grayling practically exterminated. The Michigan grayling began to receive the attention of naturalists, fish-culturists, and anglers about 25 years ago, but no great success was ever attained in its artificial propagation. With anglers it has been held in very high esteem. “There is no species sought for by anglers that surpasses the grayling in beauty. They are more elegantly formed and more graceful than the trout, and their great dorsal fin is a superb mark of loveliness. When the well-lids were lifted, and the sun’s rays admitted, lighting up the delicate olive-brown tints of the back and sides, the bluish-white of the abdomen, and the mingling of tints of rose, pale blue, and purplish-pink on the fins, they dis- played a combination of colours equaled by no fish outside the tropics.” Mr. Fred. Mather describes the colouring of the grayling as follows: ‘‘His pectorals are olive-brown, with a bluish tint at the end; the ventrals are striped with alternate streaks of brown and pink; the anal is plain brown; the caudal is very forked and plain, while the crowning glory is the immense dorsal, which is dotted with large, brilliant-red or bluish purple spots, 222 Bye GOLDEN TROUT OF SUNAPEE LAKE. Salvelinus aureolus Montana Grayling surrounded with a splendid emerald green, which fades after death— the changeable shade of green seen in the peacock’s tail,” Head about 5; scales 93 to 98; D. 21 or 22, lower and smaller than in 7. signifer. Colour, brilliant, purplish-gray; young more silvery; sides of head with bright bluish and bronze reflections; anterior part of side with small, irregular, inky-black spots; ventral fins ornate, dusky, with diagonal rose-coloured lines; dorsal with a black line along its base, then a rose-coloured one, then a blackish one, then rose-coloured blackish, and rose coloured, the last stripe continued as a row of spots; above these is a row of dusky-green spots, then a row of minute rose-coloured spots, then a broad dusky area, the middle part of the fin tipped with rose; anal and adipose fins dusky; central rays of caudal pink, the outer rays dusky. Montana Grayling Thymallus montanus (Milner) The Montana grayling is known to occur only in streams emptying into the Missouri River above the Great Falls, prin- cipally in Smith or Deep River and its tributaries, in the Little Belt Mountains, in Sun River, and in the Jefferson, Gallatin and Madison rivers and their affluents. Like all other grayling it prefers cold, clear streams of pure water, with sandy and gravelly bottoms. The spawning season of the Montana grayling is in April and May, depending upon the temperature of the water. The United States Fish Hatchery at Bozeman, Montana, obtains eges of the grayling in Elk Creek, tributary to Red Rock Lake. At the approach of the spawning season the fish go up the Jefferson, through Beaverhead and Red Rock rivers, to Red Rock Montana Grayling Lake, 14 miles in length, and through the lake itself to the in- lets at its head. After spawning they return through the lake to the rivers below, none stopping in the lake whose waters seem wholly unsuited to them. At spawning time Elk Creek is fairly alive with grayling on the gravelly shallows, where their large and beautiful dorsal fins are to be seen waving, clear of the water, in the manner of sharks’ fins on a flood tide, The artificial propagation of the Montana grayling was begun at Bozeman in 1898 and, under the able direction of Dr. James A. Henshall, the superintendent, has proved very successful. In 1899, 5,300,000 eggs were taken and 4,567,000 fry were hatched and liberated. The number of eggs varies from 2,000 to 4,000 to the fish. As to game qualities, Dr. Henshall regards the Montana gray- ling as fully the equal of the brook trout, or red-throat trout, putting up as good a fight, and often leaping above the surface when hooked. It takes the artificial fly, caddis larve, grass- hoppers, angleworms and similar bait. The best artificial flies to use are those with bodies of peacock harl, or yellow-bodied flies, as: Professor, Queen of the Water, Oconomowoc, and Lord Baltimore; or Grizzly King, Henshall, Coachman and _ the like. Small flies should be used, on hooks Nos. Io to 12. Grayling may be taken from May to November, the best time being in the summer. The average size of this fish is 10 to 12 inches in length and 4 to 1 pound in weight. The largest Dr. Henshall reports were 20 inches long and weighed 2 pounds. At present good grayling fishing in Montana can be had in the tributaries of the Smith or Deep River in the Little Belt Mountains, and in the upper parts of the Gallatin, Madison and Jefferson rivers. The best fishing is near the upper canyon of the Madison, and in Odell, Red Rock and other creeks at the head of Red Rock Lake, the sources of the Jefferson. 224 TEC SMEETS Family XVII, Argentinide THE smelts are small fishes, marine or anadromous, some of them inhabiting deep water; all but one genus confined to the waters of the Northern Hemisphere. There are about a dozen genera with some 15 species, and they may be regarded as re- duced Salmonide, smaller and in every way feebler than the trout, but similar to them in all respects except in the form of the stomach. Most of them are very delicate food-fishes. a. Ventral fins inserted in front of the middle of the dorsal; mouth large. b. Scales very small, arranged in the male in villous bands; pec- PaitlerOady MOM EDS) (10) 2O» TAY SS sia/a--) shee s aire 2 <5, Mallotus, 225 bb. Scales large, similar in both sexes; pectoral moderate, of 10 to 12 rays. c. Teeth feeble, those on tongue very weak; scales small, ad- [ISL AEI CLEA ns OR) a A ee Peg eR Thaleichthys, 226 cc. Teeth strong, those on tongue enlarged, canine-like; scales moderate, loosely attached....--.-.-....-.+.;. Osmerus, 227 aa. Ventral fins inserted under or behind middle of dorsal; mouth rather small. d. Jaws with minute teeth; similar teeth on tongue and palate; maxillary reaching past front of eye;........ Hypomesus, 230 GENUS MALLOTUS CUVIER The Capelins Body elongate, compressed, covered with minute scales, a band of which, above the lateral line and along each side of the belly, are enlarged, and in mature males they become elongate- lanceolate, densely imbricated, with free, projecting points, form- ing villous bands. In very old males the scales of the back and belly are similarly modified, and the top of the head and the rays of the paired fins are finely granulated. Mouth rather large, the 225 Capelin ; Lodde maxillary thin, extending to below middle of eye; lower jaw pro- jecting; lower fins very large; pectorals large, the base very broad; gillrakers long and _ slender. Capelin; Lodde Matllotus villosus (Miiller) The Capelin is found on both coasts of Arctic America, south to Cape Cod and Alaska. It is also found on the Kamchatkan coast, and is generally abundant northward, It is a most delicious little fish, much valued in the far north. The eggs of the capelin are deposited in the sand along Arctic shores in incredible numbers. They are washed up on the beaches, and in about 30 days they are hatched. The beach then becomes a quivering mass of little fishes, eggs and sand, from which the little fishes are borne into the sea by the waves, GENUS’ THALEICATHYS. GiRARG This genus is intermediate between Madlotus and Osmerus, differing from the latter in its rudimentary dentition, and in its small adherent scales. All the teeth are very feeble, slender and deciduous, although occasionally present on all the bones of the mouth; no permanent teeth on the tongue; scales smaller than in Osmerus, and more closely adherent, larger than in Ma//otus, and similar in the 2 sexes. One species. 226 Eulachon; Candlefish Eulachon ; Candlefish Thaletchthys pacificus (Richardson) The Eulachon is found from Oregon northward, ascending the Fraser and other rivers in spring in enormous numbers. An _ ex- cellent panfish, unsurpassed by any fish whatsoever in delicacy of the flesh, which is far superior to that of any trout; remarkable for ex- treme oiliness, but the oil has a very delicate, attractive flavour. The oil is sometimes extracted and used as a substitute for cod- liver oil, but it is solid and lard-like at ordinary temperatures. When dried these fish have been used as candles, a wick having been placed in them. Colour, white, scarcely silvery; upper parts rendered dark iron- gray by the accumulation of dark punctulations. Length, 10 to 12 inches. GENUS OSMERUS LINNAGUS The Smelts Body elongate, compressed; head long, pointed; mouth wide, the slender maxillary extending to past middle of eye; lower jaw projecting; preorbital and suborbital bones narrow; fine teeth on maxillaries and premaxillaries; lower jaw with small teeth, which are larger posteriorly; tongue with a few strong, fang-like teeth, largest at the tip; hyoid bone, vomer, and palatines with wide-set teeth; gillrakers long and slender; scales large and loose; dorsal small, about midway of body, over the ventrals; anal long; ver- tebree 40; pyloric coeca few and small. 227 The Pacific Smelt Small fishes of the coasts of Europe and northern America, sometimes ascending rivers; the flesh of all very delicate and highly valued as food. Five or 6 species and subspecies in our waters. a. Vomer with a cross-series of small teeth; small, weak species spawning in the sea;...........- Sujoe .. + SMGICICHINYS, ae aa. Vomer with 2 to 4 strong, fang-like teeth; species stronger in habit, ascending streams. b. Maxillary not reaching posterior margin of eye; depth 6 to - in tenethy colour plains oe. etae eee mordax, 229 6b. Maxillary reaching posterior margin of eye; depth 53; colour Ditliaits. onaceiee iter eee eee seeeevevece ene GCNlex, 230 Pacific Smelt Osmerus thaleichthys Ayres This interesting little fish is found on our Pacific coast from San Francisco northward to Bristol Bay in Alaska, and is usu- ally common. It is a weak, feeble species, its flesh soft and not keeping well, but of excellent flavour. Colour, olivaceous, the sides silvery and somewhat translucent. Length 8 or g inches. 228 American Smelt American Smelt Osmerus mordax (Mitchill) This is the smelt of America. It is found along our Atlantic Coast from Virginia to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, entering streams, and is often land-locked. It is abundant in Lakes Champlain and Memphremagog, and in many other lakes in New England, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. It enters our rivers and brackish bays during the winter months for the purpose of spawning, when it is caught in immense numbers in nets and by hook and line. In 1622 Capt. John Smith wrote: ‘‘ Of smelts there is such abundance that the Salvages doe take them up in the rivers with baskets, like sives”; and Josselyn, 55 years later, wrote: ‘‘The frostfish [O. mordax] is little bigger than a Gwudgeon, and are taken in fresh brooks; when _ the waters are frozen they make a hole in the ice, about 4 yard or yard wide, to which the fish repair in great numbers, where, with small nets bound to a hoop about the bigness of a firkin- hoop, with a staff fastened to it, they take them out of the hole.” Great quantities are taken along the coast and usually after being frozen, are shipped to the larger cities. Those which have not been frozen are termed ‘‘green” smelts, and are much more highly esteemed. The principal food of the smelt consists of shrimps and other small crustaceans. Colour, transparent greenish above, sides silvery; body and fins with some dark punctulations. The smelt does not usu- ally exceed 8 or 10 inches in length, but it sometimes exceeds a foot in length and a weight of a pound. 229 Rainbow Herring Examples from Sebago Lake recently obtained by Dr. Ken- dall measure 12 inches in total length, and even larger ones occur in the Belgrade Lakes of Maine. In Wilton Pond, Kennebec County, Maine, is a land-locked smelt which has been recognized as a subspecies of the common smelt under the name Osmerus mordax spectrum. \t seems to be distinguished by a somewhat shorter head and more slender body. In Cobbosseecontee Lake, Maine, is found another subspecies, O. mordax abbotti, which has the head still shorter and the body more slender; maxillary reaching posterior margin of pupil. These subspecies are of doubtful validity. Rainbow Herring Osmerus dentex Steindachner On both coasts of Bering Sea and south to northern China this smelt is found. It is a_ brilliantly coloured little fish with the flesh of firmer texture than in other species. About Bristol Bay it constitutes an important part of the food of the natives. Colour, pale olive on back, the scales edged with darker; side above lateral line purple, changing below to blue, and then to violet and gold; under parts silvery, with rosy sheen, the belly satiny-white; fins plain, slightly golden. GENUS HYPOMESUS GILL The Surf Smelts Body rather elongate, moderately compressed, covered with thin scales of moderate size; head rather pointed; mouth moderate, the short maxillary not quite reaching middle of eye, its out- line below broadly convex; lower jaw projecting; teeth minute, on jaws, vomer, palatines, and tongue; ventrals inserted directly under middle of dorsal; midway between eye and base of cau- dal. Small fishes of the North Pacific. 230 Surf Smelt; Pond Smelt Surf Smelt Hypomesus pretiosus (Girard) This smelt attains a length of a foot and is found on the coast of California and Oregon from Monterey northward, usually abundant and spawning in the surf. A firm-fleshed and fat little fish of delicious flavour, scarcely inferior to the eulachon. Colour, light olivaceous; a silvery band along the lateral line. Pond Smelt Hypomesus olidus (Pallas) This delicious and excellent little food-fish is abundant on both coasts of Bering Sea southward to Japan and the Aleutian Islands. It spawns in fresh-water ponds, and is_ exceedingly abundant about St. Michaels. From the surf smelt, which it closely resembles, it is distinguished by its higher fins, the longest dorsal ray being only 6 in body; pectoral reaching 3 dis- tance to ventrals, their length 5 in body; ventrals 6 in body. Colour, dusky, little transparent. 231 THE BLACKFISH Family XVIII. Dalliide Tuis family contains but one genus and a single species, Dallia pectoralis Bean, known as the Alaskan blackfish. It is found only in the streams and ponds of northern Alaska and Siberia, abounding in sphagnum ponds and found in countless numbers ‘‘ wherever there is water enough to wet the skin of a fish.” It forms one of the chief articles in the food of the natives Alaskan Blackfish who use it also as food for: their dogs. It feeds largely upon small plants, worms and crustaceans. Its vitality is extraordinary. It will remain frozen in baskets for weeks and, when thawed out, will be as lively as ever. Turner mentions one swallowed frozen by a dog, thawed out by the heat of the dog’s stomach, and vomited up alive. Length about 8 inches. TE: PIRES Family XTX. Esocide Bopy long, slender, not elevated, more or less compressed posteriorly, broad anteriorly; head long, the snout long and de- pressed; mouth very large, its cleft forming about half length of head; lower jaw the longer; upper jaw not protractile; premax- illaries, vomer, and palatines with broad bands of strong cardi- form teeth which are more or less movable; lower jaw with strong teeth of different sizes; tongue with a band of small teeth; head naked above; cheeks and opercles more or less scaly; gill- openings very wide; gill-membranes separate, free from the isthmus; branchiostigals 12 to 20; scales small; lateral line weak, obsolete in the young, better developed in the adult; pseudo- branchiz glandular, hidden; air-bladder simple. Fishes of moderate or large size, inhabiting the fresh waters of Europe, Asia and North America. There is but a single genus with 7 species, one of them cosmopolitan, the others all confined to North America. The species are all noted for their greediness and voracity; ‘‘mere machines for the assimilation of other organisms.” They are all excellent food-fishes and the larger ones are good game-fishes. GENUS ESOX LINN/ALUS The characters of the genus included above with those of the family. The 7 species may easily and readily be identified by means of the following key: Cheek entirely scaly; branchiostegals 11 to 16. Opercles entirely scaly; dorsal rays 11 to 14; colour greenish, barred or reticulated with darker. c. Branchiostegals normally 12 (11 to 13); scales 105 to 108; dorsal rays 11 or 12; anal rays 11 Or 12; snout short, middle of eye nearer tip of lower jaw than posterior mar- gin of opercle; species of small size; the fins unspotted. a. Head short, 34 in length of body; snout 24 in head; eye 22 in snout. Colour, dark greenish, the side with about 20 distinct curved blackish bars; fins pale;....americanus, 234 = 233 Banded Pickerel dd. Head longer, 3} in length of body; snout 2+ in head; eye 2} in snout. Colour, light greenish, the side with many narrow curved streaks of darker, these usually distinct, ir- regular, and much reticulated; fins plain; vermiculatus, 234 cc. Branchiostegals 14 to 16; scales about 125; dorsal rays 14; anal 13; middle of eye midway between tip of lower jaw and posterior margin of opercle. Colour, greenish, with many narrow dark curved lines and streaks, mostly hori- zontal and more or less reticulated; fins plain; reticulatus, 235 bb. Opercles without any scales on the lower half; dorsal rays 16 or 17. Colour, grayish, with many whitish spots, the young with whitish or yellowish crossbars; dorsal, anal, and caudal spotted with black; a white horizontal band bounding naked portion of opercle. Size large;.......... lucius, 236 aa. Cheeks as well as opercles with the lower half naked; bran- chiostegals 17 to 19. d. Sides grayish, with round or squarish blackish spots, not coalescing to form bands;.....-.....---- masquinongv, 237 dd. Sides brassy, with narrow dark cross-shades, which break up into vaguely outlined dark spots;...-...-. ohiensts, 239 ddd. Sides grayish, unspotted or with very vague dark cross- SHAS Hac. Haske Son Gute ebirere apceiel pel yaraeire sre immaculatus, 240 Banded Pickerel Esox americanus Gmelin This small pickerel, reaching a length of about a foot, oc- curs only east of the Alleghany Mountains, from Massachusetts to Florida, the westernmost record being Flomaton, Alabama. It is abundant in all lowland streams and swamps of this region. It takes the baited hook readily but is too small to be of much food or game value. Easily known by the complete scaling of cheeks and opercles and in having 12 or 13 branchiostegals. Little Pickerel ; Grass Pike Esox vermiculatus Le Sueur The grass pike occurs abundantly throughout the middle and upper Mississippi Valley and in streams tributary to Lakes Erie and 234 Common Eastern Pickerel; Green Pike; Jack Michigan. It is not known from east of the Alleghanies nor from Texas. Throughout most of its range it is generally common in all ponds, bayous and small sluggish streams, preferring those waters in which there is much aquatic vegetation. It rarely exceeds a foot in length which precludes it being more than a boy’s fish. Br. 11 to 13; scales 105. Colour, green or grayish; side with many curved streaks, sometimes forming bars, but more usually marmorations or reticulations, the colour extremely variable, some- times quite plain; sides of head usually variegated; a dark bar downward and one forward from the eye; base of caudal sometimes mottled; other fins usually plain. Common Eastern Pickerel; Green Pike; Jack Esox reticulatus Le Sueur ¢ This species is found from Maine to Florida, Louisiana, Arkan- sas and Tennessee, common everywhere east and south of the Alleghanies. In Maine it was probably native only in the south- western portion of the state, but through the agency of man it is now abundant in practically all the lakes in the southern third of the State, and it is found in some lakes further north. In the other New England States this pickerel is a common and familiar inhabitant of nearly every lake and pond. The same is true of the ponds and lakes of New York, New Jersey and eastern Penn- sylvania. The most southern record is from Crooked Lake, Orange County, Florida. The most western record is from Mammoth Springs, Arkansas, and other tributaries of White River, it being common in the Ozark region. This species attains a length of 2 feet, and a weight of several pounds. In some places it is a game-fish of considerable importance. It is fished for in all sorts of ways. In New England and elsewhere perhaps the most common method is ‘‘skittering,’”’ using a piece of perch belly, a minnow, a small frog or a frog-leg. In trolling, as in skittering, almost any lure is effective. It will also take the artificial fly, particularly if it be large and bright in colour, and if used some- what as in skittering. In winter many pickerel are taken through the ice by using live minnow bait. 235 Common Pike; Great Lakes Pike; Pickerel As a food-fish the pickerel occupies a fair rank. Its flesh is firm and flaky and possesses a pleasant flavour, though it is a little dry. Br: 14 to’ 16; D.) 145 A. 135 scales 1125; cheeks” and openeles entirely scaly. Colour, green of vary-ing shades; sides with golden lustre, and marked with numerous dark lines and streaks, which are mostly horizontal, and by their junction with one another pro- duce a reticulated appearance; a dark band below eye; fins plain. Common Pike; Great Lakes Pike; Pickerel. Esox luctus Linnzus This is the most widely distributed and most important species of the family. It is found in all suitable fresh waters of northern North America, Europe and Asia. In North America it is found from New York and the Ohio River northward. It is not found on the Pacific coast, except in Alaska. In the small lakes of the upper Mississippi Valley, and in the Great Lakes it is generally common. It is a common fish in Canada, where it is called ‘‘ eithinyoo-cannooshceoo”’ by the Creek Indians. It reaches a length of 4 feet and a weight of 40 pounds or more. Its great size and fairly good game qualities make it -a fish which is much prized by many anglers. It is taken in the vari- ous ways by which the eastern pickerel is captured, from which its habits are not materially different. In Europe it is more highly esteemed than with us. Walton devotes an entire chapter to it, concluding with directions how to ‘‘roast him when he is caught,” and declaring that ‘‘ when thus prepared he is ‘choicely good ’— 236 The Muskallunge too good for any but anglers and honest men.” In Manitoba it is the jack-fish, according to Mr Ernest Thompson Seton. One of the best streams for great pike fishing of which we know is the Kankakee. In this sluggish river and its connecting lakes this fish is quite common, and reaches a very large size. The largest example of which we have any record as being taken in the Kankakee weighed 2634 pounds. Be i 10° 16> D.'16 or 17; A713: or t4; scales 1335. cheeks entirely scaly; upper part of opercle scaly, the lower half bare. General colour, bluish or greenish-gray, with many whitish or yel- lowish spots, which are usually smaller than the eye, and arranged somewhat in rows; dorsal, anal and caudal fins with roundish or oblong black spots; young with the whitish spots coalescing, forming oblique crossbars; a white horizontal band bounding the sony part of the opercle; each scale with a grayish V-shaped mark. Muskallunge Esox masquinongy Mitchill Whence and what are you, monster grim and great ? Sometimes we think you are a ‘‘ Syndicate,” For if our quaint cartoonists be but just You have some features of the modern ‘‘ Trust.” A wide, ferocious and rapacious jaw, A vast, insatiate and expansive craw; And, like the ‘‘ Trust,” your chiefest aim and wish Was to combine in one all smaller fish, And all the lesser fry succumbed to fate, Whom you determined to consolidate.—Wulcox. 237 The Muskallunge The muskallunge is native to all the Great Lakes, the upper St. Lawrence River, certain streams and lakes tributary to the Great Lakes, and in a few lakes in the upper Mississippi Valley. it also occurs in Canada north of the Great Lakes. It does not seem to be at all abundant anywhere, as the number taken each year in any one of the lakes is small. It is perhaps most com- mon in Lakes Michigan and Erie, and among the Thousand Islands. This species is known by many different common names, most of them being variant spellings of the Indian name ‘‘ nos- cononge. ’’ Among those which deserve mention are: muskallunge, muscalonge, muscallonge, muscallunge, muskellunge, musquellunge, masquinongy, maskinongy and great pike. | Muskallunge is the spel- ling which now seems to be most usually followed. The muskallunge reaches a length of 8 feet, and is a mag- nificent fish, by far the largest of its family, reaching a weight of 100 pounds or more. ‘‘A_ long, slim, strong and swift fish, in every way fitted to the life it leads, that of a dauntless marauder.” As a game-fish the muskallunge is regarded as one of the greatest, though the interest in catching a fish of this species is doubtless due more to its immense size than to any extraordinary game qualities. Nevertheless, it is a good fighter, and able to try the skill of the most expert angler. It is an extremely vora- cious fish, and 80 pounds of muskallunge represents several tons of minnows, whitefish and the like. The usual method of taking the muskallunge is, of course, by trolling, a stout line, heavy hook and large minnow being used. The best live bait species are the fall-fish, river chub and creek chub; medium-sized suckers are also frequently used. Br. 17 to 19; D. 17; A. 15; scales 150. General form that of the common pike, the head a little larger; cheek and opercle scaled above, but both naked on their lower half; scaly part of cheek variable, usually about as wide as eye, scales on cheek and opercle in about 8 rows; eye midway between tip of lower jaw and posterior margin of opercle. Colour, dark gray, side with round or squarish blackish spots of varying size on a ground colour of grayish silvery. 238 Chautauqua Muskallunge Chautauqua Muskallunge Esox ohiensis ‘Kirtland The muskallunge of Chautauqua Lake and the Ohio basin differs greatly in appearance from that of the Great Lakes. As the 2 forms are not known to intergrade and as their habitats are entirely distinct, they are best regarded as distinct species. The Chautauqua muskallunge is known chiefly from Chautauqua Lake, though specimens have been reported from a few other places in the Ohio Valley, viz: the Mahoning River, the Ohio at Evansville, and Conneaut Lake. In the early part of the last century when Rafinesque wrote about the fishes of the Ohio River, the muskallunge was apparently more frequently seen in that river than now. In Chautauqua Lake it is by all odds the most. important fish, whether considered from the standpoint of the commercial fisherman or that of the angler. For more than Io years the State of New York has been® propagating this species with notable success, the total number of fry hatched from 1890 to 1898 being 18, 325,000. These fry have been planted chiefly in Chautauqua Lake, but large and frequent plants have been made in other waters of New York. Many have been put in Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River, and now the angler among the Thousand Islands may expect to find there not only the Great Lakes muskallunge but this species as well. As a game-fish the Chautauqua muskallunge occupies a high rank, due, doubtless, more to its immense size than to actual fighting power. It is usually taken by trolling either with the spoon or a good-sized minnow. In September the spoon is used; later the minnow becomes more popular. : Writing of this species in 1818 Rafinesque said: ‘‘It is one of the best fishes in the Ohio; its flesh is very delicate and divides easily, as in salmon, into large plates as white as snow. It is called salmon pike, white pike, white jack, or white pickerel, and Picareau blanc by the Missourians. It reaches a length of 5 feet.” Dr. Kirtland says that ‘‘epicures consider it one of the best fishes of the West,” and another affirms that ‘‘as a food-fish there is nothing superior to it. It ranks with the salmon and speckled trout, and surpasses the black and striped bass. The meat is almost as white as snow, fine-grained, nicely laminated, 239 Great Northern Pike and the flavour is perfect.’ The quality of the flesh improves upon keeping, and is very much more juicy and of better flavour after a iday ‘of -2) on: ice: Colour, nearly uniform dark olive-green on back; upper 2 of side rich brassy green with some metallic green; about 25 faint nar- row darker vertical bars extending somewhat below lateral line; lower third of side paler and more brassy, the vertical bars widening into broad darkish blotches, these most greenish on posterior third of body; top of head very dark green; scaled part of head brassy- green, lower part of side of head less brassy and less greenish, it being more silvery, especially on lower part of opercle; rim of lower jaw dusky greenish, rest of lower jaw and throat white; fins dark olive, with numerous darker greenish spots; iris grayish brown. The crossbars are rather broad and do not break up distinctly into diffuse spots, and the fin spots are greenish rather than black. The general colour is a rich greenish brassy with very indistinct darker green crossbars. Great Northern Pike Esox immaculatus (Garrard) This muskallunge is known only from Eagle Lake and other small lakes in northern Wisconsin and Minnesota. From the Great Lakes muskallunge it differs in having the body entirely unspotted, or with vague, dark cross shades. The tail is a little more slender and the fins are a little higher. This form has not been studied critically and its relations to E. masquinongy and E. ohiensis have not been clearly made out. 240 THE! NEEDLEPISHES Family XX. Belonide Voracious, carnivorous, saltwater fishes, bearing a superficial resemblance to the Gar pikes; genera 4 (only 2 in American waters) and species about 50, the majority American. Their habits are ordinarily much like those of the pikes, but when startled they swim along the surface of the water with extraordinary rapidity, skimming the surface, sometimes leaping from the water with a sculling motion of the tail, sometimes remaining out of the water for long distances, but striking it at short intervals with the caudal fin. When thus leaping the large species of the tropics are said to be a source of danger to incautious fishermen, sometimes piercing with their long sharp snout the naked bodies of the savages. Owing to the green colour of their bones, they are not much used as food, though their flesh is excellent. This family contains 2 genera, Tylosurus and Athlennes, the former with several species, the latter with but 1. The only species deserving mention are the common neeedlefish (7. nofatus), the billfish (7. marinus), and the houndfish or agujon (7. raphi- doma). The agujon, of which we present a figure, is an abun- dant and important food-fish about Porto Rico. It reaches a length of 3 to 5 feet and is a vigorous, active fish, sometimes dangerous in its leaps from the water, and much dreaded by the fishermen. The young sometimes stray northward to New Jersey. 241 THE BALAOS OR HALF-BEAKS Family XXI. Hemtramphide HeERBIVoROusS fishes of warm seas; mostly shore species, a few pelagic. They feed chiefly on green alge and, like the related forms, swim at the surface, occasionally leaping in the air. Species of rather small size, rarely exceeding a foot in length. Genera about 7; species about 75. Within our limits there are 4 genera and about 11 species. Most of them are of some food value. This family is doubtfully distinct from Exo- cetide and the 2 should be combined. The genus Chriodorus contains a single species (C. atherin- otdes) which occurs among the Florida Keys. It is abundant at Key West. It reaches a length of 10 inches and is an ex- cellent little panfish. The genus Hyporhamphus contains numerous species in_ all warm seas. They are all known as half-beaks and swim in large schools usually near shore, where they feed chiefly on green alge. There are 3 Species in our waters, all small and not much used as food, though the flavour is excellent. The com- mon half-beak (H. roberti), of which we give a figure, occurs on both coasts of America, north to Rhode Island and Lower California. It reaches a foot in length. The balaos (genus Hemiramphus) have the body compressed and the sides nearly parallel and vertical. There are 2 species in our waters, both occurring in the West Indies. The genus Exleptorhamphus has the body more slender and more compressed, and the pectoral fins longer. Only 1 species, found in the West Indies, and reaching a length of 2 feet. 242 DHE SPE YING-FISHES Family XXII. Exocwtide | FivE genera and about 65 species of carnivorous or herbiv- orous fishes, abounding in all warm seas, mostly pelagic, swimming near the surface, and skipping, sailing or flying through the air, sometimes for considerable distances. In our waters there are about 20 species, only the following deserving any special mention in this work. The most common species off our Atlantic Coast is Parex- ocetus mesogaster, which also occurs among the Hawaiian Islands. It reaches a length of 7 inches. The sharp-nosed flying-fish (Fodtator acutus), of which we present a figure, is found on both ? Wig ieee (2g aegis ssa Wy) XXX SO comma coasts of tropical America. It is common in the Gulf of Cali- fornia, and is a good food-fish. The common flying-fish (Exocetus volitans) inhabits all warm seas, on our coast north in summer to Newfoundland. The California flying-fish (Cypsilurus californicus), of which we show a figure on next page, occurs from Point Conception to Cape San Lucas. It is very abundant in summer, and is found in great schools about the Santa Barbara Islands. This is the only flying-fish occurring on our Pacific Coast north of Cape San Lucas. It reaches a length of 18 inches, being the largest flying-fish known, and having the greatest power of flight. Where it goes in winter has not been determined, as it has not been seen out- 243 The Flying Fish California Flying-fish (Cypsilurus californicus ) side of Californian waters. It is an excellent food-fish, and is sometimes taken by thousands off Santa Barbara. Whether flying-fishes really fly, or merely soar or sail, is a question which has been much discussed. Competent observers have asserted positively that they have a real flight, while others, equally competent, maintain that the movement of the flying-fish in the air is unaccompanied by any vibration of the pectoral fins, and is sustained only so long as is possible from the impe- tus given upon emerging from the water. Probably the differences in opinion are largely explained by the fact that the different observers have studied different species. Some species, at least the larger ones, have a real flight; the pectoral fins vibrate, and the flight can be prolonged almost indefinitely. We have often seen the fins vibrating just as do the wings of a bird, and Dr. James E. Benedict and others have caught flying-fish in nets when in the air, and have plainly seen the pectoral fins still vibrating. Some of the smaller species seem to move quite differently, and it may be that they do not really fly. The senior author of this work dissents from this common view expressed above, and does not believe that the pectoral fins have any large power of motion of their own, but that they quiver or vibrate only when the muscles of the tail are in action. He has, with Dr. Charles H. Gilbert, had, at Santa Rosa Island, California, the best possible opportunity to observe the motion of Cypsilurus californicus. The flying-fishes live in the open sea. swimming in large schools. They will ‘‘fly”’ a distance of from a few rods to more 244 The Flying Fish than an eighth of a mile, rarely rising more than 3 or 4 feet. Their movements in the water are extremely rapid; the sole source of motive power is the action of the strong tail while in the water. No force is acquired while the fish is in the air. On rising from the water the movements of the tail are continved until the whole body is out of the water. While the tail is in motion the pectoral fins seem to be in a state of rapid vibration, but this is apparent only, due to the resistance of the air to the motions of the animal. While the tail is in the water the ventrals are folded. When the action of the tail ceases, the pec- torals and ventrals are spread out and held at rest. They are not used as wings, but act rather as parachutes to hold the body in the air. When the fish begins to fall, the tail touches the water, when its motion again begins, and with it the apparent motion of the pectorals. It is thus enabled to resume its flight, which it finishes finally with a splash. While in the air it re- sembles a large dragon-fly. The motion is very swift, at first in a straight line, but later deflected in a curve. The motion has no relation to the direction of the wind. When a vessel is passing through a school of these fishes, they spring up before it, moving in all directions, as grasshoppers in a meadow before the mower. During a winter voyage from Norfolk to Porto Rico flying- fish were seen at nearly all times. The species was chiefly Parexocetus mesogaster, and they were particularly abundant between Savannah and the Bahamas, in the Windward and Mona passages, and along the north coasts of Cuba, Santo Domingo, and Porto Rico. And as one goes from San Francisco to Honolulu in June great schools of the same species greet the vessel as it comes in sight of Diamond Head, and continue to play about it until well within the harbour. 245 THE: SAURIES Family XXIII. Scombresocide Tuis family contains 2 genera, Scombresox, which has the beak longer than rest of head, and Cololabis, with the beak about half as long as head. The single species of Scombresox, S. saurus, is known as the saury, skipper, or bluefish. It is found in temperate parts of the Atlantic, on both coasts, north to Cape Cod and France. They swim in schools, and are often seen in the open sea. When pursued by the tunny or mackerels, ‘‘ multitudes mount to the surface and crowd on each other as they press for- ward. When still more closely pursued they spring to the height of several feet, leap over each other in singular confusion, and again sink beneath. Still further urged, they mount again and rush along the surface, by repeated starts, for more than 100 feet, without once dipping beneath, or scarcely seeming to touch the water. At last the pursuer springs after them, usually across their course, and again they all disappear together. Amidst such multitudes—for more than 20,000 have been judged to be out of the water together—some must fall a prey to the enemy; but so many hunting in company, it must be long before the pursuers abandon. From inspection we could scarcely judge the fish to be capable of such flights, for the fins, though numerous, are small, and the pectoral far from large, though the angle of their articulation is well adapted to raise the fish by the direction of their motions, to the surface.’”—Goode. The skipper reaches a length of 18 inches, and is a good, wholesome food-fish. Cololabis brevirostris is found on the California coast from San Francisco southward. It reaches a length of a foot or more, and is used to some extent as food. 246 THE SAND ROLLERS Family XXIV. Percopside Tuis small family is of special interest because it combines with ordinary Sa/monotd characters the structure of the head and mouth of the Percoids, as may be seen by the accompanying illustration. Only 2 genera known, each with a single species. Percopsis guttatus, the common sand roller or trout perch, is found in lakes and suitable streams from Lake Champlain and the Del- aware River, west to Kansas and Assiniboia. It prefers cold, clear waters, and is most abundant in the Great Lakes, particu- larly in Lakes Michigan and Superior. It spawns in the spring, at which time it runs into tributary streams in great numbers. Mr. Andrew Halkett, Naturalist of the Department of Marine and Fisheries, Ottawa, informs us that immense numbers are seen in the Moira River every spring. Though reaching a length of only 6 or 8 inches, the sand roller takes the hook readily, and is used as a pan-fish. We have seen boys on the Chicago piers catching them in great numbers. Columbia transmontana is known only from the Umatilla River at Umatilla, Oregon, and the Walla Walla River at Wallula, Washington, both places in the Columbia River Basin- 247 THE: SILVERSIDES Family XXV. Atherinide THE silversides are interesting carnivorous fishes, mostly of small size, living in great schools near the shore in temperate and tropical seas; a few species in fresh water; all the species having a silvery band along the side, this sometimes underlaid by black pigment. Genera about 15; species about 70. All of them which are large enough are highly prized as food, hence the common name ‘‘fishes of the king,” pescados del rey, pesce re, or peixe rey. The majority of the species, however, are too small and unimportant to merit more than a brief mention. The principal genera are Atherina, Chirostoma, Menidia, Eslopsarum and Labidesthes. Atherina contains numerous species 5 or 6 of which are found in our waters. A. /aticeps, found abundantly at Key West, is the most important species. The genus Chirostoma is represented in the fresh waters of Mexico by several species, the most important of which is the pescado blanco de chalco (C. humboldtianum ), which is found in the lakes about the City of Mexico and is an important food-fish. Its flesh is coarser and firmer than in the more transparent mem- bers of the family which are called pescado blanco. 248 The Silversides The genus Es/opsarum is close to Chirostoma, differing only in the larger scales. Only 2 species are known, both from fresh waters of Mexico. The true silversides (Menidia) are numerous as to species, there being about a dozen or more in our waters. They are all of small size, some entering or dwelling in fresh waters, and all of some little value as food. The more common species enter largely into the aggregation of species known as whitebait. The genus Labidesthes contains one species, L. sicculus, a small transparent fish, known as the lake silverside or skipjack, which is abundant in most of the Great Lakes and the small lakes of the upper Mississippi Valley. In some lakes it is exceedingly abundant, swimming in immense schools at the surface near the shore, or, on occasion, far out in the lake. Late in the fall, even after ice has begun to form around the edges of the lake, these little fishes come in immense schools along the shores where they may be seen swimming slowly about on quiet sunny days. They are easily frightened and the least disturbance causes them to skurry in all directions, many of them skipping over the surface of the water. Large schools may often be seen moving slowly about under the ice in shallow water. Sometimes a strong wind will drive or wash them on shore where large numbers perish. It is a very graceful little fish, reaching 3 to 4 inches in length. 24g THE MULLETS Family XXVI. Mugilide Bopy oblong, more or less compressed, covered with rather large, cycloid scales; no lateral line, but the furrows often deepened on the middle of each scale so as to form lateral streaks; mouth small, the jaws with small teeth, or none, various in form; premaxillaries pro- tractile; gill-openings wide, the membranes separate, free from the isthmus; branchiostegals 5 or 6; gillrakers long and slender; pseudobranchie large; two short dorsal fins, well separated, the anterior of 4 stiff spines, the last one of which is much shorter than the others; second dorsal longer than the first, similar to anal; anal spines 2 or 3, graduated; ventral fins abdominal, not far back; caudal forked; air-bladder large and simple; intestine long; peri- toneum usually black. This important family contains about 1o genera and 100 species, inhabiting the fresh waters and coasts of warm regions, feeding on organic matter contained in mud. A considerable indigestible portion of mud is swallowed, and in order to prevent larger bodies from passing into the stomach, or such substances passing through the gill-openings, these fishes have the organs of the pharynx modified into a filtering apparatus. The fish takes in a quantity of mud or sand, and after working it about for some time between the pharyngeal bones, ejects the roughest and indigestible portions. The upper pharyngeals have a rather irregular form; they are slightly arched, the convexity being directed toward the pharyngeal cavity, tapering anteriorly and broad posteriorly. They are coated with a thick, soft membrane, which reaches far beyond the margin of the bone, and is studded all over with minute horny cilia. Each bran- chial arch is provided with a series of long gillrakers which are laterally bent downward, each series closly fitting to the sides of the adjoining arch; they together thus constitute a sieve admirably adapted to permit a transit for the water, retaining at the same time every solid substance in the cavity of the pharynx. In our limits 4 genera are represented. a. Stomach muscular, gizzard-like; teeth slender, usually ciliiform; lower jaw angular in front; species chiefly marine. 250 The Mullets 6. Orbit with a well developed adipose eyelid, covering part of iris; Mugil, 251 bb. Orbit without distinct adipose eyelid;.......... Chenomugil, 256 aa. Stomach not gizzard-like; teeth not ciliiform; lower jaw not angular in front; freshwater species. Paretieectiin Villiforim DandSe* i... is ie hace Agonostomus, 256 cc. Teeth coarse, broad, truncate incisors with their free edges SERIES CS cabo: ier tA lec RON aoa iste etre coro aici Joturus, 257 GENUS MUGIL LINNA:US The Mullets This genus of well-known fishes is sufficiently characterized above. a. Soft dorsal and anal almost naked; side with dark longitudinal stripes along the rows of scales; caudal deeply forked; size large. b. Scales about 33 in longitudinal series;......... brasiliensis, 251 bb. Scales about 41 in longitudinal series;.......... cephalus, 252 aa. Soft dorsal and anal scaled: side without dark stripes along rows of scales; caudal less deeply forked; size smaller. c. Anal rays Ill, 9; scales 35 to 45. d. Scales 42 to 45. Peasy ANION Otis caus cease enone oe oe eet eee incilis, 254 so, |Eialal “Se OTe) enon tg cane are eae aa Ae nei cit ao thoburnt, 254 dd. Scales 35 to 38. f. Pectoral not nearly reaching origin of dorsal;..... curema, 254 Ff. Pectoral nearly reaching origin’ of dorsal. g. Teeth rather wide-set, very small, mostly uniserial, scarcely visible in adult without lens. h. Scales 38; bare space between dentary bones very large; hospes, 255 hh. Scales 35 or 36; bare space between dentary bones small; gaimardianus, 255 feedecth atee, in many senes. above? --/..---- =: setosus, 255 cc. Anal rays Ill, 8; scales very large, about 33;..¢richodon, 255 Liza; Lebrancho; Queriman Mugil brasiliensis Agassiz This mullet is found from Cuba to Patagonia. It is common in the West Indies and along the coast of Brazil. It is abundant 251 Common Mullet; Striped Mullet in the Havana market where it is called lebrancho. It is the most abundant mullet seen in the market at San Juan, Porto Rico, and is perhaps the most common species about that island. It reaches a length of 18 inches and is an excellent and im- portant food-fish, the flesh being white and flaky and of delicious flavour. Head 4; depth 47; D. IV-I, 8; A. Ill, 8; seales 35.-12: Body more slender than in any other American species; snout broad and bluntish, the upper profile almost straight and horizon- tal; interorbital space greatly convex, its width 2 in head; pre- orbital large, almost covering maxillary; eye hidden anteriorly and posteriorly by a broad adipose membrane; teeth very minute; scales large, especially on top of head, about 21 between origin of dorsal and tip of snout; soft dorsal and anal almest naked; margin of soft dorsal very concave; anal similar to soft dorsal, but slightly less concave; caudal deeply forked. Colour, dusky above, silvery below; a dusky streak along each row of scales, these streaks not so wide as in M. cephalus; scales on sides and opercles with dark punctulations; ventrals pale yellowish, the fins otherwise dusky. BS Silat , a a ri cet TET = MEE BS ESiccect mene 2 Nee eri ee Pern an ee peeeeeees: Seok Kas rote te fee \ Se te a 4 J =) : aes A Common Mullet; Striped Mullet Mugil cephalus Linnzus The common mullet is a fish cf very wide distribution, occurring on the coasts of southern Europe and northern Africa, on the Atlantic Coast of America from Cape Cod to Brazil, and on our Pacific Coast from Monterey to Chile. It goes in great schools and is everywhere abundant in bays, lagoons, and all sheltered waters. It reaches a length of about 2 feet and is a 252 Common Mullet; Striped Mullet food-fish of much importance. Although mullets of some species or other are found on every stretch of coast-line in the world in the temperate and tropical zones, it is probable that nowhere else in the world are they so abundant as on our own South Atlantic and Gulf coasts, with their broad margin of partially or entirely land-locked brackish waters, numerous estuaries and broad river-mouths. They abound in the Indian and St. John’s rivers of Florida, frequently running up the latter at least to Lake George. Among the Florida Keys and on the west coast of Florida, as well as along the entire Gulf Coast they literally swarm in all suitable places. It is the most generally popular and most abundant food-fish on our southern seaboard. Its abundance puts it within the reach of everybody, blacks as well as_ whites. “How do you people live?” asked the invalid who had gone to Florida to escape the rigours of the New England winter. ‘“Well, suh, the fac’ is, boss,” replied his old Negro guide, ‘‘in the summuh time we libs on de mullet and in the winter we libs mos’ly on de sick Yankee.” The mullet does not usually take the hook but is caught chiefly in seines, gillnets, or by means of cast-nets, enormous catches being sometimes made. In preparing the mullet for the table it may be either boiled, stewed, baked or fried. Large quantities are salted for local use or shipment north, and many barrels are shipped fresh to northern cities. The mullet roe is also considered a delicacy; and large quantities of mullets are used for bait in the various hand-line fisheries of our southern waters. The mullet is a bottom-feeder and prefers still, shoal water with grassy and sandy or muddy bottom. It swims along the bottom, head down, now and then taking a mouthful of mud, which is partially culled over in the mouth, the microscopic particles of animal or vegetable matter retained, and the refuse expelled. When one fish finds a spot rich in the desired food, its companions immediately flock around in a manner reminding one of barn-yard fowls feeding from a dish. The mullet eats no fish or anything of any size, but is preyed upon by nearly all other common fishes larger than itself. Colour, dark bluish above, sides silvery, with a conspicuous dark stripe along each row of scales; under parts pale yellowish; ventral fins yellowish, the other fins more or less dusky. 253 The Trench Mullet Trench Mullet Mugil incilis Hancock This mullet is known only from brackish waters from the Rio Chagres to Bahia, and is said to be common. We know nothing distinctive regarding its habits. Galapagos Mullet Mugil thoburnit Jordan & Starks This small mullet reaches a length of 8 inches or more and is known only from the Pacific Coast of tropical America from Guatemala to the Galapagos Islands. It is close to M. incilis, from which it differs chiefly in the larger head. BEEN RS White Mullet; Blue-back Mullet; Liza Blanca Mugil curema Cuvier & Valenciennes This mullet occurs from Cape Cod to Brazil on our Atlantic Coast, and on the Pacific side from Chile to Lower California. It is abundant, especially in the tropics, and enters the sea more freely than M. cephalus, next to which it is the most important food species of the family in our waters. It is a common fish in the markets of Porto Rico where it is called ‘‘Liza” or ‘‘Josea.” Like the striped mullet, it enters fresh water, speci- 254 The Lisita mens having been obtained by us from freshwater streams near Caguas, the interior of Porto Rico. Colour, dark olive above, with some bluish reflections; sil- very below; sides without dark streaks; a small dark blotch at base of pectoral; pectoral and dorsals pale, with numerous small dark punctulations; caudal pale, yellowish at base, the margin blackish; anal and ventrals yellowish; side of head with 2 yellow blotches. Lisita Mugil hospes Jordan & Culver This little mullet is known only from the Pacific Coast of Mexico. It is not uncommon about Mazatlan. Red-eye Mullet; Liza Ojo de Perdriz Mugil gatmardianus Desmarest This species is found from Florida Keys to Cuba, but is not at all common. It reaches a length of about a foot. Mugil setosus is known only from the Revillagigedo Islands and Mazatlan, it being very abundant about Clarion Island. It closely resembles M. hospes, from which it differs widely, how- ever, in its much larger multiserial sete, and the longer, nar- rower mouth. It is of no commercial value except locally. The fan-tailed mullet (M. trichodon) is found from Brazil 255 The Dajaos northward to Key West where it is abundant. It attains a length of to inches and is of some little value as food. The genus Chenomugil, distinguished by the absence of an adipose eyelid, has in our waters a single species, C. proboscideus, a little mullet, reaching 6 inches in length. It occurs on our Pacific Coast from Mazatlan to Panama. It is not abundant and is not of much food value. GENUS AGONOSTOMUS BENNETT The Dajaos This genus differs from Mugil chiefly in not having the stomach gizzard-like. Cleft of mouth extending laterally about to front of eye; teeth small, in villiform bands in each jaw, sometimes also on vomer; edge of lower lip rounded; anal spines usually 2, the first soft ray slender and often taken for a spine. Small, freshwater mullets found in mountain streams in tropical regions. The American species constitute the subgenus Dajaus, characterized by the presence of teeth on the palatines. Four species have been recognized as occurring within our limits, none being of much importance as food. The dajao (A.monticola) is found in freshwater streams of the West Indies and eastern Mexico, and is the most abundant and best 256 The Dajaos yy es e) Ss meer SE: BoA, é £) >, known species of the genus. It is very common in the streams of Porto Rico and is much used as food. It reaches a length of a foot. Colour, brownish above, scales very dark-edged on'upper 2 of side; under parts white; top of head dark; cheeks and opercles white with brassy shades; axil black; a black blotch at base of caudal, disappearing with age; dorsal spines dark; soft dorsal brassy at base, pale at tip; pectoral and ventrals pale; anal yellowish, pale at tip; caudal darker, yellowish at base; peritoneum black. The genus Joturus, characterized by the simple stomach and the coarse truncate incisors, contains only one species. This is the joturo or bobo (/. pilchardi). This species of mullet is an in- habitant of mountain torrents in the larger islands of the West Indies, also in Costa Rica, and about Vera Cruz and Panama. It attains a length of 2 feet and is one of the largest of the family. It comes to the Havana market from the Rio Almendares and is a food-fish of some importance. 257 THE BARRACUDAS Family XXVIT. Sphyranide Body elongate, subterete, covered with small cycloid scales; head very long, pointed, pike-like, scaly above and on sides; mouth large, horizontal; jaws long, lower projecting; upper jaw not protractile, its border formed by the premaxillaries behind which are the broad maxillaries; large, sharp, unequal teeth on both jaws and palatines, none on vomer; usually a very strong, sharp canine near tip of lower jaw; opercular bones without spines or serrations; gill-openings wide, the: membranes not united, free from the isthmus; gillrakers very short or obsolete; pseudo- branchiz well developed; lateral line well developed and straight. The family contains a single genus with about 20 species, 6 or 7 of which occur within our limits; only 1 or 2 of them are much. valued as food. a. Scales large, 75 to 85 in lateral line; origin of first dorsal behind root of ventrals, over last third or fourth of pecto- rabp -boily: / compressed #0517 250s! bbe SY barracuda, 259 aa. Scales moderate, 110 to 130 in lateral line; body subterete or compressed. b. Pectoral reaching front of spinous dorsal; maxillary reaching front of orbit. c. Lower jaw with fleshy tip; teeth very strong; scales 110; ensts, 259 cc. Lower jaw without fleshy tip; teeth strong; scales 130; guachancho, 259 bb. Pectoral not reaching front of first dorsal; maxillary not reaching front of orbit.’ d. Eye large; teeth small; interorbital area convex; median ridge of frontal groove not well developed;........ picudilla, 260 dd. Eye small; teeth larger; interorbital area flattish; median ridge of frontal, groove, prominent}. <<: -. Septet niet ies borealis, 260 aaa. Scales very small, 150 to 170 in lateral line; origin of first dorsal well behind tip of pectoral; body slender, subterete. e. Body less slender, the depth 74; scales 160 to 170;.argentea, 260 ee. Body very slender, the depth 9 or 10; scales about 150; sphyrena, 260 258 ppnopidng DuodtydsS ‘YQNOVAUVA LVAD Great Barracuda; Picuda Great Barracuda; Picuda Sphyrena barracuda (Walbaum) The great barracuda is found from Brazil northward through the West Indies to Pensacola, Charleston and the Bermudas. It is common in the tropics and is the largest and most voracious of the genus, reaching a length of 6 feet. It is as fierce asa shark and is sometimes very dangerous to bathers. This fish is occasionally taken with hook and line at Key West where it has some value as a food-fish. Its flesh has been reputed poisonous and at times its sale in the Cuban markets has been forbidden. But as a number of the best food-fishes of the West Indies have at one time or another been tabooed by Cuban law, this can not be regarded as conclusive evidence that the flesh of this fish is really unwholesome. Colour, silvery, darker above; side in young with about 1o dark blotches which break up and disappear with age; some inky spots, usually on posterior part of body, very conspicuous in both old and young; soft dorsal, anal and ventral fins black, ex- cept on margins; pectoral plain, except upper margin which is black; fins of young nearly plain. Another species, S. emsits, occurs in the Gulf of California and southward to Panama. It is rather common, reaches a length of 2 feet, and is used as food. It may be readily distinguished from the only other species known from the west coast (the California barracuda) by its larger scales, which are 110 to 130 in lateral line, instead of 166 in the latter. A third species (S. guachancho), called guachanche or gua- chanche pélon, has about the same distribution as the great barracuda but is occasionally found as far north as Woods Hole. It is a slender species, reaching 2 feet in length, and is not uncommon in the tropics. From S. barracuda, it may be 259 Great Barracuda; Picuda known by its smaller scales (120 to 130 instead of 75 to 85). The picudilla (S. picudilla) is found from Bahia northward to the West Indies, chiefly about the coasts of Cuba. It does not seem to be common anywhere. It reaches a length of 18 inches and is closely allied to the northern barracuda, from which it differs, however, in the much larger eye, the smaller teeth, the convex interorbital, and in having the median ridge of the frontal groove well developed. The northern barracuda (S. borealis) is the common species on the Atlantic Coast of the United States from Cape Fear to Cape Cod. It is a small species, rarely used as food, and closely resembles S. picudilla. The California barracuda (S. argentea) occurs on our Pacific Coast from San Francisco to Cape San Lucas, very common among the Santa Barbara Islands. About Santa Catalina Island and San Diego it is one of the common and important game- fishes. It reaches a length of 4 or5 feet. It is a long, slender fish, closely related to the European barracuda, from which it appears to differ chiefly in the somewhat greater depth and smaller scales. Sphyrena sphyrena is the common species on the coasts of Europe and neighbouring islands. Within our limits it has been reported only from the Bermudas. It is known as spet or sennet. Trolling for the great barracuda on the Florida coast is a favourite sport. It is done either from a sail-boat or row-boat, and a squit is a choice bait. Or, with boat anchored, they may be taken with tarpon rod and reel, 21 line, and wire snood 13 feet long. For bait use live mullet, spot, grunt, or other small fish. Do not use a sinker; keep the bait on or near the sur- face. When the fish bites, let him run a few feet and _ strike, then play him until he surrenders. THE THREADFISHES Family XX VITT. Polynemide THis is a small family of tropical fishes bearing superficial resemblances to the Mugilide on the one hand and the Scienide on the other. They may be distinguished by the abdominal ventrals, the presence of 2 dorsal fins, the anterior of spines only, and by having the lower 5 to 8 rays of the ventral fin detached and filamentous. The family contains 4 genera and about 25 species, only 2 of the former and about 5 of the latter being found in our waters. The 2 genera of this family (Polynemus and Polydactylus) both have species in our waters, only those of the latter being of any value. Polydactylus differs from Polynemus in the shorter soft dorsal, the serrate preopercle, and the toothed vomer. Numerous species in warm seas, but only 4 within our limits. eeeectoral, filaments 6, rately 53.0000. aes J. approximans, 261 PECLOl Ale MIATICNES 5 oo ee ox elere. shale Se oo wield oe ms virginicus, 261 aaa. Pectoral filaments 8 or 9. b. Maxillary less than 4 length of head; pectoral filaments 8; octonemus, 262 bb Maxillary more than 4 length of head; pectoral filaments ERS ANN ed SES Nat PRI EE WA. arth KANN le woe opercularis, 262 ' Polydactylus approximans, whose only vernacular name _ is raton, is found on the Pacific Coast of tropical America from San Diego to Panama. It reaches a foot in length and is a common food-fish at Guaymas, Mazatlan and Panama. Colour, yellowish white, darker above; pectoral black in adult. The barbudo or barbu (P. virginicus) is an abundant and useful’ food-fish, found throughout the West Indies and north to the Florida Keys. About Porto Rico it is common and_ highly esteemed. It reaches a length of a foot. Colour, whitish-olive above, dirty white below; spinous dorsal dark; soft dorsal and anal pale, with dark punctulations; pec- 261 The Threadfishes toral with irregular black blotches, the filaments white; ventrals dark, paler on margins. The threadfish (P. octonemus) occurs along our South Atlantic and Gulf coasts from New York to the Rio Grande. It is oe rather rare northward, but is more common on_ the Texas coast. It frequents sandy shores. Colour, light olivaceous, tinged with dark punctulations; belly whitish; pectorals pale in the young, black in the adult. The young of some species of thread-fish, probably P. octo- nemus, are common along the Texas coast where they are often seen in large numbers in shallow water on sandy bottom. These fishes vary greatly with age, the pectoral filaments becoming much shorter with age. P. opercularis is an unimportant species found on our Pacific Coast from Cape San Lucas to Panama. It is generally common and reaches only a few inches in length. 262 THE SAND LAUNCES Family XXIX. Ammodytide THE sand launces constitute a small family of small, saltwater fishes found chiefly in northern regions. The single genus, Am- modyfes, contains 3 or 4 species on our northern coasts. A. alascanus occurs in the North Pacific. It reaches a length of 6 to 8 inches and is a delicious panfish. The common sand launce, sand eel, or lant (A. americanus) “ UMMELLA LS LELLL PELL: Litt AN SSSss—z SS eee : = : SSS Common Sand Launce is abundant on our Atlantic Coast from Cape Hatteras northward. A. personatus is another Pacific species, being common from Monterey northward. It is particularly abundant on sandy shores about Unalaska where we have seined it in very great numbers. All these species are delicious little fishes, the flesh being firm and sweet, similar to that of the smelt. They swim in immense schools at the surface, and frequently imbed themselves in the sand where they often remain above low-water mark while the tide is out. Why they do this is not well understood, for they are wanderers, sometimes appearing in immense numbers on the coast and then disappearing as mys- teriously as they came. With their sharp noses and slender bodies they have little difficulty in imbedding themselves several inches deep in the soft sand. On the sands of Portobello, near Edinburgh, people take advantage of this habit, and when it is discovered that a shoal of sand-eels have hidden in the sand, they sally out, armed with spades, rakes, shovels, and forks and dig them out. When free of the sand they leap about with great agility, and the fun in catching them probably give rise to the say- ing, ‘‘as jolly as a sand-boy,” 263 THE SQUIRREL-FISHES Family XXX. Holocentride Bopy oblong or ovate, moderately compressed, covered with very strong ctenoid or spinous scales; head with large muciferous cavities; eyes lateral, very large; preorbital very narrow; mouth moderate, oblique; premaxillaries protractile; maxillary very large, with supplemental bone; bands of villiform teeth on jaws, vomer and palatines; opercular and membrane bones of head _ generally serrated or spinescent along their edges; branchiostegals 8; gill- membranes separate, free from the isthmus; pseudobranchiz present; no barbels; sides of head scaly; lateral line present; dorsal fin very long, deeply divided, with about 11 strong spines depressible in a scaly groove; anal with 4 spines, the third longest and strongest; ventrals thoracic, with one spine and 7 rays; caudal deeply forked, with sharp rudimentary rays or fulcra at base; vertebrae about 27; pyloric cceca 8 to 25; air-bladder large, sometimes con- nected with the organ of hearing. General colour red. Genera 4, species about 70, gaily-coloured inhabitants of tropical seas, abounding about coral reefs. Only 4 genera and about 12 species in our waters. b. Scales very large and rough, about 30;......... Ostichthys, 264 bb Seales * moderatert35 16 455 95 16 SS Myripristis, 265 UAT WAN CAO oe moe tae credo orient eval cones Holocentrus, 265 dd. Mouth very large; lower jaw projecting, its length more than’ halfheads SIyieoc os set kon eee. oe Flammeo, 266 cc. Suborbital arch armed with three long spines curved for- Wah AR chs ish Ge ef ag ise Se sce bee eee eee Plectrypops, 207 The genus Osfichthys is known by its very large scales. The single species, O. trachypomus, is found only in the West Indies, particularly about Cuba, and even there it appears to be rare. Colour, carmine red, darker above; side with about 10 alternate streaks of deep red and rose; fins all red. 264 GENUS MYRIPRISTIS CUVIER This genus is closely related to Holocentrus, from which it differs externally chiefly in the absence of the large spine at the angle of the preopercle. Air-bladder divided into 2 parts by a transverse constriction; pyloric cceca 9. Species rather numerous in tropical seas; gay-coloured inhabi- tants of coral reefs and rock pools. Four species in our waters, none of them of much value as food. The most important of these is the candil, or frére-jacques (M. jacobus), which is a common fish in the West Indies and south to Brazil. It reaches a foot in length, but is of little food- value. Colour, deep crimson, paler below; a blood-red bar across opercle and base of pectoral, becoming black in spirits; fins red, the vertical ones edged with whitish. A _ brilliantly coloured fish. Myripristis occidentalis is a small species, reaching a length of only 6 inches, occurring only on the Pacific Coast of Mexico; said to be common in rock pools about Cape San Lucas. Colour, reddish, purple above, silvery below, with many dark points, especially along edges of scales; fins pale, except a darker border along spinous dorsal. GENUS HOLOCENTRUS SCOPOLI The Squirrel-fishes Body oblong, moderately compressed, ventral outline nearly straight, the back a little elevated, the caudal peduncle very slender; head compressed, narrowed forward; opercle with a strong spine above, below which the edge is sharply serrate; a strong spine at angle of preopercle; orbital ring, preorbital, preopercle, interopercle, subopercle, occiput, and shoulder-girdle with their edges sharply serrate; mouth small, terminal, the lower jaw slightly included; maxillary broad, striate, with a supplemental bone; eye very large; scales mode- rate, closely imbricated, the free margins strongly spinous; lateral 265 Squirrel-fish; Candil line continuous; dorsal deeply emarginate, the spines usually 11, depressible in a groove; soft dorsal short and high; anal with 4 spines, the first and second quite small, the third very long and strong, the fourth smaller; caudal widely forked, both lobes with rudimentary rays spine-like; ventrals large, I, 7, the spine very strong. Species numerous, remarkable for the great development of sharp spines almost everywhere on the surface of the body. About 8 or g species in our waters. Squirrel-fish; Candil FHlolocentrus ascenstonis (Osbeck) This fish frequents rocks and reefs throughout the West Indies and is especially abundant in Cuba. It is common about Porto Rico where it attracts at once by reason of its brilliant colouration and the excessive sharpness and completeness of its armature. It is a beautiful fish, reaching a length of 1 to 2 feet, not much valued as food, but often seen in the markets. It occurs as far north as Florida and has been taken at St. Helena. Head 35; depth 34; eye 2%; snout 4; maxillary 23; man- dible. 2; ‘interorbital.2' in eye;, D. XI, 1155 A. TV; siopeemee 4-48-7, 6 before dorsal; coeca 25; vertebre 11+16. Body con- siderably compressed, back moderately elevated. Colour, bright rosy-red, paler below; shining longitudinal streaks along rows of scales; fins light red; spinous dorsal largely golden-olive, the edge scarlet; head very red above, a white bar downward and backward from eye; colours all fading in alcohol. In the Bahamas is found subspecies rufus, in which the pre- opercular spine reaches about to root of pectoral. GENUS FLAMMEO JORDAN & EVERMANN This genus is distinguished from Holocentrus by the very large mouth and projecting lower jaw which is more than _ half the head in length. The single known species is the marian, 266 BONITO, Sarda sarda. DEAD SQUIRREL-FISH, Holocentrus ascensionis The Marian F. marianus, which is found only about Cuba. It is of little importance as a food-fish. The genus Plectrypops differs from Holocentrus chiefly in having the preopercle armed with 3 strong teeth which are curved forward. The single species (P. retrospinis) is known only from Cuba. About the coral reefs of the Hawaiian Islands are many different species of squirrel-fishes, all exceedingly brilliant in colouration. In the language of the natives they are called ‘“‘aleihi.”” All of the species are more or less red, some _ being solid red, others red with narrow longitudinal stripes of yellow or white, and others with the fins rich lemon yellow edged more or less with red. 207 THE, SUBMULEETS Family XXXI. Mullide fuis family is briefly characterized by having the ventrals definitely I, 5, thoracic and separate, gill-openings in front of pectorals, the body covered with large, slightly ctenoid scales, the suborbital without a bony stay, 2 dorsal tins remote from each other, both short, the first of 6 to 8 rather high spines, pectoral entire, no finlets, lateral line unarmed, and throat with 2 long barbels. Genera about 5, species about 40; found in all tropical seas, many of them highly valued as food. In our waters there are 3 genera and about 8 species. a. Teeth on lower jaw, vomer and palatines;........ Mullus, 268 aa. Teeth on both jaws; vomer and palatines toothless. b. Teeth small, subequal, in villiform bands in both jaws;... Mulloides, 269 bb. Teeth rather strong, unequal, in one or 2 series in each JAW ciel ngs cere steal OU Lahaye mip te avatar eines etree tara Upeneus, 270 GENUS MULLUS LINN/AGUS The Surmullets Villiform teeth on the lower law, and on vomer and palatines, none in the upper jaw, the bone forming a hook over the max- illary well developed; no spines on opercle; interorbital space wide and flat; otherwise as in Upeneus, the head rather shorter. The single species of this genus in our waters is the red mullet, or red goat-fish (M. auratus) which is found on our At- lantic coast from Cape Cod to Pensacola. It is occasionally taken in some numbers at Woods Hole, and is sometimes plentiful about Sandy Hook in September and October. On the Red Snapper Banks off the west coast of Florida it is frequently found in the spewings of snappers and groupers. It reaches a length of 8 inches, and is closely related to the 268 The Surmullets ‘ ANY European M. barbatus, and even closer to M. surmuletus, from which it differs chiefly in having the fins lower, and having a yellow instead of a black dorsal band. It is not abundant enough to be of any value as a_ food-fish. Colour, scarlet, becoming crimson where the scales are removed; snout scarlet; side with 2 distinct yellow bands; caudal scarlet; first dorsal with an orange band at base and a yellow band higher up, rest of fin pale; second dorsal mottled scarlet and pale; anal and ventrals plain, pectorals reddish; iris violet, dusky above, sides of head with silvery lustre. The genus Mu/loides is distinguished by having its teeth in villiform bands. iis it ye The single species found in our waters is Mudlloides rathbunt, which occurs in the Gulf of California. 269 GENUS UPENEUS CUVIER The Goatfishes Body oblong, compressed; mouth moderate, nearly horizontal, low, the jaws subequal; eye large, high up, posterior; opercle short and deep, with a posterior spine; each jaw with strong, unequal teeth, in 1 or 2 series; no teeth on vomer or palatines; lips well developed; the bone which forms a hook over the maxillary less developed than in Mullus; interorbital space convex and narrow; opercle ending in one spine; barbels nearly as long as head; scales very large, somewhat ctenoid; lateral line continuous ; head covered with large scales. Species numerous in tropical seas. About 7 species within our limits. the teeth coarse And Gistinet: /...0 «2-04 oe ae ates maculatus, 270 aa. Teeth on each jaw biserial, at least in front. b. Dorsal and caudal with dark crossbands;......-- .-++-parvus, 271 bb. Dorsal and caudal plain yellow;......-----.---- martinicus, 271 Red Goatfish; Salmonete Upeneus maculatus (Bloch) Generally common from Rio Janeiro through the West Indies to Key West. It occurs in abundance about Porto Rico where 270 Yellow Goatfish; Salmonete Amarilla it is used extensively as a food-fish. It reaches a length of about 1o inches. Head 34; depth 3x03 eye 4 to 5; snout 14; maxillary 34; man- dible 22; interorbital 32; preorbital 34; D. VII-I, 8; A. II, 7; pectoral 14; ventral 12; caudal 14; scales 3-30-5. Body little compressed, tapering posteriorly to thé long caudal peduncle; snout very long; mouth small, maxillary not nearly reaching eye; throat with 2 long barbels, reaching to margin of preopercle or beyond. Colour, red above, merging into light yellow on the sides, becoming pale- greenish below; oblique bluish streaks on head; several longitudinal. rows of light blue round spots, much smaller than pupil, on side, the 2 rows above lateral line plainest; about 4 diffuse blotches of darker red on the side; spinous dorsal light red at base, yellowish outwardly; soft dorsal pale bluish, with some light yellow on membranes and red on middle rays; pectoral chiefly yellow, with red on rays; ventrals pale blue, with streaks of red’ and yellow on first rays; barbels pink near base, yellow distally. Upeneus dentatus is a rare species known only from Cape San Lucas, La Paz, Guaymas, and Tres Marias Islands. Colour, dusky above, sides bright rosy, a broad red band extending from eye to caudal. It reaches a foot in length. Upeneus parvus is another rare species, known only from Cuba. Colour, vermilion above, fading to white below; a yellow band along side, with similar. narrower streaks below; ventrals and anal yellow; other fins pale, with dusky cross-bands, 3 on first dorsal, 2 on second, and 5 on each caudal lobe. Yellow Goatfish; Salmonete Amarilla Upeneus martinicus Cuvier & Valenciennes This species occurs from Florida southward among the West Indies, it being known from Key West, Jamaica, Cuba, Martinique, ‘and Porto Rico, about which last island it is less common than the red goatfish. It reaches 12 inches in length and is a good food-fish. Resembling U. maculatus in form, but with slightly larger eye, smaller scales and weaker teeth which are arranged in more than one series. Colour, pale-blue and pink or pale-red, the latter chiefly above, the blue below; a straight yellow band from eye to base of upper caudal rays; a black vertical bar at base of caudal; head with yellow streaks and reddish patches; _pectorals red: ventrals, anal, and caudal reddish near base, outer part yellow ; dorsals yellow, plainest near tips. These colours fade in spirits. 271 THE MACKERELS Family XXXII. Scombride Body elongate, fusiform, not much compressed, covered with minute, cycloid scales, those anteriorly forming a corselet; lateral line undulate; head subconic, pointed anteriorly; mouth rather large, premaxillaries not protractile; no supplemental maxillary bone; jaws*with sharp teeth; preopercle entire; opercle unarmed; gill-openings very wide, the membranes not united, free from the isthmus; pseudobranchie large; branchiostegals 7; dorsal fins 2, the first of rather weak spines, depressible in a groove, the second similar to the anal, the elevated anterior lobe always dis- tinct; anal spines weak; last rays of dorsal and anal detached and separate, forming in each case a series of finlets; caudal peduncle extremely slender, keeled, the caudal lobes abruptly divergent and falcate, the fin adapted for rapid motion; ventral fins I, 5, thoracic and well developed; lower pharyngeals separate; stomach sac- shaped; pyloric coeca numerous; air-bladder small, sometimes ab- sent. Colouration, metallic, often brilliant, the prevailing shade steel-blue. Genera about 20, species about 60. Fishes of the high seas, many of them cosmopolitan, and all having a wide range; most of them valued as food-fishes, the flesh being firm and oily, but sometimes coarse. Eight genera are represented in our waters by about 15 species. a. Caudal peduncle without median keel on each side;....-- Scomber, 273 aa. Caudal peduncle with a median keel on each side. b. Dorsal spines 10 to 16. c. Body scaleless, except about the lateral line and corselet. d. Dorsals well separated, the interspace more than half head. Auxis, 276 dd. Dorsals contiguous, the interspace not one-fifth length of EAC o 52c, sc. ccaia pels = sian ne keene Gyninosarda, 277 cc. Body wholly covered with small scales, those on corselet and lateral line sometimes enlarged. e. Teeth of jaws slender, subconical, little if at all compressed; gillrakers numerous; corselet distinct; pectorals inserted low. f. Vomer and palatines with villiform or sand-like teeth; body robust, not compressed. 272 The True Mackerel g. Pectoral short, not reaching much beyond tip of the moder- ateu VieMirals Sizer, ENOLMOMS* .<...4. . f+ dislcm ats» 9,0 Thunnus, 278 gg. Pectoral very long, ribbon-shaped, reaching much _ beyond some, On saNals Sizer MMOGErAte’. 9... 2.2. wee ec oe Germo, 282 ff. Vomer toothless; palatines with a single row of rather strong, conical teeth; body elongate, slightly compressed...... Sarda, 282 ee. Teeth of jaws strong, subtriangular or knife-like, more or less compressed, gillrakers comparatively few; corselet obscure; Scomberomorus, 283 weworsal spines about '253.-5- 2-22. 2.) S00: Acanthocybium, 288 GENUS SCOMBER LINNALUS The True Mackerels Species few, widely distributed, usually swimming in large schools; carnivorous and migratory; everywhere highly valued as food. a. Air-bladder wanting;........ Said a Stak ayatdiales St exe ilehp i SCOMUERMSS D9 @a. Air-bladder present;.... ...-. rede S reteivcis anes AED) japonicus, 276 Common Mackerel Scomber scombrus Linnzus The mackerel inhabits the North Atlantic Ocean. On our coast it ranges from Cape Hatteras to the Straits of Belle Isle; while in European waters it is found from Norway to the Mediterranean and Adriatic. 273 Common Mackerel The mackerel first appear in spring off Cape Hatteras, and later reach the shores of the Middle and New England States and the British possessions, coming in from the sea from a southerly or southeasterly direction. They leave the coast in the same way in fall and winter. It is a wandering fish, and its movements and the causes thereof are not fully understood. It is one of the most abundant fishes on our Atlantic Coast, going in schools often of great extent. It is on record that in 1848 a school was seen one-half mile wide, and at least 20 miles long. Another school, seen in 1877 off Block Island, was estimated to contain 1,000,000 barrels. The schools swim at the surface or near it, and in a rather compact body. Periods of scarcity alternate with seasons of abundance. The New England catch in 1885 was 330,000 barrels, and the average for the 8 years ending in 1885 was 309,000 barrels. In 1886 it dropped to 80,000 barrels, and in the succeeding 10 years it amounted to only 481,000. The yield in 1898 was 5,769,000 pounds, valued at $307,000, and 15,500 barrels salted, valued at $179, 000. In 1900 the catch landed at Boston and Gloucester amounted to 8,889,294 pounds fresh, valued at. $389,952, and 15,965,500 pounds salted, valued at $837,743, or a total of 24,854,794 pounds, valued at $1,227,695. For tgo1 the catch landed at these 2 ports amounted to 14,637,615 pounds, valued at $704, 375. The spawning season on our coasts extends from May to July, June probably being the principal month. The spawning grounds are in rather deep water along the coast from Long Island to the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Most of the bays and sounds on the New England Coast contain important spawning-grounds. Prior to spawning, and for several weeks after, the mackerel are lean and poor, and do not make No. 1 fish when salted. The mackerel feeds upon the small crustaceans and_ other small animals which swarm in the sea, and is, in turn, fed upon by other fishes, birds, and cetaceans. One of the surface-swim- ming copepods, known as ‘‘red feed” or “‘cayenne,” is a favour- ite food; when mackerel have been feeding freely on it, they spoil very quickly after being caught, owing to their sides rot- ting or ‘‘ burning.” Among the fish which the mackerel eat may be named herring, anchovy, sand launce, menhaden, and silver- sides. Among fishes, sharks are, perhaps, the worst enemies of 274 Common Mackerel the mackerel. Other fish-enemies are the bluefish and cod. Por- poises and whales are often seen feeding on the mackerel schools. Large squid do great damage to small mackerel and, among birds, the gannet is especially destructive. As a food-fish, the mackerel is one of the best and most valuable. On our coast the vessel fishery is carried on chiefly from Gloucester. The vessels go south in the early spring, fall- ing in with the fish when they first appear off our southern coast, and landing their catch fresh at Philadelphia and New York. The fleet next seeks the school off the southern shore of Nova Scotia and follows .it to the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Most of the fall fish- ing is done on the New England shore. Some of the finest fish- ing vessels in the United States are engaged in this fishery. In recent years the fleet has numbered 150 to 225 vessels, but for- merly nearly 1,000 were engaged in this business. The shore and boat fishing is carried on from New Jersey to Maine, the catch being usually sold fresh. The local mackerel has so fallen off in recent years that the catch does not supply the home demand, and large quantities are received, both fresh and salt, from Norway, Ireland, and the British provinces. The United States Fish Commission has undertaken the arti- ficial propagation of the mackerel, but the results have not yet been satisfactory. In 1896, 24,000,000 eggs were collected, but only a small percentage hatched. The mackerel egg is exceed- ingly small, it being only 3, of an inch in diameter. The eggs average about 40,000 to the fish, but 200,000 have been taken from 1 fish. The largest mackerel would doubtless produce 1,000,000 eggs each. The period of incubation is about 5 days in water at 58°. Small mackerel are known among fishermen as “spikes,” ‘‘blinkers,” and ‘‘tinkers.”” Spikes are the smallest caught by the commercial fishermen, they being 5 or 6 inches long and 5 to 7 months old, or younger. Tinkers are under 9 inches in length and are supposed to be about 2 years old. Blinkers are intermediate in size and age. Maturity is probably attained in the fourth year. The common mackerel is so well known as to render a detailed description unnecessary. 275 Chub Mackerel; Tinker Mackerel Chub Mackerel; Tinker Mackerel Scomber japonicus Houttuyn This mackerel is widely distributed, occurring in both the Atlantic and Pacific, north in the former to England and Maine, and to San Francisco on our west coast. It is very common in the Mediterranean and off southern California. The history of the chub mackerel on our Atlantic Coast shows great variation in abundance. Up to about 1840 it was apparently an abundant fish, but between 1840 and 1850 it seems - to have wholly disappeared from our coast. But in 1879 a con- siderable school was seen at Provincetown. It again disappeared in 1880, but is not rare at the present time. This is an excellent food-fish and has been regarded even as superior to the common mackerel. Colour, blue with about 30 wavy, blackish streaks which reach just below lateral line, some of these forming reticulations enclosing pale spots; more than 20 black specks or mucous pores on base of preopercle, generally arranged in more than 1 row; belly and sides silvery, but always with roundish dusky spots or cloudings in the adult; a black axillary spot. GENUS AUXIS CUVIER The Frigate Mackerels Body oblong, plump, mostly naked posteriorly, anteriorly covered with small cycloid scales, those of the pectoral region enlarged, forming a corselet; snout very short, conical, scarcely compressed; mouth rather small, the jaws equal; teeth very small, mostly in a single series, on jaws only; tail very slender, 276 The Frigate Mackerel depressed, with a rather large keel on each side; first dorsal short, some distance from second; second dorsal and anal small, each with 7 or 8 finlets; no air-bladder; gillrakers numerous, very long and slender. The only species of this genus is the frigate mackerel (A. thazard). This fish occurs in all warm seas. On our Atlantic Coast it is seen occasionally as far north as Cape Cod. It ap- pears to be very erratic in its movements, and rarely reaches the United States coasts. It swims in large schools and sometimes appears in immense numbers. In the Adriatic it is called ‘‘Tim- berello.”’ It resembles in some respects the common mackerel; in other characters it resembles the bonito, the genus Axis being inter- mediate between Scomber and the related genera Pelamys and Orcynus. It is not much valued as food. Colour, blue, variegated with darker above, becoming paler with age; belly silvery. GENUS GYMNOSARDA GILL The Little Tunnies This genus differs from that of the great tunnies in the ab- sence of teeth on the vomer, the complete absence of scales outside the corselet, and in the peculiar development, in the form of a network or trellis, of a portion of the abdominal part of the backbone. 277 The Great Tunnies Two. species of small size in our waters, little valued as food. The first of these, the ocean bonito (G. pelamis) occurs in all warm seas, is pelagic, not common anywhere, and on our Atlantic Coast it has been seen as far north as Cape Cod and the Bermudas. It is also frequent in southern California. This species may be distinguished from the next by the distinct curve in the lateral line below second dorsal and in having 4 lengthwise stripes on side below lateral line. The other species, the little tunny (G. alleterata) is also pelagic, occurring in all warm seas. It is not uncommon in the Mediterranean and the West Indies; on our Atlantic Coast it occurs as far north as Cape Cod. It is not known from Cali- fornia. From the ocean bonito it may be readily distinguished by the absence of a curve in the lateral line and in having no stripes. GENUS THUNNUS SOUTH The Great Tunnies Body oblong, robust, with very slender caudal peduncle; head conic; mouth wide, with one series of small, conic teeth in the jaws and bands of minute villiform or sand-like teeth on the vomer and palatines; scales present, those of the pectoral region forming an obscure corselet. 278 The Great Tunnies The only known species is the tuna (Thunnus thynnus). This great fish is pelagic in its habits and is found in all warm seas. In the Atlantic it occurs as far north as Newfound- land and the Loffoden Islands, and on the California coast at least to Monterey Bay. It is the ‘‘tuna”’ of the Mediterranean and of California and the ‘‘tunny” of the English. On our Atlantic Coast it is the ‘‘tunny,” ‘‘horse mackerel,” or ‘‘ great albacore.”” They appear on our Atlantic Coast early in summer and remain until October. On some occasions they are very abundant, for so large a fish. During one season one fisherman harpooned 30 of these monsters which weighed in the aggregate at least 30,000 pounds. They are harpooned on the surface of the water, after the manner of taking the sword-fish. The tuna attains a very great size and is the largest of the mackerel family. A length of 10 or more feet and a weight of 1,500 pounds has been recorded. One taken in 1838, off Cape Ann, was 15 feet long and weighed 1,000 pounds. They do not appear to reach so great a size on the coast of Europe, a 500-pound fish there being considered a monster. Nor do they reach so large a size on the California Coast, the largest example taken with rod and line at Santa Catalina having weighed but 251 pounds. An example measuring 8 feet in length was seen by us at Monterey Bay. On our Atlantic Coast this fish, there called the horse mackerel, has never attained any reputation as a game-fish, but on the coast of southern California it is one of the monsters much sought by the daring anglers who frequent the famous Santa Catalina resort. Professor Charles F. Holder, who has written so much and so entertainingly concerning the game-fishes of southern California, says ‘‘The most sensational fish of these waters is the leaping tuna, which well compares with the tar- pon, and personally I prefer it to its Florida and Texas rival, and in my experience, the average large tuna is a match for two tarpons of the same size. The tuna is the tiger of the Califor- nia seas, a living meteor which strikes like a whirlwind, and when played with a rod that is not a billiard cue or aclub in stiffness, will give the average man the contest of his life. My idea of a rod is a 7 or 83-foot greenheart or split bamboo, with a good cork grip above the reel, the latter of Edward von Hoff make, with a leather pad, break and click. The line should 279 The Great Tunnies not be larger than a 21-strand, and 600 or 700 feet is enough. The hook either a Van Vleck or a number 9-0 O’Shaughnessy, should have a piano-wire leader 5 or 6 feet in length. The bait, a flying-fish, and you are ready for the game. Your boat- man is ready for you at six, the lunch is stowed and you pull out into Avalon Bay over the glass-like sea. The east is a blaze of red, and the placid waters reflect it and the rocks of the pre- cipitous shore. Behind the town that climbs the slopes the moun- tains reach upward until lost in vagrant fog-masses of burnished silver. The air is soft, like velvet on the cheek, and there is a crispness in the morning strangely at variance with the palms and bananas which top the neighbouring knoll. As your boat- man shoves off and clears the beach, he fastens on the big 3- pound flying-fish, the natural food of the tuna, and you gradually pay out until 60, or perhaps 80 feet of line have gone, then fitting the butt of your rod into the leather cap fastened to the seat, rest your thumb upon the leather brake and begin the waiting, which is a part of fishing the world over. ‘‘But it happens, as it often does, that there is no waiting. ‘Jim’ whispers ‘Look out, sir,’ and you turn your head to see 3 or 4 flying-fish coming through the air, flushed by the unseen tuna. The blood starts through your veins; your companion, who perchance has never caught a tuna, turns pale and trembles and thinks of the buck fever, recognizing the symptoms; one flying-fish passes over the boat, you duck your head to avoid it, and then soars directly over your bait, and then a mass of white, silvery foam leaps upward. There is a blaze of silver, then loud musical notes, z-e-e-e, z-e-e-e, z-e-e-e, rise on the air as the splendid reel gives tongue, and the fight is on. The tuna turns and rushes seaward, tearing at the line, taking feet, yards, and has 500 feet of line, perhaps, before the boatman has _ his boat under sternway, and then begins the contest, ranging, ac- cording to the individuals, from ten minutes to fourteen hours. At times the game rushes down into the deep channel; again it plays entirely on the surface, varying the performance by re- peated rushes at the boat, to turn and dart away again to the melodious clicking of the reel. ‘It is big game in every sense of the word, and those who enjoy it are the man and woman who like to face the big game of the forest and mountains. I have seen a fish weighing but 280 The Great Tunnies 125 pounds fight an angler five hours. At that time the fish had towed the boat ten miles off shore, or twenty miles per- haps in all. The angler gave out, the boatman took the rod, and I took the oars and pulled against the fish for two hours, whirling it about in vain efforts to keep the stern to the fish. Then in a heavy and dangerous sea, out of sight of port, a council of war was held. If we continued the contest into the night we should have to make for the mainland, ten miles off, and as a result we surrendered, and the noble fish was ignomin- iously hauled in by hand, and at the gaffing nearly swamped the boat, being as full of vigour and fight as when it was hooked hours before. “It was my fortune to hold the record of the largest tuna, 183 pounds, for two years, and as far as I can learn this fish, which fought me four hours and towed me against the oars of my boatman for ten miles, made the hardest fight on record. Its last run was a rush of four miles, and when the magnificent creature was brought to gaff | had reached the limit of endur- ance; this fish could have towed the heavy boat for hours longer. ‘‘About forty anglers wear the blue button of the Tuna club - showing that they have caught tunas weighing over 100 pounds, and from five to ten are added to the list every year, the record being held at present by Colonel C. P. Morehouse of Pasadena, who took a 251-pound tuna in four hours, bringing it to gaff at night in a heavy sea, into which the fish had towed them. If the adventures of the tuna fishermen could be told it would make a volume of thrilling incidents. Some of the large catches are as follows: C. P. Morehouse, 251 pounds; C. F. Holder, 183 pounds; St. J. Earlscliff, 180 pounds; E. L. Doran, 176 pounds; W. C. Arnot, Elmira, N. Y., 140 pounds; J. M. Studebaker, South Bend, Ind., 130 pounds.” The fishermen about the Gulf of Saint Lawrence sometimes take the horse mackerel by means of steel hooks tied to solid lines and baited with herring, especially in the Bay of Chaleur and off Caraquette. The fishing is quite exciting, although tiresome and requiring a good deal of skill, as in the efforts of the fish to escape they pull with such violence as to endanger the lives of the fish- ermen by dragging them overboard. GENUS GERMO JORDAN The Albacores This genus is close to Thunnus, from which it differs chiefly in having the pectoral long and sabre-shaped, the length in the adult about 3 that of the body. The only species of this genus is the long-finned albacore (Germo alalunga), a pelagic fish of wide distribution in all tropical seas. It is rarely seen on our Atlantic Coast but is common in the Mediterranean. On our Pacific Coast it occurs as far north as San Francisco. It is ex- tremely abundant about the Santa Barbara Islands during its spawning season. As a food-fish it is of little value, its flesh being coarse and oily, far inferior to that of the tuna. It is, how- ever, a good game-fish, reaching a length of 3 feet and a weight of 15 or 20 pounds. GENUS SARDA CUVIER The Bonitos This genus is related to Thunnus and Germo, from which it differs chiefly in having no teeth on the vomer and in the more elongate body. There are 2 species in our waters, fishes of rather large size and metallic colouration. 282 The Spanish Mackerels This genus contains 2 species, S. sarda and S. chilensis. The first of these is the bonito, a species which lives for the most part in the open sea, wandering hither and thither in large schools, preying upon other pelagic fishes and approaching land only when attracted by abundance of suitable food or for spawning purposes. On our coast it occurs in summer from Cape Cod to Cape Sable, and occasionally off Chesapeake Bay, Cape Hatteras, and in the Gulf of Mexico. It reaches a length of 2 or 3 feet and a weight of 10 to 12 pounds. It is a poor food-fish. It is distinguished from S. chilensis by having 21 spines in the dorsal and the maxillary reaching beyond the orbit. Colour, dark steel-blue above, with numerous dark narrow stripes obliquely downward and forward from back; under parts silvery. The California bonito (S. chilensis) is found from San Fran- cisco to Patagonia and Japan. It is abundant northward in sum- mer and, as a food-fish ranks with its Atlantic congener, though large numbers are salted and dried. It reaches a length of 2 or 3 feet and a weight of 12 to 16 pounds. During summer and fall it is abundant among the Santa Barbara Islands where, in company with the barracuda, it is taken in large numbers by trolling. It feeds chiefly upon anchovies and squids. Colour, dark metallic-blue; sides dusky; several blackish stripes running obliquely upward and backward from pectoral region to upper edge of tail, variable in number and direction. 7s GENUS SCOMBEROMORUS LACEPEDE The Spanish Mackerels Body elongate, wholly covered with rudimentary scales, which do not form a distinct corselet; head pointed, comparatively short and small; mouth wide, the strong teeth in the jaws more or less compressed or knife-shaped; villiform or sand-like teeth on vomer and palatines; maxillary not concealed by preorbital; caudal peduncle with a single keel; spinous dorsal low, of 14 to 18 feeble spines; soft dorsal and anal short, similar, somewhat ele- vated and falcate. each followed by 7 to to finlets; ventrals 283 Monterey Spanish Mackerel small; pectoral moderate, near the level of the eye; air-bladder present. Fishes of the high seas, graceful in form and_ beautiful in colouration; 5 species in our waters. a. Male with the sides silvery, no spots; female with two rows of brown. Spots; fills "neanly yplaiiis...'..5- 6. concolor, 284 aa. Each sex with numerous bronze spots on sides; spinous dorsal dark except at base. b. Soft dorsal inserted in advance of anal;.......... maculatus, 285 bb. Soft dorsal inserted over anal. c. Body deep, the depth less than 5 in length. ad. Teeth 26 to’ 320m each: faWaees- ce. sane ero tee ae sierra, 286 adds Veeth “about 4 “on eacho jaw yt eee ee regalis, 286 cc. Body more slender, the depth about 6 in length;........ cavalla, 287 Monterey Spanish Mackerel Scomberomorus concolor (Lockington) This species occurs on the coast of California, chiefly in Monterey Bay, where it appears usually in September, disappear- ing in November. It is never abundant, only a few individuals being seen each season. It attains a length of 30 inches, and a weight of 5 to 8 pounds. It is held in very high esteem as a food-fish, and always brings a high price in market. Head 5; depth about 43; eye 53; D. XVII-16-VIII; A. I, 16- VIII; pectoral 8 in body; teeth about 50 in each jaw. Mouth slightly oblique, the maxillary reaching to posterior edge of pupil; teeth comparatively small, subconic, and little compressed, those on vomer and palatines minute and granular; lateral line slightly wavy, descending obliquely; pectoral inserted rather above axis of body; ventrals small; dorsal spines slender and fragile, the longest 4 in head; dorsal fins separated by an interspace equal to } length of base of spinous dorsal; caudal shorter than head, its lower lobe the longer; gillrakers long, 18 below the angle. Colour of male, dark steel-blue, sides silvery, without streaks or spots; female with two alternate series of brown spots, the silvery on _ sides clouded with dusky; fins nearly plain, dark. 284 Spanish Mackerel Spanish Mackerel Scomberomorus maculatus (Mitchill) The Spanish mackerel is a fish of wide distribution on our Atlantic Coast, ranging north in the fall as far as Cape Ann, and in the south to Brazil. In the West Indies it has been found about Jamaica and Porto Rico, but is probably not known from Cuba. In the Gulf of Mexico and on our South Atlantic Coast it appears irregularly in large schools. The catch on our Atlantic and Gulf Coasts has been subject to great variations. In the early history of this country the Spanish Mackerel was scarcely known, and not until within the last 30 years has it become of much commercial importance. The catch in 1897 amounted to 1,183,456 pounds, worth $69,778. It is now one of the most highly prized of all our fishes, and always commands a high price. Ordinarily it reaches a weight of 6 to 10 pounds, but oc- casionally very large individuals are taken. The largest we have seen was taken in October, 1901, off Chesapeake Bay, and weighed 25 pounds. It was 41 inches long. This fish is usually taken in pounds or gillnets, though many are taken by trolling. It is an excellent game-fish. It is a fish of the sunnier climes and comes to us only in the spring, sum- mer and autumn, when it may be seen, sometimes in large schools, swimming at the surface, feeding upon other fishes, often leaping and disporting itself in the sun. The menhaden is probably its principal food, though many other species are eaten. The Spanish mackerel spawns on the Carolina Coast in April and May and in the lower Chesapeake during the first half of June. Their eggs are very small and very numerous, a 6-pound fish producing about 1,500,000 eggs. 285 Mexican Sierra Head 44; depth 44; D. XVII-18-IX; A. I[l-17-IX; maxillary 14 in head; eye 4%; pectoral 1%; ventral 45; dorsal and anal lobes subequal, 2 in head. Body elongate, its~dorsal and ventral out- lines equal; profile straight from snout to dorsal; head small and pointed; mouth large, oblique, the jaws equal; maxillary reaching posterior edge of orbit; teeth large, compressed and sharp, 24 to 26 in each jaw; lateral line vidulating, with about 175 pores. Colour, silvery, bluish above, sides with many elliptical spots of dull orange, 2 rows below lateral line and 1 above; spinous dorsal white at base, black above; soft dorsal tinged with yellowish, its margin black; anal white; posterior side of pectoral black, the an- terior yellowish with black borders; caudal blackish. Mexican Sierra Scomberomorus sterra Jordan & Starks This species is the Pacific Coast representative of the Spanish mackerel which it very closely resembles and from which it differs only in the more posterior insertion of the soft dorsal and in the colouration. It is known only from Mazatlan, reaches a length of 21 feet, and is not highly valued as food, but why it is not we are unable to say. Colour, silvery, dark steel-blue on the back; sides with nu- merous round spots of the same colour as_ the back, 3 rows below and 1 above the lateral line; spinous dorsal all black; anal white; posterior surface of pectoral entirely black, anterior yellowish with blackish borders; caudal black. A large example, probably a male, had 5 rows of spots below lateral line, these spots decreasing in size anteriorly toward the belly, but extending nearly to base of ventral fin. Sierra; Pintado; Kingfish Scomberomorus regalis (Bloch) This fine fish is found from Cape Cod to Brazil, but it is not common anywhere except about Florida and Cuba. It grows 286 GVA ‘PiiPava sns0Ui04Laqui0Is ‘OUD WO HSIF-ONIOI Kingfish; Cero; Cavalla to 5 or 6 feet in length, 20 pounds or more in weight, and is an excellent game and food-fish. It is found on the south Florida Coast and is caught by trolling. It is not always dis- tinguished by the fishermen from the Spanish mackerel or the cero. Head 41; depth 44; D. XVII-I, 15-VIII; A. II-14-VIII. Body rather elongate, its dorsal and ventral curves about equal; lateral line descending obliquely, undulating along the tail; mouth large, maxillary reaching to below eye; angle of peopercle produced backward; caudal peduncle rather slender, its least depth 54 in head; caudal fin less widely forked than in the Spanish mackerel; teeth triangular, strongly compressed, about 4o in each jaw; pec- toral scaly. Colour, silvery; side with 2 blackish longitudinal bands crossing lateral line below soft dorsal, each posteriorly broken up into longitudinal spots, above and below these are numerous brownish spots in rows, persistent in adult; front of spinous dorsal black. Kingfish; Cero: Cavalla Scomberomorus cavalla (Cuvier & Valenciennes) Of all the host of Florida game-fishes that are used as food this is the greatest, Indeed, there are few game-fishes which excel it in size, strength, swiftness of movement, or fighting powers. The cero is a fish of the tropical seas, often coming in immense numbers to the coasts of Florida and the Carolinas, and ranging north to Cape Cod and south to Brazil and Africa. It is common on our South Atlantic Coast and among the Florida Keys. At Key West it is, next to the grunt, the most important food-fish. It usually appears in November and remains until April, during which time it is caught by trolling. It is said to school at spawning time which is late in winter. As a food-fish it takes a very high rank, the flesh being firm and of excellent flavour. The cero reaches a length of 5 feet and a weight of 100 pounds. Examples weighing 40 to 50 pounds are not rare. The largest one of which we could find an authentic record at Key West dressed 52 pounds. The average size, however, of those taken about Key West is only about 10 pounds, or perhaps even less. When the Key West fisherman desires large cero he directs his course toward the inshore grounds, lying in about 3 fathoms of water and 14 to 3 miles from shore, where the water is less clear; and when smaller ones are wanted they are found further off shore along the edge of 287 The Petos the Gulf Stream where the water is clearer. The large and smaller one are almost invariably found in separate schools. The cero is usually caught by trolling and is justly regarded as one of the greatest of all game-fishes. A stout braided line is best, though laid cotton cod-lines are often used. A cod hook with long shank, and a foot or 2 of stout copper or brass wire to withstand the numerous sharp teeth are needed. For bait a strip of white bacon rind, 5 to 8 inches long, cut to resemble a fish, with a slit in the upper end and one in the middle through which it is placed on the hook, the upper end being secured by a fine wire. A block tin squid or a very heavy spinner is, however, a better lure. In lieu of anything better the hook may be wrapped with white muslin ; tin foil, or anything that the fish can easily see, will answer very well. As a fighter the cero is chiefly famous on account of the marvellous leaps which he makes. Clearing the surface by to feet or more is no unusual thing. And Dr. Henshall tells some marvellous stories of its jumping powers, but it is fair to say he does not vouch for them. Head 5; depth 6; eye large, 2 in snout; D. XV-I, 15-VIIl; A. Il-15-VIII; pectoral 5; gillrakers very short, less than half diameter of eye, about 8 below angle. Mouth large, maxillary reaching below eye; lateral line decending abruptly below second dorsal; teeth triangular, strongly compressed, about 30 in each jaw. Colour of adult, iron-gray, nearly or quite immaculate; young with the sides with darker yellowish spots; no black blotch on spinous dorsal anteriorly. GENUS ACANTHOCYBIUM GILL The Petos This genus differs from the other Scombroids in the large size of the spinous dorsal, there being about 25 spines instead of 10 to 16 as in the other genera. The only species is A. solandri, known variously as_peto, wahoo, and guarapucu, a very large, mackerel-like fish, widely dis- tributed in tropical seas. This great fish reaches our borders only in the West Indies and among the Florida Keys. It reaches a length of 5 or 6 feet and a weight of 50 to 100 pounds, and is known to spawn off Cuba. It is an excellent food-fish and is taken by trolling, but we know nothing regarding its game qualities. 288 THE LESCOLARS Family XXXII. Lepidopide Tuis family contains large, mackerel-like fishes with elongate body covered with minute scales. There are about 9 genera and 17 species, only 3 of which interest us. The first of these is Ruvettus pretiosus, a large, deep-water fish, generally valued as food in the tropics. It is abundant about Cuba and the Madeiras, and is often taken in the Mediterranean. It is also occasionally taken off the Grand Banks. Among the common names by which it is known are escolar, rovetto, ruvetto, chicolar, oilfish, scour-fish, and plain- fish. It reaches a weight of 100 pounds. ‘The Cubans go ‘a-scholaring’ (‘é@ escolarear’) after the fish- ing for the spearfish has ceased and before that for the red snapper begins.” The flesh is white and flaky, but soft and insipid in the Madeiras, according to Lowe, where its extreme oiliness makes it unwholesome. Another food species of this family is the rabbit-fish, conejo or Bermuda catfish (Promethichthys prometheus), a large voracious fish of the open sea, found about islands in the tropical Atlantic, chiefly in deep water. In this genus the ventral fin is reduced to a single spine. 289 THE “GUTLASS FISHES Family XXXIV. Trichiuride Bopy extremely elongate, band-shaped, naked, tapering to a point, the ventral fins imperfect or wanting and the spinous and soft parts of the dorsal fin not differentiated. Mouth wide, the jaws armed with strong unequal teeth. Premaxillaries not pro- tractile. Pseudobranchie present. Gills 4, a slit behind the fourth; gill-membranes separate, free from the isthmus; lateral line present; dorsal fin very long, low, usually continuous, the rays all similar; caudal fin absent; anal fin very long and low, scarcely rising above the surface of the skin; ventrals thoracic, rudimentary (Eupleurogrammus) or wanting; vertebre in greatly increased number, about 160; air-bladder present; pyloric coeca numerous. Genera 2, species about 6. The single species in our waters is Trichiurus lepturus, known as the cutlass-fish, scabbard-fish, silver-fish, machete, sable, or savola, a long, slender, ribbon-like fish found in the West Indies and north to Virginia. It occurs also on the Pacific Coast about Lower California. It is taken occasionally in the lower Chesapeake and along the South Atlantic Coast. It is not common at Key West and its capture usually excites much interest. In Porto Rico, where it is known by the very appropriate name, machete, it is not rare. Though not abundant enough to be of commercial importance, it is nevertheless an excellent food-fish. 290 THE SAILFISHES Family XXXV. Tstiophoride Bopy elongate, much compressed, covered with elongate scutes; bones of upper jaw consolidated into a sword, which is roundish on the edges and spear-like, shorter than in Xzphias; jaws with small, persistent granular teeth; ventral fins of 1 or 2 rays each, attached to a pelvic arch; dorsal single or divided into 2 contiguous portions, the first much longer than the second, the fin-rays distinct, the first rays of dorsal distinctly spinous; anal divided, last rays of dorsal and anal suctorial; caudal peduncle with 2 fleshy crests or keels; vertebre 12+12—24, elongate, hourglass-shaped; neural and hemal spines flag-like; ribs well developed; air-bladder very large, sacculate, of numerous separate divisions; intestine short, straight; gills reticulated as in Xzphias. Two genera, with about 5 species, oceanic, similar in character and habits to the swordfishes, but smaller in size. The genus /stiophorus contains a single species (/. nigricans), known variously as sailfish, spikefish, boohoo, guebucu, voilier, agula volador, etc. The sailfish occurs in the West Indies and warmer parts of the Atlantic north to Key West and France. It is rather common about the Florida Keys, and examples have been taken at New- 291 The Sailfishes port and Savannah. It reaches a length of 6 feet and is an ex- cellent food-fish. The genus Tetrapturus, distinguished from J/stiophorus by having but one ray in the ventral fin, contains 2 species, the most important of which is 7. zmperator. Among its common names are spearfish, billfish, and aguja blanca. This great fish reaches a length of 7 feet or more and a weight of 150 pounds. It is found among the West Indies and on our coast occasionally as far north as Cape Cod. It is probably identical with the species found in southern Europe. They swim in deep water, according to Poey, and pass Cuba in pairs in summer. The spearfish is sometimes taken on the hook. When the fish has swallowed the hook it rises to the surface where it makes pro- digious leaps and plunges. At last it is dragged to the boat, secured with a boat-hook, and beaten to death before it is hauled on board. Such fishing is not without danger, for the spearfish sometimes rushes upon the boat, drowning the fisherman, or wounding him with its terrible weapon. The fish becomes furious at the appearance of sharks, which are its natural enemies. They engage in violent com- bats, and when the spearfish is attached to the fisherman’s line, it often receives frightful wounds from these adversaries. The other species, 7. amplus, is a rare fish occurring in the West Indies. It reaches a length of 10 feet or more and a weight of 800 pounds. It is the aguja de casta of the Cubans, and would be an important food-fish were it more abundant. 202 THE SWORDFISHES Family XXXVI. Xiphiide THESE are fishes of great size, with long, naked body; upper jaw very much prolonged, forming a ‘‘sword,” which is flat- tened horizontally; no teeth in the adult; dorsal fin very long; no ventral fins. The single species of this family is X7phias gladius, the com- mon swordfish, or espada, a fish of very wide distribution. _ It occurs on both coasts of the Atlantic, being most frequent between Cuba and Cape Breton: not rare off Cape Cod and on the Grand Banks; rather common in Southern Europe. It occurs also in the Pacific, and is occasionally taken about the Santa Barbara Islands. An enormous fish of the open seas, rivalling the largest sharks in size, and of immense strength of muscle. The swordfish attracted the attention of the earliest voyagers to America. As early as 1674, Josselyn, in his ‘‘ Account of Two Voyages to New England,” wrote: ‘‘And in the afternoon we saw a great fish called the Vehuella or Sword-fish, having a long, strong and sharp finn, like a sword-blade on the top of his head, with which he pierced our Ship, and broke it off with striving to get loose. One of our sailors dived and brought it aboard.” The maximum size of the swordfish is 600 to 800 pounds, though examples of more than 400 pounds are not often seen. The species is rather abundant for so large a fish. Off the New England Coast 3,000 to 6,000 of these fish are taken every year. Twenty-five or more are sometimes seen in a single day. One fisherman killed 108 in one year. The food of the swordfish consists chiefly of the common schooling species of fishes, such as the menhaden, herring, mackerel, bonito and bluefish. They are said to rise beneath a school of small fish, striking to the right and left with their swords until they have killed a number, which they then proceed to devour. 293 THE PAPAGALLOS Family XXX VII. Nematistiide THis family is related to the Carangida, from which it is distinguished by the peculiar development of the anal and dorsal spines. Only a single species, Nematistius pectoralis, is known. It is a large, showily-coloured fish, generally common from the Gulf of California to Panama. It reaches a length of 3 or 4 feet, and is used for food at Guaymas, La Paz, Mazatlan, and per- haps elsewhere. It is known as the pez de gallo, or papagallo, and is one of the most stately fishes in our waters, its long, brightly coloured rays giving it a most striking appearance. Colour, plumbeous on the back and opercles; sides golden; an indigo-blue crossband on snout, another on forehead, a third 204 The Papagallos from nape to subopercle; a broad indigo band from first dorsal spine to near vent; a curved band from sixth dorsal spine down- ward and across to base of upper caudal rays; dorsal spines banded with alternate blue-black and white; lower half of pectoral black. 295 THE PAMPANOS Family XXXVIII. Carangide Bopy more or less compressed, and often elevated, sometimes naked, or more usually covered with small, thin, cycloid scales; head compressed, the occipital keel prominent, usually trenchant; mouth of varying size, the teeth generally small; premaxillaries usually pro- tractile; lateral line complete, anteriorly arched, the posterior part straight, sometimes armed with bony plates; dorsal fins more or less separated, the spinous part rather weak, the spines usually depres- sible in a groove; anal fin long, similar to the soft dorsal, always pre- ceded by 2 stiff spines, usually separate, but more or less connected with the fin or with each other in the young, these sometimes dis- appearing with age; often a procumbent spine before the dorsal fin; ventral fins thoracic, well developed, I, 5; caudal peduncle very slender, the lobes widely forked; gill-opening very wide, the mem- branes usually not connected, free from the isthmus; pseudobranchize large, sometimes disappearing with age. Genera about 30, species about 200, abounding in warm seas, often moving north in summer, like the Scombrida. They swim swiftly, often with the dorsal fin above the surface of the water. Most of the species are of wide distribution, and nearly all are valued as food. The 19 genera represented in our waters by many species are as follows : @>y Premaxilanes Got. protmacule ss. <5, sn. se cpm sms Oligoplites, 297 aa. Premaxillaries protractile. b. Anal fin much shorter than soft dorsal, its base not longer than the abdomen. c. Dorsal and anal fins without finlets. ad. Membrane of dorsal spines disappearing with age;..Naucrates, 298 dd. Membrane of dorsal spines persistent;......-.......- Sertola, 299 cc. Dorsal and anal fins each with a detached 2-rayed finlet; Elagatis, 301 bb. Anal fin about as long as soft dorsal, its base longer than abdomen. é. Maxillary with a supplemental bone; pectoral long and falcate. f. Dorsal outline more strongly curved than ventral outline. g. Dorsal and anal each with a single detached finlet;.Decapterus, 302 gg. Dorsal and anal without finlets. h. Lateral line with well developed scutes for its entire length; Trachurus, 302 hh. Lateral line with scutes on its straight portion only. 296 The Leather-Jacks 7. Shoulder-girdle with a deep cross-furrow at its junction with the Istanatss) WOOdVsSIEMMER iy <4 arares,2+ | h kt hie, Trachurops, 303 wi. Shoulder-girdle normal; body deeper. j. Body oblong or more or less elevated, not as below. k. Teeth of jaws in few series or one, unequal or at least not forming villiform bands. /. Maxillary very narrow; head small; teeth on vomer and palatines MUTTULE’ Ot ODSOlebe seep tyson Sos rahe siete cs Hemicaranx, 303 11. Maxillary broad; head rather larger; vomer and palatines with | SST Ses ha a ana eke cate ce See ARE E Carangus, 304 kk. Teeth of jaws equally small or wanting, forming villiform bands if present. m. Teeth very minute, disappearing in the adult; no teeth on vomer or palatines; RS Ca ME RT Pe AEN aa MEL TS CAGUNR SO VRE Ee ob Caranx, 308 mm. Teeth persistent, in bands; vomer and palatines with minute teeth. n. Soft dorsal with none of its rays produced in filaments; Carangotdes, 308 nn. Soft dorsal with 1 to 6 rays produced in filaments. 0. Body moderately compressed, its edges not trenchant;..Cztula, 308 00. Body deep, greatly compressed, its edges all trenchant. p. Soft dorsal lobe very high, filamentous;............-. Alectis, 308 Pesone dorsal lobe 1OW 3): o..5 fs fae Bae lene en eee 4s Hynnts, 309 jj. Body broad-ovate, very strongly compressed;........Vomer, 309 ieeeateraline Without any SCULES Has.) +... + 5 = 2% Selene, 311 ff. Dorsal outline less strongly curved than the ventral; Chloroscombrus, 312 ee. Maxillary without supplemental bone; pectoral short, not falcate. ge Forehead notimuchelevateds 3-2 21.21.5262 4. Trachinotus, 313 Gon Foreheadsmore elevated =. ¢.5. 3. Seen) n+ - 7 ZALOEYS, JV GENUS OLIGOPLITES ‘GILL The Leather-Jacks This genus is characterized by the compressed, lanceolate body; slender, unkeeled caudal peduncle; short, compressed, acute head; sharp occipital keel; rather large mouth, with small, sharp teeth in bands on jaws, vomer, and palatines; small, linear, extremely narrow scales which are imbedded in the skin at different angles; unarmed lateral line; and short pectorals. In our waters there are but 3 species, none of them of much food-value. The common leather-jack or zapatero (Oligoplites 297 The Leather-Jacks saurus ), is found on both coasts of Tropical America, and is common in the West Indies and along the Florida coast, ranging north to New York and Lower California. It reaches a foot in length, and is a very handsome fish, often leaping from the water. It is of very little value as food, the flesh being dry and bony. The genus Naucrates contains the pilot-fish, N. ductor, which differs from Serzola only in the reduction of the spinous dorsal to a few (4 or 5) low, disconnected spines. The pilot-fish is a pelagic fish, widely distributed in the open seas. On our Atlantic Coast it is found occasionally from Cape Cod to the West Indies. It reaches 2 feet in length. 208 GENUS SERIOLA CUVIER The Amber-fishes Body oblong, moderately compressed, not elevated; occiput and breast not trenchant; mouth comparatively large, with broad bands of villiform teeth on both jaws, tongue, vomer, and _pala- tines; maxillary with a broad, strong supplemental bone; _pre- maxillaries protractile; scales small; lateral line scarcely arched, forming a keel on caudal peduncle, not armed with bony plates; sides of head with small scales; first dorsal with about 7 low spines, connected by membrane; "second dorsal very long, elevated in front; anal similar to soft dorsal but not nearly so long, pre- ceded by 2 very small free spines, which disappear in old fishes; no finlets; ventrals very long; pectorals short and broad. Speties of moderate or large size, often beautifully coloured; most of them, valued as food-fishes. Of the 8 species occurring in our waters 3 or 4 are good food-fishes, and at least one is an excellent game-fish. a. Head longer than deep, the profile not very steep; a yellow lateral band. b. Dorsal rays 36 to 38. c. Mouth rather small, the maxillary barely reaching pupil, 23 in | S270 Ie Rae ce ete ree y = Pee UN pear er ea dorsalis, 300 cc. Mouth ‘large, the maxillary reaching middle of eye, 2% in GAG Vatses cts ias 6s 252 oem ee css Lee ss zyonata, 300 bb. Dorsal rays 30 to 34. ad. Body slender, the depth 34 to 32 in length;...../aland?, 301 dd. Body deeper, the depth about 3 in length: teas dumertili, 301 aa. Head deeper than long, the anterior profile. steep; no yellow lateral band. é. Dorsal not falcate, its soft rays 32. f. Body rather elongate, the depth 32 in length; nuchal band INOTS(OLBY eet pe enn AL Arc agi ey eet copmeNye ee Ss mazatlana, 301 Tf. Body rather deep, the depth 3 in length; dark nuchal band UTSEUIGEtayevsi eres clove ate 15002. ares» Weare a paren ws Be. are fasciata, 301 ee. Dorsal and anal falcate, their anterior lobes more than _ half depth of body, the dorsal rays 27 to 30. fe Nuchal bands darky brown jor black}.~...222...<4-- rivoliana, 301 Pamenuechnal Wand pale, yellows: ....2 =. «-)satertsiaiee «6 -s-- falcata, 301 299 California Yellowtail California Yellowtail Seriola dorsalis (Gill) The yellowtail is found on our Pacific Coast from Mazatlan and Cape San Lucas north to the Santa Barbara Islands. It usually occurs in abundance about Coronado Island during the spawning season, arriving in July and leaving in the fall. It reaches a length of 3 feet, is an excellent food-fish, and is much sought by anglers. At Coronado Island it is one of the many really great game-fishes. Rudder-fish ; Shark Pilot Seriola zonata (Mitchill) This fish is found from Cape Hatteras to Cape Cod. The adult is not common, but the banded young are not rare north- 300 Amber-fish; Coronado ward. It attains a length of 2 or 3 feet, but is not highly regarded as a food-fish. It is too rare to be of much _jnterest to the angler. Colour, bluish above, white below; side with about 6 broad black bars, these forming 3 large blotches on the dorsal and 2 on the anal, these bars growing fainter and disappearing with age; an oblique dark band from the spinous dorsal to the eye, the space above this olivaceous; spinous dorsal black; ventrals mostly black. Amber-fish ; Coronado Seriola lalandi Cuvier & Valenciennes The amber-fish is an immense fish, reaching a length of 5 or 6 feet and a weight of more than 100 pounds, occurring from west Florida to Brazil, and occasionally north to New Jersey. In the Gulf it is rather common and is valued as food. Colour, dorsal fin dusky, with a light-yellow submarginal band; pectoral fin dusky-yellowish; ventrals vellow and blackish; anal blackish, with pale edge. Amber-jack Seriola dumerili (Risso) This species, also called amber-fish and coronado, is of wide distribution. It occurs both in the Mediterranean and the West Indies. It is rather common about Pensacola and Key West, and is a food-fish of some importance. Colour, grayish silvery below; a gilt band through eye to caudal, and another through temporal region to front of soft dorsal; fins plain; no dark cross-bands. Very close to S. Jalandt, but smaller, the body deeper and less compressed; mouth larger than in S. dorsalis, but about as in S. Jalandt. S. mazatlana, fasciata, rivoliana and falcata are unimportant species. The genus E/agatis is close to Seriola and contains a single species, E. bipinnulatus, a large pelagic fish, reaching a length of 2} feet. It occurs in most tropical seas and is occasionally seen in the West Indies from which it sometimes strays north 301 The Scad; Round Robin or Quia-Quia to Long Island. It may be known by the 2 small detached finlets and the short anal. It is sometimes called runner. The genus Decaplerus contains the mackerel scads of which there are several species, only 5 of which occur within our limits. One, of these, D. punctatus, known as the scad, round robin or quia-quia, is common on the coasts of Florida and among the West Indies. It reaches a foot in length. Another species is the common mackerel scad, D. macarellus, which is found in the warmer parts of the Atlantic. It strays northward on our coast to Cape Cod. The genus Jrachurus has only 2 species within our limits, neither of much value as food. The xurel or saurel, 7. svmmetricus, is common on our Pacific Coast from San Francisco south to the Galapagos. In summer it is abundant in the San Francisco markets where it is regarded as a good food-fish. It reaches 2 feet fn length. 302 The Akule The other species is 7. dtrachurus, which is found in the North Atlantic. It is rare on our coast. The genus Trachurops differs from Carangus chiefly in the more elongate form. The single species, T. crumenophthalmus, is a well-known fish of wide distribution. In the Atlantic it is found among the West Indies and occasionally north to Cape Cod. On the Pacific Coast it occurs from Cape San _ Lucas southward. Among the Hawaiian Islands it is an abundant and important food-fish and is known as the akule. Its common names in American waters are goggler, big-eyed scad, and goggle- eyed jack. The genus Hemicaranx differs from Carangus chiefly in the narrow maxillary. Our waters contain 6 or 7 species, none of great value as food. The most important is H. amblyrhynchus, which is found from Cape Hatteras to Brazil. It is rather com- mon among the West Indies, and is seen now and then on the Florida coast. Jos, GENUS CARANGUS GRIFFITH The Cavallas Body ovate or oblong, compressed, the back sometimes con- siderably elevated; mouth moderate or large, oblique; maxillary broad, reaching below eye, with a well-developed supplemental bone; premaxillaries protractile; teeth in one or few series, un- equal, or at least not in villiform bands; villiform teeth usually present on vomer, palatines and tongue, deciduous or wanting in some species; gillrakers long; eye large with an adipose eyelid; dorsal spines rather low, connected; second dorsal long, usually elevated in front, both fins depressible in a groove; anal similar to second dorsal and nearly as long, preceded by 2 rather strong spines, its base longer than the abdomen; caudal fin strongly forked, the peduncle very slender; pectoral falcate; no finlets; scales present, usually very small; lateral line with its posterior portion armed with strong, bony plates, which grow larger on the tail, each plate armed with a spine; a short dorsal branch of lateral line usually present; preopercle entire in adult, serrate in the young; species very numerous in all warm seas, most of them valued as food. a. Teeth on vomer and palatines persistent. b. Soft dorsal and anal low, not much elevated in front, little if at all falcate; teeth in jaws in one or few series, with no canines. c. Lateral line strongly arched, the arched part not half as long as Straight pertion;s 5%) +. yee eee vinctus, 305 cc. Lateral line little arched, the arched part not shorter than the straight portion. d. Body slender, the depth about 3} in length; colour dark, chiefly. bluish .«c.ccelce © 2 ei ores a ne ose oar nee ruber, 305 dd. Body deeper, the depth about 2% in length; colour pale, mostly aolden::....-% ss tek. > =e ee eee bartholomet, 305 bb. Soft dorsal and anal much elevated in front, and more or less falcate; upper teeth in a band, the outer enlarged; lower teeth in one series. e. Breast naked, except a small rhombic area before ventrals; hippos, 306 ee. Breast entirely covered with small scales. f. Body subfusiform, the depth less than 4 the length; teeth of outer series small, not canine-like. g. Pectoral fin moderate, rarely longer than head; scutes about BOs iis ain nin orev albleeechot ye Buckeye iene Sele eeae oan crysos, 306 YELLOW JACK, Caranx bartholomei - oe The Cavallas gg. Pectoral fin very long, much longer than head; scutes about MOS raat. ee eres hose ayia ts tis ac a/d trace ns wakaueena caballus, 300 ff. Body oblong-ovate, the depth more than 3 the length. and caudal pins: Jargely black; *.. J¢\sa..25. marginatus, 306 Jj. Body deeper, the depth about 2} in length; caudal fin pale, Pile el OLSAl LSCAnGEl Ya (AUSKY, et aie)! ialdins Sms sie) s Bedale -4s latus, 306 iz. Body much elevated, the depth in adult 2} in length; no oper- cular spot; a dark spot in axil;...........medusicola, 307 hh. General colour brassy or blackish; vertical fins black. k. Anterior profile gibbous, scutes about 28;......... lugubris, 307 kk. Anterior profile scarcely gibbous; scutes about 35;.......- melampygus, 307 aa. Teeth on vomer and palatines wanting or deciduous;.... guara, 307 Carangus vinctus is known only from the Pacific Coast of Mexico from Lower California to Punta Arenas. It is a well- marked species, abundant about the entrance to the Gulf of California. Colour, dusky, bluish above, silvery below, with golden and greenish reflections; 8 or 9 vertical dark half-bars from back to below lateral line, the widest about equal to diameter of orbit, and more than twice as wide as the light interspaces; breast blackish; head dusky, end of snout black; a distinct black blotch on upper angle of opercle; fins somewhat dusky, the lower yel- low in life; pectoral without spot; axil dusky; anal white at tip. Carangus ruber is known only from Cuba and St. Croix, in the West Indies; not abundant enough to be of any value as food. Colour, bluish-olive, silvery below, scarcely yellowish in life; a vaguely defined horizontal stripe of clear blue just below the dorsal; dorsal yellowish-gray, other fins dusky olive; a distinct blackish bar extending along lower lobe of caudal. Carangus bartholomai occurs in the West Indies, and occa- sionally north to Florida and the Carolinas. It is common about Cuba and is of some little value as food. 525 The Cavallas Colour, bluish silvery, everywhere strongly washed with golden, the young with golden spots; fins all pale yellow; no black on opercle or lower lobe of caudal. It is known as the yellow-jack. Carangus hippos, the cavalla or jack, is the most abundant and one of the most valuable of the genus. It is found on both coasts of tropical America, north to Cape Cod and the Gulf of California. It occurs also in the East Indies, and is every- where a food-fish of considerable importance. On our Atlantic Coast it is next in abundance, to C. crysos. Colour, olivaceous above, sides and under parts golden; a large faint black spot on lower rays of pectoral; axil with a black blotch; edge of soft dorsal black; upper edge of caudal peduncle dusky. Carangus crysos, the runner, hard tail, or jurel, reaches a foot or more in length and is found from Brazil north to Cape Cod. It is more abundant northward than any other species of Carangus, and is a food-fish of considerable importance, espe- cially in the West Indies. Colour, greenish-olive, golden-yellow or silvery below; a black blotch on opercle; fins all pale. Carangus caballus, the cocinero, is the representative of C. crysos on the Pacific Coast. It occurs from Panama and Cerros Island northward to San Diego, and is quite abundant from the Gulf of California southward. Carangus marginatus occurs on the Pacific Coast of Mexico from Mazatlan to Panama, and is not uncommon. From C. Jatus, which it closely resembles, it may be readily known by its less slender form, dark colours, and larger eye. Carangus latus, the horse-eye jack, inhabits the same waters as the preceding, and is also found on the Atlantic Coast from Brazil to South Carolina and Virginia. It also occurs in the East Indies. It is not of much value as food. The flesh, in some places in the tropics, is reputed poisonous, giving rise to the disease called Ciguatera. It is abundant southward, but further north it is less common than C. hippos. 306 CREVALLE, Caranx hippos HORSE-EYE JACK. Caranx laius oi, ‘Snyon be gis, an ie The Cavallas Colour, bluish, sides golden or silvery; a very small, black opercular spot; young sometimes with faint dark crossbands; fins mostly grayish; anterior part of soft dorsal dusky; caudal yellow, no black; no spot on pectoral; no axillary spot. Carangus medusicola is known only from the vicinity of Mazatlan where it is very common on sandy shores. The young of an inch in length are very abundant in the body-cavity of a large translucent jelly-fish found about the Venados Islands in January. This fish reaches a foot in length and is of some food-value. Colour, clear blue above, silvery below; no bands or spots anywhere, except a small, black axillary spot, and a blue-green patch on back of caudal peduncle; pectoral bright yellow; anal and caudal yellow, the lobes blackish; ventrals yellow; young with a deep-blue spot above the eye in life. Carangus lugubris is a rare species found about rocky islands in the tropics in both the Atlantic and Pacific. We have specimens from Clarion Island of the Revillagigedo group, from Cuba, and from off Mobile harbor. It reaches a length of 18 inches or more. It is rather common about Cuba, where it is regarded as poisonous, and its sale in the markets is forbidden. Its specific name, /ugubris, mournful, is from its dark colour and _ especially its bad reputation, associated with the much dreaded Ciguatera, a disease resulting from fish-poisoning. Carangus melampygus is widely distributed about islands in the tropical Pacific and in the East Indies. It is known from the Hawaiian Islands and from the Revillagigedos. It resembles C. lugubris, but the anterior profile is scarcely gibbous, and the side has many small dark-brown spots. Carangus guara is one of the largest species of the genus. It reaches a length of 2 feet or more. It occurs in tropical parts of the Atlantic, in the Mediterranean, along the coasts of Africa, Brazil, and the Madeiras, but it is not certainly known from the West Indies. From other species it may be known by the absence of teeth on the vomer and _ palatines. 397 The Cavallas The genus Caranx differs from Carangus mainly in the dentition, the teeth being very small, granular, and are entirely lost with age; maxillary broad, body compressed, the fins without filaments. ?, Our single known species is the mojarra dorada, Caranx speciosus, which occurs in the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean, and in the tropical Pacific north to Cape San Lucas. It is frequent on sandy shores and is an excellent food-fish. It reaches a length of, 2. feet. Colour, brilliant golden; side with 6 broad, dusky crossbands, a narrow stripe between each pair of broader ones; opercular spot obsolete; a small black spot in axil; caudal lobes dusky on inner edge; no dark caudal spot. The genus Carangoides is close to Carangus, but has the persistent teeth all small and in villiform bands on jaws, vomer, palatines, and tongue; lateral line scarcely arched; body oblong, not much elevated; none of the dorsal rays produced. The only known species is C. orthogrammus, thus far found only at Clarion Island. The genus Citula differs from Carangoides mainly in having one or more of the anterior rays of the soft dorsal produced in filaments. The body has not the distorted form seen in Alectis but is more like that of Carangus. Species found chiefly in warm seas. The only species in our waters is C. dorsalis, the Pacific pompano. This fish occurs on sandy shores from Mazatlan to Panama. It reaches about 2 feet in length, but is not very abundant. Colour, steel-blue above, silvery below, with golden reflections; fins all pale, tinged with yellowish; axil jet black; ventrals tipped with dusky; opercle dusky along the edge, blackish within; a dark spot on orbit above. The genus Aleciis is not essentially different from Carangus, the great change in form arising from no important modification of the skeleton. The changes due to age are surprisingly great, the young being almost orbicular, and the dorsal filaments ex- ceedingly long. There are several tropical species. The only one in our waters is A. ciliaris, the thread-fish, cobbler-fish or sun- 308 The Moon-fishes fish. This interesting and beautiful little fish occurs on both coasts of tropical America, ranging north to Mazatlan and Cape Cod. It is generally common southward about the Florida Keys and Cuba, and is a food-fish of some importance. Head 33; depth 14 to 2; D. VI-I, 19; A. II-I, 16; scutes 12. Body oval, much compressed, highest at the elevated bases of the dorsal and anal fins; preorbital very deep; mouth nearly horizontal in adult, very oblique in the young; first rays of dorsal and anal filamentous, exceedingly long, in the young much longer than body, becoming shorter with age. Colour, bluish above, golden yellow below; a dark blotch on opercle; a black spot on orbit above; a black blotch on dorsal and one on anal in front. The genus Hyinis is close to Carangus, but has the high, compressed, angular body of Selene, the dorsal and anal lobes not ending in filaments, and the caudal peduncle armed with a few weak plates as in A/lectis. There are 2 species in our waters, H. cubensis, a rare species known only from Cuba, and H. hopkinsi recently described from Mazatlan. It attains a length of 2 feet. GENUS VOMER CUVIER & VALENCIENNES The Moon-fishes This genus is closely allied to Carangus, from which it differs only in its distortion of form, and in its weak teeth and very low fins. Body broad-ovate, very strongly compressed, all its out- lines sharply trenchant; head very gibbous above the eyes, its anterior profile vertical; lateral line strongly arched, its posterior portion with very weak shields; scales minute; soft dorsal and anal extremely low, not falcate. Young much deeper than the adult, all the fins higher, resembling the next genus. Warm seaS; 3 Species in our waters. The first of these is VY. dorsalis, the hersefish, a rare species said to occur on the west coast of Africa, about the Cape Verde Islands, and in the West Indies. ao9 Moon-fish; Jorobado Moonfish; Jorobado Vomer setipinnis (Mitchill) This species is found on both coasts of tropical America, from Brazil to Maine, and Peru to Cape San Lucas. It is generally common southward, only the young usually coming northward in the Gulf Stream. It reaches a length of nearly a foot, and is an excellent little food-fish. Colour, greenish above, golden or silvery below; young with a black blotch at origin of straight part of lateral line. Corcobado Vomer gabonensis Guichenot The corcobado is a fish that was but little known until the recent investigations by the U. S. Fish Commission in Porto Rico, when numerous specimens were obtained. It is now known from Brazil, San Domingo, Jamaica, and Porto Rico; also from the west coast of Africa. It attains a length of 8 or g inches, and is a good food-fish. From V. setipinnis, which it resembles, it may be distinguished by the much deeper body, larger eye, greater elevation of the occipital region, and the more nearly vertical anterior profile. The young of the two species resemble each other more closely. At a length of 4 inches the difference 310 49mon auajas “NMOd-MOO’L WO HSTANOOW al The Silvery Moon-fishes in relation of depth to length becomes apparent, but under that size the present species is distinguished by its larger eye. Body ovate, scarcely longer than deep, very greatly com- pressed; occipital region greatly elevated, making height of body greatest at the eyes; anterior profile nearly vertical from occiput to eye, opposite which it becomes concave; snout protruding. Colour, rich silvery, with an iridescence of steel-blue above and pink below, with a light golden wash below. GENUS SELENE LACEPEDE The Silvery Moon-fishes This genus is very close to Vomer, from which it differs in the entire absence of scutes on the lateral line. All the species are found in tropical seas, only 2 coming within our limits. The first of these is the Pacific moon-fish (S. wrstedii) which is found on the Mexican coast from Mazatlan to Panama. It reaches 15 inches in length, and possesses some food-value. From our Atlantic species it may be distinguished by its smaller fins, the dorsal having 18 and the anal but 15 soft rays. _ Lookdown ; Horsehead Selene vomer (Linnzus) This is perhaps the most common and best known of the moonfishes. It is found on both coasts of tropical America, from Cape Cod to Brazil, and from Lower California to Peru. Southward it is very common on sandy shores, and is a delicious food-fish, reaching a weight of 2 pounds. Anterior profile nearly straight from tip of snout to occiput; one or 2 of the dorsal spines very long and filamentous in the young, short in the adult; ventrals and anal variable. Colour, uniform silvery, resembling a sheet of mother-of-pearl in colour and texture. 311 GENUS CHLOROSCOMBRUS GIRARD The Casabes Body oblong-ovate, compressed, not elevated; abdomen prom- inent anteriorly, its curve being much greater than the curve of the back; occiput and thoracic region trenchant; caudal peduncle very narrow, the fin widely forked; scales small, smooth; lateral line arched in front, armed, or with few small plates; head nearly naked; mouth rather smali, oblique, lower jaw scarcely projecting; upper jaw protractile; maxillary broad, emarginate behind, with a large supplemental bone; jaws, vomer and palatines with feeble teeth, mostly in single series; first dorsal of feeble spines, connected by membrane; second dorsal and anal long and low, similar, much longer than the short abdomen; anal spines strong; ventrals small; pectoral falcate; gillrakers long; no finlets. Species, 2 or 3, all American, and of little value as food. Chloroscombrus orqueta, the xurel de castilla of the Mexicans, has the chord of the curved part of the lateral line considerably longer than the head, and the colour is dusky. This species is found from Lower California to Panama, at which latter place it is rather common. It is of little value for food. HE YEE Vg Ys << Bumper; Casabe Chloroscombrus chrysurus (Linnzeus) The bumper is found from Cape Cod to Brazil. It is com- mon on our South Atlantic Coast and about Cuba, and specimens 312 8 8 » g & Y Zz E ° a tS S 8 a 4 ro) ae nm =! & Za fe) 2 Ga TAL ee, ee ue ven The Pampanos were obtained by us in Porto Rico. It is not valued as food, the flesh being thin and dry, and the bones large. Where common it is of some interest as a game-fish, as it takes the hook readily and may be caught either by still-fishing or trolling. Colour, greenish above, the sides and below golden; caudal peduncle dusky above; dark opercular and axillary spots; inside of mouth black, fins not bordered nor tipped with black. GENUS TRACHINOTUS LACEPEDE The Pampanos or Pompanos This is, commercially, the most important genus of the Carangide, containing, as it does, some of the most delicious of all food-fishes. Body compressed, moderately elevated, the general outline ovate; caudal peduncle short and rather slender; abdomen not trenchant, shorter than the anal fin; head moderately compressed, very blunt, the snout abruptly truncate; mouth nearly horizontal, maxillary reaching middle of eye; premaxillaries protractile; no distinct sup- plemental maxillary bone; jaws, vomer, and palatines with bands of villiform teeth, which disappear with age; spinous dorsal represented by 6 rather low spines, connected by membrane in the young but free in adult; second dorsal long, elevated in front, anal opposite and similar to it; 2 stout, nearly free spines in front of anal, and one con- nected with the fin, these often disappearing with age; scales smal) and smooth; lateral line unarmed, little arched, no caudal keel. Species numerous, about a dozen in our waters, most of them of some value as food, and a few among the most highly prized of food-fishes. a. Dorsal with 19 or 20 soft rays; anal with 17 to 19. b. Body very much compressed; sides with narrow black crossbars; lobes of vertical fins elongate, reaching past middle of caudal in adult. c. Snout subtruncate or nearly vertical; profile from supraorbital to MOO GOLrsal fill CONVERN <0 2 wa ween ee ete = 2 glaucus, 314 cc. Snout low, very oblique; profile from supraorbital to front of Gorsalescarcely CONV 45 75 20s ota sarees «ol. rhodopus, 314 Old Wife; Gaff-topsail Pampano 6b. Body moderately compressed; sides without narrow black crossbars. f. Caudal lobes about 23 in length of body }..: + «¢.24...falentog 315 if. Caudal lobes longer, about 2+ in bodysteds 3 ---Thomboides, 315 ee. Lobes of vertical fins low, that of dorsal in adult shorter than head; coloursdusky si) Dosa Od ace ae culveri, 316 add. Body oblong, the profile not strongly arched. & Axil with a jet-black spot; depth about 2} in length; hennedyt, 316 gg. Axil not black; depth:about 22>. .2, 20). e eee goodet, 316 * carolinus, 317 Jj. Head larger, 31 to 34 in body; dorsal lobe black;....pa/oma, 319 hh. Dorsal with 27 soft rays; .anal ‘with: 265. 2.4.08 cayennensts, 317 Old Wife; Gaff-topsail Pampano Trachinotus glaucus (Bloch) This beautiful fish is found from Virginia to the Caribbean Sea. It is found at Key West and is common about Porto Rico and doubt- less about others of the West Indies. It attains alength of a foot or more, but is not highly valued as food. In Porto Rico, however, it is handled by the fishermen and ranks with the species of Carangus in food-value. Colour, bluish above, golden below; lobes of dorsal and anal black; caudal dark; other fins pale; body with 4 narrow vertical black bars, second and third longest and plainest. Pampanito Trachinotus rhodopus Gill This fish is found from the Gulf of California southward to Panama. It is very common on sandy shores, replacing on the Pacific Coast, T. glaucus, which it much resembles. 314 “n g = RS og n“n £ S = . el & = = a 5 Round Pampano; Indian River Permit It reaches a length of 2 feet, but is not much valued as food. It may be known from T. glaucus by the difference in profile, the snout being low and very oblique. Colour, bluish-green above, silvery below; side with 5 short, narrow, vertical blackish bars, the first 2 mearer together than the others, the last 2 sometimes reduced to spots,—these bands always faint in young in which the vertical fins are also much lower; caudal, dorsal, and anal lobes largely of a bright maroon colour, or orange-brown in life, the anterior edge blackish, shading off into pinkish, this colour present at all ages. Round Pampano; Indian River Permit Trachinotus falcatus (Linnzus) The Round Pampano is found from Cape Cod to Florida, along the coast. It is common southward but occurs northward only in the Gulf Stream. It reaches a foot or more in length and a weight of 3 pounds, and is a good food-fish. It may be known from the old wife and the pampanito by the absence of dark vertical bars. Colour, bluish above, silvery below; lobe of dorsal black in young; fins in adult all bluish with lighter tips. Trachinotus rhomboides, the West Indian round pompano, occurs among the West Indies and southward. It seems to differ from T. falcatus in the higher vertical fins. 315 The Mazatlan Pompano Trachinotus culvert, the Mazatlan pompano, has lower fins than T. falcatus, which it closely resembles otherwise. It is known only from the vicinity of Mazatlan. It reaches 8 to 10 inches in length, Trachinotus kennedyi, the Pacific palmoneta, is another of the rather uncommon species of this genus. It occurs on our Pacific Coast from Magdalena Bay to Panama. It reaches a large size and is of value as a food-fish. It is the Pacific Coast represen- tative of 7. goodei from which it may be distinguished by the absence of a black axillary spot and the somewhat deeper body. Permit ; Great Pompano Trachinotus goodet Jordan & Evermann The permit is the largest of all pompanos. It reaches a length of 3 feet and a weight of 27 pounds or more. It occurs in the West Indies and north to Florida. It occurs about Key 316 snuyosno snjouryrna T ‘ONVAWOd Common Pompano West and is occasionally taken in Indian River. It should be remarked, however, that to the Indian River fishermen this species is not distinguished from the common pompano, and that the fish known to them as the ‘‘permit” is the round pompano (7. falcatus). The permit is an excellent food-fish, not as good as the common pompano, but usually sold as that species and bringing as good a price. Head 3; depth 22; D. VI-I, 19; A. II-l, 17; maxillary 23; ventrals 2. Body oblong, elliptical, moderately compressed; profile nearly straight from procumbent spine to nostril, where it des- cends nearly vertically, forming an angle, the vertical portion from angle to snout nearly equalling eye; maxillary reaching slightly behind middle of eye; jaws with bands of villiform teeth, disappearing with age; ventrals reaching + distance to vent; dorsal and anal fins falcate, the anterior rays less elevated than in the round pompano, but extending beyond middle of fin when de- pressed; caudal forked, the lobes 3 in body; lateral line nearly straight, slightly curved upward above the pectoral. Colour, bluish-silvery above, silvery below; dorsal, caudal, and anal lobes black; no crossbars. Trachinotus argenteus, the silvery pompano, is a very rare species, known only from the West Indies south to Brazil. The type specimen was recorded from New York, but probably really came from Brazil. The species is allied to 7. carolinus, but probably has the body deeper, the depth being half the length in examples 6 inches long, or 2745 in length in the type, a spec- imen a foot in length. Common Pompano Trachinotus carolinus (Linnzus) The common pompano has its home along our South Atlantic and Gulf Coasts. It is rare in the West Indies and on the coast of Brazil, and does not occur on our Pacific Coast. On the Atlantic Coast it ranges as far north as Cape Cod, but it is not at all common north of New Jersey, and its occurrence that far north is irregular and uncertain. It seems to be most abundant on the South Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, and is particularly com- mon in Indian River and on the west coast of Florida. Of all 317 Common Pompano the fishes of Indian River, the pompano is the most valued and brings the best price to fishermen and dealers. It is present there throughout the year, being most abundant in winter. The best fishing seems to be from late January to April. They are most abundant about the inlets, and play in and out with the tide. They run in bunches or schools, and are easily influenced by changes in temperature. They are a warm-water fish, and a cold snap causes them to leave the river temporarily. The un- usual cold of December, 1894, and February, 1895, affected them quite seriously, not only driving them away, but actually killing many. The pompano does not appear to be properly a migra- tory fish, and when it leaves Indian River it probably does not wander far from the inlets. In summer, however, when the water is warm, many young and some adults are apt to wander north on our coasts at least to Woods Hole. Very little is defi- nitely known regarding the spawning habits of the pompano. On the east coast of Florida they probably spawn in Indian River chiefly in April and May. The food of this fish consists princi- pally of small bivalve mollusks and small crustaceans. They feed extensively about the inlets and in the surf outside. They are often seen rooting or digging for food in the sand or mud, their caudal fins sometimes appearing above the water. The pompano is less abundant about Key West, but from a little further north on the Gulf Coast to the mouth of the Mis- sissippi it is a common fish, large quantities being brought to the markets of Tampa and Pensacola. On the west side of the Gulf it appears to be uncommon. About Pensacola it seems to be a migratory fish, but southward it is probably not so. The pompano reaches a length of about 18 inches and a weight of 7 or 8 pounds, though examples of more than 2 or 3 pounds are not now often seen. As a food-fish there is none better than the pompano, either in the fresh waters or in the seas. This is practically the unanimous verdict of epicures and all others who have had the plea- sure of eating the pompano, fresh from the water. The flesh is firm and rich, and possesses a delicacy of flavour peculiarly pleas- ing to the palate. The pompano is not a game-fish. ‘‘It is mullet-mouthed and never takes a hook except by a mistake,” says Genio Scott; but Mr. S. C. Clarke says they have been known to bite at a 318 ACN'HLIT'OO 8 N3Ie SHiiner “AZISIVYNLVN Y% LNOGV (SANITOYVS SNLONIHOVYL) “ONVdWYvd ‘ONWd WOd NOWWOd Common Pompano clam-bait, and Mr. Silas Stearns says they are sometimes taken on the hook about Pensacola. Head 4; depth 23 to 22; eye 43; snout 44; D. VI-I, 25; A. Il-l, 23; ventrals 2}. Body oblong, compressed, rather robust, the greatest thickness 3 in depth; snout from mouth to hori- zontal from upper edge of eye nearly vertical, somewhat bluntly rounded; profile from upper edge of snout to procumbent spine evenly convex; mouth nearly horizontal, maxillary reaching middle of eye, its length 22 in head; no teeth in adult; ventrals reach- ing 2 distance to vent, about 4 length of pectoral; dorsal and anal fins falcate, anterior rays nearly reaching middle of fins when depressed; dorsal lobe 43, anal 54 in body. Colour, bluish above, silvery or slightly golden below; pectoral and anal light orange, shaded with bluish; caudal and upper portion of caudal peduncle with bluish reflections; breast more or less yellowish; top of head _ bluish. Trachinotus paloma is an unimportant species, known only from Cape San Lucas, Mazatlan, and San Juan Lagoon. It reaches a length of a foot. As a food-fish it is not distinguished by the Mexican fishermen from other species of the genus. It closely resembles the common pompano, but has the head rather larger, it being 34 to 33 in length instead of 4. Trachinotus cayennensis is another rare species, known only from a single specimen obtained at Cayenne. It is close to T. falcatus, but has more numerous fin-rays, D. V-I, 27; A. II-I, 26. Recently a new genus and species of this family was de- scribed from the Revillagigedo Islands by Jordan and McGregor as Zalocys stilbe. The genus is close to Trachinotus. The single specimen known is 16 inches long. 319 THE .BEUEEISHES Family XXXTX. Pomatomide Tus family contains only one genus and one species. Common Bluefish Pomatomus saltatrix (Linnzus) The bluefish is a species of very wide distribution. It occurs in both the Atlantic and Indian oceans, and occasionally enters the Mediterranean Sea. It occurs in the Malay Archipelago, Aus- tralia, at the Cape of Good Hope, at Natal, and about Madagas- car. It has never been seen on the Atlantic Coast of Europe, nor about Bermuda. On our coast it ranges from central Brazil and the Guianas through the Gulf of Mexico, and north to Nova Scotia, though never seen in the Bay of Fundy. From Cape Florida to Penobscot Bay, bluefish are abundant at all seasons when the temperature of the water is propitious, which probably is above 40°. The menhaden seems to be their principal food and their abundance is largely dependent upon the presence of that species. The bluefish is a pelagic or wandering fish, very capricious in its movements, varying in numbers at particular localities in different years, and sometimes disappearing from cer- tain regions for many years at a time. The bluefish is a carnivorous animal of the most pronounced type. As Professor Baird has well said, there is no parallel to the bluefish in point of destructiveness to the marine species on our coast. It has been likened to an animated chopping-machine the business of which is to cut to pieces and otherwise destroy as many fish as possible in a given space of time. Going in large schools, in pursuit of fish not much inferior to themselves in size, they move along like a pack of hungry wolves, destroy- ing everything before them. Their trail is marked by fragments of fish and by the stain of blood in the sea, as, when the fish is too large to be swallowed entire, the hinder portion will be bitten off and the anterior part allowed to float or sink. It has 320 XAOS SHMOIDWWOT *FISTAHATA a . Common Bluefish been even maintained that such is the gluttony of this fish, that when the stomach becomes full the contents are disgorged and then again filled! It is certain that it kills more fish than it needs or can use. The amount of food they consume or destroy is incredibly great. It has been estimated at twice the weight of the fish in a day, and one observer says that a bluefish will destroy daily a thousand other fish. It has been estimated that there are annually on our coast from New Jersey to Mononomy a thousand million bluefish averaging 5 or 6 pounds each in weight, and that these eat or destroy at the lowest estimate 10 fish each every day, or a total of ten thousand millions of fish destroyed every day. And as the bluefish remain on this coast at least 120 days, the total destruction amounts in round numbers to twelve hundred million millions of fish destroyed in a single season by this species. These would weigh at least three hun- dred thousand million pounds. And it must be remembered that in this estimate no account has been taken of those destroyed by bluefish under 3 pounds in weight, vastly more numerous and all engaged simultaneously in the same _ butchery. The average size of the bluefish caught on the Florida coast is 3 to 5 pounds anc the maximum about 15 pounds. The sizes on the North Atlantic Coast run about the same. The largest bluefish of which we have any record weighed 22 pounds, and had a length of 3 feet. The bluefish is one of the best of food-fishes, ranking in public estimation mext to the pompano and Spanish mackerel. It is a standard fish in all the large markets of our eastern states. The flesh is very sweet and savoury but does not keep well. In some places the bluefish is not yet held in high esteem but is rapidly growing in popular favour. The bluefish is one of the most active and unyielding fishes that swim. ‘‘It can jump higher and come down quicker, dive deeper, and stay under longer” than any other salt-water fish of its size, says Nimrod Wildfire. ‘‘Look at his clean build, and it is accounted for; his narrow waist and depth of hull, falling off, sharply as it approaches the keel, enabling him to keep well to windward, as if he had his centre-board always down. See his immense propeller behind! No fish of his size is more wicked or wild when hooked. I have sometimes struck a 3-pound blue- fish, and thought | had a 6-pound weakfish, until he commenced Sica Common Bluefish jumping, and after giving him considerable play, have at last drawn him in by sheer force, with his pluck not the least abated.”” Thaddeus Norris describes the method of ‘‘squidding for bluefish,” which he says is the usual way of taking this fish. The squid is generally a white bone with a hook at the end, or a piece of pewter. The line is of strong hemp or cotton. With a good breeze when crossing a school of these fish, the sport is highly exciting, and great numbers are sometimes taken. We have taken the bluefish in Indian River by trolling with a large Skinner fluted spoon, and found the sport the most exciting we have ever had with any of the fishes of that river. THE SERGEANT-FISHES Family XL. Rachycentride Tue characters of this family are sufficiently shown in the ac- companying illustration of the sergeant-fish, Rachycentron canadus. This fish is an inhabitant of warm seas, ranging in summer as far north on our Atlantic Coast as Cape Cod. It is not un- common from the Chesapeake Bay southward. It is known as sergeant-fish, crab-eater, coal-fish and cobia, and it reaches a length of 4 or 5 feet, and it is edible. THE DOPPAINS Family XLI. Coryphenide Tus family contains but one genus with 2 species, found in mid-ocean, where they feed upon other pelagic fishes, such as the flying-fish, They are strong, rapid swimmers, and are widely distributed throughout all tropical and temperate waters. They are often caught by sailors at sea, and are considered ex- cellent food. It is the custom before eating them to test the flesh by putting a piece of silver into the vessel in which they have been cooked, it being a common belief that if the flesh is poisonous the silver will turn black. Narratives of ocean voyages abound in descriptions of the beautiful colours of the dolphin, and the brilliant changes of hue exhibited by the dying fish. The name dolphin is wrongly applied to these fish, as it belongs properly to a group of small cetaceans. The single genus, Coryphana, contains 2 species, C. hippurus and C. equisetis. The common dolphin, C. hippurus, reaches a length of 6 feet. It is a pelagic fish, common on our coast from the Carolinas to Texas, and occasionally north to Cape Cod. Colour, brilliant in life, the head, body and tail greenish- olive, changing suddenly at death; brownish-olive above, white or golden below, with a series of about 15 bright-blue spots on back along each side of dorsal, the largest on back and _ head, 324 The Dolphins forming bands on snout; dorsal purplish blue, with paler oblique lines; other fins tinged with blue; caudal yellow. The small dolphin, C. eguisetis, reaches a length of only about 23 feet. It is found in the open Atlantic. It is rare in the West Indies, and has not been recorded from the coast of the United States. Colour, sea-green, silvery below, with scattered black spots on the sides and back; a series of distant rounded spots along base of dorsal fin; head with brown stripes. 325 THE MARIPOSAS Family XLII. Lampride Bopy ovate, compressed, and elevated, covered with minute, cycloid scales; head small, rather pointed; mouth small, terminal; no teeth in adult; premaxillaries protractile; only one dorsal fin, very long, elevated, falcate in front, no spines; anal low, not fal- cate; both fins depressible in a groove; pectoral fins large, falcate; a pit at base of caudal above and below, as in certain sharks. Fishes of large size and gorgeous colouration, inhabiting the open sea; highly valued as food, the flesh firm and rich. The single known species is the opah, mariposa or moon- fish, Lampris luna. This interesting fish is found in the open waters of the Atlantic and Pacific. It is frequently taken on the coast of Europe and about Madeira, and is occasionally taken off the coasts of Newfoundland, Maine, and Cuba. It has also been taken at Monterey and other places on the California coast. It reaches a length of 3 to 6 feet and a weight of 50 to 400 pounds. It is called San Pedro-fish, cravo, soho, Jerusalem had- dock, glance-fish, gudlax, and poisson lune, in addition to the names given above. It is one of the choicest food-fishes, the flesh being firm, rich and of delicious flavour. It is a fish of most gorgeous colouration. ‘‘Just imagine the body a beautiful silver,” wrote the artist, James Farquhar, half a century ago, ‘‘interspersed with spots of a lighter colour, about the size of a sixpence, the eyes very large and brilliant, with a golden ring around them; you will then have some idea of the splendid appearance of the fish when fresh. If Caligula had seen him I might have realized a fortune.’”’ The colour in life, as seen by us, is a rich brocade of silver and lilac, rosy under- neath; everywhere with round silvery spots; head, opercles and back with ultramarine tints; jaws and fins vermileion; flesh red of varying shades. 326 THe POMPRETS Family XLII. Bramide Bopy oblong, more or less elevated, strongly compressed, covered with firm, adherent cycloid, lobate, or emarginate scales, or with a median ridge or spine; mouth very oblique, maxillary broad and scaly; premaxillaries protractile; jaws with bands of slender teeth; dorsal and anal fins similar, long, each with 3 or 4 anterior rays simple, developed as spines; soft dorsal and anal scaly or with a sheath of scales. Fishes of the open sea, widely distributed and often inhabit- ing considerable depths, and varying greatly with age. The single genus in our waters (Brama) contains 3 species in our limits, only one of which is of food-value. This is the pomfret, Brama rai. This species is of considerable importance as a food-fish. It occurs in the open seas and is widely dis- tributed. It descends to considerable depths. It is rare on our Atlantic Coast but it is not uncommon on the coast of Califor- nia and north to Puget Sound where it is regarded as an ex- cellent food-fish. It reaches a length of 2 to 4 feet. Colour, sooty-gray, with some soiled silvery on snout; vertical fins and anal region black, edges of dorsal and anal darker; axil jet black within. 327 THE FIATOLAS Family XLIV. Stromateide Bopby compressed, more or less elevated, covered with small or minute cycloid scales; anterior profile blunt and rounded; mouth small; premaxillaries not protractile; dentition feeble, no teeth on vomer or palatines; oesophagus armed with numerous horny, barbed, or hooked teeth; opercular bones smooth, not serrate; cheeks scaly; lateral line well developed; dorsal fin single, long, with the spines few or weak, often obsolete; anal fin long, similar to soft dorsal, usually with 3 small spines which are often depressible in a fold of skin; ventrals thoracic, I, 5 in young, but reduced or altogether wanting in adult; caudal well forked. About 10 genera and 50 species. Fishes usually of small size, found in most warm seas, many of them valued as food. The following are the only genera common in America: a. Dorsal and anal fins very high in front, the anterior lobe flea ate ut eae se, ot ap ie bce eS? ee Peprilus, 328 aa. Dorsal and anal fins only moderately elevated in front, the anterior lobe scarcely falcate. b. Side of back without conspicuous series of pores abovs lateral TNMs atest Re. ofan these Sac sho ees key an de erp a ea Palometa, 329 bb. Side of back with a conspicuous series of large, wide-set pores above lateral lime;.....-...... 20-56. .0. 000. Poronotus, 330 GENUS PEPRILUS CUVIER The Butter-fishes Body ovate or suborbicular, strongly compressed, tapering into a slender caudal peduncle, which has no keel or shield; head short, compressed, the profile obtuse; mouth small, terminal, the jaws subequal; gill-membranes separate, free from the isthmus; usually 1 or more procumbent spines in front of dorsal and anal, each with a free point both anteriorly and posteriorly; pectoral long and narrow; caudal widely forked. 328 Harvest-fish Harvest-fish Peprilus paru (Linnzus) This delicious little fish has been found from Cape Cod to Brazil, but it is not abundant anywhere except about the mouth of Chesa- peake Bay. At Norfolk, where it is called whiting, it is a fish of con- siderable commercial importance, and it is one of the most common pan-fishes one sees hawked about the streets of Baltimore, Washing- ton and other middle Atlantic cities. It reaches a length of 6 inches. One interesting fact in the life history of the fish is its habit of swimming beneath the Portuguese man-of-war. The genus Palometa is distinguished from Pepri/us only by the lower fins. The 3 known species are each of rare occurrence. The first, P. palometa, reaches a length of 3 inches and occurs in the Pacific off Columbia. Another species, P. media, is known only from Mazatlan. The third species, P. s¢mz/lima, the ‘‘ California Pom- pano,” occurs on our Pacific Coast from Puget Sound to San Diego. During summer it is abundant, especially about Santa Cruz, and is a ayes) Butterfish; Dollarfish highly prized food-fish, the flesh being rich and delicate. It reaches a length of 10 inches. Colour, bluish above, bright silvery below; fins punctulate; anterior lobes of dorsal and anal dusky-edged. GENUS. PORONOT GS Git _ This genus differs from Palometa only in the presence of a series of conspicuous, wide-set pores above the lateral line. There is but a single species in our waters. Butterfish; Dollarfish Poronotus triacanthus (Peck) This is the butterfish of the coast of Massachusetts and New York, the harvestfish of New Jersey, the dollarfish of Maine, the sheepshead of Cape Cod, the pumpkinseed of Connecticut, and the starfish of Norfork. It occurs from Maine to South Carolina, and is generally common between Cape Cod and Cape Henry. It is a summer visitor, appearing and disappearing with the mackerel. It breeds in early summer and the young are abundant in July, August, and September, swimming about, like the harvestfish, with various jelly-fishes. During the summer certain species of large jelly-fishes, called sun-squalls, are found abundantly on our Soo Butterfish ; Dollarfish Middle Atlantic Coast in waters near shore, and each one is almost invariably accompanied by 10 or 12 or even more young butterfish, seeming to seek shelter under their disks, and perhaps obtaining a supply of food from among the numerous soft bodied invertebrates that are constantly becoming entangled with the floating streamers of their protectors. This position is not always safe for the little fish, as they are sometimes destroyed by the tentacles of their protector which are provided with powerful sting or lasso-cells. Though the fish are, by this commensal arrangement, safe from the attacks of larger fish, they often fall victims to the stinging power of the jelly-fish and are devoured. 331 Able BASSES, (CRAPPIES “AND SUNFISHESs Family XLV. Centrarchide Bopy more or less shortened and compressed, the regions above and below the axis of the body nearly equally developed and corresponding to each other; head compressed; mouth ter- minal, large or small; teeth in villiform bands, the outer slightly enlarged, no canines; teeth present on the premaxillaries, lower jaw, vomer, usually on the palatines, and sometimes on_ the tongue, pterygoids and hyoid; premaxillaries protractile; maxillary with a supplemental bone in the large-mouthed species, some- times minute or obsolete; preopercle entire or somewhat serrate; opercle ending in 2 flat points or prolonged in a black flap at the angle; gills 4, a slit behind the last; pseudobranchie ,small; gill-membranes separate, free from the isthmus; branchiostegals 6, rarely 7; gillrakers variously formed, armed with small teeth; lower pharyngeal bones separate, their teeth conic or sometimes paved; cheek and opercles scaly; body fully scaled, the scales usually not strongly ctenoid, rarely cycloid; lateral line present, usually complete; dorsal fins confluent, the spines 6 to 13, de- pressible in a shallow groove; anal spines 3 to 9; intestine short; pyloric cceca 5 to 10. Colour, usually brilliant, chiefly greenish; sexes similar; changes with age often great. This is a family of North American freshwater fishes, with about 12 genera and 30 species, forming one of the most charac- teristic features of our fish-fauna. Most of the species build nests, which they defend with much courage. They all breed in the spring, and are all valued as food, their importance being in direct proportion to the size which they attain. All are carniv- orous, voracious and gamy, some of them being among the greatest of all game-fishes. a. Dorsal fin scarcely longer than the anal. b. Dorsal spines 5 to 8; anal spines 6; spinous dorsal shorter than soft dorsal; body rather short and greatly compressed; Pomoxts, 333 bb. Dorsal spines 11 or 12; anal spines 7 or 8; spinous dorsal longer than soft dorsal; body short, deep and compressed; Centrarchus, 337 aa. Dorsal much longer than the anal. 332 Crappie and Calico Bass c. Body comparatively short and deep. the depth usually more than 2 the length; dorsal fin not deeply emarginate. d. Tongue and pterygoids with teeth; mouth large, maxillary reaching past middle of eye. Bawoedies eycloid: caudal convex; .-\05/5. 2.0~- Acantharchus, 338 ee. Scales ctenoid; caudal concave. f. Opercle emarginate behind; anal spines 5 to 8. g. Lingual teeth in a single patch; gillrakers about 10;....... Ambioplites, ae gg. Lingual teeth in 2 patches; gillrakers about 20; é Archoplites, 341 ff. Opercle ending in a black convex process or flap; anal spines SIAR eile kin a Cts Cee. aie ae Chenobryttus, 342 dd. Tongue and pterygoids toothless; mouth small, the maxillary barely reaching past middle of eye. h. Supplemental maxillary bone perfectly distinct;....Apomotis, 342 nh Supplemental maxillary bone rudimentary or ‘wanting. . Lower pharyngeals narrow, the teeth usually sharp, not coni- END alacol a ON SRE SS aR Prec RP a eA A Lepomis, 344 i. Lower pharyngeal bones broad and concave, especially in the adult; teeth more or less blunt or paved;..Eupomotis, 350 cc. Body comparatively elongate, the depth in the adult about 4 the length; dorsal fin low, deeply emarginate;......... Micropterus, 355 GENUS POMOXIS RAFINESQUE Crappie and Calico Bass Body rather short and greatly compressed; snout projecting; mouth large, oblique; maxillary broad, with a well-developed sup- plemental bone; gillrakers long and slender; opercle emarginate; preopercle and preorbital finely serrate; scales large, feebly ctenoid; fins large, the anal larger than dorsal; caudal emarginate; bran- chiostegals 7; lateral line complete. @. Dorsal spines 6, rarely “5; anal fin plain;...... annularis, 334 aa. Dorsal spines 7, rarely 8; anal fin strongly reticulated; sparoides, 335 333 The Crappie Crappie Pomoxts annularis Rafinesque The crappie is found from Vermont and New York west- ward through the Great Lakes region and Mississippi Valley to the Dakotas and south to Texas. It is therefore a fish of wide distri- bution and has, in consequence, received many vernacular names. It is called bachelor in the Ohio Valley, campbellite, croppie, and new-light in Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky; tin-mouth or paper- mouth in northern Indiana and Illinois, and sac-a-lait, and chin- quapin perch in the lower Mississippi and Texas. In other places it is known as bridge perch, goggle-eye, speckled perch, shad, and John Demon, the last name being heard in northeastern Indiana. The crappie and the calico bass are confounded by most anglers and fishermen, and many of the vernacular names are, in consequence, interchangeable. Where only one species is found it is quite apt to be known as the crappie. The crappie is found from the St. Lawrence and the Great Lakes south to Texas and west to the Dakotas and Kansas. It is generally abundant in ponds, lagoons, bayous and all sluggish waters, but is much more com- mon in the southern portions of its range. In the lower Mis- sissippi Valley the young of this species literally swarm in the overflow ponds and bayous and vast numbers perish every year when these waters dry up, as many of them do. 334 Calico Bass The crappie reaches a length of about a foot and, when found in water that is not too warm or too muddy, is regarded as an excellent pan-fish. As it is usually found, however, in muddy water, its flavour is not devoid of the taste of its en- vironment and the species is by many not regarded with very high favour as a food-fish. As a game-fish it is held in high esteem in the South and at least as far north as Washington. Among Louisiana anglers this fish is said to be a great favourite. It will take a minnow bait as promptly as will a black bass, but is not very pugna- cious, and will not make much of a fight; besides, the mouth is very tender and the hook is quite apt to tear out unless the fish is handled with considerable skill. This fact, in the opinion of the expert angler, more highly commends the crappie as it requires greater skill in handling the tackle. The range of the crappie has been considerably extended through the operations of the United States Fish Commission. Large numbers are reclaimed every year from the overflow ponds along the Mississippi and transplanted into various waters. Colour, silvery-olive, mottled with dark green, the dark mark- ings chiefly on the upper part of the body and having a tendency to form narrow vertical bars; dorsal and caudal fins marked with green; anal fin pale, nearly plain; fins very high, but lower than in the calico bass. Calico Bass Pomoxis sparoides (Lacépéde) The calico bass is found throughout the Great Lakes region and south to New Jersey and Texas. Among the Great Lakes and throughout the upper Mississippi Valley it is an abundant and well-known species. Like its congener, the crappie, it pre- fers the lakes, ponds, bayous and sluggish lowland streams. The 2 species have essentially the same geographic range, the calico bass, however, being the more common species northward while the crappie is the more abundant in the south. In the lagoons about Buffalo, N. Y., as well as in the small lakes of Michigan and northern Indiana it is abundant. It is also very abundant in the ponds and bayous in Illinois and large 335 Calico Bass numbers are every year transplanted from the ponds about Mere- dosia by the United States Fish Commission. Grass bass, barfish, strawberry bass, bitterhead, banklick bass, and lamplighter are names which have been applied to this fish; in fact, all the names of the crappie have been applied to this species, but the names in most general use are calico bass and strawberry bass. It reaches a length of a foot or more. In Lake Maxinkuckee we have seen specimens 14 inches long and weighing a pound. The usual size, however, does not exceed 10 or 12 inches and a weight of half a pound. As a food and game-fish the calico bass does not differ appreciably from the crappie. Their habits are essentially the same, both preferring the quiet waters of bayous, ponds and lakes, though this species is more often seen in clearer, colder waters. At Cedar and Maxinkuckee lakes, in northern Indiana, the calico bass affords much sport to the angler. They bite best in the early spring, in June, and again late in the fall. They may be taken still-fishing with grasshoppers, worms or live minnows, or by trolling with live minnow or spoon. They will at times rise to the artificial fly and we have seen some fine catches made in that way. Trolling is a favourite mode of fishing for this species and the crappie at Lake Maxinkuckee. They take the lure with a rush and vim which promises a more exciting fight than really develops, for they soon give up completely and are lifted into the boat without a struggle. At Cedar Lake they are fished for from flat-bottomed skiffs and from sail-boats, with bait of minnows, worms or pieces of fish. When fishing from a sail-boat the angler uses two lines with spoon-baits or ‘‘ whirl, ” by means of which large catches are made. Colour, silyery-olive, mottled with clear olive-green, the dark mottlings gathered in small irregular bunches and covering the whole body; vertical fins with dark olive reticulations surround- ing pale spots; anal marked like the dorsal; a dusky opercular spot. The calico bass and the crappie resemble each other closely, but are perfectly distinct and well-marked species. The easiest way to distinguish them is by means of the dorsal spines, the crappie having only 5 or 6, while the calico bass always has 7 or 8. The different colouration, particularly of the anal fin, and the difference in the anterior profile are also constant and important differential characters. 336 GENUS CENTRARCHUS CUVIER & VALEN- CIENNES This genus contains but one species, C. macropterus, the flier or round sun-fish. aS age This interesting little sunfish reaches a length of 5 or 6 inches. It inhabits lowland streams, ponds and bayous from Virginia southward near the coast to Florida and Louisiana, and northward sparingly in the Mississippi Valley to Southern Illinois. In the Dismal Swamp region and elsewhere in clear water it is abundant. It is a hand- some little fish, and in some places affords considerable sport to local fishermen. It posses considerable gameness and takes the hook baited with angleworm or small cockroach with an avidity which doubtless gave rise to the name ‘‘Flier,’ by which it is most generally known. Colour, green or greenish, with series of dark brown spots on side below lateral line, forming interrupted, longitudinal lines; a dark spot below eye; soft dorsal and anal reticulated; young with a black ocellus at base of soft dorsal. 337 GENUS ACANTHARCHUS GILL This is another genus containing but a single species, the mud sunfish, A. pomolis. This is another of the small sunfishes found in the lowland streams and sluggish waters of the Middle Atlantic Coast. It occurs from southern New York near the coast to South Carolina; it is locally common, especially in the lower Delaware. It attains a length of about 6 inches and is used to some extent as a panfish. It is inferior in every way to the flier. Colour, very dark greenish; body usually with 5 rather in- distinct blackish longitudinal bands along side; cheek with dark bands which run nearly parallel, the lowest passing across the maxillary around the front part of the lower jaw; a black opercular spot; fins plain dusky. GENUS AMBLOPLITES RAFINESQUE The Rock Basses This genus is characterized by having the body oblong, mo- derately compressed; mouth large, maxillary broad, the supple_ 338 ROCK BASS, Ambloplites rupestris Rock Bass; Redeye; Goggle-eye mental bone well developed; lower jaw projecting; teeth on vomer, palatines, and tongue; those on tongue in a single patch; pharyngeal teeth sharp; branchiostegals 6; opercle ending in 2 flat points; preopercle serrate at its angle; gillrakers rather long and strong, dentate, fewer than 10 in number, developed only on the lower portion of the arch; scales large, somewhat ctenoid; lateral line complete; dorsal fin much larger than the anal, spines rather low; caudal emarginate. Rock Bass; Redeye; Goggle-eye Ambloplites rupestris (Rafinesque) The common rock bass is one of our most familiar panfishes. It is found from Vermont and New York westward to Manitoba and south to Louisiana and Texas. In the upper Mississippi Valley and in the Great Lakes it is very abundant, and is found in practically every lake, pond and stream. It is found not only in the rivers, but also in the creeks and smaller streams. It prefers clear, cool water, and is therefore least abundant in bayous and shallow, muddy lakes. In the lakes it will be found about patches of potamogeton or other aquatic vegetation. In the streams it most delights to dwell in the quiet water of deep holes where there are large boulders among which some water- plants are growing, or about old stumps or logs where the water is 3 to 6 or 8 feet deep. The rock bass reaches the length of 12 inches and a weight of 1 to 14 pounds, though it does not usually attain this size. The average weight probably does not exceed 4 pound. It spawns in -the spring, when it constructs a nest on a gravel bed where the water is moderately swift, or on a bar, if in a lake. The parent fish defend the nest with much vigour. This species is pre-eminently a boy’s fish, though it is by no means despised by anglers of maturer years, and in the Great Lakes region and upper Mississippi Valley it is one of the better fishes often seen on the small boy’s string. As a game-fish it is rather disappointing. It takes the hook with vim and energy and begins a most vigorous fight which, however, it usually fails to keep up. it can usually be caught at any season and at any time of day; good fishing may be had even at night. Any kind of bait may be used, but 339 Rock Bass; Redeye; Goggle-eye small minnows, white grubs, and angleworms are best. It will take the trolling spoon quite readily and the spinner and the bucktail also are successful lures. Minnows may be used either in still-fishing or in trolling. During the summer grasshoppers are a good bait, and pieces of freshwater mussel or yellow perch are excellent. In the fall still-fishing with small minnows usually meets with success. Casting with the artificial fly is not a com- mon method for catching the rock bass, yet we have had many good rises and have taken some fine examples in that way; we have also taken it on the artificial frog. Small crawfish also are a tempting bait. As already stated, they are pretty gamy when first hooked, and make quite a fight at times, especially at first, and again when brought alongside the boat. As a pan-fish the rock bass is not equal to the bluegill. Its flesh is softer and less flaky, and is apt to have a muddy taste unless the fish comes from rather cool, clear water. We are inclined to think that those from streams are of better flavour than the ones taken from lakes. The rock bass has been handled to some extent by the United States Fish Commission, tnrough whose Operations it has been introduced into waters which it did not previously inhabit. Head 23; depth 2 to 2}; eye 3} to 4}; snout 4; maxillary 21; D. XI, 10; A. VI, 10; scales about 6-39-12, 6 to 8 rows on cheek; coeca 7; vertebre 14+18; gillrakers 7 to 10. Body ob- long, moderately compressed, head large; profile in adult some- what depressed above the eyes; mouth large, the maxillary reaching middle of pupil; gillrakers developed only on lower part of arch; preopercle serrate near its angle. Colour, olive green, conspicuously tinged with brassy, and with much dark mottling; the young irregularly barred and blotched with black, and with very little brassy; the adult with a dark spot on each scale, these forming interrupted black stripes; a black opercular spot; dark mottlings on the soft dorsal, caudal and anal; eye more or less red. In the Roanoke River of Virginia is found a rock bass closely resembling the common rock bass. It seems to differ only in having the scales on the cheek minute and imbedded and wholly invisible over most of the cheek, and in having the profile over 340 The Sacramento Perch the eyes more concave. No other differences have been noted, and the species are probably not distinct. The habits of the Roanoke rock bass do not differ from those of the common species. GENUS “ARCHOPLITES GILL This genus contains a single species, the Sacramento perch, A. interruptus, the only species of the family found on our Pacific Coast. It inhabits the Sacramento and the San Joaquin rivers, and their tributary streams and lakes, and has been abundant throughout its range. It is said, however, probably without reason, that it is being exterminated by the carp and catfish, which infest its spawning grounds. This species reaches a length of 1 to 2 feet, and is regarded as an excellent food-fish We know nothing as to its game qualities. Colour, blackish above, side silvery, with about 7 vertical blackish bars, irregular in form and position, and more or less interrupted; body sometimes almost wholly black, sometimes brassy; a black opercular spot; fins nearly plain. 341 GENUS CHAGNOBRYTTUS GILL This genus has the general form and dentition of Amblo- plites, with the convex opercle, 10 dorsal and 3 anal spines of Lepomts. The single species is the warmouth, mud sunfish, or Indian fish, C. gulosus. The warmouth is found in the eastern United States from the Great Lakes south to Georgia and Texas and west to Iowa and Kansas, chiefly west of the Alleghanies. It is another of those sunfishes which prefer the bayous, sluggish lowland streams, and shallow, mud-bottomed ponds and lakes. It is abundant in the more shallow lakes in Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin, and in the ponds and bayous of the South. It reaches a length of about 10 inches and is not a food or game-fish of much importance. At times it will take the hook pretty freely and will fight fairly well, somewhat after the manner of the rock bass. It will take a live minnow, angleworm, white grub, grasshopper or piece of clam or fish. On account of its usually inhabiting water with muddy bottom its flesh is apt to taste of the mud. Body shaped much like that of the rock bass; head and mouth large, maxillary reaching posterior line of eye; dorsal spines low, the longest equal to distance from tip of snout to middle of eye; pectoral not nearly reaching anal fin; ventrals barely reach- ing vent. Colour, dark olive-green, or sometimes rich brick-red and brassy, clouded with darker, usually with red, blue and brassy; a dusky spot on each scale; ventral fins mottled with dusky; a faint spot on last rays of dorsal bordered by paler; 3 oblique dusky or reddish bars radiating from eye; belly yellowish or brassy. GENUS APOMOTIS RAFINESQUE This genus is very close to Lepomis, from which it differs only in the development of the supplemental maxillary bone which is rudimentary or wanting in Lepomis; the mouth is larger in Apomotis, the lower pharyngeals narrow, with acute ° 342 Snsojns snqjtiqounyy ‘SSV A HLAOWUVM The Blue-Spotted Sunfish teeth; gillrakers well developed, long and stiff; pectoral bluntish, shorter than head; scales moderate, 33 to 50. This genus contains 5 known species widely distributed in American waters. The only one of these species of Apomotis which attains sufficient size or that is sufficiently abundant to be of any value as a food or game-fish, is Apomotis cyanellus, the blue-spotted sunfish or green sunfish. This beautiful little sunfish is found wholly west of the Alleghanies and from the Great Lakes to Mexico. It is usually abundant in all suitable waters from central Ohio and Indiana to the Rio Grande. It is not often found in lakes or large streams but in the smaller creeks, brooks and ponds it is an abundant and well- known little fish. It does not attain a greater length than 6 to 8 inches and a weight of more than 4 or 5 ounces, but it is a sprightly little fish and excellent for the pan. Like the pumpkin- seed it is, where common, a prime favourite with the small boy. It readily takes a hook baited with grub or angleworm and would make a vicious fight for liberty if it were only larger. In the streams of Nebraska, Kansas, South Dakota and south to Texas, where game-fishes are not abundant the green sunfish is a choice pan-fish. Head 3; depth 2t; D. X, 11; A. Ill, 9; scales small, 6 or 9- 45 to 55-16, 40 to 48 pores, 8 rows on cheek; gillrakers X-+10. Body rather elongate, becoming short and deep with age; head large, with projecting snout; mouth rather large, maxillary broad and flat, with a small supplemental bone, reaching nearly to middle of eye; lower jaw projecting; dorsal spines quite low, the highest scarcely longer than snout, 3 to 4 in head in adult, longer in young; opercular spot smaller than eye, broadly mar- gined with bronze, the black confined to the bony part; pecto- ral short, not reaching anal, 14 in head; ventrals not reaching vent. Colour, variable, the prevailing shade green, with a strong brassy lustre on sides, becoming nearly yellow below; each scale usually with a sky-blue spot and more or less of gilt edging, giving an appearance of pale lateral streaks; besides these marks, dusky or obscure vertical bars are often present, and the sides are sprinkled with dark dots; vertical fins marked with blue or green, the anal usually edged in front with pale orange; usually a conspicuous black spot on posterior base of dorsal and anal 343 Common Sunfishes fins, these sometimes obsolete; cheeks with narrow blue stripes; iris red. The green sunfish can be readily told from all other species by the fact that the black opercular spot covers only the bony or hard portion of the opercle. Hen (is, We a5 pe ay i ini i ee Wiss we {a ai Ages aie 2 Apomotis symmetricus is a pretty and interesting sunfish, not uncommon in the lower Mississippi Valley and Texas, where it is a common pan-fish. GENUS LEPOMIS ‘RAFINESQUE Common Sunfishes Body oblong or ovate, more or less compressed; mouth small, the jaws about equal; maxillary narrow, supplemental bone re- duced to a mere rudiment or wholly wanting; teeth on vomer and palatines, none on tongue; lower pharyngeals narrow, the teeth spherical or paved, all or nearly all sharp, few or none of them conical; gillrakers mostly short; preopercle entire; opercle ending behind in a convex black flap, which becomes greatly developed with age in some species; branchiostegals 6; scales moderate; one dorsal fin with 10 spines; anal with 3; caudal fin emarginate. Colour, brilliant, but evanescent. 344 Common Sunfishes A genus with about 8 species which are among the most difficult of our fishes to distinguish. The form of the body, de- velopment of the ear-flap, and height of the spines vary with age and condition, while the general appearance and the number of scales and fin-rays are essentially the same in all. a. Pectoral fin short, obtuse, not reaching beyond front of anal, considerably shorter than head. b. Gillrakers shortish, rather firm; palatine teeth present. c. Opercular flap in adult very long but narrow; scales 43 to 48; longest dorsal spine about 3 in head; some bluish stripes Ba bead:y beliyrred ine adults’ 4 <5). Gedde Se Gee es auritus, 346 cc. Opercular flap short and broad; scales 36 to 40; longest dorsal spine about 2 in head; side with rows of red _ spots ; miniatus, 346 bb, Gillrakers very soft and weak; palatine teeth obsolete. d. Dorsal spines rather long, about 2 in head; side with rows of MROMBEUSHOUSS 6 scr ciel ticle ieee MUR ss 'ce's oe os garmant, 347 dd. Dorsal spines short, about 3 in head in adult; colour brilliant, ELEN PAPER sees ce 0 pa ee oe SO megalotis, 347 aa. Pectoral fin longer, more or less pointed, not much, if any, shorter than head, reaching to or beyond front of anal. é. Scales very large, about 35 in lateral line. f. Opercular spot short, wholly surrounded by a red margin; side MiLNeCONSPICUOUS TEM SpOISs « «..,.c.rem: 22s. humilis, 348 ff Opercular spot plain black; body without red_ spots; haplognathus, 348 ee. Scales moderate or small, more than 4o in lateral line. g. Dorsal fin without black spot at base of last rays; opercular flap short; side with chain-like cross-bands;.....macrochirus, 348 gg. Dorsal fin with a large black blotch at base of posterior rays; opercular flap large but not long;............ pallidus, 349 Red-Breasted Bream TLS is LED, Jak ca ay, h) Seay Sy Se 49) iy 9999) i) i ) ip nar i. = Red-breasted Bream Lepomis auritus (Linnzus) The red-breasted bream or yellow-belly is found from Maine to Louisiana and is abundant in all streams east of the Alleghanies. It reaches a length of 6 to 8 inches and is a good little pan-fish. It can be taken readily on the hook baited with angleworm. Body elongate, not elevated; mouth rather large, oblique, the maxillary reaching past front of eye; gillrakers quite short, X+8 or 9, stiff and rough, set wide apart; opercular flap very long (longer in the adult than in any other sunfish except L. mega/otis), usually not wider than the eye; lower margin of flap usually pale. Colour, olive; belly largely orange-red; side with reddish spots on a bluish ground; vertical fins chiefly orange or yellowish; head usually with bluish stripes, especially in front of eye, most distinct in adult; fins becoming dusky in spirits; no dusky blotch on last rays of dorsal or anal. Scarlet Sunfish Lepomis miniatus Jordan This handsome little fish is found in the lowland streams along the Gulf Coast from Texas to Florida, passing over even to the 346 Long-eared Sunfish Indian River region. It is probably most abundant about New Orleans. It gets to be about 6 inches in length and is of but little value as a food-fish. Body oblong and somewhat regularly elliptical; mouth rather large; opercular flap short and broad, entirely black or dark green; gillrakers stout but not very short; pectoral long. Colour, side of male with about 14 rows of red spots, those of lower rows brightest; middle of side with some black spots; some black under pectoral; belly orange with red spots. In southern Indiana and Illinois is found L. garmani which may be not distinct from méniatus. tay Mp, ‘a, en im Long-eared Sunfish Lepomis megalotis (Rafinesque) One of our most abundant sunfishes from Michigan and Minnesota southward to South Carolina and the Rio Grande. It is found in most streams, especially in clear brooks. It reaches a length of 7 or 8 inches and does not differ essentially from any of the other smaller sunfishes, either as a panfish or in its game qualities. It is extremely variable in form and colour, but is always one of the most brightly coloured of fresh-water fishes. 347 Red-spotted Sunfish Body short and deep, compressed, the back very strongly arched in adult, the profile very steep, usually forming an angle above the eyes, but sometimes full and convex; mouth small, oblique, the premaxillary rather below the eye, the maxillary reaching middle of eye; gillrakers very short and soft, weaker than in any other species; dorsal spines very low, the longest little longer than snout, 3 in head; opercular flap in the adult very long and broad, with a pale blue or red margin, which is sometimes very broad, sometimes almost wanting; opercular flap half, or more, longer than the eye in the adult, much shorter in the young. Colour, brilliant blue and orange, the back chiefly blue, the belly entirely orange, the orange on sides in spots, the blue in wavy, vertical streaks; lips blue; cheek orange, with bright blue stripes; blue stripes before the eye, soft parts of vertical fins with the rays blue and the mem- branes orange; ventrals dusky; iris red. Red-spotted Sunfish Lepomis humilis (Girard) This small, highly-coloured sunfish is found from Ohio and Kentucky west to the Dakotas and south to Texas; locally abun- dant, especially in sandy streams in the lower Missouri basin. It reaches only about 4 inches in length and, though it will take a hook readily, it is of little importance as a game-fish. Body oblong, profile not steep; scales large; spines rather high; mucous pores on head very large; opercular flap rather long, broad, and with a very broad red margin which entirely sur- rounds the black; longest dorsal spine not quite half head; pec- toral a little shorter than head; gillrakers rather long and well developed. Colour, bluish, with conspicuous greenish spots and mottlings posteriorly; side with many conspicuous round, salmon- red spots; usually a faint black spot on last rays of dorsal; belly and lower fins red. Lepomis haplognathus is a rare species known only from Monterey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico. The species is interesting chiefly in that it is the most southern sunfish known. In the Ohio Valley, and southwestward to Kentucky and Arkansas, is another small sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus) reach- ing a length of 4 or 5 inches. It is related to the bluegill, from which it differs in having no black spot on dorsal or anal 348 The Bluegill fin, in the short opercular flap, and in having chain-like cross- bands on the side. It is a rare species. Bluegill Lepomis pallidus (Mitchill) The bluegill is perhaps the best known and certainly the most important of all our true sunfishes. It is known also as_ blue bream, blue sunfish, copper-nosed sunfish, dollardee, and doubt- less by many other vernacular names. It is found throughout the Great Lakes and in the Mississippi Valley, from western New York and Pennsylvania to Iowa and Missouri, and from Minne- sota to Florida and the Rio Grande. It is one of our most variable and widely distributed species, and is found in all lakes, ponds and quiet streams throughout its range. Though found in quiet streams, it is, above all, #e sunfish of the lakes, whether large or small, but is decidedly more abundant in the smaller ones. In the small glacial lakes of northern Indiana it is found in very great numbers. The bluegill is the largest of the sunfishes. It reaches a length of 12 to 14 inches, and a weight of nearly a_ pound. The average weight of those taken at Lake Maxinkuckee is about half a pound, while those at Bass Lake (another famous bluegill lake 10 miles west from Lake Maxinkuckee) do not average more than 3 or 4 ounces. The maximum weight is about 14 pounds. As a food-fish the bluegill is of much importance, and of all the species it is the one most often sent to market, where it always brings a good price. As a pan-fish it is excelled, among fresh-water fishes, only by the yellow perch. Its flesh is firm and flaky, and possesses a delicious flavour. And among all the sunfishes it holds the highest rank as a game-fish. It can be taken at any time in the year, even through the ice in winter. It bites well during the spring and early sum- mer, while from early July until September it is particularly voracious, and fine catches can then be made. It will take any sort of bait, and can be taken with any sort of tackle. Angle- worms are probably the best bait, either in still-fishing or trolling, but grasshoppers are also excellent. White grubs, small minnows, 349 The Bluegill small pieces of fish or mussel are good; and they can be taken on the artificial fly, or small trolling spoon. Most of those who fish for bluegills do so at anchor and with two long cane poles projecting over either side of the stern of the boat. The line always has a float upon it, its dis- tance from the hook regulated by the depth of the water, and the hook is thrown as far from the boat as possible. The bluegills are usually found in 5 to 15 feet of water on the edges of the bars where there are patches of Potamogeton or other water plants. They usually keep in more or less definite schools, and the patient angler usually lands them all. They do not seize the hook with a rush as does the rock bass, but quietly suck it in, and the fight does not begin until the fish {finds that it is hooked, but from then on the fight is of the most vigorous kind, and is kept up to the end with a persis- tency and viciousness that make the bluegill ‘“‘the gamest of all fishes for its size.” Colour, rich greenish olive on back, becoming paler on sides; top of head dark greenish; opercles and cheek bluish; opercular flap rich velvety black, a small whitish spot above near its base; side with 3 or 4 broad darker greenish bars; fins all greenish, the pec- toral palest, reddish at base; a large black blotch on last rays of dorsal, a similar one on anal; the dark bars become obsolete in the adult; no blue stripes on cheek; no red on fins; old individuals often with the belly coppery red or brassy. GENUS EUPOMOTIS GILL & JORDAN This genus is closely related to Lepomis, from which it differs only in the blunter and more pavement-like teeth of the lower pharyngeal bones. These bones are usually broader and more concave than in Lepomis, the gillrakers are usually shorter and fewer, the supplemental maxillary is reduced or wanting, and the opercular flap is always provided with an orange spot on its lower posterior border. The genus as now understood con- tains 6 known species. a. Pectoral fin short, not longer than head, not reaching past origin of anal. b. Mouth large, maxillary about reaching pupil; supplemental max- illary present; gillrakers hard and of moderate length. 35° LA, i ~ i - ~ ~ Hee i) BLUEGILL SUNFISH, Lepom otis heros upom ED-EARED SUNFISH, £ R McKay’s Sunfish c. Dorsal spines moderate, the longest equalling snout and } the orbit; depth 24; body with 8 or 9 dusky crossbars; pallidus, 351 cc. Dorsal spines shorter, the longest equalling snout and less than + of the orbit;....-....--.....-+...05. euryorus, 351 bb. Mouth smaller, maxillary scarcely reaching orbit; supplemental maxillary absent or reduced to a slight rudiment; gillrakers very short and soft. d. Pectoral fin slender, nearly as long as head;...holbrooki, 352 dd. Pectoral fin obtuse, shorter than head;......... gibbosus, 353 aa. Pectoral fin long, slender and pointed, longer than head, reaching middle of anal. e. Gillrakers long, their ends obtuse; 44 scales in lateral line; longimanus, 352 ee. Gillrakers short, as in FE. gibbosus, 39 scales in lateral line; heros, 354 Eupomotis pallidus, which has received no distinctive common name, occurs in lowland streams from Georgia to Texas. It appears to be rare and only a few specimens are known. It reaches a length of 7 inches. McKay’s Sunfish Eupomotis euryorus (McKay) This sunfish is known only from southern Michigan, northern Ohio and northern Indiana. It is, preferably, an inhabitant of 35f Shell Cracker small lakes, but it has been found also in sluggish streams. In Lost Lake at Maxinkuckee, Indiana, it is abundant in association with the bluegill. It reaches a length of 8 inches, but is of little value as a food or game-fish. It rarely takes the hook and is not sought by even the boy angler. It is, however, a very interesting and handsome fish. Colour, in spirits, mottled olive, yellowish below; top of head blackish; membranes of vertical fins dusky; ventrals dusky with lighter margins; pectorals pale. Shell Cracker Eupomotis holbrookt (Cuvier & Valenciennes) The habitat of this fish extends from Virginia to Florida in all suitable lowland waters. It is particularly abundant in Florida in which State it seems to be pretty generally distributed. It reaches a length of nearly a foot and is one of the largest and most important sunfishes in the South. Its habits are much the same as those of the bluegill which it also resembles as a food and game-fish. In Florida it is the sunfish which is most frequently taken on the hook, the long cane pole being the rod in most popular use. Body robust, compressed, elevated, the snout rather produced; maxillary reaching orbit; preopercle slightly toothed; dorsal fin high, the spines about as high as the soft rays, the longest half head; pectoral fin very long, as long as head; gillrakers moderate, obtuse, strongly toothed; opercular flap short, broad, with a broad orange margin below and behind; no palatine teeth; lower pharyn- geals broad, the teeth large, with subspherical crowns. Colour, dusky olive, silvery below; throat yellow; fins dark, with yellowish rays; no black spot on dorsal or anal. Eupomotis longimanus is known only from the St. Johns River, Florida, and is of doubtful validity. = ee | = “— S: SMALL-MOUTH BLACK BASS, Micropterus dolomieu The same individual fish as above, showing the interesting changes in’‘colour markings occurring within a brief time Photographed at Lake Maxinkuckee, Indiana Common Sunfish; Pumpkin Seed Common Sunfish; Pumpkin-seed Eupomotis gibbosus (Linnzus) «Slowly upward, wavering, gleaming Rose the Ugudwash, the Sunfish; Seized the line of Hiawatha, Swung with all his weight upon it. But when Hiawatha saw him Slowly rising through the water, Lifting up his disc refulgent, Loud he shouted in derision ‘Esa! esa! shame upon you, You are Ugudwash, the Sunfish; You are not the fish I wanted; You are not the King of Fishes.’”’ —Longfellow. And Hiawatha was quite right. The sunfish is by no means the King of Fishes. But there is no fish which has been oftener sought by the young angler or which has brought more joy to the American boys of every generation. The pumpkin-seed is pre- 353 Red-eared Sunfish eminently the small boy’s fish, though it is by no means de- spised by children of larger growth. Never reaching a size that quite satisfies any one except the boy, yet biting with a vim which makes one regret that it is not larger; for a 2 or 3 pound ‘‘Sunny,” would surely be a fish to try the skill and delight the heart of any angler. The pumpkin-seed is a familiar inhabitant of clear brooks and ponds from Maine to the Great Lakes and southward east of the Alleghanies to Florida. In the Mississippi Valley it is found only in the northern portion, being fairly abundant in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa and northward. It is said to be rather rare south of Virginia. It reaches a length of 8 inches and a weight of 6 or 8 ounces, and is ‘a very beautiful and compact little fish, perfect in all its parts, looking like a brilliant coin fresh from the mint.” Colour, greenish-olive above, shaded with bluish, the sides spotted and blotched with orange; belly orange-yellow; cheek orange, with wavy blue streaks; lower fins orange, the bluish and orange spotted; opercular flap rather small, the lower pos- terior part always bright scarlet, a mark which at once dis- tinguishes this species, when adult, from all our other brightly coloured sunfishes. Eupomotis gibbosus is subject to considerable variations as is to be expected in a species of such wide distribution. Blue stripes and blue markings on the side are very prominent in ex- amples from Hicksville, Ohio, and Marion, lowa. Examples from Winona Lake, Indiana, have 7 or 8 faint dark bars on side and no blue stripes on cheek. Red-eared Sunfish Eupomotis heros (Baird & Girard) This sunfish is found from northern Indiana to Florida and the Rio Grande. It is an inhabitant of lowland streams and ponds, but does not appear to be common anywhere. It reaches a length of 6 or 7 inches. Nothing is definitely known as to its food and game qualities. Body robust, moderately elongate, dorsal and ventral outlines equally curved; head rather large, the projecting snout forming 354, navmo) op snsajdo 1GOAIT Ly) ip. 8 sOOUr VY SSV@ MOV’! ‘ ad HO LAOW-T’ IVWS oug*: px "y <7 The Black Basses a considerable angle above the eyes; mouth rather wide, oblique, maxillary reaching slightly part front of eye; pectoral fin reach- ing beyond middle of pupil; opercular flap smaller than eye, much as in E. gibbosus; gillrakers short and not very stiff; pharyngeal teeth paved, less blunt than in £. gibbosus. Colour, dark, greenish above, gradually becoming brassy toward belly which is light brassy; opercular spot greenish black; the flap with a broad, blood-red border in the male, plain in the female; no dark spot on dorsal or anal. GENUS MICROPTERUS LACEPEDE The Black Basses Body oblong, compressed, the back not much elevated; head oblong, conic; mouth very large, oblique, the broad maxillary reaching nearly to or even beyond the eye; supplemental bone well developed; lower jaw prominent; teeth on jaws, vomer and palatines in broad villiform bands, the inner depressible; usually no teeth on tongue; preopercle entire, the opercle ending in 2 flat points without cartilaginous flap; branchiostegals normally 6; gillrakers long and slender; Scales rather small, weakly ctenoid; lateral line complete; dorsal fin divided by a deep notch, the spines low and not especially strong; anal fin much _ smaller than the dorsal; pectoral obtusely pointed, the upper rays longest; ventrals below the pectorals and close together; caudal fin emar- ginate. Size large. Two species, among the most important of American game- fishes, now largely introduced into European waters. a. Mouth moderate, the maxillary in adult not extending beyond eye; scales small, about 17 rows on cheek; young more or less barred or spotted; never with a black lateral band; dolomieu, 355 aa. Mouth very large, the maxillary in adult extending beyond eye; scales rather large, about 10 rows on cheek; young Wilthiwea.) Dlagkish.. lateral bands. sti. 32st wrete. salmotdes, 357 Small-mouthed Black Bass; Black Bass Micropterus dolomieu Lacépéde In the felicitous words of Dr, James A. Henshall, the author eieties* Book (of the Black’ Bass,” 355 Small-mouthed Black Bass ‘The black bass is eminently an American fish; he has the faculty of asserting himself and making himself completely at home wherever placed. He is plucky, game, brave and unyield- ing to the last when hooked. He has the arrowy rush of the trout, the untiring strength and bold leap of the salmon, while he has a system of fighting tactics peculiarly his own. He will rise to the artificial fly as readily as the salmon or the brook trout, under the same conditions; and will take the live minnow, or other live bait, under any and all circumstances favourable to the taking of any other fish. I consider him, zich for inch and pound for pound, the gamest fish that swims.” And there are few, if any, who will be disposed to take issue in this matter with so experienced and expert an angler as Dr. Henshall. The black bass is found in most suitable waters from Lake Champlain westward to Manitoba and southward on both sides of the mountains from James River, Virginia, to South Carolina and the Great Lakes to northern Mississippi and Arkansas. Through the operations of the Federal and various State Fish Commissions it has been introduced into many waters to which it was not native. It was planted in the headwaters of the Potomac as early as 1853, and since then it has been successfully intro- duced into many waters in New England and other states east of the Alleghanies, into many of the Western States, and in Eng- land, France, Germany, and other foreign countries. In nearly all the localities where the black bass has_ been planted it has done well, and it is now an abundant species not only throughout its natural habitat but in many other places. It is by preference a fish of the clear running streams, and clearer, colder lakes. In the North it is equally abundant in lakes and streams, while in the southern part of its range it will be found only in the cooler streams which possess a good current. The habits, game qualities and food value of the black bass are so well known, and so much has been written about this splendid fish, that a lengthy presentation of the subject is not given here. This fish varies greatly in size in different waters. The maximum weight seems to be about 5 pounds. An example caught in Lake Maxinkuckee, 183 inches long, and 12 inches in circumference, weighed 4 pounds. The largest ever taken in that lake weighed about 5 pounds. 356 Large-mouthed Black Bass; Straw Bass Like all fishes of wide distribution, the black bass presents great variations in colour; but whatever the colour the adult can always be readily distinguished from the large-mouthed black bass by the presence of about 17 rows of scales on the cheek instead of 10 or 11 in the latter species. Head 24 to 34; depth 23 to 34; eye 5 to 64; D. X, 13 to 15; A. III, 10 to 12; scales 11-72 to 85-25, 67 to 78 pores, about 17 rows on cheek. Body ovate-fusiform, becoming deeper with age; mouth large, but smaller than in the large-mouthed black bass; maxillary ending considerably in front of posterior border of orbit, except in very old examples; scales on cheek minute; those on body small; dorsal fin deeply notched, but less so than in the other species, the ninth spine being about half as long as the fifth, and not much shorter than the tenth; soft dorsal and anal each scaly at the base. General colouration, dull golden green, with bronze lustre, often blotched with darker, especially on head; young with darker spots along the sides, which tend to form short vertical bars, but never a dark lateral band; 3 bronze bands radiating from eye across cheek and opercles; a dusky spot on point of opercle; belly white; caudal fin yellowish at base, then black, with white tips; dorsal with bronze spots, its edge dusky. In some waters the fin-markings are obsolete, but they are usually conspicuous in the young. Southern examples usually have the scales on lower part of sides with faint dark streaks. Adults have all these markings more or less obliterated, the colour ultimately becoming a uniform dead green, without silvery lustre. Large-mouthed Black Bass; Straw Bass Micropterus, salmotdes (Lacépéde) Among the Centrarchide, the large-mouthed black bass is second only to its cogener, the small-mouthed species, as a game- fish. It is equally well known to anglers, and its range is even greater. From Canada and the Red River of the North it ex- tends southward to Florida, Texas, and even into Mexico. In all suitable waters it is everywhere abundant, but prefers lakes, bay- ous and other sluggish waters. In the small lakes of the Upper Mississippi Valley it is most abundant in those of moderate or shallow depths. Some small lakes that are rather shallow, whose bottoms are chiefly mud, and whose water is warm, are found to be well suited to the straw bass, and to be entirely without the small-mouthed black bass. But small lakes of considerable depth, cool water and with bottom partly of mud and partly of 357 Large-mouthed Black Bass; Straw Bass sand and gravel, such as Lake Maxinkuckee, seem equally well adapted to both species. In the ponds, bayous, lagoons and sluggish streams of the South the straw bass is very abundant. It frequently enters brackish water along the coast, where it seems to be permanently resident. In the North the maximum weight of the straw bass is about 8 pounds. Examples of that size are rarely seen, how- ever, The average size does not exceed 3 or 4 pounds, though examples weighing 5 or 6 pounds are not at all rare. In the warm waters of the South, particularly in Florida, where the tempera- tare is equable and food abundant, this fish attains a much greater size. Dr. Henshall gives the maximum weight at 12 to 14 pounds, he himself having seen examples of those weights. The straw bass, under favourable surroundings, grows very rapidly. The conditions favourable for rapid and large growth are abundant food and waters of warm or moderate temperature and wide extent. The species is very productive. In May, 1892, the Fish Commission placed in one of the rearing ponds at Washington 15 adult large-mouth black bass, 7 or & of which were females. These fish spawned in June and at Thanksgiving time, when the young were removed from the pond, there were taken out, by actual count, over 37,000 young, each 3 to 4 inches long and 500 each weighing about one-half pound. These fish had received abundant food, but the 500 larger ones had doubt- less eaten many smaller ones of their own kind. This fish has received many vernacular names, among which may be mentioned large-mouthed black bass, straw bass, green bass, bayou bass, slough bass, lake bass, moss bass, grass _ bass, marsh bass, Oswego bass, trout, green trout, welchman, chub, and many others more or less absurd. The most distinctive and expressive name _ is doubtless ‘‘large-mouthed black bass,” the only objection to which is its length. For many reasons ‘“‘ straw bass” for this species and ‘‘black bass” for the small-mouthed species are excellent names. The relative merits of the 2 species as game-fishes have been much discussed. This depends upon many factors, as_ the character of the water with regard to extent, depth, temperature and presence of vegetation, character of bottom, food, season, time of day, personality of the particular fish, and many others. Dr. Henshall regards them as of equal gameness. Our own 358 ‘ euvlpuy DOIONYUIXVY oye] Je poydesdozol{ Saprouyps sndajdodvy “SSVE MOVIE HLNOW-ADUVI Large-mouthed Black Bass; Straw Bass experience leads us to believe that where the 2 species are found in the same water, the small-mouthed is superior in all those qualities which go together to make a game-fish. The straw- bass is, however, an equally good fighter in some portions of its range and is worthy the highest respect of all who go a-angling. This bass varies greatly in colour and proportional measure- ments in different waters. There need be no difficulty, how- ever in identifying any specimen belonging to the species. From the small-mouthed black bass, the only species with which it might be confused, the large-mouthed black bass can always be told by its having only 1o or 11 rows of scales on the cheek. Head 3 to 34; depth 3 to 31; eye 5 to 6; D. X, 12 or 13; A. Ill, 10 or 11; scales 7-65 to 70-18, about 58 to 67 pores, 10 or II rows of scales on cheek. Body ovate-fusiform, becom- ing deeper with age, moderately compressed; head large; mouth very wide, the maxillary in adult reaching beyond the eye, shorter in the young; scales on body comparatively large; teeth some- times present on tongue; gillrakers longer than gill-fringes; dor- sal fin very deeply notched, its fifth spine 31 in head. General colour, dark green above, sides and below greenish silvery; young with a blackish stripe along the side from opercle to middle of caudal fin; 3 oblique dark stripes across the cheek and opercles; some dark spots above and below lateral line; caudal fin pale at base, then blackish, and whitish at tip; belly white. As the fish grows older the black lateral band breaks up and grows fainter, and the colour becomes more and more uniform pale dull green, the back being darker. 359 THE’ PERCHES Family XLVI. Percide THE Percide comprise one of the largest and, from some points of view, one of the most interesting groups of freshwater fishes. Though represented in both Europe and America by numerous species, the great majority are little known to any except to those who really study fishes, while a few of the species are among the best known of the inhabitants of our lakes and streams. These are our yellow perch and wall-eyed pike. The vast majority of the species belong to the subfamily of darters (Etheostomina), all of which are American. They are among the most singular and interesting of our fishes, all being of very small size and most of them of very brilliant colouration. None of the more than 80 species is of any value as food, but some are used as live bait. Descriptions of all the species and much interest- ing matter concerning their habits may be found in our ‘‘ Fishes of North and Middle America.” In the following keys and descriptions only those few possessing game qualities and food-value are considered. a. Canine teeth on jaws and palatines; body elongate. St:zostedion, 360 aa. Canine teeth none; body oblong..........ccceccenee Perca, 364 GENUS STIZOSTEDION RAFINESQUE The American Pike-perches Body elongate, fusiform, the back broad; head subconical, long; cheeks, opercles, and top of head more or less scaly; mouth large, the jaws about equal; premaxillaries protractile, but little movable; teeth in villiform bands, the jaws and palatines with long, sharp canines; gill-rakers slender but strong; gill-membranes separate; preopercle serrate, the serre below turned forward; opercle with one or more spines; dorsal fins well separated, the first with 12 to 15 spines, the second with 17 to 21 rays; last dorsal spine not erectile, but bound down by membrane; anal spines 2, slender, closely bound to the soft rays, which are 11 to 14 in number; ventrals well separated; scales small, strongly ctenoid, the lateral line continuous. 360 Wall-eyed Pike; Pike-perch This genus contains 2 species, large, carnivorous fishes of the fresh waters of North America, highly valued as food and ranking among our most interesting and important game-fishes. a. Pyloric coeca 3, of nearly equal length, and each about as long as TACUSUOLNAC Is Sapiro. 2 Sls a. on ck ivsidala gn ste DIETEMINS: 301 aa. Pyloric coeca 5 to 7, 4 of them much shorter than the stomach, the others smaller and variable ...............canadense, 363 Wall-eyed Pike; Pike-perch Stizostedion vitreum (Mitchill) This important fish is a species of wide distribution. It is found from Lake Champlain westward throughout the Great Lakes region and to Assiniboia. It is native also to the small lakes of New York and the Susquehanna and Juniata rivers, east of the Alleghenies. In the Mis- sissippi Valley it occurs in many of the larger streams and small lakes as far south as Georgia and Alabama. Though found in many streams, it is preferably a fish of the lakes, and it reaches its greatest abundance in the Great Lakes, particularly in Lake Erie. In different parts of its range it is known by different names. Among the Great Lakes it is called the wall-eyed pike, yellow pike, doré or dory by the French-Cana- dians, and pickerel in places where the true pike (Esox /ucius) is found. In the Susquehanna and Juniata rivers, and in the small lakes of northern Indiana, it is known as salmon or jack salmon, names absurd and wholly without excuse. Southward in the Mississippi Valley it is the jack. Elsewhere it is called okow, blowfish, or green pike. In the Great Lakes, particularly in Lakes Erie and Ontario, the young of a 361 Wall-eyed Pike; Pike-perch certain colour are known as blue pike, which commercial fishermen believe to be a wholly distinct species from the yellow pike. So firmly fixed is this belief that they have little patience with the naturalist who tells them otherwise. They all admit, however, that they have never found any blue pike with roe, and are unable to point out any differ- ences except that of colour. And not all of them agree regarding that character. We have been shown fish which some fishermen said were blue pike which others as stoutly maintained were yellow pike. It may be stated that no structural differences of value are known, and everything points to their identity. Formerly no distinction was made in the price of blue pike and yellow pike, but for many years the deal- ers have made a difference, and now the blue pike is classed as “‘ soft.” But this is principally on account of their abundance rather than to any real inferiority of flavour or keeping qualities. A book-name used by the United States Fish Commission is pike-perch, and a very appro- priate name it is, showing at once its relationship with the Percid@ and at the same time calling attention to its slender, pike-like body. The wall-eyed pike prefers clear water, with rock, gravel, sand, or hard clay bottom, and is rarely found in muddy streams or lakes. _ It is a voracious fish, feeding largely upon various minnows, but not to any great extent upon the young of the whitefish or other important food-fishes. It also feeds freely upon crawfishes during the season when in shallow water. This fish ordinarily inhabits water of moderate depth, deeper than that frequented by the black bass, but more shallow than that sought by the whitefish and cisco. It varies greatly in size, the maximum length being about 3 feet and the maximum weight about 25 pounds. But examples of this size are very rare. Specimens weighing even 15 pounds are not common. It is doubtful if those taken in the Great Lakes average heavier than 10 pounds. Those taken in Lake Maxin- kuckee run from 3 to 7 pounds. The so-called blue pike average less than 2 pounds. The spawning-time of the wall-eyed pike is in the early spring, and begins even before the ice goes off. The spawning-place is in shoal water, usually on the edges of the bars, on hard or gravel bottom. The eggs are very small, only about #5 inch in diameter, and average about 150,000 to the quart. The spawning fish at Put-in Bay average about 2 poundsin weight, and produce about 90,000 eggs each. Larger fish produce proportionally a greater number; and a 20-pound fish would yield about 900,000 eggs. 362 Sauger; Sand-pike This is one of the most important fishes propagated by the United States Fish Commission. The principal propagating-station is at Put- in Bay, and the output in 1900 was 89,700,000 eggs, fry, and finger- lings. Those who are acquainted with the wall-eyed pike as a food-fish hold it in very high esteem. The flesh is firm, flaky, and white, and of delicious flavour. Colour, dark olive, finely mottled with brassy, the latter colour forming indistinct oblique bars; sides of head more or less vermiculated ; lower jaw flesh-coloured; belly and lower fins pinkish; spinous dorsal with a large jet-black blotch on membrane of the last 2 or 3 spines, otherwise nearly plain; second dorsal and caudal mottled — olive and yellowish; base of pectoral dusky, without distinct black blotch. The colour of this fish is very variable, as is indicated by some of its vernacular names, as yellow pike, gray pike, and blue pike. It can always be told from the sauger by its fewer subequal pyloric caeca. Sauger; Sand-pike Stizostedion canadense (Smith) The sauger is found from the St. Lawrence westward through the Great Lakes, and in the Mississippi Valley west to Montana and.south to Tennessee and Arkansas. It is especially abundant northward, in the St. Lawrence and the lower Great Lakes, where the typical form is found. Inthe upper Great Lakes and southwestward is found the sub- species griseum, which differs chiefly in the smoother opercles, fewer Opercular spines, and the less complete squamation of the head. In 63 is) The River Perch the upper Missouri basin is found the subspecies boreum, differing only in the more slender head. The sauger is a much smaller fish than the wall-eyed pike, its length seldom exceeding a foot or 18 inches and its weight a pound or two. It is on this account much less important as a food-fish than the wall-eye. Nor is it much valued as a game-fish, except, perhaps, in the Mississippi Valley, where it is frequently taken by casting and sometimes by trolling. A few years ago the sauger was, to the few elect who knew where to find it, the choicest game-fish of the lower Wabash River; and we knew a minister who always went ‘‘saugering”’ when he failed in other ways to get the proper inspiration for his next Sunday’s sermon. Starting in at the Vandalia bridge, he would direct his oars- man to get out into the current, then row slowly up stream, even to old Fort Harrison and beyond, perhaps to Durkee’s Ferry; then, turning, slowly drift with the current home again. Meanwhile, with a small, silvery minnow (a satin-fin, creek chub, or river chub) at the end of 50 feet of line, trolling through the quiet ripples and over the deep pools, he patiently waits for the sauger’s strike; and, while wait- ing, his eyes take in the beauties of the river, the shore, and the sky; ideas come readily, his thoughts fall together in logical sequence, and when Sunday comes, the sermon that he preaches is filled with sun- shine, and love, and faith in humanity; and his flock know that their pastor has spent a day upon the river. The sauger can be easily distinguished from the wall-eyed pike by its having 4 to 7 pyloric coeca of unequal length. Colour, olive-gray, sides brassy or orange, with dark mottlings, most distinct in the young, which are sharply marked; first dorsal with 2 or 3 rows of round black spots, but no black blotch on last spines; second dorsal with 3 irregular rows of dark spots; a large black blotch on base of pectoral; caudal dusky and yellowish. . GENUS ‘PERCA LINNA:US The River Perch Body oblong, somewhat compressed, the back elevated; cheeks scaly, opercles mostly naked, the opercle armed with a single spine; preopercle and shoulder-girdle serrated, the former with retrorse, hooked serrations below; premaxillaries protractile; teeth in villiform 364 Yellow Perch; Ringed Perch bands on jaws, vomer, and palatines; no canine teeth; branchiostegals 7; gill-membranes separate; scales small, ctenoid; lateral line com- plete; dorsal fins entirely separate; caudal emarginate; air-bladder present; pyloric caeca 3. Three species known, all freshwater fishes of northern regions, only one of them in America. Yellow Perch; Ringed Perch Perca flavescens (Mitchill) ‘*T pray you, sir, give me some observations and directions con- cerning the Pearch, for they say he is both a very good and a bold- biting fish, and I would fain learne to fish for him.” ' —The Complete Angler. The yellow perch is found in the eastern United States, chiefly northward and eastward. It is abundant in the Great Lakes and in the larger coastwise streams and lakes from Nova Scotia to North Carolina; also in most of the small lakes in the upper Mississippi Valley, especially in northern Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa. It is found in some of the streams of this re- gion, but it is by preference a lake fish. It is not known from the Ohio River, nor from the lower Missouri. In most of the New Eng- land lakes and those of New York it is an abundant and well- known fish. 365 Yellow Perch; Ringed Perch Wherever found, this species is the perch par excellence. Among other names by which it is known are American perch, raccoon perch, red perch, and striped perch. It is one of the most abundant and best known of freshwater fishes. Its usual length is 10 to 14 inches, and its weight 4 to 2 pounds. Examples of 3 and 4 pounds, however, have been recorded. The largest examples of which we have a defi- nite record are one of 44 pounds recorded by Dr. Goode, caught in Delaware Bay by Dr. C. C. Abbott, and another reported to us by Mr. F. A. Lucas. It was taken at Moreys Hole, Massachusetts, and weighed 3 pounds 2 ounces. The yellow perchof Europe seems to grow much larger, examples of as great as 8 and 9 pounds having been recorded. As a pan-fish we do not know of any better among American freshwater fishes. We have experimented with the yellow perch and several other species, including both species of black bass, the blue- gill, wall-eyed pike, and rock-bass, eating each for several days in suc- cession, and found the yellow perch the sweetest and most delicious of them all. One does not tire of it so soon as of the other kinds. Sev- eral other persons who tried the same experiment reached the same conclusion. In most parts of its range it is highly esteemed, and in many places it is of very considerable commercial importance. In the Great Lakes, the Potomac River, and the small lakes in the upper Missis- sippi Valley large quantities are taken, which always find a ready sale. As a game-fish the yellow perch can be commended chiefly on account of the fact that anybody can catch it. It can be taken with hook and line any month in the year and with any sort of bait, grass- hoppers, angleworms, grubs, small minnows, pieces of mussel, or pieces of fish; and it will even rise, and freely, too, on occasion, to the artifi- cial fly; we have taken it ‘‘skittering,’’ and also on the trolling-spoon. It is easily taken through the ice in winter, when small minnows are the best bait, as they are perhaps at other times. The yellow perch is not a great fighter,—its small size precludes that possibility,— but it bites well, and a 2-pounder, or one even half that size, is a fish well worth one’s while to take. If it be angled for in deep water,—say 25 to 40 feet,— in water that is cold and pure, and with light tackle, it will be found able to make a fight quite enough to please any except the most blasé of anglers. Besides, the yellow perch is a fish that can be caught by the women and children, who donot, as a rule, seek the more noble game- fishes; and many an inland summer resort is made vastly more attrac- 366 OOSPONYUIXY Oey 1e poydess0j0yg suaasaany pI4aq “HOUAd MOTIGA Yellow Perch; Ringed Perch tive because our wives and children who are spending the summer at the little inland lake are always able to bring in good strings of delicious yellow perch. As Thoreau has said in ‘‘ Walden Pond”: ‘‘It is a true fish, such as the angler loves to put into his basket or hang on top of his willow twig on shady afternoons, along the banks of the streams.” Only the yellow perch is by preferenee a fish of the small lakes rather than of the streams. This perch is gregarious and may usually be found in schools. ‘*Perch, like the Tartar clans, in troops remove, And, urged by famine or by pleasure, rove; But if one prisoner, as in war, you seize, You'll prosper, master of the camp with ease; For, like the wicked, unalarmed they view Their fellows perish, and their path pursue.” Artificial propagation, in the full sense of the term, has not been attempted with the yellow perch, but mature fish have been placed in aquariums and their naturally fertilized eggs hatched. The eggs are arranged in a very interesting manner, being laid in a single mass, which soon unfolds into a ribbon-like structure. The length of this string is very great, sometimes exceeding 7 feet. One yellow perch in a Fish Commission aquarium at Washington deposited a string of eggs 7 feet 4 inches long, 4 inches wide at one end and 2 at the other. After being fertilized this string weighed 2 pounds 9 ounces, while the weight of the fish before the eggs were discharged was only 1 pound8 ounces. The eggs are very small, measuring only 7's inch in diameter, and requiring 28,000 to the quart. At Washington the spawn- ing-time extends from the middle of March to the middle of April. Through the various fish commissions the yellow perch has been in- troduced quite successfully into a number of small lakes in Washing- ton, Oregon, and California. Colour on back, olivaceous; sides golden yellow; belly white; side with about 6 or 8 broad dark bars, which extend from back to below axis of body; lower fins largely red or orange, especially in the spring; upper fins olivaceous; a distinct black spot sometimes present on spi- nous dorsal. The colour varies greatly: the yellow is sometimes very bright, at other times quite pale; and the black bars are much stronger in some waters than in others. There is also frequently a greenish, sometimes coppery, reddish or purplish wash on head and sides; sometimes in mature breeding fish the lower fins are very brilliantly red. 367 THE ROBALOS Family XLVII. Centropomide Bopy elongate, back considerably elevated, the ventral outline straight, angulated at the anal fin; scales ctenoid, varying in size; lateral line conspicuous, extending on caudal fin; head depressed, pike-like, the lower jaw projecting; villiform teeth, in bands, on jaws, vomer, and palatines; tongue smooth; maxillary broad, truncate behind, with a strong supplemental bone; pseudobranchie small; preopercle with a double ridge, the posterior margin strongly serrate, with larger spines at the angle; preorbital and suprascapular serrated ; opercle without true spines; dorsal fins well separated, the first with 8 spines, the first and second short, the third and fourth longest; anal with 3 spines, the second strong, the third long and slender; these fins moving in scaly sheaths; caudal forked; air-bladder well developed. This family contains one genus with about 15 species, all American, and most of them game-fishes and of moderate food-value. The spe- cies are all of salt or brackish water, and their habits resemble those of the basses, as their common name, robalo, indicates, robalo being the Spanish name for the European bass. The majority of the spe- cies are of little value as food, the flesh being coarse and with little flavour. Centropomus viridis, the Pacific robalo, occurs from Panama northward to Lower California. It is in most parts of its range a common fish, reaching a length of 2 to 4 feet, and is valued somewhat as a food-fish. Colour, greenish on back; sides dull silvery; upper fins dusky, lower ones paler; ventrals plain yellowish, scarcely dotted with dusky; no yellow on other fins; lateral line black; some dusky at base of pectoral and behind second anal spine. C. undecimalis, the common robalo or snook, is the best-known species of the family, as well as the largest and most abundant. It is common on sandy shores throughout the West Indies, and from Florida to Surinam. It occurs at Key West and is common about Porto Rico, entering the lower courses of the rivers, where it is sought by the local anglers. It attains a length of 3 or 4 feet, though examples of that size are not frequent; those usually taken or seen in the markets rarely exceed 2 feet in length. The flesh is white and 368 The Robalos flaky, and in Porto Rico is highly esteemed as food, but at Key West it is little valued. We have never taken the snook with the fly or on the hook, but it is said to take the hook readily and even to rise to the fly. We have been told that the army and navy officers stationed at San Juan, Porto Rico, have good sport trolling for robalos in the mouths of the rivers along the north side of the island. C. parallelus is known only from Cuba, Santo Domingo, Porto Rico, and Pernambuco. It enters rivers and lakes and may be found long distances from salt water. In Porto Rico it ascends the larger streams well toward the interior of the island. It reaches a foot in length, is a good food-fish, and possesses some game qualities. In Porto Rico it is sought by the local anglers in the lower parts of the Rio de la Plata, the Manati, and the Rio Grande de Arecibo. 369 THE SEA-BASS Family XLVIII. Serranide Bopy oblong, more or less compressed, covered with adherent scales of moderate or small size, which are usually but not always ctenoid; premaxillaries protractile; teeth all conical or pointed, in bands, present on jaws, vomer, and palatines; pseudobranchie large; gill-membranes separate, free from the isthmus; cheeks and opercles always scaly; preopercle usually serrate; opercle usually ending in 1 or 2 flat spines; nostrils double; lateral line single, not extending on the caudal fin; air-bladder present, usually small and adherent to the walls of the abdomen. This is one of the largest as well as one of the most important families of fishes. It contains about 75 genera and over 400 species, all carnivorous fishes, mostly marine, and found in all warm and tem- perate seas. Several genera are found in fresh water. In our waters are found 29 genera and about 100 species, nearly all of which are more or less valued as food. Only a few, however, are sufficiently abundant or of sufficient size to justify detailed descriptions in this work. a. Dorsal fins 2, sometimes slightly joined. b. Dorsal fins well separated, the spines rather weak; anal Ill, 12, the spines graduated; lower jaw projecting; base of tongue with LOEU yag ae chs ays deine mhary bieres oid pee eee Roccus, 372 bb. Dorsal fins joined, the spines strong; anal Ill, 9, the spines not graduated; jaws subequal; no teeth on base of tongue. Morone, 37° aa. Dorsal fin single, sometimes deeply divided. c. Maxillary with a distinct supplemental bone. d. Inner teeth of jaws not depressible or hinged. e. Soft dorsal longer than spinous part; vertebre 10+ 14 = 24. f. Dorsal spines 9; caudal lunate ..........+---++: Liopropoma. ff. Dorsal spines 6; caudal truncate ..........-.-- Chorististium. ee. Soft dorsal shorter than spinous part; vertebra 25 to 36. g. Head not armed with spinigerous ridges; dorsal fin deeply notched. Stereolepis, 377 gg. Head armed with rough spinigerous crests; dorsal fin low and CONTINUGUS ed oboe hie se ee eee ae ere ee ieee Polyprion. dd. Inner teeth of jaws depressible or hinged. h. Pectoral unsymmetrical, its upper rays longest. .Gonzoplectrus, hh. Pectoral symmetrical, rounded, its middle rays longest. 312 The Sea-bass t. Frontal bone of skull with a transverse ridge on posterior part. Petrometopon, 380 it. Frontal bone of skull without transverse ridge. os VR STSSE]USTey Yee gS RSS gy ee Ane ge eee Centropholis. jj. Dorsal spines 11, rarely 10 but never 9. k. Parietal crests not produced forward on the frontals. I. Scales of lateral line normal, marked by radiating ridges. m. Cranium narrow above the interorbital space and deeply concave; occipital crest meeting interorbital region .... Epinephelus, 381 mm. Cranium very broad and flat above, the interorbital little concave, the occipital crest disappearing before reaching the interorbital Rear sten neh aretha eaislcred Sarid op hardteiwiate ato desacs Garrupa, 386 ll. Scales of lateral line each with 4 to 6 strong, radiating ridges. Promicrops, 387 kk. Parietal crests produced forward on the frontals. n. Frontals with a process or knob on each side behind the interorbital area; anal rays Ill, 8, rarely III, 9. o. Preopercle with a single antrorse hook or spine near the angle. Alphestes, 388 oo. Preopercle without antrorse spine ............. Dermatolepts, 389 nn. Frontals without processes on the upper surface; anal rays III, 11 Miers avery farclyallls G OGIO t i. s.a5 waa sec cee Mycteroperca, cc. Maxillary without supplemental bone. p. Gill-rakers comparatively short and wide apart; lateral line not running close to the back (except in Serranus). g. Ventral fins inserted below or more or less behind axil of pectoral. r. Dorsal fin with 4 or 5 spines produced in long filaments. Cratinus, 395 rr. Dorsal without long filamentous spines, not more than one of the spines especially produced. s.. Body short and deep, the back elevated, the depth more than 2 the length; preopercle with a few antrorse serre on its lower limb. Hypoplectrus, 395 ss. Body comparatively elongate, the depth + to + the length; no hooked spinules on lower limb of opercle...... Paralabrax, 395 gq. Ventral fins anterior, inserted more or less in advance of axil of pectoral. ¢. Smooth area on top of head very short and small, as seen on remov- ing skin; caudal fin not lunate, but rounded or ending in 3 PUG Sens tere d @ tia ase susiaba ois Wig Cison «sti hiv areal bnere. 8) Centropristes, 397 tt. Smooth area on top of head very large; caudal fin lunate or UTIL ICC OS oo cides ch cc Mialsioreve alwis, 6,0) 5 e/oLave aie Gistp teres etm Diplectrum, 398 pp. Gill-rakers very long, slender, and close-set; lateral line running BOSE mOrBACk sie sh PS OS Se tite ha eels Paranthias, The Striped Bass GENUS ROCCUS MITCHILL The Striped Bass Body rather elongate; scales smooth; spines slender; base of tongue with 1 or 2 patches of teeth; anal spines graduated; dorsal fins entirely separate; anal rays III, 11 or 12; lower jaw projecting. Only 2 species, both American and both valued food-fishes. a. Teeth on base of tongue in a single patch; body rather deep and compressed, the depth more than 34 the length; back arched. chrysops, 372 aa. Teeth on base of tongue in 2 parallel patches; body rather slender, the depth less than 4 the length; back not arched. lineatus, 373 pce or EE “< eae OES a ee at 3 RIES ay: White Bass; White Lake Bass Roccus chrysops (Rafinesque) The white bass is found throughout the Great Lakes region from the St. Lawrence to Manitoba, and south in the Mississippi Valley to the Ouachita River in Arkansas. It is generally abundant in the Great Lakes, rare in the Mississippi basin, and not found at all east of the Alleghenies. It does not occur in salt water, but frequents the deep, still waters of the lakes, seldom ascending small streams. It reaches a length of a foot to 18 inches and a weight of 1 to 2 pounds. It is a good food-fish and ranks well as a game-fish. It readily takes the hook when baited with grub, angleworm, or small minnow, bets vs iatat iN av Ne % ‘si Sea CRANE au PASS Ss, RTT SERS RESTOR 8 ; } i j SAUGER, Stizostedion canadense Photographed at Pan-American from specimen from Lake Erie Striped Bass; Rockfish; Rock and will rise to the fly. Thaddeus Norris tells about fly-fishing for the white bass many years ago with a young army officer near Detroit. They met with indifferent success until they tried the mouth of a small creek on the Canadian side, where they caught 25 fish in a short time. They later discovered they had been fishing in preserved waters. The Canadian owner of the land through which the creek flowed was in the habit of seining the fish out of the river and retaining them in the creek (across the mouth of which he had placed netting) until the market price was high enough to please him. Body rather deep and compressed, the back considerably arched; head subconical, slightly depressed at the nape; mouth moderate, nearly horizontal, the lower jaw little projecting; maxillary reaching middle of pupil, 2 in head; teeth on base of tongue in a single patch, a patch also on each side of tongue; margin of subopercle with a deep notch; head scaled to between the nostrils; preopercular serre feeble, strongest at the angle; gill-rakers rather long and slender, as long as the gill-fringes; longest dorsal spine 2 in head; anal spines graduated, the second 4 length of head; middle caudal rays 1% in outer. Colour, silvery, tinged with golden below; sides with narrow dusky lines, about 5 above the lateral line, 1 along it, and a variable number below it, these sometimes more or less interrupted or trans- posed. 2%) eee Sa i ate <4 Sos Eso "ass Striped Bass; Rockfish; Rock Roccus lineatus (Bloch) ‘* The stately Bass, old Neptune’s fleeting Post That tides it out and in from sea to coast.” — Wood, New England’s Prospect (1634). The striped bass occurs on our Atlantic coast north to the St. Lawrence River and south to the Escambia River in western Florida. 373 Striped Bass; Rockfish; Rock It is rather rare in the Gulf of Mexico, and is most common between Cape May and Cape Cod and on the North Carolina coast. It is particularly abundant in the great estuaries and open stretches of large rivers. It is strictly an anadromous fish, living chiefly in salt or brackish water and entering fresh water only at spawning-time. It ascends the Potomac to the Great Falls, and the other rivers of the Middle States until it meets obstructions. In the St. Lawrence it reaches Quebec at least, and there is a record of an example taken in the Niagara River at Lewiston, but this may have been a misidentifica- tion of the white bass. The great abundance of the striped bass excited the wonder of the early colonists. ‘“The Basse is an excellent fish, both fresh & salte, one hundred whereof salted (at market) have yielded 5 pounds. They are so large, the head of one will give a good eater a dinner, & for daintinesse of diet they excell the Marybones of Beefe. There are such multitudes that I have seene stopped in the river close adjoining to my house with a sande at one tide so many as will loade a ship of 100 tonnes. | my- selfe, at the turning of the tyde have seene such multitudes pass out of a pounde that it seemed to me that one mighte go over their backs drishod.”” So wrote Captain John Smith; but as his veracity has been questioned in other matters, it is well to give collateral testimony. One of Smith’s contemporary divines wrote: ‘‘ There is a Fish called a Basse, a most sweet & wholesome Fish as ever | did eat; it is alto- gether as good as our fresh Sammon & the season of their comming was begun when we came first to New England in June and so con- tinued about three months space. Of this Fish our Fishers take many hundreds together, which I have seene lying on the shore to my ad- miration; yea, their Netts ordinarily take more than they are able to hall to Land.” Near Norfolk, Virginia, 1500 have been taken at a single set of the seine. At one haul 600 were taken that averaged 80 pounds each. Dr. W. R. Capehart of Edenton, North Carolina, has for many years had the most important striped bass fishery on our coast. During the shad and herring season the striped bass appear in great numbers at the head of Albemarle Sound, where many marvelous catches have been made. At one time about 30,000 pounds were taken at one haul. Many of these weighed 75 to 85 pounds each. At another haul 820 fish weighing 37,000 pounds were taken. Among 374 Striped Bass; Rockfish; Rock these were many of 65 pounds, many of 85 pounds, and a few of 90 pounds. In 6 hours’ fishing 50,000 pounds were taken May 6, 1876. On May 6, 1896, 38,000 pounds of rockfish were landed at one haul. Among them were about 600 fish that averaged 60 pounds each, and several that weighed 105 pounds each. The roe of one fish weighed 44 pounds. Some very large fish have been reported. Dr. Henshall saw one weighed in Baltimore which tipped the beam at more than 100 pounds; one taken at Cuttyhunk weighed 104 pounds; and Dr. Goode records an example caught at Orleans which weighed 112 pounds and which must have been 6 feetlong. The average of those seen in the Washington market now does not exceed 5 pounds. Though the striped bass has undoubtedly decreased greatly in abundance during the century, it is still an abundant fish. The catch on our Atlantic coast for 1897 amounted to nearly one and a half million pounds, valued at $128,000. The splendid results of the artificial propagation of useful food- fishes are clearly and indisputably shown by the fate of the striped bass on the Pacific coast, where it was planted by the United States and California fish commissions a few yearsago. The fish was not native to those waters, and all striped bass now found there are the descendants of those artificially planted. The few fish put in those waters thrived exceedingly, and for several years past the catch has been very large. In 1899 it aggregated 1,234,320 pounds, valued at $61,814. As a food-fish the striped bass is one of the very best; as a game- fish there is none better. Frank Forester calls it ‘‘a gallant fish and a bold biter’’; and Genio Scott says it is his favourite of all American game-fishes. All the published works on fishing in America describe the various methods by which anglers capture this noble fish, and we shall not take space to repeat them here. Colour, olivaceous, silvery, often brassy-tinged; sides paler, marked with about 7 or 8 continuous or somewhat interrupted black- ish stripes, one of them along the lateral line; fins all pale. The rockfish may be easily distinguished from the white bass, which it most resembles, by its having 2 patches of teeth on its tongue instead of 1, and in not having the back arched. 375 The White Perches GENUS MORONE MITCHILL The White Perches - This genus differs from Roccus chiefly in having the dorsal fins joined, the spines stronger, the anal rays III, 9 (instead of III, 12), the spines not graduated, the jaws subequal, and no teeth on base of tongue. In all other important respects the 2 genera agree. The 2 known species are both American and both excellent game- and food-fishes. a. Body with 7 very distinct longitudinal black lines on side, each in- terrupted*posterionly): 222.2 sees ceee ee eee interrupta, 376 aa. Colour, green or olivaceous, and silvery, with faint streaks. americana, 377 Yellow Bass Morone tinterrupta Gill This handsome fish is found in the lower Mississippi Valley and north to St. Louis and Cincinnati. It occurs also in certain waters in northern Indiana, notably Tippecanoe, Eagle, Pike, Center, and Chap- man lakes in Kosciusko County, and in Eel River at Logansport, from which place we have recently examined a specimen. Thirty years ago they were very abundant in the small lakes mentioned, and even now a few are caught every year, usually best after a June freshet. This species reaches a foot to 18 inches in length and a weight of 5 pounds. Those usually seen do not exceed 1 to 2 pounds, though examples of 3 pounds are not rare. It is a splendid game-fish, even superior to the black bass, in the opinion of some of its admirers; and as a pan-fish it takes very high rank. ; Head 3; depth 2%; snout 44; eye 44; D. X, 12; A. Ill, 9 or 10; scales 7-50 to 54-11. Body oblong-ovate, the back much arched; head depressed, the snout somewhat pointed, the anterior profile concave; eye large; preorbital finely serrate; mouth small, somewhat oblique, maxillary reaching middle of eye, about 3 in head, somewhat scaly; dorsal and anal spines stout. Colour in life, brassy yellow, with about 7 very distinct black lon- gitudinal lines, those below lateral line interrupted posteriorly, the pos- terior parts alternating with the anterior. 376 YELLOW BASS, rone interrupta White Perch White Perch Morone americana (Gmelin) ‘Nor let the Muse, in her award of fame, Illustrious Perch, unnoticed pass thy claim. Prince of the prickly cohort, bred in lakes, To feast our boards, what sapid boneless flakes Thy solid flesh supplies! though overfed, No daintier fish in ocean’s pastures bred Swims thy compeer.” —Ausonius. This well-known fish is common on the Atlantic coast of America from the Carolinas to the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It thrives in fresh, brackish, and salt water, but is somewhat anadromous, ascending freshwater streams. It is frequently landlocked in coastal ponds, where it becomes purely a freshwater fish. It is found in the lower portions of nearly all the streams from Maine to the Carolinas, and is one of the most popular of game-fishes. It takes the fly readily, though it will not leave the water to do so, and angleworms, grass- hoppers, and small minnows are irresistible. As a game-fish it should hold, as it does in some places, a very high rank. It bites vigorously, and as a mad rusher, it is not surpassed. And asa pan-fish many re- gard it as the best among all our fishes. The only exception we feel disposed to make is the yellow perch. Colour, olivaceous, varying to dark green; sides silvery or oliva- ceous, usually with faint paler longitudinal streaks. GENUS STEREOLEPIS AYRES The Jewfishes This genus, characterized by the short, soft dorsal, the absence of spiny ridges on the head, and the continuous but deeply notched dorsal fin, contains one American species, the California jewfish or black sea-bass, Stereolepts gigas This huge fish is found on the coast of southern California and north to the Farallones. It is most abundant about Santa Catalina, 377 The Jewfishes where it is one of the really great game-fishes taken at that most famous anglers’ resort, and Professor Chas. F. Holder has written entertainingly of this wonderful fish. He says the ‘‘jewfish is a bot- tom feeder, and is fished for on the edge of the kelp in 30 or 40 feet of water. The strike comes as a nibble, but when hooked the fish is away with a rush that has been known to demoralize experienced anglers. My largest fish, weighing 276 pounds, was taken in a boat or skiff which weighed 125 pounds, and | was repeatedly almost jerked overboard by the struggles of the bass. When it was gaffed it jerked the gaff from my hands a score of times. It was impossible to take it aboard, so we towed it five miles to port, well illustrating how delightful the most arduous labour becomes when dignified by the term sport. I have seen a 200-pound fish snap the largest shark-line like a thread, and large specimens straighten out an iron shark-hook; yet the skilled wielders of the rod catch these giants of the tribe with a line that is not larger than some eye-glass cords.” Professor Holder’s experience with his first California jewfish is worth repeating: ‘«The anchor was tossed over, the rope ran merrily out, and the hook, baited with a 6-pound whitefish, went hissing down to the big submerged rock. “©*¢Sometimes he bite, sometimes he don’t,’ remarked Joe; ‘but whether he do or not, we have the fishin’ all the same.’ And he looked at me inquiringly, to see if I was of that variety of fishermen who are never satisfied unless the fish are always on the line. It so happened that I found pleasure in the mere anticipation; and we sat silent for half an hour, I holding the throbbing line that the ebbing tide played upon as the string of a musical instrument. . . . I glanced at my companion, and was wondering if in his veins ran the blood of the Aztecs or of the Indians whom Cabrillo and others found here centuries ago when Santa Catalina was an empire in itself and owned by them, when suddenly | became aware that the tension of the line I held had increased to a steady pull; then came a jerk that carried my hand into the water. ‘««Jewfish, sure!’ whispered Joe, awakened from his reverie by my exclamation, ‘Slack!’ ‘‘I paid out the line, while he seized the anchor-line and made ready to haul up. ‘«*Give him to feet, and then hook!’ were my orders. “‘T was an old shark fisherman, having caught many of these mon- 378 The Jewfishes sters in the Mexican Gulf, and had taken a Florida jewfish and a tar- pon; and I saw that work of a similar kind was before me in this fishing. The line jerked heavily in my hand, then began to run out steadily. When about 6 feet had gone over the gunwale I stopped, gave a glance at the coil to see that all was clear, and when the line came taut jerked the hook into my first jewfish. ‘‘] have every reason to believe that the latter was astonished, as for a single second there was no response; then camea jerk that almost lifted me from the boat, and the line went hissing over the rail like a living thing, playing a merry hornpipe of its own composition. Nothing could stop such a rush, and | simply waited, while Joe pulled up the anchor. When the latter was in, I grasped the line and braced back for the fight. The light boat whirled around like a top, and away we went, like a tug surging through the water, an ominous wave of foam rising high around the bow. ‘* A 10-foot shark never pulled harder than this gamy fish, and for 5 minutes it was a question who was master. | took it in with the greatest difficulty, gaining 10 feet, only to have the fish rush toward me and then dash away with an impetus that was more than irresistible. Then I would stop him again, slowly making foot by foot, hand over hand, taking a turn on the cleat, slacking and pulling, in attempts to tire the monster — tactics that for a while were of no avail. ‘‘One of the tricks of this fish was to stop and jerk his head from side to side violently, a proceeding that produced an effect equivalent to striking blows at the holder of the line—tremendous jerks that came, one, two, three! then one, two, three! — then the line would slacken as the fish rushed up. And if I took the line in quickly enough to prevent a turn, well and good; if! did not, the fish would turn and dash at the bottom, making everything hum and sing. ‘‘Giving and taking, hauling and easing off, for 20 minutes, I was almost satisfied that I had done my whole duty in the premises, when suddenly the fish rushed up, and recovering, | took in slack, and with a final effort brought the black giant to the surface. For a moment | saw a pair of eyes as large as those of an ox, a rich chestnut black, and then, with a tremendous heave, the fish threw itself over, deluging me with water and half capsizing the boat. It was the last struggle. I kept my hold, and with another haul had the king of Pacific coast fishes at hand’s-length, where it rolled and tossed, its huge tail bathing us with spray, protesting against its capture. ‘‘What a wonderful creature it was! The experience of the mo- 379 The Enjambres ment, the sensations, could not have been purchased. It was worth going a long way to accomplish. Imagine, you casters of the black- bass fly, a small-mouthed black bass lengthened out to 6 feet, bulky in proportion, a giant black bass,— one that you would dream about after a good day’s fishing,— almost a facsimile of the 5-pounder you have taken pride in, but increased to a size that tips the scales at 347 pounds! Imagine this, and you have the jewfish, black sea-bass, or Stereolepis gigas, of the Pacific coast—a noble fish, a gamy fellow, especially adapted to the man who desires animated dumb-bells, or who, sedentary in his habits, requires violent exercise combined with much excitement. ‘“‘It has always been doubted that a large jewfish could be taken on a rod; but during the summer of ’94 1 went to the jewfish grounds one August day with Major Charles Vielé of the United States army, and watched him bring a jewfish of 158 pounds’ weight to terms, on a Tufts-Lyon yellowtail rod of 16 ounces and a No. 21 Cuttyhunk line, in just 24 hours! The struggle was most exciting, and a fine exhibi- tion of skill on the part of the fisherman. We had struck a school of these giants at Silver Canon, and had we been well equipped could have brought in 6 or 7. As it was we towed in 3—1 of 158 pounds, 1 of 227 pounds, and a small one of 100 pounds.”’ GENUS ‘PETROME FOPON Ging The Enjambres This genus is close to Epznephelus, from which it differs in the absence of processes and longitudinal ridges on upper surface of the frontals; a curved or angular ridge across the posterior portion of the frontals in front of the supraoccipital, connecting the parietal crests. There are in our waters 3 species, only 1 being of much value as food. This is the cony or red hind, Petrometopon cruentatus. This beautiful fish ranges from Florida and the West Indies to: Brazil. It is common about Cuba and Jamaica, but appears to be rare about Porto Rico. At Key West, where it is called cony, it is rather common about the reefs. It reaches a foot in length and is a good food-fish. It takes the hook readily, and is a very active little fish. 380 WHITE PERCH, Morrone americana CONEY, Petrometopon cruentatus The Groupers Head 2$; depth 24; eye 54; D. IX, 14 or 15; A. III, 8; scales 8-85 to 95-30, about 50 to 55 pores. Body oblong, rather deep and compressed, its width 2} in its greatest depth; head moderate, a little acute anteriorly, the profile nearly straight from snout to nape, where it is rather convex; mouth rather large, maxillary extending some- what beyond eye, 1% in head; lower jaw not strongly projecting; teeth in narrow bands, the depressible teeth of the inner series very long and slender, longer than in any other of our species, those of the lower jaw and front of upper especially enlarged, longer than the small, subequal canines; interorbital space narrow, with a median de- pression, its width 7 in head; preopercle convex, very weakly serrate; opercle with 3 distinct spines; nostrils small, subequal; scales rather large, mostly strongly ctenoid; dorsal spines slender and pungent, the fourth and fifth highest, 32 in head; caudal very convex, the mid- dle rays longest; anal rounded. Colour in life, livid reddish gray, paler below; spots vermilion, usu- ally darker posteriorly, larger anteriorly. The brown hind may be merely a colour variety of the cony. GENUS "ErINEPHELOS BLOCH The Groupers This is one of the most important genera of American fishes. Body stout, compressed, covered with small, ctenoid scales which are often embedded in the skin; scales of lateral line triangular, cycloid; soft parts of vertical fins generally more or less scaly; cranium narrow above; preopercle moderately serrate behind, its lower limb entire, without distinct antrorse spine; opercle with 2 strong spines; nostrils well separated; mouth large; maxillary large, with a well-developed supplemental bone, its surface usually with small scales; canine teeth few, those in front large; enlarged teeth of inner series in each jaw depressible; gill-rakers short and rather few; caudal fin rounded or lunate; pectorals rounded, shortish; ventrals moderate, inserted below pectorals, close together, each with a strong spine. Species numerous, most of them of large size, abounding in all tropical seas, and all highly valued as food. The species all possess some game qualities, and, on account of their large size and fighting qualities, afford real sport in their capture. In our waters about a dozen species are known. 381 The Groupers a. Nostrils unequal, the posterior much the larger, 3 times diameter of anterior; pyloric coeca numerous...........-. mystacinus, 382 aa. Nostrils subequal, the posterior scarcely the larger; pyloric coeca fewer. b. Second dorsal spine shorter than third or fourth; caudal more or less rounded. omDorsal:s pines O04: = ))pislane selma > ake tani ape analogus, 382 cc. Dorsal spines 11. d. Maxillary naked. e. Lower jaw strongly projecting. f. Body and head with red or orange spots........ adscenstonts, 383 ff. Body and head reddish brown, the adult nearly plain..gwaza, 383 ee. Lower jaw not prominent...... So fol ere ai ione labriformis, 383 dd. Maxillary more or less scaly. g. Preopercle with a more or less salient angle. h. Body without orange or dark brown spots; vertical fins without broad black margins. z. Caudal peduncle without black, saddle-like blotch above. avolimbatus, 383 i. Caudal peduncle with a large, quadrate, saddle-like black blotch above. j. Eye not surrounded by dark points; no dark cross-bars; lower jaw Strongly Projecting <2. en see ee ae ee niveatus, 384 jj. Eye surrounded by conspicuous dark brown points; body with irregular dark cross-bars; lower jaw little projecting. striatus, 384 hh. Body covered with small dark orange or brown spots; vertical fins broadly edged with blue-black... .....2..ss50e8 guttatus, 384 gg. Preopercle without salient angle............ drummonda-hayt, 385 bb. Second dorsal spine elevated, not shorter than third and fourth; caudal lumate gee! 2.5)2 2 aed PA erotera ares pt ee enn morto, 385 Epinephelus mystacinus, the cherna de lo alto, is found among the West Indies and south to Brazil, in rather deep water. It reaches about 2 feet in length, but is not abundant enough to be of much com- mercial importance. Colour in life, dull olive-brown above, the body grayish brown, crossed by 8 bands of dark olive-brown, the one on caudal peduncle broadest, darkest on back of tail; a dark line along edge of maxillary, and 3 dark bands across cheek; mouth bluish inside. E. analogus, the cabrilla pinta, is a west coast species, known from Panama and San Salvador. It is not rare, reaches a foot or more in length, and in life is orange-brown on an olivaceous ground, as in E. adscensionis, which this species strongly resembles; no distinct dark edgings to the vertical fins. 382 ROCK HIND, Epinephelus adscensionis NIGGER FISH, Bodianus fulvus Rock-hind; Cabra Mora Rock-hind; Cabra Mora Epinephelus adscensitonis (Osbeck) This beautiful and important species is known from southern Florida, Ascension and St. Helena islands, the West Indies, and to Brazil. It has also been recorded from the Cape of Good Hope. It reaches a length of 18 inches, is common in rocky places, and is con- sidered the finest food-fish of the group. fiead 2%; depth 3; eye 6; D. XI, 17; A. IIL, 7.0r 8; scales 12-90 to 110-40, 55 to 60 pores. Body rather robust, little compressed, the greatest thickness 2 in depth; head subconic, acute; mouth rather large, maxillary reaching beyond eye, 24 in head; lower jaw rather strongly projecting, more prominent than in any other species. Colour in life, olivaceous gray, with darker clouds; a number of irregular whitish blotches scattered over body; 5 ill-defined, roundish, blackish blotches along side of back, the 4 under dorsal fin extending on fin; head and body everywhere covered with round orange-brown spots of varying size, the centres more orange, the borders brownish, these largest on breast, smallest on lips and under parts, equally dis- tinct everywhere; mouth pale within, the roof with red spots; dorsal light olive, with sparse spots like those on body but smaller; no dark edge to dorsal and anal; numerous white spots on dorsal, most numer- ous on soft part; caudal pale olive with some paler spots; anal red- dish, marked like the dorsal, its spots larger; basal half of pectoral like dorsal, the distal half plain olive; ventrals pale with orange spots. E. guaza, the merou or méro, is found on the eastern Atlantic from England to the Cape of Good Hope, but has been recorded from our waters only from the coast of Brazil. It is a large fish, reaching a length of 3 feet and a weight of 25 pounds or more. E. labriformts is a Pacific coast species, known from Cape San Lucas south to the Galapagos Islands. It reaches 2 feet in length and is rather common about rocky places. The yellow-finned grouper (E. flavolimbatus) is known from Cuba and the Snapper Banks off the west coast of Florida. It may be the adult of E. niveatus, from which it seems to differ only in colour. In life brownish flesh-colour, unspotted; a clear blue streak from angle of eye to preopercle; no spots or blotches anywhere, and no black on caudal peduncle; whole dorsal with a narrow edge of bright yellow. 383 Nassau Grouper; Hamlet; Cherna Criolla The snowy grouper (E. nzveatus) is known from the West Indies south to Brazil and occasionally north in the Gulf Stream to Woods Hole. Colour, brown with round whitish spots on body, smaller than pupil, regularly arranged in vertical and horizontal series, 4 in former and 5 in latter, these rows sometimes irregular; no distinct spots on breast; a very large black blotch on upper part of caudal peduncle, this sometimes absent. Nassau Grouper; Hamlet; Cherna Criolla Epinephelus striatus (Bloch) This large species is common from Key West to Brazil. It is common about Key West and many large examples are taken. It attains a length of 3 feet and a weight of 50 pounds, though those seen in the Key West market usually do not exceed 10 pounds. It is a good food-fish and is found all the year round about Key West. Colour in life, rather pale olivaceous gray, paler below, sides with obscure whitish cloudings; side with about 4 irregular broad vertical bars dark brown in colour, each enclosing small whitish spots, these bars darkest on back and extending on dorsal fin; a square jet-black blotch on upper edge of caudal peduncle; a dark band from snout through eye to side below origin of dorsal; another on median line of snout, forking opposite front of eye, the 2 bands extending backward and ceasing on occiput without reaching the other band; cheek light brown with whitish blotches; fins colour of body but lighter; dorsal and caudal with narrow pale yellow border. The red hind or cabrilla (FE. guttatus) is found from the Carolinas through the West Indies to Brazil. It is rare on our coast, but is com- mon at Havana. From related species it may be distinguished by its colour, which in life is light yellowish olive above, whitish below; 3 broad, oblique, obscure olive bands running upward and backward on side; spots on body vivid scarlet, those above darker, edges of scales brown; inside of mouth mostly pale, partly scarlet; belly spotted; dorsal olive-yel- low, somewhat clouded, a few red spots on spinous dorsal; soft dorsal broadly edged with black; caudal yellowish, the posterior half black, its edge white; anal like soft dorsal; pectoral light yellow, with rows of small scarlet spots; ventrals red, blackish at tips. 384 IsoM Aoyy ¥e poyderdojou awadNOUD NVSSVN SnIDIAS SHpaydaurd yy Red Grouper; Cherna Americana The speckled hind or john-paw (EF. drummond-hay1) is most abundant on the Snapper Banks in the Gulf of Mexico, but it has been recorded from the Bermudas and Charleston. It attains a weight of 30 pounds, and is an important food-fish in the Pensacola market. It is perhaps the most beautiful in colour of all the groupers. Colour, dark umber-brown, densely covered with small pearly- white spots, those below smaller and nearly round, all in irregular series; fins not dark-edged, all covered with similar spots, those of the paired fins chiefly on the inner surface; lower side of head flushed with red and unspotted; caudal fin more densely spotted than the body, the terminal spots lavender; pectoral with a subterminal orange band. Red Grouper; Cherna Americana Epinephelus morio (Cuvier & Valenciennes) The red grouper is the most abundant and best-known species of the genus. It is found on our South Atlantic and Gulf coasts from Virginia to Texas and southward to Brazil. It is an easily recogniza- ble species, separated from all others by the elevation of the second dorsal spine. Besides the vernacular names given above, it is known also as cherna, méro, cherna de vivera, négre, and jaboncillo. The red grouper is a very handsome fish, bearing some resem- 385 Garrupa blance to the Nassau grouper, but the warm browns on the side of the body and head are richer, while the general appearance is somewhat coarser. It is one of the largest and most important food-fishes of our tropical waters, reaching a length of 2 or 3 feet and a weight of 20 to 40 pounds. It is most abundant on the west coast of Florida, in company with the red snapper. It is also abundant on the south coast of Florida, where it is found throughout the year. The red grouper is more of a bottom fish than the red snapper, and swims more slowly, seldom rising to the surface. It is very voracious, consuming large quantities of crustaceans and small fish. Large crabs and small fishes in perfect condition have been found in their stomachs, and several new species have been obtained in this way. On the Snapper Banks on the west coast of Florida it is caught by the red-snapper fishermen in the same manner in which the red snapper is taken, which is with hook and line, a piece of bone-fish or other fish being used as bait. As a game- fish it does not rank high, its movements being slow, and when hooked it usually has to be hauled in as a dead weight. It will take any kind of bait. When red snappers were more abundant the red grouper did not find a ready sale in Northern markets, though it has always been in good demand at Havana and Key West. The maxi- mum weight of those taken about Key West is about 25 pounds and the average only 8 to 15 pounds. The red grouper is very tenacious of life, and will live several hours after being taken out of the water, even though exposed to con- siderable heat. This is one reason why Key West fishermen have preferred red groupers for transportation to Cuba, since they must go a long way to market through warm water, and the groupers bear the crowding and chafing in the live-wells of the smacks better than other species. GENUS GARRUPA JORDAN This genus is closely allied to Epznephelus, but has the skull very broad and flat; the interorbital little concave, and the median ridge scarcely evident. The only known species is Garrupa nigrita, known as the black jewfish, black grouper, or méro de lo alto, which occurs from Charles- ton and Pensacola south to Brazil and strays to Sicily. It is an immense fish, one of the largest known, reaching a 386 RED GROUPER. Epinephelus movrio RED HIND, Epinephelus guita‘us ,' Promicrops weight of about 500 pounds, and rivaling in size the largest known examples of the spotted jewfish and the California jewfish. No small examples have ever been seen, only one weighing less than 100 pounds having been recorded. Colour, plain chocolate-brown, varying to blackish gray, without markings, or with faint blotches, the lower parts scarcely paler, the distal parts of the vertical fins darker; a dark streak along the edge of the maxillary. GENUS: PROMICROPS GILL In this genus the cranium is extremely broad and depressed between the eyes, the anterior profile of the head being more or less concave. Only one species certainly known, the spotted jewfish, Promicrops itaiara, a tropical fish of very large size, rivaling the black grouper and the California jewfish in weight. It reaches 2 to 6 feet in length and occurs on both coasts of tropical America north of Florida and the Gulf _ of California. It is not uncommon in the West Indies, especially about rocks. Colour of adult, nearly uniform dull olive-brown, the spots or bands faint or obsolete. 387 Alphestes GENUS. ALPHES PES BLOG (& SCHVEMoErs This genus differs from Epinephelus chiefly in the presence of a strong antrorse spine on the lower limb of the preopercle. There are but 2 known species, only one of which (A/phestes afer) is of much importance. This species, known as the cherna or guaseta, is found aS. SoS =, ano: ob" a aso ares wae es Se. eS = eS ac 23 . Spaee: i SIS oe ey rey tat RRS ae ee Say Bs Sore eae Coxe. am Ke 5 ata rama ras 7 sal? Pend PELLS.'b ih) ) ula: |) Sata Wee 40, Hai DISS nates hah Seetde NSD PHY oy - pT oe ae = aw wes y rs ‘ Se from Cuba to Brazil, and has been recorded also from Africa and the Falkland Islands. It is common about Porto Rico, where it reaches a foot or more in length and is regarded as a good food-fish. Colour in life, yellowish brown, paler below; upper part of side with about 7 longitudinal stripes of dark brown from head to tail, these becoming rows of round orange spots below; 6 dark inconspic- uous vertical bars on body; head with many smaller orange-brown spots; lower part of head and breast with pale bluish spots; fins brownish; ventrals olive edged with darker; other fins obscurely barred; inside of mouth pale. The other species (A. mu/tiguttatus) is very close to A. afer, from which it differs in the more slender head, more prominent chin, and the colouration, which is dark olive-brown, the body and head pro- fusely covered with round spots of darker brown about half size of pupil; spots on posterior part of body confluent in horizontal streaks ; breast and front of head with few spots; a very faint mustache above maxillary; dorsal and caudal dusky-olive, nearly plain; anal with 2 dusky cross-bands; pectoral yellowish, with 5 dusky cross-bands, its edge pale; ventrals dusky. 388 AN'HLI109 8 N3Ie SNinr “AZISTIVYUNLVN Ve NOV (SNIWIYLS SNIAHdINId gy) VNYSHO ‘dYadNOUS NYSSYN Mycteroperca This species reaches 8 inches in length and is rather common on our Pacific coast from Mazatlan to Panama. The genus Dermatolepis resembles Eprnephelus, but it has the body shorter and deeper, the head small and much compressed, the interor- bital narrow, the soft dorsal very long, the anal short, and the scales all cycloid, small, and embedded. Four species are known, 3 of which occur in our waters. None of them is of much value as food. The accompanying illustration of our most interesting species, D. zanclus, will serve to indicate the character of this group. This species reaches 2 feet in length, and is known only from Key West. GENUS MYC TEROPERCA GILL Cranium broad and transversely concave between the eyes, its lateral crests very strong, nearly parallel with the supraoccipital crest, and extending much farther forward than the latter; lower jaw strongly projecting; anal fin long, usually with 11 or 12 rays; caudal lunate; spines of fins slender, none much elevated; scales small, mostly cy- cloid, those of the lateral line simple; pyloric coeca few. From Epzne- phelus this genus may be distinguished by its longer anal, larger mouth, and more slender body. 389 Mycteroperca a. Nostrils subequal, well separated b. Gill-rakers comparatively few and short, 8 to 20 below the angle. c. Anal fin JI, ;9 to: 11, ¢high and faleate so sta eet boulenger1, 391 cc. Anal fin III, 11 or 12, long. d. Anal fin not angulated, its outline more or less evenly rounded. e. Angle of preopercle not salient, its teeth scarcely enlarged; gill- rakers x+8 to 10. f. Gill-rakers very few and short, x+8 developed; caudal lunate. g. General colour gray, with red and black markings. ..venenosa, 391 gg. General colour scarlet, with red and black markings....apua, 392 ff. Gill-rakers rather slender, about x+10; caudal subtruncate. h. Scales not very small, about 110. 7. Dark blotches on body rather large, often quadrate..... bonact, 392 7. Dark spots on body very small, close-set........ xanthosticta, 392 hh. Scales smaller, about 120 tO 140... ....seecs-.-5-- == jordant, 392 ee. Angle of preopercle more or less salient, its teeth somewhat en- larged; gill-rakers more numerous, X+12 to 14. j. Scales very small, about 140; caudal distinctly lunate. microlepts, 392 jj. Scales somewhat larger, about 120; caudal little concave. interstitials, 393 jij. Scales still larger, about 110; caudal deeply lunate. dimidiata, 393 dd. Anal fin angulated, its middle rays much exserted, its posterior MATIN CONCAVE \s sens «ou oe «eine eee el xenarcha, 393 bb. Gill-rakers close-set, very long and slender, 25 to 35 below the ANGI ss emnate melee = & a dieters, «open ene tac eee rubra, 393 aa. Nostrils very close together, the posterior decidedly larger than the anterior. k. Gill-rakers very numerous, long and slender, about 24 below the AUNTS: bo oss. Sorthare Ss le i a teie aon epg Ona nee pardalts, 393 kk. Gill-rakers fewer and moderate, 6 to 18 below the angle. /. Second dorsal spine highest, its length more than 4 that of head. m. Colour, brown, with grayish reticulations and brown spots. olfax, 393 mm: Colour -Chictly fEGs a.tc.c.0 warner ZS o> e- 22 23 J? SZ SID alg GENUS ETELIS CUVIER & VALENCIENNES In this genus the dorsal fin is nearly or quite divided into 2 fins by a deep notch, the eye very large, and the preorbital very narrow. It is very closely related to Aprion, the skull in the two being almost identical. 418 Verilus There are only two American species, and but one of these of any importance. £. oculatus, known in Porto Rico as cachucho, occurs in the West Indies and about Madeira, but is not yet known from Florida or elsewhere on the mainland. It is a species which prefers rather deep water and rocky bottom. It is a beautiful species, reach- _ing a length of 2 to 3 feet, and is an excellent food-fish. Colour in life, nearly everywhere bright red; pale in spirits, the red nowhere persisting. GENUS VWERILUS: POBY This genus is technically close to Ffe//s, although the single known species is quite different in appearance from Efe/is oculatus. The cavernous character of the skull is the most striking feature, which, with the nearly divided dorsal, readily distinguishes it. The only known species is the escolar chino (VY. sordidus) of the Havana market. It is a rather deep-water species, known only from the coasts of Cuba. Colour, dusky-gray, slightly paler below; tips of spinous dorsal = : “Ss = SS and ventrals jet-black, the fins otherwise coloured as the body; poste- rior edge of caudal dusky; lining of gill-cavity, peritoneum, and pos- terior part of mouth jet-black. 419 THE GRUNGS Family Lil. Haemulide Bopy oblong, more or less elevated, covered with moderate-sized scales which are adherent and more or less strongly ctenoid or al- most cycloid; lateral line well developed, concurrent with the back, usually not extending on the caudal fin; head large, the crests of the skull usually largely developed; mouth large or small, usually low, horizontal, and terminal; premaxillaries protractile; no supple- mental maxillary bone; teeth all pointed, none of them forming marked canines; no teeth on vomer, palatines, or tongue; pseudo- branchie large; gill-membranes separate, free from the isthmus; oper- cle without spines; side of head usually scaly; dorsal fin continuous or deeply notched, sometimes divided into 2 fins, the spines usually strong, depressible in a groove, the spines heteracanthous, that is, alternating, the one stronger on the right side, the other on the left; anal similar to soft dorsal, with 3 spines; caudal usually more or less concave behind; air-bladder present. This family is a very large one, the species being very numerous. They are all carnivorous fishes chiefly of warm seas, and most of them highly valued as food. Thirteen genera and about 55 species are represented in our waters. a. Chin with a central groove behind the symphysis of the lower jaw. b. Mouth rather wide, the jaws scarlet posteriorly in life; soft parts of vertical fins densely scaled to their margins. c. Jaws subequal, the lower included; mouth little oblique; gill-rakers comparatively few and short. a. WDOrsalS PINES al2e) FAnely able cgaisnes tecutaie eva sol aie iss ae Hemulon, 421 Adi WOLSaleS PUES IF crs, ace 2 Serer etanetcs eesti aie Shere hare Bathystoma, 428 Cis WOM ETN ANN. pl OE CUTTS o's cela epee aeaickare eee acer Lythrulon, 429 bb. Mouth more or less narrow, not scarlet within; soft parts of ver- tical fins naked or with scales only on their bases. e. Anal fin short, its rays III, 7 to 10; dorsal spines rather robust. f. Body ovate, the depth greater than head; lips thick. Anitsotremus, 430 ff. Body oblong, the depth usually less than length of head; lips not so thick. g. Soft parts of dorsal and anal with series of small scales on mem- DPAIeS hea ere coat e te are see eee re ene Brachydenterus, 432 gg. Soft parts of dorsal and anal without scales, except a low sheath At. DAS ie Sra saitie ik Wire, Ee ala tens Ses een ee Pomadasts, 432 ee. Anal fin long and low, its rays III, 10 to 13; dorsal fin low, not deeply emiarginate): i. che. cee alas eee Orthopristis, 433 The Roncos or Grunts GENUS HAZMULON CUVIER The Roncos or Grunts Body oblong, usually more or less elevated and compressed; mouth wide, the maxillary long and curved, reaching below eye; lower jaw included; chin with a central groove; teeth of jaws coni- cal, the outer series stronger and curved; lips and inside of mouth posteriorly usually bright red or scarlet in life; preopercle serrate, no recurved hooks below; soft parts of vertical fins completely scaled; dorsal spines 12 or 11; second anal spine enlarged, generally larger and longer than the third; caudal forked. This genus has many species, all American. All have more or less red or orange inside the mouth, the amount of redness being greatest in those species with the largest mouths. Nearly all the spe- cies, when young, have 2 or more more or less sharply defined dark longitudinal stripes along the side, 1 or more along top of head, and a dark spot at base of caudal. In a few species these markings per- sist through life. All of the species are valued as food, some of them being among our most important fishes. . Scales below lateral line anteriorly not especially enlarged. Scales above lateral line anteriorly not much enlarged. Maxillary 24 to 23 in head, not reaching centre of eye in adult. . Back and sides without yellow or blue stripes. Seven or 8 rows of scales in vertical series from first dorsal spine to lateral line. f. Mouth rather small, maxillary scarcely reaching eye. DSR SF ieside with about 6 dark vertical bars ........<.. sex fasciatum, 422 Peeside without dark ‘vertical bars. os. 0.65.24 6 fe. eae album, 422 Jf. Mouth rather large, maxillary reaching pupil...macrostomum, 423 ee. Five or 6 rows of scales ina vertical series from first dorsal spine to lateral line. h. Series of scales from scapular scale extending backward to front of SYS 0 ern RR ge ee ae ae > hotene-p Oa Oe bonariense, 424 hh. Series of scales from scapular scale not extending farther back- ward than middle of spinous dorsal. 7. Depth of body about 2% in length; pectoral fin short, less than 3 ISG OR GAG 0 ko Sls che ahs ci< ain ceria os aus aye parra, 424 i. Depth of body 24 in length; pectoral fin long, more than 4 length EDS AC ee 0s beak SORE Le ye nine Re ne a ae sy Od scuddert, 425 dd. Back and sides with distinct horizontal yellow stripes. carbonarium, 425 421 Margate-fish; Margaret Grunt cc. Maxillary nearly or quite $ length of head, reaching centre of eye in adult. j. Back and sides with rows of round silvery spots, these forming streaks which follow the rows of scales..... steindachnert, 425 jj. Back and sides with continuous yellow stripes which are hori- zontal and do not everywhere follow the rows of scales. melanurum, 425 jjj. Back and sides of head and body with continuous blue stripes. SCIUTUS, 426 bb. Scales above lateral line anteriorly much enlarged... p/umieri, 426 _ aa. Scales below lateral line anteriorly much enlarged. flavolineatum, 427 Hemutlon sexfasciatum, the mojarra almejero, reaches a length of 2 feet or more. It is found on our Pacific coast from Guaymas to Panama. It is not very abundant but is a good food-fish. It is the Pacific coast representative of the margate-fish, from which, however, it differs strikingly in colour. €olour, pearly gray, with 6 or 7 sharply defined dusky cross- bands from back to lower part of side, fading below; cheek, opercles, and anterior part of side with distinct roundish spots of brownish black, largest and best defined on opercle; fins all nearly plain dusky grayish. Margate-fish; Margaret Grunt Hemulon album Cuvier & Valenciennes This beautiful and important fish is found from southern Florida to Brazil. At Key West it is a common and valued food-fish. It attains a weight of 8 or 10 pounds, the average being 4 to6 pounds. It is found chiefly in deep water, most abundantly about the reefs. It is said to spawn early in summer on rock bottom, at which time it is said to school. At night it comes into shallower water to feed upon crabs, crawfish, and worms, which seem to be its principal food. Cold is said to affect this fish very greatly, driving it away to deeper or warmer water. | The name margate-fish appears to have been derived from Mar- gate, a well-known seaport and watering-place in England, from which some of the “conchs” or natives of the Bahamas originally came. In the Bahamas and at Key West the name is now variously corrupted into margat, market, margaret, and margarite. 422 % . ; & TT SAILOR’S CHOICE, Hemulon parra Gray Grunt; Striped Grunt Colour in life, pearly white, olivaceous above and on sides, some- what bluish below; edges of scales above darker; small whitish spots on centres of scales between nape and pectoral; a brownish streak from snout, following curve of back and ending at last soft ray of dorsal; another from forehead above eye, curving upward across side, then downward, and under last dorsal rays joining a broader, more distinct dark band which runs straight from snout through eye and along middle of side to base of caudal; belly and lower part of side with 4 or 5 rows of small pearly spots; fins all olivaceous, bluish, the soft dorsal and caudal darker olivaceous. 7 3 F, 7 s oN ce AL RNS S OS ESR SAAR Gray Grunt; Striped Grunt Hemulon macrostomum Ginther This grunt is found from Indian River and Clearwater Harbor, Florida, southward to Jamaica and St. Thomas, but does not appear very common anywhere. Not many were seen in Porto Rico, where it is known as corocoro. It reaches a foot or more in length and is a good food-fish. Colour in life, body dirty silvery with about 9 dark longitudinal streaks, plainest in the young; a median stripe from snout to dorsal fin; first and second lateral stripes from above eye to posterior end of soft dorsal; third from upper rim of orbit to vertical of posterior end 423 Bastard Margaret; Ronco of soft dorsal, where it joins the fifth; fourth, which is usually indis- tinct, from eye across opercle and disappearing on middle of side; the fifth and plainest from eye along middle of side, crossing lateral line, and joining third ends at base of caudal above lateral line; other lines on side more or less broken and indistinct; head dark grayish purple; an inky black spot on inner lower edge of opercle; lower jaw flesh-colour, with numerous fine dark specks; dorsal, caudal, anal, and pectoral yellow, dusky at base; ventrals dark; inside of mouth flesh- colour. ‘ Hemutlon bonariense, the black grunt or ronco prieto, is found in the West Indies and south to Buenos Ayres. It is not known from Florida, and does not appear to be common anywhere. In Porto Rico, where it is known as ronco prieto or arrayado, it is fairly frequent and is highly esteemed. Colour in spirits, pearly gray, centre of each scale brownish black, these coalescing and forming very sharply defined continuous undu- lating stripes, about 16 between front of dorsal and front of anal, the sixth extending from the scapular scale to last dorsal spine; base of caudal blackish; other fins dusky. Bastard Margaret; Ronco Hemulon parra (Desmarest) This grunt, also known as sailor’s-choice, ronco blanco, ronco prieto, and arrayado, occurs from southern Florida to Brazil. It has been recorded from many places in southern Florida, the Tortugas, Cuba, Porto Rico, Jamaica, and Brazil. It is an abundant fish about Key West, where it collects in schools in July and August, when it spawns on rock bottom. It reaches 2 pounds in weight and is a good food-fish. Colour in spirits, dark brown, centre of each scale on upper part of body dark brown surrounded by silvery; free edge of scales paler or purplish brown; lower part of sides and under parts more silvery, but with numerous fine dark specks everywhere; head and fins dark. 424 ANHLIT'OO V N3IG SNA “AZIS IWUYUNLVN “e 1NOGV (WNEIVY NOINWWH) “HSIS -ALVOUV Mojarra Prieta Mojarra Prieta Hemulon scudderi Gill This species occurs on the Pacific coast of America from the Gulf of California to Panama. It is everywhere common, especially about rocks, reaches alength of a foot, and is a good food-fish. It is the Pacific coast representative of H. parra, reaches a similar size, is equally abundant, and passes through a similar range of variations and colour changes. Hemulon carbonarium, the ronco carbonero, is known from the West Indies, the Bermudas, and Brazil. It seems to be rare about Porto Rico, but is very common at Havana, where it is esteemed as a food-fish. It is a small species, usually not exceeding a foot in length. Colour in life, light bluish gray, much resembling the common grunt; body with 7 or 8 deep brassy yellow stripes, horizontal above lateral line, those below a little curved, following the rows of scales, 3 above and 3 to5 below the lateral line, the latter paler; little black under angle of preopercle; caudal blackish yellow at tip; soft dorsal, anal, and ventrals yellowish gray, the distal part blackish; spinous dor- sal bluish, deep yellow at base and edge, a yellow stripe along middle; mouth deep red. Hemutlon steindachnert, the ronco raiado, is a species of rather wide distribution. It occurs on both coasts of tropical America, from the Gulf of California to Panama, and from St. Lucia to Brazil. It is common on the coast of Brazil, and is especially abundant about Mazatlan. Colour in life, olive or golden brown, golden below, the edges of scales of back with brilliant blue lustre, each scale on back and sides with a median pearly blue spot, these forming very distinct streaks, following the rows of scales; a large, distinct, round blackish blotch on base of caudal fin and caudal peduncle, more distinct than in any other species; a distinct bluish black vertical bar on lower anterior part of opercle, partly concealed by angle of preopercle; fins all bright yellow or golden; ventrals and anal not dark; peritoneum dusky. Hemulon melanurum, the jeniguana, is known from the West Indies and south to Brazil. It is rather common at Havana, but was not found by us in Porto Rico. It grows to a foot in length and is a good food-fish. Yellow Grunt; Boar Grunt Colour in life, pearly gray; back and side with about 10 hori- zontal stripes of golden yellow, narrower than the interspaces; a dusky stripe through eye from snout to behind gill-opening; a well-defined black area on back and caudal fin, bounded below by an almost straight line from first dorsal spine to tip of lower caudal lobe; mouth red. Yellow Grunt; Boar Grunt Hemulon sciurus (Shaw) This common species is found practically everywhere from south- ern Florida to Brazil. At Key West it is known as boar grunt, and is very plentiful, usually in schools on rocky bottom. It is there caught with hook and line, the hook baited usually with a long worm, which the fishermen obtain from the stem of a tall plant growing on the bars. One fisherman reports catching as many as 500 to 600 in a single day. The best fishing is said to be in August, which is proba- bly the spawning-time. It appears to be abundant about Porto Rico, where it is called cachicata and ronco amarillo. It reaches a foot to 18 inches in length, and a weight of a pound or more. At all places where common it is of much value as a food-fish; and the angler who visits Key West will find it interesting as a game-fish. Colour in life, yellowish, side with about 10 broad, brassy bands, alternating with somewhat narrower pale blue bands, the fourth of which runs forward across upper edge of orbit, crossing the forehead and joining its fellow on opposite side; cheek and snout with similar blue lines, the one on middle of cheek forking below eye and enclosing an oblong area of the ground colour; spinous dorsal pale yellowish olive, bordered with orange; soft dorsal rusty olivaceous, with orange border; inside of mouth, except tips of jaws, blood-red. Common Grunt; White Grunt Hemutlon plumieri (Lacépéde) This is by far the most important of all the grunts. Its range extends from Cape Hatteras and Pensacola to Brazil. It is common everywhere on sandy shores, and it is par excellence the grunt of our 426 + rama uojnuoy ‘LNOWD NOWNOO YO ALIHM French Grunt; Open-mouthed Grunt South Atlantic States and Florida. At Key West it is the most abun- dant of all the food-fishes, and is caught the year round, the best time being in the fall. Their spawning season is in August and Septem- ber, at which time they gather into immense schools on shoal, feathery, and rock bottom, where they spawn. The eggs are said to be “gritty”? to the touch and about the size of a No. 10 shot; when ripe they separate and flow freely from the fish. After spawning, the schools break up and the fish scatter. They are so abundant, however, that they can usually be found in large numbers on any suitable bottom. About Key West the white grunt grows to 18 inches in length and 4 pounds in weight, though the average is much less. About Porto Rico, where it is called cachicata and boca colorado, it is one of the most abundant and useful species, and was seen by us in all the markets of the island. It is there caught either in fish- traps or haul-seines, while at Key West many are taken with hook and line. As a pan-fish the common grunt is not excelled. Colour in life, light bluish; series of scales, each with a small brown or brassy spot, these forming indistinct narrow lines running upward and backward; body of scales above lateral line bluish, the border brownish olive; a brassy band along lateral line; back with some bronze; under parts whitish; about twelve narrow, irregular bright blue lines on head, separated by broad brassy lines, these some- times extending on body; inner edge of maxillary orange; lower anterior edge of opercle yellow; inside of mouth red or deep yellow; lips dusky; dorsal grayish, with a narrow yellow edge on spinous portion; caudal plain gray; anal gray, tinged with yellow. French Grunt; Open-mouthed Grunt Hemuton flavolineatum (Desmarest) Found from the Florida Keys south to Brazil, rare in Florida, but generally common throughout the West Indies. About Porto Rico it is one of the most abundant and valued species. It is usually found on sandy shores, and is taken in traps, seines, or with the hook. It reaches a foot in length, and is one of the most strongly marked species of the family. Colour in life, light bluish gray; a bronze-yellow spot on upper 427 Bathystoma part of each scale, these forming continuous undulating stripes on body and head, wider than the interspaces of ground colour; on the caudal they are nearly straight; on anterior part of body below lateral line, broader and very oblique; a horizontal stripe, crossing the others, along side of back from occiput to last rays of soft dorsal, of the same golden yellow; yellow around eye; yellow shades and streaks on cheek, not strongly marked as in the common grunt and the yellow grunt; top of head with yellow stripes; angle of mouth black, brick-red inside; a large black blotch under angle of preopercle; fins bright golden yellow, the pectoral and spinous dorsal paler. In spirits the ground colour becomes grayish and the stripes brownish or dusky. GENUS BATHYSTOMA SCUDDER This genus differs from Hamulon in the presence of 13 dorsal spines; the body is rather elongate, gill-rakers rather numerous, 12 to 18 on lower part of anterior arch, the mouth moderate, the scales small, the frontal foramina long, and the jaws red within. This genus has 3 species in our waters. The most important of these is the tomtate or red-mouth grunt, Bathystoma rimator, which ranges from Cape Hatteras and Pensacola southward through the West Indies to Trinidad. It is abundant about Charleston, S. C., where it is one of the most common food-fishes. Adults are said to be uncom- mon about Pensacola and Key West, but at the latter place the young swarm everywhere about the wharves and shores. It is as yet not known from Cuba, and does not seem to be at all abundant in Porto Rico. This species is not of large size, seldom exceeding a foot in length. It takes the hook readily, and is an excellent pan-fish. Speci- mens obtained by us in Porto Rico are 5 to 6 inches in length. Colour in life, silvery white, slightly bluish above, with iridescent reflections; edges of scales on body light yellow, these forming con- tinuous light yellow stripes, those below lateral line horizontal, those above very oblique; a narrow continuous streak of light yellow above lateral line from head to end of soft dorsal, and another from eye to middle of caudal; head silvery yellowish above; inside of mouth red; no black under preopercle; traces of a black blotch at base of caudal; fins colourless, the lower slightly yellowish. Another species, B. aurolineatum, is found from the Florida Keys 428 Lythrulon to Brazil, its centre of greatest abundance apparently being at Havana, where it is often broughtinto the market. It has been taken at Garden Key, Florida, but has not been observed at Key West. It reaches a length of only 6 or 8 inches, and is smaller than any other species of this or related genera, except Brachygenys chrysargyreus. Colour in life, dusky-gray, with 7 or 8 yellow longitudinal streaks, the one through eye widest; inside of mouth very red; no dusky spot under the angle of preopercle; fins gray, the dorsal scarcely yellowish. The third species is the white grunt, B. striatum, which is known from the Bermudas, Key West, Cuba, Santo Domingo, and Porto Rico, but is apparently not common anywhere. One specimen was obtained by us at San Juan, Porto Rico. It probably never exceeds a foot in length. Colour in alcohol, pearly gray, with 5 or 6 continuous brownish streaks (probably golden in life), one on median line from tip of snout to origin of dorsal, one diverging from snout and passing above eye and along side to soft dorsal; another from snout through upper part of eye and terminating near beginning of lateral line; a fourth passing through eye and along middle of side to base of caudal; another crossing opercle and base of pectoral. GENUS LYTHRULON JORDAN & SWAIN This genus is closely allied to Hamulon, but differs in the short snout, the high supraoccipital crest, oblique mouth, and increased number of gill-rakers. The form of the body is peculiar, the dorsal and anal long and low and the caudal widely forked. This genus contains but 2 species. The first of these, Lythrulon flaviguttatum, is distin- guished by having the gill-rakers about 10+ 22 and the body oblong, the depth being about 4 the length. This species reaches about a foot in length, and inhabits the Pacific coast of tropical America from the Gulf of California to Panama. It is generally common, and valued as a pan-fish. Colour in spirits, dark steel-gray, a very distinct small pale spot on each scale of back and side, surrounded by darker; in life these spots are pearly blue; head plain; a small dusky blotch under angle of pre- opercle; fins plain, bright yellow in life. Young with a large black blotch at base of caudal. The other species, L. opalescens, is known only from Mazatlan, where it is rather common in the estuary. It is probably not rare, but 429 Anisotremus has been confounded with the preceding, from which it may be distin- guished by the fewer gill-rakers, 8+ 15, and the deeper body, the *) A) » HAS 4 Bits VRB Ns depth being 22 in length. The species reaches a length of 9 inches or more. GENUS ANISOTREMUS GILL Body ovate, short, deep, and compressed; mouth rather small, the lips thick, the maxillary rather short; inside of mouth not red; teeth in jaws only, all pointed, those of the outer series in upper jaw enlarged; chin with a median groove, besides smaller pores; dorsal spines strong; soft rays of dorsal and anal scaly at base; anal spines strong; caudal usually lunate; scales large; lower pharyngeals broad, with coarse, blunt teeth. This genus, like Hamulon, to which it is closely related, contains numerous species, all of them living on the shores of tropical America. All of the species undergo considerable change in form with age, and all of them are valued as food-fishes. The young are marked with 2 or 3 blackish lengthwise stripes, which disappear with age, very soon in the brightly coloured species, but persisting longer in those less brightly coloured. There are in our waters 12 species, several of which are suffi- ciently abundant to be of commercial value. 430 am” YELLOW GRU} emulon scimrus PORKFISH, Antsotremus virginicus Pompon Pompon Anisotremus surinamensts (Bloch) The pompon is found from southern Florida and Mobile to Brazil. It has been taken by us in Indian River and Porto Rico, and is known also from the Tortugas, Cuba, Jamaica, Martinique, and Surinam. It reaches a length of 2 or 3 feet, and is a good food-fish. Colour, grayish, darkest on anterior half of body, where each scale is dark brown on its basal half, followed by a white ellipse and a nar- row darker border; upper edge of caudal peduncle brown, sides nearly plain whitish; snout and under parts of head lilac-brown; under parts of body rusty brown; fins all brownish, especially soft dorsal and anal. Pork-fish; Sisi Amsotremus virginicus (Linneus) A very handsome fish ranging from Florida to Brazil; known from Biscayne Bay, Key West, Santo Domingo, Jamaica, Porto Rico, Martinique, and St. Catharine Island. About Key West it is said to school from June to August, which is its spawning season. It is then found about shoals, but soon retires to deeper water. It spawns in the channels among the shoals, where it is caught in great numbers, chiefly in traps and with hook and line. Abouta month after spawn- ing-time immense numbers of young are said to be found about the shoals. The species reaches a length of about a foot and a weight of 2 pounds, but those brought to market do not average more than 4 of a pound. In Porto Rico, where it is called sisi, it is not common. It is everywhere regarded as an excellent pan-fish. Colour in life, side with about 8 broad lemon-yellow longitudinal bars, alternating with similar bars of dirty silvery, the upper 3 or 4 of the yellow lines branching anteriorly, the fifth extending on middle of caudal peduncle; belly silvery white; a broad black bar from origin of spinous dorsal to base of pectoral, continuing on shoulder-girdle to near isthmus; another broad black band from occiput through eye to angle of mouth; cheek metallic or brassy green; top of head brassy ; 431 Brachydenterus fins all orange-yellow; spinous dorsal, pectoral, and ventral dusted with brownish; scaly sheath at base of anal rich yellow. GENUS BRACHYDENTERUS GILL This genus in most respects resembles Pomadasis. Body oblong; scales large, those above in series parallel with the lateral line; mouth small; outer teeth somewhat enlarged; inside of jaws not red; anal spines small or moderate, the second little, if any, longer or stronger than third, and shorter than soft rays; soft dorsal and anal largely covered with small scales; D. XII, 14 to 16. None of the 4 species of this genus is of much importance. Brachydenterus nitidus is known only from the Gulf of Califor- nia, Mazatlan, and Panama. It reaches about a foot in length, and is used as food, though it is not abundant. In colour it is silvery, darker above, with dark streaks along the rows of scales, especially distinct below lateral line; a large round dark blotch at beginning of lateral line, about as large as eye. B. corvineformis ranges from the West Indies to Brazil, ap- parently most common about Porto Rico. It reaches a foot in length, and is a good pan-fish. B. leuciscus is probably the most important species of the genus. It is found on our Pacific coast from Guaymas to Peru. It is very common about Mazatlan and Panama, and is a valued pan-fish. B. axillaris, the burro blanco, reaches a foot in length, and is known only from Guaymas and Mazatlan, where it is used as food. GENUS POMADASIS LACEPEDE The Burros This genus is composed of small shore-fishes, some of its repre- sentatives being found in most tropical seas. Several of the species enter fresh waters, and others are found in brackish waters. Numer- ous species occur on the west coast of Africa and about the Cape Verde Islands, but, so far as known, none enters European waters. The genus is represented in our waters by about 8 species, all of those sufficiently abundant being food-fishes of some little value. Pomadasis panamensis is a well-marked species occurring on the Pacific coast of tropical America, and rather common at both Panama and Mazatlan. It reaches a foot or more in length, and is a good pan-fish. 432 . *' Say RP he YN} NY \\ WY) 4 testes SSE mee WL Xe BLACK MARGATE-FISH, Anisotremus surinamensis GRAY SNAPPER, Lutianus griseus The Pigfishes Colour, gray silvery; young with 6 very faint cross-bars, one of these below spinous dorsal appearing as a roundish dark spot; lower fins white; a distinct dark blotch on opercle and a fainter one on side below spinous dorsal. P. bayanus is known only from Panama, the only known speci- mens having come from the Rio Bayano. Colour, uniform olivaceous above, silvery below; fins plain. P. productus is a very rare species known only from Cuba. Colour, nearly plain, silvery below. P. macracanthus occurs on the Pacific coast of tropical America from Mazatlan to Panama. It reaches 15 inches in length, and is used as food. When caught it makes a loud snore-like noise very much like that made by a donkey, hence its common name burro. P. andret has been recorded only from the Rio Guayas, near Guay- aquil, Ecuador. It is a doubtful species. P. crocro occurs throughout the West Indies from Cuba to Brazil, and is generally common on sandy shores. Colour, plain olivaceous, silvery below, with about 3 or 4 ill-defined longitudinal dark stripes along side, one from tip of snout to middle of base of caudal. P. branickhi, the burrito, reaching a length of 7 inches, occurs on the Pacific coast of tropical America, from Mazatlan to Peru. It is not uncommon on sandy shores. The remaining species, P. ramosus, is found in the West Indies and south to Brazil. In Porto Rico it is known as ronco blanco, and ascends the streams well toward the interior of the island, specimens having been obtained by us in the Rio Loiza near Caguas more than 25 miles from the coast. This species is said by the native fishermen to utter the grunting noise characteristic of the family. Though of small size, it is nevertheless a good food-fish, and is highly valued. GENUS OR EHOPRIS TS ‘GIRARD The Pigfishes This genus differs from Pomadasis in the long anal fin, the smaller scales, and the less development of the dorsal spines. Nearly all the species are American, and some of them are of food-value. Orthopristis forbest is known only from Albemarle Island, one of the Galapagos group. Colour in spirits, dark brown above, with bluish reflections, fins dusky except pectorals; caudal edged with light; membrane of opercle dark; preopercle with some dark spots. The known specimens are each about a foot long. O. reddingi is known only from La Paz, Gulf of California. Col- our, pearly gray, darker above; each scale of back and side with a 433 Pigfish; Hogfish bright bronze spot behind its centre, these forming nearly continuous streaks along the rows of scales, running upward and backward ante- riorly and nearly horizontally on side, where they are more or less in- terrupted or transposed; head plain gray; dorsal with some streaks; ventrals somewhat dusky. O. chalceus occurs on the coast of tropical America, from the Gulf of California to the Galapagos Islands, and is rather common, especially at Cape San Lucas and Mazatlan. It reaches 18 inches in length, and isa good food-fish. Colour, paler than in related species; pale chalky bluish streaks along the edges of the rows of scales; a pale streak below base of dorsal; fins rather pale, the soft dorsal mottled with darker. The young have broad diffuse dusky cross-bands on the side. O. poeyi is arare species known only from Havana. It is close to O. chrysopterus, but the body is more slender, and thescales are rather larger. O. cantharinus is known only from the Galapagos Islands. It reaches a foot in length, and is apparently close to O. chrysopterus. Colour, brownish gray above, soiled silvery below; upper parts with 8 diffuse cross-bands, as wide as the interspaces extending to below middle of side; membrane of opercle dark; some dark streaks fol- lowing rows of scales; dorsal with some dull orange and some pale round spots. es Se ae oy eS on my Pigfish; Hogfish Orthopristis chrysopterus (Linneus) This is the most important food-fish of the genus. It reaches a length of 12 to 15 inches, and occurs on the South Atlantic and Gulf 434 SCUP, Stenotomus chrysops TOM-TATE, Bathystoma rimator ) a i « Pigfish; Hogfish coasts of the United States, ranging as far north as Long Island and south to the mouth of the Rio Grande. It is especially abundant on sandy shores, where it is taken in haul-seines. Large numbers are taken along the Carolina coast. It is very highly valued as a pan-fish, and is known in some places as the sailor’s-choice. Colour in life, light blue above, shading gradually into silvery below; preorbital and snout clear sky-blue; a dash of blue on each side of upper lip; each scale on body with a blue centre, the edge with a brown spot, these forming on back and sides very distinct orange-brown stripes along the rows of scales, those above the lateral line extending obliquely upward and backward, those below nearly horizontal; snout with bronze spots; one or two cross-lines connect- ing front of orbits; 2 or 3 oblique lines on preorbital, besides numerous bronze spots larger than those on body; dorsal translucent with about 3 longitudinal bronze shades, composed of spots, those of soft dorsal most distinctly spot-like; caudal plain, yellowish at base, dusky toward tip; pectorals and ventrals yellowish, the latter darker at tip. 435 THE] PORIGIES Family Lill. Sparide Bopy oblong, more or less elevated, covered with rather large adherent scales, which are never truly ctenoid; lateral line well de- veloped, concurrent with the back, not extending on caudal fin; head large; mouth small, terminal, low, and horizontal; premaxillaries little protractile; maxillary short, peculiar in form and in articulation, without supplemental bone; teeth strong, those in front of jaws coni- cal, incisor-like, or molar; lateral teeth of jaws always blunt and molar; no teeth on vomer or palatines; pseudobranchie large; gill-membranes separate, free from the isthmus; opercle without spines; sides of head usually scaly; dorsal fin single, sometimes deeply notched, the spines usually strong, depressible in a groove; spines heteracanthous, that is, alternating, the one stronger on the right side, the other on the left, the number 10 to 13; anal fin rather short, similar to the soft dorsal, with 3 spines; ventrals thoracic, with a more or less distinct scale-like appendage at base; caudal fin usually more or less concave behind; air-bladder present. This is a large family of carnivorous shore-fishes of tropical seas, especially abundant in the Mediterranean, Red Sea, and West Indies. About 12 genera and nearly 100 species are known, and most of them are valued as food. In our waters are about 24 species representing 7 genera. Most of them are good food-fishes. a. Second interhemal bone enlarged, hollowed anteriorly or pen- shaped, receiving posterior end of air-bladder in its anterior groove. b. Front teeth narrow, compressed, forming lanceolate incisors. Stenotomus, 437 bo. Front teeth conical or-canine-ltkhe. 2... ee eee eee Calamus, 438 aa. Second interhzmal spine normal, not pen-like. c. First spine-bearing interneural with an antrorse spine in front. d. Incisors ‘conspicuously notched s.sce..nei eee Lagodon, 440 add. Incisors. entire or with a‘shallow motch .0... Calamus arctifrons This is the same individual fish as the one above and shows remarkable changes in colour occurring in a few minutes a ts s\n The Sheepsheads Archosargus unimaculatus, much broader than the interspaces; about 7 stripes below the lateral line, those above more or less confluent; dorsal fin pale bluish with a submedian gilt band and a gilt edge; caudal yellow, faintly barred; anal bluish, with a median yellowish band. GENUS ARCHOSARGUS GILL The Sheepsheads This genus, like Lagodon, Stenofomus, and Otrynter, which show the same character of the procumbent dorsal spine, is confined to American waters. There are 2 colour types in the genus, one group being made up of species with broad black cross-bars, the other of species with longitudinal golden streaks and inconspicuous cross-bars, resembling Lagodon. \ a. Occipital crest rather thin, its honeycomb structure not exposed. Species with streaks of steel-blue and golden, the dark cross- bars narrow, disappearing with age........ unimaculatus, 442 aa. Occipital crest broad, its honeycomb structure plainly exposed at its upper margin. Species without blue or golden markings, but with about 7 broad black cross-bars ..probatocephalus, 442 441 Chopa Amarilla; Salema Chopa Amarilla; Salema Archosargus unimaculatus (Bloch) This species is found among the Florida Keys and the West Indies, and south to Brazil. It occasionally occurs as far north as Charleston, and it is not uncommon about Key West, Cuba, and Porto Rico. It reaches a foot in length and is a valuable pan-fish. Colour, olivaceous, silvery below, the upper parts with longitu- dinal golden stripes, alternating with bluish interspaces; a black hu- meral spot larger than eye. Common Sheepshead Archosargus probatocephalus (Walbaum) The sheepshead is one of our commonest and best-known fish, its range extending throughout the entire length of our Atlantic and Gulf coast from Cape Cod to Texas, but it has not been recorded from the West Indies. The sheepshead is a bottom-loving species, feeding upon small mollusks and other animals frequenting oyster- beds and muddy shallow waters. From the Chesapeake to Indian River, and again on the Gulf coast from Tampa to Corpus Christi, it is generally abundant in all suitable places. In Indian River it is, next to the mullet, the most abundant food-fish, and is found at all times. Though playing in and out with the tide, and moving some- what from place to place, it is not properly a migratory fish. It does not school, as the mullets do, but is often found in considerable bunches, brought together by presence of food. Feeding almost wholly upon mollusks, crustaceans, and plants, it frequents oyster-beds and similar places, particularly about inlets. The spawning season in Indian River seems to be in February, extending perhaps into April. The average weight in Indian River is only 3 or 4 pounds, and the maximum 12 to 15 pounds. Though a salt-water fish, the sheepshead often runs far up fresh- water rivers, particularly the St. Johns in Florida. Throughout its entire range it is regarded as one of the very best food-fishes and is of great commercial importance. There is no more common or 442 ~“ PINFISH, Lagodon rhomboides an «* Diplodus better-known fish in the markets of our Atlantic seaboard cities and towns. As a game-fish the sheepshead is one of the most popular among our Salt-water species, and there are many noted places between New York and Biscayne Bay where anglers resort for its capture. As long ago as 1814 Samuel Latham Mitchill, the naturalist-senator of New York, wrote in highest praise of the pleasures of angling for sheeps- head: ‘‘ When a sheepshead is brought on board more joy is mani- fested than by the possession of any other kind of fish. The sports- men view the exercises so much above common fishing that the cap- ture of the sheepshead is the most desirable combination of luck and skill; and the feats of hooking and landing him safely in the boat fur- nish abundant materials for the most pleasing and hyperbolical stories. The sheepshead is a very stout fish, and the hooks and lines are strong in proportion; yet he frequently breaks them and makes his escape.” And good old Thaddeus Norris says: ‘‘In fishing with a hand- line, which is the usual mode of taking him, the sheepshead gives one or two slight premonitory jerks, and then a steady pull, when the fisherman gathers in his line as fast as possible, the fish coming along with aheavy drag. When he approaches the boat, there is a desperate contest; there is much probability of his breaking the hook, or his quick downward lunges are apt to snap the line; then the fisher takes in slack or lets the line run through his fingers, as the actions of the fish dictate, and when a proper opportunity offers, throws him into the boat. His pull is at first strong and steady, but as he comes to the surface, his lunges are quick and desperate.”’ Our personal experience with the sheepshead has been chiefly at Indian River Inlet, one of Senator Quay’s favourite fishing-grounds, and about Baldwin Lodge, Mississippi, where the Hon. A. Baldwin and other enthusiastic anglers of New Orleans find royal sport with this and other gamy species. So well known is the sheepshead that it needs no detailed de- scription. GENUS DIPLODUS RAFINESQUE This genus is close to Archosargus, from which it differs chiefly in having no procumbent dorsal spine. There are 3 species in our 443 Diplodus waters, the only one of any importance being the pinfish or spot, Diplodus holbrookt. This fish is found on our South Atlantic and Gulf coasts from Cape Hatteras to Cedar Keys. At Beaufort, North Carolina, it is not uncommon, and the young swarm about the wharves. It is frequent also at Lake Worth, where it is called jimmy. It reaches 8 inches in length and is an excellent pan-fish. 444 SHEEPSHEAD, SHAD PORGY, Calamus penna oi Tap St. » . a) eA ; ; THE MOJARRAS Family LIV. Gerride Bopy oblong or elevated, covered with large, smooth scales; lateral line continuous, concurrent with the back; mouth moderate, extremely protractile, descending when protruded, the spines of the premaxillary extending to above eye, closing a deep groove in top of head; maxillary without supplemental maxillary bone, its surface silvery like the rest of the head; base of mandible scaly; jaws with slender, villiform teeth; no incisors, canines, nor molars; no teeth on vomer or palatines; preopercle entire or serrate; sides of head scaly; dorsal fin single, continuous or deeply notched, the spinous and soft parts about equally developed, a scaly sheath along the base; dorsal spines usually 9 or 10; anal usually with 3 spines, the soft anal similar to the soft dorsal but shorter. This family contains 6 to 8 genera and about 40 species, all car- nivorous fishes of moderate or small size, inhabiting tropical seas. In our waters 4 of the genera are represented by 17 species, the larger ones being used as food. None of them, however, is of great importance, and they have no value as game-fishes. a. Second interhemal spine singularly developed as a hollow cylinder, comparatively short and much expanded, the posterior end of the air-bladder entering its cavity; preopercle and preorbital entire; anal spines 3, the second not much enlarged. Euctnostomus, 445 aa. Second interhemal spine normally developed, not hollow, the air- bladder not entering it. b. Second interhzmal spine very short, bluntish; anal spines 2, both Small: preopercle. and preorbital entire. ........<.% Ulema, 447 bb. Second interhemal spine long, spear-shaped; anal spines 2 or 3, the second enlarged. c. Preopercle entire; second anal spine moderate ...... Xystema, 447 cc. Preopercle serrate; second anal spine much enlarged..Gerres, 447 GENUS EUCINOSTOMUS BAIRD & GIRARD The Mojarritas This genus, sufficiently defined in the preceding key, is repre- sented in our waters by 5 species, which may be distinguished as follows: 445 The Mojarritas a. Premaxillary groove wholly naked, linear or semioval, sometimes constricted at base, but never scaled. b. Eye very large, greater than snout, 2% in head; exposed portion of maxillary. small, ‘triangulate. of... ee aap re ee ee dowt, 446 bb. Eye moderate, about equal to snout, usually more than 3 in head; exposed portion of maxillary triangular in front, oblong behind. c. Body elongate, the back little elevated, the greatest depth 3} to 34 IN Jen eth cok be oe sec alieds ciety aerate eee pseudogula, 446 cc. Body deeper and more compressed, the back more elevated, the greatest depth 2% in length. d. Snout blunt; eye large, scarcely 3 in head; second anal spine large, 2% to 34 in head; premaxillary groove linear...harengulus, 446 dd. Snout less blunt; eye smaller, more than 3 in head; premaxillary groove linear in young, becoming broader with age; second anal spite shorter, 32 10: 44 it Weadys so eae. eee californiensts, 446 aa. Premaxillary groove scaled in front, the scales leaving a naked pit Beli see ear le 2 ore tiers atets wich ea at eee ree gula, 446 Eucinostomus dowi is found on our Pacific coast about Panama and the Galapagos Islands. It reaches 6 inches in length. E. pseudogula is found among the West Indies, about the Bermu- das and south to Brazil. It reaches a length of 7 inches, and is not uncommon. E. harengulus is one of the most abundant species and is common on our Atlantic coast from north Florida southward to Brazil. It is found about all the West Indies and is abundant about Porto Rico. It reaches 7 or 8 inches in length. It is very close to E. dowz. E. californiensis, the mojarra cantilefa, is found on the Pacific coast of Mexico and from Guaymas to Panama, and has been once taken at San Diego. It is exceedingly abundant in shallow bays and estuaries, and enters freshwater streams. It attains a length of 8 inches and is of considerable food-value. E, gula, known variously as silver jenny, mojarra de ley, mojarra, and petite gueule is excessively common everywhere in shallow water and on sandy shores from the Carolinas to Brazil, and the young stray north to Woods Hole. About Porto Rico it is quite common. It reaches 5 or 6 inches in length and is much used for bait. All the species of this genus are plain silvery in colour, without any prominent markings. 446 PINFISH, Lagodon rhomboices BROAD SHAD, Xysiema cinereum Ulema GENUS ULA:MA JORDAN & EVERMANN This genus is close to Eucinostomus, from which it differs in the form of the second interhemal. The single species (U/awma lJefroyz) is known from the Bermudas, the West Indies, and north on sandy shores to Cedar Keys. It reaches 8 inches in length, and is plain sil- very in colour. GENUS XYST/AEMA JORDAN & EVERMANN This genus differs from Gerres in having the preopercle entire. The single species (Xyst@ma cinereum) is found on both coasts of trop- ical America, north to Lower California and southern Florida. It is generally common in water of moderate depth, and ascends rivers con- siderable distances. It reaches a foot or more in length, and is a food- fish of no little importance. In Porto Rico, where it is common, it is called muniama. GENUS GERKRES (CUIIER This genus, distinguished by the long spear-shaped interhemal, contains 10 American species. a. Preorbital entire; no distinct dark streaks along rows of scales. Pee abe pilnes: 2, TNE TAYS GQ) 2 at aces ce ciein)s scslee sh ecwe rhombeus, 448 bb. Anal spines 3, the rays 8. c. Premaxillary groove broad, triangular or oval, and free from scales. d. Body ovate, the outline somewhat regularly elliptical, the depth 2} MAUL METBNN << fare Seeialsteise aretat oi eteiaidre Sora wleiwiers\ieimie wie aureolus, 448 dd. Body rhomboidal, short and deep, with angular outlines, the depth usually more than half the length ....... peruvianus, 448 cc. Premaxillary groove broad, oval, and covered with scales. olisthostomus, 448 aa. Preorbital serrate; a distinct dark streak along each row of scales. e. Scales moderate or large, 34 to 39 in lateral line. f. Spines moderate, the second dorsal 3 to 2? length of head. g. Pectoral short, barely reaching vent; second dorsal spine 1% in head; caudal shower than head. 2.4.2.6. e005 0300 ++ brevimanus, 449 gg. Pectoral at least as long as head; caudal longer than head. h. inaceae as long as head, not reaching anal, 3 to 34 in body; scales 540. 447 Gerres . Third dorsal spine rather longer than second; 10 rows of scales be- tween lateral line and vent; opercle with few if any small scales At base. 1 See OR hen eae stteis sits Slee .. /ineatus, 449 Third dorsal spine not longer than second; 11 rows of scales between lateral line and vent; opercle with numerous small scales at DaSC ince eigares o hiees ocejaia's ee ws awe ae miele SOV SEL OTe hh. Pectoral very long, 4 longer than head, 24 to 2? in body; scales Bo ie oe ele ee eran ie eee Paitenieir Se eka s os eCMUND Rane ff. Spines very high, the second dorsal longer than head. p/umiert, 449 ee, Scalesismall,slender 2.0) en se cep Bairdiella, 460 jf. Gill-rakers short-and thiek 2.0... eeee soja ane ateteaet Scicenops, 461 454 —— se. The Weakfishes ee. Teeth very small, subequal, those in lower jaw deciduous or PEAR MEINE «fas. donatepradahale issn Saaxaneleadatectins ala Metre Letostomus, 462 dd. Lower jaw with 1 or more barbels. g. Lower jaw with slender barbels, usually several in number. Micropogon, 463 gg. Lower jaw witha single thickish barbel at tip.. Menticirrhus, 464 cc. Lower pharyngeals very large and completely united, covered with coarse, blunt, paved teeth. h. Lower jaw with numerous barbels; preopercle nearly entire; MAAN S DECI Ste. Clon aka wlaletan wig he staged wisi patate Sere Pogonias, 466 hk. Lower jaw without barbels; preopercle slightly serrate; fresh- UCL RS OTE Tels A ae eae 2 ed ee Aplodinotus, 467 The genus Seriphus, sufficiently characterized in the foregoing key, contains but 1 species. This is S. politus, the queenfish or white croaker, which occurs on the Pacific coast from Point Conception to Cerros Island. It is common on sandy shores, especially about San Diego. It reaches a foot in length and is an excellent pan-fish. Colour, bluish above, sides and belly bright silvery, finely punctate; vertical fins bright yellow in life; base of pectoral blackish. GENUS CYNOSCION GILL The Weakfishes Body elongate, little compressed, the back not elevated; head conic, rather pointed; mouth very large, terminal, not very oblique, the lower jaw projecting; maxillary very broad; teeth sharp, not close- set, in rather narrow bands; tip of lower jaw without canines; upper jaw with 2 long canines, one of these sometimes obsolete; canines tapering from base to tip; lateral teeth of lower jaw larger than anterior; preopercle with its membranous edge serrulate, its bony edge entire; lower pharyngeals separate, their teeth all pointed; gill-rakers strong, rather long; pseudobranchiz well developed; dorsal spines slender, the fins closely contiguous, the second long and low, more than twice length of anal. An important genus of large fishes, chiefly American, closely re- lated to the Old-World genus Ofolithus. All rank high as food-fishes, the flesh being rich, but in some species tender and easily torn, hence the popular name weakfishes. a. Scales not very small, the lateral line with 55 to 75 pores, the num- ber of scales 55 to 85. 455 Common Weakfish; Squeteague; Sea-trout b. Soft portions of dorsal and anal more or less closely scaled. és Colour, nearly uniform, SIVELY. aces oma os cine oy tei MORGUE, CAGE cc. Colour, brownish silvery above, with many dark brown spots ar- ranged in undulating streaks.................----7egalis, 456 bb. Soft portions of dorsal and anal scaleless. d. Colour, not uniform; grayish or silvery, the back with distinct darker spots, lines, or reticulations. é; > Soft-dorsal without SpOts'. «cise oce 5 stemeete ole slvies «> 8c PEMCHIALNS, ae ee. Soft dorsal with conspicuous round black spots ....mebulosus, 457 dd. Colour, nearly uniform, bluish gray above, silvery below. f. Caudal fin somewhat lunate in adult, the middle rays shortest, but somewhat produced in the young............parvipinnis, 460 ff. Caudal fin always double-truncate or double-concave, the middle rays somewhat produced ....... rise oon macdonaldt, 460 aa. Scales comparatively small, the lateral line with 70 to go pores, the number of scales 85 to 150........ sid Fine badass ye ete nobilis, 458 IN + YY AE ‘ Re DN 44) yahaee YY ae ass Py aasaass ‘ Haass a Common Weakfish; Squeteague; Sea-trout Cynoscion regalis (Bloch & Schneider) The squeteague is found throughout the entire length of our Atlantic and Gulf coasts, and ranges as far north as the Bay of Fundy. It has varied greatly in abundance within the last hundred years, but is always one of our commonest and best-known fishes. At certain times and places it is exceedingly abundant. A catch of over 200,000 pounds in one day in 1881 two miles off Rockaway Beach is on record. It is rare in the Gulf of Mexico, but from Florida to Long Island it is usually abundant. ; Although essentially a coast and still-water fish, the squeteague sometimes runs up tidal waters and prefers the vicinity of river- 456 Spotted Weakfish; Spotted Sea-trout mouths. Though seen in the markets everywhere, this fish is not much valued in the North, but in the South it is highly prized. As a game-fish the squeteague is the greatest of the family. No salt-water fish of our Atlantic coast affords more sport to the angler than this species. It is only the great freedom with which it takes the bait and the large numbers which may be caught that cause it to fail of the highest appreciation. Its strength and endurance are perhaps not so great as that of the rock, but the strike and first rush are not less vigorous. They take almost any kind of bait, especially clams, soft crabs, or pieces of meat, as well as the trolling-spoon, and bite with a snap. On account of the extreme tenderness of the mouth, they must be handled with extreme care. ‘‘ His first dash is from the boat and 10 yards of line will be run off in a jiffy. He fights well and at long range if you allow him line, but bear well on him, as the least slacking of the line gives him a chance to disengage the hook, which he some- times attempts to do by jumping above the water and shaking his head.”’ Great numbers of weakfish are taken with the hand-line by what is called ‘‘ drifting’; that is, to sail into aschool of them in a mid-tide, and, letting the sheet go, allow the boat to drift while you fish over the sides at half-depth. The squeteague reaches a maximum weight of 30 pounds, though examples of more than Io or 12 pounds are very rare, and the average weight is very much less. This fish is one of the principal species upon which the bluefish feeds, and marvelously great numbers are doubtless destroyed every year by that rapacious fish. Colour, silvery, darker above, and marked with many small, irreg- ular dark blotches, some of which form undulating lines running down- ward and forward; back and head with bright reflections; dorsal and caudal fins dusky; ventrals, anal, and lower edge of caudal yellowish, sometimes speckled. Spotted Weakfish: Spotted Sea-trout Cynoscion nebulosus (Cuvier & Valenciennes ) This species is associated on the coasts of New Jersey and Virginia with the squeteague, from which it may readily be distinguished by 457 California White Sea-bass the presence of numerous round black spots on the body posteriorly. It becomes more abundant southward until, off the coast from North Carolina to Georgia, it is one of the most common food-fishes. Owing to its shape and spots, it is known on the Southern coast as salmon or spotted sea-trout, names wholly inappropriate. Spotted squeteague is a much better name. Among the commercial fishes of Indian River this species ranks fourth. Though it is present throughout the year, the largest catches are made during the latter part of winter and early spring. The average weight is 2 to 4 pounds, though the maximum is much greater; we have seen an example at Fort Pierce, Indian River, weigh- ing 134 pounds. The spotted squeteague is more migratory in its habits than its relatives. At Beaufort it appears from the South in the spring and passes through the inlets on the flood-tide. Early in May they pro- ceed northward, extending their journeys as far as Long Island. On the North Carolina coast they are perhaps more abundant than any other species, excepting, of course, the mullet. As a game-fish this species is scarcely inferior to the common squeteague. California White Sea-bass Cynoscion nobilis (Ayres) This important game-fish is perhaps most abundant about Santa Catalina, but ranges north to San Francisco, and occasionally even to 458 California White Sea-bass Victoria, Vancouver Island. It reaches a weight of 20 to 80 pounds, and is one of the really great game-fishes. Professor Holder says: ‘*The season is generally May and June. Of 7 caught in one day by the writer with a 16-strand line each weighed over 50 pounds, and every fish made a play of from 15 to 30 minutes that can only be described by the term magnificent. There is a difference in individuals, but one 51-pound bass, taken after a 25-minute contest, | believe, gave me more pleasure than any catch | ever made. ‘The fish played entirely on the surface, and I only saved it by the skill and quick movements of my boatman as the fish repeatedly rushed around the boat. This fish is a beautiful creature in bronze and old-gold tints, and is well called the Santa Catalina salmon, having a close resemblance to that fish and being its equal in every way. The equipment used is, so far as line is concerned, the same as for the tuna, though | prefer a lighter line and a lighter rod. Flying-fish or large smelt is the killing bait, trolled slowly along not 50 feet from the shore. All my catches were made in Avalon Bay not 200 feet from shore, and around the first week in May.” Cynoscion nothus, which is usually called the bastard weakfish, is a well-marked species, differing in numerous respects from the others of the genus. It occurs on our South Atlantic and Gulf coasts, and is a good food-fish. Colour, grayish silvery, thickly punctulate above and on sides to level of pectorals, then abruptly silvery, a row of dark points marking the line of division; snout and tip of lower jaw black- ish; mouth white within; lower fins white, the upper dusky. C. reticulatus, the corvina, is found from Mazatlan to Panama. It reaches a length of 3 feet and is a common food-fish on the Pacific coast of Mexico. 459 < The Mademoiselles C. parvipinnis, the California bluefish, is found on our Pacific coast from the Santa Barbara Islands to Guaymas and Mazatlan. It is common as far north as San Pedro, and is an excellent food-fish, not inferior to the squeteague. Colour, clear steel-blue, without stripes or spots; lower fins yellowish, C. macdonaldi, the totuava, is the largest species of the genus. It is known only from the Gulf of California, where it is very abundant along the entire eastern shore, congregating in great numbers about the mouth of the Colorado River. It enters the river and is found feeding in shallow water near the shore, where it is easily approached and speared. At the head of the Gulf it is known as the sea-bass, while at Guaymas it is called totuava. It reaches an enormous size, examples weighing 172 pounds having been taken with hand-lines at the head of the Gulf. GENUS BAIRDIELLA GILL The Mademoiselles This genus is characterized by the oblique mouth, little cavernous skull, few rows of small teeth, slender gill-rakers, and the preopercle armed with a plectroid spine. The numerous species are all American, all small in size and sil- very in colouration. Some of them are remarkable for the great size of the second anal spine, while in others it is quite small. 460 Sciznops The only species which is of much food-value is the yellowtail or mademoiselle. It is a well-known fish, very common from New England to Texas on sandy shores. It is most abundant southward. It reaches a foot or less in length and is a most excellent pan-fish. Colour, greenish above, silvery below; back and sides more or less densely punctate with dark dots, forming narrow, somewhat irregular streaks; fins plain, mostly yellow in life. GENUS SCEENOPS GILL This genus is very close to Ophioscion, from which it differs in the loss of the preopercular spines with age, the serrate edge of the bone becoming entire; caudal truncate or concave; soft dorsal scale- less; slits and pores of upper jaw well developed. The genus contains but one species, Sci@nops ocellatus, the red- drum, channel-bass, redfish, bull redfish, or pescado colorado, well known as an abundant and important food-fish of our South Atlantic and Gulf coasts, from New York to Texas. It is very abundant, especially southward, and is of rare occurrence north of Virginia. It is fifth among the commercial fishes of Indian River, but is rare at Key West. On the Texas coast it is the most abundant food-fish. Its habits have never been fully studied. In Indian River it seems to be resident, being most common in winter and early spring. The larger individuals, such as are usually called. channel-bass, appear to leave the river for a brief time during the coldest season, and they also 461 Leiostomus go outside for a time during the warmest period. The spawning season here probably extends from spring to fall and the fish probably spawn inside the river. The food of the red-drum consists chiefly of small fish such as young mullet, crustaceans, and mollusks. This fish reaches a length of 4 or 5 feet and a weight of at least 40 pounds, and fish of 12 to 15 pounds are not rare. Fish of greater weight than 15 pounds are, however, coarse and not readily salable. Those of 4 to 6 pounds are best for shipping. As a game-fish the red-drum must take good rank. Mr. S. C. Clarke and others have written its praises, and we ourselves have had exciting experiences with it in Indian River. Still-fishing is the method employed, and any sort of bait will serve, though a piece of a mullet or other fish is best. The bait may lie upon the bottom or dangle a few inches above it. The red-drum may be cautious and slow to take the bait, but when once hooked its strength and size enable it to make a pretty fight. Though an important commercial fish, its flesh is not of high quality, as it is stringy and lacking in flavour. This fish is so well known as to need no extended description. It may easily be known by its colour, which is grayish silvery usually washed with coppery red; each scale with a centre of dark points, forming rather obscure irregular, undulating brown stripes along the rows of scales; a jet-black ocellated spot about as large as eye at base of caudal above, this sometimes duplicated, and the body occa- sionally with ocelli. GENUS LEIOSTOMUS LACEPEDE Body oblong-ovate, the back compressed; head obtuse; mouth small, horizontal, the upper jaw with a band of feeble teeth, the lower nearly or quite toothless; slits and pores of upper jaw well developed; lower pharyngeals separate, the teeth paved; preopercle with a mem- branaceous border; D. X —I, 31, the spines slender and rather high, the last connected with the soft rays; A. II, 12, the second spine not large; caudal fin emarginate; gill-membranes slightly connected; gill- rakers slender. This genus differs from Sciawna chiefly by the absence of teeth in the lower jaw and by the more paved teeth on the pharyngeals. The single species, Lezostomus xanthurus, is a popular and well-known fish 462 pozon undulatus The Croakers on our South Atlantic and Gulf coasts, under the vernacular names spot, goody, lafayette, roach, chub, chopa blanca, and masooka. It is one of the most common pan-fishes on our coast and is excellent in every respect. It occurs as far north as Cape Cod and as far south as Texas, but is very rare in the West Indies. The spot is a small fish, reaching only 6 to toinches in length, and consequently not likely to prove very exciting to the angler, albeit it takes the hook readily and is well worth taking when larger fish refuse to bite. Colour, bluish above, silvery below; about 15 narrow dark wavy bands extending from the dorsal downward and forward to below lateral line; a round black humeral spot rather smaller than the eye; fins plain olivaceous, the caudal not yellow. GENUS MICROPOGON COV SY ALENCIENNES The Croakers Body moderately elongate, compressed, somewhat elevated; pre- opercle strongly serrate; teeth in villiform bands, the outer row in the upper jaw somewhat enlarged; lower jaw with a row of minute bar- bels on each side; gill-rakers short and thickish; spinous dorsal rather short, of 10 or 11 stoutish spines; second anal spine moderate; caudal fin double-truncate; lower pharyngeals narrow, distinct, with sharp conical teeth; air-bladder with long horns. This is a well-marked genus with about 5 species, all American, distinguished from Ophioscion and Sciwnops by the presence of bar- bels. The species are all closely related, and are similar in form, colour, and size. The only species of importance is the common croaker, Micropogen undulatus. Every one on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts knows the croaker. Itis an abundant and important food-fish all the way from Cape Cod to Texas, being most common southward, but not known from the West Indies. At Beaufort, N. C., it is, next to the mullet and the spot, the most common food-fish; and in the markets of Baltimore, Washington, and southward there is no more familiar fish. It appears to be uncommon in Indian River, but is present in limited numbers throughout the year. On the Gulf coast it is exceedingly abundant in 463 The Kingfishes all the bays and bayous, where it is found at all times. The croakers live mostly in shallow water on grassy bottom, and feed upon crusta- ceans and mollusks. They breed in the bays in early winter. They reach a foot in length and are an excellent pan-fish. Commercially they are caught with haul-seines. They take the hook readily and fight fairly well. A slight, pliant rod with a stiffish tip, a reel, a float or not as circumstances require, and hook baited with shrimp or soft crab, will usually prove the proper thing. Colour, brassy, paler below; middle part of body with short, ir- regular, dusky vertical bars crossing the lateral line; many dark brown spots on side of back, irregularly placed and not forming continuous streaks along rows of scales; usually some of these coalesce to form 2 dark streaks concurrent with the back. GENUS \MEN TICIRRAUS. GILL The Kingfishes Body rather elongate, little compressed; head long, subconic, the bluntish snout considerably projecting beyond the mouth, which is small and horizontal; both jaws with bands of villiform teeth, the outer of the upper jaw more or less enlarged; chin with a single stoutish barbel; preopercle with its membranaceous edge serrulate; gill-rakers short and tubercular or obsolete; dorsal spines high and slender, 10 or 11 in number; soft dorsal long and low; caudal fin with the lower Jobe rounded, the upper sharp; anal with a single weak spine; no air-bladder; lower pharyngeals separate, the teeth varying from sharp to very obtuse. This genus is one of the most important of the family, containing 9 species, all American. Only a few are of food-value. a. Gill-rakers obsolete, reduced to tubercular prominences. b. Mouth rather large, the maxillary reaching middle of eye, 2? to 34 in head. c. Outer teeth of upper jaw decidedly enlarged; spinous dorsal not much elevated, the longest not usually reaching front of soft dorsal; 12-tov1@ im-head . ..2:-\s/u/em wie oye poereereeete americanus, 465 cc. Outer teeth of upper jaw less enlarged; spinous dorsal elevated, the longest spine reaching past front of soft dorsal, 14 in head. saxatilis, 465 464 The Kingfishes bb. Mouth smaller, the maxillary scarcely reaching eye, 33 in head. undulatus, 465 aa. Gill-rakers present, very short and rather slender... ./iftoralis, 465 The most important species is the sand whiting or Carolina whit- ing, Menticirrhus americanus. It is found on our South Atlantic and Gulf coasts from the Chesapeake Bay to Texas. It is very common on sandy shores southward, and is a food-fish of considerable importance. Colour, grayish silvery, with obscure darker clouds along back and sides, these marks forming dusky bars running obliquely forward and downward to below the lateral line, the bar at the nape saddle- shaped. The Northern whiting, kingfish, or sea-mink, M. saxatilis, is found from Cape Ann to Key West and Pensacola, its centre of greatest abundance being northward. It is a good food-fish. Colour, dusky- gray above, sometimes blackish, the back and sides with distinct dark oblique cross-bands running downward and forward, the anterior one at the nape extending downward, meeting the second and thus forming a V-shaped blotch on each side. The California whiting, M. undulatus, occurs from the Santa Barbara Islands southward on sandy shores, and is a food-fish of some value. M. elongatus is found from Mazatlan to Panama and is very common in the surf. Colour, bluish on back and sides, silvery below, without stripes or bands. . The surf whiting or silver whiting, M. /ifforalis, is found on sandy shores from the Carolinas to Texas and is generally common. Colour, silvery gray above, with bluish and bronze reflections, with- 465 The Sea-drums out spots; a.dark bronze shade along sides at level of pectorals, ex- tending to tail and along cheeks; belly below this abruptly white; dorsal fins light brown, the spinous dorsal black at tip, the base narrowly white; caudal pale, its tip usually black. GENUS POGONIAS LACEPEDE The Sea-drums Body short and deep, the dorsal outline much elevated, the ventral nearly straight; mouth moderate, the upper jaw the longer; teeth small, in villiform bands, the outer not enlarged; lower pharyn- geal bones large, fully united, armed with strong paved teeth; lower jaw with numerous barbels, each about half length of eye; preopercle entire, with a membranaceous edge; dorsal fins slightly connected, the spines high and strong; caudal fin subtruncate; first anal spine short, the second exceedingly large, nearly as long as the soft rays; pectorals and ventrals long; gill-rakers short and bluntish; pseudo- branchiz large. ! This genus contains 2 species, both American, and both large, coarse fishes, among the largest in the family. The more important of the 2 species is the common drum or black drum, Pogonias cromus. 466 Aplodinotus The drum is found from New England to the Rio Grande, and is a common and well-known fish on sandy shores everywhere, particu- larly southward. It is one of the largest food-fishes on our coast. The largest example on record was taken at St. Augustine, Florida, and weighed 146 pounds. Examples weighing 50 to 80 pounds are not rare, though those seen in market weigh only a few pounds. The drum is a sluggish fish, feeding chiefly at the bottom, where their long, sensitive barbels aid them greatly in their search for food, which con- sists mostly of crustaceans and mollusks, which they easily crush with their strong, paved pharyngeal teeth. They are believed to be very destructive to oyster-beds, particularly southward. The drum makes a loud drumming noise, especially during the breeding season, a habit shared by many other members of the family. Small fish under about 20 pounds are said not to drum. The males drum loudest, the females in a softer tone, and the drumming is prob- ably for the purpose of attracting the opposite sex. In the northern portion of its range it is not regarded as a food-fish of any value, but from Chesapeake Bay southward it is held in higher esteem. The flesh is coarse, though tender and of delicate flavour. The roe are considered a great delicacy and are often salted and dried. The drum is usually taken in seines or traps, but it takes the hook readily when baited with a crab or shrimp, and its large size makes its capture and landing a matter of no little interest to the angler. The scales of the drum are used to some extent in Florida in the manufacture of the sprays of flowers and other articles of fancy-work which are sold under the name of ‘‘ fish-scale jewelry.” They are large and silvery, and so hard that it is necessary to remove them with an ax or hatchet. Colour, grayish silvery, with 4 or 5 broad dark vertical bars, these disappearing with age; usually no oblique dark streaks along the rows of scales above; fins blackish. GENUS APLODINOTUS RAFINESQUE This genus contains a single species, Ap/odinotus grunniens, a large freshwater fish occurring in our larger lakes and sluggish streams and bayous from the Great Lakes and west of the Alleghenies southward through the Mississippi Valley to Louisiana, and in lowland streams 467 Aplodinotus through Texas to the mouth of the Rio Grande. It has recently been found by us in the Rio Usumacinta, in Tabasco, southern Mexico. ee rae es: HY = SZ eae <2 rz "Abi Re, 2 cS is, It is most abundant in the Great Lakes and in the lowland streams of Louisiana and Texas. A great number of vernacular names have been bestowed upon this interesting fish. In the Great Lakes it is the sheepshead or freshwater drum; in the lakes of northern Indiana it is called crocus, evidently a corruption of croaker; in the Ohio it is the white perch, gray perch, or simply perch; farther south it is drum or thunder-pumper; and in Louisiana, gaspergou. It is a bottom fish, feeding chiefly upon crustaceans and mollusks. Northward the freshwater drum is not greatly valued as a food-fish, but in the South it is highly esteemed. Ordinarily we have found the flesh tough and coarse in fibre, and often with a disagreeable shark- like odour. The gaspergou is one of our largest freshwater fishes, as it reaches a weight of 50 to 60 pounds and a length of 4 feet. Colour, grayish silvery, dusky above, sometimes very dark; back sometimes with oblique dusky streaks along the rows of scales. 468 TELE, SURESRISHES Family LVIT, Embiotocide Tuis is a large family, all the species of which are viviparous. The young are hatched within the body where they remain closely packed in a sac-like enlargement of the oviduct analogous to the uterus, until born. These foetal fishes bear at first little resem- blance to the parent, being closely compressed and having the vertical fins exceedingly elevated. At birth they are 13 to 25 inches long, and similar to the adult in appearance, but more compressed and red in colour. Since the discovery of their viviparity by Dr. Gibbons in 1854, these fishes have been of special interest to zoologists. They are all fishes of our Pacific Coast, inhabiting bays and the surf on sandy shores, excepting 2 species known from Japan. Several of them are found in brackish water and one inhabits freshwater streams. The different species reach a length of 6 to 18 inches and are usually very abundant wherever found. Though extensively used for food, the flesh is rather tasteless and bony. They feed chiefly upon small crustaceans and other invertebrates. None of them ranks high as a game-fish, though most of the species will take the baited hook and are able to make a fairly good fight. Nearly all the species are handsome fishes, some of them being very richly coloured. The surf-fish family contains 17 known genera with about 20 species, 2 of which occur only in Japan, all the others being confined to the Pacific Coast of America. The only species which our space will permit us to mention are the following : 469 The Surf-Fishes The genus Hysterocarpus contains but one species, H. traski, a small freshwater fish, locally abundant in the rivers of central California. It is probably most numerous in the Sacramento. The genus Abeona contains 2 species, A . minima, reaching 6 inches in length and found along the entire California coast a4 Se iG : PM oye Cs amet NW EL EE One PDD DDE ies ae OOS aS from San Francisco to San Diego. The other species, A. aurora, is scarcely larger and is known only from Monterey Bay, where it is abundant. 470 The Surf-Fishes The genus Cymatogaster contains one species, C. aggregatus, which is very abundant everywhere from Fort Wrangel to Lower Y Ses i as seen cs oe Lats California, especially on sandy or muddy shallows and about wharves. It reaches 6 or 8 inches in length and is one of the most interesting members of the family. It is the common viviparous perch or sparada of the California coast. The above drawing shows a female with a number of young. The genus Brachyistius has only one species, B. frenatus, which reaches a length of 8 inches, and is found from Vancouver Island to Lower California. It is rather abundant northward in shallow water. The genus Zalembius, also has a single species, Z. rosaceus, which occurs sparingly on the coast. of California in deeper water than any of the others, far below the line of the surf. It reaches 8 inches in length and is a beautiful and interesting fish. Hypocritichthys is another monotypic genus, the single species, H. analis, reaching a length of 6 inches, being locally abun- dant between San Francisco and Point Conception. The genus Hyperprosopon has 2 species. H. argenteus, the wall- eyed surf-fish or white perch, is “everywhere common on sandy shores from Cape Disappointment to Todos Santos Bay on sandy shores in the surf. It reaches to inches in length. H. agassizii reaches a somewhat smaller size and is found from San Francisco 471 The Surf-Fishes to Santa Barbara. It is perhaps most common on the coast of San Luis Obispo County. The genus Holconotus has one species, H. rhodoterus, which is found in some abundance along the coast from San Francisco to San Diego. It reaches 12 inches in length. Amphistichus argenteus, the surf-fish, is the only species in its genus. It is very abundant on sandy shores from Cape Flattery to San Diego and reaches a foot in length. The genus Embiotoca, upon which the name of the family is based, has one species, the common surf-fish or black perch, &. sacksont, which is rather abundant everywhere from British Columbia to Lower California. Southward it is the most abundant of the larger species. It reaches a foot in length. This interesting species was named for Dr. A. C. Jackson of San Francisco, who, on June 7, 1852, discovered the viviparity of these fishes and first brought the fact to the attention of Professor Agassiz. The genus Ta@niotoca contains one species, 7. Jateralis, the blue perch or striped surf-fish, which is found from British Columbia to San Diego. South of Point Conception it is not common, but north- ward it is very abundant. ‘Phanerodon contains 2 species: P. fur- catus, the white surf-fish which is found from British Columbia to San Diego. It reaches a foot in length and is exceedingly abundant from Cape Mendocino southward. The other species is P. atripes, which reaches 10 inches in length and is found from Monterey to San Diego in rather deep water. 472 The Surf-Fishes The genus Rachocheilus contains one species, R. foxotes, occur- ring rather commonly from San Francisco to San Diego. It reaches 18 inches in length and is one of the largest of the family. The genus Hypsurus has a single species, H. caryi, which occurs on the California coast from Cape Mendocino to San Diego. It is a beautiful little fish, 10 inches long, and much used as bait. About San Francisco it is common but south of Point Conception it is rare. The genus Damalichthys contains one species, D. arg vrosomus, the white perch or porgee of the Pacific Coast. It is everywhere common from British Columbia to Lower California. It is the most 473 The Surf-Fishes Ly pp . SS aS 4 or “A a a7 y AL abundant species on the shores of British Columbia where it enters the It reaches a length of 15 inches and is in thousands. inlets used to some extent as a food-fish, though its flesh is poor and has little flavour. 474 THES CIAL IDS Family LVIIT. Cichlide THE Cichlids are a large family of freshwater fishes of moderate or small size in southern Mexico, Central and South America, resembling in form, size, appearance, habits, and even in many details of structure, the sunfishes or Centrarchide of the United States, from which they are readily distinguished, however, by having the lower pharyngeals fully united, and only a single nos- tril on each side. The family contains some 40 genera and 150 species. North of the Isthmus of Panama are found 7 genera, represented by about 60 species. The principal genera are Cichlasoma, Heros and Petenta. The species have not been care- fully studied, and little is known of their habits or distribution. Petenia has with us a single species, P. splendida, known only from Lake Peten and the Rio Usumacinta. It is a handsome fish 10 inches long, and much resembling our calico bass in general appearance. The genus Czchlasoma is a large one with 25 or 30 species, north of the Isthmus of Panama, in all the lakes and larger streams of Central America and southern Mexico. The majority of the species are little known and poorly defined. The genus Heros also contains many species, about 25 being within our limits, occupying the same waters as the species of Cichlasoma. Only one, H. cvanoguttatus, is found as far north as the Rio Grande, this species having been taken at Browns- ville, Texas. All the members of this family are food-fishes of some value, and some of them at least will take the hook. 475 THE WRASSE-FISHES Family LIX. Labride Bopy oblong or elongate, covered with cycloid scales; lateral line well developed, continuous or interrupted, often angularly bent; mouth moderate, terminal; premaxillaries protractile; maxil- lary without supplemental bone; anterior teeth in jaws usually very strong and canine-like, often soldered together at base, but not forming a continuous plate; no teeth on vomer or palatines; lower pharyngeals completely united into one bone without median suture, this bone T-shaped or Y-shaped, its teeth conical or tubular; lips thick, longitudinally plicate; nostrils round, with 2 openings on each side; dorsal fin continuous, the spinous por- tion usually long, the spines usually slender, 3 to 20 in number; anal similar to the soft dorsal, with 2 to 6 spines; branchiostegals 5 or 6; pseudobranchie well developed; gills 33, the slit behind the last arch small or obsolete; gill-membranes somewhat con- nected, sometimes joined to the narrow isthmus; air-bladder present; no pyloric cceca. This is one of the very largest families of fishes, the known genera being about 60 and the species about 450. They are chiefly tropical fishes, living among rocks or kelp. Many of them are brilliantly coloured, and some are valued as food. Most of them feed upon mollusks, the dentition being well adapted for crushing shells. Some of the species will take the hook, but none of them ranks high as to game-qualities. In our waters are about 20 genera and 50 species, only a few of which deserve more than mere mention. The genus Tautogolabrus contains 2 species, one in Brazil, the other, the cunner, 7. adspersus, one of the best known fishes on our North Atlantic Coast from Labrador to Sandy Hook. In southern New England it is called ‘‘chogset.” Other names The Wrasse-Fishes which have been applied to it are blue perch, bergall and berg- gylt. It reaches nearly a foot in length, and its flesh. is excel- lent. These fishes, though useful as scavengers, are a pest to fishermen on account of their habit of nibbling the bait from the hooks. The genus TJautoga contains one species, Tautoga onitis, which is an abundant and well-known food-fish from New Bruns- wick to the Carolinas. East of New York it is usually called the “tautog.” On the New York coast it is the ‘‘blackfish,” and further south the ‘‘oyster-fish.’ Though this well-known fish is quite common in most parts of its range, its centre of abun- dance seems to be on the southern New England coast. Very large catches have been reported from Narragansett Bay. It is particularly abundant about rocky shores, where it may often be seen quietly resting or even lying on its side in crevices or cavi- ties. It is a sluggish fish at all times, and very apt to hibernate during cold weather. The tautog reaches a maximum length of 3 feet, though those usually seen are very much smaller. As a food-fish the tautog is well known and of considerable importance, the catch being made chiefly with handlines. And anglers who visit the seashore find much sport angling for this fish. Standing on a rocky shore, from which one may fish in 5 or 6 fathoms, with hook baited with pieces of crab or lobster, very fine sport can be had. Head 34 to 34; depth 22 to 3; eye 54; snout 3; pectoral 12; ventral 2; D. XVI, 10; A. III, 8; scales 14-60-25. Body somewhat 477 The Wrasse-Fishes deep and compressed; profile moderately steep, well rounded from snout to dorsal; maxillary reaching vertical from anterior nostril; jaws about equal, with two or three large canines and smaller ones on the side, which gradually diminish in size backward; gillrakers very short and blunt, about 3+6; a patch of small scales behind eye, extending downward to middle of cheek, where there are 5 or 6 series, the head and opercles otherwise naked; pectoral broad and rounded, not quite reaching tips of ventrals; soft dorsal higher than spinous portion; caudal truncate or slightly rounded. Colour, blackish or greenish, the young usually with about 3 pairs of dark bars connected by reticulations; adult often nearly plain blackish; chin white; eye greenish. The genus Lachnolaimus is characterized by the strongly compressed body, the sharp, elevated back, and the long, steep profile; snout sharp; mouth low, horizontal, the jaws narrow; teeth in front prominent, canine-like, in a single series; no pos- terior canines; cheeks and opercles with imbricate scales; scales of moderate size, thin and adherent; lateral line complete; dorsal with 14 spines, the first 3 strong, falcate, produced in long streamers in the adult, the membranes between these spines very low, the filamentous tips longer than the head; other spines all low, gradually shorter to the eleventh; soft dorsal and anal much produced; caudal lobes falcate; third anal spine strong; pectoral and ventrals short. This genus contains a single species, L. maximus, the hog- fish, capitan, or perro perro, a «large, showy species usually common throughout the West Indies north to Key West and Bermuda. It is especially abundant about rocky reefs. It was found by us in Porto Rico, where it is called ‘‘el capitan.” It reaches a weight of 20 pounds, and a length of 2 or 3 feet, though those usually seen in markets are much smaller. It changes greatly in appearance with age. The large adult male is remark- able on account of a heavy black blotch over the forehead and eyes. The name ‘‘hogfish” refers to the swine-like appearance of the head, jaws and teeth. Like all other members of this family, it feeds chiefly on small fishes, mollusks and crustaceans. The hogfish is an important food-fish throughout its range, and is one of the most common and attractive fishes seen in the wells of the fishing-boats of Key West and Nassau. _ It is a favourite fish in Cuba, though at one time its sale was forbidden by law on account of the supposed poisonous character of its flesh. This opinion obtains to some extent in Porto Rico, but 478 The Wrasse-Fishes apparently it is only the large individuals that are under the ban. The genus Pimelometopon is close to Harpe, from which it differs chiefly in the naked dorsal and smaller scales. It contains 2 species, robust fishes of large size and bright colours. P. pulcher is (male) purplish-black on head, dorsal, anal and caudal fins, and posterior part of body forward to vent; lower jaw white; rest of body varying in tint from clear crimson to blackish, with coppery or purplish lustre; female dusky rose-colour, with black areas ill- defined or obsolete. This curious fish, known as the California redfish, or fathead, is very common on the California coast from Point Conception to Lower California. It reaches 12 to 15 pounds in weight, and 3 feet in length, and is taken in large numbers in the kelp off the shore, with hook and line, chiefly by Chinese, who salt and dry them. 479 THE. ‘PARROT-FISHES Family LX. Scaride Bopy oblong, moderately compressed, covered with large cy- cloid scales; mouth moderate, terminal; teeth in the jaws more or less coalescent at least at base; lower pharyngeals much en- larged, united in a concave or spoon-shaped body, their teeth broadest transversely, and truncate, arranged in mosaic; dorsal continuous, its formula usually IX, 10; anal II, 9; 23 to 25 scales in the lateral line. Sexes similarly coloured, the colouration almost always brilliant. This is a large family with some 7 genera and more than a hundred species, often of large size, and all are herbivorous and inhabitants of warm seas. The smaller species are found among the alge in shallow water on sandy shores. Some of the larger ones are found about coral reefs and rocks. The flesh of these fishes is soft and pasty and they are not with us re- garded as possessing any food-value. In the West Indies, how- ever, they are utilized to some extent, particularly by the Tor- tola fishermen who fish about the east end of Porto Rico, where they catch several large species of this family in traps. Among the natives of the Hawaiian Islands these fishes are highly esteemed. Several species of Scarus occur there, known by the natives as lauia, palukaluka, uhuula, etc., and they are eaten raw by the natives who pay very high prices for them. The species of this family possess no game-qualities and are of so little food-value in the United States that we shall treat them very briefly. Th genus Sparisoma is a large one with about 18 species, all but one confined to our waters. They are nearly all of small size, showy colouration and, with few exceptions, of no food- value. The only ones deserving mention here are the following: Sparisoma abildgaardi, the red parrot-fish or loro colorado, reaches a foot or more in length. It is found among the West Indies and south to Brazil. It is common about Porto Rico where it is eaten. S. chrysopterum, the loro verde, cotoro verde, or blue parrot- fish, is known from Brazil and most of the West Indies, It is 480 snupyonbs snADIS ‘F{STA-LOWUVd The Parrot-Fishes common about Porto Rico where it reaches a good size and has some value as a food-~fish. S. lorito, the loro, occurs among the West Indies and south- ward. Obtained by us in Porto Rico, where it is used as food. S. viride, also known as the loro verde, cotoro, or dark- green. parrot-fish, is another West Indian species ranging north to the Bahamas and the Florida Keys. It is common about Porto Rico where it is a food-fish of some value. It reaches 2 feet im length. While all of these species of “‘loros” or *“‘co- toros” are utilized by the Tortola and St. Thomas fishermen frequenting the grounds about the east end of Porto Rico, they are not so much used in Porto Rico: The genus Scarus is also a large one with many species in all tropical seas. Most of them are large fishes of soft flesh, and of no great value. Scarus vetula, the old-wife or vieja, reaches a length of 2 feet and is one of the most gorgeous of parrot-fishes. It is generally common throughout the West Indies. In Porto Rico it is used as food. The largest and most important species of the genus is the blue parrot-fish or tumble-rose (S. cewruleus), which feaenes. a leneth of 2 or 3 feet and ‘a weight of 12 to 20 pounds. It has the widest distribution of any of our species, being found from Chesapeake Bay southward to Brazil. It is generally common. At the east end of Porto Rico it was not rare, very large examples having been seen by us at Culebra Island. Though evidently not held in high esteem it is doubtless the most important of the parrot-fishes occurring in Porto Rican waters, and its importance is due chiefly to its abundance and large size. Its colour is nearly uniform turquoise-blue throughout. The genus Psewdoscarus contains 5 species all distinguished from species of other genera by their green or blue teeth or jaws. The Guacamaia, Pseudoscarus guacamaia, is the only important species. It is found from Florida to Brazil, being common among the Florida Keys, at Havana, about Porto Rico, and nearly every- where in the West Indies. It reaches 2 or 3 feet in length and ranks with the other large species as an inferior food-fish. P. perrico is a large species found on the Pacific Coast of Mexico. It and Calotomus xenodon are the only scaroids known from the eastern Pacific. In Hawaii the parrot-fishes, being eaten raw, are very highly esteemed, and even once held as tabu, to be touched only by royalty. 481 THE. SPADE-EISERES Family LXTI. Tlarchide Bopy compressed, usually greatly elevated, the anterior profile steep, the caudal peduncle short; scales ctenoid, moderate or small, densely covering soft parts of vertical fins; lateral line present, following curve of back; mouth small, terminal, and_ horizontal; premaxillaries slightly protractile; maxillary short, without supple- mental bone; jaws with bands of slender, pointed, movable, brush-like teeth; nostrils double; preopercle very finely serrate or entire; gill-membranes broadly attached to the isthmus, the open- ings restricted to the sides; branchiostegals 6 or 7; pyloric cceca few; gillrakers very short; pseudobranchiz present; dorsal fins 2, somewhat connected, the first of 8 to 11 spines which are de- pressible in a groove; soft dorsal and anal fins high anteriorly, their bases thickened by a covering of scales; anal spines 3 or 4, short; caudal fin truncate or doubly concave; pectoral short, the rays all branched; air-bladder large, commonly bifurcate in front, and with 2 slender horns behind. This family contains about 4 genera and 10 or 12 species, all shore-fishes, mostly of large size, inhabiting warm seas, and all valued as food. Only 2 genera with 3 species in our waters. The genus Chetodipterus has the body much elevated and compressed, the outline nearly orbicular, the anterior profile nearly vertical. There are 2 species, C. faber and C. zonatus. The first of these is the common spade-fish, angel-fish or porgee. The spade-fish ranges from Cape Cod to Rio Janeiro. It is occasionally taken near New York, and a few have been caught in traps at Menemsha Bight, near Woods Hole, in August and Sep- tember. It is not uncommon about the mouth of Chesapeake Bay and increases in abundance southward to Key West and Pensacola. Among the West Indies it is known from Cuba, Santo Domingo, Jamaica, Martinique and Porto Rico, at which latter place it is called ‘‘ Paguala” and is common everywhere in suitable places. it has been recorded also from the coasts «{ Texas and Guatemala. On the Florida coast the spade-fish is found through summer and fall in bays, about wharves, rock piles and old wrecks wherever crustaceans abound. In October and November large 482 = ie 4 ae Pie SPADE-FISH, Chetodipterus faber. YOUNG Mod by LA pnd 4 Varga, *; ecard, a BLACK ANGEL-FISH, Pomacanthus arcuatus. YOUNG The Spade-Fishes schools are seen along the sea-beaches, evidently leaving the coast for warmer water, at which time they are caught with haul seines. In that region they probably spawn in early summer and the young are seen until October. The spade-fish reaches a length of 2 or 3 feet and a weight of 20 pounds, though examples of more than 2 feet are not often seen. Very large examples were at one time regarded as belonging to a different species, Ephippus gigas. Within the last 30 years the spade-fish has come to be one of the most highly prized food-fishes, and it is now held in much esteem by connoisseurs in Washington and New York, and in the markets of most eastern cities when it is most abundant during the summer months. Large examples of this species are remarkable in having the anterior interhemal enormously developed into a thick bony mass. Colour, grayish or bluish; a dusky band across eye to throat; a second, similar but broader band, beginning in front of dorsal and extending across base of pectoral to belly; a third, narrower band extending to middle of side from base of fourth and fifth dorsal spines; a fourth, and broader band, from last dorsal spine to base of anal spines; all these bands growing obscure and finally disappearing with age; ventrals dark, 483 THE BUTTERFLY-FISHES Family LXII. Chetodontide Bopy strongly compressed, elevated, orbicular, covered with moderate-sized or small scales, which are finely ciliate or nearly smooth; lateral line present, concurrent with the back, not extend- ing on caudal fin; mouth small, terminal, protractile; maxillary very short, irregular in form, divided in two by a longitudinal suture. Carnivorous fishes of the tropical seas, noted for their sin- gular form, bright colours and great activity. There are 8 or 10 genera and nearly 200 species. They are exceedingly active and their quickness of sense and motion enable them to maintain themselves in the struggle for existence in the close competition that exists among the species about coral reefs notwithstanding their bright colours. In our waters are found about 20 species, only a few of which are large enough to be ranked as food- fishes. On account of their shape, as well as their brilliant colours, most of the species are known as_butterfly-fishes, or mariposas where Spanish is spoken. The genus Pomacanthus contains 3 species, each of some importance as a food-fish. P. arcuatus, the black angel, is gener- ally common in the West Indies and is occasionally taken as far north as New Jersey, and south to Bahia. It is not rare at Key West and was found by us in Cuba and Porto Rico. It attains a length of nearly 2 feet and a weight of several pounds. Those seen at Key West do not usually exceed 2 or 3 pounds. It is present there throughout the year and is caught chiefly in traps, though it is sometimes speared. P. paru, the Indian fish, is found among the West Indies and southward, but has not yet been recorded from the United States. P. zonipectus is the west coast representative of the genus. It is rather common about rocks from Mazatlan to Panama. The genus Holacanthus has numerous species, two of which are of considerable food-importance. The most important species is the rock beauty or palmoneta, H. fricolor. It is a most beautiful and interesting fish, rather common throughout the West 484 YELLOW OR BLUE ANGEL-FISH, J/folacanthus ciliaris. ADULT The Butterfly-Fishes Indies and north to the Bermudas, but it has not been found in the United States. Elegant specimens were obtained by us at Arroyo and Isabel Segunda, Porto Rico, where it is not rare. It reaches a foot or more in length and is used as food. Colour in life, caudal, pectoral and ventral fins and anterior third of body rich orange-yellow; rest of body black; lips pale blue; soft dorsal and anal fins black, tipped with orange and bordered in front by red; spinous part of dorsal orange in front, then black, the border red. Holacanthus ciliaris is the blue angel-fish and is found throughout the West Indies and north to Key West where it is called the ‘‘yellow angel,” which is justified by the broad yellow margins of the scales. It reaches a foot to 18 inches in length and is a very ,beautiful fish. It is a fair food-fish, usually taken in traps, though it sometimes takes the baited hook. 485 THE TANGS Family LXIII. Teuthidide Bopy oblong, compressed and usually elevated, covered with very small scales; lateral line continuous; tail armed with 1 or more spines or bony plates; eye high up; preorbital very narrow and deep; nostrils double; mouth small and low, each jaw with a single series of narrow incisor-like teeth; vomer and _ palatines toothless; premaxillaries slightly movable, but not protractile; no gillrakers; pseudobranchie large; gill-membranes attached to the isthmus, the openings restricted to the sides; 1 dorsal fin, with strong spines, the spinous part of the fin shorter than the soft part; anal similar to soft dorsal. Herbivorous fishes of warm seas, usually easily known by the lancet-like spine on side of caudal peduncle. There are about 5 genera and 80 species, most of the latter belonging to the genus TJeuthis. Only a few of the species are of any food- value. There are in our waters 2 genera with about 6 species, only a few of which are of any value for food. The American species of Teuthis may be distinguished as follows: a. Outline rhomboid, the depth 14 in length; colour brown washed - with. blues... 4.3: - no abecwe sameee ee ceruleus, 486 aa. Outline ovate, the depth about 2 in length; colour brown, never blue. b...Caudal simply. lanate;-. 22-222 ” so Be eee Wee saree hepatus, 487 bb. Caudal deeply emarginate. c- Upper lobe of caudal-not filamentouss2,-2-- ee. crestonts, 487 cc. Upper lobe of caudal produced in a long filament; bahianus, 487 The species of Teuthis are known variously as surgeon-fish, doctor-fish, lancet-fish, barbers and tangs; and among Spanish fishermen as Barberos and Médicos—all of the same origin and meaning the same thing; for the barbers were the first ‘‘mé- dicos”” who combined the practice of phlebotomy with their regular vocation. T. ceruleus is one of our best known species, as it is quite common from Key West to Bahia. It is the blue tang 486 ‘ONNOA ‘SHDYyI2 snyjupI0I0oH HSTIA-"THONV MOTTUA The Tangs and is common about Porto Rico where it is used as food. It reaches 8 or 10 inches in length and is usually found among algz in shallow water, though the larger individuals are found at greater depths. T. crestonis, the barbero negro, is known only from Mazatlan where ‘“Beyond the headland with its palm tree lone Flashes the beacon light of tall Creston; The last and haughtiest of the craggy horde, Sierra Madre sends forth oceanward.” T. hepaius is the common tang and our most abundant species. It is found from the Carolinas and southern Florida to Brazil. We found it everywhere about Porto Rico where it is a food-fish of considerable importance. It reaches a foot in length. The most important of all our tangs, however, is the ocean tang, 7. bahianus. Though not so abundant as the common tang, it is, on account of its larger size, of greater commercial value. It is found throughout the West Indies and on neigh- 487 The Tangs bouring coasts from Florida to Brazil. At the east end of Porto Rico the ocean tang is caught in considerable numbers by the The Ocean Tang, Teuthis bahianus fishermen from Tortola, St. Croix, and St. Thomas. It is usu- ally taken in the native trap-baskets which are baited with large chunks of the white pulp of cactus plants and set in 4 to 10 fathoms of water. Sometimes the fish are ‘‘ grained” or speared, and occasionally they are caught with hook and line. These fish are corned and taken to Santa Cruz where they bring about $5 a barrel. 488 AZISTIVYNLYN SAWIL Yel LNOSV “(dOTOSIYL SQHLNVOVIOH ) “VLENOW1Vd ‘ALAvad WIOY THE TRUNK-FISHES Family LXIV. Ostraciide TuEsE fishes may at once be known by the short, cuboid, triquetous or pentagonal body, covered by a carapace formed of firmly united polygonal bony patches, the jaws, bases of the fins, and the caudal peduncle being the only parts free and covered with smooth skin. The locomotion of the trunk-fishes is very peculiar. The pro- pelling force is exerted by the dorsal and anal fins, which have a_half-rotary, half-sculling motion, resembling that of a screw propeller; the caudal fin acts as a rudder, save when it is needed for unusually rapid swimming, when it is used as in other fishes. The chief function of the broad pectorals seems to be that of forming a current of water through the gills, thus aiding in respiration, which would otherwise be difficult on account of the narrowness and inflexibility of the branchial apertures. When taken from the water one of these fishes will live for 2 or 3 hours, all the time solemnly fanning its gills, and when restored to its native element seems none the worse for its experience, except that, on account of the absorbed air, it cannot at once sink to the bottom (Goode). The family contains one genus, Ostracion, with 4 American species which may be distinguished as follows: aecatapace without spines anywhete:............. triqueter, 490 aa. Carapace with distinct spines, at least on the ventral ridges behind. b. Frontal spines none. c. Carapace closed behind the dorsal fin; body everywhere with Rem ATIC. SPOTS. os pce Lait a see eee eat bicaudalis, 490 cc. Carapace open behind the dorsal fin; body mottled with Paes see axe etal tavare ch ¢ aus mete on CoC tahoe RSE GhS owl trigonus 490 bb. Frontal region with 2 strong spines like horns;..fricornis, 490 These fish are all sluggish in their habits, living in shallow water at the bottum about reefs and feeding upon minute animal 489 The Trunk-Fishes and plant forms. All 4 of the species occur among the West Indies. They are known variously as trunk-fish, chapin, rock shell- Chapin, Ostracion triqueter fish, plate-fish, cow-fish, and the like. O. triqueter is found north to Pensacola, Key West and Bermuda, and is generally abundant. O. bicaudalts is a large species, reaching 16 inches in length, and is common among the West Indies, but has not yet been recorded from Florida. O. ¢rigonus is the common trunk-fish, very abundant Common frunk-fish, Ostracion trigonus among the West Indies, and extending its range to Woods Hole and Chesapeake Bay. O. tricornis is the common cowfish. Its range extends from Brazil to Charleston, Pensacola, the Chesapeake and, in the Gulf Stream, to Woods .Hole. It is even found also on 499 The Trunk-Fishes Cow-fish, Ostracton tricornis the African Coast. Though these fishes are rarely seen in the mar- kets they are all excellent food-fishes, the flesh being delicate and Common Trunk-fish, Ostracion trigonus possessing an unusually pleasant flavour. A common method of preparing these fish is first to boil them in salt water, then clean out the meat and, after mixing it with cracker crumbs, egg, butter, and pepper (red preferred), replace it in the shell and bake until nicely browned. 491 THE HEAD-FISHES Family LXV. Molde Bopy short and deep, or oblong, compressed, truncate behind, so that there is no caudal peduncle; skin rough, naked, spinous or tessellated; mouth very small, terminal; teeth completely united in each jaw, forming. a bony beak without median suture; dorsal and anal fins similar, falcate in front, the posterior parts more or less confluent with the caudal fin; no spinous dorsal; no _ ventrals, pelvic bones undeveloped; pectoral fins present; belly not inflat- able; gill-openings small, in front of the pectorals; an accessory opercular gill; no air-bladder. Fishes of the open seas, seeming to be composed of a big head to which small fins are attached. There are 3 genera and about 6 species, all pelagic, found in most warm seas, and reaching a very large size. Two genera with 1 species each found in our limits. a. Body suborbicular, not twice as long as deep; skin thick, rough, pristly, without hexaponal) plates}-7--:. --<.<«-. = eee Mola, 492 aa. Body oblong, about twice as long as deep; skin smooth, tessel- lated, with smooth hexagonal plates;......... Ranzanta, 494 The genus Mola contains a single species, Mo/a mola, one of the most remarkable among fishes, known.as sunfish, headfish, mola, and pez luna, and found in most warm seas. It ranges as far north as England, Cape Cod and San Francisco. It is one of the largest of all fishes reaching a weight of nearly a ton. The largest example on record was taken at Redondo Beach, California, in June, 1893, and was mounted by Mr. T. Shooter of Los Angeles. It was 8 feet 2 inches long and weighed 1800 pounds, The sunfish are not rare on our Atlantic Coast where they may be seen on almost any calm summer day. They float lazily with one of the bright sides just at the surface, the waves rippling and breaking over them, and the heavy pectoral fin moving slowly to and fro through the air; thus lying they are very conspicuous objects and may be seen long distances. They spend whole days 492 6UsodLsponb u0r204S0 ‘HSIAMOO o The Head-Fishes in this position, and may be easily approached and_harpooned. From this habit of sunning itself it has received its vernacular name. As a food-fish it possesses little value, but oil is sometimes made from their livers. 493 The Head-Fishes The genus Ranzania contains 2 or more species, one of which, R. truncata, is found occasionally off our Atlantic Coast. It-reaches only about 2 feet in length. A similar species, R. makua, has recently been described from the Hawaiian Islands by Dr. Jenkins. It occurs also in Japan. 494 iE eR OUNPISTES Family LX VI. Scorpenide Bopy oblong, more or less compressed, the head large, and with one or more pairs of ridges above, which usually termi- nate in spines; opercle usually with 2 spinous processes, preopercle with 4 or 5; mouth terminal, usually large, with villiform teeth on jaws and vomer; premaxillaries protractile; maxillary broad, without supplemental bone; gill-openings wide, extending forward below; gill-membranes_ separate, free from the isthmus; scales ctenoid or sometimes cycloid; lateral line continuous, concurrent with the back; a narrow bony stay extending backward from the suborbital toward the preopercle; dorsal fin continuous, some- times very deeply notched; pseudobranchie large; air-bladder usually present. This is a very large family, with about 30 genera and 250 species, inhabiting all seas, especially abundant in the temperate parts of the Pacific, where they form a large proportion of the fish-fauna. The species are of large or moderate size, and all are non-migratory, living about rocks or among the alge. Many of the species are of food-value, though some are reputed poison- ous. Many of them are viviparous, the young being produced when about 4 inch long. The family is most numerously represented on our California coast. In our waters are 8 genera with about 85 species, only a small proportion, however, are of much, if any, food-value. None of them is regarded as a game-fish. We treat the family only briefly. a. Dorsal spines more than 12. b. Dorsal spines 15 or 16; vertebree about 12+19;.... Sebastes, 495 Pee WOrsAbeSpINGS 13. OF STAM ease ojo a de erates wiles . Sebastodes, 496 The only important species of the family on our Atlantic Coast is Sebastes marinus, known as the rose-fish, redfish, snap- per, red perch, Norway haddock, hemdurgan, bream or John Dory. It is a fish of wide distribution and is found in northern Europe and from Iceland to middle New Jersey. It is most 495 The Rockfishes abundant northward, where it is a shallow water species; south- ward it is found only in deeper water, and is less common. _ Its temperature range conforms pretty closely with that ot the halibut. The rosefish reaches 2 feet in length, though the average is much less. Their food consists chiefly of crustaceans, small fish, and mollusks to some extent, and in turn, the young of this species constitute an important part of the food of the cod, and they are at all ages preyed upon by halibut and other large predaceous fishes of cold regions. The rosefish ranks well as a _ food-fish, and considerable quantities of them are taken on the New England coast. The most extensive fisheries are on the Greenland coast, where the flesh is highly esteemed, and the spines are used as needles. They may be caught on hand or trawl-lines, with almost any kind of bait. They breed in summer in deep holes in Massa- chusetts Bay, and elsewhere along the New England coast. This fish may be known by its nearly uniform orange-red colour, and its spiny head. The genus Sebastodes is the largest in the family, containing as it does not fewer than 56 species, all occurring on our Pacific Coast from Alaska to Lower California. They are all usually known as rockfish, and several are of considerable value as food- fishes. They are all closely related, and only a few of the 496 a S s x 3 Ss N je0) & = The Rockfishes more important species will be mentioned here. Sebastodes pau- cispints, the bocaccio, large and swift, is abundant in California. Sebastodes flavidus, the yellowtail rockfish, reaching a length of 2 feet, is one of the most valuable species. It is abundant from San Francisco to San Diego. S. mystinus, the black rockfish, is the most abundant species PS <= << ak: in rather shallow water about San Francisco. Another abundant species is the orange rockfish, S. pinniger, found from Puget Sound to San Diego. It reaches 2 feet in length and is a com- mon market-fish; and the rasher, S. miniatus, is another important species reaching a length of 2 feet and abun- dant from San Francisco to San Diego. The red rockfish, S. ruberrimus, is the largest species of all, reaching a length of 23 feet. It is abundant from San Diego to Puget Sound, and is a valued food-fish. Another important species is the yellow-backed rockfish, S. maliger, which is found from Monterey to Sitka. It is especially abundant northward, and reaches nearly 2 feet in length. The Spanish flag, Sebastodes rubrovinctus, banded red and white, is perhaps the handsomest sea-fish in our waters. Full descriptions of all the species of this genus, 50 in number, may be found in our ‘‘Fishes of North and Middle America.” 497 THE: SKIL-FISHES Family LXVII. Anoplopomide Tus family is closely allied to Hexagrammida, from which it differs chiefly in the normal development of the nostrils which are formed as in fishes generally. There are 2 genera, Anoplopoma and Erilepis, only the first of which is of any im- portance. Its single species is A. fimbria, a very interesting fish occurring on our Pacific Coast from Monterey Bay to Unalaska. A LID Lie It is the beshow, coal-fish, or skil of that coast, reaches a length of 18 inches, and is used to some extent as food, though the flesh is rather dry and tasteless. About the Straits of Fuca it becomes very fat and is said to be highly appreciated. 498 o— TEE GREENLINGS Family LX VIM, Hexagrammide Bopy elongate, covered with small ctenoid or cycloid scales; head conical, scaly, the cranium without spinous ridges above; preopercle more or less armed, sometimes with entire edges; third suborbital developed as a bony stay articulating with the preopercle; mouth large, with acute teeth in jaws, and_ usually on vomer and palatines; nostril single on each side, the posterior opening reduced to a minute pore; pseudobranchiz well developed; dorsal fin continuous or divided, the anterior half of many slender spines; anal fin long, with or without spines; lateral line present, sometimes several series of pores developed. Carnivorous fishes, mostly of large size, living in kelp and about rocks in the North Pacific; some of them highly valued as food. Of the 5 genera found in American waters, only 3 contain food-fishes of any importance. The most interesting species of the family is the Atka mack- erel, or Atka-fish, Plewrogrammus monopterygtus. This interesting fish is the most important species of the family. It occurs in the North Pacific, chiefly among the Aleu- tian Islands. It is not common about Unalaska or the Pribilofs, but about Atka and Attu it is abundant. It is somewhat erratic 499 Atka Mackerel in its movements, and its most eastern record is Belkofski. It is usually found in kelp in 3 to 4o fathoms in spring and early summer, retiring to deeper water later. Of all the saltwater fishes found about the Aleutian Islands the Atka mackerel is the most interesting to the angler. It takes the hook readily and makes a good fight. The usual method of taking it is by ‘‘jigging.” On May 28, 1892, we had excellent sport catching these fish near the mouth of the bay at Attu, the most westerly of the Aleutian Islands. We used 3 hooks tied together in a bunch, just above which was tied a piece of white muslin. The line was weighted so that the hooks would descend quickly. When they had reached the bottom, cr near it, they would be jerked up and down and the fish, striking at the muslin, would be hooked or would catch the hooks in their mouths. The lines would be let down through the kelp in 15 to 25 feet of water. The fish were in schools and it was easy to get great numbers; in fact, one would be kept very busy hauling in the fish and taking them off the hook. Usually the fish were near the bottom when we began fishing but they soon became excited and would come near the surface where they could be seen swimming about as if greatly disturbed and evidently searching for the piece of white muslin which had attracted their attention. When first hooked they would come up very readily, in fact they seemed to swim upward until near the surface when they would become alarmed and dart back and forth in their efforts to free themselves. Then the sport was very exciting. During 4 hours’ fishing 9 persons with 26 lines took 585 fish, or 17 fish to each line per hour. And as our ship was out of fresh meat of every kind, all these fish were soon eaten by the officers and crew. The average weight of this catch was about 2} pounds, the maximum being 34 pounds. The average length was about 18 inches. The Atka mackerel is one of the most handsome fishes found among the Aleutian Islands. There are 2 patterns of colouration. In one the ground-colour is pale yellowish, the side crossed by 5 nearly jet-black crossbars all continued upon the dorsal fin; anal fin black. In the other the ground-colour is pale chrome-yellow, the vertical base not so dark. Some individuals are dirty gray and the bars are not well defined. 500 The Greenlings The Atka mackerel, which is of course no mackerel at all, is an excellent food-fish, especially fine when salted. There seems to be no good reason why it may not become the object of an important fishery. The genus Hexagrammos, which contains the true greenlings or rock trouts, differs from Pleurogrammus chiefly in having the dorsal fin deeply notched or divided. The species may be known by the presence of 5 lateral lines on each side. All the species attain a considerable size and all are of value as food. They inhabit the North Pacific on both coasts, extending on the Ameri- can side south to California. Hexagrammos decagrammus is one of the most valuable species. It is known asthe rock trout, boregat, or bodeiron. It reaches a length of 18 inches and is found from Kadiak Island to Point Conception. It is particularly abundant about San Francisco, and is a common food-fish. The sexes are very unlike in colour. H. octogrammus, the Alaska green-fish, occurs among the 501 The Greenlings Aleutian Islands and westward to Kamchatka. It is abundant about Unalaska, and is a good food-fish. : H. stelleri, the common greenling, ranges from Kamchatka to San Francisco. It is abundant about Victoria and in Puget Sound, where it is caught in considerable numbers. H. superctliosus, the red rock-trout, occurs from Bering Island to Monterey Bay. It is most common southward. The remaining species is H. Jagocephalus, known only from Bering Sea. The genus Ophidion, which may be distinguished from the 2 preceding genera by its single lateral line, contains but one species. This is O. elongatus, known as the cultus cod, blue cod, or buffalo cod. The cultus cod is a large, coarse fish, the 502 The Greenlings largest of the family, reaching a length of 3 to 4 feet and a weight of 30 or 40 pounds. It is found from Sitka to Santa Barbara and is one of the most common and most important food-fishes of our Pacific Coast. Though the flesh is livid blue or green in colour it is not unwholesome. 503 THE TLEPISHES Family LXTX. Latilide Bopy more or less elongate, fusiform or compressed; head subconical, the anterior profile usually convex; suborbital without bony stay; cranial bones not cavernous; opercular bones mostly unarmed; mouth rather terminal, little oblique; teeth rather strong, none on vomer or palatines; premaxillaries protractile, each usu- ally with a blunt, posterior canine; maxillary without supple- mental bone; pseudobranchiz well developed; gill-membranes separate, more or less free from the isthmus; scales small, ctenoid; lateral line present, complete, more or less concurrent with the back; dorsal fin long and low, usually continuous, the spinous portion always lower than soft part, but never obsolete; anal very long, its spines few and feeble; caudal fin forked. Fishes of temperate and tropical waters, some reaching a large size. The 2 genera are Caulolatilus and Lopholatilus, the former with 22 to 27 rays in the dorsal and anal, the latter with only 13 to UNS ih » Caulolatilus contains 3 species, the blanquillos, 2 of which occur among the West Indies, the other on the Pacific Coast. None is of sufficient abundance to be of much food-value. The genus Lopholatilus contains but 1 species, L. chame- leonticeps, the famous tilefish whose discovery only a few years ago and sudden, almost total disappearance a few months later, has interested commercial fishermen and scientists as well. The story of the tilefish is a fascinating one. In May, 1879, Capt. Kirby, of the schooner Wm, V. Hutchings, while trawl- ing for cod to the southward of Nantucket, took 5,000 pounds of a fish not only new to him, but new to science. The greater part of the fish taken on the first haul of the trawls were thrown away, but as the samples that had been tried proved excellent eating, those subsequently taken were salted down, and when taken to Gloucester a portion was smoked. In July, more tile- fish were taken, this time on hand-lines. In 1880 and 1881, while engaged in exploring the sea-bottom off the southern coast of New England, the United States Fish Commission steamer 504 The Tilefish Fish Hawk took tilefish in several places at depths of 70 to 134 fathoms. The indications of the apparent abundance of a new and edible fish of large size made Professor Baird desirous of obtaining fuller knowledge of its habitat and habits, in the hope that an important new fishery might be developed. Various causes conspired to delay the investigations which he _ planned until 1882. In March and April of that year vessels arriving at Philadelphia, New York and Boston reported having passed large numbers of dead or dying fish scattered over an area of many square miles, and from descriptions and specimens brought in it was evident that the great majority of these fish were the tilefish. Naturally these fish were not evenly distributed over the area in which they were found, some observers reporting them as scatter- ing, and others as at times so numerous that there would be as many as 50 on the space of a square rod. As one account after another came in, it became evident that a vast destruction of fish had taken place, for vessels reported having sailed 40, 50, and 60 miles through floating fish; and in one case the schooner Navarino ploughed for no less than 150 miles through waters dotted as far as the eye could reach with dying fish. Capt. J. W. Collins esti- mated that an area of 5,000 to 7,500 square miles was so thickly strewn with dead or dying fish that their numbers must have ex- ceeded the enormous number of 1,000,000,000. As there were no signs of any disease, and no parasites found on the fish brought in for examination, their death could not have been due to either of these causes; and many conjectures were made as to the cause of this wholesale destruction of deep-water fishes, such as ordi- narily are unaffected by surface conditions. Submarine volcanoes, heat, cold, and poisonous gases were among the agencies sug- gested. Professor Verrill has noted the occurrence of a strip of water, having a temperature of 48° to 50°, lying on the border of the Gulf Stream slope, between the Arctic current on the one hand and cold depths of the sea on the other. In 1880 and 1881 Professor Verrill dredged along the Gulf Stream slope, obtaining in this warm belt, as he terms it, many species of invertebrates characteristic of more southern localities. In 1882 the same species were scarce or wholly absent from places where they had previously been abundant; and this, taken in connection with the occurrence of heavy northerly gales and the presence of much inshore ice at the north, leaves little doubt 595 The Tilefish but that some unusual lowering of temperature in the warm belt brought immediate death to many of its inhabitants. This is the more probable since it is a well-known fact that sudden increase of cold will bring many fishes to the surface in a be- numbed or dying condition, and there was no evidence of any shock or earthquake having occurred at that time. For several years following no tilefish could be found and it was feared the species had become extinct. Although frequent search was made for them it was not until 1892 that they were found again. In that year the Grampus took 8 fish and in the following year 53 others were obtained. Thirty more were caught in 1897, and in 1898, when more careful tests were made, the United States Fish Commission caught 342 fish. And every year since 1898 large experimental catches have been made by the Commission and there is now no question but that the tilefish has thoroughly re-established itself, and it is hoped and _ believed that it may soon become the object of an important fishery. The tilefish grounds are at the edge of the Gulf Stream in about lat. 40° N. and long. 71° W. and in 70 to 80 fathoms. The tilefish reaches a length of 3 feet and a weight of 30 pounds, and is a superior food-fish in every respect. Everyone who has eaten it praises it very highly. Mr. Willard Nye, an expert in such matters, pronounces it superior to any other fish except the pom- pano fresh from the water. It is best when boiled or baked. 506 TEP TLAKES Family LXX. Merlucctide Bopy moderately elongate, covered with small, smooth, de- ciduous scales; head elongate, depressed and pike-like; mouth ter- minal, with strong teeth; no barbels; dorsal fins 2, a short anterior and _ along posterior one; along anal fin. This family contains a single genus with about 4 species, large cod-like fishes of voracious habits, inhabiting moderate depths in northern seas. Merluccius merlucctus is the common European hake which strays to Greenland. M. bilinearis, the silver hake, New England hake, or whiting, is common from Newfoundland to Cape Cod, and south to the Bahamas in deep water. It is of considerable food-value. The remaining species in our waters is M. productus, which decurs on our Pacific Coast from Santa Catalina to Puget Sound; everywhere abundant and used as food, but it is of coarse and watery texture. 5°7 THE; GODFISHES Family LXXTI. Gadide Bopy more or less elongate, the caudal region moderate, coniform behind, and with the caudal rays procurrent above and below; vent submedian; scales small, cycloid; mouth large, ter- minal; chin with a barbel more or less developed; gill-openings very wide; gill-membranes separate or sometimes united, com- monly free from the isthmus; no spines in the fins, the rays all reticul- ated; dorsal fin extending almost the whole length of the back, forming 1, 2 or 3 fins; anal fin long, single or divided; caudal fin distinct, or confluent with the dorsal and anal; ventral fins jugular, each of 1 to 8 branched rays; no pseudobranchiz; _air- bladder generally well developed. This is a large family with about 25 genera and 140 species, many of which are highly valued as food. They inhabit chiefly the northern seas, sometimes venturing into oceanic abysses. One genus (Lofa) is confined to freshwater lakes and streams. In American waters we have about 36 species representing 19 genera, of which only the following contain food-fishes of any im- portance to us. a. Anal divided into 2 separate fins, the dorsal into 3. b. Lower jaw distinctly projecting; barbel small or obsolete; caudal concave. c. Subopercle and postclavicle normal, both thin and flat, not enlarged and ivory-like;.......-.-+.-+..-+-- Pollachius, 509 cc. Subopercle and postclavicle enlarged, the bone dense and smooth, like ivory;-..--.------.225+ss4+ ees: Theragra, 510 bb. Lower jaw included; barbel well developed; caudal not concave. d. Lateral line pale; supraoccipital crest moderate. e. Vent in front of second dorsal; size very small;...Microgadus, 511 ee. Vent below second dorsal; typical codfishes of large size; Gadus, 512 dd. Lateral line black; supraoccipital crest very high; Melanogrammus, 516 aa. Anal forming a continuous fin or sometimes deeply notched; dorsal not divided into 3 fins. f. Ventral fins rather broad, each of about 6 rays;.......- Lota, 517 ff. Ventral fins very slender, each with 1 to 3 rays;..Urophycis, 518 508 GENUS POLLACAIUS NILSSON The Pollacks Body rather elongate, covered with minute scales; mouth moderate or large, the lower jaw projecting, barbel very small or obsolete; villiform teeth on vomer, none on palatines; teeth in jaws equal, or the outer slightly enlarged; gill-membranes more or less united; subopercle and postclavicle not enlarged and not ivory-like; dorsal fins 3; anal fins 2; caudal lunate; vent under first dorsal. This genus contains 1 species, P. virens, the common pollack, coal-fish or green cod, which is common northward on_ both coasts of the Atlantic. It ranges as far south as France and Cape Cod, or even as far as New York on our coast. In the northern parts of its range the pollack is abundant, and at times it is quite common as far south as Cape Cod. It reaches a length of more than 3 feet and a weight of 25 pounds or more. As a food-fish it is not highly esteemed on our coast, partly, no doubt, on account of the fact that it destroys better fish. It is very destructive to the young cod, surrounding the schools and driving the fish to the surface where they fall a prey to the voracious pollacks attacking them from below and hundreds of screeching sea-gulls which with astonishing voracity and precision pounce upon them from above. The pollack is very productive. According to Mr. E. R. Earll, a fish 3 feet 34 inches long and weighing 23 pounds contained 4,029,200 eggs and one of 13 pounds produced 2,569,753 eggs. The eggs, of course are very small. They are buoyant, floating at 5°99 The Pollacks the surface and hatch in 5 or 6 days. The spawning time of this species on our coast is in the fall. As a food-fish the pollack is by many highly esteemed. There are those who prefer it to the cod when salted, and others com- mend it most highly when fresh. The liver yields a valuable oil which is doubtless used extensively in adulterating cod-liver oil. As a game-fish the pollack has not been fully appreciated. In some localities at least it is a very voracious fish, taking the hook freely and fighting vigorously. In Massachusetts Bay great numbers are caught with a surface bait, but larger fish must be sought at the bottom. North of Cape Cod young pollack afford much sport to fly-fishermen. The genus Theragra is closely allied to Pollachius, from which it differs in the thick, smooth and dense subopercle and postclavicle, bones which are squamous in Pollachius. There are’ also differences’ im the number of ethe, vertebra. Of the 2 known species, T. chalcogrammus, the Alaska pollack, is the more important. This pollack is found in Bering Sea and_ neighbouring waters south to Sitka and the Kurils. It is excessively abundant throughout Bering Sea, swimming near the surface and furnishing the greater part of the food of the fur seal. It reaches a length of 3 feet and is doubtless a good food-fish, but no important fishery for it has been established. South of Sitka this species is replaced by a closely related one, 7. fucents, which is abundant in Puget Sound and is found as far south as Monterey Bay. 510 GENUS MICROGADUS GILL The Tomcods These are very small codfishes allied to Gadus, but with the vent placed before the second dorsal and with a different structure of the cranium. There are 2 species. The first of these is the common tomcod, M. tomcod, which is found on our Atlantic Coast from Virginia to Cape Sable. It may be distinguished by the possession of 21 or 22 rays in the dorsal fin. Though usually known as the tomcod, it is in many places called the frostfish because it is most abundant in early winter when it approaches the shores and even ascends rivers and creeks for spawning purposes. It has been taken in the Kennebec River 60 miles from its mouth and far above the reach of the tide. When ascending rivers they are taken in large numbers with dip-nets and with hook and line at bridges and wharves. Though most abundant in winter they may be found along the shore at all seasons. In form the tomcod is a miniature cod, and there is difficulty in distinguishing the young of the 2 species. The tomcod rarely exceeds a foot in length, feeds upon crustaceans, mollusks and small fishes, and is esteemed in many localities as a delicacy. 511 California Tomcod The other species is M. proximus, the California tomcod, which occurs on our Pacific Coast from Monterey Bay to Unalaska. It is usually abundant and is a useful and valued food-fish. It is easily distinguished from the Atlantic species by the characters given above. GENUS GADUS (ARTEDI) LINNAGWUS. The True Codfishes Body moderately elongate, compressed and tapering behind; scales very small; lateral line present, pale; head narrowed an- teriorly; mouth moderate, the maxillary reaching past front of eye; chin with a barbel; teeth in jaws, cardiform, subequal; vomer with teeth, none on the palatines; cranium without the expanded crests seen in Melanogrammus; no part of the skeleton expanded and ivory-like; dorsal fins 3, well separated; anal fins 2; ventral fins well developed, of about 7 rays each. Species of northern seas, and all highly valued as food. 512 Common Codfish Common Codfish Gadus callarias Linneus This important and well-known fish is found in the North Atlantic and on both coasts, south to France and Virginia. From the earliest settlement of America the cod has been the most valuable of our Atlantic Coast fishes. Indeed, the codfish of the Banks of Newfoundland was one of the principal inducements which led England to establish colonies in America, and in the records of early voyages are many references to the abundance of codfish along our shores. It is even claimed that English ves- sels visited the fishing grounds near Iceland as early as 1415, and that the Basques knew the Banks of Newfoundland centuries before the discovery of America by Columbus. So important was the cod in the early history of this country that it was placed upon the colonial seal of Massachusetts, and it was also placed upon a Nova Scotian bank-note, with the legend ‘‘ Success eo) the Fisheries.” The cod is omnivorous, and feeds upon various kinds of animals, including crustaceans, mollusks and small fishes, and even browses upon Irish moss and other aquatic vegetation. All sorts of things have been found in cods’ stomachs, such as_ scissors, oil-cans, finger-rings, rocks, potato parings, corn cobs, rubber dolls, pieces of clothing, the heel of a boot, as well as many new or rare specimens of mollusks and crustaceans. The belief that the stones are taken in by the cod as ballast, and that the finger-rings, boot-heels, etc., indicate that the cod is a ‘‘man- eater,” are by no means necessary conclusions. ShS) Common Codfish The movements of the cod are not well understood. They go in schools, but not in such dense bodies as mackerel, herring and menhaden. The movements on and off shore and from bank to bank are due chiefly to temperature influences, the presence or absence of food, and the search for proper spawning con- ditions. In the winter months there is a well-marked movement of large bodies of cod to the shores of New England and the Middle States, and important fisheries are then carried in regions where cod are not found at other seasons. This movement seems to be chiefly for the purpose of finding shallow grounds suitable for spawning purposes. They sometimes make long journeys, as is evidenced by the capture on the New England Coast of cod with hooks in their mouths such as French fishermen use on the Grand Banks. The cod is essentially a deep-water fish, and is usually taken in 20 to 70 fathoms. It has been taken at 300 fathoms depth. The largest cod recorded from New England weighed 211} pounds and was over 6 feet long. It was taken on a trawl off the northern coast of Massachusetts in May, 1895. Many examples weighing 100 to 175 pounds have been recorded, but cod weigh- ing even 75 pounds are not at all common. The average weight of the large-size cod caught in the shore-waters of New England is about 35 pounds; on Georges Bank, 25 pounds; on the Grand Bank and other eastern grounds, 20 pounds. The average weight of the small-size cod caught on all these grounds is about 12 pounds. The principal spawning time of the cod on the New England coast is in the winter, the season beginning as early as Novem- ber, and continuing until April. The cod is one of the most prolific fishes. The ovaries of a 21-pound cod have been computed to contain 2,700,000 eggs, and a 75-pound cod, 9,100,000 eggs. The egg is very small, only about 75 to ,; of an inch in diameter, and about 337,000 are required to make one quart. When it is remembered that under natural conditions, in order to maintain the normal num- ber of codfish it is only necessary for two of these eggs to hatch and grow to maturity, it is easily seen that the destruction of eggs is very great. If all the eggs of a 75-pound cod _ should hatch and grow to maturity, the ocean would soon become packed solid with codfish. 514 Alaska Codfish The principal loss is probably due to failure of impregnation, to great numbers being thrown upon the shore by the waves, and to the vast numbers eaten by various animals, including fishes, birds and invertebrates. Commercially the cod is most important. In the matter of persons engaged, vessels employed, capital invested and value of catch, the taking of codfish in the United States is more ex- tensive than any other fishery for fish proper. At least 600 ves- sels are engaged taking cod; they carry about 7,000 men, and are valued at $3,000,000. The catch in 1898 amounted to more than 96,000,000 pounds, with a first value of about $2,000,000. Cod are taken with hand and trawl lines, baited with fish, squid, etc., and fished for from small boats, or the vessel’s deck. The principal grounds are the ‘‘banks’—Grand, Georges, West- ern, Quereau, etc. The cod is propagated artificially on a more extensive scale than any other marine fish. The number of cod fry liberated by the United States Fish Commission up to 1898 was 449,764,000. The output for 1896-97 was 98,000,000, and the unmistakable economic results which have attended these efforts warrant all the time and money devoted to them, and justify the greatest possible expansion of the work. The common cod is greenish or brownish, subject to great variations, sometimes yellowish or reddish, the back and sides with numerous rounded brownish spots; lateral line pale; fins dark. Alaska Codfish Gadus macrocephalus Tilesius This cod is very abundant in Bering Sea, on both shores, and ranges southward on our coast as far as Oregon on the off- shore banks. It is usually found in 15 to 130 fathoms, and is an important food-fish, though not held in as high esteem as the common cod of the Atlantic. Externally, few if any important differences are observable between the two, but the air-bladder or ‘‘sound” of the Pacific species is markedly smaller. Colour, brownish, lighter below; back and sides with numer- ous brownish spots; first anal and ventral fins dusky, other fins pale. 515 GENUS MELANOGRAMMUS GILL The Haddocks This genus is distinguished from the Gadus bv its smaller mouth, the produced first dorsal fin, the black lateral line, and especially by the great enlargement of the hypocoracoid, which is dense and ivory-like. The lateral line is always black. The single species is the common haddock, M. @glefinus, which is of more restricted distribution than the cod. On our coast it probably does not occur north of the Strait of Belle Isle, and the southern limit of .its range is off Cape Hat- teras in deep water. It is found also from Iceland to France, and is particularly abundant on all the shores of Great Britain and the North Sea. They are abundant on the Massachusetts coast in summer, and it is then that the largest catches are made there as well as on the off-shore banks in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. On our coast there has been great variation in, the abundance of the haddock; during some years it abounds, while in others it is very rare, the cause of which is not understood. They are more gregarious than the cod, swimming together in large compact schools from place to place. The food of the haddock consists largely of invertebrates, although it is really omnivorous, and Professor Verrill has said that a complete list of the animals eaten by the haddock would doubtless include all the species of mollusks belonging to the New England coast fauna. The haddock is rarely seen at the 516 The Haddocks surface, but is a bottom feeder, particularly abundant over clam- banks, hence its German name Schellfisch. It will take the baited hook as it rests on the bottom, while a cod will not notice it until it is raised a little above the bottom. Salted menhaden and stale clams are favourite baits for haddock. The spawning season on our coast is from April to June, the height being in May. The eggs float at the surface like those of the cod. The size is about 5 of an inch in diameter, and a 91 pound fish produced 1,839,581 eggs. The usual size of the had- dock is about 3 or 4 pounds, and the maximum ‘about 17 pounds. As a food-fish the haddock has steadily grown in favour until it is now one of the most important. It is especially de- sirable for boiling or for making chowders. It is well suited for preservation in ice, and enormous quantities are shipped through- out the interior, along with the cod. It is also smoked, salted and dried in large numbers. Colour, dark gray above, whitish below; lateral line black; a large dark blotch over the pectoral; dorsals and caudal -dusky. GENUS LOTA (CUVIER) OKEN Body long and low, compressed behind; head small, depressed, rather broad; anterior nostrils each with a small barbel; chin with a long barbel; snout and lower parts of head naked; mouth moderate, the lower jaw included; each jaw with broad bands of equal, villiform teeth; vomer with a broad crescent-shaped band of similar teeth; no teeth on palatines; gill-openings wide, .the membranes somewhat connected, free from the isthmus; scales very small, imbedded; vertical fins scaly; dorsal fins 2, the anterior short, the second long and similar to the anal; caudal rounded, its outer rays procurrent. One of the 2 known species is found in our waters. This is the ling or lake lawyer, Lofa maculosa. The ling is our only freshwater member of the codfish family. It is found pretty well distributed in the larger lakes of Canada and the northern United States from Maine and New Brunswick to the headwaters of the Missouri, and to Alaska. It is probably most abundant in the 517 The Codlings, or Hakes Great Lakes, and has been recorded from the Eagle and St. Francis Lakes, and Lake Temisconti. It has been obtained from various places in the headwaters of the Missouri and Columbia. We have seen specimens from Red Rock Lake in Montana, Lake Chelan in Washington, and from the Fraser and Columbia rivers. It reaches a length of 1 to 3 feet, and though not usually regarded as a food-fish, it is utilized in some places. Properly smoked or salted it is not inferior to other coarse species. The ling is disposed to stay in the deeper waters of the lakes it inhabits, and is not often seen in the shallows. Among the many common names by which this fish is known may be mentioned ling, lake lawyer, burbot and freshwater cusk. This species is so unlike any other American freshwater fish that it can readily be identified by the accompanying figure. GENUS UROPHYCIS GILL The Codlings, or Hakes In this genus the body is rather elongate, the head sub- conic, mouth rather large, maxillary reaching to below the eye; lower jaw included; chin with a small barbel; jaws and vomer with broad bands of subequal pointed teeth; palatines toothless; dorsal fins 2, the first sometimes produced at the tip, the second long, similar to the anal; ventrals wide apart, filamentous, each ‘of 3 slender rays, closely jointed, appearing like one bifid fila- ment; gill-membranes somewhat connected, narrowly joined to the isthmus. This genus contains 6 or 7 species, only 2 of which are of value as food. These are the white hake, U. tenuis, and the squirrel hake. These 2 species are found on our Atlantic Coast from 518 The Codlings, or Hakes Labrador to Cape Hatteras. They are abundant northward, and are found at a depth as great as 300 fathoms. The two species are very closely related, differing chiefly in the larger scales of the squirrel hake. They are both ground-fish, remaining close to the bottom, and rarely coming to the surface. According to Captain Atwood they are much more inclined to take the hook by night than by day, and are found on muddy bottom during summer and autumn along the coast of Maine and Massachusetts. They are in best condition during the fall, and if properly prepared are a tolerably good table-fish. They probably spawn in summer, as shown by fish taken then and the size of young seen in the fall. They are fished for extensively off the New England coast, the amount landed at Gloucester in 1899 aggregating more than 10,000,000 pounds. The white hake constitutes the larger part of the catch. The shore {fisheries are by means of hand lines on moonlight nights on muddy bottoms in 1o to 40 or 50 fathoms. The schooner fishery is carried on in much deeper water with trawls and hand-lines. The average size of the hake taken probably does not exceed 5 to 10 pounds, though each species reaches a much larger size. Examples weighing as much as 40 pounds have been reported. Hake are used extensively for corning, and as boneless cod and shredded cod. They are also smoked in small quantities. They also yield a valuable oil, and the air-bladder or sound is very valuable for the making of isinglass and glue, and even as food. 519 THE \FLOUNDERS Family LXXII, Pleuronectide Flat fish, with eyes distorted, square, ovoid, rhomboid, long, Some cased in mail, some slippery-backed, the feeble and the strong, Sedan’d on poles, or dragged on hooks, or poured from tubs like water, Gasp side by side, together piled, in one promiscuous slaughter. —Badham. Bopy strongly compressed, oval or ellipical in outline; head unsymmetrical, the cranium twisted, both eyes being on the same side of the body, which is horizontal in life, the eyed side being uppermost and coloured, the blind side lowermost and usually plain. In the very young the bones of the head are symmetri- cal, one eye on each side, and the body is vertical in the water, but the cranium very soon becomes twisted so as to bring both eyes on one side. Eyes large and usually well separated; mouth large or small, teeth always present, premaxillaries protractile; pseudo- branchie present; preopercular margin more or less distinct, not hidden by the skin and scales. Further description is not necessary, as there is no mistaking a flounder. Everyone who see a flounder recognizes it at once as such, and everyone knows what ‘‘flat as a flounder” means. The family is a large one, embracing about 55 genera and nearly 500 species, nearly all of which are carnivorous, inhabiting sandy bottoms in all seas from the Polar regions to the Tropics, and many of them are important food-fishes. The family divides readily into 3 subfamilies, as indicated in the following key: a. Ventral fins symmetrical, similar in position and form of base, the one on coloured side not extended along the ridge of the abdomen. b. Mouth nearly symmetrical, the teeth about equally developed Ofit HOt SIGES eee Hokie Wises ae eae ee Halibut tribe, 521 bb. Mouth unsymmetrical, the teeth chiefly on the blind side; eyes and colour on right side;......----. Flounder tribe, 521 520 The Flounders aa. Ventral fins unsymmetrical, dissimilar in position and usually also in form, the one on the eyed side being extended along the ridge of the abdomen; eyes and colour on left side; Turbot tribe, 532 ANALYSIS OF GENERA OF THE HIPPOGLOSSINA:, OR HALIBUT TRIBE a. Vertebre and fin-rays much increased in number; D. about 100; A. 85; caudal fin lunate. b. Large teeth in both jaws arrow-shaped, biserial, some of them depressible; upper eye with a vertical range; gillrakers short; Atheresthes, 522 bb. Large teeth not arrow-shaped, biserial above, uniserial below; gillrakers long and slender. c. Lateral line without anterior arch; lower pharyngeal teeth uni- SGT 2) RR AOS rie re, a cou tae. ore iene eae are mies Reinhardtius, 522 cc. Lateral line with an anterior arch; lower pharyngeal teeth Dinette. 5 Navas las tet) sees ea ie hoes Sel Hippoglossus, 523 aa. Vertebre and fin-rays in moderate number; D. fewer than 95; A. fewer than 75. d. Lateral line without distinct anterior arch. Species of sub- arctic distribution. e. Lateral line simple, without accessory dorsal branch. f. Teeth in upper jaw biserial. g. Scales comparatively large, thin and deciduous; lateral line 70; Lyopsetta, 524 gg. Scales small and adherent; lateral line 96;....- Eopsetta, 524 ff. Teeth in the upper jaw uniserial;........ Hippoglossotdes, 525 ee. Lateral line with an accessory dorsal branch;....Psettichthys, 525 dd. Lateral line with an arch in front. Species chiefly of temper- ate or subtropical seas;............-..-+.-Paralichthys, 526 ANALYSIS OF GENERA OF THE PLEURONECTIN/@, OR FLOUNDER TRIBE a. Lateral line with a distinct arch in front;.....-. Limanda, 528 aa. Lateral line without a distinct arch in front. b. Scales imperfectly imbricated, or else not all ctenoid. c. Scales rough-ctenoid in the male, more or less cycloid in the female; lower pharyngeals very large, more or less united; Liopsetta, 531 cc. Scales all in both sexes and on both sides of body represented by coarse, scattered stellate tubercles;...... Platichthys, 531 bb. Scales regularly imbricated, all ctenoid in both sexes: Pseudopleuronectes, 528 Arrow-toothed Halibut Arrow-toothed Halibut Atheresthes stomias (Jordan & Gilbert) The single species of this genus is one of the most remarkable of the flounders. It approaches in form and general characters most nearly to the cod-like fishes, from ancestors of which we suppose the flounders to have descended. This fish is found from San Francisco to Bering Sea and is most common northward. It is not rare in deep water off San Francisco, where it is caught in considerable numbers in the sweep- nets or paranzelles, used in Drake Bay. About Unalaska and elsewhere northward it occurs in shallower water. It was dredged in abundance by the Albatross on both sides of the Alaskan Peninsula and in Bristol Bay in 32 to 406 fathoms; Mr. N. B. Scofield found it in abundance in Chignik Bay, and we have taken it at Unga and Karluk. This species reaches a length of 2 feet and is a good food-fish. Greenland Halibut Reinhardtius hippoglossoides (Walbaum) The Greenland halibut is found in Arctic parts of the Atlantic and south to Finland and the Grand Banks. It is known also as the Greenland turbot and little halibut, and is abundant on the Coast of Greenland where it is found in very deep water. It is said to be found chiefly in the ice-fiords and between the great ice-fields in northern Greenland, and there only in the coldest months in the year. It is fished for by the natives through holes cut in the ice. In South Greenland it is caught on the oceanic banks in 60 to 180 fathoms. In Fortune Bay, Newfound- land, it is abundant in 60 to 300 fathoms, where it is caught chiefly in winter. They are taken also on the outer edge of the oceanic banks in 250 to 300 fathoms, a depth greater than that usually frequented by the true halibut, and where the slope is so nearly vertical that it would seem difficult for them to maintain a hold upon the bottom. Common Halibut This flounder is more symmetrical than any other of the family on our coast, and, moreover, is coloured on both sides, which is unusual in flounders and indicates that this species is in its movements more like ordinary symmetrical fishes and that it can rest with the body in a vertical position. The flesh of the Greenland halibut is said to be exceedingly palatable, it being firm, white and flaky, and less dry and more delicate than that of the common halibut. The average weight is 10 to 25 pounds, and the colour is yellowish-brown. Common Halibut [Hippoglossus hippoglossus (Linnzus) The halibut is the only member of the genus, and is found in all northern seas. In the North Atlantic it is found as far south as the Cattegat in Europe, and occasionally the English Channel, while on the American side it has been taken as_ far south as Montauk Point. Its occurrence south of 40° is unusual. Northward its range extends at least as far as Cumberland Gulf, in latitude 64°, and on the coast of Greenland to 71° north. It is abundant also about Iceland and Spitzbergen, in latitude 80°. The halibut is a fish of the coldest waters. The tempera- ture of the water in which it is taken rarely exceeds 45° Fahr., and it is often as cold as 32°. In the Atlantic it is closely associated with the cod, although usually in somewhat colder water. In the Pacific the halibut ranges from Bering Straits to San Francisco and the Farallones. According to Dr. Bean its centre of abundance is in the Gulf of Alaska, particularly about Kadiak and the Shumagin Islands. A very large and important halibut bank is found in the mouth of the Straits of Fuca, and others have been developed on the Pacific Coast by the Albatross. The bulk of the halibut now brought to Puget Sound ports comes from off Cape Flattery, and northward into southeast Alaska. Very important gounds are in Dixon Entrance, about Queen Charlotte Island, and along the coast of British Columbia. The halibut is one of the very largest of fishes and, of all our species, is equalled in size only by the sword-fish, the tuna, mola, and the tarpon. Captain J. W. Collins says he has never seen examples 923 Common Halibut weighing more than 250 pounds. Captain Atwood mentions one which dressed 237 pounds, and 2 others taken near Race Point which weighed 359 and 4o1 pounds respectively. Dr. Goode had the record of 10 or 12 captured on the New England coast, each weighing 300 to 400 pounds, and Nilsson records one from the coast of Sweden that weighed 720 pounds. A halibut weigh- ing 350 pounds is about 7 or 8 feet long and nearly 4 feet wide. The male halibut is always much smaller than the female, and rarely exceeds 50 pounds in weight. Very large fish are not so highly esteemed as those of smaller size. A fat female of about 80 pounds is said by experts to be the most savoury. The halibut ranks among the most valued food-fishes of the world. In 1898 the halibut landed at Gloucester and Boston amounted to 10,378,181 pounds, valued at $576,382. In 1899 it was somewhat less in quantity (9,025,182 pounds) but valued at $600,000. The halibut fishery on our Pacific coast is also of vast importance. The catch on the coast of Washington, Oregon and California in 1895 aggregated 1,719,315 pounds, valued at $39,818. In 1899 the catch was 6,877,640 pounds, valued at $192,280. And since 1899 the catch has enormously increased, but no exact figures are available. At the present time the shipment of fresh halibut from the Pacific Coast to the East is an important business. It was only to-day (March 5) that we noticed in the daily papers an account of the running of a fish-train from Vancouver to Boston—the ‘‘Halibut Express,” ‘‘comprising 9 cars of fresh halibut, 1 of Puget Sound salmon, and 1 of Squallish Valley hops,” a through fish-train from the Pacific to the Atlantic in 4 days! The only species of Lyopsetta is L. extlis. This is a small flounder, rarely exceeding a foot in length and a pound in weight, which is exceedingly abundant in deep water on sandy bottom from San Francisco to Puget Sound. It is taken in the sweep-nets, or paranzelle, in the spring off Point Reyes in enor- mous numbers, sometimes a ton at a haul. It is less abundant in Puget Sound, though taken in considerable numbers in seines. Its flesh is soft, and the fish does not sell well. The genus Eopsefta contains a single species, E. jordant. This flounder, known on the California coast almost exclusively as ‘‘sole,” is found from Monterey to Puget Sound. It is rare 524 The Sand-dab or Rough-dab north of Cape Mendocino, but abundant in Monterey Bay, where great numbers are taken by Chinamen on set-lines baited with anchovies. It reaches a length of 18 inches, and a weight of 6 or 8 pounds, the average being about 3 pounds. As a food-fish it is one of the best of the family. Great numbers are dried yearly by the Chinese, who suspend them by strings on a frame placed on the roofs of the houses, as they are too fleshy to dry well on tables. Here they rustle in the wind, and, striking to- gether, produce a sound like the wind among the leaves. GENUS HIPPOGLOSSOIDES. .GOT TSGHE Body oblong, moderately compressed; mouth rather large, with 1 row of sharp teeth in each jaw; no teeth on vomer or palatines; lateral line nearly straight, simple; eyes and colour on right side, except in H. e/assodon. This genus contains 3 or 4 species, only 2 of which are of any importance. The sand-dab, or rough-dab, H. platessoides, is found in the North Atlantic, and as far south as Woods Hole. It is abundant on the English coast, and is a well-known food- fish in Scandinavia. It is found off the New England coast in rather deep water. It reaches 2 feet in length, and a weight of 3 or 4 pounds. As a food-fish it is highly esteemed, especially in Europe. H. elassodon occurs from Bering Sea south to Puget Sound. It is common about the wharves at Seattle, Port Townsend and Tacoma, where it takes the hook readily and affords the boys much sport. It reaches a length of 15 or 18 inches, a weight of 2 or 3 pounds, and is a good food-fish. The single species of Psettichthys is P. melanostictus. This is one of the most common flounders on the Pacific Coast from Monterey Bay to Sitka, and is everywhere known as “sole.” It attains a length of about 20 inches, and a weight of 4 or 5 pounds, the average length being perhaps 15 inches. Although never found in large numbers, it is always present in the mar- kets, and is considered a good food-fish. Re) GENUS PARALICHTHYS GIRARD The Bastard Halibuts Body oblong; mouth large, oblique, each jaw with a single row of usually slender teeth which are more or less enlarged anteriorly; no teeth on vomer or palatines; gillrakers slender; scales small, weakly ctenoid or ciliated; lateral line simple, with a strong curve anteriorly; dorsal fin beginning before the eyes, its anterior rays not produced; both ventrals lateral. Species numerous, found in all warm seas. Many _ species inhabiting both coasts of America and the eastern and southern coasts of Asia. a. Gillrakers in large numbers, about 9+20;....californicus, 526 aa. Gillrakers less numerous, about 5 or 6+11 to 21;..dentalus, 526 aaa. Gillrakers few, shortish and wide-set, about 2 or 3+8 to 10 in number. b. Body ovate, more or less compressed and opaque. c. Dorsal rays numerous, 85 to 93; A. 65 to 73.-ethostigmus, 527 cc. Dorsal rays in moderate numbers, 70 to 80; A. 54 to 61; albiguttus, 527 bb. Body oblong, strongly compressed, semitranslucent; oblongus, 528 The Monterey or bastard halibut, P. californicus, reaches a length of 3 feet and a weight of 50 or 60 pounds and is com- mon on the California coast from Tomales Bay to Cerros Island. It is one of the most common food-fishes of that coast where it takes the place occupied by the summer flounder on the Atlan- tic side. It lives in shallow water, the young abounding near shore. It does not rank high as a food-fish, the flesh of the large ones being tough and coarse, while the young are inferior to most of the so-called Pacific soles. The summer flounder or plaice, P. dentatus, is, next to the halibut, the most important of all the flatfishes on our Atlantic Coast. It is abundant from Cape Cod to the Carolinas. It reaches a length of nearly. 3 feet and a weight of about 15 pounds. It 526 ae ey ay eee ee To ar os The Bastard Halibuts has by most writers been confounded with the southern flounder from which it is most easily distinguished by its more numerous eae . PSene anni eo Ly 4 as aOR > \ eS S'AS eeeews AOA PRD OND SN aS ah : 4 ‘3 Y \ aN 3 SS ‘ A \ a Sr eee aS ‘ A a gillrakers and mottled colouration. They are usually found in a depth of 2 to 20 fathoms. In winter they move into deeper water. The largest example of which we have seen a record weighed 26 pounds. The most extensive fisheries for this fish are on the New England Coast. Great numbers are sometimes caught in seines along shore, though favourite fishing-grounds are on sandy bottom, in 15 to 20 fathoms about Block Island, Marthas Vineyard, and the eastern end of Long Island. The colour of this flounder in life is a light olive-brown, with numerous small white spots on body and _ vertical fins; sometimes a series of large white spots along bases of dorsal and anal fins; about 14 ocellated dark spots on side. The southern flounder, P. Jethostigmus, is close to the summer flounder with which it has often been confounded. It is the common large species usually abundant from Charleston south- ward and along the entire Gulf Coast. We have collected it in Indian River and at Tampa, and Mr. Silas Stearns found it abundant in shoal water on the west coast of Florida in summer. The Gulf flounder, P. albiguitus, is rather common on the South Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States. It resembles the southern flounder in having few gillrakers, and the summer O27 The Bastard Halibuts flounder in the mottled colouration, while from each it is dis. tinguished by its fewer dorsal and anal rays. It attains a length of about 2 feet. The four-spotted flounder, P. oblongus, is rather commen on the coast of Cape Cod and neighbouring islands. It is a good food-fish and may be known by the 4 large, horizontal oblong black ocelli, each surrounded by a pinkish border, on side of body. The genus Limanda contains one species, the Alaska dab, L. aspera, which is of some food-value. This is a species of the northern Pacific and Bering Sea and is found on both coasts. On our coast it is generally common as far south as Vancouver Island. In Bristol Bay it is particularly abundant and is regarded as being an excellent food-fish. There are 3 other species of Limanda but none of them of any value commercially except the rusty dab, L. ferruginea. This small flounder is found on our Atlantic Coast from New York to Labrador and is not uncommon northward. Though small, it is a good food-fish. The genus Pseudopleuronectes contains one very important species. This is the winter flounder or common flatfish, P. americanus. The winter flounder is one of the most abundant species on our Atlantic Coast, ranging south to the Carolinas and north to Labrador. It is especially abundant in southern New England and New York. It is not a large species, as it rarely exceeds 528 The Bastard Halibuts DA AUe PAGS Rx ce Nene i iy TASC aise 20 inches in length, and a weight of 5 pounds. Examples more than 12 or 15 inches long are not common. The winter flounder is very prolific, the number of eggs produced by a large fish being more than a million. The spawn- ing season on our coast is from February to April, and by August the young fish are 1 to 2 inches in length. The flounder fishery is carried on chiefly during the winter and spring months, large quantities being taken. As a food-fish the winter flounder holds a very high rank; the flesh is white, firm, and of excellent flavour. Next to the halibut it is the most important flatfish of our Atlantic Coast. This species has been more extensively propagated than any other member of the family. The United States Fish Commission obtains the eggs at Woods Hole where its propagation fills in the time between the taking of the cod on the one’hand and the lobster on the other. The number of fry hatched in 1900, at Woods Hole, exceeded 87,000,000, which were planted at various points along the New England coast. The body of this flounder is regularly elliptical, the colour and eyes are on the right side and the upper side of the head is covered with imbricated ctenoid scales similar to those of the body; blind side of head nearly naked. The colour above is dark rusty-brown, either plain or mottled with darker. The young are olive-brown, spotted with reddish; the under parts are white. 529 Arctic Flounder The genus Liopsetia is represented by 2 species, the most important of which is known as the Arctic flounder, L. glacialts. This small flounder is found in Bering Sea on both shores, at least as far south on the American side as Bristol Bay. Though small, its great abundance and delicious flavour make it a food- fish of much importance. The other species, L. putnami, is the eel-back flounder. It is found from Cape Cod northward at least to Labrador. It is a Starry Flounder small fish, rarely exceeding a foot in length, but is often seen in the markets. Its flesh is of delicate flavour and the fish finds a ready sale. The genus Platichthys contains a single species, P. stellatus, known as the great flounder or starry flounder. This species occurs on the Pacific Coast of America from middle California to the Arctic Ocean; and south on the Asiatic side to the mouth of the Amur River. Of the small-mouthed flounders it is much the largest species known, as it reaches a weight of 15 to 20 pounds. It is an excellent food-fish, and from its size and abundance it is one of the most important species in the region where found. It constitutes fully one-half the total catch of flounders on our Pacific Coast, and it is equally abundant in Bering Sea. It lives in shallow water and some- times ascends the larger rivers. The genus Glyplocephalus has 2 species in our waters, only one of which is of importance. This is the pale flounder or craig fluke, G. cynoglossus, which occurs in the North Atlantic, south on our coast to Cape -Cod. It has been taken in great numbers in rather deep water, on sandy bottom, off the New England coast. Though reaching only a small size, rarely a foot or 18 inches in length, this flounder is an excellent food-fish 53t Window Pane By many it is said to be not inferior to the European sole. The colour is grayish-brown, the fins dark spotted, the tips of the pectorals dusky. In the genus Lophopsetla (Turbot tribe) we have a single species, L. maculata, known popularly as the window pane. It is an interesting species, occurring on our Atlantic Coast from Maine to the Carolinas. It attains a weight of 1 to 2 pounds or less and is generally common on sandy bottom. It is a near relative of the valuable European turbot (Pselfa maxima). 532 a GLOSSARY OF TECHNICAL TERMS* Abdomen. Belly. Abdominal. Pertaining to the belly; said of the ventral fins of fishes when in- serted considerably behind the pectorals, the pelvic bones to which the ventral fins are attached having no connection with the shoulder girdle. Abortive. Remaining or becoming imperfect. Actinosts. A series of bones at the base of the pectoral rays. Acuminate. Tapering gradually to a point. Acute. Sharp-pointed. Adipose fin.