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AMERICAN FISHES.
Rarer +
i Rpreece mtn cemnesam
peat
_
AMERICAN FISHES
A POPULAR TREATISE
UPON THE
GAME AND FOOD FISHES
OF
NORTH AMERICA
With ESPECIAL REFERENCE TO HABITS AND METHODS
OP CART URE
G. BROWN GOODE
assistant Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution ; Corresponding Member of, the Zoological Society of
London, the Deutsche Fischeret Verein, the National Fish-Culture Association of Great
Britain, the Northern Fisheries Soctety of Japan, etc., etc.; late United States
Commissioner of Fisheries, and Commissioner to the International
fisheries Exhibitions in Berlin and London.
WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS
NUMAN I
NEw-YORK:
W. A. HOUGHTON.
1888,
0 0301 0070777 4
~
COPYRIGHTED, 1887.
ENGRAVINGS MADE BY
THE PHOTO ENGRAVING Co.
67 PARK PLACE, NEW YORK,
DEBTECATrON:
This little book on the fishes of America, ts dedicated to
my Brother-Ichthyologists tn other lands
Dr. NICHOLAS APOSTOLIDES, of Athens ;
Dr. ROBERT COLLETT, of Christiania ;
Dr. FRANCIS DAY, of Cheltenham, England;
Pror. ENRICO H. GIGLIOLI, of Florence ;
Dr. ALBERT C. L. G. GUNTHER, of the British Museum;
Dr. JAMES HECTOR. of New Zealand ;
Prom A. A. HUBRECHT, of Utrecht ;
Dr. FRANZ M. HILGENDORF, of Berlin;
Messrs. K. ITO, and S. MATSUBARA, of Japan;
Dr. CHRISTIAN LUTKEN, of Copenhagen ;
Dr. ANDRE-JEAN MALMGREN, of Helsingfors ;
Pror. PIETRO PAVESI, of Pavia;
Dr. EMILE SAUVAGE, of Paris ;
Pror. F. A. SMITT, of Stockholm ;
Don FELIPE POEY, of Havana ;
Dr. FRANZ STEINDACHNER, of Vienna ;
Dr. DECIO VINCIGUERRA, of Rome ;
Pror. OSCAR von GRIMM, of St. Petersburg—
zn memory of much pleasant intercourse in the past, especially
during the recent Fisheries Exhibitions in Berlin and Lon-
don, and with the hope that tts publication may lead to a
wider popular appreciation, wn America, of the tmportance
and interest of Ichthyological Science.
Fa Sie
i be je recongnieu, sonnant sa grosse conche, Glaugue,
Protée, Nerée, et mille autres dieux et monstres
marins. Vetsmes ausst nombre infiny de potssons, en especes
adiverses, dancants, volants, voltigeants, combattants, man-
geants, respirants, belutanits, chassants, dressants escar-
mouches, fatsants embuscade, composants trefoes, mar-
chandants, jurants, scbuttants.
En un coing la pres vetsmes Artstoteles, tenant une
lanterne, expiant, considerant, le tout redigeant par
escript.
PANIAGRUEL, V., XXXI.
NY
1S
Quis, nist vidisset, pisces
sub undas natare crederet.
Linn2us.
CONT ENGS:
Fuga:
VR OLORILE wansuapeceas Meee oid sis cuisioss'c's'e eissicisie sian ncieiceaeiseGon Sevaa der anwansspeira: x1
NP IEIOTE WPLCT- CH emta te ticisie sia oo ns'e 06 se 0s sensseseices/secees veesn Saisinsesisinieeses I
UT MER ACICIUCS We cenit ele ainisie.c cwisioie.sis'e s'oeis'n(s ois» we'eleiols smjncelsetns’msiareieiases)oaisio's II
ESI CLL TOS Somrara Saale winsia ssieltinale « »1i0'e's «'0\s 0's sain onln W sleiaisine'eeis'ess Wuisioine@ nin sions ais 22
EMC ILS MB ASSAATLG LHCII CLIOW: PASS. «ca ccis sin onnioiaielee sees ce esis es) oe cine 122
DR MME 27 I IG tare tal gale a oie a's 6 0 sie 010100 0/sic/alo ad opens aie\bioiein(oisieralorns fe*Ain nse 35
PIC SILO ES NCSU MU ora alevasa's ios < sid ciel oia'2 a6 6.0:6-5 00's 0 9ib'n Deore wlejeaise sisinlataictai> Siesta 39
DRCAGIOUPCTS BNA CEJ CW LIS .. o0 ese caceae see consetieeeasiesseeescviseeensone 47
BPE EMT Ae PRCLSS OS eo Mare <cfoVelsa:s iainsa's's ors 0.0 9.0 51% 3/216 in'e:0i0 o[a/n's/0 s/vin'e sy iaseinsmieicie sincera ee 54
OEM SULFATES TEPLETILCLI= AVILES: «viens veiaie's 060.00 o.0i0' o's .seinneisine weleccweminns’s's 64
SIPPETS QUA PRED NOUNS. . cnccscocescuescesasesscesinseesosevercennsndsncsires 72
INR SLCC PL SILGO Dot ene tele clctocclejitin sivinisis's «vec e/s'n.s 0 0:4'n.e oie s wiaisiniaelalat(dainisia'sidisis/s }e 83
The Scuppaug and the Fatr Matd ...ccccccccecccccccecccecccscscccecvccces 92
SOUP AMINE UD KALIL IAN De cet late eal cieie e sisiaivis/s/n9ie 010 20's ni0's Sado s\n 8 oe aseiwiaeie.csia'sie vleigiseneme IOI
ACCU GLEE INE see reerete aise alee oi ee sjnig 0's/016 o)s'0\0 ss 2 vn a s\s wn. sinieimioin sie iaisle s(euieinle stosieielsinrsls 110
ULE RIDILOREAE (OWMCCIEIMISHES winx oio.s v.c'ei'os'c 0.0 6's 0.n0din ne elvis eauias seacesisnsensieeise 123
POLS, CHOGREFS GNA PONMCALOTS 50 .oererceccnecvanseececessecsaneecieccensenccs 129
AGP FILHO DIO, LORE LIKUD. wa cicic case ss se 0.00 veio0 alee doves octvaenisle vieisieniaie)> s 816.6 8/s101° 136
CORE ICOMOS GUE THASHEP seeio cc « sos 00iaie52,00150s's50 ne eisinislvieiisleaelsie + else seine 144
LOE SEVIS ISI Ss decree COLNE ODES DOPAC OREO C ODETTE SOC UT ao Co CCC One ee ety,
UG PUEDERETOL QI BES PAUICES. ooo coe soae cs oe cesses eadissepieldsssiniss>acnnseene 163
ERS MISH NUD GRETCL ANE THE Cer O€S suo.ccsoascencnccswncwos sevesesaccsesis 184
DE le OI PIEPIOCN tara cetat Fpaico.s\sn'sin\e + osis veieie-0 » o'n.01s6'o 0s alsa slawiesmuecitis vase sive ceria 198
TROMUMOES MID LT UHILES s 60 son svecoecnnesoscencesnsensseeunanss once vases tinsisseeisiss 206"
29047 zy)
x AMERICAN FISHES.
DT hie TLGRUCSE POSWES 51525 dawinn tanec sigeine = ste Peep oe eee 221
The Cavally and other Carangotds........+.... Sie o cin tials ih tee oe eee 226
SWORE LiSh, Spear Hush And Cutlass PTS s.tecee anc oaeanee ek ts eee 239
DRE ROSE APUSH NGI ISO VILES oa sios Saas Goes cacti ae ate See 257
PRC MIUSROUUNGO GME PUCKEK ELS cas a ninwcnaceaneeen se aod encase eee BTA,
Mautoe ChOeSEL CHE LAKH OC JUST Rares oe anaes ccke diane toe waa Peete eee 287
SEU BUS ENO MMI MELAS wos ches seseeh, Gaetan eae ese ten ene eR 307
PL DEC OUL pe LLU SNOMTIE ETT OW ILO Tia 2 arty eee ie steep oe apne oe cee a ee 307
Cod, Pollack, SAGdaock and TIGRE J vacwca «qsils oa calescneaaeiee ane cee B28
LIE SIVNOGIDELN eI tiie o'oi8 atoiapnis eroh seis SMCS ce RAN pe oe ace ee Seats pes aysiate eae 205
De MCLE SESH OP GD UIE DD ik ecg cise ete Ne genes ec esiede fea ene 376
DLC EL CF IL CGR CUS LUCE oi scte snr otae age) ae see eee eee sep ee ae ce ets ane 381
Carp, Dace and Minnow ...... shjanswisiecieueedlniata-siste Sossaile mae eepaereee ee oe cle erie 4II
ECS UINOIE ieee oN a ne EROS ane O THis AROSE TE 6 a tiLae REE E EGE Oto e Tee eee 441
LRES ATMO: LROULS CAR eeaaasie cts hataare doses Aeh OR ORE eee 454
se DRESS LP OULS carte toe cane ste ie a mei sisi oa soe eae ee See ee 462
Le BrOG LEOUS OT NCHOKS cha niesnwe Stench awiiwadse sae Eee RES eases 469
De PACLC SOUNOMSRET dese. Jassasee vaso gheo\aige 5 «os Oe seg eea eee ae eee 480
SATAN EE a0 TED ROO oc Sea IE OO ER OL 8) SGU E CDS HORI IDO GOvgmIS sab Ie 484
The White-fishes and the Smelts............. DPR RRS Se (ret An sere. 488
VOLE ED Sets Ge TOON EO eee isthicsstoeesoeee 493
PROLOGUE,
ECE Se ene
Hysts perv ?eydvokoyycopey.
ATHEN£US: Detpnosophia.
664 ‘OME, let us discourse about fish,’’ said Athenzeus, in his ‘* Deipno-
sophia,’’ and so said Mr. A. R. Hart, coming into my study
last January. ‘‘ Write us a book about fish and fishing in America,’’
he urged, and since, as it happens, I know more about fish and fishing in
America than I do about anything else, I consented.
This volume has been prepared for the use of the angler, the lover of
nature, and the general reader. It is not intended for naturalists, and the
technicalities of zoological description have therefore been avoided ; for
the concise and precise phraseology of science, admirable though it be for
the use of those who have been trained to employ it, is to others not only
misleading, but it may be, repulsive.
I have aimed to include in my discussion every North American fish
which is likely to be of interest to the general reader, either because of
its gameness or its economic uses. All others are excluded, because,
from the standpoint of scientific interest, every one of the seventeen hun-
dred and fifty species indigenous to our continent has equal claim to con-
sideration, and to discuss, or even casually mention them all, within the
limits of a book of ordinary size, would be next to impossible. President
Jordan’s recent pamphlet, entitled ‘‘A Catalogue of the Fishes Known
to Inhabit the Waters North of the Tropic of Cancer, with notes on the
Species Discovered in 1883 and 1884,’’ contains, with its indexes, 184
pages, and this is merely a list. His ‘‘ Synopsis of the Fishes of North
America,’’ which simply enumerates and gives brief diagnoses of the four-
teen hundred or more species known in 1882, contains 1018 pages. The
former of these works is published by the United States Fish Commission,
the latter by the National Museum, and to these and to the numerous
monographic papers published in the transactions of learned societies and
scientific institutions in America and abroad, I would refer the student
Xll AMERICAN FISHES.
who desires to make a serious study of the technical portion of American
ichthyology. My own little library of works on fish and fishing is far
from complete, yet it includes over two thousand volumes and pamphlets,
and my ‘‘ Bibliography of American Ichthyology,’’ which I hope to pub-
lish within the next two years, comprises nearly ten thousand titles of
books and papers. It is evident that it is impossible to make a book on
American fishes which shall include more than a very small part, indeed, of
what might be said upon the subject. I hope that the readers of this
volume will feel that a judicious selection of topics has been made.
Only the most important species are referred to, and in the discussion
of them all descriptive matters are omitted save those which relate to
color. There is an Oriental proverb to the effect that, ‘* Though the dis-
tance between the ear and the eye is very small, the difference between
hearing and seeing is very great.’’
Acting in the spirit of this wise saying, a figure of almost every species *
discussed is presented, by the aid of which any one interested in fishes
can determine the correct zoological name of the form before him, and
by referring to the accompanying text can learn what is known about its
geographical range, habits, methods of capture and economical uses.
Exact bibliographical references are given in footnotes, to direct the
reader to fuller discussions of subjects referred to when there are such in
existence.
In the preparation of this book constant use has been made of my own
previous writings, and especially to the quarto work on Food Fishes,
published by the Government in 1885. Upon that work, in fact, this
one is based, being essentially a rearrangement in condensed form. The
text has, however, been for the most part rewritten, and much new matter
has been added. One of my chief motives in preparing this volume has
been the desire to see some of the results of twenty years’ study of fishes
printed in substantial and dignified form, in a book which shall not look
out of place on a library shelf; for it has been my lot hitherto to have all
the products of my pen published in those dismal looking bunches of papers
known as public documents, which of necessity must be classified among
Charles Lamb’s ‘* books which are not books.’’
The author acknowledges his extended and continued indebtedness, in
* Nearly all of the figures of American species are copied from the figures in the publications of the U.S.
Fish Commission, and, by the kind consent of Prof. Baird, the engravings have in most instances been made
direct from the original drawings. The remainder have been copied from standard European authorities,
PROLOGUE. x1
the first place to his teacher and master, Prof. Baird, and secondly, to his
colleagues 1n the preparation of the quarto volume just referred to, especially
to Dr. Jordan, Dr. Bean, Capt. Collins, Mr. Earll and Mr. Stearns. If
in some instances the quotation marks have been omitted in connection
with statements derived from their pen, it is simply because in the work
of abridgment certain changes have been made in their phraseology, for
which it seems hardly proper to hold them responsible. It is proper to
say that all the biographies of the fishes of the Pacific, and the minor fresh-
water species, are due to Jordan, and that Stearns is equally responsible
for what is said of the fishes of the Gulf of Mexico. With Bean the
writer has long sustained a partnership in all matters ichthyological ,
with Collins and Earll similar relations in matters connected with the
study of fishery economy, and in such associations it is not always possible
to separate interests in such a manner as to place credit where it properly
belongs. The classification followed is the system elaborated and ad-
vocated by Dr. Gill, undoubtedly the most erudite and philosophic of liv-
ing systematic ichthyologists.
Perhaps some may feel aggrieved because there are no discussions of
rods, reels, lines, hooks and flies, and no instructions concerning camp-
ing out, excursions, routes, guides and hotels. To such the author would
say that he has at present neither time nor inclination to enter upon these
subjects. . Men who know them better than he have already written what
should be written. Thaddeus Norris’s ‘‘ American Angler’s Book’? is an
excellent guide in the selection and construction of tackle. Roosevelt’s
<¢ Game Fishes of the North’’ and ‘‘Superior Fishing’’ are full of good
suggestions, and Scott’s ‘‘ Fishing in American Waters,’’ and even the
works of Brown and Frank Forrester, are at times useful. Hallock’s
‘«<Sportsman’s Gazetteer’’ points out distant localities for sport to the
few who are not satisfied with home attractions.
The files of ‘‘ Forest and Stream,’’ ‘‘ The American Field’’ and ‘* The
American Angler’’ are treasuries which cannot be exhausted, and the back
volumes of the monthlies, ‘‘ Harpers,’’ ‘‘ Lippincott’s’’ and the ‘‘ Century ”’
are full of finely illustrated essays, of interest to fishermen and anglers.
The English ‘‘ Field,’? ‘‘ Land and Water’’ and ‘ Fishing Gazette”’
are also full of interest for Americans.
Prof. Mayer’s ‘‘Sport with Gun and Rod in American Woods and
Waters ’’ is a charming and instructive book made up chiefly of reprinted
magazine essays.
X1V AMERICAN FISHES.
The Reports and Bulletins of the United States Fish Commission must
not be overlooked, and the reports of the State Commissions, the reports
of the Canadian Department of Fishery, the bulletin of the French Society
of Acclimation, the circulars of the German Fischerei-Verein, and the
publications of the London and Berlin Fisheries Exhibitions are worthy of
study.
I do not think that the term ‘‘ game fish’’ has ever been properly defined.
It is generally supposed to apply to fishes which are active, wily and cour-
ageous, and whose capture requires skill or cunning—those, in short,
which afford sport to the sportsman. As a matter of fact, although most
food fishes are not game fishes, no fish which is not of the highest rank as
a table delicacy is rated by Americans as a game fish. The barbel, the
dace and the roach, the pets of the father of angling, classical in the pages
of sportsman’s literature, are despised py new world authorities, and are
now considered ‘‘ coarse fish ’’ even by English writers. Yet they afford
excellent sport—sport which in England tens of thousands enjoy to every
one who gets the chance to whip a salmon or trout line over preserved
re)
waters.
‘*Game’’ in law and every day usage is a term employed to describe
wild animals—/fere nature, in which no man holds personal title of
possession. Game birds are those which can only be obtained occasion-
ally and with difficulty, and which, having been obtained, are worthy the
notice of the epicure. Game fishes are rated in much the same manner,
it appears tome. If not, why were the Pompano, the King-fish and the
California Salmon and the Spanish Mackerel included among the twenty
selected to be painted by Kilbourn for Scribner’s atlas of the game fishes
of the United States. Surely not because they afford sport to the sports-
man. Some years ago I defined the term as follows:
Game fishes are those which by reason of the courage, strength, beauty
and the sapidity of their flesh are sought for by those who angle for sport
with delicate fishing tackle.
Now I should simply say that—
A game fish is a choice fish, a fish not readily obtained by wholesale
methods at all seasons of the year, nor constantly to be had in the mar-
kets—a fish, furthermore, which has some degree of intelligence and cun-
ning, and which matches its own wits against those of the angler, requir-
ing skill, forethought and ingenuity to compass its capture.
PROLOGUE. XV
Many writers, especially those of America, show a disposition to deny
the rank of ‘‘ game fishes’’ to all species which will not rise to a surface
lure. This is illogical such, if it were strictly insisted upon, sheepshead
and sea-bass would be counted out, while the shad and even the gar-pike
must needs be allowed at least humble positions among the game fishes.
I hope that the readers of this book will freely communicate to me any
new facts concerning American fishes, or any criticisms of erroneous state-
ments, for use in preparing such fuller and better editions of this book as
it may be decided in future to publish.
It is a great satisfaction to feel that this httle volume will probably be
the companion of men whom I know, or should lke to know, in numerous
delightful excursions to lake, brook and sea. In closing this prologue I
feel disposed to repeat the prayer at the end of Walton’s immortal pas-
tonal: ‘° Vhat the blessing of St. Peter’s master be upon all that hate
contentions, and love quietnesse, and virtue, and go a-angling.’”’
G, BaG:
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION,
WASHINGTON, Dec. 1, 1886.
, A
Lr “ AS 3.
N vain had God stor’d Heav’n with glistring studs,
The plain with grain, the mountain tops with woods,
Sever’d the Aire from Fire, the Earth from Water,
Had he not soon peopled this large Theatre
With living creatures: therefore he began
(This-Day) to quicken in the Ocean
In standing Poo/s, and in the straggling Azvers
(Whose folding Chanell fertill Champain severs)
So many shes of so many features
That in the Waters one may see all Creatures
And allthat in this All is to be found :
As if the World within the Deeps were drown’d.
One (like a Pirat) onely lives of prizes,
That in the Deep he desperately surprises ;
Another haunts the shore, to feed on'foam :
Another round about the Rocks doth roam,
Nibbling on Weeds ; another hating theeving,
Eats nought at all, of liquor onely living ‘
For the salt humor of his element
Servs him, alone, for perfect nourishment.
Some love the clear streams of swift tumbling torrents.
Which through the rocks straining their struggling currents
Break Banks & Bridges ; and do never stop
Till thirsty Summer comes to drink them up ;
Some almost alwaies pudder in the mud
Of sleepy Pools, and never brook the flood
Of Chrystall streams, that in continual! motion
Bend toward the bosom of their Mother Ocean.
O watry Citizens, what Umpeer bounded
Your liquid Livings? O! what Monarch mounded
With walls your City? what severest Law
Keeps your huge armies in so certain aw,
That you encroach not on the neighboring Borders
Of your swim-brethren ?
What cunning Prophet your fit time doth show?
What Heralds trumpet summons you to go?
What Guide conducteth, Day & Night, your Legions
Through path-less Path in unacquainted Regions?
Surely the same that made you first of Nought
Who in your Nature some /deas wrought
Of Good and Evill; to the end that we
Following the Good might from the Evill flee.
Du Bartas His First Week; or The Birth of the World, 1605
AMERICAN FISHES. Sy
rie VERLOW PERCH.
Perca fluviatilis,
Tt 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.
TuHoREAU, Walden Pond.
2
HE PERCH isa member of avery ancient race. A closely related
form has been found fossil in the tertiary deposits of GEningen, and
its wide distribution throughout the northern hemisphere testifies to its
existence in its present form at a remote period. Additional evidence of
the antiquity of the species is found in the fact that its common names
are much the same in many European languages which diverged from a
common stock, thousands of years back in history.
The Perch is found almost everywhere in Europe, though it is said to be
rare in the north of Scotland. It ranges to Lapland and Siberia, and
ascends the slopes of the Alps to the height of more than 4ooo feet. It
inhabits the sea of Azov, and the brackish waters of the Caspian and
Baltic, and is everywhere a well-known and useful species.
In America it exists in all the waters of the Atlantic slope, from Labra-
dor to Georgia, throughout the Great Lake region, and in the upper part
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2 AMERICAN FISHES.
of the Mississippi valley, especially in the tributaries of the Mississippi in
Wisconsin and Minnesota, and of the Ohio, in Indiana and Ohio. It does
not occur in the lower Mississippi basin, nor on the western slope of the
Alleghanies.
There is no representative of the genus in the tributaries of the Pacific,
either American or Asiatic, but the allied Percichthys replaces it in tem-
perate South America (Patagonia, Peru and Chili), while in northern
China Sinzperca fills its stead. The Stone-perch, Pope, Ruffe, Kaul-
barsch or Gremille, of Europe, Acerina cernua, which somewhat resembles
the Perch, though more nearly related to the Pike-perches is, perhaps
fortunately, not found in America.
Authorities are not harmonious in opinion as to the specific identity
of the American and the European Perch. Giinther, Steindachner and
Day maintain that they are the same, while Jordan is equally positive that
the Perca americana or P. flavescens of American writers is at least a dis-
tinct sub-species. It is my own impression that the American Perch can-
not be positively separated from that of Europe, which, as Day has shown,
is extensively variable in form and color.
Perch frequent quiet waters of moderate depth, pools under hollow banks,
eddies and expansive shady reaches in the meadow brooks, creeks and
canals, preferring the sides of the stream to swift currents, and sandy and
pebbly rather than muddy bottoms. In mill-ponds they are likely to be
found in the deep water just above the dam, and in the vicinity of piles
of locks, bridges and sluice gates. They sometimes descend into the
brackish water of estuaries, where they become large and very firm
fleshed. In muddy pools they often assume a golden color, but in such
situations are soft and rarely well flavored.
‘‘As a still-water pond fish,’’ writes Abbott, ‘‘if there is a fair supply
of spring-water, they thrive excellently; but the largest specimens come
either from the river or from the in-flowing creeks. Deep water of the
temperature of ordinary spring-water, with some current, and the bed of a
stream, at least partially covered with vegetation, best suits this fish.’’
They are gregarious, and there is an Old-country saying that when the
angler meets a school of Perch he may capture every one, if he be wary
and noiseless.
*“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,
THE VE ELLOW PECL, 3
You’ll prosper, master of the camp with ease ;
For, like the wicked, unalarmed they view
Their fellows perish, and their path pursue.’’*
Day tells us that in the famous Norfolk Broads the fish assemble in shoals
according to their sizes, the smaller and larger individuals keeping to
themselves, and repelling the intrusion of those that materially differ from
themselves in this respect. The writer has observed a similar natural
-association in the lakes of the Hudson and Housatonic basins. In winter
they retreat to the deepest parts of their domain. Here they adapt
themselves to circumstances; if the temperature of the water approxi-
mates the freezing point, they become torpid ; if it remains above 38° or
40° F., they do not suffer any inconvenience. Dr. Abbott found a large
number of them in December and January, in a deep hole in the bed
of a tide-water creek, about half an acre in extent and twenty feet deep ;
they were in moderately good condition, active and in high color, with
empty stomachs, and refusing to feed, a habit by no means invariable,
however, at this season.
As spring advances they assume their ordinary mode of life. With the
warming of the waters the eggs begin to swell in the ovaries, the colors
brighten, particularly in the males, and the lower parts of the body in
both sexes assume a ruddy hue. Spawning time varies in different locali-
ties. It is of course largely dependent upon the temperature of the water,
though the requisite standard of heat most probably changes with latitude.
In New Jersey, according to Abbott, it comes in May, with the water at
55° F., and in Sweden, by Malm’s observations, in May, also, at 50° F. In
Virginia and Maryland Perch spawnin March and April; in France and
Austria, from March to May; in England and Sweden, in April and May.
When the Marsh, Marigold, or ‘‘ Cowslip,’’ Ca/tha palustris, blooms in the
wet meadows, the spawning time of the Perch is near at hand. That
Perch spawn twice in the year, is a popular belief in Europe. This idea
must have originated in the fact, well known to students of fish, that many
individuals retain their eggs long after the end of the normal spawning time.
Among some Perches, twenty millimeters long, taken late in September,
1866, in the Rhine, a French naturalist found three males prepared
for breeding as well as a female with ovaries hardly visible.
The proportion of males to females varies curiously with locality. Out
of one hundred taken at Salzburg only ten were males, and Cuvier stated
* Oppian’s Halieutics
4 AMERICAN FISHES.
that the proportion of males was as one to fifty. VonSiebold found one-third
males at Munich, and Manley in England one-tenth. It would be well
worth while for American anglers to continue these observations, as well
as to make some new counts of the number of eggs. The only reliable
recent enumerations appear to be those made by Buckland in 1868. He
found 127,240 eggs in a fish of 2 pounds 11 ounces, and 155,620 in one
of 3 pounds 2 ounces. Laceépede put the figure at 1,000,000, Bloch at
28,000, and Abbott at 8,000.
The eggs are from 2 to 2% mm. in diameter, or about as large as
poppy seeds. They are of the adhesive class, and cling together in
beautifully interlaced bands, like pearl necklaces, five or six feet long
and an inch or two in width. These glutinous masses adhere to twigs and
stones in shallow water, and are devoured by birds and all kinds of
aquatic animals. The eggs begin to expand soon after fertilization. At
a temperature of 59°, F. Malm hatched some eggs in four days and nine
hours; at the end of a week or ten days after the eggs were laid, Abbott
frequently found minute Yellow Perch, associated with little Sun-fish,
tangled in among the water plants, active as their strength permitted, and
darting voraciously at almost invisible specks, that seemed to serve them
for food. The little perchettes grow very fast, and in a year or two they
have reached maturity. Edward Jesse observed a fish three inches long
which was full of spawn.
Perch rarely exceed a pound or two in weight. ‘‘ Une Perche de deux
kilogrammes est un phenix tres-rare,’’ says De la Blanchere. Some large
ones are on record. An individual taken in Delaware Bay, by Abbott,
weighed four and one-quarter pounds. In England three-pounders are
thought large; but Pennant mentions one of nine pounds, taken in the
Serpentine in Hyde Park. Giinther puts the hmit at four pounds, but
Seeley states that in Russia, in Lake Seligher they reach eight pounds.
The artificial propagation of the Perch was accomplished as early as
1856 by Malm, a Swedish naturalist, and is said to have beeen repeated
in this country. Many ponds have been stocked with grown fish,
Dr. S. L. Mitchill transplanted them from Ronkonkoma Pond in Suffolk
County to Success Pond in Queens County, N. Y. The species is very
properly excluded from waters in which trout and carp are to be cultivated.
It is said that poachers often revenge their grievances by stocking trout
ponds with Perch. They have been known to deposit their eggs in
aquarium tanks, where, with care, they will doubtless hatch their young.
LHE VELLOW PERCH. 5
The Saxons, it is said, represented one of their gods standing with
naked feet on the back of a Perch, as an emblem of constancy in trial and
patience in adversity. With his bristling array of thorny fin-spines, the
Perch is a fair type of sturdy independence, a Diogenes of the brooks and
ponds, well described by Drayton in his ‘‘ Poylyolbion :’’
““The Perch with prickling fins against the Pike prepar’d
As nature had thereon bestow’d this stronger guard
His daintiness to keep.”’
The angler cannot be too careful in unhooking these spike-armed heroes,
for the armature of the fins inflicts wounds painful and difficult to heal.
They feed on worms, grubs, insects and even small fishes of their own
species and are voracious in the extreme. ‘‘In feeding,’’ writes Dr.
Abbott, ‘‘ Yellow Perch chase small minnows instead of waiting for a
single fish to come near enough to seize by a single dart upon it, as the
Pike does. They are not rapid in their movements, but seem to dart
with open mouth at several minnows, as though trusting to catch some
one of the number they pursue.’’
They are pirates, as voracious in proportion to their size as the Black
Bass and the Pike.
The claims of this fish to popular favor have been strangely overlooked
in America, owing perhaps to the fact that anglers, like other men, have
their specialties, and that most of our writers upon this subject have had
hobbies other than that of Perch fishing. Surely no inhabitant of our
brooks and ponds has higher claims on the score of beauty than—
‘The Perch with fins of Tyrian dye.”’
Its graceful movements and beautiful colors, its hardiness and intelli-
gence makes it particularly desirable for aquarium culture. In the
sunlight the scales reflect delicate hues and golden glints which are
deliciously tempered by the dusky bands upon the sides and the ruddy
tones of the quivering fins, which have been well compared to the reds
sometimes to be seen in the glass of very old church windows.
Its rank as a game fish is thus estimated by J. P. Wheeldon, angling
editor of Bell’s Life: ‘‘A gloriously handsome fish, the Perch, when in
condition affords excellent sport, and is a deserved favorite with each and
7
every fisherman, be he young or old. It is mentioned as a favorite in
the first of all treatises on angling—that printed in Antwerp in 1492,
is eulogized by scores of later European authorities, as well as in the ‘‘ Com-
and
plete Angler:’’
6 AMERICAN FISHES.
‘7 pray you, sir,’’ said Viator, ‘‘ give me some observations and direc-
tions concerning 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.’’
Although Norris and Scott and Roosevelt and Forester pass the Perch
by with contempt, and Jordan has pronounced it ‘‘soft, coarse and
insipid,’’ it is not without its advocates in America. Seth Green admits
that it is an ‘‘excellent fish for the people,’’ and a ‘superior table fish,”’
and that when taken on light tackle with an artificial fly it affords not a
little sport,* and H. H. Thompson, in the American Angler for June 2,
1883, has made an eloquent plea for this worthy little species, in which
he is supported by such eminent anglers as D. W. Cross and A. N. Cheney.
I venture the prediction that before many years the Perch will have as
many followers as the Black Bass among those who fish for pleasure in the
waters of the Eastern United States. A fish for the people it is, we
will grant, and it is the anglers from among the people, who have neither
Wy)
time, money nor patience for long trips and complicated tackle, who will
prove its steadfast friends.
As an article of food a Perch taken from clear, cool water is undoubtedly
superior to many popular marine species. Ray tells us that it was formerly
called Perdrix aguarum—the partridge of the waters, and Ausonius thus
sounds its praise :—
‘¢Nor will I pass thee over in silence, O Perch, the delicacy of the
tables, worthy among river fish to be compared with seafish ; thou alone
are able to contend with the Red Mullets.’’ t
In Venner’s ‘‘ Via Recta ad Vitam Longam’’ printed in 1650, we are
told that Perch taken in pure water are for taste and nourishment
equal to Trout or Pickerel, “°Perch,” “addsthis; writer, “is usually
sauced with butter or vinegar, but add thereto the flavor of nutmeg,
which to this fish is very proper, it becomes delectable to the taste and
grateful to the stomach. ‘The spawn of Perch is of delicate and whole-
some nourishment, very good for the weak.’’
A recent British authority writes that it is unsurpassed by any non-
migrating species, except the eel, and that it more closely resembles the
sole than any other fresh-water fish.
There are in America many who prefer the Perch to the bass, and even
to the brook trout, and among them are some independent enough to
*American Angler, May 15, 1886.
+ The Moselle, x, 115,
LAE VELLOW PERCE. 7
say so. Frank Buckland writes: ‘‘ Our friend, the Perch, is one of the
most beautiful fish which it has pleased Providence to place in our waters.
Not only does he afford the angler excellent sport, but to the professed
cook his arrival in time for the menw is most welcome, as witness water
souché, as served at ministerial dinners, city banquets or private parties at
Richmond and Greenwich.’’*
The simplest way to catch Perch is with the boy’s standard outfit: a
““nole,’’ a stout line, a large float and heavy sinkerand a worm or minnow
5) S
for bait. This is effective when the water is muddy and the Perch are
numerous and hungry.
For wary fish in clearer water more delicate tackle is necessary.
The line should be fine, and a simple reel may be used; the float should
be small and well balanced, and the shot used for sinkers only heavy
enough to keep the float steady. The float should be adjusted so that the
bait may be suspended about a foot from the bottom, and a gentle motion
upwards and downwards may advantageously be employed,
A favorite gear for Perch in England and France is the ‘‘ pater noster.’’
This name was always a puzzle to me until I saw the apparatus in its
French form, when its origin was at once intelligible. The gutta-percha
beads and round sinkers of wood and lead suggested at once arosary. The
pater-noster used in England at the present day ismuch more simple. It
is thus described by Francis Francis:
‘‘For Perch fishing the pater-noster simply consists of a line of gut
about 4 or 5 feet long; at the bottom of this isa leaden bullet or plummet
to sink it to the bottom; about 6 or 8 inches above this a hook on some
* How to Cook Perch.—This famous dish, water souché, souchy or sokey, does not seem to have been
naturalized in America. The following recipe from an old angler’s manual seems more practicable than
others given by later authorities: Scale and wash your Perch; put salt in your water; when it boils put in
the fish with an onion cut in slices; put in chopped parsley enough to turn the water white; season with
salt and pepper, and as soon as the fish is done serve it in a deep dish, pouring a little water over it, with the
parsley and onions. Melted butter and parsley should be served inatureen. Slices of brown bread and
butter generally accompany this dish. The writer has tasted a water souché_ prepared by a famous London
cook, but does not remember it with rapture. The favorite American method is to fry the Perch to a crisp,
with salt pork rather than with butter. In summer, when the skin is slightly bitter, it may advantageously
be removed, at other times the fish is better simply scaled. This method is hearty and best adapted to the
needs of hungry anglers. Many will prefer the continental method of stewing them in vinegar or lemon juice,
or insome kind ofsour sauce. In Italy they are roasted on the spit without removing the scales, and bathed
while roasting with vinegar or lemon juice, a method not unsuitable to camp life in the woods. The follow-
ing directions are taken from the ‘‘ International Fishery Exhibition Cookery Book:
Boiled Perch.—Lay the fish in boiling water, with a 44 pound of salt to each gallon, and simmer gently for
about ten minutes. Garnish with parsley and serve with plain melted butter. (This resembles the water
ché.
pee Perch.—Brush the fish over with egg, and sprinkle bread crumbs over it. Have ready boiling lard;
put the fish in and fry a nice brown. Serve with anchovy sauce.
Perch Stewed with Wine.—Lay them ona stew pan with sufficient stock and sherry to cover them. Put
in a bay leaf, garlic, parsley, two cloves and salt, and simmer till tender, then remove the fish, strain the
liquor, add a thickening of butter and flour, pepper, nutmeg and anchovy sauce; sit it over the fire until some-
what reduced, pour over the fish and serve. ‘‘ Broiled Perch flitters’’ are spoken of with enthusiasm by early
gourmets.
8 AMERICAN FISHES.
6 inches of gut is fastened ; a foot above this another hook is fixed on,
and a foot above that again a third. This third hook is often a gimp-
hook when pike and Perch are found in common, so that if a pike should
come to the bait there may be a fairchance of capturing him. A minnow
being hooked through the lps on each of the other hooks, the tackle is
dropped into an eddy where Perch is supposed to be, and the three baits
swim round and round the main line; so that, no matter whether the fish
are resting at the bottom or searching for their prey in mid water, they
may be attracted. As soon as there is a bite from a Perch the angler
feels it at the rod point, slackens line for two seconds to let the fish get
the minnow well into his mouth, and then strikes. Should the immediate
neighborhood not afford a bite the tackle is cast to a distance, and after
being allowed to rest for a minute it is drawn in a few feet, when another
cast is made and then another draw, until the tackle is worked up on the
boat or the bank. In the winter, after the floods, very many Perch are
caught in this way on the Thames, from one hundred to two hundred in a
day being not very uncommonly taken.’’
Pater-nostering is said to require much skill, but this method is surely
worthy of more general use in America. It may, perhaps, be preferable to
hook the bait though the dorsal fin, or to use a ‘‘ tail-hook’’ to avoid the
risk of losing the minnow without gaining the Perch.
The French gear is more complicated than the English, the hooks being
attached to long bristles, which are tied to beads of wood, rubber or iron,
kept in place upon the line by means ofsplit shot. The use of supplementary
ee)
floats, or ‘‘postillions,’’ is recommended to keep the line from sinking.
This apparatus is very heavy, and is more of the nature of a set line
than of an angler’s apparatus.
The ‘‘ledger’’ is another method sometimes employed in Perch fishing,
especially in rapidly running streams, where it is not convenient to use a
float.
‘«This,’’ says Francis, ‘‘ consists of a gut line a yard or two long, run
through a bullet or lump of lead pierced with a round hole. On the hook
side of the line an obstruction is fastened, so that the lead cannot slip
down to the hook, but the line is free on the rod side of the lead, the
lead is dropped into the water and rests on the bottom, a tight line
between the rod top and the lead being kept. The instant a fish bites at
the hook, the line being free in that direction, it is felt at the rod top,
and the angler, yielding a little line to let the fish get the bait and hook
well in his mouth, strikes, lifting the lead and hooks the fish.’’
In France are employed various modifications of the ledger, some of
aE YELLOW PER CL. 9
them, especially the fiche aux geux in its different forms, very complicated,
and hardly to be recommended for use in America.
The Perch, it is said, will also rise to an artificial bait, or to a fly,
natural or artificial, especially at the end of spring, when the Ephemeras
are abundant and they are preying upon surface life. Some authorities
say that a gray fly is preferable ; others that there is nothing equal to a
red hackle. An imitation of the insect upon which they are known to be
feeding at the time, or better still, the natural insect, will undoubtedly
be the most effective bait. In fly-fishing for Perch a strong trout rod, or
light bass rod may be used. ‘The leader should be of gut, and may ad-
vantageously be rendered inconspicuous by staining a deep blue or reddish
brown—so say the experts.
The flavor of the Perch is said to be finest when they are full of spawn
and milt, but directly after spawning for two or three weeks, although
at this time they bite ravenously, their flesh is often soft and watery.
They are active and voracious throughout the summer, but in the fall
months are more wary and require the exercise of the angler’s highest
art. Walton observed that, though abstemious in winter, they would bite
at the middle of the day even then, if it were warm. Many Perch are
taken by fishing through the ice on the northern lakes.
This, the only peculiarly American method of Perch fishing, is well
described by Mr. A. N. Cheney, of Glen’s Falls, N. Y.:
‘¢ The Perch retire to deep water with a bottom of fine grass as cold
weather approaches, and there they are found in February and March,
which is the time for ice fishing. The tools required are an ice chisel,
for cutting the holes, a hand-line and sinker, fixed with a ‘ spreader,’
and snells, and though it does not come under the head of tools, a fire.
The ‘spreader’ is a piece of brass wire about a foot long, turned with
a pair of pliers to form an eye in the middle, to attach the line, and an
eye in each end to fasten the snells. Spreaders may be obtained at the
tackle shops, that have a swivel in the middle of the wire, and under-
neath it an eye so that three snells may be used. The bait is the small
white grub, most easily found in dead and partly rotted second-growth
pine trees or logs, from which they have to be cut out with an ax. The
man who catches Perch for market does not trouble himself to provide
more than two or three grubs, for as soon as he catches one fish he has
two baits. It seems cruel, however, to tear the eyes out of a fish that has
scarcely ceased to quiver, and I could never bring myself to do it thus
hastily. When the spreader is thrown through-the hole cut in the ice,
there is nothing to do but to wait for a bite. If a Perch takes one bite
IO AMERICAN FISHES.
the matter is settled, and it is only necessary to bait and lower the hooks,
for each time without fail there will be a fish brought up for each hook
baited.*
To the words of instruction and advice already written, I would add a
sentence of warning to him who angles for Perch. Do not yield too un-
reservedly to the fascination of the pastime. Remember the unfortunate
angler in Bulwer’s ‘‘ My Novel.’”’
‘¢Young man, listen!’’ said Burley. ‘*‘ When I was about your age, I
first came to this stream to fish. Sir, on that fatal day, about 3 P. M., I
hooked up a fish—such a big one, it must have weighed a pound-and-a-half.
And just when I had got it nearly ashore, the line broke, and the Perch
twisted himself among those roots and—cacodzmon that he was—ran off,
hook and all. Well, that fish haunted me ; never before had I seen such
a fish. Minnows I had caught, also gudgeons, and occasionally a dace.
But a fish like that—a PERCH —all his fins up, like the sails of a man-of-
a monster Perch,—a whale of a Perch !—No, never till then had I
War
known what leviathans he hid within the deeps. I could not sleep till I
had returned; and again, sir—I caught that Perch. And this time I
pulled him fairly out of the water. He escaped ; and how did he escape?
Sir, he left his eye behind him on the hook. * * * I gazed at that eye,
and the eye looked as sly and wicked as if it was laughing in my face.
Well, sir, [had heard there is no better bait for a Perch than a Perch’s eye.
I adjusted that eye on the hook and dropped in the line gently. In two
minutes I saw that Perch return. He approached the hook ; he recognized
his eye,—frisked his tail,—made a plunge—and, as I live, carried off the
eye, and I saw him digesting it by the side of that water lily. The mock-
ing fiend! Seven times since that day in the course of a varied and event-
ful life, have caught that Perch, and seven times has that Perch escaped.
* * * Good Heavens! If aman knew what it was to fish all one’s
life in a stream that has only one Perch, to catch that Perch nine times
in all and to see it fall back into the water, plump. Why then, young sir,
he would know what human life is to vain ambition.”’
* American Angler, March 14, 1885.
THE SAUGER.
THE PEKCE-PERCHES,
Stizostedion vitreum and S. canadense.
The surest way
To take the fish, is give her leave to play,
And yield her line.
Quartes, Shepheard’s Eclogues, 1644.
ad
HE Pike-Perches have been known to the inhabitants of Continental
Europe for many centuries, and on account of their elongated form
and large teeth were described by Gesner and other medizval naturalists
under the name Luczoperca—a name intended to describe their general ap-
pearance, since their proportions resemble those of the pikes, while their
structure resembles that of the perch, to which they are closely allied.
Linneus in his ichthyological system, named the Scandinavian species
Perca Luctoperca, and placed it in the same genus with the perch, where
it remained until the time of Cuvier and Rafinesque. The former set aside
this group of fishes in 1817, under the group name of ‘‘ Les Sandres,’’ but ne-
glected to formally propose the genus named Luczoperca, until the publi-
cation of the second edition of his ‘* Animal Kingdom’’ in 1829. In the
meantime the Sicilian explorer, Rafinesque, had published in 1820, his
‘¢ Ohio Ichthyology,’’ and named the fish Stzostedion, an appellation which,
however meaningless and cacophonous, priority requires shall always be
borne by the Pike-Perches. American ichthyologists have already submitted
this necessity, but those of the old world still cling to the venerable and
euphonious Luczoperca.
The Pike-Perches are distributed throughout the waters of the northern
hemispheres in much the same manner as the perch, though absent from
12 AMERICAN FISHES.
certain areas within the limits of its range. The British Isles, France,
the Rhine valley and Switzerland, New England and the South Atlantic
states, are without it, and its distribution in Asiatic Russia is more restricted
than that of Perca.
This form is more subject to variation than the Perch, and probably a
more recent product of evolution, and it has become differentiated into seve-
ral fairly well-marked types.
The North American species may be divided into two groups: (1) the
typical form, most closely related to those of Europe, and (2) the form
with small eyes, slender body, pointed head, smaller second dorsal and
with pyloric coeca set aside by Gill and Jordan in the subgenus Cynoperca.
In the latter category is placed .S. canadense, having its spinous dorsal fin
ornamented with two or three rows of round black spots, and without a blotch
posteriorly, but with a dark patch at the base of each pectoral: within
the limits of this species, Jordan recognizes three varieties or subspecies
which intergrade to some extent, but which by old-school naturalists would
have been regarded as valid species. ‘The first of these is the Sauger or
Pickering of the St. Lawrence region, S. canadense canadense, with
the opercles and bones of the head considerably rougher, the number or
opercular spines, (which are merely the free ends of the striz), increased,
and the head more closely and extensively scaly.
The ‘second 1s the common Sand Pikes or Sauger, of the Great
Lakes, S. canadense griseum, the Luctoperca grisea of DeKay’s ‘‘ New York
Fauna,’’ and many other ichthyologies. This form is now plentiful in the
Ohio River into which it is supposed to have made its way since the con-
struction of the Ohio and Erie Canal.
The third is the Sand Pike of the upper Missouri, .S. canadense boreum,
which is rather slenderer than that of the Great Lakes, having a long
slender nose and a head more flattened and snake-like.
A certain type of coloration is characteristic of S. canadense in all its
forms, and it has fewer rays in the second dorsal fin, there being only 18,
more scaly cheeks, a more prominent armature of the operculum and most
significant of all, the pyloric cceca are small and unequal in length and
are never less than four in number, and sometimes as many asseven. In the
other American species these number only three, and are nearly equal in
length and about as long as the stomach. Whoever wishes to identify our
Pike-Perches accurately must not fail to dissect them and examine this fea-
ture of internal structure.
DUT PL KK Pe, ae Ee Cla LS 13
The largest and most important form is Stzostedion vitreum, generally
referred to by recent writers upon fishes as the Wall-eyed Pike. This
well-known species is found in nearly all the water systems frequented
by S. canadense, and in many others, its geographical range being much
more extended. It inhabits the Great Lakes and their confluents,* and oc-
curs in most of the little lakes of Western New York,—Cayuga, Seneca,
Chatauqua, Oneida and many others. It ranges north to the fur countries,
and is doubtless widely distributed through British America. It is found
in the Susquehanna and the Juniata, in the Ohio River, and many of its
tributaries, in Western Virginia and North Carolina, in Kentucky, in Rock
Castle River and elsewhere in Tennessee, especially in the French Broad
and at least as far south as Memphis, in Georgia in the Oostanaula river
and it is said, in Arkansas. Its range to the south and southwest deserves
careful investigation.
THE WALL-EYE. S. VITREUM.
Jordan recognizes two subspecies of St/zostedion vitreum—the typical form
S. vitreum vitreum, and asmaller, heavier bodied form which is bluer in color
and is generally known as the Blue Pike, S. wtrewm salmoneum. ‘This, he
states, is a locai variety in Ohio and southward. It has been considered a
distinct species by many naturalists since the days of Rafinesque.
The geographical range as well as the classification of the American
Pike-Perches, as the reader must have inferred from what has been said
about them in these pages, need to be studied much more exhaustively before
a satisfactory essay can be written upon them. Their habits are very im-
perfectly understood, and it will be necessary to refer to what is known of
their kindred in Europe, in order to give even a partial idea of their life-
history.
In the Old World, as in the New, there are two well marked species,
*A specimen was taken in April, 1887, in the Connecticut river at Portland, as recorded by Professor Wil-
liam North Rice.
14 AMERICAN FISHES.
the Zander, or Schill, S. /uctoperca (L),* and the Berschick, or Sekret,
S. volgensis, (Pallas), the former distributed through a large part of
Northern, Eastern and Central Europe, the latter, in the south of Russia,
especially in the Dniester and the Volga.
The popular nomenclature of the various American forms is in a most
perplexing state.
In the upper lakes where the true Pike, Hsox /ucius 1s known as the
pickerel, St#zostedion vitreum is called the ‘‘ Pike,’’ withsuch local variations
as ‘“Blue Pike,”’ ‘* Yellow Pike,’ ““Green Pike”’-and ‘‘ Grass Pike:’?
In Ohio, Tennessee and western North Carolina, it robs “sox of another
of its names, and is called ‘‘ Jack.’’ In Lake Erie, however, it is generally
known as the ‘‘ Pickerel.”’
The name ‘‘Salmon,’’ is quite generally applied in rivers where no mem-
ber of the family Sa/monida is found. This is notably the fact in the
tributaries of the Mississippi and Ohio, and in the Susquehanna: hundreds
of cases of the capture of salmon, supposed to have developed from fry
planted by the fish commissioners, have been reported in the newspapers dur-
ing the past ten years, and almost always, when the matter has been inves-
tigated, a Pike Perch has been found the innocent cause of the false report.
‘¢White Salmon”’ is a local name at the Falls of the Ohio; ‘‘ Jack Salmon ”’
is another bad name. ‘‘ Okow,’’ sometimes heard in the lake region is evi-
dently a corruption of ‘¢Okun’’ and ‘‘ Okunj,’’ Polish and Russian names for
the common perch, introduced by immigrants. The French Canadians on
?
’
the lakes call it ‘‘Doree,’’ and ‘‘Dory’’ is a name which has found its
way into the books.
‘¢ Glass eye’’ and ‘‘ Wall-eyed Pike’’ are names peculiar to this species,
and the former has been perpetuated in the specific name w7treum. ‘The
name ‘‘ Wall-eyed Pike’’ is coming into favor, and has already replaced
some of the misnomers long prevalent. On the Susquehanna, for instance,
itis rapidly taking the place of ‘‘Salmon.’’ If it must be used, ‘‘ Wall-eye’”’
is of course to be preferred to the misleading ‘‘ Wall-eyed Pike.’’ To me
it seems a most repulsive and undesirable name, but others find it appro-
priate. Listen to an ardent admirer :—‘‘ Look at this beautiful fish! as
symmetrical in form as the salmon. Not a fault in his make-up, not a
scale disturbed, every fin perfect, tail clean cut, and his great big wall-eyes
stand out with that life-like glare so characteristic of the fish.’’
* Zander, Zant, Sander, Sannat, and Sandart in Northern Germany, Amzaul, Nagemaul, Schiel, Schill and
Fogosch in Southern Germany, Sazder and Sandel in Austria, Saxdre or Sandat in France, Sandart in
Denmark, Goes in Sweden, Gyor/ in Norway, Sudak in Russia, Sterkas in Lithuania, Sexdacz in Poland,
Sulloand Fogas in Hungary.
THA SPALKSG PPE FILES: 15
The phrase ‘‘ Wall-eyed’’ is good old English to be sure, but it brings
to mind the invective of Lucius reviling the Goth in Titus Andronicus :
‘“Say, wall-eyed slave, whither wouldst thou convey
This growing image of thy fiend-like face.”’ *
_If <‘ Wall-eye’’ is to be the name of S. g7vzseum it is evident that ‘‘ Sau-
ger’’ must be that of the other species, for it is not claimed by any other
fish, and is probably of Indian origin, which is a recommendation. 5S.
canadense is also called in various localities ‘‘ Pickering,’’ ‘‘ Pickerel,’’
‘«* Horse-fish,’’ ‘* Gray-pike
The Pike-Perches resemble the yellow perch in their habits, but though
”)
and ‘‘ Ground-pike.’’
equally vivacious are usually less sprightly and pugnacious, especially when
inhabiting quiet waters. The Swedes have a proverb—‘‘ As stupidas a Pike-
Perch ’’—not particularly applicable to our American species.
Their greater size debars their occupancy of the creeks and pools in which
perch so often congregate, and it is said that they are rarely found on bot-
toms of clay or mud. In lakes they retire to waters of considerable depth,
but in running streams are partial to rapids, and whirling pools among the
rocks. In Lake Pepin, according to Dr. Estes, they seek out the purest
water, and their favorite feeding grounds are at the ends of projecting
points where the bottom has been washed clear by the waves, and at the
mouths of streams where the current breaks into the still waters of the lake.
They delight to run up the larger streams until they encounter an impassa-
ble fall or dam, and in rivers where there are no falls they frequent deep roll-
ing foot-pools, or deep dark holes, where the current is strong under old logs
or drift piles. At the foot of Lake Pepin, just at the point where the still
water of the lake begins to flow into the river, they are found in great num-
bers, associated with the black-bass and the striped lake-bass. At the
junction of the Chippewa with the Mississippi is another great feeding
grounds where the Pike-Perches are especially abundant under the great
rafts of lumber and accumulation of logs which are always there in summer.
Concerning their association, Dr. Estes writes: ‘‘ In these waters the Wall-
eye ¢ is seldom found associated with any other fish than the sand-pike.’’ {
It is true, however, that in swift-rolling waters, especially under falls we find
him in company with the black-bass, but I believe that the force of the
fall and the tumbling waters in a measure destroy the pugilistic nature of
the bass, or he would not suffer the wall-eye to remain in his company. In
* Titus Andronicus, Act v, Scene 1.
TS. vitreum. tS. canadense boreum ; this form was named Lucioperca pepinus by Dr. Estes.
16 AMERICAN FISHES.
other locations the bass easily drives the wall-eye from his feeding
grounds.’’
THE ZANDER. S. LUCIOPERCA.
They feed upon every kind of small fish, and do not even spare their own
offspring. In the sea-going rivers of Germany they prey largely upon the
smelt, and in our own waters upon the various small cyprinoids. Insects,
larvee, crawfish and worms are also devoured in great numbers, and even
frogs and snakes.
Their eggs are from 1 to 1% millimeters in diameter, and light golden
yellow in color, and are adhesive like those of the sea-herring, clinging
to stones, roots and the stalks of water plants where they are deposited at
a depth of from three to ten feet. They begin to spawn when less than
a pound in weight, and each female deposits from two to three hundred
thousand ova. This great fertility is serviceable, for no fresh water species is
more subject to the fatalities incident to the spawning season. After storms
the shores of lakes are said to be often bordered by windrows of the stranded
ova of the Pike-Perch. Dr. Estes well describes the destructive inroads ot
sturgeon, cat-fish and suckers upon the spawning beds in Lake Pepin. He
estimates that not one-fourth of the eggs remain to be hatched.
Wenzel Horack, who has studied the habits of the Zander in Southern
Bohemia, finds that the time of spawning is so intimately connected with
the temperature of the water and the air that it sometimes begins in March,
though it usually occurs in April and May; the season of oviposition con-
tinues through the summer and into October. In the north of Germany
the Zander spawns in May and June; in southern Germany earlier, begin-
ing in April. Eckstrém states that in Sweden they spawn only at night.
The fullest description of the breeding of the American species is that by
TELE PIKE. PEL CLHLES. 17
Dr. Estes: ‘‘ They spawn,’’ he writes, ‘‘from the first to the fifteenth of
April, in Lake Pepin sometimes earlier. One season the spawning was all
done by the third of April, and every fish had left the beds. Just as soon
as the lake is well closed over with ice, they leave the deep water and re-
sort to the sand-bars where they remain until the spawning time in the
spring. It seems a fact that they select and take possession of the spawn-
ing beds fully three months before they are needed for use. I have care-
fully observed this habit for more than twenty-five years, and each year’s
observation is confirmatory. In the first place, we do not take them on
these bars in summer, and again two-thirds of all that are taken from the be-
ginning of winter to spring are females, proving conclusively that they thus
early select these bars as spawning grounds. I have often visited them as
early as May, but failed to find the fish, while, from the closing of the lakes
to March, they are often found in great numbers.
‘The beds are made on sandy bars, in water from four to eight feet deep.
The bottom must be clean, well-washed sand, free from gravel, rocks, mud
or grass. The eggs are mixed with the sand but not covered over, and
consequently many of them fall an easy prey to the numerous fishes which
are on the hunt for them.’’ *
Little is known of their rate of growth. Heckel and Kner state that the
Zander grows rapidly with abundant food, especially if it remains in the
marshy districts, attaining in the first year a weight of a pound-and-a-half,
in the second two pounds-and-a-half, and in the third, from five to six
pounds. In the lower waters of the Danube, however, its weight in the
first year is only three-quarters of a pound, and in the second, two pounds.
They also say that the Zander lives only from eight to ten years. Dr.
Estes tells us that in Lake Pepin the yearling fish are only about two inches
long, a story which seems much more credible than that told by the
Austrian naturalists just quoted. The Wall-eye does not often exceed ten
pounds in weight, though giants of thirty-six inches or more, weighing from
twenty to thirty pounds, are on record.t The Sauger is smaller, rarely ex-
ceeding eighteen inches in length. Zanders sold in the German markets
range from one to four pounds in weight ; the Pike-Perch which come to
Washington and New York are usually not larger.
The Pike-Perch was one of the first species experimented upon by Ameri-
can fish culturists. In May, 1857, it is said, Mr. Carl Muller of New York
* American Angler Sept. 8, 1883, and St. Paul Pioneer Press, Jan. 1882.
+‘* Dr. Buel took one in the Kentucky River which weighed nearly fifty pounds.’’—Genio C. Scott.
18 AMERICAN FISHES,
and Mr. Henry Brown of New Haven, artificially fecundated twenty million
eggs, which they transferred from Lake Ontario to Lake Saltonstall in Con-
necticut. There is no evidence that the eggs ever were hatched.* Seth
Green has experimented in the same direction. He states that the eggs
may be hatched either in the box which bears his own name, or in the
Holton box, and that they require thirty-one days for development in
water at a temperature of 34°, though in warmer water they will mature in
ten days.t Max Von dem Borne gives the details of some further experi-
ments made in Pomerania, prior to 188r.f
It seems probable that whenever it shall be determined to disseminate
this fish more widely through American waters, the object may be accom-
plished, as has been so often done with the black-bass, by transplanting in-
dividuals of considerable size. The Zander was successfully acclimated in
England by the Duke of Bedford in 1878. Twenty-eight individuals,
averaging about two pounds in weight, were taken across from Germany
by Herr Dallmer, a Prussian fishery officer.
Elaborate instructions for the transplanting of this fish, and its care in
captivity, are given by my friend Max Von dem Borne, in his ‘‘Fischzucht.’’
Wherever the Pike-Perch is known it is very highly prized. In the
Great Lake regions S. vitreum ranks next in value to the white fish and lake
trout, though S. canadense is not so well esteemed. At Sandusky, Toledo
and Cleveland, where all market-fishes are classified in the two categories
‘‘hard-fish’’ and ‘‘soft-fish,’’ the two species are assorted into distinct
classes, the Sauger being placed in the inferior, or ‘‘soft’’ group.
The flesh is hard, white, flaky and easy of digestion, and has a distinc-
tive flavor of its own, which renders it especially available for boiling,
though often stuffed and baked. Its capabilities are equal to those of
fresh-caught cod or turbot. The Pike-Perch, as it comes to our tables,
through the mediation of the fish-mongers, is by no means so palatable as the
Zander, when served in the restaurants of Berlin, Dresden or Munich—plain-
boiled with a simple sauce of drawn butter. This is not the fault of the
fish so much as of the fish-markets. In Germany they are sold alive, and
it isa most satisfactory experience to see the clean, plump fishes, eels, carp
and Zander, swimming about in the great wooden tubs, of which there are
scores in the great stone-paved squares every market morning.
* Report U. S. Commissioner of Patents, 1859, p. 227.
} Fish Hatching and Fish Catching, 1879, p. 173-
t Fischzucht, p. 149.
THE PIKE PERCHES. 19
I have an impression that the delicacy of the Zander in Germany is greatly
due to the fact that the fish are bled, when taken from their tubs to be de-
livered to the purchaser. In Sweden the fishermen are said to pierce
their tails, to allow the blood to escape and thus blanch the flesh.
In the south of Russia one of the Pike-Perches, the Berschick, is exceed-
ingly abundant. In former years it was held in low esteem and used in the
manufacture of oil, but of late, Astrakhan has been sending annually to
Turkey and Greece about eighty millions of pounds of this fish, salted and
two or three million pounds of a kind of caviar, called ¢chastikovt, made
for the most part from its roe.
Travellers in Austria and Russia tell of the great piles of salted Pike-
Perch, stacked up like cord wood along the banks of lakes and rivers.
In angling for Pike-Perch, a bass-rod, reel and float are generally used by
American anglers. In quiet waters live minnows are preferable for bait, but
in rapid currents slices of fish are quite as good, especially if these are
trimmed so as to spin nicely. Bischoff, a Bavarian authority, recommends
the use of long thin strips, fastened to the hook at one end so as to wriggle
like snakes. European anglers generally prefer live bait, with the pater-
noster or even with the simple float-line.
In fishing in rapids the bait should be allowed to run down with the cur-
rent, guiding it as far as may be in and out among the largest rocks.
Genio Scott found this method effective at the Little Falls of the Mohawk
River.
It should always be remembered that the Pike-Perch rarely leaves the
bottom, and the line should always be baited with reference to this fact.
The artificial fly is sometimes used. A correspondent of the American
Angler* wrote sometime ago to that journal that he had fished the streams
and lakes of southern Wisconsin for twelve years, and had found no fish
which afforded him better sport than the Pike-Perch. It will take the fly as
readily as the brook-trout or the black-bass, and while it will not fight as long
as the bass, it furnishes the fly-fisher with a fair amusement, and as a table
fish is infinately its superior. With a light rod, weighing from five to nine
ounces, a four foot leader, and a bass-fly, this fish may be readily taken.
The angler should whip the white foaming water below a dam, on some
frosty morning, using a dark fly, or cast upon the same water toward even-
ing with a light fly. He will learn that there are new possibilities for him
in the way of sport with a rod.
* American Angler, Oct. 7, 1882.
20 AMERICAN LILSTEES.
There is probably no better Pike-Perch fishing in the world than that
which may be had in the vicinity of Lake City, Minn., in Lake Pepin and
the adjacent waters. The name of Dr. D. C. Estes is as closely identified
with the Pike-Perch as that of Norris with the grayling, of Henshall with
the black-bass, or of Cholmondeley-Pennell with the pike. His essay pub-
lished in the fourth volume of the American Angler,* from which extracts
have been made, is the only careful study of the American species and is
well worth the attention of naturalists as well as of anglers.
The tackle which he recommends for boat or raft fishing consists of a
three-jointed bamboo rod, about twelve feet long, a click reel placed in
front of the hand and on top of the rod, thirty or forty yards of braided
silk or linen line, and a Sproat-bend hook, No. 3-0, tied to a single length
of twisted double gut or to gimp.
For wading the bars he uses a much longer rod, often a whole bamboo,
so pliable that long casts may be made into deep water. More than two-
thirds of the fish caught in the main body of Lake Pepin are taken within
four rods of the shore, off the ends of the sandy points, in water from five
to ten feet deep.
The Pike-Perches are never taken in large numbers for use in commerce,
except during the spawning season, or immediately before it, and like the
perch, they are in the finest condition when full-roed. In Balaton Lake
and elsewhere in Hungary, there are extensive fisheries with bag-nets under
the ice, and they are caught chiefly in winter in our own lake region. I
have never seen a description of the manner in which the Berschick, S. vo/-
gensis, is captured in Astrakhan, but the statistics indicate that it is car-
ried on during the spawning season, since three or four per cent. of the
weight of the fish exported is in the form of salted ova.
A good type of winter fishing through the ice is that practiced on Lake
Pepin. Holes are cut through the ice over the bars from three to ten rods
from the shore. The hook is baited with a hve minnow. A very simple
device is used to signal a bite. A piece of lath about two feet long, with
a hole in it a little nearer one end than the other; through this hole in the
lath is run loosely a cross-bar which 1s laid across this hole on the ice. To
the short end of the lath the line is attached. The moment the bait is
seized by a fish below, the end of the lath flies upright, and so remains as
long as the fish pulls. The fisherman seeing it, hastens to rescue his fish.
* American Angler IV, 1883, pp. 145, 161, 177, 191.
PTE PIKE PERCHES. 21
When there are from fifty to one hundred lines out, and the fish are biting
freely, it is exciting sport to fly from one quivering signal to another, for
it is often that four or six are in the air at one time. The number of fish
thus taken every winter is very great, amply supplying local demands, and
the fish are much larger than those caught in summer.
‘¢As an angler and naturalist,’’ continues Dr. Estes, ‘‘it was many
years before I became reconciled to catching the wall-eyed pike from off
their spawning beds in the winter and spring. ‘Three considerations finally
forced reconciliation. (1) There existed in the lake a great number of
these fishes, (2) comparatively few could be taken in summer by the ap-
proved method of angling, (3) unless taken through the ice a great amount
of cheap and wholesome fish-food could not be utilized.
‘« Notwithstanding these arguments I cannot but feel condemned for my
conclusions, when I see hundreds of these fishes daily, every one filled with
spawn enough to stock an inland sea.
‘¢One other method is resorted to. This is the Indian plan of spearing
through the ice from under a teepe or daily shanty. A decoy minnow is
kept in motion until the fish is enticed into sight, when the cruel and
deadly spear descends and fastens its barbed truss firmly in the flesh. ‘The
method is worthy alone of the Indians who invented it.*”’
Closely allied to the Pike-Perches is the log-perch, Percina caprodes,
also known as the ‘‘ Rock-fish,’? and ‘‘ Hog-fish.’’ It is the largest of a
large group of little perch- like fishes called ‘‘ Darters’’ or /¢heostoma-
tide. ‘* These fishes’’ writes Jordan, ‘‘ may be described as little perch, re-
duced in size and compacted, thus fitted for a life in rocky brooks, where the
water is too shallow, swift and sterile to support larger fish. All the Darters
are brilliantly colored, and all have a way of lying quiescent on the bottoms,
‘resting on their large fins, and then suddenly darting away for a short dis-
tance when disturbed. ‘They are carnivorous, feeding chiefly on insects
and crustaceans. Only one of them, Percina capr odes, is large enough
to take the hook. ‘This one is often found on the urchin’ s string, but it
cannot be said to have any economic value. The others are too small for
the urchin even, and although, according to Rafinesque, ‘ they are good
to eat fried,’ few people think it worth whiletocook them. Darters are
found in all fresh waters of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains,
but all the species are peculiar to America.”
*St. Paul Pioneer Press, Jan., 1381.
THE stra Dy BASS.
Roccus lineatus,
The stately Bass, old Neptune’s fleeting Post
That tides it out and in from sea to coast.
Woop, New England's Prospect: 1634.
Y the Greeks, it was so highly esteemed that Archetratus termed it, or
one of the two other closely allied species taken near Miletus, ‘‘ the off-
spring of the gods:’’ So writes Giinther, concerning the Bass of Europe,
the Aafoas and the Zupus of classical literature, which ascended the Ti-
ber, and entered the Acherusian marshes, and gladdened the palates of
the gourmets of Rome and Athens.
The European Bass, Roccus /abrax* is found from the Mediterranean,
to Tromsoe in Norway; the American species ranges from the Gulf of St.
Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico. The two species are similar in form,
but very unlike in color; ours being conspicuously striped, while that of
Europe is silvery grey. The American form is the largest, most active,
and on account of its greater abundance, by far the more important.
In the North it is called the ‘‘Striped Bass,’’ in the South the ‘‘ Rock
Fish,’’ or the ‘‘Rock.’’ The neutral territory where both these names are
in use appears to be New Jersey. ‘The fisherman of the Delaware use the
latter name, those of the sea-coast the former. Large sea-going individ-
uals are sometimes known in New England by the names ‘‘Squid-hound”’
* Bass, Sea-Perch, White Salmon, Salmon Dace and Sewin, in England, Gape-mouth in Scotland,
Draenog in Wales, ( Thismeans hedgehog. Compare with the Breton Dreinee.) Bar and Bars in France, Var
and Dreinee in Brittany, See-Barsch in Germany, Hav-Bars and Bars in Denmark, Spinola, Spigola, Bran-
zine, Varola, Baciola, Ragus and Laérace in Italy, Luden in Croatia, (compare Latin Lapus.)
THE STRIPED BASS. 23
and ‘‘Green-head.’’ In old books it is sometimes called the ‘‘Streaked-
bass.”’
The generic name, Aoccus, a barbarous derivative from the common
name ofthe fish, originated with Professor Mitchill, who described the
species in his ‘‘ Fishes of New York,”’ in 1814.
There is still some uncertainty regarding the southern limits of the dis-
tribution of this species. In the St. John’s River, Florida, they are very
unusual. Though familiar with the fisheries of that region since 1873, I
have known of the capture of only two individuals. Mr.*Stearns has ob-
tained one or two specimens in the vicinity of Pensacola, and gives an ac-
count of the degree of their abundance in the Gulf of Mexico. He writes:
“¢ They are occasionally caught on the northern shores of the Gulf, and
are evidently more common about the mouths of the Mississippi River
than elsewhere, since they are taken in this region only in seines, and in
shallow water their abundance cannot be correctly determined. The
earliest account I have been able to obtain of the capture of the Striped
Bass in Pensacola Bay is that of Capt. John Washington, of Mystic,
Connecticut, who states that in 1850, while seine-fishing from the smack
‘Francis Parkes,’ he surrounded with his seine a large school of fish, which
were quite unmanageable; a few of them were saved, and proved to be
large Striped Bass, weighing from fifteen to forty pounds. At long inter-
vals since, solitary individuals have been taken at various points on the
coast. At New Orleansit is foundin the market quite often. An eighteen-
pound specimen was sold there in March, 188o0.”’
In Hallock’s ‘‘Sportsman’s Gazetteer’’ the following statement occurs:
«¢Tt is constantly seen in rivers of fresh water at great distances from the
ocean, even as far up the Mississippi as Saint Louis, and it is common in
White River, Arkansas, and in all the rivers of the Southern States.’’
While there can be no question that straggling individuals of this species
have been taken in the Gulf of Mexico, it seems probable that both Mr.
Stearns and Mr. Hallock have been mistaken by the resemblance of this
species to the Brassy Bass, Roceus interruptus, which abounds throughout
the Lower Mississippi Valley.
Canadian authorities inform us that, though the Bass still occur along
the New Brunswick and Nova Scotia shores of the Gulf, they are much less
abundant and of smaller size than formerly. They have been known to
ascend the Saint Lawrence as far as Quebec, and Mr. Roosevelt has seen a
24 AMERICAN FISHES.
specimen, a female fish, which was taken in the Niagara River, near
Lewiston. The Bass is most abundant in the bays and inlets about Cape
Hatteras, in the Chesapeake and Delaware Bay region, and in the pro-
tected waters of Long Island and Southern New England. In winter it
occurs in considerable numbers in the Altamaha River, and is not unusual
in the markets of Charleston, South Carolina.
The species was introduced into California some years ago, and Jor-
dan reported, in 1880, that several specimens had been captured along the
coast. :
It is particularly abundant in the great estuaries and the open stretches
of large rivers. It ascends the Potomac to the Great Falls, twelve miles
above Washington, the Hudson to Albany, the Connecticut to Hartford,
and the Saint Lawrence to Quebec. Before the erection of the dam in the
Susquehanna individuals were taken as high up as Luzerne. It is very
curious that Giinther should state that the European species of Bass are
‘‘almost exclusively inhabitants of the sea, entering brackish but never
fresh waters, whilst the American species seem to affect principally fresh
waters.’’ It is true that America has species of Roccus exclusively fluvia-
tile in distribution, but not true that the European form does not ascend
rivers. Badham, who is a sufficiently accurate commentator on the classi-
cal authorities, remarks; ‘‘ Though born, and in a great measure, bred at
sea, it was only those taken in fresh waters which fetched fancy prices, for
most rivers were thought to impart flavor and to improve the condition of his
solids; but as tawny Thames has a pre-eminence among rivers for the
quality of its Perches, so had tawny Tiber for the quality of its Basses.
Many went so far as to ignore the existence of this fish from any other
stream.”’
The young fish may advantageously be confined in ‘‘ stews’’ or artificial
enclosures. This was done successfully by Arnold on the Island of Guern-
sey, and the experiments of Clift at Mystic, Connecticut, were, I am told,
reasonably satisfactory.
No one species among the many which they encountered, seems to have
astonished the early colonists of America by its abundance and choice
qualities so much as did the Bass. Capt. John Smith in his ‘‘ New Eng-
oi)
land’s Trials,’’ wrote:
‘<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
THE STRIPED BASS. 25
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 tootonnes. Imyselfe, at the turning of the tyde have
seene such multitudes passe out of a pounde that it seemed to me that one
mighte go over their backs drishod.”’
Skeptical historians of to-day say that John Smith was a liar. I don’t
believe it, and I quote in his support from the words of a ‘‘reverend Di-
vine,’’ his contemporary :
‘¢ There is a Fish called a Basse, a most sweet & wholesome Fish as ever
I did eat, it is altogether as good as our fresh Sammon, & the season of
their comming was begun when we came first to New England in June and
so continued 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.’’
It is by no means strange that the Virginians believed it possible to es-
tablish commercial fisheries which should rival those of Newfoundland.
Indeed the bass fishery has, for two hundred and fifty years, been a very
important resource of the coast states from Massachusetts to the Carolinas,
and to the present day the annual captures in certain localities are enor-
mous. The following are extracts from an old note book:
In December, 1874, three fishing-gangs near Bridgehampton, N. Y., took
over 18,000 pounds in less than a week, Captain Charles Ludlow securing at
one set of hisseine 1,672 Bass, or about three and one half tons.* Shortly af-
ter this a New London fisherman brought in 419 Bass, 185 of which had been
caught with a hook in three hours. Near Norfolk, Va., 1,500 have been
taken at a single set of the seine; a few years ago 600 were thus taken
which averaged 80 pounds each. ‘The most successful fishery is on the
piamtation.of Dr W. Re Capehart, in Bertie County, N. C. At’ the ap-
proach of spawning time, and during the continuence of the shad and
herring fishery, the bass congregate near the head of Albemarle Sound,
where they are taken in great numbers. Dr. Capehart writes: ‘‘ We us-
ually catch from 20,000 to 40,000 pounds of Striped Bass in a season of
fifty days,—in March, April, and early May. Occasionaiiy we make an
immense catch. In 1858, I took about 30,000 poundsin one haul. Many
of these weighed 75 to 85 pounds. On the 6th of May, 1876, we made a
haul of 820 Bass, weighing 37,000 pounds; 365 of this lot weighed 65
pounds, average, a great many 85 pounds, and a few go pounds. In the
*In the first half of June, 1879, one fishermannear Fire Island, New York, caught and sent to New York
the following quantities of Bass: Pounds. Pounds.
ICs Ghee s scaceainrsccne enmunceatecssavagecaes weadcaenecectese 1,298
June og.... 1,255
June 24..... ot ioceeposn ests Ries anecesecacceaee 1,258
UME DS bas Stas oe oe Ss sane nto ode supe onion cevesaneesecdeeeuesrece 1,560
26 AMERICAN FISHES.
next haul we caught 13,000 pounds more, or 50,000 pounds altogether
within six hours. ‘This was at the Black Walnut Point fishery. At my
Avoca Beach fishery a haul was made in 1844, which was supposed to
amount to 100,000 pounds, but this was not accurately counted. Many
of the individual fish weighed 95 pounds.’’ A Hessian officer, stationed at
New York during the Revolutionary war, recorded that great quantities
were at that time sold in the markets. In the year ending March, 1879,
over 800,000 pounds of bass were sold in New York, the greatest number
being recorded for November.
The Baltimore Gazette, in May, 1834 had this item: ‘‘Some fishermen
at Carpenters Point took a single haul, upwards of 800 rock fish of the
largest size we ever saw. Some of them weighed upwards of roo pounds,
and the most of them averaged from 50 to roo pounds.’’
The annual consumption of this fish in the United States is estimated at
not less than 200,000 pounds.
I have found no very reliable evidence to show that the species is de-
creasing in numbers. They are not taken by unfair means, nor captured
by wholesale upon the spawning beds or in narrow waters. ‘The citizens
of New York a century and a quarter ago were apparently more concerned
about it than at present, for in 1758 they passed a law prohibiting their
sale during the winter months, on account of the ‘‘great decrease of that
kind of fish.’’ An offender was to be fined forty shillings and forfeit his fish,
and if he were a negro, mulatto or Indian slave, to be punished at the
whipping post, unless his fine were paid by his master or mistress.
The European Bass is probably quite as abundant on the west coast of
Spain and Portugal as anywhere within its range.
Like other representatives of the perch family not exclusively marine
in habit, the Striped Bass are resident in our waters throughout the year.
They appear to avoid a temperature higher than 65° or 70°, and are not
sensitive to cold, but their movements are not related to the changes of
the seasons, and there is no evidence that they seek to avoid the approach
of winter by southward migration lke bluefish and Spanish mackerel, or
by moving out into the temperate strata of mid-ocean, like shad, salmon,
menhaden, and mackerel. Nor is it probable that they voluntarily enter
upon a state of torpidity in winter, as some writers have supposed. Sev-
eral authorities state that they go into fresh waterstreams in winter for shel-
ter, and De Kay’s opinion was that, entering bays and ponds, they embed
themselves in the mud. We know, however, that hibernation ofthis kind
is rarely voluntary; as a rule, fish retreat, with a falling temperature, into
TILE STRIPED BASS. 24
the deepest waters, and never become torpid until they are benumbed by
the cold, when they sink to the bottom, and possibly rest on a bed of mud.
It is easy, however, to understand that individuals may occasionally be
penned up in this way. Mr. Genio C. Scott is responsible for the state-
ment that the ponds formed by the back water of the Seconnet River, in
Rhode Island, were one winter so full of Striped Bass that they were dis-
covered by their dorsal fins projecting from the ice where they had been
frozen by too close packing. Most of our Bass doubtless avoid such igno-
minious captivity as this by retreating to the deeper parts of the sea, or
the rivers, where they remain in a state of partial activity, at least, and
have occasional opportunity for feeding. Since 1875 there have come to
my notice instances of their capture in Long Island and Block Island
Sounds, and in the Merrimac River in December, in Martha’s Vineyard
Sound and the lower part of Hudson River in January. Chesapeake Bay
and the Potomac yield considerable quantities all winter. In the rivers of
New Brunswick quantities of them are speared through holes in the ice, as
they lie close to the bottom.
The Bass are most voracious feeders. When in the rivers they prey upon
small fishes, which are always a favorite, and at this time their exclusive
diet. C. C. Abbott, once saw a Bass, a foot in length, devour a dozen
silver-finned minnows in four minutes. ‘‘A Rock-fish,’’ writes he, ‘‘ will
frequently corner up a small school of minnows, and then pick them up as
rapidly and easily as a fowl will pick up grains of corn, and while devour-
ing them will keep them in a small place, close together, all the time.’’
They also frequent the surf along the ocean beaches, and near rocky
shores at high tide, hunting for crabs, shrimps, squids, and other inverte-
brate animals.
Oppian and A£lian tell astounding stories about European Bass, and how
they choked themselves to death with their prey.
‘¢The Lupus’s foible,’’ writes Badham, ‘‘is an inordinate greediness
which, when choice fish can be obtained, renders all his cunning of no
avail; and his death is often brought about by means of a very insignifi-
cant enemy.’’
They spawn in the late spring and early in the summer, some of them
in the rivers, others probably at sea, although this has not been definitely
ascertained. The European Bass are said to deposit their spawn near the
mouths of rivers, in the summer months. From North Carolina to New
28 AMERICAN FISHES.
Jersey the spawning time appears to be in May; in New Brunswick in
June. Dr. Blanding, many years ago, estimated the number of eggs at
2,248,000. Seth Green puts the figures at 500,000.
The experiments of Major Ferguson on Albemarle Sound, in May, 1879,
resulted in the artificial fecundation and hatching of many thousands of
the eggs. These were smaller than shad eggs, but after fecundation they in-
creased considerably in size, and assumed a light green color. They
hatched in about twenty-four hours. About 400,000 young fish were libe-
rated in Salmon Creek. Mr. Holton made similar experiments at Weldon,
N. C., in May, 1873. He observed that the eggs did not come to maturity
until the fourth or fifth day. This difference in the time of hatching was
possibly due to the cooler temperature of the water in the Roanoke river.
In the North Carolina waters they spawn in early May; in the Potomac
also in May. Dr. C. C. Abbott for five successive years found in the Dela-
ware River young an inch long in the second week of June. Professor
Leith Adams observed bass spawning in the St. Johns River, N. B. about
the middle of June.
Their rate of growth is not certainly known. Dr. Abbott’s inch-long
fry of June measured four and one-half inches by the middle of October.
Great quantities of young fish, from five to nine inches long, are taken in
the Potomac in February and March. I believe them to be the young of
the previous year.
Capt. Gavitt, of Westerly, Rhode Island, has caught Bass in June that
weighed from one-half to one pound, put them into a pond and taken them
out in the following October, when they weighed six pounds. The aver-
age size of this fish probably does not exceed twenty pounds. In the Poto-
mac, Hudson, and Connecticut rivers the largest seldom exceed thirty or
forty pounds, though in the Potomac fifty-pound fish are not unusual. The
Fish Commission has for several years had a standing offer of a reward
for a sixty-pound fish from the Potomac, but none has been forthcoming
as yet. Dr. Henshall states that he once saw a Striped Bass weighed in
the Baltimore fish market, which went several pounds over one hundred.
In 1860 one was taken at Cuttyhunk, which weighed 104 pounds. The
largest on record was one weighing one hundred and twelve pounds, taken
at Orleans, Massachusetts, in the Town Cove. Such a fish must have
measured at least six feet in length. A fairly proportioned Bass thirty-six
inches long should weigh at least eighteen pounds.
THE STRIPED BASS. 29
In Great Britain a Bass of ten or twelve pounds is considered a fine
example, but there are instances on record of individuals weighing 22
and 28 pounds, and those in Southern Europe do not appear to grow much
larger.
Few of our food-fish are more generally popular. The small ones,
weighing less than a pound are fried, and are excellent pan-fish. Those
from one to three pounds, are recommended for broiling, and from five to
eight pound-fish are considered the best to boil. The very large ones are
cut in transverse sections for boiling, and never lack purchasers. De
Voe says that Bass are in the best condition in September, October and No-
vember.
es
8,
eyes
THE EUROPEAN BASS.
In Great Britain the Bass is not highly esteemed, but in France, Spain,
Italy and Greece, is considered one of the finest of fishes.
‘¢He is a gallant fish and a bold biter,’’ said Frank Forester; and
Genio Scott puts him first among the game-fishes of coast and estuary.
The Striped Bass is deservedly a favorite with the angler, whether he fishes
with shrimp or clam bait in the brackish creeks, entices with the artificial
fly at the Little or Great Falls of the Potomac, trolls in the swift tideways,
tolls with menhaden bait from the stages at Pasque and Cuttyhunk, still-
baits in the bays, or ‘‘ heaves and hauls’’ in the wild surf of the outer
shores. The last mentioned method is perhaps the most peculiar, and de-
serves a few words of description. In Scott’s ‘‘ Fishing in American
Waters,’’ and in Roosevelt and Green’s ‘‘ Fish Hatching and Fish Catch-
ing,’’ may be found descriptions of the various kinds of tackle used in
Bass-fishing, and graphic, breezy stories of adventurous days passed in this
pursuit. Mr. Scott does not hesitate to claim for his favorite the first
30 AMERICAN FISHES.
place on the list of American game-fishes. After devoting several chap-
ters to other methods of capture, he continues: ‘‘ Casting menhaden bait
for Striped Bass, from the rocky shores of the bays, estuaries, and islands
along the Atlantic coasts constitute the highest branch of American ang-
ling. Itis, indeed, questionable—when considering all the elements which
contribute to the sum total of sport in angling—whether this method of
Striped Bass fishing is not superior to fly-fishing for salmon, and if so, it
outranks any angling in the world. The method is eminently American,
and characteristic of the modern angler by its energy of style, and the ex-
ercise and activity necessary to success.’’ The rods used in this kind of fish-
ing must not exceed nine feet in length, and are very light, often less than
a pound in weight, the lines of linen or hemp, two to three hundred yards
long, must be of the utmost strength and elasticity, the reels must represent
the perfection of the tackle-maker’s skill, triple-multipliers, with jewel-
mounted wheels and delicately adjusted balance-cranks. The unsuspecting
Basses are lured in by the use of a toll bait of chopped menhaden, which is
cast upon the water until an oily surface or slick is produced which ex-
tends halfa mile or more from the shore. ‘This attracts the fish, which swim
toward the angler, stopping now and then to seize the floating bits of fish.
When they come within reach of the fisherman’s line a strong hook, deli-
cately baited with a bit of menhaden, pork, or parchment, is quickly
offered them. ‘‘ With a dexterity which practice alone can assume,’’ writes
Mr. Hallock, ‘‘ the experienced anglers carefully sway the rod until the
squid describes its slowly moving circle around the head, and then, by a
quick, inexplicable movement, cause it to dart like an arrow, straight out
far over the sea, and the reel whizzes and whirls until it seems to flash fire,
and you wait long and patiently for the cessation of the hum, which indicates
that the squid has dropped full one hundred feet, perhaps one hundred
and fifty feet away. The pleasure and excitement of capture are intense,
and often the struggle lasts for an hour when the fish is large.’’
On Pasque and Cuttyhunk, two of the Elizabeth Islands, lying be-
tween Buzzard’s Bay and Martha’s Vineyard Sound, are several club-houses,
sustained by wealthy gentlemen from New York who resort to this region
in summer to enjoy this amusement. Long stages project from the rocks
into the sound and bay, and from these the anglers cast their squids and
play their fish, attended by their ‘‘ baiters,’’ who do their full share of labor
in finding bait, baiting hooks, and gaffing the fish. Ill-natured rumor
TE STRIPED BASS.
31
whispers that for every pound of Bass brought to shore by these hard-work-
ing club-men, hundreds of pounds of menhaden are cast into the sea.
An obliging correspondent furnishes the following description of one of
these clubs: ‘‘ The Island of Cuttyhunk is about sixteen miles from New
Bedford, at the extreme southwesterly boundary of Buzzard’s Bay, whose
foaming billows wash its northern shore, while the ocean itself beats upon
the south. The Cuttyhunk Club own about three hundred acres of land, and
have the exclusive right to fish on the shores and in the ponds of the island.
When the club was first formed they stocked one of the ponds on the island
with black bass, and these have multiplied so plentifully that they are now
caught in large numbers. No fishing was allowed for three years from the
time the pond was stocked. Perchand trout are also plenty in ponds on the
island. ‘Twenty-six fishing stands have been built at Cuttyhunk, and they
extend completely round the island. These stands are built upon prominent
rocks, and are supported above the breakers by iron rods. Foot bridges,
supported in the same way, are built from the shore to the stands. The
stands are all named or numbered, and are drawn for every night by the mem-
bers of the club. A member drawing a stand can fish from it the next day,
or it can be used by any one else by his permission. The stands bear such
names as ‘ Nashawena Point,’ ‘ Canepitset,’ ‘Old Water Line,’ ‘ Cove Point,
‘Little Bass,’ ‘Big Bass,’ and ‘Gull Rocks.’ The stands are all removed
after the season is over, to be put up again the next year. ‘Central Park’
seats have this season been placed on the bluffs round the island at con-
venient points, from which to watch the fishing at each stand, so that mem-
bers who are not lucky enough to secure favorite stands can sit with ease
and enjoy the sport of their fellow-members. ‘The favorite fishing is for
Striped Bass, and, during the best of the season, the sport is commenced
as early as three o’clock in the morning. A record is kept at the club
house of the daily catch, by whom caught, where taken, on what station,
the number of fish, weight, and date. Some members of the Cuttyhunk
Club also belong to the West Island Club, which controls only five acres
of land. ‘The West Island Club is limited to thirty members, with an ad-
mission fee of $1,000.”’
Professor Leith Adams has drawn a vivid pen-picture of Indian Bass-fish-
ing in New Brunswick.
‘*The Indians (on the St. John’s River) pursue them at spawning
time. The scene on a_ beautiful summer afternoon is extremely ex-
citing. There a few canoes containing remnants of the Melicita
tribe may be seen dropping quietly down the river, each with an Indian
in the prow, spear in hand, and another at the stern paddling gently; then
a sudden splash close by calls for his utmost exertions, and like an arrow
the birch-bark skiff is shot towards the spot, when the man in front, rest-
ing on his knees, with much force and dexterity sends his three-pronged
harpoon straight on the fish.’’
THE WHITE BASS. ROCCUS CHRYSOPS.
THE WHITE BASS AND Ete yE LOW BASS:
Subtle. Has he bit? Has he bit?
Face. And swallowed too, my Subtle. I have given him line, and now he pleysi’ faith.
Subtle. And shall we twitch him?
Face. Through both the gills.
Ben. Jonson, The Alchemist, 1611, Act. ii, Sc. 1.
HE White Bass, or Striped Lake Bass, Roccus chrysops, is often con- °
. founded with the Striped Bass, which it closely resembles. It may
easily be distinguished by the presence of thirteen, instead of eleven, soft
rays in the anal fin, as well as by the greater size of its scales, of which
there are about fifty-five rows, instead of sixty or more.
It is most abundant in the Great Lake region, although it has a wide
distribution in the Ohio and upper tributaries of the Mississippi, and is
found in many streams farther south. It frequents chiefly the lakes and
ponds and the deeper parts of the rivers. It feeds upon minnows and the
like, usually taking the hook readily, and is considered gamy by the
angler. As a food-fish it ranks high, being little inferior to the black-
bass. Its usual weight is from one to three pounds. The White Bass is
said to be an excellent fish for cultivation in artificial ponds. Like most
of its relatives, this species spawn in late spring.
‘¢Tt is often taken in the Ohio River,’’ writes Jordan, ‘‘ and frequents
chiefly deep or still waters, seldom ascending small streams.
==
THE WHITE BASS AND THE YELLOW BASS. an
o
This is doubtless the Silver Bass of Canada (/e Silver Bass du Canade),
the details of whose introduction into France, and successful propagation
by M. Carbonnier, from 1877 to 1879, are recorded by that experimenter
in the Bulletin of the Society of Acclimation for 188t.*
The species at one time attained to commercial importance in the Lake
Region, but has now greatly decreased in numbers. It is especially ad-
mired by the anglers of Lake Pepin.
Another species which closely resembles the Striped Bass is the Morone
interrupta, generally known as the Yellow Bass, but sometimes called
!
seaeeteaan
THE YELLOW BASS. MORONE INTERRUPTA.
Bar-fish in the South. It is found throughout the lower course of the
Mississippi, ascending the tributaries which are deep and sluggish, but
not running past rapids or into the upper courses of the rivers. Jordan
states that its range extends up the Ohio to the mouth of the Wabash or
beyond, though it does not seem to be common anywhere except in the
Lower Mississippi. It probably enters salt water, but of this we have no
certain information. It is taken in considerable numbers in the regions
where found, and is graded with the White Bass, which it much resembles
in size and color. Little is known in regard to its habits. The criterion
by which it may be distinguished from the White Bass is the low membrane
connecting the two dorsal fins. Its color is yellow, not silvery, and the
black stripes are very prominent.
* Bulletin Mensuel dela Société d’ Acclimation, viii, No. 2, p. ro,
3
34 AMERICAN FISHES.
In Louisiana this species is called ‘‘ Bar-fish’’ probably on account of
its stripes. ‘‘ The appellation,’’ says Hallock, ‘‘is equally appropriate as
applied to its habit of congregating in great numbers upon the shoals of
clear water branches and bayous which empty into the Mississippi. The
minnows and shiners seem to seek the bars at night. In early morning
the water is alive with Bar-fish and trout (black-bass) in pursuit of the
minnows until it fairly boils. This is the time of day to go fishing.”’
THE Wilt, PERCH.
Morone americana.
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 dantier fish in ocean’s pastures bred
Swims thy compeer, Avusonius, The Moselle.
_«
pee apostrophe of Ausonius was prophetic, for his words apply much
more exactly to the species of J/orone now under discussion than to
the Perca which the poet had in mind.
This fish, closely related to the Yellow Bass, occurs in brackish water
in the mouths of rivers, and even, in many instances, in fresh-water ponds,
where it had become land-locked, and all along the coast from Georgetown,
S. C., to Nova Scotia. Dr. Yarrow states that it abounds in the Tar and
Neuse Rivers, N. C. In the Chesapeake and tributary streams it is ex-
ceedingly abundant. It also abounds in the lakes and streams of the St. John
River, New Brunswick, and in the vicinity of Halifax, Nova Scotia. It
has been claimed by certain observers in Florida that White Perch were
formerly abundant in that region, and the marketmen of New Orleans
state that they were common in Lake Pontchartrain until the Bonnet
Carré Crevasse changed the water from salt to fresh. Mr. Stearns and
Prof. Jordan having investigated the subject, are of the opinion that these
theorists are mistaken.
36 AMERICAN FISHES.
The habits of this fish have been but little observed ; in fact, it has
been the custom of nearly all writers on game fishes to speak lightly of it.
It found an earnest advocate in Mr. Thaddeus Norris, who, after protest-
ing strenuously against the statement of various writers that it is rarely
brought to market for food; that it is only fit for chowder ; that it is not
of sufficient importance to merit particular notice, and so on, goes on to
state, what is undoubtedly true, that in season the White Perch is /Ae pan-
fish, excelled by none in the Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Norfolk
and Richmond markets; and he might have added, had he been writing
at the present time, of the New York market also, for there is, probably,
no fish of its size which is more universally popular throughout the Eastern
States than the White Perch.
In a single paragraph, Mr. Norris, who, making no professions of
scientific skill, has been one of our best observers of fishes, has given
almost the only reliable information which has ever been collected regard-
ing this species. ‘‘ Its most natural habitat is in fresh tidal rivers, where
it is found on flat clay and muddy bottoms, and in shallow water. It is
frequently found far above the terminus of the tide, and is often more
abundant in fresh than in brackish water in the season of the year when
sought for by anglers. ‘This fish, when found in salt water creeks, is
darker in color, but there is no specific difference. The White Perch is a
congener of the magnificent rock-fish, and is frequently found feeding in the
same place and in hiscompany. Its average length is eight or nine inches ;
it is not often more than twelve, though in rare instances it is found four-
teen inches long. White Perch hibernate in the deep waters of our bays,
and ascend the fresh tidal rivers soon after the ice and snow-water have
run off. They feed greedily on the spawn of other fish, particularly that
of the shad; on insects, crabs, minnows and on the migratory schools of
young eels which are found in the months of April and May in great
numbers at any rapid or dam obstructing the upward flow of the tide.
Perch usually spawn in May, and then resort to deeper waters to recuperate,
and all summer long are found by the angler, ever swimming around the
deep-sunk pier or the timbers of the rickety old bridge, snapping at
shrimps or chasing the minnows ; at flood-tide high up amongst the water-
lilies, and never refusing a bait, if of the right sort and properly presented.’’
Dr. C. C. Abbott has added some important observations. He found
female fish heavy with apparently ripe ova as late asJune 10. The largest
TULLE, NET PE TE CL au
specimens of White Perch taken in the Delaware weighed, respectively,
one pound nine ounces, one pound thirteen ounces, and two pounds one
ounce. These were caught in ashad net in May, 1865, at the fishery
opposite Trenton. The average adult fish may be said to measure eight
inches and weigh from seven to nine ounces. He continues: ‘I believe,
for reasons to be given, that the growth of the young is very rapid, and
that the August Perch are young, hatched late in the preceding May and
Apnl; in June these August Perch measuring about two-and-a-half to
three inches in length. . . . Ishould judge that spawning occurred
between May ro and June to, usually nearer the former than the latter
date. This is based on the fact of having gathered very young fish, the
age of which I guessed from the general condition and amount of develop-
ment of the specimens. After the middle of June the White Perch are
found in localities widely different; even waters with a dense growth of
lily and river weed are found to contain them in apparent health and
vigor—spots where the Rock fish could not live a day. Still later in the
summer, as the young Perch become quite strong and of some size, the
river, although in and above tide-water, fairly teems with them. At this
season they go in schools, sometimes of large size. I have known of
twelve, fifteen and twenty dozen August Perch being taken with a line in
as short a time as from three to five hours. Fishing in this way a line
with half a dozen hooks is used, and worms, sturgeon spawn or live min-
nows are used as bait. These schools of small Perch I supposed to be
broods of the preceding May, and that they kept together until late in
November. ‘They pass down to the salt water and there separate. Larger
adult fish are not as restless as these smaller ones, and are found in deeper
water, and usually in the tide-waters. In their feeding habits the White
Perch agree very closely with the rock-fish. In all their habits, in fact,
the two fish are much alike, and in the Delaware they are always asso-
ciated, the most noticeable difference in their habits being the ability of
the Perch to remain and thrive in warmer waters than the rock-fish is ever
found frequenting.”’
Harris, in his ‘‘ Game Fish of Pennsylvania,’’ writes: ‘‘ When taken
with a skittered minnow or bright fly on a light rod, we do not hesitate to
class as a game fish the White Perch. Large individuals are caught on
the edges of the splatterdocks and in the eddies around the piers of the
bridges spanning the numerous creeks that flow into the Delaware, the
bait being alive minnow. At night, in the incoming tide, large Perch
38 AMERICAN FISHES.
are caught in great numbers with the worm, in the waters below and above
Philadelphia. The angler sits in the stern of the boat and fishes witha
short rod and line. Perch caught by the above methods run large and
are gamy, and those caught on rod and reel at Pennsgrove, Salem and
other places further down the bay give great sport on light-running tackle.
I see nothing to commend in the method of fishing for Perch as practiced
by the ‘‘ bow-line’’ fishers for the fingerlings which swarm in great schools
upon the bars of the river above and below the tide-waters of the Dela-
ware. It takes a basketful.to make a breakfast for a small family. I
have seen and counted a catch of 1,300 small Perch made with worm bait
by three lines in two hours’ fishing at Titusville, N. J., nine miles above
tide-water.’’
It seems very strange that no attempt should have been made to intro-
duce the White Perch into Europe. It would thrive admirably in the
estuaries and sluggish streams, and would be far more worthy of the atten-
tions of the British angler than various species of so-called ‘‘ coarse fish’”’
which he now pursues. It would be a great boon to the easy going
British angler of the Waltonian type, to whom the pleasure of the rural
scenery and quiet outing is of more moment than the strength and vo-
racity of the fishes which chance to encounter his lures.
»
Cie ob AS BASSES:
So gaat het hier: dat’s Werelts overvloed,
(Waar mee de Mensch word koninglijk gevoed
Door gulle gunst des milden gevers) doet
Hem vaak vergeeten.
Steenbrassem, Steur en Dartien en Knor-haan,
En Zee-Baars die geen vorst sal laten slaan
En Kabellau : en Salm, die (wel gebraan).
Is vet, en voedig.
JAKOB STEENDAM, 7?’ Loufvan Niew Nederland, 1661.
cay BE SEA BASS is another gentleman among his finny comrades,’’
wrote Frank Forester. He belongs to the family Serranide, the
members of which are similar in form and habits to the Perches, from
which they are distinguished by certain anatomical characters, scarcely
tangible to persons not expert in ichthyology. This family contains a
very large number of species, some of which are to be found in all the tropi-
cal and temperate seas. On our Atlantic coast there are over twenty
kinds, while in California, there are four, at least, which are of economic
importance.
The Sea Bass is also known south of Cape Hatteras as the ‘‘ Blackfish,’’
and is the most important species on our coast. In the Middle States the
Sea Bass is called ‘‘ Black Will,’’ ‘‘ Black Harry,’’ and ‘‘ Hannahills ;’’
about Newport and New Bedford, ‘‘ Bluefish,’’ and at New Bedford also,
‘¢Rock Bass.’’ Curiously enough, the Southern name, ‘‘ Blackfish,’’ is
in use at Oak Bluffs, on Martha’s Vineyard, and, it is said, also in New Jer-
40 AMERICAN FISHES.
sey. In Gill’s ‘‘ Catalogue of the Fishes of the East Coast,’’ and in Storer’s
“« Fishes of Massachusetts,’’ I find the statement that it is known as the
“« Black Bass.’’ If this was true at any time, the usage has since undergone
a very considerable change. The species should be carefully distinguished
from the Blackfish of Long Island Sound, which is the tautog, a member
of a very different family.
Under the name Sea Bass, are included two species, so similar in gene-
ral appearance that it is scarcely necessary to discriminate between them,—
so similar, indeed, that for a score of years after the differences had been
pointed out by Holbrook, the Carolina ichthyologist, naturalists refused to
believe in their existence.*
The habits of the two are so similar that they will be treated as one
throughout this essay.
The combined range of the two species embraces the Cape Ann, Massa-
chusetts, and the northern part of the Gulf of Mexico. It has not yet been
determined where the dividing line in their distribution should be drawn.
It is probable, however, that it is somewhere in the neighborhood of Hat-
teras, since the a¢rardus type prevails about Charleston, where indeed Dr.
Garden obtained the specimens which he sent to Linnzeus to name and de-
scribe. There is doubtless a neutral ground occupied by both species, and
the determination of its limits would be a capital subject for some enterpris-
ing angler to investigate.
The extreme southern limit of the Sea Bass appears to be the sandy
coast of Texas, where Jordan ascertained that it is rarely if ever seen.
Silas Stearns informs us that it is rather abundant in certain rocky locali-
ties along the Gulf coast of Florida. In Pensacola Bay it is seen about
the piles of stone ballast that he in shoal water, and also at sea on the
fishing grounds near the entrance. It also occurs in St. Andrew’s, St.
Joseph’s, and Apalachicola Bay ; and to the southward, where there is more
or less rocky bottom, showing either in reefs or in channel-beds, it is found
in abundance. In the vicinity of St. Mark’s, Cedar Keys, and St. Mar-
tin’s Reef are other prolific Bass reefs.
It has only recently been found to occur north of Cape Cod. Previous
to 1878, there were on record only four instances of its occurence east of
Nantucket, but in the summer of 1878 several were taken in the Milk Is-
land weir, off Gloucester. This weir, which lies on the west side of Milk
* §. furvus, the northern form, has the air bladder simple, and the pectoral as long as the ventral fin; S.
atrarius, the southern form has the air bladder sacculated, and the pectoral longer than the ventral.
‘OUT, PUB POd ITM
‘spunod %¢F VUsIomM OSR.IOAY
so]nulu OAY PUL SINOY OAT Uy ‘VLIOCMON ‘OSplMa “AS WO 1gsNvo ssv_ pedimg Zr Jo YUdvasojoyd woay
ioe
THE SHA BASSES. AI
Island, almost under the shadow of the twin light-houses of Thatcher’s Is-
land, waylaid many southern species never before known to enter Massa-
chusetts Bay, among them the kingfish and the Spanish mackerel. At
some future time the Sea Bass may become abundant in these more north-
erly waters. Like the scuppaug, the Spanish mackerel, and the bluefish,
it was at one time almost unknown to New England. In the ‘ Catalogue
of the Fishes of Connecticut,’’ published in 1842 by Linsley, the species is
described as a great novelty. However strange to the people of Connecti-
cut at this time, it is said by Storer to have been so abundant, between
1850 and 1860, that fifty or sixty vessels were accustomed to obtain full
fares in summer about the Vineyard Sound. This statement is probably
somewhat of an exaggeration.
The ‘‘ Zee-Baars’’ mentioned in the verse of Steendam’s poem, ‘In
Praise of New Netherland,’’ which stands at the head of this chapter may
or may not have been Centropristis. Mr. Murphy, in his translation, gives
the exact equivalent of the Dutch words. :—
“The bream, and sturgeon, drumfish and gurnard
The Sea-Lass which a prince would not discard
The cod and salmon cooked with due regard,
Most palatable.”’
Schoepf, writing of the fishes of New York in 1787, stated that the
«¢ Blackfish ’’ was rarely brought to New York, and the species does not
appear to have been at all prominent among the New England food fishes
of the last century. A diligent search through the works of the early
writers fails to bring to light any definite allusions. It would be interest-
ing to know whether there has actually been an increase in their abund-
ance, or whether the apparent increase has been, as with the Spanish
mackerel, due to the introduction of new modes of fishing, or the discovery
of new fishing grounds.
The favorite haunts of the Sea-Bass are among the rocky ledges and
‘¢spots of ground’’ which are so abundant in the bays and sounds, and
are scattered at intervals along the outer Atlantic coast. Among the
boulders and ledges, full of cracks and crevices, which mark the position
of these localities, there grow, in the greatest profusion, invertebrates of
every order. A haul of the dredge over a good fishing ground often
brings up tens of thousands of minute animals. A hundred species have
often been recorded from a single dredging by the Fish Commission.
Upon such feeding grounds the Sea-Bass congregate in great herds, rooting
42 AMERICAN FISHES.
and delving among the holes, in search of delicacies. ‘The best Bass grounds
in the North are usually covered by water twenty to fifty feet deep, while
off Charleston they are from sixty to one hundred and twenty feet below
the surface.
Throughout the whole region of its distribution the species usually occurs
near the shore, and also in spots of medium depth, where suitable feeding-
grounds occur. In the Gulf of Mexico they are often found in very shoal
water ; indeed, all along the Southern coast the young fish are found close
in to the shore, and I have seen a great many taken with hook and line
from the sea-wall at St. Augustine. The temperature of the water affected
by this species and by the red snapper corresponds very closely, and in
most instances is probably not less than 50°, though on the coast of Con-
necticut and New York it may be slightly lower.
The Sea-Bass is a bottom-feeding and a bottom-loving fish, and, it may
be said, rarely comes to the surface. This rule has exceptions, however,
for Mr. Charles Hallock writes: ‘‘Although the Sea-Bass is a bottom fish,
yet once on an outward-bound voyage to the southward of the Gulf Stream
we made fast to a ship’s lower mast, found drifting on the surface, which
was covered with clams and ba:nacles and surrounded with Sea-Bass. We
caught all that we wanted and cut loose. They weighed from five to
twelve pounds each, and were all male fish.’’ Whether or not those
occurring in northern waters migrate southward in winter, or merely go
into deeper water, is not yet ascertained. According to Capt. Edwards
and Capt. Spindle, they make their appearance in the Vineyard Sound
from the 1st to the zoth of May upto the roth of June. Capt. Spindle
states that no stragglers are ever seen in April. Capt. Edwards declares,
on the other hand, that they are found in that region in the winter, and I
find in my note-book a statement that they have been taken in the Vine-
vard Sound in the winter by Thomas Hinkley and others. A careful
study of their habits would form an important contribution to zodlogy.
They are somewhat sluggish in their habits. The temperature of the
body is low, being very nearly that of the surrounding water, and their
digestion is slow. Although very eager feeders at times, they seem much
less fat than bluefish of the same size, and their growth is less rapid. They
seldom leave the bottom, and there is as yet no evidence that cold weather
drives them far from theirsummer haunts. They retreat, in all probability,
into water of greater depth, where they pass the winter in a somewhat
THE SEA BASSES. 43
torpid state. Like the tautog, they appear to have a habit of lying under
loose stones and in cavities among the rocks. I have observed this habit
in the tanks of the New York Aquarium, my attention having been called
to their movements by Mr. Fred. Mather. In the South they are feeding
all the year. I have seen them taken in February on the Snapper Banks
at the mouth of the St. Johns, at St. Augustine, and along the wharves
of Charleston.
The food of this species, as of its associates upon the same grounds,
consists of crabs, shrimps, squids and small fish. It is stated that the
intestines of mackerel and the stomachs of menhaden are considered the
best bait about Wood’s Holl, Mass., while further south, shrimps and
pieces of the flesh of fishes, such as small sharks, are frequently used.
They are voracious feeders and readily attracted ; their mouths are tough
and leathery, so that when once hooked they are not easily lost.
Scott states that their feeding time is during the lull of the waters
between the turn of the tides, when they are easily taken by the angler.
In the North the Sea-Bass occupies the feeding grounds in company with
the scuppaug or porgy, the flounder and the tautog, while in the South its
associates are the red snapper and the various species of grunt, and on the
inshore grounds, among the rocks, it occurs in company with the sheeps-
head and the king-fish.
The breeding time is believed to occur in July and August. Mr. Dyer,
of Naushon, states that the Sea-Bass, when they come into the pounds in
the spring, are full of spawn, ready to shoot. Young fish, one or two
inches long, are abundant among the eel-grass along the shores of Southern
New England. In the Gulf of Mexico, according to Stearns, they spawn
in early summer, and the young are caught in July and August.
The average size of the fish in New England is about one-and-one-half
pounds. A Sea-Bass nine inches long weighs about five ounces ; ten inches
long, six to ten ounces ; eleven inches long, nine to twelve ounces ; twelve
inches long, ten to sixteen ounces ; while the length of a three-pound fish
varies from eighteen to twenty inches. They occasionally attain the weight
of four or five pounds, but this is unusual. In the South they are, as a rule,
much smaller than in the North. This is especially the case in the Gulf
of Mexico. In these waters, and along the southern part of the South
Atlantic coast, they rarely exceed a pound in weight. Large male fish
are remarkable on account of the presence of a large hump upon the
44 AMERICAN FISHES.
top of the head. This is particularly prominent during the breeding
season, and at this time the colors of the whole body are much brighter.
The colored plate of this species, drawn by Mr. Kilburn for Scribner’s
‘“*«Game Fishes of the United States,’’ represents a large male at the
breeding season, the only picture of this kind which has ever yet been
made.
The Sea-Bass is of interest to fish culturists as being the first marine fish
upon which the experiment of artificial propagation was tried in this
country. This was in June, 1874, when Mr. Mather fertilized a number
of eggs at the station of the United States Fish Commission at Noank,
Conn. These eggs were placed in shad boxes and were watched for several
days, as they passed through the early stages of segmentation. A storm
interfered with the completion of the experiment, and it has never been
repeated.
The Sea-Bass is without many rivals as a chowder fish, and for boiling.
Its fleshis firm, flaky, and very sweet. The hardness of the flesh makes
it desirable for packing in ice, and prevents rapid deterioration in hot
weather. The head is so large that half the weight of the fish is lost in
the process of dressing for the table.
There are excellent fishing grounds on the Savannah Bank and others
near Charleston, at the mouth of the Chesapeake and the Delaware Bays,
off the coast of New Jersey and the entrance to New York harbor and in
Long Island Sound, and Buzzard’s Bay. ‘The latter are frequented in
summer by ten or twelve Connecticut smacks, which purvey for the New
York market. The fish are carried in the wells of the smacks to Noank
or New London, where they are kept alive in floating cars until needed
for shipment. It is one of the chief recommendations of this fish that it
is so hardy and tenacious of life that it can be kept any length of time in
confinement. Thousands of them may be seen, swimming in perfect
health in the cars, crowded together until their sides are in contact, and
thus they are often kept for weeks. Before they are placed in the wells
the fisherman has recourse to the expedient of thrusting an awl into the
side of the fish so as to puncture the air-bladder. Otherwise they would
float on the surface, on account of the expansion of airin the bladder after
the removal of the pressure of the weight of water under which they are
accustomed to live. Several of the Noank smacks are usually employed
from November to April in fishing for Sea-Bass on the Southern coast.
‘These supply the Charleston market.
THE SEA BASSES. 45
In summer several steamers make daily trips from New York to the
fishing banks off Sandy Hook and Long Branch. ‘They are patronized by
thousands of amateur fisherman, who seldom fail to bring back trophies of
Sea-Bass and scuppaug.
In the summer of 1832, Captain Lyman Bebe of the fishing smack Mary,
of New York, discovered a notable fishing bank about twenty miles to the
eastward of Sandy Hook. 1832 was the year of the ‘‘ great cholera,’’ and
its progress was the one topic of conversation, and Captain Bebe named
his new-found fishing ground the ‘‘ Cholera Banks.”’
Another famous reef, known as the ‘‘ Fishing Banks,’’ extends from off
the Highlands of Navesink, past Long Branch, to a point about opposite
Squan Beach. Both of these are favorite resorts for New Yorkers, who
visit them on the small excursion steamers.
An artist, visiting the Cholera Banks thus records his experience :
‘« Starting so early in the morning that his eyes are still heavy with
unexpended sleep, he soon finds himself on the steamer in company with
a hundred more fellow passengers, some of whom are heavy-eyed and in-
clined to grumble about the hour of starting, while others are cheerful,
and full of excitement at the prospect of the day’s sport. Down the bay,
through the Narrows, across the lower bay, and out to sea, steams the little
craft on which they are embarked. Past the red light-ship, and twenty
miles due east from Sandy Hook, she runs, and then begins the search for
the Banks. The pilot takes ranges by several of the big hotels, of which
so many have been erected during recent years along the south shore of
Long Island ; a man in the bows takes soundings; and if the day be clear,
the steamer is soon brought to anchor directly above the reef, and a hun-
dred eager lines are dropped overboard.
‘¢Once at anchor the fun and trouble begin together. It is fun to catch
fish ; but seasickness is among the saddest of human experiences, and
many of those who have bravely endured the pitching to which the steamer
has been treated ever since she left Sandy Hook succumb at once to the
motion that succeeds it as soon as she comes to anchor, and rises and falls
with regular, ceaseless monotony on the long swells.
‘‘Apart from these and ridiculing their wretchedness, stand the profession-
als and toughened amateurs, smoking short pipes, hauling in fish, making
cruel jokes upon the condition of the novices, and thoroughly enjoying them-
selves. They bait their hooks with hard-shell clams, skillfully toss their
leaden sinkers far out from the steamer’s side, let run fourteen fathoms of
line, and haul in Sea Bass, black-fish, flukes, rock cod, weak fish, porgies,
or whatever else comes to hand. Once in a while a line goes whizzing
through the water with a wild rush, there is a protracted struggle, and an
ugly customer in the form of a shark either breaks the line and escapes, or
is hauled on board amid much rejoicing.
46 AMERICAN FISHES.
The first catch of the day is always watched for with the greatest interest,
for upon it depends the ownership of a number of small pools that have
been made up among the passengers. Other points to be scored are the
largest catches of the day in numbers and weight, and the catching of the
heaviest single fish.
Late in the afternoon the anchor is lifted, lines are drawn in, and the
steamer is headed toward home. Then comes a time of great interest.
The fish are cleaned, sorted, weighed, examined with care, passed around
for inspection, and commented upon. Special lots are laid aside for home
consumption and for distribution among friends ; and frequently those who
have made the large catches, and have more than they know how to dis-
pose of otherwise, raffle them off or present them to the crew of the
steamer. **
This species is captured in great quantities in the pounds and traps of
Rhode Island and Southern Massachusetts. Its distribution is wide, many
of its haunts are unfrequented by fishermen, and it is probable that its im-
portance as a food fish will increase in years tocome. In 1880, over 350,000
pounds were sold in New York city.
There is a small species, Serranus trifurcus, resembling the Sea-Bass
which has been found only in the vicinity of Charleston, S. C., and Pen-
sacola, Fla., where it is called the ‘‘ Rock Black-fish.’’ It occasionally
finds its way to the Charleston markets.
The Squirrel fish, Serranus fascicularts, is a beautifully colored species,
usually to be seen in the markets of Charleston, north of which locality it
has not been found. The following paragraph from Holbrook’s ‘* Ich-
thyology of South Carolina,’’ contains all that has been observed regard-
ing its habits: ‘‘ Little can be said of the habits of this fish. It, however,
appears in our waters in May and June, and remains until November. It
is occasionally taken with the hook on the black-fish grounds, but is never
abundant. Southward it ranges at least to Brazil.’’
* Harper's Weekly, Nov. 1, 1884. (With illustrations.)
THE BLACK GROUPER.
MikeGhOURERS AND THE JEW FISH,
Hugest of all are fish in sea
For they were formed by heaven’s great King
Before all other earthly thing.
The Voyage of St. Brandon (Medieval)
= various species of Grouper are already of importance, and will be
still more highly appreciated by the anglers of future generations.
They are members of the genus Lfzmephelus, and other closely related
genera. The Red Grouper, £pznephelus morio, is a large species, some-
times attaining the weight of forty or fifty pounds. There is no certain
record of its having been captured north of Florida, where it is called the
‘‘Brown Snapper’’ or ‘‘ Red-bellied Snapper.’’ DeKay, writing in 1842,
stated that it was not unusual in the New York market in June and July,
where it was called by the fishermen ‘ Groper,’ or ‘Red Groper’; that it
is a Southern species and is brought from the reefs of Florida, but that he
had been informed by West Indian fishermen that it is occasionally, but
rarely, taken off the coast of New York ; he added that Dr. Holbrook in-
formed him that it was brought into the Charleston markets from Florida
in the months of January, February, and March.
Holbrook wrote: ‘‘ The Grouper is so seldom seen on our coast that
nothing can at this time be said of its habits ; but in confinement, as it is
brought to us from Key West, it appears very voracious and bold, taking
48 AMERICAN FISHES.
food even from the hand when offered, and always injuring such other
species of fish as may be its fellow-captives.’’
It is often taken in the Gulf of Mexico and about the Florida Keys,
and it is said also to be abundant along the whole coast of East Florida,
and is often taken on the St. John’s bar. Mr. S. C. Clarke writes that
it occurs in the vicinity of New Smyrna, Fla., where it spawns in bays
and inlets in the months of May and June, as does also the Black Grouper.
The only reliable study of its habits which has been made we owe to Mr.
Silas Stearns, whose biographical sketch of this species may here be quoted
in full:
‘*'The Red Grouper is extremely abundant in the Gulf of Mexico in com-
pany with the red snapper. It is most abundant on the South Florida
coast, and is found throughout the year on the‘ grounds’ at sea, and in sum-
mer in some of the bays. It probably spawns in both places, and in June
and July. The young are often caught in Pensacola Bay. In June, 1880,
I obtained a young one about one inch in length. The Grouper is more
of a bottom fish than the red snapper, for it swims much more slowly and
very seldom rises to the surface. It is very voracious, consuming, as is
shown by an examination of the contents of its stomach, enormous quan-
tities of crustaceans and small fish. Large horny crabs, in almost perfect
condition, are often found inside of it. Its movements are rather slow,
and when hooked it is hauled up more like a dead-weight than like a live
fish. In South Florida it is extensively eaten when procurable, and at Key
West it is particularly important, since a large fleet of smacks is constantly
employed in carrying fares of Grouper to Cuba. In West Florida, where
red snappers are more abundant, Groupers are not in demand and have but
a small market value. After being taken from the water, the Grouper is
remarkably tenacious of life, and will live several hours, even though ex-
posed to considerable heat. This is one reason why the Key West fleet.
prefer Groapers for transportation to Cuba, since they are obliged to goa
long way to market and through warm water, and no other fish of the kind
would bear crowding and chafing in the wells of the smacks. The Grouper
attains the weight of forty pounds, and is an excellent food fish.’’
In Cuba, this fish is called by the Spanish name ‘‘ Cherna.’’ The name
‘‘Grouper’’ is a corruption of Garoupa, a name given by the Portu-
guese to similar species. In DeKay’s time, as has been remarked, this
fish was not unusual in the New York market, where it sold for from six to
THE GROUPERS AND THE JEW FISH. 49
twelve cents a pound, though its flesh was considered tough, and not very
highly esteemed. Gill, writing of the same market in 1856, said: ‘‘ This
species 1s sometimes sent to our market from Key West and the reefs of
Florida in May and the summer months. I have never seen more than two
or three exposed for sale at a single time; it appears to be considerably
esteemed, and is sold at from twelve to fifteen cents a pound.”’
Genio Scott writes: ‘‘The Grouper is an excellent dinner-fish, and
when boiled and served with drawn butter and shrimp or lobster sauce is
said to fully equal the turbot.’
The Black Grouper, Zfinephelus nigritus, is called in Florida and Texas
the ‘‘ Jew-fish,’’ and at Pensacola, known by the name ‘‘ Warsaw,’’ evi-
dently corruption of the Spanish name Gwasa. It was first brought to
notice by Holbrook, who had received one specimen from the vicinity of
Charleston; north of that point it had not yet been observed, though it
appears to be abundant along the coast of East Florida and in the Gulf of
Mexico. Mr. S. C. Clarke has observed it in the Indian River region,
~and communicated the following notes to Professor Baird :
‘‘'The Black Grouper is resident all the year, though not abundant.
The greatest size attained is about fifteen pounds. They pass the winter
in the salt-water rivers, living in holes in the rocks and under roots and
snags and about piles. They are solitary in their habits. They feed on
small fish, particularly mullet, and on crustaceans, and breed in the salt
rivers in May and June. Their spawn is very small, and pale yellow.
They are taken with hook and line by the use of mullet and crab bait, and
are seldom seen except when thus captured. They are much esteemed as
food.”’
In an essay on ‘‘ Florida Game Fishes,’
Angler, the same writer says :—‘‘ From a deep hole in the Halifax River,
?
published in Zhe American
two of us took in one morning, seven groupers, from four to eight pounds
in weight, and lost three larger ones which broke our lines. That hole
had not been fished for years, and although I have often fished it since, I
have never taken another from it.’’
Mr. Stearns remarks that it is a common fish at sea along the Gulf coast,
living chiefly on the same spots with snappers and Groupers. At some
places it is found in abundance in the bays, and lives on the bottom, feed-
ing upon small fishes, crabs, ete. On the fishing grounds when fish are
being caught rapidly it is not of unusual occurrence.
4
50 AMERICAN FISHES.
A very large Jew-fish will follow and finally swallow a hooked firh,
usually a red snapper, with hooks, lead, line and all. If the line does not
then break the fish may be hauled in with gaffs. The Jew-fish attains an
enormous size, and specimens weighing from eighty to one hundred
pounds have been caught. The smaller fish are quite choice, but large
ones are too coarse and tough to be salable.
There is another fish which is also called ‘‘ Jew-fish,’’ or ‘‘ Warsaw,’’
?
and ‘‘ Black Grouper,’’ of which only enormously large specimens have
been obtained, and which is entered upon our catalogues under the name
Promicrops guasa. It is a fair question whether this great fish be not the
adult of the common Black Grouper or some closely allied species, the ap-
pearance of which has become somewhat changed with age. A large
specimen, weighing about three hundred pounds, was taken near the St.
John’s bar in March or April, 1874, by James Arnold. It was shipped by
Mr. Hudson, a fish dealer in Savannah, to Mr. Blackford, who presented
it to the Smithsonian Institution. A fine cast of this specimen graces the
Fisheries Hall of the National Museum. Professor Poey, by whom the
species was named, states that in Cuba it attains to the weight of
six hundred pounds. An old Connecticut fisherman, who was for many
years engaged in the Savannah market fishery, states that the Havana
smacks often catch Jew-fish. They are so voracious that when put into the
well with the Groupers they would do much damage. The fishermen have
found it necessary therefore to sew their jaws together before placing
them with other fish.
The Spotted Hind of the Gulf of Mexico, Epinephelus Drummond-Hayt,
has been found only in the Gulf of Mexico and at the Bermudas. It
was observed at the Bermudas in 1851 by Col. H. M. Drummond-Hay,
of the British army. It is there called ‘‘ John Paw.’’ Specimens were
sent to the National Museum in 1876 and 1877, by Mr. Blackford
and Mr. Stearns. It is one of the many important species which have
been brought to notice by the labors of the United States Fish Commission.
Although it is an excellent food-fish, it is, even now, not well appreciated.
Mr. Stearns records the following facts concerning its habits: ‘‘ The
Spotted Hind is common in company with the Grouper and Jew-fish, and
is most abundant in South Florida about the reefs. Off Pensacola it lives
in the deep fishing grounds, in seventeen, nineteen and twenty-two
fathoms. It swims close to the bottom, and is of sluggish movements. I
THE GROUPERS AND THE JEW FISH. 51
have not known of its occurrence in the bays, and believe that it spawns
at sea. Specimens weighing fifty pounds have been caught, but that is
fully four times the average size. It is seen daily in the Key West market
and sells readily, but at Pensacola, Mobile and New Orleans it is hardly
marketable. Its color varies very considerably with the different colored
bottoms on which it lives.’’
The Coney of Key West, Zpinephelus apua, the ‘‘ Hind’’ of Bermuda, is
an important food-fish which occurs throughout the West Indies. Speci-
mens have been sent by Mr. Stearns, who remarks that it is common in
South Florida among the reefs, and is often seen in the Key West market,
where it is readily sold.
The Bermuda Grouper, Epznephelus striatus, one of the most important
food-fishes of those islands, is sure to be found in the vicinity of Key
West, and will probably prove to be one of the important fishes of our
own southern coasts. About Key West and in the Gulf there are several
species of the sub-genus Jycteroperca, which may be grouped together
under the name ‘ Rock-fish,’’? the name by which all fishes of this genus
are also known in Bermuda. They are large fishes of excellent food
quality, similar in habits to the others of the family which have already
been discussed. The material at present on hand is not sufficient to ad-
mit of satisfactory identification of all the species. The ‘‘ Black Grouper’’
of Pensacola, which has been variously named JMVycteroperca brunnea, M.
microlepis, and M. stomtas, is said by Mr. Stearns to be common in com-
pany with the Red Grouper, although not so abundant. It spawns in
June and July, at sea and in the inlets. As a food-fish it is considered
superior to the Red Grouper, although it is not more readily sold. It at-
tains a weight of fifty pounds. Professor Jordan is of the opinion that
the form recently described by Goode and Bean as JV. stomias, the ‘‘Gag”’
of Key West, is the adult of that previously characterized by them under
the name JZ. microlepts.
The Rock-fish of Key West, which has not yet been identified, is said
by Mr. Stearns to be very common, and is sold almost every day in the
market. The average weight is four or five pounds, the maximum twenty-
five to thirty. There appear to be at Key West, as well as at the Bermu-
das, various forms known as ‘‘ Rock-fish.’’
Anallied species, JZycteroperca falcata, is called at Pensacola by the name
‘¢Scamp.’’ Itis common off the Florida coast, living near the bottom in
52 AMERICAN FISHES.
company with the other species of Groupers. It is found on the coast all
the year round, and is caught with the hook and line. It seldom exceeds
the weight of twenty pounds, and the average size is much smaller. It is
considered an excellent table fish. The Spanish fishermen of Key West
call it ‘‘ Baccalao’’ (Cod fish.)
S. C. Clarke refers to a fish which he calls the ‘‘ Mangrove Snapper or
Red Grouper,’’ to which he attributes gamey qualities far in excess of
those mentioned by Stearns. It is probable that he has in mind this
grouper and not a snapper.
Several of these fishes, whose relations have not yet been determined,
have been taken abong the Atlantic coast, particularly at the mouth of the
Chesapeake and at Wood’s Holl, Massachusetts.
There are several other species belonging to this family which have been
observed, none of which, however, are of any economic importance.
The Pacific Jew-fish, Stereolepis gigas, is one of the principal serranoid
fishes of the Pacific coast. It is also sometimes called the ‘‘ Black Sea
Bass.’’ It reaches a weight of five hundred pounds, being the largest
food-fish on the coast. It ranges from the Farallones to below San Do-
mingo, and is generally abundant in deep water about the islands, but
from its great size is seldom taken. It feeds upon smaller fishes, and is
voracious. It is often taken by swallowing a white-fish when the latter is
on the hook. Its flesh is of excellent quality, and those small enough to
be available always brings a very high price in the market.
The Cabrilla, Serranus clathratus, is called at Monterey, where it is
not common, the ‘‘ Kelp Salmon’’; further south it is known to the
Americans usually as ‘‘ Black Bass,’’ and to the Italians and Spaniards as
‘« Cabrilla,’’ a name applied to other species of Serranus in the Mediter-
ranean. The Chinese call it ‘‘ Lockee Cod’’ (Rock Cod). It reaches a
length of eighteen inches and a weight of about five pounds. It ranges
from San Francisco to Cerros Island, being very abundant about the Santa
Barbara Islands, where it is taken in large numbers. It lives in water of
no great depth, chiefly about the rocks. It feeds on squid, crustacea, and
small fishes. It is an excellent food-fish, similar in quality to the related
Atlantic species.
The Johnny Cabrilla, Serranus nebulifer, receives the name ‘‘ Rock
Bass’’ and ‘‘ Cabrilla’’ with the other species. The distinctive Spanish
name of ‘: Johnny (Juan) Verde’ is also in frequent use, especially at San
THE GROUPERS AND THE JEW FISH. 53
Pedro. It reaches a length of twelve to twenty inches and a weight of
about five pounds. It has been taken at Monterey, but is common only
from San Pedro southward to Magdalena Bay. So far as known to us, it
agrees in habits and value with the preceeding.
THE RED GROUPER. EPINEPHELUS MORIO.
The Spotted Cabrilla, Serranus maculofasciatus, receives the same
names, ‘‘ Rock Bass’’ and ‘‘ Cabrilla,’’ as others. It agrees with the pre-
ceeding in value, distribution, and habits, so far as is known, but is rather
smaller in size. It isan excellent food-fish, and from its great abundance
about San Diego it may become of considerable economic importance.
Its range extends southward to Mazatlan, it being one of the very few
California fishes which extend their range to the south of the Tropic of
Cancer.
THE LARGE-MOUTH BASS.
THEY BEAGK BASSES:
Fishing, if I, a fisher, may protest
Of pleasure is the sweetest, of sports the best
Of exercises the most excellent ;
Of recreation the most innocent,
But now the sport is marde, and wott ye why.
Fishes decrease and fishers multiply. De Piscatione, 1598.
NTIL recently, we supposed that there were many kinds of Black
Basses. Different communities christened them to their own liking,
and naturalists, misled by the numerous popular names, described, as dis-
tinct, forms which, had they been seen side by side, they would have con-
sidered the same. ‘Twenty-two separately named species are on record.
In 1873, Prof. Gill, after studying specimens gathered from all parts
of the United States by the Smithsonian Institution, came to the decision
that there were only two species, the Large-mouthed and the Small-mouthed
bass. This was easy work for so accomplished an ichthyologist as Gill,
but the difficulty was to determine the ownership of the many names
already established in the literature of ichthyology. After five years of
uncertainty, and several changes, thirteen of these have been allotted to
the Small-mouth, and the remainder of nine to its cousin with the long jaw.
The oldest name for the Large-mouth is JZzcropterus salmoides, and for the
Small-mouth, as Henshall has proved, Mzecropterus Dolomie?: it is hoped
that this decision, which is grounded upon a firm foundation of priority,
may be permitted to stand unchanged. Gill’s paper, in which he defines
the differences between the two species, was published in 1873 in the Pro-
ceedings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
THE BLACK BASSES. 55
This volume is, however, not easily accessible, and the important
differences are therefore repeated in this place. In the Large-mouth the
upper jaw extends far behind the eye; in the other to a point below it.
The Large-mouth has from sixty-five to seventy rows between the gill-
opening and the base of the tail, instead of seventy-two or more, while on
the cheek there are about ten oblique rows instead of seventeen, also seven-
and-a-half to eight instead of eleven rows between the lateral line and
the dorsal. There are other distinctions, such as the absence, in the Large-
mouth, of scales on the bases of the dorsal and anal fins, the smaller num-
ber of rays in the pectoral fins (there being thirteen or fourteen instead of
sixteen or seventeen), and the lesser height of the spinous dorsal. (In the
Large-mouth the first dorsal spin is one-half; in the Small-mouth, one-
third of the height of the third dorsal spin).
THE SMALL-MOUTH BASS.
Numerous as have been the zodlogical names, they are outnumbered by
the popular names still in use in different localities. Charlevoix, a Jesuit
missionary, whoexplored Canada in 1721, mentionsa fish called ‘‘Achigan,”’
which is thought to have been the Large-mouth. An earlier allusion to
this species, which in the Southern States is still called ‘‘ Trout,’’ occurs
in the writings of Réné de Laudonniére, who described the incidents of
the first Huguenot expedition to Florida in 1652, under the command of
Jean Ribault. The Large-mouth is known in the Great Lake Region,
especially in Northern New York, as the ‘‘ Oswego Bass.’’ This name
should not be confounded with ‘‘ Otsego Bass,’’ a local name for the com-
mon whitefish. In Kentucky, and possibly in Florida, it is called
<¢ Jumper ;’’ in Indiana, ‘‘ Moss Bass ;’’ in the Southern States generally,
‘¢ Trout,’’ though on the Tar River of North Carolina, it is called ‘* Chub,”’
and on the Neuse, ‘‘ Welshman.’’
56 AMERICAN FISHES.
The Small-mouth shares with the Large-mouth in the Southern States the
names ‘‘ Jumper,’’ ‘‘ Pearch’’ and “Trout,’’ and in Alabama, according
to Prof. Jordan, it is called the ‘‘ Mountain Trout. ‘‘ Bronze-backer’’ is
one of its pet names among the anglers.
‘¢ Marsh Bass,’* “‘ River Bass,’ *“¢ Rock Bass,” “° Slough Bass,” ¢° White
Bass, ? ““Green “Bass,” “Spotted bass saiGneen serch. cavellow,
Perch,’’ “‘ Black Perch’ and “* Speckled Hen:7sare other names applied
to one or both species. A comedy of errors this hath surely been, and
the colloquy between the Duke and the Dromios comes pat to the pen:
“Duke. One of these men is genius to the other ;
And so of these. Which is the natural man,
And which the spirit? Who deciphers them ?
Dromio of Syracuse. I, sir, am Dromio ; command him away.
Dromio of Ephesus. 1, sir, am Dromio ; pray let me stay.’’*
Both species are very widely distributed over the Atlantic slope of the
continent east of the Rocky Mountains, and their range is probably much
wider than is now supposed, for many of our northern and western waters
are stillunexplored. The Large-mouth and Small-mouth dwell together in
the Great Lakes, and in the upper parts of the St. Lawrence and Missis-
sippi basins. The Small-mouth is found north to latitude 47° and west to
Wisconsin, while southward it ranges to latitude 33°, where Prof. Jordan
found it in the headwaters of the Chattahoochee and Ocmulgee Rivers,
this being the only instance of its presence in a stream emptying east
of the Alleghanies, into which it isnot known to have been introduced by
man. ‘The Large-mouth ranges further to the west and north, occurring
in the Red River of the North, perhaps as far as Manitoba, in latitude 50°.
It abounds in all the rivers of the Southern States, from the James to the
St. John, and in the lower reaches of the streams and bayous connected
with the Gulf of Mexico, around to Texas, in latitude 27°.
To the waters of New England and the eastern part of the Middle States
they are not native. The Small-mouths found their way into the Hudson
in 1825 or soon after, through the newly-opened Erie Canal, and they
have since been introduced by man into hundreds of eastern lakes and
rivers. Many circumstances suggest the idea that in early days, before
* For fuller information upon this and other matters connected with the species the reader is referred to Dr.
J. A. Henshall’s elaborate and exhaustive illustrated treatise, entitled ‘* Book of the Black Bass,’’ published
in 1881 by Rcbert Clarke & Co., Cincinnati. ‘‘ Fly fishing for Black Bass,’’ a serial publication by W. S.
Norris, in Zhe American Angler, isan exceedingly well-written sketch in the American style.
THE BLACK BASSES. 57
the various drainage systems were connected by canals, the distribution
limits of the two species were much more sharply defined, the Large-mouth
inhabiting, perhaps, the upper part of the basin of the Great Lakes and
St. Lawrence and the rivers of the southern seaboard, while the Small-
mouth was found chiefly in the northern part of the Mississippi basin.
This theory can never be demonstrated, however, for the early ichthy-
ologists had not adopted the accurate methods of study now in use, and
their descriptions of the fish they saw are scarcely good enough to guess
by. The mingling of the two forms might have been accomplished in an
incredibly short time. <A ‘few young Bass will multiply so rapidly as to
stock a large lake in five years. The Potomacand its tributaries swarmed
with them ten years after their first introduction.
A very suggestive incident occurred at the Brookline Reservoir, near
Boston. Nine Bass were introduced in July, 1862. Four or five years
after, in examining the water-pipes leading thence to Long Pond, Bass in
considerable numbers and of large size were found ; and what is still
more strange, they had, either as young fish, or in the egg state, gone
through the screen at the mouth of the pipe and found their way into the
pond itself, having accomplished an underground journey of fifteen miles
through a brick aqueduct nowhere more than six feet in diameter.
Gill states that the two forms of A/¢cropterius have long inhabited the waters
of the cismontane slope of the United States, except those of the New Eng-
land States and the Atlantic seaboard of the Middle States. Only one,
however, the Small-mouth, appears to have been an original inhabitant of
the hydrographic basin of the Ohio River.
The Bass do not seem to depend closely on temperature. Having no
opportunity of avoiding the cold, they sink to the deepest part of their
watery domain at the approach of winter, and if the chill penetrates to
their retreat, their vitality is diminished, their blood flows more slowly, they
feel no need of food, and forthwith enter into a state of hybernation.
Mr. Fred. Mather kept one in his aquarium nearly all of one winter. It
ate nothing, and seldom moved any members except its eyes. In deep
lakes, however, they can sink below the reach of surface chills, and here
they are sometimes caught with a hook through the ice. In the South
their activity never ceases. Any one who has seen Black Bass feeding
must have been impressed with their immense power of movement. They
soon become masters of the waters in which they are placed. Sun-fish,
58 AMERICAN FISHES.
perch, trout, young salmon and even the ravenous pickerel, are devoured.
They feed at the surface on moths, flies and frogs; they turn over stones
in search of crawfish and insect larve. Rats and snakes have been seen
in their stomachs. A correspondent of Forest and Stream relates that
once, while fishing in the Chicago River, one of the small frogs used
for bait escaped and perched on a portion of an old wreck above the
water. A Black Bass came along, and, lifting his head from the water,
picked off the frog, and descended to the depths below. The angler finds
them at the proper seasons equally eager for fly-hook, trolling-spoon, or
still-bait, and always ready for a struggle which puts his rod and line to a
severe test. Their leaps are almost as powerful as those of the salmon.
The negro fishermen of Florida often surround a body of Large-mouths
with a seine, but as the lines are hauled in and the arc grows smaller the
dark forms of the ‘‘ Trout’’ begin to appear, springing over the cork-line
and returning, with a splash and a jet of spray, to liberty. I have seen
them rise five or six feet above the water. ‘They are said to be taken best
at night, or when the river is high and the water muddy. Otherwise they
leap over the seine. Expert seiners coil their nets in such a manner as to
prevent the escape of part of the school. ‘The Small-mouths are said,
generally, to prefer deep or swift, cool waters, while the Large-mouths live
in muddy, black pools, or in the shelter of old stumps and ledges. In
Florida they lurk among the lily-pads and aquatic plants in shallow, dark
ehes
streams, where they feed on a grub called the ‘‘ bonnet-worm,’’ which
burrows in the flower-buds of the ‘‘ bonnets’’ or yellow water-lilies, Vuphar
advena.
The account given by Laudonniere of the abundance of this fish in
Florida nearly two-and-a-half centuries ago, is well worth quoting :
‘© Having passed,’’ he writes, ‘‘ most part of the day with these Indians
(at Cape Francois), the captain imbarked himselfe to pass over to the
other side of the river, whereat the king seemed to be very sorrie ; never-
theless, being not able to stop us, he commanded that with all diligence
they should take fish for us, which they did with all speede. For, being
entered into their weares, or inclosures made of reeds and framed in the
fashion of a dalyzintto or maze, they loaded us with trouts, great mullets,
plaise, turbuts and marvellous store of other sorts of fishes altogether
different from ours.’’
The spawning season occurs on the approach of warm weather. Its date
does not vary much with latitude. In Florida, in Virginia and in Wis-
consin they build their nests in May and June. The oldest fish, we are
bho)
THE BLACK BASSES. 59
told, sometimes anticipate the ordinary season, while many late spawners
are occupied with family cares until the last of July, and some young fish
are not ready until October and November. After the spawning is over
the Bass are ‘‘in season.’’ They take the hook eagerly from July till
November. In the winter they are lank and black, though in season till
the ice comes.
Concerning their spawning habits, Mr. Hallock, of the Blooming Grove
Association, wrote in 1875: ‘‘ Four years ago, one hundred and thirteen
Black Bass from Lake Erie were placed in Lake Giles, and their progeny
has increased so fast as to insure good sport to the angler at any time.
The late spawners are now (early July) in the gravel beds, in the shallow
waters along shore, protecting either their spawn or their newly-hatched
fry, as the case may be. It is interesting to note the pertinacity with
which they guard their precious charges, and the vigor with which they
drive away depredators and intruders of all kinds. They will frequently
allow a boat to pass over them, scarcely six inches above their backs, and
obstinately keep their ground. Sun-fish and such are compelled to keep
their distance. There are hundreds of these bowl-shaped excavations,
eighteen inches or so in diameter, all along the sandy shallow shores of
this lake, which is very clear, and in the center some seventy feet deep,
fed by bottom springs.”’
The eggs are much smaller than those of a trout, and, being heavier
than the water, rest on the bottom within the limits of the nest. The
only estimate of their number with which I am familar is that made by
Mr. E. L. Sturtevant, who found about 17,000 in a Large-mouth weighing
two and one-half pounds. .
The length of time required by the eggs in coming to maturity is esti-
mated at from eight to ten days, the hatching being somewhat accelerated
in warm weather. The young fish, when first hatched, are about three-
eighths of an inch long. ‘They are very active, and at once begin to
feed. One observer describes them as darting rapidly about, looking like
black motes in the water; while another has seen them lying motionless
near the bottom, the school appearing like a floating vail of gauze. For
a few days they may be seen playing about the nest, but they soon dis-
perse, to find lurking places among the grass and pebbles near the margin
of the water, and to begin their corsair career by preying upon the larvee
of insects and the minute crustaceans which abound in such localities.
60 AMERICAN FISHES.
They have another reason for seeking a shelter in the shallow water, for
their parents are surely guilty of inconsistent conduct. They are said to
care tenderly for their callow brood, and even teach them how to eat;
but this must be a mistake: for although it cannot be denied that they
patiently mount guard over their nestful of eggs, they are often seen
devouring their new-born offspring, who thrive in the very teeth of their
piratical relatives.
The rate of growth of the young has been studied in artificial ponds.
In Granby, Conn., four-pound fish were taken in 1874, the progeny of
two hundred and fifty fish placed in the pond in 1868. The eggs require
two or three weeks to hatch. In September the young are about two
inches long ; when well fed they grow to four inches the first season. At
two years of age they weigh about a pound, few caught in the North
weighing more than four pounds. Leaving the egg in June, they grow to
two or three inches before cold weather begins—trim, sprightly little
darters, with black bands across the bases of their tails. Another twelve-
month finds them in the garb of maturity, eight or nine inches long, and
with their organs swelling in preparation for the act of spawning, which
they are said to undertake at the age of two years, and when less than a
foot long. The ordinary size of the adult fish is two and one-half to
three pounds, though they are sometimes taken in the North weighing
six or seven pounds. In Florida the Large-mouths grow larger. <A seven
or eight-pounder is not unusual in the St. John’s; and I was told that in
March, 1875, a fish weighing nineteen and one-half pounds was caught
in the lake at Gainesville, Fla.
Fish culturists have made many efforts to hatch the eggs of the Black
Bass, and have never succeeded. One reason for their failure, perhaps,
hes in the fact that, while in the shad and salmon the eggs fall from the
ovaries into an abdominal cavity, whence they are easily expressed, in
the Bass and other spiny-rayed fishes they are retained until the parent
fish are ready to deposit them. This failure is the less to be regretted
since the young Bass may easily transported from place to place in barrels
of cool water, and, when once introduced, they soon multiply, if protected,
to any desired number.
Black Bass are very tenacious of life. A Germantown correspondent
mentions some taken at 10 o’clock a. m., sold and wrapped in paper,
left in a warm room till 5 p. m., when they were found to be alive and
well.
THE BLACK BASSES. 61
The first experiment in their transportation seems to have been that
mentioned by A. M. Valentine, who states that a pond near Janesville,
Wis., was stocked with Black Bass about 1847. In 1850 Mr. S. T. Tis-
dale carried twenty-seven Large-mouths from Saratoga Lake, N. Y., to
Flax Pond, in Agawam, Mass. The manner in which the Potomac was
stocked with Small-mouths is also well known. It was in 1853, soon after
the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was finished, that Gen. Shriver, of
Wheeling, carried a number of young fish from the Ohio to Cumberland,
Md., in the water-tank of a locomotive engine. ‘These he placed in the
basin of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, whence they soon penetrated to
all parts of the Potomac basin, and as far down the river as Mount Ver-
non. The custom of stocking streams soon became popular, and through
private enterprise and the labors of State Fish Commissioners nearly
every available body of water in New England and the Middle States has
been filled with these fish. This movement has not met with unmixed
approval, for by the ill-advised enthusiasm of some of its advocates a
number of trout streams have been destroyed, and complaints are heard
that the fisheries of certain rivers have been injured by them. ‘The
results have been on the whole very beneficial. The Bass never will
become the food of the millions. The New York market receives proba-
bly less than 10,000 pounds of them annually, and they are nowhere very
numerous. Yet hundreds of bodies of waste water are now stocked with
them in sufficient numbers to afford pleasant sport and considerable
quantities of excellent food.
The flesh of the Bass is hard, white and flaky, and not particularly re-
markable for its flavor. When sufficiently large, it is perhaps better that
it should be broiled, and served with white sauce. The smaller Bass may
be treated as pan-fish. They are not well suited for broiling, except in
the hands of the most judicious of cooks.
The Black Bass is one of the most universally popular of American
fishes. Even those who know the joys of trout and salmon angling do:
not disdain it. For one man who can go forth in search of salmon, and
twenty to whom trout are not impossible, there are a thousand who can
visit the Bass in his impid home. There are many methods of angling
for Bass. Those who use rod and reel are perhaps not unreasonable when
they profess to pity their uncultured brethren who prefer the ignominious
method of trolling with hand-line and spoon-bait.
jon AMERICAN FISHES.
I shall not attempt to discuss the merits of various kinds of tackle. The
dealers in angling apparatus can usually give advice both timely and
suitable to the locality. ‘Those who wish to enter into the extreme refine-
ments of the art of Bass fishing must read the writings of Dr. Henshall,
and then learn for themselves by long years of observation and experi-
ment, for to no one is book-knowledge less valuable than to him whose
desire it is to catch a fish.
Bass may be caught by the use of artificial flies or artificial minnows,
with live bait, consisting of minnows, chubs, young perch and many other
small fishes, frogs, helgramites, crawfish, shrimps, grasshoppers, crickets or
worms, or by the use of spoon-bait or trolling spoon.
In bait fishing a light rod, about eight-and-one-half feet long is used
with a multiplying reel to insure the delivery of the bait at long distances.
In fly-fishing a more flexible rod, eleven feet long, with a click-reel, is
preferred. Strong lnes, preferably of braided raw silk, are used, and
too much care cannot be given to the strength of leaders and snells, and
to the perfection of the hooks. Of the various forms of the latter, Hen-
shall puts the ‘‘Sproat bend’’ first and the ‘‘O’Shaughnessy’’ second,
using Nos. 4, 5 and 6 for bait fishing and Nos. 2 and 3 for fly-fishing.
In trolling from a boat at least 300 feet of line should be used. Troll-
ing with the rod ‘‘skittering’’ and ‘‘ bobbing’’ are other modes of local
popularity.
The Small-mouth is the angler’s favorite in the North, being the more
agile and pugnacious; but in Florida, the paradise of the Big-mouths,
few complaints are heard as to the character of the sport which they
afford. <‘‘J. W.,’’ writing to the American Angler, June 31, 1862, re-
ported as follows the weights of sixteen taken in the Homosassa River,
Hemard Co., Fla., in one-and-a-half hour’s fishing: 74f, 6%, 5%, 5%,
5, 4%, 4, 4%, 4%, 4, 3, 234, 2, 1% ; total, 68 pounds.
The introduction of the Black Bass into England by the Marquis of
Exeter has caused great consternation among British anglers, who fear
that its rapacity may lead to the destruction of trout and salmon. It
has many friends and advocates, however, not the least powerful of whom
is Mr. R. B. Marston, editor of the /zshing Gazette. It is, I believe,
intended only to place it in streams inhabited by ‘‘ coarse fish,’’ and the
waters of England would surely be the better for the destruction of a
goodly percentage of their breams, roaches and _ barbels.
LHE BLACK BASSE.
63
I have already often quoted the opinions of that wisest of anglers,
Charles Hallock, and I cannot otherwise than repeat in this place his
prophecy concerning the future estate of the Black Bass.
‘No doubt the Bass is the appointed successor of the trout ; not througn
heritage, nor selection, nor by interloping, but by foreordination. Truly,
it is sad to contemplate, in the not distant future, the extinction of a
beautiful race of creatures, whose attributes have been sung by all the
poets ; but we regard the inevitable with the same calm philosophy with
which the astronomer watches the burning out of a world, knowing that
it will be succeeded by a new creation.
«©As we mark the soft vari-tinted flush of the trout disappear in the even-
tide, behold the sparkle of the coming Bass as he leaps into the morning
of his glory! We hardly know which to admire the most—the velvet
livery and the charming graces of the departing courtier, or the flash of
the armor-plates on the advancing warrior. The Bass will unquestionably
prove himself a worthy substitute for his predecessor, and a candidate for
a full legacy of honors.
‘* No doubt, when every one of the older States shall become as densely
settled as Great Britain itself, and all the rural aspects of the crowded
domain resemble the suburban surroundings of our Boston; when every
feature of the pastoral landscape shall wear the finished appearance of
European lands; and every verdant field be closely cropped by lawn-
mowers and guarded by hedges ; and every purling stream which meanders
through it has its water-bailiff, we shall still have speckled trout from
which the radiant spots have faded, and tasteless fish, to catch at a dollar
per pound (as we already have on Long Island), and all the appurtenances
and appointments of a genuine English trouting privilege and a genuine
English ‘ outing.’
<< Tn those future days, not long hence to come, some venerable piscator,
in whose memory still lingers the joy of fishing, the brawling stream which
tumbled over the rocks in the tangled wildwood, and moistened the arbutus
and the bunchberries which garnished its banks, will totter forth to the
velvety edge of some peacefully-flowing stream, and having seated himself
on a convenient point in a revolving easy chair, placed there by his care-
ful attendant, cast right and left for the semblance of sport long dead.
‘¢ Hosts of liver-fed fish rush to the signal for their early morning meal,
and from the center of the boil which follows the fall of the handfuls
thrown in, my piscator of the ancient days will hook a two-pound Trout,
and play him hither and yon, from surface to bottom, without disturbing
the pampered gourmands which are gorging themselves upon the disgusting
viands ; and when he has leisurely brought him to hand at last, and the
gillie has scooped him with his landing-net, he will feel in his capacious
pocket for his last trade dollar, and giving his friend the tip, shuffle back’
to his house, and lay aside his rod forever.’’
THE SUN-FISH, LEPOMIS GIBBOSUS.
Tne SUN-FISEES AND et Gel ALES:
Slowly upward, wavering, gleaming Lifting up his disk refulgent,
Rose the Ugudwash, the Sun-fish Loud he shouted in derision
Seized the line of Hiawatha, ‘Esa! esa! shame upon you.
Swung with all his weight upon it, You are Ugudwash, the Sun-fish ;
# * * You are not the fish I wanted ;
But when Hiawatha saw him You are not the King of Fishes.’
Slowly rising through the water, LonGFELLOW, Hiawatha’s Fishing.
HE ‘‘ Pumpkin seed ’’ and the perch are the first trophies of the boy
angler. Many are the memories of truant days dreamed away by
pond or brook side, with twine pole and pin-hook, and of the slow
homeward trudge, doubtful what his reception will be at home; pole
gone, line broken, hooks lost, the only remnant of the morning’s glory a
score of lean, sun-dried perches and Sunnies, and, mayhap, a few eels and
bull-heads, ignominiously strung through the gills upon a willow withe,
and trailing, sometimes dropping from weary hands, in the roadside dust.
Then in later youth came the excursion to some distant pond; the
——
Ne
THE SON-FISHBS AND THESTR ALLTES. 6
Ur
early start, long before sunrise, the cane rods trailing over the tail-board
of the wagon, the long drive between fresh forests and dewy meadows,
the interested faces at the wayside windows. Then at the pond the cast-
ing of the seine for minnow-bait, the embarcation in the boat, the careful
adjustment of sinker and float, and the long, delightful, lazy day, floating
over jungles of eel-grass and meadows of lily pads ; now pulling in by the
score the shiners, Pumpkin seeds and perches ; now passing hour after
hour without a bite.
Just as the nightingale and the lark, though eminent among the lesser
song-birds of Europe would, if native to America, be eclipsed by the
feathered musicians of our groves and meadows, the perch and Sun-fish
yield to the superior claims of a dozen or more game fishes. The Sun-
fish and the perch must not be snubbed, however, for they are prime
favorites with tens of thousands of anglers who cannot leave home in
quest of sport. They will thrive and multiply, almost beyond belief, in
ponds and streams too small for bass, and too warm for trout and land-
tocked salmon ; and I prophesy that they will yet be introduced in all
suitable waters throughout the continent, which they do not now inhabit.
The Sun-fish, Lepomis gibbosus, is the common ‘‘ Pumpkin-seed,’’ or
*«Sunny’’ of the brooks of New York and New England. It is every-
where abundant in the Great Lake region and in the coastwise streams
from Maine to Georgia. It is never found in the Mississippi Valley
except in its northernmost part, its distribution corresponding precisely
to that of the perch. Its breeding habits are thus described by Dr.
Kirtland :
‘¢’'This fish prefers still and clear waters. In the spring of the year the
female prepares herself a circular nest by removing all reeds or other dead
aquatic plants from a chosen spot of a foot or more in diameter, so as to
leave bare the clean gravel or sand; this she excavates to the depth of
three or four inches, and then deposits her spawn, which she watches with
the greatest vigilance ; and it is curious to see how carefully she guards
this nest against all intruders ; in every fish, even those of herown species,
she sees only an enemy, and is restless and uneasy until she has driven it
away from her nursery. We often find groups of these nests placed near
each other along the margin of the pond or river that the fish inhabits,
but always in very shallow water; hence, they are hable to be left dry in
times of great drought. These curious nests are most frequently encircled
by aquatic plants, forming a curtain around them, but a large space is
invariably left open for the admission of light.’’
66 AMERICAN FISHES.
So far as known, the breeding habits of the other species of Sun-fishes
agree with those of Lepomis gibbosus.
It reaches, in the lakes, a weight of about one-and-a-half pounds, and
as usually taken is of not over a pound weight. Its flesh is of good
quality, similar to that of other Sun-fish of the same size, and is graded as
superior to that of the perch, but inferior to the black bass and white
bass. It takes the hook freely, and to the small boy is the perfection of
a game fish, while even the experienced angler does not despise it.
W. C. Harris, in his ‘‘Game Fishes of Pennsylvania,’’ remarks: ‘<I
confess to a fondness for catching the ‘ pumpkin-seed’ upon the lightest
of light fly rods with leader and line of a spider-web consistency. I have
caught them, averaging a half pound in weight, by the dozen, with black
and brown hackles, and when they reach that size they are so sprightly in
their play, when hooked on trout tackle, that we cannot deny them a niche
in the gallery of game fishes.’’
THE RED BREAST. LEPOMIS AURITUS.
The long-eared Sun-fish, Zepomd's auritus, like its relatives, receives the
general name of ‘‘ Sun-fish,’’ ‘‘ Brim’’ (Bream), and ‘‘ Pearch’’ (Perch).
In Pennsylvania it is called ‘‘Sun Perch’’ and ‘‘ Red Headed Bream,”’
elsewhere it is the ‘‘ Red Breast,’’ ‘‘ Red Bellied Bream’’ and the ‘‘ Red
Bellied Perch.”
It is found in all coastwise streams from Maine to Louisiana, but does
THE SUN-FISHES AND THEIR ALLIES. 67
not penetrate far into the interior. It seldom reaches a weight of much
over a pound, but from its abundance becomes in the rivers of the South
a food-fish of some importance. Like the others, it feeds on worms,
crustacea and snfall fishes, and spawns in early summer.
The Blue Sun-fish, Zepomzs pallidus, is also known as the ‘‘ Blue Bream ”’
and ‘* Copper-nosed Bream,’’ and in Kentucky sometimes as the-*“Do=-——Y_
lardee.’’ This is the most widely distributed of our Sun-fishes, ranging
from New Jersey and the Great Lakes to Florida and Mexico. It reaches
a weight of one-and-one-half to two pounds, and, in some regions, is an
important market fish. Its habits adapt it especially for cultivation
in ponds.
Many other species of similar size abound in the fresh waters of the
Mississippi Valley, and are known as ‘‘ Sun-fish,’’ ‘‘ Bream ’’ and ‘ Perch.’’
L. cyanellus and L. megalotis are universally abundant both North and
South ; the others are chiefly Southern. All take the hook readily, and
are good pan-fish, but from their small size they have no economic im-
portance, and are valued chiefly by urchins and negroes.
The Warmouth, Chenobryttus gulosus, is well-known throughout the
south. Ihe names ‘‘Perch,’’ ‘‘Sun-fish,’’ ‘‘Goggle-eye’’ and “*Red-
eye ’’’ it shares with others of its relatives. It is found in all the lowland
streams from Virginia to Texas, and in all the Southern States, and is gener-
ally abundant. In habits, food, size and value it agrees closely with the
Rock Bass.
The Black Warmouth, Chenobryttus antistius, a species also called ‘‘ War-
‘*Sun-fish’’ and ‘‘Goggle-eye,’’ abounds in the
ie]
mouth,’’ ‘‘ Big-mouth,
tributaries of the Upper Mississippi, and is often taken in Lake Michigan.
In Illinois it is an important food-fish. In size, habits and value it is
sufficiently similar to the Rock Bass.
The Sacramento Perch, Archoplites interruptus, known only by the name
of ‘* Perch,’’ a name applied in the San Francisco markets to many very
different fishes. It has been thus far found only in the Sacramento and
San Joaquin Rivers and tributaries. It is abundant in the lower parts of
these rivers, large numbers being shipped to the market in San Francisco.
It is there bought and consumed mainly by the Chinese, who value it
highly, paying for it more than for any other fish which they consume.
Although it is an excellent pan-fish, very similar to the black bass, we
have never seen any of them bought by Americans. It reaches a weight
68 AME RIGAN FASITES.
of little more than one pound. Nothing distinctive is known of its
habits.
THE ROCK BASS.
The Rock Bass, Ambloplites rupestris,is also known as the ‘‘ Goggle-
eye’’ and ‘“‘ Red-eye.’’ All these names are in general use, the first
being most common in the Lake region, the last further south. It is
everywhere abundant in lakes, ponds and larger streams throughout the
Great Lake region and the Mississippi Valley. It prefers clear waters,
and is not often found in muddy bayous. it. is a hardy and gamey fish,
and takes the hook readily, and it is a good pan-fish, though not large, its
weight seldom exceeding one-and-a-half pounds. Like other Sun-fishes,
they spawn in early summer, and about the same time as Black Bass;
and keep much about sunken logs and roots.
The Mud Bass, Acantharchus pomotis, is found only in the coastwise
streams of the lowlands from New Jersey to North Carolina. Its habits
are similar to those of the Warmouth, but it is similar in size, and has
little value as a food-fish.
Centrarchus macropterus has no name more distinctive than ‘ Sun-fish ”’
or ‘‘Perch.’’ It is found throughout the lowland streams of the South
from North Carolina to Florida, Southern Illinois and Texas, preferring
generally rather deep, clear waters. It is rarely seen in upland streams.
It is a fish of good quality, but small, rarely weighing more than half a
pound. Little is known of its habits.
The Strawberry Bass, Pomoxys sparoides. is a beautiful fish known by a
THE SUN-FISHES AND THEIR ALLIES. 69
many names. In Lake Erie, and in Ohio generally, it is the ‘‘ Straw-
berry Bass,’’ “Strawberry Perch’’ or ‘‘ Grass Bass.’” The names ‘‘ Bitter
Head”’ and ‘‘Lamplighter’’ are also ascribed to it by Mr. Khppart, and
‘Bank Gack Bass’’ by Dr. Kirtland, and_.it 1s also’ called) ““Bar-fish,”’
PRaZoOrs back. = Chinquapin “Perch,” “Silver Bass’ and “Big Win
Bass.’? In Lake Michigan the name ‘‘Bar-fish’’ is in general use,
giving place in Illinois to the name ‘‘ Calico Bass.’’ ‘The latter is among
the most appropriate of these designations, having allusion to its varie-
gated color. In the South, like Amdbloplites rupestris, it becomes a
«« Goggle-eye’’ or ‘‘ Goggle-eyed Perch.’’ The Strawberry Bass is found in
abundance in all the lakes and ponds of the Great Lake region and the
Upper Mississippi. It is also diffused throughout the Mississippi Valley,
and appears in the streams of the Carolinas and Georgia east of the
mountains. Its preference is for quict, clear waters, with a bottom covered
with grass ; and in the muddy sloughs and bayous, where the Crappie is
abundant, it is rarely seen. It is an excellent pan-fish, reaching some-
times a weight of two or three pounds, although usually weighing not
more than a pound. It is, like its relatives, gamey; but it is not so vora-
cious as most of them. The following notes on its habits and value are
from the pen of Prof. Kirtland:
THE STRAWBERRY BASS.
‘‘The Grass Bass has not hitherto been deemed worthy of considera-
tion by fish culturists; yet, from a long and intimate acquaintance with
70 AMERICAN FISHES.
its merits, I hesitate not to pronounce it the fish for the million. It is a
native of our Western rivers and lakes, where it usually resorts to deep
and sluggish waters; yet in several instances, where it has found its way
into cold and rapid streams, and even small-sized brooks, by means of the
constructing of canals or by the hand of man, it has adapted itself to the
change, and in two or three years stocked to overflowing these new loca-
tions. Asa pan-fish, for the table, it is surpassed by few other fresh-
water species. For endurance and rapidity of increase it is unequaled.
* #* * The Grass Bass is perfectly adapted to stocking ponds. It
will thrive without care in very small ponds of sufficient depth. * * *
It will in nowise interfere with the cultivation of any number of species,
large or small, in the same waters. It will live harmoniously with all
others, and while its structure and disposition restrain it from attacking
any other but very small fry, its formidable armature of spinous rays in
the dorsal and abdominal fins will guard it against attacks of even the
voracious pike.’’
THE CRAPPIE.
Closely related to the Strawberry Bass is the Crappie, Pomoxys annularis.
It is the form almost universally called Crappie in the Mississippi Valley.
Dr. Henshall has proposed that it shall be called the ‘‘ Southern Crappie,’’
reserving the name ‘‘ Northern Crappie’’ for the Pomoxys sparoides.* It
is not such an easy matter to change the popular names of fishes, however
flexible may be the terminology of the ichthyologist. Strawberry Bass
* American Angler, III, 167
THE SUN-FISH AND THEIR ALLIES. i
and Calico Bass seem to be very appropriate designation for Pomoxys
sparotdes, and has the additional advantage of being already generally in
use in a larger district.
Pomoxys annularts is also known by such names as ‘‘ Bachelor’’ in the
Ohio Valley, ‘‘New Light ’’ and ‘‘Campbellite’’ in Kentucky, Illinois
and Indiana, names given to it by the irreverent during the great Camp-
bellite movement in the West nearly half a century ago. It is also called
««Sac-a-lait’’ and ‘*Chinquapin Perch’’ in the Lower Mississippi, and
has other names of local application as ‘‘ Tin Mouth,’’ ‘‘ Bridge Perch,’’
SGogeic Bye.» ““ speckled Perch,”’ “John Demon” and “Shad:”’
It is also often confounded with the preceding species, and some of the
names of the two are interchangeable. This species is not often seen in
the Great Lake region, but throughout the Lower Mississippi and its
tributaries it is very abundant. Its young swarm in all the muddy bayous
along the rivers, and great numbers of them are destroyed in the fall when
these bodies of water dry up. With the exception of its predilection for
muddy waters, I know little in its habits distinctive from those of the
Strawberry Bass. Like the latter, it is said to bean excellent fish for ponds.
Both take the hook, feed upon small fishes and crustaceans, and spawn
in spring. They grow to be about twelve inches long and to the weight
of a pound. Exceptionally large individuals have been known to weigh
three pounds.
Among the Louisiana anglers, especially about Lake Pontchartrain, the
Crappie is a prime favorite, for it will take a minnow bait as promptly as a
black bass. It is not very pugnacious, however, and will not fight as
long as the bass, and is also more easily frightened, requiring greater
caution on the part of the angler.
A correspondent of the Azg/er* describes the fishing in Cedar Lake,
Indiana. Angling is carried on from little flat-bottomed skiffs and from
sail boats, with bait of minnows, worms or pieces of fish. In five hours
two men caught fifty-seven bass and eighty-two Crappies. ‘Trolling is a
favorite mode of fishing among the people who live near the lake, who,
using two lines with spoon-baits or ‘‘ whirl,’’ and fishing from a sail boat,
frequently take two hundred or more Crappies in a day, besides occasional
pickerel, perch and bass. Two men fishing for pleasure, took in June,
1882, in the course of three days, a thousand Crappies, weighing from four
**¢ Jap” in American Angler, ii, 87.
72 AMERICAN FISHES.
to twenty-four ounces each. Another correspondent of the same journal
writes as follows concerning Crappie fishing near St. Louis.*
‘‘Our ‘ Croppie,’ the greatest pan-fish of the West, is highly esteemed
by us for the table. We have seen a monster Croppie this spring, weigh-
ing over three pounds, taken at Murdock Club Lake, near St. Louis, on
the Illinois side. We consider one of one-and-a-half to two pounds a
large one. ‘They are taken about logs and tree tops, on the water’s edge,
in our rivers andsloughs. They are greedy fellows, but as soon as hooked,
step right into the boat without a struggle for liberty.
«‘A gentleman of this place, a member of one of our old French families,
who turned the scale at about three hundred pounds, was noted for his
success in Croppie fishing. He would have his large flat towed to a tree ;
when, tied to a limb, he would settle himself for the day, on a pillow, placed
in a large split-bottom chair. Hauling his lve box and minnow pail
alongside, he would bait two hooks attached to a strong line, using a weak
snell, so that in case the hook should foul, he could break it loose. He
used a float and short, stout bamboo rod and, shaking the bushes a little,
‘to stir up the fish,’ would select an opening and carefully drop in the
minnow, two feet below the surface, pass the end of the rods through
rings in the side of the boat, light his pipe, and wait for something to
happen. It was not long, and after the fun began, it was the same
monotonous lifting out of fish, and dropping them into the live-box all
the day long, and was continued on the next, until he had brought to
creel over three hundred.
‘«T have always associated in my mind the Croppie, and the love of ease
and quiet of our old French inhabitants. Nothing could more truly
represent contentment and ease than the picture of this simple-minded
old gentleman, on his annual Croppie fish at King’s Lake.’’
*«¢ St. Louis”? in American Angler, i, 312.
see
ie
. sun a
OND.
THE RED SNAPPER.
SNAPPERS AND RED-MOUTHS.
The island’s edges are a-wing
With trees that overbranch
The sea, with song-birds welcoming
‘The curlews to green change,
And doves from half-closed lids espy
The red and purple fish go by.
Mrs. Brownina, Ax Island.
HE Snappers and the Grunts belong to Gill’s family, Prestipomatide.
Jordan puts them with the Sparzde, or Sea-Breams, while Giinther in-
cludes them in his much more comprehensive perch family. They are
among the most wholesome and abundant of the food-fishes of tropical
waters.. There are numerous species in the West Indian fauna, but only a
small number are sufficiently abundant on the coast of the United States
to merit discussion in this book.
The Snappers and Grunts are among the most highly colored of the
tropical fishes—the tanagers and grosbeaks of the coral reefs.
The Red Snapper, Lutfanus Blackfordit, although it has been for many
years a favorite food-fish of the Gulf of Mexico and Eastern Florida, has
but recently become known in Northern markets. About 1874 individuals
of this species were occasionally seen in New York and Washington, and
they began shortly after to come into notice in the cities of the Mississippi
Valley. It was not even described and named until 1878, when a study
nee
7A AMERICAN FISHES.
of the notes and measurements obtained in Florida confirmed my sus-
picion, which had been growing for years, that the species was new to
science. The name Lufjanus Blackfordit was chosen in compliment to
Mr. Eugene G. Blackford, Commissioner of Fisheries of New York, whose
enthusiastic labors have greatly aided all students of American ichthyol-
ogy, and who has added several species of fishes to the fauna of the United
States. The genus Zutjanus was founded in 1787 by Bloch, who derived
its designation from /kan Lutfjang, an Asiatic name for a kindred species of
the group. Its color is bright crimson, and it is the most conspicuous fish
ever to be seen in our markets.
Seven years ago the geographical range of this species was supposed to
be limited at the north by Savannah Bank, but during the summer of 1880
several specimens were taken along the coast of the Middle States; one,
nine-and-a-half pounds in weight, off Point Monmouth, New Jersey, Oc-
tober 5; another, about August ro, near Block Island. This northern ex-
tension of its range is quite unexpected, and the fact that even stragglers
find their way into the northern waters suggests great possibilities for the
future in the way of their artificial propagation and introduction along the
coast of the United States. In the South itis found on the same grounds
with the sea-bass, a species which is abundant as far north as Cape
Cod, and it is hard to understand why the banks which are favorite
haunts of this fish should not also be shared by the Red Snapper. In the
Gulf of Mexico the Red Snapper is exceedingly abundant in suitable lo-
calities from Key West to the Rio Grande.
‘¢ About the Florida reefs,’’ writes Silas Stearns, ‘‘and as far north as
Temple Bay, where there are reefs and rocks, they live in holes and gullies
where all kinds of marine animals and fish are most abundant, and some-
times, as I have noticed, off Charlotte Harbor numbers of them will con-
gregate about a solitary ledge protruding over a level bottom of white sand.
Throughout this southern district the fishing spots are small, but very
numerous ; and away from the reefs, where the bottom is chiefly sand, it is
only necessary to find rocks or rocky bottom to find Red Snappers. Since
it is impracticable to make use of bearings by which to find the fishing
grounds, the fishermen sail about, throwing the lead continually until it
indicates the proper bottom. Along the coast from Temple Bay to Texas
the bottom declines very gradually to the hundred-fathom curve, forming
vast, almost level plains of sand. In these barren wastes there are gullies
SVAPPERS AND RED-MOUTHS. 75
of variable size, having rocky bottoms and teeming with animal and vege-
table life. These gullies occur at a depth of from twelve to forty-five
fathoms, the water in them being several fathoms deeper than the sur-
rounding bottom, and more rocky, and in the deepest parts richer in ani-
mal life. Red Snappers are exceedingly abundant in these places, which
are the so-called ‘snapper banks.’ From Temple Bay to Cedar Keys the
gullies are numerous in sixteen, eighteen, and twenty fathoms ; from Cedar
Keys to Saint Mark’s, in fifteen and sixteen fathoms; off Saint Mark’s
and Dog Island there are a few in five and ten fathoms. From Cape San
Blas to the mouths of the Mississippi River occur the best fishing grounds
in the Gulf, so far as is now known; gullies ten and fifteen fathoms in
depth are especially abundant fifty miles west from the cape. West of the
Mississippi, and on the Texas coast, there are a few which are in twelve
and fifteen fathoms. These grounds are found by the use of the sounding-
lead, which shows every position by the sudden increase in the depth of
the water. Red Snappers live in such places all the year, except, per-
haps, in some of the five and ten fathom ones, which are nearly deserted
in winter. Off Pensacola there seems to be quite a movement inshore in
fall. In South Florida they are usualiy associated with the groupers,
which occur in the proportion of about three to one, while in West Florida
the case is reversed ; not more than one fish in ten of those caught is a
grouper.”’
Red Snappers are also known to be abundant on the Savannah Bank
and on the Saint John’s Bank, off Eastern Georgia and Florida.
The Red Snappers are strictly carnivorous, feeding upon small fish,
crabs, and prawns. The temperature of the water in which they live
probably rarely falls below 50°. They have no enemies except sharks and
two or three enormous spiny-rayed fishes such as the jew-fish or warsaw
(Guasa). The only reliable observations upon their breeding habits have
been made by Mr. Stearns, who states that they spawn in May and June
in the bays and at sea. In June, July, and August they are found in some
of the bays of the Northern Gulf, about wrecks and rock-piles, in consid-
erable numbers, and none are taken but the larger adults and the young from
one to eight inches long. The spawning season probably extends over a
period of several months, Mr. Stearns having found well-developed ovaries
in them from April to July. Nothing is known of their rate of growth.
They attain to the size of forty pounds. In East Florida, however, the aver-
76 AMERICAN FISHES,
age is much less. Mr. Stearns remarks that in the Gulf of Mexico they
very seldom exceed thirty pounds weight, though he has seen several of
that size, while the average is eight or nine pounds, and in a large lot may
usually be found individuals weighing from two-and-one-half to twenty
pounds.
Red Snappers from Florida are frequently quoted in the New York mar-
ket returns. In 1879 about 12,000 pounds were there sold. They are also
shipped to Boston, Washington and Baltimore in winter, the supply in
these cities being derived chiefly from Pensacola. Mobile and New Or-
leans consume considerable quanities, and from these ports they are
shipped up the Mississippi River to the principal cities of the West,
where the fish is growing to be a staple of much importance. In Saint
Louis and New Orleans itis one of the most highly esteemed food-fishes.
Snappers should always be boiled or cooked ina chowder. Thus treated
they are equal to the striped bass, sea bass or turbot, in flavor and texture.
The Court-Boutllon of the New Orleans cooks is made of Snappers, and is
very delicious.*
Snapper-fishing is usually carried on with a bottom bait of skip-jack,
bluefish, or young shark. The Snappers will sometimes bite at a white
rag. Norris, the only sporting authority who has written about them with
a clear understanding as to what species he was dealing with, states that
they bite readily at a silver or pearl squid. I am inclined to believe that
this isa mistake. Their habits are closely similar to those of the sea
bass and the sheepshead, and they seldom rise to the surface.
A trip to the Snapper banks is a favorite summer recreation for the gen-
‘tlemen of Jacksonville. A tug is chartered for the day, and usually re-
turns to the city with flags flying, whistles triumphantly sounding, and
gorgeous festoons of red fish hanging over the bows.
My friend, Dr. C. J. Kenworthy, has kindly given me the foilowing
memoranda concerning such a trip:
‘¢ Fighteen of us left Jacksonville at two o’clock in the morning, reaching
Mayport before daylight. Before the sun rose we were twelve miles from
the shore, and near the banks. The second cast of the lead furnished
* Court-Bouillon. ‘* This preparation gives boiled fish a better flavor than cooking in clear water does.
Many cooks use wine in it, but there is no necessity for it. Four quarts of water, one onion, one slice of car-
rot, two cloves, two table-spoonfuls of salt, one teaspoonful of pepper, one table-spoonful of vinegar, the juice
of half a lemon and a bouquet of sweet herbs are used. ‘Tie the onion, carrot, cloves and herbs in a piece of
muslin, and put in the water with the other ingredients. Cover, and boil slowly for one hour. Then put in
the fish and cook as directed for plain boiling.’’—Muss Parroa.
SNAPPERS AND RED-MOUTHS.
~~
~s
unmistakable evidence of rocks, and over-board went the lines. They
scarcely touched bottom before the cry ‘Snapper!’ ‘ Snapper!’ was heard,
and a crimson beauty graced our deck.
«« All were soon engaged, foreward, aft, starboard, and port. To feel the
bite of a twenty-five pound Snapper at a depth of twelve fathoms causes a
sensation never to be forgotten. As the line is pulled in and the fish is
first seen at a depth of several fathoms, he looks like silver and not larger
than one’s hand. As he comes nearer his tints deepen, as he struggles at
the surface to escape, all his rich, brilliant colors are displayed, and when
he reaches the deck every one exclaims, ‘What a beauty!’ For a few
minutes the shouts resound from all sides, but a change soon occurs.
Each man labors as if the number to be captured depended upon his in-
dividual exertions, and no breath or time could be spared to cry ‘Snap-
per!’ or indulge in fisherman’s chaff. In less than two hours the whistle
sounds ‘ Up lines’ for we must cross the bar at a particular stage of the
tide. The fish are biting rapidly, but our tired arms and blistered fingers
induce us all quietly to obey the warning.
‘On the home-trip our captures are counted;—not sea bass, porgies, and
small fry, but fish worth counting,—and it is found that the party has cap-
tured one grouper weighing thirty-five pounds, two of eighteen pounds,
and two hundred and eight snappers averaging twenty-five pounds each,—
the entire catch weighing two and one half tons.’’
One April day, some years ago, the writer and a party of friends were
passengers on the little steamer which pled between Jacksonville and the
mouth of the St. Johns. After leaving Mayport on the return trip, we
were hailed by a party of men from a large sail-boat laying-to in the mid-
dle of the river. We threw them a line, and they gave us a deck-load of
stout fishes,—shapely, bright-eyed, and crimson. We learned that the
boat had left Mayport on the previous afternoon, carrying six men, who
had, in three hours, taken ninety Red Snappers, weighing in the aggregate
over a ton, besides quantities of sea bass. Their brilliant hues were a
great surprise to those of our party who were acquainted only with the
neutral colors of the common northern market fishes, or perhaps had
even seen the dull red color of the Snappers hanging in the markets. ‘The
ladies were eager to possess some of the ‘‘ lovely scales,’’ but soon learned
one of the first lessons of ichthyology, that scales are always white, what-
ever may be the color of the fish which wear them.
The writer also learned a lesson in ichthyology, on the same occasion,
The opportunity to examine so many specimens of this fish, gave him the
clew to the fact that it was an undescribed species and led to its descrip-
tions by Goode and Bean under the name Lutfjanus Blackfordit.
78 AMERICAN FISHES.
The genus Zwfjanus is found everywhere in tropical waters, and
fish resembling the Red Snapper occur everywhere throughout the West
Indies. There is one which is abundant on the Bahama Banks and in
South Florida. This is LZ. campechianus, Poey, perhaps also accompanied
by Z. forridus, Cope. Two other brilliant red species occur with Z. Black-
Jordi in the Gulf of Mexico—the Pensacola Snapper, Z. Stearnsz7, and
the Mangrove Snapper, Rhomboplites aurorubens. On the Bermuda reefs
occurs a small but brilliant species, still undescribed, which I propose call-
ing L. autolycus.
The Pensacola Snapper might fairly be compared with Z. Black-
Jordi, although its color is somewhat less vivid. Concerning this spe-
cies, Mr. Stearns, whose name it bears, writes: ‘‘It is abundant on the
Gulf coast, and lives in the bays all the year. In summerit is to be found
about stone-heaps, wharves, and old wrecks, where it obtains crustaceous
food in abundance. In winter it returns to the deeper places in search of
food, and to escape from the cold surface-water. During a cold snap in
1876 a great many of these fish were benumbed and floated at the surface,
until the sun appeared and warmed them, when they revived and sought
the bottom. They spawn in May and June. They are very cunning, and
will not readily take the hook. Those commonly seen in the bays are
quite small, averaging ten inches in length, while those taken with the
Red Snappers at sea are from twenty to twenty-four inches long. It is an
excellent food-fish, generally thought to be superior in flavor to the Red
Snapper.’’ This fish has as yet been found only on the Gulf coasts of the
United States, where it is known as the ‘‘ Mangrove Snapper.’’ Since
this name is used on the Atlantic coast for another species, and has been
so used since the time of Catesby, it seems desirable to designate Lutjanus
Stearnsit by another name, and ‘‘ Pensacola Snapper’’ has been suggested.
The Mangrove Snapper, Rhomboplites aurorubens, of Charleston, called
’? is amuch more slender and ele-
gantly formed fish than either of the Snappers already described. Its
at Pensacola the ‘‘ Bastard Snapper,
color is less vivid, being somewhat more russet, and is enlivened by the
presence of narrow, oblique lines, with gold and yellow upon the sides.
It is a swift-swimming fish, probably less given to bottom feeding, and
more partial to a diet of living fish. It has been found at Jamaica, and
as far north as Charleston. o-. CG:
‘¢ In the Pensacola region,’’ writes Stearns, ‘‘it is well-known, but not
SMAPPERS AND RED-MOUTHS. 79
a common species.’’ Single individuals are occasionally brought in from
the sea with the Red Snappers and groupers. It is caught at all depths,
from ten to thirty-five fathoms, and seldom exceeds eighteen inches in
length. As a food-fish it is equal to the Red Snapper.
The Gray Snapper, Luwtjanus caxis, is similar in form to the others,
but not red in color. It is called the ‘‘ Gray Snapper’’ in South Florida,
and the ‘‘ Black Snapper’’ at Pensacola ; is abundant about the Bermudas,
and has been found on the east coast of Florida, in tropical South
America, in Western Africa, and about the Bermudas, where it attains the
enormous size of sixty to eighty pounds, and is known as the ‘‘ Gray Snap-
per,’’ and also, on account of its sly, cunning habits, the ‘‘Sea Lawyer.”’
Mr. Stearns writes: ‘‘It is most abundant in South Florida, living in
deep channels, on rocky bottoms, about old wrecks, stone-heaps, and
wharves ; it is considered the most cunning fish on the coast, and ex-
tremely difficult to catch. The young may be seen about the wharves,
and the breeding grounds are probably near by. ‘Those usually observed
are from ten to twelve inches in length, but I think I have seen specimens
which would measure two feet.”’
The Red-mouths or Grunts, small fishes belonging to the genus Diaéa-
sts, are found in the inshore waters of the Southern Atlantic and Gulf States.
They are closely related to the Snappers, which they resemble in form,
and have remote affinity, with the perch, the bass, and the porgy and
sheepshead. Their colors are usually striking, and without exception,
they are distinguished by the brilliant red color of the inside of the
mouth and throat, from which they have sometimes been called Red-
mouths, or Flannel-mouths. From their habit of uttering a loud, rather
melodious sound when taken from the water they have acquired the name
of ‘‘Grunts’’ and ‘‘ Pig-fish.’” In some localities they are called also
‘¢ Squirrel-fish,’’ in allusion to the same habit. ‘They are, for the most
part, bottom feeders, preying chiefly upon crustaceans and small fish. In
fact, they are, in most respects, miniature counterparts of the Red Snap-
per. In many localities they are in high favor as food-fish. They have
not yet been very carefully studied, but so far as they are now understood
the following species are known to occur in sufficient numbers to prove of
commercial importance.
The Black Grunt, Diabasis Plumieri, has a brownish body, lighter upon
the sides, and has the sides of the head ornamented with numerous hori-
So AMERICAN FISHES:
zontal stripes of bright blue, while the posterior half of the lower lip is red.
It occurs as far north as Charleston, and Dr. Yarrow claims to have seen
it at Beaufort, North Carolina, though there is some question whether this
species was not mistaken for another. Holbrook records that it has been
observed on the Atlantic borders of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.
I noticed several small individuals in the markets of Saint Augustine in
March, 1877. Stearns mentions the Black Grunt as abundant at Key
West among the reefs, and as frequently seen in the markets. It is there
known as the ‘‘ Ronco Grande,’’ D. a/dus being called the ‘‘ Margate
Fish,’’ and D. chromis the ‘‘ Sailor’s Choice.’’
The Red-Mouth Grunt, Déabasis aurolineatus, is probably the ‘‘ Flannel-
mouthed Porgy,’’ familiar to Florida fishermen, and often taken on
the St. Johns bar. It has recently been found to be common in
Charleston in summer. This species was mentioned in Catesby’s great
work, published in 1643, under the name of ‘‘ Margate-fish.’? When
alive its color is bright silvery, but 1t soon becomes, when taken from the
water, of a dull amber-brown, with a slight brazen tint along the back
and sides, though the belly remains white. The upper jaw, within, is white;
the palate is salmon-colored ; the lower jaw and mouth below are also
white in their interior third; the posterior two-thirds, both within and
without, are red, and the mouth below; the tongue and fauces are of a
similar color. This fish occurs in Northern Brazil and throughout the
West Indias, and specimens are recorded from Jamaica, Trinidad, and
the Bahamas ; it is found in the Bermudas and on our coast at least as far
north as Charleston. Stearns writes: ‘‘It is quite common on the Gulf
coast of Florida from Pensacola to Key West. It is caught with hook and
line, and is eaten as a pan-fish. I took an extremely large specimen
from the snapper ground between Cedar Keys and St. Marks in fifteen
fathoms of water. It is not found in the vicinity of Pensacola.’’ Hol-
brook writes: ‘‘The Red-mouthed Grunt is occasionally taken in our
waters at all seasons of the year, but is never abundant, as seldom more
than a dozen or two are met with in the market at one time. It is not
highly esteemed for food, since its flesh lacks both firmness and flavor.’’
Uhler and Lugger say that it occurs occasionally in the lower part of
the Chesapeake Bay, where it is not considered to possess great economi-
cal value. The occurrence of this species so far north needs confirmation.
The Norfolk Hog-fish, Pomodasys fulvomaculatus, belonging to a
SVAPPERS AND RED-MOUTAHS. SI
closely related genus is the ‘‘ Hog-fish,’’ or ‘‘ Grunt,’’ of the Chesapeake,
and called also ‘‘ Pig-fish ’’ or ‘‘ Grunt’ in the Gulf of Mexico, and ‘‘ Pork-
fish’? and ‘‘ Whiting’’ at Key West, and known in South Carolina and
the St. John’s River, Fla., as well as in Bermuda under the name of
‘¢Sailor’s Choice. Its colors are as follows: Above, pale brown ;
belly, silvery; sides marked with numerous orange-colored or yellow
spots; those above the lateral line disposed in irregular oblique lines,
those below it in horizontal rows. Dorsal, anal and caudal fins with
similar spots ; sides of the head pale bluish with a silvery tint and marked
with yellow spots; lower jaw, orange at the angle of the mouth ; internal
surface of the gill membrane bright orange.”’
THE NORFOLK HOG-FISH.
This species was first described by Mitchill from a specimen taken in
the bay of New York. The National Museum has many specimens from
various parts of the Southern coast and the Gulf of Mexico. ‘‘In New
York,’’ wrote DeKay in 1842, ‘‘this is a rare fish, but occasionally ap-
pearing, as I am informed, in our harbor in considerable numbers. It is
a very savory food.’’ Prof. Baird did not find it on the coast of New
Jersey in 1854. It occurs in the salt water of the lower part of the Chesa-
peake Bay, and is much esteemed for food, being perhaps the most popu-
lar pan-fish of the Lower Chesapeake.
At Beaufort, N. C., where it is also called ‘‘ Hog-fish,’’ according to
Jordan, it is extremely common everywhere in the harbor. Holbrook
wrote about 1860: ‘The ‘Sailor’s Choice’ makes its appearance in our
6
$2 AMERICAN FISHES.
waters about the month of April and continues with us until November,
when the largest are taken. I have found in the stomach of this animal
only the remains of small fish, and yet it takes hook readily when baited
with shrimps and clams. It is found along the coast from Georgia to Vir-
ginia, where it is called ‘‘ Hog-fish,’’ and is held in great estimation by
epleuresa,:
‘On the Gulf coast,’’ writes Stearns, ‘it is common everywhere and
throughout the year it lives in shallow water among the grass, feeding
upon small crustaceous animals. It spawns in April and May, and is
a choice food-fish. The average length is about ten inches.’’ Stearns
also refers to three species known respectively as the ‘‘ White,’’ “‘ Yellow ’’
and ‘‘ Black’’ Grunt, which are found at Key West and upon the neigh-
boring reef in great abundance. He states that ‘‘they are taken with
hook and line, and are brought daily into market. Before the poisoned
water visited that neighborhood the Grunt was the most important as well
as the favorite food-fish in the market, but since then they have been
scarce, and other fish, to a great extent, have taken their place.’’
On the coast of California, especially southward, occur two species of
this family; one, known by the name ‘‘Sargo,’’ Préstipoma David-
sont, is found from San Pedro southward to Cerros Island, chiefly about
the islands, and is nowhere common. It feeds on crustaceans, and is a
a good pan-fish, but is too scarce to have much economic value. It
reaches a length of about fifteen inches. Still another, Xenstiuws califor-
niensis Steindachner, occurs from San Diego to Cape San Lucas. It is
too scarce to be of any importance for food.
THE SHEEPSHEAD.
TEE sh EE PSiiE AD,
The pleasantest angling is to see the fish
Cut with her golden oars the silver stream
And greedily devour the treacherous bait.
SHAKESPEARE, Much Ado About Nothing, Act 111, Scener.
HE members of the family Sfavzdae, the ‘‘ Sea-Breams’’ as they are
often called, are especially characterized by their heavy, rather com-
pressed bodies, their large heads, and strong jaws and teeth. In addition
to one or more series of teeth in the front of the jaws, either conical or in-
cisorial in shape, adapted for tearing their food from its lodging places,
they always have a set of heavy, flat, grinding-teeth in the back of the
mouth, which are often in double or triple rows on each side and are closely
set, like the stones in a mosaic. Their use is to crush hard shells of mol-
lusks and of barnacles, and other crustaceans. They are sedentary in
their habits, living close to the bottom and browsing among the rocks
and piles. Their colors are usually inconspicuous and their motions slug-
gish. Representatives of this family are found throughout the world in
temperate and tropical waters everywhere, and were numerous in the seas
and lagoons of the Tertiary and Cretaceous periods.
The most important representatives of the family in America, are the
C
84 AMERICAN FISHES.
Sheepshead and the Scuppaug or Porgy. There are several others inhabit-
ing our southern coast, of which the Sailor’s Choice, Lagodon rhomboides,
and the Bream, or Bastard Snapper, Sfarus aculeatus, are the best known,
but these are of little importance to either fisherman or economist. On
the Pacific side are others, which will doubtless be better known in the
future than they are at the present time. .
The Sheepshead, Archosargus probatocephalus, is one of the choicest fishes
of our waters. It derives its name from the resemblance of its profile and
teeth to those of a sheep, and also from its browsing habits. Unlike most
of those fishes which are widely distributed along our seaboard, it has only
one name, and by this it is known from Cape Cod to the Mexican bor-
der. The negroes of the South, however, frequently erop the sibilant
sound from the middle of the word and call it ‘‘ Sheephead.’’
Several other species are called by the same name, but there is little
danger of confusion except in the case of the so-called ‘‘ Sheepshead’’ of
the Great Lakes, which is similar to the well-known ‘‘ Drum ;’’ this fish is
occasionally sold to the unwary on the recommendation of its good name. —
This fish has never been known to pass tu the north of the sandy arm of
Cape Cod, and its northern range is at present somewhat more limited than
it was eighty years ago. In the records of Wareham, Massachusetts, they
are mentioned as having been somewhat abundant in 1803, and in Narra-
gansett Bay there isa tradition that they began to disappear in 1793, when
the Scuppaug commenced to increase inabundance. In 1871, E. E. Taylor,
of Newport, testified before the U. S. Commissioner of Fisheries, that his
father caught Sheepshead in abundance forty-five or fifty years previous.
In 1870 and 1871 the species was coming into notice in this region, though
neither at that time nor since has it become common. On the south
shore of Long Island it is quite abundant, and in New York harbor and
its various approaches, at times, may be taken in considerable numbers.
On the coast of New Jersey it is also abundant, and between Cape May
and Montauk Point the species is said to attain its greatest perfection as a
food-fish. Lugger states that it frequents the oyster localities of all parts.
of Chesapeake Bay, but is now more common among the southeastern
counties of Virginia, where it comes in considerable numbers to feed upon
the animals which live on the oyster bars. It is found about wrecks of old
vessels, on which barnacles and mollusks live. About Beaufort, N. C:, it
is also abundant, and also along the entire coast of the South Atlantic and
THE SHEEPSHEAD. 8s
Gulf States, where it frequently ascends, especially in Florida, high up the
fresh-water rivers. In the Gulf, according to Stearns, it is abundant on
the coast from Southern Florida to Mexico.
The Sheepshead is a bottom-loving species, quiet in its habits, and little
given to wandering. North of Charleston it is absent from the inshore
waters during the winter season, but it is probable that its migrations do
not carry it far. Holbrook records that it has been taken in Port
Royal Sound as early as January, while in Charleston it makes its appear-
ance in April and continues until November. Dr. Mitchill, whose obser-
vations on this species in the vicinity of New York, made sixty years ago,
are perhaps as satisfactory as any which have been made, remarked that its
term of continuance was from the beginning of June to the middle of Sep-
tember. He had, however, known it to stay later, for one of the most
numerous collections of Sheepshead he ever saw was on the 4th of Octo-
ber, 1814; he had observed it as late as the 17th of October.
In Florida the Sheepshead is found along the shores throughout the
entire year, and also in the Gulf of Mexico.
It is curious to see how much at variance were the statements of early
observers concerning its habit of entering fresh-water streams. Mitchill
states explicitly: ‘‘He confines himself strictly to the salt water,
never having been seen in the fresh rivers.’’ Holbrook, speaking of the
vicinity of Charleston, says: ‘‘It enters shallow inlets and mouths of
rivers, but never leaves the salt for fresh water.’’ In the St. John’s and
other rivers of Florida the Sheepshead becomes almost a fresh-water spe-
cies, and the young, especially, are constantly taken in seines in company
with bass, perch and suckers, far above the limits of perceptibly brackish
water. It is not yet possible to infer with any certainty what the tempera-
ture :imits of this species may be, but it would seem probable that they
never willingly encounter water colder than 60°, except perhaps in fall,
when they are reluctant to leave their feeding grounds.
The statement just made, however, requires acertain qualification. No
one knows whether the Sheepshead of our Northern waters go south in win-
ter or whether they simply become torpid and remain through the season
in deep holes near their summer haunts, their presence unsuspected. _ Per-
haps it would be wiser to say that they are not actually engaged in feeding
when the temperature is lower than 60°, and that their winter habits are
entirely unknown. Where the water is warmer than 60° throughout the
86 AMERICAN FISHES.
year, they are constantly active. The Sheepshead feeds almost exclusively
upon hard-shelled animals, mollusks and barnacles, and particularly on
young oysters as they grow, attached to stones and sticks of wood. With
its strong cutting and grinding teeth and powerful jaws it easily rips off
thick bunches of shells, which are quickly triturated by the mill-stone
like jaws. The anglers of the South take advantage of their knowledge
of its habits.
The Hon. William Elliot, in his ‘‘ Carolina Sports by Land and Water,”’
describes the peculiar methods employed in Port Royal Sound, South
Carolina:
‘« They are exceedingly choice in their feeding, taking no other bait but
shell-fish. Their favorite food is the young oyster, which, under the form
of barnacles, they crush with their strong teeth. Of course they frequent
those shores that abound with fallen trees. On the Florida coast they are
taken in great quantities among the mangrove trees, whose roots growing
in the salt water, are covered with barnacles. Formerly they were taken
in considerable numbers among our various inlets. Wherever there were
steep bluffs, from which large trees had fallen in the water, there they
might confidently be sought. But as these lands have been cleared for the
culture of sea-island cotton, the trees have disappeared, and with them the
fish ; and it has been found necessary to renew their feeding grounds by
artificial means. Logs of pine or oak are cut and framed into a sort of hut
without a roof. It is floored and built up five or six feet high, then
floated to the place desired, and sunk in eight feet of water by casting
stones or live-oak timber within. As soon as the barnacles are formed,
which will happen in a few weeks, the fish will begin to resort to the
ground. It is sometimes requisite to do more before you can succeed in
your wishes. ‘The greatest enemies of this fish are the sharks and _ por-
poises, which pursue them incessantly and destroy them, unless they can
find secure hiding-places to which to retreat. ‘Two of these pens, near each
other, will furnish this protection ; and when that course is not adopted,
piles driven near each other, quite surrounding the pen, will have the same
effect. Your work complete, build a light staging by driving down four
upright posts at a distance of fifteen feet from the pen, and then take your
station on it, provided with a light, flexible, and strong cane reed, of
twenty feet length, with fourteen feet of line attached, a strong hook and
alight lead. Instead of dropping your line directly down and poising it
occasionally from bottom, I prefer to throw the line out beyond the per-
pendicular and let the head he on the bottom. The Sheepshead is a shy
fish, and takes the bait more confidently if it hes on the bottom. When
he bites you perceive your rod dipping for the water; give a short, quick
jerk, and then play him at your leisure. If the fish is large, and your jerk
PAE SHEEPSHEAD, 87
too violent, the rod will snap at the fulcrum—the grasp of your left hand.
It has happened that, at one of these artificial grounds, I have taken six-
teen Sheepshead at one fishing. What was unusual was that they were
taken in February, when no one thinks of fishing for these or any other
sea-fish within the inlets. I ascertained, from the continued experiments
of several years, that they could always be taken at this season, and, fre-
quently, January also. ‘The difficulty is to find bait, for neither shrimps
nor crabs are then in season. In the case referred to the difficulty was
thus removed: The lines were rigged with two hooks; upon one was
placed an oyster taken fresh from the shell, on the other an oyster boiled.
The scent of the first attracted the fish, but so httle tenacity was found in
it that, before the fish had taken hold of the hook, the oyster was detached ;
but when, encouraged by the taste of the first, the fish advanced to the sec-
ond, that having acquired toughness from boiling, would adhere until the
hook was fairly taken into the fish’s mouth. They clearly prefer the un-
cooked to the cooked oyster, but the latter was more to the fisherman’s
purpose. Their fondness for this food suggested the expedient of break-
ing up the live oysters in the shell and scattering them in the vicinity of
the ground ; also that of letting down the broken oysters in a wicker bas-
ket. Each plan is found effectual in attracting the fish.
‘‘The bluffs, in their primitive state, in which trees enough are found
fallen to give the fish both food and protection against their enemies, are
only to be met with now among the Hunting Islands, where the barrenness
of the land had secured them against cultivation. On two occasions I
have enjoyed excellent sport at such places. On one I took twenty-three
to my own rod; on another, twenty-four, and desisted from fatigue and
satiety. They are never taken in such numbers when fishing from a boat
with a drop-line on the rocks. It is very rare that as many as twenty are
taken in one boat.”’
In New Jersey, Sheepshead pens are made by forming enclosures of long
stakes driven into the sandy bottom of bays and inlets.
In the North, the Sheepshead is equally a great favorite, and the in-
structions to anglers written nearly a hundred years ago by Mitchill is bet-
ter than any by more recent writers.
«¢ This noble fish visits the neighborhood of Long Island annually,
emerging from the depths of the ocean. He feeds in the recesses and
inlets upon the clams and mussels, which are abundant and on which he
loves to feed. He confines himself strictly to the salt water, never having
been seen in the fresh rivers. His term of continuance is only during
the warmest season; that is, from the beginning of June to the middle of
September. He then disappears to the unknown depths of the Atlantic,
and isseen no more until the ensuing summer. ‘The Sheepshead swims in
shoals, and is sometimes surrounded in great numbers by the seine ; several
88 AMERICAN FISHES.
hundreds have often been taken at a single haul with the long sweeping
nets in use near Rayner Town, Babylon and Fire Island. They even tell
of a thousand brought to land at a draught. He also bites at the hook,
and several are not unfrequently thus caught in succession. The outfitting
of a Sheepshead party is always an occasion of considerable excitement
and high expectation, as I have often experienced. Whenever a Sheeps-
head is brought on board the boat more joy is manifested than by the
possession of any other kind of fish. The sportsmen view the exercises so
much above common fishing that the capture of the Sheepshead is the
most desirable combination of luck and skill; and the feats of hooking
and landing him safely in the boat furnish 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. Sheepshead have been caught with such fish-
ing-tackle fastened to their jaws. When the line or hook gives way, the
accident makes a serious impression on the company. As the possession
of the Sheepshead is a grand prize, so his escape is felt as a distressing loss.
I know an ancient fisherman who used to record in a book the time,
place, and circumstances of every Sheepshead he had caught. This fish is
sometimes speared by torchlight in the wide and shallow bays of Queens
County and Suffolk.’’
Dr. Mitchill concludes his naive remarks by the mournful words: ‘‘ It
is to be regretted that the Sheepshead too often corrupt for want of ice.’’
Schoepf, writing of the same region forty years before, states that dur-
ing the period of the Revolutionary war the Sheepshead was very abun-
dant in the summer months and was a very highly prized species. In
1773 the New York Chamber of Commerce offered a prize of twenty
pounds sterling to the crew of the vessel which should bring to the city
markets, ‘‘ the greatest quantity of live Sheepshead, from the 1st of May,
1773, to the 1st of May, 177'4."’ Some unknown writer contributed to
Brown’s ‘‘ American Angler,’’ in 1846, the following memorandum :
?
‘¢These noble fish have become quite scarce in our harbor. The writer
has taken them repeatedly near Governor’s Island, opposite the Battery,
but this was in days long since gone by. Still, they are still taken, occa-
sionally, at Caving Point and at the Signal poles, at the Narrows, also at
Pelham Bridge and Little Hell Gate.’’
Scott gives the following advice to Sheepshead anglers :
‘¢Tf a resident of New York, you will find Canarsie on the Old Mill,
near East New York, the most convenient place from which to take a sail-
boat ; a boat is generally at hand at either place. Sail down the channel
above the inlet toward Near Rockaway, about a mile below Remson’s Ho-
THE SHEEPSHEAD. 89
tel; feel by sounding for a mussel-bed (they are numerous for a mile along
shore), about two hundred yards from which, when found, cast anchor far
enough away so that, when the boat toles round from the tide toward the
feeding-ground, the cast required for dropping your anchor will be about
fifty feet. The water should be about seven feet deep at low tide, and it
rises there from four to six feet. The best time is during the period be-
tween high and low tides when the water is slack, and until it runs at the
rate of five miles an hour, or one hour after it begins to run ; for when the
tide runs out it is then considered that Sheepshead seek some still-water
ground and wait for a moderate motion of the waters. At the right times
of tide the location of the mussel-beds is plainly indicated by a fleet of fif-
teen to twenty sail-boats or hand-line fishermen. Many of them are far-
mers, who, residing near the shore of Jamaica Bay, employ the interreg-
num between hay and grass, uniting their profits, and earning from $3 to
$10 a day, by fishing for Sheepshead.
‘There are many places along our shores better than Jamaica Bay.
The Hand-line Committee makes it pay at Fire Island, and there are
many superior feeding places in the South Bay ; about the wreck of the
‘ Black Warrior,’ near the Narrows, is celebrated for its great numbers of
them ; in truth, our whole coast south of Long Island is rendered inviting
by this delicious fish.’’
The favorite resorts of northern Sheepshead anglers are among the rocks
about Jamaica Bay, South Bay, and Fire Island, and in various parts of
New York Bay, as well as in similar localities on the coast of New Jersey.
The Sheepshead of the North is generally considered much finer in
flavor, as well as larger than its southern brethren, but I can speak from
experience of the delicious quailities of these fish taken in the St. John’s
River, Fla., at the upper limit of brackish water, and am inclined to
doubt the vaunted superiority of those of New York.
In Florida, and as far north as Port Royal, S. C., the Sheepshead is a
winter resident. Mr. Elliott tells of his success in fishing for these species
in January and February, despite the scarcity of bait. At Charleston the
fish is scarce in winter. At the mouth of the Chesapeake it appears in early
April, in New Jersey in May, and at about the same time in the vicinity
of New York. In mid-summer it is seen in southern New England. It
leaves New Jersey about September, and Virginia in October. Its pre-
ferred temperature is, probably, not below 60° or 65° F. Frank H. Al-
len in the American Angler, (1,55) states that at Indian River Inlet, Fla.,
three men at one tide took one hundred and sixty Sheepshead, using
roasted oysters for bait. He states that Sheepshead may, as a rule, be
go AMERICAN FISHES.
taken wherever the mangrove roots extend out into the water, but in shal-
lows they are frightened away.
Little is known of its reproduction. When they first appear on our
northern coast we are assured by several writers, they are always thin and
unfit for food; it would seem from this that if their spawning season
must then have just come toanend. Noone, has made any careful obser-
vations upon this point north of Florida however.
Mr. S. C. Clarke has observed that about New Smyrna, in the Indian
River region of Florida, they spawn at the mouths of rivers and inlets in
March and April, the sexes mixing together in schools. The eggs are de-
posited in shallow water near the shore, and are about the size of mustard
seed, and dark. At the spawning season the fish play near the surface and
become thin and unfit for food. The young fish are abundant in shallow
water among the rocks.’’
Silas Stearns writes from Pensacola:
‘¢ The Sheepshead spawns in April and May, inthe bays. On June 18,
1878, and in June, 1879, I caught young Sheepshead, measuring a quarter
of an inch, in Pensacola Bay. It lives about wharves, rock-piles, old
wrecks, oyster-reefs, and, in South Florida, about the roots of the man-
grove tree, feeding upon the barnacles that grow in such places. It is
caught with hook and line, in fall and winter, at which seasons it is in its
best condition. Its average weight is three or four pounds, and its maxi-
mum twenty pounds.”’
Those taken about New York sometimes weigh from twelve to fifteen
pounds, though the average size is not more than six. All authorities
agree that the Sheepshead is one of the very finest food-fishes in
our waters, many persons prefering it to the salmon, while others com-
pare it to the English turbot, which, in the writer’s judgment, it excels
in flayor.*
* How to Dorr Fisu.—The art of boiling fish is so little understood, that it is deemed proper to insert the
following instructions, derived from the writings of Georgiana Hill of London. The method of boiling
usually practiced is simply to place the fish in salt water, which should be cold if the fish is large, and
hot for small-sized fish; in the latter case, two or three minutes in the boiling water will be sufficient, and
a sheepshead or bass of four or five pounds will not require more than about ten minutes from the time the
water begins to boil. Whenever practicable, use a strainer whereon to place the fish in the sauce-pan.
Some kinds of fish may be first skinned, but carp should retain its skin,
When only salt is added to the water, the fish is said to be a /’eau de sel. When sea-water is used, the
fish is understood to be dressed a 2’ Hollandaise. | When white wine or vinegar. and spices and shred
onions, are employed to flavor the water, the fish becomes az court d0uil/on, and should the fish be simmered
in a small quantity of water, to which is added a savoury seasoning of herbs, it is known as being a /a donne
eau ; in this case it is generally served in the liquor in which it was dressed ; done in equal quantities of red
wine and water, strongly impregnated with aromatic herbs the fish is described as being az 4Zeu, and is almost
THE SHEEPSHEAD. gt
The Pin-fish, Diplodus Holbrookit, which is abundant at Charleston and
about Beaufort, N. C., was first scientifically described by Dr. Bean from
specimens obtained in Charleston market, in March, 1878. Jordan found
it abundant everywhere near the shores of Beaufort, N. C., in which region
it reaches but a small size, and is not used for food. It is confounded by
the fishermen with the Sailor’s Choice, Lagodon rhomboides,
invariably served cold; only the best kinds of fish, such as striped-bass, sea-bass, sheepshead, moonfish
red snapper, squeteague, salmon &c., are treated in the last way. ' : é
Salmon, and all dark-fleshed fish require much more boiling than the white-fleshed kinds.
When possible, some vinegar should be rubbed on the outside of fish before it is boiled, by which means
the skin is prevented from cracking, but the introduction of much flavoring in the liquor in which it is
dressed is principally necessary when the fish has been some time out of the water, and is consequently de-
ficient in natural flavor.
It is considered preferable to serve boiled fish upon a napkin, rather than have a sauce poured over it in the
dish: and with salmon it is thought better taste to have a plain white sauce, instead of anything less simple;
cucumber or melon in slices may be served apart. 4
No positive rules can be given as to the length oftime fish should be boiled, as everything depends upon the
size and kind of fish you have to dress. =
Salmon, usually, should be allowed at least ten minutes to each pound, while two or three minutes per
pound will be ample for haddock, cod, &c.; a mackerel needs about a quarter of an hour to do it properly ;
herrings, and many other sorts of fish, scarcely half so long. 3
THE SCUPPAUG. STENOTOMUS CHRYSOPS.
THE SCUPPAUG ANDTHE FAI Vip:
Bait the hook well ; this fish will bite.
SHAKESPEARE, JZuch Ado About Nothing, Act ii, Scene iii.
CUPPAUG, the name of this fish, is an abbreviation of AZishcuppauog,
an appellation used by the Narragansett Indians, which has unfor-
tunately been corrupted to form two others, neither of which is euphon-
ious or significant. In New England it is generally called ‘‘Scup,”’
while about New York the second syllable of the abbreviated Indian
name has been lengthened into ‘‘ Paugy’’ or ‘‘Porgy.’’ ‘The latter
name is particularly objectionable because it belongs to an_ Eng-
lish fish, and its proper etymology as a fish-name is very different.
Another Indian word, ‘‘ poghaden,’’ a corrupt form of the Abnaki name
for the menhaden, or moss-bunker, has been changed to ‘‘ pogy’’ and
‘¢porgy,’’ thus leading to much confusion. ‘‘ Scuppaug’’ is an excellent
name for the fish, and its claims for general adoption will be recognized
by all who wish to preserve the memory of the aboriginal languages of
America.
THE SCUPPAUG AND THE FAIR MATD. 93
Tautog, chogset, squeteague, mummichog, mattawacca, menhaden,
siscowet, tullibee, quinnat, oulachan, oquassa and namaycush are among
the best of them ; their number 1s few, and they need careful guardianship.
Until very recently only one species of the genus S/exotomus was known
to occur in our waters. Dr. Bean has, however, shown that there are two
on the Atlantic coast of the United States, in addition to the unimportant
species, S. caprinus, recently described from the Gulf of Mexico.
The ‘‘Scup’’ of the North, Stexotomus chrysops, is by far the most im-
portant, though the Southern species, S. acu/eatus, has considerable com-
mercial value. The former, which is distinguished by its larger teeth
and more abrupt profile, is abundant between Cape Cod and Cape Hatteras ;
the latter has its metropolis on the Carolina coast, but has been found
sparingly as far north as Wood’s Holl, Mass.
Ww
THE FAIR MAID. STENOTOMUS ACULEATUS.
On the Virginia coast the Southern Scup is known as the ‘‘ Fair Maid.’’
The name ‘‘ Porgy ’’ is in use about Charleston, S. C., but is not dis-
tinctive, being applied to several allied forms. Their range is much more
limited to the south and extends farther to the north than that of the
Sheepshead. Holbrook wrote in 1860: ‘‘The Porgy is found along our
coasts at all seasons of the year, though most abundant in June and July.”’
He further states that its southern limit on the Atlantic border is Cape
Florida, a statement probably not susceptible of proof.
94 AMERICAN FISHES.
The Northern Scup rarely passes the boundary of Cape Cod; in 1878,
however, thirty-seven were taken at the Milk Island weir off Thatcher’s
Island, Cape Ann, Mass., and they appear to be increasing in abundance.
This species does not appear to be indigenous north of Cape Cod.
Storer states that in the year 1831 or 1832 asmack-load of Scuppaugs
arrived in Boston. <A portion of them were purchased by subscription
among the fishermen in the market and thrown into the harbor, and that
in 1834 or 1835 Capt. Downes carried a smack-load from Vineyard Sound
and threw them overboard in Plymouth Harbor. From 1860 to 1867
small numbers appeared north of Cape Cod, and were yearly captured at
Wellfleet and Sandwich.
Judging from the rare occurrence of the species thus introduced, it can
hardly be considered to have become naturalized ; the few which have
been taken were doubtless summer stragglers, although in 1878 over one
hundred were taken at Capt. Webb’s weir on Milk Island.
The life history of the Scuppaug has been thoroughly worked out by
Prof. Baird, and from his paper published in the first volume of the report
of the U. S. Fish Commission, the following life-history is compiled :
‘Tt makes its appearance, at least in considerable quantity, on the
coast of New England about the middle of May, although the advance-
guard of very large fish arrive sometimes as early as the middle of April ;
and it is most abundant toward the 1st of June, and arrives in successive
detachments or ‘runs’ differing in size, the smallest fish coming last. The
first run on the southern coast of New England, as stated, takes place
about the beginning of May, and consists of large breeding fish, weighing
from two to four pounds, and measuring up to eighteen inches or more in
length. The spawn is quite well developed at that time, and is said to be
at first red, but gradually to become light yellow as it matures. The
particular time and place, however, of laying the eggs is not yet known,
although it is probable that this occurs early in June, since the schools are
said to break up about the middle of that month, and the fish to scatter.
It is thought probable that the spawning takes place in the eel-grass
which covers the shoal water of Narragansett Bay and Vineyard Sound.
‘‘According to the fishermen generally, the Scup on first coming into
the shores do not take the hook readily, being apparently too much occu-
pied in the business of reproduction, and two weeks usually elapse before
they can be caught in this way. They present themselves in large schools
of immense extent, and moving very slowly, at about the rate of three
miles an hour. From the testimony presented before the committe of
investigation of the Rhode Island legislature, they appear to come from
the south and west, as when they enter Narragansett Bay they strike the
RAE SCOPPAUG AND THE FATE MAD.
XS)
UL
western shore and move up along its edge. They are said, however, to
drift slowly backward and forward with the tide, especially at the entrance
of this bay. At this time they are very sluggish, and are said sometimes
to appear as if blind, and can frequently be taken with the hand, ora
very short scoop-net.
«According to Capt. Edwards, of Wood’s Holl, in proceeding to their
breeding-grounds, on the coast of New England, they are taken at Mon-
tauk Point three weeks earlier than at Wood’s Holl, and a week earlier at
Wood’s Holl than at Hyannis, still farther east.
‘The Scup feed upon a great variety of marine animals, such as worms,
small crustaceans, mollusks, &c., and take the hook very freely during the
greater part of their stay; in fact, the smaller ones become veritable
nuisances to the fishermen, from the readiness with which they pounce
upon the baited hook whenever thrown overboard.
‘« The flesh of the Scup is very much prized by most persons, as it is
firm and flaky, and usually sweet, although occasionally a bitter flavor
detracts from its palatability. Since the settlement of the coast by the
whites, it has been by far the most important food-fish of Fisher’s Island
and Vineyard Sound, Narragansett Bay and of Buzzard’s Bay ; and the
rapid diminution in number has caused the greatest solicitude.
‘Of their abundance on the south coast of New England in former
times, almost incredible accounts are given. ‘They swarmed to such a
degree that their capture ceased to be a matter of sport. The line when
thrown overboard could be immédiately withdrawn with the assurance of
having a fish on each one of two hooks. Any number of fishermen from
boats could take five hundred to one thousand pounds a day without the
slightest difficulty, the limits of the catch being simply the ability to find
a sale.
‘¢ Tn flavor the flesh of this fish is surpassed by very few others on the
coast, although its superabundance caused it to be undervalued. The
period of greatest development in number of this fish coincided with that
of the absence of the bluefish, and since the return of the latter to the
coast of New England the Scup has become scarce, although still a very
important object of pursuit.
‘¢The Scup is a fish that grows with rapidity, and at two years is almost
of sufficient size to be marketable. ‘Throughout the summer young fish of
the spring spawning are to be seen floating around in the eel-grass and
over the sandy bottoms, having attained a length of from two and a half
to three and a quarter inches by the 1st of October. When these fish
reappear the next season, thus completing one year of existence, they
measure about six inches, six to eight or nine weighing a pound ; and by
the 1st of September attain an average length of eight inches, including
the tail, and a breadth of three inches. In the third year of existence, or
at the age of two years, they have increased considerably, though not so
rapidly as was once supposed, measuring, on their reappearance, about
96 AMERICAN FISHES.
ten inches, with an average weight of one-half pound. After this they
grow more quickly. One hundred and ninety-nine, presumed to be three
years’ fish, weighed on the 6th of September, averaged one and a half
pounds each, and measured about twelve inches in length by four and
half inches in width, some individuals being larger and some smaller.
The female fish of the second year not unfrequently contains mature eggs.
It isin the fifth year, or after the lapse of four years from birth, that the
Scup presents its finest development ; specimens believed to be of this age
measured fourteen or fifteen inches by five to six inches or more, with a
weight of two-and-a-half to three pounds. They, however, still continue
to grow, specimens being not unfrequently met with eighteen inches long,
and weighing four pounds andeven more. The dimensions may belong to
fish of six or more years of age; more probably, however, of five years.
“CAs a general rule; in their movement along the coast the Scup are not
found in water shallower than a few fathoms ; and it sometimes happens,
in the course of heavy storms, that in consequence of the discoloration of
the water near the shore the fish move farther out to sea, and on such
occasions measurably escape falling into the traps.
‘*The Scup is very largely a bottom feeder, and depends very much
upon mollusks or shell-fish for subsistence. I have been informed by the
fishermen that they may frequently be seen feeding upon small bivalves of
different species, rooting them out of the sand or ‘mud. The stomachs of
about two hundred one and one-half pound Scup were examined at one
time in the beginning of September. These almost exclusively contained
shells of various genera, with some worms and a few amphipods. Its
especial food appears to be small shells, crabs, shrimps and possibly small
fish. The abundance of such food on the south coast of New England
must be prodigious to support the swarms that even now are found there.
It is in regard to this species that a close time appears desirable, so that
access to the spawning-grounds and freedom from disturbance may be
enjoyed by a sufficient number to maintain the species.
‘Like all other small fish, they are devoured by their more rapacious
fellows, and very largely by bluefish, notwithstanding a general impres-
sion to the contrary. The extent to which this takes place will be con-
sidered under the head of the bluefish. Halibut, cod, sharks and other
ground-feeders likewise use them up in great numbers,
‘As already remarked, the breeding fish do not appear to feed on their
first arrival, being then too much occupied in carrying out the reproduc-
tive function. As, however, they can be taken with the hook about the
rst of June, we may infer that this is about the time they begin to feed
for themselves. ‘The younger fish probably feed as soon as they reach the
shores. No remains of fish have hitherto been found in the stomachs of
Scups, and we may conclude that they are not piscivorous.
‘©The Scup remain along the northern coast until about the middle of
October, when the larger ones, at least, begin to leave the shores and
THE SCUPPAUG AND THE FAIR MAID. 97
move out into deeper water. Mr. Vinal Edwards has, however, taker
younger fish at Wood’s Holl as late as the roth of December, and Capt..
John Rogers, of Noank, states that, in fishing for cod on Nantucket
Shoals late in November, their stomachs are occasionally filled with small
Scup, which drops out of their mouths when hauled on deck, found to be
to the extent of five or six ata time. It is quite possible that they, as well
as other fish, seek in winter that portion of the Gulf Stream that corre-
sponds in temperature to that of their summer abode; and as the mean
summer temperature of the waters of Southern Massachusetts and Rhode
Island amounts to about 63° F., they must go nearly to the lati-
tude of Norfolk, Va., before they can find that same temperature in the
winter season.”’
This species has a certain interest derived from its connection with an
early and important incident in the history of the market fisheries, for we
are told that the smack ‘‘ Amherst,’’ launched July 23, 1763, was the first
fishing boat provided with a well for the transportation of living fish ; and
that she was intended for the ‘‘ porgy’’ fishery. In the New York Gazette
of January 30, 1764, were printed some lines beginning thus:
‘Since on our banks the porgys found
A smack they’ve built to try the ground,” etc., etc.,
The ‘‘ porgy’’ soon became too common for profit or pleasure, and the
fishing was abandoned. *
Immense numbers of Scup are caught in the pounds and traps in Rhode
Island and Massachusetts, and for several weeks in each year the market
is usually glutted, a barrelful being frequently sold for twenty-five to fifty
cents, or a small fraction of a cent a pound. It is extremely doubtful °
whether any part of the more northern coast of North America can fur-
nish, within three miles of the shore, as large a weight of fish in mackerel,
herring and cod as has been furnished by the Scup, sea-bass and tautog
alone in the waters of Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Mr. William
Davol, of Rhode Island, with his ‘‘ gang,’’ caught 2,400 barrels of Scup,
valued at $1,200, at Seconnet, in May, 1860. Fish were purchased by
Messrs. Reynolds, Young & Co., of Fall River, and shipped to Philadelphia.
In the summer of 1880 over 2,500,000 pounds were sold in New York
city alone, and the product of the New England fishery amounted to at
least double the quantity. As many as 10,000 barrels have been taken at
once in a single pound in Narragansett Bay. The Scup is not especially
* De Voe, Market Assistant, p. 182.
7
98 AMERICAN FISHES,
_in favor as a food-fish, although when very fresh it is entitled to a middle
rank. Large ones should be broiled with rich sauce, small ones treated as
pan-fish. The flesh is somewhat dry, and without distinctive flavor.
I was greatly surprised to find this species exposed for sale in the markets
of Parisand Rouen in 1883, and meeting with a ready sale. A large
quantity had been sent in ice from New York to France.
The European analogue of our American Scup or Porgy is the Sparus
auratus, the Braize or Becker, sometimes Bream, of the fishermen. This
fish frequents the European coast in summer, and is said to have
much the same habits as our American species. They are eaten only by
the poorer classes.
SLE seen Weeay
me, Oana ae
THE SAILOR'S CHOICE.
The Sailor’s Choice, Lagodon rhombotdes, is found in very great
abundance from Cape Hatteras south, and around the Gulf coast ;
also occasionally north of Cape Hatteras; it is known in the lower part
of the Chesapeake Bay, and two or three stragglers have recently been
taken at Wood’s Holl, Massachusetts. It is not uncommon in the Ber-
mudas. It may readily be recognized by the longitudinal stripes of
iridescent color upon the sides, and by the peculiar character of the teeth,
each having a prominent notch on either edge. .
The ‘Sailor’s Choice,’’ as it is called in the St. John’s River, at
ee
THE SCUPPAUG AND THE FAIR MAID. 99
known about Cape Hatteras as the ‘‘ Robin’’ and “ Pin-fish,’’ at Charles-
ton as the ‘‘Salt-water Bream,’’ at Brunswick, Ga., as the ‘‘ Squirrel-
fish: | ama“ Sailors) Choice,”
Brunswick, Ga., and about Key West, bears several other names, being
in the St. John’s” River as the ‘* Sailor’s
Choice’’ and ‘‘ Porgy,’’ in the Indian River region as the “‘Sailor’s
Ghoice;* *°scup,* and“ Yellow-tail,’” at Cedar Keys.as the “*Porey *”
’ and at Pensacola as the ‘‘ Chopa Spina.’’
South of Cape Hatteras this fish is exceedingly abundant, and is usually
found in company with the sheepshead, which it much resembles in habits.
?
and ‘‘ Shiner,
Its jaws, however, are not so strong as those of the sheepshead, by reason
of which it is debarred from feeding upon the stronger shelled mollusks
and crustaceans, which constitute the principal diet of the latter.
On the Atlantic coast the largest individuals rarely exceed ten inches in
length, the ordinary size in Eastern Florida being six or eight inches,
with the weight of five or six ounces.
The Sailor’s Choice is one of the most deliciously flavored fishes of our
coast, being preferred to the young sheepshead by many of those who are
familiar with its good qualities. Lugger states that it enters the drains of
the ocean coast of Maryland, and is occasionally caught in the lower part
of the Chesapeake Bay. According to Jordan they are excessively abund-
ant everywhere in the harbor of Beaufort, N. C., where they are taken by
the thousand by boys with hook and line from the wharves, but are seldom
used for food, and are found equally numerous through the Gulf States
coast.
At Charleston, according to Holbrook, this fish is taken at all seasons
of the year, though most plentiful in May and June. No reference is
made by this author to its value as an article of food. At Brunswick,
Ga., the Sailor’s Choice is highly esteemed ; in the St. John’s it is very
abundant, and is taken in company with the sheepshead far up the river.
It is easily captured with hooks baited with shrimp, and is considered to
be a very superior pan-fish, its flesh resembling that of the scuppaug,
though much sweeter and harder.
In the Indian River region, according to Mr. S. C. Clarke, this fish is
resident all the year, and is very abundant. ‘The weight of the largest
observed by him was one pound. The average weight is about five ounces.
They are found in the deep water, or salt water, feeding upon minnows,
small crabs, and shrimps. The spawn is pale blue, and of the size of
100 AMERICAN FISHES.
mustard seed. Young fish are seen in great abundance. They are taken
by hook with mullet or clam bait, and also in cast-nets and seines. One
hundred are often taken by a fisherman ina day. They are highly prized
for food, and are occasionally salted. They are sometimes sent in ice to
Savannah and Charleston. ‘‘On the Gulf coast,’’ writes Mr. Stearns,
‘‘they are very abundant, living and breeding in the bays and bayous.
They spawn in winter or early spring, and the young of different sizes
may be seen in May and June. The adult fish live in deep water, while
the young remain near shore. Many are caught by hook and line, and
with the seine.”’
A fish known as the ‘‘ Sheepshead Porgy’
common in the Gulf of Mexico and about the Florida Reefs. It is caught
with hook and line, and is sold in the markets of Key West. There are
other species, known by the name ‘“ Porgy,’’ which are found in this re-
?
is said by Stearns to be
gion, such as Calamus bajonado, common also at Charleston, where it is.
called the ‘‘ White-boned Porgy,’’ the ‘‘ Jolt-head Porgy,’’ of Key West,
C. megacephalus, C. arctifrons, the ‘‘ Shad Porgy ’’ of ‘‘ Grass Porgy’’ of
Key West, and C. macrops.
California has two important species belonging to this family, concern-
ing which Professor Jordan has communicated the following information:
The Blue-fish, G7rel/a nigricans, inappropriately so called, reaches a
length of about fourteen inches, and a weight of three or four pounds. It
ranges from Monterey southward, and is very abundant about the Santa Bar-
bara Islands. The young of this species are common inhabitants of the
rock-pools. The Bluefish 1s entirely herbivorous. It is a food-fish of good
quality, but the flesh softens sooner after death than is usually the case with
related fishes. It is very tenacious of life.
The Half-moon, Scorp7s californiensis, more commonly known by its
Spanish name, A/edialuna, reaches a length of more than a foot, and a
weight of three or four pounds. It ranges from Point Conception south-
ward, chiefly about the Santa Barbara Islands, where it is exceedingly abun-
dant, and, in the winter, forms the greater part of the catch at San Pedro.
It feeds chiefly upon crustaceans, but is, to some extent, herbivorous. It
takes the hook readily, is an excellent food-fish, and, in the Los Angeles
market, is second only to the barracuda in importance.
Oy
THE RED DRUM.
THe RED DRUM.
Long as a salmon, if not so stout,
And springy and swift as a mountain trout,
’ Innes RanpoupH, The Drum-fish.
; HE family Sc¢anide is distributed along the coasts of temperate and
tropical countries, the world over, though most abundant in the Western
Atlantic, the Eastern Pacific and Indian Oceans, and in the Mediter-
ranean Sea. In general form many of the members of this family are not
unlike the salmon, and are sometimes mistaken for it. They are, how-
ever, true spiny-rayed fish, and they may be distinguished from all others
by the presence of the comparatively short, spiny, dorsal fin, and a very
long, soft-rayed fin upon the posterior portion of the back.
Many of them are ground-loving species, are provided with barbels by
which they feel their way over the bottom, and with strong, pavement-
like teeth for crushing shell-fish and strong shelled crustaceans. To this
group belong the fresh-water Drum, the King-fish, and others.
Another group, typified by the Squeteagues, are without the barbels and
possess long, sharp teeth, being rapid swimmers, and voracious surface
feeders.
Many of the species are most abundant about the mouths of rivers, and
there are several species, such as the fresh-water Drum, //ap/oidonotus
_grunniens, of the Mississippi Valley, which are found only in fresh water.
Nearly all have the power of uttering loud sounds. This, as has been
demonstrated by M. Dufossé, is accomplished through a peculiar structure
of the air-bladder.
102 AMERICAN FISHES.
Scaena ocellata is greatly in need of a good English name. Other
forms more widely distributed or better known seem to have substantial
claims of priority upon all its appellations. In the Chesapeake and south
to below Cape Hatteras it is known as the ‘‘ Drum; ’’ but, Pogonzas
chromis, is called by the same name from Provincetown to Texas, and is
the possessor of a much more musical organ. Some of the old writers
coined names for it like ‘‘Beardless Drum’’ and ‘‘ Branded Drum,”’’
referring to the brand-like spots upon the tail; but these are of no value
for common use. In the Carolinas, Florida and the Gulf we meet with
the names ** Bass,’” and its variations, “Red Bass,’’ ‘°Sea Bass,’ ‘‘ Reef
Bass,’’ ‘‘ Spotted Bass’’ and ‘‘ Channel Bass.’’ Many persons suppose
‘* Channel Bass’’ to be a characteristic name, but this is a mistake, for
the term is applied properly only to large individuals which are taken
alone or in pairs in the channels of streams and sounds; wherever this
name is used, the smaller fish of the species are called simply ‘‘ Bass’’ or
‘« School Bass ;’’ even if the word ‘ bass’? could be so qualified as to be
applicable to the species, there is an insuperable objection to its use for
any fish of this family.
‘*Spot’’ sometimes corrupted to ‘‘Spud’’ is another name erroneously
applied to this fish, and which is the property of a much smaller species of |
the same family, otherwise known as ‘‘ Lafayette’’ or ‘‘ Cape May
Goody.”’
Finally, we have the ‘‘ Red Fish’’ and ‘‘ Red Horse’’ of Florida and_
the Gulf States, the ‘‘ Poisson Rouge’’ of the Louisiana Creoles, and
‘Pez Colorado’’ of the Mexicans. This is perhaps best for general use,
if modified to “‘Southern (Red-fsh or “* Red Wrum.””)” he chiet
objection is that the fish is not always red ; in the young there is not a
suggestion of this color, while in the adult itis more a tint, an evanescent,
metallic reflection of claret from the scales, which is often absent, and at
all events soon disappears after life is gone. The number of spots on the
tail is variable ; usually there is one or two, but sometimes as many as
eight or ten, and their arrangement isa matter of chance, while occasion-
ally they are absent. A facetious friend suggests that ‘‘ Bass Drum”’
would not be inappropriate, because of all the drum family it is ‘‘ hardest
9
to beat.’’
The Southern Red-fish is among the important species upon the coast
of the United States from the Chesapeake to the Mexican boundary-
LAE RED DRUM. 103
Abundant as it is in the Carolinas, in Florida and in the Gulf of Mexico,
the limits of its range appear to be very sharply defined, there being little
tendency on the part of individuals to stray away from their wonted pas-
tures. Although the species has long been commonly found in the Chesa-
peake, I am unable to find any record of its capture north of Cape Charles
previous to 1880, though since that date the species has been rather
abundant along the coast of New Jersey. Mitchill and DeKay refer to
it in their books on fishes of New York, but their descriptions were based
upon market specimens, probably brought from more southern localities,
and Prof. Baird obtained none in his exploration of the New Jersey coast in
1854, nor can it be found in Webster’s collections from the Atlantic side
of the Virginia Peninsula. Its range to the south seems to terminate with
equal abruptness. Stearns states that from Tampa Bay and northward to
the Mississippi River it is one of the most common edible fishes, while
west of the Mississippi River it is more abundant than any other sea-fish,
evidently increasing in numbers as the Texas coast is approximated. On
the Texas coast it is more abundant than all other food-fishes together.
West of the mouth of the Rio Grande the species has not been recorded,
chiefly, no doubt, for the reason that no explorations have been made
along the shores of Mexico. The fish fauna of the Caribbean coast of
Panama has, however, been carefully studied, and the species not found.
It seems probable that its southern range is limited by the peninsula of
Yucatan. It is a noteworthy fact that it does not wander more; for every
other species, I think, without exception, which is abundant north of
Cape Hatteras, is occasionally met with in Buzzard’s and Narragansett
Bays.
Its movements and breeding habits are not well understood. ‘‘In the
spring,’’ Stearns writes, ‘‘they are seen in large numbers in the Gulf,
swimming in shoal water near the coast. This is usually in March and
April, though the weather and the temperature of the water seem to in-
fluence the time of their arrival. Arriving at the entrance of a bay, their
migratory movement ceases, and for days and weeks they may be seen in
shoal water near the inlet swimming lazily about in search of food, or
lying quite still in deep holes between shoals, where there is comparatively
little current and few enemies can reach them. Some seasons immense
numbers of Red-fish gather about the inlets before any are noticed inside
or coming in, while in other seasons there is but slight accumulation, the
104 AMERICAN: FISILLES:
schools working in as fast as they arrive. By the 1st of June the ‘ run’
is over, and the fish are believed to have all come in. When once inside,
the schools break up into small squads, which proceed to the weedy bot-
toms of the bayous and to the headsof the bays. About the river mouths,
where the water is brackish, and even in fresh water, they are found
through the summer. While at sea their color is light, and they are so
thin in flesh that they are far from desirable as food. In the bays they
become very fat and their colors are much darker. In September spawn
is found in them in a half developed state. In October and November
they again form in schools and are observed moving out of the inlets to
the sea. They do not leave the coast immediately, but follow the beach
for some days. At this time they contain spawn which I should think to
be three-fourths developed. Many reliable fishermen here have observed
that the Red Fish go to sea with spawn in them.’’
S. C. Clarke has observed their habits in the Indian River region, and
says: ‘‘ They enter the rivers and creeks from the sea. The young fish
are here all the time. The adults leave the shore in a body when done
spawning. ‘They are first seen off the coast in January and February,
and remain in the rivers until late in the spring. The males and females
swim together, frequenting localities on shoals and sand-banks, where the
water is from one to four feet deep and warm. After spawning they scat-
ter. They begin to breed in August and September in the shallow bays
and inlets, at which time both sexes are poor and unfit for food. The
spawn is small, brown, about as large as No. 5 shot, and floats. The
young are found abundantly in the creeks and bays.
I have been told by fishermen on the St. John’s that in November,
when schooling begins, the fish are full-roed, but that in December the
gs have all been spent.
I have never found the young in the north less than ten inches long,
but, in Pensacola Bay, Jordan and Stearns secured numerous young in the
seine in April, the smallest measuring two and a half inches. Jordan
supposes that they spawn in water of no great depth. They swim in
scattered schools at times, probably in the spawning season, and they may
occasionally spring above the surface while feeding. At this time the fish
are taken in large gill-nets, which are set around them by the fishermen.
The food consists chiefly of the crustaceans and small fish with which
Southern waters are filled. It undoubtedly gathers much food from the
2 ¢
es
LHE RED DECOM. 105
bottom, although it connot be so much of a grubber as many other mem-
bers of the same family, better provided for this kind of foraging by the
tactile organs under the chin, and a set of grinding teeth with which to
liberate the shells of muscles and barnacles. An accurate observer de-
scribes them as swimming along close to the bottom, with head down and
body obliquely upward, wriggling through the water, rooting up the weeds
and grass, among which are found quantities of shrimps and crabs. One
observer found ten or twelve eels of a foot in length in the stomach of a
Redfish. Their enemies are sharks, porpoises and saw-fish.
The Redfish attains a weight of forty pounds, and a length of four or
five feet. In the markets of New York and Washington small ones are
often seen. The average size of those exposed for sale is perhaps ten
pounds.
The chief demand in the South is for local consumption, though a few
thousand pounds are sent every year to New York and other cities of the
North.
S. C. Clarke, in his ‘‘ Game Fishes of Florida,’’ expresses this opinion :
‘¢Take it all in all, itis the favorite game-fish of the South—a hard,
honest fighter, which makes long runs in open water, seldom skulking or
hiding in holes, and never giving up the battle until fairly beaten.’’
In discussing this species as a game-fish, I cannot do better than refer
to the experiences of H. S. Williams in the Indian River region :
‘¢T have seen them,’’ writes Mr Williams, ‘‘ swimming in shallow water
by the hundreds, sometimes ten and twenty, moving with almost the
regularity of solid columns of infantry ; all apparently of the same size.
The Red Fish are in season at all times, but best from the 1st of April
until January 1. Insize they run up to forty, and even fifty, pounds.
They readily take mullet bait, and when securely hooked furnish fine sport,
for the Réed Fish is emphatically a game fish. I shall never forget my
first experience in this line, a day or two before the full of the moon in
November. I concluded to try a new hook just sent me by a distant
friend. Just at dusk I went down to the river, and baiting my hook with
a half mullet, I walked out on a shelving coquina rock, and swinging the
hook around my head a few times sent it out into the river to the full
length of the line; then filling and hghting my pipe I took a seat and
quietly awaited results. The moon, nearly full, was half an hour or more
high, not a cloud obscuring its brightness, and it made a highway of silver
across the broad river, now calm and smooth as glass. Scarcely a breath
of air stirred the leaves of the huge live-oaks above my head, and every-
thing was so still that I could distinctly hear the fish in shallow water
106 AMERICAN FISHES.
mile away as the small-fry dashed and jumped in their frantic endeavors to
escape from the ravenous jaws of their pursurers; in fact, everything was
so still that | remember to have heard the sound of a cow-bell, two miles
away, as its low, mellow tones were borne over the broad expanse of water.
I had occasionally taken a whiff or two at my pipe and watched the fleecy
clouds of smoke float slowly upward and dissolve into space, before some-
thing sent an electric message to my finger from the other end of the line.
It was a faint message, scarcely felt, but distinct enough to tell me what
was there. A moment’s pause and then it was repeated ; this time it was
emphatic, for the fish picked up the bait in its mouth as daintily as a
neatly-gloved lady would pick up an orange, and then let it fall again.
Aha! my boy. You are an old hand at the business, and know by past
experience that sometimes even the most tempting morsels are dangerous.
A moment more it is picked up again, and yet again, and it is carried a
couple of yards or so before it is dropped; and then back again; then
further off. Our fish is playing with the bait as a coquette with hearts.
The very moment a novice would think that he was going to take it, ’tis
dropped and he is gone again. No, not gone, only swimming around in
circles, keeping one eye on the prize and keeping away all such intruders
as sharks and cat-fish.
‘Now for it. The bait is picked up, seized with a vim, as though he
meant business, and away he starts with it. Here the inexperienced
would jerk the line and perhaps lose the fish, or at least have the whole
formula to go over again. But wait; the successful sportsman must
practice patience. Again the bait is dropped, but not for long. Ina
moment it is seized, and this time there is not feint about it.. He darts
off, the line is drawn tight, then a sudden jerk and a wild plunge tell that
the game is safely hooked. And now commences the struggle for life.
Away he goes up the stream for fifty yards or more, straining every nerve
to get free ; ; then down, then back again, while the line is pulled just hard
enough to draw him in a little nearer the shore; then up and down, each
time a still shorter distance. At each effort I feel his powers give way,
and then as he makes a turn we pull his head toward the shore and keep
it there. Now is the critical period ; now, if at all, the line will part or
the hook break. I haul the line in rapidly, hand over hand, keeping it
taut, for the least slack or a failure to grasp the line firmly would perhaps
lose the game. Swerving to and fro, I draw him rapidly in, and with
such force does he come that far up the shelving rocks we land our prize,
a thirty pound Bass, a magnificent fellow, his scales glistening lke bur-
nished silver in the moonhght.”’
At Mayport, Fla., in summer, ‘‘ heaving and hauling in the surf’’ is
practiced for the capture of this fish, just as it is for bluefish and striped
bass in New England. Chumming in the Cuttyhunk and Newport style
would doubtless be very effective.
——
THE RED DECOM, 107
Dr. C. J. Kenworthy, in the American Angler, gives an excellent
description of the methods of fishing in Florida.
‘‘This fish resembles in its habits its congener the striped bass of
Northern waters. It is an excellent biter, and makes a noble fight for
liberty. Asa table fish, up to say ten pounds, it is an excellent one, but
large specimens are rather coarse. The back of the fish is of a beautiful
bronzed hue, shading off to a silvery lustre on the sides and belly. It has
usually one or more black spots at the junction of the tail with the body,
but these sometimes extend upwards for one third of the length of the fish.
In a specimen I recently captured the spots numbered seventeen on one
side and twenty-three on the other. It is a salt water fish, but is occa-
sionally captured in fresh water; at times a long distance from the ocean,
as in Crescent Lake and Lake George. In its habits it appears to differ
in different localities. In the St. John’s River it frequents the deeper
portion of the stream, with rock, shell or hard sandy bottom, but on the
southwest coast it is generally captured in shoal water, on sand bars, edges
of grassy flats and near points at inlets. In the northeasterly portion of
the State the large fish put in an appearance in June and July, but the
main run enter the St. John’s River in August and September, leaving for
theseain November. ‘They visit the bays, estuaries, and rivers of the south-
west coast in the fall and winter, and, from the best information I can
obtain, school in June, and probably retire to the ocean.
In the Halifax River, and the tributaries of the Indian River and on the
southwest coast, they greedily take a spinner or fly, but in the St. John’s
River these baits have proven a failure. In Lake George and Crescent
Lake large fish have been captured with a spinner. At the mouth of the
St. John’s River small specimens take shrimp, and the large fish, cut mullet
bait, or the half of a hard-back crab. At the mouth of the river large fish
prefer mullet to crab. But what is somewhat remarkable, in the autumn
after a severe northeast gale they ascend the river to Jacksonville, twenty-
five miles from its mouth, and will not look at cut mullet bait, and fisher-
men are forced to tempt them with hard-back crabs.
These fish vary in size in different streams. In the St. John’s River
near its mouth, the summer and autumn run of fish range fromm eighteen to
sixty pounds. The smallest specimen thus far captured by the writer
weighed nineteen pounds. The usual average will be found to be about
thirty-five pounds. My friend Mr. B., who is familiar with the fishing on
the Halifax River, informed me that the largest specimen that he heard of
being captured in that stream weighed thirty-five pounds; and from the
best information we have been able to secure, they seldom exceed this
weight on the Indian River. We have captured many Bass on the south-
west coast, but none to exceed thirty pounds in weight. Some years since
one was caught on the Homosassa River with spinner and hand line
weighing thirty-four pounds. Several years since a visitor at Homosassa
108 AMERICAN FISHES.
offered a prize of a camping axe for the largest fish captured during the
season. In the company of Charles Hallock I visited the locality, and
having a day to spare I entered the lists. Provided with a mullet for
bait, I visited Ship Rock, and with rod and reel soon brought to gaff a
Channel Bass weighing twenty-four and one-half pounds. This proved to
be the largest fish of the season, and a few months later I received by
express a nicely finished camping axe with silver plate and appropriate
inscription. At one occasion at Homosassa I trolled with rod, reel and
spinner, and landed fourteen Bass ranging from nine to nineteen pounds.
From my own experience and such data as I have been able to collect,
Channel Bass visiting the St. John’s River excel in size those of other
streams of the State.
During the summer months at the mouth of the St. John’s River, fisher-
men wade in the surf, use a stout hand line, a heavy sinker, and mullet for
bait, throw their lines beyond the breakers and capture great numbers of
Bass ranging from thirty to sixty pounds. I have not heard of any one
using the rod and reel in surf fishing, but am satisfied that if tested it
would afford exciting sport. During the latter part of August, September
and October superior Bass fishing can be secured at the shells opposite
the old lighthouse at Mill Point and Shell Bank. Owing to the rapidity
of the current, and the size of the fish, stout cable line or braided cotton
lines with large hooks are used. At slack water, orif the anchor is raised
when a large fish is hooked, a stiff bass rod, with a large reel and Cutty-
hunk line will be found sufficient to bring these noble fish to gaff. Midway
between Jacksonville and the mouth of the river is a deep back channel
where there is but little tide, where large Bass congregate, and where a rod
and reel can be successfully used. At almost any time during August,
September or October the fishermen may capture during a day’s fishing
from three to fifteen of these fish, and at times their numbers seem to be
endless.’’
From the same excellent journal I quote the opinions of a New Jersey
drum-fisherman :
‘<T fish for the Red Drum here from askiffanchored at sea in four fathoms
of water, a mile and a-half from the beach, and use the plaited cotton cod
line and the Virginia drum hook, letter ‘‘ A,’’ No. 4. Use menhaden
bait; anchor the skiff and chum as for striped bass. I believe a hook
suspended so as to hang a foot above the sinker is most successful, though
I take them also from the bottom. They are indiscriminate feeders,
smashing clams and catching menhaden with equal avidity, but I think
the oil of the menhaden attracts them from a distance, and the latter is
therefore the best bait. I have taken them upon all sorts of cut
bait—Lafayettes, weak-fish, etc.
3rigantine Beach just now is level as a table, the surf breaking on it for
several hundred yards. ‘This is its normal condition, and it cannot now
THE KED DROM, 109
be fished with comfort or success, as you cannot reach the fish with your
line after the tide begins to rise.
Oftentimes the current cuts out a deep ‘‘slough,’’ or sluice, within
reach of high water mark. In this the fish are apt to congregate. It
forms:a space of smooth water between the outer and inner breakers,
through which the current flows, carrying in clams, crabs and_ sand-flies,
and in which the fish can he and feed quietly. In these I take the black
drum, and in the autumn of 1880 I took three Red Drum in one day on
Brigantine while fishing for the other species.
In the surf the Drum nudges like the sheepshead when he first takes the
bait ; in the deep water he bites hke a shark of the large species slowly
and heavily, but can be distinguished from the shark when he is hooked
by his habit of shaking his head in the effort to throw the hook out.’’
The European representative of our Sczena is the Sctena aguila, called
‘¢ Maigre’’ by the French on account of the whiteness and bloodlessness
of its flesh. This fish has been found from Sweden to the Cape of Good
Hope and Australia, but is most abundant in the Mediterranean, and is
comparatively rare in northern Europe. The Dutch fishermen believe
that they can discern the image of the Virgin in each scale. It is said
that in Languedoc it is called the ‘‘ Royal Fish’’ (Peis-re) a name which
calls to mind the American ‘‘ King-fish,’’ applied to a closely related
form. The ear-stones or otoliths, which are very similar to those of our
species, were formerly considered a sovereign remedy for colic, and in the
middle ages were set in amulets, to serve as prophylactics.
The Maigre, the ‘‘ Scizena’’ of the classical opsophagists, the ‘‘ Onitra’’ of
Venice, the ‘‘ Fegars’’ of Genoa, the ‘‘ Figou’’ of Nice, is still highly es-
teemed, as it was in the days of Ancient Rome and Greece, by the inhabi-
tants of southern Europe. The head and shoulders are prized for broiling,
as in centuries long gone by when this part of the fish was a favorite trib-
ute from the Roman fishermen to the civic magistrates.
THE WEAK FISH OR SQUETEAGUE.
THE SOUEmISAG UES.
Weekvis, en Schol, en Carper, Bot, en Snoek,
Ja gy en hebt geen poel, geen water-hoek,
Of’t krielter vol von Visschen; die (te soek)
Ticht zinj te vinden.
Jacos STEENDAM, ’¢ Louf van Niew Nederland, 1661.
You’ve weak-fish, carp and turbot, pike and plaice ;
There’s not a pool, or tiny water-trace
Where swam not myriads of the finny race
Easily taken.
Praise of New Netherland, translated by Hon. H. C. Mupyny.
HE genus Cynoscion, is represented on our Atlantic coast by three
species. Cynoscion regale, the Weakfish, or Squeteague, is found
from Cape Ann to the mouth of the St. John’s River, Fla., and possibly
to the Gulf of Mexico. Cynoscion carolinense, the Spotted Squeteague,
or Southern Sea Trout, ranges from the Chesapeake to the Gulf of Mexico
and Lake Pontchartrain. The Silvery Squeteague, Cyxoscion nothum, is a
fish of somewhat unusual occurrence, observed at Charleston and in East
and West Florida. There was still another, described by Holbrook under
the name Cynoscion thalassinum, which has not been seen by other natur-
alists, and which is probably not a valid species.
Like all of our important fishes, which have no European representative,
the Squeteague are known bya great variety of names. About Cape Cod
they are called ‘¢‘ Drummers ;’’ about Buzzard’s Bay and in the vicinity
LTE SQUETEAGUES. III
the largest are known as ‘‘ Yellow fins ;’’? in New York and in New Jersey,
‘‘ Weak-fish ;’? from Southern New Jersey to Virginia, ‘‘ Bluefish.’’ The
name ‘‘ Squeteague’’ is of Indian origin, and ‘‘ Squit,’’ ‘‘ Succoteague,’’
<¢Squitee’’ and ‘‘ Chickwit’’ are doubtless variations of this name in
different ancient and modern dialects. In the Southern Atlantic States
thas called «Grey Trout; “Sun Trout’? and ‘Shad’ Trout,’? and with
the other members of the genus is spoken of under the name ‘‘Sea Trout ’’
and ‘‘ Salt-water Trout,’’ though, of course, distinct from the ‘‘ trout ’’ of
the fresh waters of the South, which is a Black Bass. The name
<« Squeteague,’’ since it is the aboriginal Indian term, seems most char-
acteristic, and is well worthy of being permanently retained.
‘“‘Weakfish’’ appears to be a legacy from the Dutch colonists of Man-
hattan, as may be inferred from the use of the word in the poem quoted
at the head of this essay. It means a soft fish, but whether, like Moss-
bunker, this name was transferred from some species known to them in
Holland, I have not been able to learn. Some old authorities use the
name ‘‘ Wheatfish,’’ and Brown in the ‘‘Angler’s Guide,’’ accounts for this
by the theory that in former days the fish made its appearance in harvest
time. It is, in all likelihood, however, a corruption of the Dutch name.
This etymology resembles those suggested for ‘‘ Weakfish,’’ ‘‘ because he
does not pull very much after he is hooked,’’ or, as others allege, ‘‘ be-
cause the laboring men who are fed upon him are weak by reason of the
deficient nourishment in that kind of food.”’
The Squeteague is found on the Atlantic coast from Cape Cod to
Eastern Florida, where I observed it, sparingly, in 1878. Its extreme
southern distribution has not yet been indicated. Some writers have
claimed that it occurs at New Orleans, but Mr. Stearns did not succeed in
finding it in the Gulf, and Prof. Jordan writes that it is certainly not found
in the Gulf of Mexico, unless as a stray.
The Squeteague is abundant throughout the above range, except in the
regions where its productiveness is interfered with by the bluefish. In
Massachusetts Bay, according to Dr. Storer, it is very rare, but scatter-
ing individuals have been found as far north as the Bay of Fundy. The
early annals of New England make frequent mention of this fish and of
its variations in number with that of the bluefish. Thus, according to
Dr. Storer, it was very abundant in the Vineyard Sound in the early part
of the present century, but gradually became more scarce, until about
ie AMERICAN FISITES.
1870, when it was no longer to be met with, -and for several years it was
entirely unknown in these waters: so much so, indeed, that fishermen of
many years’ experience were totally unacquainted with its characteristics.
In 1867 or 1868, however, scattering individuals were taken on the south
coast of Massachusetts, and in 1870 they were quite abundant and have
since held their own. But they are nowhere at any season so abundant as
in summer along the stretch of shore from Norfolk to Nantucket. They
arrive with the bluefish in late May and early June, are most abundant in
August, and depart in advance of the bluefish at the very beginning of
autumn. ‘They swim in large schools at the surface, pursuing the men-
haden and scup, on which they savagely feed. I have frequently seen a
thousand or more taken in one night in one of the weirs on Martha’s
Vineyard Sound. ,
The most remarkable draft on record is that referred to in July, 1881, by
Mr. Barnet Phillips in the New York 7Zimes -
‘A great catch of Weakfish was made yesterday about two miles off
Rockaway Beach, by the steam smacks <‘. T-:DeBlois,”? ‘Capt. J. Az
Keene; ‘‘ Leonard Brightman,’’ Capt. Elijah Powers, and ‘‘ J. W. Haw-
kins,’’ Capt. J. W. Hawkins. ‘These smacks are engaged in the men:
haden or ‘‘ mossbunker’’ fishery for the oil-rendering and fish-scrap works
on Barren Island, and were cruising off Rockaway yesterday in search of
schools. About noon avast school of what the fishermen supposed at first
to be menhaden was discovered stretching along the coast for miles. To
borrow their language, ‘The water was red with the fish, but they didn’t
break the surface as menhaden always do.’ The boats were lowered, the
seines spread, and then it was discovered that the school was of Weakfish
and not menhaden. ‘Ihave been in the business for twenty years,’ said
the mate of the ‘ Brightman,’ ‘and I never saw anything hke it before.’
The fish varied in length from one and a half to three feet, and in weight
from three to seven pounds. The ‘ DeBlois’ took over 200 barrels, the
‘Hawkins’ 150 barrels, and the ‘ Brightman’ 350 barrels. ‘The entire
catch was estimated at something over 200,000 pounds, which, at the
ordinary market price for Weakfish—seven cents a pound—would amount
to $14,000. But, of course, the market price could not be maintained
in the presence of such a catch as this.”
The Squeteague comes on the coast of New England in summer in pur-
suit of food. Its wanderings do not often carry it north of Monomoy.
‘In the days of my boyhood,’’ said Capt. Atwood, when before the
Rhode Island Legislature in 1871, ‘‘my neighbors often spoke of a fish
called the ‘drummer,’ which is the same variety that you call the Sque-
THE SQUETEAGUES. ip
teague, which were so plentiful that they could be taken by the boat-load.
But in 1816, when I first went into a fishing boat, they had disappeared,
and I did not see a single specimen for many years. Since that time,
however, they have commenced returning in considerable numbers.’’ The
pioneer of this return came to Provincetown June 23, 1847. Capt. At-
wood’s prediction of their abundant return has not yet been verified.
Their movements further south have been no less eccentric; and this
species illustrates in a very forcible manner the axiom of the ichthyologist,
that the movements of the oceanic fishes are the effect of laws, as yet but
little understood, upon which the feeble efforts of man have no appreci-
able effect. Col. Theodore Lyman has written: ‘‘This fish is highly in-
teresting as one of those which has appeared and disappeared alternately
on our coast. In 1803 it wasabundant in Rhode Island, and very plenty
at Provincetown as late as 1820. In 1832 it deserted Vineyard Sound (and
the northern part of the Cape even before that), .** * * and now
(1872) for five or six years it has grown abundant, apparently increasing
as the bluefish decreased, until this season when the weirs have taken
hundreds at a haul.’’ Capt. Atwood tells me that in 1845 he noticed
them in New York, when the weekly supply would not have exceeded one
thousand pounds, while thirty years later he found them coming in by the
ton. Mr. David T. Church »wrote in 1871: ‘‘Scup have disappeared
from Narragansett Bay, but Squeteague have taken their place, and where
ten years ago there were millions of scup, now there are almost none, but
millions of Squeteague. Hundreds of acres could be seen any clear day
between Point Judith and Providence.’’
There has been a curious relation between the periodical variations in
the abundance of bluefish and Squeteague, the latter having been most
numerous when bluefish were least so, but no one fully understands its
cause. The habits of the two species are very similar; their times of
coming and going, and probably their favorite water temperature, nearly
identical. They feed in the same manner and upon the same animals,
and the bluefish being the swiftest swimmer and the most voracious feeder,
its presence in large numbers possibly interferes with the food supply of
the Squeteague. It is not impossible that, though both species much pre-
fer menhaden, the bluefish may frequently vary its diet by feeding on its
weaker comrade.
Some inexplicable cause had a similar influence upon the bluefish,
8
I14 AMERICAN FISHES.
which became scarce in turn; thus the Squeteague was enabled to recover
its ground, and to resume its place in the food economy of the coast. To
what extent the disappearance or reappearance of the Squeteague is act-
ually connected with that of the bluefish it is impossible at present to state.
It is quite likely that other causes, at least, are concerned, with which we
are now unacquainted.
The striped bass is also an associate of the Squeteague, which, though
essentially a coast and salt-water fish, occasionally runs into tidal waters,
and on the coast of New Jersey is thought to prefer the vicinity of streams
where there is a mixture of fresh and salt water. ‘‘ He never goes into
fresh streams or ponds,’’ wrote S. L. Mitchill, ‘‘ but within the limits of
salt water is taken in almost all the places where the rock-fish is caught.
The Weakfish is so much the companion of the bass that I once gave him
the specific name of Comes.’’ Prof. Baird has recorded that in Southern
New Jersey, where, at times, in consequence of drought there is less water
brought into Egg Harbor than usual, they are known to move to a con-
siderable distance up towards the head-waters, and to leave in a great
measure their ordinary grounds more seaward.
We have intimations, in the writings of the early historians of New
England, of the disappearance and returns of the Weak-fish, like those
referred to in the present century.
It is said that when they appear off the coast of New Jersey, about the
middle of June, they are found to be filled with spawn, and that the early
fish in Narragansett Bay have not spawned. ‘This statement requires con-
firmation. Thousands of individuals have been examined by the Fish
Commission naturalists at different times in the summer, and it is but rare
that traces of spawn have been found. The precise period of spawning
along the coast and the localities where the eggs are laid, as well as the
habits of the fish during that period, are but little known, and are well
worthy of careful investigation.
At Beasley’s Point the young fish of the year have in August attained
a length of about four inches, and differ from the adults in lacking entirely
the characteristic spots, these being replaced by broad, vertical bands,
which, together with their more compressed form, render their appear-
ance very unlike that of the adult.
The young are rarely seen in New England. Dr. Bean obtained a
single individual three and one half inches long in Herring River,
THE SQUETEAGUES. Tape
Waquoit, Mass., August 9, 1875, the only instance of such a capture in
the course of many years’ careful exploration of that region. Young fish,
four inches long, are common in Southern New Jersey in August. The
growth of the species is quite rapid, the weight of four pounds apparently
being attained in about three years. The largest I remember to have
seen weighed about ten pounds, though this is not an unusual size.
The Squeteague, as well as the bluefish, varies in size with the locality.
While on the coast of New Jersey they do not average much over one
pound, they are stated to occasionally attain the weight of from six to ten
pounds, and have even been known to weigh thirty.
The Squeteague in the South is a resident fish, although said by Hol-
brook to be most abundant and largest in the autumnal months, when, in
his opinion, theycome from the north. It is not satisfactorily ascertained,
however, whether these fish, leaving the northern coast during winter
time, migrate southward or more towards the warm waters of the Gulf
Stream. They return to the coast of the Middle or Northern States
early in the spring, the first being taken in May, and are most abundant
from June to September.
Although its flesh is soft, it is delicately flavored, and is one of the
favorite food-fishes of the South Atlantic and Gulf States, its chief rivals
being the pompano, the whiting, the sheepshead and the red snapper.
In the North the Squeteague is in moderate demand, particularly at the
close of the shad season.
Among anglers, according to the late Genio C. Scott, this fish is con-
sidered as second in interest among those of the coasts and estuaries. In
the opinion of this eminent authority, the striped bass holds the highest
rank.
Prof. Baird has written: ‘‘ The sport of catching the Squeteague is
very great, and is highly enjoyed by many fishermen, on account of the
great number that can be taken in a very short time. They swim near
the surface and require a line but little leaded. They take almost any kind
of bait, especially clams, soft crabs or pieces of fish. They take the hook
with a snap, rarely condescending to nibble, and constant vigilance is neces-
sary, as well as extreme care in hauling them out of the water, on account
of the extreme tenderness of the mouth. During the flood tide they keep
in the channel-ways of the bays, and at the ebb they generally settle in
some deep hole, where they remain until the flood entices them out again.
116 AMERICAN FISHES.
In the night they are much in the habit of running up the creeks in the
salt meadows, where they are sometimes taken in great numbers by inter-
posing between them and the sea, just before the period of high water.
This experiment is not a very satisfactory one on the coast of New Jersey,
in consequence of the abundance of crabs. The smaller fish become
gilled in the net meshes, thus inviting the attacks of the crabs, which cut
the nets to pieces, often ruining them in a single night.’’
When taken, the Squeteague makes a peculiar croaking, audible at a
considerable distance ; and it is said that this is not unfrequently heard
from a boat when passing over a school of them in the water beneath.
The Sea Trout, or Deep-water Trout, of Charleston, described by Hol-
brook under the name Ofvolithus thalasstius, 1s without much question
identical with the Northern Squeteague, although that author states that
it differs from this fish entirely in its habits, since it is only found in the
ocean and deep water, and never approaches the bays and inlets along the
coast, while it is a larger animal.
The few specimens which Holbrook saw were taken off Charleston Bar,
about twenty miles from land and in about fifteen or twenty fathoms of
water. The very peculiarities which he mentions are characteristic of
the adult Squeteague.
The Spotted Squeteague, Cynoscion maculatum, is a species associated
with the Squeteague in the waters off the coast of New Jersey and on the
eastern shore of Virginia. It belongs to the same genus, but somewhat
different, being characterized by the presence of well-defined dark spots.
It becomes more abundant as we proceed southward, until off the coasts of
North Carolina and Georgia, where it 1s one of the most abundant food-
fishes. Owing to its shape and the presence of well-marked spots on the
sides it 1s usually known on the southern coast as the ‘‘Salmon”’ or
‘«Spotted Trout,’’ and there are not wanting sportsmen in the Southern
States who maintain with dogmatic earnestness the existence of a true
Salmon Trout in the waters of their coast. The early colonists of the
Carolinas knew full well that the trout was a spotted fish, and that it was
a most desirable fish withal; their warm streams had no genuine trout,
and they could not carry in their untrained minds the image of the trout
of England, so very different from Cyzosczon. A much better name for it
would be ‘‘Spotted Squeteague.’’ It is difficult, however, to bring
about a change in a name which has been in use for several generations,
THE SQUETEAGUES. 117
and it is probable that the name ‘‘ Sea Trout’’ will always be used. Genio
Scott proposed the name ‘‘ Spotted Silver-sides,’’ which is not particularly
appropriate, and which no one but himself has ever used.
THE SPOTTED SQUETEAGUE,
The history of American fishes contains very little respecting the habits
of this species, although it is so important an element of food to the
inhabitants of the Southern coast. We have, however, been favored by
Dr. H. C. Yarrow with notes made at Fort Macon, N. C., in which many
of the deficiencies in our information are supplied. According to his
account, the Spotted Trout is not found in that locality during the winter,
or only in small numbers, making its first appearance in February on its
way from the south, and attaining its greatest abundance about the middie
of April.
Little is known of its rate of growth, although, according to some ob-
servers, this increase amounts to about six inches per annum; so that a
fish of average size, or eighteen inches, may be considered as three years
old. ‘There is no perceptible difference in the sexes as to rate of growth
or general appearance, excepting in the fuller belly of the female.
Dr. Yarrow states that they come from the south in the spring and pass
through the inlets on the flood tide, the date of their first appearance
varying with that of the opening of spring. They remain in the vicinity
of the inlets and sounds on the coast of North Carolina until about May,
when they gradually proceed northward, extending their journey as far as
the shores of Long Island, where a few only are taken, although, perhaps,
their number may be considerable. They reappear on the coast of North
Carolina in September, and thence proceed south, following the same
course as that by which they came, but leaving on the ebb instead of the
118 AMERICAN FISHES,
flood tide. They are found in the winter as far south as St. Augustine,
and possibly below this point, although we have no positive assurance of
this fact.
At present they are thought to be more abundant than any other fish on
the Carolina coast, with the exception of the mullet, having increased in
numbers largely (at least twofold) within the last fifteen years, possibly
in consequence of the intermission of capture during the war. The
average length is about eighteen inches, with a weight of two pounds,
although they are not unfrequently found three feet in length and ten
pounds’ weight. They are often found outside of the beach in great
numbers in January, coming in to the shore when the water is warm,
about February, as stated. School follows school at intervals of about
four or five days, when they seem to go northward and to be absent from
the Southern coast for several months. On their return in September,
after a short stay, they gradually leave the coast until they finally disappear
for the season. Their return season by season is very regular and definite,
being relied upon with much confidence. The successive ‘‘runs’’ do not
seem to be classified in any particular way, large and small fish of both
sexes coming in together. The colder the weather the less tendency they
appear to exhibit to come towards the shore.
At their first appearance in the spring the spawn is not appreciable, nor,
according to Dr. Yarrow, do they have any development of the ovaries
during their stay on that coast; and he is under the impression that they
breed during their autumnal and winter stay farther south. This, how-
ever, is scarcely probable, it being more likely that their spawning ground
is more to the north, perhaps off the coast of Virginia.
Their presence is generally made known by the schools of porpoises.
which follow and feed upon them. Swimming low in the water, they
make no ripple on the surface, as is the case with mullets. The time of
their capture is usually on the young flood, as in their movements along
the shore they come in on the rising tide and depart on the ebb.
Like their representatives in the north, these fishes are fond of penetrat-
ing, for a short distance at least, into the mouths of rivers, remaining,
however, only about a week; this, according to Dr. Yarrow, is their
habit on the coast of North Carolina, before leaving for the North.
A singular phenomenon illustrating the delicate organization of this
and the related species, is described by Mr. N. E. Armstrong, of On-
THE SQUETEAGUES. 119
slow, Co., N.C. ‘‘ When we have extremely cold and cloudy weather, and I
believe also windy weather for three or four days, the Trout at the mouth of
New River are benumbed, and on the first sunny day rise to the surface,
and after a day or two die and sink to the bottom or are washed ashore.
As soon as they rise, there are generally hundreds of men ready with nets,
dip nets, gigs, and in some instances, nothing but their hands and _ boats,
to pick them up. They are sometimes washed ashore in long heaps, two
and three feet deep, for a considerable distance. When these ‘numbs’
occur, it is generally known through this and the adjoining counties, and
carts and wagons come for the fish by hundreds—sometimes from a dis-
tance of fifty or sixty miles. The New River is a wide and very shallow
bay for the distance of twenty miles from its mouth. There was a ‘numb’
in January, 1877, and another in the winter of 1879, about the same time,
but they do not occur frequently.’’
They prefer sandy and grassy bottoms, and are particularly fond of shal-
low water, four or five feet deep, especially in still waters and eddies.
Their favorite food is small mullet and other diminutive fish, as well as
still more iargely shrimps and small crustaceans ; while, on the other hand,
they are eaten voraciously by Weak-fish, blue-fish, drum and porpoises.
In market fishing, nets are generally employed, though some fish are
occasionally speared. They are taken in seines, usually having a mesh of
about one and one-half inches, made of No. 8 cotton twine, about one
hundred yards long and ten feet deep. When the fish first begin to make
their appearance the fishermen establish themselves in their boats, just out-
side the surf, and watch along the crest of the breakers. When the fish
are seen the net is paid out from the stern of the boat, one man leaping
overboard with a rope attached to one end of the net, while a man in the
boat pulls rapidly around the school so as to inclose it. The net is then
drawn carefully to the shore. The average catch of two men for a day
may be set at about three hundred pounds, although a much greater
amount than this could be taken if desirable.
They are used when fresh, and sent up into the small towns in the in-
terior in large numbers. ‘The flesh is of an excellent quality, much supe-
rior to that of the Weak-fish, being firm, white, and flaky, and will keep
well for three or four days, unless the weather be too warm. It is some-
times salted down for home use by the inhabitants along the coast, and
much esteemed. Dr. Yarrow estimates that about two hundred barrels
120 AMERICAN FISHES.
were salted during the season of 1871 by the fishermen, in his vicinity.
The fish bring about $3 per hundred at wholesale, and $5 at retail, this
being equal to the average for the last ten years.
Silas Stearns writes :
‘¢ The Spotted Trout is abundant from Key West to Mexico. In the
Pensacola region it is present all the year, although most abundant in
summer. It prefers to remain in shoal waters on grassy bottom, where it
finds small fish and shrimps in abundance for food. It breeds in inside
waters in July and August. Quantities of the fry are seen in August and
September. They do not often form in schools in the bays, but in some
places are so plentiful that it is not unusual to catch five or eight barrels
at one drag of a seine. One man fishing with hook and line sometimes
catches one hundred in less than a day? The Trout is an excellent food-
fish, and of considerable importance to the fish trade. The demand for it
would be much greater if it was not so hard to preserve in this climate.”’
S. C. Clarke writes that it is more of a game fish than the Squeteague,
active, vigorous and voracious, and capturable with similar fishing gear.
He recommends a bamboo rod of eight or nine feet, a multiplying reel
with drag, and roo to 150 yards of fifteen thread flax line, with hook of
the Cuttyhunk pattern, and ounce sinkers of hollow lead.
The Silver Squeteague, Cyzoscton nothum, called at Charleston the << Bas-
tard Trout,’’ while resembling in shape the two species already described,
is easily distinguished from them, being of a uniform silvery hue, the back
being slightly darker than the rest of the body.
One or two individuals have been taken in Chesapeake Bay, but it has
rarely been observed north of South Carolina, whence Holbrook obtained
the specimens from which the original description was made. I have ob-
tained one or two individuals ffom the mouth of the St. John’s River,
where they are not distinguished by the fishermen from the ‘‘ Shad Trout,’’ or
Northern Squeteague. In the Gulf of Mexico, according to Stearns, it is
common in company with the Spotted Squeteague, and, as far as has been
observed, its habits are similar. It is, however, according to Jordan, less
abundant, and is not to be found at all seasons. It ‘is most abundant in
September and October, but no spawning fish or young have been seen.
The ‘‘ White Trout,’’ as it is called in Pensacola, is caught with hook and
line in company with the Spotted Trout.
On our Pacific coast there are several species of Cynoscion. The most
THE SOULTEAG OES, T20
important of these are undoubtedly Cynoscion nobile and C. parvipinne.
Jordan thus describes their habits :
“«Cynoscion nobile is everywhere known as the Sea-bass and the Sea-
trout, sometimes as ‘ White Sea-bass,’ to distinguish it from the Black
Sea-bass or Jew-fish. The young, while yet banded, are -known as ‘ Sea
Trout,’ and generally considered a distinct species, and both are frequently
called ‘Corvina’ and ‘ Caravina.’
THE RONCADOR.
‘«Tt reaches a length of four to six feet and a weight of fifty to seventy-
five pounds, perhaps more. Those usually seen in market average about
fifteen.
“‘Tt ranges from Cape Mendocino southward to below San Diego, being
especially abundant from Santa Barbara to Monterey in spring and summer.
It is not often seen in winter. Only adults are taken in spring, and it
probably comes to the shore from deeper water for the purpose of spawning.
It goes in small schools, and its movements are irregular. Its food consists
of crustaceans and fishes. It spawns in June or July. It is one of the
most important food-fishes of the coast. Its flesh is excellent, firm and
well flavored, and its great size renders it a very valuable species. In
the firmness of its flesh it differs strikingly from most of the other species
of the genus.
“* Cynoscion parvipinne, is usually known as the ‘ Corvina’ or ‘ Caravina.’
It is also occasionally called Bluefish. It reaches a length of about two feet,
and a weight of eight pounds. It is found from San Pedro southward to
the Gulf of California, rarely straying to the north. In San Diego Bay it
is abundant. It feeds on crustaceans, and especially on small fishes, as
2. —
122 ANMTGRICAN FISHES:
anchovies and sardines, and is very voracious. It spawns in July or
August. Its flesh is tender, being very similar to that of the weak-fish
(C. regale). Itsoftenssoon, but, when fresh, is of a fine, delicate quality,
and scarcely surpassed by any fish on the coast. Several other species
of this genus occur southward along the Mexican coast, where they are
among the most important of the food-fishes.’’
THE KING-FISH. MENTICIRRUS NEBULOSUS.
iS cING AND OUEEN FISHES:
These be the hills, (quoth he) the surges hie,
On which faire Cynthia her heards doth feed ;
Her heards be thousand fishes with their frie,
Which in the bosome of the billowes breed.
Of them the shepheard, which hath charge in chief,
Is Triton, blowing loud his wreathed horn
At sound whereof, they all, for their relief,
Wend too and fro at evening and at morne.
SPENSER. Colin Clouts Come Home Again. 1591.
HE Kinc-risu, Menticirrus nebulosus, also known as the ‘‘ Hake’’
on the coast of New Jersey and Delaware, and as the ‘‘ Tom-cod’’ on
the coast of Connecticut, the ‘‘ Barb’’ about Barnegat, the ‘‘ Black Mullet”’
in the Chesapeake, the ‘‘Sea Mink’”’ in North Carolina, and sometimes
also in the South as the ‘‘ Whiting,’’ ranges from Cape Ann south at least
as far as the mouth of the St. John’s River, Fla., although in the southern
part of its range it is frequently confused with the Whiting. It has been
obtained by Jordan and Stearns at Pensacola; though it is rare in the
Gulf. Its great gaminess, its beauty of color and form, and its excellent
flavor, Mr. Cheney assures us, caused the loyal citizens of New York in
colonial days to call this species the ‘‘ King-fish’’ and in former times,
when it was abundant in New York bay, the King-fish and the small
striped bass were the crowning glory of the old time fishing.
It is discussed as follows by Professor Baird :
‘¢This species, well worthy of the name which has been given it, and
124 AMERICAN FISHES.
the estimation in which it is held by New York epicures, as it is certainly
savory when taken fresh from the water, leaves nothing to be desired in
the way of a fish diet. It is quite abundant off the Middle States, but is
rare much to the eastward. A few specimens are occasionally taken in
Buzzard’s Bay and Vineyard Sound, and Dr. Storer mentions four as hav-
ing been captured in Massachusetts Bay. It is almost as capricious in its
occurrence in the more northern waters as the Lafayette, sometimes being
scarcely met with for several successive summers, and then suddenly reap-
pearing, as if migrating from more southern waters. At Beesley’s Point,
N. J., where I have had most opportunity of studying its habits, it
appears quite early in the spring with the squeteague, and is found a good
deal in company with it, like that fish seeming to prefer a shght mixturc
of fresh water, as shown by its keeping in the mouths of rivers and run-
ning farther up during the dry season. It takes bait readily and affords
excellent sport to the fishermen, although not caught in anything like the
same number in a given time as the squeteague, thirty or forty at a single
tide being considered an excellent catch for one boat.
‘‘ Nothing has been recorded in regard to the precise time of their
spawning or the places where they lay their eggs. The young are met
with at Beesley’s Point in immense numbers on the sandy bottom as well
as in the surf. The smallest were about an inch long. Ihave taken the
young also in considerable number in Vineyard Sound at a time when the
old fish were scarcely known. They occasionally run to a considerable
distance up the rivers, as I have caught young fish of this species at Sing
Sing, on the Hudson, where the water is scarcely brackish. The King-
fish run much in schools, and keep on or near a hard, sandy bottom, pre-
ferring the edge of channels and the vicinity of sand bars; and they con-
gregate about oyster-beds, especially when the oysters are being taken up,
and may be seen under the boats, fighting for the worms and crustaceans
dislodged in the operation. They bite readily at hard or soft clams, or
even pieces of fish, and are taken most successfully on the young flood.
Like the squeteague, they will occasionly run up the salt creeks at night,
and may be captured in gill-nets as the water recedes. This, however, is
not so common a habit with them as it 1s with its associate.
‘¢ The price of this fish varies at different seasons of the year, but it is
always well maintained, and it is generally valued at nearly as high a fig-
ure as the Spanish mackerel. The European analogue of this species, Um-
THE KING AND QUEEN FISHES. 12
OL
brina cirrhosa, is somewhat similar in general appearance, and its flesh is
highly esteemed. This feeds on small fishes, mollusks, and, according to
Yarrow, on sea-weed, sometimes attaining a weight of forty pounds. This
magnitude I have not seen approximated by our species, although it is pos-
sible that it may occasionally reach a large size. Of its distribution
southward I can find no satisfactory account.’’
In 1879 numerous small individuals of this species appeared in the har-
bor of Provincetown, Mass.; they seemed however, to be out of their
proper habitat, and many were chilled by the coldness of the water and
cast up on the beach. In 1880 and 1881, the species is said to have been
particularly abundant on the coast of New Jersey, and to have afforded
much sport to anglers of that vicinity, many of whom had not been famil-
iar with it in previous years.
Mr. A. N, Cheney gives the following instructions for King-fish angling :
‘¢A light rod and multiplying reel, a strong and very light line, a
swivel sinker and two rather small hooks are what is required in the way
of tackle ; much the same rig as 1s used in weakfishing. ‘The bait is either
shedder crab or sand-worm. The King-fish is thoroughly game ; he seizes
the bait eagerly and then goes to the bottom, following up this movement
with long runs from right to left ; it is really remarkable what a determined
resistance the little King-fish will make. In size he varies from one to six
pounds, the average being two or three pounds. The time to fish for
them is when the tide is running in. Kingfish can be caught along the
south side of Long Island, off the Jersey coast at Atlantic City, Long
Branch and Barnegat Inlet, and further south they are very common.”’
The Whitings, favorite food-fishes of the Southern coast, embrace the
two species, Mentecirrus alburnus and M. “ittoralis, both closely allied
in general character to the King-fish of more northern waters. | They are
said to occur abundantly from Cape Fear River, N. C., to the Rio Grande,
in Texas. Uhler and Lugger claim that they inhabit the salt water of
the Chesapeake Bay and its estuaries, but it is not probable that they are
at all abundant. On the coast of South Carolina, according to Dr. Hol-
brook, the Whiting remains all the year round, and although few are
taken in December and January, yet they are sufficient to prove themselves
constant residents. Near Charleston in the spring and summer months
they are very abundant; they enter the mouths of bays and rivers, and
are captured in great numbers. They take the hook readily ; their favor-
126 AMERICAN FISHES.
ite bait is the drum, and being strong, lively and active in habit, they
afford great sport to the fishermen. They prefer deep and running waters,
and seldom approach so near the shore as to be taken in seines. Their
ordinary food seems to consist of various species of small shell-fish.
THE WHITING. MENTICIRRUS ALBURNUS.
Speaking of the ‘‘ Surf Whiting,’’ of Charleston, Holbrook remarks:
‘« This species makes its appearance on the coast of Carolinain the month
of April, and continues with us during the entire summer, though very few
are taken in July or August. It 1s only found in shallow water where the
bottom is hard and sandy, often forming, when the tide is out, an exten-
sive beach. Its favorite resort is in the neighborhood of the shore where
the surf can roll over it from the ocean and bring with it doubtless the
animals on which it feeds. In such localities many are captured with the
seine and are sold in the market under the name ‘Surf Whiting,’ in con-
tradistinction to the other species which is called the ‘ Deep-water Whiting.’
Its food seems to be similar to that of the Deep-water Whiting, judging
from the contents of its stomach, and yet it is seldom taken with the hook.
Hitherto I have only seen this fish in the immediate neighborhood of
Charleston. This fish is very commonly supposed to be the adult male of
the common Whiting, approaching the shoal water to deposit its spawn.
I believed it, from common report, to be such, until frequent dissections
proved to me that there are both males and females among them. ‘The
flesh of this species is good, but by no means so finely flavored as that of
the Deep-water Whiting.’’
At Mayport, Fla., the Whiting is abundant, and also at the mouth of
the St. John’s. The largest observed by me measured ten inches, and in
the first week of April was within two or three weeks of spawning. A few
THE. KING AND QUEEN FISHES, Te
~
are taken in the St. John’s as high up as Arlington. They are abundant
in the Indian River. About New Smyrna, Fla., according to Mr. S. C.
@larke, it is called “‘Whiting,’’ ‘‘ Kingfish,’’ ‘** Barb’” and ‘ Bull-head
Whiting.’’ They occur in the winter and spring, though seldom in sum-
mer. The largest reached the weight of one anda half pounds. They
average three-quarters of a pound, the female being usually the larger.
They appear about the last of November, and spend the winter in
bays and still rivers. They bite in strong currents, not in slack water.
They prefer deep channels and sandy bottoms. They are found in the
deepest water and prefer cold water. Their food consists of crabs, shrimps,
and small crustaceans, and they feed at the bottom. Half-grown to full-
grown fish contain spawn. They spawn in the sea in May. They are
taken with a hook by the use of mullet or clam bait at_half-tide.
They bite best in a strong current in winter and spring and fifteen or twenty
may be taken in one tide. In the Gulf of Mexico, according to Stearns,
they are abundant from Key West to the Rio Grande, and are known as
the ‘‘ Whiting,’’ though at Pensacola the name ‘‘ Ground Mullet’’ is in
use. He writes:
‘There are two varieties, which, if they have no specific differences,
have at least, different habits. One variety lives exclusively in very shoal
water along the sandy beaches, appearing to take pleasure from the action
of the surf, and swimming in small schools. The other inhabits deeper
waters ; is found singly, and is of much darker coloring. The former sel-
dom leaves the sea-water, while the latter are often found in brackish and
fresh water. J have found ripe spawn in the surf variety in April, and be-
lieve they deposit it on the sea-beach. Large specimens of the dark variety
were taken in September, 1879, in the Apalachicola River, where the
water is fresh. The Whiting is an excellent food-fish.”’
The two varieties thus referred to by Stearns have been identified by
Jordan as the two species AZ. alburnus and M. littoralis, the latter being
the surf-loving species first mentioned.
The Whiting is a delicious pan-fish, sweet and hard, though soon losing
its delicate flavor. In Charleston it is regarded as a great dainty. <Ac-
cording to Colonel Lyman, when Charleston was closely blockaded and
fishing was a hazardous occupation, the commandant of the garrison, who
was a don vivant, gave $100 in Confederate money fora string of Whiting.
Some of the early writers called this fish the ‘‘ Bermuda Whiting,’’ for
128 AMERICAN FISHES.
what reason it is difficult to understand, for the Whiting of Bermuda at the
present day is a fish very unlike that of our Southern coast.
The ‘‘ Surf Whiting,’’ according to Jordan, is not rare at Charleston,
and in the Gulf of Mexico is as common as the other species, but is chiefly
found in the surf, and hence is less frequently brought into the markets.
Speaking of the game qualities of the two species, S. C. Clarke writes
that they bite much like the trout, seizing the bait with a rush—that they
are strong and active, and make a good fight for their size. He recom-
mends a trout bait rod, fine line, reel, and two small hooks. For bait he
uses cut mullet and fishes on or near the bottom of a sandy strong-tided
channel, at half tide.
The Bagre, MWentictrrus undulatus, is an allied form, member of our
Pacific family. It reaches a length of twenty inches, and a weight of four
or five pounds. It is found close to shore from Point Conception south-
ward to Cerros Island, and is generally abundant. It feeds on crustacea,
spawns in July, and is a food-fish of fair quality. In appearance and in
value it approaches closely to the Surf Whiting of the Atlantic, JZ. “Zt
toralus.
The Queen-fish, Ser7phus politus, is also known as ‘‘ King-fish’’ in
California. It reaches, says Jordan, a length of eight inches, and a weight
of half a pound. It ranges from Tomales Bay southward, and is abundant
in summer, when it is found in great numbers in the surf along sandy
shores. Enormous numbers of them are sometimes taken in seines,
especially at Santa Barbara and Soquel. It is not often brought into the
San Francisco market. It feeds on small fishes and crustaceans. It
spawns insummer. It is a food-fish of excellent quality, but is too smail to
possess much economic value.
THE SPOT OR LAFAYETTE.
SEOUS, CROAKERS AND’ RONCADORS
Man’s life is warm, glad, sad, ’twixt loves and graves,
Boundless in hope, honoured with pangs austere,
Heaven gazing; and his angel wings he craves ;
The fish is swift, small-needing, vague yet clear,
A cold, sweet, silver life, wrapt in round waves,
Quickened with touches of transporting fear.
Leicu Hunt, The Fish, The Man and the Spirit.
HE Sport, or Lafayette, Zzostomus xanthurus, is found along our
coast from New York to the Gulf of Mexico, and is known in New
York and elsewhere as the ‘‘Spot,’’ on the coast of New Jersey as the
‘Goody ’’ and sometimes as the ‘‘ Cape May Goody,’’ in the Chesapeake
region also as the ‘‘Spot’’ and the ‘‘ Roach,’’ at Charleston, S. C., as the
«¢ Chub,’’ in the St. John’s River, Fla., as the ‘* Masooka’’—this name
being probably a corruption of a Portuguese name, ‘‘ Bezuga’’—and at
Pensacola as the ‘‘ Spot ’’ and ‘‘ Chopa blanca.’’ The name “‘ Lafayette ’”’
is used for this fish in New York even to the present day. This name was
given it by the New York fishermen in consequence of its reappearance in
large numbers in that region having been coincident with the arrival of
Lafayette in this country in 1834.. It had been known before that time,
but only in scattering numbers.
Although they sometimes enter the large rivers of the South, such as
a
130 AMERICAN FISHES.
the St. John’s, which they ascend as far as Jacksonville, Giinther is by
no means justified in his statement that this is ‘‘a fresh-water fish inhabit-
ing the rivers of North America.’’
Like the other bottom-feeding members of this family, their food con-
sists chiefly of the smaller mollusks and crustaceans. Little is known
about their breeding habits in the North. Mr. S. C. Clarke states that at
New Smyrna, Fla., they breed in the bays and inlets in November and
December, while Stearns remarks that they spawn in the lower bays and
inlets about Pensacola late in the fall, while the young of all sizes are very
abundant in the spring.
Concerning this species Prof. Baird writes:
‘‘ Of the smaller pan-fish of our coast, in excellence of flavor none is
considered superior to that known as the ‘ Lafayette.’ Its precise eastern
range is not well ascertained, although it is occasionally taken in great
numbers off Long Island and the coast of New Jersey. It is most plenti-
ful off the coast of Virginia.
‘According to Dr. Holbrook, it is not much esteemed for food at
Charleston, owing to a want of flavor. In the case of this species, as in
many others, it is probable that the colder waters of the North impart a
superior flavor and excellence to the flesh. This is well known to be the
case with the sheepshead, as well as many other species.
«© At Beesley’s Point, N. J., where I have had an opportunity of
studying its habits, it makes its appearance in large numbers in August,
the first school being composed of small fish, large ones following them.
A short time later they ascend the creeks in great numbers and are taken
there in company with the white perch. Their usual size in New Jersey
is about six inches, although occasionally measuring ten inches. They do
not make their appearance in the New York markets in any abundance
until towards the rst of September, and remain until the end of October,
when they disappear. I did not succeed in finding any very young fish,
and am unable to state whether they actually spawn on the New Jersey
coast, or whether the supply found there and further north consists of a
‘run’ from the more southern waters of fish migrating northward, perhaps
to escape the increased heat of the southern coast.’’
Mr. L. O. Van Doren in the American Angler, gives an account of its
merits as a game and food fish.
“«Tt swarms on the eastern coast during the hot months of July and August,
and is caught even in September.
SPOTS, CROAKERS AND RONCADORS. ait
‘In the Harlem and East Rivers and in Long Island Sound, where J
have caught them, they run very small indeed, and it requires great
patience and small hooks to take them in. They keep up a constant
nibbling, and the angler is so busy pulling his line up every minute or two
that he wishes he had not fallen in with the silvery pests.
‘‘Like the bergall the Spot bites at the hook with a sly tentative
nibble and immediately darts away, as is proved by their being frequently
hooked in the back, sides or tail. But there is this difference between
cunners and Lafayettes; the latter are good to eat and the former are
worthless. I know of no daintier morsel than a big, fresh Lafayette,
nicely fried and served hot. They are the most tasteful of all the salt water
pan-fish with the exception of the Stonington eel.
‘< Few would care to go out especially for Spots, but if you do have a lot
of fine, sharp hooks, put four on your line above a lght sinker, bait with
small pieces of clam or saddworm, and fish on the first of the flood or at
dead high water in about fourteen feet. It is great fun to take them with
a very light rod. They can be caught in great numbers at Rockaway,
Cape May, Atlantic City, in fact, everywhere on the coast.”’
The Spot is abundant at Mayport, Fla., in spring and summer. In the
Gulf of Mexico, according to Stearns, it is present in the bays all the
year, living in shoal water, feeding upon the bottom upon the small inver-
tebrate animals, and taken with hook and line and seine. It is extremely
abundant, and is considered a good food fish.*
There is a rare species, allied to the Spot, recorded from Charleston,
S. C., and St. George’s Island, Tex., known by naturalists under the name
Stelliferus lanceolatus. It is found in deep water, and is not sufficiently
abundant to have acquired a common name.
The Yellow Tail, Bairdiella chrysura, known as ‘‘ Silver Perch’’ on the
* How To Fry Fan-FisH —< To fry is to boil in fat, therefore the fat must boil, and it must cover whatever
you wish to fry. When fat boils it is quite still, leaves off moving or bubbling, and a thin blue smoke or
vapor rises from it. Fat can be kept fora long time to fry in; it should be strained after using, and it can
be clarified often, provided it is not allowed to burn.’’—(EpitTH CLARKE.)
After being cleaned and wiped perfectly dry, fish for frying should be rubbed over with flour, or dipped
once or twice into egg and bread crumbs, or passed through a regularly-made batter. Fry it in plenty of
very hot oil or friture; drain it thoroughly from grease; sprinkle fine salt upon it, and serve it upona
damask napkin folded in a dish tastefully garnished; serve a sauce apart. Chopped onions are generally
fried and served with fresh herrings. If a sufficient quantity of fat be employed, a good thick fish will not
need more than ten minutes’s frying; smelts and such-like small fish are done in five minutes, or even less.
Finely-shred herbs may be sprinkled over some sorts of fish, such as eels or mackerel, previously to frying
them, but soles, orin short flatfish generally, should be only done with bread crumbs and egg, so as to send
them to table looking of a clear golden yellow.”’—(GrorG1ANA HI tv.)
To fry fish in the Virginia style :—‘‘ Choose middle-sized fish; clean them, scale and wash them ; then
with a very sharp penknife score them on the sides, but not very deep nor very close ; dredge them with
flour; then fry them in oiled butter. When they are well done and brown serve them up garnished with fried
parsley, and send up with them plain melted butter. This gives the fish its true flavor, and many, for that
reason, prefer it to any other way of dressing.’’—(Mrs. SmiTu.) ; ; ol
To fry fish in the angler’s style :—‘‘ Never put your fish in the pan till the fat is boiling hot. Always cut
your pork small, and don’t try it out or otherwise cook it too fast, as it will lose much of its sweetness. Score
the fish and roll them in flour before laying them in the sparkling fat. In using lard, a table-spoonful of salt
to a pound is a fair average.’’—(GEni1o C. ScorTtT.)
132 AMERICAN FISHES,
coast of New Jersey, is quite an important food fish in the Southern States.
But little has been written regarding it, and its excellent qualities are not
yet thoroughly appreciated. In fact, it has been confused with other
species by both Holbrook and Gunther. This fish has not been observed
north of New York, where it was recorded by Mitchill and DeKay, the
latter of whom stated that it was not uncommon in the summer season.
Prof. Baird found the young very abundant about Beesley’s Point
in 1854, though the adults were unknown to the fishermen. Uhler and
Lugger, who, following the mistaken nomenclature of Holbrook, confused
this with a species of Lzostomus, say it is common in the Chesapeake and
Lower Potomac. It is also abundant about Beaufort, N. C., and in the
vicinity of Charleston.
THE YELLOW-TAIL.
According to many observers, Yellow-tails are highly esteemed for
food at St. Simon’s Island, New Brunswick, Ga., and in the Lower
St. John’s River. They probably never ascend the river much above
Jacksonville, though in 1877 great quantities were taken, in the month of
April, at the mouth of the Arlington River. In 1878 the water was so
fresh at this point that none could be taken there, though I saw them at
Yellow Bluffs in water not perceptibly brackish to the taste. A large
majority of those observed at Mayport on April 7, 1875, were full grown
and taken at the point of spawning. Others taken by fishermen at May-
SPOTS, CROAKERS AND RONCADORS. 133
do
port, April, 15, 1878, had the spawn running free from them. The largest
adult did not exceed eight inches in length.
On the Florida coast of the Gulf of Mexico, according to Stearns, they
are very common. ‘They were found by Jordan to be very abundant
along the shores of Louisiana and Texas. At Pensacola they are known
by the name ‘‘ Mademoiselle.’’ They are present throughout the year,
but most plenty from May until November, and are found in company with
the trout and the Spot on the grassy shoals of the bays where they feed
and spawn. The time for spawning is in June and July. They feed
chiefly upon small fishes and shrimps. They do not school, but swim
singly or in pairs. Their extreme length does not exceed ten or eleven
inches, the average being about eight. They are regarded as excellent
pan-fish.
THE CROAKER.
The Croaker, Wicropogon undulatus, ranges from New York at least to
the Gulf of Mexico, although rarely seen north of Delaware. It occurs
also in some of the West Indian islands and south of Brazil. Its name
refers to the peculiar grunting sound which it utters, but in the Chesa-
peake this name has been corrupted into ‘‘ Crocus.’’ In Texas it is called
SSROnco. ’’
At Beaufort, N. C., according to Jordan, it is very abundant, and, next
to the mullet and the Spot, is the most common food-fish of the region.
Holbrook states that the Croaker makes its appearance off Charleston in
the month of May, but becomes common in shallow water in June and
July, and is most abundant and attains its largest size in October and
134 AMERICAN FISHES.
November. It is not much esteemed as food, and is only used,as a pan-
fish.
It is abundant and highly esteemed at Brunswick, Ga., and everywhere
in Eastern Florida, in company with the Spot, ascending the St. John’s as
far as Jacksonville.
Stearns writes: ‘‘ In the Gulf of Mexico it is very common. Is found
everywhere in the bays and bayous throughout the year. Lives mostly in
shoal water or grassy bottoms. Feeds upon crustaceous animals. Breeds
in the bays in November and December. The young are seen in the
spring, having grown to a size of two or three inches in length. Is caught
with hook and line and seine. It sells with other pan-fish for a low price.
It is an excellent food-fish ; average length ten inches. At Sarasota Bay,
December 8, 1879, I caught two specimens of spawning croakers that were
each fully eighteen inches long—the largest that I have ever seen.’’
An allied species is Larimus fasciatus, which is called ‘¢Chub’’ in
Charleston.
Prof. Jordan supphes the following notes upon allied species native to
the Pacific waters:
Corvina saturna, is known wherever found as the ‘‘ Red Roncador,’’ less
commonly as ‘‘ Black Roncador’’ or ‘‘ Croaker.’’ It reaches a length of
sixteen inches and a weight of three or four pounds. It is found from
Point Conception southward in moderate abundance. It feeds largely on
crustaceans and spawns in July. It is a food-fish of good quality.
Roncador Stearnst, is generally known as the ‘‘Roncador’’ or the
snorer, from the Spanish vomcar, tosnore. It makesavery distinct grunt-
ing noise, probably with its air-bladder, on being taken from the water.
It reaches a length of over two feet, and a weight of six to eight pounds.
It is found from Santa Barbara southward, usually in abundance. It feeds
on crustacea and spawns in July. It isa food-fish of excellent quality. It
is named in honor of that eminent naturalist, Prof. R. E. C. Stearns, so
long identified with the scientific interests of the Pacific coast.
Genyonemus lineatus, is known about San Francisco as the Little Bass.
Southward it is called the Little Roncador. The name ‘‘ Cognard,’’ said
by Dr. Ayers to be given to it in San Francisco, is unknown to us. It
reaches a weight of little over a pound, and a length of a foot ; itis found
from Tomales to San Diego, being most abundant from Santa Barbara to
San Francisco. It often comes into the markets in large numbers; it
SPOTS, CROAKERS AND RONCADORS. ES 5
feeds chiefly on crustacea and spawns in July. It is a food-fish of good
quality when fresh, but its flesh becomes soft in the market sooner than
that of most species. Many are dried by the Chinese.
Umbrina roncador, generally known as the ‘‘ Yellow-tailed’’’ or ‘‘ Yel-
low-finned Roncador.’’ It reaches a length of more than a foot, and a
weight of two or three pounds. It is found from Santa Barbara southward,
and is generally abundant, especially in summer. It feeds on crustacea
and spawns in July. It is a food-fish of good quality. Many are split
and salted.
THE SEA DRUM. (Young.)
SEA DRUM AND LAKE DRUM.
His drumming heart cheers up his burning eye.
SHAKESPEARE, Rage of Lucrece.
EXT to the sword-fish, tunny, jew-fish, and halibut, the Drum is
perhaps the largest of the food-fishes of our coast. It is most abun-
dant in the Gulf of Mexico and in the Southern Atlantic States, though
nearly every summer a few specimens appear on the south coast of New
England. In one or two instances individuals have been observed as far
north as Provincetown, Mass. In the Gulf it is common everywhere,
even to the southern boundary of Texas; how much further south it goes
there is at present no means of determining. Ichthyologists formerly sup-
posed that there were two species, one of which, of small size and con-
spicuously banded with brown and white, was called the ‘‘ Banded Drum,’’
P. fasciatus, or ‘‘ Little Drum.” This is now well-known to be the
young of the P. chromis. It seems curious that the changes of color in
relation to age, although known to Cuvier forty years ago, should have
peen overlooked by American naturalists, and that the species P. fascéatus
should have stood as valid until 1873.
as everyone knows, alludes to the loud drumming
?
The name ‘‘ Drum,’
a
SHEA DRUM AND LAKE DRUM. 137
noise which is heard, especially in the breeding season, and is doubtless
the signal by which the fish call to their mates. This habit of drumming
is shared by many fishes of this family, but appears to be most highly de-
veloped in the Drum, and in a European species known as the Maigre,
Sctena aquila. M. Dufossé has investigated, very thoroughly, the physio-
logical causes of these sounds, which appear to depend largely upon the
action of the air-bladder.
The northern limit of the species appears to be defined by Cape Cod.
In 1873, Mr. James H. Blake captured one at Provincetown. Another,
of twenty-five pounds’ weight, was secured by Vinal Edwards for the Fish
Commission from Rogers’s pound, Quisset, Mass., July, 1874; another
large individual, of sixty pounds’ weight, was taken near Noank, Conn.,
July 10, 1874, the third instance of its capture known to the fishermen of
that vicinity.
Schoepf, writing about the year 1786, says that they were at that time
very rare about New York, though he had occasionally seen them at the
city market, where they met with sale, though their flesh was none of the
hardest.
The Drums captured north of Sandy Hook have been, so far as I can
learn, large adult fish. Prof. Baird found the young fish of this species very
abundant in August in the small bays along the shores of Beesley’s Point,
N. J., though few were seen in the rivers. Its southern limit is some-
where in the Gulf of Mexico, but has not been accurately ascertained.
The young are very dissimilar to the adult fish, though the fishermen in
Florida and elsewhere recognize the actual relations. In this respect they
are more discriminating than the ichthyologist Holbrook, who described
them as distinct species. The adult is known as the ‘‘ Black Drum,”’
young as the ‘‘Striped Drum.’’ In addition to the marked differences in
the
color, the young has a much more shapely body than the adult, much
higher in proportion to its length. The full-grown fish sometimes weigh
eighty pounds, though the average is perhaps not more than one-quarter
as large. They are sluggish swimmers, and are especially adapted to life
on the bottom, where their long, sensitive barbels aid them in their search
for buried treasures of food. They feed upon all bottom-dwelling inver-
tebrates. Their teeth are extremely heavy and pavement-like ; their jaws
are provided with very powerful muscles, by means of which they can crush
with great ease the shells of the most strongly protected invertebrates.
38 AMERICAN FISHES.
136
It is claimed by oyster-planters that the Drum is very destructive to the
oyster-beds. Mr. Stearns writes: ‘‘ Oysters are their favorite food on the
Gulf coast, and they destroyed a great many at Apalachicola, St. Andrews,
Mobile, and Galveston Bays. The Mobile oyster-planters attribute the
bulk of their losses to Drums. At Pensacola I have known a boat-load of
oysters, fifty barrels, that were thrown overboard to be preserved, to be
entirely consumed in eight or ten days by them, leaving but a heap of
broken shells.”’
While it is probable that the Drum feeds upon oysters as well as upon
crabs or shrimps, it is probable that the extent of their destructiveness has
been somewhat exaggerated ; for instance, it was claimed a few years ago
that oysters in New York Bay to the value of hundreds of thousands of
dollars were destroyed by Drums. This seems quite unlikely, since the
Drum is by no means a common fish so far north as New York.
Concerning its relation to the oyster-culturist, I cannot do better than
to quote the words of Mr. Ernest Ingersoll :
‘* Knowing the carnivorous propensity of the fish, one can easily imagine
how an inroad of such a host must affect an oyster-ground. They do not
seem to make any trouble, however, north of New York City, and rarely
along the south side of Long Island. At Staten Island and Keyport they
come in every few years and devastate thousands of dollars worth of
property. Such a memorable visitation happened about 1850, in July.
The following summer the planters in Prince’s Bay, fearing a repetition of
the onslaught, anchored shingles and pieces of waste tin on their beds,
scattering them at short intervals, in the hope that their dancing, glitter-
ing surfaces might act as ‘scare-crows’ to frighten the fish away. Whether
as an effect of this, or because of a general absence, no more Drums ap-
peared. In New York Bay, off Caven Point, where the old ‘Black Tom
Reef’ is now converted into an island, one planter of Keyport lost his
whole summer’s work—material and labor—in a single September week,
through an attack by Drums. A City Island planter reported to me a loss
of $10,000 in one season a few years ago; but the East River is about the
northern limit of the Drums, at least as a nuisance to oyster-culture, so far
as Ican learn. ‘The vexation of it is, too, that the Drum does not seem
to eat half of what he destroys; but, on the contrary, a great school of
them will go over a bed, wantonly crushing hundreds of oysters and drop-
ping them untasted, but in fragments, on the bottom.”’
The size of the schools in which they go is shown by the following
records from contemporary newspapers: ‘‘On Monday last, John Earle
and sons caught, at one draught, in Bristol Ferry, 719 Drum-fish, weigh-
SEA DRUM AND LAKE DRUM. 139
ing upwards of fifty pounds each.’’ Niles’ Weekly Register, July, 1833,
also says: ‘‘ Some days ago a haul was made in Great Egg Harbor Bay,
near Beesley’s Point, Cape May, at which 218 Drum-fish was caught, their
entire weight being from 8,000 to 9,000 pounds. ‘This is said to be the
largest haul of that description of fish ever made in that bay.”’
Another still larger, noticed as a great haul of Drum-fish; ‘‘On Wed-
nesday, June 5, 1804,’’ says the postmaster of Oyster Ponds, Long Is-
land, ‘‘ one seine drew on shore at this place at a single haul 12,250 fish,
the average weight of which was found to be thirty-three pounds, making
in the aggregate 202 tons 250 pounds. This undoubtedly is the greatest
haul of this kind ever known in this country. A hundred witnesses are
ready to attest the truth of the above statement. They are used for ma-
nure.’’ (The fish, I suppose, and not the witnesses, remarked Ingersoll.)
Mr. S. C. Clarke has made some interesting communications regarding
their breeding habits. The male he informs us, is the larger, and is more
brightly colored, particularly at the breeding season. The male drums
very loud, the female in a softer tone. Fish under twenty pounds in
weight do not breed. About the Halifax Inlet, Southern Florida, they
spawn in March in the salt-water rivers. The ova sink to the bottom.
They are as large as B-shot, dark brown in color, and are often seen to
run from the parent fish when it is captured. In a large fish the roe some-
times weighs six or seven pounds. In the northern part of the Gulf of
Mexico, according to Silas Stearns, they spawn in April and May in inside
waters.
My own observations upon the Drum have been made chiefly in Florida.
Specimens of ten and fifteen inches are abundant in the Lower St. John,
and are frequently taken at Jacksonville, even as high up the river as Doc-
tor’s Lake. Large ones are seldom known to pass the bar at Mayport.
They are sometimes caught in seines in great numbers and retained liv-
ing 1n the seines until disposed of. Drum-fishing with hook and line is
one of the most exciting exploits of the sportsmen of this region. In the
Nassau River, large Drum which are sold at Fernandina, are taken with
hook and line in the spring.
The young are often taken in seines at the St. John’s River and sold in
the Jacksonville market, and are excellent pan-fish, as my own experience
testifies. Their flesh is coarse, but tender, and it is thought to compare
favorably with any of the salt-water fishes of the region. The large ones
140 AMERICAN FISHES.
are often eaten, but are not so much sought after; perhaps the cause of this
is that they are liable to be infested by parasitic worms. A Drum of sixty
pounds, taken at Wood’s Holl, Massachusetts, 1864, was completely rid-
dled by nematode worms, neatly encysted among the layers of muscle.
Some of them were two feet long, with heads larger than large buck-shot.
In the Indian River, according to Mr. Clarke, Drum are taken with
hooks and crab bait, and with cast-nets. In summer they are caught in
the open ocean ; in the winter, in the bays and inlets. Four or five a day
is considered good fishing luck. Tides do not affect the fishing. Their
flesh is not greatly esteemed. They are sometimes salted, but are chiefly
used for compost. ‘‘In the Gulf of Mexico,’’ says Stearns, ‘‘ the Drum is
often caught in seines and gill-nets, but is very rarely eaten, as the flesh is
dry and tasteless.’’
I have often eaten the young fishin Florida. When very fresh, the
flavor is sweet and agreeable, though the flesh is very soft.
In the Carolinas, according to a statement of a correspondent, the roes
are considered very delicious, and it is customary for the residents of the
he.
coast to salt and dry them and send them ‘‘up country’’ to their friends
as a very acceptable present.
North of Maryland the fish is of little economical importance. In the
Chesapeake region, according to Uhler and Lugger, its flesh is much es-
teemed, and its roe is a great delicacy ; considerable numbers are brought
to the Baltimore markets in spring and fall.
The scales of the Drum are extensively used in the manufacture of the
sprays of flowers and other articles of fancy work which are sold, especially
in Florida, under the name of ‘fish scale jewelry.’’ ‘They are large and
silvery, and so hard that it is necessary to remove them from the fish with
an axe or hatchet.
The Drum was known to the Dutch colonists of New York as early as
the middle of the seventeenth century, as is shown by references in Steen-
dam’s poem ‘‘In Praise of New Netherland,’’ already referred to. Its
name was ‘‘ Dartien,’’ while the bass was ‘‘ Twalft,’’ and the shad
‘¢Elft’’—facts which give endorsement to the old tradition that the early
colonists of New Netherland knew only ten kinds of fish and that when
the shad came they called it the eleventh kind (/7///) the bass the twelfth
(Zwalft) and the Drum the thirteenth (Dartien or Dertienen). It is inter-
esting to speculate as to which were the ten they first knew. The
-
SHA DRUM AND LAKE DRUM. TAI
following list is probably not far from right, and is useful from its
suggestions as to the origin of some of the names now in use:
i. Baars. Perch, (white and yellow).
2. Aa. Hel.
3. Haring. Herring.
4. Makreel. Mackerel.
5. Stenbrassem and Carper. Bream and Sucker.
6. Masbank. Mossbunker or Menhaden.
7. Schol and Bot. Flatfish and Flounder.
8. Steur. Sturgeon.
g. L7tk: Lamprey.
10. Kuorhaan. Gurnard or Sea Robin and Sculpin.
The Weekvis (Weakfish or Squeteague), the Roch (Rock-fish), the Sonne
vis (Sun-fish), Swart vds (Black-fish or Tautog), were probably later dis-
coveries, and if the New Netherlanders had been less imaginative, might
have been called numbers fourteen to seventeen. The principal difficulty
with this myth is that A/osa has long been known in Holland as the
«‘Elft.’’ Perhaps the double meaning of its name was what suggested
an arithmetical nomenclature for the others.
Another historical incident is connected with Pogonias. The legend
of Pascagoula and its mysterious music, deemed supernatural by the Indians
is still current. ‘‘It may often be heard there on summer evenings,’’ says
arecent writer. ‘‘ The listener being on the beach, or, yet more favor-
ably, in a boat floating on the river, a low, plaintive sound is heard rising
and falling like that of an AZolian harp, and seeming to issue from the
water. The sounds, which are sweet and plaintive, but monotonous,
cease as soon as there is any noise or disturbance of the water.’’
Bienville, the French explorer, heard the music of Pascagoula, when he
made his voyage in 1699 to the mouths of the Mississippi, and his experi-
ences are recorded in his narrative.
Mr. A. W. Roberts gives in the American Angler the following inter-
esting notes upon observations of the Drum in confinement :
“When curator of the New York Aquarium, several small specimens of
the so-called ‘* Banded Drum’”’ were brought to the establishment by the
regular collectors. At first they were placed in the medium-sized tanks,
where they increased in size so rapidly that in course of time it was found
necessary to remove them to more roomy quarters, where they remained
142 AMERICAN FISHES.
up to the time of the closing up of the establishment, having been in con-
finement over three years, and by which time they had become the
blackest of black drum ; all the bands that were so conspicuous in their
younger stage having disappeared entirely, although, for the last two
years, the shark tank, (some seventy feet in length), in which they had
been kept, was always flooded with strong sunlight in the morning and
strong daylight during the afternoon, not to mention a flood of gaslght
during the evening. The bottom of this tank consisted of clean and
white shingle, so that a great deal of reflected hght was the result, and yet
these ‘‘ banded drum’’ seemed to become blacker and blacker black drum
every month. Mussels and scollops, in the shell, were their particular
delight, and they always had plenty as long as I was their keeper. The
bull-nosed clam was too much for their pharyngeal teeth, consequently I
had them partially opened before feeding them out.
‘«« During the spring months the males constantly pursued the females, and,
on such occasions, both the males and females gave out a series of very
musical and liquid drum-like sounds, which could be distinctly heard
in any part of the aquarium. Often, when dredging at night-time at
Princess Bay, Staten Island, I have heard the constant drumming of the
drum at different points about my boat; they were evidently having a big
oyster supper.”’
THE LAKE DRUM OR MALESHAGANAY.
The fresh-water Drum, Haplotdonotus grunniens, is always known in the
Great Lakes by the name ‘‘ Sheepshead.’’ In the Ohio River it is usually
called ‘‘ White Perch’’ or ‘‘ Gray Perch,’’ often simply ‘“‘Perch.’’ In
the lakes of Northern Indiana it is called ‘‘ Crocus,’’ evidently a corrup-
tion of ‘‘ Croaker.’’ In the Southern States the name ‘‘ Drum’’ pre-
dominates ; that of ‘‘ Thunder-pumper,’’ also used for the bittern, Bosau-
Lie}
SEA DRUM AND LAKE DRUM. 143
rus lentiginosus, is heard along the Mississippi River. Southwestward, in
Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas, it is always known as the ‘‘ Gaspergou.’’*
These names, ‘‘ Croaker,’’ ‘‘ Drum,’’ ‘‘ Thunder-pumper,”’ etc., refer to
the croaking or grunting noise made by this species in common with most
Sciznoids. This noise is thought to be made in the air-bladder by forc-,
ing the air from one compartment to another. Another name used in the
southwest is ‘‘ Jewel-head.”’
Jip}
‘¢ This species,’’ writes Jordan, ‘‘is very abundant in all large bodies
of water throughout the Western States, from the Great Lakes to the
Rio Grande. It seldom enters small streams. It feeds largely upon crus-
taceans and mollusks, but sometimes swallows other fishes. It is rather a
bottom fish than otherwise. Its value as a food-fish depends on the water
and food, and, unlike most fishes, its quality seems to improve to the
southward. Although from its size and abundance it becomes an import-
ant market fish, it cannot at best be considered one of high quality. — Its
flesh is tough and coarse in fiber, and often of a disagreeable shark-like
odor, particularly in the Great Lakes, where it is never eaten. The flesh
of partly grown specimens is better than that of the adult. It reaches a
length of four feet and a weight of forty to sixty pounds. Those usually
seen in market are much smaller. Nothing is known concerning its
breeding habits.
The ear bones or otholiths of the Lake Drum are large and have a tex-
ture like ivory. They are often carried as amulets by the negroes of the
South, and are also prized by boys in Wisconsin and elsewhere in the West,
who call them ‘lucky stones,’’ perhaps in allusion to the fact that they
are marked by a figure which resembles the letter L. The name ‘ Jewel-
head’’ refers, of course, to these bones, and Jordan’s generic name £vty-
chelithus, proposed fora form of the Lake Drum, supposed to inhabit Lake
Huron, is a translation of the words ‘‘ lucky stone.’’ The Lake Huron
form is in all probability identical with that of the other lakes, and it is
hoped that the Indian name ‘‘ Maleshaganay’’ may be preserved in con-
nection with these lacustrine scizenoids.
* Mr. Norman Walker, in a recent paper on ‘‘ Outdoor Life in Louisiana,”’ published in Ox¢éng, informs
us that “‘gaspergou’’ is an Indian word, meaning ‘‘fish,’’ and is applied by Louisianians to anything fishy
from the sheepshead to the mudsucker.
THE COBIA.
COBIA, MOON-EISEO AND FLASHER.
You strange, astonished-looking, angle-faced,
Dreary-mouthed, gaping wretches of the sea,
Gulping salt-water everlastingly,
Cold-blooded, though with red your blood be graced,
And mute, though dwellers in the roaring waste,
What is’t you do? what life lead? eh, dull goggles?
How do ye vary your dull days and nights?
How pass your Sundays? Are ye still but joggles,
In ceaseless wash? Still nought, but gapes, and bites,
And drinks, and stares, diversified with bozgles.
LeicH Hunt, 7he Man to the Fish.
HE Cobia or crab-eater, “/acate canada, known in the Chesapeake
Bay as the “‘“Bonito”” or the ““Coal-fish,”” as the ““Sergeant-tshi”’
in Southern and Eastern Florida, and in parts of Florida as the ‘‘ Ling”’
or ‘*Snooks,’’ is considered one of the most important food-fishes of
Maryland and Virginia, though it is but ttle known elsewhere. Like the
Bluefish, it is cosmopolitan in its distribution, having been recorded in the
seas of China and Japan, in Southeastern Hindostan, in the Malay Archi-
pelago, on the coast of Brazil, in the West Indies and the Bermudas,
where it is called the ‘* Cubby-yew,’’ and along our own shores from the
Gulf of Mexico to Cape Cod. DeKay speaks of the capture of a single
individual in Boston Harbor. ‘The species was originally described by
Linnzeus from a specimen sent to him from South Carolina by Dr. Garden.
The name ‘‘ Sergeant-fish’’ refers to its peculiar coloration, several stripes
of brown and grey being visible on the sides of the body. The name
‘« Crab-eater’’ appears to have been ascribed to the fish by Dr. Mitchill.
What is known of its habits may be very shortly told. Holbrook remarked :
‘«The Crab-eater is a solitary fish ; it prefers deep and clear water and is
?
COBIA, MOON-FISH AND FLASHER. 145
only taken singly with a hook. It lives on the coast of Carolina late in
May, and is occasionally captured until September, when it is no longer
seen in our waters. It is exceedingly voracious, and destroys many
smaller fish, which make its ordinary food, though it does not reject
crustaceous animals.’’
Mitchill dissected a specimen caught in New York Bay obtained by
him in the city market in June, 1815. He found its stomach dis-
tended with food of various sorts, including twenty spotted sand-crabs
and several young flounders. DeKay tells us that the specimen from
which his description was taken was captured in a seine in the harbor of
Boston and placed in a car with other fish. It was soon discovered that
it had destroyed and eaten every fish in the car. These fish were chiefly
sculpins and porgies. Mr. S. C. Clarke, speaking of the fish fauna of
Florida, remarks: ‘‘ This fish I have never seen except in the Indian
River, where it is a common species, lying under the mangrove bushes in
wait for prey like a pike, which it much resembles in form and in the long
under jaw full of sharp teeth.’’ The size is from two to three feet. It
attains the length of five feet and the weight of fifteen or twenty pounds.
The Cobia breeds in the Chesapeake Bay, where in 1880 Mr. R. E.
Earll succeeded in artificially fertilizing the eggs. Dr. Mitchill speaks of
its availability as a food-fish in the highest terms.
It is occasionally taken by trolling lines in the Gulf, and seems to be
regarded with favor by the anglers who have made its acquaintance. Mr.
W. C. Prime, whose charming book, ‘‘I Go a Fishing,’’ has become one
of the classics of Waltonian literature, writes:
‘© In shape he may be roughly likened to the great northern pike, with
a similar head, flattened on the forehead. He isdark green on the back,
growing lighter on the sides, but the distinguishing characteristic 1s a
broad, dark collar over the neck, from which two black stripes or straps,
parting on the shoulders, extend, one on each side, to the tail. He looks
as if harnessed with a pair of traces, and his behavior on a fly-rod is that
of awiid horse. The first one that I struck, in the brackish water of
Hillsborough River at Tampa, gave me a hitherto unknown sensation.
The tremendous rush was not unfamiliar, but when the fierce fellow took
the top of the water and went along lashing it with his tail, swift as a
bullet, then descended, and with a short, sharp, electric shock left the
line to come home free, I was for an instant confounded. It was all over
in ten seconds. Nearly every fish that I struck after this behaved in the
10
146 AMERICAN FISHES.
same way, and after I had gotten ‘the hang of them’ I took a great
many.”’
eee
==
Eig
Sse
Set
THE MOON-FISH OR SPADE-FISH.
The Moon-fish, Chetodipterus faber, is one of the rarer species on our
coast, and has recently come so much into favor in New York that among
connoisseurs it is one of the most highly esteemed food-fishes. It 1s also
greatly valued by residents of Washington who know it, being abundant
in the markets of that cityin summer. In the northern parts of the Gulf of
Mexico it is called the ‘‘Spade-fish’’; from Florida to Charleston the
‘«« Angel-fish,’? a name which, according to Schoepf, appears to have been
current during the last century at Beaufort, N. C., where it is called the
‘« Porgee’’ or ‘‘ Porgy,’’ and at New York, where it is stated to be found
insummer. ‘‘ Three-tail Sheepshead’’ and ‘‘ Three-tailed Porgee’’ are
names which are said to have been formerly in use among the New York
fishermen.
—————————————
COBIA, MOON-FISH AND FLASHER. 147
The range of this species along our coast is very wide. It has been
found in Guatemala, and perhaps farther south, and the British Museum
has specimens from Texas, Santo Domingo, and Jamaica. It is said to be
somewhat abundant on the coast of South Carolina, and not uncommon at
the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay. ‘They are occasionally taken about
New York, and several individuals have been obtained by the Fish Com-
mission at Woods Holl. It is occasionally taken in Southern California,
about San Diego. It attains the length of eighteen inches and the weight
of several pounds. The large adult specimens have a peculiar globular bone
in the head, unlike anything which has been found in any other fish.
Two species have been recognized by American ichthyologists. It seems
probable that these represent different ages of the same fish. The only
study of its habits in existence is the following, which is quoted from Mr.
Stearns’ excellent journal of observations.
<¢ The Spade-Fish, Chetodipterus faber, is common on the West Florida,
Alabama, and Louisiana coasts. I have not observed it in South Florida.
{t is found throughout the summer and fall in the bays, about wharves,
rock-piles, and old wrecks, where crustaceous animals are abundant. In
October and November large schools are seen along the sea-beaches, evi-
dently leaving the coast for warmer waters, at which time many are caught
by seine fishermen. It spawns in early summer, and the young are seen
until October. I have seen specimens of Spade-fish fifteen inches long ;
but the average size is not more than eight inches. It is an excellent
pan-fish, selling readily in market.’’
This species is known to the fishermen of the St. John’s and Indian
Rivers, Fla., under the name ‘‘ Angel-fish.’’ Holbrook states that it ap-
pears on tne shores of South Carolina in May and June, and is then taken
in considerable numbers with the seine. Jordan states that it is common
at Beaufort, N. C., where it is used as a food-fish. Lugger remarks that
it is not uncommon in the salt-water region near the entrance to Chesa-
peake Bay, but is seldom, if ever, brought to the Baltimore markets.
DeKay remarks that in the waters of New York it only appears periodi-
cally, and occasionally in great numbers during the summer months.
About 1822 they were caught here in seines in great numbers, and exposed
in the markets for sale. I am not aware that any such incursion has since
been observed. On the coast of California, where, according to Jordan,
it is occasionally taken about San Diego in the kelp, it is too rare to be of
commercial importance.
AMERICAN FISHES.
A) oy
‘ ae abe
es
THE FLASHER.
The ‘‘Flasher’’ or ‘‘ Triple-tail’’ of New York, Zobotes surinamensts,
known in South Carolina as the ‘‘ Black Perch,’’ and to the fishermen of St.
John’s River as the ‘‘Grouper,’’ is spoken of by various authors as the
‘¢ Black Triple-tail,’’ and in 1856, according to Gill, was called in New
York market the ‘‘ Flasher.’’? It is remarkable on account of its extraordi-
narily wide range, having been found in China, the Malay Archipelago, at
Sunda and Molucca, in the Bay of Bengal, and in the Mediterranean
about Sicily, at Ceylon, in the West Indies about Cuba and Jamaica, on
the coast of South America, and in Surinam, whence the first specimen was
derived, and from which locality the species takes its scientific name, and
along the coast of the United States from St. John’s River to Woods Holl,
Mass. ‘The Triple-tail is a short, thick, heavily built fish. ‘The dorsal
and anal fins project backwards towards the base of the caudal so promi-
nently as to give origin to the common name. When alive it is a very
beautiful species, silvery and grey in color, but after death it soon becomes
dingy—so dingy, in fact, that many of the common names are prefixed by
the adjective ‘‘black.’’ I saw four specimens at Jacksonville, Fla., on
the sth of April, 1875. The largest weighed about ten pounds and
measured nearly two feet in length. The species is abundant about
Charleston, where, according to Holbrook, it appears in June and remains
until September. It feeds upon small fishes and mussels, and is said to
take the hook readily when baited with clams or with shrimps. It is
CORBIA MOONFISH AND FLASHER. 149
occasionally taken in the lower part of the Chesapeake Bay, and Prof.
Baird obtained specimens about three inches long in August among the
eel-grass on Tuckahoe River, in New Jersey. Stragglers have been taken
at New York, and even as far north as Wood’s Hall, Mass. ‘They are
occasionally brought to the New York market, where they are highly
esteemed. Gill, writing in 1856, said: ‘‘I saw a single specimen of this
species in Fulton market last year, which remained exposed on the stall
from August 30 to September 6. It did not seem to be known. It was
about fifteen inches in length, and one dollar was demanded for it.”’
DeVoe saw one in Catherine market, in August, 1864, taken in a net on
the Long Island coast, near Flatlands. He speaks of its excellence as a
fish for boiling, comparing it to the Sheepshead. By the fishermen of St.
John’s River, Fla., it is considered one of the finest food-fishes, and its
large silver scales command a high price at the fancy shops, where they are
sold to be used in the manufacture of scale works.
THE RAVALLIA,
The Ravallia or Snook, Centropomus undecimalts, is a fish which has only
recently been added to the fauna of the United States.
It occurs only along the Gulf coast, where it is known by the Spanish
name, ‘‘ Robalo,’’ with such variations as ‘‘ Ravaljo,’’ ‘‘ Ravallie’’ and
<‘ Ravallia.”’? It ranges from Florida to Rio Janeiro, and occurs in the
Pacific from the Gulf of California at least to Callao, The ‘‘ Robalo’’
of Chili is quite another fish, the Pzmguipes chilensis, of Cuvier. A closely
allied species, Centropomus robaleto, is the ‘‘ Constantine”’ or ‘‘ Robaleto”’
of the Mazatlan fishermen.
The Centropomus is a perch-like fish, and is not unlike S/zostedium in
appearance and structure. Its habits are very like those of its fresh-
150 AMERICAN FISHES.
water ally, and it may appropriately be considered the pike-perch of the
sea coast. It occurs in the sea and also in brackish estuaries. The
Robalo attains the length of about three feet, and is exceedingly strong,
active and voracious, feeding upon all kinds of small fishes. It is un-
doubtedly a good fish for the sportsman, though the ‘ Ravallia’’ or
“¢ Snook ’’ usually referred to in the chronicles of angling is £7acate.
President Jordan gives it an unqualified endorsement: ‘‘ A vigorous
gamy fish it must certainly be, from its build and food, though I never
took it on the hook. Ihave eaten them baked, and I know them to be
good, and the Creole Spanish hold them in high esteem. In structure
they much resemble the striped bass, and Robalo is the Spanish name for
the European bass. Probably the objection is simple prejudice. I once
heard a darky, who had never before seen a Robalo, say of a twenty-
pounder, that ‘he would rather eat the devil than such a looking fish.’ Ic
is much valued on the Mexican coast and is occasionally taken about Gal-
veston in summer. It becomes much more abundant southward along the
Texas coast, and is one of the staple food-fishes about Brazos Santiago.”’
There is reason for caution in speaking about this fish by its common
names, since we are assured by Dr. Henshall that the name ‘ Ravallia’’
is very commonly apphed to the Cobia, and that the name ‘‘Snooks”’ is
the one in common use for Centropomus on the west coast of Florida. This
is of course a corruption of Svoek, the Dutch name for the Pike (Zsox
Juctus), and was used in Dampier’s lst of fishes printed in the seventeenth
century.
Orth BE WE EISEH.
And, as he darts, the waters blue
Are streaked with gleams of many a hue
Green, orange, purple and gold. Matruew G. Lewis.
Call them Sir, by whatever name we please ; whether blue-fish, of Massachusetts Bay ; snapper, of New
Bedford ; horse-mackerel, on the shores of Rhode Island; or tailor, in Delaware Bay, they are the same
Temmnodon saltator still, and deal out destruction and death to other species in all the localities they visit.
Speech of Hon. N. E. Arwoop, of the Cape District, 1870.
HIS fish; which on the coast of New England and the Middle States
is called the Bluefish, is also known in Rhode Island as the ‘* Horse
Mackerel ’’; south of Cape Hatteras as the ‘‘ Skipjack ;’’ in North Carolina,
‘Virginia, and Maryland it issometimes known as the ‘‘ Green-fish.’’ Young
Bluefish are in some parts of New England called ‘‘ Snapping Mackerel’’
or ‘‘ Snappers ;’’ about New Bedford ‘‘ Blue Snappers ;’’ to distinguish
them from the Sea Bass they are sometimes spoken of as the ‘‘ Bluefish.’’
About New York they are cailed “‘Skip Mackerel,’’ and higher up the
Hudson River ‘‘ White-fish.’’ In the Gulf of Mexico the name <‘ Blue-
fish’’ is in general use.
Pomatomus saltatrix is widely distributed—in the Malay Archipelago,
Australia, at the Cape of Good Hope, at Natal and about Madagascar ;
in the Mediterranean, where it is a well-known and highly-prized food-
fish in the markets of Algiers, though rare on the Italian side. It
has been seen at Malta, at Alexandria, along the coast of Syria, and about
the Canaries. It has never been seen on the Atlantic coast of Europe,
and, strangely enough, never in the waters of the Bermudas or any of the
Western Islands. On our coast it ranges from Central Brazil and the
M2 AM TE Teh CAIN SEES ATLL,
Guianas through the Gulf of Mexico and northto 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. It is not yet known what limits of temperature are the most
favorable to their welfare, but it would appear, from the study of the dates
of their appearance during a period of years in connection with the ocean
temperature, that they prefer to avoid water which is much colder than
40°. It is possible that the presence of their favorite food, the menhaden,
has as much influence upon their movements as water temperature. Certain
it is, that few Bluefish are found on our Middle and Southern coast when
the menhaden are absent; on the other hand, the Bluefish do not venture
in great numbers into the Gulf of Maine at the time when menhaden are
schooling and are at their greatest abundance. Their favorite summer
haunts are in the partially protected waters of the Middle States from
May to October, with an average temperature of 60° to 75°. The men-
haden, or certain schools of them, affect a cooler climate and thrive in the
waters of Western and Central Maine in the months when the harbor
temperatures are little above 50° and 55°, and that of the ocean consid-
erably lower.
Since Prof. Baird wrote in 1871, there has been no great change in
the abundance of Bluefish. They are quite sufficient in number to supply
the demand for them and to make great inroads upon the other fishes,
some of which, like the menhaden and mackerel, would perhaps, if undis-
turbed by the Bluefish, be more valuable than they are at present. They
have now been with us for fifty years. Their numbers are subject to
periodical variations, of the causes of which we are ignorant. Itis to be
regretted that there are no records of it in the South Atlantic States. If
such existed, we might, perhaps, learn from them that the Bluefish
remained in those waters while absent from the northern coasts. Only
one statement is to be found which covers this period, although Lawson,
in his ‘‘ History of North Carolina,’’ published in 1709, and Catesby, in
his ‘‘ Natural History of the Carolinas,’’ published in 1743, refer to its
presence. In ‘‘ Bartram’s Travels,’’ published in 1791, the ‘‘Skipjack’’ is
mentioned as one of the most abundant fish at the mouth of the St. John’s
River. When Bluefish again became abundant their presence was first
noticed at the South, and they seem to have made their inroads from that
direction. The Bluefish was unknown to Schoepf, if we may judge from
TALE BLE Side
his work on the ‘‘ Fishes of New York,’’ published in 1787. Dr.
Mitchill recorded their frequent capture about New York in 1814, though
before 1810 they are said to have been unknown there. In 1825 they
were very abundant and in 1841 immense numbers were captured in the
Vineyard Sound, while about Nantucket they were on the increase from
1820 to 1830. It is certain that they had not reappeared in 1822 in Nar-
ragansett Bay, for in ‘‘ Dwight’s Travels,;’’ it is stated that, though
formerly abundant, they had not been seen in that region since the time
of the Revolution.
The first one which was noticed north of Cape Cod was captured in
October 1837, though we have no record of their appearance about Cape
Ann before 1847.
The Bluefish is a carnivorous animalof the most pronounced type, feed-
ing solely upon other fish. Prof. Baird remarks :
‘« There is no parallel in point of destructiveness to the Bluefish among
the marine species on our coast, whatever may be the case among some of
the carnivorous fish of the South American waters. The Bluefish has been
well 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. All writers are unanimous in regard to the destructiveness
of the Bluefish. Going in large schools, in pursuit of fish not much
inferior to themselves in size, they move along like a pack of hungry
wolves, destroying everything before them. Their trail is marked by
fragments of fish and by the stain of blood in the sea, as, where the fish is
too large to be swallowed entire, the hinder portion will be bitten off and
the anterior part allowed to float away or sink. It is even maintained,
with great earnestness, that such is the gluttony of the fish, that when the
stomach becomes full the contents are disgorged and then again filled. It
is certain that it kills many more fish than it requires for its own support.
““The youngest fish, equally with the older, perform this function of
destruction, and although they occasionally devour crabs, worms, etc., the
bulk of their sustenance throughout the greater part of the year is derived
from other fish. Nothing is more common than to find a small Bluefish
of six or eight inches in length under a school of minnows making con-
tinual dashes and captures among them. ‘The stomachs of the Bluefish of
all sizes, with rare exceptions, are found loaded with the other fish, some-
times to the number of thirty or forty, either entire or in fragments.
154 AMERICAN TAS ALSS.
‘« As already referred to, it must also be borne in mind that it is not
merely the small fry that are thus devoured, and which it is expected will
fall a prey to other animals, but that the food of the Bluefish consists very
largely of individuals which have already passed a large percentage of the
chances against their attaining maturity, many of them, indeed, having
arrived at the period of spawning. To make the case more clear, let us
realize for a moment the number of Bluefish that exist on out coast in the
summer season. As far as I can ascertain by the statistics obtained at the
fishing stations on the New England coast, as also from the records of the
New York markets, kindly furnished by Middleton & Carman, of the
Fulten Market, the capture of Bluefish, from New Jersey to Monomoy,
during the season, amounts to not less than one million individuals,
averaging five or six pounds each. Those, however, who have seen the
Bluefish in his native waters, and realized the immensé number there exist-
ing, will be quite willing to admit that probably not one fish in a thousand
is ever taken by man. If, therefore, we have an actual capture of one
million, we may allow one thousand millions as occurring in the extent
of our coasts referred to, even neglecting the smaller ones, which, perhaps,
should also be taken into the account.
‘* An allowance of ten fish per day to each Bluefish is not excessive,
according to the testimony elicited from the fishermen and substantiated
by the stomachs of those examined ; this gives ten thousand millions of
fish destroyed per day. And as the period of the stay of the Bluefish on
the New England coast is at least one hundred and twenty days, we have
in round numbers twelve hundred million millions of fish devoured in the
course of a season. Again, if each Bluefish, averaging five pounds,
devours or destroys even half its own weight of other fish per day (and I
am not sure that the estimate of some witnesses of twice this weight is not
more nearly correct), we will have, during the same period, a daily loss of
twenty-five hundred million pounds, equal to three hundred thousand mil-
lions for the season.
‘¢This estimate apphes to three or four year old fish, of at least three to
five pounds in weight. We must, however, allow for those of smaller size,
and a hundred-fold or more in number, all engaged simultaneously in the
butchery referred to.
‘We can scarcely conceive of a number so vast ; and however much we
may diminish, within reason, the estimate of the number of Bluefish and
THE BELOELFITSE. 155
the average of their captures, there still remains an appalling aggregate
of destruction. While the smallest Bluefish feed upon the diminutive fry,
those of which we have taken account capture fish of large size, many of
them, if not capable of reproduction, being within at least one or two
years of that period.
‘¢Tt is estimated by very good authority that of the spawn deposited by
any fish at a given time not more than thirty per cent. are hatched, and
that less than ten per cent. attain an age when they are able to take care
of themselves. As their age increases, the chances of reaching maturity
become greater and greater. It is among the small residuum of this class
that the agency of the Bluefish is exercised, and whatever reasonable
reduction may be made in our estimate, we cannot doubt that they exert
a material influence.
‘« The rate of growth of the Bluefish is also an evidence of the immense
amount of food they must consume. The young fish which first appear
along the shores of Vineyard Sound, about the middle of August, are about
five inches in length. By the beginning of September, however, they
have reached six or seven inches, and on their reappearance in the second
year they measure about twelve or fifteen inches. After this they increase
in a still more rapid ratio. A fish which passes eastward from Vineyard
Sound in the spring, weighing five pounds, is represented, according to
the general impression, by the ten to fifteen pound fish of the autumn. If
this be the fact, the fish of three or four pounds which pass along the
coast of North Carolina in March return to it in October weighing ten to
fifteen pounds.
‘As already explained, the relationship of these fish to the other
inhabitants of the sea is that of an unmitigated butcher ; and it is able to
contend successfully with any other species not superior to itself in size.
It is not known whether an entire school ever unite in an attack upon a
particular object of prey, as is said to be the case with the ferocious fishes
of the South American rivers; should they do so, no animal, however
large, could withstand their onslaught.
‘¢ They appear to eat anything that swims of suitable size—fish of all
kinds, but perhaps more especially the menhaden, which they seem to fol-
low along the coast, and which they attack with such ferocity as to drive
them on the shore, where they are sometimes piled up in windrows to the
depth of a foot or more.
156 AMERICAN FISHES.
‘<The amount of food they destroy, even if the whole of it be not
actually consumed, is almost incredible. Mr. Westgate and others esti-
mate it at twice the weight of the fish in a day, and this is perhaps quite
reasonable. Capt. Spindle goes so far as to say that it will destroy a
thousand fish ina day. This gentleman is also of the opinion that they
do much more harm to the fishes of the coast than is caused by the
pounds. They will generally swallow a fish of a very large size in propor-
tion to their own, sometimes taking it down bodily; at others, only the
posterior half. The pecular armor of certain fish prevents their being
taken entire; and itis not uncommon to find the head of a sculpin or
other fish, whose body has evidently been cut off by the Bluefish. In the
summer time the young are quite apt to establish themselves singly in a
favorite locality, and, indeed, to accompany the fry of other fishes usually
playing below them, and every now and then darting upward and captur-
ing an unlucky individual, while the rest dash away in every direction.
In this manner they attend upon the young mullet, atherinas, etc. They are
very fond of squid, which may very frequently be detected in their
stomachs. In August 1870, about Fire Island, Mr. S. I. Smith found
their stomachs filled with marine worms, a species of //eferonerezs, which,
though usually burrowing in the mud, at that season swims freely toward
the surface in connection with the operation of reproduction. This, like
the squid, is a favorite bait for the Bluefish ; and they appear to care for
little else when these are to be had. This fact probably explains the
reason why, at certain seasons, no matter how abundant the fish may be,
they cannot be taken with the drail or squid boat.’’
The Bluefish are believed to have had a very important influence upon.
the abundance of other species on some part of the coast. This has been
noticed especially on the north side of Cape Cod. South of Cape Cod
the small fish occur in such enormous abundance that even the voracity of
millions of Bluefish could hardly produce any effect upon them. Capt.
Atwood has recorded his belief that the advent of the Bluefish drove away
the plaice or large flounder from those waters, not so much by their direct
attacks upon them as by destroying the squid upon which the latter for-
merly subsisted. He is also of the opinion that the mackerel, once, for
a time, were affected by them. The mackerel have since returned to
those waters in their wonted numbers, but the Bluefish are not now suff-
ciently plenty north of Cape Cod to interfere with them. The flight of the
Is OPM ED ELO TR TESTE E, 157
mackerel was not an unmitigated evil, however, since, as Capt. Atwood
pointed out, the number of lobsters for a time was very considerably
increased. The mackerel fed upon their eggs, and when they were
driven away by the Bluefish the lobsters had a better chance to multiply.
The Bluefish sometimes make their way up the rivers to a considerable
distance, the adults, however, apparently never entering the perfectly
fresh water. They are found in the Potomac as far north as Acquia Creek,
and also far up the Hudson ; indeed, the young of the year are taken as
high as Sing Sing on the Hudson and in other tidal rivers, where the water
is entirely fresh.
Summing up all the evidence in regard to the periodical appear-
ance of the Bluefish, we find notice of its occurrence in 1672, or even
1659, and up to 1764. How long it existed in the waters prior to that
date cannot now be determined. The oral testimony of Mr. Parker refers
to its occurrence at Wood’s Holl in 1780 or 1790; and it is mentioned
by Mr. Smith as being at Newport in 1800, and at Edgartown, Mass.,
about the same time, by Capt. Pease. Mitchill testifies to its occurrence
in New York, of very small size, in 1810; and it is recorded as existing
again in Nantucket in 1820, and about Woods Holl and Buzzard’s Bay
in 1830 to 1831, and a little later at Hyannis. In 1830 it had become
abundant about Nantucket, and in the fall of 1837 it was first noticed in
Massachusetts Bay, and then year by year it became more and more
numerous, until now it is very abundant. Several accounts agree in refer-
ence to the very large size (even to forty or fifty pounds) of those taken
in the last century.
Further research into ancient records may tend to throw more light on
the early history of the Bluefish, and even materially to change the con-
clusions already reached. It will be observed that the references to its
occurrence, from 1780 to 1800, are on the testimony of aged persons who
have heard their fathers speak of it, although I find no printed records
anywhere in reference to it between 1764 and 1810. The rate of progres-
sion to the north of Cape Cod I have at present no means of indicating,
although they probably gradually ranged further and further north, and
very possibly occurred much further east than we have any mention of at
present.
During the present century the maximum of abundance of these fish off
the middle coast of the United States appears to have been reached from
158 AMERICAN FISHES.
1850 to 1860. ‘The testimony elicited from various observers, as well as
from printed records, indicates a decrease since that period much greater
in some localities than others. About New York they are said to have
been unusually plenty in the summer of 1871, but farther east the diminu-
tion which had been observed in previous years appeared to continue.
Diligent research by numerous inquirers during a period of sixteen years
has added little to what Prof. Baird has stated and it may be regarded
as almost certain that Bluefish do not spawn in our inshore waters. The
only important contribution to our knowledge on this subject is found in
the notes of Mr. Silas Stearns, who believes that he has abundant evidence
of their spawning in the Gulf of Mexico. His remarks are quoted in full
below. The Hon. Robert B. Roosevelt records that he observed the Blue-
fish fry less than an inch in length in the inlet of Far Rockaway, N. Y.,
on the roth of July:
Little is known of their reproduction. Dr. Yarrow does not give any
facts in regard to this subject, at Fort Macon, except that spawn was seen
to run out of asmall female caught July 14. Dr. Holbrook is also silent on
this head. Mr. Genio C. Scott says the spawning beds are visited by the
parent in June, and consists of quiet nooks or bays. Mr. R. B. Roose-
velt states that very diminutive young occur in immense numbers along
the coast at the end of September or beginning of October (‘“Game Fish
of America,” 1862, 1859.) Prof. Baird found the young fish at Bees-
ley’s Point, N. J., in July, 1854, two or three inches in length, and
more compressed than the adult; but farther east, on Vineyard Sound,
although diligent search was conducted, between the middle of June and
the rst of October, with most efficient apparatus in the way of fine-meshed
nets, I met with nothing excepting fish that made their appearance all at
once along the edge of the bay and harbor.
According to Capt. Edwards, of Woods Holl, a very accurate obser-
ver, they have no spawn in them when in Vineyard Sound. This state-
ment is corroborated by Capt. Hinckley ; and Capt. Hallett, of Hyannis,
The only positive evidence on this
“does not know where they spawn.’’
subject is that of Capt. Pease, who states it as the general impression about
Edgartown that they spawn about the last of July or the 1st of August.
He has seen them when he thought they were spawning on the sand, hav-
ing caught them a short time before, full of spawn, and finding them after-
ward for a time thin and weak. He thinks their spawning ground is on
LPHE BLOUEFLSH. 159
the white sandy bottom to the eastward of Martha’s Vineyard, taward
Muskeeget. While not discrediting the statement of Mr. Pease, it seems
a little remarkable that so few persons on the eastern coast have noticed
the spawning in summer of the Bluefish ; and, although there may be excep-
tions to the fact, it is not impossible that the spawning ground is in very
early spring, or even in winter, off New Jersey and Long Island, or farther
south. It is not impossible that, at a suitable period after spawning, the
young, in obedience to their migratory instinct, may move northward
along the coast, growing rapidly as they proceed. This explains the
almost sudden appearance of fish of five inches about Wood’s Holl.
We have the statement of Dr. Yarrow that vast schools of small Blue-
fish were met with in Beaufort harbor during the last week in December,
1871. These were in company with small schools of young menhaden
and yellow-tailed shad, and were apparently working their way toward
the sea by the route of the inlet. When observed, they were coming from
the southward through the sound, moving very slowly, at times nearly
leaving it, and then returning. ‘The largest were about four inches in
length, and others were much smaller; and as many as twenty schools
were observed from the wharf at Fort Macon, each of them occupying an
area of from sixty to eighty feet square, and apparently from four to six
feet in depth. I would not be much surprised if these fish should prove
to have been spawned late in the year off the southern coast.
The size of the Bluefish varies with the season and locality, those
spending the summer on the southern coast, according to good authority,
rarely exceeding two or three pounds in weight, and being generally con-
siderably less. The largest summer specimens are those found farther to
the eastward, where they are not unfrequently met with weighing from ten
to fifteen pounds, although this latter weight is quite unusual. Mr. Snow,
of Nantucket, mentions having seen one of twenty-two pounds, and
others give as their maximum from fourteen to twenty. The average size
of the schools in Vineyard Sound, during the early season, is from five to
seven pounds. The schools, however, that make their appearance in
_October embrace many individuals of from ten to fifteen pounds. It is,
therefore, not improbable that the difference between the first-mentioned
average and the last represents the increase by their summer feeding. As
already remarked, Bluefish in the last century sometimes attained a weight
of forty or fifty pounds in Vineyard Sound ; according to Zaccheus Macy,
thirty of them would fill a barrel.
160 AMERICAN FISHES,
Forest and Stream, Jane 25, 1874, stated that L. Hathaway, Esq., a
veteran fisherman, while fishing from the bridge at Cohasset Narrows,
Mass., with rod and reel, captured a Bluefish weighing twenty-five pounds.
The largest previously caught weighed seventeen pounds.
On getting back to the Carolina coast in the early part of November, ac-
cording to Dr. Yarrow’s statement, they are from three to five feet in length
and weigh from ten to twenty pounds. What becomes of these large fish,
that so few of them are seen in the early spring, it is impossible to say.
If it be really true that they are much scarcer than in the fall, we may
infer that their increased size makes them a more ready prey to the larger fish
and cetaceans, or that they have accomplished their ordinary period of
life ; possibly that they have broken up into smaller parties, less conspicu-
ous to observation, or that they have materially changed their locality.
The average length of the fish that appear in the spring off the coast of
Virginia and the southern part of New Jersey, according to Dr. Coues,
Dr. Yarrow and Prof. Baird, is about one foot, being probably about one
year old. As a general rule, those of the smaller size keep close to
the shore and can always be met with, while the larger ones go in schools
and remain farther outside.
Prof. Baird obtained no very young fish at Woods Holl in 1871, the
smallest found making their appearance quite suddenly along the coast,
especially in the little bays, about the middle of August, and then
measuring about five by one and one-fifth inches. By the end of Septem-
ber, however, these had reached a length of seven or eight inches, and at
the age of about a year they probably constitute the twelve. or fourteen
inch fish referred to as occurring along the southern coast. The fish of
the third year, or those two years old, are possibly the three-pound fish,
while the five to seven pound fish may be considered a year older still.
Accurate observations are wanting, however, to determine these facts;
as also whether they require two years, or three or more, to attain suffi-
cient maturity for breeding. As far as I know, there is no appreciable
difference between the sexes in their rate of growth or weight, excepting
that the female is likely to be a little deeper in the body.
A Bluefish weighing one pound measures about fourteen inches ; two
pounds, seventeen inches ; three pounds, twenty-one inches ; four pounds,
twenty-four inches ; five pounds, twenty-six inches; six pounds, twenty-
six to twentv-seven inches, and eight pounds, twenty-nine inches.
LAE BL OL PLS LEE 161
The Bluefish is one of our most important of sea-fishes, and sur-
passed in public estimation only by the Spanish mackerel and the pom-
pano. It may be said to furnish a large part of the supply to the Middle
and Northern States. It is astandard fish in New York, Boston and other
seaports, and is carried in great numbers into the interior. Its flesh is
very sweet and savory, but it does not keep very well. In the Vineyard
Sound the fishermen are in the habit of crimping their fish, or killing
them, by cutting their throats in such a manner that they bleed freely.
Every one who has opportunities for observing admits that fish thus treated
are far superior to any others. Great quantities of Bluefish are frozen in
New York for winter consumption. They are stili considered unfit for
food on our Southern coast, and even in the markets of Washington,
D.C. I have frequently been stopped by fish-dealers who asked me to
assure their customers that Bluefish were eatable. They are growing in
favor everywhere, however, just as they did in Boston. Capt. Atwood
tells me that in 1865 but very few were sold in Boston, and that the
demand has been increasing ever since. When he first went to Boston
with a load of Bluefish he got two cents a pound for them; the second
year they were scarcer, and he got two and one-half cents, and the
year afterward three cents.
Within a few years the reputation of the Bluefish among anglers has
decidedly improved. Norris wrote in 1865, that the Bluefish was seldom
angled for, and that it was not esteemed as food: in 1879, Hallock de-
clares that the Bluefish and the Striped Bass are the game fish, par excel-
lence, of the brine, just as the salmon and black bass are of fresh water.
The favorite mode of capture is by trolling or squidding, a process already
described. This amusement is participated in every summer by thousands
of unskilled, but none the less enthusiastic, amateur fisherman, who in their
sail-boats, trail the tide-rips from Cape May to Cape Cod. Many pro-
fessional fishermen also follow this pursuit, especially in the Vineyard
Sound, about Nantucket and along the south shore of Cape Cod, a region
famous for its swift cat-boats and fat Bluefish.
Another mode which is growing in favor is that of heaving and hauling
in the surf, which has been already described in writing of the Striped
Bass. No rod is used, but the angler, standing on the beach or in the
breakers, whirls his heavy jig about his head and casts it far into the sea,
and having hooked his fish puts his shoulder to the line, and walks up the
IT
162 AMERICAN FISHES.
beach, dragging his prize after him to the shore. This is practiced every-
where on exposed sand beaches, such as are found at Montauk, Monomoy,
Newport, and Barnegat.
Other anglers prefer to use a Jight rod and an artificial minnow from a
stationary skiff near where Bluefish are breaking, or to fish with shrimp
bait from the wharves in quiet bays where the young ‘‘snappers,’’ six
to ten inches in length, abound. I have seen this kind of fishing at
various points, from the mouth of the Florida St. Johns to Nantucket.
The Bluefish has also an important rank among the commercial species.
The wholesale dealers of New York city handle nearly 4,000,000 pounds
annually. The yearly consumption of Bluefish probably does not fall
much below 8,000,000 pounds, valued at $500,000. ‘The markets are
supplied, for the most part, from three sources. Large quantities are taken
in the weirs, forty or more in number, planted on the northern and
southern shores of Cape Cod, in Buzzard’s Bay, Martha’s Vineyard, Nar-
ragansett Bay, Peconic Bay, and at Block Island. The yield of these is
estimated at 1,300,000 pounds. Gill-nets on the southern New England
coast are supposed to take about 3,000,000. Enormous quantities are also
obtained by line fishermen about Hyannis, Edgartown, Nantucket, and
Eastham, and on the shores of Long Island and New Jersey.
On the roth of August, 1874, I saw 12,000 taken from the long pound
on the west shore of Block Island.
The line-fishery is probably not less productive than gill-netting. In
1875, we were cruising about Martha’s Vineyard in the Fish Commission
yacht ‘‘ Mollie.’’ Off Cape Pogue we noticed at least thirty cat-boats
drailing for Bluefish. These boats were about twenty feet in length,
square-sterned and well housed over. Each carried three lines, one at the
stern and two at the end of long rods projecting over each quarter. When
we anchored at dusk in Edgartown harbor, these boats were coming in,
dropping alongside of a New York market boat, which lay at the wharf.
The bright lantern under the deck awning, the black forms of the fisher-
men, the busy changing of the little sails, the eager voices of bargaining,
gave an impression of brisk trade. The same scene is repeated day after
day, from July to October, in scores of New England seaport towns.
THE MACKEREL.
PoE eve KEREL AND ITS ALETES:
A reef of level rock runs out to sea,
And you may lie on it and look sheer down
Just where the ‘ Grace of Sunderland’ was lost,
And see the elastic banners of the dulse
Rock softly, and the orange star-fish creep
Across the laver, and the Mackerel shoot
Over and under it, like silver boats
Turning at will, and plying under water.
Jean INGELow, Brothers and a Sermon.
HE common Mackerel, Scomber scombrus, 1s an inhabitant of the
North Atlantic Ocean. On our coast its southern limit is in the
neighborhood of Cape Hatteras in early spring. The fishing schooners of
New England find schools of them in this region at some distance from
the shore, but there is no record of their having been taken in any num-
bers in shoal water south of Long Island. A. W. Simpson states that the
species has been observed in the sounds about Cape Hatteras in August,
September and October. R. E. Earl] finds evidence that stragglers
occasionally enter the Chesapeake. Along the coasts of the Middle States
and of New England Mackerel abound throughout the summer months,
and are also found in great numbers in the Gulfof St. Lawrence, where
in past years fishermen of the United States congregated in great numbers
to participate in their capture. They are also found on the coast of
Labrador, though there is no evidence that they ordinarily frequent the
waters north of the Straits of Belle Isle.
They appear also at times to have been abundant on the northeastern
coast of Newfoundland, though their appearance there is quite irregular.
Mackerel do not occur in Hudson’s Bay nor on the coast of Greenland.
164 AMERICAN FISHES.
It seems probable that the natural northern limit of the species in the
Western Atlantic is not far from the Straits of Belle Isle. Prof. Packard,
who visited this region in 1866, recorded that a few Mackerel were taken
in August in Salmon Bay and Red Bay, but that the Straits of Belle Isle
is evidently the northern limits of the genus, while Fortin, one of the
best Canadian authorities on fisheries, in his annual report for 1864,
stated that in summer they appear in some places, such as Little Mecattina,
on the adjoining coast, latitude 5014° north, and even sometimes enter
the Straits of Belle Isle. ;
The Mackerel, then, would appear to be a shore-loving fish, not ad-
dicted to wide wanderings in the ocean, and with range limited in the
Western Atlantic between latitudes 35° and 56°; in the Eastern Atlantic
between 36° and 71°.
The migrations of the Mackerel, the causes of their appearance and
disappearance at certain seasons at different points along the coast, the
causes of their relative abundance and scarcity in different years, have
previously been discussed by numerous writers. The subject has received
special attention on account of the disputes between our own and the
Canadian Government concerning the value to our fishermen of the right
to participate in the mackerel fisheries in the Provincial waters.
Notwithstanding the great amount of paper which has been covered
with theories to explain the various mooted questions, it cannot be said
that the habits of the Mackerel are understood at all better than those of
other fishes which have not attracted so much attention. The most volu-
minous writer upon this subject has been Prof. Henry Youle Hind, who
devotes many pages of his book, ‘‘ The Effect of the Fishery Clauses of
the Treaty of Washington on the Fisheries and Fishermen of British
North America,’’ to the attempt to prove that the Mackerel which have
been at certain seasons in the past so abundant in the Gulf of St. Law-
rence and on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia remain there throughout
the year, hibernating in deep waters not very remote from the shore. I
have attempted to show the weakness of his arguments in an essay pub-
lished in the Fifth Annual Report of the United States Commissioner of
Fisheries for the year 1877, pp. 50-70. It is by no means demonstrated
that certain schools of Mackerel do not remain throughout the year in
waters adjacent to the coast of Canada, but the weight of evidence at
present seems to rest with those who believe that the Mackerel are given
THE MACKEREL AND ITS ALLIES. 165
to extensive migrations north and south along our coasts. These migra-
tions are believed to be carried on in connection with another kind of
migration which I have called ‘‘ bathic migration,’’ and which consists in
a movement, at the approach of cold weather, into the deeper waters of
the ocean. The menhaden and many other fishes have these two kinds
of migrations, littoral and bathic. The sea-herring, on the other hand,
has extensive littoral migrations and probably very slight movements of a
bathic nature. In some the latter is most extended, in others the former.
Anadromous fishes, like the shad and the alewife, very probably strike
directly out to sea without ranging to any great degree northward or south-
ward, while others, of which the Mackerel is a fair type, undoubtedly
make great coastwise migrations, though their bathic migrations may,
without any great inconsistency, be as great as those which range less.
Upon this point I cannot do better than to quote from a manuscript
letter from Prof. Baird to the Hon. Hamilton Fish, Secretary of State,
dated July 21, 1873. Having expressed certain views concerning the
well-known phenomenon of the migration of the herring and shad, he
continues :
«« The fish of the Mackerel family form a marked exception to this rule.
While the alewife and shad generally swim low in the water, their pres-
ence not being indicated at the surface, the Mackerel swim near the sur-
face, sometimes far out to sea, and their movements can be readily followed.
The North American species consist of fish which as certainly, for the
most part at least, have a migration along our coast northward in spring
and southward in autumn, as do the throngs of pleasure-seekers, and their
habit of schooling on the surface of the water enables us to determine
this fact with great precision. Whatever may be the theories of others on
the subject, the American mackerel-fisher knows perfectly well that in the
spring he may find the schools of Mackerel off Cape Henry, and that he
can follow them northward day by day as they move in countless myriads
on to the coasts of Maine and Nova Scotia.’’
The movements of the mackerel schools, like those of the menhaden,
appear to be regulated solely by the temperature of the ocean.
In my essay upon menhaden, which has just been referred to, I have
attempted to show, in a preliminary way, the relations of the movements
of the menhaden schools to the temperature of the water at different
stations along the coast in accordance with certain crude observations,
which at present constitute the only material available as a basis of such
166 AMERICAN FISHES,
generalizations. I have there claimed that menhaden make their appear-
ance near the shore in the spring as soon as the temperature of the water
in the harbors has reached a weekly average of 50°, and that they dis-
appear in the fall soon after the waters have again cooled down to the
same average temperature.
The Mackerel are partial to much colder waters. They range ten to
fifteen degrees farther to the north, and their southern limit is propor-
tionally high. They appear earlier in the spring and disappear later in
the fall, and their presence is nearly synchronous with the time when the
water temperatures of the harbor have reached a weekly average of 45°.
It has been remarked that the presence of the menhaden depends upon
a weekly average of the harbor temperature of 50° or more. These harbor
temperatures are several degrees—it is not known exactly how many—
higher than those of the open ocean at the same latitude, and there can
be no question that the menhaden thrives in water as cold as 45°.
Mackerel will remain active and contented in a temperature of 40°, or
even less. The normal time of the departure of Mackerel from the coast
is, therefore, a month or two later than that of the menhaden.
There are well recorded instances of the capture of menhaden in Massa-
chusetts Bay as late as December, and there are also many instances where
Mackerel have been taken not only on the New England coast, but also
in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, in midwinter.
Basing their arguments upon such occurrences as these, Canadian
writers have attempted to prove that large bodies of Mackerel hibernate
along their shores in the winter months. It is still believed by many
fishermen that the Mackerel, at the approach of cold weather, go down
into the mud and there remain in a state of torpidity until the approach
of warm weather in spring. All that can be said regarding this theory is
that, although we do not know enough about the subject to pronounce
this impossible, American ichthyologists think they know enough to be of
the opinion that it is very decidedly improbable.
The appearance of the mackerel schools at the appearance of summer in
ordinary years has been noticed somewhere in the neighborhood of the
following dates: At sea, off Cape Hatteras, March 20 to April 25 ; off
Norfolk, Va., March 2 to April 30; off the Capes of Delaware, April 15
to May 1; off Barnegat and Sandy Hook, May 5 to May 25, and at the
same date along the whole southern coast of New England, and as far
-
— a
BHE MACKEREL AND TTS ALLIES, 167
east as Southern Nova Scotia, while in the Gulf of St. Lawrence they
appear late in May, and in abundance early in June.
There appears to be a marked difference between the movements of
Mackerel and the menhaden, for while the menhaden are much more
gradual in their approach to the shore, and much more dependent upon
a small rise of temperature, the Mackerel make their appearance almost
simultaneously in all the waters from New Jersey to Nova Scotia at about
the same time. Stragglers, of course, appear much earlier than the dates
just mentioned; a few Mackerel were observed at Waquoit, Mass., as
early as April 19, 1871.
In the fall the Mackerel disappear as suddenly as they came in the
spring, but they haye only in one instance been observed off the Carolina
coast, except during the spring run. This is very probably because no
fishing vessels ever visit this region later than June.
The very vagueness of the statements just made is sufficient to show
how little is acfually known about the movements of these fish. The
subject must be studied long and carefully before it can be understood,
and the interests of the American fishermen demand that it should be
thus studied
The Mackerel belongs to what may technically be termed pelagic or
wandering fish, as their movements, something lke those of the herring,
are apparently more or less capricious, though probably governed by some
definite law, which has not yet been worked out. It moves in large schools
or bands, more or less isolated from each other, which sometimes swim
near the surface and give distinct evidence of their presence, and at others
sink down into the depths of the ocean and are entirely withdrawn from
observation. The army of fish, however, moves along with a very broad
front, a portion coming so close to the shore as to be taken in the weirs
and traps along the coast of the Middle States, especially in Vineyard
Sound and on Cape Cod; while at the same time other schools are met
with from twenty to fifty miles, or even more, out to sea. It is, however,
still a question whether the fish that skirt the coast of the United States
enter the Bay of St. Lawrence, or whether the latter belong to another
series, coming directly from the deep seas off the Newfoundland and
Nova Scotia coast. Until lately the former has been the generally
accepted theory, in view of the alleged fact that the fishermen of the
Nova Scotia coast always take the fish coming from the west in the spring
and from the east in the fall.
168 AMERICAN FISHES.
Capt. Hanson B. Joyce, of Swan’s Island, Me., one of the most expert
and observing mackerel fishermen of New England, thinks that the move-
ments of the spring schools of Mackerel are very much influenced by the
direction and force of the prevailing winds while the fish are performing
their northerly migration. He has generally found, he says, that when
there has been a continuance of strong northerly winds about the last of
May and early in June, the season at which the Mackerel are passing the
shoals of Nantucket and George’s Bank, the schools have taken a southerly
track, passing to the southward of George’s Shoals and continuing on in
an easterly direction to the coast of Nova Scotia, and thence to the Gulf
of St. Lawrence.
When southerly winds or calms prevail at that season the Mackerel are
carried into the waters of the Gulf of Maine, and in consequence are much
plentier off the New England coast than in the St. Lawrence Gulf.
On this theory Capt. Joyce bases his actions in cruising for Mackerel,
always fishing off the New England shores when southerly winds have
predominated in the spring, and going to the St. Lawrence if northerly
winds have been exceptionally strong and continues about the last of
May.
The movements of the fish, as already stated, season by season, are
quite uncertain, sometimes being very abundant in one direction and
sometimes in another, and occasionally, indeed, they may disappear
almost entirely for several years, subsequently reappearing after a con-
siderable absence. In some years the fish are very abundant on the coast
of the United States, and at others rare; the same condition applying to
the fish of the Bay of St. Lawrence. It is not certain, of course, that this
indicates an entire absence of the fish from the locality referred to, but
they may, possibly, for some reason, remain in the depth of the sea, or
some change in the character of the animal life in it, which constitutes
the food of the fish, may produce the changes referred to. A notable
instance of a somewhat permanent change in the migration of the Mack-
erel is found in the entire failure since 1876 of the mackerel fishery in
the Bay of Fundy, which, a few years ago, enabled a merchant of East-
port to employ successfully as many as a dozen vessels, especially in Bigby
and St. Mary’s Bay, but which is now abandoned. There are indeed
faint suggestions, in the early history of the country, of their total absence
from the whole coast for several years, as was also the case with the
bluefish.
THE MACKEREL AND TIS ALLIES. 169
The wonderful abundance of Mackerel in the Western Atlantic has
always been a subject of remark. Francis Higginson, in his ‘‘ Journal of
his Voyage to New England, 1629,’’ speaks of seeing ‘‘ many schools of
’
Mackerel, infinite multitudes on every side of our ship,’’ off Cape Ann on
the 26th of June; and Richard Mather, in his journal, 1635, states
that the seamen took abundance of Mackerel off Menhiggin (Monhegan).
In Gov. Winthrop’s journal, speaking of the year 1639, he remarks: ‘‘ There
was such a store of exceeding large and fat Mackerel upon our coast this
season as was a great benefit to all our Plantations, since :one Boat with
three men would take in a week ten hogsheads, which were sold at Con-
necticut for £3 12s. od. per hogshead.’’
Their abundance has varied greatly from year to year, and at times their
numbers have been so few that grave apprehensions have been felt lest
they should soon depart altogether.
As early as 1670, laws were passed by the colony of Massachusetts for-
bidding the use of certain instruments of capture, and similar ordinances
have been passed from time to time ever since. ‘The first resource of our
State governments has always been, in seasons of scarcity, to attempt to
restore fish to their former abundance by protective legislation. It seems
to us at the present day absurb that the Massachusetts people should have
supposed that the use of shore-seines was exterminating the Mackerel on
the coast of Massachusetts, but it is a fair question whether their appre-
hensions were not as well grounded as those of legislators of the present
century who have endeavored to apply a similar remedy for a similar evil.
In the author’s writings upon ‘‘ The Mackerel Fishery ’’ published else-
where, is shown a diagram, which, by means of curves, exhibits the catch
of Mackerel in New England for a period of seventy-five years.
From a study of this it seems quite evident that the periods of their
abundance and scarcity have alternated with each other without reference
to overfishing or any other causes which we are prepared to understand.
In the year 383,548% barrels of Mackerel were caught by the citizens of
Massachusetts. In 1881 the number of barrels salted was 269,495; to
this, however, should be added 125,000 barrels caught and marketed
fresh by the Massachusetts fleet, making an aggregate of 394,495 barrels.
The stories which are told by experienced fishermen of the immense
numbers of Mackerel sometimes seen are almost incredible. Capt. King
Harding, of Swampscott, Mass., described to me a school which he saw
170 AMERICAN FISHES,
?
in the South Channel in 1848: ‘‘ It was a windrow of fish,’’ said he; ‘it
was about half a mile wide and at least twenty miles long, for vessels not
in sight of each other saw it at about the same time. All the vessels out
saw this school the same day.’’ He saw a school off Block Island, 1877,
which he estimated to contain one million barrels. He could see only
one edge of it at a time.
Upon the abundance of Mackerel depends the welfare of many thousands
of the citizens of Massachusetts and Maine. ‘The success of the mackerel
fishery is much more uncertain than that of the cod fishery, for instance,
for the supply of cod is quite uniform from year to year. The prospects
of each season are eagerly discussed from week to week in thousands of
little circles along the coast, and are chronicled by the local press. The
story of each successful trip is passed from mouth to mouth, and is a
matter of general congratulation in each fishing community. A review of
the results of the American mackerel fishery, and of the movements of the
fish in each part of the season, would be an important contribution to the
literature of the American fisheries.
The food of the Mackerel consists, for the most part, of small species
of crustaceans, which abound everywhere in the sea, and which they
appear to follow in their migrations. They also feed upon the spawn of
other fishes and upon the spawn of lobsters, and prey greedily upon young
fish of all kinds. In the stomach of a ‘‘ Tinker’’ Mackerel, taken in
Fisher’s Island Sound, November 7, 1877, Dr. Bean found the remains
of six kinds of fishes—of the anchovy, sand-lants, the smelt, the hake, the
barracuda and the silver-sides, besides numerous shrimps and other crusta-
ceans. Capt. Atwood states that when large enough they devour greedily
large numbers of young herring several months old. Specimens taken
July 18, 1871, twenty miles south of Noman’s Land, contained numerous
specimens of the big-eyed shrimps, Zysanopoda, larval crabs in the zoea
and megalops stages, the young of hermit crabs, the young lady crabs,
Platyonichus ocellatus, the young of two undetermined Macrura, numer-
ous Copepoda and numerous specimens of Sfirialis Gouldit, a species of
Pteropod. They also feed upon the centers of floating jelly-fishes (dis-
cophores). In Gaspé the fishermen call jelly-fishes ‘* mackerel bait.”’
The greed with which Mackerel feed upon the chum, or ground men-
haden bait, which is thrown out to them by the fishing vessels, shows that
they are not at all dainty in their diet, and will swallow without hesitation
any kind of floating organic matter.
—
THE MACKEREL AND ITS ALLIES. 171
Large Mackerel often eat smaller ones. Capt. Collins has frequently
found young Mackerel three or four inches long in the stomachs of those
full grown. This is generally noticeable only in the fall, and the young
fish are probably those which have been hatched in the spring.
In the fall of 1874 the writer made a trip upon a gill-net schooner to
the grounds off Portland, Me., some distance to sea, for the purpose of
studying the food of the Mackerel, and found their stomachs full of a
species of Zhysanopoda and of a large copepod crustacean. The greater
part of the food of Mackerel consists, however, of minute crustaceans.
Owing to the infinite abundance of these in the sea, Mackerel probably
have very little difficulty in finding food at almost any portion of the
ocean visited by them, whether on the edge of the Gulf Stream or near
the shore. .
In an interview with Capt. King Harding, of Swampscott, one of the
most experienced mackerel catchers on our coast, I obtained the follow-
ing amusing observations: ‘‘ He described one kind of crustacean Mack-
erel food which looked like spiders, which were red, and crawled over his
hand when he took them up. They look like spiders ; the Mackerel are
especially fond of them. At Boone Island, Me., in July, 1850, the water
all around the island was red for one hundred yards from the shore ; these
crawled up the rock-weed on the shore until it was red. He took the
sprays of rock-weed in his hands and pulled them slowly to him, and the
Mackerel, one and a half pound fish, wouid follow in quite to the rocks.
He killed three with his oar, and tried to catch some in a basket by troll-
ing them over it, but they were too quick for him. He asked his old
skipper, Capt. Gorham Babson, what they were, and was told that they
were ‘‘ Boone Island bedbugs.’’ And, said he, ‘‘ Young man, when you
see this kind of bait, no matter if you don’t see any fish, never leave ; the
fish will be there in a few days.”’
Then there is another kind, called ‘‘snappers.’? ‘These are white, and
dart rapidly about in the water; they are doubtless small crustaceans.
He says that sometimes they swim at the surface, where the Mackerel fol-
low them. <A few days before he had been standing on the stern of his
vessel, and though he could see nothing under the water he knew the
snappers were there about two feet below the surface, for he could see a
school of Mackerel swimming along, opening their mouths and taking in
their food, and then letting the water out through their gills.
2 AMERICAN FISHES.
When the Mackerel are trolled up from twelve or fifteen fathoms below
the surface their stomachs are often full of bait ; so it 1s certain that these
little animals swim at all depths.
Another kind of food is red, and is hot to the hands. ‘This is called
and it spoils the fish.
chek
ccCayenne s
Years ago, according to Capt. Harding, Mackerel did not school as
they do now.
When you see pollock jumping near the shore, it is a pretty good sign
that there is plenty of mackerel food.
The presence of abundance of mackerel food is indicated by the great
schools of sea-birds, particularly by the flocks of phalaropes, or sea-geese,
as the fishermen call them, which congregate together, floating upon the
water, and when seen in summer give a sure sign of the presence of
Mackerel also.
The various invertebrate animals preyed upon by Mackerel are known
to the fishermen by such names as ‘‘shrimp,’’ ‘‘red-seed’’ and
<r Cayenme.*
The winged pteropods very probably form an important part of the
mackerel food, as they sink and rise with changes of the temperature of
the zone or sheet of water in which they are feeding.
Although little is actually known concerning the spawning habits of the
Mackerel compared with those of fish which, like the shad and the salmon,
have been artificially propagated, it is perhaps safe to say that the subject
is understood in a general way. ‘The testimony of reliable observers
among the fishermen of our coast and the coast of the British Provinces
indicates that the spawning takes place in rather deep water along the
shore from the eastern end of Long Island to Eastport, Me., along the
coast of Nova Scotia, and in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The spawning
season occurs in May in Southern New England, in May and June in
Massachusetts Bay, and in June in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and on the
Bradley Banks and about the Magdalenes early in the month, and accord-
ing to Hind, on the northeast coast of Newfoundland toward the end of
the month.
We are indebted to Capt. N. E. Atwood for the most complete series
of observations upon the spawning of the Mackerel which has ever been
made, and what he has seen he shall be allowed to tell in his own
words :
TAL MACKEREL ANID TIS ALLIES: 17g
‘«T have many seasons been engaged in fishing for Mackerel in our bay
with gill-nets. I watched the Mackerel more particularly in regard to
their time for spawning. In 1856, owing to the fact that a measure had
passed the Massachusetts legislature authorizing the appointment of three
commissioners to make investigations with regard to the artificial propaga-
tion of the fish, and that I expected to be named one of the commissioners,
I went to the upper part of Massachusetts Bay, where it is about twenty
miles broad, and I found these spawning Mackerel there near the bottom.
This year the Mackerel came in about the middle of May; few at first.
On the zoth I went out for the first time with my drifting-nets all night in
the bay; I caught 2,250 Mackerel; on the following I caught 3,520.
When I first began to catch them I observed that the spawn had come to
its full size, though it was not free to run from them, not being yet fully
matured. On or about the 1st of June we found that some of them were
depositing spawn, and as I took them from the nets the spawn ran freely.
On the 5th of June I took the mature eggs as they came from the fish and
put them in alcohol, marking the date, as I considered this time the
middle of the spawning season. (By the roth of June the fish had all
deposited their spawn, and they then proceeded tu the grounds where they
expected to meet with better food in order to fatten and recruit. The
spawning takes place at a depth of from five to fifteen fathoms.) Thirty
days after I went out in the bay and found any quantity of schools of little
Mackerel which were, I should think, about two inches long, though their
length might have been a little less. I took a number of specimens and
put them in alcohol, marking the date. Twenty-five days later I pro-
cured another lot of them which had grown to double that size. I don’t
mean to imply that they were twice as long, but twice as heavy. I put
them also in alcohol, marking the date. ‘The first time I subsequently
went to Boston I called on Prof. Agassiz and gave him the specimens.
Ee said that he had never before been able to ascertain these facts so
clearly and so well, and that he was very much pleased with them. I
watched the growth of these young Mackerel all along, and I saw them
grow considerably from month to month, so much so that the same fall,
in the latter part of October, I caught some of them with a very small
mesh net and found they had grown to a length of six and a half or seven
inches. I kept a small quantity of them, split, salted and packed them,
in accordance with the Massachusetts inspection law, as No. 4’s, and since
Mackerel were then scarce and very high in price, I sold them for as much
as $6 a barrel.”’
‘Much yet remains to be learned in regard to the spawning season of
the American Mackerel,’’ writes Prof. Baird, ‘‘ and little more is known
of this except in regard to the European variety. It, is, however, well
established by the researches of Sars that this fish, hke the cod, and many
LA AMERICAN FISHES.
of the flat fish, etc., spawns in the open sea, some times at a great dis-
tance from the land, at others closer inshore.’’ Sars found them on the
outer banks of the coast of Norway ; and Mr. Matthias Dunn, of Mevagis-
sey, England, communicates to Land and IJVater his observations of
Mackerel found, with ripe spawn, six miles from the coast.
The fish taken in the weirs and pounds on Vineyard Sound and about
Cape Cod in the early spring are filled with ripe spawn; and that the
operation of spawning takes place on the American coast is shown by the
immense schools of small fish that are taken throughout the summer, of
various sizes, from a few inches up, and trom Buzzard’s Bay to Portland
and Penobscot Bay. No species of young fish is, at times, more abundant
throughout the summer season than the Mackerel.
The egg of the Mackerel is exceedingly minute, not larger than that of
the alewife or gaspereau. It appears to be free from an adhesive envelope,
such as pertains to the egg of the herring, and in consequence of which it
agglutinates together, and adheres to gravel, the rocks or the seaweed at
the bottom. As with the egg of the cod, that of the Mackerel is provided
with an oil globule, which makes it float nearly at the level of the surface.
I am indebted to Mr. Frederick W. True for an enumeration of the eggs
in two Mackerel taken at Wood’s Holl, Mass., in May, 1873; one of
these contained 363,107, the other 393,887.
The only previous record of the number of eggs yielded by Mackerel is
that made by Thomas Harmer, in 1764, and published in the ‘ Philoso-
phical Transactions’’ of London, Vol. 57, p. 285. He found in one
large Mackerel, weighing one and a quarter pounds, 454,991 eggs; ina
second, of much the same weight, 430,846, and in a third, weighing about
one pound two ounces, 546,68r.
The growth of the Mackerel has been studied by Capt. Atwood,
and the same authority has, perhaps, more satisfactorily than any other,
interpreted the facts from which may be deduced the conclusions as to
their growth year by year.
Referring to the small fish, six and a half or seven in length, which he
believed to be the young of the year, caught by him in October, 1856, he
says: ‘‘Fish of this size are sometimes called ‘Spikes,’ put I do not
know their proper name. The next year I think they are the ‘Blinks,’
being one year old; the following year they are the ‘Tinkers,’ two
years old, and the year after they return to us as the second size, three
DE MACKEREL AND TLS ALLIES: I
Tt
Sat
years old. It is probable that the fish reaches its full maturity in four
years.’ Hecontinues: ‘‘ The first Mackerel that come in are very large
and spawners, but these do not bite at the hook; and you don’t catch
them with the seine, because they don’t show themselves. You would not
know of their presence if you did not set nets for them. When they are
taken in nets set anywhere along the coast, at Provincetown, etc., a good
many people imagine that they are the remnant of the Mackerel which
were there the year before, and which have been imbedded in the mud ;
and when they taste these fish they fancy that they taste mud. When the
next school arrives there appear Mackerel of different sizes, which take
the hook. They are carried to Boston market and are sold fresh in their
season. They are not sold by weight, but are culled, and are denominated
as follows: Large ones, second size, ‘Tinkers,’ and ‘Blinks.’ When
the large ones are worth twelve cents, the others may sell, second size,
eight cents ; Tinkers, four cents, and Blinks, one and a half cents. These
prices may fluctuate when there occurs a large proportion of one or more
of the above-named kinds at the same time. Any man who is well ac-
quainted with them will make the same culling, as there seems to be a
line of demarcation between the different kinds which stands out
prominently.
«« Admitting this to be the fact, those that come as Blinks are from the
spawn of the year before, while those which are called ‘ Tinkers’ are
from the Blinks of the year previous, being the two-year-old fish ; and
those that are called second size are from the Tinkers of the year before ;
when they grow up and mix with the bigger ones, I don’t know how they
live, or much about them. This is my opinion about these matters. You
will find that fishermen will tell you they think that Mackerel are six or
seven years in getting their growth.”’
Mackerel, when full grown, are from seventeen to eighteen inches in
length ; sometimes they attain a larger size. In August, 1880, a school
of Mackerel was taken in the vicinity of Plymouth ; they weighed from
three to three and a half pounds each, and were from nineteen to nineteen
and a half inches long. They were regarded as extraordinary large, and
a barrel of them were sent to the Fishery Exhibition at Berlin as an illus-
tration of the perfection to which the Mackerel attains in this country.
Although the size mentioned is unusual at present, in past years many
thousands of barrels have been taken nearly, if not quite, as large. The
176 AMERICAN FISHES.
size varies from year to year, sometimes very few barrels which can be
rated as No. 1’s being found in our waters. A No. 1 Mackerel, accord-
ing to the Massachusetts inspection laws, measures thirteen inches from
the tip of the snout to the crotch or fork of the caudal fin. The average
length from year to year for the whole coast is probably not far from
twelve inches in length, and a weight of twelve to sixteen ounces.
The gannet is one of the most destructive enemies of the Mackerel.
These birds are often seen so heavily weighted with these fish that they
are unable to rise on the approach of the vessel until they have disgorged
from two to four good-sized Mackerel. This isso common an occurrence
that there are but few fishermen who have not witnessed it.
Porpoises and whales may also be included in the list of enemies of the
Mackerel. It is by no means an unusual sight on the fishing grounds to
see hundreds of the former rushing and leading among schools of Mack-
erel, scattering them in every direction.
The shark known to fishermen as the ‘‘ mackerel shark ’’ is one of the
principal enemies of the Mackerel. I have often seen them chasing
Mackerel, and, when jigging was practiced, it was a common occurrence
for sharks to drive off a school from alongside of a vessel.
Dogfish often hover around the outside of large schools of Mackerel,
and doubtless feed on them. Great difficulty is sometimes experienced in
saving fish that have been inclosed in a purse-seine, owing to the immense
numbers of dogfish that gather around and, in their efforts to eat the
Mackerel, which they see through the meshes, bite off the twine, making
large holes in the seine through which the inclosed fish escape.
Among the other principal enemies of the Mackerel are the bluefish,
and the cod. The appearance of a school of bluefish in waters crowded
with Mackerel is an almost sure signal for their disappearance.
The young Mackerel are eaten by squidsalso. Prof. Verrill has recorded
the following account of the maneuvers of the squid known to zodlogists
by the name Ommastrephes tllecebrosus :
‘Messrs. S. I. Smith and Oscar Harger observed it at Provincetown,
Mass., among the wharves, in large numbers, July 28, engaged in captur-
ing and devouring the young Mackerel, which were swimming about in
‘schools,’ and at that time were about four or five inches long. In attack-
ing the Mackerel they would suddenly dart backward among the fish with
the velocity of an arrow and suddenly turn obliquely to the right or left
ee
THE MACKEREL AND ITS ALLIES. iG)
and seize a fish, which was almost instantly killed by a bite in the back
of the neck with the sharp beaks. The bite was always made in the same
place, cutting out a triangular piece of flesh, and was deep enough to pene-
trate to the spinal cord. The attacks were not always successful, and
were sometimes repeated a dozen times before one of these active and
wary fishes could be caught. Sometimes after making several unsuccessful
attempts one of the squids would suddenly drop to the bottom, and, resting
upon the sand, would change its color to that of the sand so perfectly as
to be almost invisible. In this way it would wait until the fishes came
back, and when they were swimming close to or over the ambuscade, the
squid, by a sudden dart, would be pretty sure to secure a fish. Ordinarily
when swimming they were thickly spotted with red and brown, but when
darting among the Mackerel they appeared translucent and pale. The
Mackerel, however, seemed to have learned that the shallow water is the
safest for them and would hug the shore as closely as possible, so that in
pursuing them many of the squids became stranded and perished by hun-
dreds, for when they once touch the shore they begin to pump water from
their siphons with great energy, and this usually forces them farther and
farther up the beach. At such times they often discharge their ink in
large quantities. The attacks on the young Mackerel were observed mostly
at or near high water, for at other times the Mackerel were seldom seen,
though the squids were seen swimming about at all hours; and these
attacks were observed both in the day and evening.”’
The dog-fish is doubtless a dangerous foe to the Mackerel weakened by
the act of spawning and remaining near the bottom. An old fisherman
has described to me with great animation how greedily the dogfish devour
the Mackerel which have become gilled in the nets, how they follow them
to the surface and linger about the vessel while the process of cleaning is
going on, drinking the blood of the fish as it flows from the scuppers.
The Chub Mackerel, Scombcr colias, or, as it 1s called, the ‘‘ Thimble-
eye,’’ ‘‘ Big-eyed Mackerel,’ or ‘‘ Bull Mackerel,’’ closely resembles in
general appearance the common Mackerel, from which it is distinguished
chiefly by the presence of an air-bladder, and also by the occurrence of a
row of indistinct circular spots upon the sides below the lateral line. This
is the fish which is called ‘‘ Spanish Mackerel’’ in England, and the name
was brought to us by the early English fishermen of New England. It
has been found at Pensacola and Charleston, as well as in New England.
There is another fish closely related if not identical with SS. codéas, which
Prof. Jordan found to be abundant in California, which corresponds to
the S. preumatophorus of the Mediterranean, and has been described from
12
178 AMERICAN FISHES.
the Pacific as.S. d@ego. Prof. Jordan considers it to be the S. grex of vari-
ous authors, but writes that he is not yet prepared to accept as final the
judgment of Steindachner and Vaillant that it is the young of JS. colvas.
The lower half of its sides is silvery and without any gray spots, such as
are conspicuous in JS. codias. Jordan has specimens of the unspotted form
much larger than his smallest specimens of the true S. co/ias.
THE CHUB MACKEREL.
The history of the Chub Mackerel on our coast is a peculiar one. At
the beginning of the present century it was exceedingly abundant all along
the coast of New England and New York. Mitchill remarked that
it ‘*comes occasionally in prodigious numbers to the coast of New York
in autumn. This was memorably the case in 1781 and 1813, when the
bays, creeks and coves were literally alive with them, and the markets
full of them.’’
DeKay states that in early November, 1828, they were very abundant,
and many persons were poisoned by eating them.
Capt. Epes W. Merchant, of Gloucester, a veteran fishing skipper, who
has been familiar with the fisheries of Massachusetts Bay for the past
seventy years, told me that the Thimble-eye were so abundant from 1814
to 1820 that with three men and a boy and a small vessel he could catch
ten barrels of them, or about three thousand fish, in a day.
From these testimonies it would appear that between 1840 and 1850
the species, formerly so abundant, had disappeared along the whole coast
line. In an essay by the writer, written in the spring of 18709, this sen-
tence occurs: ‘‘For ten years past the Smithsonian Institution, with its
collectors stationed at various points from Halifax to Galveston, has tried
in vain to secure one of them, and it is probable that no museum in the
world possesses a species of this fish, once so common.”’
THE MACKEREL AND TTS ALLIES. 179
In the summer of 1879, however, during the stay of the Fish Commis-
sion at Provincetown, a considerable school of these fish came into the
harbor and were taken in company with the Tinker Mackerel. - None
were observed there in 1880, however, and it remains to be seen whether
they have returned to be again counted among the permanent members of
the fauna. This fish, during the period of its abundance on our coast,
was considered an excellent article of food, and was by many preferred to
the common Mackerel. On account of its small size, however, it was not.
so much sought after by the fishermen.
Concerning the Mackerel of the Pacific coast, which Prof. Jordan con-
siders to be identical with the Scomber pneumatophorus of the Eastern
Atlantic, this authority writes :
‘¢The Tinker Mackerel, S. pnxeumatophorus, is known as ‘ Mackerel,’
‘Easter Mackerel,’ ‘Tinker Mackerel’ and ‘ Little Mackerel.’ It reaches
a length of about fourteen inches. It ranges northward to Monterey Bay,
appearing in the fall in irregular and often large schools, usually disap-
pearing in November. Some years few or none are seen. It is a good
food-fish, but little attention is paid to it, on account of its small size and
irregular occurrence.’’
The Mackerel is the principal rival of the cod in the claim for highest
rank among the food-fishes of North America. Many thousands of men
and many hundreds of vessels are employed in their capture, and their
migrations in which they are followed by fleets of swift schooners, are the
subject of annual discussion in the halls of Congress, and the disputes of
the sailor-fishermen of Canada and New England have long been made the
subject of treaty and international convention.
_ The statistics and methods of the commercial fisheries have been fully
discussed in a volume entitled ‘‘ Materials for a History of the Mackerel
Fishery,’’ prepared by Messrs. Goode, Collins, Earll and Clarke and printed
by the U. S. Fish Commission in 1883, and will be but briefly alluded to
here. Itseems proper, however, to refer to the history of the various modes
of capture employed by our fishermen.
The method chiefly practiced by the colonists of New England was that
of drag-seining, and we find as early as 1626 a record of the establish-
ment, by Isaac Allerton, of a fishing station at Hull, where mackerel were
seined by moon-light. There can be little doubt that the practice of
fishing with baited hooks were also early introduced, and that in the
180 AMERICAN FISHES.
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries groups of boats might have been
seen, as at the present day, clustered together in the harbors, or near the
outer shores, their crews busily engaged in hauling in the tinkers, and,
occasionally, larger mackerel, which during the summer season found their
way into those protected waters. It is not known when the custom of
drailing for mackerel was first introduced, but it was, beyond question, the
common method at the close of the last and the beginning of the present
century, as it is in the present day in England, under such names as
or ‘‘ plummeting
bie) ?
9 9
‘owhittineg. ” <*ranline,, << drain,
Captain Atwood writes: ‘‘In my boyhood, when I caught my first
mackerel, nobody thought of jigging them. We then took them in the
same way as bluefish are caught. My first experience in mackerel fishing
took place when I was a little boy, about 1815. JI went out with two old
men. One of them fished in the stern of the boat, and when it did not
sail fast enough the other and myself—I was eight years old at the
time—had to row, in order, by the more rapid motion of the boat, to
induce the fish to bite. They would not bite unless the line was towed.
Two great long poles were run out, one just forward, in such a manner
that our vessel had the appearance of a long-armed spider. The poles
were straight, and one line was fastened at one part, and another line on
the end of the pole, in order to have them separated.”’
‘¢The present mode of catching mackerel by drifting and tolling with
bait did not come into general use until 1812. The gear for catching,
previous to that, was a white hempen bob-line, as it was called, and the
> mackerel. These lines were some
style of fishing was called ‘ bobbing
seven fathoms in length, with a leaden sinker two inches long and shaped
like a pea-pod. At one end was a ganging about a foot long, for the
hook. Every few minutes off would go the hook, and extra hooks were
always in readiness to replace those lost. This mode continued until the
year 1816, when Abraham Lurvey, of Pigeon Cove, discovered a method
of running lead around the hooks, and which were afterward called jigs.
This he kept secret for many months. The hooks then in use were nearly
as large as the haddock hooks of to-day. The small lines and fly-lines
did not come into use until about 1823. About this time the gaff was
introduced, and was abandoned after being used some ten years.*
* The mackerel gaff was used to some extent, by the hook and line fishermen, as late as 1865, and possibly
even since that time.
LE MACKEREL AND JIS ALLIES: 181
The mackerel fishery at the time of its highest developement, from 1820
to 1870, was carried on almost exclusively by the use of little hooks with
heavily weighted shanks, known as ‘‘ mackerel jigs.’? For many years
there were from six-hundred to nine-hundred vessels, chiefly from Cape
Cod and northward, engaged in this fishery; and in the year 1831 the
total amount of mackerel salted in Maine, New Hampshire and Massachu-
settes was 450,000 barrels.
The jig has now been almost entirely superseded by the purse-seine, and
this radical change in the method of catching mackerel has caused the
desertion, by the mackerel fleet, of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and the
practical futility—to benefit our fishermen—of the fishery clauses of the
Treaty of Washington. All attempts, with very few exceptions, to use
the purse-seine in the Gulf of St. Lawrence have been failures.
The purse-seine has come into general use since 1850, and with its in-
troduction the methods of the mackerel fishery have been totally
revolutionized. The most extensive changes, however, have taken place
since 1870, for it is only during the last ten years that the use of the
purse-seine has been at all universal. As late as 1873 and 1874 a few ves-
sels have fished with the old apparatus in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and
also a few on the coast of New England. Such changes in the manner of
fishing for mackerel have brought about also a change in the fishing
grounds. Vessels fishing in the old style were most successful in the Gulf
of St Lawrence, but the purse-seine can be used to very much better
advantage along our own shores between Cape Hatteras and the Bay of
Fundy.
Considerable quantities of Mackerel are sometimes caught in gill-nets
at various points along the New England coast from Vineyard Sound to
Eastport. For the most part, however, they are taken west of Mount
Desert. This fishery is carried on in two ways: The gill-nets may be
anchored and left out over night, as is the custom about Provincetown,
or they may be set from a boat or vessel. The latter method is called
Ade) .)
} y ce x
“<¢‘ dragging ;’’ the vessels are called ‘‘draggers,
2?
or ‘‘ drag-boats,’’ and
the fishermen ‘‘ mackerel draggers. The Mackerel gill-nets are 20 to 30
fathoms long, 21% fathoms deep, with a mesh varying from 2% to 3 inches.
In Provincetown harbor they are set in the following manner:
Active and beautiful, strong, hungry and courageous, the Mackerel
possesses all the attributes of a game fish, and were it not so abundant it
hy)
182 AMERICAN FISHES.
would be one of the angler’s prime favorites. Some of the sportsmen
ignore the Mackerel, but Hallock and Scott are broad-minded enough to
speak a word in its favor. Hallock says that it affords most excellent
sport to the rod and reel. ‘‘ Bass tackle of the lightest description, with
wire gimp snood, is required; caplin, porgy and clams are used for bait,
and no float is necessary, and when the fish are biting sharply, the bait
will be taken the instant it touches the water.”’
Scott is even more decided in his approval.
‘¢ Hook-fishing for Mackerel,’’ remarks he in his Fishing in American
Waters, is very exhilarating sport. A brisk breeze, sky mellowed by fleecy
clouds, gulls swooping and screaming, everything in excitement. Under
such circumstances and surroundings, it is not strange if the troller, whiffer
or still-baiter should inflate his lungs and feast his soul until the waning
sun warns him to desist and retire. Excellent sport is sometimes to be
had by rowing or sculling a boat into a thick shoal and trolling for them
with feathered squid, or twirling spoon or casting to them a white artifi-
cial fly.’’
And then—when the Mackerel is caught—trout, bass and sheepshead
cannot vanquish him in a gastromonic tournament. In Holland, to be
sure, the Mackerel is not prized, and is accused of tasting like rancid
fish-oil, and in England, even they are usually lean and dry, lke the
wretched skeletons which are brought into market in April and May by
the southern fleet, which goes forth in the early spring from Massachusetts
to intercept the schools as they approach the coasts of Carolina and Vir-
ginia. They are not worthy of the name of Mackerel. Scomber is not
properly in season until the spawning season is over, the schools begin to
feed at the surface in the Gulf of Maine and the ‘‘ North Bay.”’
Just from the water, fat enough to broil in its own drippings, or slightly
corned in strong brine, caught at night and eaten in the morning, a
Mackerel or a bluefish is unsurpassable. A well-cured autumn Mackerel
is perhaps the finest of all salted fish, but in these days of wholesale
capture by the purse-seine, hasty dressing and careless handling, it is very
difficult to obtain a sweet and sound salt Mackerel. Salt Mackerel may
be boiled as well as broiled, and a fresh Mackerel may be cooked in the
same manner. Americans will usually prefer to do without the sauce of
fennel and gooseberry which transatlantic cooks recommend. Fresh and
salt, fat and lean, new or stale, Mackerel are consumed by Americans in
EE MACK ETE L, AND ALS Ab LESS. 183
immense quantities, as the statistics show, and whatever their state, always
find ready sale.
The mackerel fishery is peculiarly American, and its history is full of
romance. No finer vessels float than the American mackerel schooners—
yachts of great speed and unsurpassed for seaworthiness. The modern
instruments of capture are marvels of inventive skill, and require the
highest degree of energy and intelligence on the part of the fishermen.
The crews of the mackerel schooners are still for the most part Americans
of the old colonial stock, although the cod and halibut fisheries are to a
great extent given up to foreigners. It is particularly appropriate that
the mackerel fishermen of New England should have found a bard in one
who is above all others the poet of old New England. Whittier’s «« Song
of the Fishermen ’’ celebrates the days in the early part of the century
when our fleet went yearly to the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the coast of
Labrador :
Where in mist the rock is hiding,
And the sharp reef lurks below,
And the white squall smites in summer,
And the autumn tempests blow ;
Where through gray and rolling vapor,
From evening into morn,
A thousand boats (were) hailing,
Horn answering unto horn.
There we’ll drop our lines, and gather
Old Ocean’s treasures in,
Where’er the mottled mackerel
Turns up a steel-dark fin,
The sea’s our field of harvest,
Its scaly tribes our grain ;
We'll reap the teeming waters
As at home they reap the plain!
Hurrah !—Hurrah !—the west-wind
Comes freshening down the bay,
The rising sails are filling,—
Give way, my lads, give way!
Leave the coward landsman clinging
To the dull earth, like a weed,—
The stars of Heaven shall guide us,
The breath of Heaven shall speed!
THE SPANISH MACKEREL.
THE SPANISH MAGKREREL AND THE CEROES
Sooner shall cats disport in water clear
And speckled mackrels graze the meadows clear
Than I forget my shepherds wonted love.
Gay. Pastorais, 1714.
Next morn they rose and set up every sail
The wind was fair, but blew a mackrel gale.
DrypEen. The Hind and the Panther, 1687.
HE Spanish Mackerel is surely one of the most graceful of fishes. It
appeals as scarcely any other can to our love of beauty, when we look
upon it, as shown in Kilbourn’s well-known painting, darting like an
arrow just shot from the bow, its burnished sides, silver flecked with
gold, thrown into bold relief by the cool green background of the rippled
sea; the transparent greys, opalescent whites and glossy blacks of its
trembling fins, enhance the metallic splendor of its body, until it seems to
rival the most brilliant of tropical birds. Kilbourn made copies of his
large painting on the pearly linings of sea-shells, and produced some
wonderful effects by allowing the natural lustre of the mother-of-pearl, to
show through his transparent pigments and simulate the brilliancy of the
life-inspired hues of the quivering, darting sea-sprite, whose charms even
his potent brush could not properly depict.
It is a lover of the sun, a fish of tropical nature, which comes to us
only in midsummer, and which disappears with the approach of cold, to
some region not yet explored by ichthyologists. It is doubtless very
familiar in winter to the inhabitants of some region adjacent to the waters
of the Caribbean or the tropical Atlantic, but until this place shall have
been discovered it is more satisfactory to suppose that with the blue: fich
we
THE'SPANTSH MACKEREL AND THE CEROES. 185
and the mackerel it inhabits that hypothetical winter resort, to which we
send the migratory fishes whose habits we do not understand—the mid-
dle strata of the ocean, the floating beds of Sargassum, which drift hither and
thither under the alternate promptings of the Gulf-stream currents and the
winter winds.
Sixty-two years ago, Mitchill, in his ‘‘ New York Fauna’’ said all that
was known of this fish in two short sentences :—‘‘ A fine and beautiful fish.
Comes in July.’’ Seven years ago, when the writer was called upon to
prepare its biography for his ‘‘ Game Fishes of the United States,’’ he was
compelled to admit that later naturalists had added very little to this
tersely expressed story. The admirable studies of Earll and Stearns have
since been made, and the habits of the Spanish Mackerel are now fairly
well understood.
It is a member of the Mackerel family and of the genus Scomberomorus,
established in 1802 by Lacépede, and subsequently re-named by Cuvier,
Cyéium. European naturalists still cling to Cuvier’s name for the genus,
which is composed of twelve or more species inhabiting the warmer por-
tions of the Atlantic and Indian oceans. The species under discussion
was described by Mitchill under the name Scomber maculatus. For nearly
half a century it stood upon our books as Cydcum maculatum, but our pro-
gressive American school of ichthyologists now insist that for the sake of
a consistent nomenclature, we must catalogue this lovely species under the
unlovely name Scomberomorus maculatus.
The Spanish Mackerel is not the only representative of the genus Scom-
beromorus which occurs in American waters. ‘There are two closely allied
forms in the Atlantic, which are gigantic in comparison. In the Gulf
States they are called King-fish and are highly esteemed by lovers of good
sport and delicate food. Both of these forms have been occasionally ob-
served as far north as Cape Cod, and it is quite possible that their abun-
dance along our eastern coast is greater than is at present suspected. The
three species are very similar in form, and their distinctive characters are
of such a kind that they might readily be overlooked by ordinary obsery-
ers. It is my own opinion that they are sold in large numbers with the
Spanish Mackerel, and under the prestige of itsname. The fish-mongers,
the only persons likely to notice the differences, would, for obvious reasons,
not be likely to call attention to them.
The distinctive characters, though not obtrusive, are strong and con-
186 AMERICAN FISHES.
stant and he who chooses to do so may soon learn to discriminate between
the Spanish Mackerel and its allies. ;
The Spotted Cero, or King Cero, Scomberomorus regalis, has seventeen
dorsal spines, and upon the front of the first dorsal, which is white, is a
spot of deep blue, which is prolonged far back upon the upper edge of the
fin. The sides are marked with broken longitudinal bands of gold, inter-
lined with brown and golden spots.
It differs from .S. maculatus, which also has seventeen dorsal spines, in
the form of its teeth and in its coloration. In the Spanish Mackerel the
teeth are somewhat conical and very pointed, the first dorsal has a black
blotch. and the spots upon the sides are golden brown nearly circular and
not arranged in band like series.
PERSE teins RRO apataons
Oe OF mee Se See
EPS eae eee, Sees Siew ee 2
THE SPOTTED CERO.
The King Cero is a magnificent fish which grows to be five or six feet in
length and attains a weight of twenty to thirty pounds. It is abundant in
the West Indies, and has been recorded from Cuba, Santo Domingo, Ja-
maica, Barbadoes, Key West, and Brazil. The Silver Cero, Scomberomo-
rus caballa, has fourteen spines in its full dorsal fins, which is immaculate
in color. The young fish have the sides of the body marked with indis-
tinct spots, circular in form, and tawny in color, which disappear with age ;
the lateral line is very sinuous upon the posterior portion of the body.
It is a West Indian species, which has already been observed at Santo
Domingo, Jamaica, Cuba, Martinique, Porto Rico, and Brazil, and a few
specimens have been captured as far north as Wood’s Holl, Mass. Prof.
Jordan states that they are caught with trolling hooks on nearly every
summer trip of the steamer from Savannah to New York. This is a mag-
nificent fish, which often attains the weight of twenty-five pounds. Its
habits are doubtless like those of the Spanish Mackerel. The name Cero
is commonly accepted in the United States; it 1s a corruption of the
THE SPANISH MACKEREL AND THE CEROES. 187
Spanish serra, which is in fact the name applied to the species by the
Spanish people of Mexico.
King-fish, according to Silas Stearns, are very abundant in the southern
part of the Gulf of Mexico, and are common in some localities along the
coast of our Gulf States. They live at sea and are caught by the use of
trolling-lines. At Key West, large quantities are sold in the markets.
Two men in a small sail-boat sometimes catch a hundred or more in a day.
The Pacific species, Scomberomorus concolor, has been called the ‘‘ Mon-
terey Mackerel.’’ It attains a length of about thirty inches and a weight
of about five or eight pounds. It has only been seen in the Monterey Bay,
where from five to forty individuals are taken each autumn, most of them
at Soquel. They appear in September and disappear in November.
Nothing is known of their distribution or habits. They always command
the high price of from thirty to fifty cents per pound. ‘The flesh is similar
to that of the Spanish Mackerel, which it closely resembles. The male is
silvery blue, without spots, but the female has a double row of alternately
roundish blotches upon each side.
The Spanish Mackerel is a species smaller and more delicately formed
than the others which occur in the Atlantic. Its normal range, as now
understood, is from Cape Cod to the Gulf of Mexico.- It is possible, in-
deed probable, as has already been suggested, that it occurs in the waters
of South America, though the statement that Agassiz recorded it from
Brazil is based upon an erroneous reading of his statement in his book on
the fishes collected by Spix. Poey had it from Cuba. Solitary individu-
als have been taken north of Cape Cod, one at Provincetown in August,
1847, one at Lynn in July, 1841, and one at Monhegan in Maine. I am
disposed to question the official statement of the Canadian fisheries de-
partment that one was taken at New London, in September, 1880, which,
if true, would extend the range of the species several hundred miles. The
author of this report justly remarks: ‘‘ It is rare to find this fish in so high
a latitude.’’* The identification should be verified.
Though abundant in the north-eastern portion of the Gulf of Mexico,
few individuals have as yet been observed off the east coast of Florida.
The species also occurs along the Pacific coast of Mexico, and in great
abundance in the Gulf of California.
* Supplement No, 2 to the Eleventh Annual Report of the Minister of Marine and Fisheries for the year
1880, p. 229.
188 AMERICAN FISHES.
Spanish Mackerel visit the shores of our Atlantic states, on a mission of
feeding and breeding.
In early spring they appear in schools off our southern coast, appearing
in the waters of West Florida early in March, or even in the latter part of
February, reaching Pensacola about the beginning of April. Off the
Carolinas, their coming is a little later, for they do not reach Charleston
before the end of March, and really enter the sounds of Pamlico and
Albemarle until a month later. By the zoth of May, they are rounding
the capes of Virginia, and the schools rapidly increase in number in the
inland sea of the Chesapeake, until the middle of June, and their abund-
ance continues through the summer and early autumn. In July and
August they are most abundant off the coasts of New York and Southern
New England, where they remain in considerable numbers through the
early part of September—just as they did in the days of Mitchill, and, so
far as we can know, in the seventeenth century when Josselyn described
the fishes of New England.
With the approach of the autumnal equinox, their southward migrations
begin. The first of October finds them absent from the region north of
New Jersey, and by November they have deserted the waters of the United
States, unless perchance, a few may still remain among the reefs and
sand-beds of the Florida Keys.
They are lovers of warm waters, even more so than the blue-fish, for
they precede in the fall migration the schools of menhaden, while the
blue-fish follow them. ‘Their breeding season in the Chesapeake occurs
when the temperature of the water ranges from 78° to 84°, and it is
believed that they do not willingly enter water colder than 60°
Their habits are much like those of the blue-fish, with which they are
said to associate. They are much more active in their movements, and
sport and dance between sky and water almost like swallows skimming
over a lake. No oceanic fishes which I have seen are so admirably built
for springing. ‘Their tails are muscular, shapely, provided with oar-like
fins, formed like the crescent moon. Their bodies are conical, arrow-like,
smooth as burnished metal, and their speed must be as matchless as that of
the dolphins. When the blue-fish leaps, it is with more deliberation and
noise, falling back into the water with a splash, while the sharp head of
the Spanish Mackerel cuts the water like the stem of a yacht. Mr. Earll
tells me that the Chesapeake fishermen can indentify the species by its
movements as far as the eye can see.
THE SPANISH MACKEREL AND THE CEROES. 189
In Genio C. Scott’s ‘‘ Fishing in American Waters’’ is an interesting
little picture of a school of Spanish Mackerel feeding, which is worthy of
examination.
Both Earll and Stearns agree in the statement that this is a fish which
lives almost entirely at the surface. On a calm bright day in summer, the
surface of the Chesapeake or the Gulf of Mexico is sometimes broken up
for miles by the movements of large schools of these fishes, while the air
is enlivened by the screaming flocks of terns, which follow them, to gather
up the fragments of their feasts. Similar scenes may occasionally be wit-
nessed off the coast of New Jersey and the Carolinas, but further to the
southward their abundance is less.
The schools are frequently observed at a long distance from the shore,
especially when they are first approaching in the spring. Mr. Earll has
also called attention to the fact that they avoid brackish waters, and thus
accounts for their abundance on the eastern side of the Chesapeake, and
their comparative absence near the opposite shores where the salinity of
the waters is lessened by the inflow of the Potomac, Rappahannock, the
York and the James. During the spawning season they frequent tke
warmest and shoalest waters to which they can gain access.
The diet of the Spanish Mackerel is like that of the blue-fish, entirely
carnivorous, and there is no reason to doubt that the menhaden or moss-
bunker is its principal quaving. Mackerel, mullet, silversides and all our
other schooling species contribute also a share to its support.
The breeding habits of this fish were never understood until the spring
of 1880, when, to the astonishment of everyone, it was found by Mr. Earll
that their spawning grounds are in the Chesapeake Bay and at other
localities on the middle Atlantic coast, while Mr. Silas Stearns, almost
simultaneously discovered a breeding place in the Gulf of Mexico. Mr.
Earll. to whom science is indebted for a most thorough and comprehensive
study of the reproductive habits of this fish, has published a full account
of his observations, and of his experiments in practical fish-culture in one
of the annual reports of the U. S. Fish Commission,* to which the reader
is referred for detailed statements, since it 1s not the purpose of this book
to enter into prolonged discussions of such a character.
Mr. Earll found evidence that the species spawns not only in the Sandy
=R.E. Earty. Zhe Spanish Mackerel. Report U.S. Comm. Fisheries, 1880, (1883) pp. 395-426.
190 AMERICAN, TISHES.
Hook and Chesapeake regions, but also on the southern shore of Long
Island, and in the sounds of the Carolinas.
In the Carolinas, he tells us, the spawning season begins in April, in the
Chesapeake region from the first to the middle of June, in the Sandy
Hook region and about Long Island, from the latter part of August to the
first of September. In the Gulf, according to Stearns, the season is in
July. The season continues in any given locality from six to ten weeks,
and the spawners, contrary to what occurs in shad, salmon and white-fish,
require several weeks rather than a few days only to deposit their indi-
vidual building of eggs. A one pound Spanish Mackerel will yield about
300,000 eggs, a six pounder scarcely less than 1,500,000; the species
being much more prolific than salmon, shad or white-fish, though less so
1 1
2 tO 3,
than the members of the cod family. The eggs are minute, from
of an inch in diameter, and over a million can be held within the walls of
a quart measure. ‘Their specific gravity is such that they will sink in
fresh water and float in the sea.
When first hatched, Mackerel is very small, and the length of the em-
bryo scarcely exceeds one-tenth of an inch, while its diameter, even with
the comparatively large yelk-sac, 1s so small as to allow it to pass through
wire-cloth having thirty-two wires to the inch. For several hours it
remains quiet at the surface in an almost helpless condition, small oil
globule in the yelk-sac causing it to lie belly uppermost. Later the sac
is absorbed, and the little fish manifests greater activity, and by vigorous
and spasmodic efforts swim to the depth of an inch or so below the surface.
In a few hours it finds no difficulty in swimming at various depths, and
begins to lie upon the bottom of the vessel, darting off with surprising
rapidity when disturbed.
The rate of growth has not been studied. LEarll supposed that the
yearling fish are not more than six inches long, and those of two years, to
be the young fish of a half-pound weight, observed by Genio C. Scott in
the Long Island region. It is scarcely probable that the species attains
full size in less than four years. The annual growth of so*voracious a
species is doubtless considerable after the first two years. The species
sometimes attains the weight of eight or nine pounds, though it rarely
exceeds three or four pounds. A specimen taken off Block Island, July 8,
1874, the first of the season, measured twenty-six and one-fourth inches
and weighed three pounds and five ounces. It is said to be the largest
THE SPANISH MACKEREL AND.THE CEROES. 101
ever taken in this section, and was a female with the ovary spent. In the
Gulf States, according to Mr. Stearns, the Spanish Mackerel are in great
demand, though but few are caught in the Gulf of Mexico, on account of
the absence of proper nets.
‘‘In the Chesapeake region the catch has increased rapidly from year
to year, until in 1879 it amounted to fully 1,000,000 pounds, and in 1880
the quantity was increased to 1,609,663 pounds. ‘The average daily catch
for the pound-nets about Cherrystone, Va., is fully 500 fish ; while as
many as 4,000 have been taken at a single ‘lift,’ and hauls of 2,500 are
not uncommon during the height of the season. At Sandy Hook the
catch is quite large; in 1879, 3,500 pounds were taken at one haul in a
pound-net at Seabright, and the average stock for the pound-nets in that
locality often exceeds $1,000 for Mackerel alone, while the catch of other
species is proportionally large.
The species is common in New Orleans and Mobile markets. Although
those taken on the coast of New Jersey and farther to the eastward are
considered much more delicately flavored than the Chesapeake fish, and
command a higher price in the market. ‘The Spanish Mackerel served at
the best restaurants in New Orleans are delicious in the extreme, and fully
equal to the best to be found in New York. It is pre-eminently suited for
broiling and grilling, and is rarely prepared in any other manner.*
In the Chesapeake and about Cape Hatteras, they are extensively salted,
and in the Gulf of Mexico pickled king-fish is regarded as a delicacy of
the first degree of excellence.
The Spanish Mackerel ought surely to rank with the ‘‘ game-fishes,’’ but
unfortunately does not come fairly within the designation. It is occa-
* How ro Broirt Fisno.—‘‘ Take the fish you intend to broil, see that it is properly cleaned, and either
rub it with vinegar, or simply dry it and dredge it with flour, then dip it into olive oil, or egg and _bread-
crumb it, or roll it well in chopped herbs, then place it upon a heated gridiron well rubbed over with fat.
Mackerel may be stuffed, but their heads should be taken off. When the fish is thick, score it here and there,
or split downthe back. Broiled fish, according to its kind, may be either masked with a sauce, or served
upon a purée of sorrel, tomatoes, or haricots, or upon an oil or caper sauce. Soaking fish in a marinade pre-
viously to broiling it is a considerable improvement, as it eats shorter and better flavoured ; the French steep
it in olive oil, made savoury with spices, &c.
‘‘For the more delicate kinds of fish the gridiron may be stewed with bunches of aromatic herbs (fresh),
the fish well oiled being laid thereon; do it very slowly, and only turn it once while being cooked. Fish first
crimped ia boiling water and then broiled is excellent. No fixed rules can be given as to the time required to
broil fish, so much depending upon the state of the fire and the size and sort of the fish. Smoked salmon
should be merely made hot through.’’—(GrorGIANA HILL.)
*¢ Wipe the fish clean and dry, after taking out the gilland insides. Open the back, and put in a little pep-
per, salt, and oil; broil it over a clear fire, turn it over on both sides, and also on the back. When the flesh
can be detached from the bone, which will be in about 15 minutes, it is done. Chop a little parsley into the
butter, with pepper, salt, and lemon juice. Serve before the butter is quite melted, with a sattre a’ hotel
sauce.’’—(FISHERIES EXHIBITION Cook Book.) ;
192 AMERICAN FISHES.
sionally taken on trolling tackle in use in blue-fishing, but is never so far
as I am aware, a definite object of pursuit.
Genio C. Scott wrote, in 1875: ‘‘ My experience in trolling for Spanish
Mackerel off the inlets of Fire Island has convinced me that the fish is as
numerous as the blue-fish, and more so than the striped bass, at certain
seasons, and is found alittle farther seaward than either of those fishes.’’
‘‘Every year the shoals of Spanish Mackerel become more and more
numerous, and more are taken, but never in sufficient nembers to reduce
the average price below sixty cents per pound. The shoals which I saw
when last trolling for them would have formed an area nearly five miles
square, and still the most successful boat did not take more than a dozen
in three days. They will not bite freely at any artificial lure, and though
numbers came near leaping on the deck of our yacht, they treated our
lures with an indifference which savored of perverseness.’’
Trolling seems to be more productive in the Gulf of Mexico than far-
ther north.
Mr. Thaddeus Norris states that in the Gulf of Mexico, they are some-
times taken by hook and line, with shrimp-bait at the end of the long
pers where the steamers land in Mobile to New Orleans.
THE SILVER CERO.
The early chronicles of the colonies seem to contain no references to
the Spanish Mackerel under its present name, but it seems certain that this
fish was the speckled hound-fish, spoken of in that renowned work, ‘‘ New
England Rarities, Discovered in Birds, Beasts, Fishes, Serpents and Plants
of that country, etc., by John Josselyn, Gent,’’ published in 1672.
Josselyn wrote of ‘‘ Blew-fish or hound-fish, two kinds, speekled hound-
fish, called horse-fish.’" The blue-hound-fish can be nothing else than the
common blue-fish of our coast, (Pomatomus saltatrix), and no species in
the western Atlantic, other than our Spanish Mackerel, sufficiently resem-
bles the blue-fish to warrant the use of sosimilaraname. Mitchill referred
o
THE SPANISH MACKEREL AND THE CEROES. 193
to the species in 1815, in a manner which seems to indicate that it was
not of rare occurrence, but from his day to 1870, it seems to have attracted
but little attention.
Even Mitchill’s published description does not seem to have satisfied
contemporary ichthyologists of the existence of such a fish, for some of
them did not hesitate to express the opinion that Dr. Mitchill had been
deceived by accidental differences of color at different seasons of the year,
and that there were not so many varieties of Mackerel as he imagined.*
In an essay on the fishes of New York market, published in 1854, Prof.
Gill referred to the Spanish Mackerel as a species of slight importance.
The quantity taken with hook and line is quite insignificant ; they are
caught almost entirely in traps and weirs, and these contrivances were not
employed in Narragansett Bay before 1845, and did not come into
general use elsewhere on the coast until many years later. Many experi-
enced fishermen are, however, of the opinion that they have been rapidly
increasing of late, and this is strikingly confirmed by the marketmen.
DeKay in his ‘‘ New York Fauna,’’ 1842, mentioned that he had seen
this fish in New York market, in August and September, but that it was
not common.
Prof. Baird, who was one of the first to speak of the abundance of this
species and to testify to its excellent qualities, wrote in 1854: ‘‘ But two
specimens were taken during my stay at Beesley’s Point, and the species is
scarcely known to the fishermen. It was more abundant at Greenport,
L. I.; in the Peconic Bay, towards Riverhead, four hundred were caught
at one haul of the seine. The fish bring a high price in the New York
market, where it has been but recently sold at from fifty cents to one dol-
lar a pound, the prices varying with the season. It has been more abund-
ant off our coast than ever before, and in the lower part of the Potomac
numbers have been taken.’’
The Gloucester ‘‘ Telegraph’’ of August 17, 1870, stated that the New-
port epicures were in ecstasies over the fact that Spanish Mackerel, the
most delicious fish caught in the sea, were taken there in seines, and
remarked that it was only by southerly winds that they were tempted so
far north.
Mr. J. M. K. Southwick states that the first Spanish Mackerel taken in
9
= Situ, J. V. C.: Natural History of the Fishes of Massachusetts, 28,3, . 295.
13
194 AMERICAN FISHES.
the vicinity of Newport were found in the summer of 1857. Noone knew
what they were.
Mr. Earll writes as follows concerning the history of its increase:
‘¢ About Sandy Hook prior to 1850, almost nothing was known of the
fish, as shown by the fact that about this time Mr. Robert Lloyd, a fisher-
man at Seabright, was engaged in trolling for bluefish, having a contract
with one of the hotels to take his entire catch. He secured a number of
Spanish Mackerel (these being the first he had ever seen), which were
carried with the bluefish to the hotel; but the proprietor knew nothing of
their value, and buying them.
‘‘From this date they were taken more frequently, and soon were highly
prized. They were caught wholly by trolling, the average catch being
from ten to twenty fish to a boat daily. They continued to increase in
number, or at least were more generally noticed by the fishermen, until
1866, when they were quite plentiful, becoming most abundant between
1870 and 1875. During that period it is said that they were often nearly
as plenty as the bluefish, though comparatively few were taken, owing to
the lack of suitable apparatus. It was not until the introduction of
properly arranged gill-nets and pound-nets that the fishermen succeeded
in securing considerable quantities,
ecTitas claimed that their numbers have, since 1875, gradually decreased
on the inshore grounds, though they are said to be as numerous as for-
merly, eight to ten miles from land, where they remain beyond the reach
of gill-nets and pound-nets.
‘‘Many of the fishermen of Chesapeake Bay never saw the species
before 1875, though there are authentic records showing that individuals
were occasionally taken in the haul-seines along the Eastern shores as
early as 1860, and hauls of one and two hundred are reported by Dr. J. T.
Wilkins in 1866.* It is very easy to explain the ignorance of the fisher-
men as to the abundance of the species in that region, for, until recently,
the fisheries of the Chesapeake appear to have been of small commercial
importance, having been prosecuted only during the spring and fall by
means of gill-nets and haul-seines. During the summer months, when the
Mackerel are most plenty, no fishing of importance was done. Pound-
nets were introduced into the Chesapeake region in 1875, and it was
through their use that the fishermen came to know of the abundance ot
the species in these waters.
‘¢On the North Carolina coast most of the fishermen, and, indeed, a
majority of the dealers, are still unacquainted with either the name or the
value of the Mackerel, and when, in 1879, several thousand pounds of
them were brought to Wilmington, the dealers refused to buy them, sup-
* Prof. Baird, as we have seen, referred to extensive captures of this species in the lower Potomac and
Chesanenven in 1854, and called attention to the fact that they were to be had salted in the Washington city
fish market.
THE SPANISH MACKEREL AND THE CEROES. 195
posing them to be a species of horse-mackerel (Ovrcynus), which they
understood had no value as a food-fish. Since no purchasers could be
found for them, they were finally thrown away. Farther south few have
been taken, owing to the lack of suitable apparatus, as well as to the fact
that the fishermen seldom fish beyond the inlets. The smack fishermen of
Charleston catch a few on troll-lines during the pleasant weather of the
spring and early summer, but they fish only occasionally in this way.
‘Though the fishing is at present limited to certain localities, there is
no reason to believe that the fish are absent from other places; on the
contrary, it seems probable that, should proper apparatus be employed,
the species could be taken at almost any point along the outer shore
where the menhaden are abundant.’’
C. R. Moore, of Johnsontown, Va., wrote in 1874: ‘‘Spanish Mack-
erel come in September and October and stay until frost. They are most
numerous about the mouth of the York River, where a large number are
caught in seines and salted. They bring about $40 a barrel.’’
There is no reason to believe that the present fishery will affect the
future abundance of the species; for the catch is necessarily insignificant
when the immense number of individuals in our waters is taken into
account. There is no doubt that there have been important fluctuations
in abundance in the past, and natural causes are certain, cause a like
variation in the future. ;
It is particularly important therefore, that the experiments which the
U. S. Fish Commission has already made upon the artificial propagation
of this species shall be as soon as possible brought to some practical
outcome.
The Spanish Mackerel of New England was a fish with spotted sides.
The people of New England found a spotted mackerel and called it by
the old familiar name; the people of the Middle States did likewise with
a different kind of spotted mackerel. In hke manner the names herring,
alewife, shad, salmon, trout, perch, chub, and bass are applied to several
different kinds of fish in different parts of the United States. There is
only one clew to the manner in which the Spanish Mackerel of England
was named. Rondeletius, who wrote in 1554, a book on marine fishes,
‘* Libri de Piscibus Marinis,’’ speaks of this fish as occasionally occurring
on the coast of France, but particularly abundant in Spain.
How did our Spanish Mackerel get its name? English colonists, the
world over, have always given to the native animals of the new continent,
the names of those with which they were familiar in their ancestral home.
196 AMERICAN FISHES.
The only other spotted fish which has been known to frequent our coast
is the ‘‘ chub mackerel’’ or ‘‘ thimble eye,’’ a species closely allied to the
common mackerel, but smaller, and distinguished by having larger eyes
and less distinct dorsal markings, as well as by other characters. This
was the ‘‘ Spanish Mackerel’’ of New England fifty years ago. Its name
must have come to it from the ‘‘Spanish Mackerel’’ of England, the
Scomber colias, described by Gmelin, with which, indeed, some authori-
ties believe it to be identical, and which also is very similar to the
common mackerel, Scomber scombrus, though smaller, with fewer stripes
upon its back, and with circular spots of grey or brown upon the white
sides, which in the common mackerel are pearly and immaculate. The
question of the identity of the Spanish Macketel of New England, with
that of Old England, is not likely to be decided at present, for the former
has entirely deserted our waters, though at one time extremely abundant.
The origin of the name ‘‘ Mackerel’’ is in itself a curious subject of
inquiry. Certain authorities derive it from the Old French maguereau,
signifying a pander or go-between, from a popular tradition in France,
that the Mackerel in spring follows the female shads which are called
vierges, and leads them to their mates. Skeat and other modern ety-
mologists reject this idea, and decide that the name comes from the Latin
macus oY maca, signifying a spot or stain.
Still another theory is advocated by Dr. C. D. Badham, in his ‘ Prose
Halieutics.’’
‘¢The word Mackerel is one of very old standing in our own vocabulary,
and has most probably a northern origin ; but whether this be so or not,
both the usually assigned Greek and Latin etymologies are equally inad-
missible; the Greek, which, either from the excellence of the flesh, its
own personal happiness, or that which it confers on so many Mackerel-
eaters, would conjure Mackerel from pakdpeoc is obviously untrue, and
particulary wzhappy ; nor is Mackerel ‘ quasi macularius,’ 7. e. the spotted,
in lieu of what it is, a s¢vzped fish, a less unfortunate attempt to fish out a
meaning from the Latin. If we are to adopt any etymology where all are
doubtful, Aldrovandi’s ‘ magarellos seu nacarellos e corporis nacritudine,’
seems the most plausible; the shot, lustrous surface of the belly and sides
is certainly nacreous ; while we are distinctly taught in our Church cate-
chism that in regard to a name, an M or N are indifferent, and in fact the
change of one of these liquids into the other never offers any real difficulty
in etymology. Touching the nomenclature of that particular kind called
sometimes Spanish, sometimes Horse-Mackerel, though the latter adjunct
THE SPANISH MACKEREL AND THE CEROES. 1097
often expresses no more than size or coarseness—as in qualifying the
words laugh, mushroom, chesnut, or radish,—it is quite possible in this
case that it may merely be the translation of cavad/o, which in that lan-
guage not only means horse, but Mackerel as well. Concerning the
opprobrious employment of this word to designate a certain class of vil-
lains, called in Latin /enones, ard ruffiani in Italian, M. Lacépéde, after
Belon, gives the following interpretation —‘ C’est 4 raison de la rencontre
des maquereaux avec les petits aloses ou pucelles vers le temps ou celles-ci
vont frayer avec les males, qu’on a donné ce vilain nom (maquererau),
qu’il porte en France et dans quelques autres pays.’ ’’
THE CAROLINA POMPANO.
RHESeOMEANOES.
** Lightly and brightly they glide and go
The hungry and keen on the top are leaping
The lazy and fat on the depths are sleeping.”’
WititiaAm MackwortuH PrAED, The Red Fisherman.
HE Pompano, with its pleasing contours, its banner-like fins, and its
scales glistening with the brilliancy of polished silver and gold, is
one of the loveliest of our summer visitors. It is not an angler’sfish, nor is
it a food-fish of importance from the commercial stand-point, yet it is con-
fessedly the king of table-fishes, commanding almost fabulous prices in the
markets of our great cities, and esteemed more highly than salmon or bass,
moon-fish or Spanish mackerel. It figures in angling literature as ‘the
wood-cock of the seas’’—wherefore, the writer is unable to say.
The genus 7rachynotus, to which our Pompanoes belong, is widely dis-
tributed through the warmer parts of the Atlantic and Indo-Atlantic
regions. Three species are peculiar to Asiatic waters, three have been
found only on our own Pacific coast, one is limited to the waters of
western Africa, one to those of the Caribbean, while of the four which are
abundant on the Atlantic coast of North America, one ranges the wide
world over, occurring in warm waters everywhere, one is found on the
California coast, and one in Africa. The genus is entirely unknown in
the waters of Europe. The species of the Pacific coast, Zrachynotus
THE POMPANOES. 199
rhodopus, .T. fasciatus and G. Kennedyi, are chiefly interesting to
naturalists, and will not be discussed at length. The Pompanoes of our
Atlantic waters, belonging as they do to a small, strongly specialized
genus, are separated from each other by characters not likely to be noticed
by casual observers. It is probable that the most unusual of them is more
abundant than is now supposed, and that a more careful study of the fauna
of the South Atlantic and Gulf States will show that they are frequent
visitors. I have myself seen the Carolina and the Round Pompano sold
under the same name in Charleston market, just as I have seen the young
of four species of the herring family sold together indiscriminately in Ful-
ton market, New York.
The four species, though similar in general appearance, may easily be
distinguished by differences in proportions and in the number of fin-rays.
The commonest and by far the most important form, the Carolina
Pompano, Zrachynotus carolinus, has the height of the body contained
two to two and two-thirds times in the total length ; the length of the head
five to five and one-third times; one of the caudal lobes four times. It
has twenty-four to twenty-five rays in the second dorsal, while the anterior
rays of the dorsal and anal fins, if laid backward, reach to the middle of
the fin.
It occurs in both the Atlantic and Pacific waters of the United States.
On our eastern coast it ranges north to Cape Cod, south to Jamaica, east
to the Bermudas, and west in the Gulf of Mexico, at least as far as the
mouth of the Mississippi River. In the Pacific it is rare, and as yet known
only from the Gulf of California, where it has recently been observed by
Nn Cy is Gilbert.
Like the Spanish mackerel, the squeteague, and the bluefish, it is a sum-
mer visitor, appearing in southern Massachusetts in June and July,
departing in September. It is emphatically a warm water species. Although
it is at present impossible to ascertain the lower limit of its temperature
range, it is probable that this corresponds very nearly to that indicated by
a harbor temperature of 60° to 65° Fahr.
The Pompano has never been known to pass the boundary defined by
the low, sandy barrier of Cape Cod and its submarine extension, the
Georges Bank. Like the shoals of Hatteras, the broad, slightly submerged
sands of this region, with their swirling tides and fluctuations of tempera-
ture, forbid the passage of many species. abundant either to the North or
200 AMERICAN FISHES.
South. Both of our common Pompanoes were described by Linnzeus from
South Carolina, but had never been observed north of Cape Hatteras
until the summer of 1854, when Prof. Baird, at that time carrying on the
first of the ichthyological investigations which have since made his name
famous all the world over, discovered it near Great Egg Harbor. In his
Report on the Fishes of New Jersey, he states that he had seen them taken
by thousands in the sandy coves of the outer beach, near Beesley’s Point.
These, however, were all rather small, scarcely exceeding a quarter to half
a pound in weight. In 1863 he obtained both species in Southern
Massachusetts, where in subsequent years they have frequently been
captured.
‘« My first acquaintance with the Pompano in New England,’
Prof. Baird, ‘‘was in 1863, during a residence at Wood’s Holl, where I
?
writes
not unfrequently caught young ones of a few inches inlength. Iwas more
fortunate in the summer of 1871, which I also spent at Wood’s Holl ; then
the Pompano was taken occasionally, especially in Capt. Spindle’s pound,
and I received at different times as many as twenty or thirty, weighing
about one and one-half or two pounds each. Quite a number were caught
in Buzzard’s Bay and Vineyard Sound in 1872.”’
It is a fair question whether the Pompano has recently found its way
into northern waters, or whether its presence was unknown because nobody
had found the way to capture it. When Mitchill wrote on the fishes of
New York in 1842 he had access to a single specimen which had been
taken off Sandy Hook about the year 1820.
I quote in full the observations of Mr. Stearns:
‘*The common Pompano is abundant on the Gulf coast from the
Mississippi River to Key West, and, so far as I can learn, is rare beyond
this western limit until the Yucatan coast'is reached, where it is common.
It is considered the choicest fish of the Gulf of Mexico, and has great
commercial demand, which is fully supplied but a few weeks in the year,
namely, when it arrives in spring. The Pompano is a migratory fish in
the Pensacola region, but I think its habits on the South Florida coast are
such that it cannot properly be so classed.
‘¢ At Pensacola it comes in to the coast in spring and goes away from it
in fall, while in South Florida it is found throughout the year. In the
former section it appears on the coast in March in schools varying in num-
bers of individuals from fifty to three or four thousand, which continue to
‘run’ until the latter part of May, when it is supposed that they are all
inside. Their movement is from the eastward, and they swim as near to
THE POMPANOES. 201
the shore as the state of the water will permit, very seldom at the surface
so as to ripple or break the water, although sometimes while playing in
shoal water they will jump into the air.
‘Before any schools enter the bays certain ones will remain for days,
or even weeks, in a neighborhood, coming to the beach during the flood
tide to feed on the shell-fish that abound there and returning again to
deeper water on the ebb-tide. The holes or gullies in the sand along the
beach are their favorite feeding grounds on these occasions. Sharks and
porpoises pursue the Pompano incessantly, doubtless destroying many.
The largest numbers come in April, and sometimes during that month the
first schools are seen entering the inlets, others following almost every
day, until about June 1, when the spring run is said to be over. Every
year they appear in this way at Pensacola and adjoining bays, although
there are many more some years than others. As the abundance is judged
by the quantity caught I think that the difference may lie more in the
number of fishing days (pleasant ones) than in the real numbers of fish
present. The sizes of Pompano that make up these schools are large or
adult fish averaging twelve or fourteen inches in length, and small fish
(probably one year old) averaging eight inches in length. The largest
Pompano that I have seen measured nineteen and a half inches in length,
and weighed six and a quarter pounds, the extremely large fish called
Pompano of two or three times that size probably being another species.
After entering the bays the schools of Pompano break up and the fish
scatter to all parts where the water is salt and there are good feeding
grounds. Except single individuals that are taken now and then, nothing
is seen of Pompano until late in the fall, when they are bound seaward.
In regard to its spawning habits nothing very definite has been learned.
It has spawn half developed when it arrives and has none when it leaves
the bays. Large quantities of the fry are seen in the bays all summer,
which is some proof of its spawning inside. In June, 1878, I caught
specimens of the fry varying in size from three-quarters of an inch to three
inches in length. Very many schools of these sizes were also observed in
July and August of the same and following years of 1879-’8o.
‘« The schools of fry go to sea in August and September. The older or
adult fish leave the coast in September and October in small schools, that
are only seen and caught at the inlets where they happen to cross shoals
or follow the beach. ‘These Pompano of the fall are very fat and in every
way superior to those caught in the spring. As before mentioned, the
Pompano is found on the South Florida coast all the year. ‘The sea-beach,
from Tampa Bay to Charlotte Harbor seems to be its favorite feeding-
ground owing to the quantity of shell-fish that occur there. It does not
form in large schools as in the Pensacola region, and therefore is not taken
in such large quantities by seine fishermen.
‘« Smacks from Mobile and Pensacola sometimes go to Tampa Bay for
them. Ihave been told that Pompano are caught at Key West in con-
202 AMERICAN FISHES.
siderable quantities by hook and line, and I have known of a few being
taken in that manner at Pensacola. It feeds entirely upon small shell-
fish, which are crushed between the bones of its pharyngeal arch.”’
The Round Pompano, 7. rhomboides, has the height of the body con-
tained two to two and one-third times in the total length; the length of
the head five to five and one-fourth times; one of the caudal lobes three
and a-half to four times. In the second dorsal are from eighteen to
twenty-one rays, in the second anal from sixteen to nineteen, while in the
Carolina Pompano there are twenty-one to twenty-two.
In the south it is sometimes called the ‘‘ Shore Pompano,’’ and is known
in the Bermudas by the name ‘‘ Alewife.’’
THE ROUND POMPANO.
The Round Pompano is cosmopolitan in its distribution, occurring in
the North and South Atlantic, and in various parts of the Indian Ocean.
The young have been obtained in the harbor of Vineyard Haven, Mass.,
and at Beaufort, S. C. It is probable that the species is far more abund-
ant in our waters than we now suppose it to be.
The only well authenticated instance of the capture of the Pompano
with hook and line are those recorded by S. C. Clarke. During ten win-
ters of Florida angling he writes: ‘‘ I have only once seen this fish taken
with the hook. My fish was taken on a rod with clam-bait, while fishing
for sheepshead in April, 1875, in the Hillsboro River, near New Smyrna.’’
B. C. Pacetti, a veteran fishermen, assured Mr. Clarke that during forty
years’ experience, he had only known of two similar instances.
The African Pompano, Z. goreensis, originally described from the
THE POMPANOES. 203
Island of Gorea, on the west coast of Africa, resembles in general form
the Round Pompano, though somewhat more elongate, while the head is
larger, being contained four and a half times in the total length. The
anterior rays of the dorsal and anal extend beyond the middle of the fin,
if laid backward. In the number of the fin rays it corresponds most
closely with the Round Pompano. I first became familiar with the species
through examining a small specimen in the collection of my friend, J.
Matthew Jones, Esq., of ‘‘ The Hermitage,’’ Smith’s Parish, Bermuda, in
1876, has since been repeatedly observed on our own coast. It is the
largest of the Pompanoes. Dr. J. W. Velie obtained two large specimens
in West Florida, and in 1879, Mr. Blackford sent to the National Museum
a giant of the same species, taken at Jupiter Inlet, about two feet
long, and weighing twenty-three pounds. It hassince become evident that
the species figured by Girard in the ichthyology of the United States and
Mexican boundary, under the name Dofodon carolinus, is really Trachy-
notus goreensis, and that its occurrence in the Gulf of Mexico is not
unusual.
In the Gulf of Mexico it is not unusual, being known at Key West as
EhesORermit.
Stearns informs us that this fish is rather common along the lower end
of the the Florida Peninsula, and is often taken in seines at Cedar Keys,
and at the mullet fisheries of Sarasota and Charlotte Harbor, as well as
about Key West.
The Banner Pompano, 7. g/aucus, has a somewhat elongate body and a
small head. It is much thinner than either of the other species. Its sil-
very sides are marked with four blackish vertical streaks; the best
distinguishing mark is in the length of the first rays of the dorsal and
anal, which extend back nearly to the tip of the caudal fin.
It is a member of the West Indian fauna, and is represented in the
National Museum by specimens from Pensacola, Key West, the Bahamas
and the Bermudas. Stearns remarks that it is obtained frequently at Pen-
sacola with the other species, but is never very common, is seen only in
the spring, and is not valued as a food-fish. Professor Jordan tells me that
it is not rare along thé Carolina and Gulf coasts, and that at Pensacola,
wherever it is known as the ‘Gall-topsail Pompano,’ it is held in low
esteem. The allied species, Zrachynotus fasciatus, has lately been noticed
by Jordan and Gilbert on the Pacific side of the Isthmus of Panama.
eh AMERICAN FISHES.
Linnezeus classed the Pompano with the stickleback on account of the
sharp spines on its dorsal fin. The young,like that of the swordfish, have
along the posterior edges of the opercular bones, rows of strong spike-like
spines, which entirely disappear with advancing age.
The spawning grounds and breeding times of these fishes are not well
known. Mr. Samuel C. Clarke states that the common Pompano spawns
in March, in the open sea, near the inlet to Indian River, Fla. Mr.
Stearns’ statement concerning the occurrence of the young about Pensa-
cola has already been quoted. It is supposed that those visiting our
northern coast breed in winter, at a distance from the shore, the eggs, like
those of the mackerel, being lighter than the water and floating at or near
the surface. The Pompanoes may, however, be truly migratory fishes,
seeking the waters near the equator in winter, to follow a long coastwise
migration, north and south in summer. They are rapid, powerful
swimmers.
Their food consists of mollusks, the softer kinds of crustaceans, and
probably the young of other fishes. S. C. Clarke states that they have
been known to bite at a clam bait. Scott remarks: ‘‘It is mullet-
mouthed ; never takes a bait except by mistake.’’ Their teeth are very
small and are apt to disappear with age.
They are caught in set nets and Spanish cast-nets. Great quantities are
secured in the Gulf of Mexico and in Mobile Bay. A few are taken every
year in the traps on the New Jersey coast. The local demand for them is
so great that they are not usually sent far away from the place where they
are taken. In New Orleans, Mobile, Savannah, Charleston, or New York,
they readily command the price of $1 to $1.50 a pound: ‘The entire
quantity sold annually in New York probably does not exceed three
thousand pounds.
Pompano means ‘‘ grape leaf,’’ and in Western Europe is appropriated
by a very different fish. This name was applied to our fish by the Spanish
colonists of America. The Cubans call the Pompano ‘‘ Palometa.’’ In
South Carolina it is known as the ‘‘ Crevallé’”’ or ‘‘ Cavally,
of Caballa, (horse). La Roche, in his ‘‘ Voyage to Canada,’’ published
in 1542, wrote of ‘‘salmons, mullets, sturgeons, surmullets, bass, carps,
pimperneaux, and other fresh water fish.’’ This is the earliest use of this
name for an American fish; the writer cannot have been acquainted with
what we now call Pompano, but it is impossible to understand his meaning.
Ne)
a corruption
THE POMPANOES. 205
In August, 1874, a party of the Fish Commission hauled a hundred
fathom seine on the beach at Watch Hill, R. I., and much to our surprise
a number of young Carolina Pompanoes were landed. They were less
than two inches long, and were exceedingly graceful in their movements.
They were kept alive for some weeks in aquaria. At a short distance
they looked like silver dollars swimming about on their edges.
Twelve months later we were still more successful, obtaining the young
of both species in Holmes’ Hole. The small Round Pompanoes, an inch
or two in length, were very beautiful, their burnished sides shaded with
tawny golden tints.
In 1876, I became familiar with three species in the Bermudas, the most
common of which was the Round Pompano. In the winter of 1875 a
school of six or seven hundred were seined on the south shore of the islands.
the resi-
513
A large one was confined in the aquarium at ‘‘ Wistow Lodge,
dence of Hon. C. M. Allen. This aquarium is unique, being a circular
basin, embowered in tropical vegetation, and aerated by a powerful
fountain of sea water, forced up by a tide-wheel. In this limpid pool
were many gorgeously-colored species, the angel-fish, the parrot-fish, the
rainbow-fish, the Spanish-lady, the surgeon, the porcupine, and the ser-
geant-major. Among them, as they softly floated, moving like soaring
birds, flashed in and out the Pompano, with black-tipped, streaming fins,
only plainly visible when momentarily at rest in some secluded corner of
the basin. It was the only fish I have ever seen which appeared to possess
the power of becoming phosphorescent at will. At night we could trace
its nervous movements by occasional gleams of light, as the fish, turning
one side toward us, touched with the other the floor of the basin.
THE BONITO,
BONITOES AND TUNNIES:
Vext with the puny foe, the Tunnies leap,
Flounce on the stream, and toss the mantling deep,
Ride o’er the foamy seas, with torture rave,
Bound into air, and dash the smoking wave.
Oppian, Translated by Jones.
HE Bonito, Sarda mediterranea, is one of those fishes which appear to
live chiefly in the open ocean, wandering hither and thither in
large schools, preying upon other pelagic fishes, and approaching land
only when attracted by abundance of acceptable food. Several of the
smaller species of the group of Tunnies, to which it belongs, are known
to sailors by thesame name. Thecommon ‘“ Bonito’’ of England, Orcynus
pelamys, two or three specimens of which have been detected in our waters
since 1876, is what is here called the ‘‘ Striped Bonito,’’ but the fish
which most frequently and in greatest numbers approaches our shores is
the one which is named at the head of this section. Almost nothing is
known of its habits, and it is even impossible to define its geographical
range with any degree of certainty, its distribution being very unlike that
of any other fish with which we are acquainted. It may be said, howeve._
that it is found only in the Atlantic basin. On our coast it occurs in
summer between Cape May and Cape Sable, though rarely north of Cape
Ann ; occasionally off Cape Hatteras and the mouth of the Chesapeake
and in the Gulf of Mexico. Specimens have been taken about the Can-
aries and Madeira, at the Cape of Good Hope and in the Mediterranean.
It has not been observed on the coast of Europe north of Gibraltar, nor
at the Bermudas.
BONITOES AND TUNNIES. 207
The Bonito does not appear to have been abundant in former years ; it
attracted but little attention in our waters before 1860, although it was
alluded to in 1815 by Mitchill, in 1842 by DeKay, and in 1856 by Gill;
none of these authors, however, regarded it as a common form, or cited
any considerable number of instances of its presence.
A note from Prof. J. Hammond Trumbull states: ‘‘ This fish used to
be quite common, in some years, in the Stonington market. I havea
note of a considerable number in market July 22, 1842, their first appear-
ance for the season.”’
Storer remarked in 1846: ‘‘ This species, called by the fishermen in
Boston market the ‘Skipjack,’ and by those at the extremity of Cape
Cod the ‘ Bonito,’ is very rarely met with in Massachusetts Bay. It is
occasionally taken at Provincetown, and even at Lynn. At some seasons
it is frequently caught at Martha’s Vineyard with trailing bait.’’
One of these fishes is a marvel of beauty and strength. Every line in
its contour is suggestive of swift motion. The head is shaped like a
minie bullet, the jaws fit together so tightly that a knife-edge could
scarcely pass between, the eyes are hard, smooth, their surfaces on a per-
fect level with the adjoining surfaces. The shoulders are heavy and
strong, the contours of the powerful masses of muscle gently and evenly
merging into the straighter lines in which the contour of the body slopes
back to the tail. The dorsal fin is placed in a groove into which it is
teceived, like the blade of a clasp knife in its handle. The pectoral and
ventral fins also fit into depressions in the sides of the fish. Above and
below, on the posterior third of the body, are placed the little finlets, each
a little rudder with independent motions of its own, by which the course
of the fish may be readily steered. The tail itself is a crescent-shaped
oar, without flesh, almost without scales, composed of bundles of rays
flexible, yet almost as hard as ivory. A single sweep of this powerful oar
doubtless suffices to propel the Bonito a hundred yards, for the polished
surfaces of its body can offer little resistance to the water. I have seen
a common dolphin swimming round and round a steamship, advancing at
the rate of twelve knots an hour, the effort being hardly perceptible. The
wild duck is said to fly seventy miles in an hour. Who can calculate the
speed of the Bonito? It might be done by the aid of the electrical con-
trivances by which is calculated the initial velocity of a projectile. The
Bonitoes in our sounds to-day may have been passing Cape Colony, or
the Land of Fire, day before yesterday.
208 AMERICAN FISHES.
In 1875, the earliest Bonito was taken in the Robinson’s Hole weir July
7, and two more came along July 24. They were not abundant until
August, when many more were taken in Vineyard Sound by Oak Bluffs
boats, trolling. The fishermen then believed that they were gradually
increasing in numbers and importance and taking the place of the sque-
teague which was disappearing. August 7 the weir at Cedar Tree Neck had
taken nothing but Bonitoes, while those farther west at Menemsha Bight
had taken only squeteague.
The Bonito is not so great a favorite with the angler as it deserves to be.
It is caught in the vicinity of Block Island with trolling-hooks. He
bites sharply, like a bluefish. The best bait is an ordinary bluefish
hook with a petticoat of red and white flannel, though the fish will also
take any bluefish lure.
In 1877 four smacks were constantly running between Block Island
and New York, carrying each from 4,000 to 8,000 Bonitoes a week, or
perhaps 20,000 pounds. ‘The yield of Block Island alone that summer
was probably not less than 2,000,000 pounds. In one haul of the purse-
seine by the schooner ‘‘ Lilian,’’ of Noank, 1,500 were taken ; and in
August, 1874, 1,200 in one pound-net.
On the eastern shore of Virginia, Bonito are caught by harpooning, says
Mr. C. R. Moore, and also with the hook. They are most numerous
about the mouth of the York River. They come in June and leave in
September. It is quite possible, however, that the Bonito referred to by
Mr. Moore is quite another fish—the Cobia, /acate atlantica.
When tested side by side with the bluefish, at the same table, the
Bonito seems not much inferior, though the flesh is somewhat softer and
more perishable.
The Bonito may be ranked among the many excellent food-fishes of our
coast, and, in anycountry not so abundantly supped with finely-flavored
kinds, it would be considered of the highest value. Their vitality is so
great and their supply of blood so abundant that unless bled immediately
after capture their flesh, especially in warm weather, is apt to deteriorate.
Great quantities of them are taken to New York, and there, as well as in
Rhode Island and Connecticut, they are sold exclusively under the name
of ‘* Spanish Mackerel,’’ at prices ranging from thirty-five to fifty cents a
pound. This was the common practice in 1874, and has continued since.
The statement made by Scott in 1875, that on account of their rarity
BONITOES AND TUNNIES. 209
they were preferred to the bluefish and striped bass, would not now be true ;
his prediction that they would in time become as abundant as the blue-
fish seems, however, during some years to have been almost verified. The
dealers, by the change of name in the market above referred to, are able
to obtain a high price for a fish which, under its own name, would be
looked upon withsuspicion. An absurd report that the Bonito was poison-
ous was current in 1874, probably owing to the fact that similar fish taken
in warm climates are sometimes deleterious.
In 1875 the ordinary price in New York was one cent apiece, though
in the wholesale markets they commanded the same price as bluefish, and
many were sold, as has been stated, at the high rates of Spanish Mackerel.
The market was so glutted that many of the vessels could not dispose of
their cargoes.
According to Stearns, our Bonito occurs also in the Gulf of Mexico,
where it is everywhere abundant, and is found in the bays on the Florida
coast. It usually moves, according to the same authority, at the surface
of the water in small schools. At sea it is found throughout the year, and
along the shore only in the summer. Small schools are sometimes taken
in drag-seines in shallow water. Its market value at Pensacola is not
great, although it has become an article of food.
Awriter in the Providence Journal July, 1871, remarked: ‘‘ Last night
I had a fish on my table which they said was a kind of Spanish Mackerel ;
the moment I tasted it I said it was a Bonito, having eaten it thirty years
since, on my first voyage to India, and the taste had never been forgotten.
It is the salmon of the sea. Mark its solidity of flesh, its great weight,
its purity of taste, entire absence of the slightly decayed taste all fish has
during warm weather. It is as nourishing as beef, and Bonito is the
worthy rival of the Spanish mackerel and the sheepshead.”’
They seem first to have attracted the attention of New England authori-
ties about 1865. Genio C. Scott, writing in 1875, remarks: ‘‘ His first
arrival along our beaches and in our bays was about eight years ago, and
his shoals have increased remarkably fast ever since his advent. Asa
table luxury it ranks, with epicures, below the striped bass and bluefish,
but because of its comparative rarity it commands a price rather above
either. The numbers of this fish annually taken about the approaches to
our harbors with the troll and in nets has increased so much that it bids
fair to become nearly as numerous as the bluefish.”’
14
210 AMERICAN FISHES.
Each summer the schools now range the ocean between Cape Cod and
Cape Hatteras, and about Block Island and the eastern end of Long
Island fabulous quantities are often captured.
The habits of the Bonito are similar to those of the bluefish, though it
is, if possible, even more active and more an embodiment of perpetual and
insatiable hunger. ‘They come at the same time, they leave the coast
simultaneously, they prey in company upon menhaden and mackerel, and
together they are often caught in the fisherman’s gill-net or are detained
in the labyrinths of the pound-net. The two kinds of fish do not, it is
supposed, mingle, but the regiments rush to battle side by side.
Sometimes two lines in one boat will fasten at the same time a bluefish
and a Bonito. The Bonito, like the bluefish, appear to be attracted to
our waters by the great schools of mackerel and menhaden, upon which
they feed.
Schools of Bonitoes cause more commotion than those of bluefish ; they
spring out of the water, and are visible at long distances. They are
attended by the same schools of screaming gulls and terns, and leave in
their track similar ‘‘ shcks’’ of oil and blood.
The Bonito is an alien in our seas. It comes here only for food, and
in winter disappears entirely. It does not, hke the bluefish, follow the
trend of the coast to the south, to pass the cold months off the shoals of
Hatteras. No very young individuals of this kind have ever been obtained
in the western Atlantic, although young bluefish, from two to eight inches’
long, may be caught in summer by tens of thousands on any sand beach
south of Monomoy. Genio C. Scott records the capture of one in
Jamaica Bay in 1874 weighing less than a pound, and which he believes
to have been hatched the previous year. The Fish Commission also has
one of the same size taken off Southern New England. Charles Potter,
of Norwalk, Conn., states that small specimens, six inches in length, were
from 1870 to 1874 frequently taken late in the fall in the weirs at Fisher’s
Island.
A fish weighing ten pounds measures twenty-eight to twenty-nine
inches; eight pounds, twenty-seven to twenty-eight inches ; seven pounds,
twenty-six to twenty-seven inches; six pounds, twenty-five to twenty-six
inches; four pounds, twenty-two to twenty-three inches. There have not
yet been found in the adults any traces of mature spawn, though one taken
off Norwalk July 23, 1874, had the eggs well formed though not nearly
BONITOES AND TUNNIES. 2a
mature. The breeding grounds of the Bonito, like those of the swordfish,
are doubtless in some remote quarter of the globe. The swordfish spawns
in the Mediterranean, if nowhere else. The species is cosmopolitar, and
occurs in nearly every quarter of the globe, though perhaps nowhere in
greater abundance than along our own shores.
On the California coast occurs a closely related species, the Pacific
Bonito, Sarda chilensts, which is thus described by Prof. Jordan:
‘¢ This fish is everywhere known as the Bonito. The names ‘Spanish
Mackerel,’ ‘Skipjack’ and ‘Tuna’ are also sometimes applied to it. It
reaches an average weight of about twelve pounds, but the body is con-
siderably longer and more slender than that of an Albicore of the same
weight. It ranges from San Francisco southward to Chil, being abund-
ant in Monterey Bay and about the Santa Barbara Islands in the summer
and fall. It approaches to within half a mile of the shore, where, in
company with the barracuda, it is taken in great numbers by trolling.
It spawns in August or September. Its arrival is in early summer and its
departure in the fall, at which season the young are said to be found
abundantly in the kelp. It feeds chiefly on anchovies and squids. As
a food-fish it is not held in high esteem, the fish being coarse. Great
numbers are salted and dried, and are in that state considered far inferior
to the barracuda and yellow-tail.”’
The Striped Bonito, Orcynus pelamys, already mentioned, is dis-
tinguished from other species by the presence of four dark lines, which
begin at the pectoral fin and run along the side of the belly to the tail,
the sides of the common Bonito being of a silvery white. This species,
is occasionally taken on the European coast, but has rarely been known
to enter the Mediterranean. It is found in the Pacific on the coast
of China and Japan, and is the species most commonly known to mariners
as the Bonito, or Albicore, of the activity and voracity of which, as
observed from the decks of vessels at sea, so many descriptions have been
written. The first individual on our coast was that seen by Mr. Barnet
Phillips in 1876. Another was taken by Mr. J. H. Blake at Province-
town in July, 1877. Others have since been observed at Woods Holl and
in the New York markets. The capture of the Striped Bonito is a
favorite subject with Japanese artists. I have seen many drawings and
prints in Japanese books, in which the characteristic form and markings
of this fish are faithfully delineated. The Japanese appear to catch it in
great quantities, with rod, line, and hook.
212 AMERICAN FISHES.
One of the American men-of-war of Revolutionary times was named
‘¢ Bonetta,’’ after the fishes of this group.
In addition to the Striped Bonito, which is, properly, a Tunny, we
have in American waters two other small Tunnies—the Long-finned
Tunny, Orcynus alalonga, and the Silver-spotted Tunny, Orcynus argen-
tivittatus—which have since 1877 been added to the fauna of the United
States.
The former of these two occurs in considerable abundance on the coast
of California, and is there also known as the Albicore. Concerning it
Prof. Jordan writes: ‘‘ This fish reaches a weight of about twelve pounds,
and is much shorter and deeper than the Bonito of the Pacific. It is
found from San Francisco southward, but 1s abundant only in the chan-
nels about the Santa Barbara Islands. It seldom comes within six miles
of the shore, and it is taken by trolling. It spawns about the middle of
August, its arrival on the coast being determined by the spawning season.
It usually is present in June and July and disappears in the fall. It feeds
chiefly on anchovies and squids, and various deep-water fishes (AZer/uczus,
Sudis, Myctophum) are found in its stomach. As a food-fish it is even
less valued than the Bonito, rarely selling for more than twenty to twenty-
five cents. It is abundant, but of lttle economic importance, being
usually fished for by sportsmen.’’
The Albicore, Orcynus alliteratus, known in the Gulf of Mexico, where
it is confounded by the fishermen with other similar species, as the
‘¢ Bonito,’’ and in the Mediterranean by the names ‘‘ Tonnina’’ (Trieste),
«‘Carcane’’ (Venice), and ‘‘Tauna’’ (Nice), has a geographical range
very similar to that of the Bonito, except that it is found in the Pacific on
the east coast of Japan, and in the Malay Archipelago. It has also been
recorded from Cuba, Braziland the Bermudas. This active species, which
attains the weight of from thirty to forty pounds, first made its appearance
in our waters in 1871, when several large schools were observed by the
Fish Commission in Buzzard’s Bay and the Vineyard Sound. Nearly
every year since they have been seen in greater or less numbers ; but, as
they are of 1ittle value for food, no effort has been made to capture them,
nor are they often brought to the markets. This species, known at the
Bermudas as the ‘‘ Mackerel,’’ is frequently seen in the markets at
Hamilton and St. Georges.
In the Mediterranean its flesh is considered to be very excellent. My
BONITOES AND TUNWMIES. 21
ios)
own experiments with it are hardly confirmatory of this statement, but in
Southern Europe all the fishes of this family are very highly esteemed, and
that it is not appreciated with us is perhaps due to the fact that we do not
know how to cook them. I find the following note by Prof. Baird:
‘¢ Flesh, when cooked, dark brown all around the backbone, elsewhere
quite dark, precisely like horse-mackerel. Flesh very firm, compact and
sweet.”’
Stearns records its frequent occurrence in the Gulf of Mexico, where he
has observed individual specimens at Pensacola and Key West.
The habits of this fish have not been specially studied, but there is no
reason to doubt that they correspond closely with those of others of the
same family.
The Frigate Mackerel, Aux7s thazard, is a species.which has lately made
its appearance in our waters, none having been observed before 1880,
when they came in almost countless numbers. It is yet to be determined
whether it is to be a permanent accession to our fauna. The United
States Fish Commission obtained numerous specimens, twenty-eight bar-
rels having been taken in a mackerel seine ten miles east of Block Island
on August 3, 1880, by the schooner ‘‘ American Eagle,’’ Capt. Joshua
Chase, of Provincetown, Mass.
The Frigate Mackerel resembles, in some particulars, the common
Mackerel ; in others, the Bonito, the genus Awx7s being intermediate in
its character between the Scomder and the related genera Pe/amys and
Orcynus. It has the two dorsal fins remote from each other as in Scomber,
and the general form of the body is slender, like that of the Mackerel.
The body is, however, somewhat stouter, and, instead of being covered
with small scales of uniform size, has a corselet of larger scales under and
behind the pectoral fins. Instead of the two small keels upon each side
of the tail, which are so noticeable in the Mackerel, it has the single,
more prominent keel of the Bonito and the Tunny. Its color is greyish-
blue, something hke that of the pollock, the belly being lighter than the
back. Under the posterior part of the body, above the lateral line, are a
few cloudings or maculations resembling those of the Mackerel. The
occurrence of a large school of this beautiful species in our waters is very
noteworthy, for the fish now for the first time observed are very possibly
the precursors of numerous schools yet to follow.
The Frigate Mackerel has been observed in the West Indies, and other
214 AMERICAN FISHES.
parts of the tropical Atlantic, as well as on the coast of Europe. In Great
Britain it is called the ‘‘ Plain Bonito.’’ It is not unusual in the Bermu-
das, where it is called the ‘‘ Frigate Mackerel,’’ a name not inappropriate
for adoption in this country, since its general appearance is more like
that of the Mackerel than the bonito, while in swiftness and strength it is
more like the larger members of this family. It is the ‘* Timberello’’ of
the Adriatic fisher-folk.
In the Mediterranean there is a regular fishery for this species, which
is prosecuted from May until September, and they are also taken in great
numbers in the Tunny nets.
Since the first appearance of this fish many new observations of its
abundance have been received. These fish appeared to have come in
immense schools into the waters between Montauk Point and George’s
Bank ; and from Mr. Clarke’s statements it appears that they have been
observed in small numbers by fishermen in previous years. Several vessels
have come into Newport recently reporting their presence in immense
numbers in the vicinity of Block Island. It will interest the ‘ ichthyo-
phagists’’ to know that several persons in Newport have tested the fish,
and pronounce it inferior to the bonito. Part of the flesh, that on the
posterior part of the body, is white, but behind the gills it is black and
rank, while the meat near the backbone is said to be of disagreeable, sour
flavor.
It is hard to predict what its influence will be upon other fishes already
occupying our waters. Its mouth is small and its teeth feeble, so that it
is hardly likely to become a ravager, like the bonito and the bluefish.
There is little probability, on the other hand, that its advent will be of
any special importance from an economical point of view, for its oil does
not seem to be very abundant, and it will hardly pay at present to capture
it solely for the purpose of using its flesh in the manufacture of fertilizers.
It is very important that any observation made upon this species in
years to come should be reported to the United States Fish Commission.
The length of those I have seen ranges from twelve to sixteen inches, and
their weight from three-quarters of a pound to a pound and a half or more.
Those sent to New York market were part of the lot taken by the schooner
‘¢ American Eagle’’ and brought into Newport, whence they were shipped
by Mr. Thompson, a fish dealer of that place. It would require from
eighty to one hundred of them to fill a barrel; so the estimate of Capt.
BONITOES AND TUNNIES. 215
Riggs, that there are a thousand barrels in one of the schools, shows how
exceedingly abundant they must be.
Capt. N. E. Atwood, of Provincetown, Mass., the veteran fisherman-
ichthyologist, has examined the specimens, and is satisfied that they
belong to the same species with a fish which he found abundant in the
Azores in 1840, when, led by the reports of Cape Cod whalers, he went to
these islands in search of the Mackerel, the mackerel fishing being poor at
home. No Mackerel were found except the Frigate Mackerel. Reports
in 1887, concerning this occurrence of Mackerel in the Eastern Atlantic
are very probably inspired by the presence of this fish.
The Horse Mackerel, so-called, Orcynus thynnus, is the most important
of the Mediterranean, and the
?)
ofthe Tonnies. the “Ton” on ‘ Tuna
‘*Tunny’’ of English-speaking people.
The distribution of this fish corresponds more closely with that of the
ordinary species of the Atlantic, since it occurs not only in the Mediter-
ranean and the Western Atlantic north to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, but
also on the coast of Europe to the Loffoden Islands, latitude 69°.
Of this fish, as found in American waters, our naturalists have not much
to say, the species, although abundant at certain seasons of the year off
particular parts of the coast, being not a very familiar one to our writers.
They seem to be rather a northern fish, and are said by Storer to make
their first appearance on our shores about Provincetown early in June,
remaining until October. Of late years they seem to be increasing in
abundance northward, becoming more and more common during the
summer season at Newfoundland.
In 1878 Capt. Henry Webb, of Milk Island, near Gloucester, harpooned
and killed thirty of these monsters, weighing in the aggregate at least
thirty thousand pounds. They had entered his pound in pursuit of small
fish, cutting without difficulty through the netting. One had his stomach
full of small mackerel.
According to Capt. Atwood, on their first appearance in Massachusetts
Bay they are very poor, but by the beginning of September become quite
fat and are very much hunted for the oil, the head and belly especially
furnishing sometimes as many as twenty gallons. They are harpooned
on the surface of the water, much like the Sword-fish.
The early traditions of this fish in Massachusetts Bay speak of them as
being sometimes so tame as to take food from the hand; but they have
216 AMERICAN FISHES.
long since given up this engaging habit. This species attains a very great
size. One specimen, taken in 1838 off Cape Ann, measured, according to
Dr. Storer, fifteen feet in length, and weighed one thousand pounds, while
still larger individuals than this are known to have been captured.
Their food while in our waters consists, it is said, mainly of menhaden,
of which they destroy a vast number. ‘Their inclosure in the fishermen’s
nets is not much desired, as they are apt to become entangled in them
and to do much injury in their efforts to escape. They are pursued by the
killer whales, before which they flee in great terror. A graphic descrip-
tion of this pursuit is given below in the words of Capt. Atwood.
Strange to say, although highly prized in the Old World from the time
of the ancient Romans to the present day, they are seldom, if ever, used
for food in the United States, where their flesh is not esteemed, being
rarely, if ever eaten, although much used for mackerel bait. It is, how-
ever, more in favor in the Provinces. Although occurring in large numbers
and of remarkable size, no effort is made toward their capture ; and though
not unfrequently taken in weirs and pounds along the coast, they are always
allowed to rot on the shore. Occasionally a portion of the flesh may be
used as food for chickens, but seldom, if ever, for human consumption.
In the Mediterranean the Tunny is taken in large nets, known as
of Secon-
a} St
«‘madragues,’’ similar in many respects to the so-called ‘traps
net River in Rhode Island. The fish are used partly fresh and partly salted,
and they are put up in oil to a considerable extent and largely consumed
in all the Latin countries of Europe. Considerable quantities are salted
and canned, and canned Tunny of European manufacture is imported to
New York in small quantities. The flesh is dark and not usually attrac-
tive, although wholesome. They appear to attain a greater size in
America than in Europe, one of five hundred pounds in the Mediterra-
nean being considered rather a monster, while in America their weight is
not unfrequently given at from twelve to fifteen hundred pounds.
Nothing definite is known in regard to their mode of reproduction.
The eggs are said to be deposited early in June, and the young at hatch-
ing, according to Yarrell, weigh an ounce and a half, reaching a weight
of four ounces by August, and thirty ounces by October.
Mr. Matthew Jones, of Halifax, Nova Scotia, writes: ‘‘The Tunny is
very common on the eastern coast of Nova Scotia in summer, and is
known to fishermen and others as the ‘Albicore.’ The Rev. J. Ambrose
BONITOES AND TUNNIES. 207
informs me that it regularly visits St. Margaret’s Bay every summer,
several specimens being taken and rendered down for oil. They were
particularly abundant in 1876. ‘They are not seen in the Basin of
Minas.’’
According to Dr. Fortin the Horse Mackerel is quite abundant in the
Gulf of St. Lawrence, especially in the pays of Chaleur and of Gaspé, and
also in the Straits of Belle Isle and Blancs Sablon Bay. It is taken in
increasing numbers in the gulf, partly by spearing and partly by baiting.
For this latter purpose strong steel hooks are used tied to solid lines and
baited with herring. This fishing is prosecuted more particularly in the
Bay of Chaleur and off Caraquette, where in 1863 over one hundred were
captured. The fishing is quite exciting, although tiresome and requiring
a good deal of skill, as in the efforts of the fishes to escape they pull with
such violence as to endanger the lives of the fishermen by dragging them
overboard. *
Capt. Atwood contributes the following note on Horse Mackerel in
Cape Cod Bay:
‘«'They don’t come till the weather gets warm. We don’t see them at
first when we begin setting mackerel nets, but about June they are liable
to appear, and we find holes in the nets. Sometimes in September they
gill them for the sake of their oil. My brother had forty-seven holes
through one eighty-yard net in one night. When they strike a net they
go right through it, and when they go through it the hole immediately
becomes round. It looks asif you could put a half bushel through it.
I said in my Lowell Institute lectures that a shark in going through a net
would roll himself up in it, but the Horse Mackerel get right through,
and the hole they cut could be mended in five minutes. The fishermen
don’t dread them much because they do the nets so little injury. They
remain with us through the summer and early autumn, when they are
killed for the oil. When they are here they feed upon any small fish, and
when menhaden were here I have seen them drive the harbor full of them.
I have seen the Horse Mackerel swallow dogfish whole weighing eight
pounds. As fast as we got out the livers of the dogfish they would catch
them and eat them. ‘There was a great deal of whiting here at that time.
They have almost totally disappeared. The Horse Mackerel seems to be
the enemy of all kinds of fish. There is nothing to trouble the Horse
* Canadian Fishery Report for 1862-63.
218 AMERICAN FISHES.
Mackerel until the killer comes, and then they know it, I tell you. Then
the Horse Mackerel will run! Some fishermen say that they have seen a
killer poke his head out of the water with a Horse Mackerel in his mouth.
1 have known a Horse Mackerel to yield twenty-three gallons of oil. The
average size is about eight feet in length.’’
This is a book devoted to American Fishes, but the Tunny, though an
American fish, is not the foundation of an American fishery. In time we
shall no doubt have a tunny fishery of our own, and as a step toward the
consummation of that result, I quote a description of madrague fishing in
Sicily, from the ever-delightful pen of Dr. Badham :
‘Tt was early in the morning of a lovely August day—never since we
had been in Sicily had the water looked more blue, nor the cactus-crowned
heights of Monte Pelegrino more inviting—that we put off in a boat from
the Bay off Palermo, and ordered our barcaroles to pull for the tonnaro,
or place where the madrague lay, about a mile from shore ; to seaward all
was smooth ; not a ripple broke the oleaginous expanse stretched before
us, mapped with floating corks, and indicating, as accurately as on a
ground-plan, the whole extent and figure of the mighty decoy—a town in-
deed in size; having pulled from one end to the other of the long
faubourg, to the first submarine barrier, and then glided over it, we rowed
with increased speed between battlements of cork and motionless buoys,
and soon came to the spot, towards which some boats a little in advance
of our own had been driving a shoal of thunnies, like a flock of timid
sheep. ‘Ecco la camera della morte; siamo giunti!’ exclaimed both
rowers at once, shipping their oars, and staring down into the depths to
see what might be there : we did the same ; but not discovering anything,
the men resumed the oars, and in a few seconds laid us alongside an an-
chored barge,—one or two, which were placed as guards over each end
of the ‘chamber of death.’ The first served as the poznt ad’ apput for the
nets, which were being worked up from the near side of the opposite
vessel. A crowd of fishermen were busy tugging away at what seemed to
our impatience an endless cordage ; by the shortening of which, however,
as the boat duly received it, layer after layer, coil upon coil, and fold
upon fold, they were slowly bringing up the reticuled wall from the
bottom. Whilst waiting the result we had time to notice the fine propor-
tions of the men, who, leaning over the sides of the boat, or standing on
its benches, exhibited their athletic and agile forms picturesquely grouped
and engaged in all those varieties of muscular action which each man’s
share in the labors severally demanded. A fine figure is, according to
Oppian, a prime qualification in a fisherman ;
First be the fisher’s limbs compact and sound,
With solid flesh and well-braced sinews bound:
BONITOES AND TUNNIES. 219
Let due porportion every part commend,
Nor leanness shrink too much, nor fat distend.*
And more perfect figures than theirs poetry could not describe, nor the
classic chisel of Greece portray ; every man was an Academy model; to
perfect symmetry of limb were added dark flashing eyes, jet black hair,
beard, and moustache ; irreproachable noses, ivory teeth, and the rich-
colored complexion of the South. What a contrast to a body of
sandy-haired, freckled, hard-featured, stockingless Highlanders, landing
from a Scotch steamboat, and challenging, by their self-satisfied air, atten-
tion to an ungainly gait and knock-kneed deformity of person!
Presently a simultaneous shout proclaimed, ‘La pipa! la pipa !’—our
own boatmen, after repeating the cry, informed us that a sword-fish, or
pipa, as the Palermo sailors designate it, had been seen to enter the decoy
with the thunny, and must now be in the net, as the flooring had been
drawn up several fathoms, the pipa presently swam towards the surface, to
see what was the matter, and some well-practised eyes having caught a
first glimpse of him, the crews testified their delight by three loud vocifera-
tions. Frightened by the noise and the confused scene above, the long
form of the fish might soon be distinguished, shooting now here, now
there, athwart the hempen court ; he rose at last, in much agitation, to
the top, but instantly dived down again, scattering the spray far and wide
with a lash of his powerful tail. This plunge only carried him among the
trembling thunnies, pelamyds, and alalongas, which covered the bottom
of the net; then up he came again, to find every eye looking fishy, and
every hand ready to deal the fatal blow. Like a startled horse in a high-
fenced paddock, the sword-fish now careered round and round the
enclosure, vainly seeking an exit by which to bolt, but finding none, he
backed a moment, then, swifter than thought, rushed on the net, ran his
long weapon through, and made a large hole in the meshes ; but becoming
hopelessly entangled, his fate was sealed, and death followed fast; one
lusty arm throws a heavy harpoon, and misses ; another with more steady
aim, and a lighter missile, hits and wounds the fish, who, staggered at the
blow, flounders from side to side, while the clear blue waves are stained
all round with his blood; in a few seconds a dozen barbed poles lie deep
in the poor pipa’s flank, and after throwing up a whirlpool of discolored
water, as the blows of the fishermen rain faster and faster upon their
victim, the crimson of the flood deepens, and in less than a minute from
the first wound the gashed carcass of the great scomber is poised up safely
into the boat, with a triumphant shout. ‘Five scudi, my lads, for our
share !’ exclaims one of the excited mariners, as they lay him at last at
the bottom: and ‘ Bless the Virgin and St. Anthony,’ says another, ‘there
is not much damage done this time to the net.’ ‘ Now, signor, we shall
presently see the thunny,’ cried out our barcaroles; and accordingly, as
* Oppian, J. Jones’s translation.
220 AMERICAN FISHES.
the sieve-like flooring of the ‘camera della morte’ was drawn within a
few feet of the surface, a mixed multitude of large fish, chiefly of the
scomber family, all in violent agitation at what they saw and heard (for
the men were now gaily singing at the ropes), dashed and splashed about,
till the whole enclosure was covered with foam. The work of slaughter
soon commenced, and these great creatures, despatched by blows, were
hauled without difficulty on board the barge.* The chamber being now
empty, was let down again for new victims, while we followed the cargo
just shipped to the land-place ; thence, preceded by two drummers, off we
went in a procession to the Mercato Reale, where we found many great
2yeless thunny (the produce of a still earlier haul) already piled up in
bloody heaps on the flags.t Besides these, there were alalongas, whose long
pectorals had been draggled in the mire, with many other large and curi-
ous fish, and the formidably aymed heads of two or three sword-fish, fixed
on end in the upper part of the woodwork of the same stalls, where their
huge bodies were exposed for sale below, cut up into bloodless white
masses, like so many coarse fillets of veal; while whole hampers of labridz
attracted the least attentive eye by their lovely variegated and ever-vary-
ing tints.
* Sometimes, we are told, when a very colossal thunny is caught, one of the crew mounts his back, and will
ride him, as Arion did the dolphin, several times round the inner enclosure, patting and taming him before he
is stabbed like his smaller companions.
+ The eyes, being a perquisite of the crew, are torn out the first thing, to make oil for their lamps : the gills
also and the roes, which are eaten fresh, are commonly ripped out 1nd deposited in baskets by themselves.
These various mutilations of the thunny render its appearance in tue markets at all times unsightly and unin-
viting. In some cases, however, the fish are transferred in the first instance into an inner shed or shamble,
where a whole troop of them is speedily cut to pieces, and the sections (each of which has a name and a
market price of its own) are then exposed for sale. The young thunnies do not appear in public at all till
they have been first carefully boiled in sea-water, and become thon marine.
<3
oa
ie = .
ae si
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ae / :
THE BUTTER-FISH.
Tait ARV EST PIStiis:
After the battle, the peace is dear. Fishers must work when the treacherous sea
After the toil, the rest; Smiles with a face of light,
After the storm, when the skies are clear, Though the deep bed, where their fortunes be,
Fair is the ocean’s breast. May be their grave ere night.
Out in the gold sunshine Out in the gold sunshine
Throw we the net and line; Throw we the net and line;
The silvery chase to-day The silvery lines to-day
Calls us to work away, Flash in the silvery spray,
So throw the line, throw—Yo, heave ho! So throw the line, throw—Yo, heave ho!
HERMAN MERIVALE, The Fisherman’s Song.
HE Rudder-Fish family, Stromateid@, is represented on the coast by
three species, two of which are important food-fishes, and in our Pa-
cific waters by one species, the so-called ‘‘ California Pompano.’’ The
family is a small one, and is widely distributed throughout warm seas.
The ‘‘ Butter-fish’’ of Massachusetts and New York, Stromateus triacan-
thus, sometimes known in New Jersey as the ‘‘ Harvest-fish,’’ in Maine as
the ‘‘ Dollar-fish,’’ about Cape Cod as the ‘‘ Sheepshead,’’ and ‘¢Skip-
iack,’’ in Connecticut as the ‘‘ Pumpkin-seed,’’ and at Norfolk as the
‘* Star-fish,’’? is common between Cape Cod and Cape Henry. It has been
observed south to South Carolina and north to Maine. It has been found
in some abundance along the north side of Cape Cod in nets with bass
and mackerel. It is asummer visitor, appearing in our waters in company
AMERICAN FISHES,
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iS)
bo
with the mackerel and disappearing about the same time. It appears to
breed in the sounds and in the open ocean in June and July, and the
young are found in great abundance in July, August, and September,
swimming about in company with certain species of jelly-fishes. During
these months several large species of jelly-fish, or sun-squalls, are found
abundantly floating about in waters near the shore, and each one of these
is almost invariably accompanied by ten or twelve, or more, young
Butter-fishes, which seem to seek shelter under their disks, and which,
perhaps, may obtain a supply of food from among the numerous soft-
bodied invertebrates which are constantly becoming attached to the
floating streamers of their protecters. ‘The young fish, thus protected,
range from two to two and a half inches in length. I have seen fifteen,
and more, sheltered under an individual of Cyanea arctica not more than
three inches in diameter. This refuge is not always safe for the little
fishes, for they sometimes are destroyed by the tentacles of their protector,
which are provided, as every one knows, with powerful lasso cells. The
little fish seem to rise at the approach of danger and seek refuge among
the lobes of the actinostome. They are thus protected from the
attacks of many kinds of larger fishes which prey upon them, though they
themselves often fall victims to the stinging power of the jelly-fish and are
devoured. The habit of thus seeking shelter is very much like that of the
rudder-fish. The Butter-fish attains an average size of seven or eight
inches in length, and is very often taken in the pounds. The fishermen
of Noank, Conn., tells me that a barrelful of them is often taken in one
haul of a pound-net. They are much valued for food at New Bedford.
When sent to New York they command a good price, and the poundmen
at Lobsterville sometimes eat them and: consider them better than scup.
Their flavor is excellent, resembling that of the mackerel, though less
oily ; they are very palatable when nicely boiled. At many places, for
instance, Noank, and Wood’s Holl, they are thrown away. Storer stated
that they were extensively used as manure in certain parts of Massachu-
setts. No observations have been made upon their food, though, since
their mouths are nearly toothless, it seems probable that they subsist, for
the most part, upon minute vertebrates. These fishes are remarkable on
account of their brilliant, iridescent colors, which, in freshly caught
individuals, are as beautiful as those of a dolphin.
The Harvest-fish, Stromateus alepidotus, has not been observed north of
THE HARVEST FISHES. 223
New York. Mitchill referred to it in his work on the fishes of New York,
published in 1815, saying that it derived its common name, ‘‘ Harvest-
fish,’’ from the fact that it usually appeared during harvest time. DeKay,
too, mentions having had several specimens in his possession. It is
somewhat abundant at the mouth of the Chesapeake, and along the
Southern coast. In the Gulf of Mexico it is rather rare ; occasionally it is
taken in seines at Pensacola. Dr. Giinther, in his ‘‘ Catalogue of the
Fishes of the British Museum,’’ makes the astonishing statement that he
has seen specimens from Lake Champlain. ‘The species ranges south to
Bahia, Brazil. It is not commercially valuable except at Norfolk, Va.,
where it is consumed for food in large quantities, its market name being
<< Whiting.’’
The California Pompano, Stromateus simillimus, is thus described by
Prof. Jordan :
“This species, known here as the Pompano, reaches a length of eight
inches, and a weight of rather less than half a pound. It occurs along
the entire coast of California and Oregon, being most abundant about
Santa Barbara and Soquel, and is not known from farther south than San
Diego. It appears in schools chiefly in the summer and fall; occasion-
ally, also, during the winter, its times of arrival and departure being quite
variable. It is said that it was an extremely rare visitant till about 1870,
and that its abundance since then has steadily increased, it being now
often found in greater quantities than can be readily sold. It feeds on
worms, small crustacea, &c. Nothing special is known of its breeding
habits. As a food-fish it is held in the highest repute, the price of indi-
vidual fish ranging from two to four for a ‘quarter.’ Its flesh is fat, rich,
and excellent.”’
The Black Rudder-fish, Zzrus perciformis, is also called by the fishermen
‘‘Log-fish’’ and ‘‘Barrel-fish.’’ It has been noticed at various points
along our coast from New Jersey to Nova Scotia, where schools of them
were several times observed off Halifax in 1877. It has hitherto been
considered very rare north of Cape Cod. I cannot doubt that it will be
hereafter found at least as far south as Cape Hatteras, and probably along
the whole length of our Atlantic coast. The habits of this fish are peculiar
in the extreme. They are almost always found in the vicinity of floating
barrels and spars, sometimes inside of the barrels; hence the fishermen
often call them ‘ Barrel-fish,’’ though the most usual name is ‘‘ Rudder-
224 AMERICAN FISHES.
fish.’’ They are occasionally taken in lobster-pots. When cruising in
Fish Commission yacht ‘‘ Mollie,’’ off Noman’s Land, July 13, 1875, we
observed numerous specimens swimming under floating spars and planks.
Sometimes as many as from fifty to seventy-five were obseryed under a
single spar, a cloud of shadowy black forms being plainly visible from the
deck. We went out to them in a row-boat and succeeded in taking
thirteen of them in the course of a day. After the first thrusts of the dip-
net they grew shy and sought refuge under the boat, under which they
would sink far below our reach. A lull of a few moments would bring
them back to the log under which they had clustered until disturbed again.
When the boat was rowed away they followed in a close-swimming school
until we gained full speed, when they suddenly turned, as if by one im-
pulse, and swam back to the log or spar. Once they followed us about
two hundred yards from the spar, and then leaving us retreated to their
old shelter, reaching it some time before we could turn the boat and row
back to it. JI had before this supposed them to be quite unusual, but on
that one day we must have seen, at the lowest computation, two hundred
or two hundred and fifty. They doubtless have been given the name of
Rudder-fish by the sailors who have seen them swimming about the sterns
of becalmed vessels.
THE BLACK RUDDER-FISH.
When the Fish Commission steamer has been dredging off Halifax, I
have several times noticed schools of them hovering around her sides.
They doubtless gather around the logs for the purpose of feeding upon the
hydroids and minute crustaceans, and perhaps mollusca which accumulate
ae i ie
LEE LIARVEST FESHES:. 2
to
UL
around them. Their stomachs were found to contain amphipod crusta-
ceans, hydroids, and young squids. They are doubtless to some degree
protected by the spars under which they congregate, in the same manner
as their kindred, the Butter-fish, which swim under the disk of the
jelly-fish. Their colors undergo considerable change from time to time,
possibly at the will of the fish.
The Rudder-fish attains the length of ten or twelve inches, and is
excellent eating. DeKay states that the fishermen of New York, in 1842,
called this species the ‘‘Snip-nosed Mullet,’’ but this name does not
appear to have become permanent.
The Rudder-fish occasionally follows ships across the Atlantic. <A sin-
gle individual was taken at Penzance, in Cornwall, in October, 1879, and
is now in the collection of Sir John St. Aubyn, at ‘‘ Michaels Mount.’’
15
THE CAVALLY.
tink, CAVAEEY ANd OtieR CARANGOIDS:
Swift speed crevallé over that watery plain,
Swift over Indian River’s broad expanse.
Swift where the ripples boil with finny hosts,
Bright glittering they glance ;
And when the angler’s spoon is over them cast,
How fierce, how vigorous the fight for life !
Now in the deeps they plunge, now leap in air
Till end’s the unequal strife,
Tsaac McLettan.
HE members of the family Carangide, which is closely allied to the
mackerel family, are distinguished chiefly by the form of the mouth,
and by the fact that they have uniformly but twenty-four vertebra, ten
abdominal and fourteen caudal, while the mackerel have uniformly more,
both abdominal and caudal. They are carnivorous fishes, abounding
everywhere in temperate and tropical seas. On our own eastern coast
there are at least twenty-five species, all of them eatable, but none of them
of much importance except Pompanoes. On the California coast there are
two or three species of this family, of small commercial importance.
Caranx hippos, the Cavally of the Gulf of Mexico and Eastern
Florida—the ‘‘ Horse Crevallé’’ of South Carolina—occurs abundantly
on our Southern coast, and has been recorded by Prof. Poey from Cuba
and by Cope from St. Christopher and St. Croix. It is generally dis-
tributed throughout the West Indies, and is found along the Pacific coast
the Gulf of California to Panama. The species was originally described
THE CAVALLY AND OTHER CARANGOIDS. 29/7
from specimens sent from South Carolina by Garden to Linneus. The
name of this fish is usually written and printed ‘‘ Crevalle,’’ but the form
in common use among the fishermen of the South, ‘‘ Cavally,’
r
is nearer to
the Spanish and Portuguese names, Cava/ha and Cadalla, meaning
<“chorse.’’? The name as uséd in South Carolina is a curious reduplication,
being a combination of the English and Spanish names for ‘‘horse.’’ It
-should be carefully remembered that in South Carolina the name Crevalle
is most generally applied to quite another fish, the Pompano.
The Cavally, as it seems most appropriate to call Caranx hippos, though
in individual cases occurring as far north as Cape Cod, and even, in one
instance, at Lynn, Mass., is not commonly known in the United States
north of Florida. Storer remarks: ‘‘ This fish is so seldom seen in the
waters of South Carolina that we are unacquainted with its habits.’’ I
observed a specimen in the Jacksonville market in April, 1874. Con-
cerning the Cavally of Southern Florida, which is either this or a closely
allied species, Mr. H. S. Williams writes:
“<Tn the Indian River this is one of the best of the larger varieties. Its
season is from the rst of May to November. It ranges in weight from
three to twenty pounds, being larger and more numerous to the southward
toward the Mosquito Inlet. The south end of Merritt’s Island and the
inlets opposite old Fort Capron seem to be a sort of headquarters for the
Cavalli. When in pursuit of prey they are very ravenous and move with
the rapidity of lightning. They readily take a troll either with bait or
rag. The favorite mode of capturing them, as well as all other large fish
that feed in shallow water or near the shore, is with a nfle. The high,
rocky shores afford an excellent opportunity for this sport, though the
rapid movements of the fish render them very difficult target.’’ S. C.
Clarke says: ‘‘It will take a spoon or other troll, and would no doubt
rise to a fly. When hooked it makes long and vigorous runs, and fights
topthe, last. 7
Mr. Stearns writes: ‘‘ The Crevallé is common on the Gulf coast. In
West Florida it appears in May and remains until late in the fall, and is
equally abundant in the bays and at sea. In the bays it is noticeable
from the manner in which it preys upon fish smaller than itself, the Gulf
menhaden and mullet being the most common victims. On arrival it
contains spawn which it probably deposits in the salt-water bayous, for in
the fall schools of young are seen coming out of those places on their way
228 AMERICAN FISHES.
to the sea. These young are then of about one pound weight, appearing
to the casual observer like pompano, and I am told that they equal it for
edible purposes. They are caught accidently by seines and trolling-lines.
Large ones are not considered choice food, the flesh being dark and
almost tasteless. The average weight is twelve pounds; occasionally they
attain the size of twenty pounds.’’
Prof. Jordan found this species abundant in Lake Pontchartrain.
Caranx crumenophthalmus, called in the Bermudas, where it is of some
importance as a food-fish, the ‘‘ Goggler,’’ or ‘‘ Goggle-eyed Jack,’’ and
in Cuba the ‘‘ Cicharra,’’ occurs in the West Indies and along the Atlan-
tic coast of the United States north to Vineyard Sound. It is also found
at Panama and in the Gulf of California, and in the Indian Ocean, the
Red Sea, and off the coast of Guinea, while, as has been remarked, it is
abundant in the Bermudas. Its large, protruding eyes are very noticeable
features, and the Bermuda name seems appropriate for adoption, since the
fish has with us never received a distinctive name. In form it somewhat
resembles the species last discussed, with which it is probably often
confused. Stearns speaks of a fish, common at Key West, which is known
as the ‘‘ Horse-eyed Jack,’’ and this may prove to be the same species.
we Ss
THE JUREL OR HARD-TAIL,
Caranx pisquetus, known about Pensacola as the ‘ Jurel,’’ ‘* Cojinua,’”
and ‘* Hard-tail’’; along the Florida coast as ‘‘ Jack-fish’’ and ‘‘ Skip-
jack’’; in the Bermudas as the ‘‘ Jack’’ or ‘‘ Buffalo Jack’’; in South
Carolina as the ‘‘ Horse Crevallé’’; at Fort Macon as the ‘‘ Horse
Mackerel’’; about New York and on the coast of New Jersey as the “‘ Yel-
low Mackerel,’’ is found in the Western Atlantic from Brazil, Cuba, and.
LHE CAVALLY AND OTHER CARANG ODS. 2
tN
\o
Hayti to Halifax, Nova Scotia, where specimens were secured by the
United States Fish Commission in 1877. It is one of the commonest
summer visitants of the West Indian fauna along the whole coast of
Southern New England and the Middle States, being especially abundant
in the Gulf of Mexico, and one of the commonest fishes in the Bermudas.
This fish is occasionally brought to the New York market, but is of no
special importance as an article of food north of the Gulf of Mexico.
Concerning its habits in those waters, Mr. Stearns has contributed a very
interesting series of notes. They are especially instructive, since nothing
has previously been known of its life-history.
‘‘Ttisextremely abundant everywhere on the Gulf coast of Florida, Ala-
bama, and Mississippi. At Pensacola it is one of the important fishes of
trade, and is highly prized for food. It is one of the class of migratory
fishes of this coast, like the pompano, mullet, Spanish mackerel, and red-
fish, having certain seasons for appearing and disappearing on the coast,
and also has habits during these seasons that are peculiar to themselves or
their class. It appears on the coast in April, in large schools that swim
in shoal water near the beach during pleasant weather, when there is little
or no surf, in eight or ten feet of water, and in stormy weather some little
distance from the breakers. Their movement is from the eastward to the
westward. As they seldom swim at the surface, their movements can be
watched only when in shoal water. The schools ‘running’ in April and
first of May are usually smaller than those of a few weeks later, but the
individuals of the first are somewhat larger. ‘The mass, or largest ‘run,’
comes in May, and it is on the arrival of these that schools are first seen
-coming in the inlets.
“‘A noticeable peculiarity of the Hard-tail compared with some other
common migratory fishes is that the first schools do not stay about the
mouths of an inlet and along the beach weeks before coming inside as
those of the latter do, but continue their westward movement, without
seeming to stop to feed or play, until the time has come for a general
movement towards the bays. In this way they must be distributed along
the coast, with no unequal accumulation at any one point. When once
inside, the numerous schools break up into smaller ones of a dozen or two
fish, which are found in all parts of the bay during the summer. On their
-arrival the larger fish contain spawn, and become quite dull, in July and
August; after this none are seen but the young fish of about ten
AMERICAN FISHES.
is)
os
O
inches in length, until there is a general movement towards the sea. It is
believed that the adult fish spawn in the bays, but the only evidence to
support that belief is that they come inside with spawn, go away with it,
and that very young fish are found there. In October and November
small Hard-tails are caught in Santa Rosa Sound, measuring five and six
inches in length.
‘“The smallest of the spring run are nineorten incheslong. Adult fish
measure twelve, fourteen, and fifteen inches in length, very rarely more
than the last. During the months of October and November, Hard-tails
leave the bays, formed in small schools and swimming below the surface
in deep water. The only time that they can then be seen is when they
cross the ‘ bars’ at the inlet or sandy shoals in the bay. A few stragglers
remain in Pensacola Bay and Santa Rosa Sound all winter, which are
taken now and then with hook and lne. I have found them in abundance
in winter on the South Florida coast, where, owing to less variable con-
ditions of the water, their habits are decidedly different. The Hard-tail
is a most voracious fish, waging active war upon the schools of small fish.
Its movements are rapid, and sometimes in its eagerness it will jump high
out of the water. It has its enemies also, for I have seen whole schools
driven ashore by the sharks and porpoises ; a great many are destroyed in
this way. Hard-tails are caught for the market in seines.”’
The occurrence of the Cuba Jurel, Caranx /atus, on our coast was first
announced by a drawing made by Mr. J. H. Richard of a fish taken in
South Carolina. Upon this drawing Holbrook founded his species, C-
Richaridit. Caranx latus occurs abundantly throughout the West Indies
and along the Gulf coast of the United States, and it is by no means im-
possible that stragglers should have found their way to Charleston.
According to Prof. Poey, this fish has been prohibited from sale in Cuba
from time immemorial, and with good reason, since many disastrous cases
of sickness have followed its use as food. This species occurs, according
to Jordan, from the Gulf of California to Panama, and also in the East
Indies.
The Round Robin, Decapterus punctatus, called at Pensacola, the
‘*« Cigar-fish,’’ occurs in the Bermudas, where it is an important food-fish ;.
it occurs also in the West Indies and along the coast of the United States
north as far as Woods Holl.
A closely related species, Decapterus macarellus, 1s found also in the
EP CAVALEY AND OTHER CARANG OTDS. 231
West Indies and along the eastern coast of the United States. According
to Stearns, individuals of this species are rather rare in the northern part
of the Gulf, but more common along the South Florida coast. They live
in shallow water and in harbors, usually moving about in small schools.
At Key West they are caught in seines, and are eaten.
The Scads, known in England as the ‘‘ Horse-Mackerels,’’ appear to
occur in all temperate and tropical waters. The distribution is given by
Giinther as follows: ‘‘ From the coasts of the temperate parts of Europe,
along the coasts of Africa, round the Cape of Good Hope into the East
Indian seas, to the coasts of New Zealand and West America.’’ As has
been shown by Lutken, Steindachner, and Jordan and Gilbert, three dis-
tinct species are confounded by Giinther under the name TZyrachurus
trachurus.
In Europe our scad ranges north to the Trondhjem Fjord, latitude 65°,
and is said to occur as far south as Portugal. On the coast of Holland it
isknown as the ‘*Marse Banker,’’ or ‘‘Hors.”’ | It is imteresting to
American ichthyologists, since the similarity of its habits to those of the
menhaden, so important in our waters, caused the latter fish to be called
among the early Dutch colonists of New York by the same name. Euro-
pean writers describe the Scads as occurring upon those coasts in schools
of immense numbers, and it would seem that although their manner of
swimming resembles that of the menhaden, in their other habits they more
closely resemble our bluefish. They are considered to be food-fishes of
fair quality, and attain the length of about twelve inches. They are sup-
posed to spawn about the same time as the mackerel. Only three
specimens of this species have ever been taken in the United States, one
by the Fish Commission in Southern New England in 1878, and subse-
quently two others by Jordan and Stearns, at Pensacola. In California,
according to Jordan, the allied species 7. pécfuratus occurs and is known
as the ‘* Horse. Mackerel.’’ He remarks: ‘‘It reaches a length of about
a foot and a weight of less than a pound. It ranges from Monterey
southward to Chili, appearing in Californiain the summer, remaining in
the spawning season, and disappearing before December. It arrives at
Santa Barbara in July, and at Monterey in August. In late summer it is
exceedingly abundant. It forms part of the food of larger fishes, and
great numbers are salted for bait. As a food-fish it is held in low esteem,
but whether this is due entirely to its small size we do not know. It is
identical with the well-known Mediterranean species.’’
220 AMERICAN FISHES,
The Horse-fish, Selene setipinnis, known in North Carolina as_ the
‘¢Moonfish’’ or ‘‘ Sunfish,’’ and in Cuba by the name ‘ Jorobado,”’ was
called by DeKay ‘‘ Blunt-nosed Shiner,’’ and since this name, sometimes
is In common use in the New York market
and in Narragansett Bay, while the other names are shared by other species,
9)
varied to ‘‘ Pugnosed Shiner,
similar and dissimilar, it seems the most suitable for general adoption.
The fish is found everywhere throughout the West Indies, as well as in
Northern Brazil and in the Gulf of Guinea, the Gulf of Mexico, the Gulf
of California, and southward along the coast to Panama, but has not been
found in Europe. In Eastern Florida it is not very unusual, being fre-
quently taken in the Lower St. John’s, and sometimes driven up as far as
Jacksonville by easterly storms. Here and in the Indian River it is known
as the ‘‘ Moonfish.’’ It is a frequent summer visitor all along the coast as
far north as Woods Holl, Mass., where it has a peculiar name, the people
there calling it the ‘‘ Hump-backed Butterfish.’’ The species attains the
length of ten or twelve inches, and is esteemed an excellent article of
food. Considerable numbers are brought yearly to New York, but else-
where it rarely appears in the markets. Young from three inches in
length upwards are found, but we have no definite knowledge as to its
breeding habits.
The Silver Moon-fish, Sc/ene argentea, is almost certain to be confused
by fishermen with the one last described, which it resembles, and is oitten
spoken of under the same names. It occurs abundantly on our coast as far
north as Woods Holl, and is found in the West Indies, in Brazil, and in
the Gulf of Mexico, as well as in the Pacific, from the Gulf of California
to Panama.
The young of the Silver Moon-fish is abundant in our waters, and has
been frequently taken in Massachusetts Bay, and, in one or two instances,
as far north as Halifax, Nova Scotia. Their bodies are so thin that they
can be dried in the sun without the use of any preservatives, without loss
of form and color. They are, consequently, of no importance for food.
In the Chesapeake this fish is often called by the names ‘‘ Horse-head,”’
and ‘* Look-down.”’
The Amber-fish, Serto/a carolinensis, is quite common off the West
Florida coast, occurring in from ten to thirty fathoms of water on or near
the ‘snapper banks’ throughout the year. It is an active species,
swimming just below the surface, and preying upon schools of small fish.
THE CAVALLY AND OTHER CARANG OLDS.
922
“OO
It is a good food-fish, but is rather shy of a baited hook, and but few are
taken. It attains a size of forty inches in length and fifteen pounds
3
THE AMBER-FISH.
weight. It is also, according to Jordan, rather common on the Carolina
coast, where it is known as the ‘‘ Jack-fish.’’
The ‘‘ Rock Salmon’’ of Pensacola, Seriola falcata, is recorded by
Stearns as occasionally occurring near Pensacola in company with the
preceeding species, which it resembles in habits. It is caught with hook
and line and is eaten; in his opinion, it attains a larger size than the
Amber-fish. There is a third species of Amber-fish of which the National
Museum has received a single specimen from South Florida. _ It is closely
related to the fish described by Cuvier under the name Servzola Lalandit,
The same species is some sent to the New Orleans market, where an ex-
ample was seen by Prof. Jordan.
Another closely allied species, Sevzo/a dorsalis, occurs on the coast of
California, where, according to Jordan, it is known under the names
‘¢ Vellow-tail,’’ ‘‘ White Salmon,’’ and ‘‘ Cavasina.”’
Of the ‘‘ Yellow-tail,’’ Prof. Jordan says: ‘‘It reaches a length of four
to five feet, and a weight of thirty to forty pounds, and individuais of less
than fifteen pounds weight are rarely seen. It ranges from Cape San
Lucas northward to the Santa Barbara and Coronados Islands, where it is
found in great abundance in the spawning season, arriving in July, and
departing in early fall. It spawns about August 18. It is caught chiefly
by trolling. It feeds on squid and such fish as the anchovy and sardine.
As a fresh fish it ranks high, although large individuals are sometimes
coarse and tough. When salted and dried it is inferior to none on the
coast, ranking with the white-fish and barracuda.”’
234 AMERICAN FISHES.
The Banded Rudder-flsh, Serzo/a sonata, has been observed as far north
as Salem and Beverly, Mass. Several specimens have been taken north of
Cape Cod during the past forty years. It is a small fish, rarely exceeding
six or eight inches in length, conspicuous by reason of its brilliant and
beautiful colors, and good to eat, though rarely saved by the fishermen
who accidently capture it. It is called in Southern New England the
‘* Rudder-fish’’ on account of its resemblance to the Rudder-fish of the
ocean, Maucrates ductor.
Sertola fasciata, called in Cuba the ‘‘ Medregal’’ and in Bermuda the
‘*Bonita,’’ has been observed in South Florida and along the coasts of
the Carolinas. It is apparently exceedingly rare in the waters of the
United States. In Bermuda it attains a length of two feet or more, and
is highly esteemed as a food-fish.
The Leather-jacket, Ol¢goplites saurus, which is found throughout the
West Indies and south as far as Bahia, and on the Pacific coast of Mexico
and Central America, has since 1875 been severel times observed between
Florida and Newport, R. I. It is known to fishermen as the ‘‘ Skipjack,”’
sharing this name with a number of other scombroid fishes, which leap
from the water as they pursue their prey. It is one of the most beautiful
and graceful fishes in out waters, but at present is of no economic import-
ance, its flesh being hard and dry.
‘<The Runner, Lagat pinnulatvs, known at Key West as “‘ Slaps as
or ‘‘ Runner,’’ and at Pensacola as ‘‘ Yellow-tail’’ or ‘‘ Shoemaker,’’ is,
according to Stearns, abundant on the western and southern coasts of
Florida. At Pensacola it spawns in spring; the young fish are seen in
July and August. It is found in the bays and along the sea-beaches, seem-
ing to prefer clear salt-water, swift currents, and sandy bottoms. It
usually moves in small schools of a dozen or two individuals. It feeds
upon small fishes and crustaceans. When pursued by larger fish it jumps
repeatedly from the water, very much in the same manner as the flying
fish, only its flights are much shorter and oftener repeated. This habit has
given it the names of ‘Skipjack’ and ‘Runner’ at Key West, where it
may be seen at almost any time. It is sometimes eaten at Key West, and
at Havana is quite an important fish in the markets, being also exposed
for sale at stands on the streets, cooked and ready for use.
The dolphins, Coryphenide, are found usually in mid-ocean, where they
feed upon other pelagic fishes, such as the flying-fish. They are strong,
THE CAVALLY AND OTHER CARANGOIDS. 235
rapid swimmers, and are widely distributed throughout all temperate and
tropical waters. The name Dolphin is unfortunately applied, this being
THE DOLPHIN.
the peculiar property of a group of small cetaceans.. They are often
caught by sailors at sea, and are considered most excellent food. It 1s an
almost universal 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 dark.
Narratives of ocean voyages abound in descriptions of the beautiful colors
of the Dolphin and the brilhant changes of hue exhibited by the dying
fish, but none so eloquent as that in Montgomery’s ‘‘ Pelican Island.’’
‘© A shoal of dolphins, tumbling in wild glee,
Glowed with such orient tints, they might have been
The rainbow’s offspring, where it met the ocean.”’
There are in the Atlantic two species of Dolphins, though the num-
ber was, until lately, supposed to be very much greater. But one of these,
Corvphena hippurus, is definitely known from our shores.
The young, less than two feet in length, are beautifully marked with
numerous small circular spots, and have, until lately, been considered by
many writers to belong to a distinct genus and species. Dolphins are
abundant also, it is said, in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Pilot-fish, Mawcrates ductor, though of little or no economic im-
portance, deserves passing mention, since it is so frequently referred to in
literature. It is occasionally taken on our coast. Capt. Atwood
mentions a specimen which was taken in a mackerel net in Provincetown
Harbor, in October, 1858. A whale-ship had come in a few days before,
and he supposes that the Pilot-fish had followed it into the harbor.
AMERICAN FISHES.
i)
ios)
Oo
The Pilot-fish, V. ductor, is a truly pelagic fish, known in all tropical
and temperate seas. Its name is derived from its habit of keeping com-
pany with ships and large fish, especially sharks. It is the Pompilus of
the ancients, who describe it as pointing out the way to dubious or
embarrassed sailors, and as announcing the vicinity of land by its sudden
disappearance. It was therefore regarded as a sacred fish. The connec-
THE PILOT-FISH.
tion between the shark and the Pilot-fish has received various interpreta-
tions, some observers having, perhaps, added more sentiment than is
warranted by the actual facts. It was stated that the shark never seized
the Pilot-fish ; that the latter was of great use to its big companion in
conducting it and showing it the way to food. Dr. Meyer, in his ‘‘ Reise
states: ‘‘ The Pilot swims constantly in front of the shark ;
?
um die Erde,’
we ourselves have seen three instances in which the shark was led by the
Pilot. When the shark neared the ship the Pilot swam close to the snout,
or near one of the pectoral fins of the animal. Sometimes he darted
rapidly forwards or sidewards, as if looking for something, and constantly
went back again to the shark. When we threw overboard a piece of bacon
fastened on a great hook, the shark was about twenty paces from the ship.
With the quickness of lightning the Pilot came up, smelt at the dainty,
and instantly swam back again to the shark, swimming many times round
his snout and splashing as if to give him exact information as to the
bacon. ‘The shark now began to put himself in motion, the Pilot showing
him the way, and in a moment he was fast upon the hook.* Upon a later
occasion we observed two Pilots in sedulous attendance on a blue shark,
which we caught in the Chinese Sea. It seems probable that the Pilot
feeds on the shark’s excrements, keeps his company for that purpose, and
* In this instance one may entertain reasonable doubts as to the usefulness of the Pilot to the shark.
THE CAVALLY AND OTHER CARANG ODS. 2007
directs his operations solely from this selfish view.’’ I believe that Dr.
Meyer’s opinion, as expressed in his last words, is perfectly correct. The
Pilot obtains a great part of his food directly from the shark, in feeding
on the parasite crustaceans with which sharks and other large fish are
infested, and on the smaller pieces of flesh which are left unnoticed by
the shark when it tears its prey. The Pilot, also, being a small fish,
obtains greater security when in company of a shark, which would keep at
a distance all other fishes of prey that would be likely to prove dangerous
to the Pilot. Therefore, in accompanying the shark, the Pilot is led by
the same instinct which makes it follow a ship.
With regard to the statement that the Pilot itself is never attacked by
the shark, all observers agree as to its truth; but this may be accounted
for in the same way as the impunity of the swallow from the hawk, the
Pilot-fish being to nimble for the unwieldy shark.
I quote at length the remarks of my friend, Dr. Francis Day:
‘«'This fish has long been celebrated as the companion and guide of
sharks, as it was formerly said to be of whales, and also the friend, or at
least close attendant, on ships while sailing over the ocean. Although
some consider the pilot-fish to be the friend of the shark, others have
thought such open to suspicion, while Cuvier has even suggested down-
right enmity or rather treachery in its actions. M. Geoffrey tells how two
of these fishes were observed to lead a shark up to a baited hook which by
their importunities they induced him to gorge. Or as Cuvier pithily puts
it, that this tale if true should occasion them to be termed ‘* deceivers’’
rather than ‘‘ pilots.’ Capt. Richards once observed upon a blue shark
attended by four pilot-fishes following his vessel in the Mediterranean ;
a bait was displayed, but the little pilot-fishes pertinaciously came to the
front and with their snouts thrust the bait hook away. All at last swam
away together, but suddenly the shark changed its mind, turned and rushed
forwards with all speed at the bait, leaving his faithful attendants far be-
hind, and which only arrived as the body of their companion was being
hauled up on board, to which one is said to have clung, until it was half
above water, when it fell off leaving it doubtful if it was not a sucking
fish. Why the shark does not prey on its companions is a mystery.
Lacépede thought their agility saved them, and that their flesh is not
worthy the eating.
‘In the Naturalists’ Note-book (1869, p. 255), a writer (J. D. S. W.)
mentions ‘we frequently threw pieces of flesh into the water to them.
The pilot-fish first came up and smelt the meat, and then went away and
led the shark to it, who always swallowed the whole and left none for his
little companions. On a dark night you can see the entire shape of the
238 AMERICAN FISHES.
shark in the water below, shining all over with phosphorescence. Now
this phosphorescence is considered by most naturalists to be due to the
presence of animalcules, and if so, it may reasonably be presumed that the
pilot-fishes live on these animalcules, for they are frequently seen clinging
to the sides of the shark.”’
The Pilot-fish does not always leave the vessels on their approach to
land. In summer, when the temperature of the sea-water is several
degrees above the average, Pilots will follow ships to the south coast of
England into the harbor, where they are generally speedily caught.
Pilot-fish attain a length of twelve inches only. When very young their
appearance differs so much from the mature fish that they have been
described as a distinct genus, Vauclerus. his fry is exceedingly common
in the open ocean, and constantly obtained in the tow-net; therefore the
Pilot-fish retains its pelagic habits also during the spawning season, and
some of the spawn found by voyagers floating on the surface is, without
doubt, derived from this species. *
The Pilot-fish has been observed in one or two instances about New
York, and also has been recorded from South Carolina. It is, however,
rare in the Western Atlantic, and our museums have very few specimens.
* Gunther: Study of Fishes, p. 414.
THE SWORD-FISH.
S\WORD-FISH, SPEAR-FISH, AND CUTEASS-FISH.
Toward the sea turning my troubled eye
I saw the fish, (if fish I may it cleepe)
That makes the sea before his face to flye
And with his flaggie finnes doth seeme to sweepe
The foamie waves out of the dreadful deep.
The huge Leviathan, dame Nature’s wonder,
Making his sport, that manie makes to weepe;
A Sword-fish small, him from the rest did sunder,
That, in his throat him prickingly softly under,
His wide abysse him forced forth to spewe,
That all the sea did roare like heavens thunder,
And all the waves were stained with filthie hewe,
Hereby I learned have not to despise
Whatever thing seems small in common eyes.
EDMUND SPENSER, The Visions of the World, 1501.
HE Sword-fish, X7phias gladius, ranges along the Atlantic coast of
America from Jamaica, latitude 18° N., Cuba, and the Bermudas, to
Cape Breton, latitude 47° N. [It has not been seen at Greenland, Iceland,
or Spitzbergen, but occurs, according to Collett, at the North Cape, latitude
71°. Itis abundant along the coasts of Western furope, entering the
Baltic and the Mediterranean. I can find no record of the species on the
west coast of Africa, south of the Cape Verdes, though Liitken, who may
have access to facts unknown to me, states that they occur clear down to
the Cape of Good Hope, South Atlantic in mid-ocean, to the west coast
of South America and to Southern California, latitude 34°, New Zealand,
and in the Indian Ocean, off Mauritius.
The names of the Sword-fish all have reference to that prominent feature,
the prolonged snout. The ‘‘Sword-fish’’ of our own tongue, the
** Zwaara-jis’’ of the Hollander, the Italian ‘* Sofa’’ and ‘‘ Pesce-spada,’’
240 AMERICAN FISHES.
the Spaniards ‘‘ Hspada,’’ and ‘‘ Espadarte,’’ varied by ‘‘ Pez de spada”’
in Cuba; and the French ‘‘ 2spadon,”’ “ Dard’’ and “ Epée de Mer,’’
are simply variations of one theme, repetitions of the ‘‘ Gladius’’ of an-
cient Italy, and ‘‘ X7fhzus,’’ the name by which Aristotle the father of
zoology, called the same fish twenty-three hundred years ago. The French
‘< Empereur,’’ and the ‘‘ Jmperador,’’ and ‘Ocean King-fish’’ of the
Spanish and French West Indies, carry out the same idea, for the Roman
emperor was always represented holding a drawn sword in his hand. The
Portuguese names are ‘‘ Agulha,’’ ‘‘ Agulhao,’’ meaning ‘‘needle’’ or
“necdle=tish.”
This species has been particularly fortunate in escaping the numerous
redescriptions to which almost all widely distributed forms have been sub-
jected. By the writers of antiquity, it was spoken of under its Aristotelian
name, and in the tenth edition of his Systema Nature, at the very inception
of binomial nomenclature, Linnzeus called it Xzphias gladius. By this
name it has been known ever since, and only one additional name is
included in its synonymy, X7phzas Rondeletit of Leach.
The sword-fish has been so long and so well known that its right to its
peculiar name has seldom been infringed upon. The various species of
Tetrapturus have sometimes shared its title, and this is not to be wondered
at, since they closely resemble X7f/zas gladius, and the appellative has
frequently been applied to the family X7pAzzde@—the Sword-fish family—
which includes them all.
The name ‘ Bill-fish,’’ usually apphed to the Zetrapturus albidus, a fish
of the Sword-fish family often taken on our coast, must be pronounced
objectionable, since it is in many districts used for the various species of
Belonide, the ‘‘gar-fishes’’ or ‘‘green-bones’’ (Lelone truncata and
?
others), which are members of the same faunas. ‘‘ Spear-fish’’ is a much
better name.
The ‘‘Sail-fish,’’? A7stéophorus americanus, is called by sailors in the
south the ‘‘ Boohoo”’ or ‘‘ Woohoo.’’ ‘This is evidently a corrupted form
of ‘‘Guebucu,’’ a name, apparently of Indian origin, given to the same
fish in Brazil. It is possible that the Ze¢rapturus is also called ‘‘ Boohoo,”’
since the two genera are not sufficiently unlike to impress sailors with
their differences. Bleeker states that in Sumatra the Malays call the re-
lated species, A. gladius, by the name ‘‘Joohoo”’ (/#hu), a curious
coincidence. ‘The names may have been carried from the Malay Archi-
pelago, to South America, or vice versa, by mariners.
SWORD-FISH, SPEAR-FISH AND CUTLASS-FISH. 241
In Cuba, the Spear-fishes are called ‘‘ Agwja’’ and ‘* Aguja de Palada”’;
the Sail-fish, ‘‘ Agwja Prieta’’ or ‘‘ Aguja Voladora”’; Tetrapturus albidus
especially is known as the ‘‘ 4gwja Blanca,’’ T. albidus as the ‘‘ Aguja de
Casto.”’
In the West Indies and Florida the scabbard-fish or silvery hair-tail,
Trichiurus lepturus, a form allied to the X7phzas, though not resembling
it closely in external appearance, is often called ‘‘ Sword-fish.’’ The
body of this fish is shaped like the blade of a saber, and its skin has a
bright metallic lustre like that of polished steel; hence the name.
Sword-fish are most abundant on the shoals near the shore and on the
banks during the months of July and August; that they make their
appearance on the frequented cruising grounds between Montauk Point
and the eastern part of George’s Banks some time between the 25th of
May and the zoth of June, and that they remain until the approach of
cold weather in October and November. The dates of the capture of the
first fish on the cruising ground referred to are recorded for three years,
and are reasonably reliable; in 1875, June 20; 1877, June 10; 1878,
june 14.
South of the cruising ground the dates of arrival and departure are
doubtless further apart; the season being shorter north and east. There
are no means of obtaining information, since the men engaged in this
fishery are the only ones likely to remember the dates when the fish are
seen.
The Sword-fish comes into our waters in pursuit of its food. At least
this is the most probable explanation of their movements, since the duties
of reproduction appear to be performed elsewhere. Like the tunny, the
blue-fish, the bonito, and the squeteague, they pursue and prey upon the
schools of menhaden and mackerel which are so abundant in the summer
months. ‘* When you see Sword-fish, you may know that mackerel are
about,’’ said an old fisherman to me. ‘‘ Where you see the fin-back
whale following food, there. you may find Sword-fish,’’ said another.
The Sword-fish also feeds upon squid, which are at times abundant on our
banks.
To what extent this fish is amenable to the influences of temperature is
an unsolved problem. We are met at the outset by the fact that they are
frequently taken on trawl-lines which are set at the depth of one hundred
fathoms or more, on the off-shore banks. We know that the temperature
16
242 AMERICAN FISHES.
of the water in those localities and at that depth is sure to be less than
40° Fahr. How is this fact to be reconciled with the known habits of the
fish, that it prefers the warmest weather of summer and swims at the sur-
face in water of temperature ranging from 55° to 70°, sinking when cool
winds blow below? The case seemed clear enough until the inconvenient
discovery was made, that Sword-fish are taken on bottom trawl-lines. In
other respects their habits agree closely with those of the mackerel tribe,
all the members of which seem sensitive to slight changes in temperature,
and which, as a rule, prefer temperature in the neighborhood of 50° or
more.
The appearance of the fish at the surface depends apparently upon tem-
perature. They are seen only upon quiet summer days, in the morning
before ten or eleven o’clock, and in the afternoon about four o’clock.
Old fishermen say that they rise when the mackerel rise, and when the
mackerel go down they go down also.
Regarding the winter abode of the Sword-fish, conjecture is useless. I
have already discussed this question at length with reference to the men-
haden and mackerel. With the Sword-fish the conditions are very
different. The former are known to spawn in our waters, and the schools
of young ones follow the old ones in toward the shores. The latter do not
spawn in our waters. We cannot well believe that they hibernate, nor is
the hypothesis of a sojourn in the middle strata of mid-ocean exactly
tenable. Perhaps they migrate to some distant region, where they spawn.
But then the spawning time of this species in the Mediterranean, as is
related in a subsequent paragraph, appears to occur in the summer months,
at the very time when Sword-fish are most abundant in our own waters,
apparently feeling no responsibility for the perpetuation of their species.
The Sword-fish when swimming at the surface, usually allows its dorsal
fin and the upper lobe of its caudal fin to be visible, projecting out of the
water several inches. It is this habit which enables the fisherman to
detect the presence of the fish. It swims slowly along, and the fishing
schooner with a light breeze finds no difficulty in overtaking it. When
excited its motions are very rapid and nervous. Sword-fish are sometimes
seen to leap entirely out of the water. Early writers attributed this habit
to the tormenting presence of parasites, but this theory seems hardly
necessary, knowing what we do of its violent exertions at other times.
The pointed head, the fins of the back and abdomen snugly fitting into
SWORD-FISH, SPEAR-FISH AND CUTLASS-FISH. 243
grooves, the absence of ventrals, the long, lithe, muscular body, sloping
slowly to the tail, fit it for the most rapid and forcible movement through
the water. Prof. Richard Owen, testifying in an England court in regard
to its power, said :
‘« It strikes with the accumulated force of fifteen double-handed ham-
mers. Its velocity is equal to that of a swivel-shot, and is as dangerous
in its effects as a heavy artillery projectile.’’
Many very curious instances are on record of the encounters of this fish
with other fishes, or of their attacks upon ships. What can be the
inducement for it to attack objects so much larger than itself it is hard to
surmise. We are all familiar with the couplet from Oppian:
Nature her bounty to his mouth confined,
Gave him a sword, but left unarmed his mind.
It surely seems as if a temporary insanity sometimes takes possession of
the fish. It is not strange that, when harpooned, it should retaliate by
attacking its assailant. An old sword-fish fisherman told Mr. Blackford
that his vessel had been struck twenty times. ‘There are, however, many
instances of entirely unprovoked assault on vessels at sea. Many of these
are recounted in a later portion of this memoir. ‘Their movements when
feeding are discussed below, as well as their alleged peculiarities of move-
ment during the breeding season.
It is the universal testimony of our fishermen that two are never seen
swimming close together. Capt. Ashby says that they are always distant
from each other at least thirty or forty feet.
The pugnacity of the Sword-fish has become a by-word. Without any
special effort on my part numerous instances of their attacks upon
vessels have in the last ten years found their way into the pigeon-hole
labeled ‘‘Sword-fish.’’
Eelian says (b. xxxli, c. 6) that the Sword-fish has a sharp-pointed
snout, with which it is able to pierce the sides of a ship and send it to the
bottom, instances of which have been known near a place in Mauritania
known as Cotté, not far from the river Lixus, on the African side of the
Mediterranean. He describes the sword as lke the beak of the ship
known as the trireme, which was rowed with three banks of oars.
The ‘‘London Daily News’’ of December 11, 1868, contained the
following paragraph, which emanated, I suspect, from the pen of Prof.
ieee. Proctor :
244 AMERICAN FISHES,
‘* Last Wednesday the court of common pieas—rather a strange place,
by-the-by, for inquiring into the natural history of fishes—was engaged
for several hours in trying to determine under what circumstances a
Sword-fish might be able to escape scot-free after thrusting his snout into
the side of aship. The gallant ship ‘ Dreadnought,’ thoroughly repaired
and classed A-1 at Lloyd’s, had been insured for £3,000 against all risks
of the seas. She sailed on March 1o, 1864, from Colombo, for London.
Three days later the crew, while fishing, hooked a Sword-fish. Xiphias,
however, broke the line, and a few moments after leaped half out of the
water, with the object, it should seem, of taking a look at his persecutor,
the ‘ Dreadnought.’ Probably he satisfied himself that the enemy was
some abnormally large cetacean, which it was his natural duty to attack
forthwith. Be this as it may, the attack was made, and at four o’clock
the next morning the captain was awakened with the unwelcome intelli-
gence that the ship had sprung a leak. She was taken back to Colombo,
and thence to Cochin, where she hove down. Near the keel was found a
round hole, an inch in diameter, running completely through the copper
sheathing and planking.
‘¢ As attacks by Sword-fish are included among sea-risks, the insurance
company was willing to pay the damages claimed by the owners of the
ship if only it could be proved that the hole had really been made by a
Sword-fish. No instance had ever been recorded in which a’ Sword-fish
had been able to withdraw his sword after attacking a ship. A defense
was founded on the possibility that the hole had been made in some other
way. Prof. Owen and Mr. Frank Buckland gave their evidence, but
neither of them could state quite positively whether a Sword-fish which
had passed its beak through three inches of stout planking could withdraw
without the loss of its sword. Mr. Buckland said that fish have no power
of ‘ backing,’ and expressed his belief that he could hold a Sword-fish by
the beak; but then he admitted that the fish had considerable lateral
power, and might so ‘ wriggle its sword out of the hold.’ And so the in-
surance company will have to pay nearly £600 because an ill-tempered fish
objected to be hooked, and took its revenge by running full tilt against
copper sheathing and oak planking.’’
The food of the Sword-fish is of a very mixed nature.
Dr. Fleming found the remains of Sepias in its stomach, and also small
fishes. Oppian stated that it eagerly devours the Azfppurzs (probably
Coryphena). A specimen taken off Seaconnet, July 22, 187s, had in its
stomach the remains of small fish, perhaps Stromateus triacanthus, and
jaws of a squid, perhaps Lofjgo Pealit. ‘Their food in the Western Atlan-
tic consists for the most part of the common schooling species of fishes.
They feed on menhaden, mackerel, bonitoes, bluefish, and other species
SWORD-FISH, SPEAR-FISH AND CUTLASS-FISH. 245
<
which swim in close schools. Their habits of feeding have often been
described to me by old fishermen. They are said to rise beneath the
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. Menha-
den have been seen floating at the surface which have been cut nearly in
twain by a blow of a sword. Mr. John H. Thompson remarks that he
has seen them apparently throw the fish in the air, catching them on the
fall.
Capt. Benjamin Ashby says that they feed on mackerel, herring, whiting,
and menhaden. He has found half a bucketful of small fish of these kinds
in the stomach of one Sword-fish. He has seen them in the act of feed-
ing. They rise perpendicular out of the water until the sword and
two-thirds of the remainder of the body are exposed to view. He has
seen a school of herring crowding together at the surface on George’s
Banks as closely as they could be packed. A Sword-fish came up through
the dense mass and fell flat on its side, striking many fish with the sides
of its sword. He has at one time picked up as much as a bushel of her-
rings thus killed by a Sword-fish on George’s Banks.
But little is known regarding their time and place of breeding. They
are said to deposit their eggs in large quantities on the coasts of Sicily,
and European writers give their spawning time as occurring the latter part
of spring and the beginning of summer. In the Mediterranean they occur
of all sizes from four hundred pounds down, and the young are so plenti-
ful as to become a common article of food. M. Raymond, who brought
to Cuvier a specimen of Azstophorus four inches long, taken in
January, 1829, in the Atlantic, between the Cape of Good Hope and
France, reported that there were good numbers of young Sail-fish in the
place where this was taken.
Meunier, quoting Spallanzani, states that the Sword-fish does not
approach the coast of Sicily except in the season of reproduction ; the
males are then seen pursuing the females. It is a good time to capture
them, for when the female has been taken the male lingers near and is
easily approached. ‘The fish are abundant in the Straits of Messina from
the middle of April to the middle of September ; early in the season they
hug the Calabrian shore, approaching from the north; after the end of
June they are most abundant on the Sicilian shore, approaching from the
south.
246 AMERICAN FISHES.
From other circumstances, it seems certain that there are spawning
grounds in the sea near Sicily and Genoa, for from November to the 1st
of March young ones are taken in the Straits of Messina, ranging in weight
from half a pound to twelve pounds.
In the Mediterranean, as has been already stated, the very young fish
are found from November to March, and here from July to the middle of
September the male fish are seen pursuing the female over the shoals, and
at this time the males are easily taken. Old sword-fish fishermen, Capt.
Ashby and Capt. Kirby, assure me that on our coast, out of thousands of
specimens they have taken, they have never seen one containing eggs. I
have myself dissected several males, none of which were near breeding
time. In the European waters they are said often to be seen swimming in
pairs, male and female. ‘Many sentimental stories were current, especially
among the old writers, concerning the conjugal affection and unselfish
devotion of the Sword-fish, but these seem to have originated in the
imaginative brain of the naturalist rather than in his perceptive faculties.
It is said that when the female fish is taken the male seems devoid of fear,
approaches the boat, and allows himself easily to be taken ; but, if this be
true, it appears to be the case only in the height of the breeding season,
and easily understood. I cannot learn that two Sword-fish have ever been
seen associated together in our waters, though I have made frequent and
diligent inquiry.
There is no inherent improbability, however, in this story regarding the
Sword-fish in Europe, for the same thing is stated by Prof. Poey as the
result upon the habits of Zetrapturus.
The only individual of which we have the exact measurements was taken
off Seaconnet, R. I., July 23, 1874. This was seven feet, seven inches
long, weighing 113 pounds. Another, taken off Noman’s Land, July 20,
1875, and cast in plaster for the collection of the National Museum,
weighed 120 pounds, and measured about seven feet. Another, taken off
Portland, August 15, 1878, was 3,999 millimeters long, and weighed
about 600 pounds. Many of these fish doubtless attain the weight of 4oo
and 500 pounds, and some, perhaps, grow to 600; but after this limit is
reached, I am inclined to believe larger fish are exceptional. Newspapers
are fond of recording the occurrence of giant fish, weighing 1,500 pounds
and upwards, and old sailors will in good faith describe the enormous fish
which they saw at sea, but could not capture; but one well-authenticated
SWORD-FISH, SPEAR-FISH AND CUTLASS-FISH. 247
= — — _ = — = — —
instance of accurate weighing is much more valuable. The largest one
ever taken by Capt. Benjamin Ashby, for twenty years a sword-fish fisher-
man, was killed on the shoals back of Edgartown, Mass. When salted it
weighed 639 pounds. Its live weight must have been as much as 750 or
8oo. Its sword measured nearly six feet. This was an extraordinary
fish among the three hundred or more taken by Capt. Ashby in his long
experience. He considers the average size to be about 250 pounds
dressed, or 525 alive. Capt. Martin, of Gloucester, estimates the average
size at 300 to goo pounds. ‘The largest known to Capt. Michaux weighed
625. ‘The average about Block Island he considers to be 200 pounds.
The size of the smallest Sword-fishes taken on our coast is a subject of
much deeper interest, for it throws light on the time and place of breed-
ing. There is some difference of testimony regarding the average size,
but all fishermen with whom I have talked agree that very small ones do
not find their way into our shore waters. Numerous very small specimens
have, however, been already taken by the Fish Commission at sea, off our
middle and southern coast.
Capt. John Rowe has seen one which did not weigh more than 75
pounds when taken out of the water.
Capt. R. H. Hurlbert killed near Block Island, in July, 1877, one
which weighed 50 pounds, and measured about two feet without its sword.
Capt. Ashby’s smallest weighed about 25 pounds when dressed ; this he
killed off Noman’s Land. He never killed another which weighed less
than roo. He tells me that a Bridgeport smack had one weighing 16
pounds (or probably 24 when alive), and measuring eighteen inches with-
out its sword.
In August, 1878, a small specimen of the mackerel-shark, Lamna cor-
nubica, was captured at the mouth of Gloucester Harbor. In its nostril
was sticking the sword, about three inches long, of a young Sword-fish.
When this was pulled out the blood flowed freely, indicating that the
wound was recent. The fish to which this sword belonged cannot have
exceeded ten or twelve inches in length. Whether the small Sword-fish
met with its misfortune in our waters, or whether the shark brought this
trophy from beyond the sea, is an unsolved problem.
Lutken speaks of a very young individual taken in the Atlantic, latitude
32° so’ N., longitude 74° 19’ W. This must be about 150 miles southeast
of Cape Hatteras.
248 AMERICAN FISHES,
For many years from three to six hundred of these fish have been taken
annually on the New England coast. It is not unusual for twenty-five or
more to be seen in the course of a singie day’s cruising, and sometimes as
many as this are visible from the mast-head at one time. Capt. Ashby
saw twenty at one time, in August, 1839, between George’s Banks and the
South shoals. One Gloucester schooner, the ‘‘ Midnight,’’ Capt. Alfred
Wixom, took fourteen in one day on George’s Banks, in 1877.
Capt. John Rowe obtained twenty barrels, or four thousand pounds, of
salt fish on one trip to George’s Banks; this amount represents twenty fish
or more.
Capt. Ashby has killed one hundred and eight Sword-fish in one year;
Capt. M. C. Tripp killed about ninety in 1874.
Such instances as these indicate in a general way the abundance of the
Sword-fish. A vessel cruising within fifty miles of our coast, between
Cape May and Cape Sable, during the months of June, July, August, and
September, cannot fail, on a favorable day, to come in sight of several of
them. Mr. Earll states that the fishermen of Portland never knew them
more abundant than in 1879. ‘This is probably, in part, due to the fact
that the fishery there is of very recent origin. .
There is no evidence of any change in their abundance, either increase
or decrease. Fishermen agree that they are as plenty as ever, nor can
any change be anticipated. The present mode of fishing does not destroy
them in any considerable numbers, each individual fish being the object of
special pursuit. The solitary habits of the species will always protect
them from wholesale capture, so destructive to schooling fish. Even if
this were not the case, the evidence proves that spawning Sword-fish do
not frequent our waters.. When a female shad is killed, thousands of pos-
sible young die also. The Sword-fish taken by our fishermen carry no
such precious burden.
‘¢The small Sword-fish is very good meat,’’ remarked Josselyn, in
writing of the fishes of New England in the seventeenth century. Since
Josselyn probably never saw a young Sword-fish, unless at some time he
had visited the Mediterranean, it is fair to suppose that his information
was derived from some Italian writer.
It is, however, a fact that the flesh of the Sword-fish, though somewhat
oily, is a very acceptable article of food. Its texture is coarse ; the thick,
fleshy, muscular layers cause it to resemble that of the halibut in consist-
SWORD-FISH, SPEAR-FISH AND CUTLASS-FISH. 249
ency. Its flavor is by many considered fine, and is not unlike that of the
bluefish. Its color is gray. The meat of the young fish is highly prized
on the Mediterranean, and is said to be perfectly white, compact, and of
delicate flavor. Sword-fish are usually cut up into steaks—thick slices
across the body—and may be broiled or boiled.
The apparatus ordinarily employed for the capture of the Sword-fish is
simple in the extreme. It is a harpoon with detachable head. When
the fish is struck, the head of the harpoon remains in the body of the fish,
and carries with it a light rope, which is either made fast or held by aman
in a small boat, or is attached to some kind of a buoy, which is towed
through the water by the struggling fish, and which marks its whereabouts
after death.
The harpoon consists of a pole 15 or 16 feet in length, usually of hickory
or some other hard wood, upon which the bark has been left, so that the
- harpooner may have a firmer hand-grip. This pole is from an inch anda
half to two inches in diameter, and at one end is provided with an iron
rod, or ‘‘shank,’’ about two feet long and five-eighths of an inch in
diameter. This ‘‘shank’”’ is fastened to the pole by means of a conical
or elongated, cup-like expansion at one end, which fits over the sharpened
end of the pole, to which it is secured by screws or spikes. <A light line
extends from one end of the pole to the point where it joins the ‘‘ shank,’’
and in this line is tied a loop, by which is made fast another short line
which secures the pole to the vessel or boat, so that when it is thrown at
the fish it cannot be lost.
Upon the end of the ‘‘ shank”’ fits the head of the harpoon, known by
the names Sword-fish tron, lily-iron, and /ndian-dart. The form of this
weapon has undergone much variation. The fundamental idea may very
possibly have been derived from the Indian fish-dart, numerous specimens
of which are in the National Museum, from various tribes of Indians of New
England, British America, and the Pacific. However various the modifica-
tions may have been, the similarity of the different shapes is no less note-
worthy from the fact that all are peculiarly American. In the enormous col-
lection of fishery implements of all lands in the late exhibition at Berlin,
nothing of the kind could be found. What is known to whalers as a toggle-
harpoon is a modification of the lily-iron, but so greatly changed by the ad-
dition of a pivot by which the head of the harpoon is fastened to the shank
that itcan hardly be regarded asthe same weapon. Thé lily-iron is, in princi-
250 AMERICAN FISHES.
ple, exactly what a whalemen would describe by the word ‘‘toggle.’’ It
consists of a two-pointed piece of metal, having in the centre, at one side,
a ring or socket, the axis of which is parallel with the long diameter of the
implement. In this is inserted the end of the pole-shank, and to it or
near it 1s also attached the harpoon-line. When the iron has once been
thrust point first through some solid substance, such as the side of a fish,
and is released upon the other side by the withdrawal of the pole from the
socket, it is free, and at once turns its long axis at right angles to the
direction in which the harpoon-line is pulling, and thus is absolutely pre-
vented from withdrawal. The principle of the whale-harpoon or
toggle-iron is similar, except that the pole is not withdrawn, and the head,
turning upon a pivot at its end, fastens the pole itself securely to the fish,
the harpoon-line being attached to some part of the pole. The Sword-fish
lily-iron head, as now ordinarily used, is about four inches in length, and
consists of two lanceorate blades, each about an inch and a half long,
connected by a central piece much thicker than they, in which, upon one
side, and next to the flat side of the blade, is the socket for the insertion
of the pole-plank. In this same central enlargement is forged an opening
to which the harpoon-line is attached. The dart-head is usually made of
steel ; sometimes of iron, which is generally galvanized; sometimes of
brass.
The entire weight of the harpoon-pole, shank, and head, should not
exceed 18 pounds.
The harpoon-line is from 50 to 150 fathoms long, and is ordinarily
what is known as ‘¢ fifteen-thread line.’’ At the end is sometimes fast-
ened a buoy, and an ordinary mackerel keg is generally used for this
purpose.
In addition to the harpoon, every Sword-fisherman carries a lance.
This implement is precisely similar to a whaleman’s lance, except that it
is smaller, consisting of a lanceolate blade perhaps, one inch wide and two
inches long, upon the end of a shank of five-eighths-inch iron, perhaps two
or three feet in length, fastened in the ordinary way upon a pole 15 to 18
feet in length.
The Sword-fish are always harpooned from the end of the bowsprit of a
sailing-vessel. It is next to impossible to approach them in a small boat.
All vessels regularly engaged in this fishery are supplied with a special
apparatus, called a ‘‘rest’’ or ‘‘ pulpit,’’ for the support of the harpooner
SWORD-FISH, SPEAR-FISH AND CUTLASS-FISH. 251
as he stands on the bowsprit, and this is almost essential to success,
although it 1s possible for an active man to harpoon a fish from this station
without the aid of the ordinary frame-work. Not only the professional
Sword-fishermen, but many mackerel schooners and packets are supplied
in this manner.
The Sword-fish never comes to the surface except in moderate, smooth
weather. A vessel cruising in search of them, proceeds to the fishing
ground, and cruises hither and thither wherever the abundance of small
fish indicates that they ought to be found. Vessels which are met are
hailed and asked whether any Sword-fish have been seen, and if tiding are
thus obtained, the ship’s course is at once laid for the locality where they
were last noticed. A man is always stationed at the masthead, where,
with the keen eye which practice has given him, he can easily descry the
tell-tale dorsal fins at a distance of two or three miles. When a fish has
once been sighted, the watch ‘‘sings out,’’ and the vessel is steered
directly towards it. The skipper takes his place in the ‘* pulpit,’’ holding
the pole in both hands by the small end, and directing the man at the
wheel by voice and gesture how to steer. There is no difficulty in
approaching the fish with a large vessel, although, as has already been
remarked, they will not suffer a small boat to come near them. The ves-
sel plows and swashes through the water, plunging its bowsprit into the
waves, without exciting their fears. Noises frighten them and drive them
down. Although there would be no difficulty in bringing the end of the
bowsprit directly over the fish, a skilful harpooner never waits for this.
When the fish is from 6 to 1o feet in front of the vessel it is struck. The
harpoon is never thrown, the pole being too long. ‘The strong arm of the
harpooner punches the dart into the back of the fish, right at the side of
the high dorsal fin, and the pole is withdrawn and fastened again to its
place. When the dart has been fastened to the fish the line is allowed to
run out as far as the fish will carry it, and is then passed in a small boat,
which is towing at the stern. Two men jump into this, and pulling in
upon the line until the fish is brought in alongside, it is then killed with
a whale-lance or a whale-spade, which is stuck into the gills.
The fish having been killed, it is hfted upon the deck by a purchase-
tackle of two double blocks rigged in the shrouds.
The pursuit of the Sword-fish is much more exciting than ordinary
fishing, for it resembles the hunting of large animals upon the land, and
252 AMERICAN FISHES.
partakes more of the nature of the chase. There is no slow or careful
baiting and patient waiting, and no disappointment caused by the acci-
dental capture of worthless ‘‘bait-stealers.’’ The game is seen and
followed, and outwitted by wary tactics, and killed by strength of arm and
skill. The Sword-fish is a powerful antagonist, sometimes, and sends his
pursuers’ vessel into harbor leaking, and almost sinking, from injuries
which he has inflicted. I have known a vessel to be struck by wounded
Sword-fish as many as twenty times in a season. There is even the spice
of personal danger to give savor to the chase, for the men are occasionally
injured by the infuriated fish. One of Capt. Ashby’s crew was severely
wounded by a Sword-fish which thrust his beak through the oak floor of a
boat on which he was standing, and penetrated about two inches in his
aaked heel. ‘The strange fascination draws men to this pursuit when they
have once learned its charms. An old Swords-fisherman, who had followed
the pursuit for twenty years, told me that when he was on the cruising
ground, he fished all night in his dreams, and that many a time he has
bruised his hands and rubbed the skin off his knuckles by striking them
against the ceiling of his bunk when he raised his arms to thrust the har-
poon into visionary monster Sword-fishes.
The Bill-fish or Spear-fish, Ze¢rapturus tndicus (with various related
forms, which may or may not be specifically identical) occurs in the Western
Atlantic from the West Indies, latitude 10° to 20° N., to Southern New
England, latitude 42° N.; in the Eastern Atlantic, from Gibralter, latitude
45° N., to the Cape of Good Hope, latitude 30° S.; in the Indian Ocean,
the Malay Archipelago, New Zealand, latitude 40° S., and on the west
coast of Chila and Peru. In a general way, the range is between latitude
40° N., and latitude 40° S.
The species of Zetrapturus which we have been Ssenctonicd tO! ecalily 22.
albidus, abundant about Cuba, is not very unusual on the coast of
Southern New England. Several are taken every year by the Sword-fish
fishermen. I have not known of their capture along the Southern Atlantic
coast of the United States. All I have known about were taken between
Sandy Hook and the eastern part of George’s Banks.
The Mediterranean Spear-fish, 7e¢rapturus belone, appears to be a land-
locked form, never passing west of the Straits of Gibraiter.
The Spear-fish in our waters is said by our fishermen to resemble the
Sword-fish in its movements and manner of feeding. Prof. Poey narrates
SWORD-FISH, SPEAR-FISH AND CUTLASS-FISH. 253
that both the Cuban species swim at a depth of one hundred fathoms, and
they journey in pairs, shaping their course toward the Gulf of Mexico, the
females being full of eggs. Only adults are taken. It is not known
whence they come, or where they breed, or how the young return. It is
not even known whether the adult fishes return by the same route. When
the fish has swallowed the hook it rises to the surface, making prodigious
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 Spear-fish 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 combats, and when the Spear-fish is
attached to the fisherman’s line it often received frightful wounds from
these adversaries.
The Spear-fish strikes vessels in the same manner as the Sword-fish. I
am indebted to Capt. William Spicer, of Noank, Conn., for this note:
THE SPEAR-FISH.
‘Mr. William Taylor, of Mystic, a man seventy-six years old, who was
in the smack ‘Evergreen,’ Capt. John Appleman, tells me that they
started from Mystic, October 3, 1832, on a fishing voyage to Key West, in
company with the smack ‘ Morning Star,’ Capt. Rowland. On the rath
were off Cape Hatteras, the wind blowing heavily from the northeast, and
the smack under double-reefed sails. At 10 o’clock in the evening they
were struck by a ‘ Woho’ (szc), which shocked the vessel all over. The
smack was leaking badly, and they made a signal to the ‘ Morning Star’
to keep close by them. The next morning they found the leak, and both
smacks kept off to Charleston. On arrival they took out the ballast, hove
her out, and found that the sword had gone through the planking, timber,
and ceiling. The plank was two inches thick, the timber five inches, and
254 AMERICAN FISHES.
the ceiling one and a half inches white oak. The sword projected two
inches through the ceiling, on the inside of the ‘after run.’ It struck by
a butt on the outside, which caused the leak. They took out and replaced
a piece of the plank, and proceeded on their voyage.”’
The Sail-fish, H7stiophorus gladius (with Hl. americanus and Hf. orien-
talis, questionable species, and H. pulchellus and H. tmmaculatus, young),
occurs in the Red Sea, Indian Ocean, Malay Archipelago, and south at
least as far as the Cape of Good Hope, latitude 35° S.; in the Atlantic on
the coast of Brazil, latitude 30° S., to the Equator, and north to Southern
New England, latitude 42° N.; in the Pacific to Southwestern Japan,
latitude 30° to 10° N. Ina general way the range may be said to be in
tropical and temperate seas, between latitude 30° S. and 4o° N., and in
the western parts of those seas.
The first allusion to this genus occurs in Piso’s ‘‘ Historia Naturalis
Brasiliz,’’ printed at Amsterdam in 1648. In this book may be found an
identifiable though rough figure of the American species, accompanied by
a few lines of description, which, though good, when the fact that they
were written in the seventeenth century is brought to mind, are of no value
for critical comparison.
The name given to the Brazilian Sail-fish by Marcgrave, the talented
young German who described the fishes in the book referred to, and who
afterwards sacrificed his life in exploring the unknown fields of American
zonogy, was Guebucu brasiliensibus. ‘The use of the name Guwebucu is
interesting, since it gives a clew to the derivation of the name ‘‘ Boohoo,”’
by which this fish, and probably the Spear-fishes, are known to Enghsh-
speaking sailors in the tropical Atlantic.
Sail-fishes were observed in the East Indies by Renard and Valentijn,
explorers of that region from 1680 to 1720, and by other eastern voyagers.
No species of the genus was, however, systematically described until 1786,
when a stuffed specimen from the Indian Ocean, eight feet long, was taken
to London, where it still remains in the collections of the British Museum.
From this specimen M. Broussonet prepared a description, giving it the
name Scomber gladius, rightly regarding it as a species allied to the
mackerel.
From the time of Marcgrave until 1872 it does not appear that any
zoologist had any opportunity to study a Sail-fish from America, or even
fromthe Atlantic; yet in Gunther’s Catalogue, the name /Z. americanus
SWORD-FISH, SPEAR-FISH AND CUTLASS-FISH. 255
is discarded and the species of America is assumed to be identical with
that of the Indian Ocean.
The materials in the National Museum consist of a skeleton and a
painted plaster cast of the specimen taken near Newport, R. I., in 1872,
and a drawing made from the same, while fresh, by Mr. J. H. Blake.
The occurrence of the Sail-fish is, as has been already stated, very
unusual. Marcgrave saw it in Brazil as early as 1648. Sagra and Poey
mention that it has been seen about Cuba, and Schomburgk includes it in
his Barbadoes list. The specimen in the United States National Museum
was taken off Newport, R. I., in August, 1872, and given to Prof. Baird
by Mr. Samuel Powell, of Newport. No others were observed in our
waters until March, 1878, when, according to Mr. Neyle Habersham, of
Savannah, Ga., two were taken by a vessel between Savannah and Indian
River, Fla., and were brought to Savannah, where they attracted much
attention in the market. In 1873, according to Mr. E. G. Blackford, a
specimen in a very mutilated condition was brought from Key West to
New York City.
No observations have been made in this country, and recourse must be
had to the statements of observers in the other hemisphere.
In the life of Sir Stamford Raffles, is printed a letter from Singapore,
under date of November 30, 1822, with the following statement :
«<The only amusing discovery we have recently made is that ofa sailing
fish, called by the natives, /kan /ayer, of about ten or twelve feet long,
which hoists a mainsail, and often sails in the manner of a native boat,
and with considerable swiftness. I have sent a set of the sails home, as
they are beautifully cut and form a model for a fast-sailing boat. When
a school of these are under sail together they are frequently mistaken for
a fleet of native boats.”’
The fish referred to is in all likehhood f7stophorus gladius, a species
very closely related to, if not identical, with our own.
The Cutlass-fish, Z7¢chiurus lepturus, unfortunately known in Eastern
Florida and at Pensacola as the ‘‘Sword-fish’’; at New Orleans, in the
St. John’s River, and at Brunswick, Ga., it is known as the ‘‘ Silver Eel,”’
on the coast of Texas as ‘‘ Sabre-fish,’’ while in the Indian River region
it is called the ‘‘ Skipjack.’’ No one of these names is particularly appli-
cable, and the latter being pre-occupied, it would seem advantageous to
’ which is current for the same
use in this country the name ‘‘ Cutlass-fish,’
species in the British West Indies.
256 AMERICAN FISHES.
Its appearance is very remarkable on account of its long, compressed
form and its glistening, silvery color. The name ‘‘ Scabbard-fish,’’ which
has been given to an allied species in Europe, would be very proper also
for this species, for in general shape and appearance it looks very like the
metallic scabbard of the sword. It attains the length of four or five feet,
though ordinarily not exceeding twenty-five or thirty inches. This species
is found in the tropical Atlantic, on the coast of Brazil, in the Gulf of
California, the West Indies, the Gulf of Mexico, and north to Wood’s
Holl, Mass., where, during the past ten years, specimens have occasionally
been taken. In 1845 one was found at Wellfleet, Mass.; and in the Essex
Institute is a specimen which is said to have been found in Salem Harbor.
The species occurs also on the coast of Europe, two specimens having been
found on the shores of the Moray Frith many years ago, and during the
past decade it has become somewhat abundant in Southern England. It
does not, however, enter the Mediterranean. Some writers believed the
allied species, Zr¢chiurus haume/a, found in the Indian Ocean and Archi-
pelago and in various parts of the Pacific, to be specifically the same.
The Cutlass-fish is abundant in the St. John’s River, Fla., in the Indian
River region, and in the Gulf of Mexico. Several instances were related
to me in which these fish had thrown themselves from the water into row-
boats, a feat which might be very easily performed by a lithe, active
species like the Z7¢chiurus. A small one fell into a boat crossing the
mouth of the Arlington River, where the water is nearly fresh.
Many individuals of the same species are taken every year at the mouth
of the St. John’s River, at Mayport. Stearns states that they are caught
in the deep waters of the bays about Pensacola, swimming nearly at the
surface, but chiefly with hooks and lines from the wharves. He has known
them to strike at the oars of the boat and at the end of the ropes that
trailed in the water. At Pensacola they reach a length of twenty to thirty
inches, and are considered good food-fish. Richard Hill states that in
Jamaica this species is much esteemed, and is fished for assiduously in a
‘‘hole,’’ as it is called, that is, a deep portion of the waters off Fort
Augusta. This is the best fishing place for the Cutlass-fish, Zy¢cheurus.
The fishing takes place before day ; all lines are pulled in as fast as they
are thrown out, with the certainty that the Cutlass has been hooked. As
many as ninety boats have been counted on this fishing ground at day-
break during the season.
SS
THE ROSE-FISH.
TEE ROSE-PISE AND IVS AleeieS:
And there were crystal pools, peopled with fish,
Argent and gold ; andsome of Tyrian skin,
Some crimson-barred. And ever at a wish
They rose obsequious, till the wave grew thin
As glass upon their backs, aud then dived in,
Quenching their ardent scales in watery gloom,
Whilst others with fresh hues rowed forth to win
My changeable regard. Tuomas Hoop.
ieee upon the west coast of North America the fishes of the
family Scorpenide are among the most important, there are only four
species on the Atlantic coast of our continent; of these, two have been
discovered within the past decade, and the others, though well known and
widely distributed, are not of great importance. The Rose-fish, Sedastes
marinus, is Conspicuous among cold-water fishes by its brilliant scarlet
color; it is known as ‘‘ Red Perch,’’* ‘‘ Norway Haddock,’’ ‘‘ Hemdur-
gan,’’ and ‘‘Snapper,’’ as ‘‘ Bream’’ in Gloucester, Mass., and ‘‘ John
Dory ’’ at Halifax, Nova Scotia. It is found also in Northern Europe,
where it has been recorded as far south as Newcastle, in Northern England,
latitude 55°,+ and it has been observed in Aberdeen and Berwick, and in
Zetland, where it is called ‘‘ Bergylt’’ and ‘‘ Norway Haddock.”’
?
* In distinction from the ‘‘ blue perch”’ or ‘‘ cunner’”’ (Ctenolabrus adspersus), which it resembles in form,
though not in color.
+ GUNTHER; Cat. Fishes Brit. Mus. 2, p. 26.
17
258 AMERICAN FISHES.
On the eastern side of the North sea the species has not been seen south
of Gothenborg, latitude 58°, but is said to be abundant along the entire
western coast of Norway to North Cape and Varanger Fjord in East Fin-
mark, while Malmgren records it from Baren Island, and Scoresby from
Spitzbergen, in latitude 80°. In Iceland it is abundant, and in Davis’
Straits, at least as far north as Disco, where it is found associated with the
halibut, and is said to constitute a liberal share of its food. In Eastern
Labrador, about Newfoundland, and in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, it is
abundant, and also along the shores of Nova Scotia and in the Bay of
Fundy. In these northern regions the Rose-fish prefers shallow water,
and may be taken in the greatest abundance in the bays and around the
wharves in company with the sculpins and the cunners or blue perch. On
the coast of the United States, south of the Bay of Fundy, they are rarely
seen near the shore, but have been found in deep water in all parts of the
Gulf of Maine and Massachusetts Bay, and also abundantly south of Cape
Cod. In the fall of 1880 the United States Fish Commission obtained
great quantities of them, young and old. DeKay included this fish in his
New York list, stating, however, that it was very rare in those waters.
He remarks that ‘‘ the coast of New York is probably its extreme southern
limite”
Of late years none have been taken south of the locality already men-
tioned, which was in water from one to three hundred fathoms in depth,
at the inner edge of the Gulf stream, from fifty to one hundred miles
southwest of Newport, and about the same distance east of Sandy Hook.
A hundred or two hundred miles farther south it is replaced by a fish
resembling it somewhat in form and color, Scorfena dactyloptera, De la
Roche, discovered by the Fish Commission during the past year, and by
Scorpena Stearnst, detected at Pensacola by Silas Stearns, and at Charles-
ton “by €.°H-Gilbert:
It may fairly be said that the Rose-fish, as a shore species, is not known
south of parallel 42°, which is 13° south of its transatlantic limit. When
the deep waters of Southern Europe have been as carefully explored as
those of the United States, it is probable that the range of this fish will be
extended considerably further to the south.
The temperature range of the Rose-fish corresponds closely to that of
the halibut, and its limits will, on more careful study, probably be found
°
included between 32° and 50°. It is found everywhere on the shallow
PLA LOST, LSE AID MM SALE LEGS. © 250
off-shore banks north of Cape Cod, where it attains its greatest size. A
specimen, brought in by one of the Gloucester halibut schooners, was
about two feet in length and weighed about fourteen pounds. Along the
Maine coast they are much smaller than this, rarely exceeding eight or ten
inches and the weight of twelve ounces, though occasionally growing to
the weight of one and a half pounds.
In Scandinavia there have been recognized two species; one, a large,
orange-colored form, inhabiting deep water, known to the Norwegians as
the ‘‘ Red-fish ’’ (Roed-fisk), and considered to be S. marinus (.S. norwe-
gicus); the other, a smaller species of much deeper color, called the
‘‘Lysanger,’’ and described by Kroyer under the name ‘‘.S. wiviparus,’’
and by Ekstrém as ‘‘.S. regudus.’’ After the most careful study of all the
specimens in the National Museum, we have been unable to recognize
more than one species on our coast, and recent Norwegian ichthyologists,
among them especially Mr. Robert Collett, believe that the two Norwegian
forms are not actually distinct species, but that the smaller one is simply
a pigmy race which 1s especially adapted to live in the long, shallow fiords
of that region. Dr. Liitken, always conservative, is inclined to believe
the two forms distinct, regarding the large fish of the deep water as the
primitive type from which the smaller littoral form has been derived by
development. According to the last mentioned authority, the two forms
have very different geographical distribution, S. wvzfarus inhabiting the
shallows in the vicinity of the Faroe Islands, Southern Sweden, Norway,
and New England, but unknown to Great Britain, Denmark, Finmark,
Iceland, and Greenland; while S. marvznus is found in Greenland and
Iceland and all the length of the Norwegian coast, in Spitzbergen, Baren
Island, on the coasts of Denmark, and occasionally in the north of
England and Ireland. Possibly, he suggests, it inhabits the deep waters
at a distance from shore, off the Faroe Islands and North America, but
that is not yet certainly known. S. wiviparus, then, he declares, is a
form less arctic as well as more littoral.
This subject is here referred to in the hope that additional observations
may be drawn out tending to settle the question whether or not there
are two forms of Sesastes on the American coast. It seems, however,
improbable, since the physical conditions are so different from those under
which they occur on the other side of the Atlantic.
The food of the Rose-fish consists, like that of its cousins, the sculpins,
260 AMERICAN FISHES.
of small fish, crustaceans, and, to some extent, of mollusks, although its
teeth are formed for crushing the thick-shelled species. In Greenland they
are said to feed upon the pole-flounder. A specimen taken off Eastern
Point, Gloucester, in July, 1878, had its throat full of shrimp-like crusta-
ceans (AZysts, sp.), and others, taken at Eastport, were feeding extensively
on a larger crustacean ( Zhysanopoda, sp.), which is also a favorite food of
the mackerel. They may be caught with almost any kind of bait, but are
not, lke their associates, the cunners, given to feeding upon refuse
substances, and, being also more shy and watchful, cannot be captured in
bag-nets. They breed in summer, from June to September, in deep holes
in Massachusetts Bay and off the coast of Southern New England, where
it has not been uncommon for the Fish Commission to obtain thousands of
young ones, two and three inches long, at one set of the trawl-net, and
also adults full of spawn. The young are lighter in color than the adults,
and are conspicuously banded with reddish-brown upon a grayish ground.
The young constitute a favorite food of the codfish, while, at all ages, they
are preyed upor by the halibut and other large predaceous fishes of the
cold-water districts.
Although the Rose-fish is much esteemed as an article of food, and is
caught in considerable numbers all along the coast of Maine and the
British Provinces in the season when it frequents the shallows near the
shore, and in winter at Gloucester when flocking in large numbers into the
harbor, the most extensive fisheries are probably on the coast of Green-
land, where they are highly prized by the natives, who feed on the flesh
and use the spines of fins for needles, and in Massachusetts Bay, where
great quantities are taken by the Imsh market-fishermen on trawling-lines.
In winter they are occasionally found in the New York markets, and on
one or two occasions have been brought in considerable numbers to New
Haven, and even to Philadelphia. The flesh is firm, rich, and delicate in
flavor; the young fish, fried crisp, make an excellent substitute for white-
bait.
The naturalists on the ‘‘ Albatross’
this sort set before them, when the trawl net has brought up bushels of
the young Rose-fish from the ocean depths.
The writer once had the pleasure of testing the flavor of this species
under peculiarly favorable circumstances. It was during the Fisheries
Exhibition of 1883, and the occasion was thus described at the time in the
b]
sometimes have a famous dish of
London ‘‘ Times.’’
TEE LOSE-FLSH AND ITS ALLIES. 261
‘¢On Thursday, May 17, the Prince of Wales entertained the Foreign
and Colonial Commissioners at luncheon in the Royal Pavilion. Souches
of trout and eels, lets de Soles a la Normande, Mullets Barbés a la
Genoise, Scotch Salmon, grilled Severn trout, eels fried in the manner
designated as a 7 /rlandaise, and White-bait constituted the fish depart-
ment, as set down in print, but the greatest success was a well prepared
impromptu, not on the card. It so happened that in the fish market was
a consignment from Hull, of the Norwegian ‘bergylt,’ little known in
London, but quickly identified by the Earl of Ducie, a leading authority
dn the subject of Norway fishing. Being a rather dry fish, though the
flakiness and the flavor are not unworthy of comparison with the red
mullet, it was judged expedient by the ccf to deal with the bergylt, as a
Continental artist might deal by the pike. So after being marinaded for
three hours, with fine oil, this Norwegian fish was expertly treated with
yolk of eggs and cream, fried in a hght batter, and served at the moment
of perfection. It remains to be said that nothing of the fish was left.’’
On the Pacific coast, as has already been stated, the fishes of this family,
known as Rock-cod and Rockfish, are of great importance, and many of
them are illustrated in the ‘‘ The Food Fishes and Fishery Industries of
the United States.’’ For accurate identification it 1s necessary to resort
to Jordan’s ‘‘Synopsis.’’ They have been discussed briefly by President
Jordan, who writes as follows :
One of the most remarkable features of the California fish fauna is the
enormous abundance both in individuals and in species of the group of
Scorpenide. All of them are excellent food-fishes, and scarcely a boat
returns from any kind of fishing in which these fishes do not form a con-
spicuous part of the catch. In every fish market they are found, and from
their large size and brilliant coloration they are everywhere the most
conspicuous fishes on the stalls.
These fishes have so many traits in common, that a review of the group
as a whole is desirable before we proceed to the consideration of the several
species.
These fishes are universally known by the names of Rockfish and Rock-
cod. The latter name is the one most commonly heard, the other name
being apparently a reaction against the obvious error of calling these fish
‘*Cod.’’ The name Rockfish is an appropriate one, and in time it will
probably supplant that of Rock-cod. The name Cod or Codfish is never
applied to them without the accompanying ‘‘ Rock.’’ In the southern
part of California, the name ‘‘ Garrupa’’ or ‘* Grouper’’ is in common
262 AMERICAN FISHES.
use, especially for the olivaceous species. This is a Portuguese word, and
belonged originally to the species of “pinephe/us and related genera.
Different species have also special names, mostly given by the Portuguese:
fishermen. These are noticed below.
The average size of the species of the group is about fifteen inches in
length, and a weight of two or three pounds. Some of them reach a
length of nearly three feet, and a weight of twelve pounds. Nothing is
known of their rate of growth.
The greatest abundance both of individuals and of species in this group
is to be found from Santa Barbara to San Francisco. the maximum about
Monterey. They occur from Cerros Island, where they are rather scarce,
at least as far as Kodiak, and other species similar are found on the coasts
of Japan and Chih. The individuals are extremely local. Most of the
species are found about rocky reefs, often in considerable depths, and they
probably stray but little from their abodes. In general, the red species
inhabit greater depths than the brown or green ones, and the latter swim
about more freely. Their abundance on certain reefs about Monterey and
the Farallones is doubtless being diminished ; elsewhere there has been
little danger of over-fishing. All are predatory and voracious, feeding
mainly upon other fishes, and sometimes on crustaceans.
All of the species are ovo-viviparous. The eggs are small and exceed-
ingly numerous, and are hatched within the body. The eggs themselves
are bright yellow. In the spring, at a season varying with the latitude,
and perhaps with different species, these yellow eggs turn to a grayish
color. If then examined, the two eyes of the young fish can be distinctly
seen. Later a slender body appears, with traces of vertical fins, the length
then being about one-fourth to one-third of an inch. They are probably
extruded at about the length of one-third of an inch, and in a very slender
and pellucid condition, as I have never seen them in any more advanced
stage of development. Nothing is known of the modes of copulation, nor
of the circumstances under which the young are excluded, but the time of
breeding is probably for the most part in May. Young fishes of one and
a half to two inches are common in August, and in the fall they are large
enough (S. paucispinis, flavidus) to be taken with hook and line from the
wharves. Individuals of less than six or eight inches are rare in the spring,
and the fish of that length are probably a year old.
The enemies of these fishes are of course their predatory neighbors, and
THE ROSH-FISH AND ITS ALLIES. 26
Ge
the larger individuals prey upon the smaller. The hag-fish (Podistrotrema)
destroys considerable numbers. They are usually:very free from internal
parasites.
~All the members of this family rank high as food-fishes. The flesh is
firm and white, and, although not very delicate, is of a fair quality. That
of Scorpena guttata is probably best; that of Sebastichthys mystinus brings
the lowest price in market, but the prejudice against the latter species
perhaps rests on its color.
The Scorpene, Scorpena guttata, is known also by the names
*«Scorpion’’ and ‘‘Sculpin.’’ <‘‘Scorpene’’ (Scolpina), in common use
among the Italian fishermen, is of course the name of Seorfena porcus, S.
scrofa, and other Mediterranean fishes, transferred to this very similar
North American fish. The wound made by the dorsal spines of this fish 1s
excessively painful, far more so than the sting of a bee, as though the
spines had some venomous secretion. The name Scorfena is evidently
derived from this. This species reaches a length of something over a foot
and a weight of about two pounds. It is found only from Point Concep-
tion southward to Ascension Island, living about rocks and kelp, but often
entering the bays. It is generally common, and takes the hook freely.
It feeds upon crustacea and small fishes, and spawns in spring. Nothing
distinctive is known of its breeding habits. Asa food-fish it ranks with
the best, being superior to the species of Sedastichthys, and it always is in
good demand where known.
The Black-banded Rockfish, Sedastichthys migrocinctus, has, so far as we
know, received no distinctive name from the fishermen. It reaches a
weight of about four pounds and a length of eighteen to twenty inches.
It ranges from Monterey northward, being found only in deep water (ten
to twenty fathoms). About San Francisco it is exceedingly rare, not half
a dozen usually coming into the market in a year. In the Straits of Fuca
and outside in the open ocean it is tolerably abundant. The food and
the breeding habits, as far as known, differ little in this family, and the
general remarks on the group apply to all the species of Sedastichthys.
As a food-fish this species sells readily on account of its brilliant and at-
tractive colors, second only in brilliancy to those of the ‘‘ Spanish Flag.’’
Sebastichthys serriceps, wherever this species receives a distinctive
mame, is known as the ‘‘Tree-fish,’? an appellation originating
with the Portuguese at Monterey, and without obvious application.
264 AMERICAN FISHES.
Southward it is confounded with other species as a Garrupa. Its size is
rather less than that of S. migrocinctus, which it much resembles. It
ranges from San Martin Island to San Francisco, being found in rather
deep water among rocks. It is most common about the Santa Barbara
Islands, and is rare in the markets of San Francisco. It is a handsomely
colored species, and therefore sells well in the markets.
THE TREE FISH.
The Speckled Garruta, Sebastichthys nebulosus, is known as ‘‘ Garrupa’”’
and ‘‘ Rock:cod,’’ rarely receiving any distinctive name. It reaches a
weight of three and one-half pounds. It ranges from Monterey to Puget
Sound, being generally common at all points, and most abundant north-
ward. It lives in water of moderate depth. It forms about two per cent.
of the total rockfish catch, and is always readily salable. It is the most
attractive in color of any of the dark-colored species.
The Black and Yellow Garrupa, Sebastichthys chrysomelas, is also con-
founded under the names ‘‘ Garrupa’’ and ‘‘ Codfish.’’ It is one of the
smaller species, reaching a weight of about two pounds. It ranges from
San Nicolas Island to San Francisco, and is generally common in water of
moderate depth, although not one of the most abundant species. It is an
attractive fish in color and therefore readily salable.
The Flesh-colored Garrupa, Sedastichthys carnatus, reaches a somewhat
larger size than the last, and ranges from Santa Barbara to San Francisco.
About San Francisco it is considerably more abundant, forming nearly
seven per cent. of the total rockfish catch.
9
THE ROSE-FISH, AND TPS ALLIES. 26
The Yellow-backed Rockfish, Sebastichthys maliger, seems to have no
distinct name in common use. It ranges from Monterey to Puget Sound,
in rather deep water. It is not very common about San Francisco, but
many are caught in the Straits of Fuca. It is one of the largest of the
species, reaching a weight of six or eight pounds. As a food-fish it is not
so good as some of the others.
The Red Garrupa, Sebastichthys caurinus and sub-species vexil/aris, is
known as ‘‘Garrupa,’’ ‘‘ Rockfish’’ and ‘‘ Rock-cod.’’ It reaches a
length of twenty inches and a weight of six pounds. ‘It ranges from San
Nicolas to Puget Sound, being generally common in water of moderate
depth. It is subject to greater variations than any other species in the
different parts of its range. It forms about seven. per cent. of the total
rock-cod catch. Its flesh ranks as about average.
The Grass Rockfish, Sedastichthys rastrelliger, like all those of dusky
color, is known as ‘‘Garrupa.’’ At San Francisco it is often called
«¢ Grass Rockfish,’’ perhaps from its color. It reaches a weight of two to
four pounds. It lives in water of moderate depth, and is rather common
everywhere from San Nicolas to Humboldt Bay. Its abundance is greatest
south of Point Conception. It 1s said to be the best of all the Rockfish
for the table, and to be an especial favorite with the Jews.
The Brown Rockfish, Seéastichthys auriculatus, seldom receives a dis-
tinctive name from the fishermen. It reaches a weight of three or four
pounds, although, as usually seen in the markets, it is smaller than any
other of the species. This is owing to the fact that its young are caught
in seines in the bay, while those of other species are less frequently taken,
and then only in the open ocean. It ranges from San Martin Island to
Puget Sound, living in shallow water and entering all the bays, and being
taken with a hook from all the wharves. It is thus apparently more
abundant than any other species, although in actual numbers probably
many of the deep-water forms (S. flavidus, pinniger, rosaceus) far exceed
it. Asa food-fish it is held in lower esteem than most of the others.
The Pesce-Vermiglia, Sebastichthys chlorostictus, is called <‘‘ Pesce-
Vermiglia,’’ or ‘‘ Vermilion-fish,’’ by the Portuguese fishermen at Monte-
rey. It is known only from Monterey Bay and the Farallones, occurring
about the rocks in considerable depths of water and being taken only with
the hook. In its native haunts it isnotarare species. It reaches a weight
of three or four pounds, and is excellent food.
266 AME RICAN FISHES.
The inexplicable name of ‘‘ Fly-fish’’ is given to one species, Sebastich-
thys rhodochlorts, by the fishermen at Monterey. Like the preceding, it is
known only from very deep water about Monterey and the Farallones. It
is one of the smallest species, rarely weighing more than a pound.
The Corsair, Sedastichthys rosaceus, is known to the Portuguese fisher-
?
men at Monterey by the name ‘‘ Corsair,’’ a name of uncertain application
transplanted from the Azores. It is one of the smallest species; rarely
weighing more than a pound anda half. It ranges from Santa Barbara
to San Francisco, in deep water, and where found, it is the most abund-
ant of the red species. When the weather permits outside fishing with
trawl-lines this is one of the most abundant species in the San Francisco
markets. It ranks high as a food-fish.
The Spotted Corsair, Sedastichthys constellatus, in size, distribution,
habits and value agrees with the ‘‘ Corsair.’’ It is, however, consider-
ably less abundant, although not a rare fish in the markets of San
Francisco.
Two specimens only of the Yellow Rockfish, Sebastichthys umbrosus, are
known, both of which are from Santa Barbara.
At Monterey, the Spanish-Flag, Sedastichthys rubricinctus, is known by
the very appropriate name of ‘‘ Spanish Flag,’’ from its broad bands of
red, white, and red. It reaches a weight of about six pounds. It is found
in very deep water on rocky reefs about Santa Barbara and Monterey. It
is perhaps the least common in the markets of all the species, except S. um-
brosus. In coloration it is the most brilliant fish on the coast.
The Red Rockfish, Sedastichthys ruber, is usually the ‘‘ Red Rockfish’’
par excellence. At Monterey it evidently attains a weight of twelve or
more pounds, and is called by the Portuguese ‘‘Tambor.’’ It ranges
from Santa Barbara to Puget Sound, its abundance increasing to the
northward. It lives in water of considerable depth. In the markets of
San Francisco it is one of the most common species. Large specimens
about Victoria, in the Straits of Fuca, had the skull above the brain
infected by an encysted parasite worm. Great numbers of them were
seen in the Straits of Fuca, according to Mr. Swan, swimming stupidly
near the surface, so torpid that the Indians killed them with clubs.
According to the Indians, they had been struck by the Thunder-bird,
which, with its companion, the Lightning-fish, causes many of the phe-
nomena in that region. The smaller specimens of this species rank well
as food-fishes ; the larger ones are likely to be coarse or tough.
THE ROSE-FISH, AND TTS ALLIES. 267
Sebastichthys miniatus 1s known to the Portuguese fishermen at Mon-
terey as the ‘‘ Rasher,’’ a name of uncertain origin and othography.
It ranges from Santa Barbara to San Francisco, ving in water of
moderate depth. It is comparatively common, and is frequently seen in
the markets, though in much less numbers than S. ruder and S. pinniger.
In size and quality it agrees closely with S. pzuniger.
The Orange Rockfish, Sedastichthys pinniger, is usually called simply
‘*Red Rock-cod’”’ or ‘‘ Red Rockfish,’’ and not distinguished from the
two preceding. The Portuguese at Monterey know it by the name
‘¢Fliaum,’’ a word of unknown origin. It is one of the largest species,
reaching a weight of eight or ten pounds. It ranges from Monterey to
Puget Sound, being generally very abundant in deep water, where it is
taken on trawl-lines. This is probably the most abundant of the larger
species. At San Francisco individuals are often found with black dis-
colored areas, looking like ink-blotches, on their sides. No cause for this
has been noticed, and if it be a disease it does not seem to discommode
the fish. In the market this species grades with S. ruder, and like it, is
often split and salted.
The Green Garrupa, Sebastichthys atrovirens, 1s commonly known as
‘*Garrupa’’ and ‘‘ Green Rockfish,’”’ being rarely distinguished from 5.
rastrelliger. It reaches a weight of about three pounds. It ranges from
San Diego to Monterey, being more southerly in its distribution than the
other species. It lives in rocky places, in rather shallow water, and is
generally common, especially south of Point Conception. — It is considered
excellent food.
Sebastichthys elongatus is known as ‘‘Reina,’’ or the Queen, at
Monterey. It is a small fish, reaching a weight of less than two pounds,
and lives in deep water about Monterey and the Farallones. It is never
very common in the markets, although frequently taken in considerable
numbers.
The Red Rockfish of Alaska, Sebastichthys proriger, in habits, agrees
with .S. elongatus. It is usually still smaller, rarely weighing more than a
pound. Its range extends northward to the Aleutian Islands, where it
reaches a large size, and is of considerable importance as a food-fish.
Sebastichthys ovalis is known at Monterey as ‘‘Viuva’’ or the
Widow ; the reason not evident. It reaches a weight of three or four
pounds. It is found from Santa Barbara to Monterey, in deep water, and
is seldom brought to market.
268 AMERICAN FISHES.
Sebastichthys sentomelas is very similar to the preceding in size and
habits. Thus far it has been only found in deep water outside of Monte-
rey Bay.
Sebastichthys mystinus, is most generally called the ‘‘ Black Rock-
fish,’? but in Puget Sound is known, with its more abundant relative,
Sebastichthys melanops, as the ‘‘ Black Bass.’’ The Portuguese at Monterey
call it ‘* Pesce Prétre,’’ or Priest-fish, in allusion to its dark colors, so
different from those of most of the other members of the family. It
reaches a weight of five pounds, but as usually seen in the markets, varies
from two to three. It ranges from Santa Barbara to Vancouver’s Island,
inhabiting waters of moderate depths. It 1s much more abundant about
Monterey and San Francisco than either northward or southward, and
large numbers are taken in Tomales Bay. In the markets of San Fran-
cisco it is found, taking the year through, in greater numbers than any
other species. It sells at a lower price than the others, its color causing
a prejudice against it, although the quality of the fish doubtless differs
little from that of the rest.
Specimens of the Alaska Black Rockfish, Sedastichthys ctliatus, from the
Islands are in the National Museum. Nothing distinctive is known in
regard to its habits, which probably agree with those of S. me/anops.
The Spotted Black Rockfish, Sedastichthys melanops, 1s founded with 5S.
mystinus by the fishermen, under the name of ‘‘ Black Bass’’ in Puget
Sound, ‘‘ Black Rockfish’’ in San Francisco, and ‘‘ Pesce Pretre’’ at
Monterey. In size and value it agrees with S. mystimus. Its range is
more northerly, from Monterey to Puget Sound, being not very common
at San Francisco, and one of the most abundant species in Puget Sound.
The Yellow-Tail Rockfish, Sedastichthys flavidus, is occasionally called
the ‘‘ Green Rockfish’’ or ‘* Rock-cod’’ at San Francisco. At Monterey
it is always known by the appropriate name of ‘‘ Yellow-tail,’’ the caudal
fin being always distinctively yellow. ‘To distinguish it from the Yellow-
tail of further south we may call it the Yellow-tail Rockfish. This species
reaches a weight of six and seven pounds, but its usual weight is about
two. It ranges from Santa Catalina Island to Cape Mendocino, and is
taken both in deep water and near shore. About Monterey and San
Francisco it is very abundant, and is one of the principal species in the
markets. As a food-fish it is considered as one of the best in the group.
About Monterey and San Francisco, the Boccacio, Sebastodes paucispints,
RAE ROSE-BISH,, AN DIEES ALLIES. 269
is known as ‘‘ Boccacio’’ or ‘‘ Boccac’”’ (do0catch) to the Italians, and as
‘¢Mérou’’ (maroo) to the Portuguese. American fishermen use the name
‘¢ Jack,’’ and those who fish for the young from the wharves call them
‘¢Tom-cod.’’ The name ‘‘Boccacio’’ (Big-mouthed) is very appro-
priate; ‘‘Mérou’’ is transferred from Atlantic species of Lpznephelus ;
‘¢Jack’’ comes from the species of Hsox and Strzostedium, which in the
Southern States are called by that name. This species is one of the largest
of the group, reaching the weight of twelve to fifteen pounds. Its average
size in the markets is greater than that of any of the others. It ranges
from the Santa Barbara Islands to Cape Mendocino. It inhabits reefs in
deep water, only the young coming near the shore. It is rather more
abundant southward than about San Francisco. It 1s, however, a common
market-fish, and its flesh is considered excellent. It is probably the most
voracious of the family.
Five species of the genus Sedastichthys, namely, S. melanops, S. caurinus,
S. maliger, S. proriger, and S. ciliatus, attain to large size and consider-
able commercial importance in Alaska, and are discussed by Dr. Bean in
his paper on the ‘‘ Shore Fisheries of Alaska ’’ in another section of this
work. S. melanops is called ‘‘ Black Bass’’ at Sitka.
The Rock Trouts, Chrzd@, a family of fish of considerable importance
on our Pacific coast,is that of the Cizrzd@, or Rock Trouts, no representa-
tives of which are known in the Atlantic. One or two species of the
family occur in the sea of Japan.
The Boregata, Hexagrammus Stellert, is known in Puget Sound by the
Italian name of ‘‘ Boregata”’ or ‘‘ Boregat.’’ The name ‘‘Starling’”’
applied to some fish, supposed by us to be this species, in the Straits of
Fuca. It reaches a length of fifteen inches and a weight of three pounds.
It ranges from Puget Sound to Kamtchatka. In Puget Sound it is com-
paratively abundant, living about rocks. It spawns in July. It feeds on
crustaceans, worms, and fishes, and apparently gets its food on the bottom
in deep water, as the animals taken from its stomach are often of a kind
not seen near shore. Its intestines are very often full of long tnioid
worms, supposed to be parasitic. As a food-fish, it ranks with the other
Rock-trout, being of fair quality, but inferior to Ophzodon and Sedastichthys.
The name ‘‘ Boregata,’’ is applied to the Green Rock Trout, /exa-
grammus decagrammus, by the Italians on Puget Sound. The name
‘Rock Cod”’ is also given to it. From San Francisco southward, the
is
270 AMERICAN FISHES.
names ‘‘ Rock Trout’’ and ‘‘Sea Trout’’ are common. The Portuguese
at Monterey call it ‘‘ Bodieron.’’ It reaches a length of fifteen inches
and a weight of two or three pounds. It ranges from San Luis Obispo to
Alaska, and is much more generally common than any of the other species,
and large numbers are brought into the market of San Francisco. It lives
in rocky places of no great depth. It feeds voraciously on crustaceans and
worms. Itspawnsin July. It dies at once on being taken from the
water, and the flesh becomes rigid and does not keep as well as that of
the rock-fish. It is a food-fish of fair quality, but not of fine. The sexes
are very unlike in color, and have been taken for distinct species.
THE CULTUS COD.
The Cultus Cod, Ophiodon elongatus, is universally called ‘‘ Cod-fish,’’
where the true cod is unknown. About Puget Sound the English call it
‘«‘Ling.’’ Among the Americans the word ‘‘cod’’ is used with some
distinctive adjective, as Cultus Cod (‘‘cultus’’ in the Chinook jargon,
meaning of “ttle worth), ‘‘ Bastard Cod,’’ ‘‘ Buffalo Cod,’’ etc. The
name ‘‘ Blue Cod ”’ is also given to it from the color of its flesh. The
name ‘‘ Rock Cod ’’ apphed to other Chiroids and to Sebastichthys, and
thence even transferred to Serranus, comes from an appreciation of their
affinity to Ophiodon, and not from any supposed resemblance to the true
cod-fish. The Cultus Cod reaches a length of five feet, and a weight of
fifty or sixty pounds, the largest specimens being taken in northern waters.
Many very small ones come into the San Francisco market, being taken
in the sweep-nets of the paranzelle. These weigh less than a pound; the
average of the large ones is from six to ten pounds. It ranges from Santa
Barbara to Alaska, being very abundant everywhere north of Point Con-
ception. It lives about rocky places, and sometimes in considerable
depths, and spawns in summer. It feeds upon fishes and crustacea and is
excessively voracious. It often swallows a red rockfish when the latter is
THE ROSE-FISH. AND TITS ALLIES. 27
on the hook, and is thus taken. Like other large fishes, it 1s subject to
the attacks of the hag-fish (Po/strotrema). As a food-fish it holds a high
rank, being considered rather superior to the rockfish. From its great
abundance, it is one of the most important fishes on the Pacific coast.
Zaniolepis latipinnts ranges from San Francisco northward in deep water.
It reaches a length of about a foot, and is of no economic value.
The bright-colored little fish, Oxyledius pictus, ranges from Santa Bar-
bara to Vancouver’s Island, living among rocks near shore. It reaches
a length of six inches, is rarely taken and is then used only for bait.
THE BESHOW.
The Beshow, Avxoplopoma fimbria, is generally known in Puget Sound
by the name of ‘‘ Horse-mackerel.’’ At San Francisco it is usually
called ‘‘ Candle-fish.’’ In the market it is sometimes fraudulently sold
as Spanish mackerel. It reaches a iength of twenty inches and a weight
of five pounds. It ranges from Monterey northward to Sitka, in rather
deep water, and is generally common, especially northward. At Seattle
it is one of the most abundant fishes, but in the San Francisco market it
is seldom seen in large numbers. It feeds on crustaceans, worms, and
small fishes.
In the Straits of Fuca it reaches a much larger size thaa has been
noticed elsewhere. It is here very highly valued by the Indians, accord-
ing to Mr. Swan. It is called by the Indians: ‘‘ Beshow,’’ and is the
‘* Black-cod,’’ of recent writers. Mr. James G. Swan has given a full
report upon its habits in a recent Bulletin of the Fish Commission,* and
has forwarded some of the salted fish for examination. The writer is not
prepared to give to Avxoplopoma a position as yet among the finest of
American fishes, although it is no doubt an excellent kind for local
consumption.
* Vol. V. 1885, pp. 225-34.
272 AMERICAN FISHES.
In Alaska, according to Dr. Bean, the most important chiroid fishes
are Ophiodon elongatus, Anoplopoma fimbria, Hexagrammus decagrammus,
FHT. lagocephalus, H. ordinatus, H. asper, and the ‘* Yellow-fish,’’ ‘‘ Striped
Fish,’’ or ‘‘ Atka Mackerel,’ Pleurogrammus moncpterygius (Pallas) Gill,
which is the chief of them all. This fish is most abundant about the
Aleutian chain and the Shumagins, its northern limit as now understood
being about Kodiak, and its western limit at Atka. It congregates in
immense schools, and can be taken in purse-seines like the mackerel,
which it strongly resembles in taste after being salted in the same manner.
In this connection, not because of zoological affinities, but in order
that a majority of the principal food-fishes of the Pacific slope may be dis-
cussed in one chapter, it seems appropriate to refer to the Embiotocoids
or Surf-fishes. Full descriptions of the various members of this multiform
genus are given by President Jordan in his ‘‘ Synopsis’’ and in the great
Fisheries quarto. Here I can only quote what the same authority has to
say of the group as a whole:
‘¢This remarkable group of fishes forms the most characteristic feature
of the fauna of our Pacific coast. Of the nineteen species now known, all
but one (Ditrema Temminckt of Japan) occur on the coast of California,
and most of them in very great abundance. The species are most of them
very similar in habits and economic value, and the following general
remarks are proffered before proceeding to the discussion of the different
species.
‘«The general name ‘‘ Perch’’ is applied to these fishes everywhere
along the coast. This unfortunate misnomer came about from their re-
semblance to the sun-fishes or ‘‘ perch’’ of the Southern States, and to the
‘¢white perch,’’ Roccus americanus, of the East. On the coast of Oregon
the larger species (especially Damalchthys argyrosomus) are called
‘‘Porgy’’ or ‘* Porgee,’’ in allusion to their undoubted resemblance to
the scup or porgee of the East. The names ‘‘ Minny,’’ ‘‘Sparada’’ and
‘¢Moharra,’’ are also apphed to the smaller species northward. About
San Francisco, the name ‘‘ Perch”? is given to them all, as well as to Archo-
plites interruptus, and separate names for the different species are seldom
heard. From Monterey southward, the name ‘‘ Surf-fish’’ is in common
use, although the name ‘‘ Perch’? is still more common.
‘« The largest, Rhacochilus toxotes, reaches a weight of four pounds ; the
smallest, Afcona minima, a length of four or five inches. So far as we are
able to judge, the growth of the young are quite rapid, as the specimens
are about half grown the first winter, and probably reach full size in two
and a half to three winters—perhaps, in some cases, 1n the second year.
‘“The center of distribution of this group is from Santa Barbara to
27
LAE ROSE -FTSH AND TTS ALLIES. 278
Tomales Bay. Northward the number of species decreases, while the
number of individuals is perhaps, equally great as far as the Gulf of
Georgia. Southward both individuals and species rapidly diminish in
number.
‘ Their range probably extends from Cerros Island to Sitka; certainly
no further. Most of them live in shallow water, on a sandy bottom, both
in the open sea and in sheltered bays. <A seine drawn in the surf will
often be filled with the silvery species (Amphistichus ; Holconotus), and
seine drawn in a bay may be equally full of Detrema laterale, Ditrema
Jacksoni, etc. One species is confined to the fresh waters. Nearly all of
them feed chiefly on crustacea, together with such small fish as they can
swallow. The species of Abeona are chiefly herbivorous, feeding on
seaweed.
‘« The Embiotocoids are all oviparous. The young are fifteen to twenty
in number, and are brought forth in summer: when born, the little fish
are from three-fourths of an inch to two and a half inches in length, ac-
cording to the species. They are closely packed together in the uterus,
the inner surface of which forms folds partly separating the young from
each other. The young are at first excessively compressed, with the soft
parts of the vertical fins excessively elevated. As their development pro-
ceeds they resemble more and more the parent, and when born their form
is quite similar, the body, however, more compressed, the fins higher, and
the color usually red.
‘¢Tmpregnation probably takes place in the fall. In January most of the
species have the young half grown, as to length, and when the parent fish
is caught the young readily slip out from the ovary. From January to
June fie fish-stalls where these fishes are sold are littered with these fcetal
fish. Little is known of the place of spawning, but I suppose that the
young are simply extruded in the water just outside the breakers and left
to shift for themselves. As to the mode of impregnation, we have made
no observations. Dr. Blake thinks that the fleshy thickening on the anal
fin of the male is to give the female something to hold to with the ventral
fins, and that the two sexes approach each other, ventral surfaces together,
and with their heads in opposite directions. They have no special enemies
except the larger predatory fishes and the fishermen, who destroy great
numbers at the breeding time. No diseases have been noticed.
«¢ The species are all, with the exception of two or three of the smallest,
used as food. Their flesh is watery, flavorless, and much inferior to that
of the Scorpenoid, Scizenoid and Percoid fishes. and only their abundance
gives them value. Great quantities of them are consumed by the Chinese.”’
13
THE MUSKELLUNGE.
PIKE, MUSKELEUNGESAND: PICKERE
I will give thee for thy food
No fish that useth in the mud,
But trout and pike, that love toswim
Where the gravel from the brim,
Through the pure streams may be seen.
BEAUMONT AND FLetcHEr, 7he Faithful Shepherdess, 1611.
The goodly well-grown trout, I with my angle strike,
And with my bearded wire, I take the ravenous pike
Drayton, 7he Muses Elysium, Nymphal IV.
NE of the most ancient among the families of fresh-water fishes, is
that of the Pike—the “#soc7da—a group of physostomous fishes,
closely related to the flying-fishes, and the cyprinedonts, and not very dis-
tantly related to the Salmon tribe. This family contains only the genus
Esox, which embraces five species, all natives of North America, one, the
Pike, being a resident of the Old World, as well. Geologists tell us that
remains of the Pike are found in abundance in the quartemary deposits of
Europe, and that this, or closely related species,occur in the diluvial marl
of Silesia, and in the chalks of the GEningen region. The wide distribu-
tion of the Pike throughout the northern regions of Europe, Asia and
America, indicates that this species was in existence many centuries ago,
before the three continents became so widely differentiated as they are at
the present time.
The Pike being the oldest, the most widely distributed, and the best
known member of its tribe, shall serve as the text for this chapter, and
the type with which the related species shall be compared. So few,
however, have been the observations in this country, and so much has
Esox luctus been confused with the other species of the genus, that it
TE PIKE, MOSKELLONGE AND: PICKERET. 275
seems impracticable to compile from American authorities a satisfactory
account of its life history, and in default thereof, frequent references must
be made to the studies of European observers.
THE PIKE.
In Eastern America, the Pike is abundant as far south as Ohio; its
northward range has not been determined, but since its existence on the
Island of Kodiak, in Alaska, has been demonstrated by Dr. Bean,
there is every reason to believe that it will be found pretty generally dis-
tributed throughout British America. It has not been recorded from
Greeniand, or the islands of the Polar Sea. Its European range extends
from Britain to Silesia, and doubtless east to Kamtchatka, throughout the
Scandinavian peninsula, and north in Lapland, even beyond the limits of
the birch-tree. It inhabits most of the rivers and lakes of European
276 AMERICAN FISHES.
Russia and Siberia, but does not enter those of the Trans-Caucasus, and
the Crimea. On the south it enters Roumania, and has been found in the
Lake of St. Stefanos, near Constantinople, in the lagoons of Venice, in
Switzerland and France, but not in the Iberian peninsula.
It is found in all parts of Germany, not only in the high mountain
region, but along the sea-coast of Northern Germany, and even close to the
shores of the Baltic. The highest vertical distribution on the northern side
of the Alps, is in the Tyrolean Lake of Halden, 3,618 feet. On the
south, it occurs in certain lakes of the Tyrol, and in the Lake of Reschen,
4,637 feet, which is apparently the loftiest point of its distribution. In
Switzerland, according to Tschudi, it ranges to 3,398 feet.
The climate of England and Germany seems suited to its best develop-
ment, and its persistence in low latitudes will probably be found to be due
to a special adaptability for hybernation.
The Muskellunge, Hsox nodzlior, is the rival of the Pike in size and
vigor, but is very limited in its geographical range, occurring only in the
Great Lake region of America, and in the St. Lawrence River.* It is
very like the Pike, but has a head proportionally somewhat larger, and its
color is markedly different. In general hue, it is dark grey, with silvery
lustre, belly white, sides dotted with round, blackish and brownish
blotches, and the fins flected with black. The Pike on the other hand has
its markings white or yellowish, upon a darker background of green, dark
grey or brown ; in European examples the lighter markings are often con-
fluent and band-lke.
THE CHAIN PICKEREL,
The ‘ Pickerels,’’ of American nomenclature, are three in number, and
*It has frequently been said in print that Muskellunge were introduced into a pond near Bellow’s Falls,
Mass., in 1838, and that they have since escaped into the Connecticut, where they have become abundant.
Yhis is a great mistake. I have examined several of these would-be Muskellunge from the Connecticut, but
all of them proved to be overgrown Pike. ‘This species probably does not occur in the Connecticut.
PIE OM OSKELLUONGL AND PI CIER ETL. 2
are much smaller. sox reteciu/atus, 1s usually known in the North by the
mame ** Pickerel\’?:. in the, Southern States 1t isithe** Jack.’” It 1s found
chiefly in the streams along the Atlantic coast, from Maine to Alabama,
and is generally abundant, especially in clear, grassy creeks and ponds.
It is not found in the Lake region, nor west of the Alleghanies. It some-
times, though rarely,attains the weight of seven or eight pounds, and the
length of three or four feet, and is much more slender in form, and grace-
ful in motion than the Pike. It is yellow-green or brown in color, with
an interlacing network of brown lines, covering the body. Its peculiar
markings have given it the name of ‘‘ Chain Pickerel,’’ and patriotic
Americans of early Federal days called it the ‘‘ Federation Pike,’’ an
allusion to the chain of thirteen linked rays, symbolical of the Federal
union, which was stamped upon certain copper coins used during the last
century.
THE BROOK PICKEREL.
Esox americanus, the ‘ Brook Pickerel,’’ or ‘‘ Banded Pickerel,’’
sometimes also called the ‘‘ Long Island Pickerel,’’ ‘‘ Trout Pickerel,’’ and
<¢ Pond Pike,’’ is comparatively small, rarely exceeding a foot in length,
though occasionally reaching the weight of five to eight pounds. Its color
is dark green, with about twenty blackish, lateral, transverse bands,
usually curved, often obscure, but never net-like. There is a black line
below the eye, and another through the eye and snout. ‘The fins, espe-
cially in the breeding season,are bright red. This species occurs in the
brooks on the Atlantic side of the Alleghanies, from Florida north to
Massachusetts.
Another diminutive Pike, similar in form and color to the last, is Esox
vermiculatus (Lsox cypho) which is found in the Mississippi valley,
especially in the small streams and bayous in the South and West. This
‘species is also green, with numerous darker transverse bands or stripes, but
278 AMERICAN FISHES.
they are usually arrayed in net-work, or in such manner as to produce a
‘marbled ’’ effect.* It has been called the ‘‘ Hump-back Pickerel,’’ and is
of little value for food.
The common names of this group of fishes offer an opportunity for much
curious research. The oldest name in literature is the Latin ‘‘ Lucius,’’
by which it was doubtless known to the gourmets of classic times,
which was mentioned by the poet Ausonius, in the fourth century,+ and
which lingered in the old French ‘‘ILus’’ and the names “ Luccio’” or
‘¢Luggo’’ by which Italians still know the species.
Although it is customarily stated that the Pike was unknown to the
ancient Greeks, I see no reason to doubt that this is the fish which Athen-
eeus, sixteen centuries ago, called ZLycuws, just as the Germans of to-day
name it in familiar phrases the ‘‘ Wasserwolf’’ (Water Wolf). Another
vestige of this name, is the English ‘‘ Luce,’” commonly applied to large
individuals in the days of Chaucer,{ and not unfamiliar in later days,
because of the extensive use of the fishes under this name as one of the
symbols of heraldry. Shakespeare has immortalized the arms as well as
the name of the name of the country squire, whom he hated, in his
allusion to the escutcheon of the Lucys, and the blood-thirsty Sir Lucius
O’ Trigger in Sheridan’s ‘‘ Rivals,’’ doubtless owed his przenomen to the
savage Esox.
The name Pike, the philologist says, has been given to this fish, either
from the likeness of its nose to a pike or spear, or because it moves itself
* Since it is by no means a simple matter to discriminate between these species, especially when young,
I depart from my usual custom, and present a key, in which some technical terms are used. This table is
based upon Jordan’s diagnosis.
Cheeks and opercula completely covered with scales.
Branchiostega!s, 12 in number. Colors obscure. About 105 scales in lateral line.
Diameter of eye contained 5 times in length of head, and
neatly twice in snout, its posterior margin scarcely behind middle ofhead. £.americanus.
Diameter of eye 6 in length of head, and less
than B in that of snout, the eye being exactly in
middle of head. ££. vermiculatus.
Branchiostegals 14-16. About 125 scales in lateral
Diameter of eye, 8 in that of head, 3%
in snout. Snout prolonged, nearly half the length
of the head. Colors bright, markings reticulate.
E. reticulatus.
Cheeks scaly, lower half of opercula bare. Branchiostegals 14-16
Color :—light spots ona dark ground. LZ. ducius
Lateral line 123.
Lower half of cheeks and opercula bare. Branchiostegals 16-19.
Color :—Black spots on lighter ground. £. xodzlior.
Lateral line 150,
+ Luctrus obscurus ulva czenoque lacunas
Obsidet: Hic nullos mensarum lectus ad usas
Fervet fumosis olido nidore popinis. Moselle, 120-124.
{Full many a fat partricke had he in mewe,
And many a Breme and many a Luce in stewe. Canterbury Tales.
PUKE WMUSKELLUNGE AND PICKEREL. 2
in the water like a spear thrown; and Pickerel is regarded as another
form of the same word.* Jack, says the same authority is ‘‘ perhaps from
Jaculum, because like a Javelin, either in shape or motion.’’ The French
‘«Brochet,’’ is of similar origin, and has reference to the resemblance of
the fish to a spit or long needle, and ‘‘ Lance’’ and ‘‘ Lanceron,’’ refer
to its mode of motion.
In England, in the early days, when transportation was slow, and those
who lived in castle and monasteries had the carp, and the bream, and the
pike grown in their own fish-ponds for a sole dependence, Esox luctus
were more highly esteemed than at present, and this one species was hon-
ored with many names.
The fish, we learn from Halliwell’s ‘‘ Dictionary of Archaic Words,”’’
was ‘‘first a Jack, then a Pickerel, thirdly a Pike, and last of all a Luce.’’
This statement agrees with the prevailing idea that in England,
‘¢ Pickerel’’ is used as a diminutive of Pike. Whether or not this was the
usage in the fourteenth century seems a little doubtful, when we read
what Chancer wrote :
‘* Bet is,’? quote he, ‘‘a pike than a pickerel,
And bet than old beef in the tender veal.’’}
I am assured by good authority, that Jack, rather than Pickerel, is at
present the customary name in Britain for young Pike.
The word Pickerel is employed in America, to designate any small
species of Pike, and since this name seems to have been almost abundant
in England, this usage may perhaps be allowed to pass unchallenged.
Confusion sometimes has arisen from the fact that in the West, the ‘‘ Pike
perch,’’ S#zostedium, is also by many called ‘‘ pickerel.’’ (See American
Ameler, Feb: 25, 1832.)
Concerning the name Muskellunge, there have been many controversies.
Mr. Fred Mather has given
?
Ima recent issue. of “ Horest’ and Stream,’
a very thorough history of the name in its various versions.
The predacious nature of the Pike is proverbial. It eats nearly all other
kinds of fishes, sparing not even its own species, and also devours frogs,
mice, rats, and even young ducks. Although it is voracious in its attacks
upon its prey, 1t remains generally in quiet and seems to prefer quiet and
slow-flowing waters rather than swift streams.
* Skinner.
+ Marchant’s Tale, verse 9273.
280 AMERICAN FISHES.
The Pikes have been well described as mere machines for the assimi-
lation of animal matter. They are the wolves of the ponds, the blue-fish
of the fresh waters, and nothing: comes amiss to their ravenous maws.
The habits of the European species are thus described by a recent writer :
‘¢ Shrouded from observation in his solitary retreat, he follows with his
eye the motions of the shoals of fish that wander heedlessly along ; he
marks the water-rat, swimming to his burrow, the ducklings paddling
among the waterweeds, the dabchicks and moorhens leisurely swimming
on the surface, he selects his victim, and like the tiger springing from the
jungle, he rushes forth, seldom indeed missing his aim; there is a sudden
rush, circle after circle forms on the surface of the water, and all is still
again in an instant.’’
‘*No quadruped, bird or fish that the Pike can capture, seems to be
secure from its voracity, and even the spiny perch is an acceptable prey
to this water tyrant,’’ wrote Richardson, speaking of its habits in British
America.
The breeding habits of the Pike have been best described by my
friend Prof. Benecke, of Kénigsberg, who writes:
‘*The Pike inhabits all the waters of Germany except shallow and
rapid brooks. It prefers clear, quiet water with clean bottom; is usually
active at night and quiet in the daytime ; lurks among the plants in con-
venient corners, whence it rushes forth with arrow-like velocity. It lives
a hermit life, only consorting in pairs during the spawning season. The
pair of fish then resort to shallow places upon meadows and banks which
have been overflowed, and, rubbing violently upon each other, deposit
their spawn in the midst of powerful blows of their tails. The female
deposits generally about 100,000 yellowish eggs, about three millimeters
in diameter, out of which in the course of fourteen days the young, with
their great umbilical sacs, escape.”’
In Germany, the spawning time of the Pike, as is shown in an elaborate
table presented by Wittmack, often begins in the latter part of February,
and lasts, depending somewhat on the temperature and the weather, into
March and April, sometimes even into May.
In South Germany the spawning time is later than in Prussia, while in
Ireland and Sweden, it appears to be earlier. In Norway, according to
Lloyd, there are three successive spawnings, which correspond to the
disappearance of the winter ice, the pairing of the frogs, and the unfolding
IKE, MOSKELLONGE VAND PICKEREL. 281
of the vernal leaves, the broods being known as ‘‘ Ice-Pike,’’ ‘‘ Frog-
Pike,’’ and ‘‘ Blossom-Pike.’’
Benecke’s estimate of the number of eggs is undoubtedly too low.
Buckland states that in a Pike of twenty-eight pounds, the roes weighed
twenty-one ounces, and contained 292,320 eggs, while in one of thirty-two
pounds, there were 595,000 eggs, weighing five pounds.
Benecke’s period of incubation would be too short for more northern
climates. In Great Britain and Sweden, they require from twenty-five to
thirty days to come to maturity.
Seeley states that the young fish breed at the age of three years, and
that the females are larger than the males.
The newly hatched Pikes grow rapidly when provided abundantly with
food. A yearling fish in Prussia is often a foot in length, and according
to Seeley a two-year-old may with exceptional feeding, weigh six or seven
pounds.
Wittmack gives a number of statements from authorities in different
parts of Germany, showing the annual rate of growth of the Pike, which
appears to vary from two to three pounds, the maximum size attained
being from forty-five to seventy pounds. He cites one instance in which,
in two summers, a few individuals, hberated in a pond full of a species of
carp, grew from the weight of one and three-quarters to that of about ten
pounds.
As to the size to which a Pike may ultimately attain, there exist import-
ant differences of opinion. Frank Buckland naively remarks that -*‘ from
the days of Gesner down, more lis, to put it in very plain language—have
been told about the Pike than any other fish in the world ; and the greater
the improbability of the story, the more particularly is it sure to be
quoted.’’ ‘This savage thrust at Gesner and his commenters, has especial
reference to the story of that enormous fish, nineteen feet in length,
‘caught in the year 1497, in a pool near Hailprun in Suabia, and which
carried attached to its gills, a brass ring upon which was a Greek inscrip-
tion, which said :—‘‘ I am that fish that was first put into this lake by the
hands of the Emperor Frederick II, on the fifth day of October, 1230.”’
The skeleton of this fish was said to have been preserved at Mannheim for
many years, and there is a tradition that some inquiring anatomist dis-
covered that it had been lengthened by the addition of several vertebre.
While it is true that ‘“‘the legends of fishes with rings bearing ancient
282 AMERICAN: HISHLES.
dates have not that quality of veracity which is required by science,”’ itis
also true that it was the practice in early days to fasten inscribed rings in
the gill covers of fishes. Pennell states that in 1610, a Pike was taken in
the Meuse, bearing a copper ring dating 1448. It is very curious that no
English writer on the Pike seems to have taken pains to investigate the
German records which undoubtedly contain accurate and critical esti-
mates of the value of this tradition.
3uckland seems disposed to doubt the existence of Pike larger than
those which have come ‘‘ under his own personal knowledge,’’ a method
sufficiently skeptical no doubt, but not necessarily scientific. Hesaw one
forty-six and a half inches long, weighing thirty-five pounds, and ascer-
tained to be about thirteen years old, another thirty inches long, weighing
twenty-four pounds, another of forty-three inches, and twenty-eight
pounds, and forty-four inches and thirty-two pounds, and two others, one
forty-six and a half inches, and thirty-five pounds, and one forty-six
inches, and thirty-six pounds, were taken by his friend Mr. Jardine.
ys
Daniell, in his ‘‘ Rural Sports,
, it
pounds, and over seven feet in length. Pennell refers to others captured
speakes of a Scotch example, seventy-two
on the Continent, which weighed 80, 97, and 145 pounds, the latter
caught at Bregenty in 1862.
There is no inherent improbability in these stories, since the Muskel-
lunge often attains the weight of eighty pounds or more, as is attested by
numerous witnesses.
No records of colossal Pike are found in the annals of American
anglers—perhaps because the large Pike are usually pronounced by uncriti-
cal anglers to be in Muskellunge.
The western Pickerel, Hsox vermiculatus, said to have been known to
the Indians by the name Precanau, has been known to attain the weight
of twenty pounds,* but at the present day never exceeds seven or eight,
and as usually seen, is not more than a foot inlength. The eastern brook
Pickerel is likewise diminutive.
In his census investigation of the Great Lakes, Mr. Kumlien obtained
the following notes upon the abundance of the Pike and Muskellunge :
«On the western shore of Lake Michigan, Pike appear to be resident
in those portions of the lake off Racine, and are very rarely taken in giil-
nets. At the west end of Lake Erie, individuals are at rare intervals taken
* Mississippi.
TIE MOSKELLONGE AND PICKERIDL. 283
in pound-nets set in the deepest water. About Sandusky and vicinity,
like the Muskellunge, they are said to be rather rare, though a few taken
in winter around Put-in-Bay Island are there regarded as residents of cold,
deep water. Above Cleveiand they are not known to the fishermen, but
in the vicinity of Ashtabula, considerable numbers are sometimes taken in
spring—one or two hundred pounds at a haul of a pound-net. On the
south shore of Lake Erie, very few are taken in pounds, and it is there
thought that they keep constantly in deep water and seldom approach the
shore. They are very salable and much sought after, but apparently
nowhere abundant.”’
Among the Islands dotting the southwestern part of Lake Superior, in-
cluding the Apostle Islands, Sand, York, and Rock Islands, and others,
Muskellunge are caught in small quantities in the pound-nets. The Muskel-
lunge is occasionally caught in the small bays indenting the shore south
of Keweenaw Point as far as Huron Bay, and with it a large and much
lighter-colored fish that may possibly be Hsox /ucius. This latter is not
well known among the fishermen, but Mr. Edgarton says he has often
noticed it, and has remarked that the general aspect was different from
that of the Muskellunge. On the fishing grounds at the north end of
Green Bay this is a rare fish, only half a dozen or so being taken each
year. When it occurs it is found at any and at no particular point. Not
a single specimen of this fish was taken by Mr. Nelson in ten year’s fish-
ing in the Cedar River district, and Mr. Everland in thirty-six years has
not taken half a dozen. They are reported of occasional occurrence in
the Monomonee River; but are not found in deep nets far out in the bay.
Lower down on the west coast of Green Bay, from Longtail Point to
Peshtigo Point, this fish occurs everywhere, but nowhere in abundance.
A specimen was taken at Washington Island in 1866 that weighed forty-
four pounds. The fishermen of this stretch of coast-line pronounce it
Musk-ka-lone. At Green Bay City this fish is caught frequently weighing
forty pounds. It is common at this point, z. ¢e. the southern end of Green
Bay. Ascending the eastern shore of Green Bay as far as St. Martin’s
Island the Muskellunge is very rare, being known by name only to a great
many of the fishermen. Following the western shore of Lake Michigan
southward from Port des Mortes on the north, as far south as Manitowoc,
this fish is rare. At Jacksonport two have been taken in seven years. At
Two Rivers only one has ever been recorded, viz., in 1878. At Manito-
284 AMERICAN TLS LS.
woc it is less scarce, being caught sometimes in pound-nets, and more
frequently in the River. At Milwaukee, the Muskellunge occurs in the
lake but rarely ; it is never caught in gill-nets. In 1868 Mr. Schultz took
one in a small seine, in the old harbor, weighing one hundred pounds.
This is believed by Mr. Kumlien to be a fact, having been testified to, as
he says, ‘‘ by so many reliable persons.”” He adds: ‘‘ Formerly, fish of
this kind weighing eighty pounds were far from rare.’’
On the 9th of April, a fish of this species four feet in length was taken
at Racine; head to operculum, ten inches; to eye, four inches; greatest
circumference, twenty and one-half inches ; over eye, eighteen inches; at
gills, eighteen inches; weight, forty-five pounds. These fish are never
here taken in the gill-nets ; they are resident in the lake about Racine in
winter. A very few have been known to occur at Waukegan. On the
southeastern shore of Lake Michigan, including the fisheries of Saugatuck,
South Haven, and St. Joseph, this fish is reported as always being of a
large size. At Ludington, farther north, only one instance of capture is
on record ; it is also said to be very rare at Grand Haven.
But little has been reported regarding the occurrence of the Muskel-
lunge upon the numerous fishing grounds along the north shore of the
southern peninsula of Michigan, between Little Traverse Bay and Thunder
Bay. It is generally rare through the Straits of Mackinaw, only about
half a dozen being taken each season ; and most abundant of all at Les
Cheneaux Islands. Capt. Coats caught one here, in 1874, weighing
sixty-two pounds. ‘These fish are rarely taken in pound-nets, and are
chiefly caught with hook and line about the Les Cheneaux and Drummond
Islands. Capt. Dingman has caught only one in his pound-net in the past
fifteen years. All caught, of which he has heard, have been large. In
Thunder Bay, about a dozen, on an average, are taken in twelve months.
In Saginaw Bay, they are taken in about the same numbers as in Thunder
Bay. Here too they are always large fish. A few are taken in seines
along the coast between Port aux Barques and Port Huron. A few also
are taken annually in the St. Clair River; perhaps a dozen or two alto-
gether in this region during a year. Between Toledo and Detroit River,
Lake Erie, a specimen of this fish is taken now and then in the pound-
nets. When taken, it is always large. The same remark will apply to
the vicinity of Toledo and Maumee Bay.*
* Mr. Fred Alford states that he procured a Muskellunge from Maumee Bay, in 1864, weighing eighty-five
pounds.
TTR MOSRELLONGES AND GET CKERILL, 285
About Locust Point a few are taken in the fall. Twenty years ago, in
this region, including the fisheries of Ottawa, Port Clinton, Toussaint, and
Locust Point, Muskellunge were taken weighing sixty or seventy pounds.
In Sandusky Bay, specimens are caught of forty-five pounds weight, and
at Kelley’s Island one was caught weighing fifty-seven pounds, and another
sixty-two pounds.
In connection with the Huron (Ohio) fisheries, it is reported that about
one hundred and fifty fish of this species were taken in seventy-five nets
during the year 1879. ‘They are here generally large, and are always
taken in pairs. ‘Three or four represent a year’s catch of this fish at Ver-
million, Ohio. About Black River, Lorain County, Ohio, Amherst, and
Brownhelm Bay, it is very scarce, few being caught in nets; all that are
taken are large. Of this fish, in connection with the Cleveland and Dover
Bay fisheries, it may be said that it is very rare, and is becoming more so
each year. Mr. Sadler says he took one weighing eighty pounds. The
fishermen say they are always found in pairs.
The Muskellunge is taken at Conneaut, at the rate of half a dozen in
ten years. Only one specimen was taken in the Painesville pounds in
1879. At Fairport and Willoughby, Ohio, no mention is made of its
occurrence. Erie Bay, especially at Dunkirk and Barcelona, New York,
Erie, Pennsylvania, and Mill’s Grove, Ohio, is famous for its Muskellunge
fishing ; this past season, over sixty were caught, weighing from twenty to
forty-five pounds. They are caught by trawling. Fancy prices are paid
for them ; about twenty-five cents per pound retail in the city, and twelve
and a half cents when shipped. More were caught during the season of
1879 than ever before.
The following notes relate to the fishery in Lake Ontario: At Oswego,
the fish is very rare on the American side ; at Port Ontario, one is occa-
sionally caught ; at Cape Vincent, they are common, especially in the St.
Lawrence. Nine have been brought in in one day, the smallest of which
weighed thirty-two pounds. They are not now, however, so plentiful
here as formerly. At Chaumont very few are caught. Seven years ago
one was captured here weighing sixty-five pounds. At Sacket’s Harbor,
very few Muskellunge are caught.
The Pike is in Europe considered one of the most important of game
fishes. ‘Isaac Walton devotes to it an entire chapter, and Mr. Cholmon-
deley-Pennell, a well-known English writer on angling, has published a
considerable work, entitled ‘* The Book of the Pike.’’
286 AMERICAN FISHES.
b
Buckiand, in his .‘‘ History of British Fishes,’’ devotes several pages to
the exploits of Mr. Alfred Jardine, where he describes as ‘‘ the most suc-
cessful angler for Pike in modern times.”’
In this country, the Pike and the Pickerels have few friends, although
the Muskellunge is not without admirers, among those who fish for sport.
The opposition party is led chiefly by the angler-fish-culturists, who have
good reason for their spite, since the hungry Esox is a sad foe to the pro-
prietor of a fish preserve, and until it has been banished from a pond, no
other species can be expected to thrive. In the days of the infancy of
fish culture, Pike and Pickerel were frequently transplanted into our
waters, and the results of this ill advised enterprise are by no means
satisfactory to those who desire to propagate carp or trout in the same
area. Only a few of these fish can live in one pond, and in the end the
colony consists of a few patriarchs, strong, large and voracious.
The Pike is not without its uses in fish-culture however. One or two,
kept in a pond, are believed by German carp-breeders to benefit the carp,
by ‘‘ keeping them lively,’’ and thinning out the feeble.
The enemies of Esox in America denounce him vigorously, and declare
that he is bony, flavorless, and of trifling value. He has his friends how-
ever. In the reign of Edward I., the value of Pike was higher than that
of fresh salmon, and more than ten times greater than that of the best
Turbot or cod, and in the time of Henry VIII, a large one sold for double
the price of a lamb, and a Pickerel for more than a fat capon. Tough
old Pike, and those taken from muddy, sluggish water, are of course not to
be desired, but as a rule, any one of the American species is to be chosen
as a delicate morsel for the table.
«Roast him when he is caught,’’ said Isaac Walton, ‘‘and he is
choicely good—too good for any but anglers and honest men.”’
THE TAUTOG.
TAUTOG, CHOGSET AND PARROT-FISH.
While blazing breast of humming-bird and Io’s stiffen’d wing
Are bright as when they first came forth new-painted in the spring.
While speckled snake and spotted pard their markings still display,
Though he who once embalm’d them both himself, be turn’d to clay,
On fish a different fate attends, nor reach they long the shore
Ere fade their hues like rain-bow tints, and soon their beauty’s o’er,
The eye that late in ocean’s flood was large and round and full,
Becomes on land a sunken orb, glaucomatous and dull;
The gills, like mushrooms, soon begin to turn from pink to black,
The blood congeals in stasis thick, the scales upturn and crack;
And those fair forms, a Veronese, in art’s meridian power,
With every varied tint at hand, and in his happiest hour,
Could ne’er in equal beauty deck and bid the canvas live,
Are now so colourless and cold, a Rembrandt’s touch might give.
BapHaM,
HE Wrasses and Parrot-fishes, are among the most gorgeously
apparelled of the inhabitants of the waters. Nature has not conferred
on the Labri, said Lacépéde, either strength or power, but they have
received instead, as their share of her favors, shapely proportions, and
activity of fin, and are adorned with all the hues of the rainbow. ‘‘ Le feu
du diamant, durubis, de la topaz, de l’emeraude, du saphir, de l’améthystes
du grenat, scintille sur leurs écailles polies, il brille sur leur surface en
goutte, croissans, en raies, en bandes, en anneaux, en ceintures, en zones,
en ondes; il se méle a 1’éclat de l’or et de l’argent, qui y resplendit sur
des grandes places, les teintes obscure, les aires pales, et pour ainsi
décolorées.”’
288 AMERICAN HISHES.
These fishes were held in the highest esteem :n classical days, for num-
erous species of the group frequent the waters of Italy and Greece.
‘¢ According to the Greeks,’’ writes Badham, *‘ to do justice to their
flesh was not easy, to speak of their trail as it deserved was impossi-
ble, and to throw away even its excrement was a sin. The frugal Numa
would not allow these expensive ‘ brains of Jove’ (Cerebrum Jovis Supremt
was a poetic name for the Scarus) to be imported for public entertainments,
intimating thereby that parsimony was agreeable to the gods.”’
Aristotle considered the Scarus to be the only fish which slept at night.
*¢Scarus alone their folded eyelids close
In grateful intervals of soft repose
In some sequestered cell, removed from sight
They doze away the dangers of the night.”’
This ancient and aristocratic family is rather tropical in its tastes, but we
have two worthy though not very highly appreciated representatives on our
Eastern Atlantic coast, and others in our Gulf and Pacific waters.
One of the best known shore species on our Atlantic coast, is the
Tautog or Black-fish, Zawtoga onttis. This fish is now found in greater
or less abundance about St. John, N- B., to Charleston, S: C. “Eastot
New York it is usually called Tautog, a name of Indian origin, which first
occurs in Roger William’s ‘‘Key to American Language,’’ printed in
1643, in which this fish is enumerated among the edible species of Southern
New England. ‘‘ 'Tautog
the dialect of the Narragansett Indians. On the coast of New York it is
called ‘‘ Black-fish’’; in New Jersey also ‘‘ Black-fish’’ and ‘‘ Smooth
Black-fish,’” ““Tautog,’’ or “Chub”; on the eastern shore of Virginia
‘¢Moll,’’ or ‘‘ Will-George’’; at the mouth of the Chesapeake <“ Salt-
water Chub,’’ andin North Carolina the ‘‘ Oyster-fish.’’ Of all these
names, Tautog is by far the most desirable for general use. There are
the)
would consequently seem to be a word from
several other species along our coast called Black-fish, especially the sea-
bass, which is often associated with the Tautog. The names Oyster-fish
and Chub are also pre-engaged by other species.
Though the present geographical distribution of the Tautog is well
understood, there is no reason to believe that its range has been very
considerably extended in the present century by the agency of man.
That the species was known in Rhode Island two hundred and thirty
years ago is reasonably certain from the reference by Roger Williams,
= .
TAUTOG, CHOGSET AND PARROT-FISH. 289
already referred to, and in 1776 it was stated by Schcepf that it was very
abundant in summer at New York. It is in greatest abundance between
the southern angle of Cape Cod and the Capes of Delaware, which would
indicate that within these limits, at least, the species has always existed.
The waters of Long Island Sound and those immediately adjoining seem
especially well adapted for its residence.
Mitchill, writing in 1814, remarked: ‘‘ The Tautog was not originally
known in Massachusetts Bay; but within a few years he has been carried
beyond Cape Cod, and has multiplied so abundantly that the Boston mar-
ket has now a full supply without the necessity of importing from Newport
and Provicence.’’ This statement is confirmed, in a way, by Mr. Isaac
Hinkley, of Philadelphia, who tells me that in 1824, he saw several indi
viduals from Cohasset Rocks, Jerusalem Road, Mass., and that the fish was
at that time said by the fishermen to be entirely new to them. Storer,
"writing about 1867, remarked: ‘‘ Although a few years only has passed
since this species was brought into Massachusetts Bay, it is now taken
along a large portion of the coast. At Plymouth, Nahant, and Lynn, at
some seasons, it is found in considerable numbers, and is frequently caught
from the bridges leading from Boston. The Boston market is for the most
part supplied by Plymouth and Wellfleet.’’ As early as 1851, they had
spread northward to the Bay of Fundy, and in that year it is stated that
many were sold in the fish market at St. John, the largest of which weighed
eight pounds; Mr. Lanman wrote that he obtained there in July and
August specimens nineteen inches long, and weighing four pounds.
The rocky shores of Cape Ann seem particularly well adapted to its
peculiar habits, and large numbers are annually obtained from the Rocks.
So long has it been acclimated, and so well known is it, that the local
authorities of that region are inclined to doubt that it is notnative. The
‘Gloucester Telegraph’’ of May 5, 1860, challenged the statement
that the Tautog was a new fish, declaring that many years ago they were
very plenty, and that after a period of scarcity they reappeared. So
abundant had they become in 1836 in the harbor of Wellfleet, Mass., that
three Connecticut smacks were accustomed summer after summer to devote
their entire energies to their capture in this locality, and this fishery has
continued up to the present day. In sandy localities, like the harbor of
Provincetown, they have never secured a firm hold, though large specimens
are sometimes taken under the wharves.
19
290 AMERICAN FISHES.
“As to the extension of the range of this species southward, we have the
statement of Holbrook, quoted by DeKay, writing in 1842: ‘‘ Attempts
have been made to introduce this fish farther south, but with limited suc-
cess. I am informed by my friend, Dr. Holbrook, that Gen. Thomas
Pinckney imported from Rhode Island a smack load of the Tautog and set
them adrift in the harbor of Charleston, 5. C., where they are to be found
tothisday. They are still occasionally caught, weighing from one to two
pounds, but never in such quantities as to be brought to market.’’ Mr.
Earll obtained specimens at Charleston in January, 1880. Certain ich-
thyologists, among whom is Prof. Jordan, express skepticism as to the
range having been thus artificially extended southward.
At Cape Lookout, S. C., Jordan records the species, under the name
‘* Oyster-fish,’’ as rather common, the young abundant about the wharves.
About Norfolk and in the mouth of Chesapeake Bay they occur, and also
on the coast of Southern New Jersey, where they are taken in the vicinity
of Beasley’s Point, in the channel ways, and along the shores, and they
are said to be somewhat common on the banks off Sandy Hook, and in the
southern bays of Long Island. ‘These sandy regions, however, are not so
much frequented by them as those abounding in rocky beaches and ledges.
Although the Tautog appear to thrive in cool water, as has been shown
by the rapid extension of the northern range, they take refuge from too
great cold, by retreating in winter to somewhat deeper water than that
preferred in summer. Here they appear to seek shelter under the stones
and in crevices of the rocks, if we may judge from their habits as observed
in aquaria, their smooth, slimy skins, with scales protected from abrasion
by a thick epidermis, enabling them to move about among the sharp-
pointed rocks unharmed. They-are on this account, also, especially well
suited for confinement in the walls of smacks and in “ live-cars,’’ where
it is customary to keep them living until required for market. They
appear to enter upon an actual state of hibernation, ceasing to feed, and
the vital functions partially suspended. It is the opinion of fishermen that
during the hibernating season, the vent becomes entirely closed up, as is
known to be the case with hibernating mammals. It is certain that they
do not retreat far from the shore in winter, and that very cold weather,
especially in connection with a run of low tides, often causes very
remarkable fatalities. There are instances of their death in immense
numbers. In February, 1857, after a very cold season, hundreds of tons
TAUTOG, CHOGSET AND PARROT-FISH. 291
-drifted upon the beach at Block Island, and along the southern shores of
Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and a similar catastrophe took place in
1841. In March, 1875, it is stated that as much as a ton was thrown
ashore in the drift ice at Cuttyhunk. They were seen floating by the Hen
and Chickens light-ship for three successive days. In Southern New
England they become torpid in November and December. It is stated
that they are sometimes caught as late as Christmas. It is probable that
many do not enter upon a state of complete torpidity, but remain in a par-
tially active state in deep holes not far from the shore, and that it is these,
rather than the hibernating individuals, which are especially liable to
injury from the cold. A few are taken in Rhode Island in midwinter,
both by line and in lobster-pots. North of Cape Cod they are rarely
taken except in summer,* while towards the southern limit of their range
they are apparently as abundant in winter as at any other time. Mr.
Nathan King, a Rhode Island fisherman, states that when the sun is very
hot the Tautog leaves the clear spots for shelter among the weeds and
rocks.
As may be inferred from its haunts and from the character of its strong,
sharp teeth, the food of this consists of the hard-shelled mollusks and
crustaceans which are so abundant among the rocks. In their stomachs
have been found, among other things, lobsters, crabs of various species,
clams, mollusks, squids, scollops, barnacles, and sand-dollars. Many of
the smaller mollusks they swallow, shells and all, ejecting the hard parts
after the flesh has been digested. The common bait for Tautog in the
spring is the clam, preferably the soft clam, for at this time the fishermen
say they have tender mouths. In the fall, crabs and lobsters are used,
the fiddler-crab and rock-crab being the favorites. They are sometimes
taken with a bait of marine worms.
In Narragansett Bay and vicinity they spawn from the end of April
until August.
The pound fishermen find them to be full of ripe eggs when they begin
to approach the shore in earlysummer. Mr. Christopher E. Dyer, of New
Bedford, has witnessed the operation of spawning in Buzzard’s Bay in the
middle of June, in water about two fathoms deep. This was in 1859 or
1860, about two miles east of Seconnet Point. The number of eggs has
not yet been determined, nor is it known how long the period of incuba-
* The first of the season were taken at Gloucester, May 13, 1881-
292 AMERICAN ETSHES.
tion continues, but young fish are found abundantly in the eel-grass along
the shore in August and September, and have been observed at various
points from Cape Lookout to Monomoy. ‘There can be no question,
however, that there are breeding grounds near Charleston, S. C., and
north to Cape Cod, since the species is very local in its habits, and does
not make long journeys to select spawning beds. Little is known of their
rate of growth, though it is probably slow. Capt. Benjamin Edwards, of
Woods Holl, Mass., kept thousands of small Tautog confined in a pond
for five years, and at the end of that time, when six years old, none
weighed more than two and one-half pounds. A half-pound fish which he
confined in a lobster-car, with plenty of room and plenty of food,
increased from one-half to three-quarters of a pound in six months. The
average weight of those sent to market does not exceed two or three
pounds, though individuals weighing ten, twelve, and fourteen pounds are
by no means unusual. The largest on record was obtained near New
York in July, 1876, and is preserved in the National Museum—its length
thirty-six and one-half inches, its weight twenty-two and one-half pounds.
The abundance of this species past and present has been actively dis-
cussed and much interesting testimony on the subject may be found in the
report of the United States Commissioner of fisheries. This was one of
the fish regarding which the claim was made that it has been almost exter-
minated in Rhode Island by overfishing ; upon this point, however, the
opinions of fishermen and experts are much at variance. In 1870, when,
according to general opinion, Tautog had been almost exterminated in the
waters of Narragansett Bay, the records of Newport fish-markets show that
in one day, November 2, eleven men caught about 3,000 pounds of Tau-
tog with hook and line, besides cod and other fish, while on the following
day the catch of fifteen meen was 28,000 pounds, besides codfish caught
to the amount of 600 pounds, being an average of over 2,600 pounds to
each man. These catches compare very favorably with that recorded at
Fir Rock Ledge, Wareham, ten years previous, when, on the gth of
October, two men caught, in three hours, 271 pounds of Tautog, a catch
which was pronounced by local authorities the greatest ever made in those
waters.* Col. Lyman, Massachusetts commissioner, writing in 1872,
remarked: ‘‘Great complaint is made of the scarcity of this valued
species north and south of Cape Cod, but especially near the mouth of
* Barnstable Patriot, October 9g, 1860.
LATL OG, CHOGSET AND PARROT-FISH. 293
Narragansett Bay, where they are said to be not more than one-eighth as
numerous as they were a score of years ago.’’ Although much testimony
has been printed in the reports of the Fish Commissions of the United
States and of Rhode Island, the general tendency of which is to show that
old fishermen believe that Tautog and other fish are much less abundant
than in the days of their youth, nothing definite has yet been proved.
The Tautog has always been a favorite table fish, especially in New
York, its flesh being white, dry, and of a delicate flavor. Storer states
that they are frequently pickled, and may be kept in weak brine for a long
time, and in this state they are considered by epicures a delicacy.
The capture of Tautog is chiefly accomplished by the line fishermen of
Southern Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and the weir fishermen of the
same district. No one fishes for Tautog alone, and it is consequently
more difficult to estimate the quantity taken. About 200,c00 pounds were
brought to the New York market last year. Local consumption is con-
siderable, and the total amount annually taken may be estimated at from
400,000 to 450,000 pounds. At least two hundred fishermen are entirely
or partly engaged in this business between Cape Cod and New York.
The catch of such fishermen in Narragansett Bay is estimated at 6,000
pounds each annually. This gives in round numbers 100,000 pounds
taken by hook and line along this stretch of coast. To this should be
added 20,000 pounds estimated to be taken on the coast of New Jersey and
southward, and 20,000 more north of Cape Cod. ‘Tautog are also fre-
quently taken in the weirs and pounds, and the catch of these for the year
1876 was estimated as is shown in the following table:
Pounds.
MicirSronemortinsiderot (Cape Cod... o.csiceesos ceacecedesees 22h
WGIES OnESOlbhesIGer Ole Gape (CO. 6c. .c6nceiee vase bacjenenes 561
WWEIRSE WINey ard SOUNG a s.c c.seinas ss ense scarce. deeaecnne 29,220
Witt DUZZATO Se A sass osac dee tcses cvnne ves seensescentannvee 39,423
MWiciES: aN AEC AR ANSCUE DAY secs. cae c- vicscseescasvnes acumen 156,750
WUCIESHOM IOC KMSlan ase. 2. and. csetcedeicseseneessieteeccenens eaytne
Wieirssin Misher’s Island Sound)... sis.i 0. oss ceeaeccnace ccaetes 14,000
Wemsiomveastemyend ofiong Island.........s0<scs0eren-s 36,000
215,301
At Noank, Conn., there is in the fall a season of ‘‘ black-fishing’’
which continues from the middle of October until the snow beyins to fall,
294 AMERICAN FISHES,
about the first of December. About twenty-five men are engaged in this
fishery during the season specified, some of whom begin a month or two
earlier. They fish in Fisher’s Island Sound at a depth of six to eight
fathoms, using crabs and lobsters for bait. The average catch of each
man for the season is estimated by Capt. Ashby at one thousand pounds.
The most northerly point where there is a regular fishery for them is, as
has already been mentioned, in Wellfleet harbor. According to DeKay,
three smacks were constantly employed from April to November. These
smacks doubtless, then as now, hailed from Connecticut. In 1879, these
vessels were still upon the old ground, one of them hailing from Westport
and one or two from New London. One of the skippers was said to have
fished upon this ground every season for thirty years. I was told in Well-
fleet that they ordinarily remained about three weeks to fill their wells,
obtaining in that time from two to four thousand pounds.
Angling for Tautog from rocks is a favorite pursuit of amateur fishermen
all along the coast, particularly about New York, where there are pre-
cipitous shores, the anglers standing upon the rocks. July 12, 1879, Capt.
S. J. Martin caught in this way, at Eastern Point, Gloucester, seven, two:
of which weighed twenty-one and a half pounds. In Long Island Sound
and other protected waters they are usually fished for from boats anchored
among the reefs or near wrecked vessels. Mitchill, writing in 1814,
describes the methods of this fishery better than any other subsequent
authority : ‘‘ Rocky shores and bottoms are the haunts of Blackfish. Long
experience is required to find all these places of resort. Nice observations
on the landmarks in different directions are requisite to enable a fishing
party to anchor on the proper spot. For example, when a certain rock
and tree range one way, with a barn window appearing over a headland
the other way, the boat lying at the point where two such lines intersect
each other, is exactly over some famous rendezvous. At some places
Blackfish bite best upon the flood. In others they are voracious
during the ebb. ‘Thunder accompanying a shower is an indication that no
more of them can be caught. The appearance of a porpoise infallibly
puts an end tothe sport. Dull weather with an easterly wind is generally
the omen of ill luck. Some persons who lve contiguous to the shores.
where are situated the rocks which are frequented by Tautog, invite
the fish there by baiting. By this is meant the throwing overboard
broken clams or crabs to induce the Blackfish to renew their visits; and
fine sport is procured.”’
LTAUTOG, CHOGSET AND PARROT-FISH. 295
Mitchill also gives an interesting bit of folk lore in the following
account of the botanical mnenonicsof the fishermen in the vicinity of New
York:
‘¢The blossoming of the dogwood, Cornus florida, early in April is
understood to denote the time of catching black-fish. As soon as these
flowers unfold, the fishermen proceed with their hooks and lines to the
favorite places. If there is no dogwood, a judgment is derived from the
vegetation of the chesnut tree, Castanea vesca. The people express this
sentiment in these coarse rhymes :
‘When chesnut leaves are as big as thumb-nails
Then bite black-fish without fail,
But when chesnut leaves are as large as a span,
Then catch black-fish if you can?”’
As has been already stated, the Tautog on the coasts of the United
States is extremely sensitive to cold, and at the approach of the time of
hibernation, the vent becomes sealed, the fish thus becoming prepared for
a minimum consumption of its own fat during its winter sleep.
In Brown’s ‘‘ American Angler’s Guide,’’ in the article on Tautog or
Black-fish it is remarked :
‘* The Black-fish abounds in the vicinity of Long Island, and is a sta-
tionary inhabitant of the salt water. He may be kept for a long time in
ponds or cars, and even fatted there. When the cold of winter benumbs
him he refuses to eat any more, and a membrane is observed to form over
the vent and close it. He begins to regain appetite with the return of
warmth in the spring.
“* Now we know that Tautog hibernate among rocks near the coast and
in our rivers, and it has been stated by Mr. L. Tallman or Mr. Daniel
Church, that some years ago, after a very cold snap, not only many Tau-
tog were washed ashore frozen stiff, but afterward quantities were also
found dead among rocks off the coast. If, during the winter, they don’t
feed as stated above, and this membrane closes them up, the conclusion
must be that they remain in a state of torpor or sleep during cold weather.
Now it happens that the scup, when first taken by traps, are in a state of
torpor ; they neither eat nor have any passage. It is probably sealed up
like the Tautog, and nothing in the shape of food is to be found within
them. Some say they are blind, and they seem hardly able or willing
to move.
‘« The inference, then is, that the scup have also been hibernating within
a short distance from the coast, in the same state as the Tautog. This
would account for the stray scup mentioned by Mr. Southwick as having
been occasionally found in March. A warm day wakes him up, and he
296 AMERICAN FISHES.
visits the shore for a day or so and then returns. To my mind this is a
more reasonable way of accounting for his presence than to assame that he
has been left behind. If these facts are as stated, it is to be presumed
that scup are local fish, and do not have their localities any more than
Tautog, about the propriety of classification of which as a local fish there
is no question.’’
THE CHOGSET.
The Chogset, or Cunner, or Bergall, Crenolabrus adspersus, 1s very simi-
lar in appearance to the Tautog, though much smaller and far less
important. Its range is more northerly. JI can find no record of its
occurrence south of New Jersey. DeKay remarks: ‘‘ I am not aware that
it is found south of Delaware Bay.’’ From New York to the Straits of
Canso the species is exceedingly apundant, being found everywhere in
harbors and bays, particularly in the vicinity of fish houses, where offal is
thrown overboard. Cuvier had specimens from Newfoundland, but it
abounds on the coast of Labrador. It is closely related to the ‘‘ Gold-
sinny,’’ Ctenolabrus rupestris, and the ‘‘Connor”’ or ‘‘ Gilt-head,”’
Crenilabrus melops, of Great Britain and adjoining Europe. It has
numerous conmon names. In Southern New England it is called ‘‘ Chog-
set,’’? aname of Indian origin, sometimes pronounced Cachogset. This
name appears to have been in occasional use as far west as New York,
where, in Mitchill’s time, it was also called ‘‘ Bluefish.’’ In Maine, the
British Provinces, and in some parts of Massachusetts the name ‘* Cunner’’
is in use, evidently having been brought over by the English colonists
who remembered a very similar fish at home which has this name. In
New York, the name ‘‘ Burgall’’ has continued in use since the revo-
TAUTOG, CHOGSET AND PARROT-FISE£. 297
lutionary times. This name also is of English origin, certain species of
this family being called ‘‘ Bergylt’’ in parts of England.’’ This name
appears to hold in Eastern Long Island at the present time. At Province-
town they are called. ‘‘Sea-perch,’’ and at the Isle of Shoals and
occasionally on the adjoining mainland, ‘‘ Blue-perch’’ and ‘ Perch,’’
this also being a reminiscence of English usage. At Salem they are called
<¢ Nippers,’’ and occasionally here and elsewhere ‘‘ Bait-stealers.’’ About
where Cunners are found at all, they are exceedingly abundant, and,
though performing a useful duty as scavengers, are a pest of fishermen,
from their habit of nibbling the bait from their hooks. They are the
especial detestation of those who fish for Tautog, since the two species are
ordinarily found together. Their food is very similar to that of the Tau-
tog, except that they cannot swallow large shells. They feed also upon
dead animal matter, and are among the most important scavengers of our
harbors. Numbers of them may be taken by lowering a net containing a
piece of meat or fish and quickly raising it to the surface. Like the Tau-
togs, Cunners are local in their habits, only moving from the shoal water
in extreme cold weather, and, though adapted for living in colder water,
rarely retreat except in the severest weather. In winter, however, they
are rarely caught with the hook. The first of the season of 1881 at
Gloucester, were caught May 8. A very cold season sometimes destroys
them. It is recorded that in January, 1835, great quantities were frozen
and thrown up on the shore between Gloucester and Marblehead.* In
June and July they spawn on their feeding grounds in Southern New
England, and in July and August fish three-quarters of an inch, or more,
in length are taken abundantly along the shores. ‘They appear to become
adult and to breed when three inches long. ‘The largest I have observed
was taken at Woods Holl, in July, 1875; its weight was twelve ounces,
its length ten and a half inches, and it was spawning freely. Storer
claims to have seen them fourteen inches long, and I am assured that they
sometimes attain a weight of two pounds.
From Eastport, Maine, to the vicinity of Boston, the Cunner is a favorite
article of food. Elsewhere it is rarely eaten and is usually regarded with
disgust—a foolish prejudice, for it is one of the most agreeably flavored
among the small fishes on our coast. Immense quantities are taken with
the hook from the rocks, bridges, and boats, especially in the vicinity of
* Gloucester Telegraph, January 14, 1835.
298 AMERICAN FISHES.
cities like Boston and Portland. They are also taken in immense
quantities in nets. The Irish market-boats of Boston make a special
business of catching them, using circular nets three or four feet in diameter
which are baited and set among the rocks. Dr. Storer records that on the
occasion of his visit to Labrador, in 1849, he found them so plentiful in
the Gut of Canso, that by sinking a basket with a salt fish tied therein for
bait, he continually caught them by the score, and by putting a few hun-
dreds in the well of his sloop, kept the crew well supphed with fish while
at sea on the way to Labrador. The people of Nova Scotia, hke those
south of Cape Cod, rarely if ever eat the Cunner. Mr. J. Matthew
Jones informs me that in the summer of 1863, when the French fleet was
anchored in Halifax Harbor, the sailors caught them for food in great
numbers. About St. Margaret’s Bay, according to Mr. Ambrose, they are
given as food to pigs; since, however, the pork of these fish-fed pigs
always tastes oily, they are generally fed on some other food for a short
time before being killed, and well dosed with sulphur. It was formerly
customary in Boston to keep these fish alive for market in large cars, de-
scribed by Storer as three feet deep, twelve to fifteen feet long, closed
beneath and latticed at the sides, and anchored in deep water. Storer
states that sometimes as many as five thousand fish were kept in a single
car, and that these cars were replenished every week or fortnight. It is
impossible to estimate with any degree of accuracy the quantity of Cun-
ners annually taken. The catch of the Irish market-boats of Boston
cannot fall much short of 300,000 pounds, and that of the other towns and
States on the coast of New England is certain to be from 200,000 to
250,000 pounds.
Several of the Parrot-fishes occur on the Florida coast, notably the
Blue Parrot-fish, Platyglossus radiatus (Linn.) Goode, sometimes, accord-
ing to Jordan, seen in Key West market, and /P. ditvattatus, known ia
Bermuda as ‘‘ Slippery Dick,’’ recorded by Jordan from Charleston mar-
ket. They are gorgeous in color, but the flesh is so dry that they are held
in slight esteem for table use.
The Red-fish, of California, Zyochocopus pulcher, writes Jordan, is
everywhere known as the ‘‘ Red-fish’’: the name ‘‘ Fat-head’’ is occa-
sionally used, and it is very rarely called ‘* Sheepshead.’’ It reaches a
weight of twelve to fifteen pounds. It is found from Point Conception
southward to Cerros Island in enormous numbers, inthe kelp. It is taken
TAUTOG, CHOGSET AND PARROT-FISH. 299
chiefly with hook and line. It feeds on crustaceans and mollusks. It is
taken chiefly by the Chinese, who salt and dry it. It forms half of the
total catch of the Chinese south of Point Conception. It does not rank
high as food-fish, its flesh being coarse. The fat forehead is said to make
excellent chowder.
The Senorita-fish, of Monterey, Pseuwdojulis modestus, is known as
‘«¢ Pescerey’’; southward it is called ‘‘Senorita.’’ It reaches a weight of
less than half a pound. It is found in the kelp from Monterey southward
to Cerros Island, and is generally common. It feeds chiefly on crusta-
ceans, and is used, as arule, only for bait, although the flesh is said to
be of excellent quality.
The Kelp-fish, of California, Platyglossus semicinctus, bears in company
with Heterostichus rostatus, and perhaps others, the name of ‘‘ Kelp-fish.”’
It reaches a pound in weight, and a length of nearly a foot. It is found
in the kelp about Santa Catalina Island and southward, and is not very
abundant. It feeds on crustacea, and spawns in July. Its flesh is said to
be of good quality.
The Hog-fish, Zachnolemus falcatus, is, according to Mr. Stearns,
abundant at Key West and along the Florida coral reefs, although he has
not observed it north of the Gulf of Mexico. It there attains a consider-
able size, and a weight of twelve or fifteen pounds, although the average
fish is not more than one-fourth that size. In the Key West market it
appears almost daily, and is much esteemed for food. This species occurs
throughout the West Indies, and is one of the favorite food-fishes of Cuba,
although its sale is forbidden by law, on account of the supposed poisonous
nature of its flesh. In the Bermudas it is one of the most important of the
food-fishes, attaining sometimes the weight of twenty pounds. It is caught
by the line fishermen among the reefs, at a depth of five to forty fathoms.
Like the other members of this family, it feeds upon small fish, and upon
bottom crustaceans and mollusks. Its brilliant red color renders it a con-
spicuous object in the markets. During the different stages of growth its
species undergoes many changes of form, and has been described under
several different names. The large adult male is remarkable on account
of a heavy black blotch over the forehead and over the eyes. The name
‘« Hog-fish’ refers to the swine-like appearance of the head, jaws, and
teeth. At the entrance to the Great Sound, in Bermuda, is a reef called
Hog-fish shoal, which is surmounted by a beacon bearing an enormous
effigy of a Hog-fish in metal.
300 AMERICAN FISHES.
A family related to the Wrasses is that of the Demoisclles or Pomacen-
tride.
Among the reefs of Florida two or three species of this family are abund-
ant. Most prominent among them isthe ‘‘ Sergeant Major,” Glyphidodon
saxatilis (L.) C. & V., called in Bermuda the ‘‘ Cow-pilot,’’ from an al-
leged habit of being always found in the society of the ‘* Cow-fish,’’ or
Ostracion. This fish sometimes attains the length of ten inches and the
weight of a pound or so, but is usually of a smaller size and is not highly
esteemed for food. It is found throughout the tropical waters of the
world.
There are several smaller species of this and of allied genera in the Gulf
of Mexico, and on the western side of the Isthmus of Panama and in the
Gulf of California. On the California coast occurs a species, Pomacentrus
rubicundus, conspicuous by reason of its uniformly deep crimson or orange
coloration, which is usually known as the ‘‘ Garibaldi’? among the
Italians. The names ‘‘ Gold-fish’’ and ‘‘ Red Perch”’ are also used, all
of them referring to its brilliant orange colorations. It reaches a weight
of three pounds, and a length of less than a foot. It is found about the
Santa Barbara Islands and southward to Lower California. It lives about
rocky places, and is generally abundant. Its food is chiefly crustaceans.
It is a food-fish of low grade, and has little economic importance.
Another somewhat noteworthy species is known in California, on account
of its dusky colors, as the ‘‘ Blacksmith,’’ Chromzs punctipinnis, Cooper.
‘¢ This fish,’’ writes Jordan, ‘‘is known as the ‘ Blacksmith’ from its
dusky colors. It reaches a weight of about two pounds. It ranges from
the Santa Barbara Islands southward, living about reefs of rock, and is
lccally abundant. It feeds on shells and crustacea. It is considered as
indifferent food.’”’
The family Cichlide is large, and is composed chiefly of fresh-water
fishes occurring in the tropical parts of Africa and America. Among its
members is a South American species, Geophagns surinamensts, which is
often mentioned by writers on the instincts of animals on account of a
peculiar habit of the males which carry in their mouths the eggs until they
are hatched, and which are even said to allow the young fish to seek refuge
within their jaws. We have no representatives of this family on our Atlan-
tic coast, though one or two species of the genus //evos occur in the
brackish waters of Texas.
%
THE SCULPIN.
SCULPINS AND GURNARDS.
Now the Sculpin is a little water beast which pretends to consider itself a fish, and, under that pretext, hangs
about the piles on which West Boston Bridge is built, swallowing the bait and hook intended for flounders.
On being drawn from the water, it exposes an immense head, a diminutive bony carcass, and asurface so full
of spines, ridges, ruffles and frills that the naturalists have not been able to count them without quarreling about
their number; and that the colored youth, whose sport they spoil do not like to touch them, and especially to
tread on them unless they happen to have shoes on to cover the soles of their broad black feet.
Hoimes: The Professor at the Breakfast Table.
O* our Atlantic coast are found several species of this family. generally
known by the name ‘‘ Sculpin,’”’ and also by such titles as ‘‘ Grubby,’’
‘¢ Puffing-grubby,’’ ‘‘ Daddy Sculpin,’’ ‘‘ Bullhead,’’ ‘‘ Sea-robin,’’ ‘* Sea-
toad,’’ and ‘‘ Pig-fish.’’ Their economic value is little or none, but
they are important as scavengers, and are used for lobster bait. They are
often a source of great annoyance to the fishermen by cumbering their
hooks and by stealing their bait. The most abundant species is the
Eighteen-spined Sculpin, Cottus octodecimspinosus, which frequents shallow
and moderately deep waters from Labrador to New York. It is usually
associated with a smaller species, Co/tus eneus, which may be called the
‘« Pigmy Sculpin,’’ and which ranges from the Bay of Fundy to New York.
Cottus scorpius, of Europe, is represented on our coasts by C. scorpius
sub-species gre@nlandicus, which is abundant everywhere from New York to
Greenland and Labrador. This sub-species has been found on the coast of
Ireland,* and the typical Coftus scorpius has been shown by Dr. Bean to
occur in Maine. ‘This is also, in addition to several insignificant species
seldom seen except by naturalists, a large, brilliantly colored form, known
”
* Annals of Natural History, 1844, p. 402.
302 AMERICAN FISHES.
as the ‘‘ Sea-raven,’’ ‘‘ Rock Toad fish,’’ or ‘‘ Deep-water Sculpin,’’ which
is found as far south as the entrance to Chesapeake Bay, is abundant
throughout New England, and has been discovered off the coast of Nova
Scotia. This fish, Hemztripterus hispidus, or Hl. americanus, attains the
length of two feet, and is conspicuous by reason of its russet-orange or
brick-red colors, its harlequin-hke markings, its warted body, its gro-
tesquely elongated fins, and above all, by its peculiar habit of swallowing
air until its belly is inflated like a balloon.
These fishes feed upon all bottom animals, mollusks, crustaceans, sea-
urchins, and worms, and may also be found in the harbors devouring any
refuse substances which may be lying upon the bottom. They breed for
the most part in summer, and certain species, like the Sea-raven and the
Greenland Sculpin, at that time assume very brilliant colors. They are
not eaten by our people, although the Sea-raven is decidedly palatable.
Those species which occur in Greenland, are said to be eaten by the
natives. As has been remarked, they are a source of annoyance to fisher-
men, whose bait they steal and whose hooks, especially the hooks of their
trawl-lines, they encumber. Boys delight to catch them and fix a piece of
light wood between their teeth; they are then unable to swim and struggle
vigorously at the top of the water.
About the fish-curing stations they are very abundant, and exceedingly
useful as scavengers, gorging themselves with refuse thrown back into the
sea ; they care little for the presence of man, and can hardly be driven
away, even when roughly punched with a boat-hook.
In the lakes and streams of the Northern States are numerous species of
Uranidea and allied genera, known in some localities by the English
name of ‘Miller’s Thumb,’’ also called ‘‘ Bull-heads,’’ ‘‘ Goblins,’’
‘¢ Blobs,’’? and ‘‘ Muffle-jaws.’? They are small and of no importance
except as the food for larger species.
The Cottide, according to Jordan, are represented on the Pacific coast
by about eighteen separate species, known by such names as ‘‘Sculpin,”’
<¢Drummer,’’ ‘‘Salpa,’’ ‘‘Johnny,’’ ‘‘ Biggy-head,’’ and ‘‘ Cabezon.’’
Only one of these species, Scorpenichthys marmoratus, has any sort of
economic importance; the others may be considered collectively. The
names applied to them may be briefly considered. The name Sculpin, of
course, is derived from that in use for the Atlantic species of Cottus.
«« Drummer,’’ comes from the quivering noise made by many species when
SCULPINS AND GURNARDS. 303
3
taken alive out of the water. ‘‘Salpa’’ is a Spanish word for toad, and
applied also to species of Batrachide. ‘Johnny’? is applied only to very
little Sculpins along the shore, notably Oligocottus maculosus. The same
name is given in the Ohio Valley to fishes of precisely similar habits,
the Ltheostomatide. ‘‘ Biggy-head’”’ and its Spanish cognate ‘‘ Cabezon’’
are used by the Italians and Spanish about Monterey, Santa Barbara, and
elsewhere, for different Cottide.
Most of the Cottide feed upon small fishes, and especially crustacea ;
one species, Lxophrys bison, being a vegetable feeder. All take the hook
readily. The flesh is poor, tough, and dry, and the waste by the removal
of the head, viscera, and skin is so great that even the poorest people do
not use them as food. Various sorts (notably Leftocottus armatus) are
dried by the Chinese, who consider them the poorest of all dried fishes.
The Sea-robin or Gurnard family, is represented on our Atlantic coast
by several species, some of them being quite abundant. The most striking
of them all is the Sea-bat or Flying Gurnard, Dactylopterus volitans, which
is remarkable on account of its enormous spreading fins, larger than those
of a flying-fish—wings which, however, are not sufficiently powerful to lift
the body above the surface of the water, though useful in maintaining the
equilibrium of the heavy-headed body swimming through the water. The
colors of the body and of the fins are very brilliant, and the fish is often
exhibited as a curiosity. It is found along our entire coast south of Cape
Cod, and in the waters of Brazil; also in the Mediterranean and in the
neighboring parts of the Eastern Atlantic.
The most important of the Pacific Sculpins, writes Jordan, is Scorpen-
ichthys marmoratus. a species which attains the weight of more than ten
pounds, being by far the largest member of its family in those waters. It
is found from San Diego on the south, to Victoria on the north, but is
more abundant about Monterey and San Francisco, than either northward
or southward. It inhabits moderate depths, and is taken in considerate
numbers with gill-nets and hooks. It feeds upon crustacea and small fish.
Its value is very slight, its flesh being tough and flavorless, and it is rarely
sent to market when good fish are abundant.
The genus Prionotus, of which we have five species, resembles Dac-
tylopterus in general form, but the wings are much smaller, while two or
three of the lower rays of these fins are developed into finger-like
appendages which are used in stirring up the weeds and sand to rout out
304 AMERICAN FISHES.
the small animals upon which they feed. In Southern New England there
are two species, P. palmipes and P. evolans, the latter distinguished by the
presence of dark stripes upon its sides. These attain the length of fifteen
to eighteen inches and a weight of one and a quarter to two pounds.
They have excellent food qualities, but are eaten, so far as we have
record, only in the vicinity of Hartford, Conn., where they are known as
‘‘Wing-fish.’’ They are taken in great quantities in the pound-nets along
the Vineyard Sound, especially the unstriped species, the habits of which
are better understood than those of the allied species. It feeds upon
crabs, shrimps, and small fishes.
In Vineyard Sound the Sea-robin spawns during the summer months.
A specimen obtained at Woods Holl, August t2, 1875, contained eggs
nearly ripe. Another, observed at Noank, Conn., July 11, 1874, was in
precisely the same condition. Lyman states that in 1871 the eggs, which
are bright orange, were thrown up in quantities during the last third of
May on the beach on the inner parts of Waquoit Bay, and the females had
well developed spawn in them.
The species just mentioned are found as far north as Cape Cod; the
Web-fingered Sea-robin, P. pa/mipes, even north of the Cape, two or three
specimens having been obtained in the vicinity of Salem and Lynn.
These two species apparently do not occur much to the south of Cape
Hatteras, and on our Southern coast they are replaced by others which
are smaller, and at present, of no economic importance. The genus
Prionotus does not occur in Europe, the family being there represented by
a very similar form, genus 77zgZa, which, however, has still smaller wings.
Its habits are much the same. A single specimen of the Red Gurnard of
Europe, Zrigla cuculus, is said to have been taken at New York. Europe
has nine species of Z7¢g/a, most of which are highly esteemed for food ;
some of these species have been known to attain the length of two feet,
and the weight of eleven pounds. These fishes are held in high estima-
tion, and are frequently seen in the markets.
Parnell writes: ‘‘ The Red Gurnard occurs on the Devonshire coast in
great numbers, and on some occasions thousands of them may be seen
exposed for sale daily, especially in those small towns where the trawl-
boat fishing is carried on. The flesh is firm and well-flavored. The
Tub-fish, 7. Azrundo, is of frequent occurrence on the west coast of Scot-
land, and is occasionally brought to the Edinburgh market. Its flesh is
SCULPINS AND GURNARDS. 305
firm and wholesome, and is considered by some to be superior to the last
species, but in general more dry. In the north of Europe it is salted for
keeping. The Gray Gurnard, 7° gurnardus, is considered by all fishermen
richer and sweeter than any of the other Gurnards, although in the markets
it is less sought after than the Red Gurnard, which is the drier and worse
flavored of the two. Itis taken generally with hooks baited with mussels.’’
These fish are taken in very great numbers in the trawl-nets; they appear
to be much more abundant on the European coast than their cousins, the
Sea-robins, with us. These recommendations are quoted here in order
to draw attention to this neglected group of fishes, which are certainly
worthy of greater consideration than they have hitherto received.
Mr. J. Carson Brevoort has given the following testimony regarding the
food qualities of the American species:
‘Among the fish that may be classed as edible, but which are entirely
neglected here, is the Sea-robin, Grunter, or Gurnard. This curious,
but rather forbidding creature, is, in reality, one of the most delicate
morsels that can be laid before an epicure, the flesh being snow-white,
firm, and fully as good as that of the king-fish, or whiting. In fact it
would be hard to distinguish them when placed on the table.
‘¢In Europe every one of the kinds of the Trigla, or Gurnard family,
is sought after eagerly, and finds a ready sale on the fish stalis. They have
eight or ten kinds of the group there, and we have but six here ; all but
one different from the European kinds, though belonging to the same
family. We shall not attempt to describe all these fish, which resemble
each other very much in all but the color. They all have large heads,
sheathed with rough, bony plates, and armed with many acute points, and
their dorsal fin has also several sharp, thorny rays. ‘These prickles are all
erected by the fish when taken alive, and they inflict a painful, though
not, as many say, a poisonous wound. ‘The broad mouth is furnished with
rough, but not sharp, teeth ; the pectoral fins in mostof the species are very
long, and can be expanded like a fan, whence they are sometimes called
Flying-fish and Butterfly-fish. It is doubtful, however, whether they can
actually fly like a flying-fish, but they have been said to skip from wave
to wave, a peculiarity often alluded to by haheutic poets. They also
emit a grunting sound, which can be distinctly heard in still weather
while lying at anchor on a shallow, which they frequent. At such a time
the sound resembles the distant lowing of kine. When freshly taken
from the water they grunt quite loudly, whence their popular name of
Grunter, or Cuckoo-fish.
‘¢The Gurnards live on crabs and delicate fresh food, taking all such
baits readily, on a clean bottom, and they sometimes anno~ fishermen
20
» 306 AMERICAN FISHES.
hugely by their voracity. They play well on the hook, and a large one
tugging at a rod is often supposed to be a game fish and a prize, till the
ugly Sea-robin, with his spiky helmet, shows himself at the surface.
‘¢ The Gurnards of our coasts do not reach a large size, at least we have
but rarely seen any that weighed over a pound, while in Europe some of
the species, such as the Tub-fish, Z7zg¢/a hirundo, have been found weigh-
ing eleven pounds, and those of seven or eight are common. The Red
Gurnard, or Rochet, 7. cuculus, and the Piper, 7. Jyra, reach three or
four pounds, averaging about two, while the other European kinds
resembles ours as to size.
‘¢ Small as our species are, they are not the less delicate when cooked,
and we have often verified this fact. They are sold in England by the
number, and not by weight, for their large heads are inedible, while they
add, perhaps, one-quarter to their weight. The English fishermen take
them almost everywhere along the coast in large trawl-nets, constructed
for their capture, though other bottom fish may find their way into the
net. These trawls are generally twelve or sixteen feet wide at the mouth,
while a bag proportioned to their beam, which has one or two labyrinths
like a fyke-net inside. The Trawl is managed from a large sail-boat, with
a block and tackle, and is hauled in water as deep as eight or ten
fathoms. We do not recommend this special fishery to our coast fisher-
men, as our Gurnards are small, but wish only to call attention to the
edible qualities of this generally despised fish.
‘Piscator (the anonymous auther of the ‘Practical Angler ), in his
excellent little treatise entitled ‘ Fish ; How to Choose and How to Dress,’
published in 1843, says of the Gurnard that their flesh is ‘ white, excellent,
exceedingly firm, and shells out into snowy flakes, and is of a remarkably
agreeable flavor,’ and that ‘they keep well.’ He recommends them to be
boiled—that is the large ones; while the small ones may be split and fried.
Having drawn attention to this first as one that deserves a place on our
tables, we leave his fate hereafter to the tender care of a good cook and
a discerning palate.
Another member of this family is the Pev?stedium miniatum, a brilliant
red species recently discovered by the Fish Commission in the deep waters
on the coast of Southern New England.
THE HALIBUT.
HALIBUT, FLAT-FISH AND FLOUNDER.
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 dragg’d on hooks, or poured from tubs like water,
Gasp side by side, together piled, in one promiscuous slaughter.
BapHam.
“pee Halibut is widely distributed through the North Atlantic and
North Pacific, near the shores, in shallow water, as well as upon the
off-shore banks and the edges of the continental slope down to a depth of
two hundred and fifty fathoms or more. In the Western Atlantic the
species has not been observed south of the fortieth parallel, stragglers
having occasionally been taken off Sandy Hook, Block Island. and Mon-
tauk Point, while it ranges north at least to Cumberland Gulf, latitude
64°, and as far as Disko, Greenland, five or six degrees within the Arctic
Circle. Along the entire west coast of Greenland they exist, abundant
-about Iceland and north to Spitzbergen, in latitude 80°. No one knows
to what extent they are distributed along the European and Asiatic shores
of the Arctic Ocean, but they have been observed on both sides of the
North Cape, in East and West Denmark, and from the North Cape,
latitude 71°, south along the entire western line of the Scandinavian
Peninsula, in the Skager Rack and Kattegat, but not, however in the
Baltic. South of latitude 50° their range in the Eastern Atlantic appears
“to cease.
On the Pacific coast the Halibut, which has been shown by Dr. Bean to
308 AMERICAN FISHES.
be identical with that of the Atlantic, ranges from the Farallone Islands
northward to Behring Straits, becoming more abundant northward. Its
centre of abundance is in the Gulf of Alaska, particularly about Kodiak,
the Alexander Archipelago, and the Shumagins. It is occasionally taken
off San Francisco and about Humboldt Bay. In the Straits of Fuca and in
the deeper channels about Puget Sound it is taken in considerable
numbers.
The Halibut is emphatically a cold-water species. That it ranges nine
or ten degrees further south on the American than on the European coast,
is quite in accordance with the general law of the distribution of fish-life
in the Atlantic ; indeed, it is only in winter that Halibut are known to
approach the shore to the south of Cape Cod, and it is safe to say that the
temperature of the water in which they are at present most frequently
taken is never, or rarely higher than 45°, and seldom higher than 35°,
and often in the neighborhood of 32°. Its geographic range corresponds
closely to that of the codfish, with which it is almost invariably associated,
though the cod is less dependent upon the presence of very cold water, and
in the Western Atlantic 1s found four or five degrees—in the Eastern
Atlantic at least two—nearer the Equator, while the range of the two
species to the north is probably, though not certainly, known to be limited
relatively in about the same degree. In the same manner the Halibut
appears to extend its wanderings further out to sea, and in deeper and
colder water than the cod. Although observations on this point have
necessarily been imperfect, it seems to be a fact, that while cod are very
rarely found upon the edge of the continental slope of North America,
beyond the 250-fathom line, Halibut are present there in abundance.
The name of this species is quite uniform in the regions where it is
known, though of course subject to certain variations in the languages of
the different countries, and its characteristic features are so unmistakable
that it is rarely confounded with other species, the only fish for which it is
ever mistaken seeming to be the Turbot of the European coast, with which
it sometimes interchanges names. In Scotland it is said that the Halibut
is frequently called the Turbot, and Yarrell has expressed the opinion that
in instances where it had been claimed that Halibut had been taken in
the south of Ireland the Turbot was the species actually referred to.
‘¢ Halibut ’’ and ‘* Holibut’’ are words which are as old as the English
language. In Germany it is called ‘‘ Heilbutt’’ or ‘‘ Heiligebutt’’; in
HALIBOT, PLAT-FISH AND FLOUNDER. 309
Sweden, ‘‘ Hallefisk’’ or ‘‘ Halleflundra,’’ while in Holland the name is
eS Heilbot.”*
In studying these names it should be borne in mind that ‘‘ But ’’ or
<* Bott’’ is another word for a flounder or flat fish, and that the English,
Dutch, German, and Scandinavian prefixes to either this word, or the
equivalent word Flounder, are presumably of the same meaning. A false
derivation has been imagined for the name, which is exemplified in the
German word ‘‘ Heiligebutt’’ just mentioned, and also in the English
orthography, which is sometimes encountered ‘‘ Holybut.’’ This is with-
out foundation, for the Halibut has never been mentioned more than any
other species of flat fish, and the derivation is as fanciful as the New Eng-
land one of ‘‘ Haul-a-boat,’’ which our fishermen have frequently assured
me is the proper name, referring to the size and the strength of the fish.
The true derivation of the word is best understood by a study of its Scan-
dinavian names, from which it appears that the prefix has reference
simply to the holes or deep places at sea in which the fish is found, and
that the name simply means, ‘‘ a deep-sea fish,’’ or ‘‘ a deep-sea flounder.’’
The name ‘‘ Fletan’’ which a species bears in France is not distinctive,
the fish being almost unknown in that country.
Half a century ago Halibut were extremely abundant in Massachusetts
Bay. Elsewhere in this essay are given several instances of their great
plenty and voracity, as narrated by some of the early fishermen of Cape
Ann. Of late years, however, few are found except in deep water on the
off-shore banks.
The presence of so important a food-fish as the Halibut in America did
not long escape the observations of the early English explorers. Capt.
John Smith, in his ‘‘ History of Virginia,’’ wrote: ‘‘ There is a large sized
fish called Halibut, or Turbot; some are taken so bigg that two men have
much a doe to hall them into the boate ; but there is such plenty, that the
fisher men onely eate the heads & finnes, and throw away the bodies ;
such in Paris would yeeld 5. or 6. crownes a peece: and this is no
discommodity.”’
The Halibut is surpassed in size by only three of our eastern species—
the sword-fish, the tunny, and the tarpum. ‘There is said, by experienced
fishermen, to be a great difference in the size of the two sexes, the females
being much the larger; the male is said rarely to exceed fifty pounds in
weight, and to be, ordinarily, in poor condition and less desirable for
310 AMERICAN FISHES.
food. The average size of a full-grown female is somewhat between one
hundred and one hundred and fifty pounds, though they are sometimes
much heavier. Capt. Collins, who has had many years’ experience in the
Gloucester Halibut fishery, assures me that he has never seen one which
would weigh over two hundred and fifty pounds, and that one weighing
over two hundred and fifty pounds is considered large. There are, how-
ever, well-authenticated instances of their attaining greater dimensions.
Capt. Atwood, in a communication to the Boston Society of Natural
History, in 1864, stated that the largest he had ever taken weighed, when
dressed, two hundred and thirty-seven pounds, and would probably have
weighed three hundred pounds as taken from the water. In July, 1879,
however, the same reliable observer saw at Provincetown two individuals
taken near Race Point, one of which weighed three hundred and fifty-nine
pounds (three hundred and two pounds when dressed), the other, four
hundred and one pounds (three hundred and twenty-two pounds when
dressed).
There is a tradition in Boston that Mr. Anthony Holbrook, one of the
early fish dealers of that city, had in his possession a Halibut, taken at
New Ledge, sixty miles southeast of Portland, which weighed over six
hundred pounds. ‘This story, which is recorded by Storer in his ‘ Fishes
of Massachusetts,’’ Capt. Atwood believes to be untrue. Halibut, weigh-
ing from three to four hundred pounds, though unusual in comparison
with the ordinary size, are by no means rare. I have before me a record
of ten or twelve such, captured on the New England coast during the past
ten years. Nilsson, a Swedish ichthyologist, has mentioned the capture
of a Halibut on that coast which weighed seven hundred and twenty
pounds. ‘There are stories of Halibut ten feet in length: a fish weighing
three hundred and fifty pounds is between seven and eight feet long and
nearly four feet in width. The largest individuals are not considered
nearly so good for table use as those of less than one hundred pounds’
weight. A fat female of eighty pounds, is by good judges, considered to:
be in the highest state of perfection. Males are not, however, so highly
esteemed. Small Halibut, known as ‘‘ Chicken Halibut,’’ ranging from
ten to twenty pounds, are much sought after by epicures, and bring a high
price in the New York and Boston markets. They are comparatively
rare however, and a Halibut weighing ten pounds or less is rarely seen ;
the smallest recorded on our coast was about five inches in length and was
taken by Prof. Verrill in a dredge-net in the Straits of Canso.
HALIBUT, FLAT-FISH AND FLOUNDER. aut
The Halibut of the Pacific are apparently similar in dimensions,to those
of New England. Mr. Anderson, inspector of fisheries for British Colum-
bia, states that they there attain a weight of 200 pounds.
The wholesale dealers of Gloucester, in buying fresh Halibut from the -
fishermen, recognize two grades ; one, which they call ‘‘ Grey Halibut,’’
they consider to be of inferior value, and pay a lower price for. The
Grey Halibut are distinguished by dark cloudings or blotches upon the
under side, which in the most remarkable fishes are pure white. Almost
all the largest Halibut are classed among the Greys. Fishermen claim
that there is no actual difference between the grey and the white fish, and
it is a fair question whether they are not right.
They are large-mouthed, sharp-toothed, voracious, although adapted for
life upon the bottom, and doubtless feed largely upon crabs and mollusks ;
they are particularly fond of fish of all kinds; these they waylay, lying
upon the bottom, invisible by reason of their flat bodies, colored to corre-
spond with the general color of the sand or mud upon which they rest.
When in pursuit of their prey they are active, and often come quite to the
surface, especially when in the summer they follow the capelin to the
shoal water near the land. They feed upon skate, cod, haddock, men-
haden, mackerel, herring, lobsters, flounders, sculpins, grenadiers, turbot,
Norway haddock, bank clams, and anything else that is eatable and can
be found in the same waters. Capt. Ashby tells me that common
flounders and flat-fish are among their most favorite food; they follow
them up the shoals of George’s and Nantucket ; they he in wait for them
on the sand-rips and catch them as they swim over. He has seen a half
bushel of flat-fish in the stomach of one; they stow them away very
tightly. He has often seen Halibut chasing flat-fish over the surface of the
water. About Cape Sable their favorite food seems to be haddock and
rusk. He has seen eight or ten pounds of haddock and cod taken out of
one of them. When they are on the shoals they are sometimes filled with
flat-fish, haddock, cusk, sculpin and herring, but when in deep water he
has found very little food in them. ‘They eat crabs and other crustaceans,
but shells are rarely found in their stomachs, except those of clams and
mussels.
Capt. Hurlbert tells me that when the vessels are dressing codfish on the
Grand Banks, and the back-bones and head are thrown overboard, these
are frequently found in the stomachs of Halibut taken in the same
locality.
B42 AMERICAN FISHES.
At the meeting of the Boston Society of Natural History, in 1852, Dr.
W. O. Ayres stated that he had seen a block of wood, a cubic foot in
dimension, taken from the stomach of a Halibut, where it had apparently
lain for a long time. Capt. George A. Johnson found an accordion key
in one of them. Olafson, in 1831, studying them on the coast of Green-
land, found not only pieces of iron and wood in them, but in the stomach
of one individual a large piece of floe ice. Capt. Collins has observed
that they often kill their prey by blows of the tail, a fact which is quite
novel and interesting. He described to me an instance which occurred
on a voyage home from Sable Island in 1877: ‘‘ The man at the wheel
sang out that he saw a Halibut flapping its tail about a quarter of a mile
off our starboard quarter. I looked through the spy-glass, and his state-
ment was soon verified by the second appearance of the tail. We hove
out a dory, and two men went in her, taking with them a pair of gaff-
hooks. They soon returned bringing not only the Halibut, which was a
fine one, of about seventy pounds’ weight, but a small codfish which it
had been trying to kill by striking it with its tail. The codfish was quite
exhausted by the repeated blows, and did not attempt to escape after his
enemy had been captured. The Halibut was so completely engaged in
the pursuit of the codfish that it paid no attention to the dory, and was
easily captured.”’
The Halibut, in its turn, is the prey of seals, of the white whale, and of
the various large sharks, especially the ground shark, or sleeping shark, in
the stomachs of which they have sometimes been found ; their sides, I am
told by Copt. Collins, are often deeply scarred, probably by the teeth of
the sharks, or in their early ives by mouths of larger individuals of their
own kind.
There is diversity of opinion regarding theirspawning. Some fishermen
say that they breed at Christmas time, in the month of January, when
they are on the shoals. Others declare that it is in summer, at the end
of June. Capt. George A. Johnson, of the Schooner ‘‘Augusta H. John-
son,’’ of Gloucester, assures me that Halibut ‘‘ spawn, just like the human
race, at any time of the year.’’ In April, 1878, he was fishing on Quer-
eau Bank, and found large and small Halibut, the large ones full of spawn.
In May he was on the Le Have Bank, where he found only small male fish
full of milt ; in June he was on Le Have again, fishing in shallow water,
where he found plenty of ‘‘small bull fish, with their pockets full of milt’’; in
HALIBUT, FLAT-FISH AND FLOUNDER. ams
July he was again on Quereau Bank, where he found a school of small and
big male and female fish, all, apparently, spawning, or ready to spawn,
‘with milt and pees soft’’; in August he was on the outer part of Sable
Island, where he found females full of spawn.
Capt. Ashby, speaking of the Halibut on George’s Banks, states that
roe is always found in them in May and June. The roes of a large Hali-
but caught by him in 1848 on the southwest part of George’s, and which
weighed 356 pounds, after it had been dressed and its head removed,
weighed 44 pounds. He states that the Halibut in this region have spawn .
in them as long as Connecticut vessels continue to catch them, or until
September. He has seen eggs in Halibut of twenty pounds’ weight, and
thinks that they begin to breed at that size. The spawn of the Halibut
is a favorite food of the fishermen of Southern New England, though never
eaten by those of Cape Ann.
Capt. Hurlbert, of Gloucester, tells me that on the Grand Banks of
Newfoundland the Halibut school used to come up in shoal water, in forty
or fifty fathoms, in summer and that the spawn was ripest about a fort-
night later. In August, 1878, he found many with the spawn already run
out. At that time several Gloucester fishermen reported that the Halibut
on Le Have and Quereau Banks were full of spawn. Capt. Collins
told me that in July and August, and up to the first of September, they are
found here with the ovaries very large, and are often seen with the ova and
milt exuding. The ovaries of a large fish are too heavy to be hfted by a
man, without considerable exertion, being often two feet or more in length.
At this time very little food is found in their stomachs. In September,
1878, the Fish Commission obtained from Capt. Collins the roes of a
fish weighing from 190 to 200 pounds, taken by the schooner ‘‘Marion’’
on the 13th of the month on Quereau Bank. This fish was taken at the
depth of 200 fathoms, and the temperature of the water was roughly re-
corded at 36° F. These ovaries were put into a basket with ice and brought
to the laboratory of the Fish Commission, where they were found to weigh
seventeen pounds, two ounces. Part of the eggs were nearly ripe, and
separated readily, while others were immature and closely adherent to each
other. A portion of the roe, representing a fair average of the size of the
eggs, was weighed and was found to contain 2,185 eggs; the weight of
this portion was two drams. The total number of eggs was from this es-
timated to be 2,182,773. It is not yet known whether the eggs float or
314 AMERICAN FISHES.
rest upon the bottom, nor is it known how long is the period of incubation,
nor what is the rate of growth of the fish. As has already been mentioned,.
young fish are very unusual; the smallest ever seen by Capt. Ashby in
Southern New England was taken on Nantucket Shoals, and weighed two:
and a half pounds after it had been eviscerated.
«« Left-handed ’’ Halibut are sometimes taken. Perhaps one out of five
thousand is thus abnormal in its form, having the eyes upon the left rather
than upon the right hand side of the head.
Halibut with dark spots or patches on the under side of the same dark
color as the back are occasionally taken. These are called by the fisher-
men ‘‘ Circus Halibut.’? They are generally of medium size, and thick,
well-fed fish,
THE PLAICE.
The Plaice, Summer Flounder, or Turbot Flounder, Paralichthys den-
catus, is, next to the Halibut, the most important flat fish on the eastern
coast. It is a member of a genus not existing in Europe, though repre-
sented on our own Pacific coast, in China and Japan, and in the Indian
Ocean. Its affinities are with the Halibut, which it much resembles in form,
and to which it is more similar in flavor than to the Turbot and Brill, so.
well known in transatlantic fish markets. Our common species was first
brought to notice in 1766, when Linneus received specimens from South
Carolina, sent him by Dr. Garden. It seems at that time to have been of
recognized commercial importance, since it was one of the few received by
Linneus from Garden which had a common name. In South Carolina at
this time it was called Plaice, and this is a name which is now accepted
HALIBUT, FLAT-FISH AND FLOUNDER. 315
in the New York market and about Cape Cod, although it has never been
recognized by those who have written books on American fishes. The
fishermen of the St. John’s River also use the name Plaice, but whether
for this species has not been determined. In Connecticut, North Caro-
lina, and in Florida, east and west, as well as on other parts of the coast,
the names Flounder and Common Flounder are current. In New York
and New England the name Summer Flounder is also frequently heard.
In Rhode Island the names ‘‘ Brail’’ and ‘‘ Puckermouth’’ are used, the
former doubtless a modification of the English name ‘“ Brill,’’ while on the
bills of fare in Boston and New York hotels it is often called the ‘* Deep-sea
Flounder,’’ especially since the Pole Flounder has been brought to notice by
the Fish Commission, and has obtained a reputation as a delicious table
fish. Fishermen sometimes mistake them for young Halibut, and they
doubtless at times are sold under the name of ‘‘ Chicken Halibut.’’ Tur-
bot Flounder is another name which has been suggested, but, upon the
whole, Plaice seems most desirable for general adoption.
This fish is abundant upon the eastern coast of the United States from
Cape Cod to Cape Florida, and according to Mr. Stearn’s report is also
found along the entire Gulf coast. Southward, its range extends at least
as far as Paraguay. To the northward it barely rounds Cape Cod. Capt.
Atwood remembers that in the first half of the present century great
quantities of Plaice were found inside the Point at Provincetown. They
were so numerous that in one afternoon he caught two thousand pounds.
They are now only occasionally taken, and have not recently been seen
north of Provincetown, though Storer has recorded their occurrence at
Wellfleet. Capt. Atwood attributes their disappearance, which was nearly
simultaneous with the advent of the blue fish, to the fact that blue fish de-
stroyed their favorite food, the squid, and rendered it impossible for them
to live longer in these waters. The Plaice has been much less abundant
in Cape Cod Bay within the last thirty years, but there is no evidence of
considerable diminution in numbers elsewhere. On the eastern coast of
Connecticut and Long Island, where the Plaice fishery is most extensively
prosecuted, it is the opinion of experienced fishermen that no change in
numbers has been perceptible within the last thirty years. The Connecti-
cut fishermen say that they are frequently so abundant that they have only
to throw out and pull in their lines, catching ‘‘ all they choose,’’ while the
bottom seems to be carpeted with them.
316 AMERICAN FISHES.
Like others of its tribe, the Plaice habitually he upon the bottom, where
their peculiar shape and color protect them from observation and give
them excellent opportunities to capture their prey. In the north they are
usually found at a depth of two to twenty fathoms, and in winter move off
into deeper water. In New Jersey they occur at lesser depths. Prof.
Baird records that they are sometimes taken in large numbers by means of
nets in the deep slues along the beach. In winter they do not run out so
far into deep water, and ‘‘ at times,’’ says Prof. Baird, ‘‘seem to be quite
torpid on the shallow grounds, suffering themselves to be taken up with
oyster-tongs without making any attempt to escape.’’ Still further south
they are found in the shallowest water. The fishermen of St. John’s River
seine them in the grass along the shores at a depth of three or four feet.
Mr. Stearns writes, speaking of the eastern part of the Gulf of Mexico:
‘They are found mostly in the bays and bayous where the bottom is
muddy or grassy, but it is not unusual to find them in shoal water along
the sand beaches of the coast and bays. Very shoal water seems to be
particularly attractive, and they are often found at the water’s edge
embedded in the sand, with only their eyes in view. When alarmed or in
pursuit of prey their movements are very swift, and the quickness with
which they bury themselves in the sand is quite wonderful.’’
Their habit of ascending Southern rivers is remarkable. They are said
to occur in Lake George and the other lakes at the headwaters of the St.
John’s and the Ocklawaha Rivers. At Jacksonville they are commonly
taken in company with bream, black bass, and other fresh-water fish, in
winter as well as summer.
Although present in the shoal waters of Florida throughout the year,
Mr. Stearns states that they are most abundant in summer. On the Con-
necticut coast, however, their habit of migrating seaward is much more
pronounced. The Noank fishermen never find them until May. They
say that they never catch them until after they have fished awhile for sea-
bass. As early as the first of October they begin to grow scarce, and none
are ordinarily caught after the middle of the month. I cannot find that
they have ever been seen moving in schools, though fish taken in the same
locality at the same time are usually quite uniform in size. They shift
their position, probably in search of food, and where any are found they
are plenty. This indicates that they are gregarious in habit. The abun-
dance of food in special localities sufficiently explains this fact.
HALIBTOLT, PLAT-FPISH AND FLOUNDER. 207
The Plaice feed upon small fish, shrimps, crabs, and hermit crabs,
squid, small species of shell-bearing mollusks, and certain radiates, such
as sand-dollars. They are frequently seen at the surface, rapidly swim-
ming, and even jumping out of the water, in pursuit of schools of sand-eels
and sand-smelts. They also feed upon dead fish thrown out from the
fish-houses. Little is known of their breeding habits. All the large
females observed in July and August, 1874, upon the Connecticut coast
contained spawn, but it was, evidently, far from maturity. The Fish Com-
mission has obtained no very small specimens; in fact, none less than
eight or nine inches in length, though the fishermen speak of capturing
six-inch individuals. Their average length is from sixteen to thirty inches,
and the weight about two and a half pounds, though it is not unusual to
take individuals weighing seven or eight pounds. At Noank about eighty
fish are ordinarily packed in a barrel, weighing from 160 to 175 pounds.
The largest ever brought to Noank weighed twenty-six pounds. Others,
of whose capture I have known, weighed twenty, seventeen and a half,
and fifteen pounds. In Florida and at Provincetown I have seen them
three feet in length. A one-pound fish measures about fifteen inches; a
one and a quarter pound fish, sixteen or seventeen ; a two-pound fish, seven-
teen or eighteen; a three-pound fish, about twenty; a four-pound fish,
about twenty-two ; an eight-pound fish, about twenty-seven, and a ten-
pound fish, about thirty inches. These proportions are taken from notes
relating to a large number weighed and measured at Noank, Conn. ‘The
Winter Flounder or Flat Fish spawns in late winter and early spring near
the shore, and it is possible that the Plaice breeds at about the same
period.
The most extensive fishery for the Plaice is in the waters of Southern
New England. Favorite fishing grounds are on sandy bottoms, at a depth
of ten to twenty fathoms, along the Atlantic side of Block Island, Martha’s
Vineyard, and Eastern Long Island, where they are most plentiful. They
are obtained in smaller numbers in the harbors and bays along the south
shore of New England, on Skagwam and Middle Ground Reefs, in Fisher’s
Island Sound and Long Island Sound, and outside of Fisher’s Island.
They are also taken in considerable numbers in the pounds of this region,
occasionally five or six hundred at a time. The quantity taken in the
weirs of New England in 1876 was estimated as follows:
318 AMERICAN FISHES,
Pounds.
Weirs on north side of Cape Cody... sis(otele ocniciols enIarerst : 436
Weirston south sidevof Capes@odmin.-.ccc5. cease -oseoneaee 3,600
Weirsiin Vineyard Sound Ae. cacces sect nce cc.s ss wisn slalatele slate 326,620
Weirs in Buzzards Bay ..c.sesscmeemrascce Sepaoeeoacseonecon mA
Weirsion) Block Island), (estimated) i.....sc7..+s0.eeeeeeene 94,500
Weirs in Fisher’s Island Sound, (estimated).......... sees -4,,0C0
Wieirsion*easterm end iol Womenisland cc. c.7c0c>.secceeeere: . 14,000
Wieirston Rhode Island ).22un.ceneatescoes Goocbeencosopesc 172,250
663,555
Prom) other localitiess:essmect er. een. Shes ci cicdsesiscadedtnete steer 50,000
713,555
Estimated annual catch of Flat Wish. j...4.2.0.<.6.seees 600,000
1732325909
Value of the above, at four cents a pound, $52,542.00.
These statistics of the catch in pound-nets include Plaice and Flat Fish,
and in the statement of the total catch no distinction will be made
between these two species.
Immense numbers of them are sometimes taken in large seines hauled
up on the beach. In 1876, E. Cleveland seined 128,000 pounds at
Menemsha Bight, Mass. By far the greater quantity, however, is taken
by small fishing smacks belonging to and hailing from Noank, Mystic, and
New London, which pursue this special business from May until October.
These vessels are usually absent from port four or five days, and spend two
days in fishing. The fish are shipped in ice from Noank and New London
principally to New York, and also to inland cities in the vicinity. A single
smack, with a crew of a man and two boys, usually will obtain and ship to
New York, on an average, about 12 barrels a week, about 160 barrels a
year, or 25,000 to 28,oo0 pounds. Capt. Palmer, of Noank, in 1873,
caught on one trip of two days about 1,000 fish, weighing, perhaps, 2,000
pounds. On this trip he used four lines. A good fisherman is able to
manage two lines, each carrying two hooks. Menhaden bait is always
used by professional fishermen, though I have caught Plaice to good advan-
tage with lobster bait. A vessel usually consumes one barrel of menhaden
on each trip. The fish strike the hook sharply as soon as it approaches
HALIBUT, FLAT-FISH AND FLOUNDER. 319
the bottom, giving little opportunity to the skates, which very seldom get
a chance at a Plaice’s hook. In this respect they are very different from
the cod. When the fish have been hauled to the surface, they are quickly
transferred, with as little injury as possible, to the well of the smack,
which is amply large enough to hold the results of two or three days’ fish-
ing. They are thus brought alive to the place of shipment and reach the
markets in excellent condition, a fact which partially explains their
popularity compared with that of other fish of the same family.
In 1877 there were seven smacks engaged in this fishery—one from
Mystic, one from New London, and five from Noank. It was estimated
by the owner of one of the vessels that each vessel made on an average
fifteen trips during the summer, and that each trip averaged 800 fish,
weighing 134 pounds each, making a total of 1,400 pounds to a trip, or
21,000 pounds to the season, thus giving an aggregate of 147,000 pounds
as the result of this branch of the fishery.
Capt. Atwood states that in 1846 he began catching Plaice for the Bos-
ton market, in Provincetown Harbor, anchoring where the keel of the smack
would just clear the bottom, and anywhere near Race Point he could catch
them in great numbers, the largest weighing from ten to fifteen pounds
each. In one afternoon he caught two thousand pounds. These he carried
to Boston in the well of his smack and tried to sell, but was unsuccessful,
though they were offered under the name of ‘‘ Turbot,’’ local prejudice being
against them. In 1879 there were seven or eight boats engaged in the
Plaice fishery during the month of June, this month being the best for
Plaice fishing. In the latter part of July, when I made my observations,
all of the winter boats had stopped fishing for the year.
The method in use here is somewhat peculiar, and merits description.
The fishermen call it ‘‘drailing for Plaice.’’ ‘The boat used is an ordinary
cat-boat, managed by one person, and is allowed to drift with free sheet
before the wind, while the fisherman stands in the stern dragging the line
over the bottom, baited with a bit of squid or clam. The boat is kept as
nearly as possible over the places where the flats are deepening most
abruptly into the basin of the harbor, and where the water is from eight to
eighteen fathoms deep. Only very large fish, weighing ten, fifteen, some-
times even twenty pounds, are taken in this manner. The average catch
is from eight to twenty a day. In one day one man reported eight, one
fourteen, and one twenty-three. Some of these fish are sold in Province-
320 AMERICAN FISHES.
town, but the greater portion is sent iced to New York, where a price of
twelve cents a pound wholesale, is easily obtained. In Boston there is no
market for them.
On the coast of New Jersey Prof. Baird states that in 1854 they were
taken in large numbers, by means of nets, in the deep slues along the
beach. Along the southern coast they are occasionally taken by the line
fishermen, and a considerable quantity is seined by the river fishermen.
In the Gulf of Mexico they are rarely taken by hook and line, and are
usually speared or jigged at night, by torchlight.
The Plaice has always been the most popular of our in-shore flat fishes,
being exempt in a certain degree from the prejudice attaching to the fishes
of this family. It seems to have been a common food-fish in South Caro-
lina as early as 1760, and Schoepf mentions it as one of the food-fishes of
New York in 1776. In 1856, according to Gill, it was found in the New
York market in autumn, but seems to have been less in favor than the
Flat Fish. At present the Plaice is growing in favor in New York, and is
upon the lists of all good restaurants, though perhaps not so generally
consumed as the Flat Fish, which comes in the winter, when the market is
less lavishly supplied.
In Boston, and indeed throughout the greater part of New England,
this, with all other Flounders, is considered unfit to eat, and it is by no
means generally popular along the Southern coast, though in Florida its
flesh is highly prized. The Connecticut fishermen esteem it greatly, and
when preparing it for their own use are accustomed to hang it in the open
air for a day or two ‘‘to dry,’’ as they say. The wholesale price in New
York varies from one and a half to six cents, but is usually three cents a
he
pound.
Another species of Flounder, closely related to the Plaice, 1s the common
Four-spotted Flounder, Paralichthys oblongus, vyhich occasionally finds its
way to market in company with the Plaice, and is doubtless sold under the
same name. It is a small species, rarely attaining a greater length than
twelve inches and a weight of one pound. It may be readily distinguished
by the presence upon the back of four large, dark spots, elliptical in form,
but these soon fade out after death.
Its distribution is much more restricted than that of the Plaice: it is
most abundant, at a depth of ten to twenty fathoms, off the southern coast
of New England; it rarely occurs north of Cape Cod, though one
HALIBUT, FLAT-FISH AND FLOUNDER. geal
individual was taken by the Fish Commission at the mouth of Salem Har-
bor, nor has it been recorded south of New York. There are two smaller
species upon the Southern coast—one, Paralichthys quadrocellatus,
broader than Paralichthys oblongus, also marked with four dorsal spots,
and known in the South as the Four-spotted Flounder. ‘This species has
been observed as far north as Charleston and Fort Macon, while its west-
ern record of limit is Pensacola. Stearns records it as common from
Cedar Keys south to Key West, and pronounces it an excellent food-fish.
It cannot at present, however, be considered very important. The other
species, Paralichthys stigmatias, occurs in deep water (seventy-five fathoms)
off the coast of South Carolina, and may be distinguished by the presence
of three conspicuous spots upon the upper side of the body.
Goa
35,
Ay
THE FLAT FISH.
Next in importance to the Plaice, comes the Flat Fish, Pseudopleuro-
nectes americanus, or Common Flounder, sometimes called the ‘‘ Winter
Flounder,’’ said to be known in Massachusetts Bay as the ‘* Mud-dab,”’
and in New York as the ‘‘Flounder.’’ New York anglers call it the
‘‘ Nigger Fish.’’ This fish, like the Plaice, belongs to a genus unknown
to Europe, but is closely related to the common Flounder, or Fluke, of the
British coast. Its range is somewhat extensive, and in a certain degree it
replaces the Plaice along our northern coast. It has not been observed
south of Chesapeake Bay, but northward its range extends to the Bay of
Fundy, to the eastern shores of Nova Scotia, the Gulf of St. Lawrence,
and even to the coast of Labrador.
21
AMERICAN FISHES.
&o
N
i)
Flat Fish are always upon the bottom, feeding chiefly upon minute
shells, such as Wuceula and Bulla, upon young crabs, or whatever they can
find among the stones in the mud. ‘Their mouths are very small, and
since they would be unable to seize and kill other fish, they never come
to the surface in pursuit of prey, as do the large-mouthed Flounders.
They prefer sheltered bays and harbors, and appear to be equally abundant
on the bottoms of the sand, mud, or rock ; when at rest, they are usually
partially embedded in the mud or sand at the bottom. I have observed
that, when they come to a stop, they always settle themselves by convul-
sive motions of the fins and body, which has the effect of pushing them
down into the soft bottom. This species is perhaps a more permanent
resident of the localities which it inhabits than any other on our coast, unless
it be the sculpins. ‘There is very little evidence of a tendency to move
to and from the shore with a change of season. Wuinter and summer, they
appear to be equally abundant from New York to the Bay of Chaleur,
where, in the tide-way of Miramichi River, they are caught in winter
through holes in the ice. In Labrador they are described as exceedingly
abundant in summer, but nothing is known of their winter habits. Prof.
Baird found them scarce in Southern New Jersey in summer, but
learned that they were very abundant in the bays in winter. Small quan-
tities are brought to Washington in winter from the mouth of the Chesa-
peake.
The spawning season occurs early in spring, in February and March on
the Connecticut coast, and is thought to be closed by the first part of
April. Young fish of half an inch in length are found in July in the deep-
er parts of the bays and sounds, and in August and September, having
attained the length of one and one-half to five inches, occur in great
abundance in the coves and along the sandy shores of the Southern New
England coast, in very shallow water. Their growth is probably rapid,
though it would seem most likely that the five-inch specimens just referred
to were eighteen months rather than six months old. The largest that
have been discovered were fifteen inches long, and would weigh from one
to one and a half pounds.
The flesh of the Flat Fish is solid, white, and of excellent flavor, and
deserves a more general popularity than it has yet attained. It is, and
has been for the last century, largely consumed in New York in winter.
Schoepf, writing in 1776, mentions it as occurring 1n the market in spring ;
WATTBUT, PLAT-FISH AND FLOUNDER. 323
later, writing in 1818, he states that small numbers were found in the
stalls in January and February, taken with spears while searching for eels.
“These were not very inviting, owing to their mangled appearance and
frozen state, but, with the disappearance of sce and the approach of spring,
their numbers increased, and in March the stalls were well filled with them,
cheap and fresh and good. ‘They ,were only used as pan-fish. Gill wrote,
in 1856: ‘* This is the most common species of flounder that is brought
to the city markets in the winter and spring months; it is seldom sold at
a higher price than eight to ten cents per pound. Flounders are chiefly
sold by the weight; occasionally they are strung through the bronchial
apertures on twigs and nominally sold by the bunch.”’
The Smooth Flounder, or Christmas Flounder, Pleuronectes glaber, is
very similar in habits and appearance to the Flat Fish, and is still closer
to the Flounder of Europe, being a member of the same genus. It may
be distinguished from the former by its smooth skin, which has given to
the species, in some localities, the name “‘ Eel-back.’’ Its distribution is
extremely limited, it having been recorded as only found in Salem, Massa-
-chusetts, Portland and Belfast, Maine, or within the limits of two degrees
of latitude. Its range may in the future be extended farther to the north,
but it 1s certain that at present none occur south of Salem. In Casco Bay
they are very abundant in summer, and the Fish Commission secured great
quantities of them in water three or four fathoms deep in Bluelight Cove.
‘They have never elsewhere been observed, except in winter, about Christ-
mas time, when they come into the harbors to spawn. At Salem they are,
on this account, called the Christmas Fish. Considerable quantities are
caught every year by spearing them upon the sand. At this place they
are also called ‘‘ Fool Fish,’’ because, in their anxiety for food, they will
bite at any kind of bait, even at a rag. The spawning season is short, and
they soon retire into deeper water. At Portland, and in the vicinity, con-
siderable numbers are taken in the winter fishery in company with the Flat
Fish, and with them are sent to New York and neighboring markets. In
one instance a quantity were offered for sale in the markets of Washington.
The spawning season on the coast of Maine is slightly earlier than that
of Massachusetts, beginning as early as the middle of December, while in
Penobscot Bay they are taken at the very beginning of the month, full of
spawn. In Penobscot Bay they are taken in traps, or ‘‘fliers,’’
fishermen call them, shaped something like lobster-traps and baited. The
as the
AMERICAN FISHES.
ios)
i)
iS
young Smooth Flounder may be taken in summer on the beaches. The
largest females observed weighed twenty-three ounces, the weight of the
spawn being seven ounces. ‘Too little attention has hitherto been paid to
this fish, but 1t seems more than probable that in the future it will greatly
increase 1n favor.
The Greenland Turbot, Platysomatichthys hippoglossoides, though never
occurring in our inshore waters, is found on the off-shore banks, as far
south as George’s Bank, and a certain quantity of them is usually brought
to New York in winter. It is emphatically an arctic species, being
abundant on the coast of Greenland, often found at Holsteinborg and
beyond, and along this entire coast very eagerly sought by the natives.
The Eskimo name is ‘‘ Kalleraglik,’’ and the fish is also known as ‘‘Little
Halibut.’’ In Gunther’s work on ‘‘ The Fishes of the British Museum,”’
he has confused this species with the true Halibut, making it appear that
only the former is to be found on the coast of North America. In North-
ern Greenland the Turbot is found only at very great depths, and is fished
for, in water of three hundred and fifty to three hundred and eighty fath-
oms, through holes in the ice, over certain banks in Omenak Fiord and
at the mouth of the Jacob’s-Haven ice-fiord which is also packed with
great ice-floes. It is said to be found only in the ice-fiords and between
the great ice-fields, and there only in the coldest months of the year.
In South Greenland they are taken on the oceanic banks at a depth of
sixty to one hundred and eighty fathoms, though there considered to be
not so abundant as in North Greenland. In Fortune Bay, Newfoundland,
according to Captains G. Johnson and A. Leighton, of Gloucester, they
are very abundant in sixty to three hundred fathoms, and are caught chiefly
in winter. They are also obtained by the Gloucester halibut fleet on the
outer edge of the oceanic banks, in two hundred and fifty to three hundred
fathoms of water.
Their habits are not at all well understood, but it would appear from the
statement of several experienced fisherman, whom I have questioned, that
they occur on the very edge of the continental slope in deeper water than
the true Halibut, in fact in places where the slope is so nearly perpendi-
cular that the Halibut can hardly hold their places on the bottom. This
species is more symmetrical than any other of the family on our coast, and,
moreover, is colored upon both sides of the body—a fact which indicates
that its movements are more like those of the ordinary symmetrical fishes
and that it can rest with the body in a vertical attitude.
HALIBUT, FLAT-FISH AND FLOUNDER. 325
It would seem probable that its chosen haunts are along the declivities
of the outer slope of the continental plateau, where abundance of food is
known to occur, and where other fishes are not so well adapted to live.
Many hundreds of pounds are caught, every year, on the halibut trawls,
and the fish are frequently iced and brought to market with the Halibut,
and frequently eaten by the fishermen themselves. The greater portion of
those brought to New York in winter are, however, taken on trawl lines at
the mouth of Fortune Bay, and brought down by the vessels which go there
to secure cargoes of frozen herring. — It is impossible to obtain statistics
of the quantities thus brought in, because the market returns do not dis-
criminate between the different species of flounders and flat fishes.
The Greenland Turbot is an exceedingly palatable fish, its flesh being
firm, white, and less dry and more delicate in flavor than that of the Hal-
ibut. The average weight is from ten to twenty-five pounds. In Greenland
they are perhaps more highly esteemed than any other fish. The Green-
landers begin fishing as soon as the fiords are frozen and the white whales,
which prey greedily upon this fish, have left the entrances open. They
fish through holes in the ice, and attach little threads at intervals to lines,
so that they may better see the motion which the nibbling fish makes.
Under favorable circumstances a man may take ten to eighteen of these
fishes daily. The fishery continues from January to the middle of March,
sometimes, however, only a week or two, and usually only about a month.
The fish are cut into strips and dried for the consumption of the Danish
colonists. It it said that a very fine oil can be made out of their fat, so
that in hard times the fish serves to warm and light the houses as well as
feed their occupants. In South Greenland they are not so numerous, but
are constantly sought for, being taken in company with the sea perch, or
red fish.
Glyptocephalus cynoglossus, a fish often known as the Deep-sea
Flounder, was first observed on this coast in 1877, when numerous speci-
mens were obtained by the United States Fish Commission, in the deep-
est part of Massachusetts Bay. Specimens have since been obtained south
of Cape Cod, at a depth of one hundred fathoms or more, by the Fish
Commission, and by Prof. Agassiz, off the entrance to Delaware Bay,
at a depth of three hundred and ninety-five fathoms. The Pole Flounder
appears to be a permanent resident, throughout the whole year, in the deep
Dasins of Massachusetts Bay and on the edge of the continental slope, and
26. AMERICAN FISHES.
ios)
is found abundant in Bedford Basin, the inner expansion of Halifax Harbor,
at a depth of thirty-seven fathoms. It ranges nearly to Greenland, and is
also found on the coast of Northern Europe, where it is found in the
Trondhjem Fjord, in latitude 65°, and south to the coast of Ireland. Its
thermal range appears to be confined by the limits 34° and 45°.
It breeds abundantly in our waters in summer time, numerous individuals,
full of spawn, and young from half an inch upward, having been taken,
from July to October, in various localities.
The Pole Flounder has been pronounced, by all who have tasted it, a
most delicious food-fish, resembling more closely than any other species on
our coast the English Sole, having a great quantity of peculiarly flavored
mucilaginous tissue about the base of the fins ; it has never been taken by
our fishermen, because, on account of its exceedingly small and weak
mouth, it could not hold fast to an ordinary hook and line; and, should
it ever come into demand, it will be necessary for our fisherman to intro-
duce the English trawl-net.
The Turbot, or Steinbutt, Rhombus maximus, and the Brill, or Glatt-
butt, do not occur in our waters, although many attempts have been made
to prove that they do. The nearest representative of the Turbot is the
Spotted Sand Flounder, Lophopsetta maculata, a species found from Bucks-
port, Maine, to Fort Macon, North Carolina, variously known along the
coast as Water Flounder, Window-pane, and Daylight; the latter name
refers to the remarkable thinness of the fish, its flesh being so transparent
that, when held to the light, the shadow of an object on the other side
can be seen. Its flavor is good, but the amount of flesh is so small that
it is of no consequence as a food-fish. There are other smaller represen-
tatives of the family on the southern coast, and in deep water from Cape-
Cod southward, belonging to the genus Cvtharichthys, which, although
edible, are never eaten.
The Sand Dab, or rough Dab, Wippoglossoides platessoides, also some-
times known as the Rusty Flounder, is taken in winter by the line fisher-
men of New England, and small quantities are doubtless brought to market
and sold with other flat fishes without discrimination as to species. It of-
ten attains the length of twenty to twenty-four inches, and the weight of
two to five pounds, and is, in all respects, a desirable food-fish, being
highly esteemed on the other side of the Atlantic. In summer, individ-
uals of this species are to be found only in very deep water, thirty fathoms
HALIBUT, FLAT-FISH AND FLOUNDER. ew
or more, on the New England coast, and, though never very abundant in
any one locality, might be taken in considerable quantities, in company
with the Pole Flounder, by the use of a trawl-net, or even by specially
devised trawl-lines.
The Rough Dab has not been observed south of Woods Holl, Massachu-
setts, but ranges north to Greenland, is abundant on the English coast,
and is a well-known food-fish of Scandinavia. Its breeding habits in our
waters have not been observed, but in Southern Sweden the spawning time
isin April and May. It is a large-mouthed species, feeding upon fish as
well as upon large invertebrates, such as crustaceans and annelids, and
mention has been made of it more on account of its possible value in the
future than for its importance at the present time.
THE AMERICAN SOLE OR HOG-CHOKER.
The much-prized Sole of Europe, So/ea vulgaris, does not occur in the
Western Atlantic, although attempts are being made to introduce it, and
individuals have been set free in Massachusetts Bay, at Woods Holl,
and off Coney Island. Its nearest representative, the American
Sole, is found along our coast from Boston and Nahant to the mouth of
the Mississippi River. It occurs in all of the rivers south of the Susque-
hanna, and is taken in great numbers in the shad seines. It rarely attains
328 AMERICAN FISHES.
a greater length than six inches, and, though edible, is never eaten, and
it must be regarded as of extremely smallimportance. There are also two
or three other fishes belonging to this family in our Southern waters which
are insignificant in size and of no importance whatever. .
Aphoristia atricauda is a very small species of Sole, the only genuine
representative of the European Sole on our Pacific coast. It reaches a
length of six inches, and is occasionally taken in San Diego Bay. It has
no economic value.
TURBOT AND SOLE IN AMERICA.—A Philadelphia writer has lately tried
in the newspapers to revive the long-obsolete belief that the Turbot and
Sole of Europe occur on our coast. Although he has never seen them
himself, and fails to bring forward evidence that any one else has seen
them, he insists that they occur in the greatest abundance in New Jersey,
particularly in the vicinity of Atlantic, ‘‘and doubtless all along the At-
lantic coast from Portsmouth, N. H., to Wilmington, S. C.’’ (ste) He
upbraids the American public for their incredulity, though this does not
surprise him so much when he calls to mind that ‘‘ our Government Fish
Commissoner has actually contemplated sending a steamer to English
waters to procure turbot-seed to plant along our shores.’’ He would not
be surprised if incredulity were to continue longer ‘‘ under such official
indorsement.’’ He accounts for the ignorance regarding them by the
theory that the English trawl-net is unknown in America, and that our
fishermen would not know how to catch such fish if they were aware of
their presence, and have not become aware of their presence because they
have no means of catching them. He intimates that he is preparing to
form a company for the purpose of developing a turbot fishery upon our
coast ; an enterprise ‘‘in which but httle will be risked, and the results
will be a surprise to all.’’ He closed one of his letters to a New York
journal with the appeal: ‘‘I trust that you will not let this question sub-
side, but persist in calling attention to it until we do away with the ex-
traordinary anomaly of this enlightened nation being within reach of
treasure that for more than a century they have been unaware of and have
remained persistently blind to.”
All this is very entertaining, and furnishes a neat text for a few remarks
on the history of this belief, as well as an opportunity for demonstrating
to the public a fact which has for forty years or more been known to ich-
thyologists, that the Turbot and the Sole never have been seen on the
HALIBUT, FLAT-FISH AND FLOUNDER. 329
western side of the Atlantic, and never will be, unless they are introduced
by artificial means.
From the beginning to the end we encounter the well-known sources of
coniusion—the giving of old-world names to species which resemble in a
general way the old-world species which bear them, and the unquestion-
ing acceptance of these names as authoritative, by persons who are not
trained to close discrimination.
When Boston was occupied by the British during the Revolutionary war,
the officers of the fleet are said to have been bountifully supplied with
Turbot, which was caught in the neighborhood of an outer harbor. This
fact is recorded by Dr. J. V. C. Smith, in his ‘‘ Natural History of the
Fishes of Massachusetts’’ (Boston, 1833), on the authority of William
Ladd, esq., of Maine. He also mentions ‘‘a statement of Mr. Parker,
the conductor of the marine telegraph,’’
before, Admirable Sir Isaac Coffin brought out to this country a trawl-net,
such as is used on the coast of Holland, for taking Sole for the London
who told him that ‘‘ many years
markets, with which he succeeded in capturing that delightful fish in Ips-
wich Bay, which was not before supposed to exist here.’’ The fishes found
in this manner were no doubt the common Flat Fishes of Massachusetts
Bay. The common Flounder, Paralichthys dentatus, taken in Province-
town water, where it is usually called ‘‘ Plaice,’’ was in 1880 sold in
Boston under the name ‘‘Turbot.’’ Captain Mackinnon, of the Royal
Navy, who visited this country in 1850, conceived the idea that Turbot
ought to be found on the shores of the United States, and took pains to
search for them with a trawl-net. The nets which he used had been im-
ported ten years before by Mr. Nathan Smith, an American gentleman,
who had hoped to introduce them, but had never used them. Captain
Mackinnon tried one net at Newport, Rhode Island, and succeeded in
taking a number of different kinds of Flat Fish. He carefully refrained,
however, from pronouncing any one of them to be identical with the Tur-
bot or Sole, though from the vagueness of his language it is evident that
his ichthyological knowledge was very scanty, and that he was not accus-
tomed to observe the differences between the different species of fishes
which somewhat resemble each other. His experiences are described at
length in his book of travels, entitled ‘‘ Atlantic and Trans-Atlantic
Sketches, Afloat and Ashore’’ (Harper & Bros., New York, 1852, pp. 166-
170). Capt. C. C. Churchill, U. S. A., who saw the results of Capt.
330 AMERICAN FISHES.
Mackinnon’s experiment, tells me that the fish taken were the common
species of New England flat-fishes and flounders.
We fancy that the inspiration of the new advocate of the turbot-in-
America question, as well as the information upon which he bases his con-
clusion, was drawn from this very same book of Capt. Mackinnon, for
he uses many of the same phrases, and he repeats, in almost the same
words, Captain Mackinnon’s statement: ‘‘ The fish markets in America
are not all in keeping with the size and wealth of the States,’’ a statement
which, however true it may have been thirty years ago, will be amusing to
any one who has recently had opportunity to compare the fish markets of
America and Europe. This ingenious Philadelphia savant sums up his
evidence as follows :
‘¢The Turbot, Sole, and Plaice are, however, in abundance in your
deep-water sand banks. They were caught there in 1812 by English sailors,
and in 1880 Turbot have been obtained off Atlantic City, if the ‘Balti-
more American’ is any authority.’’
The notion that the introduction of the English trawl in America would
be novel and would at once open up a field for a fishery industry of bound-
less extent, deserves a word. ‘The trawl has been assiduously used by the
summer collecting party of the United States Fish Commission for ten
years past, and also by Prof. Agassiz upon various exploring trips. The
steamers of the Fish Commission have used it on every portion of the
coast, from Yucatan to Halifax. Prof. Agassiz has used it in the
Gulf of Mexico and on the coast of Florida, and has employed
it in running five lines of research at right angles to the coast from Cape
Hatteras, at points nearly equidistant between Charleston and Cape Cod,
one of them directly out from the entrance to Delaware Bay. The
dredgings of the Fish Commission were carried from near the shore to a
depth of nearly five miles in the open sea, and covered a very wide area
of the ocean bottom.
In 1854 Prof. Baird made a careful exploration of the coast of New Jer-
sey with especial reference to the fishes, and since that time every stretch
of coast line from Brownsville, Texas, to Eastport, Me., has been
thoroughly investigated by the naturalists of the United States Fish Com-
mission. It is true that a new species of fish is occasionally discovered, but
the new fishes always belong to one of two classes. They are either
swift-swimming species, members of the West Indian fauna, which come
+
AAIABOT, FLALI-PISH AND FLOONDER. Bar
upon our northern shores in summer, or they are inhabitants of waters
more than six hundred feet deep, which have never previously been
explored. The Turbot and the Sole are shallow-water species, and, had
they occurred in our waters, would have been discovered many years ago.
There are twenty-six species of flat fishes on the east coast of the United
States. Four of these belong to the same family with the Sole, but are
utterly worthless as articles of food. The nearest relative of the Sole is
often called the American Sole, Achirus lineatus, and is known on the
coast of New Jersey as the Hog-choker, Cover-clip, or Cover. Of the
flat fishes only two are positively unfit for food, and these two, strangely
enough, are the representatives of the sub-family ARhombine, to which
belong the Turbot aud Brill of Europe. One of these Lophopsetta macu-
/atta, is sometimes called the Spotted Turbot, and in New Jersey is called
Window-pane, or Daylight, because it is so thin that when held to the
light the sun can be seen through its translucent flesh.
The most, important Flat Fish is the Halibut, which is identical with
that of Europe. This species, and the Pole Flounder, which has recently
been brought to light in our waters by the Fish Commission, are the only
two cf the number referred to that are found on both sides of the Atlan-
tic. We have in our waters abundance of flat fishes, some of which, for
instance, the common Flounder of the New York market, Paralicht/ys
dentatus, are probabiy fully equal to the turbot for food uses. In fact, it
may be had in the New York restaurants and hotels under this name.
Another fish, Platysomatichthys hippoglossoides, resembling the Turbot in
flavor, is sometimes brought to New York in winter. It is found at great
depths on the coast of Newfoundland, and is often called the American
or the Newfoundland turbot. The Pole Flounder is very similar to the
sole in flavor and in the texture of its flesh, but it unfortunately inhabits
somewhat inaccessible localities at great depths, and it is hardly to be ex-
pected that, with the present supply of excellent food-fish to be obtained
at so much smaller expense, our fishermen will take the pains to go in
search of it. That the popular taste for flat fish is already cultivated is
shown by the fact that, in 1879, 1,796,000 pounds were sold in New York
alone.
It is needless to refer to the efforts of the United States Fish Commis-
sion to introduce Sole; they are tamiliar to all who are interested in the
subject. The introduction of the trawl-net has peen for many years
332 AMERICAN FISHES.
under consideration, but this expensive mode of fishing does not seem to
be required at present, since the supply of fine-flavored food-fishes is more
than equal to the demand. With an eye to the interest of the American
fishermen, Prof. Baird some years ago detailed Capt. J. W. Collins, of the
Fish Commission, one of the most experienced fishermen of Massachusetts,
to study the trawl fishery of the German Ocean, and his report which is
in press, will soon be published.
Finally, it may not be amiss to state that Mr. E. G. Blackford, of Ful-
ton Market, New York, has for some time been authorized by the Com-
missioner of Fisheries to pay twenty-five dollars to any one who should
present a true Turbot or a true Sole, caught on the coast. This offer is
still standing.
THE COD OR BACCALAO.
CODSEOLEVOCK, HADDOCK AND UTAKE:
T’was merry, when
You wager’d on your angling ; when your diver
Did hang a salt fish on his hook, which he
With fervency drew up,
Anthony and Cleopatra, Act 11 Scene v.
Within this twenty years
Westward be found new lands,
* * *
Fish they have so great plenty,
That in havens take and slane they be
With staves, withouten fail,
Now Frenchmen and others have found the trade
That yearly of fish there they lade
Above a hundred sail,
EXPERIENS, The Four Elements, 1519.
HE Codfish and its allies constitute, from an economical point of view,
the most important of all the families of fishes, containing, as it does,
a large number of species, most of them of considerable size, distributed
throughout all parts of the northern hemisphere, usually found together in
great numbers, readily captured, and easily preserved for future use.
The codfish is usually found in the North Atlantic, in the North Pacific,
and in the Polar Ocean, its range extending far beyond the Arctic Circle.
It seems unnecessary to enumerate all the localities in which it has been
observed, for its geographical range may be defined with sufficient accu-
racy by a much more comprehensive statement. In the Western
Atlantic the species occurs in the winter in considerable abundance as
far south as the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, lat. 37°, and stragglers
334 AMERICAN FISHES.
have been observed about Ocracoke Inlet. The southern limit of this
species may safely be.considered to be Cape Hatteras, in lat. 35°, ro’.
Along the coast of the Middle States, New England, and British North
America, and upon all the off-shore banks of this region, Cod are found
usually in great abundance during part of the year at least. They have
been observed also in the Gulf of Boothia, lat. 70° to 75°, and in the
southeastern part of Baffin’s Land to the northward of Cumberland
Sound, and it is more than probable that they occur in the waters of the
Arctic Sea to the north of the American continent, or away round to
Behring’s Straits.
The Cod has been observed on the Western coast of Greenland. In the
North Atlantic the range of the species extends to Iceland and Spitzber-
gen, lat. 80°; along the arctic coast of Europe, as far as Eastern Fuin-
mark, and probably round to Siberia; while southward it ranges at least
to Brittany. Its southern limit is probably near the Bay of Biscay, lat.
40°, although Yarrell states that it is found south to Gibraltar. It does
not enter the Mediterranean, but penetrates into the Baltic to the coast of
Western Russia. Its distribution in the North Pacific is not so well
understood, though it appears to occur in the same abundance on all the
off-shore banks of this region, and also close to the coasts to the north of
the Straits of Fuca. According to Jordan, there is said to be a cod bank
outside of the mouth of the Columbia, but the species at present 1s of no
economic importance south of Alaska.
The Cod, like most other species which migrate to and from the shore
instead of northward and southward, is, doubtless, more dependent upon
temperature conditions than fishes hke the menhaden and the blue-fish,
and, Mr. Earll has suggested, the abundance of food doubtless has much
more influence upon its movements. We cannot doubt, however, that
the Cod moves periodically to and from the shore as a direct result of
the seasonal changes of temperature. The Cod prefers a temperature of
from 35° to 42° Fahr., approximately, and this it secures in a temperate
climate, such as that of Southern New England, by remaining on the off-
shore banks in fifteen to thirty fathoms of water, coming into the shallows
in winter. On the coasts of Labrador, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and
Eastern Maine, moving to and from the shore from deeper to shallower
water and vice versa to secure at different seasons of the year a tempera-
ture environment best suited to their needs, they are near the shore in
-summer and in deep water in winter.
COD, POLLOCK, HADDO CRAND, TEARS. 335
I have before me the statements of nearly a hundred observers which I
hope to discuss more fully at some future time. Their opinions confirm,
in a very striking manner, the generalization just stated. They show that
while on the coast of Maine the Cod leave the immediate shores in the
autumn, not reappearing in any considerable numbers until late in the
following spring, south of Cape Cod they approach the shore only in the
winter season, while during the summer they keep out in the cold Labra-
bor current, which extends south to the inside of the current of the Gulf
stream. In Vineyard Sound, Buzzard’s Bay, and off the shores of
Connecticut, New York, Delaware, New Jersey, and even in Eastern
Virginia, there is excellent fishing during the winter season. ‘‘ A wise
provision of nature,’’ remarks Prof. Baird, ‘‘in the absence of so many
species that supply food during the summer.”’
It will probably be found that fishing in deeper water in these same
regions in summer will bring to light an abundance of Cod.
In Norway they are caught, to some extent, in the fiords in the summer
season, though more are caught in winter, while in summer great numbers
of them still remain on the off-shore banks.
' From Prof. Hind’s pen the following paragraphs are taken :
“«When the coasts of Finmark are thronged with fishermen catching
their fares of the ‘‘ Lodde,’ or summer Cod, the shores of Northeast New-
foundland and the shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence are alive with
fishermen successfully capturing the same variety of fish in British
American waters ; and when the Russian on the Murmanian coast is laying
in his winter stock of Cod, and accumulating a large overplus for a foreign
market, the New Foundlander and the Labradorian are securing their
fares at the Moravian missionary stations, Okak and Nain. So, also, in
the North Sea and on the coast of the British Isles, around the Faroe
Islands, all along the Icelandic shores, on the south coast of Greenland,
off Arksut Fiord, away up north to Torske Banks, and down the Atlantic
coast of America to over the Grand Banks, and as far as, and even beyond,
St. George’s Shoal, the Cod is taken simultaneously and in great
abundance.
“Local variations of days, and even weeks, occur in a coast line or
stretch of shallow sea of not more than one hundred miles in length ; but
these arise from the one great leading cause which guides the Cod in its
approach to known feeding grounds on the coast or known banks at sea.
This leading cause is temperature, which determines the movement towards
the coast of the various forms of marine life on which the Cod, inhabiting
different waters, is accustomed to feed. - - +. The Cod, caught on
336 AMERICAN FISHES,
each stretch of coast line within variable but tolerably well-defined limits,
are indigenous to the sea area adjacent to the sea-coast which they
frequent.
«‘Thus the winter haunts of the Codfish on the Northern Labrador
coast are slopes of the great range of outside banks on that coast. The
summer haunts of the ‘Winter Cod’ caught on the coast of Norway
during the winter season, are on the slope of the ‘Storegg’ and its con-
tinuations which lie seawards from the Norwegian coast, following the
edge of the barrier separating the ‘polar deeps’ from the shallower
costal seas. The seasonal movements of the Cod are reversed in this
case, purposely introduced, but have afforded a beautiful illustration of
the principles adopted and confirmed by Prof. Baird and the influence of
marine climate on fish-life.”’
The depth at which Codfish are found varies greatly with the season
and locality. It is stated by Mr. Earll that they seem to prefer water
less than seventy fathoms deep, and that by far the greater numbers are
caught in from eight to forty fathoms. ‘This generalization will doubtless
hold true for the whole coast of North America. Many of our corre-
spondents state that they are occasionally seen in the water two or three
feet in depth. In the course of some recent explorations by Prof. Agassiz,
Cod were found three hundred fathoms below the surface.
In February, 1879, there was good fishing in three fathoms of water,
within a few rods of the shore in Ipswich Bay, while in May of the same year
large numbers were taken in one hundred and ten fathoms in the
channel near Clarke’s Bank. .
It would be extremely interesting to know the extent of the migrations
of Codfish, from deep to shallow water and back again, on different parts
of the coast. This, however, varies with local conditions. There have
already been many observations made, the study of which will doubtless
aid in the solution of this problem, but it is exceedingly important that
there should be systematic exploration at a distance from the shore both
in winter and summer. This is one of the tasks proposed for the Fish
Commission schooner ‘‘ Grampus,’’ recently constructed. Mr. Marcus A.
Hanna, of Bowery Beach, Me., states that he knows certain places on the
coast of Maine where Cod are found in mid-summer not more than two
miles from land, in water from forty to fifty fathoms deep, and upon soft
bottom. A portion of the Gloucester George’s Bank fleet continues
fishing through the winter months, though at this season the vessels do
not, as in spring and summer, fish upon the shallow parts of the bank,
COD, POLLOCK, HADDOCK AND HAKE.
So7
but rather seek the deep waters around its edge. The fish make their
appearance, however, on the bank early in February.
Cod may be found in greater or less number within reach of the land
from Block Island to Newfoundland, and perhaps to Labrador, at all sea-
sons of the year. South of Block Island, Codfish are very rarely noticed
in summer, even in the deepest water frequented by the fishermen, though a
few remain on the grounds in the vicinity of the islands during the whole
summer.
In the waters from Cape Cod to Cape Ann, and perhaps a little further
to the north, we find the district in which the bathic migrations of the
Codfish are least apparent, the periodical changes in depth being but
sight from winter to summer—the fish being within easy reach of the
fishermen at all seasons of the year. Even here, however, there is a great
increment in their numbers in winter.
The statements which have been made regarding the periodical move-
ments or the Cod Ido not by any means consider satisfactory or final.
These movements are the results of many influences, and no one yet
understands how much weight to attach to the relative importance of
these three influences, z. e., (1) the direct effect of temperature upon the
fish themselves ; (2) the abundance of food, as affected by temperature
and other causes; and (3) the immediate relations between temperature
and the reproductive habits of the fish. There is no more difficult problem
in ichthyological science.
Mr. J. Carson Brevoort, of New York, contributes the following inter-
esting sketch of the names applied to the cod family by the different
nations of Europe:
‘¢The appellations under which the weather-dried Codfish, split and
stretched on a short stick, is known throughout the civilized world can all
be traced to one common root, based upon the mode of preparation for
the market.
‘¢ Among the Greeks the large Codfish were called Baccht, from Bac-
chus, arod. By the Latins the fish was named Gadus, from a Sandscrit
root cad or gad, a rod. We find this root in English in ‘goad,’ and
perhaps, in ‘cat-o’-nine-tail’; in Gaelic gad and godan, signifying a
small rod. By the Iberians the dried Cod were called Bacalaos, from
Baculeum, a small stick.* This points also to the root of the French
Baguette, a rod, Lilboguet, the toy known as cup and ball, really a s#ck
* The rod held by Mercury was called a Baculeum.
22
338 AMERICAN FISHES.
and ball, and other words. By the Anglo-Saxons it was called the Cod,
from the word gad or goad, arod. By the Germans it was known as the
Stockfisch, from Stock, a stick.
‘¢The Hollanders varied a little from this, and as far back as the year
1400 called it the Kadeaauw, which seems to be from the Dutch gaée/,
a fork. They also called it the Bakkeljauue.
‘¢The French MWorue is not from the above root. It may be from the
Celtic Afor, the sea. The French, however, never prepared the Cod by
drying it on a stick, but salted it as the A/orue verte, or green Cod. The
French J/oluwe is merely a change in the liquid consonants.
‘* When the Cod is dried on the downs it is called Dunfish, from the
Gaelic root Duin, a hill. If dried on the rocks it becomes the Rock Cod,
or the KUppjisk of the Norwegians. Among these last the Cod is called
the Dorset, or Torsk, in English Zusk, from the Gothic Durren, to dry.
‘¢The English ‘Aberdeen fish,’ or French Zaderdan, is from the
Gaelic adar, the mouth; den, a river, or fish caught near the river’s
mouth.”’
These remarks are suggestive in the extreme, since they explain the
origin of almost all of the names now applied to this species both in its
fresh and cured condition.*
The name by which this species was known among the Narragansett
Indians is indicated by the following sentence from Roger William’s
«« Key into the Languages of America’’:
‘¢Panganaut, tamwock. Cod, which is the first that comes a little
before the Spring.”’
In the vicinity of Cape Ann the young Cod, too small to swallow a
bait, are sometimes known to the fishermen as ‘‘ Pickers,’’ and through-
out all Eastern Massachusetts the name ‘‘Scrod,’’ or ‘‘Scrode,’’ is in
common use. In its primary meaning it seems to refer to these small
fish slightly corned, in which condition they are a favorite article of food,
but the name is also transferred to the young fish themselves. The
fishermen recognize several varieties of Cod for which they have different
names. Rock Cod are those which are found in shoal water among the
reefs and ledges, and which usually are of a dark color; these fish are
often brilliant red in color, owing to the fact that the small animals upon
which they live feed upon the red algz, abundant in those localities, and
*Skeat in his Etymological Dictionary, recently published, does not confirm the views advanced by Mr.
Brevoort, remarking: ‘‘I suppose that this word cod must be the same as the Middle English codde or cod, a
husk, bag, bolster; though the resemblance of the fish to a bolster is but fanciful. It is obvious that Shakes-
peare knew nothing of the Linnzan name gadus (Greek yaéos), nor is the derivation of cod from gadus at
all satisfactory,
COD, POLLOCK, BADDOCK AND HAKE. 339
from them they have absorbed the red coloring matter into their tissues.
“‘Rockling’’ are probably young Rock Cod. In the vicinity of Scituate,
Mass., Rock Cod are also called ‘‘ Native Cod.’’
Another class of names appears to apply to those fish which live near
the shores, but which are less closely hmited to the reefs. These are
called ‘‘ Shoal-water Cod,’’ Shore Cod,’’ ‘‘ Inshore Cod,’’ ‘‘ Worm-cod,’’
cco Clam-Cod-.” *“ Black Snappers,” ‘Black Biters,’’ ‘‘ Brown €od,’’
‘¢ Ground Keepers,’’ and ‘‘ Ground Tenders ’’ or ‘‘ Groupers.”’
Still another class of fish 1s known by such names as ‘‘ Deep-water
(ody “Bank Cod,;”’ and “ School €ed-
There are also certain local schools of fish which have names of their
own; for instance, the ‘‘ Herring Fish’’ or ‘‘ Herring Cod’’ of South-
eastern Maine, and the ‘‘ Squid School’’ of Nantucket and other parts of
the coast, the ‘‘ Pasture School’’ of Cape Ann, and the so-called ‘‘ Shad
School ’’ which frequented Massachusetts Bay between 1815 and 1830.
In Southeastern Maine the name “ Pine-tree Cod’’ is also in use. It is
difficult at present to determine exactly to what extent these names are
used and what their precise meaning may be, but it is almost certain that
each community of fishermen has its own peculiar names by which to
designate local peculiarities of habit and movement.
In the markets, the Cod from George’s Bank are usually classed as
‘« George’s Fish,’’ and are considered to be of superior value. George’s
fish are very fat fish with white ‘‘napes.’’ ‘This name is becoming acom-
mercial term to describe Codfish of the finest quality. No one of these
names, excepting Rock Cod, or Red Cod, appears to be in use in Great
Britain, although there, as here, there are various names of local signifi-
cance, which are of little interest, however, to Americans.
“« Bank Cod’’ and ‘‘ Shore Cod’’ are commercial names, used in the
same manner as the name ‘‘ George’s Cod.’’
As early as 1415 A. D., English vessels frequented the fishing grounds
near Iceland, and it is claimed by some authorities that the Banks of
Newfoundland were known to the Basques centuries before the discovery of
the American continent. The Banks of Newfoundland were among the
principal inducements which led the English to establish colonies in this
country, and in the records of early voyages are many allusions to the
abundance of Cod along our shores.
A Nova Scotia coin or bank-token has upon it the figure of a Codfish.
340 AMERICAN FISHES.
Upon the obverse is a plow with the legend ‘‘Speed the Plough,’’ upon
the reverse a salted Codfish with the words, ‘‘ Success to the Fisheries.’’
Codfish feed upon all marine animals smaller than themselves which are
found in the same waters with them and are digestible. For a long period
of years, before our naturalists learned to use the hand-dredge, a favorite
place in which to search for the rare invertebrates of the deep water was
the fish-dealer’s stall, and from the stomachs of Codfish scores of shells
new to science have been taken. Since the introduction of improved
methods of deep-sea research the mode of collecting has been somewhat
less prosperous, but even at the present time many important additions to
zoology are yearly made by the aid of this omnivorous animal.
Codfish swallow bivalve shells of the largest size, like the great sea
clams, which are a favorite article of food on certain portions of the coast ;
for instance, in Ipswich Bay great beds of empty shells of the sea-clam,
Mactra ovalis, may be found upon the bottom. ‘These shells are
““nested,’’ the smaller inside of the larger, sometimes six or seven in a
set, having been packed together in this compact manner in the stomachs
of the Codfish after the soft parts have been digested out. Some of them
had shreds of the mussels remaining in them and were quite fresh, having
evidently been but recently ejected by the fish. In Dana’s ‘‘ Geology ”’
are mentioned great banks of dead shells off the island of Grand Manan,
which doubtless originated in the same manner. Mr. W. H. Dall found
some similar beds on the coast of Alaska which he attributed to the walrus,
but which are more probably the remains of mollusks eaten by the Codfish.
They feed also upon crabs of all kinds, lobsters and star fish, and have
been seen at the surface catching the potato beetles and ‘‘ June-bugs”’
which have drifted out from the shore. It is said that they succeed occa-
sionally in capturing a duck,* and that they vary their diet by browsing
upon carrageen, or Irish moss, which grows on the ledges near the shore.
In searching at the bottom for shells and worms, Codfish often pick up
objects which can hardly be regarded as nutritious. A very amusing
catalogue of such objects might be included in this chapter, in which
would be enumerated articles such as scissors, brass oil-cans, potato
parings, corn cobs, and head of a rubber doll. The finding of finger-
rings and fragments of oil-clothing, and the heel of a boot, inside of a
* The Vineyard Gazette says that Mr. James Osborne took a Codfish on Wednesday, at the “‘ South Side,”’
which weighed over sixty pounds. On dressing it, two full-grown ducks (old squaws) were found it its en-
trails, They were quite fresh, having most of their feathers.—Gloucester Telegraph, May 6, 1857.
COD, POLLOCK, HADDOCK AND ZAKE. 341
large Codfish has suggested the idea that sometimes they swallow the
fishermen.
A wedding ring which belonged to Pauline Burnam, an English lady
who was lost in the steamship ‘‘ Anglo Saxon,’’ wrecked off Chance Cove,
N. F., in 1861, was lately restored to her relations by a St. Johns (N. F.)
fisherman, who found the ring in the entrails of a Codfish. The lucky
fisherman received a present of £50 for restoring the highly prized
memento to the lady’s son.*
Stones of considerable size are often found in their stomachs, and
fishermen have a theory that this is a sign of an approaching storm and
that the fish thus take in ballast to enable them to remain at the bottom
when the waters are troubled. It is more likely that these stones are
swallowed on account of sea-anemones or other edible substances which
may be attached to them, in just the same manner that the shells of mol-
lusks are taken in for the sake of the nutritious parts which they contain.
It is believed that certain schools of Codfish feed slmost entirely at the
bottom, while others prey upon fish. The fishermen claim to be able to
distinguish these two classes by their general appearance, the first being
heavier, with shorter heads, blunter noses, and smaller fins, and frequently
known as ‘‘ grubbers’’ or ‘* ground-keepers,’’ while fish belonging to what
are known as the squid school, the herring school, and the lant school,
which are probably the same fish at different seasons of the year, are
brighter-eyed, slenderer in form, with sharper head, and in every way
better adapted for swift locomotion. On the coast of Labrador, as well
as in Scandinavia, Codfish follow the schools of spawning capelin in to the
shore and prey greedily upon them, and elsewhere, at other seasons, they
feed with no less voracity upon other species of fish which may be school-
ing, and of which they destroy vast numbers, such as mackerel, menhaden,
herring, alewife, salmon, sculpin, flounders, cunners, and haddock.
On the Grand Banks, especially in shallow water about the Virgin
Rocks, I have been told that they follow the lant to the surface, pursuing
them with great fierceness. Along our northern coasts they replace, to
some extent, the voracious bluefish and bonito of the South. Capt.
Atwood remarks that the amount of food which they consume is enormous,
when the size of the fish 1s taken into account. He has seen them on the
coast of Labrador, where the capelin were in great numbers, with their
* Boston Journal, July 9g, 1871.
342 AMERICAN FISHES.
stomachs filled to the greatest possible extent, and capelin in their mouths
which they were unable to swallow for want of room, and in this condition
they were still biting at the hook. They even feed upon the young of
their own kind. ‘They are said to feed largely upon herring spawn,
though they are not seen in great numbers, about the spawning grounds
until the schools of parent fish have departed. The herring, also, is a
favorite article of food, and when these fish approach the shores or are
seen on the banks, it is a very good sign that Cod will soon be abundant.
Mr. Earll remarks :
‘¢T am told that inthe spring of 1879 an immense school of herring
moved closely across George’s Bank, and that with them came the largest
school of Cod that has been seen in that locality for a long time. ‘The
Cod remained constantly among the herring, so that when the lattter had
passed the fishing fleet, the vessels were obliged to weigh anchor and _ fol-
low them in order to secure the Cod.
«¢ About Provincetown the common squid sometimes appear in great
numbers, and they are most vigorously preyed upon by the Cod.’’
The same accurate observer gives the following notes concerning their
food while breeding :
‘¢ During the spawning season the Codfish cease to search for food, and
give less attention to feeding than at other times, though they will
usually take the bait when placed before them. That they do not search
for food is shown by the fact that the pasture school remained within a
few miles of a large school of sperling without being drawn after them ;
and that the Ipswich Bay school was largest after the sperling had left the
coast, and remained for a number of months on sandy wastes which sup-
ported only three species of invertebrates, Buccinum undatum, Pusus
species, and Astertas vulgaris, in any considerable abundance. The
examination of the stomachs of several hundred individuals showed four-
fifths of all to be entirely empty, while a greater part of the remainder
contained only bait picked trom the trawls of the fishermen. A small
number contained fish of one or more species that had probably been
captured in the locality, while a few scattering invertebrates were found.
Of the species mentioned as abundant on the grounds, not a star-fish and
but two shells of one species and one of the other are found. But it was
clearly shown that the fish would not refuse food, for often the stomachs
were well filled with bait picked from the trawl before the fish were hooked.
From ten to fifteen pieces were frequently found, and in one case eigh-
teen were counted.
‘<The females when fully ripe seemed less willing to feed than at other
times, and few were caught with the moving hand-lines; but when the
COD POLLOCK, HADDOCK AND TAKE, 34
trawl was used, thus leaving the bait motionless on the bottom for hours
at a time, they were induced to bite, and many were taken with the eggs
running from them. Ripe males seemed to bite readily at any time.
«¢The young fish, as has been remarked, seems to spend the first three
or four years of its life in shoal water, among the rocks and alge. Here
its food consists at first of the minutest forms, and later principally of
small crustacea, though it often picks up mollusks and worms, and even
enters the harbors in summer, where it remains about the wharves, pick-
ing up bits of refuse thrown from the fish-houses.”’
Capt. R. H. Hurlbert tells me that sometimes a school of Codfish will
bite at night ; these the fishermen call ‘* Night Cod.’’
In 1860 the schooner ‘¢C. C. Davis’’ caught one entire trip of fish
on George’s Bank all in the night, and there are other instances on record,
though, as a rule, these fish feed only in the daytime.
The Cod is one of the most prolific of the ocean fishes, and we find not
only thousands but millions of eggs in a single female. All members of
this family contain large number of eggs, but the Codfish is the most pro-
lific of all. Mr. Earll writes as follows :
«« The exact number of eggs in a female varies greatly with the individual,
being dependent largely upon its size and age. To ascertain the number
for the different sizes, a series of six fish, representing various stages of
growth from twenty-one to seventy-five pounds, was taken, and the eggs
were estimated. Care was exercised that the series should contain only
immature females, so that no egg should have been lost, and that all
might be of nearly equal size. ‘The ovaries were taken from the fish and
their weight accurately ascertaincd ; after which small quantities were
taken from different parts of each and weighed on delicately adjusted
scales, the eggs in these portions being carefully counted. The number
contained in a given weight being known, it was easy to determine
approximately the entire number for each fish.”’
‘«The results obtained are given in a table, quoted below, showing a
twenty-one pound fish to have 2,700,000, and a seventy-five pound one,
9,100,000. The largest number of eggs found in the Pollock was 4,029-
200, and in the Haddock, 1,840,000.
‘« When the eggs are first seen in the fish they are so small as to be hardly
distinguishable, but they continue to increase in size until maturity, and,
after impregnation, have a diameter, depending upon the size of the
parent, varying from one-nineteenth to one-seventeenth of an inch. A
344 AMERICAN FISHES.
five to eight pound fish has eggs of the smaller size, while a twenty-five
pound one has them between an eighteenth and a seventeenth.
«From weighing and measuring known quantities it is found that one
pound avoirdupois will contain 190,000 of the smaller size, or that
1,000,000 eggs well drained will weigh about five pounds. Again, by
assuming one-nineteenth of an inch as the standard, or by precipitating
a known quantity in chronic acid and measuring, we find one quart, or
fifty-seven cubic inches, and three-quarters to contain a little less than
400,000, or that 1,000,000 will measure between two and a half and three
quarts.’’
With these facts in mind, it will be an easy matter to estimate the
quantity of eggs taken for hatching purposes during any given season.
‘¢When the little fish breaks through the shell of the egg,’’ says Earll,
‘¢the foetal curve or crook is still quite noticeable, but it soon straightens,
and is then about five-sixteenths of an inch in length. At this time the
yelk-sack, situated well forward, is quite large, but so transparent as to
escape the notice of the ordinary observer. This is gradually absorbed,
disappearing wholly in about ten to fifteen days, and the little fish begins
to move about with a peculiar serpentine motion, at times darting quite
rapidly, and then remaining motionless, as if resting from its evolutions.
It now begins its independent existence, and moves about more frequently,
apparently in search of food. From this date it is impossible to follow
the Cod, for none have been confined, and it is only by catching large
numbers at different seasons and carefully recording their weights and
measurements that one is enabled to judge of their growth. The habits of
the species, that cause them to live near the shore for the first few years,
furnish excellent opportunities for such observations, and many were
examined during our stay at Cape Ann.
‘‘Eyidence is not wanting to show that a Cod spawns every year, and
that it deposits the entire number of eggs in the ovaries each season.
We have examined hundreds of specimens and have failed to find a single
instance where the condition of the ovaries did not clearly indicate that
such was the case. During the first of the season no mature fish were
found in which eggs were not present, though they often varied greatly in
development from very small to nearly ripe Again, later in the season,
no spent fish were seen with any eggs remaining in the ovaries; and no
fish were found during the spawning period in which the condition of the
€OD;, POLLOCK, HADDOCK AND TARE, 345
do
ovaries did not indicate that the eggs were gradually maturing, and would
be deposited before the close of the season.
‘“« The schools of Cod move about but lttle during the spawning season,
except when driven away by enemies or by violent storms. After they
reach the waters of Cape Ann, fishing continues best in the same localities,
and even upon the same spots, until they leave. The individuals, too,
seem to move about but little among themselves. When the female
becomes ripe she remains quietly near the bottom, while the male, a little
more active, often swims high up. This is indicated by the fact that
greater numbers of spawning females are taken with the trawl, which lies
directly on the bottom, than with the hand-line a little way above it,
while the males are taken on one as readily as on the other.
«« Tt may not be impossible that the eggs are fertilized while floating about
in the water some minutes after exclusion, and that the strong tides usually
found on the spawning grounds play an important part in distributing the
germs, thus making the chances of impregnation more favorable. Indeed
it may be possible, and, if the spawning goes on gradually for several
months, seems not improbable, that the immediate presence of the oppo-
site sexes during the act of spawning is not necessary, but rather that the
eggs are fertilized mainly by accidental contact. Observations would
seem to strengthen the probabilities of this theory ; for, if the fish went
in pairs, they would often be taken on adjoining hooks of the trawl, or
one on either hook of the hand-line. Such is not usually the case, how-
ever; but, on the contrary, several of the same sex are more frequently
taken together.
«¢ The eggs have a specific gravity of 1.020 to 1.025, as indicated by the
fact that they float in salt water and sink rapidly in fresh. They may be
found at the surface in common with eggs of the Pollock, Haddock, and
probably other species of the cod family, when the sea is smooth ; but
when the water becomes rough they are carried to a depth of several
fathoms by the current, though the tendency is to remain near the surface.
«© There are many ways in which the eggs may be destroyed. The princi-
pal loss is probably the result of non-impregnation, for unless they come
in contact with the milt of the male very soon after being thrown from
the parent, they lose their vitality. Again, being drifted about by the
' winds and tides, they are often carried long distances from the spawning
grounds into the little bays and coves, and are driven in immense num-
346 AMERICAN FISHES.
bers upon the shores, or are left dry by the tides, where they soon die from
exposure to the atmosphere, or during the cold winter weather are in-
stantly destroyed by freezing. _ Ipswich Bay, the most extensive spawning
ground in the locality, is especially unfortunate in this particular, for the
heavy storms from the north and east sweep with unbroken force across
its surface, and each breaker as it rolls in upon the beach must carry with
it many millions of eggs.
‘But such impregnated eggs as escape destruction upon the shores are
subjected to the ravages of the myriads of hungry animals living about
the rocks and coves. One day in January we placed a jelly-fish or medusid,
having a diameter of but one and a half inches, into a tray of eggs in the
hatching-room, and in less than five minutes it had fastened seventy eggs
to its tentacles, loading some of them so heavily that they were severed
from the body by the weight or resistance of the eggs as they were dragged
through the water.’’
In addition to his other observations, Mr. Earll computed the number
of eggs in Codfish of different sizes. The results of his observations are
shown in the following tables :
Table showing the number of eggs in Codfish of different sizes :
1 =D Ge — wn roe,
: Bree | =O oy Bo 5 Bo 5
e a 4 od er oD
on a ° os ne + "bp ofa 0.5 ire
e GS Gr ES te a, G5 Gaon we 8 on
z oa B ON TP Dn ies © Pg Ssh Be
Number. ie) ° vo Oe o WO ne A aye & aig
a + Yo o> 3 of og Oc yo 9% Shae!
s os < EO Oo | Os); Rees as a
a Bs (are gfs | eos E gs
_— = as of
| 5 fe 2 Re io ERS Bis = a8 oo
J i= i mB Zz a Zz Z onl
HE Ha SOS EOSLOZell (OZ) LOS :0z-
TE cpeE CO CERECOSOOCCOHOGeREAY [endonaGSoGeH | 70-75 8 8 6 82 | 7 1,108 )
> 160 0,0
I (€)..cccccccess sovcccccsess| scenes sscece 70-75 88 6 8 2 7 1,132 | 9,100,000
Bir tnctescecseccveesssccceies 42% 51 a2 5 8 13 6 1,131 1885 8,988,094
| Qo teseeessacesseseneseresees 38 30 2 834 23% | 2 6 6 1,341 | 023.6 3,715,687
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. |
It is interesting to compare these with the observations made during the
last century, references to which may be found in all the standard works
on natural history. Leuwenhoek is said to have found in a Cod of mid-
dling size 384,000 eggs. Harmer found, in one weighing eighteen or
twenty pounds, between 3,000,000 and 4,000,000 eggs. It was examined.
COD; POLLOCK, HADDOCK AND HAKE. 347
December 23, and was estimated to have 294 eggs to the grain, the ovaries
weighing 12,540 grains; the total number, according to this calculation,
is 3,686,760.
The result of Mr. Earll’s observations indicates that in June the
fish hatched the previous winter, or about six months old, range from
one and a half to three inches in length; while those from nine to
thirteen inches long, and weighing seven or eight ounces, were eighteen
months old; those seventeen to eighteen inches long, and weighing
two to two and a quarter pounds, were supposed to be two years
and a half old ; those of about twenty-two inches, which weighed four to
five pounds, were three years and a half old. He also concludes that the
male reaches maturity at the age of three, and female at the age of four
years, for the smallest ripe male noticed during the season of 1878-'79
weighed three and one-half pounds, and the smallest ripe female five
pounds.*
I have before me memoranda relating to a large number of enormous
Codfish, taken along the New England coast at various times from 1830
to 1879. It seems unnecessary to refer to them, excepting the cases of a
few which exceed one hundred pounds in weight. Capt. King Harding,
of Swampscott, tells me that he once caught, on the eastern side of Cape Cod,
a fish weighing ror pounds as it came from the water. On the 22d of
July, 1873, Miss Fannie Belis, of St. Louis, while on a fishing excursion
off Eastern Point, on board the yacht ‘‘ United States,’’ caught a Cod
which weighed 130 pounds. Capt. G. H. Martin caught, off Chatham, a
Codfish which weighed, dressed, 111 pounds. Capt. Stephen Mar, of
Gloucester, saw a Codfish taken on George’s Banks in 1838, which, after
having been eviscerated, weighed 136 pounds. Capt. Atwood says, on
the coast of Cape Cod he has never seen a male Codfish, with one excep-
tion, which weighed more than 60 pounds; he once saw one, however,
which weighed 160 pounds. This fish was not much larger than an ordinary
fish weighing 75 pounds, but was very thick.
Capt. Atwood remarks: ‘‘In regard to size, the Cod differs very widely
in different localities. When taken on the Grand Banks it usually requires
from thirty to forty to make a quintal when dried. Those caught in-the
Gulf of St. Lawrence with hand-lines are smaller, requiring seventy or
* On pages 733-734 of Mr. Earll’s report may be found the measurements of a large number of Codfish of
different weights, and with the ovaries and spermaries in different stages of development. ‘These measure-
ments are interesting, since they show the relation between the length and weight of individual fish.
348 AMERICAN FISHES.
eighty per quintal; in the same locality, however, Cod caught on trawl
lines require only twenty to twenty-five per quintal, while on the coast of
Labrador they are small, and it requires about one hundred to one hun-
dred and ten to make a qaintal.
Writing in the summer of 1877, Capt. Atwood expressed the opinion that
the average weight of the fish taken about Cape Cod was in the neighbor-
hood of ten pounds; but he informed me that in the winter of 1877, in
two days, thirty thousand pounds of Codfish were landed from the boats,
and that there was not a fish among them small enough to be classed as a
market Cod, a market Cod weighing from six to ten or twelve pounds.
In conclusion, it may not be amiss to quote the remarks of Prof.
Baird concerning the decrease of Codfish along our coast, and its probable
causes :
‘¢ Of all the various fisheries formerly prosecuted directly off the coast of
New England, north of Cape Cod, the depreciation in that of the Cod
appears to be of the greatest economical importance. Formerly the waters
abounded in this fish to such an extent that a large supply could be taken
throughout almost the entire year along the banks, especialiy in the
vicinity of the large rivers. At that time the tidal streams were almost
choked up with the alewives, shad, and salinon that were struggling for
entrance in the spring, and which filled the adjacent waters throughout a
great part of the year.
‘«« As is well known, the erection of impassable dams across the streams, by
preventing the ascent of the species just mentioned to their spawning
grounds, produced a very great diminution, and almost the extermination
of their numbers; so that whereas in former years a large trade could be
carried on during the proper season, now nothing would be gained by the
effort.
‘‘ Of late the attention of the legislatures of the New England States has
been called to this fact, and to the importance of restoring their fisheries,
and a great deal has been already accomplished toward that end. Unfor-
tunately, however, the lumbering interest in Maine, and the manufactur-
ing in New Hampshire and Massachusetts, are so powerful as to render it
extremely difficult to carry out any measures which in any way interfere
with their convenience or profits; and notwithstanding the passage of
laws requiring the construction of fishways through the dams, these have
either been neglected altogether, or are of such a character as not to an-
swer their purpose. The reform, therefore, however imperatively required,
has been very slow in its progress, and many years will probably elapse
before efficient measures will be taken to remedy the evil referred to.
“« It would, therefore, appear that while the river fisheries have been
COD, POLLOCK. HADDOCK AND HARE. 349
o
depreciated or destroyed by means of dams or by exhaustive fishing, the
Codfish have disappeared in equal ratio. This is not, however, for the
same reason, as they are taken only with the line, at a rate more than
compensated by the natural fecundity of the fish. I am well satisfied,
however, that there is a relation of cause and effect between the present
and past condition of the two serves of fish ; and in this I am supported
by the opinion of Capt. U. S. Treat, of Eastport, by whom, indeed, the
idea was first suggested to me. Capt. Treat is a successful fisherman and
dealer in fish on a very large scale, and at the same time a gentleman of
very great intelligence and knowledge of the many details connected with
the natural history of our coast fishes, in this respect worthily representing
Capt. Atwood, of Provincetown. It is to Capt. Treat that we owe many
experiments on the reproduction of alewifes in ponds, and the possibility
of keeping salmon in fresh waters for a period of years. ‘The general
conclusions which have been reached, as the result of repeated conversa-
tions with Capt. Treat and other fishermen on the coast, incline me to
believe that the reduction in the Cod and other fisheries, so as to become
practically a failure, is due to the decrease off our coast in the quantity,
primarily, of alewives; and, secondarily, of shad and salmon, more than
to any other cause.
‘¢Tt is well known to the old residents of Eastport that from thirty to
fifty years ago Cod could be taken in abundance in Passamaquoddy Bay,
and off Eastport, where only stragglers are now to be caught. The same
is the case at the mouth of the Penobscot River and at other points along
the coasts of Massachusetts, a much more weighty reason than that of
merely enabling a few salmon to enter the streams in order to permit their
capture while on their way.
‘¢ Whatever may be the importance of increasing the supply of salmon, it
is trifling compared with the restoration of our exhausted Cod fisheries ;
and should these be brought back to their original condition, we shall
find, within a short time, an increase of wealth on our shores, the amount
of which it would be difficult to calculate. Not only would the general
prosperity of the adjacent States be enhanced, but in the increased num-
ber of vessels built, in the larger number of men induced to devote
themseives to maritime pursuits, and in the general stimulus to every-
thing connected with the business of the sea-faring profession, we should be
recovering, in a great measure, from that loss which has been the source
of so much lamentation to political economists and well-wishers of the
country.”’
The Atlantic Tom Cod, Microgadus tomcod, is found only in the
Western Atlantic, ranging from New York at the south, to Cape Sable at
the north. It is ordinarily known as the Tom Cod, but in the Bay of
Fundy, and in various places south of Cod, it is called the ‘‘ Frost
AMERICAN FISHES.
ioP)
Or
(@)
Fish,’’ owing to the fact that it becomes most abundant in the early part
of the winter, when it approaches the shore and even ascends the rivers
and creeks for the purpose of spawning. Dr. DeKay states, on the
authority of Dr. Yates, that Tom Cods sometimes appear at Albany in
abundance, while I am informed by the Rev. Dr. Gardiner that they are
taken in winter in the Kennebec, sixty miles from its mouth, and far
above the reach of the tide. They ascend the Charles River to Watertown,
where they are taken in dip-nets and by the hook from the wharves and
bridges. Although most abundant near the shores and in the streams in
early winter, they are found along the coast at all seasons of the year.
In form the Tom Cod is the miniature of the Codfish, rarely exceeding
ten or twelve inches in length, and there is much difficulty in distinguish-
ing the young of the two species. The Tom Cod, however, varies even
more in its color than the Cod, and several varieties have been described
under different names. When these fish approach the shores in winter
they are taken in great quantities in nets, and are esteemed in many
localities as a great delicacy. It is said that they are sometimes sold in
the markets under the captivating name of ‘‘ London Trout.”’
The Tom Cod feeds upon numerous species of crustaceans and mollusks,
and also upon the young of many other kinds of fishes.
The Pacific Tom Cod, Mcrogadus proximus, is thus described by Prof.
Jordan:
‘©The English at Victoria know this species by the name ‘ Whiting.’
Elsewhere on the coast the name of ‘Tom Cod’ is universally applied to
it. Inthe restaurants at San Francisco it is usually served under the
name of smelt. It reaches the length of a foot and a weight of about half
a pound. It ranges from Monterey to Puget Sound and northward, being
everywhere very abundant, and taken in great numbers in seines and
‘sweep-nets, both outside and in the bays. Its food is small fishes. Noth-
ing special is known of its breeding habits; it is apparently abundant at
all seasons. It is one of the important food fishes of the coast, always
abundant and always meeting a ready sale. Its flesh is, however, watery
and tasteless, and cannot be rated high.’’
The Pollock, Pollachius carbonartus, which is the Coalfish of England,
the Kéhler of Germany, and the Sei of Norway and Sweden, is closely
related to the Pollock of Great Britian, Pol/achius virens, from which,
however, it is specifically different. It is one of the best-known fishes of
Northern Europe, as may be inferred from the abundance of its common
COD, POLEOCK, HADDOCK AND HAKE. 250
names. The following names are in use in different parts of England:
Baddoch, Billet, Billard, Black-Pollock, Black-Jack, Black-Coalsey,
Blockan, Blockin, Coal, Coal-fish, Coalsay, Coalsey, Coal-whiting,
Colemie, Colmey, Cooth, Cudden, Cuddy, Dargie, Gilpin, Glassock,
Glashan, Glossan, Glossin, Green-cod, Green Pollock, Grey-lord, Gull-
fish, Harbin, Kuth, Lob, Lob-keling, Maulrush, Parr, Pitock, Podley,
Poddlie, Podling, Pollack, Prinkle, Rauning Pollack, Rawlin Pollack,
Rock Salmon, Raw Pollock, Saithe, Sethe, Sey, Sey Pollack, Sillock,
Skrae-fish, Stenlock, Tibre.
THE POLLOCK OR COAL FISH.
Its geographical distribution is quite different from that of either the
Cod or Haddock, its northern range, at least in the Eastern Atlantic,
being fully as wide as that of the Cod, the species having been found in
the northern part of Spitzbergen, beyond the parallel of 80°, and on the
arctic coast of Europe. It rarely enters the Baltic. Bloch records a
specimen from Lubeck, and it is said to occur on the coast of Pomerania.
Concerning the limits of its southern range authorities differ. Gunther
places this at latitude 46° in the Bay of Biscay, while others claim that it
enters the Mediterranean. Canestrini states that it has been observed at
Taranto. It does not appear, however, that the species is abundant south
of the English channel. It occurs about Iceland and on the west coast of
Davis Straits, where specimens were obtained by Sir Edward Parry on his
first voyage. North of Newfoundland it does not seem to be very abund-
ant, while to the south the limit appears to be in the vicinity of Nantucket
Shoals, where specimens are occasionally taken by the cod smacks.
In Perley’s ‘‘ Catalogue of the Fishes of Nova Scotia,’’ he states that he
had never seen the fish in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, nor heard of it ex-
cept near the Straits of Canso, although it was found very abundant in the
352 AMERICAN FISHES.
Bay of Fundy and everywhere except in the muddy waters, such as those
of Cumberland Bay and the Basin of Minas.
I have seen large individuals taken in midsummer in the pounds in
Vineyard Sound, and the capture of small individuals in these waters is
not unusual. They are often taken, according to De Kay, off New York,
in company with the Cod. In June, 1881, the schooner ‘‘ Edward E.
Webster,’’ of Gloucester, Solomon Jacobs, captain, returning from a
southern mackerel trip, fell in with a school of Pollock and captured sixty
thousand pounds of them in her purse seine. Its range, as now under-
stood, is in the Eastern Atlantic between the paralleis 46° and 80°, in the
Western Atlantic between 40° and 70°. That its southeastern limit is as
near the equator as the parallel of 36° seems quite improbable.
Unlike the Cod and the Haddock, the Pollock is, to a great extent, a
surface-swimming species. The fishes of this species congregate together
in large schools, roaming from place to place in search of food. Toa
certain extent they feed at the bottom, like Cod, but are more often seen
at the surface of the water, where they prey upon young fish of all kinds.
Prof. Sars gives the following account of the manner in which they prey
upon little Codfish :
*‘T was much interested to see how the Pollock caught the young Cod-
fish. It looked lke a systematic chase, and it certainly looked as if the
Pollock were acting with a common and well-defined purpose. As far as
I could observe, the schools of Pollock surrounded the little Codfish on all
sides, making the circle constantly narrower until all the Codfish were
gathered in one lump, which they then; by a quick movement, chased up
to the surface of the water. The poor little fish now found themselves
attacked on all sides ; below, the voracious Pollock, which in their eager-
ness often leaped above the water; and above, hundreds of screeching
sea-gulls, which, with wonderful voracity and precision, pounced down
upon the places where the Pollock showed themselves, to share the spoils
with them. The whole chase is carried on so rapidly, and the young fish
stay only so short a time at the surface of the water before they are scat-
tered in all directions with lightning-hke rapidity, that it was not even
possible for me to see any, much less to catch any with my insufficient
implements.’’*
On the coast of New England they are much disliked by the fishermen,
who claim that they consume great quantities of other fish much more
* Report of the United States Fish Commission, Part 5, 1879, p. 593. Another vivid description of the
manner in which the Pollock feed upon the sand-eels, or lant, may be found on pp. 619 and 620.
COD POLLOCK, LADD COCGAN DITAKE, 253
valuable than themselves ; in consequence of this the fishermen have a
great prejudice against them and refuse to eat them.
Capt. Atwood states that about Cape Cod they do not take to the hook
freely ; that in other localities they are exeeedingly voracious, and great
numbers of them may be caught in Massachusetts Bay with a surface
bait.
When the United States Fish Commission steamer has been stationed
north of Cape Cod, a favorite amusement of the officers has been to catch
young Pollock with a fly. The older fish are less active and remain more
at the bottom.
Concerning this species, Capt. Atwood states that they appear about
Cape Cod in schools in early May, frequently passing Race Point so
close to the shore as to be caught with the seine among the ‘ tide-rips.’’
Capt. E. W. Merchant, of Gloucester, tells me that the Pollock were
very abundant in Massachusetts Bay early in this century—before the war
of 1812. They were especially abundant on Middle Bank. ‘They were
at that time chiefly caught with bait of herring, taken in seines from the
beaches. The fishing boats were of about thirty tons, and carried three
men and aboy. Fishing was carried on chiefly at night. When the ves-
sels would all ‘‘ fleet up,’’ and the bait on their hooks would toll the
schools of fish together. The vessels would take about fifty quintals in a
night. There were about thirty fish to the quintal. This abundance of
Polloek lasted until about 1820. These Pollock were salted, and con-
sumed at home or carried to Maine. ‘hey sold for about two dollars a
quintal. The oil of their livers was tried out in kettles on the shore.
Their roe was exported largely in those days, It was sold by the bushel,
at the rate of about sixty cents.
Mr. Earll writes: ‘‘ Large Pollock are absent from the waters of Cape
Ann from the middle of January till early in May, the small ones leaving
earlier, in the fall, and returning in April.* The young may be taken
almost anywhere along the shore, but the large fish seem to confine them-
selves to definite localities ; and though not particularly abundant during
the summer at Cape Ann, it is a favorite spawning ground for the species,
and during this period large schools visit this shore.
‘‘' They begin to grow plenty about the first of October, and by the last
of the month are so numerous as to greatly annoy the cod-fishermen by
taking the hook before it can get to the bottom.
*In 1881 the first Pollock came into Gloucester harbor May 2.
23
354 AMERICAN FISHES.
‘¢ During this season some of the small vessels fish exclusively for Pol-
lock, ‘seizing up’ their lnes a number of fathoms from the bottom, and
at times the fish bite as fast as the fishermen can haul them. Early in
in November a crew of four men landed 10,420 pounds, or about 1,100
fish, the result of less than two days’ fishing. Owing to a foolish prejudice,
the price is always low, at times being less than thirty cents per one hun-
dred pounds. The average weight of the fish is about nine or ten pounds,
and during the spawning season the sexes are taken in about equal
numbers.’’
In the Bay of Fundy and along the coast of Maine the capture of young
Pollock from the rocks is a favorite amusement. At Eastport these fish
are often called ‘‘ Quoddy Salmon.’’ Hinds states that in the Gulf of St.
Lawrence they are known as ‘‘ Sea Salmon ;’’ this name may refer both
to their active and voracious habits, and to the excellence of their flesh in
those localities.
The spawning of the Pollock occurs in the German Ocean, according
to Wittmack, from December to February ; in Scotland, according to
Parnell, in February, after which it remains out of condition until May.
About the Loffodens, as indicated by the observations of Sars, the breed-
ing time corresponds with that of the Codfish, the young Pollock being
found in early summer in company with the young Cod, swimming under
the protection of the jelly-fishes.
The Pollock is one of those species whose value as an article of food is
very much underestimated. Many persons who have investigated the
subject accurately prefer salted * Pollock to salted Codfish, although the
flesh is not so white. Its value for use in the fresh state, we think, de-
serves the highest commendation.
Pollock are more highly prized in New Brunswick than anywhere else
on the Western Atlantic coast, and the pollock fishery was in 1850 pro-
nonnced by Perley the most valuable and extensive of the deep-sea fisheries
of the Bay of Fundy. It is stated by this authority that directly after the
spawning season the fish is lank and almost worthless, but that it becomes
in good condition again in August and improves as the season advances.
The liver of the Pollock yields a great quantity of oil, proportionaliy
much more than that of the Cod. It is provable that most of the cod-liver
oil in the market is more or less adulterated with pollock-lver oil. No
one has yet demonstrated that its medicinal properties are inferior. The
eggs of the Pollock are very large, and great quantities of them have been
in past years salted and exported to France.
COD. POLLOCK, HADDOCK AND HAIGE,
ie)
OV
On
The Alaska Pollock, Pollachius chalcogrammus (Pallas) J. & G., is thus
described by Prof. Jordan: ‘‘This species is known as Pollack to those
who have seen the Atlantic species. It is possibly identical with the
‘ Beshow ’ of the Makah Indians, the ‘ Coal-fish’ of the English settlers
northward, a deep-water fish noted for its rich, fat flesh. It reaches a
length of about two feet. It ranges from Monterey to Behring’s Straits.
It is taken with hook and line in deep water, and is never plentiful south
of Cape Flattery. It feeds upon anchovies and the like. Nothing is
known of its breeding habits, enemies or diseases, and, unless it be the
‘Beshow’ above noticed, it is not sufficiently abundant to attract any
notice as an article of food.
THE HADDOCK.
The Haddock, MWelanogrammus eglefinus, is found only in the Atlantic.
Hadot and Hadou are old French names for the same fish, though the
species is now usually known by the name Egrefin. In Scotland the name
is said to be pronounced almost in the same way as in France, and is often
varied to Haddie. It is the Schellfish of Germany. Concerning this fish
many of our fishermen entertain the idea, which with them can
hardly be called a superstition, that the black spots upon their side are
due to the impression of the thumb and finger of St. Peter when the
apostle took the tribute money out of the mouth of a fish supposed to be of
this species, the fisherman’s mark having been continued among its de-
scendants ever since. This notion is prevalent also in England, and in
Southern Europe is attached to other fishes, particularly to the John Dory,
Zeus faber. It is needless to say that no member of this family occurs in
the Sea of Galilee.
356 AMERICAN FISHES.
Its wanderings are more limited than those of the Cod. It isnot found
nearly as far to the north, while its southern range is no wider. Had-
dock are probably found in company with Codfish on all the northern
fishing grounds, as far south, at least, as the Capes of Delaware, though
concerning their occurrence in southern waters there is dearth of informa-
tion. In winter and spring they are taken in Fisher’s Island Sound and
outside of Fisher’s Island, on the coast of Eastern Connecticut; and also
in great quantities on Nantucket Shoals by the smacks, and are carried
thence with Cod into New York market. In 1871 it was estimated that
the catch of Haddock here was nearly equal to that of Cod, although the
latter usually predominates. They abound north of Cape Cod, in the
Gulf of Maine, and in the Bay of Fundy, in the Basin of Minas, on the
coast of Nova Scotia, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and in the Bay of
Chaleur. In the Gulf of St. Lawrence, according to Capt. Atwood, they
are not very abundant, but the individuals taken are very large. They
are taken on the western coast of Newfoundland in winter; their northern
limit appears to be marked by the Straits of Belle Isle, latitude 52° N.
In 1863 and 1864 they were found in abundance on the southern border
of the Grand Bank. ‘They are not so frequent on the Grand Bank as on
the Western Bank, and, in turn, less common there than on George’s
Bank.
In the Eastern Atlantic the range of the Haddock is somewhat wider,
for they are found in the seas of Iceland, the whole length of the Scandi-
navian coast to East Finmark and Varanger Fjord, and on all the shores
of Great Britain, and in the North Sea, where they are particularly abund-
ant, though rarely or never entering the Baltic. There is no evidence
that they are found to the south of the English Channel. De La Blanchere
states that they are caught in considerable numbers on the coast of
Manche. In the Eastern Atlantic, then, they are found between the
parallels 48° and 66°; in the Western Atlantic between parallels 38°
auayel ei
Haddock are not so active and powerful as the Cod. Dr. Gilpin has
expressed the opinion that on the coast of Nova Scotia they do not retreat
so far from the shore in winter as the Cod, but this does not appear to be
true in Massachusetts Bay.
Remarkable variations in the abundance of this fish are upon record ;
at certain times they have been exceedingly rare, at others abundant in the
extreme:
COD POLLOCK, HADDOCK AND HAKE. 357
o
Capt. Atwood states that in 1834 Haddock were very scarce on the
Grand Bank, and few were caught anywhere on the coast, but in 1840
they became so numerous about Cape Cod as to interfere seriously with
the Cod fishery, devouring the bait before the Cod could reach it, and
about 1850 they had increased so rapidly that the markets were glutted.
In 1864 they were caught in great numbers and were still on the increase.
In 1870 the same observer related to the Massachusetts senate the story of
another period of scarcity and abundance. His statements may be found
in the report of the United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries,
Parte, 18725 p: 119.
The food of the Haddock resembles that of the Cod, except that they
are, if possible, more omnivorous ; their diet consists, however, largely of
invertebrates. They are rarely seen feeding at the surface, though they
devour the spawn of other fishes, particularly that of the herring, with
great eagerness. They devour great quantities of shells, many of them of
the burrowing species. Prof. Verrill has well said that a complete list of
the animals devoured by the Haddock would doubtless include all the
mollusks belonging to the fauna of New England.
The Haddock are said to be particularly abundant on clam-banks.
From this habit of feeding on shells has originated the German name for
the fish. The difference between the habits of the Haddock and the Cod
is illustrated by the remark of Capt. Atwood that Haddock will take a
baited hook as it rests upon the ground, while the Cod will only notice it
when it is raised a short distance from the bottom. Salted menhaden is a
favorite bait for Haddock, but not desirable for Cod, while both Cod
and Haddock will readily take stale clams, which are much better for bait
than fresh ones.
On the German coast the Haddock spawn on rocky bottoms in February
and early March at a depth of twenty-two to twenty-five fathoms ; and
according to Yarrow the spawning period is the same on the British coast,
the young growing to a length of six or seven inches before the beginning
of September. At the Loffoden Isles, according to Sars, the spawning
season of the Haddock takes place a little later, beginning toward the end
of February and being at its height late in March. At Cape Ann the
season is in late April, May and June.
The average size of the Haddock is probably not far from three or four
pounds ; many twelve-pound fish are brought to market, and individuals
weighing seventeen pounds are on record.
AMERICAN FISHES.
Ww
UL
~
In 1879 Haddock were successfully hatched, under the supervision of
Mr. Earll, at the Gloucester station of the United States Fish Commission.
The Haddock is now very highly esteemed as a food fish, having grown
in favor during the last twenty years. It is especially desirable for boil-
ing or for making chowders, and is a great favorite in Boston, while in
Philadelphia enormous quantities are yearly consumed. Being well
adapted for preservation in ice, great numbers of them are distributed
through the interior of the country, together with the Codfish. The suc-
cess with which the Scotch method of smoking Haddock has been intro-
duced into this country has also greatly increased the demand for them,
and ‘‘ Finnan Haddies’’ are manufactured in enormous quantities in Port-
land and Boston. At Provincetown a Haddock salted and dried after
being split is called by the name ‘‘ Skulljoe,’’ or ‘: Scoodled Skulljoe.’’
THE BURBOT.
The Cusk, Brosmius brosme, is a deep-water species, inhabiting rocky
ledges in the North Atlantic. It has not been observed south of Cape
Cod, put ranges northward to the banks of Newfoundland and of Green-
land. It occurs in Iceland and Spitzbergen and along the entire length
of the Scandinavian Peninsula, but is not known on the coast of Germany,
while Faber states that it just touches the most northern part of Denmark
at the Scaw in Jutland, and that it is occasionally taken in the Frith of
Forth and brought to the Edinburgh market. It is also plentiful about
the Faroe Islands. Its range in the Western Atlantic is from latitude 42°
to latitude 65°, or beyond; in the Northeastern Atlantic to latitude 80°,
and south to latitude 55°.
The Massachusetts fishermen tell me that these fish are usually found in
considerable abundance on newly-discovered ledges, and that great num-
bers may be taken for a year or two, but that they are soon all caught.
Sometimes, after a lapse of years, they may be found again abundant on a
recently-deserted ground. From these facts it has been reasoned that the
COPD POLLOCK, HADDOCK AND TAKE. 359
Cusk is very local in its habits and rarely changes from one locality to
another.
The food of the Cusk doubtless consist chiefly of mollusks and small
crustaceans.
Concerning its spawning habits nothing is known, except that, accord-
ing to Faber, it breeds in April and May on the coast of West and South
Treland. .
The Cusk is considered a very excellent fish, especially for boiling,. but
there is a very limited demand for it, and most of those which are taken
are salted. On account of their low prices fishermen shun them, and they
are hardly in better favor than dogfish. In the spring of 1878 they were
worth in Gloucester from twenty to fifty cents per hundred, and in August
of the same year about one dollar per hundred. One of the peculiar
habits of the Cusks renders their capture difficult, and frequently causes the
destruction of the fishing-tackle ; it is said that after they have taken the
hook they curl their tails round the angles of the rock and cling to them
with such strength that it is impossible to dislodge them. Fishermen say
that when they are brought to the surface the skin rises from the body in
great blisters. This they regard as a favorable sign, as showing that the
fish are ‘‘ thrifty,’’ or healthy. The name ‘‘ Tusk,’’ used for this fish in
Newfoundland, is now never used in the United States, although it seems
to have been in use a century ago, a well-known fishing ground in the
Gulf of Maine being known as the ‘‘ Tusk Rock.”’
The two species which have commercial value being P. chuss and P.
tenuis. These species are very similar in appearance, and it is with diffi-
culty that they can be distinguished from each other by the trained eye of
the zoologist. The most tangible distinction may be found in the num-
ber of scales, which are much smaller in P. fenuzs, there being from one
hundred and thirty-five to one hundred and forty oblique rows between the
bronchial opening and the root of the caudal fin, while there are about
twelve rows between the lateral line and the region of the first dorsal. In
P. chuss there are only one hundred rows in the lateral line and nine rows
above the lateral line ; in the former the ventral does not ordinarily reach
quite to the vent, in the latter it extends beyond the vent. This char-
acter, however, cannot always be relied upon.
Our Hakes are all different from the Forked Beard, 7. dlenniordes, of
Great Britain, sometimes called the Hake’s Dame, which is a member of
360 AMERICAN FISHES.
the same genus.* Owing to their great similarity, Phycis chuss and P.
tenuis, are usually known indifferently by the name ‘‘ Hake ;’’ the former,
however, is sometimes calledthe Old English Hake, and the other, Phyczs
tenuis, the Squirrel Hake or White Hake. In the Gulf of St. Lawrence
and the Bay of Chaleur, and also south of Cape Cod, they are invariably
called Ling. There has been much confusion both in the names and
descriptions applied to them by fishermen and ichthyologists. Their geo-
graphical range appears to be essentially the same. The young of one or
both species are frequently taken swimming atthe surface, on the southern
coast of New England, in midsummer, and numerous individuals have been
found off Block Island and Watch Hill, seeking shelter between the valves
of a large species of scallop, Pecten tenuicostatus ; the majority appear to
belong to the species of P. chuss.
THE HAKE.
The two species are frequently taken by the cod-fishermen, on the
shoals south of Cape Cod, but they are there considered to be of but little
value. They are more or less abundant in Massachusetts Bay, in the Bay
of Fundy and in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Large specimens of one or
both species have been taken at a depth of three hundred fathoms as far
south as Virginia.
The Hakes appear to be bottom-loving fishes, and rarely change locality.
They feed on crustaceans, and occasionally indulge in a fish diet. One
taken at Gloucester in July, 1878, had a menhaden in its stomach.
It is believed that they spawn throughout the summer, for the young
fish are found during all the summer months, while specimens taken at the
depth of thirty-seven fathoms August 18, 1878, off Ipswich, at a tempera-
ture of 41° F., contained well-developed ova, and were apparently ready
to spawn.
* The Hake of Europe is a different fish, more closely related to the Silver Hake or Whiting of the New
England coast, Merlucius bilinearis.
COD POLLOCK, HADDOCK AND HAKE. 361
o
An extensive fishery is carried on from Cape Ann for these fish in winter,
and there are sometimes as many as fifty vessels engaged. It was esti-
mated in 1878 that the total quantity landed at Gloucester was not far
from 5,000,000 pounds. ‘The fishing is carried on almost entirely at night
with the use of trawls, which are about the size of those used in the capture
of Haddock.
Hake are salted and dried in the same manner as Codfish, and are often
sold under the name of Codfish. Before the introduction of boneless fish
it was sometimes difficult to sell them on account of the difference in
appearance, but at the present time great quantities of Hake are put up
in boxes under the trade name of ‘‘ boneless fish,’’ the qualifying word
‘¢Cod’’ being usually omitted from the brands and labels. The Hake
is not often eaten except when salted.
The air-bladder, or sound, of the Hake is of great commercial value,
being used extensively in the manufacture of isinglass; great quantities of
sounds are sent from the British Provinces to the United States annually,
sounds from the Gulf of St. Lawrence being considered much better than
those from farther south. In 1880 New England produced 255,698
pounds of dried sounds, worth $178,808. Massachusetts had eight isinglass
and glue factories, employing one hundred and eighty-two men and
capital of $315,000, and producing $450,000 worth of ribbon-isinglass
and glue in 1879. These sounds were for the most part derived from the
Hake.
THE SILVER HAKE OR WHITING,
It is the opinion of certain writers, among whom Dr. Gunther is leader,
that the Hake of Europe, JJerlucius merlus (or M. vulgaris of recent
authors), is identical with the species of Mer/uctus occurring in the
Western Atlantic. This is, however, a mistake; the American form
may easily be distinguished from that of Europe by the greater number of
362 AMERICAN TLISHES.
rays in the first dorsal (10 to tz in AZ. merlus, 12 to 13 in M. bilinearis),
and by the larger size of the scales (the number in the lateral line being
about 150 in AZ. merlus, 100 to 110 in M. brlinear?s).
The general appearance of the two species is very similar, and it re-
quires careful study to separate them. It is probable that at no very remote
period they diverged from a common stock. ‘The distribution of the two
species upon the opposite sides of the Atlantic coincides very closely with
that of other Gadoid fishes, which are specifically identical in Europe and
America. The Hake of Europe is found along the coast from Trondhjem
Fjord, latitude 65°, south to 36°, being very abundant in the Mediter-
ranean ; also found on the coast of Portugal and in Western France. In
the English Channel, however, and in the waters of Holland and Ger-
many, it 1s considered very unusual. On our coast it ranges from New
York to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, where it is common—especially in the
Bay of Chaleur—but it has rarely been observed as far north as the Straits
of Belle Isle. Dr. Packard was told by fishermen that during a period of
forty summers spent on the coast of Labrador they had taken but one speci-
men of this fish. This fish has been found at great depths as far south as
latitude 36° and 37°.
The name Silver Hake, by which this fish is known in the Bay of Fundy,
is much more appropriate than that of Whiting, though the latter is more
frequently heard in New England ; its similarity to the European Hake
is very great; while the name Whiting, which is in Europe applied to a
species (MJerlangus vulgaris), somewhat resembling the Pollock, has been
appropriated in this country for a fish which frequents our southern coast
and belongs to the drum family.
The Silver Hake commonly inhabits the middle depths of the ocean,
or the outer edge of the continental slope, and comes to the surface to
feed. Like the Pollock, it is a fish of prey ; its teeth are sharp, its mouth
large and powerful, and its form lhthe, muscular, and adapted to rapid
locomotion. It comes to the surface to prey upon the schools of herring
and other small fish, and is frequently caught in the mackerel and bluefish
nets. Its appearance in our waters is irregular, and when seen it is usually
swimming in schools in considerable numbers.
They average one foot in length. They are of roving habits, following
the shoals of herring, which they devour in great quantities. Until 1880
little was known concerning the breeding habits of the Silver Hake ; but,
COD POLLOCK, FADDOCRANDITAKE. 36
2
o
in exploring the bottom, at a depth of from one hundred and fifty to three
hundred fathoms, off Newport and in the edge of the Gulf Stream, im-
mense numbers of young fish, from half an inch to three inches in length,
were found at the bottom, and with them were many adults, twelve to
eighteen inches in length, apparently in the act of spawning ; some of
them with the ova ripe, or nearly ripe, but not yet shed ; others evidently
spent-fish. This discovery was exceedingly interesting, since it may serve
as a clew to the spawning habits of other species, like the bluefish and
menhaden, which have been supposed to spawn at a distance from the
shore, but have never been detected in the act. The spawning period
doubtless extends over a consiaerable space of time; some of the eggs
from which the largest of the young were hatched off Newport must have
been laid as early as July. In September an adult, obtained at Halifax,
Nova Scotia, had the ova well developed and nearly ready for deposition.
It is not known whether the eggs of the Silver Hake float or sink. Couch
states that the spawning season of the European Hake is from January to
April, at which time the fish are caught near the bottom, and lose the
great voracity by which they are characterized at other times, so that
multitudes are caught in trawls, and a few with lines. When pilchards
approach the shore the Hake follow them, continuing in incalculable
numbers throughout the winter.
The Hake of Europe is always considered a coarse fish, and though
great quantities are annually salted and dried it is not held in very high
esteem. Many of the salted fish are sent to Spain. They are said to be
quite common on the northern shore of the Mediterranean, where con-
siderable traffic is carried on with them; they are packed with aromatic
plants and sent to the towns remote from the coast.
Storer remarks: ‘‘ Occasionally this species is brought to market, and
wheu perfectly fresh is a very sweet fish, boiled, broiled or fried. It soon
becomes soft and is preserved with difficulty. As it does not appear to
be known abroad, and the fishermen consequently have no call for it, it is
not cured, but is considered worthless. In the months of September and
October the Whiting is used somewhat for bait for the dogfish and answers
a good purpose.”’
The California Hake, Merlucius productus, writes Prof. Jordan, 1s most
commonly known along the coast by its Italian name, ‘‘ Merluccio,’’ pro-
nounced merlooch. At Soquel and elsewhere it goes by the name of
364 AMERICAN FISHES,
Horse-mackerel, a name used on our coasts with the greatest carelessness,
being applied to Lops saurus, Anoplopoma fimbria, and Merlucius pro-
ductus, as well as to various scombroids and carangoid fishes. It reaches
a length of about thirty inches and a weight of ten pounds, its average
weight being five or six. It is found from the Island of Santa Cruz to
Alaska, being very irregular in its appearance, some years very abundant
and at other times wanting altogether. It is exceedingly voracious, feed-
ing on all sorts of small fishes and squids. The stomach is always filled
almost to bursting.
It spawns in the spring, and its arrival near the coast always precedes
the deposition of the spawn. It probably then retires to deeper water.
Its value as a food-fish is very little. It is scarcely salable in the mar-
ket of San Francisco. Its flesh is very soft, and it is always ragged-looking
when shipped. Nothing was learned as to the quality of its flesh, but it
probably differs little from the Atlantic form MJerlucius bilinearis.
THE STRIPED MULLET.
THE MUREEIS:
Still shall be heard the loons lone cry
Upon the stream, and to their rest
Long troops of curlews seaward fly,
At sunset to their sandy nest.
Still joyous from the sparkling tide
With silver sides shall Mullets leap
The eagle soar in wonted pride,
And by their eyrie strong and wide
On the dry oak beside the deep,
Their watch shall busy ospreys keep.
WitiiaM J. Grayson: The River Coosa.
N our eastern coast there are two species of AZugz/, the differences be-
tween which are sometimes, though not always recognized by fishermen.
The most familiar is the Striped Mullet, Jd/ugz? albula; the other is
the so-called ‘* White Mullet,’’ MJugzl brasiliensis. The former is the
larger, and has eight instead of nine rays in the anal fin, and forty-two
instead of thirty-eight scales between the gill openings and the base of the
caudal fin. There has been so much confusion among writers regarding
the species of this family upon our coast that it has until very recently
been impossible to define precisely their geographical range. The
Striped Mullet occurs in the West Indies, the Gulf, and from Lower Cali-
fornia to Peru. <A single specimen of JZ. dbrastlensis, was taken at
Provincetown, in November, 1851. North of New Jersey the capture of
a large individual is very unusual. In July great numbers of them, about
an inch in length, have been observed on the Connecticut coast, especially
in the vicinity of Noank; the fishermen there call them by the name of
366 AMERICANS ISITE.
5):
<« Bluefish Mummichog. On various parts of the coast they have special
names, which, however, do not appear to refer to special peculiarities.
About Cape Hatteras the names ‘‘ Jumping Mullet’’ and ‘‘ Sand Mullet ”’
occur; in Northampton County, Va., ‘‘ Fat-back,’’ and in Southeastern
Florida ‘‘Silver Mullet’”’ and ‘‘ Big-eyed Mullet.”” The name “ Fat-
back ’’ is also in use, but whether this name is used for Mullets in general,
or simply for those in particularly good condition, I have been unable to
learn. In the Gulf of Mexico the Striped Mullet is known simply as the
«Mullet? the other species as the: “silver Mullet.”
There are seventy or more species of Mullets, some of which are
found on every stretch of coast line in the world in the temperate and
tropical zones. They live in the sea, and in the brackish waters near the
mouths of rivers. They, like the menhaden, though indeed to a still
greater degree, subsist on the organic substances which are mingled with
the mud and sand on the bottom.
In order to prevent the larger bodies from passing into the stomach, or
substances from passing through the gill openings, they have the organs of
the pharynx modified into a filtering apparatus. They take in a quantity
of sand and mud, and after having worked it for some time between the
pharyngeal bones, they eject the roughest and most indigestible portion of
it. Each bronchial arch is provided on each side, in its whole length,
with a series of closely set gill-rakers, which are laterally bent downward,
each series closely fitting into the series of the adjoining arch; these con-
stitute together a sieve, admirably adapted to permit a transit for the
water, retaining, at the same time, every other substance in the cavity of
the pharynx. The intestinal tract is no less peculiar, and the stomach,
like that of the menhaden, resembles the gizzard of a bird. The intestines
make a great number of circumvolutions, and are seven feet long in a
specimen thirteen inches in length.
Although Mullets are abundant almost everywhere, it is probable that no
stretches of sea-coast in the world are so bountifully supplied with them
as those of our own Southern Atlantic and Gulf States, with their broad
margin of partially or entirely land-locked brackish water and the numerous
estuaries and broad river mouths. The mullet is probably the most
generally popular and the most abundant fish of our own whole southern
seaboard. Like the menhaden, it utilizes food inaccessible to other fishes,
groping in the bottom mud, which it swallows in large quantities. Like
ULE MOE LE Ass: 367
the menhaden, it is not only caught extensively by man, but is the main
article of food for all the larger fishes, and is the best bait fish of the
regions in which it occurs. In the discussion of the habits of the Mullet,
when it is not otherwise stated, the Striped Mullet, which is in our waters
by far the most important species, is kept chiefly in mind.
Since the time of Capt. John Smith every observer has remarked upon
the great abundance of Mullets. Numerous correspondents of the Fish
Commission, from Wilmington south, agree that the Mullet is far more
abundant than any other species, except Mr. Simpson, who thinks that at
Cape Hatteras they are less numerous than the tailors or blue-fish, and
about as numerous as the fat-backs or menhaden.
In 1875 circulars were sent out by the United States Fish Commission,
asking information concerning the habits of the Mullet. The replies,
although suggestive, were not sufficiently numerous to afford the data
necessary for a complete biography of this species. In fact its habits are
so peculiar that in order to understand them it will be necessary for some
naturalist to devote a considerable period of time to study them through-
out the whole extent of their range. At present, therefore, I propose to
present first the results of my own observations upon this fish, as it occurs
in Eastern Florida, supplementing them with the excellent study of the
Gulf Mullet from the pen of Mr. Stearns.
Mullets abound in the St. John’s River, sometimes running up to the
lakes, and along the coast in all the inland bays, or ‘‘ salt-water rivers.’’
It is probably incorrect to call them anadromous. They appear to ascend
the rivers to feed, and the relative saltness of the water is a matter of
small importance. Small mullet are abundant all the year round, and so
are scattered individuals of a larger size. Cast-nets at Mayport take
them throughout the year. I have taken quantities of small fish, from one
to five inches long, in the St. John’s near Arlington. They begin to
assemble in schools in midsummer. ‘This is probably preparatory to
spawning, for at this time the ova are beginning to mature. In midsum-
mer they swim at the surface, pursued by enemies in the water and the air,
and are an easy prey to the fishermen. ‘They prefer to swim against the
wind, and, I am told, school best with a northeast wind. They also pre-
fer to run against the tide. The spawning season appears to continue
from the middle of November to the middle of January, and the weight
of evidence tends to show that they spawn in brackish or salt water.
368 AMERICAN FISHES.
Some of the fishermen say that they go on the mud-flats and oyster-beds
at the mouth of the river to deposit their eggs. What becomes of them
after this no one seems to know, but it is probable that they spread them-
selves throughout all the adjacent rivers, bays, and sounds, in such a
manner as not to be perceptible to the fishermen, who make no effort at
this time to secure the spent, lean fish. Many of them probably find
their way to the lakes, and others remain wherever they find good feeding
ground, gathering flesh and recruiting strength for the great strain of the
next spawning season. ‘There is no evidence of any northern or southern
coastwise migrations, the habits of the species apparently being very local.
The fisherman recognizes three distinct periods of schooling or separate
runs of mullet. To what extent these are founded on tradition, or upon
the necessity of change in the size of the mesh of their nets, 1t is impossi-
ble to say. The ‘‘ June Mullet’’ average about five to the pound ; the
‘* Fat Mullet,’’ which are taken from August 20 to October 1, weigh
about two pounds; these have, the fishermen say, a ‘‘ roe of fat’’ on each
side as thick asa man’s thumb. The ‘‘ Roe Mullet’’ weigh about two
and a half pounds, and are caught in November and until Christmas.
Between the seasons of ‘‘ Fat Mullet’’ and ‘‘ Roe Mullet’’ there is an
intermission of two or three weeks in the fishing. How to interpret these
curious statements 1s surely a difficult problem, and one which can be
solved only by careful study of the fishes themselves at these seasons. The
fishermen insist that these schools come successively down the river and
proceed directly out to sea. They will not believe that the ‘‘ Fat Mullet ’’
and the ‘‘ Roe Mullet’’ are the same schools under different circum-
stances. I would hazard the suggestion that the ‘‘ Fat Mullet’’ of
September are the breeding fish of November, with roes in an immature
state, the ova not having become fully differentiated.
The largest fish appear rarely to exceed six pounds. This is exceptional,
however. Mr. W. H. Tate, of Melton &-Co., Jacksonville, tells me that
he never saw one exceeding seven pounds, though he had heard of one
weighing fourteen. He showed me on the floor of the fish-market a line
indicating the length of a very large one; this measured twenty-nine
inches. At Mayport none had been seen exceeding six pounds in weight.
At the mouth of the St. John’s cast-nets ten feet in diameter are used,
but most Mullet are taken in gill-nets, which are swept around the
schools, the fish being easily visible at the surface. These nets are from
THE MULLETS. 369
seventy to ninety fathoms long and forty meshes deep. The size of the
mesh varies with the season. Very few are used from December to July,
but where they are used the mesh two and one-half to two and three-
quarters inches is preferred ; from August r to October 1, for ‘‘ Fat Mul-
let,’’ the mesh is three and one-half to three and three-quarters inches,
and in late October, November, and December, for ‘‘ Roe Mullet,’’ four
inches—at least so said my informant, an intelligent negro fisherman.
At Mayport there were in 1885 two sweep-seines, seventy-five fathoms long
and thirty feet deep, belonging to Kemp, Mead & Smith, used in the Mullet
fishery.
There is a large trade in fresh Mullet iced, of the extent of which I
could gain but little idea; they are shipped chiefly to Central Florida and
Georgia. Some have been sent in ice to Atlanta. About twenty thous-
and are shipped from Yellow Bluffs, by way of Jacksonville.
It is the general opinion of the fishermen that the Mullet have greatly
diminished in abundance of late years, and that they are not one-third as
plenty as they were ten years ago. ‘This falling off is attributed to the
presence of steamers, to the changes of the season, and, most of all, to the
use of small-meshed seines, which catch the young fish in great numbers,
and to the constant fishing by numerous nets, which destroys a large
proportion of the mother-fish from year to year. Mr. Isaac Calsam, of
New Berlin, told me that ten or twelve years ago a man with a cast-net
could easily take four or five hundred Mullet in a day, while now it is
difficult to get any ; this is due in part to their shyness. Mullet were
comparatively scarce in the St. John’s in 1877, though plenty in 1876.
The fishermen with whom I have talked favor the passage of laws pro-
hibiting the use of gill-nets with a smaller mesh than three inches, and
thus to allow the escape of the young fish, and of a close time during
which fishing shall cease—for instance from Saturday night to Monday
morning. And then they say, with a regretful shake of the head, that the
Mullet always run best on Sunday. ‘There are probably one hundred or
more Mullet nets on the St. John’s, yielding an average of perhaps five
thousand Mullet each annually. The fisheries are chiefly carried on by
negroes in small boats, dug-outs, and skiffs, although every resident fishes
for Mullet in summer when there is nothing else to do, and when the
Mullet is the best food and the easiest obtained. There is no salting
business of commercial importance in East Florida, though considerable
24
370 AMERICAN FISHES.
quantities are put up for domestic consumption. Salt Mullet sell at the
rate of eight or ten dollars a barrel, or five or six fish for twenty-five cents.
I had an opportunity of tasting some salted by a negro at Mill Cove, and
can bear testimony to their excellence. Their flavor is more like that of
salted salmon than of mackerel, and they are hard, toothsome, and
not at all ‘‘muddy’’ in taste, this last being the usual charge made
against the Mullet. Usually only the ‘‘ Fat Mullet’’ are salted, the
“* Roe Mullet ’’ being caught later in the season, when they can easily be
shipped.
To prepare a Mullet for salting, the head is first cut off, then a cut is
made on each side of the back-bone, down the back, and the bone is
removed ; the fish may then be spread out flat, and packed in a barrel.
In packing, the flesh side is carefully placed up, the skin down. The
fish are spread out flat upon the skin side and are laid in tiers across the
bottom of the barrel, each tier being covered with salt. Care is taken to
have the direction of the bodies in the different tiers at right angles to
each other. When the Mullet are scaled before packing they command a
somewhat higher price. Mullet roes, though usually eaten fresh, are
sometimes salted and dried in the sun. In this condition they are eaten
raw, like dried beef, or are fried. Large ones sell for ten cents a pair.
Fishermen often boil the heads to extract the oil, which they use to lubri-
cate their guns.
Mr. Silas Stearns has prepared a most valuable study of the habits of
the Mullet, and writes as follows :
‘*'The Mullet is one of the most abundant and valuable food-fishes of the
Gulf coast. It 1s present on the coast and in the estuaries of the Gulf
throughout the year, and in most places is pursued by fishermen at all
seasons, yet, for so common and important a fish, its habits seem to be
but little known or understood. Intelligent fishermen of long experience
at particular points have learned many details regarding their local
movements, which may disagree in many respects with those at some
other point a hundred miles or so away. A few months spent on the
southern part of the Florida coast has led me to believe that there is a
less migratory movement of Mullet in that section than along the northern
Gulf coast. It is probable that in each bay or section or coast Mullet
have peculiar habits as to time and manner of arrival, time and place of
spawning, and the general habits of old fish after spawning and young
LHE MOLLETS.
ios)
~I
Lo)
after hatching. It is also likely that their manner of spawning and feed-
ing is the same everywhere. My own observations have been chiefly
made in Pensacola and Choctowhatchee Bays and Santa Rosa Sound,
which take in fifty miles of coast line. In this section, which I have called
the Pensacola region, there is a spring ‘run’ of Mullet composed of
various sizes of young which are 1n part, no doubt, of the previous year’s
hatching. The first school of this run appears on the coast in April or in
the first part of May, and they continue to come for two or three weeks,
when they are all inside and scattered about the bay shores. These fish
are very thin on their arrival, but rapidly fatten and grow on the feeding
grounds. Some of these contain spawn at first, and in some it is developed
during the summer.
‘In September and October there isa ‘run’ of large fish, which comes,
as usual from the eastward, the fish swimming at the surface of the
water and making considerable commotion. Some years there is but one
large school in the ‘run’ and at others many small schools, and it is
thought that the fish are more abundant when they come in the latter
form. At Chotawhatchee Inlet, when the spawning grounds are near by,
the fish come in with the flood tide and go out again with the ebb tide;
and at the Pensacola Inlet, when the spawning grounds are far away, they
come into the bay and stay until the operation of spawning is over. The
spawn in this fall ‘run’ is fully developed, and is deposited in October
and November. Thespawning grounds are in fresh or brackish water at the
heads of bayous, in rivers or heads of bays. The many bayous of Choc-
tawhatchee Bay are almost blocked up with spawning Mullet in October,
and they are very abundant at the head of Pensacola Bay near the mouths
of fresh-water rivers at that time. Although I have been in the bayous
when Mullet were supposed to be spawning, I have not witnessed the
operation, nor seen any person who has. In such places the bottom is
grassy, sandy, and muddy, the water varying with the tide from fresh to
brackish, and of a temperature varying from 70° to 75° F. It is sup-
posed that the spawn is deposited upon the bottom. If they have been
spawning at the times when I have been present, I would say that the
operation was a general one. ‘That they do spawn at or near these places
is quite certain, for they go to them with spawn and come away without
it, and the young fry first appear near the same places. Crabs and alli-
gators are abundant in such places, and they doubtless destroy many
AMERICAN FISHES.
ios)
~I
to
of the eggs and fry. Before spawning Mullet are very fat, but after the
operation are extremely thin and worthless for food. Their colors also
undergo some changes, at sea being bright blue on the back, which
deepens to a hght brown in the bays and to a dark brown in fresh water.
By these characteristics it is not difficult to determine the locality where a
lot of Mullet are caught.
‘¢Some persons of this coast agree that Mullet, or any other sea-fish, will
not bear sudden change from salt to fresh water, and to meet this argu-
ment I made an experiment with Mulletin 1879. I took a dozen or more
medium-sized Mullet from the warm shoal water of the bay and placed
them in cool, fresh spring water. They swam around very rapidly for
about half an hour, then sank to the bottom of the spring, where they
remained, apparently comfortable, for twelve hours. Before leaving the
spring I returned them to their native waters, seemingly in as good con-
dition as when first caught. The bay water was at that time 77° F. and
the spring water 71° F., a difference of 6° and a change from pure salt
to pure fresh water.
‘* After spawning, in October and November, the Mullet leaves these
bays in small schools, going directly to deep water if the weather is
stormy, and following the beach along if there is not much surf. Those
that have been in the bays all the summer leave also at about this time,
many of them having spawned at the same time with the full ‘run.’ A
few of these, having just reached maturity, are found with spawn nearly
all winter; also, some young stragglers. In February, March, and
Apnl young Mullet, varying from one to two and a half inches long, are
found in great abundance along the bay shores. Mullet grow to about
eight inches in length the first year, to twelve or thirteen inches the second
year, when they are mature. The average size of adults is twelve inches
in length, weightabout one and aquarter pounds. The largest I have seen
measured twenty inches long and weighed four and a half pounds. It was
caught at Charlotte Harbor, Fla. Mullet of that size are extremely rare
in West Florida. Those of South Florida are much larger, as a rule, than
those found further north. There they are also far more abundant than
on the coasts of West Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and
diexas;
‘* In October, Charlotte Harbor, Sarasota and Palmasola Bays, seem to be
the headquarters of.all the Mullet of the Gulf. Tampa Bay, Anclote
LUTE MOT ICE Ts.
River, Homosassa River and vicinity, are also favorite spawning places.
During the fall they move in such immense schools that the noise of their
splashing in the water resembles distant thunder; and to persons living
near the river or bay, their noise, kept up day and night, becoming very
annoying. These schools are followed by large numbers of sharks, por-
poises, and other destructive fishes, as well as pelicans and like sea-birds,
all of which eat of the Muliet until they can eat no more, and have to
make way for fresh arrivals. In spite of these enemies and those of the
eggs and fry, Mullet are as plentiful as formerly, according to the general
opinion of the fishermen of the coast.”’
The Mullet is a bottom-feeding fish, and prefers still, shoal water with
grassy and sandy bottom. It swims along the bottom, head down, now and
then taking a mouthful of earth, which is partially culled over in the mouth,
the microscopic particles of animal matter or vegetable matter retained,
and the refuse expelled. When one fish finds a spot rich in their desired
food, its companions immediately flock around in a manner that reminds
one of barn-yard fowls feeding from one dish. The Mullet eats very
little compared with other fish of its size. It preys on no other fish, and
is preyed upon by nearly all other common fishes larger than itself. It
does not readily take the hook, but can sometimes be caught with a bait
of banana, or one manufactured from cotton and flour. It is the most
widely distributed fish of the Gulf of Mexico, being found on the sea-
beach everywhere, in all the bays and sound, and even far up fresh-water
rivers and in fresh-water lakes that have outlets.
Concerning the other species of Mullet, JZugz/ braszliensis, as occurring
in the Gulf, Mr. Stearns writes:
‘<Tt is common, and is found in company with the A/7ugz/ albula and
usually considered with it, and the old fishermen of Pensacola distin-
guished it and have given it the above name. I have found spawn in
them in May and June. On the southern coast they are very abundant,
and appear in Key West almost daily in the fall and winter.”’
* €€On the California coast occurs Jugz/ albula,’’ writes Prof. Jordan,
‘which is commonly known as the ‘Mullet.’ It reaches a length of
about fifteen inches. It is very abundant about San Diego, and thence
south to Mazatlan, and it ranges occasionally northward as far as Monte-
rey. It enters creeks and lagoons, ascending as far as the brackish
water extends, in the winter, and thus is often land-locked in great
numbers, which are then destroyed by the sea-birds, especially by the
pelicans, and a few are taken in seines. It swims in schools in the bays,
374 AME Teh CAIN PUSH IES:
0
and its presence is made known by its frequent leaps from the water. It
is said that the Mullet has long been known at San Diego, but that it first
made its appearance at San Pedro in 1877. It is not well known either at
Santa Barbara or Soquel, although occasionally taken at both places.
Those fishermen who have given the matter any attention assert that the
Mullet is gradually extending its range northward. It feeds on mud and
minute organisms contained init. It 1s considered a good food-fish when
taken from the ocean. In the muddy lagoons it acquires in summer a
rank flavor.’’
The Mullet of America compared to the Grey Mullet of Europe, must.
be carefully distinguished from the JZwd/us of classical literature.
THE RED MULLET OF EUROPE.
This fish, the Red Mullet or Surmullet of modern nomenclature was the:
favorite of the gourmets of ancient Athens and Rome. It was brought
living into the banquet hall, that the guests might admire the brilliant
change of color exhibited in its expiring struggles. There are two or three
related species in our waters, one of which Ufeneus flavovittatus, the Goat-
fish, is occasionally captured in New England.
THE STURGEONS:
On the white sand of the bottom
Lay the monster Mishe~-Nahma
Lay the sturgeon, King of Fishes.
LoNGFELLOW: Hiawatha’s Fishing.
WO species of Sturgeon are supposed to exist on our Atlantic coast.
The most abundant of these, Acipenser oxyrhynchus, isnow generally
supposed to be identical with the common Sturgeon of Europe, A. sturio.
The other, A. érevirostris, which is distinguished from A. oxyrhynchus by
its shorter and blunter nose, has not yet been found north of Cape Cod,
and appears to be comparatively less abundant, although both species are
found in great numbers in the larger rivers and estuaries during the stm-
mer season, and are frequently seen leaping from the water, especially at
dusk. A leaping Sturgeon is a striking object, the whole length of the
fish appearing above the surface before it falls back with a splash into the
water.
The Sturgeon attains the length of five to twelve feet. In Europe, indi-
viduals of the common Sturgeon eighteen feet long have been observed.
They spawn in spring and early summer, in the lower stretches of the
rivers, and perhaps also at their mouths, in brackish water.
The mouth is situated upon the under surface of the head, and is not
provided with teeth, but is surrounded with a cup-shaped organ composed
of powerful muscular tissue, by means of which it grubs for its food in the
mud. Its stomach resembles that of the menhaden and mullet, though
comparatively more muscular, since, like the gizzard of a fowl, one of its
uses is to triturate the food which has been swallowed, and which consists
largely of mollusks, and crustaceans. Around the mouth is a group of
large and sensitive tentacles, which aid the fish in its search for food.
No one has yet made a careful study of the habits of the Sturgeon in our
waters, and in fact European zoologists have made little progress in the
study of the species of the Old World.
Within the past few years the capture of the Sturgeon for smoking and
for the manufacture of caviare from its eggs has attained considerable
importance on the Atlantic coast. The most satisfactory discussion of this
fish is that published by Milner in Part II, of the Report of the United
States Fish Commission, pages 67 to 75.
THE CATFISH.
SEE CAtRISh Oh BU LEME AD,
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 Darky and the Catfish.
HE Catfish is somewhat like fpaté de fote gras or pickled olives.
Those who do not very much like it detest it. The metropolis of its
popularity is Philadelphia, but whenever taken from clear, cool water it is
palatable, and when properly cooked even delicious, its texture and flavor
resembling that of the eel. Since every small boy begins his angling ex-
periences with Catfish, instructions for its capture would be superfluous. Its
appetite is always good, and its palate, or whatever stands for palate in
fish architecture, by no means delicate. A spice of danger attends its
capture, and perhaps the excitement of taking one of them off the hook,
atones in part for its lack of gameness in the water, for a well constituted
catfish always gorges the hook, and its spines, always erected, inflict pain-
ful wounds. Certain anglers I beheve, essay the capture of catfish with
fly and fancy tackle. It would be cruel to deprive ingenious tyros of
the privilege of learning this method for themselves.
I am assured that salt mackerel is almost as good a bait as angle-worms
or live minnows
Another secret is this, that the catfish never bites when an east wind is
a secret of great economic importance to small boys.
blowing.
LTE CATIPISH OF BOLLE AD:
I am indebted to President Jordan of Indiana University, for the
following remarks upon this group :
“‘ The Catfishes abound in all the fresh waters of the United States east
of the Rocky Mountains. The species of the three genera, J/ctalurus,
Amiurus, and Leptops, which constitute the bulk of the family as repre-
sented in North America, all reach a length of from one to five feet, and
are all food-fishes of more or less importance. One of the Catfishes,
Lctalurus ponderosus, 1s our largest fresh-water fish, weighing upwards of
one hundred and fifty pounds, and two of the others, Zeptops olivaris and
Letalurus nigricans, reach a very considerable size.
‘«The Catfishes are voracious and indiscriminate feeders, any kind of
animal substance, living or dead, being greedily swallowed by them.
They are also (especially the species of Ammzwrus) extremely tenacious of
life, living for a long time out of water, and being able to resist impurities
in the water better than any other of our food-fishes. They spawn in
spring, and the female fish keeps a watch over the school of young, much
as a hen takes care of chickens. The Catfishes are especially adapted for
stocking ponds and sluggish streams with muddy bottoms, which become
partly dry in summer, bodies of water not suited for the more aristocratic
trout and bass.
‘<The species of the genus /cfa/wrus—known as ‘‘ Channel Cats’’ are
much less hardy than the other Catfishes, and do not thrive well except in
river channels. Any water which does not dry up absolutely to the
bottom in summer will suffice to nurture the common small Catfishes.
‘¢'The flesh of all the Catfishes is of fair quality, not delicate nor tender,
but of good flavor. The Channel Cats have whiter meat than the ordinary
small Catfish, but the flesh is drier, and the latter are usually preferred.’’
The Channel Cat or Blue Cat, /cfalurus punctatus, abounds in all the
larger Western and Southern streams, living in the river channels. It
reaches a weight of five to ten pounds and is readily salable, but its flesh
is not better than that of its less attractive relatives. It takes the hook
readily. This species is abundant in the St. John’s River, Florida. In
1878 many were taken near the bar at Mayport in brackish water. For
table use they are much more highly esteemed than the Mud Catfish.
The Great Mississippi Cat, Lctalurus ponderosus, the largest of our Cat-
fish, is found in the Mississippi, and probably in its larger tributaries,
where it reaches a weight of about one hundred and fifty pounds. Little
distinctive is known of its habits, which probably agree with those of the
next species.
The Great Lake Catfish, /cfalurus nigricans, the most abundant of the
large Catfishes, abounds in the Great Lakes and in the larger streams of
AMERICAN FISHES.
ios)
~I
ee)
the West and South as far as Florida. It reaches a weight of fifty to one
hundred pounds, perhaps more. In all the markets of the region where
found it is one of the most important species, and its flesh, which can be
cut in ‘‘ steaks’’ like Halibut, is generally esteemed. Nothing distinctive
is known of its breeding habits or rate of growth. Prof. Goode remarks :
‘¢T have observed frequently enormous specimens of this species in the St.
John’s River, where they are called Mud Cats. ‘The young are sometimes
called ‘‘ Flannel-Mouth Cats.”’
The White Catfish, the Channel Cat of the Potomac, /cfalurus albidus,
of the tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay, is very abundant in the Susque-
hanna and Potomac Rivers, and forms an important part of the fish
supply of the Washington market. It reaches a weight of two to five
pounds, being much smaller than the preceding species, which it resembles.
Amiurus nebulosus, the common ‘‘ Horned Pout,’’ ‘‘ Bull-head,’’ ‘* Bull-
pout,’’ or ‘‘ Minister’’ of the Northern and Eastern States is the most
generally abundant and familiar representatives of this family. It reaches
a length of about eighteen inches and rarely exceeds three or four pounds
in weight, while the majority of those seen in the markets are still smaller.
It is probably the hardiest of all our fresh-water fishes, thriving in any
waters, but preferring those which are quiet and shaded. Numerous other
species very similar to this occur in our fresh waters.
The Bull-head has been introduced from the Schuylkill into the Sacra-
mento and San Joaquin Rivers in California. It has there very rapidly
multiplied, and is now common in all the sloughs and bayous of the lower
courses of these rivers. As a food-fish 1t is not very highly valued by the
Californians, most of those brought to market being taken by the Chinese.
Lepiops olvaris, the “oMud Cat. “<° Yellow ati <““Goujon,aasor
‘¢Bashaw’’ is found in all the large rivers of the West and South. It
reaches a weight of at least fifty pounds. It is found only in the larger
streams, swimming near the bottom. It is less attractive in its appearance
than the other Catfishes, but we are not aware that its flesh is inferior to
that of the others. ‘This species, and other of the larger Catfishes, are
often caught by ‘‘ jugging,’’ the bait being attached to a jug filled with
air, which will in time tire out the fish and bring it to the surface.
The Stone Cat, Woturus flavus, reaches a length of about a foot; the
other Stone Cats (Votwrus) are still smaller, and none of them can be
considered as food-fishes.
LE CAMELS A. OK TE (RL Liha 1),
ios)
~I
Ke}
The Gaff-topsail Catfish, &/urichthys marinus, which ranges from Cape
Cod to Florida, 1s found chiefly in brackish water. It is not uncommonly
taken at Arlington, Florida, and Empire Point. It is known here and at
Pensacola as the ‘‘Sea Cat,’’ and at Brunswick, Ga., as ‘‘ Gaff-topsail,’’
in allusion to the shape of the first dorsal fin. According to Mr. H. S.
Williams, it is abundant in the Indian River. It is common also along
the Gulf coast, but is nowhere valued as food. Many of the fishermen
believe this species to be viviparous. Mr. S. C. Clarke, writing from New
Smyrna, March 31, 1874, remarks: ‘‘ They have eggs in them as large as
cherries. *? ;
THE SALT-WATER CATFISH.
The Salt-water Catfish, Arzzs felis, is found along the coasts of the Gulf
of Mexico to as far north as Cape Hatteras. In the first volume of the
Proceedings of the United States National Museum, p. 278, is an interest-
ing account of its breeding habits, as observed by Prof. N. T. Lupton.
The species spawns there in July, and the parent (sex not stated) carries
the eggs in its mouth. Silas Stearns says of this fish :
‘¢ The Salt-water Catfish is very abundant everywhere on the Gulf coast.
It is found on the sea-beaches, the shores and bottoms of bays and bayous,
and even some distance up fresh-water streams. It is a bottom-loving
fish, feeding upon worms and small crustaceans chiefly, but will readily
eat anything else—fish, flesh, or fowl, dead or alive, As the pest of these
waters, it is ever present and never welcome. It breeds in the summer,
in June, July, and August. The spawn is deposited in the depression in
the sand and impregnated with the milt. One of the parent fish then
takes the eggs in his mouth and by some movement fixes them against the
gills, or between the leaves of the gills. The eggs are carried in this
position until the embyro fish are hatched and have become perfect and
able to care for themselves. The eggs when full size resemble white
grapes; they are large and clear. Sometimes the parent fish’s jaws are
much distended by the eggs and young inside, and its appearance is
comical.
4
380 AMERICAN FISITES.
The Catfish has been introduced in Europe, and in Belgium is already
fairly well acclimated. Attempts have been made to introduce it into
England—an act of international courtesy which might perhaps offset in
a slight degree our debt to our motherland for the gift of the English
Sparrow. Punch in this connection has made his only contribution to the
literature of fish culture under the caption :—
NO: CATFISH, PLEASE!
Oh do not bring the Catfish here !
The Catfish is a name of 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.
To see white catfish, 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.
Ah, leave him in his western flood,
Where Mississippi churns the mud;
Don’t bring him here at all!
THE HERRING.
the HERRING AND ITS ALEIES:
But why, good fisherman,
Am I thought meat for you, that never yet
Had angling rod cast towards me?
M1IppDLETON AND DEKKAR: Modl Cut Purse, 1611.
Between dark hills on either side
The salt sea-loch runs for a mile,
And now, sun-charmed to a smile,
Gleams bright its flowing frothing tide.
But lo! each wave to silver turns
In dazzling fire the whole loch burns,
Millions of Herring dart and splash
Each one a living lightning flash.
WiLiiaAM SHare: A Herring Shoal, 1884.
pee Herring family contributes more generously than any other group
of aquatic animals to the support of man, and the Herring is beyond
question the most important of food-fishes. Distributed throughout the
whole of the North Atlantic, it affords occupation for immense fleets of
fishing boats, and, according to 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. According to Dambeck, the average
yield in Norway from 1860 to 1870 amounted to 1,452,000,000 pounds.
Holdsworth placed the yield of Scotland in 1873 at 188,000,000 pounds,
their capture requiring 15,095 boats with crews of 45,494 men. In the
same period in the English fisheries he states that 15,321 boats were used.
France, Ireland and Belgium have also Herring fisheries of considerable
extent, and Germany in less degree. In 1874, according to compilations
and estimates of Prof. Hind, 200,000,000 pounds of Herring were taken
382 AMERICAN LISTE.
in the waters of British North America, and in 1880 nearly 43,000,000
pounds were obtained on the east coast of the United States. Summing
up the aggregate of these statements and estimates, and allowing to Ire-
land, Belgium, Germany and France, a product equal to that cited for
Scotland, we have an aggregate of 250,000,000 pounds.
Commenting upon the supposed injurious effect of the fisheries upon the
abundance of this fish, Prof. Huxley in his well-known lecture upon the
Herring, delivered at the International Fishery Exhibition at Norwich in
1881, remarked as follows:
‘Tt is said that 2,500,000,000, or thereabout, of Herrings are every
year taken out of the North Sea and the Atlantic. Suppose we assume the
number to be 3,000,000,000, so as to be quite safe. It is a large number,
undoubtedly, but what does it come to? Not more than that of the Her-
rings which may be contained in one shoal, if it covers half a dozen square
miles, and shoals of much larger size are on record. It is safe to say that
scattered through the North Sea and the Atlantic, at one and the same
time, there must be scores of shoals, any one of which would go a long way
toward supplying the whole of man’s consumption of Herrings.’’’
So well known was the Herring, from the earliest days, to the inhabi-
tants of Northern Europe and to their descendants who migrated to the
western shores of the Atlantic, that one name serves to designate the fish
in the languages of a majority of the peoples to whom it is known. Its
name in Enghsh, German. and Dutch, though differently spelled, is
pronounced in exactly the same way. ‘To the Scandinavians it is known
by the name ‘‘Sill.’’ France in the name Clupée employs a form of the
Latin for fishes of this group by which the same fish is known to these
nations when described in the language of their men of science. There
are also local names to designate certain conditions and ages. To this
class belongs the name ‘‘ Sperling,’’ employed by our own fishermen of
Cape Ann to denote the young Herrings. Corresponding to this name
the word ‘‘Stromming’’ is used in Sweden.
The Herring is found in the temperate and colder parts of the North
Atlantic. On the west, its range extends south to Sandy Hook, at the
entrance of New York Harbor, where it is found occasionally in mid-
winter, and on the north as far as Northern Labrador, diminishing in
numbers perhaps toward the northern extreme. On the east its southern
limit is in the vicinity of the Bay of Biscay, while northward it is found
in the White Sea and on the southern shores of Spitzbergen. It of course
THE HERRING AND TTS ALLIES. 383
does not enter the Mediterranean, though it is abundant in the North
Sea and in the Baltic.
The temperature preferred by the Herring has been more carefully
determined in Europe than here. The observations of the Scotch and
Dutch meteorological societies have demonstrated that the temperature
of the water most favorable to the summer Herrihg fisheries of their
respective countries is about 55°.4 F., though during the Scotch winter
fisheries the temperature ranges from 4o°.1 F., and during the Norwegian
spring Herring fisheries it ranges from 37°.4 F. to 39°.2 F.
Discussing the causes of the movements of the Herring schools, Prof.
Baird in 1877 wrote as follows.
«¢ Although the movements of the Herring appear to be very capricious,
they are doubtless governed as much by well-defined laws as any other
portion of creation, although we are yet tar from understanding fully the
conditions which control their actions. They sometimes frequent a por-
tion of the European coast for many successive years, and then abandon
it gradually or suddenly, presenting themselves usually at the same season
in some far remote locality. Sometimes a wind blowing on shore will
favor their inward migration ; at other times it appears to have a directly
opposite effect. Even when they reach the portion of the coast for which
they are bound, the facilities of their capture depend upon meteorological
conditions : and the Scottish Meteorological Society has been engaged for
several years 1n ascertaining what Fee. are, and how they may he best
applied by the fishermen.’
So far as is known, the abundance of Herrings in the Western Atlantic
has been constant during the past two centuries; at the same time so
little is our fishing population dependent on the Herring fisheries when
compared with that of Northern Europe that variations in abundance not
being regarded as national disasters would, except perhaps, in the case of
Newfoundland, scarcely have been placed definitely upon record.
Prof. Baird’s remarks concerning the periodicity of the Herring supply
in Northern Europe, may be found in the Quarto Fisheries Report.
There are several interesting series of observations upon the spawning
habits of the Herring, the hatching of the egg, and the development of
the young ; all of which may be found in the later volumes of the Report
of the United States Commissioner of Fisheries, and in Prof. Huxley’s
lecture on the Herring.
In the spring of 1878 the first successful experiments in the artificial
384 AMERICAN FISHES,
propagation of Herring were carried on in Germany by Dr. H. A. Meyer,
of the Commission for Scientific Investigation of the German Seas, at Kiel,
and in the fall of the same year by Mr. R. E. Earll, of the United States
Fish Commission, at Gloucester. <A translation of Dr. Meyer’s paper may
be found in the United States Fish Commission Report, part vi, pp. 629—
638, and a brief summation of Mr. Earll’s experiments in the same
volume, pp. 727-729.
Much has been written upon the food of the Herring, and the transla-
tion from an article in ‘‘ Die Natur,’’ No. 47, 1869, printed in the quarto
Report of the U. S. Fish Commission, expounds in a very satisfactory man-
ner recent views of European authorities upon the subject.
The methods of capture of the Herring are fully described in the publi-
cations of the Fish Commission, but being always of a commercial
character will not be referred to here. The Herring fishery is as yet of
comparatively small importance in America, but is constantly increasing,
and in time will without doubt, approximate in extent that of Northern
Europe, especially after our countrymen shall have begun to pay attention
to the now multiplying resources of our Pacific coast, where there are at
least two species sufficiently abundant to be of value to fishermen.
**One of these, C/ipea mirabilis, is universally known as the Herring,”’
writes Prof. Jordan. It indeed scarcely differs in size, appearance, or
qualities from the Herring of the Atlantic. It reaches a length of about
afoot. It is found for the entire length of the coast, being exceedingly
abundant northward. All the bay sand outlets of Puget Sound are filled
with them in the summer. South of Point Conception they are seldom
seen except in winter. At San Diego they spawn in the bay in January.
Farther north their spawning season comes later. ‘They are so abundant
in San Francisco Bay in the spring that eighty pounds can often be bought
for twenty cents. They are fattest and bring the best price in early winter.
The Herrings are smoked and dried, or salted, or sent fresh to the mar-
kets. Sometimes herring oil 1s expressed from them. The principal
herring-curing establishment is at Port Madison, on Puget Sound.’’
Prof. Huxley, in his Norwich address, expressed belief that the true
Herring probably occurs in the Pacific, but there is no reason to believe
that his supposition was correct.
Still another is the California Sardine, C/upea sagax. ‘‘ This species,’’
writes Prof. Jordan, ‘‘is everywhere known as the Sardine, or by the
LHE HERRING AND ILS ALLIES. 385
Italians as ‘Sardina.’ It is, in fact, almost exactly identical with the
Sardine of Europe. It reaches a length of a little less than a foot. It
ranges from Cape Mendocino to Chili, and is extremely abundant south-
ward, especially in the winter, when it fills all the bays. In the summer
it is generally scarce southward, although still taken northward. The
young are, however, seen in San Diego in the summer. It is probably to
some extent migratory along the coast, but as little attention is paid to it,
no definite data can be given. It is brought into the markets when taken,
and is sold with the Herring. ‘The question of the possibility of canning
it in oil, ike the Sardine, has been considerably discussed. It would
probably prove unprofitable, from the high price of labor and the uncer-
tain supply of fish.’’
Far more abundant than the Herring, and occurring at times on all parts
of our Atlantic coast, is the Menhaden, Arevoortia tyrannus. This species
has at least thirty popular names, most of them limited in their use within
narrow geographical boundaries. To this circumstance may be attributed
the prevailing ignorance regarding its habits and migrations, among our
fishermen, which has perhaps prevented the more extensive utilization of
this fish, particularly in the South.
THE MENHADEN.
North of Cape Cod the name ‘‘ Pogy’’ is almost universally in use,
while in Southern New England the fish is known only as the ‘‘ Menhaden.”’
These two names are derived from two Indian words of the same meaning ;
the first being the Abnaki name ‘‘ Pookagan,’’ or ‘‘ Poghaden,’’ which
means ‘‘ fertilizer,’’ while the latter is the modification of a word which
in the Narragansett dialect meant ‘‘ that which enriches the earth.”’
About Cape Ann, ‘‘ Pogy”’ is partially replaced by ‘‘ Hard-head’’ or
25
386 AMERICAN FISHES.
‘¢Hard-head Shad,’’ and in Eastern Connecticut ‘‘ Bony Fish.’’ In
Western Connecticut the species is usually known as the ‘‘ White-fish,’’
while in New York the usage of two centuries is in favor of ‘* Mossbunker.’’
This name is a relic of the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam, having
evidently been transferred from the ‘‘Scad,’’ or ‘‘ Horse Mackerel,’’
Trachurus lacerta, a fish which visits the shores of Northern Europe in
immense schools, swimming at the surface in much the same manner as
our Menhaden, and known to the Hollanders as the ‘‘ Marsbanker.’’
New Jersey uses the New York name with its local variations, such as
‘*Bunker’’ and ‘* Marshbanker.’’ In Delaware Bay, the Potomac and
the Chesapeake, we meet with the ‘‘Alewife,’’ ‘‘ Bay Alewife,’’ ‘‘ Pilcher ’’
(Pilchard), and ‘‘Green-tail.’’ Virginia gives us ‘‘ Bug-fish,’’ ‘‘ Bug-
head’’ and ‘‘ Bug-shad,’’ referring to the parasitic crustacean found in
the mouths of all Southern Menhaden. In North Carolina occurs the
name ‘‘ Fat-back,’’ which prevails as far south as Florida, and refers to
the oiliness of the flesh. In this vicinity, too, the names ‘‘ Yellow-tail’’
and ‘* Yellow-tail Shad ’’ are occasionally heard, while in Southern Florida
the fish is called ‘‘ Shiner’’ and ‘‘ Herring.’’ In South America, among
the Portuguese, the name ‘‘Savega’’ isin use. On the St. John’s River,
and wherever Northern fishermen are found, ‘‘ Menhaden’’ is preferred,
and it is to be hoped that this name will in time be generally adopted.
A number of trade names are employed by the manufacturers in New
Jersey who can this fish for food ; these are ‘‘American Sardine,’’ ‘‘Ameri-
can Club=fish,”* “Shade ’’ sand “Ocean Trout.’’
The geographical range of Brevoortia tyrannus varies from year to year.
In 1877 it was, so far as it is definable in words, as follows: The wander-
ings of the species are bounded by the parallels of north latitude 25° and
45°; on the continental side by the line of brackish water; on the east
by the inner boundary of the Gulf Stream. In the summer it occurs in
the coastal waters of all the Atlantic States from Maine to Florida, in
winter only south of Cape Hatteras. The limits of its winter migration
oceanwards cannot be defined, though it is demonstrated that the species
does not occur about the Bermudas or Cuba, nor presumably in the Carib-
bean Sea.
With the advance of spring, Menhaden appear near our coasts in com-
pany with, and usually slightly in advance of, the other non-resident
species, such as the Shad, Alewife, bluefish and squeteague. The follow-
PE ERR IING AND TES AD IIIS:
ios)
Co
~I
ing general conclusions regarding their movements are deduced from the
statements of about two hundred observers at different points on the coasts
from Florida to Nova Scotia.
At the approach of settled warm weather they make their appearance in
the inshore waters. It is manifestly impracticable to indicate the periods
of their movements except in an approximate way. The comparison of
two localities distant apart one or two hundred miles will indicate very
little. When wider ranges are compared there becomes perceptible a cer-
tain proportion in the relations of the general averages. There is always
a balance in favor of earlier arrivals in the more southern localities ; thus
it becomes apparent that the first schools appear in Chesapeake Bay in
March and April; on the coast of New Jersey in April and early May;
on the coast of New England in late April and May ; off Cape Ann about
the middle of May, and in the Gulf of Maine in the latter part of May
and the first of June. Returning, they leave Maine late in September or
in October; Massachusetts in October, November and December, the
latest departures being those of fish which have been ‘detained in the nar-
row bays and Creeks ; Long Island Sound and vicinity in November and
December ; Chesapeake Bay in December, and Cape Hatteras in January.
Farther to the south they appear to remain more or iess constantly
throughout the year.
The arrival of the Menhaden schools is closely synchronous with the
period at which the weekly average of the surface temperatures of the
harbors rises to 51° F., that they do not enter waters in which, as about
Eastport Me., the midsummer surface temperatures, as indicated by
monthly averages, fall below 51° F., and that their departure in the
autumn is closely connected with the fall of the thermometer to 51° F.
and below.
The arrival of the Menhaden is announced by their appearance at the
top of the water. Theyswim in immense schools, their heads close to the
surface, packed side by side, and often tier above tier, almost as closely
as sardines ina box. A gentle ripple indicates their position, and this
may be seen at a distance of nearly a mile by the lookout at the masthead
of a fishing vessel, and is of great assistance to the seiners in setting their
nets. At the slightest alarm the school sinks toward the bottom, often
escaping its pursuers. Sailing over a body of Menhaden swimming ata
short distance below the surface, one may see their glittering backs
388 AMERICAN FISHES.
o
beneath, and the boat seems to be gliding over a floor inlaid with blocks
of silver. At night they are phosphorescent. Their motions seem capri-
cious and without a definite purpose ; at times they swim around and
around in circles; at other times they sink and rise. While they remain
thus at the surface, after the appearance of a vanguard they rapidly in-
crease in abundance until the sea appears to be alive with them. They
delight to play in inlets and bays, such as the Chesapeake, Peconic and
Narragansett Bays, and in former years frequented the narrow fiords cf
Maine. ‘Theyseem particularly fond of shallow waters protected from the
wind, in which, if not molested, they will remain throughout the season,
drifting in and out with the tide. Brackish water attracts them, and they
abound at the mouth of streams, especially on the Southern coast.
Why the schools swim at the surface so conspicuous a prey tu men,
birds and other fishes is not known. It does not appear to be for the pur-
pose of feeding ; perhaps the fisherman is right when he declares that they
are playing.
An old mackerel fisherman thus describes the difference in the habits of
the mackerel and Menhaden: ‘‘ Pogies school differently from mackerel ;
the Pogy slaps with his tail, and in moderate weather you can hear the
sound of a school of them, as first one and then another strikes the water.
The mackerel go along ‘‘ gilling,’’ that is, putting the sides of their heads
out of the water as they swim. The Pogies make a flapping sound ; the
mackerel arushing sound. Sometimes in calm and foggy weather you can
hear a school of mackerel miles away.’’ ‘They do not attract small birds
as do the schools of predaceous fish. The fish-hawk often hovers above
them, and some of the larger gulls occasionally follow them in quest of a
meal.
Their winter habitat, like that of the other cold-water absentees, has
never been determined. The most plausible hypothesis supposes that
instead of migrating towards the tropics or hibernating near the shore, as
has been claimed by many, they swim out to sea until they find a stratum
of water corresponding to that frequented by them during their summer
sojourn on the coast.
As indicated by the testimony of many observers, whose statements are
elsewhere reviewed at length, the Menhaden is by far the most abundant
species of fish on the eastern coast of the United States. Several hundred
thousands are frequently taken in a single draft of a purse-seine. <A firm
THE HERRING AND ITS ALLIES. 389
in Milford, Conn., captured in 1870, 8,800,000; in 1871, 8,000,000 ; in
1872, 10,000,000 ; in 1873, 12,000,000. In 1877 three sloops from New
London seined 13,000,000. In 1877, anunprofitable year, the Pemaquid Oil
Company took 20,000,000, and the town of Booth Bay alone 50,000,000.
There is no evidence whatever of any decrease in their numbers, though
there can be in the nature of the case absolutely no data for comparison
of their abundance in successive years. Since spawning Menhaden are
never taken in the nets, no one can reasonably predict a decrease in the
future.
The nature of their food has been closely investigated. Hundreds of
specimens have been dissected, and every stomach examined by me has
been found full of dark greenish or brownish mud or silt, such as occurs
near the mouths of rivers and on the bottoms of still bays and estuaries.
When this mud is allowed to stand for a time in clear water, this becomes
slightly tinged with green, indicating the presence of chlorophyl, perhaps
derived from the alge, so common on muddy bottoms. In addition to
particles of fine mud the microscope reveals a few common forms of
diatoms.
There are no teeth in the mouth of the Menhaden, their place being
supplied by about fifteen hundred thread-like bristles, from one-third to
three-quarters of an inch long, which are attached to the gill-arches, and
may be so adjusted as to form a very effective strainer. The stomach is
globular, pear-shaped, with thick, muscular walls, resembling the gizzard
of a fowl, while the length of the coiled intestine is five or six times that
of the body of the fish. The plain inference from these facts, taken in
connection with what is known of the habits of the Menhaden, seems to
be that their food consists in large part of the sediment, containing much
organic matter, which gathers upon the bottoms of still, protected bays,
and also of the vegetation that grows in such localities. They also, as
was demonstrated by Mr. Rathbun in 1880, feed very extensively upon the
minute crustaceans, Cofefoda, &c., which are found in great quantities
swimming near the surface in the summer months all along our coast.
Their rapid increase in size and fatness, which commences as soon as
they approach our shores, indicates that they find an abundant supply of
some kind of food. The oil manufacturers report that in the spring a bar-
rel of fish often yields less than three quarts of oil, while late in the fall
it is not uncommon to obtain five or six gallons.
390 AM ETRTECALN SLUGS THIGS.
There is a mystery about their breeding. Thousands of specimens have
been dissected since 1871 without the discovery of mature ova. In early
summer the genitalia are quite undeveloped, but as the season advances
they slowly increase in size and vascularity. Among the October fish a
few ovaries were noticed in which the eggs could be seen with the naked
eye. A school of large fish driven ashore in November, in Delaware Bay,
by the bluefish, contained spawn nearly ripe, and others taken at Christmas
time, in Provincetown harbor, evidently stragglers accidentally delayed,
contained eggs quite mature. Young Menhaden from one to three inches
in length and upward are common in summer south of New York, and
those of five to eight inches in late summer and autumn in the southern
part of New England. ‘These are in schools, and make their appearance
suddenly from the open ocean hke the adult fish. Menhaden have never
been observed spawning on the Southern coast, and the egg-bearing indi-
viduals when observed are always heading out to sea. These considera-
tions appear to warrant the theory that their breeding grounds are on the
off-shore shoals which skirt the coast from George’s Banks to the Florida
Keys. There are indications, too, that a small school of Menhaden
possibly spawn at the east end of.Long Island in the very early spring.
The fecundity of the Menhaden is very great, much surpassing that of
the Shad and Herring. ‘The ovaries of a fish taken in Narragansett Bay,
November 1, 1879, contained at least 150,000 eggs.
Among its enemies may be counted every predaceous animal which
swims in the same waters. Whales and dolphins follow the schools and
consume them by the hogshead. Sharks of all kinds prey upon them
largely ; one hundred have been taken from the stomach of one shark. All
the large carnivorous fishes feed upon them. ‘The tunny is the most de-
structive. ‘‘I have often,’’ writes a Maine observer, ‘‘ watched their
antics from the masthead of my vessel—rushing and thrashing like demons
among a school of fish ; darting with almost lightning swiftness, scattering
them in every direction, and throwing hundreds of them in the air with
their tails.’’ The pollock, the whiting, the striped bass, the cod, the
squeteague, and the gar-fish are savage foes. The sword-fish and the
bayonet-fish destroy many, rushing through the schools and striking right
and left with their powerful swords. The blue-fish and bonito are, how-
ever, their most destructive enemies, not even excepting man ; these corsairs
of the sea, not content with what they eat, which is of itself an enormous
LHE HERRING AND ILS ALLIES. 391
ro)
quantity, rush ravenously through the closely-crowded schools, cutting and
tearing the living fish as they go, and leaving in their wake the mangled
fragments. Traces of their carnage remain for weeks in the great ‘slicks ’’
of oil so commonly seen on smooth water in summer. Prof. Baird, in his
well-known and often-quoted estimates of food annually consumed by the
blue-fish, states that probably ten thousand million fish, or twenty-five
million pounds, daily, or twelve hundred million million fish and three
hundred thousand million pounds are much below the real figures. This
estimate is for the period of four months in the middle of summer and fall,
and for the coast of New England only.
Such estimates are professedly only approximations, but are legitimate
in their way, since they enable us to appreciate more clearly the luxuriance
of marine life. Applying similar methods of calculation to the Menhaden,
I estimate the total number destroyed annually on our coast by predaceous
animals at a million million of millions; in comparison with which the
quantities destroyed by man, yearly, sink into insignificance.
It is not hard to define the place of Menhaden in nature. Swarming in
our waters in countless myriads, swimming in closely packed, unwieldy
masses, helpless as flocks of sheep, near to the surface and at the mercy of
every enemy, destitute of means of defense and offense, their mission is
unmistakably to be eaten.
In the economy of nature certain orders of terrestrial animals, feeding
entirely upon vegetable substances, seem intended for one purpose—to
elaborate simple materials into the nitrogenous tissues necessary for the
food of other animals, which are wholly or in part carnivorous in their
diet ; so the Menhaden feeding upon otherwise unutilized organic matter
is pre-eminently a meat-producing agent. Man takes from the water every
year eight or nine hundred millions of these fish, weighing trom two hun-
dred to three hundred thousand tons, but his indebtedness does not end
here ; when he brings upon his table bluefish, bonitoes, weak-fish, sword-
fish, or bass, he has before him usually Menhaden flesh in another form.
The commercial importance of the Menhaden has only lately been
rightly appreciated. Thirty years ago and before, it was thought to be of
very small value. A few millions were taken every year in Massachusetts
Bay, Long Island Sound, and the inlets of New Jersey. A small portion
of these were used for bait; a few barrels occasionally salted in Massa-
chusetts to be exported to the West Indies. Large quantities were plowed
392 AMERICAN FISHES.
into the soil of the farms along the shores, stimulating the crops for a time,
but in the end filling the soil with oil, parching it and making it unfit for
tillage. Since that time manifold uses have been found. As a bait-fish
this excels all others; for many years much the greater share of our
mackerel was caught by its aid, while the cod and halibut fleet use it rather
than any other fish when it can be procured. The total consumption of
Menhaden for bait in 1877 did not fall below 80,000 barrels, or 26,000,000
fish, valued at $500,000. ‘Ten years before, when the entire mackerel
fleet was fishing with hooks, the consumption was much greater. The
Dominion mackerel fleet buy Menhaden bait in quantity, and its value has
been thought an important element in framing treaties between our govern-
ment and that of Great Britain.
As a food resource it is found to have great possibilities. Many hun-
dreds of barrels are sold in the West Indies, while thousands of barrels are
salted down for domestic use by families living near the shore. In many
sections they are sold fresh in the market. Within six years there has
sprung up an important industry, which consists in packing these fish in
oil, after the manner of sardines, for home and foreign consumption. In
1874 the production of canned fish did not fall below 500,000 boxes.
The discovery made by Mr. S. L. Goodale, that from these fish may be
extracted, for the cost of carefully boiling them, a substance possessing all
the properties of Liebig’s ‘‘ Extract of beef,’’ opens up a vast field for
future development. As a food for the domestic animals in the form of
‘¢ fish meat,’’ there seems also to be a broad opening. As a source of oil,
the Menhaden is of more importance than any other marine animal. Its
annual yield usually exceeds that of the whale (from the American fisheries)
by about 200,000 gallons, and in 1874 did not fall far short of the aggre-
gate of all the whale, seal, and cod 011 made in America. In 1878 the
menhaden oil and guano industry employed capital to the amount of
$2,350,000, 3,337 men, 64 steamers, 279 sailing vessels, and consumed
777,000,000 fish; there were 56 factories, which produced 1,392,644
gallons of oil, valued at $450,000, and 55,154 tons of crude guano, valued
at $600,000; this was a poor year. In 1874 the number of gallons pro-
duced was 3,373,000; 1n 1875, 2,681,000 ; in 1876,92,992,0002 In 1877.
2,427,000. In1878 the total value of manufactured products was $1,0509,-
ooo ; in 1874 this was $1,809,000 ; in 1875, $1,582,000 ; in 1876, $1,671,-
000 ; in 1877, $1,608,000. It should be stated that in these reports only
(Ht EE RRING AND TIS ALLIES. 39
w
four-fifths of the whole number of factories were included. In 1880 the
number of persons employed in the entire industry was placed at 3,635,
the amount of capital invested, $2,362,841, the value of products, $2,116,-
787, including 2,066,396 gallons of oil, worth $733,424, and 68,904 tons
of guano, worth $1,301,217. The refuse of the oil factories supplies a
material of much value for manures. As a base for nitrogen it enters
largely into the composition of most of the manufactured fertilizers. The
amount of nitrogen derived from this source in 1875 was estimated to be
equivalent to that contained in 60,000,000 pounds of Peruvian guano, the
gold value of which would not have been far from $1,920,000. ‘The yield
of the menhaden fishery in pounds is probably triple that of any other
carried on by the fishermen of the United States.
In estimating the importance of the Menhaden to the United States, it
should be borne in mind that its absence from our waters would probably
reduce all our other sea-fisheries to at least one-fourth their present extent.
It is therefore of great importance to anglers as well as fishermen.
In addition to the common Menhaden, a second North American
species, Brevoortia patronus, has recently been discovered. This species
has been reported only from the Gulf of Mexico.
The commercial representatives of the Herring in America are perhaps
the River Herrings and the Shad, which ascend our streams in the spring,
and, fresh, pickled and smoked, enter very largely into the food resources
of the Atlantic region.
Early writers on American fishes, especially Mitchill and De Kay, seem
to have experienced great difficulty in differentiating into species the vari-
ous forms of River Herrings or Alewives in our waters. These early
writers were, however, apparently more discriminating than some of their
successors, for they recognized differences which have been ignored by
subsequent writers. They were as much at fault, however, in making too
many species, as were Storer and Gill in uniting all the forms under one
specific name.
The attention of the zoologists of the Fish Commission was first called
to the probable existence of two species by the persistent opinions of the
fishermen of the Potomac, who recognized two forms—differing in habit
and in general appearance—which they called the ‘‘ Branch Herring’”’
and the ‘‘ Glut Herring ’’ respectively.
The announcement of the discovery of the two species and a definition
3904 AMERICAN FISHES.
of their characters were first published in the report of the Virginia Fish
Commission for 1879. These species may easily be distinguished from
each other by the following characters: C. @stiva/is is more elongate in
form, has a lower body, less elevated fins, and smaller eyes than C. vernadis.
The proportions of the bones of the head in C. estvalis differ from those
in C. vernalis, as also does the coloration of the lining of the abdomen,
which in C. @stzvatis is black and in C. vernalts, gray.
The popular names applied to these fishes differ in almost every river
along the coast. C. vernalis is known along the Potomac River as the
‘¢ Branch Herring’’; on the Albemarle River as the ‘‘ Big-eyed Herring’’
and the ‘‘ Wall-eyed Herring’’; in Canada it is known as the ‘‘ Gaspe-
reau’’ or ‘* Gasperét.’’ It is pre-eminently the ‘‘ Alewife’’ of New Eng-
land; the ‘‘ Ellwife’’ or ‘‘Ellwhop’’ of the Connecticut River. The
other species, C. @stivafis, undoubtedly occurs occasionally in its com-
pany, but is probably not common in the Connecticut and Housatonic
Rivers, and in many parts of Massachusetts is distinguished by another
name.
The, C. @szuczs is the “Glut Hernnge ’ of the Albemarle and the
Chesapeake, and the ‘‘ English Herring’’ of the Ogeechee River. In the
St. John’s River, Florida, it is known simply as the ‘‘ Herring.’’ On the
coast of Massachusetts it is called the ‘‘ Blue-back,’’ a name which is.
common to the late runs of the same species of the Rappahannock. Around
the Gulf of Maine this species is also known by the names ‘‘ Kyack’’ or
«¢ Kyauk,’’ ‘‘ Saw-belly,’’ and ‘‘ Cat-thrasher.’’ Although the coast fisher-
men of Massachusetts and Maine claim to distinguish the two species, the
‘« Blue-backs’’ and the ‘‘ Alewives,’’ their judgment is by no means in-
fallible, for I have frequently had them sort out into two piles the fishes
which they distinguish under these names, and found that their discrimi-
nation was not at all reliable. The features to which they mainly trusted
in the determination of C. @stivalis are the bluer color of the back and the
greater serration upon the ventral-ridge. The other species, when the
scales on its back are rubbed off, is as blue as this, and the serration of the
belly is dependent entirely upon the extent to which the back has become
stiffened in the death struggle and the consequent degree of arching of the
ventral ridge. The young of one or both species are sold in the Boston
markets under the name ‘‘ Sprats,’’ and in New York they make up a large
proportion of the so-called ‘‘ Whitebait.’’
THE HERERING AND ITS ALLIES, 395
‘¢ The Alewife,’’ writes Col. MacDonald, ‘‘is by far the most abundant
of our river fishes, and throughout the whole Southern region where they
are caught, together with the Shad, the number of individuals is not far
from ten to twenty times as great as that of the Shad. For instance, in
the Albemarle region, in 1879, 750,000 Shad were taken and upwards of
20,000,000 Alewives. Again, in 1880, about 600,000 Shad were taken
from the Potomac and 11,000,000 Alewives. By far the greatest number
of the Alewives thus taken were ‘‘ Glut Herring,’’ C. @stivalis ; but, since
the two species are sold together, without discrimination, no accurate
statement of proportional numbers can be made.
THE BRANCH HERRING OR ALEWIFE.
There is on Cape Cod an extensive Alewife fishery. This has for more
than a century been regulated by law, and the fish are allowed during
stated periods to swim without interruption to their spawning beds. ‘The
streams in which they are taken are so small, and the fish in their ascent
so crowded together, that they appear to be extremely abundant, although
the aggregate catch for the entire Cape is not perhaps much greater than
the yield of many single seines in the South. Here, however, there has
been no great decrease in abundance, while in the South the herring fishery
is much less productive than in former years.
A very remarkable phenomenon, recently observed, has been the appear-
ance of this species in immense numbers in Lake Ontario and lakes of New
York. This has been only in waters in which shad fry had previously
been placed by fish culturists.
Like the Shad, the Alewives are anadromous in habit. The dates of
their first appearance in any given river may be very closely determined
396 AMERICAN FISHES.
by an examination of the tables which show the movements of the Shad.
The Gaspereau or ‘‘Spring Herring’’ usually precedes the Shad by a
period of several weeks, while the run of the ‘‘ Blue-back’”’ or ‘Glut
Herring ’’ occurs in the middle of the Shad season.
One of the earliest American observers thus spoke of their habits:
At the end of March begins the spring by Sol’s new elevation,
Stealing away the Earth’s white robe, dropping with sweat’s vexation.
The Codfish, Holybut and Barse do sport the rivers in,
And Allwives, with their crowdy sholes in every creek do swim.
Good Newes from New England, 1678.
Little is known concerning the food of the river Alewives in their salt-
water habitat. It is, however, supposed that they, like the Shad, exist
largely upon swimming crustaceans. When in the rivers they do not feed
to any considerable extent, although they have been known ina few in-
stances to take the fly.
The eggs of the Alewife are adhesive, like those of the sea Herring,
though to a much less degree. The number of eggs varies from sixty
thousand to one hundred thousand, in accordance with the size of the
individual. They are deposited upon the bottom in shoal water, or on
whatever object they may come in contact with. The time for spawning,
after the fish have entered the river, depends, as in the case of the Shad,
entirely on the temperature of the water. The spawning of the ‘“ Glut
Herring’’ takes place under ordinary conditions at a temperature of 70°
to 70° F.; that of the ‘‘ Branch Herring,’’ when the water is as low as
55° to 60° F. The period of development varies directly with the
oe)
temperature.
‘« During past years,’’ writes McDonald, ‘‘ the Alewife has frequently
been artificially introduced into new waters or over dams by the trans-
portation of fish of considerable size. This is constantly done on Cape
Cod in the restocking of the herring streams which have been exhausted,
and was successfully accomplished by Gen. N. L. Lincoln, in Maine, as
long ago as 1750.”’
‘‘Herring eggs have frequently been artificially impregnated by men
engaged in shad culture. The young fish artificially hatched have in some
instances been transported. In 1882, two million were sent to Texas by
the United States Fish Commission and deposited in the Colorado River.
Artificial hatching would seem less necessary in the case of the Alewife
THE HERRING AND ITS ALLIES. 397
than in that of the Shad, since with the former, owing to its peculiar
spawning habits, the eggs stand a better chance of hatching out, and very
slight protection of the fish during spawning season will be sufficient to
keep up the supply.’’
Prof. Baird, in his second report as Commissioner of Fisheries, spoke
as follows upon the uses and importance of this fish:
‘*f am inclined to think, for various reasons, that too little has been
done in our waters toward the restoration to their primitive abundance of
the Alewife.
‘¢ The Alewife in many respects is superior, in commercial and econo-
mical value, to the Herring, being a much larger and sweeter fish, and
more like the true Shad in this respect. Of all American fish none are so
easily propagated as the Alewife, and waters from which it has been driven
by the erection of impassable dams can be fully restocked in the course of
a few years, simply by transporting a sufficient number of the mature fish
taken at the mouth of the stream to a point above the dams, or placing
them in ponds or lakes. Here they will spawn and return to the sea after
a short interval, making their way over dams which carry any flow. ‘The
young Alewives, after a season, descend and return, if not prevented, at
the end of their period of immaturity, to the place where they were spawned.
‘¢Tn addition to the value of the Alewife as an article of food, it is of
much service in ponds and rivers as nutriment for trout, salmon and other
valuable fishes. The young derive their sustenance from minute crusta-
ceans and other objects too diminutive for the larger fish, and in their great
abundance are greedily devoured by the other species around them. In
waters inhabited by both pickerel and trout these fish find in the young
Alewives sufficient food to prevent their prey ing upon each other. They
are also, for the same reason, serviceable in ponds containing black bass.
‘‘As a cheap and very abundant food for other fishes, the young Alewives
can be placed in waters that have no connection with the sea by merely
transferring from any convenient locality a sufficient number of the living
mature parents, taken at the approach of the spawning season; they will
remain for several months, and indeed can often be easily penned up by
a suitable dam and kept throughout the year.
‘* Tt is in another still more important connection that we should con-
sider the Alewife. It is well known that within the last thirty or forty
years the fisheries of cod, haddock and hake along our coast have measur-
ably diminished, and in some places ceased entirely. Enough may be
taken for local consumption, but localities which formerly furnished the
material for an extensive commerce in dried fish have been entirely
abandoned. Various causes have been assigned for this condition of
things, and among others the alleged diminution of the sea Herring.
After a careful consideration of the subject, however, I am strongly in-
398 AMERICAN FISHES.
clined to believe that it is due to the diminution, and in many instances
to the extermination, of the Alewives. As already remarked, before the
construction of dams in the tidal rivers the Alewife was found in incredi-
ble numbers along our coast, probably remaining not far from shore,
excepting when moving up into the fresh water, and at any rate spending
a considerable interval off the mouths of the rivers either at the time of
their journey upward or on their return. The young, too, after returning
from the ocean, usually swarmed in the same localities, and thus furnished
for the larger species a bait such as is not supplied at present by any other
fish, the sea Herring not excepted. We know that the Alewife is particu-
larly attractive as a bait to other fishes, especially for cod and mackerel.
Alewives enter the streams on the south coast of New England before the
arrival of the bluefish ; but the latter devote themselves with great assiduity
to the capture of the young as they come out from their breeding ponds.
The outlet of an alewife pond is always a capital place for the bluefish,
and, as they come very near the shore in such localities, they can be
caught there with the line by what is called ‘heaving and hauling,’ or
throwing a squid from the shore and hauling it in with the utmost rapidity.
‘“¢The coincidence, at least, in the erection of the dams, and the enor-
mous diminution in the number of the Alewives, and the decadence of the
inshore Cod fishery, is certainly very remarkable. Itisprobable, also, that
the mackerel fisheries have suffered in the same way, as these fish find in
the young Menhaden and Alewives an attraccive bait.
‘©The same remarks as to the agency of the Alewife in attracting the
deep-sea fishes to the shores, and especially near the mouths of rivers,
apply in a proportional degree to the Shad and salmon.’
The Inland Alewife or Skipjack, Clupea chrysochloris, which is found in
many parts of the Mississippi Valley, has recently been found by Mr. Silas
Stearns in the salt water off Pensacola—a surprising circumstance, since
the species was thought to be an inhabitant of fresh water exclusively. ‘It
is known to most inland fishermen as the ‘ Skipjack,’ ’’ writes Prof. Jordan,
‘in allusion to its habit of leaping from the water. It is also sometimes
called ‘Shad’ and ‘ Herring.’ It is abundant throughout the Mississippi
Valley in all the larger streams. In the neighborhood of the ocean it
descends to the Gulf, but in the upper courses it 1s permanently resident.
It has also entered Lake Michigan and Lake Erie since the construction
of the canals. It reaches a length of a little more than a foot. It feeds
on small crustaceans, worms, and the lke, rarely taking the hook, Asa
food-fish it is regarded as wholly worthless, its flesh being poor and dry
and full of innumerable small bones.’’
The Shad appears to have been considered by early American writers
JHE HERRING AND ITS ALLIES.
S09
on fish identical with the Shad of England, C/upea finta. The first to give
to it a distinctive name was Alexander Wilson in the American edition of
Rees’ Encyclopedia.
THE EUROPEAN SHAD.
It is very closely allied to the European species, but is a much finer fish.
‘The English care little for their shad, though in France the same species
is highly esteemed.
The following account of our Shad is from the pen of Col. Marshall
MacDonald, who has made it a subject of special study for many years:
The Shad is found along the whole Atlantic coast of the United States,
and its capture constitutes one of the most important fisheries in all the
streams draining into the Atlantic between the Gulf of St. Lawrence and
the St. John’s River, Florida.
It is but rarely seen on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, but occurs in
the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the various rivers of which it ascends as far
north as the Miramichi, which seems to be its limit in that direction, none
having been seen in the Bay of Chaleur.
Throughout its entire range the Shad is found in sufficient quantities to
give rise to fisheries of great commercial value. There is no run of Shad
in any of the rivers draining into the Gulf of Mexico, although the capture
of isolated individuals of this species has been reported from the Ala-
bama River and from several tributaries of the Mississippi prior to any
steps towards the artificial propagation of Shad in these waters by the
United States Fish Commission.
The geographical range of the Shad then was confined to the Atlantic
coast of the United States until, by the operations of the United States
Fish Commission, its limits were vastly extended. Runs of Shad, suf-
ficiently large to be of commercial value, have been established in several
of the tributaries of the Mississippi River, notably the Ohio River; and
the several plants made from time to time in the Sacramento River, on the
400 AMERICAN FISHES.
Pacific coast, have resulted in the colonization of this species in all the
rivers of the Pacific slope, from the Sacramento to Puget Sound.
The Shad make their first appearance in the St. John’s River about the
middle of November, the height of their spawning season in that river
being about the rst of April. In the Savannah River they appear early in
January, and in the Neuse River at a period not much later than in the
Savannah. In the Albemarle the important Shad seine-fisheries begin
early in March, but doubtless the fish are in the Sound some time before
that date ; not, however, in numbers sufficient to justify the great expenses
attendant upon the operation of these large seines. In the Chesapeake
Bay they make their appearance in February, although the height of the
fishing season in its waters is during April and May, and at a date some-
what later in the more northern tributaries. In the Delaware, Connecticut,
Merrimac, and St. John (Nova Scotia) Rivers, Shad are first seen at periods
successively later as we proceed farther north. The date of their first ap-
pearance in any of these waters, however, varies from season to season,
the limit of such variation being from three to four weeks.
These irregularities in the time of the run into our rivers, which cause
so much perplexity and discouragement to the fishermen, are, however,
readily explained by the influence of temperature.
THE AMERICAN SHAD.
It is doubtful whether there is any general coastwise movement of the
Shad. That there is an occasional migration of this kind is evidenced by
the following facts: The Shad of the rivers of the South Atlantic coast,
as a rule, have black-tipped caudal and dorsal fins, which distinctive
marks of coloration are absent in the Shad of more northern rivers ; and
yet occasionaliy these southern Shad are caught as far north as the tribu-
THE HERRING ANDITS ALLIES. 401
taries of the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays. These fish have undoubtedly
been born and bred in southern waters, and their appearance so far north
would indicate that occasionally this southern variety strays beyond its
normal range. At one time it was imagined that the whole body of
American Shad, having wintered in the south, started northward with the
new year, and as each river mouth was reached a detachment would leave
the entire mass for the purpose of ascending the river, the last remaining
portion of the immense school entering the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
At a later date it was thought more reasonable to suppose that the young
fish, hatched out in any particular stream, went out into the sea and re-
mained within a moderate distance of the coast until the period again
occurred for their upward river migration. Their appearance, first in the
extreme southern river of the coast, the St. John’s, and at later dates suc-
cessively in the more northern rivers, was thought to confirm this view. It
will be seen, in the discussions of the relation of the movements of the
Shad to the water temperature, published in the reports of the United
States Fish Commission, that this order of appearance when preserved
may be reasonably accounted for; there are, however, exceptions.
For instance, the Edisto River is many miles north of the Savannah, and
yet the run of Shad in the former is usually coincident with that in the
latter. This leads us to believe that the Shad are generally distributed
along the coast at all times, entering the rivers as soon as the temperature
of the water is suitable. It is but natural that the waters of a creek or
short stream, not having its source in the mountains, should in the spring
become warm long before those of a large river whose headwaters are far
up among the mountains; for which reason we may expect to find, in the
case of two rivers, the most southerly of which has a longer water-course
than the other, that the Shad will first enter the more northerly, yet
shorter, and consequently, at a given date, warmer stream. The question,
therefore, appears to be rather one of temperature than of geographical
location.
The greater portion of the life of the Shad being spent in salt water, the
possibility of close observation as to their food, habits, or precise habitat
is precluded. The young fry, hatched out in the rivers in spring and early
summer, remain there until the following fall, when, the temperature of
the waters having fallen below 60°, they leave for the ocean. Nothing
more is seen of them until they return to the rivers as mature fish for the
26
402 AMERICAN FISHES,
purpose of spawning. In these upward migrations the schools of mature
fish ascend the rivers either until obstructed by impassable falls or dams,
or until the volume of water becomes very inconsiderable. Before artificial
impediments were placed in the rivers, the limit of this movement was the
natural and insurmountable falls to be found at the head of almost all of
our principal streams. For example, in the Savannah River the Shad used
to ascend to the Fails of Tallula, at the very source of the river in the
northern part of Georgia. In the Potomac they ascend as high as the
Great Falls. In the Susquehanna River, in which there exist no natural
obstructions, their migration extended up into the State of New York, a
distance of several hundred nules above the present limit. On the Hudson
River they ascended to Glens Falls. On the Connecticut at one time they
went as high as Bellows Falls, but recent obstructions in this river have
materially reduced the extent of their range.
The age at which the Shad reaches maturity and becomes capable of
reproducing is not definitely determined; it is generally held by fish
culturists, however, that the female Shad attains this condition when three
or four years old. ‘The favorite spawning grounds, or ‘¢ Shad Wallows,”’
as they are termed by the fishermen, are on the sandy flats which border
the streams, and the sand-bars which are found at intervals higher up the
river. When the fish have reached suitable spawning grounds and are
ready to cast their eggs, they move up to the flats seemingly in pairs. The
time of this movement is usually between sundown and 11 p.m. When
in the act of coition they swim close together and near the surface,
their back fins projecting above the water. ‘The rapid, vigorous, spas-
modic movements which accompany this operation produce a splashing in
the water which can be plainly heard from the shore, and which the fisher-
men characterize as ‘‘ washing.’’
The number of eggs in the ovary of a Shad, as in all other fish, bears a
certain relation to the size and weight of the fish. As the result of ex-
perience in the artificial propagation of the Shad we conclude that a ripe
roe Shad weighing four or five pounds contains from 20,000 to 40,000
eggs, the average number being about 25,000. A much larger number,
however, has been obtained from some individuals. In the season of
1881 we obtained from a single Shad, weighing about six pounds, over
60,000 impregnated eggs; again, in 1880, on the Potomac River, the
yield of eggs from a single Shad was over 100,000. ‘These were full-sized,
THE HERRING AND [TS ALLIES. 403
thoroughly impregnated, and were hatched out with a loss of hardly one
percent.
Shad ready to deposit their spawn seem to prefer waters of a warmer
temperature than 60° F. Therefore, when the mature Shad, intent on
reproduction, leave the hydrothermal area of 60° F. and ascend the rivers
into waters of 65° to 70° F. and upwards, they are unaccompanied by the
half-grown Shad, the latter ceasing to ascend as soon as they encounter
a temperature of more than 60° F. In 1882, however, when the tem-
perature of the water was below 60° F. for the greater portion of the
season, the spawning had to take place in water colder than the fish would
have preferred, and therefore mature and young Shad were found together
on the spawning grounds.
The shad-fry, which spend the first six months in our rivers, must of ne-
cessity find their food therein. From examinations made of the stomachs of
these young fish, they have been found to feed upon certain species of crus-
tacea and insect larvee, common to the fresh waters of our rivers. During the
spring of 1882 some young fry, which were hatched out at Central station,
were confined by Dr. John A. Ryder in a glass aquarium, through which
the circulation of the water was maintained, and fed with Copepoda,
obtained in large quantities from the United States carp ponds. In about
seven days after hatching some of the young fry were observed to eat,
and a few days later they were all vigorously engaged in pursuit of food.
While the ratio of mortality was large, some of the fish survived for six
weeks, the last specimen having attained a length of considerably more
than an inch, and a weight many times greater than that at birth.
From these experiments we deem it altogether probable that under
natural conditions the Copepoda, which are abundant in the Potomac in
places frequented by the young Shad, are their natural food during the
early stages of their existence.
It is prebable that Shad in their early lives vary their food with min-
nows and the young of other species of fish. Indeed, from the stomach
of a Shad, taken in one of the pounds at Saybrook, I found an undigested
minnow two or three inches in length. In the fresh-water life of the
mature Shad, the fish do not seem to take food at all. Repeated observa-
tions of the contents of the stomach show no food whatever. Occasionally,
however, they can be induced to rise to a fly dexterously cast on the water.
‘This fact is presumptive evidence that the desire for food, although sub-
404 AMERICAN FISHES.
ordinated to the impulse of reproduction (which brings them into the
river), is not wholly lost. :
A female Shad of a certain age is always larger than a male of corre-
sponding age. A general average for both sexes along the whole coast
would be about four pounds, the extremes—for males—being from one
and a half to six pounds, and for females from three and a half to eight
pounds, the latter representing a maximum weight for Shad at the present
time ; although, in the early history of the fisheries, there are records of
the capture of fish weighing eleven, twelve and as much as fourteen
pounds.
THE HICKORY SHAD.
The Hickory Shad, or Mattowacca, C/upea mediocris, was first brought
to notice in 1815 in Mitchill’s paper on the fishes of New York, wherein
it was described under two names, being called the ‘‘ Staten Island ”’
Herring, C. mediocris, and the ‘‘ Long Island’’ Herring, C. mattowacca.
The latter name was adopted by Storer for the species, but more recent
authorities, guided by a rather questionable interpretation of the rules of
priority, have substituted the name C. medzocris, because it was printed on
the page preceding the other. Mitchill stated that the ‘‘ Long Island ’’
Herring occupied a middle station between the Shad and the ‘Staten
Island’’ Herring, but it seems strange that so accomplished an ichthyolo-
gist should not have at once perceived the identity of the two. The name
‘¢ mediocrts’’ was founded upon small specimens. ‘The names given this
species are as varied as those of the river Herrings. The name ‘‘ Matto-
wacca’’ is of Indian origin, and is said to have been derived from the
”)
Indian name for Long Island, JZattowaka or Mattowax.
The name *‘ Hickory Shad ’’ is applied to this species on all parts of the
THE HERRING ANDITS ALLIES. 405
coast from Cape Cod to Florida. It is used in the Chesapeake and in the
Albemarle regions, and on the Ogeechee, Savannah, and Altamaha Rivers,
where it is familiarly called ‘‘ Hicks.’’ In the St. John’s River and
Alabama River the name ‘‘ Hickory ’’ Shad is also used. The derivation
of thename ‘‘ Hickory’’ Shad cannot easily be traced. It may be that
the word ‘‘ Hickory’’ is used in a derogatory sense, but a more reasonable
explanation is that it refers to the striped markings on the fish, which re-
semble those upon the coarse cotton fabric known in the South as ‘* Hick-
ory,’’ and frequently used by the fishermen.
In the Potomac the species is called the ‘‘ Tailor Shad,’’ or the ‘* Fresh-
water Tailor,’’ in contradistinction to the bluefish, which is called the
‘*Salt-water Tailor.’’ The comparison between the bluefish and this
species 1s doubtless due to a fancied resemblance between their jaws, those
of the ‘‘ Tailor Shad ’’ being very long and strong. The ‘‘ Tailor Shad ’’
may be distinguished from the common Shad and from the river Herrings
by the extreme projection and thickness of the lower jaw. This species is
in some rivers called a ‘‘ Forerunner,’’ from the fact that it makes its ap-
pearance shortly before the Shad.
Col. McDonald writes as follows concerning this species: ‘‘ The
‘ Hickory Shad’ is most abundant in the region between the Chesapeake
Bay and Altamaha River and intermediate waters, ascending the rivers as
high as the Shad. In the St. John’s River it is somewhat abundant,
making its appearance the first or second week in November, and shortly
before the Shad. North of New York it has not been observed to enter
the rivers in any great numbers, and there is no record north of Cape Cod
of its having been seen in fresh water. In the fall small schools of them
occasionally enter the brackish estuaries and tideways of Cape Cod.’’
In the Altamaha River, Georgia, the catch of ‘‘ Hickory’’ Shad is
equal to that of ‘‘ Common’’ or ‘‘ White Shad,’’ and in the markets they
sell for more than one-half as much. In the St. John’s River they are not
exceedingly abundant, and two ‘‘ Hickory Shad’ are equal in value to one
‘‘White Shad.’’ In the Ogeechee and Savannah Rivers the proportion of
the catch of the ‘‘ Hickory’’ to that of ‘‘ White Shad’’ is about one to
four. All taken here are used for local consumption, and are sold at prices
equal to about one-half of the White Shad. In the Albemarle they are less
abundant than farther south and are of less value. Here they are sold
with the herring for local consumption, two of them counting for one
406 AMERICAN FISHES.
herring, or are used for manure. In the Chesapeake region they are not
highly esteemed, although great quantities are sold by hawkers, especially
in the cities, where people are not well informed, under the name of
‘¢Shad.’’ At the beginning of the season hundreds of men may be seen
going about the city of Washington with strings of these fish, which they
cry for Shad, and which with great insolence they press upon such would-
be purchasers as are inclined to question their genuineness. In the pound-
nets of the Chesapeake in the beginning of the season they are caught in
immense numbers, and are shipped to the markets with the true Shad until
their price falls below three cents apiece, after which they are sold with
the Herring, one counting as two Herrings.
THE TARPUM.
In our waters the most important member of this family is the Tarpum,
Megalops thrissotdes, an immense herring-hke fish, which occurs in the
Western Atlantic and in the Gulf of Mexico, ranging north to Cape Cod
and south at least to Northern Brazil. It is somewhat abundant in the
West Indies, and stragglers have been taken as far to the eastward as the
Bermudas. This species attains the length of five or six feet, and is
covered with enormous circular scales of one inch to two inches and a
half in diameter, the exposed portions of which are covered with a silvery
epidermis. The fish, when alive, presents a very brilliant metallic ap-
pearance, and the scales are much prized by curiosity hunters and for
fancy work in the Florida curiosity shops. They are a staple article of
trade, selling for from ten to twenty-five cents each, the price paid to the
fishermen being about fifty cents per dozen.
The sailors’ name for this fish, by which same name it is also known at
Key West, Bermuda, Brunswick, Georgia and elsewhere, is ‘‘ Tarpum ’’ or
‘¢Tarpon.’’ In Georgia and Florida it is commonly called the ‘‘ Jew-fish.’’
THE: HERRING AND TTS ALLIES. 407
a name also applied by the fishermen of South Florida to a species of
percoid which has already been discussed. It is the ‘‘Silver-fish’’ of
Pensacola, the ‘‘ Grande-Ecaille’’ (Large-scale fish), or ‘‘ Grandykye,”’
asit 1s pronounced and sometimes spelled, and the ‘‘ Savanilla’’ of Texas.
The species can hardly be said to be common on our Atlantic coasts,
though from fifty to one hundred specimens are doubtless taken every
year between Florida and Cape Cod. In 1874 and 1875 none were
caught in the St. John’s River, though several had been brought in during
the previous winter. In the Indian River region these fish are sometimes
harpooned.
Mr. Stearns contributes the following notes upon the fish, as observed
by him:
‘¢The Silver fish, or Grande Ecaille, is common everywhere on the
Gulf coast. Itisan immense and active fish, preying eagerly upon schools
of young fry, or any small fish that it is able to receive into its mouth, and
in pursuit of which it ascends fresh-water rivers quite a long distance.
During September, 1879, I saw large numbers of Silver-fish eight or ten
miles up the Apalachicola River, and am told that that was not an unusual
occurrence. They go up the Homosassa River in Florida, and several of
the Texas rivers, so I have subsequently learned. The Tarpum will take
a baited hook, but it is difficult to handle and seldom landed. The Pensa-
cola seine fishermen dread it while dragging their seines, for they have
known of persons having been killed or severely injured by its leaping
against them from the seine in which it was inclosed. Even when it does
not jump over the cork-line of a seine, it is quite likely to break through
the netting before landed. I have secured several specimens, the smallest
of which weighed thirty pounds and the largest about seventy-five
pounds. The Tarpum is said to be palatable and well flavored.’’
Dr. C. J. Kenworthy, of Jacksonville, Fla., known in the literature of
American angling as ‘‘Al. Fresco,’’ is the great apostle of Tarpum, and
by his enthusiastic advocacy has won it a place among game fishes.
The ‘‘ Big-eyed Herring’’ or ‘‘Ten-pounder,’’ ops saurus, was
described by Linnzeus from a Carolina specimen sent to him by Garden.
It occurs all along the coast from Martha’s Vineyard southward, but only
in the summer in the northern part of its range. It is cosmopolitan in
its distribution, occurring throughout the West Indies, on the coast of
South America, on both coasts of Mexico, at the Cape of Good Hope, in
East Africa, Arabia and China. At Fort Macon it is known as the
‘¢ Horse Mackerel.’’ It is rarely or never eaten in the United States, its
flesh being said to be dry and bony.
408 AMERICAN FISHES.
A species of Anchovy, Stolephorus Lrownt, is extremely common about
Fort Macon, where it is known as the ‘‘Sardine’’ and occurs in large
schools. Specimens of this and of an allied species, S. Mctchili7, are
occasionally taken in the vicinity of Woods Hoil, Mass., and in greater
abundance in New Jersey.
The presence of a true Anchovy in America was first announced by Prof.
Baird in 1854. A species was noticed by Mitchill, but its relations to
the Anchovy of Europe were not recognized. In his report on the Fish
of the New Jersey Coast, Prof. Baird remarked of S. Browni: ‘‘ The
Anchovy made its appearance early in August in the shallow waters along
the beach, though of very small size ; it subsequently became more abund-
ant, and towards the end of the month, while hauling a large net in the
surf, many were taken, measuring over six inches in length; as the meshes
of the net were large, a great portion escaped, but with a seine properly
constructed enough could be secured to supply the American market. I
procured several specimens of this fish in 1847 at the residence of Mr.
Audubon, on the Hudson River above New York.’’
There is little reason to doubt that this species of Anchovy might be
prepared in salt or in paste, like that of Europe, and that the results
would be equally satisfactory ; as an actual fact, however, most of the
Anchovies put up in Europe do not belong to this genus at all, but are
simply pilchards or sprats preserved in a peculiar manner, the name
‘“‘Anchovy’’ having come to be descriptive of a peculiar method of pre-
paration rather than of the fish which is prepared. Our Anchovy has
recently been sold in considerable numbers in New York under the name
‘* Whitebait,’’ although the fishermen distinguish it from the true ‘‘ White-
bait,’’ the young of the herring, calling it ‘‘ Spearing.’’
The Anchovy of the Pacific coast 1s reported by Jordan to be of little
economic value. The commonest form is what he calls the California
Anchovy, Szolephorus ringens, and which is thus described by him:
‘«« This species is everywhere known as the Anchovy. It reachesa length
of about six inches. It ranges from British Columbia to Chili, and is
probably found on the coast of Asia also. It is found in sheltered bays,
and is everywhere extremely common, but rather more abundant south of
San Francisco than northward. It serves as food for the larger species to
a greater extent than any other single species. The salmon, bonito,
mackerel of all sorts, barracuda, sea-bass, the larger flounders, and, in
fact, a majority of the larger fishes make a large percentage of their food
THE HERRING AND ITS ALLIES. 409
of Anchovy. At San Francisco it is occasionally brought into the market.
Some attempts have been made to pickle them with spices for the trade,
but this amounts to little as yet. A great many are salted by the Chinese,
who use them as bait for the flounders and rock-fish. Two other species
of Anchovies, Stolephorus compressus and Stolephorus delicatissimus
abound south of Point Concepcion. They have no economic value.’’
The family Dorosomatide is represented on our Atlantic coast by a
single species, the ‘‘ Mud-Shad,’’ Dorosoma Cepedianum, which is abund-
ant in brackish waters along the coast from Delaware Bay southward to
Mexico. In the Chesapeake region it is known as the ‘* Mud-Shad,’’
«¢ Winter-Shad,’’ or ‘‘Stink Shad ;’’ in North Carolina as the ‘‘ Hairy-
back ’’ or the ‘‘ Thread Herring ;’’ in the St. John’s River as the ‘‘ Giz-
gard Shad.’ ** Stink Shad,’ or ‘* White-eyed Shad:”’
The names ‘‘ Gizzard Shad ’’ or ‘‘ Hickory Shad ’’ refer to the peculiar
muscular stomach, which is of about the size of a hickory-nut and is
shaped like the gizzard of a fowl. The fish is found in brackish waters,
or in the sea, for the whole length of our coast. It enters all streams after
becoming land-locked in ponds, and throughout the whole Mississippi
Valley it is permanently resident in large numbers in the larger streams
and reservoirs. Since the construction of the canals it has appeared in
force in Lake Erie and Lake Michigan.
This fish is extremely abundant in many localities, particularly in the
St. John’s River, Florida, where it becomes an annoyance to the fishermen
by getting into their nets, several hundred bushels being sometimes taken
in ashad net. They are also sometimes annoying to fishermen using gill-
nets for catching mullet. In the Potomac they are abundant and attain a
maximum size and weight. Their flesh is coarse and not delicate in flavor,
but they are by no means unpalatable, and on the tributaries of the Chesa-
peake they are extensively eaten by the negroes. In the St. John’s River
they are made into guano. A factory for this purpose was in existence in
1874 at Black Point, above Palatka. They breed in summer, and are sup-
posed to feed, like the Menhaden, toa great extent upon the bottom mud.
In the Great Lake regions the Gizzard Shad is sometimes split and
salted as ‘‘ Lake Shad,’’ but it probably meets with little sale, owing to
the inferior quality of the flesh and the presence of the vast number of
small bones that make up the skeleton. It is usually thrown away by the
fishermen, and when brought to market it is only bought by the poor or
the ignorant. It is not infrequently seen in the markets of Washington in
410 AMERICAN FISHES.
spring. In the West it is sometimes seined by farmers in winter in still
places in the rivers and peddled about the towns.
The Moon-eye, Hyodon tergisus, is a handsome fish, taking the hook
readily and feeding on minnows, crustaceans and insects. It reaches a
weight of one to two pounds. ‘‘In Lake Pepin,’’ writes Dr. D. C.
Estes, ‘in some seasons they seem to be quite plenty, and at others but very
few areseen. On the whole, I have always regarded it asa rare fish. They
are vigorous biters, and are as gamy as the striped bass (Roccus saxaiilis).
They take freely the minnow or fly, and are one of the smartest of fishes.
They will come up, taste of a fly, let go and be gone before the angler has
time to strike. Therefore, to be a Moon-eye fly-fisher one must be very
sharp and not read a book while casting, as I once knew a man to do. As
to his being a food-fish there is not a single doubt. I ate one this very
morning for my breakfast, and it was excellent, the bones being far less in
number and of larger size than in the herring.’’
The Lady-fish, A/éula vulpes, occurs in the West Indies, in the Gulf of
Mexico, on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of North and South America,
and sparingly along our Atlantic shores as far north as Cape Cod. It is
also found about the Bermudas and Cape Verde Islands, in the Indian
Ocean, the Red Sea, and on the coast of Japan. With us it is usually
called the ‘‘ Lady-fish ;’’ in the Bermudas the ‘‘ Bone-fish,’’ or ‘* Grubber.”’
At the Bermudas large schools are taken, and it is there considered a most
excellent food-fish. From personal observation I can testify that its
reputation 1s by no means a false one.
Henshall found it in the Indian River inlet, and gives it a fine character
as a game-fish. Describing winter angling experiences, he writes: ‘In
the course of an hour, and in quick succession, I took several more salt-
water trout, a few red-fish or channel-bass, some ravallia or snooks of from
three to ten pounds, some crevalle of three or four, and finally a Bone-fish
of about three pounds, which gave more real sport than any of the others.
The Bone-fish or Lady-fish, as it is sometimes called, is a siender, silvery
fish, and fights in the water and in the air like the black-bass, but mostly
in the air—a Silver Shuttle.”
The species is found in some numbers in San Diego Bay, on the coast of
California, where it is taken with the mullet. On account of its beautiful
color it sells readily, but is not especially esteemed as a table fish.
* Turf, Field and Farm, Dec. 1884.
;
THE ASIATIC CARP.
CARP, DACE AND MINNOW.
When we please to walk abroad, If the sun’s excessive heat
For our recreation, Make our bodies swelter,
In the fields is our abode To an osier hedge we get
Full of delectation ; For a friendly shelter ;
Where ina brook, Where in a dyke,
With a hook, Perch or pike,
Or ina lake, Roach or dace,
Fish we take ; We do chase
There we sit Bleak or gudgeon,
For a bit, Without grudging ;
Till we fish entangle. We are still contented.
Piscator’s Song.
ee the fishes of the Carp family have received but slight con-
sideration from American writers upon angling, I am convinced that
they deserve a chapter in this book, on account of their growing popularity
among the great angling-democracy of the nation. They are the favorite
fishes of hundreds of thousands of modest fresh-water fishermen, and when
this continent shall have become more densely populated, and the oppor-
tunities for field sports more restricted, it is hoped that the inhabitants of
our cities, through the intervention of law and fish culture, may have
opportunities for fishing equal to those now enjoyed by the people of
Southern England. When that day comes the Cyprinide must be counted
upon for the principal contribution to their pleasures.
Our cyprinoids are known to us, for the most part, by old English
names—names which are dear to lovers of Waltonian literature, and which
412 AMERICAN FISHES,
are embalmed in the dramas, essays and poems of the old masters. Instead
of grouping these fishesin accordance with systematic relations, they shall
be taken up under their popular names and much in the same order in
which Piscator introduced them, or their representatives, to his pupil
Venator, two hundred and thirty-five years ago.
There is a kind of pleasure known to English anglers which is cultivated
by but few of those who are called by the same name in America—the
quiet, peaceful delight of brook-fishing in the midst of the restful scenery
of the woods and the meadows. It is difficult to imagine a thorough dis-
ciple of Walton chumming for striped-bass in the surf at Newport or trolling
for Muskellunge among the Thousand Islands, drailing for Blue-fish in
the Vineyard Sound, or tugging at a tarpum-line in the Gulf of Mexico.
The muscular exertion, the excitement, the flurry and noise, make such
sports more akin to the fiercer pursuits of hunting than to the contemplative
man’s recreation. The wisest, best and gentlest of anglers, those who
have made the literature of angling akin to poetry, have not, as a rule,
preferred to make a violent exercise of their fishing.
In his charming essay on ‘‘ Roach-fishing asa Fine Art,’’ Edward Senior
makes some pertinent remarks upon this topic. ‘‘ Notwithstanding,’’ says
he, ‘‘the Philistine sneer at the assertion that the beauties of nature are a
strong attraction for the angler, the fact remains. The meadows, woods,
birds, bees, dragon-flies, forget-me-nots, meadow-sweet, and even the
water-vole and the moorhen, enter into the vision which tempts the angler
to the water-side. A little angling with a good deal of the sweet sights
and sounds which it brings, is a boon to tens of thousands, who ought to
be ever grateful to the roach, which is their excuse and opportunity.”’
This is the true Waltonian spirit, and the very same which inspired the
angler’s songs of old :
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.
I love not Angling (rude) on Seas—
Fresh Streams my Inclination please,
Whose sweet calm Course to Thought I call,
And seek in Life to copy all;
In Bounds (like them) I fain would keep,
Like them, would (when I break them) weep.
CARP, DACE AND MINNOW. 413
And when the timorous Trout I wait
To take, and he devours my Bait,
How small, how poor a thing I find
Will captivate a greedy Mind ;
And when none bite, the Wise I praise,
Whom false Allurements ne’er betrays.
If (too intent on Sport) I fast,
Good Fortune gives me repast ;
My Friend it serves me to invite,
In whom I more than that delight ;
Who comes more welcome to my Dish
Than to my Angle was my Fish.
Not only must we recognize their claim to a place in cur esteem, but we
must, in our far-reaching plans for the preservation of life in our waters,
provide for them, not only for themselves, but for the sake of the common
species which are dependent upon them for food.
These fishes are of importance also for bait, and an excellent essay upon
the use of minnows for bait, written by Mr. D. W. Cross, was printed in
the American Angler for April, 1883.
The Asiatic Carp is the king of the Cyprinoids. The tribe takes its
name in fact from the genus Cyprinus, of which the Carp is the best known
form. Linne thus described it in 1758 in his ‘‘System of Nature:’’
Nobilis piscts sepius piscinis educatus, circa anno 1600 tn Angliam intro-
ductus. Weall have heard the old saying, that turkies, carp, hops, pickerel
and beer came into England all in one year, which is by no means a
statement of fact. It was known in England as early as 1696, when if
was alluded to in the ‘‘ Boke of St. Albans’’ as ‘‘a dayntous fysshe, but
there ben but few in England.’’ It came to Denmark in 1660, and to
Sweden in 1560, and was cultivated in Germany and France as early as
1258, in Austria in 1227. Cassiodorus in the sixth century spoke of the
Carpa of the Danube as a costly fish of delicate flavor, and supphed to
the tables of princes. No one knows when or how it came to Europe
from its original homes in Persia, China and the far east, but it seems
probable that it moved by slow stages, from pond to pond, and from tribe
to tribe, the beginning of the movement dating back beyond the beginning
of the Christian era.
The acclimation of the Asiatic Carp in America has been wonderfully
successful. As it often happens, the conditions here seem to be more
favorable than in Europe, and in our southern waters, color, activity and
growth continue throughout the entire year, the fishes soon attain a
remarkable size.
414 AMERICAN FISHES.
The following table from Cholmondeley-Pennell’s ‘Fishing ’’ will be
generally useful to students of the Carp:
Comparative Weights and Lengths of Carp.
Length. Weight. Length. Weight.
zuches lbs. ozs. | inches lbs. 08S.
9 7% 20 So
IO iat 21 6 234
II 143% 22 7 1%
12 LE 23 23 8 13%
13 I 8% 24 9 3%
14 I 14% 25 IO 634
15 24. 26 eit et
16 2s 27 13 2
17 2 aye 28 14 10
18 3 14% 29 15) 94
19 iY) | 30 TOO
|
I shall not attempt to speak of Carp culture or to give statistics of the
work of the Fish Commission. All these matters are discussed in the
angling journals and the Government reports. It is equally useless to
speak of the value of Carp for food. Every one will soon put this toa
personal test, and those who experiment with badly cooked or badly kept
fish will ever after denounce all Carp as worthless. The place of the
Carp as a fish for sportsmen has not been discussed very fully, and since
they are now growing abundant in all our streams, it is proper to quote
the words of Pennell as to the manner of catching them.
‘¢Early in the morning, and, occasionally, late in the evening, are the
best times for fishing; but, as observed, the catching of Carp with the rod
and line is always a difficult and uncertain operation, particularly if the
fish are large. ‘The smaller the pond, the better the chance I have always
found of catching Carp and Tench, though, of course, they are not so
large as in bigger waters. I once caught half a bucketful of Carp before
breakfast, in a pond by the side of a road between Weybridge and Byfleet,
which was not bigger than an ordinary sized ball-room. ‘The biggest of
these Carp did not, however, exceed two pounds in weight.
“*The following is the method of Carp fishing in stagnant waters which
I have found most successful :
‘¢ Let the line be entirely of medium sized or fine round gut—clouded,
if possible—with a very light quill float, say No. 4, and one good-sized
shot, about six inches or so from the hook, which should be No. 5 or 6
and baited with a brandling or red worm. Plumb the depth accurately ;
CARP, DACE AND MINNOW. 415
and arrange the distance between the float and the shot, so that the latter
may exactly rest on the bottom, weighing down the point of the float to
about ‘ half-cock,’ and letting the gut below the shot and the bait lie on
ground. Fix the rod in the bank and keep perfectly quiet. When a bite
is perceived, do not strike until the float begins to move away.
«« Tt constantly happens, however, that the Carp will not be taken either
by this or any other mode of fishing with which I am acquainted ; but if
he is to be caught at all it is thus.
‘¢The baits are, worms (first), gentles, greaves, grains and various sorts
of pastes, of which latter, however, I believe, the plain white bread crumb
paste is the best, as well as the most easily made. Prof. Owen, who had
a good deal of Carp fishing experience in Virginia water, gave me the
results of his practice which concur in a great measure with my own,
except that he fished with his bait paste made of soft herring roe worked
up with bread crumbs and wool, a favorable substitute sometimes for the
brandling.”’
In Germany the Carp season is in July, August and September. The
angler usually prepares for his sport by ‘‘ ground-baiting’’ with a thou-
sand or more angle-worms, twenty-four hours before he expects to fish, and
while fishing he throws worms into the water. He uses Nottingham
tackle, and baits his hook with the tail of an angle worm, or with grains
of barley or wheat, a maggot or a wasp-larva, or with balls of dough. The
bait rests on the ground, and the fish is allowed to rise toward the surface
before striking. The young Carp of two pounds or less bite the best.
THE KING CARP OR MIRROR CARP.
The natural result of so many centuries of pond culture has been the
differentiation of varieties as well marked as those among poultry or
domestic animals. The most important of these for the fish culturist are
416 AMERICAN FISHES.
those which have been introduced into America by the Fish Commission.
These are (1) the ‘Scale Carp ;’’ with regular, concentrically arranged
scales, being in fact the original species improved. A picture of this form
stands at the head of the chapter.
(2.) The ‘‘ King Carp’’ or ‘‘ Mirror Carp,’’ thus named on account of
the extraordinarily large scales which run along the sides of the body in
three or four rows, the rest of the body being bare. When there is a row
of large scales down the back it is called the ‘‘ Saddle Carp.”’
?
THE LEATHER CARP.
(3.) The ‘‘ Leather Carp,’’ which has on the back either only a few
scales or none at all, and possesses a thick, soft skin, which feels velvety
to the touch.
In addition to these somewhat interchangeable varieties of the typical
Carp there are certain other local forms which have been described as
definite species, such as the Danube Carp, C. acuminatus, the Lake Carp,
C. hungaricus, abundant in the Lakes of Platten and Neusiedler, an
Italian form, C. reg?va and C. Nordmanni, from Southern Russia.
Another Carp, Carassus vulgaris, the Karausche of Germany, often
called the Crucian Carp or German Carp, is as protean in its forms as
Cyprinus carpio itself, and probably found its way from the far East in
much the same manner: a large-headed form, C. gzdelio, is often called
the Prussian Carp, and a specially differentiated type, C. ducephalus, lives
only in the warm springs of Macedonia. The Gold Carp or Gold-fish is
believed by some competent ichthyologists to be simply a variety of the
Karausche, and when it escapes from domestication, quickly reverts to its.
ancestral form and color. The Karausche hybridizes freely with the Carp,
—
CARP, DACE AND MINNOW. 417
and numerous curious and perplexing forms have resulted from such
intermixturing.
The so-called Carp of the Hudson appears to be either escaped Gold-
fish or some inferior hybrid form of the ‘‘ Karausche’’ type. Those
introduced into California a few years ago by Mr. Poppe were an inferior
strain.of Scale Carp. The ‘‘ Carp’’ of Virginia i$ a sucker, Carpzodes
cyprinus.
THE GOLD CARP.
The Gold-Carp, the favorite of aquarium-keepers, is constantly becoming
more popular, and many thousands have been distributed by the United
States Fish Commission within the past few years, incidentaily, in con-
nection with the work on food-fishes. It frequently escapes from domes- -
tication, reverts to the natural hue of olive-bronze, and is taken in nets
and brought to market. The graceful long-tailed and triple-tailed vari-
eties from Japan are reared by the Fish Commission as well as the silvery
and the parti-colored forms, silver and gold. Mr. Seal has by artificial
selection produced some grotesque forms, surpassing even them of Japan.
“‘¢The Gold-fish and ‘its Culture,’’ by Hugo Mulertt, of Cincinnati, is
a book worthy of a place by the side of every aquarium. Henry W. Elliott,
of Cleveland, has had fine success in hatching then in open, ornamental
ponds, and has described his experience in the Bulletin of the United
States Fish Commission.
418 AMERICAN FISHES.
It is very interesting to a fish culturist to visit the sites of mediaeval
abbeys in England and trace out the remains of the immense stews or
ponds in which the provident monks of old were wont to rear Carp and
Tench and eels. The pond culture of England in the Middle Ages was
very extensive, but has not been resumed in later days. On the conti-
nent, especially in Germany, however, it has been continued, and there
are many excellent treatises on ‘‘ Teichwirthschaft.’’
The Tench, Z?uca vulgaris, the Schleihe of Germany, and the Tanche
of France has already become acclimated in our waters, particularly in the
Potomac, and will soon be available for the uses of anglers. It frequents
streams and ponds with muddy bottoms, and is partial to weedy places.
It is exceedingly tenacious of life, and even when grown in foul water has
delicate white flesh, which many prefer to that of the Carp. Both Tench
and Carp are better if kept in clear, cool water for a few days, and the
slime should be washed off their scales with warm water before they are
cooked. I have eaten the Schlei in Bremen, and can speak well of it
for in flavor and texture it resembles the American bluefish. My
praise is, however, but feeble compared with that of Badham, who writes:
‘¢In spite of the prejudice entertained by some Italian doctors, and all
the old women of Italy, who believe this fish to be so impregnated with
marsh malaria as necessarily to engender ague.
Nessuno mangia tenca
Che febre non senta.
At Florence it is held superior to any fishy food which enters the market,
and inthe Neapolitan pescheria yields to very few finer marine species. A
CARP, DACE AND MINNOW. 419
Florentine noble once had the hardihood to assert at Leo X.’s table that there
was nothing which swam the sea, to his mind, comparable toa good Tuscan
Tench ; which declaration, though it convulsed the native Romans assem-
bled at the board with laughter at the simplicity of so poor a connoisseur, we
should certainly have sided with, and been willing to back an Agnano or
Thrasymene ‘Tenca’ against the whole of the Mediterranean ichthyarchy.’’*
The season for Tench fishing in Germany is from July to October. The
waters are ground-baited on the day before with angle-worms or wash-
larve, and the method of angling is the same as for the Carp.
The Tench is an animal, which, hke the owl and the weasel, was
in former days looked upon with veneration and even awe, and is an im-
portant accession to our fauna if only by reason of the wealth of fable
which it brings in its wake.
‘¢The Tench, said Piscator, ‘‘is the physician of fishes, and loves ponds
better than rivers.
«© In every Tench’s head there are two little stones, which foreign phy-
sicians make great use of, but is not commended for wholesome meat,
though there be very much use made of them for outward applications.
Rondeletius says that, at his being at Rome, he saw a great cure done by
applying a Tench to the feet of a very sick man. This, he says, was done
after an unusual manner, by certain Jews.
‘ibe (uench. is the physician of fishes, for the pike especially ; and
that the pike, being either sick or hurt, is cured by the touch of the Tench.
And it is observed, that the tyrant pike will not be a wolf to his physi-
cian, but forbears to devour him, though he be never so hungry.”’
The Minnow or Penk, which Piscator used as a bait in fishing for trout,
and the manner of impaling which he so minutely described to his scholar,
was Phoxinus laevis Ag., a species widely distributed over Europe—the
Vairon of France, the Pfrille of Germany, the Fregarolo of Italy.
Our Saxon ancestors knew it many hundreds of years ago as the
<« Menawe,’’ and admired its graceful form and many hues. We have four
species of Phoxinusin North America ; one in the Tennessee, one in the
Upper Missouri, one in the Beaver River, Utah, and one sparingly repre-
sented in Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa. We have, besides, numerous
forms sufficiently similar to be known by the same name, which, as a
matter of fact, is applied indiscriminately to all small cyprinoids, and in-
deed to all small fresh-water fishes. ‘‘ Minnow bait ’’ is used by all live-
* Prose Halieutics, p. 274.
420 AMERICAN FISHES.
a
bait fishermen, and we have ‘artificial minnows’’ of multifarious forms.
for salt-water as well as for inland angling.
THE NUROPEAN MiINNOW—PHOXINUS LAEVIS.
One of the most beautiful of our species is the ‘‘ Black-striped Minnow,’’
Rhinichthys atronasus, also abundant in clear brooks and mountain streams
from Ohio and Virginia to New England, and one of the choicest of
aquarium pets.
The Minnow is artificially propagated in France for the benefit of car-
nivorous fishes in ponds. Since it is an exceedingly prolific species, it is
possible that its introduction into America might be beneficial.
4
THE EUROPEAN GUDGEON—GOBIO FLUVIATILIS.
«<The Gudgeon,’’ said Piscator, ‘‘is reputed a fish of excellent taste, and
to be very wholesome ; he is of a fine shape, of a silver color, and beauti-
fied with black spots both on his body and tail. He breeds two or three
times in the year, and always in summer. He is commended for a fish of
excellent nourishment; the Germans call him Groundling, by reason of
his feeding on the ground, and he there feasts himself in sharp streams and
on the gravel. He is a most excellent fish to enter a young angler, being
easy to be taken with a small red worm, on or near to the ground. He is.
CARP, DACE AND MINNOW. 421
one of those leather-mouthed fish that has his teeth in his throat, and will
hardly be lost off from the hook if he be once strucken.’’
We have no true Gudgeons in America, but the name is familiar to
every American. It is a curious illustration of the persistence and vitality
of popular sayings—that any man of English descent, be he of the East,
West or South, if in fishing his hook brings up a worthless object, a stick,
a tin-can or arusty crinoline, will remark that he has ‘‘ caught a gudgeon.’’
And this is simply a manner of speech handed down to him through
several generations, from his English forefathers. The dramas current in
England at the time when America was first colonized were full of allusions
to Gudgeon catching, which seem to have been a part of the slang lan-
guage of the day, and in which the man who fished for Gudgeon seems to
have been considered as contemptible as the Gudgeon itself.
In 1538, three hundred and fifty years ago, Holinshed in his ‘*‘ Chronicle
of Ireland’’ asked: ‘*Do you think that James was so mad as to gape for
gogions?’’ and Butler in ‘‘ Hudibras’”’ said :
s
‘“Make fools believe in their foreseeing
Of things before they are in being
To swallow gudgeons ’ere they’re catched
And count their chickens ’ere they’re hatched.”’
?
Webster in his drama, ‘‘ The Devil’s Law-Case,’
to say:
in 1623, made Romelio
‘“T would wish my noble venturer take heed,
It may be that while he hopes to catch a gilt-head
He may draw up a gudgeon.”’ [Aer Se. |
’
Barry in his ‘‘ Ram-Alley ; or, Merry Tricks,’’ in 1611, made use of this
dialogue :
Adriana: ‘1 took you for a novice, and I must think
You know not the inwards of a woman.
Do you not know that women are like fish,
Which must be struck when they are brave to bite,
Or all your labor’s lost.”
Swall-Shanks: Was the gudgeon bit ?
Frances: Ue has been nibbling. [Acro Ses to)
Ben Jonson and Richard Duke also alluded to the gudgeon, and we all
are familiar with the advice of Gratiano in ‘‘ The Merchant of Venice:”’
‘But fish not with his melancholly baite,
For this foo! gudgeon, this opinion. [Act rySc, x2]
422 AMERICAN FISHES.
It would seem that before England came to America this word had be-
come associated with an idea to such a degree that the fish, the little ‘‘gojone’’”
of the English middle ages, had been almost lost sight of, and this will
account for the curious fact that the Gudgeon was almost the only common
fish of the motherland whose name was not given to several smaller forms
in different parts of Colonial America.
It was only in Virginia, which was the most English of all the colonies,
and at the head of the Chesapeake, that the name was adopted. The
Gudgeons of the Tuckahoes are the little cyprinodents, known as ‘‘ mum-
michogs ’’ in New England and “‘ killifish ’’ in the Middle States, belong-
ing to Lundulus, Hydrargyra and related genera. The Gudgeon of the
Patapsco and the lower Susquehannah is a cyprinoid fish, Hydognathus
regis. ;
Gudgeon fishing at Relay House and in that vicinity is a favorite sport
of the Baltimore people in April. The Gudgeons then ascend the Patapsco,
to spawn and are taken in vast numbers with the finest of tackles and_
worms or maggots for bait.*
THE AMERICAN RIVER CHUB—CERATICHTHYS BIGUTTATUS.
Zoologically speaking, the nearest kindred of the Gudgeon on this side-
of the Atlantic are the members of the genus Ceratichthys, (or (Vocomts),
of which we have at least twenty species, the best known of which is our
‘“‘Horny Head’’ or River Chub, Ceratchthys biguttatus, which is one of
the most widely diffused of fresh-water fishes, occurring from New York to
Utah and Alabama. It reaches a length of ten or twelve inches. It in-
habits larger streams than the Horned Dace, which delights in little
brooks. It takes the hook readily, and throughout the southwest is a great
* Gudgeon-fishing in Maryland, American Angler, 111, 408.
CARP, DACE AND MINNOW. 4
to
3
source of satisfaction to the angler. The flesh of this and other small
Cyprinide is very palatable when fried crisp soon after being taken from
the water. Toward the northwest another Chub, Platygobio gracilis, takes
the place of the preceding, and reaches a somewhat larger size.
The English Chub is also closely allied to its American namesake.
a hy Me \
a Nas dE NY
THE ENGLISH CHUB.
The English Chub, ‘¢Chevin’’ or Chavender, Sguwalius cephalus, the
Chevaine or Dobule of France, the Altel or Dobel of Germany is widely
distributed over Europe and Asia Minor.
Frank Buckland compares it to the Yorkshireman’s horse—very bad to
catch and no good when he is caught—but many old-school anglers will
not ratify his judgment.
Pennell says of the Chub that, though not so mettlesome or gamesome
as the Dace, it grows to far greater size, and has the merit of taking the
artificial fly kindly. .
The Chub is believed by many etymologists to have derived its Eng-
lish name from an old Saxon word meaning ‘‘head,’’ and its French
name also from chef, a word of similar significance. It is also often called
the ‘‘ Loggerhead,’’ and in Germany the ‘‘ Dickkopf,’’ and in France the
& Cabot.’
The word ‘‘chubby’’ we owe, perhaps, to this plump little Leuwcescis.
Marston, in 1602, in his play called ‘‘Antonio’s Revenge,’’ used this
simile :
‘‘T never saw a fool lean ; the chub-faced fop
Shines sleek with full-cramm’d fat of happiness.”’
It attains a length of two feet and a weight of eight or ten pounds, lives
in clear, swift waters, and is found in the mountains of Central Europe to
a height of 3,000 feet or more, as well as in the brackish waters of North
Poy AMERICAN FISHES.
Germany, Finland and the lower reaches of the Thames and other Eng-
lish rivers. Somewhat gregarious in habits, it occurs in schools about
bridge piers and mills, or in deep holes with hard bottoms, or in mid-
summer hes near the surface in shady places. It was at this season that
Walton taught his scholars to catch Chubs.
‘* Look here, sir, do you see? said Piscator, there he upon the top of
the water, in this very hole, twenty Chubs. I'll catch only one, and that
shall be the biggest of them all, and that I will do so, I'll do so, I'll hold
you twenty to one, and you shall see it done.’’
Piscator was a skillful angler, for, notwithstanding the fact that he con-
sidered the Chub “ the fearfullest of fishes,’’ he landed his choice. And
then, when it was cooked, Venator, who had called the Chub ‘‘ the worst
fish that swims, confessed that ’twas as good meat as he had ever
tasted,’’ and forthwith became the master’s scholar.*
The food of Sgwalus is miscellaneous, like that of the Carp, and in-
cludes among other things frogs, mice and even rats. Cunning anglers
tempt its appetite with red cherries, strawberries and raspberries.
The spawning time is in April, May and June, when the back of the
male becomes covered with a fine white granulation. ‘The eggs number
100,000 or more, and are deposited in gravel or weeds in shallow water.
Its shyness, its strength and its size make it a favorite among anglers,
and there are many who make its pursuit a specialty.
““The Chub of all fish in his silver Trent
Invites the angler to the tournament.”’
Trench in his ‘‘iNorthern Memoirs.’
In England its popularity seems to be increasing. Pennell protests
against the old fashion of painting the Chub as a sort of water donkey,
and Wheeldon speaks of it when in condition as an exceptionally hand-
some fish, while Senior writes thus in its favor:
‘‘Fly-fishing for Chub answers best in the hot summer months, and
along the willow and alder-lined reaches payable sport is obtained. It is
a great boon for the man, in the big city pent, to be able to get away from
business, and by an afternoon train arrive at any portion of the Thames
below Oxford in time to have three or four of the best hours’ fly-fishing
which the day affords. The Chub is not fastidious in its choice of flies.
So long as the lure is large and hairy ; so long as it bears some passing
resemblance to a caterpillar or beetle or large-winged moth, the anglers’
chances of big fish are good. +’’
* Dame Juliana Berners said that ‘‘ the chevyn is a stately fysshe, and his heed is a deynty morsell.”’
+ William Senior (‘‘ Red-spinner’’) Angling in Great Britain, p. 48.
CARP, DACE AND MINNOW. 425
The Dace of England, Sgwatius leuctscus, belongs to the same genus,
which is one of the largest in this group of fishes, abundantly represented
in the Palzartic region, and by at least fifty species in North America.
ii i
ie ie Ae ay
THE EUROPEAN DACE. SQUALIUS LEUCISCUS.
It is the Vandoise of France, the Hasel of Austria, the Hiseling of
North Germany.
The name Dace seems to be a modification of the word meaning a dart
or javelin. Hundreds of years ago, according to Skat, it was called
‘‘Darce’’ and ‘ Dare’’ (pronounced dar) by our English forefathers,
names Clearly related to the old ‘French dard and the Latin dardus. The
Bretons call this species the ‘‘ Darz,’’ and in parts of England it is still
known by the name ‘ Dart.’’
Pennell tells us that it is ‘‘a bright, graceful fish, glancing about in the
clear, and quiet streams which are often barren of trout or salmon,’’ and
is in full season from October to January when these are spawning, ‘‘ and
thus,’’ he continues, ‘‘ared-letter day’s sport is often to be obtained
which would otherwise have had to be left blank in the angler’s diary.”’
It readily rises to an artificial fly, as does also the Chub, and Pennell’s
instructions are worth the consideration of American brook anglers. *
The German anglers, who fish for the Hiaseling from July to October,
ground-bait with several hundred angle worms, about twenty hours before
they intend to fish. ‘They use the same tackle and bait as in carp fishing,
and occasionally, in the latter part of July and August, employ an artificial
fly, which they find more tempting if a maggot is added at the top of the
hook.
It is said that the Jews consume great quantities of Dace in theirseasons
* See ‘‘ The Badminton Library.’’
426 AMERICAN LUIS TEES.
of fishing; otherwise the fish is not now in especial favor for food. Its
scales are so silvery and bright, however, that it makes the best of live-
baits for pike or perch fishing, and has been used for this purpose from
times immemorial.
‘Tf the young dace be a bait for the old pike,’’ said Falstaff, <‘ I see no
reason in the law of nature, but I may snap at him.’’
There are many species of Squalius in the streams and lakes of the far
West and Southwest which must in time be highly prized by our people.
At present, however, it 1s only in localities which are thickly populated
that the native cyprinoids and catostomoids are known and appreciated.
Two species, Sgualius rhomaleus and S. atrartus, are excessively
abundant in Utah Lake. The latter, as it ascends the streams to spawn
almost simultaneously with the trout (Sa/mo purpuratus), is extremely
destructive to the young salmonoids. It is taken in considerable numbers
in seines, and is sold in the markets of Salt Lake City and other towns.
It reaches a length of nearly a foot. These species are known as Mullets
and Chubs.
Numerous others, similar in size and habits, abound in the region be-
tween the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada, and are used as food
by the Indians and by the white settlers. Among these are S. niger, S.
purpureus, S. obesus, S. pandora, the ‘* Pescadito ’’ of the Rio Grande
region, S. senia, the ‘‘ Leather-sided Minnow’”’ of the Provo River and
Salt Lake Basin, and SS. edongata, the ‘‘ Red-sided Shiner’’ of the Upper
Missouri and the great lakes.
President Jordan speaks briefly as follows of various other American
forms :
The ‘‘Chub”’ or ‘‘ Mullet’? of San Francisco, Sgualus gibbosus,
abounds in the Sacramento River, and is taken in great numbers. It
reaches a length of about a foot, and is eaten chiefly by the Chinese.
The various species of Gz/a abound in the basin of the Rio Colorado and
Rio Gila, and are used as food in New Mexico and Arizona. They reach
a length of about eighteen inches. G/a elegans, robusta and Graham? are
the principal species.
Puychochilus oregonensis abounds in the Columbia and Sacramento and
their tributaries, where it is known as ‘‘ Shepawl’’ and ‘‘ Pike.’”’ It reaches
a length of three or four feet at least, a size much greater than that of any
other of our representatives of this family. A great many are brought into
the markets of San Francisco in the winter. Asecond species (Ptychochilus
Harfordi) accompanies P. oregonensis 1n the Sacramento, and is brought
CARP, DACE AND MINNOW. 427
with it to the markets. A third species (Péychochtlus luctus) occurs in the
lower course of the Rio Colorado, and is said to reach a still larger size—
a length of five or six feet.
Mylopharodon conocephalus occurs with Ptychochilus oregonensis in the
Sacramento, and is brought with it into the markets. It reaches a size
scarcely less than that of P. oregonensis, but is less plentiful.
Mylochilus caurtnus abounds from California to Puget Sound in all the
streams of Oregon, Washington and Idaho, and often enters the sea. It
reaches a length of little more thana foot, and is used for food where trout
and other better fishes abound. Its great numbers, however, give it a
special claim to notice.
The Split-tail, Pogonichthys macrolepidotus, is very common in the Sacra-
mento, and is brought in considerable numbers to the San Francisco
market. It reaches a length of about eighteen inches.
The ‘ Cut-lips,’’ ‘* Day Chub,’’ or ‘‘ Nigger Chub,’’ Zxoglossum
maxtllingua, has but a narrow distribution, being found in abundance only
in the basin of the Susquehanna. It reaches a length of six or eight inches,
and has no economic importance.
Lavinia extlicauda is found in some abundance in most streams of Cali-
fornia, and comes occasionally into the market. It reaches a length of
about fifteen inches.
Orthodon microlepidotus occurs 1n most streams of California in consider-
able abundance. A good many are sent to the market of San Francisco,
where they are eaten by the Chinese. It reaches a length of about eighteen
inches.
The Hard-mouth Chub, Acrochtlus alutaceus, is found in the rivers of
Washington and Oregon. It reaches a length of about a foot, but is only
rarely eaten.
The name Dace in the Eastern states has been appropriated by a species
perhaps more strictly entitled to be called a chub, but which is not lkely
ever to relinquish its time-honored appellation. This is the Dace or Horned
Dace, Semotilus corporalts, a fish which abounds in all small streams and
ponds from Western Massachusetts to Nebraska and southward. It reaches
the length of about a foot, and is beautiful, active and gamy, rising to the
fly almost like a brook trout, though usually taken with worm-bait. The
‘¢horns’’ to this and other Minnows and Chubs are dermalexcrescences
developed on the males in the breeding season, but absent at other times.
The name Corporal seems to have been derived from the Dutch or
German settlers of the Middle States. ‘‘ Corporaalen’’ is one of its com-
mon names in that region.
Very closely allied to the Eastern Dace is the ‘ Fall-fish,’’ Semmotilus
428 AMERICAN FISHES.
’
dullaris, of Virginia, also often called ‘‘ Roach”’ or ‘‘ Dace,’’ is abundant
in the Eastern and Middle States east of the Alleghanies. It reaches a
THE EASTERN DACE—SEMOTILUS CORPORALIS.
length of eighteen inches, being the largest of the Cyprinide east of the
Rocky Mountains.
THE inner oe BULLARIS.
It is very common in the Delaware Basin, more so, perhaps, in the
Susquehanna, but a common form in the head waters of the Atlantic-flow-
ing streams of Virginia and the Carolinas. Hallock says that it has been
caught weighing four pounds, that it is much esteemed as food, and affords
good sport for the angler. I have myself taken them with light tackle and
found them as gamy as brook trout in preserved streams. In Massachu-
setts it is often called the ‘‘ Cousin Trout’’ in allusion to its trout-like
habits, and also the ‘‘ Chiven’’ from its resemblance to the English Chub
or Cheven.
The mention of the American ‘‘ Roach’’ brings us to the consideration
of the Old World species, which it much resembles in habits. This is
CARP, DACE AND MINNOW. 429
Leuciscus rutilus, the Plotze of the Germans, and the Rosse of the
French.
THE EUROPEAN ROACH OR RED DACE,
«©The Roach,’’ said Piscator, ‘‘is a fish of no great reputation for his
dainty taste; and his spawn is accounted much better than any part of
him. And you may take notice, that as the Carp is accounted the water-
fox for his cunning, so the Roach is accounted the water-sheep for his
simplicity or foolishness.’’ |
It has, however, gained in popularity in England since the days of
Walton. <‘‘The Book of the Roach,’’ by Greville Fennell, is one of the
standard works, and William Senior (‘‘ Red-spinner’’) has written an
essay upon ‘‘ Roach-fishing as a Fine Art,’’* which is commended to all
who go-a-fishing for cyprinoids in American waters, for the methods
described by him will apply to many of our fishes.
Senior thinks that Roach-fishing requires special qualifications of mind
and heart. ‘‘I am acquainted,’’ writes he, ‘‘ with many rich and poor,
learned and ignorant, somebodies and nobodies, who have a passionate
attachment for the pursuit. The higher kinds of rod-and-line work have
no joys for them. Give them their camp-stool and Roach rod over the
dark waters that move slowly above a clear bed, and they ask no more.’’
The ‘‘ Rudd or Red-eye’’ of England, Scardinius erythrophthalmus, the
Rothauge or Rotengle, is a rather important fish, resembling the Roach
in its habits, and used by English pond culturists to stock new-made
waters with bait for pike, and by those of Germany in feeding trout
and pike perch.
* See ‘‘The Badminton Library,’’ p. 343.
430 AMERICAN FISHES.
The Bream is highly prized by many European anglers, but is perhaps
less in favor than it was two hundred years ago, when this proverb was
current: ‘‘ Qui abréme, peut bramer ses amis,’’ or as Walton translated it,
missing the pun: ‘‘ He that hath bream in his pond may bid his friend
THE EUROPEAN BREAM. ABRAMIS BRAMA.
?
welcome.’’ In Chaucer’s day the Bream was apparently cultivated in ponds
in England, but now is somewhat neglected, even by anglers, though
Wheeldon devotes a chapter to Bream fishing in his ‘‘ Practical Lessons in
the Gentle Art.’”’ In Germany the Brasse is in high favor, and is by
some preferred to the Carp, especially for winter eating.* Great quanti-
ties are brought to the markets.
The American Bream, or Golden Shiner, Wotemigonus chrysoleucus, is a
better fish than its English namesake, and as an angler’s fish, more like
the Roach. It is in fact, often called Roach and Shiner in the Middle
and Eastern States, Dakota and Texas, while an allied species, 1. ameri-
canus, inhabits the rivers of the South Atlantic States, and others occur
in limited areas elsewhere.
LV. chrysoleucus abounds in most rivers east of the Great Plains, fre-
quenting ponds, bayous, canals and ditches, and is the most abundant of
all cyprinoids in the tide-water region, preferring waters in which the bot-
tom is covered with aquatic plants. It reaches the length of nearly a foot,
and the weight of a pound and a half, and is sometimes brought to mar-
To Cook Brram.—Cleanse him and lay him in salt and water one hour ; stuff with a rich veal stuffing, and
bake him---plentifully anointed with good butter—ina slow oven, until the meat comes off easily from the
bones, Serve him up, hot and hot, with cayenne pepper and lemon juice. WHEELDON.
CARP, DACE AND MINNOW. 431
ro)
ket, though usually consumed by its captors. When eaten fresh, as a pan-
fish, it is by no means despicable, and to my own taste, as palatable as
black-bass or flounder.
‘ >
~
THE AMERICAN BREAM.
The early American angling authorities prized this fish more than those
of to-day. Brown bursts into rhyme when he speaks of it :
‘* A capricious little fish
That swims in pond and stream,
And a dainty on the dish
Is the cautious, cunning Bream.’’
‘¢ Being possessed,’’ he continues, in a very sober vein ‘‘of a large
amount of caution, they require all the skill and patience of the angler
and the finest kind of tackle. A trout fish rod with a fine line and a
good-sized trout hook baited with a grub angle-worm, cricket or grass-
hopper, if cautiously used, will generally tempt him from his element.
He is good on the platter.’’
Scott and Norris also approve its claims to consideration as a game fish,
and it is said by those who know, to rise readily to an artificial fly.
The Shiner, JZinnilus or Luxilus cornutus, also called ‘* Red-fin’’ or
“*Red Dace,’’ abounds in ali streams from New England to Kansas and
Alabama, being in most waters more numerous than any other species. In
clear, cool lakes it is often found in great schools. At the mouths of small
rivers in Lake Michigan hundreds of them can be taken in a short time on
a small hook baited with worms or flies. This species reaches a length of
432 AMERICAN FISHES.
about ten inches. It assists to swell the urchin’s string, but has no tangi-
ble importance as a food-fish. Its flesh spoils very quickly after the fish
is taken from the water, hence the name ‘‘ Rot-gut Minnow,’’ applied to it
in Alabama. A large part of the food of the black bass, trout and other
predatory fish is contributed by the Shiner and by its numerous congeners.
Minnulus rubricroceus, a species inhabiting the headwaters of the
Tennessee and Savannah Rivers is a very lovely species found by Cope and
Jordan in rock brooks at the foot of cascades—a species well adapted for
acquarium culture in the north.
Alburnus the Bleak, Ablette or Uckelei of Europe, called by
Walton the ‘‘ fresh-water sprat,’’ is represented in America by two species
of the genus Azchardsonius, which occurs in the Columbia River and north-
ward. The Bleak is chiefly of interest as the source of the pearly matter,
or £ssence ad Orient, which is prepared from its scales and used in the
manufacture of false pearls. In Pomerania one hundred and ten pounds
of Uchelei yield about two and one-fifth pounds of scales, worth about
three dollars in commerce. In other words, 10,000 fish are destroyed to
make one pound of pearl material. Is not this worse than killing birds for
feathers? ‘This industry has been carried on in France for over two hun-
dred years. The product of the Moselle in 1860 was worth 5,000 francs.
The scales of the Roach and Dace are also used.
SRR EMD
ay
5 ae ne =
ie NON
THE BARBEL OF EUROPE.
The Barbel is somewhat like our Tarpum, since it is pursued by fisher-
men and caught chiefly for the pleasure of catching it.
‘«'This fish,’’ says Walton, ‘‘ is of a fine cast and handsome shape, with
small scales, which are placed after a most exact and curious manner, and,
as I told you, may be rather said not to be ill than to be good meat; the
CARP, DACE AND MINNOW. 433
o
chub and he, have, I think, both lost part of their credit by ill cookery,
they being reputed the worst or coarsest of fresh-water fish. But the barbel
affords an angler choice sport, being a lusty and a cunning fish—so lusty
and cunning as to endanger the breaking of the angler’s line, by running
his head forcibly towards any covert or hole or bank, and then striking at
the line, to break it off with his tail, as is observed by Plutarch in his book
‘*De Industria Animalium,”’’
your worm close to the hook, and yet avoid letting the hook come into his
and also so cunning, to nibble and suck off
mouth.”’
The Barbel, Barbus fluviatilis, the Barbe of Germany, the Barbeauof
France, has no representative in America, though Giinther recognizes
over two hundred species in the tropical and temperate parts of the Old
World, some of which are of considerable economic importance. The
‘* Mahaseer,’’ Bardus tor, which inhabits the mountain streams of India,
attains sometimes the weight of one hundred pounds and the length of six
feet, and has scales as large as the palm of a man’s hand. It is the largest
of all cyprinoids and its introduction into the United States might be
advantageous, since when under twenty pounds in weight this and other
Indian forms are said to be excellent food.
The English Barbel is one of the coarsest of their ‘‘ coarse fish,’’ and is
not needed in America. It is, however, quite as highly esteemed in Eng-
land as our chubs and suckers are on this side of the Atlantic. Its habits
are indeed not unlike those of our suckers or catostomoid fishes, and the
methods of Barbel angling may yet be adopted in America for the fishes
of this group. From the angler’s standpoint, also, the Barbel is perhaps
more like our ‘‘suckers’’ or Catostomide than any other European
species. The Catostomide are, however, not represented in the Old
World, although they are so numerous in North America that no stream
or river is without them.
The suckers, like the American representatives of the carp family,
have suffered unjustly at the hands of Prof. Jordan, who is the principal
authority as to their scientific affinities, and who, in the midst of his dis-
cussions of fin-formule and pharyngeals, never loses an opportunity to
denounce them as unfit to eat. I can only account for his hatred of these
fishes by the fact that he has handled so many thousands of specimens
badly kept in alcohol, that he has acquired a loathing for them in any con-
dition. Conceding to him a thorough knowledge of cyprinology and
23
434 AMERICAN FISHES.
catostomology, I impeach him as a gastronomist. If he ever is a can-
didate for election to the Ichthyophagous Club, I hope I may have the
privilege of casting a black-ball. He does not know what fish are good
to eat, or, at any rate, is a bigoted disciple of the Salmonide.
For the benefit of our river fishermen I quote two recipes 1n favor in
England for preparing the drier cvprinoids for table use.
‘« After being scaled and cleaned, they should be cut open like haddocks,
well peppered all over, and then a good handful of salt rubbed in; let
them lie in this all night. In the morning hang them up in the sun all
day, to let them dry ; fry them in the evening, with as little lard or butter
as practicable, and eat them cold for breakfast. If you try it, I think you
will say they are an excellent relish for breakfast, and nearly as good as
anchovies. ‘The secret lies in well drying them in the sun, and eating
them cold.
‘¢ Although the Chub is generally a much despised fish, he is capable dur-
ing the days of winter, the colder and more frosty the weather the better,
of being elevated to a dish by no means despicable. At adinner recently
I was ‘helped twice’ from a f/a¢ of this fish, not knowing what it was
composed of, and being induced by its delicious flavor to commit this
solecism. When told that I had been regaling so earnestly upon chub
from a neighboring stream, and expressing my desire for the recipe,
my hostess very kindly upon my quitting gave me the following,
telling me at the same time, she had received it while residing in
Italy, from a Jewish family: ‘Take four or five large onions, boil them
until they give to the pressure of the spoon, slice them: take the back
bone out of the fish, and cut it, if large, into pieces of 3 inches or 4 inches ;
strew equally over the bottom of a stew-pan a little ginger in powder, salt
and pepper ; place the fish on these, and almost cover the fish with fresh
water, then the sliced onions over all ; put the lid on close, and let it sim-
mer gently till all is done. While this is proceeding beat up the yolks of
four eggs, with a good quantity of parsley chopped very fine, and a little
of the liquor from the stew-pan, and while it is amalgamating, squeeze the
juice from two lemons into it, very gradually, or the juice will curdle the
eggs. ‘Take up the fish with the onions upon it in a deep dish, and pour
the mixture over it.’ I ought to add that I tasted the dish again when
cold next morning at breakfast, and that it had lost nothing of its relish,
and I do not think that many who sat down before it without prejudice
would come to any other than such a favorable conclusion. Perhaps
vinegar instead of lemon might cheapen the dish, but as the recipe is
given, it may be classed as economical.’’
The common ‘‘ Brook Sucker,’’ Catostomus Commersont, or the ‘‘ White
Sucker,’’ is the most familiar and generally abundant of the group. It
CARP, DACE AND MINNOW. 435
inhabits all bodies of water, large and small, from New England to Colo-
rado. In the great lakes it reaches a length of two feet or more. Insmall
brooks it is mature at eight or ten inches. It varies much in size, color
and form in the different streams. It bites freely, and is one of the fishes
with which the unambitious brook angler is well contented. When taken
out of clear water, properly cared for and well washed, it is an excellent
pan-fish, like most of its kind.
THE BROOK SUCKER—CATOSTOMUS COMMERSONI.
All the lakes and rivers of the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific slope,
says Jordan, are inhabited by species of this genus, or of the allied
genera Chasmistes and Pantosteus. In Utah Lake, saic to be the ‘‘ greatest
Sucker-pond in the world,’’ are found Cadostomus fecundus and ardens,
Chasmistes iorus and Pantosteus platyrhynchus, all in abundance. In Lake
Tahoe Catostomus tahoensis; in the Sacramento C. occtdentalis ; in the
Columbia C. macrochilus; in Klamath Lake Chasmistes luxatus and Ch.
brevirostris, abound, while in the great lakes and all waters thence to
Alaska and Arctic Ocean C. dongtrostr?s is an important food-fish.
‘ibhe=“ Stone-roller,’’ “S Hog Sucker,’* “Stone: Doter “sor “< Hammer-
head Sucker,’’ Catostomus nigricans, abounds in most waters from the great
lakes southward. The Stone-roller is extremely abundant in every run-
ning stream in the North and West, where its singular, almost comical form
is familiar to every school-boy. It delights in rapids and shoals, preferring
cold and clear water. Its powerful pectorals render it a swifter swimmer
than any other of its family. Its habit is to rest motionless on the bot-
tom, where its mottled colors render it difficult to distinguish from the
stones among which it lies. When disturbed it darts away very quickly,
after the manner of the etheostomoids. They often go in small schools.
436 AMERICAN FISHES.
I have never found this fish in really muddy water. Although called the
«¢ Mud Sucker’’ in the brooks, it is most characteristically a fish of the
running streams. This species reaches a length of about two feet, and is
often caught in its spawning season by means of a spear or snare. It is,
like C. commersont, a ‘‘ boy’s fish,’’ and not worth the eating.
It is hardy in the aquarium, and like its handsome cousin, Catostomus
melanops, the Striped Sucker is recommended for domestication by Cope.
The suckers afford sport of an exciting kind to those who know how to
capture them with snares of horse-hair or fine wire. I have thus caught
them in Dutchess County, N. Y., where this method is greatly in favor.
Vast quantities are taken in the sluiceways of dams, and by spearing by
torch-light or ‘‘ weequashing.
979
THE CHUB SUCKER—ERIMYZON SUCCETTA.
The ‘‘ Chub Sucker,’’ 7imyzon succetta, the ‘‘ Sweet Sucker’’ or
‘¢ Creek-fish,’’ is one of the most abundant and widely diffused of the
Suckers, being found from Maine to Texas. It is one of the smallest
species, reaching a length of little more than a foot. A closely related
species abounds in Florida, where it was first collected by the author, and
has been named by Jordan “£7rimyzon Goodet. Hallock says that the
‘¢ Chub-sucker’’ is often called the ‘‘ Barbel.’”’
The Black Horse, Cycleptus elongatus, also called ‘‘ Missouri Sucker,’’
‘¢Gourd-seed Sucker,’’ ‘‘ Suckerel’’ and ‘‘ Shoenaher’’ is found in the
river channels of the Ohio and Mississippi. It reaches a considerable
size, weighing sometimes fifteen pounds, and is said to be a much finer
Semteisiettns
CARP, DACE AND MINNOW. 43
7
fish in flesh than any other of its family. It is common in the Pittsburg
market.
The different species of the genus Carfzodes abound in all the larger
bodies of water south and west of New York as far as the Rio Grande.
They reach a weight of four or five pounds. In Virginia and elsewhere
they go by the name of ‘‘ Carp,’’ as they have done from the earliest days
of the English occupation. ‘Though fairly eatable, they are not equal to
the Carp, and are less prolific, less rapid in growth, and most of all,
not accustomed to domestication. ‘The term American Carp should be
abandoned, and when characteristic local names are not in use, the
name ‘‘Carp-sucker’’ is recommended for adoption.
Carpiodes velifer, the ‘‘Spear-fish,’’ ‘‘ Sail-fish,”” ‘* Quill-back’’ or
‘¢Skim-back’’ of the Ohio River, is a fish often seen in the markets.
Carpiodes cyprinus, the ‘*‘ Carp’’ of the Susquehannah, is abundant
east of the Alleghanies from New York to Alabama. It is a common and
acceptable food-fish in Pennsylvania, attaining a weight of two or three
pounds. It is the ‘‘Carp’’ that is abundant in the Mattapony and
Pamunky Rivers in Virginia.
The ‘*‘ Red Horses’’ belong to the genus Moxostoma and the related
Minytrema and Placopharynx, and usually have their lower fins bright
red. They are useful and palatable food-fishes, although our writers have
persistently underrated their value.
They are spring spawners, and when dams and other obstructions do
not forbid run up to the head-waters to breed. It is of the utmost im-
portance that fish-ways should be built over every dam on the continent,
for already the streams have been drained, not only of the game fishes,
local and anadromous, but of most of the humbler forms, which supply
food to the carnivorous water-aristocrats, and render trout and_ bass
culture possible.
The most familiar member of this group is the ‘‘ Brook Mullet,’’
Moxostoma macrolepidotum, also called ‘‘ Red Horse’’ in Pennsylvania,
and elsewhere, and pretty generally distributed east of the Rocky Moun-
tains, except in Eastern New England. The form which occurs in the
Ohio and Missouri has a larger head and larger mouth, and is generally
catalogued as a variety or sub-species Duquesniz. This form is shown in
the cut, which represents a specimen from Ecorse, Michigan.
The eastern form occurs in the Great Lakes, together with the allied
438 AMERICAN FISHES.
M. aureolus, and is common in the markets. Philadelphia receives a
large supply from the Susquehanna and the Delaware. It is sometimes:
called the ‘‘ Lake Shad.’’? ‘There are four species of good size in the
Catawba and other streams of the Southern Alleghanies. The Mullets.
and the Red Horses sometimes grow to the weight of four pounds.
THE WESTERN RED HORSE.
The <‘‘ Buffalo-fish,’’ Budalicthyine, so called from the bull-hke hump:
on the nape, are found mainly in the river channels of the Mississippi
and its tributaries. They are the largest of the Suckers, reaching a weight.
of fifteen pounds or more. In the Mississippi and Ohio Valleys they form
a large percentage of the food-fish consumed. ‘They usually bring a better
price than the smaller Suckers, excepting the Black Horse. The Buffalo-
fishes are found by Prof. Forbes to feed on small crustaceans more than:
do the other Suckers, and less on mollusks.
THE BUFFALO FISH.
Lcthyobus bubalus, is abundant in the larger streams of the Mississippz
CARP, DACE AND MINNOW. 439
Valley, growing to a weight of twenty or thirty pounds and a length of
three: feet. :
Bubalichthys urus, of Agassiz, occurs in the same waters, and is called
the Big-mouth Buffalo. In the Ohio and Mississippi Basins it is used very
extensively for food, and grows to weigh fifty pounds or more.
Bubalichthys altus, which, like 7. dubalus, is a small-mouth species, is
distinguished by its smaller head and other characteristics. (See Jordan’s
S(Synopsis, * p. 116.)
The name ‘‘ Gaspergou’’ is shared by these fishes with the fresh-water
Drum.
The only angling book which tells how to catch Buffaloes is a very old
one, that of Brown. <A bottom lne of good strength and heavily leaded
is used, and the bait prescribed is a wad of soft cheese and raw cotton.
The ‘‘ Rabbit-mouth Sucker,’’ Quasstlabia lacera, ‘‘ Hare-lip,’’ <‘ Split-
mouth ’’ or ‘‘ May-sucker’’ is found in abundance in many rivers of
Tennessee and in some streams in Ohio. It reaches a length of about
eighteen inches, being one of the smaller species, but its qualities as a
food-fish are said to be better than usual in this family.
The name ‘‘ Sucker ’’ has acquired a special and by no means complete
significance in the colloquial language of the United States, being applied
to worthless fellows, and especially to topers. The allusion is doubtless
to the slow, greedy habits of the fishes of this family.
440 AMERICAN FISHES.
THE SALMONIDZE IN GENERAL.
N Europe there is but one Salmon, but in this country they are many,
and in a book on American Fishes all must needs be mentioned. Since
the characters by which they are separated are rather minute, it will be
necessary to employ the technical language of ichthyology.
The family Sa/monide includes not only the Salmons and Trouts, but
also the graylings, smelts, whitefishes, capelins, oulachans and certain
other less familiar forms. ‘The most prominent characteristic of the fishes
of this group is the little fleshy appendage on the posterior part of the
back, known as the soft, or adipose dorsal. This is found in many fishes
belonging not to the Sa/monid@, but to allied groups, but none of these
inhabit our coasts or inland waters, except the Catfishes, which are not
likely to be mistaken for members of the salmon tribe.
The following table, prepared by Dr. Bean, will enable any one to de-
termine at once to which genus any salmonoid fish belongs.
THE GENERA OF SALMONIDE.
[Key prepared by Dr. T. H. BEAN. ]
A. Pyloric coeca many ; stomach siphonal.
a. Dentition strong and complete; conical teeth in jaws, vomer, and palatines; scales many more than
100 ; largely anadromous.
6. Anal rays g to 11.
c. Vomer flat, its toothed surface plane; teeth on its shaft in pairs or ina zigzag row ; species black-
spotted, - Subgenus Satmo. (The Sea Salmon.)
d. Sea-salmon, anadromous.
dd. River-salmon, not anadromous. Subgenus Farro. (The Salmon Trouts.)
cc. Vomer boat shaped,
e. Vomer with a raised crest, head and crest both toothed ; species gray-spotted.
CrisTivoMEer. (The Lake Trouts.)
ee. Vomer without raised crest, its shaft strongly depressed ; teeth on chevron only;
species red spotted. SALVELINUuS. (The Brook Trouts or Charrs. )
66. Anal rays 14 to 17. OncorHYNCHuUs. (The Pacific Salmons. )
aa. Jaws toothless, or dentition feeble or incomplete ; scales little exceeding 100; not anadromous.
J. Dorsal fin long and high. of about 20 rays. TuyMa.uus. (The Graylings.)
J. Dorsal fin not elevated, rays about 10 to 13.
g- Mouth small; jaws toothless, or with a tew weak teeth. Coreconus. (The Lake White-fishes.)
gg. Mouth large; vomer, palatines and tongue with bands of minute villiform teeth.
Stenopus. (The Inconnu.)
AA. Pyloric coeca few or none ; stomach ccecal
fi. Branchiostegals 6 to 8; body compressed.
z. Mouth large; ventrals in front of middle of dorsal.
k. Pectoral rays 16 to zo: scales very small: males with strong lateral ridges covered by modi-
fied scales, Ma totus. (The Capelins.)
kk. Pectoral rays 10 to 12; scales larger, similar in both sexes.
ad. ‘Teeth feeble, especially on tongue. scales small, adherent.
THALEICHTHYs. (The Oulachans.)
ad. Teeth stronger, lingual teeth enlarged ; scales moderate, deciduous. Osm_Erus. (The Smelts.)
2. Mouth moderate or small; ventrals under or behind middle of dorsal.
Zz, Jaws with minute teeth; maxillary reaching past front of eye. Hypomesus. (The Surf-Smelts.)
SALMON LEAPING.
(From Instantaneous Photograph.)
SALMO SALAR.
tHE SALMON:
Nec te puniceo rutilantem viscere, Salmo
Transierim, late cujus vaga verbera caudze
Gurgite de medio summas referuntur in undas,
Occultus placido cum proditur zquore pulsus.
Tu loricato squamosus pectore, frontem
Lubricus et dubiz facturus fercula coenz
Tempora longarum fers incorrupta morarum,
Presignis maculis capitis, cui prodiga nutat
Alvus, opimatoque fluens abdomine venter. *
Ausonius : The Moselle, 97-105.
66 JN the countrey of Aquitaine or Guienne in Fraunce, the River Sal-
mon passeth all other sea fishes whatsoever.’’ So wrote Pliny eighteen
hundred years ago, and his was the first allusion in literature to Sa/mo
salar. Hundreds of members of the family are now known to science,
but this one species still stands preéminent, like a Highland chieftain,
needing no name save that of his clan. The Salmon streams of ancient
Britain and Gaul were known to the Romans, who appreciated fully the
worth of their scaled treasures, and our early British ancestors were equally
familiar with the Salmon, as we know from the Saxon names which were
applied to it, many of which still survive both in England and America
parr, peal, penk, smolt, grilse, kipper, bagget, and a dozen more. ‘The
reader will recall Walter Scott’s generalization, that while our names for
animals as served upon the table,—beef, veal, mutton, pork,—are of Nor-
man origin, the names of the animals themselves are still those by which they
* ‘© Nor will I pass thee, O Salmon, blushing with thy red flesh, the roving strokes of whose broad tail are
borne from the middle of the stream to the top of the water, at such time as the hidden lash betrays itself on
the calm surface. Now, clothed in scaly armor, slippery as to thy fore part, aud able to constitute a remove
for a most excellent dinner, dost bear keeping fresh for a long time; thou art conspicuous with thy spotted
head ; thy full paunch trembles, and thy belly overflows with abdominal fat.’’ Literal translation by
Houghton.
442 AMERICAN FISHES.
were known to the English, who after the conquest became their keepers.
In a similar way, the word Salmon, the name of the adult fish ready for
the banquet, was brought in by the Norman invaders. The Magna Charta
recognized property rights in Salmon-fisheries, and protective laws have
been enforced in England for at least six centuries.
How did the Salmon get its name? Fuller in his “ Worthies,’’ says,
‘¢ from its strange leaping (or flying rather) so that some will have theirs
termed sa/mones a saliendo,’’ and later etymologists have found no better
theory. Skeat calls attention to the fact that the introduction of the 7 is
due to our knowledge of the Latin form, since we do not pronounce it.
The Middle English name was Saumoun, very close to the Old French
Saumon. Salm is the German version and one of the tributaries of the
Moselle is called the River Salm.
There are other names by the score used in Europe, but scarcely known
29
in this country, where Salmon and Grilse are the only titles in common
use. A Grilse is a Salmon of less than five pounds weight on its first
return from the sea.
‘¢Grilse’’ is believed by Houghton to be a corruption of the Swedish
graclax or ‘‘ gray lax,’’ z. e. a gray salmon. :
The Salmon inhabits the North Atlantic and its tributary waters. No
one knows how far beyond the arctic circle it ranges, though its occurrence
in northern Scandinavia, Iceland, Greenland, and middle Labrador is
well established. It occurs in all parts of northwestern Europe, and is
especially abundant in the British Islands, and is more or less plenty in
France, Belgium, Holland and Prussia, entering the Baltic,—according to
some authorities, the White Sea,—and ascending the Rhine as far as Basle.
The southern limit of range is in Galicia, the most northern province of
says Fluellen, in
9
Spain, in latitude 43°. ‘‘ There isa river in Macedon,
King Henry the Fifth, ‘‘and there is also a river in Monmouth; it is
called Wye at Monmouth; but it is out of my brains what is the name of
the other; but ’t is all one, ’t isalike as my fingers is to my fingers, and
there is salmons in both.’’ Fluellen was wrong, and so was Shakespeare,
if he shared the belief of his hero, for there are no Salmon in any portion
of the Mediterranean basin.
On this side of the Atlantic the species ranges more to the southward.
The Connecticut River once teemed with them, and stragglers have been
captured in the Housatonic and the Hudson. The southern limit is
THE SALMON. 443
marked approximately by lat. 401°, but they may be regarded as partially
acclimated, through the efforts of the Fish Commission, in the Delaware
and in the Susquehanna, which flows into the Atlantic in lat. 37°, and
individuals have even been taken in the Potomac and in North Carolina.
The Merrimac river was once full of these fish, and there are Salmon
streams in Maine, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Canada.
and Labrador. ‘They occur in all the tributaries of the St. Lawrence to
Niagara Falls, and probably are found in Hudson’s Bay and on the arctic
coast of the continent.
Wonderful things are said about their abundance in colonial days.
Every one has heard of the epicurean apprentices of Connecticut who
would eat Salmon no oftener than twice in the week. ‘‘ The shad, bass,
and Salmon more than half support the province. From the number of
seines employed to catch the fish passing up the locks one might be led to
suppose that the whole must be stopped, yet in six months’ time they
return to the sea with such multitudes of young ones as to fill the Connecti-
cut River for many days, and no finite being can number them.’’ These
are the words of Peters in 1783, in his ‘‘ History of Connecticut.’’
Like many other good ones, this tale seems to be prehistoric, and was
doubtless told of some other fish in the times when our Aryan ancestors
dwelt on the plains of Central Asia. You may find it in Fuller’s
‘©Worthies of England,’’ where it has the archaic and indefinite flavor
which is so evident now, two centuries later. ‘‘ 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.”’
Day has pointed out, the frequent eating of Salmon, and especially of
kelts was thought conducive to leprosy which after the Crusades in the
Middle Ages, was a formidable disease in Europe. Capt. Franks writing
of Stirling in the time of Cromwell, remarked that ‘‘the burgomasters, as
in many parts of Scotland, are compelled to reinforce an ancient statute
that commands all masters, and others not to force or compel any servant or
apprentice to feed upon Salmon more than once a week.”
Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Maine have many Salmon rivers;
New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Connecticut, a few very good ones.
The natural limit of the southward range of the Salmon appears to be in
lat. 41°, near the Connecticut River, where they were once extremely
444 AMERICAN FISHES.
=
abundant, but many stragglers have been taken in the Housatonic and
Hudson. Much effort has been put forth in trying to prove that the Salmon,
of which Hendrick Hudson saw ‘‘ great store’’
the river which bears his name, were weak-fish, or some equally remote
in 1609, when sailing up
species. Surely weak-fish do not go up the river to the Highlands. Sal-
mon nave from time to time been seen in the Delaware, it is said, and, if
this be true, it renders the story of Hudson still more credible.
There can be no doubt that one hundred years ago the Salmon fishery
was an important industry in Southern New England. Many Connecti-
cut people remember hearing their grandfathers say that when they went
to the river to buy shad, the fishermen used to stipulate that they should
also buy a specified number of Salmon. There is a tradition of a farmer’s
wife in New Hampshire who used to spear Salmon with a pitchfork to pro-
vide food for the farm hands. At the beginning of this century they
began rapidly to diminish. Mitchill stated, in 1814, that in former days
the supply to the New York market usually came from Connecticut River,
but'of late years from the Kennebec, covered with ice. Rev. David
Dudley Field, writing in 1819, stated that Salmon had scarcely been seen
in the Connecticut for fifteen or twenty years. The circumstances of their
extermination in the Connecticut are well known, and the same story,
names and date changed, serves equally well for other rivers.
In 1798 a corporation, known as the ‘‘ Upper Locks and Canals Com-
pany,’’ built a dam, sixteen feet high, at Miller’s River, one hundred miles
from the mouth of the Connecticut. For two or three years fish were
observed in great abundance below the dam, and for perhaps ten 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 could not
give it a name.
In 1878, at least five hundred large fish were caught in these wates, the
direct result of the labors of the State commissioners of fisheries in 1874.
This story of destruction, with a change of names and dates, may be
repeated for the Merrimac and many other rivers. Mr. C. G. Atkins
recorded, in 1872, twenty-eight Salmon rivers lying wholly or in part in
the United States, in only eight of which Salmon were at that time regular
visitors. The story of restoration will, it is hoped, soon be applicable to
these, and perhaps to others to which the species is not native. Thack-
THE SALMON. 445
~
made George Esmond claim Salmon, shad,
and rock-fish among the game creatures of Westmoreland county, Va., and
nearly permitted him to profane Madame Esmond’s hospitable mansion by
quarrelling over the matter with young Colonel Washington, her guest.
Was the great novelist a prophet? In May, 1878, several fine Sal-
mon were taken in the Susquehanna, after having coasted along more than
one hundred miles of the Old Dominion shore.
At least half of the Salmon’s life is spent in the ocean. ‘‘ He is ever
bred in the fresh rivers,’’
?
eray, in ‘‘ The Virginians,’
said Walton, ‘‘ and never grows big but in the
‘¢ He has (like some persons of honor 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 habit,
and others, like the Brook-trout, descend into salt water, when not pre-
vented by barriers of temperature. All of the family run into very shoal
water, and usually to the sources of streams, to deposit their eggs, and all
of them seek food and cool temperatures in the largest and deepest bodies
of water accessible. [am inclined to the view that the natural habitat of
the Salmon is in the fresh waters, the more so since there are so many in-
stances—such as that of the Stormontfield Ponds in England—where it has
been confined for years in lakes without apparent detriment. The ‘‘ Land-
locked ’’ or ‘‘ Fresh-water’’ Salmon, known also in the Saguenay region
as ‘* Winninish,’’
be]
sea.
in the Shubenacadie and other rivers of Western Nova
’? and in different parts of Maine as ‘‘ Schoodic
Trout,’’ ‘‘ Sebago Trout,’’ or ‘* Dwarf Salmon,’’ probably never visit salt
water, finding ample food and exercise in the lakes and large rivers. In
certain regions in Maine and New Brunswick their access to salt water is cut
off by dams,and some investigators have claimed that Land-locked Salmon
did not exist there until these obstructions were built, some fifty years ago.
This hypothesis, however, is not necessary, for in the Saguenay the Winni-
nish has easy, unobstructed access to the sea. The Salmon of Lake On-
tario and its tributaries are not thought to enter salt water, and there are
similar instances of land-locking in the lakes of Northern Sweden. In
the Maine lakes Salmon feed on minnows and other small fishes. The
Salmon while it remains in the sea or in the brackish estuaries takes par-
Scotia as the ‘* Grayling,
ticular delight in feeding on crustaceans and their eggs, small shrimps,
and young crabs. When in the rivers they eat but little, though they are
446 AMERICAN FISHES.
at times eager enough for food, as is shown by their eager rushes at the
angler’s fly-hook. The absenteeism of the Salmon is due principally to
the dearth of desirable food in the rivers. The young fish stay in fresh
water for one, or frequently, two years. | When they pass down to the sea
they weigh buta fewounces. They find congenial food and begin to grow
rapidly. The broad world of ocean affords them new opportunities for
adventure and self-advancement, and it is only when summoned by the
duties of family hfe that they return within the narrow limits of the old
home. When Salmon live in the lakes they prey upon minnows.and other
small fishes, but those of the sea delight also in small crustaceans and their
eggs, to which they owe the vivid color of their flesh. The habits of
successive generations become hereditary traits, and the differences in their
life-histories seem to justify the claim of the Land-locked Salmon to be
regarded as a variety of Sa/mo salar, though it is hardly to be disting-
uished except by its lesser size and some slight peculiarities in coloration.
It has been designated Sa/mo salar, variety sebago.* Although both
originated in the same primitive stock, it 1s not probable that one changes
to the other except after many generations, under the influence of forced
changes in their environment.
The leaping of the Salmon is one of the most marvellous of feats, and
has been the theme of many writers.
‘Here, when the labouring fish doth at the foot arrive,
And knows that by his strength but vainly doth he strive,
His tail takes in his teeth ; and bending like a bow
That’s to the compass drawn, aloft himself doth throw ;
Then springing with his tail, as doth a little wand
That bended, end to end. and flirted from the hand,
Far off itself doth cast ; so doth the Salmon vaut.
And if at first he fail. his second somersaut
He instantly assays, and from his nimble ring
Still yesting, never leaves until himself he fling
Above the streamful top of the surrounded heap.”’
This was once the idea of the mechanism of the leap of the Salmon.
A modern English writer thus describes the actual feat: ‘‘ I watched the
fish with a raceglass for some ten minutes before disturbing them. There
is a very deep pool at the point where the waterfall joins the lower level
of the water. The fish came out of this pool with the velocity of an
*See H. H. Thompson’s essay in 7he American Angler, v, 296.
THE SALMON. 447
arrow ; they gave no warning of their intentions, but up they came, and
darted out of the surface of the water with a sudden rush like rockets let
loose from the darkness of the night into the space above. When they
first appeared their tails were going with the velocity of a watch-spring
just broken, and the whole body, sparkling as though they had been en-
ameled, was quivering with the exertion. They looked as much like flying
fish as ever I saw anything in my life.’’
Observations have recently been made by Dr. A. Landmark, of Nor-
way, on the extent of Salmon leaps. He thinks that the jump depends as
much on the height of the fall as on the currents below it. If there be a
deep pool right under the fall, where the water is comparatively quiet, a
Salmon may jump 16 feet perpendicularly : but such jumps are rare, and
he can only state that it has taken place at the Hellefos, in the Drams
River, at Haugsend, where two great masts have been placed across the
river for the study of the habits of the Salmon, so that exact measure-
ments may be effected. The height of the water in the river of course
varies, but it is, as a rule, when the Salmon is running up stream, 16 feet
below these masts. The distance between the two is 3% feet, and the
professor states that he has seen Salmon jump from the river below across
both masts. Landmark states that when a Salmon jumps a fall nearly per-
pendicular, it is sometimes able to remain in the fall, even if the jump isa
foot or two short of the actual height. This has been proved by over-
whelming evidence. The fish may be seen trembling, and then rest
for a minute or two a foot or so below the edge or the fall, with a smart
twitch ofits tail, the rest of the fall is cleared. Only fish which strike
straight with the snout are able to remain in the falling mass of water; if
they strike obliquely, they are carried back into the stream below. This,
Landmark believes to be the explanation of Salmon passing falls with a
clear descent of 16 feet.
Aithough, like trout, and unlike shad, Salmon spawn with a falling
temperature, not depositing their eggs until the water is at least as cold as
50°, yet they seem to enter the rivers on a rising temperature. Yarrell
remarked that English rivers issuing from large lakes afford early Salmon,
while rivers swoilen by melting snows in the spring months are later in
their season of producing fish, and yield their supply when the lake rivers
are beginning to fail. In America the Southern streams seem to yield the
earliest fish. In the Connecticut they appear in April and May, in the
448 AMERICAN FISHES.
Merrimac in May and June, in the Penobscot most abundantly in June
and July, though some come as early as April, and in the Miramichi, from
the middle of June to October. JI can only account for this seeming
paradox by the theory that, while Salmon are not harmed by extreme
variation of temperature, they may be averse to sudden changes, and
though strongly impelled to seek the spawning grounds are prevented by
the cold. I have ascertained that the cod possesses very little animal
warmth. The temperature of the blood of a number of individuals caught
in twenty-five fathoms of water was 47°, F., precisely that of the water
at the bottom whence they were hfted. Mackerel swimming at the sur-
face registered 59° or 60°, while the temperature of the water was 58°,
thus indicating that they possess a trifling amount of animal heat. The
Salmon unquestionably changes its temperature with that of the surround-
ing water in much the same way, and if, as is probable, rivers rising in the
mountains are colder in early spring than the ocean strata frequented by
the Salmon, here is a possible solution of the problem. It is stated that
in the English rivers, which are always open, there are no regular seasons
of ascent, the fish constantly passing’ in and out; indeed, Mr. Atkins
thinks it pretty certain that large Salmon in prime condition are running
into the Penobscot from the sea every month in the year. It is likely,
also, that the warmth of the rivers is an important factor in accelerating
the vegetative growth of the eggs in the ovaries of the mother fish.
The movements of the Salmon are not so intimately related to the tem-
perature of the water as those of many other species. They are not
sensitive to sudden changes, and are capable of enduring a range of at
least forty-five degrees. In this they resemble less the migratory fishes
than the permanent residents of our fresh waters; indeed, it is quite
allowable to speak of them as resident, for a large proportion of the
whole colony belonging in one river may be found in it at any season.
This proportion cannot fall much below two-thirds, if we consider that
the fish less than a year old would make up at least half its number, and
that the breeding fish are in the rivers six or seven months after the breed-
ing. The breeding fish remain during the season of greatest heat and
greatest cold, though their stay after they have deposited their eggs is no
doubt chiefly because their vitality is diminished and their circulation
retarded by the falling temperature, depriving them alike of the craving
for food and the power to seek it. Those which spawn early are believed
THE SALMON. 449
to return at once to the sea; the more tardy ones often remain all winter,
and are carried out by the spring freshets. Salmon eggs are not injured
by freezing, and the fish are unquestionably quite as hardy. English
fish-culturists claim that their Salmon will not thrive where the water is
warmer than 60°, or at most 65° in the summer, but Mr. Atkins kept fish
in his ponds at Bucksport, Maine, with the water at the bottom as warm
as 74° at midday, the means of bottom and surface temperature for June,
July, August, September, and October, 1872, being 60°.6, 65°.9, 69°.8,
Paeecowa, and 72°.9, 73-1, 73 -0,62°.2; 54°°3., respectively.” Inothe
Gaspé Salmon streams, where the fish are in the perfection of activity, the
temperature of the pools in July ranges from 301%° to 59°.
Leaving the open ocean they enter the bays, where they remain for
several weeks, becoming inured to brackish water, feeding liberally on the
small estuary fishes, such as smelts, capelins, and the fry of the herring
tribe. When they begin to ascend the rivers they seldom pause even to
feed. Sometimes they rest in the quiet pools, and it is then that they
condescend to notice the fly-hook of the anglers. It is the dryest season
of the year, and they are often obliged to wait until the streams are
raised by rain, and then they bravely struggle onward, springing with
agility over falls of considerable height. Most of them proceed at once to
the vicinity of the spawning ground, which is near the source of some cool
stream. On the Penobscot, the earliest reach the limits of upward migra-
tion before midsummer. Spawning begins here during the last week in
October, and continues into November, while in the Gaspé region it is a
week or two earlier, though everywhere the season is in late autumn.
At the approach of the pairing season their trim shapes and bright
colors disappear. They grow lank and misshapen, the fins are thick
and fleshy, and the skin, which becomes thick and slimy, is blotched and
mottled with brown, green or blue, and vermilion or scarlet. These
changes are chiefly apparent in the males, whose jaws now become curved
so that they touch only at the tips, the lower one developing a large,
powerful hook, which is his weapon in the savage combats with his rivals
in which he at this period engages. When in this condition, and after
spawning, when they retrace their source to the sea, they are known as
eo imelts:”
The earliest arrive on the headwaters two or three months before
spawning time. As soon as the water is cool enough they proceed to
29
450 AMERICAN FISHES:
deposit their eggs in deep furrows which they plow up in the sandy or
gravelly bottom of the stream, usually near the verge of a rapid. Euro-
pean observers state that the furrows are shaped by the noses of the two
parent fish, every nest being filled with eggs before the next one is made,
and the first covered up by the sand which is loosened in digging the
second, chiefly by the action of the current. Mr. Atkins observed a
female Land-locked Salmon excavating a nest by turning on her side and
flopping violently against the bottom with her tail, while the male was
engaged in driving away rivals and predaceous foes. Spawning is not
accomplished at once, but the eggs, are deposited by installments, as fast
as they mature, during a period of from five to twelve days. ‘* When the
furrow is made, the male and the female retire to a littie distance, one to
the one side, the other to the other side of the furrow; they then throw
themselves on their sides, again come together, and rubbing together both
shed their spawn into the furrow at the same time.’’ ‘This is the observa-
tion of Mr. Ellis on the European Salmon, and a similar habit has been
observed by Mr. Whitcher in Canada. In the tributaries of the St.
Lawrence, spawning begins by the middle of October; in Maine, with
both Land-locked and Sea Salmon, a week or two later, and it is presum-
able that in the Connecticut it will be found to occur well along towards
December. In Great Britain and in the Rhine the season begins in
October or November, continuing in some rivers till February.
A YOUNG SALMON.
Salmon eggs are about one-quarter of an inch in diameter, and of a
bright reddish or yellowish hue. English fish-culturists estimate the num-
ber of eggs yielded by a large fish at 1,000 to each pound of her weight ;
THE SALMON. 451
experiments in the Penobscot indicate a yield of not more than 5,000 or
6,000 fora fish of eight pounds, and about 15,000 for one of forty pounds.
In the Scotch streams the eggs come to maturity in one hundred to one
hundred and forty days, but in our colder waters, at a temperature of 33°
through winter and spring, the period of incubation is supposed to extend
over six or seven months, the young fish not appearing until May. In the
hatching-house the period varies greatly, eggs having been hatched in
fifty-four days with a temperature of 55°, and in one hundred and four-
teen at 36°.
The newly hatched Salmon measures about three-quarters of an inch,
and has the yolk-sac adherent from four to six weeks. When this is
absorbed it begins to feed, rising greedily to seize any minute floating
object. In two months the fry has grown to an inch and a half, and
begins to assume the vermilion spots and transverse bars or finger marks
which entitle it to be called a ‘‘ Parr,’
ing in fresh water, sometimes untilit is seven or eight inches long. It
’
and which it retains while remain-
bie)
continues a ‘‘ Parr’’ until the second or third spring, when, in prepara-
tion for, or perhaps in consequence of, a descent toward the sea, a uni-
form bright silvery coat is assumed, and the Parr becomes a ‘‘ Smolt.’’
After remaining from four to twenty-eight months in the salt water it
Oir 2 COSpalle
again seeks its native river, having become either a “ Grilse’’
mon.’’ The ‘‘Grilse’’ is the adolescent Salmon; it weighs from two to
six pounds, and is more slender and graceful than the mature fish, with
smaller head, thinner scales, more forked tail, and spots rounder, more
numerous, and bluish rather than jetty black. The two may easily be
distinguished even though both should be of the same size, as not unfre-
quently happens. The male Grilse is sexually mature, but not the female,
in America; in Europe the same is claimed for the male Parr and the
female Grilse.
A PARR.
’
«¢ There is nothing in the water,’’ says Norris, ‘‘ that surpasses a Grilse
452 AMERICAN FISHES.
in its symmetrical beauty, its brilliancy, its agility, and its pluck. I
have had one of four pounds to leap from the water ten times, and higher
and further than a Salmon. Woe to the angler who attempts, without
giving line, to hold one even of three 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 effort to escape.”’
Mr. Atkins calls attention to the fact that the great run of Grilse which
is so prominent a feature in Canada and Europe is almost entirely absent
in the rivers of the United States, the fish not returning until they have
become adult. In rivers where Grilse are found, the Salmon always pre-
cede them in their ascent, for the former do not enter fresh water until
toward the end of summer.
A SMOLT.
Who can wonder at the angler’s enthusiasm over ‘‘a Salmon fresh run
in love and glory from the sea?’’ Hear Christopher North’s praise of a
perfect sh:
‘¢She has literally no head; but her snout is in her shoulders. That is
the beauty of a fish, high and round shoulders, short 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.’’
Mr. Kilbourne’s painting in Scribner’s ‘‘ Game Fishes of North Ameri-
ca’’ represents a thirty-pound fish drawn to a scale of one-fourth, The
largest on record was one of eighty-three pounds, brought to London in
1821 ; the Scotch fish rarely exceed twenty-five pounds. Periey speaks
of a sixty-pounder taken long ago in the Restigouche; in 1852 many of
forty, and one of forty-seven pounds, were caught in the Cascapediac.
Mr. Frederick Curtis’s score for York River, Canada, July 7, 1871, shows
nine fish ranging from seventeen to thirty-four and averaging twenty-six
and a quarter pounds. Another, for the same locality, July, 1876, shows
THE SALMON. 453
one hundred and ten fish, averaging more than twenty-two pounds. This
was by Mr. Thomas Reynolds, who caught in the same river a fish of
forty-seven pounds, the largest ever killed in Gaspé with a fly. In the
Penobscot forty-pounders have occasionally been taken, but not more than
one out of a thousand weighs thirty, and the common size is from ten to
twelve pounds. A fish two feet long would weigh about six pounds; one
of thirty inches, nine or ten ; one of three feet, sixteen to seventeen ; and
one four feet long, nearly fifty. A score of twenty-two day’s fishing, with
four rods, in the Godbout, in June and July, 1865, foots up four hundred
and seventy-eight fish, averaging nine and three-quarters pounds.
In Great Britain, by systematic culture and protection, the salmon fishery
has been made one of the most important aquatic industries. The rental of
the privileges on three salmon rivers, the Tay, the Spey, and the Tweed,
amounted in 1873 to nearly $200,000; and in this year 3,800,000 pounds
of salmon, worth at least $1,350,000 were brought to London markets,
2,580,000 pounds coming from Scotland alone.
The salmon rivers of North America may be made to yield a harvest
much richer than this; those of Maine alone are probably as numerous
and well adapted for the purpose as those of Scotland, which are valued
at £250,000 a year, those of England being placed at £100,000, and of
Ireland at £400,000.
Walton and all his disciples have called the Salmon the ‘‘ King of Fresh
Water Fishes.’’ Whole libraries have been written, about his Majesty,
and the adventures of the regicides who show their admiration of him by
killing him as often as they can. Salmon fishery, from the technical stand-
point, may not here be discussed, and the reader is respectfully referred to
the writings of Hallock, Scrope Roosevelt, Harris, Dawson, Herbert,
Pennell, Francis and Buckland, and others, mighty with the rod and facile
with the pen.
THE STEEL HEAD.
TEE SAb NON) TROU LS:
The glad trout is roaming in every clear stream
And the grilse and the Salmon now drink the May flood,
Then anglers be up with the sun’s early beam,
Let your flies be in trim and your tackle be good.
Cuatto: The North County Angler, 1883,
HE near allies of Sa/mo sa/ar, which occurs on the Pacific slope, are
set aside by Jordan in subgenus to be called either Sa/ar or Fario,
which is distinguished from the typical Sa/mo by an exaggerated develop-
ment of the teeth upon the vomer or plough-share bone in the roof of the
mouth, and also by a much less pronounced difference between the males.
and females in the breeding season.
These fishes are so closely allied, and are hkely to be of so much inte-
rest in the near future, that I think it proper to print a table of their
affinities prepared by Dr. Bean:
SPECIES OF SALMON.
Al. Sea salmon, anadromous. Subgenus SALMO.
No hyoid teeth; vomerines little developed, sometimes deciduous ; scales large ; caudal forked except
in the old; lower jaw of breeding males hooked upward and received into or through upper jaw;
gill-rakers short, 19 ; vertebra 27-31. Salmo salar, The Atlantic Salmon.
AA. River salmon, not anadromous. Subgenus FARIO.
4. No hyoid teeth.
c. Scales large, fewer than 140.
d@, American species: silvery, with usually small black spots ; a broad median crimson band in breed-
ing males ; opercles with few spots or none.
eg. Anal rays 12; depth of body equals length of head in young gill-rakers 7-10-12-13 ; cceca.
50-62. S. Gairdnert. THE STEELHEAD SALMON.
ee. Anal rays 10; depth of body much exceeds length of head in young ; gill-rakers 8-42 : cceca
45-70 S. trideus, THE. Ratnsow Trout.
THE SALMON TROUTS. 455
@d. European species; brown, with large brown or black, sometimes red, spots; opercles with
rather numerous dark spots.
J. Body rather stout ; maxilla very strong and dilated; vomerine teeth in a double series.
gill-rakers 8-12; coeca 41-42; vertebre 57-58, persistent.
S. fario. Tur Brown Trout oF Europe.
J. Body rather slender; maxilla narrow and feeble ; vomerine teeth czeca 60-80; verte-
bre 59, uniserial, persistent. S. Zevenensis. Tur Locu-LEVEN Trout.
ce. Scales small, about 170, gill-rakers 8-9-13; czca 40-50. S. spilurus. THe R1o GRANDE TRovT.
66. Hyoid teeth.
g. Back and sides everywhere black spotted, silvery in sea run examples.
hk. Wead short; scales not more than17o, gilltrakers 8-12; cceca 20.
S. purpuratus. THE Rocky Mountain Trout.
hh. ead long, conical; scales sometimes 184, gill-rakers 9.14; coeca 50-60.
S. Henshawt. THE LAKE TAHOE TROUT.
gg. Sides anteriorly with few black spots; scales about 200.
z. Head long, with medium keel ; gill-rakers 7-12. S. pleuriticus.
zz. Head shorter, without keel. S. stomeias. THE Kansas River Trout.
The Salmo Gatrdnert, of Richardson, is usually known as the “ Steel-
head.’’ The name ‘‘ Hard-head ’’ is sometimes applied to it, and it is
known to the Russians as ‘‘Seomga. The name ‘‘ Mykiss’’ is said to
have been in former years inusein Kamtchatka. Large individuals are
often called ‘‘Salmon Trout.’’ The Indian name ‘‘Humaana’’ is said to
be given to it on the Upper Columbia. It reaches the weight of twenty-
two pounds, the average weight when fully grown being about sixteen.
Young specimens have not very often been captured. It is found always,
from the Sacramento river northward at least to Kodiak, Alaska, close to
the coast. In the Columbia and Frazer Rivers it occurs in abundance in
the spring at the time of the Salmon run. Gravid females were taken by
Bean at Sitka in June. The species sometimes exceeds 25 pounds in
weight. None have yet been noticed to the eastward of the Cascade
Range, and as far as appearances go it is a permanent inhabitant of river
mouths. It probably spawns late in the fall or in the winter, as many of
those taken at the first run of the Salmon are spent fish, with the flesh
white and worthless.
Its history, writes Jordan, is still obscure. According to Pallas, it
migrates singly, from June to September ; some remaining all the year in
the rivers, returning to the sea in May. It feeds in the fresh waters, on
any living thing. Hence, unlike the other Trout, which during the ascent
of the rivers grow lean with fasting, breeding, and exertion, this, species
is plump and well fed, and, with Sa/velinus malma only, does not perish
in the winter. Elsewhere than in the Columbia this species is highly
valued as a food-fish. When taken in the Columbia, in spring, little or no
456 AMERICAN FISHES.
use is made of it. Its flesh is pale, and its bones too firm for it to be used
in canning, while old individuals taken in the canning season are usually
spent and worthless. In the Sacramento it is not very common.
THE RAINBOW TROUT.
Salmo trideus, is called the ‘‘ Rainbow Trout,”’ ‘‘ Brook Trout,’’ «* Moun-
tain Trout,’’ ‘‘ Speckled Trout,’’ ‘‘ Golden Trout,’’ and by various other
names. It does not reach a weight of more than five or six pounds, so far
as we know, and most of them, as taken, are fingerlings ranging from four
inches to a foot in length. It is found in streams west of the Sierra
Nevada, from near the Mexican line to Oregon, and is said to occur
in the northern part of Lower California. The southernmost seen by
Jordan were from San Luis Rey River. Few have been observed in
salt water. It may probably run into the sea from streams in which the
lower waters are clear. It feeds on worms, larve, and the like. It is
a fish of little gameness or activity, which has not often been brought
into the markets of San Francisco, and at present has little economic im-
portance, although of course a good table-fish. It has been rather exten-
sively introduced into the waters of the Eastern United States, and has
been reared artificially in large numbers by the U. S. Fish Commission on
the McCloud river in California, and thence distributed eastward and
across the Pacific. The growth of the species at Northville, Mich., Ver-
ona, Mo., Wytheville, Va., Cold Spring, N. Y., and in Japan, is very
gratifying. Specimens have been obtained from North Carolina. The
South Side club at Oakdale, Long Island, recently sent to the National
Museum a fine example taken in salt water.
The Rio Grande Trout, Salmo spilurus, (Cope) is abundant in the
headwaters of the Rio Grande, Rio Colorado, and their tributaries, being
t tener i
ee
THE SALMON TFTROCTS. 4
the finest food-fish in New Mexico and Western Colorado. It has also
been taken in Bear River, and probably is found in most of the mountain
streams of Utah, being in general rather southern in its distribution. — It
probably inhabits all streams within the circle of its distribution, without
regard to the direction in which they may flow. Little distinctive is
known of its habits. It is probably a comparatively recent off-shoot from
S. purpuratus. As in other species, considerable variation is shown in
specimens from different localities. Its usual size is larger than that of
S. purpuratus.
THE BLACK SPOTTED TROUT.
The Black Spotted Trout, the Salmo purpuratus of Pallas, is univer-
sally distributed through the Rocky Mountain region, chiefly east of the
Sierra southward, but reaching the sea from Mount Shasta, northward. It
occurs in every lake of New Mexico, Utah, Western Colorado, Wyoming,
Montana, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. All the streams in this
region are filled with them, and in Puget Sound the young of every size
occur in abundance in the salt water. Individuals are occasionally taken
along the California coast.
This fish is known as the ‘‘ Trout,’’ ‘‘ Mountain Trout,’’ ‘‘ Spotted
Trout,’’? ‘‘Black Trout,’’ and ‘‘Silver Trout,’’ in the mountains, but
when in the ocean, full grown, as ‘‘Salmon Trout’’ or ‘‘Steel-head.”’
Hallock and other recent writers have applied to it the horrible name ‘* Cut
Throat Trout,’’ which it is hoped will never be sanctioned in literature.
The Indian name ‘Preestl’’ is also ascribed to it on the Upper
Columbia. It reaches a weight of thirty pounds under the most favorable
circumstances, but may be found in any stream or lake of its habitat, of
lengths varying from two inches to two or three feet.
458 AMERICAN FISHES.
It feeds on any living thing it finds near it. In the mountain lakes it
spawns in the spring, running into the rivers for that purpose. Unlike 5S.
Gairdner?, its young are very common, and it probably begins breeding
in mountain streams at a length of less than a foot. Local variations
occur in abundance. Specimens from Seattle have the scales notably
larger than those from Victoria and Astoria, which agree with Utah Lake
specimens in this respect. Those that live in the depths of shady lakes
are almost black, while others are pale. Those in the sea are silvery and
only faintly spotted. In the opinion of Prof. Jordan this species is likely
to prove much more valuable for introduction into Eastern waters than
the Rainbow Trout. It is more active, more gamy, reaches a large size,
and thrives in a greater variety of waters.
The Lake Tahoe Trout, Salmo Henshawi, named in honor of the
well-known explorer and naturalist Henry W. Henshaw, and known also
as the ‘‘ Silver Trout’’ and the ‘‘ Black Trout,’’ occurs not only in Tahoe,
but in Pyramid Lake and the streams of the Sierra Nevada. This form,
which has a longer and more conical head than SS. sfz/urus, is a remark-
ably fine fish, many the weight of fifteen pounds, and is supplied abun-
dantly to the California city markets. Its ordinary weight is five or six
pounds, but it often weighs eighteen or twenty.
A small hatchery has been established at Tahoe City for the purpose of
stocking a small branch of the lake for the benefit of summer visitors.
Bean is inclined to consider this a form of S. purpuratus.
The Black-spotted Trout, Salmo pleuriticus, is closely allied to a form
which is found chiefly in the Utah Basin. Bean calls attention to the
fact that the types of this species iave well developed hyoid teeth and
must be placed in the same group with purfuratus, and not with sprlurus,
as has hitherto been done by good authorities.
The Waha Lake Trout, S. purpuratus Bouviert, was discovered by Capt.
Charles Bendire,U. S. A., in Waha Lake, a landlocked mountain tarn
in Washington Territory. It is a curiously colored local form of .S. pur-
puratus, with dark spots only on the dorsal,caudal and adipose fins, and
on the tail behind the anal where the spots are very dark and compar-
atively small. It is characterized by other minute differences cata-
logued by Jordan.
The Kansas River Trout, S. stoméas,isa form with a broad, flat head, dis-
tributed from the Kansas river to the Upper Missouri,—the characteristics
THE SALMON TROUVUTS. 459
of which have not yet been well defined. Bean states that it reaches
twenty-four inches in length, is believed to be one of the numerous
varieties of Sa/mo purpuratus.
THE BROWN TROUT.
The Brown Trout of Europe, Sa/mo fario, has been successfully intro-
duced into our waters by the U. S. Fish Commission.
Eggs were first received from Herr Von Behr, the President of the
Deutsche Fischerei-Verein, in the winter of 1882-’83, and were sent
directly from New York to the station at Northville, where they arrived
February 18. These were successfully hatched out by Mr. Clark by the
middle of March, and early in April were planted by him in a branch of
the Pere Marquette River of Northern Michigan.
Early in 1883 another lot of eggs was sent to Mr. Mather as a personal
present by Herr Von Behr. Most of those kept at this station died, but
those sent to the Northville Station and to the station of the New York
Fish Commission at Caledonia were reported as doing well. In 1884
Herr Von Behr sent an additional gift, this time to the U. S. Fish Com-
mission, in care of Mr. Mather, and a lot of 10,000 was received from
England. These did better than those of 1883, and many were distributed
to various New York waters.
On the 21st of February Mr. Mather forwarded to Washington 2,000 of
the large kind of Salmo fario, and g,o0oo of the small variety. ‘These
were transferred to the Wytheville Station, and were hatched with fair
success, but all died before beginning to eat.
A few of the German trout reared at the Northville Station spawned in
December, 1885, and 8,000 eggs were obtained. Two lots of eggs, 23,000
in number, were forwarded from the Cold Spring Harbor Station, the
second lot of which (13,000) arrived in poor condition. From these
31,000 eggs, 20,000 fry were hatched, which were retained at the station.
460 AMET CAIN TLS IIE S:
In February, 1885, a box containing 40,000 eggs in very good order was
received at Cold Spring, from the German Fischerei-Verein. The fry
from these eggs, which when hatched and ready for distribution amounted
to about 28,000, were mostly planted on Long Island and near the Hudson.
In 1885, eggs were taken by several other persons, as well as at the Cold
Spring Harbor Station, from fish which had been bred from eggs sent over
from Germany two or three years before. The average number of eggs
taken in one case (the fish being three-year-olds) was 540, and there are
indications that this yield will increase. This valuable fish has thus been
successfully acclmatized in this country, and their cultivation may to
good advantage be greatly extended, as they are considered superior in
many respects to our native brook trout.
The Brown Trout is an excellent table fish and attains a much larger
growth than the species found in the United States, a weight of from 1o
to 20 pounds being not unusual. Prof. Baird, in introducing it, hoped that
it might be available for some localities not so well fitted for the brook
trout, where, by its rapid growth and the size to which it attains, it may
constitute an important article of food.
The Loch Leven Trout, Salmo levenensis, has also been introduced
within the past few years. One hundred thousand eggs were received in
excellent condition on January 7, 1885, from Scotland, having been sent
by Sir James Gibson Maitland, of the Howietoun fishery, Stirlingshire,
and repacked by Mr. Fred Mather, of Cold Spring Harbor, N. Y., by
whom all shipments of eggs to and from Europe were skilfully and suc-
cessfully handled. Fifty-five thousand of the eggs were distributed to the
commissioners of New Hampshire, Iowa, Minnesota, and Maine, includ-
ing to the Bisby Club, in Herkimer Co., N. Y. The loss of the eggs in
hatching was very slight, and only a few of the fry died in the tanks. Of
the 43,500 that were hatched at Northville, 36,500 were planted in
various streams in Michigan, and 7,000 were retained at the hatchery for
breeding purposes.
Of the 10,000 eggs which were sent to Bucksport, about 3,coo were
lost, and the remaining 7,000 fry were planted in May, in Branch Pond
and its tributary brooks, near Ainsworth, Maine.
‘« There is some difference of opinion,’’ remarks Bean, ‘‘as to the dis-
tinctness of the Loch Leven Trout from the Brown Trout; for the present
we may use the characters mentioned by Dr. Giinther and stated in the
key to the species; on page 455.
THE SALMON TROUTS. 461
The Sea Trout of Europe, Sa/mo ¢trutfa,has not yet been introduced, but
I see no reason why it might not be a very desirable addition to the fauna
of New England and British North America.
THE SEA TROUT OF EUROPE.
t is variously known as the Salmon Trout, the Bull Trout, the Savern,
the Gwyniad and the Peal. It occurs in the rivers which fall into the
Baltic, the North Sea, and the seas surrounding the British Isles, and in
France, in the Seine and Loire, where it is known as Z7ruite de Mer.
Its habits correspond to those of the Salmon, and its life history is very
similar, since it passes through the p2rr smolt and grilse stages. It hybri-
dizes with the other salmonoid fishes, and the resulting intermediate forms
have always been a great source of perplexity to ichthyologists as well
as to anglers.
The anglers of this country have had little opportunity to practice upon
the various species of Salmon Trout, but the general opinion seems to be
that they are inferior as game fishes to our Red Spotted Trouts, like
Salvelinus fontinalis. Uhave taken the Rainbow Trout with a fly, but
found it as undemonstrative as a Carp. The Brown Trout is more of an
angler’s fish, and if our streams should be protected so as to permit its
thorough acclimation, we doubtless have glorious fishing before us.
ay
THE NAMAYCUSH.
Ene Ake i. OUds:
NAMAYCUSH, TOGUE AND SISCOWET.
The generous gushing of the springs,
When the angler goes a-trolling,
.The stir of song and summer wings,
The line which shines, and life which sings
Make earth replete with happy things
When the angler goes a-trolling.”’
Tuomas Top Stoppart.
HE Mackinaw Trout, or Namaycush, is a non-migratory species inhab-
iting the chain of Great Lakes from Superior to Ontario, as well as Lake
Champlain and many other smaller lakes of the United States and of
British America, occurring also to the Northeastward, in Mackinaw River
and in the Knowall River, Alaska.
‘¢ The Lake Trout is,’’ remarks Bean, ‘‘ a species remarkable for its great
size, reaching 3 feet and sometimes weighing 4o pounds ; varying greatly in
coloration, the extremes noteworthy in Maine and Alaska. It seem to have
no parallel in Europe and is well separated from American species by its
peculiar vomer and its large number of pyloric ceca (about 150).”’
Every lake of Northern New York and New England has its own
variety, which the local angler stoutly maintains to be a different species
from that found in the next township. Some are as black as a tautog,
some brown with crimson spots, some gray, with delicate reticulations like
those of a pickerel. The usual type to be found in the Great Lakes is
brown or gray, dappled with lighter shades of the same general tints.
THE LAKE TROUTS. 463
Naturalists have been sadly misled by their protean modifications. The
eiNamayceush.’’ of the North; the ‘‘ Tosue’’ or <* Tuladi’’ iof the Maine
and New Brunswick Indians and lumbermen, the ‘‘ Siscowet’’ or ‘ Sis-
kawitz’’ of Lake Superior, the ‘‘ Trout’’ of Winnipiseogee, and that of
the Adirondack lakes, have each been honored with a distinct binomial.
The angling authorities still refuse to admit that the Lake Trout of the
East is identical with the Mackinaw Trout, or Namaycush, supporting
their views by accounts of their very different habits. A careful study of
the dead fish is sufficient, however, to convince a trained observer that
there are no structural characters by which these different forms may be
separated into species. The local variations should, undoubtedly, be taken
into consideration, and when these are better understood it is probable
that zoologists and anglers will compromise by agreeing to consider the
most strongly marked types as races, or breeds, such as are now recog-
nized among dogs, pigeons, and other domesticated animals.
The Namaycush reaches its greatest perfection in the northern parts of
Lakes Huron, Michigan and Superior, where it is quite generally known
as the ‘‘ Mackinaw Trout.’’ In the lakes of Northern New York the same
species occurs, being known by the names ‘‘ Lake Salmon,’’ ‘‘ Lake
Trout,’’? and ‘‘Salmon Trout.’’ This form, which is considerably smaller
than that of the northern lakes, was described by DeKay under the name
Salmo confinis, and was observed by this author as far south as Silver Lake,
in Northern Pennsylvania. Still another form is recognized by sportsmen,
which, although undoubtedly specifically identical with that of the Great
Lakes, has been described under various names, such as Sa/mo toma and
Salmo symmetrica.
‘¢ This fish,’’ writes Lanman, ‘‘is found in all the great lakes of New
Brunswick, and in very many of those of Maine, but it is believed not to
exist in the lakes of Nova Scotia. It is called by the lumbermen the
‘Togue ;’ the Indians designate it by a name equivalent to ‘ Fresh-water
Cod.’ It is found in great numbers and of large size in the Eagle Lakes,
at the head of Fish River, in the St. Francis lakes, from which it follows
the river of that name, and in the Matapediac Lake, which discharges
itself into the Restigouche, and in the Miramichi Lake, at the head of the
river. In Lake Temiscouata this fish has been taken of the weight or
twenty-one pounds. It is there called the ‘ Zw/adi.’ It is often taken of
the weight of twelve pounds and upwards in the Cheputnecticook lakes, at
the head of the eastern branch of the St. Croix. It has been found of
late years that this species of fish exists in considerable numbers in Loch
Lomond, twelve miles from the city of St. John.’’
464 AMERICAN FISHES.
Hamlin writes: ‘‘ This Trout inhabits many of the great lakes and
deep mountain torrents of Maine and New Brunswick, but it is believed
not to exist in those of Eastern New Brunswick, which singular hiatus in
its distribution, perhaps, may be explained by the absence of deep waters
in that country. It haunts the deepest waters, where the cold, or the re-
pose to which it leads, favors that development and conservation of fat
which is indeed a characteristic, and it steals forth in quiet at the approach
of twilight or at early morn to the shoals and the shores in quest of its
prey.”
The Winnipiseogee Trout, somewhat abundant in Lake Winnipiseogee
and supposed to occur in Lake George, is also a form of this species,
closely related to the Togue.
The popular and scientific names which have been given to this species
are due to the wonderful tendency of variation in size, shape, and colora-
tion which this species, hike the Brook Trout, exhibits. Every lake in
which they occur has its own varieties, which local authorities believe to
be quite peculiar. Some are black, some brown, with crimson spots, some
gray, with delicate reticulations like those of a pickerel. The usual type
to be found in the Great Lakes is brown or gray dappled with lhghter
shades of the same general tint. Throughout Lakes Superior, Michigan,
and Huron, the fishermen are generally of the opinion that there are at
least two kinds of Lake Trout. It seems probable, however, that these
observers have been misled by superficial characters.
The best study of the habits of the Namaycush, as an inhabitant of the
Great Lakes, was that made by Milner, in 1871. He observed that in
Lake Michigan, except in the spawning season, they remain in the deep-
est parts of thelake. In their autumnal migrations they do not ascend the
rivers, and although they are known to exist in a few small inland lakes,
connected with the main lakes by rapids, there is no knowledge that they
have ever been seen or taken in the outlets. In the northern parts of
Lake Michigan they are caught in depths of fifteen fathoms in small num-
bers by the gill-nets, and more plentifully through the ice in winter,
chiefly at a depth of more than thirty fathoms.
They are ravenous feeders. In Lake Michigan, where a careful inves-
tigation into the nature of their food was made, it was found that they
were preying upon the cisco, Coregonus Hoy, a well-known fish closely
resembling the white-fish. Mr. Milner was inclined to combat the
generally accepted theory of the fishermen that they are large consumers
THE LAKE TROUDS, 465
of young white-fish, stating that for a great part of the year they lve in
much deeper water than is resorted to by the young white-fish, though
Trout straying into shoal water, or migrating upon shallow spawning
grounds, would undoubtedly prey upon the smaller white-fish as readily
as they would upon any other.
It is not uncommon for a Trout to swallow a fish nearly as large as
itself. One measuring twenty-three inches was brought ashore at Two
Rivers, Wis., from the mouth of which some three inches of the tail of a
fish (Lota maculosa) projected. The ‘lawyer,’’ when taken from the
Trout, measured about seventeen inches. ‘‘ Their exceeding voracity,’’
writes Mr. Milner, ‘‘ induces them to fill their maws with singular articles
ot food. Where the steamers or vessels pass, the refuse of the table is
eagerly seized upon, and I have taken from the stomach a raw peeled
potato and a piece of sliced liver, and it is not unusual to find pieces of
corn-cobs, in the green-corn season.”’
Neither the Mackinaw Trout nor the Siscowet is a game fish in high
esteem, though the latter is taken by trolling with a bright-colored fly,
with a minnow bait, or a spoon-hook. It does not rise like the Brook
Trout, and its play is likely to be sluggish and sulky. It is also taken
with a bottom line on grounds which have been previously baited. The
Indians of the Sault Ste. Marie display great skill in spearing the Macki-
naw Trout through the ice, luring them within reach by means of decoy
fishes of wood and lead. By far the largest quantities are taken in pounds
and gill-nets in the Great Lakes.
In Lake Superior Trout are caught principally in September, October,
and November in pounds and gill-nets. Formerly they were fished for
with hooks only, but of late years this practice has been abandoned by
professional fishermen. In the Green Bay region large Trout are caught
principally with hooks, though in the western part of the bay and in
Oconto Bay many are taken in gill and pound nets in deep water. Those
captured in the gill-nets are thought by the fishermen to be meshed, for
the most part, while these nets are being lifted; the Trout dart after the
other fish which have been gilled and thus become entangled. In Lake
Huron they are caught entirely with gill-nets. They may be taken with
hooks baited in the ordinary way, but can hardly be said to afford sport
to the angler, since they allow themselves to be pulled to the surface as
easily and unresistingly as codfish.
3°
466 AMERICAN FISHES.
The Togue or Lunge of our northeastern boundary is held in much
higher favor by the angler. Hallock states that the young fish rise freely
to trout-flies in rapid water, while the adults are extremely voracious, par-
ticularly in May and June, when they can be taken near the surface.
Prof. Arthur L. Adams, in ‘‘ Field and Forest Rambles,’’ gives a vivid
picture of the habits of this peculiar type: ‘‘ It repairs to shallows to feed
on Trouts, smelts, and the like; indeed, the last named fish would appear
to constituteits favorite winter subsistence. It preys extensively, also, on
eels and cyprinoids, and is in fact a tyrant with an appetite so voracious
that quantities of twigs, leaves, and fragments of wood are constantly
found in its stomach. The great monster will sometimes rise to spinning
tackle, but in so sluggish and undemonstrative a manner that the troller
may fancy he has caught a water-logged pine or stone. In this way I had
my line checked in Schoodic Lake, when, striking gently, I found I had
missed a large Togue, whose trenchant teeth had made a series of deep
furrows in the chub with which the hook was baited. It is naturally slug-
gish and inert, and apparently much of a bottom feeder. As we glided
along the shore of one of the islets, composed more or less of granitic
bowlders, our attention was directed by the guide to a large black object
on the bottom, among a mass of stones. This he asserted was a monster
Togue, which, if such was the case, must have exceeded three feet in
length; moreover, he showed us two notches on the side of his canoe,
representing the dimensions of an enormous individual which an Indian
had speared in the same waters during the spawning season, the admeasure-
ment being no less than four feet five inches.”’
?
The Siscowet, or ‘‘ Siskawitz,’’ is a form of Lake Trout which, accord-
ing to many authorities, is adistinct species, and which has been observed
only in Lake Superior. Having never seen the fish in a fresh condition,
I cannot express an opinion as to its distinctness from the Lake Trout,
but good ichthyologists assure me that its peculiarities are very slight, con-
sisting chiefly in its wider head, its thicker skin, and its stouter body.
Since, however, it is always distinguished from the Lake Trout by the
Indians and fishermen of Lake Superior, who often see them side by side,
itseems possible that it may claim asub-specific rank. It was first described
in 1850, in Agassiz’s ‘‘ Lake Superior,’’ under the name Salmo siscowet.
Herbert, in his ‘‘ Fish and Fishing,’’ p. 17, gives the following descrip-
tion of its peculiarities :
‘« This fish, like the former species, came frequently under my eye during
my late northern tour; and I rejoice in the possession of a barrel of him
y 3
THE LAKE TROGLS, 467
in his pickled state, which I procured at the Sault Ste. Marie, on the
strength of which I can recommend him to all lovers of good eating as
the very best salt fish that exists in the world. He is so fat and rich that
when eaten fresh he is unsufferably rank and oily, but when salted and
broiled, after being steeped for forty-eight hours in cold water, he is not
surpassed or equaled by any fish with which I am acquainted. Since my
return he has been tasted by very many gentlemen of my acquaintance,
and by no one of them has he been pronounced anything less than super-
lative. His habits closely resemble those of the ‘ Namaycush,’ and, like
him, I cannot learn that he ever takes the fly or is ever taken by trolling.
I do not, however, believe that either of these methods is often resorted
to for his capture, although there are many scientific fly-fishers about the
Sault, and the Brook Trout of those waters are principally taken with large
and gaudy lake-flies. The average weight of the ‘ Siskawitz’ does not ex-
ceed four or five pounds, though he is taken up to seventeen. His excel-
lence is so perfectly understood and acknowledged in the lake country that
he fetches double the price per barrel of his coarser big brother, the
‘Namaycush’; and he is so greedily sought for there that it is difficult to
procure him, even at Detroit, and impossible almost, at Buffalo.’’
Milner states that the Siscowet lives at depths greater than forty fathoms,
and feeds chiefly upona species of fresh-water sculpin. It spawns in Sep-
tember indeep water. Theaverage size is about fourand one-half pounds.
Two five-pound fish yielded respectively 2,796 and 3,120 eggs. This
species, like the Lake Trout, is for the most part taken in gill-nets.
Mr. George Barnston, of Montreal, Canada, formerly of the Hudson
Bay Company, who made an extensive natural history collection on Lake
Superior, claims that there is a third species of Lake Trout, different from
the Siscowet, on the south shore of Lake Superior, called the ‘‘ Mucqua’’
or ““ Bear Trout.”’
Mr. Robert Ormsby Sweeny, chairman of the Minnesota fish commission,
in a letter dated Saint Paul, Minnesota, October 19, 1880, conveys the
following information concerning the Siscowet, which is more precise and
comprehensive than anything hitherto published :
‘«T have not only examined the Siskowet carefully myself and compared
them with Agassiz’s formulas, but asked and consulted with traders, voy-
agers, Indians and half-bloods, and fishermen, in regard to their habits,
size, color, weight, etc., and all come to the same conclusion. They are
not possibly a ‘ Namaycush’ and should never be considered the same fish.
The name ‘Sis-ko-wet’ is an Ojibewa word, and means literally ‘ cooks
itself.’ The fish when fresh is most deliciously rich, tasting like the belly
468 AMERICAN FISHES.
of amackerel. The ‘ Namaycush’ is dry and lacks delicacy, and can-
not be even fried without pork-fat or lard.
‘*The amateur is likely to confound the Namaycush with the Siscowet,
but when the differences are once pointed out, no confusion of the two
again arises. The fisherman recognize them before taken trom the water
when hauling in the nets ; even the Indian children know them at a glance.
The head of the Siscowet is shorter and broader in proportion, eyes
nearer the end of nose and are wider apart; the whole osseous structure
of the head lighter, more delicate and flexible, particularly the sub-max-
illaries, which in the Namaycush are heavy, rigid, and rounded. ‘The
coloring varies in different specimens according to locality whence
taken. The spots or markings are unlike those of the Namaycush, more
even insize and shape, and more decided and stronger in color, and I can
clearly see in some specimens that the spots are compound or an indistinct
quincunx arrangement. The Namaycush spawn only in the fall, begin-
ning in October. We have just taken half a millioneggs. The Siscowet,
I am told by the fisherman and Indians, are always spawning, or that ripe
females are taken at al]l times of the year. At first I thought this an ex-
aggeration, but I find it so very universally reported and by reliable men
that I give it credence. They are very rarely found at the lower parts of
the lake. They begin to be more plentiful as La Pointe is reached and
most plentiful along the north shores and Isle Royale, but still they are a
rare fish, comparatively. If one barrel of Siscowet to fifteen Namaycush
are caught, they are said to be very abundant. They are so much prized
that they bring a higher price, and it is rare that we get them here unless
in winter time, when they are frozen and brought down fresh. A pecu-
liarity I have noticed is, in winter when pulled out on the ice they puff up
like a pouter pigeon full of air around the pectoral region, and when frozen
can be instantly distinguished at a glance. ‘They rarely exceed thirty
pounds in weight and thirty-six inches in length, I am told by those very
familiar with the fishes of the lake. On the same authority I learn that
Namaycush reach ninety pounds in weight and six feet in length.”
THE EASTERN BROOK TROUT.
ioe ROOK TROUTS. OR CHARS:
Here comes another trout that I must tickle, and tickle daintily. I’ve lost my end else.
BEAUMONT AND FLETCHER.
@\UR Brook Trouts belong to the division of the Salmon family known to
the English as ‘‘ Chars,’’ a group confined, for the most part to fresh-
water lakes and streams, and distinguished from the true Salmons by a
peculiar arrangement of teeth onthe vomer, and also by their very small
scales, and usually by numerous crimson or orange-colored spots, which
are especially conspicuous in the breeding season. The Chars of Europe
are, as a rule, lake fishes like the Saibling. On the other hand, the Chars
of North America are usually found in streams and rivers.
There is probably no group of fishes in which individual specimens
and communities inhabiting certain areas of water show more tendency
to variations in color and form than they do in the salmon family. Dr.
Giinther has very justly remarked: ‘* We know of no other group of fishes
which offers so many difficulties to the ichthyologist with regard to the
distinction of the species as well as to certain points in their life-history.
Although this may be partly due to the unusual attention which has been
given to their study, it has revealed rather a greater amount of unexplained
fact than a satisfactory solution of the questions raised. The almost in-
finite variations of these fishes are dependent upon the age, sex, and
sexual development, food, and the properties of the water.’’
The tendency of modern ichthyology, with its more exact methods, and
470 AMERICAN FISHES.
with access to better and more comprehensive material for research than
was formerly available, has led to the rejection of many of the nominal
species formerly recognized. Out of the forty-three species of Salmon ten
years ago believed to exist in North America, only thirteen or fourteen
are now recognized. In Giinther’s catalogue of ‘‘ The Fishes in the
British Museum,’’ published in 1886, thirty-one species of Chars were
mentioned, while in his lately published ‘‘ Study of Fishes’’ the same
author ventures to enumerate only thirteen, all others being regarded as
?
insufficiently characterized. In his treatment of the Chars of Europe,
Giinther is, notwithstanding, one of the most conservative writers, for he
catalogues eight species of these fish, while most other European students,
following the lead of the great German ichthyologists, Von Siebold, re-
gard them as members of one polymorphic species. The sympathies of
most American ichthyologists are, naturally, with the school of Von Siebold.
It is difficult to believe, in the light of our own observations upon the
salmon family in America, that every little lake or group of lakes in
Europe possesses a well-characterized species of fish, and for the present
it seems safer to consider the Chars of Europe to be of asingle well-marked
species which undergoes numerous variations under the influence of changes
in temperature, elevation, food, and hght, and that the Saibling of Bavaria
and Austria is one and the same thing with the ‘‘ Ombre Chevalier’”’ of
France and Switzerland, ‘‘Salmario’’ of Northern Italy, the ‘‘ Torgoch’’
of Wales, the fresh-water ‘‘ Herring’’ of Ireland, the ‘‘ Char’’ of England
and Scotland, the ‘‘ Roding’’ of Sweden, and the ‘‘ Kulmund”’ of
Norway.
?
SPECIES OF SALVELINUS.
A. Hyoid teeth; back never mottled.
a. Subopercle nearly as deep as long, without conspicuous striations.
6. Gill-rakers fewer than 20; habitat Western America; migratory. coeca 25-46. S. MALMA.
66, Gill-rakers more than 20; habitat Eastern America.
c. Migratory; species very large; usually spawning in large streams and then going to sea.
gill-rakers 9-15 ; caeca 30-35, S. STAGNALIS.
ec. Land-locked; species medium size or small.
@. Back blue; caudal not tipped with white in young ; size very small; gill-rakers 9-15 ; cceca 38.
S. OQUASSA.
dd. Caudal tipped with white in youug; size medium or large.
e. Introduced species; 19 gill-rakers below angle; stomach slender; hyoids in a very narrow
band ; coeca 40-42. S. ALPINUS.
ce. Native species, rq gill-rakers below angle; stomach stout; hyoids ina broad band; young
with clouded parr-marks ; gill-rakers 7-10-9-14; cceca 49. S. AGASSIZII.
aa. Subopercle twice as long as deep, conspicuously striated.
J. Red spotted ; size very large; gill-rakers, in young, 8-12 ; ceca 36. S. ROSSIT.
Uf. No red spots ; size small ; coeca 31-44. S. ARCTURUS.
AA. Hyoids absent (usually); back mottled, except in sea-run examples,
g. Gill-rakers 10 below angle; stomach very stout, cceca 44. S. FONTINALIS.
Salvelinus fontinalts, the best known of our Red Spotted Trouts, the
LTE DROOK TROOTLS OR CHARS: 471
Speckled Trout or Brook Trout of the East. Its home is between lati-
tudes 324° and 55°, in the lakes and streams of the Atlantic watershed,
near the sources of a few rivers flowing into the Mississippi and the Gulf
of Mexico, and in some of the southern affluents of Hudson Bay. Its
range is limited by the western foot-hills of the Alleghanies, and nowhere
extends more than three hundred miles from the coast, except about the
Great Lakes, in the northern tributaries of which Trout abound. At the
South it inhabits the headwaters of the Chattahoochee, in the southern
spurs of the Georgia Alleghanies, and tributaries of the Catawba in North
Carolina. It also occurs in the great islands 1n the Gulf of St. Lawrence—
Anticosti, Prince Edward, Cape Breton and Newfoundland.
Bean calls attention to the fact that although this species usually has
no trace of hyoid teeth, he has seen specimens from Labrador, about 10
per cent of which possessed a few (never more than three) weak teeth on
the hyoid bone, while occasional examples fron. New York and Massa-
chusetts show the same abnormality, and farther to the southward the
normal condition is permanent.
Temperature is a prime factor in determining the distribution of this
species, and since few observations have been made in the field, our con-
clusions must needs rest on a study of the species in domestication, an
instructive though not entirely reliable method. The experience of
Messrs. Green, Stone and Ainsworth, indicates that Trout cannot thrive
in water warmer than 68° Fahrenheit, though they have been known to
live in swift-running water at 75°. Fishes hatched in artificial ponds
may probably be inured to greater warmth than wild fishes can endure.
and it is doubtful whether the latter are often found in water warmer than
60° or 65°. At the Oquossoc and Cold Spring hatching establishments
the water ranges from 45° to 49° throughout the year. Below 36° Trout
are torpid and refuse to feed, and instances are on record of their reviv-
ing after being frozen stiff. The remarkable variations in the habits of
Trout in different regiorts are easier to understand in the light of these
facts. In the Long Island region Trout live in salt water in the coldest
months, when its temperature is below 50°. North of the Bay of Fundy,
at the entrance of which the water barely registers 50° in midsummer,
they inhabit the ocean abundantly, except at the spawning time. South
of New York the coast-reaches of the rivers appear to present a barrier of
warm water which the Salmon do not seek to penetrate from without, and
472 AMERICAN FISHES.
which immures the Trout in their homes in the hill country as closely as
would a mountain wall. Difficult Run, a few miles above Washington, is
a natural Trout stream, and the species occurs in other streams near Balti-
more and Washington.
When Trout have no access to the sea they still contrive to avoid a
change of temperature with the seasons. In midsummer they he in the
bottoms of lakes cooled by springs, in the channels of streams, or in deep
pools, lurking behind rocks and among roots. In spring and early sum-
mer they feed industriously among the rapids. At the approach of cold
weather in autumn they hasten to the clear shallow water near the heads
of the streamlets. It is at this time that they deposit their eggs in little
nests in the gravel which the mother-fish have shaped with careful in-
dustry, fanning out the finer particles with their tails, and carrying the
large ones in their mouths. After the eggs are laid, the parent fish covers
them with gravel, and proceeds to excavate another nest. The same nests
are said to be revisited by the schools year after year.
The spawning season begins in New England in October, continuing
from three to six months, and during this period the fish should be pro-
tected by stringent laws. Mr. Livingston Stone observed that in his
ponds at Charlestown, N. H., spawning began October 12 and ended
early in December ; at Seth Green’s establishment, near Rochester, N. Y.,
it began on the same day, and continued until March. At the former
station spring water, with a uniform temperature of 47°, was in use,
while at Caledonia the eggs were kept in brook water, which is colder in
midwinter, retarding development.
Trout eggs are usually three-sixteenths of an inch in diameter, although
varying greatly, and are colorless, red or orange-hued. ‘The quantity
yielded by a fish is in direct proportion to its size, the average being from
four to six hundred. Mr. Stone took sixty from a half-ounce fish, and
eighteen hundred from one which weighed a pound. The eggs having
been laid, their time of development depends strictly on the temperature
of the water. According to Mr. Ainsworth, they will hatch in one hun-
dred and sixty-five days with the mercury at 37°, one hundred and three
at 41°, eighty-one at 44°, fifty-six at 48°, forty-seven at 50°, thirty-two
at 54°, &c. Seth Green’s rule is that at 50° they hatch im titty days;
every degree warmer or colder making a difference of five days. After
the eggs are hatched the yolk sac is absorbed in from thirty to eighty
THE BROOK TROUTS OR CHARS. 473
days, and the young fish begin to lead an independent life. Now the
rate of growth is determined by the amount of food consumed. Some
two-year-old fish weigh a pound, some half an ounce, as Mr. Stone’s ex-
perience show. In domestication growth is moreeven. Mr. Ainsworth’s
estimate allows an average of two ounces for yearlings, a quarter of a
pound for two-year-olds, half a pound for three-year-olds, and a pound
for four-year-olds. Wild fish often grow much faster. One of a large
number of Rangely Trout, tagged by Mr. George Shepard Page in 1871,
and caught in 1873, was found to have grown in two years from half a
pound to two pounds and one-quarter. All two-year-old Trout and some
yearlings can reproduce their kind,
The best description of the spawning habits is that by James W.
Miles :
‘His whole wooing is the most polite attention and the gentlest of
persuasions. He moves continually to and fro before his mate, parading
his bright colors, while she rests quietly, with her head up stream, vibrat-
ing her fins just sufficiently to keep her from floating down. At Water-
ville, Wis., I had the opportunity of watching their habits. A pair of
large Trout had selected a spot near the bank of the stream, where the
water was about ten inches deep. The female had fanned the gravel with
her tail and anal fin until it was clean and white, and had succeeded in
excavating a cavity. They were frightened away as I came to the edge
of the bank. Concealing myself behind a willow bush, I watched their
movements. ‘The male returned first, reconnoitering the vicinity, and,
satisfying himself that the coast was clear, spent a half hour in endeavor-
ing to coax the female to enter the nest. She, resting half concealed
in the weeds, a few feet away, seemed unwilling to be convinced that the
danger was gone; and he, in his full, bright colors, sailed backward and
forward from the nest to his mate, rubbing himself against her, and swim-
ming off again in a wide circle close along the bank, as if to show her
how far he could venture without finding danger. She finally entered the
nest.”’
Brook Trout seldom exceed two or three pounds, and a five-pounder is
thought a monster. St. Lawrence Sea Trout usually weigh two and one-
half pounds, though they are not seldom caught weighing six or eight.
A famous locality for large fish is the headwaters of the Androscoggin
River in Northwestern Maine. Prof. Agassiz, in 1860, obtained one of
them which weighed eleven pounds. The well-known specimen taken
by Mr. George Shepard Page in 1867, in Rangely Lake, weighed ten
474 AMERICAN FISHES.
pounds after three days’ captivity, and was thought by experts to have
lost a pound anda half in transit from Maine to New Jersey, where it
died. Its length was thirty inches, and its circumference eighteen.
Another, from Mooselucmaguntic, weighed eight and one-half pounds,
and measured twenty-five inches. The Nepigon River claims still heavier
fish. Hallock mentions one said to have weighed seventeen pounds.
There are many local races of Trout ; the same stream often contains
dissimilar forms, and those bred in different hatcheries may easily be dis-
tinguished. . Whoever has seen the display at the April opening of the
trout season at Mr. Blackford’s, in Fulton Market, N. Y., can under-
stand the possibility of almost infinite variety in form and tint within the
limits of one species. Fish inhabiting swift streams have lithe, trim
bodies and long, powerful fins; those in quiet lakes are stout, short-
finned, and often overgrown. In cool, limpid brooks, with sunlight,
much oxygen, and stimulating food, their skins are transparent and their
hues vivid ; in dark, sluggish pools they are somber and slimy, and are
called ‘‘Black Trout.’’ Agassiz noticed that those of the same river
varied accordingly as they haunted its sunny or shady side. They have
the power of changing their tint at will. The influence of the nerves
over color was neatly demonstrated by M. Pouchet, who produced a
white side in a Trout by destroying the eye of that side. In the sea, for
reasons unexplained, both Trout and Salmon lose their gay colors and
become uniform silvery gray, with black spots. In the sea, too, the flesh
assumes a reddish color, due no doubt to the absorption of the pigments
of crabs and shrimps eaten by the fish. Red flesh is also found in some
inland races.
Our Trout are strong feeders, but are dainty rather than greedy. They
consume moderate quantities of food, and it suits their capricious ap-
petites to seize their prey while living. They take objects at the surface
with an upward leap, instead of downward from above like the Salmon.
Of all foods they prefer the worms washed out of the bank, then gayly
colored flies, water insects, little fishes, larvae and the eggs of fishes.
Those in domestication are usually fed on the heart, liver and lungs of
animals killed for the market.
Their daintiness, shyness, cunning and mettle render them favorites of
the angler, who lures them into his creel by many sly devices. The most
skillful fisherman is he who places before them least obtrusively the bait
THE BROOK TROUTS OR CHARS. 475
which their momentary whims demand, or a clever imitation thereof.
Trout are always in season from April to August, and in some States for a
longer period.
The Eastern Brook Trout must have been discovered by the first settlers
of North America soon after their coming to the New World; yet,
strange to say, the only allusion to it in colonial times is in the ‘ Re-
monstrance of New Netherland,’’ addressed by that colony to the States
General in 1649. It was first brought before the world of science in 1814,
when Dr. Mitchill named it Sa/mo fontinalis, a name which has become
almost classical. Our ichthyologists having recently decided that its
technical name shall be Sa/velinus, a wail has arisen from our anglers,
and the ever witty Charles Hallock has voiced the general discontent in
his rhythmical protest, beginning ‘‘I am Salmo fontinalis,’’* which con-
cludes as follows :
““No fulsome titles do I covet,
Science holds no bribe for me.
Slavery for those who love it.
From nomenclature leave me free,
Yet they call me Salvelinus.
Can you fancy sin more heinous.”
They have always been the pets of fish-culturists ; indeed, the experi-
ments of Dr. Garlick and Prof. Ackley, who inaugurated in 1853 the
practice of pisciculture in America, were made with this fish. They become
thoroughly domesticated, and are as much under the control of their
owner as his horses and cattle. They have been acclimatized in England
since 1868, and are always on exhibition in the aquaria of the museum of
fish-culture at South Kensington.
THE MALMA TROUT.
The Malma Trout, Sa/velinus malma, is the most important of our
*American Angler 11, 247.
6 AMERICAN FISHES.
chars, next to the Eastern Brook Trout. It occurs in Northern California,
west of the Cascade Range, is abundant throughout the Aleutian Islands,
and northward to Colville River in Alaska, and has been found at Behring
Island by Stejreger, and at Plover Bay, Siberia, by Bean.
Its knownlas the <‘lhake Trout,’ “* Bull Trout,” “Speckled fren
and ‘‘ Red-spotted Trout.’’ In the ocean, where it is found in large
numbers, it is the ‘* Salmon Trout.’’ In the Sacramento Valley the ridicu-
lous and inappropriate name ‘‘ Dolly Varden,’’ is still retained. In
Siberia it was formerly known as the ‘‘ Malma’’ or ‘‘Golet.’’ The
Indian name ‘‘ Chewagh’’ is ascribed to it in British Columbia. In size
this species reaches a weight of fourteen pounds. The largest seen by
Jordan weighed twelve pounds, a weight which is not uncommon in the
ocean. ‘‘In the lakes,’’ writes Jordan, ‘‘ it averages smaller, and in the
mountain streams it breeds at a length of six or eight inches. In all these
peculiarities it agrees with its near relative, the common Brook Trout of
the Atlantic coast. It ranges from the upper waters of the Sacramento to
Kamtchatka on the west side of the Rocky Mountain chain, and for the
most part in and west of the Cascade range. From Puget Sound north-
ward it is generally abundant. It feeds voraciously in the salt water on
smelt of various sorts, young Trout, sand lances, shrimps, anchovies,
herrings and even sticklebacks. In fresh water it probably eats what-
ever living thing it can get. Nothing is certainly known of their breed-
ing habits. They probably spawn late in the fall in the river, and there-
fore those which are in the sea must be to some extent migratory. They
are taken in Frazer River at the time of the eulachon run, but they proba-
bly then ascend the river to feed upon the eulachon, and not for spawn-
ing purposes. As a food-fish this beautiful species ranks high.’”’
THE GREENLAND TROUT.
Bean adds that this Trout reaches its greatest size northward ; it is
CMe,
THE BROOK TROUTS OR CHARS. 477
extensively salted at Kodiak in the sea-run condition under the name of
Salmon Trout. Examples of twenty-four inches in length are known.
The Greenland Trout, Salvelinus stagnalis, a native of Arctic-
America, is believed by Bean to be, with little doubt, the ‘‘Sea Trout’’
of Labrador, and of Canada. It rivals the Atlantic Salmon in size, and
has no near connection with the ‘‘ Sea Trout’’ of Europe. It is interest-
ing to know that the anglers have probably been in the right and the
ichthyologists wrong in regard to this interesting species, concerning
which as yet we know very little. Hallock and others of our anglers
have described its qualities as an angling fish very fully. S. stagnalis
occurs in the lakes of Greenland. ‘The National Museum has specimens
from Disko, taken by Ensign Dresel, and from Labrador, obtained by
dhurner.
THE OQUASSA OR BLUE BACK TROUT.
Salvelinus oguassa, inhabits the lakes in Western Maine ; thence intro-
duced into New York and New Hampshire. This is, says Bean, a small
species, not known to exceed ten inches in length from existing collections.
It is probably a land-locked form of .S. s¢tagvadis, and specimens of much
larger size may be expected. Its distribution, also, will be found to be
more extensive.
Closely related to the Oquassa is the Saibling, introduced into Massa-
chusetts, New York, New Hampshire and Wisconsin, which, according
to Bean, closely resembling some of our native Chars as to make its
recognition difficult. A hybrid between the Saibling and our common
Brook Trout has further increased the trouble of identification.
This form, whether it be regarded as a single species or several related
species, is distributed over all of Northwestern Europe, and possibly also
over a portion of Asia, although, since the Asiatic representatives of the
478 AMERICAN FISHES.
genus have not been sufficiently studied, it is impossible yet to make this .
generalization. They are, emphatically, cold water fishes, thriving at a
temperature little above the freezing point, and in their period of greatest
vigor and perfection at the approach of winter, as is indicated by the fact
that at this time their spawning takes place. No fish of any kind has ever
been found nearer to the North Pole than the Char, a species, Salvelinus
arcturus, having been discovered by the last English polar expedition in
12° north of the Arctic Circle. In the South of Europe its range is limited
by the Alps, and in this region its study has brought to light a very curious
fact which confirms still more strongly the idea just spoken of, that the
fish thrive the best in a very cold climate. In the extreme north and in
the extreme south this fish reaches its greatest perfection.
THE OMBRE CHEVALIER OR SAIBLING.
The Saibling has been propagated by German fish-culturists for a period
of ten years or more, and thrive magnificently in captivity. The hatch-
ery at Oussee, in Germany, produces yearly three or four hundred thousand
of artificially-brooded Saibling, and plants them in the neighboring lakes.
In the tanks at the late International Fishery Exhibition in Berlin were
exhibited many superb specimens of this fish, some of them over two feet
in length, and one of these was sent to the National Museum by Herr von
Behr, president of the Deutscher Fischeri Verein.
In selecting a place in which to deposit the Saibling eggs received in
January, 1887, the Commissioner of Fisheries has endeavored to find a
lake as similar as possible in depth and temperature to the larger Swiss
lakes, and he has, therefore, sent them to Lake Winnipseogee, N. H.
Here the whole sixty thousand were planted, with the hope that placing so
large a number together in a lake of moderate size the experiment of intro-
THE BROOK TROUTS OR CHARS. 479
duction may be a success, and this hope was realized, for they proved
satisfactorily hardy, and on December 3, 1883, about 600 eggs were taken
by Commissioner Hodge.
There are three other little known fishes of this group, now under study
by Dr. Bean.
Salvelinus Rossit, which occurs in the Arctic Ocean about Boothia Fe-
lix, has recently been detected by him in the province of Leubec, Canada.
It is a very large species, reaching more than two feet in length, accord-
ing to Richardson. ‘The best distinguishing character is the shape and
striation of the opercular bones.
Another is Salvelinus arcturus, which has been taken in Victoria Lake,
and Flocking Beach, Arctic America, and is the northernmost salmonoid
known. This he remarked may be one of the forms of stagnalis, but
specimens with red spots are still unknown. Last of all is the Sunapee
Trout, S. Agasszz¢z, a form little understood, occurring in Sunapee Lake,
N. H., which is being investigated by Prof. Quackenbos, Col. Hodges and
Dr. Bean.
THE GORBUSCHA SALMON.
Pha Nelle SALMON
So dainty Salmons, chevins thunder-scar’d,
Feast-famous sturgeons, lampreys speckled-star’d
In the spring season the rough sea forsake
And in the rivers thousand pleasures take.
Du Bartas: The Divine Week.
E have upon our Pacific coast four species of the genus Oncorhynchus,
which is also abundant in the waters of Northwestern Asia. Having
never seen one of them, except in bottles of spirits, I shall quote literally
from the writings of Jordan, and from the notes furnished me by Dr.
Bean, who has tabulated the principal characters as follows :
SPECIES OF ONCORHYNCHUS.
A. Scales small, lateral line more than 200. O. GORBUSCHA.
AA. Scales large, 125 to 155.
a, Gill-rakers long, 30 to 4o. O. NERKA.
aa, Gill-rakers short, 20 to 25.
&. Pyloric cceca 50 to 80. O. KISUTCH.
24, Pyloric cceca 140 or more.
c. Anal rays 13 to 14: branchiostegals 13 to 14. O. KETA.
cc. Anal rays 16: branchiostegals 15 to 19. O. CHOUICHA.
The Gorbuscha, Oncorhynchus gorbuscha, is still known to the Russians
as in the time of Pennant and Pallas by the name of ‘‘ Gorbuscha,’”’ gor
meaning hump. The English-speaking people call it generally the
«* Hump-back Salmon,’”’ and often the ‘‘ Dog Salmon.’’ On Frazer River
it is known as ‘“‘Holia’’ or ‘‘Hone’’ Salmon, and on Puget Sound as
the ‘‘Haddoh.’’ This is one of the smallest Salmons, not averaging over
THE PACIFIC SALMON. 481
four or five pounds, and probably never exceeding ten. It ranges from
the Sacramento River to Alaska, Behring Island and Kamtchatka. In the
Sacramento and Columbia it is only an estray, on the latter river being
sometimes called ‘* Lost Salmon.’’ In Puget Sound it runs in large num-
bers in late summer and fall, like the Keta or Dog Salmon, ascending
every little stream. Its run in Puget Sound takes place on alternate years,
a fact which seems to be well established. It was very plenty in 1879.
None were noticed in 1880, but stragglers are occasionally taken during
the year of scarcity. A few were seen by us on the Columbia and Sacra-
mento. We are told that this species runs every year in Alaska. During
its run in Puget Sound the females are canned, and the males are thrown
away or given to the Indians. The flesh is then pale, and the canned
product is inferior in quality. In economic value the Hump-back Sal-
mon is far inferior to the Quinnat, the Blue-back and the Silver Salmon,
and, like the Dog Salmon, is mainly useful in furnishing a winter supply
of food to the Indians.
THE NERKA SALMON,
The Nerka or Blue-back Salmon, Oncorhynchus nerka, writes Jordan,
known as the ‘‘ Red-fish’’ to the English-speaking inhabitants of Alaska
and Kamtchatka, and to the Russians, now as in the time of Pennant and
Pallas, as ‘‘ Krasnaya Ryba,’’ which signifies red-fish, the name having
reference to the color of the flesh. It is not unlikely that other species
are occasionally confounded under this name, but there is little doubt
that the present species is the one to which it is chiefly applied. On
Frazer River, where this species is the most important Salmon, it is known
as the ‘‘ Suk-kegh,’’ ‘‘Saw-quai’’ or ‘‘ Suck-eye.’’ Elsewhere in Puget
Sound it is rarely seen. In the Lower Columbia it is known by the ap-
in the Upper Columbia as ‘‘ Red-fish.’’
?
propriate name of ‘‘ Blue-back ;’
4
31
482 AMERICAN FISHES.
Its average weight does not exceed eight pounds and its extreme weight
is probably not above fifteen. Its range is from the Columbia River, the
Yukon and Behring Island to Japan and Kamtchatka. It runs in consider-
able numbers in the Columbia, and in much greater abundance in Frazer
River, where it is the principal spring Salmon. We have no information
as to its occurrence in California, or as to its entrance into any of the
streams south of the Columbia. Like the Quinnat Salmon, it is attracted
in early spring into all those streams which are fed by the melting snows,
and into no others. Its run in spring on the Columbia is, so far as we
know, contemporaneous with that of the Quinnat Salmon. The num-
bers are, however, much less, and I think that its run is over, earlier in
the fall. On Frazer River it runs with the Quinnat, or a little earlier
in the spring, the run mostly ceasing in midsummer, while that of the
Quinnat continues on through the fall months. This species and the
Quinnat run early and go far up the streams, where, after spawning,
they all die. In Puget Sound this species is not known to the fishermen,
only stray individuals being taken there. It does not accompany the
Silver Salmon and Dog Salmon in their ascent of the Dwamish, Puyallup
and other small streams; neither 1s it caught near the shore when out of
the spawning season, as the other species are. In Alaska and Kamt-
chatka we are told that the Red-fish (wera) and King Salmon (chawycha)
run in spring and early summer, while the other species run in late sum-
mer and fall, the Silver Salmon last.
THE KISUTCH SALMON.
The Blue-back is the most graceful of the Salmons and the most elegant
in color. Its flesh is very similar to that of the Quinnat, but less firm
and more watery, and it is not quite so rich when canned, though in
favor because of its red color. Next to the Quinnat, it is the most
TE PACIFIC SALIION. 483
re)
valuable of the different species, and its inferiority is mainly that of size.
It has been artificially propagated by the Canadian government.
The Kisutch, or Silver Salmon, Oxcorhynchus kisutch, writes Jordan, is
almost everywhere known by the name of ‘‘ Silver Salmon.’’ It has also
a series of local names. In Kamtchatka it is still known by the name
«‘Kisutch,’’ in use in Pennant’s time, a hundred years ago. The name
<¢ Bielaya Ryba,’’ or ‘‘ White-fish,’’ is also ascribed to it. On Frazer
River it is known by the Musquaw name of ‘‘ Coho;’’ at Seattle, by the
Nisqually name of ‘‘ Skowitz ;’’ about Cape Flattery by the Makah name
of ‘*‘ Hoopid ;’’ on the Columbia it is called ‘‘ Silver Salmon ’’ or ‘‘ White
Salmon,’’ and southward the same names prevail. It reaches a weight of
twenty pounds, the usual range being from seven to ten. The Silver
Salmon enters all the rivers from Sacramento to Behring Island and Kamt-
chatka. In the fall it is abundant in probably all the rivers. Few or
none, however, are seen in the spring. They are often taken with seines
in Puget Sound at all seasons. Like the other fall-running Salmon, they
seldom ascend the rivers to any great distance.
THE KETA.
The Keta, Oncorhynchus keta (Walb.), Gill and Jordan, occurs on the
Pacific coast from San Francisco northward to Hotham Inlet, Alaska.
This species, during the period of its run in the fall, generally goes by
the name of ‘‘Dog Salmon,’’ under which name the males of the Silver
Salmon, and even of the Quinnat, are often confounded with it. The
Russians now, as in the time of Pennant, Pallas and Walbaum, call it
‘‘Kayko,’’ the name ‘‘Keta’’ (whale) being no longer in use. On
Frazer River the name (Musquaw) is now ‘‘ Qualoch,’’ at Seattle (Nis-
qually) ‘*Ktla-why,’’? and in the Chinnook jargon ‘¢Le-Kai.’’ This
454 AMERICAN FISHES.
species is very uniform in its size, and averages ten to twelve pounds. It
is seldom or never seen in the rivers in spring.
eS.
THE CHOUICHA OR QUINNAT SALMON.
The Quinnat Salmon, Oxcorhynchus chouicha, ascends the large rivers
of California and occurs northward to the Yukon in Alaska.
This is the largest and most important species of the genus, it is said to
reach one hundred pounds in weight. It is easily caught with hook and
line in the fresh-waters, where it goes to deposit its eggs. It does not
readily take a fly, but becomes an easy victim when tempted with salmon
roe, which is the most effective of all baits for catching this fish. When
prime it very much resembles in appearance the well known Atlantic
Salmon (.Sadmo sa/ar) in the same condition, with this exception, that it
has on its back and sides nearly black, star-like spots, while the Alantic
Salmon, when fresh from the ocean has none.
The California Salmon is a remarkable fish, and has an extraordinary
career. Fifty years ago it was hardly known, except to students of natural
history. Now it is known and eaten almost all over the world, for there
is hardly a port in the world where ships have not carried the canned
Salmon of the Columbia, which is the same fish under a different name ;
and not only has this fish, in the form of food, traveled nearly all over the
world, but the living embryos of the California Salmon have been trans-
ported to England, France, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Russia, Austra-
lia, and New Zealand, so that there is probably no one fish inhabiting a
limited locality which is known over the world in so many different places.
as the California Salmon. An admirable biography of this species by Mr.
Livingston Stone, may be found in the Quarto Fishery Report.
THE ARCTIC GRAYLING.
Drs Ch eines.
Effigiens oculis celeri umbra natatu.
Ausonius; The Moselle.
WO species of the genus Zhymal/us occur in North America, one, the
Arctic Grayling Z. signifer, the other the Michigan Grayling 7.
tricolor, the diagnostic characters of which are thus defined by Bean:
SPECIES OF GRAYLING.
A. Gill-rakers 22; pyloric coeca 19 ; maxilla 14 head ; mandible equal to anal base ; eye nearly equal to inter-
orbital space ; dorsal when laid back not reaching adipose fin. T. TRICOLOR.
aa. Gill-rakers 18 ; pyloric coeca 18 ; 3-10 head ; mandible much shorter than anal base; eye much less than
interorbital space ; dorsal when laid back reaching end of adipose fin. T. SIGNIFER.
The Arctic Grayling was first found by Capt. John Franklin’s expedi-
tion toward the North Pole, in 1819, and called 7hymallus signifer, by
Sir John Richardson, who thus describes its discovery :
«¢ This very beautiful fish abounds in the rocky streams that flow through
the primitive country lying north of the sixty-second parallel between
Mackenzie’s River and the Welcome. Its highly appropriate Esquimaux
name (‘ Hewlook-Powak,’) denoting * wing-lke,’ alludes to its magnificent
dorsal, and it was in reference to the same feature that I bestow upon it the
specific appellation of Szgvéfer or the ‘standard-bearer,’ intending also to
advert to the rank of my companion, Captain Back, then a midshipman,
who took the first specimen that we sawwith the artificial fly. It is found
only in clear waters, and seems to delight in the most rapid parts of the
mountain streams.’’ As is implied in these remarks, this species is re-
markable for its immense dorsal fin, which is nearly twice as high as the
body of the fish.
486 AMERICAN FISHES.
It is found generally in British America and Alaska, abundant north-
ward, and extending to the extremity of the territory.
THE TRICOLOR GRAYLING.
Thymallus tricolor occurs in the streams of the southern peninsula of
Michigan, and is abundant in Ausable River, and in the headwaters of the
Missouri in Montana.
It was described by Cope in 1865, but his notice, having been published
in the proceedings of a scientific society not generally read by sportsmen,
attracted but little attention. Popular interest was first excited in 1873,
by the discussions in ‘‘ Forest and Stream,’’ and by a letter from Professor
Agassiz, published extensively in the daily papers, acknowledging the
receipt of two specimens sent to him from New York through the agency
of Mr. Hallock, who had received them from Michigan. The subject
was then taken up by the newspapers, and the Grayling was soon well
known. A name closely associated with the study of the Grayling is the
honored one of the late James W. Milner. In 1871, Mr. Milner, in
company with Mr. D. H. Fitzhugh, of Bay City, Mich., visited the
Jordan River for the purpose of procuring specimens of this fish; but,
although many were seen in the clear cold waters, they could not be in-
duced to take the hook during the day spent on the river. In 1873 he
again visited this region, and subsequently published several popular
articles on the subject of ‘‘ Graylings of North America,’’ which consti-
tute a considerable portion of the very few essays finished by him, out of
the many which were planned, and interrupted by his untimely death.
Milner’s description of the habitat of the Grayling is excellent:
‘In the center of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan is an elevated plateau,
a sandy region, with a soil containing a very small per cent. of organic
THE GRAVLINGS. 487
matter, and covered with a forest of pines, generally the Norway pine,
Pinus resinosa, Linn., growing in grand dimensions, the long, limbless
shafts making wide boards, free from knots, yet but little utilized, while
immense forests of the favorite lumber material, white pine, Pinus str obus,
are yet uncut. From this plateau arise several large streams and rivers,
flowing each way into Lakes Huron and Michigan. Among these are
three rivers of note, the Muskegon, the Manistee, emptying into Lake
Michigan, and the Ausable, entering into Lake Huron. Among the minor
streams are the Cheboygan, Thunder Bay, and Rifle, tributary to Lake
Huron, and the Jordan, empyting through Pine Lake into the Traverse
Bays of Lake Michigan. A few branches and streams, spring-fed, are
formed, in which the water has a uniform degree of coldness throughout
the summer, seldom rising above 52°. Therivers Rifle, Ausable, Jordan,
Mersey, branch of the Muskegon, and the headwaters of Manistee, all have
this character, and in all of these, and only in this limited locality,
short of the Yellowstone region, is found the already famous Michigan
Grayling.”’
The town of Grayling, Mich., formerly called Crawford, is in the
midst of this district. and the headquarters of Grayling fishermen. The
Grayling is said to live also in Portage Lake, in the extreme northern part
of the State. These streams seem to be remarkably cold, being fed by
numerous springs. Milner found the Ausable to vary between 45° and 49°
morning and evening, in September; and Mr. Fitzhugh has remarked that
the south branch of this river, which rises in a swampy lake, contains no
Grayling except near its mouth, where its volume is swelled by large springs,
and its water becomes clear and cold.
The Grayling of Europe, Zhymallus vulgaris, is also restricted to cold
streams, and appears to be found within limited areas. It is found in
Norway, Sweden, Lapland, and the Oreades, in Switzerland and Hungary,
and southward to lakes Constance and Leman, in Bavaria. A Grayling,
possibly of different species, occurs in Lake Maggiore, and others have
been recognized from Russia and Siberia. It is constantly being discov-
ered in new localities. In England the species was formerly known as
the ‘‘ Umber.’’ ‘‘ And in this river be Umbers, otherwise called Grail-
ings,’’ wrote Holinshed, in ‘‘ The Description of Britaine,’? A. D. 1577.
The German name, ‘‘ Aesche,’’ has been thought to refer, like “‘Grayling,”’
to its color. ‘The European and American fishes are so similar that only
a trained ichthyologist can distinguish them, and their habits are very
much the same. Our Grayling spawns in April in the Ausable, that of
488 AMERICAN FISHES.
Europe in March and April, and sometimes, it is said, in May. Ours
rarely grows to the length of sixteen inches, and the largest Milner could
find weighed less than two pounds, the average length being ten or eleven
inches, with a weight of half apound. The European fish is said to grow
to eighteen inches long, and the weight of four pounds and one-half.
Milner remarks: ‘‘ Like the Brook Trout, their natural food consists of
the insects that light or fall upon the surface of the stream. Their stomachs
were found to contain broken and partially digested specimens of coleop-
tera, neuroptera, as well as the larve of species of the dragon-flies. There
were also found in their stomachs the leaves of the white cedar, 7hwa occt-
‘dentalis, which drop continually on the surface of the stream, and are
probably taken because the fish in their quick darts to the surface mistake
them for insects falling upon the water.’’ In France they are said also
to devour little mollusks and the eggs of fishes.
The propagation of the Michigan Grayling was attempted as soon as its
existence was known. Mr. Fred. Mather and Mr. Seth Green, always
pioneers in such enterprises, were the first to attempt it, and they were
soon followed by others, and the Grayling is now to be found in many
fish-cultural establishments. I saw two hundred fine yearlings at Wythe-
ville Wie In So.
There has been much discussion over the claims of the Grayling as a
game-fish, and also its excellence for food. It has many ardent admirers
and detractors. ‘The enthusiasm with which it was greeted ten years ago
has somewhat subsided, and it seems doubtful whether a vote of the guild
of American anglers would now place it in the first rank of noble fishes.
writes Mather, ‘‘ that sur-
2?
‘*There 1s no species sought for by anglers,
passes 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 love-
liness. When the well-lds were lifted, and the sun’s rays admitted, light-
ing 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 purphish-
pink on the fins, they displayed a combination of colors equaled by no fish
outside of the tropics.’’
SSS
Se
eS
Ss
=
THE LAKE WHITE FISH.
Gee Nike White FISHES, AND THE SMEETS;
Of venison Goldsmith may wittily sing,
A very fine haunch is a very fine thing ;
And Burns, in his tuneful and exquisite way,
The charms of a smoky Scotch haggis display ;
But ’tis often much harder to eat than descant,
And a poet may praise what a poet may want ;
Less doubt there sha!1 be ’twixt my Muse and my dish
While her powers, I invoke in the praise of White Fish.
Henry R. SCHOOLCRAFT.
HE White-fish of the Great Lakes, Coregonus clupeiformis is a well
known fish which has numerous representatives in the lakes of the
Great West, all of which will necessarily come into prominence as the
country becomes more densely populated, and all of which will doubt-
less in time come ander the attention of the fish culturist, though none
of them are of any especial interest to the angler.
Coregonus clupetformis (Mitchill) Milner, as has been said, is the most
important of its family. It inhabits the Great Lakes and British America,
and is replaced in Alaska by C. Richardsonit. This species has been
artificially reared, and widely distributed beyond seas, and is one of the
most important market fishes of the Upper Mississippi Valley.
Next in rank is the Coregoneus Artedi almost universally known as the
‘Lake Herring.’’ The name ‘‘Cisco’’ is also often applied to it,
especially about the smaller lakes, and in many regions also the name
490 AMERICAN FISHES.
99
‘‘ Michigan Herring.’’ The Lake Herring is one of the most abundant
fishes of the Great Lake region, probably second only to the White-fish
in importance as a food-fish. It goes in large schools, and is taken 1n
great numbers in comparatively shallow waters. It ranges northeastward
to Labrador, the eye becoming larger eastward. The sub-species szsco of
Jordan is a form modified by residence in small deep lakes in Wisconsin
and Indiana, and probably in Northern New England and New York.
Its usual length is little more than a foot. Its mouth is much larger than
that of the White-fish, and its range of food is doubtless greater. It
usually remains in deep water until in November and December, when
great numbers come near shore to spawn in the shallow waters. Asa
food-fish the Lake Herring ranks well, and although it is considerably
inferior to Coregonus clupeiformis, it 1s sent to market in immense
quantities.
Coregonus Hoyt, occurs in Lakes Michigan and Ontario, in deep water ;
in the lakes of Western New York (particularly Geneva Lake) where it
sometimes dies in great numbers. It is known as “ Frost fish’’ in some
parts of New York. i
The Mongrel White-fish, Coregonus tullibee, 1s a species occasion-
ally taken in the Upper Great Lakes, where it is generally considered a
hybrid between a White-fish and a Lake Herring, hence the name of ‘‘Mon-
grel White-fish.’’ It is a rare fish in collections, and nothing distinctive
is known of its habits. Its range extends northward, to Alaska, where
young have recently been taken in the Kowah River.
The Menomonee White-fish, Coregonus quadrilateralts, inhabits the
Lakes of New England, Upper Great Lakes, and is found northwestward
to Alaska; occurring at Kodiak Island in the Gulf of Alaska. It is re-
placed in the Rocky Mountain, and Sierra Nevada regions by C. W2ddiam-
sonit. The name of ‘‘ Round-fish’’ is given to it by Richardson, and
that of ‘‘ Shad Waiter’’ (Winnipiseogee Lake) by Prescott. In the Great
Lakes it is much less abundant than the common White-fish, and its size
is less than that of the White-fish.
Rocky Mountain White-fish, Coregonus Williamsoniz, occurs in the
upper tributaries of the Missouri and streams flowing into the Columbia ;
also in clear lakes from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific ; it is abundant
in the Sierra Nevada. This species is usually known as the White-fish ;
in Utahas the ‘‘ Mountain Herring.’’ It reaches a length of a little more
LEPE MY TA TE PLS LLL SAINI TL de SMEG Le Les,
than a foot, and a weight of about a pound. It iscommon in the market
of Salt Lake City, and sometimes comes into the San Francisco market.
It spawnsin October and November, running from the lakes into the small
streams for this purpose. As a food-fish it ranks well, being similar to
its Eastern relative, C. guadrilaterals.:
The ‘‘ Blue-fin’’ or ‘‘ Black-fin,’’ Coregonus nigripinnis, has thus far
been taken only in the deeper waters of Lake Michigan, and in deep
lakes near Madison, Wis. At times it comes in considerable numbers
to the Chicago market, but it is in general a rare species. It reaches a
much larger size than the Lake Herring, which it very closely resembles
in general appearance.
29
_—
The ‘‘ Inconnu’’ of the French trappers and voyageurs of the far north,
is the Stenodus Mackenziz, which inhabits the Mackenzie river and its tri-
butaries, Yokon and Kowak rivers, Alaska. It is a food-fish of great
value, said to reach forty pounds in weight.
The habits of the Coregoni are little understood. The publications of
the Fish Commission will give all that is of record, and also a fuil history
of what has been done in their artificial propagation.
THE SMELT.
The Smelt, Osmerus mordax, is found along our Atlantic coast from
Virginia to the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. The northern limit of its range
has not been precisely defined, although it is known to be extremely abund-
,ant along the northern shores of New Brunswick. . It is also found in many
of the fresh-water lakes of Maine, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia,
where they have become land-locked, and in some instances, as in Belgrade
Lake, Maine, seem to have rather been improved in size and flavor by the
change from salt to fresh water.
The Wilton Smelt of Wilton Pond, Kennebec County, Maine, and the
492 AMERICAN FISHES.
Cobessicontic Smelt are two of the land-locked forms which have received
specific names.
The European Smelt, O. efer/anus, which, though very similar in form
to our own, differs from it in the size of its scales, is found in Southern
Sweden, as far north as Christiania Fjord district, lat. 62°, and south as
the entrance to the river Loire, lat. 47°, ascending the Seine as high as
Rouen. It is the ‘‘Stint’’ and the ‘‘Spearling’’ of Germany, the
«‘Smelt’’ or f* Sparling ’’ of England, and the ‘‘Spiering’’ or ‘*Spearl-
ing’’ of Holland. It is found in the Baltic, and, entering the Gulf of
Finland, becomes a member of the fauna of Russia, and is found land-
9? ie)
locked in cool lakes, especially those of Norway, and alsoin many of the
lakes of Northern Germany, and even as far south as Bavaria.
The Smelt enters our rivers and brackish bays during the winter months
for the purpose of spawning, and at this period is caught in immense
quantities in nets and by hook and line.
It is to be regretted that no one has made careful observations upon the
beginning and close of the breeding season of this species at different
points along the coast, but the spawn appears to be deposited, generally,
late in the winter and early in the spring. The smelt fishery is increasing
yearly in importance, owing to the greater facilities for the transportation
of fish inice. As long ago as 1853, Storer stated that in Watertown, Mass.,
alone, about 750,000 dozen were annually taken in scoop-nets from the
first of March to the first of June. Perley, stated in 1852, that on
the Gulf coast of New Brunswick large quantities were used every season
as manure, while at the fishing stations in the Bay of Chaleur it was taken
in the seine, and used as bait for cod. At the present time, however,
there is an enormous shipment of Smelts from this region to the United
States, forty car-loads sometimes being received in New York in the course
of one winter. As early as 1864, according to a note from Mr. J.
Matthew Jones, quantities of Smelts were packed at Halifax for shipment
to the United States.
Although on account of its great abundance it sells in the markets at a
low price, it is among the very choicest of all our food-fishes.
The ‘‘ Green’’ Smelts, as they are called, or those which have never
been frozen, are much the more highly esteemed, especially those which
come from the Raritan Bay and other points in the vicinity of New York.
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Channel, name for Red Drum_ 102
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Spotte dusters testessn sere. 50, 102
SUrAWDEILY «....ccossscssees voseoness 406
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LAG EMG TUITE pe Foc acuusasecannshageaes eee 398, 399
BlAG les EUAPEY).ccr pasa sacevniniacaseecnese 39
Black WAY Snore eee streets sesrasssiccinestce 39
IBlaGKSrnithie ste eeea casero cieetswse clears 276
Manito WAM, 529 oc Aealsvonsess rreceues cet 361
TBI ORGIES. ccbbaerh aucHeasun, qyonncrob ogadke 394
ISH SIA 2 eS eec scoceses nae see cceater eves 151
IBOCCACIOG BOCCACCION tecms.-belesmsne 7 209
IBODUEK OM tesa ste sewecese an rer eet se oeeran 270
BOME=hiGlincaerossseceaserpensre oo unaeend 410
ORME caeceae-ciecsaccsesenaveneneccrasnet: 146, 206
BGH yo siSiier,, se tsaatslesesecsee savvertanremes 386
BOre gata .......0+ sss csecesecensees snescooes 269
KAM cocnasentorarastacnsente ve ssiserexnenei es 315
Bream Preshww atelier. cae c-sce eee 66
ali= Waters Ol Sedsce-msc(enecenees 53> 99
Bughishor BUSMeAads<. s.crs--jereseree 386
Brita lomishesie:. ccsaseage dannereseanaees 438
Builalo Wack ss ncsssseeccasence stesso ence 228
Bull-head>or Bull, Pout....2<.<. cs... 376
1BVONUE TR AOTUIE sedndens Gonconepe-coddog008 aoAc00 504
laquigecllll l aeaavnsccinpece cena eoucadaonueocEnane 296
ButtertiShieeyssseaecc se rcceneces reece 221262
Cabrillla ey. jesus modachseetesvessescuaensn acs 52
Caimppe WMC trenestratens seaeesse aerate? 71
Candle tis Tipe acess eceestse score we oe 271
Carangoid fishes........ ss. see. 226
Canpr-t-ce-seee ce oae 411
| Carp Sucker Gato. wee ne oem 437
Cat-fishes.. Saiogonsconons0 050N6 376
Givally...) Ree = 226
Cav aS ia eaanesean tess sad eesiaesoee: 233
(OSs <oye pen cannon cap oo apcousaooccc: 186
CTIATS -ccicsexoasues bonmeseee teres ac 469
Cerna nit concstcsceescectpscoesssseesconsesse 48
Chick wit cccoe ceiecceteravedeseess st oc III
ChingtapinyReticlieessccsessse-tserteers sc 69
CHO SSCE Re reese meawee rerceeaesaeeatenene 296
@howeech alee escrcsccecrsestesss-c sees 484
(Biol Oacascocee-coscoccns coocoOsocodade osecoHAS. 423
[OF iEYe| 8) Ancoctoud sep acche acy man yano Sarena ROneET 5Ad.
Goal-fishis ic ccusessnseceisstencbins: 145, 353
Goblasccctascccccocssorecarcsrsecdcctesn tee 144
Cod’ and ats) Kindred im rsescosns secs 333
(Gras SNe paqbonaes cecucrindn cb aceotosoe boodoonu. 266
GOBVINA grees ahaesrancdaescenessiserat enacts 121
@rab- Caen, vrepsacec pester ve eropaaiesnes 145
Grapple Nocaeencssoeeeees eters eeeeerecss 70
Creekfish cio cissc-cccoosaswee seeuos cues 43
Grevalleniicc: fecces'senancessstiecsseseess 209, 226
Groaker cassssueenscesc tecseeeeoncenes 133, 142
Callens © Gye, ats cae eure eee nee deceees 270
(@iii cals) eepeccasone-ceodeaenecay Uonbooceso0nS 296
sks Resake So eec att t cous das toasoee veseeee rues 358
CASSIUS Mae nctetnenceaatgs deeeeeapanvemee 235
TD ashen heres eccestenanssorcetee teen thease 152
ACS age en tpt n nwa cence we Nasintanede nan 25
TD aiylipdnt vecae-oeestsenteaenecone mented eal 326
LD Pay et aot ee serennenneecand cocapo ecto sca. 66
Ol hiner. tatu anes oneece aces 234
WOLE OF DOL yrecaces cree tives onecereate 14
POEUN cece 2h noe tehivoacans ete ee cee tears 136
AMERICAN FISHES.
494
Wirt, eC recteeecsseeneneeneacetaceemetc hot | Wine-fiSh ess. .oteecansesassosseeseconeeos 123
gett’ Mates cscencetee neste tte teees recs 92: ||| ip Pete. si-.<p-cadmoss ccmacseenteseseuesaes 441
[Pew RG) eaecenescnaacno chenounse sansadece coe ADS. | MISTING ec sesle cee careeseeer «cert eenc eee 452
a t-baCksececseegeeccstconacesorseet 265,306) | Krasnaya (Ry Dalcosc:c-+scenscieeccesiaosers 481
Plannels Mouths cences-sc-s cesses: TOs | AR AC Kes sos auiasecenseerseoeserns seaitensajeee tee 394
Flounders and Flukes.............. BIA ie 2e MGA NSIC Sracacwssss-dndoesecjaaesooss ee sncet 410
Frigate, MaGkerely. Scr. secscceses<ccmsns Bie Cal ayie (leu smosssescsackeceoseeasteecnenseeer 12
Frosthishistc scence eorusstioce reese toss AQ || Leamaplie btetetreceeccecesslscleceeo-teeece 69
Garrupa, various kinds’......-.....- 261-73) |) Weather jacketrc.cc--sesteoescceeeecees 234
GaSpeneaierancanssaissesnecssostecsssies Xora nial lat alsanten rece scceaeeeencacereecc nage 145, 270
GaspersOulrecmereaecesscasehtlsccnessccce 143 | Log-fish ‘ebrdncnocuopomeenecmeasaba | 21K 2)
GlASSzey Gspsarrecsscass sigs ctenreses Seeines Ta. || Leog=Perchievice.tec sacarecsetorees nas cseeoe 2M
Goemleseve meee cacsnnunits: 67,68, (69, 7ie §) OOO Willlsvrs-cccseesssceesat rersinarses 232
Gogele-eyedalackeessccis. seoncscee Ars || MA WNOS cop ce scaoaseoococce eceeccoceoacocon | 7h0)4
Goggler ..... Pa topaeaosenora rc oban tte oo .e DOS te WtG ORE coccente sarc secueceseseve-tacecseneceseassmtCS
GONGEATS IO cacset secre scsmsasne wecseawee ospees AI7 IS\VUUNPON rae prpacentebecnceoAcsaccencane 17
MOO CY sas citence ss orhen sto asest vsaeieemuccrens 129 | UT cesconnsacecesertescececes noemeeteeee 177
Grand te caillertscc cece sdsteewen ee: 406 | IDRIS ES heh coadeatnoncoccdaec aodeoncobces Ta)
Gra YUN Maies.salsssesseceencessssestesoese: 485 LOTHUEREUS: os5.000 273
HOCUS st, conecmparouesessto: aes seesee I51 lia l(ONAS\Staseo-pcoocosteooscbodueboneoctoaun conte 215
GECN-HEAGS oc .0cncmraccesnacinsacvenstanes 22 Horse (Anoplopoma).............. 271
ERCEN CAME at aadtse sc chono>syac-sasirc ete: 386 IMiRGy ARS) eNom ypnemooconbouce zon cet bab 187
GrSe isc. csisnseanaaass saawacwse suse desriee cs 451 SPAMMISH enscces ny ueeeccearenessncesneacaseonse 184
GHOUPEF. Fe-cerscerscosce dee cele tec AT Sle 52a AS Thin ble- Gy Ga ssscestecsscocssecncetessnes 177
Cole, Abte ogoc chooctipon i ebeonen uokegoandr 79, 82 Ginn Cage see ts cctreeeetccecercaees 177
GlaS a ee cessccrroscosparessseadoc sees taeteane Ho) | Mackinaw rOut...cccceacecerncecceerecene=-e-s 463
Gnitaye ee ssecewscce sa sesons vxce se oatdee Ole LAC ETIIOIS SINC ss secenentarerestececternenaeteerace 133
IEUANCLCIO C Kare wmnttte en ceitcenacs0eoGseese setsont 2a MIN Ie Whe el eeienereee erosrer ocr eee oer so eeercrerereecr co. 10g
MMi eae stay Outicycoatinlsldwnss soidicec se; gaee. 6d 12373590] MlalaSha Samay. cccs-e-sce-nacteea-eeleeeons 142
ERAIEMOON .sccrescoss:cseiesseesenl somes oad TOON ManerOVver olay pe lerccseces-tassacteecers 52
MUD Uta getchivcs «cue ederiedie cas 7 ieecet seb akc 307, | (Mareate fishi 7...sesacccseeseeencdeneess So
rai CCAM css suaceaeacacs(eseccoveters AGhs | INU RS AIS ISS 5. cote oncceb obbeere ceoccewodse 56
FAG Calle oho e cue everdeestaneetees ow sice vec 228 | Mattowacca...... Rac eeRAceenocee tone Doeoc: 404
FRA TVEStMS hh .ccsaare Meese cs ces vce tecass DoT LEG alta sce ceucelers «eee seerseereess rere)
Jeslisventelihdeceh 0 Wan anenoamcetedeced scott oe Digall WUSCILE Mallen oncnecosaandnce seated seeaes 234
EREGEIN GS) S capes csoeaaee taisaune verciaaeyss 28n + Mena Gem na.c.ceccccsneserereenetesaecees 385
Hickory Shad, ccevcsscc. eos Aon *|-MinnOWS 4252. hsaecctsseacwie se stviecesensteeee 420
FMIK SP Otte Miss «7, leiesaeae sesecsceacsesvere 501) |.) MLOMALTA a sa2t.ce.cnecyemiacoanise doneeemecieeinles 272
PlOS=CHOKERE.(E suri agrssesn-csessacsetees BO7) WE MOON-CY CE saaca aces incetonanimeneeteeadeds 187
MO Shines coast oecaeensicsscacnecioesorenne DTS Taal PVOOM=fS ieeaectesteseeetsescccecseeceetes 232,146
ITOTMEAIDAGEK aiats-saeacncseceeciets 4274|\sViossbumnk eters oodeenectectees 385
EPOrNWROUtH. cee cee mocleeceneoa re arth || MMIII sc eg neccredeacog0ac0 90000066 WAR, Se
THorsesey eas lack: .cccs-scssencensesss™® 228 ‘lp Muskellme@::<.3-.+s00.ssenoseeetecmeee 276
Fl Orsestishiceeseseackicnce ste eceneceeseonees AGO). || INE en AN/EIIS) Mncasoec0 cco0da. ced poG000 ooaGAC 463
FL OTSE-MEAG 2e.sscics selvastoae se sncecs Teoecs Bg Qa Wat to Nes pler-retesateer eeeeeee eres 71
Plorse-maclsenelinseecncensceascneer 275 NOtWay “lad dOCKccnscarsesscssotseses- 257
JACKE ai siachs onacenie deebeaceeetoaes cee oeeces 2600 |) Ombre Ghevaliietanccrdescseesesees 478
VEWSfiShie So .85 ccscsteterenesseepetne ences ako, lols) | (OUSNKMEROY IBEISS Acguenanac nosoconcc oasoondoacs 55
Jewel ehead ora -cccssssncceccessuseasveses 173 @LSeS O- BaSSicnass-a-nnsaeneesacesaceses 459
Tohn i Onyrgaseesussces eo ceceecn Cone ANGE || Vekeitelnk (0) CINIKNS) Sle ecscocgen cenoon cdoocedce 272
JorobadotArrccimereee eh tense 232 Namenon BlacksbassSessercescces: 56
Jp eris.c:. cae eee eae 55, 56 CINOENE ccoccemoagnoonnn | A
Jiu Cll. os3.3 erect nee eee eres 128 iD) dbiccmpersnaneesnccocnosse 142
KKH AGS Hi cenonetesetaneece tere teeere ah aees 422 Sunfish... c.cc- sees 66
Wine Cero. asset eceeet eeee 186 Blache aso 5 eee een eee 56
INDEX. 495
IPLESRElM ay ree fue couonanen Reed eacee roadsa cocaeaee || Red Breasts .<.c.awsessisrscsseoedenscccs 66
IRIE kes encconasaeatsennes aanbnccaccasan: rWikste [ley cre CID Fe(b ewhaec pre rie enetng-cocr pote aon oo 102
RIO acboccoa-ecodsaoneonblnctneesoo sodase 297 | REGEN Es. 5 ocenceccennensnninnn-p ston necincrrt 67,68
CLS ae ek nce aoe G ante ae srsemaee 7), WECM raaco creas dxeeneon- <p asrienai eer 431
GTM APM v2.6. .cccjen cocnee caw exsee Jo | hal SoC CIES Wosnscee oui cau scare oe ecap sec 102
(Go yesferl (ERENCES ganpeood Roododecc henoec 69 | Red Grouper ..........-. sseceeeee concerns 47, 52
Gray, name for Drum........... 142 | IREi6l FreVoNehU DY casce condesioonbe0 109060 onoHor oe 79
(GidEGIM; Grasugsos Baoneasen cooaqgans eaoooe Iaish \eias(clelel itetde) thasse-.5¢ sa.cecer-ioneoen eragermnon cn: 257
Tt ean-cetsreres cones neaone sears cenit 417 | Red-Snapper....... 2.000. seeseecee ceeeeees 73
1 Pill ef ehencSagabcracr cee: cuca engbecnoarcsoccues TAH EENINGD eernee ates icce<cmee seas ape seit er ote 267
[SEG esas ney errceceemesinadaee naecacn’ 2G OAC caer eiet ee eeceacscomecnchne eA ZO
ipyeraly [ore lhicys Peyrcepeet igo] eeerres Goul RG ball cater wee eercarere ace cease Ress 149
|PUnoteg et 6 Ute A ane peoriceneaeerocubsr eee 414 Ib Raise eee eat tee nia eds ae 22,56
Rue yeercee se tesice nec ele ae nesoceionsiecs Zirfe) \WURCLE 1S BIS Sco: Soanu atuocoore mene nen 68
SaCratlentOn =. <.2009baenesretien ene G7 WwOG ee ee eeec cate te earc- oa seererans 261
Sek Co pesere ta naee terion deteedien 71 Cyn lakes IPANGSUR©snocaquconcoseacasn sade 265,73
Siler -.csctacseececnusn cates eure eoviees ighe | USO) oun) 9 Gu ceos3s5- poseeneaeeteueore OT 22n a
Sey 1 anepetnad ecsoroccs cactsarsc noiebe 2 | Rack Salmon met an roe 233
StrawiDenty seen. oe seee ete GomisNOnCaGdoireree nected eae oA eo
SLI PEC crc. cc caswee seen st oes swepn see PRICOSE ISIN steerer tcercanuicuacnes ns ree ane
SU ate ese in ancee sean ae Gov eounid RODIMisesscearcseecsuseecs -c- corte L230
WILE cance taupe acaeteares speaees 35 | Rudder-fish... Mee ee
mame fOr Diiinis..-...ce-ccne- ene 141 | Runner.. 237
NGEINONG cansaseen cn copngacenieoubande cot I | Sac-a- -lait, : name for Crappie... ie
name for Black Bass............. 69 | Sah-quai... Rapa ooceere 481
Pesce Vermiclia’ ti: sem essck-sdscenede 265 Saibling........ aslo dstess persnetscee Statens caer AZO
PemiGoluradot.c:..- eee TORE i OAV LISH ‘couse ewes senses 240
Pic ere ep aenicsearcctas- cane acesemstaercet 276 || Sallor s Choice....... 7.80, 81, om ‘96, 99
Hamme forbike Perehis.. sss 14 SalmiGn teal ate sabre AL
Piss) Ses. nc en sect -=-thney arenes en aes 79, 81 Blicbacke uae aes ea 481
Pile ek. hee es, Seaman 274 | Californias eces: escenes«seeens 484
Namedor bike Perch: scm 4 | ChinnOoKesssiess eseoss cence ceou senso 484
Wall-eyed, name for Pike | DOP iectysescetacseeeecenctestsivenecs 480
letSigel Nee snednea a doaoconat codyseGconeC 14 Eigrdhendiet beeen 455
Pikes Perceive. cenecteoee eee 14 ERIM Pp DaGkite:t aedsen sce<e- satseerae 480
PHOS 5.2250 .2sase seas ceceews oceans 235. | INGID Aacmen ces csticenae cess si shies selene a «t 52
Pam sMSi a eoeccce senses ieee a eee 91,99 | PS a eee as men teen aamitels see 483
PIAVCE: aioicoe ccinceesenssieeescs-tescossenenens Bie Gere ee ance nacainthices reas 482
PGS yervencccls can) desieaiteican 0’ nontlen cuctomntee 385 ISGS tt layeteeerercassebtiscenise Senshase 482
POISSONUROUMPE 5.5ness 2s oun aeeserene tines 102 Pam@locked (scctossesessseuccss-0 445
POL OC Keen eee ee ne eer eee 305 | INTC Reh he sa Sane COCO core 481
POMPaMOSSrareceeaseenay eoseree rave seraane 198 RODIN acta eae sae se eesicibasa’s os ree 484
POGUE (eras den teecrccscscvaterlodees auaet 99, 100 SUVS Igy ach einen ance ciate oaecs eduincatces 483
St 2 | Oa sen rs SP ani 146 PHESINEAC Coccpescsreese +e Roasted sass 455
Porgy, Blannel Mouths... 20cs.29-0 So UNI etek tecs cass 14, 233, 483
Por eetishhees tee eee ee oes Sr. ||) Salmion= Wr Ouliseee sca s.cse0 sees cee ees 454
PriStl POU alee cgen coccceciewseens see eareeace Sk Wpoabine nn Galion a accs-cccescescovecsectes 394
Prresti Bish t-test .c-peavn coer SP 2OS> Sat SO e-eeree scree acer sncvos tetas duce.usecervecsncess SI
Pumpkin Se Gb vs ince .aiwoyatsnccrsnecse OAS 22d AUC Cleeecerct crete eceteestrcaenccntasccdiateccees 4 mS
Oualoch nse. uekscs ee eerdrosze res ASZw iF Savas Ma px cece tesces cacccshecaett-csasiss scorer ghAOO.
Queen HISD) 2555.53. 2steten. deer concrete T2SM PS AWAD Vee ceeeetestss ecco: coceeeeee 394
PO Feu | of: (el eer eee reer meer ere = Dat SCAG er eee ie kotor caine eae 231
Ouinnat Sais celorsiva sa setaeaties avusemnae aoe se ASABE SCALP) crore eitetiee arises verona ree 5
Rainbow Trout... AOR INS ChOG sae- sancsrece sreeacee stag oosrer a eeeee 338
Ravalga or Ravallia.................+. LAOw IPSC Din eee e nonterte tes eee oe ee cetae: 301
AMERICAN FISHES.
pean ee
ee ee
name ce “Butter- fish.
Skip Mackerel, name = for Bluefish
name for Rose-fish
Brown, name for Red Grouper
STOO LS ee eee eran oR Sere
Spanish Flag SEE oRaOL Sena cope eeaceenios
Sparad, name for Bonito
Spot, name for Red-fish
Squirrel-fish ........
Squit or Squitee
Star-fish, name for Butter-fish
Strawberry Bass
Baived nae nooo ad umonod odariadicE dong auooce
eee eee we eres weet ee wee eee we eens cee
name for Blunt-nosed Shiner.
SWOT GSMSIN a5 tases Seceeceteeeeeeaeees 239
Mailorishadeca-cacscccese-eace eens 405
Manpumy posocassnssnscciesaee tecmrcoste norte 406
|, ME AMEOSS.. vsous thas acstestts domes eoaeeaes 287
AoWwIVGKeTONTTA OXI? corcopopcodaceoones oo 142
A ii MOWth Ss. acetionsdeencaacen conee ners 71
MOR WS J ieecon wees cones nee eemene 463
Tom-cod, name for King-fish...123, 269,
| 349
AE E-fISHY cnc sasssassicss css caterenseen ateces 263
(eleriple-taili tes ecnscereseteteetncoeseece 148
| Trout, name for Black Bass.......... 55
Blacks eases cecsecmencseseecuseueeaee 458
Blackespotte@d?ss5-.5:.cs-- sesso 457-8
BROOK, sist cmeet-iesecresscuesesieceoes 456, 459
@ut throat fascascscscsevcciesneetos: 457
Dolly Viatdenteresseceseeseesenetees 475
GoOlGEN, occ cece cckeasescese teense 456
Greenlancivss.cusce-s secs ee 476
Grey, name for Squeteague... III
WalkeMiecd. ccacars scores tence 462
Walkie MabOra.cesiessersesteeenees 458
Tochwicevienerc-see-ccsse recone 459
Mackimawoccccea see coetheennee 462
Malina a ctconht cease nn ssectesenuneceees 475
Moumntaiintesecctee..cecesoscese neces 450
Raita OWitsseeesesecncacecsune coreeeeees 456
IRSKOY (GHeZNAG IS sopcccoescnosoncones sedge 456
Search shot eee a ee 461
name for Squeteague Ty
SHWRS cooneo of raldes ieebaws celeseeesenoeee 457-8
Speckled. iiiscinwsscensssesesscosers 469
PW allarcdieeeseer en cssckrer iaaecn coe et eee 486
gWinbobah) eonener soeertnas Meee acer seed bcn cos 215
AT UBIO 7 oc ec ake ducreces estenee teeter 319, 324
Wrialle@yie i isncctectoecsc seesetoose eter ence 13
AW eh eina@30 (0 Meencnouad sendauces cocBe haan caaoe 67
Nem SEE Nog Cannescepiconrinh hodacdcc oconbe acboc 49, 50
We alle taal Secs cect -soeneenar Ge ceceeccheeeore III
Wilaitestishn cece: ssssieccieoseneees I51, 386, 489
White (Perelyt.c.ccnseereas tore eacecee 35
Wihiitinter sjrassdcrcs ec tetece: Sith WAR. UA AA
AY aioWobb chic) oWecerapaenendcnadee scccadcas coaobc 445
WelllowaBass wivaccssesoscsictert os arecee 20
Wellow iin We casteisnte tos oesachee sees III
Yellow-taili....0..5. .csne.0:: 99, 131, 233, 368
Ol SZ SR casacstearcceestiscl sso aes eee oenee 14, 16
ne owit iy : v Si ae : f f, 7
P a La * - : : ae se 7
Tie 7 : 7 7 : : . : i
7] ; _ _ vis ‘ y ie +) ) “a us 7 Pe . i ‘ : ni ’
i Pn cae 8 ' - : it : , Vee on eye ii UNE Maria =f : a
a | Pe een a ee 7 vi! y vy 4 , en
oO > Ba \ no ; " 7 “ ys). y i ae : a ba ; Z
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ae Se Nl is 9 ‘ es ee ; - | a) ; } nee
= ; my . ; ' 7 mie i , .
ban ' fi ts vil 1 | wis ° Be y | u
: a ; 7 me* _ 1 i {ian ce! , 6 a
- = - x : > n ‘i’ a 7 7
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it : : a — Tmt. -va y Deed on Pe 1 €
Co : = > Vr) Ge erear
i t a oid uly : an
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a 7 | a i” mii a : 6 , o i oe
& a 7 7 7 - : - > a iP } »? or a
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- : aS ery Lee '
G -» Ls : . YY 7 y ’
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ae) fe) ' i uy is! Oates j
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