YOUNG SWORD FISH IN THE WESTERN ATLANTIC. 347 



In August, 1878, a small specimen of the mackerel shark, Lamna cornubica, 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 a question I cannot answer. 



Liitken speaks of a very young individual taken in the Atlantic, latitude 32 50' N., longitude 

 74 19' W. This must be about 150 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras. 



SIZE IN THE MEDITERRANEAN. In the Mediterranean, near Sicily and Genoa, young fish, 

 ranging in weight from half a pound to twelve pounds, are said to be abundant between November 

 and March. 



About La Ciotat and Martigues, in the south of France, many are taken too small to injure 

 the fishing-nets, and very rarely reaching the weight of 100 pounds. 



From the statements of Bloch and later writers it appears that large Sword-fish also are 

 abundant in the Mediterranean. Late Italian fishery reports state that the average weight of 

 those taken on the coast of Italy is 50 kilograms (110 pounds). 



Of the coasts of Spain and Portugal Steindachner remarks: " More abundant on the southern 

 coasts of Spain than on the northern, western, and eastern sides of the Iberian Peninsula. We 

 saw quite large examples in the fish-markets at Gibraltar, Cadiz, Lisbon, La Corufia, and Barcelona, 

 and at Santa Cruz, Teneriffe. The largest of three specimens iu my possession is forty- three 

 inches long, another twenty-four inches." * 



RATE OF GROWTH. Little is known about the rate of growth. The young fish taken in 

 winter in the Mediterranean, ranging in weight from half a pound to twelve pounds, are thought 

 to have been hatched during the previous summer. Those of a larger size, ranging from twenty- 

 four to sixty pounds, taken on the New England coast in the summer, may perhaps be the young 

 of the previous year. Beyond this, even conjecture is fruitless. As in other species, the rate of 

 growth depends direcbly upon the quantity of food consumed. It is to be presumed that a summer 

 passed in feasting among the crowding schools of menhaden and mackerel in our waters would 

 bring about a considerable increase in weight. That this is the case is clearly shown by the 

 testimony of the fishermen, who say that in the spring Sword-fish are thin, growing fatter and 

 heavier as the season goes on. 



Dr. Liitken and Dr. Gunther have lately made some exceedingly interesting observations 

 upon the young of the Sword-fish and of the Spear-fish and Sail-fish. 



Dr. Gtinther's studies were made upon very small specimens of undetermined species, 

 belonging to either Tetr upturns, Histiophorm, or both. In his latest work, "The Study of Fishes," 

 he summarizes the facts observed by him as follows: 



"The Sword-fishes with ventral tins (Histioplwrus] belong to the Teleosteans of the largest 

 size. In young individuals, nine millimeters long, both jaws are produced and armed with pointed 

 teeth, the supraorbital margin is ciliated, the parietal and preoperculum are prolonged into long 

 spines, the dorsal and anal fins are a long fringe, and the ventrals make their appearance as a pair 

 of short buds. When fourteen millimeters long the young fish has still the same armature of the 

 head, but the dorsal fin has become much higher, and the ventral filaments have grown to a great 

 length. At the next stage, when the fish has attained to a length of sixty millimeters, the upper 

 jaw is considerably prolonged beyond the lower, losing its teeth, the spines of the head are 

 shortened, and the fins assume nearly the shape which they retain in mature individuals. 



'Sitzungsb. d. k. Akad. d. Wissensch., Wein, 1B68, p. 396. 



