Fishes as Food for Man 



3 2 9 



swordfish (Xiphias gladius), the halibut (Hippoglossus hippo 

 glossus), and the king-salmon, or quinnat (Oncorhynchus tschawy- 

 tscha], may be placed first. Those people who feed on raw fish 



FIG. 213. Pescado bianco, Chirostoma humboldtianum (Val.). Lake Ohalcu, 



City of Mexico. 



prefer in general the large parrot-fishes (as Pseudoscarus jordani 

 in Hawaii), or else the young of mullet and similar species. 



Abundance of Food-fishes. In general, the economical value 

 of any species depends not on its toothsomeness, but on its 

 abundance and the ease with which it may be caught and pre- 



FIG. 214. Red Goatfish. or Salmonete. P&endiipencus maculatus Bloch. 

 Family Mullid<e (Surmullets). 



served. It is said that more individuals of the herring (Clupea 

 harengus in the Atlantic, Clupea pallasi in the Pacific) exist than 

 of any other species. The herring is a good food-fish and when- 

 ever it runs it is freely sought. According to Bjornson, wherever 

 the school of herring touches the coast of Norway, there a village 

 springs up, and this is true in Scotland, Newfoundland, and 



