164 



FISHES OF AUSTRALIA. 



in the collection of the New South Wales Department of 



Fisheries. 



The Horse-Mackerel abounds in such widely-separated 

 localities as New Zealand, Japan, San Francisco, Chile and 

 Patagonia. 



In America, where it is called the "California Bonito, ' 

 large numbers are salted and dried for human consumption, 

 and there appears to be no reason why the same should not 

 be done here. During the summer and the autumn, large 

 numbers are captured by trolling, among the Santa Bar- 

 bara Islands, off the coast of California. 



Fig. 59. HORSE-MACKEREL (Sarrla 



When freshly taken from the water the Horse Mackerel 

 is a strikingly handsome fish. The colour of the back is 

 a dark metallic blue ; the sides being dusky and the belly 

 silvery. There are a number of dark stripes running 

 obliquely upward and backward from the pectoral region 

 to the upper edge of the tail; these stripes being variable 

 both in number and direction. 



The Bonito : This fish is somewhat larger than the 

 last-mentioned, and as far as the New South Wales coast, 

 at least, is concerned occurs in shoals at more frequent 

 intervals. As it is considered by our fishermen to be of little 

 value, it is very rarely to be seen in our fish markets. How- 

 ever, as it is a game-fish of some worth, advantage is usually 

 taken of its presence in our harbours by numbers of amateur 

 line-fishermen, who derive a considerable amount of sport 

 from its capture. 



Having a very wide geographical distribution as is the 

 case with most scombroid fishes it is known from many 



