170 



FISHES OF AUSTRALIA. 



solidity and strength of the weapon, the weight of the 

 body behind it, and the enormous power and great speed 

 of this fish, are considered, the thing appears fairly simple. 

 On the east coast of the United States of America a 

 fishery for the capture of these fishes exists, and large num- 

 bers are caught annually. There is also a small fishery in 

 the Straits of Messina in the Mediterranean Sea. "The 

 apparatus ordinarily employed for the capture of the 

 Swordfish is simple in the extreme. It is a harpoon with 

 a 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 a man 



Fig. (jl. SPEARFISH OB SWORDFISH (Tetrapturus indicus). 



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." (Goode.) 



The "spear" is formed by a prolongation of the upper 

 jaw. In very young specimens both jaws are slightly pro- 

 duced and the eyes are of a great size, and as the little 

 fish grows, its eyes become relatively smaller, while the 

 upper-jaw grows longer and longer. 



Amongst the various species of Spearfishes, is one 

 known as Tetrapturus indicus. This species is widely-dis- 

 tributed and amongst other localities is known to occur occa- 

 sionally on the coast of Australia. In this fish, the spear 

 is considerably shorter than it is in the typical species, 

 before-referred-to, though it is exceedingly stout and power- 

 ful. During 1905 a fine example of this Spearfish was cap- 

 tured in Port Jackson, by a fisherman named Skinner, re- 



