HOW TO COLLECT FISHES. 85 



HOW TO COLLECT FISHES. 



By President DAVID STARR JORDAN, 



LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY. 



[~N the collection of fishes, three things are vitally necessary a keen 

 *- eye, some skill in adapting means to ends, and some willingness 

 to take pains in the preservation of material. 



In coming into a new district the collector should try to preserve 

 the first specimen of every species he sees. It may not come up again. 

 He should watch carefully for specimens which look just a little differ- 

 ent from their fellows, especially for those which are duller, less 

 striking or with lower fins. Many species have remained unnoticed 

 through generations of collectors who have chosen the handsomest or 

 most ornate specimens. In some groups, with striking peculiarities, 

 as the Trunk-fishes and Porcupine-fishes, practically all the species 

 were known to the predecessors of Linnaeus. No collector could pass 

 them by. On the other hand, new gobies or blennies can be picked up 

 almost every day in the lesser known parts of the world. For these 

 overlooked forms, herrings, anchovies, sculpins, blennies, gobies, scor- 

 pion-fishes, the competent collector should be always on the watch. If 

 any specimen looks different from the rest, take it at once and find out 

 the reason why. 



In most regions, the chief dependence of the collector is on the 

 markets, and these should be watched most critically. By paying a 

 little more for unusual, neglected or useless fish, the supply of these 

 will rise to the demand. The word passed along among the people 

 of Onomichi, in Japan, that ' Ebisu the fish-god was in the village ' and 

 would pay more for Okose (poison Scorpion-fishes) and Umiuma (Sea- 

 horses) than real fishes were worth soon brought (in 1900) all sorts 

 of Okose and Umiuma into the market when they were formerly left 

 neglected on the beach. Thus with a little ingenuity the markets in 

 any country can be greatly extended. 



The collector can, if he thinks best, use all kinds of fishing tackle 

 for himself, hooks, flies, bait, seines, traps, anything that will catch 

 fishes. In Japan he can use the 'dabonawa' long lines, and secure 

 the fishes which were otherwise dredged by the Challenger and Alba- 

 tross. If dredges or trawls are at his hand he can hire them and use 

 them for scientific purposes. He should neglect no kind of bottom, no 

 conditions of fish life which he can reach. Especially important is the 



