Sphyrcena barracuda; its Morphology, Habits, and History. 89 



Blittikofer (1890) says the same for this fish in Liberia. 



In his "Introduction to the study of fishes" (1880), Gunther notes 

 that barracudas are commonly used as food, but sometimes (particu- 

 larly in the West Indies) their flesh manifests poisonous qualities due 

 to their having preyed on poisonous fishes ; but as to the South Seas 

 form (probably S. commersonii) he apparently quotes Andrew Garrett 

 (1877), that it is freely eaten and highly valued as a food-fish. 



Saville-Kent (1893), writing of this same form, affirms that in eastern 

 Australia it is much esteemed as a food-fish. Macgillivray (1852) 

 bears similar testimony for the Australian barracuda. 



Bullen (1904) says that he has eaten the barracuda in the West 

 Indie?, around New Zealand, at the Cape of Good Hope and else- 

 where, and has always found it a palatable food-fish. It seems to be 

 especially prized for this purpose in Australia and New Zealand. In 

 this. Ward (1907) is in hearty agreement. The California species, 

 it may be noted in passing, is also excellent for the table. 



In this connection Jordan (1905, u, p. 223) notes that the flesh of 

 larger forms is often difficult of digestion and when eaten frequently 

 results in serious illness. Of smaller specimens "The flesh is firm, 

 delicate, and excellent in flavor." In the first volume of the same work 

 (A guide to the study of fishes), Jordan discusses in very illuminating 

 fashion the various forms of poisoning due to eating fishes. Quoting 

 from Dr. Jacques Pellegrin, he says: 



"The flesh of fishes soon undergoes decomposition in hot climates. The 

 consumption of decayed fish may produce serious disorders, usually with 

 symptoms of diarrhoea or eruptions of the skin. There is in this case no 

 specific poison, but the formation of leucomaines [ptomaines?] through the 

 influence of bacteria. . . . It is especially severe in certain very oily fishes, 

 as . . . [the barracuda]. The flesh of these and other fishes occasionally 

 produces similar disorders through mere indigestion. In this case the flesh 

 undergoes decay in the stomach." 



I have not been able to find Pellegrin's paper (Les Poissons Veneneux, 

 Paris, 1899), but the abstract of it in "Revue Scientifique" for the 

 following year contains for the barracudas the mere statement that the 

 poisonous qualities of the flesh of these fish have an origin very diffi- 

 cult to establish. 



In a recent bulletin of the New York Zoological Society (Nov. 1916) 

 Mr. L. L. Mowbray examines with some care the matter of fish poison- 

 ing, which he calls "Ichthyotoxismus." Mr. Mowbray is an experi- 

 enced collector of fishes for the New York Aquarium and has operated 

 for man}'' years in the Bermudas, Bahamas, and Florida Keys, partic- 

 ularly around Key West. He has studied at some length in all three 

 localities the question of poisoning following the eating of fishes, par- 

 ticularly the barracuda, and has corne to the conclusion that it is simply 

 ptomaine poisoning. Mr. Mowbray's data are so definite, so much to 



