94 Papers from the Department of Marine Biology. 



figures come close to Labat's: "This fish grows to a large size; some of 

 them I have seen 10 feet in length, and some I was told are much larger; 

 though the more common length is that of about 6 or 8 feet." How- 

 ever, for present-day Bahama fish, Captain Wilson, who has seen hun- 

 dreds, writes me that the largest measured 6.5 feet. But, Fermin (1769) , 

 writing a few years after Catesby, says that along the coasts of Surinam 

 they were occasionally taken approximately 15 feet in length. These 

 were certainly giants. 



A photograph was made of the 55-inch specimen (38 pounds), but 

 the photographer in developing the plate unfortunately broke it. 

 Figure 1, plate i, is a photograph of a medium specimen which, how- 

 ever, contrasts well in size with the 11-year-old boy standing be- 

 side it. These fish, however, were small compared to the one figured 

 by Wood-Jones. (See figure 2, plate i, of this paper.) Saville- 

 Kent (1893) does not portray the Australian form, but notes that it 

 sometimes attains a weight of 50 pounds, from which one may judge 

 that such would be between 6 and 7 feet long. Giinther (1877) quotes 

 Andrew Garrett that the Polynesian form (probably S. commersonii) 

 grows to 8 feet in length and 40 pounds in weight. This must be a 

 very slender fish, as is the California S. argentea (maximum length 5 

 feet). However, the form found on the west coast of Africa grows 

 larger. Biittikofer measured a S. jello, caught in the mouth of Cape 

 Mount River, Liberia, which was 10 feet long. 



However much the authorities may vary in their estimates of the size 

 of the barracuda, all agree that that size is great, though it does not 

 have the bulk of the jewfish nor that of some of the great groupers, and 

 when along with its size consideration is given to its remarkable 

 swiftness and its implacable temper, it must be acknowledged (the 

 sharks alone possibly excepted) as the real ruler of the Gulf- 

 Caribbean waters. 



THE BARRACUDA DANGEROUS TO MAN. 



All the various recitals above will lead the reader to ask if this fish 

 is not dangerous to man. The answer is that in southern Florida it is 

 more feared than the shark. If the reader will now turn to figures 7, 

 8, 9, and 10, plate in, showing the teeth, and to pages 62 and 63, on 

 which the formidable dental armature of this fish is described, he will 

 find abundant reason for the dread generally had for this ferocious fish. 

 But he needs to be informed of the utter fearlessness of the fish, of its 

 ferocity, and of its insatiable curiosity. 



The ordinary shark is usually an arrant coward. If a shark is 

 "hanging around" a boat or wharf, and a man falls overboard or any 

 large object is thrown overboard, generally that shark will depart in 

 a panic. One day, when we were cruising around off the municipal 

 slaughter-house at Key West, where there were some half dozen 10- 



