66 



NA T URE-S TUDl ' RE VIE W ' 



[12:2— Feb., 1916 



United States Fish Commission who found it to be Lopholatilus 

 chamaeleonticeps (crested tilus with a head like a chameleon). 



The Tilefish was at once appreciated and efforts made to locate 

 the fishing grounds but before much was done the fish was practi- 

 cally exterminated by a mysterious coastal slope disturbance. 

 More than a billion and a half tile were found floating dead upon 

 the surface of the water. The Tilefish is a bottom dweller accus- 



Courtesy N. Y. Zoological Society 

 Fig. 2. Spiny Boxfish in N. Y. Aquarium 



tomed to warm water: it finds a congenial temperature where the 

 Gulf Stream touches the sea bottom. 



There is evidence that about the time of the decimation of the 

 Tilefish the Gulf Stream was receding from the coast : as it moved 

 off-shore its warmth no longer touched the bottom so the Tilefish 

 was left in chilly waters. A few years later, in 1892, the Gulf 

 Stream once more bathed the New England coast and with its 

 return came the Tilefish. Whether the straying of the Gulf 

 Stream was, or was not responsible for this "tragedy of the sea," 

 the return of the current to its old course was coincident with the 

 return of the fish, and now it is as numerous as ever. 



Another interesting arm of the fish family is composed of the 

 Groupers. Yellow-fin Grouper is the tribe leader and is fairly 



