THE BLUE FISH. 



i53 



his work on the "Fishes of New York." published in 1787. Dr. 

 Mitchill recorded their frequent capture about New York in 1814, though 

 before 18 10 they are said to have been unknown there. In 1825 they 

 were very abundant and in 1841 immense numbers were captured in the 

 Vineyard Sound, while about Nantucket they were on the increase from 

 1S20 to 1830. It is certain that they had not reappeared in 1S22 in Nar- 

 ragansett Bay, for in "Dwight's Travels," it is stated that, though 

 formerly abundant, they had not been seen in that region since the time 

 of the Revolution. 



The first one which was noticed north of Cape Cod was captured in 

 October 1837, though we have no record of their appearance about Cape 

 Ann before 1847. 



The Bluefish is a carnivorous animal of the most pronounced type, feed- 

 ing solely upon other fish. Prof. Baird remarks : 



" There is no parallel in point of destructiveness to the Bluefish among 

 the marine species on our coast, whatever may be the case among some of 

 the carnivorous fish of the South American waters. The Bluefish has been 

 well likened to an animated chopping-machine, the business of which is 

 to cut to pieces and otherwise destroy as many fish as possible in a given 

 space of time. All writers are unanimous in regard to the destructiveness 

 of the Bluefish. Going in large schools, in pursuit of fish not much 

 inferior to themselves in size, they move along like a pack of hungry 

 wolves, destroying everything before them. Their trail is marked by 

 fragments offish and by the stain of blood in the sea, as. where the fish is 

 too large to be swallowed entire, the hinder portion will be bitten off and 

 the anterior part allowed to float away or sink. It is even maintained, 

 with great earnestness, that such is the gluttony of the fish, that when the 

 stomach becomes full the contents are disgorged and then again filled. It 

 is certain that it kills many more fish than it requires for its own support. 



'•'The youngest fish, equally with the older, perform this function of 

 destruction, and although they occasionally devour crabs, worms, etc.. the 

 bulk of their sustenance throughout the greater part of the year is derived 

 from other fish. Nothing is more common than to find a small Bluefish 

 of six or eight inches in length under a school of minnows making con- 

 tinual dashes and captures among them. The stomachs of the Bluefish of 

 all sizes, with rare exceptions, are found loaded with the other fish, some- 

 times to the number of thirty or forty, either entire or in fragments. 



