BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 79 



'So seining is done at Key West, not a seine being owned on the 

 island. Some fishing with cast-nets is done during the time of the mul- 

 let runs, the following species being mainly taken : The Callifaver Mul- 

 let (il/w/f/// flZ//M7«) ; the Blue-back Mullet {3Iugil hrasiliensis); the Fan- 

 tail Mullet {Mngil liza'i); the Bone-fish {Albula vulpes); the Broad Shad 

 {Gerres cinerens)-, the Balao {HeniirJiamphns^halao), and occasionally 

 some Grunts and Gars. Cast-nets are used also for securing bait ; the 

 species mostly taken being the "Pilchard" {Clupea pensacolw), and the 

 " Sardines" {Stolephorns browni and Atherina stipes). King-fish flesh is 

 considered good bait. 



Among the fishes frequently taken, but for one reason or another not 

 considered food-fishes, may be mentioned the following: The Swelling- 

 fish {Tetrodon nephelus); the Shell-fish {Ostracium trigonum); the Cow- 

 fish [0. tricorne); the Leather-fish {Monacanthus hispidus, and M. ocilia- 

 tus); the Parrot-fishes {Scarus cceruleus, JS. guacamaia, iS. croicensis, and 

 others); the common Shad {Gerres gula); the Slippery Dick {Platy- 

 glossus bivittatus); the Toad-fishes [Batraclius tau, Scorpcena grandi- 

 cornis, IS. stearnsi, and S. plumieri) ; the Squirrel (Holocentrum); the 

 Leather-jacket {OligopUtes saurus)', the Hard-head {Chriodoriis) ; the 

 Gar-fish {Tylosurus notatus); the Balaos ("Ballahoo") {Heniirhamphus 

 balao and unifasciatus) ; the Green Moray (Siderafimebris) ; the Tarpum 

 {Megalops atlaniicus) ; the Miller's Thumb [Synodus cubanus) ; the Catfish 

 {Arius felis) ; and several kinds of Sharks and Eays. Sharks swarm 

 about the wharves, feeding on refuse fishes, every fish which dies in 

 the wells being thrown overboard by the fishermen. Especially abund- 

 ant are Carcharias lamia, C. brevirostris, C. punctatus {terrce-novce), and 

 Spliyrna tiburo. 



The names applied to the different species have at Key West a fix- 

 ity of meaning which is not usual along the American coast. Generally 

 each name used is applied to a single species and to no more, and most 

 of these names have a high antiquity. They are now used for the 

 same species in the Bahamas (whence most of the Key West fishermen 

 have come), and the same names were in use there more than one hun- 

 dred and fifty years ago at the time of the visit there of Mark Catesby. 

 The Hogflsh, the Margate-fish, the Tang, the Shad, the Pilchard, the 

 Bone-fish, the Lane Snapper, the Mutton-fish, the Mangrove Snapper, 

 the Pudding Wife, are still commonly known here by the names given 

 by Catesby, although these names are seldom applied to the same fishes 

 elsewhere along the coast of the United States. From the catalogue of 

 the fishes of the Bermudas, by Professor Goode, it appears that the 

 same general nomenclature of the species is current in the Bermudas. 

 From this, the common origin of the fishermen of the Bahamas, Ber- 

 mudas, and Florida Keys is naturally to be inferred. 



There are but few Cuban fishermen in Key West, but as fully half of 

 the customers at the wharf are Cubans, a Spanish nomenclature is also 

 current. As this agrees fully with that given by Professor Poey, as in 

 use at Havana, I need say little in regard to it, except that it, too, 



