FISHERIES OF KEY WEST. 5 



3. Tylosurus marinus (Walbaum). Houndfish; Garfish; Needlefish. 



The houndfish is common about Key West and other Florida keys. 

 It is not highly regarded as a food fish and therefore is but rarely 

 eaten. Usually only large examples, about 3 feet in length, are to 

 be found in the markets. Several smaller species (T. notatus and 

 T. timiwu) are common, but never appear in the markets. T. raphi- 

 doma and T. acus, each attaining a length of 4 feet or more, are 

 sometimes utilized for food. Although unimportant in the markets, 

 all these species are good food fishes. On a dark and quiet night 

 when rowing or poling a small boat these fish are commonly struck 

 while swimming at the surface. On such occasions they rather 

 startle one with their vigorous splashes over the surface gradually 

 dying out in the distance, like stones skittered over a pond. Hound- 

 fish are taken in seines and with hook and line, but they take only a 

 moving bait. 



Range. — T. marinus is found from Casco Bay (Me.) to Texas, 

 and is generally common from Chesapeake Bay southward. The 

 other species mentioned are common from the Florida keys to Brazil, 

 sometimes straying to North Carolina and northward. T. acus is 

 recorded from as far north as Nantucket, Mass. 



4. Mugil curema Cuvier and Valenciennes. White mullet; Silver 

 mullet. 



The silver mullet is abundant about Key West and all the other 

 Florida keys, where the annual catch is nearly as great as that of 

 the striped mullet (31. cephalus). It is taken with gill nets in 

 brackish or salt water throughout the year. It prefers protected 

 regions in bays, rivers, and about islands, and generally travels in 

 schools over shallow bottoms, stirring up the mud in a search for 

 food. Sometimes schools of a few hundred or a thousand fish simul- 

 taneously leave the water with a single jump, falling back with a 

 resounding splash. Most of the spawning is believed to occur dur- 

 ing May and June along the Florida keys, but no gravid fish have 

 been observed. The silver mullet is a food fish of some importance 

 in Key West, where it is sold either salted or fresh. Maximum size, 

 about 14 inches; average, about 1(H inches. 



Range. — Cape Cod to Brazil ; Lower California to Chile. 



5. Mugil cephalus Linnaeus. Mullet ; Jumping mullet ; Striped mullet. 



The striped mullet is fairly common among the Florida keys, but 

 is not taken in large quantities in the immediate vicinity of Key 

 West. The bulk of the catch is taken with gill nets. The striped 

 mullet is an excellent food fish, and commercially it is the most 

 valuable fish caught within the State of Florida. The mullet fishery 

 is described elsewhere in this paper. Maximum size, 10 pounds; 

 average size among Florida keys, 1| pounds. 



Range. — Widely distributed. Coasts of southern Europe and 

 northern Africa; Atlantic coast of America from Casco Bay (Me.) 

 to Brazil, and in the Pacific from Monterey to Chile. Abundant 

 from Virginia to Texas. 



