20 UNUTILIZED FISHES. 



was about fifteen days later than in the previous year), and were never 

 before so plentiful. They remain all summer and leave about the 

 last of November. Mr. II. E. Duff, of Petit de Grat, Cape Breton, 

 Canada, writes that in that region — 



They appear in small numbers about the middle of July, getting more 

 plentiful later on, say September, October, and November. They disappear 

 say December, as we get them at times when winter fishing is going on. 

 They are here at the time of our mackerel fishing, summer and fall. There 

 is no fishing for dogfish for any purpose — only fishermen growling and swearing 

 at the dogfish. 



FEEDING HABITS. 



Storer. in his History of the Fishes of Massachusetts (1867), states 

 that the food of the horned dogfish is Ci mackerel and other fishes and 

 offal and garbage thrown upon the bottoms by the fishermen." Goode 

 (1887) says that it preys upon cod. Cunningham (1896) says it preys 

 upon such small bony fishes as herring and pilchard. Smith (1898) 

 says : " When the horned dogfish first comes in May, it feeds largely 

 on ctenophores." Linton (1901) found bits of eel grass and the test 

 of a young sea urchin in one specimen, and states that Mr. C. F. 

 Silvester reports having found fish of various kinds in the stomachs 

 of dogfish from Provincetown. 



Biologists, however, have given comparatively little space to this 

 subject. The character of the food of this dogfish is best known 

 through the observations and experiences of the fishermen. Wolf- 

 like in their habits, roving in great schools, constantly in search of 

 prey, these fish have wrought such havoc to the mackerel, herring, 

 cod, haddock, and other fisheries all along the coast that there is 

 no question in any fisherman's mind as to what the horned dogfish 

 eats. In the Fish Commission Bulletin for 1884 Captain Collins 

 tells of a great school of dogfish which, completely surrounding a 

 school of mackerel, closed in on all sides and from underneath and 

 devoured almost the entire school. According to Captain Collins, a 

 similar performance was twice Avitnessed off Wood Island by Capt. 

 Joseph Smith, of Gloucester. The Report of the Commissioner of 

 Fisheries for 1903 tells how a fleet of fishing boats about Mount 

 Desert Rock was driven from the fishing grounds b}' horned dogfish 

 early in July and could not return again until well into September. 

 The dogfish took both the bait and the trawls and attacked the fish 

 that had been caught, which in this case were principally haddock 

 and hake. All that the fishermen could get were heads of haddock 

 and hake and a great many worse than worthless dogfish. 



While at Provincetown, August 20, 1903, I had opportunity to 

 make some observation of the abundance and voracious habits o*f this 

 -fish. Captain Kelley took a fishing party out in his sloop to a point 

 in the harbor about 500 feet from the shore, where stands the harbor 



