UNUTILIZED FISHES. 23 



2."i cents for a mackerel and more than 10 or 12 cents for a pound of cod or 

 haddock. 



If Massachusetts would pay as much to exterminate these dogfish as they do 

 to exterminate the brown-tail moth, I think the money would be spent for a 

 much better purpose. I think I have not exaggerated one word in this letter 

 in regard to the damage this fish is doing to the community. I think there is 

 no pencil can give him his due. He is not even fit to make guano of. 



The facts show that the horned dogfish is not hated without due 

 cause. Not only does it devour and drive away valuable food fishes 

 and bait, but it robs and injures or destroys the nets, seines, trawls, 

 and other fishing gear to such an extent that the fishermen all along 

 the coast from Cape Cod to Newfoundland are crying for means to 

 rid them of this " j:>est." Canada has decided upon a plan of action, 

 and measures are under consideration elsewhere. These will be 

 discussed in a later chapter of this report. 



THE SUMMER SKATE. 



CHARACTERS OF THE FISH. 



The summer skate {Raja erinacea) has a broad, flat body, rhom- 

 boidal in outline, from which extends a rather long tail. The upper 

 parts are variously armed with sharp spines. The color is a light 

 brown above, with small round spots of dark brown ; the under parts 

 are White. The mouth, with its much-curved jaws, is small and ven- 

 tral in position. The teeth are small, and all are blunt in the females, 

 though in the males the middle ones are sharp. They are adapted, 

 as in the smooth dogfish, for crushing rather than for seizing and 

 holding prey. The nostrils open on the ventral side of the head in 

 front of the mouth, with the corners of which they are connected by a 

 groove. Five pairs of gill slits are visible behind the mouth. Two 

 apertures, the spiracles, open dorsally, one behind each eye. The 

 broad flaps on the sides of the body constitute the pectoral fins. The 

 posterior or pelvic pair of fins lie ventrally on either side of the 

 cloacal opening. In the males the inner sides of these fins are 

 modified into stiff rods, called claspers, which together serve as an 

 organ of copulation. In length the summer skate measures from 1 to 

 2 feet, the females being larger than the males. This fish, because 

 of its flat body, ventral mouth, spiracles through which water may be 

 inspired from above, dorsally placed eyes, and the whole upper 

 surface pebbly in appearance, is admirably adapted to live on the 

 bottom of the ocean. It is abundant on the Atlantic coast from 

 Maine to Virginia, and is known to the fishermen by the names 

 " bonnet " and " tobacco box." 



