THE HAR VEST FISHES. 2 2 3 



New York. Mitchill referred to it in his work on the fishes of New York, 

 published in 181 5, saying that it derived its common name, " Harvest- 

 fish," from the fact that it usually appeared during harvest time. DeKay, 

 too, mentions having had several specimens in his possession. It is 

 somewhat abundant at the mouth of the Chesapeake, and along the 

 Southern coast. In the Gulf of Mexico it is rather rare ; occasionally it is 

 taken in seines at Pensacola. Dr. Giinther, in his ''Catalogue of the 

 Fishes of the British Museum," makes the astonishing statement that he 

 has seen specimens from Lake Champlain. The species ranges south to 

 Bahia, Brazil. It is not commercially valuable except at Norfolk, A-^a., 

 where it is consumed for food in large quantities, its market name being 

 "Whiting." 



The California Pompano, Stromateus shnillimus , is thus described by 

 Prof. Jordan : 



" This species, known here as the Pompano, reaches a length of eight 

 inches, and a weight of rather less than half a pound. It occurs along 

 the entire coast of California and Oregon, being most abundant about 

 Santa Barbara and Soquel, and is not known from farther south than San 

 Diego. It appears in schools chiefly in the summer and fall ; occasion- 

 ally, also, during the winter, its times of arrival and departure being quite 

 variable. It is said that it was an extremely rare visitant till about 1870, 

 and that its abundance since then has steadily increased, it being now 

 often found in greater quantities than can be readily sold. It feeds on 

 worms, small Crustacea, &c. Nothing special is known of its breeding 

 habits. As a food-fish it is held in the highest repute, the price of indi- 

 vidual fish ranging from two to four for a ' quarter. ' Its flesh is fat, rich, 

 and excellent." 



The Black Rudder-fish, Lirus perciformis, is also called by the fishermen 

 "Log-fish" and "Barrel-fish." It has been noticed at various points 

 along our coast from New Jersey to Nova Scotia, where schools of them 

 were several times observed off Halifax in 1877. It has hitherto been 

 considered very rare north of Cape Cod. I cannot doubt that it will be 

 hereafter found at least as far south as Cape Hatteras, and probably along 

 the whole length of our Atlantic coast. The habits of this fish are peculiar 

 in the extreme. They are almost always found in the vicinity of floating 

 barrels and spars, sometimes inside of the barrels ; hence the fishermen 

 often call them " Barrel-fish," though the most usual name is " Rudder- 



