Vr.L. 5 VIII. No. 451 



THE AGRICULTUEAL NEWS. 



2fl" 



THE FISHERMAN-FISH. 



In the w.ters of .Mozambiiiut nn ihe Ea.sc Coast ot 

 -Africa, tisherinen use free-swimmicg fish to tatch other 

 feh. These iisheriuea-tish. or 'Uhagos' as they ate called 

 j<i<"4ily belo!^.'. to ihe genera Eel eueis or Eemora, which are 

 distinguished by a cephalic sucker on the head, by means of 

 •which these fish can attach themseUe.s and can stick with 

 extr.n.rdinary tenacity to boats, or to sharks, turtles, 

 <;eT.aceans and other s*iflswimuung animals. The 

 tippcaraiji-tf ol a lishermanfish is shown in the first illttstra- 

 lioc below, 'riiey aie about 3 feci in li-nglh. 



A Fish JiKM.^N -Fish (A't///wt sp.l. 

 To recent, issues of the Amer'caii jS'ntmiiisl Mr. E W. 

 Oud^er, of the Araerioan Museum of Natural History. 

 Ne"w York City, has contributed a series of papers 

 on the use of sucking- fish for catching fish and turtles The 

 I iiivf fishermen of Zanzibar, he states, keep their ' Chagos' 

 in water containers in their canoes, and are so tame as to 

 cjine to the surface of the water at the appearance of their 

 masters, by whom they allow themselves to be freely 

 handled When biding employed for hunting, a line is 

 attar-hed to ii ring or loop fixed just above the tail, the fi.sh 

 being kept in ves.sels of wa',er which is frequently renewed. 

 The "fishermen then .^iail their boats to regions frequented by 

 "turtles. Tbe.se animals have the habit of sleeping at the 

 surlace of the water on which they float, and their sleep is .so 

 liE[ht that the least iii.ise of au approaching fishiog boat is 

 sutticient to wake them and cause them to flee to great 

 distance.", or to plunge to great depths. At a distance 

 sutticient to prevent this disturbance, the fishermen put their 

 • Chagos" in the water, .tnd these, delivered in part from their 

 captivity, seek to escape by swimming in all directions. The 



The Earliest Illustration. (A.D. 1558.) 



line ia then paid out to a length of cord equal to the distance 

 ■which separates the sea-turtle from the boat of the fi.sher- 

 inen The ' Chago', retained by the line, makes at first 

 new efforts to get away from the hand that masters it. 

 $ioaD. however, perceiving that its efforts are in vain, and 



that it cannot free itself, it travel.? around the circle o£ 

 which its cord is, so to speak, u radiuf, in order to meet 

 some point of adhesion, aad C(^nsequeutly to find rest. It 

 finds this asylum under the plastron of the floating turtle, to 

 which It attaches itself by meaos oi its .■^ncker, and gives 

 thus to the fishermen, i ■ -.viijui it Stjivea as a fulcrum, the 

 means of drawing to them the turtle by hauling in the 

 cord. 



The accounts (of which the above is only one) of the use 

 of Remora as a hunting ,'ijh o2" East Afriiia, are not the first 

 that we have of such employment, for the very beginning 

 it is necessary to go back to the second voyage oft'olumbus 

 to the West Indies in li94. RatLer later accounts refer to 

 the use of this fish in Jireaica and Cuba. The first knowa 

 figure of fishing with the f-sheimia-ljsh is reproduced below 

 in the opposite column, and is after Gesner, 1556. 



Here the hunting fish is depicted in a conventional 

 and exaggerated form, especially the sucker, whirh is 

 fijiured as a hood. The auioial being attacked i.-s supposed 

 to be a porpoise. The astonished attitude of the turtle 

 will be noticed ; also the saiile ou tLa face of the fisherman- • 

 fish. 



Enquiries made rec.nitly ia tho Lesser Antilles have 

 indicated that nothing is known of these tishermen-fish at 

 the present day in Wes'., Indian waters. Species of Remora 

 certainly have a wide distiibution in tropical seas, as llr. 

 Gudger's most interesting hi.storical account proves The 

 subject is deserving of investigation, for it is possible that 

 the use of Remora for turtle and other fishing in the 

 West Indian islands to-l».y ttight be of very consideiablii 

 economic value, and it csrtiiinly would afford a very 

 interesting and exciting form of sport. 



DEPARTMENT NEWS. 



Mr. H. A. Ballou, M Sc, Entomoioajisf. on the 

 stafl of the Imperial Department, retamed to Barbados 

 on September 4, 1919, )iy SS. 'Guiana' alter a visit to 

 St. Lucia in connexion with geiseral entomological 

 investigations. 



Mr. W. Nowell, D.I.C, Mycolcgisti on the stall of 

 the Imperial Department, retiirusd to Barbados on 

 September 14, 1919, by SS. 'Saba' after four month» 

 leave spent in England. 



Mr. Nowell is e.\pected to be leaving again tor 

 Trinidad on September 19, for the p-arpase of continu- 

 ing his investigations on froghopper and root disease 

 in that Colony. 



Mr. S. C. Harlair", B.Sc, Assistant; for Cottott 

 Research on the stall' of the Irapev'a] .Department!, 

 arrived in Barbados oo September 1 6 from the North- 

 ern Islands en route 1 -■ St. Vincent. This officer lefb 

 for that Colony by the C.E.M.S. 'Caraquet' on the 

 same day. 



Mr. Alfred Keys, of tiie Royal G.'uden.s, Kew, 

 arrived at Barbados hy S-\ 'Saba' from Eagi-iad oa 

 September 14 en rout':, for Dominica, v.'hcre he >vill 

 take up the duties of Assistant Curator ia the Agri- 

 cultural Department. 



Mr. Keys will proceed to Doitiinica by firstr 

 opportunity. 



