CHAPTER X 



Other Game Fish 



A GREAT many fishes furnish excellent sport for anglers. 

 It being manifestly out of the question to consider them all, 

 we shall, with apologies to those passed over, confine our- 

 selves to the few species dealt with in this chapter. Of some, 

 such as the black bass, the natural history is well known. Of 

 others, for instance the tarpon, our knowledge is expanding 

 rapidly. And of still others, such as the swordfish, the life- 

 story is almost a closed book, and to try to set it forth is 

 interesting primarily in that it shows how little of it we 

 know. 



TARPON 



The tarpon has been well treated by the taxonomists, for 

 they call him, quite simply, Tarfon atlantkus. He is a good 

 example of a primitive present-day fish; ventral fins placed 

 well to the rear, no spines, and air-bladder opening into the 

 gullet by a tube. It would be unkind to him and to his devo- 

 tees to call him a glorified herring, but just as the lordly 

 salmon is a distant relative of the lowly smelt, so is the 

 mighty tarpon a distant relative of the little fish which ap- 

 pears on the breakfast table as a kipper. For he belongs to 

 the order ClupoideUy and to this belong not only his cousin 

 the bonefish, but also the alewives, herrings, shads, and sar- 

 dines. In vindication of his character, it should be pointed out 

 that he is the purest of all game fishes, for as a table deli- 

 cacy he is a total loss, and it is solely in the name of sport 

 that man pursues him. Ulterior motives might be assigned 



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