INLAND FISHERIES. 7 



valuable practical, as well as historical facts, that we feel justified in 

 giving it in full : 



"the blue-fish.'* 

 Pomatomus Saltatrix. 



Names This fish, which on the coast of New England and the 



Middle States is called the blue-fish, is also known in Rhode Island as 

 the ••' horse mackerel '* ; south of Cape Hatteras as the " skipjack" ; 

 in North Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland it is said to be called the 

 " green-fish." Young blue-fish are in some parts of New England 

 called "snapping mackerel" or "snappers"; about New Bedford, 

 " blue snappers " ; to distinguish them from the sea bass they are 

 sometimes spoken of as the " blue-fish." About New York they are 

 called " skip mackerel," and higher up the Hudson River " white- 

 fish." 



In the Gulf of Mexico the name " blue-fish " is in general use. 



Distribution. — This species is widely distributed — in the Malay 

 Archipelago, Australia, at the Cape of Good Hope, at Natal and about 

 Madagascar ; in the Mediterranean, where it is a well-known and 

 highly prized food fish in the markets of Algiers, though rare on the 

 Italian side. It has been seen at Malta, at Alexandria, and on the 

 coast of Syria, and about the Canaries. It has never been seen on the 

 Atlantic coast of Europe, and, strangely enough, never in the waters 

 of the Bermudas or any of the Western Islands. On our coast it 

 ranges from Central Brazil and the Guianas through the Gulf of 

 Mexico and north to Nova Scotia, though never seen in the Bay of 

 Fundy. From Cape Florida to Penobscot Bay, blue-fish are abundant 

 at all seasons when the temperature of the water is propitious. It is 

 not known yet what limits of temperature are the most favorable to 

 their welfare, but it would appear, from the study of the dates of their 

 appearance during a period of years in connection with the ocean tem- 

 perature, that they prefer to avoid water which is much colder than 

 40°. It is possible that the presence of their favorite food, the men- 



