REPORT OF COMMISSIONERS OF INLAND FISHERIES. 61 



largest fish of the mackerel family and among the largest of the 

 whole group of Teleosts; specimens 15 feet long have been taken 

 weighing 1,500 pounds. In European waters they apparently do not 

 reach so great a size; a 500-pound fish there is considered a monster. 

 As a food fish it has been considered of great value in the Old World 

 since the time of the ancient Romans. In this country it has ne\'«r 

 been so highly prized. When it first appears on the coast it is poor 

 and of little value, but during the summer it becomes very fat and 

 valuable for its oil. Its flesh is eaten fresh, or salted, or preserved 

 in cans. In Southern California it is very highly regarded as a game 

 fish. 



THE BONITO. 



(Sarda sarda.) 



PLATE VII. 



The Bonito occurs on both coasts of the Atlantic. On the United 

 States coast it is found occasionally in the Gulf of Mexico, off Cape 

 Hatteras, at the mouth of the Chesapeake, and north to Cape Cod. 

 Specimens have been taken about the Canaries and Madeira, at the 

 Cape of Good Hope, and in the Mediterranean, and it occurs north 

 in British waters. 



The Bonito finds its most natural habitat in the open ocean, 

 wandering about in large schools which are very erratic in their 

 movements. It is said to approach the land only for spawning pur- 

 poses and when attracted by an abundance of food. It is extremely 

 active and predacious, and its insatiable appetite is perhaps unsur- 

 passed even by that of the bluefish. 



In the early part of the last century it was apparently not abun- 

 dant. In 1815 it was spoken of by Mitchell, in 1842 by De Kay, and 

 in 1856 by Gill; in the early seventies, however, it became exceed- 

 ingly abundant in the waters about Block Island and the east coast 

 of Long Island. Since that time it has been common in some locali- 

 ties, though fluctuating greatly in numbers from year to year. At 



