1902 Fish Notes 291 



Fish Notes. 



By F. G. Aflalo, F.Z.S., F.R.G.S. 



I. Some Monster Fishes. — America is the land of big things, 

 and its fishes are certainly not unworthy the national craze 

 for records. This ambition to do the biggest thing is geo- 

 graphically bounded by the Panama Isthmus to the south ; 

 otherwise the Brazilian arapaima, which grows to a weight 

 of 300 lb. or 400 lb., and to a length of 15 or 16 feet, and 

 is in fact the largest of fresh-water fishes (save perhaps one 

 or two of the cartilaginous sharks found in Eastern rivers), 

 would also fill the national ideal. I have just opened my 

 ' Forest and Stream ' for September 20, and in it the por- 

 trait of a sea-bass weighing 419 lb. and details of a halibut 

 of 325 lb.-, both taken in American seas, stare vis-a-vis from 

 the pages, and suggest the text of this note. 



With the feverish possibilities suggested by this giant bass 

 from the angler's standpoint — it was caught on rod and line 

 — it would be indiscreet to occupy myself in this place. This 

 is, it may however be mentioned in passing, the record sea- 

 bass, being 35 lb. heavier than the previous biggest fish. 

 The halibut was taken on a hand-line, and it took the com- 

 bined strength of four men, holding on to a gaff and spear 

 buried in its huge body, to lift it into the boat. The reason 

 of this added difficulty in the case of the flatfish may be 

 sought in the greater resistance offered by its body to the 

 water, through which a round fish, pulled head first, would 

 naturally move with less friction. It is within the experience 

 of every amateur sea-fisher that even small flatfish are most 

 deceptive in the matter of real and apparent weight, for they 

 have a trick of curling up in the water, which throws a far 

 greater strain on the tackle and on the fisherman's hand 

 than would be exerted by a round fish, such as a cod, of twice 

 their weight. 



Not even this great sea-bass is the largest fish taken on 

 rod and line in the littoral waters of the western continent. 

 Mr Von Hofe, the well-known maker of tarpon-tackle in 



