EDIBLE PISHES OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 79 



is made, and, though it is very possibly correct, we think that confirmatory 

 evidence, drawn from thoroughly reliable sources, that is from the personal 

 observation of individuals competent to recognise the very young stages of 

 G. trachurus — must be forthcoming before this can be accepted as a constant 

 habit of the species. It has never, so far as we are aware, been observed on the 

 British coast, where the ordinary life history of the fish has been fully worked 

 out, though it is well known that several members of the True Cod family 

 ( Gadidce) make use of this means of concealment and protection, and are thus 

 carried in safety to the shallow waters near the shore where the earlier 

 stages of their existence are necessarily passed. 



Their food consists of the fry of other fishes, small crabs and molluscs, &c. 

 As food the adults, when perfectly fresh, are firm and well flavored, but they 

 soon deteriorate, and become tasteless and insipid. The principle use, how- 

 ever, to which the Yellowtail is put is as bait for the line fishermen; it 

 forms a good bait for Snapper, but is not so good as Mackerel. They readily 

 take a bait, either artificial or natural, more especially if it is kept moving 

 through the water so as to represent a small fish. They may also be taken 

 by "whiffing," that is by trailing a line, or better still several lines, after a 

 boat in moderately rapid motion, or anchored in a strong tideway so as to 

 cai;se the lines to stream out behind. 



These fishes almost without exception suffer from being the host of an 

 isopodous crustacean of the genus Anilocra, which lives in the throat, and 

 thus obtains both sustenance and protection for itself ; though it is common 

 to take this commensal from the Scad with its developed ova attached we 

 have never found more than one in a single fish. 



Though immense shoals of large Scad are known to frequent the open sea 

 along our coast, they do not make themselves so conspicuous as those which 

 at irregular intervals visit the British coasts, probably because, in the warmer 

 waters washing the shores of the Colony, the supply of suitable food is 

 more constant. 



The range of this species is very wide, embracing ail the temperate coasts 

 of Europe, Madeira, along the west coast of Africa to the Cape of Grood Hope, 

 the Chinese seas, Chili, the temperate parts of Australia, and New Zealand. 



As has been stated it is very abundant on the coast of New South Wales, 

 but the large shoals which are off the coast during the warmer months 

 probably seek the open sea at a greater depth after spawning, as they have not 

 been noticed on the Queensland coast, and the species is only incidentally 

 mentioned by Saville Kent as being the " Yellowtail" of the Sydney market. 

 McCoy considers it to be " a very rare visitor " to Hobson's Bay, but in 

 Tasmaniau waters Johnston says : — ■ " The Horse Mackerel occurs in these 

 waters in vast numbers. The young are seen all round the bays of the upper 

 waters of the Derwent during the autumn. The mature fish are in fair esteem 

 in the market;" and again : — " They appear in immense shoals at times 

 between January and June, and might with proper appliances become the 

 source of a valuable industry." 



In New Zealand, according to Sherrin, " this fish appears in "Wellington 

 Harbor about the end of November, and is one of the commonest offered 

 for sale throughout the summer." The Maori name of our Yellowtail is 

 " Hauture," and its habits on the New Zealand coast are, we gather from 

 the. same authority, similar to those which prevail in British waters ; he 

 says : — " Immense shoals of Scad are occasionally driven on the beaches 

 round the harbor by their impetuosity when following their prey into 



