THE SEA FISHERIES OF EASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 65 
In most eases the fish is destroyed by being taken in at a gulp, by one 
of its fellows larger than itself, although there are certain forms, such 
as the Chiasmodes, the Saccopharynxz, &c., which, in the possession of 
very wide jaws and a capacious stomach sac, can take in entire and 
digest fishes of twice their own size. Specimens illustrating this are 
to be found in the National Museum. In many cases, as with the 
sharks, bluefish, &c., the victim is lacerated, either torn or bitten in 
two. Fish like the sand-lance (Ammodytes), when swallowed alive, often 
burrow through the stomach and produce death. It is not uncommon 
for codfish to be taken with the sand-lance in the abdominal cavity, en- 
cysted and mummified, several specimens of these having been ob- 
tained by Captain Atwood, of Provincetown. The lampreys and myx- 
ines, already mentioned as des troying the very large fish, frequently do 
this still more extensively on the smaller ones. The so-called pug; 
nosed eel of the Gloucester fishermen (Simenchelys parasiticus) is not 
unfrequently found nestling along the backbone of the halibut and cod 
where they seem to have the power of abiding for some time without 
actually causing death. The eel is another of the fishes that destroy 
life in an unusual way. It is especially noteworthy in connection with 
gilling for shad, in view of its habit of fastening upon a ripe female, 
when meshed, and penetrating the abdominal cavity and devouring the- 
eggs in its progress. It is a very common experience for the gillers to 
find perfectly sound, plump shad, taken in the net, with one and some- 
times two or three eels inthe abdomen, their destruction having been 
effected within a period of a few minutes. 
It may safely be said that of oceanic fish more or less predaceous, 
there are many forms that live on vegetable substances while young, 
but for the most part changing toa carnivorous habit when old. How 
many species confine themselves exclusively to fish it is impossible to 
say, as a careful examination of the stomachs of most forms shows at 
least the occasional presence of crabs, worms, radiates, We. 
I have already referred to the subject of the rapacity of fish, ander 
the heads of migrations and movements, and variations in abundance, 
&e. I would here simply call to mind the ravages of the bluefish in its 
attacks upon the mackerel, menhaden, and other species. Great as are 
these ravages, however, they are probably nothing in comparison with 
those of different species of the sharks. These, by their enormous size 
and immense abundance, must, of all oceanic forms, be the most destruc- 
tive of fish life and constitute the largest factor in the element of mu- 
tual injury. Neither is it the largest of the sharks that are the most 
dangerous. The smaller forms, which come in large schools, migrating 
with the season, are most effectual in their agency. Every fisherman 
_ on the New England coast is familiar with the so-called dogfish (Acan- 
_thias americanus), a species which rarely exceeds 3 feet in length, 
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but which frequently comes in on the fishing-grounds in countless num- 
S. Mis. 90-———5 
