2 28 



The AvicriciDi An Her. 



"This fish is round-barrelled and 

 heavy for its size. It has a pointed 

 snout, with month under its nose like 

 the hake, which is most erroneously 

 called, by New York fishermen, kingfish. 

 Its head has no scales, but is covered 

 by a shining- silver epidermis. The eye 

 is black and quite large. The scales 

 are large and are closely set on the 

 body, and look like a network of closely 

 compacted silver rings. A most gleam- 

 ing fish ! 



' ' The first question asked as to a 

 fish. ' Is it good to eat ? ' This one is 

 very good to eat. It has the disadvant- 

 age of the best of all fish for the table 

 — the shad — of being full of bones, but 

 the flesh in the intervals is delicious. I 

 like it better than the pompano, and 

 next after the shad." 



Under the fainily name of Hiodontidiv 

 and the generic one of Hiodo)i — from 

 two Greek words signifying "bone" 

 and "tooth" — we find the mooneyes, 

 fishes which in some sections, particu- 

 larly in the northwest, attract the atten- 

 tion of many anglers. There are three 

 species, all of which are handsome fish, 

 but of little value as food, yet they have 

 very fair fighting qualities when taken 

 on a light rod and surface lures. None 

 of them are found in waters east of the 

 Alleghany Mountains. 



The mooneyes, or goldeneyes as they 

 are popularly called by Nothwestem 

 anglers, may be recognized by the 

 golden hue of their big, bright eyes; 

 their shad-like body covered with large, 

 smooth-edged scales ; their naked head ; 

 short snout; the lower jaw extending 

 upward and fitting in the upper; sharp 

 canine teeth on tongue ; straight lateral 

 line ; large ventral and strongly-forked 

 tail-fin, and large, well-defined nostrils, 

 which are placed close together and 

 separated only by a fl^p. 



The species most sought by anglers 

 is Hiodon tergisns — specific name from 

 the Latin, " polished "—which, in ad- 

 dition to the common name of mooneye, 

 is also called the silver bass and toothed 

 herring. This fish is beautifully 

 colored, its back being olivaceous, with 

 blue tints iridescing, and the sides 

 glowing in silver sheen. The body is 

 about four and a half times the length 

 of the head, and three times that of the 

 depth of the fish. It has twelve rays in 

 the dorsal and twenty-eight in the anal 

 fin, grows to about fifteen inches in 

 length, and is abundantly found in the 

 Great Lakes, the upper Mississippi 

 Valley, and north to the Assineboine 

 river. 



Another species (subgenus AmpJiio- 

 don) is H. alosoides — specific name from 

 the Latin, alosa, "shad," and 'a Greek 

 word signifying "like." It may be dis- 

 tinguished from H. tergisus by its 

 shorter snout, narrower dorsal fin (nine 

 rays) and broader anal with its thirty- 

 two rays. The fleshy part of the tail is 

 stouter than that of the first-named 

 fish, and the tail-fin is not so deeply 

 forked. The general color is bluish, 

 the sides silvery with golden lustre. 



The third species, H. seleiiops — spe- 

 cific name from two Greek words signi- 

 fying "moon" and "eye" — is rather 

 scarce and found only in the Cumber- 

 land, Tennessee and Alabama rivers 

 and confluents. The body is stouter 

 and the belly more round than in the 

 two above-named species. It has 

 twelve dorsal and twenty-seven anal 

 rays. 



The mooneyes are eager biters and 

 take indiscriminately the feathered 

 lures, small spoons, grasshoppers, 

 grubs, and, doubtless, other natural 

 baits. They rise freely to the artificial 

 fly in the early spring months, bi'it 



