THE TARPON 47 



(3) I understand that eggs taken in sea water are usually 

 fertile. They may be carried to the ponds by water fowl. After 

 hatching the fish grows for a time as stated but never reaches 

 large size. 



In 1933 the Department of Conservation of the State of 

 Louisiana published an admirable work, entitled, "The Fishes 

 and the Fishing of Louisiana". My attention was drawn to its 

 descriptions of the bowfin (dog fish) and the gars. These fishes 

 are survivals from another geological epoch. They have cel- 

 lular lung-like tissues in their air bladders and at times 

 breathe atmospheric air. Living bowfins are reported to be 

 plowed up in the cultivated fields. They breathe by the lungs 

 and they survive for weeks in the mud. The gars have swim 

 bladders containing lungs adequate to supply sufficient air for 

 the needs of the body without resorting to gill breathing. (See 

 Bui. No. 23, Dept. of Conservation, La., pp. 379-387). Both of 

 these fish rise to the surface to breathe and, like the tarpon, 

 frequent pools where the water is poorly oxygenated. When 

 the water is foul any fish will come to the surface for air but 

 in most cases death soon occurs because the gill structures are 

 not adequate to withstand such conditions. It is otherwise 

 with the bowfin, the gar and the tarpon. 



Thousands of anglers have observed the tarpon roll and, 

 after submerging, emit air which bubbles to the surface. They 

 fish where they see the ascending bubbles for this is assumed 

 to indicate the approximate location of the fish. If a tarpon 

 pool is watched, one will soon see a fish come to the surface 

 for a mouthful of air. I consulted the literature on the air 

 bladder to discover some reason for this habit so persistently 

 followed. Many species have auxiliary breathing organs of 

 some nature although in most of the teleosts the swim bladder 

 serves only as a hydrostatic organ or float. The Australian 

 and South African lung fishes, and a few other species, can 

 also live on the land. When the pools they inhabit become dry 

 some species are able to remain in the mud in a torpid condi- 



