XVIII REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



The station was established there daring the summer, and has been con- 

 tinued in operation ever since. 



In previous reports mention has been made of the discovery in great 

 abundance off the eastern coast of New England of the pole-flounder, Glyp- 

 tocephalus cynoglossus, a member of the flat-fish family, of large size. This 

 fish, entirely unknown on the American coast until its discovery by the 

 Commission in 1877, has proved to be one of the most abundant of its 

 kind, aud promises to be a very important addition to the food resources 

 of the couutry whenever the beam-trawl shall become generally used by 

 the fishermen. This fish was taken in great quantities during the sum- 

 mer of 1879, and a large extension of its supposed range was estab- 

 lished. 



A second species of fish, also promising to be of great value as a food- 

 fish, was brought to light during the summer of 1879; specimens were first 

 obtained about eighty miles south of Roman's Land by Captain Kirby, 

 of Gloucester, to be known as the tile-fish or Lopholatilus chamculeon- 

 ticeps, constituting a genus and species entirely new to science. It is 

 believed that the taking of this fish indicates the existence in the region 

 of capture of an important resort of food-fishes in general. This point it 

 is proposed to investigate at some future time. 



6. — THE STEAMER FISH-HAWK. 



The experience of the Commission has for several years past shown 

 the efficiency and economy of floating stations for the hatching of shad, 

 by means of which, after the work at one locality is exhausted, another 

 can be taken up with the least possible delay. Heretofore the work has 

 been done on floating barges, which have been towed from their winter 

 stations in Washington, Baltimore, or Havre de Grace, to Albemarle 

 Sound, and thence back again, stopping at one or more stations in the 

 course of the season to prosecute their work. Towing has, however, 

 proved to be a matter of great expense, and, in most cases, of peril also, 

 flat-bottomed boats being unfitted for the dangerous navigation of the 

 Chesapeake Bay, where, by a curious fatality, violent storms have gen- 

 erally prevailed whenever such transfer was to be made. The towing 

 has been done by vessels of the revenue marine, through the courtesy 

 of the Secretary of the Treasury and the superintendent of the bureau; 

 but on more than one occasion the barges have been in imminent danger 

 of foundering with their crews and contents. 



The advantage, therefore, of having a floating hatchery on a well- 

 constructed steamer, as being more suitable for transfer from point to 

 point, has been urged strongly before the Commission; and, after 

 various plans were considered, the designs of Mr. Copeland, of the 

 Light-House Board, were fixed upon, and the appropriation of Congress 

 of $45,000 for a steamer was made use of. As the law directed, the 

 steamer was to be built under the supervision of the Secretary of the 

 Treasury, and that officer placed it in charge of the Light-House Board. 



