350 BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 
seaweed. Floating seaweed is, indeed, not common in the region, and the mat 
form of the large and otherwise shapeless masses suggests that they were formed 
while floating at the surface. 
The most important preserved product of the region is the ‘“ charquecito, ” 
made from the congrio, a reference to the capture of which fish has already been 
made. ‘The preparation was not observed, but as it was described the congrios 
are opened, cleaned, washed in salt water, and hung up to dry. Six or eight 
days later they are thrown into piles ready for the market. The drying and 
subsequent preservation must be watched with care to prevent heating or 
curling. The tail bends up in drying and must be pressed or bent out to preserve 
the desired appearance. Thecharquecitois the most highly esteemed preserved 
fish, but, like all fish products of the coast, it is rarely shipped to other ports. It 
brings a good price, 5 or 6 reals per pound (25 to 30 cents American). 
Besides the charquecito and the cau-cau, a number of minor products are 
preserved. Dried seaweed is prepared by the simple process of putting the 
fresh weed into molds and pressing it into flat plates, which, after being 
dried in the sun, are folded and are then ready for sale. The seaweed used is 
called ‘“‘uyos” or ‘‘cocho-uyos,” but the species so dried is not the ordinary 
“‘cocho-uyos”’ that is eaten at other ports. 
“Tapas” (fissurellids) and ‘‘barquillos” (chitons),“ after being boiled and 
stripped of the shell, are dried and strung, and a ‘‘sarta”’ of two dozen of these 
“atados”’ (strings) is sold for the very small sum of 30 centavos, or about one- 
third the price of the fresh shellfish. 
The ‘‘pincho de mar,” a holothurian, is skinned and dried to make a crude 
trepang. ‘‘Ocoti,’’ or ‘‘pota,’’ is the sea anemone’ stewed and stripped of the 
skin. It is sometimes dried. It is a custom for the Serranos, or inhabitants 
of the interior, coming down to the coast at Ilo, to take back with them the 
trepang, ocoti, etc., along with the cau-cau and charquecito. 
In this connection it may be mentioned that, besides the characteristic 
methods of preservation practiced in this region, other fisheries are followed here 
that are rarely found in other ports. The capture of the swordfish (‘‘peje- 
espada’’) is sometimes attempted, and at least one fisherman is well equipped 
with the necessary harpoons. The swordfishes are said to weigh 200 to 400 
pounds and to bring 26 to 50 soles each ($13 to $25). 
The prized “‘erizos” (porcupines), or sea urchins, are more commonly taken 
here than elsewhere. Ascidians, which bear the surprising name of “ciruelas”’ 
(cherries), are stripped of the test, so that the inner portion is taken out ‘‘como 
@\apas, Fissurella costata Lesson, F. crassa Lamarck; barquillos, Chiton granosus Trembly; Enoplo- 
chiton niger Barnes. 
b Phymacter clematis (Dana) Milne-Edwards, as identified for the U. S. National Museum by Prof. 
J. Playfair McMurrich. 
