THE SEA A FOOD RESERVOIR MOORE. 603 



tom-dwelling habit, the pectoral fins are developed into great lateral 

 wings fused with the body and head, and the tail region is some- 

 times reduced to a mere whiplike appendage. The eyes lie on the 

 upper, colored, sides, while the mouth and gills are on the ventral face 

 of the body, which is practically or wholly unpigmented. This 

 group of fishes contains some remarkable types, among them the 

 gigantic devilfish, which reaches a breadth of about 25 feet across 

 the wings and a weight of 10,000 pounds. Extraordinary myths 

 have grown up around this fish; for instance, its alleged habit of 

 picking up anchors and towing ships to sea ; but its strength is ample 

 without exaggeration, large specimens when harpooned towing heavy 

 launches at considerable speed for hours before becoming exhausted. 



Other extraordinary species are the torpedo, with electric organs 

 capable of administering a strong shock, and the sting rays, among 

 the most common of the coastal species, the tails of which are armed 

 with a serrated spine several inches long, which can be driven 

 home deeply into the flesh of an enemy. Most of the skates and 

 rays, probably all of them, are edible, and some are highly regarded, 

 in most parts of the world, although almost neglected as food in the 

 United States. The great wings or fins are the parts used, being 

 left yoked together by the pelvic girdle after the head, body, and 

 tail are cut away. The two connected wings are known as a " sad- 

 dle." The flesh of the skate is white, flaky, and of excellent flavor. 



" Fish stories " are notoriously untrustworthy, and the man who 

 values his reputation is properly conservative when he relates one 

 which is at all beyond the bounds of ordinary experience. The mas- 

 ter of a vessel entering at New York in March, 1882, had this in mind 

 when he reported that he had sailed for 15 miles through a sea cov- 

 ered with dead fish of a strange species. From an investigation im- 

 mediately ordered by Professor Baird, United States Commissioner 

 of Fisheries, it was learned that this vessel had actually passed 

 through more than 60 miles of this marine necropolis, and from the 

 reports of other shipmasters reaching port at about the same time, it 

 was estimated that upward of 1,400,000,000 dead fish were distributed 

 over an area 170 miles long and 25 miles wide, lying off the coast of 

 Long Island and New Jersey. 



The investigation disclosed further that these fish were all of a 

 species discovered and described but three years before under the 

 name Lopholatilus chamaeleonticeps, which for general use had been 

 abbreviated to " tilefish." As the tilefish was at once recognized as an 

 excellent food fish, abounding within a short distance of New York 

 and other large markets, Professor Baird immediately instituted in- 

 vestigations of both scientific and economic interest, which were con- 

 tinued under his successor, Commissioner McDonald. 



