EEPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. LIIl 



m. The Spanish Mackerel (Ci/6t«ni »iac;<?fl/«m). 



Chesapeake Bay. — The account of the discovery of spawning-mackerel 

 and the work of hatching them, conducted by Mr. R. E. Earll, was 

 given in full in the last Annual Keport. In order to continue the experi- 

 ments, the Fish Hawk, on the 15th of June, took on board a special outfit 

 for hatching Spanish mackerel. On the 14th it proceeded down the 

 river and arrived at Cherrystone Inlet on the 15th, accompanied by 

 Launch No. 62, which had been ordered from Havre de Grace. The 

 pound-nets of the fishermen were visited, and on the 17th li%'e eggs 

 were taken and placed in hatching-cones. Eggs were also taken on 

 subsequent days, but the hatching was not successful, most of the fish 

 and eggs dying. The particulars of the work of the Fish Hawk will 

 be found in Captain Tanner's report for the year. 



On the 29th of June the Fish Hawk left for Washington, turning 

 over the launch, however, to Col. Marshall McDonald, who had arrived 

 to prosecute the experiments still further, with instructions to work out 

 as fully as possible the proper methods without endeavoring to turn 

 out any considerable number of fish during the present season. He 

 was accompanied by Mr. John A. Eyder, who studied the embryology 

 of the fish, and has made a somewhat full report, with four plates, 

 upon "The development of the Spanish mackerel," in the Bulletin of 

 1881, pages 155-172. On the 20th of July it became necessary to return 

 the borrowed launch to the Navy Department. The work was soon 

 after closed, and Colonel McDonald returned to Washington. A short 

 paper upon his work will appear in the Appendix. 



M. Turbot and Sole {Rhombus maxitnus and Solca vulgaris). 



The turbot and sole are generally considered to be the best fish in 

 Europe, commanding a higher price than any other, exclusive of the 

 salmon ; and the question is frequently asked as to the intentions of 

 the Commission in regard to introducing and propagating them on the 

 shores of the United States. 



By those best qualified to judge, these fish are not considered to pos- 

 sess any marked superiority over corresponding forms of the flat fish 

 found in the United States, which, when properly cooked, are of very 

 great excellence. Many persons, thoroughly familiar with the turbot 

 and sole, who have been present at one of the famous fish dinners given 

 by Mr. Taft, of Point Shirley, Mass., and who have tasted the Northern 

 flat-fish {Pleuronectes americanus) and the Southern flounder {Paralich- 

 thys dentatus), as served by him, stoutly deny any and every claim of 

 superiority in the first-mentioned fish. 



Appreciating, however, the interest of the problem, which if solved 

 would simply add to the species of desirable food-fishes in the United 

 States without interfering with the abundance of those belonging to it, 

 the Commission has several times made efforts to introduce both the 

 turbot and the sole into the United States. 



The first experiment of importation was made by the United States 



