238 EEPOKT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [2] 



providentially offered to enlarge the field of gustatory and commercial 

 possibilities. The Tile-fish foiuid since the late tremendous commo- 

 tion off our New England coast has been proved to be one of the very 

 best sea-fish known when cooked in a fresh state. It will probably 

 'cure' well. The flesh is very firm in texture, keeps well, cooks 

 nicely, and is excellent in flavor. The Tile-fish is of suitable size for 

 easy handling in Curing, packing, and trade. It exists in apparently 

 vast if not absolutely inexhaustible numbers, along the western edge of 

 the Gulf Stream, and probably about the eastern edge as well. * * * 

 There is possibly in this Tile-fish matter a great opportunity for our 

 Government Fish Commission to do work of real and permanent value, 

 far outweighing any prior labor accomplished by the board. Let the 

 Commissioners at once solve the problem so urgently demanding their 

 attention. AYith a rapidly increasing demand for edible fish, the en- 

 hancement of prices, and the tremendous increase of capital in the 

 country awaiting profitable investment, there ought to be no needless 

 delay in action. How soon will the Fish Commission attempt practical 

 work to demonstrate to commercial circles and fish eaters the practical 

 use served by its existence ' The people of the country generally want 

 to know just where to find the Tile-fish; they -want to know its habits; 

 they want to know the best seasons and the best means for taking this 

 valuable fish.* * * * Will the United States Fish Commission de- 

 termine the facts regarding the new fish and a possible new field for 

 fisheries as soon as may be consistent with accuracy and thorough- 

 ness'?" 



The object of this paper is to give, under one head and in a con- 

 venient form for reference, all that is known of the Tile-fish, and es- 

 j>ecially to place on record all the information that it has been possible 

 to gather concerning the phenomena which occurred in the spring of 

 1882, when these fish were found in extraordinary numbers floating upon 

 the surface of the ocean between Nantucket and the Chesapeake. Soon 

 after this occurrence Professor Baird placed in my hands a large amount 

 of data bearing on the subject", with the request that I should mark on 

 a chart the various tracks sailed through the dead fish by the vessels 

 which reported having seen them ; and he also desired that an estimate 

 should be made of the area covered and the probable numbers of float- 

 ing LopJiolatilns. Before, however, my other duties i^ermitted the ac- 

 complishment of this work, circumstances placed me in a position to 

 acquire much additional knowledge concerning the earliest captures of 

 this fish, besides many other facts which appeared to be more or less 



* As will be seen iu succeeding paiagrapha, Prof. Spencer F. Baird sent out an ex- 

 pedition to the Tile-fish grounds as early as 1880, hut, unfortunately, this failed to 

 accomplish its purpose. Another investigation, made by the author in the fall of 

 1882, under the direction of Professor Baird (a report of which has already been pub- 

 lished), failed to obtain any information concerning the Lopholaiilus, which, at 

 this time, was probably so much depleted by the mortality of the previous spring 

 that none remained on the ground where it had formerly been found. 



