370 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [82] 
1G 
FROM C. B. FULLER, CURATOR PORTLAND (ME.) SOCIETY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
Answers to questions relative to the food-fishes of the United States. 
A.—NAME. 
1. What is the name by which this fish is known in your neighbor- 
hood ?—Answer. Sword-fish. 
B.—DISTRIBUTION. 
' 2,3. Is it found throughout the year, or only during a certain time, 
and for what time? If resident, is ‘t more abundant at certain times of 
the year, and at what times ?—Answer. Rare in July and October; most 
abundant in August and September. 
C.—ABUNDANCE. 
5. Has the abundance of the fish diminished or increased within the 
last ten years, or is it about the same ?—Answer. About the same. 
= SVAny 
What is the greatest and least size to which it attains (both length 
and weight), and what the average ?—Answer. Heaviest, 800 pounds ; 
pounds; smallest, 10 pounds; average, 300 pounds. 
° 
E.—MIGRATIONS AND MOVEMENTS. 
11. By what route do these fish come in to the shore, and what the sub- 
sequent movements ?—Ansiwer. They appear first on the Seuth Shoals. 
12. By what route do they leave the coast?—Answer. As they come. 
15. When do the fish leave shore, and is this done by degrees or in a 
body ?—Answer. In October. 
16. Is the appearance of the fish on the coast regular and certain, or 
do they ever fail for one or more seasons at a time, and then return in 
greater or less abundance? If so, to what cause is this assigned ?— 
Answer. About the same; some years more caught than others. 
F.— RELATIONSHIPS. 
33. Do these fish go in schools after they have done spawning, or 
throughout the year, or are they scattered and solitary ?—Answer. Scat- 
tered. 
35. To what extent do they prey on other fish, and on what species?— 
Answer. Herring. 
G.—F oop. 
Qn 
37. What is the nature of their food ?—Answer. Mostly herring, some 
mackerel. 
