UNUTILIZED FISHES. 



35 



come forth. The fish is so ugly in appearance that it is rarely eaten. 

 Dr. Smith states, however, that it " is sometimes eaten by the negroes 

 and is said to be well flavored.'" 



FOOD. 



Of the food of the toadfish Verrill and Smith (1878) say: 



Several specimens examiued at Gi'eat Egg Harbor, N. J., April, 1871, contained 

 young edible crabs (CaUmectes Itastatus) of various sizes up to those with the 

 carapax 2 inches broad ; shrimp {Crangnn vuh/aiis); prawn {Palwmnnctcs 

 vulgaris) ; Ihjauussa obsolctd ; various fishes, especially the pipefish (f^puf/nathits 

 Ijcckianus), and the anchovy {Engravlls vittatiis). A specimen caught at Woods 

 Hole in .July contained the common rock crab (Cancer irrorafiif!) . 



T^inton (1901), in his food notes of this species, records tlie fol- 

 lowing : 



Littoriiia Uttorea, Hyanasaa ohsoleta, Tritiu irivittata, Lrosalpynx cinerea, 

 usually with hermit crabs: Crepiduhi foriiicata. Pecten irradians, Cancer irro- 

 ratu.s. Pahcnwnetes vulgaris, Eupagurus longicarpus ; bones and other frag- 

 ments of fish ; a partly digested toadfish. I have seen a toadfish in the aqua- 

 rium in the act of swallowing another of its own species but little smaller than 

 itself. In the alimentary canal of a small specimen two shells of I'triculus 

 canaliculatus (Bulla) were found. 



EXAMIXATIOX OF DIGESTIVE TRACTS. 



Great difficulty was ex2)erienced in getting in the vicinity of Woods 



Hole a sufficient number of toadfish for this study. Prior to 1902 



the species was considered common in that locality, but since then 



attempts to collect it have been almost in vain. Only veiy few 



have been found in places where they were hitherto very common. 



Nearly all of the 33 specimens examined in the present work were 



collected at the mouth of the "Wareham River. 



Statement of the Food of Toadfish Examined. 



XoTE. — Figure outside of parenthesis denotes number of toadfish : number or amount of 

 the species eaten is included within parenthesis. 



