124 



The nature of the " spawn " or eggs and fry of the Snoek is 

 of great practical importance, as it has been stated that it may 

 be destroyed by trawUng operations. The opinion of some 

 fishermen is that the reddish water (c/., p. 17), which is occa- 

 sionally seen in False Bay is the eggs of the Snoek, and it is 

 looked on as a sure sign that Snoek are about. When this 

 water is observed the Kalk Bay fishermen put out towards 

 Cape Point for the fish, and it is stated they almost invariably 

 find them. The usual set of the current is from Cape Point 

 towards Simon's Town and Muizenberg, and this would of 

 course bring the eggs into False Bay. On the other hand, at 

 St. Helena Bay, Stumpnose, and Britannia Bay, and fishing 

 villages in that neighbourhood, floating masses of a gelatinous 

 consistency, in which the eggs and young, it is alleged, may be 

 seen by the naked eye are considered to be the spawn of the 

 fish. There can be little doubt that neither of these are in 

 reality the eggs and fry of the Snoek, as on examination of 

 mature Snoek, the ripe eggs were found to be colourless spheres 

 about -95 of a millimeter in diameter and containing an oil 

 globule about -23 mm. The egg of the Snoek is thus not very 

 different from that of the most of S. African sea-fish. The 

 relatively large size of the oil globule is a characteristic feature 

 and will serve to distinguish it from many other fish eggs, 

 which are otherwise similar. Of the known S. African fish-eggs 

 it is nearest those of the Panga {Pagrus laniarius), which 

 measure from i -i to '93 mm. and have an oil globule of -2 

 to -19 mm. They float at the surface of the water, and were 

 found in the months of August and September. They cannot 

 be destroyed by any method of fishing at present practised 

 an3^where. 



Some time ago some thousands of small Snoek under the 

 legal size were caught at Hermanns and other fishing centres. 

 This infringement of the regulations was pointed out, and the 

 responsible parties called to account. They, however, stated 

 that these small Snoek were of a different species from the ordin- 

 ary Snoek and never grew any larger. For lack of any definite 

 evidence to the contrary no prosecutions were possible, and the 

 capture of these fish continued. On scientific examination of 

 the specimens, however, it was shown that these were certainly 

 immature Snoek, though differing in some respects from the 

 adult. These differences were, for instance, the relatively 

 larger eye, which, however, is a characteristic feature of many 

 young forms of fish. The reproductive organs in all of these 

 small forms were undeveloped. 



The food of the Snoek is whatever it may come across in its 

 pelagic life ; this is generally shoals of smaller fish. " Sar- 



