STARGAZERS AND WEAVERS 



2745 



of the discovery of a new member off Noman's Land, Massachusetts, in 1879, which 

 received the name of tilefish (Lopholatilus chamceleonticeps). An interesting ac- 

 count of this fish is given by Mr. B. Phillips, who, after mentioning that the first 

 example was taken by the captain of a fishing smack when working cod lines in deep 

 water, goes on to observe that the tilefish was one of the most brilliantly-colored 

 fishes out of the tropics, and remarkable for the presence of a soft dorsal fin, re- 

 sembling that of the salmon, which is placed on the neck in advance of the regular 

 dorsal fin instead of behind it, as in the salmon family. In the United States Fishing 

 Report of 1 88 1, it is stated that "there is every reason to believe that the tilefish will 

 rank among the most important food fishes of the United States." The fish would 

 weigh from ten pounds to forty pounds, and its abundance was remarkable- It 

 took the hook readily, and in an hour or two a catch of two hundred and fifty 



pounds of tilefish was not uncommon. As the lines used were the same as for 

 cod fishing, no change of apparatus was necessary. It was then believed that this 

 new fish would singularly increase the food supply of the North Atlantic coast; but 

 just when the fishermen were beginning to apply their skill to the catching of 

 tilefish off the New England coast, the Lopholatilus disappeared. 



Two other subfamilies, distinguished by the lateral line being inter- 

 rupted or stopping short of the caudal fin, are severally typified by the 

 genera Pseudochromis and Notothenia; the former subfamily having the dorsal fin 

 continuous, while in the latter it is divided. Pseudochromis and certain other genera 

 include tropical fish frequenting coral reefs or coral coasts, and taking their name 

 from their superficial resemblance to the members of a very different family the 

 Chromididee. They differ from all the allied forms in having a bony stay connect- 

 ing the preopercular bone with the infraorbital ring. 



Other Groups 



