70 FISHES OF THE PACIFIC COAST 



than mention all the fishes which may be caught, as the 

 interesting convict fish with its stripes, Fig. 23, the 

 remora with sucking disc, Fig. 24, which rides about 

 on sharks, turtles and swordfish ; the beautiful kelp fish, 

 which builds a nest and mimics the kelp and hangs in 

 it in strange positions. The great red grouper or 

 rockfish, found in deep water, and a valuable food 

 fish; the strange lance-like lizard fish, Fig. 25, with 

 fierce teeth; the little parrot fish, Fig. 26; the little 

 kelp fishes and many more found everywhere. 



In deep water we find the ghostfish, Fig. 27, or 

 king of the salmon : the marvelous ribbon fish, Fig. 28, 

 like a beautiful satin ribbon, fifteen or twenty feet 

 long, with brilliant vermilion fins or plumes. This 

 fish attains a length of thirty or more feet and is 

 probably the foundation of many of the sea-serpent 

 stories. In deeper water, occasionally coming in, is 

 the Indian-head fish, with beautiful colors ; the savage 

 walking fish, and many others, rarely seen by any 

 one, but all adding to the interest in the sea which 

 abounds in the most bizarre and interesting forms. 



SHARKS 



Sharks are hardly included among game fishes, yet 

 the bonito-shark, found in California waters, of about 

 thirty pounds, leaps into the air when hooked and 

 affords a very good imitation of a game fish. So 

 with the oil-shark, beautifully marked. I have taken 

 it up to sixty pounds on a nine-ounce rod from the 

 beach; had it been a salmon instead of a shark, the 

 play it made would have been considered remarkable. 



The sharks captured off the islands of San Clemente 



