Harvest-fish 



Harvest-fish 



Peprilus paru (Linnaeus) 



This delicious little fish has been found from Cape Cod to Brazil, 

 but it is not abundant anywhere except about the mouth of Chesa- 

 peake Bay. At Norfolk, where it is called whiting, it is a fish of con- 

 siderable commercial importance, and it is one of the most common 

 pan-fishes one sees hawked about the streets of Baltimore, Washing- 

 ton and other middle Atlantic cities. It reaches a length of 6 inches. 

 One interesting fact in the life history of the fish is its habit of 

 swimming beneath the Portuguese man-of-war. 



The genus Palometa is distinguished from Peprilus only by the 

 lower fins. The 3 known species are each of rare occurrence. The 

 first, P. palometa, reaches a length of 3 inches and occurs in the 

 Pacific off Columbia. Another species, P. media, is known only 

 from Mazatlan. The third species, P. simillima, the "California Pom- 

 pano," occurs on our Pacific Coast from Puget Sound to San Diego. 

 During summer it is abundant, especially about Santa Cruz, and is a 



329 



