The Leaping Tuna 87 



to fifteen spines ; the second dorsal and anal bear 

 a spikelike fin, following which are from eight to 

 ten finlets, colored a vivid yellow. The teeth are 

 very small, so that the prey sardines, flying- 

 fishes, or squid is crushed rather than cut 

 The flesh of the tuna is excellent, dark and meat- 

 like ; but owing to the quantity of other kinds of 

 edible fish it finds little favor among Americans, 

 the catches being taken by Italian and Portu- 

 guese fishermen along the Pacific coast. On the 

 Mediterranean it is greatly in demand, but in 

 America its chief value is to anglers, who will go 

 thousands of miles to take it, the sport and that 

 of tarpon fishing well illustrating the importance 

 of a mere pastime as one of the assets of a state. 

 The tarpon brings thousands of dollars into 

 Florida and Texas. The game commissioners 

 of Maine estimate that sportsmen bring five 

 million dollars into their state yearly, while at 

 a recent trial involving the protection of the 

 game fishes of California a commissioner testi- 

 fied that the game of all kinds of the state 

 brought two million dollars to the coast per an- 

 num, which shows that sport has become one of 

 the assets of the nation, to be carefully protected 

 and conserved in the interests of the people. 



