586 GEOGRAPHICAL EEVIEW OF THE FISHERIES. 



steamers from Indianola. Most of this is also shipped into the interior, but little coming to the 

 Galveston market. 



The fish brought to the market are placed ou the stalls by the fishermen and are soon bought 

 up at prices varying with the supply, by a number of Italians known as speculators, who sell them 

 to the public ; all left unsold at 9 o'clock a. in., being put on ice till the next day. The demand 

 and supply are far greater on Sunday and Friday than on the other days of the week, and very 

 small on Saturday and Monday. The species seen in market in spring are the following, given in 

 order of their abundance : 



Scicena ocellata. Redfish of the Colorado. (Up to 38 pounds.) 



Cynoscion maculatum. Speckled trout. 



Hlngil albula. Mullet. (Little esteemed.) 



Pogonias chromis. Drum. (Cheap.) 



Bairdiella punctata. Yellow-fin. 



Micropogon undulatus. Croaker ; ronco. 



DipJodus probatoccphalus. Sheepshead. 



Liostomus xanthurus. Flat croaker. 



Pomadasys fuhomaculatus. Pigfish. 



Menticirrus alburnus. Whiting. 

 The above of daily occurrence. 



Tylosurus longirostris. Needle-fish. 



Paralickthys dentatus. Flounder. (Mostly speared.) 



Arius fells. Sea-cat. 



jUJluricJitliys marinus. Sea-kitten ; blue-backed cat. (Rarely except by negroes.) 



Menticirrus littoralis. Surf whiting. 



Cluetodipterus faber. Half-moon. 



Trygon sayi. Stingaree. 



Diplodus rhomboides. 



Centropomus undecimalis. Robalo. (A magnificent fish when baked.) 



TricMurus lepturus. Silver eel. 



Hemirhamphus unifasciatus. Smear. 



Clupea chrysockloris. Skipjack. 



Brevoortia, patronus; and other fish little esteemed, occasionally brought in, as also some- 

 times different river fish. 



To this list the pompano, the Spanish mackerel, the crevalle", and some species of eel are to be 

 added in summer. 



STATISTICS FOR DIFFERENT LOCALITIES. At Indiauola, on Matagorda Bay, are some seventy- 

 five to eighty fishermen, who take about 200,000 pounds of fish yearly, nearly half of this being 

 shipped by steamer to Galveston, the rest being consumed in ludianola or sent by rail into the 

 interior. 



At Rockport and Corpus Christ! Bay some fishing is done, perhaps 50,000 pounds per year. 

 At Brazos Santiago, on Laguna Madre, a number of men fish for the markets of Brownsville 

 and Matamoras, about 100,000 pounds being taken yearly. 



From Brazos Santiago, the robalo (C. undecimalis), which is there one of the most important 

 food-fish, is often sent by steamer, on ice, to Galveston. It reaches a weight of 20 pounds, and is 

 justly prized. 



There is no fishing of importance elsewhere on the coast of Texas. 



