TI1K GUHNARD FAMILY. 257 



family. We shall not atti'inpt to Describe all those fish, which resemble each other very much in 

 all but the color. They all have large heads, sheathed with rough, bouy plates, and armed with 

 many acute points, and their dorsal flu has also several sharp, thorny rays. These prickles are all 

 erected by (lie fish when takeu alive, and they inflict a painful, though not, as many say, a poison 

 ons wound. The broad mouth is furnished with rough, but not sharp, teeth; the pectoral fins in 

 most of the s]>ecies are very long, and can be expanded like a fan, whence they are sometimes 

 railed Flying-fish and Butterfly- fish. It is doubtful, however, whether they can actually fly like a 

 living-fish, but they have been said to skip from wave to wave, a peculiarity often alluded to 

 by halieutic poets. They also emit a grunting sound, which can be distinctly heard in still weather 

 while lying at anchor on a shallow, which they frequent. At such a time the sound resembles the 

 distant lowing of kine. When freshly takeu from the water they grunt quite loudly, whence 

 i heir popular name of Gruntor, or Cuckoo-fish. 



"The Gurnards live on crabs and delicate fresh food, taking all such baits readily, on a clean 

 bottom, and they sometimes annoy fishermen hugely by their voracity. They play well on the 

 hook, and a large one tugging at a rod is often supposed to be n game fish and a prize, till the 

 ugly Sea-robin, with his spiky helmet, shows himself at the surface. 



"The Gurnards of our coasts do not reach a large size, at least we have but rarely seen any that 

 \\cighed over a pound, while in Europe some of the species, such as the Tub-fish, Trigla hirundo, 

 have been found weighing eleven pounds, and those of seven or eight are common. The Red Gur- 

 nard, or Rotchet, T. CMCM/IM, and the Piper, T. lyra. reach three or four pounds, averaging about 

 two, while the other European kinds resemble ours as to size. 



" Small as our species are, they are not the less delicate when cooked, and we have often veri- 

 fied this fact. They are sold in England by the number, and not by weight, for their large heads 

 an- inedible, while they add, perhaps, one-quarter to their weight. The English fishermen take 

 them almost everywhere along the coast in large trawl-nets, constructed for their capture, though 

 other bottom fish may find their way into the net. These trawls are generally twelve or sixteen 

 feet wide at the month, with a bag proportioned to their beam, which has one or two labyrinths 

 like a fyke-net Inside. The trawl is managed from a large sail-boat, with a block and tackle, and 

 is hauled in water as deep as eight or ten fathoms. We do not recommend this special fishery to 

 our coast fishermen, as our Gurnards are small, but wish only to call attention to the edible qual- 

 ities of this generally despised fish. 



" Piscator (the anonymous author of the 'Practical Angler'), in his excellent little treatise 

 entitled 'Fish; How to Choose and How to Dress,' published in 1843, says of the Gurnard that 

 their flesh is 'white, excellent, exceedingly firm, and shells out into snowy flakes, and is of a 

 remarkably agreeable flavor,' and that 'they keep well.' He recommends them to be boiled that 

 i>. the large ones ; while the small ones may be split and fried. 



" We have no popular names for the species that are found in our waters. All are called 

 Sea-robins, Flying-fish, 'Grnnters, &c. 



" Having drawn attention to this first as one that deserves a place on our tables, we leave his 

 fate hereafter to the tender care of a good cook and a discerning paJate." 



Another member of this family is the Pcriatedium miniatum Goode, a brilliant red species recently 

 diseovered by the Fish Commission in the deep waters on the coast of Southern New England. 



THE AOONUS FAMILY. Another family closely related to the family Triylidw is the family 



Ayonida;, the members of which are remarkable on account of their angular bodies encased in 



spinons, bony plates; it is represented on our east coast by one species. The 



17 r 



