306 NATURAL HISTORY OF AQUATIC ANIMALS. 



since the bonito became an inhabitant of our waters, and the distribution and habits of the Frigate 

 Mackerel are supposed to be very similar to those of the bonito, Sarda pelamys, and the little tunny, 

 Orcymis thynnus, which also first came on the coast in 1871, and have since been found in 

 considerable numbers. 



The Frigate Mackerel has been observed in the West Indies, and other parts of the tropical 

 Atlantic, as well as on the coast of Europe. In Great Britain it is called the " Plain Bouito." 

 It is not unusual in the Bermudas, where it is called the " Frigate Mackerel," a name not inap- 

 propriate for adoption in this country, since its general appearance is more like that of the 

 Mackerel than the bonito, while in swiftness and strength it is more like the larger members of 

 this family. 



Since the first appearance of this fish many new observations of its abundance have been 

 received. These fish appeared to come in immense schools into the waters between Montauk Point 

 and George's Bank; and from Mr. Clark's statements it appears that they have been observed 

 in small numbers by fishermen in previous years. Several vessels have come into Newport recently 

 reporting their presence in immense numbers in the vicinity of Block Island. It will interest 

 the " ichthyophagists " to know that several persons in Newport have tested the fish, and pro- 

 nounce it inferior to the bonito. Part of the flesh, that on the posterior part of the body, is 

 white, but behind the gills it is black and rank, while the meat near the backbone is said to be of 

 disagreeable, sour flavor. 



It is hard to predict what its influence will be upon other fishes already occupying our waters. 

 Its mouth is small and its teeth feeble, so that it is hardly likely to become a ravager, like the 

 bonito and the bluefish. There is little probability, on the other hand, that its advent will be of 

 any special importance from an economical point of view, for its oil does not seem to be very abun- 

 dant, and it will hardly pay at present to capture it solely for the purpose of using its flesh in the 

 manufacture of fertilizers. 



Mr. A. Howard Clark, at that time in charge of the Fish Commission station at Gloucester, 

 communicated to Professor Baird interesting statements regarding its abundance. From these 

 it would also appear that the species has been observed occasionally in past years. He wrote 

 under date of August 10: "I have received this morning from the schooner 'Fitz J. Babson,' just 

 arrived from Block Island, a fish answering to your description of the Auxis, having a corselet of 

 scales around the pectoral fin, as in the tunny. The captain of the vessel, Joshua Riggs, reports 

 that about a week ago we had a hundred barrels in the seine at one time, and saw over twenty 

 schools of them. He saw them as far east as Sow-and-Pig light-ship. They are very easy to 

 catch, flip like menhaden, do not rush, and are not frightened at the seine. They go in immense 

 numbers he thinks as many as one thousand barrels to a school. The day after the appearance 

 of these fish the Mackerel disappeared, but he does not know whether the Mackerel were driven 

 away by them or not. They feed on Mackerel food. Mr. Daniel Ililtz, of the same vessel, says 

 that he caught one of just the same kind, in February, 1879, on a haddock trawl on the eastern 

 part of the Middle Bank, in forty fathoms of water. He took it to Boston, where it was called a 

 young bonito. 



"Mr. John Henderson, of the schooner 'Sarah C. Wharf,' says that two vessels caught such 

 fish recently eastward of here. The schooner 'American Eagle,' of Provincetown, took a number 

 of barrels of them into Newport, and sold them for a dollar a barrel. Another Cape Cod vessel 

 [he does not know her name] took about fifty barrels of them and threw them away. All the 

 mackerel seiners from Block Island report seeing quantities of this new fish within the past fort- 

 night. The captain of the schooner ' Sarah C. Wharf says he first saw them a fortnight ago, some 



