USES OF THE BONITO. 310 



country not so abundantly supplied with finely-flavored fishes, it would be considered of tho 

 highest value. Their vitality is so great and their supply of blood so abundant that unless bled 

 immediately after capture their flesh, especially in warm weather, is apt to deteriorate. Great 

 quantities of them are taken to New York, and there, as well as in Rhode Island and Connecticut, 

 they are sold extensively under the name of "Spanish mackerel," at prices ranging from thirty five 

 to fifty cents a ]>oiind. This was the common practice in 1874, and has continued since. The state- 

 ment made by Scott in 1875, viz, that on account of their rarity they were preferred to the bluefish 

 and striped base, would not now be true; his prediction that they would in time become as 

 abundant as the blueflsh seems, however, during some years to have been almost verified. 

 The dealers, by the change of name in the market above referred to, are able to obtain a high 

 price for a fish which, under its own name, would be looked upon with suspicion. An absurd 

 report that the Bonito was poisonous was current in 1874, probably owing to the fact that similar 

 fish taken in warm climates are sometimes deleterious. 



In 1874 the ordinary price in New York was one cent apiece, though in the wholesale markets 

 they commanded the same price as bluefish, and many were sold, as has been stated, at the high 

 rates of Spanish mackerel. The market was so glutted that many of the vessels could not dispose 

 of their cargoes. 



According to Stearns, our Bonito occurs also in the Gulf of Mexico, where it is everywhere 

 abundant, and is found in the bays on the Florida coast. It usually moves, according to the same 

 authority, at the surface of the water in small schools. At sea it is found throughout the year, 

 and along the shore only in the summer. Small schools are sometimes taken in drag-seines in 

 shallow water. Its market value at Pensacola is not great, although it has become an article of 

 food. 



THE PACIFIC BONITO. On the California coast occurs a closely related species, Sarda chilennix, 

 which is thus described by Professor Jordan: 



"This fish is every where known as the Bonito. The names 'Spanish Mackerel,' 'Skipjack,' and 

 ' Tuna' are also sometimes applied to it. It reaches an average weight of about twelve pounds, but 

 the body is considerably longer and more slender than that of an Albicore of the same weight. 

 It ranges from San Francisco southward to Chili, being abundant in Monterey Bay and about the 

 Santa Barbara Islands in the summer and fall. It approaches to within half a mile of the shore, 

 where, in company with the barracuda, it is taken in great numbers by trolling. It spawns in August 

 or September. Its arrival is in early summer and its departure in the fall, at which season the 

 young are said to be found abundantly in the kelp. It feeds chiefly on anchovies and squids. As 

 a food-fish it is not held in high esteem, the flesh being coarse. Great numbers are salted and dried, 

 and are in that state considered far inferior to the barracuda and yellow-tail." 



THE STRIPED BONITO. The Striped Bouito, already mentioned, is distinguished from other 

 species by the presence of four dark lines, which begin at the pectoral fin and run along the side 

 of the belly to the tail, the sides of the common Bonito being of a silvery white. This species, the 

 StrijHjd Bonito, is occasionally taken on the European coast, but rarely entering the Mediter- 

 ranean. It is found in the Pacific on the coast of China and Japan, and is the species most 

 commonly known to mariners as the Bonito, or Albicore, of the activity and voracity of which, as 

 observed from the decks of vessels at sea, so many descriptions have been written. The lirst 

 individual noticed on our coast was taken by Mr. J. H. Blake at Provincetown in July, 1S77. 

 Others have since been observed at Wood's Holl and in the New York markets. 



One of the American men-of-war of Revolutionary times was named "Bonetta," after the 

 fishes of this group. 



