336 NATURAL HISTORY OF AQUATIC ANIMALS. 



Ocean and Archipelago and in various parts of the Pacific, to be specifically the same. The 

 Cutlass-fish is abundant in the Saint John's Eiver, Florida, in the Indian River region, and in the 

 Gulf of Mexico. Several instances were related to nie in which these fish had thrown themselves 

 from the water into row-boats, a feat which might be very easily performed by a lithe, active 

 species like the Trichiurus. A small one fell into a boat crossing the mouth of the Arlington 

 River, where the water is nearly fresh. 1 



Msftiy individuals of the same species are taken every year at the mouth of the Saint John's 

 River, at Mayport. Stearns states that they are caught in the deep waters of the bays about 

 Pensacola, swimming nearly at the surface, but chiefly with hooks and lines from the wharves. 

 He has known them to strike at the oars of the boat and at the end of the ropes that trailed in the 

 water. At Peusacola they reach a length of twenty to thirty inches, and are considered good food- 

 fish. Richard Hill states that at Jamaica this species is much esteemed, and is fished for assidu- 

 ously in a "hole," as it is called, that is, a deep portion of the waters off Fort Augusta. This is 

 the best fishing place for the Cutlass-fish, Trichiurus. The fishing takes place before day; all 

 lines are pulled in as fast as they are thrown out, with the certainty that the Cutlass has been 

 hooked. As many as ninety boats have been counted on this fishing ground at day-break during 

 the season. All carry on this kind of uninterrupted hauling in of fish. 



A closely allied species, Lepidopus caudatus, is the " Scabbard-fish" of Europe, which also occurs 

 in the Gulf of California. In New Zealand it is called the " Frost-fish," and is considered the most 

 delicious food-fish of the colony. 



111. THE SWORD-FISH FAMILY XIPHIID.E. 



Although it may not seem desirable at present to accept in full the views of Dr. Liitkeu 

 regarding the specific unity of the Spear-fishes and the Sail-fishes of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, 

 it is convenient in discussing their geographical distribution to group the different species in the 

 manner he has suggested. 



The Sword-fish, Xiphias gladius, ranges along the Atlantic coast of America from Jamiaca, 

 latitude 18 N., Cuba, and the Bermudas, to Cape Breton, latitude 47. It has not been seen at 

 Greenland, Iceland, or Spitzbergen, but occurs according to Collet, at the North Cape, latitude 71. 

 It is abundant along the coasts of Western Europe, entering the Baltic and the Mediterranean. I can 

 find no record of the species on the west coast of Africa south of the Cape Verdes, though Liitkeu, 

 who may have access to facts unknown to me, states that they occnr clear down to the Cape of 

 Good Hope, South Atlantic in mid-ocean, west coast of South America and north to Southern 

 California, latitude 34, New Zealand, and in the Indian Ocean off Mauritius. Good authorities 

 state that sperm-whales, though constantly passing Cape Horn, never round the Cape of Good 

 Hope. Can this be true in the case of the Sword-fish f 



The Sail-fish, Histiophorus gladius (with H. americanus and H. orientalis, questionable species, 

 and H. pulchellm and H. immaculatus, young), oiscurs in the Red Sea, Indian Ocean, Malay Archi- 

 pelago, and south at least as far as the Cape of Good Hope, latitude 35 S.; in the Atlantic on 

 the coast of Brazil, latitude 30 S. to the equator, and north to Southern New England, latitude 

 42 N. ; in the Pacific to Southwestern Japan, latitude 30 to 10 N. In a general way the range 

 may be said to be in tropical and temperate seas, between latitude 30 S. and 40. N., and in the 

 western parts of those seas. 



The Bill-fish or Spear-fish, Tetrapturw indicus (with various related forms, which may or may not 

 be specifically identical, occurs in the Western Atlantic from the West Indies, latitude 10 to 20 N., 



Kx-.il ir ii, ex aquis mepe in cyiiibiiiii. I,IN\.I:I s. 



