ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



1087 



WOrNDKl) lU' I I l-.liKlSlI 



tioiis have indicated and experiments eonfirmed 

 tiiat certain species of fish at least are able lo 

 regenerate the fins, provided they arc not en- 

 tirely removed at the base. When scales are 

 lost by abrasion tliey quickly begin to grow- 

 again. 



I'ishes which show recovery from wounds of 

 considerable extent are sometimes taken, but 

 these are usually on the tins, gill covers, etc.. 

 and do not as a rule, indicate a very deeji 

 wound. The most remarkable case of recovery 

 from a serious wound whicli has come to tiie 

 writer's attention was that of the butterfisli 

 shown in the accompanying figure, wliich was 

 taken in Buzzards Bay during the last summer. 

 This was an adult specimen about one foot in 

 length and was captured, along with many otii- 

 ers of its kind, in the poundnet set by the col- 

 lector of the United States Fisheries Station 

 at \\'oods Hole, ^Massachusetts. Tiiis indicates 

 that it had been travelling in a school with 

 other butterfisli and was not particularly inca- 

 pacitated by the absence of the lost portion. 

 How the wound may have occurred one can 

 only conjecture, but from its nature it would 

 appear that the portion had been bitten out by 

 the sharp teeth of some predatory fish. Al- 

 thougii the wound was so extensive, involving 

 a large amount of muscular tissue and ajipar- 

 ently going within a short distance of the 

 body cavit)' and reaching nearly to the spin- 

 al column, the fish recovered in the condition 

 shown in the figure. A large section of the anal 

 fin was completely bitten out, leaving this re- 

 gion somewhat distorted even after recovery. 

 The wound was entirely healed wiien the fisli 

 was captured, but there remained ample evi- 

 dence of the healing process in the large amount 

 of scar tissue which covered the wound and in 

 the fact that the scales had not been regener- 

 ated over the scar, although the skin had re- 

 formed. 



X u nierous experiments 

 have shown that wlien the 

 skin or even tlie scales of a 

 fish are removed from a 

 considerable portion of the 

 body, the fishes often die 

 from inability to control the 

 density of the body solu- 

 tions. For a full exjilana- 

 tion of this matter the read- 

 er is referred to the article 

 by Dr. Scott on "The Rela- 

 tion of Aquatic Animals to 

 the Water in which they 

 live. " in another part of 

 this Bulletin. Being a 

 bony fish, the blood of the butterfisli would 

 naturally have only about one half as great 

 a salinity as the sea water. How a fish with so 

 much of the flesh exposed could manage to ex- 

 clude excess salts until the skin was regener- 

 ated is a matter of conjecture. 



FEDERAL CONTROL OF .MIORATORY 

 FISH. 



About three years ago when the question of 

 Federal control of migratory birds was so seri- 

 ously considered, it was felt that the Federal 

 control of migratory fishes was of equal im- 

 portance, and possibly more easily secured. 

 Public sentiment, however, crystallized rapidly 

 around the bird question, on account of the su- 

 preme importance of maintaining the birds, and 

 through the efforts of ))ublic spirited men who 

 clearly saw the dangers to wliich our birds were 

 becoming increasingly exposed, the matter was 

 brought to a successful issue by the passage of 

 the Weeks-McLean Bill. Of even more im- 

 portance on account of its relation to the pub- 

 lic food supply is similar legislation requiring 

 federal control of migratory fish. 



Almost every state in the Union, by unwise 

 methods, is unintentionally curtailing the pub- 

 lic food supply through inadequate regulation 

 of the food fishes. 



The bill introduced by Representative Lin- 

 thicum of Maryland, im August 26th, 1913. H. 

 R. 777.3, referred to the Committee on ^lerchant 

 Marine and Fisheries, upon which a hearing 

 will soon be Jield, is of very great importance 

 to all classes of citizens, whether fisherman, fish 

 dealers or consumers, and sliould li.nc the sup- 

 port of every thinking person. 



