722 

 THE GAME FISHES OF THE PERSIAN GULF. 



BY 



Majok W. H. Laxe, 



Part I. 



" Few re(/ions on the globe can shew so remarkable a variety of fishes as India. 

 The waters, salt and fresh, fairli/ teem icith them." 



Charles Frederick Holder in "The Game Fishes of the World." 



It is a well-known fact in the annals of sea-angling that the gre^t gulfs 

 of the tropical and temperate oceans abound with a variety of piscine life 

 that is bewildering in its diversity. The reputation of the Gulf of Mexico 

 and the Gulf of California is world-wide. The tuna and tarpon are household 

 words amongst every community of fishermen ; but a casual glance at a 

 book such as The Game Fishes of the World by Charles Frederick 

 Holder, LL.D., will suffice to shew that the number of other sport-giving 

 varieties is legion. It is remarkable that in this comprehensive volume not 

 a single word is mentioned of the game fishes to be found in the Persian 

 Gulf. The reason is obvious. From an ichthyological stand-point practi- 

 cally nothing is known of this vast arm of the Indian Ocean. Is there any 

 adequate reason why this huge inlet should not furnish a paradise for the 

 disciple of Izaak Walton ? It is with the object of elucidating this problem 

 that the present paper has been written. No claim can be put forward that 

 it is in any way a scientific treatise ; lack of technical training on the part 

 of the author would preclude such a supposition from the very outset. 

 Similarly it is not maintained that investigation has by any means been 

 completed. In the waters of this extensive basin an enormous field for 

 work lies in front of the professional scientist. The amateur, however, has 

 his uses ; he is frequently the pioneer who pilots the expert to the hidden 

 treasures which he has discovered. It is hoped, therefore, that the con- 

 tents of this paper may be such as to induce some qualified naturalist to 

 undertake systematic research in the waters of the Persian Gulf. 



The initial problem that usually confronts the explorer is — choice of 

 locality. In the present instance the choice of locality was dictated by a 

 benevolent Government, and was contained in the four letters 



JASK. 



No great eftort at word-painting is required to portray this little speck 

 of British dust. Jask is a spit of sand and rock that protrudes its barren 

 dreariness into the Gulf of Oman, but from a piscatorial point of view 

 this physical feature forms the foundation upon which the importance of 

 .Task is built. Against the eastern shore of the promontory the deep and 

 pellucid waters roll straight from the > heart of the Indian Ocean without let 

 or hindrance. The 15 knot liner or trooper proceeding up Gulf from the 

 Gateway of India, after rounding the Prongs, lays a direct course to a 

 point 5 miles south of Cape Jask. So it is also with the pelagic fishes ; 

 at the appointed seasons they set their noses Jaskwards. Here the 

 five fathom line lies within a few cables distance of the fringe of diminutive 

 cliffs that back the stretch of yellow sand in East Bay. Here the 

 monsters from the open sea, although within close proximity to land, can 

 still revel in the clear cobalt of the watery waste in which they have their 

 being. What is the magnet that attracts the leviathans to this particular 

 locality ? There must be hundreds of other haunts where conditions would 



