SOME OF OUR FOOD FISHES. 



By J. Rodway. 



Fishes may be treated from a scientific standpoint, as Professor 

 Eigenmann has so well done in his new book on our fresh-water species, 

 or for their economic value. There is also their beauty and their fitness 

 for the conditions under which they live. A great deal of confusion 

 exists in regard to the popular names, some of which cover several 

 species and others are rather vague ; I shall endeavour to put these 

 in some kind of order, but I may state that my identifications are open 

 to correction and therefore are only tentative. 



Our edible fishes may be roughly divided into three great classes, 

 first the scale fishes which form the majority, second the skin fishes, 

 mostly Siluridse, with sharks and eels and, last, the toe-nail fishes, the 

 Siluridae with plates, such as hassars and Doras, which the Creole has so 

 named from the resemblance of the plates to a paring of the nails. There 

 is a strong prejudice among some people against skin fishes, possibly 

 connected with what is called " kinna," that feeling which is expressed 

 by saying "our family does not eat skin fish." That this prejudice is 

 unreasonable is proved by the fact that many of these fishes are not only 

 wholesome but really good. Some however repel by their slimy appear- 

 ance and others suggest repulsive habits, especially when they are known 

 to feed on mud and filth. But even these may be wholesome, and so 

 nice that one of them has received the name of !i Gold-digger lose his 

 passage,"' possibly because some one was so occupied in having a good 

 feed that he forgot the time. 



Fishes may be further divided into those which are only found in salt 

 water, generally at a considerable distance from the shore, those which 

 frequent the mouths of the river and come into our trenches, and the 

 true fresh-water fishes, only found in the upper parts of the rivers and 

 creeks, but coming into our fresh-water canals. It may be generally 

 stated that the more beautiful fishes belong either to the blue sea or the 

 dark waters of the interior while dull-colours predominate in those of 

 the muddy water. 



Probably, the most popular fish for the table is the red snapper 

 (Neomaenis aya) which is as nice as it is beautiful. It may be compared 

 to a magnified golden carp, in fact boys seeing gold fish in our aquarium 

 ask if they are young snappers. The grouper (Epinephelus adscensionis) 

 is also very nice but not so glorious in colour. In connection with this 

 species I may mention that in 1797 our Court of Policy thought fit to 

 regulate the prices of several commodities then sold in Stabroek Market. 

 Among the fishes was one named " Jacob Everts,'' which puzzled me for 

 a long time. At last I found out that it was the grouper and that it 



