ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



1431 



STRANDED 



'BLACKFISH" [GLOBICEPHALUS MELASJ 

 Folly Island Beach, S. C. 



is rather soft and has a slight muddy taste, 

 while there is a great abundance of bone. 



Sometimes, when desirous for a change of 

 diet, one of us would take a rod and go down 

 to the banks of the river. The best way to 

 catch the perai, we soon found, was to fish 

 from a boat anchored a few yards from shore 

 where the mud bars shelved steeply down into 

 deep water. The fish seemed to swarm along 

 this steep bank, while a few splashed about in 

 the shallows nearer the forest clad shore. Usu- 

 ally the bait was the flesh and entrails of some 

 bird or animal, but, as excellent as any, were 

 the entrails of the perai. No food seemed re- 

 pellant to them. In their stomachs I have 

 found fish, birds, pieces of flour dough used by 

 the natives to catch other fish, and in one lo- 

 cality, where there is a citrate factory, I have 

 seen them swarm in thousands, fighting over the 

 refuse lime seeds thrown out as waste from the 

 mill. 



It was always best to use a long line with 

 the bait hanging within a few inches of the bot- 

 tom. The usual procedure of the fish was to 

 nibble feebly for a few moments and then strike 

 and strike hard. Sometimes they would strike 

 without any preliminary warning. 



As a game fish the Perai is not one that will, 

 except for a few moments, delight the heart of 

 the angler. After the first few rushes the fight 

 is over and the fish comes quietl}^ to the surface. 

 The fisherman must be careful to keep a taut 

 line, for, at the slightest slackening, away goefs 

 the quarry: he must strike hard to make fast 

 the hook for the perai has a mouth of bone, 

 against which the point of the hook often turns 



as if made of lead, or snaps 

 off like the head of a match 

 struck too hard against the 

 box. A strong wire leader 

 must be used. Even, then, 

 I have seen the villainous 

 teeth click together on a 

 heavy piece of phospho- 

 bronze wire and, as easily as 

 a pair of wire nippers, snap 

 it in two. 



The fish in the boat is 

 nearly as bad as in the wa- 

 ter. One must be very care- 

 ful not to place any portion 

 of his anatomy too near, or, 

 with a flop, the perai will 

 seize it. He seems to use a 

 certain amount of cunning. 

 If a finger touches his body 

 he will not make a motion until it is within 

 reach of his jaws. Then, with a twist or turn, 

 he snaps, bringing his teeth together with a 

 sharp click, and it goes hard with the finger 

 that is between them. 



The species described above is Rooseveltiella 

 niger. The accompanying photographs were 

 made by Paul G. Howes from specimens col- 

 lected by William Beebe at Kalakoon on the 

 Mazaruni River. 



STRANDED "BLACKFISH." 



r^ I RECTOR Paul M. Rae of the Charleston 

 J' Museum sends a photograph showing sev- 

 eral blackfish (Globicephalus melas) 

 which were recently stranded at Folly Island 

 Beach, South Carolina. 



Tliere were ten of these large porpoises, and 

 the photograph shows how close together some 

 of them were cast on the beach. 



It is possible that these represent the south- 

 ern blackfish (G. hrachi/ptera), but this cannot 

 be determined from the photograph. 



All are lying on their sides. The two in the 

 foreground have their heads toward each other. 



The blackfish has from time immemorial been 

 the object of an important fishery in the Faroe 

 Islands. It attains a length of about fifteen 

 feet. 



SHARK SUCKERS. 



THERE are several specimens of the shark 

 sucker {Echenci.s naucrates) in the Aqua- 

 rium, the larger of which have been there 

 two 3^ears. Two are quite young, being only 



