966 



ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN. 



BLACKFISH AND CUNNER. 



IT is safe to say that there are no fishes 

 better known to the shorewise angler from 

 New Jersey to Nova Scotia than are the 

 Blackfish and the Gunner. They belong to the 

 Wrasse family (Labridae) , which has many rep- 

 resentatives in various parts of the world, but 

 which is limited in our region to these two 

 species. Not only are the Blackfish and Cunner 

 common everywhere along the coast, but, like 

 the poor, they are "always with us." Even if 

 they may seem to disappear at times in colder 

 weather, they are merely hibernating in crevices 

 in the rocks or similar situations. 



Blackfish or Tautog (Tautoga onitis, Lin- 

 naeus) : The popularity of this fish is attested 

 by the number of pet names that have been ap- 

 plied to him, such as chub, salt-water chub, 

 sea-tog, Moll, Will-George, besides smooth 

 blackfish and oyster-fish, and occasionally toad- 

 fish, but it must not be confused with the com- 

 mon toadfish which is quite a different species. 



The blackfish was evidently well known in the 

 early days of New England. It was described 

 by Linnaeus in 1758. Several specific names 

 have been applied by later writers who were 

 misled by the variations in color exhibited by 

 this species. The name of the genus Tautoga 

 was given by Mitchill in his report on the fishes 

 of New York in 1814. Mitchill states that the 

 name which is evidently Indian, is of Mohegan 

 origin, and DeKay adds that the word means 

 "black," which is the ordi- 

 nary color. However, it 

 varies from blackish to 

 greenish, pale-bluish or 

 bluish-black, and sometimes 

 shows metallic reflections. 

 These darker colors are 

 spread without any particu- 

 lar arrangement over the 

 back and sides. Sometimes 

 the whole dorsal surface 

 will be nearly solid black 

 or again it will be broken 

 into irregular spots and 

 blotches, and often there 

 will be several shades of 

 color on the same individ- 

 ual. Occasionally irregular 

 bands of the darker color 



will appear on a background of greenish or 

 dark pigmentation. As a rule the older indi- 

 viduals are much darker than the young ones, 

 and the blotches less sharp in outline. 



The blackfish occurs in shallow water along 

 the coast from Virginia to Nova Scotia. His 

 presence, however, is not always evident, for 

 in the colder months he seeks a crevice be- 

 tween the rocks, or some similar situation, and 

 hibernates until spring warms him up. The 

 young ones often remain in quite shallow 

 water along the shore, sometimes simply bury- 

 ing themselves in. the sand or mud, while the 

 larger ones usually seek somewhat deeper water. 

 As a rule, in the vicinity of New York, the 

 hibernation lasts from the latter part of 

 November till about the first of April, or while 

 the temperature of the water is below 60 de- 

 grees Fahrenheit. They are sometimes speared 

 during the colder months in the mouths of the 

 New England rivers, and they are sometimes 

 frozen to death when hibernating in too shallow 

 water. 



The blackfish delights in rocky pools and un- 

 even bottom close to shore where the seaweeds 

 are abundant and is common on oyster beds. 

 His diet consists of sea-foods of various kinds, 

 barnacles, marine worms, crustaceans and other 

 similar delicacies. For the purpose of obtain- 

 ing these he has a set of strong, projecting 

 front teeth. These are somewhat separated 

 and are placed at such an angle that they look 



A YOUNG TOUTOG 



