The Bluefish 159 
It has a wide geographical range, being found 
from Nova Scotia to Brazil. It is a common 
fish in Australian waters, in the Malay Archi- 
pelago, and off South Africa. Its movements 
are singular and erratic. Thus, in the Mediter- 
ranean, it is caught at Algiers, but is rare on the 
Italian shore. It shuns the Atlantic coast of 
Europe in the latitudes in which it is common 
in America. It never crosses from Florida to 
the Bermudas, and it apparently avoids the 
islands of Cuba and Porto Rico. Doubtless it 
disappears from certain localities, reappearing 
again only after many years. Thus, so far as 
known, it was not chronicled north of Cape 
Cod prior to 1837. 
The bluefish moves north or south according 
to the weather. It appears along the shore of 
Delaware, Virginia, and New York in May, 
gradually reaching the higher latitudes as the 
summer approaches, and remains until October. 
During this period it moves in large schools, 
feeding on menhaden, squid, and various fishes 
allied to sardines, herring, and mackerel, and is 
so voracious that it is a factor to be considered 
in the depletion of bait fishes. I have seen blue- 
fish charge a school of small mackerel, leaving 
