186 LOWER VERTEBRATES. 



he has " frequently been stopped by fish-dealers who asked hun to assure their custom- 

 ers that blue-fish were eatable. They are growing into favor everywhere, however, 

 just as they did in Boston." In that city, according to Capt. Atwood, in 1865, but 

 very few were sold, and when he first went to Boston with a lot, he obtained only 

 two cents a pound, the second year he got two and a half c^nts, and the third three 

 cents. 



But the blue-fish is also one of the most esteemed of sea game-fishes and still more 

 regarded by anglers for the sport which it furnishes than for the excellence of its flesh. 

 It is a custom for many, during the summei-, to take small vessels and sail along the 

 coast trolling for these fishes. The armature for that purpose generally consists of a 

 large hook with a wire leader and a long line let out by the hand alone. The hook is 

 provided usually with a metal squid, whose brightness appears to be very attractive to 

 the fish, for they rush in pursuit, snap at it, and are easily hooked. When one is 

 hooked it should be immediately hauled in and if the line is kept taut the fish is apt to 

 be thrown into the boat. Occasionally fish are also caught in certain places, from the 

 shore, by throwing a hook as far as can be done, and immediately afterwards hauling 

 it rapidly in again. 



But excellent as the blue-fish is, both for esculent and game qualities, it is doubtful 

 whether its goodness in those respects compensates for the havoc it commits among 

 its co-inhabitants of the sea. Its ravages are sure to be felt in time, (we even now 

 feel them) and it is a proof of the wonderful fecundity of nature that recovery can be 

 and is so readily made after the murderous visitations of such hordes. A temporary 

 cessation of its incursions on the American coasts may supervene as on former occa- 

 sions and a " balance of power " for the natives of the sea be again established. Soon 

 may it be ! 



Typical representatives of the Scombrioidea now demand our attention and the 

 great importance of some of the species will call for more consideration than can be 

 given to most other forms. 



Caeangid^ is the family name for the fishes generally known as cavally or cre- 

 valle, jack, pompano, scad, etc. These exhibit considerable difference in form, some 

 being elongate fusiform, and others short, very much compressed, and high in the 

 back. But most have an oblong body, which is moderately compressed, and the back 

 and head more or less decurved. The- scales are very smooth and entire on the 

 borders ; the lateral line arched in front and straight behind ; there are two dorsal 

 fins, the first usually provided with seven or eight spines, but sometimes the fin is 

 atrophied ; the second dorsal is long ; the anal like the second dorsal, and generally 

 armed with three spines, the first two of which, however, are ordinarily detached to 

 form a separate finlet, although sometimes they are almost wanting, or not separated. 

 The species of this division are very numerous in the tropical seas, and, being great 

 swimmers, some of them have a very wide distribution. Several of the species are 

 of special interest on account of their economical importance, or the characters which 

 they exhibit. 



The scad, Trachurus saurits, is a common species in Europe, and especially in the 

 Mediterranean, and is likewise, although rarely, found along the southern Atlantic 

 coast, as well as along the Pacific shores of America. It may be recognized at once 

 by the row of high transverse plates which arm the entire lateral line from the shoul- 

 ders to the caudal fins ; the outline is symmetrically fusiform. It is too small to be of 

 much economical value, although it is often used as a frying fish. It rarely reaches 



