288 PRACTICAL ZOOLOGY 



(Fig. 168, B) is a famous game fish on the coast of Florida, and 

 is called the " silver king." 



The striped bass is a fine game fish occurring along the coast 

 of eastern North America. It has also been successfully intro- 

 duced along the coast of California. The jewjish or black sea 

 bass is the giant game fish of the California coast. It can be 

 taken with a sixteen-ounce rod, and there are many records of 

 specimens captured by this method weighing over three hundred 

 pounds. 



The tuna is called the tunny or horse mackerel on our eastern 

 coast, but is the tuna of California. Tunas are eagerly sought 

 with hook and line, and many that weighed over one hundred 

 pounds have been landed by this means. 



Food Fishes. — It is, of course, a matter of personal opinion as 

 to which of the food fishes is the best. The value of a species 

 does not depend upon its edible qualities, however, so much as 

 upon its abundance. The common herring is the most important 

 of the food fishes in the Atlantic. Herring swim about the 

 North Atlantic in immense shoals, often covering half a dozen 

 square miles and containing as many as three billion individuals. 

 On the New England coast herring are smoked, salted, pickled, 

 packed as sardines, or used for bait in codfishing. 



Another group of important food fishes that occur in the sea 

 belong to the mackerel family. Fifteen species of mackerel in- 

 habit the salt waters of North America. The common mackerel 

 (Fig. 170, B) occurs in the North Atlantic, swimming about in 

 enormous schools. It feeds on small aquatic animals, such as 

 Crustacea, and furnishes food for other fishes. It is also a valu- 

 able food fish for man. The Spanish mackerel is also a common 

 food fish of the North Atlantic. 



The flounder family contains flatfishes known as flounders 

 (Fig. 171), halibuts, soles, plaice, and turbots. They are flat- 

 tened from side to side, and thus adapted for life on the sea 

 bottom. Frequently they are colored on the upper surface so 

 as to resemble the sand or other material surrounding them. 



