CHAPTER LVII 



THE ORDER OF THE DOGFISH 



HALECOMORPIII 



To naturalists, the Dogfish 1 is a creature of 

 much interest. Like the prong-horned antelope, 

 it is so unique and peculiar that it has been nec- 

 essary to create for it a grand division of classifi- 

 cation which it occupies all alone. The antelope 

 is only a Family, but this fish is a whole Order. 

 Its other English names are Mudfish, Bowfin, 

 Grindle and Lawyer; and since Linnaeus chris- 

 tened it Amiq calva, in 1766, eleven other natural- 

 ists have given it eleven other names in Latin. 



THE DOUFISH. 



The Dogfish has an air-bladder that is divided 

 into cells, and is a half-developed lung. At in- 

 tervals it ascends to the surface of the water, 

 gulps down a mouthful of air, just as a turtle 

 does, and descends again. If hindered from rising 

 when the time comes to take in a supply of fresh 

 air, the fish struggles violently, like a mammal 

 about to be drowned; but it can expel air while 

 below the surface. This character indicates that 

 lungs were first developed in fishes, from modifi- 

 cations of their air-bladders. Other characters 

 establish a distinct relationship with the gar 

 fishes, and place it in the Subclass Ganoidea. 

 The dorsal fin is low, of uniform height through- 

 out, and is about one-half as long as the entire fish. 



By its general anatomy, this fish appears to 

 stand midway between the true lung-fishes and 

 1 Am-i'a cal'va. 



the gar pikes. It is of scientific interest, only, 

 for, save to the negroes of the South, its flesh is 

 quite unpalatable, and valueless as food. It is 

 an inhabitant of sluggish fresh waters, attains a 

 length of 2 feet, and 12 pounds weight. It is 

 found in the great lakes, the Mississippi valley 

 generally, and in a few fresh-water streams on 

 the southern Atlantic coast. 



The individuality of the Dogfish is very posi- 

 tive and interesting. Among the small fry of 

 other fishes its voracious appetite 

 renders it very destructive to 

 species of more value than itself. 

 Mr. Charles Hallock, who knows 

 it well, has thus set forth the salient 

 points of its moral character: 



"They take frogs, minnows, and 

 sometimes the spoon. Their habi- 

 tat is deep water, where they drive 

 everything before them. They are 

 very voracious and savage. Their teeth are so 

 sharp and their jaws so strong they have been 

 known to bite a two-pound fish clean in two the 

 very first snap. They are as tenacious of life as 

 an eel. The young, when about six inches long, 

 make a famous bait for pickerel and pike. To 

 use it, run the hook into the mouth right up 

 through the centre of the head,through the brains, 

 cast a hundred times, catch several fish, and at 

 the end of three to six hours he will kick like a 

 mule." 



"Put a hundred in a rain-barrel, and you can 

 keep them all summer without change of water. 

 For the aquarium, the young have no equal, and 

 on account of the spot in the tail they are quite 

 attractive; but nothing else than snails can live 

 in the tank. He will kill a lizard or any other 

 living thing the instant it touches the water." 



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