PAEASITBS OP THE SWORD FISH. 355 



encompassed with a very hard Membrane; which Snout it thrusts whole into the Body of the 

 Fish, as strongly as an Augre is wound into a piece of Wood, and illls it full of Blood into the 

 very Orifice." He names it " jffirMdo" or ^^Acus cauda utrinque pennata^^ 



A specimen taken off Seaconnet, July 22, 1875, had fluke-worms in the external coat of the 

 stomach and in the air-bladder. 



The Sword-fish is infested by many species of invertebrate parasites. Some hang on the gills, 

 others fasten themselves to different parts of the alimentary canal — the oesophagus, the stomach, 

 and the intestines; and others still bore into the flesh. Several species, as might be expected 

 from the size of the fish, are among the giants of their races. All undoubtedly cause more or 

 less pain to their host, but especially those which attach themselves to the gills, disturbing their 

 action and destroying their substance. 



The parasites of the Sword-fish, for convenience, may be classified in two groups, the worm- 

 like parasites (Helminthes) and the crustacean parasites. 



FiSH-PAEASiTES — THE SUCKERS OR KEMOEAS. — Several species of "stay-ships" or "remoras" 

 occur on our coast. The ordinary kinds, such as Echeneis naucrates, the one with a black stripe 

 down its side and white corners to its caudal fin, appears to choose companionship with the 

 sharks, while the oceanic species, Bemora squalipeia, is most often found clinging to ships. 



A third species, Bemora brachyptera, is the particular parasite of the Sword-fish. I have 

 several times identified specimens found attached to the fish, and have never known this species 

 to be found on any other member of the family. It has never come to us, moreover, from locality 

 and season which would be inconsistent with a theory that it had been brought near shore by a 

 Sword-fish. 



Still another, Bhombochirus osteochir, seems equally inseparable from Tetrapturus albidtis. 

 This fact is known to the Cuban fishermen, who call it by the name Pega de las Agujas — the 

 parasite of the Spear-fish. 



Perhaps the two species are not so steadf ;st in their likings that they will not change from 

 Xiphias to Tetrapturus. My friend Professor Giglioli, of Florence, who speaks of B. brachyptera 

 as a fish new to the Mediterranean, obtained from Taranto a specimen said to have been taken 

 from the gills (operculum?) of Tetrapturus behne. 



These parasites probably prefer to cling with their curious suckers to the hard exterior surface 

 of the opercular flap of the Sword-fish. 



Sword-fish as an article op food. — " The small Sword-fish is very good meat," remarked 

 Josselyn, in writing of the fishes of New England in the seventeenth century. Since Josselyn 

 probably never saw a young Sword-fish, unless at some time he had visited the Mediterranean, 

 it is fair to suppose that his information was derived from some Italian writer. 



It is, however, a fact that the flesh of the Sword-fish, though somewhat oily, is a very accept- 

 able article of food. Its texture is coarse ; the thick, fleshy, muscular layers cause it to resemble 

 that of the halibut in consistency. Its flavor is by many considered fine, and is not unlike that of 

 the bluefish. Its color is gray. The meat of the young fish is highly prized on the Mediterranean, 

 and is said to be perfectly white, compact, and of delicate flavor.^ Sword-fish are usually cut up 

 into steaks, thick slices across the body, and may be broiled or boiled. 



'Philosophical Transactions, Vol. II, p. 821. 



^The flesh, -which is much esteemed by the better classes at Palermo, is dressed in almost as many modes as that 

 of the tunny, and fetches a higher price. During our sojourn there it was as two to one, the price of the first 

 averaging fourpenoe per robolo, while the poro/iai, of the latter were disposed of at twopence or twopence-half- 

 penny. The fiber is invitingly white, and the round segments look, as they lie in rows along the stalls, like so many 

 fillets of veal. Four to six feet is the usual run of those taken off the Trinserian coast and displayed in the fish- 

 markets of Sicily. — Badham. 



