GEOWTH OF THE BLUEFISH. 439 



age when they are able to take care of themselves. As their age increases, the chances of reaching 

 maturity become greater and greater. It is among the small residuum of this class that the agency 

 of the Blueflsh is exercised, and whatever reasonable reduction may be made in our estimate, we 

 cannot doubt that they exert a material influence. 



"The rate of growth of the Bluefish is also an evidence of the immense amount of food they 

 must consume. The young fish which first appear along the shores of Vineyard Sound, about the 

 middle of August, are about five inches in length. By the beginning of September, however, they 

 have reached six or seven inches, and on their reappearance in the second year they measure 

 about twelve or fifteen inches. After this they increase in a still more rapid ratio. A fish which 

 passes eastward from Vineyard Sound in the spring, weighing five pounds, is represented, accord- 

 ing to the general impression, by the ten to fifteen pound fish of the autumn. If this be the fact, 

 the fish of three or four pounds which pass along the coast of North Carolina in March return to 

 it in October weighing ten to fifteen pounds. 



"As already explained, the relationship of these fish to the other inhabitants of the sea is 

 that of an unmitigated butcher ; and it is able to contend successfully with any other species not 

 superior to itself in size. It is not known whether an entire school ever unite in an attack upon 

 a particular object of prey, as is said to be the case with the ferocious fishes of the South American 

 rivers ; should they do so, no animal, however large, could withstand their onslaught. 



" They appear to eat anything that swims of suitable size — fish of all kinds, but perhaps more 

 especially the menhaden, which they seem to follow along the coast, and which they attack with 

 such terocity as to drive them on the shore, where they are sometimes piled up in windrows to the 

 depth of a foot or more. 



"The amount of food they destroy, even if the whole of it be not actually consumed, is almost 

 incredible. JVIr. Westgate (page 33) estimates it at twice the weight of the fish in a day, and this 

 is perhaps quite reasonable. Captain Spindle goes so far as to say that it will destroy a thousand 

 fish in a day. This gentleman is also of the opinion that they do much more harm to the fishes 

 of the coast than is caused by the pounds. They will generally swallow a fish of a very large size 

 in proportion to their own, sometimes taking it down bodily ; at others, only the posterior half. 

 The peculiar armor of certain fish prevents their being taken entire ; and it is not uncommon to 

 find the head of a sculpin or other fish, whose body has evidently been cut off by the Blueflsh. 

 In the summer time the young are quite apt to establish themselves singly in a favorite localitj^, 

 and, indeed, to accompany the fry of other flshes, usually playing below them, and every now and 

 then darting upward and capturing an .unlucky individual, while the rest dash away in every 

 direction. In this manner they attend upon the young mullet, atherinas, etc. They- are very fond 

 of squid, which may very frequently be detected in their stomachs. In August, 1870, about Fire 

 Island, Mr. S. I. Smith found their stomachs filled with marine worms, a species of Heteronereis, 

 which, though usuallj' burrowing m the mud, at that season swims freely toward the surface 

 in connection with the operation of reproduction. This, like the squid, is a favorite bait for the 

 Bluefish ; and they appear to care for little else when these are to be had. This fact probably 

 explains the reason why, at certain seasons, no matter how abundant the fish may be, they cannot 

 be taken with the drail or squid boat."^ 



'The following extract from tlio'- Gloucester Telegrapli " of June 4, 1870, gives an idea of tlieirinlluence upon other 

 fishes: 



"Abundance of fish in New Jersey — 1870. — Accounts from New Jersey say that the Bluefish came in at Barne- 

 gat Inlet last week, sweeping through the bay, over flats as well as through the channel, driving millions of bushels of 

 bunkers before them and lilling the coves, creeks, dilcheo, and ponds in the meadows lull. At Little Egg Harbor 

 Inlet they drove shad on shore so that people gathered them up by wagon-loads. I'ish lie in creeks, ponds, etc., along 



