On fl)e Dogfisf) (Amia calvaj, Its 



Habits and breeding. 



By BASHFORD DEAN. 



T 



HE dogfish [Amia calvd) is a 

 troublesome occupant of many 

 of the waters of the northern 

 and western portion of New York State; 

 it is, in fact, one of the commonest as 

 well as one of the least desirable of our 

 fishes. It is voracious, exceedingly 

 hardy, large in size, and is well known 

 to feed upon other fishes, as well as 

 upon their food. It is itself valueless 

 as a food fish. Its raw flesh is pinkish 

 in color and peculiarly soft and pasty; 

 when cooked, it is stringy and taste- 

 less. In certain localities, as at Black 

 Lake, St. Lawrence county, its meat 

 is said to be poisonous, but there seems 

 to be no adequate foundation for this 

 belief. In South Carolina, where it 

 also occurs abundantly, the writer has 

 known the dogfish to be used as food 

 by the negroes ; but as far as the writer 

 is aware, it is never eaten in the north- 

 ern States. On account of its many un- 

 favorable qualities, therefore, the fish is one which can well be spared in our 

 State waters. And the Fish Commission believes it desirable, and even important, 

 to collect data as to its habits and spawning, which can be used for the purpose 

 of reducing its numbers in localities where it is over-abundant. For evidently 

 the lakes and waterways of many localities can be made to yield a greater number 

 of useful fishes by destroying their most rapacious enemies. And it is even possible 



that by such means a greater good to the fisheries might be done than by the more 

 246 



IN THE SHADOW OF THE PINES 



