FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. 405 



It moves vigorously, but with no great speed. It is tyrannical in disposition, attack- 

 ing and pursuing whatever other fish comes near it. 



This fish ranges from Cape Cod to Florida. It seldom exceeds 2 inches in 

 length. The males are more brightly colored and higher bodied than the females, 

 and have a narrow dark margin to the caudal fin. 



This killy was not found in large numbers in the summer of 1901. Two individ- 

 uals were taken in fresh water of Swan River, October 10, and a single one from the 

 fresh water of Brown's Creek, October 8. 



Specimens of this killy were found in stomachs of jelly-fish at Colonel's Island, 

 Great South Bay, July 20, 1901. In some cases the fish were half digested. 



An individual taken at Corn Row Point, July 16, 1901, was infested with a 

 Psorosperm parasite, which caused a tumor in the skin. 



The fish has been kept in captivity a long time. It breeds and the young can 

 be reared if protected from the adults. 



Order SYNENTOGNATHI. 

 Family ESOCIID^. Needle Fishes. 



78. Bill Fish ; Silver Gar {Tylosiirus mar inns Walbaum). 



The Silver Gar, according to Schoepff, was called Sea Pilce and Sea Snipe at New 

 York. Mitchill refers to it as the Long-jawed Fresh-water Pike, and also as the Bill 

 Fish, a name still in use in various localities for this fish. DeKay calls it the Banded 

 Gar Fish. Still another name used for this fish is Needle Fish, and it is said that 

 " Gar" is derived from the Saxon word meaning needle. 



The Silver Gar is found on our coast from Maine to the Gulf of Mexico. It 

 ascends rivers far above the limits of the tide, feeding upon minnows and other 

 small fishes. On the coast it devours killifishes, anchovies, silversides and other 

 little fish. Although this Gar is of excellent flavor, and according to DeKay is 

 greatly relished by epicures, it is not a marketable species. Nothing is recorded 

 about its breeding habits except the statement of Silas Stearns that it spawns in 

 the bays of the Gulf Coast in May and June. 



It occurs in Gravesend Bay from June to December. It is common in all parts 

 of Great South Bay and is very destructive to seines as well as to fish. Specimens 

 have also been taken in Peconic Bay, Mecox Bay and Shinnecock Bay. Sometimes 

 it occurs in the fresh water of Swan River, where it follows the silverside, one of its 

 favorite sources of food. It also enters the fresh water at Southampton. This Gar 



