INTERESTING CITIZENS OF THE GULF STREAM 



i o 



The male sea-horse carries the eggs in 

 a pouch situated under his tail, until they 

 are hatched and the young large enough 

 to fend for themselves. 



Sluggish small-mouthed species fre- 

 quently have hard nipper-like teeth, as 

 the small animals which they eat are 

 many of them shelly. 



As it is difficult for them to get out of 

 the way of larger predaceous fish, they 

 are variously protected against attack, 

 mostly being colored more or less in 

 resemblance to their surroundings. The 

 trigger-fishes have a stout dorsal spine 

 which locks erect, as well as a very thick 

 leathery hide which must be of some pro- 

 tection. The gaudy colors of the Queen 

 Trigger-fish (Plate V) are an exception 

 among such forms. 



A somewhat related flat-sided filefish 

 scarcely swims about at all, but drifts 

 with the tides, more or less head down- 

 ward, and can be easily captured in the 

 hand. It is so striped as to be readily 

 overlooked, however, among the eel-grass 

 which is drifting with it. 



HOW THE; SWEEE-FISH FRIGHTENS ITS 

 ENEMIES 



The swell-fishes have the power of 

 suddenly inflating the body with water 

 or air until they assume an approximately 

 globular form several times the normal 

 diameter, which must be disconcerting to 

 any enemy about to seize one. The por- 

 cupine-fish, in addition to doing this, has 

 the body everywhere covered with long, 

 sharp spines which project in every di- 

 rection like the quills of a hedgehog. 

 Many persons who are familiar with the 

 inflated skins of swell-fishes and porcu- 

 pine-fish used by the Japanese as pictur- 

 esque lanterns will be surprised to learn 

 that both are common in local waters. 



The trunk-fishes, instead of being pro- 

 tected in this way, have the body en- 

 cased in a bony shell, like a turtle. In 

 the East Indies there are rectangular 

 species, but ours are all three-cornered, 

 beechnut-shaped. They go by various 

 names — cuckold, shellfish, and so forth, 

 the Cowfish (Plate V) being a species 

 with two hornlike spines projecting from 

 its forehead. They are excellent eating, 

 cooked in the shell like a lobster. 



The back muscles of the swell-fishes 

 are sometimes eaten, but make a risky 



delicacy, as there are well authenticated 

 instances of severe poisoning from eating 

 these fishes. The poison seems to be 

 localized in the viscera and to permeate 

 the rest of the fish after death. 



SOME FISH ARE RISKY DELICACIES 



In some quarters of Japan swell-fish is 

 highly esteemed when prepared for the 

 table with care, but there is a Japanese 

 proverb to the effect that before eating 

 swell-fish one should have one's last will 

 and testament in good order. 



Poisoning resultant from eating cer- 

 tain species of tropical fishes is a subject 

 which will repay further study. In Cuba 

 several kinds are reputed dangerous and 

 their sale prohibited in the larger mar- 

 kets. Among them are the Great Barra- 

 cuda (see illustration, page 80), Green 

 Moray (Plate III), and certain species 

 of the Carangiidse, or crevally family. 

 On the other hand, this same Barracuda 

 is particularly favored as a food-fish in 

 Porto Rico, as it is known to subsist en- 

 tirely on clean, live food. 



It is said in Cuba that by no means 

 all the fishes of these species are poison- 

 ous, and that the smaller ones are safer. 

 The symptoms of poison are sometimes 

 alimentary disorders, sometimes skin 

 troubles. The cause is not known, but 

 Mowbray, writing in the New York 

 Zoological Society Bulletin, November. 

 191 6, presents a strong case in favor of 

 the hypothesis that such tropical fish 

 poisoning is in most cases clue to im- 

 proper marketing. He says : "It is prob- 

 able that if, when caught, the fish were 

 eviscerated and bled, a case of poisoning 

 would be a rarity." 



Bulletin No. I of the Madras (India) 

 Fisheries Bureau. 191 5, thus emphasizes 

 the importance of properly marketing 

 fish in a tropical climate : "Of all general 

 food, fish is most liable to taint and most 

 poisonous when tainted. . . . Fish 

 not kept alive must be cleaned and washed 

 at sea and properly stowed. This brings 

 them to shore with a much decreased 

 chance of taint, even if several hours in- 

 tervene." 



SNAPPERS ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT 

 SOUTHERN FOOD-FISH 



As food-fishes, the snappers are per- 

 haps the most important southern family. 



