FISH AXD FISHIKG. 



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family, the approximate number of species 

 of each in American waters being as fol- 

 lows: Castostomidce, 70; Cyprinidce, 227; 

 Percida, 88. 



The most Southern locality in Florida 

 from which specimens of fresh water spe- 

 cies have been obtained is Miami, 8 spe- 

 cies having been collected there in the 

 Miami and Little rivers in 1896. Doubtless 

 many additional species will be discovered 

 when the 'waters of the State are more 

 thoroughly explored. The regions which 

 promise the richest and most important re- 

 sults are the Everglades, the lakes in the 

 interior South of Lake George, and the 

 streams crossing the Northern boundary of 

 the State. 



In this category may be included all 

 those species which live habitually in 

 brackish water, those more truly salt water 

 species which are also found more or less 

 commonly in brackish and even fresh 

 water, and those more truly fresh 

 water species which are occasionally found 

 in brackish water. In this division will 

 fall, of course, all anadromous and cata- 

 dromous species, such as the shad and the 

 common eel. The family having the great- 

 est number of species in this division is the 

 Porciliidcp, pre-eminently the family of 

 brackish water fishes. Florida contains 21 

 species of this family, of which at least 8 

 live habitually in "brackish water and each 

 of the other 13 may occasionally occur 

 there. This family is worthy of note as 

 containing the smallest known fish, Het- 

 crandria formosa, which is less than an inch 

 in length. 



Two species of shad are known from 

 Florida. On the East coast the common 

 shad (Alosa sapidissima) is a common and 

 valued species. It occurs regularly and in 

 considerable numbers in the St. Johns and 

 St. Marys rivers and rarely in the Indian 

 river. It is not positively known to occur in 

 any other waters of the State. At Pensacola 

 a few young shad were obtained by Dr. 

 Jordan in 1882 and provisionally identified 

 as a species distinct from the common 

 shad, but no name was given to them and 

 no description published. In the spring of 

 J 896 an unusually large run of shad oc- 

 curred in the Black Warrior river at Tus- 

 caloosa, Ala., and specimens were sent to 

 the United States Fish Commission for 

 identification. They proved to be different 

 from the common shad and a new and tin- 

 described species, to which the name Alosa 

 ulabamce was given by Jordan and Ever- 

 mann. When studying these specimens I 

 also studied those from Pensacola (now in 

 the United States National Museum) and 

 found them identical with the Alabama 

 shad. 



Shad have been reported from various 

 West Florida rivers, particularly Suwanee, 



Apalachicola, and Escambia rivers. It is not 

 positively known what species these may 

 be, but it is more than likely they are 

 the Alabama shad. An actual examination 

 of specimens from those rivers will be nec- 

 essary to determine the matter, and the 

 United States Fish Commission would be 

 glad to receive specimens from anyone 

 who has an opportunity to collect them. 



The great majority of Florida fishes are, 

 of course, salt water species, there being 

 not fewer than 529 species, distributed 

 among many families and genera. On. the 

 East coast approximately 175 species are 

 found, among the Florida Keys 290, and 

 on the West coast about 300. Several im- 

 portant species are found throughout these 

 3 regions. Key West is the most im- 

 portant anci interesting of all Florida lo- 

 calities as regards the number of species, 

 about 250 species being known from there, 

 of which about 100 are food fishes of 

 greater or less importance. The richness 

 of Key West in food fishes will be seen 

 when we recall the total number of food 

 fishes in each of the other important fishery 

 regions of the United States, as shown in 

 the following list: 



South Atlantic States 55 



Middle Atlantic States. ..;... 50 



New England States 48 



Pacific States 40 



Great Lakes 16 



Gulf States (Florida excepted) 42 



The more important species handled at 

 Key West are the grunts (6 species), the 

 porgies (5 species), the groupers (8 spe- 

 cies), the snappers (4 species), the hogfish, 

 kingfish, Spanish mackerel, the carangoids 

 (8 species), and the mullets (3 species). 

 Besides these there are some 60 or 70 spe- 

 cies which for one reason or another are 

 less important, but are nevertheless han- 

 dled to some extent. A great many, per- 

 haps a majority of the food fishes at Key 

 West occur also about Cuba and may be 

 seen in the Havana market. 



The method of handling fish at Key West 

 is unique, and calculated to conserve the 

 fisheries of that region to the fullest ex- 

 tent. Practically all of the fishing is done 

 with hook and line, and every fishing boat 

 has a well into which the fish are placed. 

 All salable fish are brought to market in 

 the wells of the vessels and kept alive until 

 sold. The prospective purchaser visits the 

 fish wharf, selects from some one of the 

 boats the fish he desires, and it is then 

 killed and dressed by the fisherman. This 

 excellent method insures perfectly fresh 

 fish to the purchaser, and few or no fish 

 are lost or wasted. 



There is no other place in the United 

 States where one can study live fishes so 



