CHAPTER LVII 
THE ORDER OF THE DOGFISH 
HALEGOMORPHI 
To naturalists, the Dogfish 1 is a creature of 
much interest. Like the prong-horned antelope, 
it is so unique and peculiar that it has been nec- 
essary to create for it a grand division of classifi- 
cation which it occupies all alone. The antelope 
is only a Family, but this fish is a whole Order. 
Its other English names are Mudfish, Bowfin, 
Grindle and Lawyer; and since Linnaeus chris- 
tened it Auxia c.alva, in 1766, eleven other natural- 
ists have given it eleven other names in Latin. 
The Dogfish has an air-bladder that is divided 
into cells, and is a half-developed lung. At in- 
tervals it ascends to the surface of the water, 
gulps down a mouthful of air, just as a turtle 
does, and descends again. If hindered from rising 
when the time comes to take in a supply of fresh 
air, the fish struggles violently, like a mammal 
about to be drowned; but it can expel air while 
below the surface. This character indicates that 
lungs were first developed in fishes, from modifi- 
cations of their air-bladders. Other characters 
establish a distinct relationship with the gar 
fishes, and place it in the Subclass Ganoidea. 
The dorsal fin is low, of uniform height through- 
out, and is about one-half as long as the entire fish. 
By its general anatomy, this fish appears to 
stand midway between the true lung-fishes and 
1 Am-i'a cal'va. 
the gar pikes. It is of scientific interest, only, 
for, save to the negroes of the South, its flesh is 
quite unpalatable, and valueless as food. It is 
an inhabitant of sluggish fresh waters, attains a 
length of 2 feet, and 12 pounds weight. It is 
found in the great lakes, the Mississippi valley 
generally, and in a few fresh-water streams on 
the southern Atlantic coast. 
The individuality of the Dogfish is very posi- 
tive and interesting. Among the small fry of 
other fishes its voracious appetite 
renders it very destructive to 
species of more value than itself. 
Mr. Charles Hallock, who knows 
it well, has thus set forth the salient 
points of its moral character: 
“They take frogs, minnows, and 
sometimes the spoon. Their habi- 
tat is deep water, where they drive 
everything before them. They are 
very voracious and savage. Their teeth are so 
sharp and their jaws so strong they have been 
known to bite a two-pound fish clean in two the 
very first snap. They are as tenacious of life as 
an eel. The young, when about six inches long, 
make a famous bait for pickerel and pike. To 
use it, run the hook into the mouth right up 
through the centre of the head, through the brains, 
cast a hundred times, catch several fish, and at 
the end of three to six hours he will kick like a 
mule.” 
“Put a hundred in a rain-barrel, and you can 
keep them all summer without change of water. 
For the aquarium, the young have no equal, and 
on account of the spot in the tail they are quite 
attractive; but nothing else than snails can live 
in the tank. He will kill a lizard or any other 
living thing the instant it touches the water.” 
424 
THE DOGFISH. 
