20 -REPORT UPON A COLLECTION OF FISHES 
FLORIDA DURING 1889. 
MADE IN SOUTHERN 
BY JAMES A. HENSHALLj M. D. 
The months of February, March, and April, 1889, were spent by the writer in 
making an ichthyological exploration of the southern coast of Florida, in conjunction 
with the LT. S. Fish Commission schooner Orampus, which was then at work upon the 
neighboring red-snapper grounds of the Gulf of Mexico.* A large seine boat aud a 
dory belonging to that vessel were assigned to this investigation, and the necessary 
fishing appliances and camping utensils were also provided, chiefly from her outfit. 
The party consisted, besides the writer, of a pilot (Capt. William Pent, of Key West) 
and a seaman and the cabin boy from the schooner. 
We left the Grampus at Indian Key February 11, with the intention of first pro- 
ceeding northward inside of the Florida reefs to Miami^ at the upper end of Biscayne 
Bay, but stormy weather interfering the work was begun in Card’s Sound and carried 
thence through Barnes’ Sound and northwestward along the Gulf «oast as far as 
Tampa Bay. The Grampus was met at Charlotte Harbor March 4, for the purpose of 
replenishing our supplies, and again at Port Tampa March 29, where the regular shore 
investigation was concluded April 4. Some seining was, however, subsequently done 
at the Dry Tortugas and in the vicinity of Key West during the passage to Kew York. 
Nearly all the work was limited to salt water, on account of the remoteness of 
the fresh-water streams from the shores and their inaccessibility from most places 
which we visited. We managed, however, to reach a few isolated fresh-water ponds 
by carrying the collecting outfit overland, but this proved to be a very difficult under- 
taking in the thickly- wooded section where the attempts were made. 
Between Biscayne Bay and Charlotte Harbor practically no fisheries exist. The 
coast from Cape Sable to Pavilion Key consists of mangrove shores and islands, 
entirely unsuited to the hauling of large seines. On Estero Bay, just below Charlotte 
Harbor, there is a small fishing ranch operated by two men, but it is scarcely worthy 
of notice. At Gordon’s Pass and at Marco a little fishing is also done by a few indi- 
viduals to supply the local demand, but it is not upon a sufficiently large scale to 
entitle it to recognition from a commercial standpoint. 
* Eeport upon an investigation of the fishing grounds off the West Coast of Florida. By A. C. 
Adams and W. C. Kendall. Bull. U. S. Fish Com., vol. ix, for 1889, pp. 325-349. 
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