48 
SURVIVAL ON LAND AND SEA 
Under ordinary conditions, these methods should preserve the 
fish for a few days in the tropics. 
Fish caught in tropical waters spoil quickly. Immediately 
after landing a fish it should be bled by cutting out the gills and 
large blood vessels that supply them, and then gutted, being 
careful to remove the kidneys and blood vessels that lie next to 
the backbone. The fish should then be washed in clean water. 
If the fish have been feeding heavily and are not gutted, the 
digestive substances continue to act, even after death, on the 
food in the stomach and intestines so that the flesh spoils with 
great rapidity. The same fish, properly cleaned and hung up 
by the tail in the shade and breeze, will remain good for many 
hours. 
Never eat a fish that has slimy gills, sunken eyes, flabby 
flesh or skin, or an unpleasant odor. If, upon pressing the 
thumb against the fish it remains deeply dented, the fish prob- 
ably is stale. Do not use it. Good flesh should be firm and 
not slimy. 
Fish With Poisonous Flesh 
Most fish are edible, palatable, and wholesome. However, 
there are a few with flesh that is definitely poisonous and it is 
important that everyone recognize these. 
All of the important fish with poisonous flesh belong to 
one large group, the Plectognathi, of which there are many 
kinds in the tropics. All these fish lack ordinary scales such 
as occur on bass, grouper, and sea trout. Instead, these 
poisonous fish are covered with bristles or spiny scales, strong- 
sharp thorns, or spines, or are encased in a bony box-like cover- 
