FISHES OF OUR NORTH ATLANTIC SEABOARD 
55 
a favorite with many anglers, being one of the few 
shore fish that can be caught during late winter. 
In the vicinity of New York hundreds of anglers 
may be seen fishing for Flounders on favorable days 
during March and April. 
The Summer Flounder {Paralichthys dentatus) or 
Plaice, also highly regarded as a food fish, is in 
some quarters known as the Fluke. It is dis¬ 
tinguished from the Winter Flounder by having a 
large mouth, whereas the other has a very small 
one. It averages in size from two to eight pounds 
and compares with the Turbot and the Brill of 
the English coast. The largest one recorded 
weighed 19F2 pounds. 
The Summer Flounders, like the Winter species, 
habitually live on the bottom, where their shape 
and color camouflage them and give them oppor¬ 
tunity to catch their prey. They are found mostly 
in bays, on sandy, muddy, or rocky bottoms. 
Feeding on small fishes. Crabs, Shrimps, and 
Squids, they frequently come to the surface in 
pursuit of their prey. 
The migration of the eye in Flounders is one 
of the strange provisions of Nature for the pro¬ 
tection of the Flatfish tribe. In early youth the 
Flounders swim about normally, with their eyes 
symmetrically placed; but as the fishes develop 
they lie flat in the sand, some species on one side 
and some on the other, and the right eye migrates 
over to the left side, or vice versa, so that they 
ultimately have both eyes on one side of their heads. 
HALIBUT (Hippoglossus hippoglossus) 
{For illustration see Color Plate, page 41) 
The Halibut is the largest fish of the Flounder 
family and one of the most widespread in its range. 
It claims all seas for its habitat, in regions north 
of Havre, New York, and San Francisco. 
A strange fact concerning this and other cold- 
water species is that they have eyes and color on 
the right side, while species inhabiting warm water 
have eyes and color on the left side. 
The Halibut usually frequents offshore banks 
and exists in great numbers in many localities, but 
is sought after with such eagerness that it is gradually 
decreasing in numbers. It grows to a large size 
and fish weighing 200 or 300 pounds are often 
taken. The record weight was established when in 
June, 1917, the Eva Avina, fishing 50 miles off 
Thatcher Island, Massachusetts, caught a Halibut 
9 feet 2 inches long and 4 feet 2 inches broad, 
weighing 625 pounds dressed. 
The seaward movement of the Halibut has been 
noted by American fishermen. When the taking 
of Halibut first began, it was most abundant on 
Georges Banks. Later it gradually disappeared 
from those banks and went farther out to sea. It 
is now found mostly in the deep gullies between 
the offshore banks and on the outer edges of those 
banks, in water 100 to 350 fathoms deep. 
A voracious eater, the Halibut feeds upon the 
Skate, Cod, Haddock, Menhaden, Mackerel, Her¬ 
ring, Lobster, Cusk, etc. Crabs and Mollusks are 
also to its liking. Instances are recorded where 
it has attacked Codfish and stunned them by the 
flip of its tail. One was so busy putting a big 
Cod hors de combat that it allowed a dory to steal 
up and capture it before it had become aware of 
its peril. 
The female Halibut becomes heavy with roe in 
July and August, and instances have occurred 
where such a large quantity was taken from one 
of them that a good-sized man could scarcely 
carry it. 
COMMON STURGEON (Acipenser sturio) 
{For illustration see Color Plate, page 42) 
The Common Sturgeon has a maximum length 
of about 10 feet and sometimes reaches a weight of 
500 pounds. Its range is from the Carolinas to 
Maine, but the region of its greatest abundance is 
the Delaware River. It is a migratory fish, spends 
most of its time near the shore, and then runs to 
brackish or fresh water to spawn. 
Considerable change in the Sturgeon’s appear¬ 
ance takes place as it grows older. The young 
have more slender and protuberant snouts than 
their elders. The sexes also differ, in that the male 
has an oblong head, with a wide, blunt snout, 
while the female’s head is triangular, rapidly nar¬ 
rowing from the back to the snout. 
A bottom-feeder, the presence of Mussel and 
other shell fragments in its stomach, as well as of 
mud containing the remains of small crustaceans, 
tells of its habit of scooping its dinner from the 
floor of the sea. The barbels and lips are sensitive 
in the detection of food, but the snout is used to 
root up the soft bottom of shoal places in search of 
something to eat. 
Goode assures us that this fish is prone to jump 
out of the water at an angle and may project its 
body for some distance. It is so active that it 
sometimes leaps into small boats. One is reported 
to have leaped high enough above the water to 
jump through one of the “dead-lights,” near the 
water’s edge, of the hull of a passing side-wheel 
steamer, and thus to have made itself prisoner. 
The spawning season is somewhat regulated by 
the temperature of the water on the spawning 
grounds. May is the usual month in the Delaware, 
and the latter half predominantly so. The spawn¬ 
ing fishes, known as “runners,” are usually most 
abundant after the middle of the schooling period. 
They seek a hard bottom in which to deposit their 
eggs. The spent females are of little value for the 
time being, but later they become sleek and fat, 
and as “cowfishes” their flesh is in prime con¬ 
dition. 
The eggs of the Sturgeon are used in making 
caviar. They are not taken when the female is 
ready to spawn, but at an earlier period, when the 
roe is still “hard.” The quantity taken varies, of 
course, with the size and quality of the female, 
ranging from 5 to 15 gallons in bulk and from 
800,000 to 2,400,000 in number. 
In the making of caviar the eggs are removed 
from the fish and gently rubbed over a fine screen, 
by which they are separated from their enveloping 
membrane. Under the screen the released eggs fall 
into a trough, through which they pass into tubs. 
In these tubs salt is carefully stirred with the eggs, 
and it draws their watery constituents from them 
and forms a copious brine. Later the eggs are 
poured into fine-meshed sieves, where they are 
allowed to drain until dry. They are then put into 
casks or cans and are ready to go into commerce. 
Overfishing has done vast harm to the Sturgeon 
supply. In the early decades of American history 
