THE MA CKEREL AND ITS A LLIES. 
177 
and seize a fish, which was almost instantly killed by a bite in the back 
of the neck with the sharp beaks. The bite was always made in the same 
place, cutting out a triangular piece of flesh, and was deep enough to pene¬ 
trate to the spinal cord. The attacks were not always successful, and 
were sometimes repeated a dozen times before one of these active and 
wary fishes could be caught. Sometimes after making several unsuccessful 
attempts one of the squids would suddenly drop to the bottom, and, resting 
upon the sand, would change its color to that of the sand so perfectly as 
to be almost invisible. In this way it would wait until the fishes came 
back, and when they were swimming close to or over the ambuscade, the 
squid, by a sudden dart, would be pretty sure to secure a fish. Ordinarily 
when swimming they were thickly spotted with red and brown, but when 
darting among the Mackerel they appeared translucent and pale. The 
Mackerel, however, seemed to have learned that the shallow water is the 
safest for them and would hug the shore as closely as possible, so that in 
pursuing them many of the squids became stranded and perished by hun¬ 
dreds, for when they once touch the shore they begin to pump water from 
their siphons with great energy, and this usually forces them farther and 
farther up the beach. At such times they often discharge their ink in 
large quantities. The attacks on the young Mackerel were observed mostly 
at or near high water, for at other times the Mackerel were seldom seen, 
though the squids were seen swimming about at all hours; and these 
attacks were observed both in the day and evening.” 
The dog-fish is doubtless a dangerous foe to the Mackerel weakened by 
the act of spawning and remaining near the bottom. An old fisherman 
has described to me with great animation how greedily the dogfish devour 
the Mackerel which have become gilled in the nets, how they follow them 
to the surface and linger about the vessel while the process of cleaning is 
going on, drinking the blood of the fish as it flows from the scuppers. 
The Chub Mackerel, Scoiiibcr colias, or, as it is called, the “Thimble- 
eye,” “Big-eyed Mackerel,” or “Bull Mackerel,” closely resembles in 
general appearance the common Mackerel, from which it is distinguished 
chiefly by the presence of an air-bladder, and also by the occurrence of a 
row of indistinct circular spots upon the sides below the lateral line. This 
is the fish which is called “ Spanish Mackerel ” in England, and the name 
was brought to us by the early English fishermen of New England. It 
has been found at Pensacola and Charleston, as well as in New England. 
There is another fish closely related if not identical with S. colias , which 
Prof. Jordan found to be abundant in California, which corresponds to 
the S. pneumatophorus of the Mediterranean, and has been described from 
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