Fishes . is represented, according to the general impression,by the ten- to fifteen-pound fish of the autumn. If this be thefact, the fish of three or four pounds which pass along thecoast of North Carolina in March return to it in October weigh-ing ten to fifteen pounds. As already explained, the relationship of these fish to theother inhabitants of the sea is that of an immitigated butcher;and it is able to contend successfully with any other speciesnot superior to itself in size. It is not kno\vn whether an Cavallas and Pampanos 497 entire school ever unite in an attack upon a particular ob
Fishes . is represented, according to the general impression,by the ten- to fifteen-pound fish of the autumn. If this be thefact, the fish of three or four pounds which pass along thecoast of North Carolina in March return to it in October weigh-ing ten to fifteen pounds. As already explained, the relationship of these fish to theother inhabitants of the sea is that of an immitigated butcher;and it is able to contend successfully with any other speciesnot superior to itself in size. It is not kno\vn whether an Cavallas and Pampanos 497 entire school ever unite in an attack upon a particular object ofprey, as is said to be the case with the ferocious fishes of theSouth American rivers; should they do so, no animal, howeverlarge, could withstand their onslaught. They appear to eat anything that swims of suitable size—fish of all kinds, but perhaps more especially the menhaden,which they seem to follow along the coast, and which theyatack with such ferocity as to drive them on the shore, where. Fig. 388.—Sergeant-fish, Rachyccntron canaJum (Linnseus). Virginia. they are sometimes piled up in windrows to the depth of afoot or more. The Sergeant-fishes: Rachycentridas. — The Rachycentridcs, orsergeant-fishes, are large, strong, swift, voracious shore fishes,with large mouths and small teeth, ranging northward from thewarm seas. The dorsal spines are short and stout, separatefrom the fin, and the body is almost cylindrical, somewhat likethat of the pike. Rachycentron canadum, called cobia, crab-eater, snooks, orsergeant-fish, reaches a length of about five feet. The lastname is supposed to allude to the black stripe along its side,like the stripe on a sergeants trousers. It is rather commonin summer along our Atlantic coast as far as Cape Cod, espe-cially in Chesapeake Bay. RacJiycentron pondicerrianmn, equallyvoracious, extends its summer depredations as far as more familiar name for these fishes, Elacate, is of later datethan Rachycentron. Mr. Prime thus
Size: 2817px × 887px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookpublisher, booksubjectfishes
