New illustrated natural history of the world / by Ernest Protheroe ... with 24 coloured plates (73 figures) and nearly 300 photographs direct from nature chiefly by W.S. Berridge.

  • Protheroe, Ernest.
Date:
[1910]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: New illustrated natural history of the world / by Ernest Protheroe ... with 24 coloured plates (73 figures) and nearly 300 photographs direct from nature chiefly by W.S. Berridge. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    523/639 (page 454)
    Mayor and Aldermen of the city of London used to partake of a Whitebait dinner at Greenwich. Thames Whitebait are caught be- tween February and August at the rate of about half a ton a day. The Pilchard (C. pilchardus) seeks warmer water than the herring, from which it may be distinguished by its smaller size and the position of the dorsal fin, which in the Pilchard is in the centre of the body, while in the herring it is placed more towards the tail. This fish is only found on our coasts in Devon and Cornwall and the south of Ireland, from whence it ranges to Madeira and the Mediterranean Sea. The chief catch is not during the spawning, but the feeding migrations. The importance of the Pilchard to Cornwall alone is marked by the annual take, which amounts in value to £30,000 per annum. Sardines are young Pilchards, the largest shoals of which are found on the coasts of Sardinia, hence the popular name they bear. The French chiefly engage in the Sardine fishery. The fish, fresh and salted, are sold all over France, while millions of them are preserved in oil in airtight tins. The Anchovy {Engraulis encrasicholus) is only an occasional visitor to British waters ; its chief habitat is the Mediterranean and, to a lesser degree, the Zuyder Zee and other Dutch waters. It is from five to seven inches long ; its upper parts are bluish green, and the lower portions are silvery white ; the fins are tinged with green and are beautifully transparent. The flesh of the httle fish is utilised in the preparation of Anchovy sauce or paste, which is so greatly esteemed that there is a temptation to dishonest dealers to substitute sprats and other common fish, with various colouring matters, to imitate the real article. Although there are many other members of the sub-order Isos- pondyli, the account must close with two giants of their tribe. The Tarpon [Megalops atlanticus), notwithstanding that it grows to a length of seven feet and a weight of 100 lbs., is practically only a big herring. It is a native of the warmer waters of Florida, and adjacent regions ; but it frequently passes up rivers and enters inland lakes. It usually makes its presence known by leaping several feet out of the water; and a fish so immense cannot fall back into its element without a considerable commotion. A 25 lb. salmon on the end of a line taxes an angler’s powers to the utmost to land it; but a Tarpon affords far more strenuous sport, and is accounted one of the greatest of game fishes when caught by rod and line. The largest freshwater bony fish is the Brazilian Arapaima [Arapaima gigas), often measuring fifteen feet, and weighing 400 lbs. Its flesh is far superior to that of the preceding fish. Even this huge creature is caught by means of hook and line ; but the natives frequently secure it by shooting it with arrows to which lines are attached. Salted Arapaima is a standard, food among the poorer classes in the Amazon regions.