The Opelousas courier., 1891-07-25
THESE ARE QUEER FISH.
ODD SPECIMENS OF THE FT;qNY
TRIBE IN NEW YORK MARKET.
1.-THE Silver King"-A Fish That
Sleeps on the Water-The Drum
Fish-The Dude of Fishes.

SE6eDS Oh EikC w dbEE--11C
Fish-The Dude OF Fishes.
A great many new and odd fish occa-
s~ionally come into Fulton Market. They
feast the eyes rather than the stomach.
Among them is the tarpon, the prince of
the fnny tribe in the tropic seas. He
wears a shining armor and so is called
1.-THE Silver King" His weight is sell
dom less than fifty pounds and some
times reaches 200. A small silver king
is four and one-half feet long, and some
stalwart specimens have been caught
which measured six feet six inches.
Not long since a silver king was dis
played on Commissioner Blackford's
stand in Fulton Market, to the dismay
of people who tell fish stories. He
weighed 105 pounds and was almost six
feet in length. His body was .enveloped
by an argent coat of mail made up of
brilliant scales. He looked like a fish
that had been silver-plated. Ladies
came to get these scales to have them
set by jewellers, with a view of wearing
them as ornaments. Indeed, the fair
sex is wont to make this aesthetic use of
the glittering scales of this beautiful
fish, and to wear them as bangles, neck
laces and charms. The scales of the sill
yer king thus have a commercial value
and bring more than his flesh. He is
the only known fish that is worth more
to wear than to eat. The haunt of the
silver king is the coast of Florida. At
present he is the delight of the sports
man.
Another odd fish, sometimes brought
to Fulton Market in a fishing smack, is the
slew fish" 1t is almost as big as a
young whale, and has a mouth as big as
a washtub. Some of them weigh more
than 600 pounds. 1t is yellow or amber
in color, and is notified with dark brown
spots. Its lateral fins are larger than an
elephants ears. At first sight it would
not seem to be good to eat. Yet this fish
is edible, when young is rich and we'll
| favored, like black bass. 1t is caught
| of the coast of Florida and in the West
Indies. It has the popularity, unusual
in fish, of sometimes falling into a doze
or falling asleep on the surface of the
| water. On these occasions Of somno-
lence it is frequently shot like a duck
and thus captured. The largest one ever
brought to Fulton Market weighed 135
pounds.
A sub-tropical Tish which has become
very popular in New York in the past
few years is the pompano. 1t is caught
in the Gulf of Mexico and shipped from
Pensacola to this city. 1t ~favorite haunt
is the east coast of Florida. The POM
PIANO is a delicious fish and tastes some
what like a Spanish mackeral. In explain
ton of this, it may be said that the fish
served in ordinary restaurants as Spanish
mackeral is not Spanish mackeral at all,
but a venerable, moss-grown and tough
species of fish sometimes facetlously
called .horse mackerel." The pompano
is very short and very fat. 1t has a
smooth skin and is a dark steel color.
The pompano as it flashes through the
waters of the Gulf of Mexico, shows sap
phirc and emerald, and topaz and silver.
It is a deep-water fish and likes to keep
near the bottom, where it can feed On
shell-tish.
Al channel bass may now and then be
seen in Fulton Market. It is a brilliant
golden red in color, and is the irldescent
dream of all the fish that swim. 1t il
one of the many beautiful and brilliant
fish that come from the s~ub-tropics. Il
is a good fish to eat, but it is like or
chids and roses, better for adjoining the
table. It is the Oscar Wilde of the funny
world, the courtier of the court OF Nep
tune, the dandy of mermaids' grottoes
An occasional visitor who comes t.
Fulton Market to pay his compliments te
Fish Commissioner Blackford is tn
c~revalle. 1t r%ejoices in the picturesque
names of Crevalle Jack, yellow Jack ant
Amber Jack. Its color is usually tn
delicate amber Of lager beer. 1t is
little larger than the average pompan'
and, like the latter, is a short, plumb
fish.
The drum fish sometimes manages t
drum its way into the market. It some
times weighs as much as eighty pounds
It's forte is music. A school or musica
academy OF drum fish will sometime
proceed up a river, drumming like
New York drum corps, and leading tn
fishermen to think that an invadIn
armu ia annroachinp. This drummin