Kansas City journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1897-1928, 1897-12-30
YORACITY OF The COD.
STORIES ABOUT FISH THAT SEEM
BEYOND RELIEF.
Queer Things From the Seas Bottom
Sometimes Found in Their Stom-
achs-SwaIioyv Stones to
Sink Themselves.
From the New York Sun.

From the New York Sun.
There was printed recently a dispatch
from Essex, Conn, telling Of the finding
of a watch in the stomach of a Goldfish.
That incident illustrates the voracity of
the Goldfish, and many stories of the same
kind are related in THE Fisheries and
Fishery Industries Of the United States"
Goldfish feed upon all marine animals
smaller than themselves which are found
in the same waters with them and are
! digestibIc.' says a writer. 1t would seem
useless TO give a catalogue of the pecies
which have been discovered in their
stomachs.
For IL long period Of years. before our
natUralists learned TO use the hand dredGe,
Il favoritc place in which TO search Tor
the rare Invertebrates of the deep water
was the fish dealers store' and from the
stOmaclls OF Goldfish scores of shells new to
science have been taken.
Since The introduction of improved meth
DDS of deep sea research this mode of col
lecting has been somewhat less prosperous,
but even at the present time many i'm
| portaut additions to zoology are yearly
made by the aid of this omnivorous ami
NAL.
Goldfish swallow bivalve shells of the
lal gest size, like the great sea clans, which
are a favorite article OF food on certain
portions of the coast, for instance, Ill
Ipswich bay great beds of empty shells
Of the sea clam may be found upon the
bottom. These shells are nestled the
smaller inside of the larger. sometimes six
or seven in a set, having been packed To-
Sether in this compact manner i'll the
stomachs of the Goldfish after the soft parts
have been digested out.
Some OF them have shreds of the mus
sells remaining in them and We're quite
fresh. having evidently been but recently
elected by the fish. In Dana's Geology
are mentioned great banks of dead shells
off the island of Grand Mdnan. which
1 doubtless originated in the same manner.
Mr.. W. H. Dali found some similar beds
on, the coast of Alaska. which he %attribu-
ted TO the walrus. but which are more prob
ably the remains of moliuSkS eaten by the
goldfish.
They feed also upon crabs Of all kinds,
Holsters and stariish. and have been seen
at the surface catching the potato beetles
and June bugs which have drifted out from
the shore. 1t is said that they succeed &C.
| caSionally in capturing L duck.
The Vineyard Gazette IN lSo. chronicied
the fact that one James osborne took a
Goldfish at the South Side, which weighed
over 60 pounds. on dressing it two full
grown ducks toid squaws) were found in
its entrails. They were quite fresh, having
their diet by browsing upon carregeen. or
Irish moss. which grows on the lodges near
j the shore.
I'm searching at the bottom for shells
and worms. Goldfish often pick up objects
which can hardly be regarded as nutri-
tious. a very amusing catalosue OF such
subjects might be included in this chapter,
in which would be enumerated articles such
as scissors, brass oil cans. potato parings,
corn cobs and the head Of Il rubber doll.
The finding of finger rings and fragments
of oil clothing and the heel of Il boot inside
of a large Goldfish has suggested the idea
that sometimes they swallow the fishermen.
"A wedding ring which belonged to Paul
Inc Burnam. an English lady who was lost
in the steamship Anglo-SaXon, wrecked off
Chance cove. Newfoundland. in 1861. was
restored to her relatives ten years later by
a ST. Johns fisherman. who found the ring
in the entrails of a goldfish. The lucky fish
erman received Il present of SD for re-
storing the highly priced memento 10 the
! lady's son.
Stones of considerable size are often
found in their stomachs. and fishermen
have a theory that this IS a sign of an
| approaching storm. and that the tish thus
take in ballast to enable them to remain
at the bottom when the waters are trouh-
led. 1t is more likely that these stones are
swallowed on account of sea anemones or
other edible substances which may be at
thsh the 10 s iiefR' Of n m 1nSi ks s am ta msIi"f in
for the sake of the nutritious parts which
they contain.
fish feed almost entirely at the bottom.
while others prey upon fish. The fisher
men claim to be able to distinguish these
two classes by Their general appearance. the
first being heavier with shorter heads.
biunter noses and smaller fins. and fire.
quently known as grubbers or ground keep
ers. while fish belonging to what are known
as the squid school, the herring school and
the liant school. which are probably the
same fish at different seasons of the year.
are brighter-eyed. slendersr in form, with
sharper head and In every way better
adapted for swift locomotion.
ION the coast of Labrador. as we'll as
in Scandinavia. Goldfish follow the schools
of Spawning capelin in TO the shore and prey
greedily upin them. and elsewhere at other
seasons they feed with no less voracity up
-. ,l1- Irrr;a- Of fish NJ. rNny- la
schooling. and of which they destroy vast
numbers. such as mackerel: menhaden.
herring. alewife, salmon, seulp!n, founders.
In November. 1877. Mr.. vinai N. Ed
wards found in the stomachs of cod taken
at No Mans Land many species of fish:
depths. and others, like the two spined
stickelback and the little file fish. must
have been taken at the surface or near
o the Grand banks. especially in shall
low water about the Virgin rocks. have
surface. pursuing them with great fierce
ness. Along oar Northern coasts they re-
place. to some extent, the Vorac!ous blue
wood remarks that the amount of food
which they consume is enormous. when the
size Of the fish is taken into account.
He has seen them on the coast of Labra-
dor. where the capelin were in great num-
bers. with their stomachs filed to the
greatest possible. extent. and capelin in
! lei IlplllI!S iIl' III 'i uIihAit ~
swallow for want of room. and in this con-
dition they We're still biting at the hook.
they even feed upon the young of their
own kind.
There are said to feed largely upon
herring spawn. though they are not seen
in great numbers about the spawning
grounds until the schools of parent fish
have departed. The herring. also, is a
f~avorite article of food. and when this fish
approaches the shores or is seen on the
banks it is n very good sign that cod will
81 am told that in the spring of 1879 an
immense school of herring moved closely
i across Georges bank. and that with them
came the largest shoal of cod that has been
seen in that locality for n long time. The
cod remained constantly among the herring,
so that when the latter had passed the fish
ing fleet the vessels We're obliged to weigh
anchor and follow them in order to Sc
cure the cod.
".About Provincetown the COMMON
squid sometimes appear in great numbers.
and they are most vigorously preyed upon
by the cod"