The Red Cloud chief., 1899-04-07
Interesting Fish from Alabama Coast

ATLANTA Constitution.
Interesting Fish from Alabama Coast.
In November, 1898, the United States
fish commission received from Col. ID.
l.. Huger, n ~well-known business man
Of Mobile. Ala, a specimen OF fish that
was not only strange to the local fish
ermen. but had never before been OBJ
served on the United States coast, SO
far as available records show. The
fish had been taken about twenty miles
south OF Mobile harbor. The form OF
the species Is so characteristic that its
identity Is readily d~iscernible, though
few students of fishes have ever had an
opportunity to examine fresh speci-
mems. 1t has no vernacular name ex-
cept Cuban n tinosa; II Is, however,
u species of crevalle or cavally, oil
which there are several common rep
resentatives along the Atlantic sea-
board, and It bears the technical name
of Caranx %lugubris.
The accompanying drawing, based on
the specimen referred to. gives a good
idea of the general form Of the spe-
cies. The broad body Is much COM
pressed, as in other members OF the
genus. The large, deep head presents
a swelling on the median line above
and a projecting snout, The mouth Is
large and the fish is evidently vora-
cious feeder. The teeth, while not
prominent, arc numerous and of varied
shapes. In the upper jaw there are
two distinct lows, the inner forming
a villiform band, while the outer are
large and c~onical; in the lower jaw
there Is a row of large conical teeth
interspersed with smaller ones; furth-
ernlore, there are teeth on the tongue,
the vomer and the palatine bones. The
large eye is provided with a fatty eye
lid. Both the second dorsal and tho
anal fins are f~alcate, and the pectorals
are exceedingly long and sickle shaped,
AS to color, the entire body OF this fish
Is a uniform sooty black. the v%entral,
anal and dorsal fins being intensely
black. The usual length attained by
the species Is 1R feet; the Alabama
specimen wa a little more than two
feet.
This fish inhabits chiefly the shores
Of rocky, tropical islands. and is found
on both the east and west coasts oil
the western hemisphere. In the Pa
cific ocean it is recorded from one OF
the Revillagigedo islands, lying of
Mexico. On the Atlantic coast 1t has
! heretofore beer observed only about
Cuba, but 1t will probably in time be
found near other West Indian islands,
Specimens supposed to be this species
have occasionally been taken at Asceu-
sion island, in the South Pacific, and
: also in the %mid-Paciic. The fish
( taken off Mobile, nearly 500 miles north
of Cuba, was evidently a straggler from
that island.
h. The fish was first recognized as dis
tinct by the late Prof. Felipe Poey, o.
Havana. and described by him from
Cuba. in 1860. 1t is reported to bt
0 common about Cuba. Prof. Poey
I chose an appropriate name when hi
designated this species lugubris, mean
t ing m%ournful, which applies to its som
Der color, bad reputation, and supposed
gastronomic effects. Like a number
Z of other fishes of tropical waters, l
is reported to be poisonous, and it'
sale in Cuba has long been prohibited
A related species (Caranx latus) hal
. from time immemorial been excluded
from the markets OF Cuba, and man,
disastrous cases of illness have beer
attributed to its use. Singular.
q enough, other species of this genus arr
regarded as excellent food fishes, ant
n are extensively eaten in Florida AM
other southern states.
The local name. tlnosa, meaning
q ,cabby or scurvy, and hence anything
Q that Is repulsive or repugnant, eX
presses the prevailing idea regarding
the Ash; the dreaded disease, ciguar
terra, caused by eating poisonous fish, |
also associated with this species in tn
popular mind. Poey himself, however
does not appear to have shared tn
current belief, for he writes that h
x has eaten the tinosa and found 1t goot
The prejudice against the species ma
thus be unjust, or 1t is possible tina
the toxic properties ascribed to II de
mend not on any inherent qualities G
the fish, blu on ptomaines generate
n by a particular kind Of food or by tn
"a rapid decomposition to which the troI
= teal fishes are liable.