The Richmond climax. (Richmond, Ky.) 1897-1914, 1899-07-19
Print S hOms th~o@sh
POISONOUS FISH
vnrtc ties IN Cuban and West Indian
Waters which Are of EVIL
Reputation.

ACpMldllOns
There is q belief among the fishermen
of Cuba that some of the fish there are
| poisonous. If asked the cause, one re-
| ply is that there is so much copper in
the water that it poisons the fish. This
is a fisherman's reason, yet the fact
holds that in all waters there are fish
that are poisonous. In Cuban waters
the jack-Caranx-is a common table
fish. On the Florida reef all kinds are
eaten, and one rarely hears of poison
| Oqs fish, yet in Havana there is law
which prevents the sale of jacks of over
two pounds, for the reason that poi
sonOus CaranX exists which attains a
weight of % pounds. This, when the
| law is enforced, cuts out of the Cuban
dietary a number of fishes.
The poisonous jack is known to sci
ence as CaranN fallaX, its common name
in Cuba being juvel. 1t is difficult for
the layman TO distinguish between the
poisonous and the nonpoisonous jacks.
Another jack, Caranx plumiera, COM
monty seen in the Havana market under
the local name of chicaro, is readily eat
en-, bat according to DIR. Hornemann,
the natives of the West India islands are
| afraid TO eat it at certain seasons. At
GuadalOupe, as an example, il is eaten
at times without i'll effect, while ut 9TH
ers the flesh assumes coppery hue,
the bones turn red, and il is exceedingly
/ poisonous, SO much SO that DIR. Horne
mann states that it is used to poison
rats.
DIR. Oscar Tybring has collected much
interesting Information on this subject,
and especial attention is given to en-
| phasize the fact that some fishes are
| poisonous at certain times. The writ
er's belief is that locality has much TO
do with it. During several years resi-
dence at Garden Key, 20 miles from
Cuba, an instance of anyOne's being
| poisoned by the local fishes was never
heard of by him. The barracuda was
at all times considered 4 fine table fish,
but the fishermen from Cuba who fished
down the channel islands could hardly
be induced 10 take large specimens of
| the fish, which he said were poisonous
around Cuba. One form, which attains
length of IL or more feet, was con-
sidered especially poisonous. This fish,
which was invariably found to be
| good table fish in Florida, was regarded
with suspicion in Bahama. One of the
signs of poison given is ''black at the
roots of the sharp teeth" but this sign
has no meaning in Florida. The bar
Iacuda is common at Rio, and, accord
ing to MericOurt, some of the men of a
French frigate were badly poisoned by
eating it.
The INJURIES of Florida, snakelike
eeis of ferocious appearance and ma
ture, are often said to be poisonous,
but the writer experimental with them
and found them palatable, if one could
forget the snakelike mouth, white
leopardlike markings and the certain
ly disagreeabel features of the fish.
This is the fish that was so esteemed by
I the old Romans; yet il was impossible
to induce fisherman on the outer reef
10 eat murTy, and some affirmed that
those around the bahamas were deadly
poison.
Certain localities have become no.
torious for their poisonous fish, as the
Cape of Good Hope, where the crews of
vessels are invariably warned not to
cat the fish, and in cases observed here
the symptoms were remarkably like
those of cholera. The richly coIored
fishes have an evil reputation every
where, but this certainly does not APP
ply to the Florida species. According
TO HOrnem3nn, poisonous species are
known at the Isle of F'ance. in the
Antilles, and in China and Japan. He
mentions two species in the waters of
the Seychelles. At Guadaloupe one of
the gar tishes-Belone caribOea-is
known as poisonous fish; yet the wri-
ter preferred it to all the small fishes
and never heard the fish mentioned i'm
Florida as being poisonous. That it
is so in other localities there can be no
doubt, as DIR. HOrnemann says it is
especially dangerous during the spawn
ing season and that the roe should be
avoided. He quotes cases where peo-
pie in San Domingo have died from eat
ing the fish, and advises sailors to avoid
fishes of this kind.
In Japanese waters several fish are
said to be poisonous. especially En-
graulis iapOnica, which is dangerous
from July TO September. and in almost
every foreign country fish will be found
that are avoided. On the American
coast true cases of poisonous fish are
undoubtedly very rare, and, putting
prejudice and legends aside. the list
of so-called poisonous fishes would be
very materially reduced.-N. Y. Sun.