The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1900-07-25
FISHES HELD TO BE POISONOUS,
Some Arc Very Good Eating, White
Their. Bad Fame Protects Them.

SAN JUAN CAPRlSTRANt, Gail, uIy
is-The old fishermen say that thSre Is
something peculiar about the fish this year
In the first place. the water Is ali-e with
srnfish. which sport In the waves all day
long. vast schools almost covering the sur
face at times. The sunfish is one of The
most remarkable Of all fishes. 1t has APP
pareatly had its body cut off just behind
the fms, leaving an absurd rim Of flesh in
lieu OF tail L is oblonS in shape. and is
Incapable Of rapid movement; indeed. it
can be caught with . boat hook. 1t attains
u laTEs SIZE, several having been seen
which were estimated at fifteen feet across.
Its skin is hard and rough, and covered
with slime, which al nigh. IS at times
luminous, making the fish i remarkable
object as It sails through the upper portion
Of tbs ocean.
Suntish are utterly useless. To the taste
The flesh is insipid and soft, While the
skin Itself is an inch or more in thickness,
more Ike India rubber than anything else.
Al large as it Is, the sunfish lives upon i
diet Of jelly fishes, which it tears in pieces
with lis powerful bone-liko teeth. The
Santa Catalina Channel IS a famous cruis-
ing ground for these fishes at all times,
but the school which has taken possession
OF thu waters this season is unusual. and
appears 10 be made up Of young fish
A very common fish on the California
coast and in florida IS the moray, an ell
four feet in length. The snake-liho appear
ance OF the fish is its protection. and con-
sequertiy, one of the best edible fishes is
LOST to the epicure. the moray cannot
be given away in Southern California as
food fish, and in Florida also people refuse
10 ca. i on account OF its appearance.
Ell shrdlu shrG.u hrdlU hrdul hrdlu hrdul
The list OF UNBEATABLE fishes is large. Some
OF the Cuban fishes are poisonous, and 50
deep-seated is the prejudice against them
that up 10 within few years an American
fleet OF s1nacks and schooners from Long
Island almost controlled the Havana fish
tr@de, catching all their fish on the Florida
reef. sixty or eighty miles away. and carry
ing them TO Havana in their wells. When
asked what the t:ouble was with the Cuban
fish The local fishermen invariably answer
ed that there was so much copper on the
bottom that the fishes We're all pernleated
With II, and those who ate them were
poisoned. though no one ever heard Of any
one dying from such n cause In New
England a person who ale a sculpin would
be looked upon with amazement. A Maine
fisherman upon one occasion explained that
sculpins We're ''pizens, and went so far
70 point out The poisonous fins. and de-
scrihed the case Of a mate who had lost
his arm b. being poisoned by one; but the
truth is that the spines OF many fishes are
poisonous when they run into the flesh,
hlil StiivaS NpkiilGS are often result.
yet the fish themselves cannot be said to
pc poisonous. A Californian says: The
sculpIn is the best eating fish in these or
sny waters. but the trouble is thar half
the fishermen think It is poisonous, & nd the
consumers will not take such q looking
fish: SO tire delicate white meat goes TO
waste. 1t is all on account of the appear
auce of the fish. which looks, with its Cog
gle eyes and spineS like a japanese mask
Nearly all the rays are eaten by the
Chinese and considered delicacies. bur
some people have a prejudice against
them. as they are supposed TO have a
sting and to be poisonous. Sharks come
under the ban. though the Chinese rank
shark fms when made into jelly next 10
bird s nest soup The Bahama barracuda,
which attains a large size, Is at times eN-
tren,elv poisonous. and people have been
known TO die from eating it. but this was
al certain seasons. Very few fishes are
peisenou. In the strict sense of the word
that is have a poisonous gland but such
n one Is the toad fish, a toad-like creature
which has upon It's back series of spines
that are essentially poisonous. The por-
cupine FISH is said 10 he poisonous. and De-
ing completely covered with long spines.
81 is certainly q disagreeabIe creature to
temcr!iy 10 clean one. The parrot fish of
poison ban. III all probability because il Is
green: certainly the meat is sweet, the
writer having caught and eaten many One
OF the gar fishes Is pronounced deadly by
many fishermen on account of the ''fhos-
phorus'' on #, which is merely luminous
.in. a beacon light to fellow fishes.-Sew
York Sun.