On the mortality of fishes in the Gulf of Mexico in 1878

PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 363

it tobe identicalwith theEuropean speciesofthe

same

genns. Intliis

he

was

followed

by

Dr.

DeKay,

in his Fishes of

New

York, pn1)lished in 1842. In 1845, in his Synopsisof the Fishes of iforth America, Dr.

Storer adoi>ted for the

American

cusk the

name

Brosmiu.sji(ivei<eenSy

which

had

been given in 1819

by Le

Suenrto a snpposed

new

species from Marblehead,^jMass.,characterizedin his figures

and

descrijitions

by

a prolonged lower

jaw

andadonble barbel.*

We

^{believe tliat}the specimendescribed

by Le

Suenr

was

adeformed individualof the

common

species, but this isa mere matterof opinion, and in

any

event the

name

cannot be used. In 1863, Professor Gill substitutedthe siiecific

name

americaiiKs forthe

name

flaceseeufiadox)ted

by

Storer.

After a careful examination and comparisonof two specimens from Europe(No.17,3()6,Norway,Bergen 31useum)withspecimensfrom Mas- sacliusetts Bay,

we

are compelle<l to believe that the

common

cusk of

New England

is identicalwith thatof Europe. In the proportions of theirbodiesthey agreeexactly,

and

the

Norwegian

specimens agreein everyrespect with Storer's description oiBrosmiusflavescensin his His- tory ofthe Fishes of ]\Iassachusetts.

The

radialfin^muhe ofthrees])eci-

mens

are givenbelQw

:

Dece.mbkr, 1676.

ON THE MORTAliITi: OF FISHES

IIV

THE

^CiUiiF

OF MEXICO

^IIV 1S7S.

By

^{I^iesit. J.} P.

JEFFERSON,

^II.S.A.

Key West, Florida.

Prof.

Spenoer

F, Baird,

ISmithsoniaii Imfitxtioiij Wa.shiniifoiiy I>.

C:

Professor:

^I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your valued favor of October30th, which reached

me

aftera delay, I being- absentfrom FortJefferson. This absence, coupledwith

my

wish to get

allpossible facts inregard to thedestruction offishinthese

and

neigh- boring waters, willaccountfor

my

^{apparenttardiness.}

Since

my

communication in October another large

body

of the dark- colored water described therein

made

its

way down

the coast, across Flori<laBay, strikingTortugasabout the 20thofNovember,

and

extend- ing

up

thereef as far as

Key

West,probablyfurther.

At Key

W^estits-

aiiproacli could be seen distinctly; at first, belts of it,

some

narrow^

othersbroad,

came

intothe harbor, following the various channelslead- ingto the northward,

and

onlyinthese Ijeltswerethe fish affected; in the courseoftwenty-fourhours,however,allthewaterinthe harborwas.

similarly colored,and thesurface

was

coveredwithdead and dyingfish.

*M6moirescluMiis6um,v, 1819,p. 158, pi. xvi.

No.

364 PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.

Tliey seemed to be affectedvery muclias Ihaveseen

them wheu

"flsli berries"' were thrown ^into a

pond —coming to the snrface, swimming aroundin circles,sometimes ontheside orback, themovementsgrowing weakerrajiidlyand ceasing altogether in 20or 30 minutes. I noticed onefactAvhich may or maynot be of importance: Itook asmall lish,

known

here as a cow-fish,from the water

when

just about dead, and, having examined ^it for aminute ortwo, castit back, when, to inysur- prise, it

swam

^offbriskly, going

down

atonce.

As

inthe previous instance, the shores at FortJefferson

and

neigh- boring keyswere covered with fisli,

and

here, at

Key

West, thenorth side of the island

was

in similar condition.

From

correspondence

and

conversation I have gathered,in addition to the above, the following facts, some,

and

possibly ^all,ofwhich

may

be ^ofinterest.

A

fishing-smack sailed

some

70 or80 miles to thewestward fromFort Jeffersonwithout gettingclear ofthe water.

Another smack

foundthe surface ofthewaterout

some

15 milesin the Gulf Streaiijcoveredwith dead fish

—

large sharks,turtles, king-fish, &c.,butno porpoises,and, as far as I have heard,

no

dead i^orpoises have l)een seen.

An

oflicer

coming over from

Xew

Orleans

by

steamer

was more

than 12 hoiu-s l)assiugthroughafield ofdead fish. Oystersin Tauipa

Bay

werekilled

by

the^Avater. InOctobertheCaloosahatchee

E

iveroverfloweditsl)anks alongits entii'elength except at abluff' at Fort Meyers,

and

the whole countryinthat section

was

underwater,reportedto betheresult ofthe overflow of

Lake

Okeechobee.

A

^gentleman

who knows

that part of the State well tells

me

that the

swampy

land bordering on Okeecho- beeis

grown up

largelywith

dogwood;

thewaterin the lake gradually rising

and

spreading over the surrounding marshesor

swamps

^])robably kept these

dogwood

treeswhollyorpartly

submerged

forweeks,until thedi-sddebetween Okeechobee

and

theheadwaters ofCaloosahatchee Eivergave way. Inthe possiblepoisonous effect ofwaterimpregnated withdogwood, &c., a theoryof the causeof the loss of fish-life

may

be found. Iunderstand from Dr. JosephY. Porter, ^II. S. A., that he for-

warded

toyouraddressa bottle ofwater. I

am

inhopesthatan analysis ofit will enable

you

to settle the question; if so, Iwould be indebted greatly to youifyouwouldinform me.

Inregardto

my

formerletter,

you

can

make any

use of ityou<lesire,

as wellalso asthis. I

am happy

to

know

that

you

consider the sulyect ofsomeimportance. Ifeared that Imight be imposing

upon

yourAalu- abletime.

Ifthere are any of the small fish of this vicinitywhich you desire I willbe glad todo

what

I can towardsobtaining them, eitherpreserved in spiritsortheskins. Please give

me common

names,ifpossible: forI have no books

and

no technicalknowledge.

I am, sir, veryrespectfully, your obedient servant,

J. P.

JEFFEESOX,

LieutenantFifthBegimentArtillery.

December, 1878.