Habits of the Gar-fish and Mackerel

Abstract

BEYOND the fact that the bodies of other fish are occasionally pierced by them, no evidence seems to exist concerning the special function of narrow elongated jaws of the gar-fish (Belone vulgaris, Fleming). These fish are usually captured in drift nets along with mackerel, and there appears to be some vague idea among fishermen that they either guard or guide the mackerel shoals. In the cases on record where a mackerel or other fish has been pierced by the gar-fish, the upper jaw of the latter has usually been found broken off and remaining in the wound. This fact is inconsistent with the supposition that the normal function of the elongated beak is to be used as a spear, and there is no evidence that the gar-fish feeds on the flesh of large fishes.