PART III.

FISH FOODS.

man.

FISH.

Fish furnish a very important and useful part of the animal food of Both the fish growing in fresh water and in salt water are generally edible. Usually the smaller-sized fish are considered more palatable, but this is not universally the case. The large-sized fish are apt to be coarse, and have a less desirable flavor than those of smaller size. The size of the fish usually depends upon the magnitude of the body of water in which the species grow, the largest being in the lakes and oceans, the medium-size in rivers, and the smallest in brooks. Fish are known chiefly by their common names, and these names are different for the same species of fish in different parts of the country. For instance, the term trout covers a multitude of species, and, likewise, under the term sardine a large number of different species or varieties of fish are considered. There is also a large number of varieties known as salmon, perch, bass, etc.

In the following table are given the common and the scientific names of the principal food fishes used in the United States (see Report of U. S. Commission of Fish and Fisheries, 1888, pages 679-868):

Some of the scientific names in the above list have been modified by recent research, but it is advisable to present the above classification for purpose of reference. The variations from these names will be given in the part of the discussion relating to the food value of fish, in which the classification of Jordan and Evermann is followed.

Edible Portion of Fish.-As in the case of other animals large parts of fish as taken from the water are inedible. In the preparation of fish the head is usually removed, especially if the fish be of any size, and the entrails rejected. If the fish be scaly, the scales are also removed. The latter vary very greatly in different specimens according to species, size, etc. Usually the edible portion of the fish is larger in quantity than the inedible, though this is not by any means universally the case. Taking fish of all kinds together it may be said that from 55 to 60 percent of the total weight is edible. This, of course, excludes the bones as well as the other portions already referred to. Principal Constituents of the Flesh of Fish.-In the flesh of cattle, swine, and other edible animals already mentioned it is seen that the protein is the principal part of the edible portion. In many kinds of meat, however, the fat is the principal portion, as in bacon. In the flesh of fish the albuminoids occupy a more prominent part than in the flesh of domesticated animals or game. In other words the proportion of fat, which is one of the principal ingredients of the flesh of other animals, is less than in the other kinds of flesh. The protein in the water-free substance often constitutes over 90 percent of the total matter, and rarely falls below 80 percent. The next most important constituent of the dry flesh of fish naturally is the fat. The average content of fat in the dry flesh of fish is under 10,-it rarely goes above 20 and sometimes falls as low as 2 or 3 percent. The mineral content of the dry flesh of fish is quite constant. It rarely falls below 4 or goes above 8 percent; 5 percent may be regarded as a fair average content of mineral matter. The mineral matter consists chiefly of phosphate of potash and lime, together with some common salt. In the analyses made by Atwater, adopted in the following pages, he grouped together the fish analyzed in proportion to the quantity of the edible portion or flesh which they contained. Groupings were also made on account of the dry substance in the flesh and in proportion to the water and fat which they contained. These tables are of value showing in a general way the relative food importance of the different specimens of fish. This classification is given in the following table:

CLASSIFICATION OF FISHES BY PERCENTAGES OF FLESH, CHIEFLY MUSCULAR TISSUE

IN ENTIRE BODY.

CLASSIFICATION OF FISHES BY PROPORTIONS OF FAT IN THE FLESH OF SPECIMENS

ANALYZED.

FATS.

No. OF

SPECIMENS
ANALYZED.

FLESH.

KINDS OF FISH.

CLASSIFICATION OF FISHES BY PROPORTIONS OF WATER-FREE SUBSTANCE IN THE OF SPECIMENS ANALYZED.

FLESH

In the scientific names of the food fishes described in the following pages and in the description of their habits, methods of spawning, geographic distribution, etc., the classification of Jordan and Evermann* has been followed.

Alewives. A fish belonging to a genus very close to that to which the herring belongs is known as alewife. The name of the genus is Pomolobus. It is commonly known as a herring. For instance, the fresh-water skipjack or blue herring, the tailor herring or hickory shad,-and the real alewife or branch herring are all common species of this genus. One specimen of this genus is the fresh-water skipjack or blue herring (Pomolobus chrysochloris) found in the larger streams in the Mississippi valley and also in Lake Erie and Lake Michigan. It is strictly a fresh-water fish, but has also been found in salt water on the Gulf coast. The tailor herring is found along the Atlantic coast from Cape Cod to Florida. In the Potomac river it is known as tailor shad or "fresh-water tailor," and is highly esteemed as a food fish in Washington and vicinity. Their value is found rather in their coming earlier than the

*"American Food and Game Fishes," by Jordan and Evermann, 1 vol., large 8vo, pp. i to 1+1 to 572. Twelve colored plates and several hundred full-page plates from photographs from life and text-figures. Doubleday, Page & Co., New York.