PART III.
FISH FOODS.
FISH.
Fish furnish a very important and useful part of the animal food of
man. 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):
Acipenseridæ:
Acipenser sturio oxyrhynchus, Sturgeon.
Catostomidæ:
Moxostoma velatum, Small-mouthed red-horse.
Clupeidæ:
Clupea harengus, Herring.
pilchardus, Sardine.
vernalis, Alewife.
sapidissima, Shad.
Salmonidæ:
Osmerus mordax, Smelt.
Coregonus clupeiformis, Whitefish.
sp., tullibee or artedi, Ciscoe.
Oncorhynchus chouicha, California salmon.
Salmo salar, Salmon.
subsp. sebago, Land-locked salmon.
Salvelinus namaycush, Lake trout.
fontinalis, Brook trout.
