This fish is also known as the Barracuda.
Of the family of Hair-tails perhaps the most important members are the Scabbard- or Frost-fish and the Snoek. The first is common in the Mediterranean and the warmer parts of the Atlantic, extending northwards to the south coast of England, where it occurs at rare intervals. It is also known in New Zealand, where it is called the Frost-fish, and furthermore is regarded as one of the most delicious fish of the colony, its flesh being fine, tender, and of delicate flavour. On this account it is much in demand, but the supply is very uncertain. The conditions of capture, indeed, of this fish are unparalleled in the annals of fishing, for it can be taken neither with the rod nor the net. The would-be captor has to wait patiently under favourable conditions on the seashore for the fish to come and cast itself up on the beach. This happens with tolerable certainty during the autumn and winter months, when the sea is calm and the nights frosty. Then the frost-fish come ashore alive, wriggling through the surf on to the beach. Two explanations have been offered for this extraordinary conduct. One is that the fish commits suicide; being pursued by a shark or other enemy, it prefers uncertain life on land to certain death at sea! The other and more probable hypothesis has it that the air-bladder of the fish becomes distended to enable it to reach the surface for food—for it is a deep-sea fish—and that the keen, frosty air prevents it from compressing the bladder and returning to the depths; thus it gradually drifts into shallow water, is hurled shorewards by the surf, and finally wriggles itself on to the beach to die. The long stretches of sandy beach a few miles from Dunedin are a favourite resort for frost-fish catching. Two or three men camp out at the foot of the cliffs overhanging the beach, pitching a tent and lighting a huge fire, so as to render life bearable during the long vigils. The "fishing" consists in perambulating the beach up and down shortly before dawn, and keeping a sharp look-out in the surf for the silver streak which betokens the approach of a victim. As soon as a fish is descried, all that remains to be done is to seize hold of it and drag it ashore, if it has not already stranded itself, and then dispatch it.
Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S.] [Milford-on-Sea.
FRINGED HORSE-MACKEREL.
Note the great length of the fin-rays.
Photo by Reinhold Thiele & Co.] [Chancery Lane, W.C.
HORSE-MACKEREL.
The strong keel formed by ridged scales running down each side of the tail is a characteristic feature.