Sawfish

“ It is not easy for any observer to be intimate with a sawfish; and the most ardent naturalist's acquaintance with an orca, or "killer" whale, must be essentially a distant one, if he would hope to put his observations upon record. Needless to say, my own knowledge of the orca, the shark, the narwhal, or the colossal cuttlefish of the ocean [Pg vi] depths, is not of the same kind as my knowledge of the bear, the moose, the eagle, and others of the furtive folk of our New Brunswick wilderness. ”

“ The largest examples have saws six feet long, and a foot wide at the base, with teeth several inches long. The sawfish is without commercial value, and is never sought, but it has the faculty of getting entangled in the fishermen’s nets and badly damaging them in its struggles to escape, so that the fishermen regard it as a nuisance, and have to handle it with care in order to avoid the serious injury that might be inflicted by a lateral sweep of a big fish’s saw. ”

“ Natives of fishing tribes are not in the least afraid of the swordfish, but they are to a certain extent of the sawfish. The latter has a shorter, broader, and altogether stronger beak than the former, blunt at the point instead of sharp, and studded down each side by villainous sharp and bony teeth. Its pleasing custom is to charge amongst a shoal of fish and frantically thrash from side to side among them with its beak, gathering up the slain and wounded at its leisure afterwards. ”

“ With it the sawfish cuts and slashes, tearing off pieces of flesh, or ripping open the abdomen of its opponent, then seizing the detached pieces. One can easily picture to himself the slaughter when a sawfish dashes into a school of fishes, squids, or porpoises, and slashes right and left with his ripsaw of a beak. Some of the Oriental species reach, and even exceed, twenty feet in length, and Dr. ”

“ Thornbacks, Electric Rays, Sting-rays, Eagle-rays are representative. They lead a somewhat sedentary life at the bottom of the sea, moving sluggishly by undulations of the pectoral fins which form a large part of the flat body. Many attain a large size, sometimes measuring six feet across.
Sawfish (Pristis) are distinguished by the prolongation of the snout into a formidable weapon bordered on each side by sharp teeth. Some species are found off the southern coasts of North America and in the Gulf of Mexico, and in the Mediterranean and many other seas. ”

“ The next moment a four-foot weapon of a hand's breadth, armed with a double row of teeth, was lifted for a second above the surface and was followed by the three fins, tandem, that proved the presence of a sawfish. ”

“ Mackerel-Shark (Lamna punctata, Storer) .
snout, armed on each side with spines implanted like teeth, the whole constituting a most formidable weapon. These are the sawfishes (Fig. 7) , which attain a length of fifteen feet or more. ”

“ In the Sword-fishes the bones of the upper jaw form a long dagger-shaped weapon, with which they not only attack large animals, but also frequently kill fishes on which they feed. The Saw-fishes are armed with a similar but still more complicated weapon, the saw, which is armed on each side with large teeth implanted in deep sockets, specially adapted for killing and tearing the prey before it is seized and masticated by the small teeth within the mouth. Fishes show but little choice in the selection of their food, and some devour their own offspring indiscriminately with other fishes. ”

“ A sketch of the gladiators of the sea would not be complete without some mention of the saw-fish and the narwhal. The saw-fish family is allied to the sharks, having a similar elongated and rounded body, and unequal tail-lobes. They are found in most warm seas and even near the poles; one species is met with all along the Atlantic coast of the United States. They are rapid swimmers. The mouth is on the under side of the head, and is furnished with teeth which are adapted to crushing crustaceans and similar creatures upon which they feed, and not for tearing flesh. ”

“ The sawyer fly, so called from its faculty of sawing asunder the branches of trees, whose substance is its food, is about three inches in length when full grown, and is a very singular insect. Its head has somewhat the appearance [63] of that of an elephant, it having a horny bill, like the proboscis of that animal, bending upwards from the under part, with another, pointing downwards from the upper part of its head, both of a jet black, and of a fine polish. On the inner surface of the upper bill are raised points, like the teeth of a saw, which are used by the insect in the same manner. ”

“ The common saw-fish reaches a length of twelve to fifteen feet, of which the saw is about one third. It carries a much uglier weapon than the sword-fish, for along the edges of its beak are set pointed conical teeth, two or three inches apart. The number of teeth on each side varies from twenty to thirty. The "saw" is not used by being drawn backward and forward: in killing small fishes for food, the saw-fish charges among them, striking to the right and left with the serrated edges of its beak, and generally succeeds in disabling a considerable number. ”

“ The body of the saw-fish is not much larger than the head, with two strong dorsal fins, the one near the middle, the other near the tail, which is partly bifurcated, and raised perpendicular, the largest part upwards, without rays. ”

“ The sword-fish may attain a length of from twelve to sixteen feet, and is then a most formidable monster, to be feared by almost every inhabitant of the ocean, from the whale downwards. But a still more terrible, because a more cruel monster, is the saw-fish, a creature that grows to an even larger size, and carries, as his name implies, a saw, instead of a sword, in front of him. ”

“ This saw must be an effective weapon among the schools of herring and anchovies on which the sawsharks feed. The true teeth are small, sharp, and close-set. The few species of sawsharks are marine, inhabiting the shores of eastern Asia and Australia. Pristiophorus japonicus is found rather sparsely along the shores of Japan. The vertebræ in this group are also tectospondylous. Both the Squatina and Pristiophorus represent a perfect transition from the sharks and rays. ”

“ You must fish for him with a small red worm; and if you bait the ground with earth, it is excellent.
There is also a BLEAK or fresh-water Sprat; a fish that is ever in motion, and therefore called by some the river-swallow; for just as you shall observe the swallow to be, most evenings in summer, ever in motion, making short and quick turns when he flies to catch flies, in the air, by which he lives; so does the Bleak at the top of the water. ”

“ The Saw-fish (Pristis antiquorum) in British Waters.—In the notice of my "Notes and Letters of Sir Thomas Browne" (ante, p. 79) , the writer, after quoting the statement by Browne that a "sword fish or Xiphias or Gladius" was taken "intangled in the Herring netts at yarmouth," adds on my authority that this "appears to be the only authentic record of this southern species in British waters," which is far from being the case. ”

“ Only the queer ones—and there are many—who want three kinds of boats, and nine kinds of bait, and a deep-sea diver for a boatman, and tackle that cannot be broken, and smooth, calm seas always, and five hundred pounds of fish a day—only that kind complain of Long Key and kick—and yet go back again!
Sailfish will draw more and finer anglers down to the white strip of color that shines white all day under a white sun and the same all night under white stars. But it is not alone the fish that draws real sportsmen to a place and makes them love it and profit by their return. ”

“ From time to time they nibble the weeds at the bottom or overhanging their nests, or dart after a fly or worm. The dorsal fin, besides answering the purpose of a keel, with the anal, serves to keep the fish upright, for in shallow water, where this is not covered, they fall on their sides. As you stand thus stooping over the sunfish in its nest, the edges of the dorsal and caudal fins have a singular dusty golden reflection, and its eyes, which stand out from the head, are transparent and colourless. ”

“ A friend of Edward at Turriff found four Saw-flies in a piece of a fir tree that [210] was being cut up for firewood. They are called Saw-flies “from the fact that the female possesses, posteriorly, an instrument by which she perforates, or rather saws, holes in trees, into which she drops her eggs. From this it will be seen that the larvæ are woodfeeders. In this country they are by no means numerous, and it is well that they are not, or our forests would shortly disappear; for, in places where they abound, such as in Norway, they destroy hundreds of thousands of trees in a season. ”

“ The swordfish, when swimming at the surface, usually allows its dorsal fin and the upper lobe of its caudal fin to be visible, projecting out of the water. It is this habit which enables the fisherman to detect the presence of the fish. It swims slowly along, and the fishing-schooner with a light breeze finds no difficulty in overtaking it. When excited its motions are very rapid and nervous. Swordfish are sometimes seen to leap entirely out of the water. ”

“ The sea was dyed in blood from the stabs inflicted by the saw-fishes under the water, while the thrashers, watching their opportunity, struck at the unwieldy monster as often as it rose to breathe.
The sword-fish is also furnished with a powerful weapon in the shape of a bony snout about four or five feet long, not serrated like the saw-fish, but of a much firmer consistency—in fact, the hardest material known. [Pg 156]
THE STORY OF OBED, ORAH, AND THE SMOKING-CAP. BY MRS. A. M. DIAZ.
A cozy room, a wood fire, bright andirons, and a waiting company. ”

“ On plate D, fig. 7, is seen the common Hornet, one of the really terrible of our insects. It mostly makes its nest in hollow trees, and it behoves one to keep very clear of the neighbourhood. The nest is made of wood-fibre, nibbled, and made into a primitive papier-maché.
Two of the Saw-flies may be seen on plate J. Fig. 2 is the common green Saw-fly, and fig. 3 the dreaded Turnip-fly. These are called Saw-flies because they are furnished with saw-like implements, by means of which they cut grooves in certain plants, and in those grooves lay their eggs. ”

“ He wades in at a slow pace, gazing searchingly into the depths of the water for a sign of his prey, choosing at first the shoals where it is easier to see, and as likely a spot as others for fine shellfish. And here a curious phenomenon is discovered; his eye catches the glint of a shining shell and he stoops to secure it, only to find a half shell without life. The brighter the shell, the less chance of its being inhabited. ”

“ Swainson, who seems to have been personally familiar with not a few species, "although vastly inferior, in point of number, to either of the more typical divisions, is yet one of the greatest interest, since it contains the most singular and extraordinary fishes in creation.... The form of the body, when compared to fishes better known, is more like that of the Eel, the length being in the same proportion to the breadth; but then it is generally so much compressed, that these creatures have acquired the popular names of Riband-fish, Lath- or Deal-fish, &c. ”

“ It kills its prey by tearing them open with side blows from its sharp, two-edged saw. Its big mouth is fitted with a great many rows of needle-like teeth.
The Sword-fish wears a different weapon--a lance instead of a saw. He is not a Shark, but a cousin of the beautiful Mackerel. This warrior of the deep is more dreaded than the Saw-fish, and braver than any Shark. His speed in the water is marvellous; it makes him safe from attack. He carries in front of him a terrible weapon, and all sea-creatures hasten from his path as fast as they can. ”

“ The members of this group are met with in most parts of the globe, migrating according to the change of seasons, or when their supply of food falls short. Swamps, shallow rivers, and pools are their favourite haunts, and in these they quietly stand, with their necks drawn down between their shoulders, watching the approach of a fish, upon which they suddenly dart, and seizing it in the beak, swallow it in an instant. ”

“ When the archer espies an insect which it wishes to seize, but which is flying too high above the surface to be captured by leaping out of the water, it approaches as near as possible to its prey, then it fills its mouth-cavity with water, shuts its gill-openings, suddenly compresses its little slit of a mouth, and, ejecting rapidly the water through the very narrow tube which forms its snout, squirts it often to the distance of two metres, and that with such force that the insect is stunned and falls into the sea. ”

“ Small crows and hundreds of swallows are on eager wing, darting into the smoke and out again, seizing fugitive flies. Scores of insects, in their haste to escape from the fire, jump into the river, and the active fish enjoy a rare feast. ”

“ He loves also Paste, Flag-Worms, Wasps, Green-Flies, Butter-Flies and a Grass-hopper, without Legs.
Bait your Ground the Night before with gross-ground Malt, boiled and strained, and then in the morning with the Red-Worm, bait your Hook, and plumbing your Ground within half an Inch, Fish.
The Bleak, an eager Fish, is caught with all sorts of Worms bred on Trees or Herbs, also with Flies, Cad-bait, Bobs, Paste, Sheeps-Blood, White Snails, Wasps, Gnats, &c. In a warm clear day the small Fly at the rim of the Water is best; in a Cloudy day, Gentles or Cad-baits two foot in the Water. ”

“ There are but few natural orders of fishes—and they divide themselves for the purposes of our enquiry chiefly into the Acanthopterygii, or those that possess bony skeletons, with prickly, spinous processes on the dorsal fins, such as the perch, the mullet, and the gurnard; the Malacopterygii, or soft-finned fishes, including the carp, the salmon, &c.; and the Chondropterygii, with cartilaginous spines and bones, embracing such fish as the sturgeon, shark, and skate. ”