MORE ESCOLAR.

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 18674, 24 April 1926, Page 16

MORE ESCOLAR.

I AUCKLAND STRANGE FISHES. I • ■ (srECIAL TO "THE PRESS.") AUCKLAND, April 23. Three more specimens of a fish, uutil recently a stranger to New Zealand waters, were caught near White Island ! by Mr J. Williams, of Tauranga, while fishing from a launch. The first fish was caught about a fortnight ago, and was identified by Mr L. T. Griffin, assistant curator of the Auckland Museum, as the escolar. Four other fish were hooked, but after great struggles they escaped. The length of one of these was estimated at 10ft, while those actually caught averaged oft 6in. The principal habitats of the escolar are in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic Ocean, where it is generally found at moderate and considerable depths. Its colour, is a uniform purplish brown or violet black, and instead of scales it has a skin completely covered with dermal tubercles, each terminating in several spines. Two specimens of the escolar are being forwarded to the Auckland Museum curator, Mr G. Arcbey, who is very anxious to secure one intact. One of the fish was cut up and cooked by some Tauranga residents. It proved very delicate, with a flavour similar to h&puka. The success attending the endeavours to secure more escolar seems to prove that the species is to be found in large numbers in the vicinity.