Sea Coyotes.

Otago Witness, Issue 2803, 4 December 1907, Page 76

Sea Coyotes.

As ihe best method of encourging ihe destruction of dogfishes, which do 400,000 dollars' worth, of damage annually m Massachusetts waters alone, it has been seriously suggested that inducement! be offered to fishermen to capture them by creating a market for them. The Canadian Government is making an effort in this direction by trying fo encourage the canning of dogfish. Canned " sea dog, 1 it ie averred, has a "distinctly obvious lobster flavour, with, a suggestion of salmon." The dogfishes are the smallest of the sharks. They are voracious and predatory, huntinsr in pacle» like wolves. It is their habit to follow schools . of herring or mackerel, as land wolves hang upon the flanks of herds of, antelopes; and so numerous are they that, in occasional instances, they have been seen actually fo em clop a "shoal" of food fishes, not only surrounding the latter, but dosing in upon them beneath, so as to make it impossible for any to escape. There are two species of dogfish— the " smooth dog " and the " spiny dog. The former breeds, one might say, more like a bird than a fish, laying eggs which, when tresh and divested of their shells, bear a close resemblance to the yolks ot hens' esgs. The shell, however, has the form of "a -ectangular purse, from the four corners of which extend long, tendril-hke projections, utilised to anchor the egg among the seaweeds at the bottom. When the baby dogfish are ready to be hatched they force their way out of these curious receptacles through one end, leaving behind them the empty shells, which, driven ashore by storms and picked up on the beaches, are popularly known ac :< sailors' purses" or "mermaids pocketbooks." They are «o tough in texture as to be torn with difficulty, and look and feel as if x Jiey w«re made of thin theet rubber. . Far more numerous than the f smooiU dog," however, is the "spiny dog,'' which is so called because of the sharp, stout eoine in front of the back fin. This little shark does not usually exceed 81b in weight though sometimes it attains a length of sft. It ie the species +Jiat does the serious damage to the fisheries, sometimes actually blocked inj? a fishing port in 6uch a way as to put a stop to the business of the asitem.en.