II. The distinction between the fishes of characteristic
grounds is of somewhat more practical interest and importance,
seeing that the fisherman must be guided by such empirical


32 SALT-WATER FISHES


knowledge when desirous of capturing a certain kind of
fish for which there is a brisk demand at the time. The
angler knows quite well the difference between, for instance,
rock-fish and those which dwell, or at any rate seek their food,
on sandy ground. This is the simplest, and also the most
important, distinction of the kind. To the rock-fish belong,
to quote a few familiar examples, the conger (Conger), pollack
and pout (Gadus), rocklings (Moztella), wrasses (Labdrus),
breams (Pagrus), sticklebacks (Gasterosteus), gobies (Gobius),
and suckers (Lepadogaster). ‘These are only a few of our
rock-fish, and many more might have been cited.
