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NURSE HOUND.

A

HISTORY

OF THE

FISHES

OF THE

BRITISH ISLANDS.

BY JONATHAN COUCH, F.L.S.

VOL. I.

CONTAINING FIFTY-SEVEN COLOURED PLATES,
FROM DRAWINGS BY THE AUTHOR.

The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have
pleasure therein. — Psalm cxi, v. 2.

LONDON:

GROOMBRIDGE AND SONS, 5, PATERNOSTER ROW.

M DCCC LXII.

Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2017 with funding from

University of Toronto

https://archive.org/details/historyoffisheso01couc_0

CONTENTS.

Nurse Hound

PAGE.

11

Bough Hound

. 14

Black-mouthed Dogfish .....

18

Six-gilled Shark ......

. 21

White Shark .......

25

Blue Shark

. 28

Thrasher .......

37

Porbeagle

. 41

Toper

45

Smooth Hound

47

Picked Dog

49

Spinous Shark ........

54

Greenland Shark

57

Basking Shark .......

60

Bashleigh Shark ......

67

Broad -headed Gazer

. 68

Hammer-head .......

70

Monkfish

. 73

Skate ........

87

Long-nosed Skate

. . 93

Plapper Skate .......

95

Burton Skate

97

Thornback Bay ......

99

Starry Bay .......

. 103

Spotted Bay

104

Painted Bay

. 107

Bordered Bay

110

Cuckoo Bay .......

. 112

Sandy Bay

115

Shagreen Bay .......

. 117

Torpedo

119

CONTENTS.

iy

PAGE.

Sting Eay .......... 130

Eagle Ray .......... 135

Ox Ray ........... 139

Arctic Chimaera ......... 145

Common Sturgeon 157

Huso 163

Three-spined Stickleback . . . . . . . 167

Tinker 176

Eifteen-spined Stickleback 180

Percb . . . . . . . • . . .185

Pass ........... 189

Ruff 193

Comber ........... 195

Dusky Percb 198

Stone Bass .......... 200

Dentex ............ 203

Mendole .......... 206

Surmullet ........... 209

Red Mullet ...... .... 217

Old We 222

Rogue 225

Becker 228

Couch’s Sea Bream . . . . . . . . 231

Erythrinus ........... 233

Spanish Bream ......... 235

Common Sea Bream . . . . . . . . .237

Short Sea Bream 241

Gilthead 243

FISHES OF THE BEITISH ISLANDS.

Our ancestors were accustomed to call by the name of fish
all the creatures which inhabit the waters ; and in so doing they
comprised under this term all the races of crabs and lobsters,
and also many species of shell-fish, as oysters and cockles. It
wras even a disputed point among them whether the otter should
not come under this denomination ; to which this animal must
be admitted to have as good a right as the bat to be classed
among birds ; among which, simply on account of its powers
of flying, it continued to hold a place to even a modern date.
But a better knowledge of nature has corrected these mistakes,
and we limit our subject to creatures pointed out by the following
characters. Not only, therefore, do we say with Dr. Monro,
in his work on the structure and physiology of fishes, that by
this name we understand that class of animals which lives in
water, swims by the assistance of fins, and has the water directly
applied to the gills, through which organ the whole mass of
blood in the body passes in the course of circulation : which
definition is so far deficient, that it would not exclude the
young condition of the several kinds of frogs and newts : — but
we add also, that they are furnished with nostrils, usually double
on each side, which do not communicate with the mouth or that
passage by which they receive the water which passes through
the gills. In a fish also the whole mass of blood passes through
the gills for the purpose of receiving the influence of air con-
tained in the water, without being again returned to the heart
until it has been carried to the other parts of the body. This
last observation is probably referred to by Monro, but is not
fully expressed by him, and in these particulars all fishes agree ;
but there are other characters among them which are sufficiently
distinct in different families as to render it necessary for us to
divide them into classes ; of which, for reasons presently to be
assigned, we shall place the Sharks and Bays at the head : in
doing which we are not singular. The illustrious naturalists,
Owen and Agassiz, have done the same ; and Linnaeus, whose
VOL. I. B

o

SHARKS AND RAY-FISHES.

system of nature, although professedly artificial, was intimately
connected with a profound knowledge of the affinities of natural
objects, has even gone so far as to separate them essentially from
the great family of true fishes, by making them a branch of his
class of amphibious animals, under the title of swimming amphi-
bians : the serpents and other reptiles being formed into another
class, of the same general order.

CHONDROPTERYGIOIJS FISHES.

Haying a skeleton with few bony particles in its structure, and also
termed Plagiostomi from the situation of the mouth, and it may be
added, the nostrils, which are beneath a projecting snout.

SHARKS AND RAY-FISHES.

As regards their proper station in the natural classification of
animals we so far agree with the distinguished Swedish naturalist
Linnaeus, as to place the family which comprises the Sharks and
Rays in the rank which is next below that of reptiles ; to which
order they are most nearly related in their general structure,
vital physiology, and mental instincts ; and not in the much
inferior station which includes the Lampreys, as is done in the
greater part of modern arrangements.

With the Lampreys, myxine and lancelet, this class of fishes
possesses nothing in common, except a soft skeleton that for the
most part is without bony fibres, and several openings through
which the water passes in the action of breathing ; which are
agreements too slight and obscure to warrant the conclusion that
these families possess any near connection of natural affinity;
whereas the differences in other respects, and even in the par-
ticulars named, are very wide, as we shall presently see. And
therefore, while we suffer the last-named family — of Petromy-
zonidce , or Lampreys, to remain at the end of our list, as at the
vanishing point of fishes in their transition towards the class
of worms, we assert for this tribe of chondropterygious fishes
a prominent station at the head of the whole family of fishes.

It is because of the softness of the skeleton in the class of
chondropterygious fishes, that the minds of naturalists have been

SHARKS AM) RAY-FISHES.

c\

O

impressed with the idea that the structure of the whole of them
is greatly inferior as compared with the more firm and intricate
structure of those which are termed bony fishes. We adopt
the energetic language of Mr. Owen on this subject, and remark:
“We should lose some most valuable fruits of anatomical study
were we to limit the application of its facts to the elucidation
of the unity of the vertebrate type of organization, or if we were
to rest satisfied with the detection of the analogies between the
embryos of higher and the adults of lower species in the scale
of being. We must go further and in a different direction, to
gain a view of the beautiful physiological principle of the relation
of each adaptation to its appropriate function, and if we would
avoid the danger of attributing to inadequate hypothetical secon-
dary causes the manifestations of design, of supreme wisdom and
beneficence, which the various forms of the animal creation
offer to our contemplation. To revert then to the skeleton of
fishes with a view to the teleological application of the facts —
or that which regards them as means directed to an end — -
determined by the study of this complex modification of the
animal framework. No doubt there is analogy between the
cartilaginous state of the endo-skeleton of Cuvier’s chondrop-
terygians, and that of the same part in the embryos of the air-
breathing vertebrates ; but why the gristly skeleton should be,
as it commonly has been pronounced to be, absolutely inferior
to the bony one is not so obvious. I know not why a flexible
vascular animal substance should be supposed to be raised in
the histological scale because it has become impregnated by
the abundant intussusception of earthy salts.”

“The predaceous Sharks are the most active and vigorous of
fishes ; like the birds of prey they soar, as it were, in the upper
regions of their atmosphere, and without any aid from a modified
respiratory apparatus, devoid of an air-bladder, they habitually
maintain themselves near the surface of the sea by the actions
of their large and muscular fins. The gristly skeleton is in
prospective harmony with this mode and sphere of life, and
we find well-marked modifications of the digestive and other
systems of the Shark by which the body is rendered as light,
and the space which encroaches on the muscular system as
small, as might be compatible with those actions. Besides,
lightness, toughness, and elasticity are the qualities of the

4

SHARKS AND RAY-FISHES.

skeleton most essential to tlie Shark: to yield to the contraction
of the lateral inflectors and aid in the recoil are the functions
which the spine is mainly required to fulfil in the act of
locomotion, and to which its alternating elastic balls of fluid,
and semi-ossified biconcave vertebrae so admirably adapt it. To
have had their entire skeleton consolidated and loaded with
earthy matter, would have been an incumbrance altogether at
variance with the offices which the Sharks are appointed to
fulfil in the economy of the great deep.

Yet there are some who would shut out by easily comprehended
but quite gratuitous systems of progressive transmutation and
self-creative forces, the soul-expanding appreciations of the final
purposes of the fecund varieties of the animal structures by
which we are drawn nearer to the Great First Cause. They see
nothing more in this modification of the skeleton, which is so
beautifully adapted to the exigencies of the highest organized
of fishes, than a foreshadowing of the cartilaginous condition of
the reptilian embryo in an enormous tadpole, arrested at an
incomplete stage of typical development. But they have been
deceived by the common name given to the plagiostomous fishes :
the animal basis of the Shark’s skeleton is not cartilage ; it is
not that consolidated jelly which forms the basis of the hones
of higher vertebrates : it has more resemblance to mucus ; it
requires a thousand times its weight of boiling water for its
solution, and is neither precipitated by infusion of galls, nor
yields any gelatine upon evaporation.” (Lecture 6, Hunterian
Lectures, vol. ii.) The bony frame of the Lampreys, on the
other hand, is little other than well-coagulated jelly, with no
more than about one and a half of earthy salts in its composition.

Nor is it by the general likeness of shape, or internal structure
and physiology alone, that animals should have their relative
situation assigned to them in the order of nature. Separately
from these there are analogies also ; and although these analogies
are chiefly judged of by the living actions of the races or indi-
vidual species — which actions in the view of systematic writers,
whose business is principally with the dead animal, are of all
foundations of classification the least definite and trustworthy —
yet in their general bearing they serve important purposes in
one principal aim in the study of nature. In a work intended
to aid in the instruction of the public mind they should not be

SHARKS AND RAY-FISHES.

5

lost sight of; and indeed they are in many respects scarcely
less insisted on by naturalists of our own day, although un-
consciously, than they were by writers of an older date; who
were disposed to make them exclusively the foundation of their
arrangements.

There is no reason why the lion should occupy the elevated
place he does in popular estimation as the king of beasts, except
with reference to his power over the weaker inhabitants of the
wilderness. It is his united strength and courage which establish
his rank in the estimation of writers whose labours have been
directed to the history of the habits of the animal creation. W e
grant indeed, that in the opinion of the moralist and philosopher,
the possession of mere strength and commanding — perhaps fero-
cious, powers and dispositions, should not be estimated as the
sufficient mark to which the supreme rank ought to be assigned.
But the human mind has shewn a disposition to regard these
qualities as such a mark; and as a beginning even in this kind
of superiority must be somewhere, and the consent of ages has
ascribed it among beasts to the lion, and with the same conviction
or feeling, among birds to the eagle ; we are only proceeding in
the same direction when we view the Sharks as holding the same
relative rank among the families of the ocean. They live by the
exertion of similar powers with those of their analogies of the
land and air, and even in general with more insatiable appetites
and energies.

But there are other circumstances involved in the structure of
this class of fishes which are worthy of our notice, as tending
to shew the station they hold among their fellow natives of the
deep.

The skin of Sharks bears a nearer resemblance in toughness
and strength to the covering of the higher order of animals, than
to the other classes of fishes, and even than does that of their
kindred chondropterygians or plagiostomes — -the Rays; the latter
of which orders has this covering for the most part soft and
moist, although in several of the genera it is studded with
tubercles; but instead of scales the skin is closely covered and
defended with spines, which in substance bear a not very distant
likeness to horn, and is even more firm and compact. Beneath
the skin is a layer of fibres which have the strength and ap-
pearance of tendons, which cross each other in opposite directions

6

SHARKS . AND RAY-FISHES.

at acute angles. The muscles themselves have a resemblance to
those of quadrupeds, and the bundles of fibres which constitute
their substance appear to possess the powers of separate action,
by which the motions of the fish may be more minutely and
effectually regulated. Such muscles as lie behind the ventral
fins are accompanied with what may be denominated tendons,
which are a portion of animal structure that does not exist in
the common class of bony fishes; and by the use of these, which
are longer and stouter the nearer they approach the tail, that
important organ is enabled to put forth its very powerful action
without being itself inconveniently stout. Although the lateral
muscles of a fish’s body may be said to be innumerable, there is
some propriety in considering those of the body of a Shark as
forming four of large size, over and above those which are smaller
and subordinate; for the tendino-cellular membrane interposed
between the skin and muscle passes between those larger masses
of muscle, and may be said either to divide or unite them, and
at the same time serving to give firmness to their action by the
general support it affords them. This description is more es-
pecially taken from the Ray -mouthed Dogfish and Toper ( Mustelus
Icevis and Galeus vulgaris ;) but with some variation it is, doubtless,
observable in all Sharks. But it is more distinctly marked in
the former species than in the latter, thus directing our views
to its importance ; and accordingly it has been observed by
fishermen that the former fish, when it has taken the hook, is
much stronger in the water than the latter.

It is on account of the particular structure of the muscular
layers in Sharks that they are able to direct their motions with
greater precision than the generality of fishes, and also that they
can continue their efforts without weariness for an almost unlimited
duration of time; and accordingly sailors inform us of the vast
extent of ocean along which they have been accompanied by
some of those fishes, without apparent weariness, when their
appetites or expectations have been excited after prey.

We shall defer the description of the eye of the Rays until
we come to speak particularly of that tribe of fishes; but this
organ is but little less curious in the Sharks, although its structure
is founded on very simple principles as compared with that of
other animals. In most kinds of fishes the eyes are round and
prominent, without the possibility of being closed, even in sleep

SHARKS AND RAY-FISHES.

or at the approach of danger ; hut in the generality of Sharks,
if not in all, the exposed surface becomes oval by means of a
structure of the skin above and below the globe, which, when the
fish finds itself hooked on the line, or otherwise in danger, is made
to close over it, somewhat after the manner of the eyelids in
birds. The globe itself is supplied with muscles to direct its
actions, and its sphere of motion is still more extended by means
of a contrivance, in which we see a remarkable instance of the
skill by which what might appear to be a new organ, is produced
by the simple lengthening out of a well known part into a new
form and for a new but important use. On examining the cavity
in which the eye of the Shark revolves, we find that the globe,
which is the immediate seat of the power of vision, is lifted from
the bottom, on which in other animals besides those of this great
family, it rolls, and is placed on a small table that itself forms
the top of a slender pillar, the bottom of which is fixed on the
bony circle of the common ocular cavity; or more properly
speaking the pillar itself, which leans a little forward that it may
be accommodated to the most usual direction in which objects are
viewed, is an extension or modification of the orbitary process
of what anatomists term the sphenoid bone. The height of this
ocular pillar has the additional advantage of allowing a greater
length to the muscles which move the eye, and by so doing, of
providing for a more sudden, as well as a more extensive action
of the eyes in prowling for their prey.

The remarkable nature and arrangement of the teeth in Sharks
and E-ays, has long attracted the attention of naturalists, and
ore at have been the mistakes which have been committed in

O

describing them and the process by which they are produced,
and also the succession of them continued. In other orders of
fish they take their rise from a membrane which clothes the
jaws: — for we exclude the consideration of those which are found
in the gullet, tongue, and palate — and they rise immediately from
this foundation in an upright direction. Here they remain at-
tached for a time, and then they fall away, at uncertain intervals,
to be succeeded by others. With the Sharks and Eays it is
widely different; and the particulars of the process by which
they are produced have been first and most extensively described
by Mr. Owen; but they had to some extent been observed by
myself, before I had obtained an opportunity of learning them
from that gentleman’s more extensive discoveries.

8

SHARKS AND RAY-FISHES.

Iii all fishes the first step in the formation of teeth is the
simple production of a soft vascular papilla, or pimple from the
free surface of the membrane of the jaw near the mouth; but
in the Sharks and Rays these papillae do not proceed to sink
into the substance of the gum, but become covered by caps
of an opposite free fold of this membrane. These caps do not
contract any organic connection with the papilliform matrix (and
in the torpedo they are very loose), but as this is converted into
dental tissue the tooth is gradually withdrawn (the points of the
teeth at first lying flat downward, or in the direction toward
the mouth,) from the extraneous protecting cap, and as they
become hard from being clothed with an enamelled surface,
they assume the upright posture on the border of the jaw. It
has been assumed that the number of rows of these teeth are
marks of the age of the Shark, and that an additional row is
added for each year of its growth. But this is no further correct
than as the greater breadth of the jaw from the greater size of
the fish produced by longer life, affords a wider space for the
teeth to stand upright. A Shark of nearly full growth, if young,
may have no greater number of rows of teeth standing erect than
a couple, but there are several others at the same time in the act
of production ; and they are carried forward on the surface by
an action in the membrane itself on which they rest, until, being
commonly broken or worn down by the violence to which they
have been exposed, by the time they have reached the outer
edge of the jaw, an exfoliation of the membrane itself has taken
place, and they drop off* by a natural process of exfoliation, to
be succeeded by others, which are in their turn formed at the
border of the jaw nearest the mouth, and pass upward and
outward: the whole proceeding bearing no distant likeness to
that by which the nails are formed in our fingers, or hoofs in
the feet of beasts, to be passed onward to the part when their
use is required, and by which they are at last set free from their
attachment, and lost. The production and protrusion of the teeth
in the family of Rays is substantially the same as in Sharks ; but
the more slender bony process that in most species projects from
the base, is sooner broken down by the crushing process of
feeding on crustaceous or hard food; and the jaw is therefore,
in most cases, rendered almost smooth before the teeth have
advanced so far as to be rejected.

There is only one other subject connected with the general

SHARKS AN 1) RAY-FISHES.

9

history of this order of fishes, to which we will address our
attention,- and this is the manner in which they produce
their young. The males are distinguished from the females in
a way very unlike any that is seen in other families of fishes,
and this is by being in possession of jointed organs that are
attached to the body, close to the ventral fins; and which are
usually known by the name of claspers, but of which the precise
use is little understood, although we may suppose that they have
some connection with the offices of love. Neither the Sharks
nor Rays possess what can be termed a milt or roe, as in bony
fishes ; but they have something equivalent to those organs, which
is found studded with eggs in various stages of growth; and as
these escape from their primitive station they descend to their
proper receptacle, which is divided into two chambers, where
they wait for their final development. The larger number of
Sharks are found to hatch their young within themselves, but
without any adhesion to the organ in which they lie; and the
only exception to this internal hatching, at least as it is appli-
cable to the British genera, is found in the genus Scyllium , or
ground Sharks, of which we will speak particularly when we
describe the habits of that race. The Rays, without any ex-
ception that is known, resemble the ground Sharks, in excluding
the egg before the final perfection of their young.

Of the first named, or viviparous Sharks, the eggs descend
from the ovary either at once, as in several species, or in long
succession, as is the case with the Picked Dogfish; and in the
double receptacle into which they are now received they obtain
a rather rapid development, in the progress of which they
offer an interesting spectacle to a close observer, as being even
more remarkable than that which takes place in the egg of a
bird.

The slight membranous covering which at first enveloped in
one mass the embryo fish, and the proper egg which is to supply
it with sustenence during the period of its interuterine growth,
has been burst asunder by extension, and the young fish lies
in its receptacle awaiting the changes that shall prepare it for
being launched into the waters of the ocean. But during this
stage of inaction a temporary substitute is required for the
purification of the blood, in place of the more perfect gills
which will have to perform this function in their future con-
YOL. I. C

10

SHARKS.

dition. A number of vascular fibres are provided, which hang
from the orifices of the breathing holes, and even from the
temporal orifices where these are provided; and they do not
disappear until the creature is prepared for its permanent state
of existence. It is a remarkable instance of the accuracy with
which the transitory condition of inter uterine existence is pro-
vided for, that the whole of the contents of the nutrient bag
forming the egg has become absorbed into the body at the very
instant when its presence is no longer required, and the fish
has become capable of seeking for its own support.

It may be mentioned as a piece of superstition, that in no
very distant times the teeth of Sharks, under the name of ser-
pent’s teeth, were set in silver, and used to render more easy
the cutting of the teeth in children. It was more in reference
to their supposed ocult virtue, than to their mechanic effect,
that even so wise a man as the physician and naturalist Rondele-
tius believed that when reduced to powder they formed also
an excellent tooth powder.

SHARKS.

These are fishes of a lengthened form, having the mouth
and nostrils placed under a projecting snout, the jaws furnished
with several rows of teeth, the gill-covers bound down to the
side, and the openings like separate slits in the skin, not less
than five in number. The fins covered with the common skin,
the tail irregularly lobed, the upper portion being of greater
length than the lower, and having the vertebrae, or joints of
the back, carried onward close to the border of the caudal fin.

There are some kindred species, which vary in some degree
from the shape most common in this family, by approaching
more nearly to that of the Rays; on which account they are
said to be aberrant. Of these we shall take notice when
describing such of them as have been taken on the British
coasts.

The following arrangement of such of the genera of this family,
as belong to the catalogue of British fishes, is derived from the
“Animal Kingdom,” of the Baron Cuvier, but modified in a
few particulars, by the observations of the German naturalists
Muller and Henle, and by Dr. Gray.

11

SCYLLIUM.

Generic Characters. — The snout depressed, short, and blunt; nostrils
with a channel extending to the edge of the lip; a temporal orifice
behind the eye; an anal fin; the two dorsals not before the ventral
fins. The generic name is from Ta 'LkiWux, the common name em-
ployed by Aristotle for these fishes, — perhaps because the prickly
covering of their skin rendered them troublesome to handle.

NUESE HOUND.

BOUNCE AND CATFISH.

Squalus canicula,
Catulus major,

Scyllium catulus,

“ stellaris.

Le Squale Loussetle,

Linnjeus.

Willoughby and Ray; p. 62, but the figure,
b 4, does not convey a proper idea of the fish.

Fleming ; British Animals, p. 165

Jenyns; Manual, p. 496. (Not o/'Risso, Icth.,
p. 31.)

Yakrell; British Fishes, 2nd. ed., vol. ii., p.
493, but the figure is very imperfect as a
representation.

Lacepede; Ed. l’an 6, de la Republique, 12mo.,
vol. ii., p. 8; but he confounds together this
and the Common Rough Hound. The Squalus
canicula, Ho. 112, La Lous sett e tigree, the
Bounce of Bloch, has ocellated spots, and
certainly is not the Hurse Hound, probably
the Squalus stellaris, of Authors.

This species and tlie Rough Hound, next to be mentioned,
are classed as ground Sharks, because their usual station is
near the bottom, where they seek their prey, mostly in rough
and rocky ground. Such of them as wander on more open
ground are of a lighter colour, in conformity with a law of
nature in fishes, by which they assume an intensity of tint
corresponding with the ground which they frequent. Their
food for the most part consists of crustaceous animals, as

12

NURSE HOUND.

crabs and lobsters; but, like most otliers of this tribe, they
are ready to seize any tempting prey that comes near them.
They are therefore often taken with a line; but the capture
is of little value to the fisherman, as their flesh is too rank
for even the coarsest stomachs. The liver affords some oil;
and the skin might be used for polishing wood, but that it is
too rough to be employed on the finer sorts: I believe a
species of this family from the Mediterranean is preferred for
this purpose.

This fish is not commonly found near the shore; and for
this cause chiefly it is most frequently met with through the
summer and autumn, when fishing boats are able to venture
into the deeper water of the channel, where they are to be
met with. But there is reason to believe also, that at this season,
they change their ground; for even when the weather has
permitted fishing in their summer haunts, and that too with
what is known to be a favourite bait, they have not been
caught until the spring is advanced.

The young are not hatched within the body as is the case
with the generality of Sharks; but they are separately enclosed
in purses, which are of a firm texture like leather, of an oblong
form, about three inches long, with a raised border, and having
extended tendrils at the four corners ; which become curled up
when in contact with the water, and so fasten the case to some
fixed substance, which preserves it from being tossed about by
the violence of storms, and in some degree serves it in place
of a nest. They are deposited singly, or no more than two
or three together, late in the year. But although I have some-
times found these purses attached to some stalk of flexible coral,
I have scarcely known an instance where the purse has been
obtained from the body of the fish; from which the conclusion
seems to arise, that at that time it does not take a bait. I have
met with a young one, taken in a net, of less than four inches
in length, but bearing all the marks of its full-grown parent.

Although not so formidable with its teeth as many other
Sharks, this fish is well able to defend itself from an enemy.
When seized it throws its body round the arm that holds it,
and by a contractile and reversed action of its body grates
over the surface of its enemy with the rugged spines of its skin,
like a rasp. There are few animals that can bear so severe

2s TJ11SE HOUND.

13

an infliction, by which their surface is torn with lacerated
wounds.

This species becomes more scarce as we proceed northward
in the British Islands.

This fish grows to the length of four or five feet. An ex-
ample, three feet nine inches long, measured thirteen inches
in girth behind the pectoral fins. The head depressed, blunt,
rounded in front; eyes two inches from the front, three
inches asunder, their figure a narrow oval, with a longi-
tudinal fold below each of them; temporal orifice round,
below the line of the posterior angle of the eye. The body
lengthened posteriorly, with the tail extended in a direct line
with its length. Pectoral fins low on the body, and wide.
Prom the snout to the anterior dorsal fin twenty-two inches,
to the second dorsal two feet five inches and a half; neither
of them large. Anal fin opposite to the space between the
dorsals; the abdominal fins anterior to the first dorsal. Caudal
fin ending square. Nostrils an inch and a half from the snout,
near the margin, the lobe irregularly folded; the mouth cir-
cular, an inch and a half from the snout; teeth sharp, and
in several rows. Colour dusky red, with numerous large dark
spots; below white. The skin very rough from spiculee, the
points of which are directed backward.

OVUM OF NURSE HOUND.

14

EOUGH HOUND.

lesser spotted dogfish. rowhound, the ancient
pronunciation of Hough, morghi.

Squahis catulus,
Catulus minor ,

“ Aristotelis,

a 66

Scy Ilium catulus ,

Squale roussette,

66 66

66 66

66

62

Linxeus.

Willoughby and Bay; Tab. B. 4.

Jonston, Article 2, Pimctum 2.

Donoyan’s Figures of British Fishes, No. 65.

Fleming’s Br. Animals, p. 165, but this author
is confused in his account of these fishes.

Lacepede. Poissons ; vol. ii.

Jenyn’s Manual, p. 495.

Yarkell’s British Fishes, 2nd. ed., vol. ii.,
p. 487.

Bloch’s Figures; Squalus catulus, Lesser
Bough Hound, No. 114, a bad figure, probably-
taken, as also that of the Nurse Hound,
from a badly-dried skin.

This species has much the same habits as the Nurse Hound,
in keeping near the bottom, and prowling about in search of
crustaceous animals and small fishes; but it is more frequently
caught with the line, and that too at all seasons, as well as
at a less depth of water. I have found it ready to shed its
purses in April, but the more usual time is in summer and
autumn, when it is common to find them in pairs in the body
of the fish; and also eggs before their full development in
considerable numbers. These purses are much smaller than
those of the Nurse Hound, less firm in texture, of a different
shape and a pale yellow colour; with slender tendrils at the
corners, that at first may be stretched out to the length of a
couple of feet. These, as in the case of the Nurse Hound,

serve the purpose of mooring the egg-case to some fixed ob-
ject; and to ensure its safety the fish at first passes with it

... 0 U G- H HOUND.

ROUGH HOUXD.

15

round some tuft of flexible coral or sea-weed. The case thus
becomes drawn from the body, and the remaining tendrils serve
to bind it to the substance to which it is attached; to which,
with a curling and contracting motion it becomes bound very
firmly. I have seen where this action has caused the whole to
assume the appearance of a nest, with the treasure well con-
cealed within it, and of such a one the following is a particular
description : — The main support of the whole mass was the flexible
coral called Gorgonia verrucosa, about the branches of which
the tendrils were entwined. The case still held the embryo,
unhatched, within it; and the tendrils were so embedded and
matted with the branches, as well as with the twisted threads of
Sertularice growing on the same stone, as to shew that the prin-
cipal portion of the Gorgonia (sea fern) and the whole of the
Sertularice had obtained their growth since the egg-case had
been deposited. There was also attached to this egg-case a
pecten (shell-fish) about three lines in length, some serpulse
( triquetrce ) and anomise (ungues), and a considerable portion of
one side of the case was covered with a thin coating of alcyo-
nium. This was about the middle of December, and the
coldness of such a season may explain the long delay which
appears to have arisen in the development and escape of the
embryo. But that it is not usually accomplished in a short
time appears from the fact, that some egg-cases placed in pools
of the rocks exposed to the free access of the sea, were not
developed in several weeks, although they had made sufficient
advancement to shew that it would be accomplished in due
season.

There are four slits at the corners of the egg-case, which have
attracted the notice of naturalists, but the use of which has
not yet received a satisfactory explanation. One supposition
is, that they serve to admit water to the embryo within the
case; but on trial I have found that the presence of even a
small quantity of sea-water at an early stage of its existence
is fatal to life. Another supposition is — that they serve to
allow for the growth of the embryo by providing a means
of escape for any fluid that might accumulate in the vacant
space, and interfere with the growth of the enclosed young.
Their use is at least obscure, as I have not been able to dis-
cover any corresponding slit in the egg-case of its kindred

16

EQUGH HOUND.

species the Nurse Hound, nor in those of any of the Ray
tribe.

The motion of this species in the water appears to be slow
and irregular, and little under the direction of intelligence; so
that the prey might seem to be sought for at random rather
than in pursuit. When high in the water, whither it some-
times ascends, its progress is serpentine, with a motion of the
head corresponding with that of the hinder part of the body.

Fishermen remark that when in danger, both this species
and the Nurse Hound shut their eyes; which is done by
lifting the lower eyelid, as is the case with birds.

The Rough Hound is in but little esteem with us as food;
but it is not altogether rejected, for in the West of Cornwall
it is used to make what is there valued as morghi soup: the
name of morghi being an Ancient British word that signifies a
sea-dog.

But in some foreign countries it is greatly valued. Wil-
loughby found it for sale in the market at Rome; and Risso,
who confounds the species, and supposes the Scyllium stellaris
to be the same with the Catulus maximus of Willoughby and
Ray, speaks favourably of it, and pronounces the liver especially
to be delicious. It appears, however, that as food it is not
always without danger ; and Lacepede mentions an instance
where a family, after eating it had a narrow escape of their
lives. It is scarcely necessary to caution English people against
exposing themselves to the same danger.

It is a general remark, applicable indeed to the whole family
of Sharks, that the female exceeds the male in size ; but whether,
as in their analogical races the lion and eagle, they exceed
also in ferocity, we have no opportunity of knowing. But the
opinion of some naturalists — that some of the species continue
to increase in bulk as long as they live, is certainly erroneous.
Sharks generally are of quick growth; but they reach a de-
finite magnitude in a very few years, and beyond this are
not found to advance.

In form it is more slender than the last species; it rarely
reaches a yard in length : the specimen described measured two
feet six inches. Head depressed, snout short and blunt, an inch
and quarter before the eye, which latter organ is of a slender
oval shape; temporal orifice near its posterior angle; nostrils

HOUGH HOUND.

17

large and lobed; mouth nine-tenths of an inch from the snout.
Pectoral fins low and wide ; teeth numerous, sharp ; skin rough,
with short but sharp points; colour reddish brown, lighter on
the belly; covered with numerous small dark brown spots, the
smallest on the back, larger on the sides and fins

I have seen an example that was paler than usual, with faint
spots, but over the whole surface were scattered irregular very
black patches, as if mottled with pitch ; and each patch having
a border round it of a lighter colour than the ground. But I
could not discover any other distinction beyond this of colour,
from the common examples of the Bough Hound.

OVUM OF ROUGH HOUND, (WITH CASE.)

VOL. I.

D

18

PRISTIUKTJS.

This genus differs from Scyllium, in having a more lengthened snout,
nostrils unconnected with the mouth, and by a row of larger reclin-
ing spines or scales arranged like a saw along the upper edge of the
tail; which latter organ proceeds in a right line with the body,
as in Scyllium. The generic name refers to the saw-like structure of
the ridge of the tail.

BLACK-MOUTHED DOGFISH.

EYED DOGFISH.

Scyllium melanostomum , Yarrell’s Br. Fishes, vol. ii., p. 495.

JPristiurus melanostomus, Lowe’s Fishes of Madeira, T. 14.

Tristidurus melanostomus , Gray; Catalogue Br. Mus., p. 124.

This fish is widely spread, although it was not recognised
as a species — at least in Britain, before the publication of Mr.
Yarrell’s History of British Fishes; which contained the figure
and description, a specimen of which a larger likeness is given
in this volume. It has since been found by Mr. Lowe, in
the Island of Madeira; and it now appears that it is scarcely
rare in some parts of the north of our island; where, how-
ever, before the publication of an authentic likeness, it had
been supposed the same with our Nurse Hound: the last
named species being therefore unknown on that coast.

The Black-mouthed or Eyed Dogfish is better known in the
Mediterranean than with us. It is mentioned by Risso and
Rafinesque, but without adding much to our knowledge of its
habits. The latter says that the blackness of the inside of its
mouth had caused it to have the name — in Italian, of Bocca
d’lnferno, or hell’s mouth. Its haunts appear to be near the
ground, and both the examples I have met with were caught
with the line. It also resembles its nearest affinities the Scyllia ,
in depositing egg-cases in which the young are hatched; but

ra

CD

p

p

|x!

C

<3

co

BLACK-MOUTHED DOGFISH.

19

the form of these cases differs considerably — as well from those
of the other ground Sharks, as from the purses of the Ray
tribe. Mr. Yarrell (2nd Ed.) gives a figure of one, in which
the tendrils are at one of the ends only, and so short as to
be incapable of that entwining action which is the principal
character of the egg-case of the Nurse and Rough Hounds.
They cannot, therefore, confine it to any fixed substance, and
what further use they are of is uncertain. Mr. Love also
gives a figure of this case, but unfortunately his description
is at variance with his figure; the latter being marked as of
the natural size, when it falls greatly short of the specified
dimensions — an inch and a half long, and half an inch broad;
with a smooth shining surface, and deep tawny yellow brown
or horn colour. It is of value, however, on one account; for
there is in it a visible slit at the end where a tendril is placed,
as in the purse of the Rough Hound.

The specimen from which my original description was taken,
was in length twenty -five inches and three-quarters, and seven
inches round where stoutest. The head flat on the top, rather
wide posteriorly; snout thin, protruded one inch and three-
quarters from the anterior angle of the eye; nostrils one inch
and a quarter from the snout, double one beneath linear, the
other on the margin, the hinder edge prominent, a depression
in the head immediately above it; eye rather large, oval, close
behind it a moderately-sized temporal orifice; mouth one
inch and three-quarters wide ; teeth numerous, small, sharp,
at each side of the base of each tooth a small sharp process;
spiracles five, open. The back a little elevated close behind
the head; the skin rough when the hand is passed over it
forward. Pectoral fins wide, much like those of the Picked
Dog. The first dorsal begins behind the ventral fins, at twelve
inches from the snout; the second at sixteen inches and a
half — both rather small; ventrals ten inches from the snout;
anal fin four inches long, rather narrow, terminating just,
opposite the end of the second dorsal; extreme length of the
tail seven inches — the upper lobe in a line with the body,
bent down towards the termination, round, incised or jagged;
under lobe rather narrow in its course, expanded beneath; the
upper ridge of the superior lobe has a double row of prickles
pointing outward and downward on each side; lateral line

20

B LACK -MOUTHED DOG FISH .

suddenly bent opposite the origin of tbe caudal fin. Colour
light brown on the head and along the back; on each side
two rows of ocellated spots — one row beginning at the side
of the neck and continued along the side of the back; the second
row commencing behind the eye and passing along the upper
side of the belly, becoming obsolete near the ventral fins.
These rows are separated by numerous irregular spots, which
however, assume somewhat of a straight direction; the fins
and hinder part of the back are finely barred and clouded
with various tints of brown and yellow; the mouth dark-
coloured within.

This example was a male, and was ornamented with lively
colours ; but since then I have obtained one in which the
colour was so diluted as to appear almost of a uniform grey;
although on close inspection the usual markings could be dis-
cerned. It was also a male, and its pale colour may be explained
by its emaciated condition, for it appeared as if in a state of
starvation. The length was a little beyond two feet, which
therefore I suppose to be the ordinary size, but the caudal
portion of the body behind the second dorsal fin appeared
longer than in the former example.

S H A R K.

21

NOTIDANUS.

Cuvier remarks that this genus only differs from the genus Galeus,
presently to he described, in not having a first dorsal fin; but even
a slight inspection will shew that the distinction between them is very
great; and that Notidanus bears a closer resemblance to Scy Ilium and
JPristiurus, as well in shape as habits, so far as the latter are known.
It even appears that the resemblance is carried so far in a species
found in the East Indies, that it is covered with spots, which are
black. We place it therefore the next in succession to those its kin-
dred genera; and propose to limit it more closely than Baron Cuvier
has done, by excluding from it the Mediterranean species with seven
gill openings. The shape and general form of the latter will warrant
this; but not being an inhabitant of our seas it will not find a place
in our History.

The genus Notidanus therefore, is distinguished by a rounded snout,
the want of a first dorsal fin, a lengthened tail, which is stretched
out as in the genus Scy Ilium, an anal fin, and remarkably by the
presence of six gill openings. It is the genus Hexanchus, of Bafinesque.

The name Notidanus appears to have been a local one among the
Greeks, and may have been applied to the fish we are about to de-
scribe. It signifies “dry back,” perhaps as being, metaphorically, void
of a fin in the usual place.

Jonston supposes that the term Notidanus may have been applied to
quite another species — the Centrinc, a native of the Mediterranean,
but not found with us.

SIX-GILLED SHARK.

SIX-BRANCHIAL SHARK. GREY SHARK.

Squalus griseus ,

Le Squale Griset ,
Grey Shark,
Nexanclius griseus,

Notidanus griseus.

TuETON’s LlNNiEUS.

Lacepede. Bisso; Ichthyologie, p. 37.
Zoologist, 1846, p. 1337.

De. Gray; Catalogue Br. Mus., p. 67.
Yaeeell’s Br. E., 2nd. Suppl., p. 25.
Cuviee.

The example from which the description is taken, measured
in length no more than two feet two inches and half; but it
has been caught of the length of eleven or twelve feet. The

oo

SIX-GILLED SHARK.

head wide and level over the summit, the breadth from eye
to eye two inches and three-quarters; the snout rounded in
front and somewhat thick ; eye large, staring, and slightly
oval, without an angle on the anterior portion or inner canthus,
and destitute of a nictitant membrane (a loose membrane, separate
from the eyelids, and which covers a portion of the globe in
some Sharks. It is a conspicuous organ in birds.) This portion
of the eye is immediately over the symphysis of the lower jaw.
The larger nostril is half way between the eye and snout,
enclosed by a prominent margin, the orifice directed forward.
Temporal orifice small, an inch and half from the posterior angle
of the eye. The gape large, tongue bound down and not ap-
parent; teeth in the upper jaw eight on each side, thin at
the base, the points slender and sharp, not serrated, their
direction towards the angle of the mouth. A small vacancy
at the symphysis of this jaw, and a little in advance of this
are four teeth, the two middle ones being parallel and very
slender, the points directed towards the mouth; the other two
more remote, and their points diverging. A little in advance
of these are other two, which might easily escape observation,
being slender, smaller, and more loosely attached. As in
the upper jaw so in the lower there is a single row of teeth,
but they differ greatly in form, being thin and broad, their
anterior margin higher, the sloping edge finely serrated; they
are six in number on each side of the symphysis, with what
appears like a small bifid intermediate one. Orifices of the gills
six, closely approaching each other ; the openings long and
encircling the throat. Pectoral fins wide, triangular. Body
with the general proportions of the Picked Dogfish, but the
head wider and larger. Dorsal fin single, its anterior edge
fourteen inches from the snout, and opposite the space between
the ventrals and anal — larger than the latter. Caudal fin six
inches and a half long, and consequently more than one-fourth
of the length of the fish; and longer as well as more slender
than that of any other British Shark except the Thrasher, —
( Alopias vulpes.J The lower lobe of this fin is falcate, and
grows more slender as it proceeds, being narrowest opposite
the notch. Along the posterior two-thirds of the upper margin
of the tail is a row of spines, of three series, closely pressed
together at the roots, and the two outmost regularly diverging,

SIX -GILLED SHARK.

0,3

tlius shewing a near correspondence with a like structure in
the genus Pristiurus. The texture of the skin is rough when
felt against the grain. Colour blackish brown on the back, and
pectoral, dorsal, and caudal fins; reddish grey on the sides,
white beneath. Lateral line pale, bent suddenly down at the
falcate portion of the tail. Conjunctiva of the eye bluish white,
the pupil large and black. It was a male — the claspers small.

The example here described was taken with a line, at the
distance of about three miles from the land on the south coast
of Cornwall, and at the time when it was caught appeared to
be feeding on pilchards. In its habits it is undoubtly a ground
Shark, and like the others of that class-— the Nurse and Rough
Hounds — appears to want activity. The fisherman who caught
this fish informed me that it scarcely moved after it was taken
into the boat. Risso says that in the Mediterranean it keeps
in very deep water, but in some parts is not uncommon; but
Swainson never met with it during six years in which he
resided in Sicily. It also appears to have been unknown to
the older naturalists, and I have sought for it in vain in the
Avorks of Rondeletius, Gesner, Willoughby and Ray, Jonston
and Ruysch, Avho may be judged to represent the ichthyo-
logical knoAvledge of their day. It Avas not knoAvn to Artedi,
nor to Linnseus so lately as at the publication of the tenth
edition of his system; but is recognised in Tur ton’s translation
of Gmelin’s edition of that Avork, under the scarcely appropriate
name of Squalus griseus. It is there represented as groAving
to the length of tAvo feet and half; but although this differs
so little from the size of the Cornish specimen, it is clear,
from the additional teeth specified by Turton, that the latter
must have been a younger individual. An example, the first
and only other that has been taken in Britain, was caught
with a line off Ventnor, in the Isle of Wight, and measured
little less than eleven feet in length; and Risso describes the
fish in terms Avhich can signify nothing less than these full
proportions. In the specimen referred to by Turton there Avas
only one roAV of teeth in the upper jaw, but there Avere many
i*oavs in the lower; from Avhich Ave may judge that it is about
this period of its groAvth that the evolution of dentition
begins to shew itself, and first in the loAver jaAV. Risso
assigns three roAvs of triangular sharp-pointed teeth to the

24

SIX-GILLED SHARK.

upper jaw, and to the lower five; and he adds that the
central inferior teeth are sharp and conical; by which I under-
stand him to say, that at the symphysis, between the lateral
arrangements of flat serrated teeth he made out two or more
of what I had supposed to be a single bifid tooth. It is probable
he is correct; but they are pressed closely together, and
erect, so that their exact structure cannot be ascertained with-
out some degree of mutilation.

Both the British specimens here referred to are now added
to the stores of the British Museum.

HEAD OF SIX-GILLED SHARK.

«

WHITE SHARK.

CAIICHABIAS.

The species have no spiracles or breathing orifices behind the eyes,
and have an anal fin. The first dorsal fin much before the ventrals,
and the second about opposite to the anal. A depression at the origin
of the upper lobe of the tail. The teeth are generally compressed and
cutting; usually serrated on the edge; but this can scarcely be taken
into the definition of the genus, since one or two species are without
it, that in all other respects agree with the others.

Car char ias is the Greek name of some kind of the larger Sharks.

WHITE SHARK.

Squalus carcharias, Linna:us and Cuvier.

Canis “ Lamia and Tiburo of Authors; Artedi.

“ “ Jonston ; Articulus 2, Punctum 1.

“ “ Willoughby; p. 47. Cuvier rightly observes that

Willoughby’s figure, B 7, is not worthy of being
referred to. This was copied among other “ill-
shaped fishes,” from Gesner, who probably had
possessed a dried skin of the fish; and from
him again it was copied by Jonston. But Cu-
vier has overlooked a figure in the appendix,
tab. 5, f. 1, which Willoughby had copied from
that accurate Dutch traveller, John Hieuliofs;
and which, except at the end of the tail, affords
a very tolerable figure of the species we have
to describe.— Risso; Ichthyologie, p. 25.

That more than one, or even two species, have been
confounded together under the name of the White Shark, is
almost certain. It seems remarkable also that no trustworthy
figure and description are to be found, of a species which is
seen in abundance in the West Indies; where it is the dread
of sailors, who are in constant fear of becoming its prey when
they bathe or fall into the sea. That it sometimes wanders
into the British Channel there is much evidence to shew. In
YOL. I. E

26

WHITE SHARK.

the “Annual Register/’ for 1785, quoted in “Loudon’s Mag-
azine of Natural History,” vol. vii, it is said that in September
of that year, vast numbers of the West India Shark appeared
in the Channel, and many of them were taken by fishermen
of Brighton. The example presently to he described, and of
which we give a figure, was of small size, and measured no
more than fifty-four inches in length; but several others have
been seen in Mount’s Bay in Cornwall, of much larger size;
and one, which was seen by a gentleman who had often ob-
served the White Shark in the West Indies, and was pronounced
by him to he of the same species, measured about twenty feet
in length.

It appears necessary to make those remarks on the identity
of the species, since the Great White Shark of the West
Indies is said not to he furnished with a spiracle behind the
eye ; whereas in the description of our example it will be per-
ceived that this organ existed, although it was of such small size
as to be easily overlooked. This circumstance would transfer
the species to the next following genus Galeus ; of which no
other British species is known besides the Common Toper. But
I prefer to let it remain in this place, at least until it is as-
certained whether or not there is another species without a
minute spiracle; and consequently whether or not naturalists are
in error in that respect.

Laid by the side of a Toper of the same length the difference
was conspicuous, even at first sight, although the likeness was
sufficiently near to bear a comparison. A well-marked distinction
is in the eye, which stands out prominently, exceeding that of
the Blue Shark in this respect, while in the Toper it is slightly
below the level. The spiracle is very small, and barely
on a level with the surface, where in the Toper there is a
depression. The snout of the latter fish has the appearance of
being longer, through the greater thickness of the head and
prominency of the eye of our White Shark; the snout of which
is also substantially thicker, and consequently less fiat. It is
especially sunk in at the nostrils, where the Toper is much
less so, and its nostrils are less open. Teeth notched on both
edges; pectoral fins longer; the body thicker throughout,
especially from the abdominal fins to the tail. From the second
dorsal to the tail, where the Toper is round, there is a cavity

WHITE SHARK.

27

or depression; anal fin a little less than the second dorsal.
Colour brown, darker on the back, lighter on the belly.

It should be observed that the tail of the White Shark, as
represented in Mr. Yarr ell’s figure, 2nd. Ed., vol. 2, p. 502,
does not agree with a specimen of that part in my possession
from the West Indies, nor indeed with the other figure at page
503, nor with Lacepede’s plate 8, fig. 1 of vol. 1.

The White Shark is to sailors the most formidable of all the
inhabitants of the ocean; for in none besides are the powers
of inflicting injury so equally combined with eagerness to ac-
complish it. They usually cut asunder any object of considerable
size, and thus swallow it; but if they find a difficulty in doing
this, there is no hesitation in passing into the stomach even
what is of enormous bulk; and the formation of the jaws and
throat render this a matter of but little difficulty. Euysch says
that the whole body of a man, and even a man in armour,
(loricatus,) has been found in the stomach of a White Shark;
and Captain King, in his survey of Australia, says he had caught
one which could have swallowed a man with the greatest ease.
Blumenbach says a whole horse has been found in it; and
Captain Basil Hall reports the taking of one in which, besides
other things, he found the whole skin of a buffalo, which a
short tune before had been thrown overboard from his ship,
Happily the visits of this fish to our coasts are too rare to
expose our sailors to its depredations.

Upper and under tooth of White Shark,
from the West Indies.

BLUE SHARK.

Squalus glaueus , Linnjeus.

“ Gray; Catalogue of British Museum, p. 125.

Carcharias “ Cctvier.

“ “ Fleming; British Animals, p. 167.

“ “ Jenyns; Manual, p. 499.

“ Yarrell; British Fishes, 2nd. Ed., vol. 2,

p. 498.

The Blue Shark is a restless and wandering fish, which mi-
grates to our coasts in summer, and is even found at that time
to stray so far north as the Orkney Islands; but it leaves us
again on the approach of winter ; and if, with the commentators
on the Halieuticon of the poet Oppian, we are to believe that the
fish Glaueus of that writer is the same with the Glaueus of
JElian, the season when it abounds with us is the time when
it has disappeared from the seas of Italy. I have known it
thrown on shore in Cornwall so early as the first week in
March, but it is rarely seen before the month of June; when
its arrival is made known by the injuries it inflicts on the nets
and lines of fishermen. This is done in hunting after the fish
that have become entangled, and so are more easily seized; and
as the drift-nets are stretched out for pilchards or herrings, it
will pass along their course from one end to the other, and
cut out every separate fish with the portion of net that held
it; all of which it swallows together. If it is entangled for a
moment, its keen and serrated teeth soon effect an escape, whether
from the net or hook ; hut the latter case is sometimes attended
with difficulty, and then it is that its instinctive efforts often
lead to a curious complication of circumstances.

It is the habit of such of the family of Sharks as swim high
in the water, when they seize their prey to do it with the action
of turning the head and fore parts of the body ; which method

B L U B S H A R K.

BLUE SHARK.

29

of proceeding has been supposed to arise from a difficulty
that is felt in seizing* an object with the mouth in a prone
position; but which appears to he adopted only that they may
obtain a greater advantage in a rolling motion, to cut the
object in two parts, or more effectually with a vibrating action
of the head, to separate such a portion as they are prepared
to swallow. On a large substance, with their formidable array
of teeth the grasp cannot fail to be successful; but with so
slender a bulk as a fisherman’s line, it is sometimes otherwise;
and when this has escaped the grinding action of the bite, the
turning of the body is continued until the whole of the line
is twisted round itself, and the fish is thus brought to the
surface, even from a depth of forty fathoms.

The Toper has been known to do the same thing under the
like circumstances.

It appears that this fish pursues its prey by sight rather than
by scent, although its nerve of smelling is of large size; but
it is known to be sensible to a nauseous smell or taste, for
fishermen assert that it may be driven away by pouring bilge-
water into the sea where it is : a piece of information that may
be of use in reference to the still more destructive White
Shark.

The Blue Shark seems to have a generally rapacious appetite,
and has been known to leap out of the water to seize a piece
of beef hanging on the quarter of a ship. It is only owing,
therefore, to the circumstance that usually it does not come
very close to the land, or enter harbours, that man himself does
not suffer from its voracity. Jonston is of opinion that it shews
a preference for human fiesh; and he records an instance where
a soldier was attacked by it, and had a narrow escape from
being severely bitten. In a fish of such indiscriminate appe-
tite it might appear superfluous to specify particulars; but
from the stomach of one of six feet in length I have
taken a large Picked Dogfish and a Conger, each bitten
across at the middle, and also a Grey Gurnard. In another
instance there were found four mackerel, half a garfish, and
as many herrings, wholly uninjured, as the fisherman sold for
eighteen-pence. Yet after such a hearty meal, the Sharks
devoured the bait.

It is also remarkably retentive of life, as indeed are the whole

30

BLUE SHARK.

of this tribe of fishes. An individual was caught with a line,
its liver was cut out, and the bowels left hanging from the
body, in which state it was again thrown into the sea. But
it continued near the boat; and not long afterwards it pursued,
and attempted to devour, a mackerel that had escaped from
the net. In another instance the fish was thrown overboard
after the head had been severed from the body; after which,
for a couple of hours, the body continued to use the efforts
of swimming in various directions — to employ the comparison
of a boy on board the boat — as if it were looking for its head.
When taken into the boat a large Shark may still prove a
formidable enemy, by lashing with its tail in all directions;
but the chopping off of this organ presently removes the danger.
There is, however, another mode of proceeding, which may be
more conveniently and effectually practised, even before it is
lifted into the boat. The olfactory nerve, which is the largest
in the body, is so stunned by a blow on the snout, that for
a time the creature is entirely disabled; although indeed con-
tinued immersion in the sea will again restore the possession
of its energies. A Shark of very large size, that was making
great resistance, was speedily disabled by having its tail laid
hold of, and lifted high out of water, while the head and
upper parts remained immersed.

This species does not prodnce its young during the time it
is on our coast, and in only one instance have I found eggs
in its body. We may therefore conclude that its fecundity is
between the time of its leaving our seas in the autumn, and
its return in the early part of summer; but the young ones of
about eighteen inches or two feet in length, frequently come
to us with their parents.

In regard to this point in the history of the Blue Shark, as
also of some others of this family, there are some remarkable
particulars, in which the opinions of ancient writers find little
favour in the judgment of modern naturalists, from the well-
known credulity of the former, and their proneness to place a
wrong interpretation on even the commonest occurrences of
nature; but which are supported by the observations and con-
sequent belief of sailors of our own day. Nor are the latter
disposed to alter their convictions by the doubts or disbelief
of the scientific naturalists of the land and closet. I refer

BLUE SHARK.

31

especially to the credit which this fish has obtained for the
exercise of intense love for its offspring, which is in remarkable
contrast to the ferocity it exhibits towards the other inhabitants
of the deep; and for the manner in which it is supposed to
have displayed it, as described in the following translation of
the Greek poem by Oppian, on fish and fishing: —

“Others, when aught disturbs the ravaged seas,

And trembling young their conscious fears express,

Extend their jaws, and shew the safer way; —

The frighted stragglers soon the call obey,

Within the concave roof uninjured rest,

Safe as the chirper in his mossy nest.

Thus the Blue Sharks, secure from chasing foes.

Within their widen’d mouths their young enclose.

Beneath the circling arch they fearless hide,

Tho’ bulky forms drive on the rising tide. — •

Of all oviparous kinds that throng the seas,

The fond Blue Sharks in tender care surpass. —

They rear their fondlings, like some careful nurse,

Observe their motions and restrain their course,

Eye every wave, and shew the doubtful way,

Teach where to hunt, and where to find their prey.

When big with secret guilt the waters heave,

They in their mouths their shelter’d young receive.

But when the waves at their own leisure roll,

And no fierce robber drives the scatter’d shoal,

Again the parent’s pointed jaws compress’d
By force expel them from their pleasing rest.”

Oppian, Hal., b. i.

A method of taking this or a kindred species is thus described:

“When fishers meet the Shark’s rapacious young,

Loos’d from its oar the tatter’d rope is flung
Unarm’d below; tlT imprudent wanton flies
With eager jaws, and grasps the worthless prize.

Hooks ev’n the prey supplies; with numerous chains
His teeth recurve th’ entangled flax retains.

« Easy the fisher’s toil; the slave self-bound,

Mounts on the barbed spears retentive wound.”

B. 5.

Another Greek writer, JElian, who wrote about the same
time with Oppian, but who cannot be regarded in any other
light than as an industrious and indiscriminate collector of frag-
ments which floated on the surface of society, repeats in humble
prose the same opinions regarding their affection for their young ;
hut he ascribes this affection to the father, and extends it also
to the Galeus, which is one that he supposes to keep generally

BLUE SHARK.

at the bottom at the sea. The mistake of supposing that this fish
produces its young from eggs, is common to both those au-
thors; but the supposition countenanced by the latter, that the
Galeus produces its young at the mouth, may be regarded as
no other than an ignorant surmise, by an observer who might
suppose that what he saw of the return of young ones from
their hiding place, was really their first appearance in the world
of waters.

But it must be admitted that hitherto on this subject we
may justly be suspected to have been wandering in the region
of fable; and that facts mentioned by those ancient authors are
so often mingled with false conclusions, superstition, and errors,
as to render it difficult to separate one from the other. We
allege, on the other hand however, that, even when this is
allowed, the information thus conveyed is so far a matter of
interest as, according to information afforded us by a commen-
tator on Oppian, the opinion of its certainty is several times
referred to by some of the fathers of the church; and thus is
metaphorically employed towards spiritual uses.

But incredible as this strange proceeding may appear to us,
it receives corroboration from the authority of Bondeletius,
who was a physician of eminence, and Professor of Natural
History in the College of Montpellier; and whose book on the
“History of Fishes,” is still held in high estimation. Pie speaks
of the Thrasher, ( Alopecias vulpes,) as receiving its young in
this manner when in danger, as we shall shew more at large
when we treat of that fish; and besides the evidence of those
whom we may suppose ignorant sailors, I have received the
following information from a gentleman, who was on board a
ship, of which his father, a captain in the Boyal Navy, was
commander, in or near the tropics. A Shark had seized the*
hook, and was about to be hauled on board, when four young
ones were seen to escape from it; and being then drawn on
deck, three more of them were cut out from the stomach or
mouth. Placed in a vessel of water they were kept alive for
three days afterwards, and appeared to have suffered nothing
from their strange confinement.

The impossibility of surviving such an imprisonment as is
here supposed, has been urged in proof that even if the young
have been found inclosed within the stomach, or have been

BLUE SHARK.

seen to enter tlie mouth, the circumstance is to ho explained
by the well-known rapacious appetite of the parent, rather than
by its affection; and that it will require both a closer and longer
continued observation to render the more amiable motive the
undeniable one. But that the young may be received into the
stomach and return without injury, appears from evidence ad-
duced by Mr. Darwin, in his “Journal of a Voyage round the
World.” “I have heard,” says he, “from Dr. Allen, of Forres,
that he has frequently found a Diodon, floating alive and dis-
tended, in the stomach of the Shark; and that on several
occasions he has known it eat its way, not only through the
coats of the stomach, but through the sides of the monster,
which has thus been killed.” It is further known of all the
Sharks, that they possess a power of throwing up from the
stomach at their will any thing they find indigestible ; so that
the natural difficulties of the case are less than they appear.

From its well-known destructive character fishermen are
always eager to shorten the race of this fish; and in consequence
many hundreds of them are caught in the course of a season.
But the capture is of no intrinsic value, for it yields no other
profit than some oil from the liver, and the body for manure.

Jonston, in common with other writers, describes this fish as
having teeth with serrated edges; but Lacepede, vol. i., knows
no other but a Blue Shark with teeth specially described as
having edges not serrated. Risso, Ichthyologie, p. 26, describes
a Blue Shark with the same characters as those of Lacepede;
but he also gives another species, which he rightly believes to
be the true Squalus glaucus of Artedi, and consequently of Lin-
naeus, having serrated teeth, but with brilliant silvery bands on
the sides; and which he names S. Rondeletii.

Willoughby’s description is of a young one, having only one
row of teeth, which are serrated; but he says they are distant
from each other in the jaw; which remark can only refer to
their very early condition, for each succeeding row is followed by
another row, to close up the vacancies of that before it; so that
when in the progress of growth they become pressed together,
they overlap each other and become contiguous.

I have already given in our general history of the Sharks,
a short account of the manner in which the teeth of this order
of fishes are formed, and finally proceed to their decay and

VOL. I. F

34

BLUE SHARK.

loss; but as there is some degree of variety in the way in
which this process takes place in the different species, I will
enter a little further into the description of it as I have
observed it in the present one.

We have already seen that the seat of the tooth-forming
process is in a thick membrane, which covers the jaws on their
inner surface, and which passes over them externally. This
membrane is in a condition of perpetual production, and at its
origin is formed into a series of cells or doublings, in each of
which the germ of a tooth may be discovered, soft and mem-
branous, and seemingly nourished from the sides of the sac or
cell itself. It lies flat along the course of the membrane that
contains it, with the point directed downward in the lower jaw,
and towards the roof of the mouth in the upper jaw; in such
a manner as that in passing to its final destination, it has to
go through the third part of a circle, in the course of which
the upper doubling of the containing cell becomes torn through
its substance. The enamel of these teeth has no existence at
first; so that their substance is as soft and flexible as parchment;
but as their growth proceeds the nourishment from the sides
of the cell ceases, so that at last it is furnished only from the
root; and at this stage the circulation of nutriment by the
vessels appears to be from near the point, along the middle
line of each tooth, along which the solid firmness they at last
obtain is clearly to be discerned. The membrane within which
these teeth have been formed, is itself constituted of longitudinal
fibres, of some degree of firmness, with softer cellular membrane
at the part in which the teeth receive their actual formation;
and as in the course of nature, the former become more rigid
from defect of nourishment, they contract in their substance,
and thus draw the roots of the teeth nearer to the situation
they are destined to occupy, but still leaving a vacancy which
can only be supplied by the successive formation of teeth in
alternate order; the cells of one row being opposite to the
vacancies of the other, and only pressed closer, because
the fibrous membrane connecting them has in time admitted
of a more rigid contraction. In some species of this great
family, as the Monkfish, ( S/uatina angelus ,) and many of the
Hay tribe, the teeth cells are arranged in regular linear suc-
cession, without the filling up of the vacancies between them;

BLUE SHARK.

OK
O0

but the manner of formation and progress is otherwise the same.
In the last-mentioned instances, however, the teeth are short, and
therefore are easily brought through the coats of the cells; but
this is not the case with the Blue Shark and some others. A
vacant space of softer texture in the rear of each tooth is to
them of importance, as securing to them a thinner and weaker
place at which they can burst through; while the contraction
of the fibres of the membrane, by drawing the teeth subsequently
together, secures to them even a greater firmness of support
than if there had not been an original separation. But the
rigidity of those contractile fibres does not stop here. Nourish-
ment is by this means diminished, and finally ceases. The tooth
becomes a dead substance, and soon falls off with the membrane
itself that held it, to be presently succeeded by a new race
that must pass through the same changes, and be shed again
in their turn. A limit is thus put to the number of rows the
fish can be furnished with, and security taken that no old or
useless teeth shall remain to encumber the jaws.

From the references given to authors, who have described
some kind of Blue Shark, it appears highly probably that more
than one species exist, and may sometimes visit the British
coasts; although I do not feel assured of being able to lay down
definite marks by which they may be distinguished from each
other. I must content myself for the present, therefore, in
producing such evidence on the subject as shall serve to call
the attention of naturalists to further inquiry, rather than run
the risk of misleading them by speaking with greater certainty
on their specific distinctions. On comparing two specimens a
considerable difference is seen in the form of the head and
eye, as well as in the tail; which in one instance runs nearly
straight backward in a line with the body, while in the other
this organ is wider and more elevated.

I make but little account of the variety of colour described
by Bisso, in his Squalus Rondeletii , because it is known that
most fishes are liable to variation is this respect; and it is es-
pecially the case when they have changed the water and bright
skies of the Mediterranean for the more sober tints of the
British Channel. But the difference of the teeth is a more
important distinction; more especially as I am able to affirm
with confidence that this character of serrated teeth is not an

36

BLUE SHARK.

effect of age, but is to be perceived in Sharks in the earliest
stage of their growth.

The largest I have heard of, but not seen, wras upwards of
fourteen feet long, but the more ordinary size is from six to
eight feet in length; the body round and slender, tapering
towards the tail. Head flat on the top, snout depressed, pro*
jecting; the mouth far beneath, well furnished with strong, flat,
triangular teeth, the points inclining inward, the edges serrated.
Nostrils a good distance from the mouth, and not lobed; gill
openings five, near the root of the pectoral fin. Skin but
slightly rough; pectoral fins large and long, although not pro-
portionally so much so as is represented in Lacepede’s figure
of his smooth- toothed Blue Shark, vol. i., pi. 9, f . 1 ; and which
therefore, if correctly represented, will be an additional mark
of distinction between the two species. These fins are placed
low on the body in all Sharks, and in the Blue Shark end in
a point. The ventrals small; the anterior border of the first
dorsal fin begins midway between the snout and root of the
tail; the second dorsal opposite the anal. The upper lobe of
the tail moderately long, with a notch, as in most Sharks, near
the end; at its root also, where it joins the body, a deep de-
pression, but I have known this wanting. The upper parts of
the body and fins blue, the belly white.

INSIDE VIEW OF THE TEETH.

UPPER TEETH.

T H H. A cS HER.:

ALOPECIAS.

This is a genus established by Muller and Henle, and described as
with a pointed, conic head, very small spiracles, small gill openings,
and simple triangular teeth, but particularly marked by a very great
extension of the tail. It is the genus Alopias of Eafinesque and
Swainson ; but the latter writers had overlooked the very small spiracles.

THRASHER.

SEA FOX. FOX SHARK. SEA APE.

CcircJiarias vulpes,
Vulpecula marina,
Vulpes “

Squalus vulpes,

it it

Squale Henard,

it a

Cuvier. Fleming; p. 167.

Jonston; p. 27.

Willoughby; p. 54, Tab. P. 6, the figure
tolerably correct, except in the tail.
Jenyns; p. 498.

Yarrell; British Eishes, vol. 2, p. 522.
Lacepede and Risso; Ichth., p. 36.

Gray; Catalogue of British Museum, p. 130.

This fish has obtained the name of Eox Shark because of
its tail, which, like that of its namesake of the land, is a prin-
cipal portion of its distinctive character. But the ancient Greeks
and Romans, who were well acquainted with the fish, were not
content with finding in it nothing more than this likeness of
analogy; and therefore they went on to draw the conclusion
that a fish answering to this name must of necessity be endowed
with the other distinguishing portions of the foxine character.

This fish is not recognised in the tenth edition of the System
of Linnaeus, but it is the Squalus vulpes of Turton’s Linnaeus.

The Thrasher, or Sea Eox, is so very rarely taken on a line,
that no instance of it has come within my knowledge ; but the
reason of this probably amounts to no more than that fishermen
do not employ the bait that tempts its appetite. AElian, how-

88

THRASHER.

ever, reporting the common opinion of his day, supposes that
this portion of its safety is to be ascribed to superior cunning.
According to him it is so cautious of a hook, as scarcely to be
enticed to come near it; or if appetite at any time should
overcome caution, it would mount upward to slacken the line,
and then cut away the hook before the fisherman was aware
of its presence. Or if unfortunately the hook had found its
way into the stomach, it would turn this organ, with its en-
trails also, inside out, and so get rid of it and the danger
together. (Var. Hist., B. 1, C. 5, and Hist, of Animals.) Oppian
also speaks of the same proceeding as an instance of superior
intelligence, (B. 8,) and from him we learn that in fishing for
it, at least the lower portion of the line was formed of hair.
To guard the hook from being cut away, the line for some
distance above it was armed, or as a fisherman who now uses
the same precaution, would say, was ganged, with flexible brass
wire twisted regularly and firmly round it. But strange as they
may appear, these efiorts to escape are not to be altogether re-
garded as imaginary on the pasT of the writers. We cannot
indeed affirm it of this species in particular, but the greater part
of the Sharks will deal with the fisherman’s hooks in the manner
described; and there are fishes, although perhaps not Sharks,
which are known, probably through fear, to evert the stomach,
when drawn up with a line. The explanation of the ancients
is, in numerous instances, more of a mistake, than the narration
of the fact itself.

The angry disposition which this fish is believed to manifest
to all the animals of the Whale tribe, has been often remarked
by sailors; and the manner in which it is shewn has obtained
for it the name of Thrasher. The lashing of the sea by its
tail has been known to put to hasty flight a herd of sportive
Dolphins; and instances are reported where a Sword-fish on
the one hand, and a Thrasher on the other, have persecuted
a large Whale in the severest manner, perhaps even to death;
and yet it is not easy to imagine why such terror should be
felt at the presence of such an enemy; for its teeth could not
do injury, and it does not possess any other weapon of offence.
The motive of the persecution also on the one side is as un-
intelligible as fear of the Thrasher is on the other.

The Thrasher is not uncommon on the western and southern

THRASHER.

39

coasts of Britain in the summer, and is sometimes caught en-
tangled in drift nets. I have been informed of two of them
taken in this manner at one time, and from the circumstances
attending the capture of these and others, we may conclude
that the force they exert in the water is very great; as indeed
we might also conclude from the length and flexibility of their
tail. They had carried the whole body of the net before them,
until it had been thrown back over the head ropes; by which
means they had fallen into a bag, from which they had not
been able to extricate themselves.

It is one of the fishes that has been reported to receive its
young ones into its stomach as a place of shelter; and Bon-
deletius informs us that he saw them cut out from a Thrasher
that had been taken. The fishermen supposed that they had
been swallowed through hunger ; but from their being alive and
uninjured, he felt no doubt that his own conclusion was the
true one.

I found young herrings in the stomach of one I examined.

From an intimation of vElian, it appears probable that the
Greek fishermen were in the habit of seeking after it for food,
(Var. Hist., B. 1,) and for this purpose Risso pronounces it
very good.

It is worthy of notice in this place that the author who first
described this fish, was the well-known Dr. Joannes Caius,
(John Keys,) who wrote a work, “De Canibus Britannicis,” at
the end of which, ‘de rariorum animalium historia,’ he gives
an account of an example that had been taken in a net in the
year 1569. Its length from the snout to the tail was seven
(roman) feet, and of the tail seven feet and a half. He calls it
Cercus, and derives the name from the Greek Karcos, because
of its tail: — a curious etymology for an English word. The
flesh he compares to that of a Salmon, but confesses that it
was not quite as agreeable to the palate as the flesh of that fish.

The extreme length of an example was in a straight line
ten feet ten inches and a half, and along the curve eleven
feet eight inches; three feet four inches and a half round where
thickest; conical from the snout to the pectoral fins, and thick
even to the tail, which from the root is five feet and a half
long, and consequently more than half the length of the body.
Eye prominent, round, hard, and four inches from the snout;

40

THRASHER.

iris, blue, pupil green; nostrils small, not lobed; mouth five
inches wide, shaped like a horse-shoe; teeth flat, triangular, in
two or three rows, not numerous; gill openings five. Pectoral
fins wide at the base, pointed, eighteen inches and a half long.
The body measured along the curve to the first dorsal fin two
feet five inches, the fin triangular; from the first to the second
dorsal fourteen inches and a half; this and the anal very small,
which is an important part of the generic character, as assigned
by Bafinesque and Swainson, the former being one and three-
quarters, and the latter one inch wide at the base; abdominal
fins rather small, and triangular; above and below at the base
of the tail a deep depression. Extreme breadth of the tail,
including both lobes, thirteen inches; the upper lobe narrow
through its length; and at four inches from its extremity on
the lower margin is a triangular process. Lateral line central
and straight; skin smooth. Colour of the body and fins dark
bluish, mottled with white over the belly.

An example of this fish, taken in the Mount’s Bay, in Corn-
wall, measured twelve feet in length, which may therefore be
taken as about the usual length; but in November, 1799,
an example was obtained at Dieppe, in France, as reported
by Lacepede, which measured fifteen feet in length, and five
feet in circumference; and which therefore exceeded in mag-
nitude that which is described by Caius. Dr. Smith is
reported to have discovered spiracles or temporal orifices, of
very small size, which therefore are named in the characters
of the genus; but after search I was not able to find them.
The colour seems to vary from a decided blue to dark, with
little perceptible of the former colour; and it would also
appear, if we are to be guided by the description given by
Pennant, that some variation may also take place in the
form of the tail; which he describes as passing straight
backward, which was not the case in the example I have
described.

P ORBS A GLF>.

41

LAMNA.

The snout conical; body disposed to a rounded form, with a promi-
nent ridge at the side near the tail; gill openings wide. Teeth long
and pointed, with a process on each side near the root. An anal fin.

PORBEAGLE.

Squalus cornubieus,
Lamna “
Isurns oxyrliyncus,

“ cornubieus ,

Longnez ,

Lamna cornubica ,
66 66

66 66

66

66

Turton’s Linnams.

Cuvier.

Rafinesque; but his figure is exceed-
ingly bad. The genus Isurus was
founded by Rafinesque, but his de-
finition that the lobes of the tail are
equal, must not be taken literally.

Gray; Catalogue of British Museum.

Lacepede and Risso.

Fleming; Br. An., p. 168.

Jenyns; Manual, p. 500.

Yarrell; British Fishes, vol. 2, p. 515.

Donovan; pi. 108, but the figure is not
satisfactory.

In this place it is proper we should notice a fish, which has
borne the name of the Beaumaris Shark, from the place in
North Wales where it was first taken; and concerning which
much doubt has existed among naturalists, as to whether it is
a distinct species or a variety of the Common Porbeagle, to
which description represents it as bearing a general resemblance.
Cuvier regarded it as a separate species; but his authority is
of less weight, as he never possessed the opportunity of ex-
amining a specimen. Mr. Yarrell, also, in the first edition of
his “History of British Fishes,” has given it as different from
the Porbeagle; hut in the second edition of that work, he has
YOL. I. G

42

PORBEAGLE.

placed them together, and he assigns as his reason for this
change of opinion, that he had had opportunities of examining
four examples, which had been taken on different parts of the
coast since 1837 — the date of the publication of the first edition
of his work — and which had induced him to believe that the
differences observed between them and the more frequent forms,
are only the effects of greater age.

Something like this I have myself noticed; for in the largest
Porbeagle I have ever seen, and which measured almost nine
feet in length, the snout appeared much smaller than in appar-
ently much younger examples ; and the first dorsal fin appeared,
even by measurement, nearer to the tail than is usual in the
Porbeagle. The lateral ridge was carried along so high on the
side, as to be nearly level with the flattened surface of the
back, near the setting on of the tail; from which position it
was bent down suddenly to pass along its usual situation on
the tail, in the manner represented in Donovan’s plate 108.
The two divisions of the tail were nearly equal; and so dif-
ferent was the appearance of this fish from that of the smaller
and more common examples of the Porbeagle, as to leave the
impression that it was specifically distinct; until a further ex-
amination removed all doubt on the subject.

This fish is not noticed in the tenth edition of Linnaeus’s
System, having probably been confounded, as Avere several others,
Avith the White Shark; until it was distinguished from the latter
by Dr. Borlase, in his “Natural History of Cornwall.”

One of the first of the tAvo examples of the Beaumaris
Shark, as described by Pennant, Avas a female, and contained
young ones within it, which, however, were only two in number ;
a circumstance Avhich would lead us to suppose that it is a
scanty breeder. But it is to be regretted that those young
ones Avere not more closely examined and described; as from
them Ave might have been able to collect more clearly the
proof of their being either of a neAV or a A\rell-knoAvn and
recognised species.

The Porbeagle is a common visitor on the Avestern coasts in
summer, and not unfrcquently it wanders along the eastern
borders of England, and eAren of Scotland. An instance has
been knoAvn of its having been taken eA^en in Orkney. It
usually proceeds in small scattered companies, preying on pil-

PORBEAGLE.

43

cliards and herrings, and other small fishes that then abound.
Bisso represents it as swift and eager after prey, and certainly
it is not less fierce than other Sharks; and I have been in-
formed of an instance, where in the prospect of being taken,
it sprung at a fisherman, and tore a piece out of his clothing.
The teeth, which present a formidable array of spears, are
less formed for cutting than for seizing and holding its prey-
which therefore it appears to swallow whole. I have found
the remains of cartilaginous fishes and cuttles ( Sepice J in their
stomachs; and in one instance three full-grown hakes.

According to Bisso it is an article of food in the Mediter-
ranean, and he goes so far as to say that as such it is much
esteemed. This is a piece of luxury to which our fishermen
and the public have not yet attained; and consequently with
us it is only employed as manure.

The spiral valve in the entrails of this fish is strongly marked.

The example described was four feet in length, and two feet
in circumference just before the pectoral fins; the appearance,
therefore, solid and heavy, and explaining the meaning of its
name — the hog-hound. The snout prominent and round, thickly
covered with small apertures; the nostrils single, small, and
not lobed; mouth large, armed with rows of sharp prominent
teeth, each tooth with a smaller process at the root on each
side, the rows of teeth varying according to size, but in the
fish described only two uncovered. Eye prominent, no spir-
acle; the gill openings reaching up the side of the body,
their extent increasing from the first anteriorly. Body round,
depressed nearer the tail, with a notch above and below at the
root of that organ, a prominent ridge at the side of the body
near the tail, and a slight one below it .on the tail itself. First
dorsal fin elevated, and triangular; the second dorsal and anal
small and opposite each other; upper lobe of the tail without
a notch in some examples; but it extends beyond the lower,
contrary to the definition of Bafinesque. The skin slightly rough.
Colour black on the back and fins, lighter on the sides, and
white below.

I have been informed of an example that weighed eight
hundred pounds, and another of large size will presently be
described. This latter had the remarkable singularity of being
much disfigured bv a lame lobulated cancerous tumour in its

O c O

44

PORBEAGLE.

mouth, which also had eaten away the upper lip on the right
side, and which, occupying the roof of the mouth, had passed
down the gullet towards the stomach. This disease bore a near
resemblance to the cancer in the higher race of animals, and
appears to have arisen spontaneously. A more lengthened degree
of suffering was happily cut short by its becoming entangled
in a fishing-net, from which it was not able to deliver itself.

1.— Largest Tooth of Porbeagle, (natural size.)
2.— Upper Teeth. 3.— One ramus of the Jaw.

TOPER AND YOU N G

45

GALEUS.

The form of the body tapering; spiracles or temporal orifices behind
the eyes; the gill openings moderate; an anal fin. Teeth sharp.

TOPER.

white hound, penny dog, the young ones called miller,
dog, from their light grey appearance.

Squalus Galeus,
Galeus Aristotelis,
Canis Galeus ,

Galeus vulgaris ,

it a

Squale Milandre,

ArTEDI AND LlNN.EUS.

Jonston; p. 25.

Willoughby; p. 51, tab. b. 6, but the
tail is badly expressed.

Fleming; Br. An., p. 165.

Jenyns; Manual, p. 501.

Yareell; British Fishes, vol. 2, p. 509.
Lacepede. Bisso; Ichthy., p. 32.

This is a common and rapacious fish, devouring any living
thing it is able to overcome; hut it appears to swim lower in
the water than the Blue Shark and Porbeagle, as few complaints
are heard of the injury it inflicts on the fishermen’s nets.

The young are produced in summer, and I have found them
well developed so early as in May. The whole brood is usually
produced at one birth; although I have occasionally met with
an instance where a few eggs have been ready to take the place
of a large number that were ready for exclusion. On examining
a large female, I found twenty-one young ones, all of one size,
about a foot in length; ten in one receptacle, and eleven in
the other. The egg attached to each young one, and not yet
absorbed, was scarcely an inch in diameter, pear-shaped, wflth
a funis about six inches in length. The largest number of
VOL. I.

H

46

TOPER.

young I have met with was thirty-two, but fifty-two have been
found. They remain near us in the winter, for I have met
with them in January; being then about twenty inches in length,
with three rows of teeth; the outer or oldest row of which had
only one notch on its edge. At this time the older fishes have
left the coast, and perhaps have retired to deeper waters.

Among ourselves this fish is little regarded as food; but
Willoughby found it exposed for sale in the market at Rome;
and fishermen inform me that French people freely purchase it
for the same purpose.

It grows to the length of six feet, but is not often found of
that size. The shape is somewhat round and slender, especially
towards the tail. The snout depressed and lengthened, and
diaphanous towards the borders; in fish of full size a narrow
fold of skin passes over the eye; but I have not observed it
in the young examples. Spiracles small and near the eye.
Nostrils small, near the border, and not lohed; mouth far be-
neath; teeth triangular, serrated on the posterior or inner edge
only; their position alternate in the rows. Gill openings above
the origin of the pectoral fins. The first dorsal fin nearer the
head than the tail, the second opposite the anal, the pectorals
wide near their origin. Upper lobe of the tail notched. Colour
a dark ash above, white below. The eye is oval, and the tablet
on which the globe of the eye is placed in most, if not all the
Sharks, as already mentioned, is less elevated or clearly marked
than in the other species with which I am acquainted. There
are also some other particulars connected with the eye of this
fish, which appear to imply different powers of vision from those
of other species of Sharks. The outer coat or capsule of the
eye-ball is firm, hut it becomes thinner and more yielding at
the transparent cornea; which, consequently, when pressed by
the director muscles, must become more convex; as we also
find in some birds, which thus possess the faculty of adjusting
vision to different degrees of distance. The pupil is very small.
A nictitant membrane, formed of a doubling of the eyelid, is
capable of being raised from the inner angle of the eye, to
cover two -thirds of the eye-ball.

SMOOTH HO u N p.

47

MUSTELUS.

This genus resembles Galeits in the shape of the body and the pos-
session of spiracles; but in addition the teeth are absolutely flat,
without points.

SMOOTH HOUND.

RAY-MOUTHED DOG. SKATE-TOOTHED SHARK.

Squalus mustelus,
Mustelus Icevis,

66 6c

“ vulgaris ,

66 66

Squale IE miss ole,

LlNN2EUS.

Jonston, p. 26. Willoughby, p. 60,
Tab. B. 5.

Cuvier. Fleming’s Br. An., p. 166.
Yarrell’s British Fishes, vol. ii, p. 512.
Grey; Cat. Br. Museum, p. 127.
Jenyns’ Manual, p. 502.

Lacepede and Risso ; Icthy., p. 33.

The Smooth Hound is common, but not abundant, in the
west and south of the kingdom in summer; and it has been
sometimes taken in Scotland. Although I have known it caught
in February and March, it is not usually within the reach of
our fishermen until the beginning of May or June; and that
they have come from a considerable distance is rendered pro-
bable from the kind of hooks sometimes found in them, and
which they have separated from the line. These hooks have
been formed with scarcely anything besides a bend or bow
and a very short shaft; such as our fishermen suppose to be
in use on the coast of Spain.

It seems to be less prolific than the generality of Sharks.
In the month of November I have found it with eleven young
ones just ready for exclusion, and all of one size, without

48

SMOOTH HOUND.

any eggs in reserve. The heads of the unborn young were
longer in proportion to their bodies than those of the young
Picked Dog.

The food of the Smooth Hound usually consists of crustaceous
animals, which it crushes with its pavement of teeth; hut it
takes a bait.

It grows to about three feet in length: one of that size
measured a foot in girth close behind the pectoral fins. The
head flat and wide; eyes two inches and a half from the
snout, three inches asunder, and oval ; a longitudinal chink
below the eye; spiracle below the line of the posterior angle
of the eye. Mouth opposite the eyes; teeth blunt, covering
the jaws like a pavement; corners of the mouth lobed; nostrils
complex, not lobed. Body rising behind the head; a slight
ridge along the back; slender near the tail, the upper lobe of
which is broad and notched. The skin smooth and yielding;
lateral line straight. Pectoral fins wide, the first dorsal nearer
the head than in most Sharks; both dorsals fleshy, thick at
the base, and rounded above. Ventral fins opposite the space
between the dorsals, but posteriorly; the anal smaller than the
second dorsal, and nearer the tail. Back and sides ash-coloured,
white below, hut in some instances pink or reddish; numerous
white spots on the hack and sides, in some examples regularly
placed along the lateral line. These spots are not a constant
character in this species and some others of this family, but
are most numerous in the younger fishes, and perhaps disappear
in the old.

PICKED DOG AND YOUNG.

49

SPINAX.

In addition to the general characters of the genera Galeus and Mus -
telus, this genus is distinguished by wanting an anal fin, by a more
simple tail without a notch, and small cutting teeth.

PICKED DOG.

spur dog. bone dog. hoe, in Orkney; in Cornwall the male
is called skittle dog. Pre-eminently this fish is called

THE DOGFISH.

Galeus acanthias gazce,

66 66 66

Squalus “

Squale aiguillat,

• 6 66

Common dogfish,

66 66

66 66

Acanthias vulgaris,

Johnson; Mustela sjpinax, sibi ,
p. 27, tab. 8, f. 5.

Willoughby; p. 56, tab. b. 5.
Artedi and Linnjsus.

Lacepede. Bloch; pi. 85.

Bisso; p. 40. Donovan; pi. 82.
Fleming; Br. An., p. 166.

Jenyns; Manual, p. 506.

Yarrell; Br. Fishes, vol. 2, p. 524.
Gray; Cat. Br. Museum, p. 181.

Regarding the scientific, or what is termed the trivial name
of this fish, there is a degree of uncertainty in the older authors,
arising from the fact that there is another species which is also
distinguished by bearing a similar arming of spines on the
back ; and which is in some other respects much like our com-

50

PICKED DOG.

moil Dogfish, but which may be known from the latter by
having its nostrils close to the snout, instead of being midway
between that and the mouth. Its colour is also different, and
that too in a remarkable way; for, as Lacepede observes, con-
trary to what is found in most fishes, and among the Sharks
more especially, while the back is only dusky, the belly is very
dark, and almost black. This part is also distinguished by
having tubercles. It is a smaller fish than the British species,
and is found in the Mediterranean, but we have no means of
knowing what are its distinguishing habits, except that it ap-
pears to be less a wanderer than the Picked Dog. It was
Linnaeus who first definitely fixed the name of Acanthias to
the last-named fish, and Spinax to the other species, which has
not been taken in Britain.

The Picked Dog is the smallest, but by far the most abundant
of British Sharks. It is found at all seasons on the coast of
every part of the united kingdom, but in the greatest numbers
in the west and south; where at times they exist in such mul-
titudes, as to occupy the full extent of sea for scores of miles;
and twenty thousand have been taken in a sean at one time,
without any apparent lessening of the numbers. Unlike other
Sharks, and almost all other fishes, it is not affected by cold
or heat in the severest seasons; and I have known them caught
when from severe cold every fish, except a straggling few of
the Gadoid family, as ling, cods, or haddocks, had gone for
shelter into deep water.

From the numbers of these fish that are met with, it may be
concluded that this species is exceedingly prolific; and in this
respect they differ so far from the others which frequent our
coasts, that for nine or ten months in the year, the female
produces young almost every day; the eggs existing in the
formative organ to the amount of many scores at one time, and
descending in successive pairs into the two branches or horns
of the receptacle, as the former are excluded ; and not un-
frequently their descent is by twos and threes on either side.
Sometimes a couple of young ones are seen attached to one
egg; and as their development is speedy, there is no possibility
of calculating the numbers which each female is capable of
producing in a season.

The young ones, with teeth and jaws too feeble to assault

PICKED DOG.

51

a full-grown fish, are yet found accompanying their parents in
the pursuit of prey; and it is not to he doubted that the
newly-born of a variety of kinds of the common sorts of fish,
are the ready food on which they subsist, until they have ac-
quired more enlarged powers of depredation.

But the full-grown fish, existing as it does in such large
numbers, is not inferior to the much bulkier members of this
predacious race in the annoyance, if not absolute injury, inflicted
on the fishermen. Nets suffer greatly from their depredations,
as well by the jagged bites with which they destroy the texture
of the twine, even where it is not cut through, as by the
pieces cut from the fishes that had become entangled in the
meshes, but which are thus rendered unfit for the market. To
lines they are not less injurious; and it has frequently happened
that fishermen, who have gone to sea with a good supply of
hooks, have been compelled to return from having had the
whole cut from the line by the teeth of the Picked Dog. It
is the belief of fishermen that these annoying enemies are often
in the habit of taking their station at mid-depth of water, and
watching until a whiting or other small fish has taken the
hook; when they cut the line to intercept the capture, and so
carry off the prize without risk to themselves.

When however they have chanced to swallow the hook, or
when entangled in a net, it is the scarcely probable belief of
fishermen that their escape is not commonly by means of their
teeth, but by the cutting powers of the spines, which stand in
front of the dorsal fins ; in the use of which there is no doubt
they possess intuitive knowledge. If laid hold of by the head,
they will bend the back into a bow, and so bring the spines
into a favourable position for a backward stroke, which is effected
by a sudden and violent return of the body to the straight
posture. The spines are thus thrust asunder in such a manner
as to tear any thing that lies within reach of the stroke; and
as a defence this action is so effectual as to demand from the
fisherman some care in the handling of it; for the fish is
able to direct its spines with a considerable degree of preci-
sion ; although the effort is not always sufficient to save it
from the clutches of other voracious inhabitants of the seas;
and I have accordingly found it in the stomach of Ling, Blue
Shark, and other fishes.

52

PICKED DOG.

This species is a common article of food with fishermen,
especially in the west of England; and is valued also by some
who are far above the necessity of classing it with their ordinary
articles of subsistence. It is used both fresh and salted; and
Lacepede, who speaks unfavourably of its flesh, informs us that
in the north of Europe the eggs, which are about the size of
a small orange, and consist solely of a pale-coloured yolk, are
in high esteem. If prejudice could be got over, there is no
doubt that they might form an agreeable, as well as a very
nourishing article of food.

The following, among many other instances, will shew the
error of some naturalists, who have expressed the belief that
examples of abnormal formation will not occur where animals
are absolutely beyond the control of civilized man: — A friend
was in possession of a Picked Dog that had a pair of heads,
with the separation complete so far back as behind the pec-
toral fins; and the fisherman who obtained it informed me
that when found in his boat, where it must have been dropped
after the parent had been caught, the egg was attached to it.
Distortion in the hind parts is not uncommon, although only
in foetal instances, since such examples could not long exist
at liberty.

The usual length is from eighteen inches to two feet; the
females, as in most species of this great family, being the

largest, and I have seen an example, in which the blunted

dorsal spines betokened age, that weighed twelve pounds. The
head is depressed, the snout projecting, mouth far under, and
armed with flat cutting teeth; nostrils midway between the mouth
and extremity of the snout. The tongue thick and fleshy; eye
large, spiracles rather elevated; gill openings five, at the origin

of the pectoral fins. The body round and tapering; dorsal fins

two, on the anterior border of each a stout, sharp, and slightly
curved spine. The first dorsal at about midway between the
pectorals and ventrals; no anal fin; pectoral fins wide; upper
lobe of the tail short, wide, and simple, without a notch; ven-
trals short, concealing the vent. The upper parts a dark ash-
colour, below white.

I have seen what appeared in all other respects to be no
other than a variety of this species, but which was all over of
an intense black colour, except a narrow line of dusky yellow

PICKED DOG.

58

that passed along the belly. Examples also are often found
dotted oyer with white spots, but these seem to disappear with
age.

54

SCYMNUS.

The first dorsal fin before or over the abdominal fins, the second
dorsal behind them. Teeth in the upper jaw straight and narrow, in
the lower jaw crooked, pyramidal, and equal-sided. No anal fin; a
short tail.

SPINOUS SHARK.

Squalus spinosus,

S quale Boucle
Echinorhinus spinosus,

Turton’s Linnseus.

Lacepede and Eisso.

Yarrell’s Br. Fishes, vol. ii, p. 534. Taken
from a figure by Dr. A. Smith, who gives it
the name of Echinorhinus obesus — the E.
spinosus of Blainville. It is not easy to
suppose that Mr. Yarrell’s more lengthened
figure at p. 532 can represent the same fish;
and at least his second figure alone can be
quoted for the examples found in Britain.

The Spinous Shark was not known to naturalists before the
latter part of the last (eighteenth) century, and at present
little more is ascertained concerning it besides its figure and
the extent of sea through which it is distributed. Dr. Smith
obtained it at the Cape of Good Hope; it seems scarcely rare
in the Mediterranean, and in Britain it has been taken in
Yorkshire, at Brixham, and three or four times in Cornwall.
Its haunts probably are in very deep water, and consequently
little of its peculiar habits can be expected to become known,
except by some fortunate accident of uncertain occurrence. We
must rest content, therefore, in collecting what scattered notices
exist, with the addition of the very little obtained by obser-
vation.

It is evident that this fish keeps near the ground in its
favourite places of resort, and that they are only a few stragglers

SPINOUS SHARK,

SPINOUS SHARK.

55

which, have shewn themselves to human research. Its clumsy
shape, and the small size of the fins and tail, are evidences of
its possessing but little activity, although, wdien put forth, its
muscular strength is great, as is proved by the powerful re-
sistance it has offered when drawn up on a line. Its habitual
food is uncertain, and its teeth do not appear well fitted for
crushing hard substances; but in Mr. Fox’s example there
were remains of crustaceans (crabs, etc.,) in the stomach, and
no fishes. The extent of its mouth, seven inches, in a fish
which measured only five feet and a half in length, with the
form of the teeth, appear to shew it capable of swallowing a
large prey. The liver of this example yielded a gallon of oil.

This description is derived from an example taken near
Falmouth, which measured eight feet six inches in length, and
which, therefore, may be supposed to be about the dimensions
it seldom exceeds. Mr. Charles Fox met with one that was
taken towards the end of September, 1835, about a mile from
land, near Helford, in Cornwall, which measured five feet and
a half. Lacepede speaks of one that measured no more than
four feet, and Fisso of a specimen so large as to weigh about
six hundredweight. For the figure of the first-named example
I am indebted to the kindness of William P. Cocks, Esq., of
Falmouth, to whose skill and industry naturalists lie under
great obligation for communications on several kindred branches
of science ; opportunities of studying which are afforded him by
his residence in that town.

The specimen referred to, eight feet six inches in length,
was in depth in a straight line two feet, and consequently it
was a thick and lumpish fish. The tail from its insertion was
one foot eight inches in extent. The snout blunt; eye round
and prominent. The body covered from the eye to the tail
with sharp spines; but there were none in front of the eyes,
nor below a line extending from the eyes to the pectoral fins,
nor on the belly. Gill orifices five, short and close together,
placed below the root of the pectoral fins. The latter fins
short, placed higher than is represented in Mr. Yarr ell’s figure,
narrower at the root than at the termination, and ending ab-
ruptly. Dorsal fins nearer the tail, and close together; the
first the smallest, over the ventrals; the posterior edges irregular;
no anal fin. The tail ascends from its root, the fin part narrow,

56

SPINOUS SHARK.

waved, and widest at the middle; the lower lobe rounded and
obsolete. On the hack the colour dark; lighter, with tints of
blue, along the upper sides and tail; yellow with reddish tints
on the belly; the fins edged with reddish flesh-colour. There
are no spines on the snout and fins, and those on the body are
nearly straight.

Mr. Fox describes these spines as being tubercles with re-
curved points, and as such they are represented in Mr. Yarr ell’s
engraving. Lacepede says they are tubercles of unequal size,
large and round at the base, as in the Thornback Kay, with
one or two crooked points to each; and Kisso’s description
expresses nearly the same thing, but he represents the second
dorsal fin as of very small size.

GREENLAND SHARK.

Squalus borealis,

Seym nus “

a a

66 66

Dalatias microcephalies,

Scoresby; History of the Arctic
Regions, etc.

Fleming; Br. Animals, p. 166.
Jenyns; Manual, p. 506.

Yarrell; Br. Fishes, vol. ii, p. 527.
Gray; Catalogue Br. Museum, p. 132.

At a time when every large example of this family was
supposed to be the Great White Shark, so formidable to sailors
in warm climates, the Greenland Shark had that name affixed
to it; and accordingly in Crantz’.s history of that country, and
in other writers of about the same age, we find the Squalus
carcliarias in the list of fishes of those northern seas. It was
Captain Scoresby, in his “History of the Arctic Regions,” to
whom we are indebted for the first knowledge of it as a separate
species; and nearly the whole of what is even now known of
its habits is due to his observations.

Never having had an opportunity of examining an example
of this fish, our description will be derived from what the
above-named author has given us, with additions from the “His-
tory of British Animals,” by Dr. Fleming; which, taken together
with a description of the teeth and jaws presently to be referred
to, will afford materials sufficient to enable any one to identify
the species, if it should chance again to wander to our shores;
an accident, it is true, not soon to be expected, since only three
or four instances are recorded of its having appeared so far
south of the icy sea, and one only on the coast of France;
driven so far from its accustomed haunts probably by disease;
which appears to be a not uncommon cause for the presence
of fishes in regions where they are strangers.

According to Scoresby the length is from twelve to fourteen

58

GREENLAND SHARK.

feet, and the girth from six to eight feet — thus being amon°'
the stoutest of this family of predacious fishes. The mouth is
large, extending nearly across the under part of the head; the
teeth in several rows, serrated in one jaw, and lancet-shaped
and toothed in the other. Pupil of the eyes an emerald green,
the rest of the eye blue. The skin rough ; ventral fins separate ;
no anal fin. It has spiracles; the gill openings five; colour
ash grey. It is probable that Scoresby trusted to his figure
for a more particular representation of this fish; but for what
remains we have recourse to Dr. Fleming. His character of
the species is: — the first dorsal fin larger than the second, more
advanced than the ventrals. Teeth in the upper jaw broad at
the base, suddenly becoming narrow and lanceolate, with the
cutting edges rough; in the lower jaw the teeth are pyramidal,
compressed, the cutting edges crenulated, a little convex on the
fore edge, and subangularly concave on the hind edge. Pec-
torals large; ventrals elongated, the two sides nearly parallel.
It appears that the tail is short. Fleming says he was in pos-
session of the jaws of an individual, presented to him by a
Mr. Simonds, and which was caught in his presence in the
Pentland Frith. Another example was found dead at Burra
Frith, in Unst. A third British example is recorded by Mr.
Yarrell, and is preserved in the Museum of the University at
Durham. It appears that another was found dead at the mouth
of the Seine, in France. Scoresby represents this Shark as a
decided enemy to the Great Greenland Whale, both alive and
dead. In the former case it bites pieces out of its flesh, and
the tail of this animal is often found to bear marks of the
injury; so that Whales avoid the places where they abound.
But the depredation is more decided when the Whale is dead.
It scoops large pieces of the blubber from the body, and gorges
itself to the full, without being terrified or driven away by the
presence of men, even if pierced through with a spear; for,
like the generality of its race, it is exceedingly retentive of life,
and apparently insensible to wounds. Its ferocity, however, is
expended on its prey, for it does not inflict any injury on the
men employed in cutting up the Whale, and even seems to
be insensible to their presence. In the absence of other prey,
however, it has been known to attack a man. Its season and
mode of producing its young do not appear to have been

GREENLAND SHARK.

59

noticed by any one but Crantz, who says it produces four at
a birth.

I owe it to the kindness of Charles W. Peach, Esq., of
Wick, in North Britain, that by the possession of the under
jaw of this fish, obtained from Greenland, I am able to give a
description, with a representation, of its teeth. They are of
remarkable shape and number, as well in regard to the form
of the individual teeth as of their situation; numbering forty-
nine in all, as they stand along the prominent edge of the jaw;
which is unusually thin for the magnitude of the fish. These
teeth at the middle touch each other, with a little overlapping,
but their points diverge. The most prominent portion has a
sharp point, which is bent horizontally, and the upper edge
becomes thus the cutting portion, the thin body of the tooth
being spread out at the side, with a depression by which one is
made to lean on and receive support from another, and the
whole supported on the gum by processes which bear the like-
ness of fangs. On the inner or formative side of the gum are
five rows, with their cutting edge and point downward, as not
yet raised from the investing membrane. The sixth row stands
erect, ready for use, and resembles the edge of a saw; and on
the outer side, sunk to a level with the roots of the former,
is the row that lately occupied the superior position, and where
it serves as a guard and support to its successor. Of the lowest
row of all, the cutting portion is wholly lost, and the fangs
are loosening in order to fall away. There exist, therefore,
nine rows of teeth visible; and I judge them to be of quick
formation and progress, with also a rapid shedding; but at no
time is more than one row of actual service to the creature
for the purpose of cutting. In former times the Greenlanders
used these teeth as a saw. According to Crantz, in Iceland
and Norway this fish was used as food, but the Greenlander’s
rejected it.

For an engraving of the teeth, see page GG.

60

SELACHE.

Dr. John Edward Gray’s character of this genus, which he names
Cetorhinus, is, snout short and blunt; the spiracles small; gill openings
very large, passing almost entirely across the throat, and upwards towards
the neck. Teeth numerous, very small, conical, and without side notches.
Scales with small curved points bent in' all directions, so that the skin
feels rough each way. But Dr. Eleming says that the Basking Shark
is smooth when the hand is passed from head to tail.

BASKING SHARK.

SUNFISH. SAILFISH. hoe-mother, in Orkney.

It was not known to Linnseus, in the tenth edition of his System.

Squalus maximus,

Selache

Squale Tres grand ,
Cetorldnus maximus.

Turton’s Linnaeus.

Eleming; Br. Animals, p. 164.
Jenyns; Manual, p. 503.
Yarrell; Br. Eishes, vol. ii,
p. 518, but not his figure.
Cuvier.

Lacepede.

Gray; Catalogue Br. Museum,
p. 129.

It is rightly observed by Cuvier, and also by Mr. Yarrell,
that the difficulty of taking a correct likeness of this and other
large fishes, as well as other marine animals, as they lie irreg-
ularly on the beach wdien dead, perhaps imbedded in sand or
mud, or from the manner in which they float, will account for
the incorrect representations of them which exist; to which must
be added the thronging of a croivd of spectators, wfho press on
the object, or stand in the -way of the draftsman. It is also
difficult to preserve the larger examples of such fishes, with

basking sh

1> ASKING SHARK.

61

due attention to tlieir natural shape ; on which account a figure
taken from a stuffed specimen is likely to be less exact than
even a drawing made under the first-named inconveniences.
The figure I give is from a specimen taken in Cornwall before
the example had fallen into the hands of preservers; and the
description is from the same, enlarged from other sources, and
especially from the authority of Dr. Fleming, in his “History
of British Animals.”

The food of this fish is not known, and it is doubtful
whether it takes a bait. Of course no line would be sufficiently
strong to hold it; and I have been told that the example
referred to in the description, of thirty-one feet in length, was
able to break a six-inch hawser, and the doubling of a net
alone was able to control its strength.

We also refer to the circumstance that this fish has been
confounded with the Whales, to which mistake its quiet and
peaceable habits did not a little contribute; for there are times
when it appears to enjoy the sunshine and a calm, and then
it basks so much at ease as to suffer itself to be approached
without shewing any sign of being alarmed, or of a disposition
to inflict injury. From this habit it has received the name by
which it is now generally known, and from which also it has
been termed the Sunfisli; although this latter name has led to
a remarkable error in Lacepede; who, mistaking it on that
account for the Orthogoriscus mola, which is also called the
Sunfish, has described the latter as having been found of the
surprising length of twenty-five feet. By his reference to
Borlase’s Natural History of Cornwall, his mistake is rendered
plain.

I have already taken occasion to mention the confusion that
has resulted from the supposition, so long retained, that this
fish was to be classed among the Whales; and a remarkable
and a somewhat amusing result was the consequence of the
error; which has had the effect of unexpectedly bringing us
into acquaintance with it under circumstances the least to be
expected. Whales, even of large size, were at one time a
fashionable dish at noble and royal tables; and the Dolphin
and Porpoise especially were admitted to that dignity so lately
as in the time of King Charles the First; although Willoughby
and others are so candid as to admit that they were not thor-

62

BASKING SHARK.

oughly relished by all tastes. Rondeletius goes further, and
says that the smell itself was so nauseous as to destroy the
appetite for all besides that was on the table. The Leading
Whale, f Delphinus melas,J which exceeds the length of twenty
feet, was one of those that were thus elevated into a dainty-
for it is to this that I would without hesitation refer the account
given in “Notes and Queries,” for June 27th., 1857, as an
extract of an ancient chronicle of Jersey. From this we learn
that in the month of May, 1575, a herd, eighty-seven in number,
ran themselves on shore in that island, and were taken posses-
sion of by the Governor. Each one was a load for a waggon;
but they were sent as presents, not for their oil, but as delicacies,
to the principal persons of the island. Pomet, an apothecary,
who wrote a History of Drugs in French, gives an account of
the value then set on these Whales; but by comparing his
text with the figure he gives of the creature so highly esteemed,
there is no mistaking the fact, that the Basking Shark is the
species represented; and which had thus been advanced to an
honour not properly due to it, without the discovery of that
error by the guests; their politeness of course preventing the
expression of dislike, however nauseous the taste of the dish
might be.

This fish performs a regular migration along the west coast
of Ireland, to the western islands of Scotland; and it is at this
time that a regular fishery is carried on for taking them, of
which the following description is given by W. Brabazon, Esq.,
in his account of the fisheries of Ireland: — “If the end of April
is hot, the Sunfish (locally so named) are certain to shew above
the water, and remain on the (Clew) bank till the middle of
May. This large shoal of Sharks pass annually at this season
along the west coast, on their way from the southern to the
northern seas. They are taken on the Sunfish bank, situated
about a hundred miles west of Clew bay, and extending many
miles north and south. The fishermen there reckon it a day’s
sail out of sight of land. They are found on the bank in
great numbers, and their large dorsal fin is seen at a great
distance, as it rises three or four feet out of the water, while
they lie motionless on the surface basking in the sun. At this
time they are easily approached, and struck with a harpoon;
the boat employed for this purpose approaches the fish with a

BASKING SHARK.

63

man in the bow ready to harpoon it; the line attached to the
harpoon is two hundred fathoms long, and is coiled up in the
how; a man stands by with a hatchet ready to cut it, should
it get entangled or foul of any thing in running out. When
the fish is struck, he will at the first dart carry out from
seventy to a hundred and fifty or two hundred fathoms of line ;
he makes this rush to the bottom, where he rolls himself, and
rubs his wound against the ground to free himself from the
harpoon. The fishermen generally allow him an hour to tire
himself before they begin to haul upon the harpoon line; they
coil up the slack of it again, ready for him to make another
rush, and play him in this way, sometimes for eight or nine
hours, before they can get him to come to the surface; and
when he does so they are ready to strike him with two or
three more harpoons; and when these are fixed in him, they
are able to pull him alongside the vessel with the harpoon lines ;
they then stretch him fore and aft along the vessel’s side, and
get a jowl rope round his head, and the bight of a hawser
round his tail; they then give him two deep cuts, one on each
side of the tail, with a hatchet. In his agony and his efforts
to get free, he works his tail so hard, that he snaps the bone
across where the cuts were made; they then cut flesh holes in
the body of the fish on both sides, that will take a large rope
through them; they then reeve ropes through these holes, and
by hauling taut on the side of the fish next the vessel, and
slacking away rope to the other side of the fish, it will cant
him over on his back. They then split down the stomach, take
out the liver, which is the only part they use for oil, and let
the rest of the fish go adrift. There is no blubber between
the skin and the flesh, as in the Whale, hut the oil extracted
from the liver is as fine as the finest spermaceti. The liver
of these fish is generally two tons in weight, and makes from
six to eight barrels of oil.”

“These fish are most powerful in the water, and if harpooned
in the shoulder they are very hard to kill; often carrying ofi*
the whole harpoon line ; hut experienced harpooners strike them
in the body near the dorsal fin, rather low down, where it
will go through into the intestines, or near the vertebrae towards
the tail. They must be struck with great caution, as they will
stave in the boat with a blow of their tail, if it is at all

64

BASKING SHARK.

within their reach. These fish are worth from thirty-five to
fifty pounds each; and when so many as five hundred have
been killed in one season, I think this class of fishing should
he well attended to for the short season it lasts, if the weather
is favourable to it ; especially as it is at a time when other
fish are out of season. The fishermen on the coast have a
superstition that the fish will leave the coast if the bodies of
those caught were brought to the shore.”

“The S unfish has been met in large numbers off Tory Island,
and along the north-west coast of Donegal, where the Skerries
men have found them at different times lying so thick over
the ground, where their cod-lines were set, that they would
not venture to put to sea in their open boats to lift the cod-lines,
for fear of the Sunfish striking their boats. They have
counted from sixty to a hundred basking in the sun, of a
morning towards the latter end of June; and they did not lift
their lines until late in the day, when the fish had gone down.
This proves that the Sunfishery is not confined to the Sunfish
bank of Clew bay, but shews that if the weather is not suited
for the fishery there, by following on the course taken by the
fish, if the weather turns out hot, they may make a good fishing
at any point from Clew bay to the Scotch Islands. It seems
to me that as the Sunfish bank is the first soundings made by
the fish coming in from the Atlantic, they may make a longer
stay there than in any other part; but boats have gone round
from the east coast to Sun-fish, beginning to work off Tory
Island, and making a good season, though late, when they
arrived there.”

From the following paragraph, extracted from a newspaper
of Orkney, it is rendered probable that the Basking Shark
sometimes visits that neighbourhood: — “A very large Shark was
caught (near Whalsey) by one of the fishing boats (in Novem-
ber.) None of the fishermen here ever saw the like of it.
Its length was twenty-seven feet and a half; thickness sixteen
feet; from its nose to the last gill seven feet; its mouth when
open thirty inches across; the foremost fins five feet three inches;
and the tail from point to point seven feet. The liver yielded
one hundred and sixty-five gallons of oil, and was sold for
£16 10s. The whole body could not have been less than six
tons. It was caught by a six-oared boat, and the men had

BASKING SIIAIMC.

(>■5

great difficulty in getting it on shore. Instead of landing at
six o’clock in the morning, it was seven at night before they
got to the shore; and had they not been assisted by other boats’
crews, they would not have managed it in two days. When
caught it seemed to have taken a mouthful of herrings, and
then rolled itself in the net. When the men began to haul in
the nets, which were new, they found them twisted with the
ropes five times round it. It died in a very short time, or
the men would have run a very hard chance for their lives.”

This is the largest of the Sharks, and of all true fishes; so
that from its size, and partly from its habits, it was, as we
have seen, formerly regarded as belonging to the class of Whales;
and it was only so lately as the time of the British naturalist
Pennant, that it was discovered, not indeed to be a Whale,
but in all its characters to belong to the family of Sharks. If,
however, we may take JElian as our authority, its true position
among the Sharks must have been understood in ancient times;
for it is not easy to refer an observation of his, in his work
on the particular nature of animals, (B. i, c. 55,) to any other
than the Basking Shark; the occurrence of which in the Me-
diterranean sea appears to be intimated by the French writer
Pomet, to whom we shall have occasion to refer again. JElian
says that there are three sorts of sea-dogs, the largest of which
might be reckoned a Whale of the largest size. The other
two are very much smaller, and are the Centrine and Galeus.
Lacepede doubted whether the White Shark does not reach
an equal size; but there is no account of the latter fish as
attaining anything like the length of thirty-six feet, which was the
case with the example of Basking Shark seen at Brighton by
Mr. Yarrell. One was taken in Cornwall that measured thirty-
one feet eight inches, from which our figure was taken; and
the circumference of body is great even in proportion to such
enormous length. Lacepede speaks of one that measured
thirty-three feet in length, and twenty-four feet in circumference.

We are not to place credit, however, in Baron Haller’s as-
sertion, that cartilaginous fishes are ever growing, and find no
limit to their size, (“First Lines of Physiology,” 8vo, Edin.,
p. 463;) for some species are never other than small, and others
at first starting into existence are of considerable size, and yet
are never met with above a certain bulk. The example par-
YOL. I. L

68

BASKING SHARK.

ticularly referred to was thirty-one feet and about eight inches,
nineteen feet round, and the month was five feet and a half
wide; extent of the tail six feet nine inches; the weight said
to be eight tons. As it lay on the ground the height of the
body was eight feet and a half. The skin rough; eyes small;
spiracles between the eyes and upper portion of the gill openings ;
upper jaw longest, but not greatly protruded; the teeth about
an inch long, blunt at the top, and but slightly compressed;
the body rising behind the eyes; a strong ridge at the sides
near the tail; a depression above and below at the root of the
tail. Pectorals rather long, and ending in a point. The first
dorsal about midway between the ventrals and pectorals, and
wide and high; the second dorsal about midway between the
ventral fins and anal, smaller than the first dorsal, but larger
than the anal. Colour, dark on the back, but in some examples
it is described as blue, lighter on the sides, and white below.
Fleming says the liver of a full-sized fish yields from eight to
twelve barrels of oil; and that of the Cornish specimen, above
referred to, produced one hundred and ninety-eight gallons;
two examples, of about thirty feet, at Broadhaven, in Scotland,
yielded almost nineteen barrels, of which eight make a ton.

TEETH, ETC., OF GREENLAND SHARK.

1. — Single tootle

2. — Under jaw, outside view.

3. — Under jaw, inside view.

4. — Eye, with parasite attached to it.

RA,SH LEIGH SHARK. 2. BKOAD-HEADED GAZER.

67

POLYPBOSOPUS.

This is a new genus, denoted by a word which is intended to rep-
resent the manifold aspect, which forms the chief character of the species
intended to be comprised within it.

It may be objected to this arrangement that the species referred to
are not sufficiently known or described to warrant the formation of a
new genus for their reception. Put to this the reply is offered, that
although many particulars regarding them, that are to be desired, are
unknown, this should not be held sufficient to prevent us from making
a record of what we have been able to collect, and which thus will
be preserved for the use of future naturalists; whose opportunities, al-
though partial like our own, may, in some time to come, enable them
to supply materials in which we have the misfortune to be deficient.
The value of even imperfect records has been proved in some other
instances, and after the lapse of many years.

The characters on which our proposed genus is founded are: — a short
projecting snout, with a broad mouth; the eyes looking forward in front,
so that, contrary to the habits of other Sharks, they are able to gaze
with both eyes on an object directly before them. Gill openings very
large, and encompassing the neck, as in the genus Selache. These
characters are so well marked that I have not thought it necessary to
take notice of the anal fin, which exists in the figure of one of the
species, and is absent in the other.

RASHLEIGH SHARK.

Squalus Rashleighamis, Transactions of the Linnean Society,

vol. xiv, p. 91; Cornish Fauna,
vol. i, p. 51.

Polyprosopus Rashleighanus, Nobis.

There is little doubt but that this is one of two or three
fishes which have been confounded with the Basking Shark, to
which its large size must have greatly contributed. The figure,
with a few particulars concerning it, were presented to me
by William Bashleigh, Esq., of Menabilly, in Cornwall, himself
a competent naturalist, and in whose honour the name is affixed
to it. This example Was obtained in St. Austle bay, near his
residence, but in what manner I am not prepared to say.

68

BROAD-HEADED GAZER.

The fish is described as being twenty-nine feet four inches
in length, and twenty-four feet round; the fork of the tail
seven feet; the weight four tons; the mouth two feet and a
half wide. In the drawing the eyes are in front, and the vision
directed forward; the snout rather small, narrow, and turned
up ; but it is probable that this had been caused by the manner
in which the heavy body had lain, and consequently did not
shew the natural form. The head deep, and full on the cheek;
orifices of the gills wide, and passing high on the sides. The
first dorsal fin is elevated, and near the head; second dorsal
far behind; the pectorals long and pointed; no anal fin; nor
any appearance of a ridge on the side near the tail.

HEAD OF 11AS1ILEIG II SIIAliK.

BROAD-HEADED GAZER.

Polyprosopus macer , Nobis.

This fish was caught in a mackerel net off the Startpoint,
in the last week of March, 1852, and was brought to Plymouth,
where it was exhibited publicly as a great rarity; and from
which the following unfortunately slight sketch and description
were taken, the former by a gentleman of the Royal Navy,

BROAD-IIEADED GAZER.

69

and the latter by a curious but scarcely 'well-informed individual:
— The fish measured sixteen feet seven inches in length, and
its general proportions were nearly those of the Common Toper;
the tail also as in that fish; no ridge at the hinder part of the
body near the tail; skin not rougher than in the generality of
Sharks. The snout sharp and projecting; eyes looking forward;
flattish over the head, with a little rising, and, as in the figure,
singularly widened at that part. The teeth flat, exactly as in
the Thornback Ray or Ray-mouthed Dogfish. The gill openings
five in number, encompassing the throat to the back, and before
them a doubling or plaiting of the skin, which appeared like
another opening. Pectoral fins not quite so long in proportion
to its size as in the Blue Shark. The anterior dorsal fin an-
terior to the ventrals; the second and anal opposite each other.
No spiracle was observed; the colour approaching to brown,
lighter on the belly. A female. Girth at the pectoral fins
five feet ten inches ; width across the head three feet six inches ;
length of the snout before the eye ten inches; extent of the
tail four feet. The liver yielded twelve gallons of oil

HEAD OF BROAD-HEADED GAZER.— UPPER SIDE.

70

ZYGiENA.

The form of the head extended sideways, with the eyes at the ex-
tremity of the lateral extension, and the nostrils on the anterior edge
of it.

HAMMER-HEAD.

BALANCE FISH.

Squalus Zygcena ,
Zygcena malleus ,

66 66

Squale marteau,
66 66

66 66

66 66

Linnaeus.

Cuvier. Jonston; Punctum 7, tab. 78,
but he is mostly a copyist.

Willoughby; p. 55, tab. B 1.

Lacepede. Risso. Bloch; pi. 117.

Lowe; Fishes of Madeira, tab. 12.

Jenyns; Manual, p. 507.

Yarrell; British Fishes, 2nd. edition,
vol. ii, p. 504. I am informed that
the figure which Mr. Yarrell gave
in his first edition, p. 406, is that
which has been called Z. Blochii, and
wrhich is the foetal condition of Z.
laticeps. This figure is omitted in
his second edition.

The ancient Greek writers were acquainted with this fish,
which they called Zygsena, or the Balance, from the form of
its head. But it is not named by Pliny, the general copyist
of the Greeks, although it finds a place in the writings of
Oppian and -/Elian, who however only or chiefly regard it as

The monstrous Balance Fish of ugly shape.

Oppian only goes a little further by a pardonable exaggeration,
to compare it with the lion: —

But what ’s the lion ! sharper weapons arm
The Balance Fish, and keener furies warm;

H A MMER-H F A D.

HAMMER-HEAD.

71

to which iEliaii adds the great danger to which sailors are
exposed by it, (B. ix, c. 49;) to all of which Lacepede unites
his testimony, with such additional horrors, however, as must
cause his readers to feel surprise when they read the adven-
turous voyages of sailors in every variety of climate, without
finding the mention of this fish or of any injuries they have
suffered from it.

That it is an eager, daring, and savage fish may be granted;
but the limited size of its mouth forbids the mighty grasp which
the White or Blue Sharks would take of an object; and it
seems probable that the nature of its food is not of that in-
discriminate kind as theirs is known to be.

The Hammer-head is a rare wanderer to our seas; and only
a few examples are on record of its occurrence in the British
Islands; which, therefore, are probably the most northern limit
of its range. Besides the one hereafter mentioned, and of which
the skeleton is preserved in the Museum of Natural History
at Penzance, another was taken at Yarmouth, in the year 1829,
and a third at Tenby, in Wales, both mentioned by Mr. Yar-
rell, and the latter also by L. W. Dillwyn, Esq., in his “Fauna
of Swansea.” This last , example was a female, and in August
was found to contain thirty-nine young ones ready for exclu-
sion. Mr. Lowe found this fish in Madeira; and Risso says
it is not uncommon in the Mediterranean, from July to Sep-
tember.

In the month of November, 1834, some fishermen of Newlyn,
in Cornwall, on hauling their nets, found a large fish entangled
in them, and almost dead. It proved to be the Hammer-head,
or Balance Shark; and from the notes derived from this source,
and from another of smaller size, not a British specimen, and
but poorly preserved, the following description of this species
is derived: — The length of the newly-captured example was
an inch less than ten feet; girth of the body three feet seven
inches ; the head slightly festooned in front, flat, and in breadth
three feet; an eye at each extremity of the expansion as large
as that of an ox. The nostrils at the anterior edge of the
expansion, not far from the eyes. A remarkable bone lies
across this expansion of the head, being an elongation of the
orbital processes of the skull. The mouth in shape like a
horse-shoe, with three rows of teeth in the upper jaw, and

72

HAMMER-HEAD.

two in the lower; the teeth sharp, the points inclined towards
the angle of the mouth, and serrated below on the concave
edge. The first dorsal fin sixteen inches long, but a little way
behind the pectorals. Pectorals eighteen inches long. The
second dorsal and anal opposite each other, and far behind;
both dorsals and anal lengthened out posteriorly; a depression
at the upper root of the tail. Upper lobe of the tail three
feet long, under lobe sixteen inches. The colour brown on
the back, lighter below.

TEETH OF HAMMER-HEAD.

1. — Front teeth.

2. — Side tooth above.

3.— Side tooth below.

MONKFISH.

SQUATINA.

The body depressed, tapering to the tail, and more rounded posteriorly.
The head separated from the expanded pectoral tins by a neck ; mouth
terminal; eyes on the upper surface. Dorsal tins separate from the
caudal, which is placed at the end of the body.

MONKFISH.

ANGEL-FISH. LEWIS. SHARK RAY. KINGSTON.

MONGREL SKATE. PUPPY-FISH.

The pectoral fins have been supposed to resemble wings, from which it
has received the name of Angel Fish; it is also called Monk, because
this structure has caused it to resemble the cowl worn by that class of
religionists.

Squalus Squatina,

66 a

Squatina Angelus,

a 66

Squatina et Angelus marinus,
66 66 66

S quale Ange,

Squatine Ange,

Squatina vulgaris,

66 66

Linnaeus. Donovan, pi. 17.

Bloch’s Plates, 116, from a dried skin.
Cuvier. Jenyns; Manual, p. 507.
Yarrell; Br. Pishes, vol. ii, p. 539.
Jonston, p. 39.

Willoughby, p. 79, Tab. D. 3.

Lacepede.

Eisso. Fleming; Br. An., p. 169.

Gray; Catalogue of Br. Museum, p. 133.
Swainson; Natural History of Fishes, etc.,
vol. i, p. 185.

The Monk is a common fish in the western parts of the
kingdom, but it becomes more rare as we proceed to the
north, although it has been taken so far in that direction as
the Orkney Islands. It keeps near the ground, and rarely
rises high in the water in pursuit of prey, although it appears
to be eager in the search. Yet it is less frequently taken
with a line than many other fishes, which circumstance can
VOL. I. M

74

MONKFISH.

only be explained by its being more select in its appetite for
food. One which measured four feet six inches in lensrth, had
in its stomach twenty-eight opercula, or head-covers of whelks,
without the shells, which latter had been thrown up from the
stomach, as the Sharks and Skates are known to do with
whatever indigestible materials they occasionally swallow. And
besides these remains of what appears to have been a favourite
food, there were also fragments of small fishes, and two stones
about the size of nutmegs, which probably had been taken in
consequence of having been covered with some sorts of en-
crusting corals, and would have also been thrown up from the
stomach in their turn.

Oppian says that it produces young twice in the year, by
which he may be understood to mean no more than that some
of them are found in a fertile condition at opposite seasons.
I have found the eggs as large as walnuts in May, and the
voung, usually to about twenty, to be expelled all at once in
July, on the instant when the pregnant fish was taken into
the boat. Risso mentions the same thing, and ascribes the
sudden parturition to faintness produced by the cessation of
the action of the gills, but more probably it proceeds from the
alarm of capture. These young ones are about a foot in
length, and closely resemble the parent fish, even to the
roughness of the skin and spines, with teeth also in the jaws.

The ancients believed that this fish had an affection for its
young similar to that displayed by the Blue Shark and some
others of that race ; according to a maxim which they regarded
as universal, that it was the property of every creature which
produces its young alive, to manifest love for their preserva-
tion. In the present instance, in the prospect of danger they
supposed it shewn by affording them shelter in the depression
between the head and pectoral fins.

The skin of this fish was anciently of much use in the arts,
being of that particular degree of roughness which fitted it
for polishing ivory and wood; on which account the fish was
called by the Greeks Rhine, or the file.

It is disregarded as food in the present day, but in ancient
times it was otherwise. Paulus MCgineta, a physician of Greece,
speaking of cartilaginous fishes, says: — “The Torpedo and
Firefiair have soft and sweet flesh, which is easily digested;

MONKFISH.

75

but Skates, the Monk, and others of that family are harder,
and afford nourishment of a stronger kind.” — B. 1, C. 93.

Lacepede describes this fish as attaining the length of seven
or eight feet, and Rondeletius had seen it about the length of
a man, and weighing one hundred and sixty pounds; but
with us commonly measures from four to five feet, with a
breadth at the pectoral fins considerably exceeding half the
length. The general figure of the body is much depressed,
but most so anterior to the termination of the ventral fins.
The head flat and round; mouth terminal, with rows of short,
sharp, hooked teeth in lengthened order, and intervals between
the rows; nostrils at the border of the head, near the mouth,
and having a short loose process projecting from it. Eyes
small, separate, on the top of the head, all but the pupil
covered with the common skin. Spiracles large, half-moon-
shaped, their convexity forward, — considerably behind the
eyes. Gill openings five, on the lower surface. The pectoral
fins widely spread, encompassing the sides of the head without
being united to it; the ventrals larger than in any known
Sharks or Bays. The skin rough all over the upper surface;
a row of spines down the back to the first dorsal fin; a half
circle of them behind each eye, and also, in some examples,
along the anterior margin of the pectorals, as well as of the
dorsal fins and tail. Dorsal fins two, on the more slender
part of the hody, behind the ventrals. The tail irregular, and
the lower half more extended than the upper. Colour sandy
grey, speckled above, white below. In young examples, which
are often mottled with yellow or green, there is sometimes a
white line extending across the shoulders. I have seen a
full-grown example without the usual line of spines along the
back.

In the anatomical structure of this fish the pectoral fins are
much like what we shall find in the Skates, but the jointed
rays do not proceed so close to the margin of the side; but
stop short, and serve as the basis of pencils of smaller fibres,
as do the ventrals also. On minute dissection it has been
found to possess ears, of simple structure, such as Monrof de-
tected also in the Common Skate, Raia batis; and on the top
of its short and rounded head there is the fontanel or opening
where the brain is covered only with the firm skin, as in the

76

MONKFISH.

Sharks and Skates, thus affording an example, in addition to
the cartilaginous condition of the hone itself, of apparent
conformity with the earlier stage of existence of mammalian
animals; and which some writers have thought proper to regard
as a defect, or at least an inferior state of development; hut
which, as we have already shewn on the authority of Mr.
Owen, when we spoke of the Sharks in general, beyond doubt
answers an important use in the natural ceconomy of this
great family of animals. We remark it more especially in this
species because it is not merely an unclosed opening in the
skull, but a well-organized opening of definite formation. It
becomes a question whether, by endosmodic action penetrating-
through the membrane, this is not the passage through which
the water so abundantly found in the cavity of the skull and
spinal column finds admittance, as we see it existing there in
all the species of Sharks and Skates.

It has been remarked in the general description of this fish,
as a character in which it stands alone, that it is deficient in
that projection of the skull which is so distinguishing a mark
in its kindred families of Sharks and Rays; but the deficiency
itself affords an advantage which the others do not possess, — of
being furnished with such a protractile upper jaw as is capable
of extensive motion, especially in an upward direction, cor-
responding with that of the head itself, in relationship with
the vertebral column. This vertebral column, or hack-hone,
which possesses about one hundred and twenty separate joints,
as in the generality of Sharks, is flexible in all its extent,
none of the hones of which it consists being inseparately united
together, as they are in the uppermost part of their course
in Skates; and at the tail they assume a course seemingly at
variance with that of their race in general, by passing to their
termination on the border of the lower rather than of the
upper lobe of the caudal fin. The organization which seems
equivalent to spinous processes of the vertebrae, that stand up
to support the dorsal fins, are in fact broad plates, each of
which involves at least two of the vertebrae, and thus they
afford the fins a more than usually firm support. In these
particulars of structure, as well as in the outward form, we
discern a partaking of much of the character of the sub-families
of Sharks and Skates, coupled with a departui'e from both in

MONKFISH.

77

some circumstances, which, if they point out affinity to any
other race, at least do not so to any with which we are acquainted.

In one particular also the eyes deserve to be mentioned.
They do not possess a nictitant membrane, as in some Sharks,
nor a fimbriant veil, as in the Skates, but the common skin of
the body passes over the globe, and is capable of shutting up
the pupil in the manner and with the effect of an eyelid,
although without a fold, a slight slit remaining lengthwise as
a pupil.

1. — Pectoral Fin of the Monkfish — under side.

2. — Abdominal Fin — under side.

3. — Teeth, portion of under jaw.

78

SKATES.

The distinguishing marks of this family as compared with
the Sharks, are a general depression and flatness of the body,
with a large expansion of the pectoral and ventral fins; the
former being united to and encompassing the head, so that
together they form a disc, which is either rounded or of a
rhomb-like form, with the angles slightly marked; a structure
that displays a remarkable adaptation to the peculiar habits of
this tribe. The snout in most of the species projects, and in
all the mouth and nostrils are under the head, the latter
being united to the former by a superficial channel, or deep
fold in the skin. The gill openings are five in number, as
in the Sharks, but they are placed on the under surface; and
on the head, not far behind the eyes, are the spiracles or
temporal orifices, which, when they exist in the Sharks, are
generally small, but in this family they are large and open,
although capable of being closed at the will of the creature;
and their use is more apparent in the present class; for as it
is their habit to lie fiat on the ground, it becomes necessary
that they should be furnished with an apparatus sufficient to
give passage to a full supply of water to the gills for the
purpose of breathing; at a time when the mouth must for a
long time remain shut, and the current from that direction
consequently be interrupted, even if it ever exist. That this
supply of water needs to be large and constantly repeated,
may be judged from what Monro describes of the extensive
capacity of the interior structure of the gills, the superficial
extent of which he estimates as amounting to almost the whole
external surface of the human body. Thus, says he, in each
side of the body of a Skate there are four double gills, or
gills with two sides each, and one single gill, on which the
branchial artery (which brings the blood for purification) is
spread out. On each of these sides there are about fifty

SKATES.

79

divisions or doubling's of the membrane of the gills. Each
division has on each side of it one hundred and sixty sub-
divisions or folds of its membrane, the length of each of
which in a very large Skate is about one-eighth of an inch,
and its breadth about one-sixteenth of an inch; so that in
the whole gills there are one hundred and forty-four thousand
folds, the two sides of each of which are equal to the sixty-
fourth part of a square inch, or the surface of the whole
gills is equal to two thousand two hundred and fifty square
inches, that is, to more than fifteen square feet, which have
been supposed equal to the whole external surface of the
human body. When, after a good injection by an artificial
coloured fluid of the artery, a microscope is applied, the
whole extent of the membrane of the gills is seen covered
with a beautiful network of exceedingly minute vessels. —
(Monro, “Structure and Physiology of Fishes,” p. 15.) Those
particulars are given the more at length because they belong
to the whole of this large family of Sharks and Skates,
although perhaps to some of them in a less degree. And,
indeed, they are applicable to fishes in general, although in a
still less degree in the class termed the bony fishes, in which
the water is made to travel through the gills in a more rapid
manner, to make amends for the less extent of surface to
which it is applied.

The blood is brought to this purifying apparatus by a
vessel proceeding from a heart specially framed to be a
powerful instrument of propulsion ; for although the general
cause of the circulation of the blood is formed on the same
principle in all fishes, the peculiarity of action and the power
varies considerably, as regards the present genus compared
with several others. In Sharks and Skates the heart is of a
singularly complex structure, mingled with simplicity; the
organs of the great artery, or vessel which bears the blood
from the heart to the gills, consisting of a long muscular
tube, which may be regarded as an extension of the heart
itself, and which tends greatly to aid its powers of action; but
a remarkable circumstance attending it is the degree of what
physiologists call irritability that resides in it, and which
maintains its powers of life and action under circumstances
which to other races must speedily prove fatal. I have even

80

SKATES.

seen the heart of the Common Skate wounded and cut from
the body, and afterwards it has continued to beat for almost
a whole day; and even when pulsating action has ceased it
has again been made to resume its motion on the infliction
of an additional stimulus. Nor is this power of retaining
vitality confined to the heart, or to a single species of this
family, although it may be more persistent in some than in
others. I have given instances in the Blue Shark of the
little present influence had on that fish by what at last can-
not have failed to prove fatal injuries, and I shall adduce
others not less surprising when we treat of the history of the
Common Skate; but in every case it has its source in the
same cause — the possession of a large degree of independent
vital power in each organ of the body.

Monro, in the work already quoted, has shewn that there
exists in this class of fishes, or at least in the Common Skate,
as well as in the Monkfish, a well-developed apparatus for
the faculty of hearing, the presence of which appears to imply
a power of intelligence for which we should scarcely have
given them credit; but the most remarkable of the organs of
sense are the eyes, which are more elaborately organized than
even in the Sharks, and which therefore are well calculated
to render these fishes effectual service in their situation close to
the ground. They are placed on the top of the head, not very
close to each other, with the vision neither directed upwards
nor forwards, but sidewise, and they are protected as well, by
generally a row of spines behind them, as by a firm structure
of cartilage on the upper part of the globe itself. This globe
is supported on the base of the ocular cavity by a pillar not
unlike that already mentioned as existing in Sharks; but, in
addition to this, the cornea or clear portion of the organ is
furnished with a veil, which hangs from the upper border of
the iris, and in a large degree covers the pupil, and is capable
of doing so entirely. The ordinary opinion among naturalists
concerning this curtain is, that it is of use in enlarging or
diminishing the opening of the pupil, according to the degree
of light that is poured on the nerve of sight, as the fish may
be exposed to its influence by rising or falling in the water.
But I feel disposed to believe that this is not the only nor even
the principal use of this beautiful piece of workmanship, of which

SKATES.

81

I give a figure as taken from the eye of the Common Skate.
It will be seen to possess a fimbriated border, and is coloured
within and without, although all besides within the chamber is
black. This curtain may he influenced by the appetites or pas-
sions of the creature, although it is not subject to the influence
of the will. It is too near the lens to be brought into its focus,
but it is the nature of a fringe like this to hinder the defi-
nition or formation of a border to the picture painted on the
visual nerve; thus producing an effect similar to that caused by
an instrument lately invented by photographers, and placed by

them in front of the object-glass or lens of the camera, to give
what they term a vignette appearance to their pictures. An object
looked at by the fish becomes by this structure better defined,
because its attention is not permitted to be limited by any
margin that would appear from a border shaped by a more
simple iris.

An able anatomist might not encounter insuperable difficulty
in pointing out in the principal bones of the pectoral fins of
this class of fishes, what bears an analogy to the arm and
hand of a human being, of which that portion answering to
the thumb is extended forward to find support in a protube-
rance at the side of the head. From these bones proceed a
multitude of flexible and jointed rays, which constitute the
expansion of the pectoral fin, and at the same time provide
for its freedom of action. These rays divide and sub-divide
as they are spread out, and in the Common Thornback Ray
amount to eighty-two in number, having in them twenty rows
of joints; but I have seen them ossified, and thus made like
the bones of the classes termed osseous fishes, in which instance
their minute structure appeared beautifully radiated.

It is the character of this family to have the ventral fins
arranged on a level with and as a continuation of the pccto-
VOL. I. N

82

SKATES.

rals; and the combined use of both is to raise the body from
its usual prone position on the ground, and to sustain it in
a floating posture, but without much power of propulsion. To
the ventrals, on their inner side in the males the claspers are
attached, which are usually much longer and stouter than
in Sharks, and which, by a complex system of joints, admit
of great variety of motion.

As there is less need of flexibility in the body of this class
of fishes than in the kindred family of Sharks, several of the
vertebrae or jointed hones of the back, near the head, are
consolidated into one, by which the stability of that part is
rendered secure; hut if any deficiency of motion could arise
from this cause it is abundantly compensated for by the
flexibility of the tail, which has no caudal plates or processes
to stand in the way, and which therefore is capable of action
in every direction. It is therefore not only effective in driving
onward or steering the body, but also as a weapon of defence ;
for being generally armed with rows of formidable spines, it
is capable of inflicting severe lacerations on any creature that
comes within its reach. Aided by the pectoral fins, which,
especially in the males, are also well furnished with these crooked
spines, they are indeed weapons to be dreaded, and the species
supplied with them appear to be well acquainted with their
use. This instinctive faculty of knowledge is indeed a won-
derful portion of the history of animals, even of those that
are apparently most dull and stupid, and has been noticed
by observers of ancient as well as modern times. Oppian, in
his imperfect poem, the “Halieuticon,” observes, —

“To all is given

To know the power and nature of the dart.”

In self-defence* not only will the Torpedo discharge its electric
shock, and the Fireflair direct its formidable spear, but the
Common Skate will bend its pectoral fins into a concave form
to encircle the object, and then cause them to draw back
that the beds of spines may rasp the body of its enemy;
whilst the still more formidable tail is brandished over all in
a manner that few creatures are fitted to withstand.

In the young of the generality of this order, as they pro-

SKATES.

83

ceed from the egg-case, this more slender portion of the body
is proportionally of much greater length than in the full-grown
animal; but by a process not much unlike that which deprives
the tadpole altogether of its tail, the end that lies behind the
dorsal fins gradually ceases to receive nourishment, and con-
sequently diminishes, so that by the time the fish has attained
to about a fourth part of its full dimensions this part is
reduced to a much less lengthened condition. In the gene-
rality of these fishes there are on this part only two small
dorsal fins, but there is more obscurely a slight border of
membrane along the sides, and a rudiment that almost resembles
a fin, which proceeds from the second dorsal to the end. There
has also in a very few instances been discovered an elevation
of membrane resembling a fin, on the body or disc itself, in
one or other of this family; and the circumstance has been
deemed of sufficient importance to warrant a belief in the
observer that it marked the existence of a distinct species.
The first notice of it was by Cuvier, who, however, appears
to have doubted whether it was anything beyond an accidental
variety of a common species. But Lacepede felt no doubt on
the subject, and in his “ History of Fishes” he gives a figure
and description of it under the name of Cuvier’s Bay. It
has since been detected in Scotland, and as a mark of a
species is adopted by Dr. Fleming, under the same name; hut
it appears to be at this time the common opinion of naturalists
that Cuvier’s suspicion was well founded, and that this supposed
fin is nothing more than a doubling of the surface of the skin
of the hack, and is not a sufficient mark that the fish bearing
it was a distinct species. It is among what we denominate
the aberrant genera of this family that in some cases the true
tail exists, in addition to the dorsal fins, and in others no
fins of any sort are found. We shall notice those more par-
ticularly when we speak of the different genera.

So far as is known, and at least among all the members of
this family found in the British Islands, all of these fishes
produce their young from eggs enclosed in purses; which eggs
descend from the ovarian receptacle in pairs, and become
excluded in succession, in seasons of the year appropriate to
each species. These purses are formed of a leather-like sub-
stance, with in general short but rather firm tendrils at the

84

SKATES.

corners; and the only use of these tendrils seems to be by
meeting in an arch to open the way for the free passage of
the case itself in the process of exclusion. They appear to
he cast at random, with little attention to security, and, in
consequence, when the parent fish reside in shallow water they
are frequently washed on shore by the turbulence of the waves.
They are safe, however, from the devourers of the deep, for
I have never found them in the stomachs of fishes.

There seems to be some grounds for doubt as regards the
etymology and meaning of the names of the Skate and Ray;
of which the former have been sought in the Latin word
Squatina , which, however, has never been applied to any of
the fishes known to us by the name of Skate. The name of
Ray is equally uncertain, and although it is employed by Pliny
to signify some fish of probably this genus, it is not referred
to any known root in the Latin language; and in Greek, from
which its meaning is more properly to be sought, it was not
known as applied to any known species. If at all derived
from that language, the explanation of an author (Hermolaus)
quoted in Stevens5 “Thesaurus,55 affords the only interpretation
we are able to assign to it. It obtained its name, says he,
from a likeness of its spines to a bramble, which the Greeks
called Batos , because it has sharp hooks on its back. The
Pastinaca has the like, but besides this the latter has a very
dreadful and poisonous dart. There is also a larger ray, which
the Latins called a Smooth Ray, and the Greeks ( Liobatos J
by a word of the same meaning, but which has no crooked
spines. The word Ray of course is to be supposed a trans-
lation of the original meaning of Batos. This etymology
appears sufficiently far-fetched, and it should not be forgotten
that as far as regards the English names of these fishes, the
Saxon language affords a more plausible derivation ; and I
give it the rather that I have thus an opportunity of ex-
plaining some circumstances connected with the English
fisheries, which may be considered as a portion of the history
of those species.

An adventure in the fisheries, at least in the West of
England, is usually set on foot by some practical fisherman,
who provides the boat and her outfit, and who himself acts
as the principal fisherman; and who seeks his profit as owner

SKATES.

85

by what is called the boat share, which commonly amounts to
a fifth part of the fish sold in the market: for the remainder
he has a common share with his men. But other fishes will
come to the hook besides those which find a place at fashionable
tables, or the public are accustomed to buy, and which, in-
deed, are intrinsically as valuable as any which have a ready
sale. The Grey Gurnard, Scad, Comber, Power, the Wrasses,
Dogfish, Rays, and Skates, are in this class, and by the fish-
ermen they are collectively known by the name of rabble-fish,
as being rejected from the market; and they consequently fall to
the lot of the fishermen themselves, who take them for the
subsistence of their families, without deducting any portion
for boat share. The Skate is the largest, and, on the whole,
the most important of these rejected fishes, and the Saxon
word Skitan, to reject, is expressive of the fact of its being
so. The same word is the parent of several expressions still
in common use, as significant of being thrown out, aside, or
rejected; such as to scout an opinion, a scout thrown out from
an army to obtain intelligence, and scatter , to disperse widely
abroad. In the West of England a skit is a lampoon thrown
out at random against anyone who may choose to take it up.
Ray may be derived from the word reoh , which signifies
rough, and is indeed the ancient form of that word. In its
simple form it is applied to the Common Thornback, which
is the most valued of the tribe.

86

RAIA.

SKATES AND RAYS.

The disc approaching to the figure of a rhomb; the tail slender,
and furnished near its termination with two rounded dorsal fins; the
jaws crowded with teeth.

SKATES.

When the number of species in a recognised genus is considerable,
it has been found convenient to divide them into gronps, according to
some distinguishing marks, which are perhaps of less importance than
can be regarded as necessary to constitute a generic distinction, and yet
in which a certain number of those marks come together with the
absence of others. This has in fact been a leading principle in the
arrangements made by some eminent naturalists, and it is according
to it that I would make a separation in the Cuvierian genus Raia,
by which the Skates, properly so called, will be kept distinct from
those which are in common language more properly called Rays.
Among fishermen they are for the most part so distinguished on
account of their greater size, but the fact of magnitude would be
attended by too much uncertainty to be a proper mark of distinction,
and it is on other accounts unnatural. A better, because a more
decided and permanent mark is the colour of the under part of the
body, which in the proper Skates is dusky, arising from a large
number of ducts and pores, that appear through the skin in lines,
and cause it to appear of a dark grey tint. Their use is to pour
out mucus or slime, which renders the surface of the body soft and
slippery, and tends no doubt to their safety and comfort. In the
proper Rays pores of a like kind also exist, and the slime poured
out is abundant; in which they differ from their congeners the Sharks,
for in them the pores are not rendered visible by their colour, and
the colour of their under surface is in consequence pure white. I
therefore distinguish the former division, which comprises the Skates,
as a genus, under the ancient name of Batis; and which will be
sufficiently distinguished by joining to the characters of Raid, already
given, the addition, that the under surface is covered with dusky
lines and spots.

87

SKATE.

FLAIR. BLUE SKATE. GREY SKATE. TINKER.

Satis vulgar is,

Raia Satis,

Lcevis undulata, seu cinerea,
Skate, or Flair,

ii ii

La Raie Satis ,

Raia Satis,

(( ((

U «

Nobis.

Linnjeus. Cuvier.

Willoughby, p. 69, tab. C. 5, from a
dry skin.

Bloch, pi. 79.

Lacepede.

Risso. Fleming; Br. Animals, p. 171.
Jenyns; Manual, p. 510.

Yarrell; Br. Fishes, vol. ii, p. 561.

The Skate is one of our commonest fishes, and is found
on all the coasts of the British Islands, although it becomes
less abundant as we proceed towards the north. By its
flattened form it is well fitted for a residence at the bottom,
where it is usually met with on a soft or sandy ground at a
good distance from land; and from which it does not often
rise in the water, its motions when aloft being with evident
effort, by means chiefly of the pectoral fins, whilst the tail
and dorsal fins are rather employed in directing its course
than in urging it onward. Judging from the size of its
nerves of sensation, — as well of feeling, as of smell and taste,
and, it would appear, of hearing also, — -it is a fish of quick
impressions ; and accordingly it is reported by fishermen to
shew considerable choice in the selection of its food, and
from my own enquiry, much skill in supplying its appetites.
Sir John Daly ell found that a young Skate which he kept in
captivity would not feed on anything hut Whitings, and fish-
ermen are aware that they catch them in much larger numbers
when they bait their hooks with pilchards or herrings. But
although from what would appear to be the unfavourable
situation of its mouth and eyes, it might he supposed to find
a difficulty in satisfying the cravings of an eager appetite, it
yet evidently possesses powers that make up for whatever
exists of disadvantage. On examination of the stomachs ot

88

SKATE.

several examples, I have found in one a fishing frog, or
angler, that weighed upward of six pounds; in another two
large plaice; a lobster; a couple of mackerel; a thornback
ray, about eighteen inches in length; and half a salmon, the
piece appearing fresh, as if but lately devoured.

Bloch informs us that at the breeding-season, which is in
summer, each female is followed by several males, and that
the latter attach themselves so closely by the claspers, that
the capture of the former will often secure that of the latter.
The egg is contained in a purse, four or five inches long, of
a texture like leather, and oblong shape, with a short and
slender tendril at each corner, flexible like leather, and
brown, and with, at first, separate fibres that are easily peeled
off. They are shed in pairs, at apparently short intervals,
without being attached to any fixed body; but on one occa-
sion an intelligent fisherman reported to me a remarkable
departure from the usual course of proceeding, arising, it
cannot be doubted, from some abnormal structure or action
in the parent fish. On cutting open a fish of unusually large
size, he was surprised to find in the receptive organ a pair
of young ones, which were nearly twice the size of such as
have been newly excluded from the purse; and they appeared
perfect in all their parts, except that the eyes seemed to be
obscure. Aware of the extraordinary nature of the occurrence,
he sought further, when he discovered the purses also, en-
closed in the same organ, but in a very decayed condition.
It is clear that in this instance we have an example of internal
hatching of the egg, but without the power of excluding it
into life.

The instances that have been given of the power of the Blue
Shark to sustain injury are fully equalled by what is known
of this species; but a single instance may be thought sufficient
to establish the fact. In the month of July, when the warmth
of the season may be judged to have exerted some influence,
a large Skate was caught with a line at eight o’clock in the
evening, but it was not brought to land until the same hour
on the following morning; soon after which time the stomach
and entrails were cut out and removed. At three o’clock in
the afternoon the cavity of the chest was also cut open, and
in doing this the heart was deeply wounded, when it was

SKATE.

39

observed that the auricle of the heart, (or that part of it to
, which the blood is returned from the veins, before it again
enters the heart for a renewed circulation,) was in continual
action, although the other portion of that organ remained at
rest. At nine o’clock in the evening, and twenty-five hours
after its capture, this pulsation continued at the rate of five
throbs in a minute, and probably for several hours following;
thus also affording proof that the auricle is the last part
of the body to die, as it is believed to be the first to shew
signs of life. In other instances the heart has been removed
from the body, and in that condition the pulsations of its
muscular structure have continued for the space of twenty-
four hours.

The Skate is never the special object of the fisherman’s
search, and when it chances to take the hook it may give
him perhaps a greater amount of trouble than the prize can
repay. As if sensible of danger, it will lie as still as if the
line had got entangled with a rock; in which case the only
resource is patience, for an attempt to raise it from the ground
will only have the effect of causing it to remain more still.
If, however, the head be raised, the body will follow, and
the fish ascends like a kite into the air, the effort of the
fisherman being directed to gather in his line in such a
manner, so that the fish shall not be able again to turn its
head downward; which, if it did, no strength he could employ
would interrupt its descent.

The value of this fish as an article of food is very differently
thought of in different parts of this kingdom and of Europe.
Risso says it is not a common fish at Nice, but that it is
held in high estimation, and Lacepecle also speaks of it as a
delicacy. But the most favourable account is by Willoughby,
who records a remarkable instance, in which, owing probably
to excellent cookery and exquisite sauce, a single fish of this
sort, weighing two hundred pounds, dressed by the cook of
St. John’s College, in Cambridge, was found to have satisfied
the appetites of one hundred and twenty learned gentlemen.
Lacepede says that it is salted and dried for exportation in
many places, and particularly in Holstein and Slcswick, and
in that state it is sent to Germany for sale. In our own
country we have seen it, thus prepared, in the market at
VOL. I. O

90

SKATE.

Penzance. Fish of small size, as well of this as of some
other kinds belonging to the same family, are popularly called
Maids, and under this name are sometimes found in the
market. They are esteemed by fishermen, whether fresh or
salted; but those of full growth are purchased at a low price
by the crab and lobster fishermen for bait; and, if not so sold,
they are thrown aside for manure, for which purpose they
are of much value. A freshly caught Skate is good bait for
a crab, but it is most successful for a lobster, when it has
been kept long enough to have become stale.

The fish leech, f Hirudo muricata is more frequently
parasitic on this species than on any other of the family.

The body is in form of a rhomb or lozenge, rounded off
on the hind parts, from whence a slender tail tapers to the
end. The snout projects, and from thence the sides of the
disc slope away to the extremity of the expanded pectoral
fins : a line drawn from the extended borders of these fins
across the disc, passes considerably behind the middle of the
body. The mouth is on the lower surface, much behind the
snout, and capacious within ; the teeth numerous, in longitudinal
rows, thickly covering the jaws; the largest in the middle,
which are broad at the base, pointed, and with the points
directed inward. Nostrils lobed, and near the angle of the
mouth; gill openings five on each side, converging. Ventral
fins broad and flat, enclosing the vent. Eyes on the top of
the head, at the same distance from the snout as the mouth,
separate, and looking towards the sides ; a spiracle behind each
eye, communicating with the roof of the mouth. The caudal
portion slender, less than the length of the body, depressed, with
two rounded fins near the end. The body is often covered
with small prickles, and I have seen an example where even
the larger spines have been wanting, so that no dependence
can be placed on them as specific marks; but in general the
males have a larger number of these spines than the females.
They are usually furnished with a narrow border or bed of
them near the margin of the pectorals, and one (sometimes
three) imperfect rows on the middle of the back; the tail
possesses three rows, of which one passes along the middle
to the first dorsal fin, and the others run along the borders,
their points directed outward. The usual dimensions of this

SKATE.

91

fish, are, from the snout to the mouth one part to three and
three-quarters of its breadth, and less than one-fifth of its
whole length. The males, like the Sharks, are distinguished
by claspers attached to the ventral fins, hut they are larger
in proportion to the bulk of the fish. The colour of the
upper parts is dusky or grey, variously mottled; and in the
younger examples the tail is marked with rings of colour. It
often reaches the weight of a hundred pounds, and would
scarcely be thought extraordinary if of double that magnitude.

I have thought it proper, in my introductory remarks on
the newly-named genus, Batis, to direct attention to the
conspicuous mucous glands which characterize this division
of the great family of Plagiostomes ; and Monro has thought
them worthy of a separate chapter in his work on the
“Physiology of Fishes.5’ “In the Skate,” says he, “numerous
orifices, placed pretty regularly over the surface, have been
observed by Steno to discharge the slimy matter. With
respect to these last I have remarked some memorable circum-
stances. First, I have discovered one very elegant serpentine
canal between the skin and muscles, at the sides of the five
apertures into the gills. Further forwards it surrounds the
nostrils, then it passes from the under to the upper part of
the upper jaw, where it runs backwards as far as the eyes.
From the principal part of this duct in the under side or
belly of the fish, there are not above six or eight outlets f
but from the upper part near the eyes there are upwards of
thirty small ducts sent off, which open upon the surface of
the skin. The liquor discharged from these has nearly the
same degree of viscidity as the synovia in man. But besides
the very picturesque duct I have been describing, I have
remarked on each side of the fish, a little further forwards
than the foremost of the five breathing holes, a central part,
from which a prodigious number of ducts issue, to terminate
on almost the whole surface of the skin, excepting only the
snout or upper jaw. At these centres all the ducts are shut;
and in their course they have no communication with each
other. In these two central parts, or on the beginning of
the mucous ducts, a pair of nerves, nearly as large as the
optic, terminate; and, which is a curious circumstance with
respect to them, they are white and opaque in their course

92

SKATE.

between tbe brain and these ducts, but when they divide
they become suddenly so pellucid, that it is impossible to
trace them further, or to distinguish them from the coats of
the ducts. The mucus of these ducts is so extremely viscid
that it is difficult to squeeze it out.” The author further
remarks on the importance of this secretion of mucus to

the fish, that so much nervous energy as is shewn by the

magnitude of the nerves themselves, is required to preside
over its formation; and he might have added, that this
secretion appears to go on long after the death of the

creature, as it does also in some others of this family of

fishes; for it is in the experience of fishermen, that in pre-
serving them with salt for their subsistence in winter, to use
their own phrase, they take salt very slowly. It is found,
in fact, that a continued flow of this tenacious mucus will
prevent the actual application of the salt to the surface of
the skin, so that it becomes necessary to make incisions
into the flesh for the purpose of preserving it. Several days
will pass before this preserving process can be said to have
begun, in consequence of the interposition of this glairy fluid.
It is not improbable that the salt itself may act as a stimulus
on the ducts, and thus produce that continued flow of the
secretion which counteracts its own effects.

This fish is sometimes found with an irregular formation,
consisting of an interruption in the continuity of the outline
reaching from the snout along the anterior border of the
pectoral fin. Of such a one we give a figure, (page 96,) but
it is not, as has been supposed, when it has occurred on both
sides, the mark of a separate species.

PARASITE ON THE SKATE.
( ffiruda muricata.)

93

LONG-NOSED SKATE.

Rate museau jpointu, Raia acus, Risso.

Raia mucronata, Cornish Fauna, p. 25, but not the

references.

Couch’s M.S. in the Library of the
Linnsean Society.

“ Yarrell; Br. Fishes, vol. ii, p. 550.

“ acus , Gtray ; Catalogue of Br. Museum, p. 140.

It is a question whether this is not
the Raia oxyrhynchus major of
Willoughby, p. 71.

This species was not known to the older writers on natural
history, but in Risso’s “Icthyologie de Nice,” and in Dr. J. E.
Gray’s “Catalogue of the Fishes in the British Museum,” I
find a reference to Lacepede, who called it by the names
quoted from Risso. Still I do not find any mention of it in
my copy of Lacepede’s “History of Fishes,” dated in the
sixth year of the republic.

This species is less frequently taken than the Common
Skate, and not usually in the winter. The earliest I have
met with have been caught in April; and as also examples
of small size do not fall into the hands of fishermen, we may
suppose that their usual haunts are, with their parents, in
deep water. Fishermen report that when this fish has swallowed
the hook, it becomes more violent in its efforts to free itself
than the other species of this family. No further use is made
of it than to extract oil from its liver.

The length of an example of the ordinary size was four
feet seven inches, of which the tail measured sixteen inches;
the greatest breadth three feet and about an inch; and from
the snout to the mouth fourteen inches, the prominency of
the snout extending thus to a much greater length than is
found in any other of the British species of this family.

94

LONG-NOSED SKATE.

From the snout to the widest portion of the pectoral fin in
a straight line twenty-eight inches and a half, and along the
curve thirty inches, the snout being narrow as well as prom-
inent, and forming an acute angle backward to behind the
eyes, where it spreads suddenly wider; the greatest width
behind the middle of the disc. The eyes not large, and at
considerably more than half the distance from the snout to
the middle of the body. Behind the eyes there are obscure
spines; the mouth narrow; teeth sharp; nostrils lohed. The
body smooth, much depressed, and of a light lead-colour ; the tail
rather rough, with a row of large hooked spines on the border
on each side. Fins on the tail near each other, nearly the
length of one of them from the end. On the under side it
is spotted with dusky marks, as in the Common Skate. This
example was a female, and in all instances of this family the
males are more abundantly furnished with spines than the
females. The comparative proportions of this species, laid
by the side of the Common Skate and the Burton Skate,
which is another of this family with a protruded snout, are
found to he, that a Common Skate of five feet in length
measured eleven inches and a quarter, and a Burton Skate
of six feet in length one foot from the snout to the mouth;
when a fish of this species, of much less size, measu 1
between the same points, fourteen inches, thus extending to
more than one-third part of its greatest breadth, and more
than one-fourth of its whole length. In the Common Skate
the latter proportion is less than one-fifth, and of the Burton
Skate one-sixth.

FLAPPER SKATE.

Bails intermedia , Nobis.

Bala Intermedia, Parnell; in Yarrell’s Bi\ Fishes, vol. ii, p. 558.

Dr. Parnell, who had well studied the fishes of Scotland,
believed he had discovered or distinguished a new species of
Skate, that was specifically different from the common sort,
but which, at least by naturalists, had usually been confounded
with it. The people of that country were accustomed to call
it the Flapper Skate. His description of the characters by
which he would distinguish it are, — the upper surface perfectly
smooth, without granulations ; the anterior part of the orbit
of the eye having a strong spine pointing backwards; the
dorsal fins more distant from each other than in the Common
Skate, and the anterior margins of the pectoral fins more
concave, giving the snout a sharper appearance. Colour of
the hack a dark olive, spotted with white; the under surface
a dark grey. The specimens examined were young, as appears
from their small size, no one exceeding two feet in length.

With regard to these particulars of distinction, there are
some of them which can weigh hut little, for there are few
fishes which do not vary greatly in colour according to the
nature of their haunts; and all the young ones of this family
are . ornamented with more lively tints than those of greater
age, and also with a different distribution of the markings.
The number of spines on the body is not less liable to
variation, but the outline of the disc is more deserving of
attention. We give a figure of a fish which answers closely
to the description of the Flapper Skate given by Dr. Parnell,
except in such particulars as I know to be liable to variation
and uncertainty. Further observations will he required to
settle this question of identity. The habits of the Flapper

96

FLAPPER SKATE.

Skate, such as I know it, are much like those of the Common
Skate. It grows to about the same size, and the fishermen
in the West of England do not distinguish one from the other.

SKATE — MALFORMATION.

B U ETON

97

RAIA.

The generic characters differ from those of the genus Batis, only in
that the under portions of the body being of a pure white colour.

We assign no importance to the form of the teeth as a generic
character; since, within some limitations, they are found to differ ac-
cording to age, sex, and accident.

BURTON SKATE.

WHITE SKATE. SHARP-NOSED RAY. FRIAR SKATE. MAVIS SKATE.

Raici oxyrhynchus , Linnaeus. Jenyns; Manual, 511.

“ “ Fleming; Bi\ Animals, p. 171.

“ “ Yarrell; Br. Fishes, vol. ii, p. 556.

Raie oxyrinque, Lacepede and Risso.

Raia Lintea, Gray; Catalogue, Br. Museum,

p. 140, (after Muller and Henle.)

The name of the Burton Skate is believed to be derived
from a small fishing town in France, where this fish is held in
estimation; or at least the fishermen of that place were purchasers
of it in English ports.

This is a common species ; but as it keeps in deep water, it
is less frequently taken in winter. The young ones however
are caught occasionally in the shortest days, and consequently
remain nearer the land at that season. It is the latter only
that find acceptance at the fisherman’s table in England; and
Risso says that the full-grown fish is but indifferent food. But
it appears to be valued in France. Ray, in his Travels in the
year 1658, says that the people of that country were accustomed
to come to St. Ives, in Cornwall, to purchase this sort of fish;
and the same practice, with a little variation, has continued to
the present time. Fishermen inform me that it is this species
to which they give a preference; and they cover them with
moist sand, to give them the appearance of being newly caught.
This practice is contrary to the law in France; for as there is
a bounty paid in that country on the importation of fish, de-
signed for the encouragement of the fisheries, the object of this

VOL. I. P

98

BURTON SKATE.

payment is defeated when the fish, instead of being caught by
themselves, are purchased from foreign fishermen. The French
Government has more than once sent a ship to England, for
the purpose of detecting the offenders.

This is the largest of the British Bays. For, whilst its
measurement is often equal to that of the largest Common
Skate, its greater thickness causes it to be of heavier bulk.
The snout protrudes considerably; and the borders of it pass
backward in a slightly diverging form for three or four inches.
The outline of the anterior border of the disk thus becomes
more curved than in the generality of this family; since an
expansion takes place again nearly opposite the eyes, with a
second contraction before it spreads out to the full extent of
the pectoral fins. The widest portion is behind the centre.
Mouth considerably removed from the snout, armed with stout
sharp teeth; nostrils lobed. The eyes distant from the snout;
spiracles large, and close behind the eyes. The tail depressed;
having two fins near each other, and close to its end. Behind
the eyes are stout spines ; and at the border of the disk opposite
the eyes a row of crooked spines, the points directed backward.
A large longitudinal bed near the extremities of the pectorals;
three rows on the tail, that which runs along the middle passing
to some distance up the back; none of them placed close to
each other. On the under surface a row of crooked spines at
the border a little before the mouth. On a female I only find
the spines behind the eyes, and on the tail. Colour ash or
grey, with faint spots above; below white. Its claspers are
proportionally longer and stouter than in most of the British
species of Skates or Rays.

Inside view of Jaws of Thorn back Ray.

HO'ENBACK RAY.

99

THORNBACK RAY.

RAY-MAID.

Linnaeus. Willoughby; p. 74.

Bloch; pi. 83, but the tail too long.
Lacepede. Kisso.

Fleming; Br. Animals, p. 170.

J&nyns; Manual, p. 205.

Yarrell; Br. Fishes, vol. ii, p. 582.
Gray; Catalogue, Br. Museum, p. 136.

This is one of the commonest of the Rays, and the most
valued; as it affords a large amount of nourishment in a form
readily digested by the stomach. By fishermen accordingly it
is frequently reserved in a salted state, for the subsistence of
their families, at a time when the state of the weather forbids
them from following their employment at sea. It is best
preserved under heavy pressure ; as we are informed is also
the case with the Skate in some parts of Scotland; par-
ticularly in the Moray Firth. But, as we learn from Walter
Gregor, Esq., of Macduff, in the practice of that neighbourhood
the use of salt is dispensed with. Large stones are heaped upon
them in order to press out the juices; and the only attention
paid to it afterwards is, to secure it from rain and moisture.
The water in which either of these fishes has been boiled, em-
ployed as a bath, is in repute for the cure of the gout.

The Thornback is found in shallower water, and nearer land,
than most others of this family; and in consequence is taken
at all seasons. But its numbers are much lessened of late years ;
the cause of which is supposed to be the increased practice of
fishing with trawls; by which not only the young ones, too
small to be used as food, arc destroyed, hut the ground is torn
up, and the food on which the fish must subsist dispersed,
with the destruction of the shelter necessary for the perfection

Raia Clavata,

ii ii

Rale Souclee,
Raia Clavata ,

ii a

a a

a a

100

THORN BACK RAY.

of the egg s. A similar charge is laid against the trawl as re-
gards several other sorts of fish; and it is to he regretted that
what is otherwise a very valuable employment, and an excellent
nursery for sailors, cannot he followed without inflicting injury
on their brethren of the line and net; the opposite of which
might be the case if some regulations regarding the times and
distances of this sort of fishing were brought into action.

This species is particular in the selection of its food; so that
from being scarce it has become suddenly abundant on a change
of bait; the pilchard and herring being amongst its choicer
morsels; but it also feeds on crabs and other crustaceans in
great abundance.

It is sometimes known to come to the surface, even over a
considerable depth of water; and in the month of March fish-
ermen have noticed many at the distance of several miles from
each other, where the water has been more than thirty fathoms
in depth, stemming the tide without difficulty, but neglecting
the offer of a bait. The Common Skate has been seen near
the surface under the same circumstances; and it has been
supposed that this occasional habit is in some way connected
with the season of propagation. The egg cases are deposited
in succession in May and June ; and it has been remarked that
females are met with in greater numbers than males.

In an example three feet two inches in length, the tail
measured eighteen inches and the breadth twenty-eight inches;
the widest extent being behind the middle of the disk. The
snout short, to the eye five inches and a half ; the eyes separate,
and elevated; spiracles large. The mouth five inches from the
snout, with teeth rough at first, but generally flat like mosaic
pavement; nostrils lobed. Border of the body from the snout
at first rounded, then slightly concave to the extremity. Ventral
fins small; dorsal fins two, rounded, and near the end of the
tail. Body moderately thick, rough above, with large hooked
spines scattered over the surface, the embedded root of each
spine round and solid. Three rows of stout spines along the
tail, the middle one running up the back. Colour of the upper
surface, mottled with yellow, brown and dark, white below.
The tints of colour vary, and in younger examples what at last
appear mere blotches, are regular rings or waved lines. It is
common to find some stout spines on the under surface, and

THORN BACK RAY.

101

sometimes the skin is covered with evident roughness; a cir-
cumstance which has led some observers to suppose such exam-
ples to constitute separate species. I have also met with some
singular varieties, and of an opposite kind, which require notice
in this place. A male example, taken in comparison with
another of the same species, agreed with it in every particular,
except that its skin was altogether smooth, except a few rough
grains on the point of the snout, and the usual spines over
the eyes and on the border of the disk at the pectoral fins.
The usual roughness of the skin was altogether absent, and not
a single hooked spine existed otherwise on the body. The
colour was pale dusky brown, and not mottled, as is constantly
the case in ordinary examples; but having some fine longitudinal
lines. The liver was remarkably small, and black as if it had
been soaked in ink.

In another example, which in form also closely resembled the
common Thornback Ray, no hook or spine could be discovered,
except a row that passed from the head along the back and
down the middle of the tail; with none behind the eyes or on
the sides of the tail. Surface of the disk very rough, more
so than in the common examples of this Ray; the teeth flat as
in that fish, and in the centre of each tooth was a depression,
which was softer than at the border ; so that each separate
tooth resembled a wide ring. The surface of the disk was an
intense black, but near the head bordered with a lighter colour ;
and over the surface were scattered a few round spots of a
still darker colour.

I have not thought it necessary to regard these examples as
forming distinct species; principally because there are none
described by other observers, to which they can be referred;
the It. rubus of Linnaeus and other authors appearing to me to
be a very uncertain species; and the resemblance of form was
in all respects, except the particulars here given, like that of
the Thornback Ray.

102

THORNBACK RAY .

STASRI RAY-

XXI 1 1

STARRY RAY.

Fleming; Br. Animals, p. 170.
Donovan; Plate 114.

Yarrell; Br. Fishes, vol. ii, p. 585.
Jenyns; Manual, p. 517.

In the writings of the older authors on Natural History , several
species of Rays are mentioned as having the skin covered with
spines or prickles, as well below as above; but most of them
are described so imperfectly, that it has not been possible to
distinguish them generally one from another, or to know whether
they are more than accidental varieties. There can be little
doubt that the fish now known as the Starry Ray is one of
these uncertain kinds; but in our references we must be content
to confine our notice to writers of a late date; among whom
Donovan is to be distinguished for his figure, and Fleming,
Jenyns, and Yrarrell for the description. The likeness given
by Donovan appears to have been drawn from a newly-caught
example, and is to be viewed as highly characteristic. Mr.
Yarr ell’s figure is from a dried skin, which I remember to have
seen in that gentleman’s possession; and it is the only one which
I have had an opportunity of inspecting; for this fish is a
native of the more northern parts of the British Islands, and
has not been found in the south or west. In its shape it closely
resembles the Common Thornback, but it is to be distinguished
from it by the form of the spines, especially of their base ; and
in some measure also by the teeth, which are more sharp. In
the Thornback the hooked spines arise from a round and solid
base implanted in the skin; but in the present species the base
is formed of spreading rays. In the absence of a specimen we
copy the plate of Donovan, No. 114. The habits of this species,
as differing from those of its family it so much resembles, appear
not to have been observed.

Raid radiaia,

a a

ii ii

SPOTTED RAY.

HOMLIN. TAILY.

Jiaia oxyrinque,
“ miraletus.

“ maculata,
66 66

Lacepede.

Donovan; pi. 103, but without those
staring marks, from which this fish
has sometimes been called the Mirror
Day; as if they formed an essential
character, whicli is not the case.

Jenyns; Manual, p. 514.

Yarrell; Br. Fishes, vol. ii, p. 570.

It is surprising that so common and well-marked a species
as this, should have been so little known and distinguished by
writers; I therefore join with M. Jenyns in excluding from the
list of corresponding names those which perhaps have been
affixed to it ; but which by having been applied to other species
also, would only serve to increase the confusion. The con-
spicuous spots seen in Donovan’s figure, and also in that of
Mr. Yarrell, are far more frequently found on other species;
and I know only one, the R. miraletus , which I judge to be
the young condition of the Shagreen Hay, in which they form
an important character. Some marks of their younger condition
remain with the Spotted Hay, and also with the Thornback
Hay, through the first year of their growth; about which time
they measure about fourteen inches in length. The caudal
portion still remains proportionally longer than at a later period,
and the third lobe of the tail is still wide along the base,
which has not yet contracted as it is afterwards found. The
spines on the disk are fully formed, but of less size than
afterwards, and the markings in both these fishes are more
regular and beautiful, although of course differing in each; and
indeed they are rarely alike in any two individual fishes. In
the Thornback the disk is sprinkled with ocellated spots or

SPOTTED HAY.

105

rings, of a light yellow colour, with a dark margin; their
distribution having some degree of regularity on each side; but
in the Spotted Ray the marks consist of plain dark spots
regularly scattered; especially along the middle of the back and
tail. In the adult condition these marks have become broken
up in the Thornback, and irregular in the Spotted Ray; both
fishes having attained the adult condition when the tail has
become shortened at the end, and the third fin at its extremity
has disappeared.

The name of Sharp-nosed Ray is scarcely more appropriate
than that of Mirror Ray; since although in that respect it does
a little exceed the Common Thornback, with which at first
perhaps the comparison was made; yet there are others of the
tribe which possess a much more protruded snout.

Lacepede quotes from some unmentioned author the name of
Rciia mucosa; and in confirmation of its meaning I learn that
its surface is so covered with slime, and remains in that con-
dition so long after the fish is dead, that for several days salt
cannot be effectually applied to the skin, so as to preserve the
fish for future use; and incisions in the surface are therefore
made to secure that effect.

The example selected measured three feet nine inches in
length, of which the tail was eighteen inches; the breadth
thirty-two inches. The snout short, and from thence a small

sweep and curve to the extremities of the pectoral fins. The

eye is six inches from the snout; spiracles large, and close

behind the eyes. Tail depressed; two rounded fins near its

end, the first a little overlapping the second. The teeth small,
numerous, and pointed. Surface of the body rough, the rough-
ness caused by fine spines, which have radiated bases; those
passing along the back rather the largest. No spines behind
the eyes; three rows, with a few others scattered about, on the
tail. Colour above dusky, thickly covered with round dark
spots of the size of a pea; the under surface smooth, and a
pale white.

I have seen, and closely examined, an example which ex-
actly resembled this species, but which was all over roug*h
below as well as above, and having here and there a more
elevated crooked spine, answering to each other on the opposite
sides of the body. There were spines also behind the eyes;

VOL. I. Q

106

SPOTTED RAY.

the smaller spines, but not the larger, having a radiated base.
It was a female ; the teeth flat, as in the Thornback, each tooth
being an exact square, with an angulated corner. This would
be the Raia rubus of authors; but it appeared to me to he
only a variety of the Spotted Ray.

The Spotted Ray exceeds the Thornback in weight when of
the same size; and one of these fishes is equally common, and
by fishermen equally valued, as the other. But the Spotted
Ray usually is found nearer the shore, and its purses are shed
in such shallow water, as to he often thrown on shore, with
their precious burthen within them by the storms of winter.
The purse is smaller than that of the Thornback, although the
parent fish is of somewhat larger size; and I have obtained the
young from the purse from November to January, the length
at that time being about five inches, of which the tail was
two inches and three -eighths ; the breadth three inches; with
the spines even then developed.

Nostrils of young Spotted Ray.

107

PAINTED RAY.

SMALL-EYED KAY.

Fleming; Br. Animals, p. 171.

Jenyns; Manual, p. 515.

Yarkell; Br. Fishes, vol. ii, p. 567.

Gray; Catalogue Br. Museum, p. 109.

The length of a specimen was thirty-three inches and a
half, of which the tail measured thirteen; breadth twenty -four
inches. The eyes three inches asunder, and five and a half
from the snout. In general form it resembles the Thornback.
Along the tail is a border on each side, like a membranous
fin; the two fins separate, the hindmost an inch from the end.
Eyes very small, spiracles large. The body covered with
rough grains, but without spines, except that a row runs
along two-thirds of the length of the back, and on the
middle of the tail to the fins; an irregular row of hooked
spines along each side of the tail. Nostrils with a prominent
expanded membrane. Width of the mouth three inches; teeth
flat, like those of the Thornback.

There is much beauty in the distribution of the colour. The
upper surface is a light grey, with a line of lighter colour
from the back along the tail, enclosing the central row of
spines; and the disk is regularly divided, first by three lines
enclosing each other, passing from near the eye circularly to
near the expansion of the pectoral fins, with the convexity inward,
and consequently the shortest line nearest the border. On the
hindward border of the pectorals are two other lines, which pass
from behind the expansion circularly to the neighbourhood of
the abdominal fins, the convexity also being inwards. Within
these segments are several brown spots and streaks, and a
few whitish spots, answering to each other on both sides; and

Raia microcellata ,

66 66

66 66

108

TAINTED KAY.

the extreme border of the pectorals behind their greatest ex-
pansion, as also the abdominal fins and margin of the tail,
are edged with white. The under part of the body is white
and smooth.

Another example differed considerably from the former in
the nature and distribution of its colours, which were still
more beautiful. The ground colour was a brilliant yellow,
marked with numerous gyrations, which were lyre-shaped,
each side of the disk answering to the other, these gyrations
being formed of a dark line, margined on each side with a
series of pale yellow spots, like beads. This was a male, but
the first-named, caught at the end of January, was a female,
with eggs of full growth. About the same date in another
season, I obtained a young example from a purse which had
been washed, on shore in a storm, and which was so far de-
veloped that about half the substance of the egg had been
absorbed into the body. It was beautifully marked over the
surface, and, as there were some particulars in which it differed
from what is usually seen in very young specimens of most
of the species of this family, I add a more minute description.
The length was five inches, of which the tail measured three
inphes and a line; breadth two inches and two lines; from
the posterior edge of the hindmost dorsal fin to the end of
the tail six lines. The head well armed in front and round
the anterior portion of the disk, and also on the top of the
head; a line of spines down the back and tail, from opposite
the third gm orifice; a stout spine on each side of the back,
at a little behind the space opposite the hindmost gill orifice.
The tail stout and greatly tapering, the sides with a border,
and rather wide membrane along the middle of the under
side. The hindmost caudal fin extended back in a thin mem-
brane to the extremity, where the termination tapers finely,
and shews much active motion and sensibility of feeling. The
colour of the body is pale yellowish brown, regularly lyrated
on each side and towards the borders. The caudal portion is
towards the end marked with broad bars. Some spines were
visible that were not yet through the skin. Although not yet
fully developed, it continued alive in water for eight days.
Another example, also in an early stage of development, had
the spines . on., the .snout and border, of the pectorals, with

PAINTED KAY.

109

beautiful lines and gyrations on the disk. It appears that the
young ones of Kays in general are without the claspers.

That this fish is less rare than has been supposed appears
from the fact, that on another occasion, in the month of April,
I saw several of them that had been drawn on shore in a
ground scan on different days. They were not of the full
size, and a male fish among them was marked in the same
manner as the female I have described. This species has not
hitherto been taken anywhere but on the south coast of Devon
and Cornwall, and only twice, that I am aware of with a
line; the reason of which appears to be that it is more select
in its food than most others of the family. It was found to
be equal to the Thornback for the table.

Young Painted Pay and Egg.

BORDERED RAY.

jRaia marginata,

66 66

Haie petit musean,
H. rostellata ,

Jenyns; Manual, p. 512.

Yarrell; Br. Fishes, vol. ii, p. 564, the figure
from a dry skin.

Gray; Cat. of Br. Museum, p. 138.

Bisso.

The length of the specimen was eleven inches and a half,
of which the body, to the origin of the caudal portion, was
six inches and a half; the greatest breadth nine inches. The
snout projects, slender; and, from it to the extremities of the
pectoral fins, the border is much waved. Eyes five-eighths of
an inch asunder, and one inch and six-eighths from the snout.
Spines in front of the eyes, and in three rows along the tail,
long, and sharp. Dorsal fins near each other, and not close
to the end of the tail. Colour pale yellow, white below; but
what has rendered this fish remarkable, and given it a name,
is a very dark or black border which passes round the disk,
both below and on the upper side, from about the middle
of the body to the hinder part of the pectoral fins.

I am indebted to the kindness of William Thompson, Esq.,
of Weymouth, for a specimen of this fish, w'hich lays claim
to the distinction of being regarded as a separate species ;
and the best account I am able to give of it, is contained in
the letter of that gentleman, which accompanied the gift. “The
Marginata Kay,” says he, “is rather plentiful in Portland
Roads, on a sandy bottom, and is caught both in seans and
trawls. It is a shallow water species, and at present I have
never heard of one exceeding fifteen inches. The fishermen
here will have it to be the young of some other species, but
can give no reasons. It is, however, taken all the year round,

BORLiERKD RAY.

XXVI

1

■

v • W V i

r : ■; ' v; :

•-

'

• r

\

>

BORDERED RAY.

Ill

and all are nearly of tlie same size. The Margined Ray
prefers sandy bays, partially landlocked, and not very deep
water;” from which cause it is more frequently caught in the
sean than in the trawl, the fishing with which is at a greater
distance from land. I learn from a later communication of
Mr. Thompson, that the Bordered Ray has of late become much
more scarce near W eymouth, if not altogether disappeared.

Besides its small size, there are on the disk of this fish
numerous marks of blood-vessels, and perhaps nerves, which
are usually to be discerned in the young of the various kinds
of Rays, and in them only. I feel therefore strongly inclined
to adopt the opinion of the fishermen, even although it may
be opposed to that of so good an observer as Mr. Thompson,
and of such other able naturalists as have taken the other
side of the question. The only difficulty I feel is in assign-
ing it to any other recognised species, of which the Burton
Skate is the only one to which it bears a near resemblance.
That the black border exists in different degrees in different
individuals or situations, appears probable from a comparison
of the figures given by Risso with those of Mr. Yarrell, and
our own ; and it is also probable that it is a local colour
derived from particular food, or some special character of the
ground, disappearing altogether in the further growth of the
individual, which then also may change its haunts for some
at a greater distance. No example has yet been discovered
in the condition of producing eggs, which circumstance will
still further tend to strengthen the opinion of its being the
young condition of another species.

CUCKOO RAY.

Raid miraletus,

Nobis.

This well-marked species lias been overlooked or mistaken
by many naturalists, in consequence of its having been char-
acterized chiefly by a mark which, more obscurely is often
shared by other kinds of Rays, to which it has given a dis-
tinguishing name; and the mark itself having thus been found
to lead to mistake, the conclusion has been rashly adopted
that it is of no use as a distinction; and that the fish which
most commonly and conspicuously is adorned by it, is furnished
with no other character to constitute it a distinct species. It
is on account of this that I shall describe the kind of Ray
known to fishermen as the Cuckoo Ray, at greater length
than I should otherwise do, and particularly in reference to
the species called the Shagreen Ray, and another, named
by Mr. Yarrell the Sandy Ray, with either of which it may
be confounded, and from the latter of which especially it is
necessary to distinguish it.

The length of an example of the ordinary size, selected
for description, was twenty inches, of which the tail measured
twelve inches, and the breadth across the disk fifteen inches.
The teeth very numerous, crowded, sharp, and hooked. The
anterior outline of the disk waved; the snout moderately
projecting; eyes remarkably prominent. Surface of the disk
covered with fine, thin, hooked prickles. The tail stout at
its origin, tapering posteriorly, with two fins near its end.
Spines on the snout, a row round each eye, and four short
rows behind the spiracles; two rows begin high on the back
and run along the middle of the tail, with a depressed or
channeled space between them: five rows in all run along

V 9 0 P
0 v 9 V 9 '■

P 7 ? / P

CUOKO'O RAY.

CUCKOO RAY.

113

each side of this middle space, and a great many smaller
spines are scattered on the border. Some spines also near
the border of the pectoral fins. The colour pale yellow, and
on each side of the disk a well-marked spot of the size of
a half-crown; the ground of which black, with defined bright
yellow lines or patches.

In another example I found even the fins on the tail
covered with a roughness, arising from fine granular spines.
The larger spines also were of a fine texture, with a tendency
to radiation at their base. A larger specimen, measuring a
little more than three feet in length, and which was a female,
resembled the above description in most of the particulars,
but bore no mark of the beauty-spots on the disk; the tail
also was less furnished with prickles on its sides; and, instead
of a triangular bed of spines near the head, as in the others,
there was one short line of spines, with a single spine on
each side of it. Colour of the surface uniformly ash.

The species here described makes a near approach to that
which is represented in Mr. Yarr ell’s “History of British
Fishes,” vol. ii, page 574, under the name of R. radula ; but
in some particulars the latter differs essentially, as we shall
shew when we describe the true Sandy Bay of Cornish
fishermen. But it makes even a nearer approach to the
species known as the Shagreen Bay; and in the absence of
the conspicuous spots on the disk, which, from our description
of the large female example, appears to be sometimes the
case, there appears to be no way of distinguishing between
them, than by the texture of the skin and form of the spines ;
the former being covered with an uniform blunt roughness,
while in the latter the surface is studded with elevated sharp
prickles. The spines on the tail also, are, in the Cuckoo
Bay, longer and more slender.

This fish is usually found in sheltered bays, and, although
of rather small size, it is esteemed as food. The eggs are
deposited in December, yet in July I have seen it with eggs,
some of which seemed almost ready to be shed.

YOL. I.

E

114 CUCKOO KAY.

SANDY RAY.

XXVIII

115

SANDY RAY.

OWL.

liaia circularise Loudon; Magazine of Natural History, new series,

vol. ii.

“ “ Couch; Cornish Fauna, p. 53.

I can scarcely refer to Mr. Yarrell’s figure for this species,
as it hears some characters which I am not able to identify.
The Sandy Hay is a common species, at least in the west of
England, but it is more rarely caught in the winter, perhaps
because fishermen do not go at that season to the places it
frequents, which are in deep water at a considerable distance
from land. It is probable also that it changes its quarters
according to the season, for the earliest I have known in the
spring have been found at twelve leagues from land. It is
disregarded as food, for which the reason assigned is, that it
does not readily receive the salt for preservation.

The example selected for description measured three feet
eight inches in length, of which the tail was nineteen inches;
in breadth two feet four inches and a half; projection of the
snout three-fourths of an inch. The mouth distant from the
snout six inches, three inches and a half wide; under jaw
peaked in the middle; the teeth slender, sharp, in rows not
closely placed; nostrils lobed. Anterior margin of the disk
slightly waved, and assuming a circular form, especially rounded
off at its greatest breadth, which is at about the middle of
the disk. From the snout the ridge is elevated to the eyes,
a distance of five inches and a quarter; the eyes two inches
apart; spiracles large. The body is thickest posteriorly; tail
stout at its origin, rounded above, and tapering ; a groove
along the body and tail; two fins on the latter, close together.

116

SANDY RAY.

A few spines near the end of the snout, a line of them behind
each eye, five short parallel rows on the middle of the back,
the middle row continued obscurely along the groove to the
tail, which is covered with stout hooks, scarcely in regular
lines ; the rest of the body smooth. Colour above an uniform
reddish brown, white below. On the disk a variable number
of oscellated spots, the size of the section of a large pea;
the centre yellow, the border a deeper impression of the
colour of the ground, I have counted eight up to sixteen
of these spots in different examples, and believe they have
no certain number, but they are always situated on each
side of the disk in corresponding regularity. I have never
found them absent, nor have I ever found the remarkable
beauty-spot, which is so common on several species of this
family, and forms so conspicuous an ornament on the Cuckoo
Ray, on this fish.

117

SHAGREEN RAY.

ROUGH FLAPPER. FRENCH RAY. DUN COW.

Raid aspera nostras,
“ fallonica,

“ aspera,

“ chagrined,

Willoughby; p. 78.

Linnaeus. Yarrell; Br. Fishes,
vol. ii., p. 578.

Fleming; Br. Animals, p. 172.
Jenyns; Manual, p. 513.

This species appears to be more frequently taken on the coasts
of Scotland than on the south or west portions of the British
Islands; but it has been obtained in Ireland; and in Devon-
shire. Mr. William Thompson informs me of its occurrence at
Weymouth, and our figure is from an example caught on the
south coast of Cornwall; but in the last-named districts it is
of rare occurrence. Its peculiar habits, as distinguished from
those of other Rays, appear to have been little noticed; but
we believe it will be found that the rarer species of this tribe
are not so scarce as they are supposed to be; and that they
are not more frequently caught, arises from the fact, that the
usual baits of fishermen are not suited to their appetite. The
snout of this fish projects considerably, and the outline is waved
as it proceeds to the extremities of the pectoral fins; the greatest
breadth being behind the middle of the disk. The ventral fins
are rather narrow; the tail stout and tapering, with two dorsal
fins close together near its termination. Eyes rather large, as
are the spiracles close behind them. The skin is covered with
granulations, which differ greatly from the spines or prickles
which sometimes cover the skin of the Thornback Ray or Cuckoo
Ray. Our example being a male is better armed with spines
than the female may be supposed to be. A row encircles each
eye; a lengthened bed of them is on the disk near the widest
expansion of the pectoral fins; a line of spines more obscurely
YOL. I. S

118

SHAGHEEN RAY.

situated at the origin of the back; and a double row of stout
spines, with recurved points, runs from about the origin of the
ventral fins along the tail to the dorsal fins; in the example
described, to the second dorsal. These lines of spines are sepa-
rate at first, and the surface rounded between them, but they
become closer as they proceed. In a female there was the
absence of the bed of spines near the borders of the pectorals;
but there was a superior amount of roughness at those parts,
and from the snout along the anterior border. In the Cuckoo
Ray the skin is generally smooth, and the bed of spines behind
the head triangular; the spines also being more sharp and
slender than in the Shagreen Ray. The ornamental spots so
conspicuous in the Cuckoo Ray are also absent.

In a communication from the Rev. Walter Gregor, of Mac-
duff, on the Moray Firth, he informs me that he has only
seen one example of the Shagreen Ray in that neighbourhood;
which was caught with a line at the depth of thirty fathoms, in
the month of February. The total length was two feet eight
inches and a half, of which the tail was one foot five inches.
The breadth was one foot two inches and a half. When on
the beach it threw up its snout and tail almost perpendicularly,
at the same time lifting also the pectoral fins.

119

TORPEDO.

The disk in shape approaches to the circular form, and is plump and
soft; the anterior border, unlike other Rays, formed of two slight ad-
vances in front, with a small retraction between them. The caudal
portion short and stout, ending in a tin which has a lobe below and
above. The plump space between the head branchiae and pectoral
fins, is occupied by the electrical apparatus; the nature of which has
rendered this genus of fishes famous. The surface is smooth; two
dorsal fins.

TORPEDO.

CRAMP RAY. TURPAENA. NUMBFISH. ELECTRIC RAY.

Wherever this fish has been found it could not fail to
attract attention, by the experience it compelled its observers
to obtain of the wonderful faculty which it possesses of affecting
with numbness those who handle it — a circumstance which in
ancient times must have appeared among the most unaccountable,
as it still is amongst the most surprising occurrences of nature.
We find accordingly that the Torpedo and its properties are
mentioned by the earliest philosophers, whose writings have
been preserved ; and from them,* or popular knowledge, it ob-
tained a name which shews that the nature of its influence had
been not obscurely felt. It was from the first called Narke,
and, says Oppian, —

“Is rightly named from numbing pain;”

and how generally this knowledge of its powers was spread
abroad appears from a declaration of iElian, B. 9, C. 14; who
tells us that he received the account of its properties from his
mother, whilst yet a child.

In the year 1774, Sir John Pringle selected this as an ap-
propriate subject for an oration on the occasion of delivering
the Copley Medal to Mr. Walsh, in acknowledgment of that

120

TORPEDO.

gentleman’s experiments on the vital properties of this fish; and
we shall be indebted to his narrative and explanation for a large
portion of what we shall relate of its early history; but with
a larger reference to several other authors who have treated
upon it. The first writer mentioned by Pringle is Hippocrates,
who, however, only notices it as an article of food; although,
as has been justly remarked, by calling it by its significant
name, it is shewn that he could not have been unacquainted
with its reputation of possessing singular powers. Plato had a
like general knowledge of its nature; as is proved by a com-
parison he causes Menon to make, of his master Socrates to
this fish. Aristotle, whose study of nature had drawn him further
than any other into an acquaintance with the habits of living
beings, and the services their properties secured to themselves,
informs us of its habit of lying hid, and employing its peculiar
powers for the purpose of benumbing such fishes as might
wander near it, and thus satisfying the cravings of appetite.
It is probable, from his well-known disposition to inquire into
the nature of whatever of interest might fall in his way, that
himself had examined this fish, although perhaps only after
death; and he must have felt assured from his inquiries, that
it truly possessed the properties ascribed to it; for he remarks
as something worthy of notice, that so active a fish as the
Mullet had been found in the stomach of so sluggish a creature
as the Narke. But this eminent philosopher does not appear
to have known, or perhaps fully credited, some of the particular
facts reported of it; and it was his successor, Theophrastus,
who ascertained that the fish was able, when touched by a
rod or staff, to diffuse its influence to an object at some distance
from itself. This we learn from Athenaeus, who informs us
also that Diphilius, of Laodicea, discovered the important fact,
doubted by others, that the powers of the creature proceeded
only from a limited portion of its body; to which Hero of
Alexandria added the observation, that metals were capable of
conveying the influence in the same manner as a rod or staff.

Plutarch should be mentioned next to Hero, since, although
probably he did not originally discover it, he is the first to men-
tion the circumstance — that the numbing influence had been
known to pass through a net to the arms of the fisherman ; and he
affirms, what is more fully mentioned by vElian and other writers,

TORPEDO.

121

that if a living fish he placed in a vessel of sea-water, a stream
of that water poured on the hand or foot will convey the
influence.

Pliny, whose intention it was to bring into a small and con-
venient compass the whole of the current knowledge of his
age, several times mentions the properties of this fish; which,
as commander of the Roman fleet on the coast of Italy, he
must have seen; but the chief part of wdiat he has handed
down to us is copied from other writers. He says, it is to be
classed among the cartilaginous fishes, and in its habits shews
a consciousness of its peculiar powers; although these powers do
not exert an influence on its own body. During the winter
it lies hid in some depression at the bottom of the sea, and
at other times conceals itself in a soft and muddy place, where
it awaits the approach of any fish, which it strikes with the
shock when it is off its guard, and then immediately darts upon
and seizes it. In addition to what others have said of the
numbing influence passing to a distance through a rod or staff,
and of inflicting deadness on the most vigorous arm, he adds,
that it is able to rivet to the ground the feet of any one, how-
ever otherwise active in the race. He goes on to state, that
the female produces fourscore young ones at a birth, at the
(we suppose autumnal) equinox; and from the manner in which
he speaks of the eggs, it would appear that he believed the
young to be produced alive: a circumstance in which later
observation shews him to have been mistaken. It remained
for Oppian to embody the several observations made by others
in his poem on fish and fisjhing; a work in which w'e can
discover the observer of nature, even when the facts related
are in great part founded on the authority of more ancient
writers. I will remark, however, that he mentions a circum-
stance that is overlooked or misapprehended by his poetical
translator; but which is important as shewing his knowledge
of the fact, that the torporific power was seated in a particular
part of its body: —

“The Cramp fish, when the (hook’s dread) pain alarms,

Exerts his conscious skill and powerful arms,

Applies his loins, and bids the line receive
The numbing -force it is his will to give.

The flowing influence its volume rears,

Rolls up the slender length of slippery hairs.

122

TORPEDO.

Then clown the rod with easy motion glides,

And entering in the fisher’s hand subsides.

On every joint an icy stiffness steals,

The flowering spirits binds, and blood congeals.

In vain he tries to grasp the sinking rod,

And all his fishing-tackle strews the sod.”

B. 3.

At a time when sea and land were ransacked for remedies
to cure the various diseases that flesh is heir to, it would have
been surprising if the wonderful powers of this fish had not
been resorted to ; but as a very large proportion of the medical
practice of that age was in the hands of those who held them-
selves out to the public as magicians, and, to use the language
of the present day, were at least irregular practitioners of the
art of medicine; with whom things the most strange and un-
accountable in their effects were thought the most highly of,
there is some reason to suppose that the first attempts to turn
this energy to use had their origin with them. On this subject
we are indebted again to Pliny for most of the information
we possess; for recording which, and many others of the pre-
vailing beliefs that had currency among his people, he has been
severely condemned, as if he gave credit to the whole. I am
of opinion, however, that even a small amount of reflection will
prove sufficient to relieve him from the general charge of credulity
so commonly brought against him.

At the time when the Roman empire was in its highest
grandeur, the larger number of the physicians practising their
profession in the city were foreigners, and chiefly from Egypt,
a country which then continued to hold the highest reputation
for the study of physic and the science of nature; but there
does not appear to have existed there, and still less at Rome,
any test by which the impudent pretender might be distin-
guished from the scientific physician; and consequently the
boldest assurance might well calculate on achieving the greatest
success. A single cure effected on a man of eminence, however,
fortuitously obt?dned, was sufficient to bring a fortune to a
physician; and the more wonderful the means employed, the
greater was believed to be the skill of him who used them.
The rational science of Galen or Celsus was less regarded
than that laid claim to by one who could employ the secrets of
magic and astrology; and where no one was able to disprove

TORPEDO.

123

them on grounds which ignorant men of power and wealth
could understand, to have omitted the mention of such matters,
in a work intended to represent the full extent of knowledge
then existing in the world, would have been to render himself
exposed to a reproach not less severe than, though the reverse
of, that so often in modern times brought against him.

But as regards many of the instances of a strange and now
incredible kind to which Pliny has given a place in his work,
and especially those concerning the Torpedo, he is careful to
express or imply his doubts, although as a faithful copyist he
feels himself bound to transcribe them. In addition then, to
the information, that the local application of this fish was a
remedy for some obscure disease of the spleen, we will only
adduce one instance of the accepted practice of the magical
physicians of that age, reported to us by this writer. It was
important that the fish should be caught when the moon was
in the celestial sign Libra, and that it should be kept in the
open air for three days. If after this it were simply brought
into the room where a woman was in the state of parturition,
it would secure her speedy safety; and it would appear that it
might thus be carried from one patient to another with equal
success.

The first physician of real abilities who directed his attention
to the study of the medical properties of this fish was Galen;
who prescribed the application of the living fish to cases of peri-
odical headache with much success ; and we learn also from Scri-
bonius Largus, quoted by Matthiolus in his Commentary on
Dioscorides, that a freedman of Augustus Caesar was relieved
or cured of a fit of the gout by the same means. But it is
not a little remarkable, and suggests some doubt of this sup-
posed instance, that this case, which from the eminent station
of the patient, must have been widely talked of, was not known
to Pliny or Celsus ; careful as the former has shewn himself to
have been to collect all the information on every subject then
attainable, and well acquainted, as he may be supposed also
to have been, with all that was of interest connected with the
court of Augustus. And how little the true nature of this
remedial influence continued to be understood, appears from
the writings of Paulus iEgineta, himself a physician of emi-
nence; but who knew so little of the source of this powerful

124

TORPEDO.

emanation, that he gives the prescription of an application,
called Torpoena from a then common name of the fish, which
was to he kept ready prepared for use. It was formed by
boiling the flesh of the Torpedo in oil until its whole substance
was dissolved and mingled with it. That even Galen supposed
the existence of some of its properties after death is rendered
probable by his remark, that when used as food it rendered
the body dull and stupid.

For more than a thousand years such was the extent of the
knowledge of nature possessed even by those who were the
most intimately acquainted with its phenomena; and it was only
when the properties of electricity had become the subject of
experiment, that any further light was thrown on the peculiar
powers of this fish. The discovery in a distant land of a fish
of a very different species, but vdiich was endued with similar
faculties, had given a new impulse to inquiry; and it was then
recollected that the powers of the Torpedo had never been
closely studied. Redi, an Italian physician, was among the
first to make remarks on the living fish, and Mr. Walsh the
most successful of those who instituted experiments; and it is
with a short account of these, accompanied with an abstract
of the anatomical examinations of the illustrious John Hunter,
as contained in the Lectures of Professor Richard Owen, that
we shall close our history of these properties of the Torpedo.

Redi says, that in order to satisfy himself of the certainty
of the things reported about this fish, he repeated his observa-
tions on more than one example; but more particularly on a
female of the weight of fifteen pounds, which had been caught
for his use, and brought to him directly from the sea. As
soon as he had grasped it with his hand, the hand and arm
up to the shoulder began to suffer a creeping sensation, as if
emmets were passing over it, accompanied with a trembling
so irksome, and increasing to such sharp and tormenting pain
at the point of the elbow, that he was compelled to remove
his hand from the fish ; and when he again attempted to grasp
it the painful sensations returned. He remarked, however, that
as the vital powers of the fish decreased, its power of inflicting
pain and trembling also grew less.

This fish continued alive for three hours, and on dissection
its heart was found to beat for seven hours afterwards; but

TORPEDO.

125

he remarked that after death no other sensation proceeded from
it than might come from any other fish. Redi made the trial
of placing his hand in the water in which the fish lay, but
without feeling any inconvenience ; as might be expected if the
fish were not irritated. This author detected the existence of
what we now know to be the electric organs; but he failed
to understand their mode of operation, and supposed the columns
to be of the nature of muscles.

The operations of Mr. Walsh were conducted under more
favourable circumstances, in consequence of the discoveries that
had been lately made in the science of electricity. The sub-
stance of them was, that the fish possessed the power of accu-
mulating in its electrical organs a considerable amount of that
fluid, much in the same manner as it is accumulated in the
instrument called the Leyden phial; so that while one of its
surfaces, the back, was in the positive condition, the belly was
negative; and the equilibrium could be restored by the inter-
position of water, metals, or the human body. Besides the degree
of pain and numbness inflicted by this voluntary discharge on
the part of the fish, under the influence of its will or passion,
its violence can be judged by what is reported by Lacepede:
that a duck was presently killed by being exposed to the shock.
In Mr. Walsh’s experiment a Torpedo was laid on a table,
where it rested on a wet napkin. Five persons, insulated, or
separated from any connection with a conducting substance,
stood round another table; and two brass wires, each thirteen
feet long, were suspended by silk strings from the ceiling of
the room. One of these wires rested by one of its ends on the
wet napkin, and the other end was immersed in a basin of
water placed on a second table; on which stood four other
basins, also full of water. The first person placed a finger of
one of his hands in the water in which the wire was immersed,
and a finger of his other hand in the second basin; and so on
successively until all the five persons were brought into com-
munication with one another by means of the water in the
basins. One end of the second wire wras dipped into the last
basin of water, and with the other end Mr. Walsh pressed the
back of the fish; at which instant the whole of the five per-
sons were affected with the shock. Nothing could have been more
decisive, even if the electric machine had been itself employed.

VOL. I.

T

1 26

TORPEDO.

These electric organs are two-fold, and one of them is lodged
on each side of the head and gills. They are formed of very
numerous perpendicular pyramids, the ends of which are covered
by the integuments clothing the back and under part of the
body. Each column appears like a mass of clear jelly, but on
close examination it is seen to he formed of membranous plates,
fastened at their margins to a case or capsule; and each one
separated from the next by a small quantity of albuminous fluid.
Each cell thus formed has its own separate lining, and the
covering which encloses the whole forms the seat on which the
blood-vessels and nerves, supplying this organ with their special
fluids, are spread abroad, before they enter to execute their
specific functions. The blood conveyed thither is of the purest
kind, and the nerves are such as are well fitted to convey a
very large supply of their proper influence; the first four of
them being as large as the spinal cord itself, from which all
the other functions of animal life are bestowed on the body.
As no other special function resides in the pectoral fins, and
the general perceptions of the Torpedo are dull and inactive,
it is to be concluded that these nerves supplying the electric
organs are formed thus large, for the sole purpose of conveying
the required energy from the nervous centre, where it is pre-
pared, to the mass of cells; the proper function of which is to
accumulate and retain it, until the instinctive feeling of the
fish shall cause it to be discharged, either as a weapon of
defence, or to supply its need, in the disabling and capture of
its prey.

The ancients possessed hut little discrimination in detecting
the smaller differences which mark the distinction between
nearly allied species of any kind of creatures; and they were
further prevented from assigning to those differences any im-
portant value from the general opinion of philosophers, that
variations from a known type of form were to be ascribed to
a kind of bastardy, arising from the indiscriminate conjunction
of the sexes of kindred kinds. It is in modern times only
that the last-named supposition has been judged unsound; and
we owe it to naturalists of late date that we are able to assign
what is known of the variations of the Torpedo, as it is found
in the seas of Europe, to two separate species, with the pro-
bability that there may also be a third.

TORPEDO.

m

At first the attempt to apportion to those supposed species
their true distinctive characters was built upon an attention to
the remarkable spots, usually five in number, which are often
placed in regular order on the surface of the disk; the absence
or orderly arrangement of which was supposed to constitute
the definite mark of a species. But it has been found by
observation that in fishes in other respects closely resembling
each other, these spots, as well as the general colour of the
surface, are exceedingly liable to vary; and that in many cases,
and especially in those found on our own coasts, they are usually
found wanting; and it is further said that they commonly do
not occur in young examples. More extended inquiry may
shew that when they occur these spots are more frequent in
one species than another, or that when present their arrange-
ment may be specific; but these particulars, so far as they are
now known, are attended with so much uncertainty that, setting
all others aside, I shall confine myself to a single one, which,
in our present state of knowledge, appears the least liable to
uncertainty; and according to which I form the following ar-
rangement of references: —

Cramp Bay, with a fringed border to the spiracles, the fringes
described as from six to ten in number.

Torpedo narke,

“ vulgaris,

66 66

66 66

66 66

66 66

66 66

Male Torpille ,

Cuvier.

Jonston; Tab. 9, f. 3, 5. 6.

Willoughby; as described.

Bloch; pi. 122. Donovan; pi. 53.

Risso; pi. 3, f. 4 and 5. T. marraorata
and T. Galvani. Torpille vulgaire.

Fleming; Br. An., p. 169.

Jenyns; Manual, p. 509.

Yarrell; Br. Fishes, vol. ii, p. 543.

Lacebede; who speaks of it as haviug
sometimes a fringed border to the
spiracle, as if this were liable to
uncertainty.

Cramp Bay with plain spiracles.

Torpedo Galvanii,

66 66

Cuvier. Jonston; Tab. 9, f. 4.
Willoughby; T. D. 4. The tail badly
represented.

128

TORPEDO,

Torpedo Galvanii, Ursso; pi. 3, f. 3. line tache. T. uni-

maculata.

nobiliana , Yarrell; vol. ii, p. 546. Walsh’s ex-

periments were made on this species.

Although the figures of these fishes in hooks of Natural
History are in general sufficiently characteristic, there have
usually been defects, the cause of which may properly form a
portion of their history.

It is only for a short time after the fish has been taken from
the water that the disk preserves its shape and dimensions.
Soon after death a shrinking takes place on the upper surface;
by which the plumpness of its appearance is diminished, and
the borders become contracted; so that the lower surface grad-
ually curls upward, and occupies the margin to the extent of
several inches. But if it happen that the body has been placed
in a position by which its parts have sustained a strain, the
proportions become stretched into an unnatural shape, much
unlike that which it bore when alive. Risso’s figures appear
to have been drawn from examples which had been thus dealt
with; and although boasted of by him, are by far the worst
anywhere to be found. The particular changes thus referred
to are noticed by Mr. Dillwyn, in his “Fauna of Swansea:”
— “When alive the length was found to be forty-one inches
and a half, the greatest breadth twenty-nine inches and a half ;
the breadth of the caudal fin at its extremity nine inches, and
the weight about forty-four or forty -five pounds. On the fol-
lowing day it measured forty-two inches by thirty, and it then
weighed forty-three pounds and a half. In stuffing the speci-
men the length, to my surprise, has considerably increased,
though the other dimensions remain nearly unchanged, and
now the extreme length is forty -nine inches; the upper lobe
twenty-four inches, the lower lobe ten inches and a half, the
tail eight inches and a half, and the caudal fin six inches long.
The breadth or greatest diameter of the upper lobe is thirty
inches, and of the lower lobe fifteen inches, and the caudal fin
has contracted at its extremity to be only eight inches broad.”

Our description is from an example taken in a trawl a little
on the outside of the Breakwater in Plymouth Sound. The
length two feet six inches; form of the disk nearly circular;

TORPEDO.

129

tlie front almost straight, except that it slightly recedes at the
place where the snout is usually found slightly projecting in
the family of Rays; and a small projection is to be discerned
at the border opposite each eye. The thickness and plumpness
of the body extend to near the circumference. The eyes small,
and embedded in the surface, so that the sight appears directed
upward; but they do not strictly answer to each other. Spi-
racles oval, simple, a corner directed obliquely forward. The
right ventral fin passing a little further back than the left;
side of the caudal portion having a ridge. The first dorsal fin
at the part where the caudal portion joins the disk, at the end
of the ventrals; second dorsal a little behind the first, and
smaller. Tail with a lobe below and above, the edge of the
lower portion passing a little further forward than the upper.
The mouth small, arched, the teeth sharp, and moveable, from
the loose condition of the membrane on which they are placed;
the jaw-bone slight and feeble. Nostrils nearer the sides of the
mouth than in the Rays generally; connected to each other by
a loose fimbriated curtain, which has a deeper notch in the
middle. Colour dark brown, with a tinge of blackish purple;
a lighter brown margin round the eyes. It was a female.

Examples of this fish have been obtained in different parts
of England and Ireland; and we may suppose it is only because
fishermen do not often resort to the slimy and unproductive
places it frequents, that it is not much more frequently caught.
Five were noticed in one year in the Mount’s Bay, in Corn-
wall; two or three came under the observation of William P.
Cocks, Esq., of Falmouth; and an example was obtained at
Weymouth, by William Thompson, Esq. A specimen has been
seen that weighed a hundred pounds; but it is to be remarked
that the spots which were so conspicuous in these fishes in the
Mediterranean, have not been noticed with us. A snout, how-
ever, was discernible in one or two, at least, which were obtained
in the Mount’s Bay.

Torpedo's Teeth, enlarged size.

180

TRYGON.

The head enclosed on the sides by the pectoral fins'; the body ele-
vated; tail slender, without a fin, armed with a long- spine, which is
serrated on the edges.

STING EAY.

FIRE FLAIRE. TRYGON.

Pastinaca marina ,
66 «

Paia Pastinaca,

Paie Pastenaque,

Trygon Pastinaca,
66 66

66 66

JoNSTON; p. 82.

Willoughby; p. 67, pi. C. 3.

Linnjeus. Donovan; pi. 99.

Bloch; pi. 82. Jenyns; Manual, p. 518.
Lacepede. Risso; p. 10.

Fleming; Br. Animals, p. 170. Cuvier.
Yarrell; Br. Fishes, vol. ii, p. 588.
Gray; Catalogue Br. Museum, p. 118.

The ancients were well acquainted with this fish, and had
an extravagant dread of what they supposed the poisonous
effects of a wound inflicted by the dart on its tail. There is
no doubt that this may he the cause of considerable injury
when dashed about in all directions, by the vibration of the
tail of an angry fish; and it is not improbable that a formi-
dable inflammation would follow; and even that an attack of
tetanus or lock-jaw has been produced in a constitution of body
already prepared for such consequences. Such a supposition is
countenanced by what Matthiolus says, in his “Commentaries
on Dioscorides,” of instances where death from the wound has
been attended with convulsions and contractions of the whole
body. Fie also quotes AEtius as saying, that such wounds are
soon followed with severe pain and deadness, which spread
over the Avhole body. It is, therefore, with some truth that

STING- RAY

XXXI

STING KAY.

131

Pliny remarks how muck the poisonous effects of suck an
injury are to ke dreaded.

But tke ancients kad not learned to distinguish ketween those
effects of an injury, wkick for tke most arise from diseased
influences existing in tke person wko suffered, and tkose pro-
duced ky a poison inserted into a wound from tke instrument
inflicting it. Tke kite of tke adder is of tke latter kind; kut
okservation kas not confirmed tke opinion formerly so widely
spread, of tke poison communicated ky tke dart of tke Sting
Bay; tke injury from wkick is more properly ascriked to tke
jagged nature of tke wounds scattered over a kroad surface of
tke skin. Tke firmness of tke structure of tlais dart forms also
a material portion of its powers; for tke numerous points along
its sides are in a reversed direction; so tkat wken it kas pene-
trated tke flesk it cannot ke witkdrawn witkout tke enlargement
of tke wound.

A narrative given ky JElian will skew some of its formidakle
effects from tliis cause, and also afford anotker explanation of
tke great terror felt concerning it; wliere tke people were
generally ignorant of natural plienomena. A man kad con-
trived to flick away from tke net of a fiskerman a Sting Bay,
wkick ke kad mistaken for a Turkot; and wkick ke kastened
to sell in tke market. It was concealed under liis clotkes;
and feeling some uneasiness in tke part of kis kody wkere tke
fisk lay, ke pressed it so muck tke closer. Tke story appears
to skew tkat in kis kaste ke fell to tke ground, ky wkick ac-
cident tke dart was driven into kis kody; for ke was found
dead, witk tke dart piercing to kis kowels, wkick protruded
tkrougk tke wound; and ky tkis circumstance, in tke opinion
of tke people, tke fatal nature of tkis instrument kecame still
more positively confirmed.

We need not feel surprised at finding poetry and romance
uniting tkeir powers to spread abroad tke opinions and feelings
tkus existing in tke public mind; and accordingly tke brief
notices recorded by Pliny are tkus expanded in tke poetry of
Oppian; in his account of wkick he unites the Sword Fish
with tke Sting Bay: —

The Fireflair’s tail its venom’d shaft contains; —

Nor time, nor waste the poisonous treasure drains.

132

STING RAY.

Murderous alike they ravage all the sea,

First give the mortal wound, then seize the prey.
In this they differ; when the Sword Fish dies,
Extinct with him the mouldering weapon lies.

Not so the Fireflair’s dart; that still survives
The dying fish, and in its vemon lives.

None equal that the Ilay-like Fireflair bears;

No dreaded stroke, no killing wound like hers.

All things must yield; the dire infection’s such,
The solid flint would moulder at the touch.

When rising shrubs their spreading branches shoot,
Pride in their leaves, or joy in ripening fruit,

If with the Fireflair’s spear the hand unkind
But grate the root, or prick the tender rind,

The leaves shrink in and all the glories fade,

Rich sap no more is through the pipes convey’d;
No kind supplies flow round the porous stem,

Cast a bright green and swell the smiling gem,

But killing juices all the fibres taint,

And tarnish’d verdure tells the fatal want.

JElian says tliat such a wound was beyond the reach of
remedy; hut we find it prescribed for, and even with remedies
that could have possessed but little of the powers of healing.
And with all the fear which existed concerning it, it appears
surprising that there were people bold enough to employ it
for the purpose of enabling children to cut their teeth the more
easily. When reduced to powder it was believed also to have
the power of relieving the tooth-ache, and of finally causing
decaying teeth to drop from their sockets. Nor, with some
explanation, is this last prescription so entirely useless as at
first sight might appear. The powder was mixed with that of
white hellebore; and if medical writers of no mean credit are
to be believed, this vegetable preparation is really possessed
of the virtues ascribed to this composition; and it was a popular
empiric application in the middle ages.

The Sting Ray is not a common fish in England; but it is
scarce rather than rare ; and mostly perhaps because the swampy
places it frequents are not usually resorted to by fishermen;
besides which it does not often take a bait. It has been sup-
posed that the dart is of some use in obtaining its food, which
appears to be small fish. By some, especially in remote times,
this fish has been commended for the table; but Risso speaks
unfavourably of it.

The length of the specimen described was thirty-one inches and
a half, the tail measuring sixteen inches; the greatest breadth

STING RAY.

133

nineteen inches; the snout short, thin, and a little turned up;
from it to the eye three inches and a half; the eye rather
small, and prominent; spiracles large, and passing forward under
the eye. At about the middle of the body it is much raised,
and from that part it slopes both forwards and behind; the
widest part at about six inches and a half from the snout, and
consequently before the middle; ventral fins nearly square pos-
teriorly. The tail thick and round from its origin to the place
of the spine, and from thence slender. Root of the spine five
inches and a half from the origin of the tail; the spine five
inches long, lying lengthwise; moderately sharp, grooved in
several lines, with a keel below, armed along each side with
a closed-placed row of reversed points. A deep depression
along the middle of the back of the tail from its origin up-
wards— there obsolete; two others on each side of the root of
the spine, passing up to the cross bones not far behind the
eyes; which lines, although fainter than the middle line below,
are more strongly marked above. The skin smooth; mouth and
teeth small. In one example the general colour was a dark
red, in another dusky yellow.

It is a wise provision in the ceconomy of nature, that when
the dart has become blunted or otherwise useless, provision is
made for its being restored, by a loosening of its root of
attachment, when it drops off, and is replaced by a new one.
Whether this is done periodically, or at irregular intervals, is
not known; but it sometimes happens that the newly-formed
spear is well advanced in growth before its predecessor is
thrown off, and an instance of this sort enables us to remark
that both had their origin from the same root or gland. The
older spear was the longer, being seven inches long in a fish
the extreme length of which was three feet, hanging rather
loosely; while the new, which protruded under the other,
closely adhered for half an inch, and was of softer consistence
near its root. Professor Owen refers to Agassiz, as pointing
out the close resemblance of the microscopic .structure of the
bone of this spine or dart, and the dentine of the teeth of
the same fishes; they are both hardened by an outer layer of
modified dentine, but as hard as enamel.

Mr. Dillwyn (Fauna of Swansea,) mentions an instance of
the occurrence of two spines in a Sting Ray caught near
VOL. I. U

134

STING KAY.

Swansea; and supposed it, therefore, to constitute the It.
altavela of Linnaeus. But it is probable that he quoted from
memory; and the much rarer It. altavela is distinguished by
not having a fin on the tail. It has never been found in
England.

Sting Ray, shewing the raised part of the body.

E A GL E BAY.

135

MYLIOBATIS.

The head projecting beyond the attachment of the pectoral fins; the
latter spreading wider than in other kinds of Rays. Jaws with broad
flat teeth. Tail long and slender, bearing a single dorsal fin, and armed
with a spine.

EAGLE RAY.

TOAD-FISH. SEA EAGLE.

It was called the Eagle in ancient times, because of its widely-spread
pectoral fins resembling wings, and its great magnitude when of full size;
its weight being supposed to amount to several hundred pounds. It was
also named Toad-fish, from the appearance of its head, which slopes con-
siderably, and its protuberant eyes on the sides of the head; conveying,
therefore, the impression of the aspect of that reptile.

Myliobatis aquila,
66 66

66 66

66 66
66 66

Raia

Rare aigle,

Jonston; p. 30, tab. 9, f. 9.
Willoughby; p. 64, tab. c. 2.
Lowe; Fishes of Madeira, tab. 15.
Jenyns; Manual, p. 519.

Yarrell; Br. Fishes, vol. ii, p. 591.
Cuvier.

Linnaeus.

Lacepede and Risso.

It has been the general opinion of naturalists that this fish
produces its young alive; but in the year 1845, Charles William
Peach, Esq., then living at Fowey, in Cornwall, obtained from
the master of a trawl vessel belonging to that port, a large and
very curious purse, that had been dredged up in his trawl,
and presented it with its contents to me, and from which was
extracted an undoubted example of the partially developed young
of the Eagle Ray. This purse is described below, and the
embryo within it appeared to be about half developed, with

136

EAGLE RAY.

the ovum attached to its body; and threads or fibres projecting
from the orifices of the gills; such as are known to exist in
the Sharks and Rays, and indeed also in toads, frogs, and
water-lizards, in the early stages of their existence; hut which
in the former disappear when their functions are no longer
needed, considerably before they are thrust upon an indepen-
dent existence. The spine on the tail had not yet made its
appearance. I have received by the kindness of a gentleman
in Dorsetshire, another purse of the same sort, obtained on the
coast of that county; a further proof that this fish is not so
rare a visitor as has been supposed.

Besides the above proof that this fish produces its young by
means of purses instead of producing them alive, the circum-
stances here related also shew, that it is not merely a rare visitor
to our neighbourhood; and of this also the following incident
furnishes evidence; for that it refers to this species I feel no
manner of doubt: — A fisherman, long and well acquainted with
the fishes of the British seas, and especially with all our common
sorts of the family of Rays, informed me that in the month of
July, whilst at sea, his attention was attracted to a fish which
was swimming close to the surface, when the sea was smooth
and the weather fine. Its general appearance was that of the
Ray kind, but with a particular aspect, which on closer in-
quiry clearly answered to that of the Eagle Ray; the eyes
especially attracting his notice, as at the side of the head, and
resembling those of an ox. When he approached it for ex-
amination, the boat passed over it, and in doing so inflicted a
violent blow, which caused the fish to turn almost over in the
water ; but it presently set itself right again, and moved heavily
onward. He laid hold of it with the boat-hook; but the weight,
which, on comparison with the Skates, he judged to be not
less than three hundred pounds, was too great for him, and
he was obliged to resign the task, and he finally lost sight of
it; but not by the sinking of the fish, for it continued near
the surface until the boat had passed to leeward out of sight.

The incident here related shews the fish to be of dull and
sluggish habits; but that it is not so great a stranger as has
been supposed even on the north of British coasts, appears
from the fact, that an example was obtained by Dr. George
Johnston, in the neighbourhood of Berwick.

EAGLE KAY.

1 rt^

lo f

I prefer to take our description, but in an abbreviated
form, from Mr. Lowe’s unfinished work, the “Fishes of
Madeira,” rather than from an imperfect specimen obtained in
England; and the rather that the former was derived from an
example fresh from the sea, and not from one preserved in a
museum.

The pectoral fins are widely spread, and growing narrow at
their greatest extent; the back raised, and so sloping to the
snout, and also towards the tail; which organ is long, slender,
and ending in a fine point, with a fin near its origin, and a
dart or spine having reversed serrated teeth at the sides, not
far behind the fin. The eyes are large and prominent, on the
sides of the head, under a projection of the bone, and close
behind them wide spiracles. The posterior border of the pec-
toral fins incurved and waved; ventrals small, and the claspers
of the males so small, as to be nearly concealed by these fins.
Mouth below, level with the origin of the pectoral fins; the
jaws with flat grinding teeth in the middle, but none at the
corners of the mouth. The general surface is smooth, but
there is often a roughness from the head along the back, and
spreading a little over the base of the wings. The length of
the tail is about twice the length of the body, and rather ex-
ceeding in its extent the whole breadth across the pectoral fins.
The colour is greenish or olive liver brown ; the tail dark
brown, beneath white. When first taken this fish flourishes its
tail in all directions ; and although the tail is proportionally less
than in the Sting Ray, it is capable of inflicting formidable
injury. The length of the purse is six inches and a half; the
breadth four inches and five-eighths ; length of the longest
tendrils about seven inches and a half, flat and thin in shape,
and ending in a slender cord. The structure of the surface
is curious and beautiful, differing much from that of other
known Rays; the surface thickly set with raised longitudinal
lines, closely crossed with dots or raised lines; each longitudinal
line being thickly studded with raised markings, . points, or
short lines ; which, however, do not pass from one line to another,
although they appear to sink into the minute channel between
them. This description, however, only applies to the middle
of the case; for towards the ends and sides the longitudinal
lines are joined in this manner, and the reticulations form
VOL. I. x

138

EAGLE RAY.

beautiful squares, which grow finer towards the border, and
disappear at the margin. Colour approaching to black.

Our figure is copied from the work of Mr. Lowe, above
referred to.

-1.— Eagle Ray.

2.— Embryo of the Eagle Ray, taken near Fowey.

UIXXX
■in x o

139

PTEROCEPHALA.

The fore part of tlie head as if cut short, and the pectoral fins,
instead of clasping it, have each of their anterior extremities extended
forward, appearing as if the fish were furnished with horns. The tail
slender; the spine, dorsal fin, and pectoral fins broad.

OX RAY.

CepJialoptera Giorna,

“ Massena,

Faia Fabroniana,
Horned Fay ,

« «

Cuvier? Jenyns; Manual, p. 519?

Risso; Vacca?

Lacepede.

Yarrell; Br. Fishes, vol. ii, p. 595? the
figure, we must suppose, unlike anything
in nature.

Professor F. M’ Cot ; Annals and Mag.
of Natural History, vol. xix, for March,
1847.

This remarkable form of the family of Skates and Rays
attracted the forcible attention of the ancients, as well from
the enormous size they have sometimes attained, (ev&n to twelve
hundredweight or more,) as from the singular form of the
front of the head, which, from its resemblance to a pair of
projecting horns, gave occasion to their being characterized by
the name of Bos, or the Ox. In the present day, on the coast
of Italy, according to Risso, they are known by the name
of Vacca, or the Cow. A large example, which, whether
specifically different from the smaller individuals that have
come to our coasts is uncertain, was the terror of the divers
for sponges and coral; for whom it was supposed to be ever
on the watch with devouring propensities, and whose return
from the bottom it endeavoured to intercept by assuming a
station at mid-water above them, where it so molested their
endeavour to ascend, as to cause their destruction; of which

140

QX RAY.

proceeding the following verses of Oppian contain the popular
belief, referred to also by Pliny, B. 9, C. TO: —

Enwrapt in softer slime tlie Sea Cow dwells,

Who every sea-bred kind in breadth excels.

To twice six cubits stretched, their flatted sides
Press down the lab’ring waves and smooth the tides.

Unarmed their body, though with monstrous size
And bulky form they strike the wond’ring eyes.

Born on the struggling floods that broad-backed Bay
Unwieldly lolls, and takes up all the way.

Pew are their teeth, unfit for martial toil,

Thin set, not made to seize the doubtful spoil.

But schemes well laid they resolute pursue,

And by superior fraud ev’n man subdue.

They mark when daring mortals plunge belowr,

Where pearls are hid and coral branches grow;

Then hover o’er the place and float at ease,

Stretch on the waves and shade the covered seas;

With patient hope unmov’d their station keep,

Till from the secret chambers of the deep
Laden with spoils the diver mounts again,

Nor can the surface reach with all his pain.

By wonted arts he strives himself to raise,

But o’er his head th’ unwelcome pressure stays.

Kept back from looked-for day, the mortal grieves,

In vain the pressing lid his shoulder heaves;

His weaker thrust the stubborn weight withstands,

And backward sinks him down to lowest sands.

If he swims forward, and the surface leaves,

The subtle fish the vain attempt perceives,

Still hangs aloof, and o’er his pensive head
The shades unwish’d their gloomy coverts spread,

Till wearied arms their toilsome work refuse,

But faintly strike, and catch the yielding ooze.

Such is the toil when venturous divers meet
The floating roof, and push the pressing weight.

Stretch’d on the watery plain unmoved it lies,

And open air and lightsome day denies,

Till swallow’d waves an easy passage find,

And in its latest breath life mingles with the wind.

Thus proud of her success the spreading Bay,

By stratagem obtains the noblest prey.

Into what species this family of fishes may be divided,
appears even now to be uncertain, and British naturalists not
only differ from each other, but from themselves, in those
descriptions and accounts which seem necessary to enable us
to form definite opinions on the subject. Of the few examples
which have been taken in the British seas there is little cer-
tainty, since they have not generally come into the hands of
competent observers; and some of the engraved figures appear

OX RAY.

141

to have been derived from badly-preserved, and even mutilated
subjects. It appears biglily probable, however, that more than
one species has visited us; and, in collecting together what
has been recorded concerning them, I would be considered
as furnishing the reader with a summary of what is known,
for future use, rather than as satisfying inquiry or advancing
a decided opinion. I have not myself been able to examine
and sketch more than a single example, and that a preserved
skin, of these fishes, and this I believe to have been obtained
from the Mediterranean; but, although with some difference,
it bore so close a likeness to the example described and
represented by Professor M’ Coy, in the “Annals and Maga-
zine of Natural History,” already referred to, that I feel no
hesitation in believing them to represent each other. Professor
M’ Coy’s description is therefore here brought forward at con-
siderable length, and his figure is chiefly depended on, although
another is also produced, from the example already mentioned
as sketched from nature by myself.

“The specimen in question was first publicly noticed by
Mr. Thompson, in a communication to the Zoological Society
of London, and the particulars which he gives of its capture
on the Irish coast are all I know on that point. That gen-
tleman, however, neither described nor figured the specimen,
merely noticing its general resemblance to the figure given
by Pisso of the Cephaloptera Giorna ; subsequent writers seem
to have, in some measure, mistaken the passage, as they make
the reference to that species decisive, which, as I have stated,
was not the case in the original notice. I might here suggest,
that, according to the rule of priority, Dumeril’s name
( Cephaloptera ) should not be retained for this genus, having
been previously used by Geoffroy St. Hilaire for a genus of
Coracince, formed for the reception of that remarkable bird
the Coracina cephaloptera of Vieillot. It has been proposed
to alter the name of the genus of fish to Pterocephala, which
it would be well to adopt.

“On examining this very interesting specimen, I found that
although obviously a Pterocephala , it yet presented most im-
portant differences from the C. Giorna , both in outline, pro-
portions, shape of the fins, and form of the wing-like appendages
to the head; neither does it agree with any of the European

142

OX RAY.

or American species described by modern writers, so far as I
liave seen, but seems referable to that described many years
ago, from the coast of Tuscany, by Dr. Fabroni, of Florence,
and figured by Lacepede under the name of Raid Fcibroniana,
in honour of its discoverer. This species seems to have been
lost, Cuvier and most other icthyologists throwing a doubt on
its existence, and supposing the figure referred to, to represent
a mutilated example of the common C. Giorna ; it is therefore
doubly interesting to re-discover it in our own seas, as an
addition to the fauna, and as re-placing an old species in the
systems. The P. Fabroniana differs from the P. Giorna in the
length of the body (exclusive of the whip-like tail) being
nearly one half of the width from tip to tip of the pectoral
fins, while the length is not more than one-third of the width
in the latter species. Besides this great proportional width of
P. Giorna , its pectorals are much narrower than in the present
fish, and nearly straight; while in the P. Fabroniana they
are broadly falcate, recurved, and without any fin-like margin
on the anterior edge. The appendage to the head forms a
semicvlindrical process in the P. Giorna , but forms two horn-
like fins, one on each side of the head, in the Irish fish and
in Fabroni’s Mediterranean one. Those are represented in the
figure sent to Lacepede, and engraved in his work, with, I
think, rather too many turns, being twisted into regular conical
horns ; the corresponding parts in the specimen under con-
sideration shew also a strong tendency to roll spirally, but
not amounting to more than I have represented in the sketch;
this is, however, a matter easily exaggerated by an artist, or
the difference of age or sex would very probably make a
difference in the length and consequent enrolment of those
parts.

“Dr. Fabroni’s species is defined as a falciformly dilated
brown Bay, whitish beneath, etc. This colouring agrees ex-
actly with our specimen, but differs entirely from that of P.
Giorna. Another point of agreement between the two former
specimens, is the extreme slenderness of the tail, it not being
more than half the thickness of that of P. Giorna; the tail
in both specimens of the P. Fabroniana is defective as to all
that portion from the barbed spine to the tip, so that the
exact position or form of the spine is unknown. The figure

OX RAY.

143

given by Lacepede is of the under side only ; it agrees,
however, very well in the general form and proportions, broad,
recurved pectoral fins, frontal processes, and the small size of
the tail. There is a very strong resemblance also between
the present- fish and the Indian C. Kuhlii, as figured by
Muller and Henle, particularly in the form of the lateral
processes of the head, and the general proportions of the
body; but our specimen and Dr. Fabroni’s seem to differ
from that species in the small size of the head, and some
minor points, in addition to the difference of habitat.

“Length of the Irish specimen from the front to the dorsal
fin one foot eight inches; entire width three feet eight inches
and a half; height of the dorsal fin two inches and a half,
length the same; from one eye to the other eight inches.”

For the sake of brevity I will take from the accounts of
Lacepede and Bisso only so much as may serve to afford a
proper understanding of the nature and uses of the remarkable
processes which have been compared to horns, and which
form the principal portion of the character of this tribe of
fishes, the employment of which appears to constitute a highly
curious portion of their history. In the example described
by Lacepede those processes were slender, moveable, and
upwards of eighteen inches in length, thus measuring about a
fourth part of the whole length of the body of the fish.
They are formed of ribs of cartilage bound together with a
membranous substance, so moulded as to be capable of being
spread out like a fan, a structure which serves as well to
enable the fish to feel its way, as to convey food to its mouth.
Bisso describes these processes in the recent fish as being
whitish on the inside, tinted with blue on the outside, and
very black at the extremity. It appears to have the power
to unroll these processes at will, and to direct them towards
any object it wishes to approach. Its mouth is large, and the
jaws are furnished with several rows of blunt teeth. There
were two long appendages (apparently claspers) attached to
the ventral fins; tail long, tapering, with three rows of rough
elevations. The length of the example was between thirteen
and fourteen feet.

In the month of September, 1807, a female of this species,
which weighed twelve hundred pounds, was caught in a stake-

144

OX RAY.

net (mandrague) at Nice, and for two days afterwards tlie
male did not cease to wander about the place, until be also
fell into the same snare. Their usual haunts are supposed
to be at a great depth, from which they are only driven by
stormy weather.

CHDOERA.

The gill openings on each, side outwardly single; upper lip divided
into two portions; the fore teeth cutting, two only, above and below.

ARCTIC CHIMERA.

RABBIT FISH. SEA APE. KING OF THE HERRINGS.

Simla marina , Gesner; Nomenclator Aquatilium, p. 153,

copied by Jonston, pi. 7, fig. 6.

Galeus acanthias Clusii exoticus, Willoughby; p. 57, tab. b. 9, copied ap-
parently from Clusius, whose figure was
from a badly-dried skin,

Chimcera monstrosa, Linsleus.

Chimere Arctique, Lacepede and Risso; the Cat of the

latter also.

Among the aberrant forms which lie upon the outskirts of
the families of Sharks and Skates without bearing a very
close resemblance to either, is the Linncean genus Chimcera,
which, although consisting of no more than two recognised
species, has been separated into two distinct genera; and that
one which particularly comes under our notice is among the
most remarkable of fishes, whether we consider its shape and
habits, or the coldness of the climate in which it finds its
safety and delight. The far greater number of the species in
the families above named, are inhabitants of the warm or
temperate regions of the ocean ; but the Chimcera and its
kindred species the Callorhynchus, frequent the coldest por-
tions of the globe; but what is still more extraordinary,
these closely-allied fishes are known only in regions wide as
the poles asunder.

It is the Chimccra, or to call it by its humbler and more
YOL. I. Y

146

ARCTIC CHIMvEKA.

familiar name, tile Babbit Fish, that is cliiefly know'll within
the icy waters of our northern circle of the world, and from
which it seldom wanders; so that its occurrence in the most
distant, in that direction, of the British Islands, is rare and
accidental; and consequently its scientific observers have been
few. Indeed, within its native seas it is said to come near
the surface only in the dark hours of the night, and therefore
it can only be by rare good fortune that its living manners
shall fall under the inspection of any one. For these reasons
we find ourselves compelled to lie under an obligation to two
or three of the students of nature for what we have to say
of this curious fish, as regards either its form or habits; and
of these we shall assign the preference to the French natu-
ralist Lacepede, which we do principally from the consideration
that he appears more than others to have observed and studied
it in its living condition. We have figures which probably
are correct on the whole in the works of Bloch and Dono-
van; but the colours are perhaps a little exaggerated, for
Gesner informs us that the drawing he had received from a
friend, and which formed the first announcement of this fish
to the world, was simply of a greenish tint. The figure by
Lacepede, which I copy, appears to answer more closely to
his description than either the others above mentioned, and
it also more emphatically bears out the fanciful similitude of
the fabulous Chimsera of the ancient Greeks, from which
Linnaeus derived its scientific name.

According to the French author above referred to, the
activity, in connection with the grotesqueness of the movements
of this fish, the flexibility of its very long and slender tail, its
manner of uncovering its teeth, and continually twisting about
the different portions of its flexible muzzle, forcibly call up
in the spectator’s mind the grinning and absurd actions of the
monkey; while the singular form of its body, its long tail,
(much like that of a snake,) joined to a massy head which
resembles that of a lion, with the long first rays of its dorsal
fin representing in some sort the mane of that beast; to which
we add in the male a small elevated horn on the fore part
of the head, that is crested with a tuft of slender threads,
which may be supposed to represent the crown of the king of
beasts. The lineaments of the other parts of the body at

ARCTIC CHIMJERA.

147

first view appear unnatural, and bear little likeness to any-
thing found in the generality of fishes.

In its body, although not more than three feet long, it has
much resemblance to a Shark. It is compressed in a slight
degree at the sides, and lengthened, and rapidly diminishes
from the pectoral fins to the end of the tail. The skin is
pliant, smooth, and covered with scales so small as not to be
sensible to the touch, but they are so bright and silvery as
to cause the whole surface to shine. In some cases there are
brown patches scattered over this surface, by which the
brightness is rendered more conspicuous. The large head is
of a pyramidal shape, ending in a point at the muzzle, the
top of which is about the same height as the eyes, which are
large ; and near them is the lateral line, which is white,
sometimes edged with brown, and on each side reaching to
the middle of the tail, where it descends below the lower
portion of the body, to be joined with the corresponding line
on the other side. Near the head the lateral line divides into
several waved branches, one of which passes over the back to
meet a branch of the line from the other side. Two other
branches pass round the eye and meet at the snout. A fourth
proceeds to the corner of the mouth, and a fifth passes in a
crooked direction under the last-named along the lower surface
of the snout, and becomes mixed with its fellow on the other
side. The surface of the body is soft and flexible, folded on
the lower portion, and furnished with numerous openings for
the supply of mucus.

The pectoral fins are large, falciform, having at their root
a fleshy base. The dorsal fin rises by a long, firm, three-
cornered spine, which is notched along its hinder edge. This
fin becomes suddenly lower and then again wide, to the space
opposite the vent. There is a very small space between it
and the second dorsal, the rays of which are about the same
length as those which end the first, but which become lower
gradually to the tail, where they end. In some instances,
however, this interval between the fins does not exist, so that
some naturalists reckon three fins in the space along the back
where others mention only one. The tail ends in a long and
very slender filament. The anal fins are two, of which the
first is very short and slightly falciform, beginning below the

148

ARCTIC CHIMJERA.

place where the lateral lines of each side join each other.
The second is very narrow and short. The ventral fins enclose
the orifice of the vent, and, like the pectorals, are united to
a fleshy base. Its month is small, and each jaw is supplied
with two long plates with cutting edges, having furrows that
cause them to resemble distinct incisor teeth. In the palate
also are two flat and triangular teeth. Besides the crest which
stands in front of the head, near the snout of the male fish,
there are before the ventral fins two organs, which are in
some degree like small feet, and have nails, but their use
is the same as that of the clasp ers in the Sharks and Skates.
It is only at the time of depositing its eggs that this fish
comes into shallow water, and it is then seen only at night,
for the brightness of sunshine appears to dazzle its eyes. Its
ordinary food is crabs and shell-fish, but it also feeds eagerly
on herrings, and probably also on other fish.

We add a short description from Dr. Fleming, as referred
to at the beginning of this article, of an example sent to him
from the Orkney Islands; the more especially as it shews some
difference from that of Lacepede: — The length nearly three
feet; body compressed. Head blunt; the snout sub-ascending
and blunt. A narrow crenulated grinder on each side in the
lower jaw, and a broad tubercular one corresponding above.
Nostrils immediately above the upper lip, contiguous, each
with a cartilaginous complicated valve. Branchial openings in
front of the pectorals, (and it appears from some observers
that the marks of the five internal channels are visible on the
surface, although the outlet of the gills is single on each
side.) Eyes large, lateral. The lateral line connected with
numerous waved anastomosing grooves on the cheeks and face.
On the crown in front of the eyes a thin osseous plate, bent
forwards, with a spinous disk at the extremity on the lower
side. The first dorsal fin above the pectorals narrow, with a
strong spine along the anteal edge. The second dorsal arises
immediately behind the first, is narrow, and is continued to
the caudal one, where it terminates suddenly. The pectorals
are large and sub -triangular ; ventrals rounded, in front of
each a broad recurved osseous plate, with recurved spines on
the ventral edge. Claspers pedunculated, divided into three
linear segments; the anteal one simple, the retral ones having

ARCTIC CHIMJERA.

149

the opposite edges covered with numerous small reflected spines.
A small anal fin opposite the extremity of the second dorsal;
caudal fin above and below, broadest near the margin, gradually
decreasing to a linear produced thread.

It is not the least remarkable portion of the history of this
fish, that whilst its most chosen residence is in the depths of
the polar seas, it is also found in the Mediterranean, where
it has been caught so frequently as to have received the familiar
name of Cat from the fishermen of Nice. In explanation of
this we can only suppose that in some former distribution of
the temperature of our world, this fish inhabited other regions
than those in which it is at present found; and that the
extreme depths of the Mediterranean Sea continue to afford
it all the requisite conveniences for life and propagation, that
are now also found, and more generally, in the more northern
regions.

ACXPENSER.

The mouth under the snout, without teeth, the jaws capable of
being drawn within the cavity. Barbs generally four, about midway
between the mouth and snout. Nostrils in front of the eyes; spiracles
behind the eyes; a single opening to the gills, covered with a
moveable operculum. The tail with unequal lobes, and the vertebrae
continued along the upper lobe as in Sharks.

STURGEONS.

With a general likeness to the form of the Sharks, there
are in this genus some remarkable departures from it, which
shew a greater variation from that type, and a nearer approach
to the bony class of fishes, than are seen in any other of the
plagiostomes or cartilaginous tribes, in some particulars even
amounting to a positive contrast. We may conclude also that
the difference is equally great in the internal and less-observed
organization, especially of the brain, which is of small size,
and the nervous system in general; for their instinctive dis-
position of timidity and the absence of violent appetites are
more distinctly marks of variation, than the particulars to be
pointed out of their merely external shape.

The head of the Sturgeons is lengthened into a snout, which
is slightly turned up; and the mouth is placed far beneath,
with sensitive tendrils about midway between the mouth and
snout. There is a spiracle behind each eye, by which
a current of -water is supplied to the gills, when, as must
often happen from the manner in which they seek their food,
the necessary supply cannot be obtained through the mouth.

But at this point the resemblance to the family of Sharks
becomes interrupted by the feebleness of the jaws, and the
entire want of teeth; and in place of a formidable arrangement
of offensive arms, as in that order, the lips, are soft and fleshy,
with, in the case of the Common Sturgeon, separate lobes,
that from the nerves distributed to them we judge to be en-

STURGEONS.

151

dued with considerable powers of feeling and taste; in which
sensations they are aided by the barbs which hang from the
under surface of the snout. The fifth, or infraorbital pair of
nerves, which are particularly the organs by which sensation
or feeling is distributed, is furnished to the snout and barbs;
while the facial branch of the nerve of hearing proceeds to
the integuments of the mouth and lips, and also to the gill-
covers, thus offering no slight support to the opinion that
Sturgeons are susceptible of the influence of sounds, as well
as of other acute sensations.

In the nostrils also these fishes differ from the Sharks and
Skates, by having them placed above the snout, and in front
of the eyes, where it is usual to find them in the fishes
characterized by the usual bony skeleton. The form of the
body, and especially of the tail, approaches to that of the
Sharks; but the resemblance of the latter becomes less on
close inspection; for although the lobes are unequal, and the
vertebral column is continued along the upper lobe to the end,
the fin itself is distinctly supported by branched rays, as in
many of the fishes belonging to other tribes. The general
texture of the skin bears a near resemblance to what is found
in Skates, being soft, and thickly covered with mucous pores;
but the bony plates on the sides and head possess a texture
and use which differ from what is generally found in plagi-
ostomous fishes, and cause this family to display a closer
approach to a class which Mons. Agassiz has denominated the
Placoid race; of which a large proportion is only found fossil,
but of which one of the distinguishing characters is that they
have on their bodies a defence of plates, shields, or scales,
which are covered with a thick and firm coat of enamel.
These plates are arranged in lines lengthwise on the body,
and on the head and cheeks are flattened into shields; closely
pressed together, in something like regular order, but without
that strict orderly arrangement, at least along the middle line
of the head and snout, which - has been claimed for them, and
by which it has been supposed some separate species might be
defined.

Professor Owen supposes that the intention of this special
armature on the head and body is chiefly for protection in
the situations which these fishes frequent. They were designed,
he says, to be the scavengers of the great rivers; they swim

STURGEONS.

152

low, grovel along the bottom, feeding in shoals on the de-
composing animal and vegetable substances which are hurried
down with the debris of the continents drained by those rapid
currents. Thus they are ever busied in re-converting the
substances, which otherwise would tend to corrupt the ocean,
into living organized matter. “These fishes are therefore duly
weighed by a ballast of dense, dermal, osseous plates, not
scattered at random over their surface, but regularly arranged,
as the seaman knows how ballast should be, in orderly series
along the middle and at the sides of the body. The protection
against the water-logged timber and stones hurled along their
feeding-grounds, which the Sturgeons derive from their scale
armour, renders needless the ossification of the cartilaginous
case of the brain or other parts of the endoskeleton, and the
weight of the armour requires that endoskeleton to be kept
as light as may be compatible with its elastic property and
other functions. The Sturgeons are further adjusted to their
place in the liquid element, and endowed with the power of
changing their level and rising with their defensive load to
the surface by a large expansive air-bladder.” Protection to
the eye is even more necessary than the other portions of
the body, and accordingly this is provided for, in addition to
the bony crust that surrounds and overtops it, by being deeply
sunk in its small chamber, into which probably it still more
deeply falls when danger threatens.

How far the habits of these fishes will support the wide
interpretation applied to their rigid armature by the above-named
eminent philosopher, I am not prepared to decide; but there
is another benefit, consistent with that already mentioned,
which is derived from the presence of those plates, and which
will be of great use to these fishes in some of the situations
in which they must often find themselves placed. The bones of
Sturgeons are remarkably soft, even for a race of fishes in
which none of the bones are hard and firm; and they do not
possess ribs, which organs afford so strong a fulcrum for sup-
port to the action of muscles in bony fishes; but their place
is well supplied by those substantial plates, which are not
simply a covering to the surface, but dip within between the
layers of the organs of motion, and thus enable the muscles
of the body to exert such a degree of action as otherwise
they would not be capable of.

STURGEONS.

153

But by the evidence of an intelligent fisherman, reported by
Gesner, these plates are also on some occasions converted
into weapons of offence; and he had seen them used as such
against the Huso, another fish of this family, of a still larger
size than the Common Sturgeon but of a very timid nature,
and against which the latter species is supposed to bear an
instinctive animosity. The skin of the Huso is without any
of those plates with which others of this family are defended,
and it has been seen therefore to suffer severely from the rough
treatment of those cutting and tearing instruments brought
into action by its enemy, from which it has sought in vain to
escape by plunging in all directions.

Nor is the internal organization of this family of fishes less
a departure from the usual type of the Sharks, while still
here also remains some degree of likeness, at least in the
presence of a spiral valve to the intestine; by which organi-
zation the functional power is lengthened out, whilst the bulk
of the organ is packed into the smallest space its nature
admits of.

These fishes neither deposit their eggs in purses nor pro-
duce their young alive; but their roe consists of small grains,
which they shed in the same manner as bony fishes, in the
fresh-water of the larger rivers; which they enter for that
purpose, and in particular districts, especially of the south of
Russia and the Caspian Sea, in enormous multitudes, in con-
sequence of which extensive and flourishing fisheries are
established for taking them. Their productiveness may be judged
from the fact that, according to Pallas, (“Second Travels,” vol.
i,) of the three species fished for seventeen hundred and fifty
thousand have been caught in one year. Fifteen thousand
have been taken in a day by one method of fishing ; and,
what is still more remarkable, if the fishermen should have
been accidentally prevented from working during a single day,
the fish have been known to accumulate in such numbers at
the weir, as to fill the whole channel; insomuch that those
which were uppermost appeared with their backs above water,
in a river not less than twenty-eight English feet deep, and
sixty fathoms wide.

With such numbers it may be concluded that Sturgeons of
the different sorts are highly prolific; and Adolph Erman, in

VOL. I. Z '

154

STURGEONS.

his journey into Siberia, mentions an example, of only six
feet long, the roe of which measured two quarts; and another
is recorded, that weighed two hundred and seventy-three
pounds, the roe of which amounted to forty-two pounds, the
supposed number being almost two millions. It is not there-
fore in purses, or by internal hatching, that the young are
produced to life, but more strictly in the manner of bony
fishes, the grains being, however, rather large, and separated
from each other throughout the mass by layers of fat. It is
one of the principal objects of the Russian fisheries to obtain
this roe, which is carefully prepared, and valued by epicures
under the name of Caviare.

Another valuable product of this fishery, and of more gen-
eral importance, is isinglass; which is formed of the air-bladders
of two or three species of this genus, and of which, one of
the smaller kinds, f A. ruthenus ,) is said to produce the best.
The organ from which it is prepared is not found in any other
of the plagiostomous genera. Sharks or Skates; hut in the family
of Sturgeons it appears to he of great use in enabling the
fish to rise and fall frequently and rapidly amid the currents
of the larger rivers, as well as in the deeper waters of the
sea. The structure of this organ has a remarkable peculiarity,
in the existence of a duct or passage of no small size, which
passes from the bag to the gullet, and by which the air within
may be occasionally discharged, and perhaps again renewed
from without ; for we are not able to affirm positively what is
the special or complicated object of a structure which is only
shared by a few of the fishes furnished with an air-bladder.
In an example of the Common Sturgeon, of about eight feet
in length, which I knew caught in a trammel in the open
sea, as the fish was raised from the ground some observable
bubbles of air were seen to break from the water; and I
have no doubt they had been discharged from the fish, perhaps
under the influence of the terror produced by its capture.

Isinglass was known in ancient times by the name of
ichthyocolla, or fish-glue, and it was used in the medical
practise of Greece and Rome as a principal ingredient of
their adhesive plaisters; but the fishes which produced it
were on another account a subject of attention to the Romans
of the flourishing times of the empire.

STURGEONS.

155

At a time when luxury had reached perhaps the greatest
development it has ever attained, the Sturgeon is named as
one of its principal objects; hut it has been thought strange
that while the Common Sturgeon is often taken on the shores
of Italy, the poet Ovid, as if unacquainted with it in Italy,
should term it

“The noble Sturgeon from a distant sea”

Varro also informs us, (de Re rustica, B. 2,) that the best of
these fishes were caught near the Island of Rhodes, on which
account, we are told, they were sometimes called the Rhodian
Galei, or Dog-fishes; to which Columella adds, (B. 8., C. 16,)
that this favourite fish was not found anywhere else. On these
accounts Cuvier drew the easy conclusion that our Common
Sturgeon was not the species so highly valued by the noble
epicures of Rome, hut another species of the same family, the
Sterlet, ( A. ruthenus,) which is still held in high reputation
in some countries.

But in Cuvier’s remark above referred to, as compared with
Ovid’s verses, there is an obvious oversight which requires
explanation. Not only does the Roman poet speak of the
Acipenser in the terms we have given, but in another portion
of the same poem he shews that he distinquishes between the
Rhodian fish and the true Acipenser , and that, too, by only
a slight variation of the same words: —

“Tuque peregrinis Acipenser nobilis undis...

Et preciosus Helops nostris incognitus undis.”

“The noble Sturgeon from a distant sea...

Unknown the precious Helops in our sea.”

A Dutch commentator has endeavoured to reconcile the
apparent contradiction between the w'ords applied to the
Acipenser, and the fact of its not unfrequent occurrence in
Italy, by supposing the poet to mean that this fish, as ob-
tained in distant countries, was of better quality than such
as were procured in his native land.

But that this most highly-valued of the family of Sturgeons,
(the Helops,) was the same with the fish known to the Greeks
by the same name, (Elops, or Ellops,) we learn as well from
Pliny, as from circumstances attendant its capture as described
by AElian, from which we find no difficulty in tracing, the

156

STURGEONS.

origin of ceremonies concerning it as they were practised at
Rome; and in so doing, also confirm our knowledge of the
species.

The Greek author informs us that when fishermen were so
fortunate as to have caught an Elops, they adorned themselves
and their boat with garlands, and brought the fish to land
with shouts and music. The difference between this and the
ceremony practised at Home was only that the procession was
made to marshal its progress from the kitchen to the table,
instead of from the boat to the shore; and it was perhaps on
account of the ceremony and the attendant expense, that
Martial in one of his epigrams, pronounced it a fish properly
fit for a table at the palace ; as, by a sort of traditionary re-
membrance, built on a mistake, but countenanced by law, the
only Sturgeon known among us is still spoken of as subject to
royal authority.

But in spite of its former reputation, in the time of Pliny
the Elops had sunk greatly in estimation ; at which circumstance
he expresses his wonder, as it possessed the principal qualifica-
tion for exciting interest in the opinion of his countrymen, — of
being brought from a very remote distance.

But although it thus appears beyond doubt that the Common
Sturgeon was not the fish so highly-valued at the time referred
to, we learn further from iElian some facts, from which we
may safely gather that this more common species was in that
day, as it had long been, the object of extensive fisheries in
the rivers of the Caspian Sea. The name he gives it is
Oxyrhyncus, or the Sharp-nose; and he says that it grows to
the length of eight cubits, that it was salted and dried, and
sometimes by taking away the fat it was made into meal,- — a
process which may apply to the preparation of what is now
termed Caviare ; and in this condition it was carried on camels
to Ecbatana, in Persia. They also made glue of a superior
kind by boiling the entrails; and this, from its strength and
transparency, was employed in the formation of elegant works
of ivory.

COMMON STURGEON.

Slur io,

“ acipenser, silurus,
the Sturgeon,

Acipenser slurio,

a 66

Acipensere E sturgeon.

Jonston; pi. 23, figs. 8, 9, 10.

Willoughby; p. 929, tab. p. 7. The name
of Silurus had been applied to this fish
by previous authors, who from ignorance
had confounded it with the Sheat-fish,
Silurus glanis.

Linn^us and Cuvier. Bloch, pi. 88.

Donovan, pi. 65. Fleming; Br. An., p. 173.

Gray; Cat. Br. Museum, p. 13.

Jenyns; Manual, p. 493.

Yarrell; Br. Fishes, vol.ii, p. 475 and 479?
Second Supplement.

l/ACErEDE AND BlSSO.

The Common Sturgeon is the only one of this family which
wanders widely from the principal haunts of its race. It is
even found in the colder parts of the northern ocean, and not
a season passes in which several are not taken on the coasts of
Europe and the British Islands ; where they often exercise
their instinctive quality of pushing their way through the
course of the deeper rivers. It is the opinion of naturalists
that, as in the case of the Salmon, this reciprocal change from
salt-water to fresh is important to the health of the fish; and
that it is not adopted for the purpose alone of depositing
spawn appears from the fact that no instance has been detected
of the shedding of roe in British rivers, where, from their
multitudes, they could scarcely have escaped discovery. A few
examples have occurred where a fish has been obtained
among us of small size; and an example in the possession of
Mr. Yarrell measured only a foot in length. But I believe
no record exists of the place whence this specimen was ob-
tained, and it is not certain that the roe when shed is injured
by being placed in salt-water,

158

COMMON STURGEON.

The Sturgeon is sometimes taken of a size which must
strike with wonder those who have only had an opportunity
of seeing the usual inhabitants of our rivers, among which,
this fish appears indeed a Triton among the Minnows. From
eight to ten or eleven feet is the usual length, and the
weight is to the full correspondent with the dimensions. In
some rivers especially, as the Parret, and on the Welsh
Channel near Swansea, large Sturgeons have shewn themselves
at particular periods, as well as in the Wye and Usk; and
it is to be noticed that this has happened about the month
of May, at which time they are ceasing to he caught in the
Caspian and Russian rivers, the only time of ceasing to fish
for them in the last-named countries being in summer. The
largest example recorded as Britsh is mentioned by Pennant,
and weighed four hundred and sixty pounds. I possess a
memorandum of another, which weighed three hundred and
fifty pounds; but what are these in comparison to the enor-
mous Acipenser huso , which has been seen of fifty-six feet in
length. — (Historical and Geographical Description of the North
and East Part of Europe and Asia, by P. J. Stralilenberg, 4to.,
1738.) He speaks from personal knowledge.

Although the Sturgeon is a timid fish as compared with
the generality of the inhabitants of the sea, its great strength
may render it capable of inflicting considerable injury on those
who meddle with it incautiously, on its becoming entangled
in their net. A blow from the tail would probably break the
leg of a man. As a precaution therefore, the fishermen ac-
customed to the work endeavour to bring the fish sideways
to the land, with the net enclosing it, and the head lifted
out of the water, in which position it ceases to offer any
further resistance. A Sturgeon which was caught within my
knowledge, was entirely helpless after it had discharged an
observable quantity of air, although it then lay in a net at
the depth of several fathoms.

When at liberty it is the habit of this fish to seek its food
by turning up the soft bottom of the river or sea with its
sensitive and moveable snout; and the quickness of feeling in
these parts, including the barbs hanging from them, enable it
to discern and select whatever is appropriate to its appetite.
Worms are probably a favourite food, but in a paragraph

COMMON STURGEON.

159

taken from an American newspaper, I have seen it announced
that a lady’s riding-whip, twenty-one inches long and mounted
with silver, had been found in the stomach of a Sturgeon of
no large size. The fish might be of a different species from
our own, but the fact seems to shew that not all of them
are satisfied with merely molluscous food.

The Common Sturgeon is generally valued at the tables of
the rich; and indeed it appears that by some mistake the
high reputation of the once celebrated Sterlet or Elops, has
slid away to what, by all accounts, although still good, is a
fish of lower quality. When taken in the Thames, within the
jurisdiction of the Lord Mayor, it is usually judged a proper
present for the Loyal table; but although still regarded as a
dainty, it is mentioned among other things by Fitz-Stephen,
who wrote an account of London in the twelfth century, as
being a dish to be obtained with ease at the then newly-
erected hostelry in the city.

Dr. Parnell, when closely studying the British fishes of the
northern districts of our island, was led to believe that there
were two British species of what had hitherto been treated
as one; and from the prominent characters on which his dis-
tinction was built, he was led to give them the names of the
Broad-nosed and the Narrow-nosed species. If individual ex-
amples are to be selected there is no doubt that such a
division might be maintained; and accordingly,, naturalists, whose
observations at this early stage were limited to the few
examples preserved in museums, came forward to confirm
these distinctions, and to add others derived from the partic-
ular nature and arrangement of the bony plates covering the
head. The more modern works on the natural history of
fishes, contain illustrative figures of this kind; but more ex-
tended inquiry has gone far to throw doubt on the supposition
that there is more than one British species of the Common
Sturgeon. The Broad-headed and the Narrow-snouted varieties
in their extreme divergency differ greatly, and the latter
appears to be the most numerous of the two. But there has
been found every gradation of form among them, so that in
many an instance it would be difficult to assign its proper
place to the individual example; and with regard to the form
and arrangement of the plates which cover the head, although

160

COMMON STURGEON.

in the more prominent parts there is some approach to regu-
larity, on the whole this may be even the least depended on.
Not only do the different varieties differ in this respect, but
the variation exists in the same individual; so that a cord,
laid along the middle line from the top of the head to the
snout, shall sometimes separate the sides into portions which
do not answer to each other.

With regard to the plates on the back, Linnaeus, in his
specific character of this fish assigns to it a row of eleven
plates along the dorsal ridge; whereas Willoughby tells us
that he had counted from eleven to thirteen in several different
examples; and particularly he mentions that behind the single
dorsal fin there were no dorsal plates, where in most figures
they are represented; and in the specimen presently to be
described this portion of the body was ornamented and de-
fended by a pair of parallel rows. Several other variations of
figure might be brought forward, but I judge sufficient has been
said to shew, that the division of this well-known Common
Sturgeon into two species has a less certain foundation in
nature than has been supposed.

Our description of this fish is taken from an example kindly
presented by William Thompson, Esq., of Weymouth, whose
desire to extend the boundaries of science has shewn itself
in similar instances on many former occasions. In this instance
the obligation is so much the greater that it has enabled me
with more ease, and at longer intervals, to examine the
minuter particulars of form and structure, than if I had been
limited to an inspection of what was exhibited in the boat of
a fisherman, or a fishmonger’s shop.

The example described measured three feet seven inches in
length. The head at top is depressed into a wide channel,
with the ridges on the sides more prominent; it slopes gradually
to the snout, which becomes almost sharp at the end, where
it is slightly bent up. This surface, and also the sides of the
face, are formed of a bony crust which is divided into sections;
but when first from the water these divisions can scarcely be
made out, and it is only when the surface has become
dry that those plates can be distinguished, which have been
represented in drawings of those parts. An elevated prominence
stands before each eye. The plates are more numerous, smaller.

COMMON STURGEON.

161

and more separate over the snout; and in all cases, as well
of the head as body, their surface is rough with radiated
lines. The eye is small, and sunk into a well-guarded cavity,
but is probably capable of protrusion. The nostrils are large,
in front of the eyes, and have a single cavity within, of which
the bottom is formed of a full circle of separate bony rays,
proceeding from a centre. On the surface it is crossed by a
membranous band, which gives the nostril the appearance of
being double, as in most bony fishes, but I could not discern
any membranous division within. The mouth is fleshy, re-
tractile, and seems not capable, except by living action, of
being closed. Teeth none. Bones of the jaws slight, the lips
with lobes, which probably have a quick feeling of touch and
taste. In front of the mouth, and rather nearer the snout
than it, are two pairs of tendrils, of considerable length. A
small spiracle behind the eye, between the border of the an-
terior gill-cover and the plates of the head. The hinder gill-
cover, which is much the largest, being formed of a single
plate, with radiating lines, appears fallen in and incapable of
concealing the gills, the more especially as these gill-covers do
not possess a membranous border.

The body is lengthened. The dorsal and lateral ridges,
which are five in number, are so prominent that the surface
appears flaccid between them, the surface being soft and flexible,
with numerous pores. The dorsal row of plates, of which the
summits are not incurved, consist of fourteen, there being an
interruption in the line, where the place of one is represented
by a pair. The first rays of the dorsal fin are also armed
with plates along their edge; between that fin and the tail
there is a double parallel row, the edge of the caudal fin
being also guarded by pointed plates. Number of plates on
the side thirty, on the border of the belly ten, reaching to
the ventral fins. Pectoral fins wide, with the first ray stout,
seeming to admit of motion easily forward and backward, but
not freely above or below. The ventral fins are far behind,
but anterior to the vent; the dorsal and anal hook-shaped, and
not far from the tail. The upper lobe of the caudal fin is
lengthened, and the vertebrae, as in the Sharks, carried along
to near its edge, but there is no slit to separate the upper
lobe from that below. The rays of this fin differ from those
VOL. I. 2 A

1 62

COMMON STURGEON.

of Sharks in general, in being bifurcated or divided after the
manner of bony fishes. The colour a dull olive blue, the belly
white.

In common with a multitude of other things, the Sturgeon
has been an object of superstition. That quaint but learned
hunter out of such recondite matters, the antiquarian Aubrey,
records it as commonly reported, that before an heir of the
Clifton of Clifton, in Nottinghamshire dies, a Sturgeon is
caught in the River Trent near that place.

163

HUSO.

Huso, Willoughby, p. 243, tab. p. 7.

Acijpenser huso, Linnjeus. Cuvier. Bloch, pi. 129.

"We introduce the name of this species into our pages,
because we would direct the attention of British naturalists to
the possibility of its occurrence in our waters, and in the
hope that on the report of the capture of an example of
what might pass as the common species, an examination may
be made, whether in fact it may not be an example of this,
as yet questionable species. It stands on the list of Irish
fishes, as having more than once been met with in that
country; and so much as is known of these reported cap-
tures, is given in the fourth volume of Mr. William Thompson’s
“ Natural History of Ireland;” but unfortunately no figure
or particular description appear to have been taken from the
fishes themselves. The following is all that Mr. Thompson
says on the subject: —

“In 1847 I contributed the following note to the ‘Annals
of Natural History,’ vol. xx: — ‘Isinglass Sturgeon, ( Acipenser
Huso , Linneeus.) A notice of the occurrence of this species
on the coast of Cork, in July, 1845, was communicated to
the ‘Annals,’ (vol. xvi, p. 213,) by Mr. John Humphreys, of
the city of that name. This gentleman, as well as Dr. Harvey,
of Cork, who subsequently examined the specimen, assures me
that it w’as A. huso , as represented in Shaw’s ‘Zoology,’ vol.
v, pi. 159. Mr. Humphreys has informed me of the capture
of another specimen, which was taken in the second week of
April, 1847, at Carrigeen, near Curriglass, on the River
Bride, not far from its junction with the Blackwater. It
measured seven feet eight inches in length, and weighed
nearly two hundredweight.”

Shaw’s description of this species is as follows: — “Isinglass

164

HUSO.

Sturgeon, ( Acipenser huso, Linnaeus.) A larger fish than the
Common Sturgeon, having been often found of the length of
twenty -five feet ; general shape the same ; colour dusky, or
blackish blue above, silvery on the sides and abdomen, with
a tinge of rose-colour on the latter ; general appearance
smoother than in the Common Sturgeon, the dorsal tubercles
being less protuberant, and those along the sides much smaller,
and in some specimens of a very advanced growth altogether
wanting; mouth much larger than in the A. sturio, with thick
crescent-shaped lips; skin smooth and viscid. Native of the
Northern, (Black,) and Caspian and Mediterranean Seas, mi-
grating from them into the adjoining rivers; found more
particularly in the Volga and the Danube.” — (Shaw’s “ General
Zoology,” vol. v, p. 375, pi. 159.

Another description is, — Snout very obtuse, shorter than the
diameter of the mouth, but, like the Common Sturgeon, sub-
ject to variation in this respect. Eyes very small. Body thick,
with five rows of plates; the fins small. As the fish attains
its full growth these plates often drop off, so that none appear.

I find among my notes, that, in company with Mr. Yarrell,
I had an opportunity of seeing the head and tail, without the
body, of a Sturgeon, the snout of which was very short, flat,
and bent upward, as that of the Huso is represented in the
very rough plates of the older writers; but as Mr. Yarrell has
not referred to this species in his work on British fishes, I
conclude that he did not suppose the evidence of its being the
Huso sufficient to authorize his classing that species among the
acknowledged fishes of our seas.

165

BONY FISHES.

The large family of bony fishes, or Acanthopterygians, is
readily distinguished from the Plagiostomes, and from a third
that will follow, by marks which are easily recognised; and
which also are closely associated with the instincts and modes of
life of the several subordinate tribe! of which this class is
composed. The visible prevailing characters are, that the jaws
are nearly equal, and at the extremity of the head. Every
departure from this particular will appear only relative. In
their mode of formation as well as generally in shape, their
teeth differ from those of the Sharks, in having their origin
in a membrane which lies along the border of the jaws, and
they rise directly from this portion of their gum, with their
points upward, into the place where they are to remain, sup-
plying the place of such as have already performed their
duty, and, by losing their attachment, are about to be shed.
There is, therefore, a perpetual succession, but it is of indi-
viduals and not of ranks. They are attached to, but do not
penetrate into the jaws; and the formative membrane does not
perish, as in Sharks, with the teeth it had formed. The
nostrils are usually double, and of small size, placed above
the line of the snout, and before the eyes. The gill openings
are single on each side, with often a wide aperture, and
usually also with a gill membrane, furnished with bones. The
body is, for the most part, covered with scales; the fins
usually stand on joints, often with firm spines, and the mem-
brane is usually to be easily distinguished from the rays, even
when the structure is less firm. The tail partakes of the
nature of the other fins; the vertebra ending in a separate
plate, perhaps divided into branches at its root; and to it the
caudal rays are attached.

YOL. I. 2 B

166

BONY FISHES.

The races are continued by the shedding of spawn, the
grains of which are of small size. In a very few species,
one or two only of which are found in Britain, this spawn is
hatched within the body of the parent; and in one other remark-
able family, (the Syngnathi ,) some very curious means are adopted
to secure the completion of this natural proceeding. But
whatever subordinate variations of these general principles, of
form or habit, may offer themselves to our notice in particular
families, will be pointed out in their proper place.

|;1. T R E E E ••

i :7E :> 7' t i c :: leba c

XXXVII

167

GASTEROSTEUS.

The cheeks covered with mailed plates. Back with free spines
anterior to the dorsal fin. These spines have usually a slight mem-
branous border on their posterior edge, but do not constitute a fin.
The belly is strengthened with t stout bone in front, from whence the
generic name. To this bone, and the apparatus attached to it, are
fastened the ventral fins, the outer ray of which is a weapon of
offence. The gill membrane has no more than three rays.

Linnaeus reckons this genus in his class of thoracic fishes; in which
the ventral fins are not attached to the thorax, nor behind to the
pelvis, but to the belly between these parts, and nearly under the
pectoral fins.

THREE-SPINED STICKLEBACK.

BANSTICKLE. MINNIS.
Pungiiius Alberti,

66 it

Gasterosteus aculeatus ,

66 66

“ trachurus,

gymnurus-semiarmatus ,
“ leiurus, .

“ brachycentrus,

spinulosus,

66 66

66 66

Gasterostee epinocJie,

SHARPLING. PRICKLEFISH.

Jonston; with a very poor figure.

Willoughby; p. 341, tab. x, 14, the
figure bad. He supposes this fish
to be the Centriscus of Theophrastus.

Linn^us, and Bloch, pi. 53.

Donovan, pi. 11.

Cuvier. Rough-tailed Stickleback.

, Cuvier. Half-armed Stickleback.

Cuvier. Smooth-tailed Stickleback.

Yarrell: Br. E., vol. i, p. 90, 94, 95..

Yarrell; Br. F., vol. i, p. 96,? and
in Loudon’s Magazine, vol iii. p. 521.

Yarrell; Br. F., vol. i, p. 97?

Jenyns; Manual, p. 348.

Dr. Gunther; Catalogue of Fishes in
the British Museum, vol. i, p. 2.

Lacepede and Risso.

This race of fishes is generally of small size, and on that
account commonly overlooked or disregarded by the casual
observer. Yet they occupy an important place in the economy

168

THREE-SPINED STICKLEBACK.

of Providence, whilst the elegance and complexity of their
form, only require examination to excite admiration, and their
habits and instincts are so full of curiosity as to secure at-
tention when it has been directed towards them.

Our Common Sticklebacks are inhabitants of both salt-water
and fresh, but they do not in preference frequent the open
sea, and a quiet union of the sea-water with the fresh appears
the most congenial with their nature, — as we may jndge by
the abundance to be met with in such situations. In large
ponds of this description they increase to an enormous extent,
and may be seen traversing their daily range again and again,
in numerous companies, and hunting eagerly for food, which
appears to be formed of any of the smaller inhabitants of the
water they are able to swallow. Myriads of the half-developed
young of hying insects — the smaller creatures whose office it
is to keep down superfluous increase of vegetable life, but
which themselves might otherwise multiply in numbers too
great, so as to be among the evils themselves were destined
to abate, — and, we must add, the young of such fishes as are
then bursting into life: all of these contribute to the suste-
nance of these tribes of wandering plunderers, until at last
their numbers also have grown to be excessive. Birds feed
on them; but their formidable enemy is man, and with his
net they are swept to the bank in helpless heaps, to become
of some service to the people who have been at the trouble
to catch them. In some places they are employed for the
purpose of feeding ducks or pigs ; and sometimes they are
drawn on shore in such heaps as to serve for manure, for
which purpose they are said to be of considerable value, a
fact not improbable, when, according to Lacepede, they are
known to afford by pressure a good supply of oil, which, we
suppose can only come from the liver.

In the Baltic, Professor Nilsson says that about the beginning
of November, before they retire to their winter quarters, they
assemble on the coasts of that sea in incredible shoals, and
are caught in boat-loads by fishermen. The only use made of
them is to boil them for the purpose of skimming the fluid for
the oil. A bushel of these fish yields about two gallons of oil.
The refuse is employed for manure.

They breed generally in summer, and then it is that the most

TH11EE-SP1NED STICKLEBACK.

169

amiable and intense of their feelings are stirred into exercise,
and a degree of ingenuity brought into action, which the
world has agreed to deny the existence of among the inhabi-
tants of the waters, but which observation has shewn to prevail
especially in this small family, although perhaps it only requires
more extended observation to prove its existence in other
families also.

The earliest notices that were given to the world on the
care bestowed on their young by the family of Sticklebacks,
were derived from a careful watching of the proceedings of
another species, the Fifteen-spined Stickleback, (altogether an
inhabitant of the sea,) to which reference will be made again.
But the observations which follow were recorded independent
of such as apply to the last-named fish; and, taken in connection
with them, they claim perhaps an additional degree of interest
from the fact that they were made by an observer of nature
who was unacquainted with natural history as a science, and
especially could not have been aware of what was then closely
studied by others on a kindred species. The following is
extracted from a periodical publication of the year 1834,
entitled the “ Youth’s Instructor.”

“In a large dock for shipping on the Elver Thames,
thousands of Pricklefish were bred some years ago, and I have
often amused myself for hours by observing them. While multi-
tudes have been enjoying themselves near the shore in the
warm sunshine, others have been busily engaged making their
nests, if a nest it may be called. It consisted of the very
minutest pieces of straw or sticks, the exact colour of the
ground at the bottom of the water, on which it was laid, so that
it was next to an impossibility for any one to discover the nest,
unless they saw the fish at work, or observed the eggs. The
nest is somewhat larger than a shilling, and has a top or cover,
with a hole in the centre, about the size of a very small
nut, in which are deposited the eggs or spawn. This opening
is frequently concealed by drawing small fragments over it,
but this is not always the case. Many times have I taken up
the nest, and thrown the eggs to the multitude around, which
they instantly devoured with the greatest voracity. These eggs
are about the size of poppy seeds, and of a bright yellow
colour; but I have at times seen them almost black, which, I

170

THREE-SPINED STICKLEBACK.

suppose, is an indication that they are approaching to life. In
making the nest I observed that the fish used an unusual
degree of force when conveying the material to its destination.
When the fish was about an inch from the nest, it suddenly
darted at the spot, and left the tiny fragment in its place, after
which it would be engaged for half a minute in adjusting it.
The nest, when taken up, did not separate, but hung together
like a piece of wool.” The place chosen by these fishes for
their nests is where the ground forms an inclined plane, and
in about six inches of water.

Individuals of these fishes were placed in a glass vessel,
that their proceedings in forming the nest and bringing forward
the young might be the more conveniently observed. A nest
was accordingly formed, but unfortunately the female died
soon after the process of shedding the roe had been perfected.
The male was seen to be often engaged in throwing a cur-
rent of water through the nest, and in an early part of the
proceeding, he often rubbed his body over it, which was
supposed to be for the purpose of shedding the milt. The
eggs, in number about fifty, were brought to life in three
weeks, and at first the young appeared transparent. The
male, which, in other instances also, seemed to have the sole
care and protection of the brood, attended upon them care-
fully; and if any one of them trespassed beyond the allotted
bounds, he followed and brought the truant back in his
mouth, and again replaced it in or near the nest.

The Swedish naturalist Eckstrom gives, as the result of his
observation, a different account from this; and it will be worthy
of inquiry whether the proceeding may be different in different
countries. As soon, says he, as the nest is ready, the male
dresses himself in his finest colours, which are blue, green,
yellow, and silver; and swimming among the shoals of females
which are assembled in the neighbourhood ready to deposit
their roe, he lures one of them into the little arbour; and when
she has spawned he proceeds to entice another, until at last he
has accumulated a large number of eggs ; over which he keeps a
strict guard until they are hatched, which is in about three
weeks; and even after this his care does not cease, for he is
seen even to collect food and bring it within their reach.

It is thus that protection of the young is the important

THREE-SPINED STICKLEBACK.

171

trust committed to the male fish, until by growth they are
able to take their place among the full-grown tribes of their
race. And well ought they to be fitted for this position, for
it not unfrequently involves danger on every side. There are
circumstances, indeed, which render it probable that at times,
perhaps periodically, an epidemic fury seizes them, and that
a general slaughter of the weakest is the result. Mr. Peach,
to whom I have already had occasion to refer, informs me,
that in the north of Scotland, where this fish is common,
they get into pools of the rocks at the highest water-mark of
the tide, and build their nests. Unconnected with the sea,
except at spring tides, the water becomes warm from the heat
of the sun; and there the young are hatched under the
guardianship of the parents, until they are strong enough to
quit the place; after which, toward the decline of the year,
not one is to be found, except, indeed, some scores of the
adult fish, which are left dead, without any other obvious
cause besides their mutual love of fighting.

But little attention indeed is sufficient to discover that this
little family of fishes is an irritable race, and disposed to a
display of the domineering impulses of tyranny and oppression,
in the exercise of which they are not slow to manifest their
consciousness of the formidable nature of the arms they bear,
and of their power to wield them with deadly effect. Woe
betide an enemy that ventures on an attack. I placed an
individual of the best-armed variety in a vessel, in which two
small crabs were already confined, and being not a little
hungry, one of the crabs shewed an inclination to make the
new-made prisoner his prey. But in all his attacks the
Stickleback was equal to the occasion. He kept his well-armed
tail towards the enemy, and depressed and employed it in a
manner unlike what most fishes could accomplish, but in
which the inferior processes of the vertebrae were shewn to
be no hindrance.

The following will further illustrate these manners of the
Sticklebacks, as they are brought into active opposition with
each other, and where the contest is with no other apparent
object than a display of the pride of victory. “Having,” says
a writer in Loudon’s “Magazine of Natural History,” vol. iii,
at various times kept this little fish during the spring and

172

THREE-SPIN ED STICKLEBACK.

part of the summer months, and paid close attention to their
habits, I am enabled, from my own experience, to Touch for
the facts I am about to relate. I have generally kept them
in a deal tub, about three feet long, two feet wide, and about
two feet deep. When they are put in, for some time (pro-
bably a day or two) they swim about in a shoal, apparently
exploring their new habitation. Suddenly one will take pos-
session of the tub, or, as it will sometimes happen, the bottom,
and will instantly commence an attack upon his companions ;
and, if any one of them ventures to oppose his sway, a regular
and most furious battle ensues ; they swim round and round
with the greatest rapidity, biting, (their mouths being well
furnished with teeth,) and endeavouring to pierce each other
with their lateral spines, which, on these occasions, are projected.
I have witnessed a battle of this sort which lasted several
minutes before either would give way; and when one does
submit, imagination can hardly conceive the vindictive fury of
the conqueror, who, in the most persevering and unrelentive
way, chases his rival from one point of the tub to another,
until fairly exhausted with fatigue. From this period an in-
teresting change takes place in the conqueror, who, from
being a speckled and greenish-looking fish, assumes the most
beautiful colours; the belly and lower jaws becoming a deep
crimson, and the back sometimes a cream-colour, but generally

a fine green, and the whole appearance full of animation and

spirit. I have occasionally known three or four parts of the
tub taken possession of by as many other little tyrants, who
guard their territories with the strictest vigilance, and any,

the slightest invasion brings on invariably a battle. As may

be expected they usually fight best on their own ground, and
the invader is generally repelled ; but when the contrary occurs
the victor adds the defeated party’s possession to his own. A
strange alteration takes place almost immediately in the defeated
party; his gallant bearing forsakes him; his gay colours fade
away; he becomes again speckled and ugly; and he hides his
disgrace among his peaceable companions, who occupy together
that part of the tub which their tyrants have not taken posses-
sion of; he is, moreover, for some time the constant object of
his conqueror’^ persecution. It is scarcely necessary to observe
that these are the habits of the male fish alone; the females

THIIEE-SPINED STICKLEBACK.

173

are quite pacific, appear fat, as if full of spawn, never as-
sume the brilliant colours of the male, by whom, as far as 1
have observed, they are unmolested. The bite of these little
furies is so severe, that I have frequently known it, when
inflicted on the tail, produce mortification, and, consequently,
death. They also use their lateral spines with such fatal
effect, that, incredible as it may appear, I have seen one

during a battle absolutely rip his opponent quite open, so
that he sunk to the bottom and died. Another fact in the
history of these interesting little creatures also deserves notice:
it is curious, and to me unaccountable. Previously to death

they re-assume all their brilliant colours, which they may

have lost from defeat; but they are not so clear and distinct
as when in the height of their power.

It was one of the results of Baron Cuvier’s more attentive
examination of the differences among the species hitherto
considered identical, that he was led to separate what had

before been regarded as one species of Gasterosteus into
three, on the foundation of the different degrees of arming
of the plates which cover the sides. On the authority of
such a competent observer this division of species at first
met with little opposition, and accordingly it found a place
in Mr. Yarrell’s “History of British Fishes,” where each of
these supposed species is individually represented. From, the
first, however, Mr. Jenyns expressed his doubts, which he
stated in his work referred to at the beginning of this
article. Renewed enquiry has gone on to shew further, that
if these three varieties are to be definitely distinguished from
each other, several others must fall under the same distinction;
since there is no exact number of increase or decrease to the
plates on the sides, on which characters it was the definitions
were built. And these are not the only parts which are liable
to variation, although the others have not been taken into
account by writers whose attention has been directed chiefly
to systematic arrangement. But if for the sake of simplicity,
as well as of truth, we can consider the British species of
this family that are marked by three or four free dorsal
spines, as only varieties of one, we may with confidence
affirm that no known kind of fishes are equally disposed to vary
their forms or change their apparent character. I shall best
VOL. I. 2 C

174

THREE-SPINED STICKLEBACK.

satisfy the intention I have in view in the account of these
fishes, by giving a description, as well as a figure, of each
of the varieties as they have come within my observation;
and my earnest thanks are due to Edmund T. Higgins, Esq.,
of Bristol, for the opportunity I have had of examining some
examples of more than the usual size — giants of their race —
which were obtained by him from the neighbourhood of
Liverpool, and selected from a multitude of others that shewed
no difference from the more common examples obtained in
other districts.

Willoughby describes this fish as growing to the length of
two inches and a quarter, and Mr. Jenyns to three inches.
My largest example measured three inches and thre e -fourths ;
its depth one inch. The body compressed, sloping circularly

from the first spine to the mouth; under jaw longest, gape
rather small, teeth conspicuous. From the upper jaw the
head is covered with a cuirass, the border of which bends
down at the sides on a line with the gill-covers; a separate
plate with a blunt projection above the pectoral fins. The
pectoral fins attached to a broad half-circular plate, and below
this a plate which extends a rounded angle back towards the
belly. On the ridge of the back are three plates, on the two
hindmost of which are seated the two first free spines; a third
and shorter spine is close to the origin of the dorsal fin.
Four plates pass downward from these dorsal plates or shields,
and two of them reach the ventral plates, one of which is
broad, and covers the belly to the vent. It is hound down
through the whole length, and a prominence or line runs

THREE-SPINED STICKLEBACK.

175

through the middle of it; and on each side of the origin of
this flat plate or ventral shield (which in some degree serves
the purpose of a sternum, as well as a defensive armour for
the breast,) is a sharp spine of considerable length, and
finely serrated on its upper border or edge. This formidable
spear is in fact one of the two which serve to spread the
membrane of the ventral fins, but it is the weapon with which
all the deadly contests of this fish are conducted. There is a
slight spine in front of the anal fin. The dorsal and anal
fins are on the hinder part of the body; and the origin of
the latter is a little behind that of the former. The body
grows slender as it approaches the tail, the latter organ in its
folded state being concave. When dry the plates or shields
before mentioned appear rough. Colour of the back olive
brown, well defined on the sides; below, and on the fins and
tail a dull yellow: the colours influenced, no doubt, by the
spirit in which these fishes had been preserved. Formulas of
the fin rays, — pectoral ten, dorsal fifteen or sixteen, ventral
two, caudal eleven, with some small rays.

Another example of the same variety, and about the same

length, was of a much more slender form, and in other
respects, different proportions, the dorsal and anal fins being
also carried nearer to the tail; and in a third, which may be
termed the Half-armed Stickleback, while the depth of body
n|arly answers to the example we first described, the dorsal
and anal fins are reduced to much smaller dimensions, there
is an elevated ridge near the side of the tail, and the tail
itself is straight. The lateral plates in this variety never
descend to join with the shield of the belly, and contract
suddenly in dimension opposite the third dorsal spine. The
colour of these fishes partakes of every variety, from sober
brown to a brilliant green, with reddish or crimson tints.

176

TINKER.

TEN-SPINED STICKLEBACK.

Willoughby; p. 342.

Linioeus. Bloch; pi. 53, f. 4.

Donovan; pi. 32. Lacepede.

Fleming; Br. Animals, p. 219.

Loudon’s Mag. of Nat. Hist., vol. iii, p. 332.
Yarrell; Br. Fishes, vol. i, p. 99.

Jenyns; Manual, p. 350; Zoologist, vol. xiv,
p. 5124.

Gunther ; Catalogue of Fishes in the British
Museum, vol. i, p. 6.

There is a little fish of the family of Sticklebacks, which
is still smaller than the ordinary size of the Three-Spined
species, so that it is almost the smallest of British fishes; but,
although widely dispersed, it is not so commonly met with as
the others. In shape it is a little more slender, and the body
is not defended with plates, although a slight ridge near the
tail is represented in Donovan’s plate, and referred to as of
casual occurrence by Cuvier and other describers; but it is
particularly distinguished by having nine or ten spines (Wil-
loughby says eleven) on the back; these spines being of

course smaller and closer together (Fleming says more irregu-
larly disposed) than in the three and four-spined species. As
distinguished from the others its habits are best described ^y
Mr. Newman, in the “Zoologist,” as above referred to, whose
account we therefore for the most part copy. Another observer
also remarks, that although less formidably or securely armed

than most of the others, it is much the most quarrelsome of

its family.

Mr. Newman says: — “In the ‘Fishes of Scandinavia,’ plate
iv, fig. 2, is figured, under the name of G. pungitius, a

Piscis aculeatus minor,
G aster osteus pungitius ,

66 H

66 66

66 66

66 66

66 66

TINKER.

177

Gasterosteus haying nine spines on the back, and coloured
red about the lower jaw, cheeks, gill-cover, and base of the
pectoral. I have to regret that my ignorance of the Swedish
language prevents my understanding a single word of the
description, but the plates in this work are the most scrupu-
lously accurate of any natural history representations I have
ever seen, and therefore I take the evidence as perfectly
conclusive, that the G. pungitius , or fSma Spigg’ of Sweden,
is a fish the male of which assumes a red breast in the
breeding season. There is no doubt that the G. pungitius of
Linnseus, Cuvier, and of the ‘Fishes of Scandinavia,’ is one
and the same fish. Well then, we arrive at this conclusion,
that there is on the continent of Europe a fresh-water Gas-
terosteus, which has constantly nine dorsal spines, (but Nilsson
assigns it ten,) which has keeled scales on the sides of its
tail, and the male of which, in its nuptial livery, is red about
the gills and breast, like the familiar G. aculeatus.

“Now for the contrast: we have in the ditches round London
myriads of a very minute fresh-water fish, known to every boy
who goes a stilling by the name of Tinker; this fish has nine
spines on the back, a perfectly smooth tail, and the male in
nuptial livery is of the most intense velvetty black, never by
any chance exhibiting the slightest tinge of red. Turning
again to Cuvier I find appended to the description of G.
pungitius the following note, (translated:) — There is also in
our streams a species nearly akin, (6r. teems, Cuvier,) which
is without this arming: and in the subsequently published
“Natural History of Fishes,” by Cuvier and Valenciennes, (v.
iv,) this smooth-tailed species stands as G. pungitius , the G .
pungitius of the animal kingdom being omitted altogether.

“Mr. Yarrell has given two figures of a G. pungitius , in the
first and second editions of his admirable history; neither of
the cuts gives an exact idea of our familiar little Tinker, but
that in the first edition comes the nearest. The description in
both editions is the same, and is comprised in a very few
words. The colour is described as a yellowish or olive green
on the back ; sides and belly silvery white, with minute specks
of black; fins pale yellowish white.”

Mr. Newman then goes on to describe the fish as found
near London. The separate spines are nine in number, and

178

TINKER.

each of them has a small triangular fin membrane at its pos-
terior base; all of them are erectile at the pleasure of the
fish, and when erected it is seen that they are not seated
exactly on the median line of the back, hut on two lines,
each removed, almost imperceptibly, to the right and left of
a median line; on one line there are five spines, on the other
four, and they are seated alternately. Every spine, moreover,
on the right line has a most decided inclination to the right,
and every spine on the left line to the left, so that the series
are well represented by the teeth of a saAV recently set, when
they are alternately and purposely bent to the right and left.
The carinated scales on the sides of the tail, which Cuvier
makes a character of G. pungitius, are entirely wanting. The
colour is very uniform, as compared Avith that of our ordinary
Sticklebacks; it is a somewhat metallic yelloAV green on the
back, gradually becoming paler, and almost Avhite on the belly,
the Avhole being irr orated with minute black dots; the fins are
very pale, almost colourless. The male resembles the female
until the month of March, when he begins to assume his
nuptial livery: the median line of the breast and belly then
becomes black, a colour which day by day extends on either
side until all the lower parts of the fish become of the most
intense velvetty black; this eventually extends almost over the
Avhole body, the back only retaining slight indications of the
normal colouring.

It is a fearless and ferocious little fish, instantly reconciled
to captivity, and attacking Avith fury any prior inhabitant of
the vessel in which it is placed. It Avill frequently seize a
fellow-prisoner by the gill, the tail, or a fin, and retain its
grip Avith the firmness of a bull-dog; in the same Avay it Avill
instantly seize a Avorm Avhen presented to it, and alloAV itself
to be drawn out of the water Avithout relinquishing its hold.
The females become very much distended Avith ova, and deposit
them simultaneously; they are very large, generally eight or
ten in number, and are immediately devoured if found by
fishes of the same or other species: its nest is not knoAvn to
me. Unlike other species of Gasterosteus it Avill not exist
Avhen confined in salt-Avater, hoAvever diluted. Mr. NeAAunan’s
doubts of the identity of this species, arising from the difference
of colour, Avould have ceased if he had recollected Iioav

TINKER.

179

strongly many fishes, and this family in particular, are disposed
to assume their tints from the nature of the ground in which
they live, a fact well known to fishermen, and Ovid, in ancient
times, when he says of another inhabitant of the waters,
(the Polypus) —

“Sub lege loce mutatque colorem;”

“The place’s law compels to change its tints.”

Nor is the presence of a ridge or scales near the tail a surer
mark of the distinction of species, for among the three-spined
species, this ridge, naked or plated, is found to occur indis-
criminately.

With regard to the number of dorsal spines, above referred
to, Nilsson says that they are about ten in number; that this
fish is about an inch and a half or two inches in length, which
shews it larger than with us ; arid that it is common in all the
waters of Scandinavia. The three-spined species, he says, is
even found within the arctic circle.

FIFTEEN-SPINED STICKLEBACK.

SEA adder;

Confounding it with the Pipefishes or Syngnatki, to which it bears some
resemblance in shape, and especially in the form of its snout and the
angles of its body. Bismore in Scotland.

Aculeatus marinus major,

a 66 66

Gasterosieus spinachia,
66 66

66 66

66 66

Spinachia vulgaris,

66 66

Jonston; Tab. 47, but I find no description.

Willoughby; p. 340, and Appendix, p. 23,
Tab. x, 13. It is remarkable that Wil-
loughby had never seen this common fish,
and his figure at last was taken from a
dry specimen in the Museum of the Royal
Society.

LlNNiEUS. Bloch; pi. 53, f. 1.

Donovan’s Plates, p. 45. Lacepede.

Jenyns; Manual, p. 351.

Yarrell; Br. Fishes, vol. i, p. 101.

Fleming; Br. Animals, p. 219.

Gunther; Cat. of Br. Museum, vol. i, p. 7.

This fish never enters fresh-water, but it is well known on
all the coasts of the United Kingdom, from the extreme north
of Scotland to the Land’s End, in Cornwall; and within a
few years it has drawn to itself special notice from its having
been discovered to be in the habit of forming a nest for the
security of its young, and for watching over their safety in
it with much care, to the time when they become excluded,
and capable of taking care of themselves among the other
inhabitants of the waves; a discovery which solicited the more
attention, that it was made, or at least published, before a
similar proceeding had come to light, in the habits of one or
two more of the species of the same natural family, that we
have already spoken of.

The first obscure notices of this remarkable and hitherto

-SPIN ED STICKLEBACK.

FIFTEEN-SPINED STICKLEBACK.

181

unsuspected proceeding appear to have been entertained in
Scotland; but tbe subject was prosecuted with greater care
and success in Cornwall, by Mr. Richard Q. Couch, who,
however, underwent the fate of many other discoverers, in
having the fruit of his researches stolen from him into a
foreign language without acknowledgment; to be translated
back into English by one who was ignorant of the fact, that
he was doing no more than bringing to his own country what
in truth had before been filched away from it.

The places selected for these nests are usually in harbours
or some recess near the open sea, where, with the presence of
the pure water of the ocean, there is shelter from the open
violence of the waves. Sometimes they hang in pools of the
rocks, but it is not rare to find them between tidemarks,
where they are left uncovered by the tide for two or three
hours. The moisture of the materials appears sufficient to save
the grains of spawn from suffering injury by this exposure.

The method of proceeding in forming these nests appears to
be that the fish either find growing, or, certainly in some
instances, collect together some of the softer kinds of green or
red sea-weeds, and join them with so much of the coralline
tufts (Janise) growing on the rock as will serve the purpose
of affording firmness to the structure, and constitute a mass
five or six inches long, of a pear-like shape, and about as
stout as a man’s fist. A thread is employed with much skill
and patience in binding these materials together; and there is
no doubt that its substance is obtained from the creature’s
own body. It much resembles silk, and is elastic. Under a
good magnifier it appears to be formed of several smaller
threads glued together, and it hardens into firmness by ex-
posure to the water. But there is reason to believe that it
is not exuded, nor the roe deposited, all at once; for as it
is passed through the mass with intricacy in various directions,
the roe appears in little clumps, which are in different degrees
of development.

The grains are of large size in proportion to the magnitude
of the fish, and of a bright amber colour. They are watched
over by the parent — in every case, I believe, by the male —
who never long quits his station; but an instance has occurred
where two fishes have been engaged in attending one nest;

VOL. T. 2D

182

FIFTEEN-SPINED STICKLEBACK.

and if the guardian is forced to retreat by the receding of
the tide, he returns as soon as the way is open, and for three
or four weeks he continues his guard, until the young are
able of themselves to take their chance in the broad expanse
of sea. So much is he intent on the principal object of his
solicitude, that at this time himself may be easily caught; but
he resents every interference with the nest; and if the grains
of ova be exposed to sight, as was done by way of trial, the
breach was immediately repaired by the labour of dragging
the materials into a position by which they are again concealed
and protected.

A singular instance of constructive skill and patience in the
formation of its nest, which occurred within my knowledge, is
deserving of remembrance. The situation selected was the
loose end of a rope, from which the separated strands hung
at about a yard from the surface, over a depth of four or
five fathoms; and to which the materials could only have been
brought, of course in the mouth of the fish, from the distance
of about thirty feet. They were formed of the usual aggregation
of the finer sorts of green and red ore-weed; but they were
so matted together in the hollow formed by the untwisted
strands of the rope, that the mass constituted an oblong ball
of nearly the size of the fist; in which had been deposited
the scattered assemblages of spawn, and which was bound into
shape with the thread of animal substance already described, and
which was passed through and through in various directions,
while the rope itself formed an outside covering to the whole.
We can scarcely suppose that such a nest can have been the
work of more than a couple of fishes, but the grains of
spawn had grown to almost the size of radish seeds, and in
collective bulk seemed greatly disproportionate to the size of
the parent, and only to be explained by the well-known fact,
that the ova of fishes generally obtain an increase of bulk by
the absorption of water after exclusion; which fluid may be
supposed to exert considerable influence on the further de-
velopment of the young. The embryo of this fish, as is
believed to be the case with many others, is not found to
bear a close resemblance to the parent, and, in fact, may be
said to pass through a decided metamorphosis in the course
of its final development.

FIFTEEN-SPIKED STICKLEBACK.

183

A nest selected for observation liad its outer case formed of
green sea-weeds, within which were short pieces of brown
weeds ; and, contrary to the usual custom, it was watched
by a couple of these fishes. At the precise time of quitting
the egg, the young were placed under a magnifier of moderate
power, when it was observed, that instead of a long protruded
snout, the form of the head was round and blunt, the pec-
toral fins were large, and a dorsal fin passed along the greater
part of the back to be united to the caudal fin, from which
again it advanced to form an anal fin. In some examples
this union was by an uninterrupted border, but in others
there was a notch at the place where the dorsal and anal
fins came together. The belly was protuberant, and in some
the ovum was still visibly attached to the body; and as the part
of union was diaphanous, globules could be seen, that had
passed from the egg to the intestine. No ventral fins could
be perceived, which is less a matter of surprise that it has
been observed in other instances— -these organs are the last
that go through the process of development. The truly apodal
fishes (such as are always without ventral fins, as the Conger,)
are, in fact, in a condition of arrested development in this
particular. How widely different is this form from that of the
parent! and yet, when half an inch in length, the lineaments
are perfect. These little newly-born fishes were active and
voracious, for they eagerly attacked such of their fellows as
fell dead to the bottom of the vessel in which they were
confined.

This species is capable of great activity, and when in cap-
tivity I have known it to throw itself over the brim of a
vessel where the water was three inches below it. It feeds
on crustaceous animals, and indeed on any animal substance
it is able to swallow; and I have known it to attack and
partially devour an eel of three inches in length, which,
however, it was compelled finally to reject.

The usual length is about six inches; the head compressed
at the sides, wide and flat on the top, lengthened before the
eyes, which are moderately large and brilliant. Under jaw
the longest; both have teeth; the lips fleshy; tongue far back
in the gullet. Nostrils mid-way between the snout and eyes,
and appearing to exert a sensitive action when the fish is at

184

FIFTEEN-SPIN ED STICKLEBACK.

liberty. The gill-covers with large plates; the membrane with
three rays. The body lengthened, growing slender as it ap-
proaches th^ tail, and depressed. The lateral line raised into
a ridge of sharp overlapping plates, forty in number, but
probably liable to variation. The belly bordered with a
prominent bony rim; vent at the middle of the body. Dorsal
and anal fins rounded, at the beginning of the posterior half
of the body, and opposite each other. Between the head and
the dorsal fin is a row of fifteen spines, each of them edged
on the hinder part with a slight membrane. Pectoral fins
rather large, reaching backward to the tenth dorsal spine.
Ventrals opposite the extremity of the pectorals, placed apart,
with three rays, the first strong and hooked. A strong spine
before the anal fin. The tail wide and round. The colour
liable to vary; in some reddish brown on the back, first rays
of the dorsal fins, and tail; in others deep green; and in
some instances (as, indeed, in many other fishes) quickly
changing under the influence of terror. The cheeks and sides
are often golden yellow, lighter on the belly. Fin rays — -
pectoral nine, ventral three, dorsal seven, anal eight, caudal
twelve.

A— Head of Fifteen-spined Stickleback. B— Egg of ditto magnified.

C— Eggs natural size.

E R O' Hi

185

PERCA.

The body compressed, rather deep, covered with firmly- fixed scales.
Eirst gill-cover with a serrated edge, on the second a spine. Jaws
and roof of the mouth with numerous fine and slender teeth.
Two separate dorsal fins, the first with spinous rays. These fishes,
and several of the following genera, separated for conveniency from
the original genus Perea as constituted by Linnaeus, are what that
author named thoracic fishes, because their ventral fins are placed
below the pectorals.

PERCH.

Perea major,

Pearch,

66

Perea jluviatilis,
66 66

66 66
66 66

66 it

La Perseque Per che,

Jonston; Titul, 3, C. 1.

Isaac Walton’s Angler.

Willoughby, p. 291, Tab. S. 13.

Linnaeus and Cuvier. Bloch, pi. 52.
Gunther’s Cat. of Br. Museum, vol. i, p. 58.
Fleming; British Animals, p. 212.

Jenyns; Manual, p. 330.

Yarrell; British Fishes, vol. i, p. 1.
Lacepede.

The Perch is one of our best-known river fish, and is
generally distributed over the kingdom; but it is with some
exceptions, for it is not found in Scotland north of the
Forth, except where it has been introduced, and it is not a
native of Cornwall, although it has been conveyed thither
within the present (nineteenth) century, and in the few places
where it is known it thrives well. This fish, indeed, is capable
of living out of water for a considerable time under favourable
circumstances, and has been known to have been carried
without injury a distance of forty miles, enclosed in wetted
moss. It is said to be a custom in some parts of Germany,
to carry this fish alive to market, and if not sold, to return
it to its native element for another opportunity, as wras

188

PERCH.

formerly the case in England with the Pike and other fishes.

The Perch prefers lakes and the deeper and less rapid
pools of rivers, where they herd together in companies in the
winter; and it is probably for want of such accommodation,
that it is not naturally an inhabitant of the extreme north
or west of Britain. But when the warmth of spring
begins to be felt it becomes more active, and passes into the
more rapid parts of the stream; where the angler employs his
baits with great success, for this fish feeds eagerly on almost
every animal it is able to swallow. Worms, the larvse of
insects, young fishes newly struggling into life, and even the
smaller newts and frogs, are indiscriminately devoured, and
form therefore successful baits for taking this fish. It wdll
spring out of the water to catch some sorts of flies; but in
grappling with the more formidable Sticklebacks, it sometimes
suffers the injury, which, under like circumstances, itself in-
flicts upon the Pike. The formidable spines of the back and
ventral fins are driven into the membrane of the mouth, and
cause such fretting ulcerations as to lead to its destruction.
It has been said that from dread of these firm and piercing
dorsal spines the Pike, however voracious, will shrink from
attacking the Perch; but that it is not always thus cautious
is shewn by an incident recorded in the following verses,
where it had seized a very large Perch, after the latter had
taken the angler’s hook. The writer, comparing this Perch
to a smaller one, says —

Oh, had you seen, in Ely’s merry isle
His bulky brother which a Cyclops strook,

With hempen cable and rough hammer’d hook;

Long tugg’d the brawny blacksmith at his game,

At last encumber’d with huge load it came,

Half buried in a Pike’s enormous maw.

Its finny spears fast wedged into his jaw.

Scarce eight full pounds —

Angler, 1758.

A further character of these roving companies is referred to
in the succeeding verses: —

Perch, like the Tartar clans, in troops remove,

And urged by famine or by pleasure rove^

But if one prisoner, as in war, you seize,

You’ll prosper, master of the camp with ease;

Por, like the wicked, unalarmed they view
Their fellows perish, and their path pursue.

PERCII.

1ST

According to Professor Owen, the milt and roe are single
in the different sexes. According to several authors it does
not breed until the third year of its age, and in spawning it
seeks for some pointed piece of wood, against which it presses
the vent; and when some of the spawn has become attached
to this substance, it moves in different directions, so as to
draw out the ova, which are enveloped in a cord of tough
mucus, much like that of the common toad. The quantity of
spawn is often large, and has been known to weigh one-fourth
part of the whole weight of the fish; but the bulk becomes
much increased after it is shed, by the absorption of water
into its substance.

It is much valued for the table, and the skin has been
employed in the place of glue, in the manner described by
Linnaeus, “Lachesis Lapponica:” — “The glue used by the
Laplanders for joining the two portions of different woods of
which their bows are made, is prepared from the Common
Perch in the following manner: — Some of the largest of this
fish being flayed, the skins are first dried, and afterwards
soaked in a small quantity of cold water, so that the scales
can be rubbed off. Four or five of these skins being wrapped
up together in a bladder, or in a piece of birch bark, so
that no water can get at them, are set on the fire in a pot
of water to boil, a stone being laid over the pot to keep in
the heat. The skins thus prepared make a very strong glue,
insomuch that the articles joined with it will never separate
again. A bandage is tied round the bow while making, to
hold the two parts the more firmly together.”

The usual size of a full-grown Perch is from nine or ten
inches to a foot in length; but examples are on record which
have much exceeded these dimensions. Willoughby says that
he had seen one which measured fifteen inches; and Isaac Walton
mentions an instance which came to his knowledge, where it
measured nearly two feet; and Hawkins, in his Notes to the
“Complete Angler,” refers to one twenty-nine inches in length.
The form of the body is compressed and deep; and the outline
rises in an arched direction from the mouth to a little in advance
of the first dorsal fin. The mouth is terminal, and the jaws
about equal; teeth slender and numerous in the jaws, and over
the palate. The body and part of the cheeks covered with

188

PERCH.

small but firmly-attached scales. Eyes large; nostrils, as in all
this family of fishes, double, and between the eyes and point
of the upper jaw. The first gill-cover (preoperculum) finely
serrated ; the hindmost furnished with a flattened spine. Lateral
line passing along nearer the back. The first dorsal fin rounded
and well developed, with firm and prickly rays, of which the
fourth and fifth are commonly the longest; the second dorsal
near the first, and opposite the anal; the latter with two firm
rays at its commencement. Tail concave. The colours are lively,
but subject to variation. The back a rich brown, sometimes
greenish; cheeks and sides yellow, the belly white. A .variable
number of broad bands of the colour of the back pass round
the sides. The first dorsal fin flesh-coloured at the base, bluish
near the margin; the first and last borders dark, almost black.
Pectoral fins pale; the ventrals, second dorsal, anal, and tail
red. Fin rays — first dorsal fourteen, second dorsal fourteen,
pectoral twelve, ventral one to five, anal two to five, caudal
eighteen.

I

189

BASS.

Lupus,

Perea lab rax,

Pass,

66

Labrax lupus,

66 66
66 66

66 66

Jonston; c. 2, t. 23, f. 3.

Willoughby; p. 271, tab. r. 1.

Linnjeus.

Donovan ; pi. 43. Risso; p. 299.

Fleming; Br. Animals, p. 213.

Cuvier, who separates this fish into a new
genus, because its tongue is rough, which
that organ in the genus Perea is not,
Jenyns; Manual, p. 331.

Yaeeell; Br. Fishes, v. 1, p. 8.

Gunther; Catalogue of Fishes in the Br.
Museum, vol. i, p. 63.

The Bass was known to the Romans by the name of Lupus,,
or the Wolf; a designation which has been supposed expressive
of its great voracity. But it appears to me that the word des-
cribes the manner in which it deals with its prey, rather than
merely the eagerness with which it pursues it. Let the weather
be stormy and the water turbid, and the Bass of largest size
will hunt along the shore, and even in very shallow water, for
whatever it can find, but especially for onisci and other crus-
taceous animals, which under such circumstances are often thrown
from their hiding-places in crevices of the rocks. Fishermen
who employ hand lines from the shore, are aware of this, and
choose this time, at the flood tide rather than the ebb, for their
most successful fishery. If they are able from the clearness of
the water to discern the bottom, they do not expect this fish
to take the hook. At other seasons the Bass will assume a
station near some sheltering rock, and there keep watch for any
passing prey. Suddenly it rushes on its victim, and again re-
turns with it to its former shelter to devour it; remaining still
near the same haunt until the appetite is satisfied, or its expectation
has failed.

In the opinion of several ancient authors this fish displays
YOL. I. 2 E

190

BASS.

but little sagacity in the way in which it gets itself into situ-
ations of danger, but much of that quality in extricating itself
from the snares in which it is entangled. To this purport
Pliny and AElian express in prose what Ovid and Oppian give
in verse: — that when encompassed with a net, it scoops out
with its tail a furrow in the sand, and there lies hid while the
net passes over it.

In like extremity the greedy toils,

With arts more exquisite the Bass beguiles;

Low he descends when powerful fear commands,

And scoops with labouring fins the furrow’d sands;

Lodged in that cave expected fate derides,

While o’er his back the leaded foot-rope slides.

Fishermen observe that they often deliver themselves from
the line by cutting away the hook; and they suppose it to be
done bv means of the serrated cutting’ edge of the gill-cover.
But it is more probable that it is effected by drawing the line
across the teeth; which are numerous, and capable of acting
like a file or rasp. Oppian, in borrowing perhaps from Ovid,
gives also another and less likely explanation of their way of
escape : —

'‘The crafty Bass, whene’er they conscious feel
Deep in their jaws infix’d the barbed steel.

Writhing with restive fury backward bound,

The hook dismissing through the widen’d wound.”

The food of the Bass is the smaller fishes, shrimps and other
crustaceous animals, and sea-weeds; and they readily take an
offered bait. They are most frequently caught in summer and
autumn, when many circumstances combine to bring them within
reach of the fisherman; but they are rarely seen in winter.
It has been said that they breed twice in the year; but it is
doubtful whether with us winter is one of these seasons.
The young are seen in harbours and at the mouths of the
larger rivers in considerable numbers; but when full-grown
they become solitary, and prowl along the coast; for they do
not commonly seek the deep water; and although capable of
living in fresh-water, do not pass into it in preference. They
are widely distributed, but are by much the most abundant in
the southern counties of England and Ireland. They have been
found in the Firth of Forth, but I believe no further north

BASS.

191

in Scotland. Belon says he found it in the Red Sea. (Ob-
servations, etc., L. 2, c. 67.)

The Bass is in esteem for the table with us; but it was
regarded much more highly, and as among the principal of
their dainties, by the luxurious Romans of the Empire; who
chose to set the highest value on such as were caught in a
recognised district of the Tiber, and which those who prided
themselves on their exquisite taste, professed to be easily able
to recognise. Pliny only says that they were the best which
were caught in rivers; but from Horace wre learn that they
must be of small size, and taken precisely between the two
bridges of the city, neither above nor far below. (Satires,
b. 2, s. 2, where it is to be observed that the translators into
English have chosen to render the word Lupus by the English
word Pike, to which fish the Lupus does not answer in any
particular.) The favoured fish was known by its pale colour,
and especially by its white and woolly flesh; and a story is
handed down to us by Columella, of the affected horror ex-
pressed by one of these fashionable sensualists at a table, where
it happened that a Bass not of the right sort was set before
him. Having taken a portion into his mouth, he threw it back
in apparent disgust, and exclaimed, “I thought it was fish
you had set before me.” But their ancestors could not have
been so fastidious; for Columella, (de re rustica, b. 8, c. 16,)
tells us, that from ancient times these fish had been kept in
fresh-water ponds, where they bred freely.

Yet it was the fish preferred by the epicure that ought to
have excited disgust; for the favourite station was indebted for
its excellency to the great cloaca, or principal drain of the city;
and as Willoughby observes, it was owing to their being fed
with matters that were discharged from it, that they had ob-
tained the colour and taste which elevated them into reputation.
A similar observation has been made in modern times.

Willoughby, and other writers who had seen this fish chiefly
in Italy, describe the young as marked with dark spots, which
disappear in advanced growth; and Gesner’s figure shews it
similarly spotted; but no such marks appear in them in our
own country. The adult fish reach a considerable bulk; but
one of fifteen pounds is considered large. Yet I have been
informed of several that weighed twenty pounds, and one has

192

BASS.

been named to me that reached twenty-nine pounds. I myself
measured an example that was in length two feet nine inches,
but its weight was not in proportion to its length. The head
and body are compressed, and the latter not so deep as in the
generality of this family of Perch-like fishes; but muscular
and strong ; covered firmly with scales, as is also the first
gill -cover. Jaws and palate furnished with numerous small
teeth; the tongue as if cut short at its extremity. Anterior
gill-cover serrated, but on the lower border this sometimes
becomes obscure. The hindmost gill-cover having two blunt
spines, and another at the origin of the lateral line. Eyes of
moderate size. Lateral line slightly descending, and then
straight. Dorsal fins two, in a depression on the back; the
first with strong spinous rays, of which the first, and sometimes
also the second, are short. Anal fin slightly behind the second
dorsal. Tail concave. Colour a bluish grey on the back, lighter
on the sides, white below. First dorsal nine, second dorsal
thirteen, pectoral sixteen, ventral six, anal fourteen, caudal seven-
teen, the first ray spinous.

\;v.

ASPRO.

In dividing tlie extensive family of Linnsean Perches, Cuvier forms
the genus Aspro, which, with a somewhat elongated body, has the two
dorsal fins separate, the ventrals broad, the teeth very small and thickly
set, head depressed. The teeth are on the palatine bones, but not on
the tongue.

RUFF.

POPE. JACK RUFF.

Perea fluviatilis minor, and Schrollus,
“ cernua,

(6 a

6C (6

Cernua fluviatilis, Aspredo, Ruff a,

“ fluviatilis,

Acerina vulgaris,

a tc

JoNSTON.

Linnaeus. Bloch, pi. 53.
Donovan, pi. 39.

Jenyns; Manual, p. 334.
Willoughby; p. 331, tab. x. 14.
Fleming; Br. Animals, p. 212.
Cuvier. G-unther; Catalogue
Br. Museum, vol. i, p. 72.
Yarrell; British Fishes, vol. i,
p. 17.

This little fish is less widely distributed than the Perch,
but it is common in the rivers of the midland counties of
England, although not found in Cornwall and Devon, in
Scotland, or the Isle of Wight. It is not mentioned by Mr.
Thompson among the fishes of Ireland; but by Linnaeus and
other continental writers, it is said to inhabit the lakes of (at
least the northern parts of) Europe. According to Professor
Nilsson it is frequently met with in the middle and northern
waters of Scandinavia, but is rare in the south. It is lively in
its motions, and chiefly frequents those portions of the river that
are rocky or strewed with stones and sand. In other respects
it has much the same habits as the Perch, and is angled for
VOL. I. 2 F

194

RUFF.

with, the same baits. The usual time of spawning is the
spring, at which time the roe is shed in large quantity at a
good depth in the water, on sandy ground. By some this fish
is esteemed for the table.

It rarely exceeds three or four inches in length. The out-
line of its shape rises from the snout to the beginning of the
dorsal fin, and the body becomes more slender as it approaches
the tail, which organ is large and forked. The eyes are
large, and placed high in the cheeks; front of the head
round and blunt; under jaw a little the shortest; teeth nu-
merous and fine. Cheeks with pits ; border of the anterior
gill-cover with spines, and a longer spine on the hinder gill-
cover. The body covered with scales, which are rough to the
touch from the nature of the edge of each of them; hence
the name of the fish. Lateral line nearer the back. Dorsal
fin waved, hut undivided, the fourth ray the longest, the
breadth growing narrower at the end of the spinous portion,
and again expanding as it approaches its termination. Anal
fin rather small, ending opposite the termination of the dorsal.
Pectoral round; ventrals large, thoracic. The colours vary
according to the nature of the river, from a greenish tint on
the back to a rich yellowish brown, lighter or whitish below,
and varied with scattered spots; fins spotted or with bars of
brown; tints of yellow on the sides.

XLil

195

SERltANUS.

This genus has a single dorsal fin, although two classes of rays
support its two divisions. Kays of the gill membrane seven in
number. First gill-cover serrated, the hindmost with one or more
points or spines. Covering of the jaws smooth.

COMBER.

SMOOTH SERHANUS.

#

Serranus Cabrilla,

U ti

(6 <C

Channe ,

CJianrM,

Perea Cabrilla,
Polocentre serran,
Perea channus,

Cuvier.

Yarrell; Br. Fishes, vol. i, p. 11.
Gunther; Cat. Br. Museum, vol. i, p. 106.
Jonston; Articulus 8.

Willoughby, p. 327.

Linnjeus. Jenyns; Manual, p. 332.
Kisso.

Loudon’s Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. v, p. 20.

This is a common fish, in the west of the kingdom, and
probably also along the south coast of Ireland ; but it was
long overlooked by naturalists, and supposed to be confined
to the Mediterranean, where it appears to have been con-
founded, under the name of Sea Perch, with another species
which it much resembles both in appearance and habits, — the
S 'err anus scriba, a species that has not been found in Britain.

The Comber usually keeps in rocky ground at a small dis-
tance from land, and is well known to fishermen, who often
find it in their wicker crab-pots, which it enters for the sake
of the baits that are hung up to entice the crabs and lobsters;
but the result is that they become the bait they sought to
devour. They are seldom brought to the market, and when
caught on the line are usually converted into bait for other

196

COMBER.

fish; for, although wholesome, and even delicate for the table,
their inferior size causes them to be little valued. Their usual
food appears to be the smaller crustacean animals and small
fishes; but I have found Ophiurse (Slender Snake Star-fishes)
and encrusting corallines (Lepralise) in their stomach.

A supposition of ancient date was, that the males and
females of this species were united in one, or were hermaph-
rodites; but although the structure of the ovaries offers some
peculiarities, there is reason to believe that the sexes are
distinct as in other fishes. Professor Owen was not able to
discover anything but the grains of spawn in these organs,
as they were sent to him for examination with a microscope;
and I have no doubt of having myself distinctly seen the ex-
istence of a separate milt. There is, however, some peculiarity
in these organs, for at that portion of the ovary where it
enters the duct that conveys the spawn or milt, there is a
small hag-like sac, and at the outlet of the passage from
whence the roe is discharged, an organ, which, under ordi-
nary circumstances, has its orifice turned inward; hut on
pressing the body the direction of the part is reversed, and
the outlet is rendered capable of conveying the discharge to
the distance of half an inch. When the pressure is removed
this organ resumes a twisted shape, and returns to its situation
within the body. Late in the spring and in the summer I
have found the spawn running freely from one ovary, and
nearly as much advanced in the other, thus shewing that the
process is not ended within a very small duration.

This fish also obtained notice in ancient times, from the
fact that its death was always attended with a spasm which
caused its fins to stand erect and its mouth to be widely
open. I have never met with more than a single instance in
which the contrary to this was the case, and from this pecu-
liarity it was that among the Greeks it obtained the name of
Chanee and Channos, or the Gaper. Some writers indeed are
persuaded that this habit of gaping is natural to it at all
times, and that it is produced by the structure of the jaws;
but there is no doubt that this latter supposition is built on
a mistake, and that when alive the mouth is closed as in
other fishes.

In reference to this fish and the S. scriba, it may create

COMBER.

197

some amusement to the reader, if there be introduced to him
a little sprinkling of what was known as science in the middle
ages, as handed down by one of the then shining lights of the
world. Speaking of the medical virtues of some creatures,
Albertus Magnus says of the Foca, which is the Fuka, Phykis,
or Phykos, (not Phokos or Phokee,) of Gesner, — the Sea
Perch, — that it is a well-known fish, called by the Chaldeans
Daulubur, and by the Greeks Labor. Take its tongue and a
small portion of its heart, and infuse them in water, and the
mixture thus made will cause a multitude of fishes to gather
together. Place the same under your arm, and if you have
a trial at law it will make the judge your friend.

The largest size of this fish is about ten inches long; the
body compressed, deep. Gill-covers and body covered with
ciliated scales, which adhere firmly. Under jaw longest; teeth
in both, and in the palate, numerous, irregular, sharp, and
incurved; the tongue small and loose. Eyes high in the
head. First plate of the gill-covers with the border serrated,
the second with two (in the female one) obscure spines,
scarcely to he distinguished, except in shape, from the scales.
Gill membrane with seven rays, curved, the uppermost broad.
The dorsal fin begins opposite the ventrals, the first portion
having spinous rays, the second, which passes to near the tail,
expanded, with soft rays; anal fin opposite the second portion
of the dorsal. Pectoral fins longer and more pointed than in
most of this family of fishes. Tail a little concave. Lateral
line nearer the back. Colour of the back a rich brown, in
many examples throwing off hands which pass to the belly.
The sides a pale red, saffron-coloured, or yellow, usually
fainter below. Two or three waved parallel whitish or faint
blue lines pass along the sides from head to tail, except that
the lowest ends near the posterior border of the anal fin. On
the gill-covers are several faint blue stripes running obliquely
downward and backward. The fins are striped lengthwise,
with red and yellow; the tail often mottled or striped with
the same colours. Pectorals and ventrals yellow.

Fin rays — dorsal ten and fourteen, pectoral fifteen, ventral six,
anal two and seven, caudal seventeen.

198

DUSKY PERCH.

Serranus gigas,

a ((

(6 6i

Holocentrus Merou,
Perea robusta,
Perea gigas,

Cuvier.

Yarrell; Br. Fishes, vol. i, p. 14.
Gunther ; Cat. of Br. Museum, vol. i,
p. 132.

Lacepede. Bisso.

Loudon’s Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. v, p. 21.
Jenyns; Manual, p. 333.

This, which, as its scientific name implies, is among the
largest of the species of this family, and is not uncommon in
the Mediterranean, appears to have been overlooked by natu-
ralists until very recent times, and even yet its peculiar habits
have been but little examined. Bisso tells us only that it
comes to the neighbourhood of Nice in summer and autumn.
It appears that the south part of the coast of Cornwall is the
north boundary of its wanderings, as it is of several other
fishes of the west portion of the Mediterranean; but even
there it is found but rarely, and no more than three or
four examples have fallen within the notice of naturalists.
The first of these was taken near Polperro with a line, and
from it our figure and description were obtained. I learn
from W. P. Cocks, Esq., that two others have been brought
into Falmouth, and one of these was presented by him to the
collection of the British Museum. One, if not more, has
been obtained at Penzance, but of its habits on our coasts
we have nothing to report.

At first view this fish has more the appearance of belonging
to the genus Labrus (the Wrass) than to the family of
Perches ; and, in conformity with this, it is said that in
Spain, where it is well known, its name is the same as that
of the "W rass ; but closer observation corrects the mistake,
and shews it to be possessed of the proper characters of the

D U SI T P HUGH.

.

i

-

.

DUSKY PERCH.

199

large family of Perch-like fishes, to which therefore we are
left to infer that its habits also belong.

The example described was taken with a hook. It measured
three feet in length, and was seven inches deep, exclusive of
the fins; the body thick and solid; the weight sixteen pounds:
but it is sometimes found much larger. The under jaw
longest, and both, as well as the palate, with numerous
slender incurved teeth; a bed of them in front of the lower
jaw. Lips resembling those of a Codfish; two large open
nostrils, and a large hole under the projection of the nasal
bones. First plate of the gill-covers serrated, the second with
a broad flat spine projecting through the skin and pointing
backward. The fleshy covering of the gill-covers lengthened
posteriorly. The body and head covered with large scales.
Lateral line gently curved. Dorsal fin single, long, expanding
towards its termination ; the first spinous ray short, the two
last soft rays from one root. Pectorals round; ventrals fastened
down with a membrane through part of their course ; vent
an inch and a half before the origin of the anal fin. Tail
round. Colour of the hack reddish brown, lighter on the
belly. Two slightly-marked pale lines on the gill-covers, one
on each plate, running obliquely downward.

This fish must sometimes attain an enormous size. A fisrure

O

of the natural size of the head of an example taken at
Penzance, of which the body unfortunately was destroyed,
measures one foot four inches from the front of the jaw to
the hinder portion of the gill-cover, and in depth, immediately
in front of the dorsal fin, thirteen inches.

POLYPIUON.

A serrated border to the first gill-cover, a strongly-ridged spine
high on the second gill- cover, and a rough crest above, with rough-
ness over the bones of the head. Pirm scales over the body, cheeks,
and mustache. A single dorsal fin, in two portions; the second, with
the anal fin, much developed.

STONE BASS.

Wrechjish, Transactions of Linnsean Society, vol. xiv, p. 81.

Scorpcena Massiliensis, EissoP
Polyprion cernium, Cuvier.

Couch's Serranus, Yarrell’s British Pishes, vol. i.

“ “ Gunther; Cat. British Museum, vol. i, p. 169.

It is remarkable that this large and well-marked fish should
he among those which have remained unknown to naturalists
until very recent times ; although, if the reference made by
Dr. Gunther to Risso, as given above, be correct, it is far from
being rare in the Mediterranean, where it is held in esteem
for the table.

With us, on the south and west coasts of the kingdom, it
is well known to fishermen, and especially as coming under
extraordinary circumstances. It may not have been noticed for
several years; but when a mass of wood or fragment of wreck,
covered with Bernacles, (Lepades,) is driven into our waters
from the direction of the Atlantic, a considerable number of
these fishes is often found to accompany it, as if it were a
special point of attraction to them; for in the most sportive
manner they gambol round it or over it as it rolls by the
action of the waves, so that I have known their tails excori-
ated by rubbing against its substance; appearing to chase each
other as they feed on the small fishes or crabs wdiich have

AI IX

STONE BASS.

‘201

sought shelter among the suspended bernacles or weeds, which
float in masses in connection with the wood. That they do
not themselves feed on the bernacles is plain, for I have never
found them in the stomach; but what cause should lead them
to come to us under such circumstances, or as is reported to
have happened in some rare instances, where the bottom of a
ship has been foul from the same cause, appears difficult to
be explained; as is also the fact that so large a number
should be thus attracted, when they are reported, in the
Mediterranean to be of solitary habits.

So familiar is the opinion that such a mass of floating wreck
in the northern part of the Atlantic is usually accompanied
with a multitude of these fishes, that I am informed, when
it floats within sight of a ship and the weather is favourable,
a boat is often sent with the expectation to obtain some of
them, which is done by piercing them with a spear usually
employed by sailors for such an object, under the name of
grayns. So many as thirty-five have been secured at one
time by a single boat on our own coast. It is agreed on all
hands that they form an excellent dish at table.

Of a considerable number of these fishes which have come
under my observation I have never met with more than one ex-
ample that has exceeded, or even reached the weight of twenty
pounds. But on the evidence of Cuvier, we gather that in
the Mediterranean they sometimes so vastly exceed this, as to
be met with of a hundredweight; and it is from this circum-
stance chiefly that I am led to believe it likely to be a fish
long lost to science, but known to the ancients, and men-
tioned by Oppian under the name of the Etnaian cantharus ,
an epithet which Scaliger pronounces to have been applied to
the fish on account of its great size. The particulars leading
to this supposition are but few, and perhaps obscure, but they
agree with the characters of the fish as known in its native
haunts; and although Ovid designates it as

“Cantharus ingratus succo,”

“The Cantharus of unpleasant flavour,”

this may have depended on the mode of cookery, or the
taste of the eater; and that it was fished for as a valuable

2 G

VOL. I.

STONE BASS.

202

prize, appears as well from Oppian’s direct assertion, as his
description of the fishermen’s proceedings, which involved no
little skill and patience. He first made a vessel or chamber
of wicker-work with a large door, not unlike the larger
lobster store-pot now employed to secure these crustaceous
captives after they have been caught. These he baited with
roasted crabs or cuttlefish, and placed it near the rocks fre-
quented by these fishes, with the door in the side left open.
The fishes would gradually collect together, but he was in
no haste to obtain them, and continued to furnish new bait
as it became devoured by the fish; for his object was, not
only to secure at one haul a large number, but by feeding
to fatten them as much as possible. When everything had
succeeded the door of the trap was closed, and the capture
secured.

The example described was eighteen inches long, and six
deep, exclusive of the fins; body thick and stout. Head bony,
an high ridge on the gill-covers; teeth in jaws and palate
small, numerous; border of each plate of the gill-covers ser-
rated; also a large bony serrated plate at the origin of the
body, above the gill-covers. Scales firm, over the body.
Dorsal fin long, expanded towards its termination, with eleven
spinous and twelve soft rays, the two last from one root.
Pectoral fin with fifteen rays; in the ventral six, the first a
strong spine, with short spinous processes along its outward
edge. Anal fin with twelve rays, of which the first three are
spinous. Tail straight.

D’ENT E X.

203

DENTEX.

Cuvier places this genus within his family of Sparoides or Sea
Bream-like Eishes, which he divides into generic sections, principally
according to the situation or structure of their teeth; a ground of
division which might appear slight if it were not that the number
of species in this family is so great, that confusion must follow if
some means of separation were not adopted by which sections of them
could be kept distinct. The generality of naturalists have been con-
tent to follow Cuvier in this arrangement, and the appearance of the
only species we know seemed to warrant it; but Dr. Gunther, in his
“Catalogue of the Eishes of the British Museum,” has placed the
genus far away from those with which it had been associated, so that
even the Surmullets are permitted to stand between. Without
attempting to pronounce an opinion on this last arrangement, regarded
in the light of a connection or separation of affinities, we are con-
tent to follow it for a species which is the only one we have of the
genus, and which can only he considered a stranger on our shores.

According to Cuvier the genus Dent ex is characterized by having
conical teeth, even on the sides of the jaws, and generally in one
range; and those immediately in front are lengthened into large hooks.
The cheeks have scales; the edge of the first gill- cover even, or
without notches.

DENTEX.

Four-toothed Sparus,
66 66

Sparus dentex,

Dentex vulgaris ,
66 66

Spare dente,

66 66

Jonston; Article 6.

Willoughby; p. 312, tab. v. 3.,

Dentex , Synodon , Synagris.

Linnaeus. Donovan; pi. 73.

Cuvier. Jenyns; Manual, p. 357.

Yarrell; Br. Fishes, vol. i, p. 127.

Lacepede. Kisso; p. 251, and Dentex cetti.
Gunther’s Cat. of Br. Museum, vol. i, p. 366.

This fish is well known through the whole length of the
Mediterranean, and is distinguished for its large size as com-
pared with others with which it has been usual to associate it;
as well as by its rapid growth, and eagerness in pursuit of
prey, to which its long and formidable teeth render it a de-

204

DENTEX.

structive enemy. It has been classed amongst British fishes
from the circumstance that Donovan, when engaged in publishing
his “Natural History of British Fishes/5 had the good fortune
to obtain a specimen which had been caught near blastings,
and of which he has given a characteristic figure. To the
present time this has been the only record of its having
wandered so far to the north as our coasts; and therefore it
is with pleasure I am able to report the occurrence of two
other examples, for the knowledge of which we are indebted
to the vigilance of W. P. Cocks, Esq., of Falmouth.

Basso appears to convey the impression that in its native
climes it is common only for two or three months in summer;
and the rarity of its occurrence with us shews how little it is
accustomed to wander, at least northward, from its usual
haunts. Willoughby found it in the market both at Borne
and Venice.

We obtain our figure of the conspicuous front teeth of this
fish from a preserved skin in the British Museum; but never
having had a recent example to refer to, I prefer to copy the
description from the “Icthyologie55 of Bisso, coupled with the
“History of Fishes55 by Willoughby, both of these having been
derived from examination of recent specimens; but I am as-
sisted further by notes from observations made on the last-
named British examples by William P. Cocks, Esq.

The Cornish specimen, first referred to, was two feet eight
inches and a half in length, five inches in breadth, and between
seven and eight inches in depth, and was purchased in the
market at Falmouth by J. Vigors, Esq., in November, 1846.
The second, which came to the same market in August, 1851,
was still larger, and measured four feet eight inches in length,
and therefore probably was an old fish of the full size it ever
reaches, the four long, conical, and projecting front teeth
being much worn and discoloured. Du Hamel is quoted as
having known it to weigh thirty-eight pounds, and Bisso gives
about forty inches as the usual length. In its general aspect
it bears a resemblance to the Becker or Common Sea Bream,
but the proportions are described as rather longer and more
solid. The back is also elevated and thinner, and the lower
jaw rather longer. The teeth are in a single row, and the
front teeth so prominent as to afford a distinctive character

DENL'EX.

205

to the species, and even genus. The head is flat on the top,
and the eyes high on the cheek. Scales on the body and
gill-covers large. The lateral line passes nearer the back, and
descends towards the tail. Pectoral fin long and pointed; tail
concave; dorsal fin a little expanded at its end; anal fin
rather short.

In regard to colour Kisso represents it as beautifully varied,
and in this he is supported by Willoughby. He says the
general hue is silvery, interchanged on the back with light
blue, and having blue spots on the sides. In front of the
head there are waves of golden yellow, silver, and amethyst;
the eyes blue, with a golden iris. The dorsal fin a bluish
yellow; pectorals reddish; caudal a fainter red. Willoughby
describes the back as green or yellow, in the large examples
inclining to purple, dotted over with clouds of blue and dark,
the colour extending to the sides. At the roots of the hind-
most rays of the dorsal fin a black spot, as there is also at
the origin of the pectoral fin. Ventral fins yellow.

A large example seen by Willoughby was red all over,
with a shade of purple ; but the specimen represented by

Donovan, which we have figured, is of a more subdued colour
than is described above, as indeed might be expected from the
more cloudy skies and lower temperature of the water of our
more northern regions; for, as we have had repeated opportu-
nities of remarking, such fishes as wander to us from the

Mediterranean, are usually destitute of the brilliant tints which
adorn them in their native seas.

The fin rays are differently numbered by different writers;
but we give them as collected from Pisso: — Dorsal eleven
spinous and twelve soft; anal three spinous and eight soft;

ventral one spinous and five soft; pectoral fourteen, caudal

eighteen.

Front Teeth of Dentex.

M2ENA.

The body compressed and covered with scales; the upper jaw
capable of being extended and drawn backward by means of a process
of bone, which passes upward between the eyes. In consequence of
this structure, the mouth, which when closed looks small, is capa-
ble of assuming a wfide gape. Teeth in the jaws very fine, in a
narrow band, and also a like band lengthwise on the middle of
the palate (vomer.)

MENDOLE.

CACKAREL.

Mcena,

tt

Sparus mcena,

Mcena vulgaris.

La Spare Mendole ,

a a a

Jonston; Articulus 21.

Willoughby; p. 318, tab. v. 8.
Linna:us.

Cuvier.

Lacepede. Bisso, p. 239.

Gunther; Cat. of Br. Museum, p. 386.

This is a common fish in the Mediterranean, and in many
places is found in great abundance, especially in the neigh-
bourhood of Venice; but it has very rarely been met with
in any part of the Atlantic, and it becomes therefore the
more remarkable that it should have been found in the British
Island. I am indebted for the information of such an occur-
rence to William P. Cocks, Esq., from whom I learn that a
single example was caught at St. Mawes, within the harbour
of Falmouth, in a net, in which were also enclosed some
Grey Mullets. Unfortunately no figure appears to have been
taken of this only English specimen; but the description
presently to he given, which I owe to the kindness of Mr.
Cocks, will leave no doubt that he is correct in his appro-
priation of the name.

In its native waters the Mendole is an exceedingly prolific

M E N D O L E.

MENDOLE.

m

fisli, and usually keeps near the land in places where sea-
weeds abound, feeding on them, as well as enjoying their
shelter, hut not refusing to take a bait. Oppian says —

“Close to green shores the watery natives feed,

That hide in wrack and bite the spiry weed.

Such food the Cackerels and the Goats approve.”

They were never held in reputation for the table, and
anciently were considered as food only for the lower orders
of society. Martial terms them “inutiles msenas,” worthless
Mendoles ; and another poet, describing a poor dinner-hunter,
represents him as disappointed in his search, and then returning
to satisfy his hunger on these fishes. Hence it was a proverb
at Home that they only were indifferent to the pleasure of the
table who would as soon dine on a Mendole as on Sturgeon;
yet our countryman, Willoughby, represents them as agreeable
food: but the discrepancy is explained by Lacepede, who
says that when in their best condition they are not to be
despised, and that the females in full roe are delicious. The
principal use made of them in ancient times was as sauce for
other fishes, and this we learn to have been formed chiefly
from their entrails.

Mr. Cocks’ description of the Cornish example is: — The
body oblong, compressed, and covered with large scales; the
mouth small and protractile; jaws with a narrow band of
minute fine-pointed teeth, densely packed together; a longitu-
dinal band of the same along the middle of the palate (the
vomer.) An elongated scale above each ventral fin, and one
between these fins. Eyes large. Upper surface of the body
dark lead grey, with bright silvery sides and belly. The
length nine inches and a half, depth two inches and a
quarter. But the most remarkable circumstance that belongs
to this fish is its great diversity of colour in different places
and seasons. Lacepede says it is generally white, with blue
stripes along the side; a large dark spot on the side, above
the vent; the fins red: but the colours become more lively
in summer, and are generally so on the coast of Africa.
Willoughby describes the colour as pale green or dusky
yellow, with blue lines, and a large round dark blotch on
the side, with spots and lines running obliquely over the

208

MENDOLE.

whole body, but especially on the back and bead; and he
particularly points out four teeth in the lower jaw that were
larger and longer than the others. Observers who have been
well acquainted with this fish in one district, have felt them-
selves at a loss, in consequence of this diversity of appearance,
to recognise it in another.

Fin rays, with some difference of enumeration by different
writers, — dorsal eleven spinous and twenty-three soft; pectoral
fifteen; ventral one spinous and five soft; anal three spinous
and nine soft.

The figure we give is taken from Willoughby’s “History of
Fishes.”

SURMULLET.

£09

MULLUS.

Head compressed, and sloping in front; body thick and solid, together
with the cheeks covered with large scales, which are easily displaced.
Jaws slightly furnished with teeth, or not at all. Two barbs at the
origin of the throat. Two fins on the back, which are separate. First
gill- cover having its border smooth. Thoracic fishes.

SURMULLET.

Mullus,

Mullus surmuletus,
66 66

66 66

Mulle surmulet,
66 66

Jonston; Cap. 1, Art. 1, M. major ,
table 17, f. 6.

Willoughby; p. 285, tab. S. 7, f. 1.
Linnaeus. Cuvier. Bloch, pi. 57.
Donovan, pi. 12. Fleming; Br. An., p. 216.
Jenyns; Manual, p. 337.

Yarrell ; British Fishes, vol. i, p. 30.
Lacefede. Bisso.

Gunther’s Cat. Br. Museum, vol. i, p. 301.

The Surmullet is a common fish along the coast of the
south and west of England, and is known in Ireland and
Scotland, and even much farther north where such ground
occurs as is fitted to its habits. But if a fish can he said
to have its chief residence where it attains the largest size
and liveliest colours, that favourite district is the west portion
of the channel which divides England from France. It may
be termed a fish of passage, so far as a change from the
deeper water of the middle of the channel to its borders,
according to the season, will allow of its being thus charac-
terized: for, while it is not unfrequently taken in a trawl
net at a great depth in winter, — and on one occasion a trawl
vessel of Plymouth at that season took so many fish, of which
Surmullets formed by far the largest portion, as were sold for
twenty pounds, — they do not come within the reach of the
trammel or ground-sean until about the month of May; and.

VOL. 1. 2 IL

SURMULLET.

210

although it is the habit of this fish to keep close to the
bottom, the change of place is effected by swimming near the
surface over a large depth of water, by doing which it often
becomes entangled in the drift-nets set at a distance from land
for the spring approach of Mackerel.

The trammel-net, which is chiefly used to take this fish
near the coast, is formed of three parallel nets set to one
head and foot line, with meshes of some considerable difference
of dimensions in the separate nets, the middle one haying
the distance from knot to knot just sufficiently large to
receive the head and forward part of the fish, while the
outermost net on either side, which hangs a little more loosely,
has its meshes sufficiently large to allow of the passage of
the body of the fish until it has felt itself arrested in its
course ; at which time its struggles call the larger meshes
into action to form a bag or entanglement, by which the
captive fish is prevented from falling out and being lost
when the net is drawn to the surface. This net is set in
places known to fishermen, where the ground is oozy, with
scattered stones ; and it is proper that the foot-rope should
rest on the ground, for the fish is disposed to find its way
under it in seeking its food, which is the smaller kinds of
crustaceous animals and worms, which rest on the ground;
with perhaps sea-weeds. Its stomach is thick and firm, and I
have also found in it fragments of a shell resembling the class
termed a Venus; but it was an opinion of ancient times that
this fish fed on, and even gave a preference to, every foul
and loathsome substance, among which putrid fishes, and even
the human carcass, stood pre-eminent. Oppian says, —

“Of all the kinds that range tlie spacious flood,

Luscious Surmullets seek the coarsest food.

In beds of slime they roll with wanton ease,

And cull the grossest ordure of the seas;

But shipwrecked men, (detested sights of woe,)

The richest course of luxury bestow;

Whatever baits a nauseous smell diffuse
With sure success commend their constant use.

Swine and Surmullets seem alike inclined,

Mean in their choice, their palates unrefined;

But none that yield a more delicious food
Or haunt the forest or divide the flood.”

In proof of their alleged fondness for human flesh it has

SURMULLET.

211

been remarked that they have been found to assemble in
larger numbers after a great battle at sea. Happily it is out
of our power to confirm or deny this last alleged fact; but
an inspection of the mouth of this fish, so small and toothless,
renders it incredible that at any time the human body or
any large object should be the subject of its appetite. That
it will take a hook, however, is familiarly known, although
this does not appear to be usual until the decline of summer,
when it enters harbours and is fished for from rocks and piers.

The Surmullet is well furnished for searching out its prey
by the possession of a pair of barbs, which hang below the
middle of its lower jaw, and are endued with quick powers
of sensation, residing in nerves, one in each of the pair, which
pass along their outer side, and, next to the nerves of
vision, are the largest in the body. The barbs themselves are
so placed, that when the fish rests upon the ground or passes
along, they can be lifted up and hid between the bones of
the gills; but they are in such a manner attached to a frame-
work of bones separate from the jaws, but united to them by
ligament at one end, and are acted on by muscles of such
considerable power, as to be capable of acting in every
direction in the examination of neighbouring objects.

Ancient writers were so fully persuaded of its producing
spawn three times in the course of a year, that they gave it
the name of Trigle from that circumstance; which name has,
however, in modern times been bestowed on another genus of
fishes; and they believed the selected place to be near the
mouths of large rivers. We see however, but little signs of
its breeding on our coasts.

The Surmullet is now, as it ever has been, an object of
inquiry to those who indulge in the luxuries of the table,
so that it became a proverb, that those who caught it never
knew the taste of it; but to obtain it in its perfection it
ought to be in the hands of the cook within a few hours after
it has been taken from the water. The ancients were aware
of this, and it was something more than curiosity which led
the Romans to produce the living fishes on the table for the
inspection of the guests, before they delivered them to the
cook. Seneca tells us they were scarcely valued unless they
had died in presence of the guests. Those which with us

212

SURMULLET.

are caught in a trawl, from the loss of their scales and
bruised condition, are still more prone to decay than such as
are taken in the trammel; and care in this respect is the more
necessary, as a large portion of their rich flavour depends on
the particular manner in which they are cooked. It is
necessary that the entrails (and especially the liver) should
remain within the fish when they are roasted or baked, and
they are rolled in paper to protect the skin from being unduly
scorched with the heat, — a mode of preparation, which, it is
not a little remarkable, has been practised for at least two
thousand years; as we learn from iElian, who says that it was
the custom to roast them, and that skilful cooks professed to
hinder the belly from bursting by kissing the mouth of the
fish.— B. x, C. 7.

In no article of luxury does it appear that the Homans of
the empire went to such extravagant, and even ridiculous ex-
tent as in regard to this fish; but that there is no exaggeration
in the statements of the poets, appears from the corroboration
afforded by the sober relations of the moralists and historians.
The utmost pains and cost were bestowed on the formation
of ponds for preserving these fish, and thereby having them
always at hand; but unhappily success did not always attend the
effort, and Columella (De re Bustica, B. 8, C. 17,) informs us
that when caught, — it must be supposed in what we now term
a ground-sean, — and turned into the pond, scarcely one in
several thousands survived to reward the care bestowed upon
them. This loss he ascribes to the nobility of the fish, which
spurned confinement; but we can more readily impute it to
the stagnant nature of the water, which admitted of little
change in a place where there existed only a very small in-
fluence of the tide, and which therefore experienced renewal
only from the uncertain influx of waves when the wind might
chance to blow high and in a favourable direction. We speak of
the Surmullet as having been the subject of so much extrav-
agant attention, but there is reason to believe that what we
shall presently find occasion to mention, applies more directly
to the plain Bed Mullet; — the next in order in our arrange-
ment, and much the most abundant along the coasts of the
Mediterranean, rather than to the larger and more ornamented
fish which chiefly abounds in Britain. But there was little

SURMULLET.

21 3

discrimination of nearly-allied species even among the most
observant writers, in ancient times; and we have reason to
believe also, that in some of the stranger tales handed down
to us, the larger, and to us more familiar fish, was truly that
to which the narrative refers.

Besides the enormous cost that was unavoidable in the form-
ation of some of the fishponds into which salt water was
admitted, the expense was scarcely less for preserving those
which survived the capture in that healthy condition in which
it was necessary they should appear if carried to the market;
for it caused their owner to be subject to sharp criticism if
any marks of neglect or underfeeding could be noticed in
them. We are informed that in his private ponds Hortensius
was accustomed to employ a large number of men in attending
to the wants of his Mullets by supplying them with small
fishes; and they were supplied with salt fish when boisterous
weather proved a hindrance to his obtaining food from the
sea. Lucullus is sufficiently known for the great expense he
was at in forming his ponds, and especially for the enormous
cost of digging through a hill, to obtain a passage into them
for the water of the sea; and yet he was blamed by Horten-
sius for want of care in allowing his fish to remain in
what he considered an unhealthy situation. He declared that
he would bestow more attention on his sick fishes than on
his sick servants; and this care of his extended to the furnish-
ing them with water artificially warmed, while his sick servants
were left without any such conveniency. He would even be
better reconciled to the loss of one of the chariot-mules from
his stable than that he should lose a mullet from his pond. —
(Varro, He re Rustica, B. iii, C. 17.)

Nor was this feeling to be ascribed to the merely pecuniary
value of these fishes, although the prevalence of fashion was
such, that those who were desirous of having a name among
the high and noble, and for that purpose of making a display
of luxury, were ready to pay an extravagant price for the
coveted dish. Martial has an epigram on one who sold a
valuable slave, that with the price he might for once thus in-
dulge himself, and be talked of, although, in fact, he gave his
guests but little else to eat. And we hear of another of these
apes of the rich and the noble, who would not be without

214

SURMULLET.

a dainty so much esteemed, but who contented himself with
half of a fish, as all he was able to supply. Under these
circumstances the price might be expected to rise very high,
and accordingly a Mullet of two pounds (each pound amounting
to twelve ounces) was expected to bring its weight of silver.
This value, however, was often exceeded, and especially per-
haps when the fish had grown scarce in their own waters,
and in consequence were sought for on the distant coasts of
Corsica and the south of Sicily. At that time a thousand
sesterces were equal to three pounds of silver, and, according
to this reckoning, Juvenal speaks of a single Surmullet as
having obtained the price of almost fifty pounds; and if as
a satiric poet he may be suspected of exaggeration, his story
is confirmed by the more sober Suetonius, who tells us that
on one occasion three of these Mullets were sold for thirty
thousand sesterces, which made at least seventy pounds for
each fish. Juvenal remarks on examples of this nature, that
the fisherman might have been bought for less money than his
fish; and, according to Pliny, so might, in former days the
cook that dressed it.

According to the last-named author Asinius Celer expended
sixty-five pounds in the purchase of a single Mallet; which
will render less extraordinary a story told of the Emperor
Tiberius, in which instance the price obtained will be ascribed
to the wish of contending courtiers to obtain the notice of
their prince, rather than to the fashionable value of the fish
itself. It appears that some one had obtained a Mullet which
reached the unusual weight of four pounds and a half, and
which he judged a proper present for the emperor; but the
latter, either from avarice or caprice gave command that it
should be carried to the market for public sale, where two
noblemen contended for the purchase until it reached the sum
of five thousand sesterces, or fifteen pounds of silver. But
people of a lower degree had similar aspirations ; and an
Egyptian, who had been a slave and had obtained his freedom,
and afterwards been raised to the rank of a knight by the
Emperor Domitian, was rich enough, as well as sufficiently
ambitious, to pay six thousand sesterces for the fish. And
yet, stranger still, all of these examples must give way to
what is told of the Emperor Heliogabalus, who, in a freak

SURMULLET.

215

of ostentation as we must suppose, indulged himself with a
dish which was formed of only the barbs of this expensive fish.

The head and liver were the parts which constituted the
particular objects of attraction to those who prided themselves
on their taste; and that the last-named part was such we can
easily understand, whether formed into sauce or as a portion
of the cooked fish, for in truth it is this which yields the
larger portion of its delicious flavour. But it is not easy to
discern what it could be that recommended the head to the
epicure, except that so little of anything could be extracted
from it. The well-known Apicius, who spent a large fortune
in the indulgence of his appetite, believed that he had secured
an addition to his luxuries by drowning Mullets in a rich
sauce of great cost, known by the name of the Sauce of the
Allies, and supposed to be made of the entrails of Mackerel
infused in very strong vinegar. But it is easy to perceive
that fancy only, or the craving after notoriety, so powerful
in his day, must have been the chief inducement to this pro-
ceeding; for the fishes could not receive any portion of the
flavour into their flesh until they were dead.

The practice of presenting the living fish to the guests at
table, swimming in glass vessels, which had its origin in the
wish to secure them in the best condition for the cook, became
afterwards a fashion; and there were those who found a
pleasure in pointing out the succession of changes through
which the captive passed as the powers of life declined.

The Surmullet is one of those fishes which after death never
recovers the brilliant tints which adorn it during life, and
when at freedom in its native seas.

It is curious to find that there were some who probably

acquired equal notoriety with others, and at the same time
saved their purse, by professing to despise the fish which
others so greatly coveted. Boeticus, as Martial speaks of him,
could not eat the Mullet, the hare, the boar, the pheasant,

nor other dainties ; but he preferred the Gerres and other
fishes, which held the same value as with us the Sprat: and
Martial declares for himself that although he valued a Mullet
of two pounds weight as equal to a Turbot, yet both these
fishes lost their relish when alloyed by the prate of his

entertainer.

21() SURMULLET.

I have known a Surmullet to measure sixteen inches in
length, but being thin in flesh it did not exceed forty ounces
in weight. The form is but a little compressed, and flattened
on the belly. The eyes elevated; head proportionally large,
sloping gradually, and in a waved outline to the mouth.
Upper jaw a little the longest; teeth in the lower jaw only;
a roughness, rather than teeth, in the palate; two long barbs
beneath the lower jaw, which are received into a depression
beneath. Several mucous orifices between the upper jaw and
eye. The back elevated; body and cheeks covered with large
scales, which are easily removed; those on the lateral line
perforated, having a rayed ridge in their longitudinal direc-
tion: this line is gently curved. The first dorsal fin with
spinous rays, which gradually shorten from the first; second
dorsal opposite the anal; the first ray of the former spinous,
the latter fin nearly triangular. The pectorals narrow and
pointed; ventrals long and wide; tail concave.

The colours are subject to some variation, but are always
rich and brilliant, but more so in life than after death. The
back, head, and generally the fins, red or scarlet, which is
softened on the cheeks and sides, and still fainter on the
belly; along the sides four yellow stripes, the lowest reaching
only half the length of the body. The anterior dorsal fin
with a broad diagonal stripe of bright yellow. Of five of
these fishes caught together, four were of the more usual
colour, but the fifth was much the most splendid in its appear-
ance, the belly being also of the most brilliant crimson. The
lines on the sides were scarcely to be discerned, but as life
declined the colours became more faint, and the lines became
conspicuous as in the others.

Skull of the Surmullet.

Pectoral scales.

RED MULLET.

RED MULLET.

PLAIN RED MULLET.

Le Mulle Rouget,

Mullus minor,

“ barbatus ,

Jonston; Capud 1, Art.l, Tab. 17, f. 5.
“Willoughby; p. 285, tab. S. 7.

Lin ileus. Cuvier.

Jenyns; Manual, p. 338.

Yarrell; British Fishes, vol. i, p. 36.
Lacepede. Risso. Gunther’s Catalogue

of British Museum, vol. i, p. 401.

The Red Mullet appears to be most common in tbe
Mediterranean, although Risso seems to remark the contrary;
but it was certainly the species to which many of the anec-
dotes of ancient writers, which we have given when speaking
of the Surmullet, most frequently apply. On our own coasts,
however, it is a rare visitor, so that when an example is met
with it is thought deserving of special notice. Yet it has
been taken at the two extremes of the kingdom, for while
Mr. Cocks records it as met with at Falmouth, Dr. George
Johnston has published the notice of one obtained by himself
on the coast of Berwickshire.

In its general shape, and, according to Dr. Gunther, in the
frame of its bones, it bears a near resemblance to the Common
Striped Surmullet, insomuch that some have supposed the
former to be only a variety of the latter. It may happen,
perhaps, that the mere circumstance of colour will not prove
sufficient to distinguish them; for, although the Red Mullet
may never display the well-marked stripes commonly found
in the Surmullet, it has been observed that the latter (at
least during life) may chance to have them concealed by the
brilliancy of its other colour. But although the colour of

TIED MULLET.

218

each, usually may be red, we gather from the words of Ovid
that its hue is not commonly the same. That of the Sur-
mullet we know to he lively in a high degree, but of the
plain red species the poet says, —

“Squalus tenui suffusus sanguine Mullus;”

“The du'll-eoloured Mullet that has a slight tint of blood shed over it:”

an observation supported by Willoughby, who says the colour
is a dull olive yellow, except when the scales are lost, when
it becomes more decidedly red. It should be added, however,
that in the edition of Aldus the word ‘squamas’ is substituted
for fsqualus,’ as if the scales were suffused with the tint of
blood.

But a more positive evidence of their being distinct is
found in the general characters of form and relative situation
of the fins. By reference to figures, and especially to that
of Willoughby, which, for want of an opportunity to draw
from a fresh example, we have thought it best to copy, — as
well as to his description, — we find the head descending
much more abruptly from before the eyes to the jaws. The
first dorsal fin also is further in advance of the pectorals,
while the ventrals are placed further behind. At full growth
it is smaller than the Surmullet, and, while more abrupt in
front, the hinder part of the body grows sensibly more slender.

Fin rays — first dorsal seven, (the first very high,) second
dorsal nine, caudal seventeen, anal seven, pectoral sixteen,
ventral six.

This species anciently received the designation of Barbatus,
or the Bearded, in contrast with another fish, supposed to be
nearly allied to it, and which by way of further distinction,
received the name of Mullus imberbis , or the Unbearded
Mullet, as being destitute of those appendages to the jaws.
Modern naturalists have judged more correctly of the natural
affinities of these fishes, and in consequence have placed the
latter in another genus; which, however different in many
respects from the true Mullets, they have, with some incon-
sistency, agreed to call by the name of Trigla, which anciently,
and for an assigned reason, was only applied to the former
fishes. But it is proper we should add that the error of re-

RED MULLET.

219

mote times, in classing together the so-called Mullus barbatus
and M. imberbis, will not be found without some excuse; for
these two fishes bear considerable resemblance to each other
in their general form and colour, as well as habits, and the
latter is often caught in the same net with the Surmullet;
added to which, when taken it is usual for the barbs of the
Mullet to be drawn beneath the throat, thus rendering the
resemblance still more close.

The existence of the three processes or fingers near the
pectoral fins in the Streaked Gurnard, might, indeed, have
been sufficient at any time to point out the generic difference
between them; but it had not that effect even with such
observant and systematic naturalists as Artedi, Linnaeus, and
Gronovius, who have agreed to class this fish with the
Gurnards, ( Triglce ,) although Willoughby and Lay had long
before marked the distinction between them.

THE SPAROID FAMILY, OR SEA BREAMS.

These fishes are compressed in the form and proportions
of their body and cheeks, with a tendency to an oval in the
outline; the cheeks and body firmly clothed with scales, hut
not having them extended over the fins. Anterior portion of
the dorsal fin with spinous rays, the hinder portion having
soft and branched rays. The jaws usually or nearly equal,
but the teeth subject to much variety; and as the species are
numerous, a large part of which inhabit warmer climates
than our own, naturalists have found it necessary to divide
them into several sections or genera, which is most conveniently
done according to the form and arrangement of their teeth.
It is the consequence of this that there exists a near affinity
between these several genera, and that, indeed, it often hap-
pens there is less difference in the characters of some of the
genera than is found between the species in other departments
of nature.

As is the case with other fishes which come to us from
warmer or brighter seas, either as periodical or wandering
visitors, they are subject to change of colour, and remarkably
so when in their highest condition, as compared with their
emaciated or lower state. And as it is not always convenient
to destroy a specimen, which must often he done if we wish
to examine the full course of the teeth, it need not surprise
us if it happen that the rarer species have not been always
clearly recognised; and consequently that they have not been
in every case referred to the proper synonymes, as designated by
other observers. Such mistakes have been laid to the charge
of some of our most careful authors; and it is in order that
I may keep clear of the misfortune of increasing such errors,
that, in describing the species which have been recorded as
occurring in Britain, my references to others, and especially to
foreign writers, will be less frequent than usual, or as might

THE SPAKOID FAMILY.

221

otherwise be desired. Our dependence, on the contrary, will
be chiefly on our own resources; so that we shall not give
any figure or description of the members of this family, even
to the risk of an omission, except of such as have fallen under
our own inspection: or if in any case a reference is made to
another writer, it will he in such a manner that the borrowed
matter may be easily separated from our own.

The fishes of this family are classed together as thoracic
fishes by Linnaeus, and both the Swedish naturalist and Cuvier
have included in it the genera Dentex and Mama , which we
have followed the example of Dr. Gunther by placing in a
separate family.

222

CANTHARIJS.

The body elevated and thick; muzzle short. Jaws not protractile;
teeth fine, short, and dense, the outward row strongest.

OLD WIFE.

BLACK SEA BREAM.

Cantharus,

Spams cantharus,

Cantharus griseus, C. vulgaris,
66 66 66

66 66 66

JPagrus lineatus,

Cantharus lineatus,

Willoughby; p. 309, tab. v. l.»
Linnjeus.

CUVIER.

Yarrell; Br. Fishes, vol. i, p. 130.
Jenyns; Manual, p. 358.

Fleming; Br. Animals, p. 211.
Gunther’s Cat. Br. Museum, p. 413.

This is a common species on the west and south coasts of
England and Ireland, but as it is a solitary fish it can
scarcely be called abundant. It is with us in summer and
autumn, at which time it is caught, in common with the
other species of this family, with the common baits used by
fishermen, but of which the mussel is perhaps the most suc-
cessful. It also feeds on the finer kinds of sea-weeds, upon
which it becomes exceedingly fat. I have known it caught so
late in the year as Christmas, and in one instance, after a
cold season, an example came to hand in the middle of Feb-
ruary, with the roe well developed. In this instance at least
it would have bred on our own coasts, which is not usually
the case, so that it is not often met with of less size than the
usual full growth. It seems to prefer rocky ground, and is
sometimes taken in harbours, by fishing from the shore.

With us it is scarcely admitted to genteel tables, but in

OLD WIFE,

OLD WIFE.

223

ancient times it appears to have been an object of attention,
since Oppian describes the kind of trap termed nassa, or
wicker pot, as used specially for taking it. The males were
supposed to associate each with his own female for life. This
species is widely distributed, its range extending at least
from Scotland to the Island of Teneriffe, and through the
Mediterranean.

The translator of Oppian follows Gaza, who translated
Aristotle’s name of this fish by the corresponding English
word Beetle, and this name, however uncertain, is still con-
tinued as the designation of the genus in which this fish is
classed. I have assigned it the name by which alone it is
known to the fishermen with whom I am acquainted; and,
although this name may be objected to as being also applied
to a foreign fish of a different family — the Batistes vetala , the
latter probably having received its English name of Old Wife
from some supposed resemblance it bears to the Cantharus
lineatus — yet the name I give it is less objectionable than
that of Black Sea Bream, since the latter is not in any case
descriptive of its colour, as will appear from our description.

The example described was sixteen inches in length and five
in depth, exclusive of the fins. The general form compressed,
bat solid; mouth rather small, and the under jaw a little
protruding; the teeth crowded, slender, erect, with some molar
teeth behind. Eye rather small, lateral; a large single nostril
a little before it, and another close to the angle of the mouth,
under the projecting bone. The head rises considerably, and
still more the back to the dorsal fin; cheeks and body cov-
ered with scales, firmly fixed, and of moderate size. Lateral
line arched, conspicuous. The dorsal fin begins above the root
of the pectoral, and both it and the anal become wider pos-
teriorly; the three last rays of the former and two of the
latter severally from one root, and bound down; pectorals
broad at the base, long, and pointed, and the roots of the
rays clothed with scales; tail concave. The colour is liable to
much variation, according to the season and health of the fish.
When most lively the cheeks are flesh-coloured; top of the
head, round the eyes, and part of the cheeks a rich brown;
summit of the back obscurely green; behind this and over the
body reddish yellow, with irregular dark brown lines. A

OLD WIFE.

224.

single example in the month of September was a uniform
pink colour; but when the colours fade this fish becomes of
a dull and sooty tint.

Fin rays — dorsal eleven to thirteen, pectoral fifteen, ventral
six, anal three to eleven. Between the ventral fins is a loose
triangular flap, pointing backward.

225

BOOPS.

Other characters as in the sparoid fishes; teeth of the outward row
broad and cutting; mouth rather small.

BOGUE.

BOX.

Boops, Box, Boez,

Boops primus,

Sparus boops,

Boops or Box vulgaris,

66 66 66

Be Spare Bague ,

Bogue,

OXEYE.

Jonston, Table 20, f. 8.
Willoughby; p. 317, tab. v. 8.
Linnaeus.

Cuvier.

Yarrell; Br. Pishes, 2nd. Sup.
Lacepede.

Bisso.

In some parts of the European side of the Mediterranean
the Bogue is a common fish, and where it frequents it is in
great abundance. Outside the straits of Gibraltar also, it is
found far to the south, so that it is known in the Canary
Islands, and even, perhaps, in the W est Indies. But it is not
commonly found to wander northward; and therefore it is
not a fish that we should expect to visit our coasts, for the
influences which point its course in that direction, across such
a depth of water, however powerful, appear to be exceedingly
obscure.

The first British example we have a record of was caught
in a ground-sean, in company with Grey Mullets, in the early
part of October, 1842, at St. Mawes, in the harbour of Fal-
mouth, and fortunately came into the hands of Alfred Fox,
Esq., who caused a drawing to be taken, from which our

226

BOGUE.

figure is derived. The specimen itself was afterwards preserved,
and is now in the Museum of the Royal Cornwall Institution
at Truro. Since that time several examples have been caught
at the same place, and one of them was presented to the
British Museum by W. P. Cocks, Esq.

The general habits of this fish bear much resemblance to
the others of its family, and especially in its food, which is
partly animal — of such small creatures as fall in its way.
But it also feeds on sea vegetables, and is consequently found
to keep chiefly in places where they most abound. Its teeth,
the form of which we copy from Cuvier, are well fitted to
crop these weeds from the rocks; and its intestines are long,
convoluted, and capacious, as is the case with all creatures,
as well of the land as water, which are in the habit of
making vegetables a considerable portion of their food.

It is said to be an agreeable diet, and hence, we are told,
it meets with a ready sale.

The Bogue grows to the length of eight or nine inches.
Jonston says it reaches to a foot, hut Willoughby remarks that
he never met with one of so great a length; and yet the
example from which our figure and description are taken,
measured in extreme length the dimensions assigned to it by
the first-named writer. The general form is thick and solid;
the head small proportionably to the bulk of the body, and
the gape narrow. The teeth are wide, thin, and cutting, of
the shape seen in the figure. The greatest depth of the
specimen described was closely behind the termination of the
pectoral fin, where it measured two inches and seven eighths,
and from thence it tapers to the origin of the tail. The eye
is larger than in others of its family; cheeks and body with
large scales; lateral line high and straight. The dorsal fin is
highest at its beginning, and from thence it grows narrow in
its progress, as does also the anal fin; the pectorals rather
narrow. The colour along the back, from the snout to the
tail, is a bluish purple, mottled along the top of the head,
and with tints of pink and vermilion about the eyes. By
authors who have studied this fish in its more native haunts,
the stripes along the sides are described as of a brilliant
gold-colour, separated by stripes of bright silver ; the belly
silvery. But in the Cornish example the yellow on the sides

HOGUE.

is faint, and the brilliant whiteness is changed to dull. The
dorsal and anal tins are a faint blue, as is the tail, with tints
of pink.

The fin rays are enumerated by Willoughby — dorsal fifteen,
anal nineteen; by Risso — dorsal fourteen to sixteen, anal three
to sixteen, ventral one to five, pectoral fourteen, caudal seven-
teen; by us — dorsal fourteen, anal three.

Tooth of Bogue.

‘2 K

YOL. I.

PAGRUS.

Two rows of small rounded molar teeth in each jaw; the front
teeth tine and crowded; strong conical teeth in the outer series.

BECKER.

This is one of the fishes of which Dr. Gunther, in his
“Catalogue of the Fishes of the British Museum,” has ex-
pressed his opinion that Mr. Yarrell, in his history of our
native species, has made the mistake of uniting the figure of
one — the true Pagrus — copied from Cuvier’s work, with the
description and synonymes of a different species.

Where fishes so nearly resemble each other as a large
portion of this family are known to do, the marks of distinction,
which are laid down by description only, as also figures taken
from examples perhaps badly preserved, and when their dis-
tinguishing tints have faded, are very likely to lead to errors
of reference, similar to those which, in this instance and a
few others, are attributed to my deceased friend. But if in
this instance such an error has been fallen into, it has ex-
tended far more widely than Dr. Gunther appears to suppose,
since it is shared by most of the British naturalists, if not
indeed by all, and not excluding the names of those excellent
observers Willoughby and Bay. These last-named authors,
who acted together, had travelled along the shores of the
Mediterranean, for the special purpose of studying the natural
history of the fishes of that sea in connection with those of
their native country; and as some misunderstanding appears
then to have existed in regard to the two fishes which had
fallen within their observation, they have drawn at considerable
length a comparison between them. The first is the Erythrinus
or Rubellio , which Dr. Gunther believes to be the same with

BECKER.

900

the fish said to he mistaken by Mr. Yarrell for the true
Pagrus of the older and continental authors. The above-
named distinguished British naturalists inform us that the
Pagrus they are describing is the same that was known by
the name of Pagrus to Rondeletius, Belon, Aldrovandus, and
Gesner, and that it was known in England as (at least a

species of) Sea Bream.

The figure they give, Tab. v. 1, f. 5, is certainly different
from that of the fish familiarly known to us as the Becker;
and indeed if I felt myself compelled to resort to some
already published likeness for a representation of the species
known to our fishermen by the name of Becker, it would
not be this, but rather to the original of Mr. Yarr ell’s figure,
at least in its outline, to which I should assign the preference.
The distinctions drawn by Willoughby and his friend between
the species he knew as Erythrinus , and that which he de-

nominates the Pagrus , besides the wide difference of form, is,
among others, that the Pagrus so much exceeds it in size as
to attain the weight of ten pounds, while that of the Erythri-
nus rarely amounts to a pound and a half. Willoughby is
particular in mentioning the sinus or gathering up, which is
so conspicuous at the end of the dorsal and anal fins, in his
Pagrus and our Becker ; but he unfortunately adds that there
is a strongly-marked iron-coloured spot on the side, at the
origin of the lateral line, which does not exist either in our

Becker or the two species he names, as represented in his

figures, and which, in our British Sea Breams, is only seen
in Pagellus centrodontus and P. curtus , if the latter should
prove to be a separate species.

Amidst so much apparent doubt and confusion it therefore
becomes necessary that no further mingling of synonymes should
take place; and hence, as regards the present species and one
or two more that will follow, my intention is, to confine myself
to such a representation, both of resemblance and description,
as shall present a satisfactory account of the species as it is
found with us, without mingling it with the authority of British,
and still less with that of foreign writers.

The Becker is common on the south and west of England,
but it does not appear to be of frequent occurrence in the
north of England or Scotland. It probably will be found in

230

BECKER.

Ireland also, but it is not mentioned in Thompson’s natural
history of that country. Its habits are migratory, and its visits
are confined to the summer and autumn, leaving us on the
approach of colder weather in the beginning of winter. It is
a solitary fish, so that it is not usual to find more than one
or two at once in a boat, and those only of the full growth;
for it has never been our chance to obtain an individual in
the earlier stage of its growth. Its residence is at the depth
of several fathoms, where its food is like that of the other
Sea Breams. The mussel appears to be a favourite bait, but
the smaller fishes, crustacean animals, and sea vegetables are
eagerly devoured.

This fish is found from fourteen to sixteen inches in length,
and a usual weight is five or six pounds. The head and body
compressed, sloping from the origin of the dorsal fin to the
mouth; lips fleshy ; jaws about equal; eyes rather small, lateral;
nostrils near the eye, large, and open; scales on the body and
gill-covers large. The body deep, narrower towards the tail.
Dorsal fin, and also the anal, expanded towards their termi-
nation; their posterior rays bound down, without much freedom
of motion, and the skin at the sides is gathered up, so as to
leave a considerable chink below. Lateral line rising in a
gentle sweep, depressed near the termination of the dorsal and
anal fins. Tail concave, pectorals pointed, ventrals large.
Colour of the back bright red, with a tint of pink, and
sometimes of green before the dorsal fin. The red paler
towards the tail; fins generally red, except the ventrals and
anal, which are dusky. Iris yellow or red, sometimes with
tints of green.

Fin rays — dorsal nine, anal three.

S E.A / BREAM.

231

COUCH’S SEA BREAM.

Pagellus Rondeletii,

Couch's Sea Bream,
Pagrus orphus,

Zoologist, vol. i, p. 81, 1843.

Cuvier.

Gunther; Cat. Br. M., vol. i, p. 467.
Zoologist, 1846.

Yarrell; Br. Fishes, 2nd. Sup., p. 4.

There appears to be only one recorded instance of the
capture of this remarkable species in this country, and in
many respects it appears to be scarcely known to naturalists
in general, although described by Cuvier as a native of the
Mediterranean. The figure given by the last-named author,
although referred to above, at least in the outline of its
physiognomy, is but little characteristic; and the likeness of the
Chrysophrys crassirostris would better answer to the fish we
are about to describe. It was taken on the 8th. of November,
1842, with a baited hook, at a rocky ledge termed the Edges,
at the distance of three miles south of Polperro, in Cornwall,
and was placed in my possession as soon as it was brought
on shore.

Its weight was six pounds. The head thick, the muzzle re-
markably so, and rounded ; the line of the front sloping
suddenly from the forehead to the mouth; eyes of moderate
size, high, and near the front; nostrils in a slight depression,
the superior large and open. Jaws equal, not protruding, the
lower with a well-marked chin. The teeth in front stout,
somewhat separate, those of the upper and lower jaws inter-
locking. The scales large, and conspicuous on the hinder
gill-covers; on the middle plate none, and slightly marked on
the anterior plate. The head being short the back rises high
above it. Lateral line very dark, not greatly curved, and
scarcely continued to the tail, the body ending in a defined
form at the origin of the caudal fin, with an incision opposite

COUCH S SEA BREAM.

the course of the lateral line. At the vent the body appeared
as if constricted. Colour of the front and top of the head
brownish red; of the back and fins as if formed by a mixture
of lake and vermilion; the fins of the same colour, except the
anal, which is pale yellow; sides pale red; belly whitish. Iris
of the eye yellow. As the colours faded there appeared a
yellow margin at the angles where the scales met. There was
a gathering up at the termination of the dorsal and anal fins,
as in the Becker, but less conspicuous, and more decidedly at
the anal than the dorsal fin. The tail concave, but less regu-
larly so than in most of the sparoid fishes. Third ray of the
pectoral fin the longest.

Fin rays — dorsal twelve firm and ten soft, pectoral thirteen,
ventral four, anal three firm and eight soft.

The remarkable shortness of the head, with the roundness and
steepness in the declivity of the front, equality of the jaws,
stoutness and interlocking of the teeth, and singular form of
the chin, are sufficient to distinguish this species from every
other recognized as British; and at the same time it so nearly
agrees with the figure and description of Orplie, as given
by Bondeletius, that I have little hesitation in believing it to
be the same fish. The only difference I can find is, that he
represents the vent as being very small; which is the contrary
to what was perceptible in my example; but a variety of
circumstances will explain this slight discrepency.

Among ancient writers there appears to be much disagreement
regarding this fish, but the difference of their accounts will be
explained when we call to mind that with them several very
different species bore the same name, and even that one so
denominated — the Bud — is a fish of the fresh- water. Oppian
appears to represent it as devouring shell-fish, which is not
improbable when we take into account the form and solid
structure of its grinding teeth; but he further states what
would be highly remarkable, if true: —

■ slow-dying Orfs,

Whose bodies long will stubborn life retain.

Repeated wrounds the tortured "wretches feel,

Yet dare the cruel hand and cutting steel;

The parts disjoined and mangled as they lie,

Still pant and move, and will at leisure die.

E Zi Y T 21 R I N :: s.

PAGELLTJS.

Sp:a Breams with the molar teeth small, in two rows; the front teeth
slender, numerous, the outward series slightly the largest.

ERYTHRINUS.

Erythrinus or Rubellio, Jonston; p. 67, tab. 18, f. 6.

“ “ Willoughby; p. 311, tab. v 6.

Pagellus Erythrinus , Cuvier. Gunther; Catalogue of

Br. Museum, vol. i., p. 473.

This fish is well known in the Mediterranean, and its range
extends so high as the month of the Danube. It is also not
uncommon to the southward as far as Teneriffe; but its course
to the north is less extensive, although it has been taken, not
only in Cornwall and Devon, hut in the Firth of Forth.

In its more native seas it is in the habit, like most others
of this family, of changing its haunts according to the season;
in winter keeping in deeper water, hut in summer drawing
near the shore, where from the regard in which its flesh is
held it becomes an object of interest. Willoughby thought it
most excellent in winter ; which at least implies that it is caught
at that season.

It may be readily distinguished from our Becker, or from
the true Pagrus, with which it has been confounded; and also
from the Common Sea Bream, and the Spanish Bream. From
the former it differs in its smaller and more lengthened form
and sharper snout; in which particulars it also differs from the
two last-named species; as well as from the adult growth of
the Common Sea Bream in the absence of the conspicuous spot
on the side. In the individual I have examined the colour
also varied remarkably from all the species of this family I
have seen; but this is less to be insisted on since Risso repre-

234

ERYTHRINUS.

sents it differently from our description. That author says it
is pale red on the back, and light coloured below; but the
colour as marked by myself was a darker, or brick red, and
only varied by being paler on the belly.

The extreme length was thirteen inches, and to the end of
the middle rays of the tail eleven inches and a half; depth at
the origin of the dorsal fin three inches and a half. The gape
rather small; under jaw slightly longer than the upper. Eye
of moderate size. Posterior border of the gill-cover slightly
concave at its upper portion. The dorsal fin somewhat elevated
at its origin; the first ray lower than the second; this fin lowest
at the termination of the spinous rays. Pectoral slender, the
fifth ray the longest, reaching opposite the beginning of the
anal fin. Ventrals long. Lateral line slightly curved, and sud-
denly bent down as it approaches the tail. The caudal fin
more than usually concave.

Pin rays — dorsal twelve spinous and ten soft, pectoral fifteen,
ventral one spinous and five soft, anal three spinous and ten
soft, caudal eighteen, besides obsolete rays.

SPANISH BREAM.

Axillary Bream, Yarrell; Br. Fishes, vol. i., p. 122.

Pagellus Oivenii, Gunther’s Catalogue of the Br. Museum,

vol. i., p. 478.

This is one of the fishes on the synonyms of which doubt is
thrown by Dr. Gunther, as quoted above ; and on which there-
fore, in conformity with a rule already laid down, we must be
contented to make our remarks without reference to other authors ;
but it is the best known to Cornish fishermen of all the species
of Sea Breams that wander to our shores only on unusual occa-
sions; and with them it bears the name of Spanish Bream: that
name not being applied, as Mr. Yarrell seems to have understood,
to the ErythrinuSf which was the subject of our last article;
unless indeed it may have so happened by their confounding
one with the other.

We only meet with single examples of this fish; which are
usually caught with a common baited hook among other Sea
Breams, in the summer and autumn. As, however, this fish
bears some near resemblance to the fish next to be described,
a close description will be best made by a comparison of one
with the other.

The weight scarcely exceeds two thirds of that of the Common
Bream; the body rather more slender, head flatter on the top,
eye smaller and more oval. Before the eye the snout more
protruded, gape wider; the grinding teeth broader and more
blunt. Scarcely a depression before the eyes to receive the
nasal orifices ; while in the common species they are conspicuous.
Dorsal fin more elevated, the anal wider. The pectoral fin
reaches opposite the vent, but in the Common Bream to the
third ray of the anal fin. As we only meet with it in its full

236

SPANISH BREAM.

growth, the absence of the lateral spot is also a distinguishing
mark.

It appears to have been taken in Scotland as well as in the
south counties of England. It is not mentioned among Irish
fishes by Mr. Thompson; hut there can be little doubt of its
visiting that country also, if closely enquired after.

COMMON SEA BREAM,

231

COMMON SEA BREAM.

BREAN.

Spams aurata,

Spare Marseillois ,
Pagellus centrodontus,

a a

Spams centrodontus ,

Donovan; pi. 89.

Risso.

Cuvier. Gunther’s Catalogue Br.

Museum, vol. i., p. 476.

Yarrell’s Br. Fishes, vol. i., p. 123.
Jenyns; Manual, p. 356.

In regard to this fish, which with us is the most abundant
of its family, an extraordinary amount of confusion has existed;
which has been produced by mistaking it for some species that
had been described in a general way by foreign writers, but
which are of rare occurrence in Britain; so that our native
writers had not possessed the opportunity of actually comparing
the one with the other. Willoughby and his friend John Bay
appear to have led the way in this mistake ; and being without
a figure, and more intent on observing the fishes of the Medi-
terranean than those of Britain, they appear to have satisfied
themselves with the belief that this species, which they certainly
must have been acquainted with, was the same with the Gilt-
head, or Sparus aurata ; which latter again they were scarcely
able to distinguish from the Pagrus; and accordingly Willoughby
calls his Pagrus by the English name— a Sea Bream; which
Bay, in his “Synopsis Piscium,” more definitely designates the
Sea Bream; although the presence of the black spot on the
side of the one and its absence from the others, should have
been sufficient to have assured him of the difference between
them.

It does not appear that Linnaeus was acquainted with the
present species; and Pennant, to a characteristic likeness of the

238 COMMON SEA BREAM.

Common Sea Bream, unites a description of tire Gilthead, which
lie appears to have borrowed from some other authority. It is
further remarkable that even so lately as when Dr. Turton
published his “Translation of the System of Linnaeus,” he gave
no sign by which we can conclude that he recognised our
Sea Bream as a distinct species. Basso is probably correct in
supposing that Lacepede refers to this fish by the name of
Sparus massiliensis ; but the remarks of the Trench naturalist
tend to shew that he knew but little of its form or habits. It
is therefore to Kisso himself that we are indebted for the first
distinct description of this fish as a separate species.

The Sea Bream is among onr commonest, and at times most
abundant fishes; and it is known from one extremity of the
United Kingdom to the other. It breeds with us, and usually
towards the end of the year, or in the months of winter; its
station then being chosen at the depth of from thirty to forty
fathoms. I have ascertained the existence of the young ones,
of about an inch in length, early in January; but it seems
probable that same of these fishes have not shed their spawn
earlier than this season; and the young do not draw near the
land until the spring has begun to yield to summer ; after which,
and through the autumn, they abound along the coast, and in
harbours where rocks and the greener sea-weeds are common,
where they are angled for in the evening with much success.
At this season they measure from four to six inches in length;
and do not shew the dark spot on the side, which afterwards
becomes a distinguishing mark of the species. In this early stage
they bear the name of Chads; but towards the close of autumn
the name changes as the darkened patch begins to appear. The
spot, however, is not fully established until about the time of
full growth; which is in the succeeding spring.

This fish so far partakes of the nature of the others of its
family, as to be deeply sensible to cold; and in consequence
it happens that in ordinarily severe winters it passes into deep
water beyond the reach of fishermen. But it soon returns on
the restoration of a milder temperature, sometimes in considerable
numbers. It occasionally happens, indeed, that from influences
not easily understood, they assemble in enormous multitudes;
and this occurs most frequently about the close of summer,
when they have been observed, contrary to their ordinary habits.

COMMON SEA BREAM.

239

to rise to the surface and pursue their course, as if engaged
in some important business of migration. Their actions under
these circumstances have sometimes led the managers of Pilchard
seans into considerable mistakes, from the supposition that they
were a body of the latter fish; and the large abundance of
them thus collected may he judged of by the fact that on one
occasion, twenty thousand, and on another, as I have been
informed, sixty thousand were caught in a sean at one time.

When thus assembled into what is termed a schull, the fish
of a given age or stage of growth are found to keep together
in one body, and instances have occurred where a schull of
Chads or Bream have been enclosed together in a sean, in near
assemblage with a schull of Pilchards, without intermingling
with them ; under which circumstances in the proceeding of the
fishermen, termed tucking, which will he described when we
give the Natural History of the Pilchard, it has happened that
the boats have first been loaded with the last-named fishes ; and
when they have returned on the following day to obtain the
supposed remainder of their prize, to their surprise and dis-
appointment, they have found nothing to satisfy their hopes but
to them a worthless cargo of Breams or Chads.

A story is known of an adventure of this kind, in which it
would have been difficult to persuade the fishermen that some
infernal agency had not been at work to disappoint their ex-
pectations, and rob them of their gain. A poor woman had
gone to the sean boat to beg the gift of a few out of a suc-
cessful capture of Pilchards; and usually such a request would
not be preferred in vain. But on the present occasion she met
a refusal, and after uttering some hasty and angry expressions,
among which was a wish for their future ill-success, she went
away disappointed. It happened that this poor old woman had
some indefinite suspicions attached to her, as if she possessed
an influence with the evil one, who would not be inattentive
to her imprecations. A return to the sean, for the purpose of
taking up the remainder of the capture, confirmed the worst
fears of the fishermen; for, instead of the expected Pilchards,
nothing offered itself but an equal loading of Chads; with the
accompaniment however of a drowned toad; which was imme-
diately pronounced to be an unquestionable proof of the witch’s
proceedings. Nor did the result tend to lessen this impression.

240

COMMON SEA BREAM.

One of the angry fishermen had taken the offending toad with
him on his return ; and he threw it with some exclamation into
the house of the supposed agent of the evil one. It was during
a war with France; and presently afterwards this man with
others was taken prisoner by the enemy. In an attempt to
escape he fell before the balls of his guard, and he was the
only one that did so.

The Bream feeds on small fishes, crustacean animals, and
sea- weeds, and it takes a bait freely; but it makes only a low
price in the market ; and when abundant I have known it sold
for two shillings and sixpence the hundred-weight. This un-
worthy price, however, is not a criterion of its true value for
the table; for it is by no means to he disregarded as food,
and Risso speaks favourably of it. But soon after it is caught
it loses its freshness, and therefore will not bear that slow
carriage which has been usual to a distant market. The rail-
road will remove that difficulty, and convey a palatable food
of moderate price to places at which before it was unknown.

DENTITION OF THE COMMOM SEA BREAM.

A.— Upper jaw, within. B. — Under jaw, within.

C. — Outside, side view.

S. Ti A BREAM.

SHORT

SEA BREAM.

Pagellus Curtus, Zoologist; vol. ii., p. 394.

“ “ Gunther’s Catalogue Br. Museum,

vol. i., p. 377.

Ox the 2nd. of September, 1843, a fisherman of Polperro
took with one of his ordinary baits a Sea Bream, which he
presently discerned never before to have fallen under his notice ;
and in consequence it was transferred to my possession as soon
as he reached the land, which was before sufficient time had
passed to allow it to undergo any change. At the first inspec-
tion I was led to suppose that this example was nothing more
than a deformed specimen of the Common Sea Bream; and
such perhaps will be the opinion of some naturalists, until at
least another example with similar characters is obtained, and
renewed observation shall compel them to review their opinion.
But for myself, on close examination, I found this example to
differ in so many particulars besides its shortened form, that I
was induced to believe it more probably a distinct species; nor
has the objection to this opinion appeared to me a very for-
midable one, — that no more than a single specimen has come
under the observation of naturalists; for the same remark may
he made of other species of fishes undoubtedly distinct, hut of
which a single example only is on record. That no species
nearly resembling it is described by former authors, however
widely extended their observations, is only a proof of its rarity,
and not of its being an abnormal formation of nature.

The length of this fish was fourteen inches, the greatest
depth nine inches and a half; and in proportion to its kindred
species the Common Sea Bream, it was of considerable thickness.
Under jaw slightly the longest; the teeth in front and forward
on the sides slight, conical, and somewhat scattered; gape
moderate. Eye very large, being an inch and three-fourths
across; nostrils in a depression before the eyes, in this respect

242

SHORT SEA BREAM.

and in the cheeks for the most part resembling the Common
Sea Bream; but slightly differing in the markings of the head.
The body thick and plump; scales on the cheeks and body
large; those on the hinder part of the body, especially above
the lateral line, having well-marked festooned edges; those of
the anterior part less regularly so. Lateral line at first mounting,
arched, sinking opposite the ending of the dorsal and anal fins,
waved in its course, and mounting again as it approaches the
caudal fin: at its origin a large black spot. Pectoral fin very
long, reaching to within a short distance of the termination of
the anal fin; being in length four inches and three-foui ths, and
passing two inches beyond the vent. Commencement of the
dorsal fin just above the origin of the rays of the pectoral.
Tail concave. The colour was much as in the Common Sea
Bream, but more vivid; top of the head rich brown, the back
scarlet, lighter on the sides; belly white, with slight mottlings.
Dorsal, pectoral, and caudal fins, and the inside of the mouth,
vermilion; ventral and anal fins paler.

Compared with the Common Sea Bream, laid by its side,
besides the remarkable difference of the dimensions, it was
distinguished by a wider gape; by the teeth, although alike in
arrangement and structure, less thickly placed, especially the
incisors; by a less rounded muzzle, a much larger eye, and
longer pectoral fins; which being more arched, are differently
shaped. In a Common Bream of the same length these fins
measured three inches and three-fourths. The scales also were
more decidedly waved at their edge. In the stomach I found
a Comatula and the bait with which it was taken, which was
a slice of fish; but in the lower intestine were pieces of brown
sea-weeds covered with Flustrce, (encrusting corals,) still
continuing undigested.

Pin rays — pectoral fifteen, dorsal twelve and twelve, ventral
one and five, anal three and thirteen, caudal about twenty.

Scales of the Short Sea Bream.

G I L T H 3 A D.

243

CHRYSOPHRYS.

With round molar teeth on the sides of the jaw, forming three rows
in the upper; a few conical teeth’ in front.

GILTHEAD.

Aurata,

a

Sparus aurata ,

it it

Spare Dorade,
Chrysophrys aurata,

Jonston; Tab. 19, f. 2.

Willoughby; p. 307, Tab. v. 5.
Linnaeus. Fleming; Br. An., p. 211.
Jenyns; Manual, p. 353.

Lacepede. Risso.

Cuvier Yarrell; Br. F., vol. i, p. 111.

This fish is well known in the Mediterranean, and it
appears from Pliny and Columella that it was held in much
esteem for the tables of ancient Rome, for the supply of which
it was kept in ponds, and fed with oysters to give it a better
appearance and flavour; and in MartiaPs opinion it was only
when thus fed that it became worthy of notice:—

‘‘Non omnis laudem pretiumque Aurata meretur;

Sed cui solus erit concha Lucrina cibus.”

Xenia.

The Gilthead only shall my praise partake

When fed with shell-fish from the Lucrine lake.

And shell-fish, with crabs, were supposed to be its chief or
only food in its free condition, the solid structure of its teeth
being well fitted to crush them in such a way as to be fit
for digestion.

The Gilthead does not often wander so far north as the
British Islands, although examples have been met with in
Cornwall and Devonshire, and Dr. Fleming obtained one so
far north as the mouth of the River Tay, in Scotland. Mr.

YOL. I. 2 M

244

GILTHEAD.

Cocks, of Falmouth, has met with a couple of these fishes in
the fish-market of that town, and his remarks on them were,
— that one was fat, and rich in colour, the length sixteen
inches and a half, the breadth six inches; the second appeared
sickly, the mouth small, lips pouting and livid, the colour like
tarnished silver.

This fish is said to be highly sensible of the impressions
of much heat and cold, so that when these prevail it retires
to deeper water; and, according to Pliny, this retreat, in the
heat of summer, lasts for sixty days.

JElian represents it as among the most timid of fishes; and
he gives as a reason for this opinion, that they were stopped
and caught at the retreat of the tide by a circle of brushes
stuck upright in the sand, through which they were afraid to
urge their way. This, it seems, was a mode of fishing adopted
on the shores of Greece at such times as there was some
recess of the tide, so that when the sea again ebbed the fish
were left dry on the shore; and something similar to it is
practised at this time on shelving shores even in our own
country.

The relative dimensions of a British example have already
been given, but sometimes it is found of a much larger size,
so as even to approach to the weight of ten pounds. In its
general outline it bears no distant resemblance to the Common
Sea Bream, but with a little more prominence of profile.
Willoughby has noticed that it is thin at the back, and
Linnseus has copied this particular into his specific character.
But it is particularly distinguished by its colours, of which
Lacepede has afforded a glowing description. It shines, says
he, with the mild lustre of silver and sky blue, the latter,
which is the colour of its back, being more heightened by
the silvery tints which are spread over the rest of its body;
and both these colours are rendered the more conspicuous by
the black of the dorsal and caudal fins, as well as by the
longitudinal brown lines which pass along the sides. A golden
half circle appears above the eyes, with the concavity directed
backward; and a dash of black on the gill-cover and origin
of the tail, form a beautiful contrast with the silver of the
scales, while a third spot of a similar kind, but of lively and
variegated red rests a little above the root of the pectoral fins.

GILT HE AD.

245

These beautiful colours are described in somewhat similar,
although more subdued terms, by Willoughby and Basso; but
they may be expected to be far more faint when this fish
comes to our coasts, if they be not then altogether changed
in their aspect. There are, indeed, two species of this genus
closely allied to each other, which are inhabitants of the
Mediterranean, not readily to he distinguished, and both of
them may, perhaps, be found to pay us an accidental visit.
But, however this may he, I find it difficult, on the score of
colour alone, to assign to either of them the species of which
the figure is here given, hut which is a correct representation
of an example which fell under my own inspection speedily
after it was taken from the sea. The form and arrangement
of the teeth are proofs of its being a member of this genus;
of which no more than the two species above referred to have
been recognised in Europe.

Ein rays — dorsal eleven spinous and fourteen soft, pectoral
sixteen, ventral one spinous and five soft, anal three spinous
and twelve soft, caudal seventeen.

END OF VOL. I.

IS. FAWCETT, ENGRAVER A.ND PRINTER, DRIFFIELD.