a sot ‘ * . ae) | ae : , Wise va any 1 eae cS) ce ip! c. i Mais Lizars sc RONDELETIUS. Lngraved tor the Nataralists Library "THLE, NATURALISTS. LUBRARY ICI TAY OLOGY EDINBURGH: W.H.LIZARS. LONDON, SAMUEL HIGHLEY 32 FLEET STREET. DUBLIN, W CURRY JUNE &C° PFO4auUet a a Sy, THE “NATURALISTS LIBRARY. EN ‘S373 CONDUCTED BY SIR WILLIAM JARDINE, BART. F.R.S.E., F.L.S., &e. &e. ICHTHYOLOGY. VOL.IV. BRITISH FISHES. VOL. I. BY ROBERT HAMILTON, M.D., F.R.S. E. Omne tulit punctum qui miscuit utile a) < 3 adie 5240 CF EDINBURGH: W. H. LIZARS, 3, ST. JAMES’ SQUARE; 8. HIGHLEY, 32, FLEET STREET, LONDON ; AND W. CURRY, JUN. AND CO. DUBLIN. 1843. PRINTED BY W. H. LIZARS, 3, ST. JAMES’ SQUARE, EDINBURGH. f "> si ; sc THE 4 /T— ARRANGEMENT. Upon the important subject of the Arrangement of Fishes, we shall not enter further than to remark, that in the succeeding pages we follow that of the Baron Cuvier, which we consider the best which has hitherto been proposed. He divides this Class of animals, the Fourth and last of the Vertebrata, into two great Series, the OssEous, or those pos- sessed of a bony skeleton, and the CARTILAGINOUS, or those furnished with a cartilaginous one; and arranges the whole in six Orders, four belonging to the former Series, and two to the latter. The Os- 723 ARRANGEMENT. sEous Serres he-arranges in two great subdivisions, the Spiny-finned and the Sofi-finned. The whole of the Spiny-finned go to form the First Order, while the Soft-finned are divided into Three Orders, according as the ventral fins are placed on the abdo- men or belly, the thorax or chest, or, are wanting. The Cartizacinots Fisnes are divided into Two Orders,—those with free gills, and those with fixed. The great work, L’ Histoire Naturelle des Poissons, commenced in the year 1828, by Baron Cuvier and M. Valenciennes, and still in the course of publica- tion by the latter gentleman, is not only an ampli- fication of the summary account of fishes presented in the Régne Animal of the former Naturalist, but is also a modification and improvement of it in many important respects. Should that great work ever be completed, it will have effected, for the Natural History of Fishes, what has not been ac- complished in any of the other classes of Ver- tebrata; affordmg a comprehensive and minute account of all that is known regarding the history, structure, and habits of the many thousand species of the Class. That splendid work has now reached the termination of the first great Order; and we need scarcely state, that, throughout, we have been most happy to avail ourselves of it, as a most trust- worthy director and guide. FIRST SERIES. OSSEOUS FISHES. FIRST SUBDIVISION. OSSEOUS FISHES WITH SPINOUS RAYS. ORDER I. SPINOUS-FINNED FISHES. ACANTHOP- TERYGII. TuE SPINOUS-FINNED ORDER of Fishes, decidedly the most highly organized of the whole Class, is also by far the most numerous, probably exceeding in amount of species all the others put together. All the Fishes belonging to it are recognizable by their fins, spinous rays being supplied to the anterior part of the dorsal, whether there be one, or more than one; and sometimes the spines are free, having no connecting membrane : the anal fin also has its first rays spinous; and very frequently there is one such in each ventral fin. In Cuvier’s arrangement, in- cluding the Fishes of the waters of every region and clime, there are fifteen families comprehended in this Order, twelve of which have representatives in the British Fauna. Without further preface, we commence with the Family of Perches, whose his- tory, it may be remembered, formed the subject of the First Volume of our Ichthyological Series: in dwelling upon the British species, we shall avoid every thing like repetition, and hence its consider- ation will not so long detain us. ]24 I. FAMILY OF PERCHES. PERCIDZ. Representatives in British Fauna.—Gen. 7. Sp. 10. Gen. 1. Perca. . Sp. 1. P. fluviatilis. . The Perch. 2. LaBRax. . 2. LZ. lupus. . The Common Basse. 3. SERRANUS. . 3. S. cabrilla. . Smooth Serranus. 4, §. gigas. . . Dusky Serranus. 4, AcrrinA. . 5. A. vulgaris. . Common Ruffe. 5. Potyprion. 6. P. cernium. . Couch’s Polyprion. 6. TRAcHiNus. 7. 7. draco. . The Great Weever. ‘8. TL. vipera. . The Lesser Ditto. . Mutius. . 9. M. surmuletus. Striped Mullet. 10. M, barbatus. . Plain Red Ditto. iT The first six species are Thoracic, having the ventral fins placed under the pectorals; the next two are Jugular, having the ventrals before the pectorals ; the last two are abdominal. The Family of the Percide derives its name from the common Perch, which is regarded as its type, or general representative. The species belonging to it are extremely numerous, amounting, in Cuvier's and Valenciennes’ great work, to the number of five hundred; so that the British Fauna embraces but one-fiftieth : two-thirds inhabit warmer seas, and one-ninth are found in the extensive waters of North America, not one of which, however, is known in Europe. Their flesh is usually wholesome and agreeable. In shape, their body is oblong, and covered with scales, generally hard or rough; the opercle and pre-opercle are either serrated or spinous ; and the jaws, vomer, and palatins are commonly armed with teeth. GENUS PERCA. THE PERCH. 125 Gen. I. Perca.—Sp. 1. P. fluviatilis. The Perch. —As to the general appearance, the specific cha- racters, and the varied garb in which this beautiful fish appears, we, in this case, as in others, refer, as previously stated, to our Appendix and Plate, under the conviction that this will afford the most ample satisfaction at once to the general reader and the student of natural history. Varieties, however, have been recorded, which it will here be proper to notice. Mr. Pennant informs us, that in a lake called Llyn Rathlyn, in Merionethshire, there is a variety whose back is quite hunched, and the lower part, near the tail, strangely distorted, the colour, and other characters, remaining the same ; and the normal variety occurring in the lake as abundantly as the other. Linnzus had previously observed this variety at Fahlun, in Sweden, and in other lakes in the north of Europe; and Pennant was informed it occurred near Marlow, on the Thames. One of this distorted race is figured by Mr. Daniel in his Rural Sports. As to colour, again, specimens almost entirely white have been noticed in particular soils, as mentioned by Mr. Jesse in his Gleanings. Another variety would appear to be of a uniform slate-grey colour, with a silvery tint, as stated by Mr. Yarrell ; these exist in the ponds of Ravenfield Park, near Rotherham, Yorkshire, and the peculiarity is re- tained when the living fish are transferred to other waters. Once more; Mr. Hartley makes the follow- ing striking statement :—“ There is certainly a very extraordinary phenomenon attending the Perch of é 126 ACANTHOPTERYGII. PERCH FAMILY. Malham Water, Yorkshire, the cause of which I leave to Naturalists to ascertain. After a certain age they become blind; a hard, thick, yellow fibre covers the whole surface of the eye, and renders the light totally obscure. When this is the case, the fish generally are exceedingly black ; and although, from the extreme toughness and consistency of the membrane, it is evident that some have been much longer in this state than others; yet there appears to be no difference either in their flavour or con- dition.” The Perch, under favourable circumstances, attains, with years, to a very considerable size. When three pounds weight it is considered of a large size; but those of five pounds are by no means uncommon, having been found in Ullswater, as mentioned by Mr. Hutchinson in his History of Cumberland, and by Dr. Parnell in Loch Lomond, and by numerous other observers. They have been frequently seen of the size of six and eight pounds; and Mr. Pen- nant mentions his having heard of one taken in the Serpentine, Hyde Park, which weighed nine pounds. As it respects their spawning, they are both pro- lific and precocious. Mr Jesse states that he has known them full of spawn when they were not more than three inches long; a Perch of half a pound weight has been found to contain 280,000 ova, and the number has been estimated in larger ones at nearly a million. Aristotle noticed, that the female deposits her ova united together by a viscid matter in lengthened strings ; and Bloch remarked the same GENUS PERCA. THE PERCH. 127 phenomenon, when the fish was confined in a glass vase in a room. They spawn in April and May, and feed upon insects, worms, and small fish, the Minnow being a deadly bait. These fish thrive well both in lakes and rivers ; in the latter, preferring the sides of the streams to the rapid parts of the current. In Ullswater, where nets are employed, “‘ Myriads are procured along with the weeds.” (Hutchinson, 459.)—They have long been celebrated for their reckless boldness and extreme voracity ; whence the old saying,— *¢ When braken (fern) is out of brook, Bass (Perch) will bite at the bare hook.” And the statement, That if an angler encounter a shoal, he will capture every one of them. From these characteristics, they often become the prey of juvenile anglers. A good illustration of their bold- ness is mentioned by Mr. Jesse, who found, that in a few days after some had been put into his viva- rium in Bushy Park, they came freely and took worms from his hands. They will live for some hours out of the water; and will bear a journey of sixty miles, as mentioned by Mr. Pennant, if care- fully packed, and occasionally watered. Mr. Yar- rell mentions, that they are constantly exhibited in the markets of Catholic countries ; and, if not sold, are returned to the ponds whence they were taken in the morning, to be reproduced another day. The Perch is very common in temperate climes ; it abounds generally in Europe, in the south of 128 ACANTHOPTERYGII. PERCH FAMILY. England, Wales, and Ireland, and is common in the lowlands of Scotland. Mr. Selby states, “ That it is a rare fish in the north of England, and still rarer in the northern parts of Scotland, being met with only sparingly in the lochs north of the Forth, and, in several instances, when found in these loca- lities, its introduction can be traced to no remote period: in all the almost countless waters,” he adds, “ of the northern counties, it is wanting.” Mr. Col- quhoun, as we understand him (p. 121), has caught Perch of three pounds weight in Loch Awe, in Ar- gyllshire ; and, from what Dr. Parnell states, we conclude it is common in Loch Lomond. Mr. Low does not include it among the fishes of Orkney and Shetland ; but Nilsson enumerates it as a Scandi- navian one. As an article of food, the Perch was highly prized by the ancients ; and though now far from being so popular in this respect, yet it is esteemed wholesome and excellent food when in season. The flesh is white, firm, and well flavoured ; it is in bad con- dition in April, May, and June. Gen. II. Laprax. (Sp. 2.) ZL. Lupus. The Basse, or Sea-Perch.—Having already described this fish and its congeners in our First Volume, our present notice may be short. It was well known and highly esteemed by the ancients as an article of food; and, being a bold fish, and active in its habits, it thus obtaied its name of Lupus, or Wolf: in Scotland, it is sometimes de- signated the Gape-mouth, and, on the Kentish GEN. LABRAX. BASSE, OR SEA-PERCH. 129 coast, it is called the Sea-dace. From the com- mon Perch, it is readily distinguished by the scales on the gill-cover, the spines on the opercle, and the roughness of the vomer. Other distinguish- ing characters, and marked differences in colour, will be seen by a glance at our Plates and Appendix. The Sea-perch, besides, acquires a much greater size ; the average length in this country, perhaps, may not exceed eighteen inches, but frequently, and more especially abroad, it attains a weight of fifteen pounds, and occasionally much more. Its food is chiefly composed of crustacea, the fry of other fishes, and fishes of smaller dimensions. They take the bait freely, and are captured by angling with deep-sea lines, and also by the seine and trawl- nets. They swim in shoals along the shores, and deposit their spawn in summer, generally near the mouths of rivers, or in estuaries, up which they pass a considerable way, and hence they are some- times caught in the salmon-nets at the Queens- ferry, Frith of Forth. Though more abundant in the Mediterranean and on the Dutch coast than with us, they are by no means uncommon on the southern and western shores of England, and also on the east coast of Ireland; they are much rarer on the Scottish shores. Their flesh is firm and well flavoured; and yet, in the Edinburgh market, they are but little esteemed, whilst in the Moray Frith, and elsewhere, they are highly prized. Mr. Yarrell informs us they have been domesti- cated with success m Mr. Arnold’s fresh-water I 130 ACANTHOPTERYGII. PERCH FAMILY. lake in Guernsey; and Dr. M‘Culloch vouches for the improvement in flavour obtained by the change. Gen. III. Serranus.—The name Serranus has been given to this genus from its marked serrated opercle. The dorsal fin is single, and the jaws are furnished with elongated sharp teeth amidst the smaller ones. Of the vast number of species of which this genus is known to consist, two only have been ascertained to be British, and these by the successful labours of Mr. Couch of Polperro, a gentleman whose name will be frequently and honourably mentioned in the following pages. He described them as Perches,—the Smooth and Dusky, names which Mr. Yarrell has very properly applied as trivial ones to these species. (Sp. 3.) S. Cabrilla, The Smooth Serranus. The size which Mr. Couch assigns to this species, as found on the coast of Cornwall, is about ten inches in length. The under jaw is longest, teeth being on both, as well as on the palate, numerous, irregular, sharp, and incurved ; the tongue is small and loose ; the eye large, and near the top of the head; the lateral line near the dorsal ridge. He adds,—it is a common fish, and keeps in the neighbourhood of rocks, not far from land. From not having been yet detected in any other part of the British coast, we must esteem it rather a rare visitor, while it is abundant in the Mediterranean, and passes thence south as far as Teneriffe and Madeira. The an- cients, as stated by Cuvier, had a notion that this GEN. SERRANUS. SMOOTH AND DUSKY. 13] species was composed only of females, or rather that it was hermaphrodite ; and M. Cavolini stated that all the specimens he had examined contained both roe and milt. This, however, must have been a mistake, since both Mr. Yarrell and Professor Owen, who employed his microscope, agree that the roes transmitted to London by Mr. Couch con- tained only true ova, in which there was nothing equivocal either in structure or appearance. The last named gentleman mentions, that the singular spasm which seizes this fish, when captured, never leaves it; and that it is found long after death in a state of rigidity and contortion, with the fins preter- naturally erect. Gesner long ago remarked, that in dying it was remarkable for its gasping and belching. (Sp. 4.) S. gigas. The Dusky Serranus. (PI. 1.) This second species of Serranus has acquired its spe- cific name from the gigantic size it frequently ac- quires in the Mediterranean, regarded at present as its most frequent abode, and where it is held in con- siderable estimation as an article of food. Its usual weight is between 10 and 201bs., and it has been observed to reach 60 lbs. One specimen alone has been detected in the British Isles, and it was taken, as stated by Mr. Couch, with a line. It weighed 16 lbs., and measured three feet in length and seven inches in depth, the body being thick and solid. The other specific characters will be found else- where, and the general appearancé as beautifully depicted in our Plate. Nothing, according to Cu- 132 ACANTHOPTERYGII. PERCH FAMILY. vier, is known of its habits, except that at Nice it approaches the shore in April and May, when it deposits its spawn. Genus 1V. Acrrina. (Sp. 5.) A. vulgaris. The Ruffe or Pope (PI. I1.), is the only representative of this genus found in Britain. It isa river fish, “ The Smaller River Perch” of Gesner, and the “ Small Perch” of Bloch. From these statements it will be inferred that it is closely allied to the Common Perch; from which it is distinguished chiefly by having a single dorsal fin, the rays of which are spinous in the anterior part, and flexible in the posterior. It appears to have been first described by Dr. Caius, who detected it in the Yare, near Norwich. Mr. Yarrell states that it is common in all the canals and rivers in England, particu- larly the Thames, Isis, and Cam: it is unknown in Scotland; and also, as stated, im Spain, Italy, _and Greece: it is found, again, in the colder parts of Europe, and is common throughout France. It is more slender than the Perch, and seldom ex- ceeds six or seven inches in length. The colour of the upper parts of the body is light olive brown, passing into yellowish-brown on the flanks, and into white on the abdomen: the lateral line is prominent, and strongly marked. Its food is the same as that of the Common Perch, and, like it, it is very voracious, and fearless in taking a bait; its flesh is considered excellent: it spawns in April among roots and rushes. According to Mr. Pen- nant, it is gregarious, assembling in large shoals, GENERA ACERINA AND POLYPRION. 133 and keeping the deepest part of the water ; accord- ing to Mr. Yarrell, its favourite haunts are slow shaded streams, with a gravelly bottom. Gen. V. Potyprion. (Sp.6.) P. cernium. Couch’s Polyprion. (Pl. II.) This fish, the only ascertained species of the genus, was first introduced to notice, as belonging to the British Fauna, by Mr. Couch ; Mr. Lowe, the well-known Ichthyologist of Madeira, recognized it as the P. cerniuim of Cuvier and Valen- ciennes, and Mr. Yarrell has assigned to it the trivial name of Couch’s Polyprion. On the Devonshire coast it is called the Stone-basse, and the Wreck- Jish ; it is the Chernotte and Cherne of Madeira, the Jew-fish of the English residents. It is readily dis- tinguished by being entirely covered, from snout to tail, with small rigid scales, which are serrated at the free margin ; all the opercular bones are den- ticulated, and strong bony ridges run above and behind the eyes. It has been long known in the Mediterranean; is very common at Madeira, ex- tends to the Cape of Good Hope, and, it is be- lieved, to North America; nor is it very rare on the southern shores of Britain. It is a very beau- tiful fish, as will be seen by a reference to our Plate. In the Mediterranean it acquires the size of five or six feet, and weighs 100 lbs. ; in the British Channel it has been caught as long as three feet. It feeds on Mollusca and the smaller fishes, and constitutes excellent food, its flesh being white, tender, and well-flavoured. As implied in some of its synonymes, this fish 134 ACANTHOPTERYGII. PERCH FAMILY. has an extraordinary habit of following wood-wreck and other foul and floating bodies. Thus Mr. Couch states it approaches the Cornish coast under pecu- liar circumstances: when a piece of timber, covered with barnacles, is brought by currents from more southern regions, considerable numbers sometimes accompany it. In the alacrity of their exertions, they pass over the wreck in pursuit of each other, and sometimes for a short space are left dry upon the top, until a succeeding wave bears them off again. From this it might be supposed that bar- nacles constituted their food, but this does not appear to be the case; and more probably the nu- merous small fishes, which follow the floating mass for insects, are the attraction. Captain Nicholls, in a voyage from Newfoundland to Portugal, having his ship’s bottom very foul, and covered with bar- nacles, was becalmed for many days about a hun- dred leagues off Oporto, and was for a fortnight surrounded by these fishes, which followed the ship and were caught by the crew. He fed his men with them for twelve or fourteen days, who considered them excellent. Gen. VI. TRacuinus.—As already hinted, the two species we have now to notice belong to the JuguLaR branch of the Family. The Gen. Trachinus is rather a numerous one, and extensively distributed. The species belonging to it have no air-bladder, usually hide themselves in the sand, and are very tenacious of life. From this circumstance, the French have ap- plied to them the name of Za Vive, a corruption of GEN. TRACHINUS. THE WEEVERS. 135 which seems to have ‘supplied the English name Viver, or Weever. They are well known from the wounds they inflict with their formidable osseous spines, and are generally esteemed as food. It is in reference to their tenacity of life that Mr. Yarrell makes the following interesting observation: * It may be considered as a law, that those fish which swim near the surface of the water have a high standard of respiration, a low degree of muscular irritability, great necessity for oxygen, die soon, almost immediately when taken out of the water, and have flesh lable to rapid decomposition. On the contrary, those fish that live near the bottom of the water have a low standard of respiration, a high degree of muscular irritability, and less necessity for oxygen; they sustain life long after they are taken out of the water, and their flesh remains good for several days. * * * ‘The law referred to has its origin in the principle of organization; and though it would be difficult for the anatomist to demonstrate those deviations in structure which give rise to these distinctions and their effects, it is only necessary to make the points of comparison wider to be assured of the fact.” (Sp. 7.) T. draco. The Great Weever, or Sting- bull. (Pl.II.) The usual length of the Great Weever is from twelve to fifteen inches, sometimes reaching to seventeen. ‘The upper portions of the body are of reddish-brown colour, with interrupted lines of black and yellow running parallel with the oblique rows of scales; the under parts of the body are 136 ACANTHOPTERYGII. PERCH FAMILY. white, with interrupted yellow lines; first dorsal with its web deep black. It spawns in summer. It is occasionally met with at Weymouth, Hastings, and other parts of the coast ; and is much dreaded by the fishermen on account of its sharp spines which are usually considered as venomous, but without any sufficient reason, as they are quite de- void of all poisonous secretion. Mr. Couch states that he has known three men wounded successively in the hand by the same fish, and the consequences have in a few minutes been felt as high as the shoulder. Strong friction with sea-sand was long a popular remedy among the fishermen, from which nothing could be expected but an aggravation of the symptoms. ‘The application of oil seems a far more suitable remedy, and that procured from the liver of the offender will ever be at hand. Both in France and Spain there is a positive law whereby the fishermen are required to remove the spines before they are brought to market. (Sp. 8.) 7. vipara, The Lesser Weever, seldom attains a length of more than five or six, and very rarely of seven, inches: it is of a reddish grey above, with the under parts approaching silvery white, _with faint indications of transverse yellow lines; the web connecting the four first spines of the first dorsal fin is deep black, and there is a black spot at the extremity of the caudal fin. This species is more generally distributed than the former, being com- mon in Scotland, especially in the Solway Frith, as weil as in England, and being familiarly known in GEN. MULLUS. THE SURMULLETS. 137 Ireland: it spawns in spring, and is often taken by shrimpers. Being very quick in its movements, it is even more dangerous to handle than its larger congener. Mr. Pennant states that it buries itself in the sand, watching for its prey, leaving only its snout exposed; and if trod on, it immediately strikes with great force; and we have seen it, he adds, “* direct its blows with as much judgment as a fighting cock.” If trodden upon by bathers, as fre- quently happens, it inflicts, says Dr. Parnell, a ‘severe and painful wound, causing the part to swell, and almost immediately to assume a dark brown ap- pearance, which remains for five or six hours. The best application is stated to be hot water, which relieves the pain, and diminishes the swelling in the course of half an hour. Gen. VII. Muxtuus, Surmullets.—Of the third ‘division of the family of Perches, the ABDOMINAL, two species only, as stated above, are visitors of the British shores. In designating them Surmul- jets, we differ from Mr. Yarrell, in whose foot- steps we are usually anxious to tread, and who calls them Mullets. Our EHighth Family, as will presently appear, is styled the Family of Mugilida or Mullets, and our present fishes, so differently placed in the arrangement, should surely have a different name. ‘This in fact has frequently been assigned them, as by Pennant, Fleming, Jenyns, and other British Naturalists; and we see no sufficient reason for leaving such good company, and con- tinuing an old and unfortunate nomenclature. The 138 ACANTHOPTERYGII. PERCH FAMILY. term Barbatus for our ninth species is also unfortu- nate, as its congener is no less liberally endowed with barbules or cirri; not uncommon in other fishes, though their structure and uses differ more widely than is generally stated. In the instance before us, Mr. Yarrell informs us that he had found these appendages to consist of an elon- gated and slender flexible cartilage, inserted with numerous longitudinal, muscular, and nervous fibres, and covered with an extension of the common skin. These cirri he considers as delicate organs of touch, by which the species provided with them, and which are known mostly to feed near the bottom, are enabled to ascertain, to a certain extent, the qualities of the various substances with which they are brought into contact, being thus in formation analogous to the beak of birds. “ It is to be con- sidered as another instance, among the many pro- visions of Nature, by which, in the case of fishes feeding at great depths, where light is deficient, compensation is made for consequently imperfect vision.” In identifying the species with those which have been long known in the Mediterranean, we have not reached all the certainty that is desirable. It was one of these Surmullets which was so celebrated among the Romans for the excellency of its flesh, its extreme beauty, and the extravagant prices it brought. The epicures, in Horace’s day, valued it in proportion to its size; not because the larger were better, but because they were procured with GENUS MULLUS. THE SURMULLETS. 139 greater difficulty. From Salviani we learn that Galen states it was esteemed above every other article of food, and that large ones were obtained only at prodigious prices. Juvenal says, a2 “ Mullum sex millibus emit LE quantum sane paribus sestertia libris.” Six scanty pounds the Mullet weigh’d ; Six thousand sesterces the wise man paid ! Seneca mentions that a Mullet of 4Ibs. weight was presented to the Emperor Tiberius, who ordered it to the market, where it was purchased by Octavius for 5000 sesterees; and Asinius Celer, of consular rank, bought one during the reign of Caius at the price of 8,000 sesterces, or about £65. It has been well remarked by Mr. Griffith, that these fishes stand pre-eminent in the annals of human luxury, cruelty, and folly ; and im connexion with them, pains have been taken to hold up the Roman gourmands to the reprobation they really merit. - In their feasts they revelled over the dying Mullet, while the bright red colour of health passed through various shades of purple, violet, blue, and white, as life gradually ebbed, and convulsions put an end to the admired spectacle. They put these devoted fish into crystal vessels, filled with water, over a slow fire, upon their tables, and complacently re- garded the lingering sufferings of their victims, as the increasing heat gradually prepared them for their pampered appetites ! (Sp.9.) M. barbatus. The Red Surmullet (PI. I.) 140 ACANTHOPTERYGII. PERCH FAMILY. is usually considered to have been the fish so sig- nalized above ; but this cannot be considered certain. This species is distinguished from the only other British one, by having the profile more vertical, by ‘its length, in this part of the world, rarely exceed- | ing six inches, and by its scales being differently shaped and marked, as may be seen in Mr. Yarrell’s work. It is a very rare fish on the British shores ; Pennant, however, was satisfied of its existence on the coast of Scotland, and Dr. Johnston of Berwick has recently confirmed this opinion. Mr. Couch also has obtamed two specimens in Cornwall; one is in the Collection of the British Museum, and another is possessed by Mr. Yarrell. Mr. Couch describes his specimens as having one yellow line, a little below the lateral line, the sides and part of the belly dark red, and the back lighter in colour than the other species. Mr. Yarrell states that the London specimens have the colour of the most deli- cate carmine on the back and sides, and the abdo- men silvery white, without any appearance of a yellow line. The fins are yellow. (Sp. 10.) M. Surmullus. The Striped Surmul- let has its profile descending obliquely from the forehead ; its average size, in this country, is from twelve to fifteen inches in length, and the red of its sides is marked with longitudinal yellow lines. Like the preceding species, it is destitute of an air- bladder. From Mr. Yarrell we learn, that several years ago he procured a specimen from Weymouth which weighed 3lbs. 60z. This fish is considered GENUS MULLUS. STRIPED SURMULLET. 14] migratory, and yet may be procured in the shops of the London fishmongers throughout the year ; being, however, more plentiful in summer, when their colours are most vivid, and the fish in highest con- dition. They take a wide range in the water, their common habit being to keep close to the ground, and their migrations being performed near the sur- face. Hence they are sometimes taken in the Mackerel nets upon the surface, and at other times by the trawl net on the bed of the ocean. Some- times they are captured in great profusion, and at other times are very scarce. In August 1819, 5000 were taken in one night in Weymouth Bay); and 10,000 were sent, in May 1831, from Yar- mouth to the London market. Though not re- garded equal, as an article of food, to the preceding species, still they are much esteemed. 142 ACANTHOPTERYGII. IJ. FAMILY OF MAILED CHEEKS. BUCCH LORICATA. Representatives in British Fauna.—Gen. 6. Sp. 21. Gen. 8. Trigna. Sp. il. 7. cuculus. . . Red Gurnard. 12. 7. lineata. . «.Streaked Ditto. 13. T. hirundo. . . Sapphirine Do. 14. 7. peciloptera. . The Little Do. 15.23 Wire... >. Lhe Piper. 16. 7. gurnardus. . Grey Gurnard. 17. T. Blochit. . . Bloch’s Do. 18. 7. lueerna. . . Shining Do. 9. PERISTEDION . 19, P, malarmat. . Mailed Do. 10. Corrus. . .20.C.gobio.. . . River Bullhead. 21. C. scorpius. . . Short-spined Cot- tus. 22. C. bubalis. . «. Long-spined Do. 23. C. quadricornis. Four-horned Do. 1], AspipopHorws. 24. A. Lurcpeus. . Armed Bullhead. 12. Szepastrs. . . 25. § Norvegicus. . Norway Haddock. 13. GASTEROSTEUS. 26. G. trachurus. . Rough-tailed Stickleback. . G. Semiarmatus. Half-armed Do. 8. G. leiurus. . .Smooth-tailed Do. 9. G. brachycentrus. Short-spined Do. 0. G. spinulosus. . Four-spined Do. ] 2 bh) to bas | bo . G. pungitius. . Ten-spined Do. 2. G. spinachia. _. Fifteen-spined Do. tC & ww The Family of the Maitep or Harp CueErks, though it comes far short of the foregoing as to numbers, is still an extensive one, comprehending about 170 species, not one-fifth of which is Euro- pean. It prevails, however, in northern waters ; GENUS TRIGLA. THE GURNARDS. 143 and hence, as in the higher orders of animals, a greater proportion of its generic forms is common to the New and Old World. Several genera are common to both sides of the Atlantic, and some of the Fresh-water Cotti and Gasterostec m Ame- rica, are scarcely distinguishable from their Euro- pean representatives. In general conformation, the fishes composing it are not very different from the Perches ; but the singular appearance of their head, which is variously armed with spines and bristles, forms a striking distinction; and the suborbital bone is more or less extended, so as to cover the cheek and to be articulated with the preopercular bone. This Family includes several species of the famous Flying-fishes, Ductylopteri, which have at all times attracted the attention of mankind; but not being British fishes, we cannot here enter mto their history. Gen. VIII. Trigua,—lIs that which of all others most characterizes the Family. The first sub- orbital bone is very large, and articulates both with the muzzle and the preopercle; the sides of the head are nearly vertical, and cube-shaped ; there are two distinct dorsal fins, and beneath the pecto- ral fins there are three free rays. The English name it bears is that of Gurnard, agreeing with the French, and derived from the growling, grunting noise which they make, by means of their throat and gill, when disporting on the wave or ploughing the deep, and still more frequently when they are newly taken from the water. Eight species have * 144 ACANTHOPTERYGII. MAILED CHEEKS. been ascertained to be British, and some having a strong resemblance have been long confounded. Their specific characters, besides being casually mentioned here, will be stated more prominently in the Appendix. They are all marine fish, and usually frequent deep waters, where they are cap- tured with the trawl line and deep-sea lines. They form good nourishing food, and some of them are highly esteemed. (Sp. 11.) Z. cuculus. The Red Gurnard, it should be noted, is the Cuculus of Linneeus, and not of Bloch. It is the Red Gurnard, Red Crooner, and Cuckoo Gurnard of our fishermen. Some cau- tion is necessary in its identification, Colonel Mon- tague remarking that the name Red Gurnard is misapplied, as it partakes less of that colour than many of its congeners, and consequently these others are apt to be mistaken for it. Dr Parnell states the principal distinguishing characters to be, that the lateral line is crossed throughout its length by lines not reaching below the middle of the sides, and that the gill-cover and shoulder-plate terminate with a spine directed backwards. The appellation Cuckoo, applied to this fish, is bestowed from the supposed resemblance of its note, when taken from the water, to that of its sylvan prototype. The average size of this fish is from nine to twelve inches, sometimes reaching sixteen. Its colouring is rich and beautiful. When first taken from the water, it is rose-red above, its sides and abdomen are dull white tinged with red, with the fins reddish white ; GEN. TRIGLA. THE GURNARDS. 145 the body feels rough to the touch. It is very common on the shores of England, particularly on the southern. Thousands of them, says Dr. Parnell, are seen exposed daily on the Devonshire coast, especially in those smaller towns where the trawl-boat fishing is carried on. On the east coast of Scotland it is seldom seen in numbers, but a few are taken occasionally in the Frith of Forth, during the summer, by lines, or entangled in salmon-nets, at the lower part of the estuary. In Ireland it is taken from Waterford in the south, to Londonderry in the north. It feeds principally upon crustaceous animals ; spawns in May and June; continues out of season till August, and is in highest perfection for the table in the winter months. Its flesh is firm and well-flavoured, and held in high estima- tion. (Sp. 12.) 7. lineata. The French, or Rock G@ur- nard. The head of this species is shorter, and the pectoral fins longer, than in the last; the profile also is more vertical, and the transverse lines extend from the dorsal crest to the lower part of the abdo- men. It rarely attains the length of a foot; its whole body is of a beautiful red colour, with small black spots on the head and back ; the pectorals are grey spotted with black, and the other fins red- dish. Its flesh is as much esteemed as that of the foregoing species, and it is in season at the same perod. It occurs on our southern and eastern coasts, but not very abundantly ; it is well known in Paris and the Canaries. K ‘ 146 ACANTHOPTERYGII. MAILED CHEEKS. (Sp. 13). 7. hirundo. Sapphirine Gurnard, or Smoothsides. The most marked specific character of this Gurnard is the lateral line keing smooth and simple ; the scales also are entire at their free mar- gin; the pectorals are about the same size as in the preceding species. Its trivial English name is de- rived from the colour of its pectoral fins, which are bluish green upon the inner surface, spotted with bright blue; the general colour of the body is brownish red, tinged with yellow-green. It spawns in the winter months, and is one of the largest and most valuable fishes which inhabits our seas, vary- ing from a foot and a half to two feet in length, and more; and is also one of the commonest: it abounds on the southern and eastern coasts, where it is taken on Whiting lines, as well as by the net. It is also common on the west of Scotland, but rare on the east, appearing but seldom in the Edinburgh markets. It is not mferior, as food, to any of its congeners ; though, like them, it is somewhat dry, and requires help from the culinary art: in the north of Europe it is salted for preservation. (Sp. 14.) J. poeciloptera. The Little Gurnard. This small species was discovered by M. Valenciennes at Dieppe, and afterwards found by Mr. Ball, in 1815, at Youghal, in Ireland. Its pectoral fin is distinguished, on its inner aspect, by a deep black marking, streaked with milk white; its head and back are abundantly furnished with spines. The back is brownish red, the abdomen silvery white, and red at the ventrals; the flanks are golden and . ee _ 7 GEN. TRIGLA. THE GURNARDS. 147 iridescent, which makes the fish peculiarly brilliant. The Dieppe fishermen maintain it never exceeds four inches in length. In the pools left by the re- tiring tide, it affords great amusement to youthful bathers, and it is taken in great quantities by the shrimpers. (Sp. 15.) T. lyra. The Piper. According to Cuvier, this species is very readily recognised by the strength of its spinous armour. Rondelet gave it the name of Lyra, not only from the noise it emits, like its congeners, and whence the English name Piper, but because the denticulated processes, which divide the snout have some distant resem- blance to the instrument just named. It is rather rare on the British coasts, but has been noticed off Devonshire, on our western shores, and in Belfast Bay. It is well known in the Mediterranean ; at- tains the length of two feet and upwards; and, as food, is considered excellent. (Sp. 16.) Z. gurnardus. The Grey Gurnard has its lateral lime sharply serrated ; the pectorals are about the size of the ventrals, and the profile of the face is concave: the length is from fifteen to twenty inches, sometimes two feet, and very rarely somewhat more. Above, the colour is grey, clouded with brown, and spotted with yellow, white, and black ; beneath, silvery white. It spawns, accord- ing to Bloch, in May and June. This species is common in the British seas, along the southern coasts, and the eastern, as far as the Orkneys; they are also common on the western coasts, and have 148 ACANTHOPTERYGII. MAILED CHEEKS. been observed on the Irish: it has also a wide dis- tribution along the European shores, and in the ocean. It takes the hook in deep water greedily, will bite at a red rag, and, as noted by Pen- nant, is also fond of sporting on the surface. As exhibiting this peculiarity, we quote the words of an intelligent reviewer in the Magazine of Zoology and Botany, (i. 389). “ We recollect observing the sports of shoals of this species when on an excur- sion to the Western Isles, during a week of beauti- ful and too calm weather ; for it was before steam- boats plied. They were often discovered by their noise, a dull croak or croon, or by the ripple or plough of their nose on the surface of the calm sea ; thus they would swim for a few yards, and then languidly sink for a foot or eighteen inches, display or stretch their lovely fins, and again rise to the top. Boats were out with hand-lines; almost all were half-full, the men having little to do but bait the hooks and pull up. We resorted to our guns, and killed sufficient for dinner from the deck of the ves- sel.” The flesh is considered as not equal to that of some of the other species. (Sp. 17). Z. Blochii. Bloch’s Gurnard. This name has been very judiciously applied to the pre- sent species by Mr. Yarrell, to distinguish it from the first species—the Cuculus of Linneus, from which it manifestly differs. Ichthyologists, how- ever, are not quite agreed as to its title to inde- pendency. Its specific characters are said to be the first dorsal fins having a black spot, and the GEN. TRIGLA. SHINING GURNARD. 149 - dorsal ridge being strongly serrated ; and in these particulars it differs from all others: but then there are some Naturalists who hold that it is nothing more than the young of the preceding species. Dr. Parnell distinctly states, that if we examine specimens of the two alleged species, nine inches in length, they will be found to possess common cha- racters, ‘“ and in no instances,” says this inde- fatigable observer, “ have I found a young of the Grey Gurnard possessing the character of an adult ; but bearing always those which are assigned to the Blochit.” The usual size of the fish now under review is only nine or ten inches. Some maintain that it is rare, whilst others give a contrary testi- mony.—“ In the month of August,” says Dr. Parnell, “in a pool near Queensferry, a number remained in the same pool for five weeks, although the tide covered them daily with three feet of water: they did not appear in the least shy, but swam about in shoals, one always taking the lead: when they were suddenly approached, they became stationary, and erected their first dorsal fin, which, with the black spot on the upper part of each, gave the shoal a beautiful appearance ; when they were un- molested, this fin became deflexed. In those I examined, their stomachs were filled with small Shrimps and Star-fish.” (Wern. Mem., vii. 128). (Sp. 18.) Z. lucerna. The Shining Gumard, or Long-finned Captain. (PI. III.) This species, the Lucerna of Briinnich, not that of Linneus, and still less of Pliny, was introduced into the British Fauna, 150 ACANTBOPTERYGII. MAILED CHEEKS. in the year 1838, by Dr. Parnell, (Mag. of Zool. and Bot., 1.526). It has long been known in the Medi- terranean, where it abounds, and where, though small, not exceeding eight or nine inches, it is much esteemed as an article of food. According to the Doctor, “ it 1s the sweetest and most delicate of the British species, although from its small size it is not often brought to market.” Dr. Parnell detected it on the coasts of Devonshire; Mr. Baker has since observed it at Bridgewater, and it is by no means uncommon. The origin of the English trivial name is so apparent, as to require no remark. By the second ray of the dorsal fin, which, when folded down, reaches beyond the sixth ray of the second dorsal, and by the form of the lateral plates, which will be described in the Appendix, it can readily be distinguished from other British species. It is sup- posed to spawn in June. Gen. IX. PEristepion.—This genus, introduced by Lacépéde, has a strong resemblance to the foregoing, but is distinguished from it by having its body, as well as head, strikingly cuirassed by great hexagonal plates, forming longitudinal ridges ; the nasal bone, moreover is divided into two parts, and the mouth has no teeth. It would appear to form but a small section; and though long known in the Mediterranean, has only lately been detected on the British shores. The British species is (Sp. 19.) P. malarmat, so by antiphrase, as it is one of the most completely armed fishes of the Ku- GEN. PERISTEDION. MAILED GURNARD. 15] ropean seas, the Mailed Gurnard of British authors. (Pl. IV.) A-specimen was caught near Plymouth by Dr. Edward Moore in the autumn of 1836, and was by him introduced into our catalogue. Its average size is about two feet; Dr. M.’s specimen measured about eleven inches. The body is octagonal, covered with a coat-of-mail, formed of bony scales laid over each other, from whose centre sharp-pointed pro- cesses proceed backwards, forming, in continuous lines, the eight angles of the body. ive or six of the rays of the first dorsal end in long flexible fila- ments, an ornament which is stated by some to belong only to the males. Its colour is of a uniform scarlet, gradually softening to pale flesh-colour to- wards the abdomen; the dorsal and anal fins are crimson, the others greyish. M. Risso informs us that it frequents deep water, over rocky ground, approaching the shore to spawn. It swims rapidly, is said to be solitary in its habits, and feeds upon the Meduse and Crustacea. Though rare on our shores, it is common on the coasts of Spain and Provence, where it is fished all the year, and much used as an article of food. Gen. X. Corrus.—The next genus of this family we find as British is the genus Cottus, distinguished by having the head roundish or depressed, having small teeth in the maxillaries and vomer, and the body without scales: the two dorsal fins are dis- tinct, or very slightly connected. Of the four Bri- tish species, one is fresh-water, and three are salt- water fishes. 152 ACANTHOPTERYGII. MAILED CHEEKS. (Sp. 20.) C.gobio. The River Bullhead. (Pl. IV) This well-known fish, sometimes called the Miller's Thumb, has its head nearly smooth, and the pre- opercle armed with a single spine. It is a small dark-coloured fish, from three to five inches long, frequent in most of the clear streams, not of the British Isles only, but also of Europe and Northern Asia; according to different accounts, being com- mon to Italy and Sweden, Greenland, and Siberia. It is generally said to spawn in March, although in the Seine it is usually in the three succeeding months. It swims with great rapidity, and feeds principally upon insects and small larve. When cooked, its flesh becomes red; and, as food, it is regarded not only wholesome, but delicious. In Switzerland, the children spear them with forks, as they dash from the stones under which they hide. The Salt-water species, not of Britain only, but also of other climes, have a general aspect so repel- ling, and sometimes so hideous, as to have procured — for them many opprobrious names. These pecu liarities consist in their broad and low head, which is armed with formidable spines, their wide gaping mouth, and disagreeable colours: hence they have been designated Sea-scorpions, Toads, Devils, and Father-lashers, as if, says Cuvier, traits so hideous indicated even the most atrocious vices. Little or altogether unknown in the Mediterranean, they are common in the northern seas; and in many re- spects the three species resemble each other. They are exceedingly voracious, swim with great swift- GEN. COTTUS. SHORT-SPINED coTTus. 153 ness, and are solitary in their habits. They leave the depths of the ocean in spring, and take up their abode in the hollows of the rocks, where, sheltered by the sea-weed, they enjoy, at each tide, the return of the water, which supplies them with fresh food. About the autumnal equinox they return to the ocean, and there remain during the winter. They are not much used as articles of food, because their flesh is neither much relished, nor considerable in quantity. They are, however, sometimes eaten by the poor in high latitudes, and they yield, like most other fishes, a valuable oil. The spines with which they are armed supply them with a perfidious weapon, and inflict wounds which are sometimes regarded as poisonous. This, however, seems to be a mistake ; and the depth of the puncture alone, pro- bably, constitutes its importance. Fishermen esteem the application of the liver, or oil, of the fish, as the most useful dressing they can apply. Their size is not great, one a foot long being above the average. They live a long time out of the water, and from their uttering sounds, belong to the Crooners, Sea- cocks, &c. We proceed to the species (Sp. 21.) C. scorpius. The short-spined Cottus or Sea-scorpion. This fish has often been confounded with the succeeding species, and also been regarded as its female; but they never associate, and are quite distinct. In this specics there are three spines on the gill-cover, none of which extend beyond its posterior limits; the lateral line is smooth, and the colour on the upper parts of the body is reddish 154 ACANTHOPTERYGIT. MAILED CHEEKS. brown, whitish beneath, with spots of light brown sometimes on a ground of brilliant scarlet; the fins are marbled black and white, sometimes striped with red; but in fact the tints vary, sometimes with the season of the year, and are most vivid, according to Dr. Parnell in July and August, when the roe is far advanced towards maturity. This fish is very common on our shores, and is often captured beth with the hook and net. It abounds in the Frith of Forth in the autumn months, sometimes exceeding a foot in length. (Sp. 22.) C. bubalis. The Long-spined Cottus. Father-lasher. (P]. TV.) In this fish there are four spines in the gill-cover, the longest of which extends somewhat behind it, and the lateral line is rough. These and other specified characters, pointed out by M.M. Cuvier and Valenciennes, make it an easy matter to discriminate between this species and the foregoing. In the tinting they very much agree: the usual length is from six to ten inches; it appears to spawn in January, the ova being large and of a fine deep yellow colour; these are deposited frequently in estuaries, and even in rivers, the fish having pre- pared itself for the change by remaining a time in brackish water. During the greater part of the year it abounds all round our coasts, and is often left in the receding tide in small pools. When touched, it projects its gill-covers, and by bristling up its spines, presents a formidable appearance. Though seldom used as food with us, yet in Greenland it is in great request, according to Pallas being there a le GEN. COTTUS. FATHER-LASIIER. 153 larger, forming an important article of food, the soup made from it being both agreeable and whole- some. (Sp. 23). C. quadricornis. The Four-horned Cottus. We are indebted to Mr. Yarrell for the in- troduction of this species into the Catalogue of British fishes, a specimen having been communicated to him by Mr. Gray of the British Museum. It has been taken in the north-east coast of England, and is occasionally sold in the London market, be- ° ing caught and sold with spratts. It has long been known as an inhabitant of the Baltic, and Pallas describes it as common in Lake Baikal, and in the rivers of the Northern Ocean, where it attains the length of a foot, being somewhat larger than its usual size in this country. Pallas also states that the young are without horns ; that first one pair appears, and finally another. It spawns in winter, and the ova are white. Gen. XI. AsprpopHorus.—This genus was sepa- rated from the foregoing by Bloch, and received its present appellation from Lacépéde. Its most striking difference consists in the fish belonging to it being furnished with a cuirasse formed by a suc- cession of large bony plates, which extend from the neck to the tail, and in its having no teeth at the extremity of the vomer or the palatines. Nine or ten species have now been discovered ; one only, however, is British, and has been long known. It is (Sp. 24.) A. Huropeus of Cuvier, The Armed 156 ACANTHOPTERYGII. MAILED CHEEKS. Bullhead, Pogge. (Pl. V.) This fish cannot easily be mistaken for any other, its chin being supplied with a beard of numerous thread-like filaments. It sel- dom exceeds six inches in length. The colour of the upper parts of the body is light brown, with transverse dark bands, the abdomen being white. It is said to spawn in May. It is pretty well known along all the southern coast of England, and also along the eastern. It is frequently taken by the shrimpers in the sandy bays at the mouth of the Thames, and also by the oyster-dredgers of New- haven; also in the crevices at Kincardine, and oc- casionally also with lines out at sea. Its flesh is said to be firm and good. Cuvier, however, states it is not eaten in France. Gen. XII. Srepastes.—The next genus of this family of which we have a representative in the British Fauna is the Sebastes of Cuvier. In it we find the head cuirassed, spined, and compressed laterally, the body too is clad with scales, and there are teeth in the jaws, vomer, and palate bones. There are many species in different parts of the globe: in Britain we have but one. (Sp. 25.) S. Norvegicus. The Bergylt or Norwe- gian Haddock. (Pl. V.) As implied by its names, this fish is an inhabitant of northern seas. The trivial names are derived from the Shetland fishermen, who are familiar with it; and it has also been observed on the Aberdeenshire and Berwick coasts. The prevailing colour on the upper parts is dark-red, becoming lighter on the sides, and passing into flesh- GEN. SEBASTES. THE BERGYLT. 157 coloured silvery white beneath; the fins are red. Pennant says it is almost a foot in length, and it is esteemed for the table. According to Fabricius, its flesh is dry but agreeable, and is eaten either cooked or dried. In Greenland it inhabits the deepest gulfs, and seldom approaches the shores; it feeds upon smaller fishes, and readily takes the hook, the line requiring to be very long. The Greenlanders used in former times to employ its dorsal spines as needles. Gen. XIII. Gasterostevus. StickLEBAcKs. — The last genus of this family which has representa- tives in the British waters is Gasterosteus, includ- ing the well-known Sticklebacks—Scotice, Benticles. The Latin name has been applied to them because they have on the abdomen a long cuirasse extend- ing from the shoulder to the pelvis, covered over by the common integuments; and the English, from the spines which arm their back, ventral fins, and other parts. They constitute the smallest of our fresh-water fish, and are also amongst the most common ; there being scarcely a stream or pool in which they may not be found, and where in certain seasons they do not actually swarm. ‘The shape of their head does not attract notice; and at first glance it would not be suspected that their cheeks were mailed: the situation of the suborbital bone, however, is the same as in the other members of the family, although it is smooth and covered over by the skin. The leading particulars now noticed form the generic characters of the group. 158 ACANTHOPTERYGII. MAILED CHEEKS. Seven species are now supposed to occur in Bri- tain, though Naturalists are not quite agreed as to those which possess well-defined specific characters, and those which constitute mere varieties. Belon first described the Three-spined Stickleback, and Cuvier and Valenciennes have pointed out that three species have been confounded under the name Aculeatus, the name indifferently applied by authors to them all. Hence the difficulty of accurately appropriating the observations made by the older writers without the necessary discrimination. This, however, is a matter of no great moment. Some of these little fish closely correspond, not only in their external appearance, but also, in all probability, in their habits and dispositions, which are sufficiently striking. They bear a conspicuous part in almost all the Faunas of Europe, and are not confined to the Old World, having many representatives in North America, not excluding Greenland. Nor are they restricted to fresh water, abounding also in the sea, as has been especially remarked in the Baltic. We have in former pages introduced them to notice in connexion with the phenomena of the varying colours of fishes, (see pp. 80, 85); they spawn in different seasons of the year. They are strongly armed against the attacks of other fish, and are very pugnacious themselves. They are also tenacious of life, and can subsist for a considerable time out of the water, if lodged amongst moist herbage. Bloch states they live only for three years, an assertion which requires confirmation. They are very active GEN. GASTEROSTEUS. STICKLEBACKS. 159 and greedy little fish, extremely destructive to the fry of other species, and consequently most injurious in fish-ponds, from which it is difficult to extirpate them. In illustration of these statements, we learn from Mr. Baker “ that they spring more than a foot perpendicularly out of the water, and to a much greater distance in an oblique direction when desir- ous of overcoming any opposing obstacle. It is moreover scarcely to be conceived what damage they do, and how greatly detrimental they are to the increase of all the fish in general among which they live; for it is with the utmost industry, saga- city, and greediness that they seek out and destroy all the young fry that come in their way, which are pursued with the utmost eagerness, and swallowed down without distinction, provided they are not too large ; and in proof of this, 1 must assert, that a banstickle which I kept for some time, did, on the 4th of May, devour, in five hours’ time, seventy- four young dace, which were about a quarter of an mch long, and of the thickness of a horse- hair. Two days afterwards, it swallowed sixty- two; and would, I am persuaded, have eaten as many every day, could I have procured them for it.” | (Sp. 26.) G. trachurus. The Rough-tailed Three- spined Stickleback. (Pl. VI.) The distinguishing characters of this species are included in its lengthy name, the lateral plates extending to the base of the tail, which appendage is square at its base. Itis one of the largest and most powerful of the genus, both in i160 ACANTHOPTERYGII. MAILED CHEEKS. France and this country, ranging from two to three inches. Its colours are brownish grey above, shaded with green ; the cheeks, thorax, and abdomen being silvery white. It spawns in spring, and feeds on in- sects, worms, and the fry of other fish. It is of little intrinsic value, and abounds both in salt water and fresh, being common round the coast from Land’s-end to Orkney, and existing in rivers, brooks, and lakes. Dr. Neill mentions that, occasionally, after heavy rains, shoals of them are washed down the rivulets into the Frith of Forth, where they thrive wonder- fully ; those found in the salt water being about three times larger than those in fresh-water ditches. Dr. Parnell states that, generally, it is not very common in the Forth, but abounds in the neigh- bourhood of Berwick, where it inhabits brackish water in preference to either salt or fresh. When disturbed, they dart about with great velocity ; and, to avoid pursuit, will. bury themselves an inch or more under the surface of the mud. It is in con- nexion with this species that Mr. Yarrell introduces the interesting account of the anonymous contributor to Loudon’s Magazine already quoted, and we may here follow his example. ‘“ When a few are first turned into a large wooden vessel, they swim about in a shoal, apparently exploring their new habita- tion. Suddenly one will take possession of a parti- cular corner of the tub, or, as will sometimes hap- pen, of the bottom, and will instantly commence an attack upon his companions; and if any of them ventures to oppose his sway, a regular and most EN. -GASTEROSTEUS. RIVER BULL-HEAD. 16] ferocious battle ensues: the two combatants swim round and round about each other with the greatest rapidity, biting and endeavouring to pierce each other with tlicir 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, ima- gination can hardly conceive the vindictive fury of the conqueror ; who, in the most persevering and un- relenting way, chases his rival from one part of the tub to another, until fairly exhausted with fatigue. They also use their spimes 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 sank to the bottom and died. 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 the slightest invasion mvariably brings on a battle. These are the habits of the male fish alone: the females are quite pacific, ap- pear fat, as if full of roe; never assume the brilliant colours of the male, by whom, ‘as far as I have cb- served they are unmolested.” (Sp. 27.) G. semiarmatus. The Half-armed Stickleback. This species has a strong general re- semblance in size, colour, habits, &c. to the forego- ing, and yet, according to the judgment of many excellent Naturalists, is entitled to be considered as an independent species. Its specific characters con- sist in its lateral plates not extending beyond the L 162 ACANTHOPTERYGII. MAILED CHEEKS. line of the vent, and the base of the tail being smooth and not keeled. It occurs in similar situations to the other Sticklebacks, but not always in company with them. It is described in the Histoire Nat. des Poissons, and Dr. Parnell has noticed it in marshes near Kincardine, and in ditches in Gulane Links, Haddingtonshire. (Sp. 28.) G. deiurus. The Smooth-tailed Stickle- back. In this species the lateral plates do not ex- tend farther than the second dorsal spine, the flank beyond being smooth, soft, and marked only by the linear depressions produced on the surface by the divisions of the lateral muscles. The males, espe- cially in the spawning season, are red about the throat and breast, and shaded with bright green on the sides. It appears to be of this species that Mr. Pennant gives the following striking account : ‘“¢ Nowhere do these fish appear in greater quanti- ties than in the fens of Lincolnshire, and some of the rivers that creep out of them. At Spalding there are, once in seven or eight years, amazing shoals, that appear in the Welland, and come up the river in the form of a vast column. They are supposed to be the multitudes that have been washed out of the fens by the floods of several vears, and collected in some deep hole, till, over- charged with numbers, they are periodically obliged — to attempt a change of place. The quantity is so great, that they are used to manure the land, and trials have been made to get oil from them. A notion may be had of this vast shoal, by saying GENUS GASTEROSTEUS. STICKLEBACKS. 163 that a man employed by a farmer to take them, has got, for a considerable time, four shillings a day, by selling them at a halfpenny a bushel.” (Sp. 29.) G. brachycentrus. The Short-spined Stickleback. M.M. Cuvier and Valenciennes dis- covered this species in France, and remark that it is impossible to view it in any other light than as a distinct species; and Mr. W. Thompson, Vice-Pre- sident of the Belfast Natural History Society, than whom there can be fewer more accurate or acute observers, has obtained it frequently in the North of Ireland. The characters of this fish very much , correspond with those of the dezwrus, only that it is considerably larger in size, reaching to about three inches ; and the spines, both dorsal and ventral, are shorter than those of its congeners. The lateral plates are the same. (Sp. 30.) G. spinulosus. The Four-spined Stickle- back. (Is this different from the G. tetracanthus of Cuv. and Val.?) Dr. Stark first detected this as a British species in a ditch near Edinburgh, and read an account of it to the Wernerian Nat. Hist. Society in the year 1831; and it has since been noticed in various localities by Dr. Parnell, in the south of Scotland: it has likewise been detected at Teignmouth. It is very diminutive in size, and has the spines at equal distances from each other on the dorsal line. Dr. Stark found it very voracious, and even more pugnacious than those with three spines. (Sp. 31.) G. pungitius. The Ten-spined Stickle- 164 ACANTHOPTERYGII. MAILED CHEEKS. back. Cuvier and Valenciennes assign nine spines to this species, and Dr. Pamell has found nine, ten, and eleven, without any other marked difference. It is a very small fish, not extending to an inch and .a half; it occurs not only in fresh water, but in salt, and is thus one of the smallest fishes of the ocean. It is not common in the Forth. It varies a good deal in coleur, ranging on the upper parts from yellowish brown nearly to black, and beneath being a dull white spotted with dark clive. (Sp. 32.) G. spinachia. The Fifteen-spined Stickleback. (Pl. VI.) We have already had occasion to dwell somewhat largely on this fish, (see pp. 71, 74). It is the only remaining one of the British species, and will be at once known by the most casual observer, by its many spines, its prolonged tail, and elongated snout, the under jaw being con- siderably the longer. It is a salt-water fish, and is sometimes called the Sea-adder; it, however, does not atta a greater length than six or seven inches. It prevails in the northern seas, and is included in the Fauna Orcadensis of Low. It is found in the Cromarty Frith, is not common in the Forth, abounds off the Berwickshire coasts, where its nest- building tendencies have been narrowly watched, and exists round the coasts, to the Land’s-End. Regard- ing the habits of this species Mr. Couch supplied to Mr. Yarrel the following notes: “ It keeps near rocks and stones clothed with sea-weeds, among which it takes refuge upon any alarm. Though less active than its brethren of the fresh water, it is scarcely GENUS GASTEROSTEUS. STICKLEBACKS. 165 less rapacious. On one occasion I noticed a speci- men engaged in taking its prey from a clump of sea-weed ; in doing which, it assumed every posture between the horizontal and perpendicular, with the head downwards and upwards, thrusting its project- ing snout into the crevices of the stems, and seizing its prey with a spring. Having taken this fish with a net and transferred it to a vessel of water in com- pany with an Eel of three inches in length, it was not long till the latter was attacked and devoured head foremost; not indeed altogether, for the Eel was too large a morsel, so that the tail remained hanging out of the mouth; and it was obliged to disgorge the Eel partly digested. It also seized from the surface a moth that fell on the water, but threw up the wings.” 166 ACANTHOPTERYGII. Ill. FAMILY OF THE MAIGRES. SCIENID &. Representatives in British Fauna. Glen. 2. Sp. 2. Gen. 14. Scrmna. Sp. 33. S. aquila. The Maigre. 15. UmMBRINA. 34, U. vulgaris. Bearded Umbrina. This great Family, whose ascertained . species amount to about 260, is much more common on the American shores of the Atlantic than the Euro- pean, and four-fifths of the whole are inhabitants of the intertropical seas; two species only having been recognized as visitors to our coasts, and those but rarely, it will not occupy us long. It has a strong general resemblance to the Percide ; but its members are destitute of teeth on the vomer and palatines, so that the palate is quite smooth ; some of them have two dorsal fins, and others only one: our species belong to the former category. These fish are remarkable for the size and >m- plicated structure of their air-bladders, which ‘en assume fantastic and highly ornamented sh 3: they are also famous for the sounds they ei. being taken from the water, and also when remaii- ing in it, to an extent exceeding that of the Gur- nards and Crooners of the foregoing family ; and ~ these two circumstances have naturally been associ- ated as cause and effect. The air-bladder, however, in many instances, seems to have no external open- FAMILY OF THE MAIGRES. 167 ings; and great cavernous recesses existing in the crania of many, it has been suggested that these sinuses may afford the true explanation of the phe- nomena. In some of the genera they are more striking than in others; and one: of the most re- markable, the Pogoniw, has acquired the popular name of Drums. The sounds seem to vary widely in their character and tones; and are described in very different, not to say discrepant terms, being designated sometimes dull hummings, at other times sharp whistlings, and frequently as the fish’s song. It has sometimes been supposed that they are ut- tered by the males alone; and the fishermen, by imitating them, can frequently collect a troop of the : fishes around them. The boatmen, likewise, by put- ting their ears to the gunwale of their boat, can often readily perceive the sounds, though at the depth of twenty fathoms, and thus guided, can successfully cast their net and procure a draught. Baron Hum- boldt thus narrates his observation of the pheno- mena. ‘“* Towards seven in the evening, the whole crew were astounded by an extraordinary noise, which resembled that of drums which were beating in the air. It was at first attributed to the breakers. Speedily it was heard in the vessel, and especially towards the poop. It was like a boiling, the noise of the air which escapes from fluid in a state of ebullition. They began to fear that there might be some leak in the vessel. It was heard unceasingly in all parts of the vessel, and finally about nine o'clock, it ceased altogether.” (Grif. Cuv., x. 304). 168 ACANTHOPTRYGII. MAIGRE FAMILY. —Again, Mr. White of the American navy relates, that being at the mouth of the river Gambodia, his crew and himself were astonished by some extra- ordinary sounds which were heard around the bot- tom of the vessel. “ It was,” says he, “ like a mix- ture of the bass of the organ, the sound of bells, the outtural cries of a frog, and the tones which ima- gination might attribute to an enormous harp; one might have said that the vessel trembled with it. These noises increased, and finally formed a univer- sal chorus over the entire length of the vessel and the two sides. In proportion as they went up the river, the sounds diminished, and finally ceased altogether. ‘The interpreter told Captain White that they were produced by a troop of fishes which have the faculty of adhering strongly to foreign bodies by the mouth.” (Ib. 303).—One other illus- tration we shall supply from the American shores, where these fish have received the elegant name of Grunts. ‘ Every mariner,” as remarked in a recent communication to the Pritish Association for the Advancement of Science, “‘ who has anchored early in the spring on the coasts of Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, must have been annoyed by the drum- ming noise, produced in the night, apparently at the bottom of the ship, and loud enough to deprive the stranger of rest, until habit has rendered the sound familiar.” Surely the cause of these striking phenomena cannot long remain a mystery. Gen. XIV. Scrmna.—This genus is distinguished by a divided dorsal fin, an anal with very weak GEN. SCLENA. THE MAIGRE. 16) spines, no cirri under the mouth, nor canines, with only a range of strong pointed and nearly equal teeth in both jaws. Some of the species reach to a great size, and have long been exceedingly prized in the Mediterranean for the excellence of their flesh. (Sp. 33.) S. aquila. The Maigre (Pl. VII.) is the best known, the largest, and most remarkable genus in the European seas, and is familiarly known on the coasts of Italy> It has but one anal spine, and has a strong general resemblance to a large Basse. (See ant. p. 128). It acquires a great size, reaching from three to six feet, with proportionate bulk. It is also very powerful ; so that it has been reported of one caught asleep in a net near Dieppe, that when roused it struggled so violently with the captor as to throw him into the water, whence he was relieved with difficulty. The colour of the upper parts is brownish grey, of the sides silvery grey, and of the abdomen white. In the Medi- terranean they present, as they move about, the brillianey of gold and silver, and shine with all the colours of the rainbow. We have already remarked that the Maigre is only a rare visitor of the British Isles. Dr. Neill, we believe, was the first who noted it, as observed in Shetland in 1819. This individual was observed by the fishermen when endeavouring to escape from a Seal; it measured five feet four inches, and when raised into the boat, uttered its usual purring noise. A second specimen was taken at Start Bay, Devon- 170 ACANTHOPTERYGII. MAIGRE FAMILY. shire, in 1825, and more recently a fine fish, five feet two inches long, was taken off the coast of Northumberland. A specimen, about three feet and a half in length, exists in the Museum of the Edin- burgh University, which was caught about four years ago in a salmon-net near Musselburgh. Mr. Yarrell informs us that he has seen five fresh speci- mens, four of which were brought to the London market, and has heard of four others: these were taken on the southern coast. Some of them were ’ brought to table, and reported to be good, particu- larly when stewed, being rather dry and tasteless when plain boiled. Gen. XV. Umprina.—The only other genus of this very numerous family to be noticed is that of Umbrina, which in addition to the common charac- ters of the family, has a barbule or cirrus at the symphysis of the lower jaw, and the spines at the anal fin strong and sharp. (Sp. 34.) U. vulgaris. The Bearded Umbrina (Pl. VII.), also a valuable fish, is a still rarer visitor on our coasts than the foregoing; so much so, that Mr. Jenyns very properly entertains doubts of its just claims to be admitted into the British Fauna. According to an extract from the Minute-book of the Linnzan Society, dated November 20th, 1827, a specimen of this fish, weighing one hundred weight, was taken in the river Exe, and this we believe is all the evidence as yet supplied on the point. But this is not only insufficient but unsatisfactory ; be- cause, in its native seas, this fish has never been GEN. UMBRINA. THE BEARDED UMBRINA. 171 known to reach within 60 lbs. of the weight just mentioned. It is very common on the coasts of Italy, France, and Spain. M. Risso states that it some- times weighs 32]bs; and M. de Martens, that at Venice it has been known to reach 40|bs.: its usual length is about two feet. It is a remarkably beautiful fish, whose ground colour is golden with bright bands of steel-blue, and its flesh is white and excellent. . i72 ACANTHOPTERYGII. IV. FAMILY OF SEA-BREAM. SPARIDZ. Representatives in British Fauna.—Gen. 5. Sp. 7. Gen. 16. Curysopnrys. Sp. 35. C. auratus. . TheGilt-head. LY. PAGRUS:L A. . 36. P. vulgaris. . The Braise. 18. PAGELLUS. . 37. P. erythrinus . Spanish Sea- Bream. 38. P. acarne. . The Axillary Bream. 39. P. centrodontus. Common Sea- Bream. PO) DENTAX, 0.07. 40. D. vulgaris. Four-toothed Sea-Bream. 20. CANTHARUS. . Al. C. griseus. . Black Bream. The Family of the Sea-Bream have a general re- semblance to the preceding. Among its members the muzzle is but httle projectile, and it is destitute of teeth on the palate, and of all armour on‘the gill- covers. This last circumstance, together with the absence of any cavernous sinus in the cranium, dis- tinguishes it from the Maigre family; whilst the absence of scales on the fins, separates it from the succeeding ; and the large size of the scales distin- guishes it from the next or Mackerel family. It is known to contain about 150 species, the great ma- jority of which, as of most of the other spinous-finned families, belong to the southern seas. The European waters contain about one-fifth part; the British, as stated above, not one-twentieth. The family is divided into many genera, founded chiefly upon the marked differences which exist in their dental ap- GEN. CIIRYSOPHRYS. THE GILT-HEAD. 173 paratus. One sub-family has its jaws planted with blunt teeth, resembling pavement ; in a second they are conical and hooked ; in a third like the piles of uncut velvet, en velours ; and in a fourth there is a row of incisor teeth in each jaw. Gen. XVI. Curysopurys.—Gilt-heads. In this genus the incisor teeth, to the number of four or six, are conical, and exist im each jaw, and there are several rows of molars, mostly rounded ; hence the muzzle is particularly large and broad: the branchial membrane has six rays. ‘The species of this genus are numerous, and widely spread over the ocean ; the Mediterranean possesses two, and one only is known to visit Britain. Fish of this genus were reared in their Vivaria by the Romans. (Sp. 35.) C. aurata. The Gilt-head. (Pl. VIII.) This fish is readily distinguished by its crescent- shaped band of a golden hue, extending between the eyes. Ii has five rows of molar teeth on the upper jaw, and three on the lower. (Cuv. & Val., vi. 67). Tt has long been known in the Mediterranean, and in the Atlantic, North and South, but is a rare visitor upon our shores. It is sometimes brought to the London market, and has been taken on the coast of Devonshire, and at the mouths of the Tweed and Tay. The swe to which it attains is about fifteen inches. Its colours, as supplied by Risso from a newly caught specimen, are as follows: the back is deep blackish blue, the sides yellowish with golden tints ; the abdomen bluish: along the flanks there are lighter longitudinal bands upon the dark ground : 174 ACANTHOPTERYGII. SEA-BREAM FAMILY. a broad golden mark covers the preopercle, and a violet one the opercle. The dorsal fin is bluish, with a brown longitudinal streak ; the caudal is black, with golden reflections ; the ventrals violet. It is said to feed on shell-fish, and to excavate the sand with its tail for the purpose of raising the mussels and other testacea from their bed, the shells being readily broken by its strong teeth. Though some- what dry, its flesh is delicate, and of an agreeable flavour ; it-is often pickled, and in this state is ex- tensively used in France and Spain. These fish collect in great numbers at the mouths of rivers ; and such as frequent the shores are more esteemed than those of the deep sea; and especially those which sojourn in natural or artificial salt-water lakes. In such a locality they will in one summer increase in size threefold, attaining a weight of 18 or 19 lbs. Gen. XVII. Pacrus.—This genus very much re- sembles the foregoing ; but is distinguished by hay- ing on the jaw only two rows of roundish teeth: hence their jaws are not so broad, and their muzzles are less thick than those of the Gill-heads. Several are known in Europe, and many in more southern latitudes ; one only is British. (Sp. 36.) P. vulgaris. The Braize or Becker. (PI. VIII.) The characters which distinguish this species from other Breams are, according to Dr. Parnell, small eyes, the anterior margin of the orbit placed behind the angle of the maxillary bone; the lateral line some- what bent at its origin, and the pectoral fins destitute GEN. PAGRUS. THE BRAIZE. 17s of a black spot. Common in Southern Europe, this fish is rare on the British shores. It has, however, been captured off the coasts of Cornwall and Devon- ~ shire and also in the Frith of Forth: it is also stated to have been observed on the north-east coast of Ireland, but this requires authentication. Mr. Holds- worth, as stated by Mr. Yarrell, reports that it does not appear on the Devonshire coast at all times, but only at intervals, and sometimes the fisher- men do not take any for months. They are caught in deep water with hooks, generally baited with mussels. This fish is known at Brixham by the name of Pandora, and King of the Breams, and sells for half as much more as the common Sea-bream. Mr. Couch says it appears on the Cornish coasts, in moderately deep water, throughout the summer and autumn, but retires in winter and spring. Risso states that in the Mediterranean it frequents deep water, near rocks, and that the females are full of roe in summer: a fine specimen, nineteen inches long, was caught in the salmon-nets near Mussel- burgh. It feeds on crustaceous and testaccous animals, and sometimes on small fishes, acquiring a size of twenty inches and upwards; and is much esteemed for the table. Above, the tinting 1s of a blue silver colour, on the flanks bright silver, the abdomen and lower fins being tinged with vermil- lion; the dorsal and caudal fins are rose-red, and the space between the eyes reddish brown. Gen. XVIII. Pacutivus.—In this genus the ante- 176 ACANTHOPTERYGII. SEA-BREAM FAMILY. terior teeth are more or less fine, like those of a wool-card; the molars are round, and smalier than in the two preceding. Five species are Kuropean, three British. They feed on fish and crustacea, swim in small shoals, approach the coasts in spring- time, and remain till winter. (Sp. 37.) P. erythrinus. The Spanish Sea-Bream, though superabounding in the Mediterranean, and issuing thence, widely, north and south, over the Atlantic, is not common on the British shores. Nevertheless, where Ichthyologists are on the watch, they occasionally detect it. Thus Messrs. Couch, Walcott, and Parnell have observed it on the coasts of Cornwall and Devonshire, cff Teignmouth, and in the Frith of Forth. It bears a close resemblance to the Braize, and has sometimes been mistaken for it; but is readily distinguished by the dental appa- ratus, this fish bemg destitute of the elongated conical teeth which surround the card teeth in the other. The largest of those examined by Mr Yar- rell reached the length of fourteen imches. Its colours when first taken from the water are most splendid: it is of a beautiful red carmine colour on the back, passing to rose colour on the sides, acquir- ing a silvery tinting on the abdomen; the fins are rose-coloured. These lovely hues disappear soon after death, and a sombre yellow prevails, with blackish stripes on the back. It is commonly found at the depth of fifty or sixty fathoms; and it is here, according to Duhamel, that the female deposits her ~ GEN. PAGELLUS. THE AXILLARY BREAM. 177 ova, According to Risso, it is found during the whole year among the rocks on the coast near Nice. (Sp. 38.) P. acarne. The Axillary Bream. We are chiefly indebted to Dr. Parnell for the introduc- tion of this fish into the British Catalogue. Ronde- let was familiar with its specific characters; but since his time it has very much been confounded with its congeners, by French and Italian authors: no wonder therefore that mistakes were committed by the British. Baron Cuvier unravelled the con- fusion ; and now, with ordinary care, this fish may readily be recognised. Mr. Yarrell considers it some- what more common on our shores than the forego- ing species, having been captured in the same lo- calities. In the Edinburgh market it is called a Bream. Dr. Parnell states that this species may be at once distinguished from the rest of British Bream, by the dark spot at the base of the pectorals ; ‘the Braize, with which it is apt to be confounded, has never more than six teeth in the first row in front of each jaw, whereas the Acarne has thirty in the first row of the upper jaw: the Spanish Sea- bream has the origin of the lateral line slightly bent, while the Acarne has the lateral line taking its course at once parallel to the curvature of the back; the Acarne has the commencement of the lateral line quite plain, while the species next to be described, the Centrodontus, has a large black spot at the ori- gin of this line. Mr. Yarrell well observes that this Axillary Bream may be distinguished from the M 178 ACANTHOPTERYGII. SEA-BREAM FAMILY. Spanish Sea-bream by the larger proportionate size of the head, and the more rounded form of the de- scending frontal outline. One of Dr. Parnell’s speci- - mens was thirteen inches long. The colour of the body is pale silvery red, the dorsal and caudal fins rose-red, the other fins paler; reddish brown pre- vails hetween the eyes; on the upper part of the base of the pectorals there is a dark violet spot which is very conspicuous even in the dried fish. In the Mediterranean this fish is in highest pa tion in spring, and is greatly esteemed. (Sp.39.) P. centrodontus. (Pl. TX.) The Sea-bream is readily distinguished by a large black spot at the origin of the lateral line, which, however, does not make its appearance till after the first year; the teeth are fine and sharp in both jaws, smaller than in the two preceding species, and disposed in two or three rows in front; the molars are small and rounded. Its usual size is from 16 to 20 inches, though Risso states that it often exceeds two feet. This fish, unlike its congeners, is very common in the British and Irish seas, as well as in more southern latitudes ; it also extends a considerable way northwards; on the Scotch coast, however, it is not much known. In the North of Ireland it bears the names of Murran- roe, Barwin, and Gunner. On the west coast of England it is found throughout the year; but is most abundant in hot weather, and retreats alto- gether when the cold is severe. The spawn is shed in the beginning of winter, in deep water, and the young are called Chads. In summer, when from GEN. PAGELLUS. THE SEA-BREAM. 179 four to six inches long, they abound, says Mr. Yar- rell, in innumerable multitudes, and are taken by anglers in harbours and from rocks, for they bite with great eagerness at any bait: they devour also sea-weeds and shell-fish. The Sea-bream, accord- ing to Cuvier and Valenciennes, is fort bonne, (vi. 141); according to Mr. Couch, it is not highly esteemed for the table, and is not at all in request when salted ; hence when abundant, says he, I have known it sold at so low a rate as two shillings and sixpence the hundred weight. Curious there should be so wide a difference on the opposite sides of the Channel! Something may depend upon the season ; and to compensate for our more fastidious taste, Mr. Yarrell has supplied the following recipe, as ma- terially improving the ordinary flavour of this fish. When thoroughly cleaned, wipe the fish dry with- out removing any of the scales: then broil, turning often, and if the skin cracks, flour it a little to keep the outer skin entire. When brought to table, the whole skin and scales turn off without difficulty ; the flesh underneath will be found of good flavour. Gen. XIX. Dentax.—This genus consists of fishes of the Sea-bream family which have long conical teeth in both jaws, usually in a single row, with some of the anterior elongated like sharp and powerful canines. Two species are known in the Mediterranean, and more in southern seas. The one we are about to mention is valued in Dalmatia and the Levant as a wholesome and palatable food when 180 ACANTHOPTERYGII. SEA-BREAM FAMILY. fresh, and as an important article of commerce ; it is divided, packed in barrels with saffron, &c. and keeps well for months. (Sp. 40.) D. vulgaris. The Four-toothed Sparus. (Pl. IX.) In each jaw of this species, as implied in the name, there are four strong hooked canine teeth, those behind being smaller; the form of the head is obtuse; the back is brownish red, mottled with some darker coloured spots; the sides are paler, inclining to yellow; the abdomen almost white ; all the fins pale reddish brown. The fish is said to become of a purple tint with age, and paler in colour during winter. Only one individual has been recorded as captured on the British coast. In April 1805, this specimen, two feet six inches long, caught off Hastings, was brought to the London market, and fell into the hands of Mr. Donovan. Small fishes of this species are seldom taken; the smallest, according to Blech, being seldom less than 3 or 4]bs.; at Rome, their average weight is about 5 or 6lbs. Mr. Donovan’s specimen weighed 16lbs., but this size is trifling in comparison with some occasionally found in the southern seas: in the South of France they are often 20 or 30 lbs., and Duhamel mentions one which weighed no less than 76 lbs. A more voracious fish, remarks Mr. Donovan, is scarcely known; which will be readily credited by those who examine its formidable teeth. When taken in the fishermen’s nets, it is asserted that it will seize upon the other fishes which are captured, GEN. CANTHARUS. THE BLACK BREAM. 18] and mangle them dreadfully. Being a swift swim- mer, it finds abundant prey, and soon attains a con- siderable size. Gen. XX. Cantuarus.—This genus is charac- terised by the teeth being card-like and close set, those of the anterior row being a trifle larger than the others; their dorsal and anal rays are somewhat more numerous; the mouth is but slightly cleft, and not protractile. The species belonging to it frequent muddy coasts, are voracious, and take the hook greedily. Four species are known as Euro- pean, a great number inhabit tropical seas, whilst the American seem to have none. One species is British. (Sp. 41.) C. griseus. (Pl. X.) The Black Bream appears especially to inhabit the British Channel, Cuvier and Valenciennes intimating they have never procured a specimen from the Mediterranean. It was first described by Colonel Montague, in 1815, under the name of Scarus lincatus, having been noticed on the coast of Devonshire, where it is by no means uncommon. Duhamel had previously figured it, and it is minutely described in the sixth volume of DT’ Histoire Nat. des Poissons. The colour of the body is bluish grey, shaded with longitudinal bands, alternately dark and light; the dorsal fin is pale brown, the others of a dusky red colour. Its com- mon size is about fifteen inches, although M. F. Cuvier presented one to the Paris Museum which reached to twenty inches. Mr. Couch remarks, that it takes the baits common for other fish, but J82 ACANTHOPTERYGII. SEA-BREAM FAMILY. feeds more on marine vegetables, upon which it becomes exceedingly fat. It enters harbours, and is frequently taken by anglers: he has never known it to assemble in shoals, and it is seldom taken of a small size. Colonel Montague informs us it is no less common than the Red Bream, and is considered of less value; Cuvier and Valenciennes remark that its flesh is firm and well-tasted. 183 V. THE SCALY-FINNED FAMILY. SQUAMIPENNZ. Representative in British Fauna. Gen. 21. Brama. Sp. 42. B. Raw, Ray’s Bream. The Scaly-finned Family is readily distinguished from others by the soft, and frequently the spinous portions, of the dorsal and anal fins, being covered with scales, so that they are not easily distinguished from the other parts of the body. It is a large one, containing about 150 species, most of which, how- ever, frequent the Indian and Polynesian Seas. It is subdivided into three groups; the first having hair-like teeth, the second cutting-teeth, and the third having them either close set, or card-like. It is conspicious for the extreme splendour of the colouring of its members. If the feathered tribes of the equatorial regions are bedecked with the most brilliant and gorgeous hues, the neighbouring oceans contain myriads of the finny race, which in this respect excel them. Upon the first of the three groups, especially, Nature has most profusely la- vished these splendid ornaments. The purple of the iris, the richness of the rose, the azure blue of the sky, the darkest velvet black, and many other hues, are seen commingled with metallic lustre over the pearly surface of the resplendent group, which habitually frequenting the rocky shores, at no great 184 ACANTHOPTERYGII. SCALY-FINNED FAMILY. depth of water, are seen to sport m the sun-beams, as if to exhibit to advantage their gorgeous dress. Several of the genera are moreover distinguished by an extraordinary habit of shooting their prey by projecting a liquid stream from their mouths. Thus, the genus Chelmon contains a species, the rostratus, of six or eight inches in length,which when it per- ceives a fly, or other winged insect hovering over the surface, or settled on a twig, propels against it, with considerable force, a drop of liquid from its mouth, so as to drive it into the water: in attack- ing an insect at rest, it usually approaches cautiously, and very deliberately takes its aim. It is said to be an amusement with the Chinese in Java to keep this fish in confinement in a large vessel of water that they may witness its dexterity: they fasten a fly, or other insect, to the side of the vessel, when the Chelmon aims at it with such precision, that it rarely misses its mark. The Archer, again, belong- ing to another genus, Towotus jaculator, shoots his watery deluge to the height of three or four feet, and strikes almost without fail the imsect at which it aims. Cuvier received a specimen of this fish from Batavia, whose stomach was entirely filled with Ants. One species alone frequents the seas of Jurope: it is (Sp. 42.) Brama Raii. Ray’s Bream. (PI. X.) The genus Brama belongs to that group which has the scaly fins, and teeth on the vomer and palate. This species is the only one now known; its body is deep and compressed, and the profile is almost ver- GEN. BRAMA. RAY’S BREAM. 185 tical ; it has one elongated dorsal fin, studded, like the anal, with scales. It attains the length of be- tween two and three feet, and weighs from 10 to 12 lbs. ; the colour above is very dark blue, coppery upon the upper part of the sides, silvery on the abdomen ; the anal and dorsal fins sparkle like sil- ver, and there is a tint of green before the dorsal. Baron Cuvier seems to have been deceived in sup- posing this fish belonged exclusively to the Medi- terranean, and was only a straggler in the ocean. Probably its central dominion is that inland sea, on many parts of whose shores it is extremely com- mon. In the markets of Genoa it is called Ron- danin, Mr. Yarrell has succeeded in demonstrating that it is far from rare on our own and the neigh- bouring shores. It has been observed once and again on the coasts of Cornwall and Devonshire ; it is met with at Belfast, where it is called the Hen- fish ; and itis frequently found on the west coast of Scotland: it has also been taken in Berwick and St. Andrew’s Bays, and in the Frith of Forth. Spe- cimens of it exist in the British Museum, and in that of the Zoolagical Society of London; and Mr.’ Yarrell states that he saw nine specimens of it in the Museums of Edinburgh, Newcastle, and York. It is also found on the coasts of Norway. Accord- ing to Cuvier, it spawns in summer; and its flesh is said to be of exquisite flavour. 186 ACANTHOPTERYGII. VI. THE MACKEREL FAMILY. SCOMBERIDA. Representatives in British Fauna.—Gen. 10. Sp. 12. Gen. 22. ScomBER. Sp. 43. 8. scomber. The Mackerel. 44, §. colias. . The Spanish Ditto. 23. Tuynnus. . 45. T. vulgaris. The Tumny. 46. T. pelamys. The Bonito. 24, Auxis. . . +47. A. vulgaris. The Plain Ditto. 25. Xipuias. . . 48. X. gladius. The Sword-fish. 26. NaucraTes. . 49. N. ductor. The Pilot-fish. 27. CARANX. . 50. C. trachurus. Horse Mackerel. 28. CENTROLOPHUS. 51. C. pompilus. The Black-fish. 29. ZEus. . . . 52. Z. fuber. The Dery. 30. Capros. . . 53. C. aper. . The Boar-fish. dl. Lampris.. . 54. Z. guttatus. Ophah or King-fish. This interesting family is one of the most nu- merous of Osseous Fishes, after the Perches, its described species amounting to upwards of 320. Many of them crowd the surface of the ocean, especially in warm latitudes, and their range is most extensive. Ten genera, as above noted, visit the British shores; and sixteen genera, or one- twentieth of the whole, have been discovered on the North American coast. Some inhabit only the mid- dle longitudes of the Atlantic, and there pursue the Flying-fish, as Dr. Richardson has well remarked, over the vast wastes, as the herds of Wolves do the Bison on the prairies of America. When con- ee a GEN. SCOMBER. THE COMMON MACKEREL. 187 sidered separately, these fish are easily characterized. The separation of the posterior rays of their second dorsal fin, and of their anal, suffice for that purpose in the Mackerel and Tunny, the typical genera of the family. But these are only the chiefs of a numerous series of genera and sub-genera, in which the general characters alter by degrees, and pass insensibly into others. The possession of scales, so small as to make the greater part of the skin appear as if it were smooth, the vertical fins free from scales, and the gill-covers without spines or denticulations, constitute almost all the prevailing characters which can be assigned to the family ; and notwithstanding they have a resemblance which never leaves them in any of their modifications, so that they form what Botanists call a family by series or transition. The caudal fin is often of great size and power, and the sides of the tail are keel- shaped, and armed with scales or shields. This family is one of the most useful to man, many of the species constituting excellent food, their size being considerable, and their reproduction enormous, bringing them periodically to the same latitudes, and so making them the object of most extensive and important fisheries. It is subdivided into four great sections. Tur First having the anterior dorsal fin entire, and the terminal rays of the pos- terior detached or insulated, forming what may be called spinous fins, pinne spurie, or finlets. To this subdivision belongs the Gen. XXII. ScomBrr. Mackerels. Characterized 188 ACANTHOPTERYGII. MACKEREL FAMILY. by a fusiform body, covered with scales, which are small and smooth ; sides of the tail not keel-shaped, but merely raised into two small cutaneous crests ; the two dorsal fins are widely separated, and there are finlets behind the second dorsal and the anal. (Sp. 43.) §. Scomber. The Common Mackerel. (PI. XI.) The natural history of this valuable fish, as illustrated by Mr. Yarrell, exhibits so pleasiug a spe- cimen of his valuable work already so often referred to, that we shall enrich our pages by an abridgment, scanty as it must necessarily be. The Mackerel is so well known for the beauty and brilliancy of its colours, the elegance of its form, its intrinsic value to man as an article of food, both in reference to quantity and quality, that further observation on these points is unnecessary. It is probable that these fish inhabit almost the whole of the European seas; and the law of nature which obliges them, and many others, to visit the shallower waiter of the shores at a particular time, appears to be one of those wise and beautiful provisions of the Creator, by which not only is the species perpetuated with the greatest certainty, but a large portion of the parent animals are thus brought within the reach of man, who but for the action of this law, would be deprived of many of those species most valuable to him as food. For the Mackerel, dispersed over the immense surface of the deep, no effective fishery could be carried on; but approaching the shore as they do from all directions, and roving along the coasts collected in immense shoals, millions are GEN. SCOMBER. TIIE COMMON MACKEREL. ]89 caught, which yet form a small portion compared with the myriads which escape. It may be observed further, that as there is scarcely a month through- out the year in which the fishes of one or more species are not brought within the reach of man by the operation of the imperative law of Nature re- ferred to, a constant succession of wholesome food is thus spread before him, which, in the first in- stance, costs him but little beyond the exercise of his ingenuity and industry to obtain. The Mackerel is taken nearly round the whole, coast of Ireland; and it visits the Western Isles of Scotland, but not in great abundance. On the Cor- nish coasts, in some seasons, it.occurs as early as March, pursuing a course from west to east ; and they are plentiful on the Devonshire coast about June. On the Hampshire and Sussex coasts, they arrive as early as March, and sometimes even in February, the fishermen finding them further from shore the earlier they go in search of them. On our eastern coast, the fishing is later: at Lowestoffe and Yarmouth, the great harvest for them is in May and June; in the Frith of Forth, where they are not very abundant, it isin June and July, whilst in Orkney they do not make their appearance till the last week in July or the first of Avgust. From an examination of the Mackerel sent to the London market from the shallow shore off Worthing, it is manifest that these fish deposit their roe earlier than those caught in the deep water off Brighton. The young Mackerel, called Shiners, are from four 190 ACANTHOPTERYGII. MACKEREL FAMILY. to six inches long by the end of August; they are half-grown by November, when, according to Mr. Couch, they retire to deep water, and are seen no more that winter: the adult fishes, however, never wholly quit the Cornish coast, and some are taken with lines every month of the year. The Mackerel, as feeders, are voracious, and their growth is rapid. The ordinary length varies from fourteen to sixteen inches, and their weight is about 2Ibs. each; al- though they sometimes attain the length of twenty inches, with a proportional increase of weight. The largest fish, however, are not the best for the table. As an article of food, they are in great request, and those taken in the months of May and June are generally considered to be superior in flavour to those taken in spring and autumn. To be eaten in perfection, this fish should be very fresh ; and as it soon becomes unfit for food, some facilities in the way of sale have been afforded to the dealers in a commodity so perishable. Mackerel was first al-. lowed to be cried through the streets of London on a Sunday in 1698; and the practice prevails to the present time. At various fishing-towns on the coast, the Macke- rel season is one of great bustle and activity. The frequent departures and arrivals of boats at this time, form a lively contrast to the more ordinary routine of other periods; the high price obtained for the early cargoes, and the large returns gained generally from the enormous numbers of the fish sometimes captured in a single night, being induce- ee Ul ee GEN. SCOMBER. THE COMMON MACKEREL. 19] ments to great exertions. A few particulars, from various sources, may not be uninteresting. In May 1807, the first Brighton boat-load of Mackerel sold at Billingsgate for forty guineas per hundred, seven shillings each, reckoning six score to the hundred, the highest price ever known at that market. The next boat-load produced about thirteen guineas per hundred. Mackerel, on the contrary, were so plen- tiful at Dover in 1808, that sixty were sold for one shilling. At Brighton, in June of the same year, the shoal of Mackerel was so great, that one of the boats had the meshes of her nets so completely occupied by them, that it was impos- sible to drag them in; the fish and nets, therefore, in the end, sank together, the fishermen thereby sustaining a loss of nearly £60, exclusive of what the cargo, could it have been got into the boat, would have produced. The success of the fishing, in 1821, was beyond all precedent. The value of the catch of sixteen boats from Lowestoffe, on the 30th of June, amounted to £ 5252; and it is sup- posed that there was not less an amount than £ 14,000 altogether realized by the curers and men concerned in the fishery off the Suffolk coast. In March 1833, on a Sunday, four Hastings boats brought on shore 10,800 Mackerel, and on the next day two boats brought 7000. Early in the month of February, 1834, one boat’s crew from Hastings cleared £ 100 by the fish caught in one night; and a large quantity of very fine Mackerel appeared in the London market in the second week of the same 192 ACANTHOPTERYGII. MACKEREL FAMILY. month. They were cried through the streets of London on the 14th and 22d of March, 1834, and had then been plentiful for a month. There are three different modes of catching Mackerel,—by drift-nets in deepish water, by the seine-net, sometimes in deep water and sometimes near the shore, and thirdly, sometimes by the hook, trailing the line near the surface. This last mode of fishing has been well described in the “ Wild Sports of the West” of Ireland. “ It was evident that the Bay was full of Mackerel. In every direc- tion, and as far as the eye could range, gulls and puffins were collected; and to judge by their activity and clamour, there appeared ample enjoyment for them among the fry beneath. We immediately bore away for the place where these birds were most numerously congregated; and the lines were scarcely overboard, when we found ourselves in the centre of a shoal of Mackerel. The hooker, however, had too much way; we lowered the foresail, double- reefed the mainsail,-and then went steadily to work. Directed by the movements of the birds, we followed the Mackerel, tacking or wearing the boat occasion- - ally, when we found that we had overun the shoal. For two hours we killed those beautiful fish, as fast as the baits could be renewed and the lines hauled m; and when we left off fishing, actually wearied with sport, we found that we had taken above 500 Ibs. There is not on sea or river, always except- ing angling for Salmon, any sport comparable to this delightful amusement ; full of life and bustle, every- GEN. SCOMBER. THE SPANISH MACKEREL. 193 thing about it is animated and exhilarating ; a brisk breeze, a fair sky, the boat in quick and constant motion, all is calculated to interest and excite. He who has experienced the glorious sensations of sail- ing on the Western Ocean, a bright autumnal sky above, a deep green lucid swell around, a steady breeze, and as much of it as the hooker can stand up to, will estimate the exquisite enjoyment our morning’s Mackerel-fishing afforded.” (Sp. 44.) 8. colias. The Spanish Mackerel. S. pneumatophorus. Immediately after the Com- mon Mackerel, M. M. Cuvier and Valenciennes de- scribe, under the above names, two fishes which are well known in the Mediterranean; the one larger, the other smaller than the preceding species. They, moreover, differ from it in possessing an air-bladder, which is truly remarkable, as thus stated by the eminent authors just named,—one of the most curi- ous facts in Ichthyology, and one of the most inex- plicable in Comparative Anatomy, is, that fishes of the same genus, and so closely resembling each other in all the details of their organization that the greatest attention is necessary in distinguishing them, should the one be furnished with an air-blad- der, and the other be deprived of it: Why is it re- quired in the one, and not in the other? What cause operates in the production of this difference ? Here are interesting problems for the consideration of the theologian, the student of Nature and the Providence of God. Corresponding with these Mediterranean fishes, N 194 ACANTHOPTERYGII. MACKEREL FAMILY. there have been noticed on our own shores many specimens which bear the closest resemblance to them, and which have been provisionally catalogued by Mr. Jenyns, a doubt existing whether the smaller fish is any thing more than the young of the larger. The smaller has been noticed by Mr. Turton as fre- quently found at Swansea; and the larger was de- scribed by Mr. Couch in Loudon’s Magazine for 1832, from which source we now take our description. The Spanish Mackerel sometimes attains the weight of 4 or 5 lbs. The mouth, head, and eyes are very large; the dorsal fin has seven rays, whilst the common has twelve ; rays of the gill membrane six, concealed. Colour dark blue on the back, striped like the Mackerel, but more obscurely, and with fewer stripes; a row of large dark spots runs from the pectoral fin to the tail, and the sides and belly are thickly covered with smaller dusky spots; the tail, gill-covers, sides, and beneath the eye, being bright yellow. From the Mackerel, which it re- sembles, this fish differs in the markings of the head, the head and snout being larger, the eye and gape larger, and in having scales on the anterior gill-covers: the body is not nearly so much attenu- ated posteriorly ; the ventrals are sharp and slender, and the pectorals lie close to the body.—This fish is scarce, but some are captured every year. It does not often take the bait, although the fishermen inform me it sometimes does; and that its infre- quency is owing to the difference of feeding rather than want of rapacity. It is most frequently taken GEN. THYNNUS. THE TUNNY. 195 in drift-nets; but even then it is only one at a time and at considerable intervals. It is in no estima- tion as food. Gen. XXIII. Taynwnus.—This genus is charac- terised by a kind of corselet round the neck and thorax, formed by scales larger and coarser than those of the rest of the body; the sides of the tail have a cartilaginous keel, and the anterior dorsal is prolonged almost to the posterior one. (Sp. 45.) Th. eulgaris. (Pl. XI.) The Tunny, though only an occasional visitor of the British shores, is as important an object of pursuit in the Mediter- ranean, as the Mackerel or Herring among our- selves, or the Cod at Newfoundland. It appears to have been more frequently observed on the Scottish coast than the English. Mr. Pennant remarks, “They frequent our coasts, but not in shoals as in the Me- diterranean: they are not uncommon in the lochs of the West of Scotland, where they come in pur- suit of Herrings, and often, during. the night, strike into the nets and do considerable damage. One was taken,” adds this Naturalist, “‘ when I was at Inve- rary, in 1769, which was seven feet nine inches long, and weighed 460 Ibs.” Dr. Scouler mentions (Loudon’s Mag., vi.) that one was taken nearly op- posite Greenock, in the herring-nets, which measured nine feet in length, in July 1831; and within the last few weeks, a beautiful specimen, also Scotch, 8 feet long and 5 feet 6 inches in circumference, has been added to the Collection in the Edinburgh University Museum. The flesh of this fish was dressed, and 196 ACANTHOPTERYGII. MACKEREL FAMILY. was found, as is well known, to be of a red colour, like that of Salmon, and was considered a rich and delicate morsel by those who partook of it. In Scotland it is known by the name of Mackerelsture, or Great Mackerel, from accompanying the shoals of this fish. Three, as mentioned by Mr. Donovan, were captured near the mouth of the Thames in the summer of 1801, and were taken to Billingsgate market. Mr. Couch, as quoted by Mr. Yarrell, states that the Tunny appears on the Cornish coasts in summer and autumn, but is not often taken. It feeds on Pilchards, Herrings, and other smaller fishes; but the Saury-pike seems to be its favourite prey ; for it not only compels it to seek another element for safety, but will also spring to a con- siderable height after it, usually crossing its course, at the same time attempting to strike it down with its tail. The form of the Tunny is similar to that of the Mackerel, but it is larger, rounder, and has a shorter snout; the dorsal fin is lodged in an elon- gated depression on the back, which conceals it when folded down. The upper part of the body is dark blue, the corselet much lighter; the sides of the head white, silvery-spotted; the first dorsal, pectoral, and ventral, black; the tail paler; the second dorsal and anal flesh-coloured; the finlets yellowish, tipt with black. It is one of the largest of fishes: in the Mediterranean, when one hundred weight, it is considered diminutive ; when from one to three hundred weight, it is regarded as a Half- GEN. THYNNUS. THE TUNNY. 197 Tunny ; those weighing a thousand pounds are not rare, and Cotti asserts that old males are sometimes taken which weigh 18 cwt. From time immemo- rial prodigious numbers have been recorded as fre- quenting that inland sea. Thus Gylhus, “ Twenty vessels might be filled by a single cast of the net: and they may be taken without nets, and with the hands. When they ascend to the port of Constan- tinople in crowded troops, they may be killed with stones. Women take them by simply suspending a basket from their windows with a cord. In fine, without baiting a hook, a sufficient quantity may be taken to provision the whole of Greece, and a great part of Europe and Asia.”—“ The Sea-fish of Constantinople,” says M. Von Hammer, “are the first in the world, the Bosphorus swarms with them.”—“ The flavour of the Tunny,” says Mr. Swainson, “ has nearly as much resemblance to that of flesh as to fish ; and to those who have tasted it, we need not expatiate upon its excellence: when fried in the form of cutlets, it has the strongest re- semblance to veal, having the same compact firm- ness, and the same delicate whiteness.” Those of Sardinia and Spain were considered by the Romans as superior. When cured, they. formed the Salta- mentum Sardicum, a very savoury meat, For nu- merous and interesting details concerning the habits of these fish, their capture, preservation, &c. we must refer to the pages of LZ’ Hist. Nat. des Poisson, and to Griffith’s Cuvier, volume on Fishes. (Sp. 46.) Zh. pelamys. The Striped Tunny, or 198 ACANTHOPTERYGII. MACKEREL FAMILY. Striped Bonito, which also belongs to this genus, is a much smaller fish, rarely exceeding thirty inches; it is an inhabitant of the ocean, and visits the British shores still more rarely than its con- gener. It is well known in southern seas for the chase which it gives in great troops to the F'lying- fish, to the amusement of the weary voyager. Sailors frequently amuse themselves by catching the Bonito with a hook fastened to a piece of lead, shaped like a small fish, with wings made of feathers attached, to give it the appearance of a Flying-fish. Though relished by those living on salt provisions, its flesh, which is like that of beef, is sometimes considered dry and disagreeable. The Striped Tunny has 8 finlets behind the second dorsal, and 7 behind the anal; and the sides of the abdomen are marked with four longitudinal dusky bands. Mr. Stewart's account, in the year 1817, of its occasional occur- rence in the Frith of Forth, seems sufficiently minute and satisfactory. Dr. Scouler states that a speci- men was taken in the Frith of Clyde in July 1832 ; but Mr. Couch, as in many other instances, is here our most liberal contributor. According to him, this fish is occasionally met with on the Cornish coast: one specimen obtained was twenty-nine inches long, and twenty in circumference close behind the pectorals; the colour was fine steel-blue, darker on the back ; the sides dusky white ; behind the pec- torals there are four dark lines which extend along each side of the abdomen to the tail, with scales like those of the Mackerel: this individual was taken in GEN. AUXIS. THE PLAIN BONITO. 199 a drift-net in July, at which time the roe was : abundant. In this locality it rarely takes the bait, and is too wary to be often captured in a net. Gen. XXIV. Avxis.—This genus has the corse- let and the pectoral fins the same as in the previous one; but the dorsal fins are apart, as in the genus Scomber; it has but one representative in the British seas, which is (Sp.47.) A.vulgaris. The Plain Bonito. (Pl. XII.) The trivial names of this fish we owe to the authors of L’ Hist. Nat. des Poissons and to Mr. Yarrell, the latter gentleman remarking, “ I have called it the Plain Bonito on account of its plain and uniform colour, as contrasted with the Striped and Belted Bonitoes.” To this gentleman we are also indebted for its introduction into the British Fauna. In the - month of June 1839, two specimens of this hand- some mackerel-like Bonito were received at Bil- lingsgate from the coast of Norfolk, near Yarmouth, where they had no doubt been caught in the mackerel-nets ; both of these found their way to Mr. Yarrell, owing to the well-known interest he takes in the history of British fishes, a -fit compli- ment, we may remark, to his steady and meritori- ous exertions. One of these specimens measured eighteen inches in length and eleven inches and a half in circumference behind the first dorsal, the body in form being nearly cylindrical. The back was irregularly mottled with two shades of indigo blue, the belly silvery white, the corselet somewhat darker than the abdomen, or greyish white ; the fins 900 ACANTHOPTERYGII. MACKEREL FAMILY. dark grey, except the anal, which was tinged with yellow. The weight of this fish, according to M. Risso, who, as well as M. Rafinesque, recognised it as a distinct species in the Mediterranean, never exceeds 6 lbs. ; the female is somewhat larger than the male, and spawns in August, the ova being white and encrusted with a reddish albuminous covering. Its flesh, of a deep red colour, is said to be sour to the taste, and to be very indigestible, be- coming very dark when exposed to the air. The intertropical parts of the Atlantic sustain many Bonitoes, so closely corresponding to the one un- der review, that they cannot be distinguished. They have been transmitted to Paris from Marti- nique, where they are called Thon, and where they are caught of enormous dimensions, dune grosseur énorme. Gen. XXV. XipHias.—This genus is nearly allied to the foregoing by its small scales, its keeled and powerful tail, and its internal organization: it has only one dorsal fin, and the ventrals are wanting. Its distinctive character consists in its long beak, spear-shaped, forming a powerful weapon, where- with it attacks the largest marine animals; it is composed principally of the vomer and intermaxil- lary bones, and is strengthened at its base by the ethmoid, frontal, and maxillary bones; the gills are not pectinated, but formed of two great parallel lamine, with reticulated surfaces. The rapidity of these fish is excessive, and the quality of their flesh excellent. There are various sub-genera, the first ee Oe GEN. XIPHIAS. THE SWORD-FISH. 901 of which, the Xiphias Proper, has no ventral fins : one species alone is known, which is frequently seen on the British shores; it is the (Sp. 48.) X. gladius. The Sword-fish. (Pl. XIT.) The name which has been attached to this fish, in nearly all languages, indicates the most striking fea- ture in its formation, namely, the cutting and pointed blade, a projection of its muzzle, which threatens everything which approaches it. The Sword-fish attains a great size, so that by the ancients it was classed among the cetaceous or whale tribes, Cete; by which term, however, they meant nothing more than a very large inhabitant of the ocean. It frequently attains the length of ten and twelve feet, and has been recorded as long as eighteen and twenty. The Mediterranean is regarded as its natural habitation : here it is everywhere fished, though it most abounds on the shores of Sicily. Small specimens are com- mon at Genoa, where the sword is cut off previous to their being exposed in the markets; they are also brought to Nice throughout the year, but especially in spring, weighing between 200 and 350 lbs. From the Mediterranean this fish is supposed to issue, and to wend its way principally northwards along the European shores, and southward down the coast of Africa; it is, however, also caught on the North American shores. It was introduced into the British Fauna as far back as the days of Sibbald: Pennant mentions one captured in Flintshire in 1785; and another found off the Caermarthen coast, which weighed 75]b., with the sword three feet long. 202 ACANTHOPTERYGII. MACKEREL FAMILY. Drs. Leach and Knox, and Professor Grant, have each examined specimens obtained in Scotland ; and one of these, found in 1826, between Alloa and Stirling, is now in the Edinburgh Royal Museum. In the Baltic and Northern Ocean, it is often en- countered. As it regards the English coasts, a specimen was exhibited at Brighton in the year 1796, which had been caught in the neighbour- hood; Mr. Daniel, in his Rural Sports, mentions that, in the Severn, near Worcester, a man bathing was struck, and actually received his death-wound from a Sword-fish: the fish was immediately caught, so that there could be no mistake as to the cireum- stance. In October 1834, as mentioned by Mr. Yarrell, a party of gentlemen in their pleasure-boat, off the coast of Essex, observed something bulky floating on the water, which they found to be a Sword-fish, ten feet long, of which the sword mea- sured three; and the last-named Naturalist received one in July of the same year, which had been taken in Bridgewater river. Specimens are often stranded on different coasts, a circumstance which has been explained by the allegation, that these fish being peculiarly exposed to the attacks of various para- sitic animals, which torment them beyond endur- ance, they, in despair, cast themselves ashore, to rid themselves at once of their tormentors and their lives. The Sword-fish is reported to have violent con- tests with the whale, of which the following, quoted by Mr. Yarrell, is a striking example. One morn- GEN. XIPHIAS. THE SWORD-FISH. 203 ing, as stated by Captain Crow, in a work lately published, during a calm, when near the Hebrides, all hands were called up at 3, A. M., to witness a battle between several fish called Thrashers or Fox- sharks, and some Sword-fish, on the one side, and an enormous whale on the other. It was in the middle of summer; and the weather being clear, and the fish close to the vessel, we had a fine op- portunity of witnessing the contest. As soon as the whale’s back appeared above the surface, the Thrashers, springing several yards into the air, de- scended with great violence upon the object of their rancour, and inflicted upon him the most severe slaps with their tails, the sounds of which resembled the reports of muskets fired at a distance. The Sword-fish, in their turn, attacked the distressed whale, stabbing from beneath; and thus beset on all sides, and wounded, whenever the poor creature appeared, the water round him was dyed with blood. In this manner they continued tormenting and wounding him for many hours, until we lost sight of him; and, I have no doubt that in the end they completed his destruction.” It is probably by mistaking a vessel for one of these great monsters of the deep, that the Sword-fish is ever seen to try his strength against a gallant ship. Those on board have sometimes, from the violence of the shock, found it difficult to believe that they have not struck some hidden rock, such being the weight and power of the fish, and specimens of ships’ timbers penetrated by what appears to be the sword of the fish, are by 204 ACANTHOPTERYGII. MACKEREL FAMILY. no means uncommon. A leak is sometimes sprung ; but this can happen only in very weak and crazy vessels. The capture of the fish itself, as practised from time immemorial in the Mediterranean, is also an exciting occupation. It is like whale-fishing in miniature. A watchman, on the summit of a neigh- bouring rock, gives warning by signal when he observes a fish approaching ; a seaman then ascends the mast-head, to guide his fellows, who now row under his direction, to reach it. They are so skilful, ‘that generally from a great distance they strike their victim at the first blow with the harpoon, having a long cord attached. An arduous struggle now com- mences, during which the boat is often pulled about for many hours ere the capture is completed. We have already stated that there is but one dorsal fin in this species, extending nearly from the summit of the head to the reot of the tail. This is very evident in young specimens: when, however, they become aged, such is the effect of the friction to which they are necessarily exposed, that the fin wears away in the middle, and the appearance of a double dorsal is left behind. This circumstance has erroneously led to the proposal of a second spe- cies. The edges of the sword are cutting, and finely denticulated ; the lower jaw is also pointed, extend- ing to where the upper surface of the sword be- comes horizontal ; there are no teeth in either jaw, but fine teeth in the gullet like shorn velvet. The colour of the upper parts of the body is a dusky GEN. NAUCRATES. THE PILOT-FISH. 205 blue; of the under, a fine silvery white, the whole body being covered by a rough skin. It is said that the ordinary habit of this fish is to go in pairs, male and female. The flesh of the young is per- fectly white, compact, and of excellent flavour: when old, its qualities are somewhat modified ; Brydon remarking that it is more like beef than fish, and is then to be dressed as cutlets. It has ever been esteemed of first-rate quality, is often salted, the tail and fins being most esteemed when fresh. The Seconp Srctron of this Family is charac- terised by having the spiny rays of the back, not continuous, but separate. Gen. 26. Navcrares. Pilot-fishes—This genus is distinguished by free dorsal spines; which exist also before the anal fin, to the number of two ; it has the carina, or keel, on the sides of the tail. Of its various species, only one is British. (Sp. 49.) WV. ductor. The Pilot-fish. (Pl. XIII.) The term Pilot-fish is applied, not only to the con- geners of the species now under review, but also — more loosely to some other fish. Its origin has been ascribed to various causes. The ancient Naturalists had a story that it joined company with the tempest- tost bark of the anxious mariner, indicated to him his nearest direction to land, and left him as soon as it had fulfilled this kind office. A more modern opinion, which has been faithfully copied by many authors, affirms that these fishes act a pilot’s part to the 906 ACANTHOPTERYGII. MACREREL FAMILY, Shark, and accompany and befriend it as opportu- nity offers. Notwithstanding the prevalence of this assertion, it has been denied by others, who hold that these tales are quite apocryphal, and allege that the fact is reduced to this, that the Pilot follows vessels like the Shark, and with still greater perseverance, solely for the purpose of obtaining a share of the garbage which may be thus procured : this, it is held, explains the apparent alliance, and with the greater appearance of probability, that M. Bosc assures us that he has seen hundreds of these fish, which always kept at some distance from the Shark, but as soon as crumbs and fragments. were thrown overboard, stopped to seize them; thus for the time abandoning both Shark and ship, and manifesting the real object which attracted them. All this is so far well; but it does not account for all the facts which have been noted regarding the habits of this fish. Thus, our able coadjutor, Colonel Hamilton Smith, many years ago, furnished to Mr. Griffiths’ edition of Cuvier, the following in- formation: “Capt. Richards, R. N., during his last station in the Mediterranean, saw on a fine day a blue Shark, which followed the ship. After a time, a shark-hook baited with pork was flung out. The Shark, attended by four Pilot-fish, repeatedly ap- proached the bait; and every time he did so, one of the Pilots preceded him, was distinctly seen from the taffrail of the ship to run his snout against the side of the Shark’s head to turn it away. After this continued for a time, the Shark swam off in the GEN. NAUCRATES. THE PILOT-FISH. 207 wake of the vessel, his dorsal fin being long dis- tinctly visible above the water. When he had gone, however, a considerable distance, he suddenly turned round, darted towards the vessel, and before the Pilot-fish could overtake him and interpose, snapped at the bait and was taken. In hoisting him on board, one of the Pilot-fish was observed to cling to his side until he was half above water, when it fell off. All the Pilots then swam about a while, as if in search of their friend, with every apparent mark of anxiety, and then darted suddenly into the depths of the sea.” It may be imagined by some that in this case the fancy of the narrator gives a colouring ' to the facts; but the Colonel expresses his complete belief of the whole, having himself watched with intense curiosity an event in all respects precisely similar. (Grif. Cuv., x. 636), That the Pilot appears to have a deep interest in his formidable associate, admits not of a doubt, although perhaps his service is not always so judi- cious as in the instances just alluded to. Dr. Mayen, in a recent publication, remarks, “ We ourselves have seen three instances in which the Shark was led by the Pilot. When the former neared the ship, the latter swam close to his snout, or near one of his breast fins; sometimes it darted rapidly forwards or sideways, as if looking for something, and constantly went back again to the Shark. When we threw overboard a piece of bacon fast- ened on a great hook, the Shark was about twenty paces from the ship; with the quickness of light- 2908 ACANTHOPTERYGII. MACKEREL FAMILY. ning, the Pilot came up, smelt at the dainty morsel, and instantly swam back again to the Shark, swim- ming many times round his snout, and splashing, as if to give him exact information as to the bacon. The Shark now began to put himself in motion, the Pilot showing him the way, and in a moment he was fast to the hook.” M. Geoffroy, in his Memoir Sur (Affection naturelle des quelques Ani- maux, relates a similar incident; and both Fish and Naturalist have been smartly criticised for the part they play in this tragic narrative; the for- mer for acting the traitor, and the latter the goose, in not discriminating the true character of the service rendered. We pretend not to judge in this knotty: matter. Whether the poor Pilot is justly reprehensible for not considering that the pork concealed a hook, is first to be settled; and meantime, allowing that the nimble Pilot has no more occasion to fear the un- wieldy Shark, than the agile Swallow the pouncing Hawk, yet we remark that the evidence rather goes to show that. there is something very like a confiding familiarity subsisting between these two companions of the weary mariner. The time and space during which the Pilot will follow a vessel is great, through its whole run, for many weeks. The Pilot is a pretty little fish, about a foot in length ; like the Mackerel, having five conspicuous transverse bands round its body. On these Dr. Moore has recently made the following remarks: the circular bands did not appear to surround the body, being undistinguishable on the back, which GEN. NAUCRATES. THE PILOT-FISH. 209 was of a fine purplish black; on a side view, the bands scarcely reached above the lateral line; the iris, instead of being of a golden yellow, was a fine deep brown, and the extreme points of the pecto- rals, ventrals, and tail, were white and transparent. These, then, are probably the true markings. Dr. Moore adds: “ In a day or two, however, as the colours faded, the beautiful metallic blue of the ab- domen turned to a dull iron-grey, the bands became easily distinguishable all round the fish, and the brown-coloured pigment of the iris gradually con- tracted, leaving beneath a shining yellow circle.” Dr. Moore states that he considers the Pilot, of all Mediterranean species, the most frequent visitor on the coast of Devonshire. Many are the in- stances now collected of their following ships into British ports. ‘ In January 1831,” says Mr. Yar- rell, “ The Peru put into Plymouth, on her voyage from Alexandria to London, after a passage of eighty- two days. About two days after she left Alex- andria, two Pilot-fish made their appearance close alongside the vessel, were constantly seen near her during the voyage, and followed her into Plymouth. After she came to an anchor in Catwater, their at- tachment appeared to have increased; they kept constant guard to the vessel, and made themselves so familiar, that one of them was actually captured by a gentleman in a boat alongside ; but, by a strong effort, it escaped from his grasp and regained the water. After this the two fish departed, but they were taken the same evening; and when ) 210 ACANTHOPTERYGII. MACKEREL FAMILY. dressed next day, were found to be excellent food.” In 1833, nearly a hundred Pilot-fish accompanied a vessel from Sicily into Catwater, but none were captured. Two others appeared in 1835, and again in 1838, and others subsequently ; they have also been seen in Dartmouth harbour, in Guernsey, and elsewhere. The Txairp Section of this Family is distin- guished by having the sides furnished with a cui- yassed lateral line: it is numerous, especially the leading genus, but has only one British representa- tive. Gen. XXVII. Caranx, whose lateral line is armed, more or less, with scaly shields, raised into a keel, and pointed. (Sp. 50.) C. trachurus. (Pl. XIII.) The Scad, or Horse Mackerel, which has from 70 to 7d large scaly lamine on the lateral line. This fish is rather smaller than the Common Mackerel, so that its trivial name is not derived from its greater size, but from the alleged coarseness of its flesh. Mr. Couch states that it is rarely brought to market, and that in many places even the fishermen are not in the habit of eating them. But De gustibus nil disputandum ; for thus Dr. Parnell, “ The flesh is considered by some as inferior food; by others, as far superior to that of the Mackerel; it is firm, of good flavour, and wholesome, and is in best season in March and April.” Mr. Yarrell has purchased them in the London market in May, and remarks, GEN. CARANX. THE HORSE MACKEREL. 211 “ They possess a portion of the flavour of the Macke- rel, but are not so fine.” In Scotland these fish are not often seen: in the Firth of Forth, during some years, scarcely one being procured, whilst in others a dozen or two may be obtained; they are occa- sionally taken in the Tay, in Berwick Bay, and off Yarmouth. On the eastern and southern shores of Treland they are more common, and in the west and south of Britain they abound. Mr. Couch remarks, ‘* The Scad regularly visits the coasts of Cornwall and Devonshire, commonly in scattered quantities, but occasionally in considerable schudls, pronounced Schools, in the district. They are not abundant before the warmer months of the year, after which some may be found on board of every fishing-boat. The usual habit of the fish is to keep near the ground ; but when they assemble in pursuit of some favourite food, as they sometimes do in immense multitudes, they become so eager as to thrust each other in heaps on the land.” “ In July 1834, great shoals,” as reported by Mr. Bicheno to Mr. Yarrell, “ visited the coast of Glamorganshire. They were first observed in the evening; and the whole sea, as far as we could command it with the eye, seemed in a state of fermentation with their numbers. Those who stood on some projecting rock had only to dip their hand into the water, and with a sudden jerk they might throw up three or four. The bathers felt them come against their bodies; and the sea, looked on from above, appeared a dark mass of fish. very net was immediately put into requisi- 212 ACANTHOPTERYGII. MACKEREL FAMILY. tion; and those which did not give way from the weight, were drawn on shore laden with spoil. One of the party, who had a herring-seine with a two- inch mesh, was the most successful : the mesh held its fish, and formed a wall that swept on the beach all before it. They were thus caught by cart-loads. They were pursuing the fry of the Herring, and their stomachs were full of them.” The characters already supplied, with an exami- nation of the Plates, render further details in this place unnecessary. In the next, the Fourtu Section of the Macke- rel Family, the finlets, the free spines of the back, and the armour on the sides of the tail, are all wanting. To this group belongs the genus Cory- pheena, containing C. hippurus, misnamed the Dol- phin, and with other species so celebrated for its versatile hues, and of whose beauty, according to Bose, we must have seen them in troops following a vessel, before we can form any estimate. It is a large Section, of which, in the British Fauna, we have only one genus. Gen. XXVIII. Centroiopnus, characterized by Cuvier as having small scales, an unkeeled tail, a long dorsal, whose spiny rays are scarcely distin guishable from the others ; its head is little elevated, and its palate without teeth. (Hist. Nat. des Poiss., ix 246). Of this genus we have to name (Sp. 51.) C. pompilus. The Black-fish. (Pl. XIII.) Only four specimens of this somewhat remarkable GEN. CENTROLOPHUS. THE BLACK-FISH. 213 fish appear to have been caught in the British seas, and all off the coast of Cornwall; two, many years ago, by Mr. Jago, and two more lately by Mr. Couch. In the Mediterranean it is well known. According to Cuvier, it was first described under the name of pomphilus by Rondelet ; Lacépéde formed it into a new genus, and his generic name is still retained ; Mr. Jago having previously described it under the name of Black-fish. On the northern shores of the Mediterranean it is not common, being but rarely seen on the coast of France ; it, however, visits Nice in considerable numbers in April and September, and is caught in that locality throughout the year: it spawns in autumn. Cuvier suspects its favourite haunts to be the southern shores of that inland sea. Mr. Jago’s account, which is but short, is repeated by Mr. Borlasse in his History of Cornwall, together with a characteristic plate. From this authority we learn “ That the Black-fish is smooth, with very small thin scales, in so much that they will be overlooked without close inspection; its length is fifteen inches; breadth, near the pectoral fin, be- tween three and four; head and nose like those of the trout ; mouth small; teeth very small; eye full and bright ; one fin on the back, commencing four inches and three-quarters from the snout; the length nearly six inches, with a forked tail and a large double nostril. Two were taken at East Looe in May 182], in a seine, near the shore, in sandy ground, with some ore-weed in their stomachs,” (p. 271). Mr. Couch, as already stated, examined 214 ACANTHOPTERYGII. MACKEREL FAMILY. two other specimens, whose description is supplied by Mr. Yarrell. It agrees generally with Mr. Jago’s. The gill-rays are fine; the body, somewhat com- pressed, is about three inches deep, a thin elevated ridge, on which the dorsal fin is situate, making it appear deeper on the back ; the lateral line is some- what crooked at the commencement; the colour is wholly black, the fins intensely so, the shade being somewhat lighter on the abdomen, and bronzed at the origin of the lateral line. “* When employed,” says Mr. Couch, “ in drawing the figure, the side on which it lay changed to a fine blue.” The second specimen measured two feet eight inches in length, and weighed nearly 14 lbs. The skin was observed to be very tough, so that it was stripped off from the fish like that of an eel: no air-bladder was found. The taste, according to Mr. Couch, was delicious. Not so Duhamel, whose werds are, “ Sa chair west pas tres délicate.” “ The great strength and velocity,” continues Mr. Couch, “ of this fish have been spoken. of in terms of admiration by several authors, and the large one mentioned above afforded a corrobora- tion of the truth of the remark. It was caught in a salmon-net at the mouth of the river in November 1830; and such was the force with which it struck the bottom of the net, that it carried it before it over the head- rope. The last or Frrru Section of this Family is formed of Mackerels with a protractile mouth, its members having the power of prolonging their mouth into a GEN. ZEUS. THE DORY. 215 long tube. Some have one dorsal fin, others two ; but the character of their integuments, and their cuirassed sides, associate them with this group. It has three representatives in the British Fauna. Gen. X XIX. Zevus.—This genus has two dis- tinct dorsals, the anterior of which is formed by spinous rays, accompanied by long and thread-like filaments, which extend far beyond the spines and uniting membranes. Of the four species of L’Hist. Nat. des Poissons, one only is British: it is (Sp. 52.) Z. faber. (Pl. XIV.) The Dory, or John Dory, of considerable size, grotesque ferm, and un- common colours, has excited attention on almost every coast, and received characteristic names from every people. The French and English names, Dorée, have been given from its golden colour: it is the cock, Gallo, of Sicily, from the crest on its back, as also of the Sardinians, Spaniards, and French of the Bay of Biscay ; in the western provinces of France, it is called the Sea-hen. In many towns on the Mediterranean, it is denominated St. Peter’s fish ; it being alleged that it was from the mouth of a fish of this species that the Apostle obtained the coin to pay the tribute-money, and that the imprint of his two fingers marks the species to the present day,—a legend which is likewise told of the Had- dock : from a similar fancy, the modern Greeks are in the habit of hanging up this fish in chew places of worship. Though not abundant in northern seas, the Dory cannot be considered as very rare on the coast of 216 ACANTHOPTERYGII. MACKEREL FAMILY. Britain. It is a rare visitor, however, in Scotland, not above two or three being taken annually in the Firth of Forth ; it is scarce also on the eastern coast of England, but abounds in the southern, especially off Cornwall and Devonshire ; it is also common on the Irish shores. In the autumn of 1829, Mr. Couch states that more than sixty were hauled on shore at once in a net, some of them of large size ; it continues common till the end of winter, after which it is less plentiful, but never scarce. Mr. Pen- nant mentions that the largest specimen he ever heard of weighed 12 lbs., and that one of half the size 1s considered as above the average: twelve or eighteen inches is a common length, although Cu- vier has seen them two feet long, and heard of their reaching two and a half. Its conformation is alto- gether singular, and is better expressed by the pencil than by words. The body is oval, the head large, and the mouth capable of great protrusion ; the eyes are situate high in the head. The prevail- ing colour of the body is an olive-brown tinged with yellow, reflecting, in different lights, blue, gold, and white. When the fish is first taken from the water, and held in the hand, the varying tints of these different colours pass in rapid succession over the body. Opinions are not in unison as to the quality of this fish as an article of food, any more than of many others which have passed under review. Mr. Pennant denominates it the most delicious luxury, and this seems to be the prevailing senti- GEN. CAPROS. THE BOAR-FISH. 217 ment. Baron Cuvier, however, remarks, “ Ce qui est plus singulier, c’est que Ton n’ait pas toujours su partout que c’était un excellent poisson ; il est certain, quil est peu recherché a Paris,” (x. 7).— Col. Montague, some years ago, informed us “ that it was then about sixty years since the celebrated Mr. Quin, of epicurean notoriety, first discovered the real merit of the Dorée; and we believe from him originated the familiar, and, we may say, na- tional, epithet of John Dory, as a mark of his especial esteem for the fish.” The Dorées of the London market are mostly supplied from the De- vonshire coast ; and being ground fish, they are the better for being kept for two or three days. Gen. XXX. Capros, Has the notched dorsal of the Dorée, but the fins are entirely without fila- ments ; the mouth is more projectile than in the preceding genus, and the body is covered with rough scales. One species alone has hitherto been catalogued. (Sp. 53.) C.aper. (PI. XIV.) The Boar-fish, which is generally spread over the Mediterranean, but far from abundant even there, is rare upon the whole of the French coast: it is well known at Madeira; and from specimens thence derived, Mr. Yarrell’s figure and description are both supplied. One specimen was taken in Mount’s Bay, Cornwall, in October 1835, by Dr. H. Boase, which was de- scribed in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society ; a second, as we are informed by Mr. Yarrell, was obtained in Bridgewater fish-market, in April 1833 ; 218 ACANTHOPTERYGII. MACKEREL FAMILY. and a third has been more recently captured on the Devonshire coast. It is a diminutive fish, rarely exceeding four inches in length: the largest speci- men possessed by the authors of the Hist. Nat. des Poisson was six French inches, whilst the speci- men last alluded to was nine inches English. It is of the same general appearance as the Dorée, with amore projecting mouth. Our French authorities state that its general colour is reddish brown, more or less intense ; our English, that the upper part of the back and sides are pale carmine, still lighter beneath, and passing to silvery white on the abdo- men; the body being divided into seven transverse orange-coloured bands, reaching three-fourths of the distance from the back downwards ; the Mount Bay specimen is said to have had no bands: the fin-rays are of the same colour as the back, the membranes are much lighter. Mr. Yarrell states, in both editions of his excellent work, that he is not aware that any figure from nature, of this fish, has hitherto been published, except the original one given by Rondelet. In the tenth volume of the great French work so often alluded to, published in the year 1835, in the Avis au Relieur, Capros aper is numbered as Plate 281, and a very beautiful plate, with details, is supplied in the succeeding volume: the fish was in the hands of the authors, and assuredly Werner's drawing is from nature. In this the lateral line, which Mr. Yarrell says is not observable, is distinctly, although somewhat faintly, traced, and we doubt GEN. LAMPRIS. THE OPAH, OR KING-FISH. 219 not accurately. Our Plate is taken from the highly finished plates accompanying the current illus- trated edition of the Kégne Animal, publishing by Crochard and Co. We are not aware that this fish is used as an article of food. Risso mentions that it spawns in April, and confirms Lacépéde’s statement of its bad odour, saying that it has little taste, and continually exhales an unpleasant smell. Gen. XXXI. Lampris, Has but one dorsal fin ; and but one species is known. It 1s the (Sp: 24.) £. gutiatus. The Opah or King-fish. (Pl. XIV.) The body of the Opah is oval and compressed, the sides of the tail keeled, the teeth wanting ; the gill-rays seven. An eminent Naturalist has well remarked, that it is truly smgular that so large and beautiful a fish as that now under review, and which is by no means infrequent in our seas, should have been de- scribed only recently; and still more, that the different authors who have attempted a description should have been so little acquainted with each other's labours. This criticism, written in the year 1835, will henceforward, we trust, no longer apply. As affording, however, a good illustration of the error and confusion in which such subjects are apt to be envolved, we shall here present a slight sketch of what has been called “‘ The History of the Natu- ral History” of this fish. The habitat of the King-fish appears to be high 9920 ACANTHOPTERYGII. MACKEREL FANILY. northern latitudes. There it is most abundant ; thence it issues into the temperate regions ; although it is only lately that 1t has been ascertained that it wanders southwards as far as the Mediterranean. The first notice and representation of this fish we possess is that of Sibbald, in his Scotia Ilusirata: the specimen which afforded the materials was taken in the Frith of Forth, near Queensferry ; the figure is far from good, and the description very short. Mr. Low, in his Natural History of Orkney, alludes to a second notice, which is to be found in Mr. Wallace’s Description of Orkney: Mr. Wallace also supplies a figure with his description, mention- ing that one fish was captured in Sanda Bay in the winter of 1682, and that several others had pre- viously been obtained in the same locality; the subject of his description was about an ell in length. Another specimen was taken near Leith in the year 1750, and formed the subject of a communication to the Royal Society of London, which was, in course, published in No. 495 of the Philosophical Transac- tions, with a figure. There happened to be in this country, at the time, an African prince, who ima- gined, or pretended, that he had long been familiar with this fish in his native land, and who supplied the information that it was called Opah by the natives, and King-fish by their English visitors. Thus the trivial names of this fish, which have been preserved to the present day, were conferred by an African ; and as no specimen has at any time been GEN. LAMPRIS. THE OPAH, OR KING-FISH. 22] taken in tropical seas, there is every reason to sus- pect that the information thus communicated was inaccurate in all respects. In the year 1762, Stroem had an opportunity of examining and describing this fish in Norway, and Miller imagining there was a resemblance between it and the Zeus vomer, originated the notion that it was an inhabitant of the Brazilian waters, as well as of the Norwegian.