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BRITISH FISHES.

VOL. I.

UBRO-WOBS HOLE, MASS :

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LONDON :

PRINTED BY' SAMUEL BENTLEY,
Banger House, Shoe Lane.

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HISTORY

OF

BRITISH FISHES.

BY

WILLIAM YARRELL, F.L.S. V.P.Z.S.

'''

ILLUSTRATED BY 500 WOOD-ENGRAVINGS.

IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I

SECOND EDITION.

LONDON:

JOHN VAN VOORST, PATERNOSTE

M.DCCC.XLI.

_f DOB'S HOLE.

PREFACE

TO THE FIRST EDITION,

THE geographical situation of the British Islands renders
a knowledge of the productions of the numerous and valuable
fisheries by which they are surrounded a subject worthy of
inquiry to every one interested in the welfare of his country.

The large and constant supply of excellent food obtained
from the seas all round the coast by moderate labour and
expense, and the employment afforded to a numerous and
valuable class of men, who become not only good seamen,
but able pilots, since the successful exercise of their voca-
tion depends on an intimate knowledge of the nature of the
ground surface, the situation of banks and channels, with
the particular direction and force of tides and currents ; ren-
der the British fisheries also, in many points of view, a branch
of political economy of great national importance.

It has long, however, been matter of general regret that
the subjects of this particular branch of natural history, so
valuable as articles of food and commerce, and so interesting
from their organization, and the peculiarities and beauty of
their varied forms and colours, should, with the exception of
those inhabiting the fresh water, and the marine species most
in request for the table, be almost wholly unknown.

Bewick's work, illustrated with engravings on wood of
unrivalled excellence, may justly claim the distinguished
merit of having done more towards rendering Ornithology
popular in this country than any other book that could be
named ; and it was hoped that this eminent artist would have

VI PREFACE TO

devoted his great talents to the delineation of the subjects of
other classes in natural history, as well as to the Quadrupeds
and Birds. It is certain that he had once contemplated pro-
ducing a work on BRITISH FISHES : but he had abandoned
the design before his lamented death in 1828. Some few
engravings of British Fishes were executed by him with his
usual success, impressions of which were occasionally to be
seen in the possession of his most intimate friends.

The time that has now elapsed since his death leaves but
little room to hope that this branch vyas ever so far prose-
cuted by him as to be made available in the present day, or
that an object so desirable as a work on BRITISH FISHES
executed to any extent by him can now be expected.
Could it have been ascertained that any such intention still
existed at Newcastle, the present work would never have
been attempted.

An extensive collection of BRITISH FISHES in the pos-
session of the author, containing upwards of one hundred and
sixty species, to increase which no opportunity has been neg-
lected during several past years, and the cordial assistance of
some of the best naturalists from Scotland to the LamFs End,
are among the advantages the author of this work has enjoyed
to assist him in his undertaking.

To Mr. Couch of Polperro, the indefatigable ichthyologist
of Cornwall, the author is indebted for several examples of
the most rare species found on the Cornish coast, for the use
of a large and valuable collection of characteristic coloured
drawings, and the whole of his manuscript notes.

W. J. Broderip, Esq. Vice-President of the Zoological
and Geological Societies, having in his possession an inter-
leaved copy of Mr. Donovan's Natural History of British
Fishes, which formerly belonged to the late Colonel Mon-
tagu, the author of the Ornithological Dictionary and Tes-
tacea Britannica, containing voluminous notes in his own

THE FIRST EDITION. Vll

writing, of observations on fishes and fishing, made during his
long residence near the coast of Devonshire, has with the
greatest kindness most liberally allowed the whole of these
notes to be transcribed.

The author is also indebted to W. Walcott, Esq. of Bris-
tol, for the use of a valuable manuscript, with a collection
of more than one hundred drawings of British Fishes, exe-
cuted by his father, the author of the Synopsis of British
Birds, and other works on natural history, during his resi-
dence at Teignmouth.

To Sir William Jardinc, Bart, the author is under obli-
gations for many examples, and various communications on
the species of the genus Salmo, from which materials were
drawn for the elucidation of .this difficult but important
genus.

Dr. George Johnston of Berwick-upon-Tweed, whose
name will be found to occur very frequently in this work,
has very kindly transmitted rare specimens from that locality,
with various notices of the natural history of some of the
most remarkable species of the eastern coast.

The author is also desirous of recording his thanks to Dr.
Edward Moore of Plymouth, for frequent communications
on the fishes taken in that neighbourhood, and an extensive
catalogue of local names.

To W. Thompson, Esq. of Belfast, Vice-President of
the Natural History Society of that town, the author's
thanks are due for many valuable notes of the fishes of the
Irish lakes, and communications of the occurrence of many
marine species at various localities on the Irish coast.

The author's acknowledgments are especially due to his
friend E. T. Bennett, Esq. Secretary to the Zoological
Society, for his valuable advice and assistance throughout the
progress of the work.

But, without entering into a farther enumeration of the

Viii PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.

names of other liberal friends who have assisted, it may be
sufficient to state, so great has been the success in obtaining
species either entirely new, or new to our coast, and so ex-
tensive the resources available in the present instance, that
this work contains a greater number of species by one-fourth
than has yet appeared in any British catalogue, with an
extensive list of well-authenticated localities and local names.
Two hundred and twenty-six species are described and figur-
ed, several of them in different stages of growth. The num-
ber of representations of fishes amounts to two hundred and
forty. The drawings in almost every instance have been
made under the author's superintendence from the specimens.
The best artists, both as draughtsmen and engravers on
wood, have been employed, and the representations will be
found characteristic of the species, and highly creditable as
works of art. Besides the figures of the fishes, there are
upwards of one hundred and forty illustrative vignettes sub-
servient to the general subject, representing teeth, scales,
gill-covers, swimming-bladders, and other viscera, occasion-
ally, when interesting in structure, form, or function. The
different boats, nets, and apparatus in use at our various
fishing stations on the coast, are figured, and the modes of
employing them described.

The systematic arrangement of Baron Cuvier, as detailed
in the last edition of the Regne Animal, has been adhered
to ; and the author hopes that the care bestowed on every
part of the work will merit the approbation of all lovers of
natural history.

Ryder -street, St

June 1836.

PREFACE

TO THE SECOND EDITION.

ON publishing the second edition of the History of British
Fishes, I have again respectfully and very sincerely to return
my best thanks to those friends and naturalists who have,
either by their private communications or public announce-
ments, supplied the novelties contained herein.

These additions to the British Catalogue of Fishes are so
many gratifying testimonials of the increasing number of ob-
servers, whose attention is directed towards the inhabitants of
our seas ; and I feel a sincere pleasure in the prospect of the
many new subjects, and more correct illustrations, which our
Ichthyology is likely to derive from the great interest now
taken in this branch of Natural History.

Since the completion of the first edition of the Fishes in
the summer of 1886, thirty-seven new species have been added
to our list, twenty-seven of which appeared in the Supplement
to the British Fishes, published in 1839, and ten have been
ascertained since ; all of which are now incorporated in their
respective places in the present edition, which now includes
two hundred and sixty-three species. Twenty-seven fishes
have been newly engraved for this edition, either from speci-
mens, or from better representations than were previously
available ; thirty-four new vignettes, illustrative or ornamen-
tal, have also been added, and the whole work contains im-
pressions from four hundred and eighty-five blocks, producing
more than five hundred figures.

X PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.

Among these are representations of the cranium in twenty
different genera, from the works of Rosen thai, Cuvier, and
others ; and not to interfere with the ornamental appearance of
these crania as vignettes, by a repetition of letters or numbers
in reference to each particular bone, the markings are confined
to the cranium of the Perch only, as introduced at page 7,
premising, that a little useful perseverance will lead to a
knowledge of the analogous bones in other crania.

Besides a very copious general index of twelve pages, there
is added, at the request of some particular friends, a classed
index to many of the principal or most interesting among the
vignettes ; and neither expense or labour has been spared to
render this new edition worthy of the favourable reception
bestowed upon its predecessor.

To the Rev. Robert Holdsworth of Brixham I am in-
debted for a long series of notes upon British Fishes, many
of which will be found incorporated in these volumes. From
this gentleman I learned that a very rare fish, the Silvery
Hairtail, Trichiurus lepturus, was taken at Brixham in the
spring of the present year. The species is figured and de-
scribed, vol. i. p. 204.

Mr. Couch of Polperro has continued to supply me with
notices of new or rare occurrences on the Cornish coast, and
has lately obtained a large-sized specimen of the Blenny
figured at page 263 of volume i. which, with his characteristic
liberality, he has presented to the British Museum.

To Dr. Richard Parnell, whose " Essay on the Fishes of
the Forth" gained him the prize of the Wernerian Society of
Edinburgh, I am indebted for the loan of many useful spe-
cimens from his extensive and valuable collection.

I also beg to acknowledge and record my obligations to
the zoological officers of the British Museum for their uniform
kindness and their assistance upon all occasions.

llyder-street, St. Jame^s,
October 1841.

INTRODUCTION.

THE external characters of fishes in general are too well
known to require particular description. The form of the
body, however, is subject to great variety. In some, it is
short and rounded, almost spherical, as in the Globe Tetro-
don, vol. ii. p. 457 ; in others, elongated, as in the Eel ;
it is remarkably compressed in the Dory and Opah, and
depressed in the Flatfishes and Rays or Skate. The most
common form is that of a cylindrical body, more or less
pointed at each end, and slightly compressed at the sides :
the Mackerel, at page 137, as a familiar instance, may perhaps
be named as exhibiting the highest degree of elegance in
shape, and, when very recently taken from the water, is so
rich and so varied in its colour, as to be fairly entitled to be
considered one of the most beautiful among British Fishes.

The surface of the body is in most instances covered by
numerous scales, which vary considerably in size and sub-
stance in different species. The great importance of these
productions of the skin, as the organs of protection and rela-
tion between the animal and the medium in which it resides,
has been more particularly enforced by M. Agassiz in his
most valuable researches on Fossil Fishes. The arrange-
ment of the scales exhibits considerable uniformity : the
almost vertical lines in which each series is placed, crossing
each other at an acute angle, resembles the letter X, the
scale on the lateral line forming the apex of both cones.
This arrangement may be observed in the species of Carp at

XII INTRODUCTION.

pages 349, 355, 358, and 361, although Ihe illustrations in
this work are from necessity of small size. Each scale is
attached to the skin of the fish by its anterior edge ; and
the manner in which the scales overlap each other in differ-
ent genera is variable, and gives an appearance of form to
each scale which in reality it does not possess. By macera-
tion in water, scales exhibit a series of laminae, the smallest
in size having been the first produced : they resemble a cone,
the apex of which is outwards, the smallest being in the
centre ; hence the appearance of numerous concentric lines,
all of the same shape, which mark the growth. Scales from
the same fish differ in size, depending on the part of the
body from which they are taken : those above the lateral line
are smaller than those immediately below it, but the scales
near the vent are the smallest.

The row of scales along the side, forming the lateral line,
in addition to the structure common to the scales of the
other parts of the body, are pierced through near the centre
by a tube which allows the escape of the mucous secretion
produced by the glands beneath. Each of the various scales
represented at pages 6, 37, 390, 408, and 418, exhibit this
tube, with the numerous concentric, and some radiating lines,
by which the scales of particular species are distinguished.

The fins are important not only as organs of motion, but
as affording by their structure, position, and number, mate-
rials for distinguishing orders, families, and genera. The
membranes of the fins are thin, and more or less transparent,
supported by slender elongated processes of bone, some of
which consist of a single piece, which is pointed at the end :
such fin-rays are called spinous rays. Others are formed of
numerous portions of bone united by articulations, and fre-
quently divided at the end into several filaments : these from
their pliant nature are called soft or flexible rays, and two
leading divisions in systematic arrangement are founded on

INTRODUCTION. Xlll

this difference in structure. The number of fin-rays in each
fin of different examples of the same species of fish is not
always exactly alike.

The names given to the different fins are derived from the
part of the body to which they are attached. The position
of one pair, the ventral fins, attached as they are to the an-
terior and sometimes to the middle of the belly, affords a
valuable character for distinction. These ventral fins are
considered analogous to the hinder limbs in other animals ;
the pectoral fins to those attached to the shoulder ; and many
points of resemblance exist in the structure. The principal
organ of motion in fishes is the tail, assisted by the simul-
taneous action of the pectoral and ventral fins. The older
writers on Ichthyology considered that the perpendicular po-
sition maintained by the fish was owing to the presence of
the dorsal fin ; but an experiment detailed in this volume, at
page 365, appears to indicate that the power of sustaining a
particular position in the water is due, in part at least, to
other causes.

The economy of Nature is conspicuous in the habits of
fishes. Some always swim at or near the surface, others
about mid-water, and many close to the bottom : all parts of
the water are alike occupied, and some peculiar qualities and
powers being found to belong to fishes affecting by choice
these different stations in the water, they will be occasionally
referred to by the terms of surface, mid-water, and ground
swimmers. To include the extremes to which their powers
of motion are occasionally applicable, some, as the Flying-
fish, pages 453 and 458, are able to sustain themselves for a
short time in the air, from the momentum obtained by their
previous exertions before quitting the water ; and others, by
the strength of the serrated bony ray in each pectoral fin, are
able to transport themselves overland from one pool in search
of another.

XIV INTRODUCTION.

Other important external characters are derived from the
operculum or gill-cover : a knowledge of its various parts,
and the names by which they are designated, may be learned
by a reference to the figure in vol. ii. page 3 ; where figure
1 marks the posterior edge of the preoperculum ; 2. the oper-
culum ; 8, the suboperculum ; 4, the interoperculum ; 5, the
branchiostegous rays. When a line or division occurs ante-
rior to the preoperculum, it marks the boundary of the cheek,
as in the heads of the fish represented in volume i. at pages
10 and 18, in which the different portions are not referred to
by figures.

The use of the operculum is to close the aperture behind
the gills. The blood in fishes, while passing through the
gills or branchiae, receives the influence of oxygen from
water which enters by the mouth and goes out by this
aperture. In the fishes included in the first three orders, the
gills are so formed, and so freely suspended, that the water
bathes in its passage every part of their surface.

In the Sturgeon, while swimming, respiration is carried on
in the same manner : but when the Sturgeon adheres to any
substance by the mouth which it has the power of doing by
extending its lips some other mode of respiration is re-
quired : and it is found that by the act of extending the
mouth the gill-covers are drawn up so as to leave a large
channel between them and the gills, through which the water
is brought into the mouth, and returned through the gills.

In the Sharks and Rays, the temporal orifices probably
assist in the act of respiration by allowing entrance and egress
to water while the mouth is closed: they also enable the fish
to expel the water taken into the mouth with the prey pre-
vious to deglutition.

In the Lampreys and Myxine, the branchial cells which
admit water are lined by the delicate membrane through
which the blood is aerated. In the Lampreys, the external

INTRODUCTION.

apertures of the branchial cells are placed on the side of the
neck ; but in the Myxine, which feeds upon the internal
parts of its prey, and buries its head and a part of its body in
the flesh, the openings of the respiratory organs are removed
sufficiently far from the head to admit of respiration going on
while the animal's head is so inserted.

The branchiae or gills in fishes possess complex powers,
and are capable of receiving the influence of oxygen not
only from that portion of atmospheric air which is mixed
with the water, but also directly from the atmosphere itself.
When fishes confined in a limited quantity of water are
prevented by any mechanical contrivance from taking in at-
mospheric air at the surface, they die much sooner than
others that are permitted to do so. The consumption of
oxygen, however, is small ; and the temperature of the body
of fishes that swim near the bottom, and are known to pos-
sess but a low degree of respiration, is seldom more than two
or three degrees higher than the temperature of the water at
its surface. Dr. John Davy, however, in a paper read before
the Royal Society of London in 1835, on the temperature of
some fishes allied to the Mackerel, all of which are surface-
swimmers with a high degree of respiration, observed that
the Bonito had a temperature of 90 degrees of Fahr. when
the surrounding medium was 80 5' ; and that it therefore
constituted an exception to the generally received rule, that
fishes are universally cold-blooded. Physiologists have
shown that the quantity of respiration is inversely as the de-
gree of muscular irritability. 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 irri-
tability, great necessity for oxygen, die soon almost imme-
diately when taken out of water, and have flesh prone to
rapid decomposition : Mackerel, Salmon, Trout, and Her-
rings are examples. On the contrary, those fish that live

XVI INTRODUCTION.

near the bottom of the water have a low standard of respira-
tion, 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 :
Carp, Tench, Eels, the different sorts of Skate, and all the
Flatfish, may be quoted. But as this subject is occasionally
referred to in the body of this work when describing the
powers of particular species, farther details here will be un-
necessary.

With tenacity of life is connected the extraordinary power
observed in some fishes of sustaining extremes of high and
low temperature. The Goldfish not only lives, but thrives
and breeds to excess, in water the temperature of which is
constantly kept as high as 80 Fahr. Fishes exist in the
hot springs and baths of various countries the temperatures
of which are found to range between 113 and 120 degrees of
Fahr. ; and Humboldt and Bonpland, when travelling in
South America, perceived fishes thrown up alive, and appa-
rently in health, from the bottom of a volcano, in the course
of its explosions, along with water and heated vapour, that
raised the thermometer to 210 degrees, being but 2 degrees
below the boiling point.

On the other hand, in the Northern parts of Europe,
Perch and Eels are advantageously transported from place to
place while in a frozen state, without destroying life. Mr.
Jesse, in the second series of his Gleanings in Natural His-
tory, page 277, says, a friend of his, who resided near Lon-
don, had a single Goldfish with the water in a marble basin
frozen into one solid body of ice. He broke the ice around
it, took it out, and found it to all appearance lifeless, and
looking perfectly crystallized. This was about noon. Leav-
ing the fish with the ice in the basin, and a fire having been
lighted in the room, he after dinner, more from accident than
any other cause, looked at the basin, and to his astonishment

INTRODUCTION. XV11

saw the ice in a great measure thawed, and the fish moving.
At midnight, when he went to bed, it was as lively as usual.
Dr. Richardson, in the third volume of his Fauna Boreali-
Americana, devoted to Fishes, says of the Grey Sucking
Carp, a common species in the fur-countries of North Ame-
rica, that, like its congeners, it is singularly tenacious of
life, and may be frozen and thawed again without being
killed. Other instances of both extremes are detailed in this
volume, page 363.

The eyes in fishes are observed to occupy very different
positions in different species. In some they are placed high
up near the top of the head, but more frequently on the
flattened side of the head, but always so situated as best to
suit the exigencies of the particular fish. The external sur-
face of the eye itself is but slightly rounded, but the lens is
spherical a structure that in a dense medium affords intense
power of vision at short or moderate distances, rather than
a long sight. When water is clear, smooth, and undisturbed,
the sight of fishes is very acute : this is well known to an-
glers, who prefer a breeze that ruffles the surface, well know-
ing that they can then approach much nearer the objects of
their pursuit, and carry on their various deceptions with a
much better chance of success.

The sense of hearing has by some been denied to fishes
perhaps because they exhibit no external sign of ears : the
internal structure, however, may be most successfully demon-
strated in the various species of Skate, in which the firmer
parts of the head being formed of soft and yielding cartilage,
the necessary divisions may be effected with great ease. The
Chinese, who breed large quantities of the well-known Gold-
fish, call them with a whistle to receive their food. Sir
Joseph Banks used to collect his fish by sounding a bell ;
and Carew, the historian of Cornwall, brought his Grey Mul-
let together to be fed by making a noise with two sticks.

VOL. i. b

XV1H INTRODUCTION.

From the rigid nature of the scaly covering in the gene-
rality of fishes, it is probable they possess but little external
sense of touch ; but they are not wholly unprovided with
organs "which in the selection of their food are of essential

o

service. The lips in many species are soft and pulpy ; the
mouths of others are provided with barbules or cirri, largely
supplied with nerves, which are doubtless to them delicate
organs of touch, by which they obtain cognizance of the qua-
lities of those substances with which they come in contact.
The Gurnards may be said to be provided with elongated,
flexible, and delicate fingers, to compensate for their bony
lips. It is a rule, almost without an exception that I am
aware of, that those fishes provided with barbules or cirri
about the mouth obtain their food near the ground ; and these
feelers, as they are popularly called, appear also to be a valu-
able compensation to those species which, restricted by in-
stinctive habits to feeding near the bottom of water that is
often both turbid and deep, must experience more or less
imperfect vision there from the deficiency of light.

The olfactory nerves in fishes are of very large size, and
the extent of surface over which the filaments are disposed is
very considerable. The nostrils are generally double on each
side, but both openings lead to one common canal. Their
sense of smell may be presumed to be acute from the selec-
tion they are known to make in their search after food ; and
the advantage said to be gained by the use of various scented
oils with which some anglers impregnate their baits. A Pike
in clear water has been seen to approach and afterwards turn
away from a stale gudgeon, when at the distance of a foot
from his nose, as if perfectly aware at that distance of the
real condition of the intended prey. Mr. Couch has ob-
served in a Fifteen-spined Stickleback of large size, kept in
a glass vessel, that the opening and closing of the nostrils
was simultaneous with the action of the gill-covers, and he

INTRODUCTION. XIX

felt convinced from his observations, that the fluid was re-
ceived and rejected for the purpose of sensation. Among
the ground-feeders in fishes, the various species of Skate are
remarkable for the extent of the surface over which the olfac-
tory nerves are disposed, produced by numerous laminae
radiating from a centre, which in appearance may be com-
pared in form to the under surface of a mushroom, of which
the trunk of the nerve is the stem. In the absence of cirri
or feelers in the various Skate, very considerable branches of
the fifth pair, the nerve of touch, are distributed over the
angular snout with which these fish turn over the sand in
search of proper food. It will be recollected that the mouth
in this family of fishes is on the under surface. They are
probably among the lowest of the ground-feeders.

Whether fishes possess any high degree of taste is a sub-
ject not easily proved. Obliged unceasingly to open and
close the jaws for the purpose of respiration, they cannot long-
retain food in the mouth when quite shut ; the substance if
of small size must be swallowed quickly, and without being
much altered by anything like mastication. From the car-
tilaginous hardness of the tongue in many species, more or
less covered with recurved teeth, which assist in conveying
food to the back part of the mouth, the sense of taste may
pervade the surface of the soft and fleshy portions of the
pharynx.

The teeth in fishes are so constant as well as permanent in
their characters, as to be worthy particular attention. In the
opinion of the best Ichthyologists, they are second only to
the fins ; which, in their number, situation, size, and form,
are admitted to be of first-rate importance. Some fishes
have teeth attached to all the bones that assist in forming
the cavity of the mouth and pharynx ; to the intermaxillary,
maxillary, and palatine bones, the vomer, the tongue, the
branchial arches supporting the gills, and the pharyngeal

b 2

XX

INTRODUCTION.

bones. Sometimes the teeth are uniform in shape on the
various bones ; at others differing. One or more of these
bones are sometimes without teeth of any sort ; and there
are fishes that have no teeth whatever on any of them. The
teeth are named according to the bone upon which they are
placed ; and are referred to as intermaxillary, maxillary, pala-
tine, vomerine, See. depending upon their position.

A reference to page 3 in the second volume will show the
situation of the teeth in the Trout, with five rows on the
upper surface of the mouth, and four rows below ; the parti-
cular bones upon which these rows are placed are also referred
to. The form of the teeth in fishes is various ; in general
it represents that of an elongated cone, slightly curved in-
wards to assist in holding a prey which is frequently alive.
Sometimes the form is that of a short and rounded tubercle,
adapted for crushing ; in some fishes the teeth are so small
and numerous as to have the appearance of the hairs of a
brush ; while in others they are thin and flat, with a cutting
edge like the incisor teeth in the human subject. Some
fishes that are without teeth in the mouth, have them in the
throat ; this is particularly the case in the Carp, and the
allied species in the family of the Cyprinida generally. In
this family the pharynx is provided with five pair of branchial
arches, the four most anterior of which support the four rows
of gills ; the fifth pair, remarkable for the strength of the
bone, support powerful teeth. The woodcut here introduced

INTRODUCTION. XXI

represents one half of this pharyngeal arch of bone, that of
the left side, looking from behind, with the teeth in the
Carp, Tench, the Roach, and the Barbel. In the Carp,
the first on the left hand, the crowns of the teeth are ob-
served to be so worn down as to have the appearance of the
crowns of the molar teeth in the hare. In the Tench, the
second figure from the left, the structure is less complicated.
In the Roach, the form and number again vary; and in
the Barbel, on the extreme right, the teeth are crooked,
pointed, and disposed in three regular rows : other fishes
belonging to this family have the teeth in four rows, and
some in six rows. Considerable difference of form exists in
the four examples of teeth here shown ; and a reference to the
illustrations of other teeth at pages 112, 119, 122, 126,
129 132, and 278 in volume i. and those of the Sharks near
the end of volume ii. will show the great variety of teeth that
are to be found among fishes, two or more distinct forms of
which are sometimes possessed by the same individual. Some
further particulars in reference to the teeth will be found
in other parts of this work.

Closely connected with this part of the subject is their
food, and the organs of digestion.

The food of fishes is very different at different periods of
the year, and this may be one of the causes, among others, of
the peculiar excellence of the flesh of some species of fishes at
particular seasons.

The parietes of the stomach in fishes are thin ; and as the
food of a very large proportion of them is of an animal na-
ture, their digestion is rapid and their intestines short. In
some fishes that feed almost entirely on small testaceous
animals, which they swallow whole, the walls of the stomach
are thickened, affording increased muscular power, as in the
Gillaroo Trout, which has been compared to the gizzard of a
bird. The most gizzard-like stomach among fishes that I

XX11 INTRODUCTION.

am acquainted with is that of the Grey Mullet. As in the
higher classes of animals, those fishes which feed on vegetable
substances have a long intestinal canal, with many convolu-
tions : the most indurated vegetable matter requiring the
greatest powers of assimilation. The longest intestines in
the class of Birds will be found among the Grouse tribe,
which feed principally on the more tender parts of heath ;
and in Mammalia among the Rodentia, and in the Camel,
the Dromedary, the Giraffe, and others that are known to

ti '

browse.

Of the swimming-bladder, an important organ lodged in
the abdomen of some fishes, a detailed account of the struc-
ture, its contents and use, will be found in this volume at
page 40 ; and various representations of the form as it exists
in different species are given at pages 40, 41, and 108.

Some observations communicated to me by Mr. Couch in
reference to the air-bladder and the partial inflation of some
fishes deserve notice here.

Mr. Couch reports that some of the Gadidee while under
terror become distended with air, at least in the fins ; the
Bib also in its eyes ; " and I have often seen,"" says that gen-
tleman, " small fishes of this family caught and turned free
again, when they have been unable to descend through the
water, notwithstanding their utmost efforts, which have not
been deficient in vigour. When in the early part of last
summer I was preparing a bottle of fishes for your use, I
pierced a Lesser Forked Beard with a pointed probe through
the mouth into the air-bladder in order to render the fish
small enough to enter the bottle ; but being obliged also to
squeeze it with some force for that purpose, the dorsal fin
became distended with air a circumstance that would direct
our attention to the air-bladder as the source of the air dis-
tending the fins and tunic of the eyes in the Gadidfe."

The analogy to the air-cells in birds, and the passage of

INTRODUCTION. XX111

air from thence into the bones of the limbs, is too obvious to
be unobserved, and will give interest to further investiga-
tion.

Except in the Cartilaginous Sharks and Rays, there are no
very obvious external signs by which the sexes in fishes can
be distinguished. As in the higher animals, however, the
respiratory organs occupy more space in the males than in the
females ; and on the other hand, the abdomen is larger in the
females than in the males : the males may therefore be known
from the females by their somewhat sharper or more pointed
head, the greater length of the gill-cover, and the body from
the dorsal fin downwards being not so deep compared with
the whole length of the fish.

Among fishes generally a few are viviparous, bringing forth
their young alive, which are able from the time of exclusion
to shift for themselves. Of these some notice is taken in the
body of the work when describing the particular species.
The sexual parts are of a higher degree of organization in the
Sharks and Rays, and more complicated in their structure
than those of the bony fishes, resembling the sexual organs in
reptiles ; and their mode of producing their young is describ-
ed also at the commencement of the history of each, and need
not therefore be repeated here.

The sexual organs in by far the greater number of fishes
are much more simple, consisting, as will be found towards
the season of producing their young, of two elongated oval
lobes of roe, one on each side of the body, placed between
the ribs and the intestinal canal ; these lobes, in the female
called hard roe, contain a very large number of roundish
grains called ova or eggs, which are enclosed in a delicate
membranous tunic or bag, reaching to the side of the anal
aperture, where an elongated fissure permits egress at the
proper time. In the males, the lobes of roe are smaller than
in the females, and have the appearance of two elongated

XXIV INTRODUCTION.

masses of fat, which are called soft roe ; they remain, how-
ever, firm till the actual season of spawning, when they be-
come by degrees more and more fluid, and the whole is ulti-
mately voided by small portions at a time under slight
abdominal pressure.

A few exceptions to this rule appear to exist ; but which
may perhaps rather be considered malformation than natural
structure. According to Cavolini and Cuvier, some species of
the genus Serranus have each lobe of roe made up of a por-
tion of hard and of soft roe, and these fishes have been con-
sidered as hermaphrodites, each fish capable of producing
fertile ova without the assistance of a second fish. Among

o

other accidental malformations may be included the appear-
ance of a hard or female roe on one side, and a soft or
male roe on the other side of the same fish. This has
been observed occasionally in the Perch, Mackerel, Carp,
Cod, Whiting, and Sole ; and the probability is, that in
these cases the fishes are prolific alone, since the two
lobes of roe are observed to be of equal growth, advanc-
ing to maturity together. Pallas believed that in the ge-
nus Syngnathus there were no males ; but the singular
anomaly of both sexes being found to carry ova, the females
in the abdomen, and the males for a time in their caudal
pouch, is now understood. The supposed hermaphroditism
of the Lampreys has been disproved by various modern ob-
servers.

At the season for depositing the spawn, which varies with
almost every genus, some species repair to the gravelly shal-
lows of rivers, and others to the sandy bays of the sea.
This movement is called by some fishermen, " going to hill,
or reading ;"" other species resort to bunches of weeds. In
many instances, when ready to deposit her spawn, a female is
accompanied by two males, one on each side, a provision of
nature which seems intended to secure the impregnation of the

INTRODUCTION. XXV

largest quantity of ova, and the range of the influence of the
male fluid is enormously increased by diffusion in water. The
adhesive nature of the surface of each egg supplies the means
of attachment to any of the various substances near which it
may happen to be left ; and the time required for the appear-
ance of the young fish is very variable, depending upon the
species, the season, and its temperature. The young fish is
first apparent as a line wound round the central vitelline por-
tion of the egg, and ultimately escapes by rupturing the ex-
ternal capsule with its tail.

Considerable attachment is often exhibited between the
parent fish. Mr. Jesse relates that he once caught a female
Pike during the spawning season, and nothing could drive
the male away from the spot at which the female disappeared,
whom he had followed to the very edge of the water. In
some species this attachment is not confined to the season of
spawning. A person who had kept two small fishes together
in a glass vessel, gave one of them away ; the other refused
to eat, and showed evident symptoms of unhappiness till his
companion was restored to him. Some few species show also
an attachment to their young, and even watch and defend
their own spawn. I shall confine myself to a notice of two
British examples. Pennant says of the River Bullhead,
" It deposits its spawn in a hole it forms in the gravel, and
quits it with great reluctance." I have also been favoured
by an excellent observer with the following notice on the
same fish : " It evinces a sort of parental affection for its
ova, as a bird for its nest, returning quickly to the spot, and
being unwilling to quit it when disturbed." It is believed
also of the Lump Sucker, that the male fish keeps watch over
the deposited ova, and guards it from every foe with the
utmost courage. If driven from the spot by man, he does
not go far, but is continually looking back, and in a short
time returns.

XXVI INTRODUCTION.

A few observations on the impregnated roe may be worthy
attention. Dr. Walker of Edinburgh, in an essay on the
Natural History of the Salmon, published in the Transac-
tions of the Highland Society, quoting the experiments of
Jacobs of Berlin, says, he found that when the spawn of both
sexes were extracted from dead fishes, the ova by mixture
can be fecundated by the milt ; and when placed under water
in a proper situation can be brought forth into life. He
further discovered that this artificial fecundation can be ac-
complished with the roe and milt of fishes which have been
dead two and even three days. This appears to point out
the mode of obtaining the fishes of neighbouring countries
by the transportation as far as possible of the living gravid
fishes, afterwards for a time while dead, and finally by the
mixture and further transportation of the mixed roes.

But there appear to be other, and still greater facilities.
Mr. Jesse states, that he has been assured by persons who
have lived many years in the East Indies, that ponds which
become perfectly dry, and the mud hard, have after the rainy
season been found with fish in them, although no stream
communicated with them, or any passage or other means by
which fish could be admitted. This curious fact has been
confirmed to me by Colonel Sykes and other observers who
have lived long in India, who state that the tanks and ditches
near fortifications are alternately filled and empty on the oc-
currence of every rainy and dry season, but that a few days
after the commencement of each rainy season these tanks and
ditches are replenished not only with water, but also with
small fish. The solution appears to me to be this. The
impregnated ova of the fish of one rainy season are left un-
hatched in the mud through the dry season, and from their
low state of organization as ova, the vitality is preserved till
the occurrence and contact of the rain and the oxygen of the
next wet season, when vivification takes place from their joint

INTRODUCTION. XXV11

influence. If this solution of the problem be the true one,
it points at once to what perhaps may be effected after a
few experiments, namely, the artificial fecundation of the
roe, the drying of that roe, (or of other roe naturally impreg-
nated,) sufficiently to prevent decomposition, and its possible
transportation to, and vivification in, distant countries.

The growth of young fish is rapid in proportion to the size
of the parent fish, or the ultimate size attained by the species.
They appear to be liable to occasional malformation ; an in-
stance is figured, vol. ii. page 108, and others of the same
kind have been seen, where the upper jaw is deficient in the
requisite length. Hervey is said to have been the first who
observed that most irregularities in human structure were to
be found in the lower animals, and modern physiologists have
shown that various gradations of structure permanent in the
lower animals are successively assumed by those of higher
organization in their passage towards their ultimate develope-
ment. These usually transitory conditions sometimes become
permanent, and constitute monstrosities. The most frequent
malformation in the human subject is that which is usually
termed the hare-lip ; the divided lip, and imperfectly closed
palate, representing the state of these parts in some species of
mammalia of a lower grade of organization than man. In the
case of the malformations in fishes here alluded to, the defi-
ciency appears to have arisen from an arrest of the formative
process at that point in which the shortened state of the
upper jaw resembles the rounded upper part of the mouth in
the Lampreys, a grade in structure preceding that of the bony
fishes.

The unclosed state of the bones of the head in the human
infant, which are not firmly united till some months after
birth, is a permanent condition of the cranium in some rep-
tiles and fishes, as noticed and figured at page 431.

Wounds in fishes heal rapidly ; and they appear to have

XXV111 INTRODUCTION.

but few diseases, probably owing to the uniformity of the
temperature in the medium in which they reside.

As previously stated, the food of a very large proportion
of fishes is of an animal nature, and they feed to a great
extent indiscriminately upon one another. From their ex-
traordinary voracity, their rapid digestion, and the war of
extermination they carry on among themselves, the greater
and more powerful fishes consuming the smaller and weaker,
from the largest to the most diminutive ; add to this, the
constant and extensive destruction effected by the numerous
sweeping nets of ruthless man, it is even probable that com-
paratively but few fishes die a natural death.

While the concluding sheets of this work were printing,
some Edinburgh and London newspapers contained an ac-
count by Sir Francis Mackenzie of experiments on breeding-
fish artificially ; and as the present edition contains a reprint
of Mr. Shaw's experiments on the same subject, under the
head of the Salmon, and also a translation of the paper, ori-
ginally published at Hanover, by Mr. Jacobs, on his mode of
breeding Trout, referred to by Sir Humphrey Davy in his
Salmonia, I trust I shall be excused by the author for insert-
ing here also the more recent account as it appeared in the
Morning Post of Thursday, October 7, 1841, entitled

" Practical Instructions for the Breeding of Salmon and
other Fish artificially. By Sir Francis A. Mackenzie.

" In the autumn of 1 840, having selected a brook flowing
rapidly into the river Ewe, a hollow spot adjoining to it was
selected and cleared out, of the following dimensions :
Length, twenty-three yards ; breadth, from twelve to eighteen
feet ; and all large stones having been removed, the bottom
was covered one foot thick with coarse sand and small gravel,
the largest stones not exceeding the size of a walnut. A

INTRODUCTION. XXIX

stream from the brook was then led into this hollow, so as to
form a pool of about eight inches in depth at the upper, and
three feet at the lower end : thus giving it one gentle uniform
current over the whole pool, whilst the supply of water was so
regulated by a sluice as to have the same depth at all times,
and a strong stone wall excluded all Eels or Trout, so de-
structive to both spawn and fry.

" On the 13th of November, four pair of Salmon, male and
female, were taken by net from the Ewe, and carefully placed
in the pool. On the 18th they showed a disposition to
spawn, but on the 20th the whole were carried away by some
ill-disposed persons, and on examining the pool only a small
quantity of ova appeared to have been deposited. On No-
vember 23rd, four pair of Salmon were again caught, and placed
in the pool, which were observed to commence spawning on
the day following. Caught them carefully. Squeezed gently
about 1,200 ova from a female into a bason of water, and
then pressed about an equal quantity of milt from a male fish
over them.

" Stirred the two about together gently, but well, with the
fingers, and after allowing them rest for an hour, the whole
was deposited and spread in one of the wicker baskets recom-
mended by Professor Agassiz, having above four inches of
gravel below and two or three inches of gravel above them.

" A similar quantity of ova treated in the same way was
also deposited in one of the copper wire-bags, as used by Mr.
Shaw, and both were then immediately placed under water in
the pool. A little of the ova was buried in the open gravel
at about three inches in depth. In another basket, and also
in another copper wire-bag, two or three inches of gravel were
placed over the bottom of each, and both basket and bag laid
in the pool, covered with about four inches of water. The
ova of a female, and milt of a male, were then successively
squeezed from two fish on the gravel in both basket and bag,

XXX INTRODUCTION.

and spread over it regularly with the hand one after the
other ; and after leaving them exposed in this state to the
water for a few minutes, the whole was covered with two or
three inches of gravel, and left in the pool. These four pair
of fish afterwards emitted voluntarily a small quantity of
spawn which had been left with them, and on the 1st of De-
cember they were all turned out into the river. On the 3rd
of December caught three pair of Salmon, which had already
partially spawned in the Ewe : used another bag and basket,
treating the spawn in the same way as last described. These
fish were then also allowed to deposit voluntarily the little
spawn of which they had not been deprived, and afterwards
turned out to the river.

" On the 19th of February examined the ova, and life was
plainly observed in the baskets, wire-bags, and unprotected
gravel ; both were placed artificially, and were deposited by the
Salmon themselves.

" On the 19th of March, the fry had increased in size, and
went on gradually increasing, much in proportion to the tem-
perature of the weather.

" On the 22nd the eyes were easily visible, and a few of
the ova had burst, the young fry having a small watery blad-
der-like bag attached to the throat.

" On the 18th of April the baskets and bags were all
opened. The bags had become detached from their throats ;
the fry measured about three-quarters of an inch in length,
and they swam about easily, all distinctly marked as Parr.

" The baskets recommended by Professor Agassiz proved
themselves superior to the wire-bags used by Mr. Shaw. In
the latter only about 20 per cent, came to maturity, whilst in
the former not above 1 per cent, proved barren ; and in the
baskets used on the 5th of December not above 5 per cent.
was unproductive. It is impossible to say exactly the propor-
tion of ova which came to life either of that artificially im-

INTRODUCTION. XXXI

prcgnated and deposited in the open gravel, or of what was
spawned by the fish themselves naturally. But so far as
could be judged, they succeeded equally well with that in the
baskets. Perhaps the baskets may have a preference over the
other methods tried, as affording more certain protection to
the spawn during winter ; and it is right to state that the last
described mode of depositing the ova and milt was most suc-
cessful.

" There can be no doubt, from the success which has at-
tended the above-described experiments, that the breeding of
Salmon, or other fish, in large quantities, is, comparatively
speaking, easy, and that millions may be produced, protected
from every danger, and turned out into their natural element
at the proper age, which Mr. Shaw has proved by repeated
experiments on a small scale to be when they have attained
about two years of age, when the Parr marks disappear ; they
assume the silvery scales of their parents, and distinctly show
a strong desire to escape from confinement, and proceed
downwards towards the sea.

" Professor Agassiz asserts, and Sir Francis fully believes
with truth, that the ova of all fish, if properly impregnated,
can be conveyed in water of a proper temperature even across
the Atlantic, as safely as if it were naturally deposited by the
parent fish, so that any quantity of Salmon, or other spawn,
can, after impregnation on the banks of a river, be carried to
other streams, however distant, which may be favourable for
hatching. It is right to observe that as the fry are to remain
two years in the artificial pools where hatched, fresh places
must be used every second season for the spawn, as even one-
year old fry will destroy spawn, or their more infantile bre-
thren, if left together. Old spent Salmon are also destructive
to both spawn and fry.

" It can only be ascertained by experience what kind or
quantity of food will be required for the fry. Carrion hung

XXX11 INTRODUCTION.

at the top of the pool would, in the opinion of Professo*
Agassiz and Mr. Shaw, supply them with maggots ; but in
this there are difficulties, and when tried by Sir Francis this
season, a few of the fry were found dead round the carrion
given to them. The droppings of cattle allowed to rest till
half dry, and occupied by worms and the ova of insects,
appears to suit them best.

" About the 1st of September last, Sir Francis, when on
an agricultural tour of Belgium., visited an establishment be-
longing to King Leopold, and adjoining his new palace of
Ardennes, on a much more expensive scale than that now
described, where the breeding of Trout had been tried for the
three previous seasons, though with but little success.

" A very few small Trout, bred 1839-40, were still alive,
but the ova of 1841 were a complete failure, chiefly from not
properly covering the spawn with gravel, and other errors.
Bread made of brown and white flour mixed was the food
found best suited to the few living, who, judging from their
shape as seen swimming about in a small pool, were in excellent
condition. The Trout-breeding establishment of Ardennes,
however, proves that Trout spawn, if treated in the same
way as that of Salmon above described, will produce the same
successful results ; and that any one possessing a convenient
pond or stream may stock it with the best kind of Trout or
other fish in one or two years, and by good feeding have them
in high condition. Where the Trout already exist, of small
size and inferior quality, Sir Francis would advise wholly
destroying the breed by saturating the water with quick lime,
or any other mode more advisable, and procuring spawn or fry
from lakes where the best kinds of Trout are found, in Scot-
land or elsewhere. The same may be said of Grayling, Pike,
or any other kinds of fish suited to ponds, brooks, or rivers,
as may be desired by their owners ; which renders the dis-
covery now made known of value to all and in all quarters,
as well as to salmon-fishing proprietors."

GENERAL INDEX.

The systematic names are printed in italics.

A.

Abramis blicca, 387.

,, brama, 382.

,, Buggenhagii, 391.
Acantldas vulgaris, ii. 524.
Acantholabrus Couchii, 337.

Yarrellii, 339.
,, exoletus, 341.

Acer ina vulgaris, 17.
Acipenser latirostris, ii. 479.

sturio, ii. 475.
Acus Aristotelis, ii. 439.
Albacore, 174.
Allice, ii. 213.
Alopias vulpes, ii. 522,
Alasa communis, ii. 213.

,. Jinta, ii. 208.
Ammoctetes branchiaiis, ii. 610.
Ammodytes lancea, ii. 429.
,, Tobianus, ii. 424.
,, Anglorum, ii. 424.
Amphioxus lanceolatus, ii. 619.
Anarrhichas lupus, 277.
Anchovy, ii. 217.
Angel-fish, ii. 539.
Angler, 305.
Anglesey Morris, ii. 409.
Anguilla acutirostris, ii. 381.

,, conger, ii. 402.

,, latirostris, ii. 396.

,, mediurostris, ii. 399.

,, vulgaris, ii. 381.
Aper Eondeletii, 190.

VOL. I.

Aquila, ii. 591.
Argentine, ii. 161.

,, Humboldtii, ii. 161.
Argentina sphyrte.ua, ii. 161.
Arnoglossus lievis, ii. 345.
Aselius barbatus, ii. 237.

,, longus, ii. 264.

,, luscus, ii. 237.
Aspidophorus Europaus, 85.
Atherine, 229.
Atherina hepsetus, 229.
,, presbyter, 229.
^4wrato Rondeletii, 111.
Auxis vulgaris, 160.
Azurine, 416.

B.

Batistes buniva, ii. 472.
,, capriscus, ii. 472.
,, maculatus, ii. 472.
Bandfish, red, 224.
Banstickle, 90.
Barbel, 367.
Barbus major, ii. 289.

,, minor, ii. 292.

,, vulgaris, 367.
Basse, 8.

Batrachoides trifurcatus, ii. 292.
Beardie, 427.
Becker, 116.
Bellows-fish, 344.
Belone vulgaris, 442.
Bergylt, 87.

C

XXXIV

GENERAL INDEX.

Bib, ii. 237.

Bismore, 101.

Blackfish, 179.

Bleak, 419.

Blennius galerita, 249 & 263.

,, gattorugine, 256.

,, gunne Hits, 269.

,, l(Evis, 260.

,, Montagui, 249.

,, ocellnris, 253.

,, pulmicornis, 263.

,, pliycis, ii. 289.

,, pholis, 260.

,, viviparis, 273.

,, Yarrellii, 263.
Blenny, crested, 263.

,, diminutive, 249.

,, gattoruginous, 256.

,, Montagu's, 249.

,, ocellated, 253.

,, smooth, 260.

,, spotted, 269.

,, viviparous, 273.
Blens, ii. 237.
Blick, 419.
Blindfish, ii. 613.
Blinds, ii. 237.
Blockin, ii. 169.
Boar-fish, 190.
Bogmarus Jslandicus, 210.
Bonedog, ii. 524.
Bonito, 157.

belted, 159.
,, plain, 160.
Borer, ii. 613.
Botia ttenia, 432.
Bounce, ii. 493.
Braize, 116.
Brama Kali, 133.
Brandling, ii. 36.
Bream, 382.

axillary, 122*.
black, 130.
flat, 387.

,, Pomeranian, 391.
Ray's, 133.
sea, 123.
,, Spanish, 120.

Bream, white, 387.
Brett, ii. 331.
Brill, ii. 331.
Brosmius vulgaris, ii. 285.
Erasmus vulgaris, ii. 285.
Buglossus, ii. 347.
Bullhead, armed, 85.

,, river, 71.
Bulltrout, young, ii. 72.
Burbolt, ii. 267.
Burbot, ii. 267.
Butt, ii. 303.
Butterfish, 269.
Butterfly-fish, 253.

C.

Callionymus dracunculus, 302.

lyra, 297.

Canis galeux, ii. 509.
Cantharus griseus, 130.
Capriscus Kondeletii, ii. 472.
Capros aper, 190.
Caranx tra churns, 175.
Car char ins glaucus, ii. 498.
,, vulgaris, ii. 502.
,, vulpes, ii. 522.
Carp, 349.

,, bream, 382.
,, crucian, 355.
gold, 361.
,, Prussian, 358.
Carter, ii. 342.

Cataphractus Schoneveldii, 85.
Ceil Conin, 221.
Centriscus scolopax, 346.
Centrolophus murio, 179.
,, niger, 179.

,, pompilus, 179.
Cephaloptera giorna, ii. 595.
Cepola rubescens, 224.
Cernua fluviatilis, 17.
Channus, 11.
Charr, ii. 121.
Chimaera, ii. 483.

,, monstrosii, ii. 483.
,, northern, ii. 483.
Chrysophris aitrata, 111.
Chub, 409.

GENERAL INDEX.

XXXV

Ciliuta glauca, ii. 281.
Coalfish, ii. 250.
Coalsey, ii. 250.
Cock Paddle, ii. 365.
Clnpea alba, ii. 202.

alosa, ii. 202, 208, & 213.
,, encrasicolus, ii. 217.
,, harengns, ii. 183.
,, Leachii, ii. 193.
,, pilchardus, ii. 169.
,, sprattus, ii. 197.
Cobitis barbatula, 427.

,, tania, 432.
Codfish, ii. 221.
Cod, common, ii. 221.
green, ii. 256.
,, poor, ii. 241.
,, power, ii. 241.
,, variable, ii. 231.
Coney-fish, ii. 184.
Conger, ii. 402.
Conger vulgaris, ii. 402.
Connor, 325.
Cooth,ii. 250.
Coracle, ii. 62.
Coregonus clupeoides, ii. 151.
,, fera, ii. 142.
,, Lacepedii, ii. 151.
,, lavaretus, ii. 142.
pollan, ii. 156.
,, Thymallus, ii. 136.
Willughbii, ii. 146.
Corkling, 330.
Corkwing, 328.
Cottus, four-horned, 83.
,, long-spined, 78.
,, short-spined, 75.
Cottus bubalis, 78.
,, cataphractus, 85.
,, gobio, 71.
,, quadricornis, 83.
,, scorpius, 75.
Cramp- fish, ii. 542.
Crenilabrus Cornubicns, 328.
,, luscus, 337.

,, melops, 325.

,, multidentatus, 330.

Norwegians, 328.

Crenilabrus rupestris, 333.

,, tinea, 325.

Crouger, 358.
Crucian, 355.
Cudden, ii. 250.
Cyclopterus bimaculatus, ii. 363.

,, lepidogaster, ii. 359.

,, liparis, ii. 371.

,, lumpus, ii. 365.

,, Montagui, ii. 374.

,, ocellatus, ii. 359.

Cyprinus alburnus, 419.

auratus, 361.

,, barbus, 367.
blicca, 387.

,, bra ma, 382.

>t Buggenhagii, 391.

,, carassiits, 355.

,, carpio, 349.

,, cephalus, 409.

,, dobula, 397.

,, erythropthalmus, 412.

,, gibelio, 358.

,, gobio, 371.
idus, 395.

,, Jeses, 409.

,, Lancastriensis, 406.

,, leuciscus, 404.

,, phoxinus, 423.

,, rutilus, 399.

,, tinea, 375.

D.

Dab, ii. 307.
,, lemon, ii. 309.
,, long rough, ii. 312.
small-headed, ii. 309.
,, smear, ii. 309.
,, smooth, ii. 309.
,, town, ii. 309.
Dace, Dare, or Dart, 404.
Deal-fish, 210.
Dentex vulgaris, 127.
Dog-fish, black-mouthed, ii. 495.
,, common, ii. 524.
,, eyed, ii. 495.
,, large-spotted, ii. 493.
,, penny, ii. 509.
C 2

XXXVI

GENERAL INDEX.

Dog-fish, picked, ii. 524.

,, ray-mouthed, ii. 512.

,, rock, ii. 493.

,, small-spotted, ii. 487.
Dorse, ii. 231.
Dory, or Doree, 183.
Dragonet, gemmeous, 297.

,, sordid, 302.

Drizzle, ii. 264.

E.

Echeneis remora, ii. 377.
Echinorhinus obesus, ii. 532.

spinnsus, ii. 532.

Echiodon, ii. 417.

,, Drummondii, ii. 417.
Eel, broad-nosed, ii. 396.

,, common, ii. 381.

,, glut, ii. 396.

grig, ii. 397.

,, sharp-nosed, ii. 381.
Eelpout, 273; ii. 183.
Eel, sand, ii. 424.

snig, ii. 399.
Enchelyopus cimbricus, ii. 274.
Engraulis encrusicclus, ii. 217.

,, vulgaris, ii. 217.
Eperlanns Rondeletii, ii. 129.

,, Schonevttdii, ii. 129.
Erythrinus Rondeletii, 120.
Esox belone, 442.

,, Indus, 434.

,, saurus, 446.
European Hemiramphus, 450.
Ezocetus exiliens, 458.
,, volitans, 453.

F.

Father-lasher, 78.
Fiddle-fish, ii. 539.
File-fish, ii. 472.

,, European, ii. 472.
Fingerling, ii. 36.
Finscale, 412.
Fire-flaiie, ii. 588.
Fishing frog, 305.
Fleuk, bannock, ii. 324.
,, bonnet, ii. 331.

Fleuk, craig, ii. 315.
long, ii. 312.
,, mayock, ii. 303.
,, pole, ii. 315.
,, rawn, ii. 324.
,, salt-water, ii. 307.
sand, 309 & 312.
Flook, ii. 303.
Flounder, ii. 303.

long, ii. 318.
,, red-backed, ii. 353.
Fluke, ii. 303.
Forked-beard, great, ii. 289.
,, lesser, ii. 292.

hake, ii 289.
Fox, 302.
Fox Shark, ii. 522.
Flying-fish, 453.

,, greater, 458.

G.

Gade, silvery, ii. 195.
Gadus tfglfftntis, ii. 233.

,, albus, ii. 247.

urgenteoltiS) ii. 283.

,, burbutus, ii. 237.

,, brosme, ii. 285.

,, callarias, ii. 231.

,, carbonarius, ii. 250.

lota, ii. 267.

,, luscus, ii. 237.

,, merlangus, ii. 244.

,, merlucius, ii. 258.

,, molua, ii. 264.

,, morrhua, ii. 221.

mustela, ii. 270 & 278.

,, minutus, ii. 241.

,, pollachius, ii. 253.

,, tricirratus, ii. 270.

,, virens, ii. 256.
Galeus canis, ii. 509.

,, glaucus, ii. 498.

,, vulgaris, ii. 509.
Garvie, ii. 197.
Garfish, 442.
Garpike, 442.
G aster usteus uculeatus, 90.
,, bruchycentrus, 96.

GENERAL INDEX.

\X\V1I

G aster osteus ductor, 170.
,, leiurus, 95.

,, pungitius, 99.

,, semiarmatus, 94.

,, spiiiac/ua, 101.

,, spinulosus, 97.

,, trachurus, 90.

Gastrobranchns cacus, ii. 613.
Gedd, 434.

Gill-cover, parts of, ii. 3.
Gill-covers, various, ii. 5.
Gilthead, 111 & 325.
Globe Diodon, ii. 457.
Globe-fish, Pennant's, ii. 457.

,, stellated, ii. 457.
Globe Tetrodon, ii. 457.
Glutinous Hag, ii. 613.
Gobio fluviatilis, 371.
Gobius albus, 295.

,, bipimctdtus, 285.

gracilis, 290.

,, minulus, 288.
niger, 281.

,, Ruthensparri, 285.

,, unipunctatus, 292.
Goby, black, 281.

,, doubly-spotted, 285.

,, freckled, 288.

,, one-spotted, 292.

,, rock, 281.

,, slender, 290.

spotted, 288.

,, white, 295.
Golden Maid, 325.
Goldsinny, 333.
Gonioihis, ii. 532.
Gorebill, 442.
Gowdie, 302.
Gowdnook, 446.
Graining, 406.
Gravelling, ii. 36.
Grayling, ii. 136.
Greenbonc, 273 & 442.
Grey Lord, ii. 250.
Grilse, ii. 1.
Groundling, 432.
Gudgeon, 371.
Guffer, 273.

Gunnel, common, 269.
,, spotted, 269.
,, viviparous, 273.
Gunnellus viviparus, 273.
,, vulgaris, 269.
Gurnard, Bloch's, 56.
,, cuckoo, 38.
,, French, 45.

grey, 53.
little, 49.
,, mailed, 67.

red, 38.
,, rock, 45.
,, sappharine, 47.
,, shining, 63.
,, streaked, 45.
Gwyniad, ii. 142.
Gymnetrus arcticus, 210.
f/atcfcemi, 221.
,, Hawken's, 221.
Gymnogaster arcticus, 210.
Gypsey Herring, ii. 169.

H.

Haddock, ii. 233.
Haddock, Norway, 87.
Hairtail, silvery, 204.
Hake, ii. 258.
Hake's Dame, ii. 289.
Hake, trifurcated, ii. 292.
Halfbeak, 450.
Harbin, ii. 250.
Heart of Lophius, 307.
Hemiramphus Europteus, 450.
Herring, ii. 183.

,, garvie, ii. 197.

gyp se y. 169 -

king of, ii. 483.

Leach's, 193.

Hippocampus brevirostris, ii. 452.
Hippocampus, short-nosed, ii. 452.
Hippoglossns vulgaris, ii. 321.
Ilirling, ii. 77.
Hoe, ii. 524.
Holibut, ii. 321.
Holocentrus niger, 179.
Homelyn, ii. 570.
Home, ii. 570.

XXXVIII

GENERAL INDEX.

Homer (Hoe-mother), ii. 518.
Horneel, ii. 424.
Hornfish, 442.

I& J.
Jack, 434.
Ide, 395.

Julia Mediterrunea^ 344.
,, vulgaris, 344.

K.

Keeling, ii. 221.
Keerdrag ner, 248.
King-fish, 194.
Kingston, ii. 539.
Kite, ii. 331.
Kitt, ii. 309.
Klegg, ii. 237.
Kuth, ii. 250.

L.

Labrax lupus, 8.
Labrus balanus, 311.

,, bL'rgijlta, 31 1.

,, carneus, 320.

,, comber, 323.

,, coquus, 317.

,, Cornubicus, 296.

,, Donovani, 315.

,, eroletus, 341.

,, Julis, 344.

,, lineatus, 315.

,, luscus, 337.

,, maculatus, 31 1.

,, melops, 325.

,, mixtus, 317.

,, pavo, 317.

,, pusillus, 330.

,, qiiadriinaciilatus, 320.

,, suillus, 315.

,, tinea, 311.

,, trimaculattts, 320.

,, vuriegatus, 317.
Laviraia, ii. 550.
Laith, ii. 253.
Lampern, ii. 605.

,, fringed-lipped, ii. 608.
,, river, ii. 605.
Lampetra, ii. 599.

Lamprey, ii. 599.

,, mud, ii. 610.

Planer's, ii. 608.
,, sea, ii. 599.
,, spotted, ii. 599.
Lcimna cornubica, ii. 515.
,, Monensis, ii. 515.
Lampris guttatus, 194.

,, Luna, 194.
Lancelet, ii. 619.
Laspring, ii. 50.
Launce, common, ii. 429.
,, sand, ii. 429.
,, wide-mouthed, ii. 424.
Leet, ii. 253.

Lepidogaster biciliatus, ii. 359.
,, bimaculatus, ii. 363,

,, Cornubiensis, ii. 359.

Lepidopus argyreus, 198.

,, Lusitanicus, 198.
Lcptocephalus Morrisii, ii. 409.
Leuciscus alburnus, 419.
,, cephalus, 409.
,, cacrnleiis, 416.

dobula, 397.

,, erythropthalmus, 412.
,, idus, 395.
,, Lancastriensis, 406.
,, phoxinus, 423.
,, rutilus, 399.
,, vulgaris, 404.
Limax, ii. 619.
Ling, ii. 264.
Liparis Montugui, ii. 374.

,, vulgaris, ii. 371 .
Loach, 427.

,, bearded, 427.
Loche, 427.

,, sea, ii. 270.
,, spined, 432.
Longnose, 442.
Lophius piscatorius, 305.
Lordfish, ii. 229.
Lola mnlva, ii. 264.

,, vulgaris, ii. 267.
Luce, 434.
Lucky Proach, 78.
Lump-fish, ii. 365.

GENERAL INDEX.

XXXIX

Lump-sucker, ii. 365.
Lumpus Anglorum, ii. 365.
Lyrie, 85.
Lythe, ii. 253.

M.

Mackerel, 137.

guide, 442.
,, horse, 175.
,, line, 147.
,, midge, ii. 281.
Spanish, 148.
Maid, ii. 582.
Maigre, 104.
Marteau, ii. 504.
Marysole, ii. 309.
Megrim, ii. 345.
Merlungus albus, ii. 247.

,, carbonarius, ii. 250.
,, polluchius, ii 253.
,, poutassov, ii. 247.
,, v ire us, ii. 256.
,, vulgaris, ii. 244.
Mertucius vulgaris, ii. 258.
Miller, ii. 591.
Miller's Dog, ii. 509.
Thumb, 71.
Minim, 423.
Minnow, 423.
Molebut, ii. 462.
Molva lota, ii. 267.

,, vulgaris, ii. 264.
Monkfish, ii. 539.
Monochirus liniiatul/j.\i. 355.

O

,, minutus, ii. 355.

,, variegatus, ii. 353.

Montagu's Sucking-fish, ii. 374.
Morgay, ii. 487.
Morr/tua teglefinus, ii. 233.
barbata, ii. 237.

,, callarias, ii. 231.

,, lusca, ii. 237.

,, minuta, ii. 241.

,, vulgaris, ii. 221.
Motella argenteola, ii. 283.

,, cimbria, ii. 274.

,, glauca, ii. 281.

,, mustela, ii. 278.

,, quinquecirrata, ii. 278.

Motella tricirrata, ii. 270.

,, vulgaris, ii. 270.
Mugil capita, 234.
,, cephalus, 234.
,, chelo, 241.
,, curtus, 245.
,, labrosus, 241.
Mullet, common, 234.

grey, 234.

,, plain red, 36.

,, short grey, 245.

,, striped red, 31.

,, thick-lipped, 241.
Mullus barbatus, 36.

,, surmuletus, 31.
Muraena, ii. 406.

,, anguilla, ii. 381.

,, conger, ii. 402.

,, Helena, ii. 406.
Mureeno'ides guttata, 269.
Mustela marina, ii. 270.

,, vulgaris, ii. 278.

,, Itevis, ii. 512.
Myliobatis aquila, ii. 591.
Myxine, ii. 613.
Myxine glutinosa , ii. 613.

N.

Naucrates ductor, 170.
Noble, 85.
Nowd, 53.
Numbfish, ii. 542.
Nutmeg Sole, ii. 351.

O.

Opah, 194.

Ophidium barbatum, ii. 415.
,, bearded, ii. 415.
,, beardless, ii. 412.
,, imberbe, ii. 412.
Orthagoriscus oblongus, ii. 469.
,, mola, ii. 462.

,, truncatus, ii. 469.

Osmerus eperlamis, ii. 129.
,, Hebridicus, ii. 133.
Otter Pike, 29.

P.

Pagellus acarng, 122*.

centrodontus, 123.

xl

GENERAL INDEX.

Pagellus erytlrinus, 120.
Pagrus lineatus, 130.
,, vulgaris, 116.
Parr, ii. 83.
Passer asper, ii. 307.

,, Cornubiensis, ii. 342.
Pastinaca marina, ii. 588.
Pearl, ii. 331.

,, making, 420.
Penny Dog, ii. 509.
Perca cernua, 17.
,, fluviatilis, 1.
gigas, 14.
,, marina, 87.
,, Norvegica, 87.
,, robusta, 14.
,, pusilla, 190.
Perch, 1.

,, dusky, 14.
,, smooth, 11.
Peristedio7i, 67.
Petromyzon branchiulis, ii. 610.
,, CCECUS, ii. 610.

,, fluviatilis, ii. 605.
,, marinus, ii. 599.

Planeri, ii. 608.
Phinock, ii. 77.
Phycisfurcatus, ii. 289.
Pike, 434.

,, saury, 446.
,, skipper, 446.
sea, 442.
Pilchard, ii. 169.
Pilot-fish, 170.
Piltock, ii. 250.
Pink, 423.

Pipe-fish, deep-nosed, ii. 439.
,, aequoreal, ii. 442.
,, great, ii. 432.
,, lesser, ii. 439.
,, little, ii. 450.
,, longer, ii. 432.
,, shorter, ii. 439.
,, snake, 445.
,, straight-nosed, ii. 447.
,, worm-like, ii. 450.
Piper, 51.
Pisciculus aculeatus, 95.

Plaice, ii. 297.

,, diamond, ii. 297.
Platessa elongata, ii. 318.
,, Jiesus, ii. 303.
,, limanda, ii. 307.
,, limando'ides, ii. 312.
,, microcephalus, ii. 309.
,, 7)0/0, ii. 315.
,, vulguris, ii. 297.
Pleuronectes arnoglossus, ii. 345.
,, casurus, ii. 345.

,, cynoglossus, ii. 315.

Jtesiis, ii. 303.
,, fluviatilis, ii. 303.

,, hippoglossus, ii. 321.

,, hirtus, ii. 334.

,, l&vii,, ii. 309.

,, limanda, ii. 307.

,, limando'ides, ii. 312.

,, lingula, ii. 353 & 355.

,, maximus, ii. 324.

,, megastoma, ii. 342.

,, microcephalus, ii. 309.

,, microstomus, ii. 309.

,, trigromunus, ii. 315.

,, platessa, ii. 297.

,, po/n, ii. 315.

,, pseudopalus, ii. 342.
punctatus, ii. 334 & 338.

,, rhombus, ii. 331.

,, solea, ii. 347.

,, variegata, ii. 353.

Pluck, 85.
Podley, ii. 250.
Pogge, 85.
Polewig, 288.
Pollack, ii. 253.

,, black, ii. 250.
,, rauning, ii. 250.
Polyprion cernium, 19.
,, Couch's, 19.
Pope, 17.
Porbeagle, ii. 515.
Pout, ii. 237.
Pollan, ii. 156.
Powan, ii. 151.
Pride, ii. 610.
Priitiurus melanostomns, ii. 495.

GENERAL INDEX.

xli

R.

Rabbit-fish, ii. 483,
Runiceps Jagn, ii. 292.

,, trifurcatus, ii. 292.
Itaia alba, ii. 561.
,, aqnila, ii. 591.
,, aspera, ii. 578.
,, asterias, ii. 570.
,, butis, ii. 561.
chagrinea, ii. 578.
,, circularis, ii. 574.
,, clavata, ii. 582.
,, falsavela, ii. 574.
,, fullonica, ii, 578.
,, intermedia, ii. 558.
,, tews, ii. 570.
,, lintea, ii. 556.
,, maculata, ii. 570.
,, marginatij, ii. 564.
,, microcellata, ii. 567.
,, miraletus, ii. 570.
,, mobular, ii. 595.
,, mucronata, ii. 550.
,, oculata, ii. 570.
,, oxyrhynchus, ii. 556.
,, pastinaca, ii. 588.
,, radio ta, ii. 585.
,, radula, ii. 574.
,, rostruta, ii. 550.
,, ruhtts, ii. 570.
,, spinosa, ii. 574.
,, torpedo, ii. 542.
,, vomer, ii. 550.
Ray, bordered, ii. 564.

cramp, ii. 542.

,, eagle, ii. 591.

,, electric, ii. 542.

,, horned, ii. 595.

,, painted, ii. 567.

,, sandy, ii. 574.

,, shagreen, ii. 578.

sharp-nosed, ii. 556.

,, small-eyed, ii. 567.

,, spotted, ii. 570.

,, starry, ii. 585.

,, sting, ii. 588.

,, whip, ii. 591.
Red-eye, 41:2.

Remora, ii. 377.
Respiration of fishes, 80.
Uliombus arnoglossus, ii. 345.

,, liirtus, ii. 334.

,, l<evis, ii. 309.

,, maximus, ii. 324.

,, megastoma, ii. 342.

,, non aculeatus, ii. 331.

,, nudus, ii. 345.

,, punctatus, ii. 338.

,, unimacitlutuS) ii. 338.

,, vulgaris, ii. 331.
Riggle, ii. 429.
Roach, 339.
. ,, blue, 416.

dobule, 397.
Robinhuss, ii. 487.
Rockfish, 281.

Rockling, five-bearded, ii. 278.
,, four-bearded, ii. 274.
,, three-bearded, ii. 270.
Roud, 412.
Roundtail, ii. 71.
Rudd, 412.
Ruffe, 17.

S.

Sailfish, ii. 518.
Salmon, ii. 1.

,, bird, ii. 65.

fry, ii. 25 & 36.
,, ladder, ii. 11.
,, teeth, ii. 3.
,, trout, young, ii. 36.
Samlet, ii. 36.
Salmo albus, ii. 77.
,, alpinus, ii. 121.
,, clnereus, ii. 71.
,, eperlanus, ii. 129.
,, c-rioi-, ii. 71
,, far to, ii. 85.
,, ferm-, ii. 1 10.
,, Coodenii, ii. 85.
,, griseus, ii. 71.
,, tacitstris, ii. 110.
,, lavaretus, ii. 142.
,, salar, ii. 1.
,, salmulus, ii. 83.

xlii

GENERAL INDEX.

Sal/no suluelinits, ii. 121.

,, schiefermulleri, ii. 77.

,, thymallus, ii. 136.

,, trutta, ii. 77.

,, umbla, ii. 121.

,, Wartmanni, ii. 142.
Saltie, ii. 307.
Sand-eel, ii. 424.
Sand-launce, ii. 429.
Sandnecker, ii. 312.
Sandprey, ii. 610.
Sandpride, ii. 610.
Sandsmelt, 229.
Scabbard-fish, 198.
Scad, 175.
Scales of Basse, 6.

,, of Perch, 6.

of Blue Roach, 418.

of Bream, 390.

,, of Graining, 408.

,, of Red Mullets, 37.

,, of Ruff, 6.
Scaldfish, ii. 345.
Schelly, ii. 142.
Scitena aquila, 104.

,, cirrosa, 109.
Scomber colias, 148.

ductor, 170.

,, glaucns, 174.

,, maculatus* 148.

,, pelamys, 157.

,, scombrus, 137.

,, scomber, 137.

,, thynnuSi 151.

,, trachurus, 175.

,, vulgariS) 137.
Scomber-esox saurus, 446.

,, Boreatis, ii. 161.

Scopelus Humboldtii, ii. 161.
Scifllium canicula, ii. 487.
,, catulus, ii. 493.

,, melanostomum, ii. 495.
,, stellar is, ii. 493.
Scymnus Borealis, ii. 527.
,, spinosus. ii. 532.
Sea-adder, great, 101.
Sea-ape, ii. 522.
Sea-cat, 24 & 277.

Sea-dace, 8.
Sea-devil, 305.
Sea-fox, ii. 522.
Sea-line fishing, ii. 223.
Sea-loche, ii. 270.
Sea-monster, ii. 483.
Sea-owl, ii. 365.
Sea-needle, 442.
Sea-poacher, 85.
Sea-scorpion, 75.
Sea-snail, ii. 371.
Sea-snipe, 346.
Sea-wife, 339.
Sea-wolf, 277.
Sebastes Norvegicus, 87.
Seluchus maximus, ii. 518.
Serpes Humboldtii, ii. 161.
Serran de Provence, 179 & 182.
Serranus, Couch's, 19.
,, dusky, 14.
,, smooth, 11.
,, cabrilla, 11.
,, Couchii, 19.
gigas, 14.
,, Norvegicas, 87.
Sey, ii. 250.
Shad, ii. 208.

,, allice, ii. 213.

,, twaite, ii. 208.
Shallow, 412.
Shanny, 260.
Shan, smooth, 260.
Shark, angel, ii. 539.

,, basking, ii. 518.

,, Beaumaiis, ii. 515.

,, blue, ii. 498.

,, fox, ii. 522.

,, Greenland, ii. 527.

,, hammer-headed, ii. 504.

,, hoe, ii. 524.

,, long- tailed, ii. 522.

,, ray, ii. 539.

,, skate-toothed, ii. 512.

,, smooth, ii. 512.

,, spinous, ii. 532.

,, tope, ii. 509.

,, white, ii. 502.
Sharplin, 90.

GENERAL INDEX.

xliii

Sheatfish, 461.
Sillock, ii. 250.
Silurus, 461.

,, glanis, 461.
Silvery Gade, ii. 283.
Hairtail, 204.
Skate, ii. 561.
,, blue, ii. 561.
,, Burton, ii. 556.
,, flapper, ii. 558.
,, grey , ii. 561.
,, long-nosed, ii. 550.
,, white, ii. 556.
Skelly, 409.
Skipper, 446.
Skirling, ii. 77.
Skulpin, 302.

,, yellow, 297.
Smelt, ii. 129.

Hebridal, ii. 133.
Smeltie, ii. 237.
Srnolt, ii. 1.
Smoothhound, ii. 512.
Snakefish, red, 224.
Snipefish, 346.
Sole, ii. 347.
,, French, ii. 351.
,, lemon, ii. 351.
,, little, ii. 355.
,, smooth, 345.
,, variegated, ii. 353.
Solenette, ii. 355.
Solea lingiila, ii. 355.
,, parva, ii. 355.
,, pegusa, ii. 351.
,, variegata, ii. 353.
,, vulgaris, ii. 347.
Sparling, ii. 75 & 129.
Sparus, four-toothed, 127.
,, aurata, 111.
,, dentex, 127.
,, erythrinus, 120.
,, linealus, 130.
pagrus, 116.
Raii, 133.
,, vetula, 130.
Spinachia vulgaris, 101.
Spinax ac.antJdas, ii. 524.

Spirling, ii. 129.

Sprat, ii. 197.

Squalus acanthias, ii. 524.

,, annulatus, ii. 495.

,, Borealis, ii. 527.

,, carcharias, ii. 502.

,, Cornubicus, ii. 515.

,, galeus, ii. 509.

,, glacialis, ii. 527.

,, glaucus, ii. 498.

,, inaximus, ii. 518.

,, malleus^ ii. 504.

,, Moneiisis, ii. 515.

,, mustelus, ii. 512.

,, Norwegiamts, ii. 527.

,, spinax. ii. 524.

,, spinosus, ii. 532.

,, squatina, ii. 539.

,, vulpes, ii. 522.

,, Zygcena, ii. 504.
Squatina angeius, ii. 539.

,, vulgaris, ii. 539.
Stake-net, ii. 57.
Stickleback, fifteen-spined, 101.
,, four-spined, 97.

,, half-armed, 94.

,, rough-tailed, 90.

,, short-spined, 96.

,, smooth-tailed, 95.

,, ten-spined, 99.

Stingbull, 24.
Stingfish, 29.
Stone Basse, 19.
Slow-boat fishing, ii. 199.
Sturgeon, common, ii. 475.

,, broad-nosed, ii. 479.
Sucker, bimaculated, ii. 363.

,, Cornish, ii. 359.

,, diminutive, ii. 374.

,, Jura, ii. 354.

,, ocellated, ii. 354.

,, unctuous, ii. 371.
Suckingfish, ii. 377.
Sunfish, ii. 462 & 518.

,, oblong, ii. 469.

,, short, ii. 462.

,, truncated, ii. 469.
Swimming-bladders, 40, 41, 108.

xliv

GENERAL INDEX.

Swinefish, 277.
Swordick, 269.
Swordfish, 164.
Sifiigiiuthiis acus, ii. 432.

, , anguineus, ii. 445.

,, tequoreus, ii. 442.

,, lumbrioi/brmis, ii. 450.

,, ophidian, ii. 445 & 447.

Typhle, ii. 439.

T.

Tadpole-fish, ii. 292.
Teeth described, 113.
Tench, 375.

Tenures by fish, &c. ii. 627.
Tetruodon Icevigatus, ii. 457.

,, stellatus, ii. 457.
Tetrodon, short, ii. 462.

,, lagocephalits, ii. 457.
,, mola, ii. 462.
,, Pennantii, ii. 457.
,, stellatus, ii. 457.
,, truncatus, ii. 469.
Thornback, ii. 582.
Thresher, ii. 522.
Tliymallus vulgaris, ii. 136.
Tliynmis pelumyS) 157.
,, vulgar is, 151.
Tinea vulgarisj 375.
Tinker, ii. 561.
Tommy Logge, 71.
Tope, ii. 509.
Topknot, ii. 334.

Bloch's, ii. 338.
Mailer's, ii. 334.
Torgoch, ii. 121.
Torpedo, new, 546.

old, ii. 542.

,, emarginata, ii. 546.
,, marmorata, ii. 542.
,, nobiliana, ii. 546.
,, vulgaris, ii. 542.
,, Walshii, ii. 546.
Torsk, ii. 285.
TracJiinus draco, 24.
,, vipera, 29.
Trnchurus vulgaris, 175.
Trawl-boat, Sussex, 61.

Trawl-net, 60.
Trawling described, . r >9.
Trichiurus leptiirns, 204.
Trigla Ailriuticti, 45.

,, Blochii, 56.

,, cuculus, 38.

,, gurnardus, 53.

,, hirundo, 47.

,, Itrvis, 47.

,, lineata, 45.

,, lucerna, 63.

,, lyra, 51.

,, paciloptera, 49.

,, pini, 38.
Trout, ii. 51.

bull, ii. 71.

,, breeding-box, ii. 88.

,, common, 285.

,, Gillaroo, ii. 105.

,, great grey, ii. 71.

,, great lake, ii. 110.

,, grey, ii. 71.

,, Lochleven, ii. 117.

,, malformed, ii. 108.

,, parr, ii. 36.

,, river, ii. 85.

,, salmon, ii. 77.

,, sea, ii. 77.

,, Thames, ii. 104.
Trumpet-fish, 346.
Trygon, common, ii. 588.

,, pastinaca, ii. 588.
Tunny, 151.
Turbot, ii. 324.
Tusk, ii. 285.

U.

Umbrina, 104.

,, bearded, 109.
,, vulguris, 109.

V.

Vaagmaer, 210.
Vandellius Lusitanicus, 198.
Vendace or Vendis, ii. 146.
Vngmarus hlandicus, 210.
Vulpes marina, ii. 522.

GENERAL INDEX.

xlv

w.

Weever, great, 24.

,, lesser, 29.
Whiff, ii. 342.
Whistle-fish, ii. 270.
Whitebait, ii. 202.

,, fishing, ii. 207.
Whiting, ii. 244.

,, Couch's, ii. 247.
Pollack, ii. 253.
Pout, ii. 237.
Whitling, ii. 77.
Wide Gab, 305.
Wolf-fish, 277.

,, striped sea, 277.
Wrasse, ancient, 311.

,, Ballan, 311.

,, blue-striped, 317.

,, comber, 323.

,, Cook's, 317.

,, doubly-spotted, 320.

,, green-streaked, 315.

,, rainbow, 344.

Wrasse, red, 320.

,, scale-rayed, 337.

,, small-mouthed, 341.

,, streaked, 315.

,, striped, 344.

,, three-spotted, 320.

,, trimaculated, 320.

X.

Xiphias gladias, 164.
Xipotheca tetradeiis, 198.

Y.

Yarrell's Blenny 263.

Z.

Zeus aper, 190.
faber, 183.
,, imperialis, 194.
,, lima, 194.
Zoarcus vivipanis 273.
malleus, ii. 504.
Satviani, ii. 504.

CLASSED INDEX

TO SOME OF THE VIGNETTES.

Anatomy.

Articulation of rays, 307.
Abdomen of Globefish, ii. 461.
Egg of Shark, ii. 488 & 497.

,, Skate, ii. 554.
Gill-covers, ii. 3 & 5.
Gills, forms of, ii. 433.
Heart of Lophius, 307.
Inside of Myxine, ii. 618.
Skeleton of Flounder, ii. 320.
,, of Sea Snipe, 348.
,, of Sunfish, part of, ii. 467.
Swimming-bladder of Gurnard, 40.
,, of Cyprinidx, 41.

of Maigre, 108.

Tail of the Eel, 395.

Boats.

Coracle, ii. 62.
Coble, ii. 201.
Dutch boats, ii. 192 & 330.
English skiffs, 150 & 255.
French boat, ii. 196.
Fishing smack, ii. 341.
Ferry boat, ii. 350.
Herring boats, 259 ; ii. 160.
Italian boat, ii. 408.
Lugsail boat, ii. 449.
Norway boat, ii. 531.
Peter boats, ii. 311 & 317.
Punt, ii. 398.
Spanish boat, ii. 288.
Swiss boat, ii. 549.
Trawl boat, 61.

Bones of the Head.
Abramis, 386.
Anguilla, ii. 401.
Brama, 136.
Cottus, 77.
Centriscus, 348.
Cyprinus, 354.
Cobitis, 431.
CoregonuS) ii. 145.
Gurnard, 66.
Gilthead, 115.
Gobius, 284.
Gadus, ii. 230.
Labrus, 314.
Perch, 7.
Polyprion, 23.
Platessa, ii. 302.
Salmo, ii. 70.
Shark, ii. 511.
Trachypterus, 220.
Umbrina, 110.

Fishers and Fishing, fyc.
Angler, ancient, 403.
Anglers, modern, 422 ; ii. 376 & 416.

juvenile, 357 & 426.
Cornish fisherman, 322.
Coast fishermen, ii. 299 & 314.
Dutch fishwomen, ii. 236 & 337.
Mackerel line, 147.
Newhaven fish-carrier, 294.
Punt-fishing, 370.
Prawn catching, ii. 362.
River-fishing, 460 ; ii. 376 & 416.

INDEX TO VIGNETTES.

xlvii

South American fishers, 16.
Shrimpers, 189 & 252.
Sea hand-line, ii. 581.
Thames fisherman, 343.
Whitebait fishing, ii. 207.

Heads.
Basse, 10.
Echiodon, ii. 423.
Goby, 283.
Grey Mullet, 240.
Miller's-thumb, 72.
Ruffe, 18.
Red Bandfish, 228.
Sturgeons, ii. 479, 480, 481, & 482.
Trout, ii. 3 & 108.
Thick-lipped Mullet, 243.
Vaagmaer, 217.

Invertebrate Animals.
Angler's flies, ii. 84.
Argulus, ii. 521.
Cyclops, ii. 150.
Lynceus, ii. 150.
Pentelasmis, 28.
Tristoma, ii. 468.

Localities.
Ancona, 174.
Arundel Castle, 244.
Brighton, ii. 168.

Cottage on the Inny, Cornwall, ii, 109.
Gillingham Mill, 74.
Greenhythe, Thames, 193.
Gota River, Sweden, ii. 116.
Holy Island, 291.
Lochleven, ii. 120.
Mont Blanc, ii. 141.
Newcastle fish-market, 449.
Polperro, Cornwall, ii. 182.

Purfleet, Thames, ii. 358.
Rothbury Bridge, ii. 76.
Sunderland Harbour, 209.
Virginia Water, 89, 100, & 381.
Windmill Hill, Gravesend, 394.
Whitewell, Yorkshire, ii. 128.

Nets.

Keer-drag, 248.
Net mending, 287.
Stake-net, ii. 57.
Trawl-net, 60.

Scales.
Basse, 6.
Bream, 390.
Blue Roach, 418.
Dace, 408.
Graining, 408.
Mullet, Red, 37.
Mullet, Striped, 37.
Perch, 6.
Ruffe, 6.
Rudd, 418.

Teeth.

Anarrhichas, 278.
Chrysophrys, 112.
Cantharus, 132.
CyprinidtE Introduction, xx.
Dentev, 129.
Pagrus, 1 19.
Pagellus erythrinus, 122.

,, centrodontus, 126.
Shark, blue, ii. 501.

,, Greenland, ii. 527.

,, spinous, ii. 537.
Skate, ii. 552.
Trout, ii. 3.

ERRATUM.
Vol. i. page 118, line 3 from the top, for erythrinus, read ucarne.

BRITISH FISHES.

ACANTHOPTERYGIL*

PERCIDM.)

THE PERCH.

Perca fluviatilis, LINN.EUS. BLOCK, pt. ii. pi. 52.

,, ,, CUVIER et VALENCIENNES, Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. ii. p. 20.

,, ,, Perch, PENNANT, Brit. Zoo], edit. 1812, vol. iii. p. 345,

pi. 59.

,, ,, ,, DONOVAN, Brit. Fishes, pi. 52.

,, ,, ,, FLEMING, Brit. Animals, p. 213, sp. 142.

,, ,, JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 330.

Generic Cliaracters. Two dorsal fins, distinct, separated ; the rays of the
first spinous, those of the second flexible ; tongue smooth; teeth in both jaws,
in front of the vomer, and on the palatine bones ; preoperculum notched below,
serrated on the posterior edge ; operculum bony, ending in a flattened point
directed backwards ; branchiostegous rays 7 ; scales rough, hard, and not easily
detached.

BARON CUVIER has chosen the Perch as representing the
type of his first genus Perca, but has separated from that
genus, as it was established by Linnaeus, several species,
on account of certain variations which the generic characters

* Fishes with some of their fin-rays spinous, the others flexible.
t The family of the Perches.
VOL. J. B

2 PERCID.E.

and descriptions hereafter appended to such as are British
will sufficiently explain. The Perch was well known to the
Greeks, and Aristotle has described its habits under the
name of TLzpzr;- It was the Perca of the Romans ; and
is called Pergesa in Italy, Perscke in Prussia, la Pcrche in
France, and Perch in England. As a species, it is common
to the whole of the temperate parts of Europe ; and in Eng-
land there is scarcely a river or lake of any extent Avhere
this fish does not occur. It is found also in the lakes of Wales.
In the various historical and statistical accounts of the coun-
ties of Ireland, the Perch may be traced through the southern,
eastern, and northern districts from Cork to Londonderry, and
is probably to be found also in the rivers and lakes of most,
if not all the other counties. A friend who writes in the
Magazine of Zoology and Botany says of the Perch in Scot-
land, that it is only sparingly met with in the lochs north of
the Forth ; and in one or two places where it is found north
of Perthshire, its introduction may be traced to no distant
period. In all the almost countless waters of the northern
counties of Scotland the Perch is said to be wanting. It is
not included by Low in his Fishes of Orkney and Shetland ;
but still farther north it again occurs, and is mentioned by
Nilsson and others as inhabiting various parts of Scandinavia.
In rivers, the Perch prefers the sides of the stream rather than
the rapid parts of the current, and feeds indiscriminately upon
insects, worms, and small fishes. So remarkable is the
Perch for its boldness and voracity, that in a few days after
some specimens had been placed in a vivarium, in Bushy
Park, Mr. Jesse tells us, they came freely and took worms
from his fingers, and the Perch is generally the first prize
of the juvenile angler. They have been known to breed
in small vases ; and Bloch mentions having watched some
while depositing their ova in long strings in a vessel kept in
his room. A Perch of half a pound weight has been found to

PERCH. 3

contain 280,000 ova ; and the spawning season is at the end
of April, or beginning of May. Perch live for some hours
out of water, and bear a journey of forty or fifty miles, if
carried steadily, and watered occasionally. They are con-
stantly exhibited in the markets of Catholic countries ; and,
if not sold, are taken back to the ponds from which they
were removed in the morning, to be reproduced another day.
The flesh of this fish is firm, white, of good flavour, and easy
of digestion.

A Perch of three pounds weight is considered a fish of
large size ; Perch, however, of four pounds have been taken
from the Richmond Park ponds. Mr. Donovan, in his His-
tory of British Fishes, records one of five pounds taken in
Bala Lake. Mr. Hunt, of the Brades, near Dudley, Staf-
fordshire, took a Perch of six pounds from the Birmingham
Canal. Montagu once saw a Perch of eight pounds taken in
the Avon, in Wiltshire, by a runner, or night-line, baited
with a Roach for a Pike : and a Perch of eight pounds was
caught in Dagenham Breach. Pennant records his having
heard of one that was taken in the Serpentine River, Hyde
Park, that weighed nine pounds ; and it is stated by Bloch
and others, that the head of a Perch is preserved in the
church of Luehlah, in Lapland, which measures near twelve
inches from the point of the nose to the end of the gill-cover.

The body of the Perch is compressed, and its height about
one-third of its whole length. The length of the head is
equal to the height of the body, and compared to the length
of the body is as two to seven : the jaws are nearly equal, and
the opening of the mouth is about one-fourth of the whole
head : the teeth are small, uniform in size, curving backwards,
and the inside of the mouth is furnished with a transverse
palatine membrane. There are two external openings to each
nostril, surrounded by several orifices, which allow the escape
of a mucous secretion. These apertures are larger and more

B 2

PERC1D.E.

numerous about the heads of fishes generally than over the
other parts, the viscous secretion defending the skin from the
action of the water. The distribution of the mucous orifices
over the head is one of those beautiful and advantageous pro-
visions of nature which are so often to be observed and ad-
mired. Whether the fish inhabits the stream or the lake,
the current of the water in the one instance, or progression
through it in the other, carries this defensive secretion back-
wards, and spreads it over the whole surface of the body. In
fishes with small scales, this defensive secretion is in propor-
tion more abundant ; and in those species which have the
bodies elongated, as the Eels, the mucous orifices may be
observed along the whole length of the lateral line.

The formula of the number of fin-rays may be thus
stated :

D. 15, 1 + 13 : P. 14 : V. 1 + 5 : A. 2 + 8 : C. 17.

And the mode of fin-ray notation employed is thus explain-
ed : D. the dorsal fin, has, in the first fin, 15 rays, all spi-
nous ; in the second fin, 1 spinous + plus ] 3 that are soft.
P. pectoral fin, 14 rays, all soft. V. the ventral fin, with

1 spinous ray -f plus 5 that are soft. A. the anal fin, with

2 spinous rays + plus 8 that are soft. C. the tail or caudal
fin, 17 rays. In counting the rays of the caudal fin, those
only from the longest ray of the upper portion to the longest
ray of the lower portion, both inclusive, are enumerated.

The Perch, though very common, is one of the most
beautiful of our fresh-water fishes ; and, when in good condi-
tion, its colours are brilliant and striking. The upper part
of the body is a rich greenish brown, passing into golden
yellowish white below ; the sides ornamented with from five
to seven dark transverse bands ; the irides golden yellow ;
the first dorsal fin brown, the membrane connecting two or
three of the first and last rays spotted with black ; the second

PERCH. 5

dorsal and pectoral fins pale brown ; ventral, anal, and caudal
fins, bright vermilion. A deformed variety of Perch, with
the back greatly elevated and the tail distorted, has been
noticed by Linnaeus as occurring at Fahlun, in Sweden, and
in other lakes in the North of Europe. Similar Perch are
also found in Llyn Raithlyn, in Merionethshire. A fish of
this description is figured in the volume of Daniel's Rural
Sports devoted to Fishing and Shooting, page 247. Speci-
mens of the Perch, almost entirely white, have also been
found in the waters of particular soils, and I am indebted to
the kindness of G. S. Foljambe, Esq. of Osberton, for speci-
mens of another variety of Perch from Ravenfiehl Park
ponds, near Rotherham, in Yorkshire, the seat of Thomas
Walker, Esq. ; these specimens, when received in London,
were of a uniform slate-grey colour with a silvery tint, and
this peculiarity of colour is retained when the living fish are
transferred from the park ponds to other waters.

Thomas Hurtley, in his published account of some natural
curiosities in the environs of Malham, in Craven, Yorkshire,
when writing of the fish of Malham Water (called provin-
cially Maum Tarn), says, p. 32, of the Perch, " There is
certainly a very extraordinary phenomenon attending them,
the cause of which I leave to naturalists to ascertain. After
a certain age they become blind : a hard, thick, yellow
film covers the whole surface of the eye, and renders the sight
totally obscured. When this is the case, the fish generally
are exceedingly black ; and although, from the more extreme
toughness and consistency of the membrane, it is evident that
some have been much longer in this state than others, yet
there appears no difference either in their flavour or condition.
Perch of five pounds 1 weight, and more, have been taken.
They are 'only to be caught with a net ; and appear to feed
at the bottom on Loach, Miller's Thumb, and testaceous
mollusca."

It is not improbable that the increased density and opacity
of the cornea here described may be one of the effects of in-
flammation produced by some of those numerous very minute
leech-like animals, which M. Nordmann has found to occur
so frequently in the aqueous humours of the eyes of fishes.*

Two Continental naturalists have pointed out the neces-
sity of attending to the scales of fishes, as affording the most
valuable and constant characters ; and these productions of
the skin, important also as the organs of protection and rela-
tion between the animal and the medium in which it resides,
will occasionally be figured and referred to as additional
marks of specific distinction in several instances of closely
allied species. It has already been observed that the lateral
line in fishes marks the situation of an extended series of
mucous orifices. The scales placed in a row immediately
upon this lateral line mark its particular course along the
side ; and these scales, besides bearing the characters of those
of the other parts, are perforated by a tube through which
escapes this mucus, or slime, as it is more commonly called,
to be spread over the surface of the body. The vignette
below represents a scale from the lateral line of the Perch, 1
the Basse, 2 and the Ruffe. 3

Influenced by the recommendation of several friends whose
opinions I defer to, I intend to introduce as vignettes the
crania of various genera of fishes from the works of Chesel-
den, Cuvier, Meyer, Rosen thai 1, and others, on the plan

* Mikrographische Beitriige zur Naturgeschichte der wirbellosen Thiere von
Dr. Alexander v. Nordmann. Berlin, 1832.

PERCH.

commenced in the Supplement to the first edition of this
work.

Not to interfere, however, with the ornamental appearance
of these crania, as vignettes, by a repetition of letters or
numbers in reference to each particular bone, I shall confine
the markings to the head of the Perch only, as here intro-
duced, premising, that a little useful perseverance will lead
to a knowledge of the analogous bones in other crania.

a. Principal frontal bone

b. Parietal.

c. Inter occipital.

d. Inter parietal.

e. Operculum.

f. Suboperculum.

g. Interoperculum.
h. Preoperculum.
i. Temporal.

k. Tympanal.
1. Sympletic.
m. Jugal.

y. Dental portion of the lower j

n. Posterior frontal,
n*. Anterior frontal.
o. Great ala.
p. Sphenoid,
q. Internal pterygoid.
r. Transverse,
s. Palatal bone.
t. Vomer.
u. Nasal.

v. Superior maxillary,
w. Inter maxillary.
x. Articular portion, and
aw, or inferior maxillary bone.

8

PERCID^E.

ACANTHOPTERYG1I.

PERC1D&.

THE BASSE.

Labrax lupus, Cuv. et VALENC. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. ii. p. 56, \>\. II.
Perca Labrax, LINN/EUS. BLOCH, pt. ix. pi. 301.

Basse, PENN. Brit. Zool. 1812, vol. iii. p. 348, pi. 60.
,, DON. Brit. Fish. pi. 43.
FLEM. Brit. An. p. 213, sp. 143.
,, ,, Common Basse, JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 331.

Generic Characters. Two dorsal fins, distinct, separated ; the rays of the
first spinous, those of the second flexible ; branchiostegous rays 7 ; tongue
covered with small teeth ; teeth on both jaws, on the vomer and palatine bones ;
cheeks, preoperculum, and operculum, covered with scales ; suborbital bone and
suboperculum without serrations ; preoperculum notched below, serrated on its
posterior edge ; operculum ending in two points directed backwards.

THE BASSE, a marine Perch, with two dorsal fins, abun-
dant in the Mediterranean, was well known to the Greeks,
who called it ActQaf, and esteemed it highly. Aristotle
distinguished it from the fresh-water Perch by the scales on
the various parts of the gill-cover, the spines of the opercu-
lum, and the roughness of the tongue. It was also well

BASSE. 9

known to the Romans, who called it Lupus, on account of its
voracity ; and these terms Cuvier has united for its modern
distinction. This fish is found along the whole line of the
southern coast of England, in the Bristol and St. George's
Channel ; and, though less numerous farther north, on our
eastern coast has been noticed by Dr. Johnson and Dr. Neill
as occurring in Berwick Bay and the Frith of Forth, but
is not included in Low's Fauna Orcadmsis. On the Irish
coast the Basse is taken along the line of the eastern shore
from Waterford to Belfast Bay. It is stated by Willughby
that this fish sometimes attains the weight of fifteen pounds ;
I have been told of one that weighed twenty-eight pounds ;
but the more ordinary size is from twelve to eighteen inches
in length, and the flesh is then excellent food. The Basse
swim in shoals along the coast, depositing their spawn in
summer, and generally near the mouths of rivers, up which
they frequently pass to a considerable distance : they have
been retained with success in Mr. Arnold's fresh-water lake
in Guernsey, and Dr. M'Culloch has vouched for the supe-
riority of the flavour obtained by the change. Their food
consists generally of living prey. Dr. Neill took from the
stomach of one the fry of the Sandlaunce and two young
specimens of the Father-lasher: they feed also on small crusta-
ceous animals; and Mr. Couch, of Cornwall, states, that " this
fish is particularly fond of om'sci, in pursuit of which it ven-
tures among the rocks in the midst of a tempest, as at that
time these insects are frequently washed from their hiding-
places." They are captured at sea by various means :,.by the
trawl-net, and by hooks attached either to hand-lines or deep
sea-lines. They take a bait freely ; and many are caught by
angling, during the flood-tide, with a long rod and strong line,
from a- projecting pier-head or jutting rock. " We have seen
several taken in Bideford Bay," says Col. Montagu, " with a
small Seine net, manageable by two men. The men wade a

10

PERCID.E.

considerable way into the water on this gradually-inclining
sandy shore, and when the water reaches above their middle,
the net is strained by the men separating, and drawn on
shore, each man holding by a cord at the ends." Monta-
gu s MS.

D. 9, 1 +12 : P. 16 : V. 1 + 5 : A. 3-f 11 : C. 17. Vertebra;, 25.

The position and form of the fins are shown in the wood
cut, and the character of the parts of the head in the addi-
tional outline at the bottom of this page. The body of the
fish is elongated as compared with that of the Perch, and in
shape resembles that of the Salmon : the teeth uniform in
size, short, and sharp ; those on the tongue assist in passing
the food back towards the throat. The nostrils are double ;
the mucous pores numerous ; the hides silvery ; the back
dusky blue, passing into silvery white on the belly ; the scales
of moderate size, adhering firmly ; the fins pale brown.

At Ramsgate, and some other places along the line of the
Kentish coast, the Basse is called a Sea-dace.

SMOOTH SERRANUS.

11

ACAXTHOPTERYG1J.

VERCIDsE.

THE SMOOTH SERRANUS.

Serrarms cabrilla, Cuv. et VALENC. Hist, des Poiss. t. ii. p. 223, pi. 29.

Perca cabrilla, LINN/EUS.

,, channus, COUCH, Mag. Nat. Hist. vol. v. p. 19, fig. 6.

,, cabrilla, JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 332.

Generic Characters. A single elongated dorsal fin, the rays of the anterior
portion spinous, the others flexible ; branchiostegous rays 7 ; small teeth in
both jaws, on the palatine bones and the vomer ; some elongated teeth among
the smaller ones ; cheeks and operculum covered with small scales ; preopercu-
lum serrated : operculum ending in two or three flattened points projecting
backwards.

CUVIER'S sub-genus Serranus, the term being derived from
the serrated operculum, and the fishes belonging to the divi-
sion distinguished from those of Perca and Labrax by the
single elongated dorsal fin, are new to the History of British
Fishes ; and we are indebted to Mr. Couch, of Cornwall, for
the only specimens known to have been taken on our coast,
and which, it is believed, will be found to belong to two
distinct species. The first is the Smooth Perch, Perca
channus, a fish made known by Mr. Couch, as frequently
occurring on the coast of Cornwall, in an article in the Maga-
zine of Natural History, conducted by Mr. London ; which

12 PERCID/E.

contained also a notice of a second species of the same genus,
and also several other interesting species in other genera, some
of which were likewise new.

Both Cuvier and Mr. Couch refer the fish before us to the
Channus, or Channa, of Gesner, Ray, and Gmelin : this,
together with the peculiar habit of the Channus recorded by
Gesner, and observed by Mr. Couch to prevail in his Smooth
Perch and the close resemblance between the descriptions
by Cuvier, in the Hist, des Poiss. t. ii. p. 223, and that by
Mr. Couch, in the Magazine before quoted leave little
doubt that the Serranus cabn'lla of Cuvier and Valen-
ciennes, and the Perca channus of Mr. Couch, are in reality
the same species. It has therefore been placed among the
British fishes, under the name of Smooth Serranus, which
the distinction of possessing but a single dorsal fin appears to
render necessary, and of which, it is hoped, Mr. Couch will
not disapprove.

This species of Serranus is abundant in the Mediterranean,
and passing in the ocean northward to a considerable distance,
is, in the opposite direction, taken as far south as Teneriffe
and Madeira. Mr. Couch considers it a common fish, well
known to the Cornish fishermen; " that it keeps in the
neighbourhood of rocks not far from land ;"" and adds, " it is
singular that the spasm, which seizes this fish when taken,
never passes off: hence it is found, long after death, in a state
of rigidity and contortion, with the fins preternaturally erect."

D. 10+ 14 : P. 15 : V. 1 + 5 : A. 3+8 : C. 17.

The peculiarities of the teeth and gill-cover are expressed
in the generic characters : " the irides are yellow ; the body
about ten inches long, compressed, deep. Colour of the back
brown, in some specimens having distinct bars running round
to the belly ; sides yellow, reddish, or saffron-coloured, more
faint below : two irregular whitish lines pass along the side

SMOOTH SERRANUS. 13

from head to tail ; a third, more imperfect, on the belly.
On the gill-plates are several faintish blue stripes, running
obliquely downward. The fins are striped longitudinally with
red and yellow ; pectorals wholly yellow."" The description
is from Mr. Couch ; the figure, from the work of Cuvier.

One peculiarity of the Serrani must not be passed over.
Cavolini and Cuvier have, after repeated examinations, de-
scribed the Smooth Serranus, and some other species of this
genus, as true hermaphrodites, one portion of each lobe of roe
consisting of true ova, the other part having all the appear-
ance of a perfect milt, and both advancing to maturity simul-
taneously. A structure of a different kind, which must be
considered as accidental, has been observed by others in the
Perch, Mackerel, Carp, Cod, Whiting, and Sole. This oc-
casional malformation, to speak in a popular phrase, consists
of a lobe of hard female roe on one side, and of soft male roe
on the other side, of the same fish. Observations are still
wanting to prove whether such fishes have the power of im-
pregnating their own ova.

Cavolini believed that the Serrani had this power ; and the
probability is that in the other cases the fish are also prolific,
since the two sides are observed to be of equal growth.

Since the publication of the first edition of this work, Mr.
Couch has been kind enough to send me the roes of two spe-
cimens of this Serranus. These, on examination, contained
true ova only ; and Mr. Owen, of the College of Surgeons,
whose microscope was used on this occasion, agreed with me
that although these organs were of small size, there was no-
thing equivocal either in the structure or appearance.

14

I'ERCID.E.

ACANTHOPTERYG1I.

THE DUSKY SERRANUS.

Serranus gigas, Cuv. et VALENC. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. ii. p. 270, pi. 33.
Perca robust a, COUCH, Mag. Nat. Hist. vol. v. p. 21, fig. 7.

> S'S as > BRUNNICH and GMELIN.

JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 333.

THE second species of Serranus to be added to the British
catalogue, which, as before stated, was first made known as
occurring on our shore by Mr. Couch, is his Dusky Perch,
Perca robusta, which, from a careful comparison of descrip-
tions, appears to be identical with the Serranus gigas of
Cuvier and Valenciennes, above quoted, and the synonymes
have been brought together accordingly.

This species inhabits the Mediterranean, and is also, but
less frequently, taken in the ocean. Among the islands of
its more congenial sea, this fish sometimes attains the weight
of sixty pounds, and this circumstance originally suggested
its specific name Gigas ; but specimens of ordinary occurrence
weigh only from ten pounds to twenty pounds, and the flesh
is in some estimation as food. The females deposit their
spawn in shallow water during the months of April and May.

DUSKY SERRANUS. 15

In the present instance, the figure and fin-ray formula of
Cuvier are given ; to which the description of Mr. Couches
fish is added, the better to prove, by their general accordance,
the correctness of the junction here proposed. The number
of fin-rays are, according to

Cuvier.
B. 7 : D. 11 + 16 : P. 17 : V. 1 + 5 : A. 3 + 8 : C. 15.

Couch.
7 : 11 + 17 : 19 : 6 : 2+9 : 16.

The Serrani have usually one spinous ray to the ventral
fin, and three spinous rays to the anal.

" The fish," says Mr. Couch, " from which this descrip-
tion was taken, weighed sixteen pounds, and measured three
feet in length, and seven inches in depth, exclusive of the
fins ; the body thick and solid. Under jaw longest ; both, as
well as the palate, having numerous slender incurved teeth :
in front of the under jaw was a bed of them. Lips like those
of the Cod-fish ; two large open nasal orifices, and a large
hole under the projection of the nasal bone. First plate of
the gill-cover serrate, the second with a broad flat spine, pro-
jecting through the skin, and pointing backward ; the fleshy
covering of the gill-covers elongated posteriorly ; seven rays
in the gill-membrane. Body and head covered with large
scales ; lateral line gently curved. Dorsal fin single, long,
expanding towards its termination, with eleven spinous rays,
the first short, and seventeen soft rays, the two last from one
origin. Pectoral fin round, nineteen rays ; ventrals fastened
down by a membrane through part of their course, six rays.
Vent an inch and a half from the origin of the anal fin, which
fin has two spinous and nine soft rays, the last two from one
origin. Tail roundish, sixteen rays. Colour of the back red-
dish brown, lighter on the belly : two slightly marked lines
on the gill-covers running obliquely downward, one on each
plate. The gill-covers are not ridged. In its aspect this

16

PEKCID.E.

fish has some resemblance to the Labri, yet it has none of
the generic characters by which these fishes are distinguished.
That it should be placed among the Perches, I make no ques-
tion ; but my most industrious search has not been able to
find that it has been either figured or described : until, there-
fore, some other naturalist shall be more fortunate, I venture
to denominate it Perca robusta, from its great size and
strength. I have never seen more than one specimen, which
was taken with a line." In accordance with the remark made
by Mr. Couch, Cuvier mentions that the Spanish name for
this fish signifies a Labrus.

The term Dusky Serranus is suggested for it, instead of
Dusky Perch, the better to identify it with the sub-genus to
which it belongs.

The vignette below represents a mode of capturing fish
commonly practised in the Brazils.

ACANTHOPTERYC11.

RUFFE.

17

PEECIDJE.

THE RUFFE, OR POPE.

Acer ina vulgar is, Cuv. et VALENC. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. iii. p. 4, pi. 41.
Perca cernua, LINNSUS. BLOCH, pt. ii. pi. 53.

Ruffe, PENN. Brit. Zool. 1812, vol. iii. p. 350.

DON. Brit. Fish. pi. 39.

Cernuafluviatilis, ,, FLEM. Brit. An. p. 212, sp. 141.
Perca cernua, ,, JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 334.

Generic Characters. Dorsal fin single, elongated, the rays of the first portion
spinous, the others flexible ; branchiostegous rays 7 ; teeth very small, uniform,
numerous ; head without scales ; suborbital bone and preoperculum indented ;
operculum ending in a single point.

THE RUFFE, a fresh-water fish, closely allied to the Perch,
but with a single dorsal fin, appears to have been unknown
to the ancients, and Cuvier assigns the credit of its first
discovery to an Englishman whose name was Caius.* He
found it in the river Yare, near Norwich, and called it
Aspredo, a translation of our name of Ruffe (rough), which
is well applied to it on account of the harsh feel of its den-
ticulated scales. Caius sent the first figure of this fish to
Gesner, who published it.

The Ruffe is common to almost all the canals and rivers

' The learned Dr. Caius, well known for his various zoological writings.
VOL. I. C

18 PERCID.E.

of England, particularly the Thames, the Isis, and the
Cam ; and, though said to be unknown in Spain, Italy, and
Greece, is found over the colder portion of the European
Continent, preferring slow shaded streams, and a gravelly
bottom. In its habits also the Ruffe resembles the Perch;
and feeds, like that fish, on the fry of others and on aquatic
insects. A small red worm used as a bait, generally proves
too tempting to be long resisted ; it seldom, however, when
caught, exceeds six or seven inches in length, but its flesh
is considered excellent. The spawning season is in April ;
and the ova, which are of a yellowish white colour, are de-
posited among the roots and stems of flags and rushes at the
sides of the stream.

The generic characters, and the engraved outline at the
bottom of the page, show the peculiarities of the various
parts of the head : around the eyes are several oval depres-
sions. Fin-rays :

]). 14 + 12 : P. 13 : V. 1 +5 . A. 2 + 5 : C. 17.

The prevailing colour of the upper part of the body and
head is a light olive brown, passing into a yellowish brown
on the sides, and becoming almost silvery white on the belly.
The lateral line prominent and strongly marked. A tinge of
greenish pearl pervades the gill-cover; the irides are brown,
the pupil blue. Small brown spots are disseminated over the
back, dorsal fin, and tail, assuming on the latter from ar-
rangement the appearance of bars ; pectoral, ventral, and
anal fins, pale brown.

COUCH S POLYPRION.

1.9

ACAKTHOPTERYGU.

PERL IDJE.

COUCH'S POLYPRION.

Polyprion cernium, Cuv. et VALENC. Hist, des Poiss. t. iii. p. 21, pi. 42.
M. A. VALENC. Mem. du Mus. t. xi. p. 265, pi. 17.
Amphiprion Americanus, SCHNEIDER, Syst. Ichth. p. 205.

,, Australe,

ScorptEtia Massiliensis,

Serranus Couchii,

pi. 47.

Risso, Ichth. p. 184.

Stone Basse, COUCH, Linn. Trans, vol. xiv. p. 81.
Couch's Serranus, Brit. Fish. vol. i. p. 12.
,, ,, JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 334.

Generic Characters. A single elongated dorsal fin, the rays of the anterior
portion rather short and spinous, those of the secondary portion longer and
flexible ; branchiostegous rays 7 ; small incurved teeth on the bones of botli
jaws, on the palatine bones, and on the vomer, with some elongated teeth
among the smaller ones ; cheeks, operculum, the whole of the body, the base
of the flexible portion of the dorsal and anal fin, and the base of the tail covered
with small rigid scales, serrated at the free margin ; suborbital bone, preoper-
culum, and operculum below the line of the pectoral fin, denticulated ; opercu-
lum above the line of the pectoral fin traversed by a single strong horizontal
bony ridge ending in a point directed backwards ; over the eye, over the oper-
culum, and over the origin of the pectoral fin, a semicircular row of short
spines ; the first ray of the ventral fin, and the first three rays of the anal fin,
furnished also with small short spines.

IN the first edition of the History of British Fishes I ven-
tured to consider the Stone Basse of Mr. Couch, of which

c 2

XU PERCID.E.

that gentleman had favoured me with a drawing, as an unde-
scribed species of the genus Serranus of Cuvier. At that
time I had not seen a specimen of the fish. The Rev.
R. T. Lowe, who has devoted great attention to fishes, par-
ticularly those taken at Madeira, where he has resided many
years, first intimated to me that this, my supposed new Ser-
ranus, which I had called Couch's Serranus, in reference to a
naturalist and a friend, from whom I had received so much
valuable assistance, was in fact the Polyprion cernium of
Cuv. & Val. Hist, des Poiss. t. iii. p. 21, a species well
known to him, being a common fish at Madeira, and which is
now known to range as far to the south as the Cape of Good
Hope. Since that time Mr. Lowe has sent me from Madeira
a fine and perfect specimen of this fish, which I have shown
to several good observers on our southern coast, where Mr.
Couch's Stone Basse occurs, who have no doubt that this
fish is the same as the Stone Basse of Mr. Couch ; and it
therefore now appears in its place among the British Fishes
under its most recent systematic appellation. I am still,
however, anxious to identify this species with the name of
Mr. Couch, who first made it known as a British fish, and
have therefore now called it Couch's Polyprion.

This species was the subject of a particular memoir by
M. A. Valenciennes, published in the Mem. du Mus. t. xi.
as already quoted, and is remarkable in having escaped the
observation and record of all the early ichthyological writers,
although the fish is common in the Mediterranean, attains a
large size, sometimes weighing one hundred pounds, and
measuring five or six feet in length. Mr. Baker, of Bridge-
water, tells me that this fish, of three feet in length, is not
uncommon in the Bristol Channel. Mr. Couch, in reference
to its habits, says, " This species approaches the Cornish
coast under peculiar circumstances. When a piece of timber,
covered with barnacles, is brought by the currents from the

COUCHS POLYPRION. 21

more southern regions, which these fishes inhabit, consider-
able numbers of them sometimes accompany it. In the ala-
crity of their exertions, they pass over the wreck in pursuit
of each other, and sometimes, for a short space, are left dry
on the top, until a succeeding wave bears them off again.
From the circumstance of their being usually found near
floating Avood covered with barnacles, it might be supposed
that this shell-fish forms their food ; but this does not appear
to be the case, since, in many that were opened, nothing
was found but small fishes. Perhaps these young fishes
follow the floating wood for the sake of the insects that ac-
company it, and thus draw the Stone Basse after them."

The Rev. Robert Holdsworth, of Brixham, who has fur-
nished me with many interesting notes on British Fishes,
sends me word that on the Devonshire coast, this fish is also
called Stone Basse and Wreck-fish, thus illustrating the
habits of the species as noticed by Mr. Couch, by a reference
to the floating timbers to which the barnacles adhere, and
float along with them. Two paragraphs from Mr. Holds-
worth's letter on this fish are as follow: " October 7th, 1824.
The crew of the Providence smack found a large log of ma-
hogany in Start Bay, covered with long barnacles, and sur-
rounded by a shoal of these fish. They jigged, that is,
caught with a pole having a barbed hook at the end, four or
five. I had two cooked, which I purchased of the crew of
the Providence, and found them excellent." Captain Ni-
cholls, in a voyage from St. John's, Newfoundland, to the
coast of Portugal, having his ship's bottom very foul, and
covered with barnacles, was becalmed for many days within
a hundred leagues of Oporto, and was for a fortnight sur-
rounded with these fishes, which followed the ship, and were
caught by the crew. He fed his men upon them for twelve
or fourteen days, and considered them excellent food.

As before noticed, according to M. Valenciennes, Savigny,

PEBCID.E.

and Risso, this Polyprion, the only species of the genus,
is common in the Mediterranean, where it lives throughout
the year over rocky bottoms in deep water. The flesh is
white, tender, and of good flavour. M. Valenciennes says
it feeds on mollusca and small fishes ; he found sardines in
the stomach.

The Rev. R. T. Lowe says this Polyprion is one of the most
common fish in the market at Madeira, where, when small,
it is called Chernotte, and when large Cherne, (pronounced
Shareny, by the Portuguese,) and Jew-fish by the English.
It is there also deservedly held in esteem for the table.

Specimens taken at the Cape of Good Hope were sent by
M. Delaland to Baron Cuvier at Paris, who could perceive
no difference between them and specimens from the Medi-
terranean or the Channel.

There is good reason to believe, on the authority of Dr.
Latham, as recorded by Schneider, that this fish also inhabits
the shores of America.

In the fish here described, the length from the point of
the upper jaw to the posterior end of the horizontal bony
ridge on the operculum, is to the whole length of the fish,
exclusive of the caudal rays, as one to three ; the depth of
the fish in the vertical line of the origin of the ventral and
pectoral fins, is to the whole length, from the point of the
lower jaw when the mouth is open to the end of the caudal
rays, also as one to three ; the thickness of the fish equal to
half its height ; the lower jaw is the longer ; the nostrils
double, the openings circular ; the eyes dark brown ; the
peculiarities of the head, teeth, and gill-covers, are detailed
in the generic characters ; the ventral and pectoral fins have
their origin in a vertical line under the fourth spinous ray of
the dorsal fin ; the upper half of this fish is of a dark purplish
brown, the under part almost silvery white ; the membranes
connecting the various fin- rays dark brown ; the extreme mar-

COUCH S POLYPRiON.

gin of the tail is nearly white. Young specimens are de-
scribed and figured as marbled over with two shades of
brown ; the lateral line rises high over the base of the pec-
toral fin, afterwards following a course nearly parallel with
the outline of the back. The figure here given was taken
from the specimen of this fish sent me by Mr. Lowe, which
measured sixteen inches in length. The fin-ray formula is as
follows :

D. 11 +12 : P. 16 : V. 1 +5 : A. 3 + 9 : C. 17. Vertebrae 26.

TERC1D.E.

ACANTHOPTERYG1L

PEEC1DJE.

THE GREAT WEEVER, STING-BULL.

SEA CAT. Sussex.

Trachinus draco, LINNAEUS.

,, ,, Cuv. et VALENC. Hist, des Poiss. t. iii. p. 238.

major, Greater Weever, PENN. Brit. Zool. edit. 1812,* vol. iii.

p. 229, pi. 33.
DON. Brit. Fish. pi. 107.

,, ,, ,, ,, FLEM. Brit. An. p. 214, sp. 146.

,, ,, ,, ,, JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 335.

Generic Characters. Head and body compressed, eyes approximate ; branchi-
ostegous rays 6; teeth in both jaws, on the front of the vomer and palatine
bones : two dorsal fins, the first very short, the rays spinous ; the second long,
the rays flexible : operculum with one long spine directed backwards ; anal fin
elongated.

THE six species of fishes already described belong to the
first division of Cuvier's first family of the Perches, which
have the ventral fins placed under the pectorals, and hence
called thoracic. The two species now to be mentioned be-
long to the second division of this family, distinguished by

* The octavo edition of 1812 is always quoted, unless otherwise expressed.

GREAT WEEVER. 25

having the ventral fins situated before the pectorals, and
called jugular.

Rondeletius believed the fish now called the Great Weever
to be the Draco of the ancient naturalists ; and their refer-
ences to the injuries effected by the spines of the dorsal fin
and operculum of this species, which they also called a Sea-
dragon, appear to confirm his opinion. The generic name
Trachinus is derived from the Greek, and the fish is called
in several languages by a term that signifies a spider, in refer-
ence to its supposed venom.

The English name of Weever or Wiver, according to
Merrett, is considered to be derived from the French term
for this fish, La Vive ; a name bestowed upon it from the
circumstance of its living a long time after it has been taken
out of the water ; which latter power, with some other pecu-
liarities in the habits of the Weevers, will be again ad-
verted to.

The great Weever generally measures about twelves inches
in length, but has been known to attain seventeen inches :
. its food is the fry of other fishes, and its flesh is excellent.
It swims very near the bottom, is sometimes taken in deep
water by the trawl-net, and occasionally with a baited hook
attached to deep-sea lines. When caught, it should be
handled with great caution. " I have known," says Mr.
Couch, " three men wounded successively in the hand by the
same fish, and the consequences have been in a few minutes
felt as high as the shoulder. Smart friction with oil soon
restores the part to health ;" but such is the degree of danger,
or apprehension of it rather, arising from wounds inflicted
by the spines of the Weevers, that our own fishermen almost
invariably cut off the first dorsal fin, and both opercular
spines, before they bring them on shore : the French have
a police regulation by which their fishermen are directed to
cut off the spines before they expose the fish for sale ; and

26 PERCID.E.

in Spain there is a positive law by which fishermen incur a
penalty if they bring to market any fish whose spines give a
bad wound, without taking them off.

That the Great Weever prefers deep water, that it lives
constantly near the bottom, that it is tenacious of life when
caught, and that its flesh is excellent, are four points that
have been already noticed ; but this subject, in reference to
fishes generally, may be farther illustrated. It may be con-
sidered as a law, that those fish that 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
prone 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 seve-
ral days. The Carp, the Tench, the various flat fish, and the
Eel, are seen gaping and writhing on the stalls of the fish-
mongers for hours in succession ; but no one sees any symp-
tom of motion in the Mackerel, the Salmon, the Trout, or
the Herring, unless present at the capture. These four last-
named, and many others of the same habits, to be eaten in
the greatest perfection, should be prepared for table the same
day they are caught ;* but the Turbot, delicate as it is, may
be kept till the second day with advantage, and even longer,
without injury ; and fishmongers generally are well aware of
the circumstance, that fish from deep water have the muscle
more dense in structure in their language, more firm to the

* The Chub swims near the top of the water, and is caught with a fly, a
moth, or a grasshopper, upon the surface ; and Isaac Walton says, " But
take this rule with you that a Chub newly taken and newly dressed is so much
better than a Chub of a day's keeping after he is dead, that I can compare him
to nothing so fitly as to cherries newly gathered from a tree, and others that
have been bruised and lain a day or two in water.

GREAT WEEVER. 27

touch, that they are of finer flavour, and will keep longer,
than fish drawn from shallow water.

The law referred to has its origin in the principles of
organization ; and though it would be difficult for the ana-
tomist to demonstrate those deviations in structure between
the Trout and the Tench 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.

Between a fish with a true bony skeleton the highest in
organization among fishes, and the Lamprey the lowest, the
differences are most obvious. If we for a moment consider
the Lamprey, which is the lowest in organization of the ver-
tebrated animals, with only a rudimentary vertebral column,
as the supposed centre of zoological structure, and look from
thence up and down the scale of organization, we at the
extreme on one side arrive at man, to whom division of his
substance would be destruction ; but, on the other, we come
to the polype, the division of which gives rise to new ani-
mals, each possessing attributes, not only equal to each
other, but equal also to the animal of which they previously
formed but a small part.

To return to the Great Weever : the number of fin-rays
are,

D. 630 : P. 15 : V. 1 + 5 : A. 1 +31 : C. 14.

Head and body compressed ; teeth small and numerous ;
two small spines before each eye, irides golden yellow ; inter-
operculum and suboperculum smooth and without scales,
cheeks and operculum with small scales ; gill-opening large ;
vent in a line under the last spine of the first dorsal fin ;
scales of the body arranged in oblique lines descending from
above backwards ; colour of the body reddish grey, browner
on the back, paler on the belly, marked with dark and dull
yellow lines in the same oblique direction as the scales ; head

20 PERCID.E.

brown with darker brown spots, gill-covers striped with yel-
low ; membrane of the first dorsal fin black to the fourth
spine, the remainder and the second dorsal fin pale brown,
almost white ; other fins light brown. The spawning season
is in June.

The following lines, referring to various qualities in the
Weever, may be quoted by 'way of conclusion :

" The Weever, which although his prickles venom be,
By fishers cut away, which buyers seldom see ;
Yet for the fish he bears, 'tis not accounted bad."

DRAYTON, POLY-OLBION, Song xxv.

The vignette below represents the barnacle, the species
referred to in the history of Couch's Polyprion, last described.

LESSER WEEVER.

ACANTHOPTEEYG1L

PERCID/t;.

LESSER WEEVER, OTTER-PIKE, STING-FISH.

Trachinus vipera, Cuv. et VALENC. Hist, des Poiss. t. iii. p. 254.

,, draco, Common Weever, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. iii. p. 226, pi. 32.
,, ,, ,, ,, DON. Brit. Fish. pi. 23.

,, ,, ,, ,, FLEM. Brit. An. p. 213, sp. 145.

,, ,, Little ,, JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 336.

THE LESSER WEEVER is more frequently met with on
different parts of our coast than the Greater Weever ; it occurs
in the bays of Dublin and Belfast, and is common on all the
sandy shores of Scotland ; and being much smaller and quicker
in its motions, is even more difficult to handle with security.
In its habits it is active and subtle, burying itself in the
loose soil at the bottom of the water, the head only being
exposed ; it thus waits for its prey aquatic insects, or mi-
nute crustaceous animals which the ascending position of
its mouth enables it to seize with certainty. If trod upon or
only touched while thus on the watch, it strikes with force
either upwards or sideways ; and Pennant states, that he had

30 PERCID.E.

seen it direct its blows with as much judgment as a fighting-
cock. Montagu says, " Whether the supposed venomous
quality of the sharp spines is justly founded, is difficult to
determine ; but it appears to be a fact, that the wounds in-
flicted by these offensive weapons usually exhibit symptoms
of great inflammation and pain, and which has given rise to
the vulgar name of Sting-fish. It is caught sometimes in the
shore-nets, or seines, about Teignmouth and Torcross, rarely
exceeding five or six inches in length." A much larger por-
tion is taken by the shrimpers, who throw them away as
useless. This small species appears to have been much
less perfectly known than the Greater Weever : neither
Bloch nor Lacepede make any mention of it, and other
writers have included in their description of a single species
some of the peculiarities of both. Pennant, in the octavo
edition of his British Zoology, dated 1776, says this small
one " grows to the length of twelve inches ;"' and this state-
ment appears to have misled Dr. Turton, Mr. Donovan, and
Dr. Fleming, who have each assigned to it a length of ten or
twelve inches. From the examination of many specimens, it
is more probable that it very seldom exceeds five inches.

D. 5or 6 24 : P. 15 : V. 1 + 5 : A. 1 24 : C. 11.

Cheeks devoid of scales ; mouth placed more vertical ; teeth
stronger in proportion to its size, but less numerous ; and the
obliquity of the lines on the side less apparent are other
specific distinctions. The back is reddish grey ; lower part
of the sides and the belly silvery white ; membrane of the
first dorsal fin black ; caudal fin tipped with black, the other
fins pale brown. The Lesser Weever spawns in spring, the
Greater Weever spawns in summer : neither species possess
any swimming bladder.

STRIPED RED MULLET

31

ACANTHOPTERYG1L

PERCIDJE.

STRIPED RED MULLET.

Miillus surmuletus, LINNJEUS. BLOCH, pt. ii. pi. 57.

,, ,, Cuv. et. VALENC. Hist, des Poiss. t. iii. p. 433.

Striped Surmullet, VEST*. Brit. Zool. vol. iii. p. 368,

pi. 64.

DON. Brit. Fish. pi. 12.

,, ,, ,, ,, FLEM. Brit. An. p. 216, sp. 158.

,, ,, ,, ,, JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 337.

Generic Characters. Body thick, oblong ; profile of the head approaching to
a vertical line ; scales large, deciduous ; two dorsal fins widely separated, the rays
of the first spinous, those of the second flexible ; teeth on the lower jaw and pa-
late only; two cirri at the symphysis of the lower jaw ; branchiostegous rays 4.

THE characters which distinguish the two species of Red
Mullet common in the Mediterranean, both entitled to a
place in the Catalogue of British Fishes, have been long
known, and figures of both are given in Willughby's Historic,
Piscium, plate S. 7, figs. 1 and 2. One species, the well-
known Striped Red Mullet, is of frequent occurrence along
the extended line of our southern coast from Cornwall to

32 PERCIDE.

Sussex, but becomes more rare in proceeding from thence
northward by the eastern coast, with some exceptions.

The Red Mullets were well known to the ancients, and
the generic term Muilus, by which they are distinguished, is
said to have reference to the scarlet colour of the sandal or
shoe worn by the Roman Consuls, and in later times by the
Emperors, which was called mulleus. So much were these
fish in estimation, that a Mullet of large size appears always
to have been an object of particular admiration, and some-
times of contention. A fish of three pounds weight produced
a considerable sum to the fortunate fisherman, while the cost
of a fish of four pounds and a half, says Martial, was ruinous.
A Mullet of six pounds is recorded to have produced
a sum equal to 4S/. ; one still larger, 64/. ; and even
240/. were given for three of very unusual size, procured
on the same day for a repast of more than usual magnifi-
cence. The Striped Red Mullet is the species which,
occasionally only, attains to so enviable a size in the Me-
diterranean ; the second species, which on our coast is very
rare, is much smaller, but more beautiful in colour, and is
the species which on that account the Romans exhibited
in vases of glass to their friends and guests. They also
kept Mullets in their numerous vivaria ; but, thus confined,
the fish did not continue to increase in size. At the present
time, the Mullets of Provence and Toulon are in high esti-
mation. The flesh is white, firm, of good flavour, and being
free from fat, is considered easy of digestion. The liver is
the part of the fish in the greatest request. On our own
coast the Striped Red Mullet seldom exceeds fourteen
inches in length, and even this would be considered a fish of
large size. The largest for which I possess any authority
occurred several years since. This Mullet weighed three
pounds six ounces, was in the highest perfection, and

STRIPED RED MULLET. 33

beautiful in colour. It was sent from Weymouth as a
present to the late Thomas Palmer, Esq. of Berkeley-
square.

The Striped Red Mullet has been considered migratory ;
but it appears in the shops of the London fishmongers
throughout the year, though in much greater plenty during
the summer, at which time their colours are most vivid,
and the fish, as food, in the best condition. If closely
examined, it will be observed that where the scales happen
not to have been removed, the natural colour is little more
than a pale pink, passing into white on the belly, the lower
part of the sides having three or four yellow longitudinal
stripes ; but that the mixture of purple and bright red
which ornaments various parts of the fish is the consequence
of violence : every scale removed by force and but little is
necessary increases this colour ; it is produced by extrava-
sated blood lying under the transparent cuticle, but above
the true skin.

These fish take a wide range through the water. Many
are caught in Mackerel-nets near the surface during that
fishing season, while roving from place to place ; but the
principal supply is derived from the trawl-net, which tra-
verses the bottom, and encloses these and other fish in a
manner that will be hereafter described. The Mullets occur
sometimes in profusion, at other times are exceedingly scarce,
owing to the fish shifting or changing their ground, remain-
ing unmolested till accident or perseverance betrays their new
locality, which on the southern coast is sometimes several
miles east or west of their previous position.

In Cornwall, Mr. Couch says, it abounds near the shore
in summer, but goes into deeper water in the winter, and
is then only taken in the trawls.

So abundant are these fish on our southern coast occa-

VOL. I. D

34 PERC1DE.

sionally, that in the month of August 1819, five thousand
were taken in one night in Weymouth Bay.

Mr. Paget and his brother in their sketch of the Natural
History of Yarmouth and its neighbourhood, say, that in
some Mackerel seasons the Red Mullet is abundant, in
others scarcely seen ; ten thousand were sent from thence to
the London markets in one week during the month of May
1831.

The Striped Red Mullet spawns in the spring, and the
young are five inches long by the end of October. The food
appears to be selected from among the softer cmstaceous and
molluscous animals. In connexion with their food and the
search made for it, the long cirri articulated to the under
jaw require to be noticed. These cirri are generally placed
near the mouth, and they are mostly found in those fishes
that are known to feed very near the bottom. On dissecting
these appendages in the Mullet, the common Cod, and
others, I found them to consist of an elongated and slender
flexible cartilage, invested by numerous longitudinal muscular
and nervous fibres, and covered by an extension of the com-
mon skin. The muscular apparatus is most apparent in the
Mullet, the nervous portion most conspicuous in the Cod.
These appendages are to them, I have no doubt, delicate
organs of touch, by which all the species provided with them
are enabled to ascertain, to a certain extent, the qualities of
the various substances with which they are brought in con-
tact, and are analogous in function to the beak, with its dis-
tribution of nerves, among certain wading and swimming
birds which probe for food beyond their sight ; and may be
considered another instance, among the many beautiful pro-
visions of Nature, by which, in the case of fishes feeding at
great depths, where light is deficient, compensation is made
for consequent imperfect vision.

STRIPED RED MULLET. 35

The fin-ray formula is as follows :

D. 7 1 + 8 : P. 17 : V. 1 + 5 : A. 2 + 6 : C. 13.

The forehead, nape, cheek, and operculum are covered with
scales ; irides pale yellow ; mucous pores abundant ; the
teeth and the colours of the body have been already noticed ;
the membrane of the first dorsal fin is tinged with yellow,
those of the other fins transparent ; the axilla of the ventral
fin furnished with a pointed scale ; the vent placed under the
commencement of the second dorsal fin.

36

PERCID.E.

ACANTHOPTERYGII.

PERCIDJE.

PLAIN RED MULLET.

Mullus barbatus, LINNSUS.

Cuv. et VALENC. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. iii. p. 442, pi. 70.
BLOCH. pt. x. pi. 348, fig. 2.

)( ,, Surmullet, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. iii. p. 365.

>t ,, Red Mullet, COUCH, MS.

,, Surmullet, JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 338.

PENNANT admitted this fish in his British Zoology on
account of one taken on the coast of Scotland, but which it
does not appear he had any opportunity of examining. Mr.
Couch, according to the manuscript obligingly lent for this
work, has had the good fortune to obtain two specimens of
this very rare Mullet on the coast of Cornwall ; which are
described as showing 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 Striped Mullet. A specimen of
this Plain Mullet in the collection at the British Museum,
and another in my own possession, have the colour of the
most delicate carmine on the back and sides, the belly silvery

PLAIN RED MULLET. 37

white, but without any appearance of a yellow line, and very
similar to the coloured figure in Bloch, plate 348, fig. 2, and
the figure in the coloured copies of the work of Cuvier and
Valenciennes before quoted, plate 70.

Since the publication of the previous account, a specimen
has been taken on the coast of Berwickshire, as recorded
by Dr. George Johnston of Berwick.

The habits of this species are stated to be the same as
those of the striped Red Mullet, and the number of fin-rays
is as follows :

D. 7 1 + 8 : P. 16 : V. 6 : A. 1 + 6 : C. 15.

The positions of the fins differ a little in the two species,
as shown in the woodcuts on comparison, and the colour of
the connecting membrane is a pale yellow : the irides also
are yellow, the scales somewhat smaller in size than those of
the Striped Mullet, and equally deciduous, but decidedly
distinct in structure, as the vignettes exhibit. The trivial
term barbatus applied to this species is objectionable, as the
cirri, to which it is intended to refer, are common not only
to our Striped Mullet, but also to several Indian and Ame-
rican species of Red Mullets, which were till lately included
in the genus Mullus : the cirri are in reality a generic rather
than a specific character.

The head is remarkable for its almost vertical profile, and
the fish seldom exceeds six inches in length.

A scale from the lateral line of each fish is added in
farther proof of the distinction of the species ; that on the
right hand is from the Plain Red Mullet, the other from the
Striped Red Mullet.

: '" (

38

WITH HARD CHEEKS.

ACANTHOPTERYGII.

WITH HARD CHEEKS.

THE RED GURNARD, CUCKOO GURNARD.

Trigla cuculus, LINNAEUS.

,, Cuv. et VALENC. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. iv. p. 26.

,, pini, BLOCK, pt. xi. pi. 355.

,, lineata, MONTAGU, Mem. Wern. Soc. vol. ii. pt. ii. p. 460.

,, ,, FLEM. Brit. An. p. 215, sp. 153.

,, ,, JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 338.

Generic Characters, Head nearly square, covered with bony plates ; gill-
cover and shoulder-plate ending in a spine directed backwards ; body elongated,
nearly round ; two dorsal fins, the rays of the first spinous, those of the second
flexible ; teeth in both jaws and on the front of the vorr.er pointed, small, and
numerous ; branchiostegous rays 7 ; gill-opening large ; three detached rays at
the base of each pectoral fin.

CUVIEK'S second family of the Acanthopterygii contains
those genera, the species of which have their cheeks defended
by indurated plates, which are sometimes spinous. Of the
first genus of this family, Trigla, the Gurnards, the British
coast produces nine species, three of which are common, the
others are of rarer occurrence. They are chiefly caught by
the trawl-net used in deep water ; as the Gurnards mostly
swim near the bottom, and are tenacious of life after they
have been taken from the sea. Excellent amusement is

RED GURNARD. 39

occasionally to be obtained by fishing for them with hand
lines, the hooks baited with a shining silvery piece of a sand-
launce.

The Red Gurnard is very common on the English coast,
and in Ireland is taken from Waterforcl on the south, up the
eastern shore to Londonderry in the north, but seldom found
larger than twelve or fourteen inches in length : it feeds on
crustaceous animals, spawns in May or June, and I have
found the characters well marked in young Gurnards only
an inch and a half long, taken in the small pools among the
rocks under Portland Island, by the end of August. Their
flesh is good food, and they are in greatest perfection about
October, and through the winter months. The number of
fin-rays is as follows :

D. 9 18 : P. 103 : V. 1 +6 : A. 16 : C. 11.

Few fishes have the head so well defended as the Gur-
nard : its form is nearly square ; the nose, in the Red Gur-
nard, with four projecting, but short tooth-like processes on
each side ; the mouth small, a band of small teeth on both
jaws, and a small row on the vomer ; the cheeks hard, gill-
openings large ; operculum with one small spine directed
backwards, and one much larger on the scapular region above
the pectoral fin ; three free rays at the base of this fin, which
are abundantly supplied with nerves, and assist the fish as an
organ of touch to find its food at the bottom ; the eyes large,
the edge of the orbits with two or three small spines directed
upwards ; both dorsal fins placed in a groove between two
rows of short triangular spines directed backwards ; the body
is covered with small oval ciliated scales ; the lateral line is
not armed, runs parallel to the line of the back of the fish,
and is crossed throughout its length with small, short, straight
elevated lines, which have the appearance of a series of pins,
Bloch compared them to the acicular leaves of the pine, a

4U WITH HARD CHEEKS.

resemblance which suggested to him the trivial name of pint
for this species.* The lateral line bifurcates at the caudal
end. The colour of the body of this fish when quite fresh is
a beautiful bright red, the sides and belly silvery white ; the
first ray of the first dorsal fin slightly crenated ; the colour of
the fins reddish white, becoming paler the second or third day
after the fish has been caught.

As the Gurnards are remarkable for the various forms of
the swimming-bladders in the different species, outlines of
some of these forms are added below, and an account of the
structure, functions, and peculiarities of this singular and
anomalous organ is here annexed.

Rondeletius was the first to notice that the swimming or
air-bladder was more constantly found in fresh-water fishes
than in those of the sea ; and Needham and Redi soon after
pointed out the diversity of form in the swimming-bladder
that prevailed in different species. Redi afterwards described
the duct or tube by which this air-vessel communicates with
the alimentary canal, and valuable additions to our knowledge
on this subject have been since made by Monro, Lacepede,
St. Hilaire, and Cuvier.

The swimming-bladder, as before stated, varies consider-
ably in form in different species. In the Sapphirine Gurnard
it is composed of three lobes, placed side by side, as shown

* Montagu called this species lineata, for the same reason.

RED GURNARD. 41

in the outline ; in other Gurnards it is bilobed, but not very
deeply cleft at the anterior part : the common Red Gurnard,
the subject of the present notice, and the Grey Gurnard, are
instances. In the Salmon, the Herring, and the Eel tribes,
it is one elongated cylindrical tube, lying close to the under
surface of the backbone. In the Sciaena aquila, the edges
of the single-chambered swimming-bladder of that fish are
fringed all round, of which a representation will be added ;
but in the Carp, this organ is formed of two oblong cavities,
the larger one lying behind the other, and communicating by
an aperture in the neck or narrow portion connecting the two
parts. From the anterior surface of the posterior lobe in the
Carp, (a section of the whole subject reduced in size from
Monroes Anatomy of Fishes being here added, with a probe
introduced through the aperture in the neck, to show the
communication between the two chambers,) a tube is given
off, which, passing forwards, opens into the oesophagus, but is
closed against the admission of any extraneous bodies by a
delicate valve, which can only be passed in the outward
direction.

The air-bladders are usually made up of two membranes.
The inner one has a moist, smooth, and, apparently, a se-
creting surface ; the outer membrane is fibrous in its struc-
ture, and a portion of the bladder is in some species invested
by a fold of the peritoneum : the three coats, when present,
are nourished by blood-vessels, which are very apparent.

The air-bladder does not occur in all fishes : some fishes,

42 M'lTH HARD CHEEKS.

and those principally that live near the bottom of the water,
are without any. Among those species that have an air-
bladder, many appear on the closest examination to have no
canal or tube by which the air, with which the bladder is
more or less distended, can escape. Muscles for compressing
the air-bladder are obvious in some species, and wanting in
others, yet the air-bladder apparently performs the same ser-
vice in all.

The gas contained in these air-bladders has also been the
subject of repeated investigations. Priestly and Fourcroy
determined the gas in the Carp to be nearly pure nitrogen ;
other chemists found the air in different fishes to consist of
nitrogen, oxygen, and carbonic acid ; the nitrogen in greater
proportion, and the oxygen in smaller, than in atmospheric
air. In the air-bladder of marine fishes the oxygen is in
excess, varying from forty to eighty-seven per cent., depend-
ing on the depth at which the different species usually re-
main. The Gurnards were frequently selected for these
experiments, their air-bladders having no canal of communi-
cation admitted of being removed without losing their con-
tents. It should be borne in mind that fresh water contains
more oxygen than that of the sea.

The air thus found in these bladders, however variable in
its nature, is believed to be secreted by the inner lining mem-
brane, and in some instances by a red body, which appears
to form part of the walls of the air-bladder itself, and is made
up of minute blood-vessels arranged between the membranes.
This structure in the Conger Eel will amply repay the trou-
ble of examination.

That the air found in this bladder is not taken in at the
mouth, is proved not only by the perfection of the valves of
the canal, which only open outwards, but also by the want of
uniformity in the quality of the air itself, and its existence in
those swimming-bladders that have no canal of communi-

REJD GURNARD. 43

cation. That one use of these air-bladders to the fishes pos-
sessing them is to enable them to alter their specific gravity
with reference to that of the fluid they inhabit, seems almost
certain. We see the Gold-fishes in our ornamental vases
ascend and descend in the water without making any visible
external muscular effort. In this respect their action is to be
understood and explained by the well-known hydrostatic toy
of the philosophical instrument makers, in which a small
glass-balloon, or other figure, confined in a column of water
has its weight, by the introduction of a small quantity of air,
so nicely balanced in reference to the specific gravity of the
water, that it is made to ascend or descend according to the
degree of pressure made by the finger on the elastic cover of
the top.

In other respects, however, the function is quite as anoma-
lous and uncertain as the quality of its contained gas. Our
two Red Mullets have no swimming-bladder, yet they appear
in the water to possess all the powers of the Indian or Ame-
rican species, which are well provided with them. The two
British species of Mackerel, hereafter to be described, both
swim near the surface of the water with the same apparent
swiftness and ease : one has a swimming-bladder, the other
none. Of our two species of Orthagoriscus, which, as far as
the habits of such rare fishes are known, appear to possess the
same powers, one has a swimming-bladder, the other not.

" The swimming-bladder of fishes," says Dr. Roget in his
excellent Bridgewater Treatise, " is regarded by many of
the German naturalists as having some relations with the re-
spiratory function, and as being the rudiment of the pulmo-
nary cavity of land animals ; the passage of communication
with the oesophagus being conceived to represent the trachea."

Hervey long ago observed " that the air in birds passed
into cells beyond the substance of the lungs ; thus showing a
resemblance to the cellular lungs in Reptiles, and the air-

44 WITH HARD CHEEKS.

bladder in fishes." M. Agassiz, in dissecting a species of
Lepisosteus, a fresh-water fish of the rivers of America, found
the air-bladder composed of several cells, with a canal pro-
ceeding upwards into the pharynx, and ending in an elon-
gated slit, with everted edges, resembling a glottis or tracheal
aperture. However obvious may be these relations of struc-
ture, it is still difficult to believe there can be any analogy in
function, when it is recollected that one-fourth of the fishes
known are entirely without air-bladders, and that two-thirds
of the other three-fourths have neither canal nor aperture for
external communication, but that all are provided with gills.

The search for these relations of structure in animals of
different classes, is among the most interesting of the inves-
tigations of the comparative anatomist. The sexual organs
of the Sharks and Rays very closely resemble those of some
of the reptiles, and the young of both these families of carti-
laginous fishes, as far as they have been examined, are now
known to possess, for a short time, external branchial fila-
ments. Linnaeus called the cartilaginous fishes AMPHIBIA
NANTES.

The trivial names of cuculus and Cuckoo Gurnard are said
to have been appropriated to this species on account of the
similarity in the sound which issues from this fish when taken
out of the water to the note of the well-known bird.

STREAKED GURNARD.

45

ACANTHOPTERYGH.

WITH BAUD CHEEKS.

THE STREAKED GURNARD.

FRENCH GURNARD AND ROCK GURNARD.

Trigla lineata,
,, Adriatica,
,, lineata,

Adriatica,
lineata,

LINNAEUS.
GMELIN.

Cuv. et VALENC. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. iv. p. 34.
Br.ocn, pt. x. pi. 354.
Streaked Gurnard, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. iii. p. 377, pi. 66.

,, ,, DON. Brit. Fish, pi. iv.

,, ,, FLEM. Brit. An. p. 215, sp. 150.

,, ,, JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 339.

THE STREAKED GURNARD is the second species of the
British Gurnards having large pectoral fins reaching beyond
the vent, several of which species have here been placed in
succession, the more readily to distinguish them from those
hereafter to be described, which have short pectoral fins.

In the Gurnard now to be noticed, the head is much
shorter, the profile more vertical, and the arming spines of
the head but little produced, while the whole surface of the
body exhibits transverse lines reaching from the dorsal ridge
or crest on each side to the belly.

46 \VITH HARD CHEEKS.

This species seldom exceeds twelve or thirteen inches in
length, and was first described by Brunnich under the name
of Adriatica. It is found at the Canaries, Teneriffe, the
Mediterranean, on our southern and occasionally on our
eastern coast, but in the last two places not in great numbers.
Like the Gurnards generally, this species feeds principally on
crustaceous animals, and is usually taken with the trawling-
net. The formula of the fin-rays is as follows :

D. 10 16 : P. 10 3 : V. 1 + 5 : A. 13 : C. 11.

The head is short, the upper jaw but little produced ; the
occipital, opercular, and humeral spines short and broad ; eye
rather small compared with those of other species, irides
yellow, pupils dark blue ; orbital spines two or three ; the
scales forming the lateral line elevated, carinated, and notched;
the body crossed by as many lines as there are scales on the
lateral line, with two rows of ordinary, square, ciliated scales
to each line ; the general colour of the body and fins a fine
rich red ; the fins spotted and sometimes edged with a darker
colour ; the belly white ; the pectorals long, tipped with blue,
and with four rows of large darkish blue spots, so arranged as
to appear like continuous bands when the fins are closed.
The swimming-bladder is a single oval chamber, with strong
lateral muscles of contraction.

SAPPHIRINE GURNARD.

ACANTHOPTERYG11.

WITH HARD CHEEKS.

THE SAPPHIRINE GURNARD.

Trigla hinindo, LINN/EUS. BLOCK, pt. ii. pi. 60.

,, ,, Cuv. et VALENC. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. iv. p. 40.

., PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. iii. p. 376, pi. 68.

DON. Brit. Fish. pi. 1.

,, Itevis, MONTAGU, Mem. Wern. Soc. vol. ii. pt. 2, p. 455.
,, ,, FLEM. Brit. An. p. 214, sp. 148.

,, hirundo, JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 340.

THE large size of the pectoral fins, and their fine blue
colour on the inner surface, probably suggested both the
specific names of this Gurnard, which is also the most valu-
able of the British species. In addition to its being equal to
either of the others as food, it is not only much more abun-
dant, but attains also a larger size, occasionally measuring
two feet in length. That this species is the Trigla lavis of
Montagu, there can be but little doubt ; and the words of
Linnseus, " linea laterali aculeate?' are certainly incorrect in
reference to this fish, and induced Montagu to consider his
Trigla lavis as distinct. Pennant, Mr. Donovan, and Dr.
Fleming, following Linnaeus, have each described this species
as having a rough lateral line. Cuvier and Valenciennes, in

48 WITH HARD CHEEKS.

their fourth volume, and Mr. Walcott in his MS. (obligingly
lent me by his son,) describe the lateral line as smooth ; and
it certainly is so, whatever may be the direction in which the
finger is passed over it, and so decidedly different in this
respect from the other Gurnards as to have obtained among
the fishermen who constantly handle them, the distinguishing
name of Smoothside.

" This species," says Lacepede, " was first described by
Salvianus, and is common in the Mediterranean : it is also
common round our coast generally, but particularly from
West Bay to the Land's End, where the Gurnards are called
Tubs, Tubfish, and, in reference to colour, Red Tubs.
Like the other species of Gurnards, they are taken by the
trawl-net chiefly, but many are also caught on the long lines
called bulters, with their baited hooks. The flesh is of good
flavour, though rather dry, and requires sauce. In the north
of Europe the flesh is salted for keeping.

D. 9 16 : P. 113 : 1 + 5 : A. 15 : C. 11.

This species bears some general resemblance to the Red
Gurnard in form, but the head is larger and more flattened ;
the eyes large, irides yellow, and pupil dark greenish blue ;
the prevailing colour of the head and body brownish red ; the
pectoral fins large and long, reaching beyond the vent, blue
on the inner surface, brownish red without, the fin-rays white;
the spines of the operculum and scapula similar to those of
the Red Gurnard, but the supporting rays of the first dorsal
fin are not so strong as in that species. The scales are small,
oval, and smooth ; those on the lateral line slightly elevated,
but perfectly smooth, and the line bifurcates at the tail.
The air-bladder, as shown by the outline at page 40, has
three lobes, with strong lateral contracting muscles. Risso
says this species deposits its spawn in spring, but Mr. Couch
considers that this takes place in winter : and the ova are
certainly very large towards the end of the year.

LITTLE GURNARD. 49

ACANTHOPTERYGII. WITH HARD CHEEKS.

THE LITTLE GURNARD.

Triglu pocciloplera, Le Petit Perlon, Cuv. et VALENC. Hist. Nat. des Poiss.

t. iv. p. 47.
,, ,, The Little Gurnard, THOMP. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1837, p. 61.

AMONG some small fish taken in the summer of 1815 at
Youghal in Ireland, and submitted by Mr. Ball to the exa-
mination of Mr. William Thompson, the latter gentleman
found a small specimen of a Gurnard about two inches long,
which on comparison with, was found to differ from, Trigla
cuculus, lineala? hirundo, and gurnardus, but agreed in
every character with the Trigla pasciloptera of Messrs. Cu-
vier and Valenciennes, as given in their work on the Natural
History of Fishes, vol. iv. p. 47, quoted above, which fish
had only at that time been taken at Dieppe. M. Valen-
ciennes, at my request, very kindly sent me over a beautiful
coloured drawing of this species, and comparing this represen-
tation with the small specimen from Youghal which had been
entrusted to me, I am also induced to consider it identical,

VOL. I. E

50 WITH HARD CHEEKS.

and have accordingly given this species a place among British
Fishes.

M. Valenciennes first discovered this little Gurnard on the
sandy shores of Dieppe : it is distinguished from others by
having numerous small milk-white spots on the dark-coloured
inner surface of the pectoral fins. It is usually found in the
small pools of sea-water left on the sands by the retiring
tide ; and it is also taken in quantity by the shrimpers
there when working their small nets in three or four feet
water. These shrimping fishermen, who are well acquainted
with this small Gurnard, agree in opinion that this little
species seldom exceeds four inches in length.

The head is of a uniform pale red ; the back is reddish
brown, which becomes grey when the specimen is preserved
in spirit of wine ; the belly is silvery : about the origin of the
ventral fins the surface inclines to red ; the body and sides are
tinged with gold colour, giving to this little fish a very bril-
liant appearance ; both dorsal fins and the tail are of a red
colour, with darker shades of violet towards the edges of the
connecting membrane. The pectoral fins are dark reddish
brown, with, as before observed, several small milk white
spots on the darker part of the inner surface of the fin, next
to the body of the fish.

The number of the fin-rays in this species are

D. 9 17 -. P. 11 3 : V. 1 +5 : A. 15 : C. 12.

The representation exhibits the peculiarity of the character
and arming of the head and gill-covers. It was copied from
the drawing sent me by M. Valenciennes, as before referred
to.

PIPER.

51

ACANTHOPTERYGH.

WITH HARD CHEEKS.

THE PIPER.

Trigla lyra, LINNAEUS. BLOCH, pt. x. pi. 350.

,, ,, Cuv. et VALENC. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. iv. p. 55.

,, Piper, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. iii. p. 374, pi. 67.

,, ,, ,, DON. Brit. Fish. pi. 118.

,, ,, ,, FLKM. Brit. An. p. 215, sp. 154.

,, ,, ,, JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 341 .

THE PIPER is at once distinguished from the other species
of British Gurnards, by the large size of the head, the greater
extent of the nasal projections, and the length and strength of
the opercular and scapulary spines ; the arming of the dorsal
crest is also more decided. This fish was described by Belon
and figured by Rondeletius, and is a species well known in
the Mediterranean Sea. On our own coast it is rare ; it was
however obtained by Pennant, and since his time by Mr.
Donovan and Mr. Couch. Pennant says the Piper is fre-
quently taken ; but this apparent contradiction to what is
stated above, is explained by an observation made by Mr.
Couch. " The Piper wanders about more than the others,
at least, of the Cornish species ; consequently it is sometimes
common, and at others somewhat rare." It is chiefly obtain-

E 2

52 WITH HARD CHEEKS.

ed on the western shores of Devonshire and Cornwall, occa-
sionally off Anglesey, and is also said to have been taken in
Belfast Bay. It attains the length of two feet, weighing
then three and a half pounds, and is supposed to have gained
the name of Piper from the sound which escapes from it when
taken in hand from the sea. All the species, however, emit
a grunting noise at intervals for a considerable time ; which
may probably have given origin to the name that distinguishes
them by some corruption from the Latin grunnio or the
French grander. Perhaps a little assisted by its rarity, its
flesh has been considered superior to that of the other Gur-
nards ; even Quin has borne testimony to the merits of a
West-country Piper.

D. 9 16 : P. 113 : V. 1 + 5 : A. 16 : C. 11.

The head is large, but the body declines rapidly to the tail ;
eyes large, irides yellow, pupils dark blue ; one strong orbital
spine in front, a smaller one behind ; anterior lateral portions
of the muzzle very much produced on both sides, and notched,
the central indentation deep in proportion ; under jaw the
shortest ; gill-openings large ; both opercular and the scapu-
lary spines large and strong. In one of my own specimens,
twenty inches long, the scapulary spine measures two inches
and a quarter ; pectoral fins reaching beyond the vent ; the
arming on the ridges of the back more conspicuous in this
than in any other British species ; lateral line slightly ele-
vated above the general surface, and rising gradually to the
upper edge of the operculum : scales of the body small, oval,
and ciliated ; the general colour a brilliant red ; belly white,
fins red. Mr. Donovan's figure, otherwise very good, is
much too pale in colour.

GREY GURNARD.

53

ACANTHOPTERYGII.

WITH HARD CHEEKS.

THE GREY GURNARD.
KNOUD OR NOWD. Ireland. CROONER. Scotland.

Trigla gurnardus, LINNAEUS. BLOCH, pt. ii. pi. 58.

,, ,, Cuv. et VALENC. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. iv. p. 62.

,, ,, Grey Gurnard, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. iii. p. 371, pi. 65.

DON. Brit. Fish. pi. 30.

FLEM. Brit. An. p. 215, sp. 152.
,, ,, ,, ,, JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 342.

THE GREY GURNARD is much more common than either
the Piper or the Streaked Gurnard, and is easily distinguished
by its shorter pectoral fins, and by its elongated and slender
body, generally of a greenish brown colour, spotted with
white above the lateral line. This species was first described
by Belon ; there is also a good description in Willughby's
Historia Piscium, and an excellent figure in Klein. The
Grey Gurnard is taken along the line of our southern coast
generally, up the eastern coast going northwards, on the

54 WITH HARD CHEEKS.

coast of Scotland, and at the Orkney Islands ; it is found also
in the Baltic, and on the west coast of Norway. In Ireland
the Grey Gurnard occurs in all the localities which produce
the Red Gurnard, T. cuculus ; namely, from Waterford in
the south, up the eastern coast to Londonderry in the north.
This species spawns in May or June ; its swimming-bladder in
shape resembles that of the Trigla cuculus of Linnseus, but
it is not considered so good a fish to eat. The fin formula
is

D. 820 : P. 10 3 : V. 1 +5 : A. 20 : C. 11.

The head is less elevated than in the other Gurnards, and
the profile of the face is concave ; the anterior prominences of
the upper jaw armed with two or three denticulations ; eyes
large, irides silvery Avhite, pupils black, each orbit with one
small spine on its edge ; opercular and humeral spine slender
and sharp : the form of the body of the fish long and attenu-
ated ; the general colour brownish grey or greenish grey, with
a few irregularly placed white spots on the back ; the belly
silvery white ; the lateral line strongly marked with a sharp
crest formed by scales of a white colour ; the scales of the
body small, oval, and smooth : first dorsal fin brown, some-
times spotted with black ; the three or four first rays granu-
lated, and rough to the touch : second dorsal fin and tail light
brown : pectoral fins short, not reaching the vent ; dusky grey
in colour, but liable to some variation : ventral and anal fins
nearly white. Occasional varieties in colour occur among the
Gurnards, but these variations are mostly confined to the
species cuculus and gurnardus of Linnseus. The varieties of
the latter are frequently red, resembling cuculus, but are dis-
tinguished by the short pectoral fins, the three or four granu-
lated spines of the first dorsal fin, and the long and slender
body. The varieties of cucMlus are mostly brown, resembling
in this respect the general appearance of the Grey Gurnard,
but are distinguished by their long pectoral fins reaching

GREY GURNARD. 55

beyond the vent, as well as their shorter and thicker body.
However different in colour varieties of the Gurnards may
appear, the other specific characters remain unchanged, with
the exceptions, that the young Grey Gurnard till seven or
eight inches long has a black spot on the upper edge of the
membrane of the first dorsal fin, in this particular resembling
the species next to be described ; and further, that the sharp
serrated scales forming the lateral line become smoother by
age.

The northern provincial name, Crooner, says Dr. George
Johnston of Berwick, " may have reference either to the hard
and somewhat peculiarly shaped head of this fish, from
" croon," the top of the head ; or it may be derived from the
verb " croon," viz. to hum an air in an unmusical tone,
because of the peculiar noise which the fish sometimes utters
on being taken from the water."

A writer in the Magazine of Zoology and Botany, says,
" The Grey Gurnard is very abundant on the western coasts
of Scotland, and often delights to swim on the surface. We
recollect observing the sports of shoals of this species when
on an excursion to the Western Isles, during a week of beau-
tiful, but too calm weather, for it was before steam-boats
plied. They were often discovered by their noise, a dull
croak or croon, whence most probably their provincial name
of Crooner, 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 and 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 din-
ner from the deck of the vessel."

56

WITH HARD CHEEKS.

ACANTHOPTERYGII.

WITH HARD CHEEKS.

BLOCK'S GURNARD.

Trigla B/oc/m, YARRELL.

,, cuculus, BLOCH, pt. ii. pi. 59.

)( ,, Cuv. et VALENC. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. iv. p. 67.

,, ,, Red Gurnard, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. iii. p. 373, pi. 66.

M ,, ,, MONTAGU, Mem. Wern. Soc. vol. ii. pt. ii.

p. 457.

,, FLEM. Brit. An. p. 215, sp. 153.

,, BLOCH. JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 343.

Two species of Red Gurnards having received the trivial
name of cuculus, the first given by Linnaeus, the second by
Bloch, and both species entitled to a place in this work, I
have followed the practice usually adopted in such cases, and
propose for the second the name of its describe! 1 , as a tribute
due to the author of the most valuable work on Ichthyology
that has yet been completed.

This second species of Red Gurnard, the T. cuculus of
Bloch, not the T. cuculus of Linnaeus, and which, for the
reason assigned, as well as for distinction, is here called
Bloch's Gurnard, is not common as a British species on
some parts of the coast. Pennant, by whom it is shortly
described, and who has added a figure, as quoted above, and

BLOCK'S GURNARD.

Bloch, also, plate 59, considered this fish as the T. cuculua
of Linnseus : Klein, however, appears to have been of a
different opinion ; and Cuvier and M. Valenciennes have
given it as a distinct species. Risso has also described it
as a distinct species, among his Fishes of the Mediterranean,
under the name of Granaou, T. cuculus, and says the first
spinous ray of the first dorsal fin is the longest ; which is
not the case in the common T. cuculus. Compared with
the common cuculus, (the true T. cuculus of Linnseus,
the first of the Gurnards described and figured in the pre-
sent work,) Block's Gurnard will be found to have the
body longer and narrower, the head smaller but more power-
fully armed, the pectoral fins short, not reaching to the anal
fin, and the first dorsal fin having a conspicuous black spot
on the margin of the membrane connecting the fourth, fifth,
and sixth rays. The spot on the first dorsal fin, however,
must not be considered as sufficient alone to identify this
species ; as two specimens under comparison, both having
this black spot, are in reality only varieties of the Grey
Gurnard.

Montagu considered the Red Gurnard, described in the
Memoirs of the Wernerian Society already quoted, as dis-
tinct from the Grey Gurnard ; but has certainly described
the common Red Gurnard under the term lineata, consider-
ing this word as applicable to the linear elevations along the
side which cross the lateral line, and which induced Bloch to
call the species T. pini. This character is shown in the
woodcut of the Red Gurnard, but is scarcely perceptible,
from its diminished size, without the assistance of a lens.

Not possessing a specimen, the description of Colonel
Montagu is adopted. " The forehead is more sloping than
that of the Grey Gurnard ; the nose armed with three spines
on each side ; the spine on the operculum of the gills, and
that behind it, are long and rough ; lateral line and ridge of

58 WITH HARD CHEEKS.

the back on each side serrated ; a large black spot on the
first dorsal fin at the margin, extending between the third
and fifth rays. The whole body is rough : the spine on the
gill-covers extends nearly as far as the spine behind it ; the
lateral line and ridges on the back more strongly serrated
than on the Grey Gurnard." " Many of these," according to
Colonel Montagu, " are taken in the summer months on the
coast of Devon by the shore-nets ; their size inferior to the
other Gurnards, rarely exceeding a foot in length, and seldom
above nine or ten inches.

The fin-ray formula, as given by Cuvier, is as follows :

D. 8 19 : P. 11 3 : V. 1 + 5 : A. 17 : C. 11.

This species occurs also in the Channel, at Boulogne, and,
as before mentioned, in the Mediterranean. Cuvier, and M.
Valenciennes, in their voluminous work now in progress, have
described the internal anatomical distinctions.

Since the publication of the first edition of the British
Fishes, Dr. Parnell, in his published prize essay on the
Fishes of the Forth, and Mr. William Thompson, in his
notices of the Fishes of Ireland, published in the Annals of
Zoology and Botany, have considered this Gurnard as the
young only of the Grey Gurnard, and not therefore entitled
to specific distinction. Their reasons for coming to this
conclusion are also fully stated. It will be remembered that
this Gurnard has been figured as distinct by Klein, Bloch,
and Pennant ; and has been described as distinct by Risso,
and several others. In the first part of a very recent pub-
lication on the Fishes of Denmark, by M. Henry Kroyer,
a distinguished Danish naturalist lately returned from Spits-
bergen, and now travelling in Lapland, our Trigla Blochii
is included as distinct from T. gurnardus. Baron Cuvier
was perfectly aware of the changes which occur in the Grey
Gurnard. T. gurnardus, from youth to age, and the follow-

BLOCKS GURNARD. 59

ing comparative statements from his account of tlie anatomy
of the viscera of the T. gurnardus and of T. cuculus of Bloch,
the T. Blochii of this work, seems to me to prove that Cuvier
must have had two distinct species under examination.

GREY GURNARD.

Liver small, of three lobes, deeply divided, the left lobe
terminates in an elongated point.

Stomach large, triangular, flattened above, parietes thin,
seven csecal appendages, four on the left side.

Spleen elongated, three-sided.

Swim-bladder large, in form like that of T. pint, i.e.
bilobed, and but slightly divided.

Vertebrae : fourteen abdominal, twenty-four caudal.

BLOCK'S GURNARD.

Liver larger than that of any other Gurnard, the left lobe
divided, and forming several small lobules.

Stomach small, in form a scalene triangle, five csecal ap-
pendages, three on the left side ; very long and very large.

Spleen excessively small.

Swim-bladder very small, oval, very slightly divided ante-
riorly.

Vertebrae : thirteen abdominal, twenty-four caudal.

Having stated that the various species of Gurnards are
chiefly obtained by a particular mode of fishing in the sea
called trawling, and representations being introduced at the
foot of the next two pages of a trawl-net, and the sort
of fishing-boat most common on the Sussex and Hamp-
shire coasts, it remains to describe both, and the mode of
using them. The boat is about twenty-five feet long, and
ten feet in the beam, or breadth. The average burthen
about ten tons ; and they carry three tons of ballast gene-
rally shingle, with some loose pigs of iron, which are shifted

60 WITH HARD CHEEKS.

from side to side as occasion may require. The boat is
fitted with two masts, with a square sail to each ; sometimes
a third mast and sail are set up when the wind is very light,
and thus rigged they are called lugsail-boats. The trawl-net
for a boat of this power has a beam of eighteen or twenty
feet in length the extent of the beam being the breadth of
the mouth of the net ; and the length of the net is from
sixty to seventy-five feet. In the representation of this net,
the rope on the extreme left that runs through the block is
called the trawl-warp, and is the only connexion between the
boat and the net when the net is overboard. The ropes
passing obliquely from the block to the two sides are called
the bridle, and serve effectually to keep the open mouth of
the net square to the front, when the net is drawn along over
the ground by the boat. The trawl-beam is four inches
diameter, and is supported at the height of twenty or twenty-
four inches above the ground by a heavy frame of iron of a
particular form at each end of the beam, called the trawl-
heads, which assist by their weight to sink the net and keep
it on the ground. The upper edge of the netting is attached
along the whole length of the beam ; the lower edge is fas-

BLOCH S GURNARD. ()1

tened along a heavy rope called the ground-rope, and follows
considerably behind the advanced straight line of the beam,
forming the portion of the circle seen through the upper
surface of the net in the representation. This sort of net is
only adapted for taking those fish that live upon or very near
the bottom. When drawn along, the first part of the net
that touches the fish is the ground-rope, from the contact of
which the fish darts upwards ; but that part of the net hang-
ing from the beam is not only over, but also in advance of
him, while the onward draft of the net by the progress of
the boat brings the fish against the closed end of the tail,
and if he then shoots forward towards the mouth of the net,
he is stopped and entangled in pockets that only open back-
wards. As the fish in the tideway lie with their heads
against the stream, the fishermen trawl with the tide ; that
is, draw the net down the stream, carrying only so much
sail on their boat as Avill give the net the proper draft along
the ground generally at the rate of two and a half or three
miles an hour. When it is desirable to examine the con-
tents of the net, the beam is hauled up to the side of the

G2 AV1TH HARD CHEEKS.

vessel by the trawl-warp, the tail of the net is handed in,
untied, and the contents shaken out. The produce, depend-
ing somewhat on the nature of the ground, generally consists
of Red Mullet, different species of Gurnards, flat fish, and
Skate, with abundance of asteria, Crustacea, and echini.
The saleable fish being selected, the tail of the netting is
retied, and the net again lowered to the ground ; and while
the vessel continues its course, the refuse of one haul of the
net is swept overboard to make room for the produce of the
next. On some parts of the Dorsetshire and Devonshire
coast, the trawl ing-boats and their apparatus are much larger
than those here described ; the former being cutter-rigged
vessels of seventy or eighty tons burthen, and their nets of
thirty-six feet beam. Such vessels are constantly em-
ployed trawling in West Bay, and in Torbay; even as
near London as Barking Creek, boats and nets of this
size are common ; but the fishing-grounds for these ves-
sels and their crews are in various parts of the North Sea,
where a large and stout boat is absolutely necessary. The
principal trawling off the Sussex and Hampshire coast is
in the Channel, from twelve to thirty miles from the shore,
and the men are seldom absent more than one night at
a time.

Where the water is deep, this mode of fishing is success-
fully practised either in the day or night ; but if the water
is shallow and clear, but little success is to be obtained in
the day.

SHINING GURNARD.

63

ACANTHOPTERYGII.

WITH HARD CHEEKS.

THE SHINING GURNARD,

OR LONG-FINNED CAPTAIN.

T rigia lucerna.

Cuculus, KONDELET, Latin edition, p. 287.
Ronget, French edition, p. 227.

Trigla lucerna, Brigotte, ERUNNICH, p. 76.*

,, Orghe, Risso, Icht. p. 209.

,, milvKS, ,, ,, Hist. p. 395.

,, lucerna, L'Orgue, Cuv. et VALENC. Hist, des Poiss. t. iv. p. 72.

,, ,, Long-Jinned Captain, Mag. Zool. and Bot. vol. i. p. 526.

THE Gurnard figured above has been made known as a
species new to the British Catalogue by Dr. Parnell, who ob-
tained several specimens from the fishermen of Brixham in
Devonshire, by whom, in reference to the elongation of the
second ray of the first dorsal fin, it is called the Long-finned
Captain, and by whom also it is not considered rare. The
reason why a species so strongly marked as to specific dis-

* Ichthyologia Massiliensis, 1768.

64 WITH HAKD CHEEKS.

tinction should have remained till lately unnoticed on our
shores, will probably be found in the circumstance that this
Gurnard does not generally exceed nine inches in length,
which not being considered by the fishermen a marketable
size, the fish is not often brought on shore ; yet its flesh is
esteemed as sweet and delicate.

The capture of several examples of this fish at Brixham,
and the announcement of the circumstance in the first volume
of the Magazine of Zoology and Botany, page 526, with a
description and figure, has been followed by a communication
from Mr. Baker, of Bridgcwater, that the fish had occurred on
that coast : it may be presumed to be plentiful as a species ; Dr.
Parnell saw seven taken at once in a trawl net, and it is deci-
dedly common in most parts of the Mediterranean. Brunnich,
who described it in 1768, as quoted under the representation
of the fish, found it at Marseilles. Savigny, according to M.
Cuvier and Valenciennes, found it at Naples. Dr. Leach
sent specimens to Paris from Malta. M. Risso includes it
in both his volumes among the fishes taken in the environs
of Nice, and mentions it even as one known to Aldrovandus,
quoting lib. ii. cap. 58, page 79. But little appears to be
known of the particular habits or food of this species ; but it
is supposed to spawn about June, from the large size of the
roe in a female fish taken in that month. Dr. ParnelFs spe-
cimens were obtained in the month of September.

I have followed M. Cuvier and Valenciennes in including
references to the work of Rondelet, but with some doubt
whether the fish there represented and described is not rather
a different species of Gurnard. Our fish was probably called
lucerna, from the brilliant and shining longitudinal silvery
band which pervades the whole length of each side. I am
indebted to Dr. Parnell for the specimen from which the fol-
lowing description was taken.

The whole length nine inches and one quarter. From

SHINING GURNARD. 65

the point of the nose to the end of the occipital spine, is to
the whole length of the fish as one to four ; the depth of the
head is to the whole length of the fish as one to six and a
half; the depth of the body is to the whole length as one to
six ; the nose is rather short and blunt ; at the superior an-
terior edge of each orbit is a single short bony spine directed
upwards ; at the inferior anterior edge of each orbit there is a
groove directed downwards and forwards to the base of the
external nasal bone, in which groove, about half way between
the eye and the nose, the nostril is pierced ; the exterior sur-
face of the head granulated and hard ; the posterior margin
on each side furnished with two spines directed backwards,
one from the edge of the operculum, the other from the occi-
pital bone above it ; the region of the scapula, behind the
operculum, is furnished with another spine, also directed
backwards. The fin-ray formula is as follows :

D. 918 : P. 10 3 : V. 6 : A. 17 : C. 14.

The first dorsal fin commences in a line over the base of
the pectoral fin, the second ray is more than as long again as
the first ray, and the third ray is also a little longer than the
first ray ; afterwards the rays decrease in length gradually, the
last ray being the shortest ; the second dorsal fin commences
in a vertical line over the anal aperture ; the rays of this fin
are nearly uniform in length throughout, the fin ending on
the same plane with the anal fin, the rays of which com-
mencing immediately behind the anal aperture, are also
nearly uniform in length throughout ; the tail in shape is
lunate ; the dorsal ridge contains from twenty-four to twenty-
six plates, each ending in a single point ; the lateral row of
scales, peculiar to the Gurnards, are in this species formed
like wings, and are represented of an enlarged comparative
size below the tail of the figure of the fish. The head and
upper part of the body are of a fine vermilion colour ; the

VOL. I. F

66

WITH HARD CHEEKS.

iricles silvery ; along the side of the body a broad and shining
silvery band ; the belly below reddish white ; the pectoral
fins of a deep blue ; all the other fins rosy red.

The characters of this Gurnard are so well marked that it
is not likely to be confounded with any other species.

The vignette below represents the cranium of the Sapphi-
rine Gurnard.

MAILED GURNARD.

67

ACANTHOPTERYGIl.

WITH HARD CHEEKS.

THE MAILED GURNARD.

Peristedion Malarmat.

Malarmat,

Cornutns, sive Lyra altera,
Forchato, Malarmat,
Lyra altera,

BELON, p. 209.

RONDELET, Lat. Edit. p. 299.
Fr. p. 237.
WILLOUGHBY, p. 283, tab. S. 3.
Trigla cataphracta, Malarmat, BRUNNICH, p. 72.

Malarmat, DUHAMEL, t. iii. Sect. 5, p. 113, pi. 9, f. 2.

Trigla cataphracta, Le Malarmat, BLOCK, pt. x. pi. 349.
Peristedion malarmat, Cuv, et VAL. Hist. Poiss. t. iv. p. 101.

,, Mailed Gurnard, Mag. Nat. Hist. vol. i. N. S. p. 17.

Generic Characters. Body covered with bony plates, forming a defensive
armature. The nasal bone divided into two points. The mouth has no teeth.
In other respects the characters are similar to those of the Genus Trigla.

THIS singular-looking species, allied to the Gurnards, was
made known as an addition to the Catalogue of our British
Fishes by Dr. Edward Moore of Plymouth, in the Magazine
of Natural History for 1837, conducted by Mr. Charles-
worth, as quoted among the references placed below the

F 2

GS WITH HARD CHEEKS.

figure : it was cauglit on the fishing ground between Ply-
mouth and the Eddystone in the autumn of 1836. It will
be observed by the synonymes quoted, which are arranged
chronologically, that this fish has been known from the time
of Belon, who published in 1553, and has given a figure
from an engraving on wood, which is easily recognized.
This fish is also figured and described in the work of Ron-
delet, who from a resemblance which it bears to Trigla lyra,
the systematic name of our English Piper Gurnard, British
Fishes, vol. i. p. 51, called this fish Lyra altera, and also
Forchato, from its elongated and bifurcated nasal bones.
Brunnich, after Rondelet, called it cataphracta, in reference
to the armour-like scales with which the body is defended.
The term Malarmat applied to a fish so well armed, at least
defensively, could only have been bestowed in joke by way of
antiphrase.

M. Risso, who has briefly described some of its habits,
says, it frequents deep water over rocky ground, approaching
the shallows only at the period of spawning. It swims with
rapidity, occasionally breaking off portions of the extended
nasal bones against the rocks among which it harbours. It
is said to be solitary in its habits, and feeds upon such ani-
mals as the medusae, the beroe, and the thinner skinned
Crustacea. This fish inhabits all the western parts of the
Mediterranean, and is rather common on most of the shores,
where it attains the length of two feet. The British speci-
men recorded by Dr. E. Moore was about eleven inches
long. It is said to be a rare species in the Adriatic, but has
been taken at Venice. Duhamel, in his Traite des Peches,
says, that this fish, though so rare on the coasts of the
Channel as to be almost unknown, is common on the coasts
of Spain and Provence, where it is caught in deep water.
It is fished for all the year ; but as an article of food it is
in the greatest estimation in Lent. As there is but little

MAILED GURNARD. 69

to eat upon this fish when it is small, those of the largest
size are the most in request. Duhamel gives the following
instructions for preparing this fish for the table : If it is in-
tended for stewing, it is necessary to soak it in warm water
in order to get off the skin and scales, which is mostly easily
effected by commencing the removal at the tail ; if it is
preferred to broil it, it is then only necessary to open the
body of the fish, and put inside fresh butter, fine herbs, and
seasoning to increase the flavour of the meat, which is white
and delicate. When it is sufficiently cooked the scales come
off easily.

Dr. Moore very obligingly sent his British specimen of
this fish up to London that I might see it, and I found that
it exactly resembled an example from the Mediterranean in
my own collection, with which I compared it.

The bones of the nose are very much elongated, forming
a projecting and forked snout of two broad and flattened
processes, which are each an inch in length, and parallel to
each other, half an inch apart at the base, on the upper sur-
face of which there are one large and two smaller niam-
millary protuberances. From the end of the elongated nasal
bone to the posterior end of the ridge on the cheek at the
base of the pectoral fin, the length is three inches and a half
in a fish of eleven inches, or rather less. The nasal, orbital,
and occipital ridges, are armed with numerous sharp tooth-
like processes. The orbit of the eye is oval, its greatest
length horizontal, the irides silvery ; the jaws are semicir-
cular in shape ; the form of the opening of the mouth, which
is without teeth, is also semicircular ; the length of the head,
from the point of the nasal bone to the end of the suborbital
ridge, is to the whole length of head, body, and tail together,
as one to three.

The body is octagonal, covered with bony scales, or plates,
laid over each other like a coat of mail ; from the centre of

70 WITH HARD CHEEKS.

the scales, forming in continuous lines the eight angles of
the body, projects a sharp-pointed process directed back-
wards ; the scales vary in number on the different angles
from twenty- three to thirty.

The fin-ray formula, according to Cuvier, is as follows :

D. 7. 19. : P. 12. 2 : A r . 1 + 5 : A. 18 : C. 11 : Vert. 43.

The first dorsal fin has seven rays, but the point of dis-
tinction between the first and second dorsal fins is liable to
some misconception, as it is only indicated by a decrease in
the extent or elevation of the connecting membrane. Five
or six of the rays of the first dorsal fin end in elongated
flexible filaments, as shown in the figure. It is supposed
that the males only in this species have these filaments elon-
gated, the rays in the females remaining short, and this may
account for some differences that appear in the represent-
tions given by some of the authors herein referred to. The
second dorsal fin usually contains eighteen or nineteen short
rays. The pectoral fin is stated by Cuvier to contain twelve
rays, but his figure in illustration exhibits but ten rays, and
I find there are ten rays in the pectoral fin in the Mediterra-
nean specimen before referred to ; Dr. Moored fish is de-
scribed as possessing but eight rays ; they appear therefore
liable to variation ; the free rays common to the Gurnards are
in this species limited to two ; between the ventral fins is an
elongated and flattened sternum : the body ends at the tail
in three short projecting spines on each side of the base of the
caudal rays ; the form of the tail is lunate. Dr. Moore says
of his fish that " its colour, when fresh, was of a uniform
scarlet, like the Red Gurnard, gradually softening to pale
flesh colour towards the abdomen ; the anal and dorsal fins
were crimson ; but the others pale and greyish.

RIVER BULLHEAD.

71

ACANTHOPTERYGIL

WITH HARD CHEEKS.

'

M

THE RIVER BULLHEAD, MILLER'S THUMB,

TOMMY LOGGE.

Coitus gobio, LINNAEUS. BLOCH, pt. ii. pi. 39.

,, Cuv. et VALENC. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. iv. p. 145.

,, River Bullhead, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. iii. p. 291, pi. 43.
,, ,, ,, ,, DON. Brit. Fish. pi. 80.

,, ,, ,, ,, FLEMING, Brit. An. p. 216, sp. 157.

,, ,, JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 343.

Generic Cliaracters, Head large, depressed ; teeth in both jaws and in front
of the vomer, small, sharp, none on the palatine bones ; preoperculum or oper-
culum armed with spines, sometimes both; branchiostegous rays 6; gill-open-
ings large ; body attenuated, naked, without scales ; two dorsal fins, distinct or
very slightly connected ; ventral fins small.

THE RIVER BULLHEAD is an inhabitant of almost all
the fresh-water streams of the whole of Europe, from Italy to
Scandinavia ; and most of the streams in this country that in
their course run over sand or gravel produce this fish. It
occurs also in the north of Ireland, in Belfast and London-
derry. Its length seldom exceeds four or five inches, and it
is generally found among loose stones, under which, from the

72 WITH HARD CHEEKS.

peculiarly flattened form of its head, it is enabled to thrust
itself, and thus to find a hiding-place. When disturbed, it
swims rapidly. The term Bullhead has been attached to all
the species of the genus Cottus, on account of the large size
of the head ; as we also use the words Bullfinch, Bullfrog,
Bulltrout, and Bullrush, to indicate species of large compa-
rative size.

As the term Bullhead is thus considered to refer to the
large size of the head, so the name of Miller's Thumb given
to this species, it has been said, is suggested by, and intended
to have reference to, the particular form of the same part.

The head of the fish, it will be observed by the accom-
panying vignette, is smooth, broad, and rounded, and is said
to resemble exactly the form of the thumb of a miller, as
produced by a peculiar and constant action of the muscles in
the exercise of a particular and most important part of his
occupation.

It is well known that all the science and tact of a miller
is directed so to regulate the machinery of his mill, that
the meal produced shall be of the most valuable description
that the operation of grinding will permit when performed
under the most advantageous circumstances. His profit or
his loss, even his fortune or his ruin, depend upon the exact
adjustment of all the various parts of the machinery in oper-
ation. The miller's ear is constantly directed to the note
made by the running-stone in its circular course over the bed-
stone, the exact parallelism of their two surfaces, indicated by

RIVER BULLHEAD. 73

a particular sound, being a matter of the first consequence :
and his hand is as constantly placed under the meal-spout, to
ascertain by actual contact the character and qualities of the
meal produced. The thumb by a particular movement
spreads the sample over the fingers ; the thumb is the guage
of the value of the produce, and hence has arisen the sayings
of, " Worth a miller's thumb ;" and, " An honest miller
hath a golden thumb;"* in reference to the amount of the
profit that is the reward of his skill. By this incessant action
of the miller's thumb, a peculiarity in its form is produced
which is said to resemble exactly the shape of the head of the
fish constantly found in the mill-stream, and has obtained for
it the name of the Miller's Thumb, which occurs in the
comedy of " Wit at several Weapons," by Beaumont and
Fletcher, act v. scene i. ; and also in Merrett's " Pinax."

Although the improved machinery of the present time has
diminished the necessity for the miller's skill in the mecha-
nical department, the thumb is still constantly resorted to as
the best test for the quality of flour.

This version of the cause of the application of the term
Miller's Thumb to our River Bullhead, was communicated
to me by the late John Constable, Esq. R.A. ; whose father,
being one of those considerable millers with which the counties
of Essex and Suffolk abound, was early initiated in all the mys-
teries of that peculiar business. He also very kindly lent me
a view of an undershot water-mill at Gillingham, worked by
a branch of the stream from Stourhead, which is represented
in the vignette on the next page.

The larvae of water insects, ova, and fry, are the food of
the Bullhead : it is voracious, and readily caught with a small
portion of a red worm. M. Risso says it is eaten in Italy ;
and Pallas tells us, that in Russia this fish is used by some
as a charm against fever, while others suspend it horizontally,
carefully balanced by a single thread and thus poised, but

* Ray's " Proverbs."

74 WITH HARD CHEEKS.

allowed at the same time freedom of motion, they believe
this fish possesses the property of indicating, by the direction
of the head, the point of the compass from which the wind
blows. In Switzerland the children spear them in shallow
water as they move from the stones under which they hide.
Cuvier recommends this fish as a favourite bait for an Eel.

D. 6 to 9 17 or 18 : P. 15 : V. 3 : A. 13 : C. 11.

The size and form of the head has been already noticed :
the mouth is wide, jaws nearly equal, numerous small sharp
teeth in both jaws and on the anterior part of the vomer ; no
spines on the head ; irides yellow, pupils dark blue ; preoper-
culum with one spine curved upwards ; the operculum ending
in a flattened point ; the dorsal fins united by a membrane ;
rays of all the fins prettily spotted ; general colour of the
body above dark brownish black, sides lighter, with small
black spots ; under surface of the head and belly white ; the
vent in a vertical line under the commencement of the second
dorsal fin. This species spawns in summer.

SEA SCORPION. 75

ACANTHOPTERYG1I. WITH HARD CHEEKS.

SEA SCORPION, SHORT-SPINED COTTUS.

Cottus scorpiuS) BLOCH, pt. ii. pi. 40.

,, ,, KLEIN, Miss. iv. pi. 13, fig. 2.

,, ,, Cuv. et VALENC. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. iv. p. 160.

,, ,, Sea Scorpion, JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 344.

THE marine species of the genus Cottus appear to belong
almost exclusively to the Northern Seas ; and although plen-
tiful on most parts of our southern shore, M. Risso has not
included them in his History of the Natural productions of the
Environs of Nice, which contains most of the fishes of the
Mediterranean. Very various have been the names bestowed
upon the species of the genus Cottus generally ; and under
the term Father-Lasher two species have been constantly
confounded in this country, and the habits and peculiarities
of both included in one history. The Sea Scorpion, or
short-spined Cottus, is common all round our coast, and,
besides being less powerfully armed than the Cottus bubalis,
or Father-Lasher, neither does it associate with that species.
The Sea Scorpion is frequently found in estuaries or har-
bours, and measures from four or five to eight inches in
length ; but it is said to acquire a much larger size in the
North. It is included in the recently published works of

76

WITH HARD CHEEKS.

M. Kroyer on the fishes of Denmark, and that of M. Fries
and Ekstrom on the Fishes of Scandinavia. It is included
also by M. Nilsson in his Prodromus.

Like the other species of this genus, it is voracious in its
appetite, and swims rapidly. There is reason to believe that
this fish does not deposit its spawn at the same period of the
year as the Cottus bubalis , some specimens of the former,
examined in the month of November, exhibited little or no
appearance of roe, while female specimens of the latter, if
examined at the same time of the year, would be found to
contain ova of large size, which are deposited in January,
and are of a fine orange yellow colour. It has even been
stated of C, scorpius, that it spawns in the spring, and that
the ova are as black as ink.

In its habits this species resembles the Father-Lasher, and
is found under stones and among fuci in the pools above low-
water mark on our shores. They are very common, and
every haul of a net of almost any description is nearly certain
to produce examples of one species or the other, but seldom
of both in the same immediate locality : no use, however, is
made of them, and, on account of their numerous spines, they
are handled with caution, only to be thrown overboard ; but
if allowed to remain on the deck of the vessel, they are ob-
served to be very tenacious of life. Their food is small
crustaceous animals and the fry of other fish generally, which
their wide mouths enable them to overcome without making
any nicety in the selection necessary. Fin-rays :

D. 8 or 9 14 : P. 17 : V. 1 + 3 : A. 1 1 : C. 12.

The head large, more elevated than that of the River Bull-
head ; upper jaw rather the longer ; teeth small and sharp :
eyes large, situated about half-way between the point of the
nose and the occiput ; irides yellow, pupils bluish black : one
pair of spines above the nostrils, with an elevated ridge

SEA SCORPION. 77

between them ; the inner edges of the orbits elevated with a
hollow depression above, but no occipital spines : preopercu-
lum with three spines, the upper one the longest, but
not reaching beyond the edge of the gill-cover ; operculum
with two spines, the upper one also the longer, the lower
one pointing downwards ; there is besides a scapular and a
clavicular spine on each side : gill-openings large ; the body
tapers off rapidly, and is mottled over with dark purple brown
occasionally varied with rich red brown ; the belly white ;
the first dorsal fin slightly connected with the second by an
extension of the membrane ; lateral line smooth ; the ventral
fins attached posteriorly by a membrane to the belly.

The males are generally brighter in colour than the fe-
males : occasionally when in good condition the pectoral fins
are striped with red, and the belly ornamented with several
pure white circular spots on a ground colour of brilliant
scarlet.

The vignette below represents the cranium of the Miller's
Thumb.

78

WITH HARD CHEEKS.

ACANTHOPTERYGII.

WITH HARD CHEEKS.

FATHER-LASHER, LONG-SPINED COTTUS.

LUCKY PROACH. Scotland.

Coitus hubalis, EUPHRASEN.

,, Cuv. et VALENC. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. iv. p. 165, pi. 78.
scorpius, Father- Lasher, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. iii. p. 294, pl.44.

DON. Brit. Fish. pi. 35.

FLEM. Brit. An. p. 216, sp. 156.
t> ,, Four-spined Father-Lasher, JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 345.

THE FATHER-LASHER is immediately recognised by its
well-armed head and long spines, but seldom measures more
than from six to ten inches in length on our shores. The
general appearance of this fish is forbidding ; yet in Green-
land, besides attaining a much larger size, it is in such great
request, that Pallas tells us it forms the principal food of the
natives, and the soup made of it is said to be agreeable as
well as wholesome. During the greater part of the year it is
to be found on our coast from Cornwall to the Orkneys, and

FATHER-LASHER. 79

is frequently left by the receding tide in small pools among
rocks. When touched, it distends its gill-covers, and sets
out its numerous spines, assuming a most threatening ap-
pearance. This species spawns in January, and the ova at
that time are very large, and of a fine orange yellow colour.
These are deposited near the sea-shore, frequently in the
estuaries, and sometimes even in rivers ; the fish having pre-
pared itself for this change by its previous residence in the
brackish water, after which it appears to be able to bear
either extreme. Its food is small crustaceous animals, and it
is said to be particularly partial to feeding on the fry of the
Blennies.

D. 8 12 : P. 16 : V. 1 + 3 : A. 9 : C. 10.

In Cottus bubalis the space between the. eyes is much nar-
rower than in the C. scorpius ; the eyes in position more
vertical, the crest above the eyes on each side more elevated,
nearly straight, and ending at the nape in a spine directed
backwards, forming a pair of occipital spines ; hides yellow,
pupils black : preoperculum with four spines, the upper
one the longest, and reaching, says Dr. Parnell, beyond the
posterior edge of the gill-cover ; operculum with three spines,
besides the scapular, clavicular, and nasal spines, similar to
those of C. scorpius : gill-openings large ; in general colour
very similar to that last described, and both species exhibit
occasional variations in the intensity of the red, the green,
and the brown tints ; lateral line rough : the ventral fins in
this species are devoid of the connecting membrane observ-
able in C. scorpius. The males are the finest in colour.

Some circumstances observable in the economy of this
species lead to the introduction here of a few observations on
the respiration of fishes, in reference to their power of sus-
taining life when taken out of the water, and its supposed
connexion with the size of the gill-aperture.

80 WITH HARD CHEEKS.

Most writers on Ichthyology, even up to the present time,
have stated that fishes with large gill-apertures, like the
Herring, die soon when taken out of the water ; and that,
on the contrary, those with small gill-openings, like the
Eel, have the power of sustaining life for a considerable
time under the same circumstances. I will not say that
the authors who have taken this view of the subject are in
error ; but I will venture to state the facts that appear to
justify the belief that the duration of life in fishes, after they
are taken out of water, is not altogether dependent on the size
of the gill-opening.

That the Herring, the Mackerel, and many other fishes
that swim near the surface, have large gill-apertures, and die
almost immediately they are taken out of water, is most true ;
and that the Eel, with its small gill-aperture, does live for
hours after it is taken out of water, is also true ; but it will
not be difficult to find many examples the very reverse of the
instances supporting the rules, and also to show that in those
fishes with large gill-apertures that do die quickly, the real
cause of death has not been truly assigned.

The Carp, Tench, Barbel, Perch, and most of the various
flat fish, have large gill-apertures, and yet they are all pro-
verbially known to be able to sustain life long after they are
removed from water. Cuvier, when writing on the genus
Trachinus, says, in the Histoire Naturelle des Poissons,
tome iii. p. 235, " Le noin Francois de Vive, que ces pois-
sons portent sur nos cotes de Focean, et celui de Weever,
qu'on leur donne en Angleterre, viennent, dit-on, de ce
qu'ils ont la vie dure et subsistent long-terns hors de reau."
Yet, when describing La Vive and its gill-apertures, the
words are (at p. 239) : " et Ton voit meme que la fente des
branchies est tres-ample et s'ouvre jusque vis-a-vis la com-
missure des machoires."" The two marine species of the
genus Coitus just described have large heads and wide gill-

FATHER-LASHER. 81

apertures; yet of them it is said (tome iv. p. 159), " Ces
chaboisseaux vivent tres long-terns hors cle 1'eau."

Of fishes with large gill-apertures it is said, in the same
work (tome i. p. 519), that they die, " non pas faute
d'oxigene, mais parce que leurs branchies se dessechent ;"
and of the Herring, that they die the instant they are taken
out of the water. But may it not be objected to this view,
that desiccation of the gills could not take place in so short
an interval of time, and therefore could not be the cause of
death ? Dr. Monro calculated that the surface of the gills
in a large Skate was equal in extent to the whole surface of
the body of a man ; yet, with this extent of surface exposed
to the effects of desiccation, the different species of Skate are
remarkable for the length of time they are able to sustain
life after they are removed from water. Of fishes with small
gill-apertures, our common Loche, Cobites fluviatilis, and
our most common species of the genus Callionymns, both
die quickly. The Father-Lasher, with its large gill-aperture,
will live a long time out of water, as has been already no-
ticed ; yet, when taken out of the sea, if put into fresh water,
it dies instantly.* The reverse of desiccation takes place in
this instance : the gills are bathed with a fluid containing
more oxygen than sea-water, and which also yields that oxy-
gen much easier, yet death happens immediately. In this
last instance it may be inferred that the fish, unable sud-
denly to accommodate its respiratory organs to fluids of such
different densities as those of pure sea and fresh water, the
blood is imperfectly aerated, the brain is affected, convul-
sions ensue, and, if not released, it soon dies ; and, from the
previous examples, may we not conclude that the power of
fishes to sustain life for a time, when taken out of water,
must be referred to a principle of internal organization, and
is independent of the size of the gill-aperture.

* London's Magazine of Natural History, vol. ii. p. 217 and 218.
VOL. I. G

82 AVITH HARD CHEEKS.

M. Flcurons, a French physiologist, has explained what
appears to be the true cause of death in a fish kept out of
water.

If its motions be attentively watched, it will be seen that,
although the mouth be opened and shut continually, and the
gill-cover raised alternately, the arches supporting the
branchiae, or gills, are not separated, nor are the branchial

^

filaments expanded all remain in a state of collapse: the
intervention of a fluid is absolutely necessary to effect their
separation and extension ; without it these delicate fibres
adhere together in a mass, and cannot in that state receive
the vivifying influence of oxygen. The situation of the fish
is similar to that of an air-breathing animal enclosed in a
vacuum, and death by suffocation is the consequence. To
this may be added, that the duration of life in each species,
when out of water, is in an inverse ratio to the necessity
for oxygen.

FOUR-HORNED COTTUS.

ACANTHOPTERYGII.

WITH HARD CHEEKS.

THE FOUR-HORNED COTTUS.

Cottus quadricornis, LINN^US.

,? ,, BLOCK, pt. iii. pi. 108.

,, Cuv. et. VALENO. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. iv. p. 168.

>, Four-horned Father-Lasher, JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 345.

I AM indebted to the communication of my friend Mr.
J. E. Gray, of the British Museum, for the knowledge of
the occurrence of the Four-horned Cottus on our shore ; and
the figure at the head of the page was drawn from a specimen
in the National collection.

This species, first made known by Artedi, is common in
the Baltic, on the west coast of Norway, and in all the
Northern Seas even as far as Kamtschatka. It has also been
taken on the north-east coast of England by our fishermen in
winter, when working nets with small meshes for Sprats ; and
in sorting for sale the many bushels of this common fish
brought to the London market, the Four-horned Cottus has
been occasionally found.

As a species, it is distinguished by four rough tubercles on
the top of the head, from which character its name has been
chosen : but Pallas observed occasional variations in the num-

84 WITH HARD CHEEKS.

ber and size of these warty excrescences, and believed that
the young had for a time but two of these tubercles, and
were only provided with four when they had attained the
length of seven or eight inches.

The Four-horned Cottus swims rapidly, but is generally
observed lying in ambush, near stones or among sea-weed,
ready to seize its food, and is known, by examination of the
contents of the stomach, to feed more frequently on the
young of the two species of Goby, that are there common,
than upon any other small species. But little use is made of
this fish, except as a bait for others. They spawn in winter,
and the ova are white.

D. 8 14 : P. 17 : V. 1 + 3 : A. 15 : C. 11.

The head is large and flat ; mouth wide, jaws equal, teeth as
described in the generic characters ; irides yellow, pupil
black ; preoperculum with three spines, operculum with only
one ; four horn-like tubercles on the top of the head, two of
which are near the eyes, and two on the nape ; body elon-
gated, compressed ; colour of the head brown, tinged with red
on the gill-covers ; back brown, the sides yellow, the belly
greyish white ; the lateral line nearly straight, and marked
with rough points ; the body also freckled with scabrous
points ; the fins prettily mottled with brown.

Two specimens of the Four-horned Cottus were the only
fish taken in the sea with a net at Melville Island. Parry's
First Voyage. During the third voyage this species was
found at Whale-fish Islands in considerable numbers. Cap-
tain James Ross says it is abundant on the west coast of
Greenland. Two or three specimens were taken in a net in
Felix Harbour, and several were captured by the natives on
the west side of the peninsula of Boothia.

ARMED BULLHEAD. 85

ACANTHOPTERYGIL WITH HARD CHEEKS.

THE ARMED BULLHEAD, POGGE.

LYRIE, SEA-POACHER, PLUCK, NOBLE. Scotland.

Aspidophorus Europaus, Cuv. et VALENC. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. iv. p. 201.
Coitus cataphractus, LINNJEUS. BLOCH, pt. ii. pi. 39.

,, ,, Armed Bullhead, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. iii. p. 293,

pi. 43.

,, ,, P fl g e > DON. Brit. Fish. pi. 16.

Cataphractus Schoneveldii , ,, FLEM. Brit. An. p. 216, pi. 155.
Aspidophorus cataphractus, ,, JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 346.

Generic Characters. Body octagonal, covered with scaly plates; head
thicker than the body, with points and depressions above, flattened below ;
teeth in both jaws only, none on the vomer ; snout with recurved spines ; bran-
chiostegous rays 6 ; body tapering to the tail ; two dorsal fins, distinct.

THIS very marked species was first described by Schone-
velde, a physician of Hamburgh, who published in 3624 a
catalogue of the aquatic animals of Silesia and Holstein. It
is now known to exist not only in the Baltic, but on the
coast of Norway, and in all the Northern Seas as far as
Greenland and Iceland. Mr. Couch says that it is not very
common in Cornwall ; and that, when found, it is most fre-
quently near the mouths of rivers, but occasionally taken far
out at sea. Montagu considered this species as more com-
mon on the eastern parts of the kingdom than on the shores

86 WITH HARD CHEEKS.

of the west, one or two instances only having occurred to
him on the south coast of Devon ; and Mr. Neill has re-
corded its capture in the Forth. It is not, however, un-
common along the line of our southern coast, where it is well
known ; and the young of small size are frequently taken by
the shrimpers in most of the sandy bays at the mouth of the
Thames, and of other rivers : on the eastern coast it is very
plentiful. It seldom exceeds six inches in length ; its food
is aquatic insects, and small crustaceous animals : it spawns in
May, depositing the ova among stones, and its flesh is said to
be firm and good.

D. 5 7 : P. 15 : V. 1 + 2 : A. 7 : C. 11.

The head is depressed, and wider than the body ; from the
edge of each operculum the body tapers gradually to the tail ;
the nose has three recurved spines ; the chin furnished with
several minute cirri ; the eyes placed nearly vertical, irides
yellow, pupils black : the mouth small ; teeth also small, but
numerous : the suborbital bone and preoperculum each ending
in a spine ; operculum surmounted by a spine, and an occi-
pital tubercle on each side ; a scapulary tubercle over the
origin of each pectoral fin. The body divided longitudinally
by eight scaly ridges, of which those on the upper part of the
body are the most produced. The whole body defended by
eight rows of strong scaly plates, of which the elevated ridges
form the central lines ; the lateral line straight, lying parallel
between the two ridges on the side. Two dorsal fins slightly
connected by a membrane, of a light brown colour mottled
with dark brown ; pectoral fins large, with a broad bar of
brown across the centre ; the general colour of the upper
surface of the body brown, with four broad dark brown bands ;
tail brown ; under surface of the body flattened ; ventral and
anal fins, and all the under parts of the head and body, very
light brown, almost white. The vent placed very forward,
on a line with the middle of the pectoral fin.

BERGYLT.

87

ACANTHOPTERYGII.

WITH HARD CHEEKS.

THE BERGYLT, AND NORWAY HADDOCK.

Sebastes Norvegicus, Cuv. et VALENC. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. iv. p. 327.

pi. 87.
Perca marina, LINN/EUS.

,, Norvegica, MULLER.

,, marina, Sea Perch, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. iii. p. 349, pi. 59.

Serranus Norvegicus, FLEAI. Brit. An. p. 212, sp. 140.
Scorpana Norvegica, Northern Sebastes, JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 347.

Generic Characters. Body oblong, compressed, covered with scales ; all the
parts of the head also covered with scales ; eyes large ; preoperculum and oper-
culum ending in three or more spines ; branchiostegous rays 7 ; teeth small,
numerous, equal in size, placed on both jaws, the vomer, and palatine bones ;
a single dorsal fin, part spinous, part flexible ; inferior rays of the pectoral fin
simple.

ACCORDING to Cuvier, the species of Sebastes, as sepa-
rated by himself and M. Valenciennes from the genus Scor-
pcena of authors, so closely resemble some species of the
genus Serranus, as to have deceived naturalists of the first
order. The subject of the present article was arranged by

88 WITH HARD CHEEKS.

Linnaeus in his genus Perca, both in the Systema Nature
and in the Fauna Suecica, and was confounded with the
Perca marina, which, according to Cuvier, can be no other
than the Serranus scriba of the Mediterranean : the words
of Linnaeus, " Habitat in Norvegia, Italia,'''' attached to his
Perca marina, have induced authors to suppose that the
Northern fish was also an inhabitant of the Southern Seas.

Pennant has engraved his Perca marina, and the figure
has supplied the means of identifying his fish as the Sebastes
Norvegicus of Cuvier.

This -species inhabits all the Northern Seas, and is found
in the deep bays on the southern coast of Greenland, where
it is caught with baited hooks attached to very long lines :
its general food is a small species of flat fish, Pleuronectes
cynoglossum, which is there abundant. According to Fabri-
cius, the flesh of Sebastes, though lean, is agreeable to the
taste, and is eaten either cooked or dried ; he states also, that
the Greenlanders use the spines for needles.

Dr. Fleming obtained this fish in Zetland, where it is
called Bergylt, and Norway Haddock ; in several more
Northern languages it is called by names that have reference
to its prevailing red colour. " The late Dr. Skene, v> says
Dr. Fleming, " observed this fish on the Aberdeenshire coast."
Dr. George Johnston, of Berwick, has also obtained it on
the shore of his own county ; and I saw a well-preserved
specimen of this fish, about twelve inches long, in the collec-
tion of Mr. John Hancock, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne ; but
this last example, if I recollect rightly, was obtained of the
master of a Norwegian vessel.

"6*

D. 15 -(- 15 : P. 19 : V. 1 + 5 : A. 3 + 8 : C. 14.

The figure here given is taken from the plate of this fish
in the Histoire Naturelle des Poissons. The peculiarities

BERGYLT.

89

of the head are included in the generic characters. The
mouth is large, the lower jaw the longest, the numerous
teeth equal in size and small ; the eyes large, irides yellow,
the pupils dark, the head depressed : the prevailing colour on
the top of the head and back dark red, becoming lighter on
the sides, and passing into a flesh-coloured silvery white on
the under part of the head and body ; all the fins are red ;
the flexible rays of the dorsal fin elongated.

90 WITH HARD CHEEKS.

ACANTHOPTERYG1L WITH HARD CHEEKS.

THE ROUGH-TAILED STICKLEBACK.

BANSTICKLE, SHARPLIN. Scotland.

Gasterosteits trachurus, Cuv. et VALENC. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. iv. p. 481,

pi. 98, fig. 1.

,, aculeatus, BLOCH, pt. ii. pi. 53, fig. 3.

,, ,, DoN.Brit.Fish.pl.il.

,, ,, Three-Spined Stickleback, JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 348.

Generic Characters. Body without scales, more or less plated on the sides ;
one dorsal fin, with free spines before it ; ventral fin with one strong spine, and
no other rays ; bones of the pelvis forming a shield, pointed behind ; branchi-
ostegous rays 3.

THE ROUGH-TAILED THREE-SPINED STICKLEBACK is
one of the smallest as well as one of the most common of
our fishes, and is found both in the salt and in the fresh
water : not only does almost every river, brook, and lake
produce this Avell-known species, but it is also common all
round the coast from the Land's End to the Orkneys.

Cuvier and Valenciennes first noticed that three species of
Three-spined Sticklebacks had been constantly included
under the term G. aculeatus of Linnaeus ; and the distin-
guishing characteristics being very obvious, all three species
were shortly afterwards made known as inhabiting the waters

BOUGH-TAILED STICKLEBACK. 91

of this country, and a figure of each given, with a short me-
moir, in the Magazine of Natural History, vol. iii. p. 521.

The Three-spinecl Stickleback was first described by
Belon, and figured by Rondeletius ; and the history, habits,
and peculiarities of the three species before referred to, have
been constantly included in that of one only the aculeatus
of authors. Willughby and Pennant have figured the species
now called G. leiurus, or the Smooth-tailed Stickleback ;
while Bloch and Mr. Donovan have given coloured represen-
tations of G. trachurus, the subject of the present article.

They are active in their movements, and pugnacious in the
extreme. A writer in the Magazine of Natural History,
vol. iii. page 329, who appears to pay particular attention to
the habits of fishes, has described their behaviour under con-
finement in wooden vessels of considerable size. " When a
few are first turned in, they swim about in a shoal, apparently
exploring their new habitation. Suddenly one will take pos-
session of a particular corner of the tub, or, as it will some-
times happen, of the bottom, and will instantly commence an
attack upon his companions ; and if any one of them ventures
to oppose his sway, a regular and most furious battle ensues :
the two combatants swim round and round each other with
the greatest rapidity, biting and endeavouring to pierce each
other with their spines, which on these occasions are pro-
jected. I have witnessed a battle of this sort which lasted
several minutes before either would give way ; and when one
does submit, imagination can hardly conceive the vindictive
fury of the conqueror ; who, in the most persevering and un-
relenting way, chases his rival from one part of the tub to
another, until fairly exhausted with fatigue. They also use
their spines with such fatal effect, that, incredible as it may
appear, I have seen one during a battle absolutely rip his
opponent quite open, so that he sank to the bottom and died.
I have occasionally known three or four parts of the tub

92 \VITH HARD CHEEKS.

taken possession of by as many other little tyrants, who
guard their territories with the strictest vigilance ; and the
slightest invasion invariably brings on a battle. These are
the habits of the male fish alone : the females are quite pa-
cific ; appear fat, as if full of roe ; never assume the brilliant
colours of the male, by whom, as far as I have observed, they
are unmolested."

The woodcut represents this species of the natural size.
Their appetite is voracious ; their food consists of worms and
insects, and the minute fry and roe of other fishes. They
spawn in summer ; the females, generally paler in colour than
the males, depositing their ova of large size, but few in num-
ber, on aquatic plants. Although but few are thus produced
by each female fish, their numbers are very great. Pennant
states that they are occasionally so numerous at Spalding in
Lincolnshire, that a man employed by a farmer to take them
has earned four shillings a day for a considerable time by
selling them at a halfpenny a bushel. Attempts have been
made to obtain oil from them ; but they are more frequently
strewed over the land for the purpose of manure.

This species seldom exceeds two and a half or three inches
in length ; the body compressed ; the nostrils are pierced
in a small depression rather nearer the eye than the end of
the upper jaw : the mouth capable of slight projection ; teeth
small, forming a narrow band in each jaw, but none on the
vomer, palatine bones, or tongue : the gill-opening large ; the
fin-rays as follows :

D. Ill 9 : P. 10 : V. 1 : A. 1 H- 8 : C. 12.

The principal dorsal spine long and blunt, its lateral serra-
tions small and few in number ; a membrane attached to the
spine, by which it is depressed ; the ventral spine triangular
at the base, the serrations on its upper edge large and not
thickly set, those on the under edge small and numerous :

ROUGH-TAILED STICKLEBACK. 93

the sides defended throughout their whole length by a scries
of elongated bony plates, arranged vertically ; a small fold
of skin forms a horizontal crest on each side of the tail.

The Sticklebacks are said to live but two, or at most but
three years ; and the males are generally to be distinguished
by the pink colour of their under surface, but both sexes
exhibit more than usual brilliancy at the season of spawning.
The colour of the back is green ; the cheeks, sides, and belly,
silvery white. The different species are of little value.

Some difference of opinion appears to exist in reference to
this and the two or three next Sticklebacks herein described,
whether they ought to be considered distinct species, or only
varieties. I am still inclined to think them distinct, and find
that Dr. Parnell and Mr. Couch agree with Baron Cuvier in
considering them distinct. Dr. Parneirs observations will be
found in his essay on the Fishes of the Forth, published in
the seventh volume of the Memoirs of the Wernerian Society.
Mr. Couch, in the Cornish Fauna, says, " Having kept the
first and third alive in glass vessels, and finding them to ma-
nifest very different habits, I have no hesitation in believing
Mr. Yarrell to be correct in his opinion of their being speci-
fically distinct."

94

WITH HARD CHEEKS.

ACANTHOPTERYGII.

WITH HARD CHEEKS.

THE HALF-ARMED STICKLEBACK.

Gasterosteus semiarmatus, Cuv. et VALENC. Hist. Nat. des. Poiss. t. iv. p. 493.

THIS species is distinguished from the preceding by the
want of the arming by defensive plates along the sides of
the tail, and in having rather larger teeth ; in other respects
it does not differ much, and may be considered by some as
only a variety or the young of Gasterosteus trachurus., that
had yet by increased age to acquire the requisite number of
lateral plates. I have, however, taken specimens of all sizes,
which were uniform in the number of lateral plates, and close
examination by a friend, who has paid particular attention to
this subject, has shown that no point of ossification or indu-
ration is to be found posterior to the last perfect lateral plate,
which seldom passes beyond the line of the vent. The
figure makes farther description unnecessary. The number
of fin-rays are

D. Ill + 10 : P. 10 : A. 1 + 9 : C. 12.

It occurs in similar situations to the other Sticklebacks,
but not always in company with them.

SMOOTH-TAILED STICKLEBACK.

95

ACANTHOPTERYGII.

WITH HARD CHEEKS.

THE SMOOTH-TAILED STICKLEBACK.

Gasterosteusleiurus, Cuv. et VALENC. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. iv. p. 481,

pi. 98, fig. 4.

Pisciculus aculeatus, ROND. WILLUGHBY, X. 14, fig. 1.
Casterosteus ,, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. iii. pi. 61.

THE third species is the Smooth-tailed Stickleback, in
which the lateral plates extend no farther than the ends of
the rays of the pectoral fin ; the whole length of the side
beyond this being smooth and soft, without scale or fold, and
only marked with the linear depressions produced on the
surface by the divisions of the lateral muscles. The general
colours of the three species are green above, passing into
silvery white below. Some exhibit various shades of crimson
and purple ; but these colours are more frequent in males
than females. Fin-rays :

D. Ill + 10 : P. 1 1 : A. 1 + 8 : C. 12.

96

WITH HARD CHEEKS.

ACANTHOPTERYGU.

WITH HARD CHEEKS.

THE SHORT-SPINED STICKLEBACK.

Gasterosteus brachycentrus, Cuv. et VALENC. Hist. Nat. des. Poiss.t. iv. p. 499.

pi. 98, fig. 2.

SPECIMENS of a large species of Three-spined Stickleback,
with very short spines, taken in the North of Ireland, have
been supplied me by William Thompson, Esq. Vice-Presi-
dent of the Belfast Natural History Society, who believes it
to be identical with Cuvier's species as quoted above. In
the number of lateral plates, this species agrees with G. leiu-
rus ; but the fish is of much larger size, while the spines, as
may be seen by comparison, are very considerably shorter.
The lateral plates do not extend beyond the limits of the
pectoral fin, from whence the lateral line is a mere linear de-
pression ; and whether the examples of this fish be taken from
mountain streams, those of the lower grounds, or from the
sea, the water of the lowest temperature produced specimens
of the largest size. According to Mr. Thompson, the verte-
brse in this species are more numerous than in G. leiurus.
The plate represents this fish of the natural size. Fin-rays :

D. Ill + 13 : P. 10 : A. 1 + 9 : C. 12.

FOUR-SPINED STICKLEBACK. 97

ACANTHOPTERYGII. WITH HARD CHEEKS.

THE FOUR-SPINED STICKLEBACK.

Gasterosteus spinulnsus, JENYNS and YARRELL.

I AM indebted to the kindness of Dr. James Stark for
specimens of a Stickleback with four spines, taken in the
pond of a meadow near Edinburgh in September 1830.
This peculiarity in the number of spines has not, that I am
aware, been made known, as occurring in this country, before
the exhibition of these specimens by Dr. James Stark at a
meeting of the Wernerian Natural History Society in 1831.
These examples were of small size, measuring only one inch
and one quarter in length, and were taken with the common
Three-spined Stickleback ; but other examples of this Four-
spined Stickleback were afterwards found by Dr. Stark in
other localities, where no species but those with four spines
could be taken.

Dr. Stark succeeded in keeping these diminutive four-spined
fishes in tumblers, and fed them with small leeches and aqua-
tic insects, and found them quite as voracious, and even more
pugnacious, than the more common ones with three spines.

In the MS. of John Walcott, Esq. which was written
during a residence at Teignmouth, and which MS. has been
most obligingly lent me by his son, I find a notice also of a

VOL. I. H

98 WITH HARD CHEEKS.

Four-spined Stickleback ; but no description is given, nor is
there any mention made of the locality from which it had
been derived. Dr. Stark observed that his Four-spined
Stickleback had all the varied colours of the other species of
the genus, except the bright red or scarlet sometimes found
in the males. Some experiments made by this gentleman
an interesting account of which was published in Professor
Jameson's Edinburgh Journal for 1830, page 327 show
that the colour of these and some other small fishes is influ-
enced, not only by the colour of the earthenware or other
vessel in which they were kept, but also modified by the
quantity of light to which they were exposed ; becoming pale
when placed in a white vessel in darkness even for a compa-
ratively short time, and regaining their natural colour when
placed in the sun. From these circumstances, observed also
in some species of other genera, Dr. Stark is led to infer
that fishes possess, to a certain extent, the power of accom-
modating their colour to the ground or bottom of the waters
in which they are found. The final reason for this may be
traced to the protection such a power affords to secure them
from the attacks of their enemies, and exhibits another beau-
tiful instance of the care displayed by Nature in the preserv-
ation of all her species. Dr. Stark often observed that on
a flat sandy coast the Flounders were coloured so very much
like the sand, that, unless they moved, it was impossible to
distinguish them from the bottom on which they lay.

The specimens sent me have four spines, placed at equal
distances from each, on the dorsal line, with one broad lateral
plate nearly hid by the pectoral fin, and forming an ascending
portion on each of the ventral plates. The fin-rays :

D. IV + 8 : P. 9 : V. 1 : A. 1 + 8 : C. 12.

The colour has been already noticed. The figure is
double the natural size.

TEN-SPINED STICKLEBACK. 99

ACAKTHOPTERYGII. WITH HARD CHEEKS.

THE TEN-SPINED STICKLEBACK.

Gasterosteus pungitius, LINN^US.

,, ,, Cuv. et VALENC. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. iv. p. 506.

,, ,, BLOCH, pt. ii. pi. 53, fig. 4.

,, ,, Ten-spined Stickleback, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. iii. j).

335, pi. 61.

,, DON. Brit. Fish, pi. 32.

,, ,, ,, FLEM. Brit. An. p. 219, sp. 167.

,, ,, ,, ,, JENVNS, Brit. Vert. p. 350.

THE TKN-SPINED STICKLEBACK is one of the smallest of
the fishes that occur on our coast, and appears to be gene-
rally distributed, thougli by no means so numerous as those
species with only three spines. It is found, however, in most
of the creeks near the coast, as well as in many of our rivers,
up which they are said to migrate in shoals in the spring.
In size, it varies from one inch and a half to two inches and a
quarter ; and is distinguished from all the other Sticklebacks
by the nine or ten spines on the back, all anterior to the
dorsal fin, and by its sides being perfectly smooth, without
any lateral plates, which, with the number of dorsal spines
before mentioned, forms its best specific character. Cuvicr,
in the last edition of the Regne Animal, torn. ii. p. 170,
hints at the existence of a second species of Ten-spincd
Stickleback the one having on the sides of the tail some
carinated scales, the other (G. Itevis, Cuvicr) wanting this

H 2

TOO

WITH HARD CHEEKS.

lateral arming. In the Hist. Nat. des Poissons, however,
only the G. pungitius is retained, and a smooth tail forms
part of its character. This species, like the former, was first
described by Belon, and afterwards figured by Rondeletius.
The fin-rays are :

D. IX + 10 : P. 11 : V. 1 + 5 : A. 1 +9 : C. 12.

The general colour is a yellowish or olive green on the back ;
sides and belly silvery white, with minute specks of black ;
fins pale yellowish white.

.

FIFTEEN-SPINED STICKLEBACK.

101

ACAKTHOPTERYGII.

WITH HARD CHEEKS.

THE FIFTEEN-SPINED STICKLEBACK.
GREAT SEA ADDER, Cornwall. BiSMORE, Orkney.

Gasterosteus

,, ,, BLOCK, pt. ii. pi. 53, fig. 1.

,, ,, Cuv. et VALENC. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. iv. p. 509.

,, ,, Fifteen-spined Stickleback, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. iii.

p. 356, pi. 61.

>, ,, ,, ,, DON. Brit. Fish. pi. 45.

Spinachia vulgaris, FLEM. Brit. An. p. 219, sp. 165.
Gasterosteus spinachia, Fifteen-spined Stickleback, JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 351.

THIS STICKLEBACK, much more elongated in its form than
any other of the British species, was first described and figured
by Schonevelde, whose name as a naturalist has been men-
tioned before. It appears to be even more numerous north-
ward than around the British Islands ; and is found on the
coast of Norway, as well as in the Baltic. Mr. Low includes
it in his Fauna Orcadensis, and says it is found very fre-
quently ; and it has its Orkney name, quoted above, from the
kind of balance there made use of, called bismores. Mr.
Neill and Dr. George Johnston have taken it in the Forth

102 WITH HARD CHEEKS.

and Berwick Bay ; from \vhence, southward and westward, it
may be found all round our coast to the Land's End.

The Fifteen-spined Stickleback, however, though common
on the coast, does not, like the other species of Sticklebacks,
ascend rivers ; and is rarely, if ever, taken in fresh water. It
is very voracious, swallowing indiscriminately the eggs and
fry of other fishes, worms, and marine insects. The collector
of minute crustaceous animals should omit no opportunity of
examining the stomachs of littoral fishes, and of this species
particularly. I have found in them numerous examples of
the genus My sis; the opposum shrimp of Montagu, described
and figured in the ninth volume of the Transactions of the
Linnean Society, page 90, tab. 5, fig. 3, and so named from
the females having a pouch on the abdomen, formed by four
concave scales turned upwards, in which she carries the ova,
and afterwards the young. The species of this genus form
the subject of the second memoir of the Zoological Re-
searches of Mr. J. V. Thompson, of Cork.

For the following account of the habits of the Fifteen-
spined Stickleback I am indebted to Mr. Couch: "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 less rapa-
cious. On one occasion, I noticed a specimen, six inches in
length, engaged in taking its prey from a clump of oreweed ;
in doing which, it assumed every posture between the hori-
zontal and perpendicular, with the head downward or upward,
thrusting its projecting 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 company
with an Eel of three inches in length, it was not long before
the latter was attacked and devoured head foremost, not,
indeed, all together, for the Eel was too large a morsel, so
that the tail remained hanging out of the mouth ; and it was

FIFTEEN-SPINED STICKLEBACK. 103

obliged at last to disgorge the Eel partly digested. It also
seized from tlie surface a moth that fell on the water, but
threw up the wings. The effect of the passions on the
colour of the skin in the species of the genus Gastcrosleus is
remarkable ;* and the specimen now spoken of, under the
influence of terror, from a dark olive with golden sides,
changed to pale for eighteen hours, when it as suddenly re-
gained its former tints. It spawns in spring ; and the young,
not half an inch in length, are seen in considerable numbers
at the margin of the sea in summer. 1 ' 1 Couches MS.

The whole length of this species is from five to seven
inches. The jaws are elongated, the under one the most ;
the mouth small ; the eye placed half-way between the point
of the nose and the end of the gill-cover ; the irides silvery,
the pupil black ; the head flat : the form of the body pentan-
gular, the tail depressed ; the lateral line marked by a series
of carinated scales throughout its whole length. The fin-rays
are :

D. XV + 6 : P. 10 : V. 2 : A. 1 + 7 : C. 12.

The fifteen dorsal spines, curved backwards, are each fur-
nished with its little membrane, and the last spine is the
longest and most curved ; the belly, with two elongated bony
plates, having, about midway on their inner edges, two un-
equally-sized ventral spines : the colour of the upper part of
the head, body, and tail, is greenish brown, the sides inclin-
ing to yellow ; silvery white on the cheeks, gill-covers, under
part of the head, and belly ; the dorsal and anal fins have each
a black spot on the anterior part.

* See Magazine of Natural History, vol. iii. p. 329.

104

SCI^ENID.'E.

ACANTHOPTERYGll.

THE MAIGRE.

Scicena aquila, Cuv. et VALENC. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. v. p. 28, pi. 100.

Umbra Rondeletii, WILLUGHBY, p. 299, tab. S. 19.

Clieilodiptere aigle, LACEPEDE.

Scitena aquila, FLEM. Brit. An. p. 213, sp. 144.

,, ,, Maigre, JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 352.

Generic Characters. Body covered with scales : two dorsal fins ; spines of
the anal fin slender: a single row of strong teeth in each jaw ; a narrow line of
small ones in the upper jaw only, none on the vomer or palatine bones: pre-
operculum serrated, when young ; operculum ending with one or more spines :
branchiostegous rays 7.

THE limited space to be devoted to each species in this
work, will not allow an opportunity of following Cuvier and
M. Valenciennes through the long chain of historical research
by which they have succeeded in clearing the European
Scianidez from the obscurity in which they were involved by
the older writers. This important branch of Ichthyological
history, for which Baron Cuvier was so eminently qualified

* The family of the Maigres.

MAIGRE. 105

by his great talents and acquirements, his excellent memory,
and the extensive materials by which he was surrounded,
forms one of the most valuable features of all that part of the
work on fishes he was spared to accomplish. It may be suf-
ficient here to state, that, in the Histoire Naturdle des
Poissons, the three best-known species of the Mediterranean
Sea have been considered the types of three genera, two of
which will belong to British Fishes.

The name of Scttena, as a generic term, has been given to
those species which exhibit the peculiarities included in the
generic characters, of which Sci&na aquila, the Maigre of
the French, forms the type, or most characteristic example.

This fish, the largest and the most remarkable, is also the
most common in certain localities ; and is celebrated for the
goodness of its flesh. Salvianus has correctly described it
under the name of Umbrina, but considered it the Maigre of
the French. Rondeletius calls it Peis Rei (Royal Fish).
It appears always to have been in great request with epicures ;
and, as on account of its large size it was always sold in
pieces, the fishermen of Rome were in the habit of presenting
the head, which was considered the finest part, as a sort of
tribute to the three local magistrates who acted for the time
as conservators of the city.

Paulus Jovius relates a curious history of a head of one
of these fishes, presented, as usual, to the conservators in the
reign of Pope Sextus X. ; given by them to the Pope^s
nephew ; by him to one of the Cardinals ; from whom it
passed as a noble donation to his banker, to whom he was
deeply indebted ; and from the banker to his courtesan.
It was followed through all its migrations by a parasite,
whose industry was rewarded by at length partaking of the
feast. This story forms much of the underplot of Beau-
mont and Fletcher's " Woman-Hater ;" where, as the con-
dition of his becoming a sharer in the exquisite morsel, the

106

parasite is made to marry the courtesan, with whom the head
finally rested.

The Maigre, however, seems almost to have become for-
gotten at Paris ; and Duhamel has afforded a clue that ex-
plains it. The fish has shifted its ground ; and had, at the
time the observation was made, taken up a new locality, near-
ly a hundred leagues distant from its previous position.

The southern side of the Mediterranean appears to be the
situation in which the young of the Maigre are produced in
the greatest numbers ; and examples of small size have been
brought from Egypt. The specimens that are taken on the
northern shore are usually of large size. At Genoa, this fish
is called fegaro; and at Nice, according to M. Risso, /gem,
and vanloo.

The Maigre is occasionally taken off the coast of Spain ;
and Duhamel considered it a fish that wandered continually,
generally swimming in small shoals, and seldom remaining
long in a place. In 1 803, the fishermen of Dieppe caught
nine or ten of these fishes, which were unknown to them
before, and to which they gave the name of aigle. Speci-
mens have also been taken occasionally since ; and it has been
observed, that, when these fishes are swimming in shoals,
they utter a grunting or purring noise, that may be heard
from a depth of twenty fathoms ; and, taking advantage of
this circumstance, three fishermen once took twenty Maigres
by a single sweep of their net. They are described as pos-
sessing great strength, frequently upsetting the men in their
struggles ; and they are accordingly knocked on the head as
soon as they are got into the boat.

As we advance northward, the Maigre becomes more rare.
One specimen, five feet four inches in length, was taken in
Zetland, in November 1819, as recorded by Mr. Neill. It
was first observed by some fishermen, as it was endeavouring
to escape from a seal ; and when taken into the boat, made

MAIGRE. 107

its usual purring sort of noise. A second specimen was taken
in a seine-net, at Start Bay, on the south coast of Devon, in
August 1823, as communicated to the Zoological Society by
the Rev. Robert Holdsworth. In September 1834, I saw a
fine specimen, five feet two inches long, in the collection of
Mr. John Hancock, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, which had
been taken on the coast of Northumberland, and preserved
by himself ; since that time I have seen five fresh specimens,
four of which were brought to the London market, and I
have heard of four others ; these were taken along the line of
our southern coast, where they are sometimes called Stone
Basse, and occasionally confounded with the fishes described
at pages 8 and 19. Part of the flesh of these specimens was
eaten by several persons, and by all reported to be good, par-
ticularly by those who prepared their portions by stewing.
When plain boiled only, it was rather dry and tasteless.
The two hard bones usually found just within the sides of
the head in fishes are larger in proportion in the Maigre than
in any other fish, and were supposed, the older writers say, to
possess medicinal virtues. According to Belon, they were
called colick-stones, and were worn on the neck, mounted in
gold, to secure the possessor against this painful malady : to
be quite effectual, it was pretended that the wearer must have
received them as a gift ; if they had been purchased, they had
neither preventive nor curative power. These ear-bones are
well represented by Klein, tab. 4, D. D.

The Maigre is seldom taken less than three feet, and some-
times as much as six feet, in length. It possesses many of
the internal characters of some of the Percidee, and has very
much the general external appearance of a large Basse. It
differs, however, in having the tongue and the whole of the
roof of the mouth quite smooth. The head is also shorter,
and more rounded in form than that of the Basse. The
mouth is furnished with one row of distinctly separated teeth

108 SCI.ENID.E.

in each jaw, pointed and curved, with a few smaller ones
among those of the lower jaw, and a row of smaller ones
behind those of the upper jaw ; the eye placed high up on
the head, distant about twice its own diameter from the
end of the nose ; and the nostrils pierced in a line between
these two points, but nearer the eye. In three of the speci-
mens I had opportunities of examining, the serrations of the
preoperculum were nearly obliterated, probably by age : the
fin-rays were in number

D. 9 1 + 27 : P. 16 : V. 1 + 5 : A. 1 + 8 : C. 17.

but the membranes of the fins and the tail were very much
worn : the lateral line is parallel to the line of the back
throughout its length. When quite fresh, the colour of the
body is a uniform greyish silver, slightly inclining to brown
on the back, and lightest on the belly ; but after keeping
some days, the whole body became much darker. All the
fins were reddish brown ; the first dorsal, the pectoral, and
ventral fins, rather more red than the others. The swim-
ming-bladder in this species is peculiar, being fringed all
round its edge. The figure of it here added is from the
work of Cuvier and Valenciennes, before referred to.

BEARDED UMBRINA.

109

ACANTHOPTERYGIL

SCI&NID&.

THE BEARDED UMBRINA.

Umbrina vulgaris, Cuv. et VALENC. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. v. p. 171.

Scitsna cirrosa, LINNJEUS.

,, ,, BLOCK, pt. ix. pi. 300.

. ,, JEN\NS, Brit. Vert. p. 353.

Generic Characters. The Umbrina, besides the characters common to Sciae-
na, has a barbule, or cirrus, at the angle of the lower jaw ; the spines of the anal
fin strong and sharp ; the teeth smaller and more numerous.

THE BEARDED UMBRINA is a beautiful and excellent
fish, which, though not attaining the size of the Maigre, is
frequently taken two feet in length, and has been known to
weigh forty pounds. It is very common on the coasts of
Italy, France, and Spain. The flesh is white and of good
flavour, and in considerable request, even at the best tables.
Its food is small fishes, mollusca, and a particular sort of
sea-weed, which have been found in its stomach.

On the British coast it appears to be a very rare visiter.
In 1827, a fish, unknown to the oldest fisherman, was taken
in the river Exe, which proved to be identical with that
known at Gibraltar by the Spanish name of Umbrina, the
Scitena cirrosa of Linnseus. (Minute-book of the Linnean
Society.)

110

SCLENID.E.

The head is short and blunt ; the irides silvery, the pupil
black ; the upper jaw considerably the longest ; three large
mucous pores near the point of the nose ; under jaw flat,
marked with four mucous pores near its extremity, and with
a single short and thick cirrus, or barbule, at the symphysis :
the teeth very small, numerous, and arranged in a broad band
in each jaw ; none on the palate nor on the tongue : preoper-
culum denticulated while young, but these markings are
sometimes obliterated by age ; operculum ending in a spine,
and a flattened point directed backwards. The fin-rays are :

D. 1022 : P. 17 : V. 1 +6 : A. 2 + 7 : C. 17.

The lateral line parallel with, but much nearer, the dorsal
line than in the Maigre ; the scales large and rhomboidal ;
the ground colour of the body yellowish, traversed obliquely
from the back downwards and forwards with bands of silver
and blue ; the belly white ; dorsal fins brown, the second fin
marked with two bars ; pectoral and ventral fins nearly black ;
anal fin red. The figure of the fish is taken from the Fauna
Italica, that of the cranium from Rosenthal.

GILT-HEAD.

ACANTHOPTERYGII.

Ill

SPAR1DJE*

THE GILT-HEAD.

Chrysophrys aurata, Cuv.et VALENC. Hist. Nat.des Poiss. t. vi. p. 85, pi. 145.
Aurata Kondeletii, WILLUGHBY, p. 307, tab. V. 5.
Sparus aurata, LINN/EUS.

,, ,, BLOCK, pt. viii. pi. 266.

,, Gilt-head, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. iii. p. 327, but not

plate 66.

ii ,, FLEM. Brit. An. p. 211, sp. 136?

,, ,, ,, JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 353.

Generic Characters. Body deep, compressed ; dorsal fin single, the rays
partly spinous, the posterior rays flexible ; teeth of two kinds, six incisors in
each jaw, conical, with rounded and oval molar teeth, in four rows above and
three rows below ; cheeks and operculum covered with scales ; branchiostegous
rays 6.

THE GILT-HEAD is one of the fishes most abundant in
the Mediterranean : from Gibraltar it is found as far south
as the Cape of Good Hope, and northward along the coast of
Spain and France ; thence to the bold shore of parts of our
southern coast, Colonel Montagu having examined two spe-
cimens taken at Torcross in 1802; since that time, a fine

* The family of Marine Bream.

11!S SPARID.E.

specimen, measuring fifteen inches in length, has been
brought to the London market, and is now carefully pre-
served ; and another has been taken about eight inches long
at the mouth of the Tweed. Dr. Fleming has recorded
having seen one specimen caught in the estuary of the Tay
in the month of August. It does not appear, however, to
proceed so far north as some other species of the same family,
and is not included in the Fauna of Fabricius or Muller.
Duhamel has remarked of the species of Chrysophrys, that
they are averse to cold, and that numbers perished in the
severe winter of 1766.

The Chrysophrys, so called by the Greeks on account
of their golden-coloured eyebrows, from whence also the
names of aurata, dorade, and Gilt-head have arisen, like
most of the Sparidae^ frequents deep water on bold rocky
shores, where they are occasionally caught by lines or
nets. They are said to spawn in summer ; and their
food consists of molluscous and testaceous animals, which
their rounded teeth and strong jaws enable them to break

GILT-HEAD. 113

clown even in such thick and hard shells as those of the ge-
nera Turbo and Trochus.

The most ordinary form of teeth in fishes is that of an
elongated cone, but varying greatly in size, and sometimes
curving inwards : such has been the general form of those
possessed by the different species already described. In
the fish of the genus noAv under consideration, the teeth vary
in shape, as the vignette will show : the varieties in the forms
of the teeth in British fishes generally, the mode of growth
and change, and the numerous bones to which they are attach-
ed, require to be noticed.

The forms of the teeth are not less varied than their
position, and require different names. The most common
shape is that of an elongated cone, either straight or curved.
When these conical teeth are small and numerous, they are
compared to the points of the cards used for carding wool or
cotton ; and they are sometimes so slender, yet so dense from
their numbers, as to resemble the pile of velvet or plush ;
and often, from their very minute size, their presence is more
readily ascertained by the finger than by the eye. Some
fishes have in the front of the jaws flat teeth with a cutting
edge, like a true incisor : others have them rounded or oval ;
they are then most frequently planted in rows, and adapted
to bruise or crush the various substances with which they are
brought in contact.

All the teeth of fishes are simple, each originating in its
own single pulpy germ.

Whatever the form of the tooth, it is produced by suc-
cessive layers, as in the mammalia ; but the growth is not
directed downwards to form a root : there is no deep alveolar
cavity ; the tooth consists only of that part which is usually
called the crown, and it seems rather to be a production of
the surface of the bone than of the interior.

VOL. I. I

114

The renewal of the teeth in fishes seems to take place at
uncertain periods, apparently with some reference to the
accidental wants of the animal ; the new tooth sometimes
grows beneath, sometimes at the side, or behind or before the
old teeth, which are loosened at their attachment, not worn
down, and thus thrown off.

Fishes may have teeth attached to all the bones that
assist in forming the cavity of the mouth and pharynx
to the intermaxillary, maxillary, and palatine bones, the
vomcr, the tongue, the branchial arches supporting the gills,
and the pharyngeal bones ; there are genera, the species of
which have teeth attached to all these various bones : some-
times these teeth are uniform in shape, at others differing.
One or more of these bones are sometimes without teeth of
any sort ; and there are fishes that have no teeth whatever on
any of them. The teeth are named in reference to the bone
upon which they are placed, and are referred to as inter-
maxillary, maxillary, palatine, vomerine, &c. depending upon
their position.

To return to the Gilt-head : The body is deepest at the
commencement of the dorsal fin : the head short and ele-
vated ; the irides golden yellow, the pupils black ; the semi-
lunar spot over the eye of a brilliant golden colour ; and
there is a violet-coloured patch at the upper part of the edge
of the operculum ; the scales of the cheeks smaller than those
of the body : the teeth in an adult fish are as shown by the
vignette, but in young fishes of this species the teeth are
fewer in number. The fin-rays are,

D. 11 + 13 : P. 16 : V. 1 + 5 : A. 3 -f 11 : C. 17.

The back is silvery grey shaded with blue ; the belly like
polished steel, with longitudinal golden-coloured bands on
the sides, that give them a yellow appearance : the fins are

GILT-HEAD.

115

greyish blue ; the tail darker : the dorsal and anal fins appear
as if placed in grooves, from the rising edges of the scales on
each side. This fish seldom exceeds twelve inches in length.
The figures of the fish and teeth are derived from the work of
Cuvier and M. Valenciennes.

The vignette below represents the bones of the cranium as
observed in the Sparidse.

i 2

116

SPARIDE.

ACANTHOPTERYCII.

SPAR1D.E.

THE BRAIZE OR BECKER.

PANDORA, AND KING OF THE SEA BREAM.

Pagrus vulgaris, Cuv. et VALENC. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. vi. p. 142, pi. 148.
Sparus pagrus LINN*US.

,, ,, Becker, COUCH, Trans. Linn. Soc. vol. xiv. p. 79.

Pagrus vulgaris, Braize, FLEM. Brit. An. p. 211, sp. 137.

Sparus pagrus, or Becker, J EN YNS, Brit. Vert. p. 354.

Generic Characters. Four or six strong conical teeth in front, supported by
smaller conical teeth behind them, with two rows of rounded molar teeth on
each side of both jaws : the other characters as in the last genus Chrysophrys.

THERE is considerable similarity in outward form between
the true Pagrus, the subject of the present article, and
Chrysophrys, the fish last described ; but the red colour of
the Braize, and the circumstance of its possessing but two
rows of molar teeth, are sufficient to distinguish it. This
fish was originally well-figured by Rondeletius, lib. v. c. 15 ;
but the number of the Pagri in the Mediterranean of a red
colour, has led to some confusion in the accounts of many of

BRAIZE OR BECKER. 117

the different authors since : neither Willughby nor Bloch
can be quoted with certainty, and Pennant refers in his
synonym es to both these authors, though they appear to
have been considering two distinct fishes, neither of which
accord with the true Pagnts. The name of this fish is said
to be derived from phagus, e phago, ' to cat, 1 from its vora-
city ; and its food is partly sea-weed, with shrimps and tes-
taceous animals. Mr. Couch says that it appears on the
Cornish coast in moderately deep water throughout the sum-
mer and autumn, but retires in winter and spring. The
young are but rarely seen. In the North of Ireland, at
Belfast Bay, Antrim, and Londonderry, a fish belonging to
the Sparidte is taken, called the Brazier, which is said to
be the Pagrus^ but may, perhaps, prove to be the Common
Sea Bream, Pagellus centrodontiis. M. Risso says that in
the Mediterranean this fish frequents deep water near rocks ;
and the females are full of roe in summer.

In September 1837, the Rev. Robert Holdsworth of
Brixham sent me a fine specimen of this fish, one of four
brought in by the fishermen of that place. Dr. Parnell has
since given me a specimen also taken on the Devonshire
coast, and has lent me for my use his specimen taken in the
Frith of Forth. I am now, therefore, enabled to add some-
thing to my former account, and give a description from the
fish. The Rev. Mr. Holdsworth sends me word that this
species does not appear on that coast constantly, but only at
intervals, and sometimes the fishermen do not take any for
months. They are caught in deep water by hooks, which are
generally baited with muscles. There is reason to believe
that this is the species of Sea Bream, which in Spain, and in
some parts of the Mediterranean also, is called Pandora, by
which name it is known at Brixham, where it is also called
King of the Bream, and sells for half as much more as the
Common Sea Bream, Pagellus centrodontus, page 123. The

118 SPARJD^E.

Pagellus erythrinus of Dr. PamelFs Essay is our present
species the Pagrus vulgaris, and his Pagellus acarne is the
true Pagellus erythrinus of Cuvier.

In the Brixham specimen, twenty-one inches long, the depth
of the body at the commencement of the dorsal fin is about
one third of the whole length of the fish ; the head measures
six inches from the point of either jaw to the posterior edge
of the operculum, or, compared to the whole length of the
fish, as one to three and a half; the diameter of the orbit of
the eye equal to the breadth of the operculum : the suborbi-
tal bone large ; the teeth of three sorts, as shown in the side
and front view forming the vignette, the anterior row being
elongated and conical, the four immediately in front of both
jaws being rather the longest in the row. Suborbital bone
and preoperculum covered with a shining metallic-like surface,
striated along the margin ; cheek and operculum covered with
scales, operculum smooth at the edge. The dorsal fin com-
mences in a line over the origin of the pectoral fin, and ends
rather before the line of termination of the anal, the first
twelve rays spinous, the rest flexible ; the whole length of the
base of the fin lodged in a groove formed by the elevation of
the edges of the scales of the body : the pectoral fin very
long, the fourth or fifth ray the longest, and reaching beyond
the vent ; the ventral fin arises in a line about half an inch
behind the origin of the pectoral fin, is only about half as
long as that fin, and has its single spiny ray shorter than the
first flexible ray ; the anal fin commences in a line under the
second soft ray of the dorsal fin, the first of the three spiny
rays only half the length of the second, the base of the whole
fin lodged in a groove formed by the free edges of the scales
along the abdominal line ; the tail forked, the longest termi-
nal rays more than as long again as the shortest rays, or those
in the middle ; the lateral line, commencing at the upper
angle of the operculum, ascends a little, and then follows the

BRAIZE OR BECKER.

119

line of the curve of the back ; the scales on the body are
large, and finely ciliated on the free margin. Mr. Holds-
worth says, the colours of this fish when taken from the water
are very beautiful : above the lateral line it is of a bluish
silver colour, below the line bright silver, with the belly and
lower fins tinged with vermilion ; dorsal and caudal fin rose
red ; the irides are golden yellow, the space between the eyes
reddish brown, with a spot of the same colour over the com-
mencement of the lateral line, and under the base of the pec-
toral fin, but these spots not always very obvious. The
number of fin-rays are,

D. 12 + 10 : P. 15 : V. 1 + 5 : A. 3 + 9 : C. 17.

SPARID.E.

ACANTHOPTERYGII. SPAR1D&.

THE SPANISH SEA BREAM.

Pagellus erythrinus, Cuv. et VALENC. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. iv. p. 169,

pi. 150.

Spurns ,, LINN/EVS.

Erythrinus Rondeletii, WILLUGHBV, p. 311, tab. V. 6.

,, ,, Spanish Bream, COUCH, Mag. Nat. Hist. vol. v. p. 17,

fig. 3.

,, ,, Red Sea Bream. WALLCOTT'S MS.

Sparus erythrinus., Spanish Sea Bream, JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 355.

Generic Characters. The teeth in front conical, slender, numerous ; the
molars rounded, smaller in size than in the preceding genera of the Sparidte,
those of the outer rank the most powerful : one dorsal fin, the rays of the ante-
rior part spinous, the remainder flexible : in other respects resembling the ge-
nera Chrysophrys and Pagrus.

THE Pagellus erythrinus of Cuvier and M. Valenciennes,
the Spanish Bream of Mr. Couch, was well known to Ronde-
letius and Salvianus, is a common fish in the Mediterranean
Sea, and when issuing thence, appears to pursue a course
north and north-west.

This species, Mr. Couch says, " is known to our fishermen
by the name of Spanish Bream. It is rare, as I have never

SPANISH SEA BREAM. 121

seen above two or three specimens, which were taken with
Sea Bream, and with the same kind of baits. Its habits
seem to be like those of the Sea Bream."

To this may be added, that the food of this species con-
sists of small fishes and testaceous animals. They swim in
small shoals ; visiting the shore in spring, and remaining till
autumn. Neither Pennant nor Mr. Donovan have included
the Spanish Bream in their accounts of British Fishes ; but
Mr. Wallcott, whose MS. and drawings have been already
mentioned, and will frequently be referred to, appears to
have met with it at Teignmouth ; and his drawings contain
a most accurate representation of this fish.

The figure of this fish at the head of the page is from the
work of Cuvier and M. Valenciennes. I should have availed
myself of the drawing by Mr. Wallcott, taken from an Eng-
lish specimen, but the wood-block had been engraved when
the MS. and its illustrations came into my hands.

Since the publication of this species in the first edition of
the British Fishes, I have received two specimens from Mr.
Couch for my use, and two from Dr. Parnell, one taken on
the Devonshire coast, and the other in a salmon-net near
Musselburgh, where a second specimen was also taken.
This fish, except in size, bears considerable resemblance to
the Pagrus, last described, but the small carding teeth want
the row of elongated conical teeth which surrounds them on
the outside in both jaws of the Pagrus. The teeth, as re-
presented in the vignette here added, were drawn from those
of the most perfect of the four specimens now before me.
The largest fish measures fourteen inches in length ; the eye
is larger in proportion than in Pagrus, the diameter of the
orbit being greater than the breadth of the operculum ; the
cheeks, operculum, and interoperculum, covered with scales,
the interoperculum forming part of a circle ; the suborbital
bone and the preoperculum silvery, both granulated on the

SPARID/E.

superior part, striated on the inferior ; the larger and older
the fish, the more metallic is the appearance. In the charac-
ter and position of the fins there is but little difference ; the
first three or four soft rays of the dorsal fin are longer than
the last spiny ray, and the last two or three soft rays of both
dorsal and anal fin are invested together in one scaly cover-
ing ; both fins have their bases in a deep groove formed by
the extended free edges of the scales on the dorsal and abdo-
minal lines ; the tail is slender and deeply forked.
The number of fin-rays are :

D. 12 + 10 : P. 15 : V. 1 + 5 : A. 3 + 8 : C. 17.

The scales of the body are large and ciliated at their free
margin ; those of the lateral line following the curve of the
back about an inch below the dorsal line.

The colour of this fish when alive is a fine carmine red on
the back, passing into rose colour on the sides, and becoming
almost silvery white on the belly ; the membranes of the fins
are rose colour, the anal and ventral fins being paler than the
others ; the space between the eyes reddish brown, with two
dark streaks of the same colour on each side the nape of the
neck, and an indication of a pale brown spot in the axilla of
the pectoral fin, but this mark is most conspicuous in the
larger and older specimens.

AXILLARY BREAM.

122*

ACANTHOPTERYGII.

SPARIDX.

Acarnane,
A car ne,
Pagellus acarne,

THE AXILLARY BREAM.

RONDELET. Latin Edit. 1554, p. 151.

French Edit. 1558, p. 134.
Cuv. et VALENC. Hist, des Poiss. t. vi. p. 191.
Axillary Bream, PARNELL, Wern. Mem. vol. vii. p. 20-1.

DR. PARNELL has obtained examples of this Sea Bream
both in the Frith of Forth, and on the coast of Devonshire ;
and Mr. Couch sent me one or two examples from Cornwall.
It is at once distinguished from Pagellus erythrinus, last
described, by the large comparative size of the head, and the
more rounded form of the descending frontal outline. As
far as my experience extends, P. erythrinus is the more rare
fish of the two. The figures of these two species in the
work of Rondeletius are very characteristic : that of P. ery-
thrinus occurs in the Latin edition at page 144 ; French
edition, page 129 : that of P. acarne as quoted above.
The Axillary Bream is well known in various parts of the
Mediterranean.

The following, is abridged from Dr. ParnelFs detailed
description of a fresh specimen : " Body oval ; length

VOL. i. i (J

SPARID.E.

thirteen inches ; depth four inches ; sides compressed ; scales
large, ciliated. General form resembling that of the Sea-
Bream. Dorsal line rounded, descending obliquely from
the nape to the nostrils, from thence more suddenly to
the lips. Colour of the body pale silvery red ; dorsal and
caudal fins rose-red ; ventral and anal fins paler ; space be-
tween the eyes reddish brown ; in front of the eyes, and
on the lower half of the preoperculum, metallic grey ; at
the upper part of the base of the pectorals a dark violet-
coloured spot, very conspicuous even in the dried fish.
Eye large, placed half-way between the tip of the upper
jaw and the posterior margin of the operculum ; its dia-
meter one-fourth the length of the head. Operculum and
preoperculum entire. Lateral line following the dorsal curve,
composed of seventy scales. Dorsal fin commencing over the
posterior margin of the operculum, and ending in a line with
the last ray of the anal fin ; the first spine short, about
half the length of the second ; the flexible rays, a little
longer than the terminating spiny rays. Anal fin com-
mencing under the third flexible ray of the dorsal ; the first
three rays spiny, the rest soft. Pectorals and ventrals com-
mencing on the same line. Tail forked. Jaws nearly of
equal length, the under rather the shortest ; anterior teeth
small and numerous, disposed in many rows ; the outer row
composed of thirty teeth, longer and more bent than those
within ; molars large, disposed in three rows in each jaw.
The intervening membranes at the base of the caudal, and
the last two rays of the dorsal and anal fins, covered with
small thin scales, diminishing in size as they approach the
summit of the rays." Number of fin-rays :

D. 12 + 11 : P. 16 : V. 1 + 5 : A. 3 + 10 : C. 17.

COMMON SEA. BREAM.

123

ACANTHOPTERYGII.

SPARIDJE.

i- ttir /"/->}

IB mlmimifimfmmm

THE COMMON SEA BREAM.

THE SHARP-TOOTHED SEA BREAM.

Pugellus cenlrodontus, Cuv. et VALENC. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. vi. p. 180.
,, ,, Red Gilt Head, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. iii. p. 329,

and pi. 66, under the name of
Lunulated Gilt-head.

,, ,, Lunulated Gilt-head, DON. Brit. Fish. pi. 89.

Gilt-head, FLEM. Brit. An. p. 211, sp. 1361

,, ,, Sea Bream of Couch and Montagu.

Spams ,, Common Sea Bream, JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 356.

THE SEA BREAM is a common fish in the Mediterranean,
and in the ocean is tat en frequently at Brest, Dieppe, and
Boulogne : it is by no means an uncommon fish on the line
of the southern shore of England, particularly on the coast of
Sussex, and is constantly to be seen during summer and
autumn in the fish-market at Hastings. Colonel Montagu

o o

obtained it in Devonshire ; and Mr. Couch, whose account of
this species I shall quote at some length, says it is abundant
in Cornwall.

On the Irish coast, this fish may be traced from Watcrford
up the east coast to Dublin Bay, and thence to Belfast Bay

SPARID.E.

and the north coast of Antrim, where it is called Murranroe
and Barwin ; on the north-west coast of Ireland it is called
a Gunner. On the east coast of England it is not un-
common : Dr. Johnston has met with it in Berwick Bay,
and Dr. Parnell has obtained it in the Frith of Forth.
It is included by S. Nilsson in his Prodomus Ichthyologies
Scandinavicee ; and Professor Reinhardt has ascertained its
most northern locality on the coast of Denmark : but it is not
included by Linnseus in his Fauna Suecica, nor is it men-
tioned by M Idler or Fabricius.

" Common as this fish is," says Mr. Couch, " I have
found a difficulty in assigning to it its proper synonymes. I
suppose it, however, to be the Lunulated Gilt-head of Pen-
nant, with his figure of which it agrees, though not with his
description. He represents it as of a dusky green on the
back, where our Sea Bream is red, with a tint of yellow. On
the upper part of the gills, according to Pennant, is a black
spot, and a purplish one beneath :" but our fish has only a
broad dark brown spot at the origin of the lateral line. Dr.
Fleming's description agrees with Pennant's ; and Ray says
it weighs ten pounds ; but our fish would be thought enor-
mous if of half that size.

The young fish, which are commonly known by the name
of Chads, are without the lateral spot until their first autumn,
when they arc about half-grown.

The Sea Bream is found on the west coast of England
throughout the year, but is most abundant in summer and
autumn ; and it retreats altogether in severely cold weather.
The spawn is shed in the beginning of winter in deep water ;
and in January the Chads, about an inch in length, are found
in the stomachs of large fishes, taken at two or three leagues
from land : in summer, when from four to six inches long,
they abound in innumerable multitudes, and are taken by
anglers in harbours, and from the rocks ; for they bite with

COMMON SEA BREAM. 125

great eagerness at any bait, even of the flesh of their own
species. The food, both of the young and adult fish, is not,
however, confined to animal substance ; for they devour the
green species of sea-weeds, which they bite from the rocks,
and for bruising which their teeth are well suited, as are
their long and capacious intestines for digesting it." In
the stomach of one that was examined by Colonel Montagu,
were several small sandlaunce, limbs of crustaceous animals,
and fragments of shells. " In its general habits," Mr. Couch
says, " the Sea Bream might be considered a solitary fish ;
as when they most abound, the assemblage is formed com-
monly for no other purpose than the pursuit of food. Yet
there are exceptions to this ; and fishermen inform me of
instances in which multitudes are seen congregated at the
surface, moving slowly along as if engaged in some important
expedition. This happens most frequently over rocky ground
in deep water.

" The Sea Bream is not highly esteemed for the table,
and is not at all in request when salted : hence, when abund-
ant, I have known it sold at so low a rate as two shillings and
sixpence the hundred weight !""

When at the sea-coast on fishing excursions, it has been
one of my customs to eat of the various fishes I could either
catch or purchase that are not in general use for the table.
With the example of Isaac Walton before me, I will venture
to suggest a mode of preparing a Sea Bream which materi-
ally improves its more ordinary flavour. When thoroughly
cleaned, the fish should be wiped dry, but none of the scales
should be taken off. In this state it should be broiled, turn-
ing it often, and if the skin cracks, flour it a little to keep
the outer case entire. When on table, the whole skin and
scales turn off without difficulty ; and the muscle beneath,
saturated with its own natural juices, which the outside cover-
ing has retained, will be found of good flavour.

126

SPABID.E.

The jaws are short, and equal in length ; the teeth as
shown in the vignette below : the eye very large, irides
golden yellow : the head short, the line of the profile descends
rapidly : cheeks, operculum, and interoperculum covered with
scales ; preoperculum, part of the space before and under the
orbit, of a metallic tinfoil appearance : two narrow stripes on
each side behind the head, which meet on the central line at
the top ; at the origin of the lateral line, behind the edge of
the operculum, a conspicuous dark patch made up of small
spots : the colour of the body is reddish, tinged with grey ;
lighter on the sides, which are golden grey, and marked with
faint longitudinal bands the whole length of the body : the
belly nearly white ; dorsal and anal fins brown, each appearing
as if lodged in a groove, from the rising edges of the skin and
scales along the base ; pectorals and tail red ; ventrals grey.

The number of fin-rays are,

D. 12+ 13 : P. 17 : V. 1 +5 : A. 3+ 12 : C. 17.

FOUR-TOOTHED SPARUS.

127

ACANTHOPTERYGII.

SPARIDJE.

THE FOUR-TOOTHED SPARUS.

Dentex vulgaris, Cuv. et \ r ALENC. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. vi. p. 220, pi. 153.

,, Bellonii, WILLUGHBY, p. 312, tab. V. 3.
Sparus dentex, LINNAEUS. BLOCK, pt. viii. pi. 268.

,, ,, Toothed Gilt-head, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. iii. p. 331, but

not the plate bearing that name, which
represents Ray's Bream.

,, ,, Four-toothed Sparus, DON. Brit. Fish. pi. 73.

Dentex vulgaris, FLEM. Brit. An. p. 212, sp. 139.

Generic Characters. Body deep, compressed ; dorsal fin single ; head
large ; teeth conical, placed in a single row, four in the front, above and below,
elongated, and curved inwards, forming hooks ; teeth on the branchial arches,
but none on the vomer or palatine bones : nose and suborbital space without
scales; branchiostegous rays 6.

THE FOUR-TOOTHED SPARUS is here inserted as a British
species on the authority of Mr. Donovan, the only English
naturalist I am aware of who has recorded its capture on the
British coast. In April 1805, a specimen of this fish, two
feet six inches in length, which had been caught off Hastings,
was brought to the London market, and, fortunately, fell into
the hands of the author of the Natural History of British

128 SPARID.K.

Fishes, who has given a good representation of it in his work,
and whose English name for it is here adopted.

As a Mediterranean species it is exceedingly well known ;
and there is little doubt this fish was the Dentex of the
Romans. It is remarkable for the great length of the four
anterior teeth in each jaw ; and a second species of the
same genus, as now restricted also a native of the Medi-
terranean was from this peculiar character called Cynodori
(Dog's-teeth).

The Four-toothed Spams acquires a large size, sometimes
three feet in length, and weighing from twenty to thirty
pounds : Duhamel, on the authority of Gortier, mentions
one instance of a Dentex that weighed no less than seventy
pounds. They appear to be much more rare in the ocean,
as well as smaller in size. The fish recorded by Mr. Dono-
van weighed sixteen pounds.

" A more voracious fish," says the same writer, " is
scarcely known ; and when we consider its ferocious incli-
nation, and the strength of its formidable canine teeth, we
must be fully sensible of the great ability it possesses in
attacking other fishes, even of superior size, with advantage.
It is asserted, that when taken in the fishermen's nets, it will
seize upon the other fishes taken with it, and mangle them
dreadfully. Being a swift swimmer, it finds abundant prey,
and soon attains to a considerable size. Willughby observes,
that small fishes of this species are rarely taken ; and the
same circumstance has been mentioned by later writers.
During the winter it prefers deep waters ; but in the spring,
or about May, it quits this retreat, and approaches the en-
trance of great rivers, where it deposits its spawn between the
crevices of stones and rocks.

" The fisheries for this kind of Sparus are carried on upon
an extensive scale in the warmer parts of Europe. In the
estuaries of Dalmatia and the Levant, the capture of this fish

FOUR-TOOTHED SPARUS.

129

is an object of material consideration, both to the inhabitants
generally as a wholesome and palatable food when fresh, and
to the mercantile interests of those countries as an article of
commerce. They prepare the fish, according to ancient cus-
tom, by cutting it in pieces, and packing it in barrels with
vinegar and spices, in Avhich state it will keep perfectly well
for twelve months.""

The fin-rays, according to Cuvier, are as follows :

D. 11 -f 11 : P. 14 : V. 1 + 5 : A. 3 + 7 : C. 17.

The form of the head is obtuse ; the character of the teeth is
shown in the vignette, which is taken from Bloch's figure ;
the eyes are rather small, the irides yellow ; the back is of a
brownish red, slightly mottled with some darker spots ; the
sides paler, and inclining to yellow ; the belly almost white.
This fish is said to become of a greenish purple tint by age,
and to be paler in colour during winter. The lateral line
takes the curve of the back at an equal distance throughout
its whole length, and at about one-fourth of the depth of the
fish. All the fins pale reddish brown ; the rising edges of the
skin and scales on each side the base of the dorsal and anal
fins form grooves from which these fins appear to issue.

VOL. I

J30

SFARID.E.

ACANTHOPTERYGII.

SPAR1DM.

THE BLACK SEA BREAM.

Cantharus griseus, Cvv. et VALENC. Hist. Nat. cles Poiss. t. vi. p. 333.
Spams lineatus, Black Bream, MONTAGU. Mem. Wern. Soc. vol. ii. p. 451,

pi. 23. 1815.
,, vetula, Old Wife, COUCH, Trans. Linn. Soc. vol. xiv. p. 79.

1822.

Pagrus lineatus, FLEM. Brit. An. p. 211, sp. 138.
Cantharus griseus, Black Sea Bream, JENVNS, Brit. Vert. p. 358.

Generic Characters. Body deep, compressed ; a single elongated dorsal fin ;
teeth of rather small size, numerous, conical, placed in several rows, those of
the outer row rather larger and more curved than those forming the inner rows ;
mouth rather small ; branchiostegous rays 6.

THE BLACK BREAM, the Cantharus griseus of Cuvier
and M. Valenciennes, was made known as a British fish in
1815, by Colonel Montagu, under the name of Sparus
lineatus ; and in 1822, Mr. Couch included in his paper
printed in the Transactions of the Linnean Society, a notice
of a fish under the name of Sparus vetula which that gen-
tleman has since stated he considers identical with the Spa-
rus lineatus of Montagu. Cuvier does not appear to have
been aware of the description and figure of this fish in the

BLACK SEA BREAM. 131

Memoirs of the Wernerian Natural History Society, since,
in 1830, in the sixth volume of the Histoire Nalurdle des
Poissons, he states, at page 319, that his fourth species, C.
griseus, then appears for the first time ; but it had been also
figured by Duhamel, under the name of Sarde gn'se.

Of the genus Cantharus, but one species, as far as I am
acquainted, appears on our coast ; but some attention is
necessary to the teeth of the different genera forming the
Sparidte of Cuvier.

The Black Bream, for by this name is this species known
along the Kentish and Sussex coasts, as well as in Devon-
shire, though more rare than the Sea Bream, Pagellus cen-
trodontus, is not an uncommon species. The Zoological
Society has received specimens from Madeira, sent by the
Rev. R. T. Lowe. It is taken at Dieppe, Boulogne, and
Calais : I have seen it at Dover and Hastings. Colonel
Montagu saw it in considerable abundance on the coast in
Devonshire, and Mr. Couch in Cornwall. They are taken
by the hook, and also by the net : are most abundant in
July and August, but are not observed to grow so large as
the Sea Bream. Mr. Couch says, "it takes the common baits
which fishermen employ for other fish ; but feeds much on
marine vegetables, upon which it becomes exceedingly fat."
It enters harbours, and is frequently taken by anglers from
rocks and pier-heads ; but he has never known it assemble in
shoals, and it is very rare to take the young of small size.
Of three examples obtained by myself in the London market,
the largest measures seventeen inches in length, and five
inches and a half in depth, exclusive of the dorsal fin. The
largest specimen recorded measured twenty inches in length.

The fin-rays are,

D. 11 + 12 : P. 16 : V. 1 + 5 : A. 3 + 10 : C. 17.
From the upper and back part of the head two dark lines

132

SPARID/E.

descend to the upper edge of the operculum, enclosing be-
tween them a space covered with scales ; preoperculum, sub-
orbital ring, nose, and the part over the eye, smooth ; cheeks,
operculum, and interoperculum, covered with scales ; irides
reddish orange ; lips and region of the mouth pale reddish
brown : the prevailing colour of the body is bluish grey,
marked with alternate dark and light narrow longitudinal
bands, the centres of the scales being darker than the edges ;
the lateral line darkest of all, and receding from the dorsal
line as it approaches the top of the operculum ; dorsal fin pale
brown, and lodged in a groove throughout its whole length :
the pectoral fins in colour resemble the body, as do also the
rays of the ventral, anal, and caudal fins ; but the membranes
of these fins are much darker, approaching to dusky lead co-
lour : the upper division of the tail the largest.

The vignette of the teeth was drawn from the large speci-
men of seventeen inches before mentioned as obtained in the
London market.

RAY S SEA BREAM.

133

ACANTHOPTERYGII.

SQUAMMI PEN NESS

-J^ - . .,.!.,,,. . ,

m

RAY'S SEA BREAM.

Brama Raii, Cuv. et VAI.ENC. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. vii. p. 281, pi. 190.

,, ,, WILLUGHBY, Appendix, p. 17, tab. V. 12.
Spar us ,, BLOCIJ, pt. viii. pi. 273.

,, ,, Rayan Gilt-head, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. iii. p. 330, pi. 54,

under the name of Toothed Gilt-head.
Ray's Toothed Gilt-head, DON. Brit. Fish, pi. 131.
,, ,, ,, ,, MS. of Couch and Montagu.

Brama ,, ,, Sea Bream, J EN YNS, Brit. Vert. p. 359.

Generic Characters. Body compressed, deep ; profile of the head almost ver-
tical ; a single elongated dorsal fin ; dorsal and anal fins with scales attached
to the membranes ; teeth slender incurved, placed on the jaws and palatine
bones, sometimes with two in the front more elongated than the others ; bran-
chiostegous rays 7.

THE very peculiarly formed Marine Bream to which Ich-
thyologists have assigned the name of our celebrated coun-
tryman and naturalist John Ray, appears to have been less
perfectly known to the older writers than might have been
expected from its singular shape and prevailing numbers. It
is figured by Duhamel, and also by Willughby and Bloch.

* With scales on the membranes of some of the fins.

134 SQUAMMIPENNES.

Duliamcl obtained his specimen from Provence : the species
is said to be common in the Mediterranean. Willughby has
given a figure of this fish, tab. V. 12, which he calls Brama
marina cauda forcipata ; and it is described in the Appendix
to his Natural History of Fishes, page 17, from a specimen
obtained, on the 18th of September 1681, in Middlesburgh
Marsh, near the mouth of the Tecs, having been left there
on the sands by the retiring tide. Bloch has figured and
described it, as quoted in the synonym es at the head of this
subject.

This fish cannot certainly be so rare or so little known
generally as various authors have related. Colonel Montagu
has recorded one example taken in Devonshire, and another
at Swansea : Mr. Couch has obtained one or two, if not more,
in Cornwall. It has been taken at Belfast, where it is called
Henfish ; and a correspondent in Mr. Loudon's Magazine of
Natural History, vol. vi. p. 529, says this fish is not uncom-
mon on the west coast of Scotland : he had himself seen
several individuals from the Frith of Clyde and from the
Argyleshire coast.

I may farther state, that there are two specimens in the
British Museum, one in the collection of the Zoological So-
ciety, and probably others in London. In 1828, a specimen
was taken on the coast of Normandy ; another at Stockton-
upon-Tees in 1821 the spot of its first recorded occurrence
in England in 1681 ; it has been taken in Berwick Bay,
and Mr. Neill has recorded that several have been taken in
the Frith of Forth ; it has also been taken at St. AndrewV

In the autumn of 1834, I saw no less than nine examples
of Brama Raii in the museums of Edinburgh, Ncwcastle-
upon-Tyne, and York ; including, besides, but two private
collections.

Ray's Bream is mentioned in Nilsson's Prodromus, which
has been quoted before, as occurring on the coast of Norway;

RAY^S SEA BREAM. 135

and Professor Reinliardt, in a paper read before the Royal
Society of Natural History and Mathematics of Denmark,
has ascertained the northern limits of this species on that
coast.

From this enumeration of specimens and localities, it will
be evident that Cuvier, in his history of this fish, was de-
ceived in supposing it exclusively peculiar to the Mediterra-
nean, and that only a straggler occasionally wandered into
the ocean ; and, on the contrary, that Bloch and Lacepede
were perfectly justified in considering this fish a native of the
Northern Seas, as well as of the Mediterranean.

The following description of a recent fish is from the MS.
of Mr. Couch : " The specimen was twenty-three inches in
length, and eight inches and a half in depth before the dorsal
fin ; the figure much compressed ; head small, sloping in
front ; snout short; angle of the mouth depressed ; under jaw
longest ; teeth slender, numerous, sharp, incurved, the inner
row of the lower jaw longest ; tongue fleshy ; eye large,
rather oval, not far from the mouth ; iris dark, pupil light ;
nostril single ; gill-cover with two plates, the membrane con-
cealed, seven rays. Measuring along the curve, the dorsal
fin begins seven and a half inches from the snout, having
three shorter rays like blunt spines, each longer than that
before it, the fourth ray longest ; the fin then becomes nar-
rower, and continues slender to within an inch of the root of
the tail; anal fin shaped like the dorsal, beginning farther
back, and ending opposite the former ; pectoral fin six inches
long, rather narrow, pointing obliquely upwards ; ventrals
triangular, with a long pointed scale in the axilla ; tail deeply
forked ; lateral line near the back obscure ; head, body, and
fins, except the pectorals and ventrals, covered with firmly
fixed scales, but a band across the forehead is without them,
the colour of which, and also of the back, is a very dark blue;
copper-coloured brown over and before the eye ; somewhat

136

SQUAMMIPENNES.

silvery on the sides and belly ; the anal and dorsal fins, and
a stripe along the base of the latter, sparkle like silver ; tinted
with green before the dorsal fin ; coppery and lake along the
upper part of the sides ; some dusky irregular stripes along
the other parts of the sides.

" The scales on the fins of this fish are arranged on the
membranes in lines, so as to admit a slight degree of motion ;
the points of the rays were also free.

" My fish was caught with a line near Polperro, October
26th, 1828, and was immediately brought to me: no elon-
gated teeth were to be seen in this specimen.""

The number of fin-rays are as follows :

D. 34 : P, 19 : V. 1 + 5 : A. 2 + 28 : C. 17.

The flesh of this fish is said to be of exquisite flavour :
specimens have been taken that measured two feet six inches
in length ; but of twelve or fourteen examples that I have
seen, the largest did not exceed sixteen inches.

MACKEREL.

137

ACANTHOPTERYGII.

SCOMBERID&*

;

Jsss

THE MACKEREL.

Scomber scomber, LINN/CUS. BLOCK, pt. ii. pi. 54.

,, scombrus, Cuv. et VALENC. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. viii. p. 6.

,, ,, Common Mackrel, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. iii. p. 357, pi. 62.

,, ,, Mackarel, DON. Brit. Fish. pi. 122.

,, vulgaris, Mackerel, FLEM. Brit. An. p. 217, sp. 161.

,, scomber, Common Muckarcl, JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 360.

Generic Characters. Scales on the body small and smooth ; vertical fins not
bearing scales ; two dorsal fins widely separated ; some of the posterior rays of
the second dorsal and the anal fin free, forming finlets ; sides of the tail slightly
carinated ; one row of small conical teeth in eacli jaw ; the parts of the gill-
cover without dcnticulations or spines ; branchiostegous rays 7.

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 quan-
tity as well as quality, that farther observation on these points
will be considered unnecessary.

The Mackerel was supposed by Anderson, Duhamel, and
others, to be a fish of passage, performing, like some birds,

* The family of the Mackerel.

138 SCOMBEIUD.E.

certain periodical migrations, and making long voyages from
north to south at one season of the year, and the reverse at
another. It does not appear to have been sufficiently consi-
dered, that, inhabiting a medium which varied but little
cither in its temperature or productions, locally, fishes are
removed beyond the influence of the two principal causes
which make a temporary change of situation necessary. In-
dependently of the difficulty of tracing the course pursued
through so vast an expanse of water, the order of the appear-
ance of the fish at different places on the shores of the tem-
perate and southern parts of Europe is the reverse of that
which, according to their theory, ought to have happened.
It is known that this fish is now taken, even on some parts of
our own coast, in every month of the year. It is probable
that the Mackerel inhabits almost the whole of the European
seas ; and the law of nature, which obliges them and many
others to visit the shallower water of the shores at a particu-
lar season, appears to be one of those wise and bountiful pro-
visions of the Creator, by which not only is the species per-
petuated 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
coast collected in immense shoals, millions are caught, which
yet form but a very small portion compared with the myriads
that escape.

This subject receives farther illustration from a fresh-water
fish, as stated in the Magazine of Natural History, vol. vii.
p. 637. " When the Char spawn, they are seen in the
shallow parts of the rocky lakes (in which only they are
found), and some of the streams that run into them : they are

MACKEREL. 139

then taken in abundance ; but so soon as the spawning is
over, they retire into the deepest parts of the lake, and are
but rarely caught."

It may be observed farther, that, as there is scarcely a
month throughout the year in which the fishes of some one or
more species are not brought within the reach of man by the
operation of the imperative law of nature referred to, a con-
stant succession of wholesome food is thus spread before him,
which, in the first instance, costs him but little beyond the
exercise of his ingenuity and labour to obtain.

On the coast of Ireland, the Mackerel is taken from the
county of Kerry in the west, along the southern shore, east-
ward to Cork and Waterford ; from thence northward to An-
trim, and north-west to Londonderry and Donegal. Dr.
M'Cullock says it visits some of the lochs of the Western
Islands, but is not considered very abundant. On the
Cornish coast, this fish in some seasons occurs as early as the
month of March, and appears to be pursuing a course from
west to east. They are plentiful on the Devonshire coast,
and swarm in West Bay about June. On the Hampshire
and Sussex coast, particularly the latter, they arrive as early
as March ; and sometimes, as will be shown, even in Fe-
bruary : and the earlier in the year the fishermen go to look
for them, the farther from the shore do they seek for and
find them. Duhamel says the Mackerel are caught earlier at
Dunkirk than at Dieppe, or Havre : up our own eastern
coast, however, the fishing is later. The fishermen of Lowe-
stoffe and Yarmouth gain their great harvest from the Mac-
kerel in May and June. Mr. Neill says they occur in the
Forth at the end of summer ; and Mr. Low, in his Fauna
Orcadensis, states that they do not make their appearance
there till the last week in July or the first week in August.

The Mackerel spawns in June ; and, according to Bloch,
five hundred and forty thousand ova have been counted in

1-iO SCOMBERID.E.

one female. I have observed, by the Mackerel sent to the
London market from the shallow shores of Worthing and its
vicinity, that these fish mature and deposit their roe earlier
on that flat sandy shore than those caught in the deep water
off Brighton. The young Mackerel, which are called
Shiners, are from four to six inches long by the end of Au-
gust. They are half-grown by November ; when they retire,
says Mr. Couch, " to deep water, and are seen no more that
winter : but the adult fishes never wholly quit the Cornish
coast ; and it is common to see some taken with lines in every
month of the year." Their principal food is probably the
fry of other fish ; and at Hastings the Mackerel follow to-
wards the shore a small species of Clupea, which is there
called in consequence the Mackerel mint. I have been un-
able hitherto to obtain any specimens of this small fish ; but,
from various descriptions, I think it is probably the young of
the Sprat. It is described as being about one inch long in
July.

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 t\vo pounds each : but they
are said to attain the length of twenty inches, with a propor-
tionate increase in weight. The largest fish are not, however,
considered the best for the ttible.

As an article of food, they are in great request ; and those
taken in the months of May and June are generally consi-
dered to be superior in flavour to those taken either earlier
in spring or in autumn. To be eaten in perfection, this fish
should be very fresh : 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 were first allowed
to be cried through the streets of London on a Sunday in
1698, and the practice prevails to the present time.

At our various fishing-towns on the coast, the Mackerel

MACKEREL. 141

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 return
gained generally from the enormous numbers of this fish
sometimes captured in a single night, being the inducement
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 a hundred ; the highest
price ever known at that market. The next boat-load pro-
duced but thirteen guineas per hundred. Mackerel were so
plentiful at Dover in 1808, that they were sold sixty for a
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 impossible to drag them in ; the fish and nets, therefore,
in the end, sunk 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 fishery in 1821 was beyond all precedent.
The value of the catch of sixteen boats from Lowestoffe, on the
30th of June, amounted to 52527. ; and it is supposed that
there was no less an amount than 14-,000/. altogether realized
by the owners and men concerned in the fishery of the Suf-
folk coast.* In March 1833, on a Sunday, four Hastings 1
boats brought on shore ten thousand eight hundred Mackerel ;
and the next day, two boats brought seven thousand fish.
Early in the month of February 1834, one boat's crew from

* In an interesting and useful sketch of the Natural History of Yarmouth
and its neighbourhood, by C. and J. Paget, it is stated at page 16, that, in
1823, one hundred and forty-two lasts of Mackerel were taken theie. A last is
ten thousand.

142 SCOMBERID.E.

Hastings cleared 100/. by the fish caught in one night ; and
a large quantity of very fine Mackerel appeared in the Lon-
don market in the second week of the same month. They
were cried through the streets of London three for a shilling
on the 14th and 22nd of March 1834, and had then been
plentiful for a month. The boats engaged in fishing are
usually attended by other fast-sailing vessels, which are sent
away with the fish taken. From some situations, these ves-
sels sail away direct for the London market ; at others, they
make for the nearest point from which they can obtain land-
carriage for their fish. From Hastings, and other fishing
towns on the Sussex coast, the fish are brought to London by
vans, which travel up during the night.

The most common mode of fishing for Mackerel, and the
way in which the greatest numbers are taken, is by drift-nets.
The drift-net is twenty feet deep, by one hundred and
twenty feet long ; well corked at the top, but without lead at
the bottom. They are made of small fine twine, which is
tanned of a reddish brown colour, to preserve it from the
action of the sea-water ; and it is thereby rendered much
more durable. The size of the mesh about two and a half
inches, or rather larger. Twelve, fifteen, and sometimes
eighteen of these nets are attached lengthways, by tying
along a thick rope, called the drift-rope, and at the ends of
each net, to each other. When arranged for depositing in
the sea, a large buoy attached to the end of the drift rope is
thrown overboard, the vessel is put before the wind, and, as
she sails along, the rope with the nets thus attached is passed
over the stern into the water till the whole of the nets are run
out. The net thus deposited hangs suspended in the water
perpendicularly twenty feet deep from the drift-rope, and ex-
tending from three quarters of a mile to a mile, or even a
mile and a half, depending on the number of nets belonging
to the party or company engaged in fishing together. When

MACKEREL. 143

the whole of the nets arc thus handed out, the drift-rope is
shifted from the stern to the bow of the vessel, and she. rides
by it as if at anchor. The benefit gained by the boat's hang-
ing at the end of the drift-rope is, that the net is kept
strained in a straight line, which, without this pull upon it,
would not be the case. The nets are shot in the evening,
and sometimes hauled once during the night, at others al-
lowed to remain in the water all night. The fish roving in
the dark through the water, hang in the meshes of the net,
which are large enough to admit them beyond the gill-covers
and pectoral fins, but not large enough to allow the thickest
part of the body to pass through. In the morning early,
preparations are made for hauling the nets. A capstan on
the deck is manned, about which two turns of the drift-rope
are taken. One man stands forward to untie the upper edge
of each net from the drift-rope, which is called, casting off
the lashings ; others hand in the net with the fish caught, to
which one side of the vessel is devoted ; the other side is
occupied by the drift- rope, which is wound in by the men at
the capstan. The whole of the net in, and the fish secured,
the vessel runs back into harbour with her fish ; or, deposit-
ing them on board some other boat in company, that carries
for the party to the nearest market, the fishing-vessel remains
at sea for the next night's operation.

Near to land, another mode of fishing is adopted, which is
thus described by Mr. Couch in his MS : " A long deep
net is employed, of which, unlike the former, the meshes are
too small to admit any of the fish. Two boats are necessary;
one of which is rowed round the sclmll,* while the net is
thrown overboard by two men to enclose it : the other boat

* Shoal.

In sculls that oft

Bank the mid sea.

MILTON.
This word is in Cornwall, I have been told, pronounced like school.

144 SCOMBERID.E.

is employed in keeping steady the end of the net, and warp-
ing it, the sooner and more surely to prevent the escape of
the fish. When this is effected, the seine stands like a circle
enclosing the captives, and the men proceed to draw it toge-
ther at the ends and bottom ; at the same time throwing
pebbles at that place where the circle closes, to prevent the
approach of the fish to the only place where escape is possi-
ble. When at last the enclosure is perfect, and the net
raised from the ground, the fish thus brought to the surface
are taken on board in flaskets. Such is the mode of pro-
ceeding with the seine in deep water, or at a distance from
shore ; but in some places it is hauled on the beach in the
manner of a ground-net, with less trouble and expense."

" A third mode of fishing is with the line, and is called
railing (trailing). The Mackerel will bite at any bait that
is used to take the smaller kinds of fish ; but preference is
given to what resembles a living and active prey, which is
imitated by what is termed a lask, a long slice cut from the
side of one of its own kind, near the tail. It is found, also,
that a slip of red leather, or a piece of scarlet cloth, will com-
monly succeed ; and a scarlet coat has therefore been called
a Mackerel bait for a lady. The boat is placed under sail,
and a smart breeze is considered favourable ; hence termed a
Mackerel breeze. The line is short, but is weighed clown by
a heavy plummet ; and in this manner, when these fish
abound, two men will take from five hundred to a thousand
in a day. It is singular that the greatest number of Mack-
erel are caught when the boat moves most rapidly, and that
even then the hook is commonly gorged. It seems that
the Mackerel takes its food by striking across the course
of what it supposes to be its flying prey. A gloomy atmo-
sphere materially aids this kind of fishing for Mackerel."

Mr. Couch adds, that " French fishing-boats from the
eastern ports of that country proceed early in the spring as

MACKEREL. 145

far west as Cape Clear, and the fish taken in their nets are
salted in bulk on board the boats. They even obtain two or
three full cargoes in the course of the summer ; which proves
that more use is made of salted Mackerel in France than in
this country." A small quantity is so preserved in Cornwall,
which is consumed by the poorer classes.

The vignette, from a pen-and-ink sketch by Mr. Couch,
represents the apparatus as used when fishing for Mackerel.
The ascending line is that which hangs from the boat ; the
line connecting the leaden plummet and the hook is called
the snood or snoozing ; the bait is cut thick near the hook,
and thinner backwards, that it may vibrate when drawn
through the water.

This mode of fishing has been described in glowing terms
by the author of " Wild Sports of the West" (of Ireland)
thus :

" It was evident that the bay was full of Mackerel. In
every direction, and as far as the eye could range, gulls and
puffins were collected ; and to judge by their activity and
clamour, there appeared ample employment 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 stea-
dily 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 overrun the shoal. For two
hours we killed those beautiful fish, as fast as the baits could
be renewed and the lines hauled in ; and when we left off
fishing, actually wearied with sport, we found that we had
taken above five hundred, including a number of the coarser
species, known on this coast by the name of Horse Mackerel."

VOL. I. L

146 SCOMBERID.E.

" There is not on sea or river, always excepting angling
for Salmon, any sport comparable to this delightful amuse-
ment ; full of life and bustle, everything 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 sailing 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 enjoy-
ment our morning's Mackerel fishing afforded. 11

The number of fin-rays in the Mackerel is,

D. 10 13 V : P. 13 : V. 6 : A. 11 V. : C. 22.

The nose is pointed ; the under jaw the longest ; the teeth
are alike in both jaws, resembling small pointed cones, curv-
ing slightly inward, and placed in a single row ; the anterior
edge of the eye one third of the distance from the point of
the upper jaw to the edge of the operculum ; the irides partly
concealed by a membrane before and behind ; the eye itself
said to be more or less opaque during the colder months :
preoperculum triangular ; operculum large, rounded, and
smooth : the pectoral and ventral fins both in advance of the
first ray of the first dorsal fin, the pectoral fin the most so ;
the vent in a line under the first ray of the second dorsal fin ;
the five finlets above and below the fleshy portion of the tail,
behind the second dorsal and the anal fins, placed vertically
over each other ; the tail crescent-shaped ; the lateral line
ascends gradually from the tail to its termination over the
pectoral fin : the colour of the back above the lateral line is a
fine green, varied with rich blue, and marked with broad,
dark, descending lines. Mr. Donovan says, " The males have
these dark transverse bands nearly straight ; while in females
these bands are elegantly undulated. 11 The elongated gill-
cover and more attenuated form of body of the males of fish

MACKEREL.

147

generally, compared with the shorter gill-cover and deeper
body of the females, arc good sexual distinctions ; and in
consequence, the relative length of the head as compared to
the length of the body, is the same in both sexes. The sides
and belly are of a silvery colour, varied with brilliant golden
tints.

The Mackerel is one of the most beautiful of fishes too
well known and appreciated to require farther description.
The name is said to be derived from the Latin macularius,
in allusion to its spotted appearance ; and it is called in most
of the countries of Europe by terms that have reference to its
variegated and chequered appearance.

148

SCOMBERID.E.

ACANTHOPTERYGI1.

SCOMBERID&.

THE SPANISH MACKEREL.

Scomber colias, GMELIN.

Cuv. et VALENC. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. viii. p. 39, pi. 209.
,, ,, Coly Mackrel, TUHTON, Brit. Fauna, p. 100, sp. 76.

,, maculatus, Spanish Mackerel, COUCH, Mag. Nat. Hist. vol. v. p. 22,

fig. 8.
,, ,, ,, Mackarel, JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 361.

MR. COUCH and Dr. Turton appear to be the only British
naturalists who have noticed this second species of Mackerel
on the British coast ; and the description of this fish by Mr.
Couch, who states that a few of them are taken every year on
the Cornish coast, agrees so closely with the account by
Cuvier and M. Valenciennes in the ichthyological work
above quoted, who, with Mr. Couch, consider it as the colias
of Rondeletius, that I shall, by permission, adopt his descrip-
tion, taken from a recent Cornish specimen.

" This fish attains the weight of four or five pounds ; but
the specimen described measured no more than fourteen and
a half inches in length : the figure round and plump, six and
a half inches in compass near the pectoral fins ; the thickness
of its figure being carried far towards the tail. Mouth large ;
jaws of equal length ; teeth small ; tongue moveable and

SPANISH MACKEREL. 149

pointed : head large and long ; eye large ; from the snout to
the pectoral fin three and a half inches. Rays of the gill-
membrane six, concealed. Lateral line at first slightly de-
scending, then straight. Scales on the superior plate of the
gill-covers, as well as on the body. First dorsal fin in a
depression ; seven rays, the first shorter than the second or
third, which are of equal lengths : spurious fins six above and
below, the anterior not high : tail divided, and at its origin
doubly carinated : vent prominent. Colour dark blue on the
back ; striped like a Mackerel, but more obscurely, and with
fewer stripes : a row of large dark spots from the pectoral fin
to the tail : sides and belly thickly covered with smaller
dusky spots : the tail, gill-covers, sides, and behind the eye,
bright yellow.

" From the Mackerel, which it resembles, this fish differs
in the markings of the head, longer snout, larger eye and
gape, longer head, and in having scales on the anterior
gill-covers. The body is not nearly so much attenuated pos-
teriorly ; the ventral fins are sharp and slender, those of the
Mackerel wider and more blunt : in the former the pectorals
lie close to the body, in the latter they stand off; in the
latter, also, is a large angular plate, the point directed back-
ward, close above each pectoral fin, which does not exist in
the Spanish Mackerel.

" It seems to be the Colias Ronddetii of Ray (Sj/n. Pise.
p. 59). I have given it the name by which it is known to
our fishermen."

" This fish is scarce, but some are taken every year. It
does not often take a bait, although the fishermen inform me
that this sometimes happens, and that its infrequency is
owing to the difference of feeding rather than to want of
rapacity. It is more frequently taken in drift-nets ; but even
then it is only one at a time, and at considerable intervals.
It is in no estimation as food.

150

SCOMBEB1D.E.

The figure of this fish at the head of the page is from the
first plate quoted.

Dr. Turton states, that the species he has described under
the name of the Coly Mackrel is found frequently in the
rivers about Swansea, and seldom exceeds six or seven inches
in length : he also adds, that it is varied with rich green and
blue; spurious fins five above and below. Although Dr.
Turton has called his second species of Mackerel S. colias,
it is possible that his fish may prove to belong to a third
species, which also occurs in the Mediterranean. Cuvier and
M. Valenciennes have described a species of Mackerel of
small size, which is decidedly more green in its colour, has
five spurious fins above and below, and seldom exceeds eight
or ten inches in length. Mr. Couch describes S. colias as
possessing six spurious fins above and below.

The name of this small-sized species of Mackerel is S.
pneumatophorus ; so called by M. Laroche, on account of its
possessing a swimming-bladder. S. colias is also provided
with a swimming-bladder : the common Mackerel, S. scom-
brus, Linn, is, as before mentioned, without any.

TUNNY. 151

ACANTHOPTERYGII. SCOMBER/DA'.

THE TUNNY.

Tltynmts vulgaris, Cuv. et VAI.ENC. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. viii. p. 58, pi. 210.
Scomber thy nnus, LINN.X.US. BLOCH, pt. ii. pi. 55.

,, ,, Tunny, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. iii. p. 360, pi. 63.

,, ,, ,, DON. Brit. Fish. pi. 5.

FLEM. Brit. An. p. 218.

,, ,, Common Tunny, JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 36'2.

Generic Characters. Form of the body like that of the Mackerel, but less
compressed ; numerous scales surrounding the thorax : first dorsal fin extending
nearly to the second ; second dorsal and the anal fin subdivided posteriorly,
forming numerous finlets : sides of the tail decidedly carinated ; a single row of
small pointed teeth in each jaw ; branchiostegous rays 7.

THE TUNNY was known to Aristotle; and its goodness,
in addition to its beauty, have caused this fish to be the
praiseworthy theme of most of the writers on the fishes of
the Mediterranean, ancient as well as modern. The fishery,
also, is of great antiquity as well as value.

The Tunny is said to acquire a very large size. Although
the specimens usually taken seldom exceed four feet in
length, and frequently not more than three, Pennant saw one
killed in 1769, when he was at Inverary, that weighed four
hundred and sixty pounds, measuring seven feet ten inches

152 SCOMBERID.E.

long, and they are recorded to have been taken of still greater
bulk in the Mediterranean. There the habits of this fish
have been studied with attention, the immense numbers
affording great facilities. The roe is said to be of very rapid
growth, and is deposited early in June. In July the young
Tunnies do not weigh more than an ounce and a half; in
August they weight four ounces ; and in October they weigh
thirty ounces. In the months of May and June, when seek-
ing a proper situation near the shore upon which to deposit
their spawn, the adult fish rove along the coast in large
shoals, and are known to be extremely timid, easily induced
to take a new and apparently an open course to avoid any
suspected danger. Advantage has been taken of these pecu-
liarities to carry on a most extensive fishery against them at
various places, which is as valuable as it is destructive.
Cuvier and M. Valenciennes have described the two most
common modes of effecting their capture. When the look-
out sentinel, posted for that purpose on some elevated spot,
makes the signal that he sees the shoal of Tunnies approach-
ing, and the direction in which it will come, a great number
of boats set off under the command of a chief, range them-
selves in a line forming part of a circle, and joining their
nets, form an enclosure which alarms the fish, while the fish-
ermen drawing closer and closer, and adding fresh nets, still
continue driving the Tunnies towards the shore. When they
have reached the shallow water, a large net is used, having a
cone-shaped tunnel to receive the fish, which is drawn to the
shore, bringing with it all the shoal. The fishermen carry
out the young and small Tunnies in their arms ; the larger
ones are first killed with poles. This fishery, practised on
the coasts of Languedoc, sometimes yields many hundred
weight at each sweep of the nets.

Another mode of taking Tunnies is by the madrague, or,
as the Italians call it, tonnaro. This is a more complicated

TUNNY. 153

engine, and somewhat expensive to set up. It consists of
a series of long and deep nets fixed vertically by corks at
their upper edges, and with lead and stones at the bottom.
These are kept in a particular position by anchors, so as to
form an enclosure parallel to the coast, sometimes extending
an Italian mile in length : this is divided into several cham-
bers by nets placed across, leaving narrow openings on the
land side. The Tunnies, which in their progress, as before
observed, proceed along the coast, pass between it and the
tonnaro : when arrived at the end, they are stopped by one of
the cross nets, which closes the passage against them, and
obliges them to enter the tonnaro by the opening that is left
for them. When once in, they are driven by various means
from chamber to chamber to the last, which is called the
chamber of death. Here a strong net placed horizontally,
that can be raised at pleasure, brings the Tunnies to the sur-
face, and the work of destruction commences. Sailors who
have come off in boats for the purpose give unequal battle on
all sides, striking the Tunnies with poles and all sorts of
similar weapons. This imposing spectacle, which attracts a
great number of curious people to witness it, is one of the
great amusements of rich Sicilians, and, at the same time,
one of the most considerable branches of the commerce of the
island. When Louis the Thirteenth visited Marseilles, he
was invited to a Tunny fishing at the principal madrague of
Morgion ; and found the diversion so much to his taste, that
he often said it was the pleasantest day he had spent in his
whole progress through the south.

The mode of curing the fish consists in taking out the
whole of the inside, washing the flesh with brine, and cutting
it in slices, which they cover with pounded salt. This is
packed in layers in barrels, with alternate layers of salt.
When sent to any distance, it is packed in smaller barrels
with fresh salt.

154 SCOMBERID.E.

The flesh of the Tunny is considered very delicious food ;
but it is so solid, that it seems something between fish and
meat : it is as firm as Sturgeon, but finer flavoured. " They
dress this fish in France," says an author, "in a great variety
of ways, and always excellent : it makes capital soup ; or it is
served as a ragout, or plain fried or broiled : pies are made of
it, which are so celebrated as to be sent all over France ; they
will keep good for six weeks or two months. There is also a
mode of preserving it to keep the whole year round with salt
and oil, called Thon marine : this is eaten cold, as we eat
pickled Salmon." The flesh before it is cooked has the red
appearance of beef, but when dressed it becomes more pale.

In the ocean, and on the western shores of the European
Continent, the appearance of the Tunny is more rare, al-
most accidental. Duhamel records having known it to be
taken off Brest harbour. Mr. Couch has noticed their ap-
pearance on the Cornish coast, and will be referred to again.
Mr. Donovan states that, in 1801, three Tunnies were taken
near the entrance of the river Thames, and brought to Bil-
lingsgate Market for sale. Mr. Paget says that small speci-
mens are not unfrequently caught during the Mackerel fishery
off Yarmouth. They have been taken among the islands
west and north of Scotland, where they are called Mackrelsture
or Mackerelstawr (Great Mackerel) ; a name derived from
the Norwegians, or, according to other authors, from the
Danish word stor, which signifies ' great.'

Dr. Scouler has communicated to the Magazine of Natural

j

History a notice (vol. vi. p. 559) of a specimen of a Tunny
taken in the Gair-loch, nearly opposite Greenock, in July
1831. It had entered the loch in pursuit of Herrings, got
entangled among the nets, was sent by the fishermen to Glas-
gow, and is now deposited in the Andersonian Museum.
This specimen exceeded the average size, being nine feet in
length.

TUNNY. 155

Mr. Couch in his MS. states that " the Tunny appears on
the Cornish coast in summer and autumn ; but is not often
taken, because it does not swallow a bait, or at least the
fishermen use no bait that is acceptable to it ; and its size
and strength seldom suffer it to become entangled in their
nets. It feeds on Pilchards, Herrings, and perhaps most
other small fishes ; but the Skipper, Esox saurus, seems to
be a favourite prey ; for it not only compels it to seek ano-
ther element for safety, but will also spring to a consider-
able height after it, usually across its course, at the same
time attempting to strike down its prey with its tail. Os-
beck says it feeds eagerly on the cuttle."

The fin-rays are as follows :

D. 14 1+13 VIII : P. 31 : V. 1+5 : A. 2 + 12 VIII : C. 17 to 19.

The general form of the Tunny is similar to that of the
well-known Mackerel, except that it is larger, more rounded,
and that the jaws are shorter ; the lower jaw is very little
longer than the upper ; the mouth is not deeply cleft ; each
jaw is furnished with a row of small teeth as sharp as pins,
and slightly curved inwards ; the tongue and the inside of
the mouth very dark-coloured, almost black ; the eye is sur-
rounded by a membrane within the orbit, which covers part
of its disk ; the cheeks arc covered with long, narrow, pointed
scales ; the operculum smooth : the first dorsal fin is lodged
in an elongated depression on the back, which conceals it
when it is folded down : a small spine before the commence-
ment of the second dorsal fin, which fin is followed by nine
finlets, which might be considered as ten, an apparent tenth
being sometimes detached from the tail : the anal fin, pre-
ceded by two short spines, commences nearly on a line with
the origin of the last ray of the second dorsal fin, and is fol-
lowed by nine finlets : the tail crescent-shaped ; the membrane

156

SCOMBERID.E.

forming the lateral horizontal ridge on the fleshy portion of
each side of the tail is produced, forming part of a circle.

All the upper part of the body of the Tunny is very dark
blue ; the part of the corslet marked with scales is much
lighter ; the sides of the head white ; the whole of the belly
greyish white, spotted with silvery white ; these spots are
elongated towards the shoulders and flanks, but rounded over
the spaces between. The first dorsal fin, pectorals, and ven-
trals, are black ; the tail paler ; second dorsal and anal fins
almost flesh colour, tinted with silver ; the finlets above and
below are yellowish, tipped with black. The figure is taken
from the plate of Cuvier and M. Valenciennes, who consider
most of the figures of this fish more or less incorrect.

BONITO.

157

ACAXTHOPTERYGI1.

SCOMBEK1D&.

THE BONITO,

OB STRIPE-BELLIED TUNNY.

Thynnus pelamys, Cuv. et VALENC. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. viii. p. 113, pi. 214.
Scomber ,, LINNSUS.

,, ,, Bonito, COUCH'S MS.

,. JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 363.

SPECIMENS of this fish occasionally occurring on the Corn-
ish coast, the description of which by Mr. Couch will here be
inserted ; another, mentioned in the Magazine of Natural
History, vol. vi. p. 529, by Dr. Scouler ; besides a notice by
Dr. Fleming, on the authority of Stewart's Elements of Na-
tural History, the species is admitted among British Fishes.

It should, however, be also stated that two distinct fishes
have been included under the term Bonito (Scomber pelamys,
Linn.) : the first, the Thynnus pelamys of Cuvier and M.
Valenciennes, the subject of the present article, has longi-
tudinal bands on the sides of the belly, and very minute
teeth ; the second, the Pelamys sarda of Cuvier and M.
Valenciennes, has dark transverse bars reaching from the

158 SCOMBER1D.E.

ridge of the back to the lateral line, and large teeth ; and
as this species, the Belted Bonito of the Cornish Fauna,
" has been described to Mr. Couch in a manner that leaves
no doubt of its occasional occurrence on our coasts, 1 '' I have
inserted a figure of it as a vignette to the present article, to
assist observers.

The Bonito is very similar to the Tunny in form, but is
much smaller, seldom exceeding thirty inches in length. It
inhabits the ocean, and is one of those species so well known
to voyagers when within the tropics for the amusement they
afford by their pursuit of the Flying Fish. Their attempts,
however, to secure these unfortunate victims, sometimes lead
to their own destruction. Sailors frequently amuse them-
selves by catching the Bonito with a hook fastened to a piece
of lead shaped like the body of a small fish, to which a pair
of wings made of feathers are attached, to give it the appear-
ance of a Flying Fish. The food of the Bonito is fish, small
cuttles, testaceous animals, and even marine vegetables.
Though eaten with avidity by those who have been pre-
viously confined to salt provisions, the flesh has been consi-
dered dry, and by some even said to be disagreeable.

This fish is subject to several sorts of intestinal worms.

A specimen obtained by Mr. Couch on the Cornish coast
" was twenty-nine inches long, and twenty inches round close
behind the pectoral fins : head conical, ending in a point at
the nose ; under jaw projecting; teeth few and small ; tongue
flat and thin ; nostrils obscure, not in a depression ; from the
nose to the eye two and a half inches ; gill-covers of two
plates. Body round to the vent, from thence tapering to
the tail ; near the tail depressed ; lateral line at first descend-
ing and waved, becoming straight opposite the anal fin, from
thence ascending and terminating in an elevated ridge, with
another above and below the lateral line near the tail. Eye
elevated, round ; iris silvery : from the nose to the pectoral

BONITO.

159

fin eight and three-quarter inches, the fin pointed, four
inches long, received into a depression. First dorsal fin
seven inches long, four inches high, lodged in a groove ; the
first two rays stout, the others low. The body is most solid
opposite the second dorsal, which fin and the anal are falcate :
tail divided and slender ; ventral fins in a depression. Colour
a fine steel blue, darker on the back ; sides dusky, whitish
below. Behind the pectoral fins is a bright triangular section
of the surface, from which begin four dark lines, that extend
along each side of the belly to the tail. Scales few, like
the Mackerel.

This fish was taken in a drift-net in July, at which time
the roe was abundant. It had no air-bladder ; intestines
simple ; the muscle the colour of beef, greatly charged with
blood. It rarely takes a bait, and is too wary to be often
taken in a net.

Dr. Scouler states that a specimen of this tropical fish was
taken in the Frith of the Clyde in July 1832. The speci-
men referred to by Dr. Fleming was taken in the Forth.
The number of fin-rays are,

D. 15 1 + 12. VIII : P. 27 : V. 1 + 5 : A. 2 + 12. VII : C. 35.

160

SCOMBERID.E.

ACAXTHOPTERYG11.

SCOMBEEID&.

THE PLAIN BONITO.

Auxis vulgaris, Cuv. et VAL. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. viii. p. 139.
Scomber bisus, RAFINESQUE, p. 45, tab. 2, fig. 1.

,, Hocheii Risso, Ichth. p. 165, sp. 3.
Thynnus rocheanus, ,, Hist. t. iii. p. 417, sp. 335.

Generic Characters. Form of the body nearly cylindrical ; two dorsal fins
widely separated ; one row of minute teeth in each jaw. In other points, such
as the numerous small scales on the thorax investing the pectoral and ventral
fins, forming a corselet, in the numerous finlets behind the second dorsal fin,
and also behind the anal fin ; and in the sides of the tail being carinated ; the
Auxides resemble the species of the preceding genus Thynnus.

IN the last week of the month of June 1839, two spe-
cimens of this handsome, mackerel-like Bonito, were received
at Billingsgate market from the coast of Yarmouth, in Nor-
folk, where they had no doubt been caught by the nets
then in active operation for the taking of Mackerel, that
period being about the height of the season, when several
miles of netting in extent, are stretched out in the water.
One of these examples passed into the possession of Mr.
Pittman, a fishmonger of Leadenhall market, the other was

PLAIN BONITO. 161

purchased for Mr. Groves, of Bond Street, and botli were
most kindly sent to me for my use, from the interest taken
in the History of our British Fishes, where the appearance
of this species on our coast is now recorded for the first time.
This fish is closely allied to the Tunnies and Bonitos,
but has, with some others, been separated by Baron Cuvier
and M. Valenciennes on account principally of the great
space between the two dorsal fins, in which they resemble the
Mackerel, and also for their very minute teeth.

According to MM. Cuvier and Valenciennes, the various
species of Tunnies and Bonitos were not clearly understood
by the older writers on Ichthyology, and the present fish was
not distinguished as a species till the publication of the works
of M. Rafinesque and M. Risso, the first at Palermo, and
the second in Paris, and both in the year 1810. M. Risso
and M. Laurillard say this fish at Nice is called Bonito. In
the great French work on the Natural History of Egypt, it
is called Maquereau unicolor, and in reference to its plain
and uniform colour, as contrasted with the Striped and Belted
Bonitos, which precede it in this work, I have therefore
called it the Plain Bonito.

The flesh of this fish is but little esteemed when fresh, and
it is therefore immediately either salted or pickled ; some
expedition in this process is necessary as the flesh decomposes
rapidly, and the fish becomes of a dark colour, almost black,
if kept three or four days without any attempt being made
at preservation. This I observed in one of the two speci-
mens I received, which did not come to my hands till several
days after the other. I found the flesh of both rather red in
colour, and more solid or meat-like, than the flesh of fish in
general ; and neither when fresh boiled, or afterwards when
pickled, could I consider it better than a very coarse bad
Mackerel.

In the Mediterranean this Bonito is taken with the Tunny

VOL. I. M

162 SCOMBERID.E.

by the various modes adopted for the capture of that fish, of
which an account is included in this volume, at page 152.

The females of this species are larger than the males ; they
deposit their spawn in August ; the ova are white, invested
with a reddish albuminous covering.

The specimen here figured and described measured
eighteen inches in length ; four inches and a half in depth
and eleven inches and a half in girth, or circumference, be-
hind the first dorsal fin ; the body in form being nearly
cylindrical. The mouth is small ; the under jaw rather the
longest ; the teeth very minute, and placed in a single row
along the edges of both jaws ; the eye rather elongated hori-
zontally, the anterior margin of the orbit in a line over the
angle of the gape, the irides golden yellow ; the cheeks and
gill-covers smooth, the edges rounded and entire ; the first
dorsal fin, the pectoral, and the ventral fins, have their origin
very nearly on the same plane ; the first ray of the dorsal fin
is two inches long, but rather shorter than the length of the
base of the whole fin, which, when the rays are depressed,
falls into, and is entirely hid in a deep groove on the dorsal
line ; the longest ray of the pectoral fin is of the same length
as the longest ray of the first dorsal fin, and there is in the
side of the fish behind the pectoral fin, on each side, a shallow
cavity which receives the whole fin, and brings its outer sur-
face on the same level as the surface of the body ; the longest
ray of the ventral fin is not quite so long as that of the pec-
toral fin, and this fin can also be received behind an indurated
free fold of the skin, extending along the under edge of the
fin, and which completely hides the fin itself. The thorax
arid the part around the pectoral and ventral fins, is covered
with small scales, forming a corselet, as shown in the figure,
which terminates in four points directed backwards, of which
four points one is on the upper middle line of the back, one on
each lateral line, the fourth on the central line of the belly.

PLAIN BONITO.

163

The second dorsal fin begins on a line rather before the anal
aperture, and has behind it eight finlets ; the anal fin com-
mences on a line with the hinder part of the second dorsal
fin, and has behind it seven finlets ; the tail is narrow, and
rather lunate in form, with a small lateral keel on each side.
The number of the fin-rays are,

D. 10 12 VIII. : P. 21 : V. 1 + 5 : A. 12 VII. : C. 17, and 15 small.

The back is irregularly mottled with two shades of indigo
blue ; the belly is silvery white ; the corselet rather darker
than the belly, or greyish white ; the fins darker grey, except
the anal fin, which is tinged with yellow. The lateral line
is not very strongly marked, and at the anterior part is lost
behind the corselet. The upper surface of the head is bluish
lead-colour ; the cheeks and gill-covers silvery.

164 SCOMBERID.E

ACANTHOPTERYGU. SCOMBERIDJE.

THE SWORDFISH.

Xiphias gladius LINNAEUS. BLOCIJ, pt. iii. pi. 76.

Cuv. et VALENC. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. viii. p. 255. pi. 225-6.

,, Swordfish, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. iii. p. 216, pi. 30.

FLEM. Brit. An. p. 220, sp. 169.
Common Sword-fish, JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 364.

Generic Characters. Body fusiform, covered with minute scales ; a single
elongated dorsal fin ; ventral fins wanting ; tail strongly carinated ; upper jaw
elongated, forming a sword ; mouth without teeth ; branchiostegous rays 7.

THE SWORDFISH, inhabiting almost every part of the
Mediterranean Sea, was well known to the ancients, and was
called by various names, which had reference either to its
weapon, its supposed powers, or its imposing appearance.
It was first figured by Salvianus. When it issues from the
Mediterranean, it appears, like many other species from the
same sea, to take a course either north or south, but seldom
pursues the same parallel of latitude towards the west. It
has been found at Madeira and on the coast of Africa. In
the opposite direction, it has been taken on the coasts of
Spain and France. Daniel, in his " Rural Sports, 11 states,

SWORDF1SH. 165

that " in the Severn, near Worcester, a man bathing was
struck, and actually received his death-wound from a Sword-
fish. The fish was caught immediately afterwards, so that
the fact was ascertained beyond a doubt." In October
1834, a party of gentlemen in their pleasure-boat fishing in
the sea off the Essex coast, saw something bulky floating on
the water at a short distance. On coming up with it, they
found it to be a dead Swordfish, ten feet long, of which the
sword measured three feet : decomposition, however, was
going on so rapidly, that a skeleton of the bones, which were
entire, was the only portion that could be made available to
any useful purpose.

Mr. Dillwyn, who has favoured me with many communi-
cations on Natural History, includes among them a notice of
a Swordfish exhibited at Brighton in 1796, which had been
caught off that coast ; and the Rev. Robert Holdsworth sent
me word that a Swordfish was taken in Bridgewater river in
July 1834.

The Swordfish was first noticed in our seas by Sibbald ;
since which Dr. Leach, Mr. Pennant, Dr. Fleming, Dr.
Knox, and Dr. Grant have each had opportunities of exa-
mining specimens obtained in different parts of Scotland.
Still farther northward there is scarcely a writer on Ichthyo-
logy but mentions the Swordfish, several having been taken
in various parts of the Baltic.

The Swordfish is supposed to entertain great hostility to
the Whale, and accounts of conflicts that have been wit-
nessed are recorded by mariners. Captain Crow, in a work
lately published, relates the following as having occurred on
a voyage to Memel : " One morning during a calm, when
near the Hebrides, all hands were called up at three A.M. to
witness a battle between several of the fish called Thrashers,
or Fox Sharks (Carchan'as wipes'), and some Swordfish on
one side, and an enormous whale on the other. It was in

166 SCOMBERID^E.

the middle of summer ; and the weather being clear and the
fish close to the vessel, we had a fine opportunity of wit-
nessing the contest. As soon as the whale's back appeared
above the water, the thrashers springing several yards into
the air, descended with great violence upon the object of their
rancour, and inflicted upon him the most severe slaps with
their long tails, the sounds of which resembled the reports of
muskets fired at a distance. The Swordfish, in their turn,
attacked the distressed whale, stabbing from below ; and thus
beset on all sides and wounded, when the poor creature ap-
peared, the water around 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, they in the end completed his destruction."

It is a commonly received notion, that it is in consequence
of mistaking the hull of a ship at sea for a whale, that the
Swordfish occasionally endeavours to thrust his sword-like
beak into the vessel. Those who have been on board on
such an occasion, found it difficult to believe that the vessel
had not struck against some rock unseen below the surface,
so great had been the violence of the shock, from the weight
and power of the fish. Specimens of ships 1 planks and tim-
bers, deeply penetrated by what appears to be the pointed
upper jaw of a Swordfish, broken off by the concussion, are
shown in various museums ; the forms and structure of which
indicate that, if they did belong to Swordfish, several species,
some of them attaining a large size, must exist : some are
evidently referable to the allied genus Istiophorus, which is
limited in its range to more tropical seas. Mr. Scoresby
states an instance of a ship from the coast of Africa, the bow
of which had been penetrated by a bone, which he considered
was the snout of a Swordfish ; and other instances are re-
corded.

Captain Bcechey says, " When in the Pacific Ocean, near

SWORDFISH. 167

Easter Island, as the line was hauling in, a large Swordfish
bit at the tin case which contained our thermometer, but for-
tunately failed in carrying it offy

The Swordfish are said to go in pairs, and would probably
be captured more frequently, but that their great timidity and
vigilance save them.

The mode of obtaining them, as practised in the Mediter-
ranean, is reported to be still more amusing than that in use
against the Tunny, which has been already noticed. A man
elevated on a mast, or on a neighbouring rock, gives notice
by signal of the approach of a fish. The fishermen row
towards, and attack it with a small harpoon attached to a
long line ; and are so skilful, as often to strike the fish at a
considerable distance. The struggle then commences ; which
is, in fact, whale-fishing in miniature. Sometimes they are
obliged to follow a fish for hours, before they are able to get
it into the boat. The fishing season is from May to
August.

The length of the Swordfish is from ten to twelve feet ;
but they occasionally attain a larger size, and have been
known to exceed four hundred pounds' 1 weight. Dr. Leach
found small fish in the stomach of one : that examined by
Dr. Fleming contained numerous remains of Loligo sagit-
tata. The flesh of the adult is said to be hard but good ;
that of the young fish white, agreeable, and nourishing. At
Genoa, young ones are sold and eaten ; but the elongated jaw
is cut off before the fish are brought to market.

The fin-rays are,

D. 3+40 : P. 16 : A. 2 + 15 : C. 17.

Body elongated, nearly round behind, but little compressed ;
upper part of the head nearly flat, slightly descending to the
base of the sword, which is formed by an extension of the
vomer, maxillary, and intermaxillary bones ; the edges pro-

168 SCOMBERID/E.

ducccl, finely denticulated ; the extremity pointed ; upper
surface finely striated ; under surface smooth, with a slight
groove along the middle. The sides of the head vertical ;
the eye round ; nostrils placed near the upper surface, almost
round, and close together, the posterior orifice the largest :
the under jaw does not extend beyond the line of the curve
formed by the upper as it descends from the cranium, and
ends in a point ; the opening of the mouth extends back-
wards beyond the line of the eye ; no teeth ; the branches of
the lower jaw only slightly rough ; mouth divided by a
transverse membrane, with a smaller similar membrane to the
lower jaw ; no true tongue ; pharyngeal bones furnished with
very minute teeth : skin of the body rough. The pectoral
fins are elongated, and attached very low down on the body ;
the first three rays are the longest, the last the shortest ;
no vestige of ventral fins : the dorsal fin commences on a line
with the gill-opening ; the first three rays spinous, the fourth
or fifth ray the longest : the rays then diminish rapidly to the
tenth or eleventh, where they become very slender, and are
connected by a very slight membrane as far as the thirty-
ninth or fortieth. Through a great part of this length the
dorsal fin is only about half as high as the pectoral fin is
long ; the three or four last rays are rather longer, and the
fin attains more power. This is the state of the fin in a
young fish when it has been but little used ; but the portion
of the fin intermediate between the two ends is so slight that
it is easily torn, or even entirely worn away by use during
life; and this will help to explain the representations of this,
fish when adult, which exhibit only the two extreme ends of
this fin, and make it appear like two dorsal fins separated.
The two portions of the tail are elongated.

The whole of the body is covered with a rough skin ; the
operculum smooth ; lateral line scarcely visible ; on each side
of the tail a membranous projection. The whole of the

SWORDFISH.

169

unclerpart of this fish is of a fine pure silver colour, shaded
with bluish black on the upper part. Very young specimens
of twelve or eighteen inches long have the body covered with
small tubercles : these inequalities on the surface disappear as
the fish increases in size, first on the back, afterwards on the
belly, and, by the time it attains the length of three feet, are
no longer apparent.

Most of the works on Ichthyology containing a figure of
the adult fish, such as that represented at the beginning of
this article ; in which the fins are worn, a young one, with
perfect fins, has been selected for representation in the cut
used as a vignette below.

170

SCOMBERID.E.

ACANTHOPTERYGIL

SCOMBERIDJE.

THE PILOT-FISH.

Kaucrates ductor, Cuv. et VALENC. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. viii. p. 312,

pi. 232.

Gasterosteiis ,, LINNAEUS. WILLUGHBY, App. p. 7 tab. viii. fig. 2.
Scomber ,, BLOCH, pt. x. pi. 338.

,, ,, Pilot-Jish, COUCH, MS.

Centronotus ,, ,, JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 365.

Generic Characters. Body covered with small scales ; dorsal fin single,
elongated ; free spinous rays before the dorsal and anal fins ; sides of the tail
carinated ; teeth small, numerous ; branchiostegous rays 7.

THE PILOT-FISH has been so often seen, and occasionally
taken on our southern coast, as to be entitled to a place
among British Fishes : it may be immediately recognized
by its mackerel-like form of body and conspicuous transverse
bands.

This fish was placed by Linnaeus in his genus Gasteros-
teus on account of the free spines anterior to the dorsal fin ;
but the form of the body, the minute scales, and the car-
tilaginous horizontal keel on the sides of the fleshy portion
of the tail, indicate the family to Avhich it belongs. Raffi-
nesque considered this fish entitled to generic distinction,
and assigned to it the name of Naucrates ; Cuvier and

PILOT-FISH. 171

M. Valenciennes coincide in this separation, and have adopt-
ed the name.

The Pilot-fish is supposed to have been the Pompilius of
the ancients ; a fish which is said to have pointed out the
desired course to doubtful navigators, accompanied them
throughout their voyage, and left them when they reached
the \vished-for land. The fish was therefore considered
sacred, and was invested with a Greek name, which signifies
" a companion."

Besides this habit of attending ships during their course
at sea, and that for weeks and even months together, of
which some instances will be quoted, the Pilot-fish also ac-
companies large Sharks : but their motives for this associ-
ation have been variously interpreted. By some it has been
considered that the Pilot-fish acted as a guide to direct the
Shark to his food ; while others state, that when a Shark and
his Pilot were following a vessel, if meat was thrown over-
board cut into small pieces, and therefore unworthy the
Shark's attention, the Pilot-fish showed his true motive of
action by deserting both Shark and ship to feed at his leisure
on the morsels.

M. Geoffrey relates an instance of two Pilots that took
great pains to direct a Shark towards a bait. On the other
hand, Colonel Hamilton Smith has furnished an account of
an opposite character, which is thus related in Griffith's
Animal Kingdom, Fishes, vol. x. page 636: "Captain
Richards, R.N., during his last station in the Mediterranean,
saw on a fine day a Blue Shark which followed the ship,
attracted perhaps by a corpse which had been committed to
the waves. After some time a shark-hook, baited with pork,
was flung out. The Shark, attended by four Pilot-fish,
Scomber ductor, repeatedly approached the bait ; and every
time that he did so, one of the Pilots preceding him was
distinctly seen from the taffrail of the ship to run his snout

SCOMBERID-E.

against the side of the Shark's head, to turn it away. After
some further play, the fish swam off in the wake of the vessel,
his dorsal fin being long distinctly visible above the water.
When he had gone however a considerable distance, he sud-
denly turned round, darted after the vessel, and, before the
Pilot-fish could overtake him and interpose, snapped at the
bait and was taken. In hoisting him up, one of the Pilots
was observed to cling to his side until lie was half above
water, when it fell off. All the Pilot-fishes then swam about
awhile, as if in search of their friend, with every apparent
mark of anxiety and distress, and afterwards darted suddenly
down into the depths of the sea. Colonel H. Smith has
himself witnessed, with intense curiosity, an event in all
respects precisely similar."

In the year 1831, two specimens of the Pilot-fish were
caught on the opposite side of the British Channel, and
more than one instance has occurred of their following ships
into Guernsey. A few years since, a pair accompanied a
ship from the Mediterranean into Falmouth, and were both
taken with a net. In January 1831, the Peru, Graham
master, put into Plymouth, on her voyage from Alexandria
for London, after a passage of eighty-two days. About two
days after she left Alexandria, two Pilot-fish, Gasterosteus
ductor, made their appearance close alongside the vessel,
were constantly seen near her during the homeward voyage,
and followed her into Plymouth. After she came to an
anchor in Catwater, their attachment appeared to have in-
creased ; they kept constant guard to the vessel, and made
themselves so familiar, that one of them was actually cap-
tured 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 separated ; but they were both taken
the same evening, and, when dressed the next day, were
found to be excellent eating. In October 1833, nearly one

PILOT-FISH. 173

hundred Pilot-fish accompanied a vessel from Sicily into Cat-
water ; but they were not taken.

In 1818 a Pilot-fish was captured while entangled in some
sea-weed in Dartmouth Harbour.

The usual length of the Pilot is about twelve inches : the
stomach has been found full of small fish : the flesh is deli-
cate, and said to resemble that of the Mackerel. The fin-
rays are,

D. IV. 26 : P. 18 : V. 1 +5 : A. II. 16 : C. 17.

The nose is rounded ; the under jaw rather the longest ; the
diameter of the eye one-fifth of the whole head, and placed
at one-third of the distance from the nose to the end of the
operculum ; irides golden yellow ; nostrils placed near the
line of the profile, and rather nearer the point of the nose
than the eye : mouth not very deeply divided ; teeth very
small, numerous, forming a band on each jaw ; a narrow band
on each palatine bone ; one single, short, but strong tooth,
on the front of the vomer, and one on the tongue ; the
tongue large, thin, and free : ventral fins attached to the
abdomen by a membrane through one-third of their length.
The dorsal and anal fins end on the same line.

The body is covered with small oval scales, except one
triangular spot above the base of the pectoral fin ; the cartila-
ginous keel-like projection on each side the fleshy portion of
the tail reaches from the origin of the caudal rays forward
beyond the line of the base of the last rays of the dorsal and
anal fins.

The general colour of the fish is a silvery greyish blue,
darkest on the back, much paler on the belly ; the five dark
blue transverse bands pass round the whole of the body :
there are also indications of two other bands, one on the
head, the other on the tail : pectoral fins clouded with white
and blue, ventrals nearly black.

174

SCOMBERID.E.

Individuals from various localities exhibit but very trifling
differences.

In the Linnean Transactions, vol. xiv. page 82, Mr.
Couch, in his paper on the Fishes of Cornwall, says of the
Albacore, " I believe this fish is not uncommon in summer ;
but keeping at a distance from the shore, and seldom taking
a bait, it is but rarely caught."

Under the name of Albacore, like that of Bonito, two
species have been included. The Scomber glaucus of Linn,
will be found described and figured by Cuvier and M. Valen-
ciennes, t. viii. p. 358, pi. 234*.

The vignette below is a view of Ancona.

SCAD.

75

ACANTHOPTERYGII.

SCOMBEZ?ID/E.

THE SCAD, OR HORSE-MACKEREL.

Caranr trachurus LACEPEDE.

,, ,, Cuv. et VALENC. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. ix. p. 11, pi. 246.

Scomber ,, LINNAEUS. BLOCK, pt. ii. pi. 56.

,, ,, Scad, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. iii. p. 363, pi. 62.

,, ,, ,, DON. Brit. Fish. pi. 3.

Trachurus vulgaris, ,, FLEM. Brit. An. p. 218, sp. 163.
Caranx trachurus, ,, JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 366.

Generic Characters. Body covered with small scales, with the exception of
the lateral line ; lateral line armed with a series of broad scales, those on the
posterior half of the body having an elevated horizontal keel in the centre, form-
ing a continuous ridge, each scale ending in a point directed backwards ; two
distinct dorsal fins ; free spines before the anal fin ; teeth exceedingly minute :
branchiostegous rays 7.

THE SCAD, or HORSE-MACKEREL as it is commonly
called, in reference to its supposed coarseness and consequent
inferiority, rather than to its size, is occasionally abundant on
particular parts of our southern shore, and may be traced
nearly all round the British coast. Communications from
various sources will supply a better history of this species
than any materials I could myself furnish.

This fish occurs on the coast of Antrim in Ireland, at
Belfast Bay in the north, along the shore of the county

176 SCOMBERID.E.

of Cork in the south, and probably at many intermediate
points. Part of a letter from my friend Mr. Bicheno, resid-
ing on the coast of Glamorganshire, is as follows : " On
Tuesday, the 29th of July 1834, \ve were visited by im-
mense shoals of Scad, or, as they are also called, Horse-
Mackerel. 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 witli their numbers. Those
who stood on some projecting rock, had only to dip their
hands 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
one dark mass of fish. Every net was immediately put in
requisition ; 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 : every mesh held its fish, and formed a wall
that swept on the beach all before it. The quantity is very
inadequately expressed by numbers, they were caught by
cart-loads. As these shoals were passing us for a week, with
their heads directed up channel, we had the opportunity of
noticing that the feeding time was morning and evening.
They were pursuing the fry of the Herring, and I found
their stomachs constantly full of them."

According to Mr. Couch, the Scad " regularly visits the
coast of Cornwall and Devon, commonly in scattered quan-
tities, but occasionally in considerable schulls. The first
appearance of this fish in spring is not until towards the
end of April ; they are not abundant before the warmer
months of the year, when some may be found on board of
every fishing-boat. They are rarely brought to market, and
in many places even the fishermen are not in the habit of
eating them : in the west of Cornwall, however, they are
salted in the same way as Mackerel, and in this state meet

SCAD. 177

with a ready sale in winter. The usual habit of this fish is
to keep near the ground ; but when they assemble in pursuit
of sandlaunce, or other favourite food, as they sometimes do
in innumerable multitudes, they become so eager as to thrust
each other in heaps on the land.

" On Tuesday evening, August, upwards of ten thousand
Scads were taken by a foot-sean near Marazion. These fish
frequently come so near the shore as to enable persons to
take them by hand. On Wednesday evening another shoal
appeared, when a number of men, women, and children went
into the water to catch them, while others stood on the sand
to see them throw the fish on shore ; and by this means a
vast quantity were obtained. The young keep near the
shore after the larger fish have retired to deep water."

Montagu found this species common on the Devonshire
coast, and well known to the fishermen by the names before
given. In one week, at the latter end of August, he obtain-
ed several, varying in length from three to fifteen inches ;
but the most cdmmon size was about nine inches. In West
Bay and at Weymouth this fish is common. I saw about
a score in the London market at the end of May 1834, and
purchased two. They possessed a portion of the flavour of
Mackerel, but were not so fine. These were about twelve
inches long, and would have spawned about the same time
as the Mackerel. They have been taken off Yarmouth, in
Berwick Bay, in the Frith of Forth ; and Dr. Fleming found
part of one in the estuary of the Tay. Professors Reinhardt
and Nilsson have ascertained their existence, also, as far north
as the coast of Denmark and the west coast of Norway.

Montagu's description of a fresh specimen fifteen inches
long is as follows : " The depth behind the gills three
inches ; the mouth large ; the upper lip capable of consider-
able projection ; the teeth minute, not discernible without a
lens ; the eye very large, equal nearly to one-half the depth

VOL. I. N

178 SCOMBERID.E.

of the head, part silvery, part dusky ; operculum rounded ;
the last ray of the first dorsal fin connected by a membrane
to the first ray of the second dorsal fin ; the two spines
anterior to the anal fin slightly united by a membrane to
each other, and to the base of the first ray of the anal fin.
The ventral fins are placed in depressions ; the two spines
and the anterior part of the anal fin are lodged in a groove.
The curve of the lateral line is over the vent ; the body from
thence to the tail becomes quadrangular, on account of the
bony plates of the lateral line, which are terminated by a
spine pointing backwards, and forming a strong carina on each
side quite to the tail.

The number of fin-rays is as follows :

D. 8, 1 + 32 : P. 21 : V. 1 + 5 : A. II. 1 +26 : C. 17.

" The colour is a dusky olive above, changing to a resplen-
dent green, with a bluish waved gloss ; sides of the head,
and beneath the lateral line, silvery, with waved reflections ;
dorsal fins dusky, the lower fins quite pale ; on the margin of
the gill-cover, above the pectoral fin, a large black spot : the
throat and under part of the jaw is also black. This speci-
men was caught on a whiting-hook baited with sandlaunce."

The Scad, or Horse-Mackerel, occurs in the Mediterra-
nean and at Madeira: some variation, however, is found in
the number of lateral plates.

In a specimen of the Scad of our seas, the number of these
lateral plates was seventy- four.

BLACKPISH.

179

ACANTHOPTERYGIL

SCOMBERIDA:.

THE BLACKFISH.

Centrolnphus pompilus, Cuv. et VALENO. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. ix. p. 334,

pi. 269.

,, mnrio, ,, ,, t. ix. p. 342.

Holocentrus niger, LACEPEDE, t. iv. p. 441.

Centrolophus ,, t. ix. p. 347, 8vo. edit. Paris, 1831.

,, Black Perch, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. iii. p. 351.

,, ,, Blackfish, COUCH, MS.

,, morio, ,, J EN YNS, Brit. Vert. p. 370.

Generic Characters. Body covered with minute scales ; one dorsal fin elon-
gated, the rays short ; teeth very small, numerous ; branchiostegous rays 5.

LACEPEDE, when describing this rare fish, considered it
unknown to naturalists, and that its singular form required
generic distinction. Mr. Couch has had the good fortune
to see two specimens of it, and I avail myself of his kind
permission to give his account in full.

" The specimen described was fifteen inches long ; blunt
and rounded over the snout, flattened on the crown ; mouth
small ; tongue rather large ; teeth in the jaws fine ; nostrils
double, that nearest the eye large and open ; eye prominent
and bright ; five gill-rays : though soft, the membrane of the

N 2

1 (SO SCOMBERID.E.

preopcrculum had a free edge, somewhat incised. Body
compressed, about three inches deep ; a thin elevated ridge,
which makes it appear deeper on the back, on which the
dorsal fin is seated. This fin begins at four and a half inches
from the snout, and reaches to the distance of twelve inches
from it ; the rays fleshy at the base, many of them obsolete ;
vent six and a half inches from the lower jaw ; pectoral fins
pointed ; ventral fins bound down by a membrane ; tail
forked ; lateral line somewhat crooked at its commencement.
Body covered with minute scales, which when dry appear
curiously striated. Colour of the whole black, the fins
intensely so, very little lighter on the belly ; somewhat
bronzed at the origin of the lateral line. While employed
in drawing a figure, the side on which it lay changed to a
fine blue.

" Another specimen measured two feet eight inches in
length, and weighed nearly fourteen pounds. The skin was
observed to be so tough, as to be stripped from the fish like
that of an Eel : no air-bladder was found. The taste was
delicious.

" This fish, first described as British by Borlase from the
papers of Mr. Jago, of East Looe, has been a stumbling-
block to naturalists for the greater part of a century. Stew-
art and Turton fixed it in the genus Perca, under the name
of P. nfgra ; and Stewart supposed it a variety of the Ruffe,
in which opinion he was joined by Dr. Fleming. All this,
however, is to be traced to an original mistake of the Cornish
historian, who, in copying Jago's description, represents it as
three-fourths of an inch broad, which would make it as slen-
der as a Tapefish, where he should have read three or four
inches, which were the exact dimensions of my specimen, a
little more than three behind the head, a little less than four
at the commencement of the dorsal fin, and the precise mea-
surement of Jago's fish. The difference of colour in the

BLACKFISH. 181

four specimens now recorded as taken in Cornwall, (Jago's
two were caught in one net,) and those described by other
authors, is easily explained by what is known to occur in
reference to other species. The Tunny, like the Pompilus,
is beautifully variegated in the Mediterranean Sea ; but with
us both of them assume an intense black.

" The great strength and velocity of this fish have been
spoken of in terms of admiration by several authors ; and the
larger individual above mentioned, that fell into the hands
of my friend Mr. Jackson, of East Looe, afforded a corrobo-
ration of the truth of the observation. It was caught in a
net set for Salmon, at the mouth of the river, in the last
week 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. Jago found oreweed in the stomachs of
his fishes ; Ruysch says they feed on seaweed, though chiefly
on flesh ; and in my own specimen were found a muscle
without a shell, and a piece of a Sea Bream, Pagellus cen-
trodontiis, both, as I suppose, snatched as bait from the
fishermen's hooks, but was captured baited with the lask or
slice cut from the side of a Mackerel."

Cuvier and M. Valenciennes appear to believe that the
two fishes they have designated by the term C. pompilus
and C. tnorio are only different states of the same species ;
and the descriptions and remarks of different authors in re-
ference to the colour, as well as other particulars of specimens
taken in the Mediterranean Sea, and in the ocean on the
western coast of Europe, go far to confirm their view : the
two names have therefore been brought together at the head
of this subject. If, however, they should hereafter be con-
sidered distinct, the reader has here representations of both.

The representation of the fish at the head of this article is
derived from the figure given by M. Cuvier and Valen-
ciennes, and the vignette is reduced from Mr. Couch's

182

SCOMBEKID.E.

\

drawing of the smaller specimen of the two examples recorded
by him.

The number of fin-rays in several specimens as stated by
different authors agree so closely, that they may be considered
as amounting to

D. 38 : P. 20 : V. 1 + 5 : A. 22 : C. 17.

M. Laurillard, not long since, obtained a specimen, at
Nice, twenty-seven inches long. The Blackfish has now
been taken of various sizes, from thirteen to thirty-two
inches.

A figure of this fish occurs in the Traite General des
Peches of Duhamel, deuxieme partie, sec. iv. pi. vi. fig. 2,
under the name of Serran de Provence, and another figure is
also given in a recent Paris edition of the works of the Comte
de Lacepede, in eleven volumes, octavo, edited by M. Des-
marest, plate xcv. fig. 3.

DORY,

183

ACANTHOPTERYGII.

SCOMBERID&.

THE DORY, OR DOREE.

Zeusfaber, LINN/F.US. BLOCH, pt. ii. pi. 41.
,, ,, CUVIER, Regne Animal, edit. 1829, t. ii. p. 211.
,, ,, Cuv. et VALENC. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. x. p. 6.
,, Doree, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. iii. p. 296, pi. 45.
,, DON. Brit. Fish. pi. 8.
FLEM. Brit. An. p. 218, sp. 164.
,, ,, Dory, JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 367.

Generic Characters. Body oval, very much compressed, surface smooth,
without scales ; spinous portions of the dorsal and anal fins separated from the
flexible portions by a depression, dorsal spines with long filaments ; spinous
scales along the line of the dorsal and ventral edges ; mouth capable of consi-
derable protrusion ; teeth numerous ; branchiostegous rays 7.

THE DORY was first described by Pliny ; unless, indeed,
it be the Chalceus of Oppian and Athenseus. The ancients
must have entertained a high regard for it, since they gave it
the name of Jupiter, Zeus.

184 SCOMBERID.E.

The Dory, or Doree, contends with the Haddock for the
honour of bearing the marks of St. Peter's fingers, each being
supposed to have been the fish out of whose mouth the
Apostle took the tribute money; leaving on its sides, in
proof of the identity, the marks of his finger and thumb.
Another origin for the spots on the sides of the Dory has
also been assigned. St. Christopher, in wading through an
arm of the sea, bearing the Saviour, whence his name of
Christophorus, is reported to have caught a Dory, and to
have left those impressions on its sides, to be transmitted to
all posterity as an eternal memorial of the fact. The name
of Doree was therefore said to be derived from the French,
adoree, ' worshipped.'

Our common appellation of John Dory is also said to be
of foreisfn derivation, and even with a second reference to St.

O '

Peter. The fishermen of the Adriatic call this fish il jani-
tore, ' the gatekeeper ' in allusion to the supposed keys of
the gates of heaven, of which the Apostle is pictured to be the
bearer ; and in several countries of Europe the Dory is called
St. Peter's fish. The real origin of the English name for this
fish may be questioned ; but it is probably derived from the
French, doree, or jaune doree, in reference to its peculiar
golden yellow colour.

At what precise time the epithet of John became prefixed
to the simple name of this fish, it might be difficult to as-
certain : its name of Doree is at least as old as Merrett, who,
in his Pinax Rerum Naturalium Britannicarum, 1666,
speaks of it as a Doree, or a Dorn.

The Dory is considered a rare fish in the north-western
counties. It has been taken on the coast of Cumberland. In
Ireland it occurs on the coast of Londonderry and Antrim ;
and, on the south, along the coast of Waterford. It is
taken on the Cornwall and Devonshire coasts, sometimes
even in profusion ; and, onwards to the east, on the Hamp-

BORY. 185

shire and Sussex shores; but on the north-east coast it
is again considered rare. Mr. Paget says that several were
caught during the summer of 1834 by the Yarmouth fisher-
men when taking Turbot on the Knowl. Dr. George Johnston
has obtained this fish on the coast of Berwick, and Dr. Par-
nell says that one or two are taken every year at the mouth
of the Forth, or on the sandy banks in Guillon Bay ; but it
is not mentioned by Low in his Fauna Orcadensis. Al-
though the Dory is not included in the Fauna Suecica either
of Linnaeus or Retzius, nor in the Zoologia Danica of Miil-
ler ; and it is considered that this fish does not go into the
Baltic, or at least has not been caught there, yet Mr. Henry
Kroyer gives it a place in the recently published portion of
his work on the Fishes of Denmark, Avhich he had the kind-
ness to send to me in October 1838. The food of the
Dory is the fry of other fishes, molluscous animals, and
shrimps. The largest specimens that come to the London
fish-market weigh from ten to twelve pounds ; but the average
weight is scarcely half as much. Pennant says the largest are
from the Bay of Biscay.

Mr. Couch considers the Dory as " rather a \vanderinff

/ o

than a migratory fish ; and its motions are chiefly regulated
by those of the smaller kinds on which it preys. When
the Pilchards approach the shore, the Dory is often taken in
considerable numbers. In the autumn of 1829, more than
sixty Avere hauled on shore at once in a net, some of them
of large size, and yet the whole were sold together for nine
shillings. It continues common until the end of winter;
after which it is more rare, but never scarce. The form
of the Dory would seem to render it incapable of much
activity ; and it is sometimes seen floating along with the
current, rather than swimming ; yet some circumstances fa-
vour the idea that it is able to make its way with considerable
activity. It keeps pace with schulls of Pilchards, so that

186 SCOMBERID.E.

some are usually enclosed in the scan with them ; it also
devours the common Cuttle, a creature of vigilance and
celerity ; and I have seen a Cuttle of a few inches long
taken from the stomach of a Dory that measured only four
inches. It takes the hook, but gives the preference to a
living bait ; and a Chad,* hooked through the back, with the
prickly dorsal fin cut off, is sure to entice it."

" It is now," says Colonel Montagu,-f- " about sixty years
since the celebrated Mr. Quin, of epicurean notoriety, first
discovered the real merit of the Doree ; j and we believe from
him originated the familiar, and we may say national, epithet
of John Dory, as a special mark of his esteem for this fish ;
a name by which it is usually known in some parts, espe-
cially at Bath, where Quin's celebrity as the prince of
epicures was well known, and where his palate finished its
voluptuous career."

Notwithstanding the numerous anecdotes recorded of this
gentleman, as famous for his love of good living as for his
excellence as a comedian, and who equally shone as a bon-
vivant or in the character of FalstafF, we may be allowed to
record one more in honour of both the person who brought
the Doree into such high estimation and of the fish itself.

" An ancestor of ours, a Mr. Hedges, was an intimate
friend of Quin's, and was induced by him to take a journey
from Bath to Plymouth, on purpose to eat John Dory in the
highest perfection, not only from procuring it fresh, but
with the additional advantage of having it boiled in sea-water,
a matter of very great importance to the palate of Quin.

" As this journey was purposely taken to feast on fish,
their stay at Plymouth was not intended to exceed a week,

* The young of the Sea Bream, Pagellus centrodontus.

t Colonel Montagu died in August 1815.

t Henry Fielding, the novelist, in his Journal of a voyage to Lisbon, about
1755, says, " Detained at starting three weeks near the Isle of Wight by con-
trary winds; had Dory for dinner every day, and found them excellent.

DORY. 187

by which time they expected to have their skins full of
Doree ; but that no opportunity might be lost, Quin left
strict charge with the host at Ivybridgc to procure some of
the finest Doree he could get, for his dinner on his return,
fixing the day. Whether our celebrated epicure was disap-
pointed in his expectations at Plymouth, is not recollected ;
but that he might have the provided fish at Ivybridge in the
highest perfection, and remarking that the place was too
remote from the coast to obtain sea-water for dressing the
Dorees anticipated, he ordered a cask of sea-water to be
tied behind his carriage. Unfortunately, the weather had
been stormy, and no fish of note could be procured. Every
apology was made by the host, who assured him that an
excellent dinner was provided, which, he had no doubt,
would be to his taste ; but no fish. The disappointment,
however, was too great to be borne with patience ; after
having made a water-cart of his carriage, and the appetite
having been set for John Dory boiled in sea-water, no excuse,
no apology, would satisfy Quin ; and he declared he would
not eat in his house, but, like a ship in distress, threw his
water-cask overboard, and pursued his journey not a little
sulky, till some fortunate stroke of wit, or some palatable
viand roused him to good humour.

" This western tour of Quin's did not appear to have
given him much satisfaction, as may readily be imagined by
his reply to a friend on his return to Bath. Being asked if
he did not think Devonshire a sweet country, ' Sir,'

said Quin, ' I found nothing sweet in Devonshire

but the vinegar." 1 " Montagu's MS.

The body of the Dory is oval, very much compressed ;
the head large ; the mouth capable of great protrusion, so
much so, that from the point of the lower jaw when extend-
ed, to the posterior angle of the operculum, is as long as
from that angle to the base of the caudal rays. The length

188 SCOMBERID.E.

of the head when the mouth is not projected is nearly as
long as the body is in depth. The mouth large ; the teeth
small and numerous, placed in a single row in each jaw, and
curving inwards ; the eyes large, situated laterally, and high
up on the head ; irides yellow ; a spine behind and over each
orbit about half way between the eye and the first ray of the
spinous portion of the dorsal fin ; the spines of the first
dorsal fin very long, the longest half as long as the body is
deep ; the membrane between the spines ending in a filament
three times as long as the rays. The base of the second dor-
sal fin about as long as that of the first ; the rays flexible,
and only half as high as those of the first : the pectoral fin
small and short, ending on a line with the anterior edge of
the dark spot on the side : the ventrals very long and slender,
arising in advance of the pectorals, the rays reaching as far
back as the first flexible ray of the anal ; the first spinous
ray of the anal fin is on a line with the posterior edge of the
dark spot, and with the sixth spinous ray of the dorsal ; the
flexible portion commences and ends nearly on the same
planes as the flexible dorsal : the tail is narrow, long, and
slender ; the lateral line advancing at first straight, afterwards
rises in an elevated arch over the dark spot, which is placed
at about the diameter of its own breadth behind the posterior
angle of the operculum. A row of spiny scales pointing
backwards are ranged along the base of the dorsal and anal
fins on each side.

The number of fin-rays is,

D. 9. 22 : P. 13 : V. 9 : A. 5. 21 : C. 13.

The prevailing colour of the body is an olive-brown,
tinged with yellow, and reflecting in different lights, blue,
gold, and white ; when the living fish just taken from the
net is held in the hand, varying tints of these different
colours pass in rapid succession over the surface of the body.

BOAB-FJSH. 189

The membranes of the flexible portions of the fins are light
brown : those of the spinous portions are much darker.

A large portion of the Dorees supplied to the London
fish-market are brought by land-carriage from Plymouth, and
some other parts of the Devonshire coast. Being a ground
fish,* they are little or none the worse for keeping till the
second or third day. Montagu, disliking the toughness of
a fresh-caught Dory, says, they are most palatable after
keeping two days. Fish for the supply of the London
market was not brought by land-carriage until the year 1761.
Steam-boats seem likely to effect another change. In the
summer of 1834, a cargo of Salmon from Scotland was de-
posited in the London market within forty hours.

* See page 26.

190

SCOMBERID.E.

ACANT1IOPTERYGIL

SCOUBEEJDJE.

THE BOAR-FISH.

Capros Aper, LACEPEDE.

CUVIER, Regne An. 1829, t. ii. p. 211.

,, Cuv. et VALENC. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. x. p. 30, pi. 281.

Aper Rondeletii, WILLUGHBY, p. 296, p. T. iv. fig. 4.

Zeus Aper,
Perca pusilla,
Capros Aper,

ieus

LINN/EUS.

BRUNNICH, p. 62, sp. 79.

Risso, t. iii. p. 380, sp. 296.

Proceedings Zool. Soc. 1833, p. 114.

Boar-Jish, JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 368.

Generic Characters. Body oval, compressed ; two dorsal fins ; no spines
at the base of the dorsal or anal fins ; scales on the body small, adherent,
ciliated ; mouth capable of protrusion ; teeth small, numerous ; branchiostegous
rays 6.

A SPECIMEN of the Capros Aper of authors having been
taken in Mount's Bay, in October 1825, and a notice of the
occurrence forwarded to the Zoological Society, with a draw-
ing and description, by Dr. Henry Boase, a figure and a

BOAR-FISH. 191

short account of the species necessarily belong to a History
of British Fishes. Its right to rank among them is con-
firmed by the fact, that at the moment of preparing this
account, I am favoured by the united kindness of W. C.
Trevelyan, Esq. of Nettlecombe, and Mr. William Baker,
of Bridgcwater, with a notice of the occurrence of a second
example of this rare fish, which was obtained in Bridgewater
fish-market on the 18th of April 1833. A drawing of the
fish, made while this specimen retained its natural colour, also
accompanied the communication. Mr. Baker has since been
kind enough to give me his specimen, just referred to, and
Mr. Harvey of Teignmouth has recently obtained an example
of this rare fish on the Devonshire coast.

The Capros, according to the ancient authorities, was
known to Aristotle. It is figured and described by Rondele-
tius, and again by Willughby, as quoted. It is said to have
been called by several names that signify wild boar and ma-
rine boar, on account of its projecting nose and mouth, the
form of the head, and its bristling spines.

It is a fish well known as inhabiting the Mediterranean,
where, according to M. Risso, it spawns in April. The
flesh is hard, and Lacepede says it emits also an unpleasant
odour.

The Zoological Society having received three specimens
of it from Madeira, presented by the Rev. R. T. Lowe,
and the use of one of these specimens having been immedi-
ately granted to me on my making the request, I am thus
enabled to supply both figure and description from the
fish.

I am not aware that any figure from nature of the Boar-
fish has hitherto been published, except the one originally
given by Rondeletius. While referring to this representa-
tion, I may be excused reminding the reader who possesses
a copy of the work of Rondeletius on the fishes of the

192 SCOMBERID.E.

Mediterranean, of the opportunity now afforded of comparing
the representations of fishes cut in wood at the present time,
with others also cut in wood nearly three hundred years ago.
Many of those contained in the work referred to, although
coarse in their execution, are by no means deficient in charac-
ter or spirit ; but the name of the artist who engraved them
at that distant period is unknown.

The form of the body is a shorter oval than that of the
Dory ; the mouth protrudes ; a band of minute teeth consi-
derably within each jaw ; the eye very large, placed at the
distance of its own diameter from the end of the nose when
the mouth is shut ; the nostrils large, just anterior to the
edge of the orbit : the origin of the first dorsal, pectoral, and
ventral fins is nearly on the same plane ; the base of the first
dorsal about as long as its third spine, which is the longest ;
the base of the second dorsal fin equal to that of the first,
the rays very slender and flexible, the membrane only ex-
tending up one-third of the length of the rays ; the pectoral
fin as long as the third ray of the first dorsal fin, slender and
delicate in structure ; ventral fin with one strong spine, the
other rays flexible and branched, the membrane not extend-
ing the whole length of the rays : anal fin with all the cha-
racters observable in the second dorsal fin, and ending at the
same distance from the tail ; the caudal rays slender, and
twice as long as the fleshy portion of the tail. The number
of fin-rays is,

D. 9. 24 : P. 14 : V. 1 + 5 : A. 3 + 24 : C. 12.

No lateral line is observable ; the body is quite smooth when
the finger is passed from before backwards, but rough to the
touch in the contrary direction, from numerous small scales
which are minutely ciliated. The specimen belonging to
the Zoological Society is five inches long from the point of
the nose to the end of the tail ; and the colour, probably

BOAR-FISH.

193

altered from having been kept two or three years in spirit, of
a uniform pale yellow brown.

The specimen of this fish taken in Mount's Bay measured
six and a half inches. Mr. Baker's example was seven inches.
In both these last the iriclcs were orange colour, the pupil
bluish black ; the upper part of the back and sides pale
carmine, still lighter below, and passing to silvery white on
the belly ; the body divided by seven transverse orange-
coloured bands reaching three-fourths of the distance from
the back downwards. The Mount's Bay specimen, accord-
ing to Dr. Boase, had no bands. All the fin-rays the same
colour as the back ; the membranes much lighter.

VOL. i.

o

11)4

PCOAIBEKIJJ.K.

ACANTHOPTERYCH.

SCOMBEIUD&.

THE OPAH, OR KING-FISH.

Lampris guttatus, P\ETZ. CUVIEU, Regne Animal, t. ii. p. 211.

,, ,, Cuv. et VALFNC. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. x. p. 39, pi. 282.

Zeus Luwa, GMEL. LINN.

Opah, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. iii. p. 299, pi. 46.
,, ,, ,, DON. Brit. Fish. pi. 97.

,, Imperialis, ,, SHAW, Nat. Misc. pi. 140.
Lampris Luna, FI.EM. Brit. An. p. 219, sp. 168.

,, ,, ,, or King-jink, JENVNS, Brit. Vert. p. 369.

Generic Characters. Body oval, greatly compressed, scales small ; a single
elevated and elongated dorsal fin ; sides of the tail carinated ; teeth wanting ;
branchiostegous rays 7.

THE OPAH, or KING-FTSH, originally included in tlic
genus Zeus, has been removed by some authors, on account
of its possessing but a single dorsal fin ; and the generic term
Lampris has been applied to distinguish it.

This fish is as beautiful as it is rare. At the date of the
first edition of Pennant's British Zoology, only about five

O / ' /

OPAH. 195

examples were recorded as having been taken in different
parts of the British Islands ; four of them in the north, and
one at Brixham in 1824. Since that time three others have
been obtained, one of which is now preserved in the British
Museum, and from that example the representation given
was drawn and engraved. A specimen taken in the Clyde
some years since is now preserved in the Andersonian Mu-
seum at Glasgow. It has also appeared still farther north,
since M. Nilsson includes it in his Prodromus of the Fishes
of Scandinavia, M. Kroyer includes it in his Fishes of Den-
mark, and Professor Reinhardt has recorded that within the
last thirty years three examples have been taken on the coast
of Denmark ; and, what is remarkable, they were all caught
very near the same spot.

Since the publication of the previous account, Mr. Couch,
in the Cornish Fauna, mentions having received information
that one specimen of the Opah had been taken in Cornwall.
In August 1835, a specimen was caught in the weir nets in
the bay of Llandudu, near Conway. In July 1839, a speci-
men three feet long was caught at Hunstanton, on the Nor-
folk coast, which was sent up to London to Mr. John Lead-
beater, by whom it was well preserved for the Wisbeach
Museum. Towards the end of the year 1838, a fine speci-
men was caught on that part of the Dogger Bank nearest to
Burlington, in Yorkshire, and passed into the possession of
Mr. Baker, a fishmonger of York, as recorded in the Natu-
ralist. Dr. Parnell, in his Essay on the Fishes of the Firth
of Forth, mentions that the last of several that have been
found there was washed ashore in July 1835, on some rocks
to the west of North Queensferry ; its length was five feet,
weighing, as nearly as the men could compute, eleven stone.
The head was preserved : the body was cut up, taken away,
and eaten by the fishermen, who stated that the flesh was red,
remarkably good, equal to that of Salmon, and very much of

o 2

196 SCOMBERID.E.

the same flavour. Another was seen at the same time and
place ; but in consequence of the weather being very stormy,
they were unable to procure it. In the summer of the pre-
sent year, 1839, a specimen was taken in the Dee, the occur-
rence being communicated to me by Lord Cole. Mr. John
Laing, surgeon, in his Journal of a Voyage in a Whaler
from Whitby to Spitzbergen, says that the Opah is not un-
common among the Shetland Isles, and this we are prepared
to expect when we find MM. Kroyer, Nilsson, and Reinhardt,
recording its occurrence among the islands of the Categat.

This fish was first described by Dr. Mortimer, in the
Philosophical Transactions, from a specimen taken at Leith
in the year 1750: the preserved fish was exhibited at a
meeting of the Royal Society. To his account of it Dr.
Mortimer has added " that the Prince of Anamaboo, a coun-
try on the west coast of Africa, being then in England,
recognized the fish immediately as a species common on that
coast, which the natives called Opah, and said it was good
to eat."

Little or nothing is ascertained of the habits of this fish :
one exhibited at Dieppe was unknown to the oldest fishermen
there. The specimen before referred to as taken at Brix-
ham, measured four feet six inches in length, and weighed
one hundred and forty pounds.

By the evidence of Chinese drawings, it would appear that
the Opah is also a native of the eastern seas ; and it is cer-
tainly not a little singular, as observed by Mr. Couch, that
by a people so distant and secluded as the Japanese, a fish,
considered originally as belonging to the same genus as the
Doree, should also be regarded as devoted to the Deity, and
the only one that is so. The Opah is by them termed Tai :
and is esteemed as the peculiar emblem of happiness, because
it is sacred to Jebis or Neptune.*

* Koempfer. History of Japan, folio, vol. i.

OPAH. 197

The number of fin-rays arc

D. 2 + 52 : P. 28 : V. 1 -f 9 : A. 1 + 25 : C. 30.

The length of the body including the tail is to the depth
of the body without the fins as two to one ; the form of the
body oval ; the profile of the head, both above and below,
fulling in with the outline of the body ; the mouth small,
without teeth ; tongue thick, with rough papillae pointing
backwards, and well calculated to assist in conveying food
towards the pharynx. The base of the dorsal fin is rather
longer than the depth of the body, the first eight or nine rays
elongated, the longest four times as long as the rays of the
posterior portion ; pectoral and ventral fins very long, full
one-third the whole length of the body and tail ; the anal fin,
which is preceded by a triangular scale pointing backwards,
equal in length to half the length of the base of the dorsal ;
the tail in shape lunate. The ventral, pectoral, and anterior
part of the dorsal fins falciform ; the lateral line forms an
elevated arch over the pectoral fin, its highest part being im-
mediately under the longest ray of the dorsal fin.

The upper part of the back and sides are of a rich green,
reflecting both purple and gold in different lights, passing
into yellowish green below ; above and beneath the lateral
line are various round yellowish white spots, from which the
fish received the name of Luna ; the irides are scarlet ; all the
fins bright vermilion.

The showy colours with which the Opah is ornamented
induced an observer to remark, that it looked like one of
Neptune's lords dressed for a court-day.

108

RIBAND-SHAPED.

ACANTHOPTERYGII.

U1BAKD-SHAPED*

THE SCABBARD-FISH.

Lepidopns argyreus, Cuv. et VAI.ENC. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. viii. p. 223,

pi. 223.

Vandellius Lusitanicus, SIIAVVJ vol. iv. p. 99.
Xipotheca tetradens, MONTAGU, Mem. Wern. Soc. vol. i. p. 81, and 623,

pis. 2 and 3 ; and vol. ii. p. 432.
Lepidopus Lusitanicus, LEACH, Zool. Misc. pi. 62.

Scabbard- Jish, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. iii. p. 210.
Scalefoot, FLEM. Brit. An. p. 205, sp. 116.
> argyreus, ,, or Scabbard -fish, JEN VNS, Brit. Vert. p. 371 .

Generic Characters. Head pointed ; body without scales, elongated, com-
pressed, thin, riband-shaped : dorsal, anal, and caudal fins distinct ; the dorsal
fin extending the whole length of the body : two small scales on the abdomen
in the place of ventral fins : teeth in a single row in each jaw, compressed,
cutting, and pointed ; others very small on the palatine and pharyngeal bones,
and on the branchial arches : branchiostegous rays 8.

OP the family of riband-shaped fishes, not more than five
species, belonging to as many genera, have been obtained on
the British shores ; and these so rarely that little is known
of their habits.

Colonel Montagu first described the Scabbard-fish as a
British species under the name of Xipotheca tetradcns,

* The family of riband-shaped fishes.

SCARBAKD-FISH. 1.99

from its sword-like form and four elongated teeth in front,
believing it to be then entirely unknown to naturalists ; but
this fish appears to be an inhabitant of the Mediterranean
as well as the European seas, and has been taken occa-
sionally in several different parts of southern and western
Europe.

One specimen taken at the Cape of Good Hope is de-
scribed and figured by Euphrascn, in the new Memoirs of
Stockholm for 1788, t. ix. p. 48, pi. 9, fig. 2; and other de-
scriptions and figures are equally known.

Four examples of this fish have occurred on the southern
shores of England : two fortunately came into the possession
of Colonel Montagu, and are still preserved in the British
Museum. In the summer of 1787, a specimen came ashore
near Dawlish ; and notes with a drawing of this fish were sent
by Mr. Matthew Martin to his friend and correspondent
John Wallcott, Esq. for his then projected work on British
Fishes. A fourth example was received a few years back by
the Linnean Society.

Since that time, Mr. Couch has mentioned one caught off
the Cornish coast by the fishermen of a boat from Mount's
Bay : notice of two others taken off the Devonshire coast
have been sent to me ; and F. C. Lukis, Esq. of Guernsey,
forwarded to me in February 1.838 the particulars of one that
had been obtained there at that time.

Colonel Montagu's first and largest specimen measured five
feet six inches in length ; the depth at the gills four and a
half inches ; the weight, without the intestines, six pounds
one ounce. This fish was taken in Salcombe Harbour, on
the coast of South Devon, in June 1808. It was swimming
with astonishing velocity, with its head above water, to use
the fisherman's expression, " going as swift as a bird," and
was killed by a blow of an oar.

" The specimen was considered so rare, that a public

200 RIBAND-SKATED.

show was made of it at Kingsbridgc, where, in one day a
guinea was taken for its exhibition, at one penny each
person. It was embowelled when I first saw it. In prepar-
ing it, I observed within the skin, on the abdominal parts, a
great many small ascarides, pointed at each end, and of a
whitish colour : they were all coiled up in a spiral manner.
On the head, beneath the skin, and along the root of the
dorsal fin, were several of a species of Echinorhynchus, of a
yellow colour, nearly two inches in length, and more than
one-eighth of an inch in diameter : the proboscis short, with
a round termination furnished with spines : the anterior end
of the body sub-clavate, with a groove on each side : posterior
part wrinkled, and obtusely pointed. These vermes had
formed sinuses under the skin, and were firmly attached by
one end."" This fish has been observed by other authors to
be infested with worms.

Not to multiply the description of Montagu, an abridg-
ment of that of Cuvier is here given.

The head is pointed and slender ; the edge of the back
thin ; the dorsal fin low, the rays of nearly equal length
throughout, and the fin occupies the whole length of the
back ; the edge of the belly is rounder, and has but a small
anal fin at the posterior end ; the tail is small and forked.
Its remarkable characters are, the pointed and cutting teeth,
the two rounded scales in the place of the ventral fins, and
in a third triangular scale situated behind the vent. These
are the only scales, for the skin is smooth.

The head is about one-seventh of the whole length of the
fish, and in height about equal to half the length of the
head ; the thickness of the body one-fourth of its height.
The eye is placed about half way between the end of the
lower jaw, which is the longest, and the hinder edge of the
operculum ; the nostrils ovate, and just before the eyes.
Each intermaxillary bone has a row of twenty to twenty-

SCABBARD-FISH. 201

two compressed, cutting, sharp-pointed tcctli : in front, just
within, are two or three teeth four times as large and as long
as the others, slightly bent inwards ; six of these are the
correct number, but two or three are generally observed to be
broken. The under jaw has also one entire row of teeth,
with two longer ones. The vomer is not furnished with any
teeth, but the long external edge of each palatine bone has
one row of very minute teeth ; the pharyngeal bones and the
branchial arches arc also furnished with teeth, but they are
exceedingly minute.

The pectoral fin is about one-fifteenth part of the whole
length of the body, and the lower rays are the longest ; the
two upper rays are short and simple, the other ten rays are
branched and articulated. The two half-circular scales in the
place of ventral fins are situated rather nearer the end than
the origin of the pectorals, and are connected to each other
at the base. The dorsal fin commences at the nape ; the
height one-fourth that of the body, the rays simple and
flexible. The vent is at an equal distance from each ex-
tremity of the fish, with a moveable triangular scale behind
it. The anal fin commences far behind the scale ; the tail is
forked ; all the membranes of the fins are slender and easily
injured. The lateral line is a narrow depression, which de-
scending gradually from the upper edge of the operculum,
afterwards passes along the middle of the body to the centre
of the tail.

The irides are silvery, the fins greyish yellow ; the colour
of the skin of the body, which is quite smooth and destitute
of scales, is like burnished silver, with a bluish tint. The
fin -rays are

D. 105 : P. 12 : A. 17 : C. 17 : vertebrae 111.
The difference in the number of fin-rays, according to

202 RIBAND-SHAPED.

authors, leads to the supposition that more than one species
will yet be defined.

The flesh is eaten, and, according to Risso, it is firm and
delicate.

The females are full of ova in spring ; they approach the
shore in May.

A very young specimen of this fish was found alive on
the shore in Slapton Bay, on the south coast of Devon, about
four miles east of the Start Point, in February 1810. "I
regretted,"" says Colonel Montagu, " not having seen it
alive ; but it was quite fresh and perfect when brought
to me the day after it was taken, and is now in high
preservation in spirits. It measures about ten inches in
length, and half an inch in breadth, at the broadest part,
just behind the head, and where its thickness does not
much exceed one-eighth of an inch. It differs in nothing
but size from that before described : the characteristic larger
teeth are conspicuous, and the two ventral scales are also
obvious by the assistance of a glass : the dorsal and anal
fins are so fine in this young specimen, and lie so close,
that they are not easily discovered, unless they are lifted
up by some pointed instrument : the caudal fin is very
small, but perfect : the under jaw projects full as much
in proportion as in the larger fish : the whole skin is covered
with a silvery cuticle, which is easily separated by gentle
friction, and adheres to the fingers ; it is not of that high
polish observed in some of the scaly fishes, and is a little
wrinkled ; there are also several slight longitudinal depres-
sions on the sides, that give a striped appearance in some
points of view.

" How arc we to account for this very young specimen
being found in our seas, unless the spawn had been deposited
on our coast ? And if, as we may now conclude, this fish

SCABBARD-FISH.

203

.actually inhabits our seas, it is curious that it shouM never
before have been discovered."

This small specimen is still in good preservation at the
British Museum, the depositary of Montagu's collection of
fishes and shells, as well as of his birds. By the kindness of
the Zoological officers of that establishment, the vkmettc at

O

the foot of the page represents a portion of this small speci-
men of the natural size.

204.

RIBAND-SHAPED.

ACANTHOPTERYCII.

RIBAND-SHAPED.

:^^&S3^

THE SILVERY HAIRTAIL.

Trichiurus Lepturus, LINNAEUS. BLOCFI, pt. v. pi. 158.

,, ,, Cuv. et VALENC. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. viii. p. 237.

,, ,, Hov, Linn. Trans, vol. xi. p. 210.

,, ,, Bladejish, FLEM. Brit. An. p. 204, sp. 1 15.

,, ,, Hair-Tail, JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 372.

Generic Characters. Head and body very much resembling those of the
fishes of the genus Lepidopus last described ; no ventral fins, nor scales instead ;
no anal fin ; tail without rays, ending in a single elongated hair-like filament
(from which the generic name is derived) ; branchiostegous rays 7.

Two specimens of fishes regarded as belonging to the
genus Trichiurus have been found dead on the shore of the
Moray Frith, both of which were examined by Mr. James
Hoy, a Fellow of the Linnean Society, and an account of
them published in the Transactions of the Society as quoted.

" On the second of November 1810, after a high wind
from the north, a specimen of the Trichiurus lepturus,
Linn, was cast upon the shore of the Moray Frith, near the
fishing village of Port Gordon, about three miles east from
the mouth of the river Spey ; and it was brought to me the
next day, as a kind of fish which had never been seen before

SILVERY HA1RTAIL. 205

by any of the fishermen in this part of the country. They
said, that in seeking for lobsters cast ashore by the storm,
they found it lying dead upon the sandy beach."

" Its head was much broken, probably by being dashed
upon the rocks above low-water mark ; the bones of the
upper part of the head still remained, and the sockets of the
eyes were distinguishable, very near to each other : the ex-
tremity of the upper jaw, or upper part of the mouth was
entire; upon either side of which was an operculum. The
length of the head could not be measured exactly, but was
about eight or nine inches ; the body from the gills to the
point of the tail, was three feet two inches long ; its greatest
breadth six inches and a quarter, and its greatest thickness
only an inch ; the vent was two inches from the gills ; these
were much broken, and partly gone, so that the number of
the rays could not be ascertained. Both sides of the fish
were wholly white, without a spot upon them ; the dorsal
fin was the only part of a different colour, being a blackish
green : this fin ran all along the back from the gills to the
tail, consisting of a great number of rays, soft, and little
more than an inch long. Each of the pectoral fins had six
double rays. There were no ventral nor anal fins ; but the
belly was a sharp, smooth, and entire edge. The tail ended
in a point, consisting of three or four soft spines or bristles
of different lengths, not exceeding two inches. The body
was nearly of the same breadth for one half of its length, and
then its breadth diminished gradually till within three inches
of the tail, when the diminution became more quick. The
lateral line was straight, and strongly marked along the
middle of the two sides." 11

" This was the first individual of the genus Trichiurus,
as far as I know, that had ever been found on the British
coast. But although the fishermen have not found out the
means to catch them, it now appears that these fish inhabit

206 RIBAND-SHAPED.

our seas; for on the 12th of November 1812, another of
them was found on the beach, hard by the same fishing vil-
lage as the former, but of a much larger size : it was brought
next day in a cart to the Duke of Gordon, at whose desire
I made the following observations :"

" Its head had been broken off, and was quite gone ; a
small bit of the gills only remained about the upper part of
the throat ; from whence to the extremity of the tail its
lenoth was twelve feet nine inches: its breadth, eleven inches

o

and a quarter, was nearly equal for the first six feet in length
from the gills, diminishing gradually from thence to the tail,
which ended in a blunt point, without any of those kind of
bristles which projected from the tail of the one found for-
merly : its greatest thickness was two inches and a half:
the distance from the gills to the anus forty-six inches.
The dorsal fin extended from the head to the tail, but was
much torn and broken : the bones and muscles to which the
pectoral fins had been attached, were perceivable very near
the gills. There were no ventral nor anal fins ; but the thin
edge of the belly was closely muricated with small hard
points, which, although scarcely visible through the skin,
were very plainly felt all along it. Both sides of the fish
were white, with four longitudinal bars of a darker colour ;
the one immediately below the dorsal fin was about two
inches broad, each of the other three about three-fourths of
an inch. The side line straight along the middle."

Dr. Fleming has remarked, that " from the preceding
descriptions it appears probable that the two fishes examined
by Mr. Hoy belong to different species. The difference in
the position of the vent, the structure of the tail, and the
condition of the ridge of the belly, seem too great to justify
the inference of their being only varieties. The latter fish
appears identical with the Icpturus of Artcdi, and conse-
quently of Linnaeus/"

SILVERY HAIRTAIL. 207

Cuvicr and M. Valenciennes, in their description of T.
lep turns, state the situation of its lateral line to be but one-
third of the space above the line of the edge of the abdomen :
Mr. Hoy states that the side line went straight along the
middle : in other respects, Mr. Hoy's second fish agrees
nearly with T. lepturus, as described in the Histoire Natu-
relle des Poissons, already referred to. It would seem how-
ever, that it must have been comparatively a deeper fish : the
barring of the sides does not occur in T. Lepturus ; and the
latter has never yet been recorded as arriving at the gigantic
size of Mr. Hoy's specimen, which could not have been less
than fourteen feet and a half in length ; the largest in the
Paris Museum is stated to measure only three feet. It is
evident that more information on the subject is required : the
result of it may be the establishment of Mr. Hoy's second
fish as "a new species of Trichiurus, and of his first fish,
which is evidently distinct from the second, as the type of a
new genus, if, as Dr. Fleming has suggested,* it was not a
mutilated example of the Deal fish of the Orcadians, Gymne-
trus arcticus, the fish next described in this work.

Specimens of Trichiurus have been taken at New York,
Cuba, Jamaica, Porto Rico, St. Bartholomew's, Cayenne,
Rio Janeiro, and Monte Video. Cuvicr thinks it may cross
the Atlantic ; and adds, that specimens received from Senegal
in no way differed from those received from America.

Two species at least, if not more, inhabit the Indian Sea ;
and all the species are truly marine. The differences, how-
ever, which characterise the various species, are as yet not
sufficiently known. The work of Cuvier and M. Valen-
ciennes contains the characters of three species, lepturus,
haumela, and savala. Mr. J. E. Gray has published the
characters of three species in the collection at the British
Museum, under the names of armatus, intermedius, and

* Loudon's Magazine of Natural Histoiy, vol iv. p. 219.

208 RIBAND-SHAPED.

muttons, in tlic first part of his Zoological Miscellany, pages
9 and 10 ; and representations of three species will be found
in that part of the Animal Kingdom, by Edward Griffiths,
Esq. and others, which is devoted to Fishes, plate 9.
The number of fin-rays in T. lepturus arc

D. 135 or 6 : P. 11.

Mr. Hoy remarks, that as the second fish appeared to be
very fresh, a cut of it was boiled, which he tasted, and found
to be very good, approaching nearly in taste to the Wolf-
fish, Anarhichas lupus, which he had an opportunity of
tasting only a few days before.

The figure at the head of the present article, which will
assist an observer in determining correctly the true Trichiu-
rus lepturus in the event of its occurring on the coast, is
derived from Bloch : and subjoined is an abridged description
of this fish from the work of Cuvier and M. Valenciennes.

The height of the body at the deepest part is to the
whole length, reckoning from the point of the nose to the
end of the hair-like tail, as one to sixteen or seventeen :
at about one-half of the whole length of the fish the body
begins to diminish in size, and continues declining, the
latter fifth portion being little more than the slender tail :
the length of the head, from the point of the lower jaw,
which is the longest, to the end of the operculum, is equal
to one-eighth of the whole length of the body ; the descend-
ing line of the profile from the nape to the nose is straight ;
the face and crown flat, sides of the head vertical ; the eye
placed high up near the line of the profile, the posterior edge
of the orbit dividing the length of the head, the diameter
one-sixth of the whole head : nostril oval, and near the an-
terior edge of the orbit : the mouth furnished with a single
row of about fifteen teeth on each side of each jaw, com-
pressed, cutting, and pointed ; of which those towards the

SILVERY HAIRTAIL. 209

front are the smallest, except that there are two on each side
of the upper jaw long and curved with a slight barb, and two
or three rather longer than the others on the lower jaw : the
vomer is without teeth, but the palatine bones have each a
row of very minute teeth, more easily felt than seen ; tongue
long, pointed, free, and perfectly smooth : the edge of the
preoperculum forms a half-circle.

The pectoral fin is small, not so long as the body of the
fish is deep, the second and third rays the longest, eleven
rays in all ; no vestige of ventrals : the dorsal fin commences
on a line with the superior angle of the operculum, the rays
uniform in height throughout the greater part of its length,
diminishing towards the end : the anal orifice at one-third of
the length of the fish from the head ; behind it are numerous
small spiny points, to the number of one hundred and fifteen,
or one hundred and eighteen. No scales on the body visi-
ble ; the skin covered with a delicate silvery membrane : the
lateral line, commencing at the upper edge of the operculum,
descends to the line of the lower third of the body, and
follows that parallel to its termination.

The colour of the fish a bright and shining silver : the fins
greyish yellow ; the edge of the dorsal speckled with black,
forming a spot between the first rays : the hides golden.

VOL. I.

210

RIBAND-SHAPED.

ACANTHOPTERYGII.

RIBALD-SHAPED.

THE VAAGMAER, OR DEAL-FISH.

Gymnogaster
Bogmarus Islandicus,
Gymnetrus arcticus,

Trachypterus Bogmarus, Cuv. et VALENC. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. x. p. 346.
Gymnetrus arcticus, CUVIER, Regne An. t. ii. p. 219.

BRUNNICH.

SCHNEIDER, p. 518, pi. 101.

Vaagmaer, or Deafish, FLEM. Mag. Nat. Hist. vol. iv.
p. 21 5, fig. 34.

Dealjish, JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 372.

Vogmarus Islandicus, REINHAHBT'S Vaognxere.

Generic Characters. Body elongated, compressed ; dorsal fin extending the
whole length of the back, a few of the anterior rays sometimes elongated ; ven-
tral fins fragile, if not worn or broken, rather long ; no anal fin ; caudal fin-rays
rising almost vertically from the horizontal line of the vertebral column ; a row
of small spines along the lateral line.

DR. FLEMING has published, in the Magazine of Natural
History above quoted, an account and description of this
interesting addition to the catalogue of British Fishes, and
appears to be the only British naturalist who has made
known its occurrence in Scotland. The specimens obtained,
however, were either so mutilated, or so imperfectly pre-
served, that the author in his paper was induced to doubt
the propriety of retaining this species in the genus Gj/mne-
trus, and proposed to restore it, as a fish having no ventral
fins, to its original station in the genus Gymnogaster of
Brunnich.

VAAGMAEK. 211

A recent notice of the Vaagmaer, or Vaogmserc, as it is
there called, appeared in the Instilul, or, Journal General
des Societes et Travaux ScientifiquesJ* a French periodical
publication devoted to giving reports of the proceedings of
Societies, of which the following is a free translation :

" Professor Reinhardt communicated to the Royal Society
of Natural History and Mathematics of Denmark a con-
tinuation of his Ichthyological memoirs. It contained de-
scriptions of two genera which up to the present time have
not been perfectly understood : the Macrourys (Berglax),
and the Vogmarus (Vaogmeere), the species of which are
found in the Polar Seas, as well as in the Mediterranean.

" The Ichthyologists of the North, it is stated, have in-
accurately described the Vogmarus Islandicus : their speci-
mens were mutilated, or badly preserved. A specimen,
almost entire, was thrown ashore during last year on the
coast of Skagen, which is now in the zoological collection
of the university : another was caught at the Feroe Islands,
and is preserved in the Royal Museum. These specimens
have been carefully examined, and prove that the Vaogmsere
does not belong, as Linnaeus believed, to the apodal fishes,
but to the thoracic ; although neither of these two spe-
cimens are sufficiently perfect to admit measurement of the
fin-rays."

This northern species differs from those of the Medi-
terranean.

In Dr. Fleming's paper above referred to, one specimen
caught alive at Sanda, in Orkney, is thus described :
" Length three feet ; body excessively compressed, particu-
larly towards the back, where it does not exceed a table-
knife in thickness ; breadth nearly five inches, tapering to
the tail. Colour silvery, with minute scales ; the dorsal
fin of an orange colour, occupying the whole ridge from the

* Paris, tome ii. 1834, p. 158 and 193.

p 2

212 RIBAND-SHAPED.

head to the tail, with the rays of unequal sizes. Caudal fin
forked, the rays of each fork about four inches long. Pecto-
ral fins very minute : no ventral nor anal fins whatever.
Vent immediately under the pectoral fins, and close to the
gill-openings. Head about four and a .half inches long, com-
pressed like the body, with a groove on the top. Gill-lids
formed of transparent porous plates. Eyes one inch and a
quarter in diameter. Both jaws armed with small teeth.
Lateral line rough, and, towards the tail, armed with minute
spines pointing forwards ; and these are the only spines on
the body."

Another specimen found on the beach of Sancla is de-
scribed as follows : " Length four and a half feet ; breadth
eight inches ; thickness one inch, thin at the edges of the
back and belly. Length of the head five inches, terminating
gradually in a short snout. Tail consists of eight or nine
fin-bones or rays, the third ray seven inches long, the rest
four inches. The dorsal fin reaching from the neck to the
tail, rays four inches long. On each side of the fish, from
head to tail, a row of prickles pointing forward ; distance be-
tween each half an inch. Under edge fortified by a thick
ridge of blunt prickles. Pectoral fins one inch long, lying
upwards. Skin rough. Colour a leaden or silvery lustre ;
dorsal fin and tail blood colour. The skin or covering of
the head like that of a Herring : several small teeth ; gills
red, consisting of four layers. Heart half an inch ; liver two
and a half inches ; stomach four and a half inches, full of a
gelatinous substance. Flesh perfectly white. Spine in the
middle of the fish. Body thin towards the back and belly,
and wears very small towards the tail. Eyes and brain
wanting."

Various specimens, probably to the number of twelve or
more, appear to have been obtained on the island of Sanda
between the years 1817 and 1829. Some of the natives

VAAGMAER. 213

were sufficiently acquainted with it to induce a belief that
they had even eaten it. Most of the specimens, varying in
size from one to six feet, were driven on shore by bad
weather.

Olafscn, in his Voyage to Iceland, states that this fish is
rare even in Iceland : it seems to approach the shore at flood-
tide, in those places where the bottom is sandy and the shore
not steep, and where it remains till left dry. The inha-
bitants, he adds, consider the fish as poisonous, because the
ravens will not eat it.

The publication of the History of British Fishes has
brought me into communication with Professor John Rein-
hardt, Curator of the Royal Museum, and also of the Uni-
versity Museum at Copenhagen. This gentleman, desirous
of supplying the deficiency, both as to figure and description,
which existed at the time of publishing the account of the
Vaagmaer, or Dealfish, British Fishes, vol. i. p. 191, has
very obligingly forwarded to me a copy of his memoir,
printed in the Transactions of the Royal Society of Copen-
hagen, containing a detailed account and a figure of this fish,
from a specimen obtained in Iceland. By the kindness of
Dr. Cantor, the friend and countryman of M. Reinhardt, I
am enabled to present a free translation of so much of this
Danish paper as refers to the description of this very rare
fish, with a reduced figure from the plate which accompanied
the memoir.

The specimen of the Vaagmaer, from which the drawing
and descriptions were taken, was during the summer of 1 828
thrown up alive on the beach near Thorshavn in Iceland, and
was procured by Mr. M oiler for the Royal Museum of
Natural History. Fortunately, a ship at the time was ready
to sail for Copenhagen, by which the fish, preserved in spi-
rits, was forwarded. It arrived in about ten days, and in
such beautiful condition that the brilliant red colour of the

214 RIBAND-SHAPED.

fins had not faded, nor had the membrane connecting the fin-
rays been torn ; only the anterior dorsal and the ventral fins
were injured, so as to leave but short roots ; the continuation
of which is therefore indicated by fine lines.

A previous account of this, as well as of another less per-
fect specimen, found thrown on shore near Frederickshavn in
Jutland, was laid before the Royal Society of Copenhagen
in the winter of 1829. As I have not been able to procure
a better specimen, says the author, and a useful delineation
of this fish is wanted, while AVC, through the figures given
by M. Valenciennes, are enabled to compare several species
from the Mediterranean, I have thought it right to supply
this deficiency by having an engraving made under my own
superintendence of the Icelandic Vaagmaer, to the descrip-
tion of which the following paper is devoted.

The result of the account of the two specimens above
mentioned, as communicated in 1829 to the Royal Society,
was, that the Northern Vaagmaer, contrary to the opinion
of its former describers, is indeed provided with ventral fins,
by which its generic relation to those of the Mediterranean
has been decided, as well as its systematic rank : Avhile a
comparison with one of the Mediterranean species preserved
in the Museum, established its specific difference.

M. Valenciennes, in his excellent account of the genus
Trachypterus in his tenth volume, has added a few remarks
to the previous history. Although the specimen he examined
was dried and partly defective, the relative dimensions and
the number of the dorsal rays nevertheless agree. Some dif-
ference between the short description of M. Valenciennes
and that which follows, will be pointed out hereafter.

The body of the Vaagmaer is compressed, or sword-blade
like throughout more than half of its own length, or, in
the present specimen, from the occiput to within eleven
inches of the caudal extremity of the dorsal column ; the

VAAGMAER. 215

height is nearly the same at both extremities, and only one
seventh part less than the height at the central part of the
body, where it is greatest. In this particular it differs from
the two species from the Mediterranean, with more than
one hundred and sixty dorsal rays, according to their dimen-
sions given by M. Valenciennes, namely, those of Tra-
chypterus falx, and Tr. iris, a difference distinctly shown,
particularly in the latter species. In those two species the
greatest height is at, or near, the occiput, from whence it
more or less rapidly decreases towards the caudal fin. Of
the Tr. leiopterus I am uncertain, as the author has given
no dimensions of the height, although he elsewhere states
that this species has a caudal fin much thinner than that of
the Vagmarus.

The colour of the head and body is silvery, varied only
by the blackish grey of the head, and by two obliquely oval
spots of the same colour on each side. The long dorsal fin,
and the almost vertical triangular caudal fin, are of a light
red. The silvery colour arises from a thin layer on the
epidermis, of the same nature as that of the ventral mem-
brane observed in several other fishes. I have not been able
to observe any traces of scales. The skin underneath the
silvery colour is divided or furrowed by diagonal lines, form-
ing small flat elevations, some of which are round, and others
angular. Towards the abdominal margin, particularly on
each side of the sharp edge, these elevations appear as papil-
lary warts of remarkable firmness, but by no means osseous,
which, decreasing in size behind the anus, are lost entirely
towards the tail.

In the number of its lateral dark spots, the Vaagmaer re-
sembles the Tr. leiopterus^ which, according to M. Valenci-
ennes, has only two ; but in reference to the position of these
spots, there exists a difference between these two species. In
the Vaagmaer they are placed farther backwards, the situation

216 RIBAND-SHAPED.

of the most anterior spot being at the commencement of the
second fourth part of the whole length of the fish, the pos-
terior being situated about half way, or near the middle.
Both spots are nearer each other in the Tr. leiopterus than in
the present species. The total length of the specimen repre-
sented, measured from the point of the nose to the end of the
dorsal column, is forty-three inches six lines ; with the upper
jaw protruded, the whole length is forty-four inches seven
lines. The greatest height of the body in the present spe-
cimen, twenty inches from the angle of the mouth, or four
inches in advance of the anus, is contained five times and a
half in the length, while the height at the nuchal region,
about six inches from the end of the nose, is contained nearly
seven times in the total length. The height at a distance of
thirty-six inches is but a little more than one-eleventh of the
total length, and at the distance of forty inches is little more
than one-thirtieth.

The greatest diameter is near the part where the gill-cover
is attached to the head, and is contained four times in the
height of that region, or five times in the greatest height, the
diameter of which is scarcely one-tenth. The diameter de-
creases towards the narrow part of the tail. The greatest
diameter of the body is in the region of the lateral line, and
decreases towards the dorsal and ventral profile, particularly
towards the former, where it becomes sharp like the edge of
a knife, by which the spinal processes and the intervening
bones of the dorsal rays become apparent on the surface of
the thin external covering.

The head from the end of the nose to the posterior margin
of the gill-cover is contained seven times and a quarter in the
total length ; the length of the head is therefore nearly equal
to the height of the fish at the nuchal region. The outline
of the lower jaw forms an ascending arch, which at the angle
of the mouth meets the straight and slightly declining profile

VAAGMAER.

217

of the forehead, by which the lower jaw, when the mouth is
closed, becomes much elevated, and the opening of the mouth
turned upwards. When the lower jaw sinks into a horizontal
position, the upper jaw is much projected, and becomes
somewhat longer than the lower.

The formation of the jaws, the form and position of the
gill-covers, and the radiating grooves on the latter, on the
jaws and frontal bones, agree with the description of those
parts in the Tr. Falx, as given by M. Valenciennes, to which
I beg to refer as far as regards the Vaagmaer.

The dentition in this species appears to exhibit some de-
viations from that of Tr. Iris and Tr. Spinola, in which the
teeth of the upper and lower jaw are nearly vertical, and are
seen, although the mouth is more than half closed. In the
description of Tr. Falx no mention is made of the position
of the teeth. In the Vaagmaer the maxillary teeth are thin,
conical, and pointed, nearly recumbent, with the apex turned
towards the pharynx. On the intermaxillary bones only four

218 RIBAND-SKATED.

teeth appear, two on each bone, somewhat within the margin :
the inner teeth do not exceed two lines in length. In the
lower jaw the teeth are placed nearer the outer margin, and
towards the front, four on one side, three on the other, with
some variation in size. A single-pointed tooth, three lines
in length, is placed vertically on the central line of the vomer,
but no other sharp teeth appear either behind this tooth, or
on the palatine bones, which, according to M. Valenciennes,
is the case in Tr. Falx. The superior pharyngeal bones are
studded with pointed curved teeth, one line in length ; the
inferior pharyngeal bones are wanting altogether.

The large eyes, lodged in a circular orbit, are situated near
the frontal profile. The longitudinal diameter of the orbit
is, compared to the length of the head, as one to three and a
half; the iris is silvery white, its breadth somewhat greater
than the diameter of the pupil.

The nostrils are very small, opening into narrow cavities,
situated above the anterior and superior part of the orbital
margin ; the larger nostril, a small rima, is situated close
upon the margin ; the smaller one is oval, and is placed a
little higher up.

The anterior extremity of the tongue is somewhat broad,
with a rounded margin, concave above, flat and keeled under-
neath ; the tongue is entirely free, and may easily be placed
in a horizontal position, as if intended to throw small bodies
towards the pharynx.

The lateral line, commencing from the nuchal region, de-
scends nearly vertically opposite the middle of the orbit, from
whence it proceeds obliquely downwards, until behind the
pectoral fin, it reaches a distance from the ventral profile
somewhat shorter than the distance of the dorsal profile. It
now continues straight towards the extremity of the tail,
approaching the lower caudal margin. This line is covered
by a series of small oblong osseous shields, from the middle

VAAGMAER. 219

of which rises a small spine directed forwards. The shields
and their spines increase in size towards the thin part of the
tail, from whence they again decrease, although the last shield
is much larger than those of the central part.

The short pectoral fins are situated nearer the ventral
margin than to the lateral line, and nearly opposite the apex
of the gill-cover. The number of the rays is in the right
pectoral fin eleven, in the left only ten.

Of the ventral fins, there remain only some short roots of
the rays, situated close to the ventral margin, in a direction
nearly parallel with, but a little further back, than the pecto-
ral fins. The number of the rays is six.

Of the rays of the anterior dorsal fin only five roots are
left, the first of which is somewhat thicker than the rest, and
situated five inches eight lines from the edge of the closed
jaws. The interval between this fin and the commencement
of the posterior dorsal fin, is twice the distance between two
rays. The posterior, or long dorsal fin, has one hundred and
seventy-two rays, of which the first ray is situated six inches
and one line from the point of the jaw ; the last ray half an
inch from the last vertebrse. The anterior part is very low,
increasing in height by degrees until it reaches the com-
mencement of the last fourth part of the total length, where
the height of the present specimen amounts to three inches
eleven lines, or about one half of the greatest height of the
body ; from thence it decreases rapidly, so that the last ray
is only a little longer than the first. The rays are slender,,
flexible spines, without the slightest trace of transverse marks;
their articulating surface dilates into a saddle-shaped shield,
with a short curved point in the centre, by which a number
of small sharp bodies appear along the root of the fin. The
rays themselves, however, are quite smooth to the touch, and,
under a lens, are, as M. Valenciennes in his own specimen
found them, a little sharp.

220

RIBAND-SHAPED.

The more or less vertically raised caudal fin contains eight
rays ; the length of the upper and under ray is to the length
of the two central rays as four to three. The latter named
rays are sharp to the touch, and viewed through a lens are
observed to be studded over with a number of small spines.

HAWKEN S GYMNETRUS.

221

ACANTHOPTERYGII.

RIBAND-SHAPED.

HAWKEN'S GYMNETRUS.

THE OARED GYMNETRUS.

CEIL CONIN. Cornwall.

Gymnetnis Hawkenii, BLOCH, pt. xii. pi. 423.

,, ,, CUVIER, Regne An. t. ii. p. 220.

,, ,, Cuv. et VALENC. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. x. p. 372.

,, ,, Ceil Conin, COUCH, Trans. Linn. vol. xiv. p. 77,

and MS.
,, JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 373.

Generic Characters. Body elongated, compressed ; a single dorsal fin, ex-
tending the whole length of the back ; ventrals consisting each of a single ray
only, sometimes very long and dilated at the end ; no anal fin ; teeth pointed,
small.

THE species of the genus Gymnetnis of Block have very
rarely been obtained entire ; more or less mutilation has
hitherto been found to have happened to the few specimens
that have occurred ; and authors have consequently taken
very different views of many of their characters.

Of this genus, instituted by Bloch for the reception of
a fish sent to him from India with a drawing by Hawken, the
species have been ranked under four otjher different names:
viz. Trachypterus of Gouan and Bonelli ; Bogmarus of

222 RIBAND-SHAPED.

Schneider ; Epidesmus of Ranzani ; and Argyclius of Ra-
finesque.

Cuvier adopts the name proposed by Bloch.

Of the genus Gymnetrus, three species probably belong
to the Mediterranean, two to the seas of the North of Eu-
rope, and two to India. One Northern species, besides one
of those apparently belonging to India, has been taken on the
shores of this country. That of the North has occurred more
than once in Scotland ; that of India, once on the coast of
Cornwall.

A fish apparently of the species called by Bloch Gymnetrus
Hawkenii was drawn on shore dead in a net at Newlin, on
the western side of Mounts Bay, on the south coast of Corn-
wall, in February 1791 ; from a large original drawing of
which, with notes, in the possession of William Rashleigh,
Esq. of Menabilly in that county, Mr. Couch's account of it
is derived. It is as follows :

" The length, without the extremity of the tail, which was
wanting, was eight and a half feet ; the depth ten and a half
inches ; thickness two and three-quarter inches : weight forty
pounds. In the drawing, the head ends in a short and ele-
vated snout ; eye large ; pectoral fin round ; no anal fin ; the
dorsal fin reaches from above the eye to the tail. In the
drawing, as well as in Bloch^s engraving, the caudal fin is
supplied. The ventrals are formed of four long red pro-
cesses, proceeding from the thorax, and ending in a fan-
shaped appendage, of which the base is purple, the expansion
crimson. The back and belly are dusky green, the sides
whitish : the whole varied with clouds and spots of a darker
green ; the fins crimson."

The account given by Bloch is as follows :

" This fish was sent to me by Mr. Hawken ; from him
also I received the drawing. He wrote me at the same time,
that the fish was caught near Goa, in the Indian Sea, on the

HAVTKEN S GYMNETRUS.

223

23rd of July 1788. The specimen was two and a half feet
long, six inches deep, and weighed ten pounds.""
The number of fin-rays, according to Bloch, are

D. 17? 117 : P. 8 : V. 2 : C. 13.

The woodcut at the commencement of this subject repre-
sents this fish as shown in Mr. Couch's drawing, but reduced
to one-fourth, and differs a little in the form of the head from
the figure in Bl cell's work.

It will be remembered that the tail of the fish was stated
to be injured, and the artist left probably to finish the draw-
ing according to his own judgment, formed the tail like that
of fishes in general ; and for two ventral filaments, put two on
each side. M. Valenciennes refers to another original draw-
ing in which a portion of the tail of the fish is wanting, and
was not supplied by the fancy of the artist, but in which the
ventrals were each composed of a single ray with a dilated
termination. It is conjectured that the fish from which the
drawing was made was possibly the Gymnetnis remiceps of
the northern seas, brought by currents to the shores of Corn-
wall : I have, therefore, given a figure of this fish from
Schneider as a vignette to assist future inquirers.

224

RIBAND-SHAPED.

ACAKTI10PTERYGU.

RIBAND-SHAPED.

THE RED BANDFISH, OR RED SNAKEFISH.

Cepola rubescens, LINNSUS.

,, ,, CUVIER, Regne An. t. ii. p. 221.

,, ,, Cuv. et VALENC. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. x. p. 388.

,, ,, MONTAGU, Linn. Trans, vol. vii. p. 291, tab. 17.

,, Red Bandfish, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. iii. p. 285.

DON. Brit. Fish. pi. 105.

Bandfish, FLEM. Brit. An. p. 204, sp. 114.

,, ,, Red Snakefish, COUCH, Linn. Trans, vol. xiv. p. 76, and MS.

,, ,, Bandfish, JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 374.

Generic Characters. Head short, rounded ; body elongated, compressed,
lanceolate ; dorsal and anal fins extending very nearly the whole length of the
body ; teeth prominent, curved, and sharp ; branchiostegous rays 4.

COLONEL MONTAGU first described the Red Bandfish
as a British species in 1803. Two specimens were taken
in Salcombe Bay, on the south coast of Devonshire, the
first in February, the second in March ; and an account
with a description and figure, appeared in the Transac-
tions of the Linnean Society, vol. vii. In 1822, Mr.
Couch included this species in his paper on the Fishes
of Cornwall, in the fourteenth volume of the Transactions
of the same Society ; and referring to his MS., I find the
following additional information : " Until within a few

RED BANDFISH. 225

years the Reel Snakefish had not been recognized as a
British species ; yet it is not uncommon on the western
coast. No less then nine specimens have fallen into my
hands, of which three were at different times killed and
thrown on shore by tempests. One rather large was taken
from the stomach of a Hake ; and one more, at least, was
taken with a line. 11

Since then one of fifteen inches in length was caught off
Dun tire, seven miles south of Ayr, on a whiting-line baited
with a mussel, as recorded in the Magazine of Zoology and
Botany, and a second was also seen ; but after a violent storm
which occurred about the 14th of February 1839, a great
number of this previously scarce fish were found thrown
ashore along a considerable portion of the Devonshire coast.
The Rev. Robert Holdsworth sent me word that they wore
abundant at Brixham ; and Mr. Harvey, who was then resid-
ing at Teignmouth, obtained more than a score, and sent
several prepared specimens for the Museum of the Zoological
Society, and others to his London friends. Some of these
examples measured from eighteen to twenty inches in length.

The form of the body long, slender, smooth, compressed ;
this latter character increasing with age and size, small
specimens being oval, or almost round : the body tapering
gradually, both as to thickness and depth, from the head
to the tail ; head not larger than the body ; both jaws
sloping equally towards each other ; the lower jaw the
longest when the mouth is opened ; the line of the upper
jaw ascending obliquely ; the mouth large, the angle de-
pressed ; the tongue short and smooth : both jaws furnished
with a row of conical, curved, pointed teeth, not set
close together ; the teeth ranged along the outer edges of
the jaws, and projecting considerably, particularly those of
the lower jaw, in which, at the anterior part, there are a few
teeth, forming a second row : the eyes large ; the nose short ;

VOL. I. Q

226 RIBAND-SHAPED.

gill-covers of two pieces : pectoral fins small and rounded ;
ventrals placed rather before the line of the origin of the pec-
torals, the first ray spinous, the inner ray of each united at
the base ; the dorsal fin commences in a vertical line imme-
diately over the centre of the opcrculum, and extends to
the tail, the anterior rays shorter than the others ; the
vent is about an inch behind the ventral fins ; the anal
fin commences immediately behind the vent, extending like
the dorsal fin to the tail, and having also the anterior rays
rather shorter than the others ; caudal fin lanceolate, middle
ray the longest : the distinction between the rays of the dorsal,
anal, and caudal fins, is almost lost by union, and the tail
ends in a point. The lateral line, not very obvious on some
parts of the body, is a little curved near the head, and after-
wards runs quite straight to the tail ; skin smooth, but
when examined with a lens, appears finely and regularly
punctured. A specimen seven and a half inches long, for
which I am indebted to the kindness of Mr. Couch, exhibits
here and there an occasional thin, oval, semi-transparent
scale. The irides are silvery with a tinge of crimson, pupils
bluish black ; gill-plates silvery. The body appears subject
to some variation in colour. One of Colonel Montagu's
specimens was pale carmine, the second darker. Mr. Couch
had specimens of a pale red, and one, in which the mar-
gin of the dorsal fin was purple, the base yellow, and
the middle red. A dried example from the Mediterra-
nean, now before me, is orange red ; the Cornish speci-
men, preserved in spirits, has lost colour, and is now
greyish orange. Brunnich, describing the colour of his
Cepola rubescens, calls it pallide cameum, pale flesh colour ;
and M. Risso says it is the colour of the red oxide of mer-
cury. In the first edition of his work, M. Risso includes
two species of this genus, C. ttenta, and C. rubescens ; in the
second edition, rubescens only is retained. Brunnich, in a

RED B.YNDFISH. 227

note at the end of his description of rubescens, asks, Is this
fish distinct from the taenia of Linnaeus, and how ? The
latter is said to be distinguished by a row of hard points
along the side, above the lateral line, and by an inner second
row of teeth on the lower jaw. My Mediterranean specimen,
thirteen inches long, has the rough line just below the base
of the dorsal fin, and a second row of six small teeth within
the lower jaw.

In reference to the first of these distinctions, it is essential
to remark, that Mr. Couch, in his description in the Linnean
Transactions of a Cornish specimen fifteen inches long, says,
" Besides the lateral line, there was a row of small bony
prominences near the dorsal fin."

The number of fin-rays agree very nearly : in the small
specimen preserved in spirits, they are

D. 69 : P. 16 : V. 1 +5 : A. 61 : C. 11.

Of the habits of this fish but little is known. M. Risso
says, that when moving in the water, its appearance has sug-
gusted the epithets of Fire-flame and Red-riband, by both of
which names it is known at Nice. He adds, also, that it
lives principally among seaweed near the shore ; and though
it feeds on crustaceous and molluscous animals, yet its flesh
is not esteemed for its flavour.

" The air-bladder of this fish," says Mr. Couch, " is re-
markable for its large size, and the chief part, not in the
abdomen, but behind it, occupying the space from the spine
behind the vent and along the anal fin."

It may be considered worth noticing here, that a large
proportion of the examples of the family of riband-shaped
fishes that have been obtained in this, as well as in other
countries, have been found on the shore after stormy weather.

Does their elongated form prevent their swimming with ease
in in id- water, and inducing a habit of keeping near the

Q 2

228

RIBAND-SHAPED.

ground, or occasionally seeking cavities among rocks for
shelter, thus render them liable to be left dry by the retiring
tide, or destroyed by the force of waves dashing them against
such opposing substances ? The combination of great length
with extreme tenuity of body, by diminishing the quantity
of muscle, and at the same time preventing its being brought
into concentrated action upon a single centre of motion, must
necessarily leave them at all times much at the mercy of the
currents, amid which they may wriggle or float, but against
which they are evidently incapable of swimming with and
vigorous effort : by their struggles in the ocean, they cannot
fail to become speedily exhausted, and they are rejected by
the waves like inanimate matter, upon any coast toward which
the winds may have driven them. All observers agree that
the tsenioid fishes are decidedly pelagic.

The vignette below represents the head and tail of this fish
of enlarged size.

ATHERINE. 229

ACANTHOPTERYGII. MUGILIDJE.

^ ' " ' /' ! g)

^ L *i*s~^-sii. , . ^j\j\F.rl\rj\' < .\~i^??^-^

THE ATHERINE, OR SANDSMELT.

Atherina presbyter, CUVIER, Regne An. t. ii. p. 235.

,, ,, Cuv. et VALENC. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. x. p. 439.

,, hepsetus, Atherine^ PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. iii. p. 434, pi. 76.

,, ,, ,, DON. Brit. Fish. pi. 87.

,, ,, ,, FLEM. Brit. An. p. 217, sp. 160.

,, ,, ,, JEN YNS, Brit. Vert. p. 377.

Generic Characters. Body rather elongated ; two dorsal fins widely sepa-
rated ; ventral fins placed far behind the pectorals ; sides with a broad longitu-
dinal silver band ; teeth minute ; branchiostegous rays 6.

HAVING carefully examined and dissected specimens of the
Atlierine of our southern coast, I find that it agrees with the
characters described by Cuvier as belonging to the species lie
has called A. presbyter, and does not coincide with those
of the A. hepsetus of Linnseus and other authors, nor with
those of either of the species described by Brunnich or M.
Risso as inhabiting the Mediterranean. I am therefore
induced to believe that our British Atherine is the A. pres-
byter of Cuvier, and I have adopted that name accordingly.

Cuvier considers that more than two species of Atherine
have been confounded under the name of hepsetus.

The following observations are from Colonel Montagu's
notes :

230 MUGILIDJE.

" The Atherine is as plentiful on some parts of the
southern coast of England as the Smelt is on the eastern
coast, and each appears to have its limits, so as not to intrude
upon the other ; at least, as far as our observation has gone,
where one is, the other is not. We have traced the Smelt
along the coast of Lincolnshire, and southward into Kent,
where the Atherine appears to be unknown ; but in Hamp-
shire the Atherine is extremely plentiful, especially about
Southampton, where, for want of knowing the true Smelt,
this is sold under that denomination. On the south coast of
Devon they are caught in great abundance in the creeks and
estuaries, but never in rivers above the flow of the tide ; and
they appear to continue near shore through the months from
autumn to spring, being caught for the table more or less
during the whole of that time; but are greatly superior in the
spring, when the males are as full of milt as the females are
of roe. The Atherine is a well-flavoured fish ; but, in our
opinion, not so good as the Smelt : it is more dry ; but when
in season, and fried without being embowelled, the liver and
roe make it a delicious fish."

The Atherine is a handsome small fish, from five to six
inches in length ; and though common in most of the sandy
bays along the extended line of our southern coast, is but rarely
brought to the London market.

Mr. Couch says it is found in Cornwall at all seasons, and
sometimes in such numbers that three small boat-loads have
been enclosed in a scan at once. From Cornwall its range
extends to the first bay east of Beachy-head, and probably
comes as far as Rye Bay or Dungeness ; but keeping close
in shore in the smooth water, it perhaps very seldom ventures
into the increased rapidity of the Channel tide, in its rush
through the Straits of Dover.

The Atherine is a common fish at Brighton, where it is
called Sandsmelt. Large quantities are eaten by the inhabi-

ATHERINE.

231

tants and visitors during the winter months. They possess a
little of the cucumber smell and flavour of the true Smelt ;
and as they are very pretty in appearance, from the fine broad
silver stripe along the side, they look attractive as arranged
by the fishmongers in their shops, and obtain a ready sale.

The net used for taking them is made of fine thread-like
twine, the mesh of course very small : the net is thirty yards
long, and about eighteen feet deep. It is drawn along near
the edge of the water, by two parties ; one of which in a boat,
having the head and ground-line of the seaward end of the
net, row gently on ; the other party on the shore, at or near
the edge of the water, advance in a line with the boat, hold-
ing and drawing on their end of the net, and thus sweep the
circle of the bays and sandy shores. For those caught for
the supply of Brighton market I have seen the fishermen
going westward, probably to the sandy shore of Shoreham
or Worthing. T have also seen this mode of taking Athe-
rine adopted in the bay close to the sea-houses near East-
bourne.

Another method is practised in Portsmouth harbour.
The fishermen use a concave circular net suspended from an
iron ring of four feet diameter, kept horizontal by a three-slip
bridle. The net is lowered steadily in eight feet water,
among the timber floating on the side of the harbour nearest
the dock-yard. Pounded crabs sprinkled over the net as bait
is the attraction ; and the net is occasionally raised to the
surface. In this way five or six dozen are obtained during
the flood-tide.

I have not been able to learn that this fish is taken any-
where on the eastern coast of England ; but it does occur,
occasionally, on the east coast of the southern part of Scot-
land. Dr. Neill states, in vol. i. of the Wernerian Trans-
actions, that he has frequently found the Atherine washed
ashore about Figget Whins, in the Frith of Forth, after

MUGILID.E.

easterly winds. Dr. Parnell says, " Of late years they have
been undoubtedly scarce. Two instances only have occurred
to me in which the Atherine was found in the Frith of
Forth ; the first was taken in Kincardine in company with
Sprats, and other small fish ; the second was drawn ashore in
a net about two miles west of Newhaven. The fishermen
say it is more frequently met with in Guillon Bay." The
Atherine is a delicate, and perhaps a tender fish, unable to
bear a low temperature , Mr. Couch says, that during severe
frosts large quantities are sometimes killed and left by the
tide.

Mr. Thompson, in his published notes on the Fishes of
Ireland, says of the Atherine, " This is taken plentifully on
the coast of Down, especially in Strangford Lough. Of
about forty specimens from this locality, which I examined in
January 1835, the average length was six inches and one
quarter, a few were seven inches, and one was seven inches
and a half long. Mr. Ball informs me that the Atherine is
not unfrequently taken along with Sprats at Youghall, and
that on the 14th of September 1834, he saw a shoal of them
at Portmarnock, county Dublin, where a stream had formed
a pool in the sand below high- water mark."

The length of the head, from the point of the under jaw
to the edge of the operculum, compared to the length of the
body and tail, is as one to four ; the depth of the body not
quite equal to the length of the head ; a silver-coloured band,
half as broad as the space above it, and one-third as broad as
the space below it, passes from the upper edge of the oper-
culum and the base of the pectoral fin, to the centre of the
base of the tail ; four rows of scales above the silver band,
and six rows below it ; the band itself occupying two rows.

The form of the head rather short : nose blunt ; upper jaw
capable of considerable protrusion ; lower jaw the longest
when the mouth is open ; one row of minute teeth along the

ATHERINE.

edge of each jaw : the eye large ; top of the head flat, with
a ridge descending on each side to the nose.

The first dorsal fin commences about the length of the
head from the nape ; the second dorsal begins at the same
distance behind the origin of the first, and ends at the same
distance from the base of the caudal fin-rays ; the ventrals
originate, on a vertical line, with the ends of the pectoral fin-
rays, and the ventral and anal fins begin a little in advance of
each dorsal fin respectively : the tail deeply forked, the long-
est rays nearly equal to the length of the head ; the vent a
small circular orifice in a line under the tips of the first dorsal
fin-rays when folded down.

Colour of the cheeks, irides, gill-covers, base of pectoral
fins, and broad side band, shining silvery white ; the other
parts of the body a pale transparent flesh colour ; the upper
part of the back and head freckled with small black spots ;
the membranes of the fins yellowish white.

Considerable numbers of the Atherinc are caught by
anglers from projecting points at various localities along the
southern coast. Poole Quay is a favourite spot. The fish
bite voraciously at any bait that is offered to them, and even
at that season when they are heaviest with roe, which is not
the case with fishes generally.

It spawns in May or June. The number of fin-rays are

1st D. 8 : 2nd D. 1 + 12 : P. 15 : V. 1+5 : A. 1 + 14 : C. 17 : Vert. 50.

234

MUGILID.E.

ACANTHOPTERYGH.

MUGILIDJE,

THE GREY MULLET.

Mugil cap/to, CUVIER, Regne An. t. ii. p. 232.

,, ,, Cuv. et VALENC. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. xi. p. 36.

,, ceplialusi WiLLUGHiiY, p. 174, tab. H. 3.

,, ,, Grey Mullet, PEXN. Brit. Zool. vol. iii. p. 346, pi. 77.

,, ,, ,, ,, DON. Brit. Fish. pi. 15.

,, ,, Common Mullet, FLEM. Brit. An. p. 217, sp. 159.

,, ,, Gray ,, JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 374.

Generic Characters. Body nearly cylindrical, covered with] large scales ;
two dorsal fins, widely separated, the rays of the first fin spinous, those of the
second flexible ; ventral fins behind the pectorals ; middle of the under jaw
with an elevated angular point, and a corresponding groove in the upper; teeth
small ; branchiostegous rays 6.

BARON CUVIER, in the last edition of his Regne Animal,
states, in a note at the foot of page 231, that Linnseus and
several of his successors have confounded all the European
Grey Mullets under one common name, that of Mugil
cephalits. He has, however, distinguished among them

GREY MULLET. 235

several species : and according to him, the description of the
cephalus of Willughby and the figure of the cephalus of
Pennant both appear to belong to the M. capita of the
Regne Animal.

This opinion, that the cephalus of Linnaeus is not the
true cephalus, receives support from other authors who have
attended to fishes. Professor Reinhardt and Nilsson each
refer the Grey Mullet of the Baltic and the coast of Norway
to the capita of Cuvier ; and the Prince of Musignano, who
has described and figured in his Fauna Italica five species of
Grey Mullets as belonging 'to the Mediterranean, including
both cephalus and capita, makes no reference to Linnseus in
his account of cephalus, and considers his capito as identical
with the cephalus of Pennant.

Mugil cephalus is distinguished by having its eyes partly
covered with a semi-transparent membrane adhering to the
anterior and posterior edges of the orbit, and also by a large
elongated triangular scale pointing backwards, placed just
over the origin of the pectoral fin on each side. A dried
specimen of this fish from the Mediterranean, now be-
fore me, exhibits both these peculiarities, which M. capito
does not possess. The vignette below represents the ap-
pearance of the pectoral fin, and the superposed trian-
gular scale of M. cephalus, both for the purpose of supply-
ing the means of comparison Avith our common Grey Mullet,
in which the pectoral fin-scale is short and blunt, and to
enable observers to identify the true cephalus, should it occur
on our coast ; which is not improbable, when it is recollected

236 MTJGILID.E.

how many Mediterranean species have been recorded as oc-
curring along the line of our southern shore.

One of our most common Grey Mullets may therefore be
considered as the M. capita of Cuvier, an inhabitant not
only of the Mediterranean, but also of all the western shores
of the more temperate part of Europe.

This fish is found plentifully in Cornwall and Devonshire,
and along the whole line of our south coast. It occurs con-
stantly on the Kentish and Essex coast ; is taken at Yar-
mouth : Mr. Neill has met with it at the mouth of the Esk ;
and it has been traced to the Baltic and the west coast of
Norway, as previously quoted.

Mr. Couch, in his MS., has described the habits of this
fish so much better than any account I could offer of my
own, that I shall be excused quoting his remarks at some
length.

" This fish never goes to a great distance from land, but
delights in shallow water when the weather is warm and fine ; at
which time it is seen prowling near the margin in search of
food, and imprinting a dimple on the placid surface as it
snatches beneath any oily substance that may chance to be
swimming. It ventures to some distance up rivers, but
always returns with the tide. Carew, the Cornish historian,
had a pond of salt water, in which these fish were kept ; and
he says, that having been accustomed to feed them at a cer-
tain place every evening, they became so tame, that a knock-
ing like that of chopping would certainly cause them to
assemble. The intelligence this argues may also be inferred
from the skill and vigilance this fish displays in avoiding
danger, more especially in effecting its escape in circum-
stances of great peril. When enclosed within a ground-scan
or sweep-net, as soon as the danger is seen, and before the
limits of its range are straitened, and when even the end of
the net might be passed, it is its common habit to prefer the

GREY MULLET. 237

shorter course, and throw itself over the head-line, and so
escape ; and when one of the company passes, all immediate-
ly follow/ 1

" This disposition is so innate in the Grey Mullet, that
young ones of minute size may be seen tumbling themselves
head over tail in their active exertions to pass the head-line.
I have even known a Mullet less than an inch in length to

O

throw itself repeatedly over the side of a cup in which the
water was an inch below the brim."

" Mullets frequently enter by the floodgate into a salt-
water mill-pool at Looe, which contains about twenty acres ;
and the larger ones, having looked about for a turn or two,
often return by the way they had come. When, however,
the return of the tide has closed the gates, and prevented
this, though the space within is sufficiently large for pleasure
and safety, the idea of constraint and danger sets them on
effecting their deliverance. The wall is examined in every
part ; and when the water is near the summit, efforts are
made to throw themselves over, by which they are not un-
commonly left on the bank to their own destruction."

" When, after being surrounded by a net, two or three
have made their escape, and the margin of the net has been
secured and elevated above the surface, to render certain the
capture of the only remaining one, I have seen the anxious
prisoner pass from end to end, examine every mesh and all
the folds that lay on the ground, and at last, concluding that
to pass through a mesh, or rend it, afforded the only though
desperate chance of escape, it has retired to the greatest pos-
sible distance, which had not been done before, and rushed at
once to that part which was most tightly stretched. It was
held, however, by the middle ; and conscious that all further
effort must be unavailing, it yielded without a further strug-
gle to its fate."

" The Grey Mullet selects food that is soft and fat, or

238 MUGILID.E.

such as lias begun to suffer decomposition ; in search of which
it is often seen thrusting its mouth into the soft mud ; and,
for selecting it, the lips appear to be furnished with exquisite
sensibility of taste. It is, indeed, the only fish of which I
am able to express my belief that it usually selects for food
nothing that has life ; although it sometimes swallows the
common sand-worm. Its good success in escaping the hook
commonly proceeds from its care not to swallow a particle of
any large or hard substance ; to avoid which, it repeatedly
receives the bait into its mouth, and rejects it ; so that when
hooked it is in the lips, from which the weight and struggles
of the fish often deliver it. It is most readily taken with
bait formed of the fat entrails of a fish, or cabbage boiled in
broth."

" The Grey Mullets shed their spawn about Midsummer ;
and the young in August, then an inch long, are seen enter-
ing the fresh water, keeping at some distance above the tide,
but retiring as it recedes. The change and rechange from
salt water to fresh seems necessary to their health, as I judge
from having kept them in glass vessels."

The Grey Mullet is frequently an object of sport to the
angler. They rise freely at the flies used for Trout, and
even at the larger and more gaudy flies used for Salmon.
They are reported to be strong in the water, and require care
in the management of them, as they plunge violently. The
best time for angling for them is when the tide is coming in ;
as, when it ebbs, they return to salt water.

The county of Sussex is proverbially celebrated for six
good things ; viz. a Chichester lobster, a Selsey cockle, an
Arundel mullet, a Pullborough eel, an Amberly trout, and a
Rye herring. In reference to the Mullet, I may notice, that
during the summer of 1 834, probably owing to the warmth of
it, the Grey Mullet migrated much farther up the river than
usual, and were caught above even where the spring tides

GREY MULLET. 239

flow, as high up as Amberg Castle, which is by the river
nearly ten miles above the town of Arundel, and nearly
twenty miles from the sea.

The partiality exhibited by the Grey Mullet for fresh
water has led to actual experiment of the effect of confinino-
them to it entirely. Mr. Arnould put a number of the fry
of the Grey Mullet about the size of a finger into his pond at
Guernsey, which is of about three acres area, and has been
before referred to under the article Basse. After a few
years, Mullet of four pounds 1 weight were caught, which
proved to be fatter, deeper, and heavier, for their length, than
others obtained from the sea. Of all the various salt-water
fishes introduced, the Grey Mullet appeared to be the most
improved. A slight change in the external colour is said to
be visible.

The length of the head in this fish, compared with the
length of the body and tail, is as one to four : the depth of
the body is equal to the space from the anterior edge of the
orbit to the end of the operculum, and the body docs not
decrease in size till the commencement of the anal fin : the
fleshy portion of the tail is equal to half the depth of the
body.

The form of the mouth is different from that of most other
fishes. The lower jaw is divided in the middle by an ascend-
ing angular point, which, when the mouth is closed, passes
within the upper jaw : the upper jaw, also, if viewed from
below, is angular ; each jaw is furnished with a single row of
minute teeth ; the nostrils are double on each side, placed
near together, both pierced in the same depression, the ante-
rior aperture round, the posterior orifice oblong and vertical :
the operculum large and broad. The number of fin-rays
are

D. 4. 1 + 8 : P. 17 : V. 1 + 5 : A. 3 + 9 : C. 13.
The first dorsal fin commences behind the nape at a distance

240

MUGILID^.

equal to the length of the head, and nearly in a line dividing
the distance between the origin of the ventral and anal fins ;
the second dorsal fin begins on a line a little behind the
origin of the anal fin, and being shorter than that fin, ends on
the same line with it. The general lengths of the longest of
all the various fin-rays are nearly equal to each other, and
about equal to three-fourths the length of the head ; except
the caudal fin, the rays of which are longer, and the tail con-
siderably forked.

The colour of the top of the head and back is dusky grey
tinged with blue ; the sides and belly silvery white, marked
with longitudinal parallel dusky lines ; membranes of the fins
dull white : cheeks and operculum silvery white ; iricles red-
dish brown, pupil black, surrounded by a silvery line. The
pectoral fin has a dark spot at the base of the three or four
upper rays.

The vignette below represents the head of this species as
seen from the side and from below ; in the latter view it
will be observed that the inferior edges of the interopercula
do not hide the space under the tongue.

THICK-LIPPED GREY MULLET.

241

ACANTHOPTERYGIL

MUGIUDJE.

i

: i

THE THICK-LIPPED GREY MULLET.

Mugil chelo, CUVIER, Regne An. t. ii. p. 232.

,, ,, Cuv. et VALENC. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. xi. p. 50.

,, chelo, P. MUSIGNANO, 1'aun. Ital. pt. vi.

,, ,, COUCH, MS.

,, ,, JENVNS, Brit. Vert. p. 375.

MR. COUCH appears to be the first naturalist who has
noticed the appearance of Mugil chelo on the British coast.
A decided difference observed in the habits of this Grey
Mullet compared with those of M. capita led to an exami-
nation of its specific characters, and a knowledge of the fact
that it was a distinct species, which, though well known to
modern Continental Ichthyologists, had not previously been
noticed by observers here,

Mr. Couch's communication is as follows :
" This Grey Mullet is gregarious, frequenting harbours
and the mouths of rivers in the winter months, in large num-
bers, all of which are just of one size. I have heard of so
many as two tons being taken at one time : but the fish
which I shall here describe was taken with about four hun-
dred others as they were left in a pool of our river, forsaken

VOL. I. R

242 MUOILID.E.

by the tide. This species has, like the other, the habit of
escaping from a net by leaping over the head-lines. The
length of the specimen was ten inches : the head wide, de-
pressed ; eyes one inch apart, and three-eighths of an inch from
the angle of the mouth, not connected with any membrane ;
nostrils close together, and, while the fish is alive, moveable on
each contraction of the mouth : a prominent superior maxillary
bone minutely notched at its lower or posterior edge ; upper lip
protuberant and fleshy, with a thin margin minutely notched
or ciliated ; the lip appears behind as projecting under the
maxillary. Carina of the under jaw prominent and square ;
edge of the lower lip fine and simple. Body solid, round
over the back : pectoral fins high on the side, pointed,
rounded below, the first rays short. The first dorsal fin five
inches and three-eighths from the snout, the origin of the
first three rays approximate, the first ray the longest ; the
first two rays of the anal fin short : tail broad, concave ; scales
large. Colour of the head and back greenish ; all besides
silvery, with six or seven parallel lines along the sides, of the
same colour as the back." The number of fin-rays are

D. 4. 9 : P. 14 : V. 1 + 5 : A. 3 + 8 : C. 16.

The figure of this fish is taken from the Fauna Italica of
the Prince of Musignano, who attaches to this species the fol-
lowing specific characters :

" Head of moderate size, subtruncated in front ; upper lip
thickened, under lip very slightly margined ; the descending
portion of the maxillary bone projecting below the suborbital
bone ; the space between the edges of the interopercula very
narrow ; the rays of the spiny dorsal fin longer than the half
of the depth of the body."

The characters of M. chelo, as given by Cuvier in the
Regne Animal, are, that it is distinguished particularly by
its very large and fleshy lips, the edges of which are ciliated,

THICK-LIPPED OREY MULLET.

243

and through their thickness the teeth penetrate like so in tin v
hairs ; the maxillary bone is curved, and shows itself behind
the commissure.

These short descriptions of the Thick-lipped Grey Mullet,
as given by the Prince of Musignano and Cuvier, have been
added here to show, by their general accordance with the
account of Mr. Couch, the correctness of that gentleman's
views of this species.

In order to assist observers in distinguishing between the
two species of Grey Mullets most common on our coasts, 1
have introduced below representations of the head of this
species as seen from the side and from below, on the plan
followed by the Prince of Musignano in his Fauna Italica ;
in which the larger size of the descending portion of the max-
illary bone behind the commissure in the side view, and the
very narrow space between the inferior edges of the inter-
opercula at the chin in the under view, contrast strongly with
the same parts in M. capita, as represented in the vignette
at page 240.

There is now reason to believe that this Thick-lipped
Grey Mullet is equally common with the last, on different
parts of our coast. Dr. Parnell says, he has observed it to

<

s

244

MUGILID,E.

be excessively common in the months of September and Oc-
tober on the Devonshire coast, particularly off Exmouth,
Teignmouth, and Brixharn. Dr. George Johnston says it is
of frequent occurrence in Berwick Bay in Autumn ; and Dr.
Parnell says also that large shoals of this Grey Mullet appear
occasionally on the east coast of Scotland. Sir William Jar-
dine has sent me a specimen of twenty inches in length from
the Solway Frith; and Mr. Thompson of Belfast, in his
printed notices of recent additions to the Irish Fauna, says,
" the Common Grey Mullet of the North of Ireland is of
this species, as are likewise the only two specimens that I
have seen from the southern coast."

The Arun, it has been stated, is proverbially celebrated
for its Grey Mullet. The vignette below represents part of
this river near its mouth, with Arundel Castle on the right ;
taken from a drawing most obligingly made by Mr. Lear for
this work.

SHORT GREY MULLET. 245

ACANTHOPTERYGIL M.UGILJDM.

THE SHORT GREY MULLET.

Mngil curtus, YAHRELL.

,, ,, Cuv. et VALENC. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. xi. p. 70.

,, JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 376.

AT the date of the publication of the History of Bri-
tish Fishes, but one species of Grey Mullet had been
described and figured as belonging to the British coast ;
but this was probably owing to the want of close comparative
examination of specimens from different localities. Cuvier,
in the Regne Animal, says the European Mullets have
not been well determined ; and from the general distribu-
tion* of the species of this genus, it is not unlikely that
more than those at present known may yet be made out.
The Prince of Musignano, as before mentioned, has de-
scribed and figured five species belonging to the Mediterra-
nean ; but the Small Grey Mullet of the present article
appeared to be then unknown, at least as far as I have been
able to ascertain by existing descriptions. Its principal
distinction, as a species, is in the extreme shortness of the

* Species belonging to the genus Miigil of authors have been found more or
less plentiful at the Cape cle Verd Islands, Caspian Sea, Japan, New South
Wales, Sandwich Islands, and in the Bay of Mexico, besides the other locali-
ties that have been previously named.

246 MUGILID.E.

body, which has induced me to adopt for it the specific term
curtus.

The number of its fin-rays is

D. 4. 1 +8 : P. 11 : V. 1 + 5 : A. 3 +8 : C. 14.

The length of the head as compared with that of the body
and tail is as one to three, the proportion in the common
Grey Mullet being as one to four ; the body is also deeper in
proportion than in M. capita, being equal to the length of
the head ; the head is wider, the form of it more triangular,
and also more pointed anteriorly ; the eye larger in propor-
tion ; the fin-rays, longer, particularly those of the tail ; the
ventral fins placed nearer the pectorals, and a difference exists
in the number of some of the fin-rays : the colours of the two
species are nearly alike ; and in other respects, except those
named, they do not differ materially.

Since the publication in the original edition of the History
of British Fishes of the first notice of this species, which I ven-
tured to believe to be at that time undescribed elsewhere, the
eleventh volume of the Histoire Naturelle des Poissons has
appeared, and contains a reference to this fish as quoted here.
M. Baillon appears to have met with a specimen of Grey
Mullet which he considered a new species, and sent the fish
in consequence to the National Collection at the Garden of
Plants. M. Valenciennes considers it to be identical with
my fish, thus confirming the opinion given, and adopting the
name, M. Baillon also considers this Short Grey Mullet to
be a rare species.

Of this Grey Mullet I have only obtained the single
specimen that served for the representation given, which is
exactly the natural size of the fish. I caught this with the
young of the common Grey Mullet, and various other fry,
when fishing with a small but very useful net between
Brownsey Island and South Haven, at the mouth of Poolc
Harbour.

SHORT GREY MULLET. 247

The net used is called a kecrdrag, and as it is an effective
machine, where the ground is smooth, for the collectors of
small fishes and various other marine animals, I have made
a representation of it the subject of the vignette annexed,
and will shortly describe the apparatus and the manner of
working it.

The bottom and sides of the oblong mouth of the net are
formed of an iron rod about seven feet long, of which about
fifteen inches at each end are bent once at right angles ;
to these ends a straight beam of wood, three inches diameter,
is fixed, which should be rounded for the convenience of
handling. The wood by its buoyancy, when the net is in
use in the water, tends to preserve the vertical position of
the framework.

To the mouth of the net thus formed by the union of the
iron and wood a piece of netting is to be applied all round,
which should diminish gradually, both in the size of the net
and its mesh, till, at the distance of seven or eight feet from
the framework, it should terminate in a round open mouth,
about the size of the top of a stocking. The mesh of the
net for the last three feet should be very small, as it is at
this part the most strenuous efforts to escape will be made ;
particularly by the Syngnathi.

The net is to be drawn along the ground by a slight rope,
over the stern of the boat, which should riot be rowed fast.
This tow-rope ends towards the net by a three-tie bridle, one
of which is attached to the centre of the wooden beam : of
the other two, one goes to each side, and thus the mouth of
the net is not only kept square to the front, but its vertical
position is also preserved.

The open tail of the net being closed and securely tied,
and the apparatus put overboard from a row-boat, keeping
hold of the tow-rope, and taking care that the mouth of the
net preserves its position, it should be towed leisurely about,

248

MUGILID.E.

the iron bottom traversing the ground, and the quantity of
contents obtained soon lead to a knowledge of the best
localities. Should the mouth of the net get foul of any op-
posing substance on the ground, it is only necessary to push
the boat back in the line of its previous course, and the net
comes away clear, being thus pulled upon in the opposite
direction.

When inclined to examine the net, the framework may
be raised by the tow-rope high enough to lodge the wooden
beam over the edge of the boafs stern, but higher than that
is unnecessary : the tail of the net is to be handed in, untied,
and the contents shaken into a tub for examination. The
tail of the net being retied, the frame may be lowered and
towed about as before ; and while the net is again at work
at the bottom, the collector may be engaged over the con-
tents of his tub at the top.

MONTAGU'S BLKNNY. 249

ACANTHOPTERYG1L GOB1AD/E*

MONTAGU'S BLENNY.

Blennius Montagui, FLEM. Brit. An. p. 206 & 207, sp. 121.

,, galerita, MONTAGU, Mem. Wern. Soc. vol. i. p. 98, pi. v. fig. 2.

Diminutive Blennif, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. iii. p. 277.
,, Montagni, Cuv. et VALENC. Hist. Nat. des. Poiss. t. xi. p. 234.
,, galerita, JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 381.

Generic Characters. Head rounded and blunt; body smooth, unctuous,
compressed; a single elongated dorsal fin ; ventral fins placed before the pecto-
rals, and containing generally but two rays, united at the base ; teeth slender,
in a single row.

SOME difficulty occurs on endeavouring to reconcile the
synonymes of the Blennies of British authors, from the
want of correct representations and more detailed descrip-
tions.

But five species, as the genus is now restricted, will be
figured in the present work ; four of these, having the line
of the edge of the dorsal fin interrupted, will be arranged
according to the number of appendages on the head, these
appendages being considered only as specific characters, be-
ginning with that species which possesses the greatest num-

* Tlic family of the Gobies.

250 GOBIAD.E.

ber : the fifth species, having an uninterrupted dorsal fin, a
more elongated slender body, short ventral fins, and longer
anal fin, exhibits in these various particulars so many rela-
tions to the characters of the genus next in succession, and is
therefore placed last.

The fishes of this genus are of little value : they swim
in small shoals, feeding on minute crustaceous animals,
and some of them are remarkably tenacious of life. They
are most frequently found, left by the retiring tide, in
small pools on the rocky parts of the coast, are active
and vigilant, hiding themselves in small crevices or under
sea-weed, and remaining concealed till the return of the

tide.

The example of Dr. Fleming has been followed in con-
sidering this Blenny, described by Colonel Montagu in
the Wernerian Memoirs before referred to under the term
galerita, as distinct from the galerita of Linnaeus: the
uniformity in the boundary line of the dorsal fin in the
true galerita and the interrupted line in the fish figured and
described by Montagu, being one of the most obvious cha-
racters for distinction. The number of the rays in the dorsal
and anal fins in B. Montagui are only as thirty to fifty-
one in the dorsal, and eighteen to thirty-six in the anal, as
compared with the galerita of Linneeus.

The account here given is derived from Colonel Montagu,
and the figure is from a drawing by Mr. Couch, who in his
MS. briefly refers to this fish as occurring in Cornwall, and
as being very active and difficult to catch.

" Body rather more slender than that of the Smooth
Blenny. Head much sloped; eyes high up, approximat-
ing, gilded ; the upper lip furnished with a bony plate
that projects at the angles of the mouth into a thin lamina
that turns downwards, the ends of which arc orange-co-

MONTAGU'S BLENNY. 251

loured : on the top of the head, between the eyes, is a
transverse, fleshy, fimbriated membrane ; the fanbrite of
a purplish brown colour, tipped with white ; the nostrils
furnished with a minute bifid appendage : behind the crest
are several minute, erect, filiform appendicitis, between
that and the dorsal fin, placed longitudinally : the lateral
line considerably curved near the head; the pectoral fins
are large and ovate, reaching as far as the vent : the ventral
fins two unconnected rays : the dorsal fin extends from
the head to the tail, and appears like two distinct fins,
by reason of the slope to the thirteenth ray, which is not
above half the length of the anterior ones, and the sudden
elongation of the fourteenth ray : this fin is very broad, and
in one specimen there was an ovate black spot between the
first and second ray, and another obscure one between the
next rays ; but this is not a constant character. The anal
fin is equally broad, and extends from the vent to the tail,
the rays margined with black and tipped with white ; caudal
fin slightly rounded."

" The colour above is generally olive green, spotted with
pale blue, shaded to white ; the belly white, and the pectoral
fins spotted with orange.

" The number of fin-rays are

D. 30 : P. 12 : V. 2 : A. 18 : C. 14.

" Not fewer than eight or ten of this species have come
under my inspection, the greater part of which did not exceed
an inch and a half in length ; but two at present before
me measure nearly two inches and a half, and differ in
nothing but the spots on the dorsal fin. The crest is not
capable of being erected, at least no voluntary motion
could be observed while the fish was examined alive in sea-
water ; but this appendage is invariably transverse, and gene-

252

GOB1AD/E.

rally conic or angular, but sometimes irregularly truncated,
though always fimbriated."

" This is occasionally taken, with others, among the
rocks on the south coast of Devon, in the pools left by the

retiring tide.'

Mr. Couch has obligingly sent me a specimen from Pol-
perro ; and in his recently published Fauna of Cornwall men-
tions that it is not uncommon.

i vie;; '

OCELLATED BLENNY.

253

ACANTHOPTERYCIL

GOBIAD&.

THE OCELLATED BLENNY, OR
BUTTERFLY FISH.

Blennius ocellaris, BRUNNICH, p. 25, sp. 35.

,, BLOCH, pt. v. pi. 167.

,, ,, CUVIER, Regne An. t. iii. p. 237.

,, ,, Ocellated Elenny, MONTAGU, Mem. Wern. Soc. vol. ii.

p. 443, pi. 22.

,, ,, ,, ,, FLEM. Brit. An. p. 206, pi. 119.

,, ,, ,, ,, JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 378.

,, ,, Cuv. et VALENC. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. xi. p. 220.

THE OCELLATED BLENNY was first described as a British
fish by Colonel Montagu, who obtained three specimens by
dredging on the south coast of Devon.

The example from which the present description and figure
were taken, was obtained among the rocks of the island of
Portland.

The length near three inches ; the head rounded and
blunt : teeth in a single row, small elongated, rather uneven
at the edge, as if some of them had been broken off; the
last tooth on each side, both above and below, considerably

254 GOB1AD.E.

longer than the others : the eyes large, irides golden ;
attached to the anterior edge of the orbits are two large
filamentous and fimbriated appendages, three-eighths of an
inch in length ; a small pedicle of skin behind the nape on
each side on a line with the origin of the first ray of the
dorsal fin ; all the skin about the head loose, here and there
studded with small warty papilla.
The fin- rays are

D. 26 : P. 12 : V. 2 : A. 17 : C. 11.

The dorsal fin begins at the nape, and is connected
throughout its whole length ; the first ray the longest, the
next nine diminishing in length to the eleventh ray, which
is the shortest, and marks the place of the interruption to
the uniformity of the line, the twelfth ray being as lono-
again as the eleventh : the second portion of the dorsal fin
rounded in form, the membrane beyond the last ray being
united to the base of the tail. The pectoral fin large,
rounded, the middle rays about as long as the body of the
fish is deep. The ventrals in this specimen with no more
than two rays ; the anal fin begins about half way between
the nose of the fish and the end of the fleshy portion of the
tail, and in a line but little in advance of the depression in
the dorsal fin : the tail rounded, the rays about as long as
those of the pectoral fin.

The general colour of the body is a pale brown, with
occasional patches of darker reddish brown ; the pectoral and
ventral fins rather darker than the other fins, but the edges
of the dorsal and anal fins rather darker than the part of the
membrane nearer the body. The rounded spot on the dorsal
fin is placed between the sixth and eighth rays : it is of a
dark brown colour, with a slight indication of a lighter-co-
loured circle around it. The irides golden.

Montagu mentions his suspicion that the spot on the dor-

OCELLATED BLENNY.

255

sal fin is not always present ; but the form and elevation of
the dorsal fin, would, without the spot, be sufficiently charac-
teristic to mark the species.

This fish is a native of the Mediterranean, described by
Brunnich, and others. M. Risso says it lives much among
weeds, feeding on minute crustaceous and molluscous ani-
mals, and that it spawns in the spring.

It is the Blennus of Belon, p. 221. It is figured in the
Latin edition of Rondeletius at page 204 ; in the French
edition at page 171. It is the Mesoro of Salvianus, and the
Butterfly Fish of Willughby, page 131, tab. H. 3, fig. 2.

25 G GOBIAD.E.

ACANTHOPTERYGII. GOBI ADM.

THE GATTORUGINOUS BLENNY.

Blennius gattorugine, BRUNNICH, p. 27, sp. 37.

,, ,, CUVIER, Hegne An. t. ii. p. 237.

,, Gattoruginous Blenny, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. iii. p. 278,

pi. 39.

DON. Brit. Fish. pi. 86.
,, ,, ,, MONTAGU, Mem. Wern. Soc.

vol. ii. p. 447.

FLEM. Brit. An. p. 206, sp. 120.

M ;> ,, ,, JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 379.

,, ,, Cuv. et VALENC. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. xi. p. 200.

THE GATTORUGINOUS BLENNY appears to be a rare
fish on some parts of our sea-sliore. Pennant first recorded
it as British from a specimen taken on the Anglesey coast.
Colonel Montagu obtained two in Devonshire, but consi-
dered it rare. Mr Couch finds it frequently in Cornwall ;
and specimens of one inch and a half, two inches and a
half, and five inches and a half, each, are now before me. For
the first of these I am indebted to Mr. Couch, the second
I obtained myself somewhere on our southern coast, but
I have neglected to preserve any note of the exact locality ;
and the largest example was given me by my friend Mr.
Thomas Bell, who brought it from Poole Harbour. It is
also said to have been taken at Belfast.

GATTORUGINOUS IJLENNY. 257

Mr. Couch considers it a common species in Cornwall,
that " keeps in the neighbourhood of rocks, in water of
four or five fathoms depth. I have heard of its taking the
hook, but it is more commonly caught in crab-pots, and con-
sequently occurs in spring and summer, when that fishing is
chiefly followed. It is called Tompot by the Cornish boys.
At the end of May I have found it large with roe, the grains
of which are, some of them of a mulberry, others of a lead
colour ; I have also seen numerous and minute young ones at
the same season. In its stomach I have found various bivalve
shells, parts of a star-fish, and of the common jointed coral-
lines, and brown seaweed. Specimens occasionally measure
eight or nine inches in length."

Some differences have been noticed in the descriptions
and figures of this fish among several of the early, as well
as of the more modern authors, and it is probable that a
nearly allied species may have been sometimes mistaken for
the gattorugine. I have, however, ventured to consider
the Gattoruginous Blenny of Pennant, Montagu, and Do-
novan, as the same with that now described. A dried spe-
cimen of gattorugine from the Mediterranean, now before
me, is the same as the English fish. Willughby calls it
Gattorugine Venetiis, page 132, tab. H. 2, fig. 2.

The forehead slopes considerably : viewed in front, a
groove appears between the eyes, which ends in a channel,
passing downwards behind each eye, formed by the elevation
of the bones of the orbit on each side ; from the upper and
rather the posterior part of each eyelid arises a branched
membrane, the eyelids extend considerably over the cornea
all round ; the nostrils arc circular, in a depression, and
above each is a small fimbriated membrane, plainly observ-
able with a lens : the lips are thin and loose, turning up or
down to a considerable extent, exposing the teeth ; these
arc placed in a single row in each jaw, arc long, slender, and

VOL. i. s

258 GOBIAD.E.

semi-transparent, unequal in length in the front, almost every
other one having had a small piece apparently broken off;
the teeth on the sides of the mouth more uniform. The
gill-cover ends in two angular points directed backwards, the
edge of the membrane being continued under the throat to
the gill-cover on the other side.

The body is compressed, and deepest on the line of the
middle of the pectoral fins, from whence it tapers gradually
to the end of the fleshy portion of the tail. The lateral line
proceeds straight from the centre of the tail as far as the line
of the commencement of the anal fin, and then arches high
over the pectorals.

The nape of the neck rises high, upon which the dorsal
fin commences on a line with the preoperculum. The first
ray is shorter than the second, the next ten nearly equal
in length, and about half the height of the body ; the thir-
teenth ray shorter, and the fourteenth nearly one-fourth
longer than the thirteenth, forming the interruption to the
line of the dorsal fin ; the remaining rays are nearer together
than those that precede them, each portion of the fin occu-
pying about the same space, with thirteen stiff rays in the
first portion, and twenty flexible rays in the second ; the
membrane beyond the last ray extending to the base of the
upper caudal fin-ray.

The pectoral fins are broad and rounded, the central rays
the longest, and equal to the length of the head. The ven-
tral fins slender, of two rays each only, about three-fourths
of the length of the longest of the pectoral fin-rays. The
anal fin is half as long as the head and body of the fish ; it
commences on a line rather before the depression in the
dorsal fin, and immediately behind the vent : the rays of this
fin project beyond the edge of the membrane connecting
them, the last ray joined by a membrane to the body of the
fish, but does not quite reach the tail fin. . The tail itself is

GATTORUGINOUS BLENNY.

259

slightly rounded, the rays about equal in length to those of
the pectoral fin.

The number of the fin-rays is

D. 33 : P. 14 : V. 2 : A. 23 : C. 11.

The prevailing colour of this specimen is a dark reddish
purple brown, the lower part of the head, belly, and hinder
portion of the body pale brown, all the fins dark brown.
The smaller examples previously referred to, difter only in
colour, being barred transversely, and clouded with a reddish
brown over a light brown surface ; the membranes of the fins
also of a much lighter brown.

260

GOBIAD.E.

ACANTHOPTERYG11.

GOBIAD&.

THE SHANNY, OR THE SHAN.

Blennius pholis, LINNSUS.

,, ,, CUVIER, Regne An. t. ii. p. 238.

,, ,, Smooth Blenny, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. iii. p. 280, pi. 40.

DON. Brit. Fish. P l. 79.
Pholis Itevis, Smooth Shan, FLEM. Brit. An. p. 207, sp. 123.

Cuv. et VALENC. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. xi. p. 269.

Blennius pholis, Smooth Shan, JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 382.

THE SHANNY is by no means uncommon at most of the
rocky parts of our coast, and is easily distinguished among
the Blennies by the want of any appendages on the head ;
the line of the dorsal fin is also interrupted. The term
Smooth Blenny has not been continued here ; as this name
conveys no specific distinction, all the British Blennies being
smooth.

" Destitute of a swimming-bladder, this fish," says Mr.
Couch, " is confined to the bottom, where it takes up its
residence on a rock or stone, from which it rarely wanders
for, and beneath which it seeks shelter from ravenous fishes
and birds ; for cormorants, with their long and sharp beaks,
drag multitudes of them from these retreats, and devour
them. When the tide is receding, many of these fishes hide
beneath the stones or in pools, but the larger individuals quit

SHANNY.

261

the water, and by the use of the pectoral fins creep into con-
venient holes, rarely more than one in each, and there, with
the head outward, they wait for a few hours, until the return
of the water restores them to liberty. If discovered or
alarmed in these chambers, they retire by a backward motion
to the bottom of the cavity. These circumstances show that
the Shanny is retentive of life ; in confirmation of which I
have known it continue lively after a confinement of thirty
hours in a dry box, notwithstanding which it soon expires in
fresh water." 1 '

Furnished with long and firm incisor teeth, the Shanny
is able to separate from the rocks, muscles, limpets, &c. on
which to feed. The spawn is deposited in summer, and soon
comes to life.

The head is rounded over the eyes, descending from
thence rapidly to the nose ; between the eyes a deep groove ;
the hides scarlet, no appendages cither to the orbit or eye-
lids ; the nostril pierced in a depression, with a small fim-
briated membrane above it, a narrow oblong aperture on each
side in front of the edge of the orbit ; the mouth small,
angular, much the widest at the gape, the lips large, broad,
the posterior angle on each side free ; the teeth small, a
single row in each jaw, with occasionally a longer tooth pro-
jecting above the rest ; the checks tumid ; the gill-aperture
large, the membrane continuing unattached, and extending
under the throat to the other side.

The number of fin-rays is as follows

D. 31 : P. 13 : V. 2 : A. 19 : C. 11.

The dorsal fin commences on a line over the union of
the operculum with the body, the first portion consisting of
twelve rays, the last of which is the shortest, the thirteenth
as long again as the twelfth, forming the interruption ;
eighteen others succeed, nearly equal in height, the last of

262 GOBIAIXE.

which is united to the upper edge of the fleshy portion of
the tail by a continuation of the membrane connecting the
fin-rays : the ventrals of two rays, which originate before the
pectorals, and immediately behind the edge of the gill-cover :
the pectoral fins are large and rounded, the longest rays,
which are in the middle, reaching as far as the vent : the
anal fin commences immediately behind the vent, and under
the depression in the dorsal fin ; the last ray is attached to
the tail; all the rays in this fin extend beyond the mem-
brane : the tail is rounded ; the lateral line proceeding for-
wards, is straight for two-thirds of the distance along the
side, it then curves over the pectoral fin to the upper edge of
the operculum.

" It has justly been observed, that this species is extremely
variable in colour ; out of twenty or more examined at the
same time, not two were to be found alike ; some are pret-
tily mottled with reddish brown, others quite plain, and one
variety is of a uniform dusky colour, even on the under
parts."

" This species of Blenny is remarkably tenacious of life,
and will live out of water for many days in a damp place, or
put in fresh grass or moss moistened with water ; and proba-
bly, with a little attention, might be kept alive in this way
for many weeks. If put into fresh water, it swims and does
not appear to feel any inconvenience, but does not long sur-
vive the change." Montagiis MS.

It rarely exceeds five inches in length.

According to Mr. Thompson this fish is found on the
south, the west, and north-east coasts of Ireland : Dr. George
Johnston finds it common in Berwick Bay ; and Dr. Parnell
says it is abundant in the Frith of Forth.

YARRELL 1 * BLENNY. 263

ACANTHOPTERYGII. GOBIADM.

YARRELL'S BLENNY.

litennius Yarreltii, Cuv. et VALENC. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. xi. p. 218.

,, palmicornis, CUVIER, Regne An. t. ii. p. 237.

,, galerita, STROM. LINNAEUS. GMELIN.

,, ,, Crested Btenny, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. iii. p. 276, pi. 39.

,, ,, ,, ,, FLEM. Brit. An. p. 207, sp. 122.

,, ,, NILSSON, Ichth. Scand. p. 102.

,, palmicornis, JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 380.

THE BLENNY figured above appears by the recently pub-
lished observations of M. Valenciennes to be neither the
B. palmicornis of Cuvier, nor the true B. galerita of Lin-
naeus ; and to obviate the inconvenience which has arisen from
the various synonymes with which it has been hitherto asso-
ciated, M. Valenciennes has done me the honour to propose
that in future it should be called Blennius Yarrdlii.

I am indebted to the kindness of Dr. George Johnston,
of Berwick-upon-Tweed, for the only specimen of this fish
I had ever seen at the time of its publication. It proved to
be a valuable acquisition, by affording an opportunity of
giving a detailed description of the species, which, from the
evidence to be quoted, I am induced to believe to have
been first confounded by Strom, and afterwards by Lin-

26 i GOBIAD.E.

nreus, with the true galerita of Rondeletius, the alauda cris-
tata sive galerita of Willughby and Ray.

O ' *

Since the publication of the first edition of this work, I
have received a communication from T. P. Teale, Esq. of
Leeds, with a detailed description of another specimen of this
Blenny, taken at Redcar in Yorkshire, in September 1835.
This example I have since seen, by the kindness of Mr.
Teale's brother, who brought the fish to London, and it
proved to be a very fine specimen, measuring six inches and
three quarters in length.

Linnaeus, in the tenth edition of his Syst. Nat. 1758,
quotes Artedi only for his Blennius galerita, but without
giving any number of fin-rays ; the account of Artedi, taken
from Rondeletius, not including that part of the subject.
In 1762, Strom published his account of the Fishes of the
extreme North-western portion of the coast of Norway and
its Islands, which, under the name, and with a reference to
the galerita of Artedi, contains a Blenny with an enumera-
tion of fin-rays, which appears then for the first time, and
was probably obtained from a specimen. Linnaeus, in his
twelfth edition, 1766, quotes both Artedi and Strom for
his Blennius galerita^ adding the number of fin-rays from
Strom ; thus coupling the characters of the northern Blenny
with those of the Mediterranean galerita of Rondeletius.

Pennant, who appears to have been the first to obtain
on our shore a specimen of the northern Blenny of Strom,
referred it to the galerita of Linnaeus. Gmelin in his work
followed Linnaeus and Pennant.

The error of Gmelin was first pointed out by Bloch,
Schneider, page 169, note, with a reference also to Lin-
naeus and Strom. Cuvier considers the galerita of Ronde-
letius to be the same with the B. pavo of Risso^s Hist. t. iii.
p. 235, sp. 124 ; a fish having only thirty-six rays in the dor-
sal fin, and but twenty-four rays in the anal fin.

YARKELL S BLENNY.

A comparison of tlie figure at the head of this article
with that of the Crested Blcnny of the British Zoology,
will leave but little or no doubt that they are intended
to represent the same species ; yet the Crested Blenny
of Pennant, with its two pair of appendages on the head,
was referred by Strom, Linnaeus, Pennant, and Gmelin,
to the galerita of Rondeletius ; a Mediterranean species, fur-
nished with only a single pair of very short and scarcely
remarkable appendages over the eyes, and having, in addi-
tion, on the back part of the head a transverse fold of skin,
which at a certain period becomes enlarged. Linnseus's
acquaintance with the true B. galerita appears to have been
founded solely on the works of Artedi. The reference by
Gmelin of the Crested Blenny of Pennant to B. galerita,
has led many northern zoologists to give that specific name
to Pennant's fish ; and not only the later edition of Pennant's
work, but the works also of Dr. Fleming and Professor
Nilsson have so recorded it.

Dr. Fleming, in his History of British Animals, has de-
scribed, under the term B. galerita, a species of Blenny,
obtained in Loch Broome, which differs but little from the
specimen obtained by Dr. Johnston in Berwick Bay ; and
Professor Nilsson, in his Prodromus of the Fish of Scandina-
via, which has been frequently quoted, has described also
as the B. galerita of Linnaeus a fish occurring among sea-
weed on the coast of Norway, and living on crustaceous and
molluscous animals. His description,* though short, bears

* As this useful little book may not be in the possession of many, I here add
the description referred to : " Bl. tentaculis duobus supraciliaribus ramosis ;
radiis pinnae ventralis tribus ; capite superius barbato ; corpore rutilo, macnlis
10 12 dilutioribus rotundis ad latera dorsi. Obs. Alia specimina furviora
sunt et maculis dorsi dilutioribus carent. In aliis exemplis spinae 3 4, dor-
sales anteriores ceteres sunt longiores et appendicibus crassis ramosis or-
natae ; in aliis haa spins breviores sunt et appendicibus simplicibus, gracilibus
terminantur."

266 GOBIAD.E.

evidence of having been taken from the fish ; it contains a
reference to some peculiarities mentioned by Dr. Fleming,
but claims for it three rays in the ventral fins.

The number of fin-rays in the fish termed B. galerita by
Strom, Dr. Fleming, and Professor Nilsson, as described in
their works, and that found to exist in the specimen received
from Dr. Johnston, are here added, to show by their general
agreement the great probability that all four sets of numbers
refer to the same fish.

Strom.

D. 50 : P. 10 : V. 2 : A. 36 : C. 16.
Dr. Fleming

50 14 2 39 16.

Professor Nilsson.

51 14 3 39 14.

Dr. George Johnston's fish.
51 14 3 36 14.

By a reference to the four species already described in
this work, which, with the present fish, constitute all that
have been at present ascertained as belonging to our coast,
it will be seen that no one of the Blennies of our seas at all
approaches the present in the number of its dorsal or anal fin-
rays, and this Blenny cannot therefore be confounded with
either of them.

The description which now follows, taken from the fish
caught in Berwick Bay, will be found to contain most if not
all the characters embraced in the four descriptions of Lin-
naeus, Pennant, Dr. Fleming, and Professor Nilsson.

The whole length of the specimen was three inches and
three-eighths ; depth of the body alone, seven-sixteenths of
an inch ; including the dorsal and anal fins, three-quarters of
an inch. The body is much compressed ; the head more
oval, the profile rounded ; the outline of the mouth, when
viewed from above, forms a half circle ; viewed laterally the

YARRELL' > S BLENNY. 267

angle of the mouth is depressed, the mouth in front ap-
pears vide ; the lips capable of extensive motion ; the
teeth smaller and shorter than those of any other British
Blenny.

At the superior anterior margin of the eye on each side
is a small fiinbriated appendage, which is connected with
that on the opposite side of the head by a fold of skin form-
ing a transverse union, passing in its passage over the fore-
head, which is prominent ; behind these two small appen-
dages are two other tentacula, one on each side, about twice
the length of the anterior pair, and also fimbriated. On the
nape of the neck, and for some distance towards the com-
mencement of the dorsal fin, the skin is smooth, with the
exception of various small papillae, as noticed by Dr. Flem-
ing ; the eyes lateral, large for the size of the head, but not
so large by comparison as those of the other Blennies.

The dorsal fin commences three-eighths of an inch behind
the last pair of tentacula ; it is uniform in height throughout,
and reaches to the tail ; the first ray a little shorter than the
second ; the first three rays with membranous filaments, as
described by Dr. Fleming. The membrane connecting the
first four rays darker in colour than the other parts of the
fin ; the points of all the rays projecting beyond the edge
of the connecting membrane ; the last dorsal fin-ray united
to the tail by an intervening membrane ; all the rays
simple.

The ventral fins, only three-sixteenths of an inch in length,
are placed rather before the pectorals, and are supported
by three rays, ascertained by carefully dissecting off the
investing membrane on one side. The pectoral fins are
rounded when spread, pointed when closed, the middle rays
bein^ the longest, and extending over two-thirds of the

Q O ' O

space between the edge of the opcrculum and the commence-
ment of the anal fin. The vent is placed immediately in

268

GOBIAD.E.

advance of the anal fin, which in length is equal to half the
length of the whole fish ; the first anal fin-ray shorter than
the second, the others are as long as those of the dorsal fin,
but the ends project further, the connecting membrane not
being so deep.

The tail is rounded, or rather slightly lanceolate, the
central rays being the longest. The lateral line proceeds
from the tail in a direction straight to the upper edge of the
operculum, about its junction with which there are several
open mucous pores ; the membrane connecting both opercula
is continuous under the throat.

The general colour of the body and fins is a pale brown,
mottled on the sides with darker brown ; the head, the ante-
rior part of the body, the ventral and pectoral fins, being
darker than the other parts.

SPOTTED GUNNEL.

269

ACANTHOPTERYGU.

GOE1ADJE.

\ . -.\,

., .. \\

THE SPOTTED GUNNEL, OR BUTTERFISH.

SWORDICK. Orkney.

Murtcnoides guttata, LACEPEDE.

Blennius gunnellus, LINN^US.

,, ,, BLOCK, pt. ii. pi. 71, fig. 1.

,, ,, Spotted Blenny, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. Hi. p. 282, pi. 60.

,, ,, ,, ,, DON. Brit. Fish. pi. 27.

,, ,, ,, Gunnel, JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 383.

Gunnellus vulgaris, Common ,, FLEM. Brit. An. p. 207, sp. 124.

,, ,, Cuv. et VALENC. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. xi. p. 419.

Generic Characters, Head small, muzzle obtuse; body elongated, smooth,
scales minute, covered with a mucous secretion ; dorsal fin extending the whole
length of the back, the rays simple ; ventral fins very small ; teeth small,
pointed, detached.

THE SPOTTED GUNNEL, or Butterfish, as it is fre-
quently called, from the consistence and quantity of mucous
secretion with which its sides are covered, is sufficiently
distinguished from the true Blennies by its dorsal fin, but
little elevated above the line of the back, and by its elon-
gated, slender, and compressed body, from which it has
obtained in the Orkneys, and in some of the countries of the
North of Europe, the names of Swordick and Svardfisk,

270 GOBIAD.E.

Norway, from a supposed resemblance in shape to the blade
of a sword.

It is a common small fish on our sea-shores, where it
may be frequently found in pools left by the tide, and
occasionally under stones or seaweed. In such situations as
those last named, from its great tenacity of life, it appears
to suffer little or no inconvenience, though left for several
hours ; moistened, externally only, by contact with the wet
seaweed or damp rocks. When found in a pool of water it
is observed to swim rapidly, and is difficult to catch, shifting-
its situation with great quickness, and creeping into very
small apertures ; it is not easy to retain it even when in hand,
from the abundance as well as the nature of the slimy secre-
tion aiding its muscular endeavours to escape. Its food is
marine insects, the spawn of other fishes and their fry. It
occurs generally on the rocky parts of the southern coast,
sometimes under stones in soft mud, and is found in Corn-
wall, Devonshire, and from thence eastward to the mouth of
the Thames. It has been taken in Berwick Bay, the Frith
of Forth, in Orkney, and Zetland. Linnaeus includes this
species in his Fauna Suecica, and other Northern Natu-
ralists have found it on the coast of Norway, as well as on
various parts of the shores of the Baltic.

In Greenland the flesh of this fish, though hard, is dried
and eaten ; in this country it is seldom if ever made use of,
except as bait for sea-lines. It is said to attain the length
of ten inches : the more frequent size on our shores is from
five to seven inches.

The length of the head is equal to the depth of the body,
and is, when compared with the whole length of the head and
body of the fish, without including the tail fin, as one to
eight.

The head is small ; the line of the mouth directed ob-
liquely upward, the angle depressed, the lower jaw rather the

SPOTTED GUNNEL. 271

longer ; the teeth placed in a single row in each jaw, small,
short, pointed, and sharp, each tooth separated from the next
by a space equal to the breadth of the tooth itself ; the eyes
lateral, moderate in size, the irides dark blue ; the cheeks
tumid, from the size of the muscles, Avhich enable it to bite
hard. The membrane connecting the opercula continuous
under the throat ; a row of mucous pores descending from the
nape to the upper edge of each operculum.
The number of fin-rays is

D. 78 : P. 11 : V. 1 + 1 : A. 2 + 43 : C. 15.

In long fins of numerous rays, the number, it should be
remarked, is at all times liable to variation, and it is not, it
may be added, always alike even in those species with short
fins.

The dorsal fin commences a little behind the line of the
origin of the pectoral fin, and extends the whole length of
the back, joining the tail : both the rays and the membranes
of this fin are short, or but little elevated, but all the rays
project their sharp points beyond the edge of the membrane..
The pectoral fin, small and oval in shape, arises immediately
behind the free edge of the operculum ; the ventral fins are
very small, near each other, on the under part of the throat,
and appear each like a single sharp spine projecting through
a small fleshy tubercle partly supported by one soft ray.
The vent is situated under the thirty- fourth ray of the dorsal
fin, at about an equal distance between each extremity of the
fish ; the anal fin commences immediately behind the vent,
and extends to the tail, to which it is united ; the rays as
well as the membranes in this fin are longer and deeper than
those of the dorsal fin ; the first two rays are spinous, but the
others, which are branched and articulated, project further
beyond the edge of the membranes. The tail fin is moderate
in size, and slightly rounded. The lateral line proceeds

272 GOB1AD.E.

straight from the centre of the tail, rather below the middle
of the fish, forming, with the upper and lower boundaries of
the body, three nearly parallel lines.

The general colour of the body is a mixture of purple
brown and yellow brown, sometimes dappled, occasionally
assuming a waved or banded appearance. Along the line of
the base of the dorsal fin are from nine to twelve conspicuous
dark spots with a narrow but well-defined white stripe before
and behind, and sometimes encircling each of them : these
dark spots are sometimes situated on the dorsal fin, in
some specimens they are on the back of the fish, below
the base of the dorsal fin, and occasionally they occupy
an intermediate situation, being partly on the back, and
with the upper part on the fin ; the under surface of the
head, the pectoral fins, and belly to the vent, are of a more
uniform pale brown ; from the eye a dark brown stripe de-
scends, behind the angle of the mouth, to the lower jaw.
The spots described as dark along the back are occasionally
not very conspicuous, and specimens sometimes occur in
which they are entirely wanting.

A specimen of a Spotted Gunnel from America, for which
I am indebted to the kindness of Mr. Audubon, proves on
comparison to be in every respect so similar to the British
Gunnel, that there is little doubt it is the same species.
The American specimen measures seven and a quarter inches ;
the largest British example I have measures only five and
three quarters, but they are occasionally found of greater
length. This species was first described and figured by Wil-
lughby, page 115, tab. G. 3, fig. 3, from a specimen obtained
at St. Ives.

VIVIPAROUS BLENNY. 273

ACANTHOPTERYG1L GOEJADJE.

THE VIVIPAROUS BLENNY.

EELPOUT, GUFFER, AND GREENBONE. Scotland.

Zoarces viviparus, Cuv. et VALENC. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. xi. p. 454.

,, ,, CUVJER, Regne An. t. ii. p. 240.

Blennius ,, BLOCH, pt. ii. pi. 72.

,, ,, Viviparous Bleimy, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. iii. p. 283, pi. 61.

,, ,, ,, ,, DUN. Brit. Fish. pi. 34.

Gunnellus ,, ,, Gunnel, FLEM. Brit. An. p. 207, sp. 125.

Zoarces ,, ,, Blenny, JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 384.

ZOAUCES. Generic Characters Body elongated, covered with a mucous se-
cretion ; head smooth, muzzle blunt; ventral fins situated before the pectorals ;
dorsal, anal, and caudal fins united ; all the fins very thick ; vent anterior to
the middle of the body, its situation marked by a tubercle ; teeth conical, placed
in a single row ; branchiostegous rays 6.

THE VIVIPAROUS BLENNY differs from the other Bri-
tish Blennies in the circumstance to which its name refers
that of bringing forth its young alive, which seem per-
fectly able to provide for themselves from the moment they
are excluded. Mr. Low, in his Fauna Orcadensis, says,
when he first observed this, he put a number of the small
fishes into a tumbler-glass of sea-\vater, and kept them alive
for many days, changing the water every tide. They grew
a good deal bigger, and continued very lively, till in a hot

VOL. I. T

274 GOB1AD/E.

day, forgetting to refresh them with clean water, they died to
the last fish.

While they were very young and transparent, they made
excellent objects for the microscope, for viewing the circula-
tion of the blood.

The females of this species appear to produce their young
more or less grown according to their own size.

Mr. Neill says, " though not a delicate morsel, this fish
is often brought to the Edinburgh market." In the month
of February 1 807, this gentleman saw a female fifteen inches
long in the fish-market, from which several dozens of young
escaped alive : these fry were from four to five inches long.
In a female of seven inches, obtained by myself on the
Kentish coast, full of young, these, when excluded, were only
one inch and a half long; but such was the perfection of the
internal organization of this female, that after the specimen
had been kept for months in diluted spirit of wine, on making
slight pressure upon the abdomen, the young were excluded
one after another, and invariably with the head first. The
arrangement of the perfectly formed young in the foetal sac
of the gravid female is very remarkable.

This viviparous species appears to be more common on
our east and north-east coast than in the south. Montagu
considered it a scarce fish in Devonshire, only obtaining
a single specimen in several years. As a species its earliest
describer was Schonevelde, whose name and discoveries have
been previously referred to. Sir Robert Sibbald first no-
ticed it in Scotland. It occurs on the Norfolk and York-
shire coasts, in Berwick Bay, in the Forth, and on the coasts
of Norway and Sweden, where hiding itself, as it does on
our own shore, under sea-weed, which is called tang, it has
acquired the name of Tanglake.

The whole length of the specimen described was seven
inches ; the length of the head, as compared with the whole

VIVIPAROUS BLENNY. 275

length of head, body, and tail, is as one to six : the head
more elongated than in the last species, the muzzle more
protruded and sharper ; the upper jaw the longest ; the teeth
short, conical, sharp, with a second row round the front only
of the lower jaw ; the lips fleshy ; the eyes small, lateral,
irides blue ; the nostrils half-way between the inferior edge
of the upper lip and the edge of the orbit, each nostril with
a small membranous tubercle ; numerous mucous pores above
the lips ; cheeks flat ; the membranous free edge of the oper-
culum ending in an angle directed backwards : the pectoral
fins large, broad, rounded, nearly as long as the head, and
reaching half-way from the operculum to the commencement
of the anal fin ; the membrane of one operculum not conti-
nuous under the jaw to the other as in the true Blennies : the
ventrals small, narrow, and pointed, about one-third the
length of the pectorals, and placed in advance of them ; the
investing membrane being dissected off", exposes three branch-
ed rays.

The dorsal fin commences at the nape, over the angle
of the operculum ; the membrane investing and connecting-
its rays is too dense to admit of their number being ascer-
tained with certainty or facility. The edge of the dorsal
fin is straight till within a short distance from the tail,
where a slope or emargination takes place. The form of
the tail is lanceolate, but not distinguished by any separation
from the dorsal or anal fin.

The anal fin in continuation underneath, in this specimen
of seven inches, is four inches long ; the vent immediately
in advance of its commencement.

The numbers of the fin-rays are in the dorsal, anal, and
caudal fin, as united,

About 148 : P. 18 : V. 3.

The general form of the body is lanceolate, tapering gra-

T 2

276

GOBIAD.E.

dually botli in thickness as well as depth from the shoulder
to the end of the tail. The colour is pale brown ; the
dorsal fin, upper surface and sides, mottled, and banded
with darker brown ; the under part of the head, pectoral
fins, belly, and anal fin, uniform pale brown. The lateral
line traverses the centre of the body, slightly elevated only
as it approaches the anterior third of the fish. The surface
of the body appears, under a lens, to be studded with cir-
cular depressions.

When boiled the bones of this fish are green, and hence
its name of Greenbone.

WOLF-FISH.

27"

(

ACANTHOPTERYG1I.

GOEIADJE.

.,

THE WOLF-FISH.
SEA-WOLF, SEA-CAT. Scotland. SWINE-FISH. Orkney.

Anarrhiehas lupus, LINNAEUS.

,, ,, BLOCK, pt. iii. pi. 74.

,, ,, CUVIER, Regne An. t. ii. p. 240.

,, ,, Cuv. et VALENC. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. xi. p. 473.

,, Wolf-fish, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. iii. p. 201, pi. 27.

,, ,, Striped Sea-wolf, DON. Brit. Fish.pl. 24.

,, ,, Wolf-fish, FLEM. Brit. An. p. 208, sp. 127.

,, ,, ,, JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 384.

ANARRFHCHAS. Generic Characters. Head smooth, rounded in form, muz-
zle obtuse ; body elongated, covered with minute scales ; dorsal and anal fins
long, distinct from the caudal : no ventral fins : teeth of two kinds ; those in
front elongated, curved, pointed ; the others on the vomer, as also on the jaws,
truncated, or slightly rounded : branchiostegous rays 6.

CUVIER considers the species of Anarrhiehas as Blennies
destitute of ventral fins. One of them, the Wolf-fish of the
British coast, is almost exclusively a northern fish, and
has been seldom observed on our southern shore. It is
taken off the coasts of Norfolk and Yorkshire, in Berwick
Bay, in the Firth of Forth, and among the Orkneys ; accord-
ing to Mr. Thompson this fish is occasionally taken on the
eastern coast of Ireland ; it is well known also on the shores
of the North of Europe, in Greenland and Iceland.

278 GOBIAD.E.

The appearance of this fish is not prepossessing. Inde-
pendently of a ferocious-looking cat-like head, with an
exceedingly thick, coarse skin, covered with slime, it pos-
sesses most formidable teeth, and neither wants the will
nor the power to attack others or defend itself. It is
occasionally caught with a baited hook, at times decoyed
into the meshes of a net by the temptation of feasting
on the fishes already entangled ; but fights desperately,
even when out of its own element, inflicting severe wounds
if not cautiously avoided. The nets also are frequently
torn by its powerful struggles ; and a spirit of retaliation
for the labour thereby occasioned, or for personal injury
inflicted by it, brings a speedy death to the unfortunate
fish. Handspikes and spars of wood are articles always at
hand in fishing-boats, and the savage Sea-cat is speedily
rendered incapable of doing further harm by heavy well-
aimed blows upon the head.

According to Mr. Neill, specimens of small size, about
two feet in length, are frequently brought to the Edinburgh
market ; and those who are able to overcome the prejudice
excited by its appearance find it good food. Mr. Hoy

WOLF-FISH. 279

and Mr. Low have borne their testimony to the excellence
of its flesh, and Mr. Donovan states that it is delicious.
It may be observed here, that this is the general character
of the flesh of those fishes that feed on crustaceous animals.
It is eaten by the Norwegians and Greenlanders, as well
as by most of the inhabitants of the northern parts of
Europe, the head and skin being first taken off. The skin
is converted into very durable bags and pockets.

The food of the Wolf-fish consists of crustaceous and
testaceous animals, which its powerful jaws and rounded mo-
lar teeth enable it to break down sufficiently for its purpose.
The vignette at the bottom of the preceding page, being a
representation of the jaw-bones and teeth of a Wolf-fish,
shows the formidable nature of the weapons with which it is
furnished ; while its German and Danish names have re-
ference to a supposed power of crushing even stones in
its mouth. It swims rapidly, with a lateral undulating
motion ; and has acquired the name of Sea-wolf from its
voracity. It is called Swine-fish in the Orkneys, from a
particular motion of the nose. It approaches the shore
to deposit its spawn in the months of May or June ; and
the young, of a green colour, are occasionally found among
sea- weed.

The numbers of the fin-rays are

D. 74 ; P. 20 : A. 46 : C. 16.

The head is slightly flattened on the top ; the nose
rounded and blunt, nostrils small ; eyes near the end of
the nose, irides pale yellow; mouth large; lips fleshy;
the form and arrangement of the teeth are shown in the
vignette ; mucous pores abundant about the eye, the gill-
cover, and lower jaw on each side. Body elongated, com-
pressed towards the tail ; the dorsal fin extends from the
nape of the neck almost to the tail, but is not joined to

280

GOBIAD.E.

it ; pectoral fins broad and rather long : ventral fins want-
ing : the anal fin extends the length of the posterior half
of the body ; the tail rounded.

The upper part of the head, the sides, back, and fins, are
of a brownish grey ; the body crossed by vertical bands, and
varied with spots of darker brown, some of which extend
over portions of the dorsal fin ; the belly and under surface
generally are white.

This fish attains the length of six or seven feet, and in
the colder and more extreme northern seas is said to become
still larger.

BLACK GOBY.

281

ACANTHOPTERYGII.

GOBIADX.

THE BLACK GOBY, ROCK GOBY,

OR ROCK FISH.

Gobius niger, LINN/EUS.
,, CUVIER, Regne An. t. ii. p. 243.

,, Cuv. et VALENC. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. xii. p. 9.
,, Black Goby, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. iii. p. 288, pi. 42.
,, MONTAGU, MS.

Black Goby, JENVNS, Brit. Vert. p. 385.

GOBIUS. Generic Characters. Head depressed, with pores between the
eyes ; dorsal fins two, distinct, rays of both flexible ; ventral fins united at
the edges, forming a circle ; anal aperture with a tubercle ; body covered with
scales, the free edges ciliated ; teeth small, numerous ; branchiostegous rays 5.

THE species of this genus are easily recognised by the
peculiar form of the ventral fins ; the short anterior rays,
and the long posterior ones, on each side, being united
together, making a circle, with which they have been sup-
posed to possess the power of attaching themselves to rocks,
by forming a vacuum. The Gobies are of little value, except
as supplying food to other fishes. Of this genus the Black
Goby is one of the most rare on our shores.

This species appears to be chiefly an inhabitant of the
rocky parts of our coast, and on that account is not so

282 GOBTAD.E.

frequently taken by the net : it is, however, sometimes cap-
tured in that manner on the coast of South Devon, particu-
larly in the estuary of Kingsbriclge, from whence, says Co-
lonel Montagu, we have obtained several specimens of toler-
able size, the largest about five inches.

" The head is large, the cheeks inflated, and the lips
very thick ; the mouth is wide, and furnished with numerous
small and very short teeth in several indistinct rows in both
jaws : the under jaw is roughened by them like a rasp :
the eyes are high up on the head, and approximate ; the
upper part of them dusky, partaking of the colour of the
head, the lower part of the irides golden : between the eyes
are two small pores, the anterior one more than double the
size of the other, but not distinguishable without the assist-
ance of a lens : the nostrils are placed before the eyes, on the
outside of each of which is a small fleshy appendage, rather
elevated. The cheeks and opercula of the gills are furnished
with lines of very minute papillae, which appear like spines