sci^enid^e. 151 



Scicena hololepidota, Cuv. and Val. v, p. 53 ; Quoy and Gaim. Voy. Astrol. 

 Poiss. p. 697, pi. xii, f. 1. 



Scicena Capensis, Smith, 111. S. African Fishes, pi. xv. 



Scicena Antarctica, Castelnau, Pro. Zoo. Soc. Yic. 1872, p. 100. 



Scicena, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, ii, p. 54, pi. lxxvi. 



B. vii, D. 9-10/^^, P. 17, V. 1/5, A f, C. 15, L. 1. 52-55, L. tr. 8-9/17-19, 

 Vert. 11-13, Coec. pyl. 12. 



Length of head 4, of caudal fin 6j, height of body 4j to 5 in the total length. 

 Eye Diameter, 5| to 6 in the length of the head, 1 diameter from the end of the 

 snout, and 2/3 to 1 diameter apart. Snout rather pointed ; the maxilla reaches 

 posteriorly to beneath the last third of the eye. Preopercle serrated along its 

 posterior edge and with denticulations at the angle, these become obsolete with 

 age. Two flattened opercular spines. Teeth A row of somewhat distantly 

 placed, slightly curved, and pointed ones in the jaws, strongest in the upper ; 

 there are also some finer teeth. None on the vomer, palatine bones, or tongue. 

 Fins spines of the first dorsal weak, the third and fourth the longest, and equal 

 to about half of the height of the body below them; this fin is united at its base 

 with the second dorsal, which is of less height than the first, and continued 

 nearly to the root of the tail. Anal commences below the fifth or sixth ray of 

 the second dorsal, its first spine short, the second longer but scarcely above half 

 the height of the first ray. Pectoral nearly two-thirds as long as the head. 

 Ventral of about the same length. Caudal truncated or rounded. Scales 

 ctenoid, and in oblique rows. Lateral-line with a very gentle curve from its origin 

 to above the anal fin, where it becomes straight and is continued along the caudal 

 fin to its extremity : the tubes are branched posteriorly. Air-bladder large, and 

 possessing many lateral branching processes. Colours grayish, darkest along 

 the back, the occiput being of a greenish tinge, with piirple and golden reflections, 

 and a gray blotch on the opercle : the back with a coppery tinge becoming silvery 

 white along the sides and beneath. The colours are siibject to considerable varia- 

 tions, due to seasons as well as to the character of the water they inhabit. The 

 fins, excluding the caudal, are usually of a red colour, having the outer edge of 

 the second dorsal, pectoral, anal, and caudal gray. 



Names. Rondelet considered Goracinus to be a small, and Latus a large example 

 of this fish among the Roman fishmongers. The Pels Rei, or Royal fish, of 

 Languedoc Lacepede believed identical with Latus. Shade-fish. Maigre, French, 

 not signifying thin, but derived from the whiteness and bloodless appearance of 

 the flesh, the orthography meagre being therefore erroneous. The Dutch are 

 said to perceive an image or representation of the Virgin on each scale. Omber- 

 visch, and Onzelieve vronwvisch, Dutch. 



Habits. Bold and fearless, of great strength, gregarious, and fond of 

 changing its locality. Uttering sounds below the water which have been com- 

 pared to bellowing, buzzing, purring, and whistling this, some fishermen have 

 imagined, is only effected by the males during the breeding season. It has been 

 recorded that listening to this sound, shoals or troops of them have been successfully 

 netted. It has also been stated that they can be heard when at twenty fathoms 

 depth. Couch says that for a few years in succession, from 1849, they attended 

 on the boats which were engaged on the pilchard fishery on the south coast of 

 Cornwall ; and although they never attempted to take fishes from the floating nets, 

 the eager Scicena would dart greedily after any that fell out of them, or were 

 thrown to it, and in doing so its appetite could scarcely be satisfied. Attempts to 

 catch them were unsuccessful, as they snapped the best lines. Mr. D'Urban found 

 in the stomach of one, on October 3, 1872, six monk-fish, each about 1 foot long ; 

 six small pilchards, and a small sole. 



Means of capture. Netting and trammels. 



Breeding. In the Mediterranean the largest numbers of young of this fish are 

 found on the southern side, where they generally swim in small shoals. 



As food. Formerly much prized in Rome, and even now it is esteemed on 

 some parts of the continent, where the head and shoulders are deemed the most 

 tempting portions. In the East I have tried fishes of this genus frequently, but 



