140 ' ACANTHOPTERYGII. 



p. 123, pi. 66a, appear to differ from Zeus Australis, Richardson, Voyage Erebus 

 and Terror, pp. 36, 138, pi. xxv, fig. 1 (and which Dr. Giinther has united with 

 Zeus faber), in that Z. Japoniacs has only six or seven bony plates along the bases 

 of the soft dorsal and anal fins, while Z. Gapensis has eleven in the same situation. 

 A stuffed specimen of Zeus Gapensis, Cuv. and Val., or the Cape species 

 of this genus, about 24 inches in length, exists in the British Museum, the 

 length of the head of which is 1/3 of that of the total. If identical with 

 Zeus faber, the double row of lateral spinous plates along the base of the 

 second dorsal have lost one process : the abdominal spines have likewise become 

 plates. 



. Names. The Greek name Zeus appertained also to Jupiter : while the latin 

 term Faber was given it due to the fancied resemblance many of its bones had 

 to tools used by mechanics. The common term, dory or doree or John dory, is 

 probably merely* a corruption of Jaune doree, or " golden-yellow," which has 

 reference to its colour. Superstition, regardless of its absence from the Lake of 

 Gennesaret, has attributed the marks upon its sides to the effects of St. Peter's 

 finger and thumb when he captured a fish in order to obtain the tribute money. 

 This fish was formerly suspended in churches and the legend of the mark duly 

 detailed and implicitly believed. Some even averred that the spots were elegant 

 representations of the coin which was found. Others, however, thought that as 

 this fish does not exist in the waters where this miracle was performed it is 

 unlikely that to it belongs the honour attributed. Another derivation for 

 " John doree " is the name janitor e, by which it is known in Venice : a name 

 likewise applied to St. Peter, the keeper of the keys ; in short, the doorkeeper 

 of a better world. Again, the haddock has been pointed out as possessing two 

 black spots of a similar character, irrespective of which, as in the East, numerous 

 fresh water and a few marine species are thus marked, it seems a rather bold 

 assumption to advocate that this form must be a descendant of the identical 

 species referred to. St. Christopher is also credited with having captured this 

 fish, and left a record on its sides, as shown by the marks on the dory. Sir T. 

 Browne, in his list of Norfolk Pishes, 1662, observed " the Faber maximus 

 sometimes found very large . . . we often meet with in these seas, some- 

 times called a peter-fish." Merrett, in his Pinax MerumNaturaliumBritannicarum, 

 published in" 1666, speaks of this fish as Doree. Another, but more far-fetched, 

 derivation of the origin of the term "John Dory " has been advanced, and is that 

 it is a corruption of the Gascon term Jan, or a "cock," and that consequently 

 it means " gilt cock," and as a further evidence, the circumstance that this fish 

 in southern Europe is termed gallo, or " cock," from the crest on its nape. Alston 

 (Zool. 1866, p. 435) observed that in Arran one was called golden haddock. 

 Sion dori, Welsh. Be zonnevisch, Dutch. Le zee, French. 



Habits. This fish is somewhat sluggish, and said to be frequently carried 

 along by currents, while in swimming it is usually seen somewhat on one side, 

 which enables it to rest against a rock as well as to see both above and below it. 

 Although its movements are generally slow they become accelerated when it 

 desires food, which it pursues by a sort of succession of jerks. Couch suggested 

 that the filamentous prolongations from its fins are used as decoys, and that it 

 buries itself or lies on the sand, where it waves them as the Lophius does its 

 tentacles. It is a great wanderer, and in the winter many appear to retire to 

 deep water, returning in the spring in excellent condition. It seems to prefer 

 during the warm months rough ground to deep water, as well as sandy bays 

 where weeds and small fishes abound. It has been said to grunt or groan when 

 being removed from the water. A member of the present Fishery Department 

 informed me that he distinctly heard some just captured emit a squeaking sound. 

 It has a very voracious appetite. At the Westminster Aquarium this fish will 

 eat " sand smelts," and has been known when hungry to swallow a young 

 " bass." One which weighed 1 lb. 1 oz. was found to contain eighteen sprats, two 

 sand smelts, and one cuttle fish, besides a number of small fish in a decomposed 

 state. From another, 12^ inches in length, Couch took twenty-five " flounders," 

 some of which were 2} inches in length : three half -grown " father lashers " and 



