HABITS OF THE MACKEREL. 457 



Greenland to Cape Hatteras. It remains in deep water dur- 

 ing the late autumn and winter, approaching the coast in 

 May and June for the purpose of spawning, its annual 

 appearance being very regular. The number of eggs de- 

 posited in one season by each female is said to be from five 

 to six hundred thousand. After spawning they move north- 

 ward, following the coast until they are checked by the 

 coolness of the water, when they return, and in November 

 seek the deep water again . When spawning they do not 

 take the hook ; they are then lean ; but at the time of their 

 departure from the coast they are fat and plump. (Blake.) 

 The eggs of the mackerel as well as of the cod are so light 

 as to rise to the surface, where they develop. Allied to the 

 mackerel, though of great size, are the horse-mackerel and 

 the sword-fish, whose upper jaw is greatly prolonged. 



Fig. 420. The Mackerel, Scomber scombrua, one quarter natural size After Blake. 



The singular Anabas of the Easi Indies is the representa- 

 tive of a small group of fishes called LabyrintUici or laby- 

 rinth-fishes, in allusion to a cavity on the upper side of the 

 branchial cavity on the first gill-arches, containing a laby- 

 rinthine organ, which consists of thin plates, developed 

 from the upper pharyngeal bones, enabling the fish to live 

 for a long time out of water. Anabas scandcns Cuvier, of 

 the fresh waters of India, will travel over dry land from one 

 pond to another, and is even said to climb trees by means 

 of the spines in its fins. 



Near the head of the order stands the dinner (Tautogola- 

 brus adspersus Gill), whose anatomy is represented by Figs. 

 399-401. Passing over the tautog, the voracious wolf-fish 

 (Anarrhichas), the blennies (Blennidat), in which the bodv 



