ACANTHOPTERYGII. 355 



Caranx, certain fish which had been previously confounded 

 with the scombri. The name is derived from the Greek 

 word Kapa (caput) because the majority of the species of this 

 genus are remarkable either for the size of the head, or the 

 brilliancy of its colours. 



The sanrel, or bastard mackerel, caranx trachurus, in- 

 habits the Mediterranean Sea, the Pacific and the Atlantic 

 Oceans. The ancients were probably acquainted with it, and 

 Athenaeus and Oppian appear to have spoken of it under the 

 nameof rpa^ovpoc. On the coasts of the Mediterranean, and 

 towards the mouth of the Charente, it is vulgarly called 

 gascon, gasconet, chicaron, &c. 



In spring it approaches the shores in numerous troops to 

 spawn. Great numbers are then taken both by the line and 

 the net. Its flesh is inferior in flavour to that of the mackerel. 

 In the north, however, it is rather in estimation. But at Nice, 

 Rome, and on the coasts of the Mediterranean, it is entirely 

 abandoned to the lower classes of people. In the time of 

 Belon it was greatly in demand at Constantinople, for the 

 garum which was made of its intestines. 



Koempfer appears to have met with this fish in Japan, and 

 Marcgrave in Brazil. In the Baltic Sea it is seldom above 

 a foot in length, but in the Mediterranean it frequently at- 

 tains to more than three. 



A fish of this genus, now forming the subgenus Carangus, 

 is so called at Martinique, and in the Archipelago of the 

 Antilles. Pere Labat informs us that they name Carangues 

 /ranches, those which are nearly two feet in length, one in 

 height, and four or five inches in thickness, while those which 

 are smaller are designated by the name of Carangues lunaires. 

 The same observer tells us that it is one of those fishes which 

 leap the best, and which often by the assistance of this 

 faculty escapes from the nets where it has been retained. Its 

 strength is so great that it breaks the best lines, when it is 



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