THE SPANISH MACKEREL AND THE CEROES. 1S5 



and the mackerel it inhabits that hypothetical winter resort, to which we 

 send the migratory fishes whose habits we do not understand — the mid- 

 dle strata of the ocean, the floating beds of Sargassum, which drift hither and 

 thither under the alternate promptings of the Gulf-stream currents and the 

 winter winds. 



Sixty-two years ago, Mitchill, in his "New York Fauna" said all that 

 was known of this fish in two short sentences : — " A fine and beautiful fish. 

 Comes in July." Seven years ago, when the writer was called upon to 

 prepare its biography for his " Game Fishes of the United States," he was 

 compelled to admit that later naturalists had added very little to this 

 tersely expressed story. The admirable studies of Earll and Stearns have 

 since been made, and the habits of the Spanish Mackerel are now fairly 

 well understood. 



It is a member of the Mackerel family and of the genus Scomberomorus, 

 established in 1S02 by Lacepede, and subsequently re-named by Cuvier, 

 Cybium. European naturalists still cling to Cuvier' s name for the genus, 

 which is composed of twelve or more species inhabiting the warmer por- 

 tions of the Atlantic and Indian oceans. The species under discussion 

 was described by Mitchill under the name Scomber maculatus. For nearly 

 half a century it stood upon our books- as Cybium maculatum, but our pro- 

 gressive American school of ichthyologists now insist that for the sake of 

 a consistent nomenclature, we must catalogue this lovely species under the 

 unlovely name Scomber omorus maculatus. 



The Spanish Mackerel is not the only representative of the genus Scom- 

 beromorus which occurs in American waters. There are two closely allied 

 forms in the Atlantic, which are gigantic in comparison. In the Gulf 

 States they are called King-fish and are highly esteemed by lovers of good 

 sport and delicate food. Both of these forms have been occasionally ob- 

 served as far north as Cape Cod, and it is quite possible that their abun- 

 dance along our eastern coast is greater than is at present suspected. The 

 three species are very similar in form, and their distinctive characters are 

 of such a kind that they might readily be overlooked by ordinary observ- 

 ers. It is my own opinion that they are sold in large numbers with the 

 Spanish Mackerel, and under the prestige of its name. The fish-mongers, 

 the only persons likely to notice the differences, would, for obvious reasons, 

 not be likely to call attention to them. 



The distinctive characters, though not obtrusive, are strong and con- 



