Baron Cuvier on the Mullets of Europe. 65 



mon than the other on particular coasts, but it also inhabits 

 the Mediterranean ; and it is probable that to this species may 

 be referred the mullets of 2lbs. weight of which the Romans 

 made so much account. Pliny says expressly that these large 

 mullets were found chiefly in the northern and western ocean. 

 The smaller species is the most esteemed, as it is also the most 

 beautiful from the lustre of its colours. This was without 

 doubt the species which was kept in the fish-ponds of the Ro- 

 mans, and which was brought living under their tables, — in 

 short, the Mullus harhatus to which Cicero alludes. 



The Surmullet, or Mullus surmuletus of Linnaeus, is brought 

 to market at Paris in the months of April and May. On the 

 coast of La Mancha it is not rare. Pennant says that it ap- 

 pears also in the month of May upon the Devonshire coast, 

 and that it is found till November. Ray mentions that an 

 individual of this species had been taken at Penzance in Corn- 

 wall. In proportion as we retire to the North the species be- 

 comes more rare. It is as such that it is cited among the fishes 

 of the Baltic and Northern Sea in Schonevelde's Ichthyology 

 of Hohtein^ and in the Fauna Suecica. Approaching the 

 South of Europe, on the contrary, the surmullet becomes more 

 plentiful. It is much used at Bordeaux and Bayonne, where 

 it is named harbeau and barberin. Cornide mentions it among 

 the fishes of Galicia under the names of ba^'bo and salmonete. 

 In many places of the Mediterranean it is more common than 

 the other species, particularly upon the coasts of Sardinia. It 

 abounds in the lagunes of Venice, where it is called tria ; it 

 it is denominated streglia at Nice ; Brunnich has described it 

 at Marseilles under the name of rouget ; and it is probable 

 that Forskal, when he assures us that the Mullus barbatus is 

 common and despised at Constantinople, speaks only of the 

 M. surmuletus. Its flesh is, according to Cetti, held in less 

 esteem than that of the M. barbatus^ so celebrated on the 

 coasts of Provence ; but the Parisians notwithstanding know 

 well how to appreciate it. The general length of the surmul- 

 let is about a foot, but they are found from 14 to 15 inches 

 long. 



The true Mullet, or Mullus barbatus^ Lin. is at once dis- 

 tinguished from the former by the form of its head, which 



NEW SERIES. VOL. II. NO. I. JAN. 1830. E 



