AND THE FISH THEREOF. 73 



abnormity of this species {Dentex gibbosus, Cocco) is common at Sebenico, 

 where it is known by the name of Dcntalc del la Corona, and is held in 

 particular esteem all along the coast. Two other species of Dentex have 

 been fished in Dalmatian waters, but they have only a scientific interest. 



Three species of Meena and four species of Smarts belong to the same 

 group, and their flesh is so inferior in quality as food, that it is a common 

 mode of derision at Venice to accuse a person of eating this class of fish 

 (Magna menole ! — i.e., he eats Menolel). They are sometimes caught in 

 large quantities by the Italian trawling-nets, and furnish cheap food for the 

 poorest class of the population of the coast ; the surplus is salted, and forms 

 an article of export to Greece and the Levant. One species (Smarts vul- 

 garis) is reared in the fish-ponds (valli) of the lagoons. 



Red Mullet is common in most seasons, and the yield of the fisheries 

 is worth ,£12,000 a year ; the larger species (M. sunnuletus) attains to a 

 weight of from 2 to 3 lb., and is known by the name of Triglia, because, 

 according to the ancients, it was reputed to spawn three times a year. The 

 specific difference of the two kinds is not established, and Dr. Giinther holds, 

 with Gronovius, that they form only one species, M. sunnuletus being pro- 

 bably the female. The Romans prized it above any other fish, and paid its 

 weight in silver. Even to this day it ranks amongst the most delicate of the 

 edible fishes. 



The genus is commonly known as Pesce rosso, and is caught with the 

 trammel ; and both species are reared in the artificial ponds in the lagoons 

 of Venice. At Naples three species are distinguished ; they are known by 

 the names of Triglia saponara, of a pale reddish hue, frequenting sandy 

 bottoms, far from rocks ; Triglia di fango, of a pale, fleshy colour, only the 

 head being bright red, and frequenting, as the name implies, muddy bottoms ; 

 and Triglia di aurito, of a brown colour, frequenting the beds overgrown 

 with alga (see Canestrini, " Fauna d' Italia," parte terza, p. So). At Spalato, 

 a variety is distinguished by the name of Sgrtenice, which is applied to them 

 for the reason that they rise to the surface, twisting and wriggling their 

 bodies in the shape of a semicircle, thus remaining for a certain time, then 

 straightening themselves up again, and then recommencing the contortion of 



L 



