THE SPANISH MACKEREL AND THE CEROES. 185 



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. 



Si.\ty-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 liis " Game Fishes of the United States," he was 

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

 tersely ex])ressed 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 Scombcromonis, 

 established in 1802 by Lacepede, and subsequently re-named bv 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 viacttlatus. For nearly 

 half a century it stood upon our books as Cybiiwi maadahim, but our pro- 

 gressive Amei-ican school of ichthyologists now insist that for the sake of 

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

 unlovely name Scomberomorus inaciilatiis. 



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 bv 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- 



