92 ACANTHOPTERYGII. — SCliENAD^. 



aquila, Cuv. et Val.), but our fishermen call it 

 the Stone Basse, and confound it with another 

 fish of large size, which resembles it, one of the 

 PercadcE, 



Mr. Yarrell describes the colour of this rare 

 fish when quite fresh, as a uniform greyish silver, 

 slightly inclining to brown on the back, and 

 lightest on the belly; but the whole body as- 

 suming a much darker tint, after it has been kept 

 for a few days. The fins are reddish brown ; the 

 first dorsal, the pectorals, and the ventrals, brighter 

 in hue than the others. The second dorsal is 

 twice as long as the first ; the caudal is, as it 

 were, cut off" with a straight vertical edge. 



Many of the Scicenadce have a similar power to 

 that already mentioned as characterizing the Trig- 

 ladcB, that of producing vocal sounds. The Mai- 

 gre's voice is compared to the purring of a cat, 

 and it utters it not only in the air when removed 

 from the water, but even when swimming consi- 

 derably beneath the surface. When swimming 

 in shoals, it is said the purring of the Maigre is 

 audible from a depth of twenty fathoms. 



