150 PERCID.E. 



liand's-breaJtli long, the above lofty-sounding title might have been given 

 to this fish on account of its pre-eminence in size (ob magnitudinem 

 eximiam) ; meaning, of course, amongst the Mullets. Such names, however, 

 down from Homer's aVa| ocvhgcov to the Roman satirist's " Rupilius rex,"" 

 and whether given in the way of compliment or sarcasm, relate by no 

 means necessarily to the above-named quality. In this little fish's gene- 

 ral resemblance to the Red Mullets, combined with its comparative rarity, 

 or at least solitary habits, to say nothing of its truly regal gold, and scarlet 

 or purpurascent mantle, will be found a real and sufficient clew to its 

 elevation to the titular dignity of their monarch. 



The same author also is the first to call it Mullus imberbis ; though, 

 as he remarks himself, this name had been applied already by Rondelet 

 to a very different fish, the Trigla lineata, L. Bl. 



This little fish seems to be generally dispersed throughout the Medi- 

 terranean ; but does not appear to have been often noticed on this side the 

 Straits of Gibraltar. In their sixth volume, MM. Cuvier and Valen- 

 ciennes remark, however, that it has been received from Teneriffe.* At 

 Nice, Risso relates that it is called Sarpanansa: and MM. Cuvier and 

 Valenciennes collect from other authors that it is known at Genoa, where 

 it is rare, by the names of Castagnena rossa, or Castagnau rouge ; at 

 Ivi^a by that of Cagna-vieja-rosa ; and in Sicily by that of Munacedda 

 russa. 



In Madeira, although generally known to the fishermen, it has not 

 acquired any fixed or certain name ; and it is certainly one of the rarer 

 fishes. It is taken, however, in the shore-nets, or fish-baskets, at all 

 seasons ; yet scarcely more than two or three ever occur together. I have 

 captured it myself in a small net worked at night upon the scant sandy beach 

 in the little bay of Machico in the month of August; and I have also 

 had it brought to me caught by a hook baited with shrimps {Palamon 

 SqiiiUa, Fabr., or Pontophilus Pristis^ Risso,) off the rocks by night at 

 Magdalena : but it is rarely, if ever, captured in any way by day. It 

 breeds from August to November ; and the spawn before exclusion is of a 

 peculiarly bright orange or red-lead colour, like that of a boiled crab or 

 lobster : yet is its appearance on these shores most certainly not, as sup- 

 posed by MM. Cuvier and Valenciennes in regard to the Mediterranean 

 fish, confined to this its breeding season : nor can I here discover any 

 evidence to prove that at any part of the year " il se tient dans des pro- 

 fondeurs inaccessibles ;" though it is unquestionably a night-feeder ;'|' a 

 habit which accounts, perhaps, sufficiently for the great size of its eyes, 

 no less than for its rarity. 



* Cuv. et Val. Hist. vi. 493. 



t The fishermen see them occasionallj' by day, but cannot tempt them to take the bait. 



