ONE SPOTTED MESOPRION. 149 



in the chinks and clefts of rocks, and only leave 

 their dull retreats, in the finest weather, to prey 

 on the tender molusca, with which these seas so 

 thickly swarm. 



Many of these fish attain a very large size and 

 are much esteemed. Such is the M. vivanus, 

 reaching a weight of forty pounds ; and such also 

 is the 



