SCOMBRIDAE 



( Tunnj> and Mackerel) 



Scombrids are deep-water fish and rarely come in-shore. We 

 met large shoals on two occasions only. On the first occasion 

 Roghi met one in the Ghubbet Mus Nefit in about sixty 

 feet of water, and on the second occasion a shoal spontan- 

 eously approached the neighbourhood of Dur Ghella 

 immediately following a gelatine explosion. Some small 

 mackerel, similar to the common mackerel {Scomber scomber) 

 although of a somewhat lighter colour were killed at that 

 time. (The specimens captured are still being studied and 

 have yet to be identified). Immediately after the explosion 

 a dense shoal of bigger scombrids came up from the deep 

 and jumped avidly upon their poor little cousins, so that we 

 had to act swiftly to make our captures. They were so 

 blinded by their own greed that two of them fell victim to us. 

 While direct encounters with the members of this family 

 were rare, we frequently saw them either in the port of 

 Massawa or on the high seas. 



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