]{ED MULLET. 



65 



red and yellow. The fry ;ire described by Malm (1. v.) 

 as grayish green on the back and the upper third of 

 the head, and witii this exception glossy silver-white 

 with grayish dorsal tins, the anterior witli two oblique, 

 blackish bands, the posterioi' witli one. Our figure is 

 coloured from the specimen (;i nude) caught by Mr. 

 v. A. Hansson in a mackerel-net on the fith of August, 

 1886, at Starekilen in the nortli of BohuslJln, which, 

 though somewhat damaged, seems to have preserved 

 its colour fairly well, until it was presented by Mr. 

 Hansson to the Royal Museum some time afterwards. 

 In olden times the Red Mullet was one of the 

 dearest fishes, and appeared only on tlie tal)les of ricli 

 epicures. "La Triglia non mangia chi la jjUjUa" (the 

 Mullet is never eaten l)y ium M'ho catches it), says an 

 old Italian proverb. It ^vas not uncommon, even among 

 Roman citizens, to have to pay for the Mullet its weight 

 in pure silver. Suetonius, in the time of the Emperor 

 Tiberius, mentions three mullets which were sold for 

 30,000 sesterces (£227). People went so far as to 

 l)ring these fishes from distant waters and keep them 

 alive in aquaria or ponds until needed for table. "The 

 fishes," says Seneca, "swim at the guests' feet, and they 

 are set under the table so as to be nearer to hand. 

 A Mullet is not considered fresh unless it dies in the 

 guest's hand. They are brought to table in a glass 

 vessel, and the company admire the changes of colour 

 they undergo during the pangs of a long and painful 

 death. Formerly one might hear it said, 'Nothing 

 is better than a rock Mullet,' but now people say, 

 'Nothing is more beautiful than a dying Mullet; give 

 me the glass dish, that I may watch it struggle and 

 <|uiver.' When their admiration has exhausted itself 

 in praises, the fish is taken out of the transparent bowl ; 

 and now the connoisseurs be<rin to instruct their more 



unsopliisticated friends. 'Do you see that flame-red 

 colour, livelier than the fairest vermilion, those swelling 

 veins along the sides? One might fancy the belly was 

 blood. Have you observed that azure lustre gloAving 

 on its gills?'" This custom had nafiirally arisen from 

 a desire to enjoy tlie fish whew as fresh as possible, 

 and up to tlie present day, in oi'der to satisfy the eye, 

 as well as the other senses, of the freshness of this 

 delicious fish, it is scaled alive, the pigment cells of 

 the skin thus I)ecoming convulsively conti'acted by pain. 

 The taste for this fish lias latterly decreased, though 

 it still ranks as one of the best of fishes, on account 

 of its firm, white fiesh, which is of good flavour and 

 easy of digestion. The liver is considered the most 

 delicious part, and in the estimation of epicures the 

 head comes next. 



The ^lullet has about the same geographical range 

 as the Sea Bream — the Mediterranean and the At- 

 lantic outside it. To Sweden its visits are few and 

 far between, but it has several times been taken b^- 

 herring-fishei's off Kullen; and the small fry described 

 by Malm, which were taken on two occasions in Gull- 

 maren, prove that it may propagate its species here. 

 The larger form, the Gold-striped Mullet, is the more 

 common in the Atlantic, being found as far north as 

 the neighbourhood of Bergen, while the smaller, the 

 Red Mullet, is the more common in the Mediterranean 

 and the Black Sea. The species attains its greatest 

 size in the west of the English Channel, according to 

 Couch". Off Yarmouth, too, it is sometimes .so plenti- 

 ful that in one week (in May, 1831) 10,000 are said 

 to have been sent from this town to London. In win- 

 ter it is taken in deep water with a traAvl, in spring 

 it makes for the shore, where it is caught in trammels 

 or with a seine. 



" Fish. Brit. IsL, Vol. I, p. 209. 



Scandinavian Fishes. 



