94 



SCANDINAVIAN FISHES. 



had given descriptions of this fish, and Geoffroy St. 

 HiLAiRE the best tigure then drawn. However, it is 

 much less known than the Tunny, though it lias tlie 

 same wide range, having been found in Japan, the In- 

 dian Ocean, the Red Sea, the Mediterranean, Brazil, 

 and on the east coast of North America. 



The Tuiinina never attains the same size as the 

 Tunny. Risso gives 8 dm. as its greatest length. The 



specimen from Limhamn described by Nilsson is 83 

 cm. long. The body is perfectly fusiform, a little 

 more elongated backAvard than forAvard. In his Sjiolia 

 Atlantica (1. c, p. 466) Lutken has given some mea- 

 surements of two specimens, which on comparison Avitii 

 Nilsson's measurements give the following indications 



of the changes due to age: 



Length of the boily in niillinietres 



,. „ „ head .. % of the length of the body - 



Height ,, ,, first dorsal fin „ .. ., ,, ,, ,, ,, ,, --- - 



„ :, „ „ ,, „ „ „ .. >, 17 " >' '"'ad ._ 



„ „ „ second ., „ „ ,, „ „ „ „ „ body... 



„ „ „ ., -, „ ., V „ V :, „ „ head - 



,, „ „ anal ,, ,, :, ;, „ „ „ „ body 



„ „ „ ,- ; :, „ „ ., ., .. •. ll'^lJ - 



Length ,, „ pectoral „ „ ,, ,, „ „ „ ,. body 



„ „ ,, ventral „ „ „ ,, „ „ „ „ „ - 



Greatest depth of the body ., ,, ,. „ „ ., .. ,, 



Diameter of the eye „ „ ,, ., „ „ .. head 



Distance between the first dorsal fin and the tip of the snout in % of the length of the body 

 Length of the head in % of the distance between the first dorsal fin and the tip of the snout 

 Diameter of the eye in % of the length of the snout 



Among the most marked alterations due to age 

 which appear from this table, is the increase in height 

 of the two dorsal tins, especially of the tirst, in pro- 

 portion to the length of the head. In tins respect, and 

 also in the forward position of the tirst dorsal tin, the 

 Tunnina is the most developed of its family. 



The manner of life of this species, of which we 

 have only the most scanty information, probably differs 

 but little from that of the true Tunny, and it is taken 

 together with the latter in the Italian madragues. Its 

 flesh is said to l)e of a. tine red colour and of good 



flavour; but like that of the other Tunnies it decom- 

 poses rapidly and then, of course, becomes unwholesome. 

 From its true home this fish has occasionally 

 wandered to Scandinavian waters. One specimen was 

 caught on the 29th of July, 1857, in the Sound oft 

 Limhamn near ^lalmO, and is now preserved in the 

 University Zoological Museum at Lund. Another was 

 taken near the same place, oft' Ilumlebaik, in a bottom- 

 net in October, 1878, and in August, 1881, four spe- 

 cimens were caught in a herring-net among the islands 

 oft' Christiania. 



