332 



S('ANDINAVIAN FISHES. 



(jl)struction in a higher degree than many other fishes, 

 for this hal)it of leaping over the obstacle may mislead 

 them no less tlian other fishes. "In tlie jiort of Lose, 

 in Cornwall," says CorcH, -there is a, saltwatei- mill 

 IKjol of thii'teen acres that is enclosed on the side (jf 

 the river \)\ an embankment, and into which the tide 

 flows throngh flood-gates that afford a ready passage 

 for fish to the space within. When tlic tide begins to 

 ebb the i;ates close of themselves, bnt even before this 

 has hap])ened the Mnllets wdiich have entered have been 

 known to pass along the enclosed circuit within the 

 l)a,nk, as if seeking the means of deliverance, and, 

 finding no outlet, they have thrown themselves on the 

 liank on the side to their own destruction." 



Aristotle quotes the Gray Mullets as the only 

 representatives of their chiss "that refused to eat flesh;" 

 and after his time these fishes Avere generally famed, 

 and l)y Ovu) and ()rPiAN celebrated in song, for their 

 peaceable disposition and other social virtues, as well 

 as for their sagacity in avoiding any lure. For all this 

 they are by no means vegetarians, and destroy quite 

 as many lives as other fishes. "From a single stomach 

 of the Thicklipped Gray Mullet," says Thompson (1. c.), 

 ■1 have obtained what would fill a large-sized breakfast 

 cuj) of the following species of bivalve and univalve 

 mollusca (which had been taken alive) — MijHlus edulis, 

 Modioht papitana (of these very small specimens), Kellia 

 niln((, Skci/ed (k'prcssa, Littorina retusa, Bissoa labiosa 

 and /.'. jiarra, Serpuhe and 3Iiliol(P. Of these mollusca, 

 specimens of h'isson labiosa, three lines in length, were 

 The largest, and the RpHia rubra, from the smallest size 

 to its maximum of little more than a. line diameter, 

 the most abundant. In the profusion of specimens it 

 affords, the stomach of one of these mullets is quite a 

 stoi-e house to a conchologist. In addition to these 

 were various species of minute Crustacea. The only 

 inanimate mattei' tliat appeared, were fragments of Zn- 

 sfi-ni iiiKriiiii and ('oHfervce, which were ])i'oba])ly taken 

 into the stomach on account of the adhering mollusca." 

 It is proliabh- for this same reason that the Gray Mul- 

 l(!ts follow vessels into liarbour, and haunt the algte 

 attaclied to the xessel's bottom. At certain seasons of 

 the \ear at least, the Gray Mullets freely take a bait. 

 In Blancheur's work" Savigny gives a descri|)tion of 

 this fishery, as it is cari-ied on on the French side of the 

 Ghannel, near Dieppe. The bait is composed chiefly of 



Annelids, Nereids of tiie kind we ma)^ often see crawl- 

 ino- amone the roots of seaweed or on oyster-shells 

 etc. When the shoal of Mnllets a]ii)roaches along the 

 coast or i-oves outside the (piays or flood-gates of the 

 harbours, in August and Sei)teml)ei' in particidar, a 

 busy fishery is pursued on land and in boats. The 

 active fishes are often taken without biting, tiie hook 

 catching in tiie belh' or tail or some other part of the 

 bodv. The fishermen call these catches stolen fish [roU), 

 and know the bite h\ its uncommon strength, at least 

 three times that of an ordinary bite. These occurrences 

 explain the old myth that the ^lullet first takes the 

 precaution of sti'iking the liait with its tail (Ovid). In 

 other places a bait of dough or something similar is used. 



The most usual and most pi-oductive fishery, how- 

 ever, is carried on with seine and net. The cautious- 

 ness of the Mullets and their leaping-powers necessitate 

 the use of special tackle, as for instance trammels, nets 

 with a double head-line or back floating at the surface 

 etc. In some places it is customary to spread straw 

 in front of the seine, it being supposed that the fish 

 dare not leap bet^veen the straws. 



The largest catches of ^lullets ai-e made, to the 

 best of our knowdedge, in the Mediterranean and the 

 Gulf of Mexico and <mi the Atlantic coast of Florida. 

 In recent times it has l)een supposed' that the species 

 which is commonest on both sides of Amei'ica (the Mu- 

 (j'll albiila of LiXN.EUs), is identical witli the species 

 most important in the Mediterranean, Mugil cepJialus, 

 Avhich is foreign to the Scandinavian fauna, but of Avhich 

 we have the fullest information. On tlie east coast of 

 Florida, according to Buowx-Goode (1. c), we may 

 distinguish between "thi-ee ])eriods of schooling or se- 

 parate I'uns of Mullet. The "June Mullet" average 

 about five to the pound; the "Fat Mullet," which are 

 taken from August 20 to October 1, weigh aliout two 

 pounds; these have, the fishermen say, a "roe of fat" 

 on each side as thick as a man's thumli. Tlie "Roe 

 Mullet" weigh about two and a half pounds, and are 

 caught in November and until Christmas. Between the 

 seasons of the "Fat Mullet" and "Roe Mullet" there is 

 an intermission of two or tln-ee weeks in the fishing." 

 Fishes of a greater weight than 3 kgni, are exceptional, 

 though specimens 58 cm. long and 5 kgm. in weight 

 are on record. In this genus, however, the largest 

 fishes are hx no means the most highly esteemed. 



" Xouv. Diet. Gen. d. Pechcs, article Mulct. 

 '' .IiiKiiAN and SwAi.N, Prnc. U. S. Nat. Miis., 



VII (1HK4), p. 263. 



