172 



j\canthop- 



lerygii. 

 . I'eicitse. 



ICHTHYOLOGY- 



Tlie wounds of its teeth are said to be mortal. Dutertre 

 attributes to it the same great size and mahgn qualities, 

 and regards it as more dangerous than the fiercest shark. 

 Neither noise, nor any kind of threatening movement, has 

 the slightest effect in producing intimidation ; on the 

 contrary, such signs of dislike only excite it to a greater 

 readiness to seize upon its victim. It must be a most dis- 

 agreeable creature. 



Genus Mullus, Linn. Surfijce of the body and 

 opercles covered by large deciduous scales ; pre-opercle 

 without dentations ; mouth small, or but slightly cleft, 

 and feebly toothed ; dorsal fins distant from each other ; 

 a pair of barbies or appendages depending from the sym- 

 physis of the loiver jaw. 



This genus, although allied to the Percidje by several 

 anatomical and external details, is yet characterised by 

 so many peculiarities of organization, that it might al- 

 most be regarded as forming of itself a special family. 

 Cuvier, however, has placed it a la suite of the Percidas, 

 and we shall therefore follow that great authority in this 

 as in the other portions of our ichthyological system. 

 'J'he genus Mullus is now divided into two. 



1. Mullus proper. Branchiae wiih three rays; opercle 

 spineless ; no teeth to the upper jaw ; two large plates 

 of small teeth en pave on the vomer ; no swimming blad- 

 der. 



To this sub-genus belongs the famous red mullet {31. 

 barbutus), Plate CCXCVIII. fig. 12, which, by reason both 

 of its great personal beauty, and the exquisite flavour of its 

 flesh, has for so many ages ministered to the degenerate 

 and heartless luxury of man. It is very frequent in the 

 Mediterranean, and also occurs occasionally along the 

 outer and more northern coasts of Europe. It is brought 

 occasionally to the London markets during the mackerel 

 season ; but it is doubtful whether MUller is not in error 

 in assigning to it so northern a locality as Denmark. 

 " The great and rich among the Romans were in the ha- 

 bit, according to Varro, of preserving the red mullet in 

 artificial waters, as one of the most convincing proofs of 

 their individual wealth. Cicero has ridiculed the sense- 

 less ostentation with which they exhibited fine speci- 

 mens of this fish, domiciliated in their own ponds ; but 

 Seneca and Pliny have rendered their countrymen odious 

 in the eyes of posterity, and of other nations, by relating 

 the cruelty with which, in their disgusting orgies, they 

 revelled over the dying mullet, while the bright red co- 

 lour of its healthy state passed through various shades of 

 purple, violet, blue, and white, as life gradually receded, 

 till the convulsions of death put an end to the pleasing 

 spectacle. They had these devoted fish enclosed in wa- 

 ter in vessels with sides of crystal, over a slow fire, on 

 their tables, and derived a fiend-like pleasure from the 

 lingering sufferings of their victims as the increasing heat 

 of the water gradually destroyed them, before the final 

 operation of boiling had rendered them fit to gratify the 

 refined taste of civilization. One cannot indeed read these 

 revolting histories of old time without a blush at certain 

 modern practices far too analogous with them : the sense 

 of taste may, in the cases alluded to, be alone consulted ; 

 but the difference is nothing to the suffering animal, 

 wliether its torments gratify one or more of the evil pas- 

 sions of its tormentors. The skinning of eels, and the 

 boiling of live Crustacea, would be as disgusting as the 

 gradual boiling of a mullet, did not, in this as in many 

 other cases, the practice of evil destroy the feeling of its 

 iniquity. So extravagant was the folly of the Romans 

 with regard to this fish, that they often gave for them 



Buccce 

 Lorkatie. 



immense prices. Martial mentions one of four pounds Acanthop. 

 weight, which had cost 1300 sesterces ; and it is said that tervfrn. 

 the Emperor Tiberius sold one weighing nearly five 

 pounds for 4000 sesterces. Asinius Celer, one of the 

 consuls, is reported by Pliny to have paid 8000 ; and, ac- 

 cording to Suetonius, 30,000 sesterces had been given 

 for three mullets."' 



The surmulet, or striped mullet {M. Surmuktus, Linn.), 

 is larger than the preceding, and measures about a foot 

 in length. It is much more common as a British species 

 than the preceding, being of frequent occurrence along 

 the extended line of our southern coast, from Cornwall 

 to Sussex ; but becoming rarer as we proceed from thence 

 northward by the eastern coast. It has been regarded 

 as migratory, yet it a])pears in the shops of the London 

 fish-mongers throughout the year, though in much greater 

 plenty during May and June, at which time their colours 

 are most vivid, and the fish, as food, is in the best condition. 

 The striped red mullet spawns in spring, and the young 

 are five inches long by the end of October." The spe- 

 cies is much more extensively distributed than the red 

 mullet, and is not confined, as Baron Cuvier seems to 

 suppose, to European coasts. It occurs not far to the 

 south of New York, and has been found in much greater 

 numbers along the southernmost coasts of South Ame- 

 rica.^ It has been supposed that to this species the 

 larger specimens of mullet mentioned by the ancients 

 are referrible. Pliny indeed states expressly that the 

 large mullets were found especially in the Northern and 

 Western Oceans. 



2. Upkneus, Cuv. Branchiaj with four rays ; teeth 

 on both jaws, but frequently none on the palate ; opercle 

 with a small spine ; a swimming bladder. 



The species of this sub-genus are native to the seas of 

 India and America. That which %ve have selected for 

 illustration (Plate CCXCVIII. fig. 13) is the H. Vlamingii 

 of Cuvier. It was sent to Paris by MM. Quoy and Gay- 

 mard, and when opened its stomach was found filled with 

 small Crustacea. 



We here terminate the family of Percid^, or perch- 

 like fishes, and proceed to 



FAMILY II — BUCC.E LORICATE, or MAILED 

 CHEEKS. 



Tliere are a certain set of fishes which, in the totality 

 of their structure, certainly approach the preceding fa- 

 mily of the perches ; but on which the singular aspect of 

 their variously-armed heads bestows so peculiar a phy- 

 siognomy, that they have always been classed together 

 in special genera. As examples, we may mention the gur- 

 nards, father-lashers, and river bull-heads, belonging to 

 Trigla and Cotlus. The common character of all these 

 fishes consists in the sub-orbital bone being more or less 

 extended over the cheek, and articulating behind with 

 the pre-opercle. The genus Uranoscopus alone of the 

 preceding family exhibits some affinity to this form of 

 structure ; but still in that case, the sub-orbital, though 

 very broad, is connected posteriorly, not with the opercle, 

 but with the temporal bones. It is then from this pecu- 

 liar extension and attachment of one or both of the sub- 

 orbitals that the family of the mailed cheeks derives its 

 name. 



In the Linnaean system these fishes formed three ge- 

 nera, Trigla, Cotlus, and Scorpana, groups which have 

 been considerably subdivided by Cuvier, who has more- 



« Griffith's Animal Kingdom, vol. x. (>• 2/7. = Yarrell's British Fishss. 



' Griffith's Animal Kingdom, vol. X. p. 278. 



p. 27. 



