296 SCOMBEROIDES. 



Mackerel, — Scomber Scomber. This com- 

 mon fish has a head compressed and smooth ; the 

 body is also smooth ; the lateral line carinate ; has 

 several spurious fins, oftentimes observed between 

 the dorsal fin and caudal. Twenty two species are 

 thought to be known to icthyologists, distinguished 

 by having or not having spurious fins ; those 

 which have the spurious, are divided into those 

 having them distinct and those having them con- 

 nected together. 



Three species are found near Massachusetts by 

 the fishermen. Occasional stragglers are proba- 

 bly taken, but are not recognised as such. 



The common mackerel of commerce is certain- 

 ly one of the most beautiful fish in our waters, so 

 familiar, that it is almost needless to describe its 

 figure. It has, till very recently, been supposed 

 that the mackerel was a migratory fish, retiring, 

 towards winter, to the polar regions, where it pro- 

 tected itself from the intense cold, by keeping under 

 the vast mountains of ice. Lately, it has been as- 

 serted, but on rather doubtful authority, that this 

 fish remains on the coast through the year, imbed- 

 ded during the severity of the winter, in the soft 

 mud but a few leagues from the coast. 



The following subjoined letter to the author, 

 from Capt. Couthouy, a highly intelligent navi- 

 gator of Boston, not only on the subject of their 



