244 



ICHTHYOLOGY. 



Classifica- 

 tion — Ma- 

 lacopteri. 



brown, shading s;r.itluiilly into a clear silvery-vvliite ; tlie 

 dorsal fin greenish-brown, the anterior edj^e much length- 

 ened and pointed ; the lower fins all blush-white ; the tail 

 much forked. They spawn about the commencement of 

 November. The roe is minute and abundant, and of a 

 bright orange colour. The flesh is white and rich, and 

 highly prized as food ; but as it requires almost to be eaten 

 on the spot, it is not useful as a market commodity when 

 transmitted to any considerable distance. The lochs of 

 Lochmaben are the only authentic British habitat for this 

 species. 



The Grayling ( T/ii/malus vulgaris) is a local fish in Eng- 

 land, being chiefly found in tlie Test, the Avon, the Dove, 

 the Lug, the Wye, the Irvon, the Teme, and the Clun, in 

 the southern counties ; in the Trent, the Dove, and Dee, in 

 the midland districts, and in the Wiske, the Wharfe, the 

 Ure, the Ribble, and the Dcrwent, in the northern coun- 

 ties. In America the Graylings have not been detected 

 south of the 61st parallel of latitude, but two or more species 

 abound in the clear affluents of the Mackenzie, issuing from 

 granitic and other primitive rocks. One, the Thi/mahis 

 signifer, is the most beautiful known species ; and the Es- 

 kimos, seizing on its most characteristic feature, name it 

 " Hewliikpowak" or the "fish with the wing-like fin." It 

 affords fine sport to the angler, tugging like a bull-dog 

 when it feels the hook. 



Stenodus Mackenzie, the poisson inconnu of the canoe- 

 men who accompanied Mackenzie in his voyage down the 

 great river which bears his name, is still so called by the 

 fur-traders who frequent the district. It ascends the Mac- 

 kenzie from the Arctic Sea as high as Great Slave Lake, a 

 course of 500 miles, but shuns clear water, and has not 

 hitherto been discovered in any other river than the Mac- 

 kenzie. M. Valenciennes, having seen no specimen, has 

 not introduced it into his great work, but it is nevertheless 

 a very distinct generic form, not liable to be confounded 

 with any other. When obtained soon after its ascent from 

 the Arctic Sea it is agreeable food, but people who feed 

 solely on it tire of it sooner than either of the " Namaycush" 

 or " White Fish ;" and after it has been for some time in 

 fresh water its flesh becomes soft and oily. Its weight 

 varies from five to fifteen pounds, but it has been taken of 

 a considerably greater size. 



The preceding pages contain as full an account as our 

 limits will permit of the typical Salmonida: with fleshy 

 cheeks, and, on account of their importance to man, and the 

 general interest felt in their iiistory, we have devoted more 

 space to them than we can give to other groups of fishes. 

 M. Valenciennes has separated the Salmonoids which have 

 the cheeks cuirassed by an enlargement of the sub-orbitar 

 scale bones so as to cover, in great part or wholly, the muscles 

 which move the mandible. These present a great va- 

 riety of forms, which he has subdivided into lesser as- 

 semblages of genera. The Characini and Scopelini of 

 Miiller nearly comprehend this division, but the group is 

 not exactly the same. 



Some of the genera belonging to this division, and named 

 in the table, are vegetable eaters, and have long intestines 

 doubled up in the belly ; others are fierce devourers of 

 flesh. Some of the most curious, from their habits, live 

 in the great rivers of South America. The Mi/letes pacu 

 of Htimboldt is said to be a fish of exquisite flavour, but 

 with its flesh full of ribs. It is an inhabitant of the 

 Amazon and its affluents. The species of Serrosahmis, so 

 voracious and so expert in carrying away a motithful of 

 flesh, bitten off w ith their cutting teeth, are dreaded by the 

 natives of the districts in which they abound. Any animal 

 falling into the water is immediately attacked and cut in 

 pieces by swarms of these fish. Known to the Indians by 

 tlie names of Caribe or Caribito, on account of their thirst 

 for blood, they assail bathers the instant they plunge into 



the water, and inflict dangerous wounds before the sufferers Classifica- 

 are able to escape. Their haunt is at the bottoms of the ''<"> — *'"■■ 

 rivers, but a single drop of blood thrown into the water will '"^opteri. 

 bring them in thousands to the surface. ""^"V""'^ 



A very curious white and translucent fish is the Salan.v 

 Reevesii, known to the Europeans at Canton by the name 

 of " Whitebait," and eaten as a delicacy, served in the same 

 way that the fish of the same name is cooked at Blackwall. 

 One group, the Scopoli?ii of authors, is remarkable for the 

 extreme metallic brilliancy of round spots, placed generally 

 in rows along the body, or for other brilliant places about 

 the head and elsewhere ; many are nocturnal, coming to the 

 surface at night, and soine have luminous eminences on the 

 head visible in the dark. They abound in the Mediter- 

 ranean and China seas, but they comparatively rarely appear 

 in northern latitudes. 



Kg. 72. 

 Scopelus or Myctophum boops. 



One species only has been detected on the British shores. 

 The Scopelus Pennanti was first noticed by the naturalist 

 whose name it bears, but was mistaken by him for the 

 Atherine. It has been taken at the island of Sheppy, on 

 the coast of Flintshire, at Exmouth, and in the Orkneys. 

 The S. borealis (Nilss.) is a Norwegian fish, different from 

 the Britisli one. Fig. 24 represents a scale of Scope- 

 lus resp/endetis, an Atlantic fish, and Chauliodus Fieldii is 

 represented by fig. 2. 



Fig. 73. 

 Saurus undosquamis. 



The Saureys are cm-ious from the forms of the teeth ; in 

 some species long, slender, and barbed at the points. The 

 dentition of the -S'. nehereus (Hamilton), ^. ophiodon 

 (Cuvier), is of tiiis kind, and on that account Lesueur pro- 

 posed Harpodon as a generic name for it. It is a fish of 

 voracious habits, and at certain seasons its body is brilliantly 

 phosphorescent, like some of the Scopelines. It is rich 

 food, though delicate when newly taken. When salted and 

 dried it gets the singular appellation of " Bombay ducks" 

 in commerce, or of Buminaloti, and is exported in large 

 quantities from Bombay and the Malabar coast to other 

 parts of India. Fig. 41 shows the form of a scale from the 

 lateral line oi Saurus undosquamis (Richardson). 



Fig. 74. 

 Galnxias truttac^ns. 



The Gala.ridre, though they want the adipose fin of the 

 Trouts, yet have much the aspect of these familiar fishes, 

 and represent them in the southern hemisphere, where no 



