ICHTHYOLOGY. 293 



Classifica- TABLE OF GENEHA. 'ri,o fi 1 f.i t.t , , ,^ 



tion— . \ "® hsiiery ot the common Mackerel (Scomber scombrus) Classifica- 



Acanthop- Tribe I. is described in detail, and with much accuracy, by Mr t'on— 



terous A continuous firtt donal ; rays of the second dorsal and of the anal Yarrell, to whose pages We refer the reader, for we shall A<^anthop- 

 Fishef. detached in form of finlets. Tail tapering to a narrow end. "ot t^ow make lengthened quotations from a work which is i'"'""^ 



V ^^^ Caudal lareje i„ the hands of every one who is interested in British Ich- J"'^^'' 



^5::rsxrrr;ir '-'"'' "'■ S'Tf ""fJf'. "^^^'^ ■•^"'^^^ ''■°- '-^' '"^'^ °" ^^ ^"^ 



Two little crests on each side of the tail Scomber. I T , " """^ ^^'^' ^'^^^^ "*'' ^''e'"e so abundant off Lowes- 



Scales oftheihorax lar.ier, formine, a corselet.. ..Avxis. totfe, that the catch On that day, by sixteen boats, amounted 



First dorsal reaching to the second' one. '" value to L.52o2, and it is supposed that the owners and 



^ "?'^'- u . , , , . """," concerned in the Mackerel fishery on the Sussex coast, 



TeeThTmJ; ,'' ; ■ . ^ ••eal'sedaltogetherL.14,000. ThecommonMackereUhough 



crowded ' ""'''''''■'-'^''- THVNNt;s. destitute of an air-bladder, takes a bait readily a few inclfes 



Teethstrong, pointed, separated...;. Pelamis. 7 '''^ surface, and is a general inhabitant of all the 



JVo corselet. northern seas, from Greenland and the Baltic, through the 



A keel on each side of the tail. North Atlantic, to the Mediterranean, the Black Sea, and 



Teeth compressed, pointed, trenchant.. Cybium. ^^'^ "f Azof. Very similar species exist in the Australian 



No keel on the tail. and Australasian Seas, the Cape of Good Hone, and Seas of 



Pointed cutting teeth, the fore ones 1 Thyksitks, China and Japan. Most of these have air-bkdders 



longest J Gempylus. 



APPENDIX TO TIIIBE I. 

 A single continuous dorsal ; no scali/ armour on ^ 

 the lateral bne. No corselet. A'o keels. 

 All or many of the rays of the anal reduced I j^EfU'OPUS, 

 to mere small spines. Teeth of Thyrsites and riuCHIURUS. 

 Gempylus , J 



Groiq:) of Sivord-Jish. 



Snout elongated, ensiform, or dagger- \ XiPiiIAS, 



pointed. Keels on the sides of the | Tetrapt'crUS, 



tail. Teeth close and short, villi- / MaKaira, ' F'S- HO- 



''"''" I UlSTIOPHORUS. Thynnus vulgaris. 



Tribe II. The Tunny ( 77/. vulgaris, Cuv. ; Scomber thjnnus, Linn.), 



First dorsal represented by isolated spines. ?^' l'^' '* °"^ °^ *''*^ largest fishes of the ocean. When 



Thoracic ventrals. It "'eighs only a hundred pounds, tlie Sardinians give it the 



A keel on each side of the tail Naucrates. name of ^'cawyjwTo, a diminutive derived from'Scomber 



No keel on the tail. When above that weigiit, and onwards to tliree hundred 



Body elongated Elecate. pounds, it is called Mez:o-tor.>w, or Half Tunny. The 



Body compressed. larger individuals frequently weigh a thousand pounds ; and 



Second dorsal and anal continuous., j ^'Chia, Cetti asserts that old males are Taken occasionally wein-hiu"- 



Jugular ventrals ' APOLECTir'' f S'lteen hundred pounds. The fishery of the Tunny'clate^ 



'|""m the most remote antiquity; and the city of Byzan- 



Tribe hi. tium was more especially enriched by it. The shoals which 



Lateral line armed with keeled scales. entered the Bosphorus were Said to meet near Chalcedon 



Armature of the lateral line, strong and 1 „ ^''"^ ''^ "'"te rock, which so terrified them that they turned 



conspicuous jtARANx. into the Gulf of Byzantium, now the port of Constantinople. 



. . .. /Olistes.Scyris, ^^^ ^^'^s, according to Cuvier, in consequence of this abund- 



Armature of the lateral line visible merely Blepharis, ance of Tunnies, that the gulf in question received the 



^a;'^:^.^''';^:^:.::^^:^]^^:;^^ nameoftheG./*«//o,.;andtheorac^ofApollodesig- 



IvomIr Hynni's / i Chalcedon as tlie Cttt/ of the Bhnd, because its 



V iiv.roNNis. founders did not perceive the inferiority of its site in rela- 



^^^^^ '^- tion to these valued fish. Gibbon, however, tells us that 



JVo detached finlets ; no isolated dorsal spiyies ; no armature on the " ''"^ '^"'"^''' "''lich the gulf describes migjit be compared to 



T, '"''■ , , , , the horn of a stag, or, as it should seem, with more nro- 



ZoZf^a^s °' '""''' °' '"'' '"'"'^''^''^'^- P''.''^'y' .to that of an ox. The epithet ffo/c/e?i was expressive 



„ of 'he riches which every wind wafted liom the most distant 



vu-f , ,., I Nonn^'"^; ll"' countries into the secure and capacious iiort of Constan- 



"^'"tTerlrSt tef"'^ °" ''' T "rNoMEc:," ^"f^" ^^'^ ^^^ P-'iS-.s q-ntities if the Tunny are 



'■ Nauclerus, ^'•'" ^een there as in ancient times. According to Syjlius, 



. IPorvTHMEus. twenty vessels might be filled by a single cSst'of the net : 



JNo vomerine or palatine teeth Pse^es. and they might frequently be taken by the hand without tlie 



/CoRYPii^NA, ^'J "f nets. When ascending towards the port, they might 



One dorsal, running far alonq the back; Lampuods, be killed with stones ; and even women took them in quan- 



rays flexible ,■ ventrals thoracic Centrolopiids, titles, merely by Suspending a large basket by a cord from 



[pter^cuT""' ""^ "indows. The Tunny fishery was of still more ancient 



Body subrhomboid, high. Aspect Scomberoid Scnle« J„ n P'"^^ctice in the West. The Phoenicians established it at a 



°' "o^^- ■ ""' ^ t-'-y early period on the coasts of Spain, both within and 



No ventrals f Stromateus, beyond the columns of Hercules. It is thus that we find 



j Teprilus, the Tunny on the Phmiiciau medals of Cadiz and Carteia. 



Two very small thoracic ventrals ^ ^''^^''"'^- ^^^ salted pre|,aration was known to the llomans as an 



Two jugular ventrals... ^.eserinus. esteemed article, under the name of Sallametitutn Sar- 



KUBTus. dicum. The Tunny fishery does not seem to be now car- 



