AND THE FISH THEREOF. 27 



Shoals of the Sea-bream tribe, particularly the young, rise here from the 

 1< iwer zone they usually frequent : they are to be found in sheltered bays, or 

 creeks, where the bed is muddy, or covered with sea-weed, and are parti- 

 cularly characteristic of this zone. 



The most prevalent kinds are : — Box Salpa, also the Gilthead, a British 

 species, and one of the most esteemed of fishes: Sargus annularis and Oblata 

 melanura ; they are seen in shoals around the vessels at anchor, their broad 

 silvery sides glancing in the water, in some striped with irregular bands of 

 gold, in others marked with one or two dusky clouds, or tinged with brilliant 

 ultramarine or purple. 1 



(6) Littoral Squatters. — In the mud at the mouths of rivulets and 

 streams, and in the lagoons, the common Eel {Anguilla vulgaris) is common, 

 its long, slimy body beautifully clouded with purplish brown and salmon-pink. 



Of the Amphibious Carnivore, the common Seal (P/wca vitulifia), 2 

 the Sea-Wolf of most Mediterranean people, ranging from the northern 

 latitudes, is said to enter the Adriatic, and occasionally to be caught at 

 Ragusa, but not further north. They are believed to go ashore in the Ombla 

 valley in quest of grapes during the vintage season. 



The Adriatic seal "The Monk" (Pelagus, Plioca, or Leptonyx monachus) 

 also belongs to the littoral forms, but makes its appearance only on the 

 eastern shores of the Ouarnero. It is reported not to be uncommon in the bay 

 of Carin, but only when the Bora blows across the channel of Morlacca ; and 

 it is abundant about the islands of the Dalmatian Archipelago. 3 



The tortoise {Chelonia carctta) must also be included amongst the littoral 

 forms ; but it is rarely caught so far north as the Ouarnero. 



1 See Forbes and Godwin-Austen. 



2 Consult Petter's " Dalmatia," also Comalia, " Fauna d'ltalia," part i. p. 62 ; the identity 

 of this species as applied to these waters is, however, doubted by many authorities ; E. H. 

 Giglioli says that the assertion as to the presence of this species in these waters " e basato su 

 erronea identificazione specifica"; and it is not altogether impossible that the above species 

 may have been confused with " the Monk." 



:i This species is said to commit great havoc in the vineyards of Sardinia and Sicily at the 

 time of the vintage. 



E 2 



