AND THE FISH THEREOF. 87 



in the fisheries ; they frequent the Venetian lagoons and other brackish 

 waters, as do also the Sea-horses. File-fishes and Sun-fishes are rare on 

 these shores ; they are more common in the south, and are occasionally met 

 with in the lagoons of Venice : they have no culinary value. Lampreys 

 belong rather to the exception on the eastern coast ; they are more com- 

 mon on the western coast, and in the lagoons and watershed of Venice. 

 The Lancelet has been caught off the island of Lesina (Dalmatia). 



MOLLUSKS. 



The Mollusks, generally speaking, are much more numerous in variety 

 than in northern waters. Some 600 species are common to the Mediterranean 

 fauna (exclusively of nudibranchs and tunicates), whereas this number de- 

 creases to 400 in British, and to 300 in Scandinavian waters. On the other 

 hand, the prevalence of certain of the more useful kinds, such as Oysters, 

 Pectitue, Cardium, Mytilus, &c, is not to be compared with what is found in 

 northern waters. 



Cephalopods are much consumed, throughout the Adriatic and Medi- 

 terranean, by all classes of the population, although despised in the north of 

 Europe. When caught in large quantities, they are dried and exported to 

 the Levant, where they are in great demand by the Greek population. They 

 are mostly caught by means of the fiocina (prongs), exceptionally so in nets, 

 and sometimes in the basket-traps (nasse) set for fish, which they enter in 

 pursuit of Lobsters, Conger-eels, &c. 



The Squid (Loligo vulgaris) is the most valued of the kind, Scpiola 

 Rondeleletii is next best in quality. The average annual catch of the various 

 kinds of Cephalopods is 600 tons, valued at ,£12,000. 



Oysters are found mostly on rocky shores in 2-5 fathoms ; on a bank to 

 the south-west of Grado, near the estuary of the river Isonzo; on a smaller 

 bank west of Isola, near Capo d'Istria; near Pola and Novegradi, east of 

 Zara ; along the coast of San Cassano, and on the Scogli Ostia and Galisniac. 

 They occur also near Scbenico, Stagno, &c. ; on the Italian coast, near 

 Brindisi, Ancona, Punto di Maestra and Chioggia, and near the mouths of the 

 rivers P6, Adige, and Brenta. They are caught in the open by means of the 



