214 ACANTHOPTERYGII. MACKEREL FAMILY. 



two other specimens, whose description is supplied 

 by Mr. Yarrell. It agrees generally with Mr. Jago's. 

 The gill-rays are fine ; the body, somewhat com- 

 pressed, is about three inches deep, a thin elevated 

 ridge, on which the dorsal fin is situate, making it 

 appear deeper on the back ; the lateral line is some- 

 what crooked at the commencement ; the colour is 

 wholly black, the fins intensely so, the shade being 

 somewhat lighter on the abdomen, and bronzed at 

 the origin of the lateral line. " When employed," 

 says Mr. Couch, " in drawing the figure, the side on 

 which it lay changed to a fine blue." The second 

 specimen measured two feet eight inches in length, 

 and weighed nearly 14 Ibs. The skin was observed 

 to be very tough, so that it was stripped off from 

 the fish like that of an eel : no air-bladder was found. 

 The taste, according to Mr. Couch, was delicious. 

 Not so Duhamel, whose words are, " Sa chair nest 

 pas tres delicate'' " The great strength and velocity," 

 continues Mr. Couch, " of this fish have been spoken 

 of in terms of admiration by several authors, and 

 the large one mentioned above afforded a corrobora- 

 tion of the truth of the remark. It was caught in 

 a salmon-net at the mouth of the river in November 

 1830 ; and such was the force with which it struck 

 the bottom of the net, that it carried it before it 

 over the head- rope. 



The last or FIFTH SECTION of this Family is formed 

 of Mackerels with a protractile mouth, its members 

 having the power of prolonging their mouth into a 



