BARRACUDAS, ATHERINES, AND GRAY MULLETS 2769 



distribution in temperate and tropical seas, some of the species ranging from 

 Eastern Africa to India. Atherines are very abundant in the Mediterranean, 

 where the fry cling together for some time after hatching in enormous masses. 

 Montagu writes that these fish are caught in great abundance on the south coast of 

 Devonshire ' ' in the creeks and estuaries, but never in rivers above the flow of the 

 tide; and they appear to continue near shore through the months from autumn to 

 spring, being caught for the table more or less during the whole of that time, but 

 are greatly superior in spring, when the males are full of milt as the females are of 

 roe." The British species seldom exceed six inches in length, and, like the other 

 members of the genus, are marked by a broad silvery stripe along each side of the 

 body. On the coasts and in the fresh waters of Australia, the sand smelts are 

 represented by Atherinichthys, in which the muzzle is longer, and the cleft of the 

 mouth usually shorter. 



The curious Mediterranean and Atlantic fish known as Cuvier's 

 square tail ( Tetragonurus cuvieri) , shown on the right side of our il- 

 lustration, is the sole member of a genus characterized by the somewhat elongate 



COMMON GRAY MULLET. 



(One-sixth natural size.) 



body being covered with strongly-keeled and striated scales; and by the first dorsal 

 fin being composed of a number of short spines, and continuing to the second. The 

 elevated lower jaw has a convex upper border, bearing a single series of rather small 

 compressed and triangular teeth. Of the habits of this scarce fish nothing definite 

 seems to be known; although in the young state it is found in company with float- 

 ing jellyfish. At a later period of its existence it probably descends to a consid- 

 erable depth during the day, and comes to the surface only at night. It grows to a 

 foot and a half in length. 



From the two preceding families the gray mullets, which constitute 

 the third family of the group under consideration, may be distin- 

 guished by the total absence of a lateral line, the presence of only four stiff spines 

 in the first dorsal fin, and the limitation of the number of vertebrae in the skeleton 



