478 THE op.vn. 



that have attained seventeen inches in length. Swedish 

 ichthyologists tell us the S(ad is seldom met with other- 

 wise than alone, or nearly so ; but Kroyer says that, 

 some years ago, a Danish fisherman, to his own know- 

 ledge, captured so many one autumn, that they were 

 sold hy the score. "A sufficient proof," the Professor 

 adds, " that they do not, as asserted, always appear singly 

 in the Cattegat," 



Of the breeding habits of this fish, little or nothing is 

 known in Sweden ; but Kroyer tells us he has every reason 

 to believe it spawns at the end of May or beginning of 

 June, that is, about the same time as the Common 

 Mackerel. He states, further, that from the young of 

 the Scad being not unfrequently captured in Swedish 

 and Danish waters during the autumn, at which time they 

 are from four to five inches in length, taken in connection 

 with the period of the year when the parent fish carry 

 on their " Lek," no other conclusion can be come to 

 than that it deposits its roe in the Cattegat. The flesh 

 of the Scad, which somewhat resembles that of the 

 Mackerel, but is drier and more bony, is in no great 

 repute in Scandinavia as an article of food. 



The Opah, or King-fish (Glans-F'mk, i. e. shininir lisli, 

 Sw. ; Laxe-Sturjc, Norw. ; Lmiijirix (jut/ulna, Ret/,.), whose 

 proper habitat is believed to be the European portion of 

 the Atlantic, especially its more northern parts, is very 

 rare in the Scandinavian seas ; it has, nevertheless, hem 

 taken, though very sparingly, along the whole line of coast 

 from the Sound to near the North Cape, which \\ould seem 

 to be about its limits to the northward and eastward. It 

 has been long known in Norway, IVder Claussen, who 

 flourished more than two centuries ago, having mentioned 

 it as frequenting all the northern and western coasts of 

 that country. None of the specimens of this fish that 

 have hitherto been captured in the Scandinavian waters 



