SCOMBER.] PISCES (OSSEI) ACANTHOPT. 363 



dorsal with one small concealed spine; the soft rays which follow elevated 

 anteriorly and pointed ; those behind rapidly decreasing : anal similar to 

 the second dorsal, and nearly opposite to it, with two spines concealed in 

 its anterior margin : nine or ten spurious finlets above, and nine below : 

 caudal crescent-shaped : 



B. 7 ; D. 141/13, and IX ; A. 2/12, and VIII ; C. 19, and 16 or 17 ; P. 31 ; 



sides of the tail keeled. Number of vertebrae thirty-nine. (Colours.) 

 Upper part of the body bluish black ; corselet inclining to whitish : sides 

 of the head whitish: belly grayish, with silvery whitish spots : first dorsal, 

 pectorals, and ventrals, dusky; caudal somewhat paler : second dorsal and 

 anal inclining to flesh-colour, with silvery reflections; spurious finlets 

 sulphur-yellow, edged with black. Cuv. 



According to Pennant, " not uncommon in the Lochs on the western 

 coast of Scotland; where they come in pursuit of Herrings." Rare 

 southwards. Donovan mentions three which were captured near the 

 mouth of the Thames in the Summer of 1801, and brought to Billings- 

 gate market. Very abundant in the Mediterranean. Usually swim in 

 large shoals. Feed on other fish. Weight of one examined by Pen- 

 nant, measuring seven feet ten inches in length, four hundred and sixty 

 pounds. 



37. S. Pelamys, Linn. (Bonito.) Eight spurious 

 finlets above, seven below : sides of the abdomen with four 

 longitudinal dusky bands. 



S. Pelamys, Linn. Syst. Nat. torn. i. p. 492. Thynnus Pelamys, 

 Cuv. et Veil. Hist. Nat. des Pom. torn. vin. p. 82. pi. 214. Bonito, 

 Yarr. Brit. Fish. vol. i. p. 140. Bonite des Tropiques, ou Thon 

 a ventre raye, Cuv. Reg. An. torn. n. p. 198. 

 LENGTH. Rarely exceeds thirty inches. YARR. 

 DESCRIPT. "Girth close behind the pectoral fins (in a specimen 

 twenty-nine inches long) twenty inches; head conical, ending in a 

 point at the nose; under jaw projecting; teeth few and small; tongue 

 flat and thin; nostrils obscure, not in a depression; from the nose to 

 the eye two inches and a half; gill-covers of two plates: body round 

 to the vent, from thence tapering to the tail ; near the tail depressed ; 

 lateral line at first descending and waved, becoming straight opposite the 

 anal fin, from thence ascending and terminating in an elevated ridge, 

 with another above and below the lateral line near the tail : eye elevated, 

 round ; iris silvery : from the nose to the pectoral fin eight inches and 

 three-fourths, the fin pointed, four inches long, received into a depres- 

 sion : first dorsal fin seven inches long, four inches high, lodged in a 

 groove ; the first two rays stout, the others low : the body is most solid 

 opposite the second dorsal, which fin and the anal are falcate : tail divided 

 and slender: ventral fins in a depression. Colour a fine steel blue, 

 darker on the back ; sides dusky, whitish below : behind the pectoral 

 fins is a bright triangular section of the surface, from which begin 

 four dark lines, that extend along each side of the belly to the tail. 

 Scales few, like the Mackarel."" COUCH, as quoted by YARR. Number 

 of fin-rays, according to Cuvier, 



D. 151/12, and VIII ; A. 2/12, and VII ; C. 35; P. 27 ; V. 1/5. 



Specimens of this fish, which is the Bonito of the Tropics so well known 

 to navigators, are stated by Mr, Couch to have occurred occasionally 



