S C O M B E R O I D M. 



some interest in another point of view. When 

 recently out of the water it is very good eating, 

 resembling very much the common mackarel. Its 

 principal food consists of small fishes, in quest of 

 which it appears to range extensively. It is said to be by 

 no means rare off the south coasts of Britain during 

 the summer months ; but it rarely comes so near the 

 land as even the remotest places where the regular 

 fishing is carried on. 



Pilot Fish. 



The pilot-fish is generally about a foot long. The 

 general colour greyish-blue, with a silvery lustre, 

 and paler on the under part ; the body is marked 

 with five distinct blue bands, much darker than the 

 ground colour, which completely surround the body, 

 at right angles to the axis, and are of uniform breadth, 

 and parallel to each other ; there is also a trace of 

 one obscure band on the head and another on the 

 tail ; the snout is blunt ; the under jaw projects 

 farther than the upper ; the eye, which is one-fifth 

 of the depth of the head, is twice as far from the 

 posterior edge of the gill-cover as from the extremity 

 of the nose, and the irides are golden yellow ; the 

 gape not very deep ; the teeth small, but numerous, 

 forming a band upon each jaw ; and there are also 

 teeth on the palatal bones, and one large one on the 

 vomer and another on the tongue ; the tongue is 

 large, thin, and free ; the scales are small, and of an 

 oval shape, with the exception of a triangular spot at 

 the base of the pectorals ; the cartilaginous keel upon 

 each side of the tail reaches from the last rays of the 

 dorsal and anal fins to the extremity of that organ. 

 Though this fish is very much distributed over the 

 different seas, there are not many changes in its 

 appearance arising from change of place ; but it 

 appears that the name has been sometimes given to 

 more than one species. 



None of the others of this genus are met with in 

 the British seas even as stragglers, and therefore we 

 shall pass them over very lightly. JSlacata are very 

 like the pilot-fish in many respects ; but they have 

 not the fore spines in advance of the anal fin, nor the 

 cartilaginous keels on the sides of the tail. The 

 members of this sub-genus are found chiefly in the 

 American seas. Lichia, have free spines on the 

 back, and also at the fore part of the anal fin, and 

 they have an additional spine on the back in advance 

 of the others, and curved forwards. The body is 

 compressed, and there are no lateral keels on the 

 tail. There are three species of the sub-genus, 

 natives of the Mediterranean, and all held in much 

 estimation as food. One of these, the Vadigo, which 

 is the typical species, attains a length of four feet or 

 upwards, and a weight of a hundred pounds ; it is a 

 thick fish, and has the lateral line in a curve of 

 contrary flexure, like the letter 02 . Another, the 

 Derchis, has the lateral line nearly straight ; the teeth 

 email and arranged like velvet ; and a black spot on 



the anterior part of the second dorsal fin and the 

 caudal. A third, has the lateral line waved into zig- 

 zags ; the upper part of the body blue, and the under 

 part silvery ; and the teeth large compared with 

 those of the others, and in a single row. Others, with 

 the base of the forehead more abrupt, and the body 

 more compressed, are found in the Indian seas, where 

 they are well known to the fishermen. 



NOTOCANTHUS. Of this genus there is only one 

 known species ; which, contrary to the general habits 

 of the family, is found only in the seas of the very 

 high latitudes. The characters are : the body long 

 and compressed, and covered with small smooth 

 scales ; the muzzle blunt, but projecting in front of 

 the mouth ; the teeth small and thickly set ; free 

 spines on the back only, and the ventral fins placed 

 far backwards. 



SERIOLA. The characters of this genus very much 

 resemble those of the genus Lichia. Like that, they 

 have a crooked spine on the back, in advance of the 

 dorsal ; but the first rays, instead of being free, as in 

 that genus, are united by membrane. They have 

 also a little detached fin supported by the spinous 

 rays of the anal. The body is compressed, and 

 without any keel or other armature on the dorsal 

 line. There are several species of this genus, all 

 found in the warmer seas. One in particular, the 

 milk perch of the Coromandel coast of India, is held 

 in much estimation for the superior quality of its 

 flesh, which is white, and said to be of the most ex- 

 quisite flavour. One species has been found in the 

 southern seas, which has the first ray of the dorsal 

 and the anal detached, and bearing a little fin. 



NOMEUS (the herdsman or shepherd). These 

 fishes have many of the characters of the preceding 

 genus ; but they have the ventral fins very large, 

 hwit their inner margins attached to the sides, 

 which is sufficient to distinguish them from all the 

 others. 



The herdsman, which is a native of the American 

 seas, has acquired a celebrity something similar to 

 that possessed by the pilot fish, only it is much less 

 discursive ; and has not been observed to follow ships 

 to the shores of Europe, or even into the wide expanse 

 of the Atlantic. The set of the tides and currents 

 in that ocean are, indeed, rather against the passage 

 of American fishes eastward ; and, consequently, few 

 of them visit our shores. The colour of this fish is 

 silvery, with black bands across the back ; and it is 

 the "banded mackarel" (Scomber fasc'utlus) of some 

 authors, and the (Gobhts Grojiovii) of others. It is 

 not rare upon many parts of the east coast of Amer- 

 ica, from the equator to pretty high latitudes ; and 

 it attains the size of the salmon. The set of the 

 Gulf stream along the coasts of the United States, and 

 the higher temperature of the water in that stream, 

 cause a very general distribution of tropical fishes 

 along the whole line. 



TEMNODEN (open-tooth). This is a genus of which 

 only a single species is well known ; but it is very 

 generally distributed, and that has caused it to be 

 called by many names. It is found in the Mediter- 

 ranean, on the coasts of the United States, of Brazil, 

 of Southern Africa, and of Australia ; and, widely 

 as these localities are distant from each other, there 

 does not appear to be the least elongated variation in 

 it. It has been called the "leaping perch," the 

 " southern perch," the " leaping gilt-head," and many 

 other names ; but its family characters are those of 



