35$ MODERN SEA FISHING 



Guernsey, sent a communication to the Zoological Society of 

 London, concerning some interesting observations he had 

 made on mullet kept in a five-acre lake which for nine 

 months in the year was filled with fresh water. In summer 

 the sea entered the lake through a tunnel. There were several 

 varieties of sea fish in the enclosure, including a large number 

 of mullet which appeared to breed freely. I have no doubt 

 that mullet could be introduced with advantage into many 

 a semi-tidal pool, provided there were a sufficient depth of 

 water. 



A very curious experiment was recorded in connection with 

 the placing of a mullet which had been accustomed to the 

 Baltic (where the amount of saline matter is small) in North Sea 

 water in which there was three times as much salt. The fish 

 was forced to float. For about three hours it made ineffectual 

 attempts to keep below the surface, and then died. From 

 observations made in an aquarium, it seems that mullet are in 

 the habit of sucking sand into their mouths, almost immediately 

 afterwards sending out the coarser particles. By a beautifully 

 arranged natural filter, hard substances of any considerable size 

 cannot find their way into the stomach, nor can sand get 

 access to the gills ; for this reason, therefore, it is absolutely 

 necessary that any bait used for mullet should be soft, and the 

 hook should be small. If the hook were too large, it would 

 be rejected and the bait retained. 



Following up the tide into estuaries and harbours, these 

 shy fish feed greedily, sucking in various odds and ends of 

 partly decomposed matter, silkweed, ragworms, fish garbage, 

 and the like. They will swim after a ship that has come from 

 abroad into dock, and work all over its bottom with their snouts, 

 eating the softer seaweeds and small marine insects. 



Mullet are very easily tamed, and, being susceptible to 

 sound, have been known to assemble for dinner on hearing the 



