MUGIL. FISHES, 463 



P. telescopus, Risso. Body black, variegated with blue, red, and 

 violet. Inhabits the Mediterranean Risso, pi. ix. fig. 31. 



Gen. 70. MUGIL, Lin. 



Head depressed, broad and scaly ; ventral fins under the ab- 

 domen, and two short distant dorsal fins, of which the first or 

 spinous is further back than the ventrals, and the second 

 answers to the anal ; mouth with fleshy and crenulated lips ; 

 lower jaw with a carination in the middle, entering into a 

 corresponding groove in the upper ; no teeth ; branchial mem- 

 brane with three rays. 



M. Cephalus, Lin. The Common Mullet. Body grayish, banded 

 longitudinally with brownish parallel lines ; belly silvery ; fins 

 bluish ; first dorsal fin with four spinous rays. Inhabits the Eu- 

 ropean, Indian, and Atlantic seas Shaw, v. pi 114. 

 This fish, the Mugil or Mugilus of the ancient Romans, and highly esteemed as 



food, is very abundant in the Mediterranean on the coasts of Spain. It is much 



used in the southern countries of Europe. Of the roes a kind of caviar, named pon- 



targue or bontarge is made, much esteemed for the table. 



M. auratus, Risso. (M. tang, Bloch.) Head narrow and sloping ; 

 mouth small ; back brown ; sides white, banded with yellow, and 

 the fins brownish yellow ; first dorsal fin with four and the se- 

 cond with nine rays. 12 inches long. Inhabits Mediterranean 

 sea. Bloch, pi. 395. 



2. With spines or dentations on the head. 



This group comprehends those genera which have dentations or spines on the oper- 

 culum or pre-operculum, or any other part of the head, but where the cheek is not 

 covered by the suborbitary bones. Their two dorsal fins are generally contiguous. 



Gen. 71. PERCA, Cuv. 



Snout without scales, not advancing beyond the lips ; second 

 dorsal fin not sensibly longer than the first ; ventral fins on 

 the thorax ; pre-operculi dentated ; operculi spinous. 



P. fluviatilis. The Common Perch. Body brownish olive, of a 



golden tinge, with broad transverse bands of a deeper colour ; 



first dorsal fin a little longer than the second, and marked behind 



by a black spot ; the other fins and tail red. 8 to 15 inches long. 



Rivers and lakes in Europe. B. Penn. Brit. Zool. iii. pi. 59. 



The Perch is found in all the lakes of Europe and Northern Asia. It spawns in 



spring and is very prolific ; for in one taken in the lake of Geneva there were 992,000 



ova ; but the numberless enemies to which the young are exposed make it probable 



that not a hundredth part reach maturity. They swim with much rapidity, keep 



near the surface, and feed on small fishes, reptiles, insects, &c. In attempting to 



swallow the stickleback^however, this animal erects its dorsal spines in such a manner 



that, fixed in its mouth, the perch is unable to shut it, and dies of hunger. The spines 



on the dorsal fin of the perch in like manner protect it from the voracity of the pike. 



The perch was well known to the Greeks and Romans, and is thus mentioned by 



Ausonius : 



Nee te delicias mensarum, perca, silebo 

 Amnigenos inter pisces dignande, marinis 

 Solus puniceis facUis, contendere mullis. 



The Laplanders make a kind of glue with the skins of perches, not inferior to the 

 isinglass which is produced from the sturgeon. 



