SOUTHERN EUROPE. MARINE ANIMALS. SQ 



same may be said, but in a less degree, of the tunny 



fisheries of Sicily. The herring and the pilchard, on 

 the other hand, are scarcely known. The coast of Nice 

 has been ably investigated, and its productions de- 

 scribed by Risso. Of more than 150 species of 

 fish minutely examined by us on the coasts of Sicily, 

 we believe that not more than one third belong also to 

 the ichthyology of Britain and Northern Europe. The 

 only one of these new species we have yet described is the 

 Ammodytes Siculus Sw *, or 'Sicilian sandlance ; a local 

 species, but found in such vast shoals, as to supply, at 

 particular seasons, all the inhabitants of Messina with a 

 plentiful meal. This fish is highly prized for its delicious 

 flavour. 



(54.) The radiated Mottusca (Radiata) of these 

 coasts are very numerous. The many harbours, caves, 

 and submerged rocks, sheltered from those violent com- 

 motions which agitate the Atlantic Ocean, afford them 

 protection, and contribute to their rapid increase. 

 Their investigation, hitherto much neglected, offers 

 a most interesting field for those naturalists who 

 can study them in their native seas. Along the rocky 

 shores of Sicily, but especially those of Malta, many 

 species of sea anemone, and other animal flowers, stud 

 the bottoms of the deep caves ; while the purple Echini 

 . occur in great profusion in similar situations. The 

 stillness and the transparency of the water are such, that 

 all these may be seen with perfect clearness at a depth of 

 eight or ten feet. The tubular and cellular polypes, 

 whose habitations are commonly called corals and coral- 

 lines, are more abundant in the Bay of Naples ; which, 

 with the coasts of Sicily, has long been celebrated for 

 the abundance of the true red coral. 



* Zoological 111. i. pi. 63. 

 D 4 



