ii4 THE COMMERCIAL SEA FISHES OF 



owner has had netted and introduced during the last few 

 years, and where they appear to flourish. 



These fish are very active, and as soon as a shoal is 

 enclosed by a net, they at first lose all order, but this soon 

 becomes re-established, and a leader seeks for a hole or 

 way beneath the obstruction, or, failing this, they essay to 

 spring over. At Mevagissey a shoal entered the harbour, 

 and having been perceived, the entrance was at once barred 

 by nets. The mullet first tried to jump over, but a net was 

 raised to bar that route. The water was very clear, and the 

 fish were seen to swim round and round, to try to find an 

 exit. Next they attempted to get under the foot-rope ; at 

 last one made a push, but became meshed. When this 

 was done, another came and laid beside it, and nothing 

 could drive it away. In short, all escaped but these two. 

 Carew had a pond of salt water in Cornwall, in which 

 mullets were l^ept, and having been accustomed to feed 

 them at a certain place every evening, they became so 

 tame that a knocking like that of chopping caused them to 

 assemble. 



There are two points of great interest in the internal 

 anatomy of these fishes which must not be passed over in 

 silence ; the first being how they feed, and the second the 

 conformation of their stomachs. In an aquarium it is most 

 interesting to observe them suck in the sand, the coarser 

 portion of which they almost immediately afterwards expel 

 from their mouths. A sifting or filtering apparatus exists 

 in the pharynx, which precludes large and hard substances 

 from passing into the stomach, or sand from obtaining 

 access to the gills. 



The oesophagus passes into the cardiac portion of the 

 stomach, which forms a blind sac ; while the pyloric portion 

 is conical externally, somewhat resembling a bird's gizzard, 



