SCOMBERID.E. 



five hundred and forty thousand ova have been counted in 

 one female. I have observed, by the Mackerel sent to 

 the London market from the shallow shores of Worthing 

 and its vicinity, that these fish mature and deposit their 

 roe earlier on that flat sandy shore than those caught in 

 the deep water off Brighton. The young Mackerel, which 

 are called Shiners, are from four to six inches long by the 

 end of August. They are half grown by November ; when 

 they retire, says Mr. Couch, " to deep water, and are seen 

 no more that winter : but the adult fishes never wholly 

 quit the Cornish coast ; and it is common to see some taken 

 with lines in every month of the year." Their principal food 

 is probably the fry of other fish ; and at Hastings the 

 Mackerel follow towards the shore a small species of dupea, 

 which is there called in consequence the Mackerel mint. 

 I have been unable hitherto to obtain any specimens of this 

 small fish ; but, from various descriptions, I think it is 

 probably the young of the sprat. It is described as being 

 about one inch long in July. 



The Mackerel as feeders are voracious, and their growth 

 is rapid. The ordinary length varies from fourteen to sixteen 

 inches, and their weight is about two pounds each : but 

 they are said to attain the length of twenty inches, with 

 a proportionate increase in weight. The largest fish are 

 not, however, considered the best for the table. 



As an article of food, they are in great request ; and those 

 taken in the months of May and June are generally consi- 

 dered to be superior in flavour to those taken either earlier in 

 spring or in autumn. To be eaten in perfection, this fish 

 should be very fresh : as it soon becomes unfit for food, 

 some facilities in the way of sale have been afforded to the 

 dealers in a commodity so perishable. Mackerel were first 

 allowed to be cried through the streets of London on a 



