THE MACKEREL. 89 



melampus, is from New Zealand. The genus Nomeus has a similar characteristic, but the ventral fin 

 is attached to the belly by a membrane. 



FAMILY XXIV. SCOMBRINA. 



This is an important family, including among other fishes the Mackerel and the Tunny. 

 There are always two dorsal fins, the spinous fin being less developed than the soft dorsal fin. In 

 one genus the spinous dorsal becomes modified into a sucking organ, which is situated on the head. 

 The genus Scomber inhabits nearly all the temperate and tropical seas, but is absent from the 

 temperate coasts of South America. 



THE MACKEREL.* 



Hardly any fish is better known in the South of England than the Mackerel. It spawns in 

 June, and then comes into shallow water, and 550,000 eggs have been counted in a single female. 

 When the fish are young, under six inches long, they are termed " Shiners ; " they are half grown by 

 November, and retire into deep water at the approach of winter. Their growth is very rapid. The 

 ordinary size ranges to a length of about fifteen inches and a weight of about two pounds, though 

 the fish are sometimes longer and heavier. They are in the best condition in May and June. Yarrell 

 i-emarks that, owing to the necessity that the fish should be eaten fresh, they were first allowed to 

 be cried on Sundays through the streets of London in 1698, and that the practice continues to the 

 present time. Their abundance varies : in 1807 they were sold in Billingsgate at seven shillings 

 each; at Dover, in 1808, they were sold at sixty a shilling; and at Brighton in the same year 

 the school was so" great that it was impossible to pull the fish in, and fish and nets sank together. 

 Mackerel are taken in every month of the year, but the great shoals begin to move into the English 

 Channel from the deep waters of the Atlantic in January. In the migration the males precede the 

 greater part of the females. They reach the Shetland Isles in August, and remain in that neigh- 

 bourhood about a month. A few Mackerel of small size occur in the Baltic, and they reach the 

 coast of Norway. 



This fish is exceedingly voracious, and feeds upon the fiy of other fishes. It ranges along 

 the European coast into the Mediterranean, where it is often of small size and dry in flavour. 

 It extends across the Atlantic, and is found on the American coast in corresponding latitudes. 

 The scales of the Mackerel are exceedingly small ; there is no air-bladder. The back, as is well 

 known, is bluish and marked with about thirty wavy transverse streaks of a blackish colour. 

 Couch mentions that occasionally a lobe of roe has been found lying between the usual pair of lobes 

 of milt, so that the sexes are sometimes united in one individual. The fish are captured sometimes 

 with the hook, baited with a blight shining object, but more frequently they are taken with the 

 seine net. 



At Brighton and along the Chesil Bank the fishing is carried on by means of the ground seine 

 net, which can be used whenever the bottom is smooth, and there is a beach on which it can be- 

 lauded. The meshes of the net are small, and it is not nearly so deep at the two ends as in the 

 middle. Each end or wing is bordered by a pole fastened to the ropes on the back and foot ; and 

 to this pole a long rope is fastened, to be used for hauling in the net to the shore. When the 

 seine is to be shot one of these drag-ropes is left on shore in charge of some of the party, and the other 

 rope with the nets is rowed out to sea and back again in a large sweep, the net being thrown 

 over as they go along. On landing, the fishermen divide and haul in the net, bringing the two ends 

 together ; then the middle of the net, which is called the bunt, is drawn on shore, and contains what- 

 ever fish have been intercepted. 



The Spanish Mackerel (Scomber collas) is occasionally taken on the Cornish coast, and occurs 

 on the Atlantic shore of North America., and in the Mediterranean. It is inferior to the common 

 Mackerel for table, and is distinguished by having a larger head and spotted sides. There are large 

 scales on the pectoral region, and, according to Dr. GUnther, it possesses an air-bladder. There are 

 probably one or two other British species, and several species occur in the Red Sea and seas of Japan 

 and the Malay Islands. 



Another important fish of this family is known to us as the TUNNY (Thynnus tkynnus). 



* Scomber seamier. 

 202 



