ABDOMINAL SOFT-FINNED FISHES. 337 



have been taken at a single cast of the net. Sardines are caught 

 in the same way as Herrings, but the meshes of the net are smaller, 

 and the fishermen, to attract the fish, throw into the sea a peculiar 

 bait, formed from Cod-fish eggs. From the mouth of the Loire to the 

 extremity of Brittany, Sardines abound every summer, and give 

 rise to productive fisheries. Along the coast there are a great 

 number of establishments for the preparation and preservation of 

 these delicate luxuries. 



The Pilchard, the Sprat, the White Bait, and the 

 Shad, are all of them species of Herrings. 



The Anchovies, too (Engraulis), belong to this 

 family, but they differ from the herrings in the 

 mouth, which is cleft to far behind the eyes, in 

 their gills, which are more open, and in some other 

 characters. 



The Common Anchovy is found in the Mediterranean as well as 

 on the western coasts of France and Spain. At a certain time of 

 the year, which varies in different localities, it leaves the high seas 

 and approaches the coast to spawn, when it becomes the object of 

 an important fishery ; to catch it the fishermen provide themselves 



FIG. 268. ANCHOVY. 



with nets, about two hundred feet in length, and twenty-five or 

 thirty in breadth, and assemble four boats, one of which carries the 

 net, and the others furnaces in which they make a bright fire. This 

 fishery is carried on in the dark nights from April to July. The 

 boats are stationed about five miles from the coast, and when the 

 Anchovies, attracted by the light, are assembled in large numbers 

 around a boat thus illuminated, the net is cast into the water, and 

 laid out so as to surround the assembled fishes. This done, the fire 

 is suddenly extinguished, and the Anchovies alarmed, in seeking to 

 escape are taken in the net. They are preserved with salt after 

 removing the head and the intestines. 



A very curious family, named 



The Anglers (Lophius), is represented in our seas 

 by a large and voracious species, bearing several 

 homely appellations, such as the Wide gab, Sea devil, 

 and more commonly the Frog-fish or Fishing Frog. 

 In these fishes, the pectoral and ventral fins are 



Q 



