238 



THE SURMULLET. 



captured on the southern shores and upon rocky ground. The Cingalese name is 

 Deweeboraloowah. In colour it is a remarkably handsome fish, though not of such pure 

 primary tints as others which will presently be mentioned. The colour of this fish is 

 yellowish brown on the back, changing gradually to reddish grey on the sides, and fading 

 to simple grey 011 the abdomen. The head, tail, and fins are bright golden yellow, and 

 the bars and patches of darker colour are deep chocolate-brown. Its average length is from 

 eighteen to twenty inches. 



THE next family, the MullidaB, finds a well-known representative in the common 

 SUBMULLET of the British seas, sometimes called the STRIPED RED MULLET, on account oi 

 the yellow longitudinal stripes that are drawn along the body. 



This fish is celebrated for the excellence of its flesh, and in the time of the ancients 

 was one of the most costly luxuries that the wealthy epicure could place upon his table, 

 from forty to sixty pounds being paid for a fish weighing six or seven pounds. These 



SUKMULLKT. Muuus 



dimensions are but rarely reached, and never, as it is believed, on the comparatively cold 

 snores of England. The liver is held to be the best part of this fish, but the whole of its 

 flesh is firm, white, and delicately flavoured. Its value in the market is extremely variable, 

 owing to its migratory habits, being at one time caught by hundreds in the trawl or 

 mackerel nets, while at other times there is not a single individual to be found. There 

 seems, however, to be one definite rule in its migrations, namely, that it approaches the 

 shore in the summer time, and in the winter retires into deep water, whence it can only be 

 taken in the trawl net. 



The colour of this fish is extremely beautiful, but, as Mr. Yarrell remarks, the changing 

 tints of red and purple are due, not to the natural colouring of the scales, but to the effects 

 of violence. " If closely examined, it will be observed that where the scales happen not 

 to have been removed, the natural colour is little more than a pale pink, passing into 

 white on the belly, the lower part uf the sides having three or four longitudinal stripes ; 

 but that the mixture of purple and bright red which ornaments every part of this fish is 

 the consequence of violence : every scale removed by force and but little is necessary 

 increases this colour ; it is produced by extravasated blood lying under the transparent 

 cuticle, but above the true skin." 



The long barlmles with which the lower jaw is furnished are supposed to be organs of 



