238 THE SURMULLET. 



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

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

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

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

 fading to simple gray on the abdomen. The head, tail, and fins are bright golden 

 yellow, and the bars and patches of darker color are deep chocolate-brown. Its average 

 length is from eighteen to twenty inches. 



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

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

 of 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 



SURMULLET. Mullus Surmuletus. 



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

 cold shores 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 flavored. 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 ap- 

 proaches 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 color of thts fish is extremely beautiful, but, as Mr. Yarrell remarks, the chang- 

 ing tints of red and purple are due, not to the natural coloring 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 color is little more than a pale pink, 

 passing into white on the belly, the lower part of the sides having three or four longi- 

 tudinal 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 color ; it is produced by extravasated blood lying 

 under the transparent cuticle, but above the true skin." 



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



