STRIPED RED MULLET, ETC. 83 



great abundance, at other times they are very 

 scarce ; this is from their shifting their ground, 

 where they remain until disturbed by accident or 

 the industrious fisherman finds them in their new 

 locality, which on the south coast of England is 

 often some miles east or west of their previous 

 positions. So abundant are these fish on the south 

 coast occasionally, that in August, 1819, 5000 

 were taken in one night in Weymouth Bay. In 

 some mackerel seasons the mullet is very abun- 

 dant, in others you cannot find one. In the month 

 of May, 1831, 10,000 were sent to the London 

 markets in one week from Yarmouth. The striped 

 red mullet spawns in the spring, and the young 

 are five inches in length by the end of October ; 

 they appear to select their food from amongst the 

 soft crustaceous and molluscous animals, the cirri 

 under the ja\v evidently fitting them to feed very 

 near the bottom. The plain red mullet is also 

 occasionally taken on the coasts of Devon and 

 Cornwall, but is very rare. Large quantities are 

 caught in Start Bay, by trawling, and sent off by 

 rail to London and other inland towns, the fisher- 

 men being under contract with the fishmongers 

 to send all the fish caught to them ; and so honestly 



