52 



MARKETABLE URITISII INrARINE FISHES 



the British Isles, but only one, the common sea bream, is of 

 much importance in the market. They are bottom-feeding 

 fishes, good, but not very rapid, swimmers. 



The red mullet are well-known fishes, having always 



Fig. i6.— The Striped Reel Mullet. 



possessed a high reputation as delicacies for the table. They 

 are distinguished by their red colour, the sloping front of the 

 head, and the two stiff barbels attached to the chin (Fig. i6). 

 They are bottom-feeders, and swim in shoals making long 

 migrations. All the species of the family are marine, and none 

 occur either at the surface or the bottom in mid-ocean. They 

 belong to southern regions, and our red mullet only occurs 

 abundantly on our more southern shores. The family of horse 

 mackerels (Fig. 17) are chiefly distinguished by the great length 



Fig. 17. — The Common Scad, or Horse Mackerel. 



of the second dorsal fin, and the reduction of the first, which is 

 in many quite rudimentary. They are for the most part oceanic 



