THE GRAY MULLET. 



261 



possess this singular ijroperty of walking over dry ground, so that the old proverb of a fish 

 out of water is, in these cases, quite inapijlicable. 



It is known of the Climbing Perch that the fishermen of the Ganges, who subsist largely 

 on these fishes, are accustomed to put them into an earthen pan or chatty as soon as caught ; 

 and although no water is supplied to them, they exist very well without it, and live this 

 strange life for five or six days. 



On opening the head of this fish, the curious structure which enables it to perform such 

 marvellous feats is clearly seen. Just within the sides of the head, the "pharyngeal " bones, 

 i. e., the bones that support the orifice between the mouth and gullet, are much enlarged, and 

 modified into a series of labyrinthine cells and duplications, so that they retain a large amount 

 of water in the interstices, and prevent the gill-membi"anes from becoming dry. Some writers 

 say that this fish is capable of climbing up the rough stems of palm-trees, in search of the 

 water that lodges between the bases of the dead leaves and the stem, but this account is now 

 held unworthy of belief. In the Tamoule language it called Paneiri, or Tree-climber. 



The small genus Atherinidje has a representative in the Sand Smelt {Atherina presbyter), 

 a pretty little fish, and one that is of great use to fishermen, both for sale and for bait. 



It is extremely plentiful here in America, as well as in Europe, and in many places is sold 

 as the true smelt, which it somewhat resembles in Havor and the peculiar odor as of cucumber. 



GRAY MCLLET. Mugil capita. 



Owing to the small size of this fish the net is the usual mode of capture, the fasliion of which 

 varies according to the locality. On some coasts the net is about ninety feet in length and 

 eighteen in depth, and is drawai along the sands by the united aid of one party in a boat and 

 the other on the shore. In other places, however, it is circular and supported on an iron hoop. 

 It is then baited with broken Crustacea and lowered into the water. At intervals it is raised 

 smartly to the surface, and the entrapped Sand Smelts removed. 



The color of the Sand Smelt is the palest pink, diversified with a broad belt of shining 

 silvery-white, which is drawn along the side. The cheeks, gill-covers, and the base of each 

 pectoral fin are of the same white luie. Upon the iipper part of the back and head are a great 

 number of little black spots. The length of the fish is from six to seven inches. 



We now come to the important family of the MugiUdje, of which the common Gray 

 Mullet is a good example. In all these fish there are two dorsal fins, the first having four 

 stiff spines. They are spread over all sea-coasts and fresh waters of the temperate and tropi- 

 cal regions. The mode of feeding is rather curious. These fish live chiefly on the soft organic 

 substances that are found mixed with weed and sand, and in swallowing the food a considera- 

 ble amount of sand is taken into the mouth. The fish, however, is furnished with a kind of 

 self -filtering apparatus, by means of which the heterogeneous mass is raked and sifted, as it 

 were, and the indigestible portions rejected. 



