134 SCOMBEKID.K. 



ACANrHOPrERYGlI. SCOMBERID^. 



THE TUNNY. 



Thynnus vulgaris, Cov. et Valenc. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. viii. p. 58, pi. 210. 

 Scomber thynnus, Linn/eus. Block, pt. ii. pi. 55. 



,, ,, Tunny, Pf.nn. Brit. Zool. vol. iil. p. 360, pi. 63. 



Don. Brit. Fish. pi. 5. 



,, ,, ,, Flem. Brit. An. 



Generic Characters. — Form of the body like that of the Mackerel, but less 

 compressed ; numerous scales surrounding the thorax : first dorsal fin extending 

 nearly to the second ; second dorsal and the anal fin subdivided posteriorly, 

 forming numerous finlets : sides of the tail decidedly carinated ; a single row of 

 small pointed teeth in each jaw ; branchiostegous rays 7. 



The Tunky was known to Aristotle; and its goodness, 

 in addition to its beauty, have caused this fish to be the 

 praiseworthy theme of most of the writers on the fishes of 

 the Mediterranean, ancient as well as modern. The fishery, 

 also, is of great antiquity as well as value. 



The Tunny is said to acquire a very large size. Al- 

 though the specimens usually taken seldom exceed four feet 

 in length, and frequently not more than three, Pennant saw 

 one killed in 1769, when he was at Inverary, that weighed 

 four hundred and sixty poimds, measuring seven feet 

 ten inches long ; and they are recorded to have been taken 

 of still greater bulk in the Mediterranean. There the habits 



