162 THE MACKEREL FAMILY. 



on the authority of a French admiral, who apparently derived 

 his information from his seamen, that mackerel could be seen 

 through the clear water on the shores of Greenland with their 

 heads buried in the mud, like the proverbial ostrich : they even 

 went so far as to relate how the fishes, on emergence from their 

 temporary concealment, were partially blind and could be easily 

 caught ! Needless to say this story has not been corroborated, 

 and Fabricius and others have been unable to find any mackerel 

 in either Greenland or Iceland. 



The other suggestion was that the mackerel retired to 

 deeper water in the winter and passed the colder months in a 

 state of lethargy at the bottom of the sea, a theory peculiarly 

 suitable to the case by its very difficulty of confutation or 

 corroboration. Curiously enough, this point was brought up some 

 years ago in connection with the claim of United States boats to 

 fish in Canadian waters, the right to follow and capture shoals 

 migrating northwards being under dispute. 



It is now pretty well ascertained that the middle and eastern 

 parts of the Atlantic form the home of the mackerel which 

 migrate thence into British waters. Towards the end of winter 

 they commence their movements to the coast, and by May and 

 June large shoals of spawning fishes are to be found close inland. 

 Couch states that in these migrations the males precede the 

 females. 



Prof Sars found that the process of spawning is effected 

 quite near the surface of the sea, and he first described the egg 

 as slightly larger than that of the cod, but with a conspicuoiis 

 oil-globule. It was also described and figured by A. W. Malm of 

 Goteborg. The spawning-season in Norway is in June and July. 

 A mature female may contain about half a million eggs, not an 

 extremely prolific proportion. 



The egg of the mackerel has not been definitely described as 

 occurring off the Scotch coast, but Mr Cunningham has followed 

 the early stages at Plymouth, and Mr Holt in specimens from 

 the W. coast of Ireland. The latter states that the egg (Plate I, 

 fig. 16) is 1-22 mm. in diameter with a colourless oil-globule of 

 ■32 to -33 mm. diameter. Cunningham describes the oil-globule 

 as occupying a position ventral to the posterior of the embryo. 



