— 11 - 



I was unable to obtain a specimen of it, as my stay at 

 Damietta terminated before the Nile flood. 



The "garan" is the smallest of thQ three species; it 

 rarely exceeds 20 cm. in length. It is most often found 

 in the company of other fish, especially "tobar", but not 

 infrequently it is caught by the shabar fishers in the loca- 

 lities preferred by the latter fish. Its period of migration 

 coincides with that of the "bouri", and like the latter it' 

 is caught at that time for the sake of its roe. Its capture 

 is delegated to old men and boys, who take it in small 

 tobar nets at the sea entrance, when it is moving outwards 

 to spawn . The flesh of the ' 'garan" is considered the most 

 delicious of all the mullets, consequently it commands the 

 best price in the market. 



Peripd 

 of spa^vnlng. 



Other marine fishe?. 



Other spiny finned fishes are found in the lake, many 

 of them being qf large size. The largest of these is the 

 Maigre, Sciena aquila. It is known to the Arabs by the 

 name of lout {^}). The largest specimen seen was 88 cm. 

 long, (weight unknown), but large individuals of over one 

 metre in length are sometimes caught. The flesh is 

 somewhat tasteless when young, and coarse when large; 

 nevertheless it is held in favour, and yields good returns 

 to its captors. The head was formerly presented as 

 tribute to Roman magistrates, and even now it is much 

 esteemed. Small maigre are known as zo'ol (JpJ). 



Next comes Umbrina cirrhosa, Arab {J^) shifsh. 



SHIFSH. 



