118 PEOSE HALIBUTICS. 



same word under different forms, is naturally enough 

 puzzled to imagine a plausible reason for our appella- 

 tion: the name, however, is derived from the Trench 

 synonym, la vive, — a word designating the strong tena- 

 city of hfe manifested by this small group, the otter- 

 pikes of Pennant. There are several sorts of weevers, 

 aU characterized by formidable prickles (or stings, as 

 they are called, and popularly believed to be) ; but we 

 shall confine ourself to one large species peculiar to the 

 Mediterranean, generally known and especially dreaded 

 for the pungency and cachectic character of the wounds 

 it inflicts. 



The early Greek name for this fish was Bpd/cojv doKaa-- 

 cno<;, the sea-dragon; or simply, hpaicatvL<; (Ath.) ; the 

 modern Greek name, as Rondolet informs us, is hpd- 

 Kaiva, whence the modem Latin trachinus, corrupted by 

 Sicilian and Neapolitan sailors into tragine. The an- 

 cient Latin name for this species is araneus ; and it is 

 still called aregne in the patois of Marseilles, and pesce 

 ragno at Genoa. Belon reports it to occur very abun- 

 dantly off the islands in the ^gean Sea. There seem 

 to be two species, a larger and a less. The first attains 

 from a foot and a half to two feet in length ; the other, 

 though not above half that size, is more feared by the 

 boatmen, from a propensity to conceal itself in the sand, 

 where, as Cuvier says, from being unsuspected, it be- 

 comes more dangerous. Two wonderful things have 

 been reported of it by j^han and Belon. The first aflBrms 

 that, when hooked, if the angler attempts to land the 

 fish with the right hand, it plunges violently and resists; 

 if with the left hand, that it offers no opposition ' cedere 

 et capi ;^ and Belon says, he has heard from many fisher- 

 men that when the araneus strikes another fish during 

 the pairing season, a number of little ones similar to 

 itself in appearance originate in the cut. No fish wounds, 

 if we except those of the pastinaca skate, are so much 



