286 SALT-WATER FISHES 



fish, like Ray's bream, it is, like that fish, never captured 

 by either hook or net, but is always either thrown ashore 

 or else overcome in shallow water. 



A third fish of the same family, much rarer with us than 

 the others, is Luvarus imperialis, the only two British examples 

 of which were thrown ashore in Cornwall in 1866, the one 

 near the Deadman, the other close to Falmouth. The larger 

 measured 4 ft. and weighed 120 lb. ; the shorter measured 

 45 in. The truncated head and small upturned mouth of 

 this fish give it a unique appearance. 



The Pilot-fish [Naucrates ductor) is one of the horse- 

 mackerels. Those who have voyaged in the warmer seas 

 of the globe are well acquainted with the small blue fishes, 

 shaped somewhat like mackerel, and marked down the sides 

 with five or six dark greenish bands, that swim near the head 

 of sharks. The dorsal and caudal fins are also tipped with 

 white. The lateral line is clearly traced ; but, instead of 

 being marked by rough scales, like that of the scad, the 

 portion of it before the tail has a keeled ridge. 



Though by no means a common visitor to our coasts, 

 a number of pilot-fish have been taken, though not, as in 

 warmer seas, in the company of sharks. The majority of 

 these occurrences have been in Devon and Cornwall, though 

 the preponderance of specimens of rare fishes recorded from 

 our south-west coast may in great measure be due to the 

 labours of such careful observers as Cornish, Couch, and 

 Dunn. Among other localities on our shores in which the 

 pilot-fish has occurred are the Isle of Wight, Folkestone, 

 Margate, the coast of Suffolk, and one or two in both Scot- 

 land and Ireland. These fish generally reach our seas with 

 some vessel from foreign parts. 



The Black Pilot (Pammelas perciformis), another of the 

 horse-mackerels, is a dark blue-grey fish, with dark spots on 



