CARANGID^. 125 



anal. Pectoral sickle-shapt'd, nearly or quite as long as the head. Ventral not 

 extending to the vent. Second pre-anal spine the strongest. Caudal rather 

 deeplj forked. Scales — very small, present on cheeks, opercles, summit of the 

 head, and over the body. Lateral-line — makes a curve to beneath the first third 

 of the second dorsal fin, in the curved portion of its course it is crossed by 

 large scale-like plates, deeper than wide, which become more indistinct in the 

 adult : in its straight portion these plates, 34 to 40, are keeled, becoming most 

 strono'ly so posteriorly. The number of these plates is subject to great variation, 

 thus in Cav. and Val. it is observed that such varied from 70 to 99, in examples 

 examined in Paris. Air-bladder — M. Moreau (Compt. Rend. Ixxx) observes that an 

 opening exists permitting the escape of gas from this organ into the bronchial 

 cavity, but does not admit atmospheric air. Goecal appendages — elongated, and 

 about twelve in number. Colours — of a dark bluish along the back and so low as 

 the lateral-line, beneath which it becomes silvery, glossed with purple and gold. 

 A diffused black spot on the opercle. 



Varieties. — Edward remarks that he once found a rather strange variety of 

 this species in Banffshire. It was about the usual size, but of a most beautiful 

 golden Colour, finely striped and variegated with numerous lines of the brightest 

 blue, except the fins, which were of the finest carmine. 



Names. — Scad, horse-maclierel, which term is said to denote the inferior 

 quality of its flesh: buck-mackerel (Hajoff). Macrell y Meirch, Welsh. Le saurel, 

 French. Hors, Dutch. 



Habits. — -Adults are more solitary in their habits than are the young, 

 and they swim lovv in the water : in the colder months they retire to the 

 deeper water, re-appearing on our coasts about April, when they become one of 

 our commonest fish. They are, however, very uncertain in their migrations, 

 perhaps from a great sensibility to cold and vicissitudes of temp^erature. Thus 

 Parnell observes that in 1833 and 1834 scarcely an example was observed in the 

 Firth of Forth, while they were in prodigious numbers on the English and Welsh 

 coasts. OiF Glamorganshire on the evening of July 24th, 1834, the whole sea 

 as far as could be seen, appeared to be in a fermentation from their numbers. 

 These immense shoals continued passing up channel for a week. Devoured 

 themselves in large numbers by sea birds, they are great enemies to pilchards, the 

 herring-fry, and the sand-launce, &c. Thompson found young GlwpeidcB in one 

 he opened in August. Ball states that he has seen the " scad " run up on shore 

 in considerable numbers, but whether in pursuit of young sprats termed 

 scad-bait or to avoid porpoises, Delpliiinis phoccena, which were conspicuous in 

 their rear, he was unable to say. In Norfolk, Mr. Upcher observed that he had 

 frequently seen large numbers of the scad in chase of small fry along the coast 

 at Sherringham, and so intent in the pursuit as to be easily taken with a landing 

 net. The beach was quite covered with small fish which were stranded on the 

 shingle after leaping from the water to escape their pursuers. B. Couch has 

 observed that the " mackerel " and " scad " do not intermingle much except near 

 the Scilly Isles, where they are frequently caught together in large quantities. 

 North of this the mackerel predominate, to the south the scad, and it is surmised 

 that in the winter months the shoals of scad are to the south of those of the 

 mackerel, the borders of the two intermingling. They pass up the channel 

 during the spring in the deep water, feeding at the bottom, but as summer advances 

 they approach the shore, swimming high, and these are frequently taken by 

 mackerel-nets as well as by hooks and lines. Sir T. Browne remarks that in 

 Norfolk " before the herrings there commonly cometh a fish about a foot long, by 

 fishermen called a horse, resembling in all points the Trachurus of Rondeletius." 



Means of capture. — As many as 20,000 have been taken off Cornwall in a 

 net at one time. In September and October they are captured in numbers in 

 tl e Cornish pilchard nets : some are taken in the salmon nets in the Firth of Forth. 



Baits. — ^Large ones readily take a bait. 



Breeding. — June, July, and August (but in the Mediterranean during the 

 spring, according to Risso). In September the bays in Cornwall swarm with the 

 young of about 1 inch in length, by October numbers scarcely exceeding 2 inches 



