56 ACANTHOPTERYGIL 



facility to be inherent in all the species of the Genus : Cnvier however denied 

 that this power was possessed by all, and it has been surmised that such may be 

 due to their conveying after them certain invertebrata that have luminous 

 properties, and which occasion what the fishermen term " briming." They are 

 said by some observers to swim in large companies, and when pursued by an 

 enemy to spring out of the water. 



Means of capture. — Gurnards, generally swimming near the bottom, are 

 commonly taken by deep sea trawlers, but some species are likewise easily 

 captured by hand-lines : a silvery slice from a sand launce, Ammodytes, forming 

 an attractive bait. Long lines termed "bulters" with baited hooks are used for 

 gurnard fishing. 



Breeding. — They spawn about May or June, and Professor Sars has found 

 their ova floating on the sea, rendering it almost certain that they may be included 

 among those forms which do not deposit such on the ground. 



As food. — Gurnards have always been held in fair estimation, but from the 

 firmness of their flesh they are not so digestible as many other fishes as easily 

 procurable : some forms, however, owing to their small size are deemed almost unfit 

 for the table, while others are so inferior as to be considered worthless in certain 

 districts. They are generally stuffed with forcemeat and subsequently baked : or 

 their flesh is raised from the bones and dressed in fillets. They may likewise be 

 gently boiled in salted water for half-an-hour, and then served up with a rich 

 gravy or anchovy sauce, or with parsley and butter acidulated with Chili vinegar, 

 lemon juice or caper pickle. A very ancient mode and still occasionally followed, 

 is after having fried, to souce them in a sour sauce. However, in some places 

 " souced gurnet" is employed as a term of contempt, as when Shakespere in King 

 Henry IV, Act iv, Scene 2, makes Falstaff say, " If I be not ashamed of my 

 soldiers, I am a soused gurnet." 



Geographical distribution. — Coasts of Europe, being especially abundant in the 

 Mediterranean. One species extending across the North Atlantic is found on the 

 western shores of North America. To the south it passes round the west coast of 

 Africa, and from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean, apparently avoiding the east 

 coast of Africa, the shores of India, and the contiguous islands. 



Lepidotrigla, Giinther, has been separated solely on account of the size of its 

 scales* which are larger — a subdivision which is only partially approved of. 



In Ireland the gray gurnard, T. gumardus, is most numerous : next the 

 sapphirine T. hirundo : then the red T. cuculus : 4th the streaked T. lineata : 

 5th the Piper T. lyra (Thompson). 



1. Trigla lineata, Plate XXII. 



Muttus imherbis, Rondel, x, c. 5, p. 295, c. fig. ; Gesner, iv, p. 567 ; Aldrov. ii, 

 c. 2, p. 131. Milvus, Jonston, De Pise. lib. i, t. iii, c. 1. art. ii, p. 65, t. xvii, 

 f . 12, &c. Mullus imherbis, 1. c. p. 61, t. xviii, f . 4 ; Willughby, p. 278, t. S. i, f . 1 ; 

 Ray, Syn. p. 87. Cuculus lineatus, Ray, Syn. p. 165, f. 11; Brunn. Pise. Mass. 

 p. 99. Streaked gurnard, Pennant, Brit. Zool. (Ed. 1) iii, p. 281, pi. lvii, (Ed. 2) 

 iii, p. 377, pi. lxvi. 



Trigla lineata, Gmel. Linn. p. 1345 ; Bloch, t. cccliv ; Bl. Schn. p. 13 

 Donovan, Brit. Fish, i, pi. iv; Turton, Brit. Faun. p. 102; Cuv. and Val. iv 

 p. 34 ; Bonap. Ital. Pesci. iii, p. 58, c. fig ; Scouler, Mag. Nat. Hist, vi, 1833 

 p. 530 ; Thompson, Pro. Zool. Soc. 1835, p. 79, and Nat. Hist. Ireland, iv, p. 72 

 Yarrell, Brit. Fishes (Ed. 1) i, p. 46, c. fig. (Ed. 2) i, p. 45, (Ed. 3) ii, p. 19 

 Jenyns, Brit. Yert. p. 339 ; Parnell, Fish. Frith of Forth, p. 15, t. xix ; Swainson 

 Fish, ii, p. 262 ; Guichen. Explor. Alger. Poiss. p. 38 ; Flem. Brit. An. p. 215 

 Lowe, Pro. Zool. Soc. 1839, p. 77 ; Giinther, Catal. ii, p. 200 ; Steind. Ich. Span, 

 u. Port. 1867, p. 78 ; Cornish, Zool. 1878, p. 423. 



Trigla lastoviza, Briin. Pise. Mass. p. 99 ; Lacep. Poiss. iii, p. 349, 351. 



Trigla Adriatica, Gmel. Linn. p. 1346 ; Bl. Schn. p. 15 ; Risso, Ich. Nice, 

 p. 204, and Hist. Nat. iii, p. 394 ; Martens, Reise nach Yenedig. ii, p. 430, t. xi ; 

 Flem. Brit. An. p. 215. 



* Gill, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sc. Phil. 1864, p. 166. 



