Fishes. 1405 



found six in about a hundred yards. The young as they escape from 

 the egg are unlike the adult. 



Maigre, Scicena aquila. This rare species has been taken by the 

 Mousehole fishing-boats, and one was taken at Mevagissey in the au- 

 tumn of 1843, which measured six feet in length, and weighed about 

 4001bs, and another in the winter of 1844 at Fowey, so that the fall of 

 the year, appears to be the time of their visiting our shores. It feeds 

 on Crustacea and sea-weed. 



Becker, Pagrus vulgaris. Common during the summer and au- 

 tumn. This is a powerful fish on the line : it frequents sandy bays 

 and inlets, feeding on small Crustacea which abound in such situa- 

 tions : it has powerful jaws and good molar teeth : its colour is of a 

 bright and beautiful red : it breeds in deep water, and keeps there till 

 the warm weather of summer brings it into shallow water. This fish 

 cannot breed so numerously as the next species, since they are never 

 abundant, and the young are rarely seen. 



Sea Bream, Pagellus centrodontus. This is the most common of 

 the breams, and when living, is also one of the most brilliant. It fre- 

 quents our bays in large schulls, and advances and retreats with the 

 ebbing or flowing of the tide. It is caught by our fishermen in large 

 quantities during the summer and autumn months : it is in low esti- 

 mation for the table, but is much undervalued : it varies in price from 

 Jd. to l^d. each, but the latter is thought high. During winter it re- 

 tires to deep water and -there breeds ; in the summer the young 

 approach the shore in multitudes, and as they take bait readily, they 

 afford excellent sport to the amateur fishermen. When young, they 

 are called "chads," and are without the black lateral spot; when 

 half-grown, they are called " bogers," and have the lateral spot small: 

 they feed on Crustacea and sea-weed, as does also the becker. This 

 fish frequently rises to the surface in moderately deep water, and 

 moves slowly along as if in the act of migrating. A few years since a 

 seine in Mount's Bay enclosed a schull, in such a position, mistaking 

 them for pilchards, and found on examination that they had taken 

 60,000 bream. Mr. Yarrell in his 'British Fishes' has given a 

 figure of a malformation of the head of this species, which is not of 

 unfrequent occurrence. I saw four specimens of it last summer in the 

 course of one w T eek, and I have seen several others at other times. 



Spanish Bream, S. erythrinus. Several are generally caught 

 every year on the shores of Mount's Bay. 



Old Wife, Cantharus griseus. This is called the black bream ; 

 but to be entitled to such a name, it must be seen onlv when dead. 



