Fishes. 141 1 



malformations, especially that of hermaphroditism. Cuvier and 

 Cavolini have mentioned it in the perches, and especially in the 

 smooth serranus. The lobe of the roe is said to consist of a portion 

 of genuine ova, and another of the male melt. This peculiarity I 

 have seen several times in the mackerel. I cannot venture to place 

 myself in opposition to such an authority as Cuvier, but must however 

 observe those I have examined did not confirm that view. If the roe 

 be decomposed and placed under the microscope it will be found to 

 be composed of minute granules, which enlarge till they are visible to 

 the eye. In the melt this is not the case, the granules being dis- 

 placed by vessels. If the deformed roe be taken, the supposed 

 changed portion will be found obscurely granular, and is in fact a de- 

 formed and unproductive roe ; but I would not deny in opposition to 

 Cuvier, Cavolini, Yarrell and others, that hermaphrodites may oc- 

 cur. While examining this very interesting point, during the spring 

 fishery, I was especially struck with the paucity of the females, almost 

 every fish I opened proved to be a male ; as the females were the 

 ones for which I was in search, this struck me very forcibly. The pro- 

 portions I found varied, but I think the medium proportion taken from 

 many samples, was one female to nine males, sometimes more and at 

 others less, and this I find has also been noticed by my father, but 

 whether it obtains also in the other seasons I have not observed. 



That the mackerel does not perform those distant migrations for- 

 merly attributed to it, is now r , I believe, generally admitted ; one thing 

 however is certain, that the fishery of one coast does not depend on 

 the migrations from any other, since they are simultaneously carried 

 on. 



Spanish Mackerel, S. Colias. This is very similar to the last spe- 

 cies, but is rarer, and not so elegant either in its shape or markings. 

 The eyes are larger, and the dorsal markings are neither so bright nor 

 distinct, and the abdomen is marked with patches of brown. It is not 

 so active as the common mackerel but is said to be equally voracious 

 as a feeder. This is now a rare species, but the fishermen tell me 

 that about nine or ten years ago many hundreds were caught every 

 year, while now only eight or ten can be procured throughout the 

 seasons. 



Tunny, Thynnns vulgaris. This elegant and graceful fish is com- 

 mon a few miles from the shore, around the Scilly Islands, Cape 

 Cornwall, Land's End, Tol-pedn-penwith to the Lizard, less so east- 

 ward, but is still occasionally found on the Devonshire coasts in pur- 

 suit of the pilchard and skipper {Esox saurus). It first appears about 



