THE DOREE. 
So8 
caught a fifh of this kind cn pajjant ; and as an eternal 
memorial of the fa£t, left the impreffions on its fides, t° 
be tranfmitted for the infpeftion of all poflerity *. 
The hideous afpeft of this fifh long banilhed it fr° m 
our table, till the celebrated comedian and epicure Qj“ /! 
introduced it. It required only his affertion to make it 3 
delicious fifli, and effe&ually to eftablifli its reputation 
among the moil delicate viands of the times. It is ver / 
common in the Mediterranean , the Bay oj Bi/cay , and ° n 
the French coaft; fo when Ovid terms it rare f, it m 11 ' 1 
have been owing to its delicacy, rather that its fcarcitf- 
There is a fpecies belonging to this tribe peculiar £ ° 
the Indian feas, termed by Willoughby , faber lndicus » 0 
a very remarkable appearance ; the firft ray of the do 1 *' 1 
fin extends far beyond the tip of the tail ; that of t -' t 
anal fin is nearly of the fame length ; while the two p cC j 
toral fins feem to confift only of a Angle ray, and eX £en ‘ 
almoll to the tail 
Ihe Opah |[. 
T ills filh belongs to the genus of dorees, although i £ ^ 
furpaffes them in magnitude, weighing in fome inft a " . 
an hundred and forty pounds ; meafuring three or ^ 
feet in length, by two and a quarter in depth. 1 £ ,s , 
much compreffed laterally, that its greateft thickne 
only four inches. The colour of the opah is a , 
J tra 1 ' 1 
* Willough. page 195, where Aldrov. afferts, that it is frequently 
Up in the Italian churches fo renowned for fable. 
I Rants Faber. Vide Halieut. f Willough. Append. J> 
|| Opah, or King-fifh, Phil. Tranf. Opah, Brit. Zool. 
ini n£ 
