104 
ACANTHOPTERYGII. M^NAD^. 
in ancient times. They frequent the shallows of • 
the shore, especially where the bottom is muddy ] 
and weedy ; hiding among the marine vegetation, 
like birds among the bushes, and preying upon 
small fishes, and the feebler Crustacea and mol- 
lusca. One species, the commonest of all {Smaris ' , 
vulgaris^ Cuv.), abounds so much at Iviqa, one of j 
the Balearic Isles, that according to M. de La- | 
roche, it forms more than half of the whole pro- j 
duce of the fisheries of that island. It bears here I 
the name oi j arret, Rondelet tells us that after ■ 
having been salted, the Picarel is exposed to the 
action of the air, to make a sort of garum^ or , 
sauce. It has been supposed that the appellation 
of Picarel, was derived from picoter, to prick or 
stimulate, alluding to the pungent taste of the 
sauce so prepared. But M. Duhamel denies the 
correctness of this ; for, according to the observa- 
tions of a correspondent of his, from Antibes, the 
Picarel is here confounded with a small species 
of the Herring genus, called there pyraie. He 
asserts that it is this fish, and not the true Picarel, 
which is made into sauce. 
The most beautiful species of the genus is 
that called by the fishermen of Nice, the King- 
fisher of the Sea {Smaris alcedo, Cuv.), in allu- 
sion to its brilliant tints. This lovely little fish 
does not commonly exceed seven inches in length* 
The upper parts are grey with golden refiections ; 
the sides are silvery ; the belly tinged with yel- 
lowish-green. The head and the gill-covers are 
marked with blue dashes ; the sides are orna- 
mented with four longitudinal lines of spots, of 
the most radiant ultramarine blue ; and on the 
belly there are six similar rows of a paler tint. 
