Ctenoid Acanthoptekes. FISHES. Scminoids. 125 
Familt VII. — SGIJENOIDS (Scicencedce), 
Plate 7, fig. 39. 
In this group the bones of the head abound in muci- 
ferous cells and excavations, the jaws have but little 
protractility, and there are no teeth on the vomer or 
palatines, in which respect they difl'er from the typical 
Percoids. The dorsals are two in number, or one 
only; and the anal spines are few, and generally slender 
and feeble. Seven branchiostegals support the bran- 
chiostegous membrane on each side, the operculum is 
spiniferous or denticulated, and the preoperculum is 
variously armed in the various genera ; but the cheeks 
are not cuirassed by the second suborbitar, as in the 
Sderogenids. Most frequently the scales are ctenoid ; 
but they are often thin, tender, and nacry, and are 
arranged obliquely and peculiarly. In many the 
swim-bladder is curiously fringed or lobed, and fishes 
so provided are noted for emitting strange grunting 
noises. 
The genera are — Sctcsna ; Scicenoides (Blyth^ ; Collichthys 
(Gunther); Otolithvs; Ancylodon; Corvina; Johnius; Leioslomm; 
Larimus; Nebiis; Lepipterus ov Paehyurus (Agassiz)-, Boridia; 
Conodon; Eques; Vmbrina; Lonckurus; Pogonias; Micro- 
pogon; Hosmulon; Pristipoma; Diagramma; Pristipomoides 
(Bleeker); Cheilutrema (Schudi); Ilapalogenys (Richardson); 
Anyperodon (Gunther) ; Hyperoglyphe (GUuther). 
The term Scicena is from a Greek word signifying a 
cloud, and has reference to a great Mediterranean 
species which appears in the water like a cloud. This 
is the Scicena aquila (fig. 39) of modern ichthyologists, 
whose range extends to our coasts, where it is known 
by the name of Maigre, borrowed from the French 
fishermen. Its weight occasionally exceeds forty 
pounds, and its length six feet. From its size it is 
necessarily sold in slices, and its flesh, although dry, is 
considered to be good and wholesome. Formerly the 
head was reckoned a handsome gift; and in the fifteenth 
and sixteenth centuries it was the custom to otfer it as 
a valuable perquisite to the three conservators of the 
city of Rome. Bishop Paul Jovius, who published a 
work on fishes in the year 1531, relates a story of a 
noted parasite named Tamisio, who flourished in the 
year 1480. This gourmand, being wont to station his 
servant in the fish-market to bring him intelligence of 
the destination of the finest fish, learnt from him that 
a Maigre of unusual size had been brought in. Tamisio 
instantly hurried to wait on the conservators, in expec- 
tation of an invitation to dinner ; but as he ascended 
the steps of the capitol, he met the head, adorned 
with flowers, and borne, by order of the conservators, 
as an offering to Cardinal Riario, nephew of Pope 
Sixtus IV. Tamisio, being well acquainted with this 
prelate, gladly joined the procession ; but Riario, 
delighting in a play of words, said that the head of the 
greatest of fishes should go by right to the greatest of 
cardinals, and sent it accordingly to Cardinal St. 
Severin, who was of extraordinary bulk. St. Severiu, 
in his turn, despatched it in a golden dish to the 
wealthy banker Chigi, to whom he owed money. This 
time Tamisio, in his eager pursuit, had to traverse the 
whole city and to cross the Tiber in his way to the 
Farnesian palace which Chigi had built. Chigi, how- 
ever, did not retain the much-prized head, but after 
replacing the faded garlands by newly-gathered 
flowers, sent it to his mistress, whose abode lay a 
good way off. There at length Tamisio, who, though 
fat and unwieldy, had tracked the object of his desires, 
under a hot sun, over the whole city, was at length 
permitted to partake of the luxury he had endured so 
much toil to obtain. 
The name of Corvo (or Crow), given to one genus 
of Scisenoids by the Italians, has reference probably to 
the croaking noise these fish at times produce. One 
species, probably for the same reason, is called El ron- 
cador in central America. Some people attribute the 
sound of a bell, which occasionally issues from the 
depths of the Mediterranean sea, to the Corvo ; others 
think that these curious sounds are produced by sbelly 
molluscs. On the coasts of the United States of 
America certain species are called “Drums,” and in 
the autumn a loud drumming noise, which seems to 
come from the bottom of a ship, and is accompanied 
with some degree of tremor, is said by the fishermen 
to be caused by the Drums. At that season the tails 
of the Drums are infested by long thread-like worms 
(Filarid), and it may be that the fishes find relief by 
beating their tails on the bottoms of the ships. The 
author of these pages has been prevented from sleeping 
by like sounds when on board a ship at anchor on 
the coast of Carolina. The fact had long before been 
mentioned by Schoepff in the Berlin Transactions. 
Lieutenant John White mentions in the narrative 
of his voyage to China, published in 1824, that when 
his ship was anchored in the mouth of the river Cam- 
boya, the crew were amazed at the strange sounds that 
rose from the water, resembling the base of an organ, 
mingled with the tones of a bell, the croaking of an 
enormous frog, and the clang of an immense harp. 
These sounds swelled into a general chorus on both 
sides of the ship, and were attributed by the interpreter 
to a scull of fish. 
Baron Humboldt mentions a similar occurrence 
which he witnessed in the South Sea. About seven 
o’clock in the evening the sailors were terrified by an 
extraordinary noise in tbe air, like the beating of tam- 
bourines, followed by sounds which seemed to come 
from the ship, and resembling the escape of air from 
boiling liquid. It ceased at nine o’clock. It was 
judged to proceed from a scull of Scisenoides.* 
The Umbrina vulgaris is a rare visitor of the British 
seas. Many members of the family are in request for 
the table in Asia and America. The Bolapama 
(Scicena) is the whiting of the Calcutta fish-market. 
Otolithi and Johnii are also fished in the Indian seas 
for the isinglass made of their air-bladders. The 
highest price in the market is got for the isinglass of 
the Salampai (OtoUthus bi-auritus). The King-fish, 
Weak-fish, or Scuppey (OtoUthus) are well known in 
the New York markets, and a West Indian King-fish 
is dreaded for the severity of its bite. He can strip the 
flesh from the arm of a fisherman. 
* Hist, de Pois., vol. 198. 
