CASTER 
pear at the breaft, one at the belly, and thirteesi on each 
fide I at the tail, inftead of the fcuta, the (kin is pufted 
lip and wrinkled. The lateral line rims along above 
the bony plates, or fcuta j it is fomewhat irregular, but 
nearer to the back than to the behy. The fins are yel- 
Jowifti I thofe of the belly are compofed of a ftrong 
fpine jagged or toothed on both lldes, and of one foft 
fhort ray ; thefe fpines are very fliarp and hard, and fo 
knit into the bones, that even after the death of the filh 
it is a very difficult matter to bend them. Had not 
Providence given fuch a protedlion to this little filh, 
which lives fo (hort a time, and which produces not a 
tlioufandth part of the eggs that other fillies do, the 
race would fooii be extinft. The firft ray of the dorfal 
and anal fins is alfo a fpine ; the tail fin is Itraight. 
This filh is found both in running dreams and in ftag- 
nant waters. It grows not above three inches long ; it 
fpawns in April and May, laying its ova on aquatic 
plants I at that time they quit the lakes, and mount the 
communicating ftreams. They live on the ova and 
young of other fifiij and are reckoned very hurtful to 
the filhery, fo that the filhennen always deftroy them 
when they can j they feed alfo on worms and infetls. 
Though this fpecies be very fmall, it does not eafily 
become a prey to the rapacious kinds on account of its 
flrong fpines, as has been before remarked ; but its moft 
fatal enemies are various kinds of worms which pierce 
the inteftines. Where the fpecies is plenty, being little 
efteemed as food, they are ufed as manure | near Daat- 
zick they extradf oil from them ; and they are allb ufed, 
mixed with clay, to fatten ducks, or to feed fwine. 
Though this filh intrinlically be of fmall value,, yet it 
furnilhes fome curious obfervations to the naturalift 5 
this fpecies is among filh what the ephemerides (who 
live but a day) are among the infeft tribe ; for, while 
fome fpecies of filh live for ages,, or at leaft for many 
fcores of years, this little creature finillies its coiirfe in 
the I'ecoiid or third year after its birth ; and, while others 
depolit millions of eggs, this- lays but very few. But 
Cepede lees no reafon to fuppofe this filh fo (hort-lived ; 
he imagines the inftances. atliuded to may have been ac¬ 
cidental ^ and, if ufed as manure, furely the fpecies 
mufl; br prolific. The ftomach is large, the inieftinal 
canal Ihort, as in moft of the voracious kinds. The li¬ 
ver is in three lobes ; the gall-bladder is fmall; the roe ■ 
and ovary are double j the peritoneum (or membrane 
which enclofes the bowels) has leveral little black and 
white dots j and the ova, to the number of about 130 
only in both ovaries, are of the fize of millet-feed. 
There are fifteen ribs on each fide j and the vertebra are 
Shirty in number. 
The following are the remarks of Bloch on this fpe- 
cies. “ On the gth of April, 1787, I examined feveral 
hundreds of thel'e fillies. In fome, whofe body was 
much fwelled, 1 found two ovaries, wherein the eggs 
were fome whitilh, fome yellow, as large as poppy feed j 
in others, the eggs were not perfedl; the filh were thin; 
and the foft roe confifted of lengthened quill-fhaped bo¬ 
dies, fo covered with yellow fpots as to feem entirely, 
ef that colour ; but in alj, thefe parts were as yet very 
fmall. Behind the roe, or the ova, were the kidneys, 
but I could difcern no air-bladder. The liver, which, 
was in two lobes, one long and the other Ihort, was in 
fome reddilh, in others yellow j in all, whofe inteftinal 
canal was furniihed with fat, the liver was of the colour 
laft-mentioncd. The interior cavity of the belly was 
filver-coloiir, fcattered with black dots. In fome, the 
ehi-n was ot a bright yellow-green ; in others, brownifli 5 
in a few, red. In one only 1 found the loiitary intellinai 
worari defcribed by Pallas.” 
2. Gaiierofteus dubtor, tl\e pilot-fifii. Specific cba- 
rafter, the body handed, four ihort loofe fpines on the 
ba. k, I'he membrane oi the gills has 6 rays, (Lin- 
namsfays 7, and makes it part of the fpecific charatter,) 
the pettoral fins 15^ the ventrais 6^, the anal 16^ the 
O S T E U S. 26T 
tail x8, the dorfa! 34. The body is long. The head 
comprelTed, rounding eff in front, without fcaks as far 
as the operculum. The mouth is fmall ; the jaws of 
equal length, and furnifhed with fmall teeth § the pa* 
late has a curved row of fimilar teeth in front, and the 
tongue has teeth all along ; it is (hort, flefty, and hardly 
moveable. The noftrils are double, nearer the muzzle 
than the eyes ; the eyes have a black pupil and yellow 
iris. We have remarked elfewhere that the colour of 
fifties, &c. is fubjeft to much variation : this furnilhes 
one remarkable inftanre ; for Muller defcribes the iris 
as red I Halfelquift black mingled with yellow 5 Per- 
netti yellow ; Gronovius white ; and Olbeck yellow and 
white. The opercula are fmooth, rounded, and without 
fcales I the aperture of the gills is very wide, the mem¬ 
brane entirely covered. There are fmall fcales on the 
body ; the back and belly are round and flelhy ; the 
anus is nearer the tail than the head. The lateral line 
is curved firft upwards and then downwards, and is loft 
at the end of the tail. The tail is raifed on each fide, 
which gives it a fquare Ihape ; fimilar to many of the 
mackrei kind, among which this is placed by Bloch and 
feveral others; this arifes from faw-fhaped proceffes on 
each fide of the fpondyles of the tail. The dorfal and 
anal fins have foft bifurcated rays; the rays of the 
other fins are varioufly ramified. The pe 61 oral and ven¬ 
tral fins are of a grey colour, the ana! and dorfal blueilh | 
the tail-fin is grey at its origin, black in the middle, 
and white at the ends. There are five blue ftripes or 
bands on the body | the intervals are white | but the 
number of ftripes is not uniform. 
This fpecies is found in various parts of the world j 
Plumier made his drawing at the Antilles4 Haffelqiiift 
obferved it in the Mediterranean near I vica ; Brunniche 
at Marfeilles j Ofbeck under the line ; Loeffiing in the 
Southern Ocean; Nieiihoft' in the Eaft Indies; and. ^ 
Kolbe at the Cape of Good Hope,, It grows to a foot 
and a half in length ; and is well-tafted. Pernettj calls 
it one of the beft and handfomeft fifh of the lea. Haf. 
felquift found the ftomach filled with fifh; indeed, its 
well-armed mouth fliews it to be of the predatory kind. 
As it is commonly feen in company with the lhark, it 
is called the pilol-jifli, being fuppofed to point out prey 
to the lhark ; but this is very doubtful ; it follows vef- 
lels, as the fliark does, to feed upon what may be thrown 
over-board, but it is obferved to follow them after the 
lhark has quitted them. Brunniche lays they are feeH' 
at Marfeilles about the veffels which winter there ; 
Loeffling and Dutertre faw great numbers following 
veffels when there were no ffearks; but they feek to 
fwim near the lhark for proteftion againft other filh, for 
Haffciquift obferved that tlie dorado and other larger 
filh often devoured the pilot; but thefe are kept at a 
diftance by the appearance of a lhark ; not that the lhark 
has any friendftiip for the pilot, as pretended, or would: 
fpare him if in his power j but, as the lhark turns about 
heavily to catch him, he nimbly jumps afide ; of which: 
Dutertre was an eye-wltnefs. Later writers however 
have juftified the opinion of the ancients upon this mat¬ 
ter. In the year. 1803, in the philomathic feciety of 
Paris, citizen Geoffroy, profeflbr in the mufeum of na¬ 
tural hiltory, read a notice on certain habits--common to 
the lhark and to the filh called the pilote of pilot-filh^. 
which was to the following efiefl: “ An opinion long 
prevail d among mariners, that the lhark has fubjugated 
to its dominion a very fmall filh of the gains gewas ; and 
that this latter precedes his mafter in their voyages,, 
points out to him luch places in the feaas ab«und moll 
in filh, difcQvers by the track the prey of which he is- 
the fondeti, and that, in recompence for fuch fignal fer* 
vices, the lhark, no. withitanding his gluttonous difpo- 
fition, maintains the relations of peace and amity- with 
fo ufefui a companion. Naturalifts, however,, always 
on their guard agamft the exaggerations of voyagersj. 
who could not divine the reafons of fuch an affGuiation^ 
have 
