
, THE sat : 2 
COMMON MACKREL. 
{ GENERIC CHARACTER, « 
Body oblong, smooth, sometimes. carinated by 
- the lateral line. 
Finlets (im. most species) above and below, to-= 
wards the tail. 
SPECIFIC CHARACTER, &c. 
: Blue Mackrel, with numerous transverse black 
lines, silvery abdomen, and five finlets 
~ above and below. 
Common Mackrel. ; 
Penn. Brit. Zool. 
Gen. Zool. 4. p: 577. 

The Common Mackrel, which may be considered 
as one of the most beautiful of fishes, is a native of ~ 
the European and American seas; generally appearing 
at stated seasons, and swarming round particular 
coasts. It is most plentiful in the northern seas, 
' where it grows to a larger size than elsewhere. The 
long migrations of the Mackrel, described by some wri- 
ters, seem at present to be considered as extremely 
doubtful; and it is rather supposed that the shoals 
_ which appear in such vast abundance round the more 
temperate coasts of Europe in the spring season, were 
in teality at no. great distance during the winter 3 
having merely immersed themselves in the deep and 
soft mud; from which they arise in a state of restored 
activity when the frosts are’passed. 
