. Cassell's natural history. Animals; Animal behavior. 30 KATUSAL HISTORY. The body of the Tunny is much thicker than that of the Mackerel; the teeth are rather small, and exist in the jaws and on the palatine bones and vomer. The pancreatic appendages are extremely numerous, and the air-bladder is absent in some species of the genus. The scales of the pectoral region form a distinct covering for the throat. There is a keel on the middle of each side of the taU. Tlie Tunnies are widely distributed, and are especially tishes of the open ocean. The British form on both sides of the Atlan
. Cassell's natural history. Animals; Animal behavior. 30 KATUSAL HISTORY. The body of the Tunny is much thicker than that of the Mackerel; the teeth are rather small, and exist in the jaws and on the palatine bones and vomer. The pancreatic appendages are extremely numerous, and the air-bladder is absent in some species of the genus. The scales of the pectoral region form a distinct covering for the throat. There is a keel on the middle of each side of the taU. Tlie Tunnies are widely distributed, and are especially tishes of the open ocean. The British form on both sides of the Atlantic and in the Mediterranean, in which latter locality it is associated with several other species. A specimen in the British Museum, taken at Weymouth, is eight feet long. Such a fish would probably weigh five hundred pounds, but they are rarely met with of a greater length than three feet. They feed on Herrings, Sardines, Flying-fish, Mackerel, and probably many other fishes smaller than themselves. The Tunny harvest in the Mediterranean is of the utmost importance to the countries near which the fishes pass. They come in from the Atlantic in vast multitudes, and journey through the Strait of Gibraltar by way of Sicily on to the Black Sea. Toll is taken of them on every shore they pass by. After leaving the Black Sea they .swim back again along the southern shore of the Mediterranean, and pass out into the Atlantic. It has been observed that the Tunny possesses so much blood that its flesh has the appearance of beef, and its temperature is as high as that of a mammal ; nevertheless, it breathes by means of gills, and the heart is shaped on the plan characteristic of fishes. The colour of the skin above is dark blue, the under side of the body is greyish. The head is large and conical, and one-fifth of the length. The pectoral fin is long, and reaches to near the end of the spinous dorsal fin. The dorsal spines are rather short. Another species of this genus, the Thynnus pelam
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjecta, booksubjectanimals
