. Birds of other lands, reptiles, fishes, jointed animals and lower forms;. Zoology; Birds; Reptiles; Fishes. THE WRASSE-LIKE FISHES 237. BLACK-SPOTTED PARROT-FISH T/is fleih of some of- the Parrot-jurasses is of great de!iciic\ pense incurred b}- Elipentius ; was justified, in ttie opinion of the Roman gourmands, by the extreme delicacy of the flesh. It was a fish, said tiic poet, whose ver}' excrement the gods themseh'es \\ere unwilling to reject. Its flesh was tender, agreeable, sweet, easy of digestion, and quickly assimilated ; yet, if it happened to have eaten an aplysia, it produced vio
. Birds of other lands, reptiles, fishes, jointed animals and lower forms;. Zoology; Birds; Reptiles; Fishes. THE WRASSE-LIKE FISHES 237. BLACK-SPOTTED PARROT-FISH T/is fleih of some of- the Parrot-jurasses is of great de!iciic\ pense incurred b}- Elipentius ; was justified, in ttie opinion of the Roman gourmands, by the extreme delicacy of the flesh. It was a fish, said tiic poet, whose ver}' excrement the gods themseh'es \\ere unwilling to reject. Its flesh was tender, agreeable, sweet, easy of digestion, and quickly assimilated ; yet, if it happened to have eaten an aplysia, it produced violent ; To this day the Greeks hold it in high regard, and eat it with sauce made of its liver and intestines. It feeds on seaweed, and from its habit of thoroughly chewing its food, and moving it backwards and forwards in the mouth, it was at one time believed that this fish chewed the cud after the fashion of the ruminating mammals ! One of the most interesting of all the wrasses is a small species from King George's Sound, which, while retaining the principal characters common to the group, has assumed the general shape and proportions of the pipe-fish. The third family of the wrasses are remarkable chief!)' on account of the fact that thej- produce their young alive. These fishes are confined to the temperate regions of the North Pacific. The CllROMlDS constitute the last famil)' of the \\'rasse-like group. Numerous in species, they are all dwellers in fresh-water. C)ne species occurs in amazing numbers in the Lake of Galilee, shoals o\'er an acre in extent, and so closely packed that movement seemed almost impossible, having been recorded. The}' are taken in such enormous numbers that the nets in which they are caught often break. Occasionally shoals are carried down the Jordan into the Dead Sea; but the fish ne\'er get farther than a few \'ards, becoming stupefied almost at once, and, turning over on their backs, fall an easy prey to flocks of cormorants and
Size: 2117px × 1180px
Photo credit: © The Book Worm / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecad, booksubjectfishes, booksubjectzoology
