CHAP. 18.—TUNNIES, CORDYLA, AND PELAMIDES, AND THE VARIOUS PARTS OF THEM THAT ARE SALTED. MELANDRYA, APOLECTI, AND CYBIA.
The male tunny has no ventral fin;[2328] these fish enter the Euxine in large bodies from the main[2329] sea, in the spring, and will spawn nowhere else. The young ones, which in autumn accompany the females to the open sea, are known as “cordyla.”[2330] In the spring they are called “pelamides,”[2331] from πηλὸς, the Greek for “mud,” and after they are a year old, “thynni.” When this fish is cut up into pieces, the neck, the belly, and the throat,[2332] are the most esteemed parts; but they must be eaten only when they are quite fresh, and even then they cause severe fits of flatulence; the other parts; with the flesh entire, are preserved in salt. Those pieces, which bear a resemblance to an oaken board, have thence received the name of “melandrya.”[2333] The least esteemed among these parts are those which are the nearest to the tail, because they have no fat upon them; while those parts are considered the most delicate, which lie nearest the neck;[2334] in other fishes, however, the parts about the tail have the most nutriment[2335] in them. The pelamides are cut up into small sections, known as “apolecti;”[2336] and these again are divided into cubical pieces, which are thence called “cybia.”[2337]