These fish are chiefly partial to still and shady waters, where the bottom is of sand, clay, or chalk. They spawn in March or April. When in high season, their colours are green spotted with yellow; but, when out of season, the green changes to grey, and the yellow spots turn pale. The age to which they live has not been ascertained, though there appears sufficient evidence of their existing for more than a century. As to their size, we are informed that, in the river Shannon, in Ireland, they have been found of nearly seventy pounds in weight; and, in some of the continental lakes, they are said to be more than eight feet long, and from eighty to a hundred pounds in weight.
239. The SEA-PIKE, or GAR-FISH (Esox belone, Fig. 69), is a fish of the pike tribe, of green colour on the upper part, serpentine shape, with long and narrow jaws, the lower one considerably shorter than the upper. The bones are of green colour when they have been exposed to strong heat.
These fish generally are about a foot and a half in length, and weigh from one to three pounds. The late Sir William Hamilton, however, mentioned one caught near Naples which weighed fourteen pounds, and was sent to the King as a great curiosity.
They are found in the ocean in nearly all parts of Europe.
The gar-fish begin to approach our coasts, in considerable shoals, about the month of March, shortly after which they deposit their eggs in smooth and shallow water. Their flavour is not much unlike that of mackrel, though many persons have a great antipathy to them, in consequence of the green colour of the bones.
240. The WHITE, or COMMON MULLET (Mugil cephalus) is a fish distinguished by having the lower jaw angular upwards, several narrow and dark-coloured stripes on each side of the body, a toothed process betwixt the eye and the opening of the mouth, and the gill-covers angular behind and covered with scales.
The weight of these fish is four or five pounds and upward.
They inhabit the seas of nearly all the southern parts of Europe, and annually enter the mouths of almost all the great rivers.
Vast shoals of mullets are frequently observed, about the months of May, June, and July, swimming, near the surface of the water, in harbours, and in rivers adjacent to the sea. They are caught with nets, but are so cunning, that, even when entirely surrounded, they will sometimes nearly all escape, either by leaping over or by diving under the nets.
These fish are in considerable request for the table, and are in best season about the month of August. Their flesh, however, is, in many instances, woolly and bad; and the great quantity of oil which is found beneath the skin renders them, to some persons, very unpleasant. In several places on the coast of the Mediterranean mullets are dried and smoked for exportation.