Page:Natural History, Fishes.djvu/143

Rh nearly straight in the male, but elegantly waved in the female. The sides and belly are pearly, with iridescent reflections. The transverse bands of the back have given rise to the name by which this beautiful fish is known. Mackerel (maquereau in French) is considered as having been derived from the Latin word macularius spotted.

The sudden appearance of immense hosts of fishes on the coast at regular periods, by which their pursuit and capture in sufficient numbers to constitute fisheries, are facilitated, was formerly little understood; and the older writers had recourse to the hypothesis of long annual migrations of certain species, to account for their