This section is from the book "A Manual Of British Vertebrate Animals", by Leonard Jenyns. Also available from Amazon: A Manual Of British Vertebrate Animals.
Nine spurious finlets above and below: pectorals falcate; contained five times and a half in the entire length.
S. Thynnus, Linn. Syst. Nat. torn. i. p. 493. Bloch, Ichth. pl. 55. Don. Brit. Fish. vol. i. pl. 5. Flem. Brit. An. p. 218. Thynnus vulgaris, Cuv. et Val. Poiss. torn. viii. p. 42. pl. 210. Tunny-Fish, Will. Hist. Pise. p. 176. tab. M. 1. f. 3. Tunny, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. iii. p. 266. pl. 52. Yarr. Brit. Fish. vol. i. p. 134. Le 'Thon commun, Cuv. Reg. An. torn. ii. p. 197.
From three to seven feet; sometimes more.
(Form). General form resembling that of the Mackerel, but thicker in proportion to its length, and shorter in the snout: head a little less than one-fourth of the entire length; profile slightly convex; lower jaw a little longer than the upper; each with a single row of small sharp teeth, slightly curving inwards and backwards; about forty on each side above and below; a few fine teeth like velvet also on the palatines and fore part of the vomer: diameter of the eye one-seventh the length of the head: cheeks covered with long narrow pointed scales, which cause them to appear wrinkled: gill-covers, as well as all the rest of the head, naked: lateral line irregularly and slightly liexuous, marked throughout its length by large scales similar to those which form the corselet: pectorals sickle-shaped, contained five times and a half in the whole length: ventrals scarcely more than half as long: first dorsal commencing nearly in a line with the base of the pectorals, rising from a groove, and extending nearly to the second; first spine longest; the others decreasing rapidly to the sixth, afterwards more slowly: second dorsal with one small concealed spine; the soft rays which follow elevated anteriorly and pointed; those behind rapidly decreasing: anal similar to the second dorsal, and nearly opposite to it, with two spines concealed in its anterior margin: nine or ten spurious finlets above, and nine below: caudal crescent-shaped:
B. 7; D 14 - 1/13, and IX; A. 2/12, and VIII; C. 19, and 16 or 17; P. 31;
V. 1/5: sides of the tail keeled. Number of vertebrae thirty-nine. (Colours). Upper part of the body bluish black; corselet inclining to whitish: sides of the head whitish: belly grayish, with silvery whitish spots: first dorsal, pectorals, and ventrals, dusky; caudal somewhat paler; second dorsal and anal inclining to flesh-colour, with silvery reflections; spurious finlets sulphur-yellow, edged with black. Cuv.
According to Pennant, " not uncommon in the Lochs on the western coast of Scotland; where they come in pursuit of Herrings." Rare southwards. Donovan mentions three which were captured near the mouth of the Thames in the Summer of 1801, and brought to Billingsgate market. Very abundant in the Mediterranean. Usually swim in large shoals. Feed on other fish. Weight of one examined by Pennant, measuring seven feet ten inches in length, four hundred and sixty pounds.
 
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