From this circumstance it is plain
that the assertion is untenable which is made by some writers, to wit,
that the young of oviparous fishes are generated like the grubs of
worms; for the opposite phenomena are observed in the case of these
grubs, in that their lower extremities are the larger at the outset,
and that the eyes and the head appear later on. After the egg has been
used up, the young fishes are like tadpoles in shape, and at first,
without taking any nutriment, they grow by sustenance derived from the
juice oozing from the egg; by and by, they are nourished up to full
growth by the river-waters.
When the Euxine is 'purged' a substance called phycus is carried
into the Hellespont, and this substance is of a pale yellow colour.
Some writers aver that it is the flower of the phycus, from which
rouge is made; it comes at the beginning of summer. Oysters and the
small fish of these localities feed on this substance, and some of the
inhabitants of these maritime districts say that the purple murex
derives its peculiar colour from it.
14
Marsh-fishes and river-fishes conceive at the age of five months
as a general rule, and deposit their spawn towards the close of the
year without exception.
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