Some
writers actually aver that mullet all grow spontaneously. In this
assertion they are mistaken, for the female of the fish is found
provided with spawn, and the male with milt. However, there is a
species of mullet that grows spontaneously out of mud and sand.
From the facts above enumerated it is quite proved that certain
fishes come spontaneously into existence, not being derived from
eggs or from copulation. Such fish as are neither oviparous nor
viviparous arise all from one of two sources, from mud, or from sand
and from decayed matter that rises thence as a scum; for instance, the
so-called froth of the small fry comes out of sandy ground. This fry
is incapable of growth and of propagating its kind; after living for a
while it dies away and another creature takes its place, and so,
with short intervals excepted, it may be said to last the whole year
through. At all events, it lasts from the autumn rising of Arcturus up
to the spring-time. As a proof that these fish occasionally come out
of the ground we have the fact that in cold weather they are not
caught, and that they are caught in warm weather, obviously coming
up out of the ground to catch the heat; also, when the fishermen use
dredges and the ground is scraped up fairly often, the fishes appear
in larger numbers and of superior quality.
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