The wrasses called the owzel and the thrush, and the smaris have
different colours at different seasons, as is the case with the
plumage of certain birds; that is to say, they become black in the
spring and after the spring get white again. The phycis also changes
its hue: in general it is white, but in spring it is mottled; it is
the only sea-fish which is said make a bed for itself, and the
female lays her spawn in this bed or nest. The maenis, as was
observed, changes its colour as does the smaris, and in summer-time
changes back from whitish to black, the change being especially marked
about the fins and gills. The coracine, like the maenis, is in best
condition at breeding time; the mullet, the basse, and scaly fishes in
general are in bad condition at this period. A few fish are in much
the same condition at all times, whether with spawn or not, as the
glaucus. Old fishes also are bad eating; the old tunny is unfit even
for pickling, as a great part of its flesh wastes away with age, and
the same wasting is observed in all old fishes. The age of a scaly
fish may be told by the size and the hardness of its scales. An old
tunny has been caught weighing fifteen talents, with the span of its
tail two cubits and a palm broad.
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