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DORY, or JOHN DORY (Zeus faber)

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Originally appearing in Volume V08, Page 438 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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DORY, or See also:JOHN DORY (See also:Zeus See also:faber)  , an Acanthopterygian See also:fish, the type of the See also:family Zeidae, held in such esteem by the See also:ancient Greeks that they called it See also:Zeus after their See also:principal divinity . Its See also:English name is probably a corruption of the See also:French jaune doree, and has reference to the prevailing See also:golden-yellow See also:colour of the living fish . The See also:body in the See also:dory is much compressed, and is nearly See also:oval in See also:form, while the mouth is large and capable of extensive protrusion . It possesses two dorsal fins, of which the anterior is armed with See also:long slender spines, and the connecting membrane is produced into long tendril-like filaments; while a See also:row of See also:short spines extends along the belly and the roots of the anal and dorsal fins . The colour of the upper See also:surface is See also:olive-See also:brown; the sides are yellowish, and are marked with a prominent dark spot, on See also:account of which the dory divides with the See also:haddock the reputation of being the fish from which See also:Peter took the See also:tribute See also:money . It is an inhabitant of the See also:Atlantic coasts of See also:Europe, the Mediterranean and the Australian seas . It is occasionally abundant on the coasts of See also:Devon and See also:Cornwall, and is also found, though more sparingly, throughout the See also:British seas . It is exceedingly voracious, feeding on molluscs, shrimps and the See also:young of other fish; and See also:Jonathan See also:Couch (1789-1870), author of a See also:History of British Fishes, states that from the See also:stomach of a single dory he has taken 25 flounders, some 22 in. long, 3 fatherlashers See also:half grown and 5 stones from the See also:beach, one 12 in. in length . They are often taken in the fishermen's nets off the Cornwall and Devon See also:coast, having entered these in pursuit of pilchards . They are seldom found in deep See also:water, preferring sandy bays, among the weeds growing on the bottom of which they See also:lie in wait for their See also:prey, and in securing this they are greatly assisted by their See also:great width of gape, by their See also:power of protruding the mouth, and by the slender filaments of the first dorsal fins, which See also:float like See also:worms in the water, while the greater See also:part of the body is buried in the See also:sand, and thus they entice the smaller fishes to come within easy reach of the capacious jaws . The dory often attains a See also:weight of 12 lb, although those usually brought into the See also:market do not averafe more than 6 or 7 lb . It is highly valued as an See also:article of See also:food .

The family Zeidae has assumed See also:

special See also:interest of See also:late, O . Thilo 1 and G . A . Boulenger 3 having shown that they have much in See also:common with the See also:flat-fishes or Pleuronectidae and must be nearly related to the See also:original stock from which this asymmetrical type has been evolved, especially if the Upper See also:Eocene genus Amphistium be taken into See also:consideration . This See also:affinity is further supported by the observations made by L . W . Byrne3 on the asymmetry in the number and arrangement of the bony plates at the See also:base of the dorsal and anal fins in the young of the See also:John Dory . (G . A .

End of Article: DORY, or JOHN DORY (Zeus faber)
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