DORY, or JOHN DORY (Zeus faber)

This article appears in Volume V08, Page 438 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: DIO-DRO

DORY, or JOHN DORY (Zeus faber) , an Acanthopterygian fish, the type of the family Zeidae, held in such esteem by the ancient Greeks that they called it Zeus after their principal divinity. Its English name is probably a corruption of the French jaune doree, and has reference to the prevailing golden-yellow colour of the living fish. The

body

BODY

in the dory is much compressed, and is nearly oval in form, while the mouth is large and capable of extensive protrusion. It possesses two dorsal fins, of which the anterior is armed with long slender spines, and the connecting membrane is produced into long tendril-like filaments; while a row of short spines extends along the belly and the roots of the anal and dorsal fins. The colour of the upper surface is olive-brown; the sides are yellowish, and are marked with a prominent dark spot, on account of which the dory divides with the haddock the reputation of being the fish from which Peter took the tribute money. It is an inhabitant of the Atlantic coasts of Europe, the Mediterranean and the Australian seas. It is occasionally abundant on the coasts of Devon and

Cornwall

CORNWALL

, and is also found, though more sparingly, throughout the British seas. It is exceedingly voracious, feeding on molluscs, shrimps and the

young

of other fish; and Jonathan Couch (1789-1870), author of a History of British Fishes, states that from the stomach of a single dory he has taken 25 flounders, some 22 in. long, 3 fatherlashers half grown and 5 stones from the beach, one 12 in. in length. They are often taken in the fishermen's nets off the

Cornwall

CORNWALL

and Devon coast, having entered these in pursuit of pilchards. They are seldom found in deep water, preferring sandy bays, among the weeds growing on the bottom of which they lie in wait for their prey, and in securing this they are greatly assisted by their

great

GREAT

width of gape, by their power of protruding the mouth, and by the slender filaments of the first dorsal fins, which

float

FLOAT (in O. Eng. floc and flota, in the verbal form f eotan; the Teutonic root is flut-, another form of flu-, seen in " flow," cf. " fleet "; the root is seen in Gr. a-M e, to sail, Lat. pluere, to rain; the Lat, fluere and fluctus, wave, is not connect

like worms in the water, while the greater part of the

body

BODY

is buried in the sand, and thus they entice the smaller fishes to come within easy reach of the capacious jaws. The dory often attains a weight of 12 lb, although those usually brought into the market do not averafe more than 6 or 7 lb. It is highly valued as an article of food.
The family Zeidae has assumed

special

SPECIAL

interest

INTEREST

late

LATE

, O. Thilo 1 and G. A. Boulenger 3 having shown that they have much in common with the flat-fishes or Pleuronectidae and must be nearly related to the

original

ORIGINAL

stock from which this asymmetrical type has been evolved, especially if the Upper Eocene genus Amphistium be taken into consideration. This 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 base of the dorsal and anal fins in the

young

of the John Dory. (G. A. B.)

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