CHAP. 77. (52.)—FISHES WHICH HAVE A WOMB; THOSE WHICH
IMPREGNATE THEMSELVES.
The fishes called the ervthinus[1] and the channe[2] are said to
have a womb; and those which by the Greeks are called
trochi,[3] it is said, impregnate themselves. The young of all
aquatic animals are without sight at their birth.[4]
1. Both these fishes have been mentioned in c. 23 of the present Book.
2. Pliny means to say, Cuvier says, that all these fish are to be looked
upon as females: and, in fact, he says, Cavolini discovered eggs and a milt
in every one that he examined; so that they appear to have all the appliances of self-fecundation.
3. Or wheel-fish: from the Greek troxo\s, "a wheel." It is not clearly
known what animal he alludes to under this name. Snails, Cuvier says, are
hermaphrodites, and so is the helix, but still they require sexual connection
for the purposes of reproduction. The greater part of the marine univalves, on the other hand, are of separate sexes; but the organ of the male
being proportionally of great length, and coiled in part beneath its mantle,
this fact may very possibly have given rise to the notion here mentioned
by our author, that the animal impregnates itself.
4. This can only be understood, Cuvier says, as applying to those animals
the young of which are still enveloped in the membranes of the egg: for
in general, the young of fish, from the moment of their birth, have eyes
of great beauty, and are remarkable for the quickness of their sight.