The Natural History of Pliny, Volume 2 (of 6)

The male tunny has no ventral fin;2328 these fish enter the Euxine in large bodies from the main2329 sea, in the spring, and will spawn nowhere else. The young ones, which in autumn accompany the females to the open sea, are known as “cordyla.”2330 In the spring they are called “pelamides,”2331 from πηλὸς, the Greek for “mud,” and after they are a year old, “thynni.” When this fish is cut up into pieces, the neck, the belly, and the throat,2332 are the most esteemed parts; but they must be eaten only when they are quite fresh, and even then they cause severe fits of flatulence; the other parts; with the flesh entire, are preserved in salt. Those pieces, which bear a resemblance to an oaken board, have thence received the name of “melandrya.”2333 The least esteemed among these parts are those which are the nearest to the tail, because they have no fat upon them; while those parts are considered the most delicate, which lie nearest the neck;2334 in other fishes, however, the parts about the tail have the most nutriment2335 in them. The pelamides are cut up into small sections, known as “apolecti;”2336 and these again are divided into cubical pieces, which are thence called “cybia.”2337