school in the town (Garrido 2008). Given this presence in Malaga, the species was
included in the Spanish ichthyology by Navarrete (1898).
There are two mentions of “sea monsters” at the beginning of the twentieth
century, southeast of the Alboran Sea (African waters). In 1906, a French magazine
published the news and illustration of an incredible and fantastic fish that was
washed up on a beach of Oran (Fig. 23.1f). Three years later, several Madrid
newspapers reported about a “sea monster” found near the coast of Melilla. Then,
it was verified that it was a young specimen of basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus,
Fig. 23.1g) (Escribano 1909). Around 1905, the bones of the lower jaw of a giant
whale were used to build an arch in a public garden in Gibraltar (Fig. 23.1c).
23.3 Historical Fisheries and Oceanographic Variability
During the period 1525–1725, we hypothesized that the inhabitants of the Alboran
Sea were affected by fluctuations in the abundance of sardines and tuna stocks, as
happened in other Spanish Atlantic regions. In fact, during the sixteenth century, the
presence of sardine banks in the Galician Rias was highly fluctuating with periods of
Fig. 23.1 Pelagic “sea monsters” of the Alboran Sea and Strait of Gibraltar (1565–1909). (a)
Fantastic “tattooed tuna” found in Ceuta in May 1565 (reproduced from Gesner Fisch-Buch, 1670).
(b) Male sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) stranded in Ceuta in 1753 (reproduced from
Barras 1944). (c) Whale jawbone arch in a public garden in Gibraltar towards year 1905 (old
postcard). (d) Porcupinefish genus Diodon (D. hystrix or D. eydouxii) from Tarifa (reproduced from
Brú 1784). (e) Pufferfish (Ephippion guttifer) caught in Malaga before 1871 and currently preserved
in the museum of a secondary school (Photograph by J. Pérez-Rubín). (f) Fantastic fish, a mixture of
tuna and conger, supposedly beached in Oran in 1906 (reproduced from the French magazine Le
Pélerin). (g) Young specimen of basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus) from Melilla (reproduced
from Escribano 1909)
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J. Pérez-Rubín
included in the Spanish ichthyology by Navarrete (1898).
There are two mentions of “sea monsters” at the beginning of the twentieth
century, southeast of the Alboran Sea (African waters). In 1906, a French magazine
published the news and illustration of an incredible and fantastic fish that was
washed up on a beach of Oran (Fig. 23.1f). Three years later, several Madrid
newspapers reported about a “sea monster” found near the coast of Melilla. Then,
it was verified that it was a young specimen of basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus,
Fig. 23.1g) (Escribano 1909). Around 1905, the bones of the lower jaw of a giant
whale were used to build an arch in a public garden in Gibraltar (Fig. 23.1c).
23.3 Historical Fisheries and Oceanographic Variability
During the period 1525–1725, we hypothesized that the inhabitants of the Alboran
Sea were affected by fluctuations in the abundance of sardines and tuna stocks, as
happened in other Spanish Atlantic regions. In fact, during the sixteenth century, the
presence of sardine banks in the Galician Rias was highly fluctuating with periods of
Fig. 23.1 Pelagic “sea monsters” of the Alboran Sea and Strait of Gibraltar (1565–1909). (a)
Fantastic “tattooed tuna” found in Ceuta in May 1565 (reproduced from Gesner Fisch-Buch, 1670).
(b) Male sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) stranded in Ceuta in 1753 (reproduced from
Barras 1944). (c) Whale jawbone arch in a public garden in Gibraltar towards year 1905 (old
postcard). (d) Porcupinefish genus Diodon (D. hystrix or D. eydouxii) from Tarifa (reproduced from
Brú 1784). (e) Pufferfish (Ephippion guttifer) caught in Malaga before 1871 and currently preserved
in the museum of a secondary school (Photograph by J. Pérez-Rubín). (f) Fantastic fish, a mixture of
tuna and conger, supposedly beached in Oran in 1906 (reproduced from the French magazine Le
Pélerin). (g) Young specimen of basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus) from Melilla (reproduced
from Escribano 1909)
778
J. Pérez-Rubín