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RESEARCH ARTICLE

Fish Otoliths and Folklore: A Survey

Christopher John Duffin

Abstract

The folklore associatedwith fish otoliths is traced fromclassical times to the presentday for the first time. Otolithomancy involved divination of maritime weatherconditions by consulting the properties and morphology of the “stones.” In folkmedicine, they were employed in the treatment of renal problems, malarial fever,nose bleeds, jaundice, pain, and swellings in the groin. They were also believed toact as aphrodisiacs. Modern applications include the treatment of urinary tractinfections in Turkey, fever in Spain, and asthma and back pain in Brazil.

Introduction

Animal Stones

A brief look at classical literature, especially Pliny’s Natural History, reveals afascination with stones and concretions, some real but many fabulous, believed tohave been produced in the bodies of living organisms (Kunz 1915). Most werecredited with amazing powers, depending primarily on sympathetic magic,resulting in a surprising diversity of application, especially in medicine.While some of these stones are difficult to identify with certainty and have a

fairly short literary pedigree, others claim a long publication lineage, sometimespersisting into early modern times. Thus, we have stones such as the Hyaenia(formed in the eye of a hyaena), bezoar, Aetites or the “Eagle stone,” Crab’s eyes,Saurites from the bowels of a green lizard, Kenna or “stag’s tears,” Chelonites fromthe eye of the turtle, Limaceus (the “snail stone”), Pantheros from the panther,Quirinus from the nest of the Hoopoe or Lapwing, Lyncurius (solidified lynx urine),Chelidonius or swallow stones from the mouths of nestling swallows, andAlectorius (the “cock stone” from the gizzard of a capon). In addition to these is agroup of stones believed to have been formed somewhere in the head of the hostanimal. There is, for example, the Toad Stone or Bufonites (Duffin 2003; 2005),Vulturis from the brain of a vulture, Doriatides from the head of a cat, and Cinaedia(fish otoliths), which form the subject of this paper.

Otoliths

The fish inner ear is, in some ways, similar to that of man (Platt and Popper 1981).There is a complex of three semi-circular canals arranged at right angles to eachother in three different planes (Figure 1b). These canals detect turning movementsby the fish. Each semi-circular canal is connected at both ends to a balloon-likebody, the utriculus, which is the main gravisensory organ. Two further sacs, thesacculus and lagena, complete the sensory complement of the membranouslabyrinth, and are concerned mainly with sound detection. The sensory functions

Folklore 118 (April 2007): 78–90

ISSN 0015-587X print; 1469-8315 online/07/010078-13; Routledge Journals; Taylor & Francisq 2007 The Folklore SocietyDOI: 10.1080/00155870601095671

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of the inner ear complex are maintained by the interactions of ciliated epitheliawith calcareous structures called otoliths. Each of the three chambers of thelabyrinth contains its own distinct otolith; in order of decreasing size, the saccularotolith is called the sagitta, the utricular otolith is the lapillus, and the lagenarotolith is known as the asteriscus. There is a complex of three semi-circular canalsarranged at right angles to each other in three different planes (Figure 1a, 1b). Eachindividual fish will therefore possess a total of six otoliths, with the exception ofhagfishes, which have only two, and lampreys, which have four. Sharks and raysdo not possess otoliths at all. Instead, they have small calcareous staticonia thatmay be loosely aggregated and resemble a cluster of sand grains.Otoliths have a distinctive morphology that is taxonomically useful; it is

possible to identify fishes to species level by means of otoliths. This has proveduseful, for example, in reconstructing diets from the stomach contents of marinecarnivores such as seals, and food preferences of earlier cultures from middencontents. Each otolith is composed of the mineral aragonite together with a smallamount of organic material. It grows incrementally, whichmeans that age data canbe obtained for the parent fish. Although stable, aragonite may convert to its

Figure 1. Diagrams showing the location of otoliths in the membranous labyrinth of the inner ear of fish.

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polymorph, calcite, which renders it very durable under conditions of burial.Indeed, otoliths have proved to be important biostratigraphic tools in geology(Nolf 1985).

Classical Records

The ancient Greek philosopher and polymath, Aristotle (384–22 BC), was a prolificwriter. Included amongst his works is hisHistory of Animals, a treatise of ten booksthat is concerned largely with long descriptions of animal habits and anatomy. Inthis volume he introduces the idea that certain fish have a cranial sensory system,at the centre of which lies a stone (B. viii. c. 19; Thompson 1910; Balme 1991):

Fishes do not thrive in cold places, and those fishes suffer most in severe winters that have astone in their head, as the chromis, the basse, the sciaena, and the braize; for owing to the stonethey get frozen with the cold, and are thrown up on shore (Thompson 1910).

This idea is repeated by Plinius Secundus (23–79 AD), famous victim of theeruption of Vesuvius. Pliny amassed a huge quantity of colloquial belief and locallore in rather a hodge-podge fashion in his monumentalNatural History. Book 9, 24records:

All fish have a presentiment of a rigorous winter, but more especially those which are supposedto have a stone in the head, the lupus, for instance, the chromis, the sciæna, and the phagrus.(Rackham 1947, 201).

Elsewhere in the same work, Pliny also indicates that the fishes called Bacchus(32:32; Jones 1963, 527), Asellus (32:38; Jones 1963, 533), Cinaedius (37:56; Jones1963, 289) and Synodus (37:67; Eicholtz 1962, 313—supposedly found in the brain)also possess stones in the head. Thus, in all, classical writers identified at least ninedifferent food fishes as possessing stones in the head. The identity of these fish isof some interest. [1]

Folklore Applications

Pliny goes on to associate a number of the stones with cures for specific maladies.For example, the “pebbles” in the fish Bacchus “are excellent treatment for thestone” (32:32; Jones 1963, 527), referring to urinary calculi—either kidney stones orbladder stones (or both). Those found at the full moon in the head of Asellus were“tied on the patient in a linen cloth” (32:38; Jones 1963, 533) as a cure for recurrentfevers.Cinaedia gets the most detailed comment, however, with a double entry:

“Cinaediae” or “cinaedius stones” are white, oblong stones found in the brain of the fish sonamed. They have a remarkable effect if only we can believe the statement that they predictconditions at sea, foretelling mist or calm as the case may be (37: LVI, 153; Eichholz 1962, 289).

Lizards too are employed in several ways for eye remedies. Some shut up a green lizard in newearthenware, and with them the pebbles called cinaedia, which are used as amulets forswellings on the groin, mark them with nine marks and take away one daily; on the ninth daythey set the lizard free, but keep the pebbles for pains in the eyes (29:130; Jones 1963, 265).

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The use of otoliths in Roman times seems to be supported by archaeologicalevidence. Piques reports the discovery of a thirty millimetre long by fifteenmillimetre wide right sagitta belonging to Argyrosomus regius, the Meagre,discovered at the excavations of the Roman Baths at Barzan Charente-Maritime,France (Piques 2003, 503). Argyrosomus is a large (up to 230 cm long) marineperciform fish that is still fished commercially, found in inshore and shelf waters ofthe Eastern Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. The otolith from Barzanprobably came from a 200 cm long individual, and appears to have been workedfor incorporation into a housing, perhaps ultimately for use as a pendant. Piquesnotes that otoliths of the European Sea Bass (Dicentrarchus labrax), sometimeselevated to the status of semi-precious stones as “Perles de maigre,” are mountedin a gold band and worn in modern Spain as pendants or on buckles as an anti-febrile prophylactic (Piques 2003, 505).Compared with other stones believed to be of animal origin, the Cinaedius

has a relatively sparse representation in older literature; it does not appear inAnglo-Saxon Laeceboc or in the lapidaries of mediaeval scholars such asHildegard of Bingen, Marbode of Rennes and Albertus Magnus. The onlyrecord I have been able to find from this period is a brief mention by SaintIsidore (570–636 AD), Bishop of Seville, who refers to the ability of the stone topredict the faces of the sea (Lindsay 1911, Liber XVI Caput X, De Candidis 8).[2] Piques proposes the interesting hypothesis that the morphology of theconvex outer surface of the otolith might have been the focus of maritimemeteorological divination; a roughened area occupying about one-third of thesurface area of the lapillus bears a resemblance to the waves on the surface ofthe sea (Piques 2003, 506). John Jonstonus, however, states that the predictionof storms or calm at sea is a function of “their troubled or peaceable colour”(Jonstonus 1657, 114).The first incunabular record of the cynaedius is found in the Hortus Sanitatis or

“Garden of Health,” published in several editions from around 1483 (De Cuba1496, leaf Xii verso). Here, a delightful woodcut shows a man collecting shellfishand possibly pearls on the seashore (Figure 2). A conveniently placed, beachedfish has the position of the otolith clearly marked by a cranial swelling.In the approximately contemporary Peterborough Lapidary, otolithomancy has

been subtly replaced by the ability of the stone to protect the bearer both at sea andon land:

Cymydia is a stone, & he is found in ye hedd of a fisch; & is longe stone & a wyght. If a man

bereth him in his mowthe ther schall no tempest in water do him harme neder by lond, ne he

schall neuer be scomfited in were (Evans 1932, 78).

Camillus Leonardus, physician to Caesar Borgia, finds that there are actuallythree “Cimedia”:

there are two found in the Head, and a third near the third Joint of the Backbone, towards the

Tail; it is round, and of the Length of seven Fingers. Its broad Head being put before the Light,

the Spine appears within. Magicians say, that their Virtue is to foretell the Calms and Storms of

the Sea and Air. If taken in Drink they excite Luxury in the Day (Leonardus 1502, leaf XXVIII

verso; 1750, 89).

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The length estimate seems to refer to the whole fish rather than the otolith. Theproperty of exciting “Luxury” is an archaism reflecting aphrodisiac qualities;the owner will be prone to lechery or lust.

Figure 2. Woodcut and adjacent text from Johannes de Cuba’s (1496) Hortus Sanitatis, showing a man collectingshellfish and a beached fish with swellings on the head corresponding to the location of otoliths. Reproduced by

kind permission of the Wellcome Library, London.

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Leonardus further extends the list of fishes yielding cranial stones by noting thatthe “Corvina” is found in the head of the “Cabot” (Bull-Head orMiller’s Thumb—Cottus gobio; Linnaeus 1758)

. . . and there are always two. The Colour of it is a darkish white, with an oblong crooked Figurein one part, and in the other concave, with a little rising in the Middle. It is extracted while theFish is yet panting, in the Increase of theMoon, and in theMonth ofMay. Being carried in such aManner as it may touch the Flesh, it cures the Gripes [a spasm of pain]; and being bruised andtaken, it has the same Effect (Leonardus 1750, 89).

This is the only record where such a precise collection time must be strictlyadhered to in order to preserve the efficacy of the stone, but recalls similarrestrictions imposed on the collecting of the ovum anguinum (at least some ofwhich were fossil echinoids) and the toadstone (fossil fish teeth belonging to thegenus Lepidotes). “Bruising” the stone refers to it being pounded and grated inorder to provide a powder, which, at least in the case of other mineral materials,was often taken as a draught dissolved in water, milk, wine, beer or various herbal“Waters.” He also notes that the:

Aquilinus, a Lymphatic, is found in a certain Fish, and is beneficial to the Life of Man. For beinghung about the Neck, or otherwise carried, it drives off and takes away the Miseries of QuartanAgue (Leonardus 1750, 74).

The Quartan Ague refers to a type of malaria in which a fever recurs every fourthday.Encelius (1517–83) (Latinised form of Christoph Entzelt) introduces the Lapis

Carpionis or Carpstone as a medicinal aid in “colic passion,” and the GemmaePercae for urinary calculus (Encelius 1557, 217–218; see also Baccii 1603, 218).The carp referred to here is probably Cyprinus carpio carpio (Linnaeus 1758), theCommon carp (Order Cypriniformes, Family Cyprinidae), growing to 120 cmlong, and found in turbid freshwater.Robert Lovell further expands the diversity of fish species known to yield

cranial stones, noting that Coracinus (“Crowfish”) stones:

. . . help the nephritick pain or collick, and the jaundice. They help the stone of the reines, bydrying up the phlegme, or dryving it out by its weight, like the Jews or Lynces Stone (Lovell1661a, 193).

The Jews Stone mentioned in the passage refers to the spines of the Jurassic fossilechinoid, Balanocidaris, which were used extensively in the treatment of urinarycalculi (Duffin 2006). Similarly, “Lynces Stone,” believed to be the petrified urineof the European Lynx has variously been interpreted as amber or a variety of themineral tourmaline (Pliny Natural History 36; Ovid Metamorphoses 15, 413–415;Watson 1760, 396; Kunz 1913, 295; Jones 1963; Eicholtz 1967, 108; Melville 1987,364; Duffin 2006). Fossil belemnites were certainly identified as Lynx stones in themedicine cabinets of Sir Hans Sloane (1660–1753), whose collections formed thecore of the British Museum, and the Parisian apothecary Pierre Pomet (1658–99),again for the treatment of urinary problems.Furthermore, Lovell cites the Perch Stone as helping “the stone in the reines

[kidneys], and other pungent griefes in the sides,” while the stone obtained fromthe Scorpion Fish “helps the stone, So their ashes.” Stones from the skull of the

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Tench (Tinca tinca) have similar properties to those of the Carp, those from theUmber “help the collick,” and those from the Mullet “help against the Nephritickpassion” (renal colic).Lemnius (1658) notes that many species of fish have “exceeding hard stones in

their heads” and that:

. . . bruised and given in wine, [they] ease the cholick, and break the stone of the reins, not onelyby their weight and heavinesse, as some think, but by an imbred property, whereby theydiscusse and dissipate the collection of humours. The triangular stone of a carp powdred, willstop the blood that runs out of the nostrills, by its great astriction, which you may perceive alsoby tast (Lemnius 1658, 139).

The property of assuaging haemorrhage is repeated for the Carp Stone by Lovell(1661b, 103).Thus having become established in the literature through the sixteenth and

early seventeenth centuries, a number of authors reiterate the supposed benefits ofthe stones, particularly the Perch Stone and the Carp Stone (for example, Nicols1652, 176; Culpeper 1657, Book III, Title II, Articles I, IV, III, 5, 10 [page 4] and 8,Point 1 [page 36]; Charleton 1668, 256; Langius 1708, 59, 51; Hahnemann 1793–99,vol. 1 part 1, 178, vol. 1 part 2, 472–3, and vol. 2 part 1, 192). Quoting NicholasMonardes (1493–1588), Culpeper introduces stones from the head of a sharkunder the name “Tiburones”:

In the Indian sea are caught fish, called Tiburones, being great, strong, fighting fish, and of aterrible aspect, which daily fights with the Sea Wolves; in their heads is found three or fourStones, and sometimes more, very white, great and heavy; so that sometimes one of themweighs two pound; the powder of them cureth the Stone in the Reins and Bladder, anddifficulty of Urine, and is of no taste at all (Culpeper 1659, 271).

Lovell (1661b, 98) confirms their application to urinary problems, while Sloaneremarks that “The Stones in the Head of this fish are good for those who cannotmake water, and for pain in the Liver” (Sloane 1725, 23). Indeed, one of the fourexisting drawers from Hans Sloane’s medicine cabinet includes an unidentifiedotolith in one of its compartments (Figure 3).The first illustrations of otoliths appears to be those by Gesner (1565–66) (Figure

4). The transition from folklore to science was, however, the result of a closelyfocused review by Klein (1740). Following a survey of hearing in fishes, Klein goeson to assert that three pairs of otoliths, or “ichthyoliths” as he refers to them, are thenorm for awide variety of fishes including sharks (Klein 1740, 10), andgives figuresof a range of examples.The eighteenth-century enlightenment, bothwith respect to thenature andorigin

of fish otoliths and the subsequent progressive demythologising of medicinalsimples and pharmaceutical items, did not bring fully to a close their use in folkmedicine. Although records are sparse, it is obvious that some cultures still utiliseotoliths in apharmaceutical capacity today.Mentionhas alreadybeenmade of theiruse as protective amulets against fever in Spain (Piques 2003, 505). In Turkey,otoliths from the marine perciform Sciaena umbra (Linnaeus 1758)—the BrownMeagre—are finely ground and used as a remedy for urinary tract infections(Frimodt 1995). The same is also true of fishing communities in Iceland during therecent past (pers. comm. Tordur Tomasson 2006). The fishing community of

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Siribinha Beach, Bahia, Brazil utilise the otoliths of the ocean-dwelling sciaenidperciform, Micropogonias furnieri (Desmarest 1823), or the Whitemouth Croaker.The fishermen boil the otoliths in order to produce a tea, which they then drink inthe belief that it provides protection against stings by the same fish (Costa-Neto2000, 3). Fishery reports, however, record universally that the Croaker is harmless.A further application in Brazil involves Barra (near San Francisco, State of Bahia)fishermen roasting the Croaker otoliths, which are then finely ground and theresulting powder dispersed in warm water. The ensuing draught is then used totreat those suffering from asthmatic and urinary problems. Alternatively, theotolith is carried inside a pocket in the clothing in order to ward off and treat backpain (Costa-Neto, Dias and de Melo 2002, 568). Furthermore, during the

Figure 3. Compartment containing an unidentified otolith in a drawer from theMedicine cabinet belonging to SirHans Sloane (1660–1753).

Figure 4. The earliest figure of fish otoliths from Gesner (1565–6). Reproduced by kind permission of theWellcome Library, London.

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seventeenth century, Brazilian witch doctors used otoliths both as magic tools andmedicines to treat kidney stones (Costa-Neto, Dias and de Melo 2002, 568).A summary of the uses of otoliths according to classical, late mediaeval and

renaissance folklore is presented in Table 1.

The question arises of whether otoliths have any scientifically proven healthbenefit to the consumer. I am not aware of any empirical data relating to eitherpositive or negative effects as a result of being treatedwith otoliths. Urinary calculiare usually composed of either calcium oxalate or, less commonly, the mineralstruvite, a hydrated ammonia-magnesian phosphate (Parmar 2004). Kidneystones begin to grow as a consequence of the crystallisation of calcium phosphate(apatite) nuclei by nanobacteria—tiny, intracellular bacteria infecting the kidneytissues. There are many risk factors involved in further concentric growth of thestones, ranging from dietary considerations to variations in renal physiology andthe natural balance between intrinsic stone promoters and inhibitors in the cells(Parmar 2004, 1420). It could, of course, be argued that the treatment of urinarycalculi by otolith ingestion was iatrogenic—a case of the supposed cure initiatingthe disease. Otoliths are calcareous in composition, and their consumption mightbe expected to raise the calcium levels in body fluids, which could, in turn,exacerbate stone development. On the one hand, otoliths, which range in size up toabout one and a half centimetres, would obviously elevate dietary calcium levels.

Table 1. Summary of the folklore uses of otoliths from classical to Renaissance times

Name of stone Application Authority

Bacchus Urinary calculi Pliny (first century)Asellus Recurrent fevers Pliny (first century)Cinaedia Divination of weather conditions at sea Pliny (first century)Cinaedia Amulets for groin swellings Pliny (first century)Cinaedia Pains in the eyes Pliny (first century)Cinaedia Divination of weather conditions at sea Isidorus (seventh century)Cinaedia Held in the mouth to protect

against storms at seaPeterborough Lapidary (late fifteenth century)

Cinaedia Promotes daytime lustfulness Camillus Leonardus (1502)Corvina Held against the skin to cure

painsCamillus Leonardus (1502)

Aquilinus Malaria (Quartain fever) Camillus Leonardus (1502)Lapis Carpionis Colic Encelius 1557Coracinus Renal colic Lovell 1661Coracinus Jaundice Lovell 1661Coracinus Kidney stones Lovell 1661Perch Stone Kidney stones Lovell 1661Carp Stone Nose bleeds Lovell 1661Scorpio Bladder stones Lovell 1661Tench stone Renal colic Lovell 1661Umber Stone Colic Lovell 1661Mullet Stone Renal colic Lovell 1661Carp Stone Nose bleeds Lemnius 1658Tiburones Kidney Stones Culpeper 1659Tiburones Bladder Stones Culpeper 1659Tiburones Strangury Culpeper 1659Tiburones Liver pain Sloane 1725

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On the other hand, a wide range of intrinsic and other extrinsic factors also have abearing on the development of urinary concretions. It is doubtful that otolithingestion was a powerful iatrogenic factor, but its significance might increasewhen combined with, say, changes in the composition or volume of drinkingwater, excessive loss of body fluids (e.g. by sweating in hot climatic conditions),and disruptions to kidney and parathyroid metabolism.

Conclusions

Otoliths, the “stones” found in the heads of fishes, were used in folk medicine andmeteorological divination from classical times to the mid-eighteenth century,when their appreciation was put on a more scientific footing. They were used inthe treatment of a range of diseases including urinary problems, particularlykidney and bladder stones, malaria, jaundice, fever, liver complaints andhaemorrhaging, especially from the nose. Certain modern communities still utilisefish otoliths in order to give protection against fever, stings from fishes and in thetreatment of infections of the urinary tract.

Acknowledgements

The authorwould like to thank theWellcomeLibrary for access to themanyvolumesconsulted in thepreparationof thispaper, andforpermission toreproduce thefiguresfrom Gesner (1565--66) and de Cuba (1483). Adrienne Mayor made a number ofhelpful suggestions at the review stage. Cristina Lerner-Noy and Martha Richterkindly helped to clarify the author’s inferences from texts written in Portuguese.Tordur Tomasson of Skogar discussed aspects of Icelandic folklore with the author.

Notes

[1] The identities of some of the fishes mentioned in classical texts are:

1. The “Lupus” (Wolfperches in German) is probably Dicentrarchus labrax (Linnaeus 1758)—the EuropeanSea Bass. A common food fish, this marine perciform actinopterygian (FamilyMoronidae) grows to overone metre in length and weighs up to twelve kilograms (Fiedler 1991).

2. “Chromis” is most likely the marine sciaenid perciform, Sciaena umbra (Linnaeus 1758), commonlyknown as the BrownMeagre. This might well also be the identity of “Sciaena.” This fish reaches lengthsof seventy centimetres.

3. “Bacchus” is generally identified as one of the aselli, a Grey Mullet, perhaps Mugil mabrosus or Mugilcephalus (Linnaeus 1758) (Perciformes, Family Mugilidae), the Flathead Mullet (up to 120 cm long andweighing up to twelve kilograms).

4. Asellus itself is generally taken to include the European Hake, Merluccius merluccius (Linnaeus 1758)(Order Gadiformes, Family Merlucciidae), plus possibly Phycis phycis (Linnaeus 1766) (MediterraneanHake or Forkbeard) and P. blennioides (Brunnich 1768), the Fork-beard Hake or Greater Forkbeard.

5. Claudius Aelianus (On the Characteristics of Animals IX. 7; see Aelian 1959) (c. 175–235) suggested that“Cinaedius” might be the Bass, and thus synonymous with Lupus.

6. “Synodus,” a name indicating direct opposition of teeth in the upper and lower dentitions duringocclusion, probably refers to a sea bream, possibly Sparus aurata (Linnaeus 1758), the Gilthead SeaBream (Perciformes, Family Sparidae), or Pagellus bogaraveo (Brunnich 1768), the Blackspot Sea Bream,both species reaching a length of around seventy centimetres and aweight of around twelve kilograms.Note, however, that the members of the Family Synodontidae are the Lizard fishes or Javelin fishes.

[2] “Cinaedia invenitur in cerebro piscis eiusdem nominis, candida et oblonga. Praesagare his ferunt marissigna tranquillitatis vel tempestatis” (Lindsay 1911, Liber XVI Caput X, De Candidis 8).

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Charleton, Walter. Onomasticon zoicon, plerorumque animalium differentias et nomina propria pluribuslinguis exponens. Cui accedunt mantissa anatomica; et quaedam de variis fossilivm generibus. London:J. Allestry, 1668.

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———. Culpeper’s School of Physick. Or The Experimental Practice of the whole Art. Wherein are containedall inward Diseases from the Head to the Foot, with their proper and effectuall Cures, such Diet set down asought to be observed in Sickness or in Health. With other wayes for preserving of Life, in excellentAphorismes, and approved Medicines, so plainly and easily treated of, that the Free-born Student rightlyunderstanding this Method, may judge of the Practice of Physick, so far as it concerns himself, or the Cure ofothers, &c. AWork never before Publisht, very necessary for all that desire to be rightly informed in Physick,Chyrurgery, Chymistry, &c. London: N. Brook, 1659.

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———. “The Western Lapidary Tradition in early Geological Literature: Medicinal and MagicalMinerals.” Geology Today 21 (2005): 60–4.

———. “Lapis Judaicus or the Jew’s Stone: The Folklore of Fossil Echinoid Spines.” Proceedings of theGeologist’s Association 117 (2006): 265–75.

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Biographical Note

Following a Geology Degree, Chris Duffin gained a PhD in Vertebrate Palaeontology and ComparativeAnatomy at University College London in 1980. He has published over eighty palaeontological papers andcontributions to books, mostly on fossil fishes. He is currently researching the folklore of fossils, particularlytheir use in folk medicine from classical to early modern times. Working as a school-teacher, he is Head ofBiology, Head of Critical Thinking, and Deputy Head of Sixth Form at Streatham and Clapham HighSchool.

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