J) 33

CO

THE FISHES

OF

GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.

JSY

FBANCIS DAY, F.L.S., & F.Z.S.,

KNIGHT OF THE CROWN OF ITALY, HON. MEMBER DEUTSCHER FISCHEREI- VEREIN, AND OF THE
AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY, MEMBER OF THE ASIATIC SOCIETY OF CALCUTTA AND
OF THE COTSWOLD NATURALISTS' FIELD CLUB, ETC.. DEPUTY SURGEON-
GENERAL MADRAS AF.MY, (RETIRED,) AND FORMERLY INSPECTOR-
GENERAL OF FISHERIES IN INDIA.

IN TWO VOLUMES.

VOLUME II.

WILLIAMS AND NOEGATE,

14, HENEIETTA STEEET, COVEN T GAEDEN, LONDON ;
. and 20, SOUTH FEEDEEICK STEEET, EDINBUEGH.

18801884.

LONDON :

G. NORMAN AND SON, PKIXTEES, HART STREET,

COVENT GARDEN.

FISHES OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.

B. Anacanthini Pleuronectoidei.

The structure of the head is apparently unsymmetrical on the two sides.

Family, IV PLEURONECTID.E, Risso.

Heterosomata, Bonaparte. Diprosopa, Latreille.

Branchiostegals six to eight: pseudobranchise well developed. Gills four.
Body strongly compressed, flattened, with one of its sides coloured, the other
being colourless or having merely some spots. Both eyes (except in the very
young) situated on the upper or coloured surface, sometimes they are rudimentary.
The two sides of the head not equally developed, one remaining almost
rudimentary. The jaws and dentition may be nearly equally developed on both
sides, or more so on the blind than in the coloured. A single, long, dorsal and
anal fin. Pectorals when present may be rudimentary. Scales present or absent.
Lateral-line on the coloured side single, double, or triple : curved or straight.
Air-bladder absent.

The members composing this family are commonly known as flat-fishes, bnt it
must be observed there are two groups of "flat-fishes." The one being as it were
flattened from above, as we see in rays and skates, wherein the upper surface is
the back. It is not so however among the Pleuronectidae or "side swimmers,"
which are flattened from side to side, except the head, which appears distorted and
likewise flattened. When referring to the pleuronectoids the terms right (dextraT)
or left (sinistral) are employed with reference to the position of the upper or
coloured side : to ascertain this the fish is placed with its tail towards the
observer, the dorsal fin above and the anal beneath. Reversed examples are such
as have the eyes situated on the side of the body opposite to the one in which it
is generally seen. Double examples are those in which both sides of the body are
coloured.

Adams remarked (Voyage of the Samarang) that such as frequent coral reefs
often have their tails ornamented with rather vivid colours, and their upper sides
marked with somewhat striking patterns ; whereas those that are half buried are
as dull and dingy as the surface is where they are found. They are evidently
aware how efficacious their colours prove for the purpose of concealment, and
when pursued sink down to the bottom, where they lie quite still on the ground,
the colour of which assimilates to that of their own upper surface.

The Pleuronectoids, or flat-fishes, are among the most remarkable of vertebrate
animals, as for about a week or more after birth they swim on edge in a way
similar to other fishes, having their dorsal fin above, their anal fin below them,
and possessing an eye on either side of the head. But as they grow older this
erect position becomes lost, their sides become their upper and lower surfaces,
while both eyes are on the superior or coloured side of the body. The adult,
when at rest or swimming, usually keeps near the bjttom of the water, and
progresses by means of a sort of undulating motion of the whole body, and of the
unpaired fins. These fish are of a broad, flat shape, and margined in almost
II. 1

74837

2 ANACANTHINI.

their entire extent by the dorsal, caudal, and anal fins ; while not only the
muscles, but the skin, the gills, gill-covers, and even the pectoral fin-rays are less
developed on the blind (or normally under surface) than on the coloured side, the
mouth also being, as it were, bent round to this eyeless side, towards which the
anterior part of the face seems to be twisted. From a very early age it had been
known that these fishes when first emerging from the ova, and while in a pellucid
condition, have an eye on either side of the head ; that by degrees the eye, on
what eventually will be the eyeless side, becomes depressed, while at the same
time a dark spot appears on the opposite side of the head, so that the fish almost
seems to possess three eyes. By degrees this dark spot becomes a distinct eye,
while that on the other side gradually disappears ; in short, the eye apparently
migrates from what is henceforth known as the blind side of the fish. Van
Beneden (1853) and many others, considered that this abnormal position of the
eyes in adult flat-fishes was due to a greater or less torsion of the entire head on
the axis of the body, or else to a twisting of the face alone. Ten years subsequently
(1863) Professor Steenstrap, having obtained examples of young flounders,
demurred to this explanation. He observed that if such were effected by simple
torsion, the nerves and muscles belonging to the upper eye must necessarily pass
over the frontal bone of the blind side, and permanently continue in that position,
which, however, is not found to be the case, they being at the bottom of the orbit ;
and he considered that the eye must have first passed under the frontal bones,
and subsequently upwards and through them. The eye, when leaving its original
site, attempts to carry the frontal bone of its own side with it, but the greater
portion of that bone resists, remaining in its place. Professor Steenstrup
consequently came to the conclusion that the eye on the blind side undertakes a
movement deeper and deeper, passing under the half roof formed by the frontal
bone of its own side, and is thus brought up through its vault ; so that in order to
find room for itself, it partially separates one frontal bone from its fellow, and partly
makes its way through the substance of the frontal bone itself ; in short, that the
eye, in attaining its final position, first passes obliquely inwards, and then ascends
upwards through the head, emerging on the opposite side. Professor Wyville
Thompson* considered that the eye of the blind side passes to the coloured
or eyed-side of the body, not through the vault of the head, but under the
integument, displacing in its progress the frontal bone of its own side ; that the
space through which the nervous and vascular connections pass is indicated in the
mature skull by the unsymmetrical posterior half of the articulating process of
the prefrontal of the blind side, the eye having maintained its normal relation to
its associated bone, the frontal, of the coloured side throughout. The eye changes
but little in actual position with the growth of the fish, the associated parts
being, as it were, developed past it and thus pi-oducing this singular obliquity.
Traquair (Trans. Linn. Soc. 1866, xsv, p. 263) believed that here we had a real case
of asymmetry in the supposed absence of the additional processes of the os frontis
anterius and proprium. But Hr. Malmf considered this conclusion to be
erroneous, and he observed that the young flat-fish is obliged, owing to the depth of
its body, increased by the development of its vertical fins, to remain on one side
while resting on the ground, the horizontal fins not being sufficiently developed to
sustain it in a vertical position. The eye of the "blind " side has a tendency to
turn towards the light, and in doing so carries with it the cartilaginous framework
of the skull, which eventually is only apparently asymmetrical. He gives
excellent figures of the first stages of these fishes. J Professor Alexander Agassiz
remarked that the first change and the process is identical, whether we take a
right or a left flounder. First there is a slight advance towards the snout of the
eye about to be tranferred : so that the transverse axis, passing through the pupil
of the eyes, no longer makes a right angle with the longitudinal axis. This
movement of translation is soon followed by a slight movement of rotation, so

* Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. 1865, p. 361.

f Svensk. Vet. Akad. Handl. vii, no. 4, 1868.

j See also Gervais, Arch. Zool. Exp. 1877, p. 193, t. vi, and Lacaze-Duthiers, I.e. p. 305.

A. Agassiz, Pro j. Amcr. Acad. Arts and Science-*, xiv, 1879, 1 1. vii-x.

PLEURONECTID^E. 3

that when the young fish is seen in profile, the eyes of the two sides no longer
appear in the same place, that on the blind side being now slightly above and in
advance of that on the coloured side. With increasing age the eye on the blind
side rises higher and higher towards the median longitudinal line of the head.
The dorsal fin gradually extends towards the nostrils, and finds its way behind
the eye which has come from the blind side. The eye is transferred at such an
early period that the bones of the skull are cartilaginous, and the transfer is
carried out by a combined process of translation and rotation. In some cases it
was observed to be transferred, as described by Malm, round the head by the
snout, and in others to actually pass through the soft tissues of the head, and
this divergence appeared to be due solely to the generic differences in the position
of the dorsal fin.

Some flat-fishes have the eyes normally on the right side of the body, others
on the left, but reversed instances, or those in which the coloured side is on that
which is as a rule uncoloured, are not uncommon among most genera of
Pleuronectoids. Such is very frequently observed in flounders, these fishes, living
close in shore, being* more exposed to the actions of currents than those genera
which live in the deep sea. In this way they become in their very early life forced
on to the side which is not the normal one. Such valuations are more commonly
perceived in some localities than in others, and will generally be found due to local
disturbing causes. Professor Agassiz kept young flounders in glass vases, raised
high above the table, and found that, notwithstanding the fact that here no
disturbance could occur, seven out of fifteen were noticed endeavouring to force
the eye round the wrong way, by lying down on the opposite side. But all the
seven soon died, and this may account for the comparative scarcity of reversed flat-
fishes. He also observed that the presence of light on all sides failed to arrest, or
even to delay, the transfer of the eye, and the consequent change in the colour
of the under side, which invariably became white with advancing age, when that
organ passed over to the upper surface. Thus it would appear that the absence of
light is not the primary or sole cause of the want of colour on the under side of
the flat-fishes.

While the eye is progressing from the one side of the head to the opposite where
it is to find its final resting place, its course is occasionally arrested, and it may
remain permanently stationary on the upper surface of the head, and this is
commonly seen in what is known as " double flat-fishes,"* or those coloured on both
sides. f Donovan obtained a young double turbot, and thinking he had discovered
an unknown fish, termed it Pleuronectes cyclops, and which he figured on plate xc.
" So singularly different," says that author, " is this from the rest of the
Pleuronectes that it seems to militate even against the chai'acter of the genus,
which requires that both eyes should be placed on one side. We were almost
tempted, from this consideration, to constitute a new genus for this curious fish."
Yarrell remarks, " The Pleuronectes cyclops of Mr. Donovan, I believe to be an
example of the young fry of the turbot, the head of which is not perfectly formed."
Double fishes have been observed in flounders, turbot, plaice, soles, etc., and they
are seen to swim vertically, and to be more frequently found near the surface of
the water than those which progress in a normal manner. All who have eaten
these double flat-fishes know how they are most deservedly held in greater estima-
tion for the table than others which have an uncoloured as well as a coloured side.
Then there are albinos or those which are uncoloured or nearly white on both
sides (being almost or quite double albinos) and still retaining their normal form ;
but in some that have been carefully examined no sexual parts could be detected.

* These would appear to be examples in which the ancestral form has been more strongly
developed than has the adopted. The early lives of these fishes afford excellent illustrations of these
two distinct phenomena, or of ancestral or inherited form and adopted modification. For in the
earlier stages of their existence after leaving the egg, they swim on edge with an eye on either side
of the head as in other fishes; but in a definite period they assume their adopted form of both eyes
being on the same side. No matter through how many countless generations these pleuronectoids
may pass, still the embryonic or early fry condition, or an eye on either side of the head, will continue
to be apparent, just as the visceral clefts in the human embryo are.

t In many double flat-fishes the eves are in their normal position.

1*

4 ANACANTHINI.

In the majority of albino examples only patches or portions of the body are thus
affected, and it has been suggested whether such may not occasionally be due to
a cross having occurred between a normal and a reversed example of the same
species giving rise to a sort of piebald colour.

Among these fishes it appears as if the female sex largely preponderated over
that of the male. It also seems probable that their eggs float when deposited in
the sea (see page 27). In the earlier stages of their existence during the spring
months, pleuronectoids pass their lives close in shore ; they swim on the surface
and appear more active if the wind is setting in shore, per/haps taking advantage of
it to return towards home.

Many legends doubtless are in existence throughout the universe regarding
how these fishes became coloured on one side only. Klunzinger tells us that in
Upper Egypt a tradition is prevalent that Moses was once cooking a fish, but by
the time it had been broiled until it was brown on one side, the fire or the oil gave
out. Moses, in a temper the reverse of amiable, threw the fish into the sea, where,
although half broiled, it came to life again, and its descendants have up to the
present day preserved the same peculiar appearance, being white or colourless on
one side and coloured on the other. In Constantinople a similar story is told of
these fishes, but Moses retires in favour of the Sultan, Mohammed II, the conqueror
of Stamboul. In the Isle of Man, Patterson states that there is a legend accounting
for how the mouths of flat-fishes became twisted ; the finny tribes bethought them-
selves that it was time to select a king to decide disputes, and for which purpose
they all assembled, putting on their best appearance. The plaice, however, remained
so long at home adorning himself with red spots in order to be selected their
chief, that he did not arrive until all was over and the shad had been elected " king
of the sea." On hearing the result, the indignation of the plaice was aroused,
and curling his mouth to one side, he remarked with disdain, " Fancy a simple
fish like a herring being king of the sea." And his mouth has continued awry
ever since.*

In some of the genera forming this family it is very interesting to observe the
different plans on which the eyes are modified and protected. Thus, the plaice
or the flounder are able to move these organs horizontally, or even vertically,
and it appears as if the two eyes, to a certain extent, act independently one of the
other. In the turbot this organ can be covered, for not only does a thick skin
invest the upper and lateral portions of the globe, as in most of the pleuronectida?,
but being insufficient to protect the eye from the irritation of the sand wherewith
it covers itself, it is able to elevate a thick lower eyelid, or else to depress the
transparent portion of the globe of the eye beneath this fold of skin.

Respecting the means of capturing these fishes, it is found that they mostly
reside in localities where the beam-trawl can be employed ; while due to their
great commercial value for food they are sought for throughout the year. It was
observed at Great Grimsby, during the cold winter of 1881, that the catch of soles
had increased, as then they retired into deep water. By an old law of the Cinque
Ports, no one might capture soles between the 1st of November and the 15th of
March : neither was any one permitted to fish from sun-setting to sun-rising, that
the fish might enjoy their night's food (Pennant, 1776). Constant complaints are
heard respecting the diminution in the quantity of flat-fishes and the undersized
ones that are sent to market. Thus, in Land and Water of September 17th,
1881, Mr. Epton remarks on this as a fisherman and what he has observed during
the last few years off Great Grimsby. Now these fish have decreased so that the
captures by each fishing smack are much less than formerly, but the supply
has been kept up by increasing the number of vessels. It has been suggested that
beam trawlers ought not to fish in water of less depth than twelve fathoms, or
they would be injuring the brood-grounds. Once captured in a trawl, there would
be but little use in returning the small fish to the sea, as they are usually too much
injured.

* The muscles oi' these fishes are more developed on the coloured than on the blind side of the
body.

PLEURONECTID^E. 5

Dr. Sauvagc lias remarked that the various degrees of development of the
termination of the vertebral column in the genera Rhombus, Solea, and Pleuronectes
are in accordance with their geological appearance (Compt. Rend., April, 1872),
while, geologically speaking, they are a modern family of fishes, having been
found in a fossil state in the early Tertiary deposits (Rhombus solea), but no
remains of allied forms occur associated with those of the bony fishes of tho
Cretaceous and Jurassic rocks.

Geographical distribution. These littoral forms are mostly found where the sea
possesses a sandy bottom, or else in muddy or sandy rivers, rarely existing at
great depths, and but seldom frequenting rocky or precipitous coasts ; while due
to the deficiency of an air-bladder they live at the bottom. Pleuronectoids are
most numerous towards the tropics, where, however, they do not attain to so large
a size as those which reside in temperate or cold regions ; they are absent from
very high latitudes. Some, as the common flounder, are anadromous forms, but
the majority are strictly marine ; while a few of the marine species have
naturally, or consequent upon experiments made by man, been acclimatized in
fresh water.

Synopsis of Genera.
A. Jaws and dentition about equally developed on both sides.

1. Hippoglossus. Eyes on the right side. Teeth in the upper jaw in two rows.
The dorsal fin commences above the upper eye. Scales cycloid.

2. Hippoglossoidcs.Ftyes on the right side. Teeth small and in a single row.
The dorsal fin commences above the upper eye. Scales ctenoid.

3. Rhombus. Eyes on the left side. Teeth in a band in both jaws and present
on the vomer.

4. Zeugopterus. Eyes on the left side. Teeth in a band. The dorsal fin
commences before the eyes. Scales ctenoid or spinate.

5. Arnoglossus. Eyes on the left side. Teeth in one or two rows in the
jaws. Dorsal fin commences on the snout. Scales deciduous.

B. Jaivs and dentition most developed on the blind side.

6. Pleuronectes. Eyes on the right side. Teeth of moderate size. The dorsal
fin commences above the upper eye. Both pectorals present.

7 . Solea. Eyes on the right side. Teeth small, only on the blind side. The
dorsal fin commences before the upper eye and is not confluent with the caudal.
Pectorals may be well developed, rudimentary, or absent. Scales ctenoid.

Genus I Hippoglossus, Cuvier.

Platysomatichthys, Bleeker (lateral-line having a curved anterior portion).

Branchiostegals seven : pseudobranchice present. Eyes on the right side. Cleft
of mouth deep. Gill-rakers few, compressed and short. Teeth in the upper jaw in
two rows, the outer of which is composed of conical ones : those in the lower jaw conical
and widely set : none on vomer, palatines or tongue. Dorsal fin commences above
the orbit : caudal free : dorsal and anal fin rays (except the last few) unbranched.
Scales small, cycloid and not extended on to the vertical fins. Lateral-line straight
or with a curve in its anterior portion.

Habitat. North Atlantic to the south coast of England, and stragglers off
France : and on the American coast from Newfoundland to Cape Hatteras. In
the North Pacific it has been taken from Kamtskatka to California.

These fishes are mostly captured off banks at some distance from the coast, and
at depths up to 150 fathoms. They attain to a large size. Storer records an
American example which weighed 3 cwt.

1. Hippoglossus vulgaris, Plate XCIV.

Hippoglossus, Rondel, xi, c. 16, p. 325 ; Willughby, p. 09, t. F6 ; Ray, Syn.
p. 33; Gesner, pp. 6G9, 787; Aldrov. ii, c. 43, p. 238. Passer urn genus maj us,

6 ANACANTHINI.

Sclionev. p. 62. Pleuronectes, sp. Artecli, Synon. p. 31, no. 3, and Gen. p, 17.
no. 3 ; Gronov. Zooph. no. 247. Passer, sp. Klein, Pise. Miss, iv, p. 33, no. 2.
Helleflynder, Pontop. Norg. Nat. Hist, ii, p. 220 ; Strom. Sdndm. i, p. 300.
Hippoglossus Eondeletii, Rutty, Co. Dublin, 1772, i, p. 350. Halibut, Pennant,
Brit. Zool. (ed. 1776) iii, p. 226 (ed. 1812) iii, p. 302. Fletcm, Duhamel, Peches,
ii, sect, ix, p. 271, pi. vii, f. 1. The Holibut, Low, Fauna Oread, p. 211.

Pleuronectes hippoglossus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 4-56 ; Bloeh, t. xlvii ; Bl.
Schn. p. 147 ; Gmel. Linn. p. 1227 ; Lacep. iv, p. 601 ; Bonnaterre, Ency. Ich.
p. 74, pi. xxxix, f. 156; Donovan, Brit. Fish, iv, pi. lxxv ; Shaw, Zool. iv,
p. 295 ; Pallas, Zoogr. Roos. As. iii, p. 421 ; Turton, Brit. Fauna, p. 95 ; Faber,
Fisehe Isl. p. 148; Gronov. ed Gray, p. 87 ; Schlegel, Dieren Neder. p. 173,
pi. xv, f. 1.

Hippoijlossus vulgaris, Flem. Brit. An. p. 199; Jenyns, Man. p. 460; Yarrell,
Brit. Fish. (Ed. 1) ii, p. 230, c. fig. (Ed. 2) ii, p. 321 (Ed. 3) i, p. 630;
Parnell, Wern. Mem. vii, p. 372 and Fish. Firth of Forth, p. 212 ; Templeton,
Mag. Nat. Hist, 1837 (2) i, p. 411 ; Johnston, Berwick. Nat. Hist. Club, 1838,
i, p. 174 ; De Kay, New York Fauna, Fish. p. 294, pi. xlix, f. 157'; White, Catal.
p. 101 ; Thompson, Nat. Hist, Ireland, iv, p. 199 ; Giinther, Catal. iv, p. 403 ;
Malgr. GEfv. Sven. Yet. Akad. Forh. 1865, p. 527 ; Gilpin, Proc. and Trans. Nov.
Scot. Inst. Nat, Sci. ii, 2, 1869, p. 20 ; Collett, Norges Fiske, p. 134 ; Mcintosh,
Fish. St. Andrew's, p. 179 ; Winther, Ich. Dan. Mar. p. 36 ; Moreau, Poiss.
France, iii, p. 287 (? Ayres, Proc. Cal. Acad. 1859, p. 30).

Ptippoglossus maximus, Gottsche, Wiegm. Arch. 1835, p. 164 ; Kroyer, Dan.
Fisk. ii, p. 381, c. fig. ; Nilsson, Skan. Fauna, iv, p. 631.

Hippoglossus gigas, Swainson, Fishes, ii, p. 302 ; Bonap. Pesc. Eur. 47.

Hippoglossus IAnnei, Malm, p. 508.

Holibut, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, iii, p- 149, pi, clix.

B. vii, D. 99-107, P. 14-18, Y. 6, A. 73-82, C. 15-18, Ccec. pyl. 4, Vert. 16/34.

Length of head 4|, of caudal fin 6^, height of body 3 to 3 \ in the total length.

Eye diameter 5| to 6 in the length of the head and nearly or quite equals the

extent of the snout, and from f to 1 diameter apart ; anteriorly the two eyes reach

to the same level ; interorbital space smooth, scaleless. The greatest height of the

head does not quite equal its length. Lower jaw prominent ; the posterior extremity

of the maxilla reaches to beneath the middle or hind edge of the orbit ; the length

of the maxilla equals about 1/3 of that of the head. Teeth conical, in the

anterior two-thirds of the upper jaw in two rows, the outer consisting of distantly

separated and large ones : posteriorly a single row ; in the lower jaw six to eight

distantly placed conical ones ; none on the palate or tongue. Fins the dorsal

commences above the first third or middle of the upper orbit, and terminates before

it reaches the caudal fin, the length of the interspace being equal to the depth of the

free portion of the tail ; all the rays are simple and unbranched except the last few ;

the highest rays are about its centre where they equal about one-third that of the

body beneath them, the anterior and posterior rays are short. Pectoral on the coloured

side half as long as the head, slightly shorter on the blind side ; Yentral short,

being scarcely half the length of the pectoral, while it does not quite reach to above

the commencement of the anal, which latter fin is low at first but at about the end of

its first third the rays become so long as to be equal to at least 1/3 of that of the

body above it, the fin terminates beneath the end of the dorsal, its last few rays

bifurcated. Caudal emarginate. Scales minute, and cycloid over the body and

head on the coloured side and some on the end of the maxilla, none between the

rays of the dorsal and anal fins. Blind side of body scaled. No spine in front of

the anal fin. Lateral-line anteriorly curved above the pectoral fin, the height

of the curve being about equal to one-fourth of its length. Gill-raliers

compressed, wide but short, the length of each not being equal to half that of the

orbit. Colours right or coloured side of an olive marbled all over with darker :

fins similarly coloured except in the young, when the basal halves of the dorsal

and anal are light coloured.

Names. Said by Ray (1713) to have been termed but, also turbid or turbot.

PLEURONECTID^E. 7

Lady fluke. Turbot, Moray Firth, also bradan leathari or "flat salmon," while at
Aberdeen the large ones are called turbot, very old and black ones blacksmiths,
and young ones birdies (Sim). Also known as workhouse turbot. Be Heilbot,
Dutch. Le Fletan, French.

Habits. This is the largest form of the family taken off the British shores.
It feeds close to the ground, but often inhabits deep and rocky situations, while
Lacepede observed that in Greenland it appeared to prefer localities also
frequented by the cod, as they probably seek the same food. Pennant remarked
(1776) that during the preceding year there had been two instances of holibuts
swallowing the lead weight at the end of lines with which seamen were sounding,
one occurring off Flaniborough Head, the other when going into Tinmouth
Haven. Thompson took from the stomach of one weighing about 120 lb. the
remains of a ray : from another ten full grown sprats and a fragment of Mill&pora
polymorphs : another was crammed with crabs and a valve of Venus cassina. On
the Dogger bank it is said to consume large quantities of shell fish, also flat-fish
and Crustacea.

Means of capture. Baits employed on very strong hooks and lines, as it
sometimes offers a most determined resistance when hooked, and which may bo
very formidable in large examples. This, according to Thompson, is not in
accordance with the experience of Irish fishermen, who assert that it is a simple fish,
easily killed, and they never lose one in consequence of its weight. Off Ireland
it is said to be generally taken on cod-lines, the Bucciniim undatum being mostly
employed as a bait. In the Orkneys they are most commonly captured in the
slack water and eddies occasioned by the various islands in the race of the
tides.

Baits. Generally those employed for the cod and turbot. In the Moray
Firth a piece of plaice is mostly used.

Breeding. April in Cornwall (R. Couch) : off Scotland in the spring (Parnell).
The roe is of a pale red colour, and the ova very numerous (Buckland).

Diseases. Thompson states that upon all he has examined were specimens of
the parasite Hvrudo hippoglossus, Midler ; and Mcintosh remarks that Epibdella
hippoglossi is often seen on the caligus of this fish, in fact JJdonella caligorum
is common.

Uses. Said to be more famed for its size than for its quality, and is sold
throughout the year except during May and June.

As food. It is little esteemed in England and does not obtain a ready sale
among the general public, unless other fish is scarce ; Mr. Rowell, however,
observes (Land and Water, July 16th, 1881), that at Newcastle they are termed
" turbot " and greatly esteemed, and as a test observes cod is retailed at 4d a lb.
ling at 5d or 6d and halibut at lOd or Is, these three prices showing their respective
local estimation. He continues : " Let any one get a piece of halibut from a
small one, season it with nutmeg, pepper, and salt, and bake it in the oven, and I
know nothing so fine no fish, turbot, sole, or salmon, can excel it ; it does not do
to boil, it is too soft, I think, and it is too thick to fry, and it does not do to slice
it, but cut a piece of three or four pounds or more, and bake it, it makes a most
delicious fish dinner."

In Cheltenham and elsewhere, Jews are frequent purchasers of halibut, but
they must have an entire fish with its head and gills intact. Thompson
considered it very good for the table : Low asserted that it is a large, coarse and
dry fish, except the head and fins which are reckoned excellent, while a small one
is far from bad. The skin is thick and oily, as also the bones, from which latter
a quantity of pure oil may be obtained. The Greenlanders are said to cut them
into large strips which are dried in the sun.

Habitat. From the coasts of Spitzbergen to Iceland, Finland and Scandinavia
to the British and French shores, but it is rare in the Channel. One was taken in
1874 at Biarritz, and likewise at Boulogne (Moreau). It is abundant off the
Orkneys, especially in eddies or where two tides meet, one captured in such a
locality was 7i feet long and thick in proportion ; it is also common in Zetland
(Baikie). Frequently met with along the east coast of Scotland (Parnell) : ami

8 ANACANTHINI.

thrives on the immense sandy plain between there and Norway (Buckland). Reid
has obtained it up to 231 lb. weight at Wick : also found in the Moray Firth, more
particularly during the month of March : at Banff in deep water (Edward) :
Aberdeen (Sim) : not rare at St. Andrew's (Mcintosh). Resident off the
Yorkshire coast and in moderate numbers, but seldom caught now at Flamborough
where thirty or forty years ago it was very numerous (Yorkshire Yertebrata).
In the Norwich papers of February 15th, 1873, one is mentioned as having been
taken off Yarmouth, measuring 5-| feet long, 2~ broad, and weighing 7% stone,
and Buckland, another, 6 feet long, weighing 161 lb. obtained from the same
locality in 1867. In the Norfolk Chronicle of April 29th, 1876, it is recorded that
Messrs. Parker exhibited a halibut from the deep sea off the eastern counties
weighing over 300 lb. and above seven feet in length. It has been captured off
Sussex (Merrifield) : it is occasionally taken off Devonshire but not sought after
(Parfitt) : on April 14th, 1870, one weighing 102 lb. was secured at Mevagissey :
it is not common off Cornwall, and has been taken up to 122 lb. off Land's End,
and one weighing about a cwt. is recorded by Mr. Cornish in the Zoologist, as
captured on a spiller in Moixnt's Bay on May 15th, 1882. Pennant mentions it
from the Menai Straits, and in April, 1829, an example 7| feet long and 320 lb.
weight was recorded from off the Isle of Man (Mag. Nat. Hist. 1829, i, p. 84)
and is, perhaps, the example stated by Parnell to have sent to the Edinburgh
market (1828).

In Ireland. It is taken occasionally on all parts of the coast from December
until March. In Portrush, county of Antrim, it is occasionally captured in winter
on the cod-lines, baited either with Buccinuin undatum or the flesh of various
fishes, chiefly Labridce (Zool. 1876, p. 4754).

The example figured is 26 inches in length and came from the North Sea. It
attains to at least 500 lb. weight in Europe. Olasson mentioned one exceeding
this from Iceland, and which was said to have been little short of 20 feet in
length : while Couch was informed of a still larger example captured on the banks
of Newfoundland.

PLEURONECTID^E.

Genus II Hippoglossoides, Gottsche.

Branchiostegals eight : pseudobranchiai present. Eyes on the right side. Cleft of
mouth deep. Pointed teeth in a single row in the jaws, none on the palate. The
dorsal Jin commences above the upper eye, its rays, as loell as those of the anal,
unbranched. Scales small and ctenoid, a row along each dorsal and anal ray.
Lateral-line without any curve anteriorly.

Geographical distribution. Coasts of the northern seas of Europe, extending
to and around the British Isles. Also found on the Atlantic shores of America.

1. Hippoglossoides limandoides, Plate XCV.

Pleuronectes limandoides, Bloch. t. clxxxvi ; Bl. Schn. p. 146 ; Gmel Linn,
p. 1232 ; Bonn. Ency. Ich. p. 76, pi. xc, f. 374 ; Lacep. iv, p. 635 ; Shaw, Zool.
iv, p. 300 ; Faber, Isis, 1828, p. 878 ; Nilss. Skan. Fauna, iv, p. 629 ; Schlegel,
Dieren Neder. p. 171.

Pleuronectes linguatula, Mull. Prod. p. 377.

Hippoglossoides limanda, Gottsche, Wiegm. Arch. 1835, p. 168.

Pleuronectes limandanus, Parnell, Edin. New Phil. Journal, 1835, p. 210.

Platessa limandoides, Parnell, Wern. Mem. vii, p. 368, t. xxxviii, and Fish. Firth
of Forth, p. 208, t. xxxviii ; Yarrell, Brit. Fish. (Ed. 1) ii, p. 224, c. fig. (Ed. 2)
ii, p. 312 (Ed. 3) i. p. 625 ; Jenyns, Man. p. 459 ; Johnston, Berw. Nat. Field
Club, 1838, i, p. 174 ; Fries och Eks. Skand. Fisk. p. 117, pi. xxvii ; Kroyer, Dan.
Fiske, ii, p. 358, c. fig. ; White, Catal. p. 101.

Hippoglossoides limandoides, Giinther, Catal. iv, p. 405 ; Collett, Norges Fiske,
p. 136 ; Malm, p. 509 ; Winther, Ich. Dan. Mar. p. 37.

Pleuronectes limandoides, Malmg. Wieg. Arch. 1864, p. 293.

Long rough dab, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, iii, p. 153, plate clx.

B. viii, D. 76-87, P. 10, V. 6, A. 60-69, C. 14-16, L. 1. 85-95, Coec. pyl. 4,
Vert. 45.

Length of head 4f to 5, of caudal fin 6, height of body 3 to 3^ in the total length.
Eyes divided by a narrow but scaled ridge, diameter about 1/4 of the length of
the head and nearly 1 diameter from the end of the snout. The anterior margin of
each eye is on the same vertical line. Cleft of mouth deep, the maxilla equals
nearly half the length of the head, and reaches posteriorly to beneath the middle
of the orbit, the lower jaw the longer. Teeth pointed, the anterior being the
longest, the front ones are placed somewhat distantly apart and in one row in each
jaw. Gill-rakers about 1/2 as long as the diameter of the orbit and placed
somewhat distantly apart. Fins the dorsal commences above the first third of
the upper eye, but is not continued as far as the base of the caudal fin, its
rays are simple, the longest being equal to about three times the height of the
body below them, and are situated about midway between the hind edge of
the head and the base of the caudal fin. Right pectoral nearly half the length
of the head, its rays simple. Right ventral, inserted anterior to the base of the
pectoral, consisting of six rays, it is two-thirds as long as the pectoral but does
not extend quite to the base of the anal, which latter fin has a short spine directed
forwards at its base,* just where it commences on a vertical line beneath the
middle of the pectoral : it ends similarly to the dorsal : its highest rays are
slightly below the centre of its length and are similar to those of the dorsal fin.
Caudal wedge-shaped, its central rays being slightly the longest ; they are
bifurcated at their extremity. Free portion of the tail two-thirds as long as high.
Scales ctenoid covering head, including jaws and body as well as a row on each

* Dr. Giinther says that in this species there is " no spine before the anal fin." Parnell
recorded its existence in the examples now in the national collection, and I find one most distinct in
my specimens. But it must not be forgotten that the British Museum specimens were only dried
skins.

10 ANACANTHINI.

fin ray. Lateral-line nearly straight anteriorly, becoming qnite so opposite the
hind end of the pectoral fin. Gmcal appendages fonr. Colours on upper surface
of a pale brownish gray or sandy : under surface white. Occasionally it is said to
be slightly spotted.

Names. Rough dab, or long-rough dah : bastard-satfic, Aberdeen : also yelloio
dab, Banff : Long-fieul-, and sandsucher, Edinburgh, the last name being due to the
erroneous idea that it feeds on nothing but sand : lemon sole, Scotland. De lange
schar, Dutch.

Habits. It frequents sandy shores, is captured along with plaice and other
pleuronectoids, and, according to Parnell, several may be daily seen in the
Edinburgh markets from May to July : Pamell found what appeared to be
fragments of some species of Asterias in the stomach of one he examined. Cock's
specimen had its stomach filled with the shells of Turritella terebra, two-thirds of
which contained hermit crabs, Pagurus.

Means of capture. It appears to be usually taken with the beam trawl.

Breeding. Asserted by Couch to spawn in May and June.

As food. Its flesh is said to be sweet and good, but rather dry.

Habitat. Atlantic coasts of North Europe and shores of the German Ocean :
Bloch appears to have first received it from Heligoland.

The first record of the occurrence of this fish in the British seas was by
Parnell in 1835 (I.e.) : Yarrell received an example from Dr. Harwood in 1833,
captured during the autumn at St. Leonard's, and in the succeeding summer two
from Berwick.

It is rare off Banff (Edward) : found at Aberdeen (Sim) : frequent during
May, June and July, in the Firth of Forth (Parnell) : not rare off Berwick
(Johnston) : Sunderland (G. Fox) : inhabits deep waters in the North Sea and
is occasionally taken at Whitby (Yorkshire Vertebrata) : Hastings (Yarrell) :
rare off Devonshire according to Parfitt : I have received numerous examples from
Brixham : Falmouth (Cocks).

In Ireland Mr. Todhunter obtained a specimen off Cape Clear in the winter of
1848, and which is now in the Dublin University Museum.

The example figured is nine inches in length and was captured at Brixham,
along with several more, in the summer of 1880. The largest British specimen
recorded measured fifteen inches in length.

PLEURONECTID^E. 11

Genus III Rhombus, Cuvier.

Scopjlrfhalmus and Bothus, Rafinesque. Psetta, Swainson.

Branchiostegals seven : pseudobranchim present. Eyes on the leftside. Cleft of
month deep. Teeth in a narrow band without canines in the jaws, present on the
vomer. Dorsal fin commences on the snout, most of its rays and those of the anal
branched. Gtill 'membranes but slightly united at the throat. Gill-ralcers long and
lanceolate. Scales, when present, small.

The turbot was formerly preserved by the Romans in salt water ponds, so as
to be readily available for the market. The largest appear to have been preferred,
and it has been asserted that the Emperor Domitian convened the seriate as to
how a mighty fish of this kind should be cooked. Respecting the food of
the turbot and flat-fishes generally, it is often difficult to institute investiga-
tions, as they are mostly at once disembowelled by fishermen when captured,
because after death decomposition rapidly attacks their intestines, and injures the
fish in a very few hours. By Act i, c. 28, of George I, a turbot under 16 in. long,
brill under 14, codling 12, whiting 6, bass and mullet 12, sole 8, plaice or dab 6,
and flounder 7 in. long, were forbidden to be sold.

Geographical distribution. North Atlantic, German Ocean, Mediterranean,
and Adriatic to the Black Sea.

Synopsis of Species.

1. Rhombus maximus, D. 61-72, A. 45-56. No scales but tubercles.

2. Rhombus laivis, D. 82-85, A. 60-63, scaled.

3. Rhombus megastoma, D. 85-87, A. 67-69, scaled.

1. Rhombus maximus, Plate XCVI.

VrjTra, Arist. iv, c. 11, v, c. 9, ix, c. 37; .^Elian, iv, c. 3; Oppian, i, p. 5.

Rhombus, Pliny, ix, c. 15, 20, 42 ; Belon. De Aquat. p. 139 ; Klein, Pise. Miss,
iv, p. 35, t. viii, f. 2. Rhombus aculeatics, Rondel, xi, c. 2, p. 310 ; Gesner, Aquat.
iv, pp. 661, 670 ; Schonev. Ich. p. 60 ; Aldrov. ii, c. 48, p. 248 ; Jonston, i, c. 3,
art. 2, punct. 2, p. 66, t. xxii, f. 12 ; Willughby, p. 93, t. F 8, f . 3 ; Ray, Syn.
p. 32 ; Klein, Miss, iv, p. 34, no. 1, t. viii, f. 1 and t. ix, f. 1. Rhombus maximus,
Will. p. 94, t. F 2 ; Ray, p. 31 ; Rutty, Co. Dublin, i, p. 350 ; Pleuronectes, sp.
Artedi, Syn. p. 32, no. 7, Gen. p. 18, no. 9 ; Gronov. Zooph. no. 254, and Mus. ii,
p. 10, no. 159. Turbot, Pennant, Brit. Zool. (ed. 1776) iii, p. 233 (ed. 1812) iii,
p. 315, pi. xlix ; Duhamel, Peches, iii, sect. 9, p. 261, pi. iii ; Low, Fauna Oread,
p. 214.

Pleuronectes maximus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 459 ; Briinn. Ich. Mass. p. 35 ;
Bloch, t. xlix ; Bl. Schn. p. 153 ; Gmel. Linn. p. 1236 ; Bonn. Ency. Ich. p. 77,
pi. xlii, f. 163 ; Quensel, Vet. Akad. Handl. 1806, p. 203 ; Risso, Ich. Nice, p. 314 ;
Faber, Isis, 1828, p. 892 ; Donovan, Brit. Fish, ii, pi. xlvi ; Ekst. Vet. Akad.
Handl. 1834, p. 56 and Fische Morko, p. 250 ; Flem. Brit. An. p. 196 ; Jenyns,
Man. p. 461 ; Templeton, Mag. Nat. Hist. 1837 (2) i, p. 411 ; Johnston, Berwick.
Nat. Field Club, 1838, i, p. 174; Thompson, Nat. Hist. Ireland, iv, p. 200;
Schlegel, Dieren Neder. p. 162, pi. xv, f. 2.

Pleuronectes turbot, Lacep. iv, p. 645.

Pleuronectes tuber culatus, Shaw, Zool. iv, p. 312, pi. xlv ; Turton, p. 97.

Bothus imperialis, Raf. Caratt, p. 23.

Scophthalmus maximus, Raff. Indice, p. 14.

Rhombus maximus, Cuv. Regne Anim. ; Risso, Eur. Merid. iii, p. 250 ;
Yarrell, Brit, Fish. (Ed. 1) ii, p. 233, c. fig. (Ed. 2) ii, p. 324 (Ed. 3) i, p. 634;
Parnell, Wern. Mem. vii, p. 373 and Fish. Firth of Forth, p. 213 ; Bonap. Fauna

12 ANACANTHINI.

Ital. Pesc. ; Nilsson, Skand. Fauna, iv, p. 636 ; Kroyer, Dan. Fiske, ii, p. 424, c. fig. ;
Costa, Fauna Nap. ii, p. 15 ; Canestr. Arch. Zool. i, p. 25, tav. iii, f. 1 ; Giinther,
Catal.iv, p. 407; Malm, p. 510; Malmgr. Wiegm. Arch. 1864, p. 293; Collett, Norges
Fiske, p. 137 ; Steind. Ich. Span. u. Port. 1868, p. 48; Winther, Ich. Dan. Mar.
p. 37 ; Giglioli, Pesc. Ital. p. 38 ; Moreau, Poiss. France, iii, p. 338.

Pleuronectes tuberculatus, Shaw, Zool. iv, p. 312 ; Turton, Brit. Fauna, p. 97.

Pleuronectes cyclops, Donovan, iv, pi. sc ; Turton, p. 97; Jenyns, Manual,
p. 466 (Young).

Platessa cy clops, Fleming, p. 199 (young).

Rhombus aculeatus, Gottsche, Wiegm. Arch. 1835, p. 172.

Psetta maxima, Swainson, Fish, ii, p. 302; Bonap. Pesc. Eur. 49; White,
Catal. p. 102 ; Mcintosh, Fish. N. Uist, P. Roy. Soc. Edin. V, 1862-66, p. 614.

Pleuronectes rhombus, Gronov. ed. Gray, p. 90.

Turbot, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, iii, p. 155, pi. clxi.

B. vii, D. 61-72, P. 11-12, V. 6, A. 45-56, C 15-16, Vert. 12/19, Ccec. pyl. 2.

Length of head 3|, of caudal fin 5j to 5, height of body If to 2 in the total
length. Eyes diameter 1/6 to 1/10 of the length of the head, 1 transverse
diameter apart, lower eye 1/2 a diameter in advance of the upper eye and lj to 2
diameters from the end of snout. Not only does opaque and thick skin cover the
upper and lateral portions of the eye, but it can raise a thick lower eyelid or else
depress the transparent portion of the globe below this fold of skin, while a portion
of the iris forms a semilunar veil at the upper part of the pupil. Cleft of mouth deep,
oblique, lower jaw the longer, the length of the maxilla is equal to half that of the
head. Teeth small, numerous, and in several rows in both jaws. Fins dorsal
commences on the snout in advance of the eyes, its rays are branched, at first low
they increase in length to just beyond the centre of the fin where they are about
half as long as the head from thence they gradually decrease, ending a very short
distance from the base of the caudal fin. Pectoral with branched rays, its length
equals two-fifths of that of the head. Ventral commences under the throat, its
rays simple, the longest equals two-thirds the length of the pectoral. Anal
commences slightly before the base of the pectoral, its rays increase in length to
the 18th or 20th which are nearly as high as the highest in the dorsal fin. Caudal
rounded. The skin on the coloured side is studded with numerous bony
tubercles, the blunt points of which are directed forwards, those on the head are
smaller than those on the body. Lateral-line with a curve anteriorly, and
becoming straight opposite the posterior end of the pectoral fin. Colours
superiorly sandy brown covered with more or less distinct dark spots and
blotches, these being likewise continued on to the fins, giving them a mottled
appearance. Under surface of the body white.

Varieties in form. Examples are occasionally met with having a notch or
depression at the summit of the head. Mcintosh (Fish. St. Andrew's) figures
an abnormal form, and in his account of the fish of North Uist, observes upon
one with an eye on either side of its head, as shown in Pleuronectes cyclops of
Donovan. Couch instances a turbot coloured on both sides, in which a process
3 inches in length, thin in substance and nearly as broad as a finger, projected
from before its eyes, and was not connected with the fin rays.

In colour, varieties are numerous, there are such as are partially albinos : also
reversed and double ones. On August 2nd, 1874, a double one weigliing 11 lb.
was taken at Montrose, where, remarks Mr. Johnson, " we see sometimes in the
course of the year two or three of them, and then for years won't see any." It
has been observed that these fish from our northern coasts and brought by the
Dutch, are darker than those from the S.W. coast of England.

Names. Turbot, formerly spelt turbolt. Bod, Orkneys, lioddan or roanfleulc,
barncoch (from its round shape) and gunner-fleuk, or fleuh, east coast of _ Scotland.
Neill observes that it is termed rawnfieuh or "fleuk in roe," because it is deemed
best for the table when in "rawn" or "roe." Brat, turbrat or roddams,
Northumberland. In Cornwall, according to Borlase, it used to be termed
brett, in an old Cornish journal it is called luggatee. Birt- or byrte-fish or breat

PLEURONECTID^. 13

is alluded to in all ordinances as this or allied fishes. Be Tarhot, Dutch: Le
Turbot, French.

Habits. Freqnents sandy bays and likewise muddy localities : it appears to
constantly change its residence, migrating into deep water during cold weather
similarly to the soles (see page 40). It is very retentive of life when captured.
Its principal food is small fish, crustaceans and molluscs. In an example taken
in Torbay, which Mr. Gosden of Exeter, examined when quite fresh, he found
Montagu's crab (XantJio florida), the angled crab (Gonoplax angulata), velvet
fidler crab (Portunus puber), the long-haired porcelain crab (Porcelanus long ico mils),
the olive squat lobster (Galathea squamifera), the spider crab {Stenorynchus
phalangiam), brittle starfish (Ophiostrix frag His), and the Eurynome aspera (Land
and Water, January 17th, 1880). Pontoppidan remarks that it feeds on young
crabs and small fishes, sea eggs or sea urchins, of which it is very fond.

Means of capture. At the commencement of the season, trawls, but as the fish
retires to deeper water and rougher ground, long lines or boulters are employed :
it is taken by trammel and beam-trawl nets. In calm weather when the sun is
bright, it may be speared. In County Down they employ a spear 32 or 33 feet
long armed at its extremity with an iron barb : the fishermen even drive it down
on them when beyond their reach. In many places, fishing for turbot with long
lines has had to be discontinued owning to their being destroyed by steam- trawlers,
while in several localities these fish which used to be abundant have almost
disappeared. It is to be regretted that numbers of the young of these fish
are destroyed by trawlers, or inshore nets having a small mesh as used by
shrimpers.

Baits. These must be very fresh, alive if practicable, and shining if possible :
the lampern is deemed one of the best, and largely used by the Dutch. In the
Moray Firth, during July and August, it is often taken with herrings or sand eels
used as a bait. It will take a slice of fresh fish as those named, also Coitus,
haddock, mackerel, pilchard, sand smelt, garfish, and likewise worms, mussels,
limpets, or even bullock's liver.

Breeding. Breeds in summer : in February 15th, 1882, I found a female with
nearly mature ova. This fish has a large number of very small ova, and in a
23 lb. fish which had a roe weighing 5 lb. 9 oz. Buckland found 14,311,200 eggs.

Hermaphrodites. Quelch (Proc. Zool. Soc. 1862, p. 473) published a descrip-
tion of a supposed hybrid between this fish and the brill, Rhombus laivis. Messrs.
Pile reported to Land and Water (November 28th, 1881) from Dublin having
obtained a similar hybrid weighing \7\ lb. "It had the ordinary large turbot
head, fins, and unusually large ' wings,' but the belly, though quite white like
the turbot, had large scales on it not unlike brills, the back was of a very
dark colour and covered with small lumps. The fish was fully matured and in
splendid condition."

Life history. The young turbot would appear to swim for a longer period
" on edge " than the generality of our flat-fishes. I received from Mr. Dunn an
example captured August 20th, 1880, which was about 1^ inches in length and
supposed to be two months old. It showed the eye still in transit passing round
the bones of the head. Mr. Dunn considers they are hatched in June or July :
for the first month they are quite black and swim on edge like a John Doree.
Then their skin commences to mottle with white and brown, and their right eye
begins to pass over to the left side of the head. Next they become white
underneath, and of a light leaden colour on the upper surface, and during the
period they remain of this shade on the back, which is until they have passed two
months of age, they swim on the surface of the sea. If they descend to the
bottom during this period it can only be occasionally. What the rate of growth
of these fish is, very different opinions may be given. Some young, measuring
three inches across, were obtained from shrimpers and placed in the Southport
Aquarium. In two and a half years they had attained to 10 lb. each in weight,
after two years more they further augmented to 20 lb. or an annual average
increment of about 4|- lb. each. In the Proceedings of the Zoological Society
of London, December, 1879, will be found the result of some observations made

14 ANACANTHINT.

on these fishes in Ballinskellings Bay in Ireland, which seemed to point out that
the annual increment in the sea was about 1 lb. yearly.

Diseases. Mr. Cornish has taken turbot cut in the belly by, presumably, one
of the weevers (see Trachmus, i, p. 78). When hooked and on the long lines, the
myxine or hag will devour the turbot.

Uses. A large proportion of our turbot are taken along our east coast, on or
near the various sandbanks. But the Dutch are more successful at capturing this
fish than our native fishermen, and are estimated to supply one-fourfch of the
quantity of this fish which is consximed. Their fishing commences about the end
of March, a few leagues to the south of Schevelingen. As the warm weather
approaches the fishery is gradually advanced to the northwards : and the fishing
terminates about the middle of August. The Dutch were computed to have
realized 80,000 yearly by the sale of turbot to the London markets and the Danes
12,000 to 15,000 per annum for lobsters wherewith to form the sauce (see
Fisheries, in Introduction).

As food. The most highly valued among flat-fishes. In L'Estange's House-
hold Book, sixteenth century, the mei'its of the turbot appear to have been
recognized : one is mentioned as purchased for two shillings and fourpence, while
ten plaice cost but tenpence (Lubbock). Rutty, in 1772, says it used to be termed
in Dublin " the pheasant of the water." Low, in the Orkneys, that it is a much
better fish than the halibut. If at all tainted it is liable to occasion nausea and
sometimes severe symptoms. This fish is generally boiled for the table, and lemon
juice rubbed over it is reputed to preserve its whiteness.

Habitat. The coasts of the northern seas of Europe, plentiful in the German
Ocean, and extending to the seas of Britain and round the coast of France, and
through the Mediterranean to the Adriatic.

Low observed that during seven years in the Orkneys he had seen but two or
three specimens : not rare in Orkney and Zetland (Baikie) : Banff (Edward) :
Aberdeen (Sim) : common at St. Andrew's (Mcintosh) : but large ones are rare
until the English coast is approached. A considerable fishery exists along
Berwickshire, Northumberland and Yoi-kshire (Yarrell).

Resident off the coast in moderate abundance (Yorkshire Vertebrata) : rare
in the Norfolk estuary (Gurney) : very fine ones are taken at the back of the
" Falls " near Margate (Backhand) : in the vicinity of Dover, the Varna and the
Ridge sandbanks, the first about seven miles distant and the latter about twelve
on the French coast, also afford good fishing ground at certain seasons for these
fish. A considerable amount is likewise captured off the Devonshire coast where,
however, it is not so common as off Yorkshire : in Cornwall not uncommon, also
captured in the Bristol Channel.

In Ireland it is taken round the coast and is plentiful to the north (Templeton) :
at Portrush, common (Ogilby).

The example figured is fourteen inches in length, from the Yorkshire coast.
As to the size it attains in this country, accounts vary, as in some places the
halibut is termed a turbot. Thompson mentions one 44 lb. weight captured in
a trammel in four fathoms of water at Springvale, County Down. Buckland took
a cast of one which weighed 32 lb. Parnell records on hearsay, one weighing
190 lb. and Couch possessed a note of one 70 lb. in weight.

2. Rhombus lsevis, Plate XCVII.

Rhombus loevis, Rondel, xi, c. 3, p. 312 ; Gesner, Aquat. iv, p. GG3 ; Ahlrov.
ii, c. 48, pp. 249, 250 ; Schonev. p. 60 ; Jonston, i, c. 3, art. 2, punct. 2, p. 66,
t. xxii, f. 13; Willugh. p. 96; Ray, p. 32. The pearl, Pennant, Brit. Zool. (ed.
1776) iii, p. 238 (ed. 1812) iii, p. 321, pi. 50.

Rhombus alter Gallicus, Belon. de Aquat. p. 141.

Rhombus non aculeatus, Will. p. 95, t. Fl ; Ray, p. 31. rieuronecies, sp.
Artedi, Syn. p. 31, no. 5, and Genera, p. 18, no. 8. Pleuronectes Icevis, L. Westg.
Res. p. 178. Rhombus, no. 3, Klein, Pise. Miss, iv, p. 35 ; Gronov. Zooph. p. 73 ;
Jiarbitc, Duham. Pcchcs, iii, sect. 9, c. 1, p. 262, pi. iv.

PLEURONECTID^). 15

Pleuronectes rhombus, Linn. Syst. i, p. 458; Briinn. Icli. Mass. p. 35; Bloch,
Fische Deuts. ii, p. 30, t. xliii ; Gmel. Linn. p. 1235 ; Bl. Sclin. p. 152 ; Bonn.
Ency. Ida. p. 77, pi. xli, f. 162 ; Lacep. iv, p. 649; Donovan, Brit. Fish, iv, pi.
xcv ; Shaw, Zool. iv, p. 315 ; Turton, Brit. Fauna, p. 97 ; Risso, Ich. Nice, p. 315 ;
Flera. Brit. Anim. p. 196 ; Jenyns, Manual, p. 462 ; Templeton, Mag. Nat. Hist.
(2) 1837, i, p. 411; Johnston, Berwick. Nat. Hist. Club, 1838, i, p. 174;
Thompson, N. H. Ireland, iv, p. 201 ; Gronov. ed. Gray, p. 90 ; Mcintosh, Fish.
St. Andrew's, p. 180.

Pleuronectes cristatus, Licht. in Bl. Schn. p. 153.

Rhombus vulgaris, Cuv. Regne Anim. ; Yarrell, Brit. Fish. (Ed. 1) ii, p. 240,
c. fig. (Ed. 2) ii, p. 331 (Ed. 3) i, p. 641; Parn. Wern. Mem. vii, p. 375 and Fish.
Firth of Forth, p. 315 ; Costa, Fauna Nap. ii, p. 10, t. xlii ; Kroyer, Dan. Fiske, ii,
p. 405, c. fig. ; T. Ogilby, Zoologist, 1876, p. 4754.

Pleuronectes lioderma, Nardo. Ich. Adr. no. 132.

Rhombus barbatus, Risso, Europ. Merid. iii, p. 251.

Bothus rumolo, Rafin. Caratt. 23.

Scophthalmus rhombus, Rafin. Indice, p. 14.

Rhombus Icevis, Gottsche, Wiegm. Arch. 1835, p. 175; Bonap. Faun. Ital. iii,
p. 23, t. f. 2 ; Canest. Arch. Zool. i, p. 27, t. ii, f. 4 ; Nilss. Skand. Faun. Fisk. iv,
p. 638 ; Giinther, Catal. iv, p. 410 ; Collett, p. 137 ; Stein. Ich. Span. u. Port.
1868, p. 48 ; Whither, Ich. Dan. Mar. p. 37 ; Giglioli, Pesc. Ital. p. 38 ; Moreau,
Poiss. France, iii, p. 340.

Rho)iibus Linnet, Malm, p. 513.

Pleuronectes passer, Gronov. ed. Gray, p. 90.

Psetta rhombus, Bonap. Pesc. Eur. 49 ; White, Catal. p. 102 ; Mcintosh, Fish.
North Uist, P. R. S. Edin. v, 1862-64, p. 614.

Brill, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, iii, p. 161, pi. clxii.

B. vii, D. (63) 76-85, P. 11-12, V. 6, A. (50) 53-63, C. 15-17, L. 1. 150, Ccec.
pyl. 2, Vert. 12/24.

Length of head 3| to 4|, of caudal fin 5f to 6, height of body 2 to 2| in the
total length. Eyes on the left side, the lower 1/2 (1/4 in the young) in advance
of the upper : 1 diameter apart. Interorbital space flat. Its eye is not so
elevated at its base as in the plaice or flounder, consequently it is not so lateral ;
externally it is similar to that of the turbot (page 12). Lower jaw projecting and
the longer : the maxilla 2/5 the length of the head, and reaches to below the
posterior third or hind edge of the lower orbit ; anterior nostril with a valve ; the
posterior open. Teeth small ones in jaws and on vomer, none on the palatine
bones. Fins dorsal commences on the snout, its first few rays having broad
fringes which divide so as to give them a brush-like appearance : its rays are
branched and the longest behind the middle of the fin. Pectoral on coloured side
half as long as the head and longer than its fellow. Ventrals not attached to the
anal : caudal rounded. Gill-raJcers about 1/2 as long as the eye, thick, about
12 in the lower branch of the outer branchial arch. Scales small, cycloid, continued
on to the head and vertical fin rays : no tubercles on the body. No spine before
the anal fin. Lateral-Hue with a strong curve anteriorly reaching to some
little distance beyond the extremity of the pectoral fin when it becomes straight.
Colours of a sandy brown on the left side, usually speckled with white or light dots
or spots : fins slightly marbled. Under surface white with sometimes a few black
or gray spots along the bases of the vertical fins.

Varieties. -Apparent hybrids between the turbot and brill have been alluded
to (see page 13). Yarrell figures the deformed head of one of these fish, see
also Zoologist, 1855, p. 4596. Double brill are not rare. I obtained one on
February 11th, 1881, 2l inches in length from Brixham : also reversed and albino
ones are occasionally observed. Thompson mentions an example which was
covered over with large, stellate, white markings on a very rich-coloured dark
"ground," looking precisely as if a shower of snow had fallen on it. Couch
remarked upon having seen an example intensely black, w r ith a few whit3 specks
on the anal fin. According to Moreau, some examples of this fish from France

16 ANACANTHINI.

would appear to have less rays in the dorsal and anal fins than observed off the
coasts of Great Britain. He also remarks upon a Mediterranean variety in which
the anterior rays of the dorsal fin are much less branched than is usual.
Pleuronectes pavonina, Costa, is the young of this species.

Names. Pearl, kite, brett, " brit " in Cornish means " spotted." Upon the
coasts of Devonshire and Cornwall it is known by the name of " kite " (Pennant,
ed. 1812). Bastard turbot, Moray Firth: siller fluke, Aberdeen: bonnet fluek t
Aberlady Bay : used to be termed lug-a-leaf in Cornwall (Willughby). La
Barbae, Freuch.

Habits. Found in sandy bays, also in deep water, and occasionally enters
the estuai'ies formed by large rivers. It feeds on Crustacea, small fish and food
similar to that consumed by the turbot.

Means of capture. Similar to what are adopted for the turbot. In the Firth
of Forth it is mostly taken by the hook, but not so along the Cornish coast.

Breeding. Said to spawn in spring (Parnell).

As food. Abundant in our markets, but not held in so much esteem as the
turbot, yet is superior to the plaice. In Ireland it is most esteemed in spring.

Habitat. Coasts of Europe, becoming rarer towards the north. It is found
round the British Isles and through the Mediterranean. It is rare in the Orkneys
and Zetland (Baikie) : also off Banff (Edward) : it is taken at Aberdeen (Sim) :
occasionally in the Moray Firth, while it is abundant at St. Andrew's (Mcintosh).
Neill records it at Aberlady Bay, Parnell in the Firth of Forth : while off
Yorkshire it is resident and not uncommon (Yorkshire Vertebrata) : Norfolk
estuary common (Paget) : it is found generally along the east coast becoming,
however, abundant along the south coast.

In Ireland it is common round the coast, taken with, but much more
abundant on sand banks than the turbot, on the north-east coast at least four to
one (Thompson).

The example figured was from the south coast. As to the size it attains on
our shores, Yarrell states that it rarely exceeds 8 lb. in weight, Parnell 10 lb.
while Thompson's finest example was two feet in length.

PLEURONECTIDyE. 17

Genus IV Zeugopterus, Gottsche.

Rhombus (part), Lepidorlwmbus, and Phrynorhombus, Giinther.

Branchiostegals seven : pseudobranchioz present. Eyes on the left side and close
together. Cleft of mouth deep. Sharp villiform teeth in a band in either jaiv,
present or absent from the vomer. The dorsal fin commences before the upper eye,
its rays and those of the anal are nearly all branched. Caudal not united to the
vertical fins. The ventrals either free from or miited to the anal. Scales ctenoid.
Lateral-line having a strong curve anteriorly.

Steenstmp (Overs. Dansk. Vid. Selsk. 1865, pp. 95-112) pointed out that a
large opening exists in the septum which is normally situated between the gills
of the two sides : that he observed such in Rhombus megastoma, Donovan : R.
cardina, Fries. : R. punctatus, Bloch : and R. unimaculatus, Risso, considering this
as indicative that all these forms belong to the same genus, he adopted Gottsche's
nomenclature of Zeugopterus.

Geographical distribution. Shores of northern Europe, to the south coasts
of Great Britain and France.

The British forms may be subdivided as follows :

A. Ventrals not united to the anal.

1. Zeugopterus unimaculatus, D. 70-80, A. 61-68. Teeth absent from the
vomer.

B. Ventrals united to the anal.

2. Zeugopterus punctatus, D. 87-101, A. 69-80. Teeth present on the vomer.

A. Ventrals not united to the anal.

1. Zeugopterus unimaculatus, Plate XCIX.

La petite Limandelle, Duhamel, Pesc. iii, sect. 9, p. 270, pi. vi, f. 5.

Pleuronectes punctatus, Flem. Wern. Mem. ii, p. 241, Phil. Zool. t. iii, f. 2, and
Brit. An. p. 196 ; Jenyns, Manual, p. 462 ; Steenstrup, Overs. Dansk. Vid.
Selsk. 1865.

Rhombus punctatus, Yarrell, Brit. Fishes (Ed. 1) ii, p. 247, c. fig. (Ed. 2) ii,
p. 338 (Ed. 3) i, p. 650 ; Thompson, Ann. Nat. Hist, ii, p. 271, and Nat. Hist.
Ireland, iv, p. 201.

Rhombus unimaculatus, Risso, Eur. Merid. iii, p. 252, f. 35 ; Nilss. Skan.
Fauna, iv, p. 645.

Rhombus cardina (Cuv.) Kroyer, Dan. Fiske, ii, p. 464.

Scophthalmus unimactilatus, Bonap. Pesc. Eur. p. 49; Steind. Ich. Span. u.
Port. 1868, p. 49.

Rhombus uniocellatus, Nardo, Prod. Ich. Adriat. no. 135.

Zeugopterus punctatus, White, Catal. p. 104; Winther, Ich. Dan. Mar. p. 38.

Phrynorhombus unimaculatus, Giinther, Catal. iv, p. 414 ; Canestr. Fauna
Ital. p. 161 ; Giglioli, Pesc. Ital. p. 38.

Pleuronectes unimaculatus, Moreau, Poiss. France, iii, p. 323.

Eckstrom's topknot, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, iii, p. 175, pi. clxvii.

B. vii, D. 70-80, P. 10-12, V. 6, A. 61-68, C. 16.

2

18 ANACANTHINI.

Length of Lead 3|, of caudal fin 7%, height of body 2 in the total length.
Eyes on the left side the lower one (which is said to be occasionally provided
with a tentacle) slightly in advance of the upper, while they are divided by a
narrow elevated ridge, diameter about 1/4 of the length of the head, and 1
diameter from the end of the snout. Lower jaw prominent, cleft of mouth
very oblique, the length of the maxilla equals more than half of that of the head.
Gill rakers rather widely set and about half as long as the diameter of the orbit.
Teeth fine ones in the jaws : none on the palate. Fins the dorsal commences
over the posterior nostril, and is continued nearly to the base of the caudal fin, its
first ray is setiform, and of varying length, while the highest point of the fin
is above the blotch on the posterior third of the lateral-line. Pectoral on the
coloured side upwards of two-thirds the length of the head, and having its upper
rays prolonged : on the blind side it is much shorter. Ventral not conjoined to
the anal : the last fin of a similar shape to the dorsal. Caudal rounded. The
fin rays are branched at their extremities, and each has a row of scales. Scales
smaU and strongly ctenoid, each having from four to six spines at its posterior
extremity. They are continued over the head, jaws, and fin rays. Those on the
blind side are also spinate. Lateral-line forms a curve over the pectoral,
becoming straight opposite the last third of that fin. Colours reddish brown,
covered with large, irregularly placed and dark round spots and blotches, one
very distinct being situated at the commencement of the last third of the straight
portion of the lateral-line. Under surface white.

Dr. Giinther considers this fish the type a new genus Phrynorhombus, Giinther,
while Steenstrup remarks that it could only form a sub-genus.

Names. Block's topknot. Le Pleuronecte unimactde, French.

Habits. These have not been recorded.

Means of capture. Trawls and appliances useful for taking flat-fish.

Habitat. From the coasts of Denmark, round the British Isles to the
Mediterranean, in which sea it is rare, but more frequent off the coast of Italy.

Off Zetland one example was procured by Fleming, where the fishermen stated
it was not common. Berwickshire (Johnston) : in 1860 one off Redcar, in
Yorkshire (Ferguson). Examples are in the British Museum from Plymouth,
also Weymouth, from which latter locality Henslow sent it to Yarrell. Cornish
obtained one, August 26th, 1880, in Cornwall; while Couch alludes to it from
the British Channel in 1863. It is evidently far more rare than Zeugopterus
punctatus.

Ireland North-east coast, one 4 inches long, taken June 16th, 1838, by
Dr. Drummond, dredging within the entrance of Belfast Bay. August 19th,
1844, Mr. Hyndman, dredging in Belfast Bay, between Carrickfergus and
Gray point, in from 3 to 6 fathoms water, captured two, each 3 inches long.

The example figured is in the national collection. The fish has been recorded
up to about 5 inches in length from British waters.

B. Ventrals united to the anal.
2. Zeugopterus punctatus, Plate C.

Smear-dab, Pennant, Brit. Zool. (ed. 1776) iii, p. 230, pi. xli, Topknot
(ed. 1812) iii, p. 322, pi. lvii. Grosse Pile ou Targeur, Duhamel, Pesc. iii, sect.
9, pi. v, f. 4.

Pleuronectes punctatus, Bl. 1787, t. clxxxix ; Bonn. Ency. Ich. p. 78, pi. xci,
f. 378 ; Bl. Schn. p. 155 ; Shaw, Zool. p. 316 (part).

Pleuronectes Icitt, Bl. Schn. p. 162.

Pleuronectes hirtus, Abilgaard in Mull. Zool. Dan. 1788, iii, p. 36, t. ciii ;
Thompson, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1837, p. 60, and Nat. Hist. Ireland, iv, p. 203;

PLEURONECTID^E. 19

Jenyns, p. 463; Johnston, Berwick. Nat. Hist. Field Club, 1838, i, p. 174; Fries,
Wiegm. Arch. 1840, p. 32 ; Moreau, Poiss. France, iii, p. 321.

Zeugopterus hirtus, Gottsche, Wiegm. Arch. 1835, p. 178 ; White, Catal.
p. 103.

Scophthalmus hirtus, Bonap. Pesc. Eur. p. 49.

Whiff, Couch, Linn. Trans, xiv, p. 78.

Rhombus hirtus, Yarrell, Brit. Fish. (Ed. 1) ii, p. 243, c. fig. (Ed. 2), ii, p. 334
(Ed. 3) i, p. 646 ; Parnell, Wern. Mem. vii, p. 376, and Fish. Firth of Forth,
p. 216 ; Nilss. Skand. Fauna, iv, p. 646 ; Ross, Zool. 1843, p. 106, c. fig.

lihombus punctatus, Giinther, Catal. iv, p. 413.

Zeugopterus punctatus, Collett, Norges Fiske, p. 139 ; Malm, p. 518 ; Winther,
Ich. Dan. Mar. p. 38.

Mutter's and Block's topknot, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, iii, pp. 170, 173, pi. clxv,
clxvi.

B. vii, D. 87-101, P. 10, V. 6, A. 69-80, C. 14-16, Vert. 12/25, Ccec. pyl. 0.

Length of head 3^ to 3f , of caudal fin 7 to 7^-, height of body about 2 to 2j in
the total length. Eyes on the left side, upper margin covered by a thick skin, the
lower eye slightly in advance of the upper, 1 diameter from the end of the snout,
and j to \ of the length of the head. Interorbital space narrow but not elevated.
Cleft of mouth very oblique : the lower jaw rather projecting anteriorly. Teeth
in a villiform band in the jaws, present also on the vomer. Gill-rakers
closely set, the longest about 2/3 the diameter of the eye. Fins dorsal commences
on the snout, its anterior rays not so long as the diameter of the eye : they
gradually increase in length, becoming longest in the commencement of the last
third of the body where they equal half the length of the head : the posterior
ones short, and the fin passing beneath the base of the caudal, becomes almost
conjoined with the anal, which is similarly turned under the tail. Left pectoral
nearly half as long as the head, right pectoral half as long as left. Ventral
commencing under the throat, is joined posteriorly to the anal : the skin from this
fin passes to the posterior surface of the base of the anal rays, a groove being
formed for the vent. Caudal rounded. Scales spinate on the coloured side,
present on rays of vertical and caudal fins. Smooth on the blind side. Lateral-
line forms a curve over the base of the pectoral fin, after which it becomes
straight. Colours of a rich dark brown, having a wide black, light-edged band
passing backwards and outwards from each eye. Three or four round black
marks on the back, and some irregular dark blotches and occasionally numerous
light spots. Jaws blackish. Fins dark brown, with some irregular bands and
blotches, more especially on the dorsal or anal. Under surface white.

Pennant's figure in his edition of 1776, 1. c, erroneously termed smear-dab, is
reversed, due most probably to an artistic error.

Varieties. According to Mr. R. Couch this fish is very subject to malformation
of the anterior end of the dorsal fin, causing it to form an arch over the eyes.
J. Couch observed upon having seen this fish with almost the whole of its upper
surface, except the head and a small patch near the tail, without colours or scales,
like the lower surface : the border of the dorsal and anal fins yellowish red, and
with only two'or three rays having scales ; on the tail the rays extended beyond
the border of the membrane. In another instance there was no caudal portion,
so that where the dorsal and anal fins were brought closely together the body
terminated.

Names. Browny in Cornwall : little blade hairy fluke, Edinburgh market.
At Penzance I obtained this fish and the fishermen insisted that it was a young
brill. Le Pleuronecte Targeur, French.

Habits. Frequents sandy bays, with low shelving rocks covered with sea-
weed, where it conceals itself. It is very remarkable how difficult it is to find in
an aquarium, as it hides itself in the darkest corners.

Means of capture. Trammels, or nets set for sur-mullets. In the Firth of
Forth occasionally taken in crab-cages.

Breeding. " Summer and autumn, and in winter, the young are of about

2 #

20 ANACANTHINI.

1 or 2 inches in length, and may occasionally be found under stones at low water-
mark " (R. Couch).

As food. Mr. Cornish found its flesh to be excellent.

Habitat. From the coasts of northern Eui-ope, round Great Britain to France,
where, however, it is very rare.

Round the British coast it is by no means rare, and even common off Cornwall.
Several examples have been obtained in the Orkneys (W. Baikie) ; it occurs at
intervals off Banffshire and along the whole line of coast (Edward) ; Aberdeen
(Sim) ; not common at St. Andrew's (Mcintosh) ; Firth of Forth (Smith), where
Parnell observes that it is rarely seen except during stormy weather ; off
Berwickshire rare (Johnson). Mr. Anderson Smith obtained three examples in
1882 from Loch Creram in Argyleshire. Two examples, taken in February,

1852, at Redcar (Rudd, Zoologist, p. 3504), and a third recorded by Ferguson ;
also, in 1836, several found there on the beach, but none for the succeeding
eight years (Meynell) ; in fact it is of rare occurrence in Yorkshire (Yorkshire
Vertebrata), one at Bridlington on May 27th, 1881 (Boynton) ; the Medway
(Henslow) . Along the south coast it has been very frequently taken ; at St.
Leonards, in 1872 (Bowerbank, Zool. p. 2996) ; August 23rd, 1865, one at
Bovisand, Devon, another March 12th, 1873 (Parfitt), while off that county it
is frequent during the spring months (Baker) ; at Weymouth, in August, 1854,
a fine example was taken by a trawler (Gosse) ; off Teignmouth, in January,
1843, one 6 inches long was captured in a drift net. I obtained it at Penzance
on August 13th, 1881, and heard of many more along the coast, some of which
I saw ; in fact Mr. Cornish (1866, Zool. p. 311), recording one taken in May
at Penzance, remarked that he had obtained 48 examples since 1858. Bristol
Channel (Baker) ; Swansea (Dillwyn) ; Anglesea (Gosden).

In Ireland one, 6^- inches in length, was taken March 25th, 1835, at
Ardglass, co. Down ; September 30th, 1842, Dr. Ball obtained one, 7-f inches
long, off Kingston Pier ; 2 more were purchased in the Dublin market and sent
to the University Museum ; in 1865 one was captured in the winter (Blake-Knox,
Zool. 1866, p. 5(J8) ; in 1853 another, 5i inches long, at Dalkey Sound, in 8 or 10
fathoms of water, and presented to the Dublin Nat. Hist. Soc. (Kinahan, Zool.

1853, p. 3990).

The example figured was from Penzance. In British waters this fish attains
to 7 or 8 inches in length.

PLEURONECTID^. 21

Genus V Arnoglossus, Bleeker.

B ranchiostegals six or seven : pseudobranchice present. Eyes on the left side.
Cleft of mouth deep. Teeth small and one or tivo roivs in both jaivs : present or
absent from the vomer : none on the palatines. Gill -membranes broadly united below
the throat : gill-rakers fine. Dorsal fin commences on the snout and is not conjoined
to the caudal. Preanal spines may be present. Scales of moderate size and
deciduous. Lateral-line ivith a curve in the first portion of its course.

Geographical distribution. From, the seas of northern Europe, through the
Mediterranean and the East Indian archipelago.

1. Arnoglossus megastoma, Plate XCVIII.

Passer Cornubiensis, Jago in Ray, Syn. Pise. p. 163, f. 2. Whiff, Pennant,
Brit. Zool. (ed. 1776) iii, p. 238 (ed. 1812) hi, p. 324, pi. Hi. Pleuronectes, sp.
30, Walb. Art. iii, p. 120. Carter, Couch, Trans. Linn. Soc. xiv, p. 78.

Rhombus cardina, pt. Cuv. Regne Anim.

Pleuronectes megastoma, Donovan, Brit. Fish, iii, pi. li ; Turton, Brit. Fauna,
P. 97 ; Fleming, p. 196 ; Jenyns, p. 464 ; Templeton, Mag. Nat. Hist. 1837 (2)
i, p. 411 ; Thompson, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1835, p. 81, and Nat. Hist. Ireland, iv,
p. 203 ; Yarrell, Brit. Fishes (Ed. 1) ii, p. 251, c. fig. (Ed. 2) ii, p. 342 (Ed. 3) i,
p. 654; Johnston, Berw. Nat. Field Club, 1838, i, p. 174; Bonap. Pesc. Eur.
p. 47 ; Diiben and Koren, Vet. Akad. Handl. 1844, p. 102 ; White, Catal. p. 104;
Schlegel, Dieren Neder. p. 165, pi. xv, f . 4 ; Moreaii, Poiss. France, iii, p. 332.

Pleuronectes pseudopalus, Pennant, Brit. Zool. (ed. 1812) iii, p. 324, pi. iii.

Pleuronectes Boscii, Risso, Ich. Nice, p. 319, pi. vii, f. 33 ; Bonap. Faun. Ital.
c. fig. ; Canest. Arch. Zool. t. i, p. 19, pi. ii. f . 2 ; Moreau, Poiss. France, iii,
p. 330.

Hippo glossus Boscii, Risso, Eur. Merid. iii, p. 246.

Rhombus megastoma, Nilss. Skand. Fauna, iv, p. 641 ; Gunther, Catal. iv,
p. 411 ; Malm, p. 516.

Zeugopterus velivolans, Richards. Yarrell, Brit. Fish. (Ed. 3) i, p. 656 a.
Zeugoptems megastoma, Collett, Norges Fiske, p. 138.

Arnoglossus boscii, Gunther, Catal. iv, p. 416.

Zeugopterns Gottsche, Whither, Ich. Dan. Mar. p. 38.

Sail-fluke and Carter, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, iii, pp. 163, 167, pp. clxiii and
clxiv.

B. vii, D. 85-89 (91), P. 13, V. 6, A. 61-71 (75), C. 15, L.l. 104-110, Ccec. pyl.
2, Vert. 11/30.

Length of head 4, of caudal fin 5|, height of body 3 in the total length.
Eyes on the left side, the lower nearly one-half in advance of the upper, diameter
1/4 of length of head, 1 diameter from the end of the snout, and only divided
by a very narrow and ridged interorbital space. Lower jaw prominent ; cleft of
mouth oblique ; the length of the maxilla equals nearly 1/2 the length of the
head. Teeth in jaws rather small, and in about 2 rows ; some on vomer : none
on the palate. Fins the dorsal fin commences in front of the upper eye, and
is continued to within a moderately short distance of the base of the caudal fin,
its longest rays being in the last third of the fin, most of them and also of
anal fin are branched. Pectoral half as long as the head, ventral not conjoined
to the anal, which latter fin terminates similarly to the dorsal. Caudal wedge-
shaped. Free portion of the tail as long as high at its base. Scales strongly
ctenoid covering the head and body, also a row along each fin ray. Lateral line
with an almost semi-circular curve above the pectoral fin. No spine before the
anal fin. Gill-rakers closely set and about half as long as the diameter of the
eye. Colours of a brownish yellow with obscure spots : under side white, some-

22 ANACANTHINL

times tinged with red. Donovan mentions one which, he observes, had ten or
twelve large dusky circular spots on the back, eight of which formed a circle
not very indifferently repi'esented by Mr. Jago in the figure given by Ray.

Varieties. Mr. R. Couch remarked that the dark side is mottled in individuals
which inhabit rough ground. Couch observed that the Orkney fish were plumper
than those from the south coast. Professor Giglioli first drew my attention to
Arnoglossus boscii being this species.

Names. Whiff, merry sole a term applied due to its active movements when
in the water. Carter, lantern referring to its semi-transparency when held up
against the light. Sail-fluke, Orkneys. She sole, Belfast ; ox- or white-sole,
Dublin. De sharretong, Dutch. Le Pleuronecte megastome ou Garcline, French.

Habits. Resides in Cornwall from about 4 to 15 miles from shore, and rarely
enters sandy bays. Its large prominent eyes give the impression that its
habitat is the deep sea. Off the Orkneys, Mr. Scarth says, it seldom comes to the
shore earlier than October or later than April, though it is often driven by storms
on the beach entangled among the sea-weed. He tells us the black-backed gulls
capture numbers. Dr. Duguid observes that this fish does not take a bait, and he
only once saw it caught in a net, but, he adds, off sandy shores and in calm weather
it comes ashore spontaneously, with its tail erected above the water, like a boat
under sail, whence its name. In these favoured places dogs are trained to catch
them ! The period when this fish exhibits its gambols is most frequently before
a storm, or when a thaw sets in, according to Mr. Scarth. These accounts,
Couch observes, have been confirmed by Mr. Thompson, of North Ronaldshay,
in which distant island the fish is not rare. Thompson found a CaUionymus
dracunculus 3 inches long, and 3 small Gadi in one ; in a second 3 examples of
Merlangus vulgaris 3 inches long ; in a third only shrimp-like Crustacea.

Means of capture. The beam trawl, while it also takes a bait along the south-
west coast, although it is said never to do so in the Orkneys.

Baits. Similar to those employed for other flat fishes, which they take readily,
especially a slice of a pilchard or mackerel.

Breeding. Thompson, on October 31st, at Belfast, procured one which had
just shed its ova, only a few mature ones remaining.

As food. Of but little value, or, as Borlase remarked, good for nothing. In
the Orkneys, however, Dr. Duguid observes that it is highly prized as an article of
food, its flesh being white and firm ; but that it loses its flavour by a single day's
keeping.

Habitat. Prom the northern seas round the British to the French coasts.

It is found in the Orkneys ; is rather rare off Banff (Edward) ; Aberdeen
(Sim) ; rare in Berwickshire (Johnston) ; resident in moderate numbers off
Yorkshire (Yorkshire Vertebra ta). Has been taken along the south coast, appears
to be common off Devonshire and Cornwall. Mr. Dunn observes that it is not
uncommon to see 30 or 40 brought in by a trawler in one day. It has been
captured off Somersetshire (Baker) ; Carnarvonshire (Donovan) ; Flintshire
(Pennant).

In Ireland it is occasionally taken from north to south along the east coast.
From Down and Belfast single individuals are brought to the Belfast market.
It is obtained at all seasons. Bell had it from Dublin and Youghal. During the
winter of 1865 it was rather plentiful (Blake-Knox, Zool. 1866, p. 508).

The example figured was 10 inches in length. For it I am indebted to Mr.
D'Urban, of the Exeter Museum, in the market of which town it does not appear
to be uncommon. As to the size it may attain, the four largest Thompson
records were from 22 to 23^ inches in length. Donovan observes that one
brought to him, October 31st, 1775, was 18 inches long.

2. Arnoglossus laterna, Plate XCIX, fig. 2.

Arnoglossus, Rondel, xi, c. 14, p. 324 ; Aldrov. ii, c. 43, p. 237 ; Jonston,
i, tit. 1, c. 2a, punc. 1, p. 58 ; Gesner, Aquat, iv, p. 668 ; Wil. p. 102, t. F 8, f. 7.
Smooth sole, Pennant, Brit. Zool. (ed. 1776) iii, p. 232 and scald-fish (ed. 1812)
p. 325.

PLEURONECTILLE. 23

Pleuronectes laterna, Walb. Art. iii, p. 121 ; White, Catal. p. 104.

Pleuronectes casurus, Hanmer, in Pennant, I.e. (ed. 1812) iii, p. 325, pi. liii;
Bonap. Peso. Eur. p. 47.

Pleuronectes diaphanus, Shaw, Zool. iv, p. 309.

Pleuronectes Leotardi, Risso, Ich. Nice, p. 318.

Rhombus nudus, Risso, Eur. Merid. iii, p. 251 ; Cuv. Reg. Anim.

Pleuronectes pellucidus, Nardo, Ich. Adriat. no. 134.

Pleuronectes amoglossus, Bl. Sclm. p. 157 ; Turton, p. 97 ; Fleming, p. 197 ;
Bonap. Faun. Ital. Pesc. c. fig. ; Jenyns, p. 465 ; Canestr. Arch. Zool. i, p. 14,
tav. i, f . 4 ; Thompson, Nat. Hist. Ireland, iv, p. 205 ; Moreau, Poiss. France,
iii, p. 328.

Rhombus amoglossus, Yarrell, Brit. Fish. (Ed. 1) ii, p. 254, c. fig. (Ed. 2) ii,
p. 345 (Ed. 3) i, p. 644.

Hippoglossus amoglossus, Costa, Fauna Nap. ii, p. 32.

Amoglossus laterna, Gunther, Catal. iv, p. 415 ; Steind. Ich. Span. u. Port.
1868, p. 50 ; Collett, Norges Fiske, p. 140 ; Canestr. Fauna Ital. p. 162 ;
Giglioli, Pesc. Ital. p. 38.

Megrim, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, iii, p. 177, pi. clxviii.

B. vii, D. 87-90, P. 10-11, V. 6, A. 64-68, C. 15, L. 1. 48.

Length of head 4|, of caudal fin 6^, height of body 2 f to 3 in the total length.
Eyes on the left side, separated by a narrow, elevated and scaleless ridge : lower
eye slightly in advance of the upper : diameter 4^ in the length of the head,
1 diameter from the end of the snout. Lower jaw slightly the longer : the
maxilla equals 2/5 of the length of the head. Teeth in a single row in either
jaw, those in the mandibles somewhat the largest. Fins the dorsal commences
on the snout, its first few rays being occasionally somewhat separated one from
the others and a little elevated : the longest rays in the fin, which are half as long
as the head, are behind its middle, none of them or of the anal are branched :
the vertical fins are continued almost to the root of the caudal, which latter fin is
rounded. Left pectoral more than half the length of the head. The length of
the base of the left ventral wide, extending from the throat to the vent, behind it
are two prominent spines. Scales rather lai'ge, deciduous : present on the gill-
covers, none on the vertical fins. Lateral-Hue anteriorly with a somewhat
semi-circular curve becoming straight opposite the end of the pectoral. Free
portion of the tail higher than long. Colours of a brownish or pinkish on the left
side : white beneath.

Varieties. J. Edward (Zool. 1856, xiv, p. 5065) describes a fish 2| inches
long, taken from the stomach of a cod. Dorsal commences in advance of upper
eye, not confluent with caudal. V. very small. Anal commences below gill cover.
Eyes on left side, even. Scales not large, deciduous. L. 1. straight. Pointed teeth
in both jaws. Coloured side flesh-colour, at regular distances on extreme edge of
D. and A. fins are seven black spots ? Pleuronectes diaphanus. Has seen three
specimens. Black spots present in all.

In Yarrell's collection were three species of a fish termed Amoglossus
lophotes, Gunther, but whence they came has not been recorded, D. 95, A.
77, L. 1. 60. They appear to be very closely allied to A. laterna. Yarrell (Ed. 1)
p. 255, remarks upon possessing a Mediterranean skin of this species. Couch, iii,
p. 178, introduces this as a British species.

Names. Scald-fish, derived from its appearance when captured, as it then
appears as if it had been dipped in scalding water, for not only does slight
friction cause its scales to drop off but likewise rubs off its skin. Megrim,
Cornwall : Lanthem-fish, Cornwall apud Halliwell : smooth sole. Le Pleuronecte
Amoglosse, French.

Habits. Of these but little appears to be known, but the majority of British
examples have been captured along the S.YV. coast, usually on a sandy bottom
and at some considerable depth. It is said to be a favourite food of congers and
other large fishes which frequent deep waters.

Means of capture. Hoes not appear to take a bait, perhaps due to the small

21 ANACANTHINT.

size of its mouth, as well as to its living at depths where only large hooks are
tried. It is often captured off Cornwall with the beam trawl.

Breeding. Risso observes that in the Mediterranean it is very prolific.

As food. It is not of sufficient size to be of use for the table.

Habitat. From the coast of Norway to those of Great Britain and Ireland,
also through the Mediterranean, in which last locality it is tolerably abundant.

Off Banffshire it is very scarce (Edward) : Devonshire not common (Parfitt) :
but has been recorded from Plymouth (Hanmer) and Weymouth (Jenyns) : off
Cornwall Mr. Cornish observed that it is not common and considers it a variety
of the "carter:" one example appears to have been obtained at Swansea
(Dillwyn).

In Ireland an example was taken off the Galway coast by Mr. Todhunter,
September, 1848, which is now in the Dublin University Museum. Has also been
taken off the coast of Cork (Ball) : and several from Dingle Bay in 25 fathom
water (Yarrell). "Was trawled abundantly off this (Dublin) coast last winter
and spring. I saw some hundreds used for baiting crab-pots in the spring "
(H. Blake-Knox, Zool. 1866, p. 508).

Couch has recorded one 6| inches in length, and observes that it attains to
7 inches.

PLEURONECTlBvE. 25

Genus VI Pleuronectes, Artedi.

Platessa, Cuvier; Limanda, Microstomus, and Glyptocephalus, Gottsche :
Platichthys, Girard ; Clidoderma, Pseudopleuronectes, Brachyprosopon, Bleeker.

Branchiostegals five to seven : pseudobranchice present. Eyes on the right side:
the upper not in advance of the lower. Cleft of mouth shalloiv. Teeth of a moderate
size, in a single or double row in each jaiv, and which are most developed on the blind
side : none on the vomer or palate. Dorsal fin commences above the eyes : both
pectorals present. Vertical fins not confluent. Scales small or rudimentary.

Considerable differences are observable in the species composing this genns, as
may be perceived when observing the numerous sub-divisions into which it has
been subjected. Irrespective of this, considerable variations are found among
individuals belonging to the same species, as has been already remarked upon as
a family characteristic (see page 3). While Gill has observed a species in which
the male has rough and the female smooth scales, while during the breeding
season the teeth are movable in both sexes.

As bait for these fishes on foul ground lug- worms and pieces of the flesh of the
conger or herring are much used. But the majority along the British coasts are
obtained by means of the beam trawl. I shall defer the consideration of this
mode of fishing until arriving at the valuable genus of Solea (page 3-7).

The British forms belonging to this genus have been thus divided :

A. Teeth lanceolate and compressed.

a. Lateral-line nearly or quite straight.

1. A spine before the anal fin.

1. Pleuronectes platessa, D. 66-77, A. 50-57. Rough interorbital ridge.

2. Pleuronectes microcephalics, D. 85-93, A. 70-76. Yellowish, blotched with
dai'ker patches.

2. No spine before the anal fin.

3. Pleuronectes cynoghssus, D. 102-115, A. 86-97.

b. Lateral-line strongly curved anteriorly.

4. Pleuronectes limanda, D. 65-78, A. 50-62.

B. Teeth conical,
a. Lateral-line with a slight curve anteriorly.

5. Pleuronectes flesus, D. 60-62, A. 39-45. Ossicles at base of dorsal and anal
rays.

A. Teeth lanceolate and compressed.

a. Lateral-line nearly or quite straight.
1. A spine before the anal fin.

1. Pleuronectes platessa, Plate CI.

Passer vulgaris and Quadratulus, i, p. 143 ; Belon. i, p. 142. Passer, pt.
Rondel, xi, c. 7, p. 316; Gesner, pp. 664, 670; Schonev. p. 61; Ray, p. 31.
Alia passeris species, Rondel, xi, c. 8, p. 318. Passer Icevis, Aldrov. ii, c. 47,
p. 243 ; Jonston, i, tit. iii, c. 3, art. 2, punct. i, t. xxii. Pleuronectes, sp. Artedi,

26 ANACANTHINI.

Gen. p. 17, no. 1, Spec. p. 57, no. 1, Synon. p. 30, no. 1 ; Gronov. Zoopli. no.
246. Passer, spec. Klein, Pise. Mss. iv, p. 34, no. 6, t. vii, f. 3. Passer Bellnnii,
Willughby. p. 96, t. F. 3 ; Rutty, co. Dublin, 1772, p. 350. Plaise, Pennant, Brit.
Zool. (Ed. 1776) iii, p. 228, and (Ed. 1812) iii, p. 304. Carrelet ou Carreau,
Duhamel, Peches, ix, p. 264, pi. v, f. 1, 2, and Pli, 1. c. p. 265, pi. v, f. 3. The Plaice,
Low, Faun. Oread, p. 212.

Pleuronectes platessa, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 456 ; Bloch, Fische Deuts. ii, p. 31,
t. xlii ; Gmel. Linn. p. 1228 ; Bl. Schn. p. 144 ; Bonn. Ency. Ich. p. 74 ; Lacep.
iv, p. 628 ; Donovan, Brit. Fish, i, pi. vi ; Shaw, Zool. iv, p. 297, pi. xliii ;
Quensel, Vet. Akad. Handl. 1806, p. 211 ; Turton, Brit. Fauna, p. 96 ; Pallas,
Zoogr. Ross. -As. iii, p. 423 ; Faber, Fische Isl. p. 135, and Isis, 1828, p. 865 ;
Nilss. Skand. Faun, iv, p. 612 ; Swainson, Fishes, ii, p. 302 ; Gronov. ed. Gray,
p. 87 ; Giinther, Catal. iv, p. 440 ; Schlegel, Dier. Ned. p. 166, pi. xvi, f. 1 ;
Ogilby, Zool. 1876, p. 4755 ; Mcintosh, Fish. St. Andrew's, p. 180 ; Collett,
Norges Fiske, p. 144 ; Malm, p. 525 ; Winther, Ich. Dan. Mar. p. 39 ; Giglioli,
Pesc. Ital. p. 38.

Platessa vulgaris, Fleming, Brit. An. p. 198 ; Gotts. Wiegm. Arch. 1835,
p. 134 ; Fleming, p. 198 ; Jenyns, Manual, p. 454; Yarrell, Brit. Fish. (Ed. 1) ii,
p. 209, c. fig. (Ed. 2) ii, p. 297 (Ed. 3) i, p. 605 ; Parnell, Wern. Mem. vii, p. 361,
t. xxxvi, and Fish. Firth of Forth, p. 201, t. 37 ; Gottsche, Wiegm. Arch. 1835,
p. 140 ; Kroyer, Dan. Fiske, ii, p. 347, c. fig. ; Templeton, Mag. Nat. Hist (2)
1837, i, p. 411 ; Bonap. Catal. p. 403, and Pesc. Eur. 48 ; Johnston, Berwick.
Nat. Club, 1838, i, p. 174; Thompson, Nat. Hist. Ireland, iv, p. 192; White,
Catal. p. 98 ; Moreau, Poiss. France, iii, p. 291.

Plaice, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, iii, p. 181, pi. clxix.

B. vii, D. 66-77, P. 10-11, V. 6, A. 50-57, C. 17-18, Vert. 14/29, Coec. pyl. 2
(3-4).

Length of head 4-, of caudal fin 5j, height of body 2| in the total length.
Ei/cs on the right side, the lower one- fourth to half in advance of the upper, nearly
1 diameter from the end of the snout, while the two are divided by a narrow,
smooth, ridge. During life they are much elevated. Lower jaw in advance of
the upper with a knob at symphysis : the length of the maxilla equals that of the
orbit, while it reaches posteriorly to beneath the first third of the eye. The
anterior nostril tubular : the posterior oval and patent. The interorbital ridge is
continued as several rough tubercles to the lateral-line. Teeth compressed and
truncated at their summits, 20 to 24 in the upper jaw on the blind side, those on
the other side being few and smaller ; those in lower jaw similar to those in the
upper. Gill-rakers few, short, and widely set. Fins the dorsal commences
above the middle of the eye, and ceases a little before the base of the caudal fin,
the interspace being less than the depth of the free portion of the tail below it :
the 35th to the 38th ray the longest, and more than half as long as the head.
The pectorals on both sides of equal length and 2/5 that of the head. Caudal
rounded. A spine directed forwards is situated just before the base of the anal
fin. Scales from 90 to 100 rows, cycloid ; some on cheeks, none between the eyes.
None along bases of dorsal and anal fins. Lateral-line slightly curved above
the pectoral fin, the extent of the depth of which is less than the length of
the pectoral fin : the greatest depth between its straight portion and the anal fin
is less than the length of the head. Intestines two short ccecal appendages ; the
length of the intestinal tract, in a specimen eight inches long, from the pylorus
to the vent was 7 inches. Colours of a chestnut or rich brown on the right side,
covered with large orange and sometimes black-edged spots.

Varieties. Buckland mentions a variety destitute of spots. Reversed examples
are not rare, piebald ones common. These fish rapidly assume the colour of the
ground on which they are residing. Canestrini considers Pleuronectes italicus,
Giinther, to be this species.

Names. Plaice, diamond plaice, Sussex, from its lozenge-shaped spots. Plash
fleuk, Moray Firth. Facje or /acq, Anglo-Saxon. De schol, Dutch. La Plie
Franche ou Carrelet, French.

PLEURONECTID^E. 27

Habits. In the Orkneys, according- to Low, it keeps much to sand banks
and muddy ground. During the summer months on the east coast of Scotland
it appears to frequent rocky localities, but in February and March seeks sandy
places where it can deposit its spawn. In Cornwall it has been observed to
select water of a moderate depth, and in May to arrive inshore, also in the autumn
it is found in shoals in the quiet bays, but when the frost sets in it retires to the
deep. When disturbed it will shoot away suddenly for a short distance, and can
work itself rapidly into the sand where it lies concealed with only its eyes being
apparent. Has great tenacity of life ; one 10 inches long taken in January lived
thirty hours after removal from the water : it was kept ten hours in a very warm
room where it lay all the time on a dry plate (Thompson).

Thompson found in the intestinal canal of some taken in Belfast Bay, Tellina
tenuis, fragments of Mactria solida and Mytilus edulis. In June large ones
contained some Aphrodita aculeata, portions of Buccinum undatum, with the
remains of Decapod Crustacea, April Lucina radula, &c.

In East Friesland it has been toansferred to freshwater ponds where it thrives.

Means of capture. Low says that in the Orkneys " a few are caught on small
lines made on purpose ; but they are not much sought after." Around the British
coast they are taken by lines or beam trawls. Spillers also are shot in sheltered
sandy bays, the bait employed being the lug-worm or a mollusc removed from its
shell.

They are speared in the seas of northern Europe where the water is very clear,
heavily leaded doubly barbed spears being employed according to Pontoppidan.

Breeding. The plaice appears usually to breed about February and March, but
sometimes in autumn and early winter. On February 4th this year, 1882, I
obtained a male, which weighed 1^ lb., full of milt. Mr. Jackson, in sending some
ova of this fish to Mr. Buckland, remarked that they were obtained from a ripe
and enormously distended female in one of the tanks in the Southport Aquarium.
The ova ran freely, and at first floated on the surface, but when the vessel was
perfectly still they slowly settled to the bottom. The slightest motion of the
water occasioned them to float. The young are " first seen in April, close to land,
swimming on the surface of the sea, on their edge, with an eye on each side.
In about a week after being first seen, they may be found in pools near the shore,
about the size of a baby's finger nail" (Dunn). Buckland found that a plaice
which weighed 41b. 15 oz. contained 1 lb. 9 oz. of roe, or 144,600 eggs, which
were of a large size as compared with those of the turbot. Thompson obtained
examples 3 inches long in January, 1835.

Life history. The opinion was formerly entertained that the plaice is descended
from a shrimp, and Dr. Deslandes investigated the subject. He first placed some
of the shrimps in a vessel of salt water, and after twelve or thirteen days he
discovered eight or nine young plaice. The next year he placed some of these fish
in two different salt-water receptacles, and to one lot he added a few of the shrimps,
not so to the other. Both lots spawned, but it was only where the shrimps were
that any young were produced. On examining the shrimps, he discovered the
ova attached to the under surface of these crustaceans, and he felt persuaded that
their maternal care is a necessity for bringing forth the fry. But Lacepede
suggested that the shrimps eat the ova of flat-fishes, and some may become glued
to their under surface when they are unable to devour them. Comparatively rare
as the male is, as already observed, I obtained one full of milt in February, 1882.
Respecting how it is that in some localities the number of plaice appears to have
decreased (see page 37).

As food. This fish is in the best condition about May, and Mr. Mayhew
computed that upwards of three millions are annually consumed in London. Off
Devonshire its quality, observes Parfitt, depends upon the nature of the ground
on which it is captured, for, if muddy or sandy, the taste partakes more or less of
either. When from sand it is firm and sweet ; if from mud, the reverse. In
Banffshire it is held in little estimation ; it is usually deemed poor as food, but
bears carriage well. In Ii-eland, however, Thompson states that it is held in
general esteem.

28 ANACANTHINI.

Habitat From Iceland, along the coasts of northern Europe, to the British and
French shores : what was believed to be this species was recorded extending
in diminished numbers into the Mediterranean, and in 1878 for the first time to
the Adriatic (F. Trois, Alti 1st. Venet. (5), iv, 1878, p. 321).

Found all round our coasts. In the Orkneys and Zetland abundant (Baikie) :
Moray Firth common, especially during April : Banff (Edward) : Aberdeen (Sim) :
St. Andi-ew's (Mcintosh) : Firth of Forth (Parnell) : Berwickshire (Johnston) :
Yorkshire resident, very common, bnt Mr. Mudd informs us that it is becoming
more scarce, and that it is fonnd in greatest numbers in or near the Dogger Bank
(Yorkshire Vertebrata) : at Great Grimsby its diminution is causing alarm to
some of the fishermen : Norfolk common (Lowe) : found all along the sonth coast,
the largest said to come from Sussex (Jenyns) : off Mevagissey in Cornwall they
swarm in shoals dnring the autumn (Dunn) and Mr. Cornish observes that those
from a hard, close, killas sand are usually good, edible fish : those from a loose
gravelly sand are valueless.

In Ireland it is abundant round the coast ; to the north it is the most common
species of flat-fish. At Belfast an example 12 lb. in weight was taken and sent to
the University Museum.

Although one of these fish, weighing 6 or 7 lb. is a fine example, Donovan and
others have recorded it up to 15 lb. weight.

3. Pleuronectes microcephalus, Plate CII.

Rhombus Icevis cornubicus, Jago in Ray, p. 162, f. 1. Smear Dab, Pennant,
Brit. Zool. (ed. 1776), iii, p. 230, pi. xli, (ed. 1812), iii, p. 309, pi. xlvii. Duhamel,
Pech. pt. ii, sect. 9, p. 268, pi. vi, f. 3-4.

Pleuronectes microcephalus, Donovan, Brit. Fish, ii, pi. xlii ; Turton, Fauna,
p. 96 ; Fries, Vet. Akad. Handl. 1838, p. 173, and Wiegm. Arch. 1840, p. 24 ;
Nilss. Skand. Faun, iv, p. 609 ; Giinther, Catal. iv, p. 447 ; Mcintosh, Fish. St.
Andrew's, p. 180 ; Steind. SB. Ak. Wien, lxxx, Abth. i, p. 165 ; Schlegel, Dieren
Neder. p. 170, pi. xvi, f. 5 ; Collett, p. 145 ; Malm, p. 40.

Pleuronectes Icevis, Shaw, Zool. iv, p. 299; Turton, 1. c. p. 96.

Pleuronectes Quenselii, Holb. Bohusl. Fisk. Goth. Vet. and Vitt. Saallsk. nya
Handl. iv, p. 59, c. fig.

Pleuronectes quadridens, Fabr. Kongl. Dansk. Vid. Selsk. Afhandl. i, p. 39, t.
i, f. 10 and 11 ; Faber, Fische Isl. p. 138, and Isis, 1828, p. 884.

Pleuronectes microstomus, Faber, Isis, 1828, p. 886, and Tids. Nat. v, p. 243 ;
Nilss. Prod. Ich. Scand. p. 53.

Platessa microcephala, Flem. Brit. An. p. 198 ; Jenyns, Man. p. 457 ; Parnell,
Wern. Mem. vii, p. 366, t. xxxviii, and Fish. Firth of Forth, p. 206, t. xxxviii ;
Yarrell, Brit. Fish. (Ed. 1) ii, p. 221, c. fig. (Ed. 2) ii, p. 309 (Ed. 3) i, p. 622 ;
Thompson, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1835, p. 81, and Nat. Hist. Ireland, iv, p. 196;
Templeton, Mag. Nat. Hist. 1837 (2), i, p. 411 ; Johnston, Berwick. Nat. Club,
1838, i, p. 174; Kroyer, Fiske Dan. ii, p. 316, c. fig. ; Moreau, Poiss. France, iii,
p. 294.

Pleuronectes cynocjlossus, Nilss. Prod. Ich. Scand. p. 53 (not Skand. Fauna).

Microstomus latidens, Gotts. Wiegm. Arch. 1835, p. 150.

Cynoglossa microcephala, Bonap. Pesc. Eur. 48.

Platessa Icevis, White, Catal. p. 99.

Smear-dab, Couch, Fish. British Isles, iii, p. 187, pi. clxxi.

B. vii, D. 85-93, P. 10, V. 5-6, A. 70-76, C. 15 ; L. 1. 130, Ccec. pyl. 4. Vert.
13/35.

Length of head 6 to 6, of caudal fin 6, height of body 2\ to 3 in the total
length. Eyes the lower slightly in advance of the upper, placed close together,
and not 1/2 a diameter from the end of the snout. Jaws of equal length in front :
the maxilla not reaching to beneath the front eye. Anterior nostril tubular ; the
posterior round and patent. Teeth conical, rather compressed and blunted, from

PLEURONECTIDiE. 29

11 to 13 in either jaw on the blind side. Gill-rakers very short : not numerous.
Fins dorsal commences above the centre of the upper eye ; its rays are longest
in the posterior half of the body, where they equal about 1/2 the length of the head.
Pectorals of about equal size, and If in the length of the head. Ventrals free.
No spine before the anal fin, which latter is similar to the dorsal. Caudal rounded.
Scales cycloid, covering the head (except the snout), body, and minute ones on
the coloui-ed surface of the vertical fin rays. No filament on the head. Lateral-
line on both sides, at first makes a slight curve, more pronounced in some
examples than in others, the convexity of which is above, it is then continued
almost direct to the centre of the base of the caudal fin. Colours dull yellowish,
blotched, and with dark spots, more especially over the chest and along the
base of the anal fin. Dark blotches and spots likewise on the anal, caudal, and
ventral fins. A dark base to pectoral, which has also some cloudy markings. On
the under surface Pennant observed that it was sometimes marked with fine large
dusky spots, but that such were not persistent.

Varieties. Thompson took an example similar to Donovan's, March 3rd, 1835,
D. 93, P. 9, V. 5, A. 76 ; it was free from spots, obscurely marked on the upper
side and vertical fins with many shades of brown, gray and dull yellow : the
orange stripe round the base of the operculum being very conspicuous : it and
another had. a lemon mark about an inch behind the base of the pectoral on the
coloured side.

Names. Smear-dab, due to its being frequently covered with slime ; lemon-
dab or lemon-sole (Belfast) owing to its colours ; Mary sole, Scotland, Devonshire
and Cornwall, in which last county it has likewise been known as hit ; smooth-dab
or bastard-sole; town-dab, Hastings; French sole, Youghal ; sole-fleuk, Moray
Firth ; sand-fleuh, Edinburgh. Be Tongscliar, Dutch. Le Plie microcephale,
French.

Habits. Parnell observes that in the Firth of Forth it appears during the
spi'ing, but two or three seasons pass when not half-a-dozen of these fish are seen
in the Edinburgh market. In 1835 they were unusually plentiful, particularly in
February, but after March they were scarcely ever met with. Having shed their
spawn about April they retire to rocky ground for the remainder of the year.
They feed on shell fish and crustacea. Thompson found a Nereis in one.

Means of capture. Beam trawl, and with small hooks.

Baits. Soft molluscous animals.

Breeding. Spawns in May and June. Thompson found one in roe in March,
1835, but omits to mention if the ova were well developed or the contrary.

As food. Thompson considered it " a much better fish than plaice, although
not so good as sole nor so sweet as the dab." R. Couch says, " it is but little
esteemed as food ;" and Cornish, that it is a very excellent fish.

Its body is rather thicker than the common dab, and Yarrell considered its
flesh equally good, while Pamell says, some people reject it because it possesses
a strong disagreeable tarry flavour, while others believe no flat-fish surpasses it
in excellence, the flesh being firm and well tasted. The difference depends upon
the period of the year when captured, it being good during December, January
and February, and unwholesome during April, May and June.

Habitat. From Iceland and the northern coast of Europe to the British
Isles and French coast. It has likewise been captured off Kamstchatka
(Steindachner).

In the Orkneys and Zetland Dr. Duguid obtained one in August, 1848, and
Mr. Iverach in July : Moray Firth (Harrison) : Banff, not very common
(Edward) : Aberdeen (Sim) : St Andrew's, common (Mcintosh) : Seton Sands
and Aberlady Bay (Neill) : during February, March and April, off the Fifeshire
coast : Firth of Forth, not common, but mostly seen in spring months (Parnell) :
Berwick, not common (Johnston) : Yorkshire, resident and common (Yorkshire
Vertebrata) : Norfolk (Lowe) : Sussex coast (Yarrell) : Devonshire (Montagu) :
Weymouth, several (Gosse), Cornwall, rather rare (Couch), but I found it to be
common : also Brixham and Sussex coast, where it is in season during the autumn

30 ANACANTHINI.

and winter months. At Plymouth it is known as " merry sole :" at Hove, as " the
kit:" at Penzance, as "the queen " or " queen fish" (Pennant): South Wales
(Donovan) : Swansea (Dillwyn).

Ireland. " Occasionally taken around the coast, but not in large numbers in
any part of it" (Thompson), and at all seasons.

Portrush, county Antrim, " not uncommon, as several specimens may almost
always be picked out of a night's trawling" (Ogilby, Zool. 1876, p. 4755) :
the largest example measured 17 inches (Ogilby).

The example figured, 12 inches long, was from Brixham.

2. No spine before anal Jin.
3. Pleuronectes cynoglossus, Plate CIII.

Pleuronectus, sp. Gronov. Mus. Ich. i, p. 14, no. 39 (diagn. and synon. exclu.)
and ii, p. 11, no. 39, and Act. Helv. iv, p. 263, no. 145 and Zooph. p. 74, no. 252.
Craig-fluke, Parnell, Edin. New Phil. Journ. 1835, p. 210.

Pleuronectes cynoglossus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 456 ; Bonn. Atl. Ich. p. 74 ;
Gmel. Linn. p. 1228 ; Fries, Wiegm. Arch. 1840, p. 19 ; Nilss. Skand. Faun, iv,
p. 263 ; Gronov. ed. Gray, p. 88 ; Gunther, Catal. iv, p. 449 ; Collett, p. 147 ;
Malm, p. 527; Winther, Ich. Dan. Mar. p. 40; Goode and Bean, Pro. U.S. Nat.
Mus. i, p. 19.

Pleuronectes saxicola, Faber, Isis, 1828, p. 877.

Pleuronectes nigromanus, Nilss. Prod. Scand. iv, p. 55 ; Cuv. Reg. Anim. 111.
Poiss. pi. cvii.

Glyptocephalus saxicola, Gotts. Wiegm. Arch. 1835, p. 156.

Platessa pola, Cuv. Reg. Anim. ; Jenyns, Manual, p. 458 ; Parnell, Wern.
Mem. vii, p. 370, t. xxxviii, and Fish. Firth of Forth, p. 210, t. xxxviii ; Bonap.
Wiegm. Arch. 1835, p. 157 ; Thompson, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1837, p. 58, and An.
Nat. Hist. 1838, p. 16, and Nat. Hist. Ireland, iv, p. 196 ; Yarrell, Brit. Fish.
(Ed. 1) ii, p. 227, c. fig. (Ed. 2) ii, p. 315 (Ed. 3) i, p. 616; White, Catal. p. 99.

Platessa saxicola, Kroyer, Dan. Fiske. ii, p. 338, c. fig.

Platessa elongata, Yarrell, Supp. Brit. Fish, and (Ed. 2) ii, p. 318, c. fig. (Ed.
3) i, p. 619; White, Catal. p. 99 ; Higgins, Zoologist, 1861, p. 7317.

Pleuronectes elongatus, Gunther, Catal. iv, p. 450 ; Day, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1879,
p. 755, pi. lxi.

Platessa cynoglossus, Moreau, Poiss. France, iii, p. 296.

Pole and Long-fioimder, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, iii, pp. 190, 193, pis. clxxiii
and clxxiv.

B. v, D. 102-115, P. 10-12, V. 5-6, A. 86-100, C. 18, L. 1. 115.

Length of head 6|- to 6|, of caudal fin 6^, height of body 3j to 4 in the
total length. Eyes on the right side, and separated from each other by a very
narrow ridge, which is scaleless in small, minutely scaled in large examples :
lower eye 1/3 in advance of the upper, and 2 diameters in the postorbital portion
of the head. Lower jaw slightly the longer, and with a tubercle below the
symphysis. Maxilla 2/3 as long as the orbit, and extending to beneath the front
edge of the lower eye. Body very thin, its greatest thickness equalling 1/6 of its
greatest height, excluding the vertical fins. Teeth in a single row, compressed,
with their crowns somewhat obtuse : most developed on the blind side. Fins
dorsal commences over the centre of the upper eye, its rays undivided, the longest
being at its middle, where they are 3/5 the length of the head : posteriorly it
terminates almost close to the root of the caudal fin, which latter is wedge-shaped.
Anal similar to the dorsal, but its middle rays not so elongated. A small spine
directed anteriorly is situated in front of the base of the anal fin. Both pectorals
with 12 rays, the left 1/2 as long as the head, the right 1/4 longer than the left.
Ventrals each with 6 rays, and 1/2 as long as the pectorals. Scales C}-cloid on the
blind side, feebly ctenoid on the coloured : some very fine ones over the fin-rays

PLEURONECTID^E. 3l

in adult examples. Lateral-live with a slightly oblique descent above the pectoral
fin, from whence it proceeds direct to the centre of the base of the caudal : it has
a dorsal branch on the occiput. Gill-rakers short, spinate, and widely separated.
Coecal-appendages two, moderately developed. Colours right side brown, with a
gray tint, being darkest about the head. A small blackish mark on the upper
half of the pectoral fin. Vertical fins of a grayish slate colour, the anterior
dorsal rays tipped with white. Left side white.

Varieties. Thompson, when examining large numbers of this species, found in
one lot the males, in another the females, almost exclusively prevailed : also that
the form of the body and the height of the dorsal and anal fins varied considerably
in both sexes. Yarrell described P. elongatus from a somewhat elongated specimen,
probably a skin, the height of the body in his figure being | of the total length :
Couch, who figured from a skin, shows the height of his specimen as about 3^ in
the total length : whereas mine is 3j from a fresh example.

Names. Pole or craig-fluke, pole-dab. White sole, county Down. La Plie
Cynoglosse, French.

Habits. Frequents sandy localities : in some years being much more common
than in others. Parnell found small crabs and star-fishes in the stomach of one
he examined.

Means of capture. The beam trawl.

Breeding. May and June.

As food. Is considered good by some, especially the French, who esteem
it to be equal to the sole. In Dublin it is looked upon as very inferior, and
Thompson remarks upon having had it dressed, when he found it a passably good
fish, but not at all flavoured like, nor equal to, the sole.

Habitat. It extends from the coasts of the North Sea around Great Britain
and Ireland to the shores of France. It is also found on the North American
coast (Goode and Bean).

Mr. Peace records in Land and Water that an example 19-*- inches long was
taken in Scalpa Bay, near Kirkwall, in May, 1880, and a day or two after another
and smaller one, the only ones he had ever heard of in that locality : Banff, rare
(Edward) : Aberdeen (Sim) : Firth of Forth, occasionally obtained during April,
May and June. Pamell secured fifteen examples : along the south coast the
same author recorded three examples from Brixham, from which locality I received
three on January 10th, 1880, and have seen many from there in Mav, 1881, and
also since that date. Mr. Dunn has sent it me from Mevagissey, where it is very
rare, and Mr. Cornish considers it rare along the Cornish coast. I have also seen
a Plymouth example. Higgins obtained two at Weston-super-Mare, and Mr.
Baker two at Stolford, in Somersetshire.

In Ireland it is found on the north-east, east, and south-west coasts. On April
26th, 1837, six examples, from 12 to 14 inches long, were obtained by Thompson
at Belfast, and on March 25th, 1839, about 120 were brought in at one time to
the market at Newcastle. They had all been captured by trawling, and about
70 more were said to have been also taken, but this was a quite exceptional take.
On May 5th one was captured at Ardglass.

The example figured is 9 inches long, and was obtained by Mr. Dunn at
Mevagissey, November 6th, 1879. It attains to at least 14 inches in length on
the British coast, and Thompson records one 16^- inches long from Ireland.

B. Lateral-line strongly curved anteriorly.
4. Pleuronectes limanda, Plate CIV.

Passer asper, Rondel, xi, c. 9, p. 319 ; Schonev. p. 61 ; Aldrov. ii, c. 46, p. 242 ;
Willughby, p. 97, t. F. 4 ; Ray, Syn. p. 32 ; Rutty, Nat. Hist. County of Dublin, i,
p. 350. Limanda, Belon. De Aquat. p. 145 ; Gesner, pp. 665, 781. Pleuronectes,
sp. Artedi, Gen. p. 17, no. 2, Species, p. 58, no. 11, Synon. p. 33, no. 9. Sand-

32 ANACANTH1NL

flynder, Strom, Sondm. i, p. 2/8. Bab, Pennant, Brit. Zool. (ed. 1776), iii, p. 230
(ed. 1812), iii, p. 308. La Limanda, Duhamel, Peches, ix, c. i, p. 267, pi. vi,
f. 1,2.

Pleuronectes limanda, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 457; BI. Fische Dents, ii, p. 45
t. xlvi ; Gmel. Linn. p. 1231 ; Lacep. iv, p. 621 ; Bl. Schon. p. 145 ; Bonn. Enc. Ich
p. 75 ; Quensel, Vet. Akad. Handl. 1806, p. 220 ; Donovan, Brit. Fish, ii, p. 44
Shaw, Zool. iv, p. 298 ; Turton, Brit. Fanna, p. 96 ; Faber in Isis, 1828, p. 881
Fries and Eks. Skand. Fisk. p. 150, pi. xxxiv ; Nilss. Skand. Fauna, iv, p. 627
Thompson, Nat. Hist. Ireland, iv. p. 195 ; H. Malm. Wiegm. Arch. 1864, p. 293
Giinther, Catal. iv, p. 446 ; Schlegel, Dier. Ned. p. 169, pi. xvi, f. 3 ; Collett.
p. 146 ; Malm, p. 525 ; Mcintosh, Fish. St. Andrew's, p. 180 ; Whither, Ich. Dan
Mar. p. 39.

Pleuronectes platessoides, Faber, Fische Isl. p. 140 (not Fabr.).

Platessa limanda, Flem. Brit. An. p. 198 ; Jenyns, Man. p. 456 ; Templeton,
Mag. Nat. Hist. 1837 (2), i, p. 411 ; Yarrell, Brit. Fishes (Ed. 1), ii, p. 219, c. fig.
(Ed. 2), ii, p. 307 (Ed. 3), i, p. 628 ; Kroyer, Dan. Fiske, ii, p. 298 ; Parnell,
Wern. Mem. vii, p. 365, t. xxxvii, and Fish. Firth of Forth, p. 205, pi. xxxvii ;
Johnston, Berwick. Field Club, 1838, i, p. 174 ; White, Catal. p. 100 ; Mcintosh,
Fish. N. Uist, Pro. R. S. Edin. v. 1862-66, p. 614.

Limanda vulgar is, Gottsche, Wiegm. Arch. 1835, p. 160 ; Moreau, Poiss. France,
p. 289.

Limanda oceanica, Bonap. Cat. no. 412.

Lab, Couch, Fishes of Brit. Isles, iii, p. 185, pi. clxx.

B. vii, D. 65-78, P. 10-11, V. 6, A. 50-62, C. 14, L. 1. 86-96, Ccec. pyl. 4,
Vert. 39-40.

Length of head 4| to 5, of caudal fin 5f , height of body 2f in the total length.
Eyes the lower slightly anterior to the upper, diameter 5-- to 6 in length of the
head, \ to 1 diameter from end of snout, and separated by a narrow osseous ridge.
Lower jaw prominent : the maxilla, which is as long as the orbit, extends to
beneath the first third of the eye. Teeth a row of about 22 closely set, lanceolate
ones on the blind side. Fins the dorsal commences above the middle of the upper
eye, the rays gradually increase in length to about the centre of their number
(37 or 40) when they commence decreasing in height : the fin does not reach the
base of the caudal, leaving an uncovered space equal to about 1/2 the height of the
free portion of the tail. Pectoral as long as the postorbital portion of the head.
Ventral not joined to anal. A small spine, directed forwards, at the commencement
of the anal fin. Caudal slightly rounded. Scales on coloured side with ctenoid
margins, those between the eyes and on the cheeks smaller than those on the body.
A row along each dorsal and anal ray. Lateral-line smooth : at its commencement
it has a semi-circular curve above the pectoral fin, while it sends a branch over the
occiput. Lntestines three or four short ccecal appendages. Colours Brownish,
with some cloudy markings and spots : dorsal and anal fin, with whitish margins.
Occasionally white spots are seen on the coloured side of the body.

Varieties. Thompson observed in some examples he took at Ballyhome Bay
(co. Down), in September, that they had a few black spots and markings over the
body and fins : also at the base of the dorsal fin about six round white spots at
regular distances, and about four similar white spots regularly disposed at the
base of the anal fin.

Names. Common dab, the term " dab " is considered to be one of contempt, as
in Lincolnshire it refers to an insignificant fellow : sattie, Aberdeen (Sim) : salt-
water fluke, Edinbm-gh : grey fleul; Moray Firth : grey bach, Portrush, co. Antrim
(Ogilby). Be Schar, Dutch: La Limande, French.

Habits. Frequents most sandy localities around the coasts, and Parnell found
it in shallow water. It feeds on marine worms and small Crustacea. Thompson
found in the stomach of one, captured in March, at Belfast, "fragments of one of
the bivalve shells, solen (neither of the two smaller species), and of corallines,
among which Sertidaria dichotoma was apparent." Johnston remarked that off
Berwickshire its favourite food appeared to be the pretty Fecfeii obsoletus.

PLEURONECTID^E. 33

Means of capture. Beam trawl ; seine (Montagu) ; hand-lines and deep sea
lines, being more easily taken by hooks than any other flat fish.

Baits. Marine sandworms and bodies of testaceous molluscs.

Breeding. April, May and June. Many as small as If inches long were
received from the mouth of the Thames in November, 1880.

As food. A high flavoured and excellent fish (Thompson), but if waters are
muddy the taste partakes of such ; it is largely eaten among the poor of London
and Paris. It is in the best condition from February to April in some places,
from August to December in Cornwall.

Habitat. From the shores of northern Europe to those of the British Isles,
and extending to the coasts of France, being abundant off Brittany and Poitou,
but less common in the Gulf of Gascogne.

It is found on most parts of the British coasts, being tolerably frequent in the
Orkneys and Zetland (Baikie) ; abundant at times in the Moray Firth, also pretty
frequent off Banff (Edward) ; Aberdeen (Sim) ; not uncommon at St. Andrew's
(Mcintosh) ; common in the Edinburgh market (Neill) ; Berwick (Johnston) ; off
Yorkshire it is resident, very abundant, and known as the sand-dab at Redcar
(Yorkshire Vertebrata) ; Yarmouth, Norfolk (Lowe). It is by no means
uncommon along the south coast, especially Devonshire (Montagu), and very
common off Brixham and Cornwall.

In Ireland it is not rare round the coast, and has been recorded from Dublin
(Rutty) : Waterford (Smith) : Youghal (Ball) : Gal way coast (McCalla) : county
Down (Thompson) : Belfast and Strangford Loughs (Thompson) : while at
Portrush, county Antrim, it is the most frequent kind brought up by the trawl,
rarely, however, exceeding 12 inches in length (Ogilby).

The example figured, 10 inches long, was from the south-west coast. It has
been recorded off the British Isles, by Parnell, up to 15 inches in length.

B. Teeth conical.

a. Lateral-line with a slight curve anteriorly.

5. Pleuronectes flesus, Plate CV.

Passer fluviatilis vulgo flesus, Belon. p. 144 ; Willughby, p. 98, t. F 5 ; Ray,
p. 32 ; Rutty, co. Dublin, p. 350. Passeris tertia species, Rondel, xi, c. 10, p. 319 ;
Gesner, pp. 666, 782, 788. Pleuronectes, Artedi, Synon. p. 31, no. 2, and Gen. p.
17, no. 4, and Spec. no. 4 ; Gronov. Zooph. no. 248. Passer, sp. Klein, Pise. Miss.
iv, p. 33, no. 1, t. ii, f. 4, t. vii. f. 1. Flet, Duhamel, ix, p. 273, pi. vii, f. 2. The
flounder, Pennant, Brit. Zool. (Ed. 1776) iii, p. 229 (Ed. 1812) iii, p. 305 ; Low,
Faun. Oread, p. 212.

Pleuronectes flesus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 457 ; Bl. Fische Deuts. p. 39, t. xliv ;
Bonn. Ency. Ich. p. 75, t. xl, fig. 159 ; Bl. Schn. p. 146 ; Gmel. Linn. p. 1229 ;
Lacep. iv, p. 633 ; Donovan, Brit. Fish, iv, pi. xciv ; Shaw, Gen. Zool. iv, p. 301 ;
Turton, Brit. Faun. p. 96; Faber, Fische Isl. p. 144, and Isis, 1828, p. 873;
Ekstr. Fische Morko, p. 247 ; Pallas, Zoog. Rus.-As. iii, p. 422 ; Nilsson, Skan.
Faun, iv, p. 618 ; Gronov. ed. Gray, p. 88 ; Gunther, Catal. iv, p. 450 ; Schlegel,
Dier. Ned. p. 168, pi. xvi, f. 2 ; Mcintosh, Fish. N. Uist, P. R. S. Edin. v, 1862-66,
p. 614 and Fish. St. Andrew's, p. 180 ; Collett, p. 146 ; Malm, p. 530 ; Winther,
p. 41.

Platessa flesus, Flem. Brit. Anim. p. 198; Bowdich, Brit. F. W. Fish, no. 25 ;
Jenyns, Man. p. 455 ; Gottsche, Wiegm. Arch. 1835, p. 146 ; Yarrell, Brit. Fish,
(ed. 1) ii, p. 215, c. fig. (ed. 2) ii. p. 303 (ed. 3) i, p. 612 ; Parn. Wern. Mem.
vii, p. 363, pi. xxxvii ; Templeton, Mag. Nat. Hist. 1837 (2) i, p. 411 ; Johnston,
Berwick. Nat. Club, 1838, i, p. 174 ; Bonap. Pesc. Eur. 48; Thompson, Nat. Hist.
Ireland, iv, p. 194; Siebold, Susswass. fische Mittleurope, p. 77; Kroyer, Dan.
Fiske, ii, p. 276, c. fig. ; White, Catal. p. 98 ; H. Malmgren, Wiegm. Arch. 1864,
p. 293 ; Blanchard, Poise. France, p. 267, c. fig.

ii 3

34 ANACANTHINI.

Varieties in colour.

Pleuronectes passer, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 459 ; Bloch, 1. c. p. 57, t. 1.

Pleuronectes roseus, Shaw, Nat. Misc. vii, p. 238, and Gen. Zool. iv, p. 302,
pi. 43.*

Platessa camaria, Brown, Edin. Journ. of Nat. and Geol. ii, p. 99, t. ii.

Platessa flesus, var. marmorata, Nord. in Demid. Voy. Russ. Pise. pi. xxviii,
f. 1.

Flesus vulgaris, Moreau, Poiss. France, iii, p. 299.

Varieties in form.

Platessa flesus, Thompson, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1837, p. 60, and Ann. Mag. Nat.
Hist. 1865 (3), xv, p. 361, pi. xviii.

Flounder, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, iii, p. 195, pi. clxxv.

B. v, D. 60-62, P. 10, V. 6, A. 39-45, C. 14, L. 1. 85, Ccec. pyl. 2, Vert.
12/23-24.

Length of head 4, of candal fin 5f , height of body 2^ in the total length.
Eyes less than 1 diameter apart, and the lower slightly in advance of the upper.
The eyes are so prominent that they are capable of observing objects on both sides
of the head. Lower jaw in advance of the upper. The length of the maxilla
equals about 1/4 that of the head, but does not reach to beneath the eyes. Anterior
nostril tubular, having a small opening : posterior one oval with wide lips. An
obtuse ridge passes from the interorbital space to the lateral-line. Teeth
conical, blunted, two rows in the upper and one in the lower jaw : the outer row
on the upper jaw of the blind side consists of 15 teeth ; the corresponding row in
the lower jaw of about 17. Fins dorsal commences opposite the middle of the
upper eye, its longest rays are in the posterior half of the body. Pectorals on the
two sides similar, and about 1/4 as long as the head. Ventrals free. A strong
spine, pointing forwards, exists before the base of the anal fin, which latter is
similar to the dorsal. Caudal cut square. Scales small, cycloid : rudimentary
ones on the cheeks. A rounded and rough tubercle between the bases of the
dorsal and anal rays. Lateral-line commencing opposite the angle of the mouth,
curves round the lower eye, and having joined the interorbital ridge, is continued
to the centre of the base of the caudal fin. Ccecal pylori short. Colours vary
very considerably, and depend upon that of the ground of the locality which they
inhabit, but even then scarcely two will be found to be exactly similar. The
colour of the upper side is generally olivaceous-brown, with or without darker
blotches. Occasionally examples are very dark, when they are termed sea-
flounders. The under surface is white.

Young plaice and flounders of equal size may be distinguished, prior to the
appearance of tubercles along the bases of the dorsal and anal rays of the latter, by
the plaice having distinct scales, whereas they are rudimentary in the flounder.

Pleuronectes flesus, P. luscus, and P. Italicus are considered one species by
Steindachner (Site. Ak. Wiss. Wien. 1868, lvii, p. 719).

Varieties in colour. Double examples or such as are coloured on both sides
are not uncommon : also reversed ones. These last the fishermen persuaded
Donovan were a distinction of sex : Linna?us, Bloch, &c, considered such to be
distinct species. Some are partially or enth'ely albinos. Newman (Zool. xiii,
1855, p. 4596) records an albino-flounder with red eyes. " In 1862 an albino
variety was brought to me. Both sides were white, and the fins and eyes pink "
(Lowe, Norfolk Faun.). In some there are orange spots somewhat similar but
usually less vivid than seen in the plaice. On February 22nd, 1882, I obtained a
number from Brixham all having orange spots similar to the plaice, and was
informed that this is an appearance peculiar to spring-time. Thompson observes
that the examples he examined thus marked were taken in March. Some are of a
rosy hue, termed Pleuronectes roseus (Shaw) : or of a flesh-red, with irregularly but
distantly placed dark-coloured spots, Platessa camaria (Brown). Higgins (Zool.
xiii, 1855, p. 4596) remarks on one he terms Platessa melanog aster, notched above

PLEURONECTID^E. 35

the eyes and of a very dark brown colour almost black on botli sides. Newman
(1. c. p. 4914) continues that it is a favourite trick of the fisher boys to cut a notch in
the place indicated when they catch a flounder too small to be saleable. As the
notch heals the edges recede, so the dorsal fin appears to commence further back
than is normally the case. Whether this is the explanation of all such varieties
is questionable, as it may be due to an arrest of development as observed in
the plaice, turbot, &c. Thompson (Proc. Zool. Soc. 1837, p. 60) refers to the
malformed head of one resembling Tarrell's brill.

Names. Flounder and mud-flounder: flounder lantern, Cornwall: fresh-water
fleulc and bigger fleuk, Moray Firth : mayoclc fleuk, Edinburgh : fleuk, Northumber-
land, also fleioke and fluck : butt, Yarmouth : sea bag ice, Isle of Man (Crellin) :
black back, Belfast Bay. Be Bot, Dutch. Be Flet commwn, French.

Habits. It is found round our coasts ascending rivers to far above tidal
influence, and is able to live in very impure water.

There is not much to say of its habits. Its name flounder has been asserted to
be derived from the Swedish word Flundi'a, denoting its swimming close to the
ground. Here it buries itself in the sand or soil by working down first one side
of the body and then the other, and thus its back becomes covered, while its
elevated eyes and mouth remain clear for the purpose of seeing and capturing its
prey. In some rivers it is found among stones, or on the side of sandy banks in
mid-stream ; but muddy holes are reputed not to be the places where it usually
resorts. It will wriggle itself up the sides of posts when under the water, as
may be seen any day at the Westminster Aquai'ium, and it retains its hold by
means of its vertical fins. It is a greedy and voracious feeder, eating worms,
slugs, crabs, young fish, and animal substances. Thompson found in one he
examined at Belfast, the remains of Bissoa vivas, and Johnston off Berwickshire
obtained from them Pecten obsoletus.

That this fish ascends into fresh water is very certain. If we turn to
Belonius, De Aquatilibus, published in 1553, we find the flounder described as
Passer fluviatilis, vulgo flesus. It is said by Bloch and others that this name
was given owing to its colour being similar to that of a sparrow, and because it
inhabited rivers. The flounder is found in the sea and at the mouths of all the
larger rivers round our coasts, and is common in the North Sea and Baltic.
Donovan observed that it inhabits both salt and fresh waters : Montagu that it is
taken in the Avon to within three miles of Bath : Yarrell that it exists in the
Thames as high as Sunbury : Parnell that it ascends rivers to a considerable
distance, particularly when the waters are discoloured and increased in size by
heavy rains. Personally I have a recollection of taking flounders with a worm,
about thirty years since, from the Severn at Shrewsbury, a little above the
English Bridge. Mr. Henry Shaw, the well-known naturalist of that town,
observes : " Flounders were caught thirty-five or forty years ago about Shrewsbury,
and a long way above, in considerable numbers : but since the weirs about
Worcester and Gloucester have been made, their ascent has been stopped. The
Peplows (fishermen) used to lay what they termed sprigtail lines for them, in
the early spring months, on the sandy places they frequented. This sprigtail
consisted of a crooked pin with a double bend, having the form of two knees ; to
this was affixed about four horse hairs, and baited with part of a worm. The
flounder swallowed it, and, as soon as he began to pull, the pin became crosswise.
They used to employ two to three hundred at a time on a long line, and lay them
at night time." Were the weii-s on the Severn destroyed, they would immediately
remount that river at least to as high as Shrewsbury.

Means of capture. Low observes that in the shallower parts of the loch of
Stenness he has seen vast numbers taken with a seine net. Thompson mentions
having observed a fisherman at the mouth of the Bann using an implement as
follows : it was in the form of two sides of a garden reel with a spike which
was stuck into the ground : to this about forty yards of line were attached, having
a very heavy sinker at its extremity, and hooks along its whole length, which
were baited with pieces of crab. By flinging out the sinker the line became
carried into the water its entire length.

3*

36 ANACANTHINI.

In November, 18G2, flounders at Gothenburg and its vicinity were so
abundant after a severe storm on the coast of Denmark that although 2-i millions
were captured the sea literally remained full of them : 500 men were engaged day
and night in this capture and at last they were unable to salt such a number.
Pontoppidan relates that when the fishermen row their boats over sandy ground
where the flounders are seen in clear weather lying in heaps together, they drop
a line with a heavy lead to it under which a little lance is fixed, which by the
weight of the lead sticks into the flounder, and it is pulled up with the line.

Baits. The angler finds a well-scoured lobworm much approved of, but they
will also take a piece of fish ; the novice has to be warned not to strike too soon,
as the worm is sucked in some little time prior to its being gorged, while, owing
to the size of the fish's mouth, a small hook has to be employed. In some
localities it is found to bite best in the early morning. It lives long after removal
from its native element, being very tenacious of life. This makes its carriage
and transference to distant places easy.

Breeding. It spawns from February to about April or even later. At
Mevagissey numerous young were observed in April. Harmer recorded finding
1,357,400 eggs in one 24j oz. in weight : 351,026 in a second of 6f oz. : 225,568 in
a third of 3^ oz. : and 133,407 in a fourth of 2| oz.

Life history. The development of the eyes of these fishes and the changes the
young undergo has been referred to at page 3.

Diseases. Lowe mentions having frequently seen specimens from the Ouse
" affected with a peculiar skin disease resembling epithelioma large fungous
growths cropping out over the whole body the granulations large and roe-like
under the microscope consisting of large nucleated cells."

This fish is largely eaten by the cormorant and other birds.

Uses. In Norfolk it is fished for in order to be used as a bait for the
lobster fishery (Lubbock).

As food. It is watery, poor eating, and inferior to the plaice, both as to
flavour and size ; but authors are not agreed as to whether the marine or river
forms are the best for the table, while it has been stated to be equally good from
both localities, the flavour depending on the food it has been living on. It is
considered nutritive and easy of digestion. Lacepede observes that its flesh is
softest in the fresh-water examples, due to their more rapid growth. In this
country such as come from the Thames are generally deemed firmest, and
superior to those from any other river. Memel, in the Baltic, has long been
celebrated for its flounders. The Frieslanders esteem this fish so much that
they naturalize it in fishponds. Thompson observes that is is not much esteemed
at Belfast. Low considered that if fried it is delicate eatinsr.

Habitat. From the coasts of northern Europe to those of the British Isles,
while off France it is common in the Channel and along Brittany, Poitou, the
Gulf of Gascogne and Arachon (Moreau).

This fish is abundant around the British coast and is especially partial to the
mouths of large muddy creeks : when not impeded by artificial or natural
obstructions it ascends rivers long distances. It inhabits all the bays and creeks
of the Orkneys, especially if the ground is flat and sandy : abundant in the Moray
Firth, ascending the Lossie nearly as high as Elgin (Gordon) : is pretty frequent
off Banff (Edward) : Aberdeen (Sim) : abundant at St. Andrew's (Mcintosh):
during July and August captured in large numbers in the Firth of Forth in the
salmon nets particularly above Queensferry, as well as in Leith harbour with the
hook (Parnell) : Berwick, common (Yarrell) : resident in Yorkshire along the
coast and rivers, in whioh its ascent is mostly stopped by weirs : every year in the
Babble from May to September : common in the Norfolk estuary : down the
east and along the south-west coast and Bristol Channel : common round the
coast of Ireland (Thompson).

It attains to about 8 or 9 inches in length and 4 lb. weight. Donovan recorded
one 4^ lb. and Pennant another of 6 lb.

PLEURONECTIDiE. 37

Genus VII Solea (Klein) Cuvier.

Monochir, Cuvier. MonocJiirus, Yarrell.

Cleft of mouth narrow, hoisted round to the left side. Eyes on the right side, the
upper being partially or entirely in advance of the lower. Nostrils variously formed.
Dentition most developed on the blind side, ivhere the teeth in the jaws are in
villiform rows, none on the vomer or palate. The dorsal fin commences on the snout,
and is not confluent with the caudal : pectorals present or absent. Scales small,
ctenoid. Lateral-line straight.

This genus has been subdivided :

A. Pectorals developed, Microbaglossus.

a. Nostrils on blind side not dilated, Solea.

b. One of the nostrils on the blind side dilated and broadly fringed, Pegusa.

B. Pectorals on both sides rudimentary or small, Buglossus.

C. Pectorals absent, Aseraggodes.

Geographical distribution. All temperate as well as tropical seas, except the
southern portion of the south temperate zone, and though normally a marine and
littoral form, still some enter fresh waters in which they have been acclimatized,
and thriven. On retaining some in fresh and others of a like weight in saline
water, the first at the end of a year were found to have increased at twice the
rapidity of those which were kept in salt water.

Among the flat-fishes annually captured around the British coast, none
exceed the sole in value as food, while they are esteemed both by rich and poor.
Their value is often enhanced by the locality they come from, thus Torbay,
Folkestone and other places are more or less famed for the quality of the fish
which are taken from their waters.

A most important subject, and one which deserves a more searching
investigation than it has yet received, is whether the fish are decreasing in
quantity around our coasts, and, if so, the reason ? To illustrate one side of this
question I give an extract from a letter from an east coast fisherman which speaks
for itself: "It is well known among fishermen that there is a falling off in the
supply of plaice and soles to an alaimiing extent, whatever may have been said to
the contrary by smack-owners and fish salesmen. To explain this, I shall have to
carry you back to the time when we first went to fish off the Sylt, about ten years
ago ; at which time very nearly all the ground from Horn Reef to Heligoland was
covered, as it were, with shoals of small plaice, and intermixed with these plaice
were a good many soles, both large and small. We have got as many as eighty
baskets of small plaice and ten baskets of soles for one night when we first went
there, and very nearly all the plaice would be thrown overboard, and you may be
aware that they always die after they have been hove on board a trawler. These
fish are so small that I have counted two hundred and fifty in one basket, such
as we use at Grimsby. The small plaice that are brought to London market
are the largest picked out, and then the others are thrown away. Now, we have
fished there every summer, heaving big bags of small plaice on board and throwing
them away for the sake of the soles, till by destroying the young brood, full-grown
plaice have grown very scarce. At the present time very small plaice will sell
well, so that now the soles have grown scarce off the Sylt, the small plaice, being
saleable, make up, so you see they are bound to be caught unless stringent
measures are taken for their preservation. You must remember that the
quantity has decreased during these last few years, twenty baskets being the most

38 ANACANTHINI.

you would get for a night now. My opinion of the matter is this, that as the
ground from Horn Reef to Langeroog, within a less depth than twelve fathomB, is
a natural nursery for young brood, if the wanton destruction of it continues as it
has done, we shall soon find it extremely difficult to find even a moderate supply
of full-grown plaice, but if stopped I have no doubt that both they and soles would
be more plentiful. It is to the interest and benefit of everyone in the fish trade
that no English trawler should be permitted to fish within the above depth."

Mr. Mann, writing from Bournemouth to the Field, in April, 1882, observed,
" I have just weighed a sole of one ounce, and a turbot of four ounces which
were exposed for sale here. They were selected from many others of like
size. Sixteen pounds' weight were captured on one occasion, the largest not
exceeding eight ounces. The bulk were taken in long-shore nets, known as
' tucks,' of small mesh, from which nothing can escape ; but this form of net
does not kill the fish, which ought to be at once returned to its native element."
Small turbots and soles are often placed in the bottom of the pads and boxes sent
to the London markets, but the bulk of them are sold in the towns and villages
along the sea coast.

It has again and again been brought prominently to notice, especially about
the fishing grounds of the North Sea, that the supply of soles taken in British
waters is yearly decreasing as evidenced by the trawlers having to go further out
to sea, that an increased number of vessels capture only an amount similar to what
formerly were obtained by fewer boats manned with less hands, and likewise that
the fish supplied to the markets consists of such as are much smaller than used to
be the case. Mr. E. Jex, of Billingsgate, remarked (January 7th, 1882), " there
have been during the past year some thousands of boxes of soles in this market
from Yarmouth, Lowestoft and Ramsgate, while not more than one-fourth of the
contents of each box consisted of fish that ought to have been caught three-fourths
of each box nothing but slips and tongues."

When at Weston-super-Mare in 1879 some new trawling ground was tried, and
the large size and quantity of these fishes that were taken amply recompensed the
trawlers. But such localities are often over-fished and soon become exhausted
and thus quantity has to be made up by those of a smaller size. This is possibly
what is found to occur in most places. Thus, Mr. Dunn observes, that his
father was the first fisherman who employed a beam trawl in Mevagissey Bay :
he captured enormous numbers of fish, so much so that he kept a record, which
has, unfortunately, been lost. When the Plymouth trawlers first commenced
their operations in new localities off the south-west coast (which was about the
time the Calif ornian gold-fields were discovered), they termed their new grounds
" California," as illustrating the amount and value of their captures.

It has been pointed out by Mr. Epton and others, that a large fleet of smacks
towing over the same ground will in a short time clear off the fish which are
there. But the main cause of the diminution in the North Sea is generally
asserted to be due to the numbers of undersized fish which are wantonly
destroyed in shallow water, or their natural brood-grounds by trawling smacks,
steam trawlers and shrimp catchers, more especially by smacks along the German
coast during the spring and summer months.

But while it has been proposed to legislate for this state of affairs by
prohibiting the exposure for sale of soles under 6 inches (7 inches, Buckland) in
length a difficulty arises which would first have to be investigated. Thus at
certain seasons the " thick-backed sole," Solea variegata, which rarely exceeds
6} inches in length, is common in the Plymouth markets, and perhaps finds its
way to London ; while the " little sole," Solea lutea, abounds along the south-
west coast, and is generally thrown overboard as useless, or sold as manure. Any
prohibition against the capture of soles under a certain size would cause taking
these forms to be penal. This opens up the question what, if these small forms
alone are permitted to increase off the south-west coast, will be the effect on the
food of the Pleuronectidce in general ? For should the useless forms be protected
and if they live on the same diet as the useful table sole, it appears as if such
legislation might cause more injury than benefit to the fisheries.

PLEURONECTID^. 39

Synopsis of Species.

A. Pectoral fins developed on hoth sides.

a. Nostrils on the blind side not dilated.

1. Solea vulgaris, D. 73-86, A. 61-73, L. 1. 160.

b. One of the nostrils on the blind side dilated and fringed.

2. Solea impar, D. 82-88, A. 67-71, L. 1. 130-140.

B. Pectoral fins on both sides verij small.

3. Solea variegata, D. 65-72, A. 53-57, L. I. 85.

4. Solea lutea, D. 65-72, A. 50-56, L. 1. 72.

A. Pectoral fins developed on both sides.
a. Nostrils on the blind side not dilated*

1. Solea vulgaris, Plate CVI.

Solea, Ovid, v. 124 ; Pliny, ix, c. 16 ; Klein, Pise. Miss, iv, p. 31, no. 1, and
p. 32, no. 2, tab. ii, f. 3. Buglossus sen Solea, Belonins, De Aquat. p. 145 ;
Rondel, xi, c. 11, p. 320 ; Gesner, Aquat. iv, pp. 666, 671, and Icon. Aquat. p. 101 ;
Schonev. p. 63 ; Aldrov. ii, c. 43, p. 235 ; Jonston, i, tit. 3, c. 2, a. 2, punct. 1,
p. 82 ; Willughby, Hist. Pise. p. 100, t. F 7; Ray, p. 33. Pleuronectes, sp. Artedi,
Synon. p. 32, no. 8, Genera, p. 18, no. 6, and Species, p. 60, no. 5 ; Gronov.
Zooph. no. 251 and Mus. i, p. 14. The Sole, Borlase, Cornwall, p. 266, pi. xxvi,
f. 2 ; Pennant, Brit. Zool. (Ed. 1776) iii, p. 231, and (Ed. 1812) iii, p. 311; Low,
Fauna Oread, p. 213 ; Couch, Fislies of the British Islands, iii, p. 200, pi. clxxvi.
La Sole Duhamel, iii, sect. 9, p. 257, pi. i.

Pleuronectes solea, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 457 ; Brunn. Ich. Mass. p. 34 ; Bloch,
Fische Deuts. ii, p. 42, t. xlv ; Bl. Schn. p. 146 ; Bonn. Ency. Ich. p. 76, p. xli,
f. 160 ; Lacepede, iv, p. 623 ; Donovan, Brit. Fishes, iii, pi. lxii ; Shaw, Zool. iv,
p. 302 ; Turton, Brit. Fauna, p. 96 ; Fries and Ekstrom, Skand. Fisk. p. 165,
t. xxxix ; Gronov. ed. Gray, p. 89.

Solea vulgaris, Quensel, Vet. Akad. Handl. 1806, p. 230 ; Risso, Eur. Merid.
iii, p. 247 ; Fleming, Brit. Anim. p. 197 ; Miss. Skand. Fauna, Fisk. p. 651 ;
Holb. Gotheb. Vet. Siillsk. Handl. iv, p. 56, c. fig. ; Gottsche, Wiegm. Arch. 1835,
p. 182 ; Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 466 ; Yarrell, Brit. Fish. (ed. 1) ii, p. 256, c. fig.
(ed. 2) ii, p. 347 (ed. 3) i, p. 657 ; Parnell, Wern. Mem. vii, p. 378, and Fish.
Firth of Forth, p. 218; Bonap. Fauna Ital. Icon. p. 26, c. fig. ; Templeton, Mag.
Nat. Hist. 1837 (2) i, p. 412 ; Costa, Faun. Nap. ii, p. 34 ; Canest. Arch. Zool. v,
p. 41, t. iv, f. 2; Johnston, Berwick. N. Hist. Club, 1838, i, p. 174; Swainson,
Fishes, ii, p. 303 ; Kroyer, Dan. Fiske, ii, p. 467, c. fig. ; White, Catal. Brit. Fish,
p. 105 ; Thompson, Nat. Hist. Ireland, iv, p. 205 ; Nilss. Skand. Fauna, iv, p. 651;
Schlegel, Dieren. Neder. p. 175, pi. xiv, f. 5 ; Giinther, Catal. iv, p. 463; T. Ogilby,
Zoologist, 1876, p. 4755 ; Steind. Ich. Span. u. Port. 1868, p. 54 ; Mcintosh, Fish.
St. Andrew's, p. 180; Collett, p. 148; Winther, Ich. Dan. Mar. p. 41; Giglioli,
Pesc. Ital. p. 39 ; Moreau, Poiss. France, iii, p. 304.

Solea buglossa, Rafin. Indice, sp. 45.

Solea linnei, Malm, p. 532.

B. vii, D. 73-86 (97), P. 7, V. 5-6, A. 61-73 (83), C. 16, L. 1. 160, Vert.
9/39-40.

40 ANACANTHINI.

Length of head 5 to 5|, of caudal fin 7-j to 8, height of body 3 to 3]- in
the total length. Eyes the upper slightly in advauce of the lower : interorbital
space somewhat concave and exceeding 1 diameter of the eye in width. Jaws of
about the same length in front. Cleft of the mouth extends to beneath the middle
of the lower eye. Some short filaments on the snout and on the blind side of
the head. Nostrils on coloured side just in front of lower eye, the posterior
one patent with a thick lip on the upper side : the anterior one tubular.
On the blind side the anterior nostril is above the centre of the upper lip
and scarcely tubular : the posterior nostril is as far behind the anterior as the
latter is from the end of the snotit, it is patent with slightly elevated
edges. Teeth small, but distinct on the blind side. Gill-ralcers rudimentary.
Fins the dorsal commences in front of the upper eye. The two pectorals of the
same size, and 2\ in the length of the head. Ventrals free. Caudal rounded.
Scales ctenoid, and continued on to the fin-rays. Lateral-line straight. Colours
brown or gray on the coloured side, frequently blotched with black. Vertical
fins with a narrow, white, outer edge. Pectoral usually with a black blotch in its
outer half, which is very distinct in the young. " The colour of the sole depends
upon and varies according to the quality and depth of the feeding ground : (at
Weymouth) there are four prevailing varieties : (1) a dark sole ; (2) a shrub sole,
from the markings on the back having the appearance of shrubs ; (3) a lemon
sole ; and (4) a spotted sole. No. 1 is, I believe, caught in the shallowest water ;
no. 2 next ; and nos. 3 and 4 in the deepest water." (W. Thompson, Zool. 1851,
p. 3375.)

Steindachner I.e. observes that Solea azevia, Capello, from Portugal, is this
species.

Varieties. M. Capello states that examples from the coasts of Portugal vary in
the number of their fin rays from D. 85-95, A. 74-78 (Journ. Sc. Matt. phys. e. nat.
Lisbon, no. ii, 1867, p. 164). Near the mouth of the Ouse a variety is taken termed
cardine, its head is large and elongated, but its flesh is rather coarse. Reversed
examples are not rare (I obtained one from Brixham 14 inches long in January,
1881), neither are double ones or such as are coloured on both sides. On February
11th, 1881, 1 obtained from Brixham a double sole Hi inches in length, with the eyes
placed as normally in this species. There are also semi-albino or piebald specimens.

Thompson observes that those from the north of Ireland vary considerably in
form and colour, some being narrower than others, and tapering more towards the
tail. I obtained an example 12 inches long from Brixham in which the caudal
fin had been lost, and a new one formed continuous with the dorsal and anal.

Names. Sole, as the Greeks considered it would form a fit sandal for an ocean
nymph : slips, or tongues, the market terms for the young : also tongue-soles in the
Moray Firth, and lobsters in Suffolk. La sole commune, French. L>e Tong, Dutch.

Habits. Appears to prefer sandy or gravelly shores, and is retentive of life,
but rather uncertain in its migrations, for although mostly appearing at certain
spots almost at a given time, and usually decreasing in numbers by degrees : in
other seasons they disappear at once as suddenly as they arrived. " The finest
soles have been taken," observes Andrews (Zool. 1853, p. 3848), " in the Arun
River, miles above the tideway, and where they breed and remain throughout the
year." " In the estuary of the Humber," observes Mr. Eagle Clarke, "they are
captured from May until August inclusive, all are either in spawn or shotten. The
young are very numerous in the shallow water at the edge of the tides." Yarrell,
on the authority of a correspondent, remarks that they breed in the River Arun,
frequenting it from the mouth five miles upwards, which is nearly to the town of
Arundel, and remain in it the whole year, burying themselves in the sand during
the cold months. It is not unusual for them to ascend rivers to some distance,
while they will live and thrive in fresh water. Along our sea-coasts they retire to
the deep as frosts set in, revisiting the shallows about May if the weather is warm,
their migrations being influenced by temperature. Although very large examples
are occasionally taken in Lynn Deeps this fish, similar to the whiting, only attains
about 2/3 the size off Norfolk and Suffolk that it does off Devonshire.

PLEURONECTID^E. 41

In Ireland (October) Dr. Farran found Cardium elongation abundantly, a few
Bulla apart a, and a number of Echinocyamus pusillits. (November) Amphidesma
Boysii, a Dembalium, and a few Amphidesma prismatica. (December)
Amphidesma prismatica, a Lysteri, an Anomia, and Donax trunculus. The sole
lias been reputed to eat the eggs and fry of other fishes and sea urchins, &c.

Means of capture. Generally the trawl. The principal English trawling
ground lies from Dover to Devonshire. They may be taken by spillers, but are
not commonly captured with hooks : it is suggested that one reason may be that
spillers are mostly used by day, whereas the sole is a night feeder. In-shore
trawling, shrimping and fine meshed netting during the spring months occasion
great injury to the young of these fishes, as do also hose nets set for shrimps.
Mr. Welton, of Bridgewater, purchased all the fish taken in two of these nets in
one day, and thus obtained 18 cwt. of the fry of soles, plaice, herrings, whiting, &c.
Baits. Major Holland (Sc. Gossip, 18/2, p. 261) employs soft- or soldier-crabs,
lug-worm, mussel, shrimp and rag-worm, with long gut snoods, but these fish
feed mostly at night, and the most favourable time is after a blow, when the
water is thick, while a land breeze answers better than a sea breeze.

Breeding. They spawn late in the year and during the spring months. I have
obtained them in full roe this year up to April 15th. A sole of 1 lb. weight carries
about 134,000 eggs (Buckland).

Hermaphrodites. Have been recorded by Yarrell.

Life history. The very young swim on edge as has been already referred to,
but they do not appear to be commonly found so far out at sea as some other
species. They are first seen along our south coast about the end of March or
commencement of April.

Diseases. Buckland mentions having received a sole in which its entire lower
surface was studded with hairs from 1/8 to 1/2 an inch in length. On a
microscopic examination being made they turned out to be the hairs of the " sea
mouse," Aphrodite aculeata.

Uses. The skin of the sole was much used, according to Parnell, for fining
coffee, being found a good substitute for isinglass : also as a material for artificial
baits.

As food. The flesh of this fish is white, firm, and of excellent flavour, those
from the deepest waters being generally preferred : during the time of breeding,
and for a short period subsequently, they are soft and watery. Those on the west
coast and to the south are larger as a rule than those towards the north of these
islands. May hew tells us that London requires annually 97,520 soles, while that
market is principally supplied from the Norfolk coast and the English Channel.

Habitat. It extends from the seas of Scandinavia and the Baltic southwards,
round all the coasts of France, and is found in the Mediterranean.

It is taken in the Orkneys and Zetland, but is rare (Baikie) : it is not very
common off Banff (Edward) : but found off Aberdeen (Sim) : is common in the
Moray Firth, but not much sought after : frequent at St. Andrew's (Mcintosh) :
sparingly at the mouth of the Firth of Forth (Parnell). Resident and common
off Yorkshire. Has once occurred at Goode, in the estuary of the Humber, near
the mouth of the Ouse (Yorkshire Vertebrata) : the Great Grimsby fishermen
assert that they capture most of their small soles off the Dutch coast. Common
in the Norfolk estuary (Lowe) : abundant off the south coast from Sussex to
Devonshire, and common off Cornwall. Also found in the Bristol Channel, and
generally around Great Britain.

In Ireland soles occur all round the coast, while Ogilby observes that they are
common at Portrush, and Thompson remarks that those in the north vary
considerably in form and colour from those more to the south. As to the size it
attains Thompson's largest example was 20 inches in length. Mr. Grove, of Charing
Cross, received one from Torbay on February 1st, 1882, 24 inches long, and which
weighed 6|- lb. A correspondent of the Field alludes to one weighing 7\ lb.
captured at Bridgewater, on June 4th, 1881: and casts of a pair from Ireland
which weighed together 12 lb. are in the Buckland Museum. Yarrell mentions one
26 inches long and very thick, the largest he had ever heard of, which was brought
to the Totness market, and weighed 9 lb.

42 ANACANTHINI.

B. One of the nostrils on the blind side dilated and fringed.

2. Solea lascaris, Plate CVII.

Plexironectes lascaris, Risso, Icli. Nice, p. 311, pi. vii, f. 32.

? Pleuronectes nasuhis, Pall. Zoogr. Ross. -As. p. 427.

Solea impar, Bennett, Proc. Zool. Soc. i, p. 147 ; Giinther, Catal. iv, p. 468.

Solea lascaris, Risso, Eur. Merid. iii, p. 249 ; Bonap. Fauna, Ital. Pesc. ;
Canestr. Arch. Zool. i, p. 38, t. iv, f. 1 ; Giinther, Catal. iv, p. 467 ; Canestr.
Faun. Ital. Pesc. p. 165 ; Morean, Poiss. France, iii, p. 307.

Solea pegusa, Tarrell, Zool. Journ. iv, pp. 467, 508, pi. xvi, Brit. Fish. (ed. 1)
ii, p. 260, c. fig. (ed. 2) ii, p. 351 ; Jenyns, Man. p. 467 ; Thompson, Nat. Hist.
Ireland, iv, p. 206 ; White, Catal. p. 106 (not Lacep. or Risso).

Solea nasuta, Nordm. in Demid. Voy. Russ. Merid. Zool. iii, Poiss. p. 536, pi.
xxxi ; Kessler, Bull. Soc. Nat. Mosc. 1859, pt. ii, p. 442 ; Richardson, in Yarrell,
Brit. Fish. (ed. 3) i, p. 662 ; Steind. Ich. Span. n. Port. 1868, p. 58.

Solea aurantiaca, Giinther, Catal. iv, p. 467 ; Steind. Ich. Span. u. Port. 1868,
p. 58.

Lemon Sole, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isl. iii, p. 205, pi. clxxviii.

B. vii, D. (65) 82-88, P. 10, V. 5, A. (32) 67-71, C. 15, L. 1. 130-140. Vert.
46.

Length of head 5-*- to 6|, of caudal fin 8 to 8f, height of body 2f to 2|- in
the total length. Eyes the superior 1/2 in advance of the inferior : about 1^
diameters from the end of the snout, and about 1 diameter apart. This species
is rather thicker than S. vulgaris. Upper jaw slightly longer than the lower
but not produced into a lobe. The cleft of the mouth extends to beneath the
middle of the lower eye. Some filaments on the snout, very numerous on the
blind side of the head and also on the few first dorsal rays. Nostrils on the
coloured side tubular, the anterior one being the longer. One of the nostrils on the
blind side is nearly circular, very wide, and encircled by short and branched
filaments. Teeth distinct on the blind side. Fins the dorsal commences in
front of the upper eye : most of the fin-rays branched. The two pectoral fins
are equally long and 2\ in the length of the head. Gill-rakers absent or
exceedingly minute. Scales ctenoid, continued on to the fin-rays. The mucous
membrane of the gullet has longitudinal folds which are continued into the stomach :
the intestine beyond the pylorus is wider than the stomach : externally both
have several large papillas on them. Colours of an orange or lemon yellow,
marbled with darker and covered with numerous small black blotches and dots,
among which are some light or even white ones. Pectoral fin with a large black
blotch, surmounted by a light ring in its posterior half. Vertical fins of the same
colour as the body. In some examples the yellow colour is entirely lost after they
have been a few weeks in alcohol, leaving the fish gray marbled with darker.

Yarrell appears to have been the first British author who distinguished this
fish and considered it identical with Pleuronectes pegusa (Risso) : Jenyns, however,
observed that it is not Risso's fish, and appears to be undescribed by any foreign
authors. Richardson next located it as Pleuronectes nasutus (Pallas) : while
subsequently Dr. Giinther believed it to be undescribed and named it Solea
aurantiaca. It seems to be S. lascaris (Risso) as suggested by Moreau, and agrees
with S. lascaris (Bonap.) : while Steindachner identifies S. lascaris (Risso) with
S. scriba (Val.).

Names. The lemon sole from its colour : sarid-sole from the localities it
frequents : French sole. Borhame, Northumberland. Le Sole Lascaris, French.

Habits. Frequents sandy bottoms and appears to be captured throughout the
year, a good number were daily in the Cheltenham fish shops from April until
December, 1881, and January, 1882.

Means of capture. Usually by the trawl, it has been thought by some authors
that it prefers deeper water than the common sole.

PLEURONECTIM]. 43

As food. It is not in request for the table, being tasteless and wanting in
firmness, but is occasionally slipped in amongst such as have been prepared for
fi lletting at the fishmongers.

Habitat. From the shores of Great Britain and Ireland, through the
Mediterranean, and is found off Nice and Naples (Giglioli). Rare in Banffshire
(Edward) : Northumberland : resident and not uncommon in Yorkshire
(Yorkshire Vertebrata) : found off Sussex. Occasional in Devonshire (Parfitt) :
I have seen large numbers from Torbay : Weymouth two examples (Gosse, Zool.
1854) : rare in Cornwall (Cornish) : off Somersetshire (Baker) : occasionally
taken in the weirs at Swansea (Dillwyn).

In Ireland numerous examples were captured from one place off Galway in
1848.

It attains to 14 inches in length (Buckland) ; the one figured was from
Brixham, and measures 8^ inches.

B. Pectoral fins on both sides very small.
Solea variegata, Plate CVIII, fig. 1.

Pole panacliee, Duham. iii, sect. 9, p. 259, pi. ii, f. 3.

Pleuronectes variegatus, Donovan, Brit. Fishes, 1801, pi. cxvii.

Pleuronectes microchirus, Delaroche, An. Mus. xiii, 1809, p. 356, f. 2.

Monochir microchir, Cuv. Regne Anim. ; Guichen. Exp. Sc. Algeria, p. 107.

Pleuronectes mangili, Risso, Ich. Nice, 1810, p. 310.

Pleuronectes lingula, Hanmer in Pennant, Brit. Zool. (Ed. 1812) iii, p. 313,
pi. xlviii.

Rhombus mangili, Risso, Eur. Merid. iii, p. 255.

Pleuronectes fasciatus, Narclo Naccari, Giorn. Fis. Pav. iii, Adr. Itt. p. 9.

Solea mangili, Bonap. Faun. Ital. Peso, iii, p. 27, c. fig. ; Canest. Arch.
Zool. i, p. 29, tav. iii, f. 3, Fauna d'ltal. p. 166.

Solea lingula, Jenyns, Manual, p. 468.

Monochirus lingula, Costa, Faun. Nap. ii, p. 50.

Monochirus variegatus, Thompson, An. Nat. Hist, ii, p. 404, and Nat. Hist.
Ireland, iv, pp. 207-211 ; Yarrell, Brit. Fish. (ed. 1) ii, p. 262, c. fig. (ed. 2) ii,
p. 353, c. fig. (ed. 3) i, p. 664.

Microchirus lingula, Bonap. Pesc. Eur. p. 50, no. 429.

Monochir variegatus, White, Catal. p. 106.

Solea variegata, Flem. Brit. An. p. 197 ; Scouler, Mag. Nat. Hist. vi. (1833)
p. 530; Giinther, Catal. iv, p. 469; Steind. Ich. Span. u. Port. 1868, p. 60;
Giglioli, Pesc. Ital. p. 39.

Microchirus variegatus, Moreau, Poiss. France, iii, p. 317.

Variegated sole, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, iii, p. 203, pi. clxxvii.

B. vii, D. 65-74, P. r. 4-5, 1. 2-3, V. 5, A. 55-58, C. 15, L. 1. 85-90, Vert. 10/30.

Length of head b\ to h\, of caudal fin 6|- to 7, height of body 3^ to 3^ in the
total length. Eyes on the right side, scarcely half a diameter apart, and 1
diameter from the end of the snout. The upper eye one-half in advance of the
lower : interorbital space scaled, anterior nostril tubular. Teeth very minute.
Fins dorsal commences above the front edge of the upper eye, and nearly
reaches the base of the caudal fin, its rays are branched and the highest are
opposite the middle of the length of the body. Right pectoral fin very short,
not equalling the length of the orbit : left pectoral still more minute. Ventral
not attached to anal, which latter fin terminates similarly to the dorsal. Caudal
somewhat rounded at its extremity. Scales ctenoid extending on to the fin rays.
Lateral-line nearly straight. Free portion of the tail about three times as high
as long. Colours of a rich chestnut brown with six or seven vertical dark bands
which are a little more than one-third the width of the interspace between each.
These bands become broken up with advancing age, but may even be seen in large
specimens mostly as dark marks at the bases of and passing on to the dorsal and

44 ANACANTHINI.

anal fins. Caudal with a dark band in its last third, having a light outer edge.
Dorsal and anal fins usually edged with white.

Thompson observes Solea lingula and S. variegata are brought together as
synonymous by Yarrell and Jenyns. " In placing individuals together the most
obvious differences appear in the dark blotches and transverse bands of S.
variegata contrasted with the comparatively uniform tint of 8. lingula : the scales
of 8. variegata are very much smaller and its eyes being relatively to each other
placed more vertically : in the dorsal and anal fins being rather more distant from
the caudal fin : and in the general form of the body, which tapers less towards the
tail : the rays too of the dorsal and anal fins are considerably fewer in number
than in 8. lingula." The Banksian copy of Pennant has the following MS.
remark : " This fish is sometimes taken at Torbay in the trawling nets. It differs
at first sight from the common sole in the edges of the scales being strongly
ciliated, and in wanting the numerous small beards that hang from the lower side
of the head of the common sort." This appears to be the "red-back " described
from E. Hanmer's MS. in the 1812 edition of Pennant (iii, p. 313, pi. xlviii) but
there is no reference to this figure (P. Z. S. 1849, p. 83).

Names. Thichback, Devonshire, so termed owing to its being thicker than the
common sole : bastard sole, Weymouth. It was first observed from our coast by
Donovan, in April, 1807, when it was brought to Billingsgate market.

Habits. On the south coast of Great Britain it appears in the spring and
continues through most of the year.

Means of capture. Trawling, and is often taken in very great numbers along
the south coast.

As food. Largely consumed in Devonshire and Cornwall where it is held in
great estimation.

Habitat. From the British coasts to France and the Mediterranean, and
common off Italy (Giglioli) : frequent along the coasts of France and extends into
the Mediterranean, Trieste (Giglioli). Met with occasionally off Banff (Edward) :
off Rothsay and the Isle of Bute in Scotland (Scouler) : in October, 1851, Mr.
Hussey (Zool. p. 3282) observed upon many having been captured at Brighton,
one pair weighing upwards of 6 lb. : but Mr. Thompson (Zool. p. 3375) says they
were merely varieties of the common sole, continuing, " the true variegated sole
I have never seen exceed 5|- inches (French measure) and I have seen twenty
pairs at a time and not half-an-inch difference in the whole lot, and many of them
had roe. They are called here (Weymouth) ' bastard soles.' " During August,
1881, 1 found they were being landed in thousands at Plymouth from the trawlers
and sold as " thickbacks," they had been captured during at least the three
previous months. Mr. Dunn, in the last week in February, 1881, forwarded
to me one with the information that they were being taken near Plymouth in
hundreds, averaging about six to a pound, and were being sold in pads separated
from the other soles as offal.

In Ireland one was dredged at Belfast, June 16th, 1838, by Mr. Drummond,
and in Ventry harbour it is not uncommon (Andrews) .

The example figured is 6^- inches long, and was obtained at Plymouth, it
attains to 9 inches in length according to Buckland.

4. Solea lutea, Plate CVIII, fig. 2.

Solea parva s. lingula, Rondel, xi, c. 15, p. 324 ; Gesner, Aquat. iii, lib. iv,
p. 669 ; Aldrov. ii, c. 43, p. 237 ; Jonston, Pise, ii, lib. 1, tit. 3, c. 2, a. 2, punct. i,
p. 58 ; Willughby, p. 102, t. F 8, f . 1 ; Klein, Pise. Miss, iv, p. 32, no. 4. Solonette,
Duhamel, iii, sect. 9, p. 258, pi. ii, f. 1, 2.

Pleuronectes luteus, Risso, Ich. Nice, p. 312.

Rhombus luteus, Risso, Europ. Merid. iii, p. 257.

MonocMrus minutus, Parnell, Roy. Soc. Edinburgh, 1837, c. fig. and Mag.
Zool. and Bot. i, 1837, p. 527, c. fig. '

Monochirus linguatulv.s, Cuv. Rcgne Anim. ; Thompson, Ann. Nat. Hist, ii,

PLEURONECTID^E. 45

p. 405, and Nat. Hist. Ireland, iv, p. 206 ; Yarrell, Brit. Fish. (ed. 2) ii, p. 355,
c. fig. (ed. 3) i, p. 666 (not PI. linguatula, Linn.).

Solea lingida, Jenyns, Man. Brit. Vert. p. 468 ; Thompson, Proc. Z. S. 1837,
p. 58, and Nat. Hist. Ireland, iv, p. 206.

Pleuronectes trichodactylus, Naccari, Ich. Adri. p. 11.

Monochirus luteus, Costa, Faun. Nap. ii, p. 49; Bonap. Catal. no. 428 ; Moreau,
Poiss. France, iii, p. 316, c. fig.

Synaptura lingida, Kaup, Wiegm. Arch. 1858, p. 97.

Solea lutea, Bonap. Faun. Ital. Pesc. c. fig. ; Canest. Arch. Zool. i, p. 32, tav.
3, f . 4, Fauna Ital. p. 167 ; Gunther, Catal. iv, p. 469 ; Steind. Ich. Span. u. Port.
1868, p. 60.

Monochir linguatula, Swainson, Fish, ii, p. 303 ; White, Catal. p. 107.

Solea minuta, Gunther, Catal. iv, p. 470; Mcintosh, Fish. St. Andrew's, p. 180;
Steind. Ich. Span. u. Port. 1868, p. 61.

Solonette, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, iii, p. 207, pi. clxxix.

B. viii, D. 65-72, P. r. 5, 1. 3, V. 5, A. 50-56, C. 19, L. 1. 72.

Length of head 4|- to 4f , of caudal fin 6 to 6|, height of body 3j in the total
length. Eyes on the right side, rather close together, the upper being one-third
in advance of the lower. Cleft of mouth extends to beneath the middle of the
lower eye. Anterior nostril tubular. Teeth pointed and minute. Fins Dorsal
commences on the snout before the upper eye and ceases close to the base of the
caudal fin, its rays are branched and the highest are opposite the middle of the
length of the body. Right pectoral very short, its upper ray twice as long as the
others, left pectoral still more minute. Ventral rays two-thirds as long as the
first few of the anal fin, which latter terminates similarly to the dorsal. Caudal
somewhat rounded at its extremity. Scales ctenoid extended on to the fin rays.
Lateraldine nearly straight. Colours right side of a stone gray covered with
numerous small brown or dark spots, also three or four rows of moderately sized
dark blotches placed very wide asunder, but sometimes entirely wanting. Dorsal
and anal fins colourless, but every here and there a ray (from the fourth to the
seventh) quite black, portions of others also dark, and some dark spots along the
bases of these fins. Caudal spotted. Pectoral with a black blotch in its centre.
Some of the specimens described by more than one author as belonging to this
species, appear to be small examples of the " variegated sole."

Varieties. If the colours shown in Couch's figure are correct, are the
proportions such as he copied from nature ? I think he must have had some
other species under his eye than S. minuta.

Names. Little sole : Bed sole. Le Microdrive Jamie, French.
Habits. Appear to resemble those of the " variegated sole."
Means of capture. Trawling.

Uses. Parfitt observes (Fauna of Devon, p. 28), " sometimes taken in large
numbers in the trawl nets : but as they are of no use for the market they are
thrown again into the sea."

Habitat. From the shores of Great Britain and Ireland to those of France
and through the Mediterranean. Off Banffshire it is more common than the
"lemon sole" (Edward): common at St. Andrew's (Mcintosh). Reputed to
have been taken at Whitby (Yorkshire Vertebrata) : common at Weymouth
(P. Gosse) : Mr. Cornish records (Zool. 1873, p. 3697) capturing a star-fish in
August, holding one of these fishes, three inches in length, in its feelers. An
example was captured in November, 1880, ten miles at sea off Mevagissey, and
sent to me by Mr. Dunn.

In Ireland it is taken on the N.E., E., S. and West coasts. Ball obtained it
in Dublin : McCoy observed (Ann. and Mag. 1841, vi, p. 408) that he found it
tolerably abundant in the Bay between the lightship and the harbour : McCalla
took it in county Down, and Thompson mentions three dredged off Dundrum in
the same county.

The example figured, life size, came from Mevagissey : the largest specimen I
have obtained is 4j inches in length, but it is said to reach to 5 inches.

4G PHYSOSTOMI.

Order HI PHYSOSTOMI, Mutter.

All the fin rays articulated, with the exception of the first in the dorsal and
pectoral, which are frequently more or less ossified (some genera belonging to the
family Sternoptychidse have a rudimentary first dorsal fin). Ventral fin when
present abdominal and spineless. Air-bladder when existing having a pneumatic
duct (except in the family Scombresocidae).

Family, I STERNOPTYCHIDiE.

Margin of the upper jaw formed partly by the premaxillaries and partly by
the maxillaries, both of which are provided with teeth. Opercular bones not
fully developed. Gill opening wide: pseudobranchise present or absent. An
adipose dorsal fin may be present or rudimentary. Body scaleless or scaled.
Rows of round luminous bodies along the lower surface of the abdomen, and
occasionally some also on various parts of the body and head. Air-bladder when
present, simple. Eggs enclosed in the sac of the ovaries, and excluded by
oviducts.

These fishes are all of small size and appear to be mostly pelagic, 'while some
may be abyssal forms.

This family has been subdivided into three groups by Dr. Giinther, who,
however, failed to detect scales in Maurolicus, in which genus they are present,
but deciduous. The divisions would consequently have to be altered as follows :

Group A. Pseudobranchise present: a rudimentary spinous dorsal fin
Scaleless. StemoptycMna.

1. Argyropelecus. A single row of teeth in the jaws.

Group B. Pseudobranchise present : no spinous dorsal fin. Scaled. Coccia.
2. Maurolicus. Lower jaw prominent.

Group C Pseudobranchise absent : no spinous dorsal fin. Scaled. Chauliodontina.

The two forms of this family, Argyropelecus and Maurolicus, which have been
obtained off the coasts of Great Britain and Ireland, in common with some other
pelagic forms found elsewhere, possess eye-like spots of a circular form which
are either impressions or prominences on the skin. Their uses have been a
fertile subject for speculation, and possibly much still remains to be discovered.
MacCulloch remarked that considering at a depth of 800 or 1000 feet, the
light of the sun ceases to be transmitted in the ocean, it may be that animal
luminousness is a substitute for that light, and if so these organs would take the
place of minature lanterns. Professor Reinhardt observed of Astronethes Fieldii,
Val., which is common in the Atlantic Ocean between 23 and 6 north latitude,
that in two instances he captured the fish alive, when he saw that it sent forth two
strong and vivid greenish lights, which intermitted momentainly and ceased
altogether when the fish died (Zool. 1854, p. 4300). Dr. Guppy (Ann. and Mag.
Nat. Hist. March, 1882, p. 202) remarked that on November 7th, 18bl, latitude

STERNOPTYCHID^E. 47

35 17' south, longitude 17 43' east, two Scopeli were caught; one had some life
remaining and displayed a faint, though an undoubted luminosity in the pearly
bodies of the pectoral region : direct irritation had no effect. Professor Leuckart,
in 1865, suggested whether some at least might not be regarded as accessory organs
of sight, a position shown by Leydig to be untenable. In 1879 Dr. Ussow (Bull.
Soc. Moscow, liv, 1879, p. 79) of St. Petersburgh, remarked that among these fish
belonging to seven genera which he had examined these organs could be arranged
in two series : the first he regarded as constituting accessory eyes, the second as
special glandular organs. Leydig, in 1881 (Die augen. Organe der Fische, Bonn.),
added another group, viz., mother-of-pearl like organs, which are not sensory in
function, and he considers they bear the closest resemblance to the electric, or
pseudo-electric organs of other fishes, with probably a secondary illuminating
function.

Group A. Pseudobranchias present. A rudimentary spinous dorsal fin. Body

scaleless.

Genus I Argyropelecus,* Cocco.

Pleurothysis, Lowe.

Branchiostegals nine : pseudobranchwe present. Head large, it and the trunk
elevated and very compressed, the latter passing suddenly into the tail which is
narrow. Eyes large, directed upwards arid outwards, separated by a very narrow
interspace. Cleft of mouth vertical and deep, with the lower jaw prominent. The
margin of the upper jaw is formed of the premaxillary and maxillary, ivhich have a
single roio of fine teeth, a row also in the lower jaw. First dorsal short, preceded by
an osseous plate formed from neural spines: adipose dorsal, if present, rudimentary.
Pectorals well developed. Ventrals small. Gill-openings wide : gill-rakers long.
Body covered tvith a silvery pigment but no distinct scales. Humeral arch and pubic
bones prolonged into flat, pointed processes, which project along the median line of
the abdomen, intermediate between ivhich are some scutes. Air-bladder present.
Four pyloric appendages.

Examples of this genus are said to have been dredged in the Challenger
expedition at 1100 fathoms, a statement upon which discredit has been thrown.
In the Mediterranean it would appear not to be found at very great depths, and
may be a night feeder, at which time it ascends to the surface as is seen in the
Scopelidce.

Geographical distribution. Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean. One species
has been found off the coast of Norway.

1. Argyropelecus hemigymnus, Plate CIX, fig. 1.

Argyropelecus hemigymnus, Cocco, Griorn. Sc. Sic. 1829, fasc. lxxvii, p. 146 ;
Bonap. Faun. Ital. Pesc. ; Cuv. and Val. xxii, p. 398 ; Giinther, Catal. v, p. 385,
and Ann. and Mag. (4) 1874, xiii, p. 139; Canestr. Fauna Ital. p. 119; Moreau,
Poiss. France, iii, p. 498 ; Giglioli, Pesc. Ital. p. 39.

Sternoptyx Mediterranea, Cocco, Giorn. il Faro, 1838, iv, p. 7, f . 2 ; Bonap.
1. c. c. fig.

Sternoptyx hemigymnus, Cuv. Reg. Anim. 111. Poiss. pi. ciii, f. 3.

B. ix, D. 6 + 7-8, P. 10, V. 6, A, 11-12, C. 19.

The greatest height of the body equals half the total length. Posterior to the
vent the caudal portion of the body becomes abruptly narrowed, while it is
everywhere compressed, its greatest width merely equalling 1/4 of its height.
Caudal fin 1/5 of the total length. Eye high up, directed outwards and slightly

* From some error, Agaseiz thought this might he the young of Zeus faber.

48 PHYSOSTOMI.

upwards. The interorbital space very narrow, 1 diameter distance from the end
of the snout, and a like distance from the posteinor end of the head. Posterior
inferior angle of preopercle, with two triangular spines, the upper directed
backwards, the lower downwards. Cleft of mouth deep, the lower jaw projecting
beyond the upper, and the posterior angle of the maxilla armed with a triangular
spine. Gill-rakers very long. Teeth in a single row of somewhat incurved
ones, largest in the mandible. Those in the premaxillaries are directed somewhat
backwards, as are also a patch in the contiguous and posterior part of the maxilla,
but those in the posterior half of this latter bone are directed upwards. Fins the
dorsal consists of two portions, the anterior being prolongations of about 6 neural
spines, the last two being the longest and largest, they are connected together by
a thin plate : the rayed portion is higher than the first part : a rudimentary adipose
dorsal fin is sometimes present. Pectoral rather longer than the head : ventral small,
anal somewhat similar to the rayed part of the dorsal : caudal forked. Skin of the
body covered with a silvery pigment, while in various places it possesses what have
been termed eye-like spots, one anterior to the eye, usually two behind it, six
smaller ones on the throat and branchiostegous rays, and six larger ones on the
chest and humeral arch : twelve along the pubic plate, and eight on a line a little
above this commencing above the axilla, the two anterior of which are the largest.
Near the lower edge of the body and behind the ventral fin are four large ones,
the last almost reaching the base of the anal, and six more over the last half of
the base of the anal fin. Colours the body brilliant silvery, the tail portion
yellowish. A few black spots on the head and an irregular band along the base of
the dorsal fin. On the side of the tail above the hind edge of the anal fin are two
small silvery spots, with fine black bars radiating from them : a black band at the
base of the caudal fin. As a rule the eye-like spots along the lower edge of the
body have a black edge.

Habits. Of these but little is known.

Breeding. Eggs large.

Habitat. Atlantic and Mediterranean.

An example in the British Museum is stated to have been dredged in 540
fathoms, between Shetland and the Faroe Islands by the Porcupine, along with
several other Mediterranean forms in 1869.

STERNOPTYCHIL\E. 49

Group B. PseudobranchiaB present: no spinous dorsal fin. Scaled.

Genus II Maurolicus, Cocco.

Gonostomus, sp. Cocco. Ichthyo coccus, sp. Bonaparte.

Branchiostegals eight or nine : pseudobranchice well developed. Body oblong, it
and the head compressed. Cleft of mouth deep and oblique, lower jato prominent.
Maxilla large and wide. Eyes of medium size. Teeth in a single row in the jaws.
Gill-opening wide : gill-rakers very long. Dorsal fin in the posterior half of the
body, also a rudimentary adipose Jin. Pectoral and ventral present. Anal fin long,
commencing on a line posterior to the termination of the first dorsal, its last rays are
concealed by shin. Caitdal forked. Scales very deciduous and large, covering the
body : one or two rows of luminous spots along the lower side of the head, body and
tail. Coecal appendages in moderate numbers.

These fishes appear to belong to the pelagic fauna, and as a rule are only
captured off our shores subsequent to considerable disturbances in the deep sea.
Daring the early part of this year (1882) storms were unusually prevalent, and
Mr. Sim obtained from the beach at Aberdeen about 170 examples. As corrobora-
tive proof it may be mentioned that Trachypterus arcticus was thrown on shore on
February 16th near Berwick, another on April 17th near Flamborough, and four
days subsequently a third at Burghead. On Api'il 15th an example of Begalecus
Banhsii came ashore in the Firth of Forth, while during the month of April
I heard of four specimens of Lcemargus borealis being captured, one in the Firth of
Forth and the three others off Aberdeen. The largest of the examples of Maurolicus
obtained by Mr. Sim in 1881 had fully developed ova, and they may have been
approaching the shore for breeding purposes, because all the large examples of the
170 taken at the same period this year show developed ova and milt ready for
shedding : or they may have been on the surface of the sea for this purpose, and
so come within the influence of storms.

Miiller considei'ed the structure of the jaws of this genus Scopeloid, most
correctly observing that the premaxillaries reach to the angle of the mouth, and
it is only beyond that angle that the toothed maxillary appears.

1. Maurolicus Pennantii, Plate CIX, fig. 2.

Sheppy Argentine, Pennant, Brit. Zool. (Ed. 1776) iii, p. 327, pi. lxv (Ed. 1812)
iii, p. 432, pi. lxxvi ; Low, Fauna Oread, p. 225.

Argentina Pennantii, Walb. Artedi, 1792, iii, p. 47.

Argentina sphyra?na, Turton, Brit. Fauna, 1807, p. 105 ; Bonn. Atl. Ich. p. 177,
pi. lxxiii, f. 301 (not Linn.).

Serpe Humbolti, Risso, Ich. Nice, 1810, p. 358, pi. x, f. 38.

Scopelus Humbolti, Risso, Eur. Merid. iii, p. 467 ; Cuv. Regne Anim. t. ii,
p. 315 ; Yarrell, Brit. Fishes (Ed. 1) ii, p. 94, c. fig. (Ed. 2) ii, p. 161, and
Mag. Nat. Hist. 1838 (2) ii, p. 25 ; Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 433 ; Clarke, Mag.
Nat. Hist. 1838 (2) ii, p. 22, c. fig. ; De Kay, Fauna New York, Fish. p. 246,
pi. xxxviii, f. 121.

Scopelus borealis, Nilss. Obs. Ich. p. 9, and Skand. Fauna, Fiske, p. 479 ; Cuv.
and Yal. xxii, p. 438; Thompson, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. (2) 1847, p. 171, and
Nat. Hist. Ireland, iv, p. 175; Gunther, Catal. v, p. 389; Collett, Norges Fiske,
p. 150.

Maiirolicus ametlvystino.punctatus, Cocco, Lett. s. Salmon, 1838, p. 32, t. iv.
f. 12; Bonap. Faun. Ital. Pesc. c. fig.; Gunther, Catal. v, p. 390 ; Canestr. Faun.
Ital. p. 120; Moreau, Poiss. France, iii, p. 509; Giglioli, Catal. Pesc. Ital. p. 40.
ii. 4

50 PHYSOSTOMI.

Scopelus Pennantii, Cuv. and Val. xxii, p. 436 ; Yarrell, Brit. Fish. (Ed. 3) i,
p. 330 ; White, Catal. p. 82.

Scopelus maurolici, Cuv. and Val. xxii, p. 439.
Maurolicus Miilleri, Krdyer, Dan. Fisk. iii, p. 113.
Argentina hehridica (pt.) Giinther, Catal. vi, p. 203.
Argentine, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, iv, p. 301, pi. ccxxxiii.

B. ix, D. 10 (f), P. 16, V. 7, A. 10 + 12 + 4-13, C. 19, L. 1. 28, L. tr. 6, Ccec.
pyl. 8, Vert. 32.

Length of head 4 to 4^, of caudal fin 6^- to 7j, height of body 5 to 5 (4j in the
young) in the total length. Eye diameter 2f- to 3^ in the length of the head,
3/4 to nearly 1 diameter from the end of the snout, and rather more than half a
diameter apart : interorbital space concave from side to side, with a ridge running
down its centre. Body and head compressed : the greatest width of the body does
not quite equal half its height. Cleft of mouth deep, the maxilla wide and
reaching to below the middle of the orbit : lower jaw prominent. Teeth fine
ones in a single row in both jaws, none on the vomer or palate. Fins the rayed
dorsal commences midway between the hind edge of the eye and the base of the
caudal fin : its highest rays rather exceed one-half the height of the body below the
fin : the adipose dorsal is very rudimentary, being apparently absent in some
examples. Pectoral about half as long as the head. Ventral about as long as one
diameter of the orbit, and inserted on a vertical line almost immediately beneath
the first dorsal ray, and not quite reaching the insertion of the anal. The anal
fin arises on a line somewhat posterior to the base of the last dorsal ray : the first
ten rays are somewhat similar to, but rather shorter than, those in the dorsal fin,
the succeeding ones are smaller, and the last few in some specimens again increase
in size, but owing to their fragility, and being imbedded among the muscles and
scales, it becomes extremely difficult to ascertain their numbers : in some I have
only been able to discover about 26 in all : in the fine example figured there seem
to be 33. Scales cycloid, higher than wide, very deciduous, but distinct : although
in the British Museum catalogue it is remarked that there are no regular scales,
this is due to their having been abraded, leaving the subjacent silvery pigment
visible : still even in the Redcar specimens some can be seen if a magnifying glass
is employed. Luminous spots, not elevated but level with the surface of the
skin, are very distinct, one on the preorbital, one beneath the chin, one at the
posterior angle of the lower jaw : six on the branchiostegal rays : six on the chest,
in a line terminating posteriorly at the upper part of the base of the pectoral fin :
twelve along the lower edge of the abdomen between the humeral arch and the
base of the ventral fin : parallel to this last row and commencing at the upper
edge of the base of the pectoral fin, and terminating above the base of the ventral
are eight more : six more in a single row between the bases of the ventral and
anal fins : fifteen along the base of the anal, and eight more along the lower edge
of the body between that fin and the caudal : over the commencement of the anal
fin exists a single spot a little higher up than the anal row. Stomach ccecal, with
longitudinal well developed ruga? : in those opened no food existed, but small
gravel was present in the mouth and fauces : eight large and rather long ccecal
appendages : intestines making only two curvatures : testicles and ovaries very
long, reaching almost the entire length of the abdominal cavity. Pseudobranchia?
well developed. Colours back of a glossy brown or black, with, during life, two
zig-zag lighter lines along either side of the back : sides of the head and body of
a burnished silvery lustre : a dark band just before the base of the caudal fin : a
black mark at the base of most of the luminous spots.

Varieties. I have examined numerous examples and find that the number of
rays in the anal fin may vary from twenty-six to thirty-seven, owing I suppose to
injuries due to friction. No other essential differences being apparent, these
scarcely appear sufficient to constitute distinct species. The height of the body
in small examples is considerably greater in proportion than that in larger ones.
Hutton (Trans. New Zealand Inst, vii, p. 250. pi. xi, f. 90 cl) described Maurolicus
Australis, from examples captured at Milford Sound and Cuttle Cove, New

STERNOPTYCHIDiE. 51

Zealand, and which he doubtfully separated from M. borealis. Dr. Giinther (An.
Nat. Hist. (4) xvii, p. 399) having examined a specimen pronounced it to be
Maurolicus amethystino-punctatus, Cocco, from the Mediterranean. Hutton, 1. c.
viii, p. 215, states that it is a Gonostoma. The figure gives the impression that
the fish is Maurolicus Pennantii.

Navies. Pennant first termed this fish the Sheppy argentine, the latter
designation gave rise to great inconvenience due to its not being an " argentine."
Yarrell proposed the unobjectionable name of " Pearl sides."

Habits. Of these but little is known. During their breeding season, or from
January until May, they are thrown on our shores in varying numbers and in
proportion to the violence of the weather, and it is only in the examples obtained
by Higgins in Somersetshire that we possess a record of their capture so late in the
season as July.

Means of capture. Generally it is thrown on shore by the violence of the sea.

Breeding. As the ova, which are large, were ready for shedding in examples
captured in February and the milt was similarly forward, it appears that off
Scotland they must breed during the earlier portion of the year.

Habitat. From the coasts of Scandinavia, to the British Isles, shores of France
and through the Mediterranean : off Italy, Giglioli observes, it is rare, but
obtained at Niza, and Messina in July and September.

Low states that his single example from the Orkneys was given him by
a boy, who found it at the edge of the water among the sea ware, since then
several specimens have been procured by Dr. Duguid and Mr. Heddle (W. Baikie,
Zool. 1853) : Mr. Peach recorded it from Wick : Edward remarked that it is
a regular winter visitant off the Banff coast, being never absent during January,
and from 1 to 3 inches in length : Mr. Sim h is collected for me at Aberdeen
during the last two winters nearly two hundred examples, it being cast on the
beach in great abundance during the months of January, February and March :
four specimens up to nearly 2 inches in length were taken in April, 1833, from
the Firth of Forth (Clarke, 1. c.) : two or three specimens are in the Glasgow
Museum : Mr. Rudd first obtained this fish at Redcar in May, 1841 : in 1843 he
found thirteen specimens : in February, 1851, four : and in February and March,
1852, forty (Zool. 1852, p. 3504) : it has been taken off Devonshire as recorded
by Walcott (Yarrell) : Higgins obtained three specimens at Weston-super-Mare in
the month of July (Zool. 1861, p. 7317) : Pennant's specimen came from sea at
Downing, off Flintshire.

Its capture in Ireland has been reported March 11th, 1847, at Killiney Bay,
near Dublin (Thompson, Ann. and Mag. 1847, p. 171).

The example figured life-size was taken at Aberdeen by Mr. Sim.

Note. Paralepis. Dunn observes, " one of this genus was driven en shore alive by porpoises
at Polkerris, near Par, June 2nd, 1869. I sent it to Mr. Couch, who says it is the first known in
England. Its length was about 14 inches, depth lg inches. The sides of the fish were of an uniform
silvery colour. It was covered with scales, but so delicate that they came off on being
handled."

4*

52 PHYSOSTOMI.

Family II SALMONIDJE, Midler.

Pseudobranchise present. Margin of the upper jaw formed by the premaxillaries
and maxillaries. No barbels. Anteriorly a rayed dorsal fin, and posteriorly an
adipose one. Pyloric appendages as a rule present, and usually numerous. Body
scaled. Head scaleless. Air-bladder large, simple, and with a pneumatic duct.
The ova pass into the cavity of the abdomen before being extruded.

Geographical distribution. Marine and freshwater forms, some of the former
being exclusively inhabitants of the deep sea, others again being anadromons,
periodically ascending rivers in order to deposit their spawn. Normally they are
confined to the Arctic and temperate portions of the northern hemisphere, with the
exception of one species which has been found existing in New Zealand. Some
of the genera among the salmonoids furnish most valuable food to the human race r
consequently it has been an object to extend their range into the waters of distant
lands. In introducing exotic fishes, one of the first considerations must necessarily
be to ascertain whether any representatives of the family are normally resident in
the region it is desired to stock, and if they are whether the race is a thriving or
a diminutive one ; for it has been maintained that if the latter the chances of
success are too small to render the attempt worth making, as the region is probably
unsuited for their development. By retarding the germination of the ova by
means of ice (see Introduction), eggs of salmonidse have been safely carried to
Tasmania and elsewhere, and the races successfully introduced. In 1866 I
attempted to similarly convey trout into the waters of the table lands on the
Neilgherries and adjacent hills in Madras. These mountain ranges embrace a
geographical area extending over 268,494 square miles : their peaks vary from
5000 to 8000 feet above the sea, and Ootacamund, where the experiment was tried,
is 7426 feet above the sea-level, with an annual mean temperature of 58 68'.
Although I failed, two years subsequently Mr. Mclvor succeeded by bringing out
the young fish from Scotland, and they have bred in their new home, enabling me
to give a figure in the third part of my Fishes of India, published August, 1877,
taken from an Indian born trout.*

Synopsis of Genera.

1. Sahno. Maxillary long : dentition strong and complete. Scales small. Anal
rays in moderate numbers (14 or less). Pyloric appendages numerous.

2. Osmerus. Maxillary long : dentition complete, with fang-like teeth on the
vomer and tongue. Scales of medium size. Pyloric appendages few.

3. Coregonus. Maxillary short : teeth if present minute. Anterior dorsal fin
with few rays. Scales of moderate size. Pyloric appendages numerous.

4. Thymallus. Maxillary short : small teeth in the jaws, vomer, and on the
palatine bones. Anterior dorsal fin many rayed. Scales of moderate size. Pyloric
appendages numerous.

5. Argentina. Maxillary short: teeth absent from jaws. Anterior dorsal fin with
few rays. Scales rather large. Pyloric appendages few or in moderate numbers.

* On recording; my first failure. Dr. Giinther as editor of the Zoological Kecord, remarked,
as " has been foreseen by all acquainted with the nature of salnionoid fishes." And since it succeeded,
in his "Introduction to the Study of Fishes," 1880, p. 641, he has observed "the attempt of
transferring them into the low streams of India ended (as could be foreseen) in a total failure."

SALMONID^E. 53

Genus I Salmo, Artedi-

Fario and Solar, Cuvier : Trutta and Salvelini, Nilsson.

Branchiostegals nine to thirteen; pseudobranchiaz present. Eyes lateral. Cleft
o/ mouth deep, the posterior extremity of the tipper jaw reaching to beneath the hind
edge of the eye or even beyond. Teeth conical, present on jaws, vomer, palatine bones
and tongue, absent from the pterygoids. Anterior dorsal fin with a moderate
number of rays (10-15) : anal with rather few (10-13). Scales small and cycloid,
none on the head. Lateral-line straight. Coecal appendages numerous. A pancreas
present.

Geographical distribution. This family of physostomatous fishes is found in
Europe, Asia and America, and is most abundant in the Arctic or colder regions, in
contradistinction to the distribution of the carps and siluroids, which augment in
numbers the nearer we approach the tropics. The groups of salmon and trout are
so intimately connected one with another that a common origin to both would
scarcely be denied, and here arises the inquiry of whether their ancestors were
originally marine or inhabitants of the fresh waters. Several structural reasons
appear to point to the sea having originally been the place of their abode. If we
look at the salmon we observe that although it ascends into the fresh waters to
breed, so soon as it leaves the sea and enters rivers it begins to deteriorate in
condition, its flesh becomes softer in quality and paler in colour, while the silvery
lustre of the scales commences to change to a more muddy hue.

The indigenous species belonging to this genus have been placed in three
sub-generic groups, and to a certain extent arbitrarily separated from one another
in the following manner :

A. Anadi-omous species, with deciduous vomerine teeth, which are usually
shed at an early age. Salmo.

B. Non-migratory fresh water species, with deciduous vomerine teeth. Fario.

C. Non-migratory fresh water species, in which the vomerine teeth are
restricted to near the head of that bone. Salvelini.

The two first of these groups not being separated one from the other by any
impassable barrier, I propose in the following remarks to allude generally both to
the sub-genus Salmones or salmons, and trout, leaving observations upon the
Salvelini or charrs, until that group comes specially under consideration.

Dui"ing the present century much has been written in this country respecting
the salmon and the trout, their natural history and economic uses. Founded
possibly upon the views of sportsmen, naturalists, and fishermen, laws have been
enacted from which but insufficient benefits have accrued, making one reflect
whether our ancestors may not have been more practically acquainted with
the habits of these fish and the requirements of fisheries, than are the legislators
of the present century.

It may not be waste of space, when referring to the important family of
Salmonidw, first to ascertain what have been the views held by the best known of
our later naturalists concerning the species or varieties of true Salmonidce which
are found in or around these islands ; for the genus Salmo has been divided into
(1) Salmones, or true salmons, wherein the body of the vomer is toothed at
some period of their lives, and (2) the Salvelini or charrs, which have the vomerine
teeth restricted to near the head of that bone.

Donovan, in his British Fishes (1802-1808), referred to the (1) sewen or
Salmo cambricus, of which he tells us, among other indicati ins, that the head is
shorter than in the common salmon, and the tail more forked this he considered
to be an anadromous form peculiar to Wales; (2) the common salmon, Salmo salar;
(3) the trout, Salmo fario, which he observed to be subject to many variations.
He alluded to that from the Llynteiji, a lake of South Wales, termed Goch y dail,
and marked with black spots as large as sixpences ; to a crooked-tailed variety in
the Einion, a river not far from Machynllaeth, and also to a similar form being in

54 PHYSOSTOMI.

the Snowdon lakes ; to the Gillaroo trout of Ireland, remarkable for the great
thickness of its stomach, though it does not otherwise differ from the common
trout; and, lastly, to some in Scotch lakes that are spotted very differently from
the common sorts, which he suspected to be a distinct species, but of which he
makes no farther mention. He likewise alluded to how trout vary in size, and
referred to the Fordwich form, in Kent, which attains to nearly that of the salmon ;
to the Buddaghs of Lough Neagh, in Ireland, some of which have been known to
weigh 30 lb. He also remarked upon trout, the flesh of which was both of the red
and white kind, although captured during the same season in two contiguous
streams in Cardiganshire, one of which invariably produced the red and the other
the white variety.

Turton admitted into the British fauna, 1807 (1) the salmon, Sahno salar ;
(2) the shewen, Sahno eriox, to which he referred Donovan's sewen; (3) the salmon
trout, Sahno trutta; (4) the common trout, Sahno fario ; (5) the white salmon,
Salmo phinoc ; and (6) the samlet, Sahno sahnulus.

Fleming, in his History of British Animals, 1828, gave first those anadromous
forms that have a forked tail, as (1) the common salmon, Salmo salar ; (2) the
bull trout, Salmo hucho, which is little inferior to the salmon in size, but more
elongated, and has white and insipid flesh, but which he states has no teeth on
the vomer; (3) the phinock or white trout, Sahno alius, which seldom attains to
a foot in length, and is common in the seas and rivers of Scotland and the North
of England. Secondly, anadromous forms with even tails, as (4) the sea trout,
Salmo trutta, of which he considered the samlet or parr to be the young of this or
of the salmon, the migrations of the two almost coinciding ; (5) the gray trout,
Sahno eriox, including S. cambricus, and found in the sea and in rivers. Lastly,
forms stationary in rivers, as (6) the common trout, Salmo fario, remarking of
the Gillaroo variety that when it feeds on shell-fish the coats of the stomach
acquire a thickness similar to the gizzards of birds.

Agassiz, Brit. Assoc. 1834, only admitted (1) Salmo salar; (2) S. trutta; (3)
S. fario, and (4) the charr S. umbla.

Jenyns, in his Manual of British Vertebrate Animals, 1835, included (1)
the common salmon ; (2) the bull trout or gray salmon, S. eriox ; (3) the sea trout,
S. trutta, inhabiting the sea and rivers, identical with the salmon-trout of the
London markets and the white trout of Pennant and Fleming ; (4) the common
trout, S. fario, with its variety the Gillaroo ; (5) the great lake trout, S. ferox,
which he believed to be identical with S. lactcstris, of Berkenhout, though Agassiz
believed not of continental authors.

Yarrell, in his History of British Fishes, 1836, gave (1) the salmon ; (2) the
bull trout or gray trout, S. eriox and S. cambricus ; (3) the salmon trout, S. trutta;
(4) the parr or samlet, S. sahnulus; (5) the common trout; (6) the great lake
trout; and in a later edition (7) the Loch Leven trout, S. levenensis.

Knox added Sahno estuarius in 1855.

Parnell in 1838, in his prize essay on the Fishes of the Firth of Forth,
entered very fully into his views respecting the Salmonidw. He admitted (1) the
salmon ; (2) the bull trout, S. eriox, of which he enumerates and figures the
following varieties which he has obtained in the Firth of Forth: a salmon spotted
bull trout, a few spotted bull trout, a thickly spotted bull trout, a large headed
bull trout, a curved spotted bull trout, a crescent tailed bull trout, a Norway bull
trout, and a salmon bull trout identical with S. trutta of Jenyns and Yarrell ; (3)
salmon trout, S. trutta, which is likewise the same as S. albus of Fleming ; (4)
the parr ; (5) the common trout ; (6) the Loch Leven trout.

Jardine, in his British Salmonidae, 1839, figured (1) the salmon ; (2) the
phinock ; (3) the great lake trout ; (4) the common trout and varieties ; (5) the
Solway migratory trout ; (6) the salmon trout.

"White, in the list of the specimens of British animals in the National Museum
enumerated in 1851 (1) the common salmon; (2) the sea trout; (3) the bull or
gray trout ; (4) the common trout ; (5) and the great lake trout.

Thompson, in his Natural History of Ireland, 1856, gave (1) the salmon,
including the parr ; (2) the gray or bull trout, S. eriox ; (3) the salmon trout ; (4)

SALMONlDyE. 55

the common trout, including the Gillaroo, which variety he recorded having met
with in most fresh water races ; (5) the great lake trout.

Dr. Giinther, in a catalogue of fishes in the British Museum, described in 1866
the following anadromous forms: (1) Salmo salar, Vertebra?, 59 (60), Ccecal
appendages, 51 to 77 ; (2) 8. argenteus, Ccec. pyl. 61-67 ; (3) S. trutta, Vert.
59-60, Ccec. pyl. 43-61; (4) 8. orcadensis, Vert. 56-57, Ccec. pyl. 50; (5)
8. brachypoma, Vert. 59, Ccec. pyl. 45-47 ; (6) 8. cambricus, Vert. 59, Ccec. pyl.
33-52. And of the non-migratory fresh water forms, admitted (7) 8. levenensis,
Vert. 57-59, Ccec. pyl. 49-90; (8) 8.fario, variety Gaimardi, Vert. 59-60, Ccec. pyl.
33-46, variety ausonii, Vert. 57-58, Ccec. pyl. 38-47; (9) 8. ferox, Vert. 56-57,
Ccec. pyl. 43-49; (10) 8. stomachicus, Vert. 59-60, Ccec. pyl. 44; (11) S. galli-
vensis, Vert. 59, Ccec. pyl. 44 ; (12) 8. nigrvpinnis, Vert. 57-59, Ccec. pyl. 36-42.

From the foregoing we find that Donovan, Turton, Fleming, Jenyns, Yarrell,
Parnell, Jardine, Thompson, and White admitted the existence of five or six
British species of true salmons in our waters, which Giinther increased to twelve, as
well as two varieties of the common trout.

A thorough investigation into these various forms possesses more than a
passing interest, for if we have many species of true salmon and trout in our
waters and they interbreed, it first becomes a consideration as to what are the
probabilities of sterility occurring in the offspring ? On the other hand, should
trout from two apparently distinct species be crossed and no unusual phenomenon
occur, except improvement in the breed, while signs of sterility do not follow, the
supposition must be raised that we are dealing with local races and not with
different species, and that the young are mongrels and not hybrids.

Here 1 must shortly allude to how I propose discriminating between local races
or varieties and species, for what one naturalist considers a variety another looks
upon as a species. I shall consider species among the true salmons to be an
assemblage of individuals which agree together in their structure and in the
development of the sexes, but differ in some structural character from all other
fishes. Also that functionally they are capable of fertile union together, but not to
an equal extent or not at all with the members of any other group of fishes. Even
within the limits of a single species we find no two exactly similar, but a tendency
to divergence from the original type appears to exist, which power of divergence
is most likely to preserve and accumulate useful variations. For it has been
abundantly proved that artificially, by judicious selection and breeding from
individuals which are possessed of some desired variation, such may become
permanent in future generations ; while natural selection (perhaps assisted by
some unknown factor) would similarly tend to favour the continuation in a wild
state of such forms as possess variation favourable to the life of the animal,
and thus produce and continue certain local varieties or races. If, however, the
variations from the type, present in certain examples, are not of a persistent
character, nor exceed the differences between the limits laid down for a species,
these cannot be considered as indicating a distinct species ; for to render such
valid, we must have a permanence of variation from the original type (see vol. i,
p. 245). Thus, among the sticklebacks we find in the ten-spined form some,
due to local causes, possessing ventral fins, othei-s destitute of them ; but their
difference not being permanent merely resolves itself into a local race or variety.
The number of vertebras and the ccecal appendages have been asserted to be
constant characters which may materially assist in fixing a species among the
Salmonidce, and I propose investigating in detail some of these various structural
and functional differences that have been brought forward for the purpose of
establishing species among the true salmon, Salmones. Dr. Giinther has pointed
out nine constant characters of variation in his elaborate treatment of these fishes,
and which I shall commence alluding to as my conclusions differ from those he
has so elaborately set forth.

1. The number of vertebrae. The constancy of this character we are told "is
truly surprising," as an excess over the normal number by two, or a decrease to the
same extent, is of rare occurrence. But the inquirer finds that in the recorded
number of these bones in the migratoiy species, the variation has been restricted

56 PHYSOSTOMI.

by Dr. Giinther to between fifty-nine and sixty, and among the reputed seven
non-migratory forms to between fifty-six and sixty. Occasionally two small
vertebrae take the place of one large one, as if a division had occurred ; while
in others may be observed an abnormally lai^ge one, as if two had coalesced,
as shown by the normal number of hemal spines for two bones being present.
Dr. Giinther instances a case " where three vertebrae were united," and Cobbold
" of the coalescence of numerous vertebral centra." In a fish wherein these
bones normally number about sixty, an extreme variation of five (especially
as such has not been proved to be constant) does not by itself appear to be
beyond what might be anticipated in a single species ; and inconstant variations
would scarcely justify the creation of a new specific name for the reception of
such, unless conjoined to other circumstances. Among a number of common
trout which I captured at Colesbourne, on the Cots wold Hills in Gloucestershire,
some had fifty-seven, others fifty-eight vertebrae ; while in a few received from
Cardiganshire I ascertained that this variation extended to between fifty-seven
and sixty. As the extreme limits of variation recorded in this country among
the common trout have been between fifty-six and sixty, and as these examples of
an undoubted single species captured in one locality gave from fifty-seven to
sixty, it would seem to be a rash conclusion to formulate species of Salmonidce
solely consequent upon an enumeration of the number of vertebrae as ascertained
in a few specimens. Only one fact appears to be rendered exceedingly probable,
which is, that anadromous forms generally possess an excess of one or two
vertebrae over such as are more strictly residents only in fresh waters.

2. The number of coecal appendages. This has been adduced as a character which
may materially aid in discriminating a species. If the list of British Salmones already
referred to is examined, it will be seen that these appendages in the common salmon
may vary between fifty-one and seventy-seven, and in the Loch Leven trout between
forty-nine to ninety. (It must be noticed that personally I have observed larger
variations than are here recorded, but I have purposely restricted myself to the
numbers given in the British Museum catalogue.) These cceca are capable of
distension, of subdivision, of amalgamation between two or more, or of being longer
or shorter than is commonly the case. The difficulty does not appear in
discovering variations, but in determining within what fixed number they exist
in a given species. At Colesbourne, I found in the common brook trout already
referred to, from thirty-four to thirty-nine ccecal appendages, and up to forty-
four in the Cardiganshire examples, the same as in S.ferox. The question forces
itself on our consideration whether in any form of trout the number of these
appendages are persistent or inconstant, and whether change of climate or food
may occasion any variation. Here I must refer to the results obtained from the
examination of trout that have been reared in distant localities, but descended
from British breeds. Mr. Arthur (Transactions of the Otago Institute, July
9. 1878) refers to the stock of common trout " which were liberated in our
streams in November, 1869, and from these and their descendants the ova for
stocking the rivers in Otago have been obtained." The original ova came from
Tasmania, the trout existing there being the proceeds from three batches of eggs
supplied from England through the kind offices of Mr. Francis Francis and
Mr. Frank Buckland. They were obtained from streams in Buckinghamshire and
Hampshire, and reputed to be the eggs of the common brook trout. The number
of coecal appendages is recorded in six instances from Otago, and they varied
from forty-three to fifty-four, whereas the limits in the British race is restricted
in the British Museum catalogue to between thirty-three and forty-seven. Even
were these hybrids, and their existence was pointed out by Willughby, the
number of their ccecal appendages would still exceed, by at least seven, any
recorded among the British non-migratory forms, except the Loch Leven trout,
and are consequently an excellent instance of the inconstancy of their number.
Here I must refer to Mr. Senior's observations on these trout, now in a wild state,
as he has observed thorn in some parts of Tasmania. Owing to the abundance of
winged insects, beet lea, grasshoppers, &c, it seldom rises at the artificial fly ; when
hooked it has lost the energy of its ancestors, for after one rush if baffled it

SALMONIM]. 57

tamely gives in, while at table it is muddy and coarse, like an English tench.
Perhaps were its digestion more rapid its vigour would increase and it seems as if
nature is now augmenting the number of its ccecal appendages, and consequently
increasing the extent of its intestinal area. As regards the Loch Leven trout,
reasons exist for suspecting the race to be more nearly allied to the anadromous
than to the true fresh water species. We may thus be dealing with a race that is
changing from a marine to a fresh water form, living as it now does in fresh water,
but having the colour of a sea-trout. Some examples in the British Museum,
captured during the month of April, have the ccecal appendages fewer in number
than commonly perceived in the Sahno levenensis, but they are wider than normal,
and may be instances of a confluence of two or more into one, but it is suggestive
that this character is very inconstant in this species, which seems to be in a
transitional condition ; perhaps their diameter will gradually diminish, until in
time cceca similar to such as are found in the common brook-trout will be present.
Whatever the result of such an investigation might be, it is still evident that
the number of ccecal appendages in the various species of trout or salmon is
inconstant, and consequently should be most guardedly employed for the purpose of
constituting a species. British marine salmonidse possess more of these appendages
than do the strictly fresh water forms, while a change of climate to the antipodes
seems to increase the necessity for these organs, and as a result in their numbers,
in such as are bred there.

Here I shall refer to one of the so-called inconstant variations, or changes of
colour, such being closely relating to the foregoing remarks upon the Loch Leven
trout, the tints of which resemble those of sea forms as much as do the number of
their ccecal appendages.

Variations in colour must be due to some cause acting directly or indirectly on

the fish. Thus, among the young of the members of the Salmonidce, we perceive

that dark bands or bars down their sides are almost universal, being evidently

hereditary throughout the family. This same banding of the young is seen in

some of the horse-mackerel, Caranx, flying-fish, Exoeoetus, the gar-fish, Belone,

etc. It has been erroneously asserted that the young of the migratory forms of

salmon and trout possess two or three more bars than the non-migratory brook

trout. These bars, as well as the black and red spots on the sides, are almost

invariably lost in the anadromous forms when they are in a condition to migrate

into salt water, and assume their silvery smolfc stage (with or without X-shaped

black spots). In rivers it is rare for bands to be retained in adult trout, while

most of the black and red ocellated spots as a rule remain, although instances

have been recorded in which they have entirely disappeared. In streams where,

due to some local cause, the trout are small, it is not uncommon to perceive the

bars as well as the black and red ocellated spots retained throughout life. I

found this obtained among some from brooks near Penzance ; in fact, they were

as brilliant as young parrs, to which, except for the white edging to some of their

fins, they bore rather a striking resemblance : in a few instances I have also

observed this, but to a much fainter degree, in trout taken at Colesbourne, in

Gloucestershire. Examples of brook trout have been found on emigrating to the

sea, as a rule (to which there are exceptions), to assume the brilliant silvery

livery of the migrating salmonoids, as well as their X-shaped black spots. Mr.

Harvie Brown remarked (June 12th, 1882) on having caught at Durness several

so-called " sea trout " from a sea pool, or first pool at the mouth of the river, fresh

water at low tide, salt or brackish at high tides. From their silvery appearance

they are known as " sea trout," but are the river form acclimatized to brackish

or nearly salt water, or else periodically visiting the same between tides.

Mr. Lockington (American Naturalist, May, 1880, p. 368) observed the same

phenomenon in the Western hemisphere, where the Sahno iridens, a resident in all

Calif ornian brooks and rivers, descends in the autumn to the sea, and when in

salt water changes its colour to a steel blue, while its spots mostly disappear.

But although we may generally anticipate the non-migi-atory forms to be more
vividly coloured than such as are strictly marine, still among the former there are
numerous variations in tints and markings which have been explained in more

58 PHYSOSTOMI.

than one manner, as the nnptial season, the effects of temporary emotions, of age,

or the state of the creature's health, or its food. It has been observed that a

residence in sea or brackish water causes the fish to assume a general silvery or

steel colour, with or without black spots, and that these latter are not surrouuded

by a light circle. Clear water in rapid rivers or lakes,* especially when the

bottom is pebbly, is similarly seen to contain somewhat silvery fishes, with black

X-shaped spots. Sir William Jardine remarked that a variety very frequent

among trout in small Alpine lochs in Scotland had large dark or red spots placed

in a pale or clear surrounding field, these marks being very large, while the

principal part of the spotting was confined to the centre of the body. The colour,

depth, and character of the water also have an influence on the fish, the presence

of moss and peat, or a muddy bottom, usually causing a dark tint, while some

captured in dark holes or caves have been seen nearly black. The colours of the

tSalmones may be shortly summed up as silvery, with or without black spotsf

among the marine, and some resident in large clear pieces of water, as lochs or

rivers : more or less speckled with black and red when non-migratory and living

in fresh waters : while should the race be small, a persistence of the transverse bars

or bands on the body, which are present in most of the young, may be observed

even in adults.

Irrespective of changes in colour externally, a difference in food may occasion
it in the flesh of these fish, whether such alteration in diet is due to choice or to
necessity. Thus Crustacea and their allies may be absent from the locality they
frequent, or if present the fish may not relish that food so much as some other
which exists in the water. In certain rivers there are trout with white and others
with red flesh, the two forms being in good health and equally delicate for the
table. This has also been observed in the American charr, Salmo fontinalis,
introduced into this country, and in which it has been clearly traceable to the
food it lives upon.

3. The form of the preopcrcle in adult fish. The shape of this bone varies in
species belonging to the true Salmones with the age of the fish, while it has
likewise been remarked that in some races the development of its lower limb is
much more pronounced that it is in others obtained from different localities.
This, however, merely shows that in the marine as in the fresh water races there
are fish subject to variations in the shape of this bone. The limb is very short in
the young, elongating with age in some forms, but not so in others ; while an
arrest of development may easily take place even on opposite sides of the head
of a specimen, which were this the sole criterion of species, might, and
sometimes does, show Salmo trutta on one side and S. albus, or brachypoma,
on the other. Thompson was of opinion that differences in the form of this bone
may sometimes be due to sex.

4. The width and strength of the maxillary in adult fish. This will depend upon
the food which the fish has subsisted upon during its lifetime. If this organ has
been much called into action, it will greatly exceed in size and strength what is
found in examples in which it has been less employed. It appears to be almost
invariable that the lower jaw is more developed in the male than in the female,
besides which in the former it is often provided with a hook at its extremity.

5. The size of the maxillary and of the vomerine teeth. The same remarks are
suitable to this form of variation as apply to the maxillary bone.

6. The arrangement and permanence of the vomerine teeth. These vary so

* Percy St. John, in Wild Sports of the West, p. 240, remarks that he "' never observed the
effect of bottom soil upon the quality of fish so strongly marked as in the trout taken in a small
lake in the county of Monaghan. The water is a long irregular sheet, of no great depth, one
shore bounded by a bog, the other by a dry and gravelly surface. On the bog side the trout are
of the dark and shapeless species peculiar to moory loughs, while the other affords the beautiful and
sprightly variety, generally inhabiting rapid and sandy streams. Narrow as the lake is, the iish
appear to confine themselves to their respective limits : the red trout being never found upon the
bog moiety of the lake, nor the black where the under surface is hard gravel.''

f It cannot be admitted that the black X-shaped spots are due to the influence of salt water, a3
we see thorn present in our strictly frc^h water grayling, Thymallus.

SALMONID^E. 59

much in different specimens of the same species that it would be very unsafe to
base any specific differences upon such a slender substrata of fact.

7. The form of the caudal fin in specimens of a given size, age, and sexual
development. Here again the locality which the fish inhabited must be taken
into consideration, for it has a great bearing upon the formation of the fins, being
required of a much greater strength in rapid streams than in such as are sluggish.
Age is no criterion as to size : and sexual development depends upon some, at
present, unknown factor, for it seems that temporary sterility is not absent
among the salmon.

8. A great development of the pectoral fins when constant in individuals from the
same locality. Here sex has an undoubted influence on the size of this fin, it being
frequently most developed in the males. Variations in the size of fins do not show
sufficient differences on which to constitute species, while in the shape, more
especially of the caudal, we find them frequently varying with age, being more or
less emarginate in the young compared to what it becomes in the semi -adult and
adult stages.

9. The size of the scales. Here the number of rows existing in a line from the
back of the adipose dorsal fin to the lateral-line certainly affords one of the
most constant characters, but the number along the lateral-line is much more
deceptive.

Having enumerated the characters stated to be most constant among the two
first sub-generic groups in the genus Sahno, I arrive at the conclusion that most
of them are fallacious, and that too great a stress having been placed upon
them, many errors have resulted. The consequence has been that the number of
species has been unduly augmented, and local races having been accorded generic
rank, intermediate forms have not been searched for, but new ones constantly
hunted up. Thus the synonymy will be a cause of endless confusion to future
ichthyologists. Besides this every little variety of form, colour or structure, has
been accounted for by terming such hybrids.

The proportions of different parts of the body vary with age among the
Salmonidce as they do in other fishes, and even more considerably in some
anadromous forms which have been subjected to unnatural retention in fresh
waters, insufficiency of food or sickness from any cause. While the head of the
male is usually longer than that of the female, although in barren males the
disproportion is not very considerable.

A few remarks are here necessary upon hybridism among the Salmonidw, for
from our earliest authors on ichthyology down to the present period the existence
of such has been remarked upon, and of late years artificial propagation has
clearly proved that such may occur. Experiments in order to test this question
were instituted by Professor Rasch in 1867, and he found that the ova of the sea
and river trout are developed regularly, whatever forms were the parent ones, and
that the offspring were fertile. That of the ova of the charr fertilized by the milt
of the trout, thirty to forty per cent, were developed, but that many young fish
perished after being hatched. Trout ova, fertilized by the milt of the charr, only
gave ten per cent, of young, many of which were misshapen. Salmon ova
fertilized with trout milt yielded forty per cent, of young fish, but more if the
milt of the charr were employed. The ova of a hybrid between a trout and a
charr could not be fertilized by means of a trout milt.

The foregoing facts are suggestive that a very close relationship exists between
the anadromous marine trout and the non-migratory form inhabiting fresh waters.
Thus we are informed that the anadromous sewin, or anadromous trout of Welsh
rivers, very commonly interbreeds with the brook trout, hybrids being the result.

In the British Museum may be seen a beautiful series of these fishes presented
by the Rev. A. Morgan from the Rbymney, a few of which have been retained in
fresh water after the normal period for their descent to the sea had arrived. Some
have elongated bodies, others comparatively long pectoral fins ; and, again, hybrids
are said to be present between the sewin and the brook trout, a conclusion
seemingly arrived at because their teeth are more developed than in the sea-going
form, while their pectoral fins and colour approximate to those of the non-migratory

60 PHYSOSTOMI.

brook trout. Sterility, however, does not appear to normally exist in these so-called
hybrids which raises a suspicion that we may be dealing with developing varieties
and not with hybrids at all. And as these forms have facilities for returning to
the sea, did they desire to do so, we are led to ask whether some of them may not
be changing their conditions of life, and as a result developing structural
differences, or even whether they and the brook trout can be really distinct species.*
At Sir James Gibson Maitland's fish farm at Howietoun, some of the young of the
Loch Leven trout take on cannibal propensities, and if small their colour is yellow,
their teeth become abnormally developed, and they grow very rapidly. It is thus
evident that under certain circumstances we may find trout provided with stronger
teeth than is usual in the species. If we look at examples of sewin retained some
time in fresh water ponds we see their pectoral fins more pointed and usually
longer than in their sea-going relatives. This leaves chiefly for consideration
whether these silvery forms with black X-shaped spots could, under any conditions,
assume the deep coloured and spotted appearance of the common brook trout, or
anything approaching to it.

At Howietoun this general yellow tint shows itself when the fish has arrived
at about its fourth year, but is also affected by seasons and food. When fed
upon horseflesh they remain of a gray colour, if clams (Pecte?i ohtusata) are given
they assume the yellow colour. Overcrowding large ones, or such as are 4 lb. or
upwards, induces rusty spots ; if the numbers are reduced, and vegetable food
given, as lilies and clover, they became gray ; while silvery scales are a sign that
they are in their primest condition. The young parrs may retain red spots up to
eighteen months old, but such are almost absent between that age and three years.
Red spots on large fish are mostly perceived in examples intermediate between
kelts and trout in their primest condition, but occasionally they are present
all the year round. During the breeding season the males, if healthy, assume a
brownish orange colour, or if from considerable depths a darker tint, while the
females are golden or orange red. It consequently appears that conditions of
health and changes of food may occasion alterations not only in the superficial
colour of these trout, but likewise in their more deeply-seated colour spots.

The foregoing point out that as the colour of Loch Leven trout may be altered
by food and conditions of health, there exists no reason why the same changes
may not occur among examples of sewin which take on a fresh water state of
existence, more especially as the British Museum possesses some of these so-called
hybrids from the Copenhagen Museum. In the series of Welsh fishes the whole
of the changes from the anadromous sewin may be explained as natural sequences
to ascertained causes and without accepting the theory of their being non-sterile
hybrids.

Much discussion has arisen why some of the salmon breed earlier in certain
rivers than in others, whether this is due to the temperature of the water, or
occasioned by alterations in the physical conditions of the bed of the stream and
its affluents ; or, lastly, to the local breed being an early or late one. This last
question involves the consideration of whether necessity having compelled the
change from what was an early breeding river into a late one, the descendants of
the fish removed to suitable localities would still adhere to the late period of
spawning of their immediate progenitors, or return to the earlier time of their
ancestral stock.

In looking at these questions it will be necessary first to consider whether any
general rules as to dates of spawning among this family of fishes can be deduced
from what occurs in different localities. The period in Great Britain among the
salmon may be roughly estimated (excluding local exceptions and climatic
eccentricities) at from the commencement of September until the middle of
January.

Sir Humphrey Davy, writing from Southern Austria, remarked that " the
charr I got this moruing with mature eggs was just about to spawn, yet in England

* If, as asserted, these are hybrids between two species, the sewin and the brook trout, it is
difficult to understand why these is a regular gradation between the two forms.

salmonim:. 6i

they spawn in the winter. If summer is the spawning time of the charr and trout
of the lakes of Southern Austria, it is connected with or owing to the waters at
that time being of the temperature best fitted for the purpose, most of these lakes
being fed by mountain streams, frozen in the winter, and full in summer from the
melting of the snow." In Sweden, Artedi remarked that the salmon spawned in
the middle of the summer. Dr. Heysham stated that in Cumberland salmon at
first prefer spawning in the warmer streams, leaving the snow-fed ones until later
on. Yarrell considered that " rivers issuing from large lakes afford early salmon,
the waters having been purified by deposition in the lakes ; on the other hand,
rivers swollen by melting snows in the spring months are later in their season of
producing fish, and yield their supply when the lake rivers are beginning to fail."
I think that without multiplying instances the fact may be fairly assumed that
temperature has some influence in the locality selected by salmon for breeding
purposes, the colder and more exposed streams being usually left until somewhat
later than the warmer ones, while in very cold regions spawning may be deferred
even until the summer months.

Were the foregoing views correct, and if temperature irrespective of
geographical location has a marked influence upon the time these fishes spawn,
we ought to be able to observe such among the trout and Anaclromous Sahnonoids
despatched in the form of ova to Tasmania from this country. Turning to
Mr. Allport's account (Proc. Zool. Soc, 1870, p. 25) we find a most marked
corroboration of these views. We know the cold season in that portion of the
globe cori'esponds with our summer, and the very first brook trout which were
spawned in Tasmania occurred on July 3, 1866 ; by the 7th of August fourteen
females had been stripped, and shortly afterwards five pair of trout were observed
constructing redds in the River Plenty. During June, July and August, 1867, the
trout were again stripped of their ova artificially. In this country, as observed by
Buckland, trout spawn at different periods in different rivers from about September
to February. The very first Tasmanian bred trout hatched from English trout
eggs have not selected the month for spawning adopted by their ancestors in this
hemisphere, but have chosen others which are better suited for their purpose,
clearly demonstrating the possibility of trout being capable under changed
conditions of varying the period of the breeding season.

But because temperature exercises a manifest influence as to when and where
the eggs of Salmonidce are deposited, it does not follow that it is the temperature
of the water which is the sole cause the salmon has under consideration as to the
period at which it shall enter certain rivers, some of which are known to possess
spring fish, or such as ascend from March until June, whereas in others they more
commonly pass up during and after September.

I will first give an instance of a river which was originally an early one, but was
found to become a late one by the Earl of Home, who, in 1837, observed " that
in the Tweed a very great change has taken place within these twenty or thirty
years ; a considerable portion of the breeding fish not arriving into breeding
condition until long after the time they had formerly been in the habit of doing
so." But here the question arises whether this had happened consequent upon
any changes in the river, or alteration in the natural period of spawning in the
fish irrespective of the condition of the waters. The river itself, it is observed,
had changed due to the draining of the sheep farms on the hills, the effect
produced being that a little summer flood which took a fortnight or three weeks
to run off previous to 1795, is now completely run out in eight hours. The bogs
on the hill sides, which were the feeders to the river, have the water at once
carried off by drains, causing sudden but short floods, which have all run off
before the river has had time to clear itself. Sir H. Davy compared the Tweed
district as it was prior to these drains, to what it had become subsequent to their
construction to two houses, the one covered with thatch, and the other with
slate ; the first dripping for hours after the rain has fallen, the other ceasing when
the rain stops.

If sufficient water for ascent does not exist, if no safe-holding pools are present,
as observed by Mr. Brandon, a spring salmon would have but little chance of

02 PHYSOSTOMI.

ascent, or if it did the groat probabilities are that as the water became low it
would be knocked on the head. And though he supposes these early fish breed
similar descendants, we have but little proof of it, although many excellent
fishermen hold the same view. In some Irish rivers the breed of early fish was
almost extinguished by allowing the nets to capture all for a season or two, when
it very soon came to the point that there was nothing to capture.

Kelts and what to do with them has exercised many minds, and I cannot
resist thinking that, doubtless, unintentionally, the opinion of some of our older
authors have been either misunderstood or misquoted. Without more than
just touching upon this subject it seems that it may be divided as follows : That
the salmon subsequent to the spawning season becomes sickly, and is as well
destroyed as kept ; that while mending it consumes more young salmon, trout,
and other fish than it is worth ; that kelts might be eaten.

After spawning salmon becomes much exhausted and very easily susceptible
to disease and capture. It has been proposed to kill all the male kelts from the
commencement of February; and all of either sex from the commencement of March.
That the act of fertilizing ova is not invariably fatal to the salmon appears easy
of proof, for the male parr possesses milt capable of fecundating ova. It is,
therefore, evident that such must be evacuated or retained, and if the latter
disease would be induced. Trout kept in confinement may be spawned more
than once, omitting the consideration of whether such only takes place on
alternate years. A correspondent of the Field observed, " a few years ago a fine
male fish of about 20 lb. was used for spawning purposes at Stormontfield ; a
mark was put on him by means of a copper wire, and two years afterwards he
was got when nearly 30 lb. weight on the same ford and at the same season ; and,
after doing duty again was returned to the river, hale and strong, but was not
traced afterwards."

Mr. Brown records how, on May 4, 1861, he hooked a kelt weighing 161b.,
and having fastened round his tail a copper medal, on which was stamped " Athol,
No. 78." It had been caught on the preceding April 1, when it only weighed
13^ lb., thus showing an increase of 2h lb. in five weeks. The results of the Duke
of Athol's experiments are too well known to need recapitulating. Dr. Gunther
suggests that old males or those possessing a hook to the mandible, perish after
the efforts of propagation, and cites the observations of Stella, Pallas, and
Richardson on the salmonoids of Kamtschatka and North- Western America.
He observes of kelted salmon : " Probably those which reach the sea alive perish
there." Sir John Richardson, however, remarked : " The destruction by poachers
in the higher parts of the rivers of the large enfeebled kelts, or fish which have
completed their spawning operations, is also extremely prejudicial, for these
individuals (almost utterly useless as food at the time alluded to) would, if
allowed to descend to the salubrious sea, ere long revisit their native streams,
greatly increased in size, and full of health and vigour."

During the period a kelt is mending it lives mostly on small fish, especially
young salmon and trout ; and Mr. Francis Francis suggests whether, this being the
case, it is worth its keep. That by destroying so many small fish, the kelt, it is
true, may return of a larger size, but it is questionable whether the river regains
so great an aggregate weight of salmon as if numbers of the kelts were
slaughtered.

It has likewise been proposed that people should be permitted to kill and eat
these kelts, which otherwise probably become lost as food. But prior to such a
proceeding being sanctioned, it might not be amiss to inquire whether they would
be wholesome. Certainly a correspondent of the Field remarks : " I was going
to Ilfracombe lately, and saw many old back fish being hawked about. These
old salmon come back to the tidal waters to recover before going to sea, and are
caught by the score, and have been sold for fourpence a pound." But if eaten
they may occasion poisonous symptoms. Thus Buckland relates how a water-
bailiff, who was a strong, healthy man, ate a portion of one, and was made so ill
that he was confined to his bed for two days. Dr. Gerald Boate, writing from
Ireland in 1645, tells us leprosy was caused " through the foul gluttony of the

SALM0NIM3. 63

inhabitants in the unwholesome devouring of foul salmon when they are out of
season, which is after they have cast their spawn, upon which they do not only
grow very weak and flabby, but so unwholesome as it would loathe any man to
see them." Not many months since I saw some unseasonable salmon in the
possession of a fisherman, and inquired what he intended to do with them. He
informed me they were useless in the market, because if cooked their flesh would
become more or less black ; but, with a grin, continued, that they did excellently
well kippered !

A. Deciduous vomerine teeth (Salmones).'

SYNOPSIS OF SPECIES.

a. About eleven rows of scales in an oblique line from adipose dorsal fin to the

lateral-line.

1. Salmo solar, D. 13-14, P. 14, V. 9, A. 11, L. I. 120-125.

b. Fourteen or more rows of scales in an oblique line from, adipose dorsal fin to the

lateral-line.

2. Salmo trutta, D. 12-14, P. 14-15, V. 9, A. 10-12, L. 1. 120-130.

2 A. Salmo levenensis, D. 13-14, P. 14-15, V. 9, A. 10-12, L. 1. 115-130.
2B. Salmo fario, D. 13-15, P. 14-15, V. 9, A. 10-12, L. 1. 115-130.

The true salmons which are included in this division of the genus Salmo consist
of fishes which normally reside in the sea (although in some latitudes they live in
lakes), and migrate to rivers in which their ova are deposited and the young
hatched and reared. Here we have true anadromous forms, and as the salmon or
salmon-trout have the same peculiarity in selecting suitable localities for breeding,
differentiated by the fish ascending to nearer the sources of rivers, I propose giving
a brief outline of how reproduction is carried on.

Salmon enter our rivers in varying numbers throughout the year, unless
impurities (as in the Thames) have annihilated the breed. At certain times, as
during the cold season, they ascend for the purpose of reaching their spawning
beds, and having deposited their eggs in redds or nests, they descend to the
sea in a miserable condition, many of the males succumbing from exhaustion.
Rondeletius and also Gesner, who wrote upon the salmon upwards of three and a
quarter centuries ago, were both upholders of the doctrine that salmon spawned in
the sea, one which, were it believed in and acted upon, would be disastrous to our
salmon fishei'ies, as it might be advanced that these fishes could as well breed in
the ocean as in rivers, consequently on their behalf no necessity arises for keeping
our fresh waters pure, or having free passes in our streams in order to allow them
to reach their spawning-beds. It was probably from such views sprang the notion
of the parr being a distinct species, and even now there are some who doubt
whether our " last springs " are the young of Salmo salar. Willughby, in his
History of Fishes, published in 1686, lib. iv, adduces his reasons for disputing the
correctness of Rondeletius's and Gesner's opinions; while Pontoppidan, in 1755,
in his Natural History of Norway, returned to Gesner's views, asserting that
he was well assured that salmon chiefly eject their roe at the mouths of rivers,
where they empty themselves into the sea, or else a little above the salt water.
Mr. Brander (Field) remarked upon having observed during the preceding summer
some holes scooped out in the gravel close to the mouth of the small river Lopie
(near the Spey), and within the reach of the salt water, and here he found in
January, 1882, a few salmon working at their redds, which were within a mile and
a half of the sea, and covered once a fortnight at spring tides with quite salt and
undrinkable water, for perhaps an hour's time. Sir James Matheson, in Davy's
Philosophical Researches (p. 261), has recorded at the mouth of the Greamster, in
the Island of Lewis, a similar instance, continuing that the spot is covered with

64 PHTSOSTOMI.

" brackish water " only for about two hours at each high tide, but not at all during 1
the neaps, while this brackish water is so diluted as to differ but little from fresh
water in specific gravity, the tide serving as a dam to the river water, and by
obstructing its free outflow, causing its accumulation and overflow. The foregoing
instances occurred near the mouths of small rivers, and should their state be such
due to pollutions or insufficiency of water that Salmon-idce are unable to ascend,
they may drop or deposit their ova in the sea or at the mouths of rivers ; but
suppose it is thus deposited, experiments have proved that the presence of salt
water is fatal to the fertilizing property of the milt, as also to the life of the
impregnated egg, should it come in contact with it.

Sir J. Matheson, during the winter of 1860-61, had the following experiment
made upon two batches of fertile salmon ova. One lot was placed on a wire cloth in
a glass vase, wherein was brackish water which was daily changed, but they all
died at the end of the tenth day. The remainder were similarly treated, but with
fresh water, and in due time they all arrived at maturity. Mr. Sinclair (Field,
February 4th, 1882) remarks upon having taken about one hundred eyed ova, of
which two portions were enclosed in wicker baskets and buried in separate streams,
one of which was reached every tide by salt water, whereas the other was entirely
fresh. They were examined in about three weeks after one set of spring tides, when all
which had been reached by the salt water were found to be dead : not so those in
which the stream was entirely fresh water. The remaining third were batched in
a wash-hand basin, in which was fresh water changed once a day. Dr. Davy also
instituted somewhat similar experiments with artificial saline water, from which it
appeared that a degree of saltness, almost or quite equal to that of sea water, is
pretty speedily fatal both to the ovum of the salmon and to the young fish : that
the same effect is produced on the young fish by brackish water of specific gravity
1016, but in a longer time, and that, when the solution is so diluted as to be
reduced to the specific gravity 1007, the advanced ovum may be hatched in it, and
the life of the young fish may be sustained in it for a few days, but with diminished
powers.

The eggs of the salmon are small, round, elastic bodies, of a clear white, pink,
or even coral colour. Due to their tough outer coat they are very elastic, as may
be seen by throwing one on the ground, from whence it will rebound like an india-
rubber ball. This strength and elasticity we know must be an exceedingly
important property if we remember where these eggs are deposited and what an
amount of pressure they may have to undergo. Young salmon are hatched from
eggs deposited in rivers, not near to its mouth, where the tide or the current
would be too strong for the young fish to live in, but in small and often
mountainous streams, where the water is pure and shallow, having a gravelly
bed which permits the redd or nest to be constructed, while deep pools in the
vicinity allow the breeding fishes to retire into them for rest. The salmon
ascends our rivers to a suitable spot, and in the gravel at the bottom of the
stream constructs its redd, which work would seem to be the occupation of
the female. She lies on one side, and, by moving her tail rapidly from one side
to the over, fans up the gravel until she gradually sinks into a kind of trough, the
male remaining near, ready to give battle to any intruder. For this purpose his
lower jaw is furnished at this period with an offensive weapon in the shape of a
cartilaginous, hook-like process. The female (waited upon by the male) now
deposits her eggs in the trough she had made, and these are fertilized by the
male, and subsequently covered with gravel to some feet in depth, the whole forming
a redd.

She now falls back into one of the deep pools, until she has acquired sufficient
strength to again shed more eggs. During this period the salmon (similar to the
shad and many other fishes) is indisposed to feed, and lives on the stock of fat it
has laid up while resident in the sea. It has been computed that every female
salmon deposits about nine hundred eggs to each pound of its weight, and that
only nine hundred of these in every 17,000 shed in British rivers ever attain the
parr stage. As might be anticipated, eggs deposited in a running stream are very
liable to be carried away by the current, and the places selected by salmon for

SALMONID^E. 05

their redds are often the localities where trout have previously deposited their
eggs, which now become routed up and carried away down stream to be devoured
by every hungry fish.

The time that salmon eggs may take before they are hatched is subject
to variations as great as from 35 to 148 days, which last period occurred
at the Crystal Palace in experiments instituted there, and 144 in the Wenham
Lake ice vaults. While acting upon previous experience, Mr. Youl succeeded
in transmitting salmon eggs to the Antipodes in small boxes packed in ice,
and which retarded hatching until the 145th day. Mr. Branden examined a redd
that appeared to have been left dry, but on opening it found that a little water was
trickling through the stones and gravel, which was sufficient to keep the ova
healthy. Having scraped a hole, he obtained a considerable number of eggs, and
these he transferred to a pail of water, where two-thirds hatched within periods
varying from five minutes to twenty-four hours. About a week subsequently he
returned to the same spot, and had another dig for salmon eggs (no rise having
occurred in the river during the interval). He collected more, and putting them
into the water, they hatched as the former ones had done. He very fairly
advances that this may be a provision to prevent ova deposited in localities
where the depth of the stream is liable to considerable fluctuations, from becoming
lost or killed, as must occur unless a delay, to obtain a suitable time, could be
provided for. For as the floods come and sweep up these redds, the imprisoned
ova are let loose, at a time when they are ready to burst and the young to emerge.
In fact, like the chrysalis, the eggs may be able to abide a suitable time.

But salmon eggs, even in redds, are not permitted to rest in peace and hatch
in security : they have many accidents to escape from and numerous enemies whose
vigilance must be avoided. Not only may floods prematurely sweep away redds
with their unripe eggs, but during the continuance of such, spawning fish are
unable to avail themselves of their usual breeding grounds because they are too
deep in the water. They consequently may have to shed their eggs in the stream,
when they will become lost, or covered with mud, or else push higher up to
where there will be more chance of their redds being left dry, and the ova perishing;
even in their annual spawning grounds, where their eggs may have been deposited,
severe seasons of drought may occasion most disastrous results. Irrespective of
the seasons, the eggs have numerous water enemies, as the fresh water shrimp,
which hunts out the nest, when they are merciless to the eggs, the larva of
the may-fly and of the dragon-fly and even some birds as the dabchick. While
swans and ducks enjoy nothing so much as the spawn of fishes, in which taste the
vole or water-rat appears to coincide. Due to the many destructive agencies at
work an ingenious plan of artificial hatching and rearing has been adopted with
great success, while by regulating the water, droughts and floods are prevented,
and many enemies are excluded which run riot among fish eggs left in a state of
nature in our rivers.

Supposing some young fish have come forth, it does not follow that the little
ones are strong and healthy. The temperature of the water ought to range out of
doors about 42 or 46, nor permitted to sink below 35, while if it reaches freezing
point, such will most probably be fatal. Should it rise to 50 the eggs may
become prematurely hatched : the higher the temperature the sooner the young
appear, and the more weakly they may be expected to be. Sometimes the jaws
are deformed in the fry, or the spinal column is curved, even two fish may be
connected together, like the Siamese twins : likewise two or even three heads have
been seen fixed to one body.

When these little fish emerge from the eggs they have a large bag (the umbilical
vesicle) attached to their stomachs : this contains the nourishment which is to
serve them for several (three to eight) weeks' subsistence, and they do not
commonly take in any food by the mouth until it is absorbed. Weighed down by
it they lie quietly among the stones at the bottom of the stream and seek
concealment from fish larger than themselves, water insects, and other enemies
which now commence to feed on them.

The salmon is rare in our rivers in comparison with the number of fry
n 5

66 PHYSOSTOMI.

hatched, and which would be quite sufficient to form a good supply had they a
chance in the battle for life in the lower waters. The paucity of these fish is due
(excluding poaching) to three main causes : (1) Difficulty in the ascent of
breeding fish owing to natural or artificial obstructions in the river; (2)
immoderate netting ; and (3) pollution of the water.

It is commonly observed that the interests of the proprietors of salmon
fisheries are not identical throughout the entire extent of the stream, occasioning
a clashing of views which are inimical to the fisheries, and consequently to the
general public. The proprietors of fisheries living in the higher waters of our
rivers argue that pollutions are permitted unchecked access in the lower reaches,
that immoderate netting is almost continuously carried on, giving the fish, except
in the close time, but little chance of escape. Thus the upper proprietors see but
few fish, excepting during the breeding season, when it is illegal to capture them.
They are in a manner " clucking hens," whose duties seem to be to take care the
eggs are hatched, rear the fry, and speed the parting guest as it descends to the
sea, from whence nets and other obstructions and pollutions in the lower portions
of the river will most probably prevent their ever re-ascending ; or else merely in
sufficient numbers to maintain a sufficient supply for the lower waters. Official
statistics are misleading, as they ought to show the yearly quantity of salmon
taken in each portion of every river, not the number of boxes of salmon received
at Billingsgate. It cannot be a source of surprise if the breeding grounds are not
strictly preserved : for the rearing of salmon is asserted to be done at the
expense of the local fish, which are residents of the upper waters.

A. Deciduous teeth on the body of the vomer, which are usually shed at an early
age (Salmones).

a. About eleven rotos of scales in an oblique line from the adipose dorsal fin to the
lateral-line.

1. Salmo salar,* Plate CX, fig. 1 (old), 2 (young), and CXI, fig. 1.

Salmo, Salv. p. 100 ; Aldrov. iv, p. 483 ; Belon. De Aquat. i, p. 277, c. fig. ;
John. Pise. 1. ii, t. i, c. i, p. 100, t. xxi, f. 12 ; Rondel. De Pise. Fluv. p. 167 ;
Willugh. p. 189, t. N 2, fig. 1, 2 ; Schonev. p. 64 ; Gesner, De Aquat. p. 969 ;
Ray, p. 63, and pi. cxi, fig. 1. Salmo, no. i, Artedi, Synon. p. 22, and Spec,
p. 48 ; Linn. Faun. Suec. p. 115. Salmo, no. 2, Artedi, Species, p. 50. Sawmon,
Duham. Peches. ii, p. 192, pi. i, f. 1, 2. Salmon, Pennant, Brit. Zool. (ed. 1776) iii,
p. 284, pi. lviii, f. 143 and (ed. 1812) iii, p. 382, pi. lxix. Samlet, Pennant, 1. c.
(ed. 1776) iii, p. 303, pi. lix (ed. 1812) iii, p. 404, pi. lxx.

Salmo salar, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 509 ; Miiller, Prod. Zool. Dan. p. 48 ;
Bloch, i, p. 175, t. xx (female) t. xcviii (male) ; Gmel. Linn. p. 1364; Bl. Schn.
p. 398 ; Lacep. v, p. 159; Turton, Brit. Fauna, p. 103 ; Bonn. Ency. Ich. p. 159,
pi. lxv, f. 261, 262 ; Fleming, Brit. Anim. p. 179 ; Faber, Fische Isl. p. 156 ; Nilsson,
Skan. Fauna, Fisk. p. 370 ; Jardine, Edin. New Phil. Journ. viii, p. 46, and Brit.
Salmonidas, pi. i, ii, vii and viii; Richards. Faun. Bor. Amer. Fish. p. 140, pi. xci,
f . 1 (head) ; Jenyns, Manual, p. 421 ; Yarrell, Brit. Fish. (Ed. 1) ii, p. 1, c. fig.
(Ed. 2) ii, p. 1 (Ed. 3) i, p. 155 ; Parnell, Fish. Firth of Forth, p. 118, pi. xxx,
xxxi, and xxxii, f. 1, 2 ; Agassiz, Poiss. d'eau douce, pi. i and ii ; Swainson,
Fishes, ii, p. 287 ; White, Catal. p. 74 ; Gronov. ed. Gray, p. 151 ; Kroyer, Dan.
Fiske, ii, p. 540 ; Mitchill, Fauna New York, p. 434 ; De Kay, p. 241. pi. xxxviii,
fig. 122 ; Thompson, Nat. Hist. Ireland, iv, p. 143 ; Schlegel, De Dieren. p. 126,
pi. xiii, f. 1 ; Blanchard, Poiss. France, p. 448 ; Giinther, Catal. vi, p. 11 ; Collett,
Norses Fiske, p. 155 ; Malm, Fauna, p. 534; Moreau, Poiss. France, iii, p. 525.

Salmo salmo, Cuv. and Val. xxi, p. 169, pi. 614.

Salmo salmulus, Ray, p. 63 ; Turton, Brit. Fauna, p. 104 ; Jardine, 1. c. xviii,
p. 56 ; Jenyns, Manual, p. 426 ; Parnell, "Wern. Mem. vii, p. 278, pi. xxxii,
tig. 1 and pi. xxx, and Fish. Firth of Forth, p. 138, pi. xxxii (young).

Salmo nobilis, Olafs. Isl. Reise, i, p. 83 ; Pallas, Zoo. Rus. Asiat. iii, p. 342.

* The literature belonging to this fish is so extensive that it has been necessary to omit a large
number of references. ^

SALMONIM). 67

Sahno hamatus, Cuv. Regne Anim. ; Cuv. and Val. xxf, p. 212, pi. 615.
Salmo gracilis, Couch, Report, Royal Cornwall Polytec. Soc. 1859 and Fish.
Brit. Isles, iv, p. 216, pi. ccxvi.

Salmo argenteus, Giintlier, Catal. vi, p. 86 (not Cuv. and Val.).

Salmon, Russell, 1864, pp. 234; Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, iv, p. 163, pi. ccxi.

B. xi-xii, 13-14 (&=*), P. 14, V. 9, A. 11 (|:)/0, C. 19, L. 1. 120-125, L. far. H-H
Vert. 59-60, Coec. pyl. 53-77.

Body rather elongate, with the abdominal profile more curved than that of the
back. The proportions of one part, of the body to the remainder vary consider-
ably in this fish, thus in the young we find a comparatively large head and eyes,
a short snout and rounded body, &c, : but as the adult stage is attained there is
greater depth of the body due to a more prominent abdomen. After bi'eeding, the
kelts are recognizable by low, lanky bodies and long heads. The length of the
head varies with age and sex, being comparatively slightly longer in the parr than
in the female grilse or salmon, while in the male salmon it is longer than in the
female. Length of head from 4j to 4| or even 5 in the parr and male salmon to
5 or 5i in the female salmon and grilse, while in barren males it is similar to
what is seen in females, of caudal fin from 6 in the parr to 7\ in the salmon,
height of body, which is greatest beneath the origin of the dorsal fin, 4 to 5 in
the total length. Eye situated slightly in front of the middle of the length of
the head (or in the middle of that length in breeding males) and comparatively
much smaller in adult than in young fish : interorbital space convex and equal
to about 2/3 the length of the postorbital portion of the head. Snout much pro-
duced in the male, and during the breeding season the extremity of the lower
jaw is provided with a strongly curved prominence which precludes the closure of
the two jaws. The posterior extremity of the maxilla reaches to beneath the
middle of the eye in the parr but beyond its posterior extremity in the adult :
while it is comparatively wider in the young than in the adult. Opercle higher
than wide, from about 1/5 more in the parr, or 1/4 in the grilse or young salmon,
and 1/2 in large salmon : subopercle from 1/2 to 1/3 of the height of the opercle,
while its posterior margin forms a semi-circular curve along with that of the
opercle.* Preopercle with its angle rounded and having a rather distinct lower
limb. Teeth in a single row in the jaws and palatines, the pre-

maxillary ones being rather stouter </ \ than those in the mandibles, while
the maxillary and palatine ones are still smaller. In adults the teeth

are often found to be larger in the /. s jaws of males than in those of
females. Head of the vomer without (; teeth, which are mostly in a single

row along its body, and which are gradually lost at an early age, com-

mencing from behind forwards, so fgj that in a half-grown or adult

salmon only 1 to 4 are present, the anterior 2 of which are occasionally

in a double row : in the parr and smolt a double row exists along

the body of the vomer which \. .'/ anteriorly is usually armed with
4 teeth placed in a single row. ^ Three to six sharp curved teeth

on each side of the tongue. Fins Mature fish have the fins shorter and more
rounded than is seen in sterile ones. The rayed dorsal fin is a little longer at its
base than is its highest ray. Pectoral in adults as long as the head excluding the
snout, and does not reach half-way to the ventral, whereas in the parr it extends
2/3 of the distance. Ventral in adults reaches half-way to the base of the anal in
the parr 2/3, anal one-fourth higher than its base is long. The form of the caudal
alters with sexual development : in the young parr it is deeply cleft (see pi. ex,
f. 2) up to 2 or2| feet in length, it is as a rule truncated, while with advancing age
it becomes more square. Scales in the caudal portion of the body they are
larger in this than any other British species of the genus, there being from 11 to 12
rows in an oblique line running from behind the adipose dorsal fin downwards and

* In Yarrell it is correctly observed that what distinguishes Salmo solar from all other species is
the form of the opercular bones, which show a rounded outline to the posterior edge of the gill-covers,
the longest diameter of which to the nose would be in a line through the eye, while in all othor
British migratory species the same line would pass below the eve.

5*

68 PHYSOSTOMI.

forwards to the lateral-line. The skin on the back of old males both during and
subsequent to the spawning season becomes thickened and spongy, causing the
scales to be imbedded. Ccecal appendages varying from about 50 to 80.
Colours. In adults superiorly of a steel blue, becoming lighter on the sides
and beneath. Mostly a few rounded or x-shaped spots scattered over the body
above the lateral-line and upper half of the head, being more numerous in the
female than in the male. Dorsal, caudal, and pectoral fins dusky black : ventral
and anal white, the former grayish internally. Prior to entering fresh waters
these fish are of a brilliant steel blue along the back which becomes changed to a
muddy tinge when they enter rivers. After these fish have passed into f resh waters
for the purpose of breeding, numerous orange streaks appear in the cheeks of the
male, and also spots, or even marks of the same, and likewise of a red colour on the
body. It is now termed a " red-fish." The female, however, is dark in colour
and known as a " black-fish." Smolts are bluish along the upper half of the body,
silvery along the sides, due to a layer of silvery scales being formed over the
trout-like colours, while they have darker fins than the yearling pink but similar
lateral bands and spots (see pi. ex. fig. 2) which can be seen (as in the parr)
if the example is held in certain positions of light. Parr have two or three black
spots only on the opercle, and black spots, also orange ones along the upper half of
the body and no dark ones below the lateral-line, although there may be orange
ones which are seen along its course. Along the side of the body are a series
(12 to 15) of transverse bluish bands wider than the ground colour and crossing
the lateral-line, while in the upper half of the body the darker silvery colour of
the back forms an arch over each of these bands. A row of spots along the
middle of the rayed dorsal fin, and the adipose orange tipped.

Varieties. Although among the British Salmonidce, when not kept in any
unnatural condition, the salmon is perhaps the species in which the fewest
variations are seen, still some, affecting either its form or its colour, are
sometimes present.

In form. Are more commonly perceived among the young artificially
hatched, two or even more heads may be found, one with three heads was born
in the spring of 1879, but as soon as the yolk sac was absorbed the fish died
(Anglers' Note Book, p. 79). Arrests of development, as of the upper or under
jaw, of one or more fins, or other portions of the body, or spinal curvatures are
occasionally observed. It may be mentioned that fish salesmen and some
fishermen believe they can tell from external appearances the river the various
salmon have come from. Salmo argenteus, Gtinther,* is a kelt-like form, its
elongated condition being due to disease or starvation, probably the latter as
it had been kept in a fresh water pond. It is another form of Salmo gracilis,
Couch. Degeneration in size when present may be quite distinct from degenera-
tion in structure or function.

In colour. Occasionally quite brown salmon are captured in fresh waters,
especially towards the close of the season, which would appear to be due to a
prolonged fresh water residence. Mr. Ffennel recorded having captured them of
a copper colour in the early lakes having the ova not very far advanced.

Navies. Speaking generally this fish in its full-grown condition is known as
the salmon; one on its second return from the sea is often termed a gerling
in the Severn, or a botcher on its first return when under 51b. weight ; although
ihe more general designation is grilse; when under 21b. weight it is usually
termed salmon-peal by fishmongers. From one to two years old, before it has
gone to the sea it is known as a parr, pink, smolt, smelt, salmon-fry, sprag,
or salmon-spring (Northumberland), samlet, brandling, fingerling, black-fin, blue-fin,
shed, shegger, gravelling, hepper, laspring, gravel laspring, sherling, or sparling in
Wales. A third year salmon is known as & pug (Halliwell). In Northumberland
a " milter " or spawning male is known as a summer-cock or gib-fish,&nd a salmon

* The spots on the head, dorsal fin, and body are more what is generally seen on Salmo trutta,
otherwise the fish is identical with S. salar, but reliable characters would scarcely be expected to be
well marked in a tish either ill or nearly starved, anyhow as lean and lanky as a kelt (pi. cxi,
fig. i).

SALMONID^E. 69

as a simen. In the Severn a salmon which has remained in fresh water during the
summer without going to the sea is termed a latcrel. After spawning this fish is a
kelt or slat, but a male is generally termed a kipper, and a female a si tedder or a
baggit. In the Ribble, according to Willughby, salmon of the first year are termed
smelts, of the second year sprods, of the third year morts, of the fourth year fork-tails,
of the fifth year half-fish, of the sixth year salmon. Dr. Davy also observes that
mort and sprod are names used in Cumberland indiscriminately to the salmon and
salmon- trout. In an old work we are told that in the north of Scotland the fry
were termed brood and cocksper. In Ireland, Sampson remarked upon a samlet
or jerkin which Tighe terms a ginkin, but the term parr is more frequently
employed to the north and gravel-ing to the south. At Kerry a kelt is termed
judy, and Rutty stated that a grilse was known as a grawl. Welsh, caivg, malo
salmon : cemyw hwyddell, female salmon : spawning, maran, or a salmon on his
third return from the sea (Severn). Be Zalm, Dutch. Le Saumon, French.*

Habits. The salmon, as already observed, is an anadromous fish, which enters
rivers mostly for the purpose of depositing its spawn in a locality where its eggn
will be hatched and its fry reared, while it has also been surmised that some do
so to get rid of the marine parasites adhering to them. During the summer
months it roams along our coasts in search of food, and may be found
close in shore many miles from where any fresh water enters the sea, loitering in
estuaries and also at the mouths of rivers at which it purposes ascending. Clean
salmon are much earlier in some rivers than in others, as the Thurso in Scotland,
which contains them in December and January, as does also the Naver in
Sutherlandshire. As a general rule such Scotch rivers as debouch into the
German Ocean and Pentland Firth are early rivers, while those emptying them-
selves into the Atlantic are late. It has been suggested bv Mr. Young that the
German Ocean is a cold sea, and the slight difference between its water and
those of the rivers, induces salmon to ascend early. Whereas rivers on the west
coast mostly descend from snow-fed sources and are consequently cold, much
colder than the Atlantic, consequently the salmon wait until the snow-floods have
ceased. But the Dee, in Aberdeenshire, also the Spey, are early rivers, although
snow-fed at their sources. In Yorkshire their ascent as fresh run fish varies
greatly, and is dependent upon the state of the rivers if either July, August,
or September are wet the salmon commence running from the sea if otherwise,
their ascent is delayed until the autumn rains set in (Yorkshire Vertebrata, p. 126).
Migrating up rivers commences as the water is fining subsequent to a flood, or on
the occurrence of a spate or rise, and the fish passes up with an inflowing tide.

In their migrations from the sea to their breeding grounds these fish have to
overcome any obstructions as weirs, which frequently can only be surmounte 1
during a heavy flood. They are found to be alarmed at tempests or violent noises,
on the occurrence of which they may even return towards the ocean, which
they will likewise do should very cold or frosty weather set in. If the season,
howevei*, is mild and their course unimpeded they sport from pool to pool, and
thus gradually ascend to the higher reaches of the river. In some streams it
appears most probable that the larger fish head the ascending shoal, because
fishermen have observed that should any such be netted a large haul generally
follows, whereas, if smaller fish are taken the main body seems to have passed.

During their ascent the fish have mostly to keep to the middle or deepest an 1
safest part of a river, where, however, they are constantly pursued by the netter,
this causes them to become shy and they will not lie up, but push on to their
breeding grounds. In their course it is very remarkable wdiat difficulties they
will overcome. Fleming asserted that he had known a salmon leap up over a fall of
30 feet, probably he meant in a succession of jumps from one pool to another, as
from 8 to 10 feet in perpendicular height is rarely exceeded. At impassable
cascades they have been observed to die, consequent upon repeated but fruitless
exertions in attempting to ascend.

* Years ago when I used to fish in the Severn, at or near Shrewsbury, we knew the younger stages
of salmon, especially the March, April, and May shoals, formed of the parr as salmon-fry and the
autumn smolt as the samlet.

70 PHYSOSTOMI.

The salmon appears to possess a homeing instinct which induces them to seek to
return to the rivers where they w r ere originally hred, but instances are occasionally
brought to notice where such could not have been the case. Thus scarcely a year
passes but grilse or salmon are captured off the mouth of the Thames, from
which all these fish have long since been destroyed, due to the polluted state
of its waters. The majority enter rivers prior to the commencement of the
breeding season, others, especially grilse, much earlier, or in companies : many
appear to return to the ocean before they re-ascend at the time of the regular
immigration. A few would seem to pass up and down the river several times
during one year.* In the Rhine, Barfurth observed in 1874, that spawners ascend
from September to November, while there is likewise a barren winter variety
coming sporadically and for a brief season from September until May.

Buckland tells us how a friend of his who owns a well-known island on the
west coast of Scotland, netted a certain pool in his fishery, and out of a number
of fish which he caught, he carefully marked some 20 or 30 : he then put these
fish on board his yacht, and keeping them alive sailed right round his island, then
up a creek to the mouth of the river, and turned them into a lake about half a
mile from the source of the stream from which they had been brought, which,
though close to it, was in no way connected, rising from a different watershed.
It was as though the salmon had been carried from one heel of an enormous
horseshoe round to the other heel, and then taken right into the middle of the
horseshoe and then let loose. During the savie season some of these marked ones
were caught in or near their own pool, to do which they must have come back a
circuit of at least 40 miles, and passed by six or seven tributaries.

When descending seawards a heavy flood often carries away down the stream
weak and spawned fish, but when migrating seawards it would appear that the
fish usually pass gradually into the sea. The migrating salmon fry or smolts keep
to the sides of the river, but having once arrived at the ocean would appear to
seek its depths.

The food consumed by salmon is somewhat varied, for while living in the
ocean they appear to lay in a sufficient stock of fat around the stomach and ccecal
appendages to last them when residing in fresh water, or at least until the
spawning season has passed. I have found the remains of sand-eels, Ammodytes,
herrings, Crustacea and echinodermata in their stomachs. Jardine remarked that
on the Sutherland shores they are often captured on haddock lines baited with
sand-eels. Thompson, in Ireland, also found these fish eating sand-eels, and that
they are occasionally taken in Dundrum Bay upon lines baited with pieces of
mackerel which w r ere laid for mullet. Morrison records having captured salmon
within flood mark, some of which contained two, others three, full sized herrings.
In the British Museum are the remains of a gar-fish, Belone, taken out of a salmon
captured in fresh water, but evidently only lately from the sea. One of 24 lb.
being opened, two trout (size six to a pound) were found inside it (Fishing
Gazette, December 20th, 1879). Parnell remarks upon having discovered the
remains of some food in the lower intestines even when the stomach was empty.
As a rule very little food is found in those residing in fresh waters, while if in roe
they are almost invariably found to be quite empty.

The young parr takes any bait with avidity, and at almost any time, even
when the trout refuses to rise, while their stomachs are often found gorged with
the larva of aquatic insects. Mr. Tegetmeier observed (Pr-oc. Zool. Soc. 1868)
that the smolts which left the Stormontfields ponds in May that year were much
larger than those of the previous season, due to their diet having been changed
from boiled ox liver rubbed down to coarse powder. This season the aquatic weeds
in the ponds had become covered with Limnea peregra, on which they fed greedily
and to which the great increase in size was undoubtedly to be attributed.

Fisheries. As accurate statistics of what at present exist in the British Isles
are unobtainable and fancy has filled in what facts have not proved, I restrict

* Gunther observes that a salmon changing from salt to fresh water and vice versh several times
yearly, only occurs in rivers rilling into the Moray Firth (Introduction, Study of Fish, p. 640).

SALMONID^E. 71

myself to such figures as appear reliable. The returns of the number of boxes
averaging 112 lb. each sent to Billingsgate Market (Young, British Industries,
p. 299), and divided into quinquenial periods, give the following annual
average results :

1847-51. 1852-56. 1857-61. 1862-66. 1867-71. 1872-76. 1877-81.

English and Welsh 56 85 333 860 1,079 1,220 1,330

Scotch- - - 18,372 17,872 16,850 22,086 23,110 26,775 24,214
Irish - - - 4,218 5,131 4,911 8,130 6,858 6,626 5,942

The annual value of the British salmon fisheries has been estimated as follows :
England 100,000, Scotland 250,000, Ireland* 400,000.

It has been questioned whether the amount of salmon in our rivers is really-
much less than was formerly the case. It can be shown that they have been
exterminated from the Stour, the Itchen, the Medway, the Avon, and the
Thamesf in England. In Scotland, the Fifeshire Leven no longer contains salmon,
in the Tay district the Almond, Ericht and Dighty are ruined from pollutions,
and many other rivers are greatly injured. While stopping pollutions has been
found so difficult and expensive, that the polluters appear to have it all their
own way.

Mr. Blake, in 1874, writing of his Irish district, extending from Wicklow
Head to Rossan Point, says that due to pollutions nearly every river in the
county Down has been destroyed as a salmon producer. One reason which
has been advanced as a proof of the diminution in the supply of those rivers
which still contain salmon is stated to be (and likewise denied) that formerly in
indentures of apprenticeship a proviso was usually inserted that the apprentice
should not be compelled to eat salmon more than three days a week. It has been
advanced that this regulation, if it ever existed, may have been for the purpose
of preventing masters giving their apprentices " kelts " as food, which are readily
captured after spawning and might have been salted down. This seems very
unlikely, for if kelts were prohibited by British Legislators from being used
by the rebellious Irish as food (see p. 62) so early as 1645, it is improbable
they would have permitted masters in England feeding their servants upon them.
That such prohibitions were not unknown in other countries can be demonstrated,
thus in Eastern Pomerania on the River Oder and its affluents, the monastic
accounts show that a regulation was in force prohibiting salmon being given
as food more than three days in a week (Gadow).

In Notes and Queries for May, 1857, the following quotation is given from
Coursell's History of Gloucester, " It was a standing condition of apprenticeship
that the apprentice should not be obliged to eat salmon more than thrice a week,
the object being to render him less liable to the leprosy, which after the crusades
in the Middle Ages was a formidable disease, that was supposed to be brought on
or aggravated by the eating of fish." In a History of Worcester (1808, p. 48)
the existence of this proviso is asserted as a well known fact. Mr. Rowell (Land
and Water, July 16th, 1881) observes that this stipulation existed in the north
as may be shown in a very old history of Newcastle, written during the last
century, when salmon were taken there in amazing quantities. The Cromwellian
trooper, Captain Franks, writing of Stirling remarked that " the burgomasters,
as in many other parts of Scotland, are compelled to reinforce an ancient statute,
that commands all masters and others not to force or compel any servant or
an apprentice to feed upon salmon more than thrice a week." At Inverness a
century later Burt tells us salmon sold at one penny a pound.

But we are reminded that it is difficult to compare the price charged a

* In 1879 Ireland exported to England 45,039 boxes of salmon, each averaging 150 lb. weight;
and 50,517 in 1880. .

f We are informed that for several centuries a tithe of Thames salmon had been claimed and
allowed to the Abbot of St. Peter's at Westminster, on the plea that when St. Peter (according to
the legend) came and consecrated that church, he promised the fisherman who ferried him across
the river a plentiful supply of fish provided he ceased fishing on Sundays and gave a tithe ol
his captures to the Abbot. This was paid until 1382 and then stopped, and this is said to
be doubtless the reason why the last salmon was killed in 1833 !

72 PHYSOSTOMI.

century since to what obtains at the present time, because so many disturbing
influences have occurred. And due to temporary large hauls a local super-
abundance of salmon must have occurred along the banks of some of our
best fishing streams, while want of carriage precluded their being distributed
throughout the country in ways now practicable, due to steamers, railways,
improved roads and modes of carriage. Thus in or near seaports, as Berwick,
Pennant, writing in 1776, informs us that the Tweed fish were sent fresh to
London in baskets by sailing vessels, unless the craft was disappointed by
contrary winds, when they were relanded, boiled, pickled and kitted and so
dispatched, while other fresh ones replaced them in the baskets. At the com-
mencement of the season, when a ship was on the point of sailing, a fresh, clean
salmon would sell from Is to Is 6d a pound, and the price at such periods was
from 5s to 9s a stone of 18 lb. 10| oz. weight, but the value rose and fell
according to the plenty or paucity of fish and the prospect of a fair or a foul
wind. In the month of July, when they were said to be more plentiful, the cost
has been known to be as low as 8d per stone, but in 1775 never less than Is 4cZ
and from that to 2s 6d. While to pay the expenses of the salmon fisheries,
Pennant estimated it would be necessary to capture 208,000 fish annually.
About 1780 a Scotch Laird called Dempster of Dunnichen discovered that
salmon packed in ice could be conveyed long distances and in good condition.

Legislation. From time to time laws have been enacted in order to secure a
free passage for breeding salmon from the sea to their spawning-beds, and a safe
descent from thence when unfit for food or too small for consumption. Also for
the purpose of prohibiting any individual riparian proprietor from increasing the
efficiency of his methods of capture to the injury of his neighbour or that of the
general interest. For rivers only hold a supply to a limited amount, and should
a disproportionate capture be made at one spot among the migratory shoals, this
unduly diminishes the share which would otherwise accrue to the owners of
fisheries in the upper waters. It has therefore been held that each fishery is
merely entitled to its share of the general supply. From this fair division, as
I shall have to show, the stationary net-fishers along the foreshores of Scotland,
although of comparatively recent erection, have somehow managed to obtain
exemption, and those structures, never, I believe, legalized, are employed to the
detriment of the river fisheries, and doubtless at some future date will have to be
placed under stringent regulations or prohibited as nuisances, as have been those
in rivers and estuaries which existed for centuries.

The many phases through which salmon legislation in the British Isles has
passed would for its due record require volumes for its full and clear explanation.
At first the primary consideration appears to have been the good of the fisheries,
and devices injuriously affecting them were in the earliest periods of English law
reprobated as public nuisances. Especial attention was drawn in Magna Charta
to how the Crown had attempted to disregard these laws, and permitted certain
individuals to set up cruives or weirs, and it was enacted that " all weirs from
henceforth shall be utterly put down by Thames and Medway, and through all
England, except the sea-coast." What this exception referred to is now a mystery,
as no fixed engines existed along the sea-coast in those times. We find especial
enactments subsequently in the English statutes respecting allowing salmon a close
time. The 13th Edward IV, cap. 47, prohibited the taking of salmon from the
Nativity of Our Lady (September 8th), until St. Martin's Day (November 12th),
in the Humber, Ouse, Trent, Done, Arre, Derwent, Wharfe, Nid, Yore, Swale and
Tees. And in an Act of 1861, polluting and poisoning of rivers, and the use of
lights and spears, was prohibited : fixed engines were declared public nuisances,
and abolished, unless an ancient right to such prior to Magna Charta could be
shown, and even then dams and weirs were directed to possess serviceable fish-passes
or gaps : the mesh of all nets was restricted to 2 inches between knot and knot of
the mesh, and placing gratings across side streams was declared illegal. Unclean
spawning and young fish were to be protected, and an annual close-time was
imposed generally in England between September 1st and February 6th inclusive
with nets, or by angling to November 1st, these times being susceptible of alteration

SALMONIBvE. 73

by an order from the Home Office, but not apparently to increase their length but
merely to vary their incidence. A weekly close-time from noon Saturday to 6 a.m.
on Monday was also imposed. The employment of fish roe for angling, or the
possession of salmon roe or unseasonable fish, subjects the individual to a fine. In
1863 the export of unseasonable fish was prohibited, as it was found that just as
large a quantity were being sent out of the country during the illegal as during
the legal season, and the export in 1862 was double that of 1861.

In the Severn some of the principal regulations which existed in 1740 are
contained in the British Angler, of which the following are a synopsis : A
close-time between September 8th and November 11th, and no young fish to be
captured from the middle of April to June 24th. Salmon nets were to have the
mesh 2^ inches from knot to knot, nor to be above 20 yards long and 2 broad : or
not less than above 50 long and 6 broad in the wing of the net from Ripplelock
Stake (a little above Tewkesbury) to Gloucester Bridge : or above 60 in length,
below Gloucester Bridge : nor shall fish with more than one of these nets at once.

In a digest of the present fishery laws for the Severn district I find the
following regulations among many others : Annual close-time from August 31st
to February 2nd, except for anglers, who are pex-mitted to angle to November 1st :
a weekly close-time of 36 hours. Salmon nets to have the mesh 2 inches from
knot to knot. While it has been unsuccessfully proposed to increase the number
of hours of the weekly close-season, to restrict the length of the nets above
Tewkesbury (Ripplelock Stake) to 100 yards long and 8 broad, and also the
shooting of nets so immediately one after another, as is done near Worcester.*
While some are in favour of abolishing night- netting entirely, as giving the fish
more rest, which if it does diminish the takes to a certain extent likewise removes
the necessity for a night gang (see p. 91).

In Scotland, so long ago as a.d. 1424, we find that a close-time for salmon existed,
and if a poacher exercised his vocation during this period he had to lose his life
or purchase it. The Tweed Act of 1857 was, perhaps, the commencement of a
new era in the Scotch salmon fisheries ; fixed nets were abolished in estuaries and
rivers (but from then until now their legality along the foreshore has not been
decided) : leistering or spearing was prohibited, a weekly close-time legalized, and
the mesh of the nets fixed at If inches between knot and knot. Both the period
of time and the distance which should extend between the working of nets was
likewise laid down, while the killing of foul fish was prohibited during the legal
season for capture. Subsequently other laws, somewhat similar to the English
ones, have been passed, except fixed engines in the sea have been left alone.

Space will not permit remarks upon the nature of the tenure by which salmon
fisheries are held. Russell observes that in England they were recognized,
protected and regulated as property by Magna Charta, and both in England and
Ireland began to be legislated for as property at least 600 years ago, while in
Scotland the property, besides having legal recognition equally ancient, has in
mu'titudes of cases been separated for centuries from the soil.

The legalized open season for salmon fishing in the United Kingdom this year
was with few exceptions as follows :

England . Rods from Feb. 1st to May 1st until Sept. 30th to Nov. 29th.
Nets Feb. 2nd April 1st Aug. 14th Sept. 30th.

Scotland . Rods Jan. 11th,, Feb. 25th Sept. 14th Nov. 20th.
Nets ., Feb. 5th Feb. 25th Aug. 26th Sept. 14th.

Ireland . Rods ,, Jan. 1st ,, June 1st ,, Sept. 14th Nov. 1st.
Nets ,, Jan. 1st ,, June 1st ,, July 16th ,, Sept. 30th.

The reason why angling is permitted for some time after net fishing has
ceased is to give persons in the upper reaches of rivers some chance of capturing

* One of the most killing plans of taking salmon I have seen is carried on in the tidal waters
below Chepstow. A line of boats is anchored across a tideway, and a large lave net is let over the
side of each with its mouth to the incoming tide. The bag of the net is sufficiently long to be
brought under the boat and held by the hand on the up-river side. On a salmon striking this lave
net the bag end is let go, and the lave net side (resembling a huge landing net) is elevated : and
thus salmon are taken in quantities.

74 PHTSOSTOMI.

late fish, as now they are hardly visited by salmon except during the breeding
season, due to excessive netting in the lower waters. Spawners will rarely take
a fly, and as there are always some clean run fish in the river, this angling can do
very little injury* as unseasonable ones if hooked have to be returned to the
water.

Means of capture. The different methods used for taking salmon within the
limits of the British Isles may be classed under (1) such as are carried on in
the open sea or along the foreshore of the ocean : (2) those in estuaries or tidal
portions of rivers : and (3) those in fresh waters above tidal influence.

I have remarked that salmon roam along the coast in seai'ch of food and when
doing so swim close in shore, enabling them to be intercepted by means of
stationary engines during their journeys, either in the meshes of the stake nets
or chambers of the bag net, contrivances illegal in England, Wales, and Ireland,
but permitted in Scotland.

The injury done to fisheries by these erections in Scotland is excessive (they
have been properly condemned as nuisances elsewhere) and as examples I take
two cases in point from Russell and Bertram. Fixed nets were erected in the
Firth of Tay, 1799, and finally declared illegal in 1812. The takes of the two
fisheries immediately above the highest of these nets were as follows :

Ten years before stake-nets, annual take 10,87-1 salmon, 2,211 grilse.
during ,, 6,700 2,429

after ,, 11,316 11,220 ,,

The number of boxes of salmon each containing 100 lb. of fish shipped from
the River Tay fisheries in 1812, the last year of the fixed nets, was 1175 ; but in
1819, after they had been completely removed, 5694. About 1821 they com-
menced being used on the open or ocean coast of Forfarshire, and were in effective
numbers, about 1825, with the result of reducing the captures in the two Tay
fisheries already referred to by one-half. The takes in the fixed engines, which
now exist along the coast in numbers, is carved out of the fish which would have
pertained to the river fisheries, and due to their existence the produce in two
Aberdeenshire rivers was computed to have been reduced by nearly 18,000 a
year (Russell, where a full account of these fisheries will be found). Bertram,
likewise, informs us of the produce of the Kinfauns fisheries on the Tay, near
Perth, for the same period :

Average annual capture before stake-nets . . . 8720 salmon, 1714 grilse.
,, ,, ,, for 10 years during ditto 4666 ,, 1616 ,,

1815 to 1824 .... 9010 8709 ,,

In estuaries and tidal portions of rivers sweep nets or seine nets are employed,
mostly by one end to which a rope is attached being fixed or held on shore, while
the body of the net being in a boat is rowed round a semi-circle of the stream,
and payed out by the boatman. Drift nets can be worked down the centre of the
stream, or round bushes, or from both banks if the river is sufficiently narrow,
but for the various modes of capture the reader must refer to the introduction.
Even here angling is occasionally successful, and a few years since a boy fishing
with a worm in the Severn, at Upper Parting, a short distance above Gloucester,
took a 10 lb. salmon. Live bait has likewise been successfully employed within
tidal influence, and even the artificial fly.

In the fresh waters above tidal influence these fish may be taken by fixed
engines, nets, angling, or poaching devices, while dogs have even been trained
to assist fishermen in their avocations. It will be impossible here to enter upon
the various modes in which fly-fishing for this the "king of fresh water fishes "
is carried on.' How the tyro is warned to be careful not to strike too soon, but
when he does to do so with no uncertain stroke, with the pros and cons as to whether
to employ a gaff or a landing net, and how to wade, fish from a boat, or a coracle.

* It has been observed (Eden, Fortnightly Review) that taking nine rivers in 1880, those who
bred the fish took 1237, those who netted them 52,563. In the Severn rods captured 15 fish and
nets 16,000, including the estuary. While in the Field (Nov. 5th, 1881) it is asserted that up to
November 1st not a single fish had been taken with the rod throughout the season, between the
tideway and Shrewsbury.

SALMONID^E. 75

The best adapted rod, the reel, the line, and more especially the description of flies
employed, differ in different waters, and as the last resemble nothing that is
to be found in the air, earth, or silvery streams, the would-be-angier had best con-
sult local adepts in the gentle craft and cunning books on this engrossing subject.
Breeding. The number of eggs which each female salmon produces has been
estimated at about 900 for every pound weight of the parent fish, but they may
exceed these, thus one weighing 201b. contained 27,850 eggs. The period of
spawning varies to a certain extent with the locality, seasonableness or the reverse
of the weather, and several other circumstances, but is usually considered as
extending from the commencement of September until the middle of January.
At Stormontfield on the Tay netting for spawning salmon usually commences
about Martinmass (November 11th), but in 1881 no fish were ripe until December
22nd or 23rd. The time during which a salmon is in a river for spawning
purposes can rarely be less than three months, but such must be regulated by
many causes as distance to be traversed, accessibility, temperature, etc. But
there are certain fishes in which abnormal development occurs, and fresh run
salmon with developing ova have been captured at unusual seasons of the year,
thus in the Field of April 30th, 1881, one 15 lb. weight, with ova the size of number
six shot, was recorded as having been lately captured in the Severn above
Shrewsbury. In July this year I saw a male salmon from the Severn in its full
breeding livery.

It has been pointed out that clean salmon ascend rivers late in the winter
or in the early spring, but as they swim deeper than spawners they are less
likely to ascend fish passes. While netting the Teith on December 23rd, 1881,
five were taken (Land and Water, January 28th, 1882) : these fish could not have
been ascending to spawn, so must have passed the winter in the sea, showing that
it is not an invariable rule that they breed every year. On the other hand, Buist
saw a grilse spawned at the Tay fishery which was carefully marked and returned
to the water, the following year at the same spot it was captured as a salmon full
of ova. After a certain age they cease propagation and overgrown ones are found
to be barren, while male parr are mature at seven or eight inches in length.

Late fish when forming their redds frequently rout up those which were
existing in the same spot and consequently many ova are carried away down
stream. It has been remarked that this procedure permits of any diseased eggs
being carried away and not left to contaminate the good ones : but it does not
seem improbable that such treatment is worse than the disease. In some seasons
when the water in the rivers is too low for breeding fish to ascend they deposit
their ova at the mouths or in the sea, occasioning the loss of the year's
supply of eggs. For when the ova are ripe for extrusion the female has no power
to retain them, and even the muscular exertion of swimming might cause their
expulsion as she possesses no sphincter muscle to assist in their retention. It is
different in the male which is furnished with a duct for the ejection of the milt.

I have already observed (p. 65) upon salt water or impurities proving
destructive to the eggs of the salmon, while muddy or deep rivers would be
equally inappropriate for forming redds in. These fish consequently push up to
ay here the water is clear and form their nests in the main stream or one of its
tributaries. Mr. Jackson has made some interesting observations upon whether
the male salmon impregnates the whole stream, which has an important bearing
upon the question of hybrids. He found that on placing the spermatozoa under
the microscope no two touched one another ; they all moved slowly about, and
kept constantly at or near the same distance apart as possible. On being further
diluted with water, the same result was produced, the distance being enlarged,
and it was not until the water was supplied to such a degree that it was
impossible to suppose they could fill it and yet preserve communication with one
another that the regularity of the pattern disappeared, and even then they kept
far away from one another. It appeared as if the phenomena observed were
intended to distribute the milt in such a manner that no egg could possibly miss
getting hit if it came within range, which led him to conclude that the whole
water of a salmon river, or at least of the small tributaries in which they

76 PHYSOSTOML

principally breed, is thoroughly impregnated : he likewise remarked that the milt
kept in water retained vitality for three days. Should the male by any accident
be killed during the time the female is spawning she consoles herself with another
mate, and it is possible that even a parr would be sufficient in order to render the
ova fertile. In January, 1837, Shaw took a female salmon 14 lb. weight from its
spawning bed and a male parr 1J oz. in weight, impregnating some of the eggs of
the former with the milt of the latter, and the young were similar to those raised
from two adult salmon. The male as a rule keeps guard near his partner,
probably for the purpose of keeping other males at a distance, and it is recounted
in the Zoologist (1847, p. 1650) that two had an encounter in the spawning
season between Glenferness and Dulcie Bridge, apparently for the possession of
a female, and at last one floundered dead to the surface, the victor having torn
oft' the flesh along the back from the head to the tail, and down to the very bone.
It has been held by some that during the breeding season there is an excess of
male fish over females ; others account for this by the males being in a more
exhausted condition than those of the feminine-gender, consequently more of
them are taken : females likewise appear to be more crafty.

Salmon eggs, though apparently tough and elastic, are nevertheless exceedingly
delicate, and Mr. Nichols tells us how Mr. Ramsbottom w-as carrying three soda-
water bottles containing some salmon ova, slung in a handkerchief to prevent
concussion, one slipped from the hand and fell to the earth, and not a single
ovum out of this bottle was hatched, while those in the others taken at the same
time did well. Even pouring water on eggs in a careless manner has been known
to kill the ova, and the like result is recorded due to using a nail instead of
a screw in fastening a small box of ova. It has been shown that the nearer
the eggs are to hatching the better will they bear transmission.

It has been calculated by Stoddart and others that if salmon eggs are left to
nature the produce is about four or five fish fit for table for every 30,000 ova
deposited, whereas the same number are obtained from every 800 eggs artificially
protected. Although these figures are founded upon calculations some of which
may be fallacious, still it is abundantly obvious that the number of reared fish
from eggs left to nature is far less than what obtains in those artificially
propagated. In the Tay the augmentation in the number of fish was as much as
10 per cent., an increase not apparent in rivers in which this mode of fish
cultivation was not carried on. Consequently a plan commenced being adopted of
obtaining the ova from the fish and rearing them artificially. The number of eggs
thus removed is but a small percentage of those in the stream, and it has been
ascertained that eggs still retain their vitality in a female salmon that has been
dead two hours or even more, and that they have been successfully vivified from
the milt of a live male.

The mode in which fish are stripped varies ; should the examples be very
ripe, slight pressure will occasion eggs to pass from the female and milt from the
male, or a little extra pressure may be necessary. Some add the milt to the ova
when the latter are in water, others prefer omitting the use of water. The eggs
are now removed to a place prepared for their hatching and rearing the young
fish, and where a constant supply of water, at a required temperature, is artificially
kept up.

During incubation these eggs should be kept dark and the opaque ones removed,
or they contaminate others in their vicinity. Too great a temperature affects
the eggs as already observed (page 65). Sir J. Gibson-Maitland has remarked
that the eggs taken early in the season are the most fruitful and produce the
strongest fry. The young begin to pine when the thermometer marks many
degrees above 55 : they require an increased flow of water and conceal them-
selves under any available shade as the light affects them. Other fish, some
mammals, birds, Crustacea, and insects seek them out as food, irrespective of which
they are liable to gill fever or a fungus due to uncleanliness may appear upon the
back of the weaker fish. The young, after the absorption of the umbilical sac,
are fed upon various animal substances, care being necessary that such food is
wholesome, and that the supply does not exceed the demand.

SALMONID^. 77

Mr. Youl and Mr. Wilson first attempted the introduction of salmon and trout
into Australasia in 1860, the experiment failed as did also that tried in 1862.
Dr. Davy in his experiments upon salmon eggs ascertained that when exposed to
dry air at the ordinary temperature they rapidly died ; that their vitality was as
well preserved in moist air as in water, while ova placed in ice were not affected
unless lowered many degrees below the freezing-point. If the water in which the
eggs were, was heated to 80 or 82 Fah., they could stand it with impunity for a
moderate period, but 84 or 85 was fatal.

Sir J. Richardson (Yarrell, Brit. Fish. ed. 3, 1859, p. 215) remarked, " Dr.
Davy's observations lead one to believe that the attempts which are making to
transfer salmon and trout from England to Tasmania and New Zealand, wi 11 not
succeed, unless the temperature of the water be kept down by ice during the
passage through warm latitudes." Mr. Youl, however, was the first person who
successfully employed ice for the purpose of conveying trout and salmon ova through
the tropics. It would appear that some trout ova which he had placed amongst
moss in a deal box and imbedded in the ice room on board " The Beautiful Star,"
lived from March 4th to May 17th when the ice failed. Further investigations
showed that for the preservation of the vitality of salmon ova a continuous stream
of water is not essential : that partial deprivation of air is not fatal, while light is
not necessary.*

Life history. The young salmon, generally known as a parrf or pink, and
hatched out early in the year, is adoraed with brilliant trout-like colours, as have
been already described (page 68). These young fish reside two years (or in
rare instances one) in our rivers, and migrate in the succeeding or third spring,
to the sea as smolts. Many discussions have arisen as to whether a parr is or is
not the young of the salmon, or even a hybrid between it and the trout, and
though there exists a strong family resemblance between the young of the various
species of salmonida?, most of the fresh water or anadromous forms passing
through a parr stage, still it has been abundantly proved that the young salmon
itself invariably commences life as a parr. It was long since pointed out that
in rivers destitute of salmon there were no parrs : while if salmon existed
parrs were present. This point has now been most conclusively decided by
hatching out eggs taken direct from the salmon and artificially propagated
and the young reared, the result being parrs as may be seen at the present
day in any fish-breeding establishment. It has also been shown that similar
parr, passing through the same subsequent changes and gi'owing at about
the same rate, were raised by the artificially propagated eggs of smolts and
salmon : grilse and salmon : pure grilse : or pure salmon. At the same establish-
ment a suggestion which had been advanced that the anomaly of some parrs
migrating after one year the remainder after two seasons was due to the first being
the produce of salmon and the second of grilse was refuted. The whole of the
fry, numbering about 200,000, were the produce of 19 male and 31 female salmon
spawned in 1859, some remained as parr while others migrated as smolts.
Although about two centuries since it was shown that parr were young salmon,
such was not generally admitted until Mr. Shaw, in the Transactions of the Royal
Society of Edinburgh, furnished the public with a trustworthy account of the
changes occurring in the young salmon. He took seven small ones (parrs) on
July 17th, 1833, and placed them in a pond supplied by a stream of wholesome
water : they throve until April 1834, when a change came over their external
character they having assumed the state of salmon smolts. In March, 1835, the
same observer transferred twelve parrs, each about six inches long, from the river
to a pond, and they, by the end of April, assumed the smolt stage. From the
foregoing he concluded that the larger parr present in the rivers in autumn, winter,
and early spring is in reality the actual salmon fry advancing to the conclusion
of its second year, and that the smaller parr, termed in some places, " summer

* Detailed information may be found in Fish Culture, by Mr. Francis Francis, and Fish
Hatching, by the late Frank Buckland ; also in several other works.

f Jardine considered " the parr not only distinct, but one of the best and most constantly marked
species we have " (Jamieson's Phil. Journal, 1835).

78 PHYSOSTOML

parr," is the younger individual of the same species only entering upon its second
year. On instituting a careful examination on May 15th, 1834, of a river where
salmon had spawned the preceding winter, Mr. Shaw found a vast number of
very small but active fish above an inch in length, some of which were placed in
two ponds. In May, 1835, these fish were on an average 3| incbes in length and
corresponded in every respect with the parr of the same age which occurred in
the river, in May, 1836, they were transmuted into smolts and measured 6^ inches
in length.

A number of parr were placed in the Brighton Aquarium in a fresh water
tank, and when the month of May came round some had assumed the livery or
protecting silvery scales of the migratory smolt. Sea water was now gradually
introduced and all became smolts, thus showing that saline water is not necessai'ily
fatal to parr as generally supposed, at least at the time they are on the verge of
attaining their smolt condition.

Mr. Ashworth, in certain experiments which were instituted at Stormontfield,
near Perth, showed that a portion of the parr assumed the smolt dress and
descended to the sea shortly after the close of the first year of their existence,
returning again as grilse weighing from 5 to 9~ lb. within 20 months subsequent
to the deposition of the ova, while some of the same lot remained behind as pai'rs,
weighing an ounce at the period of the return of their brothers and sisters above
referred to. It has also been remarked that whether a river is an early or late
one the descent of the smolt generally occurs during the spring, between March
and June. Mr. Dunbar who annually hatches about 500,000 in the Thurso river,
in the county of Caithness, informed Mr. Young that about eight per cent, became
smolts at the end of the first year, and about 60 per cent, at the end of the second
year, and the remainder or 32 per cent, at the end of the third year.

Having thus far traced the salmon egg to the pink or parr, and on to the
stage of migratory smolt, which congregates in shoals, it becomes necessary to
follow this latter fish until it has migrated to the sea, from which it never
returns, similar to the fish which descended there, but instead a larger form,
weighing more pounds than it did ounces, a miniature salmon in short, and termed
grilse, ascends in shoals. The scales of the silvery smolt come off very readily on
the fish being handled, and underneath may be seen transverse bars, the livery of
the parr.

Mr. W. Brown (Stormontfield Experiments, 1862, p. 7) observed upon
having in February, 1836, caught a dozen and a half of parr in the Tay, he kept
them confined in a stream of running water, and by the month of May the whole
of them had become smolts ; but some had leaped out of their confinement in
their struggle to find their way to the sea, and were found dead upon the side of
the pond. Mr. Upton, in the autumn of 1835 and the following spring, according
to Yarrell, transferred some " pinks," none of which exceeded 3^ inches in
length, from the Lune to a lake termed Lillymere, and which has neither outlet
from other waters by which fish can obtain access, or any obtain exit, and no
communication with the sea. In August, 1837, two salmon peal, measuring
14 inches in length and weighing 14 ounces, were taken with a fly, in excellent
condition in every way, and in July, 1838, another small salmon was caught equal
to the first in condition and colour, about 2 inches longer and 3 ounces heavier.
A " pink " was transferred to a well at Whitewell in November, 1837, and removed
thence as a smolt 6j inches long in July, 1838. These and other similar instances
would appear to point out that, as in the trout so in the salmon, the larger the
extent of the water in which the fish resides, so much the more probable is it that
it will rapidly attain a larger size.

From the foregoing it appears that it is the natural course for smolt to migrate
to the sea, but that a compulsory detention in fresh water is not necessarily fatal,
a subject to which I shall refer further on (see p. 80). When at Montrose at the
end of June this year, several smolts were taken from the stomach of a saithe,
Gadus virens, captured in the sea a couple of miles from the coast. A similar
occnrrence was noticed at the same place in December last year, the fish which
had eaten the smolt being a whiting. When at Aberdeen in July, 1882. Mr. Sim

SALMONID^E. 79

showed me some smolfcs similarly procured from the stomach of a marine fish. In
fact this has been constantly observed at different localities, proving conclusively
that the migratory smolt passes into the ocean.

Smolts which descend seawards have been proved to return to the rivers as
grilse. In the Tweed in various years numbers of these smolts have been marked
by a silver wire having been passed through and fastened to the back part of their
tails. None were obtained the same year, but the experiment was continued
the succeeding season, and several were taken as grilse. The Duke of Roxburghe,
on May 14th, 1855, had a smolt marked by the insertion of a peculiar shaped wire
through its gills ; it was retaken July 21st, 1856, as a grilse, weighing 6^ lb. On
the other hand we are told that in May, 1855, 1300 smolts were marked at
Stormontfield by cutting off the adipose fin, and 22 were recaptured as grilse the
same summer, the first on July 7th, 1855, when it weighed 3 lb. Some excellent
observers are disinclined to believe that it is possible these fish can increase so
rapidly in size that a smolt descending in May a few ounces in weight, could be
capable of returning within two or three months as a grilse of some pounds,
but it is not impossible that as we see differences in the periods of descent
of the parr as smolt, so some smolts may return in one season, the remainder in
the succeeding year. It is very remarkable that grilse do not commence ascending
until two or three months subsequent to the descent of smolts, whereas had they
been upwards of a year in the sea it would appear strange why some few at least
had not put in an appearance, this invariable absence from the nets almost seeming
to point out the probability that they are not present.

Some salmon appear to ascend almost any month of the year, but the grilse
come in large shoals, do not loiter about the mouths of rivers, and may be said to
be summer and autumn visitors. It has been advanced that grilse are not young
salmon, ignoring the fact that only in salmon rivers are there true grilse, and
where they exist there are also salmon. I have in the preceding pages shown
that they are transformations of parr, raised from eggs taken directly from salmon,
that they breed with salmon and that the young are indistinguishable from those
raised when both parents are the true Salmo salar. These grilse return to the sea
as grilse kelts, which reappear in our rivers as salmon. Mr. Toung states that he
has often marked grilse and that they have returned from the sea as salmon.
A grilse kelt of 2 lb. weight was marked on March 31st, 1858, and was recaptured
on August 2nd of the same year as a salmon of 8 lb.

Respecting the rapidity of growth of salmon various experiments have been
instituted. In 1859 the Duke of Athol had three salmon captured, while
migrating seawards, weighing 10, 11^, and 12?j lb. respectively. These were
marked by a copper wire being placed round their tails, and six months
subsequently they were recaptured as they were returning to fresh water, and
their weight was ascertained to have augmented to 17, 18 and 19 lb. respectively.

Having thus briefly detailed the life history of this fish from the egg to the
adult, it becomes necessary to revert to those forms which have completed
spawning. Those, commonly termed kelts, drop down from pool to pool in a very
exhausted condition, the males much more so than the females. They generally
remain in the river in a debilitated state, feeding upon whatever fish comes
in their way, not rejecting the young of their own species. At this period they
are readily captured, and very prone to attacks of disease, often dying in vast
numbers, while a heavy flood carries them off towards the sea, but they as
a rule continue some time in the brackish water of the tideway before seeking
the ocean. Although doubtless a few of these kelts mend in the rivers, recovering
their silvery lustre prior to reaching the sea, and others return at a future
period in a healthy state from the salt water, it seems questionable whether
too many are not now permitted to mend upon the salmon fry, thus reducing the
amount of stock in the river (see page 62). In olden times poachers, assisted by
otters, kept the number of kelts in check.

During the winter season of 1881-82 the salmon disease seriously affected
the Tay and its tributaries killing vast numbers .of kelts, and by some people
a greatly diminished catch was prognosticated for the season of 1882. But the

80 PHYSOSTOMI.

spring and summer fishing was fairly favourable, while in August there was
a large increase both in grilse and salmon : the effects of the mortality seemed to
show itself in the decreased weight of the individual salmon and the paucity of
exceptionally heavy fish, none attaining 40 lb. until the commencement of June.
This would go towards favouring the contention that kelts when mended do
return to the river, but that a great destruction of them does not necessarily
involve a greatly diminished take of salmon the ensuing year.

An experiment of permitting kelts to be destroyed in one river for a single
year, and ascertaining the effect on the stock of salmon and grilse the succeeding
season, appears well worthy of a fair trial.

The question here arises what is an " unclean " and "unseasonable" salmon ?
these terms being employed in Parliamentary language. Certainly a " kelt "
would come under this designation as would also one that is about to spawn or
" red fish " if a male, " black fish " if a female. But the latter could hardly be
termed a foul fish being in its way as good food as is a laying hen or many an
animal. By a clean salmon, on the contrary, is meant one in good health, and
not on the point of spawning.

Siebold has shown that certain individuals are not sexually developed, and he
believed this sterility extended throughout their existence, a view opposed by
Widegren and others, who contend such to be temporary and merely affecting
a few individuals.

Hybridism in a natural state appears to be rare as regards the salmon, but that
such may take place has been proved by Rasch who fertilized their ova with the
milt of the trout and of the charr (see p. 59). It might be worth a trial whether
such hybrids could not be raised for the purpose of populating waters in rivers
wherein pollutions in its lower portions or other causes precludes the ascent of
of the fish. Probably most hybrids would be sterile, and possibly they would not
attempt to migrate, if so the angler could supply his district with fish which
would be good for sport and likewise for the table.

Whether salmon could be permanently retained and breed in fresh waters is a
subject upon which various opinions have been given. The difficulty of offering
an opinion upon this question is that it seems occasionally questionable whether
the recorded instances of such having been successfully accomplished, the observer
refers to Salmo salar, or a sea-trout. Lloyd (Field Sports North of Europe, i, p. 301)
remarks that near Katrineberg there is a valuable fishery for salmon, eleven or
twelve thousand of these fish being taken annually. They are bred in the lake,
and in consequence of cataracts cannot have access to the sea. They are small in
size and inferior in flavour. The year 1820 furnished 21,817. Bertram observing
upon having been present at Stormontfield at the yearly exodus of smolts in 1861,
when they were found to be large and in fine condition continues, " one fish,
which has been detained for three years for the purpose of discovering whether
the species will grow in fresh water without being permitted to visit the sea, was
found to be fully twice the size of the largest smolt " (Harvest of the Sea, p. 110).
It must not be overlooked in experiments of this nature that the extent of the
fresh water in which these fish are confined must exercise a considerable influence
upon the result, and also on the amount of food which is available for their
consumption.

Professor Rasch, of the Christiania University, remarked, " some years ago
Hetting hatched out a number of salmon ova, which he subsequently turned loose
in the Tyri-fiord, and during the last two years fish have been caught in that lake
resembling in every respect ' salmon proper.' It is impossible for them to return
thither, even should they succeed in reaching the sea " (Land and Water, 1866,
pp. 221, 245).

Kipper is a term sometimes used for males after breeding, but which has also
become employed for members of the salmon family that have been detained in
fresh water, and as a consequence become sick, lean and unseasonable (see
S. argenteus, pi. cxi). This term is also employed to old males, and means bony
gristle, which grows from their lower jaw resembling a "hawk's bill," and unless
absorbed, may hinder them from feeding, causing them to pine away and die.

SALMONID.E. 81

Diseases or causes of destruction. Under this head poaching devices will not be
included, but mortality or sickness otherwise induced. For many years, perhaps
from time immemorial, a fungus, Saprolegnia ferax (see Introduction), has existed
to a slight extent in fresh waters, as in our salmon rivers, but which, due to some
cause at present unknown, took an epidemic character in 1678. Since then it
has been chiefly seen in the spring of the year, in some rivers even in the autumn,
and although at first it appeared to be restricted to kelts or fishes in an enfeebled
condition, it has been lately observed to attack clean fish. The fact appears to
be that once this fungus has infected a fish, it may be the nucleus from which
infection spreads, and within twenty-four hours thousands of zoospores, which
may be termed minute germs or seeds provided with cilia, rendering them capable
of spontaneous movements, may become diffused through the water. These germs
arriving at a suitable spot develop into a fungus, and such a place is found in
a fish, where its roots strike downwards into the flesh and its free extremities
come to the surface, forming the white fungus appearance so distinctive of fish
suffering from this disease, and which proves almost invariably fatal from
exhaustion, irritation, or suffocation due to the organs of respiration being affected.
Although sea water appears to check and in some rare instances seems to cure the
disease, it is not improbable that it may only cause it to remain dormant, so that on
returning to fresh waters it is again roused into activity. The following figures
show the virulence of this disease : In the annual report for 1881 of the Tweed
district it is stated that during the last winter the number of fish that died or were
killed in consequence of the fungus disease was 14,627, making a total for three
years of 22,756. As each diseased fish is in itself a focus of infection, doubtless
they ought to be immediately removed from the river and buried. Salmon are
much affected by tape worms, Bothriocephalus, which seem especially to like the
coecal appendages as places in which to reside : a species of Lemea also externally
attacks them when in the sea. They are likewise affected with other internal and
external parasites.

In 1882 a whitling Salmo trutta, f lb. weight, was captured in the Tay, and in
it were 300 fertile salmon ova; while Mr. Ashworth took upwards of 500 salmonoid
eggs from the maw of a trout. Mill-wheels not unfrequently cause the death of
salmon passing beneath them, by direct blows. Obstructions to ascent and descent
are also secondary causes of disease, while pollutions are great sources of mortality,
more especially to the young fish. S molts and even salmon are largely destroyed
while in the sea and estuaries by porpoises, seals, members of the cod-fish family,
and other marine enemies.

As food. -These fish are highly esteemed and cannot be eaten too fresh, while in
selecting them care should be taken, provided there is any choice, to choose those
which are bright and silvery, rejecting such as are of a muddy tinge. During
the winter those which are out of season are dull in colour, their flesh is soft and
white, and they are wanting in flavour if dressed. If the fish is newly captured it
is usual, in order to set the curd, to put it into boiling instead of into cold water.
It may be boiled, but should be removed from the water as soon as done, or both
its appearance and flavour will deteriorate. It is generally dressed with cucumber
and anchovy, lobster, or shrimp sauce. This fish may be baked, done in slices, or
served in a hot or cold pudding.

Salmon is cured in different ways as by simply drying, salting or pickling.
"Kippered" is well-cleansed salmon which has received several dry rubbings of
pepper and salt, then dried either in the air or artificially by means of the smoke
of peat or juniper berries.

Habitat. This fish ranges in the northern hemisphere between latitudes 45 Q
and 75, and examples have even been captured as high as 80 1ST. Lat. In the
United States' report it is stated to range from the Polar regions to Cape Cod.
It extends throughout the seas and countries of Northern Europe, around the
British Isles, and also the Atlantic coast of France, but does not occur in rivers
which flow into the Mediterranean.

It is rare in the Orkneys and Zetland (Baikie), and is found in all suitable
rivers of England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland, where it has not been destroyed
ii. 6

82 PHYSOSTOMI.

by pollutions, or obstructions render its ascent impracticable. In Great Britain
most numerous towards Scotland : it abounds in all Yorkshire rivers, unless
excluded by pollutions (Yorkshire Vertebrata), less common down the east coast
of Lincolnshire, Norfolk, and round the south coast, the English Channel, but
more frequent in the Bristol Channel, while the Severn salmon are among those
which are most esteemed.

A salmon weighing 25 lb. was captured off Lowestoft in a trawl net (Colman,
Land and Water, May 10th, 1879), being only the second instance since 1849.

Sir T. Browne, 1062, stated that it was no common fish in the rivers in his
time, though many were taken in the Ouse, in the Bure, and in the Waveney, in
the Norwich river but seldom, and in the winter. Paget observes, respecting
Yarmouth, that small ones have very rarely been captured in the mackerel nets. Of
late years they have almost disappeared from the Norfolk coast, and one taken
December 1st, 1873, in a flooded meadow at Lakenham, was considered such a
curiosity that it was sent to London for identification and preservation ; it is
now in the Norwich Museum (Lowe). Yarrell remarks that the last Thames
salmon was captured in June, 1833.

The size to which this fish attains depends upon the extent and character of
the water it inhabits, the quantity and quality of its food, temperature, and other
circumstances. It has been surmised that the very small salmon sometimes
captured are really grilse, which having failed to ascend have to defer such to
the succeeding year, when they have become salmon. The reason why some
Dutch fish are so large is believed to be owing to so many kelts escaping capture.

Pennant mentions one of 741b. Buckland cast one of 70 lb., 4 feet 5 inches
long, taken from the Tay. In 1867 one was taken in the Severn, near Lydney,
in July, weighing over 42 lb. ; another the next month at Beachley, nearly
52 lb. ; and a third in the Wye, near Tintern, over 40 lb. In 1873 one weighing
70 lb. was taken in June at Littleton. In Ireland, Ball recorded two, each
weighing 52 lb., captured at the same time at Blackwater : several instances of
70 lb. fish are alluded to by Thompson, and in July, 1881, an Irish fish upwards
of 84| lb. weight was exhibited at a fishmonger's in Manchester.

The figure of the salmon, plate ex, fig. 1, is of a male 32 inches long, taken
from the Severn. The parr, fig. 2, is slightly reduced from one captured in the
Teme in the month of May. The figure of the kipper, plate cxi, fig. 1, is from
Dr. Gunther's type specimen of Sahno argenteus (not Cuv. and Val.), a female
26 inches long, which had been kept for a short time in a fresh water pond.

b. Fourteen or more rows of scales between the soft dorsal fin and the lateral-line.

Prior to giving descriptions of the various foinns of Salmones, included by
some authors under this head, it appears most appropriate to explain why it is
that I find myself unable to accept these numerous species, believing those
ichthyologists more correct who have considered them modifications of only one,
which, as Salmo trntta, includes both the anadromous and non-migratory fresh
water forms. In following out this inquiry, it will be perhaps best to show
(1) that marine salmonoids may take on a fresh water existence ; (2) that Sahno
trntta and S. cambricus can be both traced into the fresh water forms of the
common brook trout (see page 59), while crossing the ova of one with the milt
of the other gives rise to no remarkable symptoms, and the progeny, if hybrids, are
not steinle. Sir J. Gibson-Maitland, in the winter of 1881, crossed the ova of the
Loch Leven trout with the milt of the sea-trout, and about 95 per cent, hatched.

In order, however, to facilitate reference and draw attention to some phenomena
still requiring elucidation, I have placed as distinct Salmo trntta, with its very
deciduous vomerine teeth, and S. fario, or the brook-trout, with them more
persistent, in short by the parr dentition being continued through life, and a
somewhat different geographical distribution. Also S. levenensis which appears
to be in a transition state from an anadromous marine to a non-migratory fresh
water lake variety.

If sea-trout which having entered fresh water in order to breed, are prevented
returning to the ocean, it may result, as detailed by a correspondent in the Field

SALMONID^E. 83

(January 8th, 1881), that they become, as he found them, big-headed, lank, and
black looking. But there may be a reason for this, as insufficiency or inappro-
priateness of the food in their new home, which precludes their thriving or even
continuing in health. Should, on the contrary, the place prove appropriate, they
may thrive even though they are unable to return to the sea. McCulloch
(Journ. Roy. Inst., no. xxxiv, p. 211) has stated that the salmon-trout is now a
permanent resident in a fresh water lake in the island of Lismore, one of the
Hebrides, and without the power of leaving it or reaching the sea. There it has
been known for a long course of years, perfectly reconciled to its prison, and
propagating without any apparent difficulty. Eggs of the sea-trout havino- been
transmitted to Tasmania, some of the young retained in a fresh water pond (see
pages 84, 86) have bred showing no symptoms of sterility. This breeding has
taken place each successive year since, and the fertility of the ova seems to be
exceptional, for every one of the 142 ova sent to the Otago Acclimatization
Society produced a fish.

It is evident that our anadromous sea-trout may take on a fresh water state of
existence, and breed there ; irrespective of which by imperceptible changes we
find it in every country passing from one form into the other, as I shall give
instances when treating of the different varieties. This, of course, raises the
question of which form Salmo orcadensis, 8. estuarius, &c, most resemble, the
anadromous 8. trutta or the fresh water 8. fario. Admitting the two latter as
being merely the extreme limits of one species, it becomes unnecessary to decide
whether the diminution in the number of the vomerine teeth* is symptomatic
of the fresh water form developing towards its larger relative the anadromous
sea trout, or whether it is the sea trout retrograding towards its parr dentition, or
that which is persistent in the Salmo fario. Colours, it is true, are not very
reliable, but these forms more nearly approach the fresh water than the saline
varieties, a change which appears invariably to occur sooner or later in
anadromous forms which become permanent residents in fresh water.

But although the foregoing tends to prove that anadromous forms may pass
into fresh water non-migratory species, further proofs are necessary that it does
so in this particular instance. The distinction between the two races being
seen first in the comparatively more complete system of dentition in the fresh
water forms, their generally longer heads and decreased number of ccecal
appendages. The dentition varies excessively ; thus we find examples possessing
the colours, form, &c, of the brook-trout resident in brackish waters or even
the sea, but mostly not invariably possessing the limited number of vomerine teeth
of the anadromous form. On the other hand we find anadromous forms (in colour)
passing into fresh water, and the teeth assuming that present in the brook-trout
or retaining their parr dentition. I am unable to see in this, as has been
suggested, hybridization, or more properly speaking, a " graduated hybridiza-
tion," for every gi-adation can be seen, the links in the chain are perfectly complete,
as may be perceived at the British Museum, in the Welsh series of 8. cdmbricus,
or in the 8. trutta of the Tweed. On the other hand, in the same institution
are so called hybrids between the 8. gallivensis, Giinther, and the brook-trout.
The comparative length of the head is likewise subject to variation, there being
both the long-headed and short-headed races of the more south and west sewin,
and also of the sea trout on the east coast of Britain. And, lastly, as regards the
number of ccecal appendages asserted as a character which may materially aid
in discriminating a species. I have already (p. 56) given reasons for declining
to accept this in respect to our fresh water trout, and will now adduce further
ones to show that neither is it reliable in the sea forms. A very instructive
instance is to be found in the case of the ova of sea-trout, which were transmitted
to Tasmania, and one of the adult progeny of which, 18 inches in length, was

* Whether the vomerine teeth are at once replaced when lost, or at certain periods shed, is a
question admitting of doubt. Mr. Harvie Brown has pei-sonally observed that the lingual teeth are
shed in June, July, and August in the brook-trout, new ones mostly taking their place, loose in their
sockets at first and not filling the cavities made by the old cast-oft - ones. Should this be invariable
it shows that the size of the lingual teeth is no criterion as to species.

6 *

84 PHYSOSTOMI.

received in the British. Museum in 1874 ; it externally shows the normal form of
the common sea-trout (plate cxi, fig. 2), but has only 36 ccecal appendages, so
that (if Dr. Giinther's theory were correct) it ought to be a sewin, 8. cambricus.
This difficulty is surmounted by suggesting that this fish is a hybrid, but as
the sewin and the sea-trout are asserted by Dr. Giinther to reside in different
districts, and as only anadromous sea trout were deprived of eggs and milt,
by the manipulators such an occiirrence could not have occurred. These
salmon-trout eggs arrived in Tasmania, May 5th, 1866, were placed in
the breeding ponds, and from them 900 fry were reared. A number,
Mr. Nichol* informs us, of these fry were put into a specially con-
structed pond, fed by a small rill of bright cool water, where they were
disturbed as little as possible. By the middle of October, 1867, many of these
prisoners had put on the smolt dress and no doubt feeling the migratory impulse,
leaped upon the bank in some numbers and perished. In July, 1869, they spawned
in the ponds. It is thus clear that this fish with anadromous instincts was
raised from the eggs transmitted from England, and distinctly demonstrating that
the number of cceca are subject to variations, so useless as a definite guide to
species. If, as shown, changes in climate and food can induce such a marked
difference, that in the Antipodes two forms of sea trout may be detected in one
specimen : if the anadromous forms can be traced step by step and link by link
into the brook-trout, or vice versa : if breeding the two forms together causes
no unusual phenomenon, I cannot resist agreeing with Widegren,f Malmgren,
Collett, Feddersen, Malm, and others, that we are dealing with a single species
subject to almost innumerable modifications in accordance with variations in
climate, locality, and food.

Lastly, it must not be supposed that because (as stated at page 57) British
anadromous salmonoids possess more ccecal appendages than are normally found
in non-migratory trout, that such is everywhere the case. In the British Museum,
these appendages vary among specimens of the Loch Leven trout between 49 and 90,
due either to the convergence of several into one, or the subdivision of one into
two or more. But in this case the fish are residing in a large lake, and do not
appear to be many generations removed from their marine ancestry. It seems that
this large number in lake forms is likewise not unknown elsewhere ; thus the
Salmo marsilii from the lakes in Upper Austria has up to 100, S. lacustris
from Lake Constance, which Siebold considers the same species, has up to 74.
S. venemensis, Giinther, from Sweden, which Malm gives as a variety of the
common brook-trout has at least 62, while our larger forms of lake-trout,
8. ferox, have been found possessing a few in excess of those which inhabit
streams.

The observations of pisciculturists and field naturalists, respecting the
varieties of trout and the modifications to which they are susceptible, may prove
most valuable in unravelling the confusion which has been imported into this
genus. In the following pages I have purposely omitted the enumeration of
some continental forms that doubtless will at a future date be abundantly
proved to be merely species created by naturalists, but unable to stand the test
of a rigorous examination carried on in an extended scale by competent inquirers.

2. Salmo trutta, Plate CXI, fig. 1, and Plate CXII, fig. 1, 2.

Trutta salmonata, Schonev. Ich. p. 65 ; Willughby, p. 193 ; Ray, Synopsis,
p. 63. Salmonata, Sibbald, Scot. no. 25. Salmo cinereus aut griseus, Willughby,
p. 193; Ray, p. 63. Salmo trutta, Linn. Fauna Suec. p. 347; Gronov. Zooph.
no. 367. Salmo, no. 3 and 5, Artedi, Synom. pp. 23, 24, Genera, p. 12, and Species,
p. 51 ; Klein, Pise. Miss. V, p. 16, t. v, f. 1. Sea-trout, Pennant, Brit. Zool. (Ed.
1776) iii, p. 296 (Ed. 1812) iii, p. 347. Bull-trout, Low, Fauna Oread, p. 222.

Salmo trutta, Linn. Syst. Nat i, p. 509 ; Bloch, Fische Deuts. i, p. 143, t. xxi ;
151. Schn. p. 399; Gmel. Linn. p. 1366; Bonn. Ency. Ich. p. 159, pi. lxv, f. 263;

* " The acclimatization of the salmonidce at the Antipodes."
f Lacepede considered the Salmo trutta identical with S. fario.

SALMONID^E. 85

Turton, Brit. Fauna, p. 103 ; Risso, Ich. Nice, p. 323 ; Flem. Brit. An. p. 180 ;
Nilss. Skand. Fauna, p. 406 ; Jenyns, Manual, p. 423 ; Kroyer, Dan. Fiske, ii,
p. 582 ; Jardine, Salmonida?, pi. iii (half groivn) ix, x, and xi, and Edin. New
Phil. Journ. xviii, p. 49 ; Yarrell, Brit. Fish. (ed. 1) ii, p. 36, c. fig. (ed. 2) ii,
p. 77 ; Parnell, Fish. Firth of Forth, p. 133, pi. xxxiv, and Wern. Mem. vii, p. 293,
pi. xxxiv, f. 11 ; Thompson, Nat. Hist. Ireland, iv, p. 151 ; White, Catal. p. 75 ;
Gronov. ed. Gray, p. 151 ; Gunther, Catal. vi, p. 22 ; Steind. Sitz. Ak. Wiss.
Wien. 1866, liv, p. 22 ; Houghton, British Freshwater Fishes, p. 93, c. fig. ; Malm,
Fauna, p. 538.

Salmo goedenii, Bloch, p. 135, t. cii (young").

Salmo hucho, Flem. Brit. An. p. 17"9 (not Linn.).

Salmo argenteus, Bonn. Ency. Ich. p. 160, pi. lxvii, no. 269 ; Bl. pi. ciii.

Fario argenteus, Cuv. and Val. xxi, p. 294, pi. 616; Yarrell, Brit. Fish,
(ed. 3) i, p. 250, c. fig. ; Lacepede, v, p. 187; Kroyer, Dan. Fisk. ii, p. 602.

Salmo eriox, Nilss. Skan. Faun. p. 395 ; Collett, Norges Fiske, p. 157 ;
Feddersen, Danske Ferskvansfiske, p. 77.

Salmo truttula, Nilss. Prod. p. 5 (young).

Salmo microps, Hardm. Ofvers. Vet. Ak. Forh. 1861, p. 383.

Trutta variabilis, Gerv. Boul. p. 137.

Salmon-trout, Richards. Faun. Nor. Amer. Fishes, p. 140, pi. xcii, f. i, A and
B. Peal, sewen, sea-trout, salmon-trout, blue-poll, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, iv,
pp. 214-221, pi. ccxiii-ccxv (see page 88).

Salmo venernensis, Gunther, Catal. vi, p. 110.

Trutta lacustris and T. trutta, Siebold, Siisswasserfische, pp. 301, 314.

Trutta marina, Moreau, Poiss. France, iii, p. 537.

Variety a. Salmo albus, Plate CXII, fig. 2.

White salmon, Pennant, Brit. Zool. (Ed. 1776) iii, p. 302, and (Ed. 1812) iii,
p. 396.

Salmo albus, Walb. Artedi, iii, p. 75 ; Bonnaterre, Enc. Ich. p. 161 ; Bl. Schn.
p. 409 ; Lacep. v, p. 219 ; Fleming, Brit. An. p. 180 ; Jardine, Edin. New Phil.
Journal, xviii, p. 50, and Salmonida?, plate no. iii ; Cuv. and Val. xxi, p. 206 ;
Jenyns, Manual, p. 424.

Salmo phinoc, Turton, Brit. Fauna, p. 103.

Herling, Jardine, Berwick. Nat. Club, ii, p. 103.

Salmo eriox, Jenyns, Brit. Vert. An. p. 422 ; Parnell, Wern. Mem. vii, p. 288,
pi. xxxi-xxxiv, and Fish. Firth of Forth, p. 128, pi. xxxi-xxxiv ; Flem. Manual,
p. 180.

Salmo trutta, Thompson, Nat. Hist. Ireland, iv, p. 151.

Salmo brachypoma, Gunther, Catal. vi, p. 87 ; Houghton, British Fishes,
p, 107, c. fig.

This form has been deemed a distinct species, principally due to its com-
paratively small head and rather elongated body : while its preopercle has hardly
any lower limb. Among four examples in the British Museum from Dr. Parnell's
collection, that ichthyologist considered the largest as S. eriox, and the remaining
three as S. fario. It is the short-headed race of salmon-trout, mostly found on
the east coast of Scotland and in the Ouse : Jardine states also, in the Solway
Firth. The example figured was 14 inches long.

This variety was known as the White salmon- (Pennant), Salmo albus (Artedi),
S. phinoc (Turton), S. brachypoma (Gunther); but by the majority of recent
authors is placed as a synonym to S. trutta. Pennant described his white salmon
from the Esk in Cumberland, where he observed that it was found from July
until September, that it never exceeded a foot in length, and that " this is the
fish called by the Scots Fhinoc." Fleming also termed it the " Whitling, Hiding,
common in the sea and rivers of Scotland and the north of England," and that it
spawned in August and September. Jardine figured it, pi. iii, as Salmo albus,
Fleming, the young of a migratory trout, but not identical with the bull-trout of
the Tweed. It is locally known as herling or hirling, whiting, phinock, moudie-
trouf, silvenvhite, and blaelrtail, in different Scotch districts. It was about this

86 PHYSOSTOMI.

time that 8. albus began to be suppressed under the belief that it was the young
or a variety of the salmon- or sea-trout. Jenyns observed that neither he nor
Yarrell could see any appreciable difference between them. It is abundantly
evident, however, that Yarrell in his Salmo trutta includes the sewin of the south,
Wales, and Ireland, as well as the phinoek or hirling of Scotland, which he
observes is the S. albus, but that he could not distinguish it from his S. trutta.
Agassiz looked upon these forms as one, so did also Parnell, White, and Thompson.
Dr. Giinther reverted to the views of Pennant, remarking how the species in his
opinion differed from S. trutta, five out of seven of his types being from Yarrell's
and Parnell's collections. But he placed all the synonyms of 8. albus under the
head of S. trutta, even when the authors had referred to both as species. It thus
came to pass that this northern species, or 8. albus, has since 1866 been known as
S. brachypoma, Giinther, which is the more remarkable, as prior to the publication
of the volume of the Catalogue in which it was first thus named, the author was
able to record in the Addenda, p. 357, that he had received examples from the
Beauly, " and that they are named there ' Phinok.' "

Although a chain of examples, passing from this form into the river trout,
has not been recognized, I shall, when describing the short-headed fresh water
Loch Leven trout, give my reasons for supposing that it is most probably a
descendant of this short-headed marine variety, and also show how it does not
appear improbable that it, under certain conditions, may pass into and be lost in
the Salmo far io. These numerous deviations from the type tend to demonstrate
the adaptability of the species to varying conditions of life, and as w r e do not
perceive such in the salmon, one w^ould expect to find the trout in one or other
of its forms extending further, or accommodating itself to greater ranges of the
globe, and this is exactly what we observe in nature.

Variety b. Salmo cambricus, Plate CXII, fig. 1.

Salmulus, Willughby (young). The grey salmon, part, Pennant, Brit. Zool.
(Ed. 1776) iii, p. 295, and (Ed. 1812) iii, p. 394. 8almo, no. 2, Artedi, Genera,
p. 12, Synon, p. 23, Spe. 50 ; Linn. Fauna Suec. p. 116, no. 307.

Salmo cambricus, Donovan, Brit. Fishes, iv, pi. xci ; Richards. Faun. Bor.
Amer. Fish. p. 141, pi. xci, fig. 2 ; Giinther, Catal. vi, p. 34 ; Houghton, Brit.
F. W. Fishes, p. 99, c. fig.

Sewen and Blue poll, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, iv, pp. 208, 219, pis. ccxiii, ccxvi.

Salmo erio.v, Gmel. Linn. p. 1366; Bon. Ency. Ich. p. 159; Turton, Brit.
Fauna, p. 103 ; Flem. Brit. An. p. 18(J ; Jenyns, Manual, p. 422 ; Yarrell, Brit.
Fish. (ed. 1) ii, p. 31, c. fig. (ed. 2) ii, p. 71 (ed. 3) i, p. 231 ; Kroyer, Dan.
Fiske, ii, p. 602 ; Thompson, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1837, p. 57, and Nat. Hist. Ireland,
iv, p. 148 ; Nilss. Skan. Fauna, p. 395 ; White, Catal. p. 76 (part).

The sewin of the south coast, Wales, and Ireland, similarly to the salmon-trout
of the east coast of Scotland, has both a long- and a short-headed variety.*
Two examples of sewin from Rosshire, presented by Mr. Godman, are in the
British Museum. So similar, however, is this fish externally to the salmon-trout,
and passes into it so exactly, that of one of Yarrell's examples in the national
collection being a skin destitute of any record of its ccecal appendages,
Dr. Giinther has remarked that " it is one of those specimens in which the
distinctive characters of the species are very little developed : and it is quite
possible that the specimen came from Scotland, and belongs to Salmo trutta."
Having thus shown how difficult, if not impossible, it may be to discriminate
between these two forms, I will pass on to how physical causes may occasion
changes, so that it has become very uncertain which of the two that is
under examination, and for this purpose I must again revert to the Tas-
manian experiment. Anadromous salmon ova were collected in this country,
and transmitted to the Antipodes, where they arrived in May, 1866. Some

* In Plate CXX of Salmo fontinalis die great difference occasioned through physical causes in
the comparative length of the head in a sal monoid fish is shown.

SALMONID^E. 87

of the fry were retained in a fresh water pond, bred there, and one of these
examples, which exceeded 18 inches in length, was received at the British
Museum in April, 1874. Its external appearance was similar to the typical
Salmo trutta, but internally it possessed only 36 ccecal appendages, demonstrating
that either 8. trutta may possess less than 43, or that S. cambricus may externally
develop into 8. trutta, or lastly, that 8. albus may have a preoperculum with a
distinct lower limb.

It seems evident that the external form and number of ccecal appendages
are insufficient to discriminate it from the salmon-trout, and I now arrive at
the consideration whether it can or cannot be distinctly differentiated from tho
brook- trout, a subject already adverted to (page 83). A fine series from Wales,
in the national collection, shows an unbroken series in external form, in colour,
and in dentition between the two, and asserted to be hybrids.* Other specimens
from Copenhagen are likewise present. The number of ccecal appendages in
these forms were found to be from 41 to 46. They are said to be locally known
as Twb-y-dail or " fall of the leaf," indicative of their colour, but in Owen's
Welsh Dictionary I find this local term employed for the chub, Leuciscus cephalus.
And finally, it may be repeated that breeding the two forms together does not
produce sterile hybrids but fertile varieties.

In 1879 a correspondence commenced respecting the blue poll and blue cock
of the Fo wey in Cornwall, Salmo cambricus, they are also termed Gandlemass fish ,
and are sold in Billingsgate as " Cornish salmon." Some which used to be taken
at the beginning of the year were said to have been unmended kelts, while an
example sent from that river in December, 1879, to Mr. Frank Buckland, proved
to be a male with the milt fully developed and ready for extrusion. In a
memorial from fishermen and others at or near the Fowey to the conservators, it
is stated that these fish ascend the river from " September to Christmas in accord-
ance with their natural habits," and although bearing spawn it was suggested
that the fishermen ought to be allowed to capture them during the close seasonf
because spawning sea fish are not protected, and that it is only at this period
that the fishing could be successfully prosecuted. Leave was requested that this
petition should be granted, but was very properly refused. In the Towy, in
Wales, the same variety termed Salmon glasback, " little blue salmon," largely
ascend for the purpose of spawning in the last week in January and the first half
of February, and we are told that thirty years ago, prior to the re-institution of a
close season, all the males were crimped and sent to the Severn district as a clean
run fish, while the females were dispatched there as they were.

In the British Museum are other examples from the Lossie river and Moray
Firth on the Scotch coast, passing from the typical salmon-trout by a graduated
series into the river-trout : they are also recorded as hybrids.

Parnell, under Salmo eriox, comprised in the Wernerian Memoirs the following
varieties found in the Firth of Forth. Salmon spotted bull-trout, plate xxxiii, f. 4 :
few spotted bull-trout, plate xxxiii, f. 5 : thickly spotted bull-trout, plate xxxiii,
f. 6: large headed bull-trout, plate xxxiii, f. 7: curved spotted bull-trout, plate
xxxiii, f. 8 : salmon bull-trout, plate xxxiii* : crescent-tailed bull-trout, plate xxxiv,
f. 9: Norway bull-trout, plate xxxiv, f. 10. While under Salmo trutta he gave

* Although hybrids among the salmonidsc had been observed as existing from the time of
Willughby, edited by Ray (1686), Dr. Giiather remarks, ,; no instance had been clearly made out
until we were enabled, through the liberality of the Rev. Augustus Morgan, to convince ourselves of
the existence of a hybrid between the sewin (S. cambricus) and the river-trout (S. fario) " (Catal. vi,
p. 8). Further on he continues " we have never had an opportunity of observing a naturally sterile
individual " (p. 47).

f In the Coquet, H.M. Inspectors of Fisheries were led to believe that the bull-trout only or
mostly ascended during the close season, and that they were destroying the breed of the salmon.
Elsewhere we are told they get first to the spawning beds ousting the Salmo salar. So in 1868
leave was given by the Home Office to fish during the close months. In four years 61,689 bull-
trout were captured, and in each of the four years as follows: 26,350, 15,464, 10,687, and 9188.
Destroying this form is said to have been a failure, but the result of such a license is evident, for in
the first year nearly half the entire captures for the four years occurred, the takes annually decreasing
until the fourth year, the last that Buckland recorded.

8S PHYSOSTOML

8- altois, Fleming, and the individual specimen the base of Parnell's figure,
plate xxxii, fig. 3, is in the British Museum collection as one of the types
of S. brachjpoma, Gtinther. It is evident that only the local east coast of
Scotland races formed the basis of his paper.

Yarrell's S. eriox and S. trutta, as seen by his collection now in the British
Museum, included the sewin or S. cambricus, also the S. albus. Two were
8. trutta, about twenty S. cambricus besides many small ones, and one 8. albus
forming one of the types of S. bracliypoma, Gtinther.

Thompson observes that his S. trutta is identical with S. albus, the Scotch
Herling sent him by Captain Fayrer, and that he found a perfect agreement
between them, while his S. eriox he asserted to be 8. cambricus or the sewin.

Couch largely augmented the nominal species of salmonida? and gave the five
following : SaJmo trutta which he terms Peal, and observes that under several
names it is known in considerable abundance through the whole extent of the
British Island, 8. cambricus or sewin, Sea-trout from the Fowey in Cornwall,
evidently identical with the so-called hybrids of the sewin. 8. trutta no. 2,
termed salmon-trout, which he asserts to be more a fish of the north than
the generality of this genus, and seems to be identical with S. eriox, Yarrell,
or a compound of 8. albus and S. cambricus. This author appears to have
been misled by two circumstances ; first, he accepted without due investiga-
tion the numerous subdivisions into which he found this species being divided
by those who held every little difference to be diagnostic of a distinct form
or the result of hybridization, and any who questioned such were deemed
incompetent observers suffering from confused ideas.* As a result he seems on
finding: what he conceived to be some fresh but slight modification to have
supposed he had discovered another new species, thus adding to the contusion
already existing. In fact (at p. 204) he remarks upon the difficulty of assigning
to his specimens the names given by the writers on the continent, and supposed as
a reason " that there exists several kinds of the Sahnonidce which are not yet clearly
defined," and that not a few of the known varieties will be discovered to be
distinct species. Secondly, it would seem that his descriptions were, at least in
several instances, made from his drawings, which, if artistic, are scarcely accurate.

Widegren (OfV. Vet. Akad. Fork. 1863) gave an interesting paper in which
he asserted that the anadromous sea-trout and non-migratory fresh water forms
were all variations of one species, the differences being due to the localities they
inhabited. Sterile forms, or rather those suffering from temporary sterility,
having the caudal fin generally (but not invariably) more forked, and their
colours more silvery than is seen in such as are in a breeding condition. In these
conclusions Malmgren generally agreed, and they appear to coincide with the
results of the experiment I have alluded, to and the series of examples in our
national collection.

B. x-xii, D. 12-14 (J^)/0, P. 13-14, V. 9, A. 11-13 (|:f), C. 18-19, L 1.
115-130, L t. |f:||, Vert. 59-00, Coec. pyl. 33-61.

Body rather elongated, and the abdominal profile more curved than that of
the back. The proportions of one part of the body to the remainder, more
especially the length of the head, vary considerably in this species, and though
1 consider the fresh water brook-trout specifically the same, the following
measurements and remarks solely refer to the anadromous form, unless otherwise
stated. The young in most respects are similar to the young of the salmon, while
in the adult fish the head in the male is generally longer than in the female.
Length of head 4| to 5|, of caudal fin from 7j to 8, height of body from 4 to 5
in the total length. Eye diameter about 7 to 7\ in examples exceeding 15 inches
in length, about 2 to 2|'diameters from the end of the snout, and the same distance
apart : it is comparatively larger in the young. Interorbital space convex, and

* Fit/.inger when asserting Salmo Schiffermnelleri, Bloch, to be a hybrid (Sitz. Ak. Wien, lxxii,
1876, p. 255) seemed to lave been mainly guided in liis decision by ascertaining that the reproduc-
tive organs only exist in a rudimentary condition in the joung" si age, degenerating into adipose
tissue in the adult.

SALM0NIDJ3. 89

equal to about the length of the snout. During the breeding season a knob
frequently exists at the upper side of the anterior end of the lower jaw in the
males. The posterior extremity of the upper jaw reaches to beyond the hind
edge of the eye in full-grown examples, and it is stronger in some varieties than
in others. The form of the gill-covers in this fish has been held to almost denote
species with some authors, to be dependant on sex according to others, or to be of no
signification at all. In some, as the typical S. trutta (see plate cxi), the posterior
edge of the preopercle is somewhat sinuous, while it has a distinct lower limb:
in the sewin this latter is less distinctly marked (plate cxii), but in the white
salmon, or herling, there is hardly a trace of it ; but, however, every intermediate
form may be found, or they may even differ on the opposite sides of the head in
the same specimen. The posterior edge of the opercle and subopercle form a
semi-circle, in which the subopercle generally, but not invariably, forms the most
prominent point. Several raised and curved lines are mostly present upon the
outer edge of the subopercle and opercle. Teeth in the young similar to those
in the salmon fry : there is a double row along the body of the vomer and a
transverse row where it joins the palatines. At an early age these vomerine teeth
become lost more quickly in s fine examples than in others, but generally there is
only a single row in examples a foot or upwards in length : the example in plate cxi,
which was 14 inches long, had a double row of six teeth on the vomer, besides a
transverse row of four anteriorly. The teeth in the jaws and palatines in a single
row. Three to six strong, sharp recurved ones on either side of the tongue.
Fins in large examples the fins are comparatively shorter than in smaller ones,
and the pectoral rarely extends half-way to the base of the ventral, which latter
is situated beneath the middle of the dorsal. The dorsal fin is comparatively
small : while the caudal is subject to considei'able diversities of form, in large fish
'being mostly almost square at its posterior extremity, or it may be notched, or
should the ends of its lobes be drawn asunder, it appears to be lunated. Scales
14 or 15 rows in an oblique line from the hind edge of the adipose dorsal fin,
downwards and forwards to the lateral-line. The scales in this species, more
particularly in the young, are very deciduous. Ccecal appendages vary considerably
in number, and though I am satisfied that their enumeration recorded as existing
in the British Museum specimens is correctly recorded in the Catalogue, I find
reason to believe a much wider difference can be found in nature. Mr. Brotherton,
of Kelso, sent me in August a fine specimen from the Tweed, termed "bull-
trout " (similar externally to the figure in plate cxi, fig. 2), it was a female, with
small ova, only two teeth remained on the forepart of the vomer, its tail was
almost square at its extremity, and it only possessed 33 ccecal appendages.
Colours Back bluish gray, becoming lighter on the sides and beneath, having
a purplish gloss when in the highest condition, but which takes on a muddy hue
after having been some time in fresh water. Small black spots, mostly of an
X-shape, exist along the gill covers and upper two-thirds of the body, or merely
upon the upper half of the gill covers, where they may be surrounded by a light
margin, while on the body they frequently are not seen below the lateral-line.
Some are densely, others sparsely spotted, with every intermediate variety. The
dorsal fin similarly may be destitute of spots, thickly or thinly covered by them.
Pectoral of a bluish lilac, often darkest externally. Caudal gray, or even dark
coloured. During the spawning season the head of the male is of an olive brown,
and the body of a dingy orange, or reddish brown, while the female is of a
blackish gray. Thompson alludes to one example which had a series of deep
orange longitudinal stripes, probably a male in the breeding livery. Parr or
orange fins are marked almost similarly to the young of the salmon, but the dorsal
fin has generally a white upper edge anteriorly, with a black basal band, which
often passes along almost the entire extent of the upper fifth of the fin, and
similar to the colours seen in the brook-trout. In the grilse state the caudal is
usually blackish.

Varieties These are referred to under the head of Salmo albus (page 85), and
S. cambricus (page 87) : while the fresh water forms will be discussed under
S. levenenais (page 93), and 8. fario (page 95).

90 PHYSOSTOMI.

Names. The term salmon-trout was originally employed under the supposition
that these fish were hybrids between the salmon and the trout. Mori or Sprod,
Cumberland and Lancashire. White trout, salmon-trout, bull-trout if large and
coarse : the scurf, Johnston. In the. grilse stage in Scotland, phinoJc, herling,
whitling, black-tail, silver-white, smelt, sprod, herring-sprod : and lammasmen,
Edinburgh market. During tbe first year or two parr, orange fins or yellow fins:
sil-bodiam, Welsh, which descend to the sea as smolts. Pennant gives the Welsh
names as gioyn-idd " white pate," and gleis-idd " blue pate."

Habits. This species has generally the habits of the salmon but not to so game
an extent, nor is it so powerful, still it is active and appears to move more of an
evening and during the night than during the day, and frequently selects more
sluggish waters than suit the salmon, even where the bottom is sandy or muddy.
It is often found at the tail of a pool or where the waters are quiet, but is of a
roving disposition. It is a wary and sharp-sighted form, always suspicious, and
the angler requires a long line when attempting to take it. It dashes at flies
but appears in some streams to lie rather deep in the water and hardly to be a
surface form. It is very destructive to small fish and by no means averse to
consuming the eggs or the young of the salmon. In an example 14 inches long
from the Dee, taken in July, 1882, I removed four sand launces, Ammodytes, from
its maw. Sir W. Jardine found the common food to be the sand hopper, Talitrus
locust a.

In the mackerel drift nets employed from March until May in the British
Channel, single examples of this fish are frequently taken. Also at the mouths of
rivers in Cornwall during summer and autumn in hang or moored nets. While
even in the rivers a few are captured throughout the year, showing that similar to
the salmon it is not invariably absent, but it more generally becomes abundant at
the end of summer or in the autumn. The migrations of the Salmo trutta and its
varieties, correspond to a great extent with those of the salmon, but it appears to
possess somewhat less power, and consequently is not so capable of ascent and
overcoming obstructions. Some very interesting figures are adduced by Bussell
showing the proportionate number of these fishes captured in the Tweed during
the eight and a half open months of the year. One-tenth were taken in the first
three and a half months, or from the middle of February to the end of May ; and
nine-tenths during the remaining five and a half months extending from June 1st
to the middle of October. In fact, in June they suddenly augmented by 300 per
cent, and in July stood at the highest figure : but a change now occurred, the fish
becoming of less average weight, pointing to a large proportion being young. In
some of the Irish rivers the salmon trout runs very early. Mr. Congreve considers
bull-trout to be sterile examples of this species which have ceased breeding and
discontinued their annual migrations, while their flesh may be either white or
pink.

Means of capture. These fish are very wary and it has been observed in the
Tweed and neighbouring fisheries that they will not freely enter the chambers of
the fixed nets, the proportion of them captured there being one for every nine
grilse or four salmon. But in the drifting hang nets at the mouths of the rivers
or in the estuaries three or four trout are taken for every salmon, and in about
equal numbers with the grilse. The same is observed elsewhere, and in the
estuaries of South Wales sewin of from 1 lb. to 4 lb. weight are frequently captured
during March and April.

Anglers find in rivers these fish will mostly take a worm if the waters are
muddy, as it begins to clear a spinning bait, when fine a fly. If hooked they
often display considerable cunning in their attempts to break the line with
a blow from the tail, or impetuously dart off" when a similar result ensues,
should it not run readily off the reel. In Scotland an hour or two's white trout
fishing when the fish are in the humour, is esteemed good sport as they often
take a fly well, up to 6 or 7 lb. weight ; while in Wales the sewin similarly
are sought after, especially of an evening, with fine tackle and a small fly. But
large examples, as bull-trout, appear to refuse bait or flies. The smaller ones
in salt water readily take a spinning bait and are often thus fished for on the

salmonim:. 91

west coast of Scotland, while whiffers for pollack on the south coast of England
not ^infrequently take a sewin. In Ireland a few salmon-trout are taken in the
mullet nets : in Belfast Bay they are captured in large quantities early in the
morning, if possible before day-break, by drawing sandy bays. In the Bristol
Channel, where the Severn, Wye, and Usk debouch, there exist certain fixed engines
termed putts and putchers, which, although capturing more salmon and grilse
than sewin, still are employed to take this fish. These fixed engines were
declared nuisances and illegal, unless proved to have been in existence prior
to Magna Charta : even then an annual close time was decreed, as well as a
weekly one. The fish Commissioners in 1879 were requested by the fishermen
to aid their endeavours to make it legal to omit the weekly close time, provided
the yearly close season were extended from September 1st to February 1st
(practically it did not pay to commence before March or April) to from
September 1st to March 18th, and now, due to the Commissioners' report,
week days and Sundays alike this fishing goes on without a weekly close time
(Field, August 2nd, 1879).

Breeding. The number of eggs deposited by the Salmo trutta is very similar
to what obtains in the salmon, and the remarks already made (p. 75) may be
referred to. In a very severe winter Couch found the sewin depositing its eggs as
late as January 22nd in the Fowey in Cornwall. The impurities and enemies
affecting those of one form are similarly inimical to those of the other (p. 65),
and as showing how anadromous species may deem it useless spawning in salt
water, I will quote Mr. Jackson, Land and Water (June lUth, 1876), who
observes that the " Salmon-trout cast their ova in the salt water in the Southport
Aquarium, without assuming the appearance of kelts, or even leaving off feeding
greedily on shrimps. They did not attempt to make a bed, and the spawn was
immediately eaten by their fellows." While the eggs of this species, similarly
to those of the salmon, have been safely conveyed to and hatched at the
antipodes.

Life history. The young Salmo trutta, as already observed, is very similar
to the young of the salmon, having its parr stage, and though it has been
asserted that anadromous forms are distinguishable by the number of transverse
bands or finger marks along their sides, it will be found that such a means
of diagnosis fails in practice among live fish. The parr of the salmon-trout goes
through the smolt and grilse stage, similarly to the young of the salmon, while its
parr are equally voracious (p. 70).*

As food. Those possessing yellowish, pink, or red flesh are almost equally
good as the salmon : the "bull-trout," however, of the Coquet is inferior, having
light coloured or white flesh, as has that fish sometimes taken from the Beauly,
but in some places those in which it is white are of a superior description.
It is remarkable that those from the Coquet are almost worthless, whereas the
Tweed form is very valuable, this being probably due to difference in water or
food. As a general rule large examples are found to be coarse.

Diseases. Those affecting salmon (p. 81) are similarly found attacking the
sea trout. Even so long ago as Pontoppidan (Natural History of Norway, 1755,
p. 139) we find allusions to disease affecting these fish. He asserts the salmon-
trout, Trutta taurina, to be a very common fish in the fresh lakes and rivers, but
many of them are subject to a sort of disease so that they cannot be eaten. The
head grows very large and the body emaciated, while in their entrails are found
pimples resembling millet seed. Some ascribed it as due to the sawdust from
the mills falling into the river, while others considered it to be retained roe which
had become diseased. This complaint was asserted not to affect the non-migratory
fresh water trout.

Habitat. In this, only the marine variety is alluded to, and it is found in
northern Europe ascending rivers falling into the Baltic, North Sea, the seas
surrounding the British Isles, and the Seine and the Loire in France.

* The various kinds of food suitable for young salmon are equally good for the salinon-
trout.

92 PHYSOSTOMI.

In the Orkneys, Low observed that it exists in great quantities in the Loch
of Stenness, through the whole summer. They do not grow so large as the
true trout, Salmo fario, neither are they so much esteemed, their flesh being white
and only moderately good. During harvest they ascend to the smallest streams to
spawn subsequent to which they return to the sea. It is common along the east
coast of Scotland, and Russell calculated that in the Tweed it is as numerous as
the salmon and grilse combined : to the south of the Tweed fifty to every salmon
and grilse, while in the Forth and Tay and other large and inaccessible rivers
in the north the bull-trout is almost a stranger. It is also found along the
north-east coast of England, more especially the Coquet, Tyne, Tees, and Wear.
It is less frequent on the west coast of Scotland than on the east. In Yorksliiie
very abundant along the coast and present in all the rivers frequented by the
salmon (Yorkshire Vertebrata). In Norfolk it is frequently taken in the Ouse
and the estuary (Lowe). Excepting the " Fordwich trout" from Kent, which
is of the typical Salmq trutta form, S- cambricus is generally found from the
south of England and Wales, extending up the west coast of Scotland.

In Ireland it is common around the coast.

As to the size it attains there exists the head of one in the British Museum
10 inches long from the Tweed, which measurement would seem to show the fish
must have been nearly 4 feet in length.

The figure, plate cxi, fig. 2, is from a male in the British Museum, 18 inches
long, from the Tweed, which contained 57 coecal appendages, and is similar to a
female I have from the same locality with only 33. In the variety S. albus figured,
there were 53 coecal appendages, the specimen was a female; the example of
S. cambricus was taken off Penzance in a trammel, August 13th, 1881, it was
a female 14 inches long, with the ova half developed, it had 40 ccecal appendages :
a young male 13 inches long from Wales possessed 41.

2 A. Salmo Levenensis, Plate CXVI, fig. 2 and 2a.

(?) Salmo Cumberland, Lacepede, v, p. 696.

Salmo Levenensis, Walker, Wern. Mem. i, p. 541 ; Yarrell, Brit. Fishes (ed. 2)
ii, p. 217 (ed. 3) i, p. 257 ; Giinther, Catal. vi, p. 101 ; Couch, Fishes Brit. Isles,
iv, p. 243, pi. ccxx ; Houghton, Brit. Freshwater Fishes, p. 123, c. fig.

Salmo co3cifer, Parnell, Fish. Firth of Forth, p. 146, pi. xxx, and Wern. Mem.
vii, p. 306, pi. xxx.

Loch Leven trout, Richardson, Faun. Bor.-Amer. Pise. p. 143.

B. x-xii, D. 12-14 ( 2 T %), P. 12-14, V. 9, A. 10-12 (f;f), C. 19, L 1. 120-130,
L- tr. -!lff, Coec. pyl. 47-90, Vert. 57-59.

Body rather elongated, with the abdominal profile a little more curved than that
of the back. Length of head about 4f to b\, rather longest in the males, of
caudal fin 8, height of body 4^ to 5 in the total length. Eye diameter in an
example about lb. weight, 5^ to 6 in the length of the head, \\ diameter from the
end of the snout, and the same distance apart : it is of greater comparative size
in smaller specimens, but smaller in larger ones. Interorbital space convex.
Maxilla rather feeble, it reaches to slightly behind the hind edge of the eye :
lower jaw with a hook or knob at the upper end of the mandible. Lower limb
of preopercle generally, but not invariably, indistinct. Teeth of moderate
strength, a double row along the body of the vomer, which are sometimes more
or less lost, and a transverse row of 3 or 4 opposite its junction with the palatines.
In some few cases a single row of teeth has been observed along the body of the
vomer, but in no instance have I found this to be the case in the Howietown fish,
all of which have a double row similar to the brook-trout. Fins these vary in
the Loch Leven as well as in other forms of trout, and are due to the same causes.
The pectoral is more pointed than is generally seen in the brook-trout, but like that
of the white sea-ti-out, and reaches to about half-way to the base of the ventral,

SALMONIDzE. 93

which latter fin is inserted under the middle or hind third of the first dorsal, and
extends above half-way to the origin of the anal. Caudal eniarginate, becoming
square in large examples. Scales there are 13 to 15 rows in an oblique line
running from behind the base of the adipose dorsal fin downwards and forwards to
the lateral-line, coecal appendages varying in this species : Richardson found 73,
Parnell 80, Giinther 49 to 90, due either to several becoming confluent into one
stem, or one subdividing into several, but anyhow demonstrating inconstancy in
numbers. In a female example with the ova developing, the length of the fish
being 8 inches, received from Howietown in June, 1882, there were 47 coecal
appendages, and mostly shorter than in the brook-trout : the length of the head
was 4| in that of the total length. Colours generally grayish or greenish alone
the back, becoming lighter on the sides and beneath. Numerous, moderate numbers,
or few round black spots, encircled by a light ring on the gill covers and upper
surface of the head, while the upper half, or two-thirds of the body, has numerous
X-shaped or even rounded black spots scattered over its surface. Dorsal fin gray,
with numerous black white-edged spots, but without any white tip to the fin :
frequently black marks upon the adipose dorsal. Usually the upper half of the
caudal fin is spotted. At Howietown, where such excellent opportunities exist
for trying the effects of various forms of food and watching the results, it has
been observed (page 61) that on arriving at the fourth year a general yellow
tinge shows itself. On first seeing a pond of these fish which have been fed upon
clams, and as they come to the surface in large numbers, when a little food
is thrown in, they give the observer the idea that he is looking at the common
brook-trout, and it is not until some have been removed from the water and their
comparatively short heads seen, that the illusion is dispelled. In the tanks in
which horse-flesh and vegetables are given as food an apparently very different
sort comes to the surface, having a bright silvery hue with black spots, and it
seems difficult to realize the fact that this is almost entirely due to change of diet.
I have also alluded to (page 61) how these fish when in the parr stage retain
their red spots up to the period of eighteen months, or even three years, but that
such may likewise be perceived in these trout when intermediate between kelts
and fresh run or well-mended fish. Although in some few examples they may
be present all the year round.

Lacepede's species from the lakes of Cumberland and Scotland, having a small
head, with white flesh, and externally of a gray colour, is very probably this
species. Dr. Knox (Journ. Linn. Soc. Dec. 19th, 1854), observes, at first he
had thought this a specific form, " although anatomical investigations had not
hitherto confirmed it." He remarked that it was in the highest condition from
December until March.

This form of trout agrees with the variety of the sea-trout termed Salmo albus,
in its same short head, preopercle with a very indistinct lower limb, and pointed
pectoral fins, but it differs in the inconstant character of the number of ccecal
appendages. The most positive difference is in the character of its vomerine
teeth, possessing as it does a double row along the body of that bone. In early
life all fishes of this genus are well provided with vomerine teeth, which are
more deciduous in anadromous than in fresh water forms. This would appear
to point out that a fresh water existence is more conducive to their retention
than living in the sea is, consequently it might be anticipated that were marine
forms to take in a permanent fresh water condition of life these teeth would
be less deciduous. This in fact is the distinction between the Loch Leven trout
and the white sea-trout, and in the sewin we perceive a graduated series
(page 59) from the sea to the fresh water form, whereas in this instance all
communication between the two has ceased to exist. Unless the example from
Howietown which I dissected is an exception, it would seem that change of
locality to a smaller piece of water has been coincident with a decrease in
the number of the pyloric appendages, coupled with a decided lengthening of
the head.

Habits. These are similar to what have been remarked in the brook-trout.
During the breeding season it has been observed that some adults possess abraded

94 PHYSOSTOML

noses, due apparently to rubbing or routing up the ground for eggs, but as
such is not seen among unripe tish it is suggested that it may be occasioned
by their searching for suitable places in which to form redds.

At Sir J. Gibson-Maitland's Howietown fishery, one fact was very patent, that
the form of trout least alarmed at the presence of strangers was the Loch Leven,
coming immediately to the surface for food, making the water bubble with their
numerous forms, while they allowed themselves to be removed by means of a hand-
net ; the American charr kept more to the mid- water ; but the common brook-
trout were so cunning that the very sight of a net caused them to dive down
and remain at the bottom. It may be that this difference in character is due
to inherited instinct and that by the time the Loch Leven trout have been
exposed to capture for several generations they will be as crafty as the Salmo
fario has now become. Some of the young raised at Howietown are observed
to take on cannibal propensities, if small their colour becomes yellow, their teeth
abnormally developed, while they rapidly augment in size. At Loch Leven
during the breeding season these fishes are observed to push up rivers to deposit
their spawn, and in these localities the young are hatched and the parr i-eared.
In fact its habits appear to be migratory to a qualified extent, the parr not leaving
the burns for the loch until they are from ten to eighteen months of age.

Knox found that they were tilled with entomostraca in the month of January,
but that during the remainder of the year they lived on Buccinum : at Howietown
they thrive on clams, horseflesh, or even vegetable diet.

If we turn to Sir Robert Sibbald's History of Kinross-shire, compiled about
a hundred and seventy years ago, w T e read "Loch Leven abounds with fine
fish, such as salmon taken in summer;" while showing to how recent a date
anadromous forms have been recorded there, we find in Graham, " General view
of the agriculture of Kinross and Clackmannan," published towards the commence-
ment of the present century, that among other fishes " flounders are also found in
Loch Leven." These instances agree with the general traditions of that part
of the country, that marine fish formerly had free ingress into and egress from
Loch Leven, but when this ceased is questionable. Prior to 1830 the loch
covered a superficial space of 4312 acres, but in the month of December that
year it was induced to 3543 acres by the completion of a drainage scheme,
promoted partly by landowners in the vicinity to reclaim land and partly by mill
owners on the river Leven to give a regular supply of water to their mills. Through
the new cut the water has since been carried, reducing the level of the loch nine
feet below what it previously stood at. Sea fish cannot possibly obtain ingress,
a matter of not so much consequence, as the bleach and other works on the river
render the water too poisonous for any fish to pass up them alive.

These drainage works do not appear to have proved beneficial to the tr*out in
the loch, where from 1846 to 1855 the captures principally taken by net averaged
annually 13,200, subsequent to which I have not obtained the figures until 1872,
when 18,000 were taken by anglers and 2000 by net : and in 1873, when 13,394
were taken by the rod. Latterly this loch has been much frequented by anglers,
and as the fish (probably due to the excessive lowness of the burns), appear now to
be less favourable for breeding, artificial stocking has been resorted to.

Sir J. Gibson-Maitland (Field, Sept. 23rd, 1882) shows the results of stocking
this loch from his establishment at Howietown :
1875, fry turned in 9000 : captures 5093

3227
6286
13,519
21,491
19,642
16,811
9-018

It is pointed out that it takes two seasons for the fry to attain to a size worth
taking, a conclusion which agrees with the figures, also that with the increased
captures at first there is a diminution in the weight of the individual fish.

1876

5)

11

50,000 :

1877

)

11

70,000 :

1878

11

11

? :

1879

11

11

none :

1880

11

none :

1881

)>

11

none :

1882

11

11

50,000 :

average weight each 1413 lb.
1-086 lb.
901 lb.
-685 lb.
-7771b.
960 lb.
1-050 lb.
?

SALMONID^E. 95

Breeding. Similar to the brook-trout, at Loch Leven they ascend the streams for
tin's purpose towards the end of September or commencement of October. Sir
J. Gibson-Maitland crossed the ova of the Loch Leven trout with the milt of the
sea-trout in the winter of 1881, and 95 per cent, were hatched. It appears to me
that the progeny will not be hybrids, but merely two varieties of one form breeding
together with the result of non-migratory Loch Leven trout having perhaps more
migratory instincts.

Before passing on to the next species, I cannot resist remarking upon the
magnificent fish-breeding establishment at Howietown, raised by the energetic
skill and capital of Sir J. Gibson-Maitland. Here, although charr and brook-
trout are reared, it is the Loch Leven trout that is more especially cared for. The
hatching-houses are capable of hatching and raising 12,000,000 eggs and young
fry up to the period when they can feed themselves, when they are transferred
to the rearing-ponds, which are in a regular series, so that each year's produce is
kept by itself. To show what good management and judicious skill may effect, I
Avould instance the pond for the six-year old fish, 80 yards by 40 yards, with a
stream passing through it : here, when I visited this interesting establishment,
were 1200 Loch Leven trout from 4 to 7 lb. weight each, and all in excellent con-
dition, conclusively demonstrating how watery wastes can be turned into excellent
food-producing reservoirs. If the experiment proves a financial success, as appears
highly probable, its owner hopes to see similar institutions elsewhere, which
would be the means of extending to an almost unlimited extent the fish-producing
properties of the country now so lamentably wasted, from the apathy of the
owners, the greed of the fishermen and the want of energy and knowledge in our
legislators.

Diseases. These fishes are affected with disease similarly to the salmon and the
trout, while bay-salt has been used with success at Howietown in order to arrest
a fungus which has from time to time appeared in the ponds. I was informed
that crows after having eaten diseased fish moulted and became most miserable
objects and three or four were thought to have become leprous.

As food. The Loch Leven trout is generally very highly esteemed, not only for
the red colour of its flesh, but because it possesses a peculiar delicacy of flavour.

Habitat. This non-migratory fresh water trout is found in Loch Leven in
Fifeshire, and other lochs in the south of Scotland and the north of England ;
while due to the success of the artificial fish-breeding at Howietown the variety
is being extended all over the kingdom to as far south as Hampshire. Whether
in a few years all trace of them will have been lost, and they will assume the
colour and proportions of the brook-trout, only time can demonstrate. In the
English edition of Limueus incorporated into the Encyclopedia Londinensis, p. 53,
it is observed, " that it is not above fifty years ago that Mr. Copland conveyed
perch into the Ken-loch and the River Urr, where tbey have thriven remarkably
well : as has been the case with the trout taken from the River Leven and
deposited into Loch Long in the county of Renfrew." While Parnell recorded
having met with this form so far north as Sutherlandshire.

As to the size this fish attains, six-year-old examples, some weighing as much
as 7 lb., were found at the Howietown ponds in 1882. In Loch Leven on April 27th,
one 10 lb. weight was netted ; while in the New Statistical Account of Scotland
mention is made of two examples captured previous to that date, one being
nearly 9 lb., the other almost 18 lb.

The example figured is 12 inches in length, and one of a pair sent me from
Loch Leven by the late Mr. Alston.

2 B. Salmo fario, Plates CIX, fig. 3, and CXIII, CXIV, and CXVI, fig. 1.

Trutta fiuviatilis, Will. p. 199 ; Ray, p. 65 ; Sibbald, Scot. Illus. no. 25. Trout,
Pennant, Brit. Zool. (Ed. 1776) iii, p. 297, pi. lix, and (Ed. 1812) iii, p. 399,
pi. lxx.

Salmo fario, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 509 ; Bloch, Ich. t. xxii, xxiii ; Gmel.
Linn. p. 1367 ; Bl. Schn. p. 400; Tnrton, Brit. Fauna, p. 103; Bonn. Ency. Ich.

96 PHYSOSTOMI.

p. 160, pi. Ivi, f. 266; Donovan, Brit. Fishes, iv, pi. \xxxv ; Risso, Ich. Nice,
p. 322 and Eur. Merid. iii, p. 460 ; Flem. Brit. An. p. 181 ; Jardine, Edin. New
Phil. Journal, xviii, p. 51 and Salmonidse, t. v-xii ; Richards. Fann. Bor. Amer.
p. 144, pi. xcii, fig. 3; Jenyns, Manual, p. 424; Parnell, Wern. Mem. vii, p. 304,
t. xxx, and Fish. Firth of Forth, p. 144, t. xxx ; Kroyer, Dan. Fiske, ii, p. 625,
c. fig. ; Nilss. Skand. Faun. p. 415 ; White, Catal. p. 77 ; Gunther, Catal. vi,
p. 59 ; Gronov. ed. Gray, p. 152 ; Giglioli, Catal. Pesc. Ital. p. 44 ; Steind.
Ak. Wiss. Wien. liii, 1866, p. 203.

Salmo trutta, Lacepede, v, p. 189.

Salmo fario, var. Forestensis, Bl. Schn. p. 400.

Salar ausonii, Cuv. and Val. xxi, p. 319.

Fario lemanus, Cuv. and Val. xxi, p. 300, pi. 617.

Trutta fario, Siehold, Suss. w. f. p. 319 ; Canestrini, Fauna d'ltalia, Pesci,
p. 24 ; Moreau, Poiss. France, iii, p. 533.

Variety a. Salmo orcadensis, Plate CXIV, fig. 1.

The Salmon, Low, Fauna Oread, p. 220.

Salmo orcadensis, Gunther, Catal. vi, p. 91 ; Houghton, Brit. Freshwater
Fishes, p. 121, c. fig.

" Mr. Low says, in the Loch of Stenness, Orkneys, is found the gray trout :
also a trout of 36 lb. weight or more, along with the common trout, occurs both
there and in Zetland." This large form Richardson considered to be Salmo ferox,
and Gunther a new species which he termed S. orcadensis. This loch is the largest
in the Orkneys, about 9 miles long and 1| broad, fresh in the upper portion,
brackish or even salt in the lower. Dr. Gunther defines this fish as " a non-
migratory trout," very similar to S. nigripinnis, but distinguished from it by a
broader and stronger maxillary, larger scales on the tail and a greater number
(50) of pyloric appendages, instead of from 36 to 42, while S. ferox has at least 49.
The teeth along the body of the vomer form a single or double row which are
more or less persistent. Richardson was evidently correct in associating it with
S. ferox possessing saline proclivities.

Variety b. Salmo ferox, Plate CXVI, fig. 1, monstrosity.

Salmo lacustris, Berkenhout's Sjm. Ed. 1795, i, p. 79, sp. 3.

Salmo ferox, Jardine, Ency. Brit. (ed. 7) Art. Angling, p. 142, and Edin. New
Phil. Journal, xviii, p. 55, and Salm. pi. iv ; Jenyns, Manual, p. 425 ; Yarrell,
(ed. 1) ii, p. 60, c. fig. (ed. 2) ii, p. 110 (ed. 3) i, p. 288 ; Richards. Fauna Bor.-
Amer. Fish, p. 144; ISilss. Skan. Faun. p. 412; White, Catal. p. 78; Gunther,
Catal. vi, p. 92.

Salar ferox, Cuv. and Val. xxi, p 338.

Lalce trout or Buddagh, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, iv, p. 222.

This seems to be a trout which has taken on cannibal propensities (see
page 94) and its food appears to bo almost exclusively fish. It attains a large
size, while Richardson alluded to a variety occurring in Loch Lojal, in Sutherland,
of a purplish brown above, blackish gray beneath, and the entire body covered
with dark sepia-coloured spots, smallest below the lateral-line. It is known as
.lliiildagh or " big fat fellow " in Lough Neagh and some parts of Ireland (Harris,
Hist. Co. Down, 1744, p. 236), and is said to be a deep water form confined to
lakes, seldom wandering to rivers or to the sea, mostly taken by trolling, though
sometimes with a fly. It has been known to return a second or third time to the
bait even after it has been dragged 40 or 50 yards. It ascends a short distance
up rivers to spawn : Thompson found one from 10 to 12 lb. weight contained
4620 ova. Its flesh is of a dull orange colour and generally coarse. It has been
found in the lochs of the north of Scotland and as far south as Ulswater and
Derwentwater : also Llanberris in Wales, and in many Irish lakes as Lough
Neagh, L. Melvin, L. Eske, L. Erne, and most of the larger ones.

Among our earlier British ichthyologists we find that Berkenhout termed the

SALM0NIDJ3. 97

" great lake-trout " 8. lacustris (under which name it appears in Sampson's
Londonderry and Dubourdieu's Co. Down), supposing it to be identical with
the continental variety ; but of late years differences have been asserted to exist
between the British and foreign race. Jardine and Selby termed ours S. ferox,
the specific name having been chosen to characterize its size and ferocious habits.
Jurine believed in the specific identity of all the forms of trout in the Lake of
Geneva; and it would be but reasonable to expect that if the British 8. fario
under favourable conditions could attain the size of 8. ferox, the continental
8. fario, which is the same species, would, under like conditions, also arrive at
being a great lake-trout. Moreau (vol. iii, p. 534) places among the synonyms
of Trutta (or Salmo) fario, " La Forelle du Lac Leman, Fario Lemanus ;" and at
p. 536 observes, " La Truite feroce, Trutta ferox, Valenc, des eaux du Foretz est
une simple variete de la Truite vulgaire, et nullement une espece particulierc."

Although these authors have, in my opinion, been perfectly correct, still there
existed the statement of Dr. Giinther that structural differences existed among
the specimens in the British Museum, showing that S. ferox possessed 56 to
57 vertebra? and 43 to 49 caeca, while 8. fario had 57 to 60 vertebrae and 33 to 47
caeca. I have, however, now shown (page 56) that examples of S. fario may have
from 56 to 60 vertebrae, and likewise from 33 to 54 caeca ; thas overlapping the entire
amount of variations ascribed to British forms. Sir William Jardine stated
that " the dorsal fin in 8. ferox contains 15 rays, and appears to be constant in
that number;" and that " in form it is generally shorter proportionally and deeper
than in large specimens of 8. fario." Sir J. Richardson distinguished between the
great lake-trout and brook-trout by the size attained. The tail " in adults is
perfectly square, or might even be described as slightly rounded at its extremity ;
in the young it is slightly forked, and appears to fill up gradually as the fish
advances in age." The relative position of the fins and the number of rays in
the dorsal, were said to vary from 2-4/11 or a total of from 13 to 15. Thompson
observes that he found from 33 to 49 caeca in various examples of 8. ferox from
12 to 17 inches in length.

I possess undoubted examples of the common brook-trout having from 13 to
15 dorsal rays : Moreau likewise in French specimens of the brook-trout found 3
or 4 undivided and 9 to 11 divided rays in the dorsal fin : likewise 3 undivided
and 7 to 9 divided anal rays : while as to the caudal fin being square in adults, so
it also is in large examples of the brook-trout. Yarrell (ed. 3, i, p. 281) gives an
illustration of a large Thames trout (a locality not frequented by 8. ferox according
to authors), in which the caudal fin is as rounded as in any examples of great lake-
trout of similar size. It was a male, 28 inches long, having a hooked lower jaw,
while it weighed 11 lb. The comparative length of the head and height of the
body are almost identical with what obtains in an example of 8. ferox, 20 inches
long, from Llanberris, and which is in the British Museum. I examined a few
years since a specimen (which is still preserved) of trout, weighing upwards of
131b., taken from a large sheet of water at Alresford in Hampshire, which is well
stocked with coarse fish. This was one of about a dozen that some years
previously had been transferred from the contiguous stream, to which they could
not subsequently obtain access. Without a history of from whence the fish came,
I maintain that no ichthyologist could be certain whether any given specimen is
or is not a " great lake-trout."

" The trout," says Dr. J. Davy, " when it feeds principally upon fish must be
extremely active and strong ; and consequently, from its predatory mobile habits,
acquires large teeth, large fleshy fins, thick skin, and great pectoral fins for
turning."

Variety c Salmo Con. uMensis, Plate CXIII, fig. 2.

Trout, Borlase, Cornwall, p. 263, pi. xxvi, f. 1.

Salmo Cornubiensis, Walb. Artedi, iii, p. 65 ; Bl. Schn. p. 421.

This is a form mostly residing in small streams, and in which the parr finger
marks are continued through life, unless under changed conditions it increases
beyond its usual size, when these markings disappear.

7

98 PHYSOSTOMI.

Variety d. Salmo nigripinnis, Plate CXV, fig. 2.

Salmo nigripinnis, Giinther, Catal. vi, p. 96 ; Houghton, British Freshwater
Fishes, p. 120, c. fig.

I now propose alluding to Salmo nigripinnis, Giinther, which is similar to
S. Cornubiensis as described by Borlase, Artedi, etc., and which for many reasons
may be considered as a variety which in suitable localities frequently
developes into S. ferox. I have been most liberally supplied with specimens
from Cardiganshire, through the kindness of Sir Pryse Pryse ; and among them
is one form which was alluded to by Barrington, in the Transactions of the
Royal Society for 1774, as the " Hog- backed Trout of Plinlimmon " (Plate
CXI, fig. 1), which Dr. Giinther, as I believe correctly, considered identical with
his S. nigripinnis. My example, which is about 11 inches in length, is peculiarly
interesting, as forming a link between S. nigripinnis and 8. ferox, pertaining
partly to one form and partly to the other. The following are the differences
noted in the British Museum Catalogue :

Salmo nigripinnis. Salmo ferox.

D. 14, A. 12, P. 13, Csec. 36-42; D. 14, A. 10-11,* P. 16, Crec. 44-49;

Vert. 57-59. Vert. 58-59.

Head small. Snout not much pro- Head of moderate size. Snout

duced in males. No mandibular hook much produced in males. Mandibular

observed. Head of vomer with a trans- hook when spawning. Head of vomer

verse band of teeth, on body generally small, toothless ; body with a double or

in a single series. Female mature at zigzag line of teeth. Caudal truncated

7 inches. Largest example observed, at 18 inches; in larger examples

16 inches. rounded. Female mature at 14 inches.

Largest example observed, 31 inches.

These reputed two species have been found residing in nearly or quite the
same localities in England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. The size of the speci-
mens examined is important, as tending to modify the conformation of the
opercular pieces, as well as of the fins, the character of the scaling, the propor-
tionate diameter of the eye, and the existence or the reverse of the teeth on the
front of the body of the vomer. The teeth being present on the anterior part
of the body of the vomer in the smaller S. nigripinnis, but absent from the
same place in the larger ones, S. ferox, is symptomatic of endentulation due to
age. The same argument applies to the mandibular hook, it being well known
that among the Salmonidse this production is absent in young males, as may be
readily observed in the parr which possess milt ready for shedding. The number
of pectoral rays is immaterial, as I find, even in the British Museum specimens,
examples of S. nigripinnis, S. ferox, and S.fario possessing from 13 to 15.

The foregoing leaves the following as Dr. Giinther's primary reasons for
dividing these two so-called species : S. nigripinnis has D. 14, A. 12 ; head of
the vomer-toothed, and generally a single row along the body of that bone ; caudal
fin with pointed lobes. S. ferox : D. 13, A. 10-11 ;* no teeth on the head of the
vomer, but a double row along the body of the bone ; caudal fin truncated.

The example of the " hog-backed trout " in my collection has D. 14, teeth on
the front portion of the body of the vomer, and a distinct lower limb to the
preopercle, thus belonging to S. nigripinnis. Likewise A. 11, a double line of
teeth along the body of the vomer, and the caudal fin almost square at its extremity
or becoming similar to what is given as diagnostic of S. ferox.

I have likewise six smaller examples of S. nigripinnis in which teeth are
present on the front portion of the body of the vomer and in a zigzag line along
the body of that bone ; the caudal fin in the smallest has pointed lobes, which
have become rounded in larger specimens ; the ccecal appendages varied from
35 to 44. In some of these fish the posterior margin of the preopercle was

* Thompson (iv, p. 157) found D. 13-14, A. 11-12.

SALMONIBvE. 99

rounded, and had no distinct lower limb. The maxilla was much feebler than
seen in some other local races of brook-trout, which was remarkably the case on
comparing it with a beautiful Yorkshire variety sent me by Mr. G. Brooks, f.l.s. ;
but even among the Yorkshire specimens I found great differences to exist.
These Cardiganshire fish in the Tivy are found to 4 lb. or 5 lb. weight, but rarely
if ever take a fly when so large, bat are to be caught by means of a minnow.
Small ones removed to a pond attain in about 3 years to 31b. or 3^- lb. in size,
their flesh is pinkish, and their flavour said to be excellent. Out of 8 examples,
6 had no red spots, one had them along the lateral-line : and the last had them
both on the lateral-line and in one or two rows below it.*

If a trout, normally belonging to a small race, as S. Comubiensis, is transferred
to a lake or reservoir, as in the one near Penzance, where food is plentiful, it
attains a size to which it never reaches in its ancestral stream, showing capacity
for growth to be inherent, and called into action by luxuriant living. In Scotland
the largest examples are in lochs ; so also in Wales and Ireland, although
occasionally a large one may be found in a sluggish stream, especially if such
passes over a rich soil. Should food be plentiful, a brook-trout may attain to many
pounds in weight in suitable localities in fact to as large a size as the great
lake-trout, which I hold to be merely a form of S. fario which indulges in
luxurious living, or cannibal propensities.

Variety e. Salmo estuarius, Plate CIX, fig. 3.

Sahno estuarius, Knox, Zoologist, 1855, xiii, p. 4662.

Salmo gallivensis, Giinther, Catal. vi, p. 88; Houghton, Brit. Freshwater
Fishes, p. 105, c. fig.

The most characteristic peculiarity of this form is said to be found in the
small size of the coecal appendages : also that it is at once recognized from Salmo
trutta by the excessive shortness of the tabes on the lateral-line. Four examples
were recorded and four more passing into the brook-trout, termed hybrids. It is
similarly coloured to freshwater forms. Knox's example had sixty vertebras,
similar to the number present in the British Museum specimen, and the name he
gave well denotes the chief characteristic of this variety. The example figured
is 19 inches long, and came from Waterford. Mr. J. Har vie- Brown took in June,
1882, from a sea-pool or fish-pool at the mouth of the river, freshwater at low tide,
salt or brackish at high- water, brown-river trout, periodically visiting the brackish
localities, and taking on a silvery sheen of scales, much as he found them in
North Uist. They are said to lose condition about spawning time, then disappear
but not to ascend streams to breed. Couch alludes to Knox's estuary trout and
observes upon its being a fish which has gone to the sea, and that he had received
examples migrating seawards in May towards the deep.

Variety /. Salmo stomachicus.

The Gillaroo, Barrington, Phil. Trans. Royal Soc. 1774, lxiv, p. 116; Watson,
1. c. p. 121 ; Hunter, 1. c. p. 210 ; Sowerby, Brit. Misc. t. lxi ; Yarrell, Brit. Fish,
(ed. 3) i, p. 283 ; Thompson, Nat. Hist. Ireland, iv, p. 154 : Couch, Fish. Brit.
Isles, iv, p. 240, pi. ccix.

Salmo stomachicus, Giinther, Catal. vi, p. 95 : Hoaghton, Brit. F. W. Fishes,
p. 125, c. fig.

This has been considered distinct, due to the abnormal thickness of the middle
coat of its stomach, otherwise, observes Mr. Barrington, there are no exterior
marks by which the species can be distinguished from the common trout.
Pennant asserted that the increased thickness of the stomach proceeds from the
superior quantity of shell-fish which it finds in the waters it inhabits, and which
may call more frequently for the use of its comminuting powers than is requisite

* I intend depositing all these forms, along with my British collection of fish, in the South
Kensington Museum.

7 *

100 PHYSOSTOMI.

in those of our trout. Thompson (1. c.) observes that the coats of other
species of Salmones than S.farw (of which only the Gillaroo is set down as a
variety) become muscular from the same cause. He alluded to having found it in
8. ferox. Sir J. Richardson observes : " We may here note the existence of a
strongly-marked and peculiar variety, called the Gillaroo trout of Galway. It
is remarkable for feeding on shell-fish, in consequence of which (it is supposed)
the coats of the stomach acquire a great degree of thickness, from which peculiarity
it is sometimes called the gizzard trout." * Sir H. Davy remarks that " the charr
of the lakes of Southern Austria feeding similarly (to the Gillaroo trout) have a
like thick stomach." It generally prefers a rocky bottom, and is said to breed in
lakes in their shallower pails, and not to ascend rivers for this purpose. But it
is found in the Shannon, Lough Corrib, Lough Mask, Lough Derg, Lough
Melvin, &c. The colours of this variety may be due to the character of the food
it indulges in, while in some localities its flavour is considered excellent, in
others quite the reverse. In Lough Melvin it is somewhat hog-backed, fine in
colour, and well flavoured : in Lough Derg, soft, colourless, and inferior. Its
stomachs are occasionally served up in Ireland as gizzards. Thompson obtained
from the stomach of one example, about 8 inches long, above 1000 shells of
Limneus pereger, Valvata obtusata, and a few Cyclas cornea. Stoddart observes:
this variety is found in a small tarn or loch, situated on a shoulder of Ben
More, in Sutherlandshire, about three miles from Innisnadamph, named Mulach
Corry.

Variety g Swaledale trout. Plate CXV, fig. 1 .

B. xi, D. 12-13 (/_v 4 o) | 0, P. 13-14, V. 9, A. 10-11 ( s ), L. 1. 125, Ccec. pyl. 35.

This variety, which is comparatively rather broad, was given me by Mr. G.
Brooks, F.L.S., who informs me that it is found in Oxnop Beck, Swaledale,
Yorkshire. The example figured is a female 10 inches in length. There is a
considerable difference in the form and proportions of the sevei-al examples..
Colours it is the most beautifully-tinted form that I have seen, being finely
studded with black dots placed in a light circle, and likewise with numerous blue
marks and red spots. Its. dorsal fin is finely spotted, but the white anterior edge,
so constant in most freshwater forms, is indistinct or absent. Scales fifteen
rows between the posterior edge of the base of the adipose dorsal in a line passing
downwards and forwards to the lateral-line. Stomach thickened and similar to the
variety termed Gillaroo, which form, Dr. Giinther observes, possesses forty-four
cceca, consequently if a variation in the number of such are diagnostic of distinct
species, this is a variety of the Gillaroo. Respecting its exact habitat, Mr. Brooks
observes that the upper part of the beck runs over millstone grit, but as it leaves the
moor it gets upon mountain limestone, and from this point, for a mile and a half,
to the point where it joins the Swale, it is composed of numerous small falls, with
intervening little dark pools in which the trout lie. The beck is overhung all
the way (on the limestone) by trees, mostly alder, silver birch and hazel, but with
a good sprinkling of elm, mountain ash, &c. The beck is closely overhung and is
in a narrow ravine.

Variety h. Crassapuill trout.

B. xi-xiii, D. 12-13 ( 9 3 -i*o) | 0, P. 14, V. 10, A. 11 (), L. 1. 125, L. t. 27/32.

Six examples of this exceedingly interesting variety were sent me by Mr.
Harvie-Brown in June, 1882. They were taken in Sutherlandshire, at Loch
Crassapuil, where they are looked upon as land-locked sea-trout. Their fin rays
are similar to those of Sahno levenensis ; a transverse row of teeth is present across
the anterior portion of the vomer, and a double row along its body. The preopercle
has a distinct lower limb in some, indistinctin others, while the shape of the subopercle

* Hunter's experiments with hard and soft food on gulls, showed thickening of the muscular
wall of the stomach occurred due to increased use.

SALMONID^B. 101

varies. Fins the pectoral is as long as the head excluding the snout, it is not
quite so pointed as in the Loch Leven form, nor so rounded as in the common
brook-trout, but intermediate between the two. Scales 125 rows along the
lateral-line, 15 from the base of the adipose dorsal to the lateral-line, 25 froni the
lateral- line to the base of the ventral tin. Coecal appendages 46 in the one
examined. Length of head 4 | to 5 in the total length. Colours silvery, with
the upper two thirds of the body and head closely covered with x-shaped or round
black spots, and in two of the examples a few red spots but mostly confined
to the lateral-line. The loch has a pure white sandy bottom, which probably
accounts for their silvery colour. When fresh caught their backs are of a vivid
green, varying to pale sea-green and dark olive, in accordance with the depth of
the water in which they live. Dorsal fin covered with black spots.

These fish have the silvery appearance of auadromous forms, and externally
strongly resemble the Loch Leven variety, but the number of coecal appendages is
different, being almost identical with that observed in a Loch Leven example raised
at Howietown, and one step nearer x'emoved from its marine ancestry than is the
true S. levenensis. Did this species run up rivers, doubtless they would take on
the colours of the brook-trout, as they have its dentition. They attain to 3 lb. or
4 lb. weight.

Mr. J. Harvie-Brown (Land and Water) observes that at a far inland locality
in Sutherkindshire, brown trout, dark and spotted, were caught in 1877, and
introduced to a chain of lochs in the same county, which have their sources in
innumerable springs of clear water from granite and limestone mountains
(principally the former, as the limestone, for the most part, is at a lower level).
These fish became, in a single year, silvery and covered with minute bright scales
like sea-trout, and grew to the size of 1 lb. weight in twelve months, from at most
j of a lb. The food in the loch is shell-fish and tadpoles, and the bottom granite,
gravel, and sand.

Monstrosities. Hog-backed trout of Plinlimmon, Cambridge Quart. Mag. 1833,
p. 391 ; Cobbold, Edinb. New Phil. Journ. ii, 1855, pi. vi.

B. xii, D. 12-15 (jfr) | 0, P. 13-15, V. 9, A. 10-12 ( T %), C. 19, LI. lff:#f
Vert. 57-60.

Length of head 4j to 4f- (in old breeding males 3|), of caudal fin 7 to 7\
height of body 4|- to 5 in the total length. Head much more pointed in some
forms than in others. Eyes diameter 4| to 6 in the length of the head, varying
with the size and age of the specimen, \\ to 2 diameters from the end of the snout
and the same apart. In old breeding males the eyes are comparatively smaller,
and as much as 3 or 3^ diameters from the end of the suout and also apart.
Teeth in a double zigzag row along the body of the vomer, and in a transverse row
across the anterior portion of that bone where it is joined with the palatine arch.
Fins the first dorsal (except in old breeding males), as a rule, commences some-
what nearer to the snout than to the base of the upper caudal ray ; the height of
the anterior ray usually exceeds the length of its base. Origin of adipose dorsal
fin about midway between the anterior insertion of the base of the rayed dorsal
and the posterior extremity of the upper caudal lobe. . Pectoral as long as the
postorbital portion of the head, or even of the entire head excluding the snout, in
some examples it is more pointed than it is in others. Ventral inserted beneath the
middle or last third of the base of the dorsal fin. Caudal forked in the very
young, emarginate in those of a medium size, becoming square in large examples,
or even rounded. Scales from 13 to 15 rows between the hind end of the
adipose dorsal fin in a row passing downwards and towards the lateral-line.
About 26 or 27 rows from the lateral-line to the base of the ventral fin. Coecal
appendages these differ considerably, apparently being influenced to a great
extent by the locality they inhabit and the food which they can obtain.
Colours these vary as has already been observed (see page 57), not only with
locality but also owing to changes of food. Those from Wales and along the
S.W. coast are of a somewhat darker appearance than those from the Midland
counties and towards the north, and have rather more black but less red spots.

102 PHYSOSTOMI.

I have already (p. 57) alluded to the parr marks of the young being
occasionally continued throughout life in small forms, evidently adding to the
confusion respecting what is a parr.

Varieties. Trout, as already remarked, are exceedingly liable to variation,
due to several causes. Some of these abnormal productions would seem to be
hereditary ; in others the same exciting cause continuing in action occasions
results as in previous generations. Giraldus Cambrensis, lib. iii, c. x, the
Archdeacon of Brecon, who attended Baldwin, Archbishop of Canterbury,
in a progress through "Wales in 1188, tells us of eels, trout and perch existing
in the lakes of Snowdon which only possessed the right eye, but being
invariably blind with the left. The Fischau, near Mandorf in Germany, was
reputed to contain blind trout (Fr. Ern. Bruckmanni Epist. Itin. xxxvi, Wolfenb.
1734, p. 10). A deformed race of trout is asserted to exist in a small loch in
Invernesshire near Pitmain ; among them there appears to be an arrest of develop-
ment in the upper jaw, giving their heads a slight resemblance to those of bulldogs,
due to the projection of the lower jaw (Encyc. Brit. 7th ed., art. Ang.). Similar
malformations are seen in the "ground trout " of Penyghent (Yorkshire Vertebrata)
and many other places. In Loch Islay exists a race of tailless trout, Salmo
Islayensis, Thomson (Traquair, Journ. Anat. Phy. vi, p. 411, pi. xix, and
Thompson, Science Gossip, 1872, p. 85), which in some streams has been traced to
be due to the action of deleterious matter in the water (see Angler's Note Book,
1880, p. 66). Mr. J. Harvie-Brown observed, about 1876, in the river Carron that
a contraction of the rays of the tail fins of the trout commenced, due it was
universally believed to continuous pollution of the water through the agency of
paper mills. At Malham Tarn, in Yorkshire, 1240 feet above sea level, the trout
are distinguished by a deficiency or malformation of the gill-covers in about one
in every fifteen captured. As I have seen the same result from breeding in
confined places, I believe such to be one at least of the causes, perhaps conjoined
with gill-fever when young. On Plinlimmon, and in adjacent parts of Wales, are
" hunch-backed " trout, having deformed vertebral columns as already alluded to.
In some, at least, of these instances the young are reared where cascades are falling
over heights into a series of pools, and it has seemed to me not unlikely that
either the egg or the fry coming within the reach of such, might suffer injury,
and consequent disease of the spine (so common in fishes) be set up. Barrington
(Phil. Trans. 1767) remarking upon some examples crooked near the tail
continues, " these trout are only caught in a small basin, eight or nine feet deep,
which the river forms after a fall from the rocks." Perch were found to be
similarly affected, the same cause acting apparently on both forms. There are
likewise races in which some local cause has set up local action, as of the stomach
alone. This variety, the Gillaroo (see page 99), due to the food it indulges in, has
the muscular coat of its stomach thickened, which abnormal structure has been
reproduced in succeeding generations. For it must not be assumed, because in
certain examples we are unable to find Lirnnea and other shells, that the fish has
never consumed any ; they may have been digested, or it may have varied its food,
or the shells may have been temporarily unobtainable. In County Derry, in the
river Glenlark in the Munterloney Mountains, "Mr. Sinclaire states that the
water and stones are deeply tinged with a rust colour, of which the trout likewise
partake. Their flesh is very bad and of a metallic flavour ; so bad are they that
the country people will not eat them, and as they are not fished for, the river
abounds in them " (Thompson, iv, 153).

Lunel remarking upon the various specific names that had been given to the
varieties of this species, asserted Salmo fario, 8. lemanus, S.rappii and 8. laciistris,
of Lake Constance to belong to one form which he proposed terming S. variabilis.
Steindachner (Ak. Wiss. Wien, lii, 1865, Nov. 30th) identified 8. detex, Heck,
with 8. fario. Pavesi (Pesci nel Ticino) considered the lake and river-trout of
the Canton to be merely varieties of one species. "Unquestionably," observes
Stoddart (Angler's Companion, 1847, p. 3), "there exists no species of fish
which, judging of it by the external marks, holds claim to so many varieties
as the common freshwater-trout. In Scotland almost every lake, river, and

SALMONID^E. 103

streamlet possesses a breed peculiar in outward appearance to itself." Lord Home
(Yarrell's Fishes) observes of two streams, the Whitadder and its tributary the
Blackadder, that the first flows along a very rocky and gravelly bed, while the
latter rises in mosses, also goes through them in the first half of its course, but
subsequently along a rich and highly cultivated district. The trout in the first
are silvery in colour: while those from the Blackadder are dark with orange
fins. The many varieties are dependent upon external causes and chiefly to the
abundance or the reverse of food and the nature of the water they reside in, the
soil over which it flows, and other causes already treated of (pp. 57, 58).

That this conclusion is based upon proof may be demonstrated by the result
of what has become of the progeny bred from the brook-trout eggs taken in
Hampshire or Bucks, by Buckland or Francis, and transmitted in 1866 to
Tasmania, some of which have become great lake-trout. Mr. Arthur (Trans. Ota-o
Institute, July 9th, 1878) tells us that unlike the Scotch trout which according to
Stoddart show a yearly increase of about one-third of a pound in weight,* in
Otago they grow so rapidly and are so fat that they have reached an average
yearly increment of from 1 lb. to 2 1 lb. Already the various streams have stamped
the trout with local peculiarities : in some they are plump almost to deformity ; their
proportions are not constant neither are their colours. He tells us that examples
were said to have been seen up to 201b. in weight. This year, 1882, one 31 inches
long and weighing 19 lb. was caught at Temuka, its flesh was of a pale orange : last
year Mr. Grwatkin captured one in Canterbury, that turned the scale at 21 lb. The
foregoing facts corroborate my views that all our forms of trout are varieties of
one species, and the so-called hybrids are not mules but mongrels, being the
result of the crossing of varieties. Consequently, sterility need not be anticipated ;
but, on the contrary, improvement is more likely to ensue (should there be no
deficiency in food) than when the stock is bred in and in.

It also tends to show that where small, but not malformed, breeds of trout
exist, riparian propi'ietors had far better investigate the condition of the food-
supply and nature of the waters in their streams than rely upon the introduction
of larger races. For, sooner or later, new stock will become indistinguishable from
the original local breed in colour, form, and size.

Hybrids. That hybrids exist among the Salinonidse and can be artificially
produced by the pisciculturist, f I have already pointed out (p. 59). It was with
much interest that I received in July, 1882, from Sir Pryse Pryse an undoubted
hybrid between the brook-trout and the American charr (Salmo fontinalis). The
example was 9 inches long, having the number of rows of scales descending to the
lateral-line intermediate between the two forms ; the fins similarly modified, while
a row of teeth passed in an irregular manner along the body of the vomer. The
organs of generation were undeveloped, the example for this season at least was
certainly sterile ; some American charr of about the same size, received a few days
subsequently from Howietown, had the eggs and milt in a forward condition.

Names. Aller-fioat or aller trout, this refers to a large one frequenting a hole
in a retired or shady portion of a brook under the roots of an alder tree. In
Herefordshire there is a country proverb respecting the " aul "or " alder :"

" When the bud of the aul is as big as a trout's eye
Then that fish is in season, in the river Wye."

* "A correspondent of the New Sporting Magazine, for November, 1840, observes that a friend
of his has kept trout in a kind of store stream, and having fed them with every kind of food, has
had some increase from 1 lb. to 10 lb. in four years. Mr. Toomer placed a trout of 3 lb. which he
caught in the river in a stew, and in about four years it had grown to about 9 lb." (Daniel, Rural
Sports). At Howietown, a Loch Leven trout hatched in 1875 weighed over 8 lb. in October, 1882.

f At Sir J. Gibson-Maitland's, November 14th, 1882, I was given a living hybrid 11 inches
long, it was the produce of a Loch Leven female milted from a salmon on November 25th, 1879, and
hatched in 1880, consequently nearly three years old, in fact a sterile grilse. 1250 living parrs in
the boxes up to 4 inches in length, were the produce of 20,000 eggs of Loch Leven female trout
milted from the salmon, December 24th, 1881, and hatched March 9th, 1882. Their dorsal fins had
the anterior white edge usually seen in the brook-trout. One had 78 cuecal appendages, a second 61.

104 PHYSOSTOMI.

Bach (Northumberland) also rach-rider, a small fcrout : Shot (Westmoreland).
Breac-precht, Highlands of Scotland. Aleoin, fry before it commences to feed by
the mouth. Sceota, Anglo-Saxon, a "shooter" or "darter:" also iruht. Triotht
is an old mode of spelling the name of this fish.

Be f orel, Dutch. Truite, French.

Habits. Bold, voracious, cunning and shy, it possesses keen sight, while it
dreads anything novel it may observe. In some of our streams which are
constantly fished it appears to have become almost insensible to the charms of the
artificial fly, while, should it have been hooked, it would seem to remember the
circumstance. When an outlying fish is disturbed it dashes away and seems to
warn its neighbours by its flight. Sometimes it is so hungry that it appears to take
almost anything : thunderstorms or darkness may cause it to cease from feeding.
A correspondent of the Zoologist (1847, p. 2030) remarks upon a trout kept in
confinement, and on a minnow being thrown in, it would immediately ascend
nearly to the surface, hover over its prey like a hawk for a few seconds, then dash
down and seize it by the head. The larger fish mostly move about in search of
food of an evening and during the night-time, while they generally swim low,
especially in cold weather. A favourite haunt is often behind a stone, or bank,
while it appears to prefer a bush which gives shade from overhead. It
requires moderately pure water, for a carp will live where a trout will die. It
is alarmed by shadows falling over its haunts and the presence of pike, which
take a heavy toll from these fish in some localities, prevents its feeding
freely, causing its condition to be poor and the sport it affords to be
small. It used to be said that chub drive out trout during the four hot months.
If some trout esteem food which causes their flesh to be tinged with red, while
others in the same water appreciate a different sustenance, and consequently are
not thus tinged, if the Gillaroo eats shells, occasioning thickening of the middle
coat of its stomach, while such diet, as a rule, is rejected by the common variety
of brook-trout, it appears to point out that the tastes of some differ from those of
their companions, while it is a well-known fact that certain forms of food promote
fish-growth more rapidly than others. As already observed, those trout which
principally subsist upon freshwater shrimps, Gammari, are generally of the most
brilliant tints, and the most pinky-coloured flesh, while vegetable diet appears to
genei'ally cause a silvery hue and sometimes a dull appearance.

One about 1} lb. weight, taken in June, 1882, in the Tweed, was found to
contain 11 small trout and one minnow. They do not object to small fish, as
minnows, loaches, sticklebacks, &c, water-rats, young birds, frogs, snails, slugs,
worms, leeches, maggots, flies, beetles, moths, and even water-spiders. They will
even swallow one of their own kind two-thirds as large as themselves.

In Mr. Bucklaud's museum existed an example, the stomach of which was
distended by 2470 eggs of the salmon.

They are out of condition subsequent to the breeding season, and in England
Devonshire is considered one of the earliest counties in which they come into
condition, and are fished for as early as the commencement of February.
Elsewhere there are rivers equally forward.

Parfitt found river mollusca, as Valvata picinalis, Blanorbis marginalis, Bhysa
fontinalis, Lvmneus pereger, in the stomachs of some taken in May, in Powderham
Park, Devonshire, but food varies with streams, &c.

Means of capture. These may be either netting, spearing, tickling, poisoning,
or angling. For the methods of netting these fish I must refer to the introduction.
In the dry weather, at the Orkneys in 1882, the water in the Loch of Harray, on
the west mainland, was induced in volume and rendered tepid by a succession of
hot days. The trout assembled in shoals at the mouths of the burns and were
slaughtered in thousands by netting. Spearing is not now permissible, although
it used to be employed by torchlight. Tickling for these fish in small streams is
occasionally employed with success. The angler has several modes of procedure
at his command, if the fish are large, spinning bait may be employed ; or ground
fishing with worms, or fly-fishing either with the real or imitation insect.
Different rivers, seasons, and even periods of the day have their peculiar varieties

salmonim;. 105

of winged insects acceptable to these fish ; as a rule if the water is clear and low,
and wind is absent, small ones are most suitable : if clearing after a flood, or full
but not discoloured the fly-fisher has more chance of sport, as well as if late in the
season when few flies are born. When the water is opaque a worm or spinning
bait may be tried with success. In small streams real flies and grasshoppers may
be used as bait for hooks on a short line, which is bobbed on to the surface of
the stream from over a bush. If once pricked by the hook it is generally but not
invariably shy : while it is disturbed by flies clumsily thrown or splashing into
the water. Frosty weather checks trout moving, and while snow water, or that
derived from the melting of snow, is running into a stream it is almost useless
attempting to use the rod.

Baits. Worms as brandling, gilt-tail meadow worm, tag worm and red
worm for a large one a well scoured dew worm. A minnow or any small silvery
fish, a loach, or a bull-head with its fins removed.

Breeding. The number of eggs produced by each female trout has been
roughly estimated at 800 for every pound's weight of the fish, which computation
has been observed at the Howietown breeding ponds to be fairly accurate. But
the size of the parent exercises a considerable' influence on that of the eggs, thus
in Sir J. Gibson-Maitland's fish house we found the following average numbers
to be present along each line of grilles. Brook-trout 29 to 30 eggs ; Loch Leven
trout, the parents of which were hatched in 1875, 27 or 28, or from those hatched
in 1877, 32 eggs ; and the American charr 36 to 38.* The colour of the eggs are
as various as observed in the salmon, and I have seen some orange, others straw-
coloured, from two fish taken together out of the same stock pond.

The period at which these fish breed varies in different rivers and districts,
extending from September until February and even March. Mr. Harvie-Brown
at Loch Gorm, in Sunderland, which is greatly fed by snow water from the Bact
of Beumore, has taken trout heavy with spawn in June and July.f It has been
questioned whether these fish are annual or biennial breeders, and Dr. J. Davy
came to the conclusion, after examining a large number captured in open streams,
that only half spawned annually. At Howietown, on the contrary, it would seem
to be the rule that an annual spawning occurs, and though such a question is
difficult to settle an instance in point has been observed. A marked example of
Loch Leven trout was spawned at Sir J. Gibson-Maitland's on November 27th,
1874, and again on November 25th, 1875. At Howietown, where about one
million of gallons of water flow through the ponds every twenty-four hours, the
fish develop spawn and milt as regularly as in their native habitat, some even pass
up the aerating channels forming redds there. But in ponds destitute of streams,
certainly no young are produced, either spawn not being developed, remaining
unfertilized, or else from being deposited in an unsuitable place (see page 91). It
has been generally considered that when the ova of these fish have arrived at a
certain stage the female has no power to retain them but they must be extruded,
a conclusion Sir J. Gibson- Maitland has found reason to doubt, as it seemed to
him that a certain amount of pressure is necessary to assist in the discharge of the
eggs, and which is normally effected by pressing against the gravel forming the
redds. Acting on this opinion he has found it possible to retard the extrusion of
of the eggs for as much as a fortnight or even three weeks, by placing the fish in a
wooden box through which a current of water flows.

A trout's redd or nest is a mound of gravel which would fill one or even two
wheelbarrows, and probably by causing a shallow, assists in aerating the water.
The eggs themselves lie loose among the gravel at from one to two feet below the
surface. Eggs w r hen shed are elastic, but soft and sink in water : when artificially
propagated the milt of the male is generally added to the eggs in the pan prior to
the addition of water, subsequently water is added and the mass is gently stirred

* The rough calculation of eggs of Salmoniiia? is that Sahno salar gives 25,000 to the gallon,
8. levenensis 30,000, S- fario 40,000, 8. fontinalis 80,000.

f Mr. Ugilby (co. Tyrone) observes that there is not a month in the year, during which it is
legal to fish, in which trout do not spawn.

106 PHTSOSTOMI.

with the hand. After a short period the eggs become adherent but gradually absorb
water, distend and are like little round balls. The period for which milt will remain
serviceable after removal from the fish is an interesting subject. On October 23rd,
1874, some was obtained at Howietown at 9 a.m. from a Salmo fario, then carried
to Loch Leven in a tightly corked tube, and used at 1.20 p.m., the impregnation
being perfect. Ova or milt may be kept alive for some hours, but on the addition
of water, death rapidly occurs.

Respecting the artificial propagation of these fish, I think I can do no better
than give a summary of the excellent article on " stocking," by Sir J. Gibson-
Maitlancl. Skill and knowledge are requisite in order to select the fish from
which the milt and the ova are to be collected, and likewise to ensure perfect
impregnation. The ova should be laid down on glass grilles in the hatching
boxes from whence dead ones can be readily removed before the fungus which
grows upon them has time to damage by spreading to such as are in its vicinity.
When the eyes of the embryo commence to be visible an increased supply of
oxygen is necessary. When the embryo is sufficiently developed to enable the
eggs to be handled with impunity, they may be packed in trays, on damp swans-
down, and forwarded to their ultimate destination. Care has to be taken that the
water for the hatching-house is constant in its supply, equable as to its tempera-
ture, and not loaded with sand or any impurities, that frost is kept out, and
though early eggs are the best, eyed ova should not be sent to a cold locality where
it would have to battle with one or two months' continuous frost, on the other
hand transmitting it to a warmer climate care must be taken to meet the tempera-
ture en route which almost of necessity sets the eggs hatching.

These eyed eggs are turned down into artificially and carefully constructed
redds, scattered all over the district in close proximity to the best feeding grounds
and ripples for the fry. Such absolute purity of the water flowing over the redds
is not required for eyed ova as it is for the eggs prior to this period, still
discoloured water should never be employed. It is also requisite that the redd
be situated near a stream of less pure water, as the absence of fine particles so
necessary for the health of the embryo, is not satisfying to an active young trout
of a few weeks old. A natural river temperature of 50 will always produce
ample food for the young fry. Prior to the absorption of the umbilical sac they
should not be placed in ponds or muddy water. They will not bear much
handling but bear carriage very well : a 40-gallon tank being sufficient for the
conveyance of about 15,000 which have been feeding for more than a month,
except for very long journeys when a supplementary small tank requires to be
added, which altogether saves the necessity of handling the fry. They can be
reared in small properly constructed ponds and subsequently turned into deep water.

The normal period eggs take hatching is found when the water is kept at about
4410 degrees to be as follows at Howietown : Salmo fario, 71 days ; S. levenensis,
72 ; S. fontinalis, 73 ; 8. levenensis crossed by S. salar, 75 ; and 8. salar, 77 days.
But as already observed lowering temperature delays hatching, increasing it
hastens such on (see pages 65 and 107).

For the purpose of stocking pieces of water with trout, either eggs or young
fish may be obtained from a breeding establishment. It is highly desirable, prior
to receiving such, that a careful examination should be made that the nurseries
do not contain their enemies, as bull heads, Cottus gobio, which will eat them as
rapidly as it can find them. At the Howietown fishery* it is suggested that
streams with sediment in the water or a liability to floods are unsuited for
depositing ova, and fry are recommended instead.

In transmitting ova those which are partially eyed are recommended, and are
laid down in gravel redds in some small streams contiguous to the rivers or lakes
it is desired to stock. Eggs being kept in glass grilles give the strongest embryos
and healthiest fry.

The time necessary for preparing young trout for transport varies from three or
four days in the case of yearlings, to as many weeks for large examples. The

* Circular, dated Howietown, Stirling, 1882.

SALMONIDiE. 107

yearlings are sufficiently strong to find their own food, thus avoiding the principal
cause of mortality among fry, which is starvation. They soon accommodate them-
selves to new pieces of water. Two-year-olds are found to succeed best where
coarse fish or large fish already exist in the water. It has been found that there
is no difficulty in conveying trout in iced water for any journey not exceeding
twenty-four hours. That unless the water which is to be stocked is of similar
temperature some loss will arise from inflammation of the gills, they are
consequently carried best in cold weather.

Hybrids. At Howietown the following crosses were made : November 27th,
1874, between a female Loch Leven trout and a male sea-trout, they hatched
March 20th and 21st, 1875. On December 3rd, between a female common burn
or brook-trout and the milt of the sea-frrout, they hatched March 21st, 1875. Sea-
trouts' eggs with burn trout milt commenced to hatch on the 116th day : the
young have become indistinguishable from the common stock. On November
15th, 1882, Sir James Gibson-Maitland commenced the following experiments at
Howietown while I was present. 8000 ova of Salmo fontinalis were milted from
a S. levenensis, and were placed in hatching box no. 104. 3000 ova of 8. levenensis
were milted from a S. fontinalis and deposited in box no. 108. 9000 ova of
S. fontinalis were milted from a charr which has been termed 8. struanensis, and
placed in box no. 115.

Life history. All the various forms of trout have their parr stage. The normal
rate of growth in the ponds at Howietown I have already alluded to (see page 103).
Mr. Stoddart gives the result of an interesting experiment on young trout : " Fish
were placed in three separate tanks, one of which was supplied daily with worms,
another with live minnows, and the third with those small dark-coloured water-flies
which are to be found moving about on the surface under banks and sheltered
places. The trout fed on worms grew slowly, and had a lean appearance ; those
nourished on minnows which, it was observed, they darted at with great voracity
became much larger ; while such as were fattened upon flies only, attained in a
short time prodigious dimensions, weighing twice as much as both the others
together, although the quantity of food swallowed by them was in nowise so great."
The size to which they attain depends upon the suitability of the water inhabited
and the amount of available food. Thus in some mountainous districts they may
never exceed 3 or 4 ounces in weight, while young hatched from the same batch of
eggs may attain to pounds. They are a long-lived fish : one was twenty-eight years
in a well in Dumbarton Castle ; another is said to have been fifty-three years in a
well in the orchard of Mr. Mossop, of Board Hall, near Broughton-in-Furness.

As food. Its value differs with the waters from whence it has been taken. Its
old name was " the venison of the waters," and denotes the general estimation in
which it was, and is still, held. It is in the best season from May until the end of
September, deteriorating in and after the breeding period. Some consider the
females as food to be better than the males.

Habitat. The colder and temperate portions of the northern hemisphere,
descending in Asia as far south as the Hindoo Koosh, but not normally present in
any portion of Hindostan. Heber, mistaking a spotted carp, Barilius, for a trout,
asserted they were found on the Himalayas, on which authority Couch gave India
as one of its habitats. It has been introduced on the Neilgherry range of hills
in Southern India. It has been artificially introduced into many countries in the
southern hemisphere. In the Orkneys it is found in great plenty in every burn,
and generally extended throughout the rivers and lakes of the British Isles when
unchecked by pollutions. Some exceptions, however, to this general rule would
seem to occur, thus in Norfolk, we are told, it is found in small numbers in the
higher parts of the Bure, the Ware, and some of their tributaries, but not in the
Waveney (Lubbock).

A trout upwards of 21 lb. and measiiring 41| inches in length, was taken in
a small tributary of the Trent at Drayton Manor, and sent by Sir Robert Peel to
Yarrell. In 1880 Buckland made a cast of one 17 lb. weight, captured at Reading.
July 11th, 1882, one 20 lb. weight was secured in Lough Derg, an expansion of
the Shannon (S. Hurley).

108 PHYSOSTOMT.

B. Vomerine teeth restricted to near the head of that bone (Salvelini).

When treating of the group Salmones (p. 53) I gave a short synopsis of the
views held by our later naturalists respecting which each considered to be species
or referred to varieties. I propose taking the same course with the charrs Salvelini.

Willughby (1686) places under one head JJmbla minor, Gesner the Reutele of
South Germany, the Torgoch of Wales and Westmoreland, and the red charr of
Windermere, table no. 7. He also alludes to the gelt or gilt charr of Westmoreland,
which he refers to Garpio lacus Benaci of Rondelet ; he likewise figures it table
no. 5.

Ray (1713) held the same views as Willughby.

Pennant (1776) figures the charr, and asserts his opinion that the case charr,
the gelt or silver charr, i.e., one which has not spawned the preceding season,
and on that account is reckoned to be in the greatest perfection, the red charr, and
those of Loch Inch in Scotland, are all probably one species. He observes that
the variety case charr spawns about Michaelmas, while the gilt charr does so from
the beginning of January to the end of March. He also alludes to the Welsh
charr.

Donovan (1804) gave a figure of what he considered the gilt charr of
Pennant, Salmo alpinus, Linn. ; also a plate of Salmo savelinus, Bloch, the torgoch
of the Welsh, then said to be confined to the waters of Llyn Cawellyn, one of the
Alpine lakes situated in the deep valley on the west side of Snowdon. He
considered that it differed from the charrs of Windermere.

Turton (1807) agreed with Donovan, as did also Fleming (1828). Jenyns
(1835) held the same opinions, but termed the Alpine charr of Donovan S. umbla.
Yarrell (1836) held the same views as Jenyns, but in his second edition (1841) as
well as in his third (1859), all our British forms are held to be varieties of one
species.

Agassiz (1834) believed that all our British forms were identical with the
Ombre chevalier of the Lake of Geneva.

Richardson (1835) placed (1) 8. umbla as synonymous with S. alpinus and
S. salvelinus of Linnams, and also with the species found in the Lake of Geneva,
but he desired his readers to remember that the history of the charr, whether
one or more kinds, had not up to that time been clearly made out. In
Windermere he considered that the case charr ascended rivers, spawning about
Michaelmas, while the red charr deposited its ova along the shores of the lake, and
not until the end of December or the beginning of the year.

Parnell (1838) classed our northern charr as S. umbla, Linnseus.

Thompson (1840), and subsequently in 1851, held that all the forms of British
and Irish charr are varieties of one species, the 8. umbla, Linnaeus.

White (1851) placed all the British examples in his catalogue of the fish in
the National Museum as pertaining to S. umbla.

Dr. Giinther (1866), as in the Salmones so in the Salvelini, has largely
augmented the number of what he considered British species, although he rejects
8. umbla and S. salvelinus as British forms. He gives (1) 8. alpinus, vertebrae
59-62, ccecal appendages 36-42 ; (2) 8. Jcillinensis, vert. 62, coec. pyl. 44-52 ; (3)
S. Willughbii, vert. 59-62, coec. pyl. 32-44; (4) 8. perisii, vert. 61, ccec. pyl. 36 ;
(5) 8. grayi, vert. 60, ccec. pyl. 37 ; (6) S. Colii, vert. 63, ccec. pyl. 42.

Sir J. Gibson-Maitland (1881) added 8. struanensis.

8. fontinalis, or the American charr, has likewise to be added to the British
forms, being now extensively distributed throughout the country.

Up to 1866 Pennant, Agassiz, Yarrell, and White admitted one form of charr
as British, while Donovan, Turton, Fleming, and Jenyns believed in two.
Giinther increased them to six, subsequently S. struanensis was added, and the
American charr widely propagated.

Widegrem (1864) asserted that in Scandinavia there exist two races of charr,
the larger being found in Lapland, Lake Wetter, and other lakes ; while the
smaller is present in pieces of water of less size as those of Jemtland, Wermland,

SALMONIDiE. 109

Smaland and Norway. These two races lie held to be simply modifications of one
species, Salmo alpinus, the stebling of South Germany of which 8. umbla is a
synonym. Holding these opinions which were identical with those of Agassiz and
others, he entered his protest against the validity of Dr. Giinther's new species, which
he deemed as merely so many additions to the synonymy of S. alpinns. Collett,
Norges Fiske (1875), considers all the charr to pertain to one form, so also does
Malm, and Moreau in his Fishes of France (1881) arrives at the conclusion that
all the charrs of that country are a single species, S. umbla, which he considers
identical with S. salvelinus.

In the Zoological Record of 1864, Dr. Giinther disputes the possibility of the
size of the teeth having any bearing on the food these fish consume, maintaining
that such may even be a reason towards instituting a species. However, in the
artificial reai"ing of Salmonoids it has been found that some young do take on
cannibal propensities and are furnished with larger teeth than then 1 neighbours.
Referring to the size of the eggs Dr. Giinther likewise differs with the Scandinavian
zoologists, holding that those who may have a more extensive knowledge of fishes
" know that the size of the ova is not only invariably the same in individuals of
whatever size, but, as far as our experience reaches, is even often characteristic of
the species of a genus." Here I must refer to page 105, where I have shown that
the size of the eggs may depend on the age of the fish.

There appear to be three different main reasons for dividing the British charrs
into several species, the colour, the number of vei'tebros, and of the ccecal
appendages.

The colours in the charr do not vary to so great an extent as they do in the
trout, due to their residing in deeper waters and usually merely ascending towards
the surface at night time to feed, while other changes in tint are consequent upon
the breeding season. In the Lakes of Cumberland, Westmoreland, and Lancashire,
observes Jenyns, this fish in its ordinary state is the case charr of Pennant ; when
exhibiting the bright crimson belly which it assumes before spawning, it is called
the red charr ; when out of season the spawn having* been shed, it is distinguished
by the name of the gilt charr. Thompson observed that he had examined in a
fresh state charr from Windermere, from Lock Grannock (Scotland), and Lough
Melvin (Ireland), and preserved in spirits or dry from nine other lakes in
Scotland or Ireland. Examinations of these led him to believe that there exists
but one species : one, however, that like the Salmo fario is subject to extraordinary
variety. In one lake the male fish can at a glance be distinguished from the
female either by colour or by the many characters which are comprised under
" form." In another, so similar are the sexes in every external character, that
without the aid of dissection they cannot be determined. In size we find the
species ordinarily attain twice the length and several times the weight in one lake
that it does in another, although the area of their waters is of similar extent ;
indeed, in some of the largest lakes this fish will be found not to attain near the
size it does in some others, which are but pools in comparison ; there are,
however, various influences which account satisfactorily for such differences.
In the form of the body again, we find the species, when in equally high
condition, to be in one lake herring-like and in another approximating to the
roundness of the eel. So manifold are the differences presented by the charr
from various localities, that it would be tedious and perhaps useless to point them
out in every case. A correspondent in The Field (April 22, 1882), speaking of
the white trout of Quebec, observes that the best authorities seem to agree that
the sea-trout of the provinces is simply a Salmo fontinalis that has migrated into
salt water and changed its colour by that means. This leads us to inquire
whether we ought to agree with Agassiz, Thompson, and others that the number
of species of charr in these islands is limited to one which is subject to great
variations in form, in colour, and other characters due to physical causes ? Or
should we adopt the theories of those who see at least half-a-dozen species in the
British Isles, and anticipate many more being discovered when the lochs of
Scotland and the loughs of Ireland have been exhaustively explored ?

The number of vertebras. The six forms described by Dr. Giinther are said

110 PHYSOSTOMI.

to have these varying between 59 and 63, but as in type examples of two forms in
the British Museum we are informed from 59 to 62 were present, the existence of
an additional one in a specimen of 8- colii can therefore hardly be a reason for
instituting an additional species (see page 55).

The number of ccecal appendages. The extreme variation in all the foregoing
six species is given at from 36 to 52, while we are informed that in 8. Willughbii
from 32* to 44 are present in examples in the National Collection. I have
already shown how inconstant are the numbers of these appendages among the
Salmonidae (see page 56).

If we seek to investigate the history of these fishes from the earliest times,
and inquire of geologists as to what account they are able to furnish, we are told
that the Salmonido3 are a comparatively recently evolved family, their very
existence in a fossil form (if we exclude Mallotus) being unknown. Mr. Symonds,
in the last edition of the Records of the Rocks, observes : "I have fished in
and visited many of the lakes in Great Britain, where the charr, Coregoni, and
great lake-trout (Salmo ferox) are known, but I never saw one in which they still
exist that is not either a glacier lake, or rock basin, or that is not dammed or
otherwise surrounded by glacial moraine matter. They are also inhabitants of the
lakes of Sweden and Norway, which everywhere bear traces of the glacial epoch
and its close, and seem to me to be (like the Alpine plants that still linger among
the mountains) fishes of that colder period when the last of the glaciers still hung
to the combes of the Highlands of Scotland and Wales."

Doubtless the charr prefer the colder north to the more temperate portions
of the globe ; and moderately still waters. Among the fishes brought by the
late Arctic expeditions were examples of charr very similar, if not identical with
British forms, thus seeming to show a near relationship one with the other.
While in Nordenskiold's Arctic voyages it is recorded that the young of S. alpinus,
three inches long, were captured on the eastern side of Wijde Bay in June, 1861.

Mr. Brooke, writing respecting a species of Irish charr, observes that " Lough
Eske (where it was captured) was the crater of an extinct volcano, as suggested
by Dr. Wilde, of Dublin."

Many and various reasons have been advanced by different persons against the
enactment of laws for the protection of fishes, especially charr, and I observe
that Mr. Houghton, in his British Freshwater Fishes, considers that "the
extension of the Salmon Act to charr is a great mistake. The only time and
that time is of short duration when charr can be taken in any numbers is in
October and November, when they leave their deep-water haunts for the
shallower parts of the lakes. The destructive agency of man, limited as it is to
one or two months' duration, could have but little effect in causing a diminution
of the species in the extensive depths of our great lakes, which, for five-sixths of
the year, provide safe and unassailable harbours." On the other hand it has been
asserted that the charr of Lough Neagh, in Ireland, have been exterminated by
man within the last forty years, showing his power, when unchecked by legislative
enactments, of effectually accomplishing such a destruction. In Land and Water
for December 27, 1879, is an interesting article upon the result following the
preservation of the Llanberris charr. Two large freshwater lakes exist, joined
together by a small river. In November the charr pass up this stream to the
lower portion of the upper lake to spawn, having accomplished which they return
to the lower lake. The proprietors, acting on the principle enunciated above,
used to net them at the spawning period ; but the Salmon Act of 1873 prohibited
the capture of these fish between October 1 and February 1, so the killing of these
spawning charr has been stopped. Prior to 1874 they were only to be seen here
and there in shoals of a score or so, whereas now they may be observed in
hundreds, averaging about nine fish to 2 lb. weight. In September, 1879, an
angler, with a worm bait, captured in one evening 23 lb. weight of charr, and as
soon as the news got abroad many others took to angling for these fish, and all

* I have examined one from the Lakes which only had 28.

SALMONID^E. Ill

had good sport. This continued until close-time, and some days hundreds of
quarrymen might be seen fishing, some in boats, others from the shore, while as
much as 45 lb. a day has fallen to the share of one rod, a bait having been almost
invariably used, although a few were taken with a fly.

A correspondent of The Field, October 28, 1882, remarks upon night fishing
for charr with well scoured brandlings and line tackle in North Wales. All is
done by feel, and, when a vigorous tug occurs at your line, one has to strike; at
the approach of day the charr begin to bite savagely, as dawn commences the
biting ceases, and the fish disappear as if by magic.

Respecting the Windermere fishing for 1881 it was remarked in Land and
Water, November 26, 1881, that the charr fishing was, as usual, very profitable.
There can be no better argument in favour of a close season and protection than
the great increase in the value of the charr fisheries since such was applied and
protection afforded to the fish.

The mode which is generally carried on by the fishermen as described in The
Field is with what is termed a plumb line, which is free to all, and a great number
of the natives on the shores of the lake gain a good livelihood by supplying the
strangers and hotels with the fish.

Charr fishing with the plumb line usually commences about the beginning of
March, and at that time the fish are got about thirty yards from the surface and
in the deepest parts of the lake. As the weather gets warmer they gradually
approach the top, and although they are frequently to be seen on a warm day
leaping at the flies on the water, yet it is an unheard-of thing on Windermere to
cast for them with a rod. The plumb line for charr is made of strong cord, and
varies in length according to the number of baits which are to be put on it ; but
it is usually between forty and fifty yards long, and this is sufficient to carry five
baits. At the end of the line is a lead sinker, weighing about If lb., having a
small wing fixed in it, which assists in preventing it from revolving, although it is
fixed to the main line with a strong swivel. To this line is attached at intervals
of six or seven yards, short lines, or, as they are called by the fishermen, droppers,
varying in length from six to ten yards, the shortest line being that nearest the
bottom of the main line. What is generally used at Windermere, is a " phantom "
made by the fishermen themselves, from sheets coppered on one side and silvered
or clear on the other, which can be procured from any coppersmith or ironmonger.
The fishermen cut them out with a pair of strong scissors, shaping them to their
taste. A small treble hook is put on the phantom, and two yards of strong gut,
having at least two swivels, and the remainder of the short line, or " dropper,"
may be of fine cord. Two lines such as are here described are always used in
fishing for charr, one on each side of the boat.

Having reached the fishing ground, the boat must be rowed slowly, and the
sinker is put over tbe side, and the line allowed to sink until the dropper
next to it is reached, when the main line is temporarily fixed, until the " dropper"
and phantom is put out ; the main line is then loosened and sunk further, until
the next " dropper " is reached and put out, and so on until the whole line is out.
This having been done the end of the main line is attached to the top of a strong
rod (a young sapling does very well), about fourteen or sixteen feet long, supple
at the top, but not too much so, and then the rod is made to rest over the stern
of the boat at the side upon which the line has been put out, and the butt end
securely fixed in the bottom of the boat. When this has been done the second
line may be put out at the side of the boat, in the same way as the first line, and
secured with a rod. Care must be taken to have the boat always moving, other-
wise the lines will foul.

It would appear that the preservation of charr leads to a substantial increase
in their numbers, and augmentation in the food-producing property of the lake
where such is carried out. While these fishes are not so very indifferent to bait
and flies as some persons would lead us to believe, the angler with a bait appears
to have more chance of sport than the fly-fisher, but the charr of Windermere
usually will not rise to the fly, while the Welsh torgoch takes it freely.

112 PHTSOSTOMI.

Mr. Harvie-Brown informs me of a chain of loc-hs in Scotland containing
charr. In one small, deep pool of crystal-clear water they are of a larger size
than those inhabiting the lochs lower in the valley. In a perfectly dead calm
they rise, sometimes freely, to a certain fly, but cease whenever a ripple disturbs
the surface. As many as six dozen have been taken by one rod in a single day.
One can see several feet down into this basin of pure water in a calm, and perceive
the fish floating upwards and sucking in the fly, as they seldom dash at it like a
trout.

Charr, says Mr. Jackson, except for a few weeks in the year when it appears
to live on flies, preys on all small fish and captures them, even larger than would
be supposed possible by any one who has not taken (as I have) a perch nearly
two inches long out of a charr about nine inches in length.

3. Salmo alpinus,* Plate CXVII, fig. 1.

Umbla minor, Gesner, p. 1201 ; Willughby, p. 19G, t. N. 7; Ray, p. 65. Salmo
Lemani lacus seu Umbla, Rondel, ii, p. 160 ; Willughby, p. 197, t. N. 5 ; Ray,
p. 66 (Gilt charre). Charr, Pennant, Brit. Zool. (Ed. 1776), iii, 305, pi. lx and
(Ed. 1812) iii, p. 407, pi. lxi. ; Low, Fauna Oread, p. 234.

Salmo alpinus, Linn. Faun. Suec. p. 117, no. 310, Syst. Nat. i, p. 510; Gmel.
Linn. p. 1370; Bonn. Enc. Ich. p. 162, pi. lxvii ; f. 272; Nilss. Skand. Faun.
Fisk. p. 426 ; Jardine, Brit. Ass. vol. iv, p. 614 : Gunther, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1863,
p. 8 and Catal. vi, p. 127 ; Collett, Norges Fiske, p. 160.

Salmo umbla, Linn. Syst. Nat. p. 511 ; Bloch, t. ci ; Gmel. Linn. p. 1371 ;
Bonn. Enc. Ich. p. 164; Jurine, Poiss. Lac Leman, pi. v; Agassiz, Poiss. d'eau
douce, pi. ix, x and xi ; Cuv. and Val. xxi, p. 233 ; Parnell, Mem. Wern. Soc. vii,
p. 308 and Fish. Firth of Forth, p. 148 ; White, Catal. Brit. Fish. p. 78 ;
Thompson, Nat. Hist. Ireland, iv, p. 160 ; Heckel and Kner, Siisswasserf. p. 285 ;
Gunther, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1862, p. 39 and Catal. vi, p. 125 ; Moreau, Poiss. France,
iii, p. 530, f. 207.

Salmo salvelinus, Linn. Syst. Nat. p. 511 ; Bloch, t. xcix ; Gmel. Linn. p. 1370 ;
Bonnaterre, Ency. Ich. p. 162, pi. lxvii, f. 273 ; Cuv. and Val. xxi, p. 246 ;
Yarrell, Brit. Fish. (ed. 3), i, p. 241 ; Gunther, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1862, p. 38, 1863,
p. 7 and Catal. vi, p. 126; Blanchard, Poiss. France, p. 444, f. 115.

Alpine charr, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, iv, p. 272, pi. cexxvi.

Salvelinus alpinus, Malm, Bohuslaus Fauna, p. 540.

Variety a. Salmo perisii, Plate CXIX, fig. 2.

Torgoch, Willughby, p. 196. Umbla minor, Gesner; Farrington, Phil. Trans.
Roy. Soc. 1755, p. 210. Torgoch, Pennant, Brit. Zool. 1. c. Red charre or Torgoch,
Ray, 1. c.

Salmo salvelinus, Donovan, Brit. Fish, v, pi. cxii ; Turton, p. 104 ; Jenyns,
Brit. Vert. p. 428; Yarrell, Brit. Fish. (ed. 1), ii, p. 70, c. fig. (ed. 2), ii, p. 121.

Salmo umbla, Jenyns, p. 427.

Salmo cambricus, Gunther, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1862, p. 49, pi. vi (not Donovan).

Salmo perisii, Gunther, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. 1865, xv, p. 75, and Catal.
vi, p. 133 ; Houghton, British Freshwater Fishes, p. 141, c. fig.

Torgoch, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, iv, p. 264, pi. cexxiii.

D. 12-13(V) I 0, P. 12, V. 9, A. 11-12(V)> 0. 21, L.l. 125-135, Vert. 61, Ccec.
pyl. 36.

This form has the teeth of moderate size and the edges of the
anterior nostril forming a small flap. Gill covers overlapping the root of the

* Space will only permit a selection of references being made.

SALMONID/E. 113

pectoral fin* Rayed dorsal fin 2/3 the length of the head : pectoral reaching more
than half the distance to the base of the ventral. Sides -with numerous red spots :
belly red in the adult : pectoral, ventral and anal fins with white upper or anterior
edges. There are said to be 170 rows of scales descending to the lateral-line.

Stated to be a smaller form than the Windermere charr, seldom exceeding 12 or
13 iuches in length.

Names. Torgoch in Wales signifies tor "a belly", and goch "red": the red
charr.

Habits. Said to emerge from the depths of the lakes seeking the shallows
for a short period in midwinter. Rises to a fly.

The example figured is one of the British Museum specimens 9 inches in
length, sent from the Lake of Llanberris by Mr. T. Ellis. It has 135 scales
along the lateral-line.

*o

Variety b. Salmo Willughbii, Plate CXVII, fig. 2.

Charr of Windermere, Willugh. 1. c. ; Case charr, Pennant, 1. c. and Ray, 1. c.

Salmo alpinus, Donovan, Brit. Fish. pi. lxi ; Turton, Brit. Fauna, p. 104;
Fleming, Brit. An. p. 180.

Salmo umbla, Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 427 ; Thompson, Ann. and Mag. 1840. vi,
p. 439.

Salmo Willughbii, Giinther, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1862, p. 46, pi. v, 1863, p. 11, and
Catal. vi, p. 131.

Salmo struanensis, Gibson-Maitland, Field, Oct. 8th, 1881, p. 516.

Willughbt/s charr, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, iv, p. 262, pi. cexxii.

D. 12-13 (V) | 0, P. 13-14, V. 9-10, A. 11-12 ( ^), C. 19, L.l. 126, Vert.
59-62, Ccec. pyl. 28-44.

Teeth Of moderate strength, 4 in each premaxillary ; 20 in each maxillary.
Fins pectoral reaches more than half-way to the root of the ventral. Colours
sides with red dots : belly red : pectoral, ventral and anal with white margins.

Scales said to have 180. The one figured, from a specimen 8 inches long,
(S. Struanensis) had 126 along the lateral-line. Eight others from the Lakes
had from 118 to 128.

Variety c Salmo Killinensis,f Plate CXVIII, fig. 1.

Giinther, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1865, p. 699, pi. xl, and Catal. vi, p. 130 ; Houghton,
Brit. Freshwater Fish. p. 145. c. fig.

? Salmo arcturus, Giinther, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1877, p. 294, pi. xxxiii.

D - 14(b -to) I 0, P. 13, V. 9, A. 13 CiV), C. 19, L. 1. 1 35, Vert. 62, Ccec. pyl. 44-52.

Length of head 4|-, of caudal fin Q\, height of body 4^ in the total length.
Eyes diameter about 1/6 of the length of the head, 2 diameters from the
end of the snout, and also apart. Form of preopercle varies in different
specimens ; subopercle mostly short and high. Maxilla reaches to behind the
orbit. Teeth small. Fins dorsal, pectoral, and ventral well developed.
Scales D. Giinther counts 180 rows descending on to the lateral-line ; in the
example figured ther-e were 135 pierced scales along the latei*al-line. Colours
dark, sides with few light spots. In some the anterior edges of the lower fins are
light coloured.

The example figured is 12j inches long in the National collection : it was
obtained by the late Mr. Gould from Loch Killin, Inverness-shire, in October :
it has been disembowelled.

* These appearances are not peculiar to this variety.

f 8. arcturus, Giinther, the most northern Salmonoid recorded, N. lat. 80 28' by 34' is differen-
tiated from 8. killinensis owing to its being a little more slender ! Malmgren (iEfv. Sven. Vet.
Akad. Fork. 1865, p. 534) remarks upon an example of Salmo alpinus, 76 millim. long, found in
a river in Northern Spitsbergen.

8

114 PHYSOSTOMI.

Variety d. Salmo Grayii, Plate CXIX, fig. 1.

Salmo Alpinus, Dubourdieu, Hist. Co. Antrim, i, p. 119; Thompson, Ann.
Mag. Nat. Hist, 1840, vi, p. 448.

Salmo umbla, Thompson, 1. c. p. 439 (yotmg) and Nat. Hist. Ireland, iv, p. 160.

Salmo Qrayi, Giinther, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1862, p. 51, pi. vii, and 1863, p. 12,
and Catal. Fish. Brit. Museum, vi, p. 136 ; Houghton, Brit. Freshwater Fishes,
p. 139, c. fig.

Gray's charr, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, iv, p. 267, pi. ccxxiv.

D. 13-14 (^o) I 0, P. 13-14, V. 9, A. 12 (f ), C. 21, L. 1. 125-140, L. tr. 31/30,

Coec. pyl. 37, Vert. 60.

Lower jaw feeble. Teeth small, 4 on each premaxillary and about 16 on
each maxillary. Fins Dorsal commences slightly nearer the snout than in the
other forms, the fin being in the centre of the length of the back. Pectoral
terminates at no great distance from the ventral : fins well developed. Scales
19 rows from the hind edge of the adipose dorsal fin downwards and forwards to
the lateral-line : 25 rows between the lateral-line and the base of the ventral fin :
125 to 140 rows along the lateral-line. Colours sides with orange dots : fins with
or without a light edge.

Thompson observes of the charr of Lough Melvin, that " the males are
generally more gracefully formed than the females, and most of them are rather
brighter in colour, but there is no external character so strikingly different as to
lead to a certain knowledge of the sex : some of the largest finned are females."
They are termed "fresh-water herrings " in Lough Melvin. When cooked the
flesh is pale and its taste insipid.

Breeding. Mr. Houghton received some from Lough Melvin in November, the
males had not parted with their milt, nor the females with their ova.

The example figured is from a male in the British Museum collection,
10"2 inches in length.

Variety e. Salmo Colii, Plate CXVIII, fig. 2.

Salmo Colii, Giinther, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1863, p. 12, pi. and Catal. Fish. Brit.
Mus. vi, p. 138; Houghton, British Freshwater Fishes, p. 138, c. fig.
Coles charr, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, iv, p. 269, pi. ccxxv.

D. 13-14 (/ft) | 0, P. 13, V. 9, A. 12 (--), C. 19, L. 1. 125-128, L. tr.
31/30. Ccec. pyl. 42, Vert. 63.

Teeth very small, 4 to 6 in each premaxillary, 14 to 17 in each maxillary.
Fins Pectoral not reaching nearly to the ventral. Ventral and anal fins with a
narrow white anterior edge. Scales 125 rows along the lateral-line, and 160
descending to it : 18 rows between the hind edge of the adipose dorsal fin and the
lateral-line : and 25 from the lateral-line to the base of the ventral fin.

The form of S. Colii appears to be principally distinguished from S. Grayi by
the comparative shortness of its pectoral fins.

The figure is from a male example, 8"2 inches in length, in the National
Museum, from Lough Eske (EsJc or Yesh, "a fish"), the crater of an extinct
volcano. It is also found in L. Dan.

B. x-xi, D. 12-14 (/ft) | 0, P. 12-14, V. 9-10, A. 11-13 (/ft) C. 19-21, L. 1.
125-145, L. tr. 31/30, Coec pyl. 28-62, Vert. 59-63.

Length of head 4f to 5j, of caudal fin 6 to 6, height of body 4 to 5 in the
total length. Eyes size depends much on age, sex, and nature of locality
from whence procured : usually situated just in front of the middle of the length
of the head, from l to 2 diameters from the end of the snout and the same
distance apart. In some the comparative height of the body is much greater than
in others, and dependant on food, health, and the vicinity of the breeding season,
the kelts becoming emaciated. The maxilla in some extends to beneath the last
third of the orbit, in others to beyond the vertical from its hind margin, while it

SALMONID^] 115

is likewise slightly more strongly developed in some than it is in others. The
lower jaw in some varieties, as the torgoch of Wales, may be longer anteriorly
than the upper jaw. The opercular pieces are of as diverse shapes in the charr as
described in the trout, and frequently are dissimilar in the opposite sides of the
head. Teeth present in the jaws and in a line across the vomer near its anterior
extremity, and opposite the teeth of the palatine arch, none along the body of the
vomer. Fins dorsal usually commences about midway between the end of the
snout and the base of the caudal fin, in some examples a little nearer the snout.
The pectoral and other fins are of varying lengths in accordance with locality,
sex, and other varying conditions. Scales small and a much larger number of
rows descending from the back of the lateral-line, than there are of pierced rows
along its whole extent (see below). Cuecal appendages these vary considerably,
in Loch Inch 38 (Thompson) ; L. Rannoch, 28 ; the Lakes, 28-44, Dr. Giinther
detected from 36 to 52, and the smallest number in those from Windermere, 36,
from the same locality I possess an example with 28, and found the same number
in a specimen received as $. struanensis. It is evident they are as inconstant as in
the trout. Colours these again vary, but as a general rale the belly, prior to
spawning, becomes of a crimson or claret colour, while there are generally some
light-coloured orange or black spots on the body and head. The front edge of the
dorsal, ventral, and caudal as well as the upper edge of the pectoral are often of a
pare white or orange colour. The variation in tints and shades are not so great
as in the trout (see page 109). In some, the ventral, anal, lower portion of
the pectoral, and hind edge of the caudal partake of the scarlet colour of the
abdomen.

Varieties in colour. " By such alone," observes Dr. Giinther, " fresh specimens
of Salmo salvelinus and S. umbla, of S. Grayii and S. Willughbii, may be always
distinguished," and in his interesting division of the British species into many, he
divides it first in accordance with the development of the jaws and size of the
teeth, an inconstant character, as I have observed (page 109). It is then sub-
divided in respect to the length of the pectoral fins : but here it is evident that
the question of sex, locality where hatched and reared, and many other local
circumstances, must be taken into consideration. I examined eight specimens
received from the lakes, and found as follows : All were from 8^- to 9 inches in
length ; in two the pectoral extended just half the distance to the base of the
ventral, and in the remainder If, 1 T 3 T , l|i, If, 2 T \-, and 2^ in the interspace,
clearly showing that this is not a character on which too much reliance should be
placed.

The next subdivision is into whether the dorsal fin contains 13 or 14 rays.
Such an enumeration is evidently open to uncertainty, unless it is taken into
consideration and recorded how many undivided and how many branched rays are
present. The first few which are undivided are minute, one or two may even be
wanting. Thus in the 8 examples from the same locality already referred to I
found from 3 to 4 undivided, and 9 to 10 divided rays in the dorsal fin, and
similarly in the anal, 3 to 4 undivided and 8 to 9 divided rays. Moreau, in
France, finds D. ^ s 5 , A. -flf. This character, therefore, is unreliable.

As to the comparative height of the body that varies with sex, season and food,
and cannot be otherwise than a very uncertain element in the discrimination of a
species.

As regards external characters, Dr. Giinther observed (1862) that " dried and
stuffed specimens of charr are of little or no use." One would have supposed from
this that the colours, scales, and size of the fins would afford no criterion as to
species. In 1864 the same author remarked that" the difference in the size of the
scales is one of the most constant and important characters in salmonoids."

In examining numerous examples of Salmo fontinalis reared in this country,
one cannot resist being struck with the considerable differences which occur as to
the number of the scales, and the consequent inconstancy of this factor as a
criterion for-species. Taking the pierced scales along the lateral-line, I possess
specimens which have from 122 to 142 : but it is in the number of irregular rows
which descend from the back to the lateral-lino where the greatest diversitv occurs,

8 * *

11 G PHYSOSTOMI.

while it is here that Dr. Giinther counts. Although in 8 of my British examphs
the difference in the number of pierced scales along the lateral-line does not exceed
20, I find from 185 to 235 rows descending to the lateral-line, or a variation of 50
scales. Taking the whole of the reputed British species, the extreme variation
recorded is 70 rows. If, therefore, among 8 examples of American charr received
from two localities I can observe a difference in number of at least 50 rows of
scales descending from the back to the lateral-line, the extreme variation of 70
among specimens of charr obtained throughout the extent of Great Britain and
Ireland appears hardly sufficient grounds for instituting distinct species. Sir
W. Jardine considered that " the northern, or Sutherland charr," has more elon-
gated scales than the " southern charr," the scales of which he described as being
more orbicular.

" The charr of Hawswater," observes Dr. J. Davy, " which is known to feed
a good deal on insects, is a small and slender fish in comparison with the charr of
Windermere, which feeds more at the bottom and has a less precarious supply,
especially of Squillce, which abound in the lake. The one takes the artificial fly
freely ; the other that of Windermere is rarely so tempted and seldom caught,
except by trolling with the minnow. In short," he remarks, " so various are they
that in no two lakes do they perfectly agree, either in their average size, form,
colouring, or even in their habits." In examining 8 examples from the above
locality I found the following variations : D. g 3 _ T 4 o, A. flf, L. 1. 118-128, Ccec. pyl.
(in one example) 28, (32-44, Giinther). The number of rows of scales descending
to the lateral-line varied from 166 to 180. Passing on to the Loch Rannoch charr,
S. struanensis (Maitland), we see certain differences present (see plate cxvii,
fig. 2).

D. f, A. f:f , L. 1. 120, Ccec. pyl. 28, 160 scales descended from the back to
the L. 1.

The fins in some examples are more developed than in others, and may be said
to be in many respects intermediate between S. alpinus and 8. killinensis, but the
most peculiar feature is the dark colour of the specimens. Among the examples
sent to me by Sir J. Gibson-Maitland was a common trout from Loch Rannoch,
which showed the same dark colours and well-developed fins. The eye in some of
these charr was rather large, which, taken in conjunction with the dark colours of
the body and somewhat developed fins, would seem to indicate its living at some
considerable depth.

Names. Charr or char. Torgoch ("red belly"), Wales. Bed-wame, Scotland.
Jj 'ombre-chevalier, French.

In olden time the credulous were taught that three sons of the Church intro-
duced these fishes into Wales from Rome, and placed two in each of the Lakes of
Llanberris, Llynumber, and Trevennyn.

Habits. A gregarious and usually deep swimming fish, shy of taking a bait
and feeding largely at night-time. The common food of the trout has been found
in its stomach, while when in confinement it can be similarly fed. It appears to
require very pure and mostly deep water for its residence, but is found in some
Irish lakes which are not very deep.

It has been observed to have disappeared from some lakes due to the entrance
therein of poisonous matter as from lead mines,* but in other localities where no
such deleterious substances have obtained access, as Loch Leven, and some of the
Irish Loughs, it has been suggested that such may be dependant upon the
diminution or disappearance of such entomostraca as previously formed its
natural food. It does not bear confinement well, but may be kept for a short
period in troughs through which a supply of water flows. Thompson, in 1835,
observed that they were thus kept at Coniston water at the hotel and sold at 10s
a dozen.

Charr have been accused of destroying the eggs and young of the trout.

Knox found in examples from Windermere some entomostraca. Sir J.

* It has been stated to descend to the sea, and it has been asserted that some were captured
there or at the mouths of rivers on the Welsh coast after they had been driven out of Llauberris by
poisoned waters. Further evidence on this point is required.

SALM0N1XVE. 117

Gibson-Maitland found the food in the stomach of all he examined from Lake
Rannock distended with water fleas, Daphnia pidex. Thompson found in some
from L. Inch that their stomachs were crammed with insect larva?, entomostracous
Crustacea, a small Notonecta or boat-fly, bivalve shells of the genus Pisidium, and
minute gravel.

Means of capture. Fishing by bait is best in spring, but is carried on throughout
the summer: very fine tackle is necessary. The best places are the deepest parts
of the lake. They come in autumn into shallow water (see pp. 110, 111, 112).

Baits. -The artificial fly, spinning minnow, or spinning spoon, worms.

Breeding. Dr. J. Davy found 1230 ova in an example weighing about half a
pound, and that the principal spawning season in the lake district is from about
the first week in November to the first in December. Whether, he observes, this
is the only season is somewhat doubtful, as the fishermen at Windermere speak of
a later one in which it is believed by them that fish of the larger size and few in
number deposit their spawn in February and March. He "never heard of one
being taken or seen in the Brathay after December." The locality chosen for
forming a redd is in gravelly shallows in the lakes. They rarely ascend streams
towards their source to spawn, but restrict themselves to near their outlet or
portions where the current is not very rapid although a shallow is necessary.
Thompson observes respecting the time of breeding, that the Loch Killin charr
contained ova the size of peas on September 26th or 27th, whereas in the
neighbouring lake of L. Corr they were in high condition. This is one out of
numerous instances which might be adduced respecting the different periods of
spawning in contiguous localities. In Bavaria in the Kcenigsee, near Berchtesgarten,
some of these fish taken at the latter part of Jane, July and August were found
ready for spawning.

Dr. Davy informs us that Mr. Reynolds, in 1850-51, found none hatched in less
than 60 days, the greater number on the 70th, and from that to the 75th, and some
few as late as the 90th : the average temperature in the breeding boxes being about
40. At about 55^ the process has been completed in 41 days, and there were
some of the same eggs took 90 days in Mr. Reynolds' hatching boxes. Some eggs
of the lake-trout were fertilized with the milt of the charr and commenced
hatching in 70 days.

It was found by Dr. J. Davy that running water is not essential to the
development of the eggs of the charr, from which he concluded that its breeding
place being distinct from that of the trout it is not likely to give rise to hybrids.
" That salt water, even of greater saltness than sea water, is not immediately
fatal to the embryo, even when not included in its shell : moreover, that in
slightly brackish water a partial development of the ovum may take place, and
that the young fish can exist some days in such water, rendering it probable that
the adult may be capable of existing in a tidal stream or even in the sea, where it
is stated that the Welsh charr has been caught."

Life history. The young when artificially reared appear to be somewhat more
delicate than the trout. In Austria it is observed to grow much more rapidly in
some lakes than it does in others. Yarrell states that in the autumn of 1839,
Mr. Upton, near Sedberg, put into the Lillymere Lake, near the reservoir, some
charr taken from Windermere, each weighing about \ lb., and on August 23rd,
1840, took with a fly two 2 lb. weight each, in the finest possible season, well
fed and beautifully coloured.

Hybrids. In Upper Austria, C. Peyrer observes a cross between Salmo salve-
linus and the brook-trout is propagated and excels the pure breed in many respects,
the eggs of the former are milted from the latter. I have seen two specimens
of hybrids over two years of age, the one between a salmon and a Loch Leven
trout, the other between an American charr and a brook-trout ; both were sterile,
but as to whether merely temporarily or permanently I cannot offer any opinion.*

* Lenchart observes upon hybrids between the salmon and brook- or sea-trout that his
experiments led him to conclude that the hybrids are fertile and their offspring not sterile. And
Professor Haack has fertilized the ova of hybrids between charr and trout with the milt of trout
(see p. 59 ante).

118 PHYSOSTOMI.

As food. The flesh of these fishes varies, in some localities it is pink in colour,
in others white. At the lakes they are in the greatest perfection from July until
October. As they soon lose their delicate flavour after removal from the water
they are potted and thus considered a great delicacy.

Habitat. In Norway the red charr lives from a sea level up to 600 metres
above it : in the S.E. portions of the country it is rare, in West Norway more
common and captured in large numbers with a fly. Its flavour varies as greatly
as does that of the trout, and it appears to thrive best in lakes where the temperature
is somewhat uniform, without bottom springs and not having too large an amount
of brook-water flowing in. It extends to Great Britain and Ireland, France,
Southern Germany, and in the clear lakes of the Alps of Upper Austria, Tyrol,
Bavaria, Switzerland, also in the Carpathian lakes up to 6000 feet above the
sea.

The Orkneys, being occasionally captured in Loch Stenness, and three were
obtained in Waas, in 1832 (W. Baikie) : also from North Uist in the Hebrides.
Examples from Sutherlandshire are in the British Museum, while Mr. J. Harvie-
Brown informs me that there is a charr loch about twenty-five miles from
Durness, on Ben Hope, where they are taken up to 1^ lb. weight. At midsummer
they are only known to rise at one part of the loch, on its S.E. side, between the
exit of the stream and the island. In September numbers are taken with both
worm and fly. Mr. Bantock says that charr abound in scores of the Sutherland-
shire lochs, and mentions the one referred to on Ben Hope, and another small loch
(Borley) near the Manse at Durness ; they are also found in the upper end of
Loch Assynt. Thompson recorded their existence and obtained specimens from
Loch Corr, Loch Moy and Loch Killin, Inverness-shire. Specimens from Loch
Dochart, in Perthshire, were in the British Museum according to White, and Sir
J. Gibson-Mai tland has taken them in Loch Rannoch. Pennant recorded them in
Loch Inch, Wigtownshire, and Thompson in Loch Grannoch, Kirkcudbrightshire.
Also an example from Loch Bruiach is in the national collection. Black, 1844,
observed that this fish had of late years disappeared from Loch Leven.

In England the lake districts of Cumberland, Northumberland, and part of
Lancashire, more especially in Windermere, Keswick, Crummoch Water, Butter-
mere, Ennerdale, Coniston Water, Westwater and Hawswater, the area of which
is estimated at 35,320 acres, are those where charr do or did frequent. Winder-
mere, we are informed (1878), is very productive, while in Coniston the fish have
been poisoned by the mines ; they are also found in Rydal. In Windermere they
are somewhat restricted to the deep waters, and spawn in the River Brathay,
avoiding the Rothay, which is more frequented by trout. Some spawn in
November and some are said to do so in February.

In Wales this fish is still found near Snowdon, in the Lake of Llanberris, Llyn
Cawellyn, Coss-y-gedawl and Bettew Festiniog in Merionethshire.

In Ireland. In the county of Donegal it has been taken in Lough Esk
(Camden), also from near Dunfanaghy (Templeton), L. Gartan, L. Kindun,
L. Shessuch, L. Keel (Thompson), and L. Derg (Field, June, 1879), and
L. Elvyn (Couch). In Antrim from L. Neagh (Dubourdieu) : Thompson visited
this place in 1834, and was informed that none had been captured for the last ten
years, although twenty years previously they had been abundant. An old fisher-
man explained the reason as follows : " That they once went down the River
Bann to the sea and never came back again." In Monaghan at Lough Eaghish
(incorrectly spelt Esk) according to Templeton, who stated they had become
very rare and were all but extinct. In Fermanagh at Lough Melvin and L. Erne
(Thompson), Westmeath in Belvidere Lake (Ball), county of Cavanin Drumlane
Lake (Thompson) ; in county of Mayo, Castlebar (Daniel) and Lough Conn
(Pack) ; county of Galway in Lough Corrib, and L. Bonn (Thompson), Longford
at Lough Nabrach (Ball), Connemara in Lough Ourad (Davy), Wicklow in
Lough Dan (Thompson) and L. lada (Couch), Waterford in four mountain lakes
(Smith), and at Inchigeelagh in the county of Cork (Vyse).

In figuring all the reputed species of British charr, as much as possible,
examples have been selected in the National collection in order to prevent the

SALMONID^E. 119

possibility of any error of identification occurring. In the Lake districts they
average from 1^ to over 21b. but they have been obtained many pounds heavier
in weight.

4. Salmo fontinalis, Plate CXX, figs. 1, 2.

Salmo fontinalis, Mitchell, Trans. Lit. and Phil. Soc. New York, i, p. 435 ;
Richards. Faun. Bor.-Amer. iii, p. 176, pi. lxxxiii, f. 1 and pi. lxxxvii, f. 2; Storer,
Report Fish. Mass. p. 106 ; Kirtl. Report, Zool. Ohio, p. 169, and Boston Journ.
Nat. Hist. 1843, pt. iv, p. 305, pi. xiv, f. 2 ; DeKay, Fauna New York. Fish,
p. 235, pi. xxxviii, f. 120 ; Ayres, Boston Journ. Nat. Hist, iv, 1843, p. 273 ; Cuv.
and Val. xxi, p. 266 ; Bingelow, Bost. Journ. Nat. Hist, vi, 1850, p. 49 ; Giinther,
Catal. vi, p. 152.

Salmo hoodii, Richards. 1. c. iii, p. 173, desc. part. (spec, from River Mingan).

Salmo nigrescens, Ratin. Ichth. Ohiens. p. 45.

Baione enjthrogaster, DeKay, Faun. New York. Fish. p. 236, pi. xxxix, f. 126.

Hucho fontinalis, Giinther, Catal. vi, p. 152.

B. x-xi, D. 12-13 (V) I 0, P. 12-13, V. 8-9, A. 10-11 ( y 3 9 -), C. 19, L. 1. 122-
140, L. tr. 36-50/51-63, Cose. pyl. 34, Vert. 59-62.

Length of head 4t\ to 5f (4 J in a male), of caudal fin 6, height of body 4f to 5
in the total length. Eyes diameter of each from 4<\ to 5 or 5|- in the length of
the head, 1 to \\ diameters from the end of the snout, and from 1 to If apart.
Hind edge of preopercle regularly curved and with a very short but distinct
lower limb. Height of opercle equals twice its greatest width ; height of sub-
opercle equals half the length of its lower edge which, with its hind margin, forms
a regular curve. The form of the various opercular pieces in these fishes is liable
to great variation frequently due to an apparent arrest of development ; this is
also seen at Howietown among examples which have had gill-fever in their infancy,
and is considered to be one of its results. In one example the subopercle differs on
the two sides of the same fish. The maxilla reaches to beneath the hind edge of
the eye. Teeth 4 or 5 across the anterior portion of the vomer where that bone
joins the palatine arch but none along its body. In a single row along the palatines
and in the jaws. Fins the rayed dorsal commences slightly nearer to the end
of the snout than to the base of the caudal fin, its third or fourth ray is the longest
and somewhat exceeds the length of the base of the fin. Pectoral extends about
half-way (in some examples more, in others less) to the base of the ventral,
which latter is inserted below the centre of the rayed dorsal fin, laid flat it does
not quite reach the vent. Caudal forked in the young, but becoming square with
age, as seen in the trout. Scales 40 to 49 rows from the lateral-line to the base
of the ventral fin : 21 to 26 rows from the hind edge of the base of the adipose
dorsal fin downwards and forwards to the lateral-line ; from 185 to 235 rows pass
from the back to the lateral-line. Colours greenish along the back, becoming
lighter on the sides and beneath, the whole being beautifully shot with purple and
gold. Numerous round or oval spots along the back becoming fewer below the
lateral-line ; anteriorly from the head to the dorsal fin many coalesce. Red
spots above, on, and sometimes below the lateral-line. White edges with black
bases to the upper margin of the pectoral and the anterior edges of the ventral
and anal. Sinuous bands of black or rings on the dorsal fin : the upper and
lower edges of the caudal barred. During the breeding season, the lower surface
of the body of the male is frequently of an intense velvety black.

Varieties. The following refers to an example 9 inches long, which was
hatched from eggs received from Lake Huron, and which lived some years in a
tank at the Westminster Aquarium.

B. x, D. 13 (f), P. 11, V. 8, A. 10 (f), C. 19.

Length of head 4|, of caudal fin 1\, length of body 5^ in the total length.
Eyes diameter 6 in the length of the head, If diameter from the end of the
snout and 2 diameters apart. Subopercle nearly twice as long as deep. Scales
43 rows from the lateral-line to the base of the ventral fin ; 24 from the hind edge

120 PHYSOSTOMI.

of the base of the adipose dorsal fin to the lateral-line. The figure is on plate
cxx, fig. 2, along with one, fig. 1, raised at Howietown.

Habits. Similar to our charr and, like it, appears to prefer deep water. Is
generally considered to have great roving propensities and is not often found
rising to the fly after having attained a pound in weight. A "conservator"
writing from Shropshire to the Field, remarked that he considered it useless for
turning into a running water, as it drops down stream, while it does not attain
to the size of our brook-trout, and in a lake will not rise well to the fly. He
thought it as bad as pike in destroying other fish, consequently he did not
recommend it, although it is excellent eating, and fights well when hooked. Mr.
Andrews at Guildford, states that he found that his yearlings ran from 8 oz. to
10 oz. and two-year-olds from 1 to 2 lb. each ; three-year-olds averaged 41b., and
four-year-olds go 5^ lb. to 6^ lb. (Land and Water, July 22, 1882.)

Breeding. The eggs as already remarked (page 105) are only about half the size
of those of the brook-trout, and although in some localities it has been observed to
deposit its ova earlier than the trout, it does so mostly at about the same period.
" One very striking character in rearing Sal-mo fontinalis, is the remarkable
difference in the growth of individuals in a single brood of fry from the same
batch of ova : some at great speed outstrip their brethren in a short space
of time, while the majority are probably -| less than these in size at the end of
the first few months" (Carrington, Zool. 1876, p. 5112). It is by no means
uncommon to find some take on cannibal propensities similar to the trout
(page 94).

Hybridism. In June, 1882, I received from Sir Pryse Pryse, Cardiganshire,
an example 9 inches long, evidently a hybrid between this form and the brook-
trout.

B. x, D. 14 ( T %), P. 14, V. r. 9, 1. 8, A. 11 (f), C. 19, L. 1. 119, L. tr. 27/39.

Length of head 5, of caudal fin 5^, height of body 5 in the total length.
Eyes diameter of each 1/5 of the length of the head, lj diameters from the end
of the snout, and If apart. Cleft of mouth deep, the maxilla reaching posteriorly
to beneath the hind edge of the orbit. Hind edge of preopercle with a slight
angle at its centre, also where it commences to form its lower limb, which latter is
distinct. Width of opercle equal to two-thirds of its height. Height of sub-
opercle at its base 2\ in that of the opercle, and having a rounded posterior
margin. Teeth two at the anterior portion of the vomer where it joins the
palatine arch, 6 along the body of that bone at first in alternate rows, but the
last two single, the most posterior one the largest. Scales 170 rows descend from
the back to the lateral-line, 19 from the hind edge of the adipose dorsal in a line
downwards and forwards to the lateral-line ; 29 rows from the lateral-line to the
base of the ventral fin. Fins the dorsal commences midway between the end of
the snout and the base of the caudal fin ; the length of its base equals 3/4 of
its height. Candal emarginate. Colours those of S. fontinalis being gray
rivulated with yellowish-white and wide serpentine bauds, or forming rings
round gray blotches, which have a light central spot. A few red spots along the
lateral-line, but none apparent above or below it. Dorsal, caudal, and ventral
fins coloured similarly to S. fontinalis but the anal with a less distinct black
border at the base of its white outer edge.

As food. It is excellent, the flesh may be white, perfectly pink, or of a deep
red.

Habitat. The fresh waters of British North America, and contiguous portions
of the United States. It has, during the last twenty years, been acclimatized in
this country, and thrives in most places where it has been turned out, either in
Scotland, England, or Wales.

In Norfolk it is said to grow twice as quickly as the brook-trout. It does well
in the stock-ponds at Howietown, near Stirling, also near Guildford, and in other
localities.

The first plate, cxx, fig. 1, is from an example 8| inches long, from Howie-
toun, and fig. 2 from an example kept for some years in a tank at the Westminster
Royal Aquarium.

SALMONID^. 121

Genus II Osmerus, Artedi.

Branchiostegals seven or eight : pseudobranchive rudimentary. Body somewhat
elongated. Cleft of mouth deep. The maxilla almost extending to beneath the hind
edge of the orbit. Teeth in upper jaws smaller than those in tlie lower, in a transverse
band across the vomer, some being fang-like, also strong ones along the palatine and
pterygoid bones. Large fang-like teeth anteriorly on the tongue and posteriorly
smaller ones. Scales of moderate size. Pyloric appendages few and short. Ova small.

In Newfoundland, 0. viridescens ascends the smaller streams in thousands as
the ice disappears (Saxby, Zool. 1871, p. 2553). A nearly allied genus, Thaleich-
thys, exists on the Pacific coast of North America, and so full of oil are they that
their common name is candle-fish, or oolachan, as after having been sun dried they
can be lighted, and will burn with a spluttering flame to the end (Angler's
Note-book, p. 124). An oil, reputed to be medicinal, has been introduced into
this country under the head of Oolachan oil, and is scarcely distinguishable from
cod-liver oil (Nature, May 12th, 1881).

Geographical distribution. Atlantic coasts of temperate and northern portions
of Europe and North America, ascending rivers to spawn and frequently becoming
resident there. One species from California.

Its growth is said to be frequently much retarded when passing from a marine
to a fresh-water existence, in some parts of northern Europe it is acclimatized
where there is no available outlet to the ocean.

Osmerus eperlanus, Plate CXXI, fig. 1.

Eperlanus, Belon. De Aquat. p. 288 ; Rondel, ii. 196 ; Aldrov. iv, c. 12, p. 536 ;
Jonston, ii, c. 2, t. xxiv, f. 3 ; Will. p. 202, t. N. 6, f. 4 ; Ray, p. 66. Spirinchus,
Jonston, t. xlvii, f. 6 ; Schonev. p. 70, t. vii. Osmerus, No. 1, Artedi, Gen. p. 10,
Syuon. p. 21, and Spec. p. 45. Salmo, sp. Gronov. Zooph. No. 373. Eperlanus
Schonfoldii, Rutty, Nat. Hist. Dublin, i, p. 358. Trutta, sp. Klein, Pise. Miss, v,
p. 20, no. 12, t. iv, f. 2-4. Smelt, Pennant, Brit. Zool. (Ed. 1776), iii, p. 313. pi.
lxxi (Ed. 1812), iii, p. 416, pi. lxxii. Salmo eperlanus var. marinus, Walb. Artedi,
iii, p. 57.

Salmo eperlanus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 511 ; Bloch, i, p. 176, t. xxviii, f. 2;
Gmel. Linn. p. 1375 ; Bonnaterre, Ency. Ich. p. 164, pi. lxviii, fig. 276 ; Bl. Schn.
p. 410; Donovan, Brit. Fish, ii, pi. xlviii; Turton, Brit. Faun. p. 104; Pallas,
Zoo. Ros.-As. iii, p. 386 ; Gronov. ed. Gray, p. 152.

Salmo eperlano-marinus, Bl. i, p. 128, t. xxviii, f. 1.

Osmerus eperlanus, Lacep. v, pp. 229, 231 ; Richardson, Faun. Bor.-Amer. iii,
p. 185 ; Flem. Brit. Anim. p. 181 ; Ekstr. Vet. Akad. Handl. 1834, p. 7 and
Fische v. M'irko, p. 191 ; Jenyns, Man. p. 429 ; Tarrell, Brit. Fish. (ed. 1) ii, p.
75, c. fig. (ed. 2) ii, p. 129 (ed. 3) i. p. 295 ; Cuv. and Val. xxi, p. 371, pi. 620 ;
Parnell, Wern. Mem. vii, p. 312 and Fish. Firth of Forth, p. 152 ; Johnston,
Berwick. Nat. Club, 1838, i, p. 173 ; Nilss. Skand. Fauna, p. 433 ; Kroyer, Danm.
Fisk. iii, p. 1; Cuv. and Val. xxi, p. 371, pi. 620; Siebold, Siisswas. p. 271;
White, Catal. p. 79 ; Schlegel, Dieren van Neder. p. 131 ; Thompson, Nat. Hist.
Ireland, iv, p. 167 ; Malm. Wiegm. Arch. 1864, p. 339 and Fauna, p. 549 ;
Giinther, Catal. vi, p. 166; Mcintosh, Fish. St. Andrews, p. 181; Blanchard,
Poiss. France, p. 441, fig. cxiv ; Winther, Ich. Dan. Mar. p. 44 ; Houghton, Brit.
Freshwater Fishes, p. 161, c. fig.; Collett, Norges Fiske, p. 162; Feddersen,
Danske F. Fiske, p. 78 ; Moreau, Poiss. France, iii, p. 541.

Salmo {Osmerus) spirinchus, Pall. Zoogr. Ross. -As. iii. p. 387.

Eperlanus vulgaris, Gaim. Voy. Isl. and Grcenl. Poiss. pi. xviii, f. 2.

Osmerus spirinchus, Cuv. and Val. xxi, p. 387.

122 PHYSOSTOMI.

Smell, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, iv, p. 276, pi. ccxxvii.

B. vii-viii, D. 10-12 | 0, P. 11-12, V. 8-9, A. 13-16 (17), C. 19, L. 1. 60-65,
L. tr. 7/11, Ccec. pyl. 7, Vert. 60-62.

Length of head 4^- to 5i, of caudal fin 6~ to 7, height of body 6 to 6| or even
7 in the total length. Eyes diameter of each 4| to 6| in the length of the head, 1
to 2 diameters from the end of the snout, and 2 apart. Its back is more rounded
than its abdominal edge ; sides rather flattened. Lower jaw the longer ; the
posterior extremity of the maxilla reaches to beneath the hind edge of the orbit.
Teeth those in the upper smaller than those in the lower jaw, where they are
in two rows, the inner the larger, they increase in size posteriorly. Large fang-
like ones on the vomer. Teeth also present on the tongue. Fins The first dorsal
commences midway between the hind edge of the eye and the base of the caudal
fin; the second or adipose dorsal over the middle of the anal. Ventrals inserted
below the anterior rays of the dorsal fin. Caudal forked. Scales cycloid and
deciduous ; 6 rows between the lateral-line and the base of the ventral fin.
Lateral-line indistinct after the first few scales. Ccecal pylori seven very short
ones, scarcely perceptible except after the intestines have been distended. Colours
of a light olive-green, superiorly, becoming silvery shot with purple on the
sides and beneath. A wide silvery band passes along each side, numerous fine
black dots are present on the head, back, dorsal and caudal fins more especially
in large examples. Caudal dark edged. Eyes silvery.

Varieties Linnaeus considered that in the Baltic there were two forms, one
termed nors possessed a foul odour, which in the early spring when the peasants
come to buy it, fills all the streets of Upsal with the smell ; adding that at this
period agues prevail there. Valenciennes considered this to be 0. spirinchus,
Pallas, having a shorter body than the common form, and that it must have been
from one of this variety that Bloch figured his fish in plate xxviii. Bloch
erroneously believed that the same cause occasioned like results in London.

Names. Smelt is said to be derived from its possessing a peculiar odour :
resembling cucumbers, violets, or rushes. Jonston imagiued that the term smelt
was used in the sense of smelting metals, and derived from the transparent
appearance of the fish, as if it were going to melt away. Sir J. Browne termed them
spirinches, and a small one a priame. The Germans, owing to its aroma, term it
the "stinkfisch," and Linnaaus observes that the odour from some, warrants
the German epithet : Taylor (Hardw. Sc. Gossip) has known the smelts to come
up in such numbers that it was easy to detect the peculiar cucumber smell which
distinguishes them, by walking along the river side. Sparling is a corruption
of the French term " Eperlan," or else the two words are of a similar origin.
Sprot is termed by Palsgrave to be a " sprat " or a " smelt." Spurring, North-
umberland : Prim is the fry (East). Sibbald (Scotia, Illustrata) has an Apua
vera, which he termed Sparling, Apua or Aphia were names which used to be
applied to a goby. Be spiering or spierling, Dutch. Eperlan, French.

Habits. A gregarious and voracious species, remaining with us throughout
the year, and passing a portion of each season in fresh, and the remainder, as a
rule, in salt water, but irregular in its migrations, continuing in some rivers five
or six months, in others hardly as many weeks. It is generally found in rivers
or fresh waters, from August until May. In the Thames it rarely ascends above
Woolwich, but Buckland in March, 1868, received three live ones captured nearly
as high as Teddington, while others were taken near Kew Bridge. This year
(1882) some were present at the end of September, and had selected their
spawning quarters in the tideway opposite Chiswick Mill, and Strand-on-the-
Green.

One fully 9 inches long was captured while bleak fishing at Wooden-bridge-
creek, Hammersmith. It drives the dace before it, these latter fish ascending
to Richmond, Isleworth, &c. (Field). Lubbock observed the same migrations of
roach and dace in Norfolk, fleeing from the smelts,* which regularly ascend the

* M. de la Blanchere observes thai the odour of the smelt drives other fish away, and thus
protects it lroiu its enemies.

SALMONID^E. 123

rivers in spring to spawn, and only stops its upward course at some insurmount-
able barrier. It appears to be particularly partial to small fish and shrimps.
In some parts of Sweden, Nilsson found that they remained in lakes which
possess sandy bottoms all the year round : in the spring they migrate to the
shallow portions and ascend rivers.

Colonel Meynell, of Yarm, in Yorkshire, kept these fish for four years in a
fresh- water pond, which had no communication with the sea ; and Yarrell states
that they continued to thrive and propagated abundantly. The pond being
frozen over did not affect them, and they did not lose either flavour or quality
(Wern. Mem. December 17th, 1825). Mr. Egerton acclimatized these fish in
fresh water, in a lake at Roselherne Manor, Knutsford, Cheshire. Many are
kept alive in tanks in the Norwich fish-market until required for use (Southwell).

Mr. W. Wanklv of Grange-over- Sands, Lancashire, sent an account of these
fish to Land and Water, and observed he was much struck with the very rapid
growth of the sparling from October to March in October ten or twelve
together weighed no more than 1 lb., in March the fish were 4 oz. to 6 oz. each,
and occasionally one or more in a take weighed close on 8 oz. He opened a
sparling as soon as it was taken out of the net, and found six, seven, and eight
herring fry : next he tried the experiment of thus opening one or two alive, and
taking others home intact, and always found nothing but digested food when
the latter were gutted to be cooked. Opening some of the herring fry taken
out of the fresh-taken sparling, i.e., just out of the water, he repeatedly found
in the herring fry small shrimps, most neatly stowed away. The gastric juice or
fluid of the sparling was so acrid, that when he wiped his hands on his pocket-
handkerchief and then used the handkerchief to blow his nose, both his nostrils
and lips were inflamed and irritated, and more than once his tongue swelled in an
extraordinary manner. The sparling were following and feeding on the herring
fry, or herring ewes, as they are called there. The sparling are very uncertain
and apparently fickle in their visits to their supposed haunts i.e., in holes near
rocks, where fresh-water streams mingle with tidal water. One day 201b. or
30 lb. may be taken ; then for a week or ten days only an odd fish or two will
be got; then a week of good takes. They are easily driven away, for on one
occasion some men left a boat anchored in a hole to reserve the right of first
draw. Whilst that boat remained there no sparling rested in the hole, but when
it was removed they returned to their haunt.

Means of capture. In Norfolk the fishery commences in March, and continues
until the middle of April, during which period the fish are full of roe. The
smelter, says Lubbock, hour after hour does he persevere, moored exactly in the
same spot with a torch attached to the side of his broad flat-bottomed boat (for
this is a nocturnal occupation) in flinging his immense casting net, dropping the
near side of it at each throw, within three inches of the torch. One fortunate
cast, if smelts sell well, may recompense him for hours of fatigue, wet, and cold :
and he waits like the losing gambler for the lucky throw which is to brighten his
fortune. The smelts captured are kept alive in a tank. They are likewise taken
in the estuary of the Ouse and in Brejdon by means of stake nets. It appears to
be partial to sandy shores, as off the Lincolnshire coast, while the different schools
appear to consist of fish much of one size.

At the outlets of many of our larger rivers were or are smelt fisheries which
must have been carried on for long periods, because we find a mesh for the
purpose of taking smelts legalized at the time of Queen Elizabeth. They may
be caught with a paternoster line and No. 8 or 9 hooks, floats may or may not be
used, shrimps either fresh or boiled, gentles, a red worm, or slices of fish form
good baits. Bread crumbs have been recommended as ground bait Early
moimings and late of evenings have been considered the best times for this fishing.

In the Solway Firth the best fishing season is in September, but they
disappear the next month until March and April when they ascend to spawn.

Breeding. Ova small, of a yellow colour, while the females are said to
preponderate largely in numbers over the males. On January 13th, 1882, the
season being very mild, I obtained smelts with the ova half developed. They

124 PHYSOSTOMI.

generally deposit their spawn about March or April, and mostly near the high
water spring-tide mark, subsequent to which they descend to the sea. In March,
according to Parnell, they ascend the Forth in large shoals, and shed their spawn
in immense quantities about two miles below Stirling Bridge, where at that time
every stone, plank, and post appear to be covered with their yellowish-coloured
ova. The fry are found about 3 inches long, swimming near the surface in shoals
in the rivers in the month of August, ascending and descending with the tide
(Yarrell). In America, at Maryland, the attempt to artificially propagate a
species of this genus in 1877 proved unsuccessful.

As food. The smelt is justly held in great estimation for the table, but after
spawning becomes insipid. It used to be split and dried and was thus considered to
add a particular relish to the morning dram of spirits. Spring fishing for smelts
is said to be inimical to smolts in Solway Firth, while in autumn the nets kill the
parent fish. It is said by the French to be a good bait for eels : while the picked
dog fish, Acanthias vulgaris, destroy large numbers of them in estuaries.

Habitat. Coasts of Northern and Central Europe (probably excluding
Iceland), and entering fresh waters, found in all the larger lakes of Finland,
as well as along the sea shore (Malm). Along the Atlantic coast of France,
abounding in the summer, and in the Seine as high as Rouen.

Banffshire, rare (Edward). St. Andrews, not uncommon, large numbers
being caught in the Tay (Mcintosh).

In the Firth of Forth, in the neighbourhood of Alloa, it is taken in great
numbers, especially towards the fall of the year. Those captured from November
till January seldom exceed 6 inches in length, but after the end of March the
larger ones appear and the smaller ones take their departure (Parnell). Some of
the rivers of East Anglia abound in these most beautiful and delicious fish,
which are resident and common in the estuaries of the Tees and of the Humber.
Also in the Ouse and the Humber from Nabura Loch to Spurn Point, and
occurs a considerable distance up the Tees (Yorkshire Vertebrata). There is a
smelt fishery at Boston in Lincolnshire, from September until May, the fish being
full of ova in April. It seems to be absent along our south coast from Dover to
Land's End. Dr. Norman, of Yarmouth, in 1881, mentions in Land and Water a
fine specimen he saw in Mrs. French's shop window at Yarmouth, scaling over
seven ounces. Their cucumber-like smell when first caught is very perceptible.
Then they are indeed a treat ; but, in a few hours after, become comparatively
insipid. Found in the estuaries of the Thames and Medway, in which latter
river Pennant observed it never enters so long as snow water is present.

Parfitt (Fauna of Devon, p. 19) observes of this fish, "taken in the Exe :
Eoss, MSS.,i, p. 55." Having been shown the MSS. by Mr. D'Urban at the
Albert Institute, Exeter, I find that it is the sand smelt, or Atherine, which
Mr. Ross referred to. It has been asserted that this fish has been captured as far
south as Swansea, but the statement is doubted by Dillwyn, who never found it
there. Examples from Conway are in the British Museum. Along the west
coast this fish is taken in the Dee and in the Mersey, while at Ulverstone they
are found heavy with spawn about the middle of March, the fishery being
concluded by the middle of April. There are also smelt fisheries in the estuaries
of many of the rivers which enter the Solway, where they arrive in March or
April to spawn, they are very small in June and July, but at their prime in
September. They do not appear to ascend above brackish w T ater in order to
deposit their ova.

In Ireland, Rutty, in his natural history of the county of Dublin, and Smith
in that of Cot'k, mentions the capture of the smelt, and Templeton (Mag. Nat. Hist.
1837 (2), i, p. 411) asserts that it is sometimes taken on the coast in considerable
abundance, but often several years intervene during which they are scarcely met
with ; Thompson suggests that these authors allude to the Atherine or sand smelt
(i, p. 225), as he cannot find any authentic record of the true smelt having been
captured in Ireland.

It attains to 10 or 12 inches in length. Pennant alludes to one of 13 inches
which weighed 1^ lb. The example figured is 10 2 inches in length.

SALMONID^, 125

Genus III Coregonds, Artedi.

Argyrosomus, Agassiz (lower jaw the longer).

Branchiostegals seven to ten : pseudobranchiai well developed. Body somewhat
elongated. Cleft of mouth shallow : maxilla deep, and posteriorly not extending
to behind the orbits. Teeth, when present, minute and deciduous. First dorsal
fin with a moderate number of rays, the second adipose. Caudal forked. Scales
of moderate size'. Air-bladder large. Pyloric appendages numerous. Ova small.

Some authors have believed that the vendace, Coregonus vandesius, was
introduced into Lochmaben, Dumfriesshire, from the continent of Europe,
by or for the unfortunate Mary Queen of Scots. As the species has not been
recognized on continental Europe, is difficult to transport, while it is not
restricted to one Scottish loch, this tradition appears to rest on an uncertain
foundation. In aquaria a very little matter affects them, a trifling variation of
temperature, a little impurity or a difference between the oxygenating surfaces
of two tanks, Lloyd proved were matters of life or death.

It has been questioned by some excellent authorities whether the species of
this genus may not have been unduly multiplied, and M. de la Blanchere (Diet,
des Peches) observed that after a special study made at the Imperial establishment
at Huningen, whei'e he had fishes of all ages under observation, he had come
to the conclusion that either the genus Coregonus ought to be composed of many
distinct species, these distinctions being based upon fugitive and little marked
characters : or else, that a single species is present endowed with great
variability.*

Geographical distribution. Mostly found in lakes, a few periodically migrating
to the sea, in the northern portions of temperate Europe, Asia, and North
America : while some appear to be marine. There are numerous species, several
being found living in a single lake. In North America, under the term of " white
fish," they are captured throughout the fresh waters. Dr. J. Davy observed that
the vendace and skelley are rarely taken by anglers, or any way except by the
net, and are of comparatively little value. It cannot be supposed that man ever
took the trouble to place the skelley in a tarn such as the Red-Tarn, situated
under the brow of Helvellyn, many hundred feet above Ullswater, and so
difficult of access. Much the same reflection presents itself as regards the
vendace in Derwentwater and Bassenthwaite Lake, taking into account the
distance of these lakes from Loch Maben.

Synopsis of Species.

1. Coregonus ozyrhynchus.T). 14-15, A. 14-15, L. 1. 75-80, 7f rows of scales
between the lateral-line and the insertion of the ventral fin. Snout soft and
produced into a conical form. Marine entering fresh water.

2. Coregonus clupeoides.D. 13-15, A. 13-16, L. 1. 73-90, 7\ to 8 rows of
scales between the lateral-line and the insertion of the ventral fin. Snout
vertically truncated. Fresh waters of the Lake districts and also of Wales.

3. Coregonus vandesius. D. 11, A. 13-14, L. 1. 66-70, seven rows of scales
between the lateral-line and the insertion of the ventral fin. Lower jaw the
larger. Fresh- water lochs of Scotland.

4. Coregonus pollan.D. 13-14, A. 12-14, L. 1. 80-88, nine rows of scales
between the lateral-line and the insertion of the ventral fin. Jaws anteriorly
of equal length. Fresh waters of Ireland.

* Collett (Norges Fiske) considers as pertaining to C. lavaretus, C. murcena, Bloch,
C. Widegrmii, Malmgr. C. lapponicus, Gunther, Q. gracilis, Giinther ; also probably C.
maxillaris, Gunther, and C. humilis, Gunther.

126 PHYSOSTOMI.

1. Coregonus oxyrhynchus, Plate CXXI, fig. 2.

Oxyrhynchus, Rondel, ii, p. 195 ; Gesner, p. 771 ; Willughby, p. 187.
Albida nobilis, Schonev. (not Gesner), p. 12. Coregonus, sp. Artedi, Synon.
p. 21, no. 4, Genera, p 10, no. 4. Salmo, sp. Gronov. Zooph. no. 374.

Salmo (Coregonus) oryrinchus, Linn. Syst. Nat. p. 512 ; Lacep. v, pp. 263,
267 ; Gmel. Linn. p. 1383 ; Bormat. Ency. Ich., p. 167 ; Gronov. ed. Gray, p. 152.

Tripteronohis hautin, Lacep. v, p. 48.

Salmo lavaretus, Bl. i, p. 163, t. xxv (not Linn.).

Salmo thymallus latus, Bl. i, p. 170, t. xxvi.

Coregonus oxyrinchus, Kroyer, Danm. Fisk. p. 76, c. fig.

Coregonus oxyrhynchus, Ekstrom, Fische Morko, p. 198 ; Cuv. and Val. xxi,
p. 488, pi. 630; Selys-Longch. Fauna Beige, p. 222 and Bull. Acad. Belg. ix, 1842,
p. 510 ; Malm* Wiegm. Arch. 1864, p. 323, and Fauna, p. 544 ; Siebold,
Siisswasser. f. p. 260 ; Schlegel, Dieren Neder., p. 135, pi. xiii, f. 2 ; Blanchard,
Poiss. France, p. 433, f. 112 ; Gunther, Catal. vi, p. 173; Collett, Norges Fiske,
1875, p. 165 ; Day, P. Z. S. 1877, p. 419, c. caput. ; Moreau, Poiss. France, iii,
p. 552.

B. ix, D. 14-15( T |:^r) | P. 15-16, V. 12-13, A. 14-15 ( T ^), C. 20, L. 1. 75-80,
L. tr. 8-9/12, Vert. 58.

Length of head 4| to 5, of caudal fin 5 \ to 5 \, height of body h\ to 6 in the
total length. Eyes diameter of each 4i to 4| in the length of the head, \\ to
l diameters from the end of the snout, and 1\ to 1\ apart. Snout produced
into a conical point beyond the upper jaw which is longer than the lower
jaw ; the maxilla reaching to below the first third of the eye. Length of
lower limb of the preopercle 3/4 of that of the vertical limb. Sub opercle
rounded posteriorly. Teeth in the jaws may be present or absent, being very
deciduous, when present like little needle points rather far asunder in the upper
jaw. Gill rakers not so long as the eye. Fins first dorsal commences rather
nearer the snout than to the base of the caudal fin, its longest ray 2/3 the
height of the body below it. Pectoral as long as the head excluding the snout or
behind the middle of the eye. Anal commences anterior to the vertical from the
commencement of the adipose dorsal. Caudal forked. Scales about 34 anterior
to the base of the rayed dorsal fin ; 7g between the lateral-line and base of the
ventral, where there is an elongated scale. Intestines stomach siphonal with
about 200 short ccecal appendages. Colours gray along the back becoming
silvery on the sides and beneath. Snout black. Fins yellow, upper edge of
dorsal black ; tip of adipose dorsal and caudal gray, a dark mark across ventral,
and a slight band along the anal.

Varieties. Valenciennes observes that two varieties exist : the one blackish
with a shorter snout from Lake Malarn ; the other paler in colour, having a longer
snout, found in Lake Wenern, and termed Nabb-sik.

Names. Houting or Hautin, from the Dutch, a probable corruption, according
to Valenciennes, from Whiting.

Habits. Mostly marine, but enters fresh waters. It seems to do better in a
fresh water than in a marine aquarium.

Habitat. Coasts of Northern Europe, entering fresh waters in Holland,
Germany, and Denmark. I received the first recorded British example April
17th, 1877, from Lincolnshire ; in March, 1880, the late Mr. Buckland sent me
one captured near Chichester. February, 1881, I obtained a third from the
mouth of the Medway, taken from among some smelts.

Rutty (Nat. Hist. Co. Dublin, 1772, i, p. 365) observed, " Thymallus, the
Grayling or Umber. With us it is a sea fish, and less than Willughby's, which
is a river fish." He may have been referring to Coregonus oxyrhynchus.

The figure is from the Lincolnshire example, 7 inches long, already referred
to, but the fish attains to more than twice this length.

* Malm considers Coregonus marmna, Nilsson, and C. Widegrenii, Malmgren, as synonymous
for this species, and probably G. Lloydii, Guuther.

SALMONIDiE. 127

2. Coregonus clupeoides, Plate CXXII.

Guiniad, Will. p. 183; Gioyniad, Pennant, Brit. Zool. (Ed. 1776) iii, p. 316, pi.
lxiii (Ed. 1812) iii, p. 419, pi. lxxiii.

_ Coregonus clupeoides, Lacep. v, p. 698 ; White, Catal. p. 81 ; Thompson, Nat.
Hist. Ireland, iv, p. 170; Giinther, Catal. vi, p. 188 ; Houghton, Brit. Freshwater
Fishes, p. 153, c. fig.

Salmo lavaretus, Turton, Brit. Fauna, p. 104.

Coregonus lavaretus, Flem. Brit. Anim. p. 182 ; Jenyns, Man. p. 431 ; Yarrell,
Brit. Fish. (ed. 2) ii, p. 142.

Coregomis Cepedei, Parnell, Ann. Nat. Hist. 1838, i, p. 162, c. fig. ; Yarrell, Brit.
Fish. (ed. 2) ii, p. 151 (ed. 3) i, p. 314 ; Cuv. and Val. xxi, p. 503.

Coregonus microcephalus, Parnell, 1. c. p. 163, e. fig.

Coregonus Pennantii, Cuv. and Val. xxi, p. 507 ; Yarrell, Brit. Fish. (ed. 3) i,
p. 310 ; White, Catal. p. 80.

Guiniad and Powan, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, iv, pp. 286, 295, pis. ccxxix,
ccxxxii.

B. ix, D. 13-15 ( T 3 ol* T 2) | 0, P. 17, V. 11-12, A. 13-16 ( T5 .y, C. 19, L. 1.
73-90, L. tr. 9/11, Vert. 38/28.

Length of head 5 to 5, of caudal fin 5, height of body 4^ to 5| in the total
length. Eyes diameter of each 4 in the length of the head, 1 diameter from the
end of the snout, and 1 \ apart. Snout truncated : the upper jaw somewhat longer
than the lower ; the maxilla reaches to beneath the first third of the orbit and is
slightly longer than the diameter of the eye, while the length of the mandible is
2/5 of that of the head. Nostrils close together, midway between the eye and the
end of the snout. As, in some examples, there is a slight depression at the nape
it gives the appearance as if the back behind the head were somewhat arched.
Teeth absent or very minute. Fins the first dorsal commences midway between
the end of the snout and the termination of the base of the adipose fin, it is two-
thirds to three-fourths as high as the body beneath it Pectoral inserted below
the middle of the depth of the side, and is as long as the head excluding the snout.
Ventral below the middle of the first dorsal, and midway between the posterior
extremity of the head and the commencement of the base of the anal fin. Caudal
deeply forked. Intestines ccecal appendages short and numerous. Scales 7
to 8 rows between the lateral-line and base of the ventral fin. Colours silvery
lightest on the sides and beneath, fins dark gray, almost black, externally.

Varieties Parnell considered that two species were found in Loch Lomond, the
first being Lacepede's fish, but as a Coregonus clupeoides, Pallas, existed, he termed
the commonest C. Cepedei and the smaller headed one C microcepkalus, subsequently
he informed Yarrell that he had received intermediate forms.

I possess an example from Haweswater in which the middle of the dorsal fin is
not only deficient but the back is regularly scaled between the end of the base of
the seventh ray and the last three, the four or five missing ones having evidently
not been developed due probably to some embryonic injury.

Names. The Welsh name Gwyniad, or white fish, is derived from Gwyn,
" white." In Ullswater it is known as the Schelly, a term which is said to refer
to its scales. Fresh-water herring.

Habits. Similar to those of the other fresh- water forms, and as a rule refrain-
ing from entering: running water or coming to the surface at mid-day. The late

1 ll j 1 J TT

Professor Rolleston gave me some examples which he collected at Haweswater,
and informed me that in the early spring some came to the sui'face with the
stomach everted, due to expansion of the air-bladder. We examined one and found
the pneumatic tube to be pervious.

Means of capture. Netting. In Loch Lomond the fishing lasts from March
until September, the fish being considered in their prime during August and
September. Parnell observes that although they are taken by means of drag nets,
occasional instances have occurred in which a few have been secured by the
artificial fly, but they had never been known to touch a minnow or other bait.

128 PHYSOSTOMI.

Breeding. December (Pennant).

As food. Dry and insipid. It soon decomposes.

Habitat. Loch Lomond, Ullswater, Haweswater, and large lakes in
Cumberland, the Eed Tarn, a small piece of water upwards of 2600 feet above
the sea, near the summit of Helvellyn. Conningham mere, Lancashire ; Pemble
mere, near Chester ; Lyntegid, near Bala, in Merionethshire ; and an instance has
been recorded of its straying six miles down the Dee as far as Llandrillo.

The example figured was from Bala lake, and I am indebted for it to Spencer
Walpole, Esq.

This fish attains to 3 or 4 lb. weight (Pennant), and has been recorded up to
16 inches in length.

3. Coregonus vandesius, Plate CXXIII, fig. 1.

Vandesius et Gevandesius, Sibbald, Scot. Tllus. p. 26. Vangis and Jurangis,
Pennant, Brit. Zool. (Ed. 1776), iii, p. 317 (Ed. 1812), iii, p. 420. Vendace,
Knox, Trans. Roy. Soc. Edin. xii, p. 503.

Goregonus marcenula, Jardine, Edin. Journ. Nat. and Geol. Soc. iii, p. 4,
pi. 1 and Brit. Ass. 1834, p. 615 ; Jenyns, Manual, p. 432 ; Swainson, Fishes, ii,
p. 287.

Coregonus vandesius, Richards. Faun. Bor.-Amer. iii, p. 213 ; Giinther, Catal.
vi, p. 194 ; Houghton, Brit. Freshwater Fishes, p. 155, c. fig.

Coregonus Willughbeii, Jardine, Illus. Scot. Salm. pi. vi; Yarrell. Brit. Fish.
(ed. 2), ii, p. 146.

Coregonus albvla, Cuv. and Val. xxi, p. 520, pi. 633 ; Stewart, El. Nat. Hist,
i, p. 373; White, Catal. Brit. Fish. p. 81; Yarrell, British Fish. (ed. 3), i,
p. 324.

Vendace, Embleton, Nat. Hist. Trans. Northum. and Durham, iv, p. 147, c. fig. ;
Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, iv, p. 289, pi. ccxxx.

B. ix, D. 11 (f) | 0, P. 15-16, V. 11, A. 13-14 ( T ! TT ), C. 23, L. 1. 66-70, L.
tr. 8-9/10, Vert. 56.

Length of head 5|, of caudal fin 5f , height of body 4| in the total length.
Eyes diameter of each 3 to 3i in the length of the head, 3/4 of a diameter from
the end of the snout, and 1 diameter apart. Lower jaw the longer, the extremity
when the mouth is closed forming a portion of the upper profile of the head : the
posterior extremity of the maxilla reaches almost to beneath the middle of the
eye. Teeth very minute. Fins the first dorsal commences nearly midway
between the end of the snout and the posterior end of the base of the adipose
dorsal fin ; it is four-fifths the height of the body below it. Ventrals inserted on
a line below the anterior portion of the first dorsal fin and midway between the
hind edge of the opercle and the commencement of the anal fin. Ccecal appendages
numerous. Scales 7 rows between the lateral-line and the insertion of the
ventral fin. Colours greenish blue along the back and upper half of the body,
silvery dashed with gold along the sides and beneath. Fins rather dark. Sir
W. Jardine observes that where the bottom is mossy they are of a darker tint
above and incline more to yellowish brown on the under parts.

Varieties. In those from the Castle Loch the lateral-line is said to be mesial,
while in such as come from Mill Loch it is nearer the dorsal profile, the latter
being likewise thicker and possessing longer heads.

Names. Pennant suggests the term Vendace has been derived from the French
Vendoise, "a dace," which it may have appeared to resemble to the Frenchified
Scotch Court which attended Queen Mary in her forced retirement when it was
said to have been introduced.

Habits. A gregarious fresh-water fish which swims in large shoals retiring to
the depths of the lakes as the warm weather sets in. It has been said that the sexes
keep apart, but in a draught made in October nine were females and six males,
which would tend to show that they reside together. As Knox conveyed some of
these fish alive in a bucket of water to the village, it shows they do not, as has
been asserted, die immediately on being taken out of the lake. Knox (Ann. Nat.

SALMONID^E. 129

Hist. (2), xv, 1855, p. 57), found the stomach of some he examined distended
with thousands of Entomostraca. Jardino observed the same food in those he
dissected.

Means of capture. Netting.

Breeding. Generally, but not invariably, about the middle of November.
Knox examined 22 females captured the middle of December, in 19 the ovaries
were small, very soft, and the ova mere points, while the fish were in good con-
dition : in the other three the ova were large and the parents about to spawn :
in two males the milts were progressing in size, but not much enlarged.

As food. It is much esteemed locally, being considered a great delicacy for
the table, enhanced possibly by the difficulty in procuring it.

Habitat. In two of the system of lakes near Lochmaben, Dumfriesshire,
namely, the Castle Loch, so termed from the ruined castle of Brus, on its banks :
and the Mill Loch ; the latter being deeper but less extensive. Also Derwent-
water and Bassenthwaite Lakes (Davy).

It attains to about 9 inches in length.

4. Coregonus pollan, Plate CXXIII, fig. 2.

Goregonus pollan, Thompson, Proc Zool. Soc. 1835, p. 77, and Mag. Zool. and
Bot, i, p. 247, and Nat. Hist. Ireland, iv, p. 168 ; Jenyns, Manual, p. 432 ; Yarrell,
Brit. Fishes (ed. 1) ii, p. 88, c. fig. (ed. 2) ii, p. 156 (ed. 3) i, p. 319 ; Cuv. and
Val. xxi, p. 502 ; White, Catal. p. 81 ; Giinther, Catal. vi, p. 194 ; Houghton,
Brit. F. W. Fish. p. 157, c. fig.

Goregonus clupeoides, Thompson, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist, ii, and I.e. iv, p. 170.

Pollan, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, iv, p. 292, pi. cexxxi.

B. ix, D. 13-14 ( TT ? T ^) j P. 15-16, V. 11-12, A. 12-14 ( T Vrr) C. 23, L. 1.
80-88, L. tr. 9-10/11-12, Vert. 59-61.

Length of head 5 to 51, of caudal fin 5|-, height of body 5j to 5| in the total
length. Eyes diameter 4 to 4|- in length of the head, 1 to lj diameters from the
end of the snout, and also apart. The two jaws of the same length anteriorly.
Thompson observes that he has seen individuals with the upper rather exceeding
the lower jaw, others with the lower slightly projecting beyond the upper, and
the difference was not sexual. The posterior extremity of the maxilla reaches to
beneath the first third of the eye. Teeth if present very minute. Fins the
first dorsal commences midway between the end of the snout and the hind edge
of the base of the anal fin, it is five-sixths the height of the body beneath it :
ventral inserted below the middle of the first dorsal fin, and midway between the
hind edge of the head and the middle of the base of the anal fin. Coecal
appendages numerous. Scales nine rows between the lateral-line and the inser-
tion of the ventral fin. Colours superiorly bluish along its upper third, silvery
on the sides and beneath. Dorsal, caudal, and anal fins darkest externally.

Varieties. The pollan of Lough Erne, was observed by Yarrell to be com-
paratively rather deeper than those from Lough Neagh. Mr. Ffeirnell produced
specimens of the pollan taken in November, 1881, in Lough Neagh, and some
from Killarney, taken May 8th, and pointed out the difference in the shape of the
head and gill-covers in the specimens from the two localities (Dublin Nat. Hist.
Soc. April, 1852).

Names. Pollan, from a local Irish term. Thompson obtained two examples,
4| and 4f in. long, from the Shannon at Killaloe where it was termed a Cunn,
this form being reputed to descend the river with the eels during the winter and
to refuse all bait. He first proposed to term it Goregonus elegans.

Habits. This fish approaches the shore in large shoals, not only during spring
and summer but late into the autumn. It dies soon after being removed from the
water. In Lough Neagh, where it is a permanent resident, it is not generally
diffused but approaches the shores at some particular spot, to which it returns
again and again.

A correspondent of the Field (Jan. 29th, 1881) observes respecting this fish in

9

130 PHYSOSTOMI.

Lough Derg : During the last two seasons I have occasionally come across instances
of the fresh-water herring or " pollen " a fish that little seems to be known about.
Those that I have seen I have always found floating in very deep water about the
centre of the lake in a half dead condition ; and, though I have been fishing the
lake for twenty years, I never before came across one ; but I have been told that
at times they have been taken in great numbers in nets. I never heard of one
having been taken on a hook, nor do I know on what they feed.

Several examples of this fish have been similarly obtained in different years.
Thompson examined the stomach of six pollans in June, 1836, and " found them
all filled with food consisting chiefly of mature individuals of Gammarus aquations,
and the larva? of various aquatic insects : some shells of the genus Pisidinm, one
of the fry of the three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus), and a few fragments of
stone." In the stomach of one captured at Lough Neagh in July, there were not
less than a hundred examples of Mi/sis and a single Isimneus pereger.

Means of capture. Netted usually in an afternoon, then packed in boxes and
transmitted by rail and steamer to Liverpool, Manchester, and other large towns.
Has occasionally been taken with the artificial fly.

The pollan, observes Thompson, approaches the shore in large shoals, not only
during spring and summer, but when the autumn is far advanced. The usual time
for fishing for it is in the afternoon, the boats returning the same evening. On
the days of the 23rd, 24th, and 25th of September, 1834, they were caught
plentifully from the shore. A shoi't time previously 17,220 fish were taken at one
draught, selling at 3s 4cZ the hundred (123), producing 23. 6s 8d.

In a letter from Francis Nevil, Esq., to the Lord Bishop of Clogher, dated
February 12th, 1712, writing respecting Lough Neagh, he remarks that among
other fish it abounds in pollans. "The English call them fresh-water herrings,
for want of another name ; for pollan is an Irish name. They catch them in
summer with seines as they do herrings, and they are a great relief to the poor,
being very cheap ; they ai*e much in shape and bigness like to the largest smelts,
full of very large bright scales, and pleasant meat, being eat fresh. They were
supposed to be a peculiar fish to that lake ; but since I came here I find Lough
Earne has the same sort, but not in so great plenty. They are generally caught
here in the eel-nets, running to the sea."

Breeding. They spawn in November and December on a hard or rocky
bottom, the ova are from ^o to | of an inch in diameter. Thompson found 6156
ova in an example llf in. long taken in Lough Neagh, November 28th, 1839.

As food. It is not held in any great estimation as it does not keep well, still if
fresh it is thought by some to be a well-flavoured fish. They used to be taken in
great quantities to Belfast ; large numbers are now exported to England.

Habitat. Ireland in Loughs Neagh, Eai-ne, and Derg, also in Lough Corrib
and in the Shannon. It attains the length of about 12 or 13 in., and its usual
weight is about 6 oz.

This fish was first alluded to in Harris's History of the County of Down, 1744;
it is also mentioned under the name of GoasJce, in Sir Henry Pier's Description of
the County of Westmeath, 1744, wherein it is said to be peculiar to Loughs Tron
and Direvragh.

Though permanently resident in Lough Neagh, it is not generally diffused
there, and Thompson observes that it rarely occurs between the Rivers Mayola
and Toone : while from the six-mile-water to Shanes Castle is so favourite a
resort, that a few houses which formerly stood near the latter locality, were
dignified with the name of Pollans Town. The common eel is stated by a fisher-
man at Lough Neagh to live chiefly upon the pollan, and he frequently knew it
destroy these fish when in the nets, and also injure the nets.

The largest example Thompson heard of was said to have weighed 2-J- lb., but
the largest he actually saw were 13 inches long.

salmonim:. i3i

Genus IV. Thymallus, Guvier.

Brancliiostegals seven to ten : pseudobranchice well developed. Body somewhat
elongated and compressed. Gape of mouth small : maxilla short, rarely extending
to beneath the middle of the orbit. Minute teeth on the jaws, near the head of the
vomer, and on the palatines: none on the tongue. First dorsal with many rays
(20-24 rays) : second dorsal fin adipose : caudal forked. Stomach siphonal. Scales
rather large. Lateral-line tcell marked. Pyloric appendages rather numerous.
Air-bladder very large.

Geographical distribution. Temperate portions of the northern hemisphere,
generally restricted to fresh waters.

1. Thymallus vulgaris, Plate CXXIV.

QvfiaXXog, iElian, Lib. xiv, c. 22.

Thymallus sen Thymus, Belon. De Aquat. p. 184; Salvian. fol. 81, t. xvi ;
Rondel, ii, p. 187 ; Gesner, pp. 978, 979 ; Aldrov. v, c. 14, p. 594 ; Jonston, iii,
tit. i, c. 3, p. 128, t. xxvi, f. 3, 4, and t. xxxi, f. 6; Willughby, p. 187, t. N. 8 ;
Ray, p. 62. Coregonus, no. 3, Artedi, Synon. p. 20, Genera, p. 10, Species, p. 41.
Salmo, Gronov. Zooph. no. 375. Trulta, Klein, Pise. MSS. v, p. 21, no. 15, t. iv,
f. 5. Grayling, Pennant, Brit. Zool. (Ed. 1776) iii, p. 31 L, pi. lxi (Ed. 1812), iii,
p. 414, pi. lxxii ; Low, Fauna Oread, p. 224; Davy, Salmonia, 1832, p. 198.
Duhamel, Peches, ii, p. 218, pi. iii, f. 2.

Salmo thymallus, Lin. Syst. Nat. i, p. 512 ; Bloch, Fishe Deuts. i, p. 158,
t. xxiv ; Gmel. Linn. p. 1379 ; Bonn. Ency. Ich. p. 167, pi. lxix ; Bl. Schn. p. 410 ;
Donovan, Brit. Fish, v, p. lxxxviii ; Pall. Zoo. Ross.- As. iii, p. 364 ; Turton, Brit.
Fauna, p. 104 ; Gronov. ed. Gray, p. 153.

Salm.o thymus, Bonnaterre, 1. c. p. 167.

Coregonus thymallus, Lacep. v, p. 254 ; Flem. Brit. An. p. 181 ; Jurine, Poiss.
Lac Leman, pi. vi.

Thymallus vulgaris, Nilss. Prod. Ich. Scan. p. 13, and Skand. Fauna Fisk.
p. 447 ; Jenyns, Manual, p. 430 ; Bonap. Pesc. Eur. p. 23 ; Kroyer, Dan. Fisk. iii,
p. 35, c. fig. ; Yarrell, Brit. Fishes (ed. 1), ii, p. 79, c. fig. (ed. 2), ii, p. 136
(ed. 3), i, p. 304; White, Catal. p. 80 ; Thompson, Nat. Hist. Ireland, iv, p. 167 ;
Schlegel, de Dier. Ned. p. 133 ; Siebold, Sus. w. f. Mit. Eur. p. 267 ; Giinther,
Catal. vi, p. 200 ; J. Warnimont, Pub. de l'lnst. de Luxen. xi, pp. 1-48 ; Collett,
Norges Fiske, p. 171; Feddersen, p. 78; Canestrini, Fauna Italia, Pesc. p. 23;
Houghton, Brit. F. W. Fish. p. 149, c. fig. ; Moreau, Poiss. France, iii, p. 543 ;
Giglioli, Cat. Pesc. Ital. p. 42,

Thymallus vexUlifer, Agass. Mem. Soc. Sc. Nat. Neuch. i, t. B, t. D, f. 5-8, and
Poiss. d'eau douce, pis. xvi, xvii, xviia ; Cuv. and Val. xxi, p. 438 ; Heckel and
Kner, Suss. w. f. p. 242 ; Blanchard, Poiss. deseaux douces, France, p. 437, f. 113.

Thymalus gymnothorax, Cuv. and Val. xxi, p. 445, pi. 625 ; Giinther, Fische des
Neckars, p. 117.

Grayling, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, iv, p. 280, pi. cexxviii.

B. vii-x, D. 20-24 (tT-U) \0, P. 15-16, V. 10-11, A. 11-14 (f.^), C. 21,
L. 1. 75-85, L. tr. T f:f3, Coec. pyl. 22, Vert. 39/22.

Length of head 5~ to 6, of caudal fin 6, height of body 4i to 5 in the total
length. Byes diameter of each 4 in the length of the head, 1| diameters from
the end of the snout, and about the same distance apart. Its form is rather
elongated and excessively graceful ; dorsal profile more curved than the abdominal.
Upper jaw very slightly the longer ; the posterior extremity of the maxilla reaches
to beneath the anterior edge or first third of the orbit. Teeth fine ones in the
jaws, near the head of the vomer, and on the anterior portion of the palatines ;
none on the tongue. Fins these vary with the sex, the last dorsal rays are

9 *

132 PHYSOSTOMI.

somewhat produced in adults. The first dorsal fin commences midway between
the end of the snout and on a line above the front edge of the anal fin, the
height of its rays being about two-thirds of that of the body below it. Pectoral
inserted in the lower fourth of the height, and as long as the head excluding the
snout. Ventrals situated beneath the middle of the rayed dorsal fin, and
comparatively small, terminating on a line below the hind edge of the adipose
dorsal. Caudal forked. Scales in regular rows, some small ones being present
over the basal portion of the caudal fin. The chest, or that portion of it as far
as the pectoral fin, may be entirely destitute of scales or else scaled. In the
example figured there were twenty-two rather short ccecal appendages. "Walls of
the stomach thickened. Colours these during life are beautifully changeable ;
head of a bluish purple and a golden tinge along the back, while the horizontal
lines along the body are dark, and each of the scales has a golden tinge. Dorsal
fins with purplish bands and ocelli which have a purplish red centre, and there
are likewise some purplish streaks along the courses of the rays, while the outer
edge is likewise purplish. Occasionally there are some black spots on the fins,
also scattered over the body. The brighter colours decrease with age, and gray
lines show themselves along each row of scales ; while the young have transverse
bars or bands.

Names. Thymallus was given to this fish by Ausonius, from the fancied
resemblance of its odour to that of the water thyme, upon which it was supposed
to feed, an odour which those of the present day fail to detect ; but Mr. Pennell
considers that he can observe some likeness in its smell when first captured to
that of the cucumber. Some who imagine they are able to recognize this odour
have suggested that the varying nature of its food may cause the grayling
to occasionally possess a strong smell which at other times almost or quite
disappears. " Grayling " is said to be a corruption of Gray lines, referring to the
longitudinal lines along its gray body. Oumer, Northumberland. Shutts, or
Shot, young in the Teme. While St. Ambrose of Milan is recorded to have
termed it the " flower of fishes." Aubrey in his MS. says that in his days the
umber was caught in the Madder, between Wilton and Salisbury, &c. " This
kind of fish (he remarks) is found in no other river in England except the
Humber in Yorkshire. From that river, therefore, I conclude it takes its name
of umber " (Maton, Nat. Hist, of Wilts). Salviani in the sixteenth century observed,
that being a swift swimmer it disappears like a shadow, from whence it derived
its name umbra. Cotton, however, says this name is due to the black or shadowy
spots on his belly, and the black colour of his head when out of season. One-year-
old fish are in some places known as pinks, at about ^lb. weight shot or shut, i.e.
prior to breeding. Be Vlagzalm, Dutch. Ombre, French.

This fish is another whose introduction has been ascribed to the monks, and
many of the local grayling fisheries are found in the vicinity of where monasteries
formerly stood. But it would be difficult to convey this fish from the continent
with the means then at their disposal; while in Kent, Dorsetshire, Devonshire,
and Cornwall, where there were many monasteries, grayling are not found.

Habits. Although present in many of our rivers, and in some abundantly, the
grayling is certainly a local fish, while at times it appears to be gregarious,
showing a tendency to congregate in small shoals, which generally drop down
stream. In this country it would appear to be a strictly fluviatile fresh- water fish
in its habits, never migrating to the sea ; but in Scandinavia it is found in lakes
also in the North Sea, Cattegat, and Baltic. Sir Humphrey Davy tried it in
brackish water but without success. It prefers clear streams, in which there are
a succession of pools and shallows, with sandy, gravelly, or loamy beds, rocky or
stony bottoms being unsuitable. The larger ones seem to resort more to the
deeper and quiet spots, the moderately-sized and small ones to the shallows, taking
their post behind a rock or a bunch of weeds. Although clear streams are to be
preferred, still a moderate temperature of the water seems to be of more
consequence, as too much cold or too much heat are asserted to be equally fatal to it.
It is not every river that appears suited for the grayling, thus the attempts to
acclimatize it in the Thames do not appear, so far, to have been a success. It lives

SALM0NIM3. 133

somewhat deeper in the water than the trout, and although in some streams the
two forms reside together in not unfriendly terms where food is abundant, such is
not invariably the case, as in some localities it is popularly said to bully the
trout : it may be that being to a great extent a ground feeder, while the
trout is breeding it helps itself to the eggs from the trout's redds. It is not of
a roving disposition and generally limits its range to within a few miles : it
cannot spring out of the water like the trout, consequently is unable to surmount
barriers, but its large back fin, aided by its well-developed air-bladder, would
seem to show that its formation is that best adapted for rapidly rising or sinking
in the water. In spring months it returns to deeper water and seems alrroft.
to cease to feed, possibly due to the nearness of its breeding season. It has been
found to live in newly-made ponds, constructed in hard soil, where, however, it
is said not to breed, but more investigation is required on this question, as the
same was believed of the trout (see page 105) : old and muddy ponds are not
suited for their existence, for there they rapidly succumb. It eats insects and
their larva?, small molluscous shell-fish as Physa and Neritina, also Crustacea,

Migrations. I have already observed that occasionally these fish congregate in
shoals and generally drop down stream, in fact, it used to be considered that they
never headed up. Mr. Francis Francis (Field, May 28th, 1881) observed, upon
one being taken in the Anton, continuing, only a few years ago there were none much
above the sheep's bridge at Houghton. This year there are many in the Machine
Barn shallow, two miles up ; but that they should have headed up something
like a distance of ten miles, and out of the Test into another stream, is astonishing.
Mr. Brotherton, of Kelso, observes that this fish was introduced there by the late
Marquis of Lothian, and it appears to be particularly suitable to its habits, as it
is increasing rapidly, and also spreading down into the Tweed.

Breeding. Generally spawns on the shallows in April or May, or even earlier.
On February 26th, 1881, Mr. Bowie Evans sent me two examples from Hereford-
shire, and I found the ova almost ready for extrusion (the preceding winter had
been a very mild one). The ova are somewhat smaller than those of the trout,
and may be white, opalescent, cornelian colour, or even deep orange : they are
deposited on the gravel near the tails of shallows, and not in a nest or redd like the
salmon, trout, or charr. Neither do these fish attempt to pass up to the heads of
streams for breeding purposes, but choose shallow localities near where they
usually reside, and where females may be seen waited on by two or even three
males. The ova are much more delicate than those of the trout, or charr, dying
on the least provocation, and it has been remarked in Herefordshire that should a
severe frost occur during their spawning season, the succeeding year's supply of
young fish appears to be deleteriously affected. The body of the embryo is visible
in the egg on the ninth day, and usually hatches from about the twelfth to the
fourteenth day. Due to this rapid development, it becomes almost impossible to
transmit eyed grayling ova to any distance, as scarcely three days elapses between
the appearance of the eyes of the embryo and the eggs hatching. About the end
of July or commencement of August the fry are about four or five inches long.
In aquaria it has been observed that young salmon or trout will readily eat young
grayling.

Means of capture. Netting similarly to that employed for trout, but generally
this fish is taken by angling. Although, as has been frequently observed, this
fish is to a certain extent fit for eating all the year round, it is most justly
protected throughout the spawning months, while during October and November
it is in its prime for the table. In the Test, although the Houghton Club used to
open this fishing from June 1st, the fish were generally in poor condition, but
ready to take almost any fly which was offered : but in July the case became
different, the fish were in good condition and much more difficult to please. But
it is generally considered that September and October are the two best months
for the flyfisher, still in November they will take a fly or a bait, more especially
in the middle of the day, and even with a shining sun. The grayling is not quite
so shy as the trout nor so game when hooked : a shorter line may be employed,
and fishing down stream is mostly adopted. It will rise several times in succession

134 PHYSOSTOMI.

at the same fly, and, if not touched by the hook, attempts at its capture may be
continued. If a rise occurs, the fisherman should strike gently, play his fish
quietly, and land it with a net, because its mouth is tender and readily gives way.
The flies employed are much the same as those for trout, but smaller as a rule,
although they will not always refuse the May fly. The smaller fish are generally
taken on the shallows, and with the fly which is usually refused by the larger
grayling.

The larger fish frequent the deeper pools or sluggish portions of the stream,
sometimes selecting the vicinity of the roots of a tree which juts into the water,
sometimes being more in mid-water. What is termed a grasshopper, which
looks like a nondescript caterpillar, with the point of the hook covered by
gentles, is considered to be the best bait in the Shropshire and Herefordshire
districts, and commencing to be employed about September and the two following
months on warm days succeeding frosty nights. Having a quill float and a
stiffish rod it is worked on the sinking and drawing plan, having sank to the
bottom it is raised about a foot and allowed to sink again, while the stream should
suffice to carry it on a little way with each successive jerk. In Derbyshire streams
it is said not to be much of a success. The principal ground baits are fishing with
gentles, worms are likewise employed. The grayling occasionally may be taken
with the minnow mostly in clear or else very slightly coloured water.

Life history. These fish are rapid growers, attaining to four or five inches in
length in a few months. Sir H. Davy (Salmonia, p. 188) believed that such as
were hatched in May or June become nine or ten inches in length by September,
and weigh from five to eight ounces.

Diseases. It was formerly abundant in the Aire above Bingley, but was
entirely destroyed in 1824 by the bursting of a peat bog, and subsequent attempts
at reproduction have proved ineffectual (Yorkshire Vertebrata, p. 129). Mr.
Francis Francis (Field, December 31st, 1881) observed that, although there are
no very violent pollutions in the Wye above Rowsley, yet both trout and grayling
have perished from fungoid there in myriads, indeed some years ago Rowsley
Meadows were pretty nearly cleared out of grayling by it. This fungoid disease,
Saprolegnia ferax, has been found affecting these fish in common with trout and
other forms.

As food. Its flesh is white, delicate, and in the best condition about October
and November, when the trout are mostly out of season : in fact it is not until
August that it is generally esteemed worth cooking, while it should be dressed as
soon as pi^acticable after removal from the water. It is generally boiled : large
ones are said to be improved by crimping.

Uses. It is stated that in Lapland a substitute for rennet used to be obtained
by pressure from the entrails of the grayling, with which they converted the
milk of the reindeer into cheese.

Eabitat. Lapland, Scandinavia, Germany, Britain, France, Switzerland, Italy,
and Hungary.

Were introduced* into tho Upper Clyde in 1855, from three dozen fish brought
from Rowsley, Derbyshire, and are said to thrive well. They have likewise been
introduced in the Teviot and Tweed and are also thriving (Brotherton). In Cum-
berland in the Eden and in the Esk (Heysham) while two examples from the Tyne,
presented by Mr. Knight, are in the British Museum. In varying abundance in
the middle waters of the Wharpe, Washburn, Nidd, Ure, and Swale ;f also in the
Cover, Wiske, and Colbeck, the Rye and other tributaries of the Upper Derwent
and the Scalby Back near Scarborough. In a limited amount in the Tees,
and has been introduced into the Esk. Formerly common in the Ribble and
Hoddei', their extreme scarcity if not extinction being ascribed to the great
increase of salmon (Yorkshire Vertebrata). In Lancashire, the Ribble, in Derby-
shire and Staffordshire, the Dove, the Wye, the Trent, the Blithe and the Hodder.

* Orkneys, according to Low, where he stated it to be common.

f A correspondent in the Field (Nov. 25th, 1882) denies the present existence of this fish in the
Swale ; the British Museum possesses lour reputed specimeus from that river, received withParnell's
collection.

SALMONID^E.

135

in Shropshire, the Severn, the Teme, the Clun, the Corve and the Onny. In
Merionethshire, the Dee and the Vyrmoz. In Herefordshire, the Arrow, the Lug,
the Dove, the Wye, and the Irwin contain them. In Hampshire and Wiltshire
in the Test, having been introdnced from the Avon (Davy), also present in the
Itchen and both the Avons.

The Swansea Guide states this fish to be taken in the neighbourhood, but this
Dillwyn doubts the correctness of. In 1863, 1470 fry were placed in the Lea
rather more than three miles beyond Hertford (Wix). In May, 1866, it was
introduced into the Lornan at Tiverton (Partitt). It appears also to have been
introduced into the Thames.

Ireland. Rutty, 1772, observes " Thymallus, the Grayling or Umber. With
us it is a sea fish, and less than Willughby's, which is a river fish." It seems to
me probable that he may refer to Coregonus oxyrhynchus as I received the example
figured, as a grayling. Brown two years after Rutty (1771) enumerates the
grayling : but Thompson observes that " the parr has been sent to me from the
south of Ireland under the name of grayling. Perhaps this name, as applied to
the parr, may be a corruption of the word graveling, which is generally applied
to that fish in the southern counties."

For the example figured, which is a male 15| inches in length, I am
indebted to the Earl of Ducie, who captured it in the Test, April 30th, 1879. In
the club fishing waters in that river at Stockbridge and Houghton, a memorandum
of the largest grayling captured every year from 1831 to 1874 was kept ; it shows
the annual variation to be between 3j lb. to 31b. 11 oz.

Pennant records one of 4 lb. 6 oz. from the Tame at Ludlow. Yarrell mentions
another one of 4} lb. from the Test, and Daniel one of 5 lb. from near Shrewsbury.
In Lapland it is said to reach to 8 or 9 lb. weight.

Stomach and ccecal appendages of Coregonus oxyrhynchus.

136 PHYSOSTOMI.

Genus V. Argentina, Artedi.

Situs, Gill. (Scales spiny.')

Branchiostegals six : pseudobranchim well developed. Cleft of mouth small, the
upper jaw rather short, not extending to below the orbit, formed by short premaxil-
laries anteriorly and the maxillaries laterally. Eye large. No teeth in the jaivs,
minute ones across head of vomer and anterior portion of palatines : a row of curved
teeth on the anterior portion of the tongue (except in A. lioglossa). First dorsal fin
short and inserted in advance of the ventrals : adipose fin present. Caudal forked.
Scales rather large. Stomach large, with a cul-de-sac: pyloric appendages short,
and in small or moderate numbers. Ova small, falling into the cavity of the abdomen
before extrusion. Air-bladder small, and (according to Cuvier) destitute of a
pneumatic duct.

Dr. Giinther observes (Introd. Study of Fish. p. 650) that both "Argentina
silus and A. Hebridica have been found occasionally on the North British coasts."
I have been unable to ascertain any record of the former, except an example of
A. sphyrcena, thus termed by Edward, but which he considered identical with my
figured species : while A. sphyrcena and A. Hebridica are two names for the same
species. The difference between the two species is as follows :

Argentina silus, D. 11-12 | 0, P. 17-18, V. 12-13, A. 14, L. 1. 60-65, Vert. 65.

Argentina sphyrcena, D. 9-11 I 0, P. 13-14, V. 11, A. 12-13, L. 1. 50-53, Vert.
50-52.

Geographical distribution. Rather small marine forms found in the seas of
Europe, often at considerable depths : two species have likewise been taken off the
West coast of New Zealand.

Argentina sphyrsena, Plate CXXV.

Sphyrcena parva, Rondel, i, p. 227, c. fig.; Gesner, Aquat. pp. 883, 1061.
Argentina, Willughby, p. 229 ; Ray, p. 108; Artedi, Syn. p. 17 and Genera, p. 8.
Argentine ou Peis-argent, Duhamel, Peches, pt. ii, Sec. 3, p. 129.

Argentina sphyrcena, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 518 ; Lacep. v, p. 366 ; Gmel.
Linn. p. 1394 ; Bonnat. Ency. Ich. p. 177, pi. 73, f. 301 ; Brunn. Ich. Mass. p. 79,
no. 96 ; Risso, Ich. Nice, p. 336 and Eur. Merid. iii, p. 462 ; Cuv. Mem. Mus. i,
p. 228, pi. xi, f. 1 ; Bonap. Catal. no. 131 ; Swainson, Fishes, ii, p. 287 ; Kroyer,
Dan. Fiske, iii, p. 100 ; Giinther, Catal. vi, p. 203 ; Collett, Norges Fiske, p. 171
and Christ. Vid. Sels. Forh. 1879, i, p. 92 ; Malm, Fauna, p. 550 ; Canestrini,
Fauna Ital. p. 129 ; Day, Journ. Linn. Soc. Zool. xv, p. 78, pi. iv ; Giglioli, Cat.
Peso. Ital. p. 42 ; Moreau, Poiss. France, iii, p. 554, f . 208.

Osmerus Hebridicus, Yarrell, Supp. Brit. Fish, and Ed. 2, ii, p. 133.

Argentina Cuvieri and Yarrellii, Cuv. and Val. xxi, pp. 413, 418.

Argentina Hebridica, Nilss. Skand. Fauna, Fish. p. 474; Yarrell, Brit. Fish.
(ed. 3) i, p. 300 ; Giinther, Catal. vi, p. 203.

Hebridal smelt, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, iv, p. 297, pi. ccxxxiii.

Goniosoma argentinum, Costa, Fauna Napol. pi. xxxvi.

? Argentina decagon, Clarke, Trans, and Proc. N. Zealand Inst. 1878, xi, p. 296,
pi. xiv, f. 2.

Argentina silus, Edward, Journ. Linn. Soc. Zool. xv, 1881, p. 334 (not
Ascanius).

B. vi, D. 9-11(1:1) [0, P. 13-14, V. 10-11, A. 12-13 Qs T %), C. 19, L. 1. (45)

50-53, L. tr. f , Vert. 32, Ccec. pyl. 5-20.

Length of head 4 to 4f , of caudal fin 7|, height of body 5f to 8 in the total
length, varying according to age, being deepest in adults. Eyes with moderately
wide adipose lids, the anterior lid overlapping the posterior above the centre

SALMONIM:. 137

of the upper edge of the orbit, diameter 3 to 3 in the length of the head,
1 diameter from the end of the snout, and also apart. The shape of the fish is
peculiar, the back, sides, and abdominal surfaces being flattened so as to give it a
general tetragonal appearance, while keeled ridges divide the various surfaces one
from the other. These four surfaces are further subdivided by other parallel ridges,
one of which is a short distance internal to the superior orbito-caudal ridge, and
another superior to the pectoral ridge. Irrespective of these, a short ridge passes
from the lower edge of the base of the pectoral fin to the anal fin. Upper jaw
slightly the longer : the posterior extremity of the maxilla scarcely reaches more
than two-thirds of the distance to beneath the front edge of the eye. Snout
depressed and somewhat pointed : upper surface of the head flat, its sides
compressed. The suborbital ring of bones, the preopercle, opercle, and upper
portion of the subopercle with a rather thick adipose covering. Teeth none
in the jaws : a curved row of small ones across the vomer near its head, and
continued on to the anterior portions of the palatines, which are contiguous :
a single row of about eight large and somewhat recurved ones surround the
inner edge of the front portion of the tongue. Gill-openings deeply cleft.
Gill-rakers rather widely separated, thick, and equalling in length about
'one-fourth of the diameter of the orbit. Fins the first dorsal anteriorly as
high as the body below it, its posterior rays rather more than two-fifths the
height of its anterior ones : adipose dorsal fin situated on a line above the last
anal ray. Pectorals, if turned forwards, reach to the middle of the eye. Ventrals
inserted below the last dorsal ray and midway between the end of the snout and
the base of the caudal fin. Anal highest anteriorly where the rays equal the length
of the base of the fin. Caudal forked. Scales large, thin, and higher than
broad, those along the back adherent, those on the sides more deciduous. Minute
ossicles, assuming a stellate or spinate form, are present on the scales of the back
and on some of those along the under surface of the abdomen. Those on the
sides with roughened or ragged outer margins : the row beneath the lateral-line
the largest. Numerous concentric lines upon the surface of the scales. Lateral-
line on a row of scales somewhat smaller than those above or below, it is well
marked, and passes to the centre of the base of the caudal fin. Air-bladder
smaller than in the trout, from which it also differs in the thickness of its fibres
and silvery walls, the latter charged with a brilliant substance that separates with
washing, at first in the form of spangles. This is next precipitated by ammonia
into a silvery deposit, which is preserved for the manufacture of artificial
pearls. Colours in an example examined a few days after death, but which had
been preserved in spirit, it was of a light olive along the back, becoming silvery
white along the middle of the sides, while inferiorly and on the head there was
a tinge of gold glossed with purple. A black spot on the upper edge of the orbit,
and a smaller one on the snout. A dark longitudinal mark along either caudal
lobe near to its outer edge. Edward, who received a fresh one, observes that
the colours agree with the number of divisions on the fish. That along the back
deep amber, the succeeding one greenish-blue, the third or division below the
lateral-line, of a pure silvery white with bright metallic lustre, the others similar
to those above but fainter. Belly grayish- white with a tinge of greenish-blue and
purple. The top of the head nearly the same as the back, its sides silvery. Eye
with a bright silvery iris and blusih-black pupil. It was so transparent that on
holding it up to the light the vertebrae could be distinguished.

The fish is figured and described by Rondelet, and this was reproduced by
Gesner, while Willughby observes " Pisciciclus Romas Argentina dictus, Sphyrama
parva, sive Sphyrama secunda species, Rondeletio, Gesner, 1061." This clearly
shows that the species of these three authors were identical with the Roman fish,
the air-bladder of which was employed to furnish materials for the manufac-
ture of artificial pearls. Ray copies, almost verbatim, from the above authors.
Artedi's Argentina is identical with that of Linnseus, but not with Gronovius's
Sphyrcena. Gmelin in his edition of Linnaeus possibly mixed up, under the
designation of Argentina sphyrama, more than one species of fish ; still it is clear
that the older authors referred to the deep sea fish, from which materials for false
pearls were procui'ed, as stated by Risso.

138 PHYSOSTOMI.

Cuvier considered the fish he described in the Memoirs of the Museum as being
the same with that of Linnaaus, but Valenciennes changed the name from Argentina
sphyrcena to A. Cuvieri. Yarrell has described his Osmerus Hebridicus from a Scotch
example, and Valenciennes, while pointing out that it was an Argentina, termed it
A. Yarrellii, which Nilsson brought back to A. hebridica. But the question arises
are these two forms, A. sphyrcena and A. hebridica, distinct ? It is evident that
no criterion can be drawn from the number of fin rays and scales, while although
Nilsson found 14 to 20 ccecal appendages in A. hebridica and merely 12 have been
recorded in A. sphyrcena, I only found 5 in the example figured, clearly showing
how variable these numbers are. Lastly, it has been stated that the comparative
height of the body to that of the total length differs in the different species, but
here Collett remarks that this changes with age, the example being comparatively
more slim in the young. In an example nearly 6 in. long I found the height of
the body to be i, in one 8% in. long it was i, and in one 9|- in. long 6^- in the
total length (see Jouimal Linn. Soc, I.e., where more instances are recorded).

Habits. Of these but little is known, but it is probable that these fish occa-
sionally reside at considerable depths, and the species is generally considered rather
a deep sea form. The stomach of Edward's example contained the remains of a
few of the smaller crustaceans as Darwinia compressa, Protopedata, &c, also frag-
ments of Sertularia filicula, Antennidaria antennaria, &c, showing it probably
resided among corallines.

Breeding. In Edward's fish taken in September the milt was said to have
been of a chalky whiteness, 1^ in. in length, but scarcely full. Whether the fish
was a partly spent one, or the milt not half developed, could not be ascertained.
One of Yarrell's examples taken in June had the roe well developed. Risso
states that in the Mediterranean it breeds in spring.

Habitat. This fish frequents the shores of Norway to both sides of Scotland,
the coasts of Yorkshire, and through the Mediterranean to the Balearic Isles, and
along the southern shores of Europe, being taken, we are informed, all the year
round in the sea off Rome, where it is of moderate frequency.

Mr. Clarke, I.e., has described and figured as new under the name of Argentina
decagon, a fish which scarcely appears to differ from European examples except
that the fine teeth are said to be wanting. The number of fin rays and scales,
as well as the proportions of the body, are identical, while it must be remembered
that several European fish have been discovered off the shores of New Zealand.
The unique specimen of A. decagon was taken off the west coast of New
Zealand.

Yarrell * observes that one 8 in. long was taken in June, 1836, full of roe in the
Bay of Rothsay, Isle of Bute, and a second 6^ in. in length in November, 1837,
near the same spot, on a hand-line baited with a piece of mussel, in about 12
fathoms water and about 200 yards from the shore ; this is probably one of
the two specimens now in the Hunterian Museum of the Glasgow University, and
is recorded in the Proceedings of the Natural History Society of Glasgow
(i, 1867, p. 187). One taken at Kilcreggan, November 26, 1867, the second being
probably Mr. Ewing's specimen captured in 1837, and sent to Mr. Yarrell for
identification. Yarrell likewise records one taken at Redcar in May, 1852. The
one here figured was captured in October, 1879, in Loch Alsh, off the Skye shore,
on a hook baited with mussel ; it was sent to the late Mr. Frank Buckland.
Edward has recorded a male full of milt taken near Banff in October, 1879.

The example here figured is 9*5 in. in length, and the fisherman who captured
it stated it was only the second he had ever seen.

* Dr. Giinther, Catal. 1866, vi, p. 203, quoted Low, Fauna Oread, p. 225, to show that it ha8
been obtained in the Orkneys, but as he gives the identical reference under Maurolicus borealis,
vol. v, p. 389, for Low's single specimen, evidently some error has occurred. Low says his example
was not above an inch in length, and gives as synonymous Pisciculus Romce Argentina dictus, Will.
Ich. 229 ; Raii, Syn. Pise. 10S ; Argentina sphyrcena, Linn. Syst. 518 ; the Argentine, Brit. Zool.
5J76 ; Brit. Zool. Illust. 42, t. 48." In short, Low accepted Pennant's figure, which is Maurolicus
borealis (see page 49 ante) as identical with his Argentine.

ES0C1TLE. 139

FAMILY, III ESOCIDiE.

Branchiostegals numerous: pseudobranchise glandular and more or less
concealed. Gill-openings wide. Edge of the upper jaw formed by small pre-
maxillaries, divided in the median line by the head of the vomer : laterally by the
maxillaries. No barbels. The dorsal fin belongs to the caudal portion of the
body: no adipose dorsal fin. Scales present on the body. Stomach destitute
of a ccecum : no pyloric appendages : intestines short but wide. Air-bladder
simple.

This family of fishes is distributed throughout the northern and temperate
portions of Europe, Asia, and America.

Genus I. Esox (Artedi), Cuvier.

Branchiostegals numerous (13-18) : pseudobranchice glandular. Body elongated.
Snout broad, depressed and, elongated : gape of mouth wide, cleft deep. A row of
irregularly-sized teeth, some of a large size, in the mandibles, absent from the
maxilla : cardiform ones on the premaxillaries, vomer, palatine, and hyoid bones :
also on the tongue. A single dorsal fin placed opposite the anal in the caudal
portion of the body. Caudal slightly forked or emarginate. Scales small, cycloid.
Lateral-line present.

This fresh-water fish descends to the brackish and even salt water, and is
distributed similarly to that given for the family of which merely this single
recent genus is at present recognized.

1. Esox lucius, Plate CXXVI.

Lucius, Belon. p. 296 ; Rondel, ii, p. 188 ; Salv. pp. 94, 95 ; Schonev. p. 44 ;
Aldrov. p. 030 ; Johnston, iii, t. 3, c. 5, t. 29, f . 1 ; Gesner, p. 500 ; Willughby,
p. 236, t. P 5, f. 2 ; Ray, p. 112 ; Klein, Miss. Pise, v, p. 74, t. xx, f. 1. Esox
no. 1, Artedi, Synon. p. 26, Gen. p. 10, and Spec. p. 53 ; Gronov. Zooph. no. 361.
Pike, Pennant, Brit. Zool. (Ed. ] 776) iii, p. 320, pi. lxiii, and (Ed. 1812) iii,
p. 424, pi. lxxiv.

Esox lucius, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 516 ; Gmel. Linn. p. 1390 ; Bloch, Fische
Deuts. i, p. 229, t. xxxii ; Bonnaterre, Enc. Ich. p. 174, pi. lxxii, f. 296; Bl. Schn.
p. 390; Lacep. v, p. 297; Donovan, Brit. Fish, v, pi. cix ; Turton, p. 105;
Jurine, Mem. Soc. Phys. et Hist. Nat. Geneve, iii, 1825, p. 231, pi. xv ; Fleming,
Brit. An. p. 184; Cuv. and Val. xviii, p. 279 ; Bowdich, Brit. F. W. Fish, fig. no.
xvii; Bonap. Peso. Eur. p. 25 ; Jenyns, Man. p. 417; Ekstrom, Mdrko, p. 78;
Fries and Ekstrom. Scand. Fisk. p. 49, t. x ; Yarrell, Brit. Fish. (ed. 1) i, p. 383,
c. fig. (ed. 2) i, p. 434 (ed. 3) i, p. 342 ; Templeton, Mag. Nat. Hist. 1837 (2) i,
p. 410 ; Johnston, Berwick. Nat. F. Club, 1838, i, p. 172; Pallas, Zoo. Ross.-As.
iii, p. 336 ; Parnell, Wern. Mem. vii, p. 272 ; Swainson, Fish, ii, p. 298 ;
Richards. Fauna Bor.-Amer. iii, p. 124 ; Kroyer, Dan. Fisk. iii, p. 236 ; White,
Catal. p. 70 ; Gronov. ed. Gray, p. 146 ; Nilss. Prod. p. 36, and Scand. Fauna, iv,
Fisk, p. 348 ; Thompson, Ireland, iv, p. 140 ; Giinther, Catal. vi, p. 226 ; Schlegel,
Dieren Neder. p. 151, pi. xiv, f. 4 ; Siebold, Suss. w. f. p. 325 ; Heckel and Kner,
Suss. w. f. p. 287 ; Cope, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sc. Phil. 1865, p. 79 ; Blanchard, Poiss.
France, p. 483, f. 128; Lunel, Lake Leman, p. 161, pi. xix; Collett, Norges
Fiske, p. 175 ; Malm, Fauna, p. 550 ; Winther, Ich. Dan. Mar. p. 45 ; Houghton,
Brit. Fresh-water Fishes, p. 73, c. fig ; Giglioli, Catal. Pesc. Ital. p. 42 ;
Feddersen, p. 81 ; Canestrini, Fauna Ital. p. 21 ; Moreau, Poiss. France, iii,
p. 466.

Esox boreus, Agassiz, Lake Superior, p. 317.

140 PHYSOSTOMI.

Pike, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, iv, p. 150, pi. ccx.

B. xiv, D. 20-23 ( T f:-h-), P- 13-14, V. 9-10, A. 17-19 G^), C. 19, L. 1. 125-
130, L. tr. 13/30, Vert. 41-43/21-20.

Length of head 3-|- to 4, of caudal fin G, height of body Q\ to 7 in the total
length. Eyes situated in about the middle of the length of the head, the
diameter of each 7 to 12 times in the length of the bead, 4 to 6 diameters from
the end of the snout, and 1^- to 2 apart. The dorsal and abdominal profiles
nearly horizontal and parallel, causing the body to be of an almost equal height
from the head to the commencement of the dorsal and anal fins : its head flattened
above, while its length is equal to nearly twice that of the height of the body.
Cleft of mouth very deep, equalling about half the length of the head : lower
jaw a little the longer. The middle of the upper jaw is slightly emarginate,
and receives the head of the vomer : on either side are the short premaxillaries,
which ai-e not nearly so long as the maxilla, which is composed of two pieces,
is capable of a considerable amount of motion, and reaches posteriorly to beneath
the front edge of the eye. Nostrils large, and nearer the orbit than the end
of the snout. Numerous glandular orifices on the head. Teeth* none on the
maxillary : large ones and of unequal sizes on the mandibles : present on the
vomer and palatines, the inner row of which are the larger, more or less strong
and depressible : also fine ones on the tongue. Fins the dorsal is situated in the
last fourth of the total length (excluding the caudal fin), and slightly in advance
of the origin of the anal. Pectoral placed low down and below the subopercle.
The ventral slightly behind the middle of the total length (excluding the caudal
fin). Caudal emarginate or slightly forked. Scales small, present on the
cheeks, upper portion of the opercle, and over the body. Lateral-line nearly
straight. Colours when in the greatest perfection of a green colour, becoming
lighter on the sides and beneath : numerous yellow blotches, spots, or lines along
the head and body : dorsal, anal and caudal fins of a light ground colour with
irregular blotches, spots and bands of dark. When out of season the green
becomes of a gray, and the yellow markings pale or white.

Varieties. It has been recorded by M. Tilesius that he had frequently seen
captured in 1806 and 1807, at St. Petersburg, examples from the Neva in which a
single median barbel existed beneath the lower jaw as in the cod. Specimens were
not preserved. American examples are said to generally possess 17 anal l'ays, but
occasionally 19 ; the example figured from Gloucestershire had 18.

Montalambert (Hist. Acad. Sc. 1748, p. 27) observes that in the river Gabard
in Prance there is a pool containing blind pike.

Names. Hacod, Anglo-Saxon. This fish was first termed a jac7e,f then a
pickerel, and lastly a luce. Gedd or gade in or near the Moray Firth and in
Lowland Scotch : gullet, Northumberland. Haked, a large pike in Cambridge-
shire. Morris, a large pike (Halliwell). Erie, a very young pike. Picche, or, if
only nearly full grown, pod (Halliwell). The term pike is suggested to have
been derived from the Saxon word piik, signifying " sharp pointed," having
reference to the form of its head. Penhwyad, Welsh. Ansjovis, Dutch. In
French it is termed Brocket or Brocheton from its spit-like shape, Lance or Lanceron
from its speed, and Becguet from its muzzle bearing somewhat of a resemblance
to a duck's bill.

Considerable discussions have from time to time arisen as to whether the pike
is an acclimatized or indigenous fish in this country. We are told Edward I
fixed its value above that of salmon, and more than ten times that of turbot or
cod. Also that in the time of Henry VIII a large one was sold in February for
double the price of house lamb, and a pickerel or small pike for more than a fat
capon. Probably more attention was paid to inland fisheries in those days than
now, and such forms as possessed insatiable appetites were only kept in numbers

* See Tomes, On the Hinged Teeth of the Common Pike, Qy. J. Microp. Sc. xviii, pp. 1-16,

pi. i.

t A jack or pickerel becomes a pike at 2 feet (Walton) and 2 lb. or 3 lb. weight. Some see no
distinction, calling all pike, others fix the limit iu ditfereut ways.

ESOCID^E. 141

sufficient to supply tlio rich, consequently pike were not so plentiful. As, on
the other hand, the salmon fisheries were much more abundant in those days
than they are at the present time, this would account for the high price of pike
kept in stews, which could only have been within the means of the wealthy should
they have to purchase them. If we look at the geographical distribution of this
fish it certainly ought to be indigenous, while, so far back as the reign of Edgar,
we are told by Leland that one of large size was taken in Remesmere, Hunting-
donshire. In heraldry the luce or pike occurs in the arms of the Lucy or Lucie
family so far back as the reign of Henry II.

Habits. This strong, active and voracious fish possesses an omnivorous
appetite, consuming its smaller neighbours, including those of its own species,
and often does not hesitate to fatally mutilate such as arc too large for it to
consume. It prefers slow-flowing, weedy rivers, ponds and lakes, but its haunts
vary with the season of the year and the nature of the water it inhabits. It
swims higher in fine warm weather, and may sometimes be seen basking or
sleeping at or near the surface, while in winter it keeps at greater depths, and they
have sometimes been found associating together in considerable numbers in some
sheltered situations. While an annual migration in spring-time has been observed
in the Cam ; into which river they come in shoals, doubtless from the fens in the
neighbourhood of Ely where they are bred (R. Sheppard).

It prefers silent, still, or placid waters where there is abundance of weeds and
flags, or reeds, docks, bullrushes, water-lilies, and broad-leaved vegetation : or it
will lurk in the shallows among weeds, or where a wall projects into the water,
or behind a sunken tree or other suitable object. Its appetite is almost insatiable :
it does not refuse the frog, the vole or water-rat, the common house-rat, plump
puppies just opening their eyes, tender kittens, even the weasel (Field, October,
1882), a fox (Dr. Genzik), and in Dr. Crull's Present State of Muscovy (1698)
it is mentioned that one of these fishes had an infant child in its stomach. The
unwary duck* or duckling, gosling, or even geese which swim across its haunts, a
swallow skimming along the surface of the water (Mag. Nat. Hist. 1834, vi,
p. 400), the dabchick, the coot, and the moorhen alike fall victims ; it has even
been known to lay hold of a swan by the head occasioning the death of both
(Hardwicke's Science Gossip, 1866, p. 139), while one of only 2-| lb. weight
seized a tame cormorant which was engaged fishing and choked itself while
endeavouring to swallow it. When emboldened by hunger a pike has been known
to attack otters, dogs, asses, mules, oxen, horses, and even men, boys bathing
have been seriously injured by their teeth, and one embayed by falling water,
finding itself being attacked by a man, became in its turn the assailant, and did
not retire beaten from the conflict.

It will also take inanimate objects, as a toy-boat which was being sailed across
a pool : or a piece of cork attached to a string, and once having seized an object
it holds on most tenaciously. It is said to distrust sticklebats, due, it is supposed,
to the number of young pike which become choked by these spiny little fishes :
while perch are believed not to be a desired food, although it takes it as a bait.
It has been known to seize a toad flung into the water, but it is immediately
rejected : and sometimes it similarly declines to swallow the rat.

An account was given in the Field (Sept. 2nd, 1882) of two pike each weigh-
ing about 10 lb. dashing at the same time at a live bait, and then at one another
fighting like a couple of dogs. Mr. Stanley (Zool. 1845, p. 1035), on December
25th, 1843, observed a pike lashing the water with his tail. On pulling it out he
found two pike of about 1 lb.weight each, the head of one being entirely within the

* A curious incident occurred on the River Snir, near Tulla Bridge, about a mile from Thurles.
A number of ducks were swimming on the river, when one of them, uttering a loud " quack," was
seen suddenly to disappear. Some young men, going through curiosity to the spot where the duck
had vanished, found near the bank of the river an enormous pike floundering about, and so utterly
helpless that they had very little difficulty in landing it, when they found the duck which it appeared
the pike had seized, but was unable to swallow. The monster, whose insatiable voracity had caused
its death, weighed nearly forty pounds.

142 PHYSOSTOMI.

mouth of the other, the snout coming out at the gills of the fish which was
holding it.

Ekstrom mentions finding a 20 lb. pike with the skeleton of an osprey, Falco
Jialicetus, still attached to it. Lloyd likewise observes that Dr. Mellerborg, of the
Uddeholm establishment, vouched for having seen an enormous pike with an eagle
fastened to its back, lying dead in a piece of ground which had been overflowed
but from which the water had retreated.

Pike have been captured by trimmers having swallowed two separate baits,
as if showing that they do not suffer much pain when being hooked. Pennell
gives an account how a trimmer having been set in the Avon, a heavy pike was
found captured the next morning, on opening it a second one of considerable size
was seen, while inside this second was a third of about f lb. weight.

It has obtained credit for one good trait (in addition to its eating its younger
relatives) and that is that it has been said not to devour tench in consideration of
its being its medical attendant. For the popular belief in many localities is that
it rubs itself against the pike's wounds and exudes mucus which possesses healing
virtues. In a work Civitates, Orbis, Terrarum (Colon, 1572-1606) are repre-
sentations of a series of English costumes and a view of selling live pike. There
the custom is shown of how the vendor cut open the belly of the fish in order to
show its condition, this was stiched up again if a purchaser was not found and
returned to the water. But unfortunately it has been repeatedly proved that if
hungry, the pike will make a meal off the tench, while the troller is aware that
this fish may successfully be employed as bait.

During periods of great droughts, pike are often found to disappear
mysteriously from some pieces of water reappearing on the recurrence of rain.
Mr. Pennell gives an account how one was found jumping and working about in
the wet grass, evidently making its way from the breeding ground to the river
distant some half dozen yards, two-thirds of which distance it had traversed.
It is suggested they may travel like eels over dewy grass, and several instances
are related how pike have appeared in ponds or pieces of water in a most unaccount-
able manner. Isaak Walton observed that it is not to be doubted but that they
are bred, some by generation, and some not, as namely, of a weed called " pickerel-
weed," unless learned Gesner be much mistaken. No doubt this weed in which
the spawn is often deposited, may, if removed to another pond, be a means of
stocking it with pike, or such may occur in other ways through the instrumentality
of frogs or aquatic mammals (see Introduction).

Considerable differences of opinion exist with reference to the desirability of
having pike in fisheries : but there are few who would advocate the cultivation of
this voracious monster where salmon and trout thrive. Their introduction into
the Teviot, says Stoddart, has, there is no question, conduced very materially to
injure the salmon fishing, nor have the trout remained wholly unscathed. He
observes upon having taken 5 or 6 salmon fry out of the stomach of a single fish :
and also states that in some Scottish Lochs pike have been known to consume
their own weight of bait every day. Pennell computes that in stews a 5 lb. or
6 lb. fish would eat, if permitted, twice its own weight of fish every week.
While, as I have already remai-ked (page 104), pike in trout preserves not only
diminish the inhabitants but scare them to that extent that they become timorous
of feeding, and frequently occasion great falling off in the general condition of the
trout.

On the other hand it has been contended that it gives sport to the angler
when the fly-book is closed due to droughts, or else during the cold months
of the year, and pike will not destroy fish ova. While it may be introduced
into canals, lakes, meres, and sluggish rivers, where no good fish will flourish. In
Wild Sports of the Highlands it is observed that in all lakes of considerable
size where the pike were plentiful the trout have improved very much in size and
quality, and not diminished in numbers to any great extent. There are doubtless
localities where this fish is suited for, but their undue increase has to be guarded
against, because with their ravenous appetites and rapid digestion they require a

ESOCIL\E. 143

large stock of food present in the water for their sustenance. Jesse tells us how
he threw five roach, each about 4 inches long, to a 5 lb. pike, which swallowed one
after another of the first four, but the fifth it retained in its mouth for about a
quarter of an hour evidently waiting until digestion should make room for its
rejoining its companions.

Means of capture. This fish is taken for food, as sport or with reference to
the condition of the fishery in which it resides. If it is desired to diminish its
numbers, it stands to reason that such as are captured prior to spawning time,
as during February or March, are more valuable for this purpose than should the
ova have been deposited. Netting is most easily employed during the winter
months, due to the absence of weeds. Also at such times as they ascend ditches,
drains, and other localities for breeding they may be destroyed with comparative
ease. They may be speared or wired, or snatched or shot while basking, or
desti'oyed by trimmers, a modification of which is termed a ligger in the eastern
counties.

The angler, however, generally endeavours to take the pike by means of
trolling, divisible into such as are fished for with live or dead bait. Either of
these baits may be employed on spinning also termed snap tackle, or else on gorge
tackle, which latter, as its name implies, is intended to be swallowed prior to the
fish being struck. There are likewise various artificial baits employed as the
spoon or imitation fish. While large gaudy flies which may be likened to coarse
bodied salmon-flies are occasionally found to be killing.

In Norfolk very great success is sometimes obtained during severe frost on
the broads by breaking a hole in the ice and putting down a baited hook (Lubbock).
Sharp frosts are sometimes desirable to induce these fishes to feed. Thunder is
sometimes auspicious or the time just prior to a flood as the waters commence to
swell. The months of November and December are generally considered the
best months for the angler.

Baits. The young pike, gudgeon, gold-fish, dace, roach, rudd, tench, bleak,
perch, or a frog. A large fish prefers a good mouthful, consequently a large bait
is esteemed preferable to a small one, roach or*rudd of a pound weight is not too
large. Small baits are attacked and ruined by the small pike ; however, if hooked
they become excellent lures to their larger relatives.

Breeding. March and April, sometimes as early as February, especially in
Ireland. The ova are small and numerous but very various in number, a 35 lb.
fish contained 43,000 : a 32 lb. fish, 595,200 : a 28 lb. fish, 700,000 : a 28 lb. fish,
292,320 : a 24 lb. fish, 224,640. They quit the open waters in pairs (being as
a rule monogamous) when the breeding season arrives, the male which is the
smaller following the female, and they seek small bays, creeks, shallows and con-
tiguous ditches where their eggs are deposited among the weeds and leaves of
aquatic plants. The pike commences to breed at about three years old, while the
younger fish spawn prior to the older ones. It has been remarked that spawning
being over the female often eats her husband.

After breeding they become unfit for food, hardly returning to condition prior
to June.

Monstrosities of the embryos are common, and as pointed out by Lereboullet,
(1864) they are either double, the production of a superabundance of the plastic
embryonic matter ; or simple in which an individual is partially or wholly defec-
tive. This disposition to monstrosity does not appear to be consequent upon any
external influences but to be inherent in the ova : although some external causes
may occasion an arrest of development more or less complete.

Life history. It has been well observed (Lubbock, Fauna of Norfolk, p. 190)
that this fish from the very ovum appears to manifest the stern and solitary
energies of its nature. In summer almost every distinct puddle in fens where
turf is cut has its tiny tyrant in an infant pike ; here it enacts despotic
sovereignty, and lords it over tadpoles and fry, till fate arrives in the shape of a
heron, or the first floods of autumn sweep it to the river or broad. Of course the
rate of growth may be accelerated or retarded by many local circumstances.

144 PHYSOSTOMI.

Mr. Southwell informs me (on the authority of the agent of the estate) that when
Scoulton Mere, in Norfolk, was cleared out they put in some young pike of about
i to 1 lb. each : after ten or twelve years they had increased to 18 lb. Stoddart
considered that two-year-old fish were from 3 to 5 lb. weight. In some waters
they will rapidly attain to a certain size, subsequent to which their further increase
is slow. Perhaps in open waters it is not an unsafe estimate of 1 lb. yearly for the
first two years, and afterwards If to 2 lb. for seven or eight years, and subsequently
at a less rapid rate. Growth does not always correspond with the amount of food
received ; such as are well fed in aquaria do not appear to increase so rapidly as
such as are in the open waters.

The age to which this fish attains has been variously estimated : Lord Bacon
placed the limit of its existence at about forty years. Ryaczynski adduces an
instance in which there were reasons for believing that a pike was ninety years
old. But if we go back to tradition we are told this fish lives for centuries.
It is stated that a pike was captured in 1610 in the Meuse bearing a copper ring on
which the name of the city of Stavern was engraved with the date 1448. While a
still more incredible account is given how Frederick II, in October, 1230, inserted
a brass ring into the gills of a pike bearing a suitable inscription, and that this fish
was recaptured 267 years subsequently 17 or 19 ft. long and weighing 5501b. The
skeleton was preserved in the Cathedral at Mannheim, but on its being examined
by a German anatomist, it was found that the length of its vertebral column was
obtained by using the bones of several fish.

Diseases. Valenciennes mentions having an example taken in the autumn of
a pale white, the whole of the body being covered with red spots somewhat
resembling small-pox. It is tormented with parasites.

As food. Opinions differ as to its value, possibly due to the character of the
flesh for good or for bad being influenced by the waters in which it resides. Those
from rivers have a white firm flesh, are easy of disgestion, and as a rule superior to
the pond ones, while even various localities, due to local circumstances, affect the
character of the fish. Those from the Thames are firm and of good flavour, like-
wise those from the mouth of the Medway, where they find plenty of smelts, also
those from Horsea Mere and Heigham Sound, and Stoddart praises very highly
those of the Teviot. Those from Scotch lochs and muddy waters are not generally
approved of, being more or less soft, slimy, and disagreeable both in taste and
smell. In Ireland it is not esteemed during February and March while spawning,
but Stoddart observes that in Scotland they are considered by many epicures as
finest in condition when full of roe. The roe is said occasionally to produce
vomiting, purging, and other deleterious symptoms, while Linnaeus saw it being
made into bread at Lyksele, in Lapland.

As soon as a pike of a suitable size has been taken it should be disembowelled
and cleaned, while it will be improved by being crimped like a cod. Large fish
are coarse. The upper or back part is not edible unless the bones are removed by
an expert cook. Boiled, it is insipid ; stewed, with spices and a bottle of good
old crusted port, it becomes passable ; stuffed and baked, it is perhaps a trifle
better ; filleted, it is almost nice.

Uses. Its jaw-bones in olden times were recommended to be powdered and
given in pleurisy, gravel, stone in the bladder, and other diseases. In some
countries it is salted and dried. The heart and galls were used as medicines for
agues and other fevers, and the latter likewise for affection of the eyes. Its roe
used to be prescribed as an emetic. . As the bones of the head form a sort of
cross, such have been worn as a preventative against witchcraft. In some parts
of Hungary and Bohemia it is considered an unlucky omen to see a pike plunge
in stagnant waters before mid-day. Its bite is hard to be cured, being a punctured
and jagged wound.

Habitat. From Scandinavia throughout the continent of Europe and the
northern portions of Asia and America, Rondeletius observes that it enters the
sea at the mouth of the Rhine, and is found in salt water pools bordering the
Mediterranean, but that such fish are dry and insipid food.

ESOCID^E. 145

In Scotland it is widely spread in lochs, rivers and other appropriate localities *
in the Forth it is frequently seen in brackish waters and often observed off Stirling
bridge basking in the shallows.

It is found throughout England and Wales in suitable pieces of water, especially
as in Yorkshire and Norfolk ; it is absent from the Isle of Wight and likewise
from Cornwall, and a few years since it was said only to be found in Slapton Ley
Lake in Devonshire, but now it exists in the Exe where it has driven the trout
from certain portions of the river.

In Ireland, according to Thompson, in the County of Londonderry, in salt
water between Derry and Culmore (Ordnance survey), in all suitable lakes in the
northern part of the island Lough Neagh, L. Derg, &c. County Dublin (Ball) ;
the Shannon, Lough Corrib, L. Mask and L. Carra (McCalla).

The size to which the pike attains in these islands* is rather questionable, but
certainly some now captured exceed the largest Pennant ever heard of in his time
(1776), which weighed 35 lb. Some of the statements made by authors would
seem to require explanation. Sir J. Hawkins refers to one 170 lb. weight taken
in 1765 which one would have supposed Pennant would have heard of. Colonel
Thornton alludes to one of 146 lb. captured at Lochmaben. Daniel (Rural Sports)
to one upwards of 7 feet long and over 72 lb. weight from Loch Ken, Kirkcud-
brightshire. Dr. Griersen one of 61 lb. from Loch Ken (Thomson's Ann. of Phil,
viii, p. 428). One of 78 lb. taken in August, 1830, in County Clare (C. Mayne).
On February 27th, 1880, two pike were taken angling in Norfolk, the one 30|, the
other 36 lb. weight. The example figured is 12 inches long and from Gloucester-
shire.

* " About seventeen years since, when visiting the late Marquis of Clanricarde, at Portumna
Castle, two gentlemen brought to the Marquis an immense pike, which they had just caught in the
River Shannon, on the banks of which they had been taking their evening walk. Attracted by a
noise and splashing of the water they discovered in a little creek a number of perch driven on shore,
and a fish which, in pursuit of them, had so entangled himself as to have a great part of its body
out of water. They attacked him with an oar, which by accident lay on the bank and killed him.
Never having seen any fish of this species so large they judged it worth the observation of the
marquis, who, equally surprised at its magnitude, had it weighed, and to their astonishment it
exceeded the balance at ninety-two pounds. Its length was such that, when carried across the oar
by the two gentlemen, who were neither of them short, the head and tail touched the ground."
The Sportsman, 1839.

10

14G PHYSOSTOMI.

Family, IV. SCOMBRESOCID.E.

Pharyngognathi malacopterygii, Miiller.

PseudobranchiaB glandular, concealed. Margin of the upper jaw formed
mesially by the premaxillaries and laterally by the maxillaries. Barbels present
or absent. Lower pharyngeals united into a single bone. Dorsal fin rayed,
with or without Unlets posterior to it, situated opposite the anal, and in the
caudal portion of the vertebral column: no adipose dorsal. Scales present,
frequently a keeled row along either side of the free portion of the tail. Air-
bladder generally present, sometimes cellular internally, and destitute of a pervious
pneumatic duct. Stomach and intestines in an undivided tube. Pyloric
appendages present or absent.

Synopsis of Genera.

1. Belone. Both jaws elongated into a beak. No finlets.

2. Scombresox. Both jaws elongated into a beak ; finlets behind dorsal and
anal fins.

3. Exoccehis. Jaws short. Pectoral fins elongated into organs for flying.
Among the fishes belonging to this family some are oviparous, others

viviparous.

The eggs of many have filaments springing from their outer covering, and
which enable numerous ova to adhere together in a mass, or attach themselves
to contiguous objects, preventing their subsiding into the mud. It has been
suggested that they are thus suspended so that by the ebb and flow of the tide
they may be constantly bathed by different water. Professor Ha3ckel observed
these filaments present in the eggs of gar-fish, Belone; saury, Scombresox ; half-
beak, Hemiramphus, and flying-fishes, Exocce-tus ; while Ryder has remarked on
having found similar filaments in one form of Atherinidw, the Chirostoma notata,
but in such they are only four in number, and situated close together.

Genus I. Belone, Cuvier.

Mastacembehis (Klein) Bleeker ; Bhamphistoma, Rafin. ; Tylosurus, Cocco ;
Potamorrhaphis, Gunther.

Branchiostegals numerous. Gill-openings wide. Body elongated, sub-cylindrical
or compressed. Eyes lateral. The jaws prolonged into a bealc, the dipper of which is
formed by the premaxillaries. Fine teeth {or rugosities) in both jaivs, with a single
row of long, widely set conical ones ; palate toothed or toothless. The anterior dorsal
rays may or may not be elevated, forming a lobe to the Jin, while the middle and
posterior ones may be short or elongated : no finlets : caudal usually forked. Scales
small. Lateral-line on free portion of the tail, with or without a keel. No pyloric
appendages.

Cope considers that Belone should constitute a distinct family due to its
possessing distinct caracoid bones, and vertebras with zygapophyses, a character
unusual among fishes (Proc. Amer. Phil. Soc. xvii, p. 695). Jordan and Gilbert
remark upon the absence of gill-rakers in Belone exilis and some other species
which it is proposed to unite into one genus Tylosiirtis,

Geographical distribution. Temperate and tropical seas ; some species resident
in fresh waters.

Uses. Indifferent as food ; all forms appear to possess green-bones. They are
very destructive among small fishes.

scombresocim;. 147

In the very young the upper jaw is very short, as in the tropical HemirampJius,
but gradually increases with age until it becomes almost as long as the mandible.

1. Belone vulgaris, Plate CXXVII, figs. 1, la, lb.

Acus, Rondel, i, p. 257 ; Gesner. Aquat. iv, p. 9 ; Salv. p. 68, . 8 ; Aldrov.
Pise. p. 106.

Acus vulgaris, Willughby, p. 231, t. P2, fig. 4 ; Ray, Syn. Pise. p. 109. Esox,
Gronov. Zooph. no. 362, and Mus. Ich. i, p. 10, no. 30. Gar-pike, Pennant, Brit.
Zool. (Ed. 1776) iii, p. 324, pi. lxiii, fig. 154 (Ed. 1812) iii, p. 429, pi. lxxiv.
Mastacembelus, Klein, Pise. Miss, iv, t. iii, f. 2.

Esox belone, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 517 ; Gmel. Linn. p. 1391 ; Brun. Ich. Mass.
p. 79; Bloch, t. xxxiii ; Bl. Schn. p. 391 ; Bonnaterre, Ency. Ich. p. 175, pi. Ixxii,
f. 297 ; Lacep. v, p. 308, pi. vii, f. 1 ; Mull. Fauna Dan. p. 49 ; Donovan, Brit.
Fish, iii, pi. lxiv; Turton, Brit. Fauna, p. 105; Risso, Ich. Nice, p. 330; Nard.
Prod. Adr. Ich. no. 143.

Belone vulgaris, Flem. Brit. An. p. 184 ; Jenyns, Man. p. 418 ; Ekstrom. Fis.
Morko, p. 72; Templeton, Mag. Nat. Hist. 1837 (2) i, p. 410; Parnell, Wern.
Mem. vii, p. 274; Johnston, Berwick. Nat. F. Club, 1838, p. 172 ; Yarrell, Brit.
Fish. (ed. 1) i, p. 391, c. fig. (ed. 2) i, p. 442 (ed. 3) i, p. 459; Cuv. and Val.
xviii, p. 399 ; White, Catal. p. 71 ; Nilss. Skand. Faun. Fisk.iv, p. 354 ; Thompson,
Nat. Hist. Ireland, iv, p. 141 ; Schlegel, Dieren Neder. p. 156, pi. xiii, f. 5 ;
Gunther, Catal. vi, p. 254 ; Collett, Norges Fiske, p. 176 ; Winther, Prod. Ich. Dan.
Mar. p. 46 ; Mcintosh, Fish. St. Andrew's, p. 181 ; Moreau, Poiss. France, iii,
p. 470.

Belone acus, Risso, Eur. Merid. iii, p. 443 ; Cuv. and Val. xviii, p. 414 ; Gunther,
Catal. vi, p. 251.

Belone rostrata, Faber, Fische Isl. p. 152 ; Ekstrom, Morko, p. 72 ; Kroyer
Dan. Fisk. iii, p. 255, c. fig.

BhampJiistoma vulgaris, Swainson, Fish, ii, p. 297.

Macrognathus scolopax, Gronov. ed. Gray, p. 147.

Belone Linnet, Malm, Fauna, p. 553.

Garfish, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, iv, p. 146, pi. ccix.

(Young.)

HemirampJius Europeus, Yarrell, Mag. Nat. Hist. 1837, p. 505, and Brit.
Fishes (ed. 2) i, p. 450, c. fig. (ed. 3) i, p. 469 ; Couch, Zoologist, 1848, p. 1978,
figs, d, e, and Fish. Brit. Isles, iv, p. 135, pi. ccviii ; White, Catal. p. 72.

Esox Brasiliensis, Couch, Trans. Linn. Soc. xiv, p. 85.

HemirampJius obtusus, Couch, Zool. p. 1978, figs, a-c, and Fish. Brit. Isles, iv,
p. 139, pi. ccviii, fig. 2 ; White, Catal. p. 72.

HemirampJius baltJdcus, Hornschuch.

HemirampJius beJmii, Van der Hoeven.

B. xii, D. (17)18-20 (tt^), P. 13, V. 6, A. 22-23 (^n), C. 15-16, Vert. 52/28.

Length of head 3j to 4, of caudal fin 7|, height of body 15 to 16 in the total
length. Eyes large, 2j to 2f diameters in the length of the postorbital portion
of the head, 6| to 7 diameters from the end of the upper jaw, and 1 ^ diameters apart.
Upper surface of head not grooved : some slight grooves about the superciliary
region. Maxillaries concealed by the preorbital. Upper jaw not so long as the lower,
which latter has a soft termination. Teeth small, in some examples a small oval
patch is present on the vomer, in others it is absent. Fins the anterior dorsal
rays are elevated forming a lobe, while the posterior ones are of about the same
length and terminate opposite the anal ones, which is some distance from the base
of the caudal fin. Pectoral, if turned forward, does not reach the eye. Ventral
situated nearly midway between the opercle and the base of the caudal fin.
Caudal forked, lower lobe the longer. The free portion of the tail compressed,
nearly twice as long as high, and deeper than broad. Colours of a sea-green or
bluish-green along the back, becoming of a changeable blue and purple along the
sides, and silvery white beneath.

Fleming (Brit. Anim. 1828, p. 184) observes upon Esox Brasiliensis, Couch,

10*

148 PHYSOSTOMI.

being the young of this species : while many authors seem to have been doubtful
whether the various European Heyniramphi were not in reality the young of
Belone.

The young. Couch's magnified figure of the blunt-headed half-beak, the
specimen having been half-an-inch in length, shows the fish in the earlier stage,
when the lower jaw is commencing to increase in length ; while his European
half-beak, at a little over 3| inches in length, demonstrates the fish with the
lower jaw grown, but the upper jaw still almost stationary. In Liitken's
" Spolia Atlantica," p. 567, will be found a complete series of illustrations, showing
the various stages of evolution of the jaws as they become developed with
age.

Steindachner (Sitz. Ak. Wiss. Wien, 1868, lvii, p. 732) remarked upon the
identity of Belone acus, Risso, with B. vttlgaris, the distinction between the two
forms resting principally upon the latter possessing a small ovoid patch of
vomerine teeth, which is said to be absent in the latter. It is remarkable that the
finest example in the British Museum from the British shores is destitute of this
patch of teeth, although it is present in others. They are likewise absent from
the Devonshire specimen which I have figured. Canestrini 1. c. observed upon
finding vomerine teeth in an Adriatic example. Professor Giglioli informs me
that these vomerine teeth may be present or absent in Mediterranean and Adriatic
forms, and he looks upon Belone vulgaris, B. acus, and B. Euxinus as pertaining
to one species.

Names. Sivord fish, green-hen or green-bane, Scotland: green-bone or green-
bach, guard-fish, gar-pipe, horn-fish, needle-fish or long-nose, gore-bill, sea-needle,
mackerel-guide, which name it has received from its coming towards shore a
little prior to the appearance of the mackerel. Gerrich, Cornwall. Hornkecke
(Palsgrave). Whaup-fish. In Ireland, horn-eel (Belfast Bay) ; mackerel-scout
(Strangford Lough) ; spearling (Portrush); Spanish -mackerel, according toNimmo,
at Pioundstone. Its snout is termed gore-bone in some places. Mar nodwydd, or
Com big, Welsh. I)e geep, Dutch. L'Orphie, French.

Habits. Gregarious, migratory, and very voracious, frequently approaching
the shore in lai'ge assemblages, and though stragglers may be taken all the year
round, it appears to arrive in shoals about March or April, and retires to deeper
water late in the autumn, being absent throughout the winter and spring. In
the Northern Herald (Inverness, November 22nd, 1844) it was observed that
within the last three weeks this fish had been abundant ; its visits are not
periodical, either as regards seasons or cycles, in fact twenty-two years had
passed since they came in considerable numbers ; about sixty years since there
were large shoals, and they were known as Gobbaiche ardnasoar, or " snipe-fish."
Although as observed the gar-fish is usually gregarious, Thompson remarked that
in Belfast Bay it is generally found singly. Mr. Cornish (Zool. 1865, p. 9814) well
describes the appearance of a shoal of these fishes when chased by the tunny,
how they scudded rapidly over the face of the sea as though they were
actually swimming on the surface, having the larger portion of their bodies in the
air. When in pursuit of shoals of small fish it appears to be springing over the
waves after them. It jumps over floating substances sometimes in a peculiar
way, shooting itself bolt upright and alighting in the water tail first. Mr. Couch
recorded how in 1865 he found the upper jaw of a gar-fish transfixed through the
body of a mackerel. Mr. Dunn observed upon another having similarly gone
through the body of a pilchard, he also informed me, July 25th, 1881, that he
had obtained that morning a mackerel with the jaw of a gar-fish transfixing the
body just under the pectoral fin, where it had broken off. The same accurate
observer remarked that he has reason to believe that they used their beaks as a
ram against their prey, sometimes transfixing their eyes : should they do this, of
course both would be penetrated. S. Clogg (Zool. June, 1874, p. 4160) observes
upon a salmon-peal having been attacked by a gar-fish. It had run its under
jaw completely through the peal, and it must have been broken off either by the
force of the blow or by the struggles of each fish to free itself. The peal, which
weighed nearly 4 lb., was struck behind and quite above the pectoral fin, the jaw

SCOMBRESOCIDvE. 140

of the gar-fish thus passing through the thickest part of the peal. Couch
observed that it is an indiscriminate feeder, eating any animal substances it can
seize. Thompson mentions a 15-spined stickleback having been found in the
stomach of one captured August 10th, 1850. Its digestion appears to be very rapid.

Means of capture. It will tako a bait, but when hooked makes most vigorous
efforts at escaping. On the coast of Donegal it is captured in the following
way : Nets are fixed on wooden frames and allowed to float about, these fish
jumping over the sides become captured : the same plan is employed at Land's
End. They are frequently taken in mackerel nets, and during the last half of
the year numbers are captured in Cornwall in seine nets.

Baits. Pieces of fish, mussels, &c. It never plays round a bait, but seizes it
as if it were living. It strikes obliquely upwards, hence it happens that when
it takes the hook, the first notice of the capture is the fish starting into the air
with the line, and then beating itself about on the surface to get rid of the hook,
and in doing this it always emits a very strong and peculiar odour (R. Couch,
Zool. 1847, p. 1613).

Breeding* Along the south coast of England this fish breeds in May and
June, but, according to Andrews, in July in Dingle and Ventry Bays in Ireland.
On May 14th, 1881, Mr. Dunn sent me a portion of a mackerel net with many ova
of the gar-fish attached to it by tentacular filaments springing from the outer
surface of the eggs (plate cxxvii). The fish having become entangled in a mackerel
drift net, had voided its eggs while endeavouring to escape, and these latter,
owing to their peculiar appendages, are enabled to attach themselves to any
object in the vicinity (see page 146). Mr. Dunn obtained another supply on
June 25th, and on making some experiments found that the filaments will even
adhere to polished metal. These eggs when extruded must float in the sea with
their long filaments waving about until they meet with some object to which
they can attach themselves ; or they may serve to bind together large numbers of
eggs into one mass and fix such to some suitable substance.

I have already alluded to the peculiar manner in which the jaws of this fish
are developed. Under one inch the upper pi*ofile of the snout is somewhat
obtuse, the upper jaw very short, the lower a little longer. This stage has been
termed Hemiramphus obtusics, R. Couch, although the fishermen assured him they
were the young of the gar. As the fish becomes from 2 to 3 inches in length,
the lower jaw has much increased in length, being many times longer than
the upper jaw, which is almost triangular : at this stage it has been termed
Hemiramphus Europeus. On October 28th, 1880, I obtained an example 8'6
inches long from Devonshire : the entire length of its head was 3T inches : of
the lower jaw from the angle of the mouth 2T inches: of the upper jaw
from the angle of the mouth 1*6 inches. On November 23rd, 1881, I obtained
another from Devonshire, 8 - 5 inches long : its head being 2"8 inches, lower jaw
1*8, upper jaw 1 inch. The foregoing would lead one to conclude that this fish
increases rather rapidly in length, attaining to about 8 inches in length at three
months' age. The very young Lowe found in Norfolk (July 6th, 1868) had been
living upon Entomostraca.

As food. Pretty good, but owing to the green colour of the bones of this
fish, both before and after boiling, a prejudice against eating it is entertained in
some localities. They are often plentiful in the London market, especially in the
spring. Large numbers used to be sent there from the coasts of Kent and Sussex.
Their smell when first captured is not always agreeable. Parnell states that many
persons consider them superior to mackerel as food, being firmer, whiter in the flesh
and possessing much the same flavour, but it is generally considered more dry.

Uses. Bait for ground fish when other kinds run short, for which when cut
into strips they are found very efficient.

Habitat. Distributed from Iceland and the Scandinavian coast, the Baltic,
North Sea, and Atlantic coasts of Europe to the Mediterranean.

* See article on the Development of the Silver Gar-fish, Belone longirostris, T. A. Ryder, Bull.
United States' Fish Commission, vol. i, 1881, p. 283.

150 PHYSOSTOMI.

In the Orkneys and Zetland it is not uncommon (W. Baikie) and extends in
more or less abundance during certain seasons around the British coasts. Banff,
not scarce at certain seasons (Edward) : Moray Firth (Harris) : Aberdeen (Sim) :
St. Andrews, occasionally thrown on the sands after storms (Mcintosh). It enters
the Firth of Forth in large shoals about the beginning of July in company with
the mackerel, and remains till the end of August. It seldom ascends the Firth
to any distance. Is taken with net and hook, and sometimes found on the haddock
lines which have been baited with mussel (Parnell). Berwickshire occasional
(Johnston) : Yorkshire, resident off the coast and not uncommon, approaching
the shore in summer : in autumn it has been cast ashore in considerable numbers
during heavy gales* (Yorkshire Vertebrata) : Norfolk, off which coast it breeds
(Lowe) : one is recorded by Lubbock as having been taken within five miles of
Norwich. Along the whole of the south coast. Kent and Sussex very abundant.
Devonshire not uncommon (Parfitt). Cornwall common. Off Swansea is not
infrequent in the Bay, but never in shoals and usually of a smaller size than
on the other coasts (Dillwyn). In the Firth of Clyde, May 25th, 1877, the
capture of an example 28 inches in length was recorded as a rarity (Flemyng,
Nat. Hist. Soc. Glasgow).

In Ireland it is taken all round the coast, generally in the latter part of
the summer and autumn: a few are also obtained in the early months of
the year (Thompson). In some seasons it is common from Cork to Londonderry.

The example figured is 28 inches long from Devonshire : the largest example
I have collected has been 2 feet 9 inches. Pennant records it up to 3 feet.

* Mr. Dunn informs me of an instance in which one of these fishes, just outside the harbour at
Mevagissey, was seen and chased by a porpoise. It sprang out of the water and its pursuer
followed it upwards of a hundred yards. The gar was now almost in the jaws of the porpoise
when a rock jutting a few inches above the sea was arrived at. Over it went the fish, but the heavy
porpoise ran its head against the barrier and appeared partially stunned.

SCOMBKESOCID^B. 151

Genus II. Scombresox, Lacepede.

Grammiconotus, Costa (Young).

Gill-opening ivide. Body elongated, compressed. Eyes lateral. Jaivs prolonged
into a slender beak, the upper of which is formed by the premaxillaries. Minute
teeth in both jaws. Dorsal and anal fins opposite one another, consisting of few rays,
but with several detached finlets posterior to each : caudal forked. Scales small and
deciduous. Pyloric appendages present. Air-bladder large.

So far as is known these fishes appear to be exclusively marine, while the
young are said to be found dispersed all over the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

1. Scombresox saurus, Plate CXXVII, fig. 2.

Saurus, Rondel, i, p. 232. Acus altera minor, Belon. Aquat. p. 163.

Lacertus sen saurus, Willugh. p. 232. Skipper, Ray, Synopsis, p. 165 ;
Borlase, Cornwall, p. 271. Saury, Pennant, Brit. Zool. (Ed. 1776) iii, p. 325,
pi. lxiv (Ed. 1812) iii, p. 430, pi. lxxv.

Esox saurus, Walb. Artedi, iii, p. 93 ; Bl. Schn. p. 394, t. lxxviii, f. 2 ; Rackett,
Trans. Linn. Soc. vii, p. 60, t. v; Shaw, Zool. v, p. 114; Turton, Brit. Fauna,
p. 105 ; Neill, Wern. Mem. i, p. 541 ; Donovan, Brit. Fish, v, pi. cxvi.

Scomberesox Camperii, Lacep. v, p. 345, pi. vi, f . 3 ; Risso, Ich. Nice, p. 334,
and Eur. Merid. iii, p. 444 ; Cuv. and Val. xviii, p. 464, pi. 551 ; Kroyer, Dan.
Fisk. iii, p. 278, c. fig. ; Yarrell, Brit. Fishes (ed. 3), i, p. 465, c. fig. ; Nilss.
Skand. Fauna, Fish, iv, p. 358, and Ofv. Sven. Vet. Acad. Forh. 1864, p. 50L

Scombresox saurus, Flem. Brit. An. p. 184; Yarrell, Brit. Fish. (ed. 1) i, p.
394, c. fig. (ed. 2) i, p. 446 ; Templeton, Mag. Nat. Hist. 1837 (2) i, p. 410 ;
Parnell, Wern. Mem. vii, p. 276 ; Swainson, Fishes, ii, p. 297 ; White, Catal. p.
71 ; Thompson, Nat. Hist. Ireland, iv, p. 142 ; Beneden, Bull. Acad. Sc. Lett. &c.
Belgium, 1865, xx p. 51 ; Gunther, Catal. vi, p. 257 ; Collett, Norges Fiske,
p. 176; Malm, Fauna, p. 555; Winther, Prod. Ich. Dan. Mar. p. 46; Mcintosh,
Fish. St. Andrews, p. 181 ; Moreau, Poiss. France, iii, p. 475, f . 199.

Belone saurus, Jenyns, Man. p. 419 ; Johnston, Berwick. Nat. Hist. Field
Club, 1838, i, p. 173.

Scombresox rondeletii, Cuv. and Val. xviii, p. 472 ; Gunther, Catal. vi, p. 258 ;
Moreau, 1. c. p. 477.

Scomberesox storei, De Kay, New York Fish. p. 229, pi. xxxv, f. 111.

Sayris Camperii, Canestrini, Fauna Ital. Pesc. p. 131.

Skipper, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, iv, p. 141, pi. ccviii, t. 3.

( Young.)

Scomberesox scutellatum, Leseur, Journ. Acad. Nat. Sc. Phil, ii, 1821, p. 132.
Scombresox scutellatus, Cuv. and Val. xviii, p. 477.

Grammiconotus bicolor, Costa, Ann. Mus. Zool. Univers. Nap. 1862, i, p. 55, t.
i, f . 4.

B. xiii, D. 10-12 + v-vi, P. 12-13, V. 6, A. 12-13 + vi-vii, C. 14.

Length of head 3| to 3|, of caudal fin 9|, height of body 10 in the total
length. Eyes 2^ to 2| diameters in the length of the postorbital portion of the head,
4| diameters from the end of the upper jaw, and 1 diameter apart. Jaws in the
adult curved slightly and gradually upwards, the upper being a little the shorter.
Posterior extremity of the maxilla not covered by the preorbital, it extends back-
wards to about 1 diameter of the eye anterior to the orbit. Preorbital large and
somewhat quadrangular in shape. Teeth fine ones in the jaws; none on the
vomer, palatines, or tongue. Fins the dorsal commences slightly behind the
beginning of the last third of the total length, its anterior rays rather higher than
half that of the body below it, the finlets continued almost to the base of the

152 PHYSOSTOMI.

caudal fin. Pectoral as long as two-thirds the height of the body, its posterior
margin somewhat concave. Ventral s inserted midway between the angle of the
mouth or the front edge of the eye and the posterior end of the caudal fin,
the latter being deeply forked. Scales a somewhat keel-like edge commences on
either side of the fish on a level with the lower edge of the gill-covers, and
passes along the entire length of the body. Scale-like appendages over the
middle of the base of the caudal fin. Coloiirs back of a deep rich blue, below
which is a broad burnished and shining silvery band, having a dark lower edge,
abdomen silvery : upper fins dark coloured, lower ones and pectoral yellowish.

The evolution of the jaws in this fish is much the same as described in the
gar-pike (see page 149).

Varieties. Valenciennes separates the Mediterranean from the oceanic form
under the belief that the former has no air-bladder. Professor Liitken (Spolia
Atlantica) has shown however that this organ may be present in the Mediterranean
forms. Moreau observes that it may be absent. As no other differences exist
except this inconstant one I have not considered them to denote distinct species.

Names. Skipper: saury: saury-pike: skip-jack : skopster : halion. In Scot-
land, gowdnook : gosnick : Egyptian herring.

Habits. Gregarious, migratory, in the summer being mostly at or near the
surface, but during the autumn frequenting deeper water : it is usually found
further out to sea than the gar-fish, while it has an extensive range : instances are
on record in which it has ascended rivers as high as fresh-water. It first appears
off Cornwall about the latter half of June or commencement of July, and in the
autumn frequently shows itself in enormous schools ; while it leaves the coast
prior to the end of November. It is constantly in motion, moving with great
rapidity, frequently springing out of the water by scores at a time and giving
much the appearance of a shoal of flying fishes. It has been frequently known
to spring out of the water into the fishermen's boats, especially during stormy
weather. Mr. Dunn considers the skippers as natural enemies to the pilchards :
Couch held the same views. In the year 1825 skippers and pilchards were
enclosed in pilchard seines together, and before they could be taken into the
boat, thousands of the pilchards had their eyes knocked out by the skippers, and
scores of pilchards were transfixed through the body by the beak of the skipper.
The fishermen were first made aware of these fishes being on the coast by the
noise they were making in the night, the one attacking, the other running away.
This battle continued more or less along the coast each summer from 1825 to
1834. The fishermen consider the presence of the skipper is an hindrance to the
successful taking of the pilchard. Entomostraca, small Crustacea, and sea-weed
have been found in its stomach.

Means of capture. In Cornwall they are frequently taken in July and August
in numbers by drift nets a few leagues from the shore : R. Couch observed that he
had seen 8000 enclosed in one pilchard seine net. The largest catch of these
fishes at Mevagissey, where they are annual visitors, has been 100,000 (Dunn).

Baits. It has been taken with a bait.

Breeding. The eggs of the Scombresoz saurus are furnished externally with
filaments as in the gar-Hsh (page 146), while the life-histories of the two are also
very similar, but the young of the skipper appear to be found further out to sea,
and the base of the maxilla is more concealed by the preorbital. Liitken (Spolia
Atlantica) p. 567 has figured the heads of this species from a very early age up
to that of the full-grown, showing how the jaws are gradually evolved, the
disproportion between the length of the two being much less than occurs in
Belone.

As food. Said to be fair.

Habitat. Atlantic coasts of Europe, Africa, and North America. Also the
Mediterranean.

Low observed that last year (1775) such a glut of these fish set into the
head of Kerston Bay, that they could be caught in pailsful ; numbers were taken
and heaps flung ashore. They were from 9 to 12 inches long, and had not been
observed there previously. Low considered they had been driven out of their

SCOMBRESOCID^E. 153

course. As a rule in the Orkneys and Zetland rare (W. Baikie) : Banff rare
(Edward): Aberdeen (Sim): St. Andrews not uncommon (Mcintosh): enters
the Firth of Forth almost every autumn in considerable shoals, and being stupid
inactive fishes are found in hundreds on the shallows when the tide retires,
with their long noses imbedded in the mud (Pennant). The same author records
great numbers having been thrown ashore on the Leith sands near Edinburgh,
after a great storm in November, 1768. In Yorkshire is occasionally taken in
harbours and shallow waters but is reported from Scarborough only (Yorkshire
Vertebrata). An example about 15 inches long was taken off Norfolk in October,
1843 (Fisher) : off Devonshire occasionally appears in large numbers, and Parfitt
(Fauna of Devon) remarks that he saw a great many taken in a seine off Seaton
in 1870. Not uncommon, often abundant off Cornwall. Mr. Cornish (Zool. p.
1463) observes upon one having been pumped up on board a fishing boat in
September, 1868 : the same author remarks upon its being well known off Welsh
ports. At Swansea Dillwyn never heard of it except on Turton's authority.

In Ireland Templeton observed that it is seldom found on the coast, and he was
never able to procure a specimen until one was caught near Long Bridge, Belfast,
in 1820. Thompson received one 12f inches long from Belfast, stranded after a
gale on September 17th, 1840, a second was also taken, and a third on October
7th. Sampson includes it among the fish of Deny. Ogilby (Zool. 1876, p. 4753)
observes that it is decidedly rare on the north coast : he obtained one example,
cast ashore at Portrush, co. of Antrim, during the last week in September, 1875,
while but few years pass without some examples being obtained there in this
manner. Newcastle, co. Down (Thompson). The specimen obtained was taken
on a handline, when fishing for bream, westward of Crowrock, on a fine night.
They not unfrequently leap into the canoes (Andrews) : the same author refers
to one taken at Ballina in the county of Sligo.

The example figured is 11 inches long from Mevagissey. This fish attains to
18 inches in length.

154 PHYS0ST0M1.

Genus III. Exoc(etus, Artedi.

Cypsilurus, Swainson : Halocypselus, Weinland : Parexocoetus, Bleeker.

Body 'moderately oblong. Gill-openings very wide. Jaws short, the premaxillaries
and maxillaries separate: mandible in some species with a tubercidar prolongation.
Barbels present or absent. Teeth, when present, minute and rudimentary. Pectoral
elongated, used as an organ for flying : the dorsal fin may be much or only
moderately elevated : ventrals long, short, or of moderate length. Air-bladder large.
Pyloric appendages absent.

Bleeker instituted the genus, Parexocoetus, for some species as E. mento, Cuv.
and Val., destitute of barbels but with a short tubular prolongation of the lower
jaw, as if an aborted attempt at elongation as seen in Hemiramphus. Barbels
and transverse bands may be symptomatic of the immaturity of the specimen.
Liitken draws attention to the following important generic characters, which
have been overlooked. There are those in which the second ray of the pectoral
fin is entire : others in which it is deeply cleft, and when the second ray is thus
cleft the third is always the longest (Vid. Medd. 1876, pp. 389-408, pi. x).

Geographical distribution. Seas of tropical and semi-tropical regions, extending
into more temperate zones.

1. Exocoetus volitans, Plate CXXVIII.

Hirundo, Salv. fol. 185, pi. Ixvii. Exocoetus, no. 1, Artedi, Genera, p. 8, and
Spec. p. 35. Hirondelle de Mer, Duhamel, Peckes, ii, p. 480, pi. xxii, f. 2.

Exocoetus volitans, Linn. Amcen. Acad, i, p. 320, and Syst. Nat. i, p. 520 ;
Bonnaterre, Ency. Ich. p. 181, pi. lxxiii, t. 306 ; Gmel. Linn. p. 1399 ; Yarrell,
Brit. Fish. (ed. 1) i, p. 398, c. fig. (ed. 2) i, p. 453 (ed. 3) i, p. 479 ; Cuv. and
Val. xix, p. 83, pi. 559 ; Swainson, Fish, ii, p. 296 ; Guichen. Exp. Alger, p. 26 ;
White, Catal. p. 73 ; Gunther, Catal. vi, p. 293 ; Malm, Fauna, p. 555 ; Collett,
Norges Fiske, p. 177 ; Canestrini, Fauna Ital. Pesc. p. 132 ; Liitken, Contr. diag.
Poiss. volants, Joum. Zool. vi, 1877, p. 118 ; Giglioli, Pesc. Ital. p. 43 ; Moreau,
Poiss. France, iii, p. 481.

Exocoetus exsiliens, Bloch, t. xxxvii ; Bonap. Catal. no. 724.

Greater Flying Fish, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, iv, p. 128, pi. ccvii.

B. x-xi, D. 11-13, P. 15-17, V. 6, A. 9, C. 19, L.l. 63, Vert. 31/14.

Length of head 5i to 5f , of caudal fin 4, height of body 6 to 7| in the total
length. Eyes diameter of each 3 to 3i in the length of the head, nearly 1
diameter from the end of the snout, and 1|- diameters apart. The form of the
body is liable to modifications, in some having a convex superior profile or it may
be broad and flattened almost as far as the origin of the dorsal fin. Upper
surface of the head flattened. Snout obtuse : cleft shallow : the lower jaw
slightly longer than the upper : the superior maxilla hidden by the preorbital
when the mouth is closed. Teeth in jaws minute. Fins the dorsal commences
on a line above the vent, its first ray simple : the pectoral reaches to the base of the
caudal fin, its second ray divided, its third the longest. The ventrals are inserted
a little posterior to the middle of the distance between the end of the snout and the
base of the caudal fin, they are elongated, being more than \ longer than the head.
Anal commences beneath the posterior dorsal rays. Caudal lobed, lower lobe much
the longer, but the proportions vary in individuals. Colours bluish-gray along the
back, silvery on the sides and beneath. Dorsal fin grayish- white, caudal brown.
Pectoral gray with a light outer edge. Ventral and anal whitish or bluish.

Names. Flying-fish. Hirondelle de mer, ou Hareng volant, French.

SCOMBRESOCIDvE. 155

Habits. A marine gregarious* fish, which leaves the water, springing into
the air, due to fear of some danger, not for the purpose of seeking food : it
would seem that the distance it can cover in such nights is limited, while some
have asserted that they are unable to voluntarily change the direction of their
course. Professor Mobius (Zeits. fur wiss. Zool. Band, xxx, suppl. p. 343) records
his observations on the flight of Exocoeti. He observes that they spring with great
velocity out of the water, regardless of the direction of the wind or course of the
waves. During their flight they do not make any regular fluttering movements with
their pectoral and ventral fins, but merely keep them extended or spread out. Rapid
vibrations may however be perceived in their outstretched fins. The hinder part
of the body is kept at a lower elevation than the fore part. The cause of these
movements through the air is due to the springing movements which they impart
to their bodies by means of their very powerful lateral muscles, in the same
manner as other fish employ them for propulsion through the water. They spring
out of the water with great velocity due to the air presenting less resistance than
the water, and when they fall into the sea their outstretched fins act like a
parachute. The action of the wind may be favourable or the reverse to their
flight. During the day-time they can choose the direction of their spring, and
so avoid ships. At night-time, due to the deficiency of such a power, they may
fall into a vessel. As any air in strong motion striking against any obstacle (as a
wave or side of a ship) rises, this would also raise the fish and thus lift it on to
the vessel. It may be a combination of an oblicpae forward movement of the fish,
acted upon by the wind. Mr. Howard Saunders (Zool. 1874, p. 3839) observes
that not even the frigate-bird was ever seen by him to swoop at, much less
to catch one on the wing, and in South Sea Bubbles, either the "Earl"
or the " Doctor " ridicules the very idea of any bird being able to do so.

Means of capture. Off the British coasts it is merely taken by chance. Mr.
Smith (Zool. 1875, p. 4413) details how in January they angled for these fishes,
while on a voyage from Peru to Callao, " a variety of baits were employed
in their capture bits of red bunting, small spoon-baits, and artificial minnows,
of these the most taking being a large red fly and a small gilt minnow, but
all the baits mentioned caught some. In following the minnow through the
water, the fish would open their pectoral fins and poise themselves for a rush
at it, spreading the wings also had the effect of checking their progress if
their suspicions were aroused' by a near inspection of the bait. When hooked
they proved very game fish, taking out several yards of line in their first rush, and
often taking a flight in the air, line and all." When swimming under water
the pectoral fins are held close to the body.

Breeding. Eggs with external filaments as in the gar-fish (p. 146).

As food. Inferior.

Habitat. Atlantic coasts of Europe, but more common in the Mediterranean.
A few stragglers have been captured off our coasts, but the shoals which have
been recorded, but none of the members of which have been captured, may not
improbably have consisted of skippers, Scombresox saurus (see p. 152).

In July, 1823, a flying-fish, the species not recorded, was taken ten miles from
Bridgewater (Taylor, Ann. of Phil, xxii, p. 152). Some were said to have been
seen off Portland Island in August, 1825, from the deck of a vessel going down
Channel (London Quarterly Journ. of Science, xx, p. 412), but none were
procured. Another shoal was observed at the mouth of the Bristol Channel in
August, 1876 (Taylor, Zool. p. 5128). A fine example in October, 1849, was left
by the tide in Stonehouse Pool, and was, but is not now in the Plymouth Museum.
R. Couch, however, remarks not rare in Mount's Bay, Cornwall, in the summer
of 1845, while about five miles off shore I saw many start from the water into
the air, but none seem to have been procured. One was found on the beach at
Helford, near Falmouth, and given to Couch : another was thrown on to the

I do not consider that as yet we have sufficient evidence to prove that shoals of these fishes
approach our shores ; but rather that such as have been captured were a tew stragglers, mostly
arriving singly.

156 PHYSOSTOMI.

quay at Plymouth which, according to Couch, leaves no doubt as to its being 1 this
species. In September, 1796, one was said to have been seen at Allonby
(Heysham, Catal. Cumberland Animals).

In Ireland examples have several times been observed off the south coast.

2. Exoccetus evolans, Plate CXXIX, fig. 1.

Flying fish, Pennant, Brit. Zool. (ed. 1776), iii, p. 333, pi. Ixvii (Ed. 1812) iii,
p. 441, pi. lxxviii ; P Thompson, Natural History of Ireland, iv, p. 143.

Exocoetus evolans, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 521; Gmel. Linn. p. 1400; Bloch,
t. cccxcviii ; Bonnaterre, Ency. Ich. p. 182, pi. c, f . 400 ; Bl. Schn. p. 430, t. lxxxiv ;
Cuv. and Val. xix, p. 138 ; Bonap. Pesc. Eur. p. 81 ; Gronov. ed. Gray, p. 145 ;
Bleeker, Cape of Good Hope, p. 76, and Atl. Ich. vi, p. 69 ; Yarrell, Brit. Fish.
(ed. 2), i, p. 458 (ed. 3), i, p. 474, c. fig. ; Gimther, Catal. vi, p. 282; Kner,
Novara Fische, p. 326 ; Day, Fish. India, p. 519, pi. cxx, f. 5 ; Giglioli, Pesc. Ital.
p. 43 ; Canestrini, Fauna Ital. Pesc. p. 132 ; Liitken, Diag. Poiss. Vol. Journ. Zool.
t. vi, p. 110; Moreau, Poisson. France, iii, p. 484.

Exocoetus volitans, pt. Lacep. v, p. 402, t. xii, f. 2 ; Donovan, Brit. Fish, ii,
pi. xxxi ; Turton, Brit. Fauna, p. 106 ; Fleming, Brit. An. p. 185 ; Jenyns, Brit.
Vert. p. 420 ; Brown, Phil. Trans, lxviii, p. 790, pi. xii ; Bennett, Whaling
Voyage, ii, p. 284.

B. ix-xii, D. 12-14, P. 14-16, V. 6, A. 13-15, C. 17-19, L. 1. 40-42, Vert. 25/19.

Length of head 5 to h\, of caudal fin 4\ of 5, height of body 6 to 7 in the
total length. Eyes of each 3^- to 4 diameters in the length of the head, 3/4 of a
diameter from the end of the snout, and 1 to \\ apart. Interorbital space flat.
The greatest height of the head equals its length anterior to the hind edge of the
preopercle. Snout obtuse when the mouth is closed, rendering the dorsal and
abdominal profiles equally convex. Teeth minute or absent. Fins anterior
dorsal rays not half so long as the head : the fin arises above or slightly in
advance of the origin of the anal. Pectoral reaches to the base of the caudal.
Ventral short, about half as long as the head, and reaching half-way to the anal.
Caudal lobed, the lower much the longer. Scales 6| rows between the origin
of the dorsal fin and the lateral-line. Colours bluish along the back, becoming
lighter on the sides and beneath. Pectoral gray or black with a light edge.

Breeding. Of this but little is known: the eggs have external filaments as
observed upon respecting the gar-fish (p. 146). Mr. Howard Saunders (Zool.
1874, p. 3838) says that some years since, when at the Chincha Islands, on the
coast of Peru, I observed they appeared about the last week in March, and the
water round the rocks was alive with them. At this period of the year, when
heavy in spawn, they were not noticed " on the wing." They literally swarmed
into the crevices and fissures of the rocks, and were evidently spawning.

Mr. Flower exhibited at the Zoological Society, July 13th, 1858, a flying fish
(Exocoetus volitans}, to which was attached a specimen of Penellus Blainvillii,
Milne Edwards, 2| inches long, its head and three hornlike processes being buried
in the muscular mass on the right side of the spinal column of the fish, and the
whole of the exposed part gave lodgment to a colony of little cirripeds, Concho-
derma virgata, Spengler. The specimen was taken in the Atlantic, about 5 17'
outh latitude.

As food. Of a fairly moderate description, but rather dry.

Habitat. Tropical and temperate seas. It has been obtained off the Atlantic
coast of France.

In June, 1765, Pennant mentions an example of the flying-fish having been
captured a short distance below Carmarthen, in the liver Towy, in Wales. He
figures Exocoetus evolans, but does not expressly state that his drawing was from
the Welsh specimen ; and Couch suggests it was drawn from a preserved example.
This may be so, and it is therefore with doubt that I insert this species among
the British Fauna. Couch, however, does not state that his figure was made
from a British example, but he says there is no doubt but that those captured
along the south coast belonged to Exocoetus volitans.

The example figured is one in the British Museum collection.

CYPRINID^E. 157

Family, IV. CYPRINID.E.

Branchiostegals three: pseudobranchise generally present. Body oblong or
elongated : abdomen usually rounded, but if compressed and cutting destitute of
ossicles. Margin of the upper jaw formed by the premaxillaries Opercles in four
pieces. Mouth toothless, but from one to three rows of teeth in the inferior
pharyngeal bones, which latter are strong, free, and parallel to the branchial
arches. A single, rayed, dorsal fin : ventrals inserted posterior to the pectorals.
Head scaleless : body scaled or scaleless, never covered by osseous plates. No
"cul desac" to the stomach, nor pyloric appendages. Air-bladder, if present,
large : it may be divided by a constriction into an anterior and posterior portion,
neither of which are enclosed by bone (Cyprininse) : or into two lateral portions,
partially or entirely enclosed in a bony capsule (Cobitidinae).

Geographical distribution. This extensive family includes a large number of
forms distributed throughout the fresh waters of the Old World and of North
America. As already remarked (page 53), in Europe and Asia it appears to take
the place of the Salmonidse of the colder north, increasing in numbers as the
tropics are approached, until in Asia the genera are very numerous. Some few
forms are said to occasionally to be found in salt lakes, also some are stated to
descend to the brackish tidal waters of estuaries, or even to the sea.

Although some forms of European carps are unquestionably vegetable
feeders, all are not so, the difference in their food being indicated to a great
extent by the character of their inferior pharyngeal teeth, and the extent of their
digestive tract. No one who has fished for the Indian barbel or mahseer (a
species of Barbies), would for one moment place such among strictly herbivorous
forms. We have some Cyprinidce which are omniverous, others carnivorous,
insectivorous, and gramminiverous ; some which generally associate in schools,
others only doing so at certain seasons, and a few that appear to be more solitary
in their habits.

Fatio has observed in carps in Switzerland a greater development in the first
pectoral ray in the male than in the female. This is more especially the case in
the minnow (Leuciscus phoxinus), which has even seven or eight thus enlarged,
and not exclusively at the. breeding season. Many of the carps possess cirri or
barbels on the snout or jaws, serving as organs of touch.

As regards hybridism among members of the carp family, Siebold has noted
as probably such the following 5 in his Fresh- water Fishes of Central Europe :
Gyprinus Kollarii, between the common and crucian carps. Abramis Leuclcartii,
between the bream Brama and a Leuciscus. Abramis abramo-rutilus, between a
bream arid a rudd or roach. Albnmus dolabratus, between the bleak and German
chub. Ghondrostoma rysela, between G. nassus and Telestes Agassizii. Researches
in this country do not appear to have afforded any grounds for upholding or
assailing the above.

As food the carp family are not so much appreciated in Great Britain and
Ireland as they are on the continent of Europe and elsewhere, probably due to
our cooking being inferior, and likewise to fish not being much esteemed by the
lower classes, who also prefer the marine to the fresh-water forms. Thus the
despised bream, Abramis blicca, which is considered worthless with us, is made a
savoury dish by Dutch cooks. Even the chub Lubbock mentions having tasted
after it had been prepared by a French woman, who produced from one of these
fishes a dish wherein " the scales and bones were absent, the watery taste was all
gone, the flesh was firm and sweet in flavour, and altogether it might be regarded

158 PHYSOSTOMI.

as a real victory achieved by the cuisiniere over stubborn materials." Perhaps
the rud, if similarly treated, would meet with similar success. As it is, the
chief use in Norfolk for coarse fish is to bait crab-pots or employ as manure.

It has been observed that the fishes which afford the best evidence of
ruminating action are Cyprinoids, as carp, tench, and bream, when peristaltic
movements occur in the alimentary canal, and successive regurgitations of the
contents of the stomach induce actions of the pharyngeal jaws as the half-bruised
food comes into contact with them and excites a succession of swellings and
subsidences of the irritable palate as portions of the regurgitated food are pressed
against it. On the occiput behind the roof of the palate is a single grinding
tooth or plate, which has opposed to it the two inferior pharyngeal bones armed
with teeth : while in front of this plate, and forming the roof of the palate, is a
thick, soft, vascular, and highly sensitive mass, which becomes thinner anteriorly,
and is believed to be useful in taste, being supplied by branches of the glosso-
pharyngeal nerves. This mass is commonly known as the " carp's tongue," and
held in great esteem among epicures.

First group Cyprininse.
A. Abdomen rounded and without any compressed edge.

Genus I. Ctpkinus, Artedi.

Branch iostegals three : p >se ' u d branchio3 present. Body oblong. Mouth small,
anterior : lips thick and fleshy. Barbels four. Pharyngeal teeth in three rows :
molarform 3.1.1-1.1.3. Dorsal fin long, with its last undivided ray osseous and
serrated posteriorly : anal with few branched rays (5-6).

This carp is a native of temperate portions of Asia, and appears to be especially
common in China in both its wild and domesticated condition. It has been
imported from thence into Europe and America.

Holme observes that in heraldry a carp is the emblem of hospitality, and
denotes food and nourishment from the bearer to those in need.

1. Cyprinus carpio, Plate CXXIX, fig. 2.

Kv7rpu'oe, Aristotle, Hist. An. iv, c. 8, ii, c. 13, vi, c. 14, viii, c. 20.

Cyprinus, Rondel, p. 150; Salv. p. 92; Belon. p. 273; Gesner, p. 309 (Ed.
1608) p. 164, c. fig.; Aldrov. p. 637; Marsil. Danub. Pan,-Mys. p. 57, t. xix;
Gronov. Zooph. no. 330; Klein, Miss, v, p. 59, no. 1. Cyprinus nobilis, Schonev.
p. 32. Cyprino, Jons. t. iii, c. vi, p. 161, t. xxvii, f. 11, 12, and tit. iv, c. iii,
p. 171, t. xxix, f. 3, 4, 6. Carp, Willughby, p. 245, t. Ql, f. 2 ; Ray, p. 115 ;
Pennant, Brit. Zool. (Ed. 1776) iii, p. 353, pi. lxx (Ed. 1812) iii, p. 467, pi. lxxxi ;
Gronov. Zooph. no. 330. Cyprinus, Artedi, Synom. no. 1, Gen. no. 4, Spec. no. 13.
Carpe, Duhamel Peches, ii, sect. 3, p. 509, pi. xvi, f. 1.

Cyprinus carpio, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 525; Gmel. Linn. p. 1411; Bloch,
Fische Deuts. i, p. 92, t. xvi ; Bl. Schn. p. 447 ; Bonnaterre, Ency. Ich. p. 190,
pi. A, fig. 1 ; Lacepede, v, p. 504 ; Pallas, Zoo. Ross. -As. iii, p. 289 ; Donovan,
Brit. Fishes, v, pi. ex ; Shaw, Zool. v, t. 121 ; Turton, p. 107 ; Bowdich, Brit.
F. W. Fish. pi. ii ; Flem. Brit. An. p. 185 ; Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 401 ; Tarrell,
Brit. Fish. (ed. 1) i, p. 305, c. fig. (ed. 2) i, p. 349 (ed. 3) i, p. 354 ; Templeton,
Mag. Nat. Hist. 1837 (2) i, p. 410; Kroyer, Dan. Fiske, iii, p. 290, c. fig ; Cuv.
and Val. xvi, p. 23 ; Thompson, Nat. Hist. Ireland, iv, p. 135 ; Swainson, Fishes,
ii, p. 284 ; White, Catal. p. 59 ; Gronov. ed. Gray, p. 177 ; Nilss. Skand. Fauna, iv,
Fiske, p. 284 ; Heckel and Kner, Suss. w. f . p. 54 ; Blanchard, Poiss. France,
p. 322, fig. 65 ; Gunther, Catal. vii, p. 25 ; Schlegel, Dieren. Neder. p. 96, pi. x,
f . 1 ; Siebold, Siisswass. f . Mitteleur. p. 84 ; Feddersen, Danske Ferskvandsfiske,
p. 82; Canestrini, Faun. Ital. Pesc. p. 10 ; Collett, Norges Fisk. p. 179 ; Houghton,
Brit. Freshwater Fish. p. 15, c. fig ; Giglioli, Pesc. Ital. Catal. p. 43 ; Moreau,
Poiss. France, iii, p. 368.

Carp, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, iv, p. 4, pi. clxxx.

CYPRINID^]. 159

B. III. D. 21-25 ( T Vla 9 a), P. 15-16, V. 8, A. 7-8 ( a i 3 ), C. 20, L. 1. 35-40, L. tr.
5/9, Vert. 21-21/16-17.

Length of head 4 to 4-f, of caudal fin 5| to 6, height of body 3 to 4 in the
total length. Eye small, situated a little before the middle of the length of the
head, 2 diameters from the end of the snout, and 3 apart (in an examplo nearly
17 inches long). Opercle strongly striated. The proportions of the various
parts of this fish are exceedingly diverse, dependent upon age, sex, and locality.
Barbels of moderate length, those at the maxilla the longest, and almost equal-
ling one diameter of the orbit. Lips thick and leathery. The maxilla reaches to
beneath the front edge of the orbit. Fins dorsal commences rather nearer to the
snout than to the base of the caudal, its first two or three or rarely four rays are
bony, the last being serrated posteriorly, while the anterior portion of the fin,
which is the highest, equals about two-fifths the height of the body below it.
Pectoral situated low down, its length equals about that of the head without the
snout, and it does not extend to above the ventral, which latter reaches half-way
to the anal. First two or three anal rays osseous, the last being serrated posteriorly.
Caudal deeply forked. Scales large, 5 to 6 rows between the lateral-line and
the base of the ventral fin. Colours vary, usually brownish or with a bluish
tinge along the back, with golden or coppery reflections along the sides. Some have
been described of a whitish tint due, perhaps, to age, others as having black
spots caused, perhaps occasionally, by parasites.

Varieties in form. The body in some is much more elongated than in others.
Some ichthyologists observe upon the existence of a second continental species
Cyprinus hollar ii or C. striatus, but which is a hybrid between G. carpio and
Carassius vulgaris, having some very short barbels : it is a bony and inferior
fish, and is known in some parts of Germany as the " poor man's carp."
The fins are subject to modifications, being very much prolonged in some forms,
as will be more particularly alluded to when treating of the gold cai'p. The
chief German varieties of carp which are cultivated are : (1) The common
carp : (2) the mirror-carp, or carp king, Cyprinus rex, cyprinorum, C. specularis,
G. macrolepidotus, the most highly improved breed in central Germany. A small
head, thick body, large scales, and tendency to rapidly grow large. In this race
some pisciculturists make a speciality of raising forms with very few scales, some-
times restricted to one row along the lateral-line, in others to a strip along the
back. When in the water the mirror carp has its back of a bluish colour tinged
with gray or greenish, but more decidedly blue than either of the other two
varieties. It is said to be the most hardy form, and to bear injuries the best :
(3) the leather-carp, Cyprinus nudus, C. alepidotus, C. coriaceus, or G. nudus, in
which scales are absent, but the skin is very much thickened, its a well defined
race and not a mirror-cai-p denuded of scaling : these are sometimes of a golden-
brown colour and are very fashionable in Germany. There have likewise been
various forms of monstrosities described.

Names. Carp has been derived from the Greek term " kuprinos " itself said
to be from " kupris " or " Cyprus," where Aprodite or Venus w r as first worshipped,
and may have been given to this fish in order to symbolize its extraordinary
fecundity. Holme (1688) gives Seizling as yearlings, next a sprole or sprale from
two years of age, terms taken from Gesner's Swiss names of this fish, they not
being called " karpf " until four years old. In (Whole Art of Fishing, 1719) the
last century we are told it was called the fresh-water fox and queen of rivers.
Cerpyn, Welsh. Be Karper, Dutch. La carpe, French.

Habits. Hardy and tenacious of life, cautious and wary in a state of nature,
but readily tamed so that it will even take food from the hand. It mostly fre-
quents ponds, canals, sluggish pieces of water, or slow flowing rivers, being
especially partial to localities possessing soft, marly, or muddy bottoms. It can
also live in water unsuited to other fish, as the pools of bog meadows or sloughs,
though the kind will be inferior. During the summer it may be seen lying among the
weeds at the surface of the water, at which it lazily sucks making a very distinct
noise which has been likened to that produced by a pig. Or else a number may
be perceived near the surface quietly swimming about in a shoal, or returning

lfiO PHTSOSTOMI.

to the bottom in search of food. About November, or as winter approaches, it
becomes more sluggish, and will even lie dormant in the mud into which it will
probably retire along with numerous companions, or else seek its quarters under
weeds, roots, or hollows. Occasionally it is found alive in muddy bottoms of
ponds almost destitute of water. Carp, says Hessel, during the winter are
huddled together in the mud in concentric circles with their heads together, the
posterior part of the body raised and held immovably, scarcely lifting the gills
for the purpose of breathing and without taking a particle of food. Though it
does not feed or grow during its winter sleep when in its natural retreat, it does
not diminish in weight : but while kept in large tanks or winter chambers it falls
off in a remarkable degree. It will not thrive in overstocked ponds, while owing
to its muddy flavour when transferred direct from such places to the kitchen it is
found advisable to retain it for some weeks in a stew, through which a supply of
water flows. Here it will feed well and fatten. Jesse says that his were very
fond of boiled potatoes. It can also be kept for a long time in well-boats through
which water is allowed to pass, and may be thus conveyed long distances. It is
partial to the shoots of aquatic plants, succulent vegetables, worms, and the larvae
of insects, while occasionally it will make a mouthful of a small fish. Mr. Gurney
(Zoologist, 1860) observed a carp devour three young minnows each about 1|
inches long which were confined with it in the same tank. It will not despise
the refuse of kitchens, slaughter-houses, breweries, or even the excrements of
cattle and pigs.

One reason given for permitting pike in carp ponds is that the latter fish are
apt to become languid and lazy, whereas a few pike would give them exercise,
inducing them to seek their natural feeding-places. But as a rule pisciculturists
prefer their absence.

Pennant observes upon the following experiment having been twice made, of
placing a carp in a net well wrapped up in wet moss, the mouth only remaining
out, and then hung up in a cellar or some cool place : the fish being frequently
fed with bread and milk, and often plunged into water. Thus treated it has been
known to live above a fortnight,* and grow very fat as well as lose its muddy
taste. It can be sent alive very long distances packed in moist moss with a
mouthful of bread steeped in brandy and occasionally renewed. In the Horti-
cultural Gardens, South Kensington, the stock of carp was found to be too great
for the vegetation, so 300 averaging fully 2 lb. each and the greater part full of
spawn, were transmitted in wet moss to the Colne, near Haresfield, and did not
appear to suffer from the journey (Field, April, 1881). Three carp averaging
10 lb. each, were sent from Windsor Park at 7 A.M. to the Southport Aquarium,
arriving at 8 p.m., they were packed in damp moss in a hamper. On being placed
in a tank two immediately swam away, the third appeared exhausted at first, but
shortly recovered and did as well as the other two.

Means of capture. The fisherman finds this fish an adept at escaping from nets,
by burrowing below it, or springing over the corks, consequently to have carp
completely at command there should be means of letting off the water in which
it resides, either partially or entirely. So difficult is it to net that unless some
such provision is made one can well understand the Norfolk fen-men regarding it
with mysterious awe, how its entrances and its exits into pieces of water puzzle
them, and how, as Lubbock remarks, they consider it as something more than a
fish, and look upon it as what the Scotch term " no cannie." In angling for this
fish various plans have their advocates, but all agree that as a rule the carp is exceed-
ingly wary and difficult to capture. The best time in the day for sport appears to be
early in the morning or late in the evening : bright days are inauspicious as it swims
near the surface but does not feed, while should there be a cold wind it seems to
be somewhat dormant and refuses the tempting bait. Warm cloudy days, with a
tendency to rain, appear to be those best suited for angling for carp. A fine line
with a quill float should be used, having a light weight (as a shot) about a foot
from the hook, and good strong rod, while the depth should be plumbed so that
the shot finds rest on the bottom. The rod should be fixed into the bank and the

* In Holland it has been said they are thus kept afire in cellars for months !

CYPRINID^E. 161

angler be out of eight keeping quite quiet, while he must not strike at the first
symptom of a bite, bat wait until the float begins to move away.

Baits. Many are in vogue, as a paste of bread crumbs, to which may be added
honey and gin. Blue-bottle flies, ripe cherries, green peas boiled in sugar,
grains, balls of green silk-weed so common in ponds, worms, green gentles,
grasshoppers, larvae, small red worms from dry earthy dunghills rolled into a ball.

In the Cherwell, near Oxford, the common carp is far from being a shy fish,
and seems to have a peculiar affection for the red and white paste of the roach
fishermen (G. F. Field, Sept. 1882). Mr. Jardine (Field, Dec. 11th, 1880) records
the capture of a 9j lb. carp, with a small artificial dace. A correspondent of the
same paper (Dec. 4th, 1880) remarks how using a large yellow Thurso salmon-fly
in order to try and take a pike in a pond, he caught a carp of 4 lb. and hooked
two others, the fly being only six inches below the surface.

Breeding. A carp is supposed to commence breeding at three years old,
returning yearly to the same spot, and during its migration it has been known to
spring several feet out of the water in order to overcome obstacles. Some are
either temporarily or permanently sterile. But, of those which breed, one of 9 lb.
had 600,000 eggs (Bloch) ; one of 16| lb. had 101,200 ova, another of 25| lb.
203,109 ova (Harmer) ; one of 21^ lb. 1,310,750, another of 16^ lb. 2,059,750
eggs (Buckland). Hessel found a fish weighing from 4 to 51b. contains on an
average 400,000 to 500,000 eggs : in the somewhat larger-bodied scale-carp he
generally observed comparatively more eggs than in a mirror carp of the same
age and weight. It generally spawns about May or June, in accordance with the
nature of the season, and one female attended by two or more males may be
observed on warm days among the aquatic weeds where the adhesive eggs are
deposited. Some continue extruding ova for several weeks or even months,
interruptions occurring during cold or rainy weather, while others may retain it
occasioning disease. During the breeding season it is readily taken as it appears
to lose all fear. After spawning it returns to the water it usually resides in.
During the spawning season numerous wart-like protuberances appear upon the
skin of the head and back of the males, disappearing after the expiration of that
time ; while some little time prior to this period the pharyngeal teeth are shed
and which are yearly renewed. The eggs develop quickly should the weather be
propitious, the eyes showing themselves as early as the fifth or sixth day, and on
the twelfth or sixteenth day at the furthest, hatching commences in shallow and
warm ponds. After a certain number are in a pond they cease to increase ; perhaps
the parents devour their eggs or their offspring.

Hermaphrodites. Jacket (Abh. ntr. Ges. Nurnburg, 1867, iii, p. 245) describes
one and likewise (Fische Bayerns, p. 21) gives an account of some hybrids, between
a variety of the common carp (Carpio macrolepidotus) and the crucian carp
(Carassius vulgaris), and which he terms Carpio Sieboldii, a form almost valueless
as food. Pennant mentions hybrids between the carp and tench, and having also
heard of some between the carp and the bream. Bloch observed that the carp
produced hybrids both with Carassius auratus and C. gibelio.

Hessel observes that he placed a female common carp with a male crucian
carp, also a female crucian carp with a male common carp, and a female Cyprinus
kollarii(see page 159) with a male of the common carp. In the two first cases the
young became identical with C. kollarii, some approaching more towards one
parent, some towards the other ; while in the last experiment the product was
with difficulty to be distinguished from the genuine carp. He fed these last for
three years in order to try their fitness for the table, but they were poor in taste,
very bony, and could not be compared by any means to the common carp.

Life-history. The carp attains to a good old age. Gesner refers to one of
a hundred years, and Buffon to another of one hundred and fifty. Buckland
observes that in Windsor Park the fishermen informed him that a carp in a
certain stew must be nearly one hundred years old ; how this was ascertained is
not recorded. In Germany and other countries where this fish is cultivated,
it is found that if May is mild and warm the greatest increase of growth

11

102 PHYSOSTOMI.

occurs : it appears only to grow during four months, or from May until August
inclusive.

Respecting their rate of growth it differs in accordance with the water
inhabited, as to if such is warm or cold, a river, lake or pond, the supply of food,
quality of the soil, and the race of carp. Under favourable circumstances they
will attain from 3 to 3 lb. weight in three years. In warm climates carp have
been known to attain from 2f to 4 lb. in one year, which increase would take two-
and-a-half years in colder regions. In 1865 some ponds in Windsor Park were run
dry, and the carp in the obelisk pond were of a very similar weight from 4 lb. to
6 lb., the head fisherman Wheeler asserted they were at least fifty years old : they
had been twice removed within his memory from different ponds, the last time
about thirty-five years' previous from a pond near Cumberland Lodge when they
weighed about 3 lb. each. In the Royal stew two brothers and sisters to the
foregoing were larger, one turning the scale at 10^ lb. (Fish. Mag.). They may
become gradually white with age.

Diseases. Is subject externally to fungoid growths, especially old carp ; also
the same moss-like appearance occasionally attacks young fish which reside in foul
or snow water, as well as blindness, epidemic fevers, visceral obstructions due to
over-gorging on chickweed, ulcerations of the liver, malignant pustules under the
scales termed small-pox by fishermen, carbuncles, and intestinal worms. It appears
to be very susceptible to electric influences. On fishing a pond in Dorsetshire a
great number of carp were found, each with a frog mounted on it, the hind-legs
clinging to the back, the fore-legs fixed in the corner of each eye of the fish, which
were thin and greatly wasted (Pennant). Williams (Brit. Angler, 1740) observes,
when many carp have been put into a well-watched pond so that they could
not have been stolen, at the emptying three or four years subsequently, not a
carp would be found. This, he says, is attributed, and in all appearances justly,
to their being destroyed by the frogs. The Rev. A. Lloyd (Liverpool Standard,
March, 1835) states, that, when engaged with a garden rake in clearing some
decayed wood and leaves out of the water of a pond, he brought a live trout, about
6 inches long, to land with a large frog firmly holding it, grasped tightly
round the middle. In 1880 it was stated that, during the draining of Count
Schaafgotsche's carp ponds at Warmbrunn, it was observed that frogs were
clinging to the backs of many of the larger fish, most of which, thus beridden,
being blind, the frogs' fore-feet being firmly fixed in the eye sockets of their
victims. Hessel observes that once during his absence a number of large carp
were fed upon coagulated blood which had commenced to putrefy ; the fish
devoured it eagerly, became ill, and most of them died in a few days from
inflammation of the intestines. Spoilt food should never be given to fish. Frogs
appear to be inimical to the eggs and, perhaps, the very young fish, while
dabchicks and other water-birds are destructive to the fry.

As food. In some countries, especially in those where eating fish forms a
portion of the religious creed of the people, this fish is largely cultivated, while
a supply is kept in stews, so that when fast or feast days come round it is readily
available ; they were, likewise, very useful in times when the means of carriage
was slow. It is not much esteemed in this country owing to its muddy flavour,
but this it loses if kept in a stew through which a stream flows. The best tasted
forms are those from rivers ; next, such as come from large lakes ; and the most
inferior taken direct from muddy ponds. Carp is in season from October until
April. The palate, commonly termed " the tongue," is considered a delicacy.

Its roe is converted into red caviare by Jews in Italy and Eastern Europe as,
by their law, they may not eat caviare made of sturgeon, that being a fish destitute
of scales.

To improve their flavour Mr. Tull (Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. 1754, p. 870)
castrated these fish and found that subsequently they grew more rapidly,
fattened more readily, and were of a superior flavour.

Habitat. This fish, which is indigenous to Persia, China, and contiguous
countries, even to Java and other islands in the Malay Archipelago, has been

CYPRINID^E. 163

introduced into and widely disseminated in the temperate parts of Europe
and Asia. It appears to have been cultivated in Germany and France as
early as 1258 ; introduced into Sweden in 1560, and into Denmark in 1660, and
is now found from Italy to Sweden and Norway, and from France to Russia
and the boundaries of Eastern Siberia. A considerable number are taken in
the Black Sea and Caspian ; and Nordmann remarks upon their presence in the
salt lakes of New Russia. Among the older writers Cassiodorus, of the sixth
century, terms the Garpa of the Danube a costly fish of delicate flavour and
supplied to the table of princes.

When this fish was first introduced into England is involved in obscurity ; it
is not alluded to in the Anglo-Saxon Dictionary of ^Elfric, who, in 1051, died
Archbishop of York. The first mention of it seems to be in Dame Juliana
Berners' Boke of St. Albans, published in 1496, wherein she speaks of the carp
as " a dayntous fysshe, but there ben but fewe in Englonde, and therefore I wryte
the lesse of hym." About 1514 * Mascall is said to have introduced it
into Sussex, probably extending its range. The Rev. J. Hughes, of Meltham,
observed that he had read most of the works of the Welsh poets, from
Aneurin down to the last century, but in none had he found the Welsh name for
the carp. The doggrel lines of

" Turkeys, carp, hop, pickerel and beer
Came into England all in one year"

may be considered interesting as verses, but not faithful representations
of facts.

It appears to be absent from the Orkneys, and is not so common in Scotland as
it is in England, where it is found in lakes, ponds, canals, railway ponds and rivers
throughout the country. It is especially fine in some of our eastern counties, as
in Yorkshire and the Norfolk broads. It was formerly said not to be found in
Cornwall, but is now present there. Moore observes upon its absence from the
Isle of Wight.

In Ireland it has been noted in County Down, Armagh, Galway, Sligo,
Kilkenny and Dublin, and said to have been introduced into the south by the
great Earl of Cork. Rutty observes that this fish was acclimatized in Ireland
during the reign of James I (a.d. 1603 to 1625).

The example figured is a female full of roe which died in October, 1882, while
in transit from Buckinghamshire to the Royal Westminster Aquarium. It is
16'8 inches long, and for it I am indebted to J. Carrington, Esq., F.L.S.

As to the size these fish attain in this country, that varies with localities, one
over 20 lb. appears to be a very large one. One was taken at Sheffield Park in
1882 which weighed 19 lb. (Field, November 18, 1882) : on emptying the lake
at Bay ham Abbey, near Lamberhurst, in July, 1870, one was secured weighing
21 lb. 10 oz. (Coombe, Field, November 25, 1822) : Yarrell exhibited one 30 inches
long and weighing 22 lb. at the Zoological Society, November 22, 1836, it was
taken in the Mere, near Payne's Hill, Surrey : in the autumn of 1858, the great
pond at Harling, near Petersfield, was fished, and a carp of 24| lb. taken (Gordon,
History of Harting) : in Holland 20 lb. fish are not rare, while in the German
lakes they attain to 40 lb. or 50 lb.f

* Dr. Giinther places the date a century later, observing, "the year 1614 is assigned as the date
of its first introduction into England " (Introduction Study of Fish, p. 590), or 118 years subsequent
to the date of Dame Juliana Berners' work wherein she tells the reader how to catch it by angling
in this country.

f In 1711 one was said to have been dragged from the Oder, near Frankfort, 9 feet long and
3 deep, and weighing 76 lb. : Jovius alludes to another from Lake Como of 2001b. weight !

11 *

1G4 PHYSOSTOMI.

Genus II. Carassius, Nilsson.

Branchiostegals three : pseudobranchia?. present. Snout obtuse and rounded.
Mouth anterior, arched, and rather narrow : lips thin. No barbels. Pharyngeal
teeth compressed and in a single roiv, 4/4 (JDentes scalpriformes, Bonap.). Dorsal
fin commencing opposite the ventrals, having many rays (15-25), its last undivided
one being osseous and serrated : last undivided anal ray osseous and normally
serrated. Scales of moderate size. Lateral-line continued to the base of the caudal
fin.

The two species of this genus found in Great Britain are possibly merely the
eastern and western representatives derived at a remote period from a common
ancestry : the Carassius vulgaris being more essentially Western Asiatic and
European, while the G. auratus is of Chinese and Japanese extraction. Very
similar in external appearances, it is likewise remarkable that the latter, of which
I possess specimens from near Yunam, in China, are of the same green colour
in rivers as the wild European form. The C. vulgaris generally has a more
elevated body, and from 31 to 35* rows of scales along the lateral-line, while the
gold carp has usually from 25 to 30 rows. Both, however, are subject to almost
innumerable variations as to proportions, while they are likewise somewhat
intimately related to the common carp, Cyprinus carpio, with which they inter-
breed, to the deterioration of the breed in carp fisheries.

1. Carassius vulgaris, Plate CXXX, fig. 1.

Karass, Gesner, De Aquat. p. 318 ; Aldrov. p. 644. Carassius, Willughby,
p. 249; Ray, p. 116. Cyprinus, Sp. Artedi, Genera, p. 4, no. 7, Synom. p. 5,
no. 5, and Species, p. 29, no. 15 ; Klein, Miss, v, p. 59, no. 4, t. xi, f. 1 ; Gronov.
Zooph. no. 343. Crucian, Pennant, Brit. Zool. (Ed. 1776) iii, p. 364, pi. lxxii.

Cyprinus carassius, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 526 ; Gmel. Linn. p. 1416 ; Bloch,
Fische Deuts. i, p. 96, t. xi ; Bonnaterre, Ency. Ich. p. 192, pi. lxxviii, f. 322 ;
Bl. Schn. p. 438; Lacep. v, p. 549; Pall. Zoogr. Ross. -As. iii, p. 297; Tnrton,
Brit. Fauna, p. 108 ; Fries och Ekstr. Skand. Fisk. p. 140, t. xxxi ; Ekstr. Fische
Morko, p. 58 ; Cuv. and Val. xvi, p. 82, pi. 459 ; .Tenyns, Manual, p. 403 ; Yarrell,
Brit. Fish. (ed. 2) i, p. 355, c. fig. ; White, Catal. p. 59 ; Nilss. Skand. Fauna,
iv, p. 290; Gronov. ed. Gray, p. 179; Schlegel, Dieren Neder. p. 104, pi. x, f. 2;
Siebold, Suss. w. f. p. 98; Malm, Fauna, p. 556; Canestrini, Faun. Ital. p. 13;
Giglioli, Cat. Pesc. Ital. p. 43.

Carassius vulgaris, Nord. in Demid. Voy. Russ. Mer. iii, p. 479; Kroyer,
Dan. Fiske, iii, p. 294, c. fig. ; Heckel and Kner, Suss. w. f. p. 67 ; Siebold, Suss.
w. f. p. 98 ; Giinther, Catal. vii, p. 29 ; Feddersen, p. 82 ; Houghton, Brit. Fresh-
water Fishes, p. 19, c. fig. ; Moreau, Poiss. France, iii, p. 374.

Carassius Linncei, Bonap. Cat. Met. Cipr. d'Eur. p. 3 ; Yarrell, Brit. Fish.
(ed. 3) i, p. 364, c. fig.

Cyprinopsis carassius, Blanchard, Poiss. France, p. 336, fig. 67.

Crucian carp, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, iv, p. 28, pi. clxxxiv.

Variety. Prussian Carp.

Cyprinus, Klein, Pise. Miss, v, t. xi, f. 2. The gibele, Penn. Brit. Zool.
(Ed. 1812) iii, p. 480, pi. lxxxiii.

Cyprinus gibelio, Gmel. Linn. p. 1417 ; Bloch, I.e. i, p. 71, t. xii ; Bl. Schn.
p. 438 ; Lacep. v, p. 64 ; Ekstrom, I.e. p. 64 ; Fleming, Brit. An. p. 185 ; Jenyns,
Man. p. 402 ; Cuv. and Val. xvi, p. 90 ; Yarrell, I.e. (ed. 1) i, p. 311, c. fig. (ed.
2) i, p. 358 (ed. 3) i, p. 368 ; Nilss. I.e. p. 294 ; Heckel and Kner,' I.e. p. 70 ;
Collett, Norges Fiske, p. 180.

* Out of six examples from Kent one had 28, one had 29, three 30 and one 32 rows of scales
along the lateral-line.

CYPRINIM3. 165

Cyprinus amarus, Koch, Fish. Ratis. p. 39.

Cyprimis moles, Agassiz, Mem. Soc. Sc. Nat. Neuch. i, 1835, p. 37.

Carassius oblongus, Heckel and Kner, I.e. p. 73.

Gyprinopsis gibelio, Blanchard, I.e. p. 340, fig. 69.

Prussian carp, Couch, I.e. p. 31, pi. clxxxv.

B. iii, D. 15-25 (ri^x), P. 13-18, V. 9-10, A. 8-9 ( 6 -M, C. 19-21, L. 1. 28-35,
L. tr. 5|-6*/8f

The relative proportions in this fish are subject to great variations, the body
being much more elevated in some than it is in others, the dorsal profile being
generally more convex than the abdominal. Length of head 4| to 5, of caudal
fin 4| to 51, height of body 2\ to 4 times in the total length. Byes in
the anterior half of the head, diameter of each from 5 to 6 in the length
of the head, 1 to \\ diameters from the end of the snout, and 1^ to 2 apart.
Snout obtuse, the cleft of the mouth shallow, with the upper jaw slightly the
longer. Barbels absent, if present which sometimes occurs, the example is
thought to have been crossed with the common carp (see G. kollarii). Teeth,
pharyngeal normally 4 4, but in some I have found 4, 2 or 3 2 or 3, 4, and
scalpriform having somewhat compressed crowns with a depressed and flattened
surface. Bins the dorsal commences on a line above the insertion of the
ventrals and ceases above the termination of the anal : it is higher in some
examples than in others, its last undivided ray is serrated posteriorly. The last
undivided anal ray osseous and posteriorly serrated. Caudal may be cut almost
straight posteriorly, simply notched or almost forked. Colours vary, generally
brownish tinted with green along the back : brown or gray tinged with yellow on
the sides and white or yellowish white beneath. Fins dark with a bluish or red
tinge.

Varieties. The Carassius vulgaris is the highest variety of this species, in
some the shape of its body being* almost quadrangular, and the dorsal profile much
more elevated than the abdominal. The gibele differs in the less height of the body,
being somewhat starved in appearance, and is not so deep and more carp-like than
G. vulgaris, having a blunter head, longer lower jaw, back not so elevated, and the
caudal fin more deeply forked. G. moles, C. V, is a form having a low dorsal fin,
and G. oblongus, Heckel and Kner, one in which the body is elongated. The
G. Icollarii, known by the presence of barbels, is a hybrid between the common
and crucian or gold carp, already referred to (p. 159). It is chiefly raised in the
neighbourhood of Paris and Metz, also in Belgium, and is a very inferior fish. I
have obtained an example, a little over seven inches in length, from Kent, the
pharyngeal teeth in which are 4/4.

Names. Crucian or Prussian or German-carp. Also termed Hamburgh carp,
probably from its having been disseminated from that town or the place where
it was best known. Grouger, Warwickshire. Byrbysg, Welsh. Be steenharper,
Dutch. Le Carassin commun, French.

Habits. Much the same as those of the common carp, is an indolent fish,
which keeps much to the bottom, coming to the surface when there is a warm
sun. It is very tenacious of life. Yarrell instances one which survived after
having been kept thirty hours out of water. It lives in localities wherein the
impurities are sufficient to destroy most other fish : it is said to thrive in the
Thames. In Scandinavia it appears to like shallow, muddy, or grassy lakes.
And it is asserted that this fish when put into water with a muddy bottom does
not acquire a bad taste so soon as the pike, perch, and other piscine forms.

Means of capture. Netting. A well scoured brandling is recommended as a
good bait, but this fish seldom bites freely.

Breeding. April, May, and June. Depositing its ova among aquatic weeds at
this period, and congregating in shoals.

As food. Said to be good in Sweden and Russia, but is generally considered
inferior, tasteless, and bony.

Habitat. Europe and Siberia, but it is doubtful whether it is indigenous to
this country or has been introduced. It is now generally distributed throughout

166 PHYSOSTOMI.

favourable localities in this country. It is very common about London and in
pieces of water in tbe vicinity of the Tbames.

In Ireland it is mentioned as existing by Thompson.

The example figured is seven inches long, from Kent. Tarrell observes that
he obtained a crucian carp in October, 1824, which weighed 21b. 11 oz.

2. Carassius auratus, Plate CXXX, fig. 2.

Cyprinus lineatus and langsdorfii, Cuv. and Val. xvi, pp. 96, 99.
Carassius Biirgeri, Cuvieri, and grandoculis, Schlegel, Faun. Japon.
Goldfish, Pennant, Brit. Zool. (Ed. 1776) iii, p. 374 (Ed. 1812) iii, p. 490.

Domesticated varieties.

Cyprinus, sp. Klein, Pise. Miss, v, p. 60, no. 8 ; Gronov. Zooph. no. 342.

Cyprinus auratus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 527 ; Gmel. Linn. p. 1418; Bl. Fische
Deuts. iii, p. 132, t. xciii, xciv ; Bonn. Ency. Ich. p. 193, pi. 78, f. 324 ; Bl. Schn.
p. 439 ; Lacep. v, p. 553, pi. xviii, f . 2, 3 ; Shaw, Zool. v, t. exxvi, exxvii ; Turton,
p. 108 ; Risso, Ich. Nice, p. 364, and Eur. Merid. iii, p. 436 ; Yarrell, Brit. Fish.
(ed. 1), i, p. 315, c. fig. (ed. 2), i, p. 361 (ed. 3) , i, p. 37] ; Cuv. and Val. xvi, p. 101 ;
Fleming, Brit. An. p. 185 ; White, Catal. p. 60 ; De Sauvigny, Hist. Nat. des
dorades de la China (89 varieties figured) ; Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 413 ; Thompson,
Ireland, iv, p. 135 ; Moreau, Poiss. France, iii, p. 377.

Cyprinus mauritianus, Bennett, Proc. Zool. Soc. i, 1831, p. 167.

Cyprinus thoracatus, Cuv. and Val. xvi, p. 97, pi. 460.

Cyprinus Maillardi, Guichenot, Reun. App. C. p. 14.

Cyprinus chinensis, Gronov. ed. Gray, p. 181.

Cyprinus telescop>us and quadrilobus, Lacep. v, pi. xviii.

Carassius auratus, Bleeker, Atl. Ich. &c. Cyp. p. 74 ; Gunther, Catal. vii,
p. 32 ; Day, Fish. India, p. 552 ; Houghton, Brit. F. W. Fishes, p. 23, c. fig. ;
Feddersen, p. 83 ; Canestiini, Fauna Ital. Pesc. p. 13 ; Moreau, Poiss. France, iii,
p. 377.

Cyprinopsis auratus, Blanchard, Poiss. France, p. 343, fig. 71.

Gold-fish, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, iv, p. 33, pi. clxxxvi.

B. iii, D. 19-22 (tVtV). P- 16-17, V. 9, A. 8-9 ( T ? T ), C. 18-19, L. 1. 26-30, L. tr.
5H|/7i-8i.

The proportions in this fish show great anomalies. Length of head 4 to 4,
of caudal fin 4 to 5, height of body 2f to 4 times in the total length. Eyes
diameter of each from 4 to 5 times in the length of the head, 1? to li diameters
from the end of the snout, and the same distance apart. Snout obtuse, cleft of
mouth shallow, and the jaws anteriorly of about the same length. Barbels absent.
Pharyngeal teeth 3 or 4/4 or 3 in one row, and similar in form to those of
Carassius vulgaris. Fins similar to C. vulgaris except that the dorsal fin is
generally a little higher. Colours various. As already remarked, those living
in their native streams are similar to Carassius vulgaris. In a domesticated state
it may be red, vermillion, rose-coloured, pink, white, silvery, sometimes with
black marks, while the same tint does not invariably pervade the whole of the
fish. If turned out into the open its brilliancy generally decreases. During
the first year of its life it is usually black ; next mottled with silver. This
last colour spreads over the whole fish, and after one or two seasons gradually
becomes of a red or brilliant tint : in some they are coloured from the time of
their birth.

Varieties. This fish, due to domestication, is subject to great structural
alterations : the vertebral column alone may be deformed but the fish be
otherwise perfect ; the dorsal fin may be entirely absent or reduced to one spine
and a few rays, the fish being otherwise perfect ; or with a reduced extent of
dorsal fin the anal spine may be double. The caudal fin may be enlarged and
divided into three or four lobes, the length of which may be nearly equal to that
of the remainder of the fish, while at the same time the dorsal fin may be present
or absent. Occasionally the eyes are protruding, forming what are known as the

CYPRINIM;. 167

telescope goldfish, and this may he conjoined to a three or four-lobed tail fin. Sir
R. Heron (Proc. Zool. Soc. 1841, p. 42) remarks respecting his menagerie that
two out of five of the specimens of gold-fish hatched are deficient of the dorsal fin,
and about two in a hundred, or rather more, have triple tail fins, and as many
have the anal fin double. All the deformed fish are separated from the others,
and placed in a pond by themselves, but they do not produce a greater proportion
of deformed offspring than the parent fish.

As already observed, the Garassius auratus in its wild state is greenish. It
may assume a yellow colour termed leaccethiopism or xanthochroism : or a red
colour, erythrism : or a white colour, albinism : or black, melanism ; and these
changes are not invariably produced by the same causes. The temperature of the
water in which they reside influences colour, gold denoting the warmest, as from
80 to 88, and here they increase most rapidly, while bronze or silver is the tint
most observable in those that are kept in the open air. In an account of the
mode in which one of the gold-fish breeding establishments at Oldenburg is
carried on, the correspondent remarks (Land and Water, May 3rd, 1879) that for
the purpose of inducing colour the three chief materials needed are iron, gall-nuts,
and tan. A fish originally red and white can by proper treatment be rendered
black, white and red ; but some fail, and these are consigned to a large shallow
pond, where they are more exposed to the sun's rays, which have a strong
colouring influence ; but the treatment is somewhat hazardous, often killing the
fish, and that quite suddenly.

Names. Gold-fish: Gold carp. Eurbysg, Welsb. Le Carassin Dore, French.
Habits. Much the same as the crucian, but more domesticated. In manu-
facturing districts, where there is an inadequate supply of cold water for the
condensation of the steam employed in the engines, recourse, observes Yarrell, is
had to what are termed engine-dams or ponds, into which the water from the
steam-engine is thrown for the purpose of being cooled ; in these dams, the
average temperature of which is about 80, it is common to keep gold-fish ; and
here it multiplies very rapidly, and becomes useful in consuming the refuse
grease, which by accumulating on the surface would impede the cooling of the
water.

It appears to thrive upon insects, but if it is found necessary to supplement
artificial fare, blood and refuse meat, worms, or even barley are recommended.
Kept in confinement, well or pump water seems to suit it the best, and only in
emergencies should stream or river water be employed, while rain-water is quite
unsuitable.

Breeding in May or June. In breeding, many influences exercise an effect
upon this fish, thus Thompson observes that " in some ponds near Belfast this
species bred the first year of its introduction ; in others not for several years ;
and in one the fishes have never increased. The temperature of the water in the
first was warmest, and in the last coldest." As a general rule the gold carp does
not spawn in transparent vessels ; it requires ponds in which the bottom is not
too smooth and where there are weeds suitable for its purpose. In the almost
stagnant water of the breeding ponds at Oldenburg, should a little invigorating of
the fish be deemed necessary, augmented aeration is found to have this effect, and
after receiving a current of aerated water it frequently begins to spawn within an
hour's time ; by stimulating, a considei*able proportion of the fish may be made to
reproduce their species when not over twelve months of age. While bv high
feeding, frequent distribution of the parent fish (the same males and fern, les not
being allowed to " keep company " long together), and occasional aeration of the
water, it is found possible to pre-arrange the dates of spawning almost to a day,
and also to raise a large crop from a comparatively small breeding stock. The
first brood is raised in March or April, the second in July or earlier, and the
third about the end of August or commencement of September. Many thus
stimulated become prematurely barren, but even when comparatively less
stimulated it is the exception to use the fish as spawners more than two years.
M. Carbonnier (Compt. Rend. 1872, p. 1127) has recorded how he has observed
the male of the telescope variety acting as accoucheur to the female. Three

168 PHYSOSTOMI.

males pursued one of the other sex which was heavy in Bpawn, and rolled her
like a ball upon the ground for a distance of several metres, and continued this
process without rest or relaxation for two days, until the exhausted female (who
during this period had been unable to recover her equilibrum for a moment) had
at last evacuated all her ova. Mr. Waddington, of Bury (Hardw. Sc. Gossip,
1876, p. 278) instances a pair of gold-fish, kept in an inverted propagating. glass,
which commenced breeding August 27th, the male pursuing the female with the
greatest fury, rubbing against its sides, and at times almost pushing it out of the
water. The eggs were laid singly or two or three adherent together, and the
male devoured them with the greatest avidity. The eyes in the eggs appeared on
the third day and they hatched on the eighth. At Oldenburg, the fry ordinarily
attain by the autumn 1^ to 2f inches in length, and if properly coloured the
largest are saleable for globes. The gold carp will cross with the common carassin
and probably with the common carp.

Diseases. When at Oxford, in the warm months of 1880, Mr. W. Hatchett
Jackson showed me some gold-fish affected with the parasitic infusorian
Ichthioplrfhirius multifilns of M. Fouquet. Other fish from the Isis had previously
been observed to be similarly affected, and doubtless in many instances of reputed
recovery from Saprolegnia ferax, the fish had really been suffering from the above
parasitic infusorian.

Owls have been observed to be destructive to these fish (Mag. Nat. Hist, i,
1829, p. 179).

Habitat. A native of Japan and China, its lively and vai'iable colours, its
curiously modified forms, and its generally interesting habits have caused it to be
kept in glass vases, fountains, and pleasure grounds in many parts of the world.
It is now spread throughout Europe, and not only flourishes domesticated but also
thrives in ponds and suitable pieces of water.

The year in which they were first introduced into England is uncertain and
has been stated as 1611, also 1691, but were said to have been destroyed,
consequently the fish was not generally known, according to Pennant, till 1728,
when a great number were brought over and presented first to Sir Matthew
Dekker, and by him circulated round the neighbourhood of London. The
earliest seen in France are said to have been sent to Madame Pompadour. A
correspondent of Loudon's (Mag. Nat. Hist, iii, p. 478) suggests that gold carp
were probably introduced into Portugal at an early period, after the people of
that country had discovered the route to the East Indies by the Cape of Good
Hope, as they appear to be now completely naturalized there. Having lived some
years at Cochin, on the Malabar coast of India, and investigated the fishes, I must
demur to this, as the gold carp is not found wild in any part of India, and I have
never even seen it domesticated on the Malabar coast.

It grows to about 10 or 11 inches in length in this country, but in China
attains a much larger size.

CYPRINID^E. 169

Germs III. Barbus, Cuvier and Valenciennes.

Puntius, pt. Ham. Buch. Labeoharbus and Varicorhinus, pt. Riipp. Systomus,
pt. McClell. Capoeta, sp. Cuv. and Val. Pseudobarbus, Bielz. Luciobarbus, Heckel.
Cheilobarbus, sp. Smith. Balanteocheilus, Hemibarbus, Cyclocheilichthys, Siaja,
Anematichthys, Hypselobarbus, Gonoproktopterus, Gnathopogon, Hampala, sp.
Bleeker. Enteromius, Cope.

Mouth arched, and anterior or inferior ; jams closely invested by the lips, which
may have leathery lobes but no horny covering. Barbels 4, 2, or 0. Pharyngeal
teeth 5 or 4, 3 or 4, 2, or 3/2 or 3, 4 or 3, 4 or 5. Dorsal fin rather short, com-
mencing nearly opposite the ventrals, its last undivided ray being osseous and
sometimes serrated posteriorly, or articulated ; anal rather short in some species, its
second undivided ray sometimes osseous. Scales of large, medium, or small size ; the
anal row not enlarged. Lateral-line complete or incomplete.

This most extensive genus has been variously subdivided, and possesses
most diverse and interesting forms, which, in British India, Burma, and Ceylon,
number at least seventy species. But as in the British Isles we merely possess
one species, the reader, if desirous of information respecting the above, must be
referred to my work on the Fishes of India, pp. 556-582.

Geographical distribution. Europe, throughout Asia and Africa.
These fishes are omnivorous in their food, while some forms attain to a very
large size ; thus the Mahseer or Mahaseer of India, Barbus tor, Ham. Buch., has
been captured more than once over 100 lb. in weight, but such must be considered
very exceptional examples. Barbels from clear streams in India, when not above 10
or 15 lb. weight, are excellent eating, and deleterious effects do not, as in the
British species, follow employing them as food, but some forms of Indian hill-carps
as certainly are unwholesome, although it would appear that by constant use the
individual who eats them as food becomes no longer amenable to their injurious
influences.

1. Barbus vulgaris, Plate CXXXI, fig. 1.

Barbus, Ausonius, vers. 94 ; Rondel, ii, p. 194 ; Salvian, p. 86, f . 19 ; Gesner,
Aquat. iv, p. 124 ; Aldrovandus, p. 598 ; Jonston, Pise. Lib. 3, tit. i, c. v, p. 130,
t. xxvi, f . 6 ; Willughby, p. 259, t. Q 2, f. 1 ; Ray, Synop. p. 121 ; Schonev. p. 29.
Mystus, Belon. i, p. 301 ; Klein, Pise. Miss, v, p. 64. Cyprinus, Artedi, Genera, p. 4,
no. 11, Synom. p. 8, no. 14 ; Gronov. Zooph. i, p. 104. Barbeau, Duhamel, Peches,
ii, p. 520. Barbel, Pennant, Brit. Zool. (Ed. 1776) iii, p. 357, pl.lxxi (Ed. 1812)
iii, p. 472, pi. lxxxii ; Bowdich, Brit. F. W. Fish, fig. no. ix.

Cyprinus barbus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 527 ; Bloch, Fische Dents, i, p. 109,
t. xviii; Gmel. Linn. p. 1409; Bl. Schn. p. 450; Bonnaterre, Ency. Ich. p. 189,
pi. lxxvi, fig. 317 ; Lacep. v, p. 524 ; Pallas, Zoo. Ross.- Asiat. iii, p. 291 ; Donovan,
Brit. Fish, ii, pi. xxix ; Shaw, Brit. Zool. v, t. exxxii ; Turton, Brit. Fauna, p. 107 ;
Jenyns, Manual, p. 404 ; Gronov. ed. Gray, p. 177 ; Schlegel, Dieren Neder.p. 99,
pi. x, f. 3.

Barbus vulgaris, Fleming, Brit. Anim. p. 185 ; Yarrell, Brit. Fish. (ed. 1) i,
p. 321, c, fig. (ed. 2) i, p. 367 ; Swainson, Fish, ii, p. 284 ; Gunther, Catal. vii,
p. 88 ; Houghton, Brit. F. W. Fishes, p. 27, c. fig. i ; Giglioli, Cat. Peso. Ital. p. 43.

Barbus fluviatilis, Agassiz, Mem. Soc. Sc. Nat. Neuch. i, p. 37 ; Cuv. and Val.
xvi, p. 125 ; Yarrell, Brit. Fish. (ed. 3)i, p. 378 ; Kroyer, Dan. Fisk. iii, p. 321, c.
fig. ; Heckel and Kner, Suss. w. f. p. 79 ; Kessler, Bull. Soc. Nat. Mosc. 1859,
xxxii, pt. i, p. 527 ; Siebold, Suss. w. f. p. 109 ; Canestrini, Fauna Ital. Pesc.
p. 12 ; Blanchard, Poiss. France, p. 302, f . 60 ; Moreau, Poiss. France, iii, p. 379.

Barbus barbus, White, Catal. p. 60.

Barbus cyclolepis, Heckel, Ann. Wien. Mus. ii, p. 155.

Barbus communis, Nord. in Demid. Voy. Russ. Merid. iii, p. 172.

Barbel, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, iv, p. 16, pi. clxxxi.

B. iii, D. 12-13 (f*), P. 18, V. 9-10, A. 7-8, (V), C. 20, L.l. 52-63 (70),
L. tr. 13/15.

170 PHYSOSTOMI.

Length of head 4 to 4, of caudal fin 4|, height of body 5 to 6 times in
the total length. Eyes rather high np, situated in the middle of the length of
the head, 8 to 10 diameters in the length of the head, 3 to 4-| diameters from the
end of the snout and 3 to 4 apart. Dorsal profile more convex than that of the
abdomen, which is almost horizontal. Snout produced and somewhat overhanging
the jaws, the maxilla much longer than the mandible. Lips thick. Barbels
two thick pairs, the maxillary ones extending to beneath the middle of the
eye, while the rostral pair are somewhat shorter. Teeth-Pharyngeal curved,
hooked at their extremity and pointed, 4, 3, 2/2, 3, 4. Fins dorsal com-
mences about midway between the angle of the mouth and the base of the
caudal fin, the extent of its base j shorter than the third undivided dorsal ray,
which is the longest, osseous, strong, and serrated along its posterior margin :
last ray of the fin half the height of the longest anteriorly. Pectoral inserted low
down, broad, and about 4/5 as long as the head but not reaching the ventrals,
which latter do not extend to the anal. Anal narrow, the length of its base
being only 2/5 of its height. Caudal deeply forked. Scales about 35 rows
anterior to the base of the dorsal fin, and 7 between the lateral-line and the base
of the ventral. Lateral-line complete, continued to the centre of the base of the
caudal fin. Gill-rake'rs short. Colours olivaceous shot with gold, lightest along
the sides and lower surface. Dorsal fin with a narrow, dark outer edge. The
other fins of a reddish colour.

Steindachner (Verh. z. b. Ges. Wien. 1866, p. 385) considers Barbus Mayori,
Cuv. and Val. from the Lake of Zug, to be this species : he also notices the
supposed hybrid between Barbus and Chondrostoma.

Names. Barbel, from "barba," a beard, or the "bearded fish." Barfbyfg
y Barfog, Welsh. Be Barbeel, Dutch. Le Barbeau, French.

Habits. The barbel generally prefers the bottom of still rivers and their
deeper parts, where they live together in schools, rooting in the soft banks with
their snouts like swine or turning over gravel and other movable substances under
which they search for suitable food. Some delight in rapids below weirs, others
are partial to shallows where there is a good stream, and they will even lurk under
weeds. During the season of 1880 these fish were rather numerous in the open
tideway at Hammersmith. The barbel is not very timorous and roves about at
night-time, while it consumes both animal and vegetable substances. An old
writer observed that it " delighteth in filth, speciallie in the dung of beastes, as
Oppianus among other matters reporteth " (Angler's Note-book, p. 151). It
consumes worms, grubs and small fish. When in an aquarium it is often shy,
but this is not invariably the case. It is said to be a long-lived fish. As winter
sets in and weeds die off they hybernate or congregate together in large numbers
under the lee of a sunken boat, below banks and in deep pools, at which periods
they are readily netted or poached by snatching. They are said to have been
taken by persons diving after them. Under water they are able to produce a sort
of guttural sound without occasioning any bubbles to rise.

It is a matter of history that subsequent to a dreadful carnage between the
Turks and Austrians on the banks of the Danube, barbels were found of such
vast size and in such numbers as to become a subject for record, while their
propensity for human flesh being well known, the circumstance was attributed to
the heaps of dead bodies which had been thrown into the river.

Means of capture. The angler requires strong tackle and a fair amount of
patience, but it is evidently an occupation that has many votaries, as may be seen
along the Thames in the proper season, especially during September and the
earlier part of October, where punt-fishing for barbel is indulged in. The angler
cannot be at work too early in the morning or too late in the evening for these
fish, which are most particular in their choice of food as such must be sweet or
they will reject it, and even then they will try and suck off the bait.

It is best to ground-bait the locality to be fished some hours prior to
commencing to fish, and in doing this the article employed should be of similar
kind but inferior in quality to that which is going to be employed by the angler.
When hooked the barbel is strong and dashes towards any cover, as a post in the

CYPRINID^E. 171

water, a bank or other suitable place and is not unlikely, unless well handled, to
break the line, for its leathery mouth affords a secure hold for the hook.

Baits. Lobworms, greaves, green gentles, cheese, caddis worms, &c, it will
bite at bees, while this fish is not unfrequently taken in the Thames by anglers
spinning for trout.

Breeding. It spawns in May and June, depositing from 7000 to 8000 ova on
the gravel, and which are subsequently covered over with great care by the parent
fish. In warm seasons the young hatch from the tenth to the fifteenth day.
Bloch believed that the barbel does not breed until towards its fourth or fifth
year. Having spawned, the spawners make for the swiftest piece of water they
can find, and within a few weeks begin to recover condition again. These fish
grow very rapidly.

Uses. Isinglass is said to be made of its air-bladder in the Volga, a statement
possibly, if not probably, erroneous. Yarrell observes that the barbel in the
coat of Bar, forms one of the quarterings of the arms of Margaret of Anjou, Queen
of Henry VI, the founder of Queen's College, Cambridge.

As food. Not held in esteem, being very coarse. Ausonius tells us that when
it grows old it is not absolutely bad. If so, this is exactly contrary to what occurs
in Asia, where the old fish are tough, oily, and strong flavoured. Some poor
people are said to employ them as food, having boiled them with a piece of bacon
to give them a relish. The roe, when eaten, occasionally, but not invariably (as
proved by Bloch), is found to be poisonous. It used to be taken by the country
people to induce a purge and a vomit. Sir J. Hawkins observes that the flesh of
this fish set up most dangerous choleraic symptoms in one of his servants in 1754,
so that he nearly died. Gesner asserts that his life was endangered from eating
its flesh. Dame Juliana Berners remarked that, " The barbyll is a sweet fysshe,
but it is a quasy meete and perryllous for manny body . . . and yf he be eten
rawe he may be cause of manny dethe : whyche hath oft be seen." Badham
advises its being boiled in salt and water and eaten cold, after having had a
squeeze of lemon juice over it, and he states it to be by no means despicable fare.
Its best season is from when it has recovered after breeding until September or
October, when frosty weather drives it to its winter quarters. The Jews, having
boiled them with vinegar and oil, eat them not only during their White Feasts,
but whenever they can obtain them. Bloch therefore, who was a Jew, may be
excused for considering it a prejudice rejecting them, although he remarks their
flesh is white and of good flavour, and the eggs he has eaten, besides giving them
to his family, when not a single person among them was incommoded. That
barbel in some localities are good eating is well known (see page 169), but it
appears as certain that they are deleterious in other places, while some persons
may consume them with impunity, whereas they would be poisonous to others.

Habitat. Large rivers in the temperate and warm latitudes of Europe,
attaining to a considerable size, as 40 or 50 lb. in the Rhine and in the Danube.

Absent from Scotland and Ireland, although it obtains a place in Brown's
Catalogue.

It is somewhat restricted in its distribution in England. In Yorkshire it is
found locally in the rivers of the central plain, except the Derwent and the polluted
waters of the Aire, Calder, Dearne, and Don (Yorkshire Vertebrata). It is largely
taken at Sheffield. It is abundant in the Trent and in the Thames, but absent
from the Severn, although it is asserted that this fish in the time of Queen
Elizabeth was one of the forms in the latter river protected by legislation ;
consequently, if it existed, it must have died out, as I cannot hear of it there
now. Pennant gives its Welsh name. I have already observed that it has been
taken in the open tidal waters off Hammersmith, and it is numerous in the
Thames from Putney upwards.

The example figured is 16 inches long, from the Thames, for which I am
indebted to Mr. T. Carrington, F.L.s. As to the size this fish attains in this
country Jenyns mentions examples up to 2 or 3 ft. long. In 1860, one which
weighed upwards of 10 lb. was killed at Richmond. Yarrell observes that the
largest fish he could find recorded weighed 15 lb., while a 19 lb. fish is said to
have been taken from the Lea in Essex.

172 PHYSOSTOMI.

Genus IV. Gobio, Cuvier.

Pseudobranchioj present. Body more or less elongated. Mouth inferior, upper
jaw slightly the longer ; when the mouth is open the lower jatv does not project beyond
the upper : lips of moderate thickness. A small maxillary barbel at the angle of the
mouth. Pharyngeal teeth in two rows, hooked and pointed at their extremities,
5 or 4, 2 or 3 3 or 2, 4 or 5. Dorsal fin short, with few rays (9 10), all of which
are articulated. Anal with few rays. Scales of moderate or rather large size.
A lateral-line present.

The fishes which belong to this genus are naturally feeders on animal
substances, but they do not, therefore, invariably refuse vegetable food.

1. Gobio fluviatilis, Plate CXXXI, fig. 2.

Gobius fluviatilis, Rondel, p. 206 ; Gesner, p. 399 ; Aldrov. v, p. 612 ; Jonston,
lib. iii, tit. i, c. x, art. i, p. 139, fig. 16 ; Willugh. p. 264, t. Q8, f. 4. Cyprinus,
sp. Artedi, Genera, p. 4, no. 10, Species, p. 13, no. 5, and Synom. p. 11, no. 20 ;
Gronov. Zooph. no. 329 ; Ray, p. 123. Enchelyopus, Klein, Miss, iv, p. 60, no. 5,
t. xv, f. 5. Duhamel, Peches, iii, p. 497, pi. xxiii, f. 7. Gudgeon, Pennant, Brit.
Zool. (Ed. 1776) iii, p. 361 (Ed. 1812) iii, p. 476.

Cyprinus gobio, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 526; Gmel. Linn. p. 1412; Bloch,
Fische Deuts. p. 57, t. viii, fig. 2; Bonn. Ency. Ich. p. 191, pi. lxxvii, f. 319;
Bl. Schn. p. 448 ; Lacep. v, p. 533 ; Donovan, Brit. Fish, iii, pi. lxxi ; Turton,
p. 107 ; Bowdich, Brit. F. W. Fish. pi. xv; Jenyns, Manual, p. 405 ; Jurine, Poiss.
Lac. Lem. p. 217, pi. xiv ; Gronov. ed. Gray, p. 178; Schlegel, Dieren Neder.
p. 100, pi. x, f. 4.

Gobio fluviatilis, Flem. Brit. An. (1828), p. 186 ; Agassiz, Mem. Soc. Sc. Nat.
Neuch. i, p. 36 ; Cuv. and Val. xvi, p. 300, pi. 481 ; Bonap. Pesc. Eur. p. 27 ;
Nilss. Skan. Faun, iv, p. 300 ; Thompson, Nat. Hist. Ireland, iv, p. 135 ; Yarrell,
Brit. Fishes (ed. 1) i, p. 325, c. fig. (ed. 2) i, p. 371 (ed. 3) i, p. 383 ; Templeton,
Mag. Nat. Hist. 1837 (2) i, p. 410 ; Kroyer, Dan. Fisk. iii, p. 334, c. fig. ; Nordman,
in Demid. Voy. Russ. Merid. iii, p. 472 ; White, Catal. p. 61 ; Blanchard, Poiss.
France, p. 293, f. 57 ; Siebold, Suss. w. f. Mit, Eur. p. 112 ; Giinther, Catal. vii,
p. 172 ; Houghton, Brit. F. W. Fishes, p. 30, c. fig- ; Canestrini, Faun. Ital.
Pesc. p. 12 ; Giglioli, Catal. Pesc. Ital. p. 44 ; Moreau, Poiss. France, iii, p. 386.

Tinea gobio, Swainson, Fish, ii, p. 285.

Gobio veuatus, Bonap. Faun. Ital. Pesc.

Gobio obtusirostris, Cuv. and Val. xvi, p. .311.

Gobio vulgaris, Heckel and Kner, Suss. w. f. p. 90, f. 42, 43.

Leuciscus gobio, Giinther, Fische Neckars, p. 44.

Gobio pollinii, De Betta, Ittiol. Veron. p. 77.

Gobio benacensis, Ninni, Cenni, p. 42.

Gudgeon, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, iv, p. 20, pi. clxxxii.

B. iii, D. 9-10 (f:f), P. 15-16, V. 8-9, A. 8 (|:f), C. 19, L. 1. 36-44, L. tr.

Length of head 4 to 5, of caudal fin 51, height of body 4 to 5i or even 6
times in the total length. Eye high up, in or slightly behind the middle of the
length of the head, diameter 4f to 5 in the length of the head, If to 2 diameters
from the end of the snout, and 1| apart : interorbital space flattened. Dorsal
profile much more convex than that of the abdomen, which is nearly horizontal.
The proportions of this fish are subject to great modifications in accordance with
the localities it inhabits, the seasons, &c. Body compressed, becoming more so in
its caudal portion. Snout somewhat obtuse. Upper jaw the longer, the maxilla
does not extend so far posteriorly as to beneath the front edge of the orbit.
Barbels one at the maxilla usually reaching to below the middle of the eye, but
liable to variations in length. Fins dorsal commences about the centre of the
length of the fish excluding the caudal fin : the length of its base nearly equals
half its height : its first ray minute, its third, which is undivided, 4/5 the height

CYPRINID^E. 173

of the body below it, from thence they rapidly diminish in height, the last being
only half that of the third. Pectoral inserted in the lower fourth of the body, as
long as the head without the snout, and rounded at its extremity, it does not
extend to as far as the ventral, which latter is still slightly shorter and does not
reach the anal. Anal commences in the last third of the distance between the
angle of the mouth and the base of the caudal fin : its anterior portion nearly
twice as high as its last rays : caudal deeply forked, with pointed lobes. Scales
large and the exposed portion angular. Lateral-line continuous to the middle
of the base of the caudal fin : tubes simple. Pharyngeal teeth rounded, curved
and pointed at their extremities, 4, 2/2, 4. Colours olive along the upper
portions of the head and back, becoming silvery on the sides and beneath. Upper
portion of body with numerous irregular brown spots and dark edgings to the
scales, and in the young a row of dark spots cross the lateral-line ; but in large
specimens a wide silvery band runs along the side of the body mostly above the
lateral-line : a dark mark under the eye and a few black spots in the pectoral
region. Dorsal fin with several irregular rows of black spots, and similar ones
exist on the lobes of the caudal fin most distinct externally. Young examples are
darker than adults and more blotched and spotted : a line of spots runs across the
anal fin while the ventral is dark tipped : opercle nearly black.

Names. " Gudgeon " is a corruption of the French term Goujon. As gudgeons
are an easy prey to even the most inexperienced angler, the common expression
"to gudgeon a man" is said to have its origin from this cause. Gogeon (Diet.
1593), googen (Diet. 1608). Blcege, Anglo-Saxon. Crothell, Welsh. The word
gudgeon is often used synonymously with "an untruth," or for a joke or taunt.
" To swallow a gudgeon " is often employed for being made a fool of: "to gape
for gudgeons " to mean to look out for impossibilities. An old term was river
smelt. Be Gmndel, Dutch. Le Goujon, French.

Habits. A small, gregarious river fish, selecting places where the current is
not too strong and the bottom is sandy or gravelly : or else a pond through which
a stream flows, while it keeps near the bottom : generally during the day-time the
gudgeon seeks the shade becoming more active towards nightfall. During the
warm months found in or near shallows but returning to the deeper water
in winter. In some years plentiful, in others just the reverse. It will live
in very polluted water, even at the mouths of drains, localities in which the more
cleanly fish, as trout, would inevitably succumb. In Aquaria it is fond of reposing
motionless for hours in one place. While it thrives, observes Newman, on the
impurities of London water alone. It eats worms, insects, small fry, ova, and some
plants, but is a capricious feeder, subject apparently to some atmospheric influences.
Fishmongers are able to keep them alive for some weeks in stone or leaden-
lined tanks, provided there is a good supply of cold water. Mr. Gosden, of
Exeter, recorded having found one of these fish 7% inches in length among some
herrings taken at Cloverley, which would seem to show that stragglers may
occasionally descend to salt water.

M. Valenciennes subjected some of these fish to the following experiment.
He placed them in water below the bell of an air-pump, and gradually reduced
the aerial pressure. When this was diminished to half or a quarter the fish
suffered little, and few air-bubbles escaped. When the reduction of pressure
was rapid and carried far, many bubbles escaped ; and when the mercury stood
very low, the gas in their inside expanded, the belly became blown, and the fish
floated on the surface, its back being downwards. Such examples were found to
have the air-bladder quite empty. They continued to live, and when replaced in
water at the ordinary atmospheric pressure, they resumed their normal position
after about twenty-four hours, but remained quiet at the bottom, with the
abdomen quite hollow. Slowly their original form and bulk returned, and in
six hours their air-bladder was again filled, the contents of which, on being
tested, were found to be azote.

Means of capture. Although the gudgeon bites all day from the end of March
until Michaelmas, the months considered best for this species of fishing are
during August, September, October, and sometimes the commencement of

174 PHYSOSTOMI.

November. The locality chosen is usually from four to six feet of water, where
the stream is only of medium strength, while the bottom should be sandy and
free from weeds. It seldom bites in cold weather, or just subsequent to a flood,
or in the dark ; but during the sunny hours of the warm months delights to lie in
the shade, as under a plank or boat, while it is by no means shy. It is assembled
in shoals by raking the bed of the river, which, setting free desirable food, causes
numbers to flock to the place. A small hook should be employed ; with some a
very light line is used, while others consider a moderately heavy one better or the
extent of the swim is reached too rapidly, whilst floats are dispensed with in some
instances. Occasionally it will suddenly cease biting from some unascertainable
cause, or it may be the effect of a scare produced by a pike or perch having
appeared on the feeding ground. In the cold weather when it retires to deeper
water, the line should be leaded so that the hook touches the bottom.

Baits. A small red worm.

Breeding. April, May, and June, depositing its small bluish ova among stones
and in the shallow water of streams, the ova, according to French pisciculturists,
requiring about a month to hatch. Yarrell found fry about an inch long in
August. In some localities they are supposed to breed three times in the year,
or to take a long time spawning. Mr. Manley found that some placed in a pond
multiplied there although the bottom was clayey.

Uses. As baits, for perch fishing or on night-lines for eels.

As food. Much esteemed, easy of digestion, and never out of season if
procurable. That from the Thames is considered by some to be far superior
to the same fish from other rivers. The following plan has been recommended :
take a frying-pan in the boat when gudgeon fishing. Clean, wipe, and let the
fish dry until it is almost hard by hanging it out in a wind or exposing it to the
sun ; then fry it in boiling fat, butter, or oil till crisp and of a light brown
colour. Dr. Brookes (Hist. Fish. 1772, p. 113) asserts that it is tender and
delicate, and by many swallowed alive, being thought good for a consumption.

Thompson alludes to an instance of a dog in the river Lagan which was
accustomed, when the water was low (about nine inches deep), to search for,
catch, and eat gudgeons. Eels are very partial to these fish.

Habitat. Northern and temperate parts of central Europe, extending from
Denmark to France and Italy.

Some skins of this species exist in the British Museum obtained from Parnell's
collection are now labelled Scotland. As the species is not alluded to in his work
they may be from elsewhere (see vol. i, page 311). In Yorkshire it is common
and generally distributed in rivers and ponds (Yorkshire Vertebrata) : also in
Lancashire : in Norfolk very scarce among the broads (Lubbock) but abundant
in the higher parts of the rivers where it finds gravel shoals. The finest gudgeons
are found in the Trent, Kennet, Thames and Colne, those from the last three
growing to a large size, but fine ones are not unfrequently taken in the Wye,
while it is generally found in suitable pieces of water. It has only of late years
been known in Devonshire, having been probably introduced : a specimen was
captured by Mr. King, June 3rd, 1873 (Parfitt) : I have already alluded to one
from Cloverley. It is said by Couch to have been introduced into Cornwall and
thriving in some ponds near Penzance, but Mr. Cornish remarks that he does not
know of it (Cornish Fauna).

In Ireland, noted in county of Antrim, Dublin, Kilkenny. In the Barrow,
the Shannon Canal, Tuam and Headfort. Templeton observes that these fish
appeared in the River Lagan in 1801 having ascended the canal from Lough
Neagh where they have been inhabitants, perhaps, for centuries. Introduced
from Dublin into the River Dodden about 1822 by an angler who, living in
Dublin, disliked the trouble of going so far for bait : 1852 it had become common,
often attaining ten inches in length (Kinahan).

The example figured life-size was captured in the Thames in October, 1822, by
Mr. T. Carrington, f.l.s. This fish does not usually attain to above eight inches
in length, but Pennant alludes to having heard of one half-a-pound weight having
been taken at Ux bridge, a weight which some modern authors have doubled.

CYPRINID^E. 175

Genus V. Leuciscus (Klein), Cuv. and Vol.

Phoxinus, Agassiz : Scardinius, Sgualius, and Telestes, Bonap. : Idus, Leucos,
Heckel : Pseudophoxinus, Bleeker.*

Pseudobranchice present. Mouth anterior, lips of moderate size. Barbels
absent. Pharyngeal teeth compressed or conical, in a single or double row. Dorsal
fin with few rays (9-14), all being articulated, it commences nearly or quite opposite
the ventrals : anal also with few rays (9-15). Caudal forked or emarginate. Scales
of large, medium, or small size, covering the body. Lateral-line complete or
incomplete. Intestinal tract short, having only a few convolutions.

The old-world forms belonging to this extensive genus have been subdivided
into several smaller genera by various ichthyologists, in accordance with the
character of the pharyngeal teeth, and whether they are in one or two rows :
the position of the dorsal fin and the number of the anal rays : the number of
scales along the side of the body : and whether the lateral-line is complete or
incomplete.

Of the indigenous British species we possess the following : Pharyngeal
teeth in a single row : Leuciscus rutilus, D. 11-13, A. 11-14, L. 1. 42-45. Teeth
in a double row: L. cephalus, D. 11, A. 11-12, L. 1. 42-46 : L. vulgaris, D. 9-10,
A. 10-11, L. 1. 48-52: L. erythrophthalmus, D. 11-12, A. 13-15, L. 1. 40-44:
L. phoxinus, D. 9-10, A. 9-11, scales small and lateral-line incomplete.

Geographical distribution. These fishes are widely distributed throughout
Europe and the northern portions of Asia and North America. As a rule they
are exclusively found in fresh water.

1. Leuciscus rutilus, Plate C XXXII, fig. 2.

Lascha, Belon. p. 316. Leuciscus, Rondel, p. 191. Rutilus, Gesner, de Aquat.
p. 821 ; Willugh. p. 262, t. Q10, f. 5 ; Jonston, lib. hi, t. i, c. xiv, p. 145, t. xxvi,
f. 9 ; Ray, p. 122. Cyprinus, sp. Artedi, Gen. p. 3, no. 1, Species, p. 10, no. 3,
Synom. p. 10, no. 18 ; Gronov. Zooph. no. 339. Poach, Pennant, Brit. Zool. (Ed.
1776) iii, p. 365 (Ed. 1812) hi, p. 482. Gardon, Durham. Peches, ii, p. 498,
t. xxiv, f. 1.

Cyprinus rutilus, Linn. Sys. Nat. i, p. 529 ; Gmel. Linn. p. 1426 ; Bloch,
Eische Deuts. i, p. 32, t. ii ; Bl. Schn. p. 435 ; Bonn. Ency. Ich. p. 198, pi. lxxx,
f. 334; Lacep. v, p. 575; Donovan, Brit. Fish, iii, pi. lxvii; Turton, p. 108;
Jenyns, Man. p, 408 ; Ekstrom, Morko, p. 12 ; Gronov. ed. Gray, p. 183 ; Schlegel,
Dieren Neder. p. 113, pi. xi, f. 4.

Leuciscus rutilus, Flem. Brit. An. p. 188 ; Yarrell, Brit. Fish. (ed. 1) i, p. 348,
c. fig. (ed. 2) i, p. 399 (ed. 3) i, p. 433 ; Nord. in Demid. Voy. Russ. Merid. iii,
p. 489 ; Parnell, Wern. Mem. vii, p. 266 ; Cuv. and Val. xvii, p. 130 ; Kroyer,
Danm. Fisk. iii, p. 435, c. fig. ; Fries and Eks. Skand. Fisk. p. 72, t. xv : White,
Catal. p. 65 ; Nilss. Skand. Fauna, iv, p. 316 ; Heckel and Kner, Suss. w. f.
p. 169, f. 91 ; Siebold, Suss. w. f . p. 184 ; Blanchard, Poiss. France, p. 382 ;
Giinther, Catal. vii, p. 212 ; Collett, Norges Fisk. p. 180 ; Malm, Fauna, p. 557 ;
Feddersen, p. 89 ; Houghton, Brit. F. W. Fish. p. 33, c. fig. ; Moreau, Poiss.
France, iii, p. 413.

Tinea rutilus, Swainson, Fish, ii, p. 285.

Gardonus rutilus, Bonap. Cyp. Eur. p. 7.

Leuciscus prasinus and decipiens, Agassiz, Mem. Soc. Sc. Nat. Neuch. i.

Leuciscus selysii, jeses, and rutiloides, Selys-Longch. Faun. Belg. p. 210, c. fig.

Leuciscus pausingeri, Heckel and Kner, 1. c.

Leuciscus p aliens, Blanchard, 1. c. p. 386.

Roach, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, iv, p. 47, pi. exci.

* The names proposed for subgenera of this genus belonging to the new world are omitted.

176 PHTSOSTOMI.

Hybrids ivith Leuciscus erythrophthalmus.

Leuciscus affinis, Cuv. and Val. xvii, p. 250.

Scardiniopsis anceps, Jackel, Abhand. z. m. Ver. Regensb. 1864, p. 64, and
1865, p. 44.

Hybrids with Abramis blicca.

Abramis abramo-rutilus, Holandre, Fauna Depart. Moselle, p. 246.
Abramis buggenhagii, Selys-Longch. Fauna Beige, p. 216.

Bliccopsis abramo-rutilus (pt.), Siebold, 1. c. p, 142; Jackel, 1. c. 1864, p. 53,
and 1865, p. 40.

B. iii, D. 11-13 (/" T 3 o)> P. 16-18, V. 9-10, A. 12-13 tejfr), C. 19, L. 1. 42-45,
L. tr. 7i-3i/6i.

Length of bead 5 to 5f, of caudal fin 5| to 5f, beigbt of body 3| to 4| in
tbe total lengtb. Eyes situated very slightly above the centre of the height of
the head, the diameter of each 3^ to 4 times in the length of the head,
1 to 1 diameters from the end of the snout, and 1^ apart. Body somewhat
elevated and compressed. Mouth anterior, the jaws of nearly equal length, and
the cleft of the mouth a little oblique ; the maxilla reaches to beneath the
posterior nostril. Teeth pharyngeal teeth in a single row 5 or 6 6 or 5 (only 4
are said to be present in some examples), in some the left side has one more than
the right. They are somewhat hooked and pointed at their extremities, but
become ground down with age. Fins dorsal, commences midway between the
end of the snout and the base of the caudal fin, its height anteriorly being one-
fifth more than the length of its base. Pectoral as long as the head, excluding
the snout. Ventrals inserted on a vertical line beneath the first ray of the dorsal
fin ; they are slightly longer than the pectorals, but do not reach to the anal, the
length of the anterior rays of which latter fin are a little longer than the extent
of its base. Caudal deeply lobed, the length of the central rays being about
two-fifths of that of the longest outer one. Scales 4 rows between the lateral
line and the base of the ventral fin ; about 17 rows anterior to the base of the
dorsal fin. The abdominal edge, between the base of the ventral and the insertion
of the anal, somewhat compressed, but not sharp. Lateral-line slightly concave
anteriorly above the base of the ventral fin, and situated between the middle and
lower third of the depth of the body. Pseudobranchiae moderately developed.
Colours superiorly bluish or greenish, becoming lighter on the sides and beneath.
Lower fins reddish-yellow, in some localities red ; dorsal and caudal dusky, with
blackish outer margins.

Varieties. Several have received distinct names owing to the proportions of
the body differing, some being more elongated than others, this variation being
often due to size or else to the colours being pale or otherwise unlike the typical
form.

Names. " Sound as a Roach," is a proverb that appears to be but indifferently
founded, that fish being not more distinguished for its vivacity than many others;
yet it is used by the French as well as us, who compare people of strong health
to their Gardon, our Roach (Pennant). Some have asserted that the proverb
was as "sound as a Rock" and the old Roche Abbey shows that the ancient mode
of spelling "rock" was "roche," while Ray gives it as "sound as a trout."
Sometimes termed red-dace from the colour of its fins. Mr. A. Walker informs
me that at Chester this fish is termed Roach-dace. Rhyfell, Welsh. Braise,
Scotland. Scylga, reohha, reohche, heoce, Anglo-Saxon. De Blank-Voorn, Dutch.
Le Gardon commun, French.

In heraldry three roach are borne in the arms of the De la Roche family.

Habits. A gregarious fresh-water fish, preferring clear and deep but still
rivers and quiet waters, and although, observes Parnell, the sea is not the natural
abode of the roach, yet sometimes it is found there, being carried down from
rivers and lakes after high floods. He saw five examples, taken from the salmon
nets in the Solway Firth, in the month of June, and stated that they are frequently
taken there after a flood. But that this migration must be very gradually effected
the following observation from Montagu would seem to show. A small river in

CYPRINID^). 177

Devonshire ended in a large piece of water or lake, nearly two miles in extent,
close to the sea, bnt having no outlet except by percolation through a barrier of
shingle ; here roach throve and multiplied exceedingly. One year the sea broke
its boundaries and flowed copiously into the lake at every tide for a considerable
time by which every species of fish therein was destroyed. As the cold weather
sets in, as about October, the roach seeks the deeper waters where a gravelly
or sandy bottom is preferred to a muddy one.

Means of capttbre. This fish is capricious respecting biting, although Dame
Juliana Berners observed, " the roche is an easy fysshe to take," and later still
Isaak Walton tells us that it was accounted the water sheep for its simplicity and
foolishness. But now, in some localities at least, it has been educated to be more
careful of the tempting bait. The angler must employ, in the Thames
or Lea for instance, fine tackle, be careful as to his depth, the bait in
a river being about 3 inches from the bottom, but less in a pond, while
he must be an adept in striking sharply but not violently, on a bite
occurring, use a small hook, have a quick eye and nimble hand. In ponds it is
often more ready to take a bait than it is in rivers, the following account is taken
from a newspaper: An angler baited a spot at about 5 p.m. on Saturday in
August, in Herefordshire, with gentles and wasp grubs, and again on Sunday at
3 p.m. On Monday morning, at 4 a.m., he was in his punt at the spot and baited
with wasp grubs, and fished about one inch from the bottom. The fish bit
ravenously : at 12 the sun came out brightly and they ceased biting : he had
then 241 fish (Field, Sept. 2nd, 1882). As the frost kills aquatic weeds then the
anglers opportunity is at hand, for as the roach loses this form of food it becomes
less shy in taking a bait.

Baits. The tail of a lob worm, a bit of bacon fat, gentles, pastes of various
kinds, and prepared greaves, boiled wheat and brewers' grains, while ground baits
are generally employed. Although it rarely takes a live bait, one weighing 1| lb.
was thus captured by a paternoster baited with a live minnow at Pangburn,
November 27th, 1882 (Field), and the editor of the Field observes that he has
taken the roach once or twice in the same way. It will also occasionally take
a fly.

Roach preserved in spirit are said to do well as bait for winter trolling.

Breeding. A very prolific fish, the eggs of which are greenish but become
red on being boiled. About the middle of May or in June it commences ascending
to the higher portions of rivers or side streams to breed : its scales become rough
and it is usually out of season. Buckland found 480 eggs in one of 28 oz.
weight. In some years this is accomplished earlier. Thus, in the Thames, in
1881, the ascent for this purpose was observed at the end of April (Field,
April 30th). At a meeting of anglers held in Birmingham, April 4th, 1881,
it was generally agreed that in the Trent this heading up had not been seen
before the middle of May. In Norfolk it generally resorts to a river for the
purpose of breeding, or selects a situation intermediate between one and a broad
but to which it is united by a main dyke. At that time, remarks Lubbock, the
roach crowd together in such dense multitudes along the rushes which fringe the
bank that every instant one sees small ones raised momentarily half out of the
water by the passage of a larger roach. These fish appear to lose all fear in the
overwhelming instinct which prompts them to propagate their kind, and may be
scooped out in numbers with a landing-net : if a bow-net is put in they will crowd
in until the centre can contain no more. Nilsson remarks that the males precede
the females in these annual migrations.

But the eggs themselves are subjected to great destruction. Thus, it has
been observed near Uxbridge that at spawning time the roach actually cover the
weeds near the weir, while water shrimps and other insects come down upon
them and in a very short time clear them almost entirely away (Buckland).
Having spawned, the roach seeks swift parts of rivers and gravelly shallows to
recover itself, which does not take very long (about a fortnight), and it soon
retires to quieter quarters.

Hybrids. Various fishes upon the Continent of Europe have been believed to

12

178 PHYSOSTOMI.

originate hybrids with the roach. The first I shall allude to is said to he the
bream, Abramis brama, forming Cyprinus buggenhagii, Bloch, and which has been
taken not only in England bnt likewise in Ireland. There is, however, one little
but insuperable difficulty in this identification of Dr. Giinther's (Catal. vi, p. 214),
which is, that as the roach* does not occur in Ireland it is difficult to see how it
could form a hybrid there with the bream, rendering it much more probable that
if the form is a cross it is between the rudd and the bream, to which I have
therefore referred it.

Another cross is believed to occur between the roach and the rudd, the
Tieuciscus affinis C. V., or Scardiniopsis anceps, Jack el, and which has been
found in France and Bavaria. D. 13, A. 14-15, L. 1. 40-42. Origin of the dorsal
fin rather more posterior than in L. rutilus, the pharyngeal teeth deeply serrated,
5-5 or else 5 or 6, 1 or 2 1 or 2, 5.

A hybrid is likewise considered to take place between the roach and Abramis
blicca. A. 14-18, L. 1. 43-46, L. tr. 8|-10f/7. Pharyngeal teeth in one or two
rows. This form has been observed in Holland, Belgium, and Germany, and it
is difficult in some examples to decide whether the Abramis brama or A. blicca
can be considered the form which has crossed with the roach.

As food. Coarse, flabby and insipid, consequently is but rarely eaten. It is
in the best condition about October, and when taken from clear water flowing
over a gravelly bottom : some have recommended it baked in layers in a pie
dish, with intermediate bay leaves and a little spice.

Habitat. In most rivers in temperate portions of Europe. Generally through
Great Britain, but absent from Ireland, where the Rudd, L. erythrophthalmios,
takes its place and has been recorded as this species.

Early in May immense shoals are observed to leave Loch Lomond and ascend
tributaries to breed. This lasts about three days, and anglers remark that during
this brief period not a trout can be taken, either with the minnow, worm or fly
as they gorge themselves with the roe of the roach (Ure). Also found in the
Union Canal, near Edinburgh (Wilson).

A fresh-water resident in Yorkshire, abundant and generally distributed,
except in the North- Western Fell district and the polluted rivers, from which it
is absent. Has been introduced into canals, reservoirs, and ponds (Yorkshire
Vertebrata). It is common in streams and broads in Norfolk (Lowe), and
generally distributed throughout Great Britain. In Devonshire it is found in the
Exeter canal, some ponds by the South Devon Railway, and Slapton-Ley Lake,
while it is very abundant in the River Axe (Parfitt) : it is absent from Cornwall
(Cornish Fauna).

Although it is rare to capture one of these fish over 2 lb. weight, one of 2 lb.
12| ounces was taken by Mr. Stead in Bedfordshire in 1881 (Field, Nov. 2nd,
1881). The largest observed by Jesse in the Thames was 3 lb. weight, while
Pennant remarks that a London fishmonger informed him of one which
weighed 5 lb.

2. Leuciscus cephalus,t Plate CXXXII, fig. 1.

Squalus, Belon. p. 315 ; Salv. p. 83. Capita fuviatilis, Rondel. Pise. Fluv.
p. 190 ; Gesner, p. 1266 ; Aldrov. p. 603. Mitgil vel Cephali fluviatilis, Willugh.
p. 261 ; Ray, p. 119. Chub, Willugh. p. 255, t. Q10, . 1; Pennant, Brit. Zool.

* The rudd is termed the roach or red roach in Ireland, the true roach, according to Thompson
not being found there.

j- An example, possibly of this fish, was captured by Dr. Walker at the mouth of the Firth.
Dr. Stewart considered it to be the ide Leucisus i'dw.. Linn., and on this account the ide has been
introduced by Yarrell and Couch into the British Fauna. Yarrell (ed. i), p. 344, c. fig. from
Meidinger (ed. 2), i, p. 395, c. fig. from Ekstrom (ed. 3), i, p. 418; Couch, iv, p. 63, pi. exeviii.
Buckland, Familiar History of British Fish (ed. 2), p. 360, remarks that 200 of the beautiful golden
variety were deposited in one of the Duke of Bed', id's ponds at Woburn Abbey, in 1874. They
bred there last year, 1882, for the first time since their introduction, and although they may at some
future date be properly included in a British Fish-fauna, they can scarcely be so at present, as they
are not yet found in a wild state as are some other acclimatized foreign forms.

CYPRINID^E. 179

(Ed. 1776) iii, p. 368, pi. lxxiii (Ed. 1812) iii, pi. 485, pi. Ixxxiv. Gyprinus, sp.
Artedi, Gen. p. 12, no. 12, Synon. p. 7, no. 10 ; Gronov. Zooph. p. 105, no. 334.

Cyprinus cephalus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 527; Gmel. Linn. p. 1417; Shaw,
Zool. v, t. 226 ; Jenyns, Man. p. 411 ; Fries and Ekstr. Skand. Fisk. p. 67 ; Gronov.
ed. Gray, p. 184.

Cyprinus idus, Bloch, Fische Deuts. i, p. 253, t. xxxvi ; Bl. Schn. p. 439.

Cyprinus chub, Bonn. Ency. Ich. p. 195, pi. lxxvii, f. 323 ; Lacep. v, p. 606 ;
Risso, Ich. Nice, p. 363.

Cyprinus jeses, Donovan, Brit. Fish, v, pi. cxv ; Turton, p. 109 ; Fries and Ekstr.
1. c. pi. xiii ; Jurine, Poiss. LacLeman, in Mem. Genev. iii, p. 207, pi. xi ;
Schlegel, Dieren Neder. p. 115, pi. xi, f. 3.

Cyprinus dobula, Nilss. Prod. p. 26 ; Gronov. ed. Gray, p. 185.

Gardonus cephalus, Bonap. Cypr. Eur. p. 8.

Leuciscus cephalus, Flem. Brit. An. p. 187 ; Yarrell, Brit. Fish. (ed. 1) i, p. 358,
c. fig. (ed. 2) i, p. 409 (ed. 3) i, p. 421 ; Kroyer, Danm. Fisk. iii, p. 482, c. fig. ;
White, Catal. p. 65 ; Giinther, Catal. vii, p. 220 ; Collett, Norges Fisk. p. 181 ;
Malm, Fauna, p. 561 ; Giglioli, Catal. Pesc. Ital. p. 44.

Leuciscus dobula, Agassiz, Mem. Neuch. i, p. 38; Cuv. and Val. xvii, p. 172.

Leuciscus frigidus and squalius, Cuv. and Val. xvii, pp. 191, 194.

Leuciscus latifrons, Nilss. Skand. Fauna, iv, p. 309.

Squalius dobula, meunier, cephalus, thyberinus, cavedanus and albus, Heckel and
Kner, and Heckel.

Leuciscus cavedanus, tiberinus, pareti, squalus, albus, Bonap. Fauna Ital. Pesc.

Tinea cephalus, Swainson, ii, p. 285.

Squalius meridionalis and clathratus, Blanchard, Poiss. France, pp. 396, 398.

Squalius cephalus, Moreau, Poiss. France, iii, p. 422.

Chub, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, iv, p. 44, pi. cxc.

Hybrids with Alburnus lucidus (see p. 180).

Leuciscus dolabratus, Holandre, Fauna Depart. Moselle, 1836, p. 248; Cuv, and
Val. xvii, p. 248.

Abramis dobuloides, Gunther, Wiirt. Jahr. 1857, p. 50, t. ii.

Alburnus tauricus, Kessler, Bull. Soc. Nat. Mose. 1859, p. 534.

B. iii, D. 11 (|), P. 16-17, V. 9-10, A. 10-12 ( T ^), C. 19, L. 1. 43-48, L. tr. 71-8/6.

Length of head 4 to 5, of caudal fin 5|, height of body 4 in the total length.
Eyes diameter of each h\ to 6 times in the length of the head, 2 diameters from
the end of the snout, and 3 to 4 apart. Snout obtuse. Mouth rather deep, the upper
jaw slightly overlapping the lower, and the posterior extremity of the maxilla
reaching to beneath the front edge of the eye. The hindermost bone of the
suborbital ring the largest. Teeth pharyngeal teeth pointed and hooked at their
extremities (in some slightly denticulated), 5, 2-2, 5. Fins the dorsal commences
midway between the end of the snout and the base of the caudal fin, its height
exceeds by one-third the extent of its base. Pectoral as long as the head
excluding the snout. Ventral inserted on a line slightly anterior to the origin of
the dorsal fin, its length equalling about half of that of the head. Lateral-line
slightly concave, 3 rows of scales between it and the base of the ventral fin.
Colours mudd} r bluish or greenish colour along the upper surface of the head and
body, becoming lighter on the sides and beneath. Dorsal and caudal fins dusky
or greenish and externally dark; ventrals and anal bluish white tinged with red.
Cheeks dashed with red and gold.

Navies. In several languages the size and width of its head appear to have
furnished materials for its name, chub being derived from the Anglo-Saxon term
copp, "a head." Large-headed dace; loggerhead. Shelly in the north having
reference, it is said, to the large size of its scales, while it is also suggested it may
be a modification of skully, referring to its head. Chevin and chevenden, possibly
from the French " chef," a head. Penci and Cochgangen, Welsh. Le Ghevaine
commun ou Meunier, French.

Habits. Frequents deep holes in the more rapid rivers, preferring a sandy,
gravelly, or marly bottom. During the summer months, after recovering from

12 *

180 PHYSOSTOMI.

spawning, as in July and August, it appears to delight in lying on the surface
beneath the shade of a tree or bank, while it is very sensible to atmospheric
changes. It is exceedingly timid, sinking to the bottom on the least alarm, even
on observing a passing shadow, but soon returns and re-occupies its former
situation. In October, as the weeds die off, it retires to deeper water, as under
willow beds, or wherever it can obtain good shelter. It feeds on vegetables,
worms, caterpillars, grasshoppers, beetles, and insects which happen to fall into
the water. It will occasionally eat small fish and rise to a fly.

Means of capture. Rod and line, chub fishing being greatly in vogue with
some anglers. Extreme caution is necessary, as it possesses very quick vision, and
even the shadow of the rod will scare this fish, but it generally returns again to its
former position, and the fisherman is able to throw his large fly, dab his cock-
chafer or grasshopper, or sink his caterpillar, when it will rarely be refused.
During the summer months the mornings and evenings are best suited for this
description of fishing, but in the winter it will take a bait during the middle of
the day. Once hooked, due to its leathern mouth, this fish is usually secured.

Baits. Gentles ; a cockchafer impaled on an arrangement of double hooks ;
a worm ; a grasshopper ; a moth ; a large artificial fly and even the loach ; a
young frog ; skin of beef ; cheese ; a black snail. Red cherries, used in clear
streams, is one of the best baits, especially for large fish ; also blackberries ; it
Avill take many berries, particularly strawberries.

Breeding. It commences about the end of April or beginning of May, selecting
a shallow locality under weeds, and where the bottom is gravelly. After spawning
it passes to the swiftest streams, when it soon recovers its strength and becomes
fit for the angler.

Hybrids have been recorded between this species and the bleak. D. 11, A.
13-16, L. 1. 45-54. Height of body 4f of that of the total length; 3 rows of
scales between the lateral-line and base of the ventral fin.

As food. Coarse and bon} r , with little, if any, taste, while it rapidly decom-
poses. Is said to be best broiled with the scales on. Dame Juliana Berners
observes, " the chevyn is a stately fysshe ; and his heed is a deyty morsell."

Diseases. Among the Lernese, Tracheliastes polycolpus has been found on the
fins of one of these fish.

Habitat. Throughout most of Europe and extending into Asia Minor. It is
found in the Annan and other rivers of the south of Scotland : but absent
from the north, as well as from some parts of the west of England. It is found
in Cumberland, in the Caldew and its affluents. In Yorkshire it is abundant, and
generally distributed in the fresh waters ; it is absent from the rivers of the
north-east, and from the polluted portions of those in the manufacturing districts
(Yorkshire Vertebrata). In Norfolk it is totally unknown in the Bure, Yare,
and the Waveney, except, perhaps, in their higher portions. Is present in the
Ouse, Thet, and the Wissey near Stoke Ferry (Lubbock), the Cam, the
Thames, the Severn, and most Welsh rivers, and generally distributed through
England. It becomes rare in Devonshire, and does not find a place in the Cornish
Fauna.

It appears to be absent from Ireland.

The example figured is 14 - 8 inches long, from the Severn at Shi'ewsbury. One
of 3 lb. 10 oz. is recorded (Field, August 13th, 1881), which was choked in its
endeavour to swallow a rat of about half a pound weight. Pennell observed upon
one of 5 lb. 5j oz. weight, which measured 21 inches in length. It has been said to
grow to 7 lb. weight in this country, and considerably larger in the waters of
the continent of Europe.

3. Leuciscus vulgaris, Plate CXXXIII, fig. 1.

Vandoise, Belon. p. 314. Leucisci 2nd species, Rondel. Pise. Fluv. p. 192 ;

Gesner, p. 26. Bace or Bare, Willugh. p. 266, t. Q10, f. 3; Ray, Svnop. Pise.

p. 121; Pennant, Brit. Zonl. (Ed. 1776) iii, p. 366, (Ed. 1812) iii, p. 483.

is, Jonston, lib. iii, t. i, c. 7, p. 136, pi. xxvi ; t. 10, 11, 12. Cyprinus,

CYPRINIDJS. 181

Artedi, Gen. p. 5, no. 13. Graining, Pennant, 1. c. (Ed. 1776) iii, p. 3G7 (Ed. 1812)
iii, p. 484; Bowdich, Brit. Freshwater Fishes, pi. xi.

Gyprinus grislagine, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 592 ; Gmel. Linn. p. 1425 ; Bonn.
Enc. Ich. p. 197, pi. lxxx, f. 332 ; Fries, and Ekst, Skan. Fauna Fisk. p. 09,
pi. xiv.

Cyprinus leuciscus, Linn. 1. c. p. 528 ; Gmel. Linn. p. 1424 ; Bloch, Fische
Deuts. iii, p. 141, t. xcvii, f. 1 ; Bl. Schn. p. 440 ; Bonn. Ency. Ich. p. 196,
pi. lxxix, f. 331; Lacep. v, p. 572 ; Pallas, Zoo. Ross. -As. iii, p. 318 ; Donovan,
Brit. Fish, iv, pi. Ixxvii ; Turton, p. 109 ; Risso, Ich. Nice, p. 362; Jenyns, Man.
p. 410; Gronov. ed. Gray, p. 184; Schlegel, Dieren Neder. p. 116, pi. xii, f. 1.

Gyprinus dobula, Linn. 1. c. p. 528 ; Gmel. Linn. p. 1424 ; Bloch, 1. c. i, p. 42,
t. v ; Bl. Schn. p. 435 ; Lacep. v, p. 573 ; Jenyns, 1. c. p. 409 ; Yarrell, Trans.
Linn. Soc. xvii, p. 9 ; White, Catal. p. 64 ; Gronov. ed. Gray, p. 185.

Gyprinus Lancastriensis, Shaw, Zool. v, p. 234 ; Jenyns, Man. p. 411.

Gyprinus graining, Walb. Artedi, iii, p. 36.

Leuciscus vulgaris, Fleming, Brit. An. p. 187; Yarrell, Brit. Fish. (ed. 1) i,
p. 353, c. fig. (e'd. 2) i, p. 404, (ed. 3) i, p. 428 ; Cuv. and Val. xvii, p. 202 ;
Giinther, Catal. vii, p. 227; Houghton, Brit. F. W. Fishes, p. 41, c. fig.

Leuciscus argenteus, rostratus, rodeus, and majalis, Agassiz, Mem. Soc. Sc. Nat.
Neuch. i, 1835.

Leuciscus jaculus, Jurine, LacLeman, Mem. Soc. Sc. Nat. Gen. iii, pi. xiv.

Tinea dobula and leuciscus, Swainson, Fish, ii, p. 285.

Leuciscus Lancastriensis, Yarrell, Trans. Linn. Soc. xvii, p. 7, pi. ii, f. 1, Brit.
Fish. (ed. 1) i, p. 355, c. fig. (ed. 2) i, p. 406 (ed. 3) i, p. 430 ; Cuv. and Val.
xvii, . p. 216; Swainson, ii, p. 285; Thompson, Ireland, iv, p. 140; White,
Catal. p. 66.

Leuciscus grislagine, Nilss. Skand. Faun. Fisk. p. 303 ; Kroyer, Dan. Fiske,
iii, p. 472, c fig. ; Collett, Norges Fisk. p. 181 ; Malm, Fauna, p. 562.

Leuciscus dobula, Yarrell, Brit. Fish. (ed. 2) i, p. 397, c. fig. (ed. 3) i, p. 425 ;
Kroyer, 1. c. p. 463.

Leuciscus burdigalensis, Cuv. and Val. xvii, p. 218.

Leuciscus leuciscus, White, Catal. p. 66.

Squalius leuciscus, leimsculus, rodeus,, rostratus, clialybaius, Heckel, Sitz. ak.
Wiss. Wien. 1852 ; Feddersen, p. 88 ; Moreau, Poiss. France, iii, p. 425.

Squalius bearnensis and burdigalensis, Blancliard, Poissons France, pp. 400, 405.

Lobule, dace, and graining, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, iv, pp. 51, 54, 59, pis.
exciii, exciv, exevi ; Houghton, Brit. Freshwater Fishes, p. 41, c. fig.

B. iii, D. 9-10 ( 2 T 3 ), P. 15-16, V. 9-10, A. 10-11 (|:f), C. 19-20, L. 1. 48-52,
L. tr. 81/6|, Vert. *f:f.

Length of head b\, of caudal fin 5|, height of body 4f in the total length.
Eye situated slightly above the centre of the depth of the head, diameter \ of
the length of the head, 1 diameters from the end of the snout and also apart.
Suborbital ring of bones narrow. Body oblong and somewhat elongated, sides
compressed. Cleft of mouth rather shallow, the posterior extremity of the
maxilla reaching to almost beneath the front edge of the eye, lower jaw shorter
than the upper. Teeth pharyngeal somewhat hooked at their extremities,
5, 2 2, 5. Fins dorsal commences about midway between the front edge of the
eye and the base of the caudal fin, the length of its base equals about two-thirds
the height of the longest undivided ray, which equals three-fourths of that of the
body below it ; its last rays half the height of its front ones ; upper edge of fin
concave. Pectoral inserted in the lower fourth of the depth of the body, as long
as the head excluding the snout, and pointed, it does not extend much more than
halfway to the base of the ventral, which latter is inserted on a vertical line
beneath the first few rays of the dorsal and does not reach the anal. Front edge
of anal in the commencement of the last third of the distance between the front
margin of the eye and the base of the caudal fin, the length of its base equals
three-fourths of the height of its front rays. Caudal rather deeply forked.
Scales four rows between the lateral-line and the base of the ventral fin, where

182 PHYSOSTOMI.

an angular one exists. Lateral-line slightly concave, continued to the centre of
the base of the caudal fin. Colours bluish along the back, silvery-white upon
the sides and beneath. Dorsal, pectoral, and caudal fins tipped with black : the
ventral and anal have merely a slight tinge of red or yellowish.

Varieties. Shaw described the graining, G. Lancastriensis, as differing from
the dace, and subsequently Yarrell and Thompson have identified examples
which they have captured as pertaining to Shaw's species. Yarrell in his figure
places the insertion of the ventral fin on a line anterior to that of the dorsal, the
latter being identical with what obtains in the dace, which the figure otherwise
resembles, and with which Yarrell's examples now in the British Museum agree.
Thompson's were several very small individuals taken near Leamington, where
the dace abounds.

In August, 1831, Yarrell obtained a fish 6^ inches long in the Thames below
Woolwich, which he considered to be the Squalius dobula, and although the single
specimen appears to have been lost, the figure is that of a dace with the ventral
fin advanced as shown in the figure (but not in the example) of the graining.
Other varieties have been observed on the continent of Europe.

Names. The term dace appears to be a corruption of some older word. Bart
or dare due to its rapid dart-like or arrow-like motion. In Gesner's time it was
termed dard and if we turn to Ray (1713) we find he terms this fish dace or dare.
Mr. A. Walker informs me with reference to the names of fishes in Cheshire that
" the dace here is invariably called by the common people ' the grayling,' the roach
being called the roach-dace," and suggests whether the name graining has arisen
from this. Barsen and Golenbysg, Welsh. Be Serpeling, Dutch, he Ghevaine
Vaudoise or dard, French.

Habits. An elegant river fish, quick of vision, readily alarmed, and rapid in
its movements ; it is of a gregarious disposition and delights in clean water. It
is not so common as the roach, which it much resembles in its habits. The dace
is even found descending to the brackish tidal waters of the Thames at Hammer-
smith Bridge, and Yarrell appears to have secured a specimen opposite Woolwich.
In the winter it retires to deeper water than it frequents in summer and often
selects localities under shaded banks. It feeds upon worms, insects, and their
larva?, as well as vegetable substances.

Means of capture. It rises freely to the artificial fly, especially about August,
and when hooked makes a gallant fight : the angler should strike at once on the
occasion of a rise or bite. Numbers are taken bottom fishing, a worm, particularly
a bright red one, being used as a bait, this is extensively carried on in the Thames
during September or October up to January.

Baits. Flies, gentles, red worms, grasshoppers, paste, malt. As these fish
are'comparatively small feeders, a large quantity of ground bait is undesirable.

Breeding. Commences the end of May or during the month of June, while
it is a very prolific fish. It deposits its eggs at the roots of aquatic plants, under
stones, and in the gravelly beds of rivers. It does not again regain condition
before the middle or end of July.

In Devonshire " large numbers of this fish are killed by the poisonous alkaline
' waste ' let off from the Countess Weir paper mills. Hundreds of them strewed
the banks of the river near and below the bridge on May 31st, 1866 ; and from
information I received on the spot, it appears to be a very rare thing that any
other kind of fish is killed by this ' waste.' The ' waste,' it would seem, is lighter
than the water, and floats and does not mix freely with it. My informant told me
that the other fish took advantage of this and sank to the bottom, or swam under
the ' waste,' for it was an exceedingly rare thing to find either roach, trout, or
salmon killed by it. I examined a great number of the dead fish, and found them
to be all dace ; I could not find a roach or perch among them " (Parfitt, Fauna of
Devon, p. 21).

Uses. Being a very bright, silvery fish, it is a good bait trolling for pike or
lurch, especially if the water is at all thick ; while for night lines it is in demand
as being tenacious of life.

As food. Not held in any repute ; irrespective of being soft in flesh, it is full of

CYPRINID^E. 183

bones ; it is best during September and October. The Jews are said to consume
numbers, as well as of other species of white-fish, Leuciscus, during their fast months.

Habitat. Most of Europe, except Italy.

Not found in Scotland, but is in England and Wales; is present in the Thames,
Severn, Wye, and most of our clear and rapid streams. It is common in Yorkshire,
except in polluted rivers and mill streams (Yorkshire Vertebi'ata) . In Norfolk it
" is abundant in the higher parts of the rivers, but does not affect the broads or
the nearly stagnant parts of the rivers in the vicinity. Is plentiful in a small
stream which divides the parishes of Rockland and Claxton, near JBuckenham
ferry; but does not appear to quit the brook for the wider waters of the Yare "
(Lubbock). It is abundant in rivers along our southern districts as in Devon-
shire (Parfitt), and common in the Tamar and its tributaries (Cornish Fauna).

Absent from Ireland.

This fish attains to about 12 inches in length in the Thames, but is seldom
found above 1 lb. weight. Very fine ones are taken in the New River.

4. Leuciscus erythrophthalmus, Plate CXXXIII, fig. 2.

Erythrophthalmus, Willughby, p. 249, t. Q3, fig. 1 Ray, pp. 116 and 119.
Cyprinus, sp. Artedi, Genera, p. 3, no. 2, Species, p. 9, no. 2, Synopsis, p. 4,
no. 3; Gronov. Zooph. i, p. 107, no. 340. Bud, Pennant, Brit. Zool. (Ed. 1776),
iii, p. 363, pi. lxxii, f. 170, and frontispiece, no. 172 (Ed. 1812) iii, p. 479,
pi. lxxxiii. Botengle, Jurine, LacLeman, p. 200, pi. xii.

Cyprinus erythrophthalmus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 530; Gmel. Linn. p. 1429;
Bl. Fische Deuts. i, p. 28, t. 1 ; Bl. Schn. p. 434 ; Bonn. Ency. Ich. p. 199,
pi. Ixxxi, f. 337 ; Lacep. v, p. 577 ; Donovan, Brit. Fish, ii, pi. xl ; Turton, p. 108 ;
Jenyns, Man. p. 412 ; Ekstr. Fische Morko, p. 21 ; Fries and Eks. Skan. Fisk. p. 74,
t. xvii ; Gronov. ed. Gray, p. 183 ; Schlegel, Dieren Neder. p. 112, pi. xi, f . 5.

Cyprinus erythrops, Pall. Zoo. Ross. -As. iii, p. 317.

Cyprinus compressus, Holberg, Gotheb. N. Handl. v, p. 66, c. fig.

Leuciscus erythrophthalmus, Fleming, Brit. An. p. 188 ; Cuv. and Val. xvii,
p. 107 ; Nilss. Skand. Fauna. Fisk. p. 313 ; Yarrell, Brit. Fish. (ed. 1), i, p. 361,
c. fig. (ed. 2), i, p. 412 ; Thompson, Nat. Hist. Ireland, iv, p. 138 ; Nord. in
Demid. Voy. Ross. Merid. iii, p. 490 ; Kroyer, Dan. Fisk. iii, p. 421, c. fig. ;
Swainson, Fish, ii, p. 285; White, Catal. p. 66 ; Giinther, Catal. vii, p. 231 ; Collett,
Norg. F. p. 182; Malm, Fauna, p. 563; Giglioli, Pesc. Ital. p. 44; Houghton,
Brit. F. W. Fish. p. 45, c. fig.

Barbus orfus, Flem. Brit. An. p. 186.

Cyprinus cceruleus, Yarrell, Trans. Linn. Soc. xvii, p. 8, pi. ii, f. 2 ; Jenyns,
Man. p. 413.

Scardinius erythrophthalmus, Bonap.j Faun. Ital. Pesc. iii, p. 146; Heckel and
Kner, Suss. w. f. p. 153, f . 79, 80 ; Siebold, Suss. w. f . p. 180 ; Blancharcl, Poiss.
France, p. 377, fig. 84; Feddersen, p. 88; Canestrini, Fauna Ital. Pesc. p. 14;
Moreau, Poiss. France, iii, p. 410.

Scardinius scardafa, Bonap, 1. c. ; Heckel and Kner, 1. c. p. 157, f. 82 ; Cuv. and
Val. xvii, p. 123.

Leuciscus cosndeus, Swainson, ii, p. 285 ; Yarrell, Brit. Fish. (ed. 1), p. 365,
c. fig. (ed. 2) i, p. 416 ; White, Catal, p. 67.

Leuciscus apollonitis, Richards. Pro. Zool. Soc. 1850, p. 374.

Scardinius dergle and plotizza, Heckel and Kner, 1. c.

Scardinius hesperidicus, Nardo, Prosp. Sist. pp. 72, 91.

Budd and Azurine, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, iv, pp. 49, 61, pi. cxcii, cxcvii.

B. iii, D. 11-12 (&), p - 16-17, V. 9-10, A. 13-15 (y^), C. 19-21, LI. 40-44,
L. tr. 7\16\, Vert. ||-f f.

Length of head 5 to h\, of caudal fin 5, height of body 3^ to o\ in the total
length. Eye rather above the middle of the depth of the head, interorbital space
convex : diameter 4 to 4? in the length of the head, \\ diameter from the end of
the snout and 2 apart. Body elevated and compressed, the dorsal profile beinc
much more convex than is that of the abdomen, and mostly a short concavity over

184 PHYSOSTOMI.

the eye. Cleft of mouth shallow, the posterior extremity of the maxilla reaches
to below the hind nostril. Snout somewhat overhanging the mouth, the lower
jaw very slightly the shorter. Teeth pharyngeal 4-5, 2-3 | 2-3, 4-5, the sides of
some of the crowns of the teeth serrated. Fins dorsal situated upon the highest
portion of the back, it commences midway between the nostrils and the base of the
caudal fin, the length of its base equals 2/3 or 3/4 of the height of its anterior
rays, which are rather more than twice those of the last : upper edge of fin
concave. Pectoral inserted low down and reaching two-thirds of the distance to
the ventral, which latter, situated beneath the anterior dorsal rays, extends more
than half-way to the commencement of the anal. Anal situated in the last fourth
of the total length excluding the caudal fin ; the length of its base equals 3/4 of
that of the longest ray, while the anterior portion of the fin is twice as high as the
posterior. Caudal rather deeply forked. Scales three or four rows between the
lateral-line and root of the ventral fin. Lateral-line continuous to the centre of
the base of the caudal fin. Colours silvery, darkest along the back, and glossed
with gold. Dorsal, pectoral, and caudal fins orange, with black tips : lower fins
yellow. Eyes red. Those from deep waters are coloured very similarly to roach
or dace, this fish being subject to considerable variations in tints.

Varieties. It has been held by Izaak Walton and many other anglers that this
fish is a hybrid between the bream or carp and the roach. The azurine was added
to the list of British fishes, some fish of this variety having been obtained from
Knows! ey. It is less bright, its abdomen silvery, and its fins white. Mr. Pennell
found in some ponds near Romford, in Essex, a lemon or yellow-coloured variety
of the rudd.

Names. Rudd, pronounced Roud in Norfolk, and rudd said to be diminutive
of ruddy or red : " The Red eye," finscale, Oxfordshire (Beesley) : shallow (East).
Rhuddgoch, Welsh. De Ruisch-Voom, Dutch. Le Rotengle, French.

Habits. Not rare in many rivers, canals, lakes, and ponds throughout the
level countries of England. It has been asserted that where rudd exist roach
are almost invariably present, whereas the converse does not always hold
good.

In Norfolk it is often found along with the Roach, but as a rule the rudd
prefers the broads, and the roach the rivers. It lives on the larvae of insects,
worms, small molluscs, and vegetable substances ; is very lively and active, and
rises at flies and sports on the surface.

Means of capture. Bites freely.

Baits. These are similar to those which are useful for the roach, but paste
and gentles are most generally relied on. Dr. Norman, in Norfolk, recommends
a nice red worm, while the finest fish are taken with a salmon-gut line, and three
hooks, a large float, and at least forty yards of strong light line.

Breeding. April and May, among weeds in ponds, and is very prolific in
almost every kind of fresh water : in rivers it frequently ascends for breeding
purposes, and after spawning repairs to appropriate shallows, especially if the
bottom is gravelly, where it scours and subsequently repairs to quieter parts of
the river.

Hybrids. Between this fish and the rudd have been alluded to (page 178) ;
also between the rudd and the bream (page 177).

Uses. Said to be the best fish for stocking new-made waters with bait for pike,
which prefer them to bream or roach. On the broads they are considered the best
bait for perch, although in the rivers a gudgeon is superior.

As food. It is said to be preferable to the roach or bream, its flesh being firmer.

Habitat. Although widely distributed, this is somewhat a local fish. It is most
common in rivers of the north of England or in Scotland (Donovan). In Yorkshire
abundant in ponds in Holderness. Reported as in Lake Somerwuter and in ponds
in other parts of the county, also in the Codbeck. A few have been caught in the
Ouse at York (Yorkshire Vertebrata), the Witham in Lincolnshire, and Cherwell,
in Oxfordshire (Pennant): common in broads and rivers of Norfolk (Low T e): Thames
and waters near London. In the Cam, where it is termed shallow : Isle of Wight
(Moore) : Devonshire, where in Slapton Ley they breed in enormous numbers

CYPRINID^E. 185

and attain a considerable size, Ireland, from north to south of the island, chiefly
in lakes and slow rivers. It is probably found in every connty possessing- suitable
localities. Rutty mentions the " Roche " as existing in the Liffey and Finglass
Brook : while Templeton observed of the Rudd, " exceedingly common in the
north of Ireland, where it is mistaken for the roach."

Specimen figured nearly 9 inches long : it attains over 2 lb. Mr. Norman took
one in Norfolk weighing 31b. 1 oz. (Lowe).

5. Leuciscus phoxinus, Plate CXXXIV, fig. 1.

Phoxinus, Belon. p. 322. Phoxinus belonii, Aldrov. p. 582. Minow, Willugh.
p. 268, t. Q8, f. 7 ; Ray, p. 125 ; Pennant, Brit. Zool. (Ed. 1776) iii, p. 373, pi. v,
f. 6 (Ed. 1812) iii, p. 489. Cyprinus, sp. Artedi, Gen. p. 4, no. 9, Spec. p. 30,
no. 16, and Synon. p. 12, no. 22, 23, and p. 13, no. 29. Veron, Duham. Peches,
ii, p. 515, pi. xxvi, f. 7.

Cyprinus phoxinus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 528 ; Gmel. Linn. p. 1422 ; Bl.
Fische Deuts. p. 60, t. viii, f . 5 ; Bonnat. Ency. Ich. p. 194, pi. lxxix, f. 528 ;
Shaw, Zool. v, p. 132 ; Bl. Schn. p. 437 ; Lacep. v, p. 571 ; Jurine, Poiss. Lac-
Leman, p. 229, pi. xiv ; Donovan, Brit. Fish, iii, pi. lx ; Turton, p. 109 ; Jenyns,
Man. p. 415 ; Johnston, Berwick. N. H. F. Club, 1838, i, p. 172; Ekstrom, Morko,
p. 26 ; Gronov. ed Gray, p. 185.

Cyprinus aphya, Linn. 1. c. p. 528.

Cyprinus rivularis, Pall. Zoo. Ross. -As. iii, p. 330.

Leuciscus phoxinus, Flem. Brit. An. p. 188; Nilss. Skand. Fauna, iv, p. 319;
Cuv. and Val. xvii, p. 363 ; Yarrell, Brit. Fish. (ed. 1) i, p. 372, c. fig. (ed. 2)
i, p. 423 (ed. 3) i, p. 442 ; Pamell, Wern. Mem. vii, p. 268 ; Thompson, Nat.
Hist. Ireland, iv, p. 138 ; Swainson, ii, p. 285 ; White, Catal. p. 68 ; Guntker,
Catal. vii, p. 237 ; Giglioli, Catal. Pesc. Ital. p. 45.

Phoxinus Icevis, Agassiz, Mem. Soc. Sc. Nat. Neuch. i, p. 37 ; Heckel and Kner,
Suss. w. f . p. 210, f. cxix and cxx ; Siebold, Suss. w. f . p. 222 ; Blancbard, Poiss.
France, p. 410, t. c. ; Canestrini, Fauna Ital. Pesc. p. 16 ; Moreau, Poiss. France,
iii, p. 392.

Phoxinus marsilii, Heckel, Ann. Wien. Mus. i, p. 232.

Phoxinus chrysoprasius, Nordmann, in Demid. Voy. Russ. Merid. iii, p, 482.

Phoxinus aphya, Kroyer, Dan. Fiske, iii, p. 524, c. fig. ; Collett, Norges Fisk.
p. 183 ; Feddersen, Danske Fersk. Fiske, p. 91 ; Malm, Fauna, p. 564.

Minnow, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, iv, p. 64, pi. cxcix, f. i ; Houghton, Brit.
F. W. Fish. p. 63, c. fig.

B. Ill, D 9-10 ( _V), P. 15, V. 9-10, A 10-11 ( T ? ), C. 19, L. 1, 80 to 90,

Vert. 21/19.

Length of head 4f to 5, of caudal fin 6 to 6, height of body 5j to 5| in the
total length. Eyes situated just in front of the middle of the length of the head,
about 1^ or 2 diameters from the end of the snout, and 1 diameter apart. Snout
rounded ; mouth anterior ; the upper jaw projects a little beyond the lower when
the mouth is closed, the maxilla extends backwards to beneath the first third of
the eye. Barbels absent. Teeth pharyngeal, in 2 rows, conical and crooked
5-4, 2 | 2, 4-5. Grill-rakers few and short. Fins dorsal commences about mid-
way between the end of the snout and the base of the caudal fin, and slightly
behind the origin of the ventral : the base of the dorsal fin terminates in a line
above the origin of the anal fin. Caudal emarginate. Scales in the live fish
rather concealed in mucus. Lateral-line incomplete. Colours of a silvery
pink tint, especially during summer, darkest along the upper half of the body and
with numerous vertical bands descending from the back to the lateral-line and a
black spot at the centre of the base of the caudal fin. Fins silvery-gray. But the
colours are subject to great variation and mostly fine points of black are seen over
the entire body. Sometimes there is a black band along the side.

Varieties. Dr. Moreau finds the lateral-line in some instances continued on
one (the left) side to the base of the caudal fin. Manley alludes to a golden
coloured one caught at the mouth of the Gadd, near Rickmonsworth.

186 PHYSOSTOML

Names. Anglo-Saxon, Myna. It appears to have numerous designations.
Mennam in the north of England, and Mennawe and Menuse in old MSS.
Minnow said to be derived from " minimus " or minute. Ray says a pink or
minima or minnow-pink, so called from its colour. Locally known as Bennick or
Binnick, Minim and Peer, Somersetshire ; Jack Barnell, Warwickshire (see
Gasterosteus aculeatus, vol. i, p. 241) ; Meaker and Mengy, Devonshire ; Mennard,
Gloucestershire ; Shabrid, apud Halliwell. Crothell y dom and Bychan byog,
Welsh. Le Vairon, French.

Habits. This pretty and active little fish is not often found near the sources
of streams, as in such localities a sufficiency of food is not always present. During
the summer months it keeps together in large assemblages and generally in
shallows or near the surface. But in the cold winter months it more or less
conceals itself, commencing to feed in the rivers about March and April.

In the Severn and other rivers which it frequents, the minnow during the
summer months may usually be found lying among the weeds at the tail of a ford,
and it is captured by placing a net below these spots and treading these fish out.
It feeds on aquatic plants, worms and animal substances. Yarrell observes
that no one has succeeded in preserving it beyond three years in an aquarium.
Cooper crossing a brook saw from the footbridge, at the bottom of the stream
what had the appearance of a flower, and which consisted of an assemblage of
these fish, their heads all meeting in a centre and their tails diverging at equal
distances. The object which attracted them was a dead minnow which they
seemed to be devouring.

Means of capture. Netting, or with hook and line.

Baits. A worm, or gentle, or even paste.

Breeding. Very prolific, and breeding about the end of May or commencement
of June, at which period the head is usually covered with small tubercles. The
ova are said to be adherent together among the interstices of stones in brooks
where they have been deposited. In Devonshire, after the month of June, when
most of them have finished spawning, Parnell observed that the males ascended
the shallows in large shoals, occupying sometimes the space of several feet in
circumference, and giving the water an appearance with their little white-spotted
heads of a bed of Ranunculus aquatilis before the buds have fully expanded.
Yarrell records having taken the young f of an inch long by the first week in
August. Davy found that they hatched on the sixth day. Fatio has observed
(Arch. Sc. Nat. lii, 1875) that not only is there an enlargement of one pectoral
ray in the male during the breeding season, but from 6 to 8, and not confined to
one period but continuous more or less throughout the year.

Uses. Excellent as bait for eels or as spinning bait for trout, perch, pike, or
even chub, when it is generally hooked through the upper lip or back fin. Some
anglers keep these fish in a white earthenware jar instead of in bottles or tin
cans, as they seem to remain much brighter. Although they afford excellent
sustenance to trout it is questioned whether they ought to be kept in large
numbers in waters frequented by young salmonid, as both forms devour the
same kind of food and thus the minnow might starve young trout.

As food. Much esteemed dressed as " Whitebait." William of Wykeham, the
founder of Winchester College, at a dinner which he gave the King and Queen and
210 guests, on September 16th, 1394, had served, among other fish, seven gallons
of minnows, which cost lis 8d.

Habitat. Disseminated throughout Europe.

In Scotland, near the Moray Firth, " abundant in the Isla, near Keith, and in
some other tributaries of the Deveron " (Gordon) ; streams near Banff (Edward) ;
one in the Glasgow Museum from Lanarkshire is 4 inches long; Aberdeen
(Sim). Throughout most of the north of Scotland, becoming more plentiful as
we advance south, in all the rivers entering the Firth of Forth, but rare in the
Teith about fifteen miles from Stirling (Parnell).

In England the minnow is found in the lake district, and Mr. Eagle Clarke
observes that he caught about a dozen of the largest he ever saw in the stream
running into the Wastwater ; they were quite seven inches in length. Yorkshire

CYPRINTDJB. 187

abundant up to 1250 feet elevation ; in Norfolk it shuns stagnant water, but is
plentiful in the rivers above Norwich but does not often occur below that city.

Throughout most of the streams, canals, and in many ponds of England and
"Wales, especially in rivers with gravelly bottoms, and found as far as Cornwall,
but said to be absent from the Isle of Wight.

Ireland. Scarce w T here calcareous rocks predominate, while in Scotland,
where the water is very free from calcareous matter, the minnow is common.
Several localities in counties Down and Wicklow. In fact, it is a very local fish
in that island and rare in many districts. Introduced into the Dodder from
Dublin about 1822 (Kinahan) ; and Dr. Ball mentions one 6 inches in length taken
in a pond at Glasnevin Gardens near Dublin ; also that when he was at Lough
Dan in Wicklow in 1846, a fisherman informed him he had been there twenty-
five years (1821) and that they were as plentiful when he came as they were
now. Professor Ernst Friedel has stated that at Dublin (1879 or 1880) he
" was struck by the thousands of minnows, Leuciscus phoxinus, the more so as this
fish has only of late years been introduced into Ireland, and is as yet only found
in the rivers of Dublin and "Wicklow."

The figure is from a specimen taken in Hampshire. It attains to as much as
6 or 7 inches in length but is rarely seen above 3 or 4.

188 PHYSOSTOMI.

Genus VI Tinca, Guvier.

Pseudobranchiai 'minute. Mouth anterior : lips thick hut destitute of any horny
covering. Barbels 2, one at either angle of the mouth. Pharyngeal teeth in one row,
4s or 5 | 5 or 4 cuneiform, ivith a slightly hooked extremity. Gill-rakers short and
lanceolate. Dorsal fin rather short, commencing slightly behind the origin of the
ventral; anal short : caudal slightly emarginate : scales small, embedded in a thick
skin and covered with mucus. Lateral-line complete.

Geographical distribution. Fresh waters of Europe and of Asia Minor.

The tench has been said to have been introduced into England about the year
1514, but tbere does not appear to be any decisive evidence that it is not an
indigenous species. It has been acclimatized in the waters around Ootacamund on
the Neilgherry Hills in Madras, where it is thriving (Day, Fishes of India, 1878,
p. 594).

1. Tinca vulgaris, Plate CXXXIV, fig. 2.

Tinca, Auson. v, p. 125 ; Belon. i, p. 324 ; Rondel, ii, p. 157 ; Salv. p. 90,
t. lxxxix ; Gesner, p. 984 ; Aldrov. v, p. 646 ; Willugh. p. 251, c. vi, t. Q5, f. 1 ;
Ray, Pise. p. 117; Rutty, Nat. His. Co. Dublin, 1772, i, p. 366.

Gyprinus, sp. Artedi, Gen. p. 4, no. 6, Spec. p. 27, no. 14, and Synon. p. 5,
no. 7 ; Gronov. Zooph. no. 328. Brama, Sp. Klein, Pise. Miss, v, p. 63, no. 6.
Tench, Pennant, Brit. Zool. (Ed. 1776), iii, p. 359, and (Ed. 1812), iii, p. 474;
Bowdich, Brit. F. W. Fish. no. 13.

Tanche, Duhamel, ii, p. 506, t. xxvi, f. 1 ; Bonn. Ency. Ich. p. 191, pi. lxxvii,
f. 320.

Gyprinus tinea, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 526 ; Mull. Prod. Zool. Dan. p. 50 ;
Gmel. Linn. p. 1413 ; Bloch, Ich. p. 87, t. xiv, p. 94, t. xv (variety aurata) ;
Bl. Schn. p. 448; Lacep. v, pp. 491, 534; Donovan, Brit. Fish, v, pi. cxiii ;
Pallas, Zoo. Ross. -As. iii, p. 310; Turton, p. 108 ; Jenyns, Manual, p. 405;
Ekstrom, Fisk. Morko, p. 67 ; Ekstr. and Fries, Skand. Fisk, p. 205, pi. Iii ;
Templeton, M. N. H. 1837 (2), i, p. 410 ; Johnstone, Berwick. N. H. F. Club,
1838, i, p. 172 ; Costa, Fauna Nap. Pesc. p. 9 ; Gronov. ed. Gray, p. 179 ;
Schlegel, De Diei-en Neder. p. 102, pi. xi, f. 1.

Tinea vulgaris, Cuv. Regne Anim. ii, p. 273 ; Jurine, Poiss. LacLeman,
p. 205, pi. x ; Fleming, Brit. An. p. 186 ; Nilss. Skand. Faun, iv, p. 296 ; Cuv.
and Val. xvi, p. 322, pi. cccclxxxiv ; Yarrell, Brit. Fish. (ed. 1), i, p. 328, c. fig.
(ed. 2) i/ p. 375, (ed. 3), i, p. 389; Nord. in Demid. Voy. Ross. Merid. iii,
p. 481 ; Kroyer, Danm. Fisk. iii, p. 351, c. fig. ; White, Catal. p. 62 ; Heckel and
Kner, Suss. w. f . p. 75, f . 34 and 35 ; Nilss. Skand. Fauna, Fisk. p. 297 ;
Thompson, Nat. Hist. Ireland, iv, p. 136 ; Siebold, Suss. w. f. p. 106 ; Canes. Arch.
Zool. iv, 1866, p. 69 ; Malmgren, Wieg. Arch, xxx, p. 310 ; Blanchard, Poiss.
France, p. 317, i. 64 ; Collett, Norges Fiske, p. 183 ; Giinther, Catal. vii, p. 265 ;
Moreau, Poiss. France iii, p. 383 ; Canestrini, Fauna D'ltal. Pesc. p. 12 ; Giglioli,
Catal. Pesc. Ital. p. 45 ; Feddersen, De Danske F. fiske, p. 84.

Tincta aurata, Cuv. Reg. Anim.

Tinea chrysitis, Agass. Mem. Soc. Sc. Nat. Neuch. i, p. 37 ; Bonap. Faun. Ital.
Pesc. iii, p. 93, t. f. 2.

Tinea communis, Swainson, Fish, ii, p. 285.

Tinea italica, Bonap. 1. c.

Leuciscus tinca, Giinther, Fisc. Neckars, p. 50.

Tinca Linnei, Malm, Fauna, p. 564.

Tench, Couch, Fishes of Brit. Isles, iv, p. 22, pi. clxxxiii ; Houghton, British
Freshwater Fishes, p. 49, c. fig.

Golden tench, Houghton, 1. c. p. 51, c. fig.

B. iii, D. 12-13 (fif), P. 17, V. 9-10, A. 9-10 ( _V), C. 17, L. 1. 90 to 115,
L. tv. 30/31.

CYPRINID^E. 189

Length of head 4 to 4f , of caudal fin 5f , height of body 3| to 4 in the
total length. Eyes diameter 6| to 1\ times in the length of the head (but
comparatively larger in the young), 2 diameters from the eud of the snout, and
from 2 to 2-j- apart. Interorbital space flat. The thickness of the head equals
its length excluding the snout, while its height equals its thickness. Snout
obtuse, mouth anterior, jaws anteriorly of the same length, gape wide, cleft rather
shallow ; the posterior extremity of the maxilla reaches to beneath the hind
nostrils. Lips thick. Teeth pharyngeal, in a single row, 4 or 5/5 or 4, sometimes
4 on one side and 5 on the other. Gill-rakers short. Fins dorsal commences
above the end of the base of the ventral, and is continued almost to above the
origin of the anal : all the fins are rounded. In the males the first or even more
of the ventral rays are thicker than in the female, as will be alluded to. Scales
about 18 rows between the lateral-line and the base of the ventral fin. Lateral-
line at first gradually descends and above the base of the ventral is continued
to the centre of the base of the caudal fin. From the thickness of its skin it is
termed the "shoemaker" in Holland. Colours leaden or greenish, lightest
beneath ; fins blackish.

Yarieties. The golden tench (variety aurata) merely differs from the common
form in its colours, which may be simply yellow or red, either without or conjoined
with black spots or blotches (variety maculata). These forms are now extensively
propagated in this country. Mr. Berney, of Merton HalJ, Norfolk, in 1852,
imported this variety of the tench from near Breslau, in Lower Silesia ; and in 1868
Lord Walsingham introduced some into his Merton estate. According to Siebold
(1863) the fine black spotted, or orange-yellow or red variety is indigenous in
Upper Silesia. Although this variety renders it a valuable addition to aquaria
and pieces of ornamental water, its colours, on the other hand, cause it to be
readily perceived by its enemies, including poachers.

Names. Sliw, pronounced " slew," Anglo-Saxon. Gwrachen and Ysgretten,
Welsh. Be ZeeU, Dutch. Tanche, French.

Habits. The tench prefers still waters to running streams, more especially
thriving in reservoirs, ponds full of water-weeds, and pits from which clay has
been excavated for brick-making. It seems, also, to do better in foul and weedy
than in clean water, and in broads and sluggish rivers as the Thames than in
those which flow with considerable velocity ; while muddy and marly bottoms are
especially suitable to its prosperity. Where carp are found such localities are
commonly well-adapted for tench.

It is generally seen in small companies, and appears to frequently keep near
the bottom, except during the summer, when, more especially during spawning
time, it lies near the surface among the weeds. Although possessing a very thick
skin and covered with a large amount of slimy mucus, it seems to be very
susceptible to cold, and has been credited with passing a considerable portion of
the winter months in a semi-lethargic condition buried in semi-aquatic mud. It
will dive down into the mud in order to escape from nets, while its " run " differs
from that of the rudd or bream, being short and irregular. It is very tenacious of
life, in which respect it is but little inferior to the eel among fresh-water fishes.
Pennell states that he has known one to live for an entire day with the gimp of
a double jack-hook passed under its skin from its gills to its tail, the fish being
meanwhile cast about from place to place in the water and suspended in a most
unusual position. Tench have frequently been observed to live a whole day out
of water.

It feeds on insects, larvas, worms and vegetable substances, and a correspondent
of the Field (November 5th, 1881) remarks that he took " a tench of 4 lb. while
perch fishing with a small red worm. This may or may not alter the theory that
they do not feed during the winter months ; but this season, in the Lea, a goodly
number have been bagged when least expected.^

It is curious to observe the contorted positions in which these fish apparently
go to sleep ; sometimes the head rests on the floor of the aquarium, some are bent
into most uncomfortable-looking shapes, while they lie so motionless as to appear
to the observer as if they were dead.

190 PHYSOSTOMI.

Daniel mentions the capture of a tench 33 inches long to the fork of the tail,
and which weighed 11 lb. 9 oz., its belly being of a vermilion colour ; it was
taken under some roots at the side of a pond, in which contracted situation it had
literally assumed the shape of the hole in which it had, of course, for many years
been confined. It has been computed that these fish can live in water in which
the amount of oxygen has been reduced to the 5000th part of the bulk of the
water, ordinary river water containing about 1 part in 100. In some pits they
breed but and never attain to any size ; in other ponds they grow, but never
breed.

Means of capture. It is rather readily captured, and esteemed a foolish fish by
many fishermen ; it takes a bait throughout the spring and summer. In Norfolk,
according to Lubbock, formerly the fishermen on the broads relied upon the bow-
net, and occasionally the trammel or flew; but of late years, and in shallow waters,
they prefer their own hands, with a landing net to be occasionally used. A small
low-sided steady boat is employed and poled along, the fisherman lying down with
only his head over the gunwale and his right arm bared to the shoulder, he gently
displaces the weeds and tries to descry a tench. If he sees one, and how its head
lies, the chances of success are increased ; if not he slowly and cautiously touches
it, which is only taken notice of should the tail be touched, when it dashes away.
The fisherman tries to insinuate one hand just behind the gills, raising the fish
gently but rapidly to the surface, but must not knock the boat or the jar wakes up
the tench, which at once struggles.

Baits. Paste, worms, gentles. In old works tar was recommended to be
added to the baits used for this fish as it was said to be very partial to it.

Breeding. Occasionally at the end of May ; more commonly in June, or at the
beginning of July. The female tench is generally accompanied by two males. The
eggs are small and deposited in the weeds. M. Petit found nearly 350,000 in one
specimen. Harmer examined seven and found from 83,104 to 383,252 ova, or an
average of 211,826 in each. Bloch, from a 4 lb. specimen, obtained 297,000. It
does not breed so rapidly in rivers as in ponds and broads. In the male the
outer ventral ray and, in some instances, several more are enlarged and thickened,
while at the breeding season the basis of the ventral fin are inflamed and often
excoriated. In stocking breeding ponds two males ought to be employed to each
female. In places it is found to be rather a rapid grower, this being especially
affected by the temperature of the water and the amount of food ; it has been
known to attain from i lb. to 1 lb. in twelve months, and an instance has been
recorded where one in a pond in six years was 4|- lb. weight.

Diseases, etc. Much affected by thunderstorms : the effects on fish contained
in trunks appears to be partial. All the fish in one trunk on a particular broad
perish during a thunderstorm, while not one of those contained in another trunk
in the same water is injured (Lubbock).

Uses. It has been termed the " Fishes' Physician," and Camden in his
Britannia observes that he had seen the bellies of pikes which have been rent
open, have their gaping wounds presently closed by the touch of the tench,
and by their glutinous slime perfectly healed up. (See also page 143.) A
knowledge of this among fish has been said by many ichthyological authors to
induce, pike, perch, and eels to spare the tench. Salter asserts, that having laid
trimmers baited with live roach, dace, bleak, and tench, the eels and pike refused
this latter fish as a bait, and that he only met with one instance to the contrary.
Two reasons have been given why pike do not destroy them, one is that they live
in the mud where they cannot obtain them : the second, that they purposely
abstain from devouring them. Mr. Barr, on the contrary, asserts that you cannot
put a better bait on a trimmer than a young tench, while out of the stomach of
a trout he took twenty-two of the size of minnows. Mr. Slaney (Zool. 1853,
p. 4021) observed a pike which had seized a tench of about 3 lb. weight cross-
wise but was unable to swallow it, and at last the tench got away. " This is the
only instance I ever met with in which the tench was attacked by any other fish,
though I have constantly had them put together with pike and perch in small
streams and other places, where the absence of food for the predatory species

CYPRINID^E. 191

lias induced tliern to seize upon almost every other living thing ; all other kind
of fish, rats, young ducks, and moor-hens have fallen a sacrifice to the all-devouring
pike, but not the tench ; and keepers always avoid setting their trimmers or
trolling for pike with a tench for a bait, alleging as a reason that no other fish
will touch it."

A few days subsequently he found the above fallacious, as he saw another
tench undergoing the same process, and afterwards found a dead one which
evidently had been injured by a pike, and on dragging the pond only three or four
were caught out of ten or twelve brace that had been put in, the rest appeared to
have been destroyed by the pike (Zool. p. 4100). A tench of 71b. weight was
taken at Frogmore Gardens, Windsor, from the pouch of a pike between 30 lb.
and 401b. weight (G. Gujon, Zool. 1867, p. 563). Mr. Gurney (Zool. 1853, xi,
p. 4124) observes that he has seen a tench taken out of the stomach of a pike.
" In the autumn of 1848 I turned into a pit, which I believed to contain no fish
of any kind, fifty small tench, and forty or more crucian carp ; seven tench and
twenty-four crucians were also turned in at a subsequent period. October 13th,
dragged the pit and took three lanky pike, 3 lb. 2 lb., and H lb. weight. All that
remained of the stock were one tench 1| lb. weight and eight crucians of about
1 lb. each."

In olden times it used to be applied to the palms of the hands and feet in
order to absorb fever : or laid over the liver in cases of jaundice, when the fish,
it was asserted, became yellow and retained the disease. A live one tied to the
temple has been stated to remove a nervous headache, or worn round the neck to
cure sore eyes. It has also been recommended in obstinate cases of worms !

As food. It has been variously esteemed, being rejected by some as unpalatable
or even unwholesome, whereas others have considered it to be among the best of
our eatable freshwater fishes. Most of our abbeys and monastic establishments
maintained stews where these fish were kept, which would seem to show they
considered them to be delicacies. The taste of course considerably depends on
the waters it has inhabited and the food on which it has lived. It may be placed
in a stew and fattened with a mixture of greaves and meal.

Respecting the effect of the character of the water in which it lives upon its
suitability for the table, we are infor-med that no tench could be better grown or
of sweeter flavour than some taken out of Munden Hall, Fleet, Essex, which was
so thick with weeds that the flue-nets could hardly be sent through them, and the
mud was so intolerably fetid that it had dyed the fish of its own hue, which was
that of ink. This, however, differs from the experience of many who generally find
that a pond tench is muddy and not always desirable for the table if other fish
are procurable.

A quantity of tench averaging about 3 lb. each, and of a golden colour, were
taken from a clear pond at Leigh's Priory, but when dressed and brought to table
smelt and tasted so rank that no one would eat them. This has been given as an
instance, showing that clear water will not always render these fish eatable. At
the Fisheries Exhibition some tench were placed in one of the cemented tanks
and some earth and sods placed for them to grovel amongst. After about six
weeks a brace were cooked and better fish could not have been desired. Some of
the gold variety were also similarly treated, but they were somewhat inferior.
A good tench is certainly by no means despicable as food, while its best season is
from the commencement of September to the end of May.

Habitat. Extended throughout the fresh waters of Europe into those of Asia
Minor. Malmgren. I.e. fixes 62 N. Lat. as the northern limits of this fish in Finland.

In Scotland. A beautiful specimen was captured in the Moray Firth in the
middle of June, 1863, from whence it came and how it fared is a mystery (Edward) ;
it thrives in Aberdeenshire and a few are found near Edinburgh. One upwards of
2 lb. was taken at Kelvedon (Denny, Hard. Sc. G. 1867, p. 17). Present in Hirsel
Lough, an artificial piece of water in Berwickshire, first filled in the month of
December, 1876. It is not so common in the western as in the eastern counties of
England. It was introduced into numerous ponds, reservoirs, canals, and some
sluggish streams in Yorkshire (Yorkshire Vertebrata). In Norfolk from 14 to

192 PHYSOSTOMI.

17 inches in length is considered that of a good table fish, while a 4 lb. fish is a large
one. Mr. Gurney says, " The only river locality I know for the tench in Norfolk is
the Tare above Trowse." It occnrs also in the Ouse above Denver. Mr. Norman
took one near Yarmouth weighing 5 lb. 14 oz. (Lowe). It is by no means rare in
the Thames, and found in many of the midland counties as well as in some parts
of Wales. It is also present in our southern counties, and large ones are
occasionally captured in Hampshire, while it exists in the Isle of Wight (Moore).
In the Exeter Canal and some of the ponds of the South Devon Railway (Parhtt).
Found in the ponds at Trengwainton, where they were placed by the late Sir
Rose Price, Bart. (R. Couch). It is a common pond fish in Cornwall (Cornish).

In Ireland. Templeton considered that it has been introduced, it is noted in
County Down, counties of Dublin, Cork, Westmeath, and in Lough Derg, near
Portumna. Templeton observed " Many were caught in the river Lagan after the
breaking of the bank of a pond in the demesne of Lord Dungannon at Belvoir."

A correspondent of the Field (June 16, 1883) writing from Lough Derg, says
tench were first heard of here three years ago, since then he has obtained a few all
about 5 lb. weight.

Pennant observed having heard of one 10 lb. while Salvianus speaks of a
20 lb. tench.

CYPRINIDvE. 193

Genus VII Abeamis, Cuvier.

Blicca, Bliccopsis, Ballerus, and Alburnus, sp. Heckel. Stilbe, De Kay.
Alburnellus, Luxilus, sp. Richardsonius, Girard. Abramidopsis, Siebold.

Body strongly compressed and elevated or oblong. Tipper jaw protractile: lips
simple, the lower labial fold being interrupted opposite the symphysis of the lower
jaw. Barbels absent. Pharyngeal teeth in a single or double row, and notched near
their edge. Gill-rakers short. Dorsal fin spineless, situated above and opposite the
interspace between the ventral and anal fins ; anal fins in European forms with
many rays (20-48). Scales of medium size. Lateral-line present and passing
to the base of the caudal fin. Abdomen posterior to the ventral fins compressed
into an edge, but across which the scales do not extend.

Geographical distribution. North of the Alps in Europe, contiguous portions
of Asia, and also in North America.

As food, generally not esteemed in this country but more so in , parts of
Continental Europe, the French even having a proverb that " he who hath bream
in his pond may bid his friends welcome."

A. Pharyngeal teeth in one row. Abramis.

1. Abramis brama, Plate CXXXV.

Abramis fiuviatilis, Belon. de Aquat. cap. vi, p. 317 ; Gesner, p. 376. Cyprinus
latus, Rondel, de Pise. Lac. p. 154 ; Schonev. p. 33 ; Aldrov. Pise. lib. v, c. 42 ;
pp. 641, 642 ; Gronov. Zooph. p. 110, no. 345 ; Jonston, lib. iii, t. iii, c. viii,
p. 165, t. xxix, f. 5 ; Ray, Pise. p. 116 ; Willugh. p. 248, t. Q10, f . 4. Bream,
Pennant, Brit. Zool. (Ed. 1776) iii, p. 362, pi. Ixx, (Ed. 1812) iii, p. 478 ; Bowdich,
no. 18. Cyprinus. Artedi, Gen. p. 6, no. 17, Spec. p. 20, no. 10, Synon. p. 4, no. 2.
Brama, Klein, Pise. MSS. v, p. 61, no. 1.

Cyprinus brama, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 531 ; Bloch, Ichthyologie, i, p. 7Q,
t. xiii ; Gmel. Linn. p. 1436 ; Shaw, v, t. 124 ; Bonnaterre, Ency. Ich. p. 202,
pi. lxxxiv, f. 346 ; Bl. Schn. p. 438 ; Lacep. v, pp. 500, 591 ; Pall. Zoo. Ross.-
As. iii, p. 325 ; Donovan, pi. xciii ; Turton, p. 108 ; Jenyns, Manual, p. 406 ;
Pries and Ekstr. Skand. Fisk. p. 175, pi. xlii ; Templeton, Mag. N. H. 1837, (2) i,
p. 410 ; Cuv. and Val. xvii, p. 9 ; Schlegel, Dieren Neder. p. 106, pi. xii, f. 3 ;
Gronov. ed. Gray, p. 180 ; Malm, Fauna, p. 565.

Abramis brama, Flem. Brit. An. p. 187 ; Agass. Wiegm. Arch. 1838, p. 81 ;
Ekstrdm, Morko, p. 30 ; Yarrell, Brit. Fish. (ed. 1) i, p. 335, c. fig. (ed. 2) i,
p. 382 (ed. 3) i, p. 397 ; Swainson, Fish, ii, p. 285 ; White, Catal. Fish. Brit.
Mus. p. 62 ; Nilss. Skand. Faun, iv, p. 324 ; Thompson, Nat. Hist. Ireland, iv,
p. 136 ; Nordm. in Demid. Voy. Ross. Merid. iii, p. 503 ; Kroyer, Dan. Fisk. iii,
p. 369, c. fig. ; Heckel and Kner, Suss. w. f. p. 104, f. 54 and 55 ; Siebold,
Suss. w. f. p. 121 ; Malmgren, Wieg. Arch, xx, p. 311 ; Blanchard, Poiss. France,
p. 351, fig. 73 ; Gunther, Catal. vii, p. 300 ; Feddersen, Danske Fers. Fiske, p. 85 ;
Collett, Norges Fiske, p. 183 ; Moreau, Poissons France, iii, p. 395.

Abramis vetula, Heckel, Ann. Wien. Mus. i, 1835, p. 230, t. xx, f. 6 ; Heckel
and Kner, Suss. w. f. p. 108, f . 56 ; Cuv. and Val. xvii, p. 60.

Abramis microlepidotus and argyreus, Agass. Wiegm. Arch. 1838, p. 81 ; Cuv.
and Val. xvii, pp. 43, 45.

Abramis gehini, Blanchard, Poiss. France, p. 355.

13

194 PHYSOSTOMT.

Lake Bream, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, iv, p. 36, pi. clxxxvii; Houghton, British
Freshwater Fishes, p. 53, c. fig.

{Immature.)

Cyprinus farenus, Linn. Syst. Nat. p. 532 ; Nilss. Prod. Ich. Scan. p. 30 ;
Ekstr. Fiske "Morko, p. 40, t. 'iii ; Siebold, Wiegm.' Arch. 1836, p. 327; Kroyer,
Wiegm. Arch. 1837, p. 393.

(Hybrid with Leuciscus erythrophthalmus.')

Cyprinus Buggenliagii, Bloch, Ich. p. 144, t. xcv.

Abramis Leuclcartii, Heckel, Ann. Wien. Mus. i, p. 229, t. xx, fig. 5 ; Cuv. and
Val. xvii, p. 59 ; Heckel and Kner, Suss. w. f. p. 117, f. 61.

Abramis Buggenliagii, Thompson, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1837, p. 56 and Nat. Hist.
Ireland, iv, p. 137; Tarrell, Brit. Fishes (ed. 2) i, p. 391, c. fig. (ed. 3) i, p. 407; White,
Catal. p. 63 ; Blanchard, Poissons, p. 357, fig. 75 ; Moreau, Poiss. France, iii, p. 400.

Abramis Heclcelii, Selys-Longch. Fauna Belg. p. 217, p. 8.

Leuciscus Buggenliagii, Cuv. and Val. xvii, p. 53.

Abramidopsis Leuckartii, Siebold, Suss. w. f. p. 117, f. 61.

Pomeranian bream, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, iv, p. 42, pi. clxxxix ; Houghton,
British Freshwater Fishes, p. 58, c. fig.

B. iii, D. 11-12 ( V), P- 15-17, V. 10, A. 27-31 (^ ), C. 19, L. 1. 50-63,

Ti tr n ' U Vert SJl-^JL

Length of head 5 to 6, of caudal fin 4| to 4|, height of body 3 to 3f in the
total length. Eyes diameter 4 to 5-| in the length of the head, H diameters
from the end of the snout, and 2 diameters apart. Body oval, elevated and
strongly compressed. Head small, snout short and obtuse, mouth protractile
and small, upper jaw slightly the longer and reaching posteriorly to below the
anterior nostril: lips moderately developed. Teeth pharyngeal 5/5 compressed
and notched at their extremity. Fins the dorsal commences slightly behind
the base of the ventral and about midway between the front edge of the eye
and the base of the caudal fin, and just below the end of the highest point
of the dorsal profile, while its last ray is on a line with the first of the anal:
it is highest anteriorly. Pectoral inserted low down and as long as the head
excluding the snout, it reaches to above the commencement of the ventral and
the latter to the origin of the anal. The anal fin is falciform, and highest anteriorly.
Caudal deeply forked. Scales of medium size, higher than wide, Q\ or 7-i
between the lateral-line and base of ventral fin. On the edge of the abdomen
between the ventral and anal fins, the scales do not pass across forming a sharp
keeled edge. Lateral-line curves downwards, passing along the lower third of
the body to the base of the caudal fin. Colours back of a dull olive or sea-green,
lighter on the sides and beneath, the abdomen being silvery tinged with pink. In
old fish the body becomes more of a yellowish colour. Fins brownish, the
pectoral rays being often tinged with scarlet, which colour may be seen in the first
few rays of all the other fins.

Varieties. This fish is subject to considerable local variations of race, so much
so that without a series of specimens it might almost be thought that new species
were being obtained.

Names. Common bream, yellow bream when old due to its colour : carp bream.,
when its colour resembles that of a carp. Brem, Welsh. Be Brasem, Dutch. La
Breme, French.

Habits. This gregarious fish, which is of a hardy nature, is found in many
sluggish rivers, canals, ponds, broads, and lakes in this country, but swift running
waters and pebbly bottoms are unsuited to it. Donovan observes that the fisher-
men assert that when the bream ascends rivers they are collected into small shoals,
each of which is preceded by a leader who directs the course of the shoal and
differs in appearance from the rest. This is called by the fishermen the " Queen
bream." This, however, is thought by some to refer to the hybrids which will be
presently described. It feeds on the larvae and adult of water insects, on worms,
as also on aquatic vegetable siibstances, and is very tenacious of life.

CYPRINID^E. 195

In Norfolk we are told that should a bow-net be set for tench, bream crowd in
before they arrive and thns exclude them. In perch- fishing it consumes the
anglers' best worms, tries his patience, and soils his fingers. One of the great evils
of this fish is its excessive increase, which occasions it to consume all the food
which might have been available for better forms of fish.

In Sweden it is considered a timid fish, and Nilsson observes that during the
period its fishing is carried on, it is forbidden to ring the church bells lest they
might be scared. The shoals of these fishes are said always to have a sentinel on
the watch.

Means of capture. Bottom fishing, one of the best baits being small red
worms and brandlings. When hooked in deep water it bores down into the mud,,
rubbing the line with its tail, thus causing it to be muddy for some distance
above the hook, while it is a very suspicious fish, and considerable caution is
necessary in order to avoid letting one's presence be detected. From July to
October are perhaps the best angling months for the bream ; the warmer the day
the better, while it bites best of a morning and evening. Thompson remarks
that it is taken with the greatest success in the Lagan by ground baiting with
balls of grain from the distilleries, seeds (cast off from flummery), or boiled oats,
being mixed up with potatoes in the form of balls, and thrown into the river at
night. Bream collect from all quarters to partake of it, and the next day anglers
employ worms as bait, generally with success. In Ireland it is netted in large
numbers.

Baits. Worms. Dr. Norman, of Yarmouth, says they must be worms of the
largest size, not those dug out of the ground. They must be picked up off the
grass at night. A good ground bait is half a pailful of bullock's blood, a pailful
of fresh grains, half a pailful of very clean clay, a handful of dogs' greaves well
broken up, three handfuls of meal, and a little oilcake. This is worked into a
pudding and divided into balls not quite so large as a child's head, and partially
baked in the sun. In June and July it will take a grasshopper from which the
legs have been removed. Small hooks and light but strong tackle are necessary,
and the angler that strikes at once on receiving a bite will have most chance of
success.

Breeding. When preparing to spawn about May, Lubbock observes, " they
roll about like miniature porpoises, and the water is discoloured by their work-
ings. Here a nose appears, and there a back fin, while at intervals a plunge of
affright amongst the multitude shows that a large pike is busy." In Norfolk it
generally selects a broad as a breeding-place, while the eggs are of a reddish
colour, and Bloch observed 130,000 in one fish. One female is frequently
attended by as many as three or four males. During the breeding season the
scales feel rough to the touch, due to small whitish tubercles which appear upon
them at this period.

Hybrids. I have already remarked (p. 177) how hybrids between the roach,
Leuciscus rutilus, and other Cyprinidas cannot occur in Ireland because the roach
of that country is L. erythrophthalmus, or the rudd, which is termed a roach in
the Emerald Isle. It is not, however, improbable, that elsewhere the L. rutilus
may also assist in the creation of hybrids with the bream. The following, which
has been found in Ireland, may be deemed a cross between the bream and the rudd.

B. iii, D. 13-14 (), P. 15-17, V. 9-10, A. 17-22 (^ 3 T ), C. 19, L. 1. 45-52,
L. tr. 8 f_y, Vert. 41.

Pharyngeal teeth usually in one row, but in rare exceptions a second row,
formed by means of a single additional tooth.

Thompson observes that in Ireland this form has been captured in the river
Lagan, where the common bream is abundant. It has also been taken at Cossey,
above Norwich (Lubbock), Dagenham Breach in Essex (Yarrell), Cambridgeshire
(Jenyns), Wolverhampton (Edwardes), and some other districts in England,
Holland, and Germany.

Uses. Food for pike and ohter rapaciouB fishes. Mr. Gurney observes that
once, when trolling for a pike in a pond where bream was found, the keeper

13 *

190 PHYSOSTOMI.

insisted that they never took the latter ; so to test this he employed a small
bream for a bait, Avitk which he took a pike. Numbers are employed in Norfolk
as bait for crab and lobster pots, for which they fetch 2s 6d a bushel, while there
is likewise a considerable demand for them as food in the Midland counties.

As food. Employed for this purpose to a considerable extent on the Continent,
but, due to its numerous bones and the softness and insipidity of its taste, it is
not much thought of in this country, and one authority likens it in shape to a
pair of bellows, and with much the same flavour. However, opinions have and
will differ on this point, and its best season for the table is during the spring and
autumn. Walton observes that in the autumn they become as fat as a hog, when
they afford a not unpleasant dish.

In the Book of St. Alban's " the breeme " was considered " a noble fysshe and
deynteous." Chaucer spoke well of it as food, and Dugdale informs us that
about 1410, when the daily hire of a mason or carpenter was less than sixpence,
that a single bream was valued at twenty pence. Also that a bream pie contain-
ing four of these fish was sent from Warwickshire to a distant part of Yorkshire
at the cost of sixteen shillings, which included the wages of two fishermen for
three days in catching the fish, together with the cost of the flour and spices for
making the pie, and also its carriage.

Habitat. The middle districts of Europe, and northwards to St. Petersburgh,
Finland, and Scandinavia. Here it is local in its distribution, being found in the
lakes of Cumberland. In Yorkshire it is only recorded from the lower reaches of
the Don, Wharfe, Ure, Colbeck, Derwent, and Hull, as well as in canals. The
commonest fish of the lake Somerwater (Yorkshire Vertebrata). In Norfolk
found in immense shoals in all the broads. It is found in the Trent, the Ouse,
the Thames, the Wey, the Lea, the Mole, the Medway, and in the Pulborough
and Amberley waters. Also in our central counties, but is absent from Devon-
shire and Cornwall. In Wales, Swansea (Dillwyn) ; it has also been recorded
from Brecknock and other places. In Ireland it is found in many of the lakes
and slow running rivers, as Cavan and Fermanagh in the north, while in Lough
Erne it attains a large size. In 1835 Thompson observed that there were
numerous bream in the Lagan ; but an old fisherman assured him that twenty
years previously there had been none.

At Cossey, in Norfolk, it has been twice captured at 7 lb. weight, and Mr.
Norman, of Yarmouth, took one, a female, of 8 lb. 12 oz. (Lowe). One, a male,
was taken near Cromer on June 17th, 1879, which weighed 11^ lb., and must
have been at least 26 years old ; it was 26 in. long and 10 in. deep. Jenyns
observes their weight sometimes exceeds 12 lb., and on the Continent to 14 lb.
Thompson alludes to Irish specimens of 7 lb., and Yarrell to 12 lb., or even 14 lb.
Baily (Anglers' Instructor) mentions one of 17 lb. in the Trent.

b. Pharyngeal teeth in two rows Blicca.

2. Abramis blicca, Plate CXXXVL

Ballerus, Rondel, ii, p. 154 ; Schonev. p. 28 ; Aldrov. v, p. 645 ; Jonston, lib.
iii, t. iii, c. ix, p. 165. Blicca, Gesner, p. 167. Cyprinus, Artedi, Gen. p. 3, no. 3,
Spec. p. 20, no. 9, Synon. p. 13, no. 27.

Cyprinus bjorkna,, Linn. Syst. Nat. p. 532 ; Gmel. Linn. p. 1438.

Cyprinus plestya, Leske, Ich. Lips. p. 69.

Cyprinus blicca, Bloch, Ichthy. i, p. 61, t. x ; Bonnaterre, Ency. Ich. p. 202,
pi. lxxxiii, f. 345 ; Bl. Schn. p. 437 ; Jenyns, Manual, p. 407 ; Ekstr. Morko,
p. 44; Fries and Ekstr. Skand. Fisk. p. 64, t. xii ; Schlegel, Dieren Neder. p. 108,
pi. xii, f. 2.

Cyprinus latus, Gmel. Linn, i, p. 1438 ; Lacep. v, pp. 501, 604; Jenyns, Brit.
Vert. p. 26; Gronov. ed. Gray, p. 179.

Cyprinus laslcyr, Pall. Zoo. Ross. -As, iii, p. 326.

Abramis blicca, Agass. Wiegm. Arch. 1838, p. 81 ; Ekstrom, Morko, p. 44, t.
iv ; Nord. in Demid. Voy. Ross. Merid. iii, p. 504, pi. xxii, f. 1 ; Kioyer, Damn.

CYPRINID^E. 197

Fisk. iii, p. 389, c. fig. ; Yarrell, Brit. Fish. (ed. 2), i, p. 387, c. fig. ; White, Catal.
p. 63 ; Giinther, Catal. vii, p. 306 ; Fecldersen, Danske Fers. Fiske, p. 86.

Abramis micropteryx and erythropterus, Agassiz, 1. c. ; Cuv. and Val. xvii. pp.
44, 58.

Leuciscus blicca, Cuv. and Val. xvii, p. 31.

Blicca argyroleuca, Heckel and Kner, Suss. w. f. p. 120, f. 62, 63 ; Yarrell, Brit.
Fishes (ed. 3) i, p. 403, c. fig.

Abramis bjorhna, Nilss. Skan. Fauna, iv, p. 328 ; Malm, Fauna, p. 565 ; Blan-
chard, p. 359, f . 76 ; Moreau, Poiss. France, iii, p. 398.

Blicca bjorhna, Siebold, Suss. w. f. Mit. Europe, p. 138.

White bream, Couch, Brit. Fishes, iv, p. 40, pi. clxxxviii ; Houghton, British
Freshwater Fishes, p. 57, c. fig.

B. iii, D. 11 (|:f) P. 15, V. 9-10, A. 22-27 ( T |:| ), C. 19, L. 1. 43-52, L. tr. -^o.

Length of head h\ to 5|, of caudal fin 5, height of body 3? to 3i in the total
length. Eyes diameter 3? to 4i in the length of the head, 1| diameters from the
end of the snout, and 2-j- diameters apart. Body oblong, elevated, and compressed ;
dorsal profile in an almost regular curve to the commencement of the dorsal fin
from whence to the caudal it is somewhat concave ; head rather small ; snout
short and obtuse ; upper jaw slightly the longer, extending backwards almost to
beneath the front edge of the orbit ; mouth protractile, lips rather thick. Teeth
pharyngeal, in two rows 5-4, 2-3/ 3-2, 4-5. Fins dorsal commences behind
the insertion of the ventral and about midway between the front edge of the eye
and the base of the caudal fin, and just beyond the termination of the highest
point of the dorsal profile, while it extends usually to above the third or fourth
anal ray, but occasionally not quite so far. Pectoral inserted low down, and
as long as the head from behind the nostrils, it reaches to above the commence-
ment of the ventral, which latter does not extend to so far as the anal. Anal
falciform, highest anteriorly. Caudal forked. Scales of medium size, higher
than wide, 5 to 6 rows between the lateral-line and the base of the ventral fin.
On the abdominal edge between the ventral aud anal fins the scales do not pass
across forming a keel. Lateral-line passes downwards and is continued to the
base of the caudal fin. Colours silvery, darkest along the back, sides tinged with
rose red, fins of a bluish colour, the dorsal anal and caudal with dark outer margins,
the pectoral and ventrals tinged with red.

Varieties. The Rev. R. Sheppard (Linn. Trans, xiv, p. 587) observed that
there exists in the river Trent in the neighbourhood of Newark, two species
or varieties of bream. The common one is known by the name of the
"carp-bream" from its yellow colour, and has been taken of nearly 8 pounds
weight. The other species or variety, which I believe to be a nondescript, never
exceeds a pound in weight. It is of a silvery hue and goes by the name of the
" white bream."

Names. Taylor, in the Thames valley on the border of Bucks and Berks.
Breamflat, Cambridgeshire. Shude, Ireland. YMerfog aughrion, Welsh. Bremettis,
Book of St. Albans. Be Blei, Dutch. La Breme Bordeliere, French.

Habits. Does not appear to collect in large shoal?, and is more commonly
found with the rudd and roach than the true bream. It is lively, sportive, and
tenacious of life. Lubbock observes that its mode of biting when angled for is
singular, as it appears more prone to rise than to descend, and the float conse-
quently, instead of being drawn under water, is laid horizontally on the surface.

Means of capture. Takes a bait readily but said to be too indolent to swallow
it, still the Swedish fishermen term it Aetare or glutton.

As food. Worthless.

Breeding. Bloch found 108,000 eggs in one fish. A hybrid between this fish
and the rudd (see p. 176) has been observed in Holland and Germany.

Habitat. In Europe the same as the common bream. It has been obtained
from Loch Maben in Dumfriesshire ; from the Trent near Newark ; the Cam,
where it was termed the " breamflat " ( Jenyns) ; and from the Norfolk boards.
It rarely exceeds a pound in weight.

198 PHYSOSTOMI.

Genua VIII Alburn us, Heckel.

Body rather elongated and compressed. Upper jaw protractile. Lower jaw
projecting beyond the upper : lips thin, the lower labial fold being interrupted
opposite the symphysis of the lower jaiv. Barbels absent. Pharyngeal teeth hooked,
and in two rows. Gill-rakers slender and closely set. Dorsal fiu spineless, with few
rays (10-11) and situated above and opposite the interspace between the ventral and
anal fins ; anal fin with many rays (19-23). Scales of medium size. Lateral-line
present and passing to the lower half of the base of the caudal fin. Abdominal edge,
posterior to the ventral fins, compressed into a keel, across which the scales do not
extend.

Geographical distribution. The rather numerous species of this genus are
found in Europe and Western Asia ; they are silvery fishes of small size.

1. Alburnus lucidus, Plate CXXXVII, fig. 1.

Allurnus, Auson. v, p. 126 ; Rondel. Pise. Fluv. p. 208. Cyprinus, Jonston,
lib. iii, t. iii, c. iv, p. 159, t. xxix, f. 13; Willugb. p. 263, t. Q10, f. 7; Ray,
Piscium, p. 123 ; Gronov. Zooph. p. 106, no. 336 ; Artedi, Gen. p. 6, no. 18, Spec,
p. 17, no. 7, Synon. p. 10, no. 19. Leuciscus, sp. Klein, Pise. MSS. v, p. 68, no. 16,
t. xviii, f. 3. Bleak, Pennant, Brit. Zool. (Ed. 1776) iii, p. 370, pi. lxxiii (Ed.
1812) iii, p. 487, pi. lxxxiv. Able ordinaire, Duhamel, Peches, ii, pi. xxxii, f. 1.

Cyprinus alburmts, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 531 ; Bloch, Ichthy. Deuts. i, p. 47, t.
viii, f . 4 ; Gmel. Linn. p. 1434 ; Shaw, v, t. 132 ; Bonnaterre, Ency. Ich. p. 201,
pi. lxxxiii, f . 343 ; Bl. Schn. p. 437 ; Lacep. v, pp. 500, 589 ; Donovan, Brit.
Fishes, pi. xviii ; Turton, Brit. Fauna, p. 109 ; Jenyns, Manual, p. 414 ; Pall.
Zoo. Ross.-Ass. iii, p. 321 ; Fries, and Eks. Skan. Fisk. p. 203, t. Ii ; Gronov. ed.
Gray, p. 184; Schlegel, Dieren Neder. p. 117, pi. xii, f. 1.

Leuciscus alburnus, Fleming, Brit. Anim. p. 188 ; Cuv. and Val. xvii, p. 438 ;
Swainson, Fish, ii, p. 285 ; Tarrell, Brit. Fishes (ed. 1) i, p. 368, c. fig. (ed. 2) i,
p. 419 (ed. 3) i, p. 438 ; White, Catal. p. 67.

Aspius alburnus, Agass. Mem. Soc. Sc. Nat. Neuch. i, p. 38 ; Kroyer, Dan.
Fisk. iii, p. 485 ; Feddersen, Danske Fers. Fiske, p. 90.

Abramis alburnus, Ekstr. Morko, p. 53; Nilss. Skan. Faun, iv, p. 337.

Aspius alburnoides, Selys-Longch. Faun. Belg. p. 214 ; Cuv. and Val. xvii,
p. 186.

Alburnus lucidus, Heckel and Kner, Suss. w. f. p. 131, f. 67 and 68; Siebold,
Suss. w. f. p. 154 ; Malmgr. in Wiegm. Arch, xxx, p. 315 ; Blanchard, Poiss.
France, p. 364, figs. 78, 79 ; Giinther, Catal. vii, p. 312 ; Collett, Norges Fiske,
p. 184 ; Moreau, Poissons France, iii, p. 403.

Alburnus breviceps, Heck, and Kner, Suss. w. f. p. 134, f. 69.

Alburnus Linnei, Malm. Fauna, p. 568.

Alburnus mirandella and fabrcei, Blanchard, 1. c. pp. 369, 370, figs. 80, 81.

Bleak, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, iv, p. 56, pi. exev ; Houghton, British Fresh-
water Fishes, p. 61, c. fig.

B. iii, D. 10-11 (f:|), P. 16-17, V. 9-10, A. 19-23 ( T r-h>) C. 19, L, 1. 47-57,
L tr - 8 ~- 9 - Vert 2 ^-~

_2 2
2 '

Length of head, 5 to 6, of caudal fin 5~ to 5f-, height of body 4| to 5 in the
tot ;d length. Eyes diameter 3-*- to 3| in the length of the head, 1 diameter
Prom the end of the snout, and 1^ apart. Body rather elongated and com-
pressed. Mouth anterior, directed obliquely upwards, lower jaw with a slight

CYPRINID.E. 199

hook at its anterior extremity which projects slightly beyond the upper jaw ;
posterior extremity of the upper jaw reaches to beneath the front edge of the
eye, while it is somewhat emarginate to receive the knob at the extremity of
the lower jaw. Teeth pharyngeal, in two rows 4-5, 2/2, 4-5, pointed and
crooked at their extremities. Fins the dorsal commences behind the insertion
of the ventral and on a line about midway between the hind edge of the eye
and the base of the caudal fin : its last rays are above the first of the anal.
Pectoral falciform, nearly as long as the head, and reaching to above the base of the
ventral, which latter does not quite extend to the anal. Anal highest in front.
Caudal forked. Scales of medium size, 3^ rows between the lateral-line and the
base of the ventral fin. Lateral-line concave anteriorly and continued to the base
of the caudal fin somewhat below its centre. Colours upper surface of the head
and back greenish ; a steel-blue band, with a dark upper edge, along the side a
little above its middle, sides below this silvery. Fins without colour.

Varieties. This fish is subject to great modifications in the proportions of its
body, some being comparatively much lower than others.

Names. Bleak also spelt blick, bleik or bleis, a term derived by some from the old
Saxon word "blac" which signifies "white," or according to Merrett from the
northern word "blick," which means to "bleach" or whiten. From this word
" bleak" have sprung local terms as blaze, blay, willow blade. Ablet, Westmorland.
While Izaak Walton called it the "freshwater sprat." Gorwynbysg, Welsh. Het
Alvertje, Dutch. L'Ablette commune, French.

Habits. Is very common in many rivers, living in shoals, revels at outlets of
drains and is somewhat of a surface swimmer. Ever in motion, never at rest,
darting about at the surface of the water, especially during sunny weather, so as
to have obtained the name of the " river swallow," and springing out at flies, or
infesting rivers in shoals, near the openings of drains. Siebold asserts that it
occasionally springs out of the water to escape some rapacious fish as perch which is
about attacking it from beneath, and thus eludes its enemy. The bleak is infested
with parasitic worms which some authors consider to be frequently the cause of
its eccentric gyrations in the water, and have gained it the epithet of "mad bleak."
It has, however, been remarked that they are only in this wild condition during
certain states of the water. Buckland observes that at the Severn at Shrewsbury
he went to the mouth of a sewer : the water was ink black from waste dye, and
so warm that steam was on the surface ; bleak were here in vast shoals. In June,
1881, it was remarked in the Field, that the dace which used to afford so much
sport to anglers when the river was in a natural state, are not now to be found
except in a very limited degree, and the migrating fish as bleak, twaite shad,
lamperns and lampreys are becoming scarce. This year, however, the little bleak
has shown itself in large shoals ascending to considerably above Shrewsbury.
Means of capture. Netting, or it will l'ise to the fly.

Baits. A common fly, a bit of fat bacon, or a small artificial gnat, a gentle at
the end of a casting line, or a bit of kid on the end of the hook.

Breeding. May, June, and even July, during which period its head and
gill-covers are rough to the touch. In Sweden Nilsson remarks that the largest
and oldest are the earliest to breed. The young grow very rapidly.

Hybrids. Jackel describes from Bavaria a reputed hybrid between Alburnus
lucidus, and probably Scardinius erythro^Mlialmus, which he terms Alburnus
Bosenhaueri (Zool. Garten, 1866, p. 20).

Uses. A good spinning bait due to its silvery whiteness, but it dies too soon
to succeed as live bait. The silvery pigment with which its scales are lined
has been extensively used in the manufacture of artificial pearls. One thousand
bleak are computed to yield 1 lb. of scales, and this four ounces of precipitated
white powdery pigment. Yarrell remarks in his time first the slime and dirt was
carried off from the scales by a run of waier, they were then soaked for a time
when the pigment was found at the bottou^ of the vessel. Into this glass tubes
were dipped and the pigment injected into thin hollow glass beads of various forms
and sizes. These were then spread on sieves and dried in a current of air. If
greater weight were required an injection of wax was added. Pigment from the

200 PHYSOSTOMI.

scales of the roach and dace was said to be the best, but that from the bleak in
greater request. So great was the demand formerly at particular times that the
price of a quart measure of fish scales has varied from one guinea to five. Of late
years the silvery pigment lining the air-bladder of the Argentine has superseded
to a great extent the colouring substance from fish-scales. Blanchard gives as an
estimate of the value of these fishes taken in the Moselle in 1860 at 5000 francs.

As food. Izaak Walton terms it excellent meat, others liken it to sprats ; while
it has been recommended marinated. Some who have failed to appreciate the
bleak, assume that it is neither worth cooking nor eating, that its taste is muddy,
while it is too large to employ as whitebait, and too small to afford a good
mouthful. It dies quickly, and its flesh soon decomposes.

Habitat. Generally found in rivers which contain roach and dace, and in
Europe north of the Alps.

Absent from Scotland and Ireland. Is a freshwater resident in Yorkshire,
common in the lower waters of the Tees, Leven, and of the Central Plain ; also
in the Hull (Yorkshire Vertebrata) ; very abundant in ditches at North Wootton,
in Norfolk, the Ouse, below Denver sluice, at low water (Lowe) ; the Thames,
certainly as high as Oxford, the Lea, and New River, the Severn, and many of our
rivers.

Its common size is up to 5 or 6 inches. Jenyns mentions specimens up to
8 inches. The figure, life size, is from one taken in the Thames.

cyprinlcle. 201

Second Group Cobitidinae.

The loaches, or the second group of the true carps, is comprised of forms in
which the two lateral portions of the air-bladder are partially or entirely enclosed
in bone, enabling it to be employed as an acoustic organ. These are mostly small
fishes, and the two genera represented in Great Britain may thus be recognized :

With an erectile spine near the orbit . . . Gohitis.

Without any ...... Nemacheilus.

Genus IX Cobitis, sp. Artedi.
Botia, sp. Gray.

Body elongated and moderately compressed : bach not elevated. Six barbels, all

of which belong to the upper jaw. A large erectile, bifid, suborbital spiyie. Dorsal

fin short, and commencing nearly or quite opposite the ventrals. Caudal fin

truncated or rounded. The internal ray of the pectoral fin may be modified into a

flat osseous spine.

1. Cobitis taenia, Plate CXXXVII, fig. 3.

Cobitis aculeata, Rondel, ii, p. 204; Gesner, pp. 404, 482; Aldrov. v, p. 617 ;
Jonston, lib. iii, tit. i, c. xii, art. iii, p. 143, t. 26, f . 22, 23 ; Willughby, p. 265,
t. Q8, f. 3 ; Ray, Pise. p. 124. Taenia comuta, Willugh. 1. c. p. 226. Cobitis, sp.
Artedi, Gen. p. 2, no. 1, Species, p. 4, no. 1, and Synon. p. 3, no. 2 ; Gronov. Zooph.
no. 202. Enchelyopus, Klein, MSS. iv, p. 59, no. 4.

Cobitis taenia, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 499 ; Gmel. Linn. p. 1349 ; Bloch,
Ich. i, p. 326, t. xxxi, f. 2 ; Bonnaterre, Ency. Ich. p. 148, pi. lxi, f . 242 ;
Bl. Schn. p. 434; Lacep. v, p. 9 ; Pallas, Zoo. Ross.-Asi. iii, p. 166; Mull. Prod.
Zoo. Dan. p. 47 ; Turton, Brit. Fauna, p. 103 ; Flem. Brit. An. p. 189 ; Jenyns,
Manual, p. 417; Nilss. Skand. Fauna, iv, p. 345; Cuv. and Val. xviii, p. 58;
Yarrell, Brit. Fish. (ed. 3) i, p. 452, c. fig.; Thompson, P. Z. Soc. 1837, p. 59;
Heckel and Kner, Suss. w. f. p. 303, f. 163 ; Costa, Faun. Nap. p. 31 ; Siebold,
Suss. w. f. p. 338 ; Schlegel, Dieren Neder. p. 124, pi. ix, f. 6 ; Malmgren, Wieg.
Arch. 1864, p. 306 ; Steind. Sitz. Ak. Wiss. Wien. 1865, Nov. 3rd ; Canestrini,
Arch. Zool. iv, 1866, p. 148, and Faun. Ital. Pesc. p. 20 ; Malm, Fauna, p. 569 ;
Blanchard, Poiss. France, p. 285, fig. 54 ; Giinther, Cafcal. vii, p. 362 ; Giglioli,
Pesc. Ital. Catal. p. 45 ; Moreau, Poiss. France, iii, p. 434.

Botia taenia, Gray, Zool. Misc. p. 8 ; Yarrell, Brit. Fish. (ed. 2) i, p. 432, c. fig. ;
Kroyer, Danm. Fisk. iii, p. 564 ; White, Catal. p. 69 ; Feddersen, Danske F. Fiske,
p. 92.

Acanthopsis tcenia, Agassiz, Mem. Soc. Sc. Neuch. i, p. 36 ; Nord. in Demid.
Voy. Ross. Merid. iii, p. 468 ; Bonap. Pesc. Eur. p. 26.

Cobitis elongata, Heckel and Kner, 1. c. p. 305, f . clxiv.

Cobitis barbatula, Gronov. ed. Gray, p. 41.

Cobitis larvata, De Filipi, Mem. Ace. Turin, xix, p. 71 ; Canestrini, 1. c. p. 152.

Spined loach, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, iv, p. 72, pi. excix, f. 3 ; Houghton,
British Freshwater Fishes, p. 66, c, fig.

B. iii, D. 9-10 (:), P. 8-9, V. 6-7, A. 7-8 (V), C. 16.

Length of head 5| to 6, of caudal fin 6| to 7, height of body 7 to 9 in the total
length. Eyes 5 to 6 diameters in the length of the head, and situated about its
centre, from 1^ to 2 diameters from the end of the snout, and 1 diameter apart.
Body strongly compressed, more especially posterior to the dorsal fin. Mouth

202 PHYSOSTOMI.

overhung by the snout, both its cleft and gape small, the posterior extremity
of the maxilla reaching to beneath the hind nostril. A strong bifurcated
suborbital spine situated beneath the hind nostril, and extends to beneath the first
third of the orbit. Barbels short, six in number, all inserted on snout and upper
jaw. Teeth pharyngeal, in a single row, 8-10/10-8. Fins the dorsal commences
above the origin of the ventral and about midway between the end of the snout and
the base of the caudal fin. Pectoral almost as long as the head in the males : the
upper pectoral ray is osseous, enlarged and flattened.* Caudal cut square or slightly
emarginate. Scales very minute. Lateral-line present, passing along nearly the
middle of the side. Colours of a light brown, becoming white along the abdomen :
two rows of dark spots along the back and upper half of the sides, and a third of
larger marks below the lateral-line : these marks are sometimes converted into
transverse bands : a black streak from the eye to the snout : a black blotch on
the upper portion of the base of the caudal fin. Pectoral, dorsal and caudal
fins banded with dark marks.

Names. Spined loach, denoting its preorbital spine ; ribbon-shaped loach,
having reference to its shape. Be Kleine mo dderhr wider, Dutch. La Loche de
Riviere, French.

Habits. But little is known of the habits of this species of loach in this
country, where not only is it local but rare. It appears to be more of a mud-
loving form than our groundling, while it is tenacious of life. When touched it
is said to emit a peculiar guttural sound.

Breeding. March and April in France, and very prolific.

As food. Said to be inferior to the common loach, but still it is much
esteemed.

Habitat. Distributed through most of the continent of Europe. In Finland
it is rare and local, but generally found through Denmark and the northern
half of Sweden.

It is a much rarer form in Britain than the common groundling, Nemacheilus
barbatula. Parnell observes that he thought he saw one in the River Teith in
Scotland, but he failed to obtain it. It has been recorded from the Trent near
Nottingham : from fish ponds at Ely and in other pieces of water in Cambridge-
shire (Jenyns) : clear streams in Wiltshire, and Thompson obtained it from near
Guy's Cliff in Warwickshire in July, 1836 : Couch also observes that he believes
it is found in Gloucestershire. Newman (Zool. 1855, xiii, p. 4836) remarked
that he took this species at Dorking in a little muddy stream that runs into the
Mole, just below the bridge at Brockhara Lodge. But although he describes it
he omits any reference to the spine below the eye (? next species). It has not
been recorded from Ireland.

Rarely exceeds three inches in length.

* Cedcrstrom, JEiv. Ak Forh. xxxi, 1874, p. 47, pi. xi, f. 5-8, observes on the habits of this fish,
and how the sexes are differentiated by external characters.

CYPRINID^E. 203

Genus X Nemacheilus, Van Hasselt.

Acoura and Acourus, Swainson. Acanthocobitis, Peters. Oreias, Sauvage.
Diplophysa, Kessler.

Body elongated. Dorsal profile nearly horizontal. Barbels six : none on the
mandibles. No spine on the head. Dorsal fin short or of moderate length, and
situated opposite the ventrals.

This genus, which includes a large number of species, has been subdivided
into such as possess upwards of twelve dorsal rays, Acanthocobitis, and those with
less : also into those that have forked or entire caudal fins.

Geographical distribution. Fresh waters of Europe and Asia.

1. Nemacheilus barbatula, Plate CXXXVII, fig. 2.

Cobitis barbatula, Rondel, ii, p. 204 ; Gesner, p. 404 ; Aldrov. v, c. xxxi,
p. 618 ; Jonston, lib. iii, t. i, c. xii, art. ii, t. xxvi, f. 21. Cobitis fluviatilis,
Schonev. p. 31 ; Rutty, i, p. 366 ; Ray, Pise. p. 124 ; Willugh. p. 265, t. Q8, fig. 1.
Loche, Pennant, Brit. Zool. (Ed. 1776) iii, p. 282, pi. lviii (Ed. 1812) iii, p. 379,
pi. lxix. Cobitis, sp. Artedi, Genera, p. 2, no. 2, Synon. p. 2, no. 1. Enchelyopus,
Klein, MSS. iv, p. 59, no. 3, pi. xv, f. 4. Duhamel, Peches, ii, sect, iii, p. 521,
pi. xxvii, f. 3.

Cobitis barbatula, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 499 ; Gmel. Linn. p. 1348 ; Bloch,
Icthyol. i, p. 329, t. xxxi, f. 3 ; Bonnaterre, Ency. Ich. p. 148, pi. lxi, f. 241 ;
Bl. Schn. p. 434 ; Lacep. v, p. 8 ; Miiller, Faun. Danm. p. 47 ; Pall. Zoog. Ross.-
As. iii, p. 164 ; Donovan, Brit. Fish, i, pi. xxii ; Turton, Brit. Fauna, p. 103 ;
Flem. Brit. An. p. 189 ; Jenyns, Manual, p. 416 ; Parnell, Wern. Mem. vii, p. 270 ;
Yarrell, Brit. Fishes (ed. 1), i, p. 376, c. fig. (ed. 2) i, p. 427 (ed. 3), i, p. 446 ;
Swainson, Fishes, ii, p. 310 ; Fries and Ekstr. Skan. Fisk. pi. liii ; Templeton, Mag.
Nat. Hist. 1837 (2), i, p. 410; Johnston, Berwick. N. H. F. Club, 1838, i,
p. 172 ; Nilss. Skand. Faun, iv, p. 343 ; Thompson, Nat. Hist. Ireland , iv,p. 139 ;
Nord. in Demid. Voy. Russ. Merid. iii, p. 470 ; Cuv. and Val. xviii, p. 14, pi. 520 ;
Kroyer, Dan. Fisk. iii, p. 539 ; Heckel and Kner, Suss. w. f. p. 301, f. 162 ; Siebold,
Suss. w. f. p. 337 ; Malmgren, Wieg. Arch. 1864, p. 306 ; Canestrini, Arch. Zool.
iv, 1866, p. 146, and Faun. Ital. Pesc. p. 20 ; White, Catal. p. 69 ; Blanchard,
Poiss. France, p. 280, fig. 52 ; Feddersen, Danske F. Fiske, p. 92 ; Moreau,
Poiss. France, iii, p. 432.

Nemachilus barbatula, Giinther, Catal. vii, p. 354 ; Giglioli, Pesc. Ital. Catal.
p. 46.

Loach, Couch, Fishes British Isles, iv, p. 69, pi. excix, f . 2 ; Houghton, British
Fresh Water Fishes, p. 65, c. fig.

B. iii, D. 10 (|:|), P. 10-12, V. 8-9, A. 7-8 (V), C. 17.

Length of head 5 to 5|, of caudal fin 6 to 6|, height of body 6 to 8 in the
total length. Eye 5 to 6^ diameters in the length of the head and situated
about its centre, from 2 to 3 diameters from the end of the snout, and li to 2
apart. Body rounded anteriorly, but compressed in its posterior half. Mouth over-
hung by the snout, which is obtuse : cleft shallow : the posterior extremity of the
maxilla reaches to beneath the hind nostril. No spine on the head. Barbels six,
all inserted into the snout and upper jaw. Teeth pharyngeal ; in one row 8-10/10-8,
pointed and crooked at their extremities. Fins the dorsal commences above the
insertion of the ventral and rather nearer the base of the caudal fin than the end
of the snout, or midway between the two. Pectoral as long as the head excluding
the snout. Caudal cut almost square at its posterior extremity, with its corners
rounded. Scales minute, and mostly concealed in the large amount of slime
with which the fish is covered. Lateral-line distinct along the middle of the
side of the body. Colours these are subject to great variation, mostly of an

204 PHYSOSTOMI.

olive-green blotched all over with dark markings : abdomen white. Fins blotched
and banded with darker. Occasionally it is more yellow, with ill-defined spots
and blotches. Generally a black mark at the base of the caudal fin above and
below, but most distinct above.

Varieties. Siebold observed one from Munich of a reddish colour, and having
a red pupil : Baldner, of a pale-coloured loach.

Names. Groundling, from its remaining at the bottom of streams or waters :
stone-loach, due to its fondness for secreting itself beneath a stone : ground-bait,
or ground gudgeon, Northumberland : lie-still, South Hampshire : also locally as
beardie, tommy loach, or tommy lurher. La Loch Franche, French.

Habits. Clear rivulets with gravelly bottoms, which it prefers to broad rivers,
and keeps near the ground, rapidly darting away if disturbed ; it is also found in
pools. Appears to be very susceptible to atmospheric changes ; thus, when kept
in an aquarium, Couch found that it would throw itself over the walls of its
prison, especially at the approach of, or during any remarkable changes of wind
or weather. It similarly commits suicide by springing out of ponds or
streams. Newman (Zool. 1855) says that in an aquarium it remains motionless
at the bottom for the greater part of the day ; but towards evening, and in
showery weather, it presently comes to the surface, with a wriggling movement
of its eel-like body then drops languidly to the bottom. The loach has been
kept alive in aquaria as a living barometer from the supposition that certain
movements and alterations of position or situation indicate particular changes
which are about to occur in the weather. It is very voracious, and will feed on
larva? and adult insects, as well as consume an incredible number of small worms,
i.e., from 1| to 2 inches long. As soon as one is seized it stirs up the mud, and
so becomes invisible. In a state of nature it lurks in long floating grass quite as
commonly as under stones, and when rivers are flooded and very muddy, it often
seeks refuge at the sides, under banks, and among small tufts of grass.

Means of capture. A fine hook and line : baling out streams, or netting.
Boys spear it with an ordinary fork tied on the end of a stick.

Baits. A small worm.

Breeding. Spawns in March and April : depositing numerous small ova. It
has always been considered one of the most prolific of our freshwater fishes.

Uses. Very good spinning bait for trout, perch, and small pike. Large
pike high up streams will sometimes take them after refusing roach and dace.
It is said to be rendered more killing if steeped in sweet oil, which changes its
colour into a golden tint. A good bait on night lines for eels, while chub will
also take it. Owls have been observed to feed their young with this fish.

As food. Excellent flavour and very delicate. B-utty remarks that " it is
customary with many to take it alive in a glass of generous wine " (i, p. 866) ;
but Pennant observes that sportsmen do so through frolic. Izaak Walton con-
sidered it a dainty dish at table, and Gesner terms it the "invalid fish," the best
being fed and bred in little clear and swift brooks or rills over gravel. Frederick
the First of Sweden went to the expense of having this fish imported into his
country from Germany for his own particular eating. It is occasionally preserved
as anchovies, and considered superior both in flavour and richness.

Habitat. Absent from Scandinavia and Denmark, but distributed over most
of Europe. In many of the streams of the north of Scotland, and in all the rivers
entering the Firth of Forth (Parnell), the Tweed, and the burns of Berwickshire
(Johnston) ; in the waters of Leith (Neill).

In Yorkshire abundant in shallow waters. Found in the North-Western Fells
up to 900 feet ; also in Malham Tarn, 1250 feet (Yorkshire Vert.). In Norfolk
found in the smaller streams, wherever stones afford a lurking place" (Lubbock) ;
and it has been specially mentioned in many other localities to so far as Cornwall :
also in Wales.

In Ireland taken in counties of Londonderry, Monaghan and Cavan ;
Florence Court : counties of Dublin, Kildare, Cork and Wicklow. I found it
abundant at Edgeworthstown, county of Longford. It rarely exceeds 5 inches
in length.

CLUPEIDvE. 205

Family, V CLUPEIDtE, Cuvier.

Gill-openings usually very wide; pseudobranchiae, when present, well
developed. Abdomen mostly compressed, generally into a sharp edge, and
usually serrated. Opercular pieces, four. Eyes lateral, with or without an
adipose covering or lateral lids. Margins of the upper jaw formed mesially by
the premaxillaries, laterally by the maxillaries, which latter are composed of
three pieces not ossified together. Mouth may have a deep cleft, with small
premaxillaries and the maxilla elongated, and either the upper or lower jaw
projecting; or the mouth may be transverse. Barbels absent. Fin rays articu-
lated. A single dorsal, with a few or moderate number of weak rays, and
sometimes many rayed. Scales on the body : none, as a rule, on the head.
Lateral-line mostly absent. Stomach with a " cul de sac." Air-bladder more or
less simple. Pyloric appendages, when present, numerous.

Although, in our seas the herrings are merely represented by six species, still
one, or the true herring, is among the most valuable of our marine fishes ;
another, the pilchard, is likewise of considerable importance ; and a third, or the
sprat, is of great economic use. An account of each of these fisheries will have
to be detailed, consequently it is merely necessary in this place to draw attention
to some phenomena which are common to the members of the entire family.

Most of the fishes of which the family of herrings is composed are gregarious
forms that congregate in shoals, and, as a rnle, swim more or less near the surface.
They have no means of defence against predaceous foes, and are preyed upon by
numerous enemies, to counterbalance which they are endowed with great prolific
powers. It appears somewhat improbable that man, with his present implements
of capture, will be able to annihilate the herring shoals in our seas, but without
doing this he can scare them, and so break up the shoals by injudicious modes of
fishing. He can likewise drive them from certain shores into the deeper water,
where they may form a deep-sea race ; or he may occasion their entirely forsaking
a locality.

Geographical distribution. Herrings are found in most seas, and many enter
fresh waters.

Synopsis of Genera.

1. Engraulis, or anchovy. Upper jaw prominent, mouth with a very deep
cleft, eyes covered by skin.

2. Clupea, or true herrings. Upper jaw not projecting. Eyes with free lateral

adipose lids.

Genus I Engraulis, Cuvier.

Stolephorus, Lacepede. Thryssa and Telara, Cuvier. Setipinna, Swainson.
Pterenyraulis, Lycengraulis, Lycothrissa, and Eeterothrissa, Giinther.

Branchiostegals short and rather numerous. Gill-openings wide, the membrane
connecting the two sides being short, thus leaving the isthmus uncovered. Body
oblong or elevated, and the abdominal edge compressed. Cleft of mouth
lateral: snout conical, the upper jaw the longer. Maxillaries of varying
length, but always long, having a membraneous attachment to the cheeks. Teeth
small, sometimes of unequal size, usually present in the jaws, vomer, palatine, and
pteryqoid bones. The dorsal fin may be iv holly or partially in advance of, or entirely
posterior to, the origin of the anal. The upper pectoral rays may or may not be
prolonged : anal with many or a moderate number of rays. Scales large or of
moderate size.

206 PHYSOSTOMI.

Geographical description. Seas and coasts of Europe, also in the Southern
Pacific.

Engraulis gryoporus, Cope, Pro. Amer. Phil. Soc. xiii, 1873, p. 25, is said to be
the first species of anchovy from the Northern Pacific.

1. Engraulis encrasicholus, Plate CXXXVIII, fig. 1.

Halecula, Belon. pp. 168, 169. Encrasicholus, Rondel, vii, c. ii, p. 211 ; Gesner,
p. 78 ; Aldrov. ii, c. xxxiii, p. 214 ; Jonston, lib. i, tit. hi, art. 18, p. 78, t. xix,
f. 17 ; Willughby, p. 225, t. P2, f. 2 ; Ray, Piscium, p. 107. Lycostomus balticus,
Schonev. v, c. ii, p. 46. Clupea, sp. no. 3, Artedi, Synon. p. 17, no. 3, Genera,
p. 7, no. 4. Argentina, sp. Gronov. Zooph. no. 349. ByJcling or Moderldse, Miill.
Prod. Faun. Dan. p. 50. Anchovy, Pennant, Brit. Zool. (Ed. 1776) iii, p. 347,
pi. lxvii (Ed. 1812) iii, p. 459. Vanchois, Duhamel, Peches, ii, 3, pi. xvii, f. 5.

Clupea encrasicholus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 523 ; Fabr. Faun. Gronl. p. 183 ;
Bloch, Ich. p. 316, t. xxx, f. 2 ; Gmel. Linn. p. 1405 ; Bonnaterre, Ency. Ich. p.
185, pi. lxxv, f. 313 ; Bl. Schn. p. 423 ; Lacep. v, p. 455 ; Donovan, Brit. Fish.
iii, pi. 1; Turton, Brit. Fauna, p. 107; Pallas, Zoo. Ross.-As. iii, p. 212; Risso,
Ich. Nice, p. 354, and Eur. Merid. iii, p. 454.

Engraulis encrasichohis, Cuv. Regne Anim.ii, p. 322; Risso, Eur. Merid. iii,
p. 454 ; Jenyns, Manual, p. 439 ; Cuv. and Val. xxi, p. 7, pi. 607 ; Yarrell, Brit.
Fish. (ed. 1) ii, p. 140, c. fig. (ed. 2) ii, p. 217 (ed. 3) i, p. 151 ; Bonap. Pesc.
Eur. p. 34 ; White, Catal. p. 86 ; Nilss. Skand. Fauna, p. 531 ; Swainson, Fishes,
ii, p. 293 ; Kroyer, Danm. Fiske, iii, p. 221, c. fig. ; Schlegel, Dieren Neder. p. 150,
pi. xiv, f. 4; Giinther, Catal. vii, p. 385; Steind. vi, p. 738; Collett, Norges
Fiske, p. 194; Malm, Fauna, p. 569 ; Winther, Ich. Dan. Mar. p. 47 ; Canestrini,
Fauna Ital. Pesci, p. 135 ; Giglioli, Catal. Pesc. Ital. p. 46 ; Moreau, Poiss.
France, iii, p. 460.

Engraulis meletta, Cuv. Regne Anim. (variety).

Encrasicholus encrasicholus, Fleni. Brit. Anim. p. 183.

Engraulis vulgaris, Nilss. Prod. p. 25.

Argentina sphyrama, Gronov. ed. Gray, p. 141.

Anchovy, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, iv, p. 125, pi. ccvi, f. 2.

B. xii-xiii, D. 15-18 (xflfs), P. 16-17, V. 7, A. 16-18 (t^), C. 21, L. 1.

48-50, Vert. 46-47.

Length of head 4^ to 5, of caudal fin 7 to 7|, height of body 7 to 8 times in
the total length. Eyes diameter 1/4 of the length of the head, 3/4 to 1 diameter
from the end of the snout and 3/4 of a diameter apart. Form slender, compressed,
and thicker along the back than along the abdomen. Snout overlapping the
mouth, very prominent and pointed. Cleft of mouth very deep, extending to
beyond the hind edge of the eye. Upper jaw much longer than the lower.
Teeth in both jaws, being very fine in the lower, also present on the palatines
and sometimes on the vomer. Fins the dorsal commences in about the middle of
the distance between the end of the snout and the base of the caudal fin, and
slightly behind the insertion of the ventral. Anal rays very low. Caudal deeply
forked. Scales rather large : very deciduous : abdomen rounded without any
carinated edge. Two large scales on the base of the caudal fin. Colours
greenish along the back when alive, silvery on the sides and beneath ; a burnished
steel blue band, having a dark upper edge, divides the dark back from the silvery
sides. After death the back becomes of a very dark steel-blue, almost black.

Varieties. The form in the southern hemisphere has 18 to 20 anal rays.

Names. Anchovy, perhaps derived from the French. De Ansjovis, Dutch.
It Anchois vulgaire, French.

Habits. A gregarious marine fish which hangs about our south coast from
September until February, in dark nights appears to give a phosphorescent light to
the sea : while Dillwyn observes that off Swansea in some summers there are vast

CLUPEIM]. 207

numbers in the Bay. Couch obtained one in Cornwall in March, from the stomach
of a mackerel. It approaches our shores somewhat later than the pilchard (was
plentiful in October, 1883), and continues off the coast generally till February.

Mr. Wilcocks (Field, Jan. 13th, 1883) only met with them twice in his life
along the south-west coast of England, once at Exmouth, the other time at
Teignmouth, and found them both poor in taste as well as bitter. They are only
taken by chance in drift nets or seines for sand-eels, as their small size enables
them to pass through the meshes of such nets as are generally used by the drift
net fishermen. In November, 1871, Mr. Dunn reported that upwards of 150,000
were taken in the seines set in Mevagissey Bay for pilchards, and were used as
manure. It is seldom, however, they come so close in shore, although quantities
hang in the offing off the coast from September until February. Said to eat
small crabs, fry and sea insects.

Means of capture. In the Mediterranean from May until July, dark nights
are selected, and each boat carries a torch to attract the fish, when the shoals are
surrounded by small meshed nets, while the fishermen splash the water in order
to draw the fish which dart about and become gilled.

Breeding. In the Mediterranean from May until July (Bloch) and very
prolific : off our coasts from September until December. Mr. Jackson remarked
that on June 9th, 1878, off Southport, he took some dozens in a shrimp trawl on a
sandy bottom, about half a mile off shore. Unfortunately nearly all the scales
came off in the net. Many were full of spawn and so tender that they burst with
the slightest strain.

Uses. Anchovies are prepared by drawing off the head and removing the
viscera, they are not washed or wiped, but packed into small casks of 5 lb. to
201b. weight, in layers alternately with a mixture of Jij sal prunella (saltpetre
deprived of water of crystallization by heat), and should be well pressed down and
air excluded. Anchovy sauce is made by bruising fish and simmering with melted
butter on a slow fire, a little vinegar and flour being added. The fish dissolves in
the process.

It is one of the fishes from which the Greeks and Romans prepared the sauce,
garum, which was held in so much estimation.

As food. It is rarely eaten fresh ; in fact, it is strongly scented and so bitter
that it has been said to carry its gall in its head. But prepared anchovies and
anchovy paste are much relished.

Habitat. Taken in innumerable quantities in the Mediterranean and extending
northwards off Norway and the Baltic. It is found on both coasts of France, but
most numerous on the Mediterranean side, also along the Iberian peninsula from
Gibraltar, and from thence eastwards to Greece and the Black Sea, while a variety
has been found in Tasmania. This fish was first obtained on our coasts by Ray
from the estuary of the Dee. Mr. Peach has taken it from the herring nets off
Wick, while there is one in the Newcastle Museum, taken in 1834 from some
sprats being sold in the market, Durham (Jenyns). It appears to extend its range
around our coasts, especially in the south and south-west, and has been specially
referred to as present in Yorkshire (Yorkshire Vertebrata) ; three taken at
Bridlington Bay, October 17th, 1866 ; rare at Yarmouth (Turner) ; frequently
taken in the stow nets during the summer months in the river opposite Lynn
(Lowe) ; Boston, Lincolnshire (Adcock), coasts of Essex ; and Yarrell received an
example from the mouth of the Thames, where, however, it was not known by the
fishermen; Hampshire (Donovan). Often captured in drift nets in the west
portion of the British Channel. Sometimes taken in the Exe (Parfitt) : quite a
common fish in the autumn from Polperro to Falmouth (Dunn) ; while the same
authority reported the capture of at least 150,000 in November^ 1871, at Meva-
gissey, where they were employed as manure : occasionally taken in St. Ives' Bay
(Cornish). In Wales it has been recorded off Glamorganshire: Swansea, where
it is abundant in some seasons: Flintshire (Pennant).
In Ireland Andrews reported it found off the coast.

The anchovy is common up to 4| or 5 inches in length, rarely exceeds 6|; but
Mr. Dunn has obtained it from pilchard nets off the Cornish coast 8 inches long.

208 PHYSOSTOMI. "

Genus II Clupea, sp. Artedi.

Clupanodon, pt. Lacepede. Harengula, Bogenia, Spratella, Sardinella, Clupeo-
nia, Koivala, Meletta, and Alausa, Cuv. and Val. Clupalosa, Amblygaster, and
Clupeoides, Bleeker. Opisthonenema, Brevoortia, and Alausella, Gill.

Branchiostegals numerous : pseudobranchia) well developed. Body oblong or
somewhat elongated, with the serrature of the abdomen extending anteriorly into the
thoracic region : upper jaw projecting beyond the lower. Mouth anterior or
antero-superior. Eyes with free adipose lids. Teeth, when present, rudimentary and
deciduous. Dorsal fin situated opposite to the ventrals ; anal with a moderate or
large number of rays : caudal forked. Scales large, of moderate, or more rarely, of
small size.

Hyrtl (Denksckr. Ak. Wiss. Wein. x, 1855, p. 49) lias recorded a rudimentary
accessory branchial organ in one species of this genus from Brazil, Clupea
aurea, Agassiz.

This genus has been subdivided in accordance with its dentition, but as
the teeth are small and deciduous, such a procedure is open to very great
objection.

In the ensuing British species there are two distinct forms of serrative along the
abdominal edge, examples of which are well seen in the herring and in the sprat.

In the herring, Clupea harengus, and in the pilchard, C. pilchardus, the scales
along the abdominal edge do not pass across from one side to the other, but are
divided by an interspace in which are the scutes. These scales may quite overlie and
conceal the scutes, the latter not being formed by the coalescence of the scales from
the two sides of the body.

In the sprat, Clupea sprattus, and both the shads, C. alosa and C. finta, we find
that the scales along the abdominal edge pass across from one side to the other,
and in the middle line are produced with a tooth-like or spinate process, which
pertains equally to the scales on either side of the body.

Uses. As food, either fresh or preserved, also for the production of oil.

Geographical distribution. Cosmopolitan, many forms ascending into fresh
waters, where some now permanently reside.

1. Clupea harengus, Plate CXXXVIII, fig. 2.
2a heeled scales along the abdominal edge.

Harengus, Rondel, p. 222 ; Gesner, p. 486 ; Jonston, Lib. i, tit. i, art. iii, p. 9,
t. i, f. 6 ; Willughby, p. 219, t. Pi, f. 2 ; Ray, Pise. p. 103. Clupea, sp. Artedi,
Synon. p. 14, no. 1 (part), Genera, p. 7, no. 1, Species, p. 31, no. 1 ; Gronov.
Zooph, no. 348; Rutty, Nat. Hist. Co. Dublin, 1772, i, p. 360. Harengus, Klein,
Pise. Misc. v, p. 71, no. 1, t. xix, f. 1. Herring, Pennant, Brit. Zool. (Ed. 1776),
iii, p. 335, pi. lxviii (Ed. 1812) iii, p. 444, pi. lxxix ; Low, Fauna Oread, p. 226.
La Hareng, Duhamel, Peches, iii, p. 335.

Clupea harengus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 522 ; Gmel. Linn. p. 1402 ; Bloch, Ich.
p. 278, pi. xxix, f . 1 ; Bonn. Ency. Ich. p. 184, pi. lxxv, f. 310 ; Bl. Schn. p. 422 ;
Lacep. v, p. 427 ; Faber, Fische Isl. p. 182 ; Pallas, Zoo. Ross. -As. iii, p. 209 ; Shaw,
v, t. cxix ; Turton, Brit. Faun. p. 106 ; Flem. Brit. An. p. 182 ; Jenyns, Manual,
p. 434 ; Yarrell, Brit. Fishes (ed. 1) ii, p. 110, c. fig. (ed. 2) ii, p. 183 (ed. 3) i,
p. 98; Templeton, M. Nat. Hist. 1837 (2) i, p. 411; Parnell, Wern. Mem. vii,
p. 315, t. xxxv, or Fish. Firth of Forth, p. 155, t. xxxv ; Johnston, Berwick. N. F.
Club, 1838, i, p. 173 ; Kroyer, Danm. Fisk. iii, p. 138, c. fig. ; Thompson, Ireland,
iv, p. 175 ; Cuv. and Val. xx, p. 30, pi. 591, 592, 593 ; Swainson, Fish, ii, p.
295 ; Nilss. Skand. Fauna, iv, p. 491 ; White, Catal. p. 83 ; Gronov. ed. Gray, p.
139 ; Schlegel, Dieren Neder. p. 138, pi. xiv, f. 1 ; Malmgren, Wieg. Arch. 1864,
p. 341 and GBfv. Svensk. Vet. Akad. Ford. 1865, p. 535 ; Giinther, Catal. vii, p.
415; Collett, Norges Fiske, p. 185; Malm, Fauna, p. 570; Winther, Prod. Ich.
Danm. Mar. p. 47 ; Moreau, Poiss. France, iii, p. 443.

Clupea Pallasii, Cuv. and Val. xx, p. 253.

Herring, Couch, Fishes Brit. Isles, iv, p. 95, pi. ecii.

CLUPEID^E. 209

Young.

Whitebait, Pennant, Brit. Zool. (Ed. 1776) iii, p. 371, pi. lxix.

Cyprinus esca, Walb. Artedi, iii, p. 36 ; Bl. Schn. p. 446.

Clupea alba, Yarrell, Zool. Journ. iv, pp. 137, 465, pi. v, f . 2 and Brit. Fishes
(ed. 1) ii, p. 126, c. fig. (ed. 2) ii, p. 202 (ed. 3) i, p. 121 ; Jenyns, Manual, p.
436 ; Parnell, Wern. Mem. vii, p. 325, t. xxxv, Fish. Firth of Forth, p. 165, t.
xxxv, and Mag. Nat. Hist, ix, 1836, p. 318.

Rogenia alba, Cuv. and Val. xx, p. 341, pi. 598.

Rogenia esca, White, Catal. p. 84.

Whitebait, Conch, Fish. Brit. Isles, iv, p. 114, pi. cciii, f. 2.

Synonymy for American Specimens.

Clupea harengus, Fabr. Faun. Grcenl. p. 182 ; Mitchell, Amer. Monthly Mag.
ii, p. 323 ; Richards. Frank. Journ. p. 716 and Faun. Bor.-Amer. iii, p. 229.

Clupea elongata, Leseur, Journ. Acad. Nat. Sc. Phil, i, p. 234 ; Storer, Fish.
Mass. p. Ill, and Mem. Amer. Ac. vi, p. 330, pi. xxvi, f. 1; De Kay, New York
Fauna, Fish. p. 250 ; Cuv. and Val. xx, p. 247.

Varieties.

Clupea Leachii, Yarrell, Zool. Journal, v, p. 278, pi. xii, Proc. Zool. Soc.
1830, p. 34, and Brit. Fish. (ed. 1) ii, p. 117, c. fig. (ed. 2) ii, p. 193 (ed. 3) i, p.
Ill ; Jenyns, 1. c. p. 434 ; Cuv. and Val. xx, p. 243 ; White, Catal. p. 83.

Leach's herring, Couch, 1. c. iv, p. 107, pi.

British worlcs on the herring.

Dodd, Essay towards Natural History of Herring, Lond. 1768, 8vo.
James Sola, Essay towards Natural History of the Herring.
Mitchell, The Herring, Edinburgh, 1864.
De Caux, The Herring and Herring Fishery, 1881.

B. viii, D, 17-20 ( T f:tr), V. 9, P. 17, A. 16-18 ( T f:f ), C. 18-19, L. 1. 53-60,
Csec. pyl. 18-23, Vert. 54-56.

Length of head 5 to 5^, of caudal fin Q\, height of body 4| to 5 in the total
length. Eye situated half in front of the middle of the length of the head, and
with an adipose lid on either side. Lower jaw prominent ; the upper somewhat
notched in its centre ; the hind edge of the maxilla reaches to beneath the middle
of the eye. Opercles smooth, and destitute of radiating striatums. Teeth small
deciduous ones on the jaws, a patch on the vomer and also on the tongue, while
generally minute ones are present on the palatines. Fins the dorsal commences
midway between the end of the snout and the base of the caudal fin ; the ventral
is inserted on a line beneath the centre of the base of the dorsal fin. Scales
there are 13 rather soft scutes posterior to the base of the ventral fin, along the
abdominal edge, and which are partially concealed by the neighbouring scales
from either side of the body, which more or less overlap them. The air-bladder
has an opening on its lower side at about its centre, where a long but narrow
canal forms a communication with the end of the stomach ; it has also another
orifice on the left side near the vent,* which canal is lined with a silveiy pigment
to within a short distance of its termination. The vessels of the air-bladder
being scanty, gas is not secreted, but air believed to be swallowed. In some
specimens at Aberdeen I perceived the food in the stomach covered by a mem-
brane as in the pilchard, but of a finer consistence. Colours of a rich blue or
green along the back, becoming lighter on the sides and beneath, where it is shot
with purple, blue, and gold lines. Lower jaw with a black tip.

Varieties. There are considerable variations in the proportion of different,
races even from adjacent localities. Some of them have been considered species.

Names. Hairing, Anglo-Saxon (Herr, or heer, "an army"), or from the
French hairang, an old term for a troop or army ; cuddy legs, " a large
herring ; " corphun, herring cobs or young herring in Northumberland, where

* See figure in Weber "De aure et auditu." etc. pars, i, 1820, t. vii, 63.

14

210 PHYSOSTOMI.

they are likewise termed sill-shag. Sgadan, or scattan, Moray Firth. Small
ones not larger than a sprat are termed sills, or sile ; fat herrings
destitute of roe, maties, or matties, a corruption of the term "maiden,"
or those which have never spawned. Full herrings are those possessing a well-
developed milt or roe ; slwtt en-herrings, or spent fish which having just bred, are
very inferior ; it is likewise a term sometimes applied to such as have been gutted
and dried for keeping. Green herrings is a term sometimes employed for " fresh
herrings." Red-fi?ined-herrings are known as wine drinkers in Scotland, and as
loaders in Norfolk and Lincolnshire, while in the western counties they are called
Icings and queens. Overday tarts is applied by costermongers to such as have
remained unsalted for over twenty-four hours, and consequently are dark red
about their fins and gills, due to extravasated blood. A " blown herring " is
termed, according to Halliwell, a toio-bloiven in Suffolk. A gut-pock-herring in
Scotland is one which has its stomach distended with small crustaceans, or other
food. A red herring, or a black herring are trade terms for particular descriptions
of cured fish, while the former is also known as a Norfolk capon, and sailors usually
designate it as a sodger, or soldier. Bloaters used to be applied to herrings which
were smoke-dried but not split open, from " bloat," to dry by smoke : kippered
herrings, such as are split and salted. White herring generally implies a fresh
herring, but in the north pickled ones are sometimes thus termed. In Scotland the
highest brand is given to mazy herrings, or those full of roe ; and what are known
as crown-fidl ; those which have not yet developed ova or milt as matties, such as
have spawned as shotten, but which find a ready sale in the great continental
markets. Local name of young yaivling and Britt ; scuddawn, Irish. Pennog,
yfgaden, Welsh ; Be Blaring, Dutch ; Be Haering, French. At Great Yarmouth
4 herrings make 1 warp; a large basket containing 100 is termed a sivill, or long
take, 132 ; a last contains 13,200 fish. A cran in Scotland consists of 37i imperial
gallons, and generally contains from 900 to 1000 herrings ; a barrel holds about
800 ; a maize, or mease, 500. A cade, or barrel of herrings, appears to have
contained 600 in the middle of the 15th century.

Habits. The herring is a gregarious, lively fish, a rapid surface swimmer, but
somewhat timorous. Whole shoals, it is asserted, maybe scared and turned from
the course they had intended to pursue. The wake of these fish is often marked
during the clay time by long lines of gulls and sea birds hovering above them and
occasionally swooping down upon some as prey ; while at night time, especially if
very dark, a slight gleam, " brimming," or "flame," is seen on the surface of the
sea where the shoals are. But the herring is not always to be found at the
surface, for it seeks its food at any depth where it obtains the best supply ; it may
even sink down to the bottom, provided such be not too profound, while it is not
uncommon both for it and the mackerel to be captured by the beam-trawl. Thus,
in the autumn of 1859, more than 1000 large and full herrings were caught off
Lowestoft in a beam-trawl net, and in the spring of 1870 upwards of 5000 shotten
herrings were similarly taken at the Well Bank off Great Yarmouth, and in
March, 1881, a large number of both shotten and full herrings were thus taken
on the Brown Bank (De Caux). It has been remarked along our south and
south-west coasts that herrings and pilchards do not intermingle. The noise
made by herrings when captured is peculiar, and has been likened to various
things to the cry of a mouse, to the word " cheese," a sneeze, or a squeak, and
may be occasioned either by the escape of air through the posterior opening of
the air-bladder near the vent, or else, as seems more probable, by some movement
of the gills and gill-covers.*

The food upon which herrings subsist has been variously characterized, but is

gerernlly held to consist of minute shrimp-like crustaceans, often of forms belong-

:he same division as the common Cyclops of our fresh waters. It is

i fc they exist on very varied forms of animal life, and are probably not

provided they can obtain sufficient. About the middle of February,

!, I found that some from the S.W. coast had been feeding on Annelids; from

it has been asserted tbat it is possible to blow air from tbe stomach into the air-bladder.

CLUPEIDJE. 211

the same locality in the middle of May their stomachs were crammed with sand
launces, Ammodytes, some of which were up to 2j inches in length, and as many
as nineteen were inside one herring, while the sand-launces in their turn were
full of the remains of Crustacea. A month later from the same place, and
captured about eight miles off shore, the food had again changed, and consisted
almost entirely of the young of a very rare gobioid fish, Grystallogdbius Nilssonii,
the largest of which was 1^ inches long, there were likewise a few young herrings
and sand-launces.

Goodsir (Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal, July, 1843) gives the result
of his examination of the Maidre, or food of the herrings in the Firth of Forth,
with which the stomachs of the fish were found to be filled. Cirripeds, Crusta-
ceans, and Acalepha were detected, of which crustaceans were in the largest
number, and consisted of masses of Amphipoda and Entomostraca. Among the
Acalepha the different species of Berooe were seen in the greatest numbers.

Off Lofodens Sars found the sea swarming with microscopic animals, especially
small crustaceans termed " herring food," Calanidce, chiefly Calanus finmarcMus
and Temora longicomis.

Carpenter writing upon what they consume in North America, remarks that
their food sometimes consists of smaller fishes, but generally of more minute
animals, especially Entomostraca and Radiolaria, of which small reddish-brown
aggregations are often found floating in the waters which they frequent.

H. Widegren observed in Scandinavia that the food of the young as well as
of the grown herring consists chiefly of small crustaceous animals, invisible to
the naked eye, which are found in enormous quantities in the sea, both in shallow
and deep water, and may be detected by straining water through a straining cloth.
Their quantity varies at different seasons, and during a change of temperature at
different depths. Axel Broeck (Tids. Fisk. Kjobsch. i, p. 154, or Wiegm. Arch.
1862, p. 72) describes the various kinds of food on which he considered this fish
subsisted. Breeding herrings do not feed to the extent those not in this condition
do, but they do not invariably cease feeding, as some authors believe.

In an aquarium it was found (Zool. 1876, p. 4856) that the young or
whitebait's diurnal and nocturnal movements were very dissimilar : in the former
period they were quiet and uniform in going round their tank in one shoal, but
at night the shoal was broken up, each fish taking an independent course for
itself, darting about from side to side, striking against the rockwork with effects
fatal to themselves, and which was only stopped by placing a dim light to
illuminate the outline of the rockwork. Then they are most ravenous.

Herrings live in an aquarium provided while being captured their scales are
not rubbed off, and Mr. Jackson suggests that the best plan is to dip them out of
the sea in a bucket or can, and subsequently allow them to swim into the tank
they are to occupy. He invariably observed that they swam round and round
their place of confinement in a circle from left to right. Occasionally one might
turn for a moment, but it speedily resumed its place, and he never perceived the
shoal to swim in a contrary direction.

Migrations. Many theories have been broached to account for the migrations
of the herrings, it having been formerly supposed that they yearly changed their
residence from the poles to southern waters. Even now some consider that it is
not, strictly speaking, migatory, that is, that it does not travel comparatively far
from the locality in which it was hatched, reared, and came to maturity, but
simply changes from shallow to deeper water, in accordance with temperature and
the supply of food. One proof advanced being that certain definite varieties are
present in certain waters. Where they conceal themselves is certainly remarkable,
thus along the Devonshire and south-west coast of England, Mr. Dunn observes
that should a gale spring up numbers are taken in nets purposely anchored parallel
to the shore, and that they are meshed on the land side, although this locality
had been unsuccessfully swept by seines and nets a very short time previously.

That herrings, in common with other species of the family, occasionally
disappear from one locality, sometimes re-appearing in another, is well known, to
account for which many surmises have been made. From 1690 to 1709, a very

14 *

212 PHYSOSTOMI.

extensive herring fishery existed at Cromarty ; about the latter year an immense
shoal was driven ashore near the town : they left the vicinity in a single night
and for upwards of half a century no shoals re-appeared. Still this may have
been simply a coincidence.

Many reasons have been adduced in order to account for these fishes deserting
certain localities. In Long Island, one of the Hebrides, it was asserted they were
driven away by the manufacture of kelp, although kelp fires did not drive them
away from other places. The firing of guns, or an old Highland idea the shedding
of blood. Steam-boats have been supposed to disturb the shoals.

The two main objects of migration would appear to be seeking some locality
where eggs may be safely deposited for the species to be continued : or else a search
for food in order to maintain the growth and existence of the individual. But it
would seem that fish may seek new ground, due to that they usually reside in
becoming unsuited from any cause (see page 218), as absence of food, or constant
attempts at their capture by incessant netting. If, having selected waters further
from the shore than formerly, the ova were deposited and hatched, it does not
seem unreasonable to suppose that the progeny would locate themselves where
they were reared. In time, perhaps, this new location might be found unsuited,
and the shoal return to the spot they first inhabited, and where possibly a more
abundant supply of surface-food exists.

Respecting the effect of temperature and various meteorological conditions of
the atmosphere as affecting migrations and captures, so little has yet been ascer-
tained on these points that I think it better to refrain from speculating upon
them. Fishermen assert that prevalent winds are a cause of migrations, and if
so this is probably effected through acting on their food. Also that unusually
severe and long-continued xrost during winter and spring induce movements
among large shoals, and bring them nearer in shore. Seasonal changes, however,
doubtless have an effect in hastening or retarding the advent of herrings ; while
diurnal variations may likewise be coincident with the bathymetrical depths at
which they are found ; storms may drive them from shallow to deeper water ;
while the herring season commences and also terminates earlier in the north than
it does in the south ; but much more than this facts scarcely warrant us to assume.

The Scotch Meteorological Society observe that the results of examining the
daily register of thermometers used in twenty fishery districts on the east coast, go
to show a close relation between the fluctuations of the catches and changes
of temperature, wind, sunshine, cloud, thunder, and other weather phenomena.
Maximum catches having been recorded when the temperature of the sea was
about 55"5 degrees, while thunderstorms if widespread were followed for days
with small catches over the area which had been covered by them.

Mr. Cleghorn concluded an interesting report upon these fisheries with a
comprehensive summary. Some of his conclusions were as follows : That there
were fishing stations some years ago on the Scotch coast which are now
exhausted, a steady increase having taken place in their produce up to a certain
point, then violent fluctuations and finally extinction. The races of herrings near
our large cities have disappeared first, and in districts where the tides are rapid,
as among islands and in lochs. Where the fishing grounds are circumscribed the
fishings are precarious and brief ; while on the other hand extensive sea-boards
having slack tides, with little accommodation for boats, are surer and of longer
continuance as fishing stations.

I will now refer to the herring fisheries along the north-east and east coast of
Scotland respecting which we are told that, " at the beginning of the present
century herrings were so abundant along the north-east coast of Scotland, and
came so close in shore that numbers of them were caught by people standing upon
the rocks having no other instrument of capture than baskets tied on long poles,"
a condition of affairs which hardly applies to the present time.

At Wick, the largest race usually arrives with the new year, remaining until
about March and then disappears. Mr. Reid found in January, 1882, that some
were a foot in length and thick in proportion, but all were full of milt or roe. The
next herrings come in May or June in the shape of a few small ones of little value as

CLUPEID^E. 213

food, although useful as hait for other fishes, and which appear to be the forerunners
of the summer fish, as they grow better, larger, and fatter as the season advances
until they are in perfection about July and August, spawning about the end of the
latter month or early iu September, after which they disappear until the succeeding
January (Reid MSS.). If we turn to the Herring Fishery Report of 1878, we are
informed that " it is a very remarkable circumstance that the yield of the fishery
at Wick began to decline at the very period at which the produce of the Aberdeen-
shire fisheries began to increase " (lxiii). Here Mitchell, who wrote in 1864, observed
they are at first so small that the nets cannot catch them, but they begin to be of
sufficient size in July (at this time the mesh of the nets was not less than one
inch between knot and knot).*

In the fourteen years from 1849 to 1862, 1003 boats were annually employed in
fishing at Wick with an average catch per boat of 133 barrels. During this period
no winter fishing was carried on : it now commenced, and in the fourteen years from

1863 to 1876, 885 boats were annually similarly employed, and the average catch per
boat was 108 barrels. Mr. Reid tells us that in 1883 great success has again
attended the Wick herring fisheries in 1880 (the heaviest fisheries), the average
to the same date (end of August) was 170 crans a boat, but in 1883 it has risen to
230 crans average to the 518 boats, but the fish were at least 70 miles from
land. Further to the south, however, a different account was given at the same
date, for after an exceptionally poor season the herring fishery at Aberdeen was
brought to a close in September, when an average catch of 89 crans for 463 boats
was announced, as against 166| for 433 boats last yeai\ Fish having been scarce
and the weather unfavourable. The herring shoals further north have been much
larger, and less distant from shore. It was noticed that the Wick Chamber of
Commerce for some years gave a premium to the fisherman who landed the first
herrings of the season : thus fishing gradually changed from July to the third week
in June, the quality at first being small and mostly only fit for bait. This, it is stated,
prematurely disturbs the shoals and injures the future prospect of the fishing. f

Herring shoals appear on the north-west coast of Scotland at the beginning or
middle of May when during that and the subsequent month they are mostly
" matties." The great fishery there is in the Minch between Long Island and the main
land, continuing until the commencement of July. While on the east coast the chief
fishery begins about the middle or end of July until the end of September, the
fish being full of roe, while the fishery at Loch Fyne and the south-west coast of
Scotland coincides with that on the east, the fish likewise being in a similar
condition. Off the coast of Ayrshire on the Ballantrae Bank the great fishery is
during February and March. A short supply of summer herrings, observes
Holdsworth, has been frequently accounted for by the preceding fishery having
been largely worked. On the other hand it has been contended that the summer
fish are often as abundant as they ever were before the spring fishery came into
fashion. Recent experience, however, does not support this statement, as with a
more or less successful series of spring fisheries, the summer herrings have been
exceedingly scarce for the last seven years. (Deep-sea Fishing, 1873, p. 123.)

In the Moray Firth (Gordon, Zool. 1852, x, p. 3480) these fish are generally
Bought for during six weeks subsequent to the middle of July. They gradually
move westwards and congregate on the far-famed Gwillam Bank, about half a
square mile in size and opposite the Bay of Cromarty. A storm sends them away
and they do not return that year. About the middle of August they swim lower
in the water and generally disappear in September. He likewise alludes to
winter herrings, a stronger and larger variety with fewer scales. In looking at

* M. De Caux observes that for the purpose of capturing herrings the mesh of the nets since

1864 has diminished off the Norfolk coast to forty or forty-four to the yard: ten to twenty years ago
five-sixths of the catch were full fish, but for the last ten years the proportion has not been above
two-fifths, due to the change in the mesh of the net; these immature herrings will take the salt but
they will not keep.

f The same opinion seems to have found favour at Peterhead, Aberdeen, and Montrose, that
the early fishing has a bad effect on the off-shore banks iucreased by the repeal of the enactments
against garvie fishing, which occupation commences in November and occasionally lasts until March.

214 PHYSOSTOMI.

the conformation of the Scotch coast we observe on the west numerous narrow
lochs, whereas on the east we perceive three large firths. From some cause it is
evident that the augmented captures of late years have been among fish out at sea,
as 60 to 80 miles or more from the coast.

The Yarmouth herring fishing in 1881 commenced June 16th, but the fishing
there and at Lowestoft generally extends from October to December 16th, during
which period nearly 218 millions of fish were delivered at the wharves, which at
the wholesale price of 15 a last, shows a total of 250,000. Along the Devon-
shire coast in 1880 this fishing commenced about November 13th, and a fortnight
earlier than in 1879 (as was likewise the mackerel fishery).

In Devonshire and Cornwall there are two annual migrations of herring. The
first, or large herring, with undeveloped roe, matties, approach the coast in May or
June, a few being secured in the mackerel nets, while some continue to be so taken
until the mackerel fishery ceases, about July. About the same time, May or June,
quantities pass up St. George's Channel to the Irish Sea, and are supposed by
fishermen to re nain in deep water. In June or July they proceed in a northerly
direction, very few remaining off Cornwall, and do not return there until October
or November, or even as late as December, their migration towards the coast
occurring especially if the weather is fine. Should a storm arise they at once
retire to the deep and do not reappear off the coast until fine weather has
recommenced. By February or March they become " shotten," poor and thin.
Besides these large herrings there is a migration of the smaller ones early in
November which, as Mr. Dunn has observed in Cornwall, migrate to the west at
the extreme northern extremity of the county. Various schools pass by Port
Isaac, New Quay, St. Ives, around Land's End, and eastwards into Mount's Bay
or by Falmouth and Mevagissey, finally stopping at Bigsbury Bay, the bottom of
which is rocky, uneven, and covered with flexible corals (Gorgonia), and here they
congregate until the January spawning season.

Means of capture. For the purpose of indicating where the shoals of herring
are the presence of whales or flocks of sea birds are often useful, but if no such
indications are present the nets are frequently shot at a venture. Formerly it was
the invariable custom to cast their nets by night for fear of scaring the fish, but
now this rule is being broken by some vessels. On very dark nights the
phosphorescence of a shoal if near can be readily perceived, in fact off the east
coast the majority of fishermen assert that they always wait until " the flame "
is visible, and consider that they are able to tell the difference between " full " and
" shotten " fish, a shoal of the former swimming close together in a compact body,
whereas in the latter the individual fish are constantly dashing about. In some
places the shad is termed the damon herring, and popularly believed to lead the
shoals.

In fishing for herrings a number of drift nets are joined together and these are
termed a " fleet," the length of each being about 20 yards, while from 101 to 181
comprise a fleet, the length of which off the east coast vai'ies from 1^ to 2 miles.
The Scotch fleet consists of 48 pieces, each 40 yards long. They are made of cotton,
which is found much more destructive than hemp which was formerly employed.
The mesh should be of sufficient size to allow the herring to obtain entrance for
its head as far as its gills. During the autumnal herring season it has been
computed that there are frequently from 8000 to 10,000 miles of nets in the
North Sea at one time. In 1809 it was enacted that the size of the mesh should
be 1 inch from knot to knot or 4 inches all round ; and in 1839 France signed a
convention with Great Britain constituting it the law for both countries ; this was
abrogated in 1864, and in 1868 the regulation was repealed. Since then the
fishermen have reduced the size, and off the east coast the mesh has become from
40 to 44 to the yard, catching large fish by the snout but allowing them to drop
out and be lost.

Shoals of herrings have occasionally been met with of such considerable size
that they have broken the warp rope of the nets, and the whole of the gear has
been carried to the bottom.

As herrings are caught at sea thoy are put into the hold and mixed with salt :

CLUPEIDiE. 215

ice may likewise be employed for this purpose. The fish first removed are the
most valuable, as having been subjected to less pressure and a purer atmosphere.
As a rule when the sea is calm and the temperature high, the takes become more
or less spoiled before they can be landed ; in some places the use of steamers has
obviated this, and communications between the fishing fleet and the shore may
be maintained, as at Montrose, by the employment of carrier pigeons. If the
steamers were furnished with a double set of gear so that the tanks containing the
captured fish could be removed at once and fresh ones substituted, a tide would be
gained to the manifest advantage of the fisheries, as the steamers could at once
return to the fishing fleets. M. De Caux has given it as his opinion that the
alterations in the fishery laws have been so mischievous that now, although the
killing powers of drifters in the same district (Yarmouth) have increased six-fold,
the quantity of herrings captured has augmented but slightly, even if it has at all.

On the Devonshire and Cornish coasts drift nets and moored nets in the bays
are employed occasionally up to the end of February ; even as late as the middle
of March, 1882, small boats were still capturing them with drift nets off Plymouth,
but the moored nets had been laid up until the next season.

Along the Cornish coast there is no special fishery in the spring for herrings ;
some stragglers are taken in the mackeral nets and subsequently in the drift nets
employed fishing for the early shoals of pilchards in July and August, when they
are chiefly found in deep water. Boats from Mount's Bay, Cornwall and St. Ivea
leave for the Irish shores about the first week in June and rendezvous at Howth to
the north of Dublin Bay, where the best fishing is about the last week in June or
the first week in July ; subsequently it generally decreases and the boats go north.

Herring fishing may frequently have to be suspended, or even entirely given
up, due to stormy weather preventing fishermen from venturing out to sea. In
1880, the Scotch fishermen had a most successful year, but it was remarkable
that the greatest amount of success attended the efforts of the drift-net boats.
The trawl-net boats were continually coming in clean, and, with rare exceptions,
were very poorly fished until the recent cold, frosty weather set in, when some
splendid takes were secured, yielding to each crew for one night's fishing from
100 to 200. Such a marked difference between the two modes of fishing has
never been observed before, and as yet no real cause has been assigned for it.

The " dand} r -line " is used in herring fishing at Peterhead, during April, May,
and June. A piece of lead about 1^ lb. in weight is attached to a line, which
carries at short intervals transverse pieces of whalebone or cane, having unbaited
hooks at either end. Herrings are such hungry fish that they fly at the naked
hooks and are easily caught in this manner (Anglers' Note-book, p. 48). The
hooks must be kept moving about and the water should be a little discoloured.

Along the coasts of Down and Antrim, large quantities used to be taken by
means of hand-lines. The hooks being dressed with feathers, and the time of fishing
being evening or sunrise (Thompson). Neill remarked that off the Scotch coast
they were often taken on hooks baited with limpets.

Off Northumberland and Durham, we are told that herrings used only to
be fished when in their prime, or from July to September : now from 100
to 150 large boats come from Scotland every spring, and young herrings are
captured from May right on, but they are poor and tasteless (G. Bo well, Land and
Water, July, 1881). Mr. Southwell, off Norfolk, considers that there can be no
two opinions as to the small size and inferior quality of the " spring herrings,"
and thinks that it is a matter of regret that they should be taken at that season.

Superstition enters largely into the composition of fishermen, and in the Banff
Journal of 1855, it was recorded that the herring fishery being very backward,
some of the fishermen of Buckie dressed a cooper in a flannel shirt, with bars
stuck all over it, and in this condition he was carried in procession through the
town in a hand-barrow. This was done to bring "better luck" to the fishing.
A century or two ago not merely effigies, but living men and women, were burnt
on suspicion of casting a blight on the herring-fishery ; even at the present day it
is common for whale-fishers to burn an effigy in order to " bring luck." If a ship
has fallen in with few whales, the crew attribute their bad fortune to having some

216 PHYSOSTOMI.

unlucky individual on board, and by burning his effigy they believe that his
malign influence is got rid of. The most unpopular man in the ship is generally
pitched upon as the offending party. Sometimes two or three "pictures" are
burnt, one after the other, if luck is very bad. The practice is a very old one,
and is said to have taken its rise from a similar custom which prevailed among
the herring-fishers of Banffshire, by whom it was introduced on board of the
Peterhead whalers.

In Norfolk (Notes and Queries, October 7th, 1865) we are told existed a
fancy that fleas and herrings come together. "Lawk, Sir," said an old fellow near
Cromer, " times is as you may look in my flannel shirt and scarce see a flea, and
then there ain't but a very few herrings ; but times that'll be right alive with 'em,
and then there's certain to be a sight of fish." Low, in his tour through the
Orkneys (1774), says that as much as 50 was paid for the first barrel of
herrings of the season that arrived from Shetland, this first instalment of the
herring market being regarded there as medicine. Red-finned ones appear to be
considered as omens of success on some parts of our coasts, and Mr. De Caux tells
us that as soon as one is perceived, it is taken from the net, carefully prevented
from touching anything made of wood, and passed round the scudding-pole as
many times as the fishermen desire to get lasts of herrings at their next haul.

A Manx man going herring fishing dares not proceed to sea without taking a
dead wren in the boat for fear of disasters or storms. There exists a tradition
of a sea-spirit that haunted the herring-tack, attended always by storms. Finally
it assumed the form of a wren and flew away. It is imagined that the presence
of a dead wren makes all snug (McTaggart).

Breeding. The period at which the herring breeds is subject to great diversity,
inasmuch that some persons have questioned whether it may not do so twice in
one year. At Wick on the north-east coast of Scotland, Mr. Reid informed me
(January 18th, 1882) that early in January this year they were in a spawning
condition but no shotten ones as yet to be found, while they again spawn there
in August and early in September. The same has been observed in the Moray
Firth by Gordon. Herrings taken on the Ballantrae Bank off the Ayrshire coast
in February and March are either spawning or shotten. Herrings spawn on the
east coast of England and Scotland (taking the extreme dates) from the latter end
of May to December, that is, measuring from the Shetlands to the North Foreland ;
these Ballantrae herrings never spawn in August, but, on the contrary, begin
about the 1st of February, and the spawning goes on till the 1st of April. This
spawning bank is ten miles long and two miles broad. The average depth is ten
fathoms at low water (Buckland).

On January 5th, 1882, I found that most of the herrings in the fish shops and
which had been received from Cornwall were shotten, others were full of milt or
roe. At the end of August, 1881, many were in full roe, and on December 13th
I first saw some shotten* ones, but was informed some had been received previously.
Mr. Dunn observed that all the herrings which visit the south coast of Devonshire
late in November, throughout December, and early in January are in spawning
condition. Six hundred thousand were landed in Plymouth one day last week
and the spawn was almost ready for extrusion in the whole of them (Land and
Water, Dec. 24th, 1881). A month later he found at Mevagissey that the spawn
was running from them. He considers that there are two herrings which spawn
on the Cornish coast, the smaller in December and January and which is not so
regular and certain a visitor as the larger one, which spawns in February and
March. The lesser ones seem to migrate along the coast, the larger ones to come
from the deep sea. Andrews (Feb. 14th, 1882), writing from Swanage, in Dorset-
shire, stated that he had two dozen brought to him five da} r s previously all full-
roed, and many on the 14th, while the pier-master informed him that the first
signs of spawning were noticed yesterday, and the fishermen reckon, as a rule,
upon taking full fish more or less up to March. Mr. Wilcocks (Field, Feb.

* M. Bertrand, in his article on Alose, published in 1776, remarked that" it appeared certain that
in the English Channel many herrings begin to spawn about November 25th, although in certain
years some are still i'ound full in February."

CLUPEID^E. 217

25th, 1882), remarked from Plymouth that the herrings have not yet left the
coast, and many among them have not yet spawned. It is evident that off Great
Britain there are two chief periods for spawning, but that at various places some
spawning fish may be captured at any month throughout the year. The autumn
breeding time would appear to be the most extensive.

The number of eggs which have been found in a single herring has varied
from ten to thirty thousand, when shed it sinks to the bottom of the sea, while
along with it is a glairy fluid which enables the ova to adhere to any object with
which it may come in contact. Ropes or nets drawn throngh herring spawn
become thickly coated with it, and large quantities are brought on to the decks of
fishing boats. Nets set in water where spawn exists in a very short time become
heated similarly to what occurs when heavy catches of fish have been made. The
locality selected is often over rough ground, while sea-weed may be found covered
with this adhering spawn. In the Baltic and localities where the water is brackish
and almost fresh they have been observed to select two or three feet of water for this
purpose. It seems highly probable that they deposit their spawn wherever they
happen to be, as herrings in which this was exuding were taken at least forty
miles out at sea, or in forty to fifty fathoms of water, while it is very attractive to
other fish especially cod. Spawning fish are captured in shore and far out to sea
at the same time, while shotten and mazy ones are frequently found together.

The escape of the young from the eggs, either in spring or autumn, can be
considerably delayed by keeping the water very cold, while its saltness or reverse*
exercises no appreciable difference. Three to four weeks has been suggested as
the probable time at which hatching normally occurs after extrusion. While if
these eggs are heaped together they become mouldy. Meyer found that in a
few days after being hatched they commenced preying upon microscopic forms
existing in the water, after a month on small Crustacea, and at the end of
the third month they were a little over 1| inches in length. Beyond five months
he could not keep them alive. The young, known as whitebait, swarm along our
shores in certain localities, sometimes to a great extent mixed up with sprats, at
other time in independent assemblages.

Mr. Stevenson (Mansion House Street) hatched some. The spawn was
obtained November 10th, 1870 ; by the 17th the eyes and movements of the
young fish were plainly visible through a hand-magnifier, and on the evening
of the 24th (fourteen days after they had been taken from the parent and
impregnated) many shells were found empty, but only one little one could be
seen, for they are so minute and transparent that there is but little chance of
finding them in a large body of water. By enclosing the ova in a suspended
muslin receptacle in the tank several more were hatched out by the 29th.
Dr. Meyer, respecting the experiments made in the North Sea, observes that no
one has succeeded in rearing herrings from artificially fecundated eggs, owing
to the impossibility of arresting the formation of hyphae of some fungus, and
the difficulty of obtaining suitable food : very soon after the yolk was consumed
they died.

H. Widegren, in Scandinavia, found that certain races of herring, particularly
the larger ones, spawn near the land on a bottom overgrown with sea-weed. If
this bottom is made unfit for spawning by taking up or destroying the sea- weed,
either by nets or any other way, the herring becomes obliged to migrate to
more suitable places, and consequently deserts the inlets where he formerly
visited regularly. " By experience gained in Bohuslan and other places, it is
proved that the herring is extremely sensitive in this respect, and deserts old
spawning places entirely if their character is changed." Vegetation ought not
to be disturbed nor refuse cast into the water.

It now becomes necessary to consider, What do we understand by whitebait,
or " white bite" as it has been termed ? Here we must first seek for the origin of

* In the Baltic the German Commissioners ascertained that with the water at 53 the eggs
hatched in a week, whereas at 38 they took six weeks, while raising the temperature above 53 did
not quicken the hatching process.

218 PHYSOSTOML

the term, and at the outset I am inclined to admit that such appears to be lost
in obscurity.

It is stated that at the funeral feast of the founder of the Charterhouse in
1612, six dishes of " Whitebait " were included in the bill of fare. If we refer
to Pennant's British Zoology, vol. iii, p. 371, 1776, we read as follows : " During
the month of July there appear in the Thames, near Blackwall and Greenwich,
innumerable multitudes of small fish which are known to the Londoners by the
name of whitebait. They are esteemed very delicious when fried with fine flour,
and occasion, during the season, a vast resort of the lower order of epicures to
the taverns contiguous to the places they are taken at."

Pennant stated they belong neither to the shad nor the sprat, nor are they
the young of smelts, but bear a great similarity to the bleak, to which fish he
appended them, although with doubt. Donovan (1808) obtained as whitebait the
young of the shad, and calmly expressed his opinion that Pennant never saw a
whitebait, or, if he did, his examples were bad, or his investigations hasty and
negligent, while his figure conveyed no just idea of the fish. Next we have
Yarrell (1828), who considered that both Pennant and Donovan were in error,
as he saw in these fish a new species of Clupea, which he termed Clupea alba.
M. Valenciennes (1847) went still further, instituting a genus (Bogenia) for its
reception, while he remarked that some young sprats were captured along with
the true forms during the months of April, May, and June. Dr. Gunther did not
coincide with any of the four previous writers, and considered it to be the young
of the common herring.

It is unquestionable that the true whitebait belongs to the herring family,
but are such mature forms as asserted by Yarrell and Valenciennes ; or immature
fish, as believed in by the majority of inquirers, and as such were formerly
protected by legislative enactments ? In this investigation we must not lose
sight of the fact that the herring family, more especially among the species
composing the genus Clupea, possess many pelagic forms, which live together in
large assemblages or schools, the young of which but rarely enter brackish, and
never as a rule fresh water. Another peculiarity is that, the teeth being small
and deciduous, a considerable diversity as regards their existence may occur in
examples of the same species.

Are whitebait mature fish ? This question has been answered by most
investigators in the negative, by Yarrell in the affirmative, while fortunately the
specimens of this last author, being still in the British Museum, are open to
re-examination. All are certainly the young of the common herring. Yarrell
remarked that these fish are taken in the Thames " from the beginning of April
to the end of September . . . and specimens of the young fish of the year, four
or five inches long, are then not uncommon, but mixed even at this late period of
the season with others of very small size, as though the roe had continued to be
deposited throughout the summer. Yet the parent fish are not caught." I have
now a fine series of whitebait captured during the months referred to by Yarrell,
and from the same locality (the Thames), and these I now propose enumerating,
premising that, as the migrations of members of the herring family are variable,
occasionally forsaking their usual spawning grounds, it does not appear improbable
that one species may have left and given place to another, to be again changed to
the original form on the return of the water to some condition which suited its
first occupants. Thus Yarrell observes : " Formerly great quantities of the
Twaite shad were caught with nets in that part of the Thames opposite Millbank,
Westminster." At Teignmouth in Devonshire, in August, 1882, all the " britt "
or whitebait were young of the herring, while in August, 1883, every one were
small sprats.

I examined 138 examples of whitebait from the Thames, taken during the
months of May and June, 1878, the longest of which was 2\ inches ; out of these
about one in ten were sprats, the remainder the young of the herring. In August
I examined forty-six examples from 2 to 3| inches in length ; out of these twenty-
four, from 2 to 2" 7 inches long, were sprats, and twenty-one, from 2*8 to 3 inches
long, were young herrings, these latter now commencing to grow to a larger size

CLUPEID^E. 219

than their smaller relatives, the sprats. In October, out of forty-one examples
from 2^ to 3^ inches in length, all were herrings. It appears that both sprats
and young herrings find their way into the London market as whitebait. Some
inquirers may obtain one species, some the other, while a third may receive
both forms, in accordance with the locality the fishermen were working their
nets and whether schools of one or both were present at the time.

Of the thirty-one examples of "winter whitebait" received from the Medway,
twenty-six varied from 2 to 4| inches in length, the larger ones possessing well-
developed roe ; all these were sprats : the remaining five were young herrings
from 5 to 7\ inches long, the largest having slightly developed roe.*

How are these young fish to be distinguished ? may be asked, and to this
question a very simple reply will suffice. The sprats have sixteen to eighteen rays
in the fin of the back, and seventeen to eighteen in that behind the vent. The
ventral fins are situated beneath the first rays of the back fin. They have forty-
seven or forty-eight vertebrae, no teeth in the front part of the palate (the vomer),
and in a single or double row along the tongue, while internally they only possess
seven or eight caecal appendages at the pyloric end of the stomach, while the edge
of the abdomen has very sharp points, entirely dissimilar in the two forms as I
have pointed out (page 209). The young herrings have seventeen to twenty rays
in the fin of the back, and sixteen to eighteen in that behind the vent. The
ventral fins are situated beneath the middle rays of the back fin. They have fifty-
six vertebrae, teeth in the front part of the palate (the vomer) and in a long oval
patch along the tongue, while internally they possess seventeen to twenty or more
caecal appendages at the pyloric end of the stomach. The keeled abdominal edge
is not nearly so sharp as in the sprats, while the scales do not fall off the body
quite so readily as in the latter species, in which but few are seen on the sides in
captured examples. Due to the position of the back fin fishermen can recognize
these two forms by holding them up by the dorsal fin, when the sprat trims by the
head, but the herring by the tail.

That Pennant's was the whitebait of the present time there can be but little
doubt, and likewise that it was the young herring. It is also certain that
Donovan's figure is that of a young shad, the immature of which, if in sufficient
numbers, would do as well as those of the herring or sprat served up as whitebait,
while I certainly possess the young of these last two forms which I have received
as this fish.

During the summer and autumn of 1874 several hundred small whitebait
were imported to Manchester from Colwyn Bay, North Wales. During the first
eighteen months of their captivity they grew to at least half the size of a full-
grown herring, with which species there was no gainsaying their identity (Zool.
1876, p. 4855). Meyer states his grew only to 1^ inches in length in five months.
Mr. Sim, of Aberdeen, observes that he found herring fry in the rock pools in
great numbers in the months of June and July, all from 1| to 2^- inches long, and
which he concluded were from the March spawning, or four to five months old.

As these fish arrive at maturity, very conflicting evidence has been adduced
respecting the time at which they first breed. Some (as De Caux) have believed
this to be well within twelve months, a supposition somewhat confirmed by my
examination of whitebait and detecting ova (see above) : eighteen months has
likewise been suggested (Mitchell) ; also that they are approaching the expiry of
their second year before they shed their first ova (Sim). While some observers
believe they spawn twice a year, others as positively affirm the contrary.

Hermaphrodites. Yarrell refers to one (Proc. Zool. Soc. 1845, p, 91), as does
also Malm, who describes and figures it (CEfv. Ak. F6rh. 1876, pi. v) : likewise
J. A. Smith (Journ. Anat. and Phys. iv, 1870, p. 258).

Herring fisheries. It would appear from the Commissioners' report that young
herrings along the east coast of Scotland were first permitted to be captured in
small meshed, sprat, or garvie nets in 1868 : the true garvie being the sprat,
Clupea sprattus. Some of the witnesses averred that when garvies are scarce

* Yarrell remarked that if whitebait die in fresh water the air-bladder collapses (P. Z. S.,
1830, p. 73).

220 PHYSOSTOMI.

many young herrings are sent away with them, while it is impossible to take
garvies without taking the young herring. One witness asserted having pur-
chased thirty barrels of garvies in one day, and found they were all young herrings.
My only personal experience consists of some garvies from the north-east coast,
most of which were undoubtedly joung herrings. They were about three inches
each in length, requiring 288 to weigh a pound. Whilst from Inverness we are
informed that in three years ending 1876-77, the Highland railway carried on an
average 267 tons of garvies annually to London.

I would here venture to suggest that it would be very desirable that an inquiry
should be made as to whether or no the cessation of the in-shore herring fisheries
has been coincident with the extension of the :arvie fisheries.*

There are, it appears, two chief periods when herrings appear off the east
coast of Scotland, while the winter, June, and garvie fisheries are partially or
wholly new institutions. Whether they have or have not any bearing upon the
cessation of the in-shore herring fisheries I have not sufficient evidence to adduce.
Still it is by no means impossible that some fishes, especially such as are of
gregarious natures, mostly return to the place where they were reared.

Respecting the capture of the herrings off the east coast of Scotland, it is
evident that the great bulk of the fishing is carried on much farther out to sea
than it was a few years since. Still it does not seem at all proved that the in-shore
fishing has been neglected, but the probabilities are that the fish are no longer
there in sufficient numbers to repay the fishermen's labours.

If we take the average capture of herrings as shown in the Scotch Fishery
Reports, f we find them as follows :

8 years ending 1816, annual cure, 132,837 barrels.

LO

ii

1826

ii

ii

336,624

?> >>

ii

1836

ii

ii

392,860

n ii

ii

1846

ii

ii

578,669

ii ii

ii

1856

ii

ii

640,593

ii ii

ii

1866

ii

ii

646,772

ii ii

ii

1876

ii

ii

806,563

For the

year

1877

ii

ii

847,718

j>

1878

ii

ii

905,768

ii

1879

ii

ii

841.796

ii

1880

ii

ii

1,473,(500

ii

1881

ii

ii

1,111,155

The foregoing shows a steady annual increase in the takes, but it must not
be overlooked that during this period some questions omitted by the Commis-
sioners appointed to investigate the condition of the Scotch herring fishery
force themselves upon one's attention. First of all, one is led to ask what
proportion of persons are now engaged in this occupation to the numbers that
were thus employed at the commencement of the present century ? Is the
augmentation of captures due to increased facilities of capture, larger ventures
in fisheries, or simply because the fish are more abundant ?

The earliest date on which any confidence can be placed in the returns as to
the number of fishermen J employed is from 1825, and I find that the number
of barrels of cured herrings has gradually increased from about 379,000 in
Scotland and the N.E. coast of England until they have reached to upwards of a
million during each of the last two years, while the fishermen and boys have

* In Norway it has been found that a diminution of herrings in the creeks has been coincident
with an extension of the whale fishery. It is believed the fish escaped into the inlets from their
pursuers. The terror of the nets in the inlets was less than that of the whales in the ocean, but
these latter being killed the herrings do not now swarm into the creeks.

f These returns were from April to April up to 1843 ; those up to 1849 include those of the
N.E. of England ; from 1850 to 1868 they include those of the Isle of Man ; from 1869 ihey refer
to Scotland only.

\ I do not allude to figures handed down prior to the commencement of this century. As, for
instance, we are told that in 1667 the Scotch had 800 fishing boats, manned by upwards of 5000
men, engaged in the herring fishery.

This includes the line fishing, but the two arc not separated ; the proportions probably
continue much the same.

>>

CLUPEIDiE. 221

increased by almost 4000. The proportion of number of fishermen to barrels of
herrings cured has averaged as follows :

5 years, 1825 to 1830, 1 fisherman to 8 barrels of herrings.

5 1830 to 1835, 8

5 1835 to 1840, 9

5 1840 to 1845, 10

4 1845 to 1849, 9

5 ]849 to 1854, 14
5 1854 to 1859, 15
5 1859 to 1863, 15
5 1863 to 1869, 15
3 1869 to 1871, 17
5 1871 to 1876, 19
5 1876 to 1881, 22

The immense value to the community will be seen when attention is directed to
the value of the fishing gear in Scotland having averaged 1,263,737 for the last
five years, while each barrel of cured herrings is estimated to be worth about 25*.

But when we inquire into the gear employed, we are told that cotton nets
came into use about 1856, and rapidly superseded the hempen ones. A boat
which used to carry 24 hemp nets, 40 yards long, equivalent to 960 yards of
netting, now employs 50 to 60 cotton nets each 60 yards long, equivalent to 3300
yards. The nets per boat we are told " used to present a catching surface of
3000 square yards ; they now present a catching surface of 33,000 square yards."
The Commissioners estimated when giving the foregoing figures that " each boat
has increased its power five-fold." But the amount captured does not appear to
have kept pace with the increased killing powers, for if so the fishermen who from
1825 to 1850 while employing hemp nets obtained from eight to ten barrels per
man, should now, were the proportions equal, be capturing from 40 to 50 barrels,
instead of about 22. It has been computed that there are 30,000 fishing vessels of
about 280,000 tons tonnage, manned by 165,000 men and boys, engaged around our
islands, and most of which are or have occasionally engaged in the capture of
herrings. Numerous trades are dependent on the success or the reverse of this fishery.

It would be an exceedingly interesting investigation as to what is the effect on
the eggs of herrings deposited in depths over 50 fathoms. This can only be
ascertained by a series of experiments carried on in the ocean, as I have
already but uselessly advocated. If this deeper water has no deleterious effects
upon the hatching of the eggs the question arises whether such has any action on
the fry, or if when hatched they are in as good a locality for being reared as if
they were nearer in-shore. Lastly, I would remark that if the herrings have, due
to changes in our fishery laws and consequent methods of fishing, been unduly
interfered with, so that the shoals are now further out to sea than was formerly
the case, thus necessitating the employment of larger boats, has not such occasioned
a great loss of life ? That going further out to sea to obtain these fish is a
necessity is now admitted, while the harbour accommodation remains the same,
boats are thus unable to enter during storms and a great sacrifice of life is the
result. This is another and most important factor which ought to be taken into
consideration when deciding upon the necessity or the reverse for investigating
the results which have followed the legislation of the last 18 or 20 years.

As food. Herrings are very largely employed as food either in a fresh
or cured condition. Of course in different localities these fish may be and often
are differently treated. Usually care is taken in selecting and assorting such fish
as have to be cured and also in obtaining the services of competent gutters, while
the rapidity with which the various processes are carried on, the seasoning of the
barrels when such are used, and period at which they are fastened down, all are
important factors in the condition in which the cured fish will be found.

In the north of Scotland the herrings on arrival are placed in a heap near
the troughs of the embers, next they are gutted by individuals who at one cut
remove the intestines and gills. They are then " roused " with salt in a tub and
lastly packed in layers in barrels, a handful of salt being sprinkled over each

222 PHTSOSTOMI.

layer. All broken or inferior fish, or those which have received too small an
amount of salt, should be rejected. As the contents subside a fresh layer of fish
is added, for the barrel must be kept full.

Yarmouth bloaters are variously prepared, but one of the best solutions in
which this can be effected is mixing 29 lb. of common salt with 71 lb. of water,
in large vats ; in this the herring will float, so they are kept down by wooden
battens weighted with bags of salt, which gradually dissolve and keep the solution
at its proper density. When the fish have become rigid the pickle is run off and
the herrings are suspended in a current of air until they are removed to a chimney
and smoked from 12 to 18 hours, the fuel employed being two parts of oakwood,
beechwood, and turf. These bloaters will keep four or five days, but are best if
hanging in a current of air.

Red herrings are bloaters more strongly cured, the pickle having about ^ of
its weight of saltpetre added to the salt. They are dried for 24 or 48 hours and
then smoked to the requisite tinge.

Kippered herrings are such as are pickled, dried, and split down the back
almost to the tail fin, showing the back bone, the gills and intestines are removed,
they are then cleaned with salt and water, and suspended for a night in a current
of air and then smoked until they are of a light brown. They do not keep long.

The date of 1794 is given as that in which ice was first employed in Scotland
to add to the herrings which were packed in boxes and sent by fast sailing vessels
to London.

The present railway rates are levied in a most incomprehensible manner on
the carriage of fish, rendering their being thus carried, except at a loss, often a
matter of certainty; while in Land and Water (August, 1881) we read : " The
charge for the carriage of herrings from Berwick-on-Tweed to London being the
same as that from the extreme north of Scotland, although the distance is about
300 miles less, several herring buyers have complained of the unfairness, and have
taken steps to obtain a revisal of the rate. This week they have sent their fish
to London by steamer at a cost of 2s 4a5 per barrel. The railway rate varies
from 7s to 9s per barrel."

Uses. Largely employed as bait for cod, ling, and long lines generally, and
they have, when very numerous, been boiled down for the oil which they contain.

Lacepede inquires " what honours are not justly his due who first taught
mankind the art of impregnating the solids of the herring with sea salt ?"
Unhappily, the subject is so interwoven with discrepancies as to date and
nationality that no answer worthy of credit can be given. At the beginning of
the twelfth century there were herring fisheries in the Baltic, to which many
foreign vessels resorted ; these herrings must, therefore, have been salted ; in fact,
in 1155 Louis VII of France prohibited his subjects purchasing anything but
mackerel and salted herrings at Estampes. In 1290 part of the dried fish shipped
at Yarmouth, in the victualling of a vessel to bring the infant Queen of Scotland
from her Norwegian sire, were herrings, and these, of course, wei'e cured. In the
time of Edward III, mention is made of some white herrings found in vessels
captured by the Cinque Ports ; and in the same reign red herrings are also
specified by name, so that both sorts of curing were practised before the time of
William Berkelszoon, of Biervliet, in Flanders (he died 1397), who has been
credited with the distinction of introducing them. There is, however, no doubt
that he greatly improved the methods he found in use, by curing the fish in small
kegs instead of piling them in heaps, which so extended the trade in them that
Charles V erected a statue to his memory, and, with his sister, visited his tomb,
and offered up prayers for his soul ; while Mary of Hungary, during her visit to
the Low Countries, paid a more characteristic tribute to his memory, namely,
that of eating a salt herring on his tomb.

In our own country the herring fishery certainly flourished in the twelfth
century, for in 1195, according to historians, the town of Dunwich, in Suffolk,
was obliged to furnish the king with twenty-four thousand herrings. Mention is
also made of the herring fishery in a chronicle of the Monastery of Evesham, in
709. The herring fair in Yarmouth was regulated in the reign of Edward III

CLUPEID^E. 223

by the Statute of Herrings. On the old arms of the town were figured what
are proverbially known as " Yarmouth capons," az. three herrings, arg.

In 1563 green or fresh herrings were so scarce, that at Yarmouth, the great
mart, they sold at an unusually high rate ; a last, or eighty bushels, brought 9.

In France, until the close of the seventeenth century, fish diet was scru-
pulously observed on fast days. Thibaut VI, Count de Blois, gave annually (by
charter, 1215) five hundred herrings to the hospital of Beaugency. Among the
extensive charities of Saint Louis to monasteries and hospitals were sixty-eight
thousand herrings. In olden times the soldiers engaged in warfare observed
their Lent. Thus history informs us that while the English were besieging Orleans
in 1428 one of the convoy of provisions destined for their camp was attacked by
the Duke de Bourbon. It consisted chiefly of salted herrings, which gave rise to
the conflict being called the " Battle of the Herrings."

A curious notice respecting the connection of herrings with marriages
appeared in the Times (November 28, 1871), showing the results of the Scottish
registers. In the return for the third quarter of the year, the registrar of
Fraserburgh stated that the herring fishery was very successful, and the value
of the catch, including casks and curing, amounted to 130,000 sterling, and the
marriages were eighty per cent, above the average. On the other hand, the
registrar of Tarbet reported a steady falling off in the fishing at that creek, and
consequently the quarter passed without an entry in the parish register. The
registrar of Lochgilphead stated the herring fishery to have been a failure in the
loch, and this accounted for a blank in the marriage column for the quarter.
One registrar, in his return for the quarter, reported marriages in his district
"like angels' visits, few and far between." At the fishing villages it might be
put more briefly no herring no wedding.

Diseases and causes of destruction. Whales, porpoises, seals, members of the
cod family, dog-fishes, in short all predaceous fishes, especially hakes and whiting,
feed on them from the time of their birth and throughout their entire existence,
and in this they are assisted by birds of various sorts. Gannets are occasionally
so gorged with herrings that they are actually unable to fly. In the North Sea
the cod fishes leave the sea bottom at night time and ascend to the herring nets,
from whence they violently pull out quantities of the meshed fish, and at the same
time occasion much damage to the lighter kinds of cotton nets, in which they
tear large holes.

Habitat. White Sea, and perhaps extending into some parts of the Arctic
Ocean : the colder to the temperate portions of the Atlantic : the North Sea and
the Baltic, in which latter locality they are a small and inferior race. Also the
North Pacific.

In the Orkneys, Low observed that the Shetland Isles swarm with them in
April and later, the east coast of Caithness in August, the Hebrides at the latter
end of the year. The Sounds at certain seasons are alive with the fry. I have
already alluded to their distribution along Scotland, the west coast of which
country is studded with lochs, from which it is asserted they have commenced
more or less to absent themselves, while along the east coast, possessing but
three large bays or firths, they have latterly forsaken their haunts about 7 miles
out to sea, and receded to 20, 30, or even 100 miles. I have also alluded to the
distribution of the herring on the British coast, while it is common round
Ireland. Along the southern shores of England I have already observed these
fish are in diminished numbers.

The size to which herrings attain varies. De Caux observes that the largest
he has personally seen was 15| inches in length, but that Mr. Utting, of Great
Yarmouth, had one which was 17 inches long, but the usual average off our east
coast is from 10 to 11 inches, and, if full, weighing from 4 to 6 ounces : a full
one, 11 1 inches long, will weigh 8 ounces. Buckland stated that the largest
herrings submitted to him were from the Shetlands, the milt and roe were but
slightly developed, they were very fat, and as long as 9j inches and 7\ ounces
weight. Sim, at Aberdeen, weighed some full ones 12j inches long, and they
were only 8^ ounces : the largest example he found in 1880 was 12^ inches, and
weighed 9| ounces. It was a full one.

224 PHYSOSTOMI.

2. Clupea pilchardus, Plate CXXXIX, figs. 1 and la, stomach and food.

Sardina, Belon. p. 161; Rondel, pp. 217, 218; Gesner, p. 822; Ray, Syn.
Pise. p. 104. Harengus minor seu Pilchardus, Willughby, p. 223, t. PI, f. 1 ;
Rutty, Co. Dublin, ii, p. 362. Pilchard, Pennant, Brit. Zool. (Ed. 1776) iii,
p. 343, pi. lxviii (Ed. 1812) iii, p. 453, pi. lxxix. Sardine, Duhamel, Pecnes, ii,
pi. xvi, f . 4.

Clupea sprattus, Briin. Pise. Massil. p. 82 ; Risso, Ich. Nice, p. 352.

Clupea pilchardus, Walb. Artedi, iii, p. 38 ; Blocli, Ausl. Fische, ix, p. 40,
pi. ccccvi ; Bl. Schn. p. 425 ; Donovan, Brit. Fishes, iii, pi. lxix ; Shaw, v, t. cxix
Turton, Brit. Fauna, p. 106 ; Fleming, Brit. An. p. 183 ; Jenyns, Manual, p. 437
Yarrell, Brit. Fishes (ed. 1) ii, p. 96, c. fig. (ed. 2) ii, p. 169 (ed. 3) i, p. 137
Templeton, Mag. Nat. Hist. (2) i, p. 411 ; Parnell, Wern. Mem. vii, p. 320 and
Fish. Firth of Forth, p. 160; Johnston, Berwick. N. H. F. Club, 1838, i, p. 173 ;
White, Catal. p. 83 ; Kroyer, Danm. Fis. iii, p. 175, c. fig.; Nilss. Skan. Fauna,
iv, p. 522 ; Thompson, Nat. Hist. Ireland, iv, p. 177 ; Giinther, Catal. vii, p. 439 ;
Collett, Norges Fiske, p. 194 ; Winther, Prod. Ich. Dan. Mar. p. 49 ; Malm,
Fauna, p. 585 ; Giglioli, Catal. Pesc. Ital. p. 46.

Clupea sardina, Cuv. Regne Anim. ii, p. 319 ; Lowe, Trans. Zoo. Soc. ii,
p. 189.

Clupanodon sardina and pilchardus, Risso, Eur. Merid. iii, p. 451.

Alausa pilchardus, Cuv. and Val. xx, p. 445, pi. 605.

Alosa sardina, Moreau, Poiss. de la France, iii, p. 458.

Pilchard, Couch, Brit. Fishes, iv, p. 79, pi. cci.

B. vi-viii, D. 17.18 (tT-W P. 16-17, V. 6-8, A. 17-18 (r^), C. 19, L.l. 29-30,
Ccec. pylori numerous,* Vert. --f-.

Length of head 4f- to 5|, height of body 4f to 5, length of caudal fin 6 to 6^- in
the total length. Eyes with adipose lids, diameter of each 3^ to 4 in the length
of the head, 1^ diameters from the end of the snout, and 1 apart. Lower jaw
slightly prominent; the maxilla reaches to beneath the first third of the eye.
Opercle with distinct and well-developed striae descending towards the subopercle.
Body rounder than is that of the herring. Teeth in jaws excessively fine, some-
times absent, none on the palate nor on the tongue. Fins origin of the dorsal
fin nearer the snout than it is to the base of the caudal fin. Ventral inserted
below the middle of the dorsal fin. Anal low, its last two rays slightly prolonged.
Caudal deeply forked with two or three large scales at its base. Gill-rakers
about 70 in the outer branch of the lower branchial arch and as long as the eye.
Scales 17 to 19 scutes before and 14 posterior to the base of the ventral fin,
they are very similar to those in the herring but a little stronger. Colours
greenish olive, with a bluish band along the body and silvery sides. Lowe gives
50 to 51 vertebras, and Cuvier and Valenciennes 53. I find 50. In examining
the digestive organs one finds the stomach as depicted : the proventricular glands
in the aesophageal portion are well developed, while the walls of the pyloric
portion are thickened and the mucous membrane is densely studded with glandular
prominences. This portion of the stomach, after feeding, is distended by what
may be likened to a sausage-shaped mass, consisting of an outer secreted membrane
enveloping the food. The air-bladder has the same posterior opening into the
progenital canal as recorded in the herring. (See Zoologist, 1882, vi, p. 24,
on the digestive organs of the pilchard.)

Varieties. In form. It has been asserted that the sardine has the ventral fin
inserted below the middle of the dorsal, and the gill-rakers rather shorter than the
eye ; but it is merely the young of the pilchard, which latter has the ventrals
inserted rather behind the middle of the dorsal fin, and the gill-rakers a little

* Giinther, Catal. 1. c. gives ccec. pylori 7, but probably he must have been examining a sprat,
the only British Chqiea which possesses such a small number of appendages, and this is rendered
more probable as he gives L. 1. 47-48. The pilchard and sardine in many old works were included
under Clupea sprattus.

CLUPEID^E. 225

longer than the eye. In colour it is by no means rare to see pilchards, even
ai many as one in five among thousands, sparingly marked with black spots, and
which become still more apparent on the scales being removed. In some the eyes
are black-ringed, in others white, the former, according to Mr. Dunn's observa-
tions, being most numerous in the summer months, the latter in the autumn.
Mr. Couch, June 8th, 1868, observed : " I have also obtained a box of sardines
from Marseilles, and am rather surprised to find them only so many small pilchards.
I cannot find in them any difference from our pilchard, except that they are about
five inches long and of poorer quality." That the sardine is the young or small
pilchard has been asserted from the time of Belonius in 1553 to the present; it
has also been so considered by all modern ichthyologists, and Dr. Giinther in
1868, in Proc. Zool. Soc. expressed his surprise that it was not utilized in the
same manner as the sardine. Mr. Dunn, of Mevagissey, appears to have been the
first to propose preparing sardines in this country.

Names. A dried pilchard in Devonshire is sometimes termed a fair maid,
derived from fumado ; smaller forms go by the name of sardines when tinned.
Halliwell gives surding as synonymous with the pilchard. In Cornish it is known
as hern, liernan, and llean. The term pilchard has been variously derived, some
considering it to be from "pittch," an old English word signifying a piece of
cloth to wrap round a young child, because these fish were formerly cooked in
paper, similarly to red mullets of the present day. It has also been derived from
peltzer, a name by which it was known to some early Northern Continental
authors. It has been termed a "Looe trout," when impressed on a token struck
at Looe in the reign of Charles II. Garvie-herring, Gipsy herring and Grue
herring, Scotland. Pennog mair, Welsh. The springing of pilchards out of the
water has been termed stoiting (East) or poppling in Devonshire.

Habits. Gregarious but very timid fishes, and believed to be easily alarmed by
noises.* They congregate in dense masses by day, but as evening sets in spread
out along the shore (I am here alluding to St. Austell's Bay), apparently feeding
from off the land, and so retire to the deeper waters with the return of the
morning's light. At sundown nets are shot outside these feeding-places, thus
arresting the shoals in their progress towards the deep sea, while during the
daytime these fish are taken on the deep-sea side of the nets. As I have already
alluded (note, page 220) to the herrings being driven from the open sea into
creeks by whales, pilchards likewise have been known to ascend into brackish
water when under the influence of fear. Thus, in 1722, a large number were
taken in the Dart at Totnes Weir, having been chased there by porpoises ; and in
July, 1880, when it was nearly low water, one was seen coming down the same
river by persons standing on Totnes Bridge, which is twelve miles from the sea,
pursued by an otter ; the pilchard leaped on the bank and was secured. They will
eat small Crustacea, and their stomachs are found gorged with such food, and also
any similar to that eaten by the herring. The roe of the cod or ling they devour
voraciously, also crumbs of bread. Off the French coast salted fish roe, mostly of
the cod but also of the mackerel, mixed with the pounded flesh of that fish, is
employed to attract pilchards. It is termed resure, rave, or more commonly rogue,
and is largely brought from Norway, more especially from Dronthein. The
fishermen say that they have seen pilchards in multitudes quiescent at the bottom
of the sea, as if examining with their mouths the sand and small stones in the
shallow water, and probably hunting for food. During the colder months of the
year they are frequently found in the stomachs of large ground fish that have

* In "Natural History of Ireland" (1755, p. 192) exists an extract from a letter by the
Archbishop of Dublin, wherein he observes, "there was a good fishery of pilchards on the south
coast of Ireland before the year 1688, but since the fight in Bantry Bay between some of the
English fleet under Sir George Rook and the French in 1689, the pilchards, I understand, have not
been on that coast : the reason of their leaving it is supposed to be the shock given by the firing of
guns ; and it was observed that some gentlemen having provided a yacht for their pleasure and
firing' their guns frequently in the Bay of Dublin, the herring fishing in the Bay failed entirely that
season." Couch observes that the firing of a heavy gun at the distance of twenty miles has been
known to cause the fish to sink, and thus disappoint the hopes of the fishermen.

15

226 PHYS0ST0M1.

been taken with ground lines some distance from the shore : the largest fish, similar
to the mackerel, being furthest out to sea. Mr. Dunn found that at Mevagissey
pilchards of late years have averaged, from August 1st to November 1st, from
3300 to 3800 per hogshead.

Migrations. These fish are found off the coasts of Cornwall and Devonshire
throughout the year. In January they keep near the bottom, and are frequently
taken from the stomachs of line-caught fish. Considerable assemblages, mostly of
spent fish , have been observedjin February, becoming more abundant in March; but the
chief fishery commences with drift-nets in July and with seines in the succeeding
month. During the summer they may be met with from 20 to 50 miles from the coast,
as outside the Scilly Isles, and a considerable distance up St. George's Channel. In
or about August large schools of smaller fish extend from the Lizard so far as Bolt
Head, in Devonshire, further to the eastwards of which no very extensive fishery
is carried on, although considerable numbers are taken at Torbay, Teignmouth,
and Dawlish. Another large fishery in fact a continuation of that already
referred to stretches from the Lizard to the Land's End, while a third is present
on the north coast of Cornwall, having its chief seat at St. Ives, where the
fishermen assert the large pilchards arrive in October and November, about three
days subsequent to their appearance at Kinsale, in Ireland. Sometimes one of these
districts is full of fish, none being present in either of the others. Irrespective of
these larger migrations there are lesser ones, influenced by currents, tides, and
searchings for food ; they appear rarely to go directly against a current.

Parnell (Fish. Firth of Forth, 1838) remarks that the pilchard has become of
late a very rare fish in the Firth of Forth, as well as along the whole eastern line
of the Scottish shores ; yet, about thirty years ago, it was found in equal
abundance in certain localities as the common herring. A few are taken
occasionally in the summer months on the Berwick and Dunbar coasts, but since
the year 1816 no appearance of a pilchard has been observed in the Firth of Forth.
We are likewise informed that pilchards were more than usually abundant at
Yarmouth in 1780, 1790, and 1799.

From inquiries he had made, Couch tells us that some considerable
changes have taken place in the times at which the larger bodies of these fish
have arrived. Thus, for upwards of thirty years, at the middle of the last century,
the most successful portion of the pilchard fishery was carried on after the
autumnal equinox, and consequently by drift nets, since the seines could scarcely
have been exposed to the risks inevitable from stormy weather and long dark
nights. Towards the end of the century the principal fishing was from the
beginning of August to the end of September, and at that time a great increase
took place in the number of seines. Now (1868) the winter fishery along the
southward coast is the chiefly successful one, with the necessary result of a
diminution in the number of seine nets, there not being a foui*th part in use
that there were fifty years ago.

Many of the fishermen assert that the number of pilchards now captured in
Cornwall is much less than used to be the case. They point out numerous
small landing-stages, all of which during the last or present century, were used
for disembarking the fishermen's spoils, but have now fallen into ruin or crumbled
to decay, owing to there being no longer any need for their services. It has been
said that the pilchards in some seasons swim low, due to diminished temperature
in the upper waters, or from some other cause, and consequently escape beneath
the nets. The amount taken of the summer fish is not an invariable index to the
quantity present, but more depending upon the course they select ; for if they
keep in deep water they avoid the seines, and should they swim low they escape
the drift nets. Mr. Dunn observes that during May and June these fish appear
to be in the deep waters of the English Channel ; that at this period the mackerel
nets used off Penzance have a large mesh for the purpose of taking the large
mackerel, and through this pilchards can easily pass. Whereas at Mevagissey the
nets used are for the lesser-sized mackerel, for which purpose a smaller mesh is
necessarily employed, in this the pilchards mesh or entangle themselves when
full of roe, being unable to pass through. The fishei*men returning from the east

clupeim:. 227

coast towards Cornwall in the autumn, often pass quantities of pilchards in the
English Channel, especially off and beyond Portland. Couch observed that for
several years, in the early part of this century, the larger proportion of the shoals
consisted of such small fish that they passed through the meshes of the seines.
Mr. Wilcocks also met with similar sardine-sized pilchards in Guernsey.

Means of capture. This is carried on by means of drift or driving nets which
can be employed over any depth of water, and in which the fish are meshed or
gilled. Bright nights are not so favourable for pilchard fishing as cloudy ones, but
in very dark nights the brimming is so bright that the nets look like a wall of fire
and deter the fish. In coast fishing they are shot as already observed (page 225)
and after sunset, between the shoals of pilchards and the deeper water into which
they retire at daylight after feeding. Seines or circle nets are also used near the
shore, the mesh of these latter being smaller, as f of an inch between knot and knot,
which is of this size in order to prevent their being able to mesh themselves, for
if a shoal were encircled and they contained gilled fish, they would soon die, and
such a weight of pilchards would be too heavy for the net and cause it to sink.
Seine nets are shot between sunrise and sunset, the smallest legal ones at St. Ives
being 160 fathoms along the cork rope with a depth of 8 fathoms at the centre or
bunt, and 6 at the end of the wings. Some are as long as 200 fathoms, the mesh
being f of an inch between knot and knot, or 18 to 20 rows to a foot. 18 feet of
netting are attached to each 11 feet of back rope and the same amount on each
ten feet of foot rope. A line of corks goes along the upper edge, and the foot
line is weighted with leads.

The following regulation exists in the Sea Fisheries Act, 1868, 31 and 32 Vict,
cap. 45, sect. 68 :

" On the coast of Cornwall, except so much of the north coast as lies east of
Trevose Head, no person between the 25th of July and the 25th of November in
any year

" ' (a) Shall, from sunrise to sunset, within the distance of two miles from the
coast, measured from low water-mark (whether in bays or not) use a drift
net or trawl net ; or (6) shall, within half a mile of any sea fishing-boat
stationed for seine fishing, anchor any sea-fishing or other boat (not being
a boat engaged in seine-fishing), or lay, set, or use any net, boulter, or
implement of sea-fishing (except for the purpose of seine-fishing).'
" Any person who acts in contravention of this section shall be liable, on
summary conviction, to a penalty not exceeding twenty pounds."

As there are only six stations (locally termed stems at St. Ives) where seining
can be carried on, and nearly 250 registered nets, they are arranged in groups,
each of which is worked so many times in accordance with its size. In this mode
of fishing, observes Couch, a whole shoal may be enclosed, and when the evening
has set in, and at low tide, the fish are removed. This is done by a small boat
passing inside the enclosure and laying its net or tuck seine round the inner side
of the large or stop seine so as to gradually contract the limits within which the
fish are and raise them towards the surface. When disturbed they dash
violently about, and care is necessary that they do not break out, while, to
prevent them passing from the tuck net into the stop seine, stones suspended
from ropes, termed minnies, are constantly kept plunging towards the only
aperture. The tuck net is raised so that the fish are brought to the surface,
from which they are removed into the boats with baskets by the fishermen,
who are in pairs on the gunwales of the boats (Couch). There is no necessity
to remove the whole of the fish that day, in fact a net containing these fish has
been kept a week, and a portion of its contents removed as required every
night. At St. Ives one end of the seine warp is left on shore and the net
rowed round the shoal.

Huers, also termed Balkers, are employed for the purpose of keeping a look-out
from the cliffs along the shore for the schools of pilchards, similarly, as already
described, for observing the mackerel. They receive each about 3 a month and
one-hundredth part in kind of the fish taken by their respective companies. Fish
being seen the cry is raised " Hev-ah, hev-ah." And, about 1604, it was enacted

15 *

228 PHYSOSTOMI.

that no action for trespass would lie against these people for going on any lands
when in pursuit of their calling. It was also permitted to fishermen to haul their
nets on the nearest shore. The fishery carried on during the last six months'of
the year is the most important, because pilchards are then in a condition in which
they will cure or " save " best, being fat and with undeveloped roes. Of late
years large quantities have been taken during the first six months of the year,
they are purchased by local dealers, and forwarded by rail to provincial and
Welsh markets under the term of " white herrings."

Mr. Dunn observes that off Mevagissey he has known three pilchards having
been captured by hook and line, the bait being a small bit cut out of the side of
another pilchard. Couch had been informed of two or three instances in which
this fish has been known to swallow the fisherman's hook baited with a worm.
Rutty, in 1772, observed that their best bait is the spawn of a cod, stock-fish,
or mackerel, which is salted and kept in barrels for this purpose.

Breeding. Off the coast of Cornwall Mr. Dunn observed that it appears to
breed at two seasons of the year, May and June, also in December, and the young
are first seen in September, 3 or 4 inches in length and about one-eighth of an
ounce in weight. On January 16th, 1882, these fish were returning to the bays
shotten, and one boat took 6000. Couch placed the winter breeding as commencing
as early as October, but this, of course, would vary with the temperature of the
season. I opened large numbers in the month of August, but in only one single
instance did I find developed roe. The pilchard deposits aboiit 60,000 eggs, and
falls off in condition as spawning time is approached, when it becomes dry and
tasteless. Off Mevagissey it has seldom been observed to spawn within 10 miles
of land, usually from 20 to 30 miles off shore : the first named of these localities
is generally chosen in the summer, the latter in the winter or spring, " and off the
coasts of Devon and Dorset instead of Cornwall" (Dunn). Mr. Cornish (Zool.
1883, p. 431) gives his reasons for supposing these fish to spawn in the mackerel
season, i.e. between February and June, in the deep sea, eight or more leagues S.W.
and round to the W. of the Scilly Isles. Couch observed that the males exceed
the females in number, and he believed that they did not attain their full growth
until their second or third year. Mr. Dunn recorded that he has seen the roe
pressed from the fish when alive into a bucket of water, and each egg rests just
below the surface : also that the spawn, on first being shed, actually floats like cork
on the water. He likewise informed me, Sept. 29th, 1883, that large shoals of
young fish from 2 to 4 inches in length, and believed to be young pilchards, were
then in Mevagissey Bay and mackerel were preying on them.

Hybrids. Dr. Giinther, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1868, p. 377, describes what he
believes to be the hybrid between the pilchard and a shad.

Pilchard fisheries. To a stranger visiting the fishing-quay at Mevagissey an
hour or so after midnight, when the pilchards are being landed and sold by
their captors, the scene is by no means devoid of interest. The Jowters, with
their light traps and fast-trotting hacks, are assembled ready to purchase the
fish they require, and scour the country in order to retail them to the inhabitants
of every village and hamlet. The pilchards, having been washed, are packed in
layers, between each of which salt is sprinkled ; this assists in retarding decom-
position in these fish, which are so prone to become putrid. At the Barbican at
Plymouth, much the same scene may be witnessed, but pilchards are not to be
had in sufficient quantities, and cartloads of the coarser description of fish are
circulated by means of these Jowters : 12,000 to 15,000 hogsheads of pilchards
are annually exported from Cornwall, and the autumn fish, being more firm and
less oily, are generally prepared for the Italian market. A merchantable
pilchard must be 8 inches long, well-coated, washed, cured and pressed. A hogs-
head contains from 2900 to 4000 summer, and 2300 to 2900 winter fish ; it
measures 54 gallons, and should weigh, when filled and pressed, 476 lb. gross.
Its length is 33 inches, diameter of bilge (stave included) 24 inches, of head
(stave included) 22| inches, of head within 22 inches (Fox).

A large trade in pickled pilchards is carried on between Cornwall and the Italian
ports, the idea having originated at Mevagissey as follows : In 1876, observed Mr.

CLUPE1ML 229

Dunn (Land and Water, Nov. 18th, 1882), a fish-curer here found there was a
demand in the Mediterranean fish markets for bright salted pilchards. He
first thought the matter out and then cured several tons of pilchards by
throwing them, with salt, into barrels and allowing the brine to rise over them.
After keeping them steeped for some weeks they were washed, packed, and
pressed into clean barrels just as was formerly done to the old-fashioned
fumadoes. On their being put on the market it was at once seen they were
the article wanted, for these fish, instead of having the dirty yellow hue of the
fumade, had the desired bright and clean silvery colour, hence they have been
in demand ever since. The fish-curer in question took out no patent rights, but
allowed all to use his discovery, so much so that for some seasons past not less
than 1000 hogsheads of fish yearly have been shipped for the Mediterranean
from Mevagissey alone. The barrels first used have been superseded by large
steeping vats, one of which here will hold over 500,000 fish. Since the business
in question has been progressing, it has been discovered that the Spaniards cure
sardines niuch after the same manner.

Fumadoes * are thus prepared, a layer of salt is first placed on the floor,
then a layer of fish, and so on up to from 3 to 5 feet high the outermost row
of fish having their heads out and slightly turned up, and the inner rows at
right angles to them. French or Spanish salt, being of a coarser grain than
English, is preferred. The bulk remains thus about a month, and the oil as well
as the brine which drains from them is collected into a receiver. They are now
cleaned, the dry salt is removed by a seive, they are subsequently washed, and
packed in regular order in fifty gallon casks, the fishes' tails being directed to
the centre. Pressure is now made by means of levers to which weights are
hung, the casks being refilled and pressed three times during nine days. A
hogshead should weigh 476 lb., while the number of fish in each cask varies
from 2500 to 3000. All fish under 8 inches in length are excluded (Fox).

Sardines are prepared at Mevagissey as follows : Immediately the fish are
landed they are taken to the factory and cleaned, then the washer arranges them
in light trays, head downwards, to drain and dry. They are next boiled, then
packed in tin boxes, which are filled up with the best olive oil and subsequently
soldered down. These tins are again boiled, and the fish are ready for the
market. An experiment made to smoke them like herrings failed, as the weight
of the body caused the fish to give way and fall into the fire.

The pilchard fishery in Ireland in the 17th century brought in from the
French and Hollanders in some years 15,000 or even 20,000 as observed by the
Earl of Cork in 1631. Smith in his History of Cork, 1750, refers to the
pilchards having left Ban try, due to which the town had fallen into decay. " The
fishery began about St. James's day, or the first dark day in July : for the first
three months the fish were large, fat and full of oil, and were saved with difficulty,
beinsr darker and worse coloured than those taken in the winter months and less
prized in foreign markets ; notwithstanding which they afforded more profit
having a much greater quantity of oil than those taken in the fishery held to
the end of the year."

As food. These fish are much esteemed in Cornwall eaten fresh. Halliwell
mentions a Cornwall dish as starry-gazy-pie, being one made of pilchards and
leeks, the heads of the fish appearing through the crust as if they were studying
the stars. The chief market for cured pilchards is Italy, where there is a great
demand both before and during Lent.

Uses. As bait pilchards are found to be more attractive than herrings,
probably due to the large amount of oil which exudes from them. Pilchard oil
possesses a more greasy nature than that of other fishes, so is considered excellent
for coarse painting, and used to be in vogue for lamps in Cornwall. It is also
employed by curriers in preparing leather. This oil was one of the chief items
calculated upon towards defraying cui-ing charges, and although its value has

* The name indicates that these fish were formerly smoked. Boilase, in 1758, observed
" fuming them being for many years laid aside."

230 PHYSOSTOMI.

become reduced during the last twenty years it has not fallen below 20 a ton.
Mr. Dunn remarks at Mevagissey that in seasons of plenty 3 gallons of oil are
obtainable from every hogshead of pilchards,* whereas in bad seasons, the fish
being few, merely about 1 gallon can be extracted from the same quantity. In
this computation only the summer shoals are alluded to, as the yield in winter
is hardly more than half what it is in the summer. In a MS. note in my copy of
Pennant's Zoology, 1776, I found it stated, " If the fish are very fat 8 hogsheads
of pilchards will produce one hogshead of oil." Rutty, 1772, observed in the
county of Dublin that the oil serves curriers and for lamps : while the fish are
preserved in casks of beech wood.

Diseases and causes of destruction. The picked dog-fish, Acanthias vulgaris, is
partial to these fish, pursuing the shoals and even tearing them out of the fisher-
men's nets. Mr. Dunn, writing from Mevagissey (December 4th, 1882), observed
how these predatory vermin in many instances rushed in numbers at the netted fish,
eating all the captives and doing so much mischief that some boats had their nets
entirely destroyed. Others left the ground, which is within a few miles of the
Eddystone rocks, while at one time it was thought probable that the fishery
would have to be entirely given up. Other forms of predatory fishes, porpoises,
whales, and birds likewise prey extensively upon them.

It is not unusual to see these fish removed from the nets with one or both eyes
gone not, I think, due to the gar-fish, Belone, or the saury Sco7nbresox, having
pierced their heads but consequent upon attacks of fish parasites. In several
instances in which both eyes were gone I found the bony interorbital septum still
intact which it could not be had the fish been pierced through the two eyes. It
is found with Lernece perforating its eye as seen in sprats.

Habitat. It is found from the seas of Northern Europe extending to
Madeira, also off the French and Spanish coasts, and the variety sardine is
found through the Mediterranean.

At Aberdeen an example was taken among some herrings in November, 1881
(Sim) : Firth of Forth (Parnell) : Berwickshire (Johnstone). A casual visitor off
Yorkshire, occasionally in some numbers (Yorkshire Vertebrata), and every year
off Yarmouth (Yarrell), Harwich (Dale), also a few have been taken off Dover,
in the Downs, and in the Isle of Wight by herring fishers. In May, 1838,
Yarrell obtained one from the Thames. Under the head of migrations I have
alluded to their distribution along the south and south-west coasts of England, as
it is more especially a Devonshire and Cornish fish. A few occur in Swansea
Bay, but I believe never in shoals (Dillwyn).

In Ireland it is local and chiefly taken along the south coast, where a few
occur every year, while occasionally large numbers are captured, especially near
Cork. It has been recorded from Belfast Bay, Newcastle (County Down),
Youghal, and the south-west of the counties of Cork and Galway. Andrew
(Ich. S.W. Coast of Ireland, P. Roy. Dub. Soc. v, 1866-70, p. 382) observes that
small fry of the herring and pilchard are met with in the month of October in
great quantities in Dingle and in Ventry Harbours and the Short Strand.

The pilchard rarely exceeds 11 inches in length ; but Mr. Cornish (Zool. 1879,
p. 62) observed that on December 29th, 1878, he measured the largest he had
ever seen, and thnt it was Uf inches long, while Mr. Dunn has seen one of the
length of 14 inches, taken in a mackerel net.

* Couch observes (iv, p. 92) that when these fish are in bulk 8 or 9 gallons of oil have been
obtained from a hogshead.

CLUPEID.E. 231

3. Clupea sprattus, Plate CXXXIX, fig. 2.

Sprattus, Willugh. Hist. Pise. p. 221. SpratU, Ray, Pisciura, p. 105. Clupea
quadriuncialis, Artedi, Synon. p. 17, Gen. p. 7, Spec. p. 33. Sprat, Pennant,
Brit. Zool. (Ed. 1776) iii, p. 346 (Ed. 1812) iii, p. 457. Sardina, Rutty, Nat.
Hist. Co. Dublin, i, p. 362. Be Sprat, Duhamel, Peches, pt. ii, sect, iii, p. 471,
pi. xvi, f. 2.

Clupea sprattus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 523 ; Bloch, Fische Deuts. i, p. 206, t.
xxix, f. 2 ; Gmel. Linn. p. 1403 ; Bonn. Enc. Ich. p. 185, t. lxxv, f. 311 ; Bl. Scan,
p. 423 ; Lacep. v, p. 444 ; Turton, Brit. Fauna, p. 107 ; Nilss. Prod. p. 22 and
Skan. Fauna, Fisk. p. 516; Risso, Ich. Nice, p. 352; Faber, Fisc. Isl. p. 178;
Jenyns, Brit, Vert. p. 435 ; Yarrell, Brit. Fish. (ed. 1) ii, p. 121, c. fig. (ed. 2)
ii, p. 197 (ed. 3) i, p. 115; Templeton, Mag. N. H. 1837 (2) i, p. 411 ; Parnell,
Wern. Mem. vii, p. 322, t. xxxv, or Fish. Firth of Forth, p. 162, t. xxxv ; Bonap.
Pesc. Eur. p. 34 ; Gaiinard, Voy. Scand. Poiss. pi. xviii, f. 2 ; Kroyer, Danm.
Fisk. iii, p. 177, c. fig.; White, Catal. p. 84; Thompson, Nat. Hist. Ireland, iv,
p. 176 ; Schlegel, Dieren Ned. p. 146, pi. xiv, f. 2 ; Malmgren, Wieg. Arch. 1864,
p. 341 ; Giinther, Catal. vii, p. 419, and Proc. Zool. Soc. 1871, p. 672 ; Winther,
Prod. Ich. Dan. Mar. p. 49 ; Malm, Fauna, p. 582.

Clupea macrocephala, Swainson, Fish, ii, p. 387 ; White, 1. c. p. 84 ; Higgins,
Zool. 1861, p. 7317; Couch, iv, p. 124.

Clupea Schoneveldii, Kroyer, 1. c. v, p. 193, c. fig. ; Gaimard, 1. c. pi. xviii.

Harengula sprattus, Cuv. and Val. xx, p. 285.

Spratella pumila, Cuv. and Val. xx, p. 357, pi. 600 (marked Meletta vulgaris).

Meletta vulgaris, Cuv. and Val. xx, p. 366 (not pi. 603) ; Moreau, Poiss. de
la France, iii, p. 447.

Sprat, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, iv, p. 109, pi. cciii.

B. vi-vii, D. 16-18 (tVtt), p - 16-17, V. 7, A. 17-20 GV T V), C. 19, L. 1, 47,
L. tr. 13, Ccec. pyl. 7, Vert. 47-48.

Length of head 4| to 5J, of caudal fin 6, height of body 4 to 5j in the
total length. Eyes with narrow anterior and posterior adipose lids, diameter 3^
in the length of the head, 1 diameter from the end of the snout, and f of a
diameter apart. Lower jaw prominent. Opercular pieces smooth ; subopercle
almost triangular, its posterior and inferior borders being continuous. Lower jaw
rather prominent. The posterior extremity of the maxilla reaches to beneath the
first third of the orbit. Teeth absent from the jaws, tongue, and palate (an
elongated oval patch of very minute teeth on the tongue has been recorded ; also
rugosities or small teeth on the maxillaries and palatines) ; in an example 4| inches
in length none are visible under a |-inch power of the microscope. Gill-rakers
closely set, rather shorter than the eye. Fins The dorsal* commences above
the ventral and about midway between the hind edge of the eye and the base of
the caudal fin, being rather longer at its base than it is high anteriorly. Ventral s
inserted in a vertical line below the anterior dorsal rays, the fin reaches about
half-way to the vent. Pectoral shorter than the head. Caudal forked. Scales
deciduous, smooth; the keeled row along the ventral surface well developed,
making the edge like a saw, 21 to 23 being before the base of the ventral fin and 1 1
or 12 behind it. Intestines 7 rather long ccecal appendages ; Parnell found 12.
Colours bluish along the back, becoming silvery on the sides and beneath, in the
young a yellow or bronze band divides the blue of the back from the silvery
abdomen, this band being frequently more intensely golden during the breeding
season.

Varieties. Moreau divides C. phalerita, Risso, from this species, as he considers
the subopercle in the first is twice as long as high and in the sprat three times.

* Neill (Mem. Wern. Soc. p. 545) observed that if a straight line be dropped from the forepart
of the dorsal fin it will in the herring fall a little in front of the ventral fins, but in tlie sprat it will
fall just behind ihem.

232 PHYSOSTOMI.

Fleming, following Willugbby and Ray, observed that the fry of the herring and
pilchard are confounded together nnder the epithet sprat, consequently he ignored
this species, although Pennant had previously contested this view. The sprat and
the sardine were considered synonymous by Lacepede and others.

Names. Garvie, garvocJc, or garvie-herring, Scotland. Sprat, besides being the
name of this fish, is in places erroneously employed for the young of the herring.
At Teignmouth, in Devonshire, this tish is termed the London sprat, as the
sand-eel, Ammodytes, goes by the designation of "sprat." Britt along the
Devonshire coast, and which ascends the months of rivers, consists either of
young sprats or young herrings. Whitebait likewise may be wholly or partially
composed of small sprats. In Ireland the fishermen at Youghal distinguish
several varieties as true, soft, or hard-headed sprats. Coog Bennog, Welsh. De
Sprot, Dutch. L'Esprot, French.

Habits. Gregarious ; often in enormous shoals, while it is very common to
find young and old together, although the larger examples do not generally come
off our coasts until the autumn and winter months. They ascend rivers as high
as the tide flows. Britt, which consists of young herrings or young sprats, ascend
rivers along the Devonshire coast, and are found as high in the Exe as Exeter,
unless a flood occurs, when they are unable to face the fresh water.

Migrations. Although during the very cold months herrings and pilchards
more or less retire to the deep, sprats, on the contrary, come towards the shore ;
but even when present the shoals are capricious in their movements, as well as in
their extent. Thus, in 1832, it was observed in Taunton that after an absence of
nearly fifty years this fish visited the neighbouring coast in exhaustless shoals.
Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Kent are noted for the large shoals which occasionally
show themselves, while they disappear more completely from the western side of
the kingdom during their season of absence than they do from the eastern. Even
the time of appearance varies considerably in different years at the same place.
During the stimmer and autumn months young or small in-shore sprats are rarely
absent from our coasts. In the Moray Firth, and elsewhere, shoals are frequently
discovered by seeing flocks of gulls and other sea-birds hovering above them.

Means of capture. These fish are mostly captured during the winter months,
whether in Scotland or in England. In 1880 this fishery commenced in the
Beauly Firth on October 12th, but on the south-west of Ireland it is earlier, and
in Donegal Bay continues from August until nearly the end of December. When
fished for in the sea they are generally taken from close in shore to about three
miles out. Sprats are mostly captured by means of a large bag-net, made with small
meshes, and termed a stow-net, the use of which was formerly forbidden between
November 10th and February 10th, but which is now the principal time it is
carried on ; while ground seines were legal between November 1st and April 1st.
The stow-net is placed in a tideway, its mouth towards the tide. In Scotland
the seine net is used for taking these fishes, while off Ramsgate drift nets
are also employed for sprat fishing, dark and foggy nights especially being
suited for its capture. In Ireland the sprat fishing is carried on during the
autumn months, and Mr. Sinclair, writing from Donegal (Field, November 5th,
1881), observes that the sprat fishing is now over. One method adverted to by
Mr. Yescombe, in Land and Water (November 26th, 1881), is to choose the
vicinity of an old wooden pier, or some such structure, round the supports of
which small shoals of sprats frequent. Secure your boat to the end of one of
these piles on a fine day ; use a net attached to a thin iron frame about 3 yards in
circumference, and which is suspended by three cords fixed to it at about 3 feet
apart. About a foot above the ring of the net these cords are tied together and
attached to a single strong one. The net is lowered into the water to about 2 feet
below the surface, and some fine-boiled mealy potatoes thrown in, which attracts
the sprats above it. Then allow it to be quietly drawn up with the fish that are
swimming above it, and the shoal does not become alarmed.

Said not to be taken by a bait, probably from the small size of its mouth.
Breeding. I have obtained sprats with developed roe from both the north
and south coasts of Cornwall, during the months of December and January, but

CLUPEID^E. 233

it is not common to find them in this condition. Neither Pennant, Turton, Jenyns,
or White, advert to the breeding of these fish, but Yarrell states he caught some
off the Dorsetshire coast in June which were then in roe, also young sprats off
Ramsgate, Hastings, and Weymouth, in the months of August and September.
Lowe (Fauna of Norfolk, 1873, p. 29) remarks, " Mr. Dowell says, that though
he has seen vast quantities of this fish caught, he never yet saw one with roe."
Couch observes that in May, 1860, he obtained one 5 inches long and
heavy in roe taken 30 miles off shore. Parnell remarked that in the Firth
of Forth the sprats spawned early in the month of March. In October, 1879, I
examined a number fi-om St. Ives; a few males had some milt, but the ovisacs of
the females were empty and red as if spawning were over.

Diseases. Mr. Warren (in Thompson's Ireland) observes that "about Christmas,
1846, vast numbers of sprats died in Cork Harbour, and were carried off in
bucketsful dying and dead. The people ate them, and considered them very
good : it was the year of the famine. They had mostly a ' pearl ' or white
appearance in the eye while living : some had both eyes, and others only one of
them, diseased."

One form of parasitic Entomostraca, Lerneonema rnonilaris or sprat Lernea, is
often found attached to the eye of this fish. The whole head of this parasite is
inserted into the tissues of its host, and retained there by the barbs or horny
prolongations with which it is furnished. This Lernea is luminous at night-time,
and fishermen assert that shoals of sprats are often preceded by several of these
fishes infested by parasites and which have occasioned their being termed
"lanthorn sprats."

The britt in Devonshire and Cornwall have been considered by some to be
the young of the " herring," but those which I received from Plymouth were
sprats. The Town Council of Exeter annually make an official whitebait
repast upon " britt," respecting which discussions have arisen as to whether they
are or are not similar to the genuine Thames and Medway species. It appears
that in the Exe they ascend with the tide so far as the entrance of the Exeter
canal, where they are found from May until September. Mr. Ross (Misc.) recorded
in 1838 that he took some of these fish to London to Mr. Yarrell, who decided
they were the fry of the shad. Mr. Couch subsequently considered them
to be whitebait, but not the young of the herring. Mr. D' Urban, the curator
of the Albert Memorial Museum at Exeter, transmitted specimens to me, which
were the young of the herring.

Continuing my investigations into the britt along the S.W. coast, I arrived on
August 23, 1881, at Dawlish. At the beach I was in time to see the seine net
hauled on shore, and as the bagged portion came to the surface innumerable little
silvery fishes seemed to shoot through the meshes into the sea, but hundreds
were landed with the refuse, some of which I secured. This gave me another
opportunity of examining the August britt. The fishermen considered they were
all young sprats, and such I found them to be, while their size varied from three-
quarters of an inch to 2| inches in length. Again in August and September,
1883, at Teigmnouth, the britt up to If inches in length were all sprats.

It may be that the britt present at the mouth of the Exe from May until
September vary with the season, for when investigating the whitebait question
in 1878, among examples from the Thames and Medway, I found the proportions
of herrings to sprats to be about as follows : May and June, ten to one ; August,
sprats rather more than half ; October, all herrings ; while of the winter white-
bait given me by Mr. Charles from the Medway, all were sprats. On August 13,
1881, at St. Ives, innumerable young sprats were being taken as bait for gurnards,
although they appeared to be entirely absent from Penzance, which was locally
attributed to the bay being too sandy ; and I saw a solitary example at Mevagissey,
captured among pilchards.

As food. These fish are very deservedly esteemed, especially when not too
large. As they are nutritious and cheap, they are a boon to the poorer classes.
They are sold by measure. They come into the market just after the herring
season is over.

234 PHYSOSTOMI.

In Norfolk considerable quantities are prepared and sold as anchovies and
anchovy paste (Lowe).

In some parts of Scotland they are thus preserved : selected fish are washed
in salt and water, then threaded on wire skewers and suspended for two hours in
a pickling vat, so that no two fishes touch one another. On being removed they
are hung up in a current of air until the next day, when they are smoked like
bloaters until they assume a yellow colour. They will keep four or five days, and
additional pickling and smoking will enable them to keep longer.

An important trade appears to be springing up at Lowestoft, where they are
being tinned as anchovies. Three million tins of sprats similarly cured as
anchovies on the west coast of France are annually imported into this country.
Those taken off Finisterre are found to possess a muddy flavour, but they are
expoi'ted by some second-rate mercantile houses.

A so-called anchovy paste may be made as follows, sufficient for a peck of
sprats : 2 lb. common salt, 3 oz. bay-salt, 1 lb. saltpetre, 2 oz. of prunella, and a
few grains of cochineal, pounded well together in a mortar ; into a stone jar place
first a layer of fish, then of the pounded ingredients, and so on until the jar is
filled ; press them hard down and cover closely. After six months they will be
ready for use.

Uses. As bait for ground fish, for which purpose their oily nature makes them
very acceptable. Large quantities in some years are disposed of for manure, which
may be due to the markets being glutted, or else that by the time the fish have been
landed, those which were first caught are fit for nothing else. In some localities
they are even fished for solely with the view of being employed as manure. It
has been observed in Berwickshire that they are largely eaten by the salmon.

Habitat. From the Finnish coast, through the North Sea and Baltic, also
along the coasts of the British Isles, France, and the Iberian Peninsula. It is
also found in Tasmania (Giinther). A large fishery exists in the Zuyder Zee : in
1882 it closed in August and fish valued at 70,000 wei'e secured.

In the Moray Firth it is abundant on the east side towards the end of the
herring season, subsequently it passes westwards towards the more sheltered parts.
Parnell remarks that it is found in the Firth of Forth throughout the year, but like
many small animals, it appears to be very susceptible to cold ; while during the warm
summer months it may be seen sporting about in large shoals. It is common
along the east coast, while some of the largest fisheries are in the Solent, the mouth
of the Thames and off Margate. Off Folkestone, in January, 1879, the sea appeared
alive with them, and they were sold at l^d a 1000. In the British Channel, or
rather on the southern shores of Cornwall, it is rare ; on the northern coast it is
more common. Having personally investigated the distribution of this fish along
this portion of England in the autumn of the last four seasons, I found the young
very common along the south coast of Devonshire ; also sprats are numerous at
St. Ives. But at Mevagissey and Penzance it seems to be rare. On the west
coast of England it is occasionally abundant, but not to so great an extent as on
the east coast (see migrations).

In Ireland it has been recorded round the coast, but there is no sprat fishery
off the counties of Antrim or Down ; still it is taken in large quantities along the
south coast. Templeton observes that it appears during the autumnal months
in the bay, and as far up the rivers as the tide flows.

Largest specimens personally obtained 5| inches in length, but three are
mentioned as sent from Aldborough over 6h inches in length (Field, January
21st, 1882).

4. Clupea alosa, Plate CXL.

A lausa, Anson, v, v ]27 ; Belon. p. 300; Salvian. fol. civ ; Willugh. p. 227,
t. P3, f . i ; Ray, Piscium, p. 105. Trichis, Belon. p. 30G. Thrissa, Rondel, p. 220.
Clupea, sp. Gronov. Zooph. no. 347. Harengus, sp. Klein, Pise. Miss, v, p. 72,
no. 5, t. xix, f. 4. Allis, Pennant, Brit. Zool. (Ed. 1776) iii, p. 348, pi. lxix (Ed.
1812) iii, p. 460, pi. lxxx.

clupeim;. 235

Clupea alosa (pt.), Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 523 ; Bonn. Enc. Ich. p. 185, pi. lxxv,
f. 322 ; Lacep. v, p. 447 ; Turton, p. 106 ; Cuv. Regne Anim. p. 275 ; Jenyns,
Manual, p. 438 ; Johnston, Berwick. N. F. C. 1838, i, p. 173; Gronov. ed. Gray,
p. 139 ; Schlegel, Dieren Neder. p. 148, pi. xiv, f. 3 ; Gunther, Catal. vii, p. 433 ;
Giglioli, Fauna Ital. Catal. p. 46.

Alosa communis, Yarrell, Brit. Fish. (ed. 1) ii, p. 136, c. fig. (ed. 2) ii, p. 213
(ed. 3) i, p. 133 ; Parnell, Wern. Mem. vii, p. 330 and Fish. Firth of Forth, p. 170 ;
White, Catal. p. 85 ; Kroyer, Dan. Fiske, iii, p. 220 ; Thompson, Nat. Hist.
Ireland, iv, p. 177.

Alausa vulgaris (pt.) Cuv. and Val. xx, p. 391, pi. 604 ; Heckel and Kner,
Suss. w. f . p. 228, f. cxxxiii ; Blanchard, Poiss. de France, p. 480, f . 127 ; Collett,
Norges Fiske, p. 195.

Clupea communis, Swainson, Fish, ii, p. 294.

Alosa vulgaris, Troschel, Wiegm. Arch. 1852, p. 228 ; Selys-Longch. Faun.
Belg. p. 220 ; Siebold, Suss. w. f. p. 328 ; Moreau, Poiss. de la France, iii,
p. 453.

Alosa Cuvieri, Malm, Fauna, p. 654.

Clupea vulgaris, Winther, Prod. Ich. Dan. Mar. p. 49.

Allis shad, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, iv, p. 117, pi. cciv ; Houghton, British
Freshwater Fishes, p. 69, c. fig.

B. viii, D. 19-21 ( T -:fe), P- 15-16, V. 9-10, A. 20-24 ( TT ?ar), C. 20, L. 1.
70-80.

Length of head 5|, of caudal fin 5, height of body 4 to 5 in the total length.
Eijes with adipose lids, diameter h\ in the length of the head, from 2/3 to 1
diameter apart. Opercle with radiating ridges descending downwards and some-
what backwards. Cleft of mouth oblique ; lower jaw slightly prominent ; maxilla
reaching posteriorly to below the hind edge of the eye. Teeth minute and
deciduous in both jaws, none on the palate nor on the tongue. Gill-rakers
Professor Troschel first demonstrated that the most distinctive characters between
the two forms of shad might be found in the number and form of their gill-rakers.
On the lower branch of the outer branchial arch of this species they are
long, thin and numerous, being from 60 to 80, the number of which Canestrim
suggests increases with the age of the fish. Fins dorsal commences nearer to
the end of the snout than to the base of the caudal fin. Ventral inserted behind
the origin of the dorsal. Scales 15 to 17 strong carinated scales along the
abdominal edge posterior to the insertion of the ventral fin. Fine ones extended
over the basal two-thirds of the caudal fin : back greenish blue ; sides silvery,
dashed with purple and gold. Colours occasionally one, sometimes two, dark
shoulder spots, while a succession along the side has been recorded, more
especially in the young. This and the next species belong to the genus Alausa,
or Alosa of some authors, separated from the true herrings owing to an emargina-
tion in the centre of the upper jaw to receive a knob existing above the symphysis
in the mandibles. Teeth in the front portion of the jaw only, and very deciduous.
Shad are not unfrequently considered giant sprats, herrings or pilchards.

Names. This and the next species are known as Bock-herrings in the Moray
Frith (Gordon). Allice-shad, alewife, mother of herrings, darning -her ring, or
possibly " dame of the herrings," king of the herrings, Scadina. Herlyn or Herling,
Welsh. Be Elft, Dutch.

Habits. Not generally found in shoals in the sea, but becomes gregarious
when entering rivers : one hundred shad are observed to make more commotion
at sea than 1000 mackerel. Some authors have observed it in the Severn during
April and May, and as high as Worcester. Off Cornwall it appears earlier
than the Twait-shad, and is equally common (Couch) ; often plentiful in May
and June. But the time of its ascent depends to a great extent upon the condition
of the water, as in the Severn, if in flood, it waits until such is over, or even
returns to the sea. It is reputed to take pleasure in music, but should it thunder
while it is in the course of ascent it immediately retrogades to the ocean.
Mcintosh found in the stomach of a large example captured in the Tay

236 PHYSOSTOMI.

Conferva?, Desmids, and a quantity of vegetable debris, also many sprats and
herrings. In Germany Barfurth remarked that its food mostly consists of
Temora velox Lilj. and other marine Entomostraca.

Means of capture. In fresh waters mostly netted, especially in seines at
night time ; it has also been taken in a trammel, as well as when whiffing at sea
for pollack, with a slice from a mackerel or sand eel : and Mr. Dunn has known
as many as 600 secured in one haul of a mackerel seine.

Breeding. Usually from May until the middle of June, and for which purpose
it ascends rivers. Barfurth showed that not only do salmon and trout more or
less cease feeding during the breeding season, but that in the Rhine the same
phenomenon has been observed in the Maifische or shad.

As food. Opinions vary, and for several reasons. Being full of bones it is
more troublesome to eat without being choked (unless properly carved) than most
persons approve of, but if carved properly this unpleasantness is avoided. Taken
from the sea during the winter it is poor and dry, but after sojourning in fresh
water it becomes plump and delicate, while the higher it ascends streams the
better it is. The supply in our markets mostly comes from Holland ; last April
they were selling in London retail fish shops at 6d a lb.

Habitat. Said to be absent from Sweden, but found on most of the western
coasts of Europe, entering rivers in the spring.

Off Banff it is rare, but one was captured there in a salmon net, June 7th,
1866 (Edward) ; at St. Andrews it is not uncommon (Mcintosh), Firth of Forth
rare (Parnell), Berwickshire (Johnston). It is found off Yorkshire (Yorkshire
Vertebrata), and at Yarmouth is not uncommon with the herrings (Paget). A
pair, male and female, were taken at the New Mills in Norwich, in 1840
(Lubbock) ; it is found along our south coast, but becomes rare in Mount's Bay
and St. Ives. Said to be abundant in the Severn in some seasons during April
and May. Yarrell obtained a specimen in 1831, captured above Putney Bridge
on the Thames, and Jesse recorded one taken at the end of June, opposite
Hampton Court Palace, full of spawn.

In Ireland taken on the north-east coast and is not uncommon off Derry
(Ordnance Survey) ; it is by no means rare on the west coast and has been
seen in Kenmare river, Ventry harbour, and Dingle Bay ; is often abundant in
Limerick harbour and Brandon creek, coast of Kerry ; and has been taken near
Killaloe on the Shannon (Mayne). It attains to as much as four feet in length
(Couch) and up to 8 lb. in weight, but generally is seen to about half this size.

5. Clupea finta, Plate CXLI.

Agonus, Belon. p. 304 ; Salvian. fol. 105& and 106 ; Ray, Piscium, p. 106.
Shad, Willughby, p. 227, t. P3, f. 1 ; Pennant, Brit. Zool. (Ed. 1776) iii, p. 351
(Ed. 1812) iii, p. 307 ; Bowdich, Fish. no. 27. Clupea sp. (part) A^rtedi, Synon.
p. 15, no. 2 (in part), Genera, p. 7, no. 3, Spec. p. 34, no. 3. Alose, Duhamel,
Peches, iii, p. 316.

Chipea alosa, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 523 (pt.) ; Bloch, Ich. p. 312, t. xxx, f. 1 ;
Gmel. Linn. p. 1404 ; Bl. Schn. p. 423 ; Lacep. v, p. 447 ; Risso, Ich. Nice, p. 353
and Eur. Merid. iii, p. 453 ; Donovan, Brit. Fish, iii, pi. lvii and pi. xcviii
(young) ; Turton, Brit. Fauna, p. 106 ; Fleming, Brit. An. p. 183 ; Malm,
Fauna, p. 587.

Clupea fallax, Lacep. v, p. 452.

Clupea finta, Cuv. Regne Anim. ii, p 320; Jenyns, Man. p. 437; Swainson,
Fish, ii, p. 294 ; Giinther, Catal. vii, p. 435 ; Feddersen, p. 81.

Alosa finta, Yarrell, Brit. Fishes (ed. 1), ii, p 131, c. fig. (ed. 2), ii. p. 208 ;
Parnell, Wern. Mem. vii, p. 329 or Fish. Firth of Forth, p. 169 ; Kroyer, Danm.
Fiske, iii, p. 202, c. fig. ; Nilss. Skand. Faun, iv, p. 527 ; Troschel, Wieg. Arch.
1852, p. 228 ; Thompson, Ireland, iv, p. 177; Selys-Longch. Faun. Belg. p. 220 ;
Collett, Norges Fiske, p. 195 ; Martens, Wieg. Arch. 1857, p. 182; Malm, p. 587;
Siebold, Suss. w. f. 332 ; Winther, Prod. Ich. Dan. Mar. p. 50 ; Blanchard,
Poiss. de France, p. 481 ; Moreau, Poiss. de la France, iii, p. 456.

CLUPEID^. 237

Alosa vulgaris (pt.), Cuv. and Val. xx, p. 391; Yarrell, Brit.',, Fish. (ed. 3) i,
p. 127, c. fig.

Ttmit-shad, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, iv, p. 122, pi. ccv; Houghton, British
Freshwater Fish. p. 71, c. fig.

B. viii, D. 18-20 (-rKfg-), P. 15-16, V. 9, A. 20-25 ( T |-:f *), C. 19, L. 1. 60-75,
Vert. 55-56.

Length of head 5 to 5, of caudal fin 5|, height of body 4 to 4^ in the total
length. Eyes with adipose lids, diameter 4 \ to 5-| in the length of the head.
Opercle with some raised and radiating lines descending towards the sub-opercle.
Upper jaw with a notch in its centre, to receive the end of the somewhat
prominent under jaw ; the maxilla reaching to beneath the hind edge of the eye.
Teeth small and deciduous in jaws : absent from the palate and the tongue.
Gill-rakers thick, osseous and from 20 to 28 along the horizontal branch of the
outer branchial arch. Fins dorsal commences nearer to the end of the snout
than to the base of the caudal fin. Ventral inserted slightly behind the origin of
the dorsal. Anal fin low. Caudal deeply forked. Scales 15 to 17 carinated
scales on the abdominal edge posterior to the base of the ventral fin. Small ones
over the basal two-thirds of the caudal fin. Colours steel blue along the back,
becoming silvery along the sides and below, a large black blotch on the shoulder,
generally succeeded by about 5 or 6 more (Donovan says 10) along either side ;
in some specimens there are two dark spots at the base of the tail, one above the
other below.

Varieties. Couch has noticed a scattered row of irregularly placed small
spots along the sides, instead of large dark spots in one specimen which he
supposed to belong to this species.

Names. Twaite in the Severn, shad signifying the last species. Maid. Bony
Norsemen, Ireland. V 'Alose feinte, French.

Habits. These anadromous fish leave the sea at the end of May or commence-
ment of June, and ascends some of our large rivers as the Thames and Severn,
for the purpose of depositing their ova ; formerly they went in the Severn far above
Shrewsbury, but since about 1846 have been more or less stopped by the
Tewkesbury river. All have usually returned to the sea by the end of July.
Mr. Miller, who has the fishing at Newnham, in the Severn near Gloucester,
says that it commences from the 14th to the 20th of April, according to the heat
of the season, for if cold winds blow it is deferred. Small males come first, so
small that two only equal one female ; at first the wholesale price is 6s a dozen,
later on 4s, as one hen counts for two cocks and thirteen to the dozen.

Means of capture. Similar to the other form of shad. Yarrell observes, that
in the Thames great numbers were taken every season, especially opposite the
Millbank Penitentiary, Westminster, also above Putney Bridge. But the stafe of
the water has caused a more or less complete cessation of their visits. Formerly
their capture in the Thames was prohibited after June 30th, in order that
spawners might breed in security.

We are told that in Germany this fish is believed to be terrified at storms and
troubled waters, delighting in quiet and musical sounds. Therefore to the nets
are fastened bows of wood, to which are suspended a number of small bells which
chime in harmony together on the nets being moved : the fish are thought to be
thus attracted to their destruction, and as long as the alluring sounds continue
they cease all efforts at escape.

Baits. Whiffing with a slice of mackerel has been found successful at the
mouth of the Dart (Holdsworth). This fish is capricious in taking a bait in
the Severn, being occasionally hooked at almost any cast, at another time
playing around the bait but refusing to touch it ; when hooked it affords some

play.

Breeding. June and July. On June 3rd, 1879, 1 opened several from the Severn,
the ova was almost ready for being deposited. Yarrell observed, that about the
second week in July used to be when they mostly spawned in the Thames when
they appeared to disencumber themselves of their roe by violent muscular action,
and on a calm still evening or night, the noise thev made miffht be heard at some

238 PHYSOSTOMI.

distance. He obtained the young 2\ inches long in October, and only 4 inches
long the following spring.

Hybrid. Scale-finned shad, Alosa squamapinnata, Couch, iv, p. 123, pi. ccvi,
from Bristol, the skin of which is now in the National Collection, may be a hybrid
between one of the shads and a pilchard as suggested by Dr. Giinther, but its
gill-rakers have been removed.

Another example in the same collection is considered a hybrid between the
two shads, with 40 gill-rakers, longer than C. finta but shorter than G. alosa.
D. 21, A. 25, L. 1. 68, L. tr. 22.

As food. Owing to its numerous bones is not held in much reputation in
English markets, while its flesh is somewhat dry and tasteless. In Russia it is
considered unwholesome.

Habits. From Scandinavia throughout the seas and coasts of Europe, the
Mediterranean and the Nile ; it enters many rivers to breed, as already remarked
upon.

It has been reported around the coasts of Scotland, as at Banff where it is rare
(Edward) ; appearing in the Firth of Forth at the end of July, and disappearing
about August (Parnell). Also round the English and Welsh coasts, as off
Cumberland (Heysham), Yorkshire (Yorkshire Vertebrata), Yarmouth not
uncommon (Paget) ; the Thames and along the south coast as far as Cornwall,
where, observes R. Couch, the " twaite shad" Alosa finta, or " Daming-herring,"
is found in the west part of Cornwall in rather large numbers towards the latter
part of the summer pilchard fishery and early in the autumn mackerel fishery.
Frequently taken in mackerel drift-nets off Scilly, moving E. or W.E.

In Ireland it is taken chiefly along the south coast where a few occur annually,
but occasionally in great numbers. It has been recorded from Belfast Bay ;
Newcastle, Co. Down ; Youghal ; south-west of the County of Cork and
Galway, Dublin, and is common in northern rivers (Andrews). Likewise Black-
water (Ball), and Donegal, where 2 or 3 have been taken (Thompson). It
attains to 16 inches (Yarrell), it never exceeds 2 lb. in weight.

MUR^ENID^E. 239

Family, VI MUR MmVM, Mutter.

Body elongated, cylindrical or band-shaped : the humeral arch not attached to
the skull. The branchial openings in the pharynx may be wide or narrow slits.
Margin of the upper jaw constituted anteriorly by the premaxillaries* which
are more or less coalescent with the vomer and ethmoid, while laterally the
sides of the upper jaw are formed by the maxillaries which are furnished
with teeth. Vertical fins, when present, confluent or separated by a projecting
tail : pectorals present or absent. Ventrals absent. Scales, when present,
rudimentary. Vent may be situated close to the base of the pectoral fins, or a
long distance posterior to the head. The heart may be just, or far behind the
gills. Stomach with a blind sac. No pyloric appendages. Ovaries destitute of
oviducts.

Cuvier placed the eel- shaped fishes (including the tropical SymbrancMdce) in
one Family, Mur.NID3:, while they have likewise been termed Apodal, owing to
a deficiency of the ventral fins, which latter phenomenon is perceived in species
of various other families, for being the last evolved or most immaterial among
the fins, they are most commonly absent. Thus in Ceylon and China the genus
Channa among the Ophiocephalidas is distinguished from Ophioceplialus by the
absence of the ventrals. The Indian Siluroid genus Ailichthys differs from Ailia
due to the same cause. Genus Neochanna differs from Galaxias for a similar
reason. In the Cyprinodontidaa, Tellia is a Cyprinodon without ventrals.
Apua among the Cobitidina? is closely allied to Acanthophthalmus but has no
ventrals, while the chief distinction between the Clupeoids Opisthopterus and
Pellona is that the former is without ventrals while the latter has very small
ones. Calamoichthys is Polypterus without ventrals. Doubtless in some instances
this deficiency of the fin may be an individual monstrosity or a local race, as I have
observed (vol. i, p. 245) as regards Gasterosteus pungitius. It may, perhaps, be a
sexual character, thus Troschel (Wiegm. Arch. 1871, pp. 276-280) remarked upon
having received a female Siluroid of Copidoglanis brevidorsalis destitute of these
fins. It may be present in the young as 8trom,ate^cs niger, but be lost with age,
and absent from other species of the same genus. Attention has likewise been
drawn to the fact " that in numerous groups of fishes which live in mud, forms
occur, devoid of, or with only rudimentary ventral fins" (Giinther, Annals and
Mag. Natural History, 1867, xx, p. 308).

Eels by some authors have been looked upon as, sometimes at least, herma-
phrodites. But Syrski, Dareste, and others have observed upon what they deem
to be the male organs of the eels. A number of larval fishes have been termed
Leptocephali or " Glass eels." Some of these may be forms in which develop-
ment has been arrested in an early stage of existencef, the fishes never attaining
the perfect state, but such are generally, if not invariably, in Great Britain
confined to the salt water. It is an error however to consider them as usually
restricted to some distance out in the ocean, as along the coasts of the Bay of
Bengal they are innumerable and to be found close in shore.

The Family Mur^nid^s; are divisible into two groups : (1) Those in which the
branchial openings in the pharynx are wide slits, Mtti-wnidce platychistce, among
the genera composing which is Anguilla. (2) Those having the branchial
openings in the pharynx as narrow slits, Murcenidos engyschistce, an example of
which we possess in the genus Murcena.

* Meckel, Peters, and Jacoby consider the lateral portion only of the upper jaw is formed
by the maxillaries, the front part being the premaxillary which coalesces with the vomer and
ethmoid, but may always be distinguished.

f Carus, Brit. Asso. 1860, Gill, 1864.

240 PHYSOSTOMI.

Genus I Anguilla.

MurcencB, sp. Artedi. Terpolepis, pt., McClelland. Paranguilla, Bleeker.

Gill-openings of moderate extent, situated near the base of the pectoral fins.
Tipper jaw not projecting beyond the lower. Teeth small and in bands. Dorsal fin
commencing at some distance behind the nape : pectorals present. Small scales
imbedded in the skin.

Geographical distribution. Fishes of this genus appear to be distributed
throughout the fresh waters of the habitable globe, being reputed to be absent
only from the Arctic regions, and intensely cold districts such as Turkestan, and
a few other localities.

Species. As may be perceived by the most casual observer, these fishes have
been subdivided to such an extent tbat it is difficult to comprehend the plans
upon which authors have founded their species. Yarrell divided the British
forms into the "sharp-nosed eels," "the broad-nosed eels," and "the snig,"
observing that in the comparative breadth of the nose (snout) the last is inter-
mediate between the other two. Giinther remarked " the form of the snout, the
size of the eyes, and the width of the bands of teeth, are evidently subject to
much variation," and subsequently continued, " I am more inclined to consider
the situation of the origin of the dorsal fin and the development of the lips to
indicate a distinct species," and following out this method of division he looks
upon A. latirostris as an inhabitant of Europe, the Nile, China, New Zealand,
and the West Indies ; and A. vulgaris as resident in Europe to 60 30' N. Lat.
but found neither in the Danube nor in the Black or Caspian Seas, Mediterranean
region, Northern Asia, or North America, while he considered these two to
constitute the sole British species. It has appeared to myself, while examining
numerous eels of this genus in Asia, that considerable local and individual
variations occur as to the position of the origin of the dorsal fin and the compara-
tive proportional size of one part of the body to the remainder, rendering this
character by no means symptomatic of species.

Habits. Eels are very tenacious of life, are found in nearly all our fresh
waters, and during their feeding months are exceedingly voracious. In an
account of some domesticated examples of this genus kept in a pond in a walled
garden for nine or ten years,* they were observed to remain torpid throughout the
winter, and although they occasionally emerged at the bottom of the water from
under the large stones which formed their hiding places, they did not feed.
About the latter end of April they first began to take worms, but ate sparingly
until the warm weather set in, when they became quite insatiable (in some waters
they commence feeding certainly as early as March), while if no other food
was procurable they devoured one another ; they also consumed fish roe and occa-
sionally vegetable substances. About August they become restless, apparently
attempting to migrate to the sea, and at the end of that month or during
September they retired to their winter quarters. Eels usually make two migra-
tions yearly, one in the spring as April or May, when the young, termed Elvers,
ascend from the sea and estuaries up rivers. Couch states that " very young eels
have been obtained at the ebb of the tide as early as the 2nd of January ; after
watching a river with great care they have not been observed passing up the
stream until the middle of March, and rarely even then." The second migration
is from the fresh waters to the sea and takes place in the autumn, this is
performed by adults for the purpose of depositing their spawn, when they select
the mixed water at the confluence of the fresh and salt, where the temperature is
a few degrees higher than that in the vicinity.

On the banks of the Thames the migration of the young eels is termed
"Eel-fare," "fare" being a Saxon or Anglo-Saxon term signifying "to go" or
to travel," and Yarrell suggests that the term " Elver " is a corruption of
eel-fare." Eels do not like a muddy condition of the water, in fact, old ones

* Edinburgh New Phil. Journal, 1841, p. 439.

u

MUR^ENID^. 241

will quit a pool to avoid it. In the cold months of the year they remain
imbedded in the mud, into which they descend some 12 to 16 inches. In Somer-
setshire their retreats (for they retire in large communities) on the banks of
rivers are said to be ascertained by observing that the hoar frost does not lie over
the mouths of the holes into which they have retreated as it does elsewhere.
Eels, although often killed by frost, still at times are able to endure a low tempe-
rature, having even been frozen, buried for several days in the snow, and then
gradually thawed to life again ; while it has been asserted that in Russia they are
frozen, and thus conveyed long distances, packed in straw, and are thawed on
arrival at their destination. Eels have been known to occasionally quit the water
and travel over moist places in search of food, as frogs or snails, or to find more
suitable localities in which to live, for some waters are very obnoxious to them.
They may be tamed and taught to come for their food at certain sounds, while
they appear to recognize those who feed them.

1. Anguilla vulgaris, Plate CXLII, fig. 1.

Anguilla, Belon. p. 295 ; Rondel, ii, p. 198 ; Salvian. Fol. 64 ; Jonston, lib.
ii, tit. ii, civ, p. 120, t. xxiv, f . 7, 8 ; Willugh. p. 109, t. G5 ; Ray, Syn. Pise. p.
37 ; Rutty, Nat. Hist. Co. Dublin, i, p. 351. Murcena, sp. no. 1, Artedi, Gen.
p. 24, spec. p. 66, Synon. p. 39. Conger, Klein, Mis. lib. iii, p. 27, no. 6 ;
Gronov. Zoop. no. 166. Common eel, Pennant, Brit. Zool. (Ed. 1776) iii, p. 142
(Ed. 1812) iii, p. 191 ; Low, Orkneys, p. 184. Sharp-nosed-eel, broad-nosed- eel,
and snig-eel, Bowdich, Brit. F. W. Fishes, no. 7, 22, 28.

Murcena anguilla, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 426 ; Bloch, Ich. pt. iii, p. 610, t. 73 ;
Gmel. Linn. p. 1133; Bonnaterre, Ency. Ich. p. 34, pi. xxiv, f. 81; Bl. Schn. p.
486 ; Lacep. ii, p. 226 ; Jurine, Poiss. du LacLeman, pi. i ; Faber, Fisch. Isl.
p. 59 ; Pall. Zoo. Ross.-Asi. iii, p. 71 ; Ekstrom, Vet. Ak. Handl. 1831, p. 285 and
Fische Morko, p. 139 ; Nilss. Skan. Fauna, iv, p. 631 ; Gronov. ed. Gray, p. 18.

Anguilla vulgaris, Turton, Brit. Fauna, p. 87 ; Shaw, Zool. iv, p. 15 ; Fleming,
Brit. An. p. 199; Johnston, Berwick. N. H. F. Club, 1838, i, p. 175; Bonap.
Pesc. Eur. ; Costa, Faun. Nap. Pesc. pi. Iv and lix, fig. 1 ; Siebold, Suss. w. f .
p. 342 ; Malmgren, Wieg. Arch. 1864, p. 303 ; Blanchard, Poiss. de la France,
p. 491, fig. 129 ; Gunther, Catal. viii, p. 28 ; Schlegel, Dieren Neder, p. 87, pi.
ix, f. 1 ; Winther, Prod. Ich. Dan. Mar. p. 50 ; Feddersen, p. 93 ; Collett, Norges
Fiske, p. 196 ; Canestrini, Fauna D'ltal. Pesci, p. 29 ; Giglioli, Cat. Pesc. Ital.
p 46 ; Houghton, Brit. F. W. Fish. p. 187, c. fig. ; Moreau, Poiss. de la France,
iii, p. 560.

Anguilla latirostris, Risso, Ich. Nice, p. 89, and Eur. Merid. iii, p. 199;
Yarrell, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1831, p. 133, Zool. Journal, iv, p. 409, British Fishes
(edition 1) ii, p. 298, c. fig. (ed. 2) ii, p. 396, (ed. 3) i, p. 62; Johnston, Berwick.
N. H. F. Club, 1838, i, p. 175; Parnell, Wern. Mem. vii, p. 387; Thompson,
Ann. Nat. Hist. 1839, ii, pp. 21, 270 and Nat. Hist. Ireland, iv, p. 225; Jenyns,
Manual, p. 476 ; White, Catal. p. Ill ; Kroyer, Dan. Fisk. iii, p. 656, c. fig. ;
Kaup, Apodal Fish, p. 38, f. 26 ; Gunther, Catal. viii, p. 32 ; Malm, Fauna, p.
591 ; Houghton, Brit. F. W. Fish, p. 188, c. fig. ; Giglioli, 1. c. p. 47.

Anguilla Canariensis, Val. Isles Canar. p. 88, pi. xx, f. 1.

Anguilla callensis, Guichenot, Poiss. Alger, p. Ill, pi. vii, f. I.

Anguilla acutirostris and rnedtorostris, Risso, Eur. Merid. iii, pp. 198, 199;
Yarrell, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1831, p. 133, Zool. Journ. iv, p. 469, Brit. Fishes
(ed. 1) ii, pp. 284 and 301, c. fig. (ed. 2) ii, pp. 381, 399 (ed. 3) i, pp. 44, 65;
Templeton, Mag. Nat. Hist. 1837 (2) i, p. 412 ; Parnell, Wern. Mem. vii, p. 384 ;
Jenyns, Manual, pp. 474, 477; White, 1. c. p. Ill; Kroyer, Damn. Fisk. iii,
p. 642, c. fig. ; Thompson, Ireland, iv, pp. 222, 227 ; Blanchard, 1. c. pp. 496,
497, f. 131, 132, p. 474; Costa, Fauna Nap. Pesc. pis. lvi, lix, fig. 4, 5.

Murcena oxyrliina and platyrhina, Eks. Fisch. Morko, p. 142.

Murcena acutirostris and latirostris, Nilss. 1. c. p. 663.

Anguilla anguilla, Swainson, Fishes, ii, p. 333.

Anguilla migratoria, Kroyer, Danm. Fisk. iii, p. 616.

16

242 PHYSOSTOMI.

Anguilla fluviatilis, Heckel and Kner, Suss, w. f. p. 319.

Anguilla cuvieri, bibronii, savigni, morena, marginata, microptera, altirostris,
platycephala, nilotica, Mgyptiaca, Kaup, Apodal Fish. pp. 32-41, fig. 16-29.

Anguilla hibernica, Couch, Fishes Brit. Isles, iv, p. 328, pi. ccxxxv.

Anguilla sinensis, and macroptera, McClelland, Cal. Journal, Nat. Hist, iv,
pp. 406, 407, pi. xxv, f. 1-2.

Anguilla Linnei* Malm, Fauna, p. 590.

Sharp-nosed-eel, Dublin-eel, Broad-nosed-eel, Snig-eel, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles,
iv, pp. 326, 328, 330, 331, pis. ccxxxiv, ccxxxv, ccxxxvi.

( Young.)

Beardless Ophidium,\ Penn. Brit. Zool. (Ed. 1776) iv, Appendix, p. 346, pi.
xciii (Ed. 1812) iii, p. 208, pi. xxix.

(Monstrosities .)

As already observed (page 3) the eel is subject to so many variations
depending upon local causes that I do not think we possess more than one fresh-
water species in these islands, and which is almost cosmopolitan in its range.

D. A. and C. 480-500, P. 17-18, Vert. 114-116 (fflff).

Lower jaw the longer : the length of the head 2 to 2| in the distance from
the snout to the origin of the dorsal fin, and from 3| to 3f to the commencement
of the anal fin. Body cylindrical as far as the anus, posterior to which it becomes
more and more compressed. Lips broad and fleshy, (latirostris,) or narrow,
(vulgaris :) the maxilla extends backwards to beneath the middle or hind edge of the
eye. Eye rather small, diameter 8 to 12 times in the length of the head :
about 1 to 2 from the end of the snout, If apart. Teeth cardiform in the
jaws and vomer. Fins the dorsal commences far behind the head as already
observed. The anal arises about the length of the head behind the origin of
the dorsal fin, and a little in front of the middle of the total length. Scales
small ones under the epidermis and imbedded in mucus. Colours variable,
generally dull olive along the back, and white or yellow along the abdomen,
fins darker than the body, except the first third of the anal. Among the outward
signs by which a male eel may be recognized, says O. Hermes, is a very striking
metallic or bronze colour. %

Varieties. In colour, piebald, yellow, white, silver, green-bellied, or with a
longitudinal yellow band along the back. I obtained a yellow one at Cheltenham,
February 1st, 1880. Rutty observed white-bellied or silver eels are the best
because they live on a sandy and gravelly bottom, whereas those that live in mud
are yellow-bellied and of a less grateful taste.

Several distinct species of common eel have been reputed to occur in this
country (see page 240), but which appear to be differences due to sex or
dependant on sterility. The following are the more striking forms : (1) The
"grig" or "glut-eel," Anguilla latirostris, a variety of a small size, having a
broad head and snout, the dorsal fin commencing further back than in the next
variety, the distance between its origin and that of the anal fin being less than
the length of the head, while its dorsal fin is lower and its eyes larger than in
the sharp-snouted form. It is mostly found in brackish water and in the vicinity
of the sea, rarely ascending rivers any distance above the tides. This is the
male. (2) The " sharp-snouted eel," A acutirostris, which is the common form
that is taken when descending in large numbers to the sea in the autumn for
breeding purposes. Its snout is sharp, its dorsal fin higher and its eye
; mailer than is seen in the male. This is the female. (3) There is also a well-

* Anguilla Meneri, Giinther, Fishes of the Porcupine Expedition from the North Atlantic, is
a small Gadoid, as previously observed by Couch, and the young of a Lycodes (Day, Pruc. Zool.
Soc. 1862, p. 536, C. rig.).

f See P. Z. S. 1849, p. 84, also ante vol. i, p. 209, respecting Ophidium imlerbe of Montague
ai d others.

| See Proceedings Royal Society, 1868, pp. 230 and 343, for an account of the lymphatic heart
in the eel's tail.

MUR^ENID^E. 243

marked, generally very broad-snouted when large, non-migratory, fierce and
voracious form, which is not choice in its food, and the flavour of which is
anything but satisfactory. These appear to be sterile females who have taken up
their abode in fresh waters, but as some have been observed migrating seawards
at the annual breeding season their sterility may only be temporary. It is rather
remarkable that so long ago as 1740 Williamson (British Angler) observed " he
and she eels may be distinguished by their fins."

Names. Ael, Anglo-Saxon: German and Dutch, Aal : Finnish, ilja or iljaJcka,
" slimy," or the Esthonian ilia, " slime." Snig means a snake. Easgann,
Celtic, Moray Firth. Oliver, " a young eel," Devonshire : Eeleator, "a young eel,"
in Northumberland, also Brawat : eel-fare, a brood of eels : Elvers or Elvene, young
eels : Fansen, a young eel (Chapman) and in Cheshire, scaffling : grig or glut,
"a small eel," Suffolk : yel in Somersetshire: whiffers or ivhuffers in Cornwall:
known in Lough Neagh as weed-eel the same as snig-eel in England {A. mediorostris) :
while eel, skull-eel, or brown-eel (A. vulgaris) according to Thompson, Kemp, also
means a sort of eel (Pasgrave) : and the fishermen of the Worcestershire Avon
term the large-headed variety, frog-mouthed eels. Llysowen, Welsh. A bind,
according to Kenneth, MSS. a.d. 1053, signifies a quantity of eels numbering
about 250. Anguille vtclgaire, French.

The term eel has been thus described, the noble or adel of Italy, corrupted
into the aal of Germany and the eel of Great Britain.

Habits. Adult eels prefer pure fresh water with a muddy bottom and appear
to be avei-se to cold. They burrow out holes or tunnels where they rest during
the day or conceal themselves under roots, bushwood, planks, or other suitable
places, sallying out for food at night-time. During the summer months they
may often be seen basking near the surface and lying on the vegetation growing
in the water. When on the feed they move about at the bottom, inserting their
snouts under stones, and have been seen to put up a loach and pursue it from place
to place as if hunting by scent. In December, 1860, an eel 39 inches long was
taken alive in the middle of a stubble field : there was an old pit in the vicinity
containing very little water (G. Hoult, Field, Dec. 1860). Especially on the
approach of stormy weather, they have been known to migrate over newly
ploughed fields or gardens, where they have been reported to consume the peas.
During their migrations tbey have not infrequently entered water pipes and so cut
off the supply. Their mode of escaping in an aquarium is remarkable : if possible
they commence by throwing their tail over the end of the vessel, and that organ
being a prehensile one, they subsequently lift themselves over and so escape by
their usual tortuous movement (R. Couch, Zool. p. 1829). Queckett likewise
remarked that elvers often progress tail foremost. Eels live a long time in
confinement : one resided 22 years in an aquarium, dying on August 1st, 1877, of old
age (Hardwicke, Science Gossip, 1877, p. 261). Mr. Daniel mentions one which
lived upwards of 31 years in a well and was then choked by a frog that was
larger than it could swallow.

Thompson observes that from February 6th to the 8th, 1841, great quantities
of these fish, in a dead state, floated down the river Lagan to the quays at
Belfast. Four of them, measuring from one to two feet in length, were placed
in water warmed to a high summer temperature, but none exhibited signs of life.
During these two days the thermometer was 10 higher than it had been for the
three previous days, but there was a gale from the east accompanied by a hard
frost : to the human body the cold felt extreme and piercing ; the eels would
appear to have been in the mud which was uncovered and of course subject to
evaporation. Dr. Kirtland, of Cleveland, states that last winter (1850) as the
frost set in, a number of eels in a mill-pond, incommoded by the subsidence of the
ice, migrated to other ponds from which he obtained eight or ten bushels half
frozen. Having been placed in a cold exposed room they were as stiff and almost
as brittle as icicles in the morning. A tub was filled with them and water from a
well added, then they were placed in a warm store room for the purpose of
thawing. In the course of an hour or two they were resuscitated and as active
as if just taken during the summer (Chambers' Edinburgh Journal, Nov. 29th,

16 *

244 PHYSOSTOMI.

1851). H. Frere (Zool. 1846, iv, p. 1216) considers that cold deadens hearing in
fish and where some eels were simply lying beneath the surface of the ice some
way from the edge which is usually the last to freeze, he found that a hole could
he cut in the ice only two or three inches from the fish, which were easily pulled
out with a pair of nippers. Where there were reeds projecting through the ice
the concussion carried down by any blow startled the fish, but where the ice was
uninterrupted they usually lay quite still until extracted.

Lubbock considered the common eel in Norfolk not to be so voracious as the
snub-nosed variety, and more regular in its migrations. In the winter, numbers
of them are sometimes found laid up in the mud by the side of navigable
channels, and several stones' weight have been speared within the compass of a
few yards. They may almost be said to be omniverous, for several observers
have distinctly stated from personal observation, that they occasionally eat
vegetable substances. 0. Melsheimer (Rhenish and Westphalia Natural History
Society, 1877) remarks that after a series of years of observation he had come
to the conclusion that the food of this fish is exclusively animal. They feed on
the ova of fish and Crustacea, and are excessively partial to crabs when they are
shedding their shells : also to frogs and snails, and are said to prefer their food
fresh, usually rejecting it if tainted. Mr. J. Banister (Zoologist 1843, p. 108)
mentions a large rat struggling to escape from a hole a little elevated above and
near the edge of the water. It dragged after it an eel about of a pound weight,
which appeared to have the greatest portion of the rat's tail in its mouth. After
dragging it out about six inches it let go. In another instance a rat was found
inside an eel. A skinned mouse, or plucked young sparrow are said to be good
bait in Lancashire. Mr. Longstaffe, while walking by the side of Thirston Burn,
May 27th, 1875, saw an eel which looked peculiar : he shot it. It was on the
point of swallowing a large water vole, and had so far succeeded as to leave only
the hind limbs and tail sticking out of its mouth. It was 30 inches long. Eels
have also been known to devour moor-hens, young waterfowl, snakes, and fish of
any description. Mcintosh (St. Andrew's) gives an instance of one swallowing
another smaller than itself. The captive one doubled up its tail, thrusting it
from inside through the gill-opening of its captor and choked it.

Migrations. Eels, as from c 6\ lb. weight to those of smaller size, descend
streams and rivers (as the Severn, for instance) during the first rise in October
or November, during which period they cease feeding, but the take is more
successful when the floods occur late, because then the weeds have disappeared to
a considerable extent. Arriving at tidal waters they continue descending with
the ebb, but cease " running" when the tide flows. In Norfolk this downward
migration commences in July and continues to the end of November, and it has
been observed that as soon as the lamperns begin to run the eel stops. After
spawning, but few eels return again to the river. In " the Yare and Waveney,
the eels come down in large solid balls from one to two feet in diameter, heads
inside and tails out ; and these living balls roll down the river and plump into the
nets with such force as to carry them away, for which reason the eel-fishers at
the mills dread their coming." A gentleman from Ireland infoi-med me that be
had personally witnessed during the months of September and October balls of
eels similarly rolling seawards. Pennant remarks that in the river Nyne, in
Northamptonshire, there is a variety of small eel that is found in clusters at the
bottom of the river and is called the Bed-eel, and is sometimes roused up by
violent floods. Pliny observed it in October and suggested they did so to ward
off the cold.

During the early months of the year young eels, which are transparent,
having some minute dark spots on the back and sides, so as to appear longitudinally
striped, commence ascending rivers in incredible numbers, which migration, or " eel
fare," lias been already alluded to (see page 240). Thus " they pass up the Parret
with the tides of March, April, and May ; a few (the fishermen tell me) ascend in
February, and those by June are about 3 or 4 inches long. They come in a
continual shoal, about 18 inches wide, without cessation, for some days, always
against i lie st renin, and close to the left bank. The women catch them at night

MUR^flNlD^E. 245

by means of a canvas bag, attached to a hoop, at the end of a long stick
to which a lantern is fixed. They are thrown into a tub of salt which cleanses
them ; they are then boiled, and pressed into cakes, which are cut into slices
and fried, making most delicious food. Sometimes they are so abundant that the
people about get tired of eating them, and actually feed the pigs with them "
(Buckland). "At an early period in the summer it is an interesting* sight (at the
Cutts near Ooleraine, on the lower Bann) to mark the thousands of young eels then
ascending the stream. Hay ropes are suspended over rocky parts to aid them in
overcoming such obstructions. At these places the river is black with the multitudes
of young eels, about 3 or 4 inches long, all acting under that mysterious impulse
that prompts them to push their course onward to the lake " (Patterson, Zool.
for Schools). In migrations elvers appear to be diurnal in their habits, whereas
old eels choose the darkest nights after a flood, while in stews they die most
in frosty weather should they have no sand or mud to creep into. Thompson
remarks that he has been informed that a run of eels at night-time has been
completely stopped in its progress by placing three large lamps so that the rays
of light fall upon the surface of the water. Similarly at the great eel fisheries
of Commachio it is stated that migrations are suspended or interrupted either by
a full moon or tires accidentally lighted in the vicinity ; while thunder likewise
prevents their " running" when all else is apparently favourable. The direction
of the wind is also of importance ; it is favourable when with them or from any
point from the south, but if a sudden change occurs they will cease to migrate
for the night.

Some excellent authorities upon fish and fishing are disposed to believe that
all eels do not ascend from the sea, some being raised in fresh waters ; and many
curious localities have been recorded where detached waters have contained eels.
Thus a correspondent of Land and Water (July 15th, 1882) observes: "Last
week I saw eel and carp fishing going on in the Co. Wexford marl holes. Many
of these holes are at great distances from the streams and river, and have no
connection with them, so that the eels must go over the land to get to them, and
I learn from the people in the neighbourhood that some of the largest eels they
get are caught in the grass in summer after rain." Mr. Cornish, among several
cases he records, tells us " that at the famous Botallack Mine in St. Just, in
Penwith, eels occur in a pond fed by chance supply, situated on the top of a hill
close to the blacksmith's shop. And I placed on record some years ago the
capture of a large eel in a freshwater pool fed not from the surface, but from
the bowels of the earth in one of the old deep levels (or workings) of Wheal
Mary Mine, near this place" (Land and Water, June 10th, 1882). Mr. Berry
(Mag. Nat. Hist. 1834, vii, p. 301) says he has taken eels of all sizes, from that
of a needle upwards, in ponds totally unconnected with and distinct from either
river or brook.

It has been supposed that as eels as large as 11 lb. or more are captured
migrating seaward they must have bred in fresh water ; but this does not
follow they may be sterile temporai'ily or permanently, as the one kept over
22 years in an aquarium. Young eels have, as already observed, been known to
ascend the flood-gates of lochs, to creep up water-pipes in short, mechanical
difficulties scarcely obstruct them ; they will even quit the water and travel over
herbage. Lakes which formerly were well stocked with eels have become
destitute of them, due to impassable barriers having been erected between them
and the sea, preventing migrations to and fro.

Means of capture. Eels are in places taken in the largest numbers after heavy
storms and floods. These may be in the form of " eel-bucks," as used in the
Thames, which consists of a number of wicker baskets or " weals," externally
somewhat in the form of a sugar-loaf, and internally like a mouse-trap ; several
of them are sxrpported with a wooden framework, the whole crossing the stream.
The open side of these baskets is turned up stream, as it is when these fishes are
descending that they are trapped. These wicker-work baskets have to be soaked
some weeks before being used, or eels will not enter them. At some mills one
of the water-gates is left open and a hoop-net fitted to a frame inserted,

24G PHYSOSTOMI.

which is often successful in obtaining good catches of descending fish.
Thompson says at Toome " they are taken in nets which may be compared to
sugar-loaves, with the tops cut off, each from 14 to 16 yards long, and placed
between weirs." A blow on the tail is said to quiet an eel. In appropriate
localities swigs are stated to be sometimes taken when the openings of the
eel-buck are down stream.

In the rivers and broads of East Anglia " eel-sets " are employed : these are
wall-nets of small meshes set across the stream, the foot rope being weighted and
resting on the bottom, while wooden floats are used along its upper edge, and
these are fixed to three stakes, one being near each bank and the third in the
centre of the stream. They are used for the silver eel, and arrest them during
their autumn migration seawards, and in this way tons are occasionally captured
in Norfolk. The opinion prevails that it will not readily take a bait or be speared.
Baits. Trimmers baited with roach or other silvery fish ; the bait being near
the bottom, also night lines. Atkinson (Zoologist, 1844, p. 528) remarks upon
never having caught very large eels in the spring or early summer, or on moon-
light nights, except the water was foul. They often remove the bait without
being hooked, while gudgeons are preferred to minnows. In one piece of water he
could not induce them to take Prussian carp. In some of the shallower Norfolk
broads, according to Lubbock, the fisherman has a bundle of osier wands in his
boat, each about 7 feet in length and sharpened at the thicker end ; about a yard
of stronsr strinsr is attached to each. Hooks baited with small fish are beside
him, and as he floats along he attaches it to one of his lines and sticks his osier
twig down wherever he perceives an opening among the weeds at the bottom.
The advantage is that no struggles of eels entangle his line, each being inde-
pendent of the other. In Norfolk dabbing or bobbing is thus carried on : a
number of lob worms are threaded by means of a needle on worsted, until a
bunch is formed. A weight is attached and the bait lowered to the bottom.
The babber sits in his boat all night with a short rod in each hand, and every
now and then lifts the bab a little. If a bite, he lifts it gently into the boat, the
eel's teeth having become entangled in the worsted. The great time for this is
when roach and bream are ronding or spawning in the spring, then the eels follow
them; it is useless babbing anywhere except in the spawning beds. You can hear
the eels sucking away at the spawn in the weeds, and they gorge themselves to
such an extent that they will lie motionless on their backs in the gravel. There
are two kinds of eel-spears employed in the Broads' district, the prick is con-
structed of four broad serrated blades or tines spread out like a fan, and the eel
becomes wedged between them. The dart is made of a cross piece with barbed
spikes set in it like the teeth of a rake. The spearer watches for bubbles, which
denote the presence of an eel, and then uses his spear. In some places the eel-spear
is known as "eelshear" or " elger." Broggmg or sniggling is thus performed :
when the water is low, and on a hot summer's day, a small hook baited with a red-
or dew- worm is affixed to a long line, one end of which is held in the hand. Then
the upper end of the hook is loosely inserted into the cleft of a long hazel-wand.
Holes or appropriate places for eels are searched for and the bait quietly placed
therein. The eels must have time to gorge the bait and be very leisurely
extracted from their retreat, for lying doubled up in the hole, they will, if much
force is exerted, break the line. Powdered beef, a frog, minnow, intestines
of fowl or fish, particularly the offal of mackerel, herrings, or pilchards, while a
pride, Petromyzon branchiaJis, exceeds every other bait for night lines.

Breeding. From the time of the Greeks this has been a difficulty to
naturalists. Thus, Aristotle thought they sprang from mud. Pliny had an idea
that fragments of the skin of the parents rubbed off against the rocks developed
into young ones, while Helmont gives the following curious recipe : " Cut up
two turfs covered with May dew, and lay one upon the other, the grassy sides
inwards, and then expose them to the heat of the sun ; in a few hours there will
spring up an infinite quantity of eels."

Horsehair from the tail of a stallion was asserted to be a never-failing source
of young eels.

MUR^ENID^E. 247

Parasitic worms, Ascaris, have been constantly pointed at in the intestines
of these fish as the developing young ; while other fishes have likewise been the
reputed parents of eels. Jacoby tells us that this last opinion is even very
prevalent at the present day among eel fishermen, especially such as reside
near the mouths of rivers. A slimy fish, Zoarces viviparus (see vol. i, p. 211),
owes the name by which it is generally known in Commachio the " eel-mother "
to this opinion. It is a very old opinion, prevalent to this day, that eels copulate
with water-snakes, but it seems incredible, and is nevertheless a positive fact, that
the Sardinian fishermen consider a beetle, Dytiscus Boeselii, as the procreator of
the eel.

In the seventeenth century Redi and Paullini both expressed their opinions
that eels must have both semen and ova; while Mondini, at Bologna, in 1777,
read an accurate description, accompanied by excellent illustrations of the ovaries
of the eel discovered by himself, and which was published in 1 783. 0. F. Midler
almost simultaneously (1780) published a description of the ovaries of this fish,
which appear in the shape of a frill-shaped band, extending in the abdomen
anteriorly to the forepart of the liver and posteriorly to the vent,* while in this
band are numerous eggs, but no duct, as the ova falls into the abdominal -cavity.
Rathke, in 1850, described the first gravid female eel which up to that period had
come into the hands of a competeut investigator. For some time it was contended
that this fish was an hermaphrodite, and it was not until 1873 that Syrski, at
Trieste, obtained an eel 15 inches long possessing an undescribed organ as well as
being deficient in an ovary. This lobe-organ consists of tubes in areolar tissues,
contains a seminal duct, shows no trace of frill-like folds, but appears as a light
band with a free edge. Care has to be taken not to mistake two fatty bands, which are
always present in either sex of eels, for the lobe-organ. The largest male seen by
Syrski has been from 17 to 19 inches in length. Since they were first detected
numerous male examples have been found.

Gunther, in his "Introduction to the Study of Fishes" (1880), disposes of
the investigations made up to that period, remarking: " Their mode of propa-
gation is still unknown. So much only is certain, that they do not spawn in
fresh water, that many full-grown individuals, but not all, descend rivers during
the winter months, and that some of them spawn in brackish water, or in deep
water in the sea." The common opinion seems to be that the eel only spawns
once in its lifetime, a peculiarity it shares with the lamprey, and this pi'ocess
takes place in the sea. The proportion of male to female fish rapidly decreases
with the distance from the sea. When the young are hatched they ascend the
rivers to reach the inland streams and ponds, where they grow in size but never
increase in numbers. It would seem, considering the state of the ovaries so
long as these fish continue in rivers, that salt water is needed to develop the
pro creative powers.

Life history. It has been disputed whether young eels grow rapidly or
slowly. f M. Coste says that placed in reservoirs with plenty of food, in four or
five years they weigh from 4 to 6 lb. I received alive through the post a little
elver, 2T inches long, on May 15th, 1879, at Cheltenham. It did well when
placed in an aquarium, usually lying on the top of the Valisneria in the water,
and darting away and hiding its head under a stone if frightened : occasionally it
ascended to the surface and discharged a bubble of air. By May 27th it had
grown to 3| inches in length, during this period having been kept in a tumbler
with about two inches of tank water changed daily. It was now taken to Weston-
super-Mare, but did not thrive, the water apparently being unsuited. At the end
of June it was brought back to Cheltenham, but during my absence died, due to
rain water only having been supplied.

Fisheries. There are many celebrated ones distributed over Europe, more
especially that of Commachio, near Venice : those of the Seine in France, Nar-

* The genital opening is a simple orifice which communicates with both halves of the abdominal
cavity by means of a transverse fissure between the rectum and the urinary bladder, and opens into
the urethra.

f Cultivation of Eels, Souberain, A. M. N. H. (3), 1865, xvi, p. 384.

248 PHYSOSTOMI.

bonne and Montpellier : many likewise in Germany and Holland. In this country
the Kennet has long been celebrated for its eels as well as the Isle of Eels, now
termed Ely, and other localities, as Cambridgeshire and the Eastern broads.

The largest supply is obtained from Holland, and Mr. Mayhew (London
Labour and London Poor, i, p. 66) has given a good description of the Dutch eel-
boats in the Thames. For in the time of Queen Elizabeth a free mooring was
given for Dutch sennits in this river when bringing over eels, a privilege that is
still made use of. The holds are fitted up with long tanks of muddy water, and the
heads of the eels may be seen breathing on the surface, a thick brown bubble rising
slowly and floating to the sides. At the stern of one boat was moored a coffin-
shaped barge pierced with holes, and hanging in the water were baskets,
shaped like olive-jars, to keep the stock of fish both alive and fresh. In the
centre of the boat stood the scales, a tall, heavy apparatus, one side fitted up with
the conical net-bag to hold the eels, and the other with the weights, and pieces of
stone to make up for the extra draught of the water hanging about the fish. The
Scotch will scarcely eat them or even capture them for sale.

" Mr. Grurney informs me that he used to find the sharp-nosed eel at Lowestoft
along the coast, sometimes nearly a mile from the harbour's mouth very healthy
but never large; 2 lb. would be the maximum weight of these salt-water eels "
(T. Southwell). Paget has likewise remarked that eels are found in Yarmouth
at the harbour's mouth and even at sea.

It has been observed that an eel will live and grow in any water, however
warm, and though it prefers a muddy or boggy bottom, such is not indispensable.
It requires no special food, being omniverous, is an excellent scavenger, besides
capturing living prey. It grows rapidly, while the young are easily transported.
But it is found undesirable in rivers where gill-nets are much employed, as it eats
the captives.

As food. Are largely eaten potted, stewed, or in eel-pies ; are rather rich,
wholesome and nutritious, except when captured near drains, when they ought to
be avoided. "Very seldom eaten in Orkney" (Low). The Jews reject the eel
although they are aware that it has scales. Elvers " may be eaten boiled in milk
and pressed into a sort of cheese" (Ball). Fancy, as regards their appearance
somewhat resembling a snake, causes many to reject these fish as food, although they
are otherwise esteemed by the South Britons but loathed by those in the North,
while in some parts of Ireland the supposition seems still to hold good that they
are the lineal descendants of the serpents on which St. Patrick served a writ of
ejectment, depriving them of any local habitation on dry land. A tradition exists
in Cambridgeshire that when the priests refused to accede to the Pope's order to
put away their wives, the latter, as well as their offspring, were turned into eels,
whence originated the name Ely ! Their skins, in the Orkneys, are worn around
the ankles as a preservative against cramps. Even the Ancients were super-
stitious respecting eels, deeming them to be the embodiment of evil spirits.

Highly esteemed by the Greeks and Romans, they were rejected by the
Egyptians, but enrolled among their numerous gods, and esteemed by most
people, except Jews and Scotch. They are always in season, but least in winter
and are worst in May.

Uses. Their skins, oiled and dried, are used in Tartary as glass.
Diseases and causes of destruction. Their greatest enemies, irrespective of
man, are otters, polecats, and rats, both of which attack them in winter when
dormant. Herons and swans likewise eat them, as well as pike, salmon, and
large trout. A water spaniel has been known to feed greedily on young eels
waiting to ascend a pass. But herons have not invariably captured eels with
impunity, as it is on record how one pierced through the eye by the bill of its
captor, twisted itself round its neck and strangled it during its dying agonies. It
is asserted that tar in the water destroys or repels eels. Thus they were formerly
abundant in the harbour at Mevagissey, but since boat-building has been much
carried on they have disappeared, the water now being constantly polluted with
tar. A disastrous epidemic among the eels has been observed this summer (1882)
in the Nakskoofjord in Laaland, an island of considerable size in the Baltic,

MUR^ENID^E. 249

belonging to Denmark. " The eels are dying away in enormous numbers without
suffering from any apparent disease. Many thousands of dead eels could be seen
a few days ago along the strand between Sandby Sletniis and Rosniis, only a few
miles distant from each other. Great quantities of eels forwarded as usual to the
German ports in the East Sea were discovered dead upon the arrival of the
transports at their destination, although when shipped they all appeared to be in a
fresh and healthy condition. The eel fishery, which is of considerable importance in
the fiords of Laaland, has therefore collapsed altogether this season. All the foreign
eel fishermen who have been in the habit of frequenting the island have returned
home. Nothing has as yet been ascertained which might throw any light upon
the cause of the death of the eels " (V. B., in Land and Water, July 15th, 1882).
An epidemic is reported to have attacked pike and eels in the river Barrow. The
latter fish were seen very lifeless for a day or so, and subsequently dead in
shoal water, the under part of the body, from the mouth to the tail, being
speckled with blood-red spots, and the mouth sometimes full of coagulated blood.
Numbers are killed and eaten by rats and polecats in the winter. They are very
much disturbed by electricity. In the winter they come to the surface for air,
and polecats have been observed to hunt for them. Mr. Bannister (Zoologist,
1846) observes, that " in tracing the foot-prints of the polecat, it will soon be
ascertained that he halts at every hole or opening he meets with in the ice, and
at once commences fishing, by introducing a forefoot into the water, and no doubt
groping all round under the ice as far as he can reach in search of such eels as
may have come to the aperture for air."

Habitat. Generally distributed in Europe, except in the Arctic regions, the
Danube and its tributaries, the Black Sea, and the Caspian.

In the Orkneys eels " are common in all our lochs, bums, and in the sea. They
are found in many of our lochs, especially where no other fish are, and even in those
whose efflux into the sea is over such precipices as to allow of no passage for any
living thing, which puzzles many of our country sages to account for their getting
there ; and indeed this is no easy task, if we do not consider the manners of the
eel : how difficult it is to be retained in the claws, or even the stomachs of birds
which prey upon it ; how tenacious of life it is, which makes it capable of being
carried a great way without being the worse ; and if dropped, its ability in this
case to seek out a proper habitation for itself " (Low).

In Ireland it is abundant both in the fresh waters and around the coast. In
the north they commence taking them in large numbers about August. The
greatest number Thompson states he had heard of being captured at Toome in
one night was 70,000. Mr. Ogilby says that he has only detected the broad-
nosed form in the rivers of the Donemanagh district. The fry run up in June,
and are eaten by larger eels, trout, etc.

As to the size which eels obtain, many of the largest recorded examples are
probably congers. August 17th, 1866, one netted the previous day in the River
Bure, Homing (? Norfolk), was 3 feet 8 inches long, and 10 inches in girth at
the thickest part, and 7f lb. weight (T. E. Gunn, Zool. 1866, p. 510). Mr.
Clarke Kenedy observed one from Downham 5 feet 8 inches long and 36 lb.
weight (Zool. 1868, p. 1061). The largest seen by Buckland weighed 10 lb., and
I have not personally observed any larger.

The example figured is a female from Norfolk, 13-* inches in length.

250 PHYSOSTOMI.

Genus II Conger, Cuvier.

Gill-openings large and extending low down. Eyes large. Cleft of mouth wide
and reaching to at least so far as the centre of the eye. Posterior nostril patent
and opposite the middle of the front edge of the eye : the anterior nostril tubular.
Teeth in rows in both jaws, one of which in the tipper forms a cutting edge due to
their so closely approximating together : no canines : a short band on the vomer.
Dorsal fin commences behind the insertion of the pectoral : the pectoral and also the
vertical fins (which are continued round the tail) well developed. Scaleless.

Geographical distribution. Seas of temperate and tropical regions. The
species found off our coasts has been recorded from the seas of such distant
countries as Japan and Tasmania.

Berkenhout (Syn. i, p. 64) included the small-headed Mediterranean Conger
myrus among British fish, in which he was followed by Turton (p. 87), but the
authority for this is still wanting, consequently I have followed recent authors in
omitting to insert it.

1. Conger vulgaris, Plate CXLII, fig 2.

Congro, Belon. p. 162 ; Rondel, i, p. 308. Broncho, Salvian. p. 66. Conger,
Willugh. Hist. Pise. p. iii, t. G4 ; Ray, Syn. Pise. p. 37 ; Pennant, Brit. Zool.
(Ed. 1776) iii, p. 147 (Ed. 1812) iii, p. 196 ; Klein, MSS. iii, p. 26. Murasna,
sp. Artedi, Gen. p. 24, no. 2 ; Synon. p. 40, no. 2.

Murcena conger, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 426 ; Bloch, Ich. p. 999, t. civ ; Gmel.
Linn. p. 1135 ; Bonn. Ency. Ich. p. 35, pi. xxiv, f. 82 ; Bl. Schn. p. 487 ; Lacep.
ii, p. 268 ; Donovan, Brit. Pish, v, pi. cxix ; Risso, Ich. Nice, p. 92 ; Nilss.
Skand. Fauna, iv, p. 680 ; Gronov. ed. Gray, p. 19 ; Pallas, Zool. Ross.-Asi.
iii, p. 72.

Anguilla conger, Mitchell, Lit. and Phil. Trans. N. York, i, p. 360 ; Shaw,
Zool. iv, pt. i, p. 20, pi. i ; Turton, Brit. Fauna, p. 87 ; Flem. Brit. An. p. 200 ;
Jenyns, Man. p. 478 ; Kroyer, Danm. Fisk. iii, p. 603, c. fig.

Conger vulgaris, Cuv. Regne Anim. t. ii, p. 231 ; Yarrell, Pro. Zool. Soc. 1831,
p. 158, Brit. Fishes (ed. 1), ii, p. 304, c. fig. (ed. 2), ii, p. 402 (ed. 3), i, p. 68;
Paruell, Wern. Mem. vii, p. 388 ; Schleg. Fauna Japon. p. 259 ; White, Catal.
p. 112 ; Bleeker, Vehr. Bat. Gen. xxv, Japan, p. 53 and Atl. Ich. Mur. p. 26,
pi. v, f. 2 ; Thompson, Nat. Hist. Ireland, iv, p. 227 ; Schlegel, Dieren Neder.
p. 90, pi. ix, f. 2 ; Giinther, Catal. viii, p. 38 ; Canestrini, Fauna dTtalia, p. 200 ;
Collett, Norges Fiske, p. 199 ; Winther, Ich. Dan. Mar. p. 51 ; Giglioli, Catal.
Pesc. dTtal. p. 47 ; Moreau, Poiss. de la France, iii, p. 565.

Conger niger and verus, Risso, Ich. Nice, p. 93 and Eur. Merid. iii, p. 201 ;
Kaup, Apodal Fish. p. 113.

Echelus glaucus and macropterus, Rafin. Caratt. pp. 64, 65, t. xvii, f. 2.

Congrtis vulgaris and leucophaius, Richard. Voy. Ereb. and Terror, Fish,
p. 107.

Conger communis, Costa, Fauna Nap. Pesc.

Conger occidentalis, De Kay, New York Fauna, Fish. p. 314, pi. liii, f. 172.

Conger Linnei, Malm. Fauna, p. 591.

Conger, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, iv, p. 340, pi. cexxxviii.

(Immature.)

Leptocephalus Morrisii, Pennant, Brit. Zool. (Ed. 1776), iii, p. 158, pi. xxv (Ed.
1812), iii, pi. 212, pi. xxviii; Gm. Syst. Nat. i, p. 1150 ; Bl. Schn. p. 133, t. cviii,
f . 2 ; Montague, Wern. Mem. ii, p. 436, pi. xxii, f. 1 ; Leach, Zool. Misc. iii, p. 10,
pi. exxvi ; Fleming, p. 200 ; Deere, Lond. Mag. Nat. Hist, vi, p. 530 ; Yarrell,
Brit. Fishes (ed. 1), ii, p. 311, c. fig. (ed. 2), ii, p. 40S ; Jenyns, Brit. Vert.
p. 480 ; Peach, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. 1854 (2), xi, p. 238 ; Kaup, Apodal

MUR^ENID^E. 251

Fish. p. 147 and Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. 1860, vi, p. 271 ; White, Catal. p. 114 ;
Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, iv, p. 348, pi. cccxl.

B. ix-x, D. 170, P. 16-19, D+A+C. 525-546. Vert. 154-164.

Length of head 7 to 8, height of body 16 to 20 in the total length.
Body anteriorly rounded, becoming compressed in its posterior portion. Head
depressed. Mouth wide, the upper jaw very slightly the longer, its cleft
extending to below the middle of the orbit. The posterior nostril patent, the
anterior tubular. Teeth cardiform in the upper jaw, one regular row of teeth of
the same size and placed close together form a cutting edge : a short band on the
vomer : cardiform likewise in the lower jaw similar to those in the upper Fins
the dorsal commences above the last quarter or end of the pectoral : the anal in
the middle of the total length. Colours generally grayish, becoming lighter or
even white beneath. A row of white spots mark the openings from the lateral-
line. The margins of the vertical fins black.

Varieties. In colour, the body may be dark and the vertical fins blackish or
with a black edge : or the whole fish may be uniformly black, due to the character
of the locality where it resides. Couch alludes to a rock on the coast of Cornwall
about five leagues from land, and rising up from a large plain of submerged sand.
The summit of this rock is full of gullies shaded with weeds, and congers caught
there are always black, while those taken close to its base are always white.
Occasionally these fish are spotted with white. " In 1876 a conger of about 201b.
weight, of a lead colour, approaching to white, was brought in from the deep sea
and placed in a large wicker basket close to land : in six weeks he was as black
as he possibly could be " (Dunn). In form. In some there is a deficiency of the
upper jaw or snout, while the dorsal fin is frequently deformed, the anterior
portion being often absent or malformed, sometimes only a few rays existing near
the tail. Occasionally the tail is found to end without any fin.

Navies. Conger, Haaf-eel (and Easgann faragidh, Celtic) Moray Firth. Evil-eel,
Aberdeen (Sim). Cungyr or hunger, Mor Lysoioen and Cungyren, Welsh. Be Zee-
paling, Dutch. Congre commun, French.

Habits. Prefers deep waters where the bottom is rocky, or sandy spots
surrounded by rocks which are covered by weeds. Is found from the borders
of the tide up to fifty fathoms or more, but it very rarely ascends into
fresh water ; and although it appears to frequent favourite localities, still it is
more common there at some times than it is at others. It is most active and
appears to principally feed at night-time, even the presence of a bright moon has
been known to interfere with the success of the fishing. It enters lobster pots to
secure the contents, and is very destructive to soles and plaice in Cornwall. When
in boats it feels about with its tail, and, if able, will lay hold of the gunwale with it,
and so lift itself overboard, and this is one reason why the fisherman at once knocks
it on the tail or over the vent when captured : it is by means of the tail that it
likewise makes its exit from a crab pot in which it has entered to devour the
contents ; it thrusts its flattened tail between the willow-rods of which it is
composed and thus pushes itself backward through the opening. It is sometimes
left stranded an hour or more by the tide, but this does not appear to occasion
any inconvenience, while it will even conceal itself under the sand, awaiting a
return of the tide. In the Moray Firth Gordon remarks that the fishermen
believe that this fish is fond of swimming after newly tarred boats.

The conger is very sensible to atmospheric changes, and is inert during cold
weather, while prior to storms it is more than usually active. During severe
frosts conger have been seen floating down rivers half dead or " blown," this term
signifying the air-bladder being tightly distended. Near Cork, in 1841, many
died of cold ; others were readily captured where the water was from forty
to sixty feet deep and brackish.

Pennant observes that congers and eels in general are particularly fond of
carcases of any kind, being frequently found lodged in such that are accidentally
taken up. In an aquarium it will even devour dog-fishes, swallowing its prey
head first ; while at Southport they could only keep sturgeons, angel-fishes, skate,

252 PHYSOSTOMI.

and huge turbots safe in such company, their digestion being very rapid. It
does great injury to the net- fishermen, tearing the captives out of the meshes.
It feeds upon fish, especially pilchard, hake, and herring along the south coast,
lobsters, crabs, and, in short, almost any form of animal life. Templeton recorded
that a vessel loaded with salt herrings was wrecked on the coast of Rathlin, and
these fish gorged themselves on them in great numbers, and for several days
subsequently were washed ashore dead.

Mr. Ogilby informs me of one 58^ lb. weight, and measuring over six feet
long, which was taken in a net at Portrush, July 21st, 1876, while in the act of
trying to swallow a marked 6 lb. salmon, which it has succeeded in doing so far
as the mesh of the net. Mr. Dunn, at Mevagissey (October 9th, 1883), found
they had swallowed stones from one to four ounces in weight, and also that it
was a common occurrence as observed at the fish factory. Eleven days subse-
quently, on a conger being hooked, it tried to free itself by ejecting something
from its stomach, but the stone which it was trying to force out was broader one
way than the other, evidently the small end having been swallowed first, but on
coming up it turned and completely choked the conger; and after death, so
firmly was it found jammed that after the fish's head was cut off, it could not be
moved, and is still imbedded in the skull of the creature. It would appear likely
that these stones have been swallowed for the purpose of obtaining the animal life
attached to them, while they are subsequently ejected.

Mr. Dunn, at Mevagissey, kindly kept a list of the various kinds of food taken
from congers' stomachs in one day in August at the fish factory. Goldsinny
wrasse, skulpin, lesser sand launce, father lasher, one-spotted goby, pollachs,
rocklings of sorts, powers, lesser fork-beard, carter, pilchards, very small congers,
pipe fishes, small squid, five varieties of crab including the hermit-crab, a whelk
without its shell, and other animal substances. Small congers are frequently found
in the stomachs of their larger relatives, while it is not uncommon for a small
one, after having been hooked, to be swallowed by one which exceeded it in size :
while the five-bearded rockling is a favourite food, also the large pipe fish.

Many instances, observes Thompson, have been recorded of the decapitated
heads of these fish closing upon foreign bodies being inserted between the jaws ;
and Mr. Patterson of how a boy, seeing on the shore the head of one of these fish
just left by fishermen, pushed his toe into it ; his yells soon brought assistance
and release.

Means of capture.^- Along our south coast, although occasionally taken
handlining, it is chiefly caught by long lines or bulters baited with pilchards,
mackerel, or sand launce : its mouth is rather tender for handlining, still this is
the favourite method of pursuing it in the Channel Islands ; hut at the sea bottom
it gorges the bait, which must be quite fresh. A conger can bite through a cord
as thick as the finger, and twist the line round into a ball, and in this manner
often drags the hook from the jaws. In most places on being captured it is
knocked on the head or over the abdomen ; but not so in the Channel Islands,
where such a proceeding, it is considered, would spoil its appearance. Taken
in Ireland mostly in May and June. Thompson mentions that congers have been
known to destroy 5 worth of nets in a single night, and seven or eight hooks
have been removed from a single fish.

Baits. Red sea bream, pieces of almost any fish, as pilchards, herrings, and
likewise cuttles. At Portrush, where it is very common, Mr. Ogilby observes
that the lines set for it are only let down about an hour and in a slack tide : the
bait should be perfectly fresh, as it will not look at anything stale!

Breeding. In June, 1876, a female died in the Southport Aquarium, which
weighed 15jlb., while the ova were full 7 lb., showing a total of 6,336,512 eggs.
Dr. Otto Hermes found 3,300,000 in one, the ovaries of which weighed 22-| lb.
Yarrell asserts that they spawn in December and January. In Germany, Otto
Hermes refers to female congers dying, unable to deposit their ova, while one at
Frankfort-on-the-Maine burst in consequence of the unnatural development of its
ovaries. It would seem to be a rapid-growing fish when abundantly supplied with
food, thus Mr. Jackson at the JSouthport Aquarium observed that in about sixteen

MUELENID^E. 253

months the conger-eels have increased from about 7 or 8 lb. each to something like
25 lb. or 30 lb., and one which died in March, 1880, had grown in 5^- years from
2 or 31b. to 901b. weight. The supposed male organs of the common eel were
observed by Syrski, as already described (page 247), but no one had detected
spermatozoa in them. It was not until June 20th, 1880, that Dr. Otto Hermes
finally set this question at rest respecting congers, when he found on cutting into
Syrski's organ, that a white fluid flowed out, which, under the microscope with
a power of 450 diameters, showed a great number of spermatozoa in the liveliest
motion, and in which head and tail were evidently visible. The male conger is
considerably smaller than the female, as has been observed in the common eel.

Fisheries. During the fourteenth century in the West of England, this was an
important dish, and was even received as the chief rent at underletting of land.
At Sir T. F. Aubyn's, Mount's Bay, Cornwall, is a large one stuffed, which was
paid as a heriot according to the terms under which the land was beld. Pennant
observes that the following quantities were sent from Mount's Bay in Cornwall, in
five years : 1756, 46 cwt. ; 1757, 164 cwt. ; 1758, 164 cwt. ; 1759, 213 cwt. ; 1760,
71 cwt. Before congers decreased off our shores or the sale became limited, they
were exported to Spain and Portugal. Round the Channel Islands and among
the rocks in the vicinity congers abound, and King John in the charter of privileges
to the people of this locality dwelt upon the right to capture and salt these fish,
and prior to the extension of the Newfoundland fisheries this was very valuable.

As food. Donovan considered its flesh to be simply delicious when roasted.
The fat around its milt and roe is employed in some particular cookery due to its
not possessing any disagreeable taste or smell. Much of the "stock" for turtle
soup for hotel or public dinner tables is said to be made from conger. As food it,
in common with the eel, is rejected in many parts of Scotland and the West of
England, but in Edinburgh it finds a ready sale : in the Channel Islands the
black variety is preferred.

Uses. Conger doust is a local term for dried conger ; the Portuguese and
Spaniards used to employ these dried congers after they had been ground into a
powder for the purpose of thickening and giving a relish to their soup. Small
ones, according to Pennant, were slit and then hung on a frame until dry, for
having much fat it is necessary all should exude before they are fit for use ; they
were then stitched together by their edges into a sheet. In Ireland the skins are
preserved and employed for the hanging of flails, etc.

Diseases and causes of destruction. Sudden cold is often very destructive to
congers, which become blown, so drift on shore and are left dead by the tide or
knocked on the head and captured, or fall a prey to the lower animals. Otters in
the Orkneys bring them on shore and leave them after they have eaten a small
portion, subsequently the country people search for these. Porpoises, likewise,
feed on them : thus, on April 20th, 1881, one weighing 35 lb. ran ashore and
several yards up the beach of Colwyn Bay when pursued by one of these animals
and, after a tough fight, was secured by Captain Davis, who gaffed it with a
sail-hook.

Dareste refers to rickets, rachitis, existing in these fish. Such fish are
remarkable by reason of the great reduction in the number of teeth, and remain
smaller than is natural.

Habitat. This fish has a very wide geographical range, extending from the
coasts of Europe, the Mediterranean, and the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, to the
East Indian Archipelago, Japan and Tasmania.

In the Orkneys the largest measure about 6 feet in length (Low). It is
common round the coasts of Britain and Ireland, and abundant along our southern
shores. This fish attains a large size : in October, 1877, one which was 6| feet long
was captured at Portrush, in Ireland, which weighed 53 lb. In January, 1880,
one weighing 84 lb. was taken in a net at Burnham, in Somersetshire. Borlase
alludes to one near Mount's Bay of 100 lb. weight ; Couch to another of 104 lb. ;
Buckland to one at Mevagissey, by Dunn. 112 lb.; and in 1879 a conger weighing
128 lb. and 8 feet 3 inches long was received in the London market ; Donovan
asserts one of 130 lb. was captured at the Nore.

254 PHYSOSTOMI.

Genus III MuR-ENA, sp. Artedi.

Gymnothorax, Bloch. MurcenopMs, Lacepede. Echidna, Forster. Thairodontis,
Sirophidon and Lycodontis, McClelland. Sidera, Eurymyctera, Thysoidea, Lima-
murcena, Polyuranodon, Pcecilophis, Gymnomurazna, Priodonophis and Tozniophis,
Kaup. Pseudomurcena, Johnson.

Body moderately or exceedingly elongated. Gill-openings narrow slits. A tubular
nostril on either side of the upper surface of the snout : the posterior nostril a round
orifice opposite the antero-superior edge of the eye, while it may or may not be
furnished with a tube. Teeth well developed, and either acute or molariform : the
maxillary teeth may be in one or two rows. Dorsal fin elevated, or not so ; the end of
the tail surrounded by fin, and is occasionally rudimentary : pectorals absent.

Geographical distribution. Seas of temperate and tropical regions, some species
ascending tidal rivers. One form has been captured off our coast. The spotted
sea-eel, Ophisurus ophis, an inhabitant of the Indian Ocean, was included by
Merret (Pinax, p. 185), subsequently by Sibbald (Scot. 23), and also by Berken-
hout (Syn. i, p. 185) among the British fish, but the authority in all is omitted.
It may, however, have been due to the capture of a Murozna helena at some
antecedent date.

The dentition of these fish alters considerably with age, while it is not always
identical in every individual of the same species. They are reputed to attack
fishermen and others when in the water, a character, Mr. Carrington (Zoologist,
September, 1876) thinks, they do not deserve.

1. Muraena helena, Plate CXLIII.

Mvpatva, Aristotle, i, c. 5, etc. ; ^Elian. i, c. 22, etc. ; Athen. lib. vii.

Murce?ia, Pliny, ix, c. 16, 19, 20, 23, 54, 55, and xxxii, c. 2, 5, 7 and 8 ; Belon.
p. 158 ; Rondel, xiv, c. v, p. 402 ; Salvian. pp. 59, 60 ; Willughby, Hist. Pise,
p. 103, t. Gl ; Aldrov. iii, c. 27, pp. 356, 357 ; Artedi, Sp. no. 6, Synon. p. 41 ;
Gronov. Zoo. no. 164. Conger, Klein, Pise, iii, p. 28.

ftftircena helena, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 425 ; Briin. Pise. Mass. p. 11 ; Bloch, Ich.
p. 993, t. cliii; Gmel. Linn. p. 1132; Bonn. Ency. Ich. p. 33, pi. xxiii, f . 79 ;
Risso, Ich. Nice, p. 366 and Eur. Merid. iii, p. 189 ; Costa, Fauna Nap. Pesc. pi.
xxviii, f. 3 ; Jenyns, Manual, p. 479 ; Yarrell, Brit. Fishes (ed. 1) ii, p. 308, c. fig.
(ed. 2) ii, p. 406 (ed. 3) i, p. 73 ; Guichen, Explor. Alger. Poiss. p. 114; Gronov.
ed. Gray, p. 18; Richardson, Voy. Erebus and Terror. Ich. p. 80, pi. xlix, f. 1-6;
Kaup, Apodal Fish, p. 55 ; Giinther, Catal. viii, p. 96 ; Canestrini, Fauna
d'ltalia, p. 202 ; Giglioli, Faun. Ital. Pesc. p. 48 ; Moreau, Poiss. de la France, iii,
p. 575, f. 209.

Muramophis helenai, Lacep. v, p. 631 ; White, Catal. p. 113.

Gymnothorax muraina, Bl. Schn. p. 525.

Murama romana, Shaw, Zool. iv, p. 26.

Murcena guttata, Risso, Eur. Merid. iii, p. 191.

Murcena, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, iv, p. 335, pi. ccxxxvii ; Carrington,
Zoologist, 1876, p. 5053.

D, C, and A = 552, Vert. 140-143.

Height of body varying from 9 to 12 or more times in the total length and the
length of the head about 7 to 12 in the same distance. Eye diameter about T V in
the length of the head and 3 diameters from the end of the snout. _ Anteriorly the
body of this fish is rounded, becoming flattened posteriorly : its skin is very thick,
snout pointed, the cleft of the mouth deep and extending behind the eye : the upper
jaw rather longer than the lower. A row of pores along both jaws. Both nostrils
tubular, the anterior the longer. Teeth in a single row, strong, compressed and

MITILENID^. 255

pointed : those in the premaxillaries, and the canines in the lower jaw a little
larger than the lateral teeth : 17 to 19 along either side of the mandible. A row
along the vomer, the anterior of which are the largest. Gill-opening small. Vent
situated a little in front of the middle of the total length. Colours a rich
chocolate brown, lightest along the lower surface, and covered with irregularly
shaped yellow marks or spots : near the tail the colours frequently take on a
banded appearance. Gill-opening in a black spot as are also the corners of the
mouth, and folds of skin on the throat which resemble black lines. The yellow
spots are also extended on to the vertical fins.

Varieties. There are many forms of colour in this fish, some being spotted
others plain.

Name. The Murry.

Habits. Generally reputed fierce and voracious, but capable of being domesti-
cated, and even it is asserted of showing affection, while Mr. Carrington considers
it usually of the latter description. It frequents holes in rocks, and takes its food
not by reiterated snaps but in a gentle and peculiar way, by a curiously quiet
movement of the head, so as to bring the cheek down upon the object about to be
eaten, seizing it with the side of its mouth and never by the front. It is very
retentive of life and most readily dispatched by a blow on its tail. A wound
from the teeth of this fish has been deemed dangerous, and we have the tale
handed down to us, that on one occasion, when Augustus Ca?sar dined with his
favourite follower Vedius Pollio, and a slave chanced to break a valuable crystal
wine vase, the latter flung himself at the emperor's feet and supplicated that he
might not be thrown to the Muraenas. On inquiry it was found that his master
in this manner treated offending slaves who broke the decanters. The emperor
having heard the suppliant, first set him free, next saw the eel-ponds filled in, and
lastly had all the crystals broken in the presence of the guests.

As it gets old it is said occasionally to have a propensity to become fat and
even to float on the surface. It is said to delight in waging war with crabs,
cuttles, and congers : it devours small fishes, mussels and shrimps.

Vivaria. Kept by the Romans as delicacies, and objects of amusement or
even of affection. This fish is found to live and even thrive in fresh water.

As food. A delicacy, its flesh being white and of good flavour.

Habitat. It is common in the Mediterranean, especially off the coasts of Italy
and Sicily. Not rare at Madeira (Lowe). An example, 4 feet 4 inches long,
was captured on a line at Polperro, October 8, 1834, and brought to Mr. Couch,
who subsequently noted in his journal that Mr. Laughrin in 1866 informed him
that the preceding spring a large example of this fish was caught in a trammel at
Fowey, and cut up as bait for crab-pots.

The example figured died in the Royal "Westminster Aquarium, and I am
indebted for it to Mr. Carrington, f.l.s.

25G LOPHOBRANCHII.

Order IV LOPHOBRANCHII, Currier.

Fishes possessing a dermal, segmental skeleton, and the opercular pieces
reduced to a single plate. Gill-openings small : gills consisting of small and
rounded tufts attached to the branchial arches. Muscular system very slightly
developed. Snout produced : mouth terminal, but small. Teeth absent. Air-
bladder stated to be destitute of a pneumatic duct (but it is present in some
forms, as Syngnathus acus).

The fishes which belong to this order, and popularly known as pipe-fishes and
sea-horses, normally swim in a vertical position, the dorsal fin beinq- the principal
propeller, and which while in motion is rapidly undulated from end to end. The
tail fin, remarks Gray, seems to be used rather as a foot than as an organ of pro-
pulsion, and when the species with a rayed caudal fin employs this part, it expands
the rays giving the end of the tail the appearance of a webbed foot. The action
of the mouth is similar to that of a common syringe, due to the dilatation of the
throat ; the water enters the tubular-formed mouth, while it is ejected again by
compressing and so emptying the cavity.

As regards