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THE WOBURN LIBRARY

OF

NATURAL HISTORY

EDITED BY

HIS GRACE THE DUKE OF BEDFORD, K.G.

BRITISH SALT-WATER FISHES

BRITISH
SALT-WATER FISHES

3 \y
ale
BY

F. G. AFLALO

AUTHOR OF “SEA FISH”

WITH A CHAPTER ON THE ARTIFICIAL CULTURE OF SEA FISH BY

R. B. MARSTON

R OF “THE FISHING GAZETTE ”

WITH
COLOURED PLATES

London: HUTCHINSON & CoO.

Paternoster Row & ®W = 1904

x

aye

PRINTED AND BOUND BY
HAZELL, WATSON AND VINEY, LD.,
LONDON AND AYLESBURY,

WoBuRN ABBEY.

Ir is not every one who has the taste, capacity, or
leisure for the scientific study of Natural History. But
there are few persons who do not feel that some know-
ledge of the processes and products of Nature increases
the enjoyment of country life. To supply this knowledge
in a form at once easily assimilated and scientifically
accurate is the object of the Wosurn SERIES OF
NaturaL History.

Each subject will be treated by’ a writer who has
made it his special study. In this volume, therefore,
as in all the succeeding volumes, the writer speaks for
himself, and the Editor has not attempted to impose
his own opinions on those who have been asked to

contribute to the series.

[Sedford.

PREFACE

THE study of life in the seas has a practical bearing on British
industrial supremacy that cannot perhaps be claimed for any
other branch of zoology, for the arts of the stock-breeder and
poultry-farmer have long since passed out of the domain of
the laboratory into that of technical education. In our sea-
fisheries, however, we have a great industry, already
marvellously developed during the past fifty years, and
capable, with proper care, of yet further growth and improve-
ment in the near future. More and more is the administra-
tion of this industry dependent on the researches of the
marine laboratory. The causes which lead to fluctuations in
the supply by prompting irregular and hitherto immeasurable
migrations of important fishes from one coast to another; the
meaning of “over-fishing” and the nature of the measures
necessary for its control ; the difficulty in obtaining bait,—these
and other problems it is the business of the marine biologist
to solve. This, the fifth volume of the “Woburn Library,”
makes no pretence to throw any new light on these matters.
All that has been attempted is to summarise the habits and
appearance, the distribution and the migrations of every fish
yet described as “ British.” Even before it is in the hands of
the public there may be new species in the British list, for only
while the last sheets were passing through the press our gobies
were enriched by the discovery in Cornwall of a species larger
than any hitherto admitted as belonging to this country. Too
late for insertion in the text comes information (in the
Fournal of the Marine Biological Association, December, 1903)

vil

vill PREFACE

of the discovery of a new British rockling (Motella fusca).
Messrs. Garstang and Balfour Brown omit to say on what part
of the coast it was taken, but it is mentioned as having been
found on the shore under a stone. That makes the second
new fish added to the British list during 1903. Another
recent addition to our knowledge of sea-fish is in respect
of the grey mullets. Mr. Boulenger now recognises three
British species, Mugil chelo, M. auratus, M. capito. It 1s,
however, probable that, so far as the economic food-fishes
are concerned, the list will for many years at any rate remain
as it is, although, as the more esteemed kinds, like the sole,
are gradually exhausted by the trawl, it is possible that, until
at any rate artificial re-stocking has been raised from the
domain of speculation to that of practical economics, other
kinds of fish will be pressed into the service of man. It is, in
fact, well known in the fish trade that many kinds formerly
thrown overboard as offal now find their way to the tables of
the polite, and this alone shows the need of knowing some-
thing about the smaller and less familiar denizens of our seas.

On the question of our fisheries the author has dealt in
another work, and it has here been thought proper to devote
only a single chapter to the methods by which sea fish are
caught for the market. That done, they are no longer the
concern of the biologist, for the problems of their transport
inland then occupy the legislator on other grounds.

It is in the nature of an island kingdom like ours to have
more than its proportionate share of seaboard, but, even making
due allowance for this advantage of geographical position, it
will be found that British seas harbour a marvellous abundance
of fishes. How little is known of these by the ordinary citizen
may be gathered from the probability that ninety-nine out of
every hundred doubt that real sharks of great size occur within
a mile or two of our bathing-stations, and any one stating
as much would be abused as an alarmist. With not far short
of two hundred species to notice, it has obviously been neces-

PREFACE ix

sary to adopt some plan of treatment differing in degree of
detail from that projected in those earlier volumes of the library,
which dealt with the smaller groups of our mammals and fresh-
water fishes. Even apart from the necessity for such com-
pression, it must frankly be admitted that neither the limited
extent of our present acquaintance with many of the fishes
found in our seas nor the slighter personal interest which
they have for sportsmen or amateur naturalists would have
warranted any longer account of their life-histories. The
more important, such as the mackerel, cod, and herring, have,
as will be seen, been dealt with in some detail, though even
in their case it is impossible to write with the same facility as,
for instance, Sir Harry Johnston might employ when writing
of the red deer, or as Sir Herbert Maxwell would command
in treating of the salmon. When the Marine Laboratories at
Plymouth and elsewhere have left another ten years of useful
research behind them, those who make it their business to
transcribe their erudite memoirs in commonplace language for
the information of the public may have a different story to tell,
but at present the biographer of our sea fish finds himself
continually thwarted by missing clues and unsolved mysteries.

The author has to tender his best thanks to Dr. E. J. Allen,
Mr, G. A. Boulenger, Professor Herdman, and many others
for considerable assistance, while he cannot speak too highly
of the: patient labour which Miss F. Seth has devoted to the
illustrations.

BGrds

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I

PAGE

GENERAL FACTS ABOUT SEA FISH. . wy : I
CHAPTER II

OUR FISHERIES: THEIR PRACTICE AND THEIR CONTROL H. ae - Ou R2

CHAPTER III

THE SHARKS AND RAYS. 7 ‘ - z , . : . 84
CHAPTER IV

THE BASS, BREAMS, AND RED MULLET . . ; : . 114
CHAPTER V

THE MACKERELS, HORSE-MACKERELS, AND ALLIED FORMS . ‘ . 129
CHAPTER VI

THE GURNARDS, BULLHEADS, AND WEEVERS . ‘ : ‘ a‘ . 144

CHAPTER VII

THE GOBIES, SUCKERS, AND BLENNIES . . ., : 154

CHAPTER VIII

THE CONGER EEL F ‘ , 5 7 5 . 5 . 176

CONTENTS xi

CHAPTER IX

PAGE

THE GREY MULLETS AND ATHERINES . . . ' j : . 184
CHAPTER X

THE WRASSES. 5 ; : : : ; ; ; ; : . 190
CHAPTER XI

THE HERRING FAMILY : : i s , ; ; . 198

CHAPTER XII

THE FLAT-FISHES r . ‘ i . . . ‘ * - 211

CHAPTER XIII

THE COD FAMILY AND THE SAND-EELS . ‘ . ‘ . . + 242

CHAPTER XIV

SOME RARE OR UNCOMMON FISHES . e : : 7 i « 270

CHAPTER XV

THE CULTIVATION OF SEA FISH j : . . . . . 299

INDEX . é 4 is F ; ; $ : ; . 310

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE
BLugz SuarKk 2 : Fuing 94
THORNBACK } F : y Fi F 5 . i 106
Bass , 4 ‘4 . ; 4 9 114
RED MULLET, i ‘ ‘ 7 F ‘ 3% 1I4
MACKEREL . i . F . e ‘ i é ; me 1I4
Joun Dory 2 ‘ ‘ 5 F ‘ F ' 33 138
RED GURNARD , - 2 ‘ ‘ ‘ P Fi 148
LumrsucKEeR i : P i é ae 164
GREY MULLET 3 F ‘ ; sy 184
STRIPED WRassE i ‘i H ‘i ‘ ‘ ‘ a 184
PLAICE ‘. 4 é F ‘ 5 ‘ 7 i 6 is 218
Tursor. ‘ 4 2 ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ i ; An 230
Common SoLe . : : 3 : “ : ‘ : ‘ Fo 238
Cop : - ‘ , P ‘ 5 F : : ‘ i 244
WHITING . . re : ¥ . ‘ ‘ * re 244
THREE-BEARDED ROCKLING ‘ F é i 264

RowHoUND A ; . ‘ a 4 ; , a 264

xii

SALT-WATER FISHES

CHAPTER I
GENERAL FACTS ABOUT SEA FISH

FisHes may, for present purposes, be described as cold-blooded,
backboned animals that live in water, breathing by gills which
are retained through life and attached to arches of bone or
cartilage. The limbs are known as fins. The outer covering
of the body consists, in the majority of cases, of scales, but
these may be absent, or replaced by bony plates or rough
tubercles.

Such is a very brief definition of the members of
the class. It must, even to the most superficial observer,
be obvious that the fishes of our seas, rather less than two
hundred in number, have some characters in common. They
all have a backbone, or skeleton, of either bone or gristle. In
this they resemble ourselves. They differ from us, however,
in that they reside in water, have cold blood, and oxygenate
that blood by bringing it in contact at the gills with continual
currents of sea-water holding atmospheric air in suspension.
Frogs come in this respect between us and the fishes, for they
breathe with gills when young and with lungs when full grown.
Scales are a distinctive character of the majority of fishes, but
reptiles also have scales, of somewhat different formation.
Some fishes, on the other hand, have no scales, while in others
they are minute and all but buried in the skin. Nor can fishes

Ee I

2 SALT-WATER FISHES

be defined as a class on the basis of their manner of repro-
ducing their kind. The majority of our fishes, it is true,
accomplish this, like frogs, by depositing spawn ; on the other
hand, several of them, belonging to at least three widely
separated groups, bring forth the young alive. Even the
residence in salt water and the manner of breathing with
the aid of gillsare not sufficient, either separately or in conjunc-
tion, to distinguish the fishes from other classes of animals.
The whale, the porpoise, and the seal live in the sea, but they
are warm-blooded mammals, and they breath the air direct
with lungs. The lobster and shrimp, which are crustaceans,
and the oyster and the squid, which are molluscs, live in the
sea and breathe with gills, but they have no backbone.
Neither have the anemones and medusz, and not even the
vernacular use of the word “fish” in such compounds as star-
fish, jelly-fish, or shell-fish, deceives many people in these days
of universal knowledge. The last so-called “ fish” to retain
their hold as such on the popular belief were the lamprey and
hag-fish, and indeed it is with some hesitation that the writer
has excluded them from this volume. At the same time, it was
felt that they were fish-like rather than true fishes, and that
including them would have involved a detailed explanation of
anatomical divergence unsuited to the scope of these pages.

If we desire to select some character that shall be constant
in all fishes, from no matter what portion of the globe, from
fresh waters or salt, we are restricted—so far, at any rate, as
external features go—to the organs of locomotion known as
fins, otherwise the limbs of the fish.

The ceratodus of Australia, with allies in South America
and Central Africa, has a development of the air-bladder which
is virtually a lung for use at those dry periods of the tropical
year when water fails and the gill-breathing apparatus would be
ineffectual. The common conger-eel has no scales. India and
other countries contribute to our museums fishes that were
during life capable of living for considerable periods out of

GENERAL FACTS ABOUT SEA FISH 3

water. It may be questioned, however, whether any true fish
ever brought to life will be found to lack true fins. They may
be small, or even atrophied ; but in some form or other, allowing
for all possible variation in size and number, they will be found
to persist.

The fishes of the world are divided into a number of sub-
classes, the arrangement differing slightly according to various
authorities. One of these contains the aforementioned lung-
fishes, and to another is relegated a curious form, the “ bichir ”
of the Nile. These, being without representatives in our seas,
need not further occupy our attention. If from the rest we
eliminate the Arctic chimera and sturgeon, both of which forms
are briefly described in Chapter XIV., we have to concern
ourselves in these pages with only two great groups—the
comparatively useless cartilaginous fishes (Selachiz), which
include the sharks and rays, and the variously valuable bony
fishes (Teleostomi), which include, with the exception of a few
rays, all the fishes which commonly find their way to our
tables. Before proceeding further to examine briefly some of
the leading characters and habits of our sea fish generally, it
may be as well to distinguish unmistakably between these two
great groups. For this purpose, let us distinguish between a
typical representative of either, the bass (Laérax) standing for
the bony fishes, the tope (Ga/eus) for the sharks.

The bass has a bony frame, and its body is covered with
silvery scales that are easily detached from the tough skin.
The tope has a skeleton of gristle, or cartilage, and its skin has
no silvery scales, but is granulated, like sand-paper, with a
tooth-like covering. The gills of the bass, four in number
on either side, open into one cavity protected by bony gill-
covers. ‘Those of the tope, which number five on either side,
and are supplemented by holes called “ spiracles,” open
separately on the side, showing five distinct gill-slits unpro-
tected by any covers. The tope is able to close its eyes by

4 SALT-WATER FISHES

drawing up the lower lid, rather like the shutter of some cameras,
but the bass has no such power. The tope has curious arm-
like organs, known as “claspers’’ and associated with
reproduction, and it brings forth its young alive. The bass
has no such “ claspers,” and it deposits floating eggs, which are
fertilised in the water and which hatch out in the course of a
few days. Other examples might perhaps have been selected
from the sharks, even of our seas, which would at first
sight have presented a series of contrasts less striking. Thus,
had we chosen the rowhound (Scy//ium), we should have found
that it so far resembled the bass in depositing eggs and in
being unable to close the eye. Had the blue shark been
selected as the type of cartilaginous fishes, we should have
found no distinguishing spiracles on the head to assist the
breathing of the gills. In the main, however, the two fish
above named serve the purpose of contrasting the two groups,
the bony and the gristly. The former, as already mentioned,
include practically all our table-fish—the cod, salmon, sole,
whiting, mackerel, herring, eel; the latter comprise among
eatable fishes only a few rays and, in addition, all the largest rays
and fiercest sharks. These scavengers of the ocean scour every
depth in search of dead or living prey, the sharks for the most
part near the surface, the rays at the bottom. To this rule
there are, however, well-marked exceptions, for many of the
largest sharks prowl at the bottom, while some of the giant
rays feed close to the top of the water.

It is not intended that the systematic classification of fishes
shall occupy many lines of the present chapter. Not too
much importance need be attached to even the latest recog-
nised arrangement, that of Mr. Boulenger in the Cambridge
Natural History, though perhaps more excellent than any of
its predecessors. The fact is that the systematic grouping of
fishes, like that of birds, is subject to somewhat frequent
modification. Nature knows no such abruptly demarcated sub-
orders and families and genera, which are, with their scientific

GENERAL FACTS ABOUT SEA FISH 5

names, a matter rather of convenience for the collaboration of
ichthyologists of all nations. Were it not for some such
understanding, it is dreadful to think of the loss of time and
labour that would necessarily be involved in such an under-
taking as the forthcoming international investigation of the
North Sea.

Those who have made it their business to arrange and
rearrange the fishes in families, genera, and species have relied
upon more or less well-marked characters, such as the presence
or absence of sharp spines in the fins. This system has
its advantages, but the differences of opinion among those
qualified to pronounce on such matters have been some-
what disconcerting to the student. Even in naming the fins,
Mr. Cunningham and a few other modern workers deliberately
depart, as will presently be shown, from the older nomen-
clature ; and such a course, whatever evidence it may afford of
originality, is most distressing when it becomes necessary to
compare the statements of different authorities. As to arrange-
ment of the families in order of precedence, writers on fishes
show as much diversity of opinion as ornithologists. Just as
some of the latter give precedence to the birds of prey, while
others prefer to open their treatise with the crows and thrushes,
so does Couch commence with the sharks, while Day gives
first place to the perches; and the authors of the sumptuous
volumes on the Scandinavian Fishes, so frequently alluded to
in the following pages, open their account with the wrasses.
In following Couch and taking the sharks and rays first, the
writer has not desired to indicate any anatomical priority, but
rather to preface the life-stories of the smaller and more
familiar fishes with some account of the largest and most
striking. If other reason were necessary, it might not perhaps
be difficult to justify this preference for the sharks, on the
ground of their undoubted antiquity. Almost all modern
writers are agreed that the sharks and rays have come down
to us as survivals of very ancient and important fish-families,

6 SALT-WATER FISHES

possibly even indicating the structure of the parent stock of
all fishes, if not indeed of all vertebrates.

While these pages are to concern themselves with the
habits and life-history of our sea fish rather than with any
detailed examination of their anatomical structure and affinities,
it is obviously desirable, if the reader is to follow the accounts
here given without inconvenience, to set down quite briefly in
this first chapter some outline of the appearance and physical
peculiarities of these fishes, of their food, their migrations,
and their manner of reproducing their kind. The Latin, or
rather scientific, name is given in brackets, even at the risk of
apparently superfluous repetition, when any fish is cited in
illustration of a principle, as confusion is otherwise likely to
ensue. Any English reader, for instance, consulting Dr.
Bashford Dean’s fascinating volume on Fishes, Living and
Fossil, might easily be misled on reading of the sea-bream
(p- 225), were it not plainly indicated that Crenolabrus, a
wrasse, is intended.

A glance at the illustrations in the present volume, at the
specimens in the Natural History Museum, or at the fish-

Form, monger’s slab, should suffice to indicate the great

Colour, variety of shape in our fishes. The extremes of

made: size, it is true, can be seen only at the Museum,
since the largest and smallest forms are alike unsuited to the
requirements of commerce, and it is impossible even approxi-
mately to indicate these in a book. The two great divisions,
so far as shape goes, are the round and the flat, the mackerel
(Scomber) being the type of the former, and the plaice
(Pleuronectes) standing for the second. A little more
familiarity with the characters of these two groups will show
us that there is no such combination as a silvery flat-fish.
The dory (Zeus) is, in a sense, flat, and it is also in a measure
silvery ; but the flatness of the dory is not that of the plaice,
and it swims on its belly, like other round fishes, whereas the
plaice swims on its left side. Most of the fishes which lie at

GENERAL FACTS ABOUT SEA FISH 7

the bottom, such as the rays (Raia) and weevers (Trachinus),
are dull of colour, while those which swim near the surface,
like the herring (C/upea), exhibit silvery and other bright
tints. There are exceptions to this rule, as to most, for the
dragonet (Callionymus) and red gurnard (Trigia) are familiar
examples of gaudily coloured ground-dwellers.

Anyone wishing to form some idea of the wonderful
variety of shape in our sea fish should visit the Natural
History Museum and compare, say, twelve such types as the
thresher-shark (/opias), skate (Raia), hammerhead (Zygena),
sturgeon (Acipenser), chimera (Chimera), sword-fish (Xiphias),
plaice (Pleuronectes), conger-eel (Conger), angler-fish (Lophius),
lumpsucker (Cyclopierus), sun-fish (Orthagoriscus), and sea-horse
(Hippocampus) ; and let him further bear in mind the fact that
not one of these can be said to conform to the conditions of
some such typical fish as the bass (Ladrax). It would be no
very difficult matter to name a second dozen of our sea fish
almost as remarkable in shape as those given above, but the
examples chosen sufficiently illustrate the almost inexhaustible
resources of Nature’s workshop.

Nor do the colours of our fishes display less variety than
their shape. Of all British forms the opah (Lampris) and
one or two wrasses (Laérus) display the most brilliant and
fanciful colouring, and after these come the gurnards. The
fishmonger’s shop, and to some extent also the best efforts
of the taxidermist, must necessarily be an unsatisfactory guide
in the matter of colour. Thus, the cod and its relatives,
though comparatively bright-hued in life, soon fade to one-
toned dulness after death ; and, on the other hand, the red
mullet looks even brighter in the fish-market than when
removed from the meshes of the trammel, owing to the trick
by which the fishermen scrape off the large outer scales, in
order to intensify the colour of the fish. In one or two
groups of fishes the male and female differ appreciably in
their colouring ; in other words, colour constitutes an

8 SALT-WATER FISHES

important “secondary sexual character.” The gemmeous
dragonet, for instance, and dusky skulpin, now well known
to be simply the male and female respectively of one and the
same species (Callionymus), were long described as totally
different fish. This sexual colour difference is associated by
the majority of writers with the principle of natural selection,
the brightest-coloured males being for generations more
attractive to the females than those of less gay appearance.
Mr. Holt has, however, made another suggestion by way of
explaining the phenomenon, having found by experiment in
the aquarium that the yellow pigment in the female dragonet
is distasteful to pollack, gobies, and other kinds likely to
prowl on the breeding-grounds.* He therefore regards the
yellow female as particularly safe while engaged in the 1m-
portant work of reproducing the species, though, as the male
is frequently found in quantities in the stomach of cod-fish
and other larger forms, and as there are said to be three
times as many females as males, it is not easy to understand
in what way the particular protection of one sex only can
secure the continuance of the species. At the same time,
as will presently be shown, the milt of a single male is
capable of fertilising the eggs deposited by several females,
so that, individually, the male is perhaps somewhat less
precious.

Spots, while characteristic of the salmon, trout, plaice, and
two of our dog-fishes, are not a very common character in
adult forms, but frequently occur in the young, particularly
during the very early larval and post-larval stages. In some
species, even where absent in the mature, or full-grown, fish,
the spots persist to a later stage, as in codlings (Gadus). Bars,
on the other hand, which are retained throughout life by the

* See Proc. Zool. Soc., 1898, p. 307.

t+ Curiously enough, spots are also characteristic of many young
mammals. Some young lion cubs at the Zoo recently exhibited a
uniform scheme of spots on the body and limbs.

GENERAL FACTS ABOUT SEA FISH 9

pout (Gadus), mackerel (Scomber), and pilot-fish (Naucrates),
are found in the young stages only of the salmon (Salmo),
scad (Caranx), and gar-fish (Belone). Some fishes are, like the
chameleon, able to change colour to suit their environment ; and
the dory (Zeus) has been observed to behave in this manner
when about to seize its prey, at which moment the brown
blotches on its sides take a distinctly darker hue. The late
Matthias Dunn, whose name will frequently recur in these pages
as that of certainly one of the most remarkable observers of fish
life whom this country can claim, once showed the writer some
little turbot (RAombus) that had been taken half an hour before
from the milky clay water off Pentewan, near Mevagissey.
The fish were absolutely white and opaque. ‘Transferred to
a metal bucket, however, they soon took a dark shade and a
semi-transparency. The wrasses (Laérus) are also known to
adapt their colour to the background, taking hues suitable to
the red or green weed, as the case may be, and they still
further accommodate their appearance to the sides of their
tank.* This phase of colour-protection is peculiarly associated
with flat-fishes lying on the ground for long periods, either
resting or waiting for their food, and this aspect of their life is
well illustrated by an admirable coloured plate in Cunningham’s
treatise on the common sole.

Opinions sometimes differ on the question of what exactly
constitutes colour-protection. For instance, in describing an
abnormally coloured thornback skate (Raia), which he re-
garded as a case of partial albinism, Professor Traquair t
suggested that the colouring of the specimen in question
could not, in his opinion, protect the skate when lying on
any known kind of sea-bed. That specimen was trawled off
the Isle of May, with the nature of which ground the writer
can claim no acquaintance, but he knows several patches of

* An interesting account of this behaviour in Ladrus maculatus may be
read in the Journ. Mar. Biolog. Assoc., 1898, p. 193.
+ See Annals of Scottish Natural History, January, 1893.

ie) SALT-WATER FISHES

shingly ground in the neighbourhood of Selsea Bill, on which
the thornback, if accurately figured in the plate that accom-
panied Dr. Traquair’s description, might easily have rested
unseen.

It is generally assumed that the hottest seas, lying under
constant sunshine and cloudless skies, produce the most gaily
coloured fishes, and this is in the main a sound theory.
Although some of our wrasses (Laérus) and gurnards (Trig/a)
are almost unsurpassed, while, at their best, the opah (Lampris)
and dragonet (Callionymus) are quite without rivals, it must
be granted that Australian seas, for example, give the angler
an extraordinary proportion of bright red and golden fishes.
The writer, who went to Australian sea-fishing fresh from
seasons spent in Cornwall, in the Baltic, and in the Mediter-
ranean, well remembers the interest of his first few outings on
the coast of New South Wales, where one brilliant fish was
swiftly followed by another, the schnapper eclipsed by the
nannygai, and both rivalled by the sergeant-baker. What a
contrast from the pollack and whiting of Plymouth Sound!

It must have occurred to most people who ever gave the
matter a thought that the majority of fishes are much darker
in colour along the back and sides than underneath. The cod
(Gadus) and conger (Conger) illustrate this among round fishes,
while in the skates (Raza) and flat-fish (Heterosomata) there is,
as is well known, a still more striking concentration of dark
pigment on the upper surface. The object of this is clearly
protection, for in the remora (Echeneis), a little fish which
clings to sharks and whales with the aid of a sucking-disc on
the back of the head, and consequently passes much of its life
upside-down, so to speak, it is the back which is white, while
the belly is of dark colour. The cause of this restriction of
colour to the upper surface is less apparent than its purpose,
but it has not unreasonably been attributed to the action of
light. In support of this view, indeed, we have important
evidence in Mr. Cunningham’s interesting experiments in the

GENERAL FACTS ABOUT SEA FISH II

artificial colouring of the flounder (Pleuronectes), in which
light was thrown up from a mirror arranged beneath the tank.
Reference will, however, be made to this investigation on a
later page, as also to the somewhat frequent occurrence of
abnormally coloured flat-fish, such as albino brill (Rhombus
levis) and “double” turbot (R. maximus), the latter similarly
coloured and, in some cases, studded with tubercles on
both sides.

The size of fishes offers, at any rate, as great a contrast
as the range in any other vertebrate class. Between the
basking shark (Selache) of our seas, which may attain to a
length of 40 feet, and the tiny “ sinarapan” of Lake Buhi, in
the Philippines, which never, when full-grown, exceeds 4 inch,
there is a wide margin, and, without drawing on the fauna
of so distant an archipelago, some of the smaller suckers
(Liparis) of our own coast, with a maximum length of 2 or
3 inches sufficiently illustrate the contrast. As regards the bony
fishes, at any rate, the females are usually the larger, as well
as the more numerous. This subject will, however, be dealt
with further on a later page, and the exceptions, which are
numerous, will, where necessary, be noted. The size of a
given species varies considerably according to locality ; and it
must not be forgotten that abundance or scarcity of food
probably plays a more important part in this than in the case
of any other vertebrates. Thus, the herring (C/upea) of the
Baltic and the mackerel (Scomber) of the Mediterranean are
both smaller than their kinsmen of the same age (as far as
can be determined) on our coasts, while the former sea also
has a race of dwarfed plaice (Pleuronectes), which sometimes,
at certain seasons, find their way to the Grimsby market.

Abnormally shaped fishes are not uncommon, and many of
these monstrosities were described by unsophisticated writers
of a bygone generation as distinct species. In this connection
reference should be made to an interesting explanation, quoted
on a later page, which the late Matthias Dunn gave in respect

12 SALT-WATER FISHES

of the malformed sea-breams so commonly caught in the
Plymouth district.

It has already been pointed out that the specially modified
limbs of fishes, which we call “fins,” are their most permanent
and enduring character. There is a persistence
about these organs of balancing and movement
that is not found in the limbs of higher vertebrates, and it
has been shown by somewhat cruel experiment * that if a fish
be deprived of its fins, it develops new ones in their place in
an incredibly short time. As Bashford Dean points out,t
those fins which look so important in profile dwindle to mere
lines when the fish is viewed end on, and this difference shows
how admirably these animals are suited to rapid and un-
hindered progress through so dense a medium as water.
The fins of fishes are situated on the back, belly, and sides,
and they are either vertical and unpaired, or horizontal (7.e.
lateral) and paired. It seems probable that the latter are
chiefly useful in balancing the fish, aided no doubt by the
air-bladder, in a way that will be referred to later. The
vertical fins enable the fish to steer its course, the tail-
fin being most important in propelling the body forwards
or backwards. Different authors have preferred different
names for these fins. They agree in calling the fins on the
back the first and second “dorsal” respectively, and also
in naming the tail-fin the “caudal,” and those immediately
behind the head “ pectorals.” It is in respect of the “anal”
fin (near the tail and below the fish) and “ventral” (the fin
before the anal) that some authors, Mr. Cunningham among
them, have elected to depart from the older nomenclature so
far as to reverse these names, or to name that which was
known as ventral “ pelvic.” What purpose can be served by
such confusing alterations it is difficult to conceive, and in the
present volume the older names of the fins have been retained.

The Fins,

* See Regnard, Za Ve dans les Eaux, p. 446.
1 Fishes, Living and Fossil, p. 3.

GENERAL FACTS ABOUT SEA FISH 13

A fish like the bass (Labrax) presents what may be
regarded as the normal condition of fins in the “ spiny-finned ”
group, and the haddock (Gadus) might be taken as the type
of the “soft-finned” fishes, the fins being merely rays
inclosed in a loose fold of the skin, in which they can lie flat
or stand erect. There are many departures from this normal
form, as is particularly illustrated in the tail-fin. Normally,
the tail-fin consists of two equal lobes, either joined by skin,
and thus suggesting a fan, or else separate, and suggesting
rather a prong or fork. Yet the widest differences may be
seen on comparing the tail-fin of the thresher-shark (4/opias),
which has an immensely long upper lobe, with that of the
angler-fish (Lophius), the tunny (Orcynus), the deal-fish
(Trachypterus), the sun-fish (Orthagoriscus), and the pipe-fish
(Sygnathus). The other fin which shows the most marked
departure from the normal rayed condition is the second
dorsal, which, in the salmon family, is without rays and fatty,
being known in that case as an “adipose” fin. The presence of
a second rayed dorsal distinguishes, as will be illustrated later,
the sand-smelt, or atherine, from the true (salmonoid) smelt.
The ventral fins—that is to say, those on the lower edge of the
body and almost beneath the head—are absent in the pipe-fishes
(Sygnathus) and in some other groups. Another peculiarity
about the dorsal fins of some fishes is their connection with
the sex in the breeding season. The dragonet (Callionymus),
already mentioned in connection with another secondary sexual
character, develops long filaments on the dorsal fin of the
mature male; and in other forms, such as the sword-fish
(Xiphias), the young fish has proportionately longer fins than
the adult.

Scales may, on the whole, be regarded as a characteristic
covering of the class of fishes, but it must not be forgotten
that not only are they also associated with the totally
distinct class known as reptiles, but also that in some
fishes, even on our own coasts, they are altogether absent, as

The Scales,

14 SALT-WATER FISHES

in the conger (Conger), or else replaced by rough tubercles,
as in the turbot (Rhombus). Scales are so familiar to all who
have handled fish that they need little description and appear
to us, when viewed casually, as horny, semi-transparent growths,
generally covered with slime while the fish is alive, and over-
lapping each other like the feathers on the back of water-fowl.
These scales exhibit in point of size a range almost as great
as the fishes themselves, and between the scale of a tarpon
and that of a fresh-water eel there is perhaps an even greater
difference in measurement than between their owners.

When scales are viewed under a low-power microscope,
they exhibit certain structural differences. ‘Those which have
the hinder free edge serrated are called “ctenoid” (7.e. comb-
like), while those with the hinder edge smooth are known as
“cycloid.” It would also seem as if there is a regular forma-
tion of annual rings in the scales of bony fishes, or at any rate
in those of the related cod and flat-fish families, which may,
when further studied, give a rough clue to the age of the
fish, just as the bark-rings give the age of a tree, and they
may be further compared on the ground of the similar in-
fluence of abundant warmth and nourishment, their growth
being accelerated in the summer and retarded in the winter
months.*

The plates, or bucklers, which cover the body of the
sturgeon are distinct from ordinary scales, and are partly
composed of bone; and the same may be said of the rough
tubercles on the turbot. Normally, these occur on the coloured,
or upper, surface only ; but numerous turbot reach our markets
from the coast of Norway in which tubercles are frequently
found on the uncoloured side as well, and this apparently
without reference to abnormal colouring. In sharks the so-
called scales are quite distinct from those of bony fishes, and
it is questionable whether they should be described as scales

* See J. Stuart Thomson on “The Periodic Growth of Scales . . . as
an Index of Age” (Jour. Mar. Biol. Assoc., January, 1902).

GENERAL FACTS ABOUT SEA FISH 15

at all. They contain much lime, and may more aptly be
compared with teeth. In fact, in the embryo of some sharks,
before the development of the lip, these granulations of the
skin are actually continued into the mouth and there form
the beginnings of teeth.

The lateral line may be regarded as a system of modified
scales, perforate and communicating with cells of a gelatinous
The Laterat Substance so, in all probability, as to constitute

Line. a most complex and important sense-organ with
functions that have not yet been more than vaguely deter-
mined. Formerly the duty of the lateral line was thought to
begin and end with the lubrication of the body with mucous,
but this very simple view of its purpose has long been super-
seded. Day and, later, Cunningham and others agree that the
lateral line is usually wanting in fishes of the herring family ;
but the late Matthias Dunn, two years before his death, drew
the writer’s attention to its unquestionable presence in the
pilchard. While on this subject, it would be unreasonable to
overlook a most interesting article contributed by that remark-
able observer to the Contemporary Review (August, 1899),
entitled ‘The Seven Senses of Fishes.” It may be that, in
his zeal to advocate his two extra senses in fishes, Dunn went
somewhat boldly, even a little wantonly, out of the well-
trodden rut of modern research. It may even be that later
investigations may not tend to confirm his theories. Yet
even such a result would take nothing from the interest of
his watchfulness and reasoning powers. The sixth and seventh
senses which he claimed for fishes were termed respectively the
electric and magnetic “dermal” sense, and he describes the
first as one of weather forecast, and a second as a kind of bump
of locality under water, the sense being in both cases resident
in the lateral line. He regarded the brain of a fish, in fact, as
a counterpart of Lord Kelvin’s compass-magnet floating in a
liquid, and he thought it might be sensibly affected by the
long-recognised magnetic properties of the grim Cornish head-

16 SALT-WATER FISHES

lands, which have so often caused fatal deflections of ships’
compasses.

To the sternly academic mind the inferences in the article
under notice may seem a trifle far-fetched; but it was quite
impossible for a man of Dunn’s restless intelligence to con-
template the regular wanderings of the pilchard shoals for fifty
years without making some attempt at finding a solution of
the mystery of their return, year after year, along exactly the
same course. It was equally impossible that he would be
deterred from such attempt by any self-consciousness or by
fear of ridicule.

The lateral line is more or less conspicuous, as a rule,
through a great portion of its length, being, even in closely
related fishes, either black (as in the haddock) or white (as in
the cod), while in the scad it is flanked by rows of very rough
scales. It does not end at the point where the eye sees it
no longer, just behind the neck; but, disappearing below the
surface of the skin, it branches over the head, and probably
conveys to the brain the sensations communicated along its
pores. Much, however, of what is written in connection with
this characteristic organ of fishes is in the nature of pure
speculation, and a full and exhaustive study of its properties
has yet to be made. When made, it will be interesting in
the extreme.

We must now briefly examine a number of external
characters of fishes in the region of the head—the eyes,
The Head, nostrils, ears, mouth and teeth, gills and gill-covers.
Teeth, Gills, As seen in the bass (Labrax) or cod (Gadus),

ee the typical head of a fish is, roughly speaking, in the
form of a wedge, with the line between the gill-covers for
base and the lips for apex. The departures, however, from
this simple form are so many and varied that considerations
of space must restrict the list of exceptions to such few as the
conical head of the skates (Raia), the beaked head of the gar-
fish (Belone), the twisted head of the plaice (Pleuronectes), the

GENERAL FACTS ABOUT SEA FISH 17

mailed head of the gurnard (Trig/a), the flattened head of
the angler-fish (Lophius), the attenuated head of the stickle-
back (Gasterosteus) and pipe-fish (Sygnathus), and the truncated
head of the wolf-fish (Azarrhicas). The conspicuous pro-
trusion of either jaw imparts a characteristic and distinctive
profile to the head of a fish. The greater length of the lower
jaw (as in the pollack and hake) is usually associated with
predatory habits ; the protrusion of the upper (as in the cod
and haddock) indicates that the fish feeds near the ground.
As these cases show, cases of either jaw protruding occur in
the same family. As a matter of embryological knowledge,
the lower jaw usually projects in the larval form of bony
fishes, but that would not, of course, indicate that we should
read these larval characters as a clue to ancestral peculiarities
since dropped and regard all bony fishes as originally predatory.
Another feature that may conspicuously modify the outline
of the head is the presence of barbels, or beards, usually (as in
cod and red mullet) on the lower jaw, but sometimes (as in the
rocklings) on the upper as well, and in various number. The
finger-like front rays of the ventral fins in the gurnard bear
at first sight a close resemblance to these barbels, and no doubt
they perform much the same work when the fish is routing
in the shingle for its minute food ; but the two structures
are quite distinct and should not be confused. That the
barbels of fishes are highly sensitive nerve-centres can hardly
be doubted, but whether they are to be regarded as associated
with the sense of touch, or rather with that of taste, we do not
yet know. Dr. Bashford Dean inclines to the former view.*
The eye of fishes, into the anatomy of which it is not the
purpose of the present volume to enter in detail, is subject
to considerable structural modification, and we find
by experiment that the sense of sight predominates
in some groups, while in others it is of secondary importance
only, the fishes relying in this case chiefly on their scent. It

The Eye.

* Fishes, Living and Fossil, p. 48.
2

18 SALT-IVATER FISHES

is, aS a matter of fact, somewhat difficult to determine the
exact relative importance of these two senses in any fish. It
might, for instance, by means of one of those inferences which,
while commonly practised by many, are usually dangerous in the
study of natural history, be concluded that the sense of smell
would be very slight in fishes gifted with large eyes, and
correspondingly acute in fishes with only small eyes. The
law of compensation would suggest some such balance of
faculties. As a matter of fact, the exact converse is found
to be the case in some well-known fishes. Thus, some of
the flat-fish (Heterosomata) have both small eyes and feeble
powers of smell, while the better-equipped conger (Conger)
has not only very large eyes, but also a very strong scent.
Attempts have also been made by ingenious writers to associate
large eyes in fishes with a habit of seeking food in the
darkness, the argument being that the larger eye would be
able to utilise the failing light. The argument is not,
however, sound. In the first place, it is not by any means
satisfactorily established that the mere size of the eye would
increase the power of sight; and, secondly, even granting
that such were the case, the sole, a fish of undoubtedly
nocturnal habits, has a smaller eye, in proportion to its size,
than perhaps any other fish in our seas. Reference is made,
when treating in a later chapter of that sub-order, to a special
visual organ in flat-fish, as well as to the curious passage of
one eye either over the ridge of the head or through its tissue.
The existence of the pineal, or median, eye of fishes, which is
doubted by Bashford Dean, is a question involving anatomical
considerations that hardly fall within the scope of the present
volume.

The muscular power that enables fishes to use the eyes
independently, like chameleons, must be of great use to
creatures that have often to keep one eye on their meal and
the other on their enemies.

The eyes of sharks differ in many respects from those of

GENERAL FACTS ABOUT SEA FISH 19

bony fishes, and in some groups are provided with a “ nicti-
tating membrane,” which, as mentioned in the foregoing brief
contrast of the bass and tope, enables these sharks to close the
eye, when the light is too strong, by drawing up the lower
lid.* Rondelet appears to have been the first (in 1554) to
call attention to the fact of some sharks being able in this
fashion to shut their eyes, while others lack the power. The
organ known as “nictitating membrane” is most highly
developed in the genus Carcharias (e.g. the blue shark), and
least, where present at all, in Mustelus (e.g. the smooth
hound). In Galeus (e.g. the tope) the organ is moderately
well developed, but in Scy//ium (e.g. the rowhound) it is no
more than a rudimentary fold of skin. Yet it acts even so,
for a smaller spotted dog-fish (Scy//ium) in the Brighton
Aquarium was seen to shut its eye completely when on one
occasion a crab walked over its head. This nictitating
membrane is absent in the monk-fish (Rhina), spur-dog
( Acanthias), and rays (Raia).

A curious bulging condition of the eyes of pout (Gadus)
brought up rapidly from deep water will be referred to in the
chapter on the cod family.

Sometimes really deep-water fishes suffer far worse trouble
when abruptly brought into a region of diminished pressure ;
and the crew of the French vessel Talisman, which brought
back so many treasures of the deep to Paris some years ago,
hauled some fishes from the greatest depths to which their
baited hooks would reach, in which, as the fish came to the
surface, the dilated air-bladder was shot out of the mouth.

The nostrils of fishes are only pits in the snout, and do not,
like our own, communicate with the throat. This does not,
ec" The however, impair the power of smell, for they must

iNostrils. certainly be in touch with sensitive nerve-centres
that convey their sensations to the brain. It has been argued

* See Ridewood, Journ. of Anat. and Physiol., January, 18809,
pp. 228-242, and Harman, idid., October, 1899, pp. 1-36.

20 SALT-WATER FISHES

that the fact of congers refusing stale pilchard is due to the
acute smelling powers with which we know that fish to be
endowed ; but some allowance should also be made for the
peculiar medium in which fishes pass their existence. It is, in
fact, not improbable that, although the nose may perform its
share in apprising the conger of its want of freshness in the
bait, oily particles may also float through the water in such
manner that the conger, approaching close enough, could taste
as well as smell any imperfection.

The ear of fishes in not an ear at all perhaps, strictly
speaking, in our restricted sense of the word. At any rate, it
is not visible without dissection. Within the skull,
however, there are distinct and sensitive organs of
hearing, together with small bones known as “ otoliths,’”’ or
ear-stones.* These may be found without much difficulty in
the head ot any cod or haddock brought to table. These
internal ears are separated from the brain of the fish by
only a thin wall of membrane or cartilage, so that sound-waves
must be conveyed with great distinctness. It is, moreover,
probable that fishes are provided with what we may virtually
regard as supplementary hearing organs in the air-bladder, as
well as in the nerve-centres of the lateral line, but these are
distinct from, and auxiliary to, the ear proper.

The mouth of fishes varies in size and position, as exempli-
fied in the sole (So/ea) and angler-fish (Lophius), the weever
(Trachinus) and skate (Raia), the gurnard (Trig/a)
and gar-fish (Belone). The lips are very fleshy in the
wrasse (Laérus), and comparatively small in the bellows-fish
(Centriscus). The tongue, which fishes are not able to thrust
outside their mouth, like the higher vertebrates do, is in many
cases armed with sharp and numerous teeth, and may not
perhaps be endowed with any very sensitive powers of taste.
Some fishes, indeed, are without tongue altogether.

* See Ridewood, “The Air-bladder and Ear of British Clupeoid
Fishes” (Journ. Anat. and Physiol., Vol. XXVI., pp. 26-42).

The Ear.

The Mouth.

GENERAL FACTS ABOUT SEA FISH 21

The teeth of fishes, which might, had the present volume
other aims, offer material for a very interesting study in
development, must be very briefly dismissed. They differ
considerably in bony and cartilaginous fishes. There is, in the
former group, distinct anchylosis, but it may not always be
easy to determine by casual examination where the tooth leaves
off and where the jawbone begins. The teeth also show much
variety in the various families, and reference will be made in
later chapters to the more or less successful endeavours to
associate these types of fish-teeth with different kinds of food
or different manners of feeding. In the sea-breams (Pagrus),
for instance, the teeth are blunt and round; in the wolf-fish
(Anarrhicas).there are pointed teeth in front, for seizing living
prey, and flatter teeth behind, for crushing shells. Some of
our common fishes, such as the pipe-fish (Syguathus) and sea-
horse (Hippocampus) have no teeth whatever ; in others, such
as the grey mullet (Mugi/), they are exceedingly feeble ; and in
a few, like the red mullet (Mu//us), there are teeth in the lower
jaw only. Some fishes, such as the launce (Ammodytes) and
globe-fish (Letrodon), have no detachable teeth, but bony or
horny continuations of the jaw. The teeth of bony fishes may
cover not only the edges of the jaws, but also the tongue and
palate ; and in the sun-fish (Orthagoriscus) there is a powerful
series of pointed gill-teeth. In sharks and rays (Se/achii) the
teeth are, as already indicated, really identical with the granula-
tions on the skin, and they are moreover not connected with
the jaws, as in bony fishes, by ossification, but merely lie
embedded in the gums. Even in sharks, however, there are
many types of teeth, those of the porbeagle (Zamna), for
instance, having smooth, keen edges, while those of the blue
shark (Carcharias) are slightly serrated and also differ in the two
jaws. In the eagle-ray (Myliobatis) and some other allied
forms the teeth are closely packed in the form of a pavement.
In sharks the teeth lie in several parallel rows, one ready to
replace the other ; but in rays those on the edge of the jaw are

22 SALT-IVATER FISHES

erect and ready ror use, while those situated further back lie
flat and point towards the throat.

The gills, which may be regarded as dividing the head from
the body, are the means by which the fish oxygenates its blood,
taking in the water at the mouth and passing it
through the gills. In some sharks and in all the
rays, which have the gill-slits external and separate, not
protected by covers as in bony fishes, the water for this
purpose is also taken in through small holes situated behind
the eye and called “spiracles.” These must be particularly
helpful to the rays, which pass most of their time lying flat in
the sand with their mouth more or less buried. Most sharks
(and all the rays) have five of these external gill-shits ; but one
of the former, a rare visitor to our seas, has six, and a relative
occurring in the Mediterranean has seven. Bony fishes have
no breathing spiracle, and the gills, usually four in number,
instead of opening out on the surface as distinct gill-slits, all
lead into what is called a branchial chamber, strongly protected
by a hinged shield in several sections known as the gill-covers,
one portion of which, the “ preopercle,” is often furnished
with a toothed or spiked edge. The teeth in the gill-covers
are clearly designed to arrest foreign matter that might, without
their intervention, clog the gills. Strictly speaking, they are not
teeth at all, but may be regarded rather as tooth-like growths.
The bars of the gills are edged with hair-like growths, which
in fishes of very different groups, such as the herring (C/upea)
and basking shark (Se/ache), lie so close as to form a very
beautiful sieve arrangement, which, like the baleen of whale-
bone whales, retains even the most minute organisms from the
expelled water. The so-called false gills (Pseudobranchia) are
the remains of a fifth gill, the use of which is restricted to
the embryonic stage of the fish. hose fishes (e.g. herring)
in which the gill-openings are largest soon die out of water ;
others (e.g. eel) in which the gill-openings are smaller can sur-
vive a period of removal from the water without inconvenience.

The Gills,

GENERAL FACTS ABOUT SEA FISH 23

The air bladder, or swimming bladder, the only internal
organ with which the present volume need concern itself, is
The Air, 1n a measure comparable to the lung in the higher
Lee ee vertebrates ; and in fact in the so-called ‘ lung-fishes,”
Bladder. which have living representatives in three continents,
the “lung” is a special modification of the air-bladder. |
Whether to some extent this organ may be regarded as having
the value of a lung in fishes that respire with the aid of gills
is an open question. Indeed, the functions of this organ are
variously estimated. Its connection in some fishes with the
sense of hearing has received passing allusion. It is also
associated with the only recognised ‘ voice”’ in fish, little more
than a grunting, such as might be produced by the expulsion
of air. Matthias Dunn’s view, that the “singing bubbles”
sent to the surface by pilchards are an effort of voice on the
part of those fish,* has not been confirmed.

Undoubtedly, however, one of its chief uses to the fish
must be as a balancer, adjusting its specific gravity, enabling it
without further effort to rise or sink in the water, the fish
being, in fact, able to change its volume according to the depth
and pressure. Many fishes (e.g. all flat-fish) that lack the air-
bladder in the adult stage possess it in the larval form.

The food of fishes is a subject that will necessarily be
reverted to in the chapters that follow. Something has already

The Food been said on the species that find their food by scent

of Fishes. and those which seek it by the aid of their eyesight,
and it will generally be found that the latter devour living
prey. The very minute foodstuffs on which many fishes feed,
either in the larval stage or throughout life, often escape our
notice. It is related that the German naturalist Meyer all
but lost a number of larval herrings from starvation, owing to
the water being admitted to their tank through a strainer. This
anecdote will give some idea of the exceedingly small size ot
the organisms on which the young herrings must feed, for as

* See Records of the Falmouth Polytechnic Soctety for 1892.

24 SALT-WATER FISHES

soon as he removed the strainer (which had been introduced to
keep out enemies) and allowed the water to flow in direct, he
found that the larve underwent rapid recovery.

There is often considerable difficulty in determining the
exact food of any fish. This difficulty arises from three causes.
First, there is this habit, in many, of feeding on minute
copepoda and similar small organisms. Secondly, many fishes
have very rapid digestion, those which pass much of their life
swimming at high speed near the surface of the sea being most
remarkable in this respect, so that it is unusual to find any
trace of food in a newly caught herring or mackerel. Some of
the larger ground-dwelling fishes, on the other hand, like the
torpedo and angler-fish, appear to feed and digest more after
the fashion of pythons, devouring a large victim at a meal,
and then lying quiet to digest at leisure; at least, we know
that bass and other fish have been recovered from their inside,
often, more particularly perhaps in the case of the electric
torpedo, having sustained such trifling injury that they are fit
for sale. The third reason for the difficulty of determining
the substance on which a fish has recently fed is the habit that
so many have of throwing up their last meal when hooked or
taken in the nets. Whether they do this in pain, in terror,
or in some hope of throwing over ballast when struggling for
their life and liberty, we can only surmise, but the habit is very
familiar to fishermen and anglers. Over and over again the
writer has known a bass or pollack throw up as many as three
or four tiny sand-eels when hauled into the boat, and the
boat’s “ well,” into which the fish are thrown, often contains a
score or more of these small disgorged fishes, more or less
damaged by the teeth of their captors.

While on the subject of the food of fishes, a word may
perhaps be said, by an easy transition, of fish as food. Leading
authorities differ in a remarkable degree as to what exactly
constitutes a ‘“ food-fish.” Cunningham is perhaps nearest the
mark, yet he excludes the weevers and says little of the rays ;

GENERAL FACTS ABOUT SEA FISH 25

while, on the other hand, he devotes some attention to the
suckers and rocklings, which no one would ever dream of
eating, save as an alternative to starvation. McIntosh and
Masterman, again, include the weevers and gobies, but practi-
cally omit the rays. Some allowance must probably be made,
not only for the relative importance of certain groups in the
district with which each writer is best acquainted, but also for
difference in taste. Thus, whereas with the Norwegians the
so-called little ling (Molva abyssorum), or “ birkelange,” is
a favourite article of food, Holt mentions a case of a seal
which refused to eat it!* A word may here be said on the
subject of rigor mortis. It is that stiffening of the muscles
which ensues at some variable period after death. It may
follow in a few minutes; it may delay many hours: this
depends on circumstances. Likewise, the condition may
endure a short or a long time, also according to the circum-
stances attending death. A spent salmon would behave quite
differently from a fresh-run fish. Professor Cossar Ewart +
has shown that rigor sets in later in a fish in which the
brain has been destroyed. In a hare that has been chased,
in a fish that has been played on the hook, rigor sets in rapidly
and is of only short duration. Dr. Ewart’s investigations in
the matter take a very practical turn, since they enable him to
demonstrate the fact that fish intended for preservation should
be treated just after rigor sets in, and also that putrefaction
occurs somewhat sooner, other conditions being equal, in
trawl-fish than in those taken on the hook. He altogether
distrusts the housewife’s empirical clues to freshness, such as
smell, colour of the gills, or brightness of the eyes.

At the same time, it would not be desirable to limit our
studies to only the comparatively few fishes that we use as
food. For centuries man has gathered the treasures of the
deep without any thought of harvesting. The harvesting has

* Proc. Zool. Soc. 1894, Pp. 415.
t, Proc. Roy. Soc., June, 1887, p. 443.

26 SALT-WATER FISHES

been left to the twentieth century, for the last quarter of the
nineteenth witnessed only the barest inception of practices and
economies that may eventually result in placing the fisheries
and agriculture on the same footing. It has of late years been
increasingly apparent that a sounder knowledge of the fishes
themselves, of their growth, their food, their migrations, and
their reproduction, is the first condition of useful legisla-
tion. The strongest evidence of a general acceptance of this
view in intelligent circles is the reception accorded during the
past five years to such admirable volumes on the life-history of
our food-fishes as those by Professor McIntosh, Mr. Cunning-
ham, and others. Not alone, as shown above, do the few
market-fish occupy their attention, but also the majority of
the rest, some too small, others too huge, for consumption.
Many of these commercially “useless” fishes, moreover,
frequent the same grounds as those of greater economic im-
portance. Thus the proximity of cod is, as the fishermen well
know, unmistakably indicated by abundance of the bergylt
(Sebastes) and poor cod (Gadus minutus). So that a careful
study of the forms which furnish food to those which we
ourselves eat may throw valuable light on the life-story of
the latter.

The migrations and distribution* of fishes may be briefly
considered in this place. With the exception of some of our
wees smaller gobies and blennies, and one or two of the

igrations

and flat-fish group, almost all of our sea fish are, even
Distribution. 4m their larval and post-larval stages endowed

P Bes,
with the wandering instinct, and even those which become to
all intents and purposes stationary in later life, begin their
career as travellers. When we think for a moment of the
vast extent of their watery home, and of the comparatively
few restrictions put upon their progress, it would be surprising

* These remarks on distribution of sea-life are largely based on two
invaluable German works, Die Verbreitung der Fische, by J. Palacky, and
Grundsiige der marinen Tiergeographie, by Arnold Ortmann.

GENERAL FACTS ABOUT SEA FISH 27

were things otherwise. Beyond assuming, however, that the
majority of fishes wander considerable distances, either along
our coasts or to and from the deeper water outside, we know
comparatively little that is certain of the precise season, object,
and direction of these journeys. The mackerel, for instance, and
the herring were formerly thought to travel round our islands
and off to Arctic seas with a most complicated itinerary. Later
observers, with far more statistical material at their disposal,
have come to the conclusion that these migrations are by no
means so extensive as was then supposed, and that the fish
merely move into deep or shallow water for spawning
purposes. Something will be said later on the subject of
the kinds which prefer deep water for the purpose and, on
the other hand, those which repair to the shallows. There
are other reasons for migration than spawning. A change
in the temperature of the water, sudden or normal at given
seasons, will cause the shoals to move from one part of the sea
to another. Food, too, may be the motive of these journeys.
An instance of this is on record, in which numbers of hake
appeared suddenly off the Cornish coast in pursuit of a small
and rare species of gadoid, and will be duly related in the
chapter on the cod family. All shoaling fishes must be
continually on the move, on account of this same food problem,
for only solitary kinds, like the weever and angler-fish, could
possibly find supplies for a long period in one place. Fish do
not consume a great quantity of food during the spawning
season, so that the shoals are then less restless.

A good deal of unnecessary mystery has been allowed to
invest this shoaling habit in some fishes. So far as we have
any reason to suppose, it is not materially different from the
parallel habit of flocking in some birds. Suitable conditions ot
food and temperature take the members of each species to
certain neighbourhoods, and those of the same size, being
unable to devour each other, swim in company. This is
why we find the broods of one “class ’—that is to say, hatched

28 SALT-WATER FISHES

at approximately the same time—in one shoal. They are not,
of course, the offspring of the same parents, but have simply
joined forces from a preference for company. Not all fishes
go thus in shoals. The angler may sometimes catch a single
dory among a hundred fishes of two or three other species.
The sun-fish is generally described as solitary, and, in the
writer’s opinion, the same may be said of most of the larger
sharks in our seas, though the smaller “‘hounds’’ undoubtedly
hunt, like their namesakes on land, in packs. Even mackerel
and pilchards only gather near the surface in shoals during some
parts of the year, and the pilchards even disperse during the
summer nights to feed separately, with their heads pointing
away from the land ; hence, as will be explained in the next
chapter, the rationale of the drift-net. The break-up of the
mackerel shoals, too, and the subsequent capture of the fish on
leaded ground-lines, is an annual experience with the fisher-
men, and corresponds approximately with the break-up of the
summer weather.

It can hardly be contended, unless instinct is more at fault
than usual, that the habit of shoaling in fishes is associated
with any notion of protection, for a moment’s reflection will
show that the mackerel or pilchards would be infinitely safer
singly than they can possibly be in shoals, far less likely to
attract the attention of their enemies, far less vulnerable by the
bills of sea-fowl, the jaws of porpoises, or the nets of man. It
has certainly been said, and by no less an authority than the late
Matthias Dunn, that a dense shoal of mackerel has been all
but known to suffocate a grampus that had inadvertently
plunged into the midst of the crowded fish, but such an
episode must be very rare. The writer has repeatedly seen
both grampuses and thresher sharks busy among very large
shoals, and never with any result beyond, so far as could
be judged, the destruction of an immense quantity of the fish.

The distribution, or geography, of our sea fish is an
immense subject, and one that might well occupy a chapter,

GENERAL FACTS ABOUT SEA FISH 29

if not indeed a volume, to itself. A brief summary of the
first principles is all that can here be attempted.

The student of the distribution of land animals, beasts,
birds, reptiles, or fresh-water fishes, has at once a simpler and
more complex task before him than if his theme were the
fishes of the sea. In the first place, the subject has been fully
worked by many naturalists, and the zoo-geographical zones
are, with some little modification here and there, satisfactory
for all such purposes. If we take the case of a land mammal,
like, for instance, the camel, we know, with a little research,
that, apart from the teachings of paleontology and the
artificial transplanting by man (as in South Australia and
Italy), the camel is an Asiatic animal which the Arab has taken
into Northern Africa, We know also that the New World
has not, at any rate to-day, any animal of the same species ;
but we find in the llama, vicuna, and huanaco of the Andes
region what are known as “vicarious” species—that is to
say, Closely allied animals, sprung from a common ancestor—
which may be said to replace the camel on that side of the
Atlantic. In the case of most mammals, at any rate, save
perhaps flying bats and swimming porpoises, a mountain range
or a deep sea will form a sufficient hindrance to progress, and
in this way the fauna of some islands has, from long isolation
since the older land barriers were swamped beneath deep
waters, arrived at a remarkable stage of types peculiar to very
small areas of the world’s surface—that is to say, found
nowhere else at the present day.

With the fishes of lakes, which are, so to speak, the
converse of islands, there may be a similar isolation, and we
know, in fact, that the chars of some countries, possibly even
of our own Welsh lakes, differ in their characters from those
of other parts of the world.

In the case of sea fish there is obviously no such straight-
forward course of study. Indeed, when we consider how
apparently easy it is for a fish to swim on and on without

30 SALT-WATER FISHES

hindrance, the wonder is rather that almost all our sea fish are
not of cosmopolitan distribution. We know, however, that
such is far from being the case, and that not only do the
fishes of Australia, some of which have been already referred
to, differ materially from those of the northern hemisphere,
not only do the sea fish of the eastern and western shores of
the North Atlantic differ in an almost equally surprising
degree, but actually that there are fishes, like the torsk
(Brosmius), which occur in Scotch waters, but are not found
in the English Channel.

The case of three of our smallest and least known British
flat-fishes, the topknots (Zeugopterus), may be taken as con-
veniently illustrating the peculiarity of an overlapping range.
One of these (Z. punctatus) is found from the most northern
waters of Europe to only as far south as the Bay of Biscay.
Another (Z. unimaculatus) does not range farther north than
Shetland, but, on the other hand, it is met with as far south
as the Mediterranean. A third (Z. norvegicus), with ap-
parently the most restricted range of all, extends only from
the English Channel to the Norwegian fjords. Now, why one
or other of these topknots should never, at any rate in
sufficient numbers to occur in the trawl of commerce or
in the dredge of scientific expeditions, wander out of these
well-defined bounds, is a question that it would not be easy
to answer offhand. The mere question of temperature will
not, as may be seen by reference to the latitudes in question,
suffice as an explanation.

Cases of irregular distribution are not, as might be
expected, uncommon, an unusual supply of food being
probably responsible in most cases, The case of quantities
of hake * (Merluccius) appearing one summer on the Cornish
coast has been explained on the ground of their pursuing
into those waters numbers of a small fish of the same

* For another case of irregular occurrences of this fish see Scan-
dinavian Fishes, p. 519.

GENERAL FACTS ABOUT SEA FISH 31

family. Less easy of explanation are one or two other cases
that may here be quoted. Pilchards, for instance, were
common on the east coast of Scotland during the early years
of the nineteenth century, but have been very scarce there
ever since. The silvery blade-fish (Trichiurus) was common,
according to Dunn, on the coast of Cornwall every winter
from 1865 to 1875, but scarce in those waters both before
and since that decade. Similarly, the red band-fish (Cepola)
was common in Devon for two years, 1838-9, but never since.

Now, in considering the distribution of our sea fish, we
have to distinguish them under four heads—fishes of different
seas, fishes of different characteristic grounds, fishes of deep
or shallow water, and fishes that pass their lives near the
bottom or close to the surface.

These four categories call for brief explanation.

I. The fishes of different seas are mainly, so far as our
list is concerned, distinguished as either northern or southern
forms. To the latter belong the bass (Labrax), breams
(Pagrus), and surmullet (Mudllus), all of which flourish in the
Mediterranean. To the former belong the cod (Gadus),
halibut (Hippoglossus), and torsk (Brosmius). Just as the
birds of northern and southern latitudes find, during their
migrations, a convenient resting-place in these islands, so do
the fishes of vastly different seas meet on our coasts. A
further similarity between the movements of the two classes
may be suggested. As the wildfowl and waterfowl of the
northern ice flock to our estuaries and lagoons in winter-time,
while the more gaily coloured birds of Africa and Southern
Europe come to us in summer, so are the northern fishes
more plentiful and of superior quality in our markets in the
cold months, while those of southern origin are conspicuous
with us only in summer.

II. The distinction between the fishes of characteristic
grounds is of somewhat more practical interest and importance,
seeing that the fisherman must be guided by such empirical

32 SALT-WATER FISHES

knowledge when desirous of capturing a certain kind of
fish for which there is a brisk demand at the time. The
angler knows quite well the difference between, for instance,
rock-fish and those which dwell, or at any rate seek their food,
on sandy ground. This is the simplest, and also the most
important, distinction of the kind. To the rock-fish belong,
to quote a few familiar examples, the conger (Conger), pollack
and pout (Gadus), rocklings (Moztella), wrasses (Labdrus),
breams (Pagrus), sticklebacks (Gasterosteus), gobies (Gobius),
and suckers (Lepadogaster). ‘These are only a few of our
rock-fish, and many more might have been cited.

As equally familiar examples of sand-dwelling fishes we
may take the flat-fish (Heterosomata), of which the afore-
mentioned topknots (Zeugopterus) are regarded as evincing
a preference for rocky ground more than any of the rest, the
sand-eels (Ammodytes), the gurnards (Irigla), whiting (Gadus),
skates (Raia), and weevers (Irachinus). Many of our
commonest fish, like the bass (Laérax), most of the sharks
(Selachii), cod (Gadus), and dory (Zeus), are found on both
rock and sand, and one or two fishes that keep almost entirely
to the rocks by day seem to wander out in search of food on
the sand by night. There are, as a matter of fact, other
characteristic localities for some of our sea fish besides this
distinction of rock or sand. Some of them, like the bass and
grey mullet (M@ugi/) are particularly partial to estuaries and
even the lower reaches of tidal rivers. Others, like the pout
and wreck-fish (Polyprion), are found in the neighbourhood ot
wreckage, the former fish being associated with sunken wrecks
of some age, the latter with floating timber from recent
disasters.

Ill. The fishes of our seas considered in the present
volume practically belong without exception to what would
be called shallow water, since the term “deep-sea fishes” has
been restricted by general consent to those extraordinary
luminous and other forms that are from time to time brought

GENERAL FACTS ABOUT SEA FISH 33

up from the uttermost depths by specially equipped scientific
expeditions. At the same time, a measure of distinction may
be permitted, sub-dividing these shallow-water forms according
to the depth at which they live. We can, for instance, draw
a line between the shore-haunting gobies (Gobius) and the
deeper-water halibut (Hippog/ossus). This, in fact, seems to be
the utmost that is attained in the very interesting chapter on
the distribution of sea fish in Dr. Giinther’s great work.* In
the case of non-migratory fresh-water fishes he was able, as
might be expected, to lay down principles and to find his
illustrations with almost the same facility as if he had been
dealing with a group of land mammals, for the salt water is
in all cases a bar to progress outside of the defined range,
even in the case of fishes inhabiting tidal rivers. So long as
he defined the “Fishes of Brackish Water,” though there is
necessarily a vagueness about the limits of such a region, and
later the ‘Fishes of the Deep Sea,” Dr. Gunther was fairly
sure of his ground, and those chapters consequently make most
useful reading. When, however, we come to his two inter-
mediate groups, the ‘‘Shore” and the “ Pelagic” fishes, we find
continual contradictions, for it seems quite hopeless to attempt,
save on the broadest lines and with an infinite patience with
the exceptions that are certain to present themselves, any fixed
definition of these groups. Even with reference to the
demarcation between sea and fresh-water fishes, Dr. Giinther
himself admits that there is a constant interchange of species.
It is only, therefore, on broad and not arbitrary grounds
that we may venture to distinguish between the shore-haunting
forms and those which live for the greater part of the year at
a moderate distance from the land, say outside of the ten-mile
limit. Even here, it will be understood even from what has
gone before, there is a continual mingling, for some of the
forms from the deeper water come inshore for spawning
purposes, while a still larger number will repair to the shallows

* An Introduction to the Study of Fishes, pp. 255-295.
3

34 SALT-WATER FISHES

after the spawning is over in order to find fresh supplies of
food to satisfy their ravening appetites. The shore-haunting
kinds may more particularly be classified under the two
categories already named, sand-fish or rock-fish, and it will be
found on investigation that the majority of them are, in view
of the aforementioned risks of the shallow and disturbed
water, capable of affixing themselves when threatened with
dispersal. Of the rock-fish, the suckers (Lepadogaster,
Liparis, etc.), and in a lesser degree the gobies (Godzus),
illustrate this power ; while, among the others, we have the
flat-fish (Heterosomata) and weevers (Trachinus), which lie half-
covered by the sand, or even with only the eyes and gills
protruding, and the sand-eel and launce (mmodytes), which
burrow beneath it.*

IV. Equally unsatisfactory in many respects is any attempt
to separate the surface-swimming from the ground-dwelling
fishes, for here also there is an even greater interchange than
between those inhabiting coastal and more open waters. It is
matter of common knowledge, as already stated, that the
shoals of mackerel, which during the greater part of the year
are encountered at, or near, the surface, break up and sink to
the bottom at the end of summer. At the same time, bearing
in mind these difficulties, we can, of course, distinguish, if it
so please us, between the characteristic surface-fishes of our
seas—the mackerel (Scomber), herring (Clupea), bass (Labrax),
grey mullet (Mugil), and so on—and those which, on the
other hand, pass the greater portion of their existence close to
the bottom, such as the angler-fish (Lophius), skates (Raia),
weevers (Irachinus), ling (Molva), and others. It will, more-
over, be found that it is more usual for the normally surface-
fishes to spend a period at the bottom than for the pronounced
ground-dwellers to appear in any numbers or for any consider-

* See an interesting article by Hunt and Jeffreys in the Journ. Linn.
Soc., 1885 (pp. 262-274, and particularly pp. 270-271), entitled, “On
the Influence of Wave-currents on the Fauna inhabiting Shallow Seas.”

GENERAL FACTS ABOUT SEA FISH 35

able time at the surface, the explanation being simply that their
swimming and possibly also their breathing apparatus do not
qualify them for such an effort. A further confusion, however,
arises in any scheme for differentiating between the surface
and the ground fishes. Not alone do the former, as mentioned,
habitually go to the bottom, either at fixed seasons or under
stress of temperature or weather, but the young forms, larval
and post-larval, of many ground-dwelling fishes are strictly
pelagic, passing all their early days in the surface water.

The great abundance and variety of fishes in British seas
have already been noticed in connection with the migrations of
northern and southern forms, and Forbes long ago remarked
on their convenience as a kind of half-way house for these
wanderers. Palacky points out that a few typically northern
forms are either very rare—as Sebastes, Cottus quadricornis,
Gobius nilssoni, and Lumpenus lampetriformis—or altogether
wanting, as Costus liljeborgi, Onos* reinhardti, and Stomias
ferox.f On the other hand, by way of compensation, he
remarks on the southern forms that find their way to our
seas, such as Holocanthus tricolor, Peristethus cataphractus,
Dentex, Box, Luvarus imperialis, Lichia glauca, Centriscus
scolopax, Fierasfer dentatus, Balistes capriscus, Murena helena,
Pristiurus melanostoma, Pagellus bogaraveo, and others. More
on the subject of these rare British fishes will be found in a
chapter (XIV.) which it has been thought desirable to devote
to them, rather than to introduce them in the order that should
strictly be theirs, distributed over the other chapters on the
different families.

The study of animal distribution always presents itself in
one of two aspects. Either we may investigate the geographical
range of a given form, or we may determine the number and
variety of forms that inhabit a given area, seeking their affinities

* Le. Motella (rocklings).

+ All of these, together with Gadus esmarkit, have since been taken by
Murray on the west coast of Scotland.

36 SALT-WATER FISHES

and their original home. In the case of British seas, it may be
pointed out that certain families of fishes show very marked
superiority in the number of their representatives. Such, for
instance, are the cod family (Gadide) with nearly a score,
the sharks and rays (Se/achii) with only one or two less, the
flat-fish (Hezerosomata), the blennies (Blenniidz) and gobies
(Gobiide), the breams (Sparide), the bull-heads and gurnards
(Cottide), the pipe-fishes (Sygnathidz), the herrings (Clupeide),
the mackerels (Scombridz), the horse-mackerels (Carangide),
and the perches (Percidz) and perch-like fishes. On the other
hand, quite a number of our sea fish stand in a family by
themselves, isolated representatives, with no near relative in
this part of the world at all. Of these mention may be made
of the dory (our only representative of the Cyttidz), angler-fish
(belonging to the Pediculatz), black-fish (Stromateidz), sword-
fish (Xiphiide), maigre (Scienide), red band-fish (Cepolide),
bellows-fish (Centriscide), and file-fish (Sclerodermi). River
anglers are familiar with a somewhat analogous contrast in
the isolation of the pike, or jack (Esox), as the sole repre-
sentative of the LEsocide, among the many members of the
two great families of game-fish (Salmonide) and coarse-fish
(Cyprinide).

A special interest attaches to those species which are not
found outside of a prescribed region, and are known as
“ peculiar” or “endemic.” It is very difficult to say whether
our seas have any such species. A small flat-fish (Solea
greenit), first brought to light in the 1891 Irish surveys, and
one of the gurnards (Zriglops murrayi), supposed to occur
only on the coast of Scotland and nowhere beside, have been
suggested as “peculiar” British sea fish; but it is more than
likely that further dredging expeditions will yield examples of
both from other parts of the North Sea or Atlantic. When
we come to consider that even many of the lake chars, which
were for a long time fondly claimed as peculiar to Wales or
the Lake District, have since been identified in Continental

GENERAL FACTS ABOUT SEA FISH 37

Europe, the probability of any sea fish keeping so close to our
coasts as not even to occur on the opposite coast of Holland
or Norway seems too remote to bear serious examination. All
that can with safety be affirmed is that, for some reason or
other, scientific investigation has so far failed to discover these
forms in neighbouring waters.

The converse of these real or alleged “ peculiar” or
“endemic” fishes are, of course, those with almost cosmo-
politan distribution, such as many of the sharks—blue (Carcha-
rias), porbeagle (Lamna), spur-dog (Acanthias), tope (Galeus),
smooth hound (Mustelus), thresher (Alopias), hammer-head
(Zygena), and monk-fish (Rhina)—the conger (Conger), some
of the herrings (e.g. the sprat), one or two of the mackerel
family (as the remora), the dory (Zeus), horse-mackerel
(Caranx), sword-fish (Xiphias), and greater weever (J7ra-
chinus draco).

Passing reference has already been made to the presence
of some southern forms on our south coast only, and of these
the chief are some of the perches (Serranus and Polyprion),
some of the wrasses (Acantholabrus and Coris), the murena
(Murena), and the trigger-fish (Balistes). On the other hand,
a few northern forms do not come, in the ordinary way, as far
south as the English Channel, but remain in Scotch waters,
or at most extend their range to the north-eastern counties
of England, such as the bergylt (Sebastes), lumpsucker
(Cyclopterus),* wolf-fish (Anarrhicas), viviparous blenny
(Zoarces), torsk (Brosmius), long rough dab (Hippoglossoides),
and Greenland shark (Lemargus).

The scope of the present volume does not, however, permit
of any further attention to this matter of distribution. What
has to be borne in mind, and what has perhaps been shown
in these few pages on the subject, is that the fish fauna of our
seas is a blend of Arctic and Mediterranean forms, some few

* The lumpsucker occurs in the Channel more commonly than the
majority of genuinely northern forms.

38 SALT-WATER FISHES

of which appear to roam around our coasts irrespective of
their origin, while the majority confine themselves, as the case
may be, to the southern or northern portion of our seas. As
a general rule, it will be found that the Arctic forms, being
the most vigorous, provide the most valuable and varied forms,
while those from the south are more attractive in their colours
and general appearance. The writer has had some oppor-
tunity of comparing the fishes of British seas with those of
three other very different areas of water—the Baltic, the
Mediterranean, and the South Pacific in the neighbourhood
of Sydney, New South Wales. The Baltic was immeasurably
inferior in the matter of variety, though the abundance of
such comparatively few table fish as found their way to the
inshore waters in North Mecklenburgh was amazing, owing
in great measure to ineffectual methods of fishing. The
Mediterranean, on the other hand, shows immense variety,
but a serious falling-off in large fish. The practice of catching
swarms of young—not what we should call undersized merely,
but those which have just struggled out of the post-larval
stage and measure perhaps an inch or two in length—in the
bilancia net for a “ frittura” is, while often helpful to the
student, fatal to the fish supply. In Australia there is a great
wealth of excellent fish ; but at the time when the writer was
in the colony named, Mr. Farnell was only just inaugurating
his trawling experiments, so that it is too early to talk seriously
of the Australian trawling industry.
In contrasting the bass and the tope as the types of the
bony and cartilaginous sub-classes respectively, allusion was
Reproduc- made to the fact of the latter bringing forth living
gra beveoy young, whereas the bass deposits floating eggs,
ment." which are fertilised in the water, and subsequently
hatch out. There are other forms of reproduction among

* The remainder of this chapter is based on the admirable account
contained in the first six chapters of the Life Histories by McIntosh and
Masterman.

GENERAL FACTS ABOUT SEA FISH 39

fishes. Thus, the rowhound (Scyllium) deposits large horny
capsules, each containing an embryo rowhound, and moored
by tendril-like processes at the four corners to any convenient
anchorage of rock or weed. During this period the embryo
is undergoing development to the comparatively advanced
stage at which it breaks through the walls of its prison.
Even among bony fishes there is more than one way of
maintaining the supply of the species. The eggs of different
groups of fishes behave differently. Broadly, they are
divided into eggs which float, like those of the plaice
(Pleuronectes), and eggs which sink, like those of the herring
(Clupea). ‘The former are known as buoyant, or pelagic ; the
latter as demersal. While, however, the eggs of the plaice
float separately, those of the angler-fish (Lophius), also of the
buoyant kind, float in immense sheets, just as we see the
spawn of frogs floating on inland ponds. A similar distinction
is noted among demersal, or sinking, eggs, for whereas those
of the herring lie at the bottom in adhesive masses, clinging to
stones or other substances, those of its relative, the shad, lie
on the bottom of rivers separately. Both the bony and the
cartilaginous fishes, moreover, number some that bring forth
living young, known as “viviparous” fishes. Among the
cartilaginous we have already seen this habit in the tope.
Among the bony fishes of our seas, it is remarked in
the bergylt (Sebastes) and in one of the blennies (Zoarces)—
fishes, be it noticed, of very different groups. Some of the
rays, too, are viviparous, but the majority, at least of the
smaller, commoner kinds, deposit large egg-cases or capsules,
not unlike those of the rowhound, but unprovided with
tendrils. Among the sharks, on the other hand, the vivi-
parous habit is far commoner, and only two sharks in our
seas (Scyllium) are ovo-viviparous. The late Matthias Dunn
suggested that the egg-cases of the rays, lacking ‘the useful
anchoring tendrils, were provided in lieu thereof with a glue
which, being insoluble in sea-water, serves the same purpose.

40 SALT-WATER FISHES

This has not perhaps been quite satisfactorily proved, the
obvious difficulty being that these egg-cases are generally
recovered only when they have been washed up after a storm,
and have consequently been exposed for some time to the sun
or atmosphere, which doubtless destroys the natural glue.

The larger rays mostly bring forth living young, like the
sharks, and it is now generally recognised that the large egg-
case attributed by Couch to the eagle-ray (Myliobatis) belonged
to one of the genus Raia, known as the “typical” genus.
Among the vipiparous kinds are the sting-rays (T7ygon). Their
embryo does not appear to have been an object of special study
by anatomists in this country, but with regard to that of an
Indian species (7. walga), taken in the Godaveri delta, there
is an interesting communication from Messrs. Alcock and
Wood-Mason in the archives of the Royal Society (November,
tg01). According to this memoir, the new-born fish had the
upper surface quite smooth and devoid of the usual tubercles
of the adult, and whereas the latter has, in that species, two
spines in the tail, the young fish showed only one. In
addition, however, it had a fold of skin on the tail, which
apparently disappears with age. The authors of the memoir
regarded this fold of skin as a survival of the vertical system
of fins.

The very voung forms of fishes hatched from spawn differ
from their elders in a considerably greater measure than those
which are born alive. The tiny fish, as it emerges from the
egg and for the first few days of its existence, is known as
the ‘larval form,” or larva, and at that stage it has a yolk-sac
containing nourishment for the first few days of its existence,
for it is born without an open mouth, and cannot at once seek
its natural food. The yolk-sac may last it for a few days only,
or for as long as a couple of weeks, according to the species,
and perhaps also according to conditions of temperature,
though our knowledge on this is still rather circumscribed.
At last, however, the yolk-sac is used up, and the little mouth

GENERAL FACTS ABOUT SEA FISH 41

opens, and the little teeth develop, just at the right moment
for the fish to start out foraging on its own account. It is
now in what is known as the “ post-larval”’ stage. As both
of these terms will necessarily recur constantly in the following
pages, it is quite important to have a clear understanding of
what they mean.

Some of the larval and post-larval forms of fishes differ
from the adult not less than the caterpillar and chrysalis differ
from the perfect butterfly. McIntosh, for instance, describes
the larval stage of the grey gurnard as “one of the most
grotesque little animals which one meets with; its long,
angular snout, large greenish eyes, huge pectoral fins, and
numerous little spines, all adding to its unique appearance.
The huge pectoral fins form a drapery for the entire body
when folded back, only the tip of the tail extending beyond
them.”

Even after the post-larval stage the young fishes often
differ considerably from what they will be when full-grown.
Thus, whereas the adult coal-fish has only a small barbel and
its lower jaw only slighter longer than the upper, young
examples have the barbel comparatively long and the lower
jaw conspicuously protruding. It has also been remarked,
with much evidence in support of the view, that characters
acquired comparatively late in the evolutionary history of a
species are generally developed late in the post-larval stage.
Conversely, it may be inferred that characters present in the
larval form or new-born young (as the fold of skin in the tail
of the young Indian sting-ray), and lost at a later stage, indicate
features which were possessed by some ancestor of the species,
but which it was found advantageous to drop. This theory
must not, however, be pressed too far. For instance, it is
thought that the protruding lower jaw indicates predatory
habits. Now, the larval stages of practically all bony fishes
show a protruding lower jaw. This does not, however,
indicate that the ancestors of all bony fishes were in conse-

42 SALT-WATER FISHES

quence of predatory habits; but the explanation lies rather in
the fact that the post-larval stages of even vegetable-feeders
among fishes live by chasing and devouring tiny living
creatures so minute that only the high-power microscope
reveals them to the human eye.

The eggs of fishes show considerable variation in both size
and shape. As a general rule, the bony fishes lay round eggs,
but that of the anchovy (Exgraulis) is oval, and that of the
garfish (Be/one) has long filaments which serve as anchor-
ropes, like the tendrils on the egg-cases of the spotted dog-fish.
The anchovy’s egg, unlike that of the allied herring, floats in
the water, but that of the gar-fish probably sinks, the filaments
securing it to weed-clumps or other convenient rests.

Attempts have with praiseworthy ingenuity been made to
trace the influence of a floating or demersal egg on the after-
history of the fish hatched from it, but these have signally
failed, as may be shown by a few familiar examples of both.
The most striking contradictions are, perhaps, the herring
(Clupea) and angler-fish (Lophius). The herring, hatched
from a sinking egg, which develops at the bottom of the
sea, spends most of its after-life swimming at the surface.
The angler-fish, on the other hand, which emerged from a
floating egg, lives when older on the ground, there lying in
wait for its victims. It has also been suggested that fishes
hatched from pelagic, or floating, eggs are less given to
wandering in after-life, since the species is already dispersed
in the egg stage. Obviously, the heavy, clinging eggs of the
herring, hatching out as they do close to the spot in which
they were in the first instance deposited, must tend to restrict
the distribution of that fish. On the other hand, the eggs of
the mackerel (Scoméer), which float hither and thither on the
surface and are dispersed by every normal current or inci-
dental storm, must carry that fish over wider areas. Yet who
would care to describe the mackerel as less of a traveller in
after-life than the herring? The flat-fish have also been

GENERAL FACTS ABOUT SEA FISH 43

quoted as illustrating this stationary habit in a group already
sufficiently dispersed in the egg. But on the one hand we
have the wandering cods (Gadus), which also begin life in
floating eggs, and on the other we have the bull-heads (Cottus),
gobies (Gobius), and suckers (Liparis)—interesting small forms
to which a subsequent chapter is devoted—which, although
hatched from heavy eggs, are little, if any, more endowed with
the migratory instinct than the flat-fish themselves. Not only
does the floating egg tend to spread over a greater area during
the interval which elapses before hatching, but it may also
escape certain dangers, such as possibly the trawl, and cer-
tainly spawn-eating fishes, like the cod and haddock. It
might, therefore, have been thought that Nature would have
provided against such extra risks by producing a greater
supply, and that the herring would deposit more eggs than
another fish of like size, say the whiting, the spawn of which
floats in the sea. But Nature knows her own business best,
and we find that whereas the number of eggs in an average
herring would not exceed thirty thousand, those in a good-
sized female whiting may easily reach ten times that number,
or three hundred thousand. In support of Nature’s view,
moreover, it must be borne in mind that even the floating
eggs run some risks to which those which develop at the
bottom are not subjected. They may, for instance, be thrown
ashore or otherwise destroyed by storms, and they may also be
consumed, along with other food, by all manner of surface-
feeding fishes, particularly those, like the herring (C/upea) and
basking shark (Selache), provided with straining gill-rakers,
which allow nothing, however small, to escape. On the whole,
however, their very independence one of the other (save in a
few cases like that aforementioned of the angler-fish) must in
a measure secure their safety, on the same principle as that
which governs the forming of open order in battle. Facts,
too, are better than theories. So long as we find the herring,
with its poor little achievement of only thirty or forty

44 SALT-WATER FISHES

thousand eggs, crowding each of twice as many nets in the
season of 1902, in numbers as appalling as those captured in
half the number twenty years ago, we cannot seriously condemn
the demersal egg as constituting a danger to the survival of the
species. Touching the above-mentioned influence of the float-
ing egg on the distribution of the species, it cannot be denied
that the range of a fish which is of sedentary habits in later life
may be appreciably extended by floating ova and free-swimming
young, just as the young barnacle travels far and wide, while
the old one is a fixture.

In addition to their small size—the eggs of many of our
important food-fishes measure in diameter less than 3}; in., and
that of the dab (Pleuronectes) is less than 3; in.—the eggs of
the majority of fishes are transparent, or rather translucent,
and all but invisible in sea water, particularly those which float
separately. That of the sole (Solea), however, has several
oil-globules and a segmented yolk, both of which conditions
tend to render it conspicuous; and that of the pilchard
(Clupea) is more easily seen that it would otherwise be on
account of the wide space between the yolk-membrane and the
surrounding envelope, technically known as the “ perivitelline”
space. It must not be thought that the size of the egg has
always a direct relation to the size of the fish. In members
of the same family more particularly there is great risk of
error in such an assumption, for the egg of the turbot
(Rhombus), for example, is smaller than that of the plaice
(Pleuronectes).

The unfertilised eggs of a fish, which for table purposes
we call “hard roe,” are the product of the female. The “ soft
roe” of our herrings and other fishes is the milt of the male.
Fertilised eggs—that is to say, those which, having been
deposited in the water by the female, are acted on by the milt
of the male—are of course never available as food for man.
The milt of a single male fish is capable, under favourable
conditions, of fertilising the ova of several females on encounter-

GENERAL FACTS ABOUT SEA FISH 45

ing them in the water, and a knowledge of this fact is utilised
in a suggestion for rough-and-ready fish-culture at sea, some
account of which will be found at the end of Chapter II.
This milt, however, is exceedingly small in some fishes,
particularly in the sole, in respect of which Cunningham,
a great authority on the species, suggests that, “until a few
years ago,” not only fishermen, but others (presumably
meaning scientific men) believed in the hermaphroditism, or
double sex, of each individual.* This fact, that the milt of
a single male can fertilise the eggs of several females of the
same species, is a useful provision in view of the numerical
superiority of the females in most fishes, as in ourselves and
most other higher vertebrates. In addition to their usually
superior number, the females have also, as a rule, the advan-
tage in size, a character in which they agree less perhaps with
many other vertebrates than with spiders and some other
reatures without backbone. Dr. Wemyss Fulton, the able
Secretary of the Scotch Fishery Board, has investigated these
relations of the sexes in both size and number, and with very
interesting results. Thus, to take an example, the female of
the long rough dab (Hippoglossoides) exceeds all the other
fishes tabulated by him on these grounds, and in both size and
numbers as compared with the male, the proportion in
numbers being more than 5 to 1, and in size nearly 4 to 3.
As a contrast, the female angler-fish (Lophius) is not only
smaller (practically 17 to 20) in proportion to the male than
in any other fish on Dr. Fulton’s list, but is also, with one
exception (a tie), fewer in proportionate number (1 to 4).
On the other hand, in case any might feel the inclination to
generalise from only two cases, it may be added that in the
lumpsucker (Cyclopterus) the females, while numbering only
1 to 4 of the males, are more than half as long again. It
is questionable whether, until at any rate we have figures
based on a larger series of observations than those recorded

* Marketable Marine Fishes, p. 74.

46 SALT-WATER FISHES

by Dr. Fulton, and taken over a wider area comprising
very different localities, there can be any advantage in
making deductions from the available data.

The unaided spawning of fishes in captivity is always
interesting, particularly where a valuable food-fish is concerned.
The common sole, for instance, spawned in the tanks of the
Marine Biological Association at Plymouth for the first time
in the year 1895, nor, up to the time of writing, have brill and
turbot naturally spawned in tanks. The eggs of the one have,
it is true, been artificially fertilised with the milt of the other,
but that is quite a different matter. The first to achieve this
was Mr. Scott, of the Scotch Fishery Board, and the episode
is fully described by McIntosh and Masterman.* This
suggests a few remarks on the subject of hybrids generally.

The fishermen have somewhat remarkable notions on the
subject of hybridisation in fishes. The Little Ling (Molva
abyssorum), for instance, known to Norwegians.as the “ birke-
lange,” they regard, of course erroneously, as a cross between
the ling (Molva) and hake (Merluccius). Even scientific
writers differ in their view of hybrids, and examples which
Day considered to be hybrids between, for example, the herring
and pilchard have been regarded by Bateson ¢ as mere varieties
with scales abnormal in both size and number, and rather more
gill-rakers than in the type forms, or those forms from which
the types were severally described.

In the flat-fish (/Zeterosomata) real or alleged hybrids are not
uncommon. The egg of the brill has been artificially fertilised
with the milt of the turbot and also with that of the dab, and
what is done in the laboratory may possibly be done also in
nature. The Grimsby fishermen, for instance, often catch a
peculiar-looking flat-fish, which they firmly believe to be a
hybrid between the brill and turbot, and so high an authority
as Mr. Holt is inclined to agree with them, having found that

* OP. cit, Pp. 338.
t See Proc. Zool. Soc., 1890, p. 586, and 1894, p. 164.

GENERAL FACTS ABOUT SEA FISH 47

a careful diagnosis of the characters revealed too marked a
tendency towards the typical characters of either to enable him
to pronounce the fish a mere “sport ” of either brill or turbot,
which would be the only alternative if the theory of hybridisa-
tion were rejected.

The spawning-time of fishes will be found, on reference to
the writings of our own and continental authorities, to be a
matter of much difference of opinion. The explanation of
this divergence is clearly that our northern and southern
waters differ in this respect. As a familiar instance, the
common plaice spawns at Grimsby as early as January. Still
farther north, in the Firth of Clyde, this fish does not
commonly spawn until the month of April. When the
spawning-time begins in any locality early in the year, it
also ends early; and whereas in the Plymouth district the
spawning of plaice is finished by the end of March, it lasts
in more northern waters until nearly the end of May. A
fish is known as “ ripe” when it has spawn ready for shedding,
and it is important to remember, in view of individual
variation, that the spawning-time of a species is the whole
period during which ripe fish are encountered with their eggs
or milt still undeposited. As some fishes spawn over a con-
siderable period in the same locality, for two, three, or even
four, months, it will easily be understood that, the rate of
growth being approximately equal, their progeny must also
come to maturity at different times. Moreover, the tempera-
ture in any given year may be so abnormally high or low as to
accelerate or retard the spawning-season of a species; but it
may be said that such departures from the normal season, due
to weather conditions, are on the whole neither general nor
pronounced.

The spawning-grounds are of great importance, as will be
surmised, in all questions of legislation against promiscuous
trawling, and it is to be hoped that the international scheme
of North Sea Investigation, on which this country is now

48 SALT-IVATER FISHES

embarked, may throw fresh light on the mystery of the
spawning-grounds of valuable species, particularly of the plaice,
in that area. We want to know the spawning-grounds in order
that we may avoid them and induce others to do likewise.
Only a few general facts have been so far ascertained, and even
these must be regarded as subject to any rebutting evidence that
may possibly be brought forward. We know, for example, that
some fishes approach our coasts for spawning purposes, but
that the majority repair to deeper water. Those which spawn
in deep water may come inshore as soon as the spawning is
over—when they are technically known as “ spent ”’—but that
is in order that they may recoup their lost strength with
abundant food. Many of the valuable fishes, such as the plaice
(Pleuronectes) and pilchard (C/upea), deposit their spawn at a
considerable distance from the land, and pilchards with roe are
notably far less common than herrings in the same condition,
Others, on the other hand, like cod and whiting, spawn near
the shore. In the case of the herring, it is thought that the
distinct summer and winter “‘ races”’ of that fish, which will be
explained in a later chapter, have different preferences in this
respect, the former spawning out in deep water, while the
latter choose the brackish inshore water for the same purpose.
Among the smaller, comparatively valueless fishes the inshore
spawning habit is very common. The eggs of the father-
lasher (Cottus), for instance, lie partly exposed among the weeds
at low water, and the same may be said of those of the lump-
sucker (Cyclopterus). In sticklebacks (Gasterosteus) the eggs are
sheltered in a seaweed nest among the inshore rocks. It is
quite evident that these small shore-loving forms are compelled
in self-preservation to produce heavy, or demersal, eggs, else
these would, if they were to float, have no chance in the shallow,
broken water. In this instance, at any rate, the object of the
demersal egg is not difficult to understand.

The terms “ larval” and “ post-larval” have already been
explained. After the end of the post-larval stage, and when the

GENERAL FACTS ABOUT SEA FISH 49

fish has practically assumed the general characters of the adult,
all further changes are for the most part in size or colour.
In fact, the metamorphoses are to all intents and purposes at an
end, though in some fishes there may be further change in the
length of the fins, together with other trifling alterations of
like nature. The size of an adult fish is, unlike that of a beast
or bird, no exact or reliable index to its maturity or reproduc-
tive powers, for it appears to continue growing almost
indefinitely, so long as the supply of food is maintained. We
have already seen how the eggs of some fishes sink, while those
of others float ; but these two categories, instead of, as would
seem, being abruptly demarcated, show a large series of
gradations. Some of the sinking eggs, for instance, are only a
little heavier than the sea-water, and are in consequence (¢.g.
the eggs of the wolf-fish, Anarrhicas) easily disturbed by under-
currents ; while others, like those of the herring, are not only
much heavier, but also adhesive, so that they develop where
they are deposited. Some of the floating eggs, again, having
a low specific gravity when shed, rise rapidly in the water,
while others rise much more slowly. Dead eggs of the buoyant
kind sink; but healthy, buoyant eggs from the deeper water out-
side may likewise sink if suddenly introduced into the less
dense brackish water of estuaries, yet without at once suffering
destruction. The oil-globule, which is found in many eggs of
different families of fishes, such as those of the hake (Merluccius)
and ling (Molva) among the cod family, and those of the brill
and turbot (R/ombus) among flat-fish, also in those of the red
and grey gurnards (Trigia), of the bass (Labrax), of the
mackerel (Scoméer), and of many other fishes, may possibly have
the object of keeping the egg floating with one end uppermost—
acting, in fact, as a float. On the other hand, the eggs of the
sole (Solea) and others of the same genus, as well as those of the
lumpsucker (Cyclopterus) and stickleback (Gasterosteus), have a
number of oil-globules so generally distributed that they could
not serve to float any particular part of the egg uppermost

4

50 SALT-WATER FISHES

more than another. In the eggs, moreover, of such outwardly
different, though anatomically allied, forms as the plaice
(Pleuronectes) and cod (Gadus) there is no oil-globule whatever.
In any case, therefore, since these last are both eggs of the
buoyant type, it is not the“oil-globule which causes the floating
of the egg, though it may keep a particular part of it upper-
most in the water. Nor does the floating of eggs in sea water
appear to be a question, as Professor Huxley thought might
be the case, of temperature.

The time occupied in hatching varies, as might be expected,
however, with this same condition of temperature, so that
figures are, unless all the attendant circumstances be carefully
noted, of little use. As some indication, however, and with
the reservation that such results are necessarily based on obser-
vations conducted in the artificial surroundings of the aquarium,
it may be mentioned that the eggs of the plaice developed at a
temperature of 53° F. in from ten to twelve days, while those
of the cod took twelve days at 45° F.* It must further be
borne in mind that the eggs of many kinds of sea fish show
considerable range in size, and also that large eggs are found
to take longer in developing than small. It is also interesting
to remember that, providing the water has so large a percentage
of salt that it cannot freeze, the eggs of many northern fishes
are capable of hatching out at a temperature below zero.

The little larva, having at last, in a varying period, burst the
capsule of the egg, emerges in the sea a helpless being, without,
in the majority of cases, either red blood or an open mouth.
To change from this very rudimentary condition to the perfect
state, irrespective of size, may be the work of a few weeks or
of many months, according to the state of advancement when
hatched. Just as the naturalist in Australia is confronted
by a most remarkable contrast in this respect in the almost
embryonic new-born kangaroo and the young brush-turkey,
which does not escape from its native mound until practically

* Cunningham, of. ci#., pp. 216, 284.

GENERAL FACTS ABOUT SEA FISH 5h

capable of looking after itself, so in our fishes some leave the
egg little more than animated threads, while others (hatched in
most cases from heavy, adhesive eggs—e.g. the gobies) have
from their first days of freedom both red blood and an
open mouth.

In sharks, the eggs and development of which differ in so
many respects from those of bony fishes, the young fish emerges
in a comparatively advanced condition. On the other hand, it
must be borne in mind that the young shark has been a long
time developing in the egg. Thus, whereas the eggs of some
bony fishes hatch out in a few days, the young of the black-
mouthed dog-fish (Pristiurus) is about nine months in the
egg; that of the rowhound (Scy//ium) about seven.* Conse-
quently, as might be expected, the baby shark has, by the
time it succeeds in rupturing the tough egg-capsule, acquired
all the characters of the adult, and it remains only for it to
increase in size and come to maturity.

Far more wonderful in some respects is the early develop-
ment of young bony fishes, which may hatch from the egg in
four days, a transparent and helpless creature, measuring perhaps
¢ in., yet may acquire all the characters of the adult while
still less than 4 in.t The yolk-sac, large and conspicuous,
and generally globular at the time of hatching, rapidly dwindles
day by day and disappears in less than a week, by which time
also the mouth has appeared and the fins are outlined. Spots
and dashes of colour-pigment may appear during the first few
days, and these will rapidly increase and spread. The special
metamorphoses of young flat-fishes, including general twisting
of the head and the passage of one eye either over the ridge of
the head or through its soft tissues, together with the disappear-
ance of colouring matter from the side bereft of its eye, will
be more appropriately alluded to in the chapter on that group
of fishes.

* Cf Bashford Dean, of. cét., p. 217.
t+ Lbid., p. 225.

52 SALT-WATER FISHES

A very important point in the study of the growth and
development of important food-fishes is the size at which
they become sexually mature. The fruitful source of dis-
cussion whether flat-fish should be protected by Parliament
from the trawler, or at any rate from the salesman, until
they are full-grown or have attained to their extreme length—
whether, in fact, it is for the freedom of the undersized or
immature that the legislator is called upon to provide—arises
in every conference on the subject. There seems to exist
in some quarters a vague notion that the two terms have but
one meaning, but this is quite erroneous. As already pointed
out, fishes, unlike birds and mammals, are capable of growing
much larger long after they are sexually mature. In other
words, the quantitative changes are independent of the qualita-
tive. It is not easy, unless an immense series of mature and
immature fish of a species be examined and very carefully
measured, to establish exact sizes at which fish from any given
locality (this is important) are first mature. Roughly, it has
been computed by so high an authority as Dr. Wemyss Fulton*
that, irrespective of sex, plaice on the Scotch coast are first
mature at 12 in., dabs at 6 in., turbot at 18 in., and cod at
20 in. Asa rule, also, the males of bony fishes become mature
at a smaller length, and probably earlier, than the females.

* McIntosh and Masterman, of. céz., p. 108.

CHAPTER II

OUR FISHERIES: THEIR PRACTICE AND THEIR
CONTROL

UnrorTunNaTELyY it is no longer possible for us to exult with
Yarrell (Preface to his edition of 1837) over the large and
constant supply of excellent food “obtained from the seas all
round the coast by moderate labour and expense.’’ It may be
questioned whether such hopeful phrases were still applicable
on the publication of his second edition ; but sixty years later,
at any rate, neither the capital nor the labour involved in
supplying our markets with sea fish could be properly so
described. No one who has spent a night on board a pilchard
drifter or watched the wonderfully equipped herring-fleets
cleaning up in our east-coast ports would dream of employing
such a word as ‘“‘moderate’”’ in connection with either the
outlay or labour entailed.

The reasons for prefacing the following short histories of
our different coast fish with a chapter on the methods of fishing
are two. In the first place, frequent allusion will, in the course
of these pages, have to be made to the means by which different
fish are captured, for the method often throws interesting light
on the life-story of the fish caught. There is, for instance, in
some of the Swiss lakes a small salmonoid—in fact, a degenerate
char—known as the “ Beisser,” or “biter,” because it is caught
only by biting the soft meshes of the nets used for other chars.
It is evidently a gregarious fish, for a hundred or so are

generally caught at a time ; but all of them, without exception,
53

54 SALT-WATER FISHES

are held fast in this extraordinary fashion by the teeth being
embedded in the soft cotton mesh, and the fishermen, having
long known this habit, do not organise any special fishery with
small-meshed nets, although the fish commands a good price in
the hotels, because, they say, the fish catches itself and saves
them the trouble.

We have not on our coasts any fish of such suicidal habits
as this inhabitant of the inland waters of Switzerland ; but, as
will be shown in the following pages, many of our food-fishes
have a most interesting life-history, and the fishermen have
not been backward in turning their more curious habits to
account. ‘Thus, the construction and employment of the drift-
net for pilchards on the Cornish coast—which will be more
fully explained later—argues a very long and close acquaintance
with the singular habit of pilchards in congregating to feed
about sunset, and the principle of the fine mesh slipping inside
the gill-cover and thus holding the fish prisoner is extremely
sound. The first obvious reason, then, for including the
present chapter as a legitimate departure from the immediate
subject of the volume is that the reader may have an intelligent
understanding of the various engines of destruction—the trawl
and trammel and the rest, mentioned hereafter. The second, not
less important, reason is that he may also, if desired, be in a
position to grasp the significance of some of the problems of
fishery legislation which from time to time crop up in the
Parliamentary programme, and which are, apart from the more
academic enthusiasm of the laboratory biologist, the chief end
and aim of marine biological investigation. The obsolete
optimism of the remark already quoted from Yarrell has
increasingly troubled those who take an interest in the safe-
guarding of great industries and, more particularly, of great
sources of national food supply. As we shall see in the later
chapters of this book, there are a number of important round
migratory fish, such as the cod and mackerel, which cannot in
all probability be exhausted, or even seriously lessened, by

OUR FISHERIES 55

human agency, for the very good reason that for a part of the
year they swim far from our coasts and out of our ken, and no
form of net yet constructed seems to encounter them on the
grounds ordinarily worked. The ocean is wide, and not even
the increased facilities for steam-carriage and ice-packing will
be able to keep up with extended winter migration on the part
of the fish. On the other hand, we shall also find a number
of more or less stationary flat-fish, such as the sole and
plaice, which are very severely menaced by the fishermen,
since at no period of their career are they exempt from toll
being levied on their numbers by one form or other of
net commonly in use. The writer had the honour of giving
evidence before Mr. Marjoribanks’s Committee in 1893, when
his object was to bring evidence from Dr. Heincke, of
Heligoland, proving Germany’s aloofness from international
restrictive measures until the German fisheries had developed
considerably beyond the position which they then held. Again
in 1901 he gave evidence before Sir Herbert Maxwell’s Com-
mittee on Ichthyological Research, and on that occasion it
was his endeavour to illustrate, by evidence from every port
between Brixham and St. Ives, personally collected during the
previous summer, the immediate need of a centralisation of
authority, and the manner in which the fishermen generally
distrust the local fishery district officials. It is quite useless to
mince matters in discussing these somewhat delicate difficulties
of local government. ‘Those who serve on the fishery boards
are not always disinterested in the disposal of the local vote,
and the interest of the trawler will weigh more or less than
the interest of the seine-man or hooker to an extent that
would be quite impossible if a central department took over
direct control. Advocacy of such a Fishery Board cannot
reasonably be construed into any vote of want of confidence
in that overworked congeries of departments the Board of
Trade; and as proof of the fallacy of such criticism of the
critics, it may be urged that most of these would be satisfied

56 SALT-WATER FISHES

by the bodily transference of the present inspectors and other
officials, usefully reinforced perhaps by competent scientific
advisers who had duly qualified at Plymouth, St. Andrews,
Piel, or some other of our marine laboratories, under their
own roof, and subject to their own President. That Scotland
should have a Fishery Board and Ireland a Fishery Officer,
while England has only an Assistant Secretary, with most of
his attention required for other business, seems hardly credible.
Yet so it was ordered until the recent removal of the Fisheries
Department to the Board of Agriculture. Great things are
expected of Lord Onslow, who now, as he puts it, has control
of the fishes as well as of the loaves; but there has not yet
been time for a critical estimate of the work that he and his
colleagues may be able to perform.

Further light on our ignorance touching the life-histories
of our sea fish, a more thorough knowledge of the remaining
secrets of their migrations, their food, their rate of growth,
and their spawning-grounds, will alone enable Parliament to
legislate usefully. It cannot be said that the average Member
of Parliament, even representing maritime constituencies,
and thus the spokesman of the fishing population, knows
very much about these matters. The writer recollects many
years ago being called upon to explain to a legislator not
uninterested in our east-coast fisheries the difference in
principle and practice between the antiquated beam-trawl and
the newer “otter’’ pattern, and the experience has not been
forgotten. Perhaps the worst error commonly made by public
men not specially initiated in the freemasonry of the seashore
is to regard all the fishermen as an agglomeration of unskilled
labourers, as so many men who make a livelihood by getting
fish out of the sea by any means handy, netting or hooking,
and selling them in the best market. No view could well be
more fallacious or more prejudicial to a proper understanding
of the problems that call for solution. Not only are the
drifters and trawlers, the seaners and liners, the crabbers and

OUR FISHERIES 57

the trammel-men to all intents and purposes separate castes,
but each method of fishing is actually characteristic of certain
parts of our coasts and practically unknown in others—a sure
sign of skilled labour. Thus, whereas, with the single excep-
tion of the pilchard-seans of St. Ives, the drift-net is all-
important in Cornwall, in Devon, the neighbouring county,
or duchy, on the east, the drift-net already loses importance
and gives place to the trawlers of Plymouth and Brixham.
On the east coast, again, of both England and Scotland the
drift-net for herring is of first importance in summer-time,
while in winter all the ablest hands are away line-fishing for
cod on the Dogger, or on still more northern haunts of
halibut and haddock. The Scotch are practically ignorant
of trawling as practised at Brixham: what they call “trawling”
is in reality seaning, which, as will be seen presently, is a very
different matter. Strictly local fisheries, such as the use in the
Thames and a few other estuaries of the huge stow-net for
sprats, are rather a development of local conditions ; neverthe-
less, these also accentuate the skilled nature of fishing labour.
It is necessary to lay great stress on this recognition of fishing
as skilled labour, because herein lies more than half the
difficulty of legislation. If it were unskilled labour only,
there could be no serious question of the conflicting interests
of different classes, since a transfer of energy would be simple.
The fact is, however, that it would in many cases be easier for
the hand on the trawler to take to agricultural work or the
quarries than to earn his living with hook and line.

Further knowledge, then, both in and out of Parliament,
is what is needed before we can hope effectually to protect the
fisheries. More has been done in the right direction during
the last fifteen years than during the preceding fifty. The
researches of McIntosh, Ginther, Boulenger, Cunningham,
Holt, Garstang, Herdman, Meek, Allen, and others in this
country, and the contributions of Hensen, Sars, Dannevig,
Heincke, Hermes, Dohrn, Delage, Raffaele, Grassi, Giglioli,

58 SALT-WATER FISHES

Calandruccio, Agassiz, to mention only a few, from other seas
have bridged many of the widest gaps in our knowledge as it
was when Day wrote his laborious and still standard work; but
full as many mysteries await explanation. The man who knows
most best appreciates the extent of his own ignorance, and the
interesting communications to the Journals of the Marine
Biological Association, and similar publications, are not only
one long cry for further research, but breathe a spirit of doubt
and reservation that we seek in vain in the positive pronounce-
ments on migrations and development in the books of fifty
years ago. The older writers knew ; the modern investigator
thinks: the more enquiry proceeds, with all the facilities
afforded by modern tow-nets and apparatus for dragging the
secrets from the greatest depths of ocean, the more scientific
men will say they only think, but the more in reality they will
know.

The exhaustion of our fisheries, more particularly the
sensible depletion of the inshore grounds and consequent need
of going further and further from home to supply the market,
increasingly occupied the attention of politicians, biologists,
and men of commerce during the last decade of the nineteenth
century, but a satisfactory solution of the difficulties has been
left for the twentieth. Thoughtful studies have been pub-
lished embodying a divergence of opinions. In his Resources
of the Sea, Professor W. C. McIntosh, whose joint work
with Mr. Masterman* has been one of the chief sources of
information in the preparation of this volume, practically
endorses the /aissez-faire views of Huxley, who saw in the sea
a large source of supply with as good (and apparently also as
many) fish in it as ever came out of it. On the other hand,
Mr. E. W. L. Holt, who has given much attention to these
matters, tells us in his study of The Grimsby Trawl Fishery
and the Destruction of Immature Fish that the North Sea is

* The Life-Histories of the British Marine Food-Fishes. Where
reference is made to these authors, this is the work referred to.

OUR FISHERIES 59

being emptied of its fish life, and that the only conceivable
remedy is to impose a size limit of saleable plaice as high as
13 in. This, he thinks, would at least have the effect of
keeping the trawlers off the inshore grounds that yield only
the smaller classes of fish. Without such a measure to
accompany it, he considers that a close season, such as has
from time to time been proposed, as ineffectual. The extension
of the three-mile limit, within which trawling is already,
though in some parts only nominally, prohibited, he regards as
impracticable, chiefly on account of international complications.
As to artificial culture of sea fish, on which subject Mr. R. B.
Marston says something in Chapter XVI., Mr. Holt is clearly
of opinion that the practical difficulties outweigh the theoretical
advantages. The rearing of the fry through the surface-
swimming stages—a phrase that will be better understood on
reference to the short accounts that follow—is at least as
important as the hatching of the eggs; and even if the fry
were reared to that point—a costly and difficult undertaking—
Mr. Holt thinks that it would also be necessary to legislate
for the protection of the young after turning them loose amid
the perils of the sea. Before making further reference to the
leading fishery questions of to-day, it seems desirable to
describe the different nets and lines in use on our coasts.
We must, in short, give our attention to the practice of our
fisheries before considering the ethics of their control.

Two main principles are involved in the capture of sea
fish : either the fish are lured with a baited hook or into a
baited trap, or else they are bodily taken in a net, either
moving or stationary. Although, that is to say, netting and
hooking are widely separated modes of fishing, the crab-pot
(which incidentally takes many fish along with the crustaceans
for which it is ostensibly intended) is nearer in principle to the
hook and line than it is to the trammel or trawl. Between
netting and hooking there is an intermediate mode of fishing,
with the spear or grains. This must have developed from an

60 SALT-WATER FISHES

earlier practice of spearing land animals, and the idea of netting
fish probably emanated in the brain of some Asiatic from the
older practice of netting birds. All fishing originated in all
probability in inland waters, river or lake, for, so far at least
as concerns the use of boats, there is some evidence to show
that mankind took ages of familiarising with the treacherous
sea before trusting to its waters. Whereas the modern settlers
in Australia are only just now reaping the results of the
extensive introduction of salmonide and other European and
American fishes into the rivers of that continent, and have
hitherto angled only in the sea, it was not so with the
aboriginal inhabitants, and the writer has seen ancient traps
and fish-passes which testify to a considerable degree of fishing
skill on the part of the inventors of the boomerang, the most
wonderful implement of war and the chase ever devised by
untaught savages. The Japanese and Malays have also been
great sea fishermen for countless ages, while the more stay-at-
home Chinese, on the other hand, have won a reputation rather
for their inland fish culture. So far as Europe goes, Britain
has to-day the greatest stake in the fisheries of the North Sea,
but there was a time in which she was certainly surpassed by
Hollandiand equalled by France.

The use of hook and line is a more or less simple manner
of fishing that needs very little explanation. With local
variations, it resolves itself into capturing the fish on a barbed
hook hidden in some kind of bait, natural or artificial, calcu-
lated to attract the particular fish sought. The hook is used
on hand-lines or long lines, the latter, which may carry a couple
of thousand hooks, being laid either across a bay or estuary,
or in deeper water, on the sand. There is a heavy leaden
sinker at either end, with a buoy-line and corks with small
flags, so that the owners may pick up either end without
difficulty and haul the line on board. Such a line is baited
with squid, pilchard, herring, whelk, or lugworm, and the
baiting of a long line with two thousand hooks might, when

OUR FISHERIES 61

bait is scarce and fresh mackerel have to be bought, cost many
sovereigns. By day these lines, carrying small hooks and
baited with mussel or worms, catch whiting and flat-fish,
gurnard and bass. By night, with larger hooks and either
fish or squid for bait, they take conger, ling, or skate.

Hand-lining is another method. In this case not more
than two hooks are used on each line, generally on some
pattern of spreading wires ; but a skilful fisherman will control
half a dozen lines single-handed. Whiting just before dawn,
pollack and bream during the day, and conger and hake at
night are the chief fruits of the hand-line, and it has the
advantage of being used from small craft and without calling
for any heavier investment of capital than a year or two of
little economies may contrive.

There is one other method of hooking in use among
professional fishermen—no account is taken in the present
chapter of angling methods—and that is known as railing,
whiffing, or plummeting, in which the bait, usually a small
bright strip of skin from the side of a mackerel’s tail, is drawn
swiftly through the mackerel shoals in the wake of a sailing
boat. Heavy catches, of scores of mackerel per tide, are made
in this way, and on our south-west coast quite a considerable
number of men engage in this style of fishing during July and
August.

Netting fish is a more complicated matter, more costly,
more laborious, and certainly more profitable on most parts
of our coasts, though the small hookers, their own masters,
owners of their boats and all the gear that therein is, may be
regarded as, on the whole, the most enviable class among the
fishing community.

Netting fish, as practised on our coasts, must involve one
of four principles. The fisherman may set a trap to catch fish
singly—i.e. the trammel. He may drag it, corked above and
leaded below, round a shoal of fish previously seen and bring
these either ashore or alongside his boat—z.e. the sean, or seine.

62 SALT-WATER FISHES

Thirdly, he may set it upright in the waters, letting it drift at
right angles to the direction in which he knows the shoal to be
moving, and thereby catching the fishes by the gills—zi.e. the
drift-net. Lastly, he may sweep the sea-bed and snatch up
everything, animal, vegetable, and often mineral, that lies in the
way of the net—v.e. the trawl. Some attempt will now be
made clearly to explain the construction and use of these four
types of net in the order given, for it may safely be asserted
that between them they account for quite four-fifths of the
fish brought to market.

The trammel is a most ingenious contrivance, a self-acting
fish-trap that takes a great variety of fish, such as red mullet,
bass, and other fish, as well as large lobsters, the last by no
means unfrequently. It consists of three walls of netting set
one alongside the other, the middle one about twice the length
of the others, but gathered into the same length, so as to leave
much slack line. It should further be mentioned that the
mesh—i.e. the size of the square hole between the strands—of
the two outer nets is much larger than that of the middle one.
The net being set up and down with the tide, and not across
it (this of the greatest importance, and yachtsmen often ruin
their chances at trammelling through their fatal preference for
setting the nets across the tide, in some vague hope that the
latter may drive the fish against it), it is not difficult to see
what happens. A fish strikes against one of the outer nets,
and the next forward stroke carries it through the large mesh
and against the small-meshed net within. It then dashes
forward, carrying the fine net through the larger mesh of the
third net the other side, and it is now hopelessly caught in
a kind of purse of its own making, every struggle only
tightening the coils. Such, roughly, is the principle on which
the trammel works, though in practice there are various details
to be considered: the nice adjustment of the cork buoys on
the upper edge and of the leaden weights on the lower, the
choice of spot at which to “ shoot ’’ the net—setting a net is

OUR FISHERIES 63

called “shooting ” by the fishermen, just as they also talk of
“ breeding ” nets, and not making them—and the best time for
taking it up. For red mullet the trammel is usually laid on
soft ground close to rocks just before sundown, and is taken
up again just after sunrise. A trammel is a somewhat cheaper
net than most, one of 50 fathoms and 6 ft. in depth, with a
24-in. mesh for the middle net and a 12-in. mesh on both the
outer, would be worth, roughly, about £10, or £12 if 8 ft.
in depth instead of only 6 ft. Asa matter of fact, the lesser
depth is the more manageable, particularly in a strong tide. A
Cornish boat would work a “ fleet” of trammels, numbering
perhaps ten, each of them 40 fathoms in length and 14 fathom
deep. (Note.—A fathom is equivalent to 2 yards, or 6 ft.)
There are other fixed nets in use on our coasts, but none
of the importance of the trammel. There are single walls of
netting, identical with the “gill-nets” used on the American
coast for cod, which catch the fish by strangulation—surface-
fish, such as hake and herring, and ground-fish, such as cod
and turbot. Then, again, there are the long stake-nets used
for plaice on the Lancashire coast, a yard in width and as
many as 300 yards long, the maximum length now fixed
by statute. This net, unlike the trammel, is set across
the tide, and is stretched on stakes driven into the sand, the
fish caught in its meshes being removed at low water. Hedge
baulks, long wicker walls with a trap between, are also very
fatal to plaice alongshore ; but the stream-nets, once so destruc-
tive in Lancashire estuaries, are now illegal. Another somewhat
special fixed net, only known in a few localities, such as the
mouth of the Thames and the waters inside the Isle of Wight,
is the stow-net, used to catch sprats in winter. It is to all
intents and purposes an immense funnel, 60 yards in length,
and with an opening 25 ft. square or more. This mouth
is kept wide open by wooden spars, and the net is set in
the tideway close to the boat that works it. When the tide
has nearly finished ebbing, the mouth of the net is closed by

64 SALT-WATER FISHES

hauling the spars together on board, and the net is hoisted, the
sprats being shot into the hold a few bushels at a time.

The sean, or seine, works on a totally different principle.
It is also a somewhat more costly apparatus than the trammel,
as one measuring 50 fathoms in length and 2 in depth
would, with ropes and leads complete, cost about £15. There
are two ways of using the sean. That in use for sand-eels
in estuaries, such as that of the Teign, alluded to in a
subsequent chapter, is a simple ground-sean, shot on ground
that the fish are known to frequent at a particular stage of
the tide, and then hauled ashore. In order to set such a net,
it is taken in a half-circle on a row-boat and quietly dropped
over the stern, the rope fastened to one extremity having been
left ashore. The boat, its half-circle completed, is again
beached, the occupants jumping out with the stake and rope
attached to the other end. The two gangs of men, each
hauling on an end of the net, then approach on the beach, so
that the ends of the net are drawn together, all exit closed,
and the small-meshed centre ‘“ bunt,” in which the catch
presently accumulates, hauled high and dry.

Such a mode of seining is simple and of secondary
importance in comparison with the annual gathering of
pilchards in St. Ives Bay between the last days of July
and Christmas. Those who know that picturesque spot,
even when this interesting fishing is not in progress,
invariably notice, from the train window, the long line
of tarred sean-boats drawn up on the beach. These boats
are 32 ft. long, and take a crew of eight men, six to row,
and the other two to work the net. When fishing, each is
accompanied by other two boats with the ‘‘stop-net,” and
there is a fourth boat, known as the “lurker,” from which the
captain directs strategic operations. The long sean would
measure about 160 fathoms in length, and is about 8 ft. deep
and 6 ft. at the sides, or wings. ‘The stop-net measures 70 or
80 fathoms, and is deepest in the bunt.

OUR FISHERIES 65

The simpler method of seining sand-eels at Teignmouth
consists, as already mentioned, in shooting the sean on a
sand-bank, and making a greater or smaller catch of the
fish. With the pilchards, however, the fish are located first
before any attempt is made to encircle them in the sean,
and, as the range of vision is very limited at sea-level, the
services of look-out men, known as “ huers,’’ are enlisted
on the cliffs overlooking the bay. These men, who receive
about £3 per month for their assistance, in addition to a small
percentage (about one per cent.) of the catch, notify the town
of the approach of a shoal of pilchards, and also, by a most
complicated system of shouting and signalling with special
implements, every movement of the teeming fish. Fortu-
nately, the colour-protection of the green pilchard in the
green water is not quite so striking in nature as some writers
make believe, and the shoals impart a reddish hue to the sea,
which betrays their presence to those watching for them. The
St. Ives pilchard fishery, which has its fluctuations, its good
and its bad years, like most other industries, is of some
antiquity, and very stringent laws, endorsed by Act of Parlia-
ment and by the approval of the fishermen themselves, are in
force for regulating the operations of the boats, the bay being
mapped off into six “‘stems”’ (i.e. fishing-stations worked in
rotation) for the purpose. As has been already mentioned,
the Scotch know the sean under the name of “trawl.”

The drift-net is another important method of catching
pilchards in the west country, though less characteristic of the
locality in past times than of the herring fisheries in Scotch
waters and on the east coast, from which it probably reached
Cornish seas. The writer has always regarded the drift-net as
the most scientific of all, depending for its success on strategy
and ona knowledge of certain curious habits of the fish for
which it is set rather than on mere chance, like the trammel,
mere force, like the trawl, or merely seeing fish and then
catching them, like the sean. It has, of course, its limitations,

5

66 SALT-WATER FISHES

chief among which is its inability to catch any but surface
fishes—herring, pilchard, or mackerel. On the other hand, it
can be used in any depth of water, an advantage over any of
the other nets previously described. It is a moving, not a
fixed, net, and in fact it combines in itself the principles of the
sean and trammel aforementioned, more particularly the simpler
form of “gill-net.” There are many such compromises
between two different forms of net, particularly in other seas
than ours. The gangui, used in the Mediterranean capelan
fishery, is a combination of sean and trawl, and the Norwegians
have a sort of sack-net, a square sean worked by four boats on
the rise-and-sink principle, like the smelt-nets at Cowes, or
the dilancia used in Italian lagoons and estuaries. There is,
however, no space to describe foreign fishing apparatus in the
present volume, which, moreover, deals only with the fish
and fisheries of our coasts.

It has been said above that the drift-net is the most
scientific of all those used in the capture of our sea fish, and
the reason for this statement was the fact of its successful use
depending on a knowledge of the habits of pilchards and such
fish towards sunset. Then it is that, perhaps dreading their
many voracious enemies less in the gathering darkness, the
pilchard shoals spread out a little in the great waters, yet
keeping their heads all one way, so that they may readily
reassemble at dawn, and feed greedily on the minute copepoda
and other organisms that supply their nourishment. They
all head away from the land, so the nets meant to strangle
them are spread in rows parallel to the shore. Such a net, for
pilchards, would measure 40 fathoms in length and 4 in depth,
and has 40 meshes to the yard ; and each boat uses a “ fleet,”
as it is called, of sixteen nets. The “ fleet” of mackerel nets,
on the other hand, used aboard the largest-sized drifters,
numbers no fewer than eighty, but each net is much smaller,
having a length of only 20 fathoms in length and 16 ft. in
depth, and having, of course, a larger mesh, 28 to the yard.

OUR FISHERIES 67

Lastly, the east coast and Scotch drift-nets for herring are
some 30 fathoms long and 9 deep ; whereas in Cornwall the
herring drift-net is 40 fathoms long, 44 deep, and with 36
meshes to the yard. A “fleet” of such herring nets (in
Cornwall) would number from sixteen to twenty.

In use, then, the drift-net is a moving wall of small-meshed
netting, corked above and leaded below, so as to keep it
perpendicular. It is shot to windward of the boat, and they
drift together, the mainmast being lowered in a crutch, and a
small mizzen sail being set to keep the lugger head to wind.
The whole fleet of Mevagissey, numbering half a hundred boats
or more, can thus fish in close proximity, and the writer has
been out more than one night on board the Foam in the midst of
a score of other boats, all fishing the same ground, all drifting
parallel, without the slightest fear of entanglement. Sometimes
care is taken to see the whereabouts of the shoals first, the
movements of the gulls and cormorants and porpoises helping
in this before the light is gone from the waters, the phosphor-
escence of the summer seas coming to the fishermen’s aid after
night has fallen ; and if there is no sign of fish on a usually
productive ground, the men stamp loudly on the deck, which
sometimes has the effect of causing the frightened pilchards to
show themselves. The boats leave harbour, according to tide
and wind, about four or five o’clock in the afternoon, shoot
their nets in various parts of the bay, and take them up again
towards eight or nine in the evening, a little earlier or later
according to the state of the tide and wind. The hauling of
the nets, however, and the removal of the fish, which are torn
from the meshes and thrown on deck, takes a considerable
time, so that the boats may not be back in harbour until after
midnight. While the net is being brought on board, the so-
called “ phosphorescent” effects—these have no connection, by
the way, with the element known as phosphorus, but are the
result of emission of light by Protozoa and other small animals
—are very beautiful. The buyers are waiting on the quay

68 SALT-WATER FISHES

when the boats get back, the factory at Mevagissey purchasing
the bulk to make into “ sardines,” while the rest is bought up for
export to Italy, or by the “ jowders,” or inland fish-hawkers.
A curious exchange of Mediterranean and Channel fish is seen
in the pilchard and sardine industry. These are, of course,
one and the same fish in different stages, but, whereas the
fishermen of southern Europe catch the smaller ‘sardine’ and
cure it in oil for consumption in cold northern cities where oil
is appreciated, we pickle the older fish in salt for use in the
towns of the south.

As already mentioned, the use of the drift-net is character-
istic of Cornwall and the east coast, though it is also employed
in other parts of the Channel. Trawling, on the other hand,
is the chief method of netting fish in Devon and on the coasts
of Sussex and Kent, as well as on the flat coast of Lancashire.
Drift-net fishing for mackerel is much practised, also, at the
eastern end of the Channel, at Hastings, as well as small
trawling in Rye Bay, and the old “hog” boats, a local
development arising out of the special conditions of the
sloping shingle foreshore of Sussex, are familiar to all who
know that corner of England. The long-distance trawling
out of Hull and other ports on the east side can hardly be
included in fishing on the English coast.

Trawling is, however, the most important mode of fishing
in our seas. It is also the most destructive, as will be readily
understood when the construction and working of the trawl
are explained. The trammel catches only such passing fish as
enmesh themselves in its slack netting, and even the drift-net
waits for the fish to destroy themselves in its strands. With
the trawl, however, it is a case of the mountain going to
Mohammed, and this deep and yawning purse tears its way over
the sandy ground, scooping up everything that lies in its path.
It is towed, with the tide, for preference, in a light breeze, the
net being allowed to drag lightly over the ground. Contrary
to what the uninitiated would be inclined to think, it is less

OUR FISHERIES 69

difficult to haul the trawl in a swell than in quite smooth
weather, for the rocking of the boat in an unsteady sea slacks
the ropes at every lurch, and these can then be wound on the
winch with very little effort. A large trawl cannot be brought
on board in less than an hour, so that the labour involved is in
any case considerable. There is some local variation of the
time in which fishing is conducted ; whereas, for instance, the
Brixham trawlers keep their nets down mostly at night, seeking
soles and plaice for their market, the Plymouth men, knowing
that the cheaper kinds, such as rays and conger, will sell best at
the Barbican, trawl for preference during the day. ‘The so-
called “ prime” trawl fish include red mullet, dory, mackerel,
bass, turbot, brill, sole, and halibut. The cheaper fish taken
in this way include rays, cod, haddock, hake, gurnard, conger,
ling, and some others.

It will thus be seen that the victims of the trawl include
representatives of widely different kinds of sea fish, those which
pass a great portion of their life near the surface, such as bass,
grey mullet, and mackerel, being taken together with the true
ground-feeding kinds. There are two patterns of trawl: the
older “beam” trawl and the newer “ otter” trawl, the latter
having superseded the other on many parts of our coasts. The
beam-trawl, briefly described, is a large conical bag, the mouth
of which is kept open by a beam of wood shod at the
extremities with irons that lie on the ground. Behind the
beam drags the foot-rope, a stout rope which keeps the net well
out. The trawl-warp, nowadays made of strong steel wire, is
made fast to the bridle ropes. When the haul is finished, the
trawl is brought on board and the contents are released at what
is called the “cod”? end—that is to say, the pointed end farthest
from the beam. In Lancashire waters the beam measures from
18 to so ft., and sailing trawlers are there allowed to work
within the three-mile limit—that is to say, at a distance less than
three miles from the land. Steam trawlers are, however, com-
pelled to keep at least three miles away, and the same restriction

70 SALT-WATER FISHES

applies on some parts of our coasts, nominally at any rate, to all
trawlers, irrespective of their motive power. A beam-trawl of
20-ft. beam would be-worth about £12 or £13, with all the gear
complete, and this is the size that amateur yachtsmen some-
times use. It is a pity that they use any. If they want to net
fresh fish for the table, it would be far better for them to keep a
set of trammels and catch plaice and red mullet. The trammel
is a quiet piece of tackle that can be set near the yacht’s
moorings for the night without disturbing any one. The
trawl, on the other hand, gets in the way of all manner of craft,
and there are quite enough trawlers earning their livelihood
without wealthy amateurs contributing their share towards the
depletion of the inshore waters.

The otter-trawl dispenses with the cumbrous beam, the
mouth of the net being kept open with boards that fly asunder
on the principle of kites, as was long ago pointed out by Mr.
Holdsworth, a great authority on our sea fisheries. One edge
only of these boards rests on the ground, and iron plates are
sometimes screwed to their sides to give added weight, a fathom
or two of galvanised chain being also used between them and the
end of the bridle, giving a more direct pull on the trawl. It is
said that the otter-trawl catches more fish, and it is certainly
easier to put down, tow, and haul, for in the last-named opera-
tion the boards come automatically together, and in that position
offer far less resistance than the less accommodating beam.
The “wings” of a 28-ft. trawl, to ft. square at the mouth,
would measure about 36 ft. An otter-trawl measuring go ft.
across at the mouth would cost complete about £30.

The Spaniards, by the way, have a primitive form of
trawl, with which they nevertheless make very good catches,
in which both beam and otter-boards are dispensed with, the
mouth being kept wide open by working the net between
two sailing boats.

We may now appropriately revert to the contentions of
depletion of the sea, because it is to the trawl that most of the

OUR FISHERIES 71

damage is attributed, often by those who not only have no
interest in trawling, but are concerned with the profits from
other styles of fishing. It is urged that the trawl destroys vast
quantities of undersized, immature fish before they are of any
real value for purposes of food, and before they have even
once been able to spawn, and also that it tears up the nurseries
of the young fish. The critics of the trawl used to add that
this villainous net also destroyed vast quantities of valuable
fish-spawn, because the few demersal fish-eggs, often lying in
masses on the foreshore, as will be seen later, attracted atten-
tion much sooner than the majority of floating eggs. When
it was found that of all our valuable food-fishes the herring
alone deposits heavy, sinking eggs, opinion veered round, and
the trawler was declared perfectly acquitted of all blame. Later
still, however, some one discovered that the cod and haddock
repair in immense numbers to the spawning-grounds of her-
rings to gorge themselves on the ova, and it was also found
that the trawler, knowing this perfectly well, also took his nets
there and caught the cod and haddock at their meal. It is
extremely doubtful whether, even if the trawl were to go over
such beds of herring-spawn as those on the Ballantrae Bank,
where herrings have deposited their heavy, clinging eggs as
long as men remember, much damage would accrue to the
spawn, for it sticks to stones and weeds, and is thrown back
with them when the dédris from the trawl is heaved overboard.
It is very doubtful, also, whether the sea is being emptied quite
so rapidly as some would have us believe. That there is some
ground for apprehension in the rapidity with which combines
and capital are possessing themselves of the fishing industry,
as of most others—though in this case they do not come from
over the Atlantic—can hardly be denied ; but this is a grievance
that calls for remedy by the political economist and not from
the laboratory. When we consider how infinitely vast is the
sea, and behind it its greater self, the ocean, we may surely
take heart when folks would tell us that the supply of fish is

q2 SALT-WATER FISHES

reaching a low ebb. It may be that certain inshore grounds,
which represent only a very narrow strip of water, contain
less fish than they did; it may be, indeed it must be, that
a hundred fishing-boats to-day catch less fish per boat than
did ten half a century ago. When we bear in mind that
Dr. Hyjort and Dr. Knut Dahl have recently discovered the
presence in the cold northern surface waters of myriads on
myriads of young gadoids, too small for any besides purely
scientific tow-nets to interfere with them, we may rest assured
that the cod family, at any rate, is in no danger from over-
fishing. On the other hand, it must be admitted that no one
ever asserted that the round-fish were in danger at all. It is
to the flat-fish that the fears of the pessimists are restricted ;
and it must be apparent to all that, so far as the inshore waters
are concerned, the flat-fish, particularly the plaice, show a
serious falling-off in the matter of both size and numbers.
We shall presently find a very marked difference in the
life-history of the flat and round fish, one that has direct
bearing on this question of their exhaustibility by over-fishing.
The migratory mackerel and the stationary plaice will serve
to illustrate this difference. There are seasons of the year,
varying in duration on different parts of our coasts, in which
the mackerel vanish completely from our ken. No man
knows where they are or whither they journey, and none
are during that period taken by any method of fishing with
either hook or net. It is true that investigations conducted at
Plymouth and elsewhere are yearly throwing fresh light on
this mystery of the mackerel, and almost any day we may
receive information of the whereabouts of that prolific and
capricious fish during the cold months in which it absents
itself from our coasts. Whether the publication of that know-
ledge will be an unmixed benefit is very doubtful. Even if
the trawl or drift-net, as now used, proved impracticable in the
deeper ocean water to which these fish are supposed to migrate
about Christmas-time, it is conceivable that the ingenuity of

OUR FISHERIES 73

man might devise other engines wherewith to pursue the
mackerel shoals even to the farthest limits of their wanderings.
Were this successfully contrived, the shoals would not have
the two or three months of respite which they now enjoy.
They would, in fact, be brought under the same conditions
as the plaice. At no time of its life, at any rate after leaving
the egg, is that flat-fish secure from man. At no stage—larval,
post-larval, or adult—does it find an asylum for ever so brief
a portion of the year outside of the zone fished by man. The
undeveloped forms are destroyed in the shrimp-trawl; the
undersized and immature fish are killed in the stake-nets ;
the trawl destroys it at all ages, both fit and unfit for sale.

The mackerel may therefore, particularly in our present
uncertainty as to its wanderings, be regarded as a practically
inexhaustible fish. Its only natural habit which strongly pre-
judices its survival in numbers is that of gathering and moving
in immense shoals, which naturally form a more vulnerable
object of any fishery than if the fish were to roam singly or
in small bands. All round-fish fall more or less under this
same condition ; but in the case of those, like the dory, which
which do not congregate in such conspicuous shoals, there is
even less cause for apprehension.

By those who regard the gloomy view of our fisheries as
unwarranted by the facts, it is often urged that man and his
engines are powerless to make any impression on the hordes
of fish in the ocean. That, of course, is perfectly true. The
whales and sharks that still prowl through the oceans, the huge
fish-eating lizards, long since extinct, must among them often
have consumed more fish in a day than man’s paltry trawls
account for in a year. Yet the exhaustion of the ocean is
hardly the practical problem. Every year the machinery of
transport in ice is improving, yet there will always be remote
parts of the ocean from which fish, however plentiful, cannot
be profitably brought to market. When mankind reaches that
limit—if he ever does—then the fisheries may finally, so far as

14 SALT-VATER FISHES

he is concerned, be regarded as exhausted. Even if it were
possible, with new improvements in refrigerating apparatus, to
bring the fish in fresh and saleable condition from those very
distant grounds, the expense involved might be so great that
the sale of the fish would not leave a fair profit. Such a state
of affairs is, needless to say, purely imaginary at present, and
the hypothesis is admitted only in order to illustrate the true
meaning of exhaustion of the fisheries as differentiated from
the total extermination of sea fish irrespective of locality.

A long series of interesting experiments has been con-
ducted on various parts of our coasts with a view to
ascertaining, if possible, the damage done by the trawl, the
percentage of undersized and immature fish captured at various
depths and at every season, and the possibility of returning the
smaller fish, unfit for market, alive to the sea that they may
have another chance. The Scotch Fishery Board even closed
a large and important inshore area against commercial trawling,
and made a number of experimental hauls, the results of
which were carefully summarised by Dr. Wemyss Fulton.
Yet it has always seemed to the writer that too little allowance
is made for the wide difference between these delicate scientific
experiments, with fine gear and generally in fine weather, and
the rougher trawling for the market in all weathers and over
some of the worst ground on which trawls can possibly work—
ground on which the valuable apparatus belonging to our
marine laboratories would not, as a rule, be risked.

As to the damage done by the trawl, we may perhaps
safely say that the flat-fish suffer less than the round, for
they are able to shut their gills down more tightly, and thus
escape suffocation, while their flattened shape, adapted as it is
to bear pressure without inconvenience, probably stands them
in good stead when they are being dragged along in the débris
of the trawl. There can be no doubt about the larger trawls
destroying vast quantities of ridiculously small fish. The
offence of the smaller-meshed shrimp-trawl is even worse.

OUR FISHERIES 75

Mr. Frank Cole, in the course of his valuable memoir on the
plaice,* which is quoted in a later chapter, mentions a catch
on the Lancashire coast that included, with only about twenty
quarts of shrimps, upwards of 250 soles ; an even larger number
of plaice, all but six of them under 8 in. and the majority
only 2 in. ; 896 dabs, all but two of them under 4 in.; 285
whiting, averaging 5 in.; and 18 skate only 7 in. across the
body. This most destructive catch, in which shrimps, the
ostensible object of the haul, played a very small part, was
made in the month of August by a 25-ft. shrimp-trawl with
$-in. mesh. Professor Herdmant also mentions over 10,000
plaice of only 4 in. at one haul of a shrimp-trawl off the
Mersey estuary. Such instances could be almost indefinitely
multiplied, but this would only take up space without serving
any useful purpose. What is of importance is this: that if a
single shrimp-trawl in the hands of scientific investigators makes
such frightful havoc among the undersized flat-fish on a few
occasions, the hundreds of shrimp-trawls in the hands of fisher-
men occupied in supplying the markets all round our coasts
are doing the same almost every day of the fishing-season.
Let it, then, be assumed that the falling-off in the size and
numbers of plaice in our inshore waters is a proved fact.
Unfortunately this assumption is not far from the truth, so
far, at least, as many districts are concerned. The remedies
so far proposed may be resolved into those aiming at pre-
vention and those aiming at cure, and it looks almost as if
prevention, though proverbially better than cure in most affairs
of everyday life, were in this instance impossible. Remedial
measures are necessarily based on the nature of the evil that
calls for remedy, and this, in the case of our plaice, is known
to be the wasteful destruction of immature fish. As the plaice
is, particularly in the continental markets of the North Sea,
saleable some time before reaching maturity (corresponding

* Report on the Lancs. Sea Fisheries Lab., 1901.
t Fishes and Fisheries of the Irish Sea, p. 53.

76 SALT-WATER FISHES

to a length of about 13 in.), legislation is, it will readily be
seen, very difficult. What is, in fact, required is a measure
that, without throwing a large section of the fishing population
out of work, shall check this massacre of the innocents. Were
there any other channel into which the specialised labour of
these men could temporarily be diverted without loss to them-
selves, there would be no great objection to giving the plaice
a period of rest, for it is not among the most popular of table
fish, and the public could well do without it for a time.

To protect the plaice, however, until it has had an oppor-
tunity of spawning will probably be found impracticable, so
that some half-measure, protecting undersized fish, yet allowing
the capture of those just under the size corresponding to sexual
maturity, will be found the only compromise. Small size-
limits of 8 or ro in. have been proposed, though such a
limit would be of little practical benefit as long as French
markets admit plaice of only 5 or 54 in. In any case,
international concord and co-operation on the part of all the
nations engaged in the North Sea fishing are essential to
success, Without them, restriction in one of the countries
could only hamper its fishermen, compelling them to seek
neighbouring markets in order to dispose of their contraband,
without doing the fish any good.

The chief remedies that have so far come up for
consideration before various Conferences and Commissions
are as follows :—

I. Closure of inshore areas to trawlers, either for some
months in each year or for some years entirely.

II. Extension of the three-mile limit.
III. Increase by statute in the mesh of the trawl.

IV. Prohibition of sale or landing of undersized (or
immature) plaice.

' V. Artificial culture of sea fish.
VI. Inducing the fishermen to return the spawn
of newly caught ripe fish to the sea.

Prevention,

Cure,

OUR FISHERIES 77

VII. Destruction of competitors, such as black-backed
gulls, cormorants, porpoises, sharks, etc.

Each and all of these measures, preventive or otherwise,
may be regarded as open to criticism.

I. The closure of inshore areas is subject to three serious
objections. In the first place, there is insufficient policing as it
is, and whenever any suggestion is made for utilising gunboats
for the purpose, naval men raise an outcry that it is beneath the
dignity of His Majesty’s Navy to protect flat-fish. Again, even
if trawlers were debarred from these inshore areas, the ground
would be simply covered with long-lines, which are at present
kept away solely by fear of the trawl tearing up and entangling
their gear. There would be nothing to prevent them using much
smaller hooks than they do at present, and thus catching many
of the small flat-fish that now die uselessly in the trawl. Lastly,
it is found by experience that inshore grounds closed to trawling
are, after a few years, ruined as fish nurseries by the accumu-
lation of rubbish and débris of every kind. A familiar instance
of this result of prohibiting trawling may be found in Plymouth
Sound, where, thanks partly to the mud-hoppers which, quite
against all rule, deposit the dredged mud only a short distance
from the breakwater, there has of late years been so great an
accummulation that the water is yearly more and more shallow,
the young fish are choked by the mud, and there is a most
unpleasant ground swell which was unknown there twenty
years ago.

II. The extension of the three-mile limit would not merely
increase the difficulty, already too great, of efficient policing,
besides being open to both the other objections cited in the
foregoing paragraph, but it would be a dead letter unless
supported by the other Governments concerned. Nay, it
would, as has been strikingly illustrated in the case of a wide
zone closed to Scotch (but not, of course, to foreign) trawlers
by the Fishery Board of that country, be exceedingly unjust to
our own men. Unless, that is to say, the French and Dutch

78 SALT-WATER FISHES

and Norwegian Governments concurred in this extension of
“territorial ” waters, for fishing purposes at any rate, we should
simply debar our own fishing fleets from the harvests of waters
which foreign fishermen would continue to gather for their own
benefit.

III. A statutory increase in the mesh of the trawl looks at
first sight a perfectly reasonable and effectual remedy for the
evil of catching undersized fish, and it has long attracted many
who take a theoretical interest in the protection of our fisheries,
and even some few of a more practical turn. It looks so
simple. The trawl, as at present constructed, catches not only
large plaice, but also very small ones, of no use for the market.
If, then, the law provides for a minimum size of mesh, it may
be possible to allow of the smallest fish escaping unhurt. So
indeed it might, but for the peculiar behaviour of cotton meshes
when subjected to the great strain of being towed in a stiff
breeze through the water. If the net were of wire, with rigid
meshes, then this provision might possibly go some way towards
remedying the evil. Unfortunately, however, it has been
found that the square or oblong mesh assumes, under the
immense strain and pressure, a parallelogram of very different
form, its sides drawn much closer together, so that, however
large the original mesh, within practicable limits, the small fish
would have very little more chance of escape. With a very
large mesh, such as has been used in certain scientific experi-
ments, it might conceivably be possible to let most of the
undersized flat-fish go free, but the mesh would have to be of
such size that many of the mature examples of some fish would
be lost as well, and such a statute would be too serious a
handicap to the trawler to admit of its being entertained for a
moment.

IV. The prohibition of the landing or sale of either under-
sized or immature flat-fish seems, on the whole, the most
reasonable suggestion that we have yet considered. Yet it is
not less objectionable, on at least two counts, than those that

OUR FISHERIES 79

have gone before. The international difficulty, for instance, is
as important as it is in the proposed extension of the three-
mile limit. Clearly, it would be almost futile to forbid our
fishermen to bring undersized plaice to Dover if they knew
that there was a ready market for them at Calais. If
Grimsby is to be shut to immature fish, while the buyers of
Scheveningen or Bergen receive them with open arms, little
good is served beyond the slight extra labour given to our men
in disposing of the forbidden wares. Almost as important, how-
ever, as this objection on the score of international complications
is the great difficulty of fixing satisfactory size-limits. The bulk
of our fish, as already stated, are marketable long before they
are sexually mature, and by marketable is meant in this instance
not only lawfully saleable, but even sought after by buyers. A
few kinds, however, are sexually mature while yet too small to
be of much use as food. A third difficulty arises in the wide
variation of size in sexually mature fish in different parts of
our seas. A mature plaice at Plymouth is not, for example,
the same size as one that spawns for the first time in the
neighbourhood of Grimsby. As matters stand at present, we
protect neither “ undersized”” nor “immature” flat-fish. It
might at first sight appear that if a fish has been allowed
to spawn at any rate once, it might fairly be caught and
consumed. On the other hand, as has already been suggested,
some fish are capable of spawning while still small, and it seems
wasteful not to wait for these to grow heavier before capturing
them for the market, particularly as in most cases the larger fish
fetch proportionately far more per pound.

One obvious advantage in prohibiting the sale or landing
of fish below certain fixed measurements—the length of any
fish is a far more accurate criterion than its weight—would be
the immunity from trawling operations of certain shallow bays
and inshore areas, even of certain high sandbanks far from
land, where the water is comparatively shallow, and which
are known to shelter only small fish. If the trawling masters

80 SALT-WATER FISHES

knew that their catch in such localities would consist, wholly or
in great part, of contraband, they would refrain from putting
the trawl overboard until deeper water was reached, and this
abstention on their part would be far more reliable than any
arising from mere prohibition of trawling within a given area,
unless accompanied by adequate provision for policing the
closed district.

V. Of fish-culture Mr. R. B. Marston says something in
a later chapter, and it may here suffice to remark that unless
the fry be reared to the point of being able to find their
nourishment and evade their enemies, the mere turning out
of either fertilised spawn or newly hatched embryos would
seem to be of slight promise.

VI. That something might, however, be done even with
the spawn from ripe food-fish is the opinion of Mr. C. E.
Fryer, of the Board of Agriculture, and others, and that gentle-
man has made a very ingenious suggestion, that the fishermen
should be induced to press the ripe milt or ova from newly
caught fish and return these to the sea. The Devon Sea
Fisheries Committee has also issued an extremely convenient
brochure of instructions on the subject, compiled by Mr. W.
Garstang, of the Marine Biological Association, which may be
briefly summarised as follows :—

The fishermen should watch for fish running with spawn
as soon as the trawl comes on deck. Such fish should be
placed in the shade, and on their backs as much as possible
(to save the spawn), in groups according to their species, the
plaice in one, the turbot in another, and so forth. They may
be left thus for an hour or even more. ‘Then, when all is
clear, a ripe male plaice, say, is gently squeezed into a bucket
of clean sea water, after which several ripe female plaice are
squeezed into the same bucket, as the milt of a male will
fertilise the ova of many females. The water, with its eggs
and milt, must then be stirred about for a few seconds with
the hand, in order to mix the soft and hard roes, and then,

OUR FISHERIES 81

after standing for five or ten minutes, the contents of the
bucket may be thrown overboard, for the spawn will be ferti-
lised, and there is some chance of a small proportion surviving.
Unripe eggs, by the way, which may be known by their
white and opaque appearance, are useless for the purpose, and
no good will in all probability be done with the sole, even
if ripe, in the male of which the milt is so small that squeezing
is ineffectual. In issuing this pamphlet, Mr. Garstang boldly
states it as his opinion that Nature is incapable of keeping up
the supply of fish with the demands of man ; and even if this
be a somewhat gloomy pronouncement on not wholly satis-
factory evidence, there is at the same time much to be said for
this plan of re-stocking with no expense of fish-hatcheries, but
rather as the farmer sows his corn before reaping it.

VII. The last of the foregoing proposals for the cure
of the disease that is apparently impossible of prevention is
one that must inevitably be discussed on lines not strictly
economic, but rather sentimental. This is a pity, but it cannot
be helped. Gradually, as the outcome of education and a
general emancipation from barbarism, man has arrived at
a view of his duties to the beasts and birds which, while
capable of unfortunate exaggeration, is in the main very
admirable. Those who find this kindness to animals incom-
patible with sport are apt to overdo it; but with others, not
rabid in their humanitarianism, this recognition of certain
claims on the part of the so-called “dumb creation” is a
pleasant and improving sentiment. Between sentiment, how-
ever, and sentimentalism there is a wide gap. A sparrow may
be an admirable bird viewed from one standpoint, but that is
not the standpoint of the farmer whose grain the sparrow eats.
The sportsman may for his own purpose prefer the presence
of deer or hares or otters in a country, but the agriculturist
or trout-preserver may think differently. So, too, on the sea
coast, while the wheeling gannets and mewing gulls and

tumbling porpoises doubtless lend a touch of the picturesque
6

82 SALT-WATER FISHES

to those who ramble on the cliffs or along the beaches, it can
hardly be expected that the fishermen, with whom they
compete, should regard them in the same light. Any sys-
tematic war against the fish-eating beasts and birds and other
fishes of our seas would, it is true, be hampered by many
difficulties, but the greatest of these would in the end be the
opposition of those who hold it a sin to kill any animal that
they cannot devour. You may massacre young lambs and
calves and chickens, the more the better; but to slay the
voracious cormorant or black-backed gull is dubbed cruelty.
Some official recognition, however, of the wisdom and justice
of the death penalty against these rivals of mankind may be
found in the express exemption of both the birds named from
the county councils’ schedules of protected fowl, while in the
Exe estuary, at any rate, the former has a price set upon its
head. Neither the shark nor the porpoise has ever been
protected by law, so that it rests with the fishermen themselves
to deal with these and other marauders as they think fit.
When it is remembered that porpoise-oil is a very valuable
article of trade, it is astounding that they do not achieve the
double purpose of destroying dangerous rivals and turning
them to good account. The late Matthias Dunn, whose name
must necessarily recur so often in any work dealing with the
fishes of our seas, always held this destruction of cormorants
and porpoises to be a most valuable remedy, though the
writer, who many times discussed the subject with him, cannot
recall that he ever suggested any practical scheme of action.
As a matter of fact, the cormorants and black-backed gulls
cannot be destroyed (the former more particularly) without
the expenditure of a considerable quantity of powder, and who
is to provide this, and who even is to use it, is a question that
does not at once answer itself. Something might possibly be
done by encouraging “‘ week-end” sportsmen, willing to find
the ammunition and shoot the birds for amusement ; only the
fear at once suggests itself that “week-end” sportsmen are not

OUR FISHERIES 83

the safest shots, and these birds would in many cases have to
be shot within range of our seaside parades, or at least of other
pleasure craft. In these circumstances the uninterrupted
survival of every cormorant and black-backed gull at present
in active existence or in the egg would perhaps be preferable,
even at the risk of an accompanying diminution in the fish
supply. The remedy might conceivably be worse than the evil,
since there are folks who would rather do without fish for the
rest of their life than spend it wandering about the world
blind in both eyes.

The National Sea Fisheries Protection Association, a body
over which, in succession to Sir Edward Birkbeck, Lord
Heneage ably presides, takes account of these and other
measures likely to improve the condition of the fisheries, and
its conferences, if not immediately productive of legislation,
have frequently elicited interesting and clear-sighted discussion
of the various problems under review.

CHAPTER III
THE SHARKS AND RAYS

Tue precise relationship of the Sharks and Rays now living is
not by any means so clear as some writers pretend, and one
of the most recent of these has more cautiously admitted
a doubt whether the two groups are even descended from
a single paleozoic ancestor.* The most ancient form in our
seas would seem to be the six-gilled shark (Notidanus), and,
with the exception of their having reduced their gill-openings
by one, it cannot be said that the rest have materially departed
from the type of this shark, beyond of course such specialising
as might from time to time be demanded by their surroundings
and mode of life. In following the usual course and treating
of the Sharks and Rays under one head, this chapter merely
avoids a somewhat more modern classification, in which the
spur-dog (Acanthias) would be regarded as the transitional
link rather than the shark-ray (Rhina), because it could not
well be explained without digressing in the direction of com-
parative anatomy quite beyond the scope of the present
volume. For practical purposes it seems more satisfactory
to retain the older arrangement followed by Couch and Day,
with the Sharks and Rays abruptly subdivided, while at the
same time bearing in mind that the study of embryological
and other affinities has lately necessitated a revision of
their scheme.

There is a deep-rooted conviction in circles otherwise

* Bashford Dean, fishes, Living and Fossil, p. 88.
84

THE SHARKS AND RAYS 85

well informed that “true” sharks, whatever the qualification
may signify, are met with only in tropical seas, and are
consequently absent from our own. While, beyond a doubt,
both the sharks and rays find their highest development in the
warmer seas of the globe, where their scavenging work is in
greatest demand, it is also a fact that such immense or
specialised kinds as the Greenland shark (Lemargus) and
starry ray (Raia) abound in arctic seas. In British waters,
too, there is a large number of both sharks and rays, and
although popular consent has called the smaller sharks by the
name of “dog-fish,” there is no scientific line of demarcation
between the two even in the matter of size, for some of the
so-called “dog-fishes”” grow to a larger size than some of
the “true” sharks.

THE SHARKS (Selachoider)

Our British sharks are seventeen in number, the latest
addition being Centrophorus squamosus, a relative of the spur-
dog long known on the coast of Portugal, but added to the
British fauna by the Irish Survey of 1891, a single specimen
of 44 in. having been caught on a long line off the Mayo
coast in 250 fathoms. The species is very fully described by
Holt and Calderwood in the Transactions of the Royal Dublin
Society for September, 1895.

The British sharks fall under six families, and of these it
will be convenient to give a list before passing to some brief
notes on each kind.

Sharks have no great commercial value on our coasts,
though elsewhere, and particularly in the East, portions of
them are highly appreciated as food. The smaller dog-fishes,
on the other hand, find a ready market to-day at Brighton
and elsewhere on the South Coast, where, twenty years ago
they would have been thrown away as offal.

86 SALT-WATER FISHES
FamILy. Common Name. GENus. SPECIES.
Porbeagle Shark Lamna cornubica
LAMNID® . . Thresher Shark Alopias vulpes
Basking Shark Selache Maxtnta
Blue Shark Carcharias glaucus
Hammerhead Zygana malleus
CAnCHARIIDES Tope Galeus vulgaris
Smooth-hound Mustelus vulgaris
Nursehound Scyllium catulus
ScYLIIDA . . Rowhound S. canicula
Black-mouthed Dog-fish Pristiurus melanostoma
NoTIDANID# . . | Six-gilled Shark Notidanus griseus
Picked Dog Acanthias vulgaris
Greenland Shark Lemargus microcephalus
SPINACIDE. . Spinous Shark Echinorhinus Spinosus
Centrina Centrina salutant
Centrophorus - Squamosus
RHINIDA Monk-fish Rhina squatina

The anatomy of sharks was referred to in the first chapter,

to which reference should be made for an explanation of many
terms used in this.

Lamnidze

The three British sharks belonging to this family, though
outwardly widely different in form and not less diverse in
habits, agree in having small spiracles, wide gill-openings, and
no nictitant membrane. Apart from these family peculiarities,
which they share, the three British representatives of the
family have little in common.

The Porbeagle (Lamna cornubica) is, for its size, the most
unwieldy and least active of all our sharks. Anglers catch
many small porbeagles on the rocky pollack grounds off the
Cornish coast, small examples of 25 to 35 Ib. being killed
without difficulty on the rod. Monsters measuring 5 or 6 ft.
from snout to tail, and weighing in all probability over a
hundredweight, are also landed on the quays after the dis-

THE SHARKS AND RAYS 87

gusted fishermen have been able to disentangle them from
their mackerel nets.

The feature of this shark which must at once strike the
observer is its great depth in proportion to length—in fact, its
marked departure from the typical symmetry of round fishes,
which explains its want of agility in the water. Only its huge
relative, the basking shark, is similarly proportioned, and with
that species there is little risk of confusion. Apart from this
clumsy shape, it must be confessed that the porbeagle is
wanting in distinguishing characters. It has no characteristic
hue, like that, for instance, of the blue shark, and no spots or
blotches, as are found in the nursehound and rowhound.
Most other external features it shares with other sharks. The
conspicuous notch in the upper lobe of its tail is equally
noticeable in the blue shark, which belongs to a totally
different family, and that species also has the curious pores
that stud the porbeagle’s snout. Its breathing spiracles are
generally very minute, but so are those in the tope, by no
means a close relative ; and in some foreign members of this
genus the spiracles are lacking altogether, which brings them
nearer again to the blue shark. Few of our sharks, in fact,
offer less satisfactory material for simple and not too technical
description as the porbeagle. In colour it varies between
many shades of grey and brown, with a lighter shade of the
same beneath.

Though most familiar in the extreme south-west of the
island, the porbeagle is caught on many other parts of the coast,
one of the earliest British examples having been figured,
described, and even named at Beaumaris. It is not, at any
rate in the adult stage, one of the gregarious sharks, though
the evidence of the drift-nets sometimes shows that one or two
couples may hunt in company. The food that they pursue is
probably of the most varied character, including smaller
sharks and dog-fishes, herrings, pilchards, mackerel, and squid.
The blue shark and tope of our seas have a favourite habit

88 SALT-WATER FISHES

of seizing a bream or mackerel already hooked, but this is not
observed in the case of the porbeagle, though it often takes
the large bait of pilchard or mackerel intended for bass or
pollack. It is also alleged, though such a statement seems to
conflict with its normal laziness of habit, to bite the artificial
tinned spinning baits off the “plummeting” lines, which are
used from boats going under sail to catch inshore mackerel.
The evidence of this habit must, however, rest on the
somewhat frequent discovery of these baits in the porbeagle’s
stomach, together with the known fact of large fish of some
kind often breaking away with them. These large fish can
never be caught in the act, for the gear used for mackerel has
to be so fine that a heavy fish like a porbeagle would at once
sever the lower third of the line. It may be, therefore, that
the porbeagle is occasionally aroused from its customary
lethargy and pursues the spinning bait, particularly when the
boat comes up to the wind and the progress is momentarily
checked ; but it seems more probable that some extra large
mackerel, or even a small pollack, breaks away with the bait,
and is then swallowed by a porbeagle, the tin spinner baffling
the shark’s digestion and remaining as evidence of its meal.
This explanation is put forward with all reservation, but not
without some little acquaintance with the habits of the shark
In question.

The exact manner and season of the porbeagle’s breeding
were long doubtful, but it is probable that it brings forth living
young, like the vast majority of our sharks, and that the
breeding takes place during the colder months, when the shark
is absent from our coasts. For the latter conclusion, the fact
of no porbeagle having been caught in our seas, recently at
any rate, with any trace of unborn young is responsible.
Both Day and Couch appear to have omitted all reference to
the very offensive odour of this shark, a scent which resides
more particularly in the blood.

The Thresher (Alopias vulpes) is easily recognised by the

THE SHARKS AND RAYS 89

immensely long upper lobe of the tail fin. This is in some
examples even longer than the head and body together, and is
normally as long, and it dwarfs every other feature of this
shark, for its head and body, its second dorsal and anal
fins, its gill-openings, its spiracles, and its teeth are all com-
paratively small. A thresher shark, measuring 13 ft. ro in.
(of which the tail took up close on 7 ft.), was found
in the Firth of Forth in August, 1899, strangled in the
salmon nets.*

As the thresher is most in evidence on our coasts during the
summer inshoring of the pilchards and mackerel, it may safely
be assumed that those migratory and gregarious fishes form
the bulk of its food, at any rate in our seas. The thresher
may often be seen thrashing the surface of Cornish bays and
beating up the frightened pilchards. It is quite easy to watch
the flurried movements of its victims from the cliffs, for they
colour the water a deep red wherever they are massed in
numbers. At intervals the thresher leaps what looks fully
its own length in the air, the bright sun making burnished
silver of its body and long tail, and descends in the thick
of the shoal. Some miles further out, and seen only from
boats, the great rorqual also hunts the pilchards, though in a
different manner, for the cetacean has no long and powerful
tail to help it. Therefore it swims round and round the
huddled pilchards, and then, when they are sufficiently gathered
in a small area, dashes open-mouthed through their midst with
a roar that makes itself heard a mile away.

Like the adder, the thresher shark has been credited with
swallowing her young in order to preserve them from danger.
We have a somewhat analogous, but proven, case in one
of the pipe-fishes, in which the young have been seen in the
aquarium to take refuge in the father’s pouch in which they
were hatched out. Science demands an open mind in the case
of both the thresher and adder, and science should have it, but

* Ann. Scot. Nat. Hist., January, 1900, p. 17.

go SALT-WATER FISHES

it cannot be claimed that the testimony is particularly strong
in either case. There is just this much of evidence, though
very indirect, in the case of the shark, which does not equally
apply to the reptile, and that is that the young sharks would
not, like the young adders, be safer if allowed to scatter on
their own account. Other fishes, stronger swimmers than
they, would certainly capture them without difficulty, whereas
it is not easy to imagine any natural enemy of young adders
that would be able to catch them if they were allowed to
disperse quickly and unobtrusively in the grass. In their
parent, on the other hand, one blow would dispose of the
whole brood.

The very circumstantial accounts of the thresher shark
leaping out of water, and striking sounding blows on the
backs of whales have been disbelieved in many quarters,
chiefly owing to the pretensions of some naturalists, who know
these creatures only in the dissecting-room, to find in the
shape and size of the thresher’s teeth the whole explanation
of its mode of life. On the other hand, most who have
travelled in the southern ocean can recall at some time or
other a vivid picture of one or more threshers leaping on
some unfortunate whale. As it happens, too, the laboratory
disbeliever is often encouraged in his want of faith by the
fatal tendency on the part of travellers to embellish their
accounts with additions of their own. In the present instance
this already unequal duel has been complicated by the intro-
duction of a sword-fish, an ally in this case of the sharks,
which is said to keep the unfortunate whale at the surface by
prodding it with its snout. Now, it is quite true that if there
be not some such deterrent as a sword-fish in attendance, it is
singular that the instinct of the whale should not warn it to
sink under water, where the blows from the thresher’s tail
would be comparatively harmless. At the same time, for all
we know to the contrary, its instinct may be at fault, and, as
the weapon of the sword-fish has not yet been seen in the fray,

THE SHARKS AND RAYS gI

there is hardly sufficient evidence to establish its presence on
the occasion. All that can positively be said is that sword-
fishes have occasionally been found prowling in the neighbour-
hood of dying whales, and the bodies of the great mammals
have also been found pierced and lacerated by their snouts.
This does not, however, prove any co-operation between the
sword-fish and shark.

Little seems to be known of the thresher’s breeding, but
it probably brings forth its young alive, like most sharks in
our seas.

The Basking Shark (Selache maxima) is the largest and
least aggressive of sharks. In addition to the characters
already established for the family, the basking shark is dis-
tinguished by its immense size, small examples not being met
with in our seas, as well as by its large gill-openings and
curiously protruding snout, which is dented with small pores.
It is further characterised by large gill-rakers, with which we
shall find affinities in the herrings, and which play an important
part in its feeding. In colour it varies between brown, dark
blue, and grey, being lighter on the sides and lower surface,
and with sometimes some dull red on the snout. The tail is
keeled, and has the upper (not lower, as stated by Day) lobe
the longer and notched. There is also a small pit in the line
of the back, just in front of the tail. Its teeth lie in seven or
more rows embedded in the mucous membrane.

The size and harmlessness of the basking shark when
unmolested suggests obvious analogies with the whale and
elephant. With the whalebone whales, indeed, the basking
shark has somewhat closer affinities, for its bone-like gill-
rakers act as a sieve and strain off the water from the plankton,
or floating food, precisely like the baleen strainers of the whale.
They may, in fact, be compared with the teeth in the gill-arches
of bony fishes, for, like them, they prevent foreign substances
from clogging the gills. The comb-like structure 1s practically
a grating of narrow plates. Like the majority of sharks,

g2 SALT-WATER FISHES

this species is of a wandering disposition, though naturalists
have not succeeded in determining either the precise course
or the exact seasons of its migrations. The fishermen, who
have at any rate studied its movements more than most,
believe that during early spring it leaves the warmer
regions of the Atlantic for the colder, and as not a single
young basking shark has yet been recorded on our coasts,
the breeding is reasonably thought to take place at some
distance from our shores. Whether the fish choose deeper
water or the shallow bays of shores other than ours is an
open question.

Though regularly hunted with the harpoon on some parts
of the Irish coast only, this immense shark is not uncommon
in July and August on the coast of Cornwall, where its sail-
like fin (hence its vernacular name “ Sail-fish’’) may be seen
cleaving the surface of the water on fine days when there is no
breeze. The least disturbance of the water seems to drive it
out of sight, possibly because its peculiar manner of feeding
can only be conducted in perfectly calm water. The Irish
fishermen hunt it purely for the oil from its liver, wasting the
rest of its huge carcase, and such an industry is in keeping
with the ethics of a generation that has not scrupled to
exterminate the bison for its tongue and the African elephant
for its teeth. Another not uncommon name for this shark is
“‘Sun-fish,” in allusion to its habit of rolling lazily at the
surface of the sea, and there would have been no objection to
this had it not led to confusion with the totally different fish
properly so called.

Jonathan Couch attempted to distinguish an allied genus
Polyprosopus with two species, which he called the Rashleigh
Shark and Broadheaded Gazer, but later authorities have
regarded them as only deformed basking sharks, so that any
detailed account of their peculiarities is uncalled for.

THRE SHARKS AND RAYS 93

Carchariidze

The second great family of sharks represented in British
seas includes three of the commonest and one of the most
interesting. The sharks of this family are distinguished by
the presence of the nictitant membrane. Spiracles are not
a constant character, for they are present in the smooth-hound
and tope, but absent in the blue shark and hammerhead.
Equally varying is the presence of a small pit on the back,
just before the tail fin, for we find this in the hammerhead and
blue shark, but not in the tope and smooth-hound. None
of these sharks have spines in front of the dorsal fins, such
as we shall find present in one important family with five
British representatives ; and their teeth are, as a rule, serrated
in examples of moderate size, though not necessarily in either
very young or very old individuals.

The Blue Shark (Carcharias glaucus) is a graceful and
beautiful fish, though it unavoidably shares the prejudices
against its order, and the fishermen would unanimously vote
it ugly. With them it is a case of ‘“‘ handsome is as hand-
some does,” and the blue shark certainly tears their nets
and robs their lines more than most. It has the typical form
of sharks, with its long pointed snout and five gill-openings,
and the entire back and sides are of a deep blue, shading off
to white below.

As already mentioned, it has no spiracles, and there is a
small pit at the base of the tail, while the teeth of medium-
sized examples are saw-edged, a character that is apparently
not acquired until middle age and is subsequently dropped.

Only those who fish down in Cornwall can have many
opportunities of watching the active movements of the blue
shark in pursuit of its prey, showing an activity that we look
for in vain in the prowling porbeagle ; and the angler who,
fortunately or otherwise, according to his aspirations, hooks
one on the rod has further occasion to admire the free and

94 SALT-WATER FISHES

supple action, the marvellous speed, the lightning turns
and leaps and dives of these smaller sharks. They are less
often taken in shallow water farther up the Channel, and
more rarely still in the North Sea, for most of the examples
recorded from the east coast have been met with during
winter storms. One was, however, taken in the Firth of
Forth, July, 1898. Now and then one has been on view in
the tanks of the Brighton Aquarium, when the public is able
to contrast the graceful appearance and active movements
of these “ugly”? sharks with those of the coarse-built cod,
as well as with the ungainly flat-fish with its twisted face and
sidelong motion. When a blue shark is firmly hooked so that
its teeth cannot cut through the line, it revolves in the water
with such force and swiftness as to wind the line about its
body in tight coils that threaten to score its rough, scaleless
skin, though whether this performance is the result of physical
pain, or whether the fish does it merely to recover its liberty,
we can only guess.

Like most sharks, and indeed most sea-fish, the blue shark
is a migratory species, appearing on our coasts on the approach
of summer and retiring again some time during the autumn,
though it is sometimes cast ashore or, more rarely, taken in
the nets on the east coast during the coldest months of the
year. Although no study has been made, or at any rate
recorded, of its reproduction, it must almost certainly bring
forth living young, like its close relatives the hammerhead
and tope.

The Hammerhead (Zygena malleus) shows extraordinary
specialisation, its hammer-like head contrasting with the shovel-
shaped snout in most sharks and notably in its nearest allies.
In colour it is dark brown or grey above, and lighter on the
lower parts. As above noted, the eyes have a nictitant mem-
brane, and are situated at the extremities of the hammer-like
development of the head. There are no breathing spiracles,
and in front of the head there is a curious groove, the object

4 2
‘g Natural Size

Photo by Rarihald Thiele

BLUE SHARK (Carcharias glaucus)

THE SHARKS AND RAYS 95

of which is not apparent. The teeth are notched on the
outer edge, and the fish is generally described as fierce even
for a shark. It can only be regarded as a wanderer to our
seas, though large examples of 12 or 13 ft. in length have
been taken on the south-west coast. In Australian seas,
particularly in the tropical waters of northern Queensland,
the hammerhead is plentiful, and passengers on the steamers
that ply inside the Barrier Reef often have the opportunity
of seeing one, or even a pair, swimming close under the stern
of the vessel, keeping up for an hour or two with the thirteen-
knot speed, and apparently without much effort and scarcely
disturbing the water in their advance. That the hammerhead
feeds on substantial fare is evident when we learn that bass and
thornback rays have been taken from its stomach; but its
danger for man seems a matter of local opinion. The state-
ment made in the Royal Natural History touching its ferocity
in Indian seas may be perfectly accurate ; but those who live
in the coast ports of Queensland think differently, and from
many enquiries made on the spot, between Brisbane and
Thursday Island, the writer gathered that the hammerhead
was there regarded as slower in its movements and _ less
dangerous than most to bathers, at any rate in shallow
water.

Yet there are several ground-sharks in those waters which
are dreaded even in a few feet of water, so noiselessly and
quietly do they glide on their victims, and Australian bathers
are always careful to keep in the “white water,” or that with
a light sandy background, against which they can at once see
the approach of a shark.

In every sea the wise man will take no risks, but will
make a practice of keeping out of the water where sharks
find their way. Man is a land animal of great physical
limitations, and finds himself at incalculable disadvantage
when compelled to fight in the water. Even the salmon-
fisherman, only partly immersed and with his feet on hard

96 SALT-WATER FISHES

ground, realises this, and loses no time in scrambling out on
the bank when he has to play a heavy fish. Completely
immersed, he would be helpless; and the Malay natives, who
swim under water and attack the largest and fiercest sharks
with only their knives, are rare exceptions, worthy of curiosity,
but not of imitation. Five or six years ago the writer
addressed a letter to the Times, in which he took occasion to
warn summer bathers from the decks of yachts anchored a few
miles from shore against the possibility of shark bite. He
was roundly abused as an alarmist and severely taken to task
(by, among others, a Plymouth correspondent !) for applying
the name “shark” to mere dog-fishes. Yet, though there is no
case actually on record of a bather having been attacked by
sharks in British waters, there can be no doubt of the boldness
and fierceness of several British kinds; and this is a case in
which, while prevention is easy, cure might be impossible.
The late Matthias Dunn was in the habit of relating well-
authenticated instances of Cornish sharks turning savagely on
fishermen who ventured too near them when captive in the
nets or in the well of the boat.

The Tope, or Toper (Galeus vulgaris), is a dull grey shark,
which grows to 6 or 7 ft. in length, and hunts in packs. It
has the nictitant membrane over the eye and also small spiracles.
Its teeth are serrated ; there are no spines before the fins ;
there is no pit before the root of the tail. The skin of this
shark is exceedingly rough, and it has the usual five gill-
openings. It is also known, from its colour, as the “silver
dog,” and its more common name is presumably a corruption
of ‘‘top,” in allusion to its habit of following the lines to the
top of the water, and there snatching off the whiting or other
fish in full view of the helpless fishermen. There is a
practically identical shark in Australian seas, which there
treats the snapper-fisher in the same way, showing as much
boldness in robbing the hooks just before they are clear of the
water. Of the extent to which this shark is to be regarded

THE SHARKS AND RAYS 97

as migratory on our coasts there is some uncertainty, but the
largest examples are said to occur only in the warmer
months.

The Smooth-hound (Mustelus vulgaris) is in outline
something like the last, only there is no lower lobe to its tail
and the upper part of its grey body is marked with indistinct
light spots. Otherwise, it has the same nictitant membrane
and spiracles, the same notch on the upper part of the tail-fin,
and the same rough skin; and it also grows to about 6 ft. in
length. There is a closely allied shark (M. /evis) which 1s
of great interest on account of a placental connection between
the unborn young and the parent ; but whether this species is
actually found on our coasts seems doubtful, though it would
in all probability come within the British area. The teeth
of the smooth-hound are flatter and blunter than those of the
rest of the British members of the family, so that it may feed
on shell fish. It produces living young, though there is no
placental connection in the species commonly met with on our
shores. It must not be forgotten that a placental connection
is also noted in at any rate some species of Zygena and

Carcharias, but not in such viviparous rays as Trygon and
My liobatis.*

Scylliidae

The sharks belonging to this family are chiefly interesting
because they deposit eggs like most of the rays, which eggs
take about eight or nine months to hatch out in captivity.
How far this may be accepted as an index of the time taken
under natural conditions is a matter of opinion, but it is
always important to make some reservation. All three
British representatives of the family are only small sharks,
and are more or less spotted. The eye has no nictitant
membrane, the teeth are small, and there are breathing

* See Alcock, “On the Gestation of Elasmobranch Fishes” (Journ.
Asiat. Soc. of Bengal, 1890, Vol. LIX., Part II., pp. 51-56).

7

98 SALT-WATER FISHES

spiracles. The tail-fin, too, is small and less pointed than in
most sharks, also lacking the characteristic unequal lobes.

The Nurse (Scyllium catulus) is also known as the larger
spotted dog-fish, because the spots on its body are rather larger
than those in the allied species. It is not commonly met with
of a greater length than 3 ft. or a little more, but is said
to exceed 5 ft. In colour it is reddish brown, and has large
dark spots over the body. The teeth are small, and the fish
feeds on both fishes and molluscs. It deposits its eggs in
spring, and the young are hatched out the following Christmas,
or rather sooner. The eggs are provided with tendrils at the
corners, which doubtless serve to anchor them to stones, weeds,
or other convenient supports under water, and in this they
differ from the eggs of the rays, the corners of which bear only
short, hard projections, or horns, that cannot possibly answer
the same purpose. Some observers are of opinion that the
eggs of the rays therefore drift at the mercy of tides and
storms, but Matthias Dunn, whose theories often bore the
strictest investigation, used to say that they had a sticky
secretion that served them as well. More mysterious in the
egg-case of the rowhound and nurse are the slits, the object of
which has been much discussed, and which may perhaps admit
freshly oxygenated water to the growing embryo.

The Rowhound (8. canicula) 1s a very similar fish to the nurse,
but its spots are much smaller, often resembling mere punctures
in the skin, and the skin itself is somewhat smoother. It is,
nevertheless, rough to the touch, and the vernacular name is in
fact only a corruption of “ rough hound.” The most remarkable
property about this fish, which is more commonly caught on
our coasts than the other species, is one that, within the writer’s
knowledge, is peculiar to itself, at least among British fishes.
When a rowhound is caught and thrown in the boat’s well in
company with pollack, cod, or other dark-coloured kinds, the
water that drips from the body, or still more the actual contact
of its skin, bleaches such portions of the other fishes as are

THE SHARKS AND RAYS 99

touched, leaving dull white blotches wherever the colour-pig-
ment is destroyed. This might possibly be turned to useful
account in removing ink or other stains from deal tables ; and
as the skin is actually used in polishing, this property may
perhaps assist its roughness in attaining the desired object.
Whether it is retained for any considerable period after death,
and whether the dried skin would, on being moistened, recover
its virtues, is an experiment that would perhaps be worth
trying.

The Black-mouthed dog-fish (Pristiurus melanostoma),
characteristically a southern form, has two peculiarities that
serve to distinguish it from other of our sharks. In the first
place, as its name denotes, the interior of its mouth is dark
(though not always black), and in the second the upper edge of
the tail-fin is serrated with rows of small spines. There is also
a fold of skin on the snout, but something similar is also
apparent in the nurse. In colour this shark is dull yellow
(the plate given by Couch is far brighter in hue than any
examples caught by the writer on the west coast of Morocco,
at Casablanca), and there are black spots along the sides. It has
generally been regarded as a straggler only in British seas, but
several were both hooked and trawled during the Irish survey
of 1890-91, in water varying from 150 to 250 fathoms, a fact
which led Holt and Calderwood to regard it as possibly a
deep-water shark with us, though a littoral species in the
warmer Mediterranean. A female was trawled off Aberdeen,
November, 1898, and the egg-case was found to have tendrils
at the lower end. On parts of the Morocco coast it is
common enough, examples of 2 or 3 ft. being hooked in the
spring and summer in less than 20 fathoms.

Notidanidze

In all the sharks previously noted, and in all those, and the
rays, which follow, there are but five gill-openings. In the
present family there may be either six or seven. The only

100 SALT-WATER FISHES

species which finds its way from the Mediterranean to our
shores has six, but there is another in that sea with seven, and
this possession of more than five gill-openings may be regarded
as a sign of antiquity.

The Six-gilled Shark (Notidanus griseus) is the strageler to
our coasts, where an example of over 26 ft. and others
of 6 and 11 ft. have been taken, mostly with baits. In
colour it is reddish grey ; the head is noticeably small for the
length of the body ; the upper lobe of the tail-fin is conspicu-
ously the longer, though there is a distinct lower lobe. The
eye lacks the nictitant membrane, and the small spiracle lies
some way behind it. As a further distinguishing feature, it
lacks the front dorsal fin found in all our other sharks, or
rather its single dorsal fin lies back near the tail. It is said to
be a voracious shark, and to produce living young; but its
habits have been little, if at all, studied in our seas.

Spinacidae

The fifth family of sharks may be distinguished by the
deep, straight, generally oblique groove at the angles of the
mouth. This character seems fairly constant throughout
the genera, whereas the presence of spines in front of the
dorsal fins applies only to Acanthias and Centrina, doubt-
fully to Centrophorus (in which the skin overgrows them), and
not at all to Lemargus and Echinorhinus. All the genera
have spiracles and narrow gill-openings, and all lack the anal
fin, while the eye is without nictitant membrane.

The Spur-dog, or Picked Dog (Acanthias vulgaris), is one
of the commonest sharks in our seas, where it is easily
recognised, being in fact the only abundant form with spines
before the dorsal fins. Its colour is some shade of grey or
brown above (all these sharks vary in colour far more than
the bony fishes, though the accounts given by Day and Couch
often suggest certain colours as constant) and a lighter hue

THE SHARKS AND RAYS 101

beneath. The spines before the dorsal fins are to be dreaded
only when the fish is carelessly handled, as in removing it
from the hook, when the smaller examples will writhe like
snakes and suddenly whip one of the spines into their captor’s
wrist, inflicting a painful, though not envenomed, wound.
The teeth have a cutting inner edge, with the result that
these sharks bite through stouter lines than others of their
size. Picked dogs grow to a length of at least 4 ft. in
our seas, and at times they swarm on the fishing-grounds to
such an extent that neither the nets nor long lines can be
used to any purpose until their shoals have passed along the
coast. Although their razor-edged teeth enable them to bite
through even gimp snooding, it is noticeable that the picked
dogs take the hook without hesitation, showing none of the
tope’s ingenuity in removing the baits. They are found in
the cooler seas of both hemispheres, but are said to be absent
from the warmer, though this is a statement that we may
look to see corrected by the results of future investigations.
They bring forth living young, and Dunn thought that they
had no fixed breeding season, but that also would be some-
what contrary to the rule among our fishes, both elasmo-
branchs and telesoteans. It is more commonly eaten by both
men and fish than most of our sharks.

Centrina salviani is a rare wanderer from the Mediter-
ranean, and only one or two examples have been recorded
on our coasts. Specimens are, however, occasionally brought
to our ports from remote grounds, and Mr. Calderwood, then
of the Plymouth Laboratory, has figured and described one
that was trawled off Vigo Bay.* Its rough skin was a
character of the example in question, and there is an interesting
difference in the dorsal spines ; for whereas both of those on
the spur-dog point towards the tail, only the back spine of
Centrina points in that direction, the front spine pointing to
the head. Like the rest of the family, Centrina has deep

* See Journal of the Marine Biological Association for November, 1892.

102 SALT-IVATER FISHES

grooves at the corner of the mouth, and the eye is large,
with an elliptical pupil, a feature also noticed in Centrophorus.
Unfortunately, the stomach in both this and another example
also examined by Mr. Calderwood in the summer of 1892
was quite empty, so that there was no clue to its food or
mode of living ; but he regarded it as a ground shark, and
thought the flattened lower surface might be taken to indicate
a habit of lying on the bottom and for some time in one
place.

The Greenland Shark (Lemargus microcephalus) is an
immense shark from Arctic seas, a few examples of which
have been taken in the nets on the Scotch and Yorkshire
coasts, the largest being about 14% ft. It has no spines
before the dorsal fins; the snout projects; the mouth is
deeply grooved at its angles. The skin is covered with fine
tubercles, and is uniform grey. The capture of this shark
on our coasts is, of course, purely accidental ; but there isa
regular line fishery for it on the coast of Iceland in moderately
deep water for the sake of its liver, and the bait in common
use is a seal’s head.

The Spinous Shark (Echinorhinus spinosus) has still stronger
tubercles all over its body, which is also marked with reddish
patches. It has occurred on our coasts much more commonly
than the last ; indeed, it can hardly be regarded as a very
rare fish, It is a shark of southern habitat, however, so that
the greater number of records come from the south-west coast,
the largest measuring about 82 ft. One of the latest
records is from Plymouth (1896), where one measuring
6 ft. 6 in. was taken on a long-line in shallow water. It
is a voracious fish, and does not apparently despise even spur-
dogs as food.

Centrophorus squamosus, long known in Southern Europe,
was added to the British list on the strength of a single
example caught on the Irish coast in May, 1891, in 250
fathoms, off Blackrock, Mayo, on a long line. This is the

THE SHARKS AND RAYS 103

“‘ Arreghonda,” of the Portuguese, who catch it for the sake
of the skin, liver, and flesh. The Irish example measured.
41% in., and was of a mahogany brown, with strong spines
before the dorsal fin, which are said, however, to be included
within the skin in some species of the genus.

Rhinidze

The sole existing species of this family is the Monk-fish,
or Angel-fish (Rhina squatina), which may be regarded as a
form of considerable antiquity, one of the earliest branches,
in fact, of the great group of sharks, and retaining almost
unaltered the form and peculiarities that characterised it in
bygone ages. This is probably the more correct view than
to regard the fish as a transition between the sharks and
rays, for in the first place it belongs considerably more to the
former group than to the latter, and in the second the
transitional characters would have to be traced back to
the spinous family, of which the spur-dog is our common
representative.

The monk-fish is familiar on most parts of the coast, and
‘is a frequent object of unintentional capture on the long-lines,
as well as in both trawl and drift-nets. In form it suggests
the rays, but in all its important characters it follows the
sharks, as also in its manner of bringing forth living young.
The feature that will strike the observer as most aberrant is
the rounded snout, and in this, as in the torpedo among rays,
we have a departure from the more general shovel-shaped snout
of elasmobranchs. Moreover, though the pectoral fins are
enormously expanded, so as to have suggested the wings of
an angel or the cowl of a monk, they are not joined to the
head in the manner that forms the disc in rays, and the mouth
being situated at the front of the head, and not below, as in
rays, gives a further sharklike appearance. Small fringes of
skin in front of the snout suggests the possibility of the fish

104 SALT-WATER FISHES

lying in ambush like Lophzus, and attracting small fishes within
reach of its mouth, but this has not been verified by actual
observation in the aquarium. It is taken on our coasts
measuring over 5 ft. in length, and small examples of from
{2 to 18 in. are common in many south coast estuaries,
notably at Teignmouth, where a few are brought ashore
almost every week during May in the sand-eel seines
worked just outside the bar. Flat-fishes are said to form the
favourite food of the monk-fish, and it is also said to feed
on lobsters and whelks. Its teeth, which lie in several rows,
are sharp enough to catch the former, though hardly adapted, it
would seem, to crush the latter. It must be a slow-swimming
fish, for its fins are spineless and comparatively small, and the
anal fin is lacking. The eye lacks the nictitant membrane found
in many sharks, but is capable of being closed by a somewhat
different arrangement of skin. The monk-fish is also thought
to possess a keen sense of hearing, and there are rudimentary
external ears. In colour it is dark brown or dark grey above,
with variable spots or blotches, and white beneath.

THE RAYS (Batvidei)

The rays now regarded as British are fourteen in number,
and to these also, as to the sharks, an addition was made in
recent years by the recognition of Raia blanda as a species
(distinct from R. maculata) by Holt and Calderwood in 1895.

The following list of British rays is given for convenience
to correspond with that of the sharks on page 86. It is
impossible to assign distinguishing characters to the rays
with any degree of satisfaction, for the colours, body tubercles,
teeth, and other characters of this group are subject to
considerable variation, and any attempt to establish constant
features must in many cases, more particularly in the typical
genus (Raza), end in failure.

THE SHARKS AND RAYS 105

FamILy. Common Name. GENUS. SPECIES.
Common Skate Raia batis
Thornback R. clavata
Shagreen Ray Re Sullonica
Long-nosed Skate R. oxyrhynchus
Painted Ray R. microcellata
RAND. Sandy Ray Ke ctrcularts
Sharp-nosed Skate R. alba
Starry Ray “R. radiata
Homelyn R. maculata
Blonde K blanda
TORPEDINIDE . . .{ Torpedo Torpedo nobiliana
TRYGONIDE . . . Stingray Trygon pastinaca
Eagle Ray Myliobatis aguila
PEENIBATIIA { Ox Ray Cephaloptera gurne
Raiidze

Much of the confusion which has arisen between the
species of Raia is due to the great difficulty of diagnosing
from constant characters. Even in their colouring, which
the older writers describe with the utmost precision, in-
dividuals of a species differ widely, particularly if we
examine a series of different sexes and ages. Similarly, those
features that have long been regarded (and rightly, in a
measure) as secondary sexual characters, such as the form
and number of the teeth, abundance and distribution of
tubercles on the skin, or degree of curve in the fore part
of the disc, are subject to almost endless variation and quite
unreliable as indications of species unless accompanied by full
particulars of age.

The exact relationship between the existing sharks and
rays is not, as already remarked, satisfactorily determined,
and we can only at present regard them as descendants from
a common stock.

While it seems unnecessary to treat all the species of Raia
in detail, a few notes on each may be of use.

106 SALT-WATER FISHES

The Common, or Grey, Skate (Raia batis) is a pale grey
species with black spots; the under surface is nearly white and
is speckled with black. It has two spineless dorsal fins on the
tail, as well as three rows of thorn-like tubercles. It feeds on
both fishes and crustaceans, and deposits its purses in early
summer. Large examples of this skate are sometimes taken
on our coasts, and one of 224 Ib. has, in fact, been caught on
the Irish coast.

The Thornback (R. clavata) will better serve as a typical
ray, and it has been more studied and observed than the last.
The vernacular name of this species is not particularly happy,
as, with one exception, all rays have some equipment of spines
and tubercles on the upper surface, and the present species is
even less formidably covered than the Starry Ray. In general
colouring, and allowing for the aforenamed variation, the
thornback is dark and mottled on the upper surface and white
beneath. Abnormally coloured thornbacks are, however, not
very rare, and one was figured and described some years ago
by Professor Traquair.* In his example, the upper side
was white and had blotches of dark grey and small black
spots. On the under side the colouring was normal. Dr.
Traquair regarded this as a case of partial albinism, but
his conclusion that such colouring could not afford protection
against any known kind of sea-bed is hardly supported by
a reference to his figure. The spiny growths on this
species are mostly confined to a single row down the middle
of the back and continuing to the tail, and four other
patches, one at each extremity of the wings and one on either
side of the back of the head. There may also be a few close
to the eyes.

The thornback inhabits moderately shallow water, and is
often hooked in less than 8 fathoms on the inshore grounds
of Cornwall. There is an idea in that part of the country that
this ray, instead of passing most of its life at the bottom like

* Annals of Scottish Natural History, January, 1893.

Photo by Reinhald Thiele 4 Natural Size

THORNBACK (Raa clavata)

THE SHARKS AND RAYS 107

the rest, is in the habit of rising to the surface in warm weather
and chasing the pilchards, more after the manner of sharks.
This may or may not be true, but it is easy to account for the
belief on the ground of confusion between two separate facts.
On the one hand, large thornbacks are certainly seen from time
to time at the surface of the sea, and this is most probably
connected with either some sudden atmospheric change with
which we are unacquainted, or it may even have something
to do with the breeding arrangements. On the other hand,
pilchards have undoubtedly been found inside thornbacks.
The two statements, taken separately, are above suspicion,
and the danger only arises when they are associated as cause
and effect, and some one then infers that because the thornback
sometimes swims at the surface, and because also it sometimes
devours pilchards—therefore it must have captured those
pilchards at the surface. Not only do we know for a fact
that pilchards, though commonly surface-feeders, are in the
habit of swimming close to the bottom, near the ordinary
haunts of the rays, in certain conditions of weather and
temperature, but this shark-like method of preying on
surface-swimming forms is absolutely contrary to what might
be expected of the thornback’s structure and ordinary mode
of life. To make the positive assertion that this ray could
not, taking into consideration the position of its mouth,
capture a pilchard swimming at high speed and close to the
surface, would be to fall into a dogmatic habit that has already,
in the case of the whale and thresher story, been deplored.
At the same time, in the absence of ocular evidence of rays
chasing surface-fish, some doubt may be allowed to rest on
the theory.

Like most rays, the thornback deposits oblong egg-purses,
and allusion was made on an earlier page to their lack of
anchoring threads, such as we find in the eggs of the nurse
and rowhound, and to Mr. Dunn’s theory of the compensating
adhesive substance.

108 SALT-WATER FISHES

The Shagreen Ray (R. fullonica) is a rough-skinned
species with, as a rule, no spots on its brownish-yellow back.
Below, it is normally pure white. The tubercles are in
two rows along the sides of the tail; also at the extremities
of the wings and near the end of the snout. The dorsal
fins are small, and lie near the end of the tail. It is a rather
deep-water ray, and has been caught measuring 3 ft. on the
Devon coast.

The Long-nosed Skate (R. oxyrhynchus) has the upper
surface of the disc almost smooth; but the under surface is
rough, except on the claspers, and is of a pale grey, with small
black dots. This is a large and somewhat active skate. One
trawled during the 1891 Irish survey measured 53 in. in length
and weighed 32 lb., and a second measured 63 in.

The Painted, or Owl, Ray (R. microcellata) has rough
tubercles both above and below, but their distribution is
subject to great variation. In colour, also with variations,
it is brown above, with purple spots and lines on the
edges, and there are pale blotches on the abdomen, which
is otherwise white. It was not known to occur in Irish
waters previous to 1891, and may be regarded as an inshore
fish there, as fourteen examples were taken, all in water from
5 to 19 fathoms.

The Sandy, or Cuckoo, Ray (R. circularis) was divided
by Couch in two species, he having been misled into regarding
as a constant character the black and yellow spot on the wings
found in some individuals, but not in all. The egg-purse
of this species has extremely long tendrils.

The Sharp-nosed Ray (R. a/éa), the “ Bottle-nosed Ray ”
of Devon fishermen, is the largest species in our seas, examples
having been taken of 7 or 8 ft. in length and 500 lb. in
weight. It has rows of tubercles on the tail and “ wings,”
also behind the eyes, and on the edge of the lower surface.
This is the owner of the large “ purse,” which Couch attri-
buted to Myliobatis.

THE SHARKS AND RAYS 109

The Starry Ray (R. radiata) is more formidably covered
with tubercles than any other of our species. The claspers of the
full-grown male are also of greater length than in any other ray.
This is the most decidedly northern of our rays, being com-
mon on the coasts of Iceland and northern Norway, but not
occurring with any regularity on our own, except in Scotland.

The Homelyn (R. maculata) has, as a rule, its upper
surface dull brown, with a number of darker spots, and the
lower surface white. The snout projects only slightly and
is conical in form, sharpest in old males. The spiracles are
large, and there are rows of tubercles on the tail and one
along the back. Tubercles also, in some individuals, line the
edges of the “ wings,” and there are a few before the eyes.

The Blonde (R. dlanda) is distinguished from the last by
Holt and Calderwood * on the ground of its paler ground-
colour and more even distribution of spots, as well as by its
smaller and more numerous teeth, and by the border of closely
set tubercles along the anterior margin of the under surface.

Torpedinidze

The Torpedo (Torpedo nobiliana) is in some respects the
most interesting ray in our seas, showing in the highest
degree that electric power which is, in fact, shared by all the
foregoing. Their electric organs are in the form of either
discs or cups, only, as in the colour changes of the chameleon,
shared by many lizards, the torpedo has monopolised the
reputation of being able to paralyse its enemies or victims
with discharges from its cells.| It shows the same rounded
head as is seen in the monk-fish, a very unusual formation
in elasmobranchs, nearly all of which, both sharks and rays,
have a shovel-shaped snout, which is commonly associated

* Transac. Roy. Dub. Soc., September, 1895, p. 395.
t+ See Professor Cossar Ewart on “The Electric Organ of the Skate ”
(Proc. Roy. Soc., February 25th, 1892, p. 474).

IIo SALT-WATER FISHES

with the habit of digging up crustaceans or flat-fish from the
sand. The torpedo is, however, a sluggish fish, and has
other resources in the pursuit of its prey, for it doubtless lies
in ambush and numbs any fish that may come in contact
with its disc. Its eye has the same sensitiveness as that of
all the rays; and Mr. Bateson, who some time ago conducted
some very interesting investigations on the sense-organs of
fishes, has recorded* that the pupil of the torpedo’s eye is
circular by night, but that by day the lower limb of the iris
comes up over it so as to leave only a horizontal slit. In
the common skate, on the other hand, it is a descending
shutter which protects the pupil in the daylight, and this is
drawn away when darkness falls upon the waters. Mr.
Bateson was able to demonstrate these wonderful arrange-
ments with the aid of a flash-lantern, which he suddenly
turned on the fishes in the aquarium tanks at night. The
practical aim of his enquiry, it should perhaps be mentioned
for the benefit of those who think that such an institution
justifies its existence only as long as it is “sternly practical,”
was connected with the all-important bait question, it being
very necessary to ascertain which fishes find their food by
scent, and which, on the other hand, trust to sight. The rays
he assigned to the former category, and with them the sole ;
all the rest of -our important food-fishes he regarded as
hunting by sight.

The torpedo does not grow to a great weight, though
an example of 82 lb. weight is on record, and it occurs on
most parts of our coasts. It may easily be recognised by
the rounded head. Its colour, however, is no sure guide,
for both the ground shade and the spots vary in almost
every two specimens. That it procures its food with the
aid of its fibrous, disc-like, muscular electric organs and
swallows its victims whole is obvious from the poverty of
its teeth and the fact of fish as large as §5-lb, salmon having

* Journal of the Marine Biological Association, April, 1890.

THE SHARKS AND RAYS III

been taken intact from its stomach. Dubois * has observed
that the female torpedo gives shocks while the young are still
unborn, but abstains from doing so as soon as they are born
and so long as they remain near her. These facts perhaps
warrant three inferences: that the shock is a voluntary act ;
that the fish knows the danger to which her young would
be exposed ; and that she has maternal affection.

Trygonidz

The Stingray (Irygon pastinaca) has a yet more formidable
weapon than any of the foregoing, in the shape of a long
serrated dagger carried on the tail. Stingrays of 80 lb. have
been taken on our coasts, and in such a fish the dagger, if
intact, would measure half a foot or more. Whether this
frightful spike is provided, like the fangs of some snakes,
with venom does not appear to have been satisfactorily deter-
mined ; but such provision would scarcely seem to be necessary,
since it is in any case capable of inflicting a very serious
lacerated wound.

In the stingray, the wing-like pectoral fins of the order
are still more highly developed than in most, completely
enveloping the head, which is merely distinguished by standing
above the body. The spiracles are large and lie behind the
eyes, the latter being rather small. The teeth are small and
lie in several rows. The tail is long and whip-like and has
no fin, but there is a fold of skin at the base of the spine.
It is said that the latter is replaced after injury by others that
lie behind it. The body is smoother than that of most rays,
though there may be a few tubercles on the disc. In colour
the upper surface is similar to the sand or mud on which
the fish resides. It probably lies for some time in the same
spot ; at any rate, the writer has seen pits left by its body
in the muddy banks of Queensland rivers.

* Ann. Soc. Linn. Lyon, 1899, p. 80.

112 SALT-WATER FISHES

Myliobatidze

The two great rays of this family which find their way to
our seas are stragglers from the warmer waters of Mexico
and Florida.

The Ox Ray (Cephaloptera giorne) is easily known by the
horn-like processes in front of its head, which are said to be
used in setting up currents in the water and bringing food
to the creature’s mouth. Its teeth are small and flat and lie
in over 150 rows, and the particular food in question is sup-
posed to consist of minute animals. These great rays are
not, on the rare occasions on which they visit our seas, as
active as in their warmer homes, where they are often seen
to hurl themselves high in the air in order to throw off the
remoras that persecute them. The head stands clear of the
disc and is square in front. The spiracles are small. A feature
of this ray is the immense length of its tail—three times
that of the body, and armed with a serrated spine. Only
one example has been taken in our seas; it was caught on
the south coast of Ireland, and measured 45 in. across the disc.

The Eagle Ray (Myliobatis aquila) is distinguished from
the last by its pointed snout, shorter tail, and absence of the
“horns.” It also has a serrated spine in the tail ; sometimes
two spines are present. Examples have been taken on many
parts of the English coast, from Berwick to Cornwall, the
largest, measuring 343 in. across, having been recorded
from Torbay. Like the last, it is viviparous, and the “ purse”
attributed to it by Couch and others belonged toa Raia.

These, then, are our British rays, which have been likened
to the vultures of the air, the sharks supplying the place of
the eagles. The swimming of the larger rays, as seen in the
aquarium, is suggestive of the flight of large and sluggish
birds. The enormous development of the pectoral fins, the
attenuated, sometimes whiplike, tail, and the fringed eyelids

THE SHARKS AND RAYS 113

distinguish them from other elasmobranchs, while they have
the cartilaginous skeleton, the rough skin, the open gill-slits,
and the breathing spiracles in common. ‘They are slow
swimmers, but this is compensated by various weapons, such
as have been mentioned above.

CHAPTER IV
THE BASS, BREAMS, AND RED MULLET

In this chapter we must consider a number of more or less
perch-like forms, including some very common, and one very
valuable, food-fish. These are as follows :—

Famity. Common Name. GENus. SPECIES.

PERCIDE. . . 1 Bass Labrax lupus
Common Sea-bream Pagellus centrodontus
Axillary Bream ‘ owentt
Pandora P. erythrinus
Spanish Bream Pe bogaraveo

SPARID@. . . . P. acarne
Couch’s Sea-bream Pagrus vulgarts
Gilthead P. auratus
Old Wife Cantharus lineatus
Bogue Box vulgaris

MULLIDA ... . Red Mullet Mullus surmuletus

Percidze

Tue Bass (Labrax lupus ; Morone ; Boccus)

The Bass, one of our handsomest sea fish, is separated on
anatomical grounds from the true perches in Mr. Boulenger’s
new Catalogue of Fishes in the British Museum, but it was
long regarded as a sea perch, and has, indeed, considerable
affinities with that family. In colour the adult fish is either
green or greenish brown, with silvery scales ; the younger fish

poe

Photo by Reinhald Thiele % Natural Size

BASS (Labrax lupus)

UN

Photo by Reinhold Thiele 4% Natural Size

RED MULLET ( Mallus surmutletis )

Photo by Remihold Thiele ¥, Natural Size

MACKEREL (Scomber scomh er)

THE BASS, BREAMS, AND RED MULLET 115

rarely show the brown tints, being a bright sea-green, and
are more silvery than the adult, being spotted in their early
months of full development. Willoughby had drawn atten-
tion to this spotted character in the young, and was wrongly
corrected by Couch, who seems, curiously enough for one
with so many opportunities of seeing young bass in the
Cornish seine nets, to have overlooked that phase. The
spotted or striped condition of young animals in contrast with
their elders is common enough among fishes (e.g. cod, allis
shad, etc.). It is even found in other classes of animals and
may have ancestral significance. Even in the full-grown stage
the bass retains a single large dark spot on the gill-covers.
Its front dorsal fin has nine spines (as against twelve or
fourteen in the perch), and is carried by the fish like that
of the river perch, though lacking its red tints. There are
also sharp spines before the other fins and on the gill-covers,
which make the bass a difficult fish to handle. The greatest
weight to which the fish grows is probably about 24 lb.,
but larger bass seem scarce of late years, possibly owing to the
increased popularity of sea fishing for sport, and the conse-
quent attention now given to the capture of a fish that is not
commonly fished for by professional fishermen in a systematic
manner. Records of even 12 or 15 lb. bass are much rarer
than they were ten or fifteen years ago, and a fish of 1olb.
nowadays attracts attention. The Devon Teign is a favourite
river with bass fishermen, and the largest fish caught (by
myself) in its waters during the year 1902 weighed just
11+ lb. The account here given of the habits of bass in
the Channel is entirely the result of personal observation
during several successive summers spent in pursuit of the fish
in the estuary of that river, supplemented by reference to
such residents as Mr. G. H. Johnson, who have made a
study of the fish in that locality over a considerable period
of time. It is, in fact, to those who fish for sport that much
of our present knowledge of the bass is necessarily owing,

116 SALT-WATER FISHES

for, being only seined in such estuaries as those of the
Teign and Exe, and not otherwise occupying the attention
of the regular fishermen, the bass has been little studied,
particularly in reference to its habits, by economic writers
like McIntosh, Cunningham, and Holt, while even Couch
and Day have left very meagre accounts of the movements
and daily behaviour of the shoals.

In the Teign, then, bass first put in an appearance during
the first week in April, a little earlier or later according to
the weather and temperature for the year. These are, for
the most part, small shoal fish, varying in length from 4
to g in. but a few larger and more solitary fish appear
to make their way up the river a little later, for amateurs
occasionally capture these as early as the first half of May,
but not earlier. Local opinion even has it that some of the
largest old bass remain on the rough ground in the deeper
portions of the estuary, about a quarter of a mile from the
bar, throughout the winter; but it is impossible to ascertain
by the most careful enquiry on what evidence this theory rests.
The local fishmongers never have these large bass for sale
during the colder months of the year. There is, on the
other hand, no means of disproving the assertion, short of
dynamiting the rocks, for the winter bass, if present in that
part of the Teign, are equally immune from the prohibited
salmon-nets and from the operations of anglers unable at that
season to procure the living sand-eel, the only reliable bait in
those waters.

The smaller shoal, or school, bass, which arrive in April,
make their way up on each flood tide to within a mile of
Newton Abbot (some five miles from the sea), and to all
appearance return with the ebb. Anyone in a boat can in
the early mornings during spring tides watch as many
as half a dozen different “schools” pass the Ness in
the course of an hour or two, the splashing brit and also the
crying gulls plainly indicating the movements of each, while

THE BASS, BREAMS, AND RED MULLET 117

an interval of perhaps 50 yards of calm water intervenes
between the shoals. Each of these is, as a rule, composed of
fish of a ‘“class’”—that is to say, of approximately the
same length and age. The bass in one shoal will
average a pound, those of another half a pound, those
of a third will weigh five to the pound, and so on.
To this there are, however, exceptions, for anglers some-
times catch two or three fish of different weights from
the same shoal. The manner in which these small bass
behave during their ascent of the river is subject to
much variation, and seems directly associated with the
atmospheric conditions. Without any endeavour to es-
tablish a close correlation, it may, generally speaking, be
asserted that the fish play more freely at the surface on
bright, warm mornings, though they are sometimes more
easily captured, particularly on the artificial fly, when the sky
is overcast and a light, cold breeze blows downstream from
the moors.

Another fact, which may unhesitatingly be recorded,
even at the risk of being discredited in some quarters, is
that for hours before the bursting of a thunderstorm the
bass will touch no bait, and will rarely, indeed, show them-
selves at the surface. Thunder does not, as a rule, in-
fluence the biting of ground-feeding fish in moderately deep
water some distance from the land; indeed, whiting-pout
are commonly thought to bite with uncommon eagerness
just before a storm. Of its effect, however, upon the appetite
of such surface-feeders as bass and mackerel there can be
no doubt.

It is also noticeable that the “‘ play” of these fish at the
surface is of two distinct kinds. When really hungry, the
small bass jump clear of the water, snapping the brit, and
showing continued activity throughout their progress up the
middle of the stream, for they seem to keep in the middle
in order to avail themselves to the full of the assistance of

118 SALT-WATER FISHES

the flowing or ebbing tide, which is slacker under either bank.
At other times, however, there is noticeable, particularly in
the larger fish, a lazy, rolling action, suggestive rather of
playing or bodily exercise, and without any apparent desire
to feed. This view is corroborated by the fact that a
‘rolling’? bass will not take a bait as a rule, though this is
purely anglers’ evidence, for a fish may often be feeding on
its natural food, and yet decline baits that at other times prove
attractive, and, on the other hand (vide a since qualified
Report of the Scotch Fishery Board), it may take the fly or
worm when not feeding at all.

How far, in an account that treats mainly of its life-history
under more natural conditions, it is legitimate to discourse of
the behaviour of a fish when hooked is open to question. It
may, however, in passing, be mentioned that the tactics of a
large bass in difficulties show evidence of much cunning. It
is generally accounted a stupid fish in taking the bait, but an
exceedingly skilful one in escaping the results of its folly.
Much of its wariness in the first instance must certainly
depend on the state of the water. In the clear, still waters
of Cornish bays it is often possible, from a vantage point on
the overhanging cliffs above, to watch large bass routing
around the baits on set lines, smelling the hook, taking the
bait between their lips and blowing it out again. If they take
a baited hook without these preliminary enquiries, it can only
be when, as in swift and muddy rivers, the water is thick and
they themselves are hungry. It is not, of course, possible to
watch the behaviour of the fish in dirty water, and the fisher-
man’s only clue to the conduct of the fish is the behaviour
of the line. When a large bass takes the bait, the line moves
off slowly and hesitatingly at first, until the hook is struck
home, and then of course the fish, maddened by the pain,
makes a dash for liberty. It always makes, in a river, for the
deepest water, and invariably gets out into the strong sluice
tide that swirls beneath a bridge or round a moored buoy, and

THE BASS, BREAMS, AND RED MULLET 119

salmon hardly show more intimate acquaintance with such
characters of the water as they can turn to account than does
a large bass. Every movement of the fish in avoiding the
shallows or heading for the posts of a bridge points to previous
knowledge of the water, and as this is observed quite early
in the season, it does not seem unreasonable to conclude that
the bass has been in that estuary the previous year, and
remembers the conditions. The very small fish show, as
might be expected, a lack of experience and cunning, taking
the bait with a headstrong indifference to the risks.
Another remarkable fact remains to be recorded in
the life-history of these bass shoals, and that is their
avoidance of the river on certain days and their preference
for the rocks just outside the bar. As an extended series of
journal entries entirely fails to connect this avoidance of fresh
water with any particular condition of weather or temperature,
their conduct can only be associated with irregular food
supplies. The hatching out of some fish or other marine
animal among the rocks might conceivably keep the bass in
the vicinity ; but there, at any rate, they remain on certain
days, hot or cool, wet or fine, calm or boisterous. An easy
explanation of this remarkable behaviour would present itself
if we found that the little brit, the chief food of estuarine
bass, also kept out in the open water on the same days. Actual
observation, however, has shown that this is not the case, for
on two or three separate occasions, when the bass were playing
outside and to all appearance absent from the river altogether,
the river was teeming with brit, some of which, captured by
tying a piece of mosquito netting in the landing-net, proved
to be young sand-eels and apparently little rocklings of some
species. The absence of bass, however, from the same
grounds was obvious not less from the fact of the baits being
untouched than from the listless, leisurely manner in which
the brit drifted past the boat, instead of, as usual, leaping
and hurrying in frantic escape from their enemies. Sometimes

120 SALT-WATER FISHES

the bass do not see the brit as readily as might be expected.
I was enabled to witness a striking example of this from
the viaduct at Barmouth on the longest day of 1903.
Hundreds of fine bass were ascending the Mawddach on the
further side ; myriads of sand-eels gamboled unmolested not
a hundred yards from them.

The foregoing illustrates in all probability the general
principles of the existence of bass in estuaries during spring
and early summer, though allowance must necessarily be made
for variation in local conditions. In the Sussex Arun, for
example, only the larger fish seem to find their way to the
fresh water, where they are caught even above Arundel,
several miles from the sea, though within the tidal portion
of the river ; and the shoals of smaller fish do not apparently
play at the surface as they do in most Devon rivers. After
August the smallest bass absent themselves from most parts
of the coast, particularly from the rivers, though here and
there the seines take immense quantities on the foreshore, and
this as late as Christmas. During autumn a few fish, mostly
of 5 lb. and upwards, are taken in the river; but most of
the large bass caught in September and October occur in the
surf at various coast resorts farther up Channel, and notably
at Bournemouth, Brighton, Hastings, Dover, and other
towns similarly removed from the outfall of any considerable
stream. These larger bass come inshore after breezy weather,
when the water is still perturbed and discoloured, and rout
among the weed and débris for food, much of which is
probably in a state of decay. At any rate, fishermen find
that partly putrefied ray’s liver is then the best bait, and the
large bass are frequently taken in the fall of the year in the
lobster pots, when the baits are stale, owing to the inability
of the men to pick up the pots for days together.

The distribution of the bass presents no great difficulties.
On our coasts it is most abundant south of the Thames on
the east side and the Bristol Channel on the west, though it

THE BASS, BREAMS, AND RED MULLET 121

is regularly caught in the Menai Strait and in the Liverpool
district. In Irish waters it is also, with few exceptions, con-
fined to the southern portion of the island. Apart from this
preference for the southern waters, the bass may be regarded
as more plentiful on our west than on our east coast. It is
very common in most parts of the Mediterranean, in which sea
the writer has caught it at Gibraltar, Tangier, Leghorn, Naples,
and Palermo, and has met with it in almost every fish-market
visited, including those of Marseilles and Algiers. Its claim to
rank as a table fish is variously accepted. As a general rule, it
may be said that while the smaller bass, of a pound weight or
less, are agreeable eating, the fish of several pounds are woolly
and insipid to the taste. The bass spawns apparently in July
and August and deposits floating eggs.

Sparidz
Tue Sea-BrEAMS

There is also something obviously perch-like about the Sea-
breams, which should not be confused with the cyprinoid
breams of our lakes and rivers. The river-bream is a green
and yellow fish with some red on the fins and no spines in the
dorsal. The sea-breams are blue or red and silver, with sharp
spines in the fins; they dwell in shoals among the rocks, and,
as remarked of the bass, fish of a “class” shoal in company.
This holds good both north and south of the Equator; and in
Australia, as at home, there are three names for three different
stages of the red bream, though the precise stage to which each
should apply seems variable in both countries. At Plymouth
the smallest red bream is called “ chad,” the largest is a bream,
and the intervening stage a “‘ ballard”’ ; at Sydney these three
ages of the red bream are respectively “red brim,” “ squire,”
and “snapper.” It is not here claimed that the fish are speci-
fically identical in the Atlantic and Pacific, but the younger
stages are not easily distinguished by the fisherman, particularly

122 SALT-WATER FISHES

as he sees only one at the time. Cornishmen have no notion of
the origin of the term “ ballard,” and one can only regard it as
a possible contraction of “ bald-head,” a term of opprobrium ;
Australians are equally ignorant of the precise application of
“squire,” though the appropriateness of “snapper” for the
larger fish is beyond all doubt. British sea-breams do not
approach in weight those of our colonies, for whereas a snapper
of 10 lb. is not an uncommonly heavy fish, even to-day,
among the less-fished reefs on the coast of New South Wales,
a bream of half that weight would be a good fish in Devon.
It cannot be said that the sea-breams take high rank as
food-fish, for only one, the common sea-bream, or adult
form of the chad, is caught in considerable numbers for the
market. Although a southern form, the sea-bream finds its
way to all parts of the coast, but it is abundant only in
the south and south-west. The group may be regarded as
characteristically Mediterranean, in which sea the writer
caught, during four months of 1891, at least seven dis-
tinguishable species,

The Common Sea-bream (Pagellus centrodontus) has the
usual appearance and habits of the family, so that much of
the foregoing account will apply to it. In colour it is bright
red, the adult fish having a conspicuous black spot on the
shoulder. Its scales are large. The front dorsal fin has sharp
spines, and there are three spines in the ventrals. The teeth
of the sea-breams show on a smaller scale the same variety as
those of the wolf-fish, for the jaws have pointed teeth in front
for seizing prey and flat teeth for crushing shells farther
back ; but Pagellus has mostly the flat teeth, and its food
consists in fact less of other fishes than of crustaceans and
echinoderms. Cunningham has not examined the eggs, but
concludes that they are similar to those of the pandora (P.
erythrinus), which were found at Naples to float separately at
the surface. The common sea-bream, though for the most
part a ground-feeder, is said at some seasons to swim in shoals

THE BASS, BREAMS, AND RED MULLET 123

at the surface; but this is not generally corroborated, and
can, at any rate, not be a common phenomenon.

It is in connection with this fish that, with the aid of
Matthias Dunn, Mr. Garstang, of the Plymouth Marine
Laboratory, was able to offer a most interesting explana-
tion of the malformed fish so common in Plymouth
Sound and neighbourhood. If every discovery and theory
in connection with the life-history of our sea fish for
which the late Mr. Dunn was answerable were brought
together under one cover, what a marvellous record of first-
hand observation and ingenious deduction we should have!
and how favourably his credentials would compare with those
of many who, on the strength of a polite education, which he
lacked, have taken far higher rank among marine naturalists !
Any student of our sea fish must continually be struck not
only by the acknowledgments of every marine biologist, from
Couch to Cunningham, but also by the notes and articles
which that remarkable man, who served his time on a pilchard
boat, published in the Transactions of scientific societies. To
the writer, who enjoyed the rare pleasure of his acquaintance
during the last eight years of his life, his death, in the summer
of 1901, brought added grief, for on the last occasion of their
meeting Dunn had promised to think seriously of writing a
great work on British fishes. Such a volume would have been
a worthy successor to Day’s standard work ; but Dunn, unfor-
tunately, had much other business to engage his time and was
never able to get beyond the preliminary ground-work. His
theory on the subject of malformed bream was published in
the following circumstances. Mr. Garstang had long been
puzzled by the continual recurrence in Plymouth waters of
peculiarly deformed bream, which had to all appearance lost
their upper jaw, and thus gave the impression, when viewed
in profile, of being short-nosed or tube-mouthed. Mr. Dunn
offered a very simple explanation of this phenomenon. He
told Garstang that the pollack fishermen, increasingly impatient

124 SALT-WATER FISHES

when they find hook after hook robbed by chad, the latter
being too small-mouthed for capture on a pollack-hook, often
give their lines a terrific jerk, more in helpless anger than with
any hope of hooking the chad. The result of this impetuous
movement is that every now and then, when a small bream
happens at the moment to be sucking at the bait which is too
large for it to swallow, the upper jaw of the fish is torn away,
and in the course of years these maimed bream—which are not
debarred from finding nourishment, henceforth living on soft
food by a process closely resembling suction—grow, and are
finally caught in that neighbourhood. The interest of this
explanation is not confined to its accounting for the deformed
mouth in these bream. It also shows, since we know the
breams to be migratory, at any rate to the extent of leaving
our shores in winter, either that the individuals thus handi-
capped prefer to remain in the neighbourhood rather than
wander with their whole fellows, or else that the breams
generally, though wanderers, return year after year to the
same neighbourhood. In accepting this almost legitimate
deduction, it should, however, be borne in mind that in all
probability the fishermen of other districts, say on the south
coast of Ireland, are equally impatient, and tear the jaws of
bream in precisely the same way as is done in Cornwall, so
that these malformed bream taken at Plymouth might have
received their wounds elsewhere.

Whether the prickly little chad is to any great extent
preyed upon by pollack, the fact remains that one side of a
chad is an excellent bait for that fish. It is always used
when the chads themselves meet the descending hooks a few
fathoms below the surface and remove the soft pilchard baits
before they have reached the lower level at which the pollack
are feeding. At other times the reverse happens, and the
baits go too far, passing the pollack in mid-water, only to be
robbed by the chads below.

The breams of our seas fall under four genera. Of the

THE BASS, BREAMS, AND RED MULLET 125

typical genus the Common Sea-bream is an example, and its
allies are the Axillary Bream (Pagellus owenii), which lacks the
black spot on the shoulder; the Pandora, or King of the Breams
(P. erythrinus), which is red, with blue spots ; the Spanish Bream
(P. bogaraveo), a smaller fish also spotted with blue; and a
fifth and rare species, P. acarne. In the second group we have
Couch’s Sea-bream (Pagrus vulgaris), which is our closest ally
of the aforenamed Australian snapper, and which has been taken
in our waters weighing 10 lb., and the equally rare Gilthead
(P. auratus), so-called from the crescent-shaped yellow mark
between the eyes. The third and fourth genera have but
one British representative apiece, and these are the Old Wife
(Cantharus lineatus), a silvery grey bream, with longitudinal,
yellow bands on the body and dark spots on the fins ; and
the Bogue (Box vulgaris), a bronze fish with a brown spot on
the pectoral fins. It is rare in our seas, though the writer
has caught scores off Leghorn. An example of the old wife,
which is usually described as a moderately deep-water fish,
was taken in shallow water in the seine-nets at the upper
end of the Hamoaze, Plymouth, in July, 1897. It is of
importance, when studying American works, to bear in mind
that their “common sea-bream ” (cf. Bashford Dean, Fishes,
Living and Fossil, p. 225) is a wrasse (Ctenolabrus).

Mullidze

Tue Rep Mutter

The Red Mullet (Mullus surmuletus) is a small red fish
with from three to five longitudinal yellow bands, large thin
scales, and two barbels on the lower lip, which lie back in
grooves when not in use. Its teeth are small and blunt, and
there are none in the upper jaw, but some are also found
on the palate. There is a plainer form of this fish, whether
species or variety has not yet been determined by zoologists,
which lacks the yellow stripes, and is somewhat smaller in size.

126 SALT-WATER FISHES

It is plentiful enough in the fish-markets of Mediterranean
coast towns, but is rarely, if ever, seen in our shops. When
it is remembered that Cunningham has, with all his oppor-
tunities, never seen the plain form at Plymouth, and that
neither Couch nor Day described the fish from actual obser-
vation of British-caught examples, it looks as if its right to
be included in the British fauna is somewhat doubtful.

The red mullet does not grow to a great weight. A
couple of pounds, with a corresponding length of about 15 in.,
would be considered a good weight in Cornwall, where
some of our finest are caught for the London market. In
all countries it commands a high price for the table, though
comparatively inexpensive in Italy and the southern ports of
France. At Marseilles, for instance, it is a common ingredient
in the famous Jouillabaisse soup. The name given to this
little fish by the Moorish fishermen of Tangier—‘“ Sultan-el-
hout,” or the ‘“‘Emperor of Fishes ”—is probably a tribute to
its brilliant colouring, particularly as red is the royal colour
in Morocco, for that would appeal to the Oriental eye sooner
than its delicate flavour to the Oriental palate.

The red mullet is caught chiefly in the trammel, which is
set on soft ground near the inshore rocks, and it is taken at
night, the nets being taken up in early morning. To some
extent also it is taken in the trawl, and the writer has seen
many scores landed from the trawlers at Brixham. There is
no regular hook fishery for red mullet, though rare instances
of its capture by amateurs have been recorded at Brighton,
Shoreham, Bournemouth, and elsewhere. Still, it does not
commonly take the hook; and the writer, after fishing for
years close to its haunts on the coasts of both England and
Italy and catching none, took two within ten minutes in
Tangier Bay in April, 1899, and never one since. Soft food
lying on the sand suits the mullet’s teeth and manner of
feeding, and it is probable that if any angler were to lay
himself out to capture the fish in suitable localities during

THE BASS, BREAMS, AND RED MULLET 127

the summer months, he would meet with success. The
already beautiful pink of the large scales during life is inten-
sified by the fishermen, who remove them before rigor mortis
has set in, though not invariably, as formerly thought, while
the fish still lives.

It is a shore-haunting fish, of gregarious habits, and it feeds
on the bottom. The tank-house of the Plymouth Laboratory
generally has a very attractive shoal of these fish, and
Cunningham has aptly compared their movements in the
water to that of a flock of birds in a field, alternately soaring
to the higher levels, then settling down and seeking for food.
This they do by turning over the gravel with their stiff and
sensitive barbels, which are tucked out of the way when the
fish are exercising themselves in mid-water, as gulls stow
away their legs when flying high.

The spawning of the surmullet has been studied by
Italian biologists, but not, so far, by our own. Raffaele
found the fish spawn in the Naples Aquarium in early
spring, the eggs being transparent and floating on the water.
The larve are hatched out in three or four days, and have
a curious appearance, from the position of the yolk, which
protrudes in front in a manner that McIntosh likens to
the prow of a vessel. By the end of summer the little red
mullet had their barbel, but were still silvery, and had not
assumed the pink livery of their later life. Their head
was, with its barbel, more like that of a cod, though the
characteristic form of head in the adult fish was not long
in appearing.

With reference to the relations of the plain and striped
forms, Gunther apparently follows Gronovius in regarding
the latter as the female, and the former as the male, of one
and the same species ; and it is somewhat curious that, with
the analogy of the male and female of Callionymus, they
should not have accepted the more general rule, and assigned
male sex to the more ornate form. What ground Dr. Gunther

128 SALT-WATER FISHES

has for this view is not explained in his book,* where he
merely says, ‘“‘ M. surmuletus being probably the female.”
This sexual view of the two forms of red mullet does not,
however, appear to have received later support, for the striped
form appears to have bred by itself in a tank at Naples, and
to have produced larger eggs and young than the other.

Of the actual food of the red mullet we do not know
much, and it can only be surmised that the fish feeds on soft
substances, since its teeth are exceedingly feeble, and its
manner of routing in the gravel or mud with its barbels
suggests such material. Gunther mentions that some of the
family enter brackish water to feed on the animalcule in the
weeds, but whether specific allusion is made to our fish is
not quite clear from the context.

* See Introduction to the Study of Fishes, p. 404.

CHAPTER V

THE MACKERELS, HORSE-MACKERELS, AND
ALLIED FORMS

We now come to a large and interesting group, or rather
several related groups, of fishes for the most part residing
at the surface of the sea and in the neighbourhood of
land, at any rate during a portion of the year. One or
two of the larger species, on the other hand, keep out in
the deeper water, only wandering occasionally within the
littoral waters, while in the dory we have a fish that lives
and feeds close to the sea bed. The larger tunnies and
bonitoes, which, although periodically taken on our shores,
must be regarded as stragglers from the Mediterranean by
way of the open Atlantic, are more appropriately enumerated
in the chapter on “Rare and Uncommon Fishes”; and in the
present chapter account will be taken only of the commoner
kinds and their close relations, these being :—

FamiLy. Common Name. GeENus. SPECIES.
The Mackerel Scomber scomber
SCOMBRIDA Spanish Mackerel S. coltas
Horse-mackerel Caranx trachurus
SANE“ . { Boar-fish Capros aper
CYTTIDA . 4 ; »| John Dory Zeus Jaber
Gar-fish Belone vulgaris
SCOMBRESOCIDE =. Saury Pike Scombresox Saurus

129 9

130 SALT-WATER FISHES

Scombridze
THe MackeREL

The Mackerel (Scomber scomber) is the type of all these
fishes, commercially the most important, and certainly the
most beautiful. It is a familiar fish enough, blue, with very
small scales and irregular black bands down its sides, the
latter, as well as the under surface, showing a beautiful pink
metallic sheen and silver reflections. The colouring of the
mackerel is subject to much variation, and while some races
have spots and scribbled lines between the bars, or in their
place, there are individuals (see The Zoologist, July, 1897)
with neither spots nor bands nor markings of any kind, but
of uniform blue or green. There is a small keel on each lobe
of the tail, and there are five or six finlets behind the second
dorsal fin, the first dorsal having from eleven to fourteen
spines. The mouth is well provided with small, sharp teeth,
which cover both jaws, as well as the tongue and palate.

Few of our sea fish are, in fact, of greater importance than
the beautiful mackerel, for which there are distinct and regular
hook and net fisheries, according to the season. The cod
and herring may occupy the greater fleets of the North Sea ;
the pilchard has its restricted area in the south-west ; but the
great mackerel fisheries of the coasts of Britain and Ireland
are of immense annual value.

Although we recognise but two species of Scomber, it is
evident to all who have seen even the common species in
different seas and markets that there are several types or
races. ‘To the unscientific observer size and the presence or
absence of spots will be the determining character; but the
biologist takes closer account of the number of fin-rays and
transverse bars, and on this basis Mr. Garstang recently con-
ducted a very interesting investigation of these racial pecu-
liarities. The results of his enquiry have been ably summarised
in the Fournal of the Marine Biological Association (November,

MACKERELS, HORSE-MACKERELS, ALLIED FORMS 131

1898). His researches not only enabled him to draw con-
clusions as to the migrations, about which something will be
said later, but also to establish a most important anatomical
correlation between abnormal development of spots and ab-
normal increase in the number of fin-rays, associating these
as departures from the normal type. Morphologically, there-
fore, as well as economically, his enquiry was of considerable
value.

In the mere matter of size, it is within the experience
of every buyer of fish that the fish-dealer offers sometimes
very large and sometimes correspondingly small mackerel.
According to the season and the wares, that it is his business
to sell without delay, he unhesitatingly affirms that either the
large Irish mackerel is the finest flavoured in the market, or
that the little “joeys” are better for table purposes than the
larger, ranker class of fish. The largest race of mackerel are
sometimes called ‘“horse-mackerel” by the fishermen, par-
ticularly in the hooking season (August), when these fish are
taken on fine drift-lines, and go careering round the boat,
to the imminent risk of entangling all the lines over the side.
The name is unfortunate, as it might lead to confusion with
the horse-mackerel (Caranx) properly so called. Perhaps
these different-sized mackerel are to be regarded as merely
brigades of one great mackerel army which invades our shores
at the appointed season, splitting up into roving bands of large
or small fish in spring, the largest remaining in the south-west
of the islands, the smaller finding their way along the south
and up the east coasts. This, however, has not been satis-
factorily determined, nor will be in all probability until more
attention has been devoted to the subject.

Before passing to a brief consideration of the seasonal
migrations of our mackerel, it is desirable to take some notice
of their mode of feeding and manner of food, with the pro-
curing of which one, at any rate, of their two great yearly
movements has been associated by all modern authorities.

132 SALT-WATER FISHES

At times the mackerel feeds close to the surface ; at other times
in mid-water (by which is meant anywhere tolerably distant
from both the surface and bed of the sea) ; and still later in
the year the mackerel are busy feeding at the bottom. Two
distinct styles of food appear to suit the fish in its various
moods. In the one case it filters the water through its gill-
rakers, just as the herrings and pilchards do, sucking in and
retaining the minute copepoda, larval molluscs, or olive weed-
spores (Melanospermee); in the other it chases young sand-
eels, rocklings, and pilchards. At the spawning time the
females, at any rate, do not seek food, and even the males
display some indifference in the matter of eating, with the
result that just at that season mackerel are caught almost
entirely in the nets, and rarely take a bait. Mr. Cunningham
satisfies himself that this accounts for the refusal of the fish
to take a bait in early spring, and the “ blindness” conse-
quently alleged by the fishermen, who aver that the fish do
not take the bait because they are unable to see it. Without
desiring to offer any opinion with reference to this alleged
blindness in spring mackerel, it yet seems right that I should
add that several generally reliable Cornish fishermen have given
more positive evidence in support of their belief, and have
carefully described the filmy appearance of the eye at that
season.

The spawning takes place, in the Channel, in the summer
months, and the eggs, of which a large female will contain
about half a million, float separately in the water, and are
rather larger than those of the cod. According to Holt, the
larva of the mackerel closely resembles that of the bull-heads, a
similarity which may, according to McIntosh, indicate ancestral
affinities. This, however, he regards as mere conjecture.
The growth of young mackerel has not been very closely or
satisfactorily studied. Matthias Dunn used to describe year-
old mackerel of about 3 in. in length in the bays around
Mevagissey during the month of September each year, and

MACKERELS, HORSE-MACKERELS, ALLIED FORMS 133

similarly two-year-old mackerel are thought to attain to about
8 in., and three-year-old fish to 11 in., which would be the
arrival at sexual maturity.

Undoubtedly, however, the most interesting matter in the
life-history of mackerel is the extent and direction of their
migrations. That these great movements of the shoals will
have less mystery for us as time goes on there can be little
doubt, for already, thanks to the indefatigable researches of
Messrs. Allen and Garstang and others in this country, and
of Professor Sars in Norway, we are in a position at least to
qualify considerably the confused accounts of earlier writers.
Modern enquiry has, at least, had one result inseparable from
scientific research. It has compelled us to interpret the pos-
sible movements and relations of the great mackerel shoals
with all reservation, the confident and circumstantial accounts
published more than twenty years ago no longer finding
support among the more cautious zoologists of to-day. The
subject is immensely interesting, and has occupied many sheets
of the Journal of the Marine Biological Association and other
ichthyological publications. Only the barest possible summary
can here be attempted. Briefly, then, it seems that the mackerel
appears yearly off the west coast of France (Douarnenez) at
the end of January, somewhat earlier in the year than with us.
Early in April the Atlantic shoals of larger mackerel approach
nearer to the south-west headlands of Ireland, and in May they
are caught in quantities in Cornwall and Devon, the fishery
lasting throughout June and July, and falling off in August.
In October there is an autumn revival; but by the following
month the main body of the fish has practically forsaken the
coasts of Great Britain, though a few are netted in the south-
west of Ireland up to Christmas. It would seem that the
surface temperature of the inshore waters is the main deter-
mining factor in these coastal movements; and Matthias Dunn
in Cornwall, and several eminent ichthyologists in America,
agree on 45°F. as the lowest temperature agreeable to the

134 SALT-WATER FISHES

fish. This will better enable us to understand the otherwise
seemingly capricious journeyings up the coast. This phrase,
by the way, must be used with caution, for much may depend
on whether it is meant to signify the progress of shoals actually
working their way along, for example, our south coast, from
west to east, in a course approximately parallel to the shore, or
whether it indicates merely their successive appearance at
points on the coast from west to east.

The importance of the foregoing distinction will be obvious
when we bear in mind the extent to which modern enquiry has
tended to explain fish migrations as comparatively restricted
journeys between the deep and shallow water—z.e. in a direction
either oblique or at right angles to the shore. There is a wide
gap between the ichthyology of the end of the Victorian era
and that of its dawn, when the first edition of Yarrell was
published. We can now, for instance, distinguish with some
reason between the motives of the spring and autumn move-
ment of the mackerel, the first having for its object the arrival
on suitable spawning-grounds, the second being rather con-
nected with the movements of larval fishes upon which, in the
fall of the year, mackerel are wont to feed. This distinction
is confirmed by the examination of the stomachs of mackerel
caught at the two seasons, those of spring mackerel being
comparatively empty, while a large proportion of those captured
in autumn are crammed with the young of rocklings,
sand-eels, and other shore-dwelling species. The practical end
and aim, over and above the intrinsic interest attaching to the
elucidation of such mysteries, of these enquiries into the
migrations of mackerel must obviously be the discovery of the
whereabouts of the shoals when absent from our coasts.
Possibly, if biological investigation does eventually throw
light on the exact whereabouts of the shoals during the three
months of winter, the fish will be found in a locality and at a
depth such as to bring them conveniently within the operations
of the nets ; and whether, even if the shoals were so located,

MACKERELS, HORSE-MACKERELS, ALLIED FORMS 135

a continuous fishery of the kind would not tend to exhaustion,
is another question.

It is the business of the biologist to ascertain these facts ;
it is then the business of the legislator to act upon them.
Certainly the problem is one that should fascinate all with
opportunities for studying it. The presence of mackerel in
the trawl, as well as in the stomachs of the cod and other
ground-feeding fishes, points to a retreat to deep water in the
winter, and this may perhaps be undertaken to avoid the
extreme cold of the shallows during the months in which the
sun is giving its greatest heat to the mackerel of Australian
seas. The difficulty may eventually be solved by the deep-
sea thermometer, which will show us the depth and distance
from land at which the mackerel would be most likely to
find a congenial winter residence. Little by little science is
substituting fact for fiction. We have grown out of the simple
faith that accepted stories of mackerel hibernating with their
heads buried in Arctic mud, and we find, on comparing the
two, that the truths of nature are quite as wonderful as the
fables of man.

The Spanish Mackerel (8. colias) is a much rarer and also
less important fish in our seas, being in fact only a wanderer
from the Mediterranean. It resembles the ordinary mackerel
in colour, but is distinctively marked with blotches and spots,
and the eye is conspicuously larger. It has, moreover, an air-
bladder, which the common mackerel lacks, and it shows
rudimentary traces of a corselet of scales, which is more
highly developed in the bonitoes. Its flesh becomes unfit for
market after capture even more rapidly than that of the
common species, so that commercially it is of no account.
Still, it is a beautiful fish, and Dr. Bashford Dean ™* takes it as
the type of a fast-swimming fish, with its rounded surface,
tapering spindle outline, smoothly closed gill-covers—in short,
as seen from the front, a small but perfect ellipse. The

* Fishes, Living and Fossil, p. 3.

136 SALT-WATER FISHES

mucous covering which extends over its body diminishes
friction with the water, and inside as well as out everything is
so disposed as to give the perfection of equilibrium and facilitate
rapidity of movement through the water. Our common
mackerel fills almost as efficiently the ideal of a swift fish,
and it would be difficult to name another capable of such
activity in either rough or smooth water, in the state of freedom
or hooked in the mouth and thereby handicapped.

Carangidze
Toe Horse-MackERELs

The Horse-mackerel (Caranx trachurus), or Scad, though
sufficiently distinct from the true mackerels to preclude all
risk of confusion, nevertheless recalls the mackerel in outline,
and is always captured in its company, unless it is in a shoal of
its own kind. The fish is recognisable by the row of sharp
scales along the lateral line, as well as by its duller blue-grey
colouring, and the presence of only eight (instead of eleven
or more) spines in the front dorsal fin. In size it resembles
the mackerel, a large example of either measuring about
20 in., and individuals exceeding that length being the
exceptions. In weight, too, 3 lb. is the approximate limit.
Its habitat is also, like that of the mackerels and their allies,
southern, nor does it, from all accounts, find its way as far
north as the other fish. The two swim in company on the
south coast; but the scad is more commonly taken on the
ground-lines, when the mackerel shoals have “ broken up”
and gone to the bottom, than on the surface-lines in early
summer. Similarly, the scad occurs in the trawl more often
than in the drift-nets. These results, therefore, seem to point
to its keeping closer to the bottom than the mackerel. It
is even more uncertain in its migrations, though, by reason
no doubt of its commercial unimportance, these have been
but little studied. In 1897, as a case in point, thousands

MACKERELS, HORSE-MACKERELS, ALLIED FORMS 137

were netted in Bournemouth Bay throughout July and August.
‘They were called “pilchards,” but they were most assuredly
scad, for the writer handled scores fresh from the seines, and
they have since been as scarce in that bay as they had been
previous to that year.

The eggs of the scad have been described only in the
unfertilised state, Holt having failed to fertilise them arti-
ficially. They are (unfertilised) transparent, and float in
water. Cunningham took the young in a tow-net, from 1 to
2 in. long, in August and September, about five miles out
from Plymouth. At that length they displayed all the adult
characters, and may have been from two to four months old.
According to Couch these young scad are the prey of many
fishes. At a much earlier stage, on the other hand, Malm
found them sheltering in jelly-fish and feeding on their eggs.
The scad is supposed to utter a grunting sound, like that
observed in the gurnards, and the Italians consequently call
the fish by a name corresponding to our word “ vocalist.”
This must be either an occasional habit or more common with
scad taken in the Mediterranean, for the writer has handled
hundreds of scad newly caught in the Channel without once
hearing such sounds.

The Boar-fish (Capros aper), also known as the Cuckoo-
fish, is a small, flattened, orange-red species with a tubular
mouth, and having tubercles all over its skin, Its teeth
are small. It rarely grows to more than 7 in., and its fins are
not in any way remarkable, though there is a long thick ray
in the pectorals, and the ventrals have but three spines.
Matthias Dunn found it spawning on the Cornish coast in
July, and Cunningham succeeded in fertilising the buoyant,
transparent egg, though he failed to hatch out the young.
This fish is plentiful only on our south-west coast during
the summer months, and is of no commercial importance.

138 SALT-WATER FISHES

Cyttidze

The John Dory (Zeus faber) is a much more familiar and
valuable fish, though its popularity as a food-fish is un-
doubtedly prejudiced by ignorant dislike of its grotesque
appearance. Seen from the front, as it hovers in the aquarium
tank, the fish foreshortens to a mere line, which is of immense
advantage to it when stalking its prey. The more familiar
view of the dory, however, as seen in the fishmonger’s shop,
shows us a compressed, dull grey fish, with a conspicuous
black spot on each side of the body, and, as seen, in at
any rate the dead fish, a disproportionately small and tubular
mouth. The fins have long rays which end in filaments, and
at the base of the dorsal and anal there are rows of spines.
The dory grows in our seas to a weight of at any rate 18 Ib.,
and the greatest recorded length is just over 22 in. Its
distribution is that of most of our southern fishes, the fish
being common on the south coast, rare on the east, and
increasingly scarce in northern waters. The largest examples
appear not to penetrate much north of the Thames and Severn
estuaries, and in the Lancashire district, for instance, most
of those taken of late years have measured about 5 in.*

There are patches of bony plates on the abdomen and,
as already stated, at the base of both dorsal and anal fins, and
the scales generally are few and small. The small teeth of the
dory lie in the jaws and on the vomer ; there are none on
the tongue. The curious fancy among the fishermen, asso-
ciating the black blotch on each side of this fish with the
thumb and finger of St. Peter when taking the tribute money,
has been so frequently related as to need no more than
passing mention.

The habits of the dory are more interesting than its some-
what unpromising exterior might suggest. The writer has
often watched these fishes stalking their prey beneath Bourne-

* Herdman and Dawson, fishes and Fisheries of the Irish Sea, 1902, p. 39-

¥, Natural Size

Photoby Ranhold Thiele
JOHN DORY (Zeus faber)

MACKERELS, HORSE-MACKERELS, ALLIED FORMS 139

mouth Pier on calm summer mornings before the water has
been disturbed by holiday traffic, and he can only confirm
Cunningham’s account as absolutely faithful to nature. The
grotesque fish foreshortens to little more than a blurred line,
and in that guise it advances with little, unobtrusive jerks,
gradually approaching the sand-eels and atherines that swarm
among the weed-covered piles. Then, quite suddenly, it
shoots out its tube-shaped mouth like a telescope, or rather
like those Japanese fishing-rods that may be blown out, joint
by joint, from the hollow butt, and the nearest small fish is
seized. So cleverly does the dory sometimes contrive the
assault that the others continue to play unsuspectingly in its
immediate neighbourhood, though it does not commonly take
advantage of this to capture a second before some little interval
has elapsed.

This sort of stratagem suits the dory’s organisation, for
it is only a poor swimmer, and much of its so-called
“ migration””—we know that it appears on different parts
of the coast at stated seasons, so that it is rightly regarded
as a wandering fish—is probably performed by drifting. A
single rough day is sufficient to clear the inshore waters
(for example, under the pier above mentioned) of dories
for days, so that the fish is probably quite unable to hold
its own in those most desirable feeding-grounds when the
shallow water is stirred to its bed by rollers sweeping through
the iron girders.

The breeding of the dory has apparently been little
studied, and the supposed period of the dory’s spawning
is one of the few points on which Matthias Dunn and
Cunningham disagree, for, whereas Dunn considered winter
to be its breeding-time, Cunningham thinks that it must
spawn in summer. The evidence in either case seems rather
circumstantial, Cunningham’s strongest authority being the
assumption that the small dories, measuring from 5 to
7 in., which are trawled in Plymouth Sound between June

140 SALT-WATER FISHES

and September must be one year old, and were therefore
hatched from the egg between June and September of the
preceding year. It may be that subsequent investigation
of the larval dory and its development will confirm Cunning-
ham’s view, but he has certainly made as much of the rather
meagre evidence as could have been expected.

Small dories are said to feed on gobies, which would
probably imply that they hunt their food nearer to the ground
than the larger individuals, which, as already stated, chase
surface-swimming fishes not far below the surface.

Scombresocidze

The Gar-fish (Belone vulgaris) is perhaps the most easily
recognised of our fishes, having a flattened, silvery, eel-like
body and a development of the jaws, the lower one the longer,
that recalls the bill of the woodcock. Examined more closely,
the gar-fish is found to have numerous small teeth in both jaws
which at once distinguish these from the typical bill of existing
birds), wide gill-openings, small scales, the dorsal fin far
back, the tail forked, and large eyes. In colour the gar-fish
is bluish green, with metallic reflections, and even the bones
are green, both in the natural state and when cooked—a
character that has, quite needlessly, prejudiced consumers
against this very excellent food-fish.

There can be no doubt that the gar-fish is migratory, or
that it consorts at some seasons with the mackerel shoals.
The writer never caught gar-fish except when mackerel fishing,
in either the Channel or the Baltic Sea. In the latter this
species was abundant in summer, always in company with
the mackerel, and the two are said to enter from the North
Sea in May or June, with the inflow of denser water through
the Skager Rack. All around our coasts this companionship
between the gar-fish and mackerel seems to be remarked as
something more than a coincidence in the season of their
inshoring, and the gar-fish is invariably taken on the same

MACKERELS, HORSE-MACKERELS, ALLIED FORMS 141

lines or in the same nets that serve for the more important
fish.

As to the method of feeding practised by the gar-fish,
there is little room for doubt on the part of any that have
watched them chasing the small fry with extraordinary agility
close to the surface. The only difficulty arises from a con-
sideration of the recorded instances in which they have been
know to thrust their bills into pilchards or even larger fish.
There can, however, be little doubt that these attacks were
purely accidental, for the bill has been known to break off
in a peal or other large fish, and the gar-fish could never
conceivably have intended feeding on such prey. It can
only be surmised that in its frenzied rushes through the
water its longer jaw does occasionally strike some passing
fish as large as, or larger than, the gar-fish itself, probably
to the destruction of both fish, the one dying from loss
of blood, the other from the accident to its mouth and
subsequent starvation, for it is hardly to be expected that
a gar-fish deprived of its bill could adapt itself to feeding
by suction, as in the case of the maimed bream recorded above.

When hooked on a light line, the gar-fish displays extra-
ordinary activity, leaping out of the water and apparently
endeavouring to shake the hook from its jaws. The gar-fish
is closely related to the flying fish, which is more appropriately
described in the chapter on uncommon fishes, its presence in
our seas being so uncommon, indeed, as to have cast grave
doubts on its being a genuine British fish.

The spawning of the gar-fish is interesting, for we find
its eggs provided with anchoring filaments that recall in a
modified form the tendrils that we noticed in the eggs of two
of the sharks. These threads, some of them one centimetre
(or 2 in.) long, grow all over the surface of the egg, and,
as figured by Masterman,* they look as if they were capable
of anchoring the eggs not alone to each other, but also to

* McIntosh and Masterman, British Marine Food-fishes, p. 401.

142 SALT-WATER FISHES

any other support with which they come in contact. It
does not appear that, at any rate as recently as 1897, the eggs
have ever been obtained in the natural state, so that much
of this surmised function of the filaments, as well as any
statement as to the egg probably hatching out at either the
surface or bottom of the sea, must obviously be conjecture,
even if based on analogy with the habits of kindred species
more closely observed in other seas. Scandinavian authors tell
us circumstantially enough, however, that the fish spawns close
in shore in the spring months, April to June, and one of
them is of opinion that the eggs are deposited among the
weeds, since the fish is always caught among weeds during the
spawning-time.

The young gar-fish is, in its early developments, as inter-
esting as the egg, for the “ beak” is an acquisition of a later
stage, and in the young fish we find the ordinary jaws of any
other teleostean form. Then the lower jaw begins to outgrow
the upper, and at one stage it is immensely the longer, the
discrepancy being far more conspicuous than in the adult.
There is a gar-fish in Australian waters, plentiful in Port
Jackson, and served up almost daily in the winter months
(May to September) in the Sydney hotels, that retains the great
disproportion between the jaws, but this belongs to a distinct
genus (Hemirhamphus), some species of which live up the
fresh-water creeks. Australians call these fish ‘“ half-beaks.”
There are also interesting developments in the fins of our
species, but that of the jaws is more characteristic. Cunning-
ham mentions having found young gar-fish in ground-seines
in the Hamoaze (Plymouth) in September. They measured
4 in. or § in. in length, and were fully developed, and
Cunningham regards them as over a year old. The garfish
grows to about 3 ft. in length.

The Saury Pike (Scombresox saurus), or Skipper, is not
unlike a small gar-fish, but may be distinguished by its deeper
blue (and less green) colour, also by the presence of finlets

MACKERELS, HORSE-MACKERELS, ALLIED FORMS 143

along the back near the tail, by its smaller teeth, and the
slighter difference between the jaws. It appears on our shores
at the same time as the gar-fish, and is perhaps found more
frequently among the pilchards, often hampering the netsmen
by frightening those timid fish. It eggs are said to have the
same filaments as those of the gar-fish, and also to develop in
much the same way, and the larval forms of both are also
compared ; but little study appears to have been given to
either. A skipper of 18 in. would be a large example, and
in Cornwall one meets with more of about half that length.

CHAPTER VI
THE GURNARDS, BULLHEADS, AND WEEVERS

Ir is customary to associate the Gurnards and Bullheads
very closely, and the inclusion of the Weevers in the same
chapter will perhaps be resented for some reasons dear to the
systematic zoologist. At the same time, the wide differences
between the first two groups are scarcely less than those which
separate either from the Weevers. In structure the gurnards
and bullheads differ as completely as in habits. The dispro-
portionately large head and the spines on the gill-covers are,
in fact, their only common possessions. Otherwise the bull-
heads are for the most part dull-coloured, scaleless fishes,
which live some distance from the bottom, or which at any
rate seize baits near the surface, and lay heavy eggs that sink
in the water. The gurnards are generally brightly coloured
fishes, with scales, and with a row of spines along the lateral
line, also with their ventral fins modified into separate rays
that look and act like fingers. They keep almost entirely to
the bottom, but lay floating eggs. They reach, perhaps, their
highest development in the Mediterranean, whereas the bull-
heads are characteristically Arctic fishes.

The Weevers are among the greatest dangers to shore-
bathers on our coasts. Quantities are caught in the trawl-net,
and on the quays at Lowestoft the writer has seen heaps
containing many hundreds, which are sold to fish-fryers at a
low figure, the proceeds being divided among the crew of the

smack as a perquisite.
144

THE GURNARDS, BULLHEADS, AND WEEVERS 145

The fishes which occupy the present chapter fall under
three families. They are :—

FamiILy. Common Name. Genus. SPECIES,

Sea-scorpion Cottus Scorpius
Father-lasher Cc. bubalis
Four-horned Cottus Cc guadricornis
Norway Bullhead Cc. norvegicus
Red Gurnard Trigla cuculus

Sonuee Grey Gurnard de. gurnardus
Streaked Gurnard T. lineata
Sapphirine Gurnard T. hirundo
Piper Ls lyra
Lanthorn Gurnard T. obscura
Armed Bullhead Agonus cataphractus

GATEEEB AEE F { Armed Gurnard Peristethus cataphractum
Greater Weever Trachinus draco

TRACHINIDA : { Lesser Weever tf vipera

It will now be necessary to consider these somewhat in
detail.

Cottidze
Tue BuLLHEADS AND GURNARDS

Something has already been said of the differences between
these two groups. The habit of grunting—hence the French
‘¢ gourneau,” and the English vernacular name “ piper”’ of one
species—is commonly associated with the gurnards only ; and
Cunningham explains it as the sound produced by the expul-
sion of air from one chamber of the closed and partitioned
air-bladder to the other. This is probably correct, the only
objection to it being that some bullheads (hence the German
name for the Baltic sea-scorpion, “ Kuurrhahn”’) also utter
these sounds, and the bullheads have no air-bladder. It is,
however, true that the noise made by the bullheads is much
weaker than that of the gurnards, and it may in their case be
merely the gasping expulsion of air at the gill-covers. The
grunting sound made by gurnards is, on the other hand, said
to be produced when these fish are still under water, though

fe)

146 SALT-WATER FISHES

the writer is not aware of any existing record of its having been
heard from fish in that position. On the American and other
tropical coasts, however, the so-called “drums” utter sounds
beneath the water which make themselves distinctly heard by
the occupants of boats passing over fish lying at some depth.

The Sea-scorpion (Cottus scorpius) is, like most of these
fishes, well armed, carrying spines above the eyes and on the
gill-covers. It grows to a length of rg in. in our seas, and is
grey in colour on the back, with often some yellow on its
white underparts ; and in some examples there are red shades
on the fins, but this is not apparently a constant character.
{t frequents estuaries, and appears to live in brackish water
without inconvenience. It has no scales. Its teeth are feeble,
as are those in all the bullheads and gurnards. It seems to
be rarer on our south-west coast than the father-lasher ; indeed,
Cunningham has not found it at Plymouth at all. McIntosh
says that its eggs are abundant on the east coast of Scotland
in March, attached to stones, weeds, and débris. On the west
coast they are apparently found about a month earlier. They
are some shade of pink or red and covered with small
punctures, and they hatch out at the bottom of the shallow
water. The larve exhibit remarkable vitality.

The Father-lasher (C. bubalis) is a smaller species, with a
longer spine on the upper portion of the gill-cover. Although
the majority of individuals have the dull covering characteristic
of the bullheads, purple-red examples are sometimes taken ;
and Cunningham thinks that these must have resided among
the red weeds.

The father-lasher deposits its spawn among the weeds,
often above low-water mark, and thus exposed to the air when
the tide recedes.

The Four-horned Cottus (C. guadricornis) has four rough
tubercles, in pairs, on the head, and there are also rows of
tubercles along the sides. Like the father-lasher, it grows in
our seas to about a foot, or a little more, in length. It is also

THE GURNARDS, BULLHEADS, AND WEEVERS 147

stated to inhabit deeper water and to be a swifter-swimming
fish ; but the writer has caught many in the shallow waters of
the Baltic without observing any greater activity than in the
rest. With regard to its breeding, Scandinavian authors
regard winter as the spawning-period of the four-horned cottus,
and they compare its spawn to that of the perch, deposited in
one mass. McIntosh is, however, sceptical, not alone as regards
the alleged time of breeding, but also with regard to the com-
paratively large size and advanced development of the larva on
emerging from the egg. While the eggs have not been ob-
tained in our seas, the larval and post-larval forms have not
been wanting on the east coast of Scotland.

The Norway Bullhead (C. norvegicus) is included in the
list of British fishes on the strength of a single example
trawled some years ago in Scotch waters, so that any account
of the fish would be obviously out of place in the present work.

The Red Gurnard (Trigla cuculus) is the commonest of
our gurnards, at any rate on the south coast, and is easily
distinguished by its red back and silvery belly. The scales
of the gurnards are small, and in the present species there is no
ridge of sharp spines along the lateral line, but the line itself
is marked by transverse plates which define it unmistakably
along its whole length. There are also rows of spines along
the base of the dorsal fins. The red gurnard has the finger-
like rays on the pectoral fins. It leads a lazy existence,
seeking its food close to the sand. Very often when a bait not
too large for its mouth is allowed to rest for a moment on
the sand off the Cornish coast in water of from 10 to 40
fathoms, it is instantly seized by a red gurnard, one of which
seems:always in readiness, so that the species must be incredibly
abundant in that part of the Channel. Occasionally one
will take a spinning bait that moves slowly near the bottom,
and this generally happens, in fact, in pollack-fishing, when the
artificial bait sinks in the water and comes almost to a standstill
as the boat is-making a tack.

148 SALT-WATER FISHES

The spawning of the red gurnard has been studied in
this country, and its transparent, floating eggs have been arti-
ficially fertilised by Cunningham. The hatching took six days
at Plymouth, the newly hatched larval gurnard being rather
under 33; in. Gunther alludes to the sensitiveness of the
three pectoral “ fingers,” and explains that the anterior spinal
nerves are instrumental in supplying this.

The Grey Gurnard (T. gurnardus) is a more northern form,
and has consequently been studied at St. Andrews far more
than the last. Indeed, Holt never knew of a single red
gurnard being caught there during his eighteen months’
residence.* It is also the commonest gurnard on our east
coast and in the Irish Sea, where the fishermen know it as
the “‘knowds.” It is easily distinguished from the last not
merely by its colour, grey with white spots, but also by the
absence of spines along the base of the dorsal fins, and, on
the other hand, their presence on the lateral line. It is also
a larger fish, growing to a length of 30 in. as against 18 in.,
the greatest recorded length of the red species. It must be
borne in mind that the name “grey gurnard” is applied on
parts of the Irish coast to the Sapphirine Gurnard (I. hirundo),
a very different fish.

Its eggs float on the sea, and their hatching and the
development of the larva have been described in great detail
by McIntosh and Masterman.t In June, according to the
authors, the grey gurnard’s egg is the commonest pelagic egg
on the east coast of Scotland; and as it is found in the shallow
water from April until August, and only takes a few days
in hatching, it may be inferred that the spawning period
extends over several months. The grey gurnard comes
in shore, then, to deposit its spawn ; in autumn it returns
to deeper water. It has even been said that the fish spawns
twice in the year, but this is generally doubted, being based

* Vide Trans. Roy. Dub. Soc., July, 1893, p- 35-
+ British Marine Foodjishes, pp. 135-143.

1, Natural Size

Photo by Reinhald Thiele

REDGURNARD (Trigla cuculus)

THE GURNARDS, BULLHEADS, AND WEEVERS 149

only on the occasional occurrence of the egg in January. The
pectoral fins show great development in the early days, but
the separation of the “fingers” is a later growth. It is thought
that the ancestors of the gurnard lacked these “ fingers,” which
have been adopted as a modified structure by gurnards now in
existence. The grey gurnard is said to come to maturity
during its third year, or when about 8 or g in. long.

The Streaked Gurnard (Tf. Jineata) has slanting, raised
ridges down the sides, and there are rows of spines along both
the base of the dorsal fins and lateral line. It is dark red
in colour, and has usually brownish blotches on the fins. It
takes the hook less frequently than other gurnards, being more
often trawled or caught in set nets. None of these gurnards
are easily handled with impunity, but the abundance of spines
on the present species makes it the most unmanageable
of all.

The Sapphirine Gurnard (T. hirundo), or Tub, is our second
largest species, and grows to a couple of feet in length. It
is red in colour, and has the hinder (or upper) surface of the
pectoral fins a bright blue. These it is fond of displaying
when alarmed, possibly as a danger signal. Its eggs have
apparently not been specially studied.

The Piper (I. /yra) is the largest of our gurnards, examples
having been caught measuring over 2 ft. in length. It is
red in colour, and has saw-edged bony plates projecting from
the snout. The pectoral fins are large, but lack the brilliant
colouring of those in JZ. hirundo. It seems likely that the
bony projections on the head of this species may be useful
in routing in the gravel for food, but this has not been
actually observed in the aquarium.

The Lanthorn Gurnard (J. obscura), also known as the
Long-finned Gurnard, in allusion to the long second spine of
the dorsal fin, has, in addition to that peculiarity, a bright
silver band along the sides. Otherwise it is uniform red in
colour. Its scales are small, and the lateral line is marked by

150 SALT-WATER FISHES

much the same arrangement of transverse plates as in the red
kind. Like the red gurnard, too, it has rows of spines along
the base of the dorsal fins. ‘The pectoral fins are blue, but are
not displayed to any extent like the larger pectorals of the tub.
It is a small gurnard, rare in our seas, and reaching us from
the south of Europe. The men on the Plymouth trawlers
know it as the “offing” gurnard, presumably alluding to its
preference for deeper water.

Cataphracti
THe ARMED BULLHEAD AND GURNARD

The two fishes that follow, both belonging to a second
family, are distinguished by several easily recognisable characters
from the true bullheads and gurnards, but otherwise appear
to have certain affinities with those groups.

The Armed Bullhead (Agonus cataphractus) has its head
and body protected by bony plates, giving the head more
particularly the appearance of a solid geometrical figure. It
has two dorsal fins, and beneath the head there are many small
growths like threads. In colour it is yellowish grey, with
black vertical bands down the sides. It is a small fish,
only 5 or 6 in. in length, and its home is in the sand,
where it preys on minute crustaceans. Its teeth are weak, but
the small forms on which it feeds are probably soft. Like
the true bullheads, it lacks the air-bladder, whereas the next
species, like the true gurnards, has that organ. The spawning
of the armed bullhead was studied comparatively recently, and,
although Cunningham omits all mention of it, McIntosh
devotes several pages to an account of its early life-history.
Its eggs, which are of the demersal kind, are deposited among
weeds, and the larve are well developed when they emerge.
They are more brightly coloured than the adult, and live for a
time near the surface of the water, finally taking to a life at
the bottom of the sea, like their parents. The capsule of the

THE GURNARDS, BULLHEADS, AND WEEVERS 151

ege is described as tough and elastic, rebounding when pressed
with the point of a needle; and the egg is extraordinarily hardy,
as proved by the fact of some having survived being frozen up
in ice for nearly a month, an ordeal that would have killed
most pelagic ova.

The Armed Gurnard (Peristethus cataphractum) has also a
strong bony cuirass, but it is more gurnard-like than the last,
having two pectoral “fingers.” There are also prominent
barbels on the lower jaw; but there are no teeth, so that this
fish must eat only the softest food. It inhabits somewhat
deeper water than the true gurnards, and is only a wanderer to
our seas from the Mediterranean. In colour it is scarlet,
which gives it a further resemblance to many of the gurnards,
and it grows to 18 in. or 2 ft. in length.

In addition to the foregoing characters, the armed gurnard
has two curious, slightly serrated, and flattened processes
growing before the eyes, and the first dorsal fin also has some
very long free rays. Very little has been recorded of the
habits of this fish, and its spawning does not appear to have
been studied in either this or any other country.

Trachinidze

THe WEEVERS

We now come to two very different fishes, both of them
venomous, and the smaller decidedly the most dangerous
inhabitant, for its size, of any sea. Affinities have been
suggested between the dangerous weevers and the innocuous
dragonet, a small and interesting form that is described in a
subsequent chapter; and this, if correct, illustrates a case of
mimicry, just as we know that, for their own safety, some
non-venomous snakes closely imitate venomous species. The
weevers also recall, with some well-marked differences, the
bullheads, and the resemblance, apparent in the adults, is still
more marked in the larval and post-larval stages, in which the

152 SALT-WATER FISHES

head seems equipped with an almost identical armature. As a
matter of fact, the weevers take a very different place in the
economy of nature; while, as regards their use to man, they are
eaten in some continental countries after the removal of the
offending spines, but are little appreciated by us. In the
poorer quarters, however, of some large cities in this kingdom,
weevers find a ready sale under various disguises. ‘The smaller
kind is the more abundant on our south coast, but the larger
seems more commonly found in northern waters. They have
no air-bladder; the eyes are directed upwards ; the mouth
opens obliquely.

The Greater Weever (Trachinus draco), which grows in
our seas to a length of between 12 and 18 in., has
curious oblique lines of scales down its body, which show a
yellow shade against the grey ground-colour. The fins are
mostly yellow, with some black on their margins ; but the first
dorsal is black, and is apparently erected as a danger-signal.
It is not, to all appearance, used intentionally by the fish, as are
the spines on the gill-covers. With the latter either of the
weevers can strike any object with great accuracy. Couch
relates how he kept a greater weever alive by throwing sea
water over it, and how it struck at his stick whenever he stirred
itup. The spines in these fishes are not comparable to the
venom-fangs in some snakes; indeed, it is not. satisfactorily
demonstrated that any venom is introduced in the wound,
though this seems probable. In the case of the “Fortescue,”
a venomous little fish of Australian seas, it is claimed that
there is a direct venom-gland. At any rate, a wound from the
weever’s spines is sufficiently serious to have called on more
than one occasion for prompt surgical operation, and it is
singular that no steps are taken in this country to warn anglers
and others against these fishes. One often shudders at the
sight of some child, or even grown person, ignorantly handling
the dangerous little fish on some pier or other in August,
during which month, particularly during a spell of east wind,

THE GURNARDS, BULLHEADS, AND WEEVERS 153

anglers catch many on sandy ground; whereas in Australia
diagrams and descriptions of the “ Fortescue ” are posted on the
piers and quays by the local angling societies.

The Lesser Weever (7. vipera) grows to only 7 or
8 in., is paler in colour than the larger species, and has
a black band on the caudal fin. It is more dangerous than the
other on account of its smaller size, for it can lurk in the
smallest patch of seaweed in the nets, and the unsuspecting
fisherman grasps the dangerous spines in his hand in his effort
to throw away the weed and débris. In some of the Scotch
isles the lesser weever and sand-eel are regarded respectively as
the male and female of the same species, a belief for which it
would be difficult to find any basis. These totally unaccount-
able beliefs on the part of some of our fishermen are probably
derived from very early superstitions. Such, for instance, are
the beliefs that shrimps are young flat-fishes, and that flounders,
like Surinam water-toads, carry their eggs embedded in their
back.

The spawning of the lesser weever was studied by the late
Mr. Brook,* of Huddersfield, and he found the weevers spawn
in an aquarium in very early morning (between 1 and 5 a.m.)
in June. The eggs are of the buoyant kind; and the larve,
which hatch out in from nine to eleven days, differ from those
of other teleostean fishes in having the pelvic fins distinct
before leaving the egg. The egg itself is pearly white and
translucent, and has from twenty to thirty small oil-globules.
These make it extremely buoyant, and even the larva floats,
for some hours after hatching, on its back.

The food of the weevers probably consists in great part of
worms and small crustaceans, but from the upward direction of
the mouth and eyes, it seems probable that there are times at
which these fishes simply lie on the sea bed with their eyes and
mouth open and receive their share of the constant supplies of
food that must be raining down from the disturbed surface waters.

* See Journ. Linn. Soc., 1885, Vol. XVIIL., p. 274.

CHAPTER VU
THE GOBIES, SUCKERS, AND BLENNIES

To those who in their superior knowledge regard the
British vertebrate fauna as either worked out, or at most
subject to periodic additions in the shape of straggling birds
doubtfully included, it may come as a shock to learn that a
new British fish has been identified during the year 1903 by
Mr. Pickard-Cambridge. He, at the suggestion of Mr.
Boulenger—a suggestion offered as far back as 1899 in the
Annals and Magazine of Natural History—searched the rock-
pools of Cornwall for Gobius capito, a species with which Mr.
Boulenger had been familiar in the vicinity of Concarneau, and
which, he thought, might be the abnormally long 9-inch
specimens of G. niger mentioned by Couch and Day. This
species, hitherto reckoned the largest of British gobies, never
exceeds 54 inches. In Brittany, at any rate, G. capito, now a
British fish, is regarded as an excellent table-fish, so we may
in time eat it on this side of the Channel.

Some thirty or more of these small fishes must be con-
sidered in the present chapter. Not one of these, it is safe to
affirm, will ever be seen at the fishmonger’s shop, or, seen
there, would be recognised by his customers. To the general
rule of insignificant size and commercial unimportance there
are just two exceptions, the lumpsucker and wolf-fish, each
of which grows to a large weight and commands a price as

food in country districts. The fishes are as follow :—
154

THE GOBIES SUCKERS, AND BLENNIES 155
FamiLy. Common Name. Genus. SPECIES.
(| Four-spotted Goby Gobtns guadrimaculatus
G. Sel rey ste
G. scorpotdes
Black Goby G. niger
Spotted Goby G. minutus
Paganellus G. paganellus
GosilDAz 5 4 Two-spotted Goby G. Sflavescens
Parnell’s Goby G. parnellt
Painted Goby G. pictus
G. Sfriestt
G. capito
White Goby Aphia pellucida
\| Nilsson’s Goby Crystallogobius nilssont
Gemmeous Dragonet Callionymus lyra
CAELIONSMI DS { Spotted Dedsonct G . Shae
Lumpsucker Cyclopterus lumpus
DIscoBoLl . Sea-snail Liparis vulgaris
Montagu’s Sucker L. montagut
Cornish Sucker Lepadogaster gouanit
Connemara Sucker Ls decandolit
GOBIESOCIDA . Doubly-spotted Sucker L. bimaculatus
Ls stictopteryx
Shanny Blennius pholis
Gattorugine B. galtorugine
Butterfly Blenny B. ocellaris
Montagu’s Blenny B. galerita
BLENNIID& Yarrell’s Blenny Carelophus ascanit
Gunnel Centronotus gunnellus
Viviparous Blenny Zoarces viviparus
Wolf-fish Anarrhicas lupus
GASTEROSTEID._ | Fifteen-spined Stickleback} Gastevosteus spinachia
Broad-nosed Pipe-fish Siphonostoma typhle
Greater Pipe-fish Sygnathus acus
Straight-nosed Pipe-fish | Merophis a@quoreus
SYGNATHIDA . Snake Pipe-fish XN. ophidion
Worm Pipe-fish Nz. lumbriciformis
Sea-horse Hippocampus antiguorum

It is not to be thought that all of the foregoing families
and genera are very closely related on anatomical grounds,
though the first five families have much in common.
The stickleback and pipe-fishes are merely included for
convenience in a chapter planned to dispose of all the small
shore-haunting forms found in our rock pools and filling

a somewhat similar place in nature’s economy.

They live

156 SALT-WATER FISHES

for the most part in very shallow water, and in some cases
the eggs are even deposited and hatched above low water-
mark. In most species the male parent shows the anxiety to
protect the eggs, discovering parental instincts that we seek in
vain among the larger and in some respects more highly
developed food-fishes described in earlier chapters. Yet it is
hardly commendable to take the view adopted by one writer,
who cynically regrets that Nature should have implanted the
most cautious habits in the least valuable fishes. In the first
place, Nature does not take the fishmonger’s view of what are
the most and least valuable fishes, for she has uses for all quite
distinct from those of the kitchen. In the second place, this
strong affection for the eggs and young is in many cases
counteracted by a compensating lack of judgment, as these
fishes often deposit their eggs in situations on the foreshore,
where they must inevitably be exposed at high tide to the
violence of the surf and at low to the raids of crows and gulls.

Scales, so characteristic a covering in the majority of fishes,
are not strongly developed among these small shore-dwellers,
though present in some of them. In many cases the scales
are replaced by either tubercles or bony plates ; in others they
are absent, and there is no such substitute.

Gobiidze
Tue Gosigs

Interesting in their breeding habits, the Gobies are in
themselves insignificant-looking, little, spotted fishes with large
fins in proportion to the size of their bodies. Their eggs are
deposited at the bottom of the sea in shallow water, and in all
manner of strange receptacles that recall the curious nesting-
sites chosen by some birds. These eggs are attached to their
supports by a network of hairlike anchor ropes, and these are
admirably figured by Professor McIntosh and Mr. Master man
in their work on our Marine Food-fishes. These eggs, as

THE GOBIES, SUCKERS, AND BLENNIES 157

well as those of the blennies, are found in various shells and
under stones. Like the herring, in fact, these small fishes
deposit eggs too heavy to float in salt water, so that the
biologist obtains them from the dredge, and not, as in the
case of pelagic, or floating, eggs, in the surface tow-net. In
the blennies it is the female that, as a rule, takes sole charge of
the eggs, while in the gobies and suckers this duty devolves
upon the male.

So small and inconspicuous are these fishes that we may
reasonably expect three results from any closer investigation of
their individual peculiarities. In the first place, we shall in all
probability find that earlier writers confused distinct species
under one name, and it looks, in fact, as if Day had confused
the four-spotted goby with another species (G. jeffreysiz), the
former a common wanderer from the Mediterranean region,
the latter a much rarer visitor from the Atlantic, having been
taken by Herdman off the Isle of Man, and, as recently only as
1897, by Holt in the Plymouth district.

Secondly, we shall find species described in earlier works
as extremely rare without being so in reality. A case in
point is Nilsson’s goby (Crystallogobius), which Day describes
as a rare species of northern haunts, naming only a single
British specimen, but of which, in 1891, Cunningham took
no fewer than 201 specimens at a single haul of a fine-meshed
shrimp-trawl in 28 fathoms of water some 10 miles from the
Eddystone. Holt records the same goby a year earlier (1890)
in Ballinskelligs Bay, and a year later (1892) off Flamborough
Head. As Nilsson’s goby is a tiny, transparent, scaleless
fish, measuring when full-grown only about 14 in. in length,
it might easily be overlooked in a district for years. Although,
moreover, its distribution, however local and capricious, can
hardly have altered so completely since the time at which
Day wrote his great work, it is only fair to that author to
recollect that the occurrence of these gobies on any part of
the coast is subject to sudden and unaccountable variation.

158 SALT-WATER FISHES

Thus another’ species, the white, or transparent, goby
(Aphia), was found by Professor White in the Menai Strait
in great abundance in 1897, but during the six years that
have since elapsed only stray individuals have been taken on
the same grounds. Prof. Herdman and Mr. Dawson mention
that its numbers vary in the Lancashire district from year
to year, and in some seasons it is netted in company with the
shoals of young herrings.

The third result to which the further study of such small
fishes may always be expected to lead is the addition of new
species hitherto overlooked. Of this one case was cited above.
Again, in the group under notice, Dr. Scharff described Godius
friesii for the first time in working out the results of the Irish
surveys in 1889 and 1891; and yet more recently, in 1897,
Messrs. Holt and Byrne added G. scorpoides, one example of
which they dredged in the mouth of Falmouth Harbour
among a quantity of dead shells.

From this alone it will be apparent that the gobies, though
neglected by the fishermen, are of great interest to the shore-
naturalist, for their haunts come within the scope of his
necessarily restricted operations, and it is open to all to find
the rarer kinds in a ramble among the rock pools. The
rarer flat-fishes, on the other hand, and gadoids, reside out in
the deeper offshore waters, and are, as a rule, discovered only
by elaborately equipped scientific expeditions.

There are, as may be seen by reference to the foregoing
list, twelve gobies at present named as British, though, for
the reasons given above, this list may be regarded as subject
to early additions.

The Four-spotted Goby (Gobius quadrimaculatus) is the
one which Day apparently confused with G. jeffreysiz. Neither
call for detailed account.

G. scorpoides, equally rare, has just been mentioned.

The Black Goby (G. niger), or Rock Goby, is the largest
species but one in our seas, and has white blotches on its dull

THE GOBIES, SUCRERS, AND BLENNIES 159

brown sides. It clings to the rocks in much the same fashion
as that observed in the suckers.

The Spotted Goby (G. minutus) is also known as the
Polewig, and in the Lancashire district, where it is the
most abundant of all gobies, as the One-spotted Goby. To
which of its many spots this may refer, unless to the dark one
on the dorsal fin, it is not easy to say. It has been observed
in Colwyn Bay by Mr. A. O. Walker, one of the closest
observers of these fishes, guarding its eggs in an empty JZya
shell, which it half buried in the sand. Shrimps appear to be
among the worst enemies of the gobies’ eggs, and against them
the male parent has to be unremittingly on the watch, besides
keeping a continuous current of water circulating about the
eggs, and providing them with the fresh layers of oxygenated
water so essential to their healthy development.

The Paganellus (G. paganellus) is chiefly interesting on
account of the attractive garb that the male assumes in the
breeding-time. Less brilliant in this respect than the dragonet,
it nevertheless displays a bright purple coat with orange yellow
on the dorsal fin.

The Two-spotted Goby (G. flavescens) has a conspicuous
black spot above the pectoral fin and a second on the tail.
According to Harvie-Brown and Buckley, it deposits its eggs
in mussel shells.

Parnell’s Goby (G. parnelli) is a small goby with light
bands on the back fin.

The Painted Goby (G. pictus) is another of the small fishes
with strong secondary sexual characters, its dorsal fin dis-
playing in the breeding-season bright blue and green metallic
reflections. Mr. A. O. Walker has been a most successful
collector of this handsome goby. It was he who sent Day his
single specimen described in British Fishes, and he again
secured the species at Colwyn Bay in 1894, and described it as
not uncommon there as recently as Trg0T*

* Herdman and Dawson, fishes and Fisheries of the Lrish Sea, 1902, p. 40.

160 SALT-WATER FISHES

G. friesii 1s the new goby aforementioned, named and
described by Dr. Scharff in or about the year 1891. It is
yellow in colour, and has numerous dark-brown spots, and the
dorsal fin has sometimes, but not always, an elongated ray.

The White, or Transparent, Goby (phia pellucida), a
tiny creature of not more than 13 in., has an interest
distinct from that of any other member of the family. It is
thought to reach maturity, spawn, and die within its first
year, so that it would be what is known as an “annual ver-
tebrate.’’ This statement, which owes its origin to Professor
Collett, of Christiania, is one that will in all probability always
be labelled “not proven.” It might conceivably be demon-
strated that in the aquarium the transparent goby dies after
spawning once. Mr. Cunningham has demonstrated that
female congers cannot spawn in the aquarium, and that in
their efforts to deposit their eggs they die. From this we are
are asked to believe that the conger spawns once and dies in
nature ; but many will prefer to keep an open mind in the
case of both conger and goby. It may be that another
generation will view the alleged short span of this goby’s life
in the same light in which we now, thanks to later observa-
tions in the aquarium, regard the “two-year” existence of
the sticklebacks, Yarrell, Donovan, and other early writers
asked the world to believe that these fishes lived only two years,
and their theories have been proved wrong. Such ephemeral
careers are familiar enough to the botanist and entomologist,
but among vertebrates so short a life is, under normal con-
ditions, extremely uncommon,

Nilsson’s Goby (Crystallogobius nilssoni) has already been
mentioned in reference to its distribution and abundance on
our coasts. The ventral fins of these gobies show the transi-
tion to the disc of the suckers, and many of these fishes cling
in like fashion to the rocks, and thus resist the force of the
waves. This method of adhesion, which we shall find more
highly developed in the suckers themselves, must be a great

THE GOBIES, SUCKERS, AND BLENNIES 161

convenience to these shallow-water dwellers in rough weather,
when the swirl of the surf would otherwise dash them ashore
or at any rate transport them far from their eggs. Other
fishes, not provided with these suctorial fins or discs, have to
burrow in the sand ;* and Cunningham gives a most interest-
ing account of an experiment by which he discovered the
manner in which the topknots (Zeugopterus), a group of flat-
fishes particularly given to a rocky dwelling, contrive to cling
to the vertical glass wall of an aquarium tank. By ingeniously
colouring the water with carmine particles, he was able to
ascertain the nature and direction of currents in the water
produced by the fish pumping water with its fins from between
its body and the glass and thereby setting up enough difference
in pressure to keep it in position. In order to satisfy himself
beyond doubt that such was the case, he constructed an imita-
tion topknot of indiarubber with a siphon tube, and _ his
artificial flat-fish behaved exactly as was expected of it, falling
away from the glass the moment he checked the action of the
siphon. In view of what was said above of the convenience
of such methods of adhesion to shallow water fishes, the top-
knot’s preference for a rocky ground, whereas most other
flat-fishes prefer the sand, is interesting.

The most familiar foreign relatives of the gobies are the
grotesque little Mudskippers of the South Pacific. Their
strangely protruding, mobile eyes stare like those of the
chameleon, and they jump over the wet and treacherous sand
of North Australian estuaries more like frogs than fishes.

Callionymidze
Tue Draconets

Closely related to the gobies are the two Dragonets
(Callionymide). As in so many of our wild birds, the male
* See an interesting paper by Hunt and Jeffreys on “The Influence

of Wave Currents on the Fauna inhabiting Shallow Seas” (Journ. Linn.
Soc, 1885, pp. 270-271).

II

162 SALT-WATER FISHES

is much more smartly attired than the female, and in the
breeding-season this is particularly conspicuous. For a long
time, indeed, the male and female of C. lyra were regarded
as two species, going by the names of the Yellow and Dusky
Skulpins. “Yellow” gives but a faint idea of the beautiful
wedding-coat of the male, with its blue and yellow and purple
bands and pale blue spots. The male is further distinguished
by long threads that grow from the dorsal fin, and that are
probably erected to intimidate enemies ; and it has been seen
in the aquarium to attract its duller mate by going through
antics like those of farmyard fowls,* his dorsal rays streaming
in the water, and his mouth protruding. The female dragonet
has also been said to masquerade occasionally in male attire,
much after the fashion of old hen pheasants, but this seems
to require confirmation.

The Gemmeous Dragonet (Callionymus lyra), of which the
male has been already described (the female is of a uniform
brown, with spots and blotches), has a pointed mouth with
small orifice, and is said to feed on molluscs. Unlike the
gobies and suckers, it lays floating eggs, which are seen under
the microscope to be curiously reticulated. The advantage
of this structure has not yet been explained. Nor are
naturalists agreed as to the object and cause of the striking
secondary sexual characters aforenamed. Some are of opinion
that the females would continue in each succeeding generation
to mate with the best-dressed males, the latter consequently
transmitting their bright hues to posterity, and the duller
males dying bachelors in the course of time. Others take
exception to this theory of selection, and prefer to regard
the duller colouring of the female as the special departure,
having for its object to ensure her safety during the breeding-
time. This view, while in many respects unsatisfactory, finds

* Perhaps the most interesting account ever published of the appear-

ance and habits of the dragonet is that contributed by Holt (with an
admirable figure) to the Proc. Zool. Soc., 1898, pp. 281 et. seg.

THE GOBIES, SUCKERS, AND BLENNIES 163

support in the preponderance of male dragonets taken from
the inside of the cod and haddock.

The Spotted Dragonet (C. maculatus) has a grey body
with light spots, and there are black spots on the fins. Day
records only a single British example, dredged off Shetland ;
but Gunther has since identified it from the Clyde estuary,
and it has also been taken off the west coast of Ireland. One
of the latest records of this species is from the neighbour-
hood of Falmouth, where Holt trawled it in July, 1897, in
30 or 35 fathoms of water. It is generally, in fact, regarded
as a deeper water species than C. /yra, though even of the
latter it is only the females and young males that are, as a
rule, found quite close to land, the males being usually taken
in the shrimp-trawl. ‘

The large, upturned eyes and mobile mouth would
distinguish the dragonets apart from any peculiarity of colour-
ing, the mouth being thrust out in a curious fashion when
they are feeding on small copepoda. One of the most notice-
able habits of these fishes in the aquarium is to lie half buried
in the sand, and keep the pectoral fins in rapid rotation, a
motion also observed in pipe-fishes.

THE SuckeERS

As already stated, the Suckers have developed still further
the disc-like arrangement that exists in a rudimentary form in
the gobies, and the adhesive organs of both the divisions of the
present group act, when pressed to a wet surface, even after
the death of the fish. These suckers are divided into two
distinct families, the one with three, the other with four,
representatives in our seas. The first includes the ungainly
lumpsucker (Cyclopterus) and two smaller kinds, in all of
which the throat-fins themselves form the adhesive disc. The
second, with four species, have the disc in the form of a
separate structure between those fins. As a further con-

164 SALT-WATER FISHES

spicuous difference between the two groups, the lumpsucker
and its kindred have a spinous fin on the back, whereas the
dorsal fins of Lepadogaster are without spines.

Discoboli

The Lumpsucker (Cycloprerus lumpus) is perhaps the most
hideous and repulsive fish in our seas. The coarse head and
thick-set body are enveloped in a loose, slimy skin covered
with warty tubercles. There are numerous teeth in the jaws,
but none on the tongue or vomer. The female is the larger,
having been captured weighing over 15 Ib., and is generally
blue in colour, the prevailing hue in the male being red.
They are known on the Scotch coasts as the cock and
hen paidle.

It is not to be expected, seeing that the greenness of its
bones prejudice people against so excellent a food-fish as the
gar-fish, that a fish with the appearance of the lumpsucker
should be in great demand as human food. In England the
fish is little eaten, if at all. In some parts of Scotland it is
eaten by the natives; in others, it is considered fit for the
pigs only.

Its natural enemies are, however, many and dangerous,
for seals devour it in estuaries, sharks prey on it in deeper
water, and crows, rooks, and gulls attack it when guarding
the eggs above low water-mark. The eggs, which are heavy
and sink in the water, are deposited in early spring, and lie in
masses among the rocks. McIntosh points out an interesting
case of protective colouring, due in part to reflection, for when
such a mass of eggs is only partly covered under a rocky
ledge, the eggs thus immersed are of a faint lilac hue, while
those more exposed are straw-coloured. From the point of
view of the species, it is to be regretted that the male lump-
sucker has not a little less devotion and the female a little
more judgment, for the eggs are frequently deposited on the

% Natural Size

Photo by Rariheld Thiele

LUMPSUCKER (Cyclopterus lumpus/

THE GOBIES, SUCKERS, AND BLENNIES 165

foreshore in situations so exposed that not alone the eggs, but
also their untiring guardians, are devoured by birds or rats.
Many anecdotes have been related of the courage with which
the male mounts guard over the eggs. It is related that one
was once found lying on its side in a hot June sun in water so
shallow that one side of the body and gill-covers was exposed
to the air. It has also been observed that when a storm has
scattered masses of these eggs, and driven the sentinels from
their post, numbers of distracted males are to be seen hunting
everywhere, in the succeeding calm, for their lost treasures.

Day quotes someone who observed the young adhering
to the male immediately after leaving the egg, and being
carried off by him to the greater security of the deeper water,
but later authorities have doubted this story. It is now, in-
deed, generally recognised that the larval lumpsucker keeps
close to the shore for some time, seeking safety among the
stones and weed-roots. The imperfect little lumpsuckers are
far more rapid and active than the adult, their tail-fin pro-
pelling them effectually, and even their heavy hindquarters,
a hindrance to progress in later life, lending at that stage an
impetus to their movements. Their colouring in these early
days is somewhat remarkable, the head being light brown,
with a pale blue band, the body yellow, and the base of the
dorsal fins being marked by blue spots. The rough tubercles,
so conspicuous in the adult, do not develop until the young
measure about #2 in., or three times the length at which
they emerge from the egg. At that stage, too, the eye is
proportionately much larger than in the full-grown fish.

McIntosh found the skin of the larve to be covered with
minute leeches, while at a somewhat later stage young lump-
suckers are infested with threadworms. This identification of
both internal and external parasites in fishes themselves less
than an inch in length gives some idea of the extent to which,
of late years, microscopic work has been summoned to the
aid of marine biology.

166 SALT-WATER FISHES

The Sea-snail (Liparis vulgaris) is a small sucker that does
not exceed a length of 6 in. Its skin is so loose as to
give the impression of an ill-fitting coat. Herdman and
Dawson have found it in the Mersey district feeding on
shrimps. The eggs, which are sometimes deposited in
estuaries, attach themselves in small round masses to zoophytes
and red seaweeds at depths of between 1 and 30 fathoms—a
range of considerable variation ; and they have been mistaken
for the slightly larger eggs of the herring. They are said to
be very hardy, bearing transport and exposure when packed in
wet seaweed better than the eggs of most other fishes. Like
the lumpsucker, they have no scales.

Montagu’s Sucker (L. montaguz) is both smaller and more
active than the last, and is common in the northern waters,
round the Hebrides. Neither of these smaller suckers have
the tubercles of the lumpsucker, but in them there is the same
modification of the throat-fins to form the adhesive disc. The
indirect importance of these little fishes to the student of
economic forms may be gathered from their continual occur-
rence in the stomach of the cod and haddock.

Gobiesocidze

The second group of suckers, with the separate disc
between the ventral fins, has four species, all of which deposit
their flattened, oval eggs inside the deserted shells of the scallop
or razor-fish, as well as among the roots of weed tangles.
Some of these small suckers are brilliantly coloured in early
life, the males particularly displaying much red on the eyes and
on the sides of the body. There are other secondary sexual
characters besides colour. The frilled border of the disc and
vent varies to a considerable extent in male and female. The
names of two of these little fishes, the Cornish and Connemara
suckers, illustrate the regrettable practice of earlier writers,
who often bestowed place-names on new species without taking

THE GOBIES, SUCKERS, AND BLENNIES 164

any pains to make sure that the species was either peculiar to
the place or even markedly common there. The Beaumaris
shark, Spanish mackerel, and Norway haddock are other
undesirable vernacular names ; and they may recall to collectors
of birds’ eggs the case of the Dartford warbler, and to moth-
hunters that of the Lulworth skipper or Camberwell beauty.
All of these might be sought to-day in their original localities,
but they would be sought in vain.

The Cornish Sucker (Lepadogaster gouanii) is a reddish fish,
common enough in the rock pools on some parts of the
coast. It grows to a length of 4 in., and is said to feed on
crustaceans, but not much seems to be known of its habits.

The Connemara Sucker (L. decandolii) is also red, marked
with light oval spots. Its dorsal fin is shorter than that of
L. gouanii.

The Doubly-spotted Sucker (L. dimaculatus), which rarely
exceeds a length of 2 in., is red above and has a large
dark spot behind the pectoral fins.

L. stictopteryx, the latest addition to the British suckers,
was provisionally named and described by Holt and Byrne * as
distinguishable from L. bimaculatus by the more lateral position
of the eyes and squarer fore part of the head, as well as by the
presence of dark spots on the dorsal and anal fins.

Blenniidze
THe BLennieEs

The group that has now to be described is of greater
commercial importance, on account of the wolf-fish, and
greater zoological interest, thanks to the viviparous blenny,
than the foregoing. The former grows to a great size, and
is a not unimportant article of food in the north ; the latter
is one of the only two teleostean fishes on our coasts that,

* See Proc. Zool. Soc., 1898, p. 589.

168 SALT-WATER FISHES

instead of depositing eggs, give birth to living young after the
fashion of most of our sharks and a few of our rays.

The chief external characters of the blennies are their
elongated body and short, thick head, their smooth and
generally scaleless skin, and their more or less continuous
spineless fringe of dorsal and ventral fins, which edge the body
above and below. One or two of them suggest in outward
appearance the gadoid rocklings, but are distinguished from
these by the absence of barbel. Most of the family keep close
to the shore, but an exception is found in the deep-water wolf-
fish, the largest of them all, so-called from its sharp teeth, its
powerful bite, and its generally carnivorous tastes. For the
most part the blennies deposit their eggs in deserted shells
and similar convenient receptacles. Cunningham found those
of the butterfly blenny (Blennius ocellaris) in a hollow bone
brought up on a hook off the Cornish coast ; while another
naturalist made, not long ago, a still more extraordinary find in
an enormous whelk-shell that was dredged in the neighbour-
hood of Plymouth. There were in the recesses of this shell
two separate households, for it accommodated at once a male
butterfly blenny and a male two-spotted goby, each guarding
its own cluster of eggs.

Larval blennies also seem to take refuge in strange asylums,
for Holt mentions having found a young shanny (B. pholis) in
a floating dahlia off Falmouth. This incident only shows how
careful collectors should be to search every likely and unlikely
corner, for one can conceive of few less promising haunts for a
larval sea-fish than the interior of such flotsam as a wind-blown
land-flower.

The Wolf-fish (Anarrhicas lupus), the largest and only
commercially important member of the family, is a northern
form. The ventral (throat) fins, never very highly developed
in the blennies, are absent altogether in this fish. Its scales
are so small as to be almost invisible. Only one other
blenny (Carelophus) has scales at all.

THE GOBIES, SUCKERS, AND BLENNIES 169

The most remarkable feature of this fish is its teeth. It
combines in its mouth the two chief types of fish teeth, adapted
for every conceivable use. It has, so to speak (though their
structure is different from that of elasmobranch teeth), the
pointed teeth of male rays, and the flat, crushing teeth of the
females. Thus it can seize the most slippery fish and it can
crush the hardest shells. It has a conical series in the jaws,
and large rows along the middle of the palate. A wolf-fish
of 6 ft. in length must therefore be a formidable creature,
little less fearsome than a shark of similar size. Its natural
diet is said to consist of crabs and whelks ; but there is abun-
dant evidence of this either being insufficient or else being
varied to suit a changing taste, for the fish is constantly
tearing the nets and robbing the long lines of the Scotch
and Norwegian fishermen. Now and again, indeed, it is
captured on the haddock lines. In colour the wolf-fish is
dull grey, with dark vertical bands down the sides and yellow
stains on the marginal fins. Though commonly regarded as
a dweller in moderately deep water, taken only on lines that
are shot at some distance from the land, it would seem that
the wolf-fish must sometimes venture close to the coast, for
it is thrown ashore by storms every winter.

It spawns in the cold months, its pale yellow eggs, equal
in size to those of the salmon, lying in masses on the bottom.
The wolf-fish lays the largest demersal egg found in our seas,
and the larva, also large, has been compared with that of the
salmon. Professor McIntosh therefore tabulates the chief
differences in interesting fashion, and these are the spheroid,
colourless yolk, blunt snout, and continuous marginal fin of
the young wolf-fish, contrasting with the elongated, reddish
yolk, projecting snout, and intermittent fin of the young
salmon. The differences between the adult and intermediate
stages persist to a later period of growth, for whereas the adult
salmon loses the bars that marked the parr stage, it is the young
wolf-fish that lacks the bars which later develop in the adult.

170 SALT-WATER FISHES

The typical blennies (Blennius) of our coasts are four in
number.

The Shanny (Blennius pholis) is the commonest of our
blennies, and perhaps even of the fishes of our rock pools.
In colour it is yellow, variegated with black spots. It lacks
the tentacles on the eyes which occur in some of the family.
The female deposits her eggs in June, and they are carefully
guarded until the young hatch out. Holt describes these as
extremely active, and he thinks that they would, if thrown up
on the sand, have no difficulty in leaping and wriggling back
to the water’s edge.

The Gattorugine (B. gattorugine) is a scaleless fish with a
tentacle over each eye. In colour it is greyish brown, with
bands and blotches. There is generally a black spot on the
dorsal fin, and there is another under the eyes. Some specimens
also have yellow tints on the pectoral fins. It is the largest
British member of the genus, growing to a length of 8 or g in.

The Butterfly Blenny (B. ocellaris) derives its trivial name
from the white-rimmed black spot on its wing-like dorsal fin.
It has a small fringe-like tentacle over each eye. It is not one
of our commoner blennies, but occurs irregularly all round the
coast. In May, 1894, the Lancashire Fisheries steamer trawled
a single specimen in that district. Reference has been made
above to the discovery of its eggs in a hollow bone—a most
suitable, though probably unusual, receptacle for the purpose.

Montagu’s Blenny (B. galerita) is another scaleless form,
with fringes of minute tentacles over the eyes, even extending
along the back of the head. The young of this species was
recently fully described by Byrne.* It is the smallest of our
blennies, rarely exceeding a length of 2 in., and is most active
in its efforts to jump over the side of the tank or globe in which
it 1s confined.

Yarrell’s Blenny (Carelophus ascanii) grows to a length ot
at least 7 in., and has small scales. Its colouring is variable ;

* See Journal Mar. Biol. Assoc., January, 1902, p. 383.

THE GOBIES, SUCKERS, AND BLENNIES 171

indeed, colouring is scarcely diagnostic in many of these small
species. It has numerous small tentacles on the head. The
breeding of this species does not appear to have been made
the subject of special study, but there seems reason for accept-
ing the conclusion, with all reservation, of McIntosh, that its
uniformly large eggs are demersal, like those of the other
oviparous blennies.

The Gunnel, or Butter-fish (Centronotus gunnellus) has been
studied in the aquarium by Holt. It grows to a length of
nearly 12 in., the base of the dorsal fin being marked by white-
edged black spots. It has no tentacles on the head. Holt
found it spawning in the aquarium soon after Christmas, and
the parents took turns in coiling their bodies round the eggs,
probably to keep them together. These eggs have been found
in the natural state in February in the rock-burrows of piddocks
with the parentson guard. The egg is demersal, and the larva,
when hatched out, journeys off to deeper water, returning later,
like the herring and sand-eel, to take up its residence close to
the shore.

The Viviparous Blenny (Zoarces viviparus) is biologically
the most interesting of all. In place of depositing demersal
eggs, it brings forth well-developed young alive. It grows to
a length of 20 or 24 in., and is dark green in colour, with
brown tints, spots, and curved bands like arches. There is
a distinctive gap, or notch, in its dorsal fin. It seems to have
been confused in some parts of the country with the burbot,
a fresh-water relative of the cod, yet the only point of
resemblance is the long and almost scaleless body. The
prominent barbel on the lower lip of the gadoid should suffi-
ciently distinguish the two.

The young blennies are born in winter in a well-
developed state. They at once display great activity, con-
cealing themselves from their numerous enemies by
burrowing under weeds and stones. So developed, indeed,
is the new-born larva, that it cannot possibly be compared

172 SALT-WATER FISHES

stage by stage with the helpless newly hatched larva of any
egg-laying fish.

McIntosh, who had opportunities of studying these young
viviparous blennies in a tank reserved for their sole use, found
them under these conditions stretching themselves along the
horizontal branches of zoophytes, and feeding on the hydroid
polyps and tiny sessile-eyed crustaceans that they found in such
situations. The upward turn of the eyes is, as in the weever
and some other star-gazing forms, less noticeable in the larval
stage than in the adult.

Cunningham draws attention to the fact of both this and
our other viviparous bony fish, the bergylt (Sebastes), being
of northern origin. There is some doubt whether this blenny
can have more than one family in the year.

Gasterosteidze

THe FIrrEEN-SPINED STICKLEBACK

Three British sticklebacks, with a bewildering series of
varieties and races, are commonly described; but, although
two of these seem equally at home in the head-waters of
rivers and their brackish estuaries, one only need be seriously
regarded as a sea fish.

The Fifteen-spined Stickleback (Gasterosteus spinachia) is
recognisable by its tubular pointed mouth, its scaleless, bony-
plated body (both more or less characteristic of the next
group), and its fifteen short spines along the back. In colour
it is greenish brown, with variable lines and spots. It is said
to change its colour at will when excited, but there seems
to be little circumstantial record of this phenomenon. Nor
has the male been described as changing his hue in the
breeding-season, though in our two fresh-water species the
males become bright red when guarding their nest.

The sticklebacks have, in fact, among fishes, much the
same interest for naturalists as the nightjar among birds. That

THE GOBIES, SUCKERS, AND BLENNIES 173

species neglects to build a nest like those of the majority
of its class and deposits its two eggs in well-chosen sites
on the bare earth. The sticklebacks, on the other hand,
instead of merely depositing their eggs in the water, like most
fishes, build a beautiful nest for their reception, that of the
marine form under notice making the most of the decorative
possibilities of fucus and corallina, and recalling the flask-
shaped nursery of the long-tailed titmice. The stickleback
builds its nest among the rocks and continually adds to it,
one composite nest, moreover, sometimes serving two families.
When the female has deposited the eggs, the male guards
them until the young appear.

Syegnathidze

Tue Pipz-Fisnes and Szea-Horses

The fatherly devotion noticed in the lumpsucker and
stickleback is rivalled in the pipe-fishes and sea-horse, the
males of which, not content with merely guarding the eggs,
carry them about, till hatched, in a pouch or fold of the skin.
In one species, indeed, the young have been seen to take
refuge in the pouch again when threatened by danger. This
is fully as remarkable as any of the stories told of vipers and
thresher sharks swallowing their young, or of the angler-fish
receiving them within its gill-pouches, for the same purpose,
and it has the advantage of having been seen by reliable
witnesses. The straight-nosed pipe-fish (Nerophis) and its
congeners, unprovided with any egg-pouch, is said to carry
the eggs in a loose fold of the skin.

The Broad-nosed Pipe-fish (Siphonostoma typhle) grows to
a length of 12 in., and is dark brown in colour, with a variable
quantity of light spots. In some localities it is said to be
confused with the young of the gar-fish, Herdman and
Dawson mention having taken one measuring 6 in. off the
Isle of Man in September, 1894.

174 SALT-WATER FISHES

The Greater Pipe-fish (Sygnathus acus) is a striped and
somewhat larger kind, inhabiting deeper water. Like the last,
it has an egg-pouch. One was taken at Exmouth in 1901
with embryos in the pouch. These hatched out next day,
and measured 14 mm.*

The Straight-nosed Pipe-fish (Merophis equoreus) lacks the
egg-pouch, as do the two that follow. It grows to a length
of 12 in., and in colour it is green, the body being covered
with white blotches.

The Snake Pipe-fish (NV. ophidion) is the largest British
pipe-fish, growing to between 2 and 3 ft. in length. It is
also more brightly coloured than the rest, the body being
marked by attractive blue lines and bands. It is often caught
in autumn on Southend Pier and at other spots in the Thames
estuary, and is also a common fish at Littlehampton, where
anglers catch it from boats anchored in the mouth of the Arun.

The Worm Pipe-fish (NV. lumbriciformis) is the smallest
of all, not exceeding a length of gin. It is familiar in the
“whitebait” of commerce, in company with young. sprats,
herrings, gurnards, flat-fishes, and even shrimps.

All these pipe-fishes have the characteristic elongated body
with bony plates and dividing ridges that give a segmented
appearance not unlike that of a glued cane-rod. They are
without scales, and their mouth is tubular and devoid of teeth.
In view of this last disability, it looks as if the epithet
“ carnivorous,” so often applied to these fishes, might undergo
revision.

The grotesque Sea-horse (Hippocampus antiquorum), while
obviously related very closely to the pipe-fishes, shows several
marked departures from their type. These are its curved
body, horse-like head, with the knobbed crest and_finless,
prehensile tail. The pipe-fishes drift in the water extended
in a rigid line, whereas the sea-horse more often holds itself ina
curved position, the tail grasping some frond of seaweed. Its

* See Journal Mar. Biol. Assoc., January, 1902, p. 335-

THE GOBIES, SUCKERS, AND BLENNIES 175

ege-pouch has but one small orifice, through which, when
ready, the young emerge. The phenomenon of protec-
tive resemblance finds even higher expression than in the
pipe-fishes, for in the dim light of the submarine jungle the
sea-horse must be with difficulty distinguished from its environ-
ment. Being the poorest of swimmers, it would otherwise run
almost insuperable risks. So far as British seas are concerned,
the sea-horse is almost entirely confined to the rocky shores of
the Channel Islands.

CHAPTER VIII
THE CONGER EEL
Famity : Murzenidae (Conger vulgaris)

IF it were not that the more familiar eel of our rivers has
the habit of going down to the sea to breed with the same
regularity as is practised by a salmon going up the river for
for the same purpose, there would be little or no risk of
confusion, even in name, between the two eels. Whereas the
fresh-water species has a smal] eye and small gill-openings, small
teeth and small scales, the latter embedded to all appearance in
the skin, and whereas, further, its lower jaw is slightly the
longer, and its dorsal fin commences some distance behind the
head, in the conger all these characters are different. The eye,
teeth, and gill-openings are large ; scales are absent altogether ;
the upper jaw is the longer, though not perhaps conspicuously,
and the dorsal fin commences close behind the head and is
continued round the tail. The colour of the two is less
distinctive, but, as a rule, the river eel has a greenish shade on
the back and some yellow in the abdomen, neither of which
is ever seen in the conger. The latter may, however, show
great variation in hue, those trawled on the sand being known
as “white” conger, and being of a uniform dirty grey, while
those hooked on the rocks are called “ black” conger, and are
very dark on the upper parts. There is also a black edge to
the fins, and there are some dull grey spots along the lateral
line. In size the females are immensely superior to the
males. Whereas the former grow to a length of 6 and 8 ft.,

176

THE CONGER EEL 177

Cunningham has never come upon a male conger measuring
more than 2 ft. 2 in., though another biologist records one of
2 ft. 52 in. As to weight, which is always a deceptive and
unsatisfactory basis of comparison in fishes, female congers
have been caught weighing over 9 stones, but a conger of
half that weight is reckoned a large fish nowadays, at least by
the trade.

Congers of large size seek their food at night quite close
to land. They are not only much cleaner feeders than the
eels of rivers, but they also reside far from the soft mud,
such as these prefer to any other ‘environment. If they
feed to any extent during the day, it must be either out in
the deeper water, which seems improbable, or, more likely, on
the sandy grounds. As no fisherman would ever dream of
anchoring his boat for conger otherwise than on the rocks, such
a habit might well remain undiscovered. It is, however, more
probable that the currently accepted view of the conger feeding
seriously only in the darkness is the correct one. Here and
there cases are recorded of large conger taking a bait in broad
daylight, but they are the exceptions. Deep water is, however,
less essential than darkness ; indeed, the writer has frequently
taken really large conger, of 4 ft. or more in length, in 6
or 8 fathoms of water, while boats anchored farther out, in
perhaps 20 fathoms, took only small fish, known as “straps”
by the fishermen, who, when removing them from the
hook, “strap” them over the thwarts so as to quiet their
struggles. All fishermen who have had success with congers
know that they absolutely refuse a tainted bait, and that
only the freshest of squid or pilchard will catch them. In
this way they are the opposite of the bass, which, if anything,
prefers tainted food, particularly when, in autumn, foraging
in the surf, This fastidiousness of conger is, however, very
difficult to understand in the light of some experiments once
made at Plymouth, where it was found that, although refusing
baits tainted in the ordinary way, congers readily seized either

12

178 SALT-WATER FISHES

squid or pilchard coated with iodoform, camphor, cheese, and
even balanoglossus, the last named having a most offensive
odour.

The conger is probably among the least migratory of
our sea-fish. It is true that congers are caught with the hook
only during summer and autumn, but this restriction of the
fishery to only half the year is in all probability in great
measure the doing of the fishermen rather than of the fish
themselves. Although a stationary fish, the conger is very
widely distributed in the world’s seas, our own species being
found in localities so far apart as Japan and Tasmania.

The conger feeds on all manner of fishes, crustaceans, and
molluscs, crabs and squid being perhaps its favourite food.
As to the smaller fishes on which it feeds, preference is given to
those whose form favours easy digestion by a fish of this shape,
and consequently smaller congers, pipe-fishes, and rocklings are
among its favourite victims. It is also said to prey on flat-fish,
but this may be doubted, at any rate where there is a choice of
round fish, for a comparatively small flat-fish might easily, by
sticking crosswise, choke a comparatively large conger. On
the other hand, the conger has a few formidable enemies,
among which we know of the torpedo and the various porpoises
and dolphins, all of which are fond of hustling and swallowing
congers. Shags and cormorants are often seen engaged in
combat with congers. Doubtless they seize them in the first
instance for the same reason as prompts the conger to seize the
rockling—the shape is convenient. Then, however, the struggle
commences ; and the writer once watched a battle between a
cormorant and a conger which lasted the best part of a quarter
of an hour, at the end of which the eel was finally swallowed.

Undoubtedly the most interesting aspect of the conger, at
least for the naturalist, is its breeding. It is unnecessary
to recapitulate the many legends of other days, by which
attempts were made to explain the mysterious reproduction
of eels. Suffice it to say that no theory seemed too fantastic

THE CONGER EEL 179

to find ready acceptance, though most of these fables related,
it is true, to the river, and not to the marine, eel.

Only within the last five-and-twenty years was there even
a beginning of the solution of the conger’s life-history, and we
are even now far from the whole truth. Indeed, when it is
stated that we do not yet know the egg of either eel or conger,
whether it floats or sinks, where it is deposited, and whereabouts
the larval forms undergo their development, it may be thought
that we know practically nothing of conger growth from the
first stage. While, however, our knowledge is still extremely
limited, we are yet considerably in advance of the last
generation.

Three years stand out as important dates in the recent
history of our knowledge of eel life. In 1880 the male conger
was first identified by the Director of the Berlin Aquarium,
Dr. Hermes. It is, as has been shown, much smaller than the
female, and Cunningham regards it as also far inferior in point
of numbers. This is not exactly proven, though there is strong
reason for accepting his view. On the one hand, we know that
no male conger is over 30 in. in extreme length, and the pre-
ponderance of congers longer than 30 in. which are caught by
both hook and trawl is beyond question. Further, he shows
that among a series of examples measuring under 30 in. only
about one-third were of the male sex. This, if the series were
representative of the proportions in nature, would argue in
favour of an overwhelming preponderance of female fish. On
the other hand, it must not be forgotten that the series might
inaccurately represent the true proportions of the sexes, and
also that, as regards the preponderance of female conger in
the markets, it is natural that the larger sex would be more
frequently taken in the trawl, as also on the hook.

A more important date in this connection, perhaps, than
1880 was 1886, when Professor Delage, of Roscoff, observed
the transformation from the larval form (Leptocephalus morrisii)
to the perfect conger ; while five or six years later, in 1891 or

180 SALT-IWATER FISHES

1892, two eminent Italian biologists, Drs. Grassi and Calan-
druccio, made a series of important investigations of different
Leptocephali taken in the deep water near Messina, and
identified them as the larve of the conger, fresh-water eel,
and other murenoids.

These Leptocephali, little transparent eel-like forms, have
long been known, though never taken in abundance, on our
own shores, and the one which eventually becomes a conger has
been named after Morris, who first described it. The Morris,
though previously considered a distinct species, was regarded
as the young of the conger, on the assertion of an American
naturalist, in the early sixties, and Dr. Gunther dissented from
this view * only so far as to regard it as an abnormal condition
of the larva in a state of arrested development. This opinion
was based on the fact that he had seen small, perfectly developed
congers with the adult characters smaller than the largest
Leptocephali, and he therefore concluded that there could be
no sequence. A later explanation, however, shows that the
larval conger abstains from nourishment at this stage of its
career, and consequently shrinks on being transformed to the
perfect form, a condition with analogies in other animals.

If the credit of having first suspected the Morris to be
a larval conger belongs to an American, that of first identifying
the male conger to a German, that of watching the actual trans-
formation of the Morris into the conger to a Frenchman, and
that of having traced the larval form and metamorphosis of the eel
to Italians, few naturalists have studied the conger in captivity
more closely and carefully than Mr. Cunningham at Plymouth ;
and he has propounded one theory which, if open to argument,
is at any rate as interesting as any of the rest. His view,
briefly, is that the conger spawns once and then dies. This,
as we have seen, is also thought to be the truth of one of
the gobies, though it is not with the conger a case of
coming to maturity, breeding, and dying all within one year.

* Introduction to the Study of Fishes, p. 673.

THE CONGER EEL 181

It is possible that subsequent investigations may confirm Mr
Cunningham’s singular proposition ; but it is certain that he
argues somewhat boldly from the particular case of the aquarium
to the general case of nature. The Plymouth tank-house, at
which he pursued his studies, is admirable of its kind, and
even the hypercritical could scarcely express anything but
appreciation of the manner in which it is conducted. Yet not
the Director himself would probably claim that it accurately
reproduces the varied conditions of food and temperature that
obtain even within the Sound, just outside its walls ; and indeed
the Sound itself may be quite inadequate to the requirements
of spawning conger. The same naturalist has, for instance,
made some very interesting studies of the rate of growth of
different fishes in the same tanks; but his results would
almost certainly call for considerable modification if they had
to be reconciled to those obtaining under perfectly natural
conditions. Even the spawning-season in captivity differs
appreciably from that observed in the open sea. The obser-
vations made in such an aquarium as that at Plymouth must
always be interesting, and may often be valuable, but they
must, to be of use, be interpreted with due allowance for the
influence of artificial environment. It has been observed, for
instance, that congers in the Brighton Aquarium, fed on alter-
nate days only, have come to know the feeding-time and to
display no activity whatever on the intervening fast-days.
This, while of interest, no doubt, to the student of animal
intelligence, chiefly illustrates the extent to which artificial
conditions may modify the natural habits of captive fishes.

Let us for a moment examine Mr. Cunningham’s data and
arguments in favour of this theory of the conger dying after
its first spawning. To what, after all, do they amount ?

He has never known a female to spawn in captivity, the
nearest approach to this episode having been the death of a
ripe female unable to deposit the eggs. He also admits that
ripe conger are never obtained from the sea, owing apparently

CHAPTER IX
THE GREY MULLETS AND ATHERINES

Botu of these groups, which are closely related, have given
rise to discussion as to the number of really different kinds
that occur in our seas. The writer, trusting merely to a some-
what long acquaintance with grey mullet on both the English
and Italian coasts, would prefer to recognise only one British
species, the thick-lipped kind. Day insists upon adding the
thin-lipped species, and Giinther ignores the thick-lipped kind,
or names it Mugil septentrionalis, and admits three others.
The common atherine is also the only member of its family
in any way familiar on our coasts, and indeed Day has some
evident hesitation in admitting the second, Boyer’s species.
For present purposes it is thought that a brief account of
the two undoubted British representatives of these groups will
suffice.

Fami.y. Common NAME. GENUS. SPECIES.
MUGILIDH . .. . Grey Mullet Mugil chelo
ATHERINIDZ . . . Sand-smelt Atherina presbyter

Mugilidz

The Grey Mullet (Mugil chelo), or Thick-lipped Mullet,
is a common fish on many parts of our coasts, particularly in

the more southern waters and near harbours or estuaries.
184

i Natural Sine

Photo by Rainheld Thiele

*3 Natural Size

Photo by Rearihald Thiele

STRIPED WRASSE (Labdrus mixtus)

THE GREY MULLETS AND ATHERINES 185

It can live in comfort in brackish water as well as in the
open sea, but is said to spawn entirely in the latter. The
teeth, when present, are so small as to be scarcely functional,
and many examples lack them altogether, subsisting on soft
food, and straining the water through the gauze-like sieve of
their gill-rakers, after the fashion of herrings. Small worms,
molluscs, and crustaceans doubtless form much of their food,
but they are also regarded as partly vegetable-feeders, while
ragworms are the bait found most successful by amateurs.
The stomach is exceedingly muscular, and has been compared
in structure to that of birds; while the folded intestine is of
such immense length that one in a mullet of only 13 in. has
been found to measure 7 ft. The gill-openings are wide, and
this is particularly noticeable in the aquarium, when these fish
are taking in gravel and expelling it every moment. The eye
is small and has a thick lid. The lip is fleshy, and the
writer never came across a British mullet with any other
condition of the lip, though in the Mediterranean the thin-
lipped kind is common.

It cannot be said that the grey mullet offers any peculiari-
ties of outline or colouration that lend themselves to easy
description. It is a typical round fish, silvery grey in colour,
and some examples have darker lines along the sides from head
to tail. The tail-fin is deeply forked, and there are two short
fins on the back, the front one having four stiff spines. When
caught in brackish water, the grey mullet is very slimy to the
touch, though those taken in estuaries are regarded as better
food than specimens from deeper water. This fish grows to
a length of at least a yard, and there are records of specimens
weighing 10 lb. or 12 |b. Large mullet are not as a rule
easily induced to take the hook, particularly in the English
Channel, where the bulk of those brought to market are
‘captured in short seines. In the Mediterranean, however,
perhaps because the natives of Southern France and Italy have
unquestionably made a closer study of their capture with the

186 SALT-VATER FISHES

hook, the mullet are constantly taken on the rod, and in some
parts they are speared as they come to the surface to feed.
It would appear as if they are not alarmed by steam traffic,
for the writer once, in the summer of 1899, caught two in the
course of five minutes over the side of a steamer off Mogador
Island, while the anchors were coming up and numerous small
craft were alongside. This experience was strangely at variance
with the rule that anglers formerly observed, of rowing up to
these fish with muffled oars for fear of sending them to the
bottom ; but it should be added that the two referred to were
only small of their kind, and larger examples might more
easily have been disturbed.

The grey mullet of the Arun are noted for their great
size and excellent flavour, though they are rarely in these
days caught as far up as Arundel, as was formerly the case.
The east works of the Littlehampton piers are the favourite
spot for taking Arun mullet to-day, and there are resident
enthusiasts who fish for them at daybreak throughout the
summer months. The grey mullet must, moreover, be a
more migratory fish than has been generally described, for
nothing is seen of these Arun mullet before May or after
October. The artificial culture of grey mullet in inland ponds
and reservoirs has had many advocates, but Cunningham ex-
presses the doubt whether the common marine form would
spawn and develop in such surroundings.

The egg is of the floating kind, and has a simple yolk
with a single oil-globule. Cunningham figures an advanced
larval mullet, rather over 2 in., which he obtained in the
month of May from the late Matthias Dunn. There were
no fin-rays, with the exception of a few in the tail. Very
young mullet of an inch or rather less have been caught at
the surface in Plymouth Sound in July and August and fed
at the Laboratory, but their growth in captivity can scarcely
be described as rapid, since they only trebled their length in
a twelvemonth. Whether this meagre rate of growth can,

THE GREY MULLETS AND ATHERINES 187

however, be regarded as affording much clue to that under
more natural conditions is extremely doubtful.

Until, at any rate, they get large and old, grey mullet are
of a sociable disposition, and even the large examples are
rarely seen singly, but more usually in couples, probably of
opposite sex, though this is not recognisable in the circum-
stances. These fish also have a remarkable, but well-known,
habit, when encircled by the seine, of following a leader
in their effort to escape. The fishermen in some parts
believe that one old and wary member of the shoal is the
recognised pioneer in such cases; but the writer was on one
occasion able to see that the first fish over the ropes was
one of quite small size, and it is therefore highly probable
that the rest simply follow the first fish that succeeds in
finding a way out.

Atherinidze

The Sand-smelt, or Atherine (4therina presbyter), has often
been confused with the true, or “cucumber,” smelt, one of
the salmon tribe, and even so close an observer as Mr.
Cunningham says that it ‘“‘ resembles the true smelt in appear-
ance and habits.” In what this close resemblance in either
appearance or habits consists, Mr. Cunningham does not say.
The rayless adipose second dorsal fin and the spineless first
dorsal fin of the salmonoid smelt should (to say nothing of
its strong characteristic smell) sufficiently distinguish it from
the atherine, which has spines in the first dorsal fin and rays
in the second. Apart from these obvious differences, the
shape of the head, and more particularly the cleft of the
mouth, is distinct, and the eye of the true (salmonoid) smelt
is smaller, its teeth are larger, and the broad silvery band on
its sides is replaced in the atherine by a narrower stripe of
pale violet iridescence. The true smelt also grows to a much
larger size, examples of a foot in length being on record,
whereas an atherine of half that measurement would be

188 SALT-WATER FISHES

considered a large specimen. Nor are their habits much more
alike than their appearance, since the atherine spawns in the
open sea, whereas the true smelt ascends rivers for the purpose,
like the salmon, and has been taken in the Thames above
Richmond. ‘The only person who sometimes persists in con-
fusing the two is the fishmonger, and he is not wanting in
excellent reasons for so doing. The two fish occur together
on Breydon Water, near Yarmouth, and one or other is said
to predominate in different seasons.

The lateral line, though commonly described as indistinct,
and actually so in the majority of examples, is very plainly
marked in a few individuals, and the writer has noticed this
peculiarity rather more often in those caught in the Teign
estuary than in those taken at Bournemouth and elsewhere
out of the influence of fresh water. That there should be
any connection between these circumstances does not appear
clear, and the observation is offered indeed with every reser-
vation, since no very extended series has been examined from
both districts for the purpose of comparison. Boyer’s
atherine, by the way—which has been regarded, erroneously,
as the young of the common species—is a Mediterranean
form with a larger eye and fewer vertebre. If it were, as
alleged, the young of the atherine, its occurrence in our seas
would have been more often recorded, for the atherine fry
absolutely swarm some years in our south-coast estuaries in
June and July, and the writer could often have caught scores
of them in the Teign with a single dip of a butterfly-net.

The colour of the atherine is some variable shade of brown
or green, some being coloured like the launce and others like
the sand-eel (to be presently described), and there is an iri-
descent band along the sides which, seen sideways in the sun,
has a very beautiful violet sheen. This, however, quickly fades
after death, and few of our fishes, save, perhaps, the herring,
die more rapidly when removed from the sea.

Atherines are fatally curious, and this leads to their being

THE GREY MULLETS AND ATHERINES 189

caught in great numbers in large round or square nets worked
on acapstan. They are taken in this fashion near the yacht
steps at Cowes, though in this case the net is worked by
hand. They also take a baited hook ravenously at times, and
are not merely carnivorous, but even take a fragment of
another atherine often more readily than either mussel or
ragworm, though the latter are usually reliable baits. They
have, moreover, the true predatory instinct, for, whereas they
sometimes pay no attention to a still bait, they may at once be
aroused to voracious activity by merely allowing the bait to
sink to some depth and then withdrawing it quickly to the
surface—in fact, imparting to it the movements of a feeble
creature anxious to escape. The angler soon learns that the
great secret of success with bass, pollack, mackerel, and some
other important fishes lies in making due allowance for such
sinister instincts.

CHAPTER X
THE WRASSES

Tue Wrasses are known by their brilliant colouring, which
is in some species a secondary sexual character and most
brilliant at the breeding-time, as well as by their smooth, slimy
skin thick lips, and strong, crushing teeth. There are seven
of these fishes in our seas, none of any commercial value,
though the authors of the Scandinavian Fishes describe many
of them as excellent food. The writer has tried several, out
of curiosity, both on our own coasts and in the Mediterranean,
without having yet found one that he would care to taste
a second time. The flesh is very soft and flabby, and the
bones are most difficult to avoid.

Famiy. Common Name. GENus. SPECIES.

Striped Wrasse Labrus mixtus
Ballan De maculatus
Connor Crenilabrus melops

LABRIDM sy; se Jago’s Goldsinny Ctenolabrus rupestris
Scale-rayed Wrasse | Acantholabrus | pallont
Rock Cook Centrolabrus exoletus
Rainbow Wrasse Corts julis

In the work above named the wrasses take first place,
before even the perches, and the authors remark on their
resemblance in outline to some of the latter group. They also
refer to the supposed monogamous code of the male, but
evidence of this is wanting.

There is much resemblance between the different British

190

THE WRASSES 1g

members of this family, and the six genera given in the
foregoing list are distinguished for the most part by incon-
spicuous characters determined only on close examination.
One such ground of distinction is the number of dorsal spines—
nine in the rainbow wrasse and as many as a score in the
scale-rayed kind. Another determining character is the
number of scales along the lateral line—over fifty in the
rainbow wrasse and less than forty in the connor. The
distribution of the teeth is also of some importance ; these lie
in a single row in Labrus and Centrolabrus, and in a band in
Ctenolabrus and <Acantholabrus. In the last three genera
(Centrolabrus, Ctenolabrus and Acantholabrus) there are imbricate
scales on the gill-covers. Most young wrasses have a serrated
edge to the front part of the gill-cover, and this character is
apparently retained by the connor throughout life.

All the wrasses dwell among weed-covered rocks in either
shallow or moderately deep water, usually the former. At the
entrance to Dartmouth Harbour, for instance, there are some
submerged rocks with very long weed, and there, many years
ago, the writer used to catch very large wrasses several pounds
in weight. Many of them, too, follow the crabs into the
crab-pots, and are in turn made use of as excellent bait for
those crustaceans.

The Striped, or Cuckoo, Wrasse (Ladrus mixtus) is one of
the handsomest of the wrasses in our seas, and affords a parallel
case to that of the dragonet, for the sexes differ so strikingly
in colour that they were commonly regarded, on widely
separated coasts, as distinct species. The error was in the
first instance corrected by Scandinavian biologists. The male
was known as the blue-striped, the female as the three-spotted,
or red, wrasse. The three black blotches of the female,
situated on the edge of the back just before the tail, are absent
from the male. As so often observed in animals that differ in
colour according to their sex, the immature male follows the
colouring of the female. In both sexes the ground-colour is

192 SALT-WATER FISHES

bright orange-red, but the male has converging blue bands
behind the eyes. The fins are yellow, and there is generally
a blue blotch on the dorsal, while the others have blue margins.
As in most highly coloured fishes, however, the tints are very
variable in both intensity and distribution.

This wrasse has a large mouth, with fleshy lips, the upper
one bearing numerous papille. The long, conical teeth are
evidently suited to breaking the shells of bivalves and
crustaceans. Day alludes to this fish taking the baits on
whiffing lines on the pollack grounds, but the writer never
heard of a single case. On the ground-lines used for pollack,
on the other hand, he has frequently taken different kinds of
wrasse, for the baits sometimes go to the bottom at the turn
of the tide or on a change in the force or direction of the
wind. On such occasions a large wrasse is almost always
taken. The same authority also gives “lobworms” as the
best bait, by which he presumably intended the lugworm of
our shores. On the contrary, it is the ragworm of which the
wrasse is passionately fond, and in seizing which it makes itself
so great a nuisance to the pollack fisher. This wrasse, though
rarer in the north, has been taken all round the British Islands,
and apparently grows to a length of rather over a foot.

The Ballan, or Comber (ZL. maculatus), a considerably larger
species, grows to a length of over 16 in. and a weight
of 7 or 8 lb, though this is uncommon. Its colours,
as brilliant in some examples as those of the last species,
are still more variable, but they do not show the same
difference in the sexes. The general body-colour is green, and
there is a good deal of blue in the scales. Orange-red lines
radiate on the face, and there are in some examples yellow
bands along the sides and in others round yellow spots on the
fins. This wrasse the French call by a name signifying “‘ sea-
parrot,” and the authors of the Scandinavian Fishes give a very
beautiful plate coloured from a living specimen. ‘The colours.
fade, however, very rapidly after death.

THE WRASSES 193

This is one of the largest wrasses in our seas, and it is the
kind to which the scientific name of Jergylta has been applied
(from the Orkney name “bergle”), already objected to as
likely to lead to confusion with the true bergylt. The allusion
to a pig is evidently intended in this case, for “ sea-swine”’ is
another Scotch name for the fish, probably in allusion to the
thick lips. ‘This last character has gained for all the wrasses
collectively the German trivial name “ lip-fishes.”

The ballan wrasse feeds on small fishes, molluscs, and worms.
Like most of our wrasses, it is more plentiful in the Channel
than farther north, though it occurs round the Orkneys as
well as in the waters of Shetland. Like the herring, this wrasse
differs from the rest of its family in depositing heavy eggs,
which are hatched in a seaweed nest. Mr. Matthews secured
such nests from Skye, and found the spawn adhering to them.*
The eggs were still alive when they reached Edinburgh, and
the newly hatched larve, which measured about 4 in., were
extremely active, living ten days in damp seaweed. At about
4 in. traces begin to appear of the later brilliant colouring, in
the form of brown bands and white spots and patches.
Mclntosh alludes to the rapid movement of the pectoral fins,
recalling the pipe-fishes.

The Connor, or Corkwing (Crenilabrus melops), is a smaller
kind, which rarely exceeds 9 in. It is readily distinguished
by the dark bands down the sides, as well as by the re-
markable rings, with or without dark centres, on the fins.
The ground-colour of the fish is some variable shade of brown
or red, with green and yellow reflections. Three or four
light bands pass along the cheek, that immediately beneath
the eye often having a dark centre. In most examples,
too, there is a black spot immediately in front of the tail-
fin, but this may be wanting. The colours and markings
here given will be found to answer with many specimens;
but there is great variation, not merely in the colouring,

* McIntosh and Masterman, of. cit. p. 230.

o

194 SALT-WATER FISHES

but even in the proportion of the length and depth of the
body. The edge of the front gill-cover is usually serrated
in this species, but it is doubtful whether this is a dis-
tinguishing character. (Dr. Gunther points out, for instance,
that the young of all wrasses have serrated preopercles, which
suggest a permanent ancestral character that some have
dropped.) The greater number of the rays in the dorsal fin
are spinous, and the anal fin has also three spines. The
scales are in less than forty transverse series, whereas in the
preceding wrasses they number more than fifty. The lateral
line is well marked through its entire length, and it takes
a more decided downward curve just beneath the second dorsal
fin than in the cuckoo wrasse or ballan.

It is probable, as Day has suggested, that this wrasse 1s
identical with the species that Couch calls ‘“ Baillon’s wrasse,”
the condition of which it may be said to assume when its
colours are faded, though there is also some apparent differ-
ence in the number of rows of scales across the cheek and
under the eye.

The connor is a shallow-water fish, and is gregarious in
its habits, whereas the majority of wrasses might rather be
described as solitary. It occurs on all the shores of Great
Britain and Ireland, being commonest perhaps in the more
southern waters.

Holt has studied the eggs in summer on the Irish coast.
They are colourless and have no oil-globule, and green and
yellow appear to be the prevailing colours of the yolk after
hatching.

Jago’s Goldsinny (Ctenolabrus rupestris), or the Pink
Brame, is a small red-and-gold kind, with a large black
blotch generally noticeable on the dorsal fin, though the spots
and bands are as variable as in most wrasses. In some
examples that have come under the writer's notice the fins
are black-edged, but this would seem to be an uncommon
character.

THE WRASSES 195

The pink brame, which the fishermen of some parts,
notably on the Irish coast, regard as poisonous, does not
from all accounts exceed a length of 6 in., and is found on
all parts of our coasts. The teeth are in a band on the jaws,
and the dorsal fin has more than twenty rays, the majority
of them prickly. The lateral line is much the same as in the
connor, and there are scales on the cheeks and gill-covers.
Why the name of brame, or bream, should at some of our
ports have been bestowed on this fish is not very clear; but
this association of two distinct families is not confined to
this side of the Atlantic, for American writers also call the
wrasses ‘‘ sea-breams.”’ *

This wrasse inhabits somewhat deeper water than most
of the family, and it is also a less persistent biter. On one
occasion the writer hooked four in the course of a morning’s
pout-fishing about three miles south-west of the Dodman
Head; but he never at any other time, before or since, saw
the fish, except in the lobster-pots.

According to the authors of Scandinavian Fishes, the spawn-
ing-time is from April to July, and this account agrees with
what Day says on the subject. They alsot refer to rows of
spots which obliquely cross the lateral line, and which vanish
at the will of the fish if it is handled alive, and do not return
until it has recovered its equanimity. Bashford Dean figures
(after A. Agassiz) the larval stages of an allied American
species, with which our own probably agrees very closely.
The yolk-sac is situated at the throat when the larva is first
hatched, and this first stage is seen to show strong resemblance
to a corresponding stage in the little sturgeon. Ata week old
the pectoral fins are very conspicuous, and at four weeks old
the fish appears to have developed all the characters of the
full-grown stage.

The Scale-rayed Wrasse (Acantholabrus palloni) is a
southern form and one of the largest kinds found in our
* See Bashford Dean, Fishes, Living and Fossil, p. 225. tT Op. cit, p. 17

196 SALT-WATER FISHES

seas, specimens of over 20 in. having been described. Its
colours are very variable, but a typical example is deep
orange, violet, or blue, with pink on the sides, and lighter
beneath. There is a large dark blotch near the hinder end of
the dorsal fin, and some examples have another blotch, some-
what smaller than the first, just in front of and above the
tail-fin. The edge of the front gill-cover is strongly serrated.
The dorsal fin has more than twenty-five rays, the majority of
them spinous; but the peculiarity of the dorsal fin is in the
presence of scales along each of the rays. There are also scales
at the commencement of the tail and anal fins, a condition that
we shall also find in the curious fish Pammelas. This is, in
fact, the only British wrasse that has scales over the top of the
head and on the neck.

The Rock Cook (Centrolabrus exoletus) is a little brown-
and-yellow wrasse with blue bands and marks on the head,
silvery fins, and a black line along the dorsal. The latter has
more than twenty rays, most of them prickly, and the tail-fin
is lighter towards the hinder edge than at the base. The
lateral line is distinct, and takes a downward curve beneath the
last rays of the dorsal fin. The teeth are in a single row.

This wrasse, which apparently does not grow longer than
4 or § in., is often taken in the crab-pots. It is, unlike
the last, a northern kind, for Day gives Greenland as within
its range, but it is not recorded by him as occurring in
the Mediterranean. Gunther, however, mentions a closely
allied species from the Mediterranean.

The Rainbow Wrasse (Coris julis), which grows to a
length of about 7 in., exhibits, though in somewhat lesser
degree, the sexual colour-differences which were described in
the striped wrasse. The male is distinguished by a white band
with wavy edges along the sides, and also by a large black spot
near the front end of the dorsal fin, the latter having along the
lower half of the rays a series of faint purple or green spots.
Both sexes have a small but distinct spot on the gill-cover,

THE WRASSES 197

almost in line with the eye, and the female has a second spot,
smaller in size, on the pectoral fin. She is also marked with
yellow bands along the body. It cannot too often be urged
that the colours of all wrasses are liable to great modification,
and rarely constitute a satisfactory ground of distinction. The
scales are in at least fifty rows, and are consequently of small
size, and Day doubts whether the number differs according to
sex, as had been alleged. As in the case of the striped wrasse
and dragonet, however, the marked differences between male
and female long ago led to their being described as distinct
species; indeed, Gunther almost inclines (1880) to this view,
recognising both Coris julis and C. giofredi.

This wrasse is common in the Mediterranean, and Raffaele
obtained its eggs in spring and summer. Holt found a similar
egg in Irish waters in June and July, and found that the newly
hatched larve measured about 4/5 in.

These, then, are our seven wrasses, and little more has
been attempted than to give some indication of their colouring
and relative size. They are among the least important of our
fishes, for they are neither fit for food for ourselves, nor are
they appreciated by our food-fishes. Even gulls refuse
them, as a rule. Whenever anglers catch a wrasse on
the Cornish coast, it is thrown back in the water as soon
as unhooked, for it is a slippery fish and apt to lead to
accidents if left lying about in the bottom of the boat.
Though often scarcely injured in the unhooking, since the steel
has merely penetrated its fleshy lip, the fish is unable to
descend in the water, owing to a peculiarity of the air-bladder,
and remains floundering at the surface. The gulls, large and
small, are at once attracted to the spot by the sight of a
struggling fish, but they merely hover, as a rule, over the fish
without further disturbing its struggles.

CHAPTER XI
THE HERRING FAMILY

Tue fishes belonging to the present family, including the
Herring, Sprat, Pilchard, Anchovy, and two Shads, are
the most important in our seas. Anatomically they have a
close connection with the salmon tribe, though they are widely
separated by some writers.

The general characters of this family, of which our seas
possess only these six species, three of them in immense
shoals, are the moderately small, thin, silvery scales, which do
not extend to the head, small teeth, open gills, and absence of
spines in the fins. There are but one dorsal and one short
ventral. The herring has no lateral line—a fact that may be
borne in mind whenever there is a tendency to generalise
on the connection between that character and a habit of
swimming high in the water, for the herrings keep close to
the surface of the sea more uniformly than the fishes of any
other family in our seas. The lower edge of most of them
is flattened, covered with bony plates, and varyingly sharp
or serrated.

The true herrings are all small, gregarious, shore-haunting
fishes of migratory habits. Dunn was of opinion that they
massed in such immense shoals for safety from rorquals and
other large enemies, which dare not venture among them for
fear of being suffocated. He once saw a rorqual nearly
suffocated in this way by coming up to breathe in the midst

of a shoal of herrings. The cetacean, in desperate straits, had
198

THE HERRING FAMILY 199

to dash into the air, sending up a column of herrings at the
same time.*

These fishes feed, like the whalebone whale and basking
shark, by straining the water through their long gill-rakers,
which form a dove-tailed screen capable of arresting the
copepoda. Some, like the shads, ascend rivers to breed, and
even the herring itself appears to suffer no inconvenience in
brackish water. The herring and shads deposit eggs that
hatch out on the bottom; but whereas those of the herring
adhere in masses to stones and weeds, and even to living crabs,
the eggs of the shad develop separately on the river bed.
The pilchard, sprat, and anchovy, on the other hand, lay
eggs that float and develop close to the surface.

Professor Cossar Ewartt mentions having artificially fer-
tilised and hatched herring spawn, which was taken adhering
to stones from the Ballantre Bank. The spawning of the
pilchard, on the other hand, was first studied by Matthias
Dunn, who found the fish spawning in May twenty miles
from land, and pressed the eggs from one into a bucket of
sea water. Each egg, he found, floated separately at the top,
but soon sank, dying for want of fertilising. He also knew
that the pilchard spawned about Christmas time ; but whether
the species spawns on our coast twice during the year, or
whether there are not rather distinct summer and winter
races, as in the herring, is one of the problems that the
scientific experts of the Marine Biological Association at
Plymouth will no doubt determine in course of time. It is,
of course, because spawning pilchards keep twenty or thirty
miles from land, or twice the distance fished over by the
drift-boats, that we do not get pilchards, like herring, with
roes for table purposes.

* See Zhe Migrations and Other Habits of the Herring on the Coasts
of Devon and Cornwall (reprint from Report of the Royal Cornwall
Polytechnic Society), p. 16.

+ See Mature, xxix., p. 538.

200 SALT-WATER FISHES

The spawning of the sprat has been observed in the Firth
of Forth, and generally takes place nearer the land than that
of other marine Clupeide. The spawning of anchovies has
been observed in the Zuyder Zee in summer time, and its
floating eggs were taken in the tow-net off Lytham (1896)
by Mr. Ascroft, who hatched out the larve.

The spawning of shad is sufficiently familiar in many of
our rivers, and is, moreover, easily studied in private hatcheries
both on the Continent and in America. In the latter country
the eggs are artificially hatched on an immense scale, and it
has been found that the action of direct sunlight accelerates
the hatching by at least twelve hours, and without apparently
weakening the larve.

The herring, sprat, pilchard, and anchovy may be dis-
tinguished at almost any stage of their growth without much
difficulty. In the adult fish, which chiefly concerns us here,
the herring has the commencement of its back fin just
half way between the tip of the nose and the start of the
tail fin; in the sprat the dorsal fin starts a little nearer
the tail; in the pilchard a little nearer the nose. Given the
aid of a yard measure, it would be difficult to indicate a
simpler means of recognition in comparing three individuals.
Other differences are found in the larger scales of the pilchard,
and more serrated belly edge of the sprat. The pilchard
and shads also have radiating lines on the gill-covers,
which are not found in any of the rest. The backbone
furnishes an excellent distinction between the sprat and herring,
for the former has never more than forty-eight vertebra,
and the herring has never less than fifty-six. Shads are
rather like pilchards in their greenish colour, but they have
smaller scales, and their lower edge is also rougher. They
resemble each other somewhat closely, but the twaite shad
has a line of dark spots nearly half way along the sides, and
its gill-rakers are fewer, longer, and thicker than those of
the allis.

THE HERRING FAMILY 201

FamIy. Common Name. Genus. SPECIES.
Herring Clupea harengus
Pilchard c. pilchardus
Sprat Cc. sprattus
se Anchovy Engraulis | encrascicholus
Twaite Shad Clupea Jjinta
Allis Shad C. alosa

It now remains to add some remarks about these fishes
individually.
Clupeidze

The Herring (Clupea harengus) is so familiar a fish that
any further description might seem superfluous. It is, however,
necessary to supplement what has gone before as follows :
Its colour varies between a not very pronounced green and
blue. Its scales are neither strikingly large nor small, and they
easily detach when the fish is roughly handled. Its lower edge
is smoother and less compressed than that of the sprat,
approximating more closely to that of the pilchard. Its eyes
have a free fat lid, and are easily suffused with blood when the
fish struggles in the nets. Small weak teeth cover the jaws,
tongue, and palate, being distributed in a patch.

The herring is a cold-water fish, and develops to a
larger size in more northern latitudes. In the Channel it
averages 12 in.; in parts of the North Sea it exceeds this
by at least 5 in. There seems, in fact, to be a regular
progression in the relation between latitude and growth. Our
herrings are smaller than those caught off Iceland; on the
other hand, our pilchards are larger than those of the
Mediterranean, and only the smaller of the shads finds its way
to the rivers of southern Europe.

The Americans have made a closer study of varieties than
we have, or else the races are more clearly marked, for they
have their “ glut,” “ poplar back,” “ may flipper,” “ dun belly,”
and other kinds. Iceland has a large, coarse herring, and there

‘

202 SALT-WATER FISHES

are distinct kinds in the White Sea which are netted-through
the ice. Even on our coasts we have the large and small
herrings of the Lewes, the large race of the Ballantre spawn-
ing-grounds, and the small, but oily, herring of Stornaway.

As regards the numbers of the sexes, the males are said to
be slightly in excess ; this, if correct, is quite unusual in the
animal world. They are also regarded by some as slightly
longer, but this appears doubtful. The fact of the fishmonger
supplying soft roes almost throughout the year does not point
to an indiscriminate spawning-season, but merely to different
races spawning in different months. The winter herrings
frequent estuaries, while those that spawn in summer keep
farther away from land.

The aforementioned fact of the herring laying heavy eggs
that sink to the bottom of the sea has been of great interest in
its bearing on the proposals for restricting the operations
of trawlers, and the different phases through which public
opinion has passed on the subject are instructive. Long ago,
before the scientific world knew of the buoyant nature of most
marine fish-spawn, it was known (1803) that the eggs of the
herring are demersal, and it was thought that other eggs might
be likewise and would certainly be disturbed, if not destroyed,
by the sweeping operation of the trawl-net. Then came the
discovery that only the herring, of all our important food-fishes,
deposits demersal spawn, and it was said that the trawlers could
damage that only and no other useful spawn. Then, again,
some one discovered, or fancied that he discovered, that the
herrings spawn only on ground too rough for the trawlers to
work on, so the trawler was wholly acquitted as unanimously
as earlier he had been condemned. Once again, however,
public opinion has veered round, for Cunningham has shown
beyond a doubt that the trawlers from both Granton and
Grimsby were in the habit of purposely fishing these grounds
in order to catch the haddocks that assemble there to gorge on
the herring eggs.

THE HERRING FAMILY 203

The capture of herrings for market purposes is conducted
almost entirely by drift-nets, and even for sport the herring is
little fished for with hook and line. There are, however,
times when it may be caught in numbers with a “jigger” on
the Scotch coast ; and Mr. C. A. Payton, H.B.M. Consul at
Calais, writes, under date February 17th, 1902, that immense
numbers of spent herrings came into Calais docks to recuperate
in January and February, and were caught in thousands by
amateurs using a local form of jigger. Mr. Payton himself
caught no fewer than 1,144 between January 25th and
February 16th. The proportion with either roe or milt would
not have been more than 6 per cent.

The newly hatched herring measures rather over + in.,
and is more developed than the young of fishes hatched from
floating eggs. The eggs themselves are opaque, and have a
thick adhesive envelope. These larval herrings have no gill-
covers, and the mouth is immediately beneath the eyes and
opens downwards. Silvery scales first appear when the fish have
grown to a length of about 14 in., and the herring seems
to take in all rather over two years to reach maturity, which
would correspond to a length of between 7 and 9g in.
The female herring contains from 30,000 to 40,000 eggs.
McIntosh and Masterman give a good figure of the larval
herring, showing the downward cleft of the mouth, which
changes its direction in the adult. The larval herrings live on
the bottom ; the post-larval forms at mid-water ; and when
about $ in. long the herring becomes a surface-swimming fish.
The larval pilchard and sprat, on the other hand, float with
plankton at the surface. According to Heincke* the larva of
the autumn herring differs from that of the spring race.

On the subject of whitebait much has been written, and it

* See that author’s Maturgeschichte des Herings, a remarkable study of
spring and autumn herrings, in two volumes, with diagrams (Berlin,
1893). For a criticism of it see Jenkins in Lancashire Sea Fisheries Report,

1903, p. 28-38.

204 SALT-WATER FISHES

is here merely necessary to state that it is now known to
consist (with various commercial adulteration) of the young of
the herring and sprat in proportions that vary according to the
season, and not, as was formerly held, to be the young of the
bleak, as stated by Pennant, or of the shad, as insisted by
Donovan. In June and July the whitebait of the Thames
estuary contains about 80 per cent. young herrings; in
February and March about go per cent young sprats; at all
times young sand-eels, gurnards, pipe-fish, and even shrimps.

The migrations of the herring in our seas have been studied
to much the same extent as those of the mackerel, and in both
cases the movements of the shoals are now regarded as much
less extensive than would be gathered from the circumstantial
accounts given by earlier writers. The modern view—which
further investigations of the subject, particularly on the basis
of the study of distinct races as pursued by Dr. Heincke and
by some of our own biologists, will either confirm or otherwise—
is that the fish leave or approach the coast, moving to and
from the deeper water of the northern seas, chiefly for the
purpose of procuring fresh food-supplies. These wanderings
do not appear, however, to have taken the fish through the
Straits of Gibraltar, for they are regarded as wanting in the
Mediterranean. Now and then the summer herring mass so
thick on favourite feeding-grounds on our coasts that the water is
thickened by their excreta, and many other fishes shelter in this
turbid area of the sea, where their enemies are unable to find
them. Both pilchards, however, and mackerel, so Dunn used
to say, keep away from these feeding shoals. He was also of
opinion that herrings displayed above most other fishes what he
called a sixth sense, for it was always observed that they were the
first to leave the inshore grounds on the approach of a coming
storm, and from the fact of their always moving away to
leeward, it looked as if they even knew the direction from
which it was blowing.

The Pilchard (C. pilchardus) has, as before mentioned,

THE HERRING FAMILY 205

radiating lines on the gill-cover to distinguish it from the
herring, and it also has large, loosely attached scales, a more
rounded body, and a deeper green hue. Its extremely small
teeth occur in the jaws only, and in some individuals they
appear to be altogether wanting.

The sardine of our tables is merely a year-old, immature
pilchard, masquerading under the French name. This seems
to be derived from the fisheries round the island of Sardinia.
Unlike the herring, the pilchard occurs abundantly in the
Mediterranean.

Dunn described its floating egg as far back as 1871, and
seventeen years later Raffaele thought that he had identified the
similar egg of the sardine in the Mediterranean—a conclusion
confirmed by Cunningham somewhat later. The pilchard is
said to deposit about 60,000 eggs, and Cunningham observed
these artificially fertilised for the first time in 1893. He draws
attention to three very useful characters by which they can be
distinguished from any other eggs that float in our seas—the
great space between the egg and the surrounding membrane,
the division of the yolk into irregularly shaped segments, and
the presence in the yolk of a single large oil-globule. There
are, it is true, other eggs with one or other of these three
characters, but no other possesses them all.

The same author also gives excellent figures of the remark-
able larval and post-larval stages through which the pilchard
passes. It is satisfactory to learn, in an age that affects to
deprecate British science, that the scientific experts of the
Plymouth Marine Laboratory solved, in the course of a five
years’ investigation, pilchard problems which eminent French
ichthyologists at Marseilles had declared to be incapable of
solution close to land.

It would seem that the migrations of the pilchard are less
extensive on our coasts than those of the herring. As an
interesting case of irregular distribution, it may be mentioned
that this fish was common on the east coast of Scotland during

206 SALT-WATER FISHES

the early years of the nineteenth century, but has been ex-
tremely scarce there ever since.

Pilchards feed close to the land in the summer months, and
chiefly at night, but they are said by the fishermen to feed with
their heads all pointing away from the land, so that the shoals
can easily re-form on the approach of dawn. This view is borne
out by the fact that of the thousands of pilchards strangled on
some nights in drift-nets set parallel with the land, the writer
has often found no more than five per cent. caught on the
outer side of the net, thus showing that the vast bulk of the
fish struck the meshes on the land side.

The Sprat (C. sprattus) is a smaller fish, and rarely exceeds
64 in. As already shown, it is easily distinguished from the
herring by its saw-edged belly and dorsal fin commencing
behind the point opposite the pelvic fin. It has no teeth, and
its scales are larger than in a herring of similar size. From
the pilchard it is at once distinguished by the absence of
radiating lines on the gill-covers.

Its relations with the “ whitebait’ of commerce have already
been explained. It apparently spawns closer to the coast than
the herring or pilchard ; indeed, in such enclosed waters as the
Firth of Forth its eggs are found farther from the open sea
than those of any other marine fish. It is found on all
European coasts, in the Atlantic, in the Mediterranean, and in
the Baltic, and the chief regular fisheries of importance are
in estuaries and narrow seas.

The floating egg of the sprat is found in the sea at Plymouth
from the end of January until the end of April, on the west
coast of Ireland from March until June, and at St. Andrews
from April to July. The female deposits about 5,000, and
each measures about 5 in., is transparent, and has no oil-
globule. The yolk is divided by numerous lines. Sprats’ eggs
are also found on the bottom in shallow, brackish water ; and
McIntosh suggests that these fish sometimes spawn up estuaries,
so as to ensure the eggs sinking in the less dense water.

THE HERRING FAMILY 207

Young sprats of about 24 in. are known as “ brit,”’ which,
with the ‘“ mackerel-midge,” as the young of rocklings are
called, constitute [so important a source of food for surface-
hunting fishes.

Sprats appear to approach our estuaries and narrow bays
not so much to breed, however, as for feeding purposes.
Indeed, the spawning is often carried on some little way from
land, and the sprats do not commonly shoal inshore until
autumn and winter, their presence at such spots as Deal being
the signal for a corresponding muster of the cod and whiting.

The Anchovy (Engraulis encrascicholus) is less important in
our seas than the three foregoing members of the family, but
very large fisheries have long been established as far south as
the Mediterranean, and as far north as the Zuyder Zee, where
this little fish spawns every summer. The anchovy may be
recognised from other Clupeids by the projecting snout and
deep cleft to the mouth, which give it the look of a miniature
shark. Its eye has a peculiar covering of skin, and it has a
deeply forked tail, very small teeth, and a broad silver band
on the sides. In colour, the back is dark green. This fish
grows to a length of 7 or 8 in.

The anchovy is not known to spawn on our coasts, though
it occurs regularly in the Channel during early winter,
November being the month of its greatest plenty in the
Plymouth district. These anchovies are looked upon as
belonging to shoals returning from the spawning-grounds in
the Zuyder Zee ; but Cunningham shows, on the evidence of
Returns in 1889 and 1890, that there is no direct relation
between abundance in any season in Holland and in our own
seas. Nor is there, as might perhaps be expected, a second
shoaling on our coasts on the return journey.

The early development of this fish seems somewhat
doubtful.

The egg differs in shape from other floating eggs, being
more elongated. Its length is about '9 in., and the yolk is

208 SALT-WATER FISHES

covered with a network, like that of the pilchard, but has no
oil-globule. It hatches out (at about 60°) in two or three
days, and the larva is then rather more than 75 in. The
anchovy appears to develop rapidly, though its earlier stages
have been but imperfectly studied. It is also said to spawn
when two years old. Until 1896 no eggs of this fish had
been obtained on our coasts.

Many attempts have been made to induce the fishermen to
use finer-meshed nets to catch British anchovies, and it has
even been said that these are, even if caught, not suitable for
curing purposes. Cunningham mentions having sent some for
trial to the celebrated dealers Messrs. Burgess, who said that
those from Gorgona were far better; but that firm more
recently assured the writer that the experiment had never
been made on a scale sufficient for commercial test.

The Twaite and Allis Shad (C. finta and C. alosa) can
hardly be omitted from this work on account of the similarity
of their breeding habits and those of the excluded salmon or
smelt, for they are essentially marine fishes that have taken to
fresh-water breeding-haunts. There are several British rivers
particularly noted for shad, among them being the Tay, Wye,
and Severn. Of the last two Mr. Willis Bund, whose know-
ledge of the district, as Chairman for so many years of the
Severn Fishery Board, is perhaps unique, writes to me
(March 12th, 1902) :

“ Shad run up the Severn and Wye, very far up the latter.
Both the twaite and allis shad run up the Severn, but the latter
very rarely gets up to the fresh water, and comes in far smaller
numbers than the twaite. I do not know any special law for
their protection, but a smaller-meshed net is allowed in the
Severn when they are in the river than is allowed at other
times. The point that you suggest, whether they come under
the Fresh-water Fisheries Act, has never to my knowledge
arisen, and I do not well see how it can, for the fresh-water
fish are almost all caught with rod and line, and the person

THE HERRING FAMILY 209

fishing has the landowner’s leave. I should say that they
would not come under the Act, as it can be proved that
they are not fresh-water fish, and are in the fresh water only
three weeks; but it would raise a very pretty argument on the
wording of the Act, which is wide enough to cover them if the
words are read one way.”

Mr. Willis Bund’s remarks on the relative distances to
which the two species ascend the Severn are of great interest,
because they conflict with the observations of Ehrenbaum on
the shad of the Elbe. In that river it isthe allis which spawns
as far up as Dresden, while the twaite remains below Hamburg.

The twaite enters every river on the Atlantic seaboard of
Morocco, being called ‘“‘shaval” by the Moors. The Bouregreg,
at Rabat, and the Um Erbeya, at Azimur, are both visited by
this shad each spring, -and in the latter river the writer has
bought these fish from the netsmen at the Spanish equivalent
of a penny the pound.

The allis is the larger species, growing to a length of 4 ft.,
while the twaite is not known to exceed 16 in. Except that
the latter has a row of indistinct spots along the sides and much
fewer and thicker’ gill-rakers (7.e. about twenty or thirty in the
twaite ; sixty or eighty in the allis), the two bear a close
resemblance. Like the pilchard, they have radiating lines on
the gill-cover ; their scales are small ; and the edge of the belly
is serrated. The teeth in the jaws are very small, and there
are none on the tongue or vomer. They further resemble the
pilchard in having the commencement of the dorsal fin nearer
to the tip of the snout than to the base of the tail.

Shad feed on sprats and other small fishes, and are
occasionally caught by amateurs in the Downs, near Deal.
Otherwise they are netted, for the most part, in rivers, though
a number are sometimes taken in the Plymouth mackerel
seines.

One of the greatest feats achieved by State fish-culture in
America is the transport of the shad from the Atlantic to the

14

210 SALT-WATER FISHES

Pacific seaboard, where it was naturally wanting. Artificial
culture of shad, it is true, has been practised in European
countries (e.g. on the Seine, at Elbceuf), but on a smaller scale
than in the United States.

The eggs of the shad sink (in fresh water), but they lie
separately on the bottom, and are not adhesive, like the
demersal eggs of the herring. (The eggs of the American shad
[Alosa sapidissima| are only a little heavier than the fresh
water, and hang suspended a little above the bottom.)

Both species of shad appear to spawn in early summer,
between May and July, the twaite possibly a little earlier
than the other. The eggs, which measure when first deposited
about 3% in., are reticulated, like those of the pilchard,
but have no oil-globule. Ina temperature of 66° they hatch
on the fourth day, and the newly hatched larva of the twaite
measures rather less than ¢ in.

There is no comparison between the eggs and larve of the
shad and salmon. ‘The salmon deposits in a gravelly furrow
eggs that measure approximately } in. and that have many
small oil-globules, and they take, under the most favour-
able circumstances, thirty-five days to hatch, so that, before
emerging from the egg, the larva is already far more advanced
towards the adult stage.

CHAPTER XII
THE FLAT-FISHES

Wits the exception of the dory and one or two of the rarer
riband-like fishes inhabiting deep water, all the bony fishes
hitherto considered exhibited a roundness of form, swam in
the upright position, and had perfect symmetry on both sides,
even to the smallest blotch or marking. In the rays, it is true,
we found flattened fishes, but there was no want of similarity
in the sides, for the apparent upper and lower surface of the
ray is the actual back and belly of the fish, and the ray is
therefore merely a compressed, or depressed, shark peculiarly
adapted for residence at the bottom of the sea. That the
upper surface should be coloured and the lower surface white
is, therefore, only the same condition as we find in the upper
and lower surface of the cod, mackerel, or gurnard. In the
flat-fishes, however—the plaice and sole and turbot—we have a
totally different condition. Here, what appears to be the back
and belly of the fish is in reality the right and left side. The
actual back ,and belly of the flat-fishes are the finny edges,
which have become compressed out of all resemblance to the
normal condition. Why, or when, the flat-fishes, as they are
now known to us, developed this extraordinary shape and
position, we cannot tell. They are not so when hatched from
the egg, so that their ancestors in all probability swam as
other fishes. But during the first few weeks of their existence
they gradually lean over on one side (the left in most cases),
which is henceforth pressed close to the sand and withdrawn

air

212 SALT-WATER FISHES

from the action of sunlight. As a consequence, or, at any
rate, as an accompanying condition, this left side is henceforth
colourless. The left eye also works over to the right side,
eventually taking up a position in line with the right. These
remarkable metamorphoses are accompanied by a varying
degree of malformation in the head of the fish, the extremes
of which are perhaps marked by the plaice and halibut, the
former wearing a curiously wry expression on its face, the
latter, which is also the largest of the family, being, in facial
appearance, little different from a round fish.

This final position of the eyes, both on the same side,
clearly separates the flat-fish from all flattened round fish, such
as the dory. Abnormal examples, having an eye on either
side, are not very rare, and these usually have both sides
similarly coloured, thus further conforming to the condition
of round fishes. Mr. Holt * has, however, described an adult
female sole, measuring 15 in., which had one eye on either
side, but, the colouring normal—that is to say, confined
to the upper side. Though the abnormal eye was somewhat
impeded in its action by an overgrowth of skin and by sensory
filaments, there was no reason for supposing that the fish could
not see with it, or that, in fact, the uncoloured side was per-
manently out of the sphere of influence of direct light.

Another particular in which these flat-fishes, even in a
single species, show marked difference is the roughness or
smoothess of the skin. Thus, the flounder has rough scales,
and the turbot has no scales, but rough tubercles in their
place. But there is a wide range in either species. Flounders
from the Mediterranean are found to be quite smooth, while
those taken from the Baltic Sea are even rougher than those
on our coasts. Turbot, again, from the Norwegian fjords are
far more profusely studded with tubercles than those caught in
the English Channel, and often have tubercles on the lower
surface as well as on the upper. The plaice is yet more

* See Journ. Mar. Biolog. Assoc., October, 1894, p. 188.

THE FLAT-FISHES 213

variable. Holt* has described a race of dwarf Baltic plaice
with spinous, or ciliated, scales—a character unknown in the
plaice of our grounds ; and Cunningham + once made a detailed
comparison of the different races of plaice from representative
grounds between Plymouth and the Dogger Bank, in which he
was able to show a great margin in respect of many distinctive
characters.

Colour variation is also a common phenomenon in the
flat-fishes. As has already been described, the colouring is
usually confined to the upper (in reality, right or left) surface.
In nature, however, all manner of changes are rung on this
condition, and examples are recorded with the colouring only
on the wrong side, or with equal colouring on both. Batesont
describes small brill and plaice sent to him from Mevagissey
by the late Matthias Dunn, as well as flounders captured in
the shallow water of Bournemouth Bay, all of which had
colouring on the normally white, or “blind,” side. With refer-
ence to the Bournemouth flounders, the writer has, during a
residence of seven consecutive winters at that town, repeatedly
remarked these curiously coloured flounders in the shops, and
has been given to understand that they were caught by Poole
boats in the bay. In many examples the spots on the usually
“‘blind” side coalesce in such manner as to present a con-
siderable surface of brown colour. The most interesting
record, however, with regard to the colouration of one side
only in flat-fishes, and particularly with reference to the theory
of the influence of light, is that of Mr. Cunningham’s ex-
periments§ in the artificial colouring of flounders confined in
a tank with mirrors so arranged beneath as to throw up the
light on the lower side of the fish. In this way he actually
succeeded in colouring the lower side of a flounder, which

* See Journ. Mar. Biolog. Assoc., October, 1894, p. 194.
t See Zézd., March, 1897, pp. 315-359.

t See Proc. Zool. Soc., 1894, p. 246.

§ Journ. Mar. Biolog. Assoc., May, 1893.

214 SALT-WATER FISHES

lived under such treatment for more than three years. The
same observer records an abnormal piebald plaice with much
less than the usual development of colour on the upper side.
Mr. Cunningham is, in fact, one of the greatest living
authorities on the present group, and his widely read mono-
graph on the common sole, published some years ago under
the auspices of the Marine Biological Association, is perhaps
the most exhaustive treatise ever written on a single economic
fish. Only one other account of a single flat-fish, at any rate
in the English language, is worthy of comparison, that of the
plaice, by Mr. F. J. Cole and J. Johnstone, of Liverpool, which
appeared in far less elaborate form in the 1901 Report on the
Lancashire Sea Fisheries Laboratory.

Wonderful as are the flat-fishes, however, as absorbing
in their life-history to the naturalist as are their capture and
sale to the merchant, many legends have been weaved around
them that have only the slightest element of truth. By a
singular lack of fairness, those who take a pleasure in manu-
facturing natural history always choose for their subjects not
the least interesting animals, to which some such adventitious
interest might be a gain, but those which are already so
remarkable that any improvement on their peculiarities is
superfluous. The amazing changes undergone by larval
flat-fishes, already described in the sixties by Professor
Traquair, were not enough, but men must add fictions of
their own. According to some, they were descended from
shrimps; according to others, shrimps were a mere stage in
their development. Others confused their spawn with that
of sea-worms ; and a not uncommon disease of the flounder,
which causes a local granulation of the skin, was construed
into a story that the flounder, like the Surinam toad, hatched
its eggs out in pits in its own back.

These flat-fishes may be divided, following Cunningham
and other accepted authorities, in four groups, in the first
three of which the eyes and colour are on the right side,

THE FLAT-FISHES 215

while in the fourth they are on the left. The develop-
ment of teeth in either jaw represents, however, a more
satisfactory character. In the plaice, dab, and flounder,
representing the first group, there is unequal development
in two sides of the jaws. In the halibut, representing the
second, the teeth are equally developed in both sides. In the
sole, representing the third, there are teeth on one side only.

The fact that the so-called upper and lower surface of
flat-fish are in reality the right and left side is at once
made apparent by the presence of the lateral line along each.
The terms “right” and “left,” by the way, are used in
respect of an observer holding the edge with the mouth
and vent towards him. ‘The dorsal fin runs along the edge
farthest from the mouth; the ventral fin is long; and the
vent lies close to the head.

As in the case of the cod family, one or two rarer kinds
of the present group have been briefly noticed in Chapter

XIV. Those described in the present chapter are as
follow :-—
Sus-ORDER : HETEROSOMATA
FamILy. Common Name. GENus. SPECIES.
Plaice Pleuronectes platessa
Dab Pe “imanda
Flounder ye Slesus
Lemon Dab P. microcephalus
Witch P; cynoglossus
Halibut Hippoglossus vulgaris
Long Rough Dab Aippoglossoides limandoides
PLEURONECTIDA@ .~} Brill Rhombus levis
Turbot R. maximus
Megrim Lepidorhombus megastoma
Topknot Zeugopterus punctatus
One-spotted Topknot Zz. uninaculatus
Norwegian Topknot zZ. norvegicus
Scald-fish Arnoglossus laterna
grohmanni
Sole Solea vulgaris
French Sole S. lascaris
SOIOE ais | Thickback 8, variegata
Solenette S. lutea

216 SALT-IVATER FISHES

During the greater part of their life, when full-grown,
these flat-fishes reside close to the bottom, lying, in fact, in
the sand or gravel, which often affords them a high degree
of colour-protection. Cunningham gives in his monograph
an admirably coloured plate of a sole lying in gravel; but
an even more striking approximation of the fish to its
surroundings may sometimes be seen in aquarium tanks,
and the writer has seen more wonderful examples of this
at the Plymouth tank-house. Allusion has already been
made to the variation in colouring in this group.* As
long as the fiat-fish lies on the bottom, its colouring is
of great service to it. Occasionally, however, even large
dabs or turbot are seen swimming near the surface, and in
such a position they are peculiarly conspicuous. The largest
halibut and turbot prey on fish, but the rest feed on worms,
molluscs, and crustaceans, which are sucked into the twisted
mouth and seized in the small, sharp teeth. The fins are
without spines (which is also the case in many round fish,
such as cod and herring), though the plaice and lemon dab
have a sharp spine before the anal fin.

All the flat-fishes of our coasts lay floating eggs, even
the flounder of our rivers going down to the sea to deposit
its eggs in salt water, like the eel. Here we have a converse
case in respect of the habits of the salmon. That fish comes
into fresh water, apart from all question of ancestral habitat,
in order that its egg may sink in the shallow fresh water
and lie safe in the furrows that it makes for the purpose.
The flounder, on the other hand, could not possibly lay
its buoyant egg in the tidal waters of rivers if it were
essentially a fresh-water fish, for the eggs would inevitably
be carried down to the sea, and the salt water would kill
the embryos. The groups under notice must be regarded as
closely related to the cod family, described in an earlier chapter.

* See also McIntosh in Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., April, 1902, p. 291
and Patterson in Zyans. Worf. and Norw. Nat. Soc., 1891-2, p. 326.

THE FLAT-FISHES 217

Pleuronectidze

I.—Group IN WHICH THE TEETH ARE LARGEST ON
THE Lower SIDE

The Plaice (Pleuronectes platessa) is an almost solitary
exception to the general rule of a familiar fish on all parts
of our coasts having a great variety of local names. Another
of the genus, the lemon sole, goes by a different name at
almost every port ; but a plaice is a plaice in localities hundreds
of miles apart. Certainly the fish is an unmistakable form,
since its orange-red spots are not found in any other flat-fish
of our seas. The head has an even more twisted appearance
than that of most flat-fishes ; the eyes are in line and on
the right side, separated by a bony ridge. In all flat-fishes
the eyes lie just above the sand when their owners are at
rest, and to Holt is due the credit of discovering and describing
a sac-like membrane, the use of which is to regulate the
vertical movements of the eye. Such an apparatus must
obviously be of great use to animals that pass a great portion
of their existence under these conditions, and the discoverer
not unreasonably looked for a similar arrangement in the
weevers, which also lie with their eyes just above the sand,
but the search was not successful.* The scales of the
plaice, which extend to the face, are very small, so that a
newly caught plaice feels slimy when handled. The lateral
line is nearly straight, with only a slight curve over the
pectoral fin.

In colour the plaice is deep brown, with the afore-
mentioned orange-red spots on the right side; the left,
or lower, side is pure white. Further, this white side is
perfectly flat, whereas the coloured side is convex. A sharp
spine points forward just before the anal fin. The dorsal
fin starts above the eyes. The cleft of the mouth is narrow ;
the teeth are broad and somewhat blunt, largest on the white

* See Proc. Zool. Soe., 1894, P- 431.

218 SALT-WATER FISHES

side ; on the coloured side they are both fewer and smaller.
There are no teeth in the palate.

As to the size of this fish, this varies in different parts
of our seas, while the Baltic produces small plaice just as it
also produces small cod. Cole and Johnstone, whose memoir
on this fish has already been noticed, give 33 in. as the
length of the largest plaice on record, and its weight at
15 lb. Cunningham gives 28 in. as the maximum length for
Scotch waters ; 24 in. forthe Plymouth district ; and 26 in. for
the west coast of Ireland. He makes allusion to “ several
inches longer than 30 in.” farther north, but gives no actual
examples.

The distribution of the plaice in European seas is general,
though variable. It ranges to the colder waters of the
north, and is found in the Bay of Biscay, but it is scarce
throughout the Mediterranean. According to Cunningham,
it feeds by preference on the razor-fish, particularly on its
so-called “foot,” and also on cockles, lugworms, ragworms,
sand-stars, and occasional shrimps.

The plaice spawns in the English Channel and North
Sea during the first three months of the year; in the eastern
portion of the Channel and in the North Sea possibly until
May ; and in all seas at a considerable distance from land.
According to Cole, the female deposits about 300,000 eggs,
a smaller number than would be deposited by the average
round fish of the same size. The egg, one of the largest
of the flat-fish type, has a diameter of nearly 7; in. The
capsule is tough and slightly corrugated, and there is no oil-
globule. The egg, being large, develops slowly, and takes,
even at spring temperature, ten or twelve days to hatch.
It floats near the surface, where herrings devour it along
with copepoda.

The larva measures about + in., and has small black and
yellow spots on the body and head. The entire change,
from the symmetrical round fish type, in which the plaice

cA Natural Size

Photoby Ranhald Thiele

PLAICE (Pleuronecles platessa)

THE FLAT-FISHES 219

emerges from the egg, to the distorted shape of the adult,
occupies about six weeks. The yolk-sac disappears in eight
days, and the larva is now entirely dependent on other food,
to which, however, it probably accustoms itself gradually
even before nature’s supply is exhausted. This early food
consists of diatoms; at a later stage the little fish would
be able to devour copepoda ; and finally it would chase small
shrimps. By the beginning of the seventh week the little
plaice swims in its new position, the left eye lies alongside
the right, the head is twisted out of its former plane, and
the left side loses all colour. Larval flat-fishes are preyed
on in these early days by jelly-fishes, and Masterman figures
one (op. cit., p. 56) swallowing a tiny flounder.

The rate of growth of the plaice has been much discussed.
Observations are necessarily based on either examples reared
under artificial conditions, or else on the spoils of the tow-
net, with gaps and uncertainties that render positive pro-
nouncements extremely difficult. As a case of actual
experiment, Dannevig found that plaice on the Scotch coast
grew about 3 in. in the year, most of this increment being
credited to the warmer months. This yearly growth is,
however, known only up to the third year inclusive.

The size at which the plaice becomes mature—that is to
say, capable of depositing or fertilising ova, is of great
importance (see Chapter II.) in all questions of prohibitive
legislation. It would seem that the male is always mature
at a smaller size than the female; but these sizes vary
according to locality, and it is this variation that furnishes
the chief obstacle to legislation. Thus, Cunningham gives
1s in. for the Channel; Holt 17 in. for the North Sea
and Petersen much lower sizes (10-13 in.) for the Danish
coast.

The plaice is generally distributed round the British
Islands, but the larger fish keep out in the deeper water, up
to about 100 fathoms, outside of which line none are caught.

220 SALT-WATER FISHES

Cole alludes to a remarkable condition of the Baltic, which,
arising out of the normally low and periodically lower specific
gravity of that sea, explains the long-discussed absence from
that sea of the very young plaice under 2 or 3 in. in length.
About once a month, according to Hensen, the Baltic is
of such low specific gravity that the plaice eggs sink;
and the inference is that their development is thereby per-
manently checked, since floating eggs are not adapted to
healthy development at the bottom of the sea. The extra-
ordinarily low percentage of salt in that sea can hardly be
appreciated by those who have neither bathed nor fished in
it; but the writer well remembers, though twelve years have
elapsed since he resided on its shores, the comparative difficulty
of keeping afloat on its surface for one accustomed to sea-
bathing in the Channel and Mediterranean, and also the
curious sensation of catching, a mile or two from shore,
such a medley of sea- and river-fish as plaice, pike, perch,
and cod, not necessarily on the same ground, but within an
area of probably less than an acre. The low percentage of
salt is not difficult to account for in a sea that, having no
outlet save the narrow strait that connects it with the North
Sea, receives so many torrential waters from the melting
snows of southern Scandinavia, besides so many slower yet
broader streams from the lowlands of northern Russia and
Germany. The curious variations in the salinity, however,
have yet to be satisfactorily understood.

According to Cole and other observers, the young plaice
follow a very general rule of inshore migration, seeking the
shallows in the warmer months and the deeper banks in cold
weather. The writer named also quotes a remarkable case
of irregular migration on the part of large plaice, which was
brought to his notice by Mr. R. L. Ascroft. A heavy storm,
in 1885, washed the “ sand-pipes”” (Pectinaria) off the deep-
water banks into a channel of the Ribble estuary, and there,
for about four days, the sailing trawlers caught as many as

THE FLAT-FISHES 221

180 score of plaice apiece each day, the plaice having no
doubt followed the food.

The Dab (P. /imanda), a light-brown fish that lacks the
red spots of the plaice, but has similar spots in dull brown,
is, On account of its spiny scales, a rougher fish when
handled. The ridge over the eyes is, however, smooth, not
rough as in the plaice. The lateral line also has a charac-
teristic abrupt curve round the pectoral fin. As in the
plaice, there is a spine before the anal fin, but, unlike the
plaice, the present species has scales along the rays of the dorsal
and anal fins. The largest recorded dab in British waters
measured 15 in., and examples of I0 in. are much more
common. The females are both slightly larger and also
much more numerous than the other sex.

The dab, the smallest member of the genus in our seas,
is a northern fish, being absent from the Mediterranean,
but occurring throughout the Baltic. It feeds chiefly on
hermit-crabs and other crustaceans, as well as on sand-stars,
razor-fish, and worms. It attains to maturity when 4 or § in.
long, and spawns at a considerable distance from the land
between March and June. Dr. Wemyss Fulton has reckoned
that a dab of 84 in. deposits 128,812 eggs. The egg is
smaller than that of the plaice, and, like it, has no oil-globule.
It measures only about ;$s in. Cunningham succeeded in
artificially fertilising them at sea in 1886, and he also hatched
them at the Granton Laboratory. At a temperature of
between 45° and 60° F. they hatched in three days, but at
St. Andrews in May, at a much lower temperature, they took
twelve. The larva measures rather over 75 in., and has light
yellow spots on the head and tail.

Young dabs, plaice, and flounders can only be distin-
guished with the greatest difficulty. The number of fin-rays,
of which much is sometimes made, is not a very reliable
character as distinguishing dabs from plaice, though it effectually
separates both from the flounder. Prof. McIntosh alludes to

222 SALT-WATER FISHES

the fact that shrimp-trawlers catch young dabs of 3 in. or less
in the Thames estuary in October, and he is of opinion that
the smallest of these (measuring perhaps 1} in.) are at least
34 months old, while the largest would be eight or nine
months. The market price of the dab is considerably lower
than that of the plaice, but it is quite equal as food to
the more popular fish.

The Flounder (P. flesus), or Fluke, though correctly
reckoned among sea fish, has a partiality for brackish or even
fresh water in all but the spawning-period and finds its way
a long distance up many of our rivers. According to
Cunningham, it cannot, however, spawn in fresh water, for
its eggs, as already explained, must float in order to develop
and they would be washed out to sea and dispersed in a
medium unfavourable to their development.

The flounder may be distinguished by its small, smooth
scales, and by the fact of those behind the head and along
the bases of the fins being rough and spinous. In colour this
fish is very dark on the upper side and bright white beneath.
It was on the flounder that Cunningham made his interesting
experiment, already described, in artificial colouration by
reflected light. The flounder has from forty to forty-five fin-
rays in the ventral fin, fewer therefore than in either the plaice
or dab. The largest flounder on record probably measured
less than 20 in., though there is some difference of opinion
as to its maximum size. Day’s estimate of 8 or 9g in. as
its greatest length is clearly a misprint for 18 or 19 in.

The food of the flounder consists in great part of small
crustaceans and molluscs, while in the aquarium it takes
worms more readily than anything else.

As usual in the flat-fishes, the female is slightly the larger
sex, but, according to the calculations of Dr. Fulton, the
males are considerably the more numerous, which is unusual.

The flounder, which reaches maturity at a length of 7 in.
in the female and less than 5 in. in the male, spawns chiefly

THE FLAT-FISHES 223

in the months of March and April, though in some localities
it may begin to spawn as early as February, while in others
it may not have finished until early in June. It is one of the
fish that spawn regularly in the Plymouth tank-house, between
the beginning of March and the beginning of May. The
natural spawning-grounds are not more than about 10 miles
from land, in water of 30 fathoms or less.

. The egg of the flounder measures in diameter rather less
than 3); in., and is therefore intermediate in size between those
of the plaice and dab. It is round and transparent, has no
oil-globule, and floats in the water. At a temperature of
about 53° F. it hatches in seven days after fertilisation.
The larva measures about 3%; in., and has black and yellow
spots on the head and body. ‘These presently cover the fins
and tail, the latter in a broad band. Professor McIntosh has
recorded an interesting fact in the early history of the flounder.
He found some years ago that the post-larval form, measuring
perhaps an inch in May, is preyed on by sparrows that seize
it in the shallow rock-pools left by the ebbing tide. The
flounder, even at that early age, while still transparent,
evidently shows that preference for estuaries and the neigh-
bourhood of land generally which clings to it through life,
save only when the demands of its pelagic egg compel it to
seek the denser, deeper water outside.

The Lemon Dab (P. microcephalus), or Lemon Sole,*
is of a warm yellow colour mottled with dark and light spots.
In shape it is more exactly oval than any other British flat-fish
of either the sole, plaice, or turbot group. The scales are very
small and smooth, so that the lemon dab feels slimy to the
touch, and they cover the entire fish, even the upper surface
of the fins. The lateral line is only slightly curved behind the
head. The head itself is small ; the mouth also is small, and
the teeth are blunt and more developed on the “ blind” side.

* This must not be confused with a congener of the true sole,
Solea lascaris, also called by this name.

222 SALT-WATER FISHES

the fact that shrimp-trawlers catch young dabs of 3 in. or less
in the Thames estuary in October, and he is of opinion that
the smallest of these (measuring perhaps 1} in.) are at least
34 months old, while the largest would be eight or nine
months. The market price of the dab is considerably lo wer
than that of the plaice, but it is quite equal as food to
the more popular fish.

The Flounder (P. flesus), or Fluke, though correctly
reckoned among sea fish, has a partiality for brackish or even
fresh water in all but the spawning-period and finds its way
a long distance up many of our rivers. According to
Cunningham, it cannot, however, spawn in fresh water, for
its eggs, as already explained, must float in order to develop
and they would be washed out to sea and dispersed in a
medium unfavourable to their development.

The flounder may be distinguished by its small, smooth
scales, and by the fact of those behind the head and along
the bases of the fins being rough and spinous. In colour this
fish is very dark on the upper side and bright white beneath.
It was on the flounder that Cunningham made his interesting
experiment, already described, in artificial colouration by
reflected light. The flounder has from forty to forty-five fin-
rays in the ventral fin, fewer therefore than in either the plaice
or dab. The largest flounder on record probably measured
less than 20 in., though there is some difference of opinion
as to its maximum size. Day’s estimate of 8 or g in. as
its greatest length is clearly a misprint for 18 or 19 in.

The food of the flounder consists in great part of small
crustaceans and molluscs, while in the aquarium it takes
worms more readily than anything else.

As usual in the flat-fishes, the female is slightly the larger
sex, but, according to the calculations of Dr. Fulton, the
males are considerably the more numerous, which is unusual.

The flounder, which reaches maturity at a length of 7 in.
in the female and less than 5 in. in the male, spawns chiefly

THE FLAT-FISHES 223

in the months of March and April, though in some localities
it may begin to spawn as early as February, while in others
it may not have finished until early in June. It is one of the
fish that spawn regularly in the Plymouth tank-house, between
the beginning of March and the beginning of May. The
natural spawning-grounds are not more than about 10 miles
from land, in water of 30 fathoms or less.

. The egg of the flounder measures in diameter rather less
than 3/5 in., and is therefore intermediate in size between those
of the plaice and dab. It is round and transparent, has no
oil-globule, and floats in the water. At a temperature of
about 53° F. it hatches in seven days after fertilisation.
The larva measures about 3 in., and has black and yellow
spots on the head and body. ‘These presently cover the fins
and tail, the latter in a broad band. Professor McIntosh has
recorded an interesting fact in the early history of the flounder.
He found some years ago that the post-larval form, measuring
perhaps an inch in May, is preyed on by sparrows that seize
it in the shallow rock-pools left by the ebbing tide. The
flounder, even at that early age, while still transparent,
evidently shows that preference for estuaries and the neigh-
bourhood of land generally which clings to it through life,
save only when the demands of its pelagic egg compel it to
seek the denser, deeper water outside.

The Lemon Dab (P. microcephalus), or Lemon Sole,*
is of a warm yellow colour mottled with dark and light spots.
In shape it is more exactly oval than any other British flat-fish
of either the sole, plaice, or turbot group. The scales are very
small and smooth, so that the lemon dab feels slimy to the
touch, and they cover the entire fish, even the upper surface
of the fins. The lateral line is only slightly curved behind the
head. The head itself is small ; the mouth also is small, and
the teeth are blunt and more developed on the “ blind ” side.

* This must not be confused with a congener of the true sole,
Solea lascaris, also called by this name.

224 SALT-WATER FISHES

The number of rays in the ventral fin is about seventy-five,
one or two more or less, and therefore far in excess of the
number in any other British flat-fish, except the witch. As in
the foregoing kinds, the eyes and colour are on the right side.
The largest recorded lemon dab measured 18 in.

This fish, also known as “ merry sole,” occurs on every
part of our coasts. It is a northern form, absent from the
Mediterranean.

The lemon dab, which reaches maturity at a length of
between 6 in. and 8 in., spawns over a long period, chiefly
between March and May in the Plymouth district, but else-
where from February until June. That is to say, it would not
spawn through all those months in any one locality, but in
some parts it might spawn as early as the first-named month,
while in others it would not be done spawning until the last.
Not only does the lemon dab spawn at a considerable distance
from land, but is throughout life a moderately deep-water fish.

The egg, which was first studied during the 1884 Forth
trawling expeditions, is small, measuring only a little over
zip in., and is thus intermediate between those of the plaice
and flounder, closely resembling both in structure, though
McIntosh distinguishes in it a peculiar sheen, which he attri-
butes to the wrinkled surface of the capsule, comparable in
appearance to Morocco leather. The egg has no oil-globule,
and floats in the water. The larva is slender in shape, and
measures about + in., showing well-developed, dull, greenish-
yellow spots. It is extremely hardy, having been known to
live six days in a small glass cell only 4 in. deep.*

McIntosh and Masterman give an interesting series of
figures of the lemon dab in nine stages, a July specimen
showing a remarkably conspicuous blue eye. Cunningham
remarks that the later larval stages had never (previously to
1896) been taken, except during the Irish survey, when they
were described by Holt. That naturalist was also the first to

* McIntosh and Masterman, of. cit., p. 369.

THE FLAT-FISHES 225

record (in 1892) young lemon dabs from the Humber estuary
in autumn, previous to which they had been thought to keep
out in deep water. Two years later Cunningham found the
young stages in the Brightlingsea shrimp-trawls. These small
lemon dabs are commonly infested with young crustaceans
(Caligi) parasitic on their fins.

The Witch (P. cynoglossus), or Pole Dab, is hardly to be
regarded as a Channel fish, though it does occur on our south
coast. On the other hand, it is locally plentiful in the North
Sea and on the west coasts of both Scotland and Ireland, while
McIntosh and Masterman describe it as not uncommon on the
muddy grounds of the Moray Firth. In its earlier stages,
at any rate, it inhabits the deeper water offshore.

In colour the witch is a pale brown on the upper side, and
there is a dull stain over the lower. The body is oval and
elongated, the eyes are large, the mouth is small, and the
teeth blunt and lying in one row. The lower side of the head
has curious pits or depressions under the skin, first noticeable
when the young fish measures rather less than 2 in. The
distinguishing character of the witch, however, for easier
observation lies in the extraordinarily large number of its fin-
rays—over one hundred in the dorsal and often over ninety in
the ventral. The scales of the upper side are somewhat rough.

In Scotch waters the witch grows to a length of about
20 in., and it feeds on worms, crustaceans, molluscs, and sand-
stars. The females are slightly larger than the males and are
almost double their number.

The witch spawns, in Scotch waters, between May and
August, chiefly in July. The female deposits from half a
million to 800,000 eggs, and the egg measures considerably
under 35 in. It is round and buoyant, and takes about a
week to hatch. The larva measures rather less than + in.,
and is distinguished from that of the dab by its very little
pigment. When a couple of days old, it is slender and has
more pale yellow colouring.

H

226 SALT-WATER FISHES

Il._—Grovp with EeuaLt DEVELOPMENT OF TEETH ON
Boru SIpDEs

The next two fishes represent the second group, with
a much larger mouth and an equal development of teeth on
both sides.

The Halibut * (Hippoglossus vulgaris), pronounced “ Holi-
but,” is the largest flat-fish in existence, and is said to exceed a
length of 20 ft. Specimens of over 7 ft., and weighing two or
three hundred pounds, have often been recorded.

The halibut is less like the typical flat-fish than any of the
rest, even than the allied long rough dab.

The mouth is large, and there are teeth of equal size and
number in both sides of the jaws. The skin is perfectly
smooth, and the lateral line curves somewhat abruptly round
the pectoral fin.

In colour, the halibut is very dark green or brown above,
with mottlings ; the under side pure white.

It is a more northern fish than any of our other flat-fishes,
for it does not occur, so far as is known, south of the English
Channel, though common in Iceland seas, and in fact in the
Arctic waters of three continents. It also inhabits deep water,
up to 120 fathoms. On our own coasts, therefore, the halibut
is most plentiful in the north-east. It feeds on fish and large
crustaceans,

The spawning-time covers at any rate the period between
April and August, and probably even longer. Mr. Holt
first described the egg of the halibut in 1892. It varies
considerably in size, but an average egg measures 38; in.
There is no oil-globule, and the egg is clearly of the buoyant
kind, though it has not actually been seen floating in the water,
Mr. Holt having obtained only dead eggs from a fish in the
market at Grimsby. Dr. Wemyss Fulton subsequently

* This is the ‘‘turbot” of Scotch fishmongers, just as their “sole” is
the lemon dab !

THE FLAT-FISHES 227

described other ripe eggs of the halibut, in which the capsule
was noticeably very thin and punctured all over. McIntosh
and Masterman figure a young larval halibut, after Petersen,
in which the more or less symmetrical form of the grown fish
is already apparent. According to the same authorities, the
mixed diet of the full-grown halibut, which includes fish, is
already characteristic of these early forms, which feed on
shrimps and young flat-fishes.

The Long Rough Dab (Hippoglossoides * limandoides),
though showing approximately the same outline as the halibut,
and also having the same similarity of teeth on both sides of
the jaws, is a very different fish. In the first place, it is only
a pigmy compared with halibut, the largest on record not
exceeding a length of between 16 and 17 in. Again, the long
rough dab is, as its name indicates, a very rough fish, its scales
being spinous on one edge. Its lateral line is straight, which
further distinguishes it from the halibut. The colour is
also lighter, and there are rarely any spots.

In distribution, the present species agrees closely with the
halibut, being plentiful in Arctic seas, but absent from the
more southern waters of Europe. In the English Channel it
is comparatively rare.

The long rough dab feeds on crustaceans, sand-stars, fishes,
worms, and molluscs, the fishes including smaller examples of it
own species.

The spawning-time lasts in Scotch waters from February
until May, March being the chief month. The egg, which
was first found in the 1884 trawling expeditions, measures
about 3/9 in., though the membrane surrounding it may
have a diameter of as much as 3/5 in., the intervening space
being considerable. The newly hatched larva is less than
% in. In a few days after hatching it has dark yellow bands
on the tail.

* McIntosh and Masterman give preference to the generic name
Drepanopsetta for Hippoglossoides.

228 SALT-WATER FISHES

III.—Group with Eves on tHe Lerr Sipe

The following group of flat-fishes differs from the foregoing
(and from the soles that follow) in having the eyes (and
colour) on the left side. The teeth are equal and similar on
both sides of the jaws, and there are also teeth on the vomer.
The dorsal fin commences in front of the eyes.

The Brill (Rhombus * levis) is a familiar table fish, though
less known, perhaps, and certainly less excellent as food, than
the turbot. It resembles the latter in shape, but has a perfectly
smooth skin, devoid of tubercles, with small scales almost
embedded. The colour is light brown, with mottlings and
specklings, but these vanish after death, and the colour
also darkens. It grows to approximately the same size as the
turbot, the female being larger than the male. A large female
measuring 26 in. and a large male of 23 in. are both on
record.

In distribution the brill and turbot agree closely, being
warm-water fish, occurring throughout the Mediterranean, but
absent from Arctic seas and even rare as far south as Shetland.

The brill feeds chiefly on fishes, sand-eels being the favourite
food, while in the Plymouth district it prefers the pout.

The spawning-time is from April to June, the brill reaching
maturity at a length of 10 or 13 in. The egg, which
measures over y's in., has a single oil-globule. The larva has
not been satisfactorily described, though McIntosh and Master-
man give a detailed account of a hybrid between brill and
turbot. Raffaele describes pure brill larve of about in., still
equal-sided, swimming upright, and having dark bands across
the body. These bands seem to distinguish larval brill from
larval turbot. Cunningham describes young brill hatched in
the Plymouth aquarium. One of these, about six months old,
measured nearly 3% in. Two were kept until the April

* McIntosh and Masterman give preference to the generic name
Bothus for Rhombus.

THE FLAT-FISHES 229

following, and were then no longer than the others that
had been removed in October.

The Turbot (Rhombus maximus) has incidentally been
referred to in describing the brill. It has no scales, but in
their place rough tubercles, and in some examples, those
particularly from the Norwegian coasts, these extend to the
uncoloured side. The body is also broader than that of
the brill, and the eyes are proportionately smaller. The
colour is somewhat lighter, and spots are numerous and
conspicuous even after death. Colour protection is admirably
illustrated in the turbot, and the writer has seen small examples
lying in the shallow, calm water under Bournemouth Pier
in July and August which could scarcely be distinguished
until something disturbed them. The turbot has much
fewer fin-rays than the brill. The recorded largest examples
somewhat exceed the measurements of those of the brill, a
female of 28 in. being given in Dr. Fulton’s fishery reports.
Like the brill, this fish is plentiful in the Mediterranean and
on our coasts, but is not found in the northernmost waters
of Europe.

The turbot feeds on other fish, chiefly sand-eels, though
pout and small flat-fishes are also eaten, while Cunningham
mentions boar-fish. Nothing but fish has been found in
examinations of the turbot’s stomach; but the writer has
caught several on mussel bait, though sand-eel was always
considered preferable when it could be had.

The spawning-time of the turbot is between April and
July, inclusive, and the number of eggs in a large female
of 21 Ib. has been calculated at upwards of ten millions.
The egg measures g/; in., which is small, considering that
the flounder lays an egg of the same size. It has a single
yellow oil-globule.

The egg has been known to hatch out in nine days
after fertilising ; and the larva measures about +); in., and
has reddish yellow spots. It is very active, darting about

230 SALT-WATER FISHES

in the tank within a day or two of hatching ; and McIntosh
says that actually after being exposed on a microscope slide
in only a drop of water for over two hours the small turbot
recovered its vitality when restored to the tank. It is also
active in chasing small crustacean forms, which at that early
stage furnish its principal food. It has a strong preference
for living food, and chases its prey at the surface of the sea.
It is a curious fact that, although the air-bladder is absent
in all flat-fishes in the full-grown stage, the larval forms
and transitional stages possess that organ. The small turbot
would swim upright, like a round fish, until the meta-
morphosis of the eyes commenced; but as soon as the
transformation begins, the fish leans over to the right side,
and swims henceforth with that side lowermost.

The Megrim (Lepidorhombus megastoma), otherwise Sail-
fluke, or Whiff, is a rough-scaled, thin-skinned fish; in
colour, pale yellow above and sometimes showing dull
markings on the white side. The head, mouth, and eyes
are large. This flat-fish grows to a recorded length of just
under 2 ft., and is plentiful on the coasts of Devon and
Cornwall, less so on the shores of the North Sea, and
possibly altogether absent from the Mediterranean. This
very restricted range, excluding both the colder northern
and the warmer southern seas, is hardly in keeping with what
we know of the distribution of other flat-fish, and Cunningham
offers a more likely explanation on the ground that in all
probability the megrim keeps on certain coasts outside of the
limit usually worked by trawlers, and may thus escape notice.
Whether the results of the deep-water hauls during the Irish
survey were in themselves sufficient to warrant such a theory
is not clearly stated ; but this view bears on it the imprint
of probability.

Like the brill and turbot, the species under notice feeds
almost entirely on small fishes, particularly sand-eels.

The spawning, at any rate, appears confined to deep water,

¥ Natural Size

Photoby Reinhold Thiele

TURBOT (Rhombus maximus )

THE FLAT-FISHES 231

and takes place between March and May inclusive, a female
of 18 in. having been computed to contain not far short of
half a million eggs.

The egg measures less than 35 in., and has a single oil-
globule. The surface of the capsule is covered with ridges
and punctures, resembling, therefore, the egg of the brill.
Hatching takes place, in spring temperature, on the fifth or
sixth day, and the larva is dotted with black, yellow spots
appearing on the fourth or fifth day. In a fish of rather less
than # in. the transformation is almost complete, but there
are as yet no scales. These first appear at the tail end, when
the fish is rather over an inch long, and do not extend over
the rest of the body until the fish is 2 in.

The Scald-fish (Arnoglossus * laterna), or Scald-back, derives
its vernacular name from the scalded appearance of the body
when the fragile skin is roughly handled and in consequence
peels off. Even the action of the trawl, and the contact
with débris in the net, suffices to produce this effect.
Although the skin is so thin, the scales are rough and
spinous, though in a lesser degree than those of some
flat-fishes already described. This roughness is confined to
the upper side, on which also the scales are larger than on
the lower. This is the only British flat-fish in which there
has so far been any recognition of secondary sexual characters,
of which several examples have in previous chapters been
given in connection with the round fish. The male has the
first rays of the dorsal fin (which has in all from eighty-
seven to one hunded rays) elongated; but this character is
not seen, save to a very small extent, in females, and is quite
wanting in young males. Nor is it actually associated in
adult males with maturity, since that stage may precede it by
a considerable time. The mouth of the scald-fish is almost as
small as that of the plaice, the teeth being, as in the rest
of the present group, equal on both sides.

* Prof. McIntosh prefers Platophrys.

232 SAET-WATER FISHES

There seems to have been some confusion in name between
this fish and the last, but “scald-fish”’ is so descriptive that
preference may be given to it. It has a wider range than many
of our flat-fish, for it occurs both in the far North and in
the Mediterranean. It was trawled at Plymouth in June,
1897, and its eggs were hatched in the Association’s tanks,
Professor Herdman* mentions it as occasionally trawled in
the estuary of the Dee, and says that in that locality it attains
only to a length of about 7 in. This, however, appears to
be near the limit of its growth elsewhere as well, though
Cunningham mentions one of 8 in. taken near Plymouth.

The scald-fish spawns in April and May. The egg is
very small, measuring in diameter only go in., and has a
single oil-globule. According to Ehrenbaum the larva
measured about 3/5 in. or rather less, and showed touches of
red. Holt describes young scald-fish of an inch in length
with black dots irregularly distributed on the body.

The allied 2. grohmanni was trawled at Plymouth in 1897
and 1898, and Holt describes the egg as measuring about
go in., with a single oil-globule, and larva as distinguished
by two dark bands, one near the tail. The eggs have
also been taken at the surface in the neighbourhood of the
Eddystone Lighthouse.

The Topknots commonly described as British are three
in number,

Muller’s Topknot (Zeugopterus punctatus), or Common
Topknot, otherwise ‘“ Browny,” is a small brown fish with
large dark blotches, growing to a length of 6 or 7 in
The skin is very rough, owing to the spinous scales,
and the fins extend right around the edge of the body, joining
the tail. The head is short, the mouth large, and there
are teeth in a band on the jaws and on the vomer. On the
lower, colourless side the skin is smooth.

This topknot is not found in the Mediterranean, but

* Fishes and Fisheries of the Irish Sea, p. 52.

THE FLAT-FISHES 233

its range includes the most northern parts of the Scandinavian
coast.

The spawning-time is said to be in spring and summer—
a somewhat wide range. McIntosh quotes Malm to the
effect that a nearly ripe egg measured just over 3}; in., the
larva measuring about 3/5 in., and having yellow dots on
the fins. The egg has a single oil-globule, like the rest of
the present subdivision of flat-fish. The yellow on the fins
became deeper and extended to the head after a few days.

The One-spotted Topknot (Z. unimaculatus) is rough on
the lower side as well as on the upper, a most uncommon
‘condition in flat-fish, and only familiar otherwise in some turbot
from Norwegian seas, in which the tubercles grow on both
the right and left sides. As further grounds of distinction
from the commoner species, we have the dark spot in the
middle of the coloured side, from which the present subject
takes its name, and also the greater length of the first ray
of the dorsal fin, There are also gaps in the marginal fins,
which is not the case in the common kind.

The distribution is somewhat more southern, for the one-
spotted topknot occurs sparsely in the Mediterranean, but is
said to be absent from the most northern waters inhabited by
the other. Mention has already been made of the preference
which these topknots have for rocky ground, and of their
power of clinging to the surface of rocks. It may therefore
be, as Cunningham suggests, that this has placed them out of
danger of the trawl in many localities, where they are in
‘consequence less rare than commonly described. This is
a smaller topknot than the last, having been recorded to
a length of no more than §¢ in.

The ripe egg, taken from a fish in 1892 (which was
not, however, fertilised), measured, in spirit, nearly = in.
‘On a subsequent occasion (1897) another ripe fish was
taken at Teignmouth, and the eggs were in this case
hatched out in the Plymouth tanks.

234 SALT-WATER FISHES

The Norwegian Topknot (Z. xorvegicus), smallest of
the three and mature already when only 3 in. long, is
commonest in the Channel, but does not extend much
farther south. It is less rough to the touch than the others,
and the front ray of the dorsal fin is not long, as in the
last species.

The egg measures rather under yy in., not g& in.
as Cunningham gives it, an obvious misprint, since
he gives the correct measurement in millimetres. (At
= in. the egg would be half again as large as the salmon’s,
rather a remarkable feat for a fish 3 in. long, and one that
would make it a very kiwi among fishes !)

Soleidze

Of the Soleide, the second family of flat-fish as at present
classified, one is the most important of the whole sub-order,
and three closely related forms are neither familiar nor
valuable.

These fishes have several peculiarities which serve to dis-
tinguish them from all the flat-fish hitherto enumerated. In
the first place, they have teeth only on the underside, and the
mouth is more twisted and smaller than even in the plaice,
which approaches nearest to their condition in this respect.
The twist of the mouth gives the snout a curious projecting
appearance, which develops in large examples into a hook.
This may be seen by no more than a casual glance at the soles
lying on the fishmonger’s slab. As another distinction, the
lower side of the head has a kind of beard, while the eyes are
small, and the dorsal fin commences in front of them.

The Sole (Solea vulgaris) has all these characters, and is too
familiar a fish to need any detailed description. In colour it
is a variable brown above, with darker streaks or blotches, and
white below. The upper side is, however, subject to great

THE FLAT-FISHES 235

variation, for, as already mentioned, the sole relies in no small
degree on colour protection. The largest recorded sole was
26 in. long, but nowadays a sole of 12 in. may be regarded
as an average fish. The twisted mouth, the curved jaws, the
absence of teeth on the upper side, the small eyes, the oval
body are all characteristic of this family. The beard-like
arrangement beneath the head there takes the place of scales.
The most detailed and useful account of the sole, both
biological and economic, ever published in the English
language is the treatise, already quoted, by Mr. Cunningham,
and published some years ago by the Marine Biological
Association.

The sole is a native of warm and temperate seas, occurring
in the Mediterranean, but absent, at any rate in quantity, from
the most northern waters of Europe. It occurs throughout
the English Channel, where it is wastefully overfished, and
Dover soles have long been famous at the eastern extremity,
while some of the fish landed by the Brixham trawlers from
the south-western grounds are worth a journey to see. Most
of the best sole grounds lie comparatively near land, though
the spawning takes place some miles away.

Marine worms form the chief element in the sole’s food,
though it also devours such small molluscs as are not too hard-
shelled for its fine-pointed teeth. Small shrimps and sand-
eels have also been found in the stomach of this fish, and
sand-stars are in some localities a favourite prey. This is one
of the fish that hunt by smell and mostly at night.

The sole attains maturity at a length of 10 or 11 in,
and lays rather more than 100,000 eggs, according to the size
of the parent. The spawning-time is, taking into account the
returns from various parts of our coasts, some period between
February and June. The egg measures rather over 35 in.,
and is therefore large in comparison with some others, and has
a number of very small oil-globules, which effectually
distinguish it from the rest. The sole has often spawned

236 SALT-IVATER FISHES

in captivity, at both Piel and Plymouth,* and the eggs are
deposited one ata time. It is also noticed that the extrusion
of the eggs takes place earlier in the day as the weather grows
warmer. The larva, which (at a temperature of 48° to
so’ F.) hatches out about the tenth day, measures about
4 in. or rather more, and has a large amount of pale orange
colouring. As in other flat-fish, there is an air-bladder in the
youngest stages, and Cunningham says that it has already
disappeared in fish of about 2 in., or two months old. The
same author refers to the constant risk of confusion between
these very small soles and the little solenette, the smallest
member of the group, which is described below. The sole
at the end of its first year measures as much as 6 in. or
even rather more.

The migrations of the sole, as of so many flat-fish, may in
all probability be regarded as being restricted to a general
movement to deeper water during the extreme cold of winter,
and possibly also a food-migration into the shallows in summer
time. This would not, however, include the spawning fish.

Professor McIntosh describes the egg of the sole as hardy
and the larva as extremely active, and he attributes the strange
fashion in which the latter rushes about in its tank to the needs
of respiration, for he has observed that it darts about open-
mouthed. This, he rightly points out, need not be the habit
of the little sole in the open sea, but is simply a habit acquired
in confinement and necessitated by the absence of invigorating
currents in the tank. ‘The breast-fins, he says, vibrate like
those of the sea-horse, and there is also rapid movement in
the tail.

As a single instance of what may be done by transplanting
sea-fish from characteristic localities to those in which they
were either rare or altogether unknown,t it may be mentioned

* See an interesting account of this by Mr. Butler in the Journ.
Mar. Biolog. Assoc. September, 1895, p. 3.
tT See also Mr. R. B. Marston’s remarks in Chapter XVI.

THE FLAT-FISHES 237

that about ten years ago some five hundred soles were con-
veyed from English waters to St. Andrews Bay by Professor
McIntosh, under the auspices of the Scotch Fishery Board,
and the Professor is able to say that both the adult sole and
the egg have been more frequently encountered on that part
of the Scotch coast since this experiment was made.

The French Sole (8. Jascaris), otherwise Sand Sole or
Lemon Sole,* is recognised by the greater development of
the front nostril on the under side, as well as by the fringe
of filaments adorning its edge. The scales are somewhat
larger than in the sole and similarly grow on the fin-rays.
These are fewer than in the sole. In colour the French sole
is lemon-yellow, with brown and black spots. It does not
grow as large as the sole, the longest on record being
14 in.

Although the French sole occurs in the waters of Scotland,
it is to be regarded rather as a southern fish, commonest, so far
as our coasts go, in the English Channel. It occurs also
in the Mediterranean.

Its eggs and larve have not apparently been described.

The Thickback (S. variegata) is a red fish with five dark
bands on the body, the bands extending to the fins and being
darkest at their extremities. The pectoral fins are much
smaller than in the foregoing. The teeth are very small.
It grows to a length of 8 or g in.

This fish, the ‘bastard sole” of some ports in the
Channel, is excellent eating, though small. It is a southern
form, extending to the Mediterranean, but not known in our
more northern waters. In the Plymouth district, on the off-
shore grounds, it is by no means uncommon, but it is not
trawled in shallow water. Cunningham describes the egg as
measuring rather over 3/5 in., and differing from that of the
sole by the larger size and different distribution of the oil-
globules. He figures the larva, which measures rather less

* See also Lemon dab, p. 223.

238 SALT-WATER FISHES

than 3/5 in., and which differs from that of the sole in its
lighter colouring.

The Solenette (5. /utea), or Little Sole, is the smallest of
the family, not being known of greater length than 5 or 6 in.
The pectoral fins are even more rudimentary than in the
last species. The scales, proportionately larger than in the
common sole, extend to the fin-rays. These rays are fewer
than in the sole and are marked by black lines. The colour-
ing of the solenette, apart from this, is a slate-grey, with
spots on the upper side. The left side is white.

This very small flat-fish has a wide range, being known
to the north of Scotland as well as from the Mediterranean.
It is common at various stages on the coast of Devon, and
is sometimes taken, along with the young of other flat-fishes,
which closely approximate its adult stage in size, in the
small sand-eel seines. Herdman and Dawson* describe it
as exceedingly abundant in the Irish Sea, wherein it differs
from both the French sole and thickback. The females
are both larger and more numerous than the males, and
become mature at 34 in., the male at 3 in.

The egg has a diameter of about 735 in., and, as described
by Holt and others, has several oil-globules. The larva,
which measures about 3%; in., is as hardy and restless as that
of the sole. By the time the fish is 4 in., the left eye has
worked over to the right, its passage indicated by a slight
notch before the dorsal. It is considered to attain maturity
at the end of its second year, or a length of 332 in.

The foregoing are the principal flat-fish of our coasts,
and, having now summarised their appearance and habits, we
are better able to appreciate some peculiarities of the group.
They are singularly lacking in bright colours. The cod
family, though generally characterised by dull hues, are far
more richly tinted, and have not the entire lack of silver or

* Fishes and Fisheries of the Irish Sea, p. 56.

¥, Natural Size

Photo by Reaanhold Thiele

COMMON SOLE (Solea vulgarts)

THE FLAT-FISHES 239

burnished sheen so noticeable in the flat-fish, With the
single!exception of the orange-red spots in the plaice, there
is not a touch of any colour other than browns and greys
in any full-grown flat-fish, though the larval stages show traces
of brighter tints.

Another curious point about the fish of this sub-order is
the great difference in their distribution. It might have
been thought that so homologous a group of animals would
have been characteristic, if not of any particular locality, at
any rate of cold or warm seas. In closely related flat-fish,
however, we find a northern and a southern habitat side by
side; and this is well illustrated by the case of the three
topknots, two only of which are found in extreme northern
waters, and one only of which extends to the Mediterranean,
while of the first two one extends as far south as the Bay of
Biscay, and the other no farther than the English Channel.

All of the flat-fish, at any rate on our coasts, deposit floating
eggs, and many of them proceed for the-purpose some distance
from land. This can hardly be, as has been suggested, in
order that the greater pressure at those depths shall assist in
the extrusion of the egg,* for the sole, which in natural
conditions spawns in moderately deep water, has frequently
deposited its eggs in the tanks of the aquarium. The instinct
which prompts these fish, then, to migrate seawards when
ready to reproduce their species is far more probably one of
self-defence, for they know that the spawn-eating surface fish
are much more abundant in the waters immediately beside the
land. Notonly other fishes moreover, but also nature would be
against them in the shallows, where the constant disturbance
of the water by breaking waves would obviously prejudice the
quiet development of the egg and subsequently of the larva,
while a storm might actually have the effect of flinging both
ashore.

The eggs of the turbot group, it will have been noticed,

* See also remarks on Conger spawning in captivity, p. 182.

240 SALT-WATER FISHES

are provided with an oil-globule ; those of the sole and its
four allies have a number of these globules ; and those of both
the plaice and halibut types have no oil-globule at all. As the
function of the oil-globule is obviously that of a swimming-
belt, to keep the egg afloat, it is not easy to understand why
the ova of fish so closely related should differ so materially in
this respect, and a satisfactory explanation has yet to be offered.
In addition to merely keeping the egg afloat, it should be
noticed that the presence of the oil-globule makes it float with
that end uppermost at which this contrivance is situated,
though in the eggs of the soles the small globules are so
generally distributed that this consideration is eliminated.

For the most part, except when their spawning-time comes,
the flat-fish live in shallow water and on sandy, or muddy,
ground, two preferences that combine to put them at the
mercy of man and his trawls during the greater part of their
life. The only kinds that enjoy immunity from such constant
danger are the topknots, which live on rocky ground,
clinging to the smooth surface of the rocks with their fins in a
way that has already been described, and thereby escape the
sweeping trawl, which dare not work such rough ground. As
there is no regular line fishery for topknots, all statements as
to their geographical range, and particularly as to their scarcity
in any given locality, must clearly be accepted with all reserve.

One curious habit all these flat-fish share which comes
perhaps within the cognisance of the angler rather than that of
the naturalist, and that is their behaviour when hooked. They
immediately curve the body, the white side being the concave ;
and this has the obvious result of immensely increasing the
resistance of the water, so that a comparatively small plaice or
dab feels enormously heavy when being hauled on fine tackle.
Whether, as seems not improbable, their instinct bids them
offer this increased resistance when they feel themselves being
hauled through the water, or whether their conduct is only the
outcome of muscular pain, can only be surmised. Another

THE FLAT-FISHES 241

habit, to which writers on the subject have in no case drawn
attention, is their extreme cautiousness when taking a_ bait,
particularly in shallow water. It is open to any one to see
this for himself, and such a pier as that at Bournemouth
affords the opportunity any fine day in summer. The writer
has frequently made the experiment by offering a hook not
quite concealed in the bait (mussel or lugworm) to a small
plaice or dab lying in the sand, only its eyes and mouth
protruding, and plainly seen through the 2 fathoms of clear
water. The fish would take the hook just inside its small and
twisted mouth, but would at once blow it out again, sending
up the sand in a cloud around the rejected morsel. After
allowing a little time to elapse, the hook, properly hidden
this time in the bait, would again be presented, and this
time it was retained. As there is no object in catching
these very small flat-fish, it may be mentioned that the
experiment loses none of its interest if the barb be first filed
off the hook, so that the fish, when caught, can be shaken off
in the water, none the worse for its fright.

Another point in these flat-fish which must strike every
angler is their great vitality beside such round fish as the bass
or herring. Some years ago, as already mentioned, the writer
used to catch large numbers of plaice and dabs with rod and
line in the Baltic, from the piers at Warnemunde or from
boats a short distance from land. He lived at the time at
Rostock, about half an hour’s journey by train, and on re-
turning after the day’s fishing, all the fish that had been caught
during the last hour’s fishing were alive and breathing, the
moisture from their companions doubtless providing them
with sufficient absorbed air. A pilchard, on the other hand, a
sand-smelt, or even a small bass, is dead within a few minutes
of capture, being apparently unable to close its gill-covers so
tightly as the flat-fish, which thereby escape suffocation.

16

CHAPTER XIII
THE COD FAMILY AND THE SAND-EELS

Dr. BasHrorp Dean* regards the cod type as scarcely
less representative among bony fishes than the more commonly
selected perch, and he is also of opinion that it has
developed its existing characters from a less active competition
in the sea. ‘Heavy in body,” he says, “its sluggish form
has become blunted and rounded ; its fins are depressed,
their rays soft and yielding ; its scales are reduced in size,
colours less vivid ; its swim-bladder loses its connection with
the gullet.”

These words admirably sum the leading characters of the
cod family. Their clumsy build, large eyes, and soft fins dis-
tinguish them from almost all of the foregoing families. Some
of their most pronounced characters disappear, it is true, after
death, while others would seem to have been described chiefly
from the latter condition. To the latter belong the current
accounts of their dull grey and brown colouring, for no one
who has caught cod, haddock, whiting, pollack, or pout, can
accuse them of lack of beautiful tints. The authors of
Scandinavian Fishes, a magnificent work already alluded to
more than once, were among the first to pay tribute to the
handsome colouring of some of these gadoids when living.
Another feature that alters very quickly when life is extinct
is the slime that covers the minute scales. There is no

* Fishes, Living and Fossil, p. 174.

242

THE COD FAMILY AND THE SAND-EELS 243

difficulty in recognising the scales on a hake or haddock at the
fishmongers ; they are easily seen and are very apparent to
the touch. But in life, when the fish is thickly coated with
mucus, it might pass for scaleless.

There are three variations in the number of the dorsal
fins. ‘Thus, while the cod and haddock and several others
have three, the hake and ling have only two, and the torsk
only one.

A character found in many, but not in all, of these fishes is
the beard, or barbel, on the chin; but this has no value as a
determining character even in a genus, since one species will
have it, while another is without. The whiting, the pollack
and the hake have no barbel, while in the rocklings there is
not only one on the chin, but a varying number as well on
the snout, or upper lip, which might more appropriately be
termed moustaches.

Some have endeavoured to show that such gadoids (i.e. fish
of the cod family) as lack the barbel (e.g. hake and pollack) are
particularly given to chasing fry at the surface. Such general-
ising, may be tempting, but it is not always safe. Thus,
the coal-fish, which has a small barbel, also chases the fry,
even more furiously at times than the pollack ; while, on the
other hand, the whiting, which has no barbel, feeds, as a
rule, nearer the bottom than the surface, and is often sluggish
in the extreme.

The migrations of the cod and its relatives are far less
extensive, it may be surmised, than those of the herring and
mackerel and their allies, and there are deep-water grounds on
which they seem to be present in varying numbers throughout
the greater part of the year. Near the land, however, there is
abundant evidence of regular movements according to season,
for the whiting are not taken on the Eddystone grounds
between Christmas and the late spring, and both they and the
cod approach the coast of Kent in great number in late autumn,
following the sprats, and some years they practically absent

244 SALT-WATER FISHES

themselves. Whiting, too, were for many years scarce in the
Lancashire district, * but were plentiful on the Aberystwith
part of the Welsh coast. It may, however, be desirable to
distinguish between regular migrations with the seasons and
what has more conveniently been termed “ periodicity ’—a habit
which makes certain fishes plentiful on a given part of the
coast at long and irregular periods, years often elapsing between
two seasons of plenty. The hake, to quote a member of the
family under notice, is in many parts regarded as a periodic
rather than as a migratory fish, its movements being also
largely dependent upon those of the smaller fishes, such as
herrings or pilchards, on which it feeds. In the Cattegat,
for instance, hakes were plentiful during the herring fishery
about the year 1780; then they were rare until 1801, when
they were once more plentiful until 1803. The next good
hake year in those northern waters was 1821; there was
another in 1830; and in 1840 the hake had almost dis-
appeared, though it has since been caught in quantity at
various times.

On the question of whether the cod moves nearer shore
for spawning purposes or farther out to sea there appears to
be no agreement. Mr. Cunningham leans to the former view,
while Prof. McIntosh favours the idea that they go seawards.
These two authorities, on the other hand, are both of
opinion that the whiting spawns in shallower water than the
larger fish, since the young are destroyed in thousands by
the shrimp-trawl.

A number of the rarer deep-water members of the
cod family, some of which have been described and added
to the British fauna only within the last few years, and
the majority with a wider distribution than the forms
inhabiting shallow water, will be noticed in the chapter on

* See Herdman and Dawson, Fishes and Fisheries of the Irish Sea,

P. 47:
t See Scandinavian Fishes, p. 519.

Photoby Renhold Thiels

Photoby Rearhald Thiele

C OD (Gadus morrhua)

WHITING (Gadus merlangus)

%

Natural Size

a Kiatural cide

THE COD FAMILY AND THE SAND-EELS 245

uncommon fishes, ‘The present chapter takes account of the
following :—

FamILy. Common Name. GENus. SPECIES.
Cod Gadus morrhua
Whiting G. merlangus
Pout G. luscus
Haddock G. aglefinus
Pollack G. pollachius
Coal-fish G. virens
Poor Cod G. minutus
Poutassou G. poutassou

[All the foregoing have three dorsal fins and
two ventral. The five that immediately
follow have two dorsals and one ventral ;
and the torsk has but one of each.]

GADID&

Hake Merluccius | vulgaris
Ling Molva vulgaris
Three-bearded Rockling | Mote//a trictrrata
Four-bearded Rockling M. cimbria
Five-bearded Rockling M. mustela
Torsk Brosmius brosme

Our sand-eels, which have strong affinities with the cod
family, are two in number, a third having been added on
doubtful grounds :—

FamI.y. Common NAME. GENus. SPECIES.
Launce Ammodytes lanceolatus
ee { Sand-eel A, tobtanus
Gadidze

The Cod-fish (Gadus morrhua) is a sufficiently familiar
fish to render lengthy description comparatively unnecessary.
It is an inhabitant of cold seas, absent from the Mediterranean
and other waters of Southern Europe, and finding its highest
development in Arctic seas.

What was said above with reference to the rapid fading of
the colours in members of the present family after death has,
perhaps, less application to the cod than to most, but even it

246 SALT-WATER FISHES

is far handsomer when first taken from the water, being brown
to grey along the sides, with the belly shining white. There
are sometimes spots on the grown cod, and the young, known
as “codlings,” generally exhibit light yellow spots on their
head and body. The lateral line in the cod is white, but this,
too, like the black lateral line in the haddock, is more notice-
able at the fishmonger’s than in the water. The fins of some
examples are black-edged, and all of them are quite soft, so
that the fishes of this group, unlike the bass or bream, may be
handled without fear or caution. The body of the cod is less
elongated than that of the hake or ling, and more so than that
of the pout. Its mouth is very large, the upper jaw usually
projecting ; the tongue is fleshy and has no teeth on it, but
the teeth in the jaws and on the vomer are many and sharp.
The scales are small and easily scraped from the skin. Ab-
normal cod-fish with protruding lower jaws are sometimes
caught in the North Sea, and are known as “ bull-dogs.’’*

Mention was made on an earlier page of the three names
applied, both on our own coasts and in Australian seas,
to different stages of one of the sea-breams. The cod has also
various names, according to size, in the Grimsby market,t+ and
is a codling up to 20 in., a “sprag” from 20 to 30 in,
then a “half-cod,” until some indefinite final stage, at
which it becomesa “cod.” The “ sprag”’ is, therefore, on the
verge of maturity—that is to say, according to the accepted
minimum size at which it reaches that condition.

The cod feeds close to the bottom as a rule, and is among
the most voracious of fishes, though somewhat sluggish in its
manner. Great numbers are taken on hand-lines and on long-
lines baited with sprats or whelks. Both sea- and land-birds
have been taken from the inside of large cod, and there are
many stories of books having been recovered all but intact,

* The same name is applied on the Cornish coast to the streaked
gurnard, in allusion to its grunting voice.
t See Holt, The Grimsby Trawl Fishery, p. 80.

THE COD FAMILY AND THE SAND-EELS 247

while the cod’s more natural food includes all manner of fishes,
not excepting young sharks, as well as crustaceans and sea-
anemones. Among it most dreaded enemies, on the other
hand, are sharks and seals. Cod are also trawled, generally
during the period preceding the spawning-season, when they
are not taking a bait. This fish is particularly subject to the
attacks of sea-lice and other parasites. The air-bladder of the
cod is one of the chief sources of isinglass, though sharks’ fins
and other substitutes have recently been utilised.

The smaller cod of the Baltic, called “ Dorsch,” are
larger by far than our codling stage, and doubtless form a
distinct race. The writer has caught them at Christmas
time off Doberan weighing 3 or 4 lb. apiece; and the
German fishermen invariably called them ‘ Dorsch,” and
not “ Kabeljau,” the name applied to larger cod of the North
Sea. Gunther gives “Dorsch” as the German name for
young cod only, and doubtless in the general way he is correct ;
but the use of the word as applied to full-grown, mature fish
on the Baltic coast (at Warnemtinde) seems worth recording.
The cod grows to a length of over 4 ft. and a weight of
at least 50 lb. Three other (Arctic) cods are described in
Scandinavian Fishes, but none of these occur in our seas.

The spawning of the cod takes place on our coasts in
early spring, between January and May. Dr. Wemyss Fulton
is of opinion that the females are in the majority, the male
being very slightly the larger. The egg, which floats, has a
diameter of rather over 45 in. According to Professor
McIntosh, the embryo hatches in April on the eighth or tenth
day after fertilisation, and Cunningham allows twelve or
thirteen days at 45° and twenty at 38°.

The larva, when first hatched out, is, according to Dannevig,
only a little over =/5 in., while another estimate gives it as rather
less than 4 in., aconsiderable difference. It is recognised by two
dark bands on the body, and other two on the tail. McIntosh
and Masterman give coloured figures of larval and post-larval

248 SALT-WATER FISHES

cod, as well as (op. cit., pp. 74-78) a very interesting series
showing the egg-development. The barbel first appears when
the little fish is nearly an inch in length. Dull as are the
colours of the full-grown cod, some of the later larval stages,
an inch or two in length, exhibit great beauty of hue, with
burnished silver reflections and iridescent eyes. Small cod,
measuring from § to 10 in., are found in the alge on the
sea-bed, some of these being red in colour and others green,
doubtless to suit their surroundings. About a year after its
release from the egg the cod may measure a foot, and at that
stage of its career off it goes to the deeper water outside,
returning as a mature, grown-up fish in its third or fourth
year, its rate of growth being in the meanwhile apparently
little less remarkable than that of the salmon.

Although it cannot too often be insisted that the growth
of fishes in captivity may furnish only an approximate clue
to their development under the more robust conditions of
nature, much interest attaches to such experiments as that
conducted by Captain Dannevig at Arendal, in Norway.
Here, in a large pond, he reared young cod, and studied
them for six months. They doubled the length at which
they emerged from the egg during the first fortnight. They
doubled their new length in less than another month, and
during the last four months that they were under obser-
vation they increased from a little over 4 in. to nearly
43 in. McIntosh and Prince found that young cod taken
at St. Andrews between the end of April and the beginning
of June measured + in., and the same observers also took
a larger stage, about double the length, with rays beginning
to appear in the fins.

Young cod are said to require longer to hatch out,
conditions of temperature, etc., being equal, than those of
most other bony fishes. Thus, the cod takes from thirteen
to twenty days, whereas, in the same temperature, the
mackerel would require only six and the herring only nine.

THE COD FAMILY AND THE SAND-EELS 249

The Whiting (G. merlangus) is as familiar as its larger
relative, if anything more so, since it is more generally
eaten whole on our tables, whereas the portions of cod give
little or no idea of the fish in life. The whiting is dis-
tinguished by its lighter colour, absence of barbel (though
there is one in young whitings of an inch in length), and
black lateral line, while there is a black spot near the base
of the pectoral fin. The male is slightly the smaller, in
which the whiting again differs from the cod, and the present
species does not grow to a greater length than 24 in., or,
save in very exceptional cases, a weight of more than
4 or 5 lb. The outer edge of the whiting’s fins is
dark ; otherwise, the fish is of a uniform greenish grey above
and white below, with black lateral line, the latter being,
however, less pronounced than in the haddock. There are
often lighter lines along the dark upper portion of the
whiting, but these fade soon after death, and are not, indeed,
very marked in many living examples.

The whiting feeds on young fishes, particularly other whiting
and herring, as well as on shrimps and other crustaceans. It
attains maturity in all probability in its third year, or when
about 9g in. in length, and the spawning-period is from February
onward in the Plymouth district, and from March onward in
the neighbourhood of St. Andrews. The egg, which has a
diameter of less than 5}5 in., closely resembles the somewhat
larger egg of the cod. The young whiting, which hatches
about the tenth day, a little sooner or later according to
temperature, measures about 4 in., and is therefore smaller
than that of the cod, from which it may be further dis-
tinguished by the presence of yellow spots on the body, fins,
and yolk-sac. Cunningham refers to the great difficulty of
distinguishing the eggs and larve of the various members
of this family, so much are they alike ; but the small whiting
may be known by its bright blue eye and by the absence
of bands from its sides. McIntosh further says that it attains

250 SALT-WATER FISHES

plumpness of outline sooner than the young cod. Curiously
enough, too, young cod and whiting have their own special
parasite, while another species has been found in constant
association with young flounders in brackish water.

The Pout, Bib, or Blain (G. /uscus, the Tacaud of the
French fishermen) is among the commonest fish in our seas,
particularly in the English Channel, and appears to possess
less of the migratory instinct than most other members of
the family. At any rate, there are on different parts of the
coast rocky inshore grounds on which it is to be found
throughout the year. Wherever there are gulleys in the
submerged reefs, at depths of from 3 to 60 fathoms (and
probably more, though that may be regarded as the limit
for convenient capture on hand-lines), pout are almost certain
to abound, though they are found to prefer some reefs to
others in the immediate neighbourhood. With all their
stationary habits, however, these fish must be continually
on the move, for it sometimes happens that a score of boats
will anchor one evening on a favourite spot for pout—an
old sunken wreck, well encrusted and weed-grown, is even
better than a reef of rocks—and catch them by hundreds,
until there are apparently none left to take the bait. Yet
the next morning as many boats may repair to the same
ground and make as great a catch as the evening before.

Though rarely exposed for sale, like cod or whiting, by
fishmongers, the pout is a very familiar fish at our seaside
resorts, particularly on the south coast. It is distinguished
from other British members of the family by its beautiful
dark bronze colour (though a similar bronze is seen in the
newly caught haddock) and by the dark bands down the
sides. The depth is also great in proportion to the length,
and the ventral fins are conspicuously long, while the barbel
on the chin is also fairly large in proportion to the size of
the fish.

The pout feeds close to the rocks, even wandering during

THE COD FAMILY AND THE SAND-EELS 251

the day to sandy ground in the neighbourhood of piers, and
there seizing small baits that are allowed to rest a moment
on the bottom. When anxious to make a large catch of
pout, the fisherman has to drop his hooks, sometimes in
150 ft. or more of water, exactly among the fish, for these
will not move a boat’s length to find baits dropped wide of
their haunts, or, as the fishermen say, of their “berth.”’ The
reason for this is obvious to any one who knows the habits
of the pout and the peculiarities of the ground they live
on. The fish swim in narrow gulleys or crevices that may
measure no more than a foot across, but are many fathoms
deep. As pout feed close to the bottom, it is obvious
that any bait lying on either ledge above their retreat is
unseen by them, and there it may lie for hours, though
within a few feet of the unconscious pout.

This fish, also known as the rock-whiting, or whiting-pout,
is a voracious feeder, crustaceans and worms being its chief
food. The best baits are mussel and lugworm, and Day is
quite in error in saying that pout feed best at night, for the
very best time to catch it is in August, when the tide is low
and the weather calm, at midday.

The pout grows to a length of at least a foot, and a weight
of 4 or 5 lb., but such a fish would be an unusual specimen.

Day says that it spawns at the end of winter, and McIntosh
mentions taking a ripe female at St. Andrews on the last day
of February. Ripe pout have also been taken in that month
at Boulogne. The egg is large; even in spirit its diameter
is Over g's in. Young pout measuring 4 or 5 in. are killed
in the Thames in October by the shrimp-trawlers.

The Haddock (G. eglefinus) is best distinguished from
the rest by the large dark blotch on the shoulder, as well as
by the strongly marked and curved black lateral line. Other-
wise the fish is of a uniform grey above, with bronze
reflections, and pure white beneath. This metallic lustre
fades immediately after death, and the slime also dries up

252 SALT-WATER FISHES

so as to expose the scales, which are scarcely visible in life.
There are also yellow reflections near the lateral line, which
likewise disappear after death. The barbel on the chin is
somewhat shorter than that of the cod, and the lower jaw
is somewhat the shorter, so that the snout projects. As in
all the genus, there are three fins on the back, the front one
being more pointed and triangular than in the cod. The
scales are small, and have bronze tints.

The haddock is said to exceed 3 ft. in length and a
weight of 24 lb., but specimens of one quarter that weight
are rare at the fishmonger’s.

The distribution of the haddock in our seas appears to
be more local and less general than that of the cod, for it is,
except at irregular periods, comparatively rare in the English
Channel. It is most plentiful, from all accounts, on the east
coast of Scotland.

The haddock has its largest teeth in the upper jaw, and
it feeds mostly on shell-fish (which has, however, nothing to
do with its German name of “Schellfisch””), worms, sand-stars,
and small fishes, and, as has already been mentioned, it
frequents the spawning-grounds of herrings to eat the spawn
in quantities. The females are, according to Cunningham,
nearly twice as numerous as the males, but rather smaller.
The haddock, which is said to reach maturity in its third
year, spawns on the Scotch coast in early spring and some miles
from land. McIntosh and Masterman give the number of
eggs in a fish at from 170,000 to 2,000,000, and the egg is
nearly yo in.—larger therefore than that of the cod, and,
in fact, the largest of British gadoid eggs. It is also deposited
somewhat earlier in the year than the rest, though, as might
be expected, the earlier eggs take longer to develop than
those deposited later in the year, when the temperature is
higher. Except in its larger size, the egg so closely resembles
that of the cod as to be indistinguishable. The larva is also
very similar, though it lacks the dark transverse bands

THE COD FAMILY AND THE SAND-EELS 253

observed in very young cod, and its eyes are somewhat
blacker. Dr. Sars was able to recognise the larval haddock
by its stouter shape. It is said to keep out in the deeper
water at a stage at which young cod would seek the neigh-
bourhood of land. This may perhaps account for the
absence of larval and post-larval haddocks from the tow-nets
of scientific expeditions, and the consequent uncertainty of
biologists as to the earlier developments. Dr. Fulton is,
moreover, of opinion that the young haddock hide away
among the rocks, and are thus secure from the trawl, besides
being too small to be taken by the hook.

The growth of young haddock must be rapid if, as
McIntosh surmises, a haddock only five months out of the
egg (i.e. in the month of August) may be as long as 6 in.
The “summer haddock” of the fishermen is a fish of
8 or 9 in., a year or eighteen months old, which comes inshore
in order that it may feed upon the brit and launce. Holt
took small haddock of 2 or 3 in. in length in 30-fathom
water, and a somewhat larger stage, from 3 to § in. long,
in 20 fathoms 50 or 60 miles from land. The same
authority * regards the haddock as practically an offshore
fish. On only one occasion, when numbers of 5-in. haddocks
were thrown ashore dead in the Humber estuary during a
November gale (1883), did he ever hear of a haddock in
such shallow water.

The Pollack, or Lythe (G. pollachius), is a familiar fish
to the sportsman, but it is rarely seen at the fishmonger’s
shop, for it is not only indifferent food when fresh, but loses
its freshness more rapidly than most of the family. Com-
monest on the Cornish coast, it is also plentiful on the west
coasts of both Scotland and Ireland, more so than on the east,
being a fish that develops best in open, ocean water. Thus,
it is rare on the Norfolk coast, small examples only occurring
on the inshore grounds. It feeds on small fishes, chiefly

* See! The Grimsby Trawl Fishery, p. 65.

254 SALT-WATER FISHES

sprats and sand-eels—the former in winter, the latter in the
warm season—and as a rule it hunts its prey in mid-water
over a rocky bottom. Sometimes, particularly on warm
summer evenings, it takes a bait close to the surface, and
even on sandy ground; and the writer has caught many of
12 lb. and more in weight in less than 30 fathoms of
water and within 5 miles of the Cornish beaches. Pollack,
normally rather cautious fish, often bite with extraordinary
fury just before a thunderstorm, and the Cornish fishermen
say that the fish know beforehand the coming change in the
weather, and are anxious to feed and go off to the deeper
water before the squall. As no one, either professional or
amateur, ever thinks of waiting to fish during the raging of
the storm, the statement is one that does not admit of much
criticism. Sluggish or headstrong, however, the pollack
always behaves in the same way as soon as it feels the hook,
for it dashes straight for the rocks beneath, trying its best
to break the tackle.

In colour this fish is of a deep olive-green—in large
specimens this deepens to black—along the back and upper
half, shading off somewhat abruptly to white beneath, the fins
having very dark margins. The lower jaw protrudes, and the
chin has no barbel. The eye is large. The lateral line is
curved and well marked. Like those of all the members
of the family, the fins of the pollack have no spines of any
sort, and the fish may therefore be handled without fear.
Cornish fishermen often dispense with the gaff and dip their
hand under the fish as soon as it is brought to the surface.

The spawning-time of the pollack is not very satisfactorily
settled, but, as Cunningham has found small pollack measuring
nearly an inch (and presumably about six weeks old) in April,
March or a little earlier may be regarded as the season, so far
as the English Channel is concerned. In the northern waters
of both Scotland and Ireland, however, there is reason to
believe that the pollack does not spawn before May.

THE COD FAMILY AND THE SAND-EELS 255

The egg is buoyant, and has a diameter of less than 3/5 in.
What the authors of Scandinavian Fishes mean by describing
the pollack as “the least voracious of its congeners”’ it would
be hard to say, for, with the possible exception of the coal-
fish, it is, in our seas at any rate, by far the most greedy,
pursuing the small fry with a boldness that is hardly equalled
in the blue shark.

The Coal-fish, or Saithe (G. virens), somewhat closely
resembles the pollack in outline, but the differences that reveal
themselves on closer comparison are considerable. In the
first place, the colour is distinct, being a deep bluish green,
with a pronounced blue quite absent from the other species.
Then the lower jaw protrudes less, and in quite young
examples it does not protrude at all. The chin of the full-
grown fish bears a small barbel, which further distinguishes
it from the pollack ; and in the young coal-fish this barbel is
proportionately much larger. It grows to a greater size than
the pollack, and is said to exceed 40 in. and 30 1b. Though
hardly an instance of what students of distribution know as
“‘vicarious species”—e.g. the llama of South America and
camel of Asia, or the rhea of South America and emu of
Australia—the coal-fish may in a measure be regarded as taking
the place of the pollack in some of the more northern waters
of Britain, the pollack, on the other hand, being far more
plentiful in the English Channel. The coal-fish is also said
to range to greater depths.

In both its young and full-grown stage the coal-fish has an
extraordinary variety of local names; but, as Day has given
a very representative selection of these, as has also “John
Bickerdyke”’ in his admirable Badminton volume on Sea-
fishing, it would serve no useful purpose to compile a list
here. As food the coal-fish is regarded as even less valuable
than the pollack. The writer can speak from experience only
of the latter, and the comparison is not flattering.

In habits the two kinds appear somewhat similar, both

256 SALT-WATER FISHES

being of sociable disposition and banding together to chase the
shoals of launce and brit. Both also show a preference for
rocky ground, and the coal-fish seems, of the two, less
disinclined to leave it and seek its food on the sand.

Professor McIntosh alludes to the similarity between this
fish and the cod in size, structure, habits, larval development,
and life-history. The coal-fish spawns in early spring, from
February to April, and by June it has grown to a length of
2in. The eggs are very numerous, a female of 234 |b.
having been computed to contain about four millions. The
egg closely approximates that of the whiting in both size and
structure, and measures rather more than 3 in. Great
numbers of coal-fish are caught in the vicinity of Gairloch, on
the west coast of Scotland, and from that locality were obtained
the first eggs systematically studied and described. Whereas
the larger coal-fish journey considerable distances from the
land, the younger haunt the weed zone.

The remaining fairly common members of the cod genus
are two, the poor cod and the poutassou, and they are less
familiar than any of the foregoing on account of their insig-
nificant size.

The Poor Cod (G. minutus), or ‘“ Power,” as Cornish
fishermen call it, is not unlike the pout in outline, but it may
be distinguished by its smaller size, its greater length in
proportion to depth, and the absence of dark bands on the
sides. The largest recorded example measured 8$ in. There
is also a difference in the tail-fin, that of the poor cod being
more forked, and that of the pout ending square. In colour
the poor cod is greyish green above and lighter below. The
eye is large; and when the fish is hauled quickly from the
rocky bottom through 40 or 50 fathoms of water, the eye,
enveloped in a crystalline, gelatinous rim, seems to start from
the head. The writer has frequently caught this fish in
company with pout in Cornwall, and has observed this
peculiarity in the eyes of both, though to the greater degree

THE COD FAMILY AND THE SAND-EELS 257

in the poor cod. According to Day, the two kinds swim at
different levels; but this is hardly credible, seeing how often
the two come up together, a pout on one hook and a “ power”
on the other, the hooks moreover being fast to the same
crossbar, and therefore fishing at the same depth.

The poor cod is widely distributed, being plentiful almost
all around these islands, and inhabiting at once the Mediter-
ranean and the colder waters of Northern Europe. According
to the authors of Scandinavian Fishes, it is much commoner on
those coasts than the pout. It spawns with us about mid-
summer or a little earlier, and McIntosh says that, like the
whiting, it may deposit its eggs either at some distance from
land or well up the Firth of Forth. As.the spawning-period
falls late, when the temperature is high, the development of
the egg is rapid. The newly hatched larva measures rather
over 3/5 in., and is dotted with yellow. The poor cod has
been known to spawn in the tanks of the Plymouth Labora-
tory in March, but that is not necessarily any guide to its
natural breeding-time, even in Plymouth Sound.

The Poutassou (G. poutassou), also known as Couch’s
Whiting, while it cannot be reckoned among those rarer
gadoid forms that have been left for notice in Chapter XIV.
is nevertheless so capricious in its occurrences as to be
unknown on many parts of the coast. It grows to a length
of at least 15 in., Couch having obtained a Polperro example
of that size. In colour it 1s silvery brown above and lighter
below, and has yellow lines along the sides of its elongated
body. The lower jaw is rather longer than the upper, and
the chin has no barbel. The scales are very small. The
lateral line is distinct and but slightly curved.

The Mediterranean distribution of the poutassou seems
not less irregular than with us, for, while generally common
on the westernmost grounds of that sea, it is in some years
exceedingly rare on the Italian coast.

According to Fries, the poutassou spawns in Scandinavian

i

258 SALT-WATER FISHES

waters about the beginning of the year, and our own authori-
ties are, at any rate, agreed that it must spawn earlier than
most of the family. During the Irish survey one of the ship’s
officers thought he saw a large squid chasing a shoal of young
poutassou about 6 in. long. This was thirty-four miles off
Achill Head, and some of the frightened little fish were without
difficulty taken in the tow-net, and were found to be feeding
on copepoda.

We now come to the second group of the cod family,
represented in our seas by three fish, the Hake, the Ling,
and the Lesser Ling. These are all long in the body, and
have but two fins on the upper and one on the lower edge
of the body.

The Hake (Merluccius vulgaris) is generally regarded as
a surface fish, but that it can also reside at considerable
depths is proved by the fact of its having been trawled at
over 300 fathoms in the Gulf of Gascony and over 600
elsewhere.* As a general rule, however, it is a_ typical
surface fish, pursuing the pilchard and mackerel and dashing
among the shoals in its nocturnal raids in a manner that has
a remarkable effect when heard in the darkness from the
deck of a pilchard boat.

The “periodicity” of the hake has already been referred
to. It is one of those fish which come and go in a given
locality without any rule, or indeed without much apparent
reason at times. Its distribution in our seas is, bearing this
peculiarity in mind, general. In some years it has been very
plentiful on the south-west coast, but it is also found in the
North Sea, particularly in winter. It appears to range over
the colder northern and warmer southern seas alike. Of
late years, however, the number of hake on the coast of
Devon and Cornwall has shown considerable falling-off.
When, in the summer of 1901, the writer was engaged on

* See Expéd. Scientif. du Travailleur et Talisman, p. 302.

THE COD FAMILY AND THE SAND-EELS 259

a private fishing enquiry at every village of importance on
the coast between Brixham and the Land’s End, he received
various confirmatory reports of this falling-off of hake,
particularly at Mousehole, where this fish, so plentiful ten
or fifteen years ago, was said to have virtually disappeared.
This result was, fairly or otherwise, attributed to the opera-
tions of Plymouth trawlers on the inshore grounds.

As already mentioned, the hake has an elongated body, and
it grows to a length of at least 4 ft. and a weight of at least
24 1b. The fish is in life more silvery in appearance than most
of the family, for silver pigment is noticeably lacking in both
the cods and flat-fishes. The lateral line is dark and nearly
straight. The colour of the hake is, as a rule, dark grey
along the back, shading off somewhat gradually to white
beneath. Garstang * has given an interesting account of an
albino hake, which was in wretched condition. This he
ingeniously attributed to the handicap of its light colouring,
which would make it very conspicuous at night, its only
feeding-time, and thereby hinder it in obtaining sufficient
food. The scales are rather small, and cover part of the
head and gill-covers. The jaws are long, and powerfully
armed with two rows of sharp teeth, the interior of the
mouth being, as in Pristiurus, of a dark hue.

The hake spawns, according to some authorities, from
early in the year until late summer. Although the fish is
caught in numbers on the east coast of Scotland, the egg had
not, at any rate up to 1897,¢ been found in those waters,
but it had been studied at Naples by Dr. Raffaele, who
artificially fertilised it at the aquarium there in May. It
measures only about 3; in., and is therefore somewhat small
for so large a parent. In the conditions alluded to, hatching
took place in less than three days, for the temperature of
the water was high ; but Masterman rightly suggests that it

* See Journ. Mar. Biolog. Assoc., November, 1900, p. 275.
+ McIntosh and Masterman, of. ct., p. 274.

260 SALT-IVATER FISHES

would in all probability require as long as seven days in our
colder seas. This assumption is based on the analogous size
and behaviour of the flounder’s egg. The larva, like that
of the poor cod, is dotted with yellow.

The Ling (Molva vulgaris) represents yet another type
of this important family of our food-fishes. Elongated
almost to the proportions of some marine eels, it has, like
the hake, two dorsal and one ventral fins ; but these, with
the tail fin, are less rounded than in the last, and are edged
with white. The skin is even smoother to the touch, for
the scales are yet smaller, and there is a barbel of moderate
size on the chin. This suggests a residence near the bottom
(though the coal-fish has already been cited as an exception
to the rule), and, indeed, the ling is taken on hand-lines
on the conger grounds, where it devours fishes, cuttles, and
crustaceans, and is not found in the surface-nets with hake.

The colour of the full-grown ling is dull grey and white,
but the young are more highly tinted with orange and olive
bands and other markings. Its distribution in our seas
seems to be general, for it is abundant, and with less irregu-
larity than the hake, both in the north.of Scotland and on
the Cornish coast, though less so at some points between
the two. It has been caught measuring 7 ft. and weighing
124 lb., but such fish are not often met with nowadays.

The ling is reckoned one of the most rapacious fishes
of the offshore waters, eating sharks and chimeras, cod and
whitings, halibut and dragonets.* As the head of the
devoured fish usually points forwards, it is thought that the
ling must swim swiftly and seize its victims, in their flight,
from behind. Some have inferred that it may be more
convenient to swallow these fishes tail first, though a moment’s
contemplation of the dorsal spines of, for instance, the male
dragonet would seem to lead to an opposite conclusion.

The ling is perhaps the most prolific of our food-fishes,

* Scandinavian Fishes, p. 529.

THE COD FAMILY AND THE SAND-EELS 261

a large specimen having been estimated to contain from sixty
to one hundred million eggs. Such estimates obviously call
for a little latitude; but, even granting this, there can be
no doubt of the extraordinary powers of reproduction of the
species under notice. The spawning-time is in early summer,
between April and June. The egg has a diameter of rather
over zz in., being about the same size as that of the pout,
and is deposited at a considerable distance from land. Like
that of other members of the cod family, it floats, and it is
greenish in colour, and furnished with a single oil-globule.
Masterman points out that this last character is not confined
to eggs of the gadoid type, but is also found in the eggs of
such widely different fishes as the brill and gurnard, as well
as in several heavy (demersal) eggs. The capsule of the
ling’s egg is sensibly tougher than that of many others of
the family.

The eggs deposited at the end of April hatch out
in about nine days, and the larva measures about +); in.
(or, according to Cunningham, nearer % in.), and displays
numerous black and yellow spots. The ling of a week old,
the latest stage reared in aquarium tanks, shows a still greater
development of black and yellow spots, and the eye is bluish.
At that stage of its development the mouth is open. Later
post-larval stages have been taken in the tow-nets and other-
wise, and are described and figured by various writers. At
% in. the eyes are deep blue and comparatively large. At
an inch, or rather less, the ventral fins are conspicuous for
their length and bright yellow colour. At 3 in. there is
a longitudinal brown band, with a lighter yellowish band
above and two black dots on the dorsal fins. The ventral
fins are in this stage much smaller, and the barbel is more
prominent. At a length of 6 or 7 in., or about a year old,
the longitudinal bands have disappeared, their place being
taken by a series of brown blotches with intervening white
spaces, and the fins have numerous dark spots, At 16 in.,

262 SALT-WATER FISHES

or about two years old, the ling is reddish brown above and
white below. These remarkable colour changes have been
given at some length, because few other fishes exhibit them
in such a degree.

The Lesser Ling (M. abyssorum) was added to the British
fauna by Sim, who records* ten specimens trawled (May 25th,
1897) off Rona and brought to Aberdeen market. Two had
been previously caught (February, 1895) thirty miles from
Shetland. It isa much smaller species than the ling, seldom
exceeding 4 ft. in length. Its body is also longer for the
depth, the head is shorter, the scales proportionately larger,
and there are no spots on the dorsal fins. The lesser ling
is regarded as a better food-fish than the commoner species.
It inhabits still deeper water, for it is taken chiefly on the
coast north of Bergen in 100 to 300 fathoms of water, but
occasionally it finds its way into the shallower waters of the
Skager Rack, and is there captured in only 35 fathoms.t

The lesser ling is a voracious ground-feeder, and the
British examples contained scales that apparently belonged
to some kind of wrasse. Faber erroneously held this form
to be the young stage of the common ling.

The Rocklings, three in number, have not only the barbel
on the chin, as in so many of the foregoing, but also additional
feelers on the upper lip. A fourth, having eleven barbels,
is described from Scandinavian seas, but does not occur
within the British zone. McIntosh and Masterman follow
Risso and the Scandinavian writers, and call this genus by
the name of Onos, an old Greek word for cod; but Morella
isin more common use. All our rocklings have two dorsal
fins, like the hake and ling, but the front one lies in a groove,
from which only one long ray projects.

The Five-bearded Rockling (Motella mustela) must be

* Ann. Scot. Nat. Hist, October, 1897, p. 255.
Tt Scandinavian Fishes, p. 524.

THE COD FAMILY AND THE SAND-EELS 263

regarded as the commonest kind in British seas, particularly
in the western half of the English Channel, where specimens
of at least 18 in. are taken. The very young examples of
this and other rocklings are popularly known as “ mackerel-
midge,” because the mackerel greedily devour them at the surface
of the sea in summer weather, dashing through almost solid
masses of the fry. These young rocklings have been variously
named and described, like the young of some other fishes, as
species distinct from the adults.

The five-bearded rockling is brown above and lighter on
the under surface. As its name denotes, there are five barbels
in all, the longest on the chin, the other four on the snout.
The teeth in the jaws and vomer are long and pointed, and the
fish probably feeds, for the most part at night, on small fishes,
molluscs, and crustaceans. In its search for food it is aided not
alone by the barbels, but also by the very sensitive organs of
touch in the pelvic fins.

What was said on an earlier page in respect of the import-
ance of studying the life-history and movements of some of the
smaller fishes on which those of greater moment to ourselves
feed is well illustrated by the rocklings. In their young,
silvery, surface-swimming stage they form the food of
mackerel, and at a later stage, when their residence is at the
bottom of the sea, they are the prey of ling and conger.

The five-bearded rockling spawns during summer, from
April to August, and its egg and development were studied by
Mr. G. Brook,* who pointed out the error of Cornish in
describing the buoyant egg of this fish as deposited in a coral-
line nest in the rock crevices. A floating egg could obviously
not develop in a nest under water, yet the mistake was long
accepted. According to the accurate observer named above,
the egg of the five-bearded rockling measures rather over qo in.
in diameter, is oval in shape, and so fragile that the least pres-
sure disturbs its outline. Mr. Brook found the egg hatch out

* See Journ. Linn. Soc., 1885, Vol. XVIIL., pp. 298-307.

264 SALT-WATER FISHES

in about six days or rather less, the temperature varying
between 62° by day to §1°3° at night. At St. Andrews,
however, in May, these eggs took as long as ten days
to hatch.

The larva, on emerging from the egg, measured less than
yo in., and was not so developed as that of the lesser weever,
of which Mr. Brook also made a study. It has three conspicu-
ous spots of black, and at a rather later stage the lower jaw
projects, the eye is a pronounced blue, there is a greater
proportion of black colouring matter, and the pelvic fins are
tipped with black and very long. ‘he barbels first appear
when the little fish is about 2 in., and are all distinctly
developed at 1 in., but there is apparently some variation
in the degree of development at any given age. One measur-
ing rather over 1 in. was found to have lost much of the
silvery pigment and to have taken up its residence in the sand.
By their first January—z.e. at about six months old—the rock-
lings of this species are about 2 in. long, and Cunningham
found that rocklings measuring 1 in. their first May had
grown to § in. by the May following.

The Four-bearded Rockling (M. cimbria) is the smallest
and least common of our British kinds, the largest recorded
example being 14 in. long. It differs from the last kind
chiefly in the number and distribution of its barbels, having
one on the chin, one on the upper lip, and two on the snout.
As in all rocklings, the front dorsal fin lies in a groove, one
long ray only showing above the line of the back. It has
recently been recorded by Holt from the Bristol Channel, but
it is nowhere very common on our coasts. McIntosh and
Masterman describe it as not uncommon in the Firth of Forth,
but only about ten were recorded in that locality between 1890
and 1g00,* which does not suggest great abundance. One was
picked up near North Berwick in the October gales of 1898,

* See Eagle Clarke, “ Fishes of the Firth of Forth,” in Ann. Scot. Mat.
ffist., October, 1900, p. 210.

EA Natural Size
Photoby Reinhold Thiele

THREE-BEARDED ROCKLING (Mocella tricirrata)

ba Watural Size

Photoby Ramhald Thiele

ROWHOUND (Seylkium canzeula }

THE COD FAMILY AND THE SAND-EELS 265

and another, measuring 13% in., at the same time between
Leith and Portobello.

The egg is known to be distinct from that of the others,
but has not been very satisfactorily described. When rather more
than an inch in length, the present species may be distinguished
from the last by the longer barbel on the chin and the smaller
front dorsal fin. The central barbel on the upper lip appears to
be of later development than the rest.

The Three-bearded Rockling (M. tricirrata)—the young of
which is known as the “Silvery Gade,” a name originally
bestowed in the early years of last century by Colonel
Montagu—is the largest of British rocklings, and examples
have been caught which measured 20 in.

This rockling is distinguished from the rest not only by the
possession of only three barbels, all of them long, one on
the chin, the other two on either side of the snout, but also by
black spots covering the head, body, and fins. These spots are
not, however, found until the fish has grown to a length of
3 in. or thereabouts. It is found to take baited hooks 'lying
on the bottom rather more readily than the rest, but its habits
are not otherwise known to differ much from theirs.

It appears to be somewhat more generally distributed
round our coasts, being fairly common in Devon and Corn-
wall, and yet more plentiful on parts of the Irish coast, but
comparatively scarce in Scotch waters. Herdman records the
species from Port Erin Bay and the Dee estuary. It is said to
spawn early in the year, but neither egg nor larva has been
studied in our laboratories.

The Torsk (Brosmius brosme), or Tusk, is the most
northern member of the family, and is our sole representative
of a third group, having only a single long dorsal fin. While
plentiful on the north coast of Scotland and among the
Shetland group, and there found in both deep and shallow
water, it is not so far known in the English Channel. It grows

266 SALT-WATER FISHES

to a length of over 40 in. and a weight of over 40 lb., but
the average figures would be far below these. It is a good
food-fish in Shetland waters, and is said to taste of the crabs
and lobsters that form no small portion of its natural food ;
but it is little appreciated elsewhere, only the liver being re-
tained, and not always even that.

In colour the torsk is grey, with bronze or yellow reflec-
tions on the upper parts, and lighter beneath, with some
yellow stains on the fins, which are enveloped in tough skin.
There is a barbel on the chin. The largest of its teeth are in
the lower jaw and vomer. ‘The scales are very small, and the
fish has a slimy skin.

The torsk is a fish of very voracious habits, feeding on
other members of its own family, as well as on crustaceans.
It spawns from April to June, and the egg, first described by
Dr. Wemyss Fulton, of the Scotch Fishery Board, floats in
the water, measures in diameter rather more than 3/5 in., and
has a large reddish oil-globule. Dr. Fulton considered that
the number of eggs in a female measuring 34 in. would
exceed two and a quarter millions.

The larvae, some of which hatched out on the ninth day,
measured nearly } in., and were distinctly marked with black
bands. They have considerable vitality, and bear transport
long distances in a little water. Those under observation at
St. Andrews were increasingly active each day, the breast fins
showing rapid vibration. Professor McIntosh regards one of
10 in., captured in February, as about a year old, which, if
correct, indicates an earlier spawning-season than that usually
named.

Ophidiidze
THe Sanvo-Ee.s

At almost all stages of their development a most im-
portant food for some of our principal fishes, and in the
full-grown stage the very best bait for bass, pollack, coal-fish,

THE COD FAMILY AND THE SAND-EELS 267

mackerel, turbot, and many other fishes, both round and flat,
the sand-eels are familiar only on certain parts of the coast
where there is a special seine-fishery for them. Elsewhere
their retiring habits, and the ease with which they burrow
in the shifting sandbanks, make them strangers to even the
average resident. One such fishery is named by McIntosh
and Masterman at Elie, in the Forth estuary, and there is
another at the mouth of the Teign, in Devon, close to
which, indeed, within 500 yards of the nets, the writer has
resided during four summers.

Both the sand-eel and launce have close affinities with the
cod family, though they are referred to as a family of their
own, and it is, therefore, convenient to consider these two fishes
in the present chapter. They are caught at Teignmouth in
varying proportions, one or the other predominating on
different days, or sometimes in about equal quantities. A long
series of notes on the subject, however, extending over the
period-named, has not enabled the writer to offer any explanation
of the relative numbers in which the two are taken in the nets.

At any rate, there is no fear of mistaking one for the other,
in spite of the fact that Mr. Cunningham says that they are
‘so much alike that it is very difficult to distinguish one from
the other, but there seems to be no doubt whatever of their
independence.” This is amazing reading to one who has
never found any difficulty in selecting the sand-eel and reject-
ing the launce—the latter is far inferior as bait—even in the
half-light of a summer evening, and it almost prompts a doubt
as to whether so careful an observer of fish can really have
seen both side by side. The launce is deep or pale green,
unmistakably green; the sand-eel is never green. ‘These, by
the way, are the names by which the two go at Teignmouth,
where they are also collectively known as “ sprats.” On other
parts of the coast the launce is known as the Greater, the
sand-eel as the Lesser, Sand-eel.

The Launce (Ammodyies lanceolatus), or Greater Sand-eel,

268 SALT-WATER FISHES

the green species above referred to, grows to a length of
over 15 in. The lower jaw is conspicuously the longer, being
utilised by the fish in its rapid burrowing in the wet sand. In
the roof of the mouth there are two horn-like teeth, which
further distinguish it from the sand-eel, which has no teeth of
any kind. The horny processes referred to can hardly be
regarded as teeth in the ordinary sense, for their structure is
different, but they may, perhaps, do the work of teeth. The
lower jaw, besides protruding, is grooved like a trowel. The
tail fin is deeply forked and has some dark colouring, and
the belly of the fish is silvery white. The scales are so minute
that these little fishes are, when handled, almost as slippery as
true eels.

The launce, when about to burrow, goes head first into the
wet sand with incredible rapidity. It is a voracious fish, and
the writer has often watched large examples dashing among the
smaller, and seizing them crosswise, under Bournemouth and
Teignmouth Piers. Its inferiority as bait has already been men-
tioned, Not only do the bass appreciate it less than the sand-eel,
but it has not half the vitality of that species, dying on the hook
in less than ten minutes, whereas the sand-eel, properly hooked,
will last twenty. As food for man it is also less favoured
than the brown species, being too fat and rich. Nor does
it retain its activity so well when kept overnight in the
‘“‘courge,” a wooden or wicker contrivance used in the West
Country (and originally introduced from the Channel Islands)
for the proper storage of these live baits.

The spawning of the launce appears to take place in May,
June, and July. The eggs, which have not been very
accurately studied, are thought to be demersal, which would
correspond with the general habits of the fish. They measure
rather more than 785 in., and have a green oil-globule and
a thick capsule.

The Sand-eel (4. tobianus), or Lesser Sand-eel, has already
been incidentally distinguished from the larger species. It

THE COD FAMILY AND THE SAND-EELS 269

grows to a length of only 6 or 7 in., is brown in colour,
lacks the horny teeth of the launce, and has the lower jaw pro-
jecting, but shallow and pointed, not grooved like that of the
launce. Day alludes to a row of teeth at the base of the tongue,
but the writer has sought these in vain in many examples.

The sand-eel is commonly described as residing closer
inshore than the launce, but at most places within the writer’s
knowledge they occur in company. The sand-eel appears the
commoner, however, on the east coast of Scotland.

_In that part of our seas it is said to spawn in the beginning
of the year, but McIntosh and Masterman are of opinion that
it spawns twice, in deep water in December or January, and
in shallow water again in May. The number of eggs in the
sand-eel has been estimated at from ten to thirty thousand,
The ripe egg has not yet been described, but the newly
hatched larva is well known, and measures rather less than
7 in. It has been surmised, though on no certain evidence,
that the early metamorphoses of the sand-eel are gone through
while the fish lies securely buried in the sand, though at a later
stage, and before finally settling down to its underground
haunts, it has a free-swimming stage at the surface, millions
occurring in the tow-nets in May. Masterman compares
these wanderings with those of infant plaice. The ordering
is, however, different. The sand-eel starts on its career
in moderately deep water and in an asylum of sand, subse-
quently finding its way up into the genial influence of the
sun’s light and heat, growing rapidly at the surface, then
returning to the depths, but not until its ranks have been sadly
thinned by the attacks of birds and other fishes. The little
plaice first sees light at the surface, and goes through the
remarkable structural changes, that have already been de-
scribed, near the top of the water. Then, having assumed
its final shape, it gradually drifts inshore and finally takes
up its abode, after a very different series of experiences,
close to the adult sand-eels.

CHAPTER XIV
SOME RARE OR UNCOMMON FISHES

In the present chapter account must be taken of a miscellany
of fishes isolated in greater or lesser degree from the
foregoing, and for the most part of only accidental oc-
currence on our coasts. In this respect, however, they will
be found to differ considerably, extreme cases being the
sturgeon and Argyropelecus, the former occurring regularly
each winter, the latter dredged on one occasion only in
deep water north of Shetland. How far some of the fishes
named in the present chapter are entitled to be reckoned
among British forms must be largely a matter of opinion.
The same difficulty arises in the cases of rare stragglers
among birds ; and, on the whole, it is convenient to allow the
admission of a species on the strength of even one well-
authenticated occurrence under natural conditions. Whether
on such a basis we can admit the single example of Pam-
melas, which was found floating in our seas in a broken
wooden case, is open to doubt. For present purposes, how-
ever, no very strict investigation has been made, and in the
present chapter mention will be made of every “ British”
fish so far named and recorded that has not been included
in the earlier chapters. The following chart gives the
families to which these rarities belong, and a glance at
the earlier folding chart of British fishes will show more
closely their approximate affinities with those of greater
importance :—

270

SOME RARE OR UNCOMMON FISHES 271
Famity. Common Name, GENUus. SPECIES.
HOLOcEPHALI
CHIMARIDA . » | Arctic Chimera | Chimera | monstrosa
GANOIDEI
ACIPENSERIDE . . | Sturgeon | Acipenser | steerio
TELEOSTEI
Smooth Serranus Serranus cabrilla
Dusky Perch é gigas
PERCIDZ . Wreck-fish Polyprion cerntum
Dentex Dentex vulgaris
Mendole Mena vulgaris
CoTriDA . | Murray’s Gurnard Triglops murrayt
Bergylt (Norway Sebastes norvegicus
SCORPANIDA . Haddock)
S. dactylopterus
Beryx decadactylus
SEUSS 4 { Hoplostethus mediterraneum
PEDICULATI Angler-fish Lophius piscatortus
Short-finned Tunny Orcynus thynnus
Long-finned Tunny . germo
Bonito Thynnus pelamys
Seen Belted Bonito Pelamys sarda
Plain Bonito Auxis rochet
Remora LEcheneis remora
SCOMBRESOCID . Flying-fish Exocetus volitans
Black-fish Centrolophus | pompilus
STROMATEIDA. { (oe britannicus
Ray’s Bream Brama vate
CoRYPHANIDA Opah Lampris luna
Luvarus imperialts
Pilot-fish Naucrates ductor
CaRANGIDA Black Pilot Pammelas perciformis
Albicore Lichia glauca
XIPHIDA . Sword-fish Xiphias gladius
SCIZENIDE . Maigre Sciana aquila
Blade-fish Trichturus lepturus
TRICHIURIDA { Scabbard-fish Lepidopus caudatus
CEPOLIDA . $ Red Band-fish Cepola rubescens
Deal-fish Trachypterus | arcticus
ee { Banks’ Oar-fish Regalecus banksit

272 SALT-WATER FISHES
FamiLy. Common Name. GENUS. SPEcies.
TELEOSTEL (continued)
CENTRISCIDA . Bellows-fish Centriscus scolopax
| Coryphenoides | rupestris
Macrurus levis
MsescR ne MM. celorhynchus
{ M. @qualis
Forkbeard Phycis blennordes
P. aldrichti
Lesser Forkbeard Raniceps raninus
Senne Norway Pout Gadus esmarkit
Silvery Gade G. argenteus
Mora mediterranea
Haloporphyrus | eques
Bearded Ophidium Ophidium barbatum
OPHIDERA Drummond’s Echiodon | /zerasfer adentatus
Nettophichthys | retropinnatus
Argentine Argentina sphyrena
SALMONIDA { on Siae
Argyropelecus | hemigymnus
SIRENOPTANSINE { Pearlsides Maurolicus pennantit
MURANIDA& Murry Murena helena
Short Sun-fish Orthagoriscus | mola
GYMNODONTES . Oblong Sun-fish j ; truncatus
Globe-fsh Tetrodon lagocephalus
File-fish Balistes capriscus
SCLERODERMI F { B. a dons

The Arctic Chimera (Chimera monstrosa) shows many
affinities to the sharks and rays, though Bashford Dean and
some other modern workers incline to separate them somewhat
widely. Still, such features as the cartilaginous skeleton, the
male claspers, the blood-vessels, brain, spinal cord, and organs
of sight, smell, and hearing, cannot be overlooked, and all these
in the chimera are essentially sharklike. The whiplike tail,
too, recalls the same organ in many rays. The most sharklike
of the three surviving genera is Harriotta, a long-snouted fish
occurring on the American coast. On the other hand, the tail
of Callorhynchus, the elephant-fish of Antarctic seas, is almost

SOME RARE OR UNCOMMON FISHES 273

exactly like that of typical sharks. Affinities are also seen with
the lung-fishes, in the solid skull, with the jaw attached directly
by its own substance.

Our own chimera, which also occurs in the deeper parts
of the Mediterranean, is the largest of surviving chimeroids.
Four small ones, the largest measuring 16 in., were taken by
the Travailleur at a depth of from 800 to 1,200 metres.
It has the cartilaginous skeleton, and on each side a single gill-
opening covered by a fold of skin that forms a rudimentary
gill-cover, the outlet of four gills. The body is long, ter-
minating in the aforementioned attenuated and apparently
degenerate tail. There is a fringed filament over the snout,
and on the head are rows of pores, the use of which has not
been explained. The pectoral fins are large and fan-shaped ;
the tail is as long as, or longer than, the body. The adult has
no scales, but the younger stages are said to possess small,
tooth-like scales, locally distributed. In colour the chimera is
brown and silvery.

The chief difference between chimezroids and sharks lies in
the teeth. In sharks, as we have seen, they lie in numerous
rows, unconnected by ossification with the gristly jaws, those
behind being ready to take the place of the others when accidental
or natural causes shall have rendered these useless. The teeth
of chimeroids, on the other hand, are solid-looking molars on
the palate and lower jaw, with a small pair of cutting teeth in
the upper jaw, on the front edge. They are clearly intended
for triturating food, and it is probable that crustaceans and
molluscs, rather than herrings, form the bulk of the chimera’s
prey. The lateral line, sharklike, is distinct, but the air-bladder
is wanting.

The breeding of the chimera has not been studied, for
the difficulties are at present insuperable. The fish has never
been kept in captivity, and its natural haunts are too far
removed from the eye of man for there to be much hope of an
early explanation of the many mysteries of its life. We can

18

274 SALT-WATER FISHES

only, from the form and position of the claspers, infer close
analogies to the habits of oviparous sharks and rays. Nor has
its egg-case been found ; but that of the Antarctic Callorhynchus
is a leaf-shaped structure with fringed edges, not unlike the
egg-case of rays, but lacking the horns at each corner.
Portions of such an egg-case were dredged by the Travailleur
at a depth of 615 metres in the Gulf of Gascony.*

The Sturgeon (Acipenser sturio) is a ganoid, and may be
regarded as furnishing in a measure a link between the sharks
and body fishes. Its place is, therefore, between the chimera
and the bony fishes that compose the rest of this chapter.

The sturgeons, which we associate particularly with the
rivers of Russia and other Continental countries, are all river-
fish, sluggish in habits, ground-feeders, spawning in fresh water
(their eggs furnishing the basis of true caviare), and returning
seawards in the cold months. On our own coasts, however,
the fish seems to be caught during summer as often as at other
times of the year.

The scales of other fishes are replaced in the sturgeon by
five longitudinal rows of bony plates. The tail, like that of
sharks, has a long upper lobe and short lower one. The
snout is broad, pointed, and projecting, and four barbels grow
from it. The jaws are highly mobile, and can be protruded by
the fish when feeding in the soft mud. There are no teeth in
the mouth of the adult, but larval sturgeons have conical teeth,
which fall out during later development. The skeleton is
cartilaginous. There is a single gill-opening, with four gills
and a gill-cover (asin bony fishes), a spiracle (as in sharks), and
a large air -bladder.

The sturgeon is brown on the back and lighter beneath.
It grows to a length of 18 ft. It visits our shores without

* Exped. Scient. du Travailleur et Talisman (“ Fishes,” by Vaillant)
p- 80.

SOME RARE OR UNCOMMON FISHES 275

any regularity, and is generally caught in rivers, though a few
are taken in the cold months by trawlers in both the North
Sea and the Plymouth district.

The eggs of the sturgeon are small and enclosed in a viscid
envelope that adheres to anything with which it comes in
contact. They have but little yolk, and the young hatch out
within a week. In many respects the larval sturgeon resembles
the larval shark, but these anatomical affinities need not be given
here in detail.

The remaining fishes, rather more than fifty in number, are
all teleosteans, or bony fishes. They are given in an order that
approximately corresponds with that of their nearer allies in
earlier pages, but reference should be made to the chart for a
more exact understanding of their place in the list. A large
number of them will be found to be related to the horse-
mackerels, while several are allied to the cod.

The Smooth Serranus (Serranus cabrilla), or Bulls, is a great
percoid fish from the Mediterranean, a more exclusively’ marine
form than the bass, since it does not travel up rivers. In
colour it is yellow, having dark bands along the sides. The
tail is not forked, as in the bass, but ends squarely. It lives
on rocky ground, and feeds on small fishes and crustacea.
Unlike the bass, it has no teeth at the base of the tongue.
Occasionally this fish is hooked in our seas, but more often
it is taken in the crab-pots.

The allied Dusky Perch (8. gigas), a wanderer from the
Mediterranean and South Atlantic, grows to a weight of 60 |b.
Not many more than half a dozen British examples are on
record. In colour this fish is reddish above and light beneath.
The lower jaw protrudes, as in S. cabrilla, and the tail fin is
rounded, as in many of the wrasses.

The Wreck-fish (Polyprion cernium), or Stone-basse,
which grows to a length of 5 or 6 ft. and a weight of
60 or 80 |b., but has not apparently been captured in British

276 SALT-IVATER FISHES

seas even a third of that weight, is another southern perchlike
fish, ranging to Northern Europe. It has a singular habit
of sheltering in floating wreckage, often in numbers, and the
fishermen spear it on such occasions. In colour it is dark
grey or stone hue, of clumsy build, deep and thick for its
length. The fins and gill-covers are edged with sharp spines.
There are teeth on the tongue as well as in the jaws.
Calderwood notes two taken in Cornwall on the same day
(in September, 1892), the one at Mevagissey, the other at
Plymouth, the localities named being about forty miles apart
by sea. They were thought to have come in from the
Atlantic together, and measured respectively 194 and 20% in.

The Dentex (Dentex vulgaris), last of our rarer perchlike
sea fish, is also a Mediterranean form. One of 56 in. has
been caught in our seas, and many of smaller size. In
colour it is blue and silver, with bronze reflections. It has
large canine teeth, like those seen in some wrasses, and 1s
described as a greedy biter and a powerful fighter when
hooked.

The Mendole (Mena vulgaris) is admitted to the British
fauna by Couch, but Day thinks that the specimen thus
described was a bogue (Box). Couch says, however, that
it had pointed teeth, whereas those of the bogue are flat
and notched.

Triglops murrayi, a small cottoid, was first described in
1885 from specimens taken by Dr. Murray off the Mull
of Kintyre. It has since been known as ‘¢ Murray’s
Gurnard,” and has been recorded in the Firth of Forth
(1890) by Mr. Thomas Scott.* It measures only 4 or § in.,
and appears to live on muddy ground in from 25 to
28 fathoms ; also it is claimed as occurring in Scotch waters
only, though an allied species (I. pingelii) from the Norwegian
coast is figured in Scandinavian Fishes.

* See Eagle Clarke, Ann. Scot. Nat. Hist., January, 1895, p. 23.

SOME RARE OR UNCOMMON FISHES 277

The Bergylt (Sebastes norvegicus), or Norway Haddock,
is chiefly interesting as one of our only two bony fishes
(the viviparous blenny has already been described) which
produce living young. The female is said to contain fully
two thousand embryos, and a celebrated Scandinavian biologist
regards the male as monogamous. The satisfactory establish-
ment of that peculiarity in the lower vertebrates must always
present difficulties, since, as already suggested, the results
of observations in the aquarium necessarily rest on artificial
conditions, and the results of observations in the natural state
are almost purely surmise.

Most of our rarer fishes are southern forms, reaching
us from the Mediterranean ; but the bergylt is a cold-water
fish, occurring, so far as we are concerned, chiefly on the
north coast of Scotland. It is occasionally caught in the
Moray Firth, and is said to be familiar in form to the Grimsby
fishermen, who take it on the North Sea banks; but one
authority declares that they have no vernacular name for it.
This, if correct, is an almost unique case, for it is the
experience of most who have dealings with the fishing
population that they seem to have devised vernacular names
for even the rarest of fishes that they catch only at long
intervals. That they should, therefore, have no familar name
for so striking and characteristic a form as the bergylt seems
almost incomprehensible, and further evidence on the subject
would be desirable.

The bergylt is deep-water fish of active habits, and is
for the most part taken on the cod-lines. In colour it is
of a uniform bright red on the body and fins; hence in
America it is known as “rose-fish.” The name “ bergylt,”
which seems to be Norwegian for “cliff-sow,” is not intelli-
gible to our limited knowledge of its habits; but it is at least
unfortunate that Jergy/ta should have been made the specific
name of one of the wrasses, which are no connection whatever
of the present fish. Nor is the gadoid association of

278 SALT-WATER FISHES

“haddock ” much happier, since the fish is much more like
a perch.

There are spines on the gill-covers, scales over the head
and body, and teeth on the jaws and vomer, but not on the
tongue.

Though the adult is a deep-water fish, the embryos swim
close to the surface. When first born they measure from
3 to § mm, oF roughly + in,

From all accounts the bergylt is not a desirable table-
fish. Holt, however, tasted some trawled on the Iceland
grounds, and compares their flavour to that of sea-bream.

The allied 8. dactylopterus, which has been confused with
S. norvegicus, may also be included among British fishes on
the strength of one that was washed ashore in 1893 on the
Yorkshire coast. It has larger scales than the commoner
species, and its gill-covers open vertically instead of obliquely.
It now appears that examples of this species had been captured
off the Irish coast as early as 1843, but were invariably referred
to the commoner species.

Beryx decadactylus has not yet been found on our coasts,
though there is presumptive evidence of its occurrence there ;
but a single example of a near relative, Hoplostethus mediter-
raneum, a fish with a very large eye and serrated edge to the
belly, was taken by: Green in 250 fathoms off the south-
west coast of Ireland in 1889.

The Angler-fish (Lophius piscatorius) is one of the least
uncommon fishes named in the present chapter, but it is
sufficiently isolated in both habits and appearance to be most
conveniently dealt with here. This remarkable-looking fish
seems generally distributed on our coasts, though nowhere
very common, and the same may perhaps be said of
its occurrence on the other coasts of Europe and at the

SOME RARE OR UNCOMMON FISHES 279

Cape. Curiously enough, while said to be not uncommon
on the Pacific side of America, it is regarded as wanting
from the Atlantic seaboard of that Continent.

The angler may at once be recognised by the rod-like
modification of a ray of the front dorsal fin which surmounts
its immense flattened head. The latter, as also the wide,
gaping mouth, is fringed with tentacles. The dorsal fin has
other prominent rays, but none with the forked “bait”
that is carried by the first.

The body tapers somewhat abruptly to an insignificant-
looking tail, and the skin has no scales. The pectoral fins
are developed in a remarkable manner, so as to serve in a
measure as feet, much as those of the gurnards may be
regarded as answering the purpose of hands. The angler
does not use them when routing for food, for this is not its
mode of feeding, but it walks on the sea bed and steadies
itself in strong currents or rough weather. It is a very poor
swimmer, having neglected that art since its earlier and more
active days and developed other talents. It lies motionless
in the weeds, waving its bait and suddenly opening its mouth
whenever any fish approaches sufficiently close to be carried
in by the inrush of water. Even large skate and conger are
engulphed in this way. The “bait”? has been described by
Day and others as “glistening”; but it must, if this be the
case, lose its glamour with life, for the writer has examined
several, fresh from the trawl, without finding any sign of
glitter, even when the flag-like extremity was moistened
again.

The teeth of the angler point easily backwards, towards
the throat, but will not bend outwards. They lie in two
rows in the jaws, and there are a few on the vomer, but
none on the tongue. The lower jaw is slightly the longer.
The eye is small, and is surmounted by sharp spines. There
is a single gill-opening on either side with a kind of pouch,
in which earlier writers said that the young find shelter when

280 SALT-WATER FISHES

threatened with danger. McIntosh quite unnecessarily takes
Day to task for holding this opinion, whereas, at any rate in
British Fishes, Day merely quotes it as the opinion of
“some authors.”

In colour the angler is of a deep brown above, with dark
lines and marks, and having the lower surface yellowish
white. The ground-colour and markings are both, how-
ever, subject to much variation.

It is usually regarded as a shallow-water fish, but Byrne
found it (1889) on the Irish coast in 200 fathoms. Though
ordinarily a ground-dweller, the angler is said at times to
bask at the surface, and indeed it must even seek its food
there, since of the many birds that have been taken from
its stomach, cormorants and razor-bills might perhaps have
dived to its haunts, but gulls must have been seized at the
top of the water. Its stomach can be stretched to an extra-
ordinary extent, and its habit is probably to swallow a fish
little smaller than itself at intervals, and then, like some
reptiles, digest it at leisure. Holt quotes an interesting
suggestion, made by a member of the Irish survey, that
the fish is able to snap with great accuracy at any object
that touches the “bait,” so that the angler is a kind of
living spring-trap. It is regarded as one of the most
persistent natural enemies of the plaice, on which it is said
to feed at most seasons of the year.

It is of little use, save as a curiosity for the museum,
though Irish washerwomen are said to use the gall for
whitening their linen, and the same organ is said to be
employed in Iceland in the manufacture of soap.

The angler spawns in summer time, the eggs floating in
immense sheets on the water, much like the spawn of frogs,
though this is not, of course, the reason of its being called
“ frog-fish,” a name it bore long before the spawn had been
described. A sheet of angler spawn 36 ft. in length and
IO in. wide was once thrown up in July in the Firth of

SOME RARE OR UNCOMMON FISHES 281

Forth, and it has also been obtained in February, which
points to a variable breeding-season. The eggs, pear-shaped
and having a single oil-globule, measure about 34; in. in
diameter. They are adhesive, like those of the herring,
only they float instead of sinking. An angler measuring
nearly 4 ft. contained considerably over a million-and-a-
quarter of eggs. The vast sheet in which these float on
the water, one deep, is simply a gelatinous conglomeration
of the egg-membranes. Black colouring matter is con-
spicuously developed in the larva even before hatching. The
flattened form of the adult is first noticeable about fifteen
days after hatching. During the early free-swimming stage
the pectoral fins are enormously developed, streaming out
behind the fish like long threads, and there is a later stage
in which the little fish is one mass of projecting rays, and
has the dorsal rays ramified like the branches of seaweeds,
while the front one of all already shows the forked “ bait”
that is to be of so much use later.

For evidence of the rate of development after fifteen days
from the egg (the latest stage observed in the aquarium)
we are dependent on the harvest of the surface tow-net ; but
Gunther, McIntosh, and Cunningham figure, between them,
half a dozen distinct stages that may be usefully compared.
The disproportion between the millions of eggs of this fish
found floating on our coasts and the very small number of
adults, and yet greater scarcity of the post-larval stage, has
struck almost every writer, and the only reasonable explana-
tion would seem to be that at an early age the angler retires
to some part of the sea inaccessible to both hook and net.
This view is borne out by the fact that very small adult
examples are rarely met with. Young angler-fish were
taken off Cape Verde Islands and off the Azores at a depth
of from 500 to 700 metres. So far as the records of any
county fauna go, there would of course be a tendency to
enumerate only the larger examples; but, apart from this,

282 SALT-WATER FISHES

it is known that examples of, say, 4 or § in. in length are
very uncommon. An analogous case is found in the basking-
shark, small individuals of which are never encountered,
and there also the only explanation lies in some haunts far
from our shores. A few quite small anglers have, how-
ever, been described here and there, and McIntosh mentions
one of 54 in. found in an injured state on the shore, and
evidently, though most of the skin was gone, brilliantly
coloured.

We now come to a number of relatives of the mackerels
and horse-mackerels, most of them swift ocean-going fishes,
which have a wide range.

The Short-finned Tunny (Orcynus thynnus), the “great
mackerel” of the northern fishermen, has been taken in our
seas to the weight of 400 or 500 lbs. and a length of g or
to ft. It is least uncommon in the late summer on our
south-west coast, where it comes inshore after the pilchards
that abound there at that season. In so doing, it sometimes
becomes entangled in the drift-nets.

It is a large fish, resembling the mackerel in outline, the
pectoral fin long and scythe-shaped, and with a conspicuous
corselet of scales. In colour it is a very dark blue, the adult
losing the stripes that were conspicuous in the younger fish.
Both edges of the body have a number of finlets in front of
the tail, so characteristic of many of these larger mackerels.
A small example, measuring only 3 ft., was not long ago taken
in the drift-nets at Plymouth.

The Long-finned Tunny (Orcynus germo) has been taken
on our south-west coast, and also in the Solway Firth,* but only
measuring 2 or 3 ft. and weighing from 12 to 20 lb. It
is said to take a bait more readily than the larger tunny.
In colour it is very like it, but it has a much longer pectoral
fin, extending behind the second dorsal. There are the same

* Ann. Scot. Nat. Hist., January, 1898, p. 53.

SOME RARE OR UNCOMMON FISHES 283

finlets on both margins of the body, but the corselet of scales
is much less conspicuous. This tunny appears to be confined
on the rare occasions of its visits to our Channel coast, not
having found its way, like O. thynnus, to the more northern
portions of the island.

The Bonito (Thynnus pelamys) and Belted Bonito (Pelamys
sarda) are allied fishes without scales on the lower portions
of the body, or indeed anywhere except on their large
corselet. Both are marked with curved dark bands, which
extend over the whole body in the bonito, but are confined
in the belted species to the upper half, while the bonito is
further distinguished by a long spinous front dorsal fin.
Neither are taken in our seas of great size, from 33 to 36 in.
being the greatest length. Mr. Dunn was of opinion that
these bonitoes were more plentiful in our seas in former
times. Both have been taken on the mackerel lines, the bonito
as far north as in the Firths of Forth and Clyde.

The Plain Bonito (Auxis rochei) is so called from the
absence of bands. There are no scales except on the corselet,
and all the fins are conspicuously small. In colour this fish
is blue and silver, like most of the mackerels. The largest
caught in our seas measured 18 in., and one of 2 in. less was
lately taken in a mackerel-seine in Plymouth Sound.

The Remora (Echeneis remora), or Sucker, has been taken
on the Cornish and Irish coasts, Matthias Dunn having taken
one from a blue shark eighteen miles off the Deadman. It
is dull brown in colour, and the front dorsal fin is so modified
as to form an adhesive disc—a converse, so to speak, of the
abdominal sucking disc in Lepadogaster. From the habit of
this little fish, which clings to its hosts with the back of its
head, and is therefore carried through the water with its
under surface exposed to the light, a reversion of the usual
conditions has resulted, and the back of the fish is lighter in
colour than the belly. This is so different from what we
are accustomed to see in fishes that the eye at first refuses

284 SALT-WATER FISHES

to believe that the fish is not upside down. The disc is flat
and oval, with a dozen or more transverse plates, and acts
by vacuum. Remoras attach themselves to many large fishes
and cetaceans, but chiefly to sharks and rays, possibly because
their rougher granulated skins give a better hold. In
tropical seas it is not unusual to see enormous rays hurling
themselves out of the water in order to shake off these remoras,
which evidently irritate them. Perhaps the most interesting
occurrence of the remora in our seas was that of a head and
shoulders found, during the Irish survey (1890-1), in the
stomach of a picked dog-fish (canthias),* for the episode
clearly shows that elasmobranchs prey on these parasites.

The Flying-fish (Exocetus volitans) is doubtfully included,
with a second species, in Day's British Fishes, but the
evidence of their presence alive on our coasts is too unreliable
to make a detailed description desirable.

Centrolophus britannicus and C. pompilus, the latter known
as the “ Black-fish,” the former apparently without vernacular
name, are two rare visitors from the Atlantic. Couch says
that an example of the former was thrown ashore near Looe in
1859, and that is the only recorded British occurrence. The
second species has been taken on several occasions, the first
on record also coming from the neighbourhood of Looe. It is
said to follow sharks. Day enumerates some seventeen cases
of its capture in our seas, and a recent occurrence is mentioned
by Holt, who says that six or eight were taken in a mackerel
boat off the Runnstone, near the Scilly Islands. These were
evidently young examples, for they measured only 12 or
13 in. They had been feeding on small pollack of 3 in. In

* See Holt and Calderwood, Trans. Roy. Dub. Soc., September,
1895, P- 413.

SOME RARE OR UNCOMMON FISHES 285

colour they were dark grey, and showed violet and iridescent
blue reflections.

Ray’s Bream (Brama rai) is a flattened bream-like fish, its
head short, the front rays of the dorsal fin conspicuously long.
Its colours are variable, but blue, with bronze and other
metallic reflections, and black edges to the dorsal, anal, and
caudal fins are characteristic. The eye is large; the teeth
are long and sharp. Though described as a deep-water fish,
it may occasionally stray into the shallows, for examples are
from time to time cast ashore. The Cornish specimen
(Penzance) alluded to by Day as floundering in the shallows
and captured in 1875 was the last seen in the duchy until
the spring of 1891, when another was gaffed near Falmouth
and sent by Dunn to the Plymouth Laboratory.

The Opah (Lampris luna) belongs to the same family,
but is a much more striking fish, the most brilliantly coloured,
in fact, in our seas, if not in all the world. Now and again
one is on show in the window of some London fishmonger’s
shop, and crowds assemble to admire the silver-spotted fish
with the vermilion fins and golden scales, while the sharp
curve taken by its lateral line is also remarkable. Its bright
colouring has gained for it a number of appropriate names,
such as “ king-fish” and “ sun-fish,’”’ the last entailing the
risk of confusion with either the true sun-fish or basking-
shark so-called. It is only a straggler to our seas, and it
is curious, indeed, to find so brilliant a fish evidently of
northern origin, whereas we should be tempted to associate
it with the hotter seas of the south. It is on rare occasions
taken in the Mediterranean, but evidently does not belong
to that sea. The opah grows to a great weight, and ex-
amples of between 100 and 150 lb. have been captured on
our coasts at different points between Cornwall and the
Orkneys. It feeds on cuttle-fish and similar animals, and
its flesh is said to be excellent eating. Though a deep-water

286 SALT-WATER FISHES

fish, like Ray’s bream, it is, like that fish, never captured
by either hook or net, but is always either thrown ashore
or else overcome in shallow water.

A third fish of the same family, much rarer with us than
the others, is Luvarus imperialis, the only two British examples
of which were thrown ashore in Cornwall in 1866, the one
near the Deadman, the other close to Falmouth. The larger
measured 4 ft. and weighed 120 |b. ; the shorter measured
45 in. The truncated head and small upturned mouth of
this fish give it a unique appearance.

The Pilot-fish (Naucrates ductor) is one of the horse-
mackerels. Those who have voyaged in the warmer seas
of the globe are well acquainted with the small blue fishes,
shaped somewhat like mackerel, and marked down the sides
with five or six dark greenish bands, that swim near the head
of sharks. The dorsal and caudal fins are also tipped with
white. The lateral line is clearly traced; but, instead of
being marked by rough scales, like that of the scad, the
portion of it before the tail has a keeled ridge.

Though by no means a common visitor to our coasts,
a number of pilot-fish have been taken, though not, as in
warmer seas, in the company of sharks. The majority of
these occurrences have been in Devon and Cornwall, though
the preponderance of specimens of rare fishes recorded from
our south-west coast may in great measure be due to the
labours of such careful observers as Cornish, Couch, and
Dunn. Among other localities on our shores in which the
pilot-fish has occurred are the Isle of Wight, Folkestone,
Margate, the coast of Suffolk, and one or two in both Scot-
land and Ireland. These fish generally reach our seas with
some vessel from foreign parts.

The Black Pilot (Pammelas perciformis), another of the
horse-mackerels, is a dark blue-grey fish, with dark spots on

SOME RARE OR UNCOMMON FISHES 287

the head, and curious separate spines in place of the more
commonly developed dorsal fin. Only one British example
is on record, and that was picked up in a three-sided wooden
case about six miles off Penzance. The conditions of its
capture throw some doubt on its claim to rank among
British fishes.

The Albicore (Lichia glauca), still another of the horse-
mackerels, has only twice been recorded in British seas, in
1857 and 1878, both examples having been taken in Corn-
wall. It is like the last in shape, but the colours are lighter
green, and there are black stains on its yellowish fins.

The Sword-fish (Xiphias gladius) has been taken many
times in our seas, though it can only be regarded as an
uncommon summer visitor from the Mediterranean and other
southern waters. It grows to a great size, the larger examples
taken on our own coasts having measured to or 11 ft., and
weighed up to 300 lb. It has been caught on a baited hook
and also in the drift-nets, while now and again an example has
been left stranded in the shallows. Its colour is dull blue
above and white beneath. The bands, visible in the young
fish, disappear in the adult, but there are other changes more
remarkable than this. In the very young fish of one genus
(Histiophorus) the jaws are of equal length, and both are
furnished with teeth. At that stage, too, there are spiny
bristles over the eyes, and the prominent dorsal fin is absent.
Somewhat later the great development in the latter begins
to appear, the eyes lose their bristles, and the ventral fins
grow long and threadlike. In the adult stage we find the
high dorsal fin, long, swordshaped upper jaw, and absence
of teeth. The scales, which were moderately strong in the
young fish, are feeble in the adult.

The feeding of the sword-fish is a mystery. It is difficult
to imagine what manner of food could be captured with the

288 SALT-WATER FISHES

sword and yet devoured without teeth, unless it were possibly
large cephalopods. Yet both squid and pilchards have been
found in its stomach. On the whole, it is perhaps more
satisfactory to regard the sword as a weapon of defence against
sharks and whales, and to consider that the fish pursues its
prey and swallows it whole. Clearly, there would be some
difficulty in removing victims from the blade.

The Maigre (Sciena aquila), or Shade-fish, has been taken
on our coasts on many occasions, and one year produced no
fewer than six records. That, however, must be regarded
as exceptional. It has occurred for the most part in the
south-west, but also in the Firth of Forth and on the Norfolk
coast, as well as at Margate, Hastings, Brighton, Carmarthen,
and Cork, which indicate a fairly wide range. Some of the
British examples have measured over 6 ft. in length, and
have weighed as much as 400 Ibs. It is only a straggler
from more southern seas, and seems to be identical with the
jew-fish (S. antarctica) of Australia.

In shape it is not very different from the bass, though the
tail-fin is rounded instead of forked, and the fish is somewhat
longer for its depth and lighter in colour. The dorsal and
anal fins are reddish, and the body is uniformly silvery, but
soon turns dull after death. It is a most voracious fish, and
is one of the few known enemies of the monk-fish. Like its
relative the “Drum,” of Florida seas, it is said to utter sounds
under water that are audible above the surface, but the writer
has never heard any indication of such a habit, though he has
caught many of the Australian species on the coast of New
South Wales.

The Blade-fish (Trichiurus lepturus), or Hair-tail, is a
winter straggler from the tropical Atlantic, flattened and snake-
like in form, with a curious scaleless, silvery covering that

SOME RARE OR UNCOMMON FISHES 289

comes off when the fish is handled. Couch recorded the first
British specimen, which measured 27 in., and was thrown
ashore in 1853 near the Land’s End. Most of the recorded
examples occurred in Cornwall, but cases have also occurred
on the Irish coast, while there was one at Swanage in 1872.
The jaws are provided with sharp curved teeth, and it probably
feeds on smaller fishes.

The Scabbard-fish (Lepidopus caudatus) is silvery, like the
last, but the covering is not so easily detachable. The teeth
are barbed, and the lower jaw noticeably protrudes. The
ventral fins dwindle in this form to a pair of scales, but the
fish is otherwise scaleless. This is the famous ‘“ frost-fish ”
of New Zealand, and grows to a length of 6 ft. Its weight
is insignificant in comparison with its length, owing to its
compressed form. It is one of the comparatively few fishes
that have never been taken by either hook or net, all the
examples recorded having been thrown ashore; and in New
Zealand this occurs only on frosty nights.

The Red Band-fish (Cepola rubescens), a distant connection
of the blennies, has been taken on our coasts on lines, but has
more often been washed ashore, wandering to our seas in
winter time from the south of Europe. The largest British
example, which measured 22 in., was taken in the Exe. It is
much more abundant in British seas in some years than
in others, but no reason, climatic or otherwise, has ever been
assigned for this. The fish is, as its name denotes, red and
band-shaped. Its scales are very small. The pectoral fins
are rose-pink, and there are yellow markings on the body.
The dorsal and anal fins are spineless, and extend along most
of the body, and the tail is pointed. The teeth are long and
pointed, yet the fish is said to feed only on zoophytes and
small crustaceans. If this be true, the fish has an extraordinary
armature of teeth for such work.

se

290 SALT-WATER FISHES

The Deal-fish (Trachypterus arcticus), a northern form
more commonly met with in the cold seas round Iceland, has
been captured on several occasions on our coasts, the longest
British example, measuring over 7 ft. in length, having been
washed ashore in Donegal Bay in 1875. It and the following
species have, in spite of their equally elongated and even band-
like form, no connection with the foregoing. The dorsal fin
runs almost the length of the back, and there is no anal ; but
the most remarkable fin is that on the tail, which is twisted
out of the line of the body, and consists of several small rays
arranged in the form of a fan. Immediately in front of the
tail fin, and on the lower surface, there is a single forward-
pointing spine.

This fish is said to inhabit the deeper water, but, like so
many other deep-water forms, it is a poor swimmer, and
occasionally wanders into the shallows, only to be thrown
ashore.

Its colour is silvery, with some pink on the fins. The
teeth are much smaller than in the last species. The body is
scaleless, and generally in a noticeably flabby condition. The
dorsal rays are less developed in the adult than in the young.

Banks’ Oar-fish (Regalecus banksii) may be distinguished
from the foregoing by the great length of the first few rays
of the dorsal fin, as well as of the threadlike ventrals. There
is no tail-fin.

The skin of this slender, fragile fish is silvery and easily
bruised, like that of Trichiurus. The longest British specimen
on record, captured in the Farne Islands, measured 18 ft.; and
there have been less than a score of recorded occurrences,
to ft. or 12 ft. being the average length, though one measured
only about as many inches.

Banks’ oar-fish must be an inhabitant of deep water,
though naturalists seem unable to agree on its haunts, its
range being apparently cosmopolitan. Several of our examples
appear to have been taken on the coasts of Yorkshire and

SOME RARE OR UNCOMMON FISHES 291

Northumberland, one or two more from various parts of
Scotland, and one only from the Cornwall district. It would
therefore seem that these have come from northern seas.

This is a scaleless fish, but there are rough tubercles on
the skin. The mouth is devoid of teeth, and Banks’ oar-fish
has always, possibly on this account, been regarded as a great
enemy to the spawn of other fishes.

The Bellows-fish (Centriscus scolopax), or Trumpet-fish, has
been recorded in our seas on half a dozen occasions only,
visiting our seas at rare intervals from the south, and ranging,
in fact, as far south as Tasmania. One measuring only 5 in.
was thrown ashore near Fowey many years ago; but about
the other “British ” examples there seems, for various reasons,
to be some little doubt.

The long and tubular bill of this fish has gained for it the
name of ‘“snipe-fish,” and the species is further characterised
by the long, serrated dorsal spine, which points towards the
tail. There are no teeth, and the fish has been thought to
probe in the mud for food, like a woodcock; but this must
be mere surmise based on the structure of its mouth, for there
is absolutely no evidence of its habits at first hand. The
scales are small, and on the lower edge of the fish there are
short, sharp spines. In colour it is pink, with metallic
reflections and some silver on the sides and belly. It is
regarded as a deep-water species.

Coryphenoides rupestris is one of those very rare treasures
of the dredge for which no English name has been devised.
It is one of the “ longtails”” (Macruride), deep-water relatives
of the cod family, a small silvery fish with a curious truncated
head, pointed tail, and long, sickle-shaped, serrated dorsal fin.
The first dorsal is short ; the second is long, low, and soft.

292 SALT-WATER FISHES

The body is covered with spiny scales, and there is a small
barbel on the lower jaw. The teeth are small.

Day mentions two, the larger measuring nearly 6 in., as
having been dredged in 500 fathoms in the Faroe and Shetland
districts, on the outlying limits, therefore, of the British area ;
but there is a later record (1890) of one trawled, also in 500
fathoms or thereabouts, off Achill Head, and therefore definitely
in British seas.

Allied deep-water forms, Macrurus levis, M. calorhynchus,
and M. equalis, were added to the British fauna in 1889,
and 1890, by the Irish expeditions of Green and Byrne,
who trawled them in 200 fathoms on the Irish coast.*

One or two rare gadoids remain for consideration.

The Fork-beard (Phycis blennoides), known on the Cornish
coast as the “Forked Hake,” is distinguished by its long,
forked ventral fins. It has the dull colouring characteristic of
all the cod family, and it also has the barbel on the lower lip
possessed by so many of them. British examples have measured
been 15 in. and 2 ft. Although it seems from all accounts to
be least uncommon on our north-east coast, Holt says that it
is unknown as a distinct fish to the Grimsby men, who regarded
two examples caught in March, 1892, as hybrids between the
torsk and haddock, both of which have been described in the
chapter on the cod family.

Day describes it as rare in Devonshire, but records
examples from that county. Calderwood mentions one
measuring 181 in, taken on a whiting hook on the hard
ground five miles from shore, near Plymouth. This may,
however, have been in Cornish waters, from which Couch had
previously recorded the species. More recently it was trawled

* For a detailed description of these rare Macruride consult Holt

and Calderwood, ‘‘ Report on the Rarer Fishes-Survey of Fishing-Grounds,
W. Coast of Ireland, 1890-1891” (Zrans. Roy. Dub. Soc, September, 1895).

SOME RARE OR UNCOMMON FISHES 293

in both Cawsand and Kenmare Bays, and Mr. Walker found
it in Rhos Weir in 1888, the third specimen recorded from
that locality in the course of thirty-five years.* The allied
P. aldrichii was added to the British fauna by Bourne in 1889.

The Lesser Forkbeard (Raniceps raninus) resembles one
of the suckers (Liparis montagui) in shape, but is easily dis-
tinguished by the small barbel on its lip, as well as by the
absence of sucking-disc and spots. The fins are black and
edged with white. In colour the fish is brown above, with
bluish tints, and white below. It does not appear to be
gregarious, like the majority of the cods, and it may be small,
as none of those taken on our coasts have exceeded a foot in
length. It appears to occur fairly widely in our seas, being
recorded chiefly from the south-west and north-east, and Holt
regards it as not uncommon in the mouth of the Humber.
Occasionally it is caught on lines.

The Norway Pout (Gadus esmarkii), which had been noted
as British by Guinthert in 1888, was about then included for
the first time in the fauna of our seas. Harvie-Brown and
Buckley ¢ describe it as not uncommon in Kilbrannan Sound,
and it has since then been recorded from Northumberland and
from the west coasts of both Scotland and Ireland (1890-91).
Until as recently as 1897 it was regarded as absent from the
Channel, but Matthias Dunn identified it on the Cornish coast
in the summer of that year. It came about in this way.
Great shoals of hake had most unexpectedly put in an appear-
ance in those bays, and Dunn, curious to know what might be
the particular attraction, directed his son Howard to examine
the contents of the stomach when the hake were opened.
Howard Dunn found some small gadoids, which he took to be
young whiting, but which, from his description, his father
thought rather to be poutassou (G. poutassou). When, however,

* Herdman and Dawson, Sishes and Fisheries of the Irish Sea, p. 48.

+ Proc. Roy. Soc. Edinb., 1888.
t Fauna of the Outer Hebrides, p. 203.

294 SALT-WATER FISHES

some examples arrived, Dunn found them to be a species
of gadoid new to him, and accordingly sent them for iden-
tification to the Plymouth Laboratory, where they were at once
recognised as G. esmarkii. There seem to be two varieties or
races, one considerably the larger. In colour the Norway
Pout is dull grey on the back and sides, and paler below.
Tbe latest record is from Plymouth (1900), where an example
was recorded by Garstang as taken in quite shallow water.*

The Silvery Gade (G. argenteus) was once taken, in the
Irish survey, in deep water. Another rare gadoid, Mora
mediterranea, was trawled in 500 fathoms off Achill Head in
1890. It had not previously been recorded north of the Bay
of Biscay. The largest specimen measured nearly 282 in.,
and had the gadoid barbel. It has long ventral fins, and is
grey on the back and silver below.

The Bearded Ophidium (Ophidium barbatum), of which a
single British example is said to have been taken near Padstow,
has small scales and a pair of barbel-like growths beneath the
throat, which are a development of the ventral fins. It is
a Mediterranean ally of the sand-eels, and its relationship to
the cod family is thus indirect.

Drummond’s Echiodon (Fierasfer dentatus) is an allied
little snakelike fish, also of Mediterranean origin, reddish in
colour, and having small spots on the sides. The vent is
situated close to the throat. Two British examples only are
on record, both of them taken on the Irish coast, one in Co.
Antrim (1836), and the other in Co. Kerry (1852). The
former measured 11 in., and the latter 8 in. Both were
found dead on the beach. These little fishes are chiefly inter-
esting on account of their habit of quartering themselves on
jelly-fish and holothurians, and Bashford Dean points out that
this commensal habit has resulted in their retaining their

* Journ. Mar. Biolog. .Assoc., November, 1900, p. 274.
S. 900, P. 27

SOME RARE OR UNCOMMON FISHES 295

elongated larval form and a number of other embryonic
characters. *

Haloporphyrus eques, another rare deep-water gadoid, was
dredged in the Irish survey in 500 fathoms. In length it
seems to grow to 13 in. There is a barbel on the jaw, and
the first ray of the dorsal fin is prolonged into a threadlike
process.

Nettophichthys retropinnatus was added to the British fauna
by Holt, who named a specimen trawled on the Irish coast in
144 fathoms. It isa brown, scaleless, eel-like fish with recurved
teeth, and there are black edges to the fins. The single
example taken was apparently immature, and measured only
§ in.

The Argentine (4rgentina sphyrena), a marine relative of
the salmon, was taken in the stomach of a skate (R. oxyrhyn-
chus) in about 500 fathoms during the expeditions of the Irish
survey. It was also trawled in much shallower water, of 62 to
80 fathoms.

The adult has large scales, and there is the usual rayless
adipose fin of the family. In colour the argentine is olive-grey
and silver, with two black spots on the head. It is said to feed
on crustaceans.

A. silus, a new allied British species, was obtained in 1898
by Holt about 80 miles south-west of the Scilly Islands. It
is also recorded from the coast of Ross (mouth of Lochbroom)
caught on a line in August, 1896.

Argyropelecus hemigymnus is an insignificant-looking, deep-
water fish, silvery in colour, and with round spots along the
body which are thought, though on somewhat questionable
evidence, to emit phosphorescent light. One only has been

* Fishes, Living and Fossil, p. 169.

296 SALT-WATER FISHES

dredged in our seas, and that was in a depth of over 500
fathoms, north of Shetland. It is allied to the scopeloids, also
deep-sea forms.

Maurolicus pennantii, known as the Pearlsides, is an allied
form, having the anterior half of the body deep and square.
It has been taken somewhat often, generally in our more
northern waters. The latest recorded example was taken at
Yarmouth by Mr. Patterson, who found it in “some freshly
thrown seaweed left by a draw-netter on the beach near the
harbour mouth.””*

The Murry (Murena helena), a near relative of the conger,
is only a rare wanderer to our seas from the Mediterranean.
It differs from the conger in its mottled colouration, as well as
in the front tubular nostrils and narrow gill-openings. It re-
sembles it, however, in the absence of scales. The skin is deep
brown, with yellow spots, giving a very snakelike impression.

Only three have been recorded in British seas, all on our
south-west coast. Of these Day mentions two, caught re-
spectively at Fowey and Polperro ; and Holt records the third
(March, 1897) as trawled off the Eddystone. It measured
nearly 45 in., and had a circular wound on the tail, which had
from all appearance been made by the teeth of some dog-fish.

The five fishes that complete the British list all belong to
the order Plectognathi, a name which has reference to their
twisted mouth.

They are divided in two families, the first (Gymnodontes)
represented in our seas by the two sun-fishes and the globe-fish,
the second (Sclerodermi) by the file-fish and a closely related
form. All are more or less circular in shape and have a rough
skin.

* See The Zoologist, December, 1897.

SOME RARE OR UNCOMMON FISHES 297

The Short Sun-fish (Orthagoriscus mola) is not a particularly
uncommon fish during hot summer weather on our south-west
coast, and has been taken in our seas weighing as much as
5 cwt. Like many other large fishes, however, it is inoffensive.
Gunther says that it feeds on crustaceans ; but it must also eat
small fishes, for not only has it been known to seize a mackerel
bait, but its stomach was one of the chief sources of the
specimens of larval eels studied near Messina by Grassi and
Calundruccio.

The skin is rough and covered with small spines. The eye
is small, and is protected by a projecting ridge and provided with
a kind of nictitant membrane. The mouth is small and with-
out teeth. For so bulky a fish, the sun-fish occasionally displays
extraordinary activity, and is sometimes seen to jump clear of
the water. On one occasion, for instance, the writer en-
deavoured to shoot a very large one which was about 20
yards from his boat, but would not allow itself to be gaffed.
The first rifle-ball (-303) having struck it on the back, the fish
leapt three times in the air, barely touching the water each
time, like a ricochetting shell, and then disappeared. In
colour the sun-fish is brown, with iridescent reflections.

The Oblong Sun-fish (O. truncatus), which is much rarer
in our waters than the last, has a smooth, tesselated skin,
marked off in sections that give the surface a paved look.
In colour it is said to be brighter and more silvery than the
last. Not much more than a dozen species have been
recorded from British waters.

The Globe-fish (Tetrodon lagocephalus) is a curiously
shaped relative of the sun-fishes, the body having a fore-
shortened appearance and being deepest almost beneath the
eye. The belly is covered with sharp, four-pointed spines
in its anterior portion, but not nearer the tail. When angered
or excited these fishes inflate their body with air, and in
this state they float at the surface of the sea head down-
wards, the spines offering effective protection against fishes

298 SALT-VATER FISHES

or birds. There are no teeth, the jaws forming a parrot-
like beak. The tail fin is forked, and there is a fold of skin
on the lower edge of the tail. In colour this fish is deep
blue on the back, and white on the sides and belly.

About a dozen British and Irish examples have been
recorded. This fish and its tropical allies are regarded as
poisonous during certain seasons of the year, but in our seas
it is never sufficiently plentiful to rank as a food-fish.

The File-fish (Balistes capriscus) visits us on rare occasions
when wandering from its Mediterranean home. Unlike the
sun-fishes and globe-fish, it has eight large notched teeth in
each jaw, and these it apparently uses to crush shell-fish, its
favourite food. ‘There are two bony plates behind the gill-
opening, a somewhat unusual character. It is also known
as the Trigger-fish, because the front dorsal spines, which
lie in grooves on the back, move in unison, suggesting a
gun action. In colour the file-fish is dark yellow.

B. maculatus is an allied dark-blue species, having lighter
blue spots on the body and fins. It is smaller than the last,
and only one British example has been recorded, and that
under circumstances that give rise to some doubt. Its scales
are rough, and it lacks the bony plates behind the gill-
openings.

CHAPTER XV

THE CULTIVATION OF SEA FISH
By R. B. MARSTON (EDITOR OF THE AISHING GAZETTE)

ALTHOUGH some attempts at cultivating sea fish have been
made in this country, they have generally been on a small
scale, and it is not possible at present to point to much, if
any, success. Even in the case of the noblest of our migratory
fish, the salmon (Sa/mo salar), I regret to say that I can find no
satisfactory evidence that success has attended any of the many
attempts which have been made to increase its numbers by
artificial cultivation, not only in this country, but also on the
Continent and in America. That all attempts to stock the
rivers of New Zealand with salmon have failed is not due
to any fault or imperfection in the artificial cultivation of
the fish. Many thousands of salmon smolts have descended
the New Zealand rivers to the sea, but they never return;
and I believe still that the reason for this which I gave some
twenty years ago is the right one—viz. that the swarms of
voracious fish in the seas of New Zealand give the smolts
no chance. Although salmon have not succeeded in New
Zealand, trout have done so magnificently that if there were
nothing else to point to as a justification for the science of
fish-culture, the hundreds of rivers and lakes of New Zealand
now teeming with grand trout would be sufficient.

Can THE Sea BE FisHeD Our?

Under this title I gave in the Nineteenth Century Review

for November, 1901, some account of the very important
299

300 SALT-IVATER FISHES

discoveries of the Norwegian marine biologists Dr. Hjort
and Dr. Dahl. Speaking generally, it may be said that the
discoveries of these Norwegian scientists seem to prove that
there is no fear that such important fish as the cod and
herring can ever become extinct or even reduced in number
by man except locally ; they are so prolific that what is
abstracted by man merely allows for the development of
a similar amount of fish life which would not otherwise have

developed.

ARTIFICIAL CULTIVATION OF THE Cop 1n Norway

It is curious to note that although the celebrated cod
fishery of the Lofoten Islands, Norway, has been regularly
fished for over a thousand years, there has been absolutely
no indication that the fishing has prejudicially affected the
supply ; it fluctuates, as will be seen from an interesting
and most convincing diagram given on p. 182 of the Report
on Norwegian Fishery and Marine Investigations,* edited by
Dr. J. Hjort, and published at Christiania. This table shows,
for instance, that in 1872 eighteen million cod were taken ;
in 1878 twenty-eight millions; in 1884 sixteen millions ;
in 1886 thirty-one millions; in 1889 seventeen millions ;
in 1890 thirty millions ; in 1892 sixteen millions; in 1895
thirty-eight millions ; in 1898 only fifteen millions.

There can be absolutely no question of over-fishing when
the results jump up and down in this way. It is certainly,
as Dr. Hjort ‘says, caused by variations in the approach of the
Jish to land. \n some years the evidence seems to point to
the numbers of cod-fish being larger than their available food-
supply ; the fish are so poor that, as Mr. F. M. Wallem tells
us, it takes from nine hundred to twelve hundred fish to give

* This splendid work is in English, and must have cost hundreds of
pounds to produce. It ought to be studied by every one interested in our
sea fish, their food, etc.—R. B. M.

THE CULTIVATION OF SEA FISH 301

one barrel of medicinal cod liver oil, whereas in an average
year four hundred fish will supply the same quantity.

It would be out of place to give a life-history of the cod
here ; the discovery, in 1864, of Professor G. O. Sars that
the eggs float on the surface of the sea gave the first impulse
to the artificial cultivation of the cod and other sea fish.
In 1864 Sars found that one could take the ripe ova of a
female fish and impregnate it by introducing a few drops of the
milt of the male fish into the water. There is no difficulty in
keeping the impregnated eggs alive until the young fish hatches
out, nor the young fish itself as long as it feeds on the yolk-
sac ; but once that is absorbed, all man’s efforts to rear the
young cod beyond this stage have been practically useless,
and in Norway and America and elsewhere, where cod are
artificially hatched, all that can be done is to turn the young
fish into the sea almost as soon as they are hatched. In
Norway Captain Dannevig and others have taken great
interest in cod-fish culture, and at the Flodevigen Hatching
Establishment since 1884 many millions of cod fry have been
released annually. In 1896 the number was 327 millions,
and the average every year for seventeen years has been over
100 millions. This seems to be an enormous quantity ; but,
as compared with the natural fecundity and natural supply
of the cod, it is only a drop in the ocean.

A cod of to lb. has a million eggs, so that a very few
fish will produce naturally all that the hatchery can do artifi-
cially, and with far greater chance of success. What a drop
in the ocean 100 million cod-fish eggs are will be seen from
the fact that on July 26th, 1895, Professor Hensen calculated
that there must be over 278 billions of impregnated cod eggs
in each square Norwegian geographical mile of the surface
of the Skagerrak.

As Professors Hjort and Dahl point out, to expect to
increase the supply of cod by artificial means in the face of
these figures can only result in disappointment. “As a

302 SALT-WATER FISHES

business, it does not pay at present’’—this is their verdict ;
all the same they think that the work is worth carrying on
on the experimental scale, with a view to increasing our know-
ledge. Even Captain Dannevig himself is obliged to admit
that “we do not know with absolute certainty whether an
increase in the numbers of cod has resulted from artificial
hatching or not,” though he thinks there is very much in
favour of the supposition that an increase has occurred.

I confess that, for my part, if we had only the evidence
of these Norwegian experiments to go by, I should say that
it looks like an absolute waste of money to attempt in Norway
to do more than experiment with the hope of discovering
how to rear the young cod as well as hatch them, but fortu-
nately we have other and more satisfactory evidence in favour
of cod-fish culture.

THe ARTIFICIAL CuLTIVATION OF COD AND OTHER SEA
FisH 1n AMERICA

For information on the work done by the United States
Commission of Fish and Fisheries in connection with Sea
Fish Culture, I have to thank the Acting Commissioner,
Dr. Hugh M. Smith, who very kindly sent me the following
letter in reply to one of mine asking for the information :—

WasHINGTON, D.C., February 26th, 1902.
Dear Sir,—

In reply to your letter of the roth instant, enquiring
as to the propagation of sea and anadromous fish in the
United States, you are informed that the following species have
received attention from this Commission :

Cod (Gadus callarias).

Pollack (Pollachius virens).
Haddock (Melanogrammus eglefinus).
Mackerel (Scomber scombrus).

THE CULTIVATION OF SEA FISH 303

Winter Flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus).
Tautog (Lautoga onitis).

Sea Bass (Centropristes striatus).

Squeteague (Cynoscion regalis).

Quinnat Salmon (Oncorhynchus tschawytscha).
Blueback Salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka).

Silver Salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch).
Steelhead Trout (Salmo gairdneri).

Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar).

Shad (Alosa sapidissima).

Yellow Perch (Perca flavescens).

American Lobster (Homarus americanus).

Of the foregoing species only the cod, winter flounder,
quinnat salmon, blueback salmon, steelhead trout, Atlantic
salmon, shad, and lobster are regularly cultivated. In addition
to the species named, a number of others, some of minor
importance commercially, have from time to time been propa-
gated by this Commission,

With regard to the results of artificial propagation as
addressed to the foregoing species, the following statements
may be made :

1. The propagation and planting of cod in the inshore
waters of New England have been emphatically successful,
very lucrative fisheries having been established on grounds
that had been entirely depleted or that had never contained
cod in noteworthy numbers previous to the work of the Fish
Commission. It is reported by persons outside of the Com-
mission, and not especially interested in its work, that an
increase in the shore cod catch amounting to fully 50 per cent.
in ten years has attended the hatching operations of the Com-
mission at Gloucester and Woods Hole, Massachusetts.

2. The abundance of winter flounder in the vicinity of
Woods Hole, to which place the hatching is restricted, has
been materially increased, as would naturally be expected in
the case of a fish whose movements are so limited.

304 SALT-WATER FISHES

3. There is little doubt that the shad fisheries of the eastern
coast of the United States are practically dependent on the
artificial measures adopted by the Government. The multi-
plication of nets in the estuaries and lower courses of the
shad streams is such that practically the entire run is caught
before the fish have an opportunity to reach their spawning-
grounds.

4. The value of artificial propagation as addressed to the
salmon of the Pacific coast is highly appreciated by the fishing
interests of that region. There is no reason to doubt that, but
for the millions of young fish liberated each year by the
Goverment, supplemented by smaller plants by the various
states, the run of quinnat salmon in the Sacramento, Columbia,
and other important streams would have been very materially
reduced by the extensive fishing there carried on. It is
impossible to estimate accurately just what effect our work has
had on the supply, but some tagging and marking experiments
conducted during the past few years have suggested the great
value of our work. It has been found, for instance, that for
every thousand marked fry liberated by the Commission, one
ton of marketable fish have been caught by the fishermen at an
interval of two or three years; in other words, at an expense
not exceeding one dollar (for one thousand fish liberated) the
fishermen are catching for market fish with a value of not less
that one hundred dollars.

5. The planting of larval lobsters on the New England
coast has not as yet been sufficiently extensive to offset the
decline in the lobster fishery due to incessant fishing-operations
and the disregard for restrictive laws. “The Commission is now
experimenting with the rearing of the larval lobsters up to the
time when they assume the bottom habits of the adult ; and
it is expected that the perfection of a method of rearing will
prove beneficial.

6. The following are the quantities of marine and anadro-
mous fishes planted by this Commission during the fiscal year

THE CULTIVATION OF SEA FISH 305

1901. These figures include a few eggs transferred to State
Commissions which planted the resultant fry :

Cod ‘ ; : ‘ < 202,871,000
Winter Flounder. . . 44,230,000
Lobster . ; : ; . 60,879,000
Shad ‘ z ; » 193,287,000
Quinnat Salmon ' : . 19,441,784
Atlantic Salmon ‘ . , 497,300
Blueback Salmon : ; 3,834,453
Silver Salmon . . : : 300,041
Steelhead Trout : : ; 270,753

525,611,336

Very respectfully,
H. M. Smiru,

Acting Commissioner.
Mr. R. B. Marston,
Editor of the Fishing Gazette,
St. Dunstan’s House, Fetter Lane,
London, E.C., England.

SPLENDID RESULTS FROM SHAD CULTURE IN THE UNITED
STATES

Shad were becoming extinct or very scarce in the rivers
of New England when the late Mr. Seth Green discovered
how to hatch shad eggs. His experiments were so successful
that the fish, from being a luxury obtainable only by the few,
is now “the best and cheapest of all American fish.” “It
is now ‘ planted’ by the State hatcheries, and on an enormous
scale, over two hundred and nine million shad eggs having
been received by the various hatcheries in 18983; and the
catch, which in 1880 was already five million fish and in
1888 was over ten millions, has now reached seventeen millions.
Before 1871 the shad was unknown upon the Pacific. In that
year a few thousand fry were liberated in the Sacramento

20

306 SALT-WATER FISHES

River. From this small and recent beginning shad are now
to be found in abundance in all the Pacific rivers from Los
Angeles to Wrangell Island, a distance of two thousand miles.
The Report of the Department for 1898 states that, on the
Atlantic coast alone, the value of the shad catch for 1896—
thirteen million fish—was over 1,651,000 dollars, and declares
that since the hatcheries were started the added value of the
shad was more than sixty times the entire departmental
expenditure on shad propagation. It seems, then, that Mr.
Seth Green’s experiments, while hardly noticed at the time,
were yet destined to reduce the price of shad from a dollar
per fish to a dollar per eight fish, to bring this splendid food-
fish within reach of the very poorest classes of the community,
and to pay the fisher folk of the eastern seaboard a very
handsome revenue during the few weeks when the shad are
running to the rivers.’’*

Many years ago I pointed out that the splendid success
which has attended the cultivation of shad in America made
it practically certain that there is nothing to prevent the
introduction of this fish into many of our rivers. The late
Mr. Fred Mather, the well-known American pisciculturist,
told me that the American fish is superior as a table-fish to the
European shad ; and if the experiment is ever made, it is to
be hoped that it will be possible to get over the American fish.
Unfortunately we have no public body like the United States
Fish Commission, which does such splendid work in increasing
and creating national food-supply, and indeed it seems im-
possible to expect any British Government to do more than
publish Blue Books and appoint Commissions to take evidence
as to the decay of our fisheries. As for thinking of devoting
public money for the establishment of fish hatcheries, and
increasing the supply of fish in our rivers by restraining over-

* Extract from a most interesting article by Mr. Moreton Frewen on
“Fish Culture in America” in the WVineteenth Century for September,

1899.

THE CULTIVATION OF SEA FISH 307

netting, preventing river pollution and poaching, it is hopeless
to think of it. What we must pray for is that some rich
philanthropist like Mr. Carnegie or the late Mr. Cecil Rhodes
will come forward and do for our fisheries what they have done
for our libraries and universities.

Tue Curtivation oF Frat-Fisx

The plaice, sole, flounder, and other flat-fish are such
universally esteemed food-fishes that it is not to be wondered
at if the supply does not keep pace with the demands of
our growing population, seeing that our available fishing-
grounds for them are limited strictly by natural conditions
which do not affect the round fish.

Judging from the experiments which have been made in
Denmark, there is good ground for supposing that the stock
of flat-fish in a depleted locality may be increased, not by
producing just hatched fry and setting them free to be carried
out to sea, but by planting young fish of some inches in length
taken from some locality where they are plentiful.

As a result of its investigations, the Committee of the
House of Commons appointed in 1893 to consider the state
of our deep-sea and coast fisheries found that, whereas there
has been no evidence of decrease of herring and round fish
—mackerel, cod, haddock, etc.—there has been an appreciable
decrease of flat-fish, especially of plaice and soles.

The flounder fishery in the Thames, from Teddington
downwards, was an important one for centuries ; but until the
London sewage is treated by the bacteriological process, I fear
there is no chance of re-establishing it on this river, any more
than there is of stocking the river with salmon. It is quite
true that the 200 million gallons poured in every twenty-four
hours at Barking and Crossness are not so thick as formerly,
but they are, every gallon, as poisonous. The sludge is taken
out before the rest of the sewage goes into the river, and is

308 SAIT-WATER FISHES

carried in sludge boats and dumped into the sea at the mouth
of the river, to be cast up on the foreshore at Southend and
other places, where what used to be bright sand is now slimy
mud.

One of the chief difficulties fish culture in this country has
to contend with is this dumping into our rivers and into the
sea round our coasts of all the noxious filth of our towns.
Even where it does not make oyster culture impossible, it
makes typhoid only too possible.

Tue EE

Just as we pay away millions sterling for foreign hens’ eggs
which we might grow at home, so do we pay thousands for
foreign eels, instead of looking to our own rivers. In Scotland
alone more eels are produced every year than would supply the
whole English market ; but the Scotch hate the sight of an eel,
and, as eels are very rarely seen, no notice is taken of them.

In their investigations respecting the eel, the editors of the
Norwegian Report already referred to comment on the igno-
rance of the country people in many places as to the existence
of the fish in their rivers. ‘Only at very few places did the
inhabitants know that the eel descended the rivers each autumn,
and at still fewer places did they attempt to derive any advan-
tage from the migration, possibly because most of the people
regard the eel as a valueless and uneatable fish.”

Most anglers in this country who know anything about
eels believe that there are two kinds in our rivers, the yellow-
bellied broad-nosed, and the silver-bellied, sharp-nosed ; but
Dr. Petersen, of Denmark, has proved conclusively that these
are one and the same fish. It is yellow with a broad head
when living and feeding in our lakes and rivers ; but when its
sexual organs mature and it is time for it to migrate to the sea,
it assumes the glossy, silvery coat, large eyes, and pointed head.
If eels breed only in the sea, what I cannot understand is that

THE CULTIVATION OF SEA FISH 309

I have caught them little longer than a lead pencil in a pond
miles from any other water, in the middle of a town, and ten
years after any were put into it ; and those put into it were then
all four or five times the size. I confess that the life-history of
the eel seems to be so well established that such a fact as this
should be impossible. But it is a fact all the same.

One point in connection with the introduction of fish into
waters which have previously not contained them should never
be overlooked, and that is, will the fish introduced be likely to
injure other fish, and will the final result do more harm than
good? For instance, it will be seen from the particulars I have
given that the Atlantic shad, since it has been planted on the
Pacific coast of North America, has spread for about two thousand
miles, In this case there seems to be every reason to be satis-
fied with this wide distribution of a valuable food-fish ; but
the introduction of the rabbit into New Zealand and the
European sparrow into the United States are specimens of the
grave blunders of acclimatisation which should never be for-
gotten.

In conclusion, I think that it is probable a great deal more
will be done in the way of cultivating our sea fisheries by
protection and regulation and investigation than by actual
artificial propagation, but that the success of our American
cousins proves unquestionably that there are very profitable
openings for increasing our food-supply even in that direction.

INDE Xx

[Specific names with small initial letter]

Aberdeen, Black-mouthed dog-fish
trawled off, 99

Aberystwyth, Abundance of whiting
at, 244

Abnormally-shaped Fishes, 11

abyssorum, 46

Acanthias, 19, 37, 84, 86, 100, 284

Acantholabrus, 37, 190, 191, 195

acarne, 114, 125

Achill Head, Poutassou netted off, 258;
rare gadoid dredged off, 294

Acipenser, 7, 271, 274

Acipenserid@, 271

acusS, 155, 174

@glefinus, 245, 251

a@qualts, 272, 292

Africa, Lung-fish of Central, 2

Agassiz, Biological contributions of, 58

Agonus, 145, 150

Air-bladder, 23

alba, 105, 108

Albicore, 271, 287

Albinism, 9, 11, 259

Alcock on gestation of elasmobranch
fishes, 97 ; (and Wood-Mason) on
Indian stingray, 40

aldrichii, 272, 293

Algiers, Bass at, 121

Allen, Mr. E. J., 57, 133

Allis Shad, 201, 208, 209

Alopias, 7, 13, 37, 86, 88

Alosa, 210

alosa, 201, 208

America, Cod-hatching in, 302; lung-
fish of South, 2; names for the
herring in, 201; shad-hatching
in, 200, 209, 305

Ammodytes, 21, 32, 34, 245, 267

Anarrhicas, 17, 21, 37, 49, 155, 168

Ancestral characters in larval forms, 41

Anchovy, 42, 198, 201

Anemones, 2

Angel-fish, 103

Angler-fish, 7, 17, 20, 24, 27, 34, 39, 42,
45, 271, 278

Annales Soc. Linn., Lyon, quoted, 111

Annals of Scottish Natural History
(quoted), 9, 106, 264 f.n., 282

Antarctic Callorhynchus, 274

antiguorum, 155, 174

aper, 129, 137

Aphia, 155, 158, 160

aquila, 105, 110, 271, 288

Arctic Chimeera (see Chimeera)

Arctic forms, 37, 38, 85, 245

arcticus, 271, 290

Arendal, Cod hatched at, 248

argenteus, 272, 294

Argentina, 272, 295

Argentine, 272, 295

Argyropelecus, 270, 272, 295

Armed bullhead, 145, 150

Armed gurnard, 145, 150

Arnoglossus, 215, 231

“ Arreghonda,” 103

Arun, Bass in the, 120; grey mullet
in the, 186

ascantt, 155, 170

Ascroft hatches out anchovy eggs, 200;
on migrations of plaice, 220

Atherina, 184, 187

Atherine, 187; Boyer’s, 188

Atherinide, 184

auratus, 114, 125

INDEX

Australian lung-fish, 2; Sa/monide, 60;
sea-fish, 10, 38, 125, 135, 288

Auxis, 271, 283

Axillary bream, 114, 125

Azimur, Shad at, 209

Azores, Young angler-fish dredged off,
281

«‘Baillon’s wrasse,” 194

Balanoglossus, 178

Balistes, 35, 37, 292, 298

Ballan, 190, 192

Ballantre Bank, Herring spawn on
the, 199, 202

Ballard, 121

Ballinskelligs Bay, Nilsson’s goby in,
157

Baltic Sea, Fishes of the, 10, 11, 38,
140, 147, 213, 218

Band-fish, 31, 36, 271, 289

Banks’ oar-fish, 271, 290

banksiz, 2°71, 290

barbatum, 272, 294

Barbels in fishes, 17, 127, 243

Barmouth, Bass at, 120

Barnacle, Free-swimming stage of the,
44

Barrier Reef, Sharks of the, 95

Bars on fishes, 8

Basking shark, 22, 43, 86, 91

Bass, 3, 7, 13, 16, 19, 24, 31, 32, 34, 38,
4Q, 114—121, 189

“ Bastard sole,” 237, 266

Bateson on small brill, 213; on the
eye of the torpedo, i110

batis, 105, 106

Batoitdet, 104

Beam-trawl, 69, 70

Bearded ophidium, 272, 294

Beaumaris, Shark named after, 87, 167

“ Betsser,” 53

Bellows-fish, 272, 291

Belone, 9, 16, 20, 42, 129, 140

Bergen, Lesser ling caught north of,
262

‘“« Bergle,” 193

Bergylt, 26, 37, 39, 172, 271, 277

bergylta, 193

31

Berlin Aquarium, Male conger first
identified in the, 179

Berwick, Eagle-ray taken off, 112

Berycida, 27%

Beryx, 271, 278

Bib, 250

Bichir, 3

Bilancia,” 38, 66

bimaculatus, 155, 167

Birkbeck, Sir Edward (first President
of the N.S.F.P.A.), 83

“ Birkelange,” 25, 46

Biscay, Plaice in the Bay of, 218

Black conger, 176

Black-fish, 36, 271, 284

Black goby, 155, 158

Black pilot, 271, 286

Blackrock (Mayo), Rare shark caught
off, 102

Blade-fish, 31, 271, 288

Blain, 250

blanda, 104, 105, 109

Blennies, 26, 36, 39, 167

Blenntida, 36, 155, 167

Blennius, 155, 168, 170

blennoides, 272, 292

Blenny, Butterfly, 155, 170; Montaguw’s,
1§5, 170; Viviparous, 37,155, 171;
Yarrell’s, 155, 170

‘ Blind side ” of flat-fishes, 213

Blonde, 109°

Blue shark, 4, 19, 21, 86, 87, 93

Board of Agriculture and the Fisheries,
56

Board of Trade, Work of the, 55

Boar-fish, 129, 137

Boccus, 114

bogaraved, 35, 114, 125

Bogue, 114, 125

Bonito, 271, 283;

« plain, 271, 282
Bony fishes, 3
Bothus, 228 f.n.

“ Bouillabaisse,” 126

Boulenger, Mr. G. A., 57; on classifi-
cation, 4; on the perches, 114; on
the giant goby, 154

Boulogne, Ripe pout at, 251

belted, 271, 282;

312

Bouregreg, Shad in the River, 209

Bournemouth, Abnormal flounders at,
213; bass at, 120; red mullet at,
126; sand-smelts at, 188

Box, 35, 114, 125

Boyer’s atherine, 188

Brama, 271, 285

Branchial chamber, 22

Bream (see aéso Sea-bream), Axillary,
114, 125; red, 121; Spanish, 114,
125

Breathing of fishes, 1, 2

Breydon Water, 188

Brightlingsea, Young
trawled at, 225

Brighton Aquarium, Conger at the, 181 ;
sharks at the, 94

Brighton, Bass caught at, 120; maigre
caught at, 288; red mullet caught
at, 126

Brill, 11, 215, 228; hybrids of, 46, 228

Brisbane, Hammerhead sharks near, 95

Bristol Channel, Bass in the, 120

britannicus, 271, 284

British Fishes (Day),
280

British Marine Food Fishes (McIntosh
and Masterman), quoted, 38, 52,
58, 141, 148, 156, 169, 193, 203,
219, 224, 225, 227, 228, 247, 252,
259, 262, 264, 267, 269

Brixham, Trawling at, 57, 69, 126

Broad-headed gazer, 92

Broad-nosed pipe-fish, 155, 173

Brook, Mr., on the lesser weever, 153;
on the rockling, 263, 264

brosme, 245, 265

Brosmius, 30, 31, 37, 245, 265

“ Browny,” 232

bubalis, 145, 146

Bullhead, Armed, 145, 150; Norway,
145, 147

Bullheads, 36, 43, 132, 144, 145

Bulls, 275

Bund, Mr. Willis, on shad, 208

Butler on the sole spawning in captivity,
236 fin.

Butter-fish, 171

lemon - dabs

quoted, 159,

INDEX

Butterfly blenny (see Blenny)

Butterfly compared with the perfect
fish, 41

Byrne, Mr. L. W., adds Phycts aldrichit
to the British fauna, 293; on
Gobius scorpoides, 158; on Lepa-
dogaster, 167; on the young of
Montagu’s blenny, 170; on the
angler-fish, 280; on rare Mac-
ruride, 292

cabrilla, 271, 275

caelorhynchus, 272, 292

Calais, Herrings caught at, 203

Calandruccio, 58; on larval conger,
180, 297

Calderwood, Mr. W. L., on Cextro-
phorus, 85; on the black-mouthed
dog-fish, 99 ; on Centrina, 101, 102;
on aia blanda, 104, 109; on the
wreck-fish, 276; on the remora,
284; on the forkbeard, 292; on
rare Macruride, 292 f.n.

callarias, 302

Callionymide, 155, 161

Callionymus, 7, 10, 13, 127, 155, 162,
163

Callorhynchus, 272, 274

Cambridge Natural History, quoted, 4

canicula, 86

Cantharus, 114, 125

Cape Verde Islands, Young angler-fish
dredged off, 281

capito, 154, 155

CAPTISCUS, 35, 292, 298

Capros, 129, 137

Carangid@, 36, 129, 136, 271

Caranx, 9, 37, 129, 131, 136

Carcharias, 19, 21, 37, 86, 93, 97

Carchariide, 86, 93

Carelophus, 155, 168, 170

Carmarthen, Maigre caught at, 288

Cartilaginous fishes, 3

Casablanca, Black-mouthed dog-fish at,

99
Cataphracti, 145, 150
cataphractum, 145, 151
cataphractus, 35, 145, 150

INDEX

Cattegat, Hake in the, 244

catulus, 86, 98

caudatus, 271, 289

Cawsand Bay, Forkbeard in, 293

Centrina, 86, 100, 101

Centriscide, 36, 272

Centriscus, 20, 35, 272, 291

centrodontus, 114, 122

Centrolabrus, 190, 191, 196

Centrolophus, 271, 284.

Centronotus, 155, 171

Centrophorus, 85, 86, 100, 102

Cephaloptera, 105, 112

Cepola, 271, 289

Cepolide, 36, 271

Ceratodus, 2

cernium, 271, 275

Chad, 121, 124

Chameleon, Eyes of the, 18

Chars, Distribution of the, 29, 36

chelo, 184

Chimera, 7, 271, 272

Chimeride, 271

Christiania, 300

cimbria, 245, 264

circularis, 105, 108

Claspers of sharks, 4

clavata, 105, 106

Closure of inshore areas to trawlers,
76, 77

Clupea, 7, 11, 22, 34, 3% 42, 44, 48,
201, 204, 206

Clupeide, 36, 200, 201

Clyde Estuary, Spotted dragonet in
the, 163

Coal-fish, 245, 2553

Cock paidle, 164

Cod, 4, 7, 10, 16, 17, 26, 31, 32, 43, 48,
49, 50, 54, 57, 69, 130, 242-248,
300, 303

Codling, 8

Cod, Poor, 245, 256

Cole, Mr. F. J., on the plaice, 75, 214,
218, 220

coltias, 129, 135

Collett, Dr., on Aphza, 160

Colwyn Bay, Gobies in, 159

Comber, 192

313

Common sea-bream, I14, 122, 125

Conger, 7, 10, 14, 18, 32, 37, 176

Conger eel, 2, 7, 10, 14, 18, 32, 37, 69,
176

Connemara sucker, 155, 166, 167

Connor, 190, 193

Contemporary Review, quoted, 15

Copepoda, 24, 163

Coris, 37, 190, 196

Cork, Maigre at, 288

Corkwing, 193

Cormorants, Destruction of, 82

Cornish, Error of, 263 ; work of, 286

Cornish sucker, 155, 166, 167

cornubica, 86

Cornwall, Sea-fishing in, 10; hake in,
27, 30; blade-fish in, 31; drift-net
fishing in, 54, 67; porbeagle in,
86; blue shark in, 93; thornback
in, 106; eagle-ray in, 112; bass
in, 115; mackerel in, 132, 133;
boar-fish in, 137; saury pike in,
143; red gurnard in, 147; pollack
in, 253; poor cod in, 256; three-
bearded rockling in, 265; wreck-
fish in, 276; remora in, 283 ; Ray’s
bream in, 285 ; Luvarus in, 286;
pilot-fish in, 286 ; albicore in, 287;
blade-fish in, 289; Banks’ oar-fish
in, 291 ; forkbeard in, 292

Cosmopolitan fishes, 37

Cottid@, 145, 271

Cottus, 35, 48, 145, 147

Couch on classification, 5; on the
sharks and rays, 84; on the por-
beagle, 88; on Polyprosopus, 98;
his plate of a dog-fish, 99; on the
colour of sharks, 100; on the
species of sandy ray, 108; on an
alleged egg-purse of Myliobatis,
113; on the absence of spots from
young bass, 116; on red mullet,
126; on young scad, 137; on the
greater weever, 152; on the
poutassou, 257; on the mendole,
276; his work, 286; on the fork-
beard, 292

Couch’s sea-bream, 114, 125

314

Couch’s whiting, 257

Courge, 268

Cowes, Smelt-nets at, 66, 189

Crenilabrus, 190, 193

Crustaceans, 2

Crystallogobius, 155, 157, 160

Ctenoid scales, 14

Ctenolabrus, 125, 190, 191, 194

Cuckoo-fish, 137

Cuckoo ray, 108

Cuckoo wrasse, 191, 194

cuculus, 145, 147

Culture of sea fish, 76, 80, 299-309

Cunningham, Mr. J. T., on the names
of fins, 5, 12; on the sole, 9;
experiment on the artificial colour-
ing of a flounder, 10; on the
lateral line in herrings, 15; on
“food-fishes,” 24; his work, 26,
57; on the milt of the sole, 45;
on the temperature at‘which the
eggs of fishes hatch out, 50; on
the bass, 116; on the eggs of the
sea-bream, 122; on the red mullet,
126, 127; on the alleged blindness
in mackerel, 132; on young scad,
137; on the spawning of boar-fish,
137; on the dory, 139; on young
gar-fish, 142; on the sea-scorpion,
146; on the father-lasher, 146;
on the spawning of red gurnard,
148; on the spawning of Agonus,
150; on Nilsson’s goby, 157; on
the spawning of the conger, 160;
experiment with the topknot, 161 ;
on the eggs of the butterfly blenny,
168; on viviparous fishes, 172 ;
on the length of male conger, 177;
on the proportion of female con-
gers, 179; on the spawning of
congers, 180-183; on larval grey
mullet, 187; on trawlers disturbing
herring spawn, 202; on the egg of
the pilchard, 205; on anchovies,
207, 208; on racial differences in
plaice, 213; experiment on colour-
ing of flounders, 213; monograph
on the sole, 214, 216; on the

INDEX

plaice, 218, 219; on the dab, 221;
on the flounder, 222; on the
lemon-dab, 224, 225; on young
brill, 228; on the food of turbot,
229; on the megrim, 232; on the
apparent scarcity of topknots, 233;
on the egg of the Norwegian
topknot, 234; on the sole, 235,
236; on the thickback, 237; on
the spawning-grounds of cod, 244;
on the hatching of cods’ eggs,
247; on the eggs and larve of
Gadide, 249; on the spawning
time of pollack, 254; on the egg
of the ling, 261; on the growth of
rocklings, 264; on the launce and
sand-eel, 267; on the larval
angler-fish, 299

Cycloid scales, 14

Cyclopterus, 7, 37, 45, 48, 49, 155, 163,
164

Cynoglossus, 215

Cyprinide, 36

Cyttide, 36, 129, 138

Dab, Common, 215, 221
» Lemon, 215, 223
» Long rough, 45, 215, 227
» Pole, 225

dactylopterus, 271, 278

Dahl, Dr, Knut, 72, 301

Dannevig, 57; on cod-hatching, 247,
248, 301, 302

Dartford warbler, 167

Dartmouth Harbour, Wrasses outside,
IgI

Dawson (see Herdman)

Day, Dr., on classification, 5; on the
lateral line in herrings, 15; on
hybrids, 46; his work, 58; on the
sharks and rays, 84; on the por-
beagle, 88; on the tail of the
basking shark, 91; on the colours
of sharks, 100; on the bass, 116;
on the red mullet, 126; on the
gobies, 157, 158, 159; on the lump-
sucker, 165; on the grey mullet
and atherine, 184; on a wrasse

INDEX

taking whiffing baits, I92; on the
distribution of Centrolabrus, 196 ;
on the scales of both sexes in the
rainbow wrasse, 197; misprint in
account of the flounder, 222; on
the spawning of pout, 251; on the
names of pollack, 255; on poor
cod and pouting, 257; on the
teeth of the sand-eel, 269; on
the mendole, 276; on the bait of
the angler-fish, 279; on the flying-
fish, 284; on Ray’s bream, 285;
on Coryphenoides, 292; on the
forkbeard, 292; on Murena, 296

Day, Reasons for trawling by, 69

Deadman, Luvarus found near the, 286

Deal-fish, 13, 271, 290

Deal, Shad caught near, 209

Dean, Dr. Bashford, calls Ctenolabrus
a bream, 6, 125, 195; on the out-
line of fishes, 12; on barbels in
fishes, 17; on the pineal eye, 18;
on early development in sharks,
51; on the ancestry of sharks and
rays, 84; on the Spanish mackerel,
135; On a wrasse, 195; on the
cod type, 242; on Chimera, 272;
on a result of the commensal
habit, 294

adecadactylus, 271, 278

adecandoliz, 155, 167

Dee Estuary, Scald-fish in the, 232;
three-bearded rockling in the, 265

Deep-sea fishes, 32

Definition of a fish, 1

Delage, 57; on the larval conger, 179

Demersal eggs of the herring, 202

Denmark, Fish-hatching in, 307

dentatus, 35, 272, 294

Dentex, 35, 271, 276

“‘ Dermal ” sense in fish, Dunn’s, 15

Devon, Blade-fish in, 31; trawling in,
57,68; Sea Fisheries Committee of,
80; bottle-nosed ray in, 108; bass
in, 116; bream in, 121; mackerel
in, 133; megrim 'plentiful in, 230;
three-bearded rockling in, 265 ;
pilot-fish in, 286; forkbeard in, 292

315

Die Verbreitung der Fische (Palacky),
26
Discoboli, 155
Distribution of fishes, 28; of bass, 120;
of flat-fish, 239
Dog, Picked, 86, 100, 284
» Silver, 96
1» Spur-, 100
Dog-fish, 8, 85, 96
“a Black-mouthed, 51, 86, 99
Dogger, Cod-fishing on the, 57
Dohrn, Dr. Anton, 57
Donegal Bay, Deal-fish in, 290
Donovan on the age of sticklebacks,
160; on the nature of whitebait,
204.
“ Dorsch,” 247
Dory, The John, 6, 129, 138
Douarnenez, Mackerel shoals off, 133
Doubly-spotted sucker, 155, 167
Dover soles, 235
araco, 145, 152
Dragonet, Gemmeous, 7, 8, Io, 13, 155;
162
3 Spotted, 155, 163
Drepanopsetta, 227 f.n.
Dresden, Shad at, 209
Drift-net, The, 54, 57, 62, 65, 66, 67,
68, 203
“Drum,” The, 288
Drummond's Echiodon, 294
Dubois on the female torpedo, 111
auctor, 271
“ Dun-belly,” 201
Dunn, Howard, 293
» Thelate Matthias, on malformed
sea-breams, I1, 123; on the lateral
line in the pilchard, 15; on
“singing bubbles,” 23; story of
a grampus nearly suffocated by
a shoal of mackerel, 28, 198; on
the egg-case of rays, 39, 98, 107;
on the need for destroying cor-
morants and porpoises, 82; on
sharks attacking fishermen, 96;
on the breeding of Acanthias, 101 ;
on young mackerel, 132; on the
lowest temperature suitable to

316

mackerel, 133; on the spawning
of the boar-fish, 137; on the
spawning of the dory, 139; on the
spawning of pilchard, 199; on
herring shoals, 204; on the egg of
the pilchard, 205; on the former
abundance of bonitoes, 283; on
the remora, 283; sends a Ray’s
bream to the Plymouth Laboratory,
285; his work, 286; on the Norway
pout, 293
Dusky perch, 271, 275
» Sskulpin, 162

Eagle Clarke, Mr., on Murray's
gurnard, 276; on the,four-bearded
rockling, 264

Eagle-ray, 21, 40, 112

Ear of fishes, 20, 104

Ear-stones, 20

Echeneis, 10, 271

Echinorhinus, 86, 100

Eddystone, Mureena trawled near the,
296

Eel, 22

Egg-case of sharks and rays, 39

Eggs of fishes, 38-48

Ehrenbaum on the shad, 209

Elbe, Shad in the, 209

Elbceuf, Shad-hatchery at, 210

Electric force in fishes, 109

Elie, Sand-eel fishery at, 267

encrascicholus, 201, 207

Endemic fishes, 37

Engraulis, 201, 207

egues, 272, 295

erythrinus, 114, 122, 125

esmarkit, 35 f.n., 272, 293, 294

Ewart, Professor Cossar, on vigor
morizs in fish, 251; on the electric
organ of the skate, 109 f.n.; on
the spawn of herring, 199

Exe, Red band-fish in the, 289

Exocetus, 271, 284

exoletus, 190, 196

Eye of fishes, 17, 19

Saber, 129, 138

INDEX

Falmouth, Zwvarus caught near, 286;
Ray’s bream near, 285; shanny
near, 168; spotted dragonet near,
163

“ False gills,” 22

Farne Islands, Banks’ oar-fish in the,
290

Farnell, Mr., his trawling experiments
in Australia, 38

Father-lasher, 48, 145, 146

ferox, 35

Fierasfer, 35, 272, 294

Fifteen-spined stickleback, 155, 172

File-fish, 36, 272

Fins, I, 2, 3, 5, 12, 13

fiuta, 201, 208

Firth of Clyde, Plaice spawning in the,
47; bonito in, 283

Firth of Forth, Thresher in the, 89;
Blue shark in the, 94; sprat
spawning in the, 200, 206; poor
cod spawning in, 257; fishes of
the, 264 f.n.; four-bearded rockling
in the, 264; sand-eels in the, 267;
Murray’s gurnard in the, 276;
bonito in the, 283

Fish, Definition of a, 1

Fisheries, Our, 53-83

Fishes and Fisheries of the Irish Sea
(Herdman and Dawson), quoted,
75, 138, 159, 232, 238, 244, 293

Fishes, Living and Fossil (Bashford
Dean), quoted, 6, 12, 17, 125, 135,
195, 242, 295

Fishes of brackish water and the deep
sea (Gtinther’s definition), 33

“Fishes,” So-called, 2

Five-bearded rockling, 245, 262

Flamborough Head, Nilsson’s goby
caught off, 157

Flat-fishes, 6, 10, 18, 23, 30, 32, 34, 36,
46, $1, 55, 211-241, 307

Slavescens, 155, 159

“Fleet ” of nets, 66

Slesus, 215, 222

Floating eggs, 38

Floating timber, Fish associated with,
32

INDEX

Flounder, 11, 212, 215, 216, 221, 222
% Winter, 303

Flying-fish, 271, 284

Folkestone, Pilot-fish taken at, 286

Food, Fishes as, 25, 26

Food of fishes, The, 23

Forbes on the fauna of British seas, 35

Forkbeard, 272, 292
‘¥ Lesser, 272, 293

“ Fortescue,” 152

Four-bearded rockling, 245, 264

Four-horned Cottus, 145, 156

Four-spotted Goby, 155, 158

Fowey, Bellows-fish thrown ashore
near, 291; mureena caught at, 296

France, Mackerel shoals on the coast
of, 133; red mullet in, 126

French sole, 215, 237

Frewen, Mr. Moreton, on fish culture
in America, 306 f.n.

Fries on the spawning of poutassou, 257

Sriesiz, 155, 158, 160

Frost-fish, 289

Fryer, Mr. C. E., on fertilising spawn,
80

Sullonica, 105, 108

Fulton, Dr, Wemyss, on the proportion
of sexes in fishes, 45, 46; on the
size at which the plaice is mature,
52; on the experimental hauls in
Scotch waters, 74; on the number
of eggs in the dab, 221; on the
proportion of sexes in the flounder,
222; on the eggs of the halibut,
227; on the size of turbot, 229;
on proportion of sexes in cod, 247;
on young haddock, 253; on the
egg of the torsk, 266

Gadide, 36, 245, 272

Gadus, 8, 9, 10, 13, 16, 19, 31, 32, 35,
43, 50, 245, 255, 256, 272, 293, 294,
302

Latranert, 303

galerita, 155, 170

Galeus, 3, 19, 37, 86, 96

“ Gangui,” 66

Gannets, Destruction of, 77

317

Ganoidei, 271

Gar-fish, 9, 16, 20, 42, 129, 140-142

Garstang, Mr, W., on fertilising ova at
sea, 80, 81; on malformed sea-
bream, 123; on racial characters
in mackerel, 130; on migrations of
mackerel, 133; on an albino hake,
259; on the Norway pout, 294

Gascony, Gulf of, Hake in the, 258;
portions of an egg-case dredged in
the, 274

Gasterosteid@, 155, 172

Gasterosteus, 17, 48, 49, 155, 172

Gattorugine, 155, 170

Gemmeous dragonet, 155, 162

germo, 271, 282

Gestation of elasmobranch fishes,
97 f.n.

Giant goby, 154, 155

Gibraltar, Bass at, 121

E4GMS, 271, 275

Giglioli, Professor, 58

Gill-covers, 16, 22

Gill-nets, 63, 66

Gill-rakers, 46, 185

Gills, 16, 22, 62

Gilthead, 114, 125

glorn@, 105, 112

gladius, 271, 287

glauca, 35, 271, 287

glaucus, 86, 93

Globe-fish, 272, 297

Gobtesocide, 155, 166

Gobiide, 36, 155

Gobius, 34, 35, 43, 154, 155, 158, 159,
160

Goby (see also Black goby, etc.), 8, 34,
36, 43, 154-161

Godaveri Delta, Stingray from the, 40

Gorgona, Anchovies from, 208

Louanit, 155, 167

Grampus, 28

Granton trawlers, 202; egg of dab
fertilised in laboratory at, 221

Grassi, Dr., on Leptocephal, 180, 297

Greater pipe-fish, 155, 174

7 sand-eel, 267
» - weever, 145, 152

318

Green, Mr. Seth, hatches shad’s eggs,
05

Gal. Rev. W. S., on Hoplostethus,
278; on Macrurid@, 292

greenit, 36

Greenland shark, 37, 85, 86,
wrasses, 196

Grey gurnard, 145, 148

» mullet, 184
» Skate, 106

Grimsby, Dwarf plaice at, 11; alleged
hybrid flat-fish at, 46; spawning-
time of plaice at, 47 ; trawlers, 202

Grimsby Trawl Fishery, The, quoted,
58, 59, 246, 253

griseus, 86, 100

Lrohmanni, 215, 232

Gronovius on the sexes of red mullet,
127

Grundziige der marinen
graphie, quoted, 26

Gunnel, 155, 171

gunnellus, 155, 171

Ginther, Dr., on distribution of fishes,
33; on the sexes of surmullet, 127;
on the “ fingers” of gurnards, 148 ;
on the spotted dragonet, 163; on
grey mullet, 184; on young wrasses,
194; on the rainbow wrasse, 197 ;
on the German name for cod, 247;
on young stages of the angler-fish,
281; on the Norway pout, 293;
on the food of sun-fish, 297

Gurnard (see also Red gurnard, etc.), 7,
10, 17, 20, 32, 30, 49, 144, 145, 151

gurnardus, 145, 148

Gymnodoutes, 272, 296

102;

Tiergeo-

Haddock, 13, 16, 17, 43, 163, 245, 251-
253) 302

Hair-tail, 288

Hake, 17, 46, 49, 244, 245, 258

Halibut, 31, 33, 226

Haloporphyrus, 272, 295

Hammerhead shark, 7, 37, 86, 94

Hamoaze, Old-wife in the, 125; young
gar-fish in the, 142

harengus, 201

INDEX

Harriotta, 272

Harvesting the sea, 25

Hastings, Drift-net fishing at, 68; bass
at, 120; maigre at, 288

Hedge-baulks, 63

Heincke, Dr., on Germany’s attitude
in international legislation, 55; on
herrings, 203, 204

helena, 272, 296

hemigymnus, 272, 295

Hemirhamphus, 142

Hensen, Dr., on the physical conditions
of the Baltic, 220; on the distribu-
tion of cods’ eggs, 301

Herdman, Professor (and Mr. A. J.
Dawson), on the destruction of
undersized plaice, 75 ; on the dory,
138; on arare goby, 157; on the
white goby, 158; on the painted
goby, 159; on the sea-snail, 166;
on the pipe-fish, 173 ; onthe scald-
fish, 232; on the solenette, 238;
on the distribution of whiting, 244;
on the distribution of the three-
bearded rockling, 265

Hermes, Dr., 57; on the male conger,
179

Herring, 4, 7, 11, 22, 23, 24, 27, 34, 36,
37) 39) 42, 43) 44, 46, 67, 198-210

Heterosomata, 10, 18, 34, 36, 46

Hippocampus, 7, 21, 155, 174

Hippoglossoides, 37, 45, 215, 227

Hippoglossus, 31, 33, 215, 226

hirundo, 145, 149

Litstiophorus, 287

Hjort, Dr., Discoveries by, 72, 300, 301

Holdsworth, E. W. L., on the fisheries,
70

Holland, 37, 60, 207

Holocanthus, 35

Holocephati, 27

Holt, Mr. E, W. L., on dragonets, 8;
on hybrid flat-fish, 46; on the de-
pletion of the North Sea, 58;
on fishery legislation, 59; on the
larva of mackerel, 132 ; on the eggs
of scad, 137; on gurnards, 148;
on a rare goby, 157; on the

INDEX

gemmeous dragonet, 162 f.n.; on
the spotted dragonet, 163; on
young shannies, 168, 170; on the
gunnel, 171; on the egg of the
rainbow wrasse, 197; on an ab-
normal sole, 212; on dwarf plaice
from the Baltic, 213; on the eye
of flat-fishes, 217; on the size of
mature plaice, 219; on the larval
stages of the lemon-dab, 224; on
the egg of the halibut, 226; on the
egg of the scald-fish, 232; on the
egg of the solenette, 238; on
the cod-fishery, 246; on small
haddock, 253; on the four-bearded
rockling, 264; on the flavour of
Norway haddock, 278; on the
angler-fish, 280; on recent take of
Centrolophus, 284; on the fork-
beard, 292; on the lesser fork-
beard, 293; on Wettophichthys,
295; on Murena, 296

Holt and Byrne on a goby, 158; on
a sucker, 167

Holt and Calderwood on a shark, 85;
on the blackmouthed dog-fish, 99 ;
on Raia blanda, 104, 109; on the
remora, 284; on rare Macruride,
292 f.n.

Humber, Small haddock in the, 253

Hunt and Jeffreys, Messrs. on the
influence of wave-currents, 34 f.n.,
161 f.n.

Huxley, Prof., on floating eggs, 50;
on J/aissez-faire in the fisheries,
58

Hybrid fishes, 46, 47

Iceland, Fisheries of, 102, 201

imperialis, 271, 286

India, Fishes of, 2, 40

Introduction to the Study of Fishes
(Giinther), quoted, 33 fin, 128,
180 f.n.

Irish Survey, Fishes taken in the, 36,
85, 224, 280, 284, 292, 294

Isolated fishes, 36

Italy, Fisheries of, 66

319

Jack, 36

Jago’s goldsinny, 190, 194

Japanese fishermen, 60

Jeffreysit, 155, 157, 158

Jelly-fish, 2

“John Bickerdyke” on local names of
the coal-fish, 255

John Dory, see Dory

Johnson, Mr. G. H., on the habits of
bass, 115

Journal of Anatomy and Physiology,
quoted, 19 f.n., 20 fin.

Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,
quoted, 97 f.n.

Journal of the Linnean Society, quoted,
34 fin. 153 fin. 161 fin, 174 f.n,
263 fin.

Journal of the Marine Biological
Association, quoted, 9 fn. 58,
Io1 f.n., 110 f.n,, 130, 133, 170 f.n,,
212 fin., 213 fn., 236 fn., 259 f.n.,
294 fin.

‘ Jowder,” 68

Jults, 190, 196, 197

Kenmare Bay, Forkbeard in, 293
Kent, Fisheries of, 68, 243

Kerry, vervasfer caught off, 294
Kilbrannan Sound, Norway Pout in,

293
“ Knurrhahn,” 145

Labrax, 3, 7, 13, 16, 31, 32) 34, 49
114

Labrid@, 190

Labrus, 7,9, 10, 20, 32, 190, 191

Lemargus, 37, 85, 86, 102

levis, 11, 97, 215, 228, 292

lagocephalus, 272, 297

Laissez-faire doctrines of Huxley, 58

Lamna, 21, 37, 86

Lamnide, 86

Lampetriformis, 35

Lamprey, 2

Lampris, 7, 10, 271, 285

Lancashire sea fisheries, 68, 69, 75,
138, 170, 214, 244

320

lanceolatus, 245, 267

Land animals, Distribution of, 29

Land’s End, Hair-tail near the, 289

Lanthorn gurnard, 145, 149

Larval stages of fishes, 23, 26, 40, 41,
165, 168, 169, 179, 180, 203, 219,
224, 227, 238

Lateral line, 15, 16, 246

Laterna, 215, 231

Launce, 245, 267

Leghorn, Bass at, 121; bogue at, 125

Legislation, Fisheries, 54, 76-83

Lemon dab, 215, 223, 237 f.n.

Lemon sole, 223, 237

Lepadogaster, 34, 155, 164, 167, 283

Lepidopus, 271, 289

Lepidorhombus, 215, 230

Leptocephalus, 179, 180

lepturus, 271, 288

Lesser forkbeard, 272, 293

Lesser, or little, ling, 46, 258, 262

Lesser sand-eel, 267, 268

Lesser weever, 145, 153

Lichia, 35, 271, 287

Life-Histories of British Marine Food-
Fishes (McIntosh and Master-
man), quoted, 38 f.n., 46, 52 f.n.,
58 f.n., 141 fin, 148 fn.

liljeborgi, 35

dimanda, 215, 221

“imandoides, 215

lineata, 145, 149

lineatus, 114, 125

Line-fishing, 60, 62, 88, 102, 203

Ling, 46, 49, 245, 258, 260

Liparis, 11, 34, 43, 155, 166, 293

Lips of fishes, 20

Littlehampton, Grey mullet at, 186

Liverpool, Bass in the neighbourhood
of, 121

Lobster, 2, 303, 305

Lochbroom, Argentine taken
mouth of, 295

Long-finned gurnard, 149

5 » tunny, 271, 282

Long-nosed skate, 105, 108

Long rough dab, 215

“ Longtails,” 291

in the

INDEX

Lophius, 7, 13, 17, 20, 34, 39 42) 45,
104, 271, 278

Lugworm for bait, 60

Lulworth skipper, 167

lumbriciformis, 155, 174

Lumpenus, 35

Lumpsucker, 7, 37 f£.n., 45, 48, 49, 155,
163, 164

lumpus, 155, 164

luna, 271, 285

Lung-fishes, 23

lupus, 114, 155, 168

luscus, 245, 250

luted, 215, 238

Luvarus, 35, 271, 286

lyra, 145, 149, 155, 162

Lytham, Sprats’ eggs taken off, 200

Lythe, 253

McIntosh (Professor), and Masterman
(Dr.), definition of food-fishes, 25 ;
on larval gurnards, 41; on the
hybridising of brill and turbot, 46,
228; quote Dr. Fulton on maturity
in fishes, 52; on the eggs of
gar-fish, 141 ; on the eggs of Gottus,
146; on the breeding of Gottus, 147;
on the eggs of grey gurnard, 148 ;
on the armed bullhead, 150; on
the eggs of gobies, 156; on the
eggs of the lumpsucker, 164; on
parasites of larval lumpsuckers,
165; comparison between larval
stages of salmon and wolf-fish,
169; on young viviparous blennies,
172; on the spawn of wrasses,
193; on the larval herring, 203;
on the spawning of the sprat, 206;
on the lemon-dab in captivity, 224 ;
on the witch, 225; on the larval
halibut, 227; on generic names,
227 f.n., 228 f.n., 230 fn. 262;
on the egg and larva of sole,
236; on larval cod, 247; on
the eggs of haddock, 252; on
the eggs of halse, 259; on the
four-bearded rockling, 264; on
a sand-eel fishery at Elie, 267;

INDEX

on the spawning of the sand-eel,
269

[NWote: The distinction between
the contributions made by each
author to the work quoted has not
here been drawn.]

Mackerel, 4, 6, 11, 24, 27, 28, 36, 37,
42, 61, 73, 88, 129, 130-135, 302

Mackerel, Horse, 129, 136, 282
" Spanish, 129, 135

Mackerel-midge, 207-263

Macrurid@, 272, 291

Macrurus, 272, 292

maculata, 104, 105, 109

maculatus, 155, 163, 190, 192, 272, 298

Mena, 271, 276

Magnetic dermal sense in fishes, 15

Maigre, 271, 288

Malay fishermen, 60, 96

malleus, 86, 94

Malm, Prof., on young scad, 137; on
eggs of the topknot, 233

Man, Isle of, Rare goby from the, 157 ;
pipe-fish from, 173

Margate, Pilot-fish taken at,
maigre taken at, 288

Marine Biological Association, Work

280 i

done by members of the, 46, 80,

123, 186, 199, 214, 228, 232, 235

Marjoribanks, Mr. (Committee on Sea
Fisheries), 55

Marketable Marine Fishes (Cunning-
ham), quoted, 45 fin.

Marseille, Bass at, 121; red mullet at,
126

Marston, Mr. R. B., on fish culture,
59, 80, 236 fin,, 299-309

Mather, Mr. F., on American shad, 306

Matthews, Mr., on the spawn of the
ballan wrasse, 193

Maturity in fishes, 52, 79

Maurolicus, 272, 296

Mawddach, Bass in the, 121

maxima, 86, 91

maximus, 215, 229

Maxwell, Sir Herbert (Committee on
Ichthyological Research), 55

321

May, Isle of, Albino skate trawled off
the, 9

Mayo, Rare shark caught off the coast
of, 85, 102

Mecklenburgh, Fishes of, 38

Median eye of fishes, 18

mediterranea, 272, 2904

Mediterranean, Fishes of the, Io, 11,
31, 37, 38, 66, 68, 121, 125, 126,
129, 137, 144, 151, 157, 183, 185,
188, 196, 197, 201, 205, 206, 218,
220, 229, 230, 232, 233, 237, 239,
257, 273) 275, 276, 277, 285, 296

mediterraneum, 271, 278

Medusa, 2

Meek, Mr. Alexander, 57

megastoma, 215, 230

Megrim, 215

Melanogrammus, 302

Melanospermea@, 132

melanostoma, 35, 86, 99

melops, 190, 193

Menai Strait, Bass in the, 121; gobies
in the, 158

Mendole, 271, 276

Merluccius, 30, 46, 49, 245, 258

Merry sole, 224

Mesh of the trawl-net, 78

Metamorphoses of fishes, 49, 51

Mevagissey, 9, 67, 68, 132, 213, 276

Meyer on larval herrings, 23

microcellata, 105, 108

muicrocephalus, 86, 102, 215, 223

Migrations of fishes, 26, 54, 133, 204,
205, 243

Milt of fishes, 44, 45

minutus, 26, 155, 159, 245, 246

mixtus, 190, 191

Mogador, Grey mullet off, 186

mola, 272, 297

Molluscs, 2

Molva, 25, 34; 46, 49, 245, 260, 262

Monk-fish, 19, 37, 86, 103, 109

moOnstrosa, 271, 272

Monstrosities, 11

Montagu, Colonel, 265

montagut, 155, 166

Montagu’s blenny, 155, 170

21

322

Montagu’s sucker, 155, 166
Mora, 272, 294
Moray Firth, Witch in the, 225
Morocco, Dog-fish in, 99; red mullet in,
126; shad in, 209
Morone, 114
morrhua, 245
Morris, 180
morvrisit, 179
Motella, 32, 35, 245, 262, 264, 265
Mousehole, Falling off of hake at, 259
Mouth of fishes, 20
Mudskippers, 161
Mugil, 21, 32, 34, 184
Mugilide, 184
Miiller’s topknot, 232
Mullet, Grey, 21, 32, 34, 184-187
» Red, 7, 17, 31, 63, 114, 125
Mullide, 114, 125
Mullus, 21, 31, 114, 125
Murena, 35, 37, 272, 296
Murenide, 176, 272
Murray, Dr., 35, 276
murrayt, 36, 271, 276
Murray’s gurnard, 271, 276
Murry, 272
mustela, 245, 262
Mustelus, 19, 37, 86, 97
Mya, 159
Myliobatide, 105, 112
Myliobatis, 21, 40, 97, 105, 108, 112

Nannygai, 10

Naples, Bass at, 121, eggs of bream
at, 122; spawn of red mullet at,
127; eggs of hake studied at, 259

National Sea Fisheries Protection
Association, 33

Natural History Museum, Fishes at
the, 6

Naturgeschichte des Herings (Heincke),
203 f.n.

Nature, quoted, 199 f.n.

Naucrates, 9, 271, 286

ner ka, 303

Nerophis, 155, 173, 174

Nets used in fishing, 61-70

Nettophichthys, 292, 295

INDEX

New South Wales, Fishes of, 10, 38
New Zealand, Frost-fish of, 289; fish-
culture in, 299; the rabbit in, 309
Newton Abbot, Bass near, 116
Nictitating membrane in sharks and
Tays, 19
niger, 155, 158
Night, Trawling at, 69
Nile, A fish of the, 3
nilssont, 35, 155, 160
Nilsson’s goby, 155, 157, 160
WVineteenth Century, quoted,
306 f.n.
nobiliana, 105, 109
Norfolk coast, Rarity of pollack on the,
253; maigre on the, 288
North Atlantic, Fishes of the, 30
North Sea, Investigation of the, 5, 47
Northumberland, Banks’ oar-fish in,
291
norvegicus, 145, 147, 215, 234, 271, 277,
278
Norway bullhead, 145
Pr Fisheries of, 66, 169, 300
is Fishes of, 14, 30, 37
re haddock, 167, 271, 277; pout,
272, 293
Norwegian topknot, 215, 234
Nostrils of fishes, 19
Notidanide, 86, 99
Notidanus, 84, 86
Nurse or Nursehound, 86, 98

299,

Oblong Sun-fish, 272, 297

obscura, 145, 149

ocellaris, 155, 168, 170

“ Offing gurnard,” 150

Oil-globule in the eggs of fishes, 49, 50

Old-wife, 114, 125

Oncorhynchus, 303

One-spotted topknot, 215

Onos, 35

Onslow, Lord, appointed as Minister
of Fisheries, 56

Opah, 7, 10, 271, 285

Ophidiide, 245, 266, 272

ophidion, 155, 174

Ophidium, 272, 294

INDEX

Ophidium, 272, 294.

Orcynus, 13, 271, 282

Orkneys, Opah caught off the, 285
Orthag oriscus, 7, 13, 21, 272, 297
Ortmann, Arnold, quoted, 26 f.n.
Otoliths, 20

Otter-trawl, 69, 70

owentt, 114, 125

Owlray, 108

Ox-ray, 105, 112

oxyrhynchus, 105, 108

Oyster, 2

Pacific, Fishes of the South, 161

Padstow, Bearded ophidium taken near,
2904

paganellus, 155, 159

Paganellus, 155, 159

Pagellus, 35, 114, 122, 125

Pagrus, 21, 31, 32, 114, 125

Painted goby, 155, 159

" ray, 105, 108

Palacky, J., quoted, 26 f.n., 35

Palermo, Bass at, 121

palloni, 190, 195

Pammelas, 196, 270, 271, 286

Pandora, 114, 122, 125

Parasites of the lumpsucker, 165

parnelli, 155, 159

Parnell’s goby, 155, 159

pastinaca, 105, 111

Patterson, Mr., on the colour of flat-
fishes, 216

Payton, Mr. C. A., on catching herrings
at Calais, 203

Pearlsides, 272, 296

Pectinaria, 220

‘Peculiar ” fishes, 36

Pediculati, 36, 271

Pelagic eggs, 39

Pelamys, 271, 283

pelamys, 271, 283

pellucida, 155, 160

Pennant on the nature of whitebait, 204

pennantii, 272, 296

Penzance, Ray’s bream taken near,
285; Pammelas taken near, 287

Perea, 303

323

Perches, 36, 37

Percida, 36, 114, 271

perciformis, 271, 286

Periodicity of the hake, 258

Peristethus, 35, 145, 151

Petersen on the size of mature plaice,
219; on eels, 308

Pholis, 155, 170

Phycis, 272, 292, 293

Pickard-Cambridge, Mr., on a new
British goby, 254

Picked dog-fish, 86, 100, 284

pictus, 155, 159

Piel, Sole spawning in captivity at, 236

Pike, Isolated position of, 36

Pilchard, 15, 23, 28, 31, 46, 48, 54, 201,
204, 241

pilchardus, 201, 204

Pilot-fish, 271, 286

pingeliz, 276

Pipe-fishes, 13, 17, 21, 36, 155, 173, 174

Piper, 145, 149

piscatorius, 271, 278

Plaice, 6, 7, 11, 16, 39, 47, 48, 211, 212,
217-221, 241

Plain bonito, 271, 283

platessa, 215, 217

Platophrys, 231 fn.

Plectognathi, 296

Pleuronectes, 6, 7, 11, 16, 39, 44, 48,
50, 215, 217

Pleuronectida, 215

Plummeting, 61, 88

Plymouth, Pollack and whiting at, 10;
plaice spawning at, 47; trawlers,
57, 69, 77; mature plaice at, 79;
laboratory, 101; spinous shark at,
102; names of sea-bream at, 121;
malformed bream at, 123; sea-
scorpion scarce at, 146; conger
studied at, 180, 181, 183; young
mullet at, 186; pilchard studied
at, 205; eggs of sprat at, 206;
sole spawning in captivity at, 236;
Norway pout at, 294

Pole-dab, 225

Pollachius, 302

pollachius, 245, 253

324

Pollack, 10, 24, 32, 245, 253, 302

Polyprion, 32, 37; 271, 275

Polyprosopus, 92

pomptlus, 271, 284

Poor cod, 26, 245, 256

Porbeagle, 21, 37, 86

Porpoise, 2, 77

Portobello, Four-bearded
thrown ashore near, 265

Portuguese shark, 103

Post-larval stage of fishes, 41, 48

Pout, 19, 32, 245, 250

Poutassou, 245, 257, 203

Poutassou, 245, 257, 293

Power, 256

Preopercle, 22

presbyter, 184, 187

Pristiurus, 35, 51, 86, 99, 259

Proceedings of the Royal Society, 25 f.n.,
Iog f.n.

Proceedings of the Royal Society of
Edinburgh, 293 f.n.

Proceedings of the Zoological Society,
8 fn, 25 fim. 46 fin, 213 fin,
217 f.n.

Pseudobranchia, 22

Pseudopleuronectes, 303

punctatus, 30, 215

Putrefaction in fish, 25

rockling

guadricornis, 35, 145

guadrimaculatus, 155, 158

Queensland sharks in, 95; stingray in,
III

Quinnat salmon, 303, 305

Rabat, Shad at, 209

vadiata, 105, 109

Raffaele, Investigations of, 57, 127, 197,
205, 228, 259

Raia, 7: 9g, 10, 16, 19, 32, 34, 40, 85, 104,
105, 106, 295

rail, 271, 285

Ratide, 105

Rainbow wrasse, 190, 196

Raniceps, 272, 293

FANINUS, 272, 293

Rashleigh shark, 92

INDEX

Rays, 4, 5, 19, 21, 36, 40, 104, 105-113
Ray’s bream, 271, 285
kecords of the Falmouth Polytechnic
Society, 23 fn.
Red band-fish, 31, 36, 271, 289
» brim, 121
” gurnard, 145, 147
» mullet, 7, 17, 21, 63, 114, 125
Regalecus, 271, 290
kegnard, quoted, 12 f.n.
reinhardtii, 35
Remora, 37, 271, 283
vemora, 271, 283
Report on the Lancashire Sea Fisheries
Laboratory, 214
Resources of the Sea, The (Mcintosh),
quoted, 58
vetropinnatus, 272, 295
Rhina, 19, 37, 84, 86, 103
Rhinide, 86, 103
Rhombus, 9, 11, 14, 44, 49, 215, 228, 229
Rhos Weir, Forkbeard in, 293
Ribble, Large plaice in the estuary of
the, 220
Richmond, True smelt taken above, 188
Ridewood, Mr., quoted, 19 f.n., 20 f.n.
Rigor mortis, 25
rochet, 271, 283
Rock-cook, 190, 196
Rock-fish, 32, 34
Rocklings, 17, 25, 32, 207, 245, 262-265
Rona, Lesser ling trawled off, 262
Rondelet on the eyes of sharks, 19
Roscoff, Observations by Delage at, 179
Ross, Argentine on the coast of, 295
Rostock, 241
Rough-hound or Rowhound, 39, 51,86, 98
Round fishes, 6, 54
Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Soctety's
Report, 199 f.n.
Royal Natural History, 95
rubescens, 271, 289
Runnstone, Black-fish taken off the, 284
rupestrts, 190, 194, 272, 291
Russia, Sturgeon in, 274
Rye Bay, Trawling in, 68

“ Sail-fish,” 92

INDEX

Sailing trawlers, 69

St. Andrews, Scientific work at, 56,
148, 221, 237, 251, 264

St. Ives, Pilchard-seans at, 57, 64, 65

Saithe, 255

Salmo, 9, 298

Salmon, 4, 210, 298

Salmonide, 36, 272

salviani, 86, 101

Sand-eels, 24, 32, 34, 65, 242, 245, 266-
269

Sand-fishes, 34

Sand-pipes, 220

Sand-smelt, 184, 187-189

Sandy ray, 105, 108

sapidissima, 210

Sapphirine gurnard, 145, 148, 149

sarda, 271, 283

Sardine, 205

Sars, Professor, on migrations of
mackerel, 133 ; on larval haddocks,
253; on the eggs of sea fish, 301

Saurus, 129, 142

Saury pike, 129, 142

Scabbard-fish, 271, 289

Scad, 16, 129, 136, 137

Scald-fish, 215, 231

Scale-rayed wrasse, 190, 195

Scales, 1, 13, 14, 16, 156, 217

Scandinavian Fishes, quoted, 5, 30 f.n.,

192, 195, 242, 244 fn. 247, 255, 257,
262 f.n., 276

Scharff, Dr., on Godzus friesiz, 158, 160

“ Schellfisch,” 252

Schnapper, or snapper, 10, 121

Sctena, 271, 288

Scienide, 36, 271

Scilly Isles, Black-fish off the, 284;
Argentine taken near the, 295

Sclerodermi, 36, 272, 296

scolopax, 35, 272, 291

Scomber, 9, 11, 42, 129, 130

Sscomber, 129, 302

Scombresocide, 129, 271

Scombresox, 129, 142

Scombride, 36, 129, 271

Scorpenide, 271

Scorpius, 145, 146

325

Sscorpoides, 155, 158
Scotland, Fisheries of, 57, 65; Fishery
Board for, 46, 74, 77, 118, 266;
fishes of, 35 f.n., 36, 37, 46, 226 fn,
227, 286, 291
Scott, Mr,, succeeds in hybridising
brill and turbot, 46; on Z7églops,
276 :
Scyliiida, 86, 97
Scyllium, 4, 19, 39, 51, 86, 98
Sea-bass, 303
Sea-breams, 121-125
Sea-horse, 155, 173, 174
Sea-scorpion, 145, 146
Sea-snail, 155, 166
Seal, 2
Sean-net, 61, 64, 65
Sebastes, 26, 37, 39, 271, 277
Secondary sexual characters, 8
Seine, Shad in the River, 210
Selache, 11, 22, 43, 86, 91
Selachtt, 3, 21, 32, 36
Selachoidet, 85
Selsea Bill, 10
Sense-organs in fishes, 110
sebtentrionalis, 184
Sergeant-baker, 10
Serranus, 37, 271, 275
Severn, Shad in the River, 208
Shad, 198, 199, 200, 201, 204, 208-210,
303, 305, 306
Shagreen Ray, 105, 108
Shanny, 155, 170
Shark ray, 84
Sharks, 3, 11, 14, 21, 32, 36, 37, 51, 82,
83-104
Sharp-nosed skate, 105, 108
Shetland, Spotted dragonet off, 163;
torsk in, 266
Shoaling habit in fishes, 27, 28
Shore-fishes, 33
Shoreham, Red mullet caught at, 126
Short-finned tunny, 271, 282
Short sun-fishes, 272, 297
Shrimp, 2
Silus, 272, 295
Silver salmon, 303
Silvery gade, 265, 272, 294

326

Sim adds the lesser ling to the British
fauna, 262
Sinarapan, I1
Siphonostoma, 155, 173
Six-gilled shark, 84, 86, 100
Size of fishes, 11
Skager Rack, Gar-fish in the, 140
Skates, 9, 10, 16, 20, 32, 34, 105-108
Skin of fishes, 260
Skipper, 142
Skulpin, 8
Smell, Power of, in fishes, 18
Smelt-fishing at Cowes, 66
Smith, Dr. Hugh, on American fish
culture, 302
Smooth-hound, 86, 97
Smooth serranus, 271, 275
Snake pipe-fish, 155, 174
Snipe-fish, 291
Soft roe, 44
Soft-finned fishes, 13
Sole, 4, 9, 18, 44, 49, 211, 212, 214, 215,
239
Solea, 20, 36, 44, 49, 215, 223 fin., 234
Soleide, 216, 234
Solenette, 215, 238
South American lung-fish, 2
Southern forms, 35
South Pacific, Fishes of the, 38, 161
Spanish bream, 114, 125
ny mackerel, 129, 135, 167
i trawl, 70
Sparid@, 36, 114, 121
Spawning grounds, 47
FF in captivity, 46
” time, 47) 227, 254
Spawn of fishes, 2
Spearing fishes, 59
Spent fishes, 48
Sphyrena, 272, 295
spinachia, 155
Spinacide, 86, 100
spinosus, 86, 102
Spinous shark, 86, 102
Spiny-finned fishes, 13
Spiracles in sharks and rays, 4, 22
Spots in young fishes, 8
Spotted dog-fish, 98

INDEX

Spotted dragonet, 155, 163

if goby, 155, 159
Sprat, 37, 63, 198, 199, 200, 201, 206
Shrattus, 201, 206
Spur-dog, 19, 37, 81, 100
sguamosus, 85, 86, 102
sguatina, 86, 103
Squeteague, 303
“ Squire,” 121
Stake-nets, 63
Starry ray, 105, 109
Stationary flat-fish, 55
Steam trawler, 69
Sternopthicide, 272
Stickleback, 17, 32, 38, 49, 172
stictopleryx, 155, 167
Stingray, 40, 41, 105, III
Stomias, 35
Stone-basse, 275
Stornaway herrings, 202
Stow-net, 57, 63
Straight-nosed pipe-fish, 155, 173, 174
Strap-conger, 177
Streaked gurnard, 145, 149
Stream-nets, 63
Striped wrasse, 190, 191
Stromateide, 36, 271
Sturgeon, 3, 14, 271, 274
sturio, 271, 274
Suckers, 32, 155, 163-167
Suffolk, Pilot-fish in, 286
Sun-fish, 13, 21, 272, 297
“ Sun-fish,” 92, 285
surmuletus, 114, 121, 128
Sussex, Bass in, 120
Swiss lakes, Char in the, 53
Sword-fish, 13, 36, 37, 90, 287
Sydney fishes, 38, 121
Sygnathide, 36, 155, 173
Sygnathus, 13, 17, 21, 155) 174

“ Tacaud,” 250

Tail of fishes, 13

Talisman expedition, 19, 258 f.n.

Tangier, Bass at, 121; red mullet at,
126

Tasmania, Bellows-fish in, 291

Tautog, 303

INDEX

Tay, Shad in the River, 208

Teeth of fishes, 15, 16, 21

Teign, River, Bass in the, 115 ; atherine
fry in the, 188

Teignmouth, Monk-fish at, 104; sand-
eel fishery at, 65, 267; topknot at,
233

Teleostomi, 3

Temperature of the sea, Effects of, 27,
50

Tetrodon, 21, 272, 297

Thames, Whitebait fishing in the, 57

Thickback, 215, 237

Thick-lipped mullet, 184

Thomson, J. S., on the periodic growth
of scales, 14 fin.

Thornback skate, 9, 10, 105, 106

Three-bearded rockling, 245

Three-mile limit, Extension of the, 59,
69, 77

Thresher shark, 28, 37, 88-91

Thunder, Effects of, 117

Thursday Island, Hammerhead shark
at, 95

Thynnus, 271, 283

thynnus, 271, 282

tobianus, 245, 268

Tongue of fishes, 20

Tope, 3, 19, 96

Topknots, 30, 32, 161, 215, 232-234

Torbay, Eagle-ray in, 112

Torpedinide, 105, 109

Torpedo, 24, 105, 109

Torsk, or Tusk, 31, 37, 245, 265

Trachinide, 145, 151

Trachinus, 20, 32, 34, 37, 145, 152,
153

trachurus, 129, 136

Trachypteride, 271

Trachyplerus, 13, 271, 290

Trammel, 59, 61, 62

Transactions of the Norfolk and
Norwich Naturalists’ Society, 216

Transactions of the Royal Dublin
Society, 85, 109 f.n., 148 f.n., 284 f.n.

Transparent goby, 160

Traquair, Professor, on a case of
partial albinism in a skate, 9, 10;

327

on an abnormal thornback, 106;
on larval flat-fishes, 214

Travailleuy, Expedition of the, 273,
274

Trawling, 56, 59,
“trawling,” 57, 63

Trichiurida, 271

Trichiurus, 31, 271, 288, 290

tricolor, 35

Trigger-fish, 37, 298

Trigla, 10, 17, 20, 32, 49, 145, 147,
148

Triglops, 36, 271, 276

truncatus, 272, 297

Trygon, 40, 97, 105, 111

Trygonide, 105, 111

Tub, 149

Tunny, 13, 271

Turbot, 9, 14, 49, 211, 212, 215, 229,
239, 267

Twaite shad, 201

typhle, 155) 173

68-80; Scotch

Um Erbeya, Shad in the River, 209
unimaculatus, 30, 215

variegata, 215, 237

Vicarious species, 29, 255

Vigo Bay, Rare shark trawled off, 1o1

vipera, 145, 153

virens, 245, 255

Vitality of flat-fish, 241

Viviparous Blenny, 37, 39, 155, I71

viviparus, 155, 171

Voice in fishes, 23

volitans, 271, 284

vulgaris, 86, 96, 97, 100, 114, 125, 129,
140, 155, 166, 176, 215, 226, 234,
245, 258, 260, 271, 276

vulpes, 86, 88

walga, 40

Walker, Mr. A. O., on gobies, 159; on
the forkbeard, 293

Warnemtinde, Flat-fish at, 241

Weevers, 20, 27, 32, 34, 37, 144, I51-
153

328

Welsh lakes, Chars of the, 29

Whales, 22

Whiffing for mackerel, 61

Whitebait, 203, 204

“White” conger, 176

White goby, 155, 160

White, Professor, 158

Whiting, 32, 48, 61, 243, 244, 245, 249

Willoughby on spots in young bass,
115

Winter flounder, 303

Winter race of herring, 48

Witch, 215, 225

Wolf-fish, 17, 21, 37, 49, 155, 168

Wood-Mason, Mr., on a stingray, 40

Worm pipe-fish, 155, 174

Wrasses, 5, 9, 10, 32, 37, 125, 190-
197

Wreck-fish, 32, 275

Wye, Shad in the River, 208

INDEX

Niphias, 13, 37, 271, 287
Atphiide, 36, 271

sand-smelt
Maurolicus

and
188 ;

Yarmouth, Smelt
together near,
taken at, 296

Yarrell on the fisheries, 53; on the
duration of life in gobies, 160

Yellow skulpin, 162

” perch, 303
Yolk-sac in larval fishes, 40, 51
Yorkshire, Banks’ oar-fish in, 290

Zeugoplerus, 30, 32, 161, 215, 232
LEeUs, 9 32, 37, 129, 138

Zoarees, 37, 39) 155, 171
Zoo-geographical zones, 29
Zoologtst, The, quoted, 130
Zuyder Zee, Anchovies in the, 207
Zygana, 37, 86, 94, 97

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