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HARVARD UNIVERSITY.
iv/nr
LIBRARY
OF THE
MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY
Library of
SAMUEL GARMAN
^^g^^;^.;^^,,.,.^.,^ I ^ I^ZT'
SEP 1 1928
MCZ
. X
< ^
U O
II I 8 T 0 11 Y
OF TlfE
FISHES
OF THE
BEITISH ISLANDS.
BY JONATHAN COUCH, F.L.S.
VOL. IV.
CONTAINING SEVENTY-THREE COLOURED PLATES,
rEOM DRAWINGS BY THE AUTHOE.
The works of tho Loiin arc great, sought out of all thcin that have
pleasure therein. — Psalm cxi, v. 2.
LONDON:
GROOMBPtlDGE AND SONS, 5, rATERNOSTEli HOW.
M DCCCIiXVII.
I.
c£^ •^v
CONTENTS.
PAGE.
Carp 4
Barbel 16
Gudgeon 20
Tench 22
Crucian ............ 28
Prussian Carp .......... 31
Goldfish 33
Lake Bream ........... 36
White Bream 40
Pomeranian Bream ......... 42
Chub 44
Eoach 47
Rudd 49
Dobule 51
Dace 54
Bleak 66
Graining ............ 59
Azurine ............ 61
Ide 63
Minnow ........... 64
Loach ............ 69
vSpiiicd Loach .......... 72
Shcatfish 74-
Pilchard 79
Herring ............ 95
Leach's Herring. (Xo Plate) 107
Sprat . ' 109
Sardine. (No Plate) . . . 112
Whitebait 114
Allis Shad 117
Twait Shad 122
Scale-finned Shad ......... 123
Great-headed Sprat. (ISTo Plate) 124
Anchovy 125
Greater Flying Fish 128
European Half'l>eak ......... 135
Blunt-headed Halfbcak 139
Skipper ........... 141
Garfish 146
Pike 150
Salmon ............ 163
Peal 200
Sewen 208
Sea Trout 211
Salmon Trout 214
Slender Salmon .......... 216
Blue Poll 219
1\'
Lake Trout
Commou Trout
Gillaroo
Lochleveu Trout
Samlet, or Parr
Willougliby's Char .
Torgoch of Llauberris
Gray's Char
Cole's Char .
Alpine Char
Smelt
Graylinc;
Guiuiad
Veiulace
Pollan
Powan
Hebridal Smelt
Argentine
Sharp-nosed Eel
Dublin Eel
Broad-nosed Eel
Suig Eel. (No Plate)
Ophidium Eel
IMuraana
Conger .
Morris
Greater Pipefisli
Broad-nosed Pipefisli
Ocean Pipefisli
Snake Pipefish
Worm Pipefish
Straight-nosed Pipefish
Hippocampus
Four-horned Trunkfish
Filefish .
Pennant's Globefish
Sunfish
Longer Sunfish
Sea Lamprey
Lampern
Silver Lamprey
Planer's Lamprey
Mud Lamprey
Borer
Lancelet
(■(JXTF.NTS
Broad-headed Gazer
Long-fiuned Grey or Golden Mullet
Garfish. (No Plate)
Scia3na ......
Short-tinned Tunny
Silvery Gads. (No Plate) .
APPENDIX
PAGE.
222
225
2k»
24:j
245
262
264
267
269
272
276
280
286
289
292
295
297
301
326
328
330
331
333
335
340
348
351
355
356
359
361
363
364
366
369
373
377
381
385
395
400
402
404
408
415
421
421
422
423
425
427
FISHES OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS.
CYPRINID.E.
THE CARP FAMILY.
This femily, says Cuvier, is recognised by the mouth being
slightly cleft, with jaws in most instances without teeth, and
its border formed by the maxillary bones: the gullet furnished
with strong teeth: rays of the gill-membrane very few in
number. The body is covered with scales, and there is no
adipose fin on the back: ventral fins on the abdominal line.
The character assigned by Artedi is, that there are three rays
in the gill-membrane; mouth altogether smooth, and in the
gullet two hard saw-like bones on the lower part, and above
a sinsfle oval bone not so hard as the others, these bones
supplying the place of teeth. The air-bladder is constricted
in the middle as if tied with a cord; to which we may add
that from the hindmost chamber of this bladder is directed
forward a duct to be united to the gullet, or perhaps to the
brain. Abdominal fishes.
The bones of the gullet here referred to are in some degree
equivalent to the beds of teeth in the posterior portion of the
mouth in many other species; and some other kinds not closely
allied to the CijprinidcB have somewhat similar beds, as especially
the family of Wrasses. But in the CijprinidcB, as they appear
to exercise a special office, somewhat answering to rumination,
as in addition to their situation near the entrance of the stomach,
their construction is more prominent and strong; and they arc
fixed on a firm bone of a crooked shape, which gives them a
firm and defined motion, in which they act by powerful muscles.
In fact it appears certain that a real action of rumination takes
place in these fishes, although they do not possess a complication
VOL. IV. B
2 CYPRINIDJE.
of stomachs as in quadrupeds of the ruminating order; as indeed
rumination seems to take place in some of them, in which the
stomach is of the more simple form. Professor Owen remarks
that the muscular action of a fish's stomach consists of vermicular
contraction, creeping slowly in succession from the upper orifice
to the lower, and impressing a two-fold gyratory motion on
the contents; so that while some portions are proceeding to the
lower, other portions are returning towards the upper; but
only portions of digested food are permitted to pass into the
intestine. Coarser portions of the food return into the gullet,
and are brought again within the sphere of the pharyngeal
jaws. The fishes which afford the best evidence of this
ruminating action are the Cyprinoids — Carp, Tench, Bream.
In them the successive regurgitations of the contents of the
stomach j^rotl^ce actions of the pharyngeal jaws as the half-
bruised food comes into contact with them, and excite the
singular tumefaction and subsidence of the irritable palate, often
termed the tongue, as portions of the regurgitated food are
pressed upon it.
The species of this family which are inhabitants of the warmci'
portions of the world, and especially those which are described
by Mr. Maclellan, as found in India, (in the second part of the
nineteenth volume of "Asiatic Researches,") are very numerous;
and so closely are they joined together in affiiiity of form and
habits that much difficulty has been experienced in arranging
them in lesser sections or genera. In doing this, Cnvier appears
to lay much stress on the length or shortness of the single
dorsal fin, or on its situation forward or behind; and in a less
degree on the presence or absence of barbels at the mouth,
which are organs we might suppose to be of importance, as
being fitted to some particular habits in these fishes, as we know
them to be in the flimily of Codfishes. Mr. Maclellan remarks
on this subject, that in none of the Barbels, Cirrhins, or
Gudgeons, nor in any of the groups which feed on plants,
shell-fish, or other objects obtained by scraping or rooting in
mud, do we find anything like a soft or sensible tongue, the
office of which is in many cases better performed by the barbs;
which organs are soft and capable of being contracted or
lengthened, as well as the loose muscular appendages to which
they are attached.
CYPKINID^. 3
As it appears from an extended survey of the Carp family,
that a separation into genera on the grounds here relbrrcd to
wouki divide asunder some species which in other characters
appear to he closely united, it has been proposed to form the
separation according to the length or shortness of the alimentary
canal, which organ varies in the proportion as the food is
found to be vegetable or animal, in the former case the entrails
being convoluted, and of considerable length, while in the latter
they are short and straight. But to an arrangement formed on
these relative proportions it may be objected, that probably in
no instance is the food exclusively vegetable or animal, and
consequently the absolute length of the intestine will not be found
so definite in the separate species as to afford a sufficient means
of distinction; to which we may add, that a doubtful example
or new species must be dissected or mutilated before its place
in the family can be ascertained; and if preserved in a museum,
its supposed generic character will be altogether lost sight of.
It may happen, however, that a division of the species, which
is built on principles that might be objected to when applied
to the whole of this extensive family, shall still be appropriate
to the comparatively few which we find in British waters; and
accordingly, we so far adopt the arrangement of Cuvier, as to
place in his genus Cyprinufs, those of the British species which
he has comprised within it, and which are marked by the
possession of barbs at the mouth; while the others that do not
possess these appendages are classed in other divisions.
CARP.
Carp, JoNSTON; TItulus 3, Caput 6.
" WiLLOTJGHBY; p. 245, table 2.
Cyprinirs Carpio, Linn,5;us. Cuvieii. Bloch; pi. 16.
" " Donovan; pi. 110. Jenyns; Manual, p. 401.
" " Fleming; Br. Animals, p. 185.
" " Taheell; Br. Fishes, vol. i, p. 349.
This species^ with all otliers of this family, inhabits fresh
water, in which its haunts are in lakes or ponds, or slowly-
flowing rivers; where, in common with the other British species,
it is decidedly influenced by the cold of winter, at which season
they seek to withdraw into shelter and concealment, where
sometimes they even seem to become torpid, yet as not to
be killed even by becoming frozen, and from which condition
they are restored as warmth returns to the air. Whether the
reference is to the same species we are not able to say; but
Captain (Sir John) Franklin says in the history of his first
voyage to the Polar Sea, that the fish caught in their nets
became so frozen that in a short time they formed a solid mass
of ice; and by a blow or two of the hatchet they were easily
split open, so that their entrails might be removed in one lump.
But if in this frozen state they were thawed before the fire they
recovered their animation. This was particularly the case with
the Carp; and he has seen a Carp so completely restored after
having been frozen for thirty-six hours, as to leap about with
much vigour.
As a contrast to this it is proper to adduce the experiments
of John Hunter, which he made with two Carps, placed in a
glass vessel with river water, and subjected to a freezing mixture
made of ice and snow with muriate of ammonia, by which the
temperature was reduced to 10°, and perhaps below it. In this
condition the vital heat of the Carp was sufficient to melt the
CARP.
snow, for several times in succession that it was applied; so
that at last the whole was exposed to the action of the natural
cold of the air without; and while subjected to this low tem-
perature the fish showed signs of great uneasiness. It was only
when they had exhausted their powers of life in the production
of heat that these Carps became frozen, and perhaps were dead;
for when again gradually thawed they were not recovered to
life. If we are to suppose that the fish frozen by Sir John
Franklin were of the same species as those of Hunter, the
only explanation of this difference of result will be that the
suddenness of the operation in the north prevented that
exhaustion of vitality which was fatal in the other.
jSTor are these the only circumstances under which it shews
itself highly retentive of life; for in districts where this fish
abounds it has been usual to convey it to market in a living
state, and if not sold it is again returned to its resting place;
which may be in some cool cellar, and that for days or even
weeks together; the only caution used being to preserve the
surface of the body in a moist condition, and to feed it with
some necessary food; by which it has been known to become
plump and fat. Willoughby remarks that this fish has sometimes
been found in such strange situations as to convey the impression
that it could not have been placed there by any known means;
and this has been thought sufficient to countenance the idea
that the individuals had been produced by spontaneous generation.
The retentiveness of life thus possessed by the Carj) is the
more remarkable, as it is not furnished with such a mechanical
adaptation for retaining water in contact with the gills, as exists
in some fishes; but Professor Owen supposes that this apparent
deficiency may find more than a compensation in a peculiar
development of the vagal lobes of nerves, which arise from the
lengthened process of the brain, termed Medulla oblongata. This
character is more or less displayed in some others of this family,
and especially in the Tench; and it may be that thus they
are enabled to extract and subsist on almost the minutest portion
of air which remains mixed with water after the larger part has
been absorbed into the blood; and in this facility they exceed
almost all other kinds of fishes.
That the Carp is also naturally long lived there are sufficient
proofs, and Gesner mentions an instance where one was believed
6 CAllP.
to have attained to an hundred years; but even this is said to
have been considerably exceeded in some instances, akhough on
evidence that may be considered doubtfuL
There is reason for supposing that the Carp was not originally
a native of Britain; and its power of living long out of water
renders it highly probable that it may have been brought to
this country, as we know it has been conveyed to others, from
very distant places. But on the other hand, Leonard Mascal
affirms that it was himself who introduced it in the reign of
Henry the Eighth; which boast could only shew that he had
conveyed it to places where it was not before known; for it is
referred to as a known, although not common, fish in the Book
of St, Albans, a portion at least of which is believed to have
been written or compiled by Dame Juliana Berners, and the
fishing portion of which was printed with the rest by Wynkyn
de Worde toward the end of the fifteenth century. It is not
unreasonable to believe that we owe the possession of this fish
in the first place to the sagacious industry of monks, who were
acquainted with it as a pleasing addition to their table, and a
variation from the more common of the inhabitants of our
streams.
It is believed to have been introduced into Ireland still more
recently than into England, and its progress from place to
place in all cases has been slow; so that it is only in recent
times it has obtained a residence in the extreme west of England;
which circumstance however, may be explained by the fact that
there are there no slow-moving rivers to suit its habits; and
the cost of forming a pond, which is essential to its preservation,
is unnecessary, in consequence of the abundance of the fish of
the sea so easily procured.
That these ponds were regarded as important in the economy
of noble and gentle houses in inland situations, at a time when
a fish diet formed a portion of the religion of all orders of
society, appears from a variety of authorities in the domestic
history of our country; and much expense was employed in
forming them, while severe laws were enacted to keep them
safe from such as sought to observe the ritual at the expense
of their honesty, or who may have coveted delicacies, of which
they grudged the possession to their superiors.
The value formerly set on these ponds is shewn by the fact
CARP. 7
that at so early a date as the t-v7cntietli year of Henry the
Third, (who was dccLared of age in the year 122;2,) in conse-
ouence of their being so often plundered, the lords demanded
of the king the imprisonment of such as trespassed on these
waters or the parks, but without making any reference to rivers;
iu which latter we may suppose the more native fishes would
be found. But the law then made availed but little; for we
find again in the tliird year of Edward the First, who was
crowned in the year 1274, that punishment was decreed on
such as trespassed on parks and ponds; and although it will
be admitted that there are other valuable fishes, as the Tench,
preserved in these ponds, yet, coupled with the authority of
the Book of St. Albans, we are inclined to believe that the
principal object of these thieves was to obtain this otherwise
unattainable fish; for the rivers, which are not mentioned in the
laws then made, were not in general at that time specially
protected or forbidden to the public, and would have afforded
the more common sorts in abundance; and yet, the value set
on the Carp as a luxury appears to rest much on the manner
in which it was prepared for the table; with which also fashion
must have had much to do. Izaac Walton informs us that
it was cooked with wine, spices, and strong ingredients, by
which its native taste was disguised, or its soft and watery
inanity overcome. But the more favoured luxury was its
characteristic palate, or, as fashion chose to term it, the tongue,
of which the cost must have been the chief recommendation,
I possess a note written at the beginning of the last century
by an observant gentleman, in which he says that in the month
of June, at a dinner provided out of the proceeds of a wager,
one dish consisted of the palates of Carps stewed; for which
piece of elegancy forty-three brace of Carps were purchased.
This dish appears indeed to have been of old standing, for it
is alluded to, among other extravagances, by Ben Jonson: —
"Tlie tongues of Carps, Dormice, and Camels' heels,
Boiled iu the spii-it of Sol."
As it is sometimes found difficult even for the owner of a
pond, when it is thickly grown with weeds, among which Carps
seek refuge, to obtain these fish when he wants them, as is
particularly the case when the wisdom of the fish has been
8 CARP.
increased by tlie experience of age, the following directions,
extracted from Daniels' "Rural Sports," may be found useful: —
"In May or early in June, ■whicli is the cliief time of their
spawning, and when they always resort to the weeds, let a
green silk setting net, without leads, and only one float at each
extremity, be dropped in the clear water, and drive with the
wind to the outside edge of the weeds; then go in a boat
through the weeds between the net and the shore; the Carp
will fly at the noise to the deep water, and be taken with the
net, on their entrance into it, and which from its colour the
Carp does not discover in his haste to escape from the boat."
We may suppose that a net of very fine twine of the proper
tint, although not of silk, will be equally successful.
The formation of a pond is described by the Hon. Roger
North, and is here given because it also conveys some portion
of the history of the Carp, as it was then generally understood:
— "It is the most valuable of all kinds of fish for stocking ponds,
because of its quick growth and great increase. If the feeding
and breeding of this fish were more understood and practised,
the advantages resulting would be very great; and a fishpond
would become as valuable an article as a garden. The sale of
Carp makes a considerable part of the revenue of the principal
nobility and gentry in Prussia, Pomerania, Brandenburg, Saxony,
Mecklenburg, Bohemia, and Holstein, Particular attention should
be paid to the soil, water, and situation of a Carp pond; the
best kind are those which are surrounded by the finest pasture
or corn-fields, with a rich black mould, and soft springs on the
spot, or other running water that is neither too cold or
impregnated with acid, calcareous, selenitic, or other feraneous,
mineral particles. The water may be softened by exposing it
to the air or sun in a reservoir, or by forming an open channel
for it some distance from the pond; they should be exposed to
the influence of the sun, and sheltered from the eastern and
northerly winds.
"By experience it is found convenient to have three kinds of
ponds for Carp, namely, the spawning pond, the nursery, and
the main pond; the first pond must be cleared of all other
kind of fish, especially those of the rapacious kind, such as the
perch, pike, eel, and trout, the water-beetle, and also of newts
or lizards. It should be exposed to sun and air, and be supplied
CARP. y
wif-h soft water. A pond of one acre requires three or four
male Carp, and six or eight female ones; and in the same
proportion for each additional acre. The best Carp for breeding
are those of five, six, or seven years old, in good health, with
full scale and fine full eyes, and long body, without any blemish
or wound; the pond should be stocked in a fine calm day,
towards the end of INIarch or beginning of April. Carp spawn
in May, June, or July, according to the warmth of the season;
and for this purpose they swim to a warm, shady, well-sheltered
place, where they gently rub their bodies against the sandy
ground, grass, or osiers; and by this pressure the spawn issues
out at the spawning season. All sorts of fowl should be kept
from the ponds; the young fry is hatched from the spawn by
the genial influence of the sun, and should be left in this pond
through the whole summer, and even the next winter, provided
the pond is deep enough to prevent their suffocation during a
hard winter; then the breeders and the fry are put into ponds
safer for their wintering."
We suppose that this caution refers to the danger arising
from the freezing over of the pond, by which the air would
be excluded, and the fish below be in danger of suffocation.
This would apply to all kinds of fishes; but .^lian particularly
mentions fish which he terms Black Carps, and may have been
the common species, if they were not the Tench, as being caught
in the Danube, by gathering in multitudes at holes made in the
ice, when that river has been frozen over.
The quotation we make proceeds: — "The second kind of
ponds are the nurseries; the young fish should be moved in a
fine calm day into this pond, in the month of ]March or April;
a thousand or twelve hundred of this fry may be well accommo-
dated in a pond of an acre. In two summers they will grow
as much as to weigh four, five, or even six pounds, and be
fleshy and well tasted. The main ponds are to put those into
that measure a foot, head and tail inclusive; every square of
fifteen feet is sufficient for one Carp; their growth depends on
their room, and the quantity of food allowed them. The best
season for stocking the main ponds are spring and autumn;
Carp grow for many years, and become of considerable size and
weight. ]\Ir. Forster mentions seeing in Prussia two or three
hundred Carps of two and three feet in length, and one five
VOL. IV. C
10 CARP.
feet long and twenty-five pounds -weight; it was supposed to be
about sixty years old. These were tame, and would come to
the side of the pond to be fed, and swallowed with ease a piece
of bread half the size of a halfpenny loaf. There is reason to
believe that these same fish remain to the present time.
"Ponds should be well supplied with water during the winter,
and when they are covered with ice, holes should be opened
every day for the admission of fresh air, through want of
which Carps frequently perish. It is worthy of notice that
although the Romans were at great pains and expense in the
formation of ponds for various sorts of fish, none of the Carp
family are mentioned as being preserved in them, although some
of less estimation with us were then cared for; a proof of the
little estimation in which the Carp and Tench were held by that
luxurious people.
"Carp are sometimes fed during the colder season in a cellar;
the fish is wrapped up in a quantity of wet moss laid on a
piece of net, and then laid into a purse; but in such a manner,
however, to admit of the fish breathing; the net is then plunged
into water, and hung to the ceiling of the cellar. The dipping
must be at first repeated every three or four hours, but after-
wards it need be plunged into the water only once in six or
seven hours; bread soaked in milk is sometimes given him in
small quantities; in a short time the fish will bear more, and
grow fat by this treatment. Many have been kept alive, breathing
nothing but air in this way, several successive days."
It is a portion of the oeconomic history of this fish to record
the curious fact, that it has been castrated for the purpose of
rendering it a more delicious morsel. The following is from
the "History of the Royal Academy of Sciences at Paris," as
copied into the "Gentleman's Magazine:" — "Sir Hans Sloane
wrote to Mons. Geoff"roy of this Academy, and F.R.S. of
London, that a certain stranger came to communicate to him a
secret he had found out of castrating fish, and fattening them by
that means. This person, by the great skill he had acquired
in distinguishing and breeding fish, was now able to make a
considerable merchandise of them. The singularity of the
fact excited the curiosity of this learned naturalist, and the
fish merchant offered to give him ocular proof of the same.
Accordingly he procured eight Carrushens, (a kind of small
CARP. 1 1
Cai'p lately brought into England from Hamburg, and which,
beyond doubt, is the Cyprinus carassius of Linneeus.) These
were put into two large bladders filled with water, which had
been shifted once or twice i;pon the road. He presently cut
open one of these Carps in Sir Hans's presence, and shewed
him the ovary, with its canal leading into the part called the
cloaca. He then performed the operation of castration upon a
second by opening the ovary, and filling up the wound with
the scrapings of a black hat. The castrated Carp, being put
into water with six live ones, seemed somewhat less brisk as
to swimming than they. Then they were conveyed all together
into a basin of Sir Hans's garden, where the water is furnished
from the neighbouring river, and he believed they were
all alive when he wrote to M. Geoffrey. Mr. Tull, for that
is the name of the person, promised Sir Hans Sloane a taste
of such castrated fish the ensuing spring, assuring him that
they as much excel all others in delicacy of relish as a capon
does a cock, or a fat ox a bull. Mr. Tull has since castrated
many thousands of fish for several of our nobility, to their
entire satisfaction."
The food of the Carp is occasionally worms and insects, and
it has even been known to devour small fishes, although
this is only recorded of young individuals, and under confine-
ment. A Carp between five and six inches in length was
seen by Mr. Gurney to devour three young Minnovv^s, each
about an inch and a half in length, as they were confined
with it in the same tank. — "Zoologist," 1860. But its more
usual and preferable sustenance is vegetable; and for the
purpose of grinding this to a pulp it is provided with
appropriate pharyngeal bones, answering in some degree to
those which are found in the gullet of the Wrasses; and it
is, as we have seen, the opinion of Professor Owen that the
vegetable food is a second time subjected to their grinding
action, in the same manner as we have hazarded the opinion
that it is the case with the other family. From some
unaccountable variation of appetite, the endeavour to catch
this fish with angling is exceedingly uncertain; and in some
others of its habits it is believed to possess a large degree
of wisdom, as vrell in the manner by which it escapes from
12 CARP.
danger, as in submitting to become tame and familiar when
it is safe to be so. Thus sings the poem of the anglers: —
Fish have their various characters assign'd,
Not more by form and colour than by mind.
The wary Trout but few temptations hit;
The Perch an idiot, and the Carp a wit.
and another writer informs us, as quoted by Daniel in his
"Rural Sports,"—
Of all the fish that swim the watery mead,
Not one in cunning can the Carp exceed;
which latter portion of its character is displayed in that, when
encircled by a net, if no crevice can be found through which
to pass, it will lower itself into some channel which it forms
in the bottom, that the net may pass over it; or if that
cannot be, then it throws itself over the head-rope, much in
the same manner as the Grey Mullet in like circumstances.
And again: —
Learn what of late my wond'ring eyes beheld
Near the green margin of the war- famed Scheld;
Thick with enormous Carp, I saAV them roll,
Called by a practised brother of the cowl.
His well-known whistle they obeyed, they sped,
In wallowing heaps and hope the promised bread.
Carp shouldering Carp, th' injected morsel snap: —
And the intelligence thus ascribed to this fish is borne out by
the great development of the brain, in connection also with
peculiarities in the structure of the organs of percei^tion.
According to Professor Owen, the average proportion of the
size of the brain to that of the body in fishes is one in three
thousand; but in the Carp, according to Blumenbach, it amounts
to one in five hundred; which is the same as is found in "half-
reasoning" elephant; this extraordinary development in the Carp
existing also in the portion of that centre of intelligence termed
the prosencejjhalon, or which most nearly answers to the
cerebrum or seat of understanding in the higher animals. And
although the bulk of the brain taken alone may not afford
a just criterion of the amount of understanding in any creature,
since it is known that in the proportion as the nerves of sense
are large compared with the biain, the particular feeling to
CARP. 13
which they are adapted pvcdoniiiiates over understanding or
reflection; yet when proportionate magnitiide is added to pecu-
liarity of structure, the foimer must be regarded as an important
element in the display of the faculty of understanding. There
is a peculiarity in the nerves, especially those of the senses, as
of sight, taste, and hearing, in that neither of them can be
taught to perform the functions of another; and there is pre-
sumptive proof that this remark may be extended to essential
portions of the brain itself; and that it is in this the conscious
identity of every creature resides, or from which it derives its
existence, which therefore intrinsically constitutes the true dis-
tinction of species. If there be a time when the nature of any
creature appears to be substantially changed, so that the fearful
becomes bold, or the contrary, when hunger suspends the
indulgence of its appetite, and the wanderer confines itself to
one solitary spot, it is when by the temporary preponderance
of one specific nervous energy the action of the others appears
superseded; and this most frequently occurs at the season of
procreation; at which time Pennant informs us that the cautious
and cunning Carp becomes so simple as to suffer itself to be
tickled, handled, and caught by any one who will attempt to
do it.
But the outward senses of this fish, as well as its inward
consciousness, are acutely alive to sensation; of which one set
of instruments is the barbels at the mouth, which in some
degree corresponds to what is also a character of the Cod family,
The pad also in the roof of the mouth is elastic and highly
sensitive, being furnished with a large number of nerves, which
are derived from the eighth pair as they arise from the brain,
and are peculiarly fitted to receive these impressions. That these
fishes are brought together by sounds is a proof of the quickness
of their hearing as well as of their knowledge of the object for
which they are made to assemble; in which particular again
they resemble the Mullets; and by dissection it is found that
their organs of hearing are not a little complex; with some
reference again to the air-bladder, which, unlike what is found
in most other fishes, is double in the Carp, as well as in the
Tench and some others of this family; and this doubling is
formed by means of a constriction towards its upper portion;
from the second division of which proceeds a tube, which
14 CARP.
passes upward. A series of small bones has been discovered
to proceed from the true organ of hearing downward, by
which it has been supposed that the elasticity of air in this
bladder may assist in perception of particular sounds.
The Carp is exceedingly prolific, and the early growth of the
young is rapid; but although capable of producing spawn in
the third year, the magnitude this fish is capable of reaching
is not attained for several years beyond this. On the continent
of Europe it has been seen of the length of five or six feet,
but nothing like this has been witnessed in Britain. Individuals
which have been in possession of both milts and roe have been
met with more frequently in this species than in any other
fish; and there are individuals which are absolutely neutral, or
destitute both of milt and roe. Nor is this the only remarkable
irregularity of structure; for I am informed by Edmund T.
Higgins, Esq., who has carefully studied these objects in various
orders of fishes, that in the Carp the otolithes (bones of the
ear) are not always alike on both sides; in fact that in some
instances they are altogether wanting on one side. The position
of these bones is also different from what is the case in other
fishes; so that the bone termed the malleus is at a distance
from another called incus, and it is serrated all round the
border. These things are worthy of notice, since they have
not hitherto been recorded.
That the Carp was known to the ancient Greeks, however
little regarded, appears from Aristotle, who particularly mentions
the fleshy pad in its palate, and the manner of its breeding, of
which he says, "Pond and river fish begin to produce usually
when five months old; (but knowing little of Trout, and nothing
of the Salmon, he is partially in error when he adds, 'they
all produce their spawn at the beginning of summer.') The
females of these kinds never shed all their spawn nor the
males their milt at once; but both sexes are always found
to contain a portion of these parts. The Carp produces five
or six times a year, under the influence of the stars." — B. 6.
The Carp was in^^voduced into the south of Sweden in the
year 1560; and, together with the Tench, Dace, Roach, and
Goldfish, it has been conveyed into the Colony of Victoria, in
Australia, by the Acclimation Society of that country; where
they are likely to live and thrive.
CARP. 15
Pennant records the remarkable instance that "on fishing a
pond in Dorsetshire, great numbers of Carp were found, each
with a frog mounted on it; the hind legs clinging to the back,
the fore legs fixed in the corner of each eye of the fish," which
were thin and greatly wasted.
The example selected for description measured nineteen inches;
the body stout and thick, sloping forward from the origin of
the dorsal fin, but more suddenly from behind the head; the
snout rounded; under jaw shortest; lips soft; no teeth in the
jaws; a barb at each angle of the mouth, and a smaller one
between the angle and the snout. Eye moderate; nostrils large,
with a valve or cover; wide across the head, the body stout,
belly full and round, sloping at the vent; scales large and
well marked, the border of each with radiating lines. Dorsal
fin single, beginning above the space where the pectoral ends,
and continuing opposite the end of the much shoj-ter but wide
anal; the latter fin being wider than long. The first ray of
both these fins short, the second long, stout, firm, toothed on
the hindmost border. Pectorals low on the body, the upper
four or five rays longest; ventrals separate, expanded; tail
concave. The general colour is golden yellow, darker on the
upper parts: root of each scale brilliant browia.
According to Mr. Owen, the bones of fresh-water fishes are
lighter than those of the sea; and although this does not hold
good universally, another observation appears to do so; which
is, that the most active fishes possess the lightest weight of
bone, and the bones of the inactive Carp possess more density
than those of the active Salmon.
16
BARBEL.
Barlms, JoxsTox; B. ?!, TLt. 1, C. 5, Tahlc 26, f. 6,
and Table 31, f. 11.
WiLLOUGHBY; p. 259, Table Q 2.
Cyprinus Barlus, Linnaeus. Bloch; pi. 18. Donovan; pi. 29.
" Jenyns ; Manual, p. 404.
Barhus indgaris, Cuvier. Fleming; Br. Animals, p. 185.
" fiuviatilis, Yarhell: Br. Fishes, vol. i, p. 367.
The Barbel has not a few of the habits of the Carp, and
mnch that has been said of the structure of the organs of the
senses and the faculties of the last-named fish, will also apply to
the present species. The barbs at the mouth are even more
develoj)ed than in the Carp, and the high condition of its organ
of hearing has been shewn by its speedily quitting a place where
much noise has been made. But its activity is greater than the
Carp is capable of; as indeed might be judged from the more
slender form of its body; and in the genial warmth of summer
when these fishes assemble in considerable troops, they delight
to stem the course of the more rapid portion of the river they
frequent, and more especially when night has set in they become
lively, with an evident display of a love of sport. But it is
otherwise when cold weather advances; on the occurrence of
which they retire into the deeper and stiller portion of the
stream, where the high banks afford them shelter; and there,
in some secret pool, instead of being sly and watchful, they
become so dull and stupid as to show no sensibility of dansfer.
even to such a degree as to suffer themselves to be caught with
the hand by any one who will attempt to do it. I have been
informed that at Oxford they have been taken thus by diving;
and the numbers sometimes huddled together in favourite
situations may be judged from the fact, that Jonston refers to
Albertus as a witness that in the Danube in autumn ten cart-
loads have been caught with the hand at one time.
a
X
X.
X
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A
BARBEL. IT
The food of tlie Barbel is often vegetable, but it also feeds
freely on worms, insects, or any molluscous animal or substance;
in search of wliicli it not only keeps near the bottom, as do
the larger part of fishes which possess barbs at the mouth, but
it will dig into the softer bottom of the stream. Anglers have
taken advantage of this propensity by throwing into the still
water some of their well-known soft and flit pastes, by way of
attracting these fishes to the spot a few hours before the time
they are prepared to fish for them. They may then be induced
to take a bait freely, but when hooked they are not so readily
brousfht to land. The Barbel is indeed, as the Book of St.
Albans remarks of the Carp, "an evil fish to take; for he is so
strong enarmyd in the mouth that there may no weak harness
hold liim." Izaac Walton relates an instance where for several
hours the fish refused to be landed, and at last made its escape ;
which, according to this writer, it does by running its head
forcibly towards any covert or bank, and then striking the line
with its tail; which action has the ancient authority of Plutarch.
We learn from the "Gentleman Angler," printed in 1726, —
"The two famous places to angle for Barbel about London are
at Kingston Bridge and Shepperton Pool; at the latter of which
places there is great quantity of Barbel. No Barbel by the
rules of angling ought to be killed which does not measure
eighteen inches fairly. A Barbel taken in Byfleet or Weybridge
Rivers, of twenty inches in length, will down weigh another of
the same length taken in the Thames by a pound or upwards,
and is much firmer, fatter, and better relished."
It spawns in the early part of summer not far from the bank
of the river; and the spawn, which is discharged in a string,
is entwined round some fixed object, as a stone or weed.
Jonston refers to Albertus as saying, that the parents keep
watch over the spawn after it is shed.
There is reason to believe that this fish is an original native
of British lakes and the deeper rivers; but there are several
counties in England and Scotland in which it is not found.
In some others also it may have been introduced for the sake of
variety; and it is not mentioned by ]Mr. Thompson among the
fishes of Ireland, nor among those recorded in Scotland in the
Eoyal Publication of the Natural History of Braemar and
Deeside. It is not known in the northern portions of the
VUL, IV. D
18 BARBEL.
continent of Europe, but it appears to be common in the south,
although it finds no place in the ancient works of Greek and
Koman writers. Ausonius alone among the last-named refers to
it; but this he does in a slighting manner, as being (for the
table,) best in the failing portion of its age. Yet there is some
diiference of opinion in this respect, and Dr. Badham, in his
amusing book of fish-tattle, among others, speaks favourably of
it; but this gentleman adds, that the precaution should be
taken before cooking of removing the roe, as a very small
fragment will produce serious internal derangement. This indeed
was known at least so long since as the time of Gesner, if not
referred to in the Book of St. Albans, and has been experienced
since on numerous occasions, so that the rule regarding it
should be to abstain; and yet it is reported to have been eaten
sometimes with impunity. But as it is known that several
symptoms of a choleraic kind have been occasioned by eating
the generally wholesome roe of the Whiting, so it is probable
that the generally unwholesome roe of the Barbel may occasion-
ally be found safe. Life should not be risked in such a
hazardous way; nor in another matter concerning this fish,
regarding which we extract the following note from the already-
quoted Book of St, Albans, in the quaint words and antique
spelling of the writer : — "The Barbyll is a swete fysshe, but it is
a quasy meete and a peryllous for mannys body. For comynly
he yeuyth an introduxion to ye Febres. And yf he be eten
rawe, he maye be cause of mannys dethe; whyche hath oft be
seen."
The advice here given concerning the eating of raw fish
will appear less strange when we refer to the custom of the
Israelites in the time of Moses, of eating the flesh of the lamb
in an uncooked condition; the indulgence in such a luxviry
being specially forbidden (Exodus, c. 12,) in the case of the
lamb of the Passover. Again, in the book entitled "The
Governayle of Hclthe," j)i'inted by Caxton, are these lines: —
"For heltli of body cover for cold thy head,
Eat no raw meat, take good heed thereto."
But such a relative custom of our ancestors would not perhaps
have been remembered but for this reference to it in the case
of the Barbel; and yet with the light thus afforded to us, we
believe we are able to trace it in another direction, and to
the loftiest stations in the kingdom. In the "Pictorial History
of England," (vol. ii, p. 254,) there are representations of a
repast, in the reign of Edward the Third, where a fish is
introduced, that I suppose to be a Perch; but in such a
manner as if it were intended to be eaten raw. In one of
these engravings a king is present; but only one of the
company holds a knife. He seems to be the carver; and there
is not a fork to be seen — that instrument being of much later
invention. In our own day it has been the custom in the west
of England to eat some kind of fish with the help of the fingers
only, — the only plate being a piece of bread.
The usual length of this fish is about fifteen inches, but Mr.
Jenyns assigns to it two and three feet. Wliere however the
practice of fishing is so general, few individuals can escape so
as to reach their utmost size. The form is moderately length-
ened, rather narrow at the back, but not greatly compressed
at the sides. Body clothed with scales of moderate size; lips
fleshy, gape not wide, inferior, lower jaw shortest; no teeth,
except the usual pharyngeal teeth of this family. A pair of
conspicuous barbs above the upjoer lip, and one at each corner
of the mouth, from which it obtains its name. Eye rather small.
Lateral line along the middle of the side. Dorsal fin above
the ventrals, at about the middle of the length, having ten rays,
of which the second is the stoutest, and serrated; hindmost rays
shortest. Anal fin narrow, with seven rays. Tail forked.
Colour on the back greenish brown, or bluish; the sides inclined
to yellow, below white. Eye yellow; dorsal fin brown tinged
with red, as is the tail; anal fin and ventrals reddish.
20
GOBIO.
This genus resembles Cyprinvs in possessing barbels at the mouth;
but it differs in having the dorsal and anal fins short, and in not
possessing those spines in front of these fins by which the last-named
genus is distinguished. The body also is more lengthened.
GUDGEON.
Gohio fluviatilis, JoNSTON; Table 26, f. 16 and 17.
Willougiiby; pi. 28, f. 4, p. 264.
Cyjprinus Gohio, Linnaeus. Bloch; PL 8, f. 2.
" " Donovan; PL 71. Jenyns; Manual,
p. 405.
Gohio fluviatilis, Fleming; Br. Animals, p. 186.
" " Yakkell; Br. Fishes, vol. i, p. 371.
Gudgeons delight in such of our rivers as flow with moderate
velocity over a bottom of gravel, with deeper pits at convenient
distances; in the latter of which they obtain shelter in the
colder seasons of the year, but as warm weather advances they
pass into the more rapid districts of the stream, and there
display considerable activity, but more by night than by day;
and especially in the search after food, in hunting for which
their open nostrils aflx)rd them quick perception; and when
an angler produces his baits they flock together in troops
with j)i'overbial eagerness to be caught. Their small size is
indeed an hindrance to their being regarded as a valuable
capture, although they are esteemed as a delicacy for the table,
and their readiness to take the hook is an objection with those
whose pleasure is to meet with fishes which task their skill in
the art of angling. But to the less ambitious fishing for Gudgeons
produces a good degree of excitement; and when the fish have
ceased to bite freely, from perhaps the success that has lessened
2
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GUDGEON. 21
their numbers, raking the gravelly bottom of the stream, or
throwing into the water some enticing matters that shall flow
on with the current will attract a larger assembly which shall
renew the sport. Their food is worms, molluscoiis animals, and
vegetables, which they seek near the bottom in winter; but they
will not rise to a fly. It is even said that they will feed on
the carcase of a dead animal, which may have fallen into the
river.
The Gndgeon jDOssesscs the internal structnre of hearing and
perception which belong to others of this family; and its nostrils
are especially 02ien to the mingled impressions of smell and
taste; but its more slender form and the love of the more rapid
stream preserve it from the sluggishness which forms a large
portion of the character of the Carp and Tench.
This fish is common in many of the rivers of Ireland, but it
is not mentioned as occurring in Scotland, and it is known
only of late in Cornwall or the west portion of Devonshire; but
they thrive in some ponds at Penzance, into which they have
been lately introduced. They are well known on the continent
of Europe, but apjDcar to be less common in Italy, although
referred to in the south of France by Ausonius. It is also
rare in Sweden, and occurs only in a few streams in the south
of that country; up which they proceed in summer, from the
neighbouring ponds and lakes, and to which they again retreat
in the winter.
The Gudgeon grows to the length of about six inches, the
body moderately lengthened, rounded, but a little compressed
at the sides, and covered with scales; lateral line below the
exact middle of the depth, straight; upper jaw slightly the
longest, without teeth; but low in the gullet there are teeth as
in others of the family. At the corners of the mouth a barb.
Nostrils large, and a depression across the front before them.
Eye moderate. Dorsal fin a little before the middle of the
length, as long as broad, above the ventrals; anal fin shorter
than the dorsal, behind the line of that fin; tail forked. Colour
on the back brownish, or tending to bluish green; yellowish
on the side, white below; the back, dorsal and caudal fins
usually spotted, but the fins sometimes with stripes; anal,
pectoral, and ventral fins plain. Fin rays — the dorsal ten, anal
nine, pectoral sixteen, ventral eight, caudal nineteen.
TINCA.
CtrviER forms a separate genus for the Tencli, the character of which
is, that in addition to other particuhirs of the genus Cypri7ius the
dorsal and anal tins are short, without firm spines to the fins; a single
pair of small barbs at the angles of the mouth; scales on the body-
very small.
TENCH.
Tinea, Jonston; pi. 29, fig. 7.
WiLLOuGHBY; p. 251, Table Q. 5.
Oijimnus Tinea, Linnaeus. Bloch; pi. 14. Donovan; pi. 113.
" " Jenyns; Manual, p. 405.
Tinea vulgaris, Fleming; Br. Animals, p. 186.
" " Yakrell; Br. Fishes, vol. i, p. 375,
There can be little doubt tliat the Tench was known to
the ancients, since Willoughby informs us that it is occasionally
found in the Tiber ; and that it bore the name of Tinea, which
is the origin of the English designation, appears from Ausonius,
who is the only writer of his country that is known to mention
it, at least with any particular reference to its nature or habits.
And the reason of this omission appears to be that it was not
in esteem with them, for the table; which was the principal
criterion by which the peo]3le of that day were accustomed to
measure the value of any object that could be eaten. But
we are referred to the writings of Cicero, from which we learn
that in consequence of some appearance or property in this
fish he chose to apply its name to an orator who was known
for some amusing peculiarity that could find some analogy
in the Tinea or Tench. In addition to this it may also be
suspected that the species termed the Black Cyprinus by ^Elian,
an inhabitant of the Danube, and which has been referred
to when we spake of the Carp, may rather be the Tench, as
Oh >— '
L.
TENCH. 23
the descriptive epithet may more fitly apply to the latter than
to the former.
There is reason to believe that the Tench has always been an
inhabitant of onr lakes and slowly-moving rivers, in the deeper
portions of which, where weeds and mud abound, it finds
congenial hannts; and where its food of vegetables, worms, and
small fishes is easily and abundantly obtained. A slimy bottom
is especially selected, and from this circumstance, as also from
the slimy covering of its body, in which last particular it
exceeds most fishes which possess scales, in some countries it has
received its name. It has been observed that these fishes,
which are fond of associating together, are much in the custom
of licking from each other this mucous secretion, as they also
are of nibbling any soft and fat substance, even of a wound
which may have been received in assaults from one another. This
nibbling of the raw surface has been interpreted into an intended
healing process, and the Tench has accordingly been termed
the Physician of fishes.
Holinshed believes that he is giving a proof that this fish
is the Leach of fishes by saying — "for when the fishmonger
has opened his (the Pike's) side, and laied out his rivet unto
the buier for the better utterance of his ware, and cannot make
him away at that present, he laieth the same againe into the
projDer place, and sowing up the wound, he restoreth him to the
pond where Tenches are, who never cease to sucke and licke
his greeved j)lace, till they have restored him in health and
made him readie to come againe to the stall when his turne
shall come about." This idea of the healing virtue of the
Tench's mouth, and not of the slimy exudation of its sides
as a modern poet has surmised, has almost amounted to a
superstition, and is referred to even in the Book of St. Albans;
but it ajjpears to have no other foundation than the love of
this fish for the substance exuding from the wound, and the
impunity with which the nibbling may be accomplished, with
some benefit, although not an intended one, to the i^rocess of
healing; but that it is less liable than other fishes to be
devoured by the Pike may be a truth, although the cause of
this exemption seems not easily explained. The Pilotfish swims
near the Shark in safety, while other fishes cannot venture to
do the same.
24 TENCH.
The Tencli lias mucli of the shrewdness ascribed to the Carp,
as well as a large portion of the animal senses possessed by that
fish. It is also sensible to the inq^ressions of cold, and we
are informed that in the colder months it will work a hole in
the mud to shelter itself, and there lie concealed, perhaps for
a longer time than is pleasing to itself, although from the
power it possesses of extracting the minutest jjortions of air
from almost exhausted water, it continues to live while other
fishes must have perished. We are informed in a quotation
from Johnson's "Sportsman's Cyclopedia," that at Thornville
Royal, in Yorkshire, there was a pond that was to have been
filled up, for which j^urpose wood and rubbish had been thrown
into it for several years, so that it was almost choked up with
mud and weeds. But in November, 1801, measures were taken
to clear it out, in doing which, as very little water remained,
no one expected to see any fish, except perhaps a few eels.
Yet, to their surprise there were found nearly two hundred
brace of Tenches, of all sizes, and as many Perch. And after
the pond was supposed to be quite free, under some roots there
seemed to be an animal which was conjectured to be an Otter.
The place was then surrounded, when on opening an entrance
among the roots a Tench was found, of a most singular form,
having literally assumed the shape of the hole in which he had
for many years been confined. Its length from fork to eye was
two feet nine inches; its circumference, almost to the tail, tv/o
feet three inches; the weight eleven pounds nine ounces and
a quarter; the colour also was singular, the belly being that
of a Char, or vermilion. This fish was examined by many
gentlemen, and then carefully placed in the pond; but either
from confinement, age, or bulk, it at first merely floated, and at
last with difficulty swam gently away.
This fish is not a native of the western counties of England,
nor probably of Ireland or Scotland; but as, like the Carp,
it is so retentive of life as to be conveyed easily to distant
places, it is found at present in all these districts where situations
can be found to suit its habits; and it breeds readily where the
soil and water are congenial to it, but indeed there only. It
is of use to know that for the fertility of a pond the number
of males ought to be double that of females, and it so happens
that the sexes of this fish are readily to be distinguished by the
TENCH. 25
comparative size of their ventral fins; wliich in tlie male are
far the largest, with a stout, thick, crooked, and transversely
striated first ray. The bones also to which these fins are attached
arc large, thick, and extended even to the gill openings.
Willoughby remarks, from Schenckfeld, that the Tench
.spawns at the time when wheat is in blossom. The spawn is
shed at no great depth in the water, and the development of
the grains is rapid, as they were traced by IM. llusconi in
MuUer's "Archives^" for 1836; who observes that soon after
the application of the milt the ovum loses its spherical form, and
swells out into the form of a pear, and at the point where the
swelling begins it is surrounded with a cluster of microscopic
globules, which before were spread all over its surface. In
half an hour the pear-shaped excrescence is divided into four
globules, which in another quarter of an hour are subdivided
into eight, and after a similar period into thirty-two, which still
remain clustered together on the top of the egg. In another
half hour more globules appear, which become less in size as
they increase in numbers, and at length from their minuteness
that part of the egg to which they are attached becomes almost
as smooth as before they made their appearance. The embryo
fish is now seen in the form of a whitish transparent speck,
which is the rudiment of the backbone. The ora^anization of
the skin then proceeds, and the embiyo as it is coiled round
the yolk increases in length until the head becomes perceptible.
In forty hours from the first this embryo Tench gives signs of
motion, and in further twelve hours it has freed itself from the
skin of the egg; at which time the fish is two lines in length,
and the blood is of its natural colour. For some hours after
leaving the egg the young appear inert; lying on their sides
and unable to swim; but when the swimming bladder becomes
developed they assume their proper position and activity. The
intestines are not fully developed until seven days from leaving
the egg; and then they begin to feed voraciously, but only on
animal substances.
The narrative here given may be considered as generally
applicable to fishes of this family, and in its outline to fishes
in general; since the variation is rather connected with the
quickness of the development than the mere order of the pro-
ceeding; and in regard to quickness it is much influenced by
VOL. IV. E
26 TENCH.
the temperature of the water, which in the case here described
was above seventy degrees. The growth of the Tench afterwards
is speedy, so that in twelve months it may weigh from half a
pound to a pound; and an instance is known where a Tench
placed in a pond in six years and a half attained to the weight
of four pounds and a half — which is what it most frequently
reaches in England.
We have not thought it necessary for the most part to
describe the methods used in Britain in fishing for those species
which inhabit our fresh waters, since there are numerous volumes
which treat on this subject at greater length than our space
will allow; but we copy the following from the E-everend Richard
Lubbock's "Fauna of Norfolk," because it includes a lively
picture of some particulars of the nature of this fish: —
"In Norfolk there are fishermen who for catching Tench in
shallow water prefer their own hands, with a landing-net to be
used occasionally, to any other engines. The day for this
oj^eration cannot be too calm or too hot. During the heats of
summer, but especially at the time of spawning. Tench delight
in lying near the surface of the water amongst beds of reeds;
in such situations they are found in parties, varying from four
or five to thirty in number. On the very near approach of a
boat they strike away, dispersing in different directions, and
then the sport of the Tench- catcher begins. He perceives where
some particular fish has stopped in its flight, which is seldom
more than a few yards; his guide in this is the bubble which
rises generally where the fish stops. Approaching the place as
gently as possible in his boat, which must be small, light, and
steady in her bearings, he keeps her steady with his pole, and
lying down with his head over the gunwale, and his right arm
bared to the shoulder, taking advantage in his search, of light
and shade, he gently with his fingers displaces the weeds, and
endeavours to descry the Tench in his retreat. If the fisherman
can see part of the fish, so as to determine which way the head
lies, the certainty of capture is much increased; but if he cannot,
immersing his arm, he feels slowly and cautiously about until
he touches it; which, if done gently on head or body, is generally
disregarded by this sluggish and stupid fish; but if the tail is
the part molested, a dash away again is the usual consequence.
Should the fisherman succeed in ascertaining the position of the
TENCH. m
fish, he insinuates one hand, which alone is used, under it just
behind the gills, and raises it gently, but yet rapidly, towards
the surface of the water. In lifting it over the side of the boat,
which should be low, he takes care not to touch the gunwale
with his knuckles, as the slightest jar makes the captive flounce
and struggle. On being laid down the Tench often remains
motionless for full a minute, and then begins apparently to
perceive the fraud practised upon it. The fisherman then, if
he marked more than one Tench when the shoal dispersed,
proceeds to search for it. If not he endeavours to start another
by striking his pole against the side or bottom of the boat. The
concussion moves other fish, when the same manoeuvres are
repeated. In the course of a favourable day one fisherman
will easily secure five or six dozen. The run, as it is termed,
of a Tench is diflerent from that of a Bream or Rud. It is
not straight or extended, but short, varying, and devious.
Very often the fish halts within five or six yards of the place
it started from; and a good-sized fish is more easily taken than
a small one."
The shape of the Tench is generally thick and solid, but
compressed at the sides; its breadth (or depth) being conveyed
almost to the tail, and if our figure is less so, it is because of
the form of the individual example. In England it does not
often exceed four or five pounds in weight, but old fishes grow
to a more considerable size, especially on the continent. The
gape is moderate, jaws nearly equal, lips fleshy, without teeth;
a slight barb at the corner; the palate is fleshy only on its
posterior half. The back rises from the snout to the dorsal fin.
Eye small; body clothed with small fine scales; the lateral line
drops at first, and then passes straight to the tail. Dorsal fin
a little behind the middle of the body; as wide as long; anal
behind the termination of the dorsal; pectoral fin broad, and
the ventrals rather so. Tail straight or a little rounded. Colour
of the back and fins rich dark brown; sides fulvous brown or
yellow, lighter below. Eye red. The dorsal fin has nine rays,
the first short, and the anal has the same; pectoral fourteen,
ventral nine, caudal seventeen.
28
CARASSmS.
We arrange ae in a separate genus those species wliich have the
general characters of Cyprinus, as defined by Cuvier, with an extended
dorsal fin and short anal; but the mouth without barbs, and not having
a firm denticulated ray to the dorsal and anal fins. Some appearance
of such a toothed ray may be perceived in one or two of these species,
but so obscurely as to be scarcely discernible.
CRUCIAN.
(Jarassnis, Willoughby ; p. 269, pi. Q. 6 ; but he does not
distinguish it from some other species, as
Albnrnns and Ball ems.
Cypiinns carassius, Linnaeus. Cuvier. Bloch; pi. 11.
" Jenyns; Manual, p. 403.
" " Tarkell; British Fishes, vol. i, p. 355.
So little was formerly known of this fish that Gesner says he
could not find it had been mentioned by any writer before
Dubravius, and much uncertainty still rests upon it when
considered as a British fish; for although Pennant mentions a
fish of this name as known to himself, it is supposed to have
been by mistake for the Prussian Carp; and Mr. Yarrell had
obtained it in a few instances from the Thames; yet this is
consistent with the belief that the species was at first introduced
among us, and that even at a recent date. This indeed is
asserted or implied in the experiments of which it was the
subject; and of which an account is given in our history of the
Carp. In what is there referred to the examples had been
procured from Hamburg, where the fish appears to have been
well known; for Linnteus refers to the Acts or Transactions of
the University of Upsal, where it is called by the elder
Gronovius Cyprinus liamhurgcr, as characteristic of the place
where chiefly it was found.
2 >
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MC
HAr
CRUCIAN. 29
It is easy to suppose tliat some of these fishes which had been
obtained from the continent of Europe, where they are not
rare, may have been set free in the Thames without having
been operated on in the manner described, and there they may
have continued the race; but that the operation from which we
have an account of their introduction into England was not
such a novelty as was supposed, is rendered probable from the
lines of Sir Philip Sidney, although the operation was performed
upon another species: —
We have a fish by strangers much admired,
Wliich caught to cruel search yields his chief part ;
(With gall cut out) closed up again by art,
Yet lives until his life be new required.
Seven Wonders of England.
The Crucian, like most of the species of this family is highly
retentive of life, and in consequence may be conveyed to con-
siderable distances for the purpose of being propagated in ponds
or slowly-flowing rivers; but it will scarcely repay the expense
or effort, as it is not highly esteemed for the table, and it
never becomes equal to the Carp in size. It is said to be of
slow growth. We copy the figure of this fish given by Fries
and Ekstrom, with a large portion of their description.
In its early growth it bears some resemblance to the Carp,
but its shape is much deeper; in which particular it exceeds
the whole of this family; for its greatest depth is equal to one
half of its length. It may be further distinguished from the
Carp by the absence of barbs at the mouth. The jaws are
equal and without teeth, gape small; body thick and solid, but
compressed; the outline ascends from the snout, and more
especially from the head, to the origin of the dorsal fin; from
which again it descends in an oval to the origin of the tail.
Scales large, thirty-two on the course of the lateral line; this
line descends at first, and then straight. Eye rather small;
hindmost gUl-cover divergently striped. Pectoral fin round, with
fifteen rays; ventrals also round, with nine rays; dorsal fin long,
beginning over the ventrals, wide, with a rounded outline, and
twenty rays; anal fin wide, rather short, with ten rays; the
third ray of the dorsal and anal fins, which are longer than
the preceding, thick and very finely notched; tail short, wide.
30 CRUCIAN.
nearly straight, with eighteen rays. The colour is subject to
variety; top of the head and back brown, or with a tint of
green, yellow on the sides, white or orange colour on the belly;
the fins generally dark with a tint of red. It rarely exceeds
two pounds in weight, and most frequently is less; but Mr.
Yarrell obtained an example from the Thames that weighed two
pounds and eleven ounces.
M
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31
PEUSSIAN CARP.
Gyprinus Gihelio, Bloch; pi. 12. Jenyns; Manual, p. 402.
" " Yarrell; Br. Fishes, vol. i, p. 358.
Carassius Gihelio, Nobis.
The Prussian Carp appears to be one of two or three species
which have been confounded together under the name of
Crucian, Carassius, or Char ax; but this last name must be kept
separate, as when found in the work of Oppian it is applied to
a fish of the sea, and the word in its origin is believed to refer
to the sharp or prickly arming of the back. Whether originally
a native of England appears uncertain, but there is no notice
of its having been introduced into our ponds or deeper slowly-
flowing rivers; in which it is sometimes found in considerable
numbers. We have obtained it from the Thames, where it
abounds more than does the Crucian; but its particular habits
have not been attended to, except that it is known to be highly
retentive of life when uninjured out of the water.
This fish is said to have reached the weight of two pounds,
but the example described was much less; the length to the
fork of the tail seven inches, depth in front of the dorsal fin
one inch and seven eighths; the proportions stout and thick,
blunt over the front; wide between the eyes, mouth small, jaws
nearly equal, without teeth. Eyes moderate: body rising from
the mouth to the dorsal fin; back round. Scales on the body
large; lateral line at first high, but after sinking a little pro-
ceeding straight; with thirty-five perforated scales. Posterior
plate of the gill-covers finely striated. The dorsal fin begins a
little anterior to the line of the ventrals and ends above
the vent; its first ray short, the second strong and serrated;
anal small, its first ray serrated; tail bluntly forked. Colour
32 PRUSSIAN CAKP.
yellowish brown on the back, and so the dorsal fin and tail,
yellow on the sides, brighter below; pectoral, ventral, and anal
reddish or orange; posterior plate of the gill-cover with a tint
of blue. The dorsal fin has eighteen rays, ventral eight, anal
nine. Its distinction from the Crucian is seen in the less depth
of the body, blunter head, less elevation of the dorsal fin,
sharper pectoral, smaller anal; and in the fork of the tail.
H/
CAr.,
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33
GOLDFISH.
Oyprinus auratus, Li?sN.'eus. Cuvjer. Blocii; pi. 15.
" " Jenvns; Manual, p. 403.
" " YAiuiLLL; Br. Fishes, vol. i, p. 361.
This fish is a native of China, where for ages it has con-
tributed to the amusement of the higher chisses by its lively
actions in luxurious captivity, as also to the occupation and
profit of the more industrious classes by the employment it
affords them in procuring and propagating the numerous varieties
of its race; for as there is no other fish which has been so long
in such a condition of trainmg, so there is none that has so
decidedly shewn such a tendency to be inflaenced by it in shape
and colour. We are informed ihat in that country it is a
special business to collect the spawn as it floats in the great
rivers, and to sell it to merchants who send it to different
districts of the country, to be propagated in small ponds, in
which also the fish are preserved, but for amusement also they
are kept in porcelain vessels in the houses of rich people. In
captivity they are not prolific except in ponds suited lo their
nature, of which warmth is an important particular; so that
they live and thrive in that which to our imagination seems
beyond the power of any living creature to sustain. As an
instance it is known that in manufacturing districts, where there
is a short supply of cold water for condensing the steam
employed in the engines, recourse is had to what are called
engine dams or pondS; into which the water from the steam-
engine is thrown for the purpose of being cooled; and in these
dams, the average temperature of which is about eighty degrees,
it is common to keep Goldfishes It is a known f;\ct that in
these situations they multiply much more rapidly than in ponds
of lower temperature that are exposed to variations of the
climate. Three pairs of these fishes were put into one of these
VOL. IV. F
34 GOLDFISH.
cTams^ Avhere tliey increased so rapidly that at the end of ihree
years, when their progeny was accidentally poisoned by verdi-
gris mixed with the refuse tallow from the engine, wheelbarrows
full of them were taken out. In those dams Goldfish are by
no means useless inhabitants, since they consume the refuse
grease which would otherwise impede the cooling of the watei
by accumulating on the surface. Another important particular
to their well-being in a small pond is, that there should be m
some part of it a good depth of water and shelter, both for
hiding and as a retreat on the change of seasons; a chang<:. of
which all fishes are highly sensible, and none more than those
of the family of Carps.
These beautiful fishes, which bear well even close confinenient
in a glass globe, although they do not reach their full size in
it, are easily conveyed from place to place; and accordingly
we learn that some examples of them were brought from China
into England in the year 1691. But they did not become
generally known until a considerable number were also brought
in the year 1728, and presented to Sir Matthew Dekker, Lord
Mayor of London, who made presents of them to several
friends, by which means they became distributed through the
country. They are now well known throughout the civilized
world, although rather as the petted favourites of the house
than as naturalized inhabitants of our waters. A large portion
of those we have in England have been brought from Lisbon,
where they are bred for sale.
In form this fish much resembles the Carp; the body deep,
moderately compressed; jaws equal, the outline rising to the
beginning of the dorsal fin; eyes prominent; body covered with
large scales; lateral line a little depressed at its origin, afterwards
straight. The dorsal fin begins opposite the middle of the
pectoral, and ends opposite the middle of the anal; the latter
short; the first ray of the former usually toothed, as is the
hindmost border of the first ray of the latter; pectorals round,
ventrals large; tail incurved. The colour from deep orange
to golden, a little lighter on the belly, but subject to variety;
the young being very dark, and when older of a bright silver,
on which account they are called silver fish; and some are
strongly tinged with pink. There is also remarkable variety in
the fins as they are found in captivity; some being without
GOLDFISH. 35
the dorsal fin, some having it short, with three lobes on the
caudal fin, and sometimes the lower lobe of this fin is separated
into two, which are spread abroad horizontally, Linntrus has,
in mistake, made this last particular a ]>ortion of the character
of the genus, and Gronovius supposed it to be the mark of
a separate species
36
.ABRAMIS.
The character is, that the body is deep, belly not armed with rough
points, dorsal fin short and placed behind the ventrals, anal fin long,
and both without a spinous ray; no barbs at the mouth.
LAKE BREAM.
CARP BREAM. YELLOW BREAM. COMMON BREAM.
Cyprinus Lotus, Jonston; Table 29, f. 5.
" " WiLLOUGHBY; p. 248, plate Q 10.
" Brama, Linn.eus.
« " Bloch; pi. 13. Donovan ; pi. 93.
" " Jenyns; Manual, p. 406.
Abramis vulgaris, Cuviek.
" Brama, Fleming; Br. Animals, p. 187.
Yakrell; Br. Fishes, vol. i, p. 382.
u «
There are only some particular situations where the Lake
or Carp Bream is found, but where it meets with a congenial
soil and water, its numbers increase in a remarkable degree.
And although sensitive to the variation of seasons, there is
nothing in the climate of the United Kingdom that is hurtful
to it; for as regards cold they abound even at the most northern
parts of Norway, while with ourselves they associate in com-
panies, and are lively in the warmest summers. But neither a
swiftly-flowing stream nor pebbly bottom are suitable, and they
chiefly rejoice in still water with a bottom of soft soil, whether
in lakes and ponds or rivers. Nilsson remarks that they in
Sweden are. sure to be found where the pond-weed Isoetes
lacustris grows; but slimy food, with other digestible vegetables,
serves them for nourishment, and they devour with eagerness the
paste prepared for them by anglers, by which they are attracted
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LAKE BREAM. 37
to a spot where they are to be fished for, and where they seize
the worms with which the hooks are baited. Izaak Walton
gives dii-ections for the successful practice of fishing for these
Bream, for information concerning which we refer to tlic well-
known and amusing volume of this patriarch of fishermen.
They are not found in Cornwall or Devonshire. Fleming
mentions it indefinitely, as being found in Scotland; and he
quotes Pennant as authority for its inhabiting Loch INIaben;
but it seems not to be an inhabitant of the far north of that
kingdom.
Leland also says in his own quaint language that in Wales,
not far from Breckenok, in Llin Senatham; which is in bredth
a mile, and a two miles of length, and wher as it is depest a
thirteen fadom, it berith as the principale fisch a great numbre
of Bremes, and they appere in May in mighti seniles. So that
sumtime they breke large nettes; and ons frayed appereth not
in the bryme of the water that yere againe.
By favour of the Earl of Enniskillen I learn that large
numbers inhabit the lakes of the north of Ireland; and especially
they abound in Lough Erne, Lough Mackean, and others in
Fermanagh, Cavan, and other counties; and I have been indebted
to that Noble Lord for several examples from these districts,
from which we have derived our figure and description. A
net is the instrument chiefly had recourse to in that part of
the country; and as these fish are not generally in high esteem,
(and, in fact, from their numbers, when the hope is to take
other fishes, they are usually considered an annoyance,) they
for the most part fall to the lot of the poorer people, who
preserve them for use in winter.
Yet although this is the character which the Bream now
generally bears it was not always so. Chaucer speaks favourably
of it, and the value set on this fish about the year 1419 may
be learned from Sir William Dugdale, who informs us that at
that date a single fish was valued at twenty pence, when the
day's labour of a mason or master carpenter was less than
sixpence; from which was withdrawn three halfpence if his food
was supplied to him. We are told also that a pie containing
four Bream was sent from Warwickshire to a distant part of
Yorkshire at the cost of sixteen shillings; which amount included
the wages of two men for three days in catching the fish;,
38 LAKE BREAM.
together with the flour and spices for making the pie and the
charge of conveying it to its destination. — (Pictorial History of
England, vol. ii.) The Book of St. Albans is a further witness,
that "the Breeme" was accounted "a noble fysshe and a deyntous,"
for the taking of which particular directions were given.
This Bream is considered a very shy fish, and as their
ordinary habit is to swim in schools, Nilsson informs us that
in the season when the fishery is carried on in Sweden, in
some of the parishes near the lake where these fish abound, it
is forbidden to ring the church bells; that the noise may not
drive the fish away. Sometimes the success of this fishery is
such that from ten to forty thousand pounds of Bream have
been taken at a single haul of the net.
A reason why this fish is not regarded at genteel tables with
us is said to be, that they are furnished with such a large
abundance of small bones, which is in fact a double row of ribs
corresponding to those of the herring, shad, and pilchard; and
it is on this account that the middle portion of the body is
preferred to the rest; but in autumn, Walton says, they become
"as fat as a hog," and then they afford a not unpleasant dish.
The time of spawning is about the month of May, at whicli
time the male is marked with rough white spots about the
head. In the "Fauna of Norfolk" it is remarked, that when
preparing to spawn they roll about like miniature porpoises:
the water is discoloured by their working; here a nose appears
and there a back fin, whilst at intervals a plunge of affright
amongst the multitude shews that large pike are busy. They
are a positive nuisance from their numbers in many places. If
a bow-net is set for Tench, Bream crowd in ere they arrive
and exclude them. At first the growth of the young is slow,
and they are not readily distinguished from the next species,
A. Blicca; but in the course of time tlicy reach to a large
size, and, while a Bream of the weight of fourteen pounds is
considered of large size, Rondeletius professes to have seen an
example that measured two cubits in length, with a foot at
the greatest depth.
That this fish is retentive of life, and especially possesses
great power in resisting extreme cold, appears from an instance
mentioned by Gesner, and often smce referred to. — It happened
that in Poland a large number were contained in a tank, the
LAKE BREAM. 39
water of which became frozen so entirely that not one of the
fish could be seen; but when the frost disappearcfl the Bream
again appeared without having suffered harm.
Length of the example from the snout to the fork of the
tail sixteen inches; greatest depth, which is about the beginning
of the dorsal fin, seven inches and a fourth. Head smjill; the
outline rising rapidly from the nape, and beginning co slope
downward from the dorsal fin towards the tail; the body,
exclusive of the tail, approaching to an oval Snout round,
under jaw slightly the shortest; no teeth, lips flesliv. slightly
bent up at the middle. Eyes lateral, large; nostrils open, in a
depression, high on the front, with a band or depression above
the lips from one nostril to the other. Body much compressed,
scales rather large; lateral line falling below the level of the
body. Dorsal fin elevated, behind the middle of the body,
ending nearly ojjposite the vent; anal fin from the vent near
to the tail, hook-shaped at the beginning. Pectoral fin rounded,
ventrals before the origin of the dorsal, and reaching to the
vent; tail forked. Colour bright yellow, darker on the back,
pale below.
Fin rays — in the dorsal eleven, caudal seventeen, anal twenty-
nine, pectoral sixteen, ventral nine.
40
WHITE BREAM.
BREAMFLAT.
Cyprinus Lotus, Tukton's Linnaeus.
" Blicca, Bloch; pi. 10.
Abramis Bli'cca, Cuviee.
Cyprinus Blicca, Jenyns; Manual, p. 407.
Yakrell; Br. Fislies, vol. i, p. 387.
It was long doubted wlietlier wliat was supposed to be a
second sjoecies of Bream in our lakes was truly distinct; and
after a close examination of wbat was alleged to be sucli on
tlie continent of Europe, it remained the opinion of the learned
naturalist Gesner, tliat only one species could be recognised.
And the opinion tlius expressed was not without some plausible
grounds, so far as regarded the fishes we have called the Lake
and White Breams; since whatever may be the assigned marks
of distinction at the fullest stage of growth, when the Lake
Bream is of a bright yellow colour, and it is of much larger
size than the White Bream is ever known to attain; yet at an
earlier stage, when the Lake Bream is only half grown, the
colour of both these fishes is so much alike, and the other
diiferences between them require such close examination that
we need not feel surprised if the real points of distinction are
not always detected. Yet that they were believed to be distinct
fishes in very early times apj^ears from the Book of St. Albans,
where Bremettis arc mentioned sej^arately, as to be fished for
with some difference of baits; and that they are distinct fishes
is now generally admitted; but although whatever difference
may exist in their habits is not well known, in this respect
also some distinction must exist since there are places where
the AVliite Bream is common, and the Lake Bream is not met
with. Mr. Jenyns points to some districts of the River Cam
ffl 'x;
H."
c,.
WHITE BREAM. 41
IS an instance of this, and it appears not unlilcely that the
reverse of this is the case in some parts of Ireland.
It might have been preferable to have limited to the species
aow under consideration the name of Shude, which is used in
che north of Ireland for the early stage of both these fishes,
and for the latter during the whole of its existence; but we
have decided otherwise in order to avoid confusion. At
the same time it should be borne in mind that the Lake Bream
is equally white until of nearly full growth, and also that in
Ekstrom's "History of Scandinavian Fishes," the figure ot
Ahramis Blicca is decidedly yellow.
Instead of giving an extended description of the White
Bream, we will simply point out those characters by which it
may be distinguished from the Lake Bream, with which alone
it is likely to be confounded; and in doing this we prefer
to select these points to which attention has been particularly
directed by writers whose opportunities of comparison have been
the greatest; as by this means we avoid those mistakes which
might be committed in confounding casual differences with such
as impress a permanent character.
The White Bream rarely exceeds the length of a foot, and
a usual weight is about a pound. Nilsson says that the outline
of the body is more arched than in the Lake Bream; but the
proportions of the younger fish are more lengthened than when
it has become older, and in that early condition it more closely
resembles the last-named fish. Both jaws are also more nearly
equal; the head large; back much compressed; over the neck a
depression, from which the arch rises to the dorsal fin, beyond
which to the tail is straight, so that the space at the tail is
wider (or deeper.) The lateral line is not so low on the body
as in the Lake Bream; scales large and thin. Colour of the
back bluish brown, sides white tinged with blue, white below;
pectoral and ventral fins reddish, other fins brownish grey.
Fin rays — dorsal ten, pectoral eighteen, ventral nine, anal
twenty-four or five, caudal nineteen. Both Nilsson and Mr.
Yarrell assign to the pectoral fin three less, and to the anal
five, than in the Lake Bream, but the last-named author gives
twenty-two as the number of rays in the anal fin.
vuL. ly.
4^
POMERANIAN BREAM.
Cyprinus Buggenhagii, Bloch; PL 96.
Ahramis Buggenhagii, Cuvier. Thompson.
" " Yakeell; Br. Fishes, vol. i, p. 391.
A THIRD species of British Bream was first announced by
Mr. William Thompson as obtained by him in Ireland, and we
shall borrow his account of this fish, as it is contained in his
Natural History of that portion of the United Kingdom; but
it has also been found in England by Mr. Yarrell, to whom it
was presented from the Dagenham Breach, and afterwards from
another portion of the Thames; and it has likewise been obtained
by Mr. Jenyns in Cambridgeshire. But previous to this it had
been described by the Prussian naturalist Bloch, who obtained
examples from Pomerania; from which country they had been
sent to him by a gentleman whose name he affixed to the
species, and who therefore must be pronounced its first
discoverer.
It has not been recognised in any other country besides
those we have here specified; and everywhere it appears to be
a scarce species. We may suppose therefore that it is less
prolific than the others of this genus, or that it is beset with
much more formidable enemies.
Mr. Thompson's notice of it is, that it has been taken in the
sluggish River Lagan, in which the (Lake) Bream is abundant.
On inspecting the produce of a fishing-rod at the River Lagan,
near Belfast, I detected a Bream differing from the common
species. It agreed so fully with Bloch's description of the
Cyprinus Buggenhagii as to satisfy me of its identity, the only
difference consisting in the number of rays in the pectoral fin,
twelve being enumerated by him, and eighteen appearing in the
specimen; "several of them, however, being very short may have
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A
POMERANIAN BREAM. 43
escaped Blocli's notice. The description drawn from my specimen :
— length five inches and a half, depth an inch and a half;
head one fourth of the entire length; diameter of the eye equal
to one fourth of the length of the head; scales on the lateral
line about forty-five. Colour of the sides silvery, tinged with
blue towards the back; dorsal, pectoral, ventral, and anal fins
nearly transparent, or slightly tinged with dusky; tail pale
yellow."
An example obtained by Mr. Yarrell measured fifteen inches
in length; and it has been noticed that while the depth of the
body measures one third of the length, the thickness amounts
to one half of the depth, being the thickest of all the Breams.
The dorsal fin also is larger than in them, and the anal fin
shorter, with three rays less in number.
44
LEUCTSCUS.
With the usual characters of the family of Carps, the dorsal and
anal fins are short; and they have not any barbs, or spines to the fins.
CHUB.
CHEVIN.
Capito, JoNSTON; Table 26, f. 7.
" WiLLOUGHBY; p. 255, plate Q. 10.
Cyprinus ceplmlus, Linnaeus.
" Jeses, Block; pi. 6. Donovan; pi. 115.
Leuciscus cephahis, Fleming; British Animals, p 187.
Cyprinus cephalus, Jenyns; Manual, p. 411.
" " Yakkell; British Fishes, vol. i, p 109.
In its habits the Chub so far agrees with several others of
this family, that it is found only in rivers which possess a
good depth and supply of water; and also that it manifests
much sensibility to changes of temj^erature in the different
seasons. But, on the other hand, it prefers those streams in
which the water flows with some considerable rapidity along
a clean bottom of sand or gravel; and so needful to its
well-being is a supply of what is afforded by a current, that
it is not easy to keep it alive in a tank, or within the narrow
limits of a pond. It is necessary, however, that its native stream
should possess some safe and shaded pits or deeper recesses,
to which it may retreat from danger, of the slightest appearance
of which it is timidly sensible; and also where it may hide
when the sun shines hot, and during the colder season of the
year. From some causes connected with this repugnancy to still
or stagnant water, or to the want of congenial retreat, this
fish does not exist in the rivers of the north of Scotland, or in
CHUB. 45
the west of England; and if any attempt has been made to
introduce it into these districts — of which, however, we have
not received any information — it has not been successful. Nor
indeed, except for curiosity, is its conveyance likely to be
attempted; for the Chub does not possess a reputation as food
that is likely to induce any one to venture the task. The
Roman poet Ausonius in a few verses bestows on it this
character of being little worth, when he says: —
"In weedy sands the scale-clad Chub delights;
Its sides thick-studded with sharp reed-like bones,
Nor can we keep its flesh beyond six hours :
in which last particular we must offer a correction to what
by a slip of the pen was advanced when speaking of the Grey
Mullet. It is the Chub and not the Mullet, that in the poetry
of Ausonius bears the name of Capito. The most esteemed
portion of this fish was supposed to be the head, the stoutness
or thickness of the sides of which appear to have given occasion
to the name, as well perhaps in the English as in the Latin
language. This fish is met with in many portions of the continent
of Europe, and so far north as Sweden and a portion of Finland;
but it is not a native of Ireland.
The Chub, like the generality of the Carps, feeds much on
vegetables; but it also eagerly devours insects, and readily takes
the hook when baited with a worm or molluscous animal; but
the method of angling for it, as well as of cooking it when
caught, will be found at large in the work of Izaak Walton.
This, however, to a small extent, we prefer to give as recorded
in the less common Book of St. Albans: — "The Chevyn is a
stately fysshe; and his heed is a deyty morsell. There is noo
fysshe so strongly enarmyed wyth scalys on the body. And
bicause he is a stronge byter he hath the more baytes, which
ben thyse." We need not specify the whole of these, as they
are varied through the year; but a sample of them may be
seen in the ""^yonge frogshys the three fete kitte of by the
body [a young frog having its three feet cut off close to the body,]
and the fourth close to the knee."
The time of spawning is early in the summer.
The example described, which was obtained from Yorkshire,
was in length fourteen inches, and in depth in a straight line
46 CHUB.
three inches and almost a fourth; the form stout, compressed
at the sides, wide and round over the head and back. Gape
moderate, jaws nearly equal, upper lip broad, mouth and tongue
fleshy, palate having a folded membrane; no teeth; nostrils close
together, open, in a depression. Eye moderate. Scales on the
body large and firm; lateral line descending, passing to the tail
lower than the middle of the body. Dorsal fin single, elevated,
behind the line of the ventrals, having nine rays; pectorals low,
rounded, with fifteen rays; the anal begins midway between the
root of the ventrals and of the caudal, with ten rays; tail a
little concave, with nineteen rays. The ventrals have eleven rays;
the first two firm and simple. Colour disposed to dark olive on
the top of the head, on the body dark grey with a tinge of blue,
browner above, whiter below; the scales dark at the angle. The
tail dark, anal and ventrals orange, faint on the hindmost rays.
Eyes orange, reddish above.
c
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o O
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o o
48 ROACH.
in some situations of this northern sea, from the flow of rivers
the water is rendered so fresh as to admit of living in it,
some species that in other countries are confined to inland
waters.
The Roach is generally distributed throughout Europe,
except in the more southern parts. It is not known in
Cornwall, and in Devonshire only in the lake called Slapton
Ley, close to the south border of that county. Neither has
it been found in Ireland; and the little esteem in which it is
held as food has prevented its being conveyed into the many
favourable situations for it which might be found in that
country. But akhough in small regard for the table, it has
been held in no small osteem by anglers, as affording lively
sport from the eager way in which it takes the hook; in
doing which it has obtained a character altogether opposite
to that of the subtle Carp. "The Roche," says the Book of
St. Albans, "is an easy fys?he to take;" but it is added, "yf
he be fatte and pennyd thenne is he good meete." To the
more ordinary baits this work closes with recommending the
"fatte of bakon."
The Roach is usually about eight or ten inches in length,
but sometimes it reaches fourteen or fifteen inches, with a
depth of nearly the fourth part of the length. The gape is
small; jaws without teeth; snout somewhat rounded. Outline
of the body rising gently to the origin of the dorsal fin,
which is above the root of the ventrals, and from thence
sloping gradually to the tail. Scales large, easily lost; lateral
line descending at first, and then proceeding nearer the
ventral border than to the back. Eye moderate. The dorsal
fin elevated, its first ray nearer the snout than to the tail; tail
forked. Anal fin behind the termination of the dorsal, and
the number of the fin rays equal in both, eleven or twelve in
number; pectoral rounded, with sixteen rays; ventrals with
nine; nineteen in the tail. Colour of the back greyish green,
sometimes with a tinge of brown; sides whitish, with a tint
of blue or reddish. Dorsal fin and tail dark; anal, ventral,
and pectoral fins red; but Nilsson remarks th.at in the younger
examples the eye is yellow instead of red, and the ventral
and anal fins only reddish. The air-bladder and pharyngeal
teeth possess the general characters of the family.
HAR
P O
P X
P3 O
50 RUDD.
of water, with sheltering pools, it is not met with in districts
where the flow of water is rapid and turbulent. Although,
therefore, it is generally distributed through the more level
counties of England, it is not a native of Cornwall, and I
find it mentioned as uncertain in a list of the fishes found in
the neighbourhood of Weymouth, kindly communicated by
William Thompson, Esq., of that place, although the Roach is
plentiful there. Nilsson observes that it is found in the south
and middle portions of Scandinavia, where it appears to display
more sociable habits than others of this family, so as to.be
found mingled with them, especially at the time of spawning.
This function is entered upon in the beginning of summer, at
which time the male assumes a different appearance, by a
particular roughness of the skin; and the spawn is shed
among the weeds of the pools
This fish is in considerable esteem for the table.
In spite of the dangers to which it is exposed^ the Rudd
is known to have reached the weight of two pounds; but our
description is taken from much smaller examples; of which
we select a couple in order to make a more definite comparison.
Where the length was nine inches, the depth at the ventral
fins was two inches and five eighths; the form rather stout,
but compressed; snout gently rounded, gape narrow, under
jaw a little the shortest; no teeth; eye moderate, nostrils in
a depression The outline ascends at first gently over the
head towards the dorsal fin; in one specimen in a circular
form, in another rising more suddenly behind the head. The
body clothed with scales of moderate size; lateral line descending
at first, and then near the lower border straight to the tail, —
forty-three pores along this line. The dorsal fin is behind the
line of the ventrals and opposite the space between these and
the anal, its first rays much the longest, becoming shorter
gradually to the last; anal fin not so long as the dorsal; the
tail forked. The colour in one example bluish green on the
back, the sides tinged with blue, white below; the cheeks
tinged with yellow; eyes bright red. All the fins tinged with
red, the dorsal fin and tail dark near the border. In another
example the general colour was brown, darker on the back;
eye reddish brown; fins dull red, darker on the dorsal fin
and tail.
^i>^
^
o
o
H
O
52 DOBULE.
of its food and breeding. He says that it frequents the clearer
waters of the lakes and streams of that river, where there is
a bottom of stones or gravel; and it feeds on worms and
vegetables. The roe is of a greenish tinge, and is shed copiously
in April and May. The flesh is white, soft, and full of the
small bones common tp this class of fishes.
The Dobule is strictly a fish of the north of Europe; and
Nilsson says it is in Sweden confined to the streams and lakes
in the middle and north of the province of Wcrmerland; and
that it should travel to Britain is not the least remarkable portion
of its history.
INIr. Yarrell himself took this example while engaged on tlie
Thames in fishing for Whitebait with a net; and as it is not
unlikely it may occur again, perhaps with some difiference of
appearance as regards age and growth, to enable observers to
be certain of the species, we give descriptions as they are con-
tained in the works of the writers we have mentioned; as also
that of Mr, Yarrell in the fourteenth volume of the Linnean
Transactions, to which are added some notes obtained from
examination of what we have believed to be specimens of the
same procured from the continent; but the hatter are produced
with the expression of some doubt. It is proper to add that
the reviewer of Mr. Yarrell's work, in the first volume of the
"Magazine of Zoology and Botany," on the authority of Dr.
Parnell, informs us that this fish has also been caught in the
Cumberland rivers; but no further particulars are given.
Nilsson describes this fish as measuring seven or eight inches,
which answers to the length of the figure given by Ekstrom.
The form lengthened, the height and length of the head one
fifth of that of the body to the middle of the tail fin; the
outline little arched, and not much compressed at the side.
Nose prominent and blunt; mouth small. Lateral line a little
bent, with about fifty mucous spores. Number of scales across
the middle of the body twelve; the lateral line on the eighth
scale. Anal fin with eleven rays, of which eight are branched.
The colour brown above, silvery on the sides, white below.
Dorsal fin the colour of the back; lower fins white, with a
tinge of red, and sometimes all red.
The description of Dr. Rcisinger is, that it measures eleven
or twelve inche^^, with a v/eight from one to two pounds; the
DOBULE, 53
body lengthened, narrow, the back round; head bhmt, roundish,
broad above; nostrils above the line of the eyes; eyes large.
Jaws with seven teeth in a double row; lower jaw a little the
shortest. Lateral line curved downward, dotted with yellow
points; (which may answer to what Willoughby says, that this
line is "citrine," or faint yellow; but he adds that above it is
a black stripe which passes from the eye to the tail, which is
also represented in his figure.) Colour on the top of the head
dark ash; eyes yellow, and in the young white or silvery, with
a green spot above; the body above darkish green or yellow;
below white, with a tint of blue. Scales of moderate size,
spotted on their borders with black. Eye yellow, and in the
younger examples, which are the C. Grislagine of Linnaeus, this
and the fins are white; in the older, or true Dohula, the dorsal
is greenish, with eleven rays; the anal with eleven rays, and
ventral with nine rays, both red; pectoral yellow, fifteen rays;
caudal bluish, eighteen rays; the vertebrae forty.
Mr. Yarrell's example was only six inches and a half long,
and, he says, being a young male fish, was slender in proportion
to its length. The general colour dusky blue on the back,
becoming brighter on the sides, silvery white beneath. The
lateral line descending from the upper angle of the operculum
takes a course along the side parallel to the curve of the belly;
scales of moderate size; dorsal and caudal fins dusky brown:
pectoral, ventral, and anal fins pale orange red; head rounded
and blunt; upper jaw the longest, the under jaw shutting within
it; nostrils pierced on the upper side of the head, rather nearer
the eye than the upper lip; irides orange; cheeks and operculum
silvery white; first ray of the dorsal fin rising half way between
the anterior edge of the orbit of the eye and the end of the
fleshy portion of the tail, the first ray short, the second the
longest, the last ray double; of the anal fin also the first ray
short and the last ray double. Number of fin rays — the dorsal
nine, pectoral sixteen, ventral nine, anal ten, caudal twenty.
My own notes are, that the air-bladder is large, and of its
two divisions the last fills a large portion of the cavity; bent
forward and fastened near the vent; a small thread passes up
to the base of the skull from this second division; so small that
if not sought for it might have escaped observation.
" o
« o
PACE. 55
is very slightly the shortest; head rather small; eye moderately
h\rge. The outline rising very gradually to the dorsal fin,
which is further back than in the Roach: its origin a little
behind the root of the ventrals, and having nine rays, as have
also the ventrals. The hindmost rays of the dorsal are long,
although not equal in length to the first. Scales on the body
rather smaller than on a Roach of the same size. Lateral
line at first descending, and then straight to the tail, with
fifty -two perforated scales; anal fin not greatly expanded, with
ten rays; pectorals somewhat pointed, having seventeen rays;
the tail forked, with twenty-one rays. The usual colour dark
bluish, but sometimes brown; the sides lighter, with numerous
lines running along the course of the scales. Dorsal fin
yellowish, with a dark cloud on its anterior edge: the other
fms pale.
cc
>
o
O
BLEAK. 57
species of this family, the Bleak dies quickly when caught, and
its flesh is quick to putrify.
As food this species is not much thought of, but a value
has been attached to it from a remarkable invention of which
it has been the subject, in the formation of fictitious pearls;
the particulars of which I find related by Dr. Badham, in his
"Fish Tattle," at greater length than by any other writer within
my reach. It is the brilliant white lining on the inner surf^.ce
of the scales that has been employed for this purpose; and the
manufacture was first ventured on at Venice; where the true
pearls were held in the highest value, as they were in Rome
at the time when the last-named city was at the height of its
greatness. The glittering pigment was dropped into thin hollow
glass globules, where it adhered to the surface by means of a
pearly varnish; and by the purchase of these it became easy
for people of limited wealth to rival the pride of the higher
and richer classes. This however was not long tolerated by the
government, and the practice of thus imitating the true pearls
was forbidden. But greater liberty was allowed in Paris, where
the art was re-invented or introduced; and from whence it was
conveyed into England and other countries; but where at present
it appears to be generally neglected. In London we are told
that the cruelty was practised of depriving these fish of their
scales, and then turning them again into the river. We are
not aware that fish so treated can ever regain their natural
covering, so that if it were intended to catch and rob them a
second time the effort would be unsuccessful.
This fish attains the length of about six inches, with a depth
at the ventral fins of about one fourth of the length of the
body, exclusive of the tail. The snout is somewhat pointed, and
the lower jaw a little longer than the upper; the head small
in proportion to the body. The lateral line gradually slopes
down to about the origin of the ventral fins, and from thence
backward low down and straight; scales easily removed. The
dorsal fin is behind the middle of the body and above the
vent; behind this fin and the anal the body becomes narrow
to the tail.
As this species bears some resemblance to the Dace, a few
notes of the difference between examples of each sort of equal
size, laid side by side, will enable an observer to distinguish
VOL. IV. • I
58 BLEAK.
between them. Thus, the snout of the Dace is less sharp, and
the lower jaw not so much protruded. The dorsal fin is
somewhat nearer the tail in the Bleak, and when laid down
the end of the dorsal is over the middle of the anal, where,
as in the Dace, this fin reaches only to the root of the first
ray of the anal. The upper rays of the pectoral fin reach
almost to the ventrals, which is not the case in the Dace; and
the ends of the divisions of the tail are much pointed. The
colour of the Bleak is light brown or greenish, the sides and
below brilliant white; the fins dusky. In the dorsal fin are
ten or eleven rays, in the anal eighteen to twenty, pectoral
sixteen, and in the ventral nine.
c
I— <
(£ o
60 GRAINING.
the fishes of this family and of fresh-water generally are prone
to change their colour when dead, and kept out of their element
sufficiently long to be conveyed to a considerable distance; and
that those I have seen were of a decidedly blue colour along
the back. The Azurine also, as they came to my hands, were
one of them drab coloured, and another a fine blue.
Mr. Yarrell's description is, that although similar to the Dace
in shape, it is clictinguished from it by being still more slender
in form. The Graining has the top of the head, the back, and
upper part of the sides of a pale drab colour, with bluish red,
which is separated from the lighter coloured and inferior parts
by a well-defined boundary line; the irides yellowish white;
infraorbital portion of the head, operculum, and sides shining
silvery white, tinged with yellow; all the fins pale yellowish
white; the lateral line descending from the upper angle of the
operculum by a gentle curve to the middle of the body, thence
to the centre of the tail in a straight line; the scales of
moderate size, marked with numerous concentric striae and
prominent radiating elevated ridges; whereas in the Dace the
radiating lines on each scale are produced by grooved depressions.
The central portion of each scale in the Graining is brighter
than its sides, thus producing the appearance of shining longi-
tudinal lines through the whole length of the body. The head
is small, depressed, cheeks flat, line of the back but little
elevated. The dorsal fin begins exactly half-way between the
nose and the end of the fleshy portion of the tail; the first ray
short, second longest, last double, nine in all. The mouth
small, without teeth; eye large, nostrils nearer the eye than
the nose, gill rays three; ventral fins on a vertical line but
little in advance of the anterior portion of the dorsal fin, with
ten rays; the anal fin commences, on a vertical line, immediately
under the termination of the dorsal fin rays when that fin is
depressed, and has eleven rays; the first of these rays short,
the second longest, the last double. The fleshy portion of the
tail long and slender, the rays deeply forked, nineteen in
number. This fish does not often exceed the weight of half
a pound.
CA
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1 — 1
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1 — 1
1— <
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O
D
X
M
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<:
62 AZURINE.
the fins are always of a fine vermilion colour, but in the Blue
Roach they are white. The head is small and depressed, the
back arched; dorsal fin far behind, beginning half-way betweer
the posterior edge of the eye and the end of the scaly portion
of the tail; half-way also between the first ray of the ventral
and the anal fin, with nine or ten rays, the last double. The
snout blunt, mouth small, without teeth. Pectoral fins long,
reaching nearly to the origin of the ventrals, with sixteen rays.
From the vent the body becomes much more slender; anal fin
with twelve rays, the last ray double; caudal fin forked, with
nineteen rays.
That nothing may be omitted as regards this little-known
species, I add my notes as taken from an example in my
possession. — The length four inches and three fourths, depth
one inch and a fourth at some distance before the dorsal fin;
the slope forward, beginning at the furthest third of the pectoral,
and descending rapidly forward. Gape narrow, jaws nearly
equal; eyes large and much in front. Body compressed,
diminishing backward from the front of the dorsal and from
the vent. The anal fin begins opposite the termination of the
dorsal Pectorals low; ventrals rather large; scales also large
MCZ LfSRARY
c4 i>
Q O
O
4
64
MINNOW.
MINNIS. PINK.
Varius or Phoxinus IcBvis, Jonston.
Plwxinus, WiLLOUGHBY; PI. 28, 1, p. 268.
Cyprinns phoxinus, LinnjEus. Donovan; PI. 60.
" " Jenyns; Manual, p. 415.
Leuciscus phjximis Cuvier. Bloch; p. 8, f. 5.
" " Fleming; Bi-itisli Animals, p. 188.
" . " Yarkell; British Fishes, vol. i, p. 423.
It ajipears from the writings of Jonston and Rondeletius that
some other species has been confounded with our well-known
Minnow, and that the Phoxi7ius and Varies of ancient authors
are to be regarded as distinct; so that it becomes in some
degree uncertain whether the remarks that will be extracted
from Aristotle with reference to its habits, are applicable to
one or the other; although indeed we suppose they may be
more correctly referred to both. The Phoxinus, which is termed
Squamosus or the Scaly, may belong to the genus Leuciscus,
and has been supposed to be the fish denominated by Linnceus
Cyprinus bijnmctatus ; but it is beyond doubt that the Varius
of Rondeletius is our Minnow.
As its name implies, this fish is the smallest of the British
s]3ecies of this family. It appears also to be the most exten-
sively distributed, and yet it is remarkable that it was not
originally a native of the Irish rivers; its introduction into
that island not having taken place at a much earlier date than
the beginning of the present (nineteenth) century, and it is
not, even at this time, to be found in many situations that
appear well fitted to its nature. But where it has been con-
veyed it multiplies as freely as in England. In Scotland also
I
:us
ist
en-
not
BtO
&
iat
on-
also
I
^
J
MINNOW, (55
it is common, and in some districts of this portion of r)rilain
it is the only one of the family of Carps which inhabits the
rivers.
We learn that it is known in Sweden and Norway, and
supposing it to be the Phoxinus mentioned by Aristotle and
Pliny, it occurs in Macedonia or Greece; althougli it is not
recognised in Italy by Risso. In some of the smaller streams
in Cornwall it is not found; but in many of the isolated ponds
or pools on the wilder downs of that county they abound;
although, it seems difficult to imagine in what manner they can
have been conveyed thither; and the ponds themselves are
distant from any river, so that they appear to be supplied with
water only from the draining of the surrounding soil or the
occasional fall of rain. But, besides the Minnows there is found
in these solitary ponds a fine species of Trout, which nearly
resembles that of the Loe Pool, in the same county; and to
these the Minnow can furnish a sufficient supply of food, while
the manner in which itself manages to obtain subsistence has
escaped observation. These pools must be of ancient date, but
in appearance they are nothing more than the excavations made
by miners in remote times in their search for tin.
In the flowing streams inhabited by this fish it is necessary
there should be some deeper recesses into which it may retire
from the influence of the colder seasons, to which it is highly
sensitive; but in summer it is active and frolicsome in shallower
water over a gravelly bottom; where numerous companies are
seen enjoying themselves in sport, unconscious of the danger
which besets them from ravenous enemies, which rush suddenly
among them, while such as are so fortunate as to escape are
dispersed in all directions. Perhaps the Trout is their most
destructive foe, and no more enticing bait can be employed to
entice that fish to its own destruction; but indeed there are
few of the predaceous fishes which inhabit fresh water that do
not prove themselves formidable enemies to this little fish; for
in the earliest stage of its existence there are larvae of insects
which prey upon it; so that if it were not exceedingly prolific,
the race itself would be in danger of becoming extinct.
But to counteract this extremity of hazard, Aristotle has
remarked that the Phoxinus begins to breed almost as soon as
it has come into existence, which is only an exaggeration of
VOL. IV. K
66 MINNOW.
■what belongs to fishes in general; for, contrary to what takes
place in creatures that are higher in the scale of nature, almost
all fishes breed long before they have reached their full extent
of -growth. Yet among Minnows there are found more males
than females, and the season of spawning, which is in the
middle of summer, appears to be short for each individual;
although an observation of Aristotle, which appears to be
confirmed by the experience of others, is sufficient to shew that
the younger fishes may have produced a progeny sufficient to
provide a second growth before the expiration of the same
season. As the colder weather approaches they certainly cease
to breed.
The spawn is deposited in sandy ground, and in a very
short time the young escape from the egg; but at this early
stage of existence, as enemies are numerous, they are said to
seek concealment from danger by burying themselves in the
sand. As it is known also that they are not usually to be
discovered in the colder months of the year, it is to be supposed
that at this season some similar mode of concealment or shelter
is again resorted to.
Naturally the Minnow is a timid fish: as it may well be
where every inhabitant of the stream is a dangerous enemy.
But it may be rendered tame without difficulty, and in a tank
it will take food from the hand, and even attend on the
motions of a friend. In the river it readily seizes a bait, and
will even hold it so fast with the jaws as to suffer itself to
be thus lifted out of the water. And when not disturbed it is
amusing: to see them assemble in order to devour some dead
animal substance, which may even chance to be the body of
one of their own species. They arrange themselves in the form
of a ring, which has been compared to that formed by the
petals of a flower, with their heads lower than the level of
their bodies; and in this situation no one jostles another. But
however peaceable among themselves, the circle must not be
broken into by a stranger; for on the approach of such the
most powerful of the company will qviit his station to drive
him away; while his place is kept vacant by his companions
until his return to the feast.
The Minnow seldom exceeds three inches in length; the
shape solid and robust, but lengthened in proportion to the
MINNOW. 67
fTepth, mid moderately compressed. The snout rounded, vmdcr
jaw a little the shortest, nostrils large and ojien; eyes large;
summit of the head broad, body rounded over the back; scales
scarcely perceptible. The first ray of the dorsal fin at the
middle, as measured from the snout to the fork of the tail,
with nine rays, but also with a first ray very short, making
ten; the last two from one root. Anal fin beginning about
opposite the last ray of the dorsal, with seven rays; tail wide,
forked, with nineteen rays; pectoral pointed; ventral nine rays.
Colour of the top of the head and back dark green, with darker
bars, plainly visible in some, less so in others; a yellow line
from the upper part of the gill-covers to the tail; cheeks yellow:
faint yellow or whitish on the belly; fins generally pale yellow;
a dark spot at the root of the tail. In some specimens a dark
brown line from the eye to the mystache; and in the breeding
season the under parts a lively pink. The breadth across the
head with a narrowing towards the mouth is the best proof
that this fish is the true PJwxinus of Aristotle; whose name of
it, as signifying "formed like a top," is applicable to such a
shape.
68
COBITIS
The head smnll; moutli without teeth, but with barbs on the lips.
Body lengthened, with small scales Three rajs in the gill membrane,
the aperture small; ventral fins far behind, and above them a single
small dorsal fin. Abdominal fishes.
This family, which with us bears the name of Loach, is aberrant
from that of the true Carps, and appears to make an approach to that
of Silvrus, thus uniting together species which in their general aspect,
a? well as in habits, appear at first sight to have little in common.
Besides the presence of barbels at the mouth, which assimilates them
generally to the true Carps, Barbel, and Gudgeon, they also possess
the strongly -toothed pharyngeal bones, and an air-bladder separated
into two lobes; which latter is indeed scarcely to be discerned,
because besides its being of very small size, it is- enclosed within a
double bony case formed by the third and fourth vertebrae, whereby
it is kept almost concealed from view. It is placed immediately over
the entrance of the mouth from the gullet, and was only discovered
by the skilful dissection of an anatomist; and its office appears to be
more closely connected with the organ of hearing than with the more
ordinary function of suspending the body in water. It appears from
an observation by Mr. Maclelland in the "Asiatic Researches," that
the bones of the ear discovered by Professor Weber, as referred to by
Blumenbach and Professor Owen, (which in some of this family
connect the air-bladder with the organ of hearing in the brain,) in
the Loaches occupy the situation of this donbly-lobed vessel; and it
points out the near connection between the Silurid^ and the Loaches,
that the air-vessel of the former is situated in the same relative
situation.
This family of Loaches is also distinguished by an abundant supply
of mucus on the skin, secreted from innumerable but obscure sources,
which are not confined to the lateral line, as in the generality of
the Cyprinidce, but are scattered over the whole surface; and the use
of which is that it not only renders them more difficult to be laid
hold of, but also answers an important purpose in the animal
oeconomy by preventing the escape of fluids necessary to their existence;
a remark which will apply to many other fishes besides the Loaches.
From experiments made by Dr. W. F. Edwards, brother of Dr. Milne
Edwards, it has been found that when a Cliub and Gudgeon had
been wiped dry and weighed alive, although their gills continued to
beat until they were dead, yet by that time they had lost by
evaporation, the one a fifteenth, and the other a fourteenth of their
whole weight ; and other species suffered in about the same proportion.
But an example in which the body was immersed while the head
and gills were exposed to the air, remained alive for nine hours and
twenty minutes; and how long the Carp will continue alive, and even
increase in bulk, when wholly enclosed in wet moss, or frequently
dipped in water has been ali'eady noticed.
69
Cohifis flninatiUs
harhatula,
Im
•baiula,
t(
«
<(
<>'
M
u
<e
li
LOACH.
WiLLOuCxHBY; p. 265, Table Q. 8.
LiNNiEus. CuviER. Bloch ; PI. 31, f. 3.
Donovan ; PL 22.
Fleming; British Animals, p. 189.
Jenyns; Manual, p. 416.
Yarrell; Br. Fishes, vol. i, p. 427. It
has been supposed to be the Redo
of the Poet Ausonius,
The Loacli is generally distributed throughout the United
Kingdom, and over a large part of the continent of Europe,
up to the far north of Scandinavia; but it does not appear to
exist in warmer countries, although several other species of the
same family are known in India. But even among ourselves
it does not inhabit all the streams which might be supposed
suited to its nature; and whilst a preference is given to clear
water which flows with some degree of rapidity, it is most
frequently met with in the narrower branches of a river rather
than in the wider and deeper stream. It keeps chiefly at the
bottom, where it lies concealed beneath a stone, or resting at
ease upon it, waiting for prey with the barbs which encircle
its mouth extended; and the quick sensibility with which they
are endowed, may be judged from the nerves with which they
are furnished, and which are of larger size than those which
provide the eyes with sight. Soon after these nerves have
come from the brain, at about the hindmost corner of the eye,
each of them divides into a pair of branches, the lowermost
of which proceeds to the corner of the mouth, while the upper
goes to the snout, and probably to the barbs. And that the
nostrils also are possessed of acute sensibility is proved in that
when the experiment has been made, this fish has been seen
to have followed its food by the scent, so as to have discovered
TO LOACH.
it wlien intentionally concealed from tlie mere influence of
sight and feeling.
But it is for the most part only by daylight that the Loach
reclines listlessly at the bottom, concealed or in an apjDarently
waiting posture; for it is a nocturnal fish, and when darkness
has concealed its movements, it assumes habits of active energy,
whether in seeking its prey or escaping enemies; and of the
ap23roach of the latter, or the feeling of any unusual motion,
its instinctive watchfulness presently puts it on its guard. ^Vlien
kept in a tank its boisterous attempts to extend its rambles
have been so powerful and persevering as to be heard far off,
and have caused it to throw itself over the wall of its prison;
and this is especially the case at the approach of or during
remarkable changes of wind and weather. Nor ought this
sensibility to atmospheric changes excite surprise ; since, besides
the experience of anglers in the river, fishermen on the ocean
know that at considerable depths many sorts of fish are quickly
sensible of the same influence, as displayed in their motions of
activity and aj^petite; and it is only in the suj^position of the
sensition excited in them by electric changes in the atmosphere
that this can be accounted for. This fish is also observed to
ascend from the bottom to the surface, and again to descend
many times in succession; and on these occasions it is probable
that it takes in and swallows portions of air; not, however, into
its diminutive air-bladder, but into its stomach; from which it
passes tlirough the bowel to be discharged in the form of
carbonic gas; in which proceeding it has been remarked that
the intestine aj^jjears to perform a function which in creatures
of the land is more particularly the duty of the lungs.
The Loach will take a bait, and notwithstanding its small
size it has been pronounced delicious food; so that for the use
of the table in some parts of Europe it is carried to market
alive. And connected with this, as already, in speaking of the
Barbel, we have referred to a practice in remote times of eating
it uncooked; in some parts of our own country a great stretch
of this morbid appetite is said to be sometimes indulged in, by
swallowinsr the Loach while still alive. But when this sort of
mistaken craving is indulged in, the devourer should at least
be cautioned to observe the advice of Hondeletius, in not
mistaking the Armed Loach, next to be described, for the
LOACH. 71
smootli-clieekecl species; and thereby become liable to the penalty
of suffering a laceration of his throat, as the struggling victim
may be urging his passage into his stomach.
This fish sheds its spawn in April and INIay.
It rarely attains to five inches in length; the head rather
depressed, sloping from the eyes, which are small, to the snout;
the front moderately rounded. The mouth arched, gape small,
jaws weak, upper lip with six barbs, a pair of which are at the
corners of the mouth. The body lengthened, round at first,
afterwards compressed, slightly deeper at the origin of the dorsal
fin, but behind this nearly equal to the tail. Lateral line nearly
straight. The surface covered with slime; scales little percep-
tible, not in regular order, and none on the head or throat.
Origin of the single dorsal fin about half-way between the snout
and origin of the caudal fin, with nine or ten rays. This fin
is immediately above the ventrals, and ends before the origin
of the anal; which last fin is by Mr. Yarrell described as having
six rays, and by Nilsson as furnished with nine. The ventrals
have nine; pectorals large, round, with thirteen rays; the tail
wider than long, straight or round. The colour is prettily
varied; — the back more or less a darkish green, with dark
brown blotches and stripes; below pale yellowish white. All
the fins have a tendency to yellow; dorsal and caudal, and
partly the pectoral, with stripes of brown.
72
BOTrA.
This genus was constituted by Dr. John Ed! ward Gray for the
reception of those Loaches which possess a spine on the fore part of
the face, a little behind the nostrils. The other characters are the
same as in the genus Lohitis.
Several of these fishes are thus armed in India, but there is only
one in our own country.
SPINED LOACH.
Gohitis Tinuia, LiNNiEUs. CuviEB. Blocii; PL 31, f. 2.
" " Jenyns; Manual, p. 417.
Gohitis Teenia, Fleming; British Animals, p. 189.
Botia Teenia, Yarkell ; British Fishes, vol. i, p. 432.
Among the older naturalists there is much confusion in
distinguishing this species from the more common Loach; and
indeed so far as regards their habits little is known of the
particulars in which they differ; the principal being that this
Spined Loach keeps in more muddy places, and is more inclined
to shelter itself within the soil. It is also more retentive of
life. Although it is well known on the continent, it has not
yet been discovered in Ireland; and in Britain it has been
recorded in only a few rivers, although perhaps on closer search
it may be found in several others. The counties of Nottingham,
Wilts., Cambridge, Warwick, and, I believe, Gloucester, are
mentioned as containing this fish, but it seems not to find a
home in any very rapid streams.
The use of the remarkable bifid spine on the superior portion
of the face, which constitutes the principal generic character,
and seems to be moveable at the will of the fish, is uncertain;
but jDerhaps it may be employed in the way of defence after
the manner of the more powerful instrument that arms the
SPINED I.OACH. 73
posterior portion of the head of the Weever. A figure of this
fish obtained by myself from nature appears to be too small to
afford a satisfactory likeness; and therefore we borrow a copy
from Bloch, of what appears to be the usual size of the fish.
Nor does a lengthened description appear necessary in order
to distinguish it from the unarmed species already described.
It is relatively of a more slender form, as is implied in the
trivial name of Tcenia, or the Tape; but the situation of the
fins and barbs is the same. The fins are a little smaller and
narrower, the barbs scarcely so long, and the snout is slightly
more projected. The sharp and doubly-pointed spine, which
forms the principal character of this fish, is a ready mark of
distinction, but it is to be remarked that it may lie so closely
pressed down as not to be readily discerned.
f'.
Doublj^- pointed spine.
VOL. IV. L
74
SIirRTIS.
The body depressed and rounded on its anterior part, compressed
behind; mouth wide, with several long barbs; gill membrane with
rays not less than four; no scales on the head or body. A single
narrow dorsal fin; the first ray of the pectoral armed with a strong
spine; caudal fin separate. Abdominal fishes.
SHEATFISH.
SLY SILURUS.
Mustela harhata, Jonston; Table 28, f. 7.
WiLLOUGHBY; p. 128, plate H. 5.
Sihirus glanis, Linn^us. Cuvier. Bloch; pi. 34.
Yaerell; Br. Fishes, vol. i, p. 461.
The Wels, Dr. Gunther; Fisherman's Magazine,
No. 8, p. 365.
There appears little reason to doubt that the Silurus of
Pliny, (B. 9, c. 15.) and consequently the Glanis of Aristotle,
is the same with the Silurus glanis of Linnseus; but it is still
uncertain whether it has ever been found in the British Islands.
From the enormous size it sometimes attains it could not have
remained with us without having been discovered, and therefore
if found at all, it could only have been as a wanderer from
the Continent of Europe, in the larger rivers of which it is
known, although not in abundance, for it is said to be not
exceedingly prolific. In the Danube, and the larger rivers of
the north of Europe, it is well known; but it is more rare in
Sweden, although it is met with even in Xorway. According
to Nilsson, in these northern countries it never reaches the
same size as in Germany. Pliny says it is a fish of the Nile,
and also of a lake out of which the Nile flows: a remarkable
» ♦
hi CI LU -^^^Y
SHEATFISH. 75
anticipation of modern discovery; and it is also found in some
other rivers of Africa, and in Asia. But the question arises
whether this fish is capable of living for a short time in the
open sea; and it scarcely amounts to an answer to this, when
it is said that it has been occasionally found in the Baltic, for
it is known that the water of that inland sea is much less salt
than that of the ocean, and in its upper part it is almost
entirely fresh.
It is affirmed, however, that the Sheatfish has been taken in
an Irish river; but the example was not seen by a scientific
naturalist, nor was a figure of it drawn; and therefore it is
for the assistance of future observers that we extract what Mr.
Thompson has recorded of the facts of the case. "That this
species has in a single instance been taken in Ireland I am
disposed to believe, on the following testimony: — On inquiry
(October, 1840,) of William Blair, who has for many years
been fisherman, etc., at Florence Court, whether he had ever
met with any rare fish, he described an extraordinary one, of
which he could never learn the name, that he took twelve or
thirteen years ago in a tributary of the Shannon, near its
source, and about three miles above Lough Allen. His des-
cription was so graphic and particular that Lord Enniskillen,
on hearing it, immediately suggested its applicability to the
Silurus; and on Yarrell's figure being shewn to the intelligent
captor of the specimen, he at once identified it as in all
respects rej)resenting his fish, except in the head and mouth
not being large enough. Professor Agassiz, who was present,
on being appealed to, stated that these parts were certainly
not represented of sufficient size in the figure. The fish was
seen struggling in a pool in the river after a flood, and "with
the long worm-like feelers from its mouth;" and its general
appearance was looked upon as so hideous, that the persons
who first saw it were afraid to touch it. The specimen was
at least two feet and a half in length, and eight or nine
pounds in weight. Although unfortunately lost to science, it
for two or three years — or until the skeleton fell to pieces —
adorned a bush near the scene of its death. The species was
not known as an inhabitant of any of the neighbouring waters
by the persons of the district. The distribution of the Silurus
(jlanis on the Continent of Europe is somewhat anomalous, as
76 SHEATFISH.
I learn from M. Agassiz. lu Central Europe it is found in
the lakes of Neuchatel, Bienne, and Morat only: in no other
lakes or rivers connected with the Rhine does it occur. It
inhabits the rivers flowing into the Baltic and Black Sea." —
("Natural History of Ireland," vol. iv.)
The ancients appear to have paid much attention to the
habits of this fish, which they called Glanis or Lagnis.
Aristotle says that the female altogether neglects the care of
her spawn and the young, but that the male watches over
and protects them; and that in about forty or fifty days they
are able to shift for themselves. He adds, that this fish is
stupified with loud thunder, and that as food the female is
better than the male; both are to be rejected when the female
is large with spawn.
Whether this fish was ever in remote times an inhabitant of
English rivers may also be regarded as uncertain: but Mr.
Higgins informs me that he found undoubted relics of the
pectoral defence bone of this fish, in a bed of clay, under
a layer of peat, at Leasowe, in Cheshire, while engaged in
searching for fossil remains. I find also, in an extract from
Lloyd's "Scandinavian Adventures," that through the indefati-
gable exertions of Mr. George Berney, of Morton, in Norfolk,
"the Silurus was last year (1853) introduced into England,
and consequently is now included in our fauna;" but how far
this attempt has been successful does not appear. To assist
future observers the likeness of this fish is copied from Bloch,
and our description chiefly from Willoughby, with additions
from Olaus Wormius and Nilsson, the former of whom has
represented its character as being slow in its actions, sly and
all-devouring; and it is said that it has even been known to
swallow a child of the age of seven or eight years.
It has been known to attain the length of ten or eleven
feet, and is recorded to have weighed one hundred and fifty-
six pounds, and, according to Bloch, it has even reached the
enormous weight of seven hundred and fifty pounds, after the
entrails had been removed; but it is said by Nilsson to be
rarely longer (in Sweden) than four feet, with a weight of
fifty pounds. The head is flattened and wide, the body
rounded on the fore part, compressed towards the tail; belly
tumid, and capable of great distension; the mouth wide; gape
SHEATFISH. H
large; jaws rough with teeth; on each corner of the upper
lip a long stout barb, which in the younger examples reaches
as far back as the vent; below the lower jaw four barbs of
less dimensions. Eyes small, protruding; gill-openings large;
the skin smooth and tough. A single narrow dorsal fin,
situated above the pectorals, with frona three to five rays;
pectorals round, armed in front with a firm bone that is
toothed on its hindward border, eighteen rays; ventral fin
with sixteen; the tail round, with eighteen rays. The colour
above dark brown with a tint of green, more or less spotted
with black; the belly yellowish, dusky and mottled. The
air-bladder is divided through its length.
78
CLUPEIDyE.
THE HERRING FAMILY.
The character is that the upper jaw has on each side a
long, wide, slightly bent mystache, or free maxillary bone, which
is not furnished with teeth. The body covered with scales;
the belly ridged, with pointed scales differing from those on
the body; gill membrane with eight rays. A single dorsal fin;
the tail forked.
In their general appearance the fishes of this family bear
much resemblance to the Lake or River Breams; but they
differ in the form and dimensions of the mystache, and
especially in the saw-like keel of the belly. Inwardly also
the characteristic pharyngeal bones in the family of Cyprinidce
are lost; and the ClupeidcB for the most part are without any,
or they are so faintly marked as scarcely to be discerned. The
remarkable shape of the air-bladder is also exchanged for a
long and narrow tube, both ends of which are drawn out into
a thread, the hindmost of which in the Herring extends to
the vent. Of all fishes they have the most slender and
numerous bones; so that along the lower part of the body
the ribs reach to the forked scales, by the aid of which the
muscles of the sides become more firmly sustained; and there
is also a double row of hair-like bones between these ribs and
the upright processes of the vertebrse, by the help of which
the actions of the muscles of the back are rendered more
energetic. They are abdominal fishes.
Mr"" I
CAMBK
Q
< ^
o O
t-H
I
m w -»i
80 PILCHARD.
Of its distribution in tlie south of Europe we are not able
to say anything, until it is rendered certain whether the Pilchard
be the same fish with the Sardine of the coasts of Spain and
the Mediterranean: a question concerning which we will offer
a few remarks when we enter on a description of the fish as it
occurs in our own seas. But it is to the coast of Cornwall, and
the shores of Devon bordering on that county, that we must
look for the history of this fish, and the value of its fishery;
and if we do not refer also to the south of Ireland for the same
purpose, it is because the subject has not been there attended
to in the manner its importance demands. It is in the dis-
tricts just named that the Pilchard is to be regarded as a
native, for it is there they propagate, and may be found at all
seasons. There also they perform their migratory motions,
which, with an approach to regularity, are yet attended with
such variety as to stamp their habits and motions with the
character of capriciousness, and which belongs also to the
other species of this family in such a manner as to constitute
for all of them a common likeness. The same remark was
made so long ago as in the time of the poet Oppian, who,
under the name of Chalkis, refers to a fish which his translator
supposes to be no other than our common Pilchard.
"Pilchards and Shads in shoals together keep,
The numerous fry disturbs the mantling deep;
No home they know, nor can confinement love,
But, fond of hourly change, unsettled rove;
Now choose the rocks, now seek the wider seas :
No place can long the restless wanderers please.
They soon grow weary when they once enjoy;
And jaleasure will, as soon as tasted, cloy."
And *^hus it happens, that although it is known when the
season of the fish's arrival is come, so little is certain of the
time when the schools will approach a particular district, that
the fishermen are kept in daily suspense, and their individual
success from year to year becomes a matter of great uncertainty.
The usual course of the movements of the Pilchards is that
they seek the deeper water of the nearer portion of the
Atlantic in the colder season of the year; and that they are
then at the bottom is often known by their being found in
the stomachs of the larger fishes which are caught with lines
PILCHARD, 81
at that season. Large numbers have then gone beyond the
reach of the longest lines; for they are seen to rise to the
surface when the season changes, at a still more considerable
distance west or south of the Scilly Islands. But such seclusion
is not always sought; and it is in our notes that schools (in
one instance believed to contain a thousand hogsheads) have
come within the reach of drift-nets, and even of scans, in
January, February, and March. Usually, however, at this
season they are more scattered, or in smaller companies, and
it is supposed that their subordinate motions are by drawing
nearer the land by day, and passing into deeper water at
night. The reason of these occasional early assemblages may
be that the time of spawning in the spring has become per-
manently early, for it is far from an unusual occurrence that
many sorts of fishes shall anticipate or delay the more ordinary
seasons of their race; but in April and May they are habitually
prepared to shed their spawn, which they now do at a further
distance from land, and over deeper water than is the case at
the warmer season of autumn, when again, early or later, they
perform the same function, although we do not feel assured
that they are the same fishes which thus perform the duty of
procreation on both occasions. The number of males usually
exceeds that of females, and sometimes they do so to a large
extent; but mingled with them are many that have no en-
largement of the milt or roe, and some also which appear to
be of both sexes united.
I have reason to suppose that the spaivn is shed at the
surface, and mingled with it a large quantity of tenacious
mucus, in which it is kept floating while it is obtaining the
vivifying influence of the light and warmth of the sun, by the
influence of which the development is considerably hastened,
as we know to be the case with many other kinds of fish.
My notes on this subject are, that pi'esently after spawning, a
sheet of jelly, enclosing myriads of enlarging grains of spawn,
has been seen to extend several miles in length, and a mile
or more in breadth, over the su.rface of the sea, and wdiich
has been of the thickness of brown paper, and so tough as
not to be readily torn in pieces. In about a couple of days
this connecting mucus became decomposed, and the ova then
sunk to the bottom of the vessel in which they had been
VOL. IV. M
S2 PILCHARD.
placed; but, being thus removed from their natural situation,
they did not pass through a further process of development.
There seems to be no reason to doubt that these fishes
require two, and probably three years to enable them to attain
their full growth; and the occasional preponderancy of numbers
of the young above the old will tend to explain some unusual
circumstances which at times have occurred to the great disap-
pointment of the fishermen, and which otherwise appear
unaccountable. Ihus the fish which may be caught at one
time will be of such diversity of size as to imply a great
difference of age in the individuals; but for several years in
the early part of the present century, the larger portion of
the schools consisted of fish of such diminutive size as to be
able to pass through the small meshes of the seans, which,
therefore, were eminently unsuccessful. At this time the
larger fish must have taken an unusual direction, and the
diiference of numbers that were caught under these circum-
stances was so great, that, whereas the average quantity
supplied for exportation in each year has been given, by good
authority, as thirty thousand hogsheads of fifty gallons each, in
the year 1829 there were only five hundred hogsheads.
That a capricious search after food may exercise an infiuence
on the wanderings of the Pilchard is probable; but some
uncertainty still exists concerning the nature of its usual suste-
nance, and it is only by supposing it to vary at different times
that we can venture to account for the considerable difierence
which exists in its health and condition at different times, and
especially at the seasons of its spawning in the spring and
autumn. At the former they are so destitute of oily matter as
to be of little value, so that the taking them is chiefly for the
supply of bait for taking other fish, — and nothing is so suc-
cessful for this purpose. But when they appear towards the
end of July, and until the season of spawning after the equinox,
their condition is very different, and none of this family can
by many degrees be taken in comparison with them. It is
commonly believed that at this time their food consists of the
seeds or early growth of sea vegetables, in supposed search of
which they have been seen in large numbers quietly searching
at the bottom in a small depth of water. On examining the
stomach it is not usual to find anything besides a pulpy mass
PILCHARD. 83
of what may be vegetable substance; but animal forms have
also been discovered, and on one occasion, in the middle of
summer, when multitudes were caught in drift-nets, as they
were seen actively engaged in some pursuit close to the surface,
an examination laid open the existence of vast numbers of a
small shrimp-like creature, on which they had been feeding to
repletion. On another occasion the stomachs of several were
found to contain examples of the mackarel midge; and I have
been informed that instances have been met with in which a
Pilchard has taken the fisherman's hook. The rarity of such
an occurrence may perhaps be explained by supposing that
the size of the hook or bait, rather than want of appetite in
the fish, is a hindrance to its being more frequent.
The roe of some kinds of fish may also be the occasional
food of the Pilchard; as I have been informed by a gentleman
who resided several years at Croisic, in France, that it is the
custom with French fishermen to scatter the salted roe of fish
about their (drift) nets, in order to attract the Pilchard into
them, and that he had seen this spawn in the stomachs of the
fish thus caught. I have learned also from the British
consul at Brest that the use of the salted roe of fish is uni-
versal on that coast for the purpose of attracting the Pilchard
into the nets; and hundreds of tons of the roe of the Cod
and Ling are imported into that country for this purpose. It
is scattered in the direction of the nets with a ladle, and the
stomachs of the Pilchards are found to be filled with this food.
There cannot be a doubt that the fishery for Pilchards is
of ancient date, and the regard in which the fish was held
appears from its having been admitted into heraldry at a time
when coats-of-arms were of great importance; but I find no
mention of it in public documents before the age of Queen
Elizabeth, when we find that the drying of Pilchards was
among the monopolies granted by authority to some courtiers,
the clamour against which so moved public indignation as to
cause their surrender. But from this time the fishery is
known to have so far attracted the attention of the public as
to become the subject of particular laws, the special enactments
of which afford proof that the methods of conducting it were
diff"erent in some considerable degree from those practised at
present, as well as the manner of preparing the fish for a
84 PILCHARD.
foreign market. The use of seans is probably of great antiquity,
and is spoken of by Carew as well known at the conclusion
of the seventeenth century; and from the MS. accounts of the
merchant Treville, at that date it appears that the fish exported
to France and Italy was obtained chiefly if not solely by using
them. But there is reason to believe that under the name
of sean a different sort of net was employed from that which
now bears the name. Thus, in a map contained in Norden's
work, "Speculi Britannise Pars," A. D. 1728, two ground seans
are represented in operation, one enclosing the other, and with
one end of the outer sean held by a man who stands on the
land, while the landward end of the enclosed sean is held by
one who is a short way in the water. The further end of
each net was termed the pole end, from a pole which kept
it upright or spread out; but this is no longer used, although
the name is still continued for the sean of much larger size
and otherwise formed now in use. These distant ends are
shewn in the plate as drawn along by two boats, one a little
in advance of the other, and each of them managed by a
couple of men; while two other boats are within the curve
formed by the seans, as if directing the proceeding, and
perhaps keeping back the fish, that they might not escape by
the only opening, until the whole is safely drawn to the land.
The importance of employing two concentric seans will be
seen when we know that the meshes were wide enough to
allow the escape of large numbers of the fish; and it was not
until the year 1605 (at the beginning of the reign of James
the First) that a mesh was rendered legal, termed the
Dungarvon Mesh, Avhich should be sufficiently small to retain
all the fish, and yet prevent any of them from becoming
entangled in the mesh; which latter circumstance, if it were
to happen, would be destructive of the whole adventure.
In the former mode of fishing here referred to, it appears
that the fish were drawn on shore at the nearest beach, which
must often be on the land on which neither the fishermen
nor the purchasers of the fish had a right to intrude, and
much quarreling was likely to be the result; to obviate which,
in the year previous to the date above given an act was
passed which made it lawful for Balkers, Condors, Huers,
and other fishermen, in pursuance of their calling, to go upon
PTLCHARI). 85
nigh hills and grounds without being guilty of trespass;
and it also permits other persons to attend the scans or nets
for the purpose of landing or carrying away the fish thus
caught. Persons, however, who came thither out of mere
curiosity were subject to a penalty for their intrusion.
There still remain many local appearances which shew that
the fish thus caught were not always carried away, but were
salted and prepared for exportation at the places where they
had been brought to land; but there is also evidence to
shew that the quantity thus caught could not in any individual
instance have been large, while the fishermen must have been
often tantalized at observing the large abundance of schools
which obstinately maintained a position at a somewhat greater
distance than in their method of proceeding they were able
to reach.
It is within the extent of our information, derived from
aged fishermen, and reaching back to more than a hundred
years, that some considerable changes have taken place in the
times at which the larger bodies of these fish have come to
our coast, and which appear more unaccountable than the
merely capricious movements pursued in ordinary seasons, but
which must have considerably influenced the methods pursued
in the fishery, and especially on its success. Thus for upwards
of thirty years at the middle of the last century, the most
successful portion of the fishery was carried on after the
autumnal equinox, and consequently by drift nets, since the
scans could scarcely be then exposed to the risk inevitable
from the stormy weather, and the long and dark nights. But
towards the end of the same century a change took place,
and the principal success was from the beginning of August
to the end of September, when a large increase took place in
the number of scans, and a profitable fishery was experienced
by all of them. It is now again found that after a nearly
equal extent of time, the winter fishery along the southward
coast is alone or chiefly successful, and a diminution in the
number of scans is the necessary result. There are not at
this time more than a fourth part so many as were in use
fifty years ago; and it is certain that it was not the withdrawal
of the bounty alone that caused the lessening of the number.
But when in the summer the fishery is about to begin, it
86 PILCHAUD.
sometimes happens that immense multitudes of fish will collect
far from land, with an evident intention to proceed towards
the shallower water. An instance of this was met with in
the month of July, at forty leagues in a south-west direction
from the Scilly Islands; and so large and dense was the
assemblage that the course of the ship was supposed to have
been obstructed by them, and some were taken up by merely
dipping a bucket among them. More usually, however, they
do not assemble in large bodies until they have been for a
time in the neighbourhood of the coast, and it is then that
they assume the arrangement of a mighty army, with its
wings stretched out parallel to the land; while the numberless
smaller bodies of which it is composed are continually shifting
their position, joining together and separating again. There
are three stations occupied by this body which have great
influence on the success of the fishery; one of which is
eastward of the Lizard Point, and reaches to the Bay of
Bigbury, near the Bolthead, in Devonshire, beyond which
little success attends the fishery, although at Dartmouth some
efforts are made towards it. A second station is from the
Lizard to the Land's End; and the third is on the north
coast, where the principal station is at St. Ives. It is common
for one of these districts to be full of fish while few are to
be seen in either of the others; but late in the season the
schools often change from one district to another, or pass in
succession along all the shores of a county. It is at this late
season especially that they shew themselves at St. Ives, w^here,
therefore, they are not usually expected until October or
November: but when they come it is in immense multitudes,
and ^^sually from the eastward; a circumstance which is ac-
counted for by the supposition that from the west they have
been influenced by the course of a current that has taken a
circuit of the coast bounded by the shores of Ireland, Wales,
and the north of Devonshire.
In the ordinary season of the fishery the subordinate move-
ments of the smaller bodies are much influenced by the tide,
directly against the current of which they do not proceed;
and the large extended body will sometimes remain at a
distance from the land, although parallel with it, for several
weeks, and then suddenly, as if by general consent, approach
PK.CHARII, 87
close to the shore, perhaps without the movement having been
noticed until the fish have reached it. It is at this juncture
that the principal opportunity is afforded for the successful
prosecution of the fishery with scans.
One method of conducting the fishery for Pilchards is by
drift or driving nets, the outfit of which consists of a number
of nets, which varies according to the means of the fisherman,
and in consequence of the size of his boat; but a usual
equipment may amount to twenty, of which each net measures
in length from eighteen to twenty fathoms: so that what is
termed a string of nets may reach three quarters of a mile.
These nets are fastened to each other in length, and to a
head line, along which is placed a row of corks; and another
line runs loosely along the middle of the nets to afford addi-
tional strength in rough weather, or when the nets are drawn
loaded with fish. These drift nets have hitherto been made
of hemp, of which the finer the quality the better; but
within a few years a preference has been given to cotton
nets, which do indeed become worn out in much less time,
but yet are believed, coupled with their lower cost, to produce
a greater profit by taking a far greater abundance of fish.
A set of these nets is carried on board the boat, which,
on other occasions, is employed in the hook or other usual
method of taking fish; but an addition is commonly required
to the ordinary amount of the crew; for in turbulent weather,
with a favourable capture, it requires no small degree of
strength, as well as length of time, to lift the dripping burden
from the rolling waves over the gunwale. The nets are cast
or sJiot at about the going down of the sun, for the fish will
not enter the meshes in broad daylight, and they are drawn
on board, or hauled, in two or three hours. It is usual also
to shoot them again as morning approaches, as the dusk of
twilight is found to afford the best prospect of success, rather
than deep darkness, which may be explained by the fact that
the brilliancy of the briming is at that time less conspicuous.
The nature of this appearance will be explained when we
are describing the fishery with scans; but in a dark night,
under its influence every thread of the nets appears as if on
fire, and thus is rendered a terrifying object to a timid fish.
A rope from the end of the string of nets is fastened to the
S8 PILCHARD.
bow of the boat, to be shifted to the quarter when the nets
are hmiled ; and the whole thus stretched out is left to float
with or across the tide without the sails being set, except in
very calm weather, when a little headway is necessary, in
order to keep the nets from becoming folded together. Within
a few years an improvement has been made in the arrange-
ment of the nets, by which they have been rendered more
effective, and also those hazards avoided to which they had
been exposed by becoming entangled in the keels and rudders
of ships. It consists in diminishing the number and size of
the corks along the head line, and in placing cords of the
length of two or three fathoms at proper distances, with a
stout buov of cork attached to each. By this means the nets
are sunk beyond the reach of ships, and to a depth sufficient
to reach the fish as they swim below, even when none ai'e
otherwise to be discovered. This method of reaching the fish,
at whatever depth they swim, has long been in use on the
coast of Norway in the taking of Herrings.
The other mode of conducting the fishery for Pilchards is
by seans, for the fitting out of which two principal boats are
provided, each of which is about forty feet in length and ten
feet wide at the beam. The first of these is termed the scan
boat, and is furnished with a scan that is about two hundred
and twenty fathoms in length and twelve in depth; but these
proportions are varied in different districts; and the whole is
buoyed up along the head-rope with corks, and weighed down
at the bottom with leads. The second boat is the volyer or
follower, which carries a scan of from a hundred to a hundred
and twenty fathoms in length, and eighteen at its greatest
dep^th. In form, as well as in extent, this, which is termed
the tuck scan, is different from the former, or stop scan, its
middle portion being shaped into a hollow, or himt, as best
fitted to the use for which it is designed. A third boat,
much smaller than the others, is called the lurker. The crew
of a scan consists of eighteen men, with commonly a boy,
and of these seven are assigned to each of the larger boats,
while the remaining four, including the master seaner, belong
to the hxrker. On some parts of the coast another individual
of no small importance is termed the huer, and on his skill
in discovering the presence of the school, and the direction
PILCHARD. 89
in wliicli they are proceeding, in a great measure depends
the success of the adventure. It is his duty to place himself
in some commanding situation, and by well-known motions to
direct the proceedings of the men afloat; and in the west of
Cornwall^ especially on the north, the fishery could not be
conducted without him.
While the fishery lasts the master has the entire command
of the adventure; and beginning usually about the 1st. of
August, the boats proceed to some well-known sandy bay,
and cast anchor, keeping a good look-out for the appearance
of the school. This is expected to appear at the decline of
the day, and is discovered either by the rippling of the
surface, the leaping above it or stoitmg of the fish, or by the
colour of the water; which latter, where the sandy bottom is
bright, becomes well marked. The master first proceeds in
the lurker to the place where these appearances shew them-
selves, in order that he be certain of the magnitude of the
school, with the direction it is taking, coupled with the state
of the tide, and the freedom of the bottom from rocks.
The fish are alarmed at noise; and the firing of a heavy
gun at the distance of twenty miles has been known to cause
the fish to sink, and thus disappoint the labour of the
fishermen. All the proceedings are therefore directed by
signs, and when the circumstances are thus known to be
favourable, a warp from the end of the stop scan is handed
to the crew of the volger, whose duty it is to keep it taut,
while the lurker preserves its station near the fish, to observe
their motions, and point out to the scan boat the space to be
enclosed. The scan boat at this important period is rowed
by four men only, the other three being employed in throwing
out or sJiooting the net; and so active is the strength exerted
on this occasion, that this large quantity of net, rope, cork,
and lead is thrown into the sea in less than five minutes.
The scan thus thrown overboard at first forms a curved line
across the course of the school; and while the larger boats
are engaged in warping the ends together, to enclose the fish
as in a pond, the lurker takes its station at the opening in
order that by dashing the water with the oars the fish may
be kept back from the only place where their escape is at
this time possible. When the ends of the scan are thus
VOL. IV. N
90 PILCHARD.
bronglit together, and fastened with cords, if at the same time
the quantity of fish is great, and the sea is rough or the tide
strong, it is further rendered secure by heavy grapnels, which
are carried off from it in the direction from which the danger
is to be feared.
Such is the manner in which the sean is employed in first
securing the fish in many places; but it varies in different
stations, and more especially in the west and north of Cornwall.
In these latter districts the generally light colour of the
bottom enables the huer on the hills to discern the situation
and motions of the school much more clearly than is the case
on the eastmost borders, and on this account his services are
the more highly important; and on the north coast, in
addition to the usual sean, there is another net of about half
the length of the former, which is called a stop-net, and is
carried by another boat; and which, when the seaners begin
to shoot what may be termed the principal sean, the second
boat also throws out in the opposite direction. In some cases
two of these secondary nets are employed, and even three, by
which means the circle is completed in much less time and
in a larger compass than if only one net were employed; and
when the body of fish is large, as it often is at St. Ives,
where this method of employing scans is chiefly practised, it
is only thus that they could be effectually secured. It is also
only under very favourable circumstances, and with considerable
risk, that the fish thus enclosed in the circle of the net can
be warped, as they sometimes are, from the situation in
which they were first found into shallower water; but from
this account of the proceedings of the fishermen it will be
seen that it is not more difficult to take a thousand hogsheads
than a much less number; the only difference being, that with
the larger body the sean is regularly moored, while with a
small quantity this is unnecessary. It may even be said that
the taking of the larger body is the most easily effected; for
as its movements are more slow, its course is less liable to be
changed through any alarm.
When the evening is closing in, and in preference when the
tide is low, preparations are made to take up the fish; and for
this purpose the principal sean is left undisturbed, while the
volyer passes within the enclosure and lays its sean, termed the
riLCHARD. 91
Tuck, round the former on the inner side; and then the latter
is drawn together so as gradually to contract the space and
raise the fish to the surface. When disturbed they become
exceedingly agitated, and so great is the force derived from
their numbers and terror, that the utmost caution is necessary
to prevent their bursting the net or sinking it; while to hinder
their return back again from the tuck sean into the larger space
of the stop-net, men are employed at the open place in plunging
stones which are suspended from ropes, and drawing them back
again. It will be understood, from what indeed we have already
remarked, that in these proceedings none of the fish can become
entangled in the meshes of these seans; and the small size of
the meshes thus rendered necessary to the success of this fishery
was made legal for taking Herrings, Pilchards, Sprats, and
"Lavidnian," by an act of the third year of James the First,
(ch. 12.)
When the fish thus enclosed in the bunt of the tuck-sean
have been brought to the surface, where they are almost dry,
the seaners proceed to fix themselves in pairs across the gun-
wales of the boats, and with flaskets to lade the fish on board;
while what is contained in the stop-sean, and has not been
gathered into the tuck, is left to a future opportunity. It is
one principal mark of a good master seaner that he forms a
correct opinion of the quantity enclosed within the stop-sean,
and that he is able to take from it with the tuck-sean only
just so much as his boats can receive, and that can be properly
disposed of in the cellar for that day. And in this his judgment
is much assisted by the extent which he perceives of the bri-
ming; which is the term bestowed on the light which proceeds
from numerous minute animals, chiefly molluscous, that abound
throughout the sea at this time, and have become excited to
produce it by the fear arising from the actions of the terrified
fishes. In a dark night every mesh of a sean can be distin-
guished to a great depth by the efi'ulgence proceeding from
these creatures.
Many are the advantages which arise from this practice of
taking up only a portion of the fish at separate times; for the
whole can be salted in a proper condition without undue fatigue
or expense, or injury to the fish by incipient putrefaction. The
sean also is preserved from being broken, and the principal
92 PILCHARD.
body of fish from being killed by strangulation or their own
struggling weight: in which case the whole would be lost
together with the sean, since no human force would be able to
raise to the surface a thousand hogsheads of Pilchards after
they were dead.
The work of curing the fish is performed by women; by
whom they are piled xvp in careful order against the walls of
the cellar: a layer of fish alternately with a layer of salt; and
in this state they remain for thirty days, during which the oil
and brine are suffered to drain from them into pits prepared
for the purpose. The fish are then taken out and sifted, by
which means the dry salt is separated from them; after which
they are carefully washed, and placed in regular order in casks,
each of which measures fifty gallons, and the staves of which
are placed together with crevices, so that the oil with which
they abound may on pressure readily escape. As these casks
stand upright, a stout circular board is laid on the open end,
and on this pressure is made by means of levers, to which
heavy weights are attached; and the fish being thus rej)eatedly
pressed down and the casks refilled for the space of nine days,
and until the weight of the barrel is four huncb'ed and seventy-
six pounds, they are finally closed up and marked for
exportation. It may hei'e be noticed that the excellent natur-
alist Ray committed a singular mistake in the account he has
given of the manner in which Pilchards were cured; but which
may be accounted for and excused by the consideration that
at the time of his visit to St. Ives, which was on the 1st, of
July, he could not have seen the work in operation. He
represents the pressing of Pilchards as effected by laying boards
along the surface of "the bulk," (as "he conceives,") and "so
press the fish equally." His informant appears to have thought
the employment of a barrel so much a matter of course as not
to require to be noticed, and the naturalist omitted to inquire.
"When the fish thus pressed are in the best condition eight
or nine gallons of oil have been obtained from a hogshead; and
so large a quantity is to be explained by the fact that not only
are the entrails coated with fat, but the muscular structure of
the body also; in which circumstance this fish differs greatly
from the Herring, the oil of which is only obtained from the
entrails; but the quantity of oil from the Pilchard diminishes
PILCHARD. 93
very greatly after the month of September. The oil obtained
from the Pilchard has been found to contain a larger amount
of greasy matter than that from any other kind of fish; and is
of much value in some sorts of mechanical employments. This
practice of obtaining the oil by means of simple pressure is
referred to by the county historian Carew, as being in his day
a comparatively modern invention; and the common belief is
that at a remote date the fish intended for exportation were
preserved by being smoked; of which the name of fumado, by
which they are now known, is a proof, for this word is only
applied to Pilchards that are sent to a foreign market. The
fish prepared for use at home are deprived of their heads and
entrails, and thus kept in salt or brine; in which condition
they form the winter stock of almost every family in the middle
and lower condition of life.
In a long series of years the average quantity of fumadoes
sent abroad yearly may be thirty thousand hogsheads; but on
some rare occasions it has much exceeded this, and has amounted
to sixty thousand; but on the other hand, in the years 1821
and 1822, the quantity respectively was little above two thou-
sand and five thousand hogsheads. It is the drift-net fishery
which for the most part supplies the consumers of Pilchards in
our own country; and the amount caught by them may perhaps
be equal to what is taken in scans. In the latter the largest
amount caught at one time has amounted to three thousand five
hundred hogsheads; which was at St. Ives in the month of
November; but at the same place ten thousand hogsheads have
been enclosed in the seans in one day, although not immediately
brought to land. As an hogshead contains from two thousand
five hundred of these fishes, to perhaps three thousand, it thus
happens that the enormous multitude of thirty millions of living
creatures have been secured at once from the ocean for human
sustenance. From thirty to forty thousand is regarded as a
favourable capture by drift-nets, of not very frequent occurrence;
but the more frequent capture of a smaller number affords a
sufficient remuneration to the fishermen.
This lengthened notice of a popular and important fishery
might have been still more extended; but for other particulars
we refer to several communications that are to be found in the
Reports of the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society, and the
94 PILCHARD.
Papers by Mr. Richard Quiller Couch, in the "Zoologist" for
1847.
The ordinary size of a Pilchard is about ten inches in length,
with a depth of one inch and three fourths; but it has been
seen of the length of fourteen inches; plump and moderately
compressed, with the body covered with scales that are easily
lost. The head a little flattened on the top, nostrils nearer the
snout, under jaw a very little the longest, no perceptible teeth;
a broad circularly-formed mystache, which passes back to the
front of the eye, which organ is moderately large. The gill-
covers are formed of numerous plates, the hindmost with diverging
rays passing downward. Along the belly a firm ridge or series
of peculiarly-formed scales; and those at the union of the head
and body are obscurely striated; the others simple. The single
dorsal fin is placed at the centre of gravity of the fish, with
eighteen rays; anal fin narrow and far behind; pectoral near
the termination of the hindmost gill-cover, and not reaching
opposite the first rays of the dorsal; the rays sixteen; ventral
fins with short wings, and eight branched rays; the tail deeply
divided, with twenty-two perfect rays. Colour of the back
greyish blue, more blue or green in the younger examples; the
belly white; sometimes pink tints on the sides; a golden spot
sometimes on the upper part of the gill-cover. Sometimes for
a whole season they are found with a row of spots on the sides,
as in the Scadina, fAlosa Fintci,) as is remarked by Willoughby;
but these spots appear as if caused by disease, the fish thus
marked being less than the usual size, soft in texture, and unfit
for being cured. Our supposed Sardine is also commonly thus
marked. Individuals have been seen having no dorsal fin,
and also with the tail of twice the usual size.
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96 HERRING.
US that he himself had caught some examples near the coast of
Algiers, and the Russo-German naturalist Pallas assures us that
they abound, sometimes in large schools, in the Black Sea and
Sea of Azoff, as also in the Caspian. It is worthy of record
also that at an early portion of the present century some
fishermen of Cornwall were employed by the Russian authorities
in teaching the fishermen of the Russian coasts of the Black
Sea the manner of ordering nets in drift fishing; in doing which
among a large number of Herrings was found one solitary
Pilchard; which circumstance however at least proves the exis-
tence of the latter in the Black Sea. It should be remarked
further that the Herrings of the Black Sea are said to differ
from those of our own shores in the proportions of the head,
and in the teeth, which on closer examination may mark a
separate species.
But although common, and at times abundant, on the west
coasts of England and Ireland, it is in by far the largest
numbers in those parts of the British Islands and the north of
Europe, where the Pilchard is rarely or never seen. Thus it
is known in the White Sea of Russia, and down the coasts of
Norway and Denmark; and on the opposite shores of the
United Kingdom a fishery for Herrings has been followed
beyond record with eagerness and success; while at the present
time it form,s, both as regards the quantities taken and their
quality as food, as important a fishery as any in our own
kingdom, or in Europe; as also it must be allowed that from
the capricious motions of the fish it is to be classed among the
most precarious. For many of the particulars of this uncertainty
we are indebted to the copious treatise on the History of the
Herring, by Mr. John M. Mitchell; but the influences which
lead to the local changes in its places of resort, and the vari-
ations of the season, with the differences in the goodness of its
flesh and of the size of individual schools, appear to be matters
beyond the powers of human scrutiny to explain. That the
difference of season in which the Herring resorts to different
portions of our own coasts, is not immediately under the influence
of latitude or climate is certain, since in many cases it is earliest
in the further north, and in others the reverse; but on the
whole there is the observed regularity, that the spawn is shed
twice in the year, of which that of the autumn is the most
HERRING. 97
conspicuous; but the season of either of these is often extended
or delayed beyond what may be considered the more reguhir
time; from which cause it happens that in the opinion oi
fishermen they may even be said to be in spawn throui^^hout
the whole of the year; and it is often in the end of Deccinber
they are engaged in this office of nature. There cannot be
a doubt that many of the subordinate actions of tliis fish arc
regulated by this innate propensity of nature; and it has been
•well remarked by those who have had the wisdom to discern
the hand of the Author of Providence in His works, how
great is the blessing thus bestowed on man, in supjilying him
with abundant and excellent food at the time when it is
best fitted to his use. Nor is it an objection to this that
the movements of these fishes while with us are apparently
uncertain, and that they do not remain in any district for
more than a few days. In men the virtues of vigilance,
patience, and skill are thereby called into exercise, as the
same are demanded indeed in some degree in every other
pursuit which men must follow for their daily bread.
We are informed that at Stornaway, in the Scotch Isle of
Lewis, the Ilerring fishery begins on the 20lh. of May, and
the law forbids its earlier commencement; but the 1st. day of
June is thought sufficiently early in the north of Scotland,
whilst off Shetland they are first fished for at the beginning
of July, and other large schools do not shew themselves before
November and December. On the east coast of Scotland they
chiefly abound from September to October, but are taken
onward from November to January; and Dr. Parnell remarks
that they will remain for two or three weeks at the mouth of
the Firth of Forth before they ascend; but they abound on
the coasts of Dunbar and Berwick in June, July, and August,
when scarcely a single Herring is to be seen higher in the
Forth. In the west of England they are caught in the most
abundance from about the end of September to November, but
sometimes, as in the years 1863 and 1864, they are also in good
quantity through January and February; and there are years
when large numbers of the best quality are caught in July
and August; but it seems certain that in the generality of
these instances the schools which thus shew themselves are
either of different age, the progeny of different parents, or
VOL. IV. O
98 HERRING.
under different circumstances of spawning. We cannot venture
to draw any conclusion from such variations with regard to
the extent of their wanderings when they have disappeared
from our view. The only probable conjecture regarding it is
that in their ordinary habits they only pass from the deeper
water to the shore, to return to the former again immediately
as the great duty of spawning is accomplished. On the whole,
the general constancy of this fish to the British coast appears
not the less worthy of notice, since we are informed that as
regards Sweden and a portion of Denmark, they have long
ceased to appear in districts where once they were known and
welcomed; and although, if we could look back to a much
greater distance of time, the visits may have been more
unusual than the departure, yet in this respect also this alter-
nation of habits bears a resemblance to what we have already
noticed in the Pilchard. Thu.s we are told that in Loch
Roag, in the Island of Lewis, the scarcity or absence of the
Herring and its abundance have taken turns at intervals of
from thirty to forty years; and at Cromarty, says Mr. Mitchell,
a very extensive fishery was carried on from 1G90 to 1709,
and in 1707 an immense shoal was thrown (or rather ran
themselves) on shore in a little bay to the east of the town,
so that the beach was covered with them to the depth of
several feet; but, strange to say, they left the Firth in a single
night, and no shoals again made their appearance for more
than half a century.
We have already said that without doubt a principal impulse
which drives the Herring to our shores is the instinct of
shedding its spawn; and it seems certain also that such
individuals of these fishes as are in an equal degree of for-
wardness in the preparation for this function, are collected
into one company; in proof of which it was observed, that
early in January, 1864, not far from Plymouth, all that were
caught in drift-nets on one day, to a large amount would be
sliotton, while an equal number on the day before or after
would be full of roe; and the fishermen had good reason to
notice this, as the price of each capture differed considerably.
I am informed that no Pilchards are found to be mingled
with these assembled bodies of Herrings, although it is common
to find Herrings among a collected body of Pilchards.
IIEKRING. 99
In tliese schools there are many more males than females;
and how prolific they arc is shewn by the incalculable numbers
that are taken from the sea by human industry, which in
Scotland alone amounts annually, on an average, to about five
hundred thousand barrels prepared for exportation, besides a
large consumption at home; and this must form only a moderate
proportion of what is taken in other parts of our own countiy.
It is probable, further, that the multitudes which in every
stage of their existence fall a prey to the ravenous inhabitants
of the ocean are still more considerable: for when only just
escaping from the egg they are watched for and devoured by
the many small fishes which have, only a little before, themselves
been exposed to the same fate. When of larger growth they
are the food of fishes near the shore; while later in life they
are the victims of Dogfishes and Sharks, Blowers or Physeter
AVhales; and fishermen are guided where to shoot their nets
by gannets, which sail aloft in the air, and with piercing
sight discern their prey at no small distance beneath the
wave. With instinctive judgment the bird rises to a height
that in its fall shall carry it to a sufficient depth, and then
with half-closed wings it drops with headlong plunge upon its
prey, and rarely returns to the surface without the prize.
But in addition to these causes of destruction, which may
be regarded as unavoidable, there are others which are caused
by ignorant human agency, and which, therefore, are so much
more to be deprecated. We are informed that on one occasion,
near the end of August, when the fishermen of Dunbar had
discovered that a school of Herrings were in the act of
spawning near the land, they let down their nets close to the
ground, by which large numbers were taken, and when drawn
into the boat the spawn was found to flow from them in great
abundance; and yet after this the fishermen continued the
same thoughtless conduct. And the evil result of such un-
seasonable waste has been shewn in another instance on the
coast of Norfolk, where an enormous quantity of the fry was
caught in the spring in those bags of net called stow-nets;
and for three years afterwards the numbers of Herrings in
the autumn in that neighbourhood were so small that fishermen
scarcely thought it worth their while to employ their time in
fishing for them. If we could suppose, that, like many migrating
100 HERTIING.
birds, and the Salmon in the sea, Herrings were led instinctively
to return from the deep water to the place of their birth,
much of the obscurity which (as we have seen) hangs over
their motions would be removed.
It has been confidently believed that the spawn is shed
near the surface, and not far from land, although where the
water is deep, close to the rocks, there is reason to thinls
that it may take place at the distance of a few miles; but it
is Mr. Mitchell's opinion, supported by his own observation
and that of a Russian observer, that this function takes place
close to the bottom on hard or rocky ground. To the foregoing
account, therefore, we add: — "We have fully ascertained that
the shoals generally fix in one locality for depositation, and
that immediately after spawning the Herrings proceed to sea.
The proper incubation is as follows: — The female remains
quiescent at the bottom. The whole of the roe is at once
deposited. The milt, thoroughly ripened in the male, has
become changed from a solid mass to a liquid of the colour
and consistency of cream: the roe, although placed in the
briny flood, becomes a firm united mass, somewhat larger than,
but similar in shape to the roe in a full Herring. This
lifeless mass, or egg-bed, has the power of adhesion: it grasps
the stones, the rocks, the sea-weed, etc., so firmly that we have
found it difficult to remove or separate it until the mass was
dried or dead. In fourteen days, or perhaps three weeks, the
young are seen in great abundance near the shore, of a very
small size; in six or seven weeks more they are observed to be
about three inches in length, and it is likely that they attain
to full size and maturity in about eighteen months." In the
early stage of growth they keep together, and so close to the
shore that many of them are left in pools by the ebbing of
the tide, — a circumstance we have not noticed as happening
to the Pilchard; their movements, also, are as if actuated by
a common impulse. But all the circumstances we have men-
tioned have a tendency to lessen their numbers, so that we
may well wonder how it is that the race itself is not
extinguished.
Lacepede says that in North America the spawn of the
Herring have been carried by the inhabitants and deposited
at the mouth of a river which had never been frequented by
HERRING. 101
that fish, and to which place the individual fishes from these
spawn acquired a habitude, and returned each year, hrinpfing
with them probably a great many other individuals of the
same species: a circumstance which seems to countenance the
supposition we have already made, and might be followed
elsewhere with advantage.
The appetite of the Herring is ready to exercise itself on
a large variety of food; but it may be questioned whether in
this, as in other instances, its eagerness or indifference as
regards particular sorts may not be influenced by the state ol
the constitution in the quiescence or development of the milt
and roe. It seems certain that it feeds on entomostraca and
the younger or smaller crustaceans, which people the waters
in numbers beyond calculation; but it also devours creatures
of a larger size, since young fishes of several sorts, with the
smaller Launces of the length of a couple of inches, have been
found in their stomachs, and even the grains of roe and young
examples of their own species.
That considerable numbers are taken with a rod and line all
round our coasts is well known; but although the Herring is
said to leap sometimes above the surface after a fly, it is to
be doubted whether what is made to imitate a fly on the
hook is not regarded by it rather as some young fish;
and it is even known to seize the bare hook if made of a
white and shining material. Several hundreds of Herrings have
been taken at one time in this manner, and a large number of
hooks on one line let down into a school have brought up a
fish on every hook; but it is said that this manner of fishing
has only been successful when employed between sunrise
and sunset. A singular instance has been related where there
was found in the stomach of a Herring a copper farthing
token, in size a little less than a shilling, and marked of the
date 1757. As marks of distinction in their actions between
the Herring and Pilchard fishermen inform me, that the
former seldom springs from the water, or stoits, except when
driven or alarmed; but the Pilchard does it often, and appa-
rently through wantonness. When alarmed, as they are easily
by noise, these fish will rush along to the distance of five or
six feet, as marked by the briming; but the Pilchard does
102 HERRING.
this more rapidly than the Herring. AVhen alarmed the rush
of the Mackarel is much further than either of these fishes.
There is proof that this fish was from the earliest times in
estimation as food by the highest orders of society, as well as
by the lowest; while in its salted or smoked condition it was
among the principal of the stores which necessity compelled
them to lay in for their winter stock of provisions; and the
smoke of their dwellings, before the common use of chimneys,
however irksome in other respects, afforded an important conve-
niency for the last-named process of preserving the fish. There
were not only religious considerations that demanded the frequent
use of fish as food, but it was also a variation from the diet
of salted flesh, in times when the scarcity of fodder compelled
even the richest persons to kill and salt their cattle at the
approach of winter; at which season, from defective cultivation,
they were only able to keep alive so many as would secure
the stock for the succeeding year. As an instance of the ordinary
use of the Herring in a noble family, we are told in the
Northumberland Family Book, that there was appointed for the
breakfast for the Earl and his Lady, besides other things, as a
quart of beer and a quart of wine, two pieces of salt fish, six
baconed Herrings, four White Herrings, or a dish of Sproits;
these baconed Herrings, no doubt, being what we now know
as smoked or red Herring. And in the time of Henry the
Third, when the Princess Margaret was married to the Duke
of Brabant, and the royal couple were about to sail to that
country, among the other provisions furnished to the ships were
ten thousand six hundred and fifty-two Herrings, with two
hundred and ninety-two Cods and two barrels of Sturgeon.
Again, in the year 1429, the Duke of Bedford sent five hundred
carts loaded with Herrings to victual the army which was
besieging Orleans and the neighbouring towns; and when the
French attacked this convoy they were defeated.
In Ochlanschlocger's poem, "The Gods of the North," the
following reward is offered by Skerner to the ferryman to carry
him across a river: —
"If thou wilt ferry me o'er tlie wave,
I'll give thee oat-cakes and Herrings beside.*
HETJRTXG. 103
And this reward the ferryman regards as of high value —
"Thou talk'st like a Lord of wealth and power."
The Herrings must have been carried with him as food, as he
actually gives them on the spot to the giant ferryman.
In Blount's "History of Strange Tenures of Land," we are
told that in the charter of the town of Yarmouth, which town
has ever been famous for its share in the Herring fishery, the
corporation are required to send a hundred Herrings, baked
in twenty-four pasties, to the Sheriffs of Norwich, who were to
deliver them to the Lord of the Manor of East Carlton. And
at the same time Eustace de Carme and others, who probably
were the same Sheriffs, are said to have held thirty acres of
land by the service of carrying to the king, wherever he should
happen to be in England, twenty-four pasties of fresh Herrings
at their first coming in. But in still more ancient times they
formed an important source of income; for Sir Henry Ellis
informs us in his Introduction to Domesday Book, that Hugh
de Montfort's manors in Suffolk yielded numerous rents of
Herrings; and the manor of Beccles, in that county, in the
time of King Edward the Confessor, yielded thirty thousand
Llerrings to the Abbey of Saint Edmond, and in the days of
the first William this number was increased to sixty thousand.
But the Abbey of Saint Edmondsbury was not so fortunate;
since in the fourteenth year of Edward the First, the expen-
diture of the monks in the fast of Lent for Herrings was
£25., when the yearly expenditure of the kitchen for food in
general, including other fish, was £520., and a fiit ox was
purchased for four shillings.
That we may not further extend this reference to ancient
customs, we come down to Tusser, who says —
Let Lent, well kept, offend not thee,
For March and April l^reeders be;
Spend Herring fii'st, save salt-fish last,
For salt-fish is good when Lent is past.
The most usual manner of fishing for Herrings does not differ
greatly from that already described, as employed in the open
sea for Pilchards; but the meshes of these drift-nets are a
little larger; the distance being allowed of an inch and a quarter
104 HERRING.
from knot to knot, while those of the Pilchard-net are an inch.
Great exactness in this respect, however, should not be de-
manded, since by the operation of barking the twine will contract
to the extent of three meshes in a yard; and that of cotton
more than in ordinary hemp ; on which account when quite new
a larger dimension must be required, which will permit many
fishes to pass through, or less than the extent exacted by law
as allowing for the contraction produced by use. According to
the circumstances of weather, or the light of the night, these
nets are sunk more or less deep; and for this purpose there
are buoys placed along the head-line at regular intervals; and
in Scotland especially these buoys are often made of inflated
skins; and even strong globular glass bottles have been used,
at least in the north of Europe; and occasionally small weights
are placed on the lower border to keep them properly down.
These nets are shot across the course of the tide, and consequently
athwart the course which the fish are proceeding; and they are
lifted on board by the aid of a capstan two or three times in
the course of the night; for it is only in moderate darkness
that these fish will enter a net, since at other time their sight
is sufficiently good to discern the snare, and they are afraid to
approach it.
The size of the boats employed in this fishery varies much
in different places, and, consequently, the number of men in
each; but it would be tedious to take notice of the practice
of every station, and therefore we confine ourselves to that of
Yarmouth, which is, and ever has been, the most important
seat of this fishery in the United Kingdom. These boats are
luggers, with three masts, and of a burden from twenty to
fifty tons, with a crew of twelve men and a boy, whose wages
are in proportion to the success they meet with; this being
the only plan on which success in any fishery can be secured.
The nets are about a hundred in number, and each of them
eight fathoms in length, with a depth of five fathoms; and as
when well loaded with fish no human efforts would be sufficient
to lift the mass over the gunwale of the boat, a portion of
the crew are employed at the capstan, Avhile the rest are
engaged in shaking out the fish into the proper compartment,
and arranging the nets in order. As, from the general shal-
lowness of the water near the land in the north of England,
HEKRING. 105
and the belief that the hirgest Herrings are to be found at
a distance from the coast, the fishery is often pursued at a
considerable distance, from which, consequently, the return to
shore cannot be speedy, it is the custom to sprinkle the
newly-caught fish with salt, by which means also they are in
the best condition for being smoked, for which process the
largest fish are always preferred.
There is another mode of fishing for Herrings, which is
conducted on a much less extensive scale, and which is
founded on the knowledge that these fish often come near
the shore, where, especially in rough weather, it would not
be safe for a drift-boat to follow them. It consists in mooring
a few nets without their being attached to a boat; but we
believe that on several accounts this practice is not sanctioned
by the law; as, we may venture to say also, however ancient,
ought not to be those fixed erections or stations termed yairs
and cruives, on the beach, within which the fish are kept
enclosed when the tide has ebbed and left them dry.
It ajipears that a scan of some sort is employed on the
coast of Ireland, but, as described, is much less skilfully
contrived than the Pilchard scan of Cornwall; and if in
general use it would interfere greatly with the success of the
drift fishery, by contracting the space within which the latter
could be employed. We believe also that not long since
ingenuity has contrived to render the trawl effective in the
fishery for Herrings, by using it somewhat on the principle of
a moving stow-net. The gaping and enormous bag is sunk
to the proper depth by a rope, and in this condition is
carried along among the hosts of fish by the moving vessel.
This method of fishing ought not to be practised within a
limited distance from the older forms of fishing with drift-nets.
In the great work of Duhamel on fisheries a lengthened
account is given of the various ways of catching Herrings
along the coasts of Europe, but none of them are superior to
the methods practised in England.
Contrary to the custom of Cornwall as regards the Pilchard,
where, except those which are sold to the jiublic for family
use, every master of a boat cures his own fish, in Scotland
and the north of England the j)roduce of the night is disposed
of to professional fish-curers; and upwards of a hiindred
VOL. IV. P
106 HERRING.
pounds in a week for a considerable time has thus been
paid by one individual: a circumstance of no small importance
to those adventurous fishermen who have come thither even
from the extreme west of Cornwall to reap this harvest of
the sea in the north.
It would require a very extended notice if we were to
enter into a minute account of the proceedings of this fishery
at its different stations in the United Kingdom, and the methods
of preparing the fish for the home and foreign market; but
we the rather forbear because the whole of what might be
advanced is to be found in Dodd's "Essay towards a Natural
History of the Herring," Brabazon on the "Fisheries of
Ireland," and Mitchell's work already referred to; together
with a paper by Dr. Mac Culloch in the "Journal of the
Royal Institution" for 1824. This fishery has also been the
subject of much (and not very wise) legislation; but we
content ourselves with saying that at present it is with us
in a condition of much prosperity, since from Scotland alone
there is exported annually, on an average, five hundred
thousand barrels, of which each one holds four hundred and
eighty fish; and in Galway almost thirty thousand hogsheads
have been cured in bulk in a single year: a remarkable
contrast to the time when, as we glean from some ancient
documents, a portion of those which were consumed in Britain
were imported from foreign countries.
When we consider the never-ceasing war that is carried on
against this race of fishes, it may be suj^posed that few of them
can be so fortunate as to reach the full size of which they are
capable. But there was an individual which chanced to obtain
the length of about seventeen inches, while our more moderate
sized example measured only twelve inches to the fork of the
tail, with a depth of two inches and a half. The lower jaw
protrudes beyond the upper: teeth minute, and a few in front
of the palate; gape expansive; mystache broad, curved, reaching
opposite the middle of the eye; the upper jaw, with the mystache,
lifts upwards on a hinge. Nostrils nearer the snout; eye
moderate, inclined to oval; head on the top less flat than in
the Pilchard; gill-covers in several divisions, without diverging
rays on the hindmost. Scales rather large, easily removed.
Body less plump than in the Pilchard, and with much less fat
I.KACU'S HERRING. 107
between tlic muscular fibres; although something of this appears
in the finer fish caught about July. The dorsal fin is behind
the centre of gravity, with nineteen rays, the first very short.
Pectorals placed close below the hindmost gill-cover, having
fifteen rays; ventrals beneath the dorsal, having nine rays, with
a free scale at its root, half its length; anal fin wider than in
the Pilchard, with sixteen rays; tail forked. Colour of the
back dark bluish, a tinge of pink often on the sides, silvery
below; behind the top of the head tinted yellow; fins semi-
transparent; along the belly a ridge, with scales not easily
counted. The air-bladder is silvery, long, and slender; much
more slender forward to the base of the skull, Avhere it ends
between two projecting processes, to which it is joined by two
diverging sets of fleshy fibres; posteriorly it reaches close to
the vent; and in its course it receives a lengthened and slender
tube from the end of the stomach, the use of which seems
uncertain. It is the same in the Pilchard.
LEACH'S HERRING.
Clupea Leachii, Yarkell; Br. Fishes, ^vol. ii, p. 193.
Mr. Yarkell was of opinion that he had ascertained the
existence of a species of Herring that was different from the
common kind, and of which he gave the character, that "it
was found heavy with roe at the end of January, which it does
not deposit till the middle of February. Its length is not more
than seven inches and a half, and its depth near two inches;"
and in proof that the time of spawning and difference of the
quality of its flesh are decisive marks of a difference of species,
a quotation is produced from the Essay on the Herring, by
Dr. Mac Culloch. In Mr. Yarrell's further description of this
fish, besides dwelling on the greater comparative depth of the
fish, he also mentions the dorsal fin as somewhat anterior to
the place it occupies in the kindred species; and the number
of vertebrae as being fifty-four, whereas in the Common Herring
they amount to fifty-six.
108 lkach's herring.
But while placing much dependence on these particulars as
marks of distinction, this eminent naturalist does not appear to
have been aware of the fact, which has been noticed by nu-
merous observers, that the exact magnitude, minuter proportions
of shape, and quality of the flesh in the Common Herring are
so very different, even in districts not very distant from each
other, that none of them can be regarded as signifying a different
species. The difference in the season of spawning, on which
Mr. Yarrell appears to build so much, is even of less importance,
since it will vary in different schools within very narrow limits;
as we have already recorded in our History of the Common
Herring; and the season of 1864 is not the only one in our
notes, in which the immense body of fish, from at least
the coast of Norfolk to Cornwall, has been large Avith
spawn from the end of the preceding year to the beginning
of March. The greatest depth of the body in examples of
about the length mentioned is not of uncommon occurrence; so
that while other portions of the description apply as closely to
the Common Herring as to this supposed new species, the
difference in the number of the vertebrge is all that remains
for consideration; on which particular I feel much satisfaction
in having obtained the assistance of Dr. John Lowe, of Lynn,
in Norfolk; from whose communication I quote the following
particulars: — Of nine specimens selected for examination, in
two the vertebrae numbered fifty-four, in four the number was
fifty-five, and in three fifty-six. I have myself counted fifiy-
two. The number of fin-rays also is liable to variation; and
as regards the exact position of the dorsal fin in reference to
the ventrals, it is also of a variable character; as in some when
suspended by it the fish becomes almost vertical, but it also is
known to vary with the age of the fish, and the proportion
of the depth of examples to the length has varied almost in
the same proportion. With these observations we are driven
to the conclusion that Leach's Herring cannot on the evidence
given be received as a separate species.
M
<
O
o
vnfl
5 :
110 SPRAT.
fishes in its season of absence, and is not looked for until a
little after midsummer and towards autumn, after which it
becomes abundant, and continues to be caught through the
winter; but its time of appearing varies in different places
and in different years, and the same uncertainty appears to
exist in regard to the season of spawning, which, however,
occurs in summer, and probably late in the autumn also. It
appears, however, that the young fry are not so well known
as those of the Herring and Pilchard; but in July and
August they have appeared in multitudes of the length of
two inches or a little above it, and are preyed on by many
kinds of fishes, which pursue them in all directions along
tbe surface, and before which they fly as a flock of sheep
before dogs: but a mass of floating sea-weeds affords them a
welcome refuge from their persecutors.
I have not heard of an instance where this fish has been
caught with a hook, which may be because its mouth is too
small for such as are usually employed at sea; for there is no
reason to suppose that it is less ready to seize its prey than
others of its race. But the usual manner of fishing for them
is with an enormous bag-net, made with small meshes, which
according to law must not be less than half an inch in
measure from knot to knot; and this net, called a stow-net,
is forbidden to be used at any time between the 10th. day
of November and the 10th. of February; but ground-seans
for Sprats are legal between the 1st. of November and the
1st. of April. The mouth of the stow-net is kept open
against the course of the tide by a couple of beams, one
above the other, at the height of about six fathoms; and they
thus remain suspended from a boat in such a manner that as
the fish are carried along with the tide they are driven into
a gulf from which there is no return. A few of larger
size and of the better quality are sometimes caught in drift-
nets; and the quantity altogether thus taken is enormous, —
thus affording a cheap and esteemed food in many places on
the coast, and especially, although not solely, to the poorer
classes of the British Metropolis, for they come to tlie table
even of the rich.
But it is not always for food that the fishery is conducted
for Sprats, for we believe they are not prepared for exportation;
SPRAT. Ill
and although some are preserved by smoking, in some measure
as the Herring is prepared, and they are even imported from
abroad in that condition. Yet the quantity taken sometimes
very much exceeds the sale for any of these purposes; and
it has therefore grown into a common practice to purchase
them for manuring the land, and the nets have even been
put to sea with no other view than thus employing the
produce. Sprats are not usually sold by number or weight,
but by measure. The nets are employed at from close to the
land to the distance of about three miles, and the price
varies from sixpence to eightecn-pence the bushel. Mr.
Mitchell informs us that in December, 1861, in Scotland,
when Sprats were abundant, they were sold at from two
shillings and sixpence a bushel, at a time when the price of
Herrings was five shillings the hundred.
A large Sprat may be five or six inches in length, but the
more usual size is three or four inches; the body compressed,
deeper than in the Herring and Pilchard, but tapering forward
towards the head and mouth. Under jaw longest, both having
very small teeth; mystache running back to the eye; top of
the head flattened; eye rather large. Gill-covers as if divided
into several pieces. Scales on the body easily lost. Along
the belly a ridge with prominent serrations, the segments
thirty-five to the vent, which structure will distinguish the
Sprat from the young of the Herring and Pilchard, even by
the sense of feeling: but other marks are — that the scales are
more easily removed, the colour less bright, and with less
reflections of tints when taken fi-om the water. The dorsal
fin also is nearer the tail, with eighteen rays, of which the
first is short, and the two last united; the pectoral pointed,
with eighteen rays; anal narrow; ventrals with eight rays, and
not having a separate wing; tail forked, with eighteen rays.
Colour light blue on the back, all besides silvery, except that
sometimes on the sides it is yellowish; the fins tinted with
yellow. The number of vertebrae forty-eight or forty-nine,
which is less than is counted in the Pilchard or Herring.
Cuvier says that the yellow on the sides occurs only in the
season of spawning.
It is to be observed that the relative position of the dorsal
fin of this fish is not always as pointed out by authors. Dr.
113 SARDINE.
Parnell says the dorsal fin commences exactly half way
between the point of the lower jaw and the end of the middle
caudal rays, but Mr. Yarrell represents it as commencing
half way between the point of that jaw and the end of the
caudal rays; and I have found in a fish of the length of five
inches and a half, that from the middle rays of the tail to
the line of the first ray of the dorsal was three inches. The
origin of the ventral fins is before that of the dorsal, and
these first-named fins have in several instances the wing or
separate scale, the absence of which therefore cannot be taken
as a character. When not deprived of its scales the colour
and tints are also sometimes beautiful.
SARDINE.
Clnpea Sardina, Cuvieb. Risso. Bloch; pL 29, f. 2.
CuviER says of this fish, it is so much like the Pilchard
that the only perceptible difference is its inferior size: and a
persuasion of their being only varieties of each other has
prevailed widely, although, as Swainson observes, it is not easy
to believe that fishes which differ so much in their range, and
in some degree in habits, as the Pilchard and Sardine on the
one hand, and the Herring and Baltic Membras on the other,
can be respectively the same. I have supposed that in some
instances they may have been confounded together, as Duhamel
certainly has done; and Dr. Gulia has shewn that in the
Mediterranean three separate species are known by the name
of Sardina, one of which, the Clupea auro-vittata of Swainson,
has probably been taken in England. But the following
record in my notes is deserving of attention, as leading to
further inquiry, both as regards the distinction of species,
and the occurrence of the Sardine in Britain. — In the year
1843, six hogsheads of (Pilchards) taken, the fish about six
inches long, and multitudes are so small as to pass through
the meshes of the drill-nets. They are marked with spots along
SARDINE. 113
the sides, which grow faint and disappear as the colours fade.
Compared with a Pilchard of the same size I find the marking
of the head different; the plate encircling the eye on its lower
part and under being much narrower, and guttered on the
lower margin, where the Pilchard is plain. These small fish
now abound at all distances from land, and in consequence all
the fish in fine condition that were found a week or two before
have disappeared.
The Sardine is common on the south coasts of France and
Spain, and through the Mediterranean, where it forms the
subject of extensive fisheries. They are also imported from
thence into Britain; having been deprived of the head, boiled
in oil, and inclosed in small tin boxes, which are carefully
soldered to exclude the air; and it is worthy of notice, as
forming an opposite character from that of the Pilchard, that
the Sardine is in its best condition in the spring, and not in
the autumn. The Sardine appears to be the only fish of this
family, except the Pilchard, that has the dorsal fin at the centre
of gravity.
Captain Cook found it at Nootka Sound, on the west coast
of North America, where the natives preserve it by smoking;
and I have been informed by sailors that they have obtained
what they supposed Pilchards, as also their enemy the Hake,
further to the south along the same coast.
VOL. TV.
114
WHITEBAIT.
Clupea alha, Yarrell; Br. Fishes, vol. ii, p. 202.
" " Jenyns; Manual, p. 436.
" latulus, CuviEB.
The notice of the public was first directed to this little
fish as forming a delicious article of food; but it remained for
Mr. Yarrell to decide that it is a distinct species, and not, as
had been supposed, the young of some one of the well-known
species of the Herring family, and particularly of the Allis Shad.
It was also believed that it did not exist elsewhere than in
the Thames, where a fishery was carried on to supply an extensive
demand from the people of London; who had rendered it
fashionable to go in parties to the taverns on the banks of the
river to feed on this luxury, with, it must be added, such other
accompaniments as might render the treat a rather expensive
one. What had begun among the more obscure classes of the
Metropolis, in the course of time extended to those of the
highest rank; and it becomes an incident in the history of this
fish to trace the progress of this upward-tending indulgence.
From the persons already referred to, it first extended to some
gentlemen who had been appointed Commissioners for the
management of the affairs of an expanse of water, which had
broken in on the low ground from the Thames, at Dagenham;
and who, once a year, made it a custom to have a friendly
meeting and dinner, of which this fish formed an important part,
at what was called the Breach house; and to which they invited
their particular friends, together with the principal ministers of
the crown. Thus become a mark of gentility, it grew into
a practice for all the inhabitants of the city who can afford
the expense to indulge in the excursion down the river; and
it is a sign of the conclusion of a session of Parliament when
WHITEBAIT. 115
the ministers of the Cabinet go down the river in state to
indulge in this relaxation.
The Whitebait has not been recognised as an inhabitant of
the open sea, although ibr about half the year it is there only
it could be found; and it cannot live even for a short time in
fresh water. Yet it seems to delight in what is brackish, and
in it a fishery is carried on with a small net, somewhat on the
principle of the stow-net for sprats, being suspended from the
side of a boat in the tideway in a small depth of water. This
net is kept open against the current with rods, and is not
lifted out of the water when the fish are to be taken on board;
but as it tapers and is only shut at the end with a cord, this
portion is opened and the fish removed from time to time, after
which the net is again left to float on the current. These fish
usually begin to come up on the tide at the end of March,
or early in April; but in the year 1864, they were caught
at the very beginning of March, and the fishery does not end
before the conclusion of September.
It was formerly supposed that the Whitebait was the early
stage of the growth of the Allis Shad, which then was also
confounded with the Twait; and Donovan has represented this
latter for the former. It was also believed that it was to be
found only in the Thames, which last supposition could be
regarded in no other light than as inconsistent with the former,
since the Shad was known to shed its spawn in several of
the other rivers of England. But the belief of its being only
met with in the Thames is now also known to be an error;
and Dr. Parnell discovered it to be not rare in the Firth of
Forth, while in the south and west it has been obtained in
Devonshire and Cornwall. I have been favoured with examples
from the Exe, by Dr. Scott, of Exeter, and have also obtained
them from the Fowey, in Cornwall; and there is scarcely a
doubt that if looked for they might be found in every important
river in the British Islands. Cuvier says they also exist in
Germany, but we conclude that they are limited to districts
where the climate does not extend beyond the borders of moderate
heat and cold.
The time of spawning is supposed to be in and through the
summer; and the very young are mingled with the more fully
grown, so long as they continue to be caught in the river, a
116 WHITEBAIT.
circumstance which seems to shew where the roe is deposited.
A large Whitebait has measured six inches in length, but they
do not usually exceed four inches: proportions of the body
nearly like those of the young herring, but a little deeper in
comparison with the length, and more compressed than in the
Pilchard; also more slender towards the tail. Under jaw longest,
the gape full; teeth scarcely perceptible when fresh from the
water, but existing in the jaws — an oval row on the tongue;
also round the palate and along the vomer; the mystache
extending to a line even with the centre of the eye. Where
the gill-covers come together on the throat they form a sharp
edge. Eye large; above the upper jaw a depression, from which
the outline rises gradually to the beginning of the back; and
when the fish is in good condition the elevation goes on to
the beginning of the dorsal fin. Scales on the body large and
closely set, but easily lost; and an obscure ridge of scales in
eighteen sections from the throat to the vent. Dorsal fin behind
the centre of gravity, with seventeen rays, the first ray a little
anterior to the ventrals; the latter with eight rays. Anal fin
narrow; tail forked, with nineteen rays; pectoral with seventeen.
Colour along the back bluish or a rather dark ash green, which
does not descend on the sides. All besides pearly white, but
in some examples, as in those from the Exe, slight yellow on
the sides. This description, and especially as regards the teeth,
will serve to distinguish this species from the early growth of
those with which it might be confounded; but a lens may be
required in order to discover them. There is also no indentation
in front of the upper jaw, as in the Shads.
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118 ALLIS SHAD.
Of the Trichaios, which is our Shad, Aristotle says, B. 8, C.
13, that it enters the River Ister, or the Danube, and then,
where this river divides into branches, it passes down into the
Adriatic Sea; and in proof of this his argument is, that it is
seen to enter the river, and is not known to come out of it
again; whereas in the Adriatic they are not known to enter,
but are caught as they come out. Aristotle could not have
been acquainted with the geography of the higher portion of
the Danube, and he may have given credit to the error
contained in the received accounts of the proceedings of the
Argonautic expedition; where instead of what really happened,
which evidently was, that in order to escape pursuit the ship
was conveyed across the Isthmus of Perecop, from the west side
of which the adventurers sailed along by the mouth of the
Danube into Greece, it was believed that they had gone up
that river, and by some other branch had passed down to the
Adriatic; a supposition which in somewhat later times gave rise
to the further absurdity of believing that Ulysses had gone from
Troy to the distant region of Italy, in his endeavour to reach
his home in a Greek Island. It is plain that this wanderer
had gone into the Black Sea in his endeavour to escape the
danger threatened to his fellow warriors; and it is there the
dangerous islands, from which the Argonauts had so narrow an
escape, were his Scylla and Charybdis, and another island was
the home of his Circe, where Medea had learnt her skill in
sorcery. But the Roman Pliny, in a later age, had become
acquainted with the geography of these regions; and therefore
while he copies the Natural History of the learned Greek, he
is compelled to add, that the passage of this fish from the
Danube to the Adriatic was by subterranean channels; for he
was aware that it accomplished at all it must be by a way not
known to observation. Indeed, it does not appear probable
that the Shad is at all accustomed to ascend to the higher part
of this river; since Dr. Reisinger, in his account of the fishes
of Hungary, does not mention this species as coming within
his knowledge. They avoid turbulent streams or rapid currents,
unless for a short way; but whether foul or clear is of small
consequence.
It was also known to the Egyptians by ascending the Nile
from the sea, and it is common along the coasts of Europe up
AIJ.IS SHAD. 119
to the north of England, but it is not mentioned by Nilsson
as occurring in Sweden; aUhough the kindred Twait Shad is
found there. And this circumstance of its absence so far to
the north agrees with the observation of Aristotle, that the
Thrissa was not an inhabitant of the Euripus, as not being
able to bear the cold. It is probable that what brought it into
particular notice in ancient times, in addition to its habit of
passing up the larger rivers from the sea in the spring, and
soon again disappearing from view, was its supposed disposition
of being particularly liable to the impression of sounds; especially
such as are of a pleasing nature. It was the popular belief
that they might be brought together by music; which opinion
is recorded by ^lian and other writers, and strongly counte-
nanced by Rondeletius in his own experience; and it was further
supposed that they were so affrighted with the roar of thunder,
as to be driven by it back again from the river into the sea.
There has always been a diversity of opinion about the
quality of this fish as food; but this is known to depend on
the place where they are caught, and the length of time they
have been in the river; for when taken in the sea they are
little valued, and the multitude of small bones with which the
flesh is studded, is sufficient to banish all pleasure in eating
it when there is no delicious taste to counterbalance the
annoyance. It was in this condition that Ausonius prefers to
call it by its more vulgar, but now recognised name, and
pronounces it as notoriously unfit for any other table than that
of the common people; "who does not know those frizzing,
sputtering fish on every poor man's grate!
Qnis non norit
Stridentesque focis opsonia plebis alausas?"
But in some rivers a change of quality is soon effected, and
then it is esteemed a fit repast for the epicure. Those of largest
size are said to be found in Spain and the south of France,
but the most delicious of the foreign rivers are those of Italy,
and especially of the Tiber. In our own country the Severn
has long possessed the character of affording Shads of a high
degree of excellency, for which a regular fishery is carried on,
of so much value that it forms one third, or, according to some
evidence, an half of the profit derived from the fish of all sorts
L^O ALLIS SHAD,
that is there taken. The season is in April and IMay, and the
improvement in quality is quickly after the fish have entered
the river; where they are caught in nets, of the length of about
t"Wo hundred yards, with a mesh of three inches; and from
seventy to eighty dozen have been caught in a night, at which
time the fishermen are chiefly at work; for the Shad is a shy
and timid fish, and might not be easily enclosed in a net by
day.
It spawns in about the first half of June, and for this purpose
they do not proceed very high up the river; it being very
uncommon to find them so far up as Worcester; the chosen
situations being shallow and rocky, and the proceeding is con-
ducted at night, at which time the fish may be heard to make
a rattling noise, as if beating the water with their tails.
Presently after this the quality of the flesh suffers much change,
and they speedily leave the river for the sea. It is to be
observed, however, that I have found the roe of large size in
the first days of February, fully enlarged in April, and also at
the end of June. When at sea they are sometimes caught with
a line by those who are loluffing for Pollacks; the bait being
either the Mud Lamprey, or a slice cut from the side of a
Mackarel; but it has been also caught in a trammel, which
shews it sometimes to swim near the bottom.
This species is said to reach the length of three, and even
four feet, but this must be where it is not often caught, and
in consequence where it has had time to reach its full stature;
and a Shad of half that size is what is mostly met with in
England. In shape it differs from the Herring in being deejjer
in the body, and one from which our description is taken, and
which was caught in the Severn, measuring fourteen inches and
a half in length, was three inches and a half in depth. Head
and body compressed, the latter covered with rather large
scales to the root of the tail. Jaws equal when closed, but the
latter protruding a little when the mouth is slightly opened;
teeth obvious in the upper jaw, on each side of the recess in
front, and also further on the sides; none in the lower jaw or
on the tongue. Mystache running back to the hindmost line
of the eye, narrow at first, then broad, broadly channeled, the
border plain. Nostrils in a depression nearer the snout than
the eye. Eye moderate; plate on the top of the head flat. The
ALLIS SHAD. 121
gill-covers adorned with branched lines — perhaps mucous ducts.
The usual hooked serrations along the line of the belly. Dorsal
fin over the ventrals, with twenty rays; the first two short;
pectorals eighteen; anal fin narrow, twenty-one rays, the last
two from one root; ventrals nine rays. Colour of the back blue,
upper portion of the head brown; light golden tints on the
gill-covers and about the upper parts round the eye, tints of
blue and pink reflect on the sides, silvery below; a large
black spot close behind the upper border of the gill-covers.
Pharyngeal bones very slightly rough.
VOL. IV. B
122
TWAIT SHAD.
MAID.
Shad, WiLLOUGHBY; p. 3, f. 1, p. 227, but lie confounds
the two now recognised species together.
Clupea alosa, Linn^us. Bloch; PI 30. Donovan; PI. 67.
" finta, OuviEB. Jenyns ; Manual, p. 437.
Alosa finta, Yarrell; Br. Fishes, vol. ii, p. 208.
This species so nearly resembles the Allis as to have been
confounded with it until Cuvier established some definite marks
of distinction; the chief of which are the existence of some
teeth in both jaws of the Twait, and that it is ornamented with
a row of rather large spots along the sides from the gill-covers;
whereas in the Allis there is only one spot, and sometimes
none. In most other particulars they resemble each other,
except indeed that the Allis is a little the thickest, and the
Twait never reaches the size that is sometimes attained by the
kindred species. Their habits are much alike, but the Twait
is known further north, and is reckoned among the fishes of
Scandinavia. It is also mentioned by Risso as a native of the
Mediterranean, and in Britain, where it occurs, it is in more
abundance than the Allis; but I have not known it to take a
hook, although I suppose it to be the species from the stomach
of which Dr. Fleming informs us he took three Herrings. It
enters rivers in spring, and is taken in the Severn at the same
time with the Allis; but it is in much less esteem than that fish
for the table.
In what I suppose to have been an example of this species,
instead of a row of large dark spots, I have noticed a scattered
row of small spots irregularly placed on the sides.
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124 GREAT-HEADED SPRAT.
remain to shew that there had not existed a row of spots as
in the Twait; nor could any teeth be discovered in the jaws.
The lower border of the mystache was not rough or toothed.
Number of fin-rays — in the dorsal seventeen, anal twenty-four,
ventral ten. Scales prevented the counting of the pectoral and
caudal rays.
It becomes a question whether this fish has been overlooked
by naturalists and is new to science, or whether it be a variety
of the Allis Shad, from which species however it differs in
too many particulars to permit us to allow of its being no other
than a casual variety. The discovery of a second example would
settle this question.
GREAT-HEADED SPRAT.
Cliipea viacrocepliala, Swainson.
It was the opinion of Mr. Swainson that he had discovered
in the River Mersey, where it existed in some abundance, a
distinct species of Clupea, which he denominated by the name
quoted above; but although many years have passed, no naturalist
has hitherto recognised it, or even referred to it in any manner.
We notice it here in order to shew that we have possessed
examples from the same neighbourhood, which have answered
nearly to Mr. Swainson's description; the chief difference being
that we did not observe "a few curved teeth in the palate;"
and there could not be a doubt that they were different from
the Common Sprat; but it did not appear quite so certain that
they were not in an early stage of the growth of one or other
of our well-known Shads, and probably of the Allis Shad; the
heads of both the Shads seeming to be decidedly larger in
proportion to the body at an early date, than in the full-grown
condition of these species.
125
ENGRAULIS.
TuE snout projecting; mouth opening backward considerably beyond
the eyes; mystache long and straight. Twelve or more rays within
the gill-covers, the opening wide. Abdominal line without the projecting
hooked scales as in Clupea and Alosa.
ANCHOVY.
Encraskolus, Willoughby; Table p. 2, f. 2. p. 225.
Clupea encrasicolus, Linn^us. Doxovax; pi. 50.
Engraulis encrasiclwlus, Cuvier. Fleming; Br. Animals, p. 183.
Yarrell; Br. Fishes, vol. 2, p 217.
" " Jenyns; Manual, p. 439.
The Anchovy has been best known in Britain as forming an
esteemed relish when brought pickled and preserved from the
Mediterranean, where a successful fishery has been carried on
for taking them from remote times. This fishery is referred to
by vElian, who says that on one occasion so large a school was
taken that fifty fishing-boats were loaded with the produce; and
he adds that the Anchovy is prolific, very timid, and so fond
of keeping in considerable bodies that it is not easy to cause
them to separate, even by force. The same account is given
by Oppian, with some tendency to poetical exaggeration; and it
is probable he is referring to even the same remarkable instance
as that given by iElian, when he describes the taking of a
large quantity with a ground-sean; but it is worthy of notice
that whilst the simple narrative of the first-named writer repre-
sents them as prolific, the poet adopts the popular opinion of
their having their origin from the froth of the sea.
The Anchovy is not numbered with the fishes of Madeira
by Mr. Lowe, but Dr, Pappe obtained it at the Cape of Good
Hope; and on the north of our own country Mr. Peach has
126 ANCHOVY.
procured it from Herring nets at Wick, in Scotland, It is
found also in the Baltic, and by Nilsson along the coasts of
Scandinavia. Fabricius also reports from Greenland that he had
found examples in the stomachs of seals, and that they are
caught in Davis's Straits at a long distance from land. In the
westmost portion of the British Channel these fish are often
taken in drift-nets employed in the fishery for Herrings and
Pilchards; but this is only when they are sufficiently large to
become entangled in the meshes as these chance to be doubled
together, and there is sufficient evidence to shew that if nets
of finer twine, with meshes of proper size, were employed,
sufficient might be taken on the coast of Cornwall to supply
the full amount of what is consumed in our own country, the
whole of which, as sent to us from the Mediterranean, has been
so much as, with a tax on the importation of twopence in the
pound, to bring into the exchequer year by year the sum of
£1,764. As regards the time when these fish are near us, I
have met with an example in March from the stomach of a
Mackarel; in summer they are found at St. Ives, in the ground-
seans employed in catching Launce. Mr. Dillwyn mentions
them at Swansea in June, and they have been found heavy
with spawn in September, as also in November, and sometimes
they are seen so late as December. But it is only in the
Mediterranean, which they are supposed to enter from the
Atlantic for the purpose of shedding their spawn, that a fishery
is carried on with the expectation of profit; the principal
adventure being with drift-nets, to which the fish are attracted
with artificial light, which is kept burning in an iron framework
for the purpose. Duhamel describes at considerable length
the fishery for Anchovies in the Mediterranean; the most
successful method being to attract the fish by means of a
light, and then to shoot a net at some distance round the
boat that bore it. This plan was pursued with several boats
in succession through the night, for even in moonlight it did
not succeed.
The largest Anchovy I have seen measured eight inches in
length; the sides and cheeks compressed, but round over the
back; the whole length to the fork of the tail about six times
and three fourths of the depth. Upper jaw projecting much
beyond the lower, gape wide, mystache slender, passing much
«»<*
ANCHOVY. 127
behind the line of the eye, sometimes notched along the upper
edge; under jaw narrow, pointed; teeth in both; the tongue
slight, pointed, firm; passage of the gills forward in the mouth.
Eye large, towards the snout; nostrils open. Dorsal fin behind
the line of the ventrals, with sixteen rays; anal narrow; pectoral
low and small; ventrals also small. Tail forked. Colour blue
on the back, lighter on the sides, silvery white below; sometimes
there are crimson tints about the head and iris of the eye; the
cheeks yellow. It is necessary to distinguish this species from
another which has been confounded with it, but which is marked
by a shorter snout and rounder profile. This last has not been
recognised in Britain.
128
EXOC^TUS.
Body moderately compresscfl, and, with the head, clothed with scales.
Low down on each side of the body a row of carinatcd scales, more
prominent, and separate from the lateral line. Dorsal and anal fins
far behind. Abdominal fishes; but what particularly distinguishes this
genus is the very large extent of the pectoral fins, the rays of which
are stout and firm; the arm bone or radius of this fin also large.
GREATER FLYING FISH.
nirnndo TlhiU, Jonston; PI. 18, f. 5, pi. 17, f. 8.
Mur/il alatus, Eondeletius.
Hirtmdo, Willoughby ; Table p. 4, p. 233.
Exoccetus exiliens, Cuvier. Tukton's Linnaeus.
" " Yakeell; British Fishes, vol. i, p. 458.
The earliest account we possess of the occurrence of a Flying
Fish in Britain is by Pennant, who reports that in June, 1765,
there was one caught in the River Towy, at a small distance
below Carmarthen; whither it had been brought by the tide
which flows as far as that town. He had not himself seen it,
and as at the time when Pennant wrote his "British Zoology,"
it was not understood that there existed more than one species
of Flying Fish, except indeed the Flying Gurnard; he therefore
saw no reason to doubt that the representation he has given,
and which he must have derived from some preserved example,
was a correct figure of the fish; although in fact it is a likeness
of the Lesser Flying Fish, (Exoccetus volitans,) of which we
entertain a doubt whether it has at any time been seen in
our seas.
A second example of a Flying Fish is recorded to have been
found on the beach at Helford, near Falmouth, scarcely dead,
and still fresh from the ocean; and from the dimensions of this
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GRKATEH II.YINC; FISTI. 129
specimen given to mc by its possessor, Mr. John Fox, of
Plymouth, I have no hesitation in believing it to be the Greater
Flying Fish referred to above. But if any doubt could remain
it must be set at rest by the examination which I had an
opportunity of making of one which had thrown itself on the
qua}' at Plymouth, and which came immediately into the hands
of the gentleman who then possessed it. In the month of
October, 18-49, another of these fishes was left by the tide in
Stonchouse Pool, in the harbour of Plymouth; and it is at
this time preserved in the museum of the Institute at that
town.
The faculty of flying, or rising aloft to a considerable height
in the air, is such a remarkable character in fishes, that it has
always excited attention in those who have observed it, and
who have considered it an amusing incident, which served to
lessen the tediousness of a long voyage over an expanse of ocean
that is little diversified by other occurrences. But although to
a casual observer it has an appearance not much unlike the
corresponding action of a bird, and it has been more closely
watched by attentive students of nature, it still remains doubtful
whether the flight is to be ascribed solely to a vigorous
impulse, impressed by the muscular power of the tail on the
water, with perhaps the help also of the ventral fins, or whether
some sustaining motion of the expanded pectoral fins may' lend
assistance in seconding the action of the other fins as it passes
through the air, in addition to the gliding motion which, by
its peculiar structure, is proper to it, and prevents a sudden
fall or abrupt descent, until in the course of a lengthened
journey it again alights obliquely on the wave. It has been
the latest decision of naturalists that the impulse obtained by
the action of the caudal fin, as it quits the sea, is the cause
of all that is observed in the air; but there are some consider-
ations which, in adopting this opinion, have scarcely been taken
into account; and some of the actions of these fishes appear to
imply that the expanded fins are not without their use in
modifying and impelling, as well as sustaining the flight; in
probable support of which opinion. Captain Tuckey, in his
Voyage to the Congo, remarked a movement of the fins of a
fluttering kind as they rose, from the surface.
The observations we give are from several sources, some of
VOL. IV. s
130 GREATER PLYING FISH.
which are derived from books, but others have been obtained
from original and attentive observers who have many times sailed
across the widest expanse of ocean; with the drawback, however,
that it is probable the remarks have in either case been made
on different species of this family; for it is far from certain
that the kinds of Flying Fishes which are known to naturalists
are all that exist in nature. Still however, as there is a general
agreement in the mode of flight of all that has been observed,
our notes on this subject can scarcely fail to be applicable to
that one which is the special subject of our consideration.
Flying Fishes are generally gregarious, and it will sometimes
happen that when perhaps not greatly alarmed, they will do
no more than scatter themselves widely along the surface of the
sea; but even when prepared to rise into a lofty flight, they
will first take two or three shorter leaps before the stronger
efibrt is made; and then the buoyant creature is carried so high,
that it has been known to come in contact with the sail of a
ship at the height of forty feet. Humboldt is of opinion that
this is not always for the purpose of escaping from enemies;
for they are seen to move onwards by thousands straightforward,
and always in a direction opposite to that of the waves.
The time during which the flight has lasted has been measured
as amounting to thirty seconds, and an observer has informed
me that he believed it to be nearly a minute; during which
the distance passed over has amounted to two hundred yards —
an enormous extent to have been executed by a single leap;
and so much the more worthy of remark, as that the strength
of this little fish has been so little exhausted by it, that on
falling on the sea it has been seen to rise instantly again in
two or three successive flights of somewhat diminished distance.
Swainson has observed that in rising they sometimes fly ofi" in
an obliquely angular direction from that Vuich they took at
first, as if they were under an influence by the wings and tail
after they had mounted above the water; and we know how
slight is the flutter to be noticed in the wings of many birds,
where no doubt is entertained that a sustaining and guiding
power is in operation, separate from that which only suspends
them in the air. The mechanical structure of the pectoral
organs, presently to be described, will lend some support to
this suggestion; and the want of power to vary the course of
GREATEIl I'L'XING FISH. 131
flight either upwards or sideways, will offer little difficulty to
this view of the case, when we recollect that in the most
rapidly-flying birds the course for the most part is influenced
by the tail, which in the fish can have no material effect in the
air. It should not be forgotten that an hindrance to a more
extended flight in these fishes has been supposed to arise from
increasing dryness, and consequent stiffiiess of the fins, from
the heat of the air as it exists in the climates where these
fishes are chiefly met with. But examination shews that such
is not the case; for such of them as have fallen on board of
ships in the warmest and driest regions, are found to have
maintained the softness and flexibility of the membrane of their
fins for a longer time than is occupied by their utmost flight.
A more probable cause why contact with the water is sought
after a lengthened flight, or in the midst of it, is the need of
renewing the moisture of the gills for the purpose of breathing;
while another cff'ort at escape is forced upon the persecuted
animal, by the appearance of some eager foe that may have
watched its progress through the air, and is waiting to receive
it into its jaws. Nor does the air itself afford a certain refuge
from its enemies; for there it is watched for by the albatross
and frigate bird, with several others; the formidable beaks
of which are employed usually in the descending curve of the
fish's flight. It is usual in merchant-ships to spread canvass,
with outriggers over the side, at night to receive such fish as
may spring from the water, and strike against the ship. In
the morning it is the duty of the boys to examine this trap,
and sometimes a considerable number are thus obtained as a
welcome dish for the table. Amusement is also afforded by
making a not very exact likeness of this fish, but with expanded
wings; and this is hung from the bowsprit, so as that in the
motion of the ship it may at times be dipped for a moment
below the surface; and to seize it in its descent the eager
Bonitoes rush forward to their own destruction.
Within a definite range the species of this family are great
■wanderers, but, according to Risso, the Greater Flying Fi^^h
pursues in the Mediterranean a regular migration; in the course
of which they arrive in schools in the neighbourhood of Nice,
in May, in their progress eastward, and continue for about a
month; Dr. Gulia also recognises it at Malta. It does not
132 GREATER F[.\I^'G FISH.
appear that they are at any time caught with a hook; and
their food is supposed to be the very small n^.olluscous and
crustacean animals which are known to abound at times in every
part ot the ocean.
I have possessed an example which measured twenty inches
and a half in length, but that which furnishes the description
is only sixteen inches, and as Rondeletius remarks, excluding
the fins, the general form bears a near resemblance to that
of the Grey Mullet. The head wide, flattened between the
eyes, which are large; the mouth wide across, but the gape
small; lower jaw beyond the upper, teeth in both scarcely
perceptible; nostrils close before the eye. The body round
and wide across the back, compressed at the sides, more com-
pressed and slender towards the tail. Scales rather large, with
a separately marked line of them passing low down on the
sides from beneath the root of the pectoral fin, to the root
of each ventral. These do not form the lateral line, which,
however, is only faintly marked. The first plate of the gill-
cover passes backward below in a blunt angle. Pectoral fins
wide, high on the body in proportion to other abdominal fishes,
and in the example described nine inches in length, with fifteen
rays, which are thin and branched, but broad, and the thin
edge in contact with the membrane; the membrane also thin,
and I am informed that when newly from the water it is
transparent. These fin-rays lengthen to the fourth. Ventral
fins long and wide, with six rays, the first short and wide, and
when stretched back it reaches so far as to cover the besrinninof
of the anal, in which particular, among others, this species is well
distinguished from the Lesser Flying Fish, (E. volitans,) in
which these fins are comparatively small, as also placed more
forward on the body; although not so much so as is generally
represented in published figures. The third and fourth rays of
these fins are the longest, and they admit of great expansion.
Dorsal fin far on the hind part of the body, high at first, then
narrower, and the last rays lengthened. The anal begins opposite
half the length of the dorsal, of the same shape, and they end
opposite each other; the rays of both simple. The tail forked,
lower lobe longest. Colour bluish grey, or dark on the back,
pale blue on the sides, white below.
The structure of the organs of flight in these fishes, and
GREATER FLYING FISH. 133
particularly at their union with the body, is exceedingly inter-
esting, as might be supposed from the use to which they are
applied. Owen remarks that the bone equivalent to the radius
in higher animals is of enormous size; but the description is
given more at length in a paper on E. volita?is, by Thomas
Brown, in the sixty-eighth volume of the "Transactions of the
Royal Society," (Part the Second for the year 1778.) He says,
the united ends (of the rays of the pectoral fin) are grooved
or hollowed, to receive a ridge or protuberance of the scapula,
(or blade bone,) forming a joint of little motion except backward
and forward, allowing the fin in one case to lie close to the
side, and in the other to form an acute or right angle with
the body, but without being necessarily expanded; (and thus
the size of the fin is not a hindrance in rapid swimming.)
From near the backbone downward to the bottom, where it
ends in a point behind the gills, the body is strengthened on
each side with a flat bone; both firmly united together at the
place where narrowest, but as they become wider upward they
grow hollow on the side next the body; and towards the gills
the edge on each side is turned outward, so as to form a lodg-
ment for a strong muscle; and on the hindward part is the
articulation with the fin. Close above the joint, the bone he
terms the scapula is hollowed in the shape of a crescent, in
order to allow the passage of a tendon from a small muscle
which lies in its lower part next to the body of the fish. The
upper part of the ridge which forms the joint, and is received
by or articulated with a fin, is somewhat enlarged and round;
and over it the strong tendon, which is bound down by a liga-
ment, together with some fibres of the muscle lodged under the
inverted edge of the bone, is obliged to pass; and then passing
over the joint, becomes inserted into the root of the uppermost
and strongest fin-ray; and near the same place, a little way
beyond the joint, is also inverted the tendon which passes along
the semilunated part before mentioned of the scajDula as over
a pulley. These two muscles have their action upward, but
in opposite directions; and thus the fin becomes expanded and
raised; while the lower portion of it is kept down by an
opposing influence on the hindmost and lower muscles of the
body. There are other muscles also of smaller size which
cause this fin to move backward and forward; and the whole
131 GREATER FLYING FISH.
apparatus of flight is so applied to the other organs of the
body, that the scapula and fin with all the appliances of muscular
structure can without difficulty be divided, except at the upper
part, from the other muscles which form the foremost portion of
the body of the fish; for the connection of the former is only
constituted by a portion of cellular membrane. The eye of these
fishes is so formed and placed as to take in extensive but not
distant vision ; and the muscles which move the eye are more
distinct, firm and strong, than is generally the case in fishes.
The air-bladder is large.
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186 EUROPEAN HAT-ri5EAK.
without anything further liaving come to light, when the original
supposition appeared to be confirmed in an accidental research
on the coast of Essex, reported by Dr. Clark, of Ipswich, by
which a considerable number of similar fishes were obtained;
some of which were sent to Mr. Yarrell, and from which a
figure and description were derived, as contained in the second
edition of his "History of British Fishes." Again on a later
occasion, Mr. William Laughrin, A.L.S., of Polperro, obtained
a sight of a considerable number of these fishes, similar in size
to those mentioned by Mr. Yarrell, as they were in active
movement in one of those large pools on our rocky coast, which
are alternately left and covered with the tide; and he amused
himself in watching their actions, sufficiently near to be assured
of the exact form of these fishes, although he was not in
possession of means by which to obtain them.
But in addition to this I have been favoured with a com-
munication from J. S. Martin, Esq., of Weymouth, who kindly
sent me two examples, which I have closely examined, and of
which I took a figure with a description, which will be brought
into connection with that of another presently to be mentioned
of much larger size, of the taking of which I shall presently
give an account. Mr. Martin informs me that the two sent
were a portion of eight examples which were obtained alive
in the Isle of Wight, in the month of August; and although
six of them died soon, two of them lived for a time, and one
survived for a week, during which it swam in a lively manner
at the surface of the water among floating seaweed, with the
appearance of enjoying the bright sunshine. These examples
were about two inches in length; but even at this size it has
been supposed they might be no other than an early stage of
the growth of the Common Garfish; for some naturalists were
not at all disposed to believe that any one species of a usually
tropical family could have come habitually to the British coast;
and even to an eastward part of it for the purpose of shedding
its spawn, and that too without the parent fishes having been
discovered; and the difference of length in the upper portion
of the jaw was judged to be only the primitive condition of
that organ in the well-known British fish. The fact that these
little Halfbeaks were found to have their bones of a green
colour, like those of the Garfish, was supposed to add much
EUROPEAN HALFBEAK. 137
probability to this supposition; but the question has been set
at rest, first, by the discovery of the young of the Garfish of
no larger growth than the smallest of the Ilalfbeaks referred
to, but with the upper jaw of the fully proportioned length
of the full-grown fish; and again by the discovery of an example
of much larger, and we believe, adult growth, in which the
disproportion in the length of the jaws was more decided than
even in such examples as had before been met with. From
this example also it will be seen how it happens that a fish,
whose habit it is to keep at a distance from land, cannot have
been taken in nets, the meshes of which are of the usual size
for other fishes.
It was on the 11th. of September, in the year 1847, that
some driving boats were at the distance of four or five leagues
from land, in weather inclined to be stormy, when a wave broke
into one of them; and when the first rush of water had subsided,
a fish was found to have been thrown on board, which was
immediately wrapped in a piece of cloth; and it was brought
to me as soon as the boat had reached the land. As regarded
it there could not be a mistake, although this example diflfered
in the length of the protruding jaw from such as I had seen
before; and it is from this example that our figure and description
are derived; with the addition, as we have said, of some notes
from others already referred to.
The length was three inches and a half, the general figure
slender, as represented in the plate; from the angle of the
mouth to the point of the lower jaw one inch and about an
eighth, which is a longer proportion than in other specimens
I have seen, and in Mr. Yarrcll's figure of another of my own.
The eye large and silvery; head flat; angle of the mouth
depressed, but the gape straight anteriorly; nostrils large, in a
depression close in front of the eye; upper jaw short, pointed,
with teeth along its length; lower jaw furnished with teeth
only so far forwards as corresponds with those of the upper
jaw; beyond this plain, without a furrow. The teeth are
perpendicular to the jaws, straight, not very closely set, long
for the size of the fish, but not of regular height. Lateral
line straight. Colour of the back bluish, separated from the
side by a defined line; side and belly silvery. Pectoral fins
high on the side, somewhat lengthened and slender; in which
VOL. IV. T
138 EUROPEAN HALFBEAK.
it differs from those of the Garfish, which are proportionally-
shorter, wider, and not pointed; the fin-rays nine. Dorsal and
anal fins far behind and opposite, reaching to the origin of the
tail; but in the examples received from Mr. Martin, the anal
was a little in advance of the dorsal; rays in the former nineteen,
in the anal twenty-two. Tail concave. In Mr. Martin's fishes
the upper jaw was arched or humped where it joined the head,
which was not the case with other examples. The elevated
line of scales which passes along the border of the belly on each
side in the Garfish is not visible, even with the aid of a lens,
in this Halfbeak.
The special use of the remarkable formation of the jaws in
this fish can only be guessed at; but the observations of Mr.
Swainson seem to be appropriate: — "It is a remarkable circum-
stance that we have a genus of birds equally unique in its
own class, where the mouth is similarly constructed; in E-hyncops,
or Skimming Terns, the upper jaw in fact is considerably shorter
than the lower; and these birds skim along the surface of
the sea to feed upon those minute animals which are only to
be found there. This well-authenticated fact throws considerable
light upon the probable habits of these fishes," which we are
led to believe, "habitually feed much in the same manner." It
was particularly noticed in the little example while alive that
the upper jaw only was seen to move.
139
BLUNT-HEADED HALEBEAK.
Hemiramphus obtusus, Zoologist, January, 1848.
« " List of British Animals in the
British Museum, 1851.
In the summer of the year 1841, I discovered, swimming in
a pool of the rocks, where they had been left by the tide,
several of the little fishes presently to be described, and of
which we give a figure; and an account of these examples was
read before the Linnsean Society in the following year. I have
not seen any fishes like them since the time here mentioned;
but in the year 1846, some of a similar kind were obtained
from a pool in the INIount's Bay, near Penzance by my late
son Richard Q. Couch; and an account was given of them, with
a figure of my own specimens, in the "Zoologist," as above
referred to. My impression at the time was, that they were
the young condition of some unknown species; but I have not
been able with any probability to assign them to any kind of
fish known to naturalists; and the account is here given in the
hope that future observation will throw some further light on
the subject.
The length of my own specimens was half an inch; the
head proportionally large, wide across; body slender; eye large,
and the snout in front of it short and abrupt; upper jaw arched;
under jaw stout, projecting to a considerable extent, but in some
specimens more than others; the point declining, and the sides
not appearing to be formed of parallel rami of the jaw, but
rather of a cartilaginous substance; vent placed posteriorly; body
equal from the head to this point, but tapering thence to the
tail; lateral line, so far as it could be distinguished, straight;
dorsal and anal fins single, posterior, opposite each other; the
latter beginning close behind the vent, and both reaching nearly
140 BLUNT-HE 4DED HALFBEAK.
to the tail; their membrane at first broader, but narrowing in
its progress; pectoral fins and tail round. Ventral fins small,
and very obscure — to be seen only in the larger specimens.
The colour in different specimens varied greatly — from dark
with a tint of green, to yellowish green and cream-coloured,
with specks.
141
SCOMBERESOX.
Both jaws slender, and extended to considerable length; furnished
with slender teeth. Scales on the body, and a line of them of
keeled structure along each side of the belly. Several separate small
fins above and below between the dorsal and anal fins and the tail.
Abdominal fishes.
SKIPPER.
SAURY. SKOPSTER. MACKAREL GARRTCK. HALIOU.
Acus minor, JoNSTON; Table 15, f. 15.
Saurus acuhus simih's, Rondeletius.
Lacertus vel Saurus, Willotjghby ; p. 232.
Esox smirus, Turton's Linnasua. Donovan; pi. 116.
Scomberesox saurus, Cuvier.
" " Fleming; Br. Animals, p. 184.
" " Yarrell; Br. Fishes, vol. i, p. 44-6.
'* Camperii, Eisso. Bloch. Schneider; pi. 78, 2.
Belone saurus, Jenyns; Manual, p. 419.
This is a migratory fish, which comes to our coasts at the
beginning of summer, and my earliest notes of its appearance,
from the information of fishermen at the opening of the British
Channel, are betAveen the first week in June and the end of
that month; and soon afterwards they spread themselves in
companies round the United Kingdom, up to the most northern
districts, where, in calm weather, they may be seen to afford a
considerable degree of amusement to an observer. It may
happen that the first appearance of this fish is announced by
its presence in the shallow water of some of our harbours, in
the pools of which it may be left by the ebbing tide, and it
has been sent, with an inquiry as to its name and rarity, from
a portion of a river so high that the water was fresh; but
142 SKIPPER.
they usually keep in the open sea, where they are continually
in motion, in doing which they are exposed to the fate, as in
some degree they exhibit the habits of the Flying Fish, for
which it is probable they have been mistaken by observers
who have had no more than a general knowledge of the
habits of these species. They are followed and persecuted by the
Porpoise, and the more swift and energetic Tunny and Bonito,
which appear to devour many of them; and in their eagerness
to escape multitudes are seen to mount to the surface, to
which the particular construction of the pectoral fin is well
fitted to guide them, and there they crowd on each other as
they press forward. Under the impulse of terror they spring
to the height of several feet — leap over each other in singular
confusion, and then again sink out of sight. But the pursuers
again shew themselves, and they mount again, and rush along
the surface for more than a hundred feet in a continued
efibrt, without the body for a moment being lost sight of,
and, as it would appear, by the instant but repeated touch
on the water of the pectoral fins, and those which lie along
the under part of the body.
It is this rapid and straightforward action which has procured
for this fish the name of Sea Mouse, and which is so well
described by the Greek writers Oppian and ^lian, as practised
by a fish they have called Hierax or Hirax, the (Sea) Hawk,
that I have come to the conclusion of its being the species
formerly understood by that name. Referring to the creatures
of the ocean that are able to fly, the Greek poet compares
together the Flying Cuddle Fish, Sieve, or Kteuthis, Sea
Swallow or Chelidon, and the Hirax, or Sea Hawk.
When ravenous foes pursue they conscious rise,
And court the kind protection of the skies.
Far on unfeathered wings the Sieves are borne;
Sea swallows lower fly. * * *
But cautious Hawks, tho' winged, will nearer keep,
And, hovering, o'er the wavy surfa^ce sweep.
They rinse their moisten'd win^s as close they skim,
Both elements enjoy, and, flying, swim.
Oppian.
And ^lian, B. 9, C. 45, so nearly says the same thing, that it
might be supposed one of these writers had copied from the
other. The Hierax, says he, is accustomed to raise itself so
SKIPPER. 143
little above the surface, that it is hard to say whether it swims
or flies. But, he adds, it is not always thus; and the Skipper
will sometimes spring aloft to the height of perhaps a couple
of yards, and thus pass over an arch of thirty or forty feet;
and although this is very much less than that which is passed
over by the Flying Fish, already described, yet when we con-
sider that there is no extent of wing to sustain the flight, the
efibrt itself of reaching and passing over such an elevation
must be regarded with surprise.
It was the opinion of the older naturalists that this fish was
everywhere rare. Willoughby had never an opportunity of
seeing it, and Rondeletius only as a curiosity sent to him, but
of which he has given a characteristic figure. But these fishes
sometimes come to the coasts of Cornwall and Devonshire in
very large numbers; so that many thousands have been taken
at once in a scan; but as they usually swim near the surface,
they are at the present time taken in smaller quantities than
formerly, in consequence of a difference in the manner of
employing drift-nets for Pilchards. At no distant time these
nets were made to float close to the surface, where they were
exposed to frequent injury from the passage of ships over them;
but at this time they are suffered to sink to the depth of two
or three fathoms, which seems to be below the general range
of these fishes. In the course of one year of the season,
when Pilchards were sought for, the schools that appeared
proved to consist of none but these Skippers, to the extent of
several thousands at a single shoot of the sean or nets; for,
contrary to their usual habits when in a body, they came near
to the land; and it was the opinion of the fishermen that such
an antipathy exists between these fish and Pilchards, that the
presence of the former is an hindrance to a successful fishery
of the latter. About the middle of autumn these fish again
leave our coasts, and the latest I have any notice of was at
the end of November, at which time they have become decidedly
fat. As food it is not to be despised, and the taste is said
to bear some resemblance to that of the Mackarel.
Repeated examination of the stomach shews that the food of
this fish consists of a great variety of materials. Sometimes it
consists of entomostraca, or such small crustaceous animals as
are in an early stage of the larger crustaceans, and which
144 SKIPPER.
abound through the warmer seasons of the year; but I have
also found pieces of small red sea-weeds, and even of the marine
vegetable Zostera marina, with small stones; and as this Zostera
is not known to grow anywhere out of harbours, in which
fresh water mingles with that of the sea, it is to be concluded
that this fish sometimes comes to such a situation in search of
food. In a rare instance it has also been taken with a hook,
where the bait was made to imitate a living prey; and a
description of the jaws will shew that they are not ill calculated
for seizing an active object, and to hold it fast.
The usual length of this fish is from ten to about eighteen
inches; the body slender, deepest opposite the beginning of the
back. In the example from which our figure was taken, which
measured ten inches and a half from the point of the lower
jaw to the fork of the tail, the depth in a straight line was
one inch; but in its fattest condition the depth is nearer the
ventral fins. The head slopes forward from the nape; eye
rather large; and in the example described the jaws projected
before the eyes two inches and a half, the lower a little beyond
the upper. This is sometimes described as turned up, but
most frequently it ends straight, and sometimes it occurs turned
a little downward. There are teeth in both jaws, but in the
upper they are singularly placed; very small, numerous, close
set, and spreading along the edge, so as to resemble on a small
scale the teeth along the border of the Saw-fish Shark; and as
when the lower jaw moves downward, an influence is exerted
on the upper, so as to raise it as on a hinge, the grasp is
wider than at first sight may appear; in this respect bearing a
near likeness to the structure and use of the same parts in the
Garfish. Nostrils in front of the eyes, placed in a recess of
firm structure, resembling a mystache. A row of seventeen
blue dots along the margin of the first gill- cover, which, on
close examination, are seen to be pores. The body covered
with scales of rather small size; and along each side of the
belly a row of them of different form, as there is also in the
Garfish, and less conspicuously in the Flying Fishes; the use
of Avhich is to serve as a point of support for muscles, from
which additional strength is exerted for those lively actions by
which all these fishes are distinguished. The pectoral fins are
small, pointed at the upper part, and so constructed as to give
SKIPPER. 145
the head an upward direction with a slight effort when swimming
in haste; the rays thirteen or fourteen. Dorsal and anal fins
far behind, and opposite, eleven or twelve rays in each; ventral
fins a considerable distance before the vent and anal fin, with
eight rays; and behind the dorsal and anal fins are finlets, which
vary from five to seven in number; tail forked. The scales
are easily lost, and then the skin appears more or less of a
deep green; but when unhurt the back is a fine blue, the
belly silvery tinged with blue; and from the upper line of the
gill-covers to the tail there passes a broad line of silvery white.
VOL. IV. U
146
BELONE.
The ventral fins abdominal. Tiodj lengthened, slender; both jaws
lengthened, slender, with teeth along their sides. Dorsal and anal fins
far behind, and no finlets. A line of raised scales along each side of
the belly.
GARFISH.
LONGNOSE. HORNBEAK.
Acus Oppiani, Acus alia, Jonston; Table 15, f. 17.
WiLLOUGHBY; p. 231, Table P. 2.
Esox belone, Linn^us. Bloch; pi. 33.
Donovan; pi. 64.
Belone vulgaris, Cuvier. Fleming; Br. Animals, p. 1 84.
♦ Jenyns ; Manual, p. 418.
" Yarrell; Br. Fishes, vol. i, p. 442.
«
On the coast of Cormvall this fish is common at all seasons,
as also in the Mediterranean, and more sparingly, according to
jNIr. Lowe, at Madeira; but as spring advances it extends its
wanderings northward, so as to be known along the borders
of Scotland, Sweden, and Norway, in which latter country
Nilsson says it is a common remark that when the Garfish
appears in spring it is a sign of a dry summer. In the north,
however, its visit is only transitory, and it returns to the south
in winter.
But W'herever found it is a restless and wandering species,
and having a quick digestion of food, it is always prepared
to seize a bait, w^hich it grasps with a j)eculiar action of its
protruded jaws, presently to be described; but as the action
of swallowing is not usually so sudden as in many other kinds
of fish, when the boat is passing on raj)idly under sail, the
I m
7
« * » •* ^ .J
GARFISH. 147
prey becomes torn from it in a manner well known to fisher-
men. But when again the hook is felt in the gullet, the
Garfish does not seek to escape by darting away, but, as if
conscious only of the annoyance from the restraint of the line,
it will mount to the surfice, even before the fisherman dis-
covers that he has had a bite; and there, with its body partly
out of the water, it struggles with the line in a variety of
active contortions.
The feeding of this fish appears to be indiscriminate, for
whatever of an animal kind it can seize and swallow; but it
feeds also on a black fly Avhicli alights on the sea in fine
weather, and sometimes its stomach is filled with them. I have
taken Herrings of about one third the full growth from their
stomachs, a single one in each; for it will not hold more, and
the passage is straight to the vent.
There are times also, Avhen the sea is calm and smooth, that
it may be seen engaged in solitary amusement at the surface,
or perhaps many together, by leaping again and again over
some floating object, as a rod or straw; or it may thrust itself
bolt upright put of the water, to fall back again in an apparently
clumsy manner. It is an amusement with fisherboys to throw
some slender stick to the Garfish, when it will execute a variety
of evolutions about and over it as it floats.
The roe is of full growth from the beginning of January to
about Midsummer; and Nilsson says that the season of spawning
is three times in the year, but not with the same individual
fish. The largest spawn first, and so in succession to the
youngest. We have already shewn, when speaking of the
European Halfbeak, that in their early stage the young may
be distinguished from those of that fish by some decisive marks;
and they appear to be of quick growth, so as to be from six
to nine inches in length by the month of October.
On the east and south coasts of Enerland there are fisheries
for the Garpike, with nets, which are shot by night from small
boats; but which are received on board a larger boat that
attends them, if the weather becomes stormy. But this fish is
not much valued as food; although it meets with a sale in
London and some of the larger towns, and where known it is
as welcome a dish as some that are elsewhere highly valued.
Among fishf rmen it is for the most part cut in pieces and
148 GARFISH.
used as bait. Perhaps the strong and disagreeable smell that
proceeds from it when newly caught, may be the reason of its
being little regarded for the table.
This fish attains the length of about thirty inches, but the
example described measured only twenty inches, and the greatest
depth, which was at the ventral fins, an inch and a half. The
jaws protrude beyond the eyes three inches and a half,- upper
jaw more slender than the lower, and not quite so long. The
two branches forming the lower jaw are united by bone, which
is crossed with rough bony bars; and the upper jaw is equally
united into one, but without bars. Two rows of teeth in the
upper jaw, of which the inner row is much the most prominent;
in the lower jaw a single row. In the mouth a fleshy pad in
front of the tongue, which with the remarkable structure of
the nostril, in a pit, with a free fleshy process and large
nerves passing thither, shew it to be of quick sensation after
prey. Eye large; upper part of the head hard and bony.
Body moderately compressed, with scales, and a ridge of them
of peculiar form passing along each side of the belly through
the whole length; acting as a point of support for muscular
eflfort. The body becomes more slender opposite the dorsal and
anal fins, which are far behind and opposite each other; more
expanded at their origin, and ending short of the tail, which
is forked. Pectoral fin short, upper rays longest; ventrals
distant before the vent and front of the anal fin. The colour
brilliant blue on the back, slight tints of blue on the fins, all
besides brilliant white.
The articulation of the jaws is characteristic. The upper jaw
is joined to the frontal bone by a strong ligament, which admits
of free motion. A process of this upper jaw also passes down
to the angle of the mouth; being covered by a mystache formed
of a bone corresponding to what anatomists term the os unguis.
The interior part of this process is joined by a ligament to the
raised edge of the lower jaw; this ligament also admits of free
motion. But the proper articulation of the under jaw is below
the eye, to what from that circumstance perhaps may be called
the temporal bone, but which is the first or lowest gill-cover.
The eflect of this structure is, that the depressing action of the
lower jaw is the cause of the lifting of the upper jaw; and
that, too, to a greater extent than the lower, by a kind of
GARFISH. 141)
action not common to many fishes. The simplicity of this
structure for grasping is equal to its eflfectiveness.
The bones of this fish are of a light green colour, which
some naturalists have supposed to be produced by the action
of boiling in water. But it is the same when the fish is alive,
as it is also in the European Hemiramijhus, and, as Mr.
Owen informs us, in the Leindosiren. It in reality resides in
some minute channels that pass through the bones for the purpose
of nourishing them. Professor Owen further remarks that this
is the only known fish in which a cup and ball joint is found
at the ribs; all other fishes having two cups, which meet at
their rims, with fluid interposed between them.
I have met with a curious irregularity in the formation of
the lobes of roe, which were of no more than half the usual
length, but four in number instead of two; and one of them
at least had no communication with the common outlet, but
seemed to communicate with the entraii.
150
ESOX.
The snout protruded, broad, and somewhat flattened; gape wide, the
palate, throat, and sides of the lower jaw thickly armed with prominent
teeth. Body lengthened, dorsal and anal fins single, far behind and
opposite each other. Abdominal fishes.
PIKE.
JACK.
Lucius,
Esox lucms.
JoNSTON; Table 29, f. 1. Willoughby; p. 236,
Table p. 6.
LinnjEus. Cuviek. Bloch; pi. 32.
Donovan; PI. 109. Fleming; Br. Animals, p. 184.
Jenyns; Manual, p. 417. Yarkell; Br. Fishes,
vol. i, p. 434.
The Pike has been long popularly knoAvn as characterized
by an eager and almost indiscriminate appetite, accompanied
with great boldness in all that relates to the satisfying of its
cravings; and numerous stories illustrative of this are recorded
in books of Natural History. We will quote a few of these,
from writers that are less accessible to readers in general, in
order to shew this predominant disposition of what has been
termed the tyrant of the lake and stream; and in which its
voracity equals, if it does not exceed, even that of the generality
of Sharks; although from its more limited powers and opportu-
nities it does not usually display them on the higher animals
or man. The naturalist Jonston quotes Rondeletius as saying,
(Avhat I do not find in my copy of that author, A.D. 1554,)
that a friend of his had stopped on the border of the Rhone
that his mule might drink, when a Pike seized the animal by
the lower lip, and held it so fast, that as the animal started
PIKE. 151
backward the fish was lifted out of the water and secured.
Another of these fishes was known to have seized the foot
of a young woman as she held it naked in a pond.
A more modern instance of similar ferocity is given from
Mr. Pennell's "Angler Naturalist," as quoted in the "Athenaeum ;"
and the half-starved condition of the fish in this case will help
us to understand the influence which was at Avork in the other
instances, to drive these fishes to the remarkable manifestations
of boldness reported of them: — A young gentleman, "aged
fifteen, went with three other boys to bathe in Inglemere Pond,
near Ascot race-course, in June, 1856; he walked gently into
the water to about the depth of four feet, when he spread out
his hands to attempt to swim; instantly a large fish came up
and took his hand into his mouth as far as the wrist, but
finding he could not swallow it, relinquished his hold, and the
boy turning round, prepared for a hasty retreat out of the
pond; his companions who saw it also scrambled out as fast as
possible." He "had scarcely turned himself round Avhen the
fish came up behind him, and immediately seized his other
hand crosswise, inflicting some very deep wounds on the back
of it; the boy raised his first bitten and still bleeding arm, and
struck the monster a hard blow on the head, when the fish
disappeared." Seven wounds were dressed on one hand, "and
so great was the pain the next day, that the lad fainted twice;
the little finger was bitten through the nail, and it was more
than six weeks before it was well. The nail came off, and the
scar remains to this day. A few days after this occurrence one
of the woodmen was walking by the side of the pond, when
he saw something white floating." It was found to be a large
Pike in a dying state, and he brought it to the shore, "and
the boy at once recognised his antagonist. The fish apjoeared
to have been a long time in the agonies of death, and the body
was very lean and curved like a bow. It measured forty-one
inches, and died the next day. There can be no doubt the
fish was in a state of complete starvation. If well fed it is
probable it might have weighed from thirty to forty pounds."
In Dr. Crull's "Present State of Muscovy, (1698,)" mention is
made of a Pike that when taken was found to have an infant
child in its stomach.
A more ordinary occurrence has been the seizure of ducks
152 PIKE.
and half-grown geese as they swim; and even a couple of
young geese, with a waterhen, were found in the stomach of
one of these fish. It has also been known on some occasions
to seize and devour one of its own species almost as large as
itself. When this occurs, however, the whole body of the prey
cannot be received at once into the stomach; and the devourer
has been seen with the tail and a portion of its victim protruding
from its mouth, until by the dissolution of a part, there is room
afforded for the remaining portion to be in turn subjected to
the powers of digestion. "With such perpetual craving it may
be supposed that where they exist the defenceless inhabitants
of the river are enormous sufferers from their depredations; and
so rapidly do they pursue the anxious flight of their prey, that
Jonston was himself a witness to a Pike's having thrown itself
into a boat in the eagerness of the chase. But notwithstanding
the voracity which so strikingly distinguishes this fish, we are
not to conclude that it does not exercise some degree of choice
in its food, or that some amount of fear or caution does not
mingle itself with its boldness.
The frog is a favourite morsel; so that it has been said there
is no croaking in that department of a pond where the Pike
seeks concealment; but it will not touch a toad, or if on some
particular occasion the fish has ventured to swallow it, the
hateful morsel is presently thrown up; as it is kno\ATi to do
also with other disagreeable food. It is generally believed that
it abstains from seizing the Perch, and also the Stickleback,
through fear of the bristling spines with which these fishes are
armed; and it is said to abstain also from the Tench, as if
from some dislike of the slimy covering of its skin; but this has
been ascribed to the higher motives of love or gratitude, a sort
of feeling little likely to be felt by it, notwithstanding poetic
authority in its support; and indeed more prosaic observation
asserts the opposite of such a self-restraint.
In the "Zoologist" volume for 1853, p. 4125, the Rev. W. T.
Bree says that he "turned into a pit fifty-seven small Tench
and upwards of three score Crucian Carps; and not a great
while afterwards, having discovered the presence of Pikes in
this piece of water, a net was employed, with which three of
that species were taken, which weighed respectively about three
pounds, two, and a pound and a half; but all that remained
I'lKK. 153
of the other fishes AV^hich had been placed in this pond were
one Tench, that weighed a pound and a half, and eight Crucians
of about a pound each;" and he adds, "I cannot have the
smallest doubt that the Pike devoured the fish that were missing,
and these nine that remained only escaped becau.se they were
rather too large for these Pikes to swallow." But in addition
to this, the same gentleman remarks, that in fact tlie Pike is
doubly destructive of Tench, as Avell as of other fish, "not only
devouring such as are of a size suitable to the capacity of his
jaws and stomach, but also by seizing, mutilating, and finally
destroying others which are too large to be so disposed of."
The formidable array of teeth in the mouth of the Pike must
present an effectual barrier to the escape of any prey when
once it has been grasped Avithin the jaAvs: but this armature is
of further use in crushing the life from the creature that is
seized; and then it is conveyed away to a retreat, in order to
its being passed into the stomach in a more deliberate manner.
The usual haunts of the Pike are in the stiller Avaters of
sloAV-floAving riA^ers, and ponds AA'here Aveeds are groAving; in
which situations it lies in Avait for any tempting prey that may
come Avithin sight, and from Avhich it makes excursions in
search of any living thing that may satisfy its hunger. On this
it rushes Avith a violence avcII described in an extract given by
Dr. Badham, in his "Fish Tattle," from Avhich Ave quote it: —
^'Shrouded from observation in his solitary retreat, he folloAvs
with his eye the motions of the shoals of fish that Avander
heedlessly along; he marks the Avater-rat SAAdmming to his
burroAV, the ducklings paddling among the Avater-Ai'eeds, the
dabchick and the Avaterhen leisurely sAvimming on the surface;
he selects his A'ictim, and, like the tiger springing from the jungle,
he rushes forth, seldom indeed missing his aim; there is a sudden
rush, circle after circle forms on the surface of the Avater, and
all is still again in an instant;" and in this manner it sometimes
happens that a pond is almost. Avholly deprived of its most
valued inhabitants, the solitary Pike being left, like some human
tyrants, to reign and starve in gloomy grandeur over a kingdom
destitute of inhabitants.
This fish is known in almost every part of England except
Cornwall; and the lake or pond of Slapton Ley, in Devonshire,
is the only part of that county in Avhich I can find it has
VOL IV X
154 riKE.
been taken. I have received it from the north of Ireland,
through the kindness of the Earl of Enniskillen; and Mr.
Thompson mentions several lakes in that kingdom in Avhich it
abounds. It is recorded also as a native of several rivers in
Scotland. Over the larger part of the continent of Europe it
is well known, and it is in abundance throughout Sweden and
Norway to a high degree of latitude; where in the latter
country, according to Linnaeus, it is caught and preserved to
serve as a principal portion of the subsistence of the poor
people in winter. And although it is strictly a fish of fresh
water, so that it can only live for a short time, and in a sickly
condition in that which is altogether salt, it is also found in
the upper portion of the Baltic, where the water is sufficiently
diluted to allow it to thrive. Spain is not wholly Avithout the
Pike, as has been said by some; and it is an inhabitant of the
temperate and colder regions of Asia, even so far as China, as
also in America. It seems therefore a matter of surprise that
this fish is scarcely mentioned, if at all, by the ancient writers
of Greece and Home; in the former of which we meet Avith
no reference to it; and in the latter, if it be the Esox mentioned
by Pliny, his only notice of it is, that in the Khone it has been
known to weigh a thousand pounds; which assertion, derived
perhaps from popular report, is sufficiently wide of the probable
truth as to encovirage the doubt of its being the fish now known
by the same name. Yet as a native of the Tiber it must have
been known to the people of Home; but their writers seem
generally to have disregarded the natural living habits and
instincts of the inhabitants of the waters, and to have viewed
fishes as worthy of notice only so far as they ministered to
the luxuries of the table, or again as they contributed some
occult qualities to the impostures of medical magicians, who
abounded in the city, and to the absurd pretensions of whom
the higher classes of ancient Rome were accustomed to lend a
willing ear. Ausonius, writing in the fourth century, mentions
it as a fish of the Moselle; but this he does only to record a
commonplace piece of wit, in reference to its vulgar name of
Luciixs; which signified one that was born in the early morning
light, or, as interpreted, under favourable circumstances, and
it was therefore greatly valued by the Romans, for having been
borne by many illustrious men of that empire; in contrast with
PIKE. 15;")
M'hom it appeared absurd to apply it to a fish of such little
estimation.
It has been supposed that the Pike attains the age for
spawning in three years, and that the youngest deposit their
roe at the earliest season of the year, which may be in February
or March; after which at successive intervals those of middle
age and the oldest succeed them; the whole season continuing
for about three months. These fish are very prolific, and we
derive from Nilsson the folloAving account of the probable
comparative numbers of the grains of spawn to be found in
fishes of the two extremes; comprising some whose living is
procured from vegetables chiefly, or insects, and the ravenous
devourer of the full-grown inhabitants of the fresh-water. Thus
on the authority of Lund, there have been obtained from a
Pike which weighed thirty-five pounds, two hundred and seventy-
two thousand one hundred and sixty grains of spawn; from a
Carp of the weight of three pounds, two hundred and thirty-
seven thousand; and from a Tench of the same size, three
hundred and eighty-three thousand two hundred and fifty. For
a Salmon he reckons a thousand for every pound of its weight;
but for the most part fish of fresh-water are less prolific than
those of the sea.
The place of depositing the roe is not the same with the
haunts of this fish at other seasons; but a regular migration
takes place at the breeding season, in search of such smaller,
more rapid, and clearer streams as will suit their purpose; and
in doing this they will overcome difficulties that ask no little
exertion. The spawn is shed on the cleanest weed, and presently
afterward the parent fish return to the weedy nooks of the pond
or river, in which they maintain their station during the remainder
of the summer. It has been thought that the object of the
parent Pikes in seeking for retired brooks in which to shed
their spawn, has been to secure their helpless young ones from
the depredations of other fishes, on Avhich in turn they are
destined to subsist; but if this were the motive their care avails
but little; for the number of Pikes which reach matiu'ity bears
only a small proportion to the grains of roe that are shed. It
is more probable, however, that they are guided by instinctive
feeling to choose a purer water than that of their usual haunts,
and a mixture of proper temperature Avith brighter light; the
156 PIKE.
influence of whicli latter on the development of the smaller
animals is well known. The young are produced in about
thirty days, and their growth is rapid, but it is much slower
as they advance in years, and yet without ceasing up to a
considerable age; the fall extent of which appears to exceed
that of any other known inhabitant of the waters.
Lord Bacon supposed this fish to live for about forty years, and
it has been reported to have been known to reach a hundred;
but even this lengthened date must yield to the account given
by Gesner, who says that in the year 1497, a Pike was caught
in a lake or pond near Hailbrun, in Suabia; and attached to
its gill was found a brass ring, of which a small part was still
bright and shining, and of which he gives a figure with the
inscription engraved on it. This was in Greek, and a translation
of it is, "I am the first fish that was placed in this pond by
the hand of Frederik the Second, Governor of the World, on
the 5th. of October, 1230;" from which, adds this writer, we
conclude that this fish had reached the age of two hundred
and sixty-seven years. From the size of the ring, as given in
the before-named figure, it is to be supposed that when placed in
the pond it Avas not a small fish; and if it had not then been
caught, there appeared a likelihood of its continuing still to
live on for a considerable time. The diameter of the ring
exceeded three inches and a half, with a breadth at the border
of one fourth of an inch; and on its side was another ring one
inch and five eighths in diameter, by which it appears to have
been attached to the fish; while on the other side were fastened
six round drops of metal as large as peas, each of which is
fastened to the border of the principal ring by a short stem.
No small amount of curiosity has been felt in reference to
the fact that Pikes have sometimes been found in newly-made
ponds, where it is not known that they can have been introduced
by human hands; and very different opinions have been advanced
to explain the circumstance. Gesner ascribes it to the stork,
which he supposes to have devoured the spawn of the fish,
Avhich afterwards has passed through the body of the bird
imdigested, and has come to life after it has been discharged
into the water. In a report of the Meeting of the Britisli
Association for 1845, we are told that the then Bishop (Stanley)
of Norwich, P.L.S., related several facts which went to shew
PIKF. 157
that grains of the roe of Pikes were deposited in the thatch
of a cottage, where they remained for some years; and then,
when this thatch had been thrown into a dry ditch, that
afterwards was filled with rain, young Pikes were seen to be
produced. It is certain at least that Pikes of some moderate
size will leave the river or pond in which they have lived,
and travel, over land to some other water; but this alone cannot
account for the fact that these fishes in a very early stage of
existence have been found in these newly-formed pieces of
water, to Avhich, from their very small size, we cannot suppose
them to have travelled over land.
IMuch difference of opinion has existed in regard to the value
set on the Pike for the table; so that while in some districts
it has been highly valued, in others it has been thought scarcely
worthy of notice. But this will not be deemed strange when
we consider the effect produced on the generality of fishes by
the difference of food, of water, and even by the colour of the
soil; and their health is also much influenced by the season
of the year; for the Pike is said to be in a high condition
only through the summer, from June to October. That it was
known and greatly valued in England at a time far preceding
that in which Leonard Mascal is reported to have introduced
it, may be seen in the Book of St. Albans; and it is mentioned
also by Chaucer. It was also thought of sufficient importance
in the reign of King Edward the First as to be made, with
other fishes, a subject of that king's legislative meddling; and
a further proof of the value set on the Pike, in company with
Bream, is seen in an enormous feast given by Archbishop
Neville, at his enthronation in the reign of Edward the Fourth,
when six hundred and eight of these fishes, conjointly, were
set before the guests, together with twelve porpoises and seals;
but no other fish, properly so called, Avas thought worthy of
the notice of the guests. It is probable however that the high
price fixed on it at that time is to be considered rather as a proof
of the prevalence of fashion than of the general esteem in which
it was held; and it is farther probable that it was the cost
and skill bestowed on feeding it for the market, as we shall
presently shew, that enhanced the price above that of many
other fishes.
We have it on the authority of Gesner and other writers cf
158
PIKE,
that age, that it was usual to cut open the belly of this fish
to the extent of two or three inches, in the same manner as
we have noticed of the Carp, in order to display to the
purchaser its well-fed condition; and in this state it was pre-
served alive in the market, to be restored to its native element
if a sale were not effected. It was under these circumstances
of its being thus returned that the Tench was supposed to act
as the physician, and by licking the wound to cause it to heal
speedily. So lately as the time of Willoughby and Ray we
are told that captive Pikes were kept in coops or wooden
frames afloat in the river at Cambridge, in order to be fattened
and in constant readiness for the market; and the price of one
that was full grown, and thus in good condition, might amount
to twenty shillings, although a Pike of smaller size would be
sold for as many pence. I possess a memorandum of a Pike
which, in March, 1752, was caught in Devonshire, in what the
writer calls Slatton Pool, and which may be supposed the lake
termed by Montagu, Slapton Ley; the length of which fish
was two feet and nine inches, the weight nineteen pounds, and
for which the price demanded was three crowns and a half.
Three shillings Avere offered for it and refused; but on the
following day it was sold for half a crown. But while the
flesh of this fish may be deemed wholesome, and by some a
delicacy, it has been said that the roe is dangerous food, and
by some it has even been pronounced poisonous. We can
readily believe that on some constitutions, and as an unusual
food, it may act with considerable violence; but Linnaeus, in
his travels (Lachesis Lapponica) in Lycksele Lapland, informs
us that it constitutes a part of the ordinary diet of the people
of that country; where "the spawn is dried, and afterwards
used as bread, dumplings, and what is called vailing — a sort
of gruel made by boiling flour or oatmeal in milk or water.
The livers are thrown away, being supposed to cause drowsiness,
and pain in the head, when eaten." The Pikes are dried by
these people to serve as an important part of their subsistence
in winter.
We forbear to speak of the methods employed in fishing for
the Pike, since these may be found at sufficient length in books
devoted to the art, from Izaak Walton in his various editions
down to the latest date of such publications; which the gentle
PIKE. 159
angler is never tired of reading and practising. But there is
a trait in the habits of this fish which seems to require notice,
as it has a bearing on a portion of the nature of all fishes,
whether of the river or the sea.
The Pike is observed sometimes to remain asleep in some
quiet part of the stream, Avith such an entire suspension of its
senses, that opportunity has been taken of snaring it with a
noose, and thus lifting it on shore. This fact is more worthy
of notice, as the proof generally of the existence of sleep in fishes
appears very doubtful; and at least, if it exists at all, it is
conducted in them in a different way from what we perceive
in all other classes of animals.
The Shark, Dolphin, and Pilot-fish will attend the devious
motions of a ship for very long distances through a succession
of numerous days and nights, without appearing to flag in their
exertions, or to mistake the course of what they follow; Avhich
circumstances cannot be explained if dui-ing this time their
consciousness of external objects had been suspended, or they
had been asleep in the manner of other creatures. We can
imagine it possible indeed that separate portions of the brain
may fall into a state of sleep alternately, while others remain
awake; but the apparently more probable supposition is, that
their sleep is a condition somewhat resembling Avhat we know
of human somnambulism; in which state the external senses
are partially awake, while rest has fallen on some important
portions of them. There are instances where men are known
to have acted with vigilant intelligence in some particulars,
while much of their outward consciousness in other matters has
been suspended; and so it may be with the inhabitants of the
water; but the subject deserves more attention than it has yet
received. This suspension of vigilance in the Pike as a proof
of sleep is the more remarkable, as at other times its faculties
are greatly on the alert, and its sense of hearing in particular
is more acute than in the generality of fishes.
When suffered to reach its full size the Pike has been found
of the length of five or six feet; and the aged individual
mentioned by Gesner is said to have measured nineteen feet,
with the weight of three hundred and fifty pounds. But the
usual magnitude even of a large fish is much less than this,
and Willughby thought it deserving of record that he had
160 PIKE.
been present at the taking of an example Tvhich weighed thirty-
two pounds. In contrast with this, however, in Ireland a fish
of from twenty to forty pounds is not uncommon in the market;
and I have been informed on good authority that at Castle
Coole lake in that country a Pike was obtained which was
not less than sixty pounds; and from the nobleman who
communicated this fact I further learn than an example had
been seen which was of the weight of seventy pounds. A note
is given in the "Magazine of Natural History," of a Pike taken
in Loch Lomond in Scotland, that weighed seventy-nine pounds;
and to go still higher, in the supplement to Daniels' "Rural
Sports," there is an account of the capture in the river Shannon
of one that weighed ninety-tAvo pounds. It was observed to
have chased several Perch, which to save themselves from so
formidable a devourer, had thrown themselves on the shore;
but in its eagerness it had itself rushed into such shallow water
as did not allow of its retreat.
Dr. Crull, already quoted, mentions an example which
measured five feet in length; but although we have been
favoured with specimens of almost a yard in length by the
kindness of the Earl of Enniskillen, our description is taken
from one that measured only sixteen inches. The general shape
lengthened, moderately compressed, round over the back, more
slender and compressed behind the dorsal and anal fins, which
fins are far behind and opposite each other; the beginning of
the dorsal a little in advance. Snout protruded before the
eyes, depressed, becoming thinner towards the mouth; a large
and strong mystache, which extends opposite the eye. Head
flat and wide; under jaw longest, gape wide; teeth slight on
the curve in front of the upper jaw with a vacancy at the
symphysis; but a very formidable arrangement within a long,
sharp, thickly-set bed round the palate, separated from those
in front of the upper jaw by a fleshy curtain. Teeth on the
middle of the palate (vomer;) tongue rough; under jaAv with
less prominent teeth in front, but large, long, firm, and sharp
a little incurved at the sides; a formidable arrangement, from
which no living thing that enters can hope to escape. Eyes
prominent, with a row of obvious pores behind it; pores also
round the under jaw; nostrils wide. The body covered with
'scales; some also on the cheeks behind the eyes, which also
riKE. 1()1
are prominent in lines high on the side, running to meet each
other along the middle of the back. The scales on the belly-
appear as if sunk in the skin, and separate from each other.
The gill-covers extend considerably backward. Lateral line
little perceptible at first, straight. Dorsal fin with eighteen
rays, of which the fourth is the longest; anal also with eighteen,
the first three or four very short; the colour of both yellowish,
with strongly marked black rays; pectoral fins low, under the
throat, round, yellow; ventrals abdominal, but much anterior
to the anal, yellow with a white border. Caudal fin broad,
forked, with eighteen rays, the main stem of each of which
gives off branches only on one side, which is that, above and
below, which is directed towards the middle of the fin. Colour
of the top of the head and back dark brownish green, yellowish
green on the sides, with scattered yellow spots; white below;
a broad band from the front of each eye; and other bands
from below pass forward, converging to the sides of the snout.
A remarkable structure in the eye of this fish, discovered by
Mr. Drummond, (Charlesworth's Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. ii,)
appears to shew a special power of regulating distances in sight,
and in no British fish are the three bones of the ear (Otoliths)
on each side so decidedly visible.
VOL. IV.
162
THE SALMON TRIBE
This family forms the genus Salmo of Linnsens, and is
characterized by the insertion of the mystache, or true maxillary
bones, on each side of the snout or intermaxillaries, by a hinge;
by the armature of the mouth, where the jaws and border of
the mystache are furnished with teeth, as are generally the roof
of the mouth, with also two rows along the sides of the tongue;
and also by the presence of two fins on the back, of Avhich the
hindmost is small and destitute of rays. In this last particular
the fishes of this family stand alone among the fishes of Europe;
but there is something like it in some Indian species; as of the
genus Pimelodus, which in this respect forms a link between
the genus Salmo and the apparently very different genus Silurus.
The armature of the mouth is less a mark of the extensive
family of Salmons and Trouts, as there are some aberrant sub-
genera which have teeth less visibly in the jaws, or are altogether
without them; but all are abdominal fishes, and within the body
the air-bladder communicates with the gullet by means of a
tube, the opening of "which is clearly visible. As no visible
nerve is seen distributed to the rayless fin on the back, this
part seems to be only possessed of common and not specific
sensation.
By Cuvier this extensive family is divided intr several
genera, of which on many accounts the first stands conspicuous.
o
<
o
o
r
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
16i
SALMON.
of interested notice, in consequence of having been from a distant
date resrarded as an esteemed dish for the table, as well as an
important article of trade; and these united circumstances have
caused the Salmon to be the subject of a large amount of, it
must be allowed, very unsatisfactory, if not contradictory, official
inquiry and legislation.
It is additionally remarkable concerning the most valuable of
this family of fishes, the Salmon itself, that the portion of its
history Avhicli is passed in the more immediate neighbourhood
of man has been far from the least obscure; and that too,
although it has been the subject of much research and experiment.
This state of uncertainty, however, especially as regards the
distinction of species and the variety observed in their habits
in different places, may in some measure be explained by the
fact, that at the time when Salmon have been engaged in
depositing their spawn, or soon afterwards, the same or a closely
neighbouring spot has been chosen by individuals of a different,
although kindred species; or that otherwise by the operation of
violent floods, the eggs of more than one species have been
mingled together; and in consequence of this the spawn of
different kinds have become the subject of the same training.
It is certain also from observation that in the early stages of
their growth the marks of distinction between the species are
so obscure, that the most attentive observers have found them-
selves at a loss in endeavouring to lay down such as they could
depend on for separating them; and the difficulty is increased,
that as each one advances in growth its form and colour are
in continual change.
It was in consequence of these combined causes of uncertainty
that when large numbers of the young fishes were caught in
the river, and marked Avithout discrimination, and afterwards
set at liberty, that the confusion was made still greater, by
taking them again as the Salmon, Sea-Trout, Bull-Trout, and
even the Common Trout; of all of which no doubt is felt that
they are distinct species. To keep clear of such mistakes as
these, recourse has been had by later enquirers to more undoubted
methods of research; the beginning of which has been to procure
the impregnated roe immediately on its being shed, or even to
press it from the body of the living fish, and then to pour
upon it the vivifying fluid of the male; after which it has been
SALMON. 1(
)'J
convoyed to a pond or pool of running water, where the fol-
lowing stages of development and growth might be traeed from
day to day. Our knowledge of some of the habits and changes
of the young of the Salmon has been thus extended; but Avith
this arises the belief that from some perhaps scarcely perceptible
influences arising from the small degree of deviation to which
they have been subjected in their removal from the natural
action of the river, as regards its depth, the nature of the soil,
and other causes, including an unnatural manner of impregnation ;
the regular course of development has been interfered with; and
as experience proves that the Salmon, perhaps more than any
other fish, is thus liable to be influenced, it may in this manner
be explained why it is that a portion of these young fishes should
be ready to pass out of the fresh water early in the first year
of their existence, while others of them, and it would appear,
almost if not altogether exclusively, the males are not ready for
this emigration before the second, or even the third year of
their age.
As bearing on the same subject, it seems highly probable
also that much difference will be found to exist between rivers
not far distant from each other; and which from the variation
of times in which they are visited by the fish are termed early
or late; a knowledge of the causes of which is yet obscure,
and to study them fully would demand an accjuaintance with
the peculiarities of every river in the kingdom. We shall have
occasion to shew that in the rivers of the south and west of
England no such delay is known in the departure of the young,
as is reported in the north ; and as it is also certain that some
causes have operated to produce in diflferent rivers considerable
variation of shape and bulk, in addition to the season of
emigration; as well as that also a retardation of growth has
been effected to and beyond the third year by artificial means,
the conclusion seems unavoidable, that there is some special
circumstances which produce these variations, and that they may
be obviated when the subject is better understood.
But there is a limit to every degree of variation in a living
animal; and amidst the large amount of its changes there exists
a sub-stratum of regularity of habit and action, which is derived
from an intrinsic conformation of its parts, of which the nervous
organization is the chief; so that, as we know the nerve of
16G SALMON.
sight cannot be made to perform the function of the ear, nor
the nerve of the latter that of the tongue; and also that the
nerves of common sensation cannot supply the place of those
which direct the actions of muscular motion, although no skill
in the use of the microscope has hitherto been able to discern
a difference in their structure; it follows further that the receptive
brain in one species of animal is not capable of eliciting the
essential thoughts or instinctive feelings which arc the natural
characteristics of another. It is probable that the ordinary
nervous fibres of the body of every separate creature possess
some specific or peculiar mode of action in the conveyance of
impressions; but it is the central organ which gives them their
proper tone, from which the character of the race is formed.
It is among these constant characters of the species, as it is in
a large portion of the family, that we find the Salmon is not
able to sustain life under a heat of climate that shall exceed
what is found within the temperate regions of the earth; and
it is known to be most at home and in greatest abundance as
we proceed towards the north; although there is a limit also
in that direction, and our more common sjiecies is compelled
to shrink from the biting severity of the icy sea. Thus although,
as we shall have to shew, the roe of the Salmon is quickened
into development in a shorter time in a mild climate, and by
the application of a moderate degree of artificial heat, than when
exposed to the icy cold of a northern river, and that the fish
itself is so conscious of this as to refuse to ascend to its spawning
bed when dissolved snow or floating ice is in the way, yet Dr.
Davy has proved that in a heat above seventy degrees the
young will not come to life.
Through Sweden and Norway to the further bounds of
Scandinavia the Salmon is in plenty, together with other species
not known with us; and in the north of Scotland, as also in
the Orkney and Shetland Islands it is said to reach its highest
degree of beauty and perfection. It is to be remarked, however,
that perhaps from the nature of the water, and the food, with
no little difference of climate, which may have impressed a large
amount of peculiarity on the local varieties, the season of its
chief excellency for the table is different, and even opposite in
different districts; as are also the times and circumstances of its
annual emigrations. In Scotland and the north of Europe,
SAT-MON. 1G7
where the rivers are large, and in summer full of water from
the moisture of the climate, Avithout any mineral impregnation,
the chief season is from early in the year to the end of summer;
although, as already remarked, even this varies in rivers not
very distant from each other. It is at this time that the fishing
in the north is in its greatest activity, as well for sport as
profit, while in the Severn the season of excellency is the
opposite of this; and in Cornwall, Avith a large part of Devon-
shire, the fish are altogether absent until sometime about the
middle of August, but more commonly late in September; and
it is only from October to December that the fishermen can
follow their occupation Avith the prospect of profit; the conse-
quence of this variation, therefore, is that in some districts the
Salmon is in an acceptable condition for the table at a time
when in others they cannot be obtained, or are not fit to be
eaten. With the protection of the laAV as it noAV stands, this
fish cannot fail to increase in number in some rivers, especially
in the west of England; but as this abundance can only take
place in Avhat is termed the fence time, it can only be for the
benefit of those Avho set the laAV at defiance, and to this therefore
there appears an almost irresistible temptation.
It cannot be alone in obedience to sexual instinct that this
fish is urged to seek the fresh water; for a large portion of
them in the more frequented districts are knoAvn to leaA'e the
ocean many months before an enlargement of the roe can be
discerned; and not less than nine or ten months before the
time when they are expected to deposit it; and we shall have
occasion also to shcAv hov/ probable it is that there exists a
different influence, which exerts a powerful impulse on the
motions of these emigrants. This entrance into fresh water of
a portion of these fish, and a portion only, and these in long
succession, will begin to take place soon after the beginning of
the year, and even at a time Avhen there are breeding fish still
engaged in the duty of shedding their spawn; and therefore
considerably before the time when a large portion of these latter
have returned to the sea; which they lose no long time in doing
— the females before the males — when exhausted by that natural
proceeding.
When draAving near the land they form themselves into
companies, which sometimes include large numbers; but these
168 SALMON.
do not consist of an incongruous multitude. By some of these
tlie land is reached at a distance from their ultimate destination,
so that they will have to pass along towards it by the windings
of the shore; and their actions then are frolicsome, by often
leaping out of the water to the height of three or four feet,
and falling back again on their side without appearing to make
a progress, or desiring to do it. But it has been often noticed
that, however strange it may be they should find out each
other, those only have become associated which belong to a
single river; towards which they hold their way in some
regular order, while each lesser division of which the hosts
consists is so well acquainted with, and attracted to its oAvn
branch of the stream, that if not forcibly driven out of its
course, it will quit the larger body, or pass by some inviting
streams, to enter the favourite district in which it first saw
the light; a circumstance the more surprising when we call to
mind the early age at which many of them left it and their
various wanderings afterwards in the ocean. It has been observed
that the fish of two rivers which even lie near each other,
when coming from the sea, are not accustomed to unite into
one assemblage, but that they arrange themselves and proceed
onward in separate hosts. But when these companies have
reached the mouth of the river they are often found to linger
there; and then it is especially that they find enemies waiting
for them, in the Grampus, Porpus, and Seal, which infiict
upon them no small terror as well as devastation. A cause of
this delay may be a want of a sufficient quantity of water in
the river, at a time perhaps when a warm season has brought
them onward prematurely; and even the ajDpearance of the sky,
Avhether bright or gloomy, will have an influence. The prospect
of a fall of rain is soon acknowledged and acted on; for it is
surprising to perceive how quickly fish become aware of atmos-
pheric changes, or even the prospect of them. But the hindrance
may continue for a week or two, until a fresh rush of water
excites them, and then they j)ass rapidly upward to the genial
depth of the flowing stream.
According to the very precise account given us by Bloch,
Salmon are accustomed to enter a river in two ranks, which
form two sides of a triangle; and the stoutest fish, which is
usually a female, leads the march, while at about a fathom
SALMON. 1G9
behind hrr are two others; and in this order they proceed witli
all the others following, without being turned a.side by any
ordinary obstacle. This author says that the females go first,
and next to them the stoutest males; so that if the fishermen
begin by catching only small males, they conclude that the chief
body has already passed on.
These fish give a preference to the middle current of rivers
where they are not deep, unless when the weather is cold
and boisterous: and a rapid river with a clean bottom is a
favourite resort. Fishermen notice that they do not at this
time swim deeper in the water than about six feet, and as
they go up an estuary it is with the flowing tide, which
carries them free from many obstructions; but if the current
turns before they have made a satisfactory progress they turn
backward with it, by which it may happen that they fall into
danger, more especially from fixed nets planted there to inter-
cept them, and within which they are left at the ebb tide to
be taken up at leisure. This turning back of the Salmon at
the ebbing of the tide is the more remarkable as when advanced
beyond it the downward current of fresh water has not the
same influence, nor even the violence of a cataract, against
the force of which they seem to delight in leaping with a
perseverance that is wonderful, and commonly with success.
In this progress upward, however, their energy is not without
intervals of rest, during which they continue in some deeper
pool for two or three days, as if to recruit strength for another
effort. The number of fish sometimes comprised in the host we
have described may be guessed from the quantity that has been
taken at a single haul of a net, and that even when the net
has been of the ordinary moveable sort. Dr. Bathurst says,
in his "Notes on Nets," that fourteen hundred and fifty-two
were thus caught; and this amount has been far exceeded in
some instances, when what we believe to be the more effectual
or destructive nets have been employed. We are thus told
that two thousand five hundred were secured at one time in
the River Thurso; and in the Ribble, in the year 1750, three
thousand five hundred of good size were taken at one catch,
but it is not said in a single net, although it is probable
they formed only one assemblage.
We cannot vouch for the constant occurrence of such a
VOL. IV. Z
170 SALMON.
regular arrangement of this army as is described by the
Prussian naturalist, since, if it at all exists, it must be liable
to be broken up by the multitude of enemies and dangers to
which these fish are exposed, and of which man and his
engines are not the least formidable. But after they have
entered the river it is uncertain how long they keep together,
since through the summer they are found single or in small
parties, and accessions are made in continued arrivals, until, as
the autumn advances, the ncAvly-arrived fish present a different
aspect, and are urged on towards a different object. It has
been contended that of all the fish which come into fresh
water from the early months of the year none return to the
sea until they have shed their spawn, which function for the
most part is only performed in the winter, or from about the
month of November to January, although in some instances,
and in particular districts, it may be so early as the latter
part of September, or as late as in JNIarch. But there does
not appear any proof of this long continuance of the individual
adult Salmon in rivers, and the contrary seems more highly
probable. Thus it is admitted that in a short time after it
has entered the river an unfavourable change as regards its
plumpness and delicacy as food is perceptible; and so speedily
is this produced that some observers profess to be able to
detect it in a few hours, and it is allowed to be visible after
a few weeks, by which time also the parasitic animal Avhich
in the sea had fastened itself to the skin has fallen from its
holdfast. But if so hurtful a change has taken place as can
be discerned in this short space of time, we can scarcely
suppose that the same fish will remain in such a healthy state
for many succeeding months as is necessary to a successful
effort of spawning, being also during that time exposed to a
succession of the same depressing influences. We add, that
there aj)pears no means by which we can feel assured that a fish
which is known to be in perpetual movement has not retraced
its course to the sea, to be replaced by a new arrival, which
circumstance is the more probable as it is known that the
fixed nets employed at the entrance of rivers do just as fre-
quently intercept those which may be coming down as those
which are only moving up and down with the tide. It seems
certain, also, from repeated observation, that after its arrival
SALMOX. ITl
within the influence of fresh water, the Sahnon, or its earlier
condition of Grilse, does not increase in growth; and yet by
careful examination it has been proved that the individual fish
which have been weighed in September are of twice the bulk
of those which have been taken in July. This is shewn by
a table in the "Quarterly Review," (No. 226, p. 417, April,
I860,) and that the examples were not the same fish admits
of no doubt, since the larger fish of the last-named date were
bright in colour, as Salmon are when they leave the sea,
whereas when these or the Grilse have been long in the
river the colour becomes of a much darker hue, and the
surface is charged with a greater abundance of slime. It also
afibrds no small degree of support to the opinion that those
Salmon which ascend rivers in the early part of the year do
not remain in fresh water to its close, that in the rivers of
Cornwall, and, for the most part, in Devon, where, unless
prevented by a flow of water from copper mines, there is often
a run of fish in the early months of the year, none are met
with as the summer proceeds, nor do the young return in the
form of Grilse, as in the rivers of Scotland, In none of these
western rivers excei:)t the Tamar, and in this last but rarely, — to
be accounted for by the depth of water which floats a mighty
navy, — have I heard in a long series of years, (except in a
few instances in the Fowey,) of a Salmon being caught from
the early months of spring until towards the end of August.
A very few only have returned late in August or in September,
and it is only from October to the beginning of December
that they have been in such numbers as to deserve the attention
of fishermen.
It is chiefly in the last-named month that the milt and roe
are enlarged, and it is the opinion of many that it is at the
earlier stage of this natural process when the fish is in its
highest perfection, as well of form and colour as of delicacy
for the table. It is at this time also that it becomes the
earnest endeavour of these fish to l^f^ss upward in the stream
as quickly and as high as possible; in Avhich last particuUir
they are not satisfied until they have reached some place near
the head, where the water is shallow, and rvins with a steady
force over a bottom of sand or gravel, in which situation
there are natural advantages as well for the parents as the
172 SALMON.
young; and in obtaining these the dangers incvirred, and the
difficulties to be surmounted, are lightly regarded, so that the
length of the journey, which may extend to several hundreds
of miles, seems only an addition to the pleasures of the
adventure. The difficulties that are met Avith are produced by
obstacles which sometimes arc natural, perhaps in the shape
of cascade that may be formed of a rush of water from the
almost perpendicular height of a dozen feet or more; and
strenuous are the efforts which the Salmon is seen to put
forth, to make good its way upward fro'm the deepened pool
below.
Dr. Fleming says, in his evidence before a Committee of the
House of Commons, that he has seen them leap up over a fall
of thirty feet; but the spring out of the water itself seldom
exceeded eight or ten feet; which must be considered enormous
when we consider the impulse necessary to effect it in a fish
of many pounds in weight; and he has also seen them leap
over a dry rock so as to drop into the water behind it. We
believe that sometimes a leap from below into the torrent as it
falls will still enable the fish to surmount the difficulty; but
more frequently this is without success, and the struggling
creature is cai-ried back again, if not, indeed, intercepted by a
contrivance, referred to by Linmieus, of placing a basket in a
situation to receive it, when hurried backward after an ineffectual
struggle. It appears however that this failure of success is not
always a proof of weakness; but it may be caused by the
oblique direction in which the fish has fiillen on the descending
torrent, so that its side or shoulder became exposed to the force
of the stream, which then it was not able to resist. The tail
is the important organ with which these efforts are made, and
when we examine its intimate structure we cannot fail to be
impressed with the belief that this organ was especially formed
for the purpose to which we find it thus applied; for in the
generality of osseous fishes, if not in all besides this, the broader
plates of bone to which the rays of the tail fin are attached,
are placed opposite the termination of the vertebral column or
backbone; but in the Salmon family this is not the case. On
the contrary, the line of the joints of the vertebrae is lengthened
out so as to be extended upward; by which means these caudal
plates of bone are arranged and fastened along the lower border
SALMON. 173
of ihe joints; by Avhicli contrivance additional power and
flexibility of the bones and muscles are provided, together with
ji high degree of complex action in the impulse.
When the season has been deficient in rain, and the level
of the water is therefore low, the difficulty in springing to the
higher level is so much the more increased; and this is especially
the case, as some considerable depth of Avater is required to
serve as a foundation for the impelling power that is to secure
success. It is then that the full extent of its exertion is called
for, as it is described in the lines we have placed at the beginning
of our history of this fish; and forcibly also by Ausonius in
the description of his favourite river: —
Nor will I pass the glistening Salmon by,
With crimson flesh within, of sparkling dye :—
An hidden impulse first disturbs the stream
That silent flows; then upward darts the gleam
At middle water: and the bounding fish
Strikes with his quivering tail, in earnest wish
To dart aloft.
Great has been the admiration of observers as they have
watched this proceeding of a morning or in the evening, which
are the principal seasons of exertion, Avhile the repeated efforts
will sometimes last for a considerable time, in consequence of
repeated failure. But besides the natural obstructions here
referred to, there are others which owe their existence to human
contrivances, with the direct intention indeed of preventing the
further ascent of the fish, in the selfish hope of making a spoil
of the whole of these inhabitants of the river, without any
consideration of the injury to be sustained by the brood, or
the indignation felt by the dwellers on the banks above.
But in many instances a different spirit has been shewn,
and wiser claimants of the right of fishing have provided means
by which the fish may pass upward without the necessity of
exhausting their energies in vain endeavours to leap above tlie
artificial obstruction. This is effected by hewing a path in
the rock, or building a sloping passage in a zigzag course,
termed a ladder; with resting places, by means of which these
active fish may find no difficulty or delay in the ascent; with
the advantage also that the people who live along the upper
portions of the river by obt-aining a share of the profit, may
171 SALMON.
become enlisted on the side of protection to the spawning fish,
instead of destroying them.
It is the season of passing upward of the emigrants in the
spring and summer, that forms the harvest of the proprietors
of the river fisheries in the northern portion of the United
Kingdom; and omitting for the present those methods of
catching Sahnon, which come under the nature of commerce,
now is the time when the angler seeks his principal employment
and pleasure; an extended account of which we find it unne-
cessary to give, both from the space it would occupy in our
pages, and also because it is so well accomplished by writers
who have made it the special object of their volumes; but of
these perhaps the most pleasing and satisfactory that has come
within our notice is by a gentleman, who takes the name of
Ephemera, but who is said to be otherwise known as Edward
Fitzgibbon, Esq. We may judge of the eagerness with which
this sport is followed, when we read the frequent announcement
of the temporary liberty of fishing to be let at rent for prices
which must render the river more profitable to the owners than
is the land through which it flows. It is bargained for in
proportion to the number of rods intended to be used; and
£150 are demanded for the privilege of fishing with four of
these rods on a specified stream; with the addition, that those
w^ho use them must be of one family. In another part of
Scotland the thrifty owner of the right of fishing demands for
each day's amusement with tw^o rods twelve shillings and
sixpence, with the surrender to him of the fish caught, or one
guinea if the angler shall retain what has fallen to his rod. It
has been remarked that at these prices every Salmon that is
taken will have cost £3 or £4 to the fisherman; but this is an
erroneous estimate, and, on the other hand, the health acquired
and the amusement obtained after long confinement amidst other
pursuits, and in the confinement of a city, are to be considered
as the proper equivalent for all the cost that is expended in
the sport. It is to be regretted however that by the appro-
priation of almost every river in these districts, little space is
left for the benefit of the casual and less ■wealthy angler; and
even the more distant rivers of SAveden and Norway have been
sought out and appropriated for the same purpose and at a
similar cost.
SALMON. 175
But the eners^v and excitement with which the sport of
fishing for Sahnon is accompanied, are well shewn in the
following narrative, which is extracted from an Irish authority,
but is not the less authentic on that account: — The River
Shannon is known for the large size of the fish which frequent
it; and it was one of the largest of these which fought a battle
with three fishermen, and after a long contest came off con-
queror. With the first of these the contest lasted for five
hours, during which he Avas worked three miles down the
stream, until at last in the approaching darkness he became
faint with fatigue, and then a companion took his place. The
second combatant fared little better; for although he boldly
kept up the conflict for eight hours, at the end of that time
he found himself seven miles further down the river, with the
day just breaking upon him, and with as little chance of a
triumph as when he began. A gentleman residing near the
river became informed of this extraordinary proceeding, and
hastily rising from his bed, he proceeded to the field of fight;
where he gave the angler a pound bank-note for the rod and
chance of success; and without doubt this was gladly accepted,
as Avell for its own sake as a relief from the fear of discomfiture.
By several leaps the fish had shewn itself a worthy prize,
and the third combatant entered on the work with spirit. For
four miles further, and nine successive hours, the struggle
lasted, until at last Avith a desperate plunge the rod was broken
close to the reel, and the whole was carried off into the sea.
The time occupied in this struggle was twenty-three hours,
and the space travelled over was almost twenty miles. It is
known that if a fish in passing up a river becomes Avounded
or much terrified, it seeks its safety by returning to the sea,
from which again it may not speedily come into the same
stream.
But the season comes when the Salmon must deposit its
spawn, and this is found to be everywhere in the months of
winter; for although in a few instances it has been noticed
as occurring as early as September, and again as late as
March, these are exceptional cases, and the larger number
are known to enter on this function from the middle of
November to the folloAving January. This is the time when
good policy in an especial manner should be directed to the
176 SALMON,
protection of these fish, as much Avith reference to the interest
of the fisherman as of the public; for at the time when
companies of these fish have met together in the early part of
the year, in the manner we have already described, and to
which we shall again refer, for the purpose of passing into
fresh water, their associ-ation appears to be that which may
be denominated colonization, which binds them only to the
community, and not to individuals; but towards the close of
the year their union is more select and sexual, and, we may
add, important; and in forming it it sometimes happens that
fierce encountei's take place among the males while choosing a
partner, in doing which it would appear that a strongly
expressed sentiment has had an influence in forming the
choice; and in every instance, on the land as in the sea, the
rivalry is found among males and not in the females. The
anger thus excited has sometimes led to the vengeful destruction
of the vanquished, but when the alliance is formed the
partners proceed Avithout delay to search out a situation best
adapted to the deposit of the precious seed, and the safe
rearing of the expected progeny. In such a place the water
must flow in a moderate current that is neither shallow nor
deep, and it should be as near the fountain-head as is consistent
with these conditions, with a bottom of gravel or sand, which
must not have been newly laid or lately meddled with.
More than one couple may chance to choose the same neigh-
bourhood but they keep apart; and the first portion of the
work is to form such a channel as shall be of the depth of
a foot or more, biit the manner of accomplishing this has
been represented dififerently by different observers. In the
"History of the Salmon," by Ephemera, it is affirmed that
the snout is made to perform an important part in the
operation, by ploughing up the ground in order to its
removal; but this is discredited by others, and there is no
doubt of the office of the tail, which becomes excoriated by
sweeping aside the gravel so that the current may remove it
out of the way, and again by covering over the deposit. The
course of this channel is made directly against the stream, and
the work is not accomplished in one effort, but the grains
are shed into it at intervals, so as to require several days, or
even a fortnight for the completion, the cause of which is
SALMON. 177
tliat the whole of the roe is not ripe lor expulsion at the
same time. The male follows up the work of his mate by-
shedding on her spawn the fertilizing fluid; and as the parents
thus proceed the further progress of excavation is so contrived
as to cause the sand to cover in succession the deposited
treasure, which readily falls to the bottom. When all is done
the surface is made level, so that none but an accustomed
eye would be able to discern where it is the fish have been
at work.
It may be that the way in which the Salmon deposits its
spawn shall vary to some extent according to the situation;
but the method pursued in Scandinavia, if correctly^ described
in Mr. Lloyd's adventures in these regions (vol. i,) on the
authority of Mr. Alexander Keiller, as he says, after continued
observations for five years, is so different from anything that
has been recorded in this country, that we can scarcely refer
it to the same species. He says that the larger Salmon
always appeai- first in the spring, and as the summer advances
the fish are much smaller, but in autumn heavy fish again
shew themselves, which, however, he supposes not to be fresh
run from the ocean, but that they have remained hitherto
in pools low in the river. In the Save they begin to spawn
about the first days in November, and so continue through
the month. The female deposits her eggs in comparatively
still water, shoal, from six to eighteen inches deep, and
immediately above a rapid. It is commonly supposed that in
conjunction with the male, the female Salmon scrapes a hole
or furrow in the bed of the river, in which to deposit her
eggs, and that afterAvards, and as a protection from their
numerous enemies, they cover them over with gravel; but
such is not the fact, at least in the Save. The male has
nothing to do with this part of the work; and the ova,
instead of b(>ing dropped into a cavity, are deposited on a
comparatively smooth surface. When in the act of spawning
the female retains its natural position. Her belly is near the
ground, at times, indeed, probably to rest herself, touching
it. The process of dropping her eggs appears to be slow.
When a few are collected she turns on her side, waves the
flat of her tail gently downwards to the roe, but lifts it up
again with great force, by which such a vacuum is caused as
VOL. IV. 2 A
178
SALMON.
not only to raise the eggs from the ground, and thus to
distribute them in the stream, but to throw up a mass of
dirt and stones, the latter not unfrequently of yery considerable
weight. When the spawning has once commenced it seems
that the male can no longer retain his milt, nor the female
her roe, the emission continuing under all circumstances. This
has been often noticed even long after death. The specific
gravity of the roe is but little greater than water. After the
female commences spawning he has never but on one occasion
seen the male in actual company with her. His station at
that time is at the distance of six or seven feet, directly in
her wake; and the only apparent part he takes in the gene-
rative proceeding is by the deposition of his milt, which of
course becomes mixed with the eggs of the female as the
stream drifts them past him. Several fishes of other kinds, of
which the Trout is the chief, are waiting at a greater distance
to seize on the spa^vn which may drift so far. Other males
wait for the same female, but it is the business of the first to
drive them away, in doing which furious battles are often the
result.
But such as we have already described is the more frequent,
as it appears the more natural course of this proceeding,
which, however, is often broken in upon by human interference;
for while the unsuspecting partners in the toil are earnestly
occupied with their work, and their attention is thus diverted
from their own safety, some prying bipeds have sought them
out with the intention of obtaining all they can lay their hands
on of the victims; and that too not only in defiance of the
law, but also of what is represented as a kind caution from
other fishermen, whose employment has been successfully carried
on lower doAvn the river, but has now been compelled to cease
for the season. In consideration of the health of those who
live near the higher banks of the river, and Avho might be
induced to capture and make a meal of these fish at the time
when they are engaged in shedding their spaAvn, the important
fact is widely proclaimed that the Salmon has now become
unwholesome; and therefore that these depredators had better
abstain from food which may endanger their lives. We must
assign the reproachful name of poachers to those destroyers ol
the fishes at this important season; but these men have feasted
SALISION. 171)
on these fish too often to feel an apprehension of danger to
their health from the cause assigned; and therefore they have
no fear of proceeding to obtain the prize by first alluring them
within reach with a burning torch, of course in the hours of
darkness, and then piercing the male with a trident spear.
The sexes are readily distinguished, even in the water; and
when deprived of her mate, the female will go into the deeper
pools in search of another, which she obtains by meeting with
one not yet engaged; or perhaps by displaying superior attrac-
tions she draws away some one that had been already affianced
to another. But her second partner shares the fate of the
first, and when no other can be obtained, herself becomes the
final victim. Unfortunately, however, this is not all, nor even
the worst of these injurious proceedings; for somewhat early
in the seventeenth century a fisherman of the name of Barker
had made a discovery in the art of angling, which he com-
municated first to a noble patron, and then to the public; and
which consists in salting and drying the roe of the Salmon, to
be taken at the* very time when it is ready to be shed. From
experience he pronounces this to be the best bait for Trout
he had ever used, and to be good also for several other sorts
of river fish. Each female Salmon is supposed to produce four
or five pounds of this valued roe, which is made into a paste,
and sold at from one to two shillings the pound, and even more;
so that the capture of a spawning Salmon is no contemptible
affair to a poor man, who may gain more in an hour in this
way than by the ordinary work of a week.
But notAvithstanding the condemnation w^liich must fiill on
these proceedings, which go far to destroy the prospects of
future seasons, and the wealth of a nation, the complaint comes
with a bad grace from those who have contributed to the
destruction, by indiscriminately entrapping in the lower districts
those fish which might have made their way upward in an
earlier season, and thus supplied the wants of the people above,
and at the same time filled up the requisite number of breeding
fish, and rendered the slaughter of them unnecessary.
Before the comparatively modern inventions which have been
stimulated into existence by the demands of fashion and luxury,
the Salmon-spear was deemed an honourable weapon, and as
such had been taken into their coat of arms by families of
180 SALMO>'.
distinction; but probably it was then used as affording an
evening's party of amusement rather than for mere profit; and
in this manner it was practised with less injury to ordinary
fishing than even the usual sweep or drag-net. At least we
are told that in remote times there Avere places at which Salmon
were so abundant, that it was a matter of covenant between
the master and servants that they should not be fed on this fish
oftener than three times in a week. Dr. Fuller, who wrote his
"Worthies of England," in the reign of Charles the First,
mentions this under the section of Herefordshire, but he appears
to regard the report as no more than a joke. Such however
was not the case, and in a book on the agriculture of Berwick,
by Robert Kerr, it is said that "formerly servants stipulated
with their masters that they should not be compelled to make
frequent meals of Salmon." In the work "Notes and Queries,"
for May, 1857, there is also a quotation from Coursell's "History
of Gloucester," where, speaking of the House of Lepers in that
city, he says, "it was a standing condition of apprenticeship that
the apprentice should not be obliged to eat Salmon more than
thrice a week, the object being to render him less liable to the
leprosy, which after the crusades in the middle ages was a
formidable disease, that was supposed to be brought on or
aggravated by the eating of fish." But if this fact, which
affords so strong a contrast to what is known in our day, seems
remarkable, it will appear less so when we consider the difficulty
which then existed of conveying to a market any large quantity
of fish as often as it might be caught; but more especially,
that the Salmon which were the subject of this bargain were
either pickled or smoked after being salted; and therefore hard,
and scarcely to be digested. Such must have been the case
where fear could be expressed of their producing such a disease
as leprosy; and in this condition the Salmon could not have
been a more agreeable food than any other salted fish, and
scarcely equal to some of the more common kinds.
But before we quit the subject of illegal or irregular fishing,
I will mention another method, which has been practised chiefly,
if not solely, in Ireland, and for the knowledge of Avhich I am
indebted to an individual who has practised it; and although
it may be that I am divulging what might more properly be
kept concealed, yet on tlie other hand the knowledge it&elf may
SALMON.
181
have a tendency to procure the defeat of a practise which must
in a high degree be injurious. The class of persons who in
that country are depredators on rivers, are in the habit of
rendering the fish stupid, and the Salmon especially, by means
of a plant which they gather and bruise by stamping on it
near the bank; and thus simply prepared a small basketful is
placed in the flowing stream, where it is found sufficient to
infect the w^ater and stupify the fish to the extent of several
miles. The poisoned fish rise to the surface, and may be taken
with the hand; but they are not at all the less fit for food.
I learn from Sir W. J. Hooker's "British Flora," vol. i, that
this plant is Mupliorhia Hiberna, w^hich grows to the height of
two feet, and produces flowers in June; but those who may
wish to prevent injury to rivers from this cause, may easily
obtain their object by preventing its growth.
Everywhere the Salmon is a prolific fish, but the quantity
of roe is prone to vary according to the age and bulk; and
some observers have gone so far as to assign a certain weight
of one in proportion to the other; each pound of fish implying
a thousand in number of the grains of spawn, a number which
probably is much below the mark. Willoughby says that the
Salmon requires six years to attain its full growth, and at the
River Ribble, which he particularly mentions, the successive
yearly stages were so m'cU marked, that at each season it
received the separate names of Smelt, (or Smolt,) Sprod, Mort,
Forktail, Half-fish, and Salmon; but some supposed that in
three years they reached their full extent of size. It is probable
they are capable of increase of bulk long after this, although
in some rivers more than in others; but in our own country
there are few so fortunate as to escape for several years the
various snares that are set for them, and from this cause the
roe must be proportionally less in quantity than formerly, even
from the same number of fish.
In what is properly the natural history of the Salmon, as
of two or three others of this family, there are to be noticed
some curious variations of instinct and power, by which actions
of an opposite kind are brought alternately into exercise. Thus
at the earliest stage of its existence it would die if immersed
in salt-water, but soon afterwards it is impelled to go to tlie
sea, in which it grows rapidly; but however congenial this may
182 SALMON.
be for a time to its nature, in no long time for the most part
it is again impelled to press its course up tlie stream in spite
of hindrances; and yet again a change takes place, and the
same individual is equally eager to retrace its course. That
there is a necessity for these alterations of action is seen by
appearances of the fish which are subject to them; but in their
nature they are too obscure to be comprehended by us; although
we become aware of the existence of causes which hasten or
delay them in the instance of individuals.
It was an early opinion, which is also supported by the
authority of Rondeletius, that the spawn of the Salmon was
shed and hatched in the sea; but late experiment has proved
that the presence of salt-water is fatal to the development into
life of the fertilizing property of the milt, as also of the
impregnated egg if it come in contact with it. It is also shewn
in the "Intellectual Observer," (April, 1864,) by the Eev. M.
J. Berkeley, that in a sluggish flow of fresh water or in a tank
the grains of roe are exposed to the danger of becoming covered
with a parasitic growth of vegetable fibres of several species,
which deprive them of the power of further development; and
this important observation may assist us in accounting for some
of the mishaps which have attended the attempts that have been
made to bring to life and educate the young fish which have
been taken from their native beds, and placed in tanks or
artificial beds. The presence of slime or mud is hurtful to the
egg or newly-developed young; and it is the opinion of observers
that the grains are injured if they lie in the gravel so near
as to touch each other.
But when escaped through these various dangers much
difference of opinion has been expressed in reference to the
length of time during which the grains may remain buried
in the gravel, and consequently how long it is before they
manifest the active powers of their existence. Nilsson says
that in Sweden this is an hundred and thirty days, and in
Scotland it has varied from an hundred to an hundred and
forty; but so considerable a, difference as this may fairly be
judged to be connected with the warmth or coldness of the
climate and season; and from this we are at liberty to conclude
further, what is also shewn by observation, that in still warmer
districts, especially from the south and farthest west of
SALMON. 183
England, a much shorter time will be sufficient for the
purpose. It is known accordingly that the roe of this fish
has been developed into liie in these last-named districts
within the space of sixty days; and in proof of this hastening
influence of temperature Dr. Knox procured grains of roe
which had lain in the sand for a hundred and sixteen days,
but had not yet shown signs of becoming hatched; yet when
these were placed in a bottle, with their native water, and
brou2[ht into a warm room, the actions of life very soon
displayed themselves. It is to be observed, however, that
when thus hastened on, and the regular course artificially
interfered with by a sudden application of heat, or too high
a degree of it, the very young fry are much less likely to
survive it. Dr. Davy found a temperature above seventy
degrees, and up to eighty, to be certainly fatal to the eggs
of fishes of this family, as also of some other fishes. In Mr.
Shaw's experiments on the breeding of Salmon, when the
temperature of the stream he employed was at thirty-nine
degrees, and of the main river from which the breeding
Salmon were taken thirty-three, with that of the atmosphere
thirty-six, the embryo after fifty days was seen to be able to
move under its covering; and it escaped from the egg when
the temperature was at forty-four: but the whole of this
implies a far deeper degree of cold than is the average of
rivers at the same season in the south-west of England. Mr.
Shaw remarks that the "ova which for a time previous to
being hatched had been almost daily in my hands for inspection,
did not appear to suffer at all from being handled. When I
had occasion to inspect the ovum I placed it in the hollow
of my hand, covered with a few drops of water, where it
frequently remained a considerable time without suffering any
apparent injury." But afterwards he admits that it shewed
an increase of activity from the heat of his hand, and the
variation of temperature thus produced would probably lead
to injurious consequence, although the young at last seemed
capable of surviving longer than Dr. Knox supposed. This
last-named gentleman found sometimes that they had quitted
the gravel by the 1st. of April, but at other times it was not
for upwards of a fortnight after this; while on another occa-
sion Sir Francis Mackenzie made the experiment, on the
184 SALMON.
23rd. of November, of pressing some grains of roe from a
female, and milt from a male, which were placed with others
that had been deposited voluntarily, and to these more were
added at the beginning of December; but although thus shed
at different times all of them shewed very visible signs of life
at one date — the following 19th. of February. On the corres-
ponding day of March these young fish had increased much
in size, the degree in which they had advanced being visible
according to the temperature of the weather. On the 22nd.
of that month the eyes were plainly to be seen, and for a
considerable time afterwards, as in the generality of fishes,
they were proportionally of large size. In some of these
young the outward covering had burst, leaving the bag which
contains the nourishing contents of the egg and abdominal
orsjans still attached to the throat, where it forms the largfer
portion of the bulk; but as the yoke becomes absorbed these
organs also become gathered up closer into the proper cavity,
and in the present instance this was accomplished on the 18th.
of April, when the fish had grown to three fourths of an
inch.
A lengthened account of the development of the embryo is
given, among others, by Ephemera; but to be more brief,
before the length is attained as we give it, the body is
slender, and when not entirely extricated from the egg the
tail is bent down into a curve; and afterwards, for a time,
what at last becomes the adipose fin, is long and united to
the tail, and the latter being joined also to the anal fin the
whole resembles much more what is the natural structure of
the eel, excluding the rays, than what afterwards is changed
into the proper character of the Salmon. At this time also the
head is round and blunt, with a depression before the eyes.,
and the lower jaw is rather the shortest. But changes are in
rapid progress, and as the fish becomes able to move about,
the growth increases, and there is a display of marks of colour
on the sides; which assume the form of bars from the back
downward; a condition that is common to several species of
this family, and so long as it exists it is exceedingly difficult,
if not impossible, to distinguish between them. The existence
of these bands on the side has caused the young fish which
bear them to be termed Parrs, and it is received as a truth
SALMON. 185
in many places, that all which bear these signs will assuredly
at last become Salmon, or some other of the larger species of
this family.
We leave the consideration of this question until we come to
treat of another species of the same tribe; but in the true
Salmon these bands are usually in no long time superseded by
a diffusion over the surface of a brilliant silvery tinge, which
appears to reside in a new order of scales; and when this takes
place a new instinct is manifested, under which fresh water
becomes irksome, and even injurious, and these little fishes hasten
down to the yet untried waters of the sea; and yet, even at
this time there appear to be some materials which are necessary,
but not always provided. They loiter in considerable numbers
in the pools of rivers where with eagerness for food multitudes
are caught by anglers who fish for them with a worm or fly,
until at last a welcome fall of rain removes the difficulty; so
that where of an evening they have been caught freely, on the
following morning, in May, not one is henceforward to be found.
It has been noticed that while thus passing downward in fresh
water, these young fish prefer to keep near the border; but on
coming into the salt they pass into the deeper part, and soon
after they disappear from human sight, and go we know not
Avhither. Such as we have here represented has been generally
understood to be the natural course of proceeding of the young
of the Salmon, from the time of their quitting the egg to their
passage into the sea; and such may safely be pronounced the
ordinary case in the south and western portion of our island;
for none in any stage of growth of the true Salmon can be
recognised in the rivers of Cornwall and Devon during the
summer, except perhaps that in the Tamar a few examples of
full size may appear at that season.
But since the practice has been adopted of breeding the
young Salmon in ponds prepared for the purpose, it has been
observed that while a portion of the young fish have passed
through the changes we have described in the course of a single
season of spring, there are others which have undergone them
so slowly as to have remained in what is termed the Parr state
for a whole year, or even for two or three before they have
attained that condition which prompts them to migrate to the
sea; and even further than this, that in their diminulive, although
VOL. IV. 2 B
186 SALMON.
it cannot be said their very young condition, they are said to
have aspired to pair with a full-grown female for the continuance
of the race; a Parr of five or six inches in length producing
so much of the milt as will render fertile a quantity of roe
that is more than equal to the bulk of its own body. It is
known indeed, or believed, that some of these Salmon Parrs, at
least in the north, will remain in fresh water through the summer,
while others of the same brood have emigrated; but the causes
of this are still undetermined. It is, however, an established
fact that when confined within a narrow range, the growth of
fishes generally will be stinted to the dimensions of their dwellings;
and it is further certain that every unnatural condition has an
influence on their development, and perhaps more especially on
those of the Salmon family; which circumstance may go far to
account for some remarkable changes of structure and deficiencies
that we shall have to point out in the history of the Trout.
We hesitate, therefore, at present to adopt the conclusions
which appear to prevail on this subject, as if they were of
universal application; and we may be excused the rather for
these doubts, since some attentive observers of the experiments
on which these conclusions have been built, have shewn a
remarkable aptitude in changing their opinions on apparently
insufficient grounds, and several of the experiments which have
been prominently put forward are pronounced by others as
eminently mistaken or inconclusive.
As illustrative of these remarks, some young Salmon were
kept in a fresh-water lake in Norway for five years, and so
much was their growth stunted by this confinement, that at the
end of that time each one weighed only one pound and three
quarters. Placed in a large lake after a few years some of them
grcAV to weigh three pounds and a half, and others five pounds.
Sea Trout similarly kept were of still slower growth. Mr.
Brown, to whom reference Avill again be made, makes some
mention of a young Salmon which remained in the fishpond
for five years, of which three had passed before it had acquired
the shining scales; but he does not assign any cause for this
delay, nor does there any ap]iear in the case of a Trout,
presently to be mentioned, except the single fact of confinement
within a very limited space.
It is curious that the habits of the Salmon while at sea are
SALMON. 187
scarcely at all known, nor the extent of its wanderings; so that
however numerous if this fish were not accustomed to search
out our rivers, we should scarcely be aware of its existence.
In the course of many years I have only been informed of a
very few instances of the taking of Salmon with a bait in the
open sea, and those not many miles from land; in a single
instance also I was a witness to the finding of the posterior
half of this fish in the stomach of a Skate caught at a considerable
distance. But as the Skate does not bite its prey, so as to
separate it into portions, my conclusion was that a Shark had
first bitten all it could grasp, and the remainder had fallen
within reach of the Skate. Beyond these instances I know
not of any record of the existence of the Salmon in the deeper
water of the ocean, although its haunts must be there Avhen
out of sight. Nor do we possess much better evidence of the
nature of its food while in the sea, until it approaches within
a small distance of the shore; although from its plump and
healthy appearance, joined, when in an early stage of its existence,
to its rapid growth, this must be procured in abundance; and
the armature of the mouth sufficiently shews that it is fitted to
seize something of a substantial nature. Dr. Knox has expressed
his belief that this food consists principally of the eggs of
star-fishes, and others of the class EcJiinodermata ; but the
quantity of this must be too small and precarious for the
sustenance of thousands of these fish. Their stomach is often
found entirely empty, but young Herrings and Launces have
been discovered in it, and the latter in sufficient abundance to
shew that it forms a favourite diet. Sir William Jardine says
there is no better bait for an old Salmon than a young Samlet;
and it would be amusing to suppose that after the Parr had
served the purpose of a husband, the next step would be for
him to form a meal for his hungry partner.
But it is to Dr. Cobbold, F.L.S., we owe (in the Journal of
the Linnrean Society, vol, vii,) a more particular account of the
contejits of the stomach and bowels of the Salmon, although
indeed these remarks were made on it when taken in fresh
water. He says, that in its usual condition the stomach is
coated internally with a consistent white mucus of great tenacity.
In ten instances only, from February to September, did remnants
of fishes occur, and in all these nothing remained but vertebral
188
SALMON.
columns, cranial and other bones, with the denser tissues, as
the lens, etc. The number of bones in several cases shewed
that these fishes had enjoyed a most ample repast, since they
belonged to species from eight to ten inches in length. Some
pieces of cartilage, skin, and pigment cells seemed to belong
to Smelts, but most of the vertebrse belonged to larger fishes.
The other kinds of food found in the stomach consisted of
fragments of small fresh-water Crustacea, with a portion of a
Shrimp in one or two of these fishes; and an occasional piece
of insect cuticle. Accompanying a quantity of mucus, which is
found in the intestines, is a number of white or yellowish masses,
which are gritty, and consist of calcareous crystals; of which
the origin is an interesting question, but it is not influenced
by the kind of food. The skeleton of the Salmon being of
small specific gravity, and deficient in earthy matter, it may be
that the excessive elimination of salts keeps down the specific
gravity; or the circulating fluid by this means may so adapt
the bones to the varying density of the salt and fresh water,
that their specific gravity is in accordance with the medium in
which they swim. The rapidity and power of digestion in this
fish are extraordinary; and the true state of the matter seems
to be, that the Salmon when in fresh water feeds rarely and at
intervals, but not from want of voracity. There is abundance
of parasitic animals in the entrails of this fish. I was informed
by Mr. Bewick, the eminent engraver on wood, that when a
gentleman of Newcastle had lost a gold ring from a boat on
the Tyne, he was so fortunate as to recover it from the stomach
of a Salmon which was purchased in the market at Newcastle.
But whatever be its food, it is noticed that this fish soon declines
in growth and the quality of its flesh in fresh water; but it is
then successfully fished for with large artificial flies, which must
be of gorgeous and glaring colours; and these beyond doubt •
are viewed by the fish as native inhabitants of the stream rather
than of the air, as is proved by the manner in which it is
necessary to employ them; which is by causing them to sink
below the surface, and there kept in motion unlike that by
which the Trout is enticed to leap after a fly.
It has been questioned how soon it is after going down to
the sea, before the young of the first season, or of the second
if they have remained so long in fresh water, are induced to
SALMON. 189
ascend again into the river; and there appears reason for sup-
posing that they differ in this respect according to the state of
the weather, especially its tendency to wet; the particular habit
of the variety of each distvict, whether early or late; but more
particularly according to the bulk or stoutness they have acquired;
which latter particular so operates on their condition and feelings,
as to urge them on to the fresh Avater as a relief; while those
which are not so well fed are disposed to remain longer where
they are.
But that some of these young ones which left their native
stream when only four or five inches in length, Avith a weight
not exceeding an ounce and a half, have returned soon with
an almost incredible advance in size has been proved by manifold
observation. Mr. Brown, in his account of the experiments at
the ponds at Stormontfield, informs us that a young Salmon
carefully marked, W"hich weighed a little less than two ounces,
went down to the sea on the 24th. of May, and was taken on
its return on the 7th. of July, when its weight Avas three pounds;
and another of the same brood that was caught July the olst.,
Aveighed nine pounds and a half. According to some experiments
by Daniel Ellis, Esq., reported in Jameson's "Philosophical
Journal" for 1828, some young fish Avere carefully marked in
April, as they were passing doAvnward, and five months after-
ward, when they returned, the weight of each was eight pounds.
And although the growth is less rapid after this time, it Avas
sheAvn that in thirty-three months of their life the advance had
been nearly at the rate of one pound and an ounce for each
month. In the "Zoologist" Ave have an account of some Avhich
were hatched from the egg in sixty days, and going cloAvn the
river in May, Avhen some of them weighed an ounce, and others
only half that Aveight; after two months one of them that had
been carefully marked measured twenty-four inches in length,
with a weight of five pounds and a half; and others Avere of
the weight of eight pounds.
Amidst a sufficiency of other evidence to the same purpose,
we add only that of Sir William Jardine, whose authority on
this subject is beyond dispute. He says it has always been a
subject of doubt Avhethcr the fry returned to the same river
as Grilse in the same season in A\^hich they descended. "I
have had no doubt of this for several years, but it was very
190
SALMON.
difficult to prove. In the Tweed I have killed Grilse early in
the season so small as only to weigh two pounds, and seen them
gradually increase in size as the season advanced; the intermediate
size, however, between the fry and the two-pound Grilse was
wanting. During the two years in which the fisheries of
Sutherland have been in the possession of the Duke, a set of
experiments have been instituted by his factors, one of which
leaves no doubt upon the subject. Last spring several thousands
of fry were marked in the different rivers, among others in the
Laxford and Dinard, on the west coast. In the Laxford the
first Grilse (marked in April as fry) returned on the 25th. of
June, and weighed three pounds and a half. Many others were
got during the season from this Aveight to six pounds and a half,
returning to the river where they were marked, which Avas
known by a particular mark being used in each, and shewing
that a return to their breeding-ground was as frequent, or rather
as constant as among the higher animals. The size and weight
exactly agree with that of the Grilse upon their first running
elsewhere, and I think that very few attempt to enter the
rivers before attaining the weight of three pounds."
But all the fish which have gone down to the sea are not
found to return in a proportionate time; and in the north at
least a succession of them continues through the greater part
of the summer, with an increase of size in the new comers; so
that by the months of August and September, they are often
found to be nearly twice as large as those of the early months.
Some of these, while continuing in the condition of Grilse, have
been known to attain the weight of fourteen pounds; but
perhaps the most remarkable instance of rapidity of growth on
record is given on the authority of the Duke of Athol, (which
we copy from the "Quarterly Review," April, 18G3.) The
fish marked was first caught as a Grilse at forty miles from .the
sea on the 31st. of March; at which time it weighed exactly
ten pounds. It went down to the sea, and returned again in
the short space of thirty-seven days, when it was again caught;
and being carefully weighed, the weight was found to be twenty-
one pounds and a quarter. It has been repeatedly proved by
marking the fish, that when a Grilse had gone down to the
sea, it always returns with all the characters of a Salmon. It
is also an acknowledged fact that the fish of any age which
SAT.AION. 191
have gone doAvn to the sea will, unless under very extraordinary
circumstances, return to the river of their birth; while the
guiding influence in doing this is beyond our powers to com-
prehend. But in the work by Ephemera, already referred to,
we find an instance of this, which illustrates this habit in a
manner beyond what we could have supposed: —
Loch Shin is a large piece of water in Sutherland, from
which proceeds the River Shin, "noted for its Salmon fecundity."
The loch itself is supplied with water from four rivers of
moderate size, but in which, before the year 1836, "not a
Salmon was ever seen, though many were in the habit of
entering the loch." But in the year now mentioned, Salmon
were caught in the River Shin shortly before the breeding-
season, and conveyed to the four rivers above; in each of Avhich
some of them spawned, and from that time each of those rivers
is furnished with fish, and each of them with its own, which
pass by and beyond the stations which their ancestors frequented
to enter the higher rivers, of which they are now the natives.
The fish which thus pass up the stream from the sea are
readily distinguished from such as have been long in fresh water
by their brilliant colour, which in no long time subsides into
a darker hue; but although the growth appears to be presently
arrested, it is without decrease of strength or activity; for it is
in the experience of anglers that a Grilse which has been
longer in the river will put his tackle to a more severe trial
than a Salmon of larger size that has only lately arrived. It
has further been noticed of late that there are Salmon and
Grilse Avhich do not quit the sea through the summer, although
others of probably the same brood press towards the fresh
water; and further, that there is no small number which do
not seek to breed when others of the same age are performing
that function; and why this is so we scarcely venture to guess;
but these circumstances tend to explain how it happens that
there are fish in high condition in many rivers, and in some
much more than others, at times when the generality are far
otherwise. The natural history of many rivers is closely con-
nected with this, and the interests of fishermen greatly so; but
it is probable that a really barren Salmon, except of unnatural
formation, does not exist; as also it seems certain that there
are some in which the procreative impulse only revives Avith
192
SALMON.
intervals of a year or two, and in some instances at an unusual
season of the year. Fulness of habit or plumpness, or repletion,
has certainly an important bearing on the spring and summer
tendency to emigration, independent of the merely sexual
impulse; and it is one effect of fresh water that the excess is
soon abated, even when that water is of the purest kind; but
when soiled with what flows from mines of copper and lead,
it is so offensive not to say fatal, that these fish soon learn to
seek safety in other haunts. Such is the case when the stream
is polluted with what flows from some manufactories; and it
was shewn by evidence before a Committee of Parliament, that
where a river has become foul from tar or coal-gas, the flesh
of a Salmon caught in it has become so infected — although the
fish itself did not appear to be out of health — that even the
smell from it was offensive at the table.
An interesting portion of the history of the Salmon is con-
nected with the attempts which have been made to propagate
it by artificial means; which consist in obtaining the roe from
beds in the river in which it had been shed spontaneously; or
by pressing from the living fish the roe and milt, and placing
them in pools of running water prepared for the purpose. They
become developed, and the young are fed with prepared food,
chiefly animal liver reduced to pulp, until they are ready to
emigrate to the sea. It is by these means that several rivers
which had been overfished and obstructed, and thus robbed of
their native inhabitants, have recovered what they had lost; and
in pursuit of what we must thus denominate an experiment, a
considerable amount of knowledge has been thus acquired of
the nature of the Salmon, where we were before altogether
ignorant The practice began in France by the ingenuity of
two humble fishermen, named Gehin and Remy, of an obscure
village called La Bresse in the Department of Vosges, and
they first applied it to the propagation of Trout. The subject
was presently taken up by the Government of that country; but
it was made known among ourselves by one who wrote under
the name of Piscarius; since which it has been adopted among
us with success. Much effort has also been exerted to convey
the Salmon to the British Colonies, in the southern hemisphere,
and especially to Tasmania; whither the eggs have been con-
veyed, enclosed in ice, and with so much success as is implied
SALMON. 193
in that they have been hatched into activity; but with what
further result as yet remains uncertain.
We feel no surprise in being informed that the Salmon
frequents the rivers of Kamtschatkaj but it is also said to be
common, and even in abundance in the Caspian Sea; if it be
indeed the same species with our own. It is in season there
in INIay, and in Mr. Frazer's Travels we are told that it is
rarely caught east of Resht in that sea, but it is well known
on the west and north-west shores.
The value set on the Salmon in this country, whether fresh
or in salt, has always been considerable, although Polydore
Virgil does not name it among our articles of trade; but we
find it so from several incidents, and the strictness of the laws
concerning it at an early date. Thus, in the fourteenth century,
and perhaps long before, we are told in the life of the famous
Thomas a Kempis, as written by his friend Franciscus Tolensis,
that the love of that pious writer for the Book of Psalms was
compared by his brother monks to their love for Salmon; for,
adds the biographer, it is an exceedingly delicious fish; and
that in some places it was scarce and bore a high price was
a subject of complaint in the fiftieth year of Edward the Third,
appears from a petition then presented to the Crown, in which
it Avas prayed that whereas the Salmon and other fish in the
Thames were taken and destroyed by engines placed to catch
the fry; which fry was then used for feeding pigs, a law might
be passed to take up all the trunks (tous les trynks) between
London and the sea, and forbid them for time to come; also
that no Salmon be taken between Gravesend and Henley
Bridge in winter; that is to say, between the Feast of the
Finding of the Cross and the Epiphany; and that the river
guardians suffer no net but of large mesh. The petition (which
is in French) concludes thus — "awaiting which, most redoubtable
Lord, if it shall please Your Highness thus to make order for
the next three years, all your people repairing to London or
bordering the river, shall buy as good a Salmon for two shillings
as they now get for ten." (No^es and Queries, LS55.)
But it appears there was an omission in the recommendations
of this petition, or the crime may not have begun to operate
at this time ; for we are informed in Moule's "Heraldry of
Fish," that in remote times an offering of fish had been, and
VOL. IV. 2 c
194 SALMON.
that for several centuries, claimed and allowed to the Abbot of
St. Peters in Westminster, on the plea that when Saint Peter,
according to the legend, had come and consecrated that church,
he made a grant to the convent of the tithe of all the Salmon
caught in the Thames, to the same extent as the present juris-
diction of the Lord Mayor; which is from Yantlett creek to
the bridge at Staines; and among the many causes that have
been assigned for the scarcity of Salmon in the Thames in more
modern times, not the least of them was believed to be, that
the fishermen had left off making this accustomed offering. A
cause not altogether unlike the above has also been assigned by
Dr. Boate, in his "Natural History of Ireland," for the diminished
quantity of Salmon in that country. He says that before the
Revolution in the year 1688, this fish was plentiful and cheap;
but since that event, to which this author ascribes all the natural
calamities of his country, gentlemen have complained that Salmon
had become scarce and dear; but he does not add that the
fishermen complained of not obtaining greater success or b.etter
remuneration.
That in the reign of Elizabeth a Salmon at table was
accounted a matter of fashion, in which a person of ordinary
rank might be tempted to ape the rich and the great, appears
from a scene in the tragedy of "Othello," although it seems
incongruous to place the reference in the mouth of one to
whom the fish could scarcely have been known; but it is
represented as an instance of good sense in a Avoman, that in
her wisdom she was never so frail as to change the more
useful although homely Cod's head at her table for the tail
of the fashionable Salmon. But the price of Salmon rose
gradually in different parts of the kingdom, and with it the
rents of the larger fisheries in the north of England and Scot-
land, until the latter have amounted to a princely income. So
long since as about the year 1730, I find in a MS, Journal
that in the market at Plymouth two pounds of Salmon and
fifty shrimps (prawns) were purchased at the cost of six shillings;
but as a contrast to this, I find in the same Journal, with the
date of 1761, "The Saltash fishermen, with two nets, catch'd
eighty-five Salmon over against Warren Point; forty- five in
one net and forty in the other; they may not have such
another draught for the whole summer. For two of these
SALMON. 195
Salmons, at twopence per pound, one for the servants, as being
cheaper than meat, 4$. 9d" A common price at present is
from two shillings up to four shillings the pound. The
highest price on record is that of a Salmon which weighed
nineteen pounds, and which, in February, 1809, was sold for
a guinea the pound; a freak of ostentation that was rather
caused by a craving to be talked of than to satisfy the
appetite.
As a subject of curiosity we will only glance at the laws
which at a distant date were made to regulate the trade in
Salmon when brought from out of the kingdom, of course in
a pickled or salted state. In the year 1423, the second of
Henry the Sixth, it is ordered that "the buttes of Samon
comyng be wey of merchandise into this land out of straunge
countrees, and also in this land ymade, shulden be of cei in
mesure;" and that among the strange countries Scotland had
long held a principal place appears from an Act of Parliament
of the thirty-first of Edward the Third, (1357,) where the fish
brought from thence are termed Salmon of Berwick, the con-
veyance from which place to London at that time could not
have been effected with fish in a fresh condition. It appears
further, from an Act of the twenty-second of Edward the
Fourth, (1482,) in which the right of fishing in the Tweed is
let on farm to the merchants and freemen of Berwick, with a
monopoly of the Salmon, that the packing of Salmon in
barrels was further regulated by the same Edward, and also
by Henry the Eighth, by whom the monopoly was continued;
so that Camden was warranted in saying that in ancient times
Salmon were the chief commodity of Scotland.
The principal cause which reduced this trade to insignificance
was the contrivance by Mr. George Dempster of packing the
fresh fish in ice, by which means, and the aid of the railroad,
instead of a sailing vessel they are now sent to the metropolis
only a little less firm and fresh than when they were caught.
The fisheries of Ireland are at present in a prosperous condition,
of which we take the example of the River Foyle, from which
were sent away in one year of not extraordinary abundance
eighty thousand Salmon. In May of the year 1831, there
reached Billingsgate, from the River Spey, in Scotland, seventy
boxes of iced fish, of which thirty were (Salmon) Trout, the
196 SALMON.
take of three days only, and these were sold for one hundred
and forty pounds. Mr. Mayhew ("London Labour," etc.) says,
that the quantity of Salmon and Salmon Trout sold at
Billingsgate in one year was twenty-nine thousand boxes,
with fourteen fish in each box, making four hundred and six
thousand fish in all, of the weight of three millions four
hundred and eighty thousand pounds. There is little doubt
that many of these Trout were sold as Salmon, since so
diiferent a fish as the Coalfish has been so sold to an ignorant
purchaser.
The Salmon was not knoAvn to the Greeks in ancient times,
and is scarcely recognised by Roman writers, by whom
generally it appears to have been held in little value, even at
a time when luxury reigned to the utmost among them. Pliny
mentions it (B. 9, C. 32,) but only as being much esteemed
by the people of Aquitania, in Gaul; and yet many of his
countrymen must have been long acquainted with it in the
rivers of Britain, where they had been peaceably settled from
a distant date. Ausonius is the only other Roman writer
who mentions the Salmon, which he does in his characteristic
poem on the River Moselle, and from whom we learn that
the people there were aware of the distinctions which separate
some species of the same family, and especially between the
Sahno and one which he terms Solar, although modern
writers have chosen to consider the names at least as applied
to the same fish. The Ancient British name is given in a
MS. in the Cotton Library as Ehoe, as also by Pryce in
Cornwall, and by Pennant, on the authority of Richard
Morris, Esq., Gleisiedyn, Eog and Maran; but although not
British, the modern designation is not derived from a Greek
or Roman root, and will rather be found in the name of
the River Salmona, which passes into the Moselle, where this
fish was found in abundance, and from whence perhaps the
name was brought into our country by men who had been
acquainted with the Salmon in both these regions. That the
species was the same appears from the lines of the poet, a
portion of which has been already quoted: —
Nee te puniceo rutilantom viscere Salmo.
Fish of the bright red flesh, the Salmon called.
SALMON. 197
The Salar is sufficiently distingi.ished by being named separately,
Purpureisque Salar stellatus tergore guttes.
Witli purple spots his back is sprinkled o'er
In Starlike forms.
There is little added to this meagre account by Sidonius
when he terms these fishes "rapacissimse Salares" — the very
ravenous Salars; but naturalists are in error, although our
illustrious and generally accurate countryman Ray is of the
number, (in his "Dictionarium Trilingue,") when they judge
the Salar to be the Common Trout. This last is distinguished
by Ausonius under the name of Fario: —
Ambigiius,
Amborum medio, Fario intercepte sul^asvo.
Fario, a doubtful kind.
Between the two, as stopped in middle age.
It is probable that either the Sea Trout or the Peal is
the Salar of the poet, and we knoAv that the word Fario
is derived from a source which is neither Latin nor Greek;
but it is the name of the Trout to the present day, and
probably was the provincial name of the same fish in the
country of Ausonius. When he calls it ambiguous, it should
not be understood as of a more doubtful species than the
others, but as forming a natural link of affinity between
them: on Avhich subject the ancients held opinions long since
given over to oblivion; for it was commonly believed that in
all cases where creatures of apparently similar races bore some
near resemblance, their likeness was produced by a mingling
of the breeds, a kind of natural selection, the supposition of
Avhich is of no modern date. We believe that a figure of the
Salmon will be found stamped on some Samian or ancient
Roman pottery, as represented in the "Intellectual Observer"
for November, 1864, where even the young is shewn Avith
the bag of the egg attached to the throat; no small proof that
there were some in remote times who studied these things.
The weight of the Salmon was formerly much greater with
us than we are likely to see it again, at least while means are
198 SALMOK.
SO industriously employed to take it in its early growth. The
average weight appears to have been about forty pounds, and
the largest known to Nilsson was forty-four pounds, with a
length of four feet two inches; and this fish was sufficiently old
to have lost all the teeth in the vomer, except those in the
front. But heavier examples are on record in Britain: — in
February, 1826, a Salmon caught in the Tweed weighed fifty-
eight pounds; its length four feet, the girth two feet four inches
and a half; other examples have weighed sixty, seventy, seventy-
four, and eighty, the latter mentioned by Mr. Lloyd; and the
largest of all, given by Mr. Yarrell, eighty-three pounds. The
general shape is moderately lengthened and compressed, but
plump; head comparatively small, more slender in front, the
gape large; in the male the point of the lower jaw is bent
upward, and particularly so at the season of spawning; a cavity
in front of the upper jaw to receive it. Teeth in the upper
jaw strong, separate, with a vacancy in front; in the lower
jaw thicker; teeth also along the border of the mystache; on
the tongue in two lengthened rows, strong, hooked; also round
the palate and along the middle, (vomer,) but these latter appear
to become less in number, or altogether lost in age. Eye small,
low down, near the angle of the mouth; nostrils at one third
of the distance from eye to snout. Body covered with scales
of moderate size; lateral line straight. First dorsal fin about
the middle of the body, fleshy at the base, the adipose fin
begins opposite the middle of the anal; pectorals round, first of
the ventrals opposite the middle of the first dorsal; tail broad,
and its border a little waved. The colour varies with the
season, but tends to a steel blue; upper fins the colour of the
back, lower fins pale; belly white, a few scattered spots some-
times on the body; the colour less brilliant soon after leaving
the sea, and the skin more slimy. Near the time of spawning
the sides have a tinge of pink, and the cheeks are often streaked
with vellow and faint red. In the dorsal fin thirteen or fourteen
rays, the pectoral fourteen, ventral nine, anal eleven, caudal
nineteen.
The exact proportions of the body dififer not a little in fish
of different rivers, and also according to the sex. To examine
this more closely, Nilsson obtained at one time a male and
female of the same size; and he found the head of the former
SALMON. 100
to be four and seven tenths of the length of the body, which
measured forty-seven inches from the snout to the border of the
tail; from the snout to the beginning of the dorsal fin the
same as from the ending of that fin to the border of the
scales at the root of the tail; and from the commencement of
the dorsal to the adipose fin the space is double that from the
adipose fin to the border of these scales; the adipose fin is
over the anterior edge of the anal. The operculum and sub-
operculum taken together form a circle. Number of scales from
the dorsal fin to the lateral line twenty -five; from thence to
the ventrals twenty-two; and in a row between the adipose fin
and lateral line tAvelve to fourteen. In the female fish the
number of scales was less than in the male, although the body
is higher; the head occupied five parts and one third of the
length of the body. Artedi counted fifty-six vertebrae, but ]\Ir.
Yarrell more than once counted sixty. The colour of the flesh
is found to be caused by the presence of a peculiar oil.
200
PEAL.
SALMON PEAL. BULL TROUTi
This fish is to be distinguished from one that i& called the
Salmon Peal in the fish shops of London; which is an eaily
sta^e of the Salmon.
"t"
Salmo Trutta, LiNN^us. Fleming; Br. Animals, p. 180.
The Scurf, Bull Trout,
Trutta Salmonata, Willoughby; p. 193. Jenyns; Manual, p. 423.
Salmo Trutta, Yahrell; Br. Fishes, vol. ii, p. 77.
The Peal in its habits bears much likeness to the Salmon,
as it does also in no small degree in form; but with this
there exists also so much contrariety, that it has been observed
where one abounds the other becomes scarce; and if from any
cause, except indeed from that which is too common in some
parts of England, the presence of mineral water, or the refuse
of poisonous manufactures in the river, the Salmon is driven
to forsake it, this fish presently resorts to it in increasing
numbers; but they for the most part quit it again if Salmon
again become abundant.
When speaking of the Salmon it was remarked that tVie
place of resort of this tribe of fishes when at sea is scarcely
known; but less uncertainty exists as regards the wanderings
of the Peal, since so early in the spring as March or April,
and still more frequently in May it is often caught, but usually
as single individuals, in the drift-nets shot for Mackavel at
about the middle of the entrance of the British Channel; where
it is in the course of migration towards the land, and nearer
to which it approaches as the season advances. As these nets
are made to float at but a small depth where the water is
Ill
ilv
this
ed
anj
ime
;e
m
in?
ion
he
ely
DgS
iril,
at
lere
ircr
lets
7
^ ^ * * » ^ J
PEAT,. 201
above fifty fathoms, we conclude that this fish swims near the
surface on such occasions; as it does also in summer near the
land, when drawing near the accustomed river; in which
situation it is fished for with a moored and floating net. Not
unfrequently also it takes a bait far out at sea, when the line
is kept in motion, as in whiffing for Pollacks; and it even
seems to be then eager for prey, which the Sea Trout never
is, and the Salmon rarely.
An example caught at a considerable distance from land in
the same net with Mackarel, had its stomach filled with very
small fishes, on which also the latter had been gorging them-
selves. There is reason to believe, however, that in the Peal,
as in most of the Salmon tribe, digestion is quickly performed,
so that the stomach is usually found empty. When this fish
has reached the coast it soon passes into the river, and in
some cases they enter in considerable numbers, bearing with
them the same kind of parasitic animal as the Salmon, but
which soon quits its hold as in that fish. The rivers where
they prefer to resort are often such as from their limited depth
the Salmon may hesitate to enter, but so far as observation
extends, a strong enticement seems to be that the entrance is
floored with gravel or sand. It also appears that they will
readily spring above a moderate fall of water, but of course
with inferior powers to the lordly Salmon; and the inducement
for thus seeking the flowing stream is probably the same as
that which influences that fish; which we suppose to be the
state of obesity or fulness that has been produced by an abundant
supply of nourishing food. But the larger proportion do not
continue in fresh water longer than about the middle of August,
although in a few instances they have remained to September;
and during this time they may be fished for with a worm or
fly; but they are more usually sought after with a draw-net.
It is among the most remarkable circumstances connected
with the history of this family of fishes, that among some of
the species the proportion of the sexes varies in a very great
degree; and we find this noticed so long ago as in the time
of Willoughby and Ray, by whom it is said that the Branlins,
or Fingerlins, are all of them males; and Mr. Dillwyn, in his
work on the Fauna of Swansea, observes that "Mr. Talbot has
found in his streams at Margain that the Bull Trout are
VOL. IV. 2 D
202 PEAL.
always male and the Sewin female, from Avhich he has con-
cluded that there is no more than a sexual difference between
them." But, (setting aside for the present this last surmise,
and the further question about the Branlin, whether it be
what is now termed the Salmon Parr, or the Parr of the
Sea Trout, or, again, the Samlet, of which it would be still
surprising if none but males are to be met with, in the
numerous examples of the Peal which I have obtained in a
long succession of years, as well from far off in the ocean as
the river,) I have not been able to ascertain the existence of
a single male, and that, too, although the search has been
made under favourable circumstances, and with the offer of a
considerable reward to a professional fisherman who possessed
an exclusive right to a fishery where these fish were taken in
abundance in their season. But an accidental circumstance
has removed my doubts as regards the sexes of this fish.
There was a pool in the western branch of the Looe River,
close below the head of an ancient weir, above the barrier
of which these fish were not able at this time to throw
themselves; and at this place on the 22nd. of January, when
the cold was severe, a considerable number of Peal Avere
discovered as they were engaged in stirring up the gravel
with the evident purpose of shedding their spawn, and that,
too, without there being a single Salmon in the river. The
whole, or greater part of these w^ere caught with a net, and
then the roe was found to be running from some of them,
and ready to be shed in all. Myself examined ten of
them, and the remainder, amounting to twenty in all, were
examined by others. They varied something in colour from
their ordinary appearance in summer, being a little darker,
and a few were almost bronzed at the sides; but all were
females, and there was only one male found among them,
which, however, had its tail excoriated, like that part in the
females, as having been engaged in the same work of stirring
the gravel for the reception of the spawn. This male fish,
which from its associations I cannot but conclude to be the
true male of the Peal, w^as yet sufficiently distinct to warrant
a distinct description. It was called by the fishermen a Bull
Trout, and had its under jaw hooked, as in the male Salmon,
the head more clumsy than in the Peal, the spots large.
PEAL. 203
round, not cruciform, reddish. A remarkable difference Avas
in the adipose fin, which in the female Peal is less, and not
so far back. In this male it reached to near the base of the
tail. It is worthy of notice that Sir Humphrey Davy, in his
"Salmonia," records something not unlike this, but in the
opposite direction. In the month of October he obtained a
considerable number of Sea Trouts, and all of them were
males; but this may have been only a separation of the sexes
in the course of migration, as was the case with a goodly
number of Charr, kindly sent to me from Ireland by the
Earl of Enniskillen, to whom I have been indebted for much
assistance in the course of this work, and all of them were
found to be males, as were an equal number caught at the
same time and sent to the British Museum.
I have not been able to obtain satisfactory information con-
cerning the early stages of development of the Peal, nor of the
descent of the young to the sea; but there is a fish, well known
in some streams in the west, by the name of the White Trout,
and of which I have no doubt of its being an early growth
of the Peal; in which opinion I am confirmed by the authority
of Sir William Jardine, whose acquaintance with the fishes of
the Salmon tribe is generally acknowledged. But there can be
no doubt that when this smaller fish shews itself it is not earlier
than about the end of its first year; and what forms a singular
portion of its history, it is regularly found in some, perhaps
small, numbers, in rivers where the full-grown Peal, its supposed
parent, is not known to enter or breed. If even we may
suppose that some examples of the adult fish have entered their
own river and shed their spawn considerably earlier than the
time when we have traced them to do so, for irregularity in
this respect is not uncommon in all sorts of fishes, it can
scarcely be believed even that the progress of the young can
have so greatly outstripped that of the young Salmon, as to
have reached the length of from four to six inches in the
month of January, as I have known these to have done; although
more frequently they begin to be caught in March, and from
thence onward to May, in company with the Trout. After the
last-named month they are found to have left the fresh water,
and as we may judge, to seek a change of food in the depths
of the sea, from which just at this time the full-grown fish are
204 PEAL.
rising to proceed in the contrary direction. That these White
Trout are not the same with those which bear the same name
in Scottish rivers — the Salmo alhus of naturalists — is certain;
and in only one instance, where the example was of unusual
size, have I ever seen a few grains of roe in them. The usual
length is about six inches, the form closely lilve that of the
Peal, and they are easily distinguished by the brilliant whiteness
of the scales; on the back a slight tint of blue or green, with
faint dots in some instances, and occasionally a tinge of pink
on the adipose fin.
It may be useful to be aware that the Peal is able to live
in the confinement of a pond of fresh water. Four of these
fish were taken in a river with a net, and presently conveyed
to a newly-enclosed piece of water of no large dimensions;
and after thirteen months they had not altered in any particular.
The Peal under several names is known in considerable
abundance through the whole extent of the British Islands,
although perhaps with some variation of form and colour, as
is the case with the Salmon and others of this family; but
there appears much difficulty in assigning to this, and indeed
most of the other species, the names given by the writers of
the continent; the reason of which w^e suppose to be, that there
exist several kinds of the Salmomdce which are not yet clearly
defined; so that not a few which have hitherto been judged
to be only varieties will at last be discovered to be distinct
species.
From communications received from several districts in the
north of our island we have reason to believe that this, under
a variety of names, is as widely distributed as any of the
same family. An example has been obtained from Robert
Embleton, Esq., of Chathill, in Northumberland, under the
name of Hirling, f Salmo alhellus,) which measured eleven
inches in length, and closely resembled the Peal of Cornwall;
and I owe to the same gentleman, among other valuable
communications, the substance of a paper by Sir William
Jardine, Bart., which is contained in an early number of
"The Proceedings of the BerAvickshire Naturalists' Club."
This jTcntleman says, "This fish I consider to be the S. alhus
of Fleming, the Herling or Hirling of the Scotch side of
the Solway Firth, the Whiting of the English side, and by
PEAL. 205
which name it is also known in the Eden and the Esk, the
Phinnock of the north and west of Scotland, the White or
Phinnock of Pennant, and the Silver White of Tweed tacksmen.
In the Solway Firth they commence their approach to the
months of the rivers about the middle and towards the end
of June, if the season has been remarkably dry, and perhaps
a few days earlier if there has been much rain. From this
time they continue running till about the end of August,
when the greater part of the shoal is either past or taken.
The height of the run, however, may be said to be about
the last weeks of July, and their numbers at this time are
almost incredible. In the rivers they are caught with the
common sweep-nets, in the Firth by the stake-nets of small
mesh, or, as they are called, Herling houses. Many hundreds
are taken at once in each inclosure at every tide, and the
whole neighbourhood is for a short time supplied with them.
This abundance, with little exception, seems general wherever
they are found.
They enter the fresh waters for the great business of
spawning, and I have observed that in the larger rivers the
great body of the shoal leave the main stream and seek the
smaller tributaries, and very few remain where the water
continues strong and heavy. The spawning commences earlier
than that of the Salmon," (which my own observation has
already shewn not to be the case in Cornwall,) "is of course
sooner finished, and by the end of February almost the whole
of the old fish have returned to the sea. The young I have
never been able to see; it is probable, however, they are
hatched eaidier, and make their way to the salt water when
of small size; and three or four months is a sufficient interval
for them to have obtained the size and weight of their first
appearance in the following June. It may be noticed as
remarkable in the history of this fish, and at variance with
the habits of the other British Salmons, that from the return
of the old fish, or Kelts, to the sea, not an individual is seen
till the appearance of the great shoal; a few days before, as
stragglers appear, and they are the signal of preparations being
commenced for their destruction; but in the intervening four
months, between March and the end of June, they are never
to be met with;" a circumstance better explained by the
206 PEAL.
Cornish fishermen. "In this respect," says this learned natu-
ralist, "they more resemble the Coregoni, which are completely
gregarious, and also the Herring, to which I believe the
above-mentioned genus leads. The fish in the Solway very
seldom reach two pounds in weight upon their first arrival;
half a pound and three quarters is a common size; afterwards
the greater proportion average from one pound to a pound
and a half. One of the most marked appearances of this fish
is the great proportional breadth of the back, and the peculiar
greyish green of the upper parts. This colour appears very
conspicuous when seen before the water has completely ebbed
from the stake-nets, when the fish swim near the surface, and
when small Sea Trout are mixed with them the contrast is at
once perceived. The distribution of this fish in Scotland, as
far as it can be with certainty traced, is pretty extensive; the
south and west coasts, however, seem to possess the greatest
abundance. Commencing at the Solway we meet it in great
abundance as far as the Dee at Kirkcudbright, from thence
we lose it at Loch Awe, at Loch Etian in Argyleshire, from
thence it is common along the whole of the west coast;" but
beyond this the Baronet appears uncertain of its existence.
A usual length of the Peal is about fourteen inches; the
general proportions much like those of the Salmon, but the
head is stouter, and consequently the snout is not so slender;
the eyes also proportionally larger; the nostrils a little above
a line drawn from the eye to the snout, while those of the
Salmon are more directly on that line; the gape less wide;
sharp teeth in the jaws, mystache, round the palate and along
the vomer; in the latter a double row, alternate, and complete,
while in the Salmon of moderate age they are often wholly
or partly deficient. Teeth in the tongue strong and hooked,
but commonly not in opposite pairs. Lateral line straight, with
one hundred and twenty mucous pores. Dorsal fin well
developed, with twelve rays, anal longer than in the Salmon,
ten rays; tail a little waved, while a Salmon of the same size
has it forked; and even the White Trout of six inches has
this fin less forked than the Sahnon of a foot. Pectoral fin
round. Gill-covers more oval than in the Salmon; their colour
pale yellow or bluish, with shot-like spots. Colour along the
head and back greyish blue, shining white below, with small
PEAL. :207
blotches formed by the darker crossings of the scales; dorsal
fin spotted; ventrals with nine rays, caudal nineteen.
Convictions are not unfrequent, for taking Salmon with too
small a mesh in the open sea, when the only proof has been
that the Peal has been thus caught; and that too at the only
season when this could be caught, and with the only net that
could take it.
208
SEWEN.
Silver Salmon, besides names common to it with other fish.
Salmo Cambricus, Donovan; pi. 91.
It has been a commonly-received opinion, adopted, without
much inquiry, that the Sewen is only a variety of the Peal,
and by many also that both these fishes are no other than an
early stage of the Salmon, but modified perhaps by particular
circumstances; and there is reason to believe that in many
instances these species, and also the Sea and Salmon Trouts,
have been confounded together; an unfortunate circumstance,
as we have already hinted, for many poor fishermen, who have
been convicted and severely punished for fishing with too
small a mesh for the Lord of the River in the open sea,
when, in fact, none such could have been caught, and they
were only in the hope of obtaining the smaller and less
valuable fish. A portion of this mistake has arisen from the
confusion of names by which these fishes have been designated,
for it appears that in many places the Peal is called a
Sewen, and the Sewen a ^V^hite Trout or Peal, while the
Salmon in its younger state may pass for either of them.
But after having carefully examined these fishes, for the
opportunity of doing which I am indebted to Edmund T.
Higgins, Esq., I have come to the conclusion that the Sewen
is a distinct species, as Donovan also thought, and in this
light we treat of it accordingly.
In Wales it is the general belief that this fish is not found
anywhere but in that portion of the United Kingdom; and
even there it is said that it is only met with in those rivers
which run towards the west. It seems probable, also, that its
Mil
7
JDGE.
<
NiA USA
SEWEN. 209
range at sea is as liinltcd as when in fresh water; for there
are one or two rivers on the north borders of Devon and
Cornwall, into which, as it comes along the opposite shores of
South Wales, it might be supposed at least sometimes to find
its way. Yet such does not appear to be ever the case, although
a transfer of the breeding fish, as has been accomplished with
the Salmon, would probably be successful, and thus a highly-
delicious species might be made to have a more extensive
range. That it has not excited more general attention is to
be explained by a remark made by Sir Joseph Banks to Mr.
Dillwyn, that it was of too delicate a structure to be conveyed
to the London market, where hitherto it has not been seen.
On inquiring among fishermen well acquainted with this
fish, I learn that they ascend their favourite rivers to spawn
in autumn, and the roe is deposited usually in October and
November, in rocky ground, not in such shallow water as the
Salmon; but beyond this the particular situations and mode
of development have not been closely attended to. The young
go down to the sea in March and April, at which time they
possess the common character of the family, in bearing a
resemblance to the early growth especially of the Peal or
White Trout, from which, and the young of the Salmon,
which are clothed with the silver scales, they are then not
easily distinguished. As however these young of the Sewen
are said to weigh in early spring a couple of ounces, or
more, it may be questioned whether the fishes to which these
remarks apply may not be in many instances the growth of
the beginning of the second year, confounded with those of
an earlier grovv-th. It seems certain, at least, that early in
July an emigration of larger fish takes place, but whether
they remain until they spawn, or how many return to the sea
before or without spawning seems uncertain. Mr. Dillwyn and
his friend Mr. Talbot had remarked that males had not been
discovered among those which bore the name of Sewen; but
this is corrected by many of the fishermen, who report that
the male is just as common as the female, and they add that
this fish readily takes a bait, especially in the form of an
appropriate fly, which is seized with a leap and plunge, and
with the habit also that when the hook is felt, instead of
running off with a tight line, it rushes often towards the
VOL. IV. 2 E
210 SEWEN.
fisherman with the prospect of breaking loose with a jerk, in
which its strenofth is exerted to advantaee.
The Sewen is said to attain the weight of twelve, or even
sixteen pounds, but half that size is more common; and it is
best described by reference to the Salmon or Peal, with both
of which it has been confounded. As compared with either of
these it has a stouter head, and a deeper body; a larger eye,
which, as compared with the Salmon, is proportionally nearer
the snout. The under jaw is rather more protruded; in the
jaws and vomer the teeth are more like those of the Peal than
of the Salmon. Scales on the body much smaller than in a
Salmon of equal size; and the portion of the body bearing
scales more lengthened outward toward the border of the tail;
the false rays of that fin springing nearer the adipose fin than
in the Salmon or Peal. Lateral line straight. Pectoral fin
longer and rounder in proportion than in an adult Salmon, or
than in Donovan's figure. Adipose fin smaller; but this may
only apply " to the individual ; anal fin much longer, passing
nearer to the tail; whereas in the Salmon and Peal it ends
just opposite the adipose. Tail incurved, with longer rays than
in the Salmon. Colour fine blue along the upper parts, silvery
below, with pale pink spots of small size. Dorsal fin with
dark spots: none on the gill-covers; anal fin yellow; the flesh
pink.
FY
WIA USA
g >
^ o
< o
/
212 SEA TROUT.
it has been taken in a smaller stream than the Salmon would
willingly enter, although probably it was not there for the purpose
of breeding. Mr. Thompson was the first to notice this fish
in Ireland, where, however, it is not rare, although most abundant
in the north, and he mentions examples of the unusual size of
sixteen pounds. They have also been caught with a line on that
coast at some distance from land; but I have never obtained
it from nets shot in the sea in the manner or under the
circumstances in which the Peal is often caught.
The food found in the stomach of the Sea Trout has been,
two species of the Launce, with some vegetable substance, and
in the river it will take a fly. This is particularly the case with
the young when in the spring they are ready to go down to
the sea; and at this time they are marked on the side with those
bands which give the denomination of Parr to the young fishes
of two or three species of the Salmon family which are marked
with it. Indeed the young of the present species are made to
contend with those of the Salmon and Salmon Trout, for the
character of being pre-eminently the Parr of the rivers.
This is one of the fish which under the equivocal name of
Trout is sent to London from Scotland in company with the
Salmon, but it is less esteemed for the table than that fish. From
experiments made in the lakes of Norway it appears that the
Sea Trout will propagate when confined to fresh water, but
after several years it did not reach the size that is common in
situations where its habits of migration have not been interfered
with.
The example described measured only thirteen inches, but
this fish grows to double that length; the body moderately
lengthened, plump; from the snout to the centre of the eye
one inch; to the margin of the gill-covers two inches and a
half; diameter of the eye nine twentieths of an inch. JaAvs
equal when closed, mystache even with the hindmost border of
the eye. Teeth along the margin of the jaws, and round the
palate; a double row along the middle of the palate, (vomer)
in alternate order. Tongue nearly square in front, with two
rows of incurved teeth. Eleven rays in the gill-membrane.
Dorsal fin at the centre of the body and of gravity, or as
quaintly expressed by the Cornish local historian Carew, when
Trouts are of middle growth, they are "eygall peized twixt either
SEA TROUT. 213
finne;" with twelve long rays and a few short; the pectoral
fourteen rays; anal nine, also the ventral, with the usual concealed
wing; the caudal nineteen, the border slightly hollowed, usually
straight. Upper part of the head dark green, cheeks yellow,
as are the eyes; hindmost gill-cover with shades; pectoral fins
yellow; back dark, the sides yellowish, belly white. Spots on
the body not uniform nor with a halo, but marked with sectional
lines, a few on the gill-covers, more on the back and sides,
some on the dorsal fin. The flesh red.
214
SALMON TEOUT.
Salmo
Tmtta,
«
tt
«
u
LrNN^EUs. Block ; PI. 21. Cuvier.
Yakrell; Br. Fishes, vol. ii, p, 77.
Jenyns ; Manual, p. 423.
Among writers of considerable eminence there has been much
difference of opinion as regards this fish, compared with the
Peal, Sea Trout, and Salmon; with one or other of which, and
as we shall find, some others, it has been confounded; as they
have also been with one another. But it has been our endeavour
to separate them in a manner that we suppose the least liable
to mistake; although in doing this we shall represent more
species than are usually acknowledged by naturalists; and yet
in some particular or other of the distinctions we lay down, we
find ourselves supported by authorities it will not be easy to
gainsay. But it is in regard to the habits of these separate
species that we meet with the greatest difficulty; since in the
observations which have been made on that subject, we do not
feel assured of the species which has been studied, and the
information collected from distant districts becomes thereby
subject to a large, degree of uncertainty.
In our own country the Salmon Trout is more a fish of the
north than the generality of this genus; for although it occurs
in the south and west of the kingdom, and our figure was taken
from an example that was obtained in the west of Cornwall,
yet there it is not to be regarded as common; whereas in
Scotland it is equally abundant with the Salmon, as it seems
to be also in Ireland; where Mr. Thompson found it in the
markets in the spring, but of the usual small size of that
season. He does not give the date of one which weighed upwards
of seventeen pounds. It is sent to London in company with
the Sea Trout, under the common name of Trout; and when
in season it is little inferior to the Salmon.
J I J
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^i
SALMON TROUT. 215
This fish feeds on the Launcc, which, unfortunately for
themselves, are a favourite diet with all the migrating kinds of
the Salmon family. But they feed also on crustacean animals,
and even on some species of confervse, or river weeds. In the
river they are taken with the worm and fly; although, as being
the Fordidge Trout, of which an account is given by Izaak
"Walton, its taking a bait in the river is strongly questioned,
and thiS patriarch of angling was not in the habit of fishing
with a fly. He represents the flesh of this species to be
decidedly white, but Mr. Jenyns says its colour is red: all
agree in its being highly valued at table.
The Salmon Trout might be mistaken for the Salmon in
some of its varieties, as well from its size in comparison with
the ordinary growth of the latter, as its general shape; and yet
in its aspect there appears a marked difference between them.
This species is comparatively stouter, and carries its bulk more
closely to the tail. The front also appears sharper; the gape
scarcely so large; eyes somewhat larger and nearer the snout.
Teeth in the vomer in a longer row, and not so prone to be
shed with the advance of age. Border of the gill- covers more
produced above the pectoral fin, which fin is also more pointed;
dorsal more extended, its first rays scarcely so far advanced;
ventrals more pointed; as are the first rays of the anal, and
also proportionally longer than the following rays. According
to ]\Ir. Yarrell, the articulation at the base of the last dorsal
fin ray is exactly half-way between the point of the nose and
end of the tail, but I find it a little nearer the head; the
anterior edge of the adipose fin half-way between the base of
the last ray of the dorsal fin and the end of the tail. Colour
of the upper parts and tail dark, with a tinge of blue; with,
in the example described, some broad patches at the beginning
of the back, of a lighter colour; a tinge of pink on the cheeks
and along the sides; whitish with a tinge of yellow below; a
green dash behind the eyes; a strong tinge of red on the adipose
fin. Some rather small shot-like spots on the gill-covers; many
irregular crossed marks along the sides; ventral fins very light.
In a fish of this species from Sweden the rays of the dorsal
fin were fifteen, of which the first was very short, the third
the longest; anal twelve, the two last from one root; ^ entral
nine, caudal twenty, pectoral fifteen.
21G
SLENDER SALMON.
Report of the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society for 1859.
Salmo Rucho, Fleming; British Animals, p. 179, whicli he
makes the same with the Bull Trout.
Salmo gracilis, Nobis.
In the Report of the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society,
here referred to, is an account of the taking of a fish which,
in reliance on what Fleming has described of one exceedingly
similar, was referred to a species of Salmon known as a native
of the Danube by the name of Hue or Huech, and in Hungary
as Huho or Huhko; but since the publication of the paper on
the Cornish Salmonidte, as mentioned above, I have learnt from
Dr. Gunther that the characters assigned to our fish will not
apply to the Hucho of Germany and Linnaeus; and that tliis
last-named species is not found anywhere even in Germany,
except in the Danube and its tributary streams; to which Dr.
Reisinger adds, that it is not common in any part of Hungary.
It is evident that the figure of the Hucho in the work of Bloch,
pi. 100, is not nearly like our fish; and the more indifferent
one copied by Willoughby from Gesner is still less like it. We
are therefore compelled to conclude that our fish, presently to
be described, must not be referred to any known species of the
continent of Europe.
The example from which our figure and description were
taken was caught in the harbour of FoAvcy, in the month of
January; and it has since been sent to the British Museum.
But the figure was taken when it was fresh from the water,
and a copy of it was communicated to Mr. Yarrell; whose
opinion of it Ave give in justice to that gentleman, in his own
words: — "Many thanks for your drawing of the female Salmon
i;p
7
MC^
H
C
SLENDER SALMON. 217
with your letter, and kind remembrance of me. I have a skin
of a Salmon that would have been a good match for your
female. This was a Salmon that had been detahied in a fresh-
water pond rather more than three years, and he had in liiat
time become in form more like an eel than a Salmon. I have
also in my drawer a specimen of a Sahno Trutto almost as
much elongated, but I had no opportunity of ascertaining any
cause for this change, but probably, as in the case of your
fish, destined to live in a river, the water of which did not
suit it."
It is not generally safe to differ in opinion from that excellent
naturalist, and especially in reference to fish of fresh water;
but on the present occasion it should be remarked that the
known circumstances were very different from those that were
thus suggested. So far from having suffered from long confine-
ment, the effect of which on the true Salmon is highly
suggestive, this example was caught when it had just then
come from the open sea. The River Fowey also is not polluted
with poisonous water from mines, as are many other streams in
Cornwall; and further, at no great distance of time before this
a specimen distinguished by similar characters, presently to be
described, was taken in the Looe, under the same circumstances;
and it should be further observed that at that time the last-
named river had not suffered from the copper and mundic water
which now flows into it. As regards the rarity of this fish,
with us of the west it does not appear to be less common than
the Salmon Trout itself; and on Dr. Fleming's authority I do
not hesitate to say, that however thinly scattered, it has been
met with more than once at the two extremities of the united
kingdom.
The length of this fish was two feet four inches and a quarter;
from the snout to the border of the gill-covers (all measured
in a straight line) five inches; girth round the body, which
was little compressed, and nearly round, one foot one inch and
a quarter. Teeth in the upper jaw and mystache strong,
scattered, and incurved; a row round the palate, incurved toAvards
tlie palate; none in the vomer, nor did it appear there had
ever been any. The colour dull, with a tendency to blue, and
a tinge of pink along the sides. llather numerous blackibh
s]iots, with radii in three or four rays, and no light border
VOL. IV. 2 F
218 SLENDER SALMON.
round them. We observe, however, that in some species of
this family, the radii of these spots are formed by the overlying
of some bright scales across one or two dark ones; thus permitting
only a portion of the dark to appear. Fin rays — of the dorsal
fifteen, the first very short, fourth the longest; pectoral fifteen,
ventral ten, with a separate wing; caudal eighteen. The aspect
of this fish and markings of its head differ from those of the
Salmon. The usual parasitic animals of the Salmon when coming
from the sea were not found on it.
219
BLUE POLL.
AVHITLING. HERLING. PHINOCK. BLUE COCKS?
Salmo alhus, Fleming; Br. Animals, p. 180.
«• " Jardine; Edinburgli New Phil. Journal, 1835.
Much difference of opinion has existed as regards this fish,
as of so many others of this tribe; for while some eminent
writers have viewed it as only an early or intermediate stage of
some other species of this family, and of the Salmon in particular,
other observers of no less authority have expressed their belief
that however the name may be applied there is a distinct species
to which it should pre-eminently belong. The mistakes which
have been caused by these contradictions have sometimes led to
the error of applying the habits of some of these fishes to the
natural history of others, and a further result not unfrequently
has been, that unjust and oppressive legislation has been brought
into action. This has especially been the case as regards the
fish now under consideration, as well as also that which we have
already described under the name of Peal; but although in the
earlier stages of their existence these fishes are not readily
distinguished from others of the Salmon tribe, nor any of the
migratory species from each other, yet when they have reached
maturity there are characters to be discerned by which with
little difficulty they may be definitely known; and measured by
these we have no hesitation in expressing the persuasion that
the Blue Poll, or Phinock, is distinct from every other.
Willoughby has remarked, page 192, that sometimes under
the influence of a strong north-east wind there comes from the
north to our rivers an unrecognised kind of Salmon, called by
fishermen the Blue Cap, from a broad ])atch of blue on its
head; and he further says that the sight of a single one of
220 BLUE POLL.
these fishes was hailed as a sign of success, in the large number
that was to follow. No description is given by which we might
be certain of the species, but we suppose it to be the fish we
are about to describe, since it is the only other one known
among us that is not mentioned by this author. In the west of
the kingdom the name of Blue Cap is applied by some fishermen
to the Salmon in the first year of its growth, and thus it answers
to what is known in the north of England by the name of Grilse ;
but the fi-shcrmen are prepared to acknowledge another fish with
this name as a separate species, of examples of which we offer
a figure and description obtained from the river Looe, in Cornwall;
where it is known to anglers, but at this time scarcely to be
obtained, as its visits from the sea are only made during the
prohibited months of winter. Indeed, in the western counties
the numbers at any time are but small; but we learn that in
the Camel, which opens on the north of Cornwall, towards the
entrance of the Bristol channel, in its season it is in sufficient
abundance to have formed an object of attention to fishermen
before a law existed which laid a penalty on the taking of them.
From some unknoAvn cause they do not increase in the rivers
with Avhich we are acquainted, but they are in large abundance
in the north of England, and in Scotland Sir W. Jardine found
them in the summer in much greater numbers than any of the
other species of the Salmon tribes. We suppose they frequent
the rivers of Ireland also; but they have not yet been
distinguished from the kindred species in that kingdom.
In common with the other fishes of this family the Blue
Poll sheds its spawn in December and January; but sometimes
as early as October. It is said that the proportion of the sexes
is unequal, there being more males than females; but both of
them unite their efforts in forming a channel for the reception
of the roe; which channel is less deep than that of the Salmon,
and not so long. The young of this species are called Skirlings,
but we suppose that this name is not strictly confined to them,
but is common to several species. It appears certain that the
adult Blue Poll does not enter the Cornish rivers in the summer,
although the want of a sufficient flow of water cannot be
assigned as an hindrance to a fish of such comparatively small
size. After spawning, we believe that they have all gone
down to the sea before the end of February, or early in March.
BLUE POT.L, 231
We are informed that the female Blue Cocks are often sold
for Salmon, and both sexes are highly valued for the table.
A female fish, which had spawned, was taken with a fly on
the 4th. of March; and when first hooked it is its habit to
leap out of the water, as the Peal is known to do, but contrary
to the custom of the Salmon. The example here referred to
measured fourteen inches and a half in length, which seems to
be about the usual size; the form slender, depth in front of
the dorsal fin two inches and five eighths; gape considerable;
teeth in the vomer, and otherwise as in others of this family.
From the snout to the border of the hindmost gill-cover three
inches and six eighths. Eye large, nostrils close together. On
the border of the second gill-cover a mark as if serrated; the
whole head rather stout in proportion to the body. The dorsal
fin begins six inches and three eighths from the snout, with
fourteen rays, the first very short, the third longest, last rays
extended; anal eleven; ventrals nine; tail a little concave, with
twenty rays, with a row of eleven or twelve short side rays;
termination of the body at the tail a little crenate. Lateral
line with ducts of which I was able to count one hundred and
twelve. Colour of the back blue, light on the top of the head,
green on the cheeks, a yellowish portion behind the eye; eye
golden; brilliant white on the sides and belly; dorsal fin greenish
pale blue; border of the adipose fin slight red; spots on the
sides and dorsal fin not well defined; larger spots on the
hindmost gill-cover, very small behind the eye. Air bladder of
good size, posteriorly attached to the vent, and forAvard
lengthened to the gullet, where it opens with a visible aperture,
as in others of the genus. The skin much tougher than in the
Peal. In another example, Avhich appears to have lately spawned,
there was no tint of green; brilliant blue on the hindmost part
of the head; dorsal fin rays twelve. It differs from the Peal
in being more slender, the eye larger, the open nostril nearer
the eye than to the snout, contrary to what is found in the
Peal; pectoral fin longer and not so wide.
222
LAKE TROUT.
Ill Ireland, Buddagh — the Grey.
Sahno ferox, Jardine. Jenyns; Manual, p. 425.
" " Yarrell; Br. Fishes, vol. ii, p. 110.
This fish was little known to any except anglers until of
late; and appears to have been first distinguished as a separate
species by Sir William Jardine; but when we have heard of a
fresh-water Trout as exceeding fifteen or twenty pounds in
weight, Ave may venture to conjecture that the example referred
to was the great Lake Trout. It is strictly a fish of the north,
and is confined to the larger lakes or pieces of water, as well in
Shetland, as the more distant parts of Scotland. Nilsson mentions
it among the fishes of Sweden; and through the kindness of
the Earl of Enniskillen I have obtained examples from the
north of Ireland, where it is even common in places in which
there is sufficient space for it to rove and feed; for it is to
be observed of this species, as of several others of this family,
that in a more limited space they are shorn of their full pro-
portion of bulk and vigour. It is thus that some examples
which, through the kindness of J. Morrison, Esq., M.P., I
obtained from Malham Tarn, in Yorkshire, the size was much
less than those from Ireland. They are found also in the
Llyn y Bugail, or Shepherds' Pool, in Montgomeryshire; and
it is to be remarked that in both these last-mentioned instances
the pool or lake is on high ground, as if the degree of elevation
was required to be an equivalent for the more northern situation
of the Scottish waters.
This is a formidable fish, as well from its size, in which it
is equal to the Salmon, and much superior to the general run
of that fish, as from the formidable armature of its mouth, in
'fl'f
/
LAKE TROUT. 223
whicli it outdoes all its tribe. Its ferocity is equal to its weapons,
and when seized by it no ordinary inhabitant of the water can
hope to escape; so that next to the Pike it is the most for-
midable of the inhabitants of at least our British lakes and
rivers. With such eagerness of hunger, the supposition may
well be that this fish will fall a ready prize to the fisherman;
and as its food is the fishes of its native waters, and a Trout
of no small size is a ready bait, such might be the case, but
that, like others of this family when of full growth, the Lake
Trout is shy or cautious; so that although it may perhaps rise
to a fly, as more commonly it seeks its prey only by night, it
is more usually taken with lines, which are laid for it at that
season. When the hook has been swallowed it becomes ex-
ceedingly furious, and no small strength is required in the line
to secure it. For the table it is not highly esteemed.
It produces its spawn at about the same time with others of
this family; and for this purpose they leave the deeper water
of the lakes in which they usually reside; but they do not
proceed upward in the rivers which feed these lakes to any
considerable distance, and presently after performing this im-
portant function they return. We may suppose that the influence
of light, which is obtained best in the shallower water, is of
advantage in the development of the young of this species, as
well as others of this family.
I learn from the noble Earl already mentioned, that he has
taken this fish in Lough Eck of the weight of twenty-eight and
thirty pounds, and Mr. Thompson mentions it as exceeding even
this; but the example described, which was obtained at the
beginning of December, weighed only fifteen pounds; the length
two feet four inches and a half; the body stout and thick,
carrying its breadth and thickness backward to the adipose fin.
Head large, flat on the top, snout projecting before the eyes,
ending blunt. Jaws equal, gape large, mystache passing con-
siderably behind the eye. Teeth strong, sharp, the points
directed inward, distant from each other; those on the mystache
continued through the whole length, with an interruption in
front of the upper jaw; strong recurved teeth round the palate;
a single row along the vomer, and a strong row across in front
of the vomerine row, but distinct from it, and also appearing
distinct from the side row of the palate Sirong incurved teeth
224 LAKE TROUT.
in the lower jaAv, and within on each side near the front a short
separate row. Tongue fleshy, with a double row of not very
large teeth. Being a male there was the kipper or turned-up
process on the front of the lower jaAV, but not so high as in
the Salmon; and it was received into a cavity in the upper
jaw. Nostrils above the level of the line from eye to snout;
scales on the body round, those along the lateral line shining;
origin of the dorsal fin one foot and an inch from the snout;
adipose fin large, and not far from the tail; its upper part
widest. Width of the tail eight inches, and at its root three
inches and a fourth; the border might be called straight, except
that there is a small point at the corner above and below;
pectorals rather wide, the upper rays curved. The colour along
the back and upper part of the sides dark, tinted with blue,
as are also the dorsal fin and tail; cheeks yellow, covered, as
is the body, very thickly with round dots; none on the belly;
pectorals and ventrals yellowish; anal dark. A tinge of purple
on the sides, where the scales shine as if pearly. The dark
spots on the body are also spread over the dorsal fin and tail;
and even on the lower portion of the transparent cornea (of
the eye.)
In an example from Malham Tarn of much less size, the
muscular structure appeared more decided; the tail broader and
more round; dorsal and anal fins more developed; a more
decided tinge of yellow along the sides; the adipose fin reddish;
and the spots proportionally larger, with a warm tinge.
In a comparison of several examples, Mr. Thompson found
permanent diflferences between the sexes; the teeth being con-
siderably stronger in the male; the distance from eye to snout
greater; and the form of the operculum is different, that of the
female approaching in roundness to that of the Salmon. In
some instances the spots in the male have a pale circle of dull
orange round them.
I found the fin rays of the dorsal to be twelve, anal ton,
pectoral thirteen, caudal twenty.
D -
o
z ^
o O
o
o
/
226 COMMON TROUT.
especially in colour and habits, which has suggested the question
whether there may not be more than a single species in our
rivers; but to this for the present we hesitate to return a con-
fident answer. Cuvier and Bloch are supposed to have made
mistakes in this, and we prefer to follow the example of
Willoughby and Sir William Jardine in considering the several
appearances in Avhich they differ as signs of variation only. In
truth, we do not feel ourselves competent to decide at what
point the line of distinction as regards species in this case should
be drawn ; since within the sphere of our own observation we
have been witness to changes that have appeared to alter the
identity of some varieties of this fish, while we have been
confident of their being the same individuals; and we have
known others that from apparently long-continued existence in
one sort of form and colour, might be regarded distinct, but
which under change of external circumstances have returned
to a near resemblance of the usually common type.
We take in the first place as our example the Common Trout
of our rivers and brooks, the history of which is without
obscurity, and by comparison with this the habits and forms of
other and perhaps more doubtful kinds will be better understood.
The Common Trout is a fish of much activity, and delights in
clear and rapid streams, with a preference for such as flow over
a clean and gravelly bottom. There it swims, usually and
especially in cloudy and cold weather, low in the water where
the river is not deep, and with its head against the current it
maintains its station, perhaps near some eddy, with a watchful
eye for every moving object. A worm or small shell-fish is
acceptable, and it leaps eagerly at a fly that for a moment may
stray or settle on the surface; but when larger grown it gives
a preference to a small fish, and an unfortunate minnoAv, one of
many in a sportive assemblage that are unconscious of fear or
danger, is a temptation not to be resisted. It also watches the
spawning of the Salmon to devour the roe in spite of the
vigilance of the parents, and gorges itself with the helpless young
ones as they show themselves above the gravel, within the shelter
of which they had long lain hid; but here, as with the imitated
minnow, their eagerness leads them to their fate, for the angler
siipplies himself with the coveted material as one of his most
attractive baits. We have not thought it necessary to enter at
COMMON TROUT.
227
any considerable length on the subject of the amusement of
anirlinsr, as that has been treated of in so many volumes:
but although medicated baits have been long neglected or
discarded by British fishermen we will venture a reference to
one mentioned by Bloch, as we have no recollection of having
seen it referred to by any English writers. It is formed of a
mingling together of castor and camphor with the aid of heat,
and while yet in a melted state a piece of linen is dipped in it
and kept for use, a slip of it being wrapped about the hook.
The practice of fishing with a fiy has been thought almost
])eculiarly English, and of ancient date in this country, and
Duhamel in France copies all that he has to say of it from
Walton and Cotton; but in both these particulars there is reason,
for doubt. The "Book of St. Albans" gives some directions for
what it terms "dubbing," a practice referred to by Izaak Walton,
and which in some distant degree bears a likeness to the modern
method of fly-fishing. But neither does this dubbing with a fly
obtain a principal place in this old treatise, the very little of
which appears to limit it to "Fysshynge wyth an angle," or
earthworm; nor was the patriarch of the art, Izaak Walton, much
better versed in it, for it is to his friend Charles Cotton we are
chiefly indebted for what afterwards grew to be a new phase in
the art. And again, although it is often said that the Trout
was unknown to the ancients, or unrecognised by them, there is
evidence that not only was it common and fished for in Macedonia,
(as in the lakes of Italy,) but that the method of taking it with
a fly was in use in the former country.
Aristotle had spoken 'in a cursory manner of a fish, the name
of which is read as Thrissa, but which the learned Gesner
supposes to be more properly Thrassa and Thratta, and that it
was the same with the Trout; and that the fish itself must have
been known to that eminent philosophic naturalist, himself a
native of Macedonia, is clear from a narrative of ^lian; although
of the name of the fish, as being local, the latter expresses his
ignorance. He says "I have received information of the following
method of catching fish in Macedonia. In the river Astrseos,
Avhich runs between Berntea and Thessalonica, there are fish
which are ornamented with spots of different colours, but the
names they bear are best learnt from the people of ]\Iacedonia_
Their food is the flies which frequent that river; and these flics
228 COMMON TROUT.
clifxer from any that are found elsewhere; for they are not only
unlike bees and wasps, but they unite in themselves the likeness
of all these insects. The people of that country call them hippuri
— horseflies; and as they fly near the surface of the water they
are easily discerned by the fish, which therefore glides gently to
the place where their shadows fall, and, just as a wolf snatches
a sheep from the flock, with a gulp it seizes the fly, and instantly
plunges Avith it into the depth of the stream. This has been
noted and copied by the fishermen, but with some variation, for
they do not employ the natural fly, which will scarcely bear
the handling, but they imitate it by art. A small quantity of
purple Avool is wrapped round the hook, and a couple of wings
are added from yellow neck feathers of a cock. The rod and
line are each four cubits long, and this contrivance, Avhen skilfully
cast on the stream, is found eminently successful." — (Hist, of
Animals, B. 15, C. 1.) It was in Germany, and there only as
far as we are informed, that fishing for Trout Avas formerly for-
bidden to all but the privileged, and in some States the penalty
was the loss of a hand.
Within a certain range of temperature, from the far north
of Europe, and perhaps of America, as also in brooks high
up toAA^ards their source in lofty situations, to so far south as
Italy, the Trout is a common fish even in places Avhere no
other fish is found. Sir John Malcolm discovered it in a stream
of a mountain in Aderbijan, a province of Persia; and Bishop
Heber observed it in the Himalayan Mountains, although it
does not exist in the loAver districts of India. On the other
hand Captain Parry found it, or a kindred species, in a lake
in INIelville Island, Avhere the temperature falls to minus 55°.
But everyAvhere its habits vary with the season; for Avhcn
young and in summer it prefers the shallows; but as the sun
loses its power it retires to the deeper water, and shelters itself
under the protection of some overhanging bank, or the kuailed
root of some projecting tree; of Avhich it is the belief of
anglers the most likely to be chosen is the Avillow. To this
the older fish resort on the appearance of danger; and from
this they do not often wander far aAvay; for, contrary to their
habits Avhen young, the aged Trout is nocturnal, and it is by
night that its courage enables it to sally forth Avith eager and
even ravenous appetite, to seize Avhatever it finds in motion,
COMMON TROUT. 229
and is able to overcome. A rat or froi^ is not at this time
an unwelcome prey. In summer, however, and when no better
shelter is near, a casual hiding-place, at least to those of no
large size, is beneath a stone in water that is not deep; and
in this situation they are sometimes caught by a practise which
AV^illoughby seems to intimate as only known in England.
There is reason to suppose this fish feels even a pleasure Avlien
a tickling action is felt by the motion of fiingers, as they are
gentlv pressed along the under portions of its body; for it
remains still until an opportunity is afforded of grasping it at
the gills, and thus securing the capture.
The roe is shed on the approach of the colder months; and
for tliis purpose these fish proceed upward to the more retired
and shallower brooks, and as near as may be to their source.
It is covered with sand or gravel in miniature imitation of the
actions of the Salmon; but the grains are developed in a
shorter time than are those of that fish. In a course of obser-
vations referred to in the "Zoologist" for 1855, it was observed
that from the time of bursting the egg to the full development
was fifteen days; but before this, and afterwards, they are
exposed to devastation similar to that which when a little grown
they inflict on others; and it has been remarked that the
IMinnow is one of the principal devourers; but the injury thus
inflicted on the race is soon afterwards repayed with vengeance.
The growth of the young Trout is speedy, but much of this
depends on the sort of food that comes in their way; and we
may judge that the bulk which they at last reach will greatly
depend on what they obtain, of quality as well as quantity,
at their outset in life; for sometimes there are districts in the
same river where the fish are found of larger size than in
any other part of it. In a set of trials made by Mr. Stoddart,
examples were placed in three separate tanks, in one of which
they were supplied with worms, in another with living MinnoAvs,
and in the third with those small dark -coloured water-flies which
are to be found moving about on the surface under banks and
sheltered places. The Trouts fed with worms grew slowly, and
had a lean appearance; those nourished on Minnows, which,
it was observed, they darted at with great voracity, became
much larger; while such as were fattened upon flies only,
attained in a short time prodigious dimensions, weighing twice
230 , COMMON TROUT.
as much as both the others taken to^rethcr: althouarh the
quantity of food swallowed by them was in nowise so great.
We think that the mingling of these sorts of food would have
been still better; but it is known that the circulating juices
or blood of many insects possess chemical properties very different
from that of the higher animals; and the influence of which on
creatures which feed on them must be stimulant as well as
nutritive. Cantharidine in a species of beetle, a strong acid
in ants," and ammonia in millepedes are familiar instances
of this; and the minute flies, (Einpedes,) which in a winter's
gleam people the sunbeams, would be frozen to death if their
blood were not composed of a fluid more powerful in resisting
cold than a mixture of milk and water, or the blood of a mouse.
But the young Trouts soon scatter themselves through the
river, and everywhere shew themselves ready to take a bait or
rise to a fly; but ready also to be scared by any passing object.
In this indeed their course is often remarkable; for they will
remain without fear close to the wheel of a mill while it is
dashing round, and the water falls in a cataract; and they
will even spring towards it when alarmed; but the sight of the
human figure or other moving object will terrify them greatly.
The Trout does not recover its health and appearance very
speedily after spawning; and yet, in Cornwall at least, it has
not unfrequently been caught with a fly in good condition in
January and early in February; but it is probable that these
examples had not shed the roe at the usual season, as is the
case also with, at least, the Salmon; and it may be such as
these which have been found ready to perform this natural
function early in July; as we have known them.
Nilsson appears to think it strange that the Trout is never
in the open sea in the Baltic, while so many other fresh-water
fishes are known to leave the rivers and pass into it; but this
remark will not apply to the Trouts of our own streams, which
have been noticed many times in the month of May to be
quitting the river for the deep Atlantic. To satisfy myself of
this I have procured an opportunity of having them taken in
the salt-water with a net; and a well-grown Trout has been
brought to me, that was caught at a considerable distance from
a river or fresh-water. Under such circumstances a material
alteration takes place in the colour of the fish, which becomes
COMMON TROUT. 231
of a rich dark brown, with an aggravation of the other
characteristic tints. It is believed that these migratory examples
in no long time return to their native river; at which season
again their appearance is so changed that they have been judged
a distinct species; and we believe that they are the same which
Dr. Knox has denominated the Estuary Trout.
It is not easy to ascertain the age to which a Trout may
reach, and Lord Bacon assigns it a limited date, but without
giving any evidence on the subject. We know the dangers
to which all of Salmon family are exposed; so that few
of them can be supposed to live out half their days. But an
exception has been made in two or three instances in favour
of some examples of the Trout; and we are informed that a
farmer near Pontypool had a fish of this kind captive in his
well for twenty-seven years; during which time it had not
increased in size. And this is exceeded by one mentioned by
Daniel, in the Supplement to his "Rural Sports," Avhich is
recorded to have lived for twenty-eight years in a well at
Dumbarton Castle, and which was the weight of a pound when
first conveyed thither; but even this is greatly exceeded by an
instance mentioned by Mr. Yarrell, where a Trout is said to
have lived at Broughton, in Furness, for fifty-three years.
Daniel's account of this fish of Dumbarton Castle' may be
thought interesting by those who have not had an opportunity
of seeing the original M'ork. He says that "the Garrison of
Dumbarton Castle, in Scotland, was thrown into general
lamentation by the sudden loss of its oldest veteran, who had
served therein, a general favourite, for the long period of
twenty-eight years." It was "a Trout, which having been caught
by an officer in the river Severn, was put into the garrison
well, that flows to the surface, where in time it became so tame
as to receive its food of bread from the hands of the soldiery,
in the water. When first taken it weighed little more than a
pound, and it never afterwards increased in size." The instance
here given was a case of solitary, and therefore might be supposed
unnatural confinement; but the same writer mentions an instance
where a Trout of large size had been known in a district of
the Clyde for almost twenty years, during which "it eluded
every artifice that the ingenuity of the sportsman had devised"
for taking it. It at last left its usual haunts in consequence
232 COMMON TROUT.
of the shifting of the gravel of the river, but there is no record
of its having ever been caught.
The following narrative, derived also from Mr. Daniel, will
not only amuse, but serve to shew that a moderate degree of
confinement will not limit the growth of the Trout, nor interfere
with its appetite. Mr. Toomer had built a stew in which he
fed many Trouts, one of which, that weighed three pounds and
a half, had been caught in the river at a small distance, and
its size and strength soon enabled it to become the master of
all the others that were in the stew before him. In about a
year this fish, which had received the name of Fuller, and was
an object of particular attention, had grown to about nine pounds,
five of which had been added to his weight between March
and October, at which latter date its length was twenty-seven
inches. Its appetite was great, as was its activity; and the
body was beautifully spotted. The food, which was not always
abundantly bestowed, was worms, minnows, or the entrails of a
calf finely chopped, but unless much pressed by hunger it neg-
lected them by day. It is at an hour before dark that it begins
to move about, and then Fuller begins to exercise his tyranny
over the rest. He chooses to feed alone on the food thrown
to him, and not at all in haste; but when he looks round, all
the smaller Trouts dart oflf into their hiding places, at which
time he sails round to see that they have all withdrawn, and
he repeats the circuit at every little interval of his feeding.
About a hundred and twenty-five minnows formed the complement
of a meal, and, in devouring these, woe be to any one of the
smaller tribe that ventured to intrude; except, indeed, a single
favourite, which he appeared to have selected for a companion.
It was only when the feast had ended that others were permitted
to scramble for what was left. The greatest amount of activity
was when the wind was brisk. Fuller's fate was at last
unfortunate in being stolen from the stew.
It is scarcely necessary to say that the Trout is highly
esteemed for the table; but there is great difference according
to the situation in which they are caught.
Instances have been reported not unfrequently of the very
large size to which this fish has sometimes grown; but in the
generality of cases it is probable that this is a mistake, Avhich
has arisen from confounding it ■wtith the Lake Trout: and the
COMMON TROUT. 253
error may have been committed the more readily, because that
laro-e and voracious fish is found to be an inhabitant of some
districts, where from its limited size it had not been suspected
to be found. We will not venture to say how seldom it is
that the Common Trout will weigh more than a dozen or fifteen
pounds; but an example of seven or eight is usually sufficient
to excite curiosity, and those of two or three pounds are of
more frequent occurrence. The authority of the Prussian
naturalist Bloch is good for a large part of the continent of
Europe; and he says that the usual length of the Trout is
about a foot, with the weight of half a pound, and one that
amounted to eight pounds was thought to be of such extraor-
dinary size as to be a fit present for the Elector of Saxony.
But examples of larger size than this are scarcely uncommon
in England, where yet they are fished for with eagerness; and
Sir Humphrey Davy, in his "Salmonia," quoting Lord Dedun-
stanville's edition of "Carew's Survey of Cornwall," says that
when some small river Trout, in length two inches and a half,
were placed in a newly-made pond, in the second year some
of them were about twelve inches in length; in the third year
one measured sixteen inches, and in the fourth year one had
grown to twenty-five inches. But the shape is much alike in
all these instances, except as the examples are better or worse
fed; and yet there occurs such a variety of aspect as to raise
the belief that differences exist between the fish of different
waters to such an extent, that a practised eye may be able
to pronounce from what district each individual has come.
And this is the case where beyond question the variations are
of one distinct species; for we leave the more obvious variations
which have given rise to doubts for subsequent consideration.
In the example we select for description, which measured a
foot in length, the head and body are moderately compressed,
the head proportionally small, the outline rising from the head
to the dorsal fin, and gradually falling again to the tail; the
body covered with small scales; lateral line straight. The jaws
equal when shut, gape moderate; the mystache reaching back
to about the middle of the eye, armed with teeth, as are also
the jaws, round the palate and along the vomer; a prominent
double row along the tongue; all sharp, incurved. Eye of
moderate size, rather larger than in the full-grown Salmon or
VOL IV. 2 H
234 COMMON TROUT.
Peal; nostrils about half way between the eyes and snout.
Beginning of the dorsal fin five inches back, with twelve rays,
decreasing in length; pectoral rounded, with thirteen rays;
ventrals close to each other, nine rays; anal ten, the two last
from one root; the tail wide, concave, the upper and lower
portions rounded, twenty-two rays. The colour varies with the
colour of the ground, and also with the health; the back
yellowish or reddish brown; cheeks and sides grey, or a rich
yellow, white below. Gill-covers often sparely spotted, as is
the dorsal fin, of the colour of the back; anal yellowish; but in
both these fins, and almost invariably the anal, the first ray has
a white border, becoming broader upward; sometimes dark at
the dorsal; pectoral yellow; the adipose fin bordered with red.
The sides studded with dark spots; red spots along the lateral
line, and some above and below, each spot with a light-coloured
border or circle. It is material to remark, as distinguishing
closely allied species, that the vertebree of the Trout have been
counted as fifty-six, and the coeca, or processes at the beginning
of the intestine, under fifty in number; and the stomach itself
has a membranous character, by which among other things it
is distinguished from the Gillaroo.
In the several varieties of the Trout mentioned by Sir William
Jardine, or otherwise observed, it is instructive to notice the
accompanying influences of soil, elevation, degree of light and
shade, and also the nature of the food on Avhich the varieties
are chiefly fed, and to which we have already referred; and all
of which, with their combinations, will effect material changes
of colour on the surface and within the flesh; as they will also
on the configurations of particular organs, even, as we shall
have occasion to point out, to a considerable amount of abnormal
structure; or, as it is commonly expressed, of monstrosity. And
this effect is rendered more considerable, so as to become even
hereditary, by the circumstance that these fish in their usual
habits are not able commonly to mingle with others of a different
stream ; so that by breeding only among themselves, a peculiarity
once obtained is likely to become a permanent character of the
race or district.
Sir William Jardine remarks in connection with the fish
which he describes as his first variety of the Trout, and which
he found in Loch Craig ie, in Sutherlandshire, that the country
COMMON TROUT. ' 235
round that lake is formed of black and white granite; the
bottom of the loch of large boulders of granite gravel, or fine
sand; and, except at the edge of one or two small bays, no
indication of moss appeared. The colour of the water was clear
sienna brown, and more limpid than that of any of the lochs
of the same district. The fish were of good size, and in form
came near to the accepted idea of symmetry in a Trout;
remarkable for th^ small size of the head, arched back and
great depth; the colours were of the highest brilliancy, the
upper parts of a rich brown, the lower half and belly a deep
golden orange, the spotting numerous but ill-defined, and often
of a cruciform shape; the flesh high-coloured.
We notice this description more particularly, because on some
wild downs in the parish of Luxulian, in Cornwall, there are
large pools in a granite district, in which there are Trout much
like those of Loch Craigie, and probably from the operation
of a like cause. These pools are in an open country, and have
the appearance as if they had been formed by some ancient
workings for tin, and are not connected with any river; so that
it is not easy to form an opinion how it has happened that
any fish could have had access to them. Minnows exist in
these pools, and probably constitute the principal food of these
orange golden-coloured Trout. However, there are in the same
pools some Trout of a larger size and different form, as well
as colour, so as to raise the supposition of their being a different
species. The first-named have the anterior margin of the dorsal
fin and also the adipose red; the upper and lower portions of
the tail not rounded, and both the margins red; with no
lisfht line on the anterior border of the anal. In the lar2:er
fish there is not a mark of red either on the body or fins; a
slight tinge of yellow on the cheeks, and on the body some
crossly-marked spots; points of the tail rounded; anterior border
of the anal faintly white.
The second variety noticed by Sir William Jardine is found
in Loch Shin, which is of great extent and depth, on a lower
level than Loch Craigie, although only three or four miles from
it. The bottom is for the most part rocky, gravelly, or sandy,
but to a great extent its banks are mossy, and the water is of
a very deep brown. The Trout were in a good condition, but
remarkable for the lengthened and graceful form of the body
236 COMMON TROUT.
and members; the head lengthened, rather attenuated towards
the nose, the fins all lengthened, very sharp-pointed and powerful,
the dorsal rising high in front; first ray of the anal fin double
the length of the last; tail deeply forked, the outer points turning
inward and sharp; form of the scales under the microscope
longer in proportion, and considerably narrower than in any of
the others. The colours not so brilliant as in the first, but
beautiful, shading from a deep olive broAvn, to greyish yellow,
the spots large and distinct, round, in a pale field.
The third variety is from a small alpine loch upon the
Benmire range, at a very considerable elevation. It is situated
in a tract of moss, but the bottom is rocky or gravelly, the
water rather transparent but of a dull tint, the rock of the
surrounding country limestone. Compared with either of the
former the distinctions of shape were very evident; head very
round, nose blunt; the length to the extremity of the gill-covers
proportionally great, body very thick, deep and round; fins thick
and muscular, the lower ones rounded at the extremity; tail
square. The ground colour deep purplish olive, shading from
greyish to golden yellow, the whole, including the fins, glossed
over Avitli a rich shade of pale purple; the upper parts and
gill-covers thickly spotted with well-defined round sepia-coloured
spots, some placed in a pale space; below the lateral line
thinner and more scattered; the flesh reel and firm.
A fourth variety is generally of small size, and very plentiful
in the district of Assynt, in Sutherland, where every narrow
valley has a large number of lochs of various extent; and in
a large extent of country the fish resemble each other: rather
thickly formed, fins of moderate length, tail much forked; the
upper parts of a rich olive brown colour, a bright yellow beneath;
the upper two thirds of the body,, gill-covers, and dorsal fin
thickly covered with large round black spots in a pale circle;
on the ridge of the back these spots are often united.
The fifth variety is from a series of lochs between Richkonich
and Laxford, and in the river Laxford, which issues from Loch
Strach. The body comparatively short, but remarkably deep, the
fins very short, rounded and muscular, and of a Tench-like shape,
different from any of the others; the head remarkable for its
great length. Colours not brilliant; the spots large, but widely
asunder; the flesh white and solt. I'rom the remark that the
COMIMON TROUT. 237
fishermen on the Laxford term this variety the Loch Trout, and
distinguish it from "the commonly marked Trout of the river,"
and also that the osteology of the head of the larger specimens
differs from the other Trout of that river, we might suppose
it a distinct species.
In the male Trout we always find the head in front of the
eyes more lengthened out than in the female, and in full-grown
fish of both sexes the tail is often nearly straight. In some
rivers also the head is remarkably round and blunt, but we
have usually supposed the species to be the same when within a
limited range; in other particulars the adipose fin is bordered
with red, and the only example of a doubtful kind within our
knowledge was in the large examples from the pools in
Luxulian already mentioned. But how great a change may be
caused by circumstances appears from the Trout of the Loe
Pool, near Helstone, in Cornwall. This fish is mentioned by
the local historian Dr. Borlase, and had long been celebrated
for its size, beauty, and excellency. Perhaps its size has been
exaggerated, but I have been favoured by John P. Rogers,
Esq., M.P., the proprietor of this lake, with the sketch of an
example, a drawing of which was taken on account of its size
and appearance when caught in fishing with a fly, in the year
1774; and which measured along the curve of the body twenty-
eight inches in length, and sixteen inches in girth, with the
weight of eight pounds and three ounces. I possess also a
coloured drawing of an example of much less size, but taken
several years since, when the fish was in its principal excellency;
and from these evidences I find that the form was that which
is most admired in the Trout, with the head small, the back
elevated, and the Avhole appearance plump. The colour a rich
pink on the sides, deeper pn the back; the flesh like that of
the Salmon, and for the table in the highest esteem, as may
be concluded from the fact that so long ago as the time of
the Saxon King Athelstan it was deemed worthy of royal notice,
so that land was held by the tenure of keeping a boat on this
lake for the royal amusement. And this reputation of the
Loepool Trout continued until within a few years, when a change
passed over it, and the water and filth from a tin mine was
permitted to flow into it; first with the eflect of diminishing
the proper food of the fish, and then reducing it to the
238 COMMON TROUT.
condition, as regards size, colour, and goodness, of the most
ordinary inhabitants of our streams.
But there are other effects to which the Trout is liable from
local situation and influences, and far less easy to be accounted
for; since they involve a material interference with the structure
of important organs, to such an extent as seems scarcely com-
patible with its existence. The first we shall mention is
represented by a figure in Mr. Yarrell's Avork, vol. ii, p. 108;
where the upper jaw is deficient, while the lower jaw is of the
usual length. In other particulars this fish does not differ from
other Trouts; the most remarkable circumstance concerning it
being, that it is not a merely casual deformity of an individual,
but is common in lakes or pieces of water which lie at some
considerable elevation in hills of great height. Such is the case
in a small loch called Loch Dow, near Pitmain, in Inverness-shire;
and a variety closely resembling it is found in Lough na
Minna, in the county of Clare, in Ireland. This latter lake is
on the top of a mountain, nearly seven hundred feet above the
level of the sea, and four miles from it; and there are other
deficiencies of structure, which are chiefly or solely seen in
lofty situations, which we have seen recorded, or have ourselves
been witness to.
So long since as the times of Giraldus Cambrensis, in the
twelfth century, it had been noticed that in the Llyn y Cwn,
or Pool of Dogs, in Wales, there was a Trout which, I suppose
not invariably, was deficient of the left eye; and the same was
said of the Perch and Eel, which were found in the same
water. Strange as this may appear, we learn from Mr. Hansard's
"Trout and Salmon Fishing in Wales," that as regards the
Trout, the fact has been confirmed by a fisherman of that
neighbourhood, as also by the Hon.Daines Barrington.
A Trout with a remarkable distortion of the spinal column
into an arch at the situation of the adipose fin, is also reported
from the same lake; and Dr. Fleming says that the same occurs
in the River Eynion, in Cardiganshire, I have also obtained
it from Caldew, in Cumberland, where they are common; and
in these examples, of which two were sent to me, the head
appeared unusually large; the hump or elevation was above the
anal fin, which had only nine rays; and the adipose fin stood
on the top of the arch, the body being again bent down at
COMMON TROUT. 239
tlie tail; the upper rays of this fin longest, nineteen in all;
its action in a depressed direction; and the arrangement of
bones at its root not as in other Trouts ; the line of the vertebrae
so arched as to cause the distortion. But a more remarkable
distortion or deficiency is frequent in a Trout which is found
in Malham Tarn, in Yorkshire, for the knowledge of which
and the possession of examples I am indebted to W. Morrison,
Esq., M.P. The situation is on a hill twelve hundred and fifty
feet above the level of the sea; the rock near is limestone, and
the water clear. The fish are termed Silver Trouts, from the
brilliancy of their appearance; but there is another species in
the same water, which I have no doubt of being the Lake
Trout, f Salmo ferox,J of which the colour has a strong
impression of yellow. This Silver Trout is of the ordinary
growth of its species, and is in good condition; but the
deficiency consists in the entire absence of the posterior plate
of the gill-cover, sometimes on one side and at others on the
other; and in a specimen sent to me this deficiency was on both;
so that in every case the fibres of the gills are bare and open
to the water. About one in four or five of the Trouts caught
in this place are found with this deformity; notwithstanding
which the fish bore no marks of having been subject to any
inconvenience, and were in good condition. Among the casual
malformations a Trout was caught in Cornwall which had a
second or smaller head, which appeared projecting from this
natural part; and ]\Ir. Yarrell mentions one, in which there
was both a separate head and tail. Deformed Trout, some of
them like those already mentioned, are also recorded by Mr.
Thompson, in his "Natural History of Ireland;" so that in fact
there is no fish so liable to these irregularities of structure as
the Trout.
/
!10
GILLAROO.
GIZZARD TROUT.
Gillaroo Trout, Thompson ; Nat. Hist, of Ireland, vol. iv, p. 154.
The Gillaroo is usually set down as a variety of tlie Common
Trout, from which the ordinary supposition has been that it
is only distinguished by a particular firmness, or gizzard-like
structure of the coats of the stomach; and it has been further
believed that this thickness of the stomach is caused by its
habit of feeding on shell-fish or other hard substances. Of the
particular structure of this organ we shall presently give an
account; but the alleged cause appears the more doubtful, as
it is found in this fish in its very young condition, and the
ordinary Trouts which inhabit the same rivers, and at least
occasionally devour the same substances, are without this par-
ticular form of the organ. It appears that the fishermen are
well able to distinguish between the Gillaroo and the Common
Trout; and, for myself, (having been favoured by the kindness
of the noble Earl of Enniskillen, whose promptitude in fur-
nishing me with supplies of this and other fishes of Ireland
demands my earnest acknowledgments,) from a close examination
of them I feel no hesitation in expressing my opinion that
this is a distinct species from the Common Trout; and in this
it is a satisfaction to find myself supported by Mr. Thompson
in the work above referred to. That the instinct of this fish
may lead it to feed more freely on river shell-fish than the
Common and Lake Trouts which frequent the same rivers, is
highly probable; and it is probably better able than they
to crush and digest them; but it also takes freely a fly
and worm, and it is to be regretted that its other more
peculiar habits have not hitherto been closely studied. It is
ion
it
h
ler
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GILLAROO. 241
acknowlcdgod, however, as a delicate fish for the table; and,
as in some rare instances, it has been suffered to grow to
twenty-four pounds, it may sometimes rival even the Salmon
in the esteem of the epicure.
That eminent physiological anatomist, John Hunter, remarks
of the stomach of this fish that it cannot justly be ranked as
a gizzard, as it is sometimes described, since it wants some of
the most essential characters of that organ, which are — a power
and motion fitted for grinding, and the horny cuticle. But
the stomach of the Gillaroo is more circumscribed than that of
most fish — better adapted for small food, and endued with
sufficient strength to break the shells of small shell-fish, which
will most probably be best done by having more than one in
the stomach at a time, and also by taking pretty large and
smooth stones into the stomach, which will answer the purpose
of breaking, but not so well that of grinding. But this
stomach can scarcely possess any power of grinding, as the
whole cavity is lined with a fine villous coat, the internal
surface of which appears everywhere to be digestive, and by
no means fitted for mastication. The stomach of the English
Trout is exactly of the same species with that of the Gillaroo,
but its coat is not so thick by two thirds. To this Professor
Owen adds, (Lectures, part 1, p. 234,) that "it is the ascending
or pyloric half of the bent or siphonal stomach that has its
muscular parietis unusually thickened, by which it is enabled
to bruise the shells of the small fluviatile testaceans that
abound in the streams in which this variety of Trout is
peculiar." It has been believed that this Trout is confined to
Ireland, where, indeed, it is so generally distributed, that it
would be superfluous to specify any particular rivers or lakes;
but I am informed by Charles W. Peach, Esq., Avho has long
resided at Wick, that it is found also in Scotland, at least in
a small loch near Inchnadamff Assynt, in Sutherland.
Of two examples laid side by side, one was more slender
towards the tail than the other; but the one selected for
description measured ten inches in length, whereas instances
are mentioned where this fish has measured nearly thirty
inches, with a weight of about twenty pounds; but compared
with the Common Trout it is always far stouter, and much
more robust. Depth of the specimen in front of the dorsal
VOL. IV. 'i I
242
GILLAROO.
fin two inches and a half, rising higher at the back, and
deeper at the belly than the kindred species, compared with
which also the under jaw is shorter and more feeble, the
snout more obtusely rounded, the setting on of the pectoral
fins thrust more forward under the plate which borders the
gills, and Avhich is turned up to give them place; the pectorals
and ventrals also proportionally longer; the anal rather smaller;
the tail less exparsive. As regards colour, it is probable that
the Gillaroo is as much liable to variation as the Common
Trout; but the specimens under notice nearly resembled each
other. On the head brown, bluish brown along the back;
higher portion of the sides tinted with pink, verging into
yellow, and on the belly white. Cheeks yellow, as are the
pectoral, anal, and ventral fins; the dorsal dusky, with black
spots and pale anterior border; adipose fin dark, with a black
spot, but without a red border, as in the Common Trout. ]Mr.
Thompson mentions some bright red spots on this fin, but he
says nothing of a red border or a diffused redness. Vermilion
spots are scattered over the sides, with no particular reference
to the lateral .line: there are also numerous dark spots on the
cheeks and along the back, but none of these spots are
encircled within a light border, as usual in the Trout. The
teeth strong on the tongue; the palatine teeth wide at the
base, and pointed, those on the vomer irregular; a narrow
veil in front of the palate. The flesh a rich salmon-colour.
On attempting to preserve the skin it was found to be softer
than in the Trout, and to stretch more readily; but this might
arise from the length of the journey before it came into my
possession.
ha;
CAMSRJD,
3
o
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J
o
o
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/
244 LOCHLEVEN TROUT.
•Scales small and well fixed. Colour of the back deep olive green,
the sides lighter, round dark spots on the gill-covers and sides;
also on the dorsal fin, none of them with a lighter border.
Anterior border of the dorsal and anal tins plain. Compared
with the Common Trout, there is a considerable difference in
the number of caeca or appendages to the beginning of the
bowels, there being from sixty to eighty in this fish, and only
about forty-six in the Common Trout; and it is on this account
that the specific name of ccecifer, or c(Bca-bearer was bestowed
upon it. But there are other, and striking differences between
this fish and the Common Trout, as that the pectoral fins are
pointed, those of the latter fish rounded; the body without red
spots. In the Lochleven Trout the rays of the tail are propor-
tionally much the longest, and the upper and lower portions
more pointed. Colour of the flesh deep red.
<
X
o
o
<;
'11
/
246 SAMLET, OR PARR.
against these it w^s urged that it must be held uncertain
whether the roe thus removed had all been slied by the same
species; and also whether the strange, and perhaps unnatural,
circumstances in which they had been placed, and which Mr.
Shaw allows to have been different so far as the important
point of temperature was concerned, and probably as regarded
food also, may not have materially influenced the subsequent
appearances and habits. And these doubts will appear to be so
much the better founded, since from some of these ex])eriments
it has been concluded that the Sea Trout and Bull Trout are
the same species with the Salmon; the contrary of which is
admitted by every student of nature.
But this probable mingling of the eggs is not the only, nor
even the principal cause of the confusion in which the subject
has been involved. It is known that in the early stages of their
existence the young of several species of this family bear so near
a likeness to each other, and especially in what must in this
case be regarded as the important character of a series of dusky
bands along their sides, that eminent naturalists have declared
their inability to distinguish them. It is only at somewhat
distant periods of their growth, and not by merely an increase
of size, that specific marks of their individual nature make their
appearance, and others disappear; and these changes may be
hastened or greatly delayed through the operation of circum-
stances, which hitherto appear to have been little understood
or thought of; and we are again given to see a source of some
of the fallacies adopted from experiments that have been made,
by collecting together the young fishes of similar appearance
in a river, and setting a mark on them by cutting off the
adipose fin, or punching the gill-covers; with the view of
ascertaining, not only whether after their migration they return
to their native stream, to which extent the trial has been
successful; but also as regards the sameness or diversity of the
species; in relation to which inquiry the want of discrimination
at the outset has of course been fatal.
But whilst these experiments have failed to establish the
opinion they were at first believed to support, the more carefully
laboured observations of Mr. Shaw have been trusted to in
support of the belief, that the fish known by the name of Parr
is no other than a particular stage in the growth of the Salmon:
SAMLET, OR PARR. 247
and that its being found in rivers through the year, or at least
the greater portion of it, is only because there arc considerable
numbers of the fish thus marked, of the progeny of the Salmon,
which from causes yet unknown, are slower than others of the
same deposit, in passing through their natural changes, even to
the extent of two or, as it may happen, three years. So fre-
quently, and, it would appear, unconsciously have these bands
been dwelt on as a proof of identity of species, and so powerful
has been the operation of Mr. Shaw's language and experiments
on the minds of some eminent naturalists, that at last the bands
themselves, without reference to any other supposed marks of
distinction, have received the appellation of Parr; and it is on
this account that in treating of the species now under consider-
ation, we have judged it best to place this disputed denomination
in the second place, and only as a synonym; and to distinguish
the fish Ave hold to be distinct by its also ancient name of Samlet.
The question at present therefore is not whether the young of
the Salmon, and we may add of some others of the same family,
may not remain in fresh water for more than a year, during
which they may bear on the sides a series of dusky marks at
this time, denominated Parr-bauds; but whether there be not
also a distinct species which bears those marks, and which by
something like arrested development, is never deprived of
them.
]\lr. Shaw's perseverance in conducting his experiments, and
his honesty in stating the doubts he felt as regards some of
his observations, are deserving of great praise; but his conclusions
in some particulars appear to be far from satisfactory, and, as
regards the true nature of a fish he terms the Parr, the
question appears to be just exactly where he found it. It
appears that after the confinement of a year, these Belted
Salmon were permitted to follow their inclination in passing
into the river; but it is far from being shewn, or indeed
rendered probable, that these were the same fish that were
afterwards obtained in the river with enlarged milts, or that
they were certainly of the same species. The bands themselves
were no proof of this; and hence it is exceedingly questionable
whciher any of these diminutive examples could have been
engaged in preparing the ground for the reception of the roe,
an office in which the male Salmon is always expected to
248 SAMLET, OR TARR.
assist his mate; and still less is it shewn that the roe of any-
Salmon has ever been rendered fertile by the milt of a Belted
Parr.
It is said that the Samlet or Parr is not found in any other
rivers than such as are frequented by the Salmon; but if this
were true it would only amount to presumptive proof, and
would argue as much in favour of some other species as of
the Salmon. But extended inquiry has shewn that the Samlet
is not in every case an inhabitant of rivers frequented by this
king of fishes, nor does the latter invariably frequent streams
where the Samlet abounds. Dr. Knox is confident, ("Lone
Glens of Scotland," p. 81,) that "Parr are not found in the
Kale, in Roxburghshire, nor in the Tyne, in Haddingtonshire,"
both of which are frequented by Salmon; and Mr. Young, of
Invershin, who is a competent authority on the subject,
informs us that there are streams in Scotland where Parrs are
found, although neither the Salmon nor Salmon Trout has
ever entered them; and such is the case also in the west of
England. The Camel is a river of Cornwall which opens on
the north coast of that county, and there is an arm of it
which is separate from the main stream by a bank which is
sufficiently wide to prevent the passage of any fish that might
attempt it. Salmon, therefore, are never seen in any portion
of this separate channel, but Samlets are found in it in
abundance at all seasons of the year.
In a "Perambulation of Dartmoor," by the Pev. Samuel
Pow, Vicar of Crediton, it is said, "Mr. Spence, of Mutley,
has for some time been occupied iu investigating the process
of the growth of the young Salmon, so as to test the assertion
of Mr. Shaw, that the Parr is the young of the Salmon at
one period of its growth. For this purpose he has been
supplied weekly with fresh fish from the neighbouring rivers,
from February to August, 1S4T. On examining his collection
I find that he has obtained fishes distinctly retaining the
characters of the Parr during the whole of the months of
July and August, at Avhich time it is generally understood
that the young Salmon of the previous year have lost those
marks, and have acquired their silvery coats, and gone down
to the sea as Smolts; at the same time the Pinks of the year
are increasing in size, being in August about five inches long.
SAMI.KT, OR PARR, S19
retaining their lateral markings, and instead of being silvery
are yellowish in colour, like the Trout; hence it follows that
this is a distinct fish from the Salmon. In this case an
opinion opposed to that of Mr. Shaw would seem to be a
necessary consequence."
Observations to the same purpose are contained in the work
of Dr. Knox, already referred to, but they are too coj)ious
for our pages. We prefer, therefore, to give a single para-
graph, (p. 87,) which shew?, indeed, as we are ready to
acknowledge, that the natural history of the true Parr or
Samlet is not well understood, but which appears decisive of
the fact that it is not the same with the Salmon in anv
istage of its growth. "Examine, as I have done, hundreds
and hundreds of the true Salmon Smolt, "while descending the
rivers, sparkling with their silvery scales, and obviously ^Salmon
in miniature,' towards the ocean; and the roe and milt will
constantly be found at their minimum, that is, mere threads.
And yet, after all these have left the river for the ocean, we
almost immediately find the Parr with the milt or male
organs in the highest state of development. If these were
smolts not yet sufficiently grown, how comes it that their
brothers of a year older growth, as is said, have left the
river with the milt at its minimum, leaving behind them
their younger brothers with the same organ at its maximum?"
That the Samlet is indeed to be found in some rivers in
every month of the year admits of no doubt; and from a
desire to investigate the subject still further, in the first week
of January I procured from the Lerryn branch of the Fowey
River a basket of Sahnonidcc, of which the Samlets and
Trouts were in about equal numbers. The Trouts w^ere in
good condition, but none of them displayed any development
of the roe or milt; and such also was the case with those
Samlets which were less than five inches in length, of which
there were several. But in those Samlets which measured
more than this, or about six inches, the milts in the males
were large enough to fill the cavity, and it is remarkable that
of this I found in each only a single lobe. If this should on
further search be found a character of "the species, there would
be no further doubt of their being distinct, for in the Salmon
these organs arc in two lobes; but I hesitate in expressing
VOL. IV. 2 K
250 SAMLET, OR PARR
an opinion on this point, as such a peculiarity could scarcely
have escaped the notice of other observers, and in this instance
it may have been only a casual malformation, and no oppor-
tunity offered itself of following up the inquiry. It is certain
however that in no case do the males possess the bent-up
lower jaw which is so characteristic of the full-grown Salmon
when the milt is enlarged; and in consequence the sexes are
not to be readily distinguished. Such a one, however, I
handed over to Mr. William Laughrin, A.L.S., for examination;
and he afterwards assured me that the roe was considerably
developed.
In support of the opinions already expressed, we add the
authority of Ephemera, already referred to, jointly with that of
his friend Mr. Young, together with a description of what we
believe to be the true Parr or Samlet, as compared with the
Trout and young Salmon, as opportunity has been afforded us.
Ephemera observes of his figure of the young Salmon of four
inches in length, that "it resembles the little Trout called the
Parr, but its fins are much longer than those of that little fish,
and its whole shape is much less perfect. Not observing those
marks of distinction has led to the confounding of Salmon fry
with Parr; calling them indeed 'Parr,' as JSIr. Shaw and his
followers do; whereas the Parr is a distinct adult fish, of the
river Trout species;" to which is added by Mr. Young, "a
full-grown Parr is the length of a Salmon fry of nine months
old; but its fins are little more than half the size of those
of the fry. It is fuller and darker in the body, and in form
like that of a well-shaped Common Trout. Its cross bars or
finger-marks, as they are commonly called, lie closer together
on the body than the transverse bars do on that of the Salmon
fry."
Sir William Jardine has defined the differences between the
Samlet and the Common Trout, of the latter of which the
former Avas once as confidently believed to be a variety as by
many it is now believed to be of the Salmon. But comparing
the latter with it w^hcn of equal size, I find the front of the
Samlet more blunt and round; the eye differently placed, as
not so low and near the gape; gill-covers differently formed in
their outline; pectoral fins more rounded. The vomerine teeth
are also differently placed, and extend further back towards the
SAMLET, OR PARll. 251
throat; not so stout as we find them in the Trout; but to
confirm the opinion here expressed, of the distinction between
the Samlet and the Trout, which may be again doubted, we
quote Sir William Jardine's remarks from the new "Edinburgh
Philosophical Journal,*' January, 1835. Speaking of the uncer-
tainty attending the nature of this fish, he says it has latterly
resolved itself into whether it was distinct or a variety or young
of the Common Trout, (S. fario;) "with the migratory Salmon
it has no connection whatever."
The forehead of the Parr is shorter than that of the Trout,
the gape less, under jaw weaker, teeth finer, as is particularly
seen on the tongue, round the palate, and along the vomer. In
the fore part of this last-named bone the double line of teeth
is more separated, or in a loop. The pectoral fin is longer
and more full, the adipose fin diflTerently shaped, and without
the bright red border seen in Trouts, The first dorsal fin
plain, with a dark border in front, without a light margin;
anal tin plain, without the light-coloured border as in the
Trout. Some examples have spots on the first dorsal fin; the
red spots on the body are not surrounded with a pale ring,
and they are fewer in number than in the Trout; none below
the lateral line, along which they run at regular distances.
The lateral bands vary a little in different specimens, but in
all they differ from those of the Trout. They communicate
with the colour of the back in all their breadth, but the deepest
tint is low on the side, contrary to the habit of the Trout, in
M'hich they gradually grow fainter; nor is it usual with the
Trout to retain any bands at so late a period of its growth.
In a few of these particulars, the comparison with the Trout
in its varieties as found in different rivers is scarcely borne
out; but in most of them the difference appears equally great
as laid by the side of a Salmon of equal size, and the comparison
of the bands of colour is especially appropriate.
In confirmation of this we refer to the additional authority
of Dr. Parnell, in his essay on the fishes of the district of the
Forth, in the seventh volume of the Memoirs of the Wernerian
Society: — "If," says he, "we compare a young Salmon of eight
inches in length with a Parr of equal size, both taken from the
same river in the month of ]\Iay, we shall find them to differ
in the following respects: — The form of the Salmon is long and
£52 SAMLET, OR PARR.
narrow, tlie snout pointed, and the caudal fin acutely forked;
the body of the Parr is thick and clumsy, the snout broad and
blunt, and the caudal fin much less forked. The operculum of
the Salmon is beautifully rounded at its posterior margin, with
the basal line of union with the suboperculum much curved;
in the Parr this part is rather produced, with the line of union
nearly straight. In the Salmon the maxillary is short and
narrow; in the Parr it is longer and broader, particularly at
the posterior free extremity. The teeth of the Salmon are long
and fine, when recent easily bent; those of the Parr are shorter
and stouter, and resist much pressure. In the Salmon the
pectoral fin is short, not quite one seventh part the length of
the whole fish, with the fourth ray the longest; the same fin
in the Parr is very long, not quite one sixth part the length
of the whole fish, with the fifth ray the longest, giving a form
to the fin totally different from that of the Salmon." Other
marks, less decisive, are given, but it is important that "the
bones of the Salmon are rather soft;" in the Parr "the bones
are stout and hard." "No instance is yet known of the Parr's
being taken in the sea, nor does it appear to me to be so
common a fish as is generally considered.'*
253
THE CHARS.
There are few British fishes over which so much obscuritj
has hung as those which bear the name of Char; nor has the
difficulty of determining the species for practical purposes
even now been more than partially removed. A fish of this
name is mentioned by Willoughby, who regarded the differences
which he perceived between examples that came within his
notice as being characteristic of two species, and these he
called by the names they bore among the fishermen, as Torgoch
or the Red-bellied Char, and the Gelt Char. In this again
he is followed by his editor and friend the learned Ray, in
his "Synopsis Piscium," who also remarks in his "Itinerary"
concerning one of these fishes, "At Llanberis, Bettew, Festiniog,
there is a fish taken called Torgoch, blackish upon the back,
red under the belly — from which it obtains its name — and of
which they tell some fabulous stories; as that three sons of
the church brought them from Rome, and put them into three
lakes, to wit, Llanberis, Llynumber, and Trevennyn, into each
two. They were taken in each lake, but only at one time
of the year, and at a different time in the several lakes. At
Llanberis they say that they are taken only in the night, and
that when it is not moonlight;" which circumstance, we may
add, in regard to their habits, might have raised a doubt
whether the fish of that lake might not be a different species
from some of the others, as indeed has since been shewn to
be the case; although it must also be remarked that more than
one species may inhabit the same piece of water, and then
of course the actions of each may be supposed to vary as
concerns the time of their appearance and capture. But as
regards the particular points of difference between the fishes
they mention, both of these excellent naturalists appear to
have been in some degree mistaken, since it seems certain
that the fish usually termed the Gelt Char is only an individual
which, as the word is intended to signify, is barren — at least
254 THE CHARS.
for that season. Another name, the Gilt Char, has also been
sometimes applied to this variety, on the slight supposition of
its occasionally having a gilded appearance.
Pennant had examined some of these fishes, and although he
noticed some important differences among them, both of form
and habit, yet he could not decide finally on the presence of
any essential distinction, so that his account of the Chars is
confined to what he believed to be a single species. Fleming
is of a different opinion from the forementioned writers, and
describes as distinct species what he calls the Torgoch, which
is his Salmo salvellnus, and the Case Char, which he calls
S. alpinus ; but he remarks, "Though the observations of
Donovan have advanced considerably the history of this species,
(the Case Char,) and the Torgoch, there is yet Avanting more
complete elucidation of their characters and manners." In the
first edition of his "History of British Fishes" Mr. Yarrell
was disposed to favour the opinion of Dr. Fleming; but this
was afterwards changed, and although the figures of apparently
different species are still given, the belief is expressed that
they are only casual variations of a single one. This fluctuation
of opinion among eminent naturalists may be received as a
proof of considerable resemblance M'hich at least some of the
Chars bear to each other, as it is also of a proneness to
variation in them both of shape and colour; which latter, as
we shall see, forms a considerable character of this family of
fishes; and to what extent these variations of opinion have
influenced the minds of the commissioners appointed by royal
authority to collect information on the subject of the Salmon
fisheries in the year 1861, will appear from a note in their
recommendations of what in future should be the state of the
law; in which they seem not to be aware of even the probability
of there being more than a single species of Char in the
United Kingdom, and this they say in England is found only
in the lake district of Cumberland and Westmoreland, where
their spawning season extends from October to March. Acting
on this theory, and connecting it with their views of the
Salmon fishery, they are thus led to recommend that it shall
be forbidden to take Chars after the beginning of September,
which is, in fact, to render it unlawful to catch them at the
only season when the fishery can be conducted with profit.
TIIK CHARS. 255
"^jut this long- continued state of doubt concerning tlie difTer-
ences in the species of this sub-family of fishes will appear
the more remarkable Avhcn we find that by the persevering
and discriminating researches of Dr. A. Gunther, of the British
Museum, not less than five British species have been defined
and described, and those for the greater part different from
their supposed analogies on the continent of Europe. In
comparison with the opportunities possessed by this learned
naturalist in reference to these fishes, my own have been
limited; but this deficiency to a large extent has been com-
pensated by the kindness of Dr. Gunther himself, to whom I
stand indebted for private communications on this, as also on
other kindred subjects; as also for coloured figures in illus-
tration of his communication to the Zoological Society on the
subject of the British Chars; and it is from these materials
I shall have the gratification of supplying much in addition
to what is generally known of the history and distinctions of
the species of this family. My thanks are also greatly due to
the noble Earl of Enniskillen for a supply of Irish examples
of these fishes, with notes of their distribution as observed
by himself and his friends. Nor am I in a small degree
indebted to Robert Embleton, Esq., already mentioned, who
has supplied examples of much interest, and which will be
pointed out in the proper place; and with the aid of these
materials it is hoped that we shall be able to give a more
satisfactory account of this sub-family than has hitherto come
under the notice of the public; but still with the acknowledg-
ment that much remains of the natural history of the Chars
to reward future research. ^
It is thought most convenient, as well to the reader as the
writer, if we follow in some degree the example of Nilsson, in
arranging these fishes into a section by themselves under the
name of
SALVELINI;
although we are ready to allow that, regarded as a genus, their
characters are less satisfactorily distinctive than might be desired;
for as regards organization they might properly be classed with
the fishes of the genus Salmo. This Swedish naturalist remarks
that, like most of our own writers, after long observation he is
not satisfied with respect to the specific differences of such of
256 THE CHARS.
these fishes as are met with in his own country; but the common
character he has assigned to them is, that the head is longer
than the height of the body; and especially that the colour of
the back is inclined to a dark green, tinged with blue, often
strewed over with pale red spots; low on the sides, and the
under portion of the body white or yellowish red; the fins
below yellowish red, with a white edge in front; the anal fin
and tail, the latter especially, lunated. Intensity of colour is
indeed a particular characteristic of the Chars; but it is to be
remarked that this applies in part only to the British species;
and in reference to the character which is made prominent by
Nilsson, and is represented in the plates of Donovan and Mr.
Yarrell, of a scattering of pale red or white spots over the
back and sides, it is remarked by Dr. Gunther, and in part
agrees with our own observation, that however commonly these
may be seen, they are not constant; and they are also liable
to disappear in examples on which they have been before
conspicuous. I have seen them, however, after long immersion
in spirit, in examples of the Torgoch from Llanberis, when the
red colour of the under parts had vanished.
In proceeding with this portion of our subject, we deem it
proper to specify the materials from an examination of v/hich
the conclusions have been drawn at which we have arrived;
and these are in the first place two specimens of the so-called
Fresh-water Herring of Lough Melvin, in Ireland; which,
however, are not to be confounded with the Pollan or the
Powan, which we shall describe, and the former of which,
with somewhat more propriety, bears the same name. This
Char is the Salino or Salvelinus Qraiji of our History; and a
comparison of examples obtained from the same lake has
persuaded Dr. Gunther that they are distinct from all the Chars
which he has a knowledge of on the continent of Europe; as
also, so far as he is able to discern, from all those which are
described by the continental writers Heckel, Nilsson, and Rapp.
And this judgment is further confirmed by about twenty other
examples sent by the noble Earl already mentioned to myself,
and the same number to Dr. Gunther at the British Museum;
all of them males, and caught together; and it is worthy of
notice that afterwards a considerable number taken at the same
place were all females. Again, and in contrast to these, there
TTIF, CHARS. 257
have been obtained about twenty specimens of mature males of
the Welsh Char or Torgoch from Llanberris, with four young
specimens from the lake Coes-y-gedaul, and formerly in the
possession of Mr. Yarrell; from which Mr. Jenyns derived his
description of the fish he has represented as his Salmu saheUnus.
To these are to be added two examples, one of which is of
verv larcre size, from the former Welsh lake, and furnished to
myself by ISIr. Embleton.
For further comparison with the British species, Dr. Gunther
v/as able to obtain from the Lake of Constance the "Rothel,"
the "Ombre Chevalier" of the Lake of Geneva, four specimens
of a Char from Iceland, and twelve examples from an uncertain
situation; to which abundant materials I will add a couple of
the Alpine Char of Loch Grannock, in Scotland, supplied to
myself by Mr. Embleton.
But before entering into the question of the British species
of this family, it seemed desirable to ascertain what were the
fishes to be understood by the Linn^an names of Salmo umhla,
S. salcclinus, and S. aljnnus, and which are the designations that
have been assigned to the really British species. For this
purpose the original descriptions are found too general and
unsatisfactory; but the question is settled by an examination of
the names themselves, and by the situations from which the
typical specimens were procured. As concerns the Salmo
saheUnus of South Germany, Heckel remarks that Linnaeus has
founded the species on the tenth of Salmo in Artedi's genera, or
the eleventh of his Synonymy; and Artedi derived his knowledge
of the fish from Willoughby, who gives a description of the
"Salvelin," from a specimen captured near the Austrian town
of Linz; a circumstance which proves that the Linna^an name
was intended for this German fish, which is still in many
places called Salbling. The best account of this fish is given
by Heckel, but on a close comparison with those British
examples which were within Dr. Gunther's reach, the conclusion
is that none of them answer to the Salmo salcclinus of
Linnseus. The S. umhla of Linnaeus is founded on the ninth
species of Salmo in Artedi's genera, or the seventh of his
Synonymy, from Rondeletius, who described the ^S*. Lemanilacus
or umhla, or Ombre chevalier of Geneva and Neuchatel; but it
never assumes the red colour of aS*. saheUnus, or of the Chars
VOL. IV. 2 L
258
THE CHARS.
of Windermere and of Wales. In this respect it could only
be compared with the Fresh-water Herring of Lough Melvin;
from which however it differs in its much larger teeth, wider
mouth, the maxillary (mystache) extending behind the orbit,
the much more lengthened body, and the proportion of the
fins. It differs therefore from these British Chars in nearly
every one of its external characters, and agrees with the Irish
sjjecies only in its plainer colouring and the size of its scales.
Linnaeus, in his "Tour through Lapland," discovered a species
which in his "Lachesis Lapponica," and also in his "System
of Nature," from its inhabiting very lofty situations he named
S. alpinus ; and he follows Artedi in supposing it the same
with Willoughby's British Char; as was thought likewise by
Dr. Fleming; but by comparing Nilsson's description of it with
British examples before mentioned, Dr. Gunther found such
differences as to persuade him that they are not the same;
except as applied to a species taken in a lake, presently to be
mentioned, in the Highlands of Scotland, and of which also I
have through the kindness of Mr. Embleton been so fortunate
as to receive examples.
After noticing at some length the discrepancies which exist
between the accounts of these fishes by several more modern
writers, Dr. Gunther proceeds with a description, accompanied
with figures, of the British species which he had examined; to
which with the further aid of that gentleman and of examples
supplied from the sources already mentioned, we shall be able
to add two additional species; but before we enter on these
particulars, as their individual habits are not distinctively
described, we find it more convenient to give a sketch of the
general history of this family; and thus to limit our account
of the several species for the most part to a description of each
of them; since it is only thus that a proper discrimination can
be established between them.
It is a character of all the Chars that they inhabit the colder
regions of deep waters, where the temperature is little liable
to vary, and does not sink to an excessive degree. Nor are
they accustomed to swift or running streams, although there is
one which we shall notice — the Alpine — that frequents waters
of the latter description rather more than the others, and others
when proceeding to an eligible situation for depositing their
THE CHARS. 259
roe have been known to pass through a rough current, but
still without remaining in it. Their habitual residence, however,
is in the deeper lakes, and usually near the bottom; for it is
only when the sexual impulse prevails, the season of which is
not the same in each kind, that they come near the borders
or into shallow water, so as to be within reach of the net. It
is then, in the colder months of the year, that they sport near
the margin, and proceed in numerous assemblages to a not very
considerable distance up a favoured river to shed their spawn;
or perhaps some well-known shallower part of the lake itself is
chosen for the purpose; but in any case the situation must
have a hard or stony bottom, not unlike that of the lower
depth of the lake in which they live at other seasons. It has
even been noticed that when some Chars have passed into
rivers which flow into their lake, but which have a sandy
bottom, they have retraced their course without having performed
this duty of nature.
From the fact already noticed, that all which have been
enclosed in a net at one time have been males, and afterwards
the assemblage has consisted of none but females, it seems
probable that at an early stage of the development of the milt
and roe they keep apart from each other. Yet afterwards they
mingle together in an apparently indiscriminate multitude,
although the season is not the same in the different species;
for while some are known to shed the roe as early as October
and through November, other species perform this function
from December to the end of January. But whenever performed
it is the time when the fishery is carried on, for the most part
with nets; with which from twenty to thirty dozen have been
caught at a single haul, although more commonly the quantity
taken is much less than this. All the kinds of Chars are held
in esteem for the table; but as they soon lose their delicate
flavour, a principal use of them is by preserving them in pots;
in which condition they form a fashionable dish. But to what
extent the method of preparation can deceive the palate appears
from the fact, that when the supply of the favourite article
fails, little scruple is said to be felt in substituting the Trout
in its place without fear of detection.
It is affirmed by the fishermen that Chars cannot be caught
in any quantity except in the cold season of the year; and
260 THE CHARS.
tliat ill the summer, Avlien they keep at the greatest depths of
the lakes, only a few are to be taken with a line — too few to
compensate for the time and labour that must be engajred in
the work, and it is known that these fish are always slow to
take a bait. But on the other hand this view of thins^s has
been pronounced a misrepresentation; and in the summer, when
Chars are believed to be in their best condition, the reason
assigned by others for their not being fished for is, that the
fishermen at that season prefer to follow some more profitable
occupation. Those persons however who amuse themselves by
fishing for Chars in the summer, pursue the sport by means of
a line of sufficient depth to reach the bottom of the lake, which
may be with a depth of forty fathoms; and to cause it to sink
a bullet of lead is employed. That these will take a bait, and
sometimes even eagerly, is known by the enticement of a
Minnow, which is found to be a successful lure. Dr. John
Davv describes this method of fishing, which is with a lath,
and on AVindermere the main line measures about sixty yards,
added to which what is termed the first dropper is about
twenty-four yards, whh eight yards of gut; the second dropper
measuring about twenty-two yards; and the last, which is nearest
the board or lath, that moves like a boy's plaything kite, about
twenty yards; each of these droppers with the same length of
gut as the first. This line is fastened to an erect pole, and
as the boat is rowed gently forward, observation is directed to
the line by its vibration when a fish has seized the bait.
In proportion to their size Chars seem to feed much like
the Salmon, to which fish also the armature of their mouth
bears a resemblance; and worms with small water insects are
their ordinary food. It is only on some rare occasions that
they have been known to take the angler's fly when fishing
for Trout, as will be noticed when we treat of the Torgoch, or
Welsh Char.
When engaged in shedding the spawn, these fish assemble
where the water is moderately shallow; and this probably for
the sake of light as well as air; in addition to which warmth
must have as ready an influence on the development of the
young as it is known to have on those of the Salmon and
Trout. Dr. Davy gives a short account of his observations on
this subject by remarking that on the twenty-fifth day of
THE CHARS. 2G1
November he mingled together the milt and roe of living
Chars; and then he distributed the grains, some in shallow
earthen pans with or without gravel, and some in finger glasses;
and then he covered the contents with water obtained from a
spring, to the depth of three or four inches. This water was
changed twice a day, with a temperature between 50° and 55°,
and the young ones were produced in from forty-five to sixty -
six days. These young Chars were very active, and readily hid
themselves under stones; but it was six weeks from what may
be termed their birth before the remains of the egg had become
absorbed into the body, and they stood in need of a further
supply of food. It may be questioned, however, whether
the temperature here noted had not quickened their early
development and subsequent growth in a higher degree than
is natural to them; and also whether other unusual circumstances,
as the absence of running river water had not a disturbing
influence on their ultimate fate. Although so much smaller
fish the grains of roe in a Char are little less in size than
those of a Salmon, and may be sujjposed subject to the same
laws of atmospheric action, in conformity with which Dr. Davy
admits that with a lower temperature the extrication of the
young will be so much the longer delayed.
262
WILLOUGHBY'S CHAR.
Ur.ibra minor, Torgocli, Willoughby; p. 196.
Yaeiiell; Br. Fishes, vol. ii, p. 124
Salmo Willouglibli, Gunther; Proceedings of Zoological
Society, 1862, p. 10, pi. 5.
The Char of Windermere, but probably not tlie only species
there.
Body compressed, slightly elevated; length of the head a
little more than one half of the distance of the snout and of
the vertical from the origin of the dorsal fin. Head compressed;
interorbital space convex, its width being less than twice the
diameter of the eye. Jaws of the male of equal length
anteriorly; teeth of moderate strength, four in each intermaxillary,
twenty in the maxillary. Length of the pectoral fin less than
that of the head, much more than one half between its root
and that of the ventral. Nostrils immediately before the eye.
The maxillary bone (mystache) extends scarcely beyond the
hindmost margin of the eye; two pairs of teeth on the vomer,
four pairs on the tongue. Mr. Mascall observed (Loudon's
"Mag. Nat. Hist.," vol. viii, A.I). 1835,) that in the examples
he met with, the bones of the gill-membranes were not in
equal numbers on both sides. Dr. Gunther remarks that
nearly all these bones are exposed to sight in a side view of
the fish. The origin of the Dorsal fin is exactly in the
middle between the snout and root of the caudal; the rays
tAvelve in number, the first very short, fourth and fifth longest.
Anal fin with twelve rays, its origin exactly in the middle
between the root of the caudal and that of the outer ventral
ray; the first ray very small, the five first rays obscured by
being enclosed in a common membrane, the fourth longest,
fifth branched. Tail fin forked, the lobes pointed; pectoral
>!ll
7
MC? '
Y
HA-
T-y
willoughby's char. 263
fin at its root not overlapped by the gill-covers, the rays
thirteen or fourteen; ventral nine or ten, situated below the
two last rays of the dorsal. Scales thin and small. Colour on
the sides of the back dark sea-green, blackish on the back,
and on the greater part of the dorsal and caudal fins. Sides
with a slight silvery shade, passing into a beautiful deep red
on the belly; pectorals greenish, passing into reddish posteriorly,
the upper border white; ventral fins red, with a white outer
margin and a blackish shade within the margin; anal reddish,
with a blackish shade over the whole of the middle, and with
a white anterior margin; sides of the head silvery, the lower
parts minutely dotted with black. Number of the vertebrae
fifty-nine. The length rarely exceeds ten inches, but it has
been known above fifteen.
264
TORGOCH OF LLANBERKIS.
WELSH CHAR.
Sahno CamlrlcuSf Gunther; Journal of Zoological Society,
1862, p. 13, pi. 6, but the trivial name
since changed to S. Perisianus, to
distinguish this fish from S. Cambricus
of Donovan, which is the Sewen.
This species rarely exceeds a foot in length, and for the
table was in high esteem, so that what might be termed a
regular fishery was carried on for taking it, by which, says
Mr. Hansard, a hundred dozen of them were caught yearly.
Since that time the numbers have fallen greatly short, in
consequence, as was supposed, of a flow into the lake of the
water of a copper mine, which was believed to have destroved
the whole of them. This, however, is a mistake, since they
are still obtained in some abundance; and not in this lake
only, but also in Llyn Cwyllean, situated in a deep valley on
the west side of Snowdon. They come up out of their greater
depths in the depth of winter, and when the weather is at
the coldest they sport in the shallower water close to the
border, but soon again retire to their former haunts. They
are taken with a worm, and sometimes are known to rise to
a fly.
The body is compressed and lengthened; length of the
head considerably more than one half of the distance from the
snout to the line of the origin of the dorsal fin; upper profile
of the head not elevated above the margin of the orbit, and
is not even slightly ridged, but slightly concave; the median
ridge scarcely visible. Snout rather depressed, the lower a
'Hi.
ter
at
he
ev
to
me
tke
51e
ian
/
TORGOCTI OF LLAXREKRIS. Xb
little curved upward and over-reaching the upper. Nostrils
midway between the eyeball and end of the snout, the foremost
round, open, surrounded by a membrane which posteriorly is
developed into a small flap, which does not exist in the Char
of Windermere, and in this species almost entirely covers the
smaller, oblong, posterior nostril. By this character alone the
Torgoch may be distinguished from the last-named species and
the Char of Lake Melvin. The mystache scarcely extends
beyond the hindmost border of the eye, and has from nineteen
to twenty-one teeth, six or seven in each intermaxillary,
seventeen in each mandible, seven on the vomer (where they
form two sides of a triangle,) fifteen on each palatine bone,
and five pairs on the tongue. Origin of the dorsal fin a little
nearer the snout than to the root of the tail, with thirteen or
fourteen rays, the first very small, the sixth longest. Anal
fin with eleven or twelve rays, the first exactly in the middle
between the roots of the tail and of the outer ventral ray;
the first ray very short. Pectoral fin with twelve or thirteen
rays, its base overlapped by the gill-cover, and it extends three
fourths of the distance to the origin of the ventrals; ventral
fins with nine rays. Tail concave. The scales thin and small.
Colour of the back dark sea-green, lighter on the sides; a
bright red below; the sides (often) with numerous reddish
orange-coloured spots; pectorals greenish, passing into reddish
posteriorly, the upper margin white; ventrals and anal red,
with white anterior margins; dorsal and caudal blackish, with
broad lighter margins; cheeks with numerous black dots. To
this account of the colour of this beautiful fish we add from
Mr. Hansard, that the hues are splendid beyond all example
among the fishes of this country.
Nothing can exceed the fervid aspect of its colours when
first taken. The scarlet of the body may be said to emulate
the glowing redness of the fiery element; the upper part of
the head and back deep purplish blue, blending into silvery
near the lateral line, below Avliich the sides are tinged Avith
yellow, passing into orange, and then into fine scarlet towards
the belly; the back and sides spotted beautifully Avith fine
red; the flesh within a deep red. Number of the vertebrae
sixty-one. Such is the description of a recent example, as
given by Dr. Gunther. We think it proper to add also a
VOL. IV. • 2 M
sen TORGOCH OF LLANBERRIS.
notice of specimens in our own possession, which were perfect
in all respects except as regards their colour.
The specimen from which my description was taken measured
in length eight inches and a half, the shape stout, and a larger
individual of the length of a foot to the fork of the tail, was
six inches and a half in girth in front of the dorsal fin. The
head is stout and wide over the top, forehead blunt, jaws
nearly equal, or with the lower slightly projecting. The gape
wide and mouth capacious; intermaxillary bone with teeth laid
in an arched order, those in the mystache thickly placed but
slight, also round the palate, but none in the vomer; veil in
front of the mouth above, and a slight one below; roof of the
palate arched over; fine teeth in the tongue; nostrils nearer the
snout than to the eye, the anterior open and surrounded with
a border of membrane, close behind it the fine pointed orifice
of another. Eye rather large. The back rises gradually to
the dorsal fin; scales very small; lateral line slightly raised,
straight, the pores small and very numerous. All the fins have
the membrane dense. The thickness of the body is carried
back to the adipose fin, and more especially in the large example.
Dorsal fin high, the rays fourteen, the fourth longest and two
last united. The pectoral reaches three fourths of the distance
to the ventrals, broad, with thirteen rays; anal fin eleven;
ventral ten or eleven. Colour of the upper parts black, sides
dark, thickly covered Avith white spots, as Avere other examples;
belly yellow, but in some a tinge of red, this colour seeming
to have vanished from the operation of sjiirit in which they
had been preserved. Upper ray of the pectoral fin whitish, and
in a less degree the border; front border of the anal white;
ventrals with a tinge of orange; all besides dark. Air-bladder
large: milt of small size.
<;
nil f^
X
<
o
O
li
<
•I
>• r
<
7
268 gray's chak.
of the head elevated above the border of the orbit, the diameter
of which is one fifth of the length of the head, shorter than
the snout; interorbital space convex, with a prominent ridge
along the middle, and with a pair of series of pores. Snout
slightly compressed, subcorneal, length of the jaAvs equal.
Nostrils midway between the end of the snout and the border
of the eye; the hindmost Avider and round, the anterior a very
narrow vertical slit; both separated by a narrow cutaneous
bridge. The maxillary (mystache) extends to the vertical from
the hindmost border of the eye, and is armed with sixteen
very small teeth, the hindmost rudimentary; all the other teeth
small, four in the intermaxillary, twelve in each mandible,
two to four in the vomer, fifteen on each palatine, and four
pairs on the tongue. The suboperculum, which forms the
hindmost part of the gill- cover, does not cover the exposed
portion of the shoulder above the root of the pectoral fin.
Dorsal fin with thirteen or fourteen rays, its origin nearer the
end of the snout than to the root of the tail, fourth and fifth
rays the longest. The distance of the adipose fin from the
dorsal is less than twice the length of the base of the latter;
anal fin with twelve rays, its origin at the middle between the
root of the caudal fin and of the outer ventral ray; fourth, fifth,
and six rays the longest. The tail forked, the lobes pointed.
Pectoral fin with thirteen or fourteen rays, its base free of the
operculum, and ending at a short distance from the ventral;
ventral with nine rays, its origin below the ninth, tenth, and
eleventh rays of the dorsal. The scales very conspicuous, and
comparatively much larger than in any other of the British
Chars; those of the lateral line not larger than the others. As
regards colour the sides and belly are silvery, the scales on the
sides of the back have a silvery centre and a blackish border;
the back itself bluish black, belly Avith a reddish shade; sides
with scattered light orange-colou^'ed dots; fins blackish; the
dorsal lighter superiorly; ventrals with a narrow whitish border.
Head silvery, black above. We shall say more about this
species when we have described the next that follows.
>
;=. Q
o
o
I f
i
I
^I
/
270 cole's char.
a pair of stouter teeth in front of the palate, where in one
example there were three teeth; none on the vomer; two rows
of strong teeth, five in each on the tongue; a veil in front on
the under jaw. The body deepest opposite the origin of the
dorsal fin, and this depth is greatest in the male, although the
female was filled with enlarged roe, the grains of Avhich were
almost as large as those of a Salmon. Lateral line straight;
scales on the body small. Dorsal fin large, behind the centre
of gravity, with thirteen rays; anal wide, with twelve rays; and
in both these fins the last rays spring from one root; adipose
fin small. Pectorals large, pointed, in length a little less than
from the snout to the border of the gill-covers, eleven rays;
ventrals large, the rays ten; tail wide, forked, with nineteen
rays. Colour on the head and back dark, with a tint of blue^
softening off at the sides; deep reddish orange, at the belly;
gill-covers bright, with a tint of blue. Pectorals, ventral and
anal fins tinged with orange — the last-named fins in one example
with a white border in front; adipose fin reddish orange; tail
and dorsal fin dark. In the male the colours were deeper than
in the female.
Comparing the colours of these examples with those of the
Torgoch, as given by Donovan; the latter spotted with red on
the back and sides, and with white on the red belly, and all
the fins red except the dorsal, and even that partly so; the
difference between these fishes, where colour is of so much
importance, is easily discerned; added to which he represents
the lateral line as being dotted with white; and the nostrils
are not placed in a deep depression as in our fish. Mr. Yarrell
also says that in the fish he describes the beginning of the
dorsal is half way between the point of the nose and the adipose
fin, which is far from the case in the Enniskillen Char; and
he says further, that the pectoral is small, while in our fish
the length of this fin is only a little less than from the snout
to the border of the gill-cover. Compared with an example of
the Melvyn Char of the length of ten inches and a half, the
latter is of a stouter form, the head more sloping down, gape
larger, fins larger, and the tail especially so; and while in the
former the pectoral fin runs only a little beyond half way to
the root, of the ventrals, and the origin of the dorsal is above
the point of its termination, in the last-named it runs more than
COLF.'S CHAR. 271
two thirds of that distance. The dorsal fin of the Melvyn Char
has twelve rays, the anal eleven, with sixty vertebra?, as contrasted
with thirteen and twelve rays, and sixty-one vertebra? of the
Enniskillen Char; in both cases their course being over the
caudal plates, as in others of this family; and in the fish we
have been describing, a large blood-vessel is distributed to the
root of the tail; as perhaps might be noticed in other species
if sought for. The flesh is pink, and these distinctions are the
more deserving of notice, as both these fishes appear in many
instances to inhabit the same lakes.
272
ALPINE CHAR.
Salmo alpinus, Linnaeus.
Salvelinus alpinus, Nobis.
It is probable that Linnseus never definitely characterized
this species as to be distinguished from others'now known in
his own country, as described by Nilsson; but it is probable
that Artedi is correct when he refers it, as we have seen, to
the Salmo Lapponicus alpinus of the M.S. of the Journey of
Linnseus, which, under the title of Lachesis lapponica, has since
been published in English by Sir James Smith, P. L. S. Nilsson
describes four species of Chars as known in Scandinavia; and
he refers to Mr. Yarrell's British Fishes as affording a satisfactory
representation of this species; but in this respect we possess
the superior advantage, through the kindness of Robert
Embleton, Esq., of having the opportunity of deriving our figure
and description from undoubted examples of this fish, from
Loch Grannock, in the Highlands of Scotland; where or in
which neighbourhood alone it has hitherto been found in the
United Kingdom; and where, as well as even in Siberia, it
inhabits places subject to a greater degree of cold than do
others of this family. In Norway it has been observed to go
up the course of rivers more freely than other Chars; and its
range in that direction is higher than that of the Salmon, or
indeed than any other fish; for it approaches within two thousand
feet of the line of perpetual snow. Linnseus found them caught,
together with Pikes, in a river in Lycksele, Lapland, by fishermen
in the month of June. It is said to shed its spawn in September
and October. In a review in the "Fisherman's Magazine,"
vol. i, of the Rev. Mr. Barnard's book, entitled "Sport in
Norway," probably referring to this species, it is said that in
I
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7
ALPINE CITAP. 27J
all the northern rivers tho Cliar will tnke a fly grcrtlily; and
he remembers to have heard from a Norwegian fisherman that
on one occasion he thus eaui^'ht a Char in the open sea, some
distance from the mouth of the river.
The example described, Avhich was a female from Loch
Grannock, was seven inches and a half in length; the sliape
plump, deep, the belly protuberant; forehead a little rounded;
eye moderate; jaws equal, mystache extending to the hindmost
border of the eye; small incurved teeth in it and the jaws,
round the palate and on the tongue; in the latter Avidely
separate, in two rows; none seen in the vomer. Nostrils about
midway between the eye and the snout. Head flat between
the eyes, Avith a slight ridge. Small scales on the body; lateral
line straight, the pores obscure. The body becomes narrower
towards the tail. Dorsal fin anterior to the middle of the
length, with eleven rays, the first short, and two last from one
root. Anal with eleven rays, the third longest; pectorals reach
more than half the distance to the ventrals, ending jiointed,
with twelve rays; ventrals sharp, long, with nine rays; tail
forked; hindmost rays of the anal opposite the adipose fin. The
colour black on the back and sides, softening into whitish on
the belly, with a patch of bright scarlet in front of the ventrals,
which fins are not close together; the whole back and sides
with scattered white spots; pectoral, ventral, and anal fins
yellowish, the latter with a Avhite border in front. This example
was distended with enlarged roe, of which the right lobe was
much larger than the left, so that the latter, together with tlie
stomach and entrails, Avere thrust far upward. Air-bladder
large. The aspect and proportions of this fish are visibly
different from those of the other Chars. It is said to attain
the length of ten inches, and as in all the Chars the males
are adorned with more splendid colours than the females; tlie
sides verging into blue or greyish brown, in the young with
broad dark transverse streaks on the sides; the tail in adult fishes
in this and the Torgoch with a broad white terminal border.
It is remarked by Nilsson that such of those fish as go up
the stream the highest have their flesh reddest.
A question arises, whether does this Alpine Char really
differ from the Salmo carpio of Linmeus, and of Fabricius in
his "Fauna Greenlandica?" which in Greenland is said to be
VOL. IV. 2 N
271 ALPINE CHAR.
sometimes found at the mouths of rivers and in the sea. In
that country it sheds its roe in August.
We have already remarked that although Chars are especially
inhabitants of lakes, it is not every lake that will suit their
nature and habits; but only such as are very deep, usually on
elevated ground; or, as a compensation for this last particular,
in some latitude towards the north, where the temperature is
with a degree of steadiness which verges towards the sensibly
cool or cold. In England these conditions are found in what
is popularly termed the lake district; which comprises portions
of Westmoreland, Cumberland, and part of Lancashire; where
Windermere, Brassmere, Butter mere, and Coniston Water,
together with Keswick and Cummon Water, are famous for
some of these fishes. Dr. Davy informs us that he himself
introduced them into Easedale, but with what success we have
not heard.
In Wales the Torgoch is most abundant in Llyn Cwyllian,
or Cwellyn, on the west side of SnoAvdon; but there are lakes
in this neighbourhood in Avhich this Char has never been met
with. In Llanberris the abundance for which it was famous
was once checked, in consequence of the flowing into it of
water from a mine; so that it was supposed they were all
destroyed; but they still exist there, as we know from having
obtained them.
In Scotland besides Loch Grannock, in Kircudbrightshire,
they are also known in Lochs Corr and Killin, in Inverncss-shire,
and also Loch Inch; and Sir William Jardine found them in
Sutherlandshire. There was also a Char in Loch Leven, but
whether so at present seems uncertain.
In Ireland all the species except the Alpine appear to be
more widely distributed than in other parts of the United
Kingdom. Mr. Thompson has specified the situations of these
fish at considerable length in his natural history of his native
country, and from him with other help I derive the following
particulars, joined to those which have been given in our
account of the individual species. The lakes or pieces of water
that have been enumerated are Lough Melvyn, Esk, the
Commeloughs and Stilloges in the mountains of Cummeragh;
Lough Neagh, Eagish; Inchigcelagh, in the county of Cork;
Ivindun, Gartnan, Shassuck, Kindrum, Keel, in Donegal; Dan,
ALPINE CHAR. 275
in Wicklow; Lough Nabrak, Bofin, and a few others of smaller
size inGalway; Lough Owel; and Lough Erne, in Fermanagh;
hut it is said that none have been obtained from Lough Eagish
for several years, and it seems a remarkable circumstance in
the history of these fishes, that while they appear to be by
their ordinary habitation far beyond the reach of enemies and
injury, they should be so liable to be lost from the depths
they have so long frequented.
276
OSMERUS.
FoHM of Hie body lengthened, without spots. Two ranges of
pej)uialrd teelh in each palatine boue; only a few in front on tlie
voniei'. Eight rays in the gill membrane. The ventral fins opposite
the aulerior edge of the dorsal.
8MELT.
SPIRLING.
Smelt, Eperlaniis Bonchletii, Willoughbt; p. 202, table N. 6.
Eperlanus, JoNSTON.
Osiuerud eperlanus, Linn^us. Cuvier.
" " Fleming; Br. Animals, p. 181.
« « Jenins; Manual, p. 429.
" " Yarrell; Br. Fishes, vol. ii, p. 129.
SaliHO eperlanus marinus, Bloch; pi. 28. Donovan; pi. 48.
This fish should be distinguished from the Atherine, which
in some parts of the kingdom bears the same name, and on
a casual view might be mistaken for it; but, among other
niarks, the existence of an adipose fin on the back, in place
of a larger second dorsal with rays, will readily distinguish
them.
It has been supposed that the name ot Smelt was given
from a particular and agreeable odour that is perceptible when
the fish is newly taken from the water; but the true meaning
of the word is assigned by Jonston, and it is the same with
that which is used to signify the melting of metals (smelting)
from he mine, its derivation being from the appearance of
transparency of the substances of this fish, as if it had a
tendency to melt away. The French name, Eperlan, employed
by Rondeletius, to which he gave a Latin termination, and
from which perhaps we obtain our other English designation
1
/
-::iTY
^ USA
SMELT. yCii
of Spirling, is also significant of its jyearlf/ appearance when
first caught.
The species which we term the true Smelt is held in con-
siderable reputation for the table; and in consequence of this
in places which it frequents a fishery is carried on for taking
it. Such is the case in the Severn, and also near the outlets
of the larger rivers of our more eastward and northern coasts,
Avhere a particular size of the mesh for this purpose is rendered
legal by a law of the time of Elizabeth; and four or five
thousand of these fish have been brought to market from a
single fishery in a week of the season, although a less number
than this is now said to furnish the supply. In proportion to
the size of the fish fashion has fixed the price at a high rate;
and where it is recorded that formerly they might be bought
at a penny each, or even from threepence to sixpence a
score, they have since reached to three shillings, and above,
for a dozen.
The Smelt is migratory, but the season of entering rivers
has been variously stated. Thus it has been said that they
come up the rivers about the end of August, and continue
until about the middle of April, when they are accounted in
their best condition; which is when they are about to shed
their spawn, and that immediately after performing this
function they return to the ocean. But it is remarked by
Dr. Parnell, who observed the motions of these fish with much
attention, that such as are about to shed their spawn do not
enter rivers until about January, and "in the month of March
they ascend the Forth in large shoals to deposit their spawn
in fresh water; this they shed in immense quantity about two
miles below Stirling Bridge, when at that time every stone,
plank, and post appears to be covered with their yelloAvish
ova." Unlike, therefore, the larger members of the Salmon
family, these fish do not go far up the river to perform this
duty; nor do they, like them, cover over the deposit, but,
without concerning themselves further with what shall befal it,
they hasten back to the sea, where they are soon lost sight
of; for we believe they are not often taken far in the salt
water either by nets or in the stomachs of fishes. But it is
not long before the young are hatched, and their growth is
speedy, so that by the docline of summer they Ixave reached
278 SMELT.
to three or four inches in length. In August, and afterwards,
they abound, and they continue to pass upward and down
with the tide, until their full-grown parents and predecessors
are coming up again to breed, at which time they take their
final departure. From the difference of season observed in
their migrations by these smaller and larger examples, with
some other variations of habit, and a degree of dissimilarity
in form, it was once supposed that these old and younger
fish were of different species, and as such they are spoken of
by Jonston, as well as by Bloch, who has given a representa-
tion of both; but at this time no doubt remains of their being
of one kind, and only in different stages of growth.
The Smelt is an inhabitant of the more northern portions
of a temperate climate, and is common so far north as Sweden.
In Scotland, and the east and west coasts of England it is
abundant; but, as appeal's from Mr. Thompson, it is less so,
and local, in Ireland, and none have been recosrnised along
the shores of England from the Thames westward to the
Land's End. On the north coast of Cornwall, as about St.
Ives, a few have been taken, and Mr. Dillwyn mentions them
as occurring at Swansea, although rarely, and we have noticed
that there is an established fishery for Smelts in the Severn.
I have been informed, on what appears to be competent
authority, that they are not uncommon at Brest; and Duhamel
says it is taken in abundance at the mouth of the Seine.
Mr. Yarrell refers to some trials which had been made to
preserve these fish in ponds of fresh water, and we learn
from Nilsson that such is tlieir usual habit in the middle and
north of Sweden; where they are found in lakes which have
a sandy bottom throughout the year, except when they quit
them for the purpose of shedding their spawn, which is early
in April. It is then they leave the deeper water, and pass up
in thousands to the shallower shores of rivers, where they are
caught in multitudes. It is there observed that the schools
of Smelts of larger and smaller size do not associate together;
in which, however, they only follow the example of several
other species of sociable fishes. The smaller Smelts are con-
sidered as good bait for the Pike.
The Smelt rarely exceeds nine or ten inches in Length: the
example described measured seven inches to the fork of the
SMELT. 279
tail; the depth at the origin of the dorsal fin one inch and a
fourth; the body compressed, slender, the line gently sloping
from above the pectoral fin forward. Gape rather wide; under
jaw protruded beyond the upper; mystache rather long; teeth
in the jaws pointed, the largest in front of the vomer and on
the tongue; in the present instance a very prominent one in
front of the tongue. Eye rather large. Scales on the body
rather large. Lateral line straight, about the middle of the
body, in a bright white stripe from the gill-covers, and in
two instances one higher than the other, ribmarks descending
from it. First ray of the dorsal fin midway between the
snout and end of the fleshy portion of the body. Adipose fin
nearer the tail than the middle space from it to the dorsal;
ventrals large; the caudal forked. Colour along the upper
parts pea-green, with an appearance of transparency; below
silvery; fins with pale tints of green. In one example the
top of the head light brown, the fins and tail yellowish
brown. The dorsal fin has ten or eleven rays, pectoral eleven
or twelve, ventrals eight, anal sixteen, caudal nineteen.
280
THYMALLITS.
"With the structure of the jaws like the Trouts, the mouth has ;i
limited opening; teeth very fine. Scales on the body lar^^e. Dorsal
fin rather long, wide. Seven or eight rays in the gill-membrane. The
small square mouth, coupled with the high dorsal fin, will distinguish
this genus.
GRAYLING.
Grayling, JoNSTON ; pi. 26, f. 3.
ThipnaUns, Umher, Willougiiby; p. 187, table N. 8.
Coreqcnus thymallus, Linnjeus. Bloch; pi. 24.
" " Flemixg; Br. Animals, p. 181.
Thymallus vulgaris, Cuvier. Jexyxs; Manual, p. 430.
" " Yareell; Br. Fishes, vol. ii, p. 136.
It is to be observed that Rondeletlus makes the Unihra
Jluciatilis and Thymus to be different species; but Avhat he
says of either of them may apply to our Grayling, although
his figure of the Thymus is represented too deep, unless,
perhaps, when the fish is heavy with spawn. Gesner believes
the Umbra to be our Grayling; but a fish of the same name
mentioned by Columella belongs to the sea, and is our Sciaina
or Maigre, of which the word Umbra is a translation.
It is not the least remarkable portion of the history of the
Grayling, that its distribution among the rivers of our country
is as irregular as it is limited; so that while it is abundant
in some places, especially in the north and east of England,
in others, perhaps not far removed, and also in the south
and west, it is unknown; nor has it been discovered in any
part of Scotland and Ireland, although there are situations in
these portions of the United Kingdom Avhich appear to be
equally well adapted to its habits. Circumstances of this
nature have given rise to the supposition that the Grayling,
GRAYLING. 281
whicli is well known to be a delicate dish, and as such is
spoken of in the "Book of St. Albans,"— "The Grayllynge,
by another name callyd Umbre, is a delycyous fysshe to
mannys raouthe," — is not an original native of our rivers, but
was at first imported from the continent, where it is more
common than with us; and hence that it was conveyed only
into such districts as suited the convenience of those who
brought it. We cannot affirm or deny this, but it is certain
that in no distant times some of our rivers have received it
from others, as is the case with the River Test, in Hampshire,
mentioned by Sir Humphrey Davy, to which it was brought
from the Avon not a great while since; and they have
increased in their new residences as freely as in their former
stations, but from some peculiarities in their nature it is only
in individual streams that the labour of conveyance is likely
to be accompanied with success. It may be, however, that
this may be caused by some known peculiarities in the
structure of this fish, together with some of its appetites; in
which it differs from the generality of the fishes of its family,
and which demand a combination of circumstances not usually
found in our rivers, but which will account for the fact that
no Graylings are known in England west or south of the
Avon, in Hampshire, or the branches of the Severn, in the
higher or Welsh portions of which, where this fish is well
known, it is little likely they should have been introduced
from a distance.
The chosen stations of this fish are in swiftly-flowing but
not turbulent rivers, where the water is usually clear, and
always cool, but less than severely cold, with a clean and
sandy or pebbly bottom; and while it does not urge its way
upward so near the head as the Trout, and will not remain
long in a shallow depth, it requires also a succession of deeper
pools in softer ground, to which it may retire on a change of
season, for it wanders less, and even hides itself from sight
in winter. As regards some of its habits a comparison has
been made between this fish and the Trout, on account of
some degree of likeness that exists between them, but in which
the contrast appears as great as the similarity. To some
extent they feed on the same sorts of food; but the Minnow,
which is a chosen bait for the latter, is rarely taken by the
VOL. IV. 2 o
282
GHAYI,IXa.
Grayling; and even of flies, after which both are eager, the
Trout pursues the larger kinds, while those sought for by the
Grayling are of the very smallest, and a grasshopper is pre-
ferred to all besides. It swallows earth also, with mud and
sand, together with the smaller shells; and as in some rivers
there have been found grains of gold mingled with the sand,
and such have been found in its stomach, it has been said
that these particles of metal were selected by choice, and to
them the fish was indebted for the brilliant yellow which
sometimes adorns its body and fins. The station which this
fish assumes while waiting for prey is usually about mid-water;
or if nearer the bottom, not close to it, and not far from a
rock or stone; and from such places it more readily rises than
goes down, but it returns to the same resort when success
has crowned the excursion: and here again we find a contrast
to the habits of the Trout, for while the latter is watchful,
rapid, and wary in its actions as it deals with temptations,
the Grayling,
Unabashed, will dare,
Baulked e'er so oft, the disappointing snare,
Simple and bold:
and hence it is that to the angler
The Grayling yields no fame; too easy prey
He turns his side of gold-bespangled grey.
Anglers, a Poem.
In its own sphere, however, the Grayling is capable of very
swift motion, as is represented by Ausonius in its ancient name
of Umbra: —
Effugiens oculos eeleri levis Umbra natatu.
The sm.ooth- scaled Umbra as it passes by,
Flits as a shadow o'er the gazer's eye.
Continuing the comparison of this fish with the Trout, Sir
Humphrey Davy remarks that the latter in all its habits of
migration runs upward, seeking the fresh and cool waters of
mountain sources to spawn in; the Grayling, he believes, has
never the same habit of running up the stream. He never
saw one leaping at a fall, where Trout are so often seen; and
GRAYLING.
283
we add that the difference of habit which is associated with
its power ol rising and falling in the water, and its want of
power to spring aloft are clearly connected with the expansion
of its Avide dorsal fin, and also with the comparative structure
or arrangement of the bones of the tail, so characteristic in
general of the fishes of this extensive family; as in them the
line of the vertebra? is directed upward, so that the setting on
of the larger number of the bones and their rays is on their
lower side, as we have described in the proper genus Salmo ;
but these connecting bones are in this instance slight and
feeble, and ill adapted to a strenuous leap; but the rays of
the upper lobe of the tail are connected with the termination
of these vertebrae, and not the side, without the intervention
of a plate as in most fishes; and those of the lower lobe are
attached to the vertebra anterior to the place where they are
turned upward, the middle rays of this organ being united to
bones which are too slender to be termed plates, although they
are a little wider than what we may properly term rays; which
structure is sufficient for what will act in progression, even of
a rapid kind, but not for the stronger effort of leaping.
This fish is reported to be scattered over Europe, and some
portion of Asia, and from the high north of Lapland, Norway,
and Sweden, through Germany and Hungary to France, even
to the more southern parts, with Switzerland and the north of
Italy; but in these latter countries they are only met with in
the cooler departments, where the streams are at rather high
elevations, although not near glaciers, and a heat much above
fifty degrees is as fatal to them as severe cold. It is said also
they inhabit the Caspian Sea, and are found in the Baltic,
from whence they proceed up through the course of the rivers
to deposit their spawn; but on trial it was found by Sir
Humphrey Davy that with us even brackish water was fatal to
them. And indeed so different are the habits of the Grayling
as described by Nilsson, (and which v/e will presently give
from him) from those of our own country, that we are disposed
to believe with Sir Humphrey Davy, that this northern fish is
a different species.
With us the time of spawning is about April, and the roe
is cast on stones and gravel without being buried below the
surface, as is the case with that of many fishes of this family.
28<
GRAYLING.
This condition of exposure might seem to lay open the
treasure to the depredations of a multitude of devourers; but
observers have affirmed that at this time other fishes have left
that neighbourhood, and it is possible that the Graylings, with
their numbers, may have driven them aAvay, as we know is the
case with at least some assemblages of sea-fishes; which, without
any obvious reason or influence, and as it appears solely by
their presence, have expelled from a neighbourhood others not
less individually strong. In the act of shedding the roe a
female is attended with two or three males; and the eggs are
not long in passing through the changes of development, so
that Sir H. Davy remarks, about the end of July or beginning
of August the young fishes are four or five inches long, and
"sport merrily at a fly." Their growth after this is also
speedy, so that about October they have attained to more than
half the size they ever reach.
According to Nilsson, the Grayling, which is one of the
commonest of the Scandinavian fishes, is met with in the North
Sea, Cattegat, and Baltic, from which they come up into most
of the rivers and lakes; and in Lapland they are taken in the
high fell lakes, even so large as to weigh eight or nine pounds;
a bulk which of itself is sufficient to raise a doubt of its being
the same species with our own. In the Baltic they commonly
weigh about two pounds, with a length of eighteen inches;
which form the usual dimensions of an English fish. Some of
these Swedish fishes remain all the year in fresh water, and
some also are found in the Baltic at all seasons; (from which
it would appear that they do not all spawn at the ordinary
period;) which in that county is somewhat various, and ranges
from the middle of October to the middle of December; after
which they return to deeper water for the winter. In the
spring they pass up the rivers in schools, at the time when
the leaves are shooting out.
Uniform testimony is borne to the excellency of this fish for
the table; and it is therefore fished for by those who consider
the exercise as most successful when a large supply is obtained;
and when a net is employed this is sometimes in great abundance.
It is valued most highly in October and November, but is not
long out of season, and therefore where it is met Avith it is
always welcome.
GRAYLING.
285
Witli us an example of this fish that weighs three or four
pounds will be thought of very unusual size; but the specimen
described was no more than eight inches and a half in length
to the fork of the tail, with a depth of one inch and three
fourths at the dorsal fin; the sides moderately compressed; head
wide, slightly rounded over the top; eye rather large, the
pupil pear-shaped, the point directed forward. Nostrils above
the level of a line from the eye to the lips, and almost on a
level with the forehead; a hollow between the eyes forward.
The gape small, lips tender, so that a hook may break through
them easily; the mystache broad, short, with some teeth on its
border; teeth scarcely perceptible in the jaws; none on the
palate or tongue; a slight veil in front of the m.outh. The
bod}' rises from the nape gently to the dorsal fin; which fin is
broad and high, three inches from the snout, with twenty-one
or two rays, the two last from one root. Scales large; lateral
line straight, with eighty-four pores; the body more slender
towards the tail. Pectoral fin narrower near the end; tail
gently forked; ventrals with ten rays and a small wing; the
anal begins under the adipose fin. The general colour yellowish
brown, including the fins; several deeper brown lines along the
body, with a zigzag edge formed by the union of the upper
and lower portion of the scales; under the belly white. Some
smaller examples were of a lighter colour, with the lines along
the body well marked; but this fish is liable to much difference
in the colour in different streams, at different stages of growth,
and especially when in its highest season of health. Thus it
is described as of a fine golden yellow on the body and fins;
sometimes with golden spots, and very dark, almost black on
t\\r back.
The smell of this fish when newly caught has been much
taken notice of, and is said to be like that of the plant Thyme;
from which therefore it has obtained its Latin specific name;
but this smell soon leaves it, and the fish should be in the
hands of the cook within a few hours after it is taken. The
air-bladder is of flimsy texture. Sir H. Davy says its stomach
is very thick, not unlike that of a Char or Gillaroo Trout. It
may be added that Nilsson mentions of the teeth, a single row
on the jaw-bones and front of the palatines, and a few in front
of the vomer.
286
GUINIAD.
Giiiniad. Willoughby; p. 183.
Salmo Warimanni, Block ; PL 105.
Coregonus Wartimmni, Cuvier.
" Pennantii, Cat. Br. Museum, 1850, p. 80.
" Lavaretus, Linn.^us. Fleming; p. 182.
" Jenyns; Manual, p. 431.
Yarrell; Br. Fishes, vol. ii, p. 142.
Curcgonns Nilssoni, forrmrly
C. fera, NiLssoN.
We have several times found occasion to refer to the large
amount of confusion produced, especially among fishes of the
Salmon family, by the great variety of names which have been
applied to each species; or, what is still worse, by the same
name being applied to several species. Similar to this is the
case of the Guiniad, in regard to which, and some others that
are like it, we cannot feel assured in reference to the synonyms
derived from foreign writers; although in one instance, which
was an example obtained from Sweden, we entertain no doubt
of its being the same with the British species; of which the
name as given above professes a meaning in tbe ancient language
of our country, and which continues to be spoken in Wales. It
designates a fish which is distinguished by the brilliant whiteness
of its colour; but like all names which are simply descriptive,
this has also been applied to other species in that country; and
especially to the Sewen, and also to a younger condition of
the Common Salmon; from all of which however the real
Guiniad may be easily distinguished.
The Guiniad is known over a large portion of the alpine or
elevated districts of the continent of Europe; but in our own
country in comparing its distribution with that of the Grayling
we find the former even more limited tban the latter; while
I
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GUINIAD.
287
like it also in situations where it exists, it is sometimes met
with in large numbers. This is particularly the case in Wales,
and also in Cumberland; but they belong to lakes rather
than rivers, and as they are at times found assembled in
schools, and thus collected, come near the shore in spring
and summer, they provide a welcome feast for the people of
the neighbourhood; for although not valued as a delicacy for
the epicure, they are relished by those whose sauce is a good
appetite. Pennant reports, on the authority of a friend, that
between seven and eight thousand have been taken with a
net at a single draught. He adds that the flesh is insipid,
and soon spoils, but that it is usual to preserve them with
salt, and also that they die very soon after being taken.
These fish spawn in the winter, but no particular account
has been given of the proceeding, and the fish itself has
been little noticed by anglers; so that the patriarch of the
art, who probably never saw an example, is content to copy
what he says of it from CambJen, who mentions it only as
a little-known rarity. He says, "The River Dee, which
runs by Chester, springs in Merionethshire, and as it runs
towards Chester it runs through Pemble Mere, which is a
large water; and it is observed that though the River Dee
abounds with Salmon, and Pemble Mere with Guiniad, yet
there is never any Salmon caught in the mere, nor a Guiniad
in the river." It is also said to be taken in Coningston
Mere, in Lancashire; but of all its known resorts, the above-
named Welsh lake, which is also termed Bala, Llyn Tegid,
and Pimbee Mere possesses it in the greatest abundance; and
I feel indebted to the kindness of Sir W. W. Wynn, Bart.,
for the opportunity of procuring specimens from which our
figure and description were taken. It has been reported as
having been found in Ireland, where, however, it is not
mentioned by Mr. Thompson, of Belfast; and it is to be
doubted whether the so-called Fresh-water Herring, or PoUan,
has not been mistaken for it.
The example described was twelve inches in length, and
two inches and three fourths deep in front of the dorsal fin,
from which part it first slopes gradually, and then more
rapidly to the snout, which overhangs the mouth; the slope
from the snout to the mouth square; gape small; lower jaw
288 GUINIAD.
short, slightly turned up at the symphysis, as in the Mullets,
this jaw being received into the upper; no teeth, except a
few fine ones on the tongue. Nostrils in a depression midway
between the eyes and snout. Body compressed, more flattened
behind the dorsal than in front of it, narrower behind the
adipose fin and anal, which fins approximate to the tail;
lateral line straight. The (first) dorsal rises five inches from
the snout, its front margin a little anterior to the ventrals,
the first rays high, thirteen in all; pectorals long and pointed,
eighteen rays; ventrals wide, with thirteen rays, and a very
short one; a scale at its root the breadth of the root; the
ventral wing short; (scales of the body of moderate size.)
Anal fin with thirteen rays, and a very short one; twenty-three
rays in the tail. Colour above dark, with a tint of blue;
cheeks, sides, and below silvery white; fins a neutral tint.
The eye is large, and the mystache is geutly curved, reaching
back to the front of the eye.
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290 VENDACE.
twenty-four examples two only were males. They are said to
shed their spawn in November, but it is certain that this is
not always accomplished until the end of the year, for Dr.
Knox discovered in several which he took in December, that
while in the larger number the ovaries were small, and, as
we may suppose, had lately discharged their contents, there
were two in which the grains were of large size, as if ready
to be shed. At some seasons it is certain that the sexes
associate together in one company, for on another occasion,
in the month of October, of fifteen that were examined nine
only were females. — ("Zoologist," June, 1855.)
It appears that the Vendace is so far of a delicate consti-
tution that it can exist only in a cold or cool temperature,
and Nilsson says that it inhabits most of the rivers and lakes
in the middle and north of Sweden. In our own country it
is noticed that however active, and even sportive, at other
times, in the heat of summer they seek shelter in the deeper
water. The food of this fish was long a matter of uncertainty,
and in its own neighbourhood it was even supposed to be
supported by no solid material. It has never been taken
with a hook; but we owe it to Dr. Knox and Mr. Yarrell
that we are now informed of the nature of their food, which
is the several species of Entomostraca which abound in these
waters. The usual method of taking this fish is with a
sweep-net, which is for the most part used about July,
although, as we have seen, these fish may be taken late in
the season; and the occasion of employing this net is often
formed into a festive assembling of the neighbouring gentlemen.
An example of this fish which I have the pleasure to
possess, was supplied by the kind attention of the Earl of
Enniskillen, and I have reason to believe that it is the same
which is referred to by Mr. Thompson, in his "Nat. Hist, of
Ireland," as having been obtained from Sir W. Jardine, Bart.
It is in length to the fork of the tail five inches and three
fourths, which is about the usual size; but Dr. Knox has
seen it nine inches long.
Besides a skin of this fish with which I was favoured from
the Earl of Enniskillen, and which was once in the possession
of Mr. Thompson, I have also been supplied with examples
by the kindness of Robert Enibleton, Esq., from which our
VKNDACE. 201
figure and description have been taken. In length the example
described was six inches and a fourth, which is about the
usual dimensions; depth in front of the dorsal fin one inch
and five eighths, the outline rising from the front to the first
rav of that fin. The body compressed, covered with scales
of moderate size, not easily lost; under jaw projecting;
mystache broad, slightly bent, reaching half way to the eye;
gape very moveable. Eye large and prominent. Teeth
none in the jaws, minute on the tongue. Dorsal fin opposite
the ventrals, with eleven rays, as has also the anal, the two
last from one root. Pectorals free of the gill-covers, reaching
a little more than half way to the ventrals, with fourteen
rays; in the ventrals ten rays; adipose fin opposite the
termination of the anal, and consequently not far from the
tail. Tail broadly forked, with twenty rays. Colour of the
back brown, the sides tinged with yellow; above the hindmost
part of the eye golden; faint lines of yellow along the sides,
but over the whole and on the cheeks a brilliant white. Mr.
Yarrell says that the dorsal fin and upper portion of the sides
were a fine green, which may have vanished from my examples;
pectoral and ventral fins yellow. There are about sixty- eight
pores along the lateral line. The figure of this fish as given
by Mr. Yarrell, as compared with three examples, is too
slender
292
POLLAN.
FRESH-WATER HERRING.
Coregonus pollan, Thompson; Natural History of Ireland.
vol. iv, p. 168.
Powan, Yajsbell; Br. Fishes, vol. ii, p. 151.
" Jenyns ; Manual, p. 422.
This fish affords one of the many examples in which the
common name in one district is unknown in another at no great
distance, but where the same species bears what might appear
even a more characteristic designation; and yet which it shares
with some other fish of even a different genus. It was from
this cause that an attempt to obtain examples of the Pollan in
Ireland was met with the reply that no fish was known by
that name, although on further search at the same place it
was discovered that the Fresh-water Herring was familiarly
known to everyone, although even this name was applied to
more than one species. And truly the latter designation is
well applied to the fish we now treat of, and more appropriately
than to any kind of Chars, so far as a cursory appearance
goes; for, setting aside the small adipose fin, the likeness of
the Pollan to the Herring in shape and colour is such as
well to entitle the former to the epithet of clupenoides, which
it misjht well bear.
It resembles the Herring also in being gregarious, and when
they assemble it is often in large numbers, at which time they
are fished for with a sweep-net, and thus they furnish a good
supply of food for the public, the price not being a hindrance
even to the poor. Mr. Thompson informs us that on some
unusual occasions upwards of seventeen thousand have been
taken at three or four draughts of a net in one day, and they
POLLAN. 9.9S
have been sold at three or four shillings the hundred. In
the spring and summer they are in abundance in their particular
districts of the places they frequent; but the largest numbers
are in November and December, at which season they are
preparing to spawn, and this function is performed on the
hard or rocky bottom of the lake. On the comparison of
many examples it has been found that the female exceeds the
male in size.
This fish is strictly an inhabitant of fresh water, and
although in some rare instances a few have been taken in
rivers, to which they may have wandered, or into which they
may have been driven by currents, yet their more usual and
natural resort is in the large lakes of Ireland; for the Pollan
has not hitherto been found in any other portion of the British
Islands, to which, however, it might be introduced with some
advantage. Of distant countries we can only venture to suppose
that it is a native of Sweden. It is in Lough Neah, among
the Irish lakes, that it is met with in the greatest abundance;
and yet it is not equally numerous in every part, for Mr.
Thompson found it to approach the borders only in certain
districts, while in others that seemed equally fitted for it a
few only might be seen. It is common also, but in less
comparative numbers, in the Loughs Erne, Derg, and Corrib.
As this fish not only dies immediately on being taken from
the water, but also soon loses its best flavour and fitness for
the table, there is little doubt it might be salted or potted
with advantage; but this does not appear to have been thought
of, even when there is a glut of them in the market. They
are not usually taken with a bait, although they will sometimes
rise to a fly; and small shell-fish, together with Entomostraca,
have been found in their stomach.
This fish has not been known to exceed twelve or thirteen
inches in length, and the example selected for description
measured nine inches, which is the more usual size. The
body moderately lengthened, compressed, the proportions much
as in the Herring; the head flattened above and behind the
eyes, narrowest and sinking at the nostrils; jaws equal, the
upper lip wide across, and sloping down to the mouth;
mystache wide and thin; teeth in the jaws few, very slight,
not easily discovered, none in the palate; a circuit of fine
294
POLLAN.
teeth on the tongue; front of the tongue contracted and
lengthened. Eyes lateral, large. Body covered with scales.
Lateral line slightly sinking at first, then straight. First
dorsal fin behind the centre of gravity, with about fourteen
rays; adipose fin posteriorly; tail forked, the rays twenty-three;
anal with twelve, the first ray more than twice the length of
the last. Vent far behind; ventral fins large, and tAvelve rays
counted; (?) pectorals sixteen. Colour on the back dark bluish,
pale yellow on the gill-covers, brilliant white on the sides
and belly; iris yellow, with an orange border. The pectoral
fin in this example measured an inch and one eighth.
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296 powAN.
the Vendace of Lochmabeu and the Salt-water Herring. They
are never seen under any circumstances in the middle of the
day. From the estimation these fish are held in by the neigh-
bouring inhabitants they are seldom sent far before they meet
with a ready sale, and are entirely unknown in the markets of
Glasgow. In the months of August and September they are in
the best condition for the table; when they are considered well
flavoured, wholesome and delicate food. They shed their spawn
in October to December, and remain out of condition until
March."
Their ordinary food appears to be of the insect class.
Length of the example to the fork of the tail eight inches
and a fourth; the shape plump; head rather small, rising towards
the back; the mouth small, snout blunt, deep from its front to
the jaw, the front resembling a small nose. Mystache attached
far forward, contracted near its origin, and then wide, reaching
to the anterior margin of the eye. Nostrils nearer the snout
than to the eye. Eye large, and on its anterior border a
membrane like a nictitating membrane. Head wide across and
a little arched; gill-covers in several divisions. Body covered
with brilliant silvery scales; lateral line with about seventy-five
pores. The dorsal fin lias thirteen rays, the first short, anterior
to the line of the ventrals, the two last together; anal fin with
fourteen rays, the first very small, before the line of the adipose,
its last rays short, two together; the pectoral rises close under
the edge of the gill-cover, ending pointed, reaching a little
longer than half way to the venti'als, the rays fourteen; ventrals
eleven rays, wide; adipose fin unusually wide for so small a
fish; tail lunate, the lobes wide. Colour of the head brown,
with gold-coloured borders and patches; cheeks silvery, as are
the sides and belly. Blueness of the sides and black spots on
the borders of the scales, as described by Dr. Parnell, appeared
only when the fish had been removed from the preserving fluid
and was become dry.
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298 HEBRIDAL SMELT.
Salmo silus by Ascanius, to Avhose writings, however, I have
not access; but it appears that even by writers who must
have known this fish it has been confounded with another
which is like it, as by some it has been called Argentina
Sphyrcena, this latter being a fish of the Mediterranean; and
Nilsson describes two closely-allied fishes of the north, one of
which he designates A. silus, and the other, which is our
Hebridal Smelt, he calls Argentina silus junior. But further,
as a proof that these two fishes are distinct, he specifies the
number of vertebrae in each, those of the larger species (or
A. silus) being sixty-five, while those in our fish are only
fifty-two; a difference too great to be ascribed to a casual
variation in the number, or an error in the counting.
It appears that this fish is not rare in the sea near the
islands to the north of Scotland, and along the coasts of
Norway; and yet I am informed by Mr. John Iverach, of
Kirkwall, in Orknev, that it is not known to the fishermen of
that island; and but little seems to be known of its habit of
going up into fresh water. Its being taken with a baited
hook is proof of its eagerness for food.
To assist observers in further inquiry as to the habits of
this fish, we have copied the figure given of it by Bloch, as
above quoted; and our description is taken in a great measure
from that supplied by Mr. Yarrell. The ordinary size of thi&
fish appears to be seven or eight inches in length, while that
of A, silus, referred to above, is said by Nilsson to be
seventeen inches, the general form being much like that of
the Smelt. Jaws nearly equal; gape small; teeth as described
in the generic character; eye very large; upper surface of
the head flattened, descending to the snout with a rapid
slope. The body covered with large scales, which are easily
lost; the lateral line rather high on the side, and below this
line are two rows of silvery white scales, which run the
length of the body. Nilsson says that in the large species
when young the sides are silvery, but when full grown they
become yellow. The dorsal fin in our fish begins half way
between the point of the nose and the anterior etx'^e of the
adipose fin, and the longest ray nearly twice the length of the
base of the fin; the adipose fin very near the tail; the tail
itself deeply forked. The pectoral fin reaches to the plane of
HKRKTDAL SMKLT. 299
the commencement of the dorsal; the last ray of the anal
fin opposite the posterior edge of the adipose fin. Colour of
the body and hns, except the bright line above mentioned, a
dull amber, gill-covers silvery. The dorsal fin has eleven rays;
pectoral fourteen; ventral twelve, with the usual appendix or
wing; anal twelve: the caudal nineteen.
500
THE LITTLE SILVER-SPOTS.
A LITTLE fish first made known by Pennant with the name
of Sheppy Argentine, is the only British species that has with
certainty been recognised, of a rather numerous family, which
in some of its characters shews an affinity to the Salmon tribe;
but in others it is sufficiently separated from it as to have led
observers to place them in a distinct family. They resemble
the Salmon in having the mystache or maxillary bones separate,
with teeth along the border; but all the teeth are very small,
and the less to be observed as the fishes themselves are of
very small size. They are also marked with an adipose fin on
the back at some distance in front of the tail, but this is of
small size, so that by the first describer and other observers
its existence was not noticed; which circumstance is the more
easily to be explained, as under ordinary circumstances the fish
itself may so far become mutilated that so small an organ cannot
be discerned. It appears also, from my own observation, as of
some others, that on very close examination there have been
detected some minute rays in this fin; which circumstance
removes it still further from the family of the Salmon; in which
latter what is termed the adipose fin is rather an organ of
sensation than of action. In their usual appearance also the
fishes of this section are but distantly allied to the larger
fishes near which they have been classed; but there is a
curious conformation that belongs to them, of which the use
is not evident, but which may be considered a distinguishing
character of the class; and which consists of a regular
arrangement of round and shining dots along the lower border
of the body, from the opening of the gills to the tail; and
Avhich do not possess the nature of scales. Indeed, in what
is to be regarded as a separate genus, there are no scales on
the body, and in no case dots or organs overlap each other.
This family consists of abdominal fishes.
301
MAUROLICUS.
Of the fishes of the family which we have denominated Silver-
Spots, there is only known in the British catalogue a species
which is arranged by Dr. Gunther in the genus here specified, and of
which the character is— the head and body compressed, and covered
with a silver pigment, without scales; a row of shining spots along
the side of the head and body, on each aide of the lower border,
to the tail. Gape wide, opening downward; mystache wide and
long, with teeth on the edge, as also in the jaws; dorsal fin behind
the middle of the body, but before the line of the anal; tail forked.
ARGENTINE.
Sheppy Argentine, FENNiUT.
Scopelus Pennantii, Cl'VIEK.
" borealis, Nilsson. YARRELii; Br. Fishes, vol. ii,
p. 164 and 167.
" " Dk. W. B. Clarke; Charlesworth's Mag.
Nat. Hist., vol. ii, p. 22.
Maurolicus lorealis, Gunther; Cat. Br. Museum, vol. v, p. 389.
There appears to be some ground for the doubt whether
all the examples, now become numerous, which have been
found on the British coasts are of one species, or even of
one genus, as they are now arranged; and this doubt becomes
the more warranted when we find that no less than eight of
these fishes, not very much unlike each other in size and
shape, are said to be natives of the Mediterranean and the
neighbouring ocean, or in the north, any one of which might
be mistaken for another by a casual observer; and so much
the rather since the more distinctive characters are liable to
be mutilated or overlooked. Pennant's first account describes
this fish by copying froui Willoughby what the latter had
written of a different species; and it is so much the more
worthless as both these writers were mistaken in what they
302 ARGENTINE.
have represented; the last-named author having overlooked the
adipose fin of his Argentina, and the former, probably misled
by the name, by having guessed it to be a fish to which
Willoughby's description will not apply. The figure given by
Pennant was obtained from a different example from his first
notice, but the name which he originally applied to it has
been suffered to remain.
Mr. Yarrell was at first content to copy Pennant's figure,
but in his second edition he has added others, in which the
extent of the fins at least, and especially the anal, do not
sheAV exact similarity; and as the likeness which I produce,
although with some imperfection, and Mr. Edward's description,
presently to be referred to, are not in all respects similar to
either of them, the doubt still remains whether more than
one species may not have been obtained in Britain. But
leaving this to be decided by future inquiry, it further
appears that this fish is far from being so scarce as was
formerly supposed, at least within its own particular range.
Low mentions it as found in Orkney, Mr. Peach obtained
it at Wick, and Mr. T. Edward at Banff. At Redcar forty
examples MTre obtained in the months of January and March,
and others since. It has been obtained in Ireland, and five
examples were procured by Mr. E. T. Higgins at Weston, on
the north coast of Somersetshire, where they were taken in
nets set for shrimps; and it is from one of these our figure
and description have been taken. The example was, indeed,
somewhat injured, and in consequence it is not offered as
altogether a perfect representation; but it is judged better to
give a resemblance of an original specimen than a mere copy,
the more especially as our example was perfect in those
particulars, from imperfection in which, as regards others, the
principal doubts have sprung; to which we add that the highest
amount of accuracy in description will be secured, by bringing
together our description and those of Dr. W. B. Clarke in
the "Magazine of Natural History," already referred to, and
another by that indefatigable inquirer Mr. Thomas Edward, of
Banff, as contained in the "Zoologist" for 1863.
This species appears to be limited to the northern portion of
the Atlantic, and no instance is recorded of its having been
seen on the shores of Devonshire and Cornwall, where we may
ARGENTINE. 303
suppose it would have been knowr. if it had been the same
with a species nearly resembling it, inhabiting the Mediterranean,
and presently to be noticed. Nilsson mentions it as met with
on the coasts of Scandinavia; but nowhere do we hear of it
as seen in the open sea; but the larger number of examples
discovered on our shores have been thrown on the beach in
stormy weather, killed with the cold, or entangled in sea-weed.
It has been supposed that they come near our coasts only or
chiefly in the colder months, but those which were obtained
in Somersetshire were taken in July.
The example described, and from which our figure was
taken, in length measured an inch and three fourths, and half
an inch at its greatest depth, which was not far behind the
head. The body compressed; mouth deeply cleft, descending;
under jaw protruding. The head slopes from behind the
eye to the mouth. Eye large, high on the cheek. Behind
the vent the body tapers to the tail. Body and cheeks glistening
like silver; hindmost gill-cover narrow. Dorsal fin above the
interval between the ventrals; but the rays could not be
counted in any fin except the anal, where there were seven;
the second dorsal or adipose fin was too obscure to have been
discovered if not directed to it by description, but on close
observation two or three rays were seen in it; pectoral fins
low, close under the gill-covers; ventrals long and narrow;
tail forked. A few bright and round silvery dots on the gill-
covers, a double row of them along the border of the belly
from the throat to the vent, twelve in number; another double
row from the vent to the beginning of the anal fin, ending
where is a single dot higher on the side; another double row
of twenty-four smaller dots near each other running from thence
to the tail. The lateral line first descends, and then runs
straight to the caudal fin. Colour of the back dark bluish,
blue tints on the belly; and it was observed that when these
examples were taken from the Avater, the bright dots along the
belly bore a reflection of pale green.
Dr. Clarke's example measured almost two inches in length,
and from his figure the shape Avas proportionally much more
lengthened than that we have described; the dorsal fin further
behind; anal fin much more lengthened, the first rays longer
than the others; adipose more distant I'roin the tail; ventrals
304 ARGENTINE.
and anal closer together. He counts the fin rays — of the dorsal
nine, pectoral seventeen, ventral eight, anal twenty, where Mr.
Yarrell makes them fifteen; the tail eighteen. Of the number
of characteristic dots, between the hyoid bone and pectoral fin
five; the upper row on the belly from the pectoral fin to the
spot over the ventrals nine; on the lower line of the belly,
from a spot perpendicularly beneath the hindmost border of
the eye to the base of the ventrals twelve; and from thence to
the anal six, of which the two first are directed downward
and backward; the four hindmost forming an arch from a little
above the second to the commencement of the anal fin. One
large one, in a line with the upper row of the belly, is placed
slightly before, but above the commencement of the anal fin.
Between the beginning of the anal and base of the tail twenty-
four; but between the eighth and ninth from the tail one spot
ajjpears to have been lost.
Mr. Edward's description of an example found by him in
February, at Banff, and of three others since found near the
same spot, is thus given in the "Zoologist:" — The length nearly
two inches, the greatest depth almost half an inch. Colour of
the back dark glossy brown, marked along its whole length
with zigzag lines of a lighter shade, one being on each side of
the dorsal ridge; sides like brightest polished silver with metallic
lustre; belly slate blue; tail deeply forked, greyish white, with
a dark streak across near the base. On the upper lip two
kidney-shaped streaks, one on each side, bluish green; similar
marks but round on the lower lip, giving the mouth when
closed a dark appearance. From the under side of the mouth
three rows on each side of little roundish dots of beautiful light
green; the first passing along the side of the head ends beneath,
but on a line with a back part of the eye; the second lower
down, ends a little beyond the pectoral fin; the other, one on
each side, stretches along the belly, with a slight interruption
at the vent, to the tail, being smaller and closer as they proceed
backwards. The second dorsal fin quite visible and rounded.
There appears to be a near similarity betAveen the fish thus
described by Mr. Edward and our own; but that of Dr. Clark
seems different; and the differences between them are the rather
to be noticed, since, according to Dr. Gunther, the specific
characters of several are not readily noticed. It is thus that
ARGENTINE. S05
a species of the Mediterranean — M. amethystino-punctatus — is
said to be "extremely similar to our recognised species, but
with the body comparatively shorter and the head longer;" a
character which raises the question whether it may not be the
one of" which we have given the figure. There are two other
species known in the same sea, of which an important character
is said to be that the bright dots along the belly are each
one placed on a black globular body.
VOL. IV, 2 K
306
THE FAMILY OF EELS.
The body is much lengthened, covered with a thick and
soft skin, without the visible appearance of scales; openings
of the gills small and simple. The fins without firm or bony
rays; and in the British species the dorsal and anal fins are
united to the tail, thus forming a single fin; no ventral fins,
on which account they are termed apodal fishes. Lateral line
straight when visible.
ANGUILLA.
In addition to the characters of this family given above, this genus
is marked with the presence of pectoral fins, and the openings of the
gills on each side close under these fins. Anguilla, Jonston, pi. 24,
f. 7 and 8; Willougliby, p. 109, pi. G 5. Murcena anguilla, Linnaeus;
Bloch, pi. 72. Murene anguille, Lacepede, who appears undecided
whether the Eels numed by fishermen were varieties or distinct
species; but Cuvier receives them as distinct, with the names
Anguilla verneaux, A. longbec, A. platlec, and A. pimperneaux.
Anguilla vulgaris, Fleming, British Animals, p. 199. A. acutirostris,
Jenyns, Manual, p. 474; Yarrell, British Fishes, vol. ii, p. 381. A.
latirostris, Jenyns, Manual, p. 476; Yarrell, British Fishes, vol. ii, p.
396. A. mediorodris, Jenyns, Manual, p. 477; Yarrell, British Fishes,
vol. ii, p. 399.
It is to be remarked that Aristotle recognised two distinct
species of Eels; but his authority, however great, may have
been less regarded as he also taught that the propagation of
the species was spontaneous, without impregnation, or a
difference of sex.
Indeed while Eels were well known to the Greeks and
Romans, these people had generally confused notions of their
nature, as whether they Avere of one or several kinds, their
origin and mode of increase, and even concerning their ordinary
habits; so that the only thing in which they appear to have
THE FAMILY OF EEI.S. 307
come to a conclusion was that they formed a highly-estrrnuul
and expensive article of fashionable food. Fish of all kinds
were in high favour in Greece in the days of its prosperity,
so that the Avord opsoji, which originally comprised every sort
of food except bread, at last became applied only to fish; but
the Eel was among the highest of these delicacies, and
Aristophanes may be referred to, to shew that a sum equal to
lialf a crown was demanded for an Eel which had been
brought from Lake Copias, in Bocotia, which country was
believed to produce them of the most delicious sort. And
loud, as well as frequent were the denunciations raised against
the fishmongers of these times, as being extortioners who took
advantage of the luxurious cravings of their customers to their
own extravagant profit.
But there was at least a prominent exception to this bias
in favour of these fish in an eminent people of antiquity, and
the Egyptians held them even in abhorrence; for which the
reason assigned by Herodotus is that in that country they
were regarded as sacred to the deity of the Nile, but which
Lucian appears to explain by intimating that some evil demon
was embodied in the fish; and this explanation is countenanced
by what is said by Anaxandrides, the Rhodian poet, to an
Egyptian:—
"You fancy in the little Eel some power
Of demon huge and terrible;"
and it may have been for the same reason that Numa forbad
its being offered on the altar of a god; while on the other
hand, as I quote from Bloch, the Ba;otians, whose Eels were
best esteemed, were accustomed to use them as sacred offerings.
Whether its being tabooed as food in the Islands of the South
Sea, (and the only fish that is so,) may be due to the same
idea, derived from a remote ancestry, appears uncertain.
With the ancients also the Avay in which the race was con-
tinued was eminently a subject of doubt or mistake; as indeed
it remained to a very modern date; and several writers of some
eminence have been so far in error as to have mistaken parasitic
animals in Eels, and even those of other fishes, for the young
of these species. Lacepede believed them to be bred within the
body ol the parent, although after diligent search he was not
308 THE FAMILY OF EKLS.
able to find them there; and Spallanzani, led by the same
opinion, and to account for his own want of success in this
search, explained it by saying that the parents went down to
the sea to produce their young; and consequently were then
beyond his reach. This remark is indeed to a large extent
true, although not in the way in which he understood it; but
whether there exists some difference in this respect in what are
now recognised as different species, has not yet been inquired
into.
As regards the difference of species among Eels, we have
seen that' Aristotle had no doubt, and in this he is followed
by Jonston; but while naturalists of a later date were content
to bury themselves in the obscurity of the ancients, fishermen
were persuaded of the existence of several kinds; tbus antici-
pating the conclusion of recent naturalists, who now describe
three which have been discovered in our own country, and of
which we have some supposition as regards a fourth; although
in respect of the exact nature of one of them, some hesitation
may still remain. Of the distinguishing habits of each of these
species there is little known with certainty; for which reason it
has been judged best to describe in the first place what appears
to be common to all of them, and to reserve such particulars
as are peculiar to each until we come to the description of the
individual species.
With some reserve as regards the several sorts we have no
knowledge of any fishes that are so widely distributed over the
world as Eels. Mr. Lowe speaks of them as being the only
native fresh-water fish of Madeira; where they abound in
torrents up to the height of about five hundred feet above the
sea; and Fabricius mentions them among the fishes of Greenland.
They are common in every rivulet in the British Islands, and
over the continent of Europe; and especially abundant in the
countries bounding the north and east of the Mediterranean.
We hear of them also in Japan and portions of China, with
other (temperate) portions of Asia; but Philip Von Strahlenberg,
in his "Travels in Siberia," informs us that they are not found
in the rivers of that country. It has been commonly believed
that no Eels are met with in the Danube; but the contrary
is affirmed by Dr. Reisinger, in his "Ichthyology of Hungary,"
who says he has known them there, although not in abundance.
THE FAMILY OF EELS. 309
but sometimes of the weight of twenty pounds. In Hungary
they are found in large numbers in lakes and ponds.
Yet although inhabiting countries distinguished by such a
variety of climate, these fish are known to be deeply sensible
of changes of the season, and more especially when these changes
are sudden. Severe cold is in a high degree irksome and
injurious, to escape from which it is a usual resource to bury
themselves in the sand or soil at the bottom of the river, or
to creep into the recesses of the bank, where, in the accustomed
hole, they have been careful to know there is more than one
safe outlet for escape in case of danger; and here, for the sake
of warmth, large numbers have been known to assemble together;
as has been found the case also when buried in the mud at
the bottom. In spite of this, however, Spallanzani records that
in a cold winter so many Eels were killed in the marshes of
Commachio near Venice, as weighed something more than six
thousand six hundred pounds. But there is reason to believe
that when even severe cold is gradual in its approach, it is a
state of torpidity, and not death, that is produced. In the
"Annual Register" for 1778, p. 99, Dr. King is quoted as
saying, on the authority of the Russian Consul, that in Russia
Eels are designedly exposed to the frost in order that they may
be carried safely to a distance. They are then packed in straw,
and after four days, when thrown into cold water, they become
perfectly recovered. Other examples of similar facts might be
produced; and it seems probable that in the sea they find a
higher amount of protection and comfort than anywhere in
fresh water; and in the milder climate of Cornwall, when the
ebbing tide had left a sheet of ice on the shore, large Eels,
which had been taken from holes in a pier left almost dry,
were found still in possession of their usual activity; but the
philosophical experiments of John Hunter have placed their
history in this respect in an intelligible and satisfactory light.
With a thermometer formed for the purpose he found the heat
of the stomach in an Eel to be 37°; and then, having placed
the fish in a cold mixture, which at first he ascertained to be
at 10°, but which afterwards was reduced to a still colder
temperature, the heat of the stomach was brought down to
31°, and the creature appeared to be dead; and yet on the
following day it had become restored to life and activity.
310 THE FAMILY OF EELS.
This illustrious physiologist remarks further, that the presence
of life allowed the vital heat to be lowered to two or three
degrees below the freezing point; but after this it resisted all
further decrease; and when the powers of life had become
expended by the exertion of thus resisting decrease, the creature
became frozen like any other dead matter.
An I^el in a weak condition was found to have the heat of
its stomach at 44°, which was at the same time the temperature
of the air. It was then put into water heated to 65°, _ and
kept there for fifteen minutes; in which time the fish had
acquired the same heat as the water; and it was noticed that
a living and a dead Eel received an equal amount of heat and
cold in an equal length of time; and he appears to think that
if the whole body of a fish should become really frozen, it
would have become past recovery by thawing. As a frog was
found to be able to digest its food when the heat was at 60°,
but to have lost that power when it was below 40°, the same
appeared to be the case with the Eel; which circumstance will
explain wdiat has been observed of this fish in captivity; and
in a short series of observations on the upward migration of
young Eels, we have noticed that they do not shew themselves
while the temperevture of the stream is below the annual medium
temperature of the air.
There is no need that our attention should be engaged in
giving an account of the surmises which were hazarded on
the subject of the productive organs of these fish, the error
of which was caused by the expectation of finding in their
bodies a close resemblance of the milt and roe of most othei
fishes, to which, however, their organs of propagation bear in
some particulars but a distant likeness. But their situation in
the body is the same, and both the milt and roe lie along
the course of the back in a double, thin, and convoluted
stripe, which bears the appearance of fat rather than an organ
embedding grains of seed, which are in reality enveloped in
an oily substance, the use of which appears to be to afford
protection against changes of temperature that might be hurtful
to the spawn before it is shed. That the small grains embedded
within this soft and greasy covering are truly the spawn of
the fish is proved by the examination I have been able to
make, as also by the inquiries of other observers. Thus a
THE FAMILY OK EELS. 311
portion of this lop was placed in a microscope, when there
were distinguished a large number of globular grains, some of
which, according to the notes then made, "were a hundred
times larger than others; from whence the conclusion is that
some are approaching to maturity, and that their exclusion is
in succession;" a fact rendered certain by repeated observation.
It is added: — "It is impossible to imagine that all these
could ever have been hatched within the body, and still less
without the circumstance having been long since ascertained.
The small size of the orifice of egress is also a proof of the
same thing."
When this roe was burned in the flame of a candle it
gave out a strong and peculiar smell, which resembled that of
the roe of a Ling or other fish when roasted, in proof of
which it was submitted to the judgment of one who was
well acquainted with such a smell, but who was not aware of
the object of inquiry; and the opinion of its nature was
decisive. The examination of this subject extended over
several years from 1828, but the subject was further traced
by my late son, Richard Quiller Couch, while residing at
Penzance, the particulars of which were communicated to the
"Zoologist," 1847, p. 1830, "Last summer," he observes, "I took
a quantity of mud from a spot much frequented by Eels, and
carefully examined it to see if there were any (ova) in it;
and, after testing several specimens without success, I was at
last gratified by observing the Eels, small and transparent,
lying on the surface almost motionless. They rapidly grew,
and in ten days acquired strength and size to swim about."
It seems certain that when there is no hindrance these
fish will choose the sea, in harbours chiefly, in which to shed
their spawn, where it is scattered loosely in the sand or soil,
and from whence it may be dislodged and washed into deeper
water without injury; but there is proof also that it is
sometimes deposited at the bottom of a stream of fresh water;
and at a meeting of the British Association for Science a
gentleman mentioned as within his own knowledge, that on
the last day of August a considerable number of young Eels
were seen to rise up through a small opening in the sand
at the bottom of a small stream — the Ravensbourne; which
fact was further confirmed by the observation of another
312 THE FAMILY OF EELS.
gentleman of high scientific acquirements. As evidence to the
same purpose we quote some remarks from a paper in the
"Quarterly Review", written, I may be permitted to observe,
by the Rev. William Houghton, F.L.S., of Preston Rectory,
near Wellington, Shropshire; in which he refers to Mr. Young,
who, by digging in the month of October in the gravel
banks of the River Shin, found the place, as he says, "alive
with young Eels, some of them scarcely hatched, at the
depth of from five to fifteen inches." ^
At the place where a river passes into the sea, the salt
water, from its greater specific gravity, flows beneath the
fresh, and there the young Eels are seen to mount from
below into the latter, although perhaps the downward current
may oflfer a more considerable obstruction to their progress.
This passage upward is performed by day, and it is said to
be suspended after night; but these little active creatures, all
of which are of one size, and not larger in the body than a
darning-needle, are persevering in their exertions, and, as far
as I have observed, go on in a loose arrangement near the
bank; but in the larger and deeper rivers they are described
as forming a closely-compacted company, in a rather narrow
but long extended column, where they are ready to seize the
advantage of every eddy or slack water in order to ease the
labour of their efforts. A formidable obstruction causes them
to sink to the bottom, and perhaps to hide themselves, but
the exertion is again renewed, and never without ultimate
success.
They are known to climb up over high and steep ascents,
even to the extent of twenty feet above the water, when these
stand in their way; and this they do not only with perseverance,
but with no small amount of skill; of which we possess some
remarkable evidence from observation. This passing upward is
indeed in some degree regulated by the state of the season, as
being mild or cold; for while very young Eels have been
obtained at the ebb of the tide so early as the 2nd. of January,
after watching a river with care they have not been observed
passing up the stream until the middle of March, and rarely
even then. The more usual season begins with April, but
may not be until May, after which they do not cease through
the. day, except under particular circumstances, presently to be
THK FAMILY OF EELS. 313
mentioned, until the antnmnal eq'.iinox; beyond which no more
have been discovered. The hindrances here referred to are the
accident of a muddy condition of the water, which is distasteful
to the old Eels as well as to the young, so that the former
will quit a river or pool to avoid it; and also a very low state
of the stream, when they do not avoid it or lie still from the
merely deficient quantity of water, for a dribbling of what is
pure will lead them onward, but from its polluted condition,
of which these fish are quickly sensible. When thus situated
in consequence of the dryness of the season, no Eels have
been seen to pass for five or six weeks; while afterwards an
abundant fall of rain has been soon followed by an upward
migration; which at this early stage of their existence appears
to be essential to their well-being.
But although delayed by a muddled or nauseous condition
of the water, Eels are not to be hindered by mechanical
difficulties; and it is amusing to trace the means to which they
have recourse in passing over barriers that might seem inac-
cessible to their efforts. It was at a time when a moderate
but rapid stream had from dry weather become a small cascade,
that the only way of ascent was up the declivity of a perpen-
dicular rock, from which on one side hung some moss and
herbage into the water below. When these Eels in succession
came to this place they moved about rapidly near where the
stream fell down from above, and presently disappeared; when
looking more closely it was seen that on one side of the pro-
jecting rock they had crept among the fibres of the moss that
hung downward, and were moving upwards with wriggling
motion, like worms; but resting at times and taking care to
keep at a safe distance from the falling current. At last they
reached the top and settled into rest, with the head a little
stretched out into the river; but after a time, seizing a favourable
moment of recovered energy, they put out their renewed strength
and moved upward in the stream. Those of them, however,
which had taken the other side of the rock were differently
situated, and their task was to thrust themselves over a sloping
surface by dint of their unaided exertions; in accomplishing
which some quitted the water altogether; but they still kept
on a moist portion of the ascent, up which by a slow and
laboriously serpentine action they contrived to urge their way
VOL. IV, 2 S
314 THE FAMILY OF E^LS.
to reach at last some moss, the support of which they hastily
made use of to secure success. It was amusing to observe
that it would sometimes happen that a head would be thrust
out into the current, where observation shewed that it ran by
too strong to be encountered, and then it was withdrawn to
seek a more favourable spot; while others venturing thus too
far were washed down the current, and had the labour to go
over again. On one occasion while watching this continued
succession of Eels, a Flounder made two attempts to stem this
downward current, but these efforts were without success.
Similar to the extended notice of this migration that we have
given is one by Mr. Arderon, in the Transactions of the Royal
Society, vol. xliv, who saw them as they passed up the flood-
gates of the water-works at Norwich, of the height of six feet,
in order to reach the water above; and we close our account
of this interesting subject of the influence of instinct with an
extract bearing on the same, from Jesse's second series of
"Gleanings in Natural History," where, referring to the Thames,
he says, "At the locks at Teddington and Hampton the young
Eels have been seen to ascend the large posts of the flood-
gates, in order to make their way when the gates have been
shut longer than usual. Those which die stick to the posts;
others, which get a little higher, meet with the same fate,
until at last a sufficient layer of them is formed to enable the
rest to overcome the difficulty of the passage. A curious instance
of the means which young Eels will have recourse to in order
to accomplish their migrations, is annually proved in the neigh-
bourhood of Bristol. Near that city there is a large pond,
immediately adjoining which is a stream. On the bank between
these two waters a large tree grows, the branches of which
hang into the pond. By means of these branches the young
Eels climb up into the tree, and from thence let themselves
drop into the stream below, thus migrating to far-distant waters,
where they increase in size, and become useful and beneficial
to man. A friend of mine, who was a casual witness of this
circumstance, informed me that the tree appeared to be quite
alive with those little animals. The rapid and unsteady motion
of the boughs did not appear to impede their progress."
Mr. Thompson informs us, from Mr. Patterson's work on
Zoology for schools, that in Ireland fishermen have had the
Ttra FAMILY OF EELS. 315
wisdom to provide haybands, which are hung over the rocTty
parts of rivers to help the Eels in overcoming the obstructions
which lie in their way; and Mr. Daniel, in his Supplement to
Kural Sports, further says that in the same country a kind of
fishery is employed by means of ropes of straw laid across the
stream, into which these Eels entangle themselves, and thus
are drawn on shore. Within my own observation, when these
young Eels have quitted the water, and are come to a dry
spot, they have always turned away in search of moisture,
which they follow; and so when a season is dripping with wet,
they sometimes wander into extraordinary situations. Thus,
when a leaden pipe which conveyed water from the roof of a
house to a cistern, that was fifteen feet above the ground,
had become obstructed, and in consequence a portion of it was
cut off, the pressure of the water in the upper part was seen
to thrust out, head foremost, three Eels, each twenty-two inches
in length, and no two of which were able to pass each other
in the tube. Instances of a similar kind are mentioned by Mr.
Thompson, in his 'Natural History of Ireland.' The fate of
these young Eels for the most part appears uncertain; but the
numbers Avhich again pass downward are seen to be con-
siderably less than can be accounted for without supposing
that they meet with many devourers; among which man may
be the least formidable, although in some places these little
fish are sought after, and are formed into cakes to be fried as
food. On one occasion there were for sale in the market at
Exeter two cartloads of them, so small as not to exceed the
size of a stocking-needle, and each load weighing four hundred-
weight. These were already prepared for the table, and were
dispensed to customers at fourpence the pound.
Among these early migrating young Eels there are occasionally
found examples which are distinguished by remarkable trans-
parency, so that the internal organs^ with the action of the
heart and blood-vessels, can be easily traced. These are popularly
termed Elvers, although this name is sometimes applied indis-
criminately to all young Eels, but I have not been able to
decide that this transparency is a character of any one of the
species of this family as distinguished from the others I have
not known thera to form one of the company of migrating
young black ones high in the fresh water, except in the Fowey
316 THE FAMILY OF EELS.
river, -where they kept together; but they have been met with
as well in January as in June; and after a confinement of a
few weeks in a tank there has not been an approach to a
change in the appearance. In one instance a sketch shewed
the snout remarkably protruded and sharp, and in another
decidedly blunt.
But in addition to this early and regular tendency to
migration, these fish are also occasionally disposed to a casual
wandering; which is sometimes caused by the wish to escape
from the confined limits of a pool, to which a vagrant pro-
pensity has carried them, or in which they have been placed;
and where the water has become muddled or is nauseous.
Thus an Eel of considerable size was placed in a muddy pool
in a dry season; and soon afterwards, having examined the
border in all directions, it left the water and passed over the
dry ground to a neighbouring river. AVlien also, in the course
of examination into the structure and habits of these fish,
examples were placed in vessels of pure water, which was kept
a few inches below the brim, it was observed in every case
that they soon made their escape, which was always effected
in the night. In some instances these runaways were discovered
in the street, as they were on their way to the river, and
brought back; but they remained no longer than until the
return of darkness; and these escajDcs were through passages
not easily j)erceived, or to be guarded.
The manner in which these fish manage to pass over the
edge of the vessel in which they have been confined, is not
less characteristic than is the structure and facility of action
of the organ by which it is accomplished, in which respect,
as we shall see, they much resemble the Conger. Of the
larger number of vertebrae with which they are furnished,
amounting, according to Lacepede, to a hundred and sixteen,
those nearest the tail are so formed as to allow of great flexibility;
by which, as may be familiarly noticed, these little creatures,
when meddled with, are in the habit of tying this extremity
into a knot; but the sensibility of the part in feeling, and
that of a peculiar kind, is also great; and it is supported by
a special organization of which by and by there will be given
a more particular description. It is by this combination of
structure that these fish are able, first, to ascertain the nature
THE FAMILY Ol' EELS. ol7
of the boundaries within which they are confined, and then
to apply their handlike tail so as to grasp the edge, and by
a convoluted contraction or retraction of the muscles to lift
the body over.
There are times also when this wandering propensity of the
Eel appears to be brought into action by a craving for some
unusual kind of food, or it may be, even for the mere love
of adventure. An Eel has been taken on the land by means
of a hook baited with a worm, and set to catch a bird. It
is said to have been known to devour newly-sown peas in a
garden; and I have been credibly assured that one was found
in a field of turnips at the distance of a quarter of a mile
from a river; all which circumstances, with other direct proofs,
afford evidence that these fish are able to live for a long time
out of the water; which circumstance is indeed explained by
the fact that their gills are closely shut up from the drying
influence of air, and that from being smeared over with glutinous
moisture, the skin is always preserved from becoming dry,
which process of drying is the cause of death in many species
of marine animals.
It has been disputed whether the growth of Eels is speedy
or exceedingly slow; and Lacepede had formed the opinion of
its being so greatly delayed, that many years must pass before
they can reach the size in which they are usually found; but
to compensate for this, he supposed their natural length of life
to be lengthened to almost a hundred years. And in support
of these suppositions he adduces the authority of a friend who
placed in a tank sixty of these fish of very small size; where
after nine years they had only increased from the length of
nineteen centimetres to twenty-six; but this writer takes no
note of the food supplied, nor does he appear to be aware
of the effect of limited confinement on the growth of fishes;
and his conclusion is disproved by an experiment of his
countryman M. Coste, who placed young Eels in a reservoir,
with a sufficient supply of food, and in four or five years they
had attained the weight of from four to six pounds'.
Mr. Daniel produces an authentic instance of an Eel which
lived in a well for at least upwards of thirty-one years; but
we cannot venture to admit his supposition that in Lough
Neagh they have grown in four months from the size of small
318 THE FAMILY OF EELS.
pack-thread to tliat of a man's wrist or leg; and our observation
leads us to tliink that the very young ones of about three
inches in length, which have gone upward in the spring, at
their return in the autumn are larger than a swan-quill, or in
some cases even of the size of the little finger of a child.
Whether any remain in fresh water through the winter, in
cases where a passage downward could be accomplished without
difficulty, appears uncertain; but it seems certain that the larger
number reverse the course which they took in the earlier
months of the year; and in doing this the season also is alto-
gether reversed. Instead of the day the darkest night is chosen;
and moonlight or even a bright light effectually delays the
movement; while a sky that is overcast and a murky air afford
strong enticement to action. It is on these occasions that large
numbers are caught in baskets of wicker-work, which are placed
across the streams they frequent, with an open mouth presented
across the current.
But restless and wandering as is the Eel, there are times
and situations in which it indulges in a state of rest or
apathy, which may be even a condition of profound sleep;
and from which it may not be easily roused. In the second
volume of the "Zoologist," the Eev. J. C. Atkinson observes,
'*In the broad fleets on the marshes during hot weather in
summer, they seem to bask near the surface of the water,
resting meanwhile on the support of the weeds; and on being
disturbed by a boat, or, if lying near the side, by a
passer-by, they quickly descend, making a kind of disturbance
in the water, which exactly resembles that caused by the
emergence and instantaneous re-immersion of the dabchick.
Sometimes on these occasions the Eel in its attempt to descend,
throws itself completely out of the water. On a calm summer's
evening I have seen them in some waters throwing themselves
out much after the manner of the Porpoise when leaping;
performing, that is, a kind of summersault. I have witnessed
this but rarely, and never in streams."
We have observed that these fish are at all times highly
sensitive to cold; and when it is severe, its earliest effect is
to deaden their appetite for food; at which time they seek
shelter in some retreat, where they can hide themselves in a
bed of mud; or creep into a hole in the bank of the stream;
THE FAMILY OF EELS. 319
where they have been discovered huddled together in large
numbers, apparently for the purpose of mutual warmth. In
spite of this, however, when the cold has become intense, it
has had an influence more or less fatal according to the sudden-
ness or otherwise of its approach. If the chill be sudden, we
have already said that the effect is a condition of torpidity,
from which restoration is possible; but if the attack be more
gradual, or with casual intermissions the result is mortal; and
very large numbers have then been discovered frozen to death:
an instance of which in enormous quantities as occurring in
the marshes of Commachio, in the neighbourhood of Venice,
where they are the objects of a large trade, is mentioned by
Spallanzani, and reported by Lacepede. Yet it is remarked
that they survive the cold winters of Greenland with impunity;
for perhaps the ice itself may prove a protection in their better
shelter, by its non-conducting power and little liability to
variation.
Eels have been seen to devour the leaves of cress as they
float in the water; but their ordinary food is animal, of which,
however various, it is essential that it shall be fresh, and it is
more acceptable if alive; for their senses of smell and taste are
quick to reject what is even slightly tainted. But when pressed
with hunger they become voracious, and instances are reported
where they have laid hold of living animals of no small size
and formidable nature. The waterhen, and in several instances
a rat, have been found in the stomach of an Eel; and on
examining one that was found floating on the River Tamar, a
snake only a little less than the Eel itself was found in its
stomach.
But on the other hand they are liable to the depredations
of several enemies; of which when of large growth the otter
is perhaps the most formidable; and the heron also destroys
many, although not always without danger to itself. More than
one instance has been known in which, while its powerful bill
has pierced the body of its prey, the agony of the fish has
caused it to twine itself round the neck of its foe and hinder
its flight, or cause its death. A contest between a cormorant
and Eel for victory and life is not a little interesting; and the
more so as an active Eel is not easily persuaded to pass into
or remain in the capacious stomach of its foe. A cormorant
320 THE FAMILY OF EKT.S.
■was seen wltli its tliroat and neck much distended; but observing
that itself was closely watched, it endeavoured to get to a
distance, in doing which its efforts to retain or swallow its
prize appeared to have become relaxed, which an Eel seized
the advantage of and escaped from its jaws with great activity.
The bird immediately dived after it, and again brought the
captive to the surface; but experience had taught the lesson
that something further was needed before another attempt
should be made to gulp down the prey. Violent and repeated
pecks were made with the powerful bill along the length of
the fish; and then, supposing it to be sufFiciently disabled, it
was taken up and held across the mouth as if to be swallowed.
So much liveliness remained, however, to shew that the fish
was not yet rendered sufficiently limp and helpless, and it was
again treated in the same way as before, with repeated pecks,
until it was reduced to a condition to prevent all further fear
of any effort to escape.
As food among ourselves Eels have been valued differently
in different districts; for while in the west of England they
are little esteemed, and in Scotland are altogether rejected, in
London the sale is said to be at the value of £20,000 yearly,
and the numbers sold in Billingsgate in the same time are
little short of ten millions. Turner remarks in his "History
of the Anglo-Saxons," that in the fifth century, and we may
add, probably long before, when the agriculture of Britain was
the best that was known among civilized nations, a portion of
it consisted in appropriating the marshy grounds to the breeding
of Eels; and this practise continued at least through the middle
ages, having probably been learnt from the Romans while
settled in our island; for we have reason to believe that these
people were accustomed to procure these favourite delicacies
from their own marshes, and we do not find them mentioned
by Columella as being kept in their magnificent fishponds.
Venerable Bede, who lived in the north of England, in his
"History of the Anglo-Saxon Church," mentions only two sorts
of fisheries for which Britain was famous, which were for
Salmon and Eels; and the value set on these last-named fi^h
at luxurious and noble tables may in some measure be judged
from an incident related of the magnificence of the famous
Archbishop Thomas a' Becket, who, when he travelled in France,
THE FAMILY OF KET,S. 821
expended the large sum of a hundred shillings in a dish of
Eels. Nor was this altogether a solitary instance, and as a
further example of the interest felt in these delicacies, it
appears by a charter granted by King Ethelred, in the year
998, or rather by Bishop Wilson's grant, that the monks of
Salisbury were entitled to the tithes of Eels taken from the
fishponds, together with the right of taking fish with a net
in the vivaria or stews, for one day in the year. Also when
Terracina, a sea-port of Italy, was besieged by the Turks, the
inhabitants made a vow that they would give twenty thousand
Eels to Saint Benedict yearly, if by his intercession they
should be delivered from the danger to which they were
exposed. A few days afterwards the Turks raised the siege;
and in gratitude the Eels Avere carried every year to the
Benedictine Monks until modern times. — (Misson's Travels.)
In the poem "Breton's Ourania" we read —
"The Silver Eel,
Whicli millers taken in their ozier weele,
Dwell in the rivers as principall fish,
And given to Pan to garnish thy dish."
At a later date also Tusser recommends, —
"Put Eels in stew
To leave till Lent,
And then to be spent."
But they were not thought altogether favourable to health; and
in an ancient book of repute on the practise of physic,
"Resimen Sanitatis Salerniae," it is said: —
■o'
"Who knows not physic shovild be nice and choice
In eating Eels, because they hurt the voice:
Both Eels and cheese, without good store of wine
Well drunk with them, offend at any time."
It may be supposed that the different kinds of Eels are
caught indiscriminately, and we shall by and by take occasion
to mention the difference of proportion which thus they may
be supposed to bear to each other; but taken together it is
estimated that little short of ten millions of these fish are
brought yearly to Billingsgate, chiefly from Holland; so that
when a tax was paid on the importation of them, it amounted
in one year to almost a thousand pounds.
VOL. IV. 2 T
322 THE FAMILY OF EELS,
We may observe, as bearing on the anatomical characters
common to each species of Eel, that, as in the development
of embryo fishes the ventral fins are the last to make their
appearance, their being altogether wanting in this genus has
been thought to imply that the race is of an inferior kind
in the scale of nature, as compared Avith several others; and
something similar might be judged from the deficient devel-
opment of the scales, the absence of which has been supposed
in these fish. Their skin is known to be thick and tough,
so that when stripped from the body, as is cruelly done
when the fish is prepared for cooking, in some countries it
is in common use as a bag or purse — a fact referred to by
Shakespeare; and we are informed that in ancient times it
was employed as a whip to enforce discipline in schools. On
the fish its thickness and slimy texture are of service in
preventing the escape of the moisture within the body which
is of importance to the life of the animal when exposed to
the air: but the scales which are embedded in it are not
easily discerned, and therefore have been supposed to be
altogether deficient, thus offering a striking contrast to fishes
which on that account have been supposed more perfectly
organized. Thus, taking as an example the family of Plerrings,
the scales in them are so far protruded that only a small
portion of each remains attached to the skin, and that portion
is a film of the slightest texture. In other fishes, as the Sole,
it is only a small portion of the scale that is protruded,
while in Eels all the scale is kept within the skin, where it
lies embedded beneath the outer layer, or scarf-skin, with the
edge of each not overlapping the next, but lying side by side.
In the Conger the skin is altogether deficient of scales, but
to obviate the conclusion that these apparent deficiencies of
development are marks of a low condition of these creatures
in the scale of nature, the far more important organizations of
the brain and nervous system, and even of the muscles, are
displayed in a higher degree than in a large proportion of
other fishes; and in consequence the faculties of intelligence
are in a corresponding condition of perfection. Thus the
brain is of considerable length with its lobes Avell marked;
and the nerves of special sense, which are those of the ear,
taste, and smell, are large and highly sensitive; so that few
THE FAMILY OF EELS. 323
fishes are better qualified to discern external objects, or to
employ their faculties in their own pursuits; and several
instances have been mentioned of the consciousness they have
shewn of kind treatment, so as to have become familiar with
those who offered them food. Aristotle has noticed that they
were attracted with agreeable scents, and Ellis says of some
in the South Sea Islands that they came to be fed at the
sound of a sharp whistle.
The remarkable sensibility of touch in the tail of this
family of fishes has been already noticed, but we owe to Dr.
Marshall Hall the knowledge of a particular organization of
the blood-vessels of this part, which beyond doubt is closely
connected with the uses to which this organ is sometimes
applied. This eminent inquirer remarks, "It has been supposed
that the pulmonic heart alone, with the aid of some subsidiary
powers of the circulation, propelled the blood. I have dis-
covered in one species of fish that, which will lead us to
view this opinion with distrust, and which will point out to
us the fact of an unsuspected addition to the power and
action of the heart in some species of animals. This structure
is seen, even with the naked eye, in the tail of the Eel.
Its form, action, and connexions are, from the degree of
transparency of the part, still better traced by the assistance
of the microscope. Placed under this instrument, a particular
spot near the extremity of the tail of the Eel, easily dis-
covered, has the appearance represented" in "the drawing of
the ventricle of this caudal heart. The different vessels unite
and form a connexion with this ventricle near its highest
point."
The course pursued by the blood in these vessels "uniformly
tends towards the highest point of the ventricle; from this
point it seems to be slowly propelled or draAvn into the ventricle;
by a sudden contraction of this it is gathered into a drop, and
propelled with great velocity, and at first with the peculiar
appearance of successive drops, along a vessel which ascends
along the inferior spinal canal, and which must, although it
pursues a direction towards the heart, be considered an artery."
"Tlie action of this caudal heart is entirely independent of the
pulmonic heart; while the latter beats sixty, the former beats
one hundred and sixty times in a minute. It continues for a
324 THE FAMILY OF EELS.
very long time after the influence of the pulmonic heart is
entirely removed. The vessels which issue from the caudal
heart appear to have a particular distribution to the spinal
marrow;" but it is evident from the figure that the current of
blood is directed to, and not from the orifice or outlet forward
from the caudal heart; so that these smaller vessels collect tiie
blood into this organ, and do not distribute it.
Another remarkable organization in this genus, or at least
in the Eel and Conger, but of which the use is as yet unknown,
is described by the Rev. W. Houghton, F.L.S., in the "Journal
of Microscopical Science," with a plate, vol. iv, N.S., but which
requires further investigation. He remarks that having been
occupied at intervals in dissecting a number of Eels and a
couple of Congers, he observed the invariable presence of
two subtriangular openings in the fleshy portion of the head,
just at its juncture with the spinal column. His first impression
in regard to the use of these orifices was that they were
connected with the auditory organs; but, he adds, although
Mr. Cholmondeley Pennell, in his work, "The Angler Natur-
alist," asserts the presence of an ear or auditory aperture
amongst the mucous pores about the head, from the most
minute examination of a large number of the heads of Eels,
he confidently affirms that no such auditory aperture exists.
Upon inserting a bristle in each of the orifices above
referred to, and clearing away the flesh, each bristle was found
to have traversed a closed-in tube in the skull, and to have
come out just above the bone of the orbit; but on close
observation they were found to have no connection with the
organ of hearing. These tubes are very slender, and each one
of them terminates in a membranous fold in the tissue just
beneath the skin, above the eye; which fold contains a thin
fluid, that does not bear any resemblance to mucus. It may
have some connection with the habits or faculties of these fish,
that the whole of the optic nerve does not proceed to be
joined to the optic lobe of the brain; but that portion of it
which passes to another part of the brain must be connected
with some other function besides that of discerning outward
objects.
It is a character of this family to have also an air-bladder
of considerable size ; at the middle of which is wh^t may be
THE FAIMILY OF F.ET.S. 325
denominated a gland, with conspicuous blood-vessels; by the
action of" which the air is secreted into the bag.
It may be deserving of notice, further, that while the common
name of the Eel is of Anglo-Saxon origin, the word Fausen
was anciently used for it, as it was also by Chapman in his
translation of Homer. Junius also, in his "Dictionary Nomen-
clator Octolinguis," 1619, says, "Fausen, praegrandis fausen,
Eels;" which appears to confine the word to the larger examples;
"Minime, Grigs, media Scaffling dicitor." Skinner also and
others thus explain the Avord, and Hilpert says "Fausen — der
meeraal" — the Sea-Eel or Conger. — "Notes and Queries."
<n
2G
SHARP-NOSED EEL.
Anguilla acufirostris.
This is tlie most abundant and most valued of tlie British
species of Eels; and in Ireland we observe that in letting to
rent the right of taking fish in rivers, (in Ulster,) that of fishing
for Eels is to be undertaken separately from the fishery for
Salmon. As the best known of this family, therefore, it is in
a special manner the subject of the observations that have been
made on the habits and history of the race; with the reserve
of such distinctions only as will be given in our notice of the
kindred kinds.
Mr. Thompson has given an account of the large numbers
of these fish which have been caught in his native Ireland;
but there appears to exist along the northern shores of the
]\Iediterranean, so far east as Greece, a more regular fishery
for Eels than with us; and it is there carried on from
Michaelmas to the "Feast of the Kings," chiefly by means of
wicker baskets sunk in the sea. When cauarht the fish are
killed by being buried in salt; and then they are salted in
bulk in three divisions according to tlieir size; the first being
such as weigh from a pound and a half to seven pounds, and
the third from two ounces to half a pound. With us the
smaller Eels are sometimes jjotted or maranaded; but we have
reason to kno'w that Congers of small size are thus not
unfrequently made to pass for Eels. An amusing account of
the cookery and sale of Eels at Naples may be seen in Dr.
Badham's work, entitled "Fish Tattle."
According to their usual growth, an example that weighs
half a dozen pounds is considered large; but there are instances
on record which have greatly exceeded this. A fisherman
brought the information of one, which was the largest he had
(Ill
1
7
~rTY
.A USA
STTAKP-XOSED EEL. 327
ever seen, and weighed ten pounds. One which was caught
in Hackney River, is noticed to have been of the weight of
twenty-seven pounds, and there is a notice of an example taken
in the Medway, not far from Rochester, which weighed thirty-
four pounds, and measured six feet in length, with a girth of
twenty-five inches; but even this is exceeded by an instance
mentioned by Mr. Daniel, of one taken in Kent, which weighed
forty pounds, and in length measured five feet nine inches,
but, strangely, its girth is said to be (only) eighteen inches.
I possess a printed note of one that weighed sixty-two pounds;
but I must confess that I regard this as apocryphal. The
general proportions of this fish are lengthened, flexible, at
first round, compressed backwards from the vent. The head
rounded over the top, from a meeting of the muscles of the
face, tapering forward to the snout, which is moderately slender,
and at its point are two sharp perforated barbs; another obscure
pair of nostrils; under jaw protruding beyond the upper; lips
fleshy; small teeth in both jaws; cheeks full; eyes small, opposite
the corner of the mouth. Orifice of the gills small, with a
soft border, the opening in front of and a little below the root
of the pectoral fin. Lateral line straight; the surface of the
skin soft and slimy, so as to render it difficult, even to a
proverb, to hold the living fish in the grasp. In an example
twenty-five inches and a quarter in length, the distance from
the point of the upper jaw to the origin of the pectoral fin
was three inches, and to the first rays of the dorsal fin eight
inches; to the vent eleven inches; from which point begins the
anal fin; the colour of diff'erent degrees of intensity of dark
brown or green, the belly yellowish or white; the cheeks
lighter; eye pink, red, or yellow; pectoral fin dark blue; other
fins generally the colour of the body.
328
DUBLIN EEL.
Angidlla Hibermca, Nobis.
We have already noticed the likeness which the different
species of Eels bear to each other, and the influence this has
had in preventing those which are truly distinct from being
at all times clearly separated from others. And to this another
hindrance will be found in that proneness to variation in
appearance which arises from variety of situation in regard to
water and soil; to which we add, that even a close description
of any one of the species is not always sufficient to enable an
observer to decide concerning it, unless he has also brought
it into comparison with others that are nearly allied. It is
from these considerations that we feel some hesitation in
coming to the decision that the Eel we are going to describe
is a distinct kind from others which are regarded as natives
of the British Islands; but on the other hand, after a near
comparison with our other species, as well in reference to its
general aspects, as also in regard to a difference in several
particulars of form and proportions, the opinion that as a
species it is distinct greatly preponderates; and we add also,
that it appears closely to answer to the kind which Cuvier
has designated with the name of A. loju/hcc.
The example described, and from which our figure was
drawn, was procured from the River Liffey through the
kindness of R. Palmer Williams, Esq., and it will rest with
the naturalists of that city, whose activity in the cause of
science has already produced rich . fruit, to decide further on
the subject, as also to ascertain what peculiarity there may
be noticed in its habits. Mr. Thompson says that he had
observed an Eel from Strangford, which he supposed to be
different from the recognised species of British Eels, but in
4
7
DURT.IN EEL. S29
■which the snout was shorter than that which he takes for
the A. acutirostris ; which circumstance has produced in me
the supposition that the former is the kind which British
naturalists have known by the name of Sharp-nosed Eel, and
that the Sharp-nosed Eel of this gentleman is in truth the
species we designate the Dublin Eel.
The length of the specimen was two feet four inches; the
body stout and round, broad over the back; head wide,
rather flat, sloping forward to the projecting snout, which is
narrow, slightly rounded above; gape moderate; under jaw
longest, wide, but thin; the nasal tendrils wider asunder than
in a Conger of the same size, and more slender, longer than
in the Sharp-nosed Eel. Eye rather small, in a cavity, and
before it a prominence just below the nostril. Cheeks full.
Length of the body from snout to vent eleven inches and
three fourths, from snout to the opening of the gills two
inches and five eighths; length of the pectoral *fin an inch
and one fourth, more extended than in the sharp-nosed species,
and not so round. Teeth in both jaws thickly set, a bed of
them of considerable breadth in front of the lower jaw and
in front of the palate; tongue free. Lateral line high at first,
sloping to the middle at about half the length. Dorsal fin
thick at the root, wide where it joins the anal to form the
tail, and each of these fins posteriorly wider than the body.
Colour brownish green, whitish below; the tail dark at the
border.
VOL. IV 2 u
330
BROAD-NOSEl) EEL.
Angidlla Latirostris,
It seems probable that this species is as widely distributed
as either of the others known among us; but it does not
appear to be anywhere in large numbers. It has also been
doubted whether its habits of migration, especially when young,
are the same as those of the Sharp-nosed species; and yet when
examining tliose little Elvers, or transparent young ones which
have been found near the low-water mark, an example which
resembled the Broad-nosed Eel has been seen, as well as that
which has been distinguished with a long and pointed snout.
It has been noticed that those who trade in Eels have long
been aware of a difference between the several kinds; and this
Broad-nosed sort is quickly marked out by them as of inferior
quality for the table. When at liberty also these kinds usually
keep separate from each other, although sometimes they are
found mingled together in the same net.
The present species is decidedly voracious in its appetite, and
it is described as being more accustomed than the others to
seize and feed on living fishes; but in general their habits in
this respect are much the same. And as regards its description
this kind will be best known by comparing it with the others;
and especially with that which stands first in our enumeration ;
its most obvious difference being the broader and more blunt
or rounded form of the head toward the snout; which difference
was formerly believed to mark the distinction of sexes. Pennant
also notices that the skin is thicker than the first-named; the
gape somewhat larger; as are also the eyes, which are situated
further back. The colour is an uncertain mark of difference
in these fishes; but there is an appearance in this of a greater
disposition to dusky or brown.
SNIG EEL.
S31
SNIG EEL.
AnguUla viediorostris, Yarkell; Br. Fishes, vol. ii, p. 401.
It seems generally allowed that there are not known any-
certain external characters by which the Eel thus designated
by Mr, Yarrell may be definitely distinguished from others; it
therefore becomes a question how far the difference between
them in the processes of the vertebraj, and their entire absence
in this species on the first five of these bones from the head,
can be relied on as furnishing a sure and constant mark of its
distinction from the others. I have seen Mr. Yarrell's specimens
when in that gentleman's possession, and it is believed that
they are now in the collection of the British Museum; but
some hesitation on the subject still remains, since there does
not exist any external mark by which this kind is to be readily
recognised. We therefore content ourselves with observing that
this so-called Snig Eel is supposed to be generally of smaller
size than the others ; and that more particularly where in the
other Eels the. first vertebrae from the head are strongly armed
with elevated and diverging processes, to the latter of which
the ribs are attached, in the Snig there are none, but that the
vertebrje are almost entirely smooth. A question arises whether
this may be the fish which Mr. Jago, at the end of Ray's
"Synopsis Piscium," has termed a Free Eel, f Anguilla libera; J
and of which he says, "A Congro differt sapore jucundiore,
et ossiculorum defectu, quibus Congri abundant;" this supposed
absence of ribs has not otherwise been noticed.
But while leaving these matters for further inquiry, we venture
to bring forward the claim of another supposed species, which
has been called by the name of Grigg, and which Mr. Yarrell
332
SNIG EEL.
conjectured to be the Angidlle platbec of Cuvier. I have never
seen it but of small size; but the form of its head, as being
more elevated behind, and short and sloping forward, is so
different from the others, and the body generally more com-
pressed, that I feel much disposed to consider it distinct. But
of its history I know nothing further than that it has been
obtained from the border of the tide when much ebbed. The
arrangement of mucous glands in front of the eye in this last
supposed species is different from that of other Eels.
F
» V » 'V*'k '
>
^ *
•^?i
e O
b>^
3-34 OPHIDIUM EEL.
of which we have preferred to copy; since the prospect of
obtaining a drawing from a recent example is exceedingly
uncertain. But it is said to be of common occurrence in and
near the Mediterranean, in no great depth of water; and we
may add, that beyond this, little is known of its appropriate
habits.
Montagu's example only measured three inches in length,
but that which we have represented was five inches and three
fourths; the shape generally like that of an Eel, but with the
head less depressed. Eye large; jaws about equal; lateral line
straight. Petoral fin rather large; in Montagu's figure the
dorsal fin begins above the pectoral, but Pennant and Bloch
agree in placing it back at about one third of the length of
the fish from the snout. A yellow colour is so common to this
fish, that it has been represented as among its specific marks;
but as Bloch has not shewn it we have omitted it in our
figure. This last-mentioned writer has also shewn a dark stripe
as passing from the snout to the eye and superior portion of
the gill-covers. Mr. Yarrell appears to have supposed that the
likeness of this fish given by Schneider was copied from
Pennant; but there are sufficient differences between them to
shew that such was not the case; and that of the German
naturalist may have been procured from an example obtained
in the Baltic, where he says this fish is found; although it is
not mentioned by Nilsson in his "History of the Fishes of
Scandinavia.'*
335
MUEJENA.
The body lenc;tlionpd, tapering behind; dojsrjl and anal fins uniting
to form the tail; no pectoral fins; gill opening a small aperture on
each side; barbs on the snout.
MUR^NA.
Murmm, Jonston; Table 5, f. 4.
WiLLOUGiiBY; p. 103, Table G 1.
MurcBna Helena, Linnaeus. Cuvier. Bloch; pi. 163.
" " Yajirkll; Br. Fishes, vol. ii, p. 406.
The principal interest which among us attaches itself to the
Murasna is derived from the manner in which it was regarded
by the ancient Romans, who, whether they viewed it as a
delicacy for the table or as an object of amusement, and
even of affection, are recorded to have carried their estimation
of it to such an extent that Cicero felt himself warranted in
saying that they paid more attention to these fish than to
the interests of their country. Indeed the tales that are told
of the manner in which the Mureense were treated, and the
expense employed in pampering them, could be rendered
probable only by what we know of the force of fashion, and
the reports handed down to us of the wide-spread pro-
fligacy and idle craving for amusement which had superseded
the former characteristics of the Roman nobles, whose enormous
wealth was formed of the plunder of the whole known world.
We derive a chief portion of our knowledge of these particulars
from the "Natural History" of Pliny, who says that C. Hirius
was the first who formed preserve-ponds for these fish, which,
however, were not kept for sale; for on the occasion of a
triumphal banquet given by Julius Cccsar, when he supplied
six thousand of these Mura^nai to the feast, he gave it to be
336 MUR^NA.
understood that he would be repaid only by the return of
an equal quantity of these fish by weight. Pliny adds, his
villa was of a very hunable character on the inside, but
when it was sold, in consequence of the value set on his
ponds, it reached the price of four millions of sesterces
(quadrigies.) A noble of the family of Licinius is said to
have expended a large sura in forming ponds for fish; and
we may suppose that the Mursena had a place in them, since
he is said to have received an addition to his name on
account of his love for it, although it should be observed
that the name of Muraena belonged to a family of Romans
long before this time. But former examples were outdone by
Lucullus, who expended enormous sums in forming a passage
through a mountain near Naples, to admit the water of the
sea into his ponds; and so high was the value ascribed to
this work, that after his death these ponds were sold for the
same price as the villa and ponds of Hirius, the latter of
whom was accustomed to expend the rent of his houses,
which, according to Varro, amounted to twelve millions of
sesterces, in food for his Muraenae. But, as far as regarded
these fish, the labour of Lucullus in bringing the salt water
might have been spared, since it is found that they will live
and thrive in fresh water just as well as in the sea.
A choice of food, as also abundance of it, appears to have
been of no small consequence in preparing these fish for the
market, and it is known that they are eager in searching for
it, as also that they are ferocious in their attack, as well as
in self-defence, in which their teeth are so capable of inflicting
injury by laceration as to have given occasion to the opinion
among fishermen that some poison is connected with the bite.
The voracity of the Muraena had indeed grown into a proverb
among the Greeks, and the poet vEschylus couples it in this
respect with the viper, its connection with the latter being
the subject of some legends, of which an explanation is
scarcely difficult. Aristophanes, in his comedy of the "Frogs,"
reckons his Tartesian Mursense (from near Cadiz, whence,
according to epicures, the best were obtained) as among the
monsters that will tear the entrails of the wicked in hell.
Even by respectable authoi'ity a wound by these teeth was
judged a serious affair; and that eminent physician Paulus
mur;ena. 337
-^gineta, is fomid prescribing equally for injury inflicted by
the spine of the Fireflair Ray, the bite of the Muraena, and
a wound from the Sea Scorpion — perhaps the Weever.
Scarcely anything came amiss to the appetite of this fish,
but the Octopod or Teuthis was particularly a favourite prey,
while the eagerness on one side, and fear on the other, were
the occasion why in early times it was judged that there
existed some instinctive animosity between them. The story
of Vedius Pollio and the manner in which he fed his
Mura^nse is well known. He had been himself a slave, but
had received his freedom, and was grown so rich and high
in the world as to count Augustus Caesar among his friends.
On one unfortunate occasion, however, when the emperor
dined at his house, a slave in waiting chanced to break a
crystal vase of great value; and, conscious of the consequence,
he hastened to throw himself at the feet of Augustus, with
the anxious supplication that he might not be thrown into the
pond to be torn in pieces by the Mureense; an entreaty which
led to further inquiry, by which it came to be known that
such was the ordinary fate of offender^ in this household. The
emperor was so far impartial as to order that these ponds
should be immediately destroyed.
And next after this, says Pliny, there sprung up an aflfection
for individual fish, which, by kind treatment and feeding,
were taught to know their master and to come at his call.
Martial mentions this as witnessed by himself; and it was
told of so eminent a man as Hortensius, that he shed tears
on the occasion of the death of one of these favourites; and
at the same villa the wife of Drusus was pleased to fasten
earrings, we suppose near the opening of the gills of a
favourite Muraena, a circumstance which attracted much attention
from the fashionable world.
This fish is common in the Mediterranean, where it seeks
refuge in caverns of rocks, and conceals itself, especially in the
colder season of the year. It has many of the habits of the
Conger, and at times has been said to quit its native element
to come on land; a circumstance, however, which on inquiry
Spallanzani found to be very rarely known, and only when
urged by some necessity. It is retentive of life, but, as in the
Conger, a smart blow on the tail effectually disables it, which
VOL. IV. 2 X
338 MUR^NA.
a blow on the head will not. Mr. Lowe says it is not rare in
Madeira; but we have not heard of more than one example
that has been met with in the British Islands; and this was
caught with a line on the 8th. of October, 1834, by a fisherman
of Polperro; who placed it in my possession as soon as it was
brought to land; and from this example our figure and description
are obtained.
"We learn that the ordinary length of this fish is about three
feet; but our specimen measured four feet four inches; the
body very flaccid, but plump, rounded anteriorly, compressed
and tapering towards the tail; before the eyes the head is
slender and pointed; jaws about equal, gape moderately large;
the teeth long, sharp, incurved, prominent, in one row; a row
on the palate; tongue adherent, scarcely perceptible; a nasal
barb on • each side of the end of the snout, another a short
distance above each eye, and a probe passed down through the
latter, found its way out at the former. Large mucous orifices
encircle both jaws at equal distances, four on each row. Eye
rather small, an inch and a quarter from the snout; irides
light bluish grey, having a lively look; cheeks tumid, formed
by the strong muscle which closes the jaw; an extensive
depression behind this, at the side of the thorax, in which is
situated the simple orifice of the gills, the outward appearance
of which very much resembles a corresponding opening in the
Lamprey; from the snout to this branchial opening six inches.
From the part above the eye the head is much elevated, and
the skin wrinkled; the thorax remarkably protuberant; the
distance from the top of the head to the thorax five inches and
three fourths. The vent is exactly half way between the two
ends of the body; and from it proceeds a line to the end of
the tail, parallel to the anal fin; which line must be the
lateral, since there is no appearance of any other. The dorsal
fin begins five inches and a half from the snout, and proceeds
to the extremity of the body to join with the anal to form
the tail. The anal begins at the vent, but both these fins are
thick and fleshy, so as not to be readily distinguished from
the general surface of the body.
The ground colour of the anterior part of the body is a fine
lively yellow, the hinder part fine purple; but the whole,
including the fins, is divided into segments which form irregu-
MUR^NA. 339
larly-shaped spots, which yet shew a tendency to regular
distribution. Towards the tail the yellow spots more resemble
irregular rings, with larger spaces between them; the whole
interspersed with innumerable spots of whitish and deep yellow,
golden, brown, and purple, forming a very beautiful arrangement.
Under the throat and to the opening of the gills a few lines
are marked on the skin, as if to facilitate motion, although
the skin is exceedingly smooth and soft; it is strong also, and
the colours were remarkable slow to fade. This example shewed
great strength after it was taken on board the boat.
340
CONGER.
Conger,
Murcena conger,
Murene congre,
Conger vulgaris,
« «
Angnilla conger.
JONSTON; pi. 4, f. 7.
WlLLOUGHBY; p. Ill, Table G 6.
LlNN.-EUS.
Lacepede. Donovan; pi. 119.
CUVIER.
Yarrell; Br. Fishes, vol. ii, p. 402.
Fleming; Br. Animals, p. 200.
Jenyns; Manual, p. 478,
The Conr^er is one of tlie commonest fishes in the sea that
flows round the United Kingdom, from the border of the
tide to at least a depth of fifty fathoms; but we have no
evidence to shew that it has ever wandered into fresh water,
although the large size, even above sixty pounds, which has
been ascribed to an example of the Eel, already referred to,
might lead to a suspicion that such has been the case. It
is not numbered by Fabricius among the fishes of Greenland,
but it is found along the coasts of Europe, and in the Island
of Madeira, as also in the northern states of America; but
those of the Mediterranean are said to be smaller than such
as are met with in the open ocean.
Congers appear to have favourite haunts, from which few
of them wander far; but there are times, according to the
seasons, in which they are more abundant than at others,
and it has been noticed that in November and December
those of a black colour, which always keep near rocks, are in
abundance, so that a fisherman who fishes nearest the rocks
is the most successful; at which time we suppose the assembling
to be for the purpose of depositing their spawn. But it may
be caused also by the varying habits of inertness and activity
to which they are liable according to temperature, and
especially as they are influenced by the direction or violence
CONGER. 341
of the wind. In simply cold weather they are less eager for
food, and seem to be inert; but when the cold is severe, and
especially when it is sudden, there are instances of its having
proved extensively destructive. On one occasion in the month
of February, during an east wind, which had driven the
water from the north into the British Channel, large numbers
of these fish were found floating on the surface, altogether
helpless, although not dead; and under similar circumstances,
on the north coast of Somersetshire, in another year, a large
quantity were found to have been killed, while at the same
time in a situation where they were more effectually sheltered.
Congers were sufficiently active to take a bait. Mr. Thompson
relates occurrences of a similar sort on the coast of Ireland;
and it is scarcely uncommon in the more southern climate and
deeper water of Cornwall, where fishermen report that in
severely cold winters large numbers have been thrown on
shore or left by the tide. Without being dead, these fish
appear as if blind, and they are thus found more especially
if a south wind springs up presently after a cold wind from
the north east, which, however, may have this effect only
because it blows directly toward the shore. It is remarked
by fishermen that before a storm, especially when the wind is
south east -and west. Congers are more than usually active;
and it is their belief that if fishing could be carried on in a
stiff" gale, more of these fish would be taken then than at
other times.
But as these fish are quickly sensible of changes in the
wind or weather, and even appear to anticipate it when at a
considerable depth, if a little time is allowed them they seek
their usual places of shelter, which are often among rocks
near the land, and in the hollows of which they are not
unfrequently left for an hour or two by the tide. There are
some also which keep in what is termed clean ground, where
the bottom is soft, or formed of sand, and in which they
seek safety and comfort, although not seldom to their own
destruction; for where the tide ebbs to a large extent, so as
to leave much of the beach uncovered, people acquainted with
these habits of the fish are accustomed to discover them by
trampling on the ground, and then to dig them up. Fisher-
men are able to distinguish such Congers as live on rocky
342 CONGER.
groimd from such as keep on the plain and open surface;
for it is found that even those which are met with in a narrow
stripe of sand, and more decidedly those which inhabit a
wide and open space, are of a light colour, and even white,
while the inhabitants of rocks are decidedly black, and near
the rocky land intensely so. There is a well-known rock on
the coast of Cornwall, about five leagues from the land, and
standing up from the plain ground which spreads to a large
distance round it. The top of this rock is full of gullies
shaded with weeds, and Congers which are caught on it are
always black, while close to its base these fish are always
white.
It is only by night that these fish display activity, and even
moonlight will interfere with the success of the fishery. Their
appetite is variable, but at times voracious, and they exercise
delicate choice in what they devour. It is supposed that they
give a preference to prey which is of a brilliant colour, and
they are eager after what is alive or but very lately dead,
while a bait that is tainted will not be successful. They are
sufficiently sly or nimble to obtain Soles and Plaice, and make
no scruple of devouring young ones of their own kind.
Skulpins and even the well-armed Weevers are often found in
their stomachs. Fish of larger size are also their prey; and
an example of no unusual size was found to have one that
weighed ten pounds in its stomach. I have taken a lobster
of the largest magnitude from the stomach of a Conger; and
one of fifty pounds was found to have seized a Hake which
weighed four pounds, which it had laid hold of high in the
water, up which they sometimes have mounted to a depth of
seven or eight fathoms over the sounding of fifty fathoms.
Pilchards, Herrings, and Cuttles are at all times successful
baits; and in our description we shall point out the organization
of the sensations of this fish, so as to shew that it is well
qualified to exert great skill in the selection of its food.
Digestion is very speedy, and when a hook is swallowed it
becomes acted on and consumed in a very short time.
The manner in which these fish were propagated lay long
under the veil of obscurity, as was the case with the Eel,
and for the same reason; but examination has shewn that the
milt and roe are placed along the course of the dorsal portion
CONGER. 343
of the cavity of the body, as in the kindred fish; and although
the grains may be shed through the summer, we only feel
confident of them in the autumn. Mr. R. Q. Couch remarks,
in the "Zoologist," that he had seen cases where the ova
were as large as small peas; but as this is rare, and in
general they are very minute, the rapidity of their development
at last must be rapid. And a friend in the west of Cormvall
has informed me under the date of the oOth. of December,
that about two months before he caught in a trammel-net in
Helford Harbour a large quantity of curiously-formed stuflT,
which an old fisherman pronounced to be weed. But it
appeared to the observer to exhibit more evidence of design
and regularity than are usually discovered in sea-weed; and
on examining the masses there were found a young fish much
resembling a Conger in each of the diverging globules, which
in form were an elongated ellipse. The growth of these young
ones is not slow, but several years must pass before they
reach the size at which they are sometimes found.
In every part of its body this fish possesses great muscular
strength and agility; and these it puts forth in, a manner that
is highly characteristic when the object is to deliver itself from
restraint. "When taken on board the boat and left undisturbed,
the sensitive powers of its tail are employed in searching out
the nature and limits of its prison; and then this organ is
stretched out to lay hold of the gunwale; by fixing its holdfast
on which a reversed muscular contraction is put in force, and
the whole body is turned overboard; to prevent which, however,
when the fish is first taken, it is usual to inflict a smart blow
with the hat or bludgeon on the root of the tail, or on the
vent; either of which is effectual in disabling the victim. But
again, if the hungry fish has had the mishap to have found
its way into a crab-pot, the method of escape is with some
amount of difference, although the tail is still the instrument
employed. Thrust between the upright willow rods, they are
thus pressed asunder to allow of the reversed muscular action
of the body, and at last of the passage and escape of the head.
A further and somewhat different proceeding is the resource
when the fisherman's hook is fastened in the jaws; and a
revolving action is particularly successful when the line is of
the sort termed a bultey or long line, already described; and
344 coNOER.
especially when also the fish is in an early stage of growth;
for fishermen report that this method of deliverance is less
frequently employed by the older fish. As soon as the restraint
is felt the revolving motion begins, by which the shorter line
is twisted into a ball, with a force that is often sufficiently
strong to wrench the hook from the jaws. It may happen,
however, that in its repeated turning the body of the fish itself
has been bound into the same ball with the line, and the
intention is defeated by the same means that were adopted to
secure it.
Nor are these the only occasions in which this singular sort
of motion is put in force; and it becomes not a little formidable
if brought to act upon the human hand which has found its
way into the fish's mouth; of which an instance has been long
remembered in personal experience. Fortunately the Conger
was not large; and it had been left by the tide in a cavity
beneath a rock, into which there was scarcely room for the
hand to be introduced, to draw it out. But in attempting this
the thumb was grasped within the jaws of the fish; on which
the instinctive , motion immediately began, so that the teeth
were made to act like a saw round the circumference of the
thumb; and it was only by a sudden and violent jerk that the
flesh was preserved from severe laceration.
A fisherman had safely taken a stout Conger into his boat,
when the fish snapped at and caught his foot within its mouth,
and sprang overboard, carrying his shoe with it. In another
instance, where the fish was of large size, the result was rather
amusing than formidable; but the lesson to be taught is that
there is danger in incautiously meddling with these fish. A
man had thrust his foot into the mouth of a Conger that
shewed little signs of life; when suddenly the jaws grasped it,
and an active revolving motion began by which he was dashed
to the ground with considerable violence. Mr. Thompson has
adduced instances where even the jaws of the separated head
have closed on and bitten the hand and foot of those who
have meddled with them; and the continued vitality of this
fish in all its parts after the head has been cut oflf is well
known. But it is even more remarkable that if the brain be
pierced on a limited portion of the hindvvard part of the head,
this fish dies immediately, without a struggle; and in explanation
CON OKU. 345
of this experiments have she-vrn that the most vital portion of
the brain (encephalon) extends iVom the part termed pons
varolii along the whole course of the spinal cord, as far back
as the second cervical nerve; in any portion of which a wound
is instantly fatal; whereas behind this point or above it, nearer
the brain, the effect of a wound is gradually less dangerous.
(Forbes' Med. Review, vol. i, p. 560.)
As an article of food much difference of opinion exists in
different places concerning this fish; for while rejected as
worthless, and even with abhorrence, in Scotland, in the west
of England it is valued and made a principal object of the
fishery. Nor is this \\vj\\ opinion a matter of modern date,
since we are informed that in the fourteenth century it was
admitted as a chief dish to the tables of the highest nobility,
and it was reserved as a chief rent in the underletting of land.
With us at present it is purchased by the agricultural population;
and much value is set on the milt and roe, on account of the
fat in which these organs are embedded, and which, from the
absence of all rancid or disagreeable smell and taste, is employed
in select cookery.
There was an established trade in the west of Encrland for
a special preparation of this fish in the time of King John;
for we are told that, following the example of his Norman
predecessors, at the small price of six marks he assigned to
certain merchants of Bayonne, the same who already possessed
the sole privilege of the Whale fishery, the monopoly of the
right of drying Congers and Merluciones, or Hakes, in this
country; and this, as regards the Congers, we consider to have
been what in times not long past, was known as Conger doust
or douce, (sv/eet Conger;) the exportation of which was to
Spain, and perhaps to Portugal; but which ceased on our part
from a falling off in the abundance of these fish; and in Spain,
as we have been informed, from deficiency of sale. The fish
selected for this preparation were of the smaller size, and Avere
cut flat through their length, so as that they might be sewn
together by their edges, to form a sheet. They were then
hoisted on a frame-work, without salt, until the fat had melted,
dried, or taken flight; and in this state they were grated into
soup In the countries to which they were sent. Dried Congers
were also prepared in France; but with a better contrivance,
VOL. IV. 2 Y
846 CONGER.
the minute creatures (mites) which are bred in stale wheaten
flour were employed to feed on, and so remove the oily particles^
and hasten the drying.
But the fishery for Congers has been becoming more unsuc-
cessful for several years; as, in the west at least, has been the
case with those other kinds which are usually taken with the
line; and the circumstance can only be explained by the belief
of the evil influence of the repeated tearing up of the ground
on which, in the deeper water, they are bred. It has been
not uncommon for a boat with three men to bring on shore
from five hundred- weight to four times that amount; but a much
less quantity is more recently considered a favourable adventure,
and those also considerably less in size^ as regard which at a
distant date I possess a note of an example that weighed one
hundred and four pounds, with others of eighty-six and ninety.
This last-mentioned fish was in length seven feet two inches,
with a girth of twenty-seven inches; and another, which was
of the more ordinary weight of fifty-six pounds, was eight feet
in length, and in girth about two feet. The general form is
much like that of the Eel — long, slender, round anteriorly,
flattened towards the tail. The head widened at the hinder
part, narrowing forward to the snout, which projects over the
lower jaw; temporal muscles close together on the top of the
head; the space from between the eyes to the snout arched
over; three plaits in front, and on each side of them a short,
flat, blunt barb, having an aperture; a single round open
nostril on the border between the plaits and the barb. Eyes
level with the surface, large and bright; lips fleshy at the
sides; a single close-set row of teeth in each jaw, and a bed
of them in front of the palate. Gill openings small, in front
of the pectoral fins, and a little below the line of their root;
lateral line straight, dotted through its length with a row of
white points. The single dorsal fin begins nearer the head
than in the Eel, being only a little behind the border of the
pectorals; the anal runs from the vent to join it in forming
the tail; pectorals round. The colour almost or altogether
black, except the belly, when living on rocky ground, lead or
cream-coloured when on sand or open ground.
An abundant distribution of nerves to the mouth, lips, barbs
on the upper lips, folds, and single nostrils, is the cause and
CONGER. 347
«
proof of the exquisite sensibility of these parts in their various
functions; and the tongue admits of free action by means of
muscles which pass from it to the front, and also backward to
the beginning of the gullet. The stomach is long, but the
pyloric or lower orifice is near the entrance from the mouth;
air-bladder large, inflated, but not the full length of the cavity
which contains it; a duct or process from the surface is joined
to it, but its use scarcely appears obvious.
This fish is liable to some remarkable varieties of structure,
among which has occurred a deficiency of the upper jaw bone
or snout, with the absence of the nasal plaits and barbs. But
a more frequent deformity is in the dorsal fin, which sometimes
begins far back, with its anterior end twined into a roll or
double circle; and on other occasions this fin is absent almost
as far back as the tail; which appears to have been the cause
of a mistake in supposing the A. mynis, or Ophis, natives of
the Mediterranean, to have been taken in England. When, as
sometimes happens, the tail ends abruptly, it seems to have
been caused by violence or accident.
348
LEPTOCEPHALTJS.
The head small, without barbs at the jaws; body lengthened, very
thin, and so transparent that the inward parts may be easily distinguished.
Gill openings a little cleft, not a mere aperture. Vent not before
the middle of the bodyj dorsal and anal fins joined to the tail, so
as to form one fin.
MORRIS.
Leptoceplialus Morrisli, Jenyns; Manual, p. 840.
« " Yarrell; Br. Fishes, vol. ii, p. 409.
This fish has obtained its name from the gentleman who
was the first to make it known, and in part also as the
Anglesea Morris, from the neighbourhood where the example
was taken; but the earliest description and figures were so
imperfect that they cannot be referred to as authority. Since,
however, that special notice has been directed towards it by
the repeated instances of its having been met with, it has
been found to be scarcely rare round the whole extent of the
British coasts, even to Caithness, where an example was
obtained by Mr. Peach. Many have been found in Ireland
and the south coast of England; and it is mentioned among
the fifeh of the Cape of Good Hope by Dr. Paape; if indeed
the species be the same; for Cuvier remarks that there are other
species of this genus in more southern climates. On the coasts
of France and the Mediterranean it is not uncommon; and
with us is sometimes left by the tide in a pool on the shore.
There is no doubt that its usual residence is in shalloAV water
and rocky ground, but it also inhabits the deeper water, up
through which it mounts, with no little danger to itself from
the prowling wanderers of the ocean, to which it seems a
tempting morsel, and often falls a prey. An instance has been
known where the fish had already seized the hook, and when
drawn on board, a Morris was Ibuud, loose and alive, in the
MORRIS. 349
moutli, as if only just then grasped at and seized. In the
water its motions are slow and undulating through its whole
length; and it is noticed that where they begin the action at
first is near the head, and it proceeds backward through its
length.
As there is only one known species of this genus in the
seas of Europe, a description of this fish will practically serve
for that of the genus itself; but in the several examples that
have passed under our notice there have appeared diflferences
which tend to shew that the fish itself is subject to some
variety, or perhaps that in different examples there ai'e portions
of its character which are in these instances brous^ht more
prominently into view. It is retentive of life.
The appearance of this fish when alive represents a thin
ribbon of transparent jelly, and the only opaque portion is
the eye, which appears like a circular plate of brilliant silver.
A mutilation of the head in the original specimen was the
occasion of the generic name, but this part is not disproportionally
small; the jaws equal; no teeth in the upper jaw perceptible,
in the lower jaw a single row regularly placed; six orifices
of mucous glands along each side of the lower jaw. Length
of the fish six or seven inches; in a single instance the back
was raised close' behind the head; the depth of the body
increasing behind the vent, which is about the posterior third
of the length, and after this tapering to the tail. An usually
well-marked lateral line, with indentations, (apparently for ribs,)
straight; and from the thorax back a line, usually marked
with a row of minute dots, to the tail. A well-marked
pectoral fin. The dorsal begins at about one third of the
length, and joins the anal to form the tail. In a living
example I have counted the spinous processes of the vertebrae
one hundred and fifty-two in number; the brain appearing
opaque, like pale milk, the medulla oblongata (proceeding from
it) rising and passing oflf backward near the summit; but no
further appearance of a nervous system was discerned. Although
the general appearance of this fish is singularly without colour,
some exceptions have been noticed: in some instances there
was a dark band across the forehead from eye to eye; and
again a general faint tinge of bronze over the body; silver-like
marks at the ribs, which became bluish towards the tail.
3o0
PIPEFISHES, OR SEA ADDERS.
SYNGNATHI.
A CHARACTER of this remarkable family of fishes is, that in
front of the eyes the snout is lengthened into a tube, at the
end of which is the mouth; which is small, with the angle
depressed, so that the lower jaw closes on it like a cover.
Gill-cover formed of a bony plate, with a small opening to the
gills high on the side; the processes or aerating fibres of the
gills divided into small round tufts, that are arranged in pairs
along their supporting arches. It is from this structure that
Cuvier terms these fishes Lophohraiichiati, or having tufted
gills. The body is covered with regularly arranged plates,
which tend to produce an angular appearance through its
length.
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352 GREATER PIPEFISH.
the vent, of what he believed to be the female, which at the
proper season was rent asunder in order to allow the escape
of the young; and the consideration of this supposed fact of the
disruption and its consequences has produced in Lacepede an
expression of poetic sympathy, in which he dwells on the self-
sacrifice which this fish has shewn itself thus ready to make
for the sake of its offspring. But later observation has rectified
much of the error into which the older naturalists had very
naturally fallen; and has thus made the proceeding of the
production of its young intelligible; while in fact the singularity
of the process is rendered even more remarkable than formerly
it was supposed to be.
The species now under consideration, together with the
Broad-nosed Pipefish, are in truih what is now known by the
term Marsupial animals; but with this difference from the
quadrupeds thus designated, that in the present instance, while
the first production of the eggs or roe is in the body of the
female, (in which sex no caudal pouch exists,) at the time of
their being rendered fertile, they are transferred to the male,
which only possesses a pouch, and in which they pass through
the further stages of their development, until they have become
duly qualified for the duties of active life in the sea. Before
impregnation the slit which forms the entrance of the pouch is
sealed by adhesion, and so it becomes again when the eggs
have been received into it, although, as we shall see, this is
not usually a single proceeding, once and for all.
Mr. Jenyns found these fish with enlarged roe when only
four inches in length; but our observations are from individuals
of mature growth, in which still a portion of the actual pro-
ceeding in the transferrence of the grains remains obscure:
but it is thus briefly referred to by Mr. Andrews, of Dublin,
in the "Zoologist" for 1860, p. 7052:— "In shoal-water or a
low tide these fish may sometimes be seen in pairs side by
side, apparently stationary on some rocky stone. At this time
the ova — the capsules but imperfectly matured — are liberated
from the female, and received into the abdominal sac, the male
fish having the power of expanding the lappings of the sac,
and attaching the ova by a highly viscid or glutinous secretion."
Rondcletius found ova in the pouch so early in the year as
the beginning of winter, and on further search he discovered
GREATER PIPEFISH. 353
tliat thore had been three separate deposits, so that while
some were in one portion of the pouch ahnost fully devehiped,
the latest barely displayed the existence of the eye and the
snout. Yet such is not always the case, and perhaps not
often; and the following are the notes of my own examination;
with the additional remark, that the pregnancy has been found
so late as the month of September; although it has not extended
into October. When, in April, the pouch was found filled with
ova, the edges of the slit or opening were united together by
thin fibres, as they were before any had been received. The
grains were then all closely fastened together by a covering
membrane, and also attached to the walls of the pouch both at
the sides and back, but not in front; and each one lay in a
cell, the borders of which passed across, with scarcely a mark
longitudinally. Each egg was formed of a transparent fluid,
and on one side was a red mark in distinct grains of different
sizes, in small proportion to the whole bulk. As the grains lie
in the pouch, this red spot is in every instance directed towards
the opening; and on a short exposure to the warm sunshine
the whole substance became solid without shrinking. When
further grown the body of the fish is seen curved into a circle,
and the head projecting with a short snout in the middle. At
a still further growth the ovum remains attached to the body;
but even when fully developed a kind of attachment still
continues between the parent and the young, for in case of
alarm they fly again to the shelter of the pouch, and are readily
received into it.
"While searching for food among the overhanging weeds and
crevices of rocks and stones which they frequent, every attitude
is adopted, with the head up or down in each kind of the
perpendicular, and with much contortion; while the snout is
thrust into the chinks where the prey is likely to be met with.
The food generally appears to be the smaller kinds of crustacean
animals; but not unfrequently shrimps of comparatively no small
size are swallowed; and there have been found in the stomach
some so large as to raise our wonder how they could have
been made to pass between the jaws and through the gullet;
and it is only the remarkable structure observed in these parts
that will explain the possibility. This structure is complex in
a very high degree, by an arrangement of jointed bones,
VOL. IV. 2 Z
354 GREATER PIPEFISH.
muscles, and elastic ligaments; by the action of which the long
bones which lie along the under part can be separated so as
to enlarge the space between them to nearly twice its ordinary
extent; with a corresponding action on the true jaws; while
another portion of the mechanism lays hold of the substance
to be swallowed, and passes it backward into the stomach.
This fish is retentive of life; and its usual haunts are in
harbours or bays; but fresh water appears to be hurtful to it.
It is sometimes found also in the open sea at the depth of
several fathoms, and often passes through such from one harbour
to another.
The usual length is about a fot^t or fifteen inches, and it is
two inches round at the thickest part; the snout lengthened,
rather more than an inch before the eyes; and to the firm
portion of the gill-cover there is one seventh of the length of
the body. Mouth without visible teeth. Eyes large, nostrils
close before them. The head rises above the eye, and is there
flat; the nape formed of two elevated plates; plate of the gill-
covers large, oval posteriorly. Body lengthened, in the female
tapering behind the dorsal fin, in the male behind the marsupial
pouch; covered with a series of plates, which are twenty to
the vent and from thence forty-four to the tail; forming angular
lines which become more deaidedly marked after death; six, or
including the ridge of the back, seven to the hindmost border
of the dorsal fin, and beyond this the body is square. The
vent below the first rays of the dorsal fin. The pectoral fin
broad, with twelve rays; the dorsal with forty-one or two; the
tail round, ten rays; anal or ventral six. Colour rich yellowish
brown, often in bands of lighter and darker.
An irregularity of formation has been observed in this fish,
which might almost lead to the idea of a separate species.
Instead of the usual shape of the tail with several rays, there
were only two firm rays united by a narroAv and slender mem-
brane; and the ventral fin was small, with only two rays; but
there were no marks of violence.
I find the air-bladder of this fish of curious structure; the
anterior half being obscurely transparent, ending in a defined
line, and the remainder altogether clear; these two portions
being separated by a membranous septum, as if their functions
were altogether different.
555
BROAD-NOSED PIPEFISH.
TyphVe, EONDELETIUS.
Acus Aristotelis, Willoughby; Table I 25, p. 153.
Syngnathus Typlile, Linn^ds. Cuvier.
" " Fleming; Br. Animals, p. 175.
Jenyns; Manual, p. 485.
Yarrell ; Br. Fishes, vol. ii, p. 438.
«
This species has been confounded with the former; from
which it is readily distinguished by its much broader expansion
from the eye to the jaws, and the Larger capacity of its mouth.
The angles of the plates of the body are also less definitely
marked, and the structure of the plates less firm; but the
general proportions are nearly the same, except that the top
of the head is less elevated. Its particular habits have been
less observed than those of the former species; but although
in some districts common, it is not generally distributed. It is
in truth a locax species, although as regards the range of climate
this and the former appear to be equal. None of the family
are found in Greenland, but these are common among Scandi-
navian fishes, as also in the Mediterranean. Willoughby found
it abundant at Venice.
This fish grows to the length of about a foot, or a few inches
beyond; the line of direction almost straight from above the
eye to the dorsal fin; which is proportionally further back than
in S. acus; but this dorsal line is marked with small elevations
formed by the plates; which are in number eighteen, and from
thence to the tail about thirty-five. The body becomes more
slender from the dorsal fin backward to the tail. Pectoral fin
small, with thirteen rays; dorsal thirty-five; caudal round, the
rays ten; a small anal fin. The colour a light yellow, with
little variation.
S56
[We place in a soparafe section or genus, but without assigning to
it a separate name, species which have a much more lengthened and
comparatively slender body than those of the proper genus Syngnathus,
with a true although very small caudal fin, but without pectorals,
anals, or a pouch to receive the youug; which latter circumstance
we think of sufficient importance of itself to warrant the separation.]
OCEAN PIPEFISH.
Syngnathus cequoreus, Linn^us. Cuvier.
" " .Tenyns; Manual, p. 436.
" ** Yakrell; Br. Fishes, vol. ii, p. 442.
This species is more especially an inhabitant of the open
ocean, where in summer our fishermen report that they see it
near the surface over a depth of more than fifty fathoms, at
a distance from land of ten or fifteen leagues; and generally
its coming near the shore appears to be by accidental wandering
rather than from design, and on this account it has been
believed to be more scarce than it really is. The only
exception to these remarks that I have met with is from Mr.
Andrews, already quoted, who says, ("Zoologist," volume for
18G0,) "In Dingle Harbour the S. cequoreus may be met with
very abundantly in the summer months, spawning in the
months of June and July. This is the largest and most
beautiful of the species, the girth of the body being oval, of
a long tapering form to the tail. These fish under favourable
opportunities of calmness and of tides, may be seen side by
side, clinging with their tails to the tufts of Zostera marma,
in which position the male is enabled to attach to the abdomen
the ova by the same influence of viscid secretion alluded to
in the marsupial species:" or, as I shall prefer to express it,
by the combined action of both parents the ova are transferred
from the female to the external surface of the male, from the
358
OCEAN PIPEFISH.
suddenly fell as it approached the fin, and began again behind
it, more rounded, and gradually disappearing along the caudal
portion, with a depression or channel along each side of the
base of the fin. The ventral ridge was slight, and the only
mark of an angle was slight along the side, bending down and.
ending at the vent; behind this point round, tapering and
ending in a small but v/ell-marked fin, with five rays. The
colour yellowibu brown, dark along the dorsal ridge, belly
yellowish; a brownish pink stripe from each side of the upper
jaw through the eye to the upper border of the gill-covers.
I have possessed a male of the acknoAvledged Ocean Pipefish
which in length measured twenty-six inches, and a female but
little short of the same dimensions; but there Avas a remarkable
difference in the structure of both of them from that given
above. They were more slender, and the female especially so.
But the more remarkable difi'erence was in the ridge along
the back to the dorsal fin, which has, from near the head
backward,' a membrane almost as broad as the dorsal fin itself,
and the line of direction passed on straight to the extremity,
without that gap or depression in Avhich the dorsal fin was
situated in the first-named example. In the latter also the tail
portion ended without a distinctly visible fin, in this respect
having some resemblance to the species coming next under our
notice, and of which I shall make a comparison with the Ocean
Pipefish; but this defect may have been the result of accident.
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SNAKE PIPEFISH.
Syngnathus opTiidlon, Jenyns; Manual, p. 487.
" " Yakkell; Br. Fishes, vol. ii, p. 445.
This is not only a common fish at some seasons, but at
times it abounds in incalculable numbers from near the shore
to several miles in the open sea; and it is then they appear
to perform a perhaps limited migration or change of quarters;
for they swarm at the surface in fine weather from the early
part of summer to its declension; but after this time they are
not seen, and probably have gone to the bottom, and into
deeper water. When on our coast their actions are amusing,
as with their slender and prehensile tail they lay hold of some
loose and floating object; with the aid of which, and the anterior
portion of the body free, they steer their wajidering course by
the waving action of the dorsal fin. A slip of floating sea-weed,
a rope, the mark line of a crab-pot, or the entangled meshes
of a net, will serve them for support and rest, and thus they
are kept at the surface with little effort; but they are liable to
be devoured by ravenous fishes, and the stomach of a Pollack
has been found filled with them.
The line of the under part of the body of the male, from
the vent forward, is, as in the Ocean Pipefish, the place where
the ova are affixed in something like order; and there appears
to exist in that part a tendency to organization, which is
brought into exercise on this occasion; for it is certain that
there is something more than a mere adhesion of contact between
the grains of roe and the surface on which they lie; since the
skin is raised round each of the grains like a cup, and they
are not easily removed from it. Within the female when
procreant, the slender pair of ovaries exceed three inches in
length, and connected with these I have observed to hang
362 WORM PIPEFISH.
be nourished, and therefore shrink into nothing in the same
manner as the tails of frogs are known to cease to exist. The
gill openings are large and not bound down by membrane.
This fish does not exceed five or six inches in length, the
body round, and of much less size than an ordinary quill,
tapering to a point from the vent to the extremity; smooth,
and with little appearance of separate plates. Eye near the
top of the head, the snout turned upward in something of an
arched form; nostrils close in front of the eye. The colour is
various in different examples; in some quite black, with a row
of pale whitish sjoots along the back, which near the head are
distant from each other, but closer together near the tail. In
some the colour is of various shades of brown, the cheeks
mottled with defined patches of pale yellow ; which are also on
the first plates of the body; lines, which appear to separate the
plates, punctured with dots of pale blue.
36.'
rt
STRAIGHT-NOSED PIPEFISH.
Syngnathus opMdion, Yaerell; Br. Fishes, vol. ii, p. 447.
This is a species by no means common, and of which little
is known of its history. In appearance it is not greatly unlike
the Worm Pipefish, but it is larger, and in other respects
the differences are easily seen. It is about equally slender,
and even more so towards the end of the body; but instead
of being bent up, the snout projects straight before the eye.
The dorsal fin is further back, its place being about the middle
of the length, and there is no other fin; the plates on the
body more distinctly marked, and thirty of them may be counted
before the vent, with about twice that number behind it.
ft
SG4
HIPPOCAMrUS.
The body is compressed at tlie sides, and elevated much more than
the portion behind the dorsal fin, which portion becomes gradually more
slender to the end. The joinings of the scales are raised into ridges,
of which the angles both of the head and body are raised into spines.
Mouth and snout before the eyes, as in others of this family; both
sexes have pectoral fins, the females only have an anal, and there is
no caudal fin. After death the head from behind the pectoral becomes
permanently bent at an angle with the body; which from its resem-
blance to the head of a horse, has given occasion to a name of these
fishes. The males have a pouch for hatching the young.
HIPPOCAMPUS.
Sea Horse, Short-nosed Hippocampus, Willoughby; p. 157,
Table I 25, f. 4.
Syngnathns hippocampxts, Linn^us.
Hippocampus brevirostris, Cuvier. Yarkell; British
Fishes, vol. ii, p. 452.
This curiously-shaped little fish is common in the Mediter-
ranean, but becomes more rare south of this, and to the north,
although it has been obtained at several stations on the south
coast of England and in Ireland; and as it scarcely appears
capable of a long voyage, we are led to the conclusion that it
must have been bred not far from where it has been obtained.
We are informed that it has been met with at Yarmouth, in
Hampshire; and Mr. Martin, of Weymouth, informs me that he
has frequently taken them in a shrimp-trawl along the Sandwich
Hats in Kent. I have heard of one that was taken in the
Tamar; and in Ireland, on the authority of Mr. Thompson, it
has been taken in Dublin Bay, at Belfast, the county ot
Antrim, at Youghal and Smerwick Harbour, on the coast of
Kerry. Mr. Lukis has given an interesting account of the
habits of a couple which he obtained in Guernsey, and kept
alive for a considerable time.
HIPPOCAMPUS. oGo
Like some of the Pipefishes, they seek for some floating
object round which to entwine the hindmost portion of their
body by way of support, while the upper part remains i'ree,
and the head bent, with the lively eyes directed everywhere,
singly or together, in search of food, towards which they st^er
their support by joint action of the dorsal and pectoral fins.
It was observed also that the under part of the cheeks was
used when it was desired to obtain a new support, so that the
tail might entwine itself afresh. Mr. Thompson remarks that
two very small examples were taken from the stomach of a
small Cod.
Contrary to our usual custom, and for want of a fresh
specimen, the description and figure we give of this fish are
from a dried example from the Mediterranean. The absolute
length a little short of six inches; the body compressed, deep,
the depth ending at the vent, and from thence tapering to a
slender termination. The snout in front of the eves slender,
and with the mouth shaped as in the Pipefishes; teeth in the
jaws discernible; eye large; head compressed; gill-covers long,
opening of the gills high and small; the head rising posteriorly
into a crest, with bony elevations, which are highest above
the gill-covers; a narrow depression between the eyes. Seven
spinous ridges along the body to the dorsal fin and vent, of
which a pair run parallel along the ridge of the back, where
the spines are the most prominent, behind the dorsal fin
tapering and square. There are twelve circular ridges, each
having a spine where it joins the longitudinal ridges; on the
square portion of the body thirty-two circular ridges. The
pectoral fins are close to the head, and Willoughby compares
their appearance to ears; the dorsal fin about the middle of
the body; the head bent and the caudal portion curved even
when alive. Willoughby says that the proper colour is a
dull green, darker on the hindmost part, but after death it
becomes dark brown.
366
OSTRACIOK.
The head and body covered with regularly-formed bony plates,
fastened together so as to form an inflexible shield, so that the only
moveable parts are the tail, fins, mouth, and border of the gill-opening.
The mouth has separate teeth. The greater number of their vertebrae
are firmly united together.
FOUR-HORNED TRUNKFISH.
Piseis triangularis, Jo:sston; Table 45.
" " cornutus Clusii, Willoughby; PI. I 14.
tOstracion quadnconiis, Linn^us.
Intellectual Observer, No. 30,
p. 407.
It was formerly believed that the fishes of this remarkable
genus were to be met with only in the far east, or at least no-
Avhere except in very warm climates; and although when voyages
along the coasts of Africa and India had become frequent several
species became known to the observers of nature, they were
for a long time regarded only as strange freaks of nature,
which might add a new interest to the cabinets of the curious,
but of which the habits and distribution over the globe could
be only a little studied. There were indeed a few particulars
about them in which naturalists who were not travellers
were fortunate, for with only a little care they might be
brought to this country without distortion of shape, which
was far from being the case generally with numerous fishes
of other classes that were imported into England from the
same regions — illustrations of which may be seen in the works
of our older writers, but especially in the representations o-.
the fishes of Amboyna in the work of Huysch, entitled
"Theatrum Omnium Animalium;" and there is good reason to
believe that the distortions inflicted on some were made
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BALISTES.
The hofly compre«!Spd. the skin both of the head aud body covfrr-il
with regularly formed plates, wliich do not overlap each other like
scales; the mouth small, with distiuct, strong, and broad teeth. The
gill openings simple, close above the pectoral fins. Two dorsal fins;
the first with very strong spines, of which the first is much the
longest, and of peculiar setting on, so that they can be depressed only
ia conjunctiou with each other.
FILEFISH.
CAPRISCUS. MEDITKRRANEAN FILEFISH.
B'llistes caprisms, Linnaeus. Willoughby; p. 152, PI. I 19.
" " CUVIER.
" " Yarrell; Br. Fishes, vol. ii, p. 472,
•• •• Jenyns ; Manual, p. 492.
This fish is an inhabitant of the ^Mediterranean, where Risso
reports it as showing itself chiefly in the hot season of the
year; but it appears to be scarcely common even there, since
Willoughby was not able to obtain an example, except as
preserved in a museum; and he appears to have known nothing
of another species of the same family, which is found in the
same sea, and with which the one under consideration might
be confounded; but which may be easily distinguished by its
more lengthened shape, when the two are compai'ed together.
It was in the month of August, 183T, that the first British
examffle on record was obtained on the coast of Sussex by J.
G. Chddren, Esq.; and which is now preserved in the British
Museum, but how it was taken is not stated.
Another specimen is also said to have been met wdth in the
Bay of Galway, in Ireland, but no further particulars are given;
VOL IV. 3 B
370 FILEFISII.
and therefore it is with the greatest satisfaction that I am able
to record the capture of a third example, now in my possession,
at Port Loe, on the south coast of Cornwall; where it was
entrapped in a crab-pot in the first wtek of August, of the
present year, 1865. There can be no doubt that it had forced
an entrance into this fatal prison for the purpose of feeding
on the bait prepared to entice the Crabs and Lobsters; and the
fortunate possession of this example fresh from the ocean has
enabled us not only to produce a more correct resemblance
than has hitherto been within our reach, but also in my
description to furnish a larger number of particulars than as
I believe are elsewhere to be met with.
This fish appears to have been well known to the ancient
Greeks and Romans, by whom it is represented as being
singularly and pertinaceously bold and pugnacious; and as such
it is described by Oppian under the name of Mus, or the
Mouse: —
"The Mus's hurtful race, of bulk not large,
And bold to an extreme, e'en man to charge
With hostile front. On his firm teeth he trusts,
And horny skin, to guard from hostile thrusts."
The length of this example to the middle border of the tail
was twelve inches, its greatest depth (both in a straight line)
six inches and a half, the greatest extent in that direction
being at the last ray of the first dorsal fin; the body and head
compressed, Qovered with plates of rather small size, which
have the appearance of scales, but do not overlap each other.
They are firmly attached to the body, and are scarcely per-
ceptibly rough. A lateral line scarcely perceptible proceeds
forward from the tail, but cannot be discerned for more than
a third of the length of the body. The head possesses a little
breadth before the eyes, and slopes downward from the front
of the first dorsal fin, the outline slightly waved; and it even
rises a little from the first ray of this fin to the last. Eye of
moderate size, high on the side of the head, round with a
defined firm border; the pupil small. Nostrils sligh^ in a
small depression not far from the eye; and a small separate
channel forward from the anterior border of the eye. The
gape limited, the lips not covering the teeth, which project; a
pair in front of both jaws longer than the others, those behind
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TETRAODOX.
The jaws divided in the middle by a suture above and b.dow, so
as to present the appearance of forming four proniiueut teeth. The
lower portion of the body covered with spines, and capable of being
inflated; orifice of the gills small.
PENNANTS GLOBEFISII.
Tetraodon stellatus, Fleming; Br. Animals, p. 17k
Donovan; PI. 66.
" " Jenyns; Manual, p. 489.
Tetrodon Pannant'd, Yarrell; Br. Fishes, vol. ii, p. 4.57.
This fish is seen so seldom, and for the most part within
such a limited district, that we may suppose its native haunts
to be at some considerable depth of a confined space in the
ocean; from which its wanderings have been caused by some
unusual influence, which probably may be disease. Yet an
exception to this latter remark may apply to an example that
was met with in the Solent water, where the tide retires to a
large distance, by Avhich means this Globefish, which measured
a little more than twenty inches, was left, in the possession of
active strength, in a hollow of the wide-extended sands of that
shore.
I owe to the kindness of the Earl of Enniskillen the inform-
ation of an example that measured seventeen inches, which
was caught at Charmouth, in Dorsetshire; and from Mr.
Thompson and his Editors we learn that three have been taken
in Ireland; two of which were in the county of Wexford, and
the third on the coast of Waterford. In Cornwall one was
taken near Polperro, and several have been obtained in ^Mount's
Bay; of two of which Ave give the particulars, as they in some
degree throw light on the actions ot this fish; and e&pecially
oT4 pennant's GLOBEFISH.
as regards the structure which by nature had been providcK.!
for its defence, but which had in these instances become the
means of leading to its destruction. These two examples were
taken about the same time and nearly at the same place, near
Penzance; one of them on the 27th. of August, and the other
on the ITth. of September; and it is remarkable that a specimen
caught at St. Ives was obtained on the 29th. of September of
the same year.
The first of these was observed by some schoolboys near the
rocks, as it floated with its distended globe uppermost. It was
incapable of making its escape, and was secured by placing a
basket under it; and it was immediately conveyed to Mr. R.
Q. Couchj by whom a figure of it was taken, and which is
now the original of our representation, together with a description;
both of which are beyond question more characteristic than
such as have been derived from specimens that have suffered
distortion from the manner in which they have been preserved.
Our second example was first seen by a boy floating with
its distended globe uppermost; but although within his reach
he was not able to secure it; and when afterwards it was
discovered by boys the inflation had disappeared. On their
meddling with it it assumed the natural position, but in its
efforts to escape it only made a circuit in the water. For a
time it gradually passed seaward in an apparently exhausted
condition; but in passing near a projecting portion of the rocks
it was taken on shore, and immediately conveyed to my son
above named; to whom it afforded an opportunity of examining
the inward structure of some of its parts, of which we shall
give an account.
The length of the example described was twenty-two inches
and a half, the body, independent of the globe, slender but
round and plump; round the distended part two feet eleven
inches; from the front to the tail along the back nearly straight.
The mouth small, teeth projecting not much unlike the beak
of a parrot; when the mouth is closed the upper pair overhang
the lower; below the mouth a gradual slope, 'which suddenly
distends into the globe, that reaches to the vent, which is large.
The skin is soft, like velvet, and elastic; capable of considerable
motion over the muscles beneath it; the globe covered with
distant star-shaped depressions, each of which bears a prominent
S U N F I S H.
CCXLV
l
H'
u
377
ORTHAGORISCUS.
The body compressed, firm, without spines; the tail high as the
body, and confounded with it, being in connection with the separate
dorsal and anal tins. The jaws undivided on their edge, covered with
uniform enamel in place of teeth.
SUNFISH.
Sunjish, WiLLOUGHBV; p, 151.
Tetraodon mola, LinnjEUs.
Cephalus brevis, Cuvier.
Orthcu/oriscus mola, Fleming; Br. Animals, p. 175.
" " Jexyns; Manual, p. 4.90.
" " Yarrell; Br. Fishes, vol. ii, p. 462.
•• " Bloch; pi. 128, the young fish.
" " Yarrell ; Cr. Fishes, p. 464, the young fish.
All the figures referred to are the less characteristic as having been
from dried examples.
This strange-looking fish is usually spoken of as rare, but
it can scarcely be considered so on our south and west coast,
where it is not common for a year to pass without the
reported capture of a few, This is usually the case in the
warmer months, although in some instances an example has
loitered until late in the autumn. Single stragglers have
also been met with beyond what may be considered their
ordinary range. ]\Ir. Peach informs me that he has known it
taken at Wick, and 1 have been assured of its occurrence as
far north as the Orkney Islands. Dr. McCoy says that it is
not uncommon in Australia, where a large quantity of oil is
extracted, from it. We shall mention an instance of the taking
of a Sunfish with a baited hook; but the more usual capture
has been when the fish has been discovered as it floated at
the surface, and sometimes in the condition of apparent sleep,
with the head, even below the eyes, above the water, or lying
VOL. IV. 3 C
378 SUNFISH.
inertly on its side. It is then approached by the fishermen
without alarming it; but if roused it will put forth strenuous
efforts to escape. In one instance, when laid hold of with a
gaff, it exerted itself so powerfully as but for an accidental
hindrance to have drawn a strong man overboard, and the
hooked instrument was carried off as the fish dived into the
depth. The escape, however, is usually along the surface, and
often with swiftness, so that in a case of which I was informed,
a rowing-boat was not able to overtake it. But it is not
always, and perhaps not often that they are so fortunate as to
escape; and when laid hold of it has been often observed that
they have uttered sounds which in some instances have been
described as like strong and anxious breathing, while other
fishermen have compared them to the loud grunting of a hog,
a circumstance which is also mentioned by Lacepede. When
the eye is touched, and it has been said, when it is only
threatened, the ball is drawn backward into the socket, while
the mass of cellular membrane that lies at the bottom rises up
and covers it. This withdrawal of the eyeball has also been
noticed by Lacepede, and is effected by a special organization of
muscles fitted to the purpose. A fisherman gave me information
of one which he had taken and kept in his own boat for
half an hour, after which he threw it again into the sea, and
then, to his surprise, it darted away, as he said, with the
swiftness of an arrow.
The food of the Sunfish appears to be diversified. I have
learned from William Thompson, Esq., of Weymouth, that a
young example, eighteen inches long, was caught with a line
in whiffing off the coast of Jersey. On one occasion seaweed
was found in the stomach, in another fragments of coralline;
and Dr. Cams remarks of one he saw in the Scilly Islands,
that it had a barnacle in its mouth; but commonly, however,
we find only mucus in the stomach. In England no use has
been made of this fish, except that from its singular shape it
is sometimes exhibited for show. As food it is not thought
of; but a gentleman accustomed to the sea informed me that
in the Mediterranean he procured a portion of a large one
to be cooked for his table, and he thought it good, in taste
much like the common crab.
The Sunfish reaches to a large size, and the largest I have
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LONGER SUNFISFL
Orthngoriscus oUongus, Block, Schneider.
" " Yarrell; Br. Fishes, vol. ii, p. 469.
" truncal us, Fleming; Br. Animals, p. 175.
» " Donovan; PI. 41.
Cephalns oblongus, Cuvier.
Although the Longer Sunfish is perhaps as widely distributed
as the Shorter fish, for it is found at the Cape of Good Hope,
it is far from being equally common; as will appear from the
brevity of our enumeration of the places where it has been
met with. It was first made known as a British fish by Dr.
Borlase, who has given a representation of one Avhich was taken
in Mount's Bay; where two others were obtained in the year
1855. One of large size is recorded as having been taken at
Plymouth. Donovan's specimen was caught in the Bristol
Channel; and Mr. Dillwyn mentions it as washed on shore at
Swansea. Two or three have been procured in Ireland, and
from the evidence of Dr. Deguid there is reason to suppose
it has occurred in Orkney. An example had wandered into
the newly-made lock of the canal at Charlston, in Cornwall,
and it was secured for the museum of the Royal Institution
of Cornwall at Truro. It is from this our figure and decription
have been derived; but of the habits of the species little seems
to be known except that it does not shew itself basking on
the surface like the wider fish, and that crustacean animals
have been found in its stomach.
The length of this example was twenty-two inches, and the
depth about two and a half of the length, but including the
upright fins eleven inches and a half. Dimensions of the
mouth small, with the appearance of a band or lip over it.
From the snout to the eye two inches and three fourths, to
the root of the pectoral fin eight inches and a half, the fin
382 LONGER SUNFISH.
not round, but pointed, the rays fifteen; caudal fin broad (or
long,) not quite the whole depth of the body, an inch and a
half, with eighteen rays; the anal and dorsal fins measure six
inches, the former with eighteen rays, the latter seventeen.
The colour had faded, but appears to have been dark, with a
blue tinge above; white on the sides and below.
In the figure of Schneider, PI. 97, and Cuvier's definition,
the skin is represented as hard, and divided into small six-
angled compartments, of which Donovan's figure shews also
some faint marks; but I did not discern them in the present
instance. This species cannot be confounded with the kindred
Short Sunfish, from which it difljers not only in its relative
dimensions, but in the position of the eye, which is higher
in the head, in the shape of the pectoral fin, and also in the
tail, which falls short of the depth of the body. But it is
baid to attain an equal size with that fish.
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PETROMYZOJf.
The body lengthened, smooth; head rounded, and continuous with
the body; mouth circular, closing longitudinally, armed with tooth-like
processes in rows. An opening on the top of the head; seven separate
openings of the gills arranged along each side. No uectoral or ventral
fins; dorsal, anal, and caudal fins without rays.
SEA LAMPREY.
Lampetra, Lampreda, Jonston; p. 117, PI. 24, f. 5.
Willoughby; p. 105, PI. G 2.
Petromyzon marinus, Linn^us. Block; PI. 77. Cuvier.
" " Donovan; PL 81. -Jenyns; Manual, p. 520.
" " Fleming; Br. Animals, p. 163.
" " Yarrell; Br. Fishes, vol. ii, p. 598.
" lamproie, ' Lacepede.
This fish could not fail to be known to the Greeks and
Koraans, for it is common and of large size and excellency in
the Tiber; but much obscurity has hung over it in consequence
of the variety of names which were applied to it, and the
confusion that followed the application of these names to other
kinds of fish in consequence of some perhaps distant similarity
of form or habit: a likeness in the last-named particular, even
when it was built only on fancy, or still more when on mistaken
principles, being a sufficient inducement to class them together,
or to confound them one with another. And this we find to
be the case to a large extent even in our oAvn day. It was
commonly believed in ancient times that there was a fish, called
Naucrates, Remora, or Echeneis, which was accustomed to lay
hold of a ship, and by means of a magical power or occult
quality which it possessed, was able to arrest its progress in
the midst of its most rapid course, and fix it stationary even
VOL. IV. 3 D
386
SEA LAMPREY.
in the middle of tlie ocean. We have ah'eady given an
account of some of the supposed actions of the now-recognised
Remora, which is a very different fish from that of which
we now speak; but ordinary observation had shewn that the
Lamprey also was in the habit of laying hold of a ship so
firmly as not to be easily separated from it; and, without
attending to the difference in the mode of acting, or considering
that different fishes might possess the same power, the ancients
advanced to the conclusion that where the effect was the
same the fishes themselves could not be different. Nor does
it appear that this mistake has been altogether corrected, nor
the superstition or hallucination been obliterated, at a very
modern date; for in Dodsley's "Annual Register" for 1778,
is an account of the Paklara, which may be either the
Remora or Lamprey, from an abstract of the Travels of the
Abbe Fortis, who, after referring to the ancient stories of
Anthony and Caligula, informs the reader of what happened
within his own knowledge. He says that when he was at
sea the steersman ordered the sailors to come abaft and kill
a fish which he called Paklara; and in reply to the Abbe's
inquiry why he did so, he was informed that it was the habit
of this fish to lay hold of the rudder with its teeth, and by. so
doing it retarded the progress of the ship so sensibly that
the steersman was aware of it in a moment, even without
seeing the fish itself. This man spoke of the Paklara as a
common fish, which in shape resembled a Conger, but in
length did not exceed a foot and a half.
The fact, however, of the knowledge of the Lamprey by
the ancients, notwithstanding the uncertainty arising from
confounding it with others, appears without doubt from the
description which Oppian gives, although under the name of
Echeneis he confounds the Remora with the Lamprey, to
which latter only his particulars can be applied.
"Slender his shape, his length a cubit ends;
No beauteous spot the gloomy race commends;
An Eel-like clinging kind of dusky looks;
His jaws display tenacious rows of hooks;
But in strange power the puny fish excels,
Beyond the boasted art of magic spells."
When, however, the Lamprey had come under the notice
of another class of observers in its yearly migration into fresh
SEA LAMPREY. 389
similar opinion has been expressed in England by a witness
in an inquiry before a Parliamentary Commission on the Salmon
Fisheries in the year 1861. It was then shewn that under
particular circumstances Salmon as well as Lampreys tasted
strongly of tar. The witness said, "We asked the fishermen
about it, and they told us that there was a little ripple of
tar coming down into the Severn, and that must have been
the reason (with the Salmon.) We were rather angry with
the fishermen, and then thought they had put these Salmon
into a boat where tar had been emptied; but they said no,
the tar in the river must have been the reason. AVe had
two Lampreys returned that tasted very badly of tar: we
found out the reason of that. Lampreys have mouths like
suckers, and live by suction; and they will suck tightly to
anvthing. The boats had been newly tarred, and these
Lampreys sucked on to the boat, and from that they were
all tar. I am quite certain that the Lampreys did not get
the tar out of the water, but out of the boat. These tarred
fish were confined to one year." It is not so certain that the
veo-etable tar attracts these fish as that coal tar drives them
away; and, accordingly, it has been noticed that since the
time when the sea-going boats have used the latter no Lampreys
have laid hold upon them.
But there is another use to which the mouth is applied,
and concerning which no doubt can exist, but by Avhich the
use of the singular armature and situation of the teeth is to
be explained. The whole of the interior arch of the mouth is
studded with regular rows of teeth, each one of which on a
broad base is furnished with one or two apparently reversed
points; and the teeth which are the most distant and concealed
are larger than the others, and more eifectually crowded with
these points. For simply biting, as in other fishes, they are
useless; but when the breadth of the open mouth is brought
into contact with the surface of a fish on which the Lamprey
has laid hold, by producing a vacuum, these roughly-pointed
teeth are brought forward in a manner to be able to act on
it by a circular motion, and a limited space on the skin of
the captive prey is thus rasped into a pulp and swallowed,
so that a hole is made which may perhaps penetrate to the
bones, and from the torture of which the utmost energy of
390 SEA LAMPKEY.
exertion by the victim cannot deliver it. The most active
fishes appear most liable to this infliction, and on none have
I found it more frequent than on the ]\Iackarel, although the
Gurnard, Coalfish (Rauning Pollack,) Cod, and Haddock are
also the subjects of the attack. It is deserving of notice,
however, that in the numerous instances in which Lampreys
have been found adhering to their victims, and eating into
their substance, the depredators have been of small size, even
of six inches in length, with a different appearance as regards
colour in comparison with the full-grown fish; which latter
has only a few times been taken at sea fixed to a boat
within our knowledge. It might be supposed that death
would be the inevitable fate of fishes which had suffered from
the teeth of these devouring Lampreys; but I have examined
some that have borne the mark of having been thus fed on,
but which have survived to have the wound healed, although
not without its leaving an enduring mark.
It is in the spring, and with us about April and May, that
the Lamprey is ready to deposit its spawn; and for this purpose
it seeks the fresh water of the deepest of our rivers. From
the sea it has been brought with the roe enlarged on the
11th. of April, and also in the middle of May: but in Holland,
Ruysch says it is so early as February, and Duhamel says they
are caught in nets of very fine twine in the Eiver Loire, that
runs by Nantes, in January; the fishery continuing until May;
while Sir William Jardine assigns it to June for Scotland, and
thenceforward so late as to the end of August. It is at this
its first entry into the rivers that the fishery is entered upon;
and among English rivers the Severn has long been celebrated
for it, and for the excellence of the Lampreys taken in it.
Indeed it is not known that this fish is much sought after in any
other of our rivers; and even there so fluctuating is the taste
of epicurism, that within a few years the sale of it has much
declined. They are fished for mostly in the night, and from
thirty to forty are regarded as a successful adventure, at the
price of a shilling to eighteen pence for each fish. Duhamel
says that in France, with the nets employed, it is not by the
mesh, but by being enrolled in the net that these fish are
caught; and those which are taken in this manner are thought
to be in better condition than such as are entrapped in baskets
SEA T.AMVRRY. 391
of wiclverworTv, which are also employed; because in the latter
they bruise themselves iu their struggles to get free.
In remote times of our history this fish was held as of
great value, and there are instances in proof that it was once
deemed a favourite dish at the table of kings. The death
of TIenry the First was caused by his having indulged too
freely in a dish of potted Lampreys; and a single one of these
fish was thought a not unfitting present to be sent by King
John to the Earl of Chester; who acknowledged the honour
by the present in return of a good palfrey. It was an old
custom for the corporation of the city of Gloucester to present
to the reigning sovereign a pie of Lampreys yearly; but it
appears that this custom has ceased to exist; an end probably
having been put to it on the occasion of the passing of the
Keform Bill. In the last century also a pie of Lampreys was
sent by the corporation of the same city to the Prince of
Wales.
As this species of Lamprey enters rivers for the purpose of
spawning, in the spring, this is the season of its highest per-
fection; but immediately after the shedding of the roe so great
a change takes place, that they are not only weakened and
emaciated, but it has been believed that death is commonly
the result. But that this last supposition at least is not correct,
appears from the fact, that while in May, twelve months
perhaps from their birth, they are often found not to exceed
six or eight inches in length, and when a little larger at that
season are clearly pregnant with enlarged spawn, examples are
not uncommon which measure thirty inches in length; and
which therefore we may conclude to have experienced the
growths of several seasons, and consequently to have passed
through more than one or two of those in which their spawn
has been deposited.
The method of proceeding by which a procreant bed is
prepared for the reception of this treasure, affords an insight
into another use to which the sucking faculty of the mouth
can be applied. Both sexes unite in preparing the ground at
the bottom of the river, by excavating a trench; and as in
doing this it shall happen that stones of considerable size may
lie in the way, the mouth is employed in the labour of grasping
and removing them, so that the grains of roe may be covered
392 SEA la:mprey.
only by a Hgliter sand. A stone of the weight of two pounds
has been known to be thus carried to a sufficient distance;
and Mr. Thompson reports on the authority of a fisherman that
stones of even ten or twelve pounds have been turned over.
Soon after spawning the parent fish return to the sea.
As the manner in which the water is received by this fish
for the purpose of breathing, has been described in a way that
is contrary to my observations, the following notes are given
from my own examination of the subject; derived chiefly from
a large example taken in the sea: — When this fish was altogether
immersed in the water, the fluid was seen to enter by the orifice
on the head, and was discharged through the branchial orifices
at the sides. "When these orifices on one of the sides were
out of the water it was still discharged through both, but with
less force; but when the aperture on the head and the branchial
orifices on one side were equally out of the water, although
the fluid ran out for a short time, as if what had been adhering
to the gills within supplied it; yet afterwards it ceased with
something of a sucking motion, as if the gills were drawing
without being supplied. But on a farther trial with the same
fish, when the whole body was immersed in the water, a constant
current was discharged from, not inhaled by, the aperture on
the head, in common with the gills; but when the head was
lifted above the water, and all besides immersed, the current
ceased from the head, although it continued from the gills.
When the mouth was lifted from the water, and the aperture
on the head was immersed, no water entered by the latter,
although the current ceased from the gills: a circumstance not
easily explained, except on the supposition that the powers of
life, usually of an enduring kind, were about to cease.
This fish inhabits climates between the very warm and very
cold; it is therefore found in the Mediterranean; and also in
the north of Europe; where it is mentioned by Nilsson as
common in the Baltic and North Seas; but it is not mentioned
by Fabricius in Greenland.
The example described was obtained from the Severn, and
measured two feet eight inches in length, and six inches and
a half round the body where stoutest; which was at the last
spiracle; round anteriorly, more compressed towards the tail;
rather flat on the head, and when the mouth is closed bluntly
SEA LAMPKEY. 393
pointed in front; but when the mouth is open the appearance
is as if the head had been cut off"; aperture on the top of the
head a little in front of the line of the eyes, and with a raised
rim; the eye moderate, lively, proportionally larger in the
smaller examples. In a line with the eye are seven branchial
openings, lowering gradually in the order in which they are
arranged. The first dorsal iin behind the middle of the body,
shorter than the second, from which it is widely separated; the
second running to the root of the tail, but not joined to it.
In this example the tail is square, but in others pointed. The
vent opposite the beginning of the second dorsal fin. The
colour is varied, mottled with blue and green, but when taken
in the sea, much more dull, and often of a uniform bluish tint;
whitish below; the eye pinlc, red, or silvery.
The arrangement and structure of the teeth are characteristic
of the species of this family, and therefore require a distinct
description; as do a few other particulars of the structure of this
fish, and especially of the organization of its head. When the
mouth is expanded it forms a wide oval, of which the border
is fleshy and apparently sensitive. In front of the gullet is a
curved row of stout teeth, each of which has a stout firm base,
with a sharp point; and a little behind them, on the floor, first
a pair of elevated rasp-like teeth, having on their upper edge
a row of very sharp points. Close behind these a pair ot
elliptic shape, with their narrow convex bend foremost; and
along their edge a row of sharp points. On the upper portion
of the mouth or palate, on the fauces two teeth, close together,
each with a broad and firm base and short, sharp point. In a
line above them upward three similar teeth, each smaller than
the next below it; and four rows of similar teeth pass from
these in regular succession, in an arched manner, to the border
of the mouth; each row containing five or six, except the
highest, where there are only one or two of small size. In
front of the lower portion of the mouth are three or four
regular rows of teeth in a circular course; and thus the whole
surface of the mouth and throat is covered with regularly
arranged strong teeth, which are not solid, but mere shells
that are shed by being thrust off and renewed by others
that rise within themselves. The throat teeth are moved by
muscles appropriated to themselves, and the seven of the row
VOL. IV, 3 E
94
SEA LAMPREY.
in front are fixed in a single bone, which is suspended from
the skull; to which also the pair above the gullet are affixed.
This bone forms a ring; but the rows above, or on the roof,
stand, each tooth singly, on a bed of tendinous substance.
Referring to what has been already said of the bones of the
head, it should be added that the brain is small and not
covered by them; and even the passage from the top of the
head through an organized chamber to the gills is behind
them; so that more probably they answer to the nasal and
lachrymal bones of the higher animals, as appears to be Dr.
Grant's opinion in his Lectures. The animal senses of this
tish appear to be acute.
Moutli of Sea Lamprey seen from above— to shew the crown of teeth, or
tooth on the place of a tongue.
395
LAMPERN.
Lampetm altera minor macuUs carens, Willoughby ; PI. G 2, f. 1, tlio
word minor referring by com-
parison to the Sea Lamprey.
Pefromyzon fluviatiUs, Linnaeus. Block ; PI. 78, f. 1.
" Fleming; Br. Animals, p. 163.
" pricha, Lacepede.
" fluviatiUs, CuviER.
" " Jenyns; Manual, p. 521.
" '• Yabrell; Br. Fishes, vol. ii,
p. 604.
Lacepede says that this fish is an inhabitant of lakes rather
than rivers, and that it comes into the latter only when pre-
pared to shed its spawn, which is in the spring. It may be
from the general absence of lakes in England that with us it
is usually found in rivers, and in preference it abounds in
such as are deep and wide; and it is there they may be
obtained throughout the year, although there appears to be
no doubt that some individuals have been found in the open
sea, to which it is probable they do not proceed at all seasons,
as if in regular migration, and where they do not continue
long.
This species has never been so highly valued for the table
as the larger Sea Lamprey, although a small trade has been
carried on by pickling it to send even to India; but on some
accounts it is of greater importance, and might be of more if
it were employed for the same purpose more generally among
ourselves, as it is abroad. Dutch fishermen have long ago
discovered that it may be made an excellent bait for the
Turbot and Cod; and, as their own country cannot provide a
sufficient supply, they have had recourse especially to the
Thames, where the vast abundance in which this fish is (or
596 LAMPERN.
at least was) found, has enabled the people living along the
river to furnish the numbers of which we receive accounts.
The Dutch have, or have had, a contract with men of
Teddington for the regular supply of these fish, to be used
as bait, and they are delivered alive, in which condition they
are kept until wanted; and the price has varied from £3 to £5,
or even more, the thousand. We learn from the Report of a
Parliamentary Commission, that one hundred and twenty thou-
sand were caught by one person in the course of one winter.
In a single season one man received £400 for the numbers
he sold; and the whole expenditure for a year has amounted
to £4000.
To supply such a demand this fish must be highly prolific,
and more so than any others of this family Avith which we are
acquainted; as also it must be safe from the depredations of
devourers; although there is evidence that they are victims to
the omnivorous appetite of rats. We learn, however, from the
"Fisherman's Magazine," vol. ii, that however prolific naturally,
from some cause, of which the increasing foulness of the Thnmes
is the most probable, the numbers of these fish have fallen off
greatly within a few years, with the prospect of the utter
extinction of the fishery, to the great loss of course of the
fishermen who depended on it for subsistence, as well as to
those who have used it as bait.
It is probable that fishermen who have been engaged in
supplying the demand for these fish could communicate many
particulars of their habits yet unknown to naturalists; but
what is generally known is for the most part confined to the
incidents Avhich attend the deposition of the spawn and the
occurrences accompanying the season of breeding. ]Mr. Yarrell
has remarked in the "Journal of the Proceedings of the
Zoological Society," that he had examined individuals of this
species every week from March to the middle of May, and that
to the 19th. of April more females than males were taken; but
after this period, the females being nearly ready to deposit
their roe, the males were most numerous in the proportion of
two to one. All the females taken about the 26th. of April
were in a state to deposit their roe; and the milt of the males,
now become fluid, passed in a stream from the sheath behind
the anal aperture on making slight pressure on the abdomen.
LAMPERN.
307
By tlie lOrh. of ^lay nearly the whole of those examined had
deposited their spawn. In addition to this Sir William Jardiue
remarks, "The manner in which the Common (Sea) Lamprey
and the Lamperns form their spawning beds is very curious.
They are not furnished with any elongation of jaw, but the
want is supplied by their sucker-like mouth, by which they
individually remove each stone. Their power is immense.
Stones of a very large size are transported, and a large
furrow is soon formed. The Sea Lampreys remain in pairs,
two on each spawning place, and while there employed retain
themselves affixed by their mouths to a large stone." The
Lampern, and another small species which he has not
determined, but of which I shall give an account, are gre-
garious, acting in concert, and forming in the same manner
a general spawning bed.
Some further particulars are given by an anonymous writer
in "Loudon's Magazine of Natural History," vol. v. "On
the 8th. of May I saw a number of Lampreys in the act
of spawning. After observing them for some time, I observed
one twist its tail round another in such a manner, and they
both stirred up the sand and small gravel from the bottom
in such a way, as convinced me it was a conjunction of the
sexes. However there were so many of them together, and
they kept so continually moving about, that I could not
sincfle out the two individuals, and thus ascertain whether
they were male and female; but I felt so desirous of being
able to set this question at rest that I went again next
morning, and was fortunate enough to find only two, a male
and female. I then witnessed several sexual conjunctions,
during which the sand and gravel were stirred up with them,
and each of which was followed by the ejection of a jet of
e(^"s from the female. I then caught them both, and dissected
them. The sexual organ in the male was projected above a
quarter of an inch, and the body filled with milt; the female,
although she seemed to have already shed a considerable
quantity of her spawn had still a tolerable stock remaining.
I frequently afterwards witnessed the same thing, and always
found the same difference of sexes."
The example described was procured from the Severn, and
was the largest of two or three. It measured about a foot
398 LAMPERN.
in length, but they are sometimes fifteen inches; in general
shape much like the younger condition of the Sea Lamprey,
but the mouth less expanded; the teeth very differently ar-
ranged, and not nearly so formidable or numerous; round the
disk of the mouth a considerable number of fibres, which
appear to be organs of exquisite sensation; but they are more
numerous, and of different form and texture from those which
constitute a principal character of Planer's Lamprey. At the
entrance of the disk, or expanded mouth, below, is a row of
small teeth, placed circularly, and at a short distance inward
a few rather larger, followed by a pair at the entrance of the
throat, which stand higher. Above the orifice of the throat a
pair of flattened triangular teeth, separate from each other;
and from each proceeds a couple of smaller teeth, with one
near the border below each of them; higher up the disk
seven teeth in an arched arrangement, forming, with those
smaller ones already mentioned, what should be twelve arranged
in a half circle, but one of these teeth in this example had
been lost or shed. The fins of this species resemble those of
the Sea Lamprey, except that in the Lampern there is a low
continuance of the second dorsal, which becomes joined to
that which as a tail passes round the end of the body. But
the aspect of these two fishes is different; which in part arises
from the greater protrusion of the head of the Sea Lamprey,
and the more arched lowering of its line of direction towards
the mouth. The orifice on the head appears as if inclining to
the side. Willoughby makes the uniformity of colour, free of
mottling, to be a characteristic of the Lampern; which, as
regards the older individuals of the other species, will hold
good, but it is not so in the younger examples of that fish.
In this species the back is a uniform blue, with rings like ribs
partially encircling the body; below white; the fins inclined to
yellow.
As I am aware that the teeth of this fish are liable to be
shed, and perhaps without leaving a mark of where they have
been until again restored, I here give the description of them
as reported by Laccpede. It is possible also that they may
be liable to some variation. He says, "At the entrance (of the
mouth or disk) a single row of very small teeth, which are
placed round its circumference; and within this, in front, there
LAMPERN. 399
is another row of six teeth, equally small; within this again
on each side are three more, which are cut into segments; and
still nearer the entrance of the mouth is a thick and crescent-
shaped tooth; still further behind a lengthened bone which is
placed sideways, with seven small points; a semicircular one
still further in, and lastly at a still greater depth within a
single tooth or (as he terms it) cartilage. The manner in
which they arc used appears to be uncertain."
400
SILVER LAMPREY.
Petromyzon argenteus,
Block ; PI. 78, 3, which Cuvier pronounces
the figure of a young example of his F.
fluviatilis; which also he does not distin-
guish frona the Lampern. I believe them
to be different species, and that Bloch
represents the Silver Lamprey, which ia
a fish not generally recognised by natu-
ralists; although Sir William Jardine
appears to refer to it when he describes
what he had observed of the actions of
the Lampern, as already quoted, and of
another which he considered to be distinct
from it.
The Silver Lamprey is always of less size than the ordinary
dimensions of the Lampern, and proportionally more slender;
the form of the head different, in a more decided approach to
a lip when viewed from above; the aperture on the head a
little in front of a line between the eyes; dorsal fins only a
little removed from each other, and the second joined by an
evident continuation to the tail; the line of the branchial
openings less depressed than in the Lampern in proceeding
backward; being in a direct course with the line of the body.
A line of pores on each side along a portion of the under
surface, as represented in this figure. In this latter example
there appears a process which perhaps appears only at the time
SILVER LAMPREY. 401
of slieclding tlie spawn, and may be confined to one sex only.
Something similar to it is seen in what Bloch, as above referred
to, calls his Planer's Lamprey.
An account of the manner in which these fish proceed while
shedding their spawn in one of our smaller streams, was
communicated to me by a fisherman who was in search of
Lamjireys to be employed as bait; for which however this sort
is less valued than the Mud Lamprey, as not continuing so
long alive on the hook. The numbers he observed together
he judged to be about thirty, huddled thickly in company
in a shallow part of the stream with a gravelly bottom ; into
which they had dug a small hole, and were evidently employed
in shedding their s^^awn. This was in INIarch; and being
desirous of obtaining some of them, by a sudden sweep he
threw out of the current about a dozen; in doing which a
considerable quantity of the spawn was received into his hands.
The rest of these fishes immediately dispersed, and he did
not wait to know whether or not they assembled again. When
caught and placed in a tank it will throw itself over the brim,
but cannot be kept alive long in confinement.
VOL. IV. 3 I
402
PLANER'S LAMPREY.
Fetroiwyzon Planeri, Cuvier. Jenyns; Manual, p. 522.
" " Yarrell; Br. Fislies, vol. ii, p. G07.
This species bears a near likeness to tlie Silver Lamprey
and the Lampern, and on this account there is no doubt it
has been overlooked by observers, although the difference when
pointed out is sufficient readily to distinguish them. Its peculiar
habits have been less noticed than those of others of this
family; but having kept alive a couple of them, which had
been taken, with many of the Mud Lamprey, in the Trelawny
branch of the Looe river, I was able to discern a peculiarity
in the manner in which they deal with their prey, after which
I suppose them to be not a little eager. After four or five
days the smallest of the two was seen to have a wound at the
origin of the dorsal fin, and a considerable space of the skin
of one side was excoriated; which I felt no doubt to have been
done by its companion; and on the eighth day a further injury
of the same sort was inflicted; in both cases it appeared to
have been done in the night. On the ninth day both were
found dead, and both of them bore the same marks of injury,
which was widely spread, but little more than skin deep. They
did not at any time appear active; at least they were less so
than the Silver Lamprey; but when at rest they adhered by
the mouth to a fixed substance, which is not usually the case,
if ever, with the IVIud Lamprey. This species seems Avidely
distributed, as well in Britain as en the continent, except in
the more southern portion of the latter.
Planer's Lamprey is thicker in proportion to its length than
the Silver Lamprey; but it is more decisively known from this
and the Lampern by the close approach to each other of the
dorsal fins; while in the others there is an evident separation
between them. It has been called the Fringe-lipped Lamprey,
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MUD LAMPREY. 405
of a rapid stream, the strength of which it. might scarcely be
able to stem, or to the appetite of any prowling inhabitant of
the river; from which its powers would not enable it to escape.
How well it can live buried in a soil fitted to its wants will
appear from trials to which it has been subjected.
An example was procured at the beginning of April, and
at first kept in a pint measure of clear water, where it
sometimes shewed activity, or rather a restless disposition, as
we often see with large numbers in like circumstances; but
also it often lay as if dead at the bottom, on its back or side.
Some of the usual mud was then taken from the rivulet and
placed at the bottom of the vessel; into which it soon buried
itself, and there continued without being seen above it again
until the middle of December; at which time it appeared to
have become a little more slender, perhaps from deficiency of
food; but not less lively, and after this it was set at liberty.
On another occasion a few of these fish were placed in a glass
vessel, with tire usual river mud at the bottom. Two of them,
of larger size, were for a time usually in sight, and sometimes
active, but the others continued hid in the soil; nor was the
water changed for the last six months of their imprisonment;
and only a little was added to supply the loss from evaporation;
but from August to the following June they continued alive,
and at last one of them was enclosed in a box with some
green seaweed that had been washed in fresh water, and sent
to my friend Mr. Yarrell; who received it still alive after a
confinement of thirty-six hours.
A couple of these fish were kept for several hours in clean
water; and when a rather tenacious mud was added, from a
millpool, one of them became buried in it in a quarter of an
hour, and the other in twice that time. This soil did not
appear congenial to their habits and motions, but they continued
within it, except that for a time their heads were often brought
above its surface, and openings were formed opposite the
breathing holes, and one of them remained in health, entirely
within the mud for several weeks. In a large pan of water a
considerable number hid themselves beneath the flat stones Avhich
were placed at the bottom; but in all cases a small degree of
disturbance excites them to action, and they seek to escape
from it. That they can survive the contact of sea-water appears
406 MUD LAMPREY.
from the fact that the tide is known to flow at times over a
place where they lie hid; and they live longer on the hook at
sea than the Silver Lamprey is known to do.
This fish is widely distributed in Europe, and even in the
north; although it has been said that it is not known in Britain
north of the Tweed, and it is not noticed by Nillson among
the fishes of Scandinavia. But I am informed by Mr. Peach
that it is common at Wick. It is classed with the fishes of
Hungary by Dr. ileisinger. Its time of shedding spawn is in
the spring, and an instance is known of its having done this
in captivity. The grains were white, and in size a little less
than those of a lobster; but it is probable that they were not
fertile.
The usual length of this species is about six inches, with
the circumference of a large goose-quill; but the enlargement
is greater along the course of the gill openings. The expansion
of the mouth is not circular; but the upper lip is wide, arched
into a half circle, and capable of complicated motion; in life
well charged with blood-vessels; the lower lip lying across, and
it is believed capable of being thrust forward considerably, or
rather lifted up, so as with the aid of the sides of the lips to
cover the orifice of the gullet. The teeth are not firm, but
they exist; a wide border of small ones above, and behind a
pair of larger, a pair much larger below. A curious action is
seen in life at the place where the passage from the forehead
communicates with the gills; and by which it is probable the
water for breathing is supplied to the branchiae, as a substitute
for the ordinary gill-covers of other fishes. The orifice on the
head is far forward. The orifices of the gills are marked with
circular lines, each having its own blood-vessel, and which
also are discerned at regular intervals along the body; the body
itself round until behind the vent, where it is compressed. The
eyes are small, and not to be discerned without much attention,
situated in a depression, which resembles a channel forward
and backward; with a projection above them which serves to
guard and also to conceal them. The vent is far behind,
opposite an early portion of the second dorsal fin. The first
dorsal begins at about the middle of the length, and is narrow;
sometimes so much so as scarcely to be discerned; the second
a little removed from the first, wider near its beginning, and
MUD I.AMrREY. 407
then narrower where joined to the caudal fin, which passes
round the body and forward half way to the vent. The colour
dark yellow on the back, with sometimes a tinge of green;
yellowish below, and on the fins. The openings of the gills,
which are in a sunken channel, and sometimes the lower portion
of the body opposite them are often a lively pink.
An irregular formation has occurred in this fish, in the
division of the body into two separate portions from the part
just above the vent backward. Both of these portions were
bent down from a straight line, and one of them was a little
longer than the other, and more active, but the other was
more in the right line of the vertebral direction. The shortest
was also a little irregular in shape, and bent at the caudal
extremity. A faintly-marked first dorsal fin lay a little before
the separation of the vertebras into two columns, and the
second dorsal is turned round in a circle at the place where
the portions of the body divide, as if this fin was directed
down one of the parts and up the other. These two parts of
one body diverged to some considerable extent. The fish was
about half the usual size, and active.
It should be observed that the eyes ot the Mud Lamprey
can be noticed only when the fish is alive, as presently after
death they are scarcely or not at all to be discerned. The
teeth also, as being of a soft or cartilaginous substance^^ can
be made out only during life.
408
GASTROBTMISTCHUS.
The month terminal, oval, with tendrils; no eyes. Body lengthened,
lax. Breathing holes a pair, near each other, on the lower part of the
body at about the first third of its length.
BOEER.
MYXINE. HAGFISH. RAMPER EEL. POISON RAMPER.
Myxme glutinosa, LinUjEUS. Fleming; Br. Animals, p. 164
" " Jentns; Manual, p. 623.
Gastrohranclius ccecus, Bloch. Turton's Linnasus. Cuvier.
" Yarrell; Br. Fishes, vol. ii, p. 612.
" " Its internal structure — Bloch ; Schneider,
^ pi. 104 ; and Tahrell.
This creature bears so little resemblance to a fish that
several eminent writers, and among them Linnaeus, have judged
it proper to class it among the worms; and although on closer
examination the generality of naturalists have decided that in
its affinities it stands in nearer alliance to fishes, and especially
that in a descending scale it bears a close alliance to the
family of Lampreys, yet there are so many peculiarities in its
formation and prominent appearance, that we can place it only
on that intermediate ground which leads from one of these
great families to the other; while in some respects it seems
to stand alone, as well in its structure as habits, as if to shew,
as we have elsewhere observed, that a single presiding influence
has been the creator of all, and while establishing the specific
nature of each, has still united the apparently discordant
characters of the separate individuals into one harmonious whole.
In its more usual range the Borer or Myxine inhabits the
northern seas of Europe, but it is scarcely rare in some
BORER. 409
districts of our own island, in the northern waters of which,
and especially about Scarborough, it is known to fishermen
from the injury it inflicts by destroying the fish w^iich have
been left on their bulters or long lines for a sufficient time to
have become dead, and thus presenting themselves as an
unresisting and inviting prey; for there is reason to suppose
that the appetite of this fish is only disposed to feed on such
as are lately dead, but which have not yet suffered decay or
putrefaction. The Cod, Ling, and Haddock are frequently
thus the subjects of its depredations; and the INIackarcl also,
when it has fallen to the bottom from the net. Sometimes,
however, it has chanced to be the victim instead of the
devourer, and it has been found partly digested in the stomach
of a living Cod, an instance of which among others is men-
tioned by W. P. Cocks, Esq., as having fallen under his notice
at Falmouth. But this fish must be regarded as of exceedingly
rare occurrence on our south or west coast, as also in Ireland,
where it is barely mentioned by Mr. Thompson, but who
refers to the remarkable fact that an instance had been known
where it had been taken with a hook.
The fullest and most satisfactory account of this fish is con-
tained in the Swedish work of Fries and Ekstrom; from M'hich
therefore the principal portion of our materials is derived; but
our figure and description in addition are from nature, and for
these it is Avith pleasure we own our obligation to Edmund T.
Higgins, Esq., from whom our example, of remarkable size,
was obtained.
Ekstrom observes that the Myxine is common on the west
coast of Sweden, and along that of Norway up to the North
Cape; but it is not known in the Baltic; and it is singular
that the males of this fish have not yet been discovered, nor
the young ones of either sex of a less size than about nine
inches in length. The reason assigned for this is built on the
supposition that neither of these are as predaceous as the females
of full growth, or perhaps that their food is different; but the
adult females are ravenous in a high degree; and although
beyond doubt there are times when they must feed differently,
as we have noticed in the fact that they have sometimes taken
a bait, although this is seldom; yet their favourite method of
feeding is by entering into the body of a dead fish; where
VOL. IV. 3 G
410 BORER.
they fix themselves, and in no long time devonr the whole
of the soft materials, so as to leave nothing but the bones
and skin, which remain untouched. One or two of these
creatures may be sufficient to effect this destruction; but where
the victim has been left long to them, no less than twenty
have been found within a single fish. And the manner in
which the entrance is effected is not less remarkable than their
conduct Avhen within the body of their prey. It is not by
boring a hole like the Sea Lamprey, nor by tearing the outward
surface like many other fishes, but a passage is accomplished
through the gills, so that the victim bears little mark of the
injury until the skin is found to contain nothing but the bones;
(an effect sometimes produced also by the depredations of a
multitude of sessile-eyed crustaceans.)
This fish is particular in the choice of the ground on which
it lives; which is not that which is sandy; but it gives a
preference of what is of clay or mud, and usually in deep
water; as from thirty even up to seven hundred fathoms. It
is said to move into a less depth in winter, but it never comes
near the shore. The appearance of this fish is sufficient to shew
that its movements are slow; and if placed in water it lies at
the bottom as if dead; but when stirred to exertion it swims
for a time like an Eel, but always at the bottom; and it
cannot be made to rise above it.
The spawn has been found enlarged in February, and also
in July; and Ekstrom thinks that they breed throughout the
summer; but the number of grains is few, and no more than
twelve have been found enlarged at one time in the ovary,
which is attached to the right side of the intestine. A remarkable
part of the character of this fish is the enormous quantity of
slime which is produced from its pores, and which in a state
of liberty must tend to preserve it from some injurious influences.
A single individual that was placed in a quantity of water
equal to from three to four cubic feet, was found to fill it with
this slime so entirely, that the whole could be lifted out with
a stick in a single sheet.
The example we describe was in length fifteen inches and a
half, which is the largest on record, and two inches round
where largest, which was about three inches from the snout;
the body soft, flaccid, round until near the tail, when it becomes
nouER. 411
compressed. On tlie anterior portion of the body an appearance
of rings; breadth (or depth) near the tail six eighths of an inch.
Aperture of the mouth perpendicularly oval, with short rather
thick tendrils, (a particular description of which will be copied
from Eskstrom.) A single projecting hooked tooth above; what
are described by writers as lingual teeth appear to me to be
pharyngeal; in two nearly half-moon-shaped beds; in two rows
of sharp teeth, the outermost or convex row largest, and the
uppermost tooth in each row bifid; no mark of an eye. There
is no fin on the back until near the tail; a raised fold at the
belly, beginning at five inches and a half from the head, and
becoming wider as it passes on, it joins the dorsal to form the
tail, as in the Conger; but Avithout rays, and resembling the
fins of the Lamprey, except that it is much thicker. Two
small openings, which communicate with the breathing organs
near each other at four inches from the snout, close on the
belly to where the abdominal fold begins. The mucous orifices
so conspicuous in the figure given in Ekstrom's plate, could
not be discerned in our example; which may be accounted for
by the action of the diluted spirit in which it had been
immersed. The colour brown, with a tinge of pink on the
back, yellowish on the sides, pale along the abdominal line.
The figure given by Ekstrom is more brightly coloured, and
also much more slender than ours; in which it resembles that
of Mr. Yarrell, whereas our own bears a nearer resemblance to
that of Pennant; but we believe that the difference is only the
effect of the difference of age, and perhaps of feeding. Ekstrom
says the usual length is about a foot, slender, plump, round
on the fore part, compressed behind, without scales, the skin
tough, loose on the body, when alive somewhat pellucid, and
plentifully covered with slime; the head to be distinguished
only by having the mouth and nose; snout subconical, rather
blunt, flat below; the mouth resembling a I'ounded opening,
which closes in folds, without distinct lips. There are eight
short barbs ranged round the opening of the mouth, four of
which are placed so as to form a square at the point of the
snout, and directed upward; two also on each side of the mouth,
the lower pair the shortest, but all directed upward. The caudal
fin lower on the fore part, and then wide, below reaching
forward to the vent, which is at the last eighth portion of the
412 • BORER.
leiifjjtli; the opening longitudinal, large, its length being the
half of the height of the body. Rays of the fin very numerous,
slender; those along the ventral line directed backward, on the
back curved, and at their points turned almost forward. There
is another fin, which may be termed preanal, between the vent
and the gill openings, formed of a fold of the skin, which
at its base contains a large number of very short rays, but
stout and blunt. While the fish is alive this fold of the skin
is moderately high, but when the body is distended with roe,
or when preserved in spirit, it becomes contracted and low.
The lateral line is at the sides of the belly, and contains large
glands, one hundred and eight in number, just below the skin,
but lifting it up and forming a beaded row, with an open pore
on the upper side, from which the slime is poured out. There
are no distinct teeth in the jaw, but some are deeply concealed
within the mouth. At its upper part is a single slender,
strong, and curved tooth, which is broad at the root and
covered Avith a fold of skin. The lower teeth are in regular
longitudinal rows, bent on each side, and two rows answering
to each other. In the outer row are eight, with sometimes
another of small size; in the inner row from eight to ten, the
two foremost stouter than the others.
The nasal openings are among the barbs on the snout, and
are covered with a lobe above ; passing into a nasal cavity that
is marked with longitudinal folds through a cartilaginous tube
marked with a ring; (^Ir. Owen says with rings like the wind-
pipe;) and from thence to the entrance of the gullet, where is
a valve, and through which the water for breathing passes into
what we may term the gills; so that, as this author supposes,
there exists in this fish a sort of structvire through the nostrils
to what is equivalent to the gills, which is not found in any other.
But it appears to me that the difference in this respect between
the Borer and the Lamprey is rather in the circumstances than
the essentials of this organization; since the opening on the
head in the one performs the same function as what are termed
the nasal openings in the other, and both of them afford the
means by which water is conveyed to the gills; but in the
case of the Borer, as perhaps in the Lampreys, there are some
organic formations, as a veil to the palate, and some smaller
veils of a similar kind, which must greatly assist in rendering
BOREK.
413
acute the faculties of smell and taste, and perhaps in directing
the inhaled current of water. At the hindmost half of the
gullet there are six small openings, regularly arranged on each
side, which communicate each by a tube with an equal numbel
of membranous vesicles, a little compressed, and of the diameter
of the fifth or sixth of an inch, the lining of each of which
forms considerable folds, which serve in the place of gill-plates
for performing the function of breathing; t^e water passing
from the gullet through these tubes to the vesicles or gills,
and from them, on each side by passages uniting into a tube,
the water is discharged by a couple of openings, close to each
other on the belly; and which therefore are truly the breathing
holes or external gills, and taken as a whole nothing can be
more wisely contrived for keeping in store and supplying the
necessary fluid in a creature which occasionally for a long time
cannot obtain a renewal of the same from without. These
outward openings of the breathing organs are behind the muscular
apparatus of the tongvie, which is large and turned far backward,
reaching from the gullet to the openings, and in thickness is
equal to half the diameter of the body; its action being directed
by several powerful muscles, which, with the help of the grating
teeth, will act on the food like a file, while the single tooth
on the palate is employed in fixing the mouth of the devourer
on its prey; a structure and action not much unlike what is
common in a large portion of osseous fishes.
Mr. Owen remarks that the whole of the anterior parts, as
the muscles and integuments of the head, the barbs, nasal tube,
membrane lining the mouth and tongue, and the teeth in
the throat, with the pharynx or passage leading to the gullet,
are furnished with one common nerve, termed the fifth pair,
from which they obtain a high degree of sensation of a peculiar
kind. And singular, as well as effectual, as this inward orga-
nization appears to be for the special habits of this fish, the
structure of the spine seems scarcely less so as compared Avith
that of other fishes, but as such suggesting an opinion of a
very low degree of intelligence. Connected with this Dr.
Eoget observes, in his Bridgewater Treatise, — "There are few
parts in the structure of animals that exhibit more remarkable
instances of the law of gradation than the spine of fishes, in
which we may trace a regular progression of development.
414
BORER.
from the simplest and almost rudimental condition in which it
exists in the Myxine and the Lamprey, to that of the most
perfect of the osseous tribes. Its condition in the former of
these animals presents a close analogy with some structures that
are met with in the molluscous, and even in annulose animals.
So near is the resemblance of the spinal column of the Myxine,
more especially, to the annular condition of the framework of
the Vermes (worms,) that doubts have often arisen whether
that animal ought not to be ranked among this latter class; for
in place of a series of bones composing the vertebral column,
it has merely a soft and flexible tube of a homogeneous and
cartilaginous substance, exhibiting scarcely any trace of division
into separate rings, but appearing as if it were formed of a
continuous hollow cylinder of intervertebral substance, usurping
the place of the vertebra?, which it is the usual office of that
substance to connect together, and having in its axis a continuous
canal filled with gelatinous fluid. The nervous cord is on the
outside of this column, and the cartilage forms no canal for
its passage and protection," as is formed by bony processes in
the higher orders of fishes. "The nervous matter here consists
merely of two slender cords, which run parallel to each other
in a groove on the upper part of the spinal column; and
these cords are only covered by a thin membrane, the presence
of Avhich it requires very minute attention to detect. As we
ascend from this rudimental condition, which resembles that of
the cuttle (sepia,) we find it in the Lamprey more distinctly
divided into rounded portions, which appear like beads strung
together, or like rings with a canal throughout the whole.
There is also a skull to hold the brain, which, as in other
fishes, does not fill the cavity, which on either side contains
a considerable space that is occupied with an organ of hearing;
but while there are nerves from the brain, as in other fishes,
that important j)ortion of the brain, the cerebellum, is absent."
Ekstrom says that the colour of this fish is greyish flesh-
colour when alive.
415
AMPHTOXTJS.
The body compressed, without scales; mouth on the under part of
the head lengthwise, and its border on each side within with tendrils.
One tin along the back, joined to the anal to form the tail. jS'o
other fin.
The name Ampliioxus was bestowed because the fish, thus characterized
appears as if sharp at both ends. It has also been termed Bnanchi-
ostoma, from a supposed position of the gills at the mouth.
LANCELET.
AmpMoxus lanceolatvbs, Tarrell; Br. Fishes, vol. ii, p. 618.
Loudon's Mag. Nat. Hist., 18"8, p. 38.
Branchiostoma lanceolatum, Gray; Cat. Br. Museum, p. 150.
If the Borer, or Myxine exhibits in its structure and habits
a wide departure from the ordinary race of fishes, the Lancclet
does the same in not a less degree, although in a wadcly
different direction; while in both instances a mistake has been
niade in reference to their proper station in nature. Pallas
was the first naturalist who had an opportunity of examining
the fish now called the Lancelet, but it was under unfavourable
circumstances; and hence he was led to arrange it among
the mollusks, under the name of Limax lanccolatus ; but as
the correction of this error forms a portion of the history of
the fish itself, it is proper we should relate the manner in
which that correction has been obtained. The example pos-
sessed by this eminent naturalist Avas sent to him from Cornwall,
Avhich circumstance may be explained by believing that it was
obtained by him, with other natural productions, from John
Hawkins, Esq., who had travelled much on the Continent,
and in so doing had cultivated acquaintance Avith the more
eminent naturalists there, to whom on his return he was liberal
in sending contributions. His name has been mentioned
416 I,AN"CELET.
already in connection with Bloch, and the species of Gymnetrus
named from him. But the little animal now named the
Lancelet remained in doubt until it was, in the more proper
sense, discovered in the harbour of Polperro, under circum-
stances which form a characteristic portion of its natural habits.
In December, 1831, there had been a severe storm, when I
proceeded to examine the beach for the purpose of observing
what had been its effect in throwing on shore the produce of
the ocean. At nearly low water the tide had ebbed about
fifty feet from the place where lay a flat stone on a small
accumulation of sand, and on removing the sand I perceived
the tail of a little fish, the body of which was concealed
beneath. When removed from its hiding-place, and placed in
a pool of water, it appeared new to me, although its active
motions prevented for a time the distinguishing its head from
the tail; but when these energetic actions ceased it fell to the
bottom and remained without motion. While yet alive, the
figure Avas drawn which now forms its portrait; and this is
selected the rather as our other figure, from an example of
larger size, is fiom a specimen also thrown on shore in a
storm, that was dead when it was found. The example first
referred to, after being long preserved in diluted spirit, was
the type of the figure by Mr, Yarrell, and the second is in
the collection of the British Museum.
No other evidence than the places in which these examples
were found, with a close inspection of their characteristics, was
necessary to shew that their residence had been at, and
concealed within the bottom of the sea, and, in these instances,
not far from the places at which they were found; and this
has been proved since in a large number of instances; for the
Lancelet has now been obtained in the Mediterranean, and
round the British coasts up to the far north, even at a con-
siderable depth of water; but Avherever procured it has always
been as buried in the sand of the bottom, from which it has
been taken by the process of dredging. It may be doubted
whether it ever rises entirely and willingly above its hiding-
LANCELET. 417
place, although a portion of its body may be at times protruded;
and as it is altogether destitute of eyes, however sensitive
otherwise to impressions of touch or motion, it seems but
little fitted to a life aloft, where it would be exposed to
perpetual hazard from the devouring inhabitants of the sea.
Within its narrow sphere, however, it may be capable of
considerable activity, as well as of enjoyment, for which, by
some peculiarities of organization it seems sufficiently provided.
What has been noticed of its motions in captivity is here
brought together; but the principal interest attached to this
fish is derived from its very singular structure, Avhich, while it
tends to p^ace it lowest in the scale of descent, affords also
some particulars in which it claims a higher place, at least than
the Borer; and in a physiological view it stands distinct from
every other.
In "The Naturalist" for 1852, p. 30, Mr. Lukis, of Guernsey,
gives an account of a specimen of the Lancelet which he caught
at the Island of lierm, and kept alive for several weeks.
Himself obtained it at low-water mark by having his attention
directed to it through its actions. Although not possessed of
eyes, it shewed great sensibility to light (for which its large
although concealed optic nerve will account) when a candle was
brought into the room. Its activity was so great that it jumped
out of the bowl in which it was kept; and it darted into the
sand with great ease and swiftness; but when not disturbed it
rested at about half an inch below the surface of the sand,
inclining a little on its side. Dr. Vigurs at Falmouth remarks
of an example two inches in length, taken as this fish usually
is, by dredging, that it was very active, its motion being like
that of an Eel; it burrowed in the sand, and often protruded
about half an inch of the body out of the sand with its mouth
upwards; it always swam with the ventral margin and mouth
uppermost; and Avhen moved from its lurking-place it rapidly
returned to it. If disturbed three or four times in succession
it lay on its side Avithout motion; a circumstance which goes
to prove that this very active motion is soon folloAve 1 with
fatigue, as is also shewn by W. P. Cocks, Esq., also of Falmouth.
This gentleman observes that his example swam rapidly with a
wriggling or snake-like motion for a second or two, and then
suddenly settled down at the bottom of the vessel; where it
VOL. IV, 3 H
418 LANCELET.
would remain motionless, lying flat on its side with its mouth
open, and to all appearance dead, for thirty or forty minutes,
or longer if not disturbed. Two days after its capture he put
a quantity of shell-sand in the vessel, which alarmed it, and
for a few seconds it swam with increased velocity, and then
suddenly disappeared in the bed of sand at the bottom of the
glass. In fifty minutes from this time a third part of its body
appeared above the sand in an upright position, and quite still,
with the mouth open, and the filaments slightly bent at their
extremities; but on agitating the water with a piece of straw
the body was partly drawn in; and on repeating the annoyance
it disappeared altogether. Mr. Cocks adds that he carefully
watched this little creature, with the assistance of a poclcet-lens,
at every hour in the day for eight days, without having had
an opportunity of seeing more of it above the sand than the
open mouth and reflected filaments; as if patiently waiting for
its prey.
The largest example of this fish which I have seen was in
length two inches and three tenths, with a depth of three
tenths of an inch, exclusive of the fins; the body sharp at tie
tail, but less so at the head, as the generic name might lead
us to suppose; the body and head so transparent that the
inward structure can be discerned; and what renders this little
creature highly curious is the fact, that with a vertebral coluti.n
or backbone distinctly made out with its separate joints, there
is no separate skull, so what little appearance of brain there
is can only be compared to what is found in creatures that
have no vertebree; and especially to that very inferior class of
ringed animals which bear the name of Entozoa. The jointed
vertebrae in the Lancelet are continued forward on the head,
even to the point of the snout. The mouth is large and under
the head; where it does not lie across, as in other fishes, but
lengthwise; and when at rest its inward cavity contains the
lengthened filaments, of which ten were counted, but there may
be a couple more. They lie crossing each other within the
mouth except when in action; and when dead they usually
hang loosely outward. The number of lines which may be
judged to mark the number of joints in the backbone was
sixty; and between each of them and the next were five per-
pendicular rays of a fin, with two or three anterior to the first
LANCELET. 419
distinct line. The anal fin has these rays also, but they
become shorter and then disappear, in both the dorsal and anal
fin, at about one fifth of the whole length from the tail; beyond
which the structure of these fins is simple membrane, as in
the corresponding part in the Lamprey; but wider above and
below as they approach the tail, and ending at last in a
lengthened point.
In the larger example I was able to discern a structure in
these fin-rays which appeared extraordinary; since they did
not rise from a single root, as in most fishes, but in the form
of a transverse arch, in which the curve formed the support
of the fin, while its pillars rest on what may be two transverse
spinal processes. The rays of the fin are but little raised or
depressed, and when not much expanded the fin appears as
thick to the extent of these rays. The vent is at the length
of one third of the body from the tail, which is to be especially
noted on account of what will be observed presently of what
may be supposed another species; and close behind the vent
the anal fin begins; but further forward, and along the belly,
is a fin or fold without rays, which stretches almost to the
throat. The abdominal cavity is long and narrow, and in the
first-discovered example when alive there could be seen a row
through its length of small round grains; which were not seen
in others after death. There was a tinge of yellowish colour
on the body when alive, with tinted reflections of green and
yellow near the tail.
Several eminent anatomists have employed their ingenuity in
dissecting this remarkable little fish; but we can only refer
briefly to the descriptions they have given us. With the
appearance of separate joints in the backbone. Professor Owen
says that this entire column consists only of the gelatino-cellular
chord and its membranous sheath; and from what we have
termed the brain the fifth nerve distributes fine threads to the
head, opening of the mouth, and the filaments that belong to
it; thus supplying those parts with quick sensation; but the fish
does not appear to be endowed with what are termed organs
of special sense; although there appear to be parts within the
cavity of the mouth that are capable of the sense of taste.
The filaments at the mouth appear to be organs of prehension,
to convey the food to the entrance of the gullet. It is said
420 LANCELET.
to be without gills., although there is a structure in the gullet
which answers the same purpose; and Professor Huxley says
that it does not possess a proper heart; but it has several
contractile dilations for circulating the vital fluid.
Such is our account of the Lancelet as it is usually seen;
but there has been a variation of structure in some one or
two examples met with, which impresses the persuasion that
they are of a separate species, although of the same genus;
for where in the species already described the vent is at the
hindmost third part of the length, in the instances referred
to this aperture is about the anterior third part of the body. I
build less on the fact that the head in this supposed species
is far more sharp and slender, since this may have been the
result of accidental injury to the specimen; but the dorsal
fin begins further back, is less expanded posteriorly, as is also
the anal, and where they unite to form the tail the membrane
is short and blunt, and not extended to a point, as in the
kindred fish. As the vent is far forward the lengthened
abdominal fin is so much the more so, and it is carried on
to near the mouth; and. unlike what I have ever seen in
this fin in the former fish, in this instance it has rays, which
however extend to only half the breadth of the fin itself,
the border being formed of membrane only; and the anal is
without visible rays. From the vent to near the tail, along
the base of the anal fin, is a row of separate points. The
example here particularly described was received from Glasgow
by the kindness of David Robertson, Esq., who remarks that
it was retentive of life; and the question arises whether this
is the Branchiostoma lubricum of Dr. John E. Gray's "List of
Specimens of Fish in the British Museum," p. 150, a
native of the Mediterranean.
Au^a ©fctt) iV V^LOTOL'i.
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APrENBIX.
In the first volume of this work Ave have given an account,
with a figure, Plate XV, of a species of Shark, which we have
called the Broad-headed Gazer, and which is otherwise not
known to naturalists. But the resemblance was less satisfactory
than could have been wished, and therefore another likeness is
now provided, from the same example; for which we are
indebted to the kindness of John Gatcombe, Esq., of Plymouth,
for whom it was drawn by a friend. The dimensions of this
fish were — the length from the snout to the beginning of the
tail twelve feet six inches; length of the longest part of the
tail three feet six inches, of the shortest lobe two feet; widest
extent of the tail four feet five inches. From the snout to the
beginning of the first dorsal fin five feet seven inches, length
of this fin one foot nine inches, its height nineteen inches;
distance between the two dorsal fins two feet seven inches;
length of the pectoral fin two feet five inches. The elevation
of the upper jaw is remarkable, as also the small size of the
nostrils and eye.
LONG-FINNED GREY OR GOLDEN
MULLET.
In our third volume, page 19, there is a short reference to
this fish, which from information that has reached us Ave believe
to be less rare than has been supposed. We have now the
satisfaction of adding a figure of it, obtained from an example
taken in the Mount's Bay.
422 APPENDIX.
GARFISH.
(Plate CCIX, vol. iv, p. 146.)
The habits of the Garfish are supposed to be well known,
but there is a trait in the character of this fish which has lately
come to light, which represents it as more irascible or ferocious
than has been usually believed, and as conscious of powers we
should have scarcely believed it to possess. An example of a
Mackarel was sent to me from Mevagissey, by the kindness of
Mr, Matthias Dunn, already mentioned, which had become
entangled in the meshes of a drift-net, but which had already
suffered from the furious attack of a Garfish. This latter must
have rushed at its victim with all its powers, so as to thrust
its projecting jaw through the body of the Mackarel at its
thickest part, which is close above the pectoral fins, where the
upper mandible was broken off close to the head; while the
point protruded on the other side to the extent of about the
fourth of an inch. The lower mandible had been withdrawn,
and the wound must have been inflicted a few days before
the capture of the Mackarel, since the wound itself had not
the appearance of being entirely new. This incident will explain
the fact that the Garfish is sometimes caught Avith a deficiency
of both the jaws.
APPKNDIX. 42
o
SCIiENA.
In our second volume, Plate LXXVI, there is a representa-
tion of this fish, with a description, which were obtained from
an example that had faded from Avhat is the usual appearance
of this species when first caught; it is therefore judged more
satisfactory to supply a figure from an example which has been
obtained more recently, together with a description that will
be found more minutely particular than is elsewhere to be
found.
This fish was taken at Looe, in a Mackarel scan on the
10th. of July, and measured in a straight line fifty-six inches;
depth of the body fourteen inches; the head rounded in front,
blunt, stout; jaws nearly equal, lips full, with a stout mystache;
teeth rather low, scattered, none at the symphysis; tongue large
and free; a thick membranous veil in front above; all Avithin
the mouth a bright yellow colour. Eyes of moderate size, the
bony border above and round them prominent; three nostrils
on one side, which character is of course abnormal; lateral line
with a gentle sweep. The body, cheeks, and head to the front
covered with scales, which are large on the side, and directed
more obliquely than is usual in fishes. The border of the first
gill-cover is usually described as serrated, but in this instance
there was not the slightest appearance of serration; and I
remember to have seen an example, in company with Mr. Yarrell,
where also there was scarcely a mark of irregularity at that
part. At the hindmost gill-cover was a loose membranous border,
which was particularly extended at the root of the pectoral fin ;
also a thick fleshy substance over or on the inside of the root
of this fin. Ventral fins thoracic. The first dorsal fin begins
over, and almost before the root of the pectoral, with nine stout
rays; second dorsal near the first, even in breadth, with thirty
424 APPENDIX.
rays; pectoral rather long, seventeen rays, lengthening to the
eighth; the anal, with eight rays, begins opposite the middle
of the second dorsal, and scarcely passes to the end of that fin.
Tail a little incurved, with twenty rays; all the fins and their
rays stout. The scales on the border of the membrane, extended
from the hindmost gill-cover, are small and huddled together;
between the ravs of the caudal fin there are also small obscure
scales. The pores along the lateral line are irregular; some
being at the angles, and some at the middle of the scales. Colour
of the body generally a rich bronzed yellow, with tints of
golden; light green in front of the first dorsal fin and part of
the head, also over the eye; light tints of golden verging into
silver on the cheeks. First dorsal fin brilliant pink red;
pectoral strong dark purple; second dorsal pink purple; ventrals
and anal a neutral tint; caudal dark with a tint of red.
M/
«rc
■I
i
Vli
ArPKNBTX.
425
SHORT-FINNED TUNNY.
Tliynnus hrachyptcrus, Cuvier.
" " GuxTHER; Catalogue Br. Museum,
vol. ii, p. 863.
Pelamys vera, Rondeletius; p. 245; but he supposes
it an early condition of the Tunny;
and it is to be observed that it is
not recognised by Dr. Gulia, in his
"Tentamen, or Re])ortorio of the
Fishes of Malta," at least as being
distinct from the Tliynnus Brevi-
pinnis of the same author.
This fish is a native of the Mediterranean, where perhaps it
is equally common with the Tunny, with which it appears to
have been confounded until distinguished by the discriminating
examination of Baron Cuvier. But it appears to be less a
wanderer into the ocean than that fish, and there is no record
of its havinsf been caus^ht in the British seas until the summer
of the present year, 1865; Mdicn an example was discovered
among the numbers of small Mackarel taken near Mevagissey,
in Cornwall, in the drift-nets, and sent to me by Mr. jNIatthias
Dunn, an intelligent fisherman of that place. This first example
was obtained on the 18th. of August, and it is worthy of notice
that within a week afterwards a specimen was taken in the
same manner by a fisherman of Pol per lo; and in the first week
in September three other examples were sent to me from
Mevagissey; thus amounting to five examples in the course of
a month Avithin a limited extent of our south coast; which
circumstance appears to shew that they have been bred at no
great distance from our shores. The size of these examples also
goes f\ir to prove the same; fact, as the first measured only six
inches from the snout to the fork of the tail, and tlie three
last had only reached the length of eight inches. Our figure
VOL. IV. 3 1
426 APPENnix.
is taken from the first example, and the description from a
comparison of the Avholc of the number tlius referred to.
Compared witli a Mackarcl of the ordinary size the body is-
stouter, and the head conspicuously so; but the body becomes
proportionally more slender near the tail; where in the smaller
individual the lateral carina or ridge was obscure, but in the
others well developed; no scales to be discerned on the body,
but an irregular corset along the side of the back, which in
the larger examples was scarcely to be discerned; the lateral
line begins above the root of the pectoral fin, and is irregular
in its course. The snout protrudes, and the joint which unites
the snout to the forehead is much more elevated proportionally
than in the INIackarel; under jaw a little in advance of the
upper; gape wide; teeth conspicuous and strong; eye rather
larsre; manv small lines running backward from the hindmost
border of the eye and end of the mystache; nostrils midway
from eye to snout. The first dorsal fin begins in a line above
the root of the pectoral; in the first example six of its rays
were long, the fourth and fifth longest, after which the fin
passed very narrow to the origin of the second dorsal; but in
three examples the first ray was longest, and the decrease in
lensrth was srradual; twenty-four ravs in all, their roots in a
chink, which was deepest to receive the larger rays; the second
dorsal low, as is the anal, the former with fifteen rays, the
latter eleven; finlets eight above and below; pectoral fin short
atid wide, with twenty-three rays; tail much forked, but the
rays not counted, from the obscurity of those in the middle.
The colour a cast of beautiful blue along the back and upper
part of the sides, with fourteen broad circular belts of a deeper
tint along the body; tints of yellow in one example on the
first gill-cover and behind the head. The first dorsal fin in the
larger examples intensely black; the second dorsal, pectoral,
and tail dark, the tAVo last with a light border; fins below
light: belly silvery.
INDEX.
Plate.
Vol.
Page.
Plate.
Vol.
Pfiqr.
A
Apcr ....
ii
142
Abramis Blicca .
Brama
Buggenliagii
vulgaris
Acautliias vulgaris
Acautliolabrus Coucliii
iv
iv
iv
iv
i
iii
45
36
42
36
49
38
Apbya .
Argentine
Argentina silus junior
Arnoglossus lopbotes
laterna
Rondeletii
Asellus antiquorum
233
iv
iv
iv
iii
iii
iii
109
301
297
178
177
177
exoletus
iii
41
iii
62,
129
70
99
75
Palloiii
YaiTellii
Acanthopterygians
iii
iii
i
40
37
165
luscus
merlucius
mollis
iii
iii
Aceriua vulgaris
i
193
in
Acipenser Sturio
Huso
Acus Aristotelis .
lumbricit'ormis .
35
i
157
niger
iii
80
66
65
41
36
i
iv
iv
163
355
361
varius
Asinus
Asioidopborus EuropcBus
iii
iii
ii
minor
Oppiani
Agouus Catapliractus
Alewife
iv
iv
ii
iv
141
146
41
117
catapbractes
Aspro
Atlierine, Boier's
Atlierine, Presbyter
Auxis vulgaris
Azuriue .
121
121
ii
i
iii
iii
41
193
4
1
Allis Shad .
Alopecias
204
iv
i
117
37
107
ii
iv
105
61
Alosa finta .
iv
122
13
squamopinnata .
iv
123
-L'
vulgaris
iv
117
Balance-fisli
i
70
Ammocsetes braucliialii
3,
iv
404
Balistes capriscus
iv
l!69
(Cjecus) .
iv
404
scolopax
iii
21
Ammodytes lancea .
iii
137
Banks' Garfish
119
ii
251
lanceolatus .
iii
140
Barbel
181
iv
16
cicereleus
iii
140
Barbus fluviatilis
iv
16
Tobianus
iii
137,
minor .
iii
122
140
vulgaris
iv
16
Amphioxus lanceclatus
iv
415
Bansticle
i
167
Anarbicas lupus
ii
242
Bass
40
i
189
Ancbovy
206
iv
125
Batis inteiTuedia
i
95
Angelfish
i
73
vulgaris
i
87
Angler
110
ii
204
Batraclioides
iii
122
Angler, Long ,
ii
217
Becker
41
i
228
Auguilla)
iv
306
Belone saurus
iv
Ml
Auguilla acutirostris
iv
326
vulgaris
iv
146
conger .
iv
340
Bergylt
58
ii
1
Hibernica .
iv
328
Bib
138
iii
70
latirostris
iv
330
Blackfish
123
iv
56
raediorostris
iv
331
Blatlefish
ii
61
13U
INDEX.
Plate.
JV.
PlKJC.
Plate.
Vol.
Page.
Bleak . . .
lyo
i\-
56
Cantharus etnaian
i
201
Blenniops A.sc-auii .
ii
233
griseus
i
222
Bellonii
ii
224
lineatus
i
222
Galerita
ii
231
vulgaris
i
222
gattorugine .
ii
219
Capito
iv
44
Moiitagui
ii
231
Capriscus
iv
369
ocellaris
ii
224
Capros aper
ii
142
palmicornis
ii
233
Carassius
iv
28
Pholis .
ii
226
Carcliarias glaucus
i
25
trifurcatus
iii
122
vulpes
i
37
viviparus
ii
239
Caranx trachurus
ii
Yarrellii
ii
233
Carp
' 180
iv
4
Blenny, Butterfly
. 112
ii
221
Carp, Prussian
185
iv
31
Blenny, Montagu's .
ii;3
ii
231
Carter
164
iii
167
Bleuny, Smooth .
113
ii
226
Catfish
i
11
Blenny, Viviparous
116
ii
239
Catfish
ii
43
Blenny, Yarrell'd
114
ii
233
Catulus major
i
11
Blens — Blinds
,
iii
70
minor
i
14
Blue Poll, B. Cocks
216
iv
219
Centriscus .
iii
21
Boarfish
. 96
ii
142
Centrolabrus exoletus
iii
41
Bogue
50
i
225
Ceutrolophus
ii
107
Bonito
. 83
ii
97
Cornish
91
ii
127
Bonito, Plain •
86
ii
105
Britannicus .
ii
127
Bony Fislies
,
i
165
pompilus .
ii
122
Boops
i
225
Centronotus
ii
236
Borer
248
iv
408
binotatus .
ii
139
Botia taenia
iv
72
Cephalus brevis
iv
369
Bounce
,
i
11
oblongus
iv
38 L
Box
i
225
Cepola rubescens
ii
262
Brama Eaii
,
ii
129
Cernua fluviatilis
i
193
Branchiostonia lanceolata
iv
415
Cetorhiuus maximus
i
60
Branlin
iv
245
Chars
iv
253
Bream
. 55
i
237
Char, Alpine
. 226
iv
272
Bream, Carp .
iv
36
Char, Cole's
225
iv
269
Bream, Common
iv
36
Char, Enniskilleu
iv
269
Bream, Flat
iv
40
Char, Gray's
' 224
iv
267
Bream, Lake
. 187
iv
36
Char, Willoughby's
. 222
iv
262
Bream, Short .
56
i
241
Chimeera, Arctic (monstrosa
)
Bream, Spanish .
. 54
i
235
i
145
Bream, White
188
iv
40
Chrysophrys aurata
.
i
243
Bream, Yellow
iv
40
Chub — Chevin
190
iv
44
Brill ...
' 162
iii
161
Ciliata glauca
•
iii
113
Brosmius
iii
9Q
Citharus asperus
iii
153
Bubalis
61
ii
11
Cluj)i'a alba
.
iv
114
Buddagh
iv
222
alosa
iv
117,
Buglossus
iii
200
122
Bullhead, Gi'eenland
62
ii
12
encrasicholus
.
iv
125
Bull Trout .
. 211
iv
200
flnta .
iv
122
Burbolt
146
iii
93
harengus
,
iv
95
Butterlish .
. 115
ii
236
latulus
iv
114
Butterfly Fish
ii
224
macrocephalus
pilchardns
•
iv
iv
124
79
c
sardina
sprattus
•
iv
iv
112
109
Call arias
,
iii
62
Coalfish
143
iii
84
Callionymus dracuneulus
ii
178
Cod ...
135
iii
53
lyra .
ii
173
Cod, Variable
,
iii
QQ
Canis
i
25
Cobitis barbatula
iv
68
galeus
i
45
Comljer
. 42
i
195
I\1IK\.
481
I'hilr.
2:38
f'oiiibcr Wra?^
Conger
vulgaris
Cook V
Cook, Rock . . loO
Coquns
Coracinus
Coregonr.s fora
Lacepedii .
Lavaretus
mai'JEiiula .
ISTilssoni
Pennautii .
poUan
tliymallus .
Wartmani
Willughbii
Coris julis .
Cork(ving . . 131
CoryphjBiia .
pom]iilns
Cottus biibalis
cataphractus
four-horned . . 63
gobio
Green] an dicus
quadricornis
Sclionveldii .
scorpius
Couchia glaucus
argentata .
Couch's Sea Bream 52
serranns
Couch's Whiting . Ill
Craigfluke
Crake Herring
Croojier
Crenilabrus Belonii
cornubius .
melas
microstoma
quinque maculatus
rupestris .
Crucian . . ISi
Ctenolabrus marginatus
rupestris
Cypriuida;
Cyprinus alburnus
auratus
barb us . . . iv
blicca . . iv
brama ... iv
Bujjffonhagii . iv
carassius . . iv
carpio . . iv
cephalus . . iv
coeruleus . . iv
dobula ... iv
erj'throphtlialmus iv
Vol. ragi'.
iii :32
iv
iv
iii
iii
iii
ii
340
840
8(_)
41
44
iv
286
iv
295
iv
286
iv
289
iv
286
iv
286
iv
292
iv
280
iv
286
iv
289
iii
49
iii
43
iii
118
ii
128
ii
11
ii
41
ii
15
ii
6
ii
12
ii
15
ii
41
ii
8
iii
118
iii
116
ii
281
i
200
iii
77
iii
190
ii
188
ii
27
iii
45
iii
48
iii
48
iii
41
iii
46
iii
47
iv
28
iii
47
iii
47
iv
1
iv
56
iv
16
40
86
42
28
4
41.
61
51
49
Cyprinus gibelio .
grislagino .
idus
jesos .
latus
leuciscus
phoxinus
rutilus
Cuckoo-fisli
Cycloptcrus bimaculatus
liparis .
lumpus
Montagui
riatr.
Vol. Paqp.
iv 81
Black-mouthed
Eved .
Picked .
191.
45
193
8
8
11
89
137
D
Dab ... 170
Dab, Lemon . . 178
Dab, Long Rough 160
Dab, Smear . 171, 172
Dab, Smooth
Dace
Dalatias microcephalus
Damin Herring
Dart ....
Dentex
Derbio .
Discobuli .
Dobule .
Dogfish
Dogfish,
Dogfish,
Dogfish,
Doree
Dorse
Dragonet Gemmeous
Dragonet, Sordid
Duucow
E
Echeneis remora . 88
Echinorhinus spinosus
Echiodon Drummond's 156
Eelpout
Eel, Broad-nosed . 286
Eel. Dublin . . 235
Eel. Ophidiura . 2:'>7
E-l. Sliarp-nosed . 284
Eel, Snig
Elleck '. . . 64
Elviris auratus
Encrasif.holus
Engraulis .
E perl an us
Erythriuus
Esox Belone
lucius
E.xocoetus exiliens
68
44
36,
40
54
64
47
34
198
ii 190
ii 188
ii 193
IV
iv
iv
iv
iv
iv
iv
iii
ii
in
iii
IV
IV
iv
11
iii
11
i
iii
iii
iv
iv
iv
iv
iv
ii
ii
iv
iv
iv
i
iv
iv
iv
185
187
iii 158
iii 187
iii 187
54
57
117
54
i 208
ii 189
ii 181
iv 51
i 49
i 18
i 18
i 49
118
m
ii 178
ii 178
i 117
112
54
1.83
93
330
828
888
326
381
19
159
125
125
276
288
116
150
128
432
INDEX.
Plate. VoL Pagp.
Faber .
Farthing Trout
Fiitlierlaslier
Fierasfer .
dentatus
Filefish .
Fishing Frog
Fish Leach
Flair .
Flatfishes
Flounder
Flounder, Long
Flounder, Rough
Fluke
Fluke, Sail .
Flying-fish, Greater
Fox Shark
Forkbeard
Forkbeard, Blennoid
Forkbeard, Greater
Forked Hake .
Frogfish
G
Gadidse
Gade, Silvery
Gadus asglefinus
argenteolus
Br(jsme
callarias
carlionarius
cinibria
lota
luscus .
merlucius
merlangus
minutus
molva .
morrhua
mustela
pollachius
Poutassou
scorpius
tricirratus
A'irens
Galeus vulgaris
Garfish
Gasterosteus ductor
pungitius .
spinaehia
Gastrobranchus ca^cuf
Gattorugiue . 11
Gazer .
Germ on
Gilthead
Gillaroo
60
212
175
174
16.3
•207
155
15-1.
153
201)
1, 113
84
. 57
219
11
iv
IV
ii
i
ii 118
iv 245
8
333
iii 133
369
204
90,
92
i 87
iii 146
iii 195
iii 193
iii 153
iii 195
iii 163
iv 128
i 37
iii 122
iii 128
iii 122
iii 122
ii 204
111
iv
iii
iii
iii
iii
iii
52
427
62
116
96
66
84
iii 111
iii 92
iii
iii
iii
iii
iii
iii
iii
iii
iii
iii
iii
iii
i
iv
70
99
74
72
89
53
108
80
77
96
105
53
45
146
1
iv
ii 107
i 176
180
408
ii 219
68
100
243
240
1
ii
i
iv
' /-.l
PJate. Vol
. Pnr/e.
i (Tiaucus
ii
139
Globefish, Pennant's
' 244
iv
373
Goatfish .
iii
125
Gobites taenia
iv
72
Gobius tcBnia .
ii
152
! albus
ii
172
attenuatus
ii
166
auratus
ii
159
i bipunctatus
ii
162
capitatus
ii
6
minutus
ii
161
iiiger
ii
153
paganellus
ii
170
reticulatus
ii
170
rhodopterus
ii
170
Iluthens]iarri
ii
162
Gobio fluviatilis
iv
20
Gobv, Black
98
ii
153
Goby, Broad-finned
101
ii
165
Goby, Little
luO
ii
161
Goby, One-spotted .
101
ii
167
Goby, Rock
98
ii
153
Goby, Slender
102
ii
172
Goby, Speckled .
102
ii
170
Goby, Tail-spotted .
101
ii
1()6
Goby, Transparent
102
ii
171
Goby, Two- spotted .
loo
ii
162
Goby, Yellow
100
ii
159
Goby, White .
ii
172
Goldfish
186
iv
33
Goldfinny
iii
43
Goldfinuy, Jago's
iii
47
Gowdie
ii
27,
173
Graininor
196
iv
59
Grayling .
228
iv
280
Greenbone .
ii
239
Gresling .
iv
51
Gudgeon
182
iv
20
Guid
iii
1
Guinard
229
iv
286
Gundie
ii
8
Gunnel
ii
236
Gunuellus viviparus
ii
239
Gurnards
68
ii
17,
Gurnard, Armed
71
ii
27
38
Gurnard, Bloch's
69
ii
29
Gurnard, Little .
70
ii
36
Gurnard, Mailed
ii
38
Gurnard, Malarmat
71
ii
38
Gurnard, Yellow
ii
173
Gurnard, Shining
ii
27
Grnrnard, Streaked .
57
ii
25
(Tvmnetrus arcticus
ii
246
Gymuetrus, Hawkins'
ii
251
II
Haddock
136
111
62
INDV.X.
\:»
I'/atf
Vvl.
Pat/,:
Plfifp
i',>i
l'fU/<\
Hagfish .
iv
■|.08
Labrus In sous
iii
:*,8
Hiiirtail
. 78
ii
(il
maculatus
iii
24
Hake
148
iii
99
mixtus .
iii
34
Hake, Lessor
iii
128
pusillus
iii
24
Hake's Dame .
15:5
iii
124
tinea
iii
24
Halfbeak, Blunt-beaded 208
iv
139
variegatus
iii
34
Halfbeak, Euro])eau
208
iv
136
Lacortus
iv
141
Haliou
iv
141
Ladyfluke
159
iii
149
Hammerhead .
10
i
70
Lamia .
i
25
Hareiigus
iv
79,
1 Lamna Cornul)ica
i
41
95
Lampern
247
iv
395
Hegemenus
ii
109
Lampetra .
iv
385,
Hegetera .
ii
109
404
Hemiram]ibus Eur()]i(T^
us
iv
135
Lamprey, Sea
i
2
obtusus
iv
135
Lamjirey, Sea .
247
iv
385
Herling
iv
209
1 Lamprey, Mud
248
iv
404
Herring
•202
iv
78,
j Lamprey, Planer's .
248
iv
402
95
Lamprey, Silver .
247
iv
4(»0
Herring, Fresh-water
iv
292
Lampris luna
ii
133
Herring, Leach's
iv
107
Lancelot .
248
iv
415
Hexanchus griseus
i
21
Lanthorn Gurnard
70
ii
33
Hipper
iv
245
Latrunculus albus .
ii
172
Hi^apocampus
241
iv
364
Latus . . . .
ii
55
brevirostris
iv
364
Launce, Larger
157
iii
143
Hijjpoglossus Limandoides
iii
153
Launce, Lesser .
157
iii
137
vulgaris
iii
149
Launce, Short-snouted
158
iii
144
Hirundo Pliuii
iv
128
Launce, Wide-mouthed
iii
143
Hoe
i
49
Lepadogaster biciliatus
ii
190
Hoe, Mother
i
60
bimaculatus .
ii
195,
Holocentriis merou .
i
198
198
Hornbeak
iv
149
cephalus
ii
201
Hound, Rough
2
i
14
Lusitanicus
ii
59
Hound, Smooth .
10
i
47
Lepidopus argyreus .
ii
59
Huso
36
i
163
caudatus
Lusitanicus .
ii
ii
59
59
I
tetradens .
ii
69
Ide .
198
iv
63
Leptocephalus Morrisii
iv
348
Isurus oxyrhynchu.s .
i
41
Lepturus
Leuciscus alburiuis
ii
iv
61
53
J
cephalus
CEeruleus
iv
iv
44
61
Jack Rutt'
i
193
dobula
iv
51
Jago's Goldsinny
133
iii
47
erythrophthalraus
iv
49
Julis vulgaris .
iii
49
Idus .
iv
63
Jura Sucker
ii
196
Lancastriensis
Phoxinus .
iv
iv
59
64
K
rutilus
iv
47
King of Herrings
i
1
145
73
161
vulgaris
Lichia glaucus
iv
ii
64
139
JVlllgoLUil
Kite ....
1
iii
Ling
Lingula
145
179
ii
iii
89
161
L
Liparis Montagui
ii
193
nostras
ii
190
Labrax lupus
i
189
reticulatus
ii
195
Labrus Cornnbicns .
iii
43
vulgaris
ii
190
coquus
iii
34
Loach
199
iv
69
exoletus
iii
41
Loach, Spined
199
iv
72
Julis
iii
44
Lob ...
iii
85
lineatus
iii
30
Lochleven Trout
220
iv
242
VOL. IV.
3 K
431
IXDEX.
riatc
Vol.
Page.
Plate
Vol.
Page.
Long-finned Captain
ii
33
Motella fpiincpiecirrata
iii
108
Longnose
iv
146
vulgaris
iii
1(»5
Lophius eurypterus .
ii
213
Mugil alatus
iv
125
Piscatorius .
ii
204
auratus
iii
19
Lopkins
ii
204
capito
iii
6
Lopliotes
iii
175
cejjhalus
iii
6
Lota Grallorum
iii
93
curtus
iii
17
molva .
iii
89
octoradiatus .
iii
20
vnlgaris
iii
93
Mullet, Golden
iii
19
Lucius
iv
150
; Mullet, Grey
122
iii
6
Luckyproach
ii
11
Mullet, Eight-rayed
iii
20
Lumptish
105
ii
183
Mullet, Lesser Grey
123
iii
15
Lupus
i
189
Mullet, Long-finned
iii
19
Lupus Budegassa
ii
215
Mullet, Long-finned
123* iv
421
marinua
ii
242
Mullet, Eed
Mullet, Short .
. 48
i
iii
217
17
M
Mulligranoc
ii
226
Mullus barbatus
i
217
Mackarel
79
ii
65,
imborbis
ii
25
Ql
ruber
i
217
Mackarel, Dotted
81
ii
81
surmuletus .
i
209
Mackarel, Garrick .
ii
141
Muraena
237
iv
335,
Mackarel Midge .
151
iii
106,
340
113
Musculus .
ii
109
Mackarel, Scribbled
. 81
ii
84
Mus
iv
370
Mackarel, Spanish .
80
ii
78
Mustela barl^ata
iv
74
Maigre
ii
54
fluviatilis
iii
43
Malarmat .
ii
39
vivipara
ii
239
Mary Sole .
iii
167
vivipara
iv
387
Maurolicus Borealis
iv
301
Mustelus la3vis
i
47
Megrim
168
iii
177
vulgaris
i
47
Mendole .
46
iii
206
Myliobatis
i
135
Merlangns carbonarius
iii
84
Myxine
i
2
Pollaclius .
iii
80
Myxino
iv
408
virens .
iii
87
vulgaris
iii
74
N
Merlucius vulgaris
Miller's Thumb
Miunis
59
iii
ii
i
99
6
167
64
64
206
ISTucrates ductor .
Nine Eyes
JSTotidanus griseus
ii
ii
i
107
236
21
Minnis
Minnow
Moena vulgaris
199
iv
iv
i
Numbfish .
Nursehound
1
i
i
119
11
Molva lota .
iii
93
0
vulgaris
iii
89
Monkfish
17
i
73
Oldwife
49
i
222
Monochirus variegatus
iii
203
Onos
iii
65
Montagu's Blenny
113
ii
231
Opah . . . .
93
ii
]33
Montagu's Sucker .
107
ii
102
0])hidion .
iii
131
Morghi
i
14
Ojihidium barbatum .
iii
131
Morrhua seglefinus .
iii
62
Bearded
155
iii
131
callarias
iii
m
Beardless
237
iv
333
lusca
iii
70
Broussonetii
iv
333
minuta
iii
92
Orcynus alalonga
ii
100
vulgaris
iii
53
Orthagoriscus mola .
iv
377
Morris
238
iv
848
oblongus
iv
381
Motella Cimbria
iii
111
Osmerus Hebridicus
iv
297
glauca .
iii
111
Ostracion quadricornis
iv
366
mu stela
iii
108
Otterpike .
ii
48
tricirrata
iii
105
Oxeye . . . .
i
225
INDEX.
436
Vhitc
r«/
I'ai/c.
Plate
. Vol
J'uyc.
p
I'latessa limaudoitles
iii
163
platessa
iii
181
Pao-ancllns
99
ii
157
pola _ .
,
iii
90
Pagellus ceiirrt)doiilu.s
i
237
vulgaris
iii
181
erythrinus
i
233
j Pleuronectidaj
.
iii
146
Orbrnii .
i
23.5
1 Pleuronectes arnoglossus
iii
177
llomleletii
i
231
i cycl()])s .
iii
161
Pagrus
i
228
cynoglossus
iii
190
oi'])lins
i
231
fiesus
iii
195
Palmer Trout
iv
245
elongatus .
iii
193
Parr
221
iv
245
hipi)oglossus
iii
149
Passer asper
iii
185
hirtus
iii
170
fluviatilis .
iii
196
limanda
iii
185
Peal . . . .
212
iv
200
limandoides
iii
163
Pearl
i
1()1
mangillii
iii
203
Pel amid
sr,
ii
102
maxiraus .
iii
155
Pel amy s .
ii
192
megastoma .
iii
167
sai'da
ii
102
^ puiictatus .
iii
170
vera .
iv
425
rhombus
iii
161
Perca cabrilla
i
195
solea .
iii
200
cernua
i
193
variegatus
iii
203
channus
i
195
PogSe . . .
72
ii
41
fluviatilis .
i
185
Pole .
173
iii
190
"■i'lfas
i
198
Pollack .
142
iii
80
lalji-ax .
i
89
Pollack, Green .
144
iii
87
roljusta
i
198
Pollack, Rauning
iii
84
Perch
:J9
i
185
Pollack, Sey
iii
88
Perch, Dusky
43
i
198
Pollan
" 231
iv
292
Peristedion malarmat
ii
38
Polyprion cernium
i
200
Peristellus catapliractus
i
ii
38
Polyprosopus macer
i
68
Petromyzoiiidai
iv
rashleianus .
i
68
mariuus
iv
385
Pomeranian Bream
' 189
iv
42
phoxinus .
iv
64
Pompilus .
90
ii
107
Petromyzon fluviatilis
iv
395
Pope
i
193
brauchialis
iv
404
Porbeagle
8
i
41
Pholis levis
ii
226
Poutassou
141
iii
77
Phrynorhombus uiiima
culatus
Powan
232
iv
296
iii
173
Power .
139
iii
72
Phycis blenuoides
iii
125
Pricklefish
i
167
furcatiis
iii
125
Pristiurus melauostonuis
i
18
Picked Dog
11
i
49
Pterocephala
i
139
Pike
210
iv
150
Pterycumbus
ii
131
Pilchard
201
iv
79,
Pugtrout
iv
211
96
Pungitius
i
167
Pilot-fish . . 8:
^90
ii
107,
123
Puppyfish
i
73
Pink
iv
64
Q
Pipefishes
iv
350
Queen
iii
187
Pipefish, Broad-nosed
239
iv
356
Queen Sole
iii
167
Pipefish, Greater
239
iv
351
Pipefish, Ocean
210
iv
356
E,
Pipefish, Snake .
241
iv
593
Kabbitfish
146
Pipefish, Straight .
241
iv
363
Kabblefish .
86
Pi])efish, Worm .
241
iv
361
Raia acus
93
Pil)er
liG
iv
23
batis
87
l^laice ....
169
iii
181
circularis .
115
I'latessa elongata
iii
193
clavata .
'.I'.i
flesus
iii
195
Pabreriana
l;!ii
limauda
iii
186
intermedia
96
436
IXDEX.
Flatc,
Vol.
Paqe.
Plate.
Vol
Page.
Raia maculata
104
Rockling, Four
-bearded
marginata
.
110
150
iii
Ill
microcellata
107
Rockling, Five-bearded 150
iii
108
miraletus
.
104,
Rough or Row Hound
i
14
112
Rough Flapper
,
i
117
mucosa
i
105
Rubellus
, ,
iv
47
miicroiiata
,
i
93
Rudd
. 192
iv
49
radiata
i
103
Ruff .
. 41
i
193
rostellata
i
110
Rutilus
iv
47
Rainbow Wrass
' 134
iii
49
latior
, ,
iv
49
Rana ])iscatrix, R. marina
ii
204
Raniceps jago .
iii
122
s
triturcatiis
iii
122
Rauning Pollack
143
iii
84
Sailtish
• •
i
60
Ray
i
2
Sail fish, Fluke
. 163
iii
163
47, 86
Salmo albellus
iv
200
Ray, Eoi'dei-ed
2(5
110
albus
, ,
iv
219
Ray, Cramp
119
cascifer
iv
243
Ray, Cuckoo
27
112
Cambricus
,
iv
243
Ray, Eagle .
. 32
135,
fario .
iv
225
138
ferox
, ,
iv
222
Ray, Electric .
i
119
gracilis
iv
216
Ray, French
i
117
salar
.
iv
163
Ray, Horned
i
139
salmulus
iv
245
Ray, Ox
. 33
i
139
trutta (see
page 200)
iv
214
Ray, Painted .
25
i
107
Salmon
. 211
iv
163
Ray, Sandy
. 28
i
115
Salmon, Silver
iv
208
Ray, Shagreen .
29
i
117
Salmon, Slender . .216
iv
216
Ray, Shnrk
i
73
Salmon Trout
. 215
iv
214
Ray, Sharji-nosed
i
97
Salveliiii
.
iv
Ray, Small-eyed
i
107
Samlet (young
of Salmon)
Ray, Spotted .
24
i
104
221
iv
245
Ray, Starry .
. 23
i
103
Sandnecker
.
iii
153
Ray's Bream
92
ii
129
Sapphirine Gurnard
ii
21
Red Eye
iv
49
Sardine
iv
112
Red Bandfish .
120
ii
262
Saury
. 208
iv
141
Red Snaketiwh
ii
262
Scabbard-fish
. 77
ii
58
Regalicus Banksii
ii
251
Send .
94
ii
136
Remora
88
ii
113
Scaldfish
iii
177
Rhombus arculeatns
iii
155
Scalefout .
ii
59
arnoglossus
iii
177
Scitena
. ' . 76
ii
54
cardina
iii
175
Sciasna
76*
iv
423
hirtus
iii
170
Scitena aciuila
ii
54
levis
iii
161
aquila
iv
423
maximus .
iii
155
cirrhosa
ii
50
megastoTuu .
iii
167
umbi-a
ii
54
lion aculeatus .
iii
161
umbra .
iv
423
iiorvegicus
iii
175
Scomber .
ii
67
punctatus
iii
170
bisus
ii
105
vulgaris
iii
161
colias
ii
78
Ribband Fishes
ii
245
glaucus
ii
139
Hivor Bullhead .
ii
6
maculatus
ii
78
Roach
' 191
iv
47
Pelamis
ii
97
Roach, Blue
iv
61,
PelamituB .
ii
102
76
punctatus
ii
81
Rock Cook
130
iii
41
scriptus
ii
86
Rock (!ol)y .
98
ii
153
'riiynnus
ii
85
Rockling, 'Plir('('-l)c;u'(
Id
trachiirus .
ii
136
149
iii
105
vulgaris
ii
67
INDEX.
ruite.
Vol.
Tayo.
l-lalr.
Vol.
I'iKie.
Scomberesox Campci-ii
iv
Ill
Skate, Long-nosed
Ill
i
\y.\
saiirus .
iv
111
Skate, Mavis
i
!'7
Scopehis Pemiantii .
iv
301
Skate, White
i
97
Scorpteua Bellouii
ii
8
Ski})per (Scopstcr) ,
iv
141
Norvegica .
ii
3
Skulpin, Dusky .
104
ii
178
Scurf . . . .
i\'
•200
Skulpin, Golden
103
ii
172
ScTllium catulus
i
(i(»
Skulpin, YelloAV .
Ki:;
ii
172
melanostomuni
i
18
Smear Dab . 161
, 162
iii
187
stellaris
i
11
Smelt . . . .
227
iv
27<i
Scymnus
i
54
Smelt, Hebridal
233
iv
2!>7
Scymnus borealis
i
57
Smelt, Sand
121
iii
1
Sea Adder .
i
180
Soldier
ii
19
Sea Adder, Greater
i\'
351
Sole . . . .
176
iii
200
Sea Ape
i
37,
Sole, Bastard .
iii
201
X
145
Sole, Lemon
178
iii
205
Sea Bream
i
220
Sole, Red-backed
iii
203
Sea Eagle
i
135
Sole, Sandy
iii
205
Sea Fox .
i
37
Sole, Ihickback
177
iii
203
Sea Snail
K Hi
ii
190
Sole, Variegated
177
iii
203
Sea Trout (TrufT) .
214
iv
211
Solea
iii
199
Sea Wife .
iii
37
Solea aurantiaca .
iii
208
Sebaster Norvegicus
135
ii
3,
Pegusa
iii
205
157
variegata
iii
203
Selacbe
i
60
vulgaris
iii
200
Serranus cabrilla
i
195
Sparoids
i
220
gigas
i
198
Sparus aurata .
i
243
Norvegicus .
ii
3
cantharus
i
222
Sewen
213
iv
208
centroiiotus
i
237
Sey Pollack
iii
88
dentex .
i
203
Shad, Allis
204.
iv
117
four-toothed
i
203
Shad, Scale-fiuned
20()
iv
123
mtena
i
206
Shad, Twait .
2(>r)
iv
122
Spinachia vulgaris .
i
180
Shadefish
ii
51,
Spinax
i
49
54
Sprat
" 203
iv
109
Shanny
113
ii
216
Sjirat, Great-headed
iv
124
Sharks
i
2,
Spurdog
i
49
10, 7
9,86
Sci[ualus acanthias
i
49
Shark, Basking .
14
i
60
borealis
i
57
Shark, Blue
6
i
28,
canicula
i
11
66
carcharias
i
25
Shark, tlrcenland
13
57
catulus
i
45
Shark, Urcy
21
Cornubicus .
i
41
Shark, Eashleigh
ir,
67
galeus
i
45
Shark Bay .
72
griseus
i
21
Shark, Six-gilled
4
21
maximus
i
60
Shark, Spinous .
. 12
54
mustelus
i
47
Shark, Sunfish
60
Bashleighanus .
i
67
Shark, White
. r,
25
spinax .
i
49
Sharpling
167
spinosus
i
54
Sheatfish
2<.i( I
iv
74
sqnatiua
i
73
Shot
225
vulpes
i
37
Shude .
iv
41
Squatina angelus
i
73
Silurus glanis .
iv
74
vulgaris
i
73
Silver-spots
iv
300
Sticklebacks
. 37
ii
167
Simla marina .
145
38
ii
180
Skate .
. 18
87
Stingbull
ii
43
Skate, Burton
21
97
Stingfish .
ii
8
Skate, Flapper
. 2U
93
Sting Bay .
. 31
i
130
Skate, Friar .
97
Stone Bass
44
i
200
438
INDEX.
1
Plate. Vol. Page
Sturgeons
Sucker, Conuemara 109
Suckei', Doubly-spotted 108
Sucker, Jura .
Sucker, Lump . . 105
Sucker, Network
Suckingfish
Sunfish, Short
Suufish, Longer
Suiiiisli Shark
Surmullet
Surmullet, Red
Svvordlish
Swordick
Sjngnathus acus
Typhle .
liimljriciformis
ophidion
hippocampus
T
Tadpoletish .
Tench
Tetradon mola
Pennantii .
Thickback .
Thompson's Midge .
Thornback Ray .
Thrasher .
Thrasher
Thryssa
Thynnus brachypterus
Pelamis
thynnus
vulgaris
Tiburo .
Tinea vulgaris
Tinker .
Toadfish .
Toad fish
Tobianus .
Toper .
Topknot, Bloch's
Topknot, Eckstrom's
Topknot, MuUer's
Torgoch
Torpedo
Torsk .
Trachinus draco
major
vipera
Trachurns vulgaris
Ti-achyj)terus arcticus
Trichiurus lepturus
Trigla adriatica
107
245
246
47
97
183
155
•22
37
150
ii 2l>l
ii 198
ii 196
ii 183
ii 195
ii 113,
181, }\^^
iv 377
381
2(19
217
145
236
iv 351
iv 355
14
■i/-
IV
i
i
i
ii
ii
361
359
iv 364
IV
iv
HI
iv
iv
iv
iii
iii
i
i
ii
iv
iv
ii
ii
ii
i
iv
i
i
ii
iii
9 i
1()6 i
167 i
165 i
223 iv
30 i
111
ii
ii
ii
ii
ii
ii
ii
122
22
377
373
2(J3
119
99
37
147
117
425
9'?
86
86
25
22
176
135
2t ) t
140
46,
53
173
175
170
264
119,
127
96
43
43
48
136
246
61
25
Tringa aspera
cataphracta
cuculus
hirundo
lintata .
lucerna
lyra
obscura
paeciloptera
Trotter
Trout .
Trout, Grey
Trout, Lake
Trumpetfish
Trunkfish, Four-horned
Trutta fluviatilis
salmonata
Trvu'on
Tubfish
Tunny
Tunny, Long-finned
Tunny, Short-finned
Tui'pajiia .
Torbot
l\isk
Twait Shad
Typhle .
Plate
u
Umbrina .
cirrhosa
vulgaris
V
Vaagmar
Vandellius lusitanicus
Vendace
Viviparous Blenny .
Vulpecula
Vuliaes
w
Weever, Greater
Weever, Vijjcr
Wels .
Whales
Whift" .
Whitebait
Whiting
Whiting, Pollack
Whitling
Wolf-lis'h .
Wrass, J3ailloii"s
Wrass, Ballaii .
218
217
124
242
65
82
82*
161
205
239
Vol.
ii
ii
ii
ii
ii
ii
ii
ii
ii
iv
iv
iv
iv
iii
iv
iv
iv
i
ii
ii
ii
iv
i
iii
iii
iv
iv
118
230
116
Paqe.
36
38
19
21
25
33
23
33
36
245
225
214
221
21
367
225
200
130
21
86
100
425
119
155
96
122
355
ii 50
ii 50
ii 60
11
ii
iv
iv
i
i
246
69
289
239
37
•^7
73
43
74
48
74
61
167
203
114
140
74
80
219
117
242
132
45
125
24
iNm-.x.
4:?rt
Wrass, Comber .
Wi-ass, Cook .
Wrass, Green
Wrass, Rainbow
Wrass, Scale-rayed
Wrass, Small-mnutlicd
Wrass, Striped
Wrass, Three- Spotted
X
Xiphias gladiuR
Xiphotbeca tetradens .
Plate. Vol. Page.
127
12!"
128
111
iii
iii
iii
iii
iii
iii
iii
u
ii
;>2
at
HO
41)
38
41
:54
:56
145
59
Tarrell's Blenny
YcUow Gurnard .
z
Zen2f()])terus velivolans
Zeus faV)er .
aper .
luna
Zoarces vivipiinis
Zoairbus
Zv<>"a:)na malleus
Plate,
Vol.
I'agc.
111
ii
•l:\:\
"S
ii
iii
k;;;
IIH
112
i:;a
2:?9
2:'.<»
7U
rixis.
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