J

THE FISHES

OF

s

H I,
MASS.

GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.

i:y

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

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

IN TWO VOLUMES.

VOLUME I.

WILLIAMS AND NORGATE,

14, HENRIETTA STEEET, COVEN T GARDEN, LONDON;
and 20, SOUTH FREDERICK STREET, EDINBURGH.

18801884.

LONDON :

G. NORMAN AND SON, PRINTEKS, HART STREET,

COVENT GARDEN.

PREFACE.

Twenty years having elapsed since the last editions of the elaborate
treatises on " British Fishes " by Yarrell and Couch were published, I
venture to offer to the public a new work on our fish-fauna, wherein I have
' attempted to incorporate many of the discoveries of recent times. For
latterly investigations into our fish and fisheries have been pursued with
increased zeal, and many facts ascertained materially modifying some of tho
conclusions formerly arrived at. My desire has been to produce a work
useful to the zoological student, fish-culturist, fisherman, and the general
public all of whom are more or less interested in the fish-fauna of the
British Isles, whether as regards their geographical, zoological, sporting, or
economic aspects.

As the value of a work of this description is much increased by
illustrations, I have personally delineated every species from nature. Why
I was unable to retain the services of my professional artist the subjoined
letter from the Secretary to the Trustees of the British Museum* will
explain.

The number of zoologists who have made the fish-fauna of our isles
the subject for their special study is very considerable, as will be seen by
the following list. While in addition to those who are not specially alluded
to others have also done good service, either as compilers or investigators
into the habits or other subjects pertaining to one or more of our indigenous
species, recording their discoveries in articles sent to different scientific
publications or in the pages of weekly and other journals, and which, so
far as I have been able, I have referred to under the various species to
which such remarks pertain.

In the year 1662, Sir Thomas Browne compiled a list of the Norfolk
fishes, on which he made several interesting observations; in 1684, Sir
Robert Sibbald, in " Scotiee Prod. Nat. Hist./' describes the fishes of that
country. Willughby and Ray appear to have been the. joint authors of
"Historia Pisciurn," published at Oxford in 1686; while in 1713 a
posthumous work by the latter, entitled " Synopsis Methodica Piscium/'

* "Dear Sir, Having referred your letter of the 13th to Dr. Gunther, I learn from him that
as both you and he are engaged in preparing a publication on British Fishes, he thinks it
inconvenient and against the interests of either work that the same artist should be employed on
both. He has, therefore, intimated to Mr. Mintern that if he is working cuts for you he will
engage another artist for himself. This is a matter which cannot be considered to concern the
Trustees. Yours, &c, Ed. A. Bond." {August 207i, 1880.)

a

11 TREFACE.

was printed in London, and in it were added some descriptions and figures
of rare Cornish fishes, made by the Reverend G. Jagp, the minister of Looc
in that county. Wallace's "Description of the Islands of Orkney" was
published in 1693, and contains an account of some of the fish. Dale, in a
"History of the Antiquities of Harwich and Doverscourt," 1730, devotes a
portion of the appendix (pp. 420-436.) to the local fishes. The Reverend
W. Porlase, e.k.s., in 1758, published a work on the "Natural History of
Cornwall," in which a portion of chapter xxiii and three plates refer to
fishes. Pennant, in his ({ British Zoology," 1776, devoted most of volume iii
and sixty-six plates to fishes : a second edition of this work Was published .
with additions after his death in 1812. Donovan, between the years 1802
and 1808, brought out his beautifully illustrated work on "British Fishes,"
in five volumes, containing 120 figures and descriptions. G. Shaw, in his
"General Zoology," 1800-1819, devotes volumes iv and v (1803-1801),
with 182 plates, to fishes, and has likewise observations on the same subject-
in the "Naturalist's Miscellany," 1789-1813. Turton, in his "British'
Fauna," 1807, devotes from p. 82 to 117 to fish. Colonel Montagu, in the
"Wernerian Memoirs," 1811 and 1818, has some observations and figures
of new and little-known British fishes. Patrick Neill gives a " List of the
Fishes found in the Frith of Forth " (pp. 526-555), in the " Wernerian
Memoirs," for 1811. .0. and /. Paget, in their "History of Yarmouth,"
Ilogg in the "Natural History of Stockton-on-Tees," 1829, and Lubboclc
in the " Fauna of Norfolk," 1845, refer to the local fishes. In 1813, the
" Fauna Orcadensis," by the Rev. George Low, minister of Birsa and Harray,
appeared; it had been written between the years 1774 and 1795, and from
pago 167 to 230 are given to fish. Fleming, in 1828, in a "History of
British Animals," devotes pp. 162-222 to descriptions of fishes. In 1828,
Mrs. Powdich published some plates of British Fresh-water Fishes. Jenyns,
in a " Manual of British Vertebrate Animals," 1835, describes the fishes
(pp. 306-521). Yarrcll, in. 1835, commenced the first edition of his
" British Fishes," completed the succeeding year in two volumes, and
illustrated with nearly 400 wood engravings ; the second edition was
published in 1811, and the third by Sir J. Richardson, p.k.s., in 1859.
Parncll published his "prize essay on the natural and economical history of
the fishes, marine, fluviatile and lacustrine, of the river district of the Firth
of Forth," in the " Memoirs of the Wernerian Natural History Society," vii,

1838, pp. 161-460, with plates xviii to xliv. Johnston, in 1838, at the annual
meeting of the Berwickshire Naturalist's Club, gave a list of the fishes of that
county. Sivainson describes " Fishes in Lardner's Cabinet Cyclopaedia,"

1839, with figures. Sir W. Jardine, f.r.s., "British Salmonidas," in 1839,
with large folio plates. Meynell gave a paper on " tho Fishes of York-
shire" to the British Association in 1811. Dillwyn, on the " Fauna and

PREFACE.

Flora of Swansea/' 1818, chapter iii, from page 11 to 17, being on the local
fish-fauna. In 1851, Mr. Adam White and Dr. John Edward Gray published
a " List of the specimens of British Animals in the British Museum/' fish
occupying 162 pages. Baker gave a paper on the " Fishes of Somerset-
shire/' in 1851, to the " Somersetshire Archa3ological and Natural History
Society," in the proceedings of which it is published. Harris, in 1851,
published in volume ix of the " Zoologist," a " List of the fishes of the
Moray Firth/' Gordon, in 1852, in the same publication, also gave a list of
those from the Moray Firth. In the same year Peach gave a paper to
the British Association on " Some fishes found at Peterhead." In 1853,
W* Baihie gave a list of the "Fishes of the Orkneys and Shetlands," in
the " Zoologist." Dr.. A. Gilnther, p.k.s., published between 1859 and
1870 a " Catalogue of the Fishes of the British Museum," in eight
Volumes. In the appendix to Ferguson's "Natural History of Redcar,"
is an account of the fishes of that locality. In 18 GO, Mrs. Merrifield,
in ' ' A sketch of the Natural History of Brighton and its Vicinity/' gives
a chapter on the " Fishes." In 1861, Mr. Iliggins published in the
" Zoologist " " Remarks on some of the fishes of Weston-sivper-Mare."
Couch commenced his " Fishes of the British Isles " in 1862, and
completed them in 1865, in three volumes, with 252 coloured plates.
In 1864, Gill published in the " Proceedings of the Academy of Natural
Science of Philadelphia," 1864 (p. 199), a paper "on the affinities of several
doubtful British Fishes." Mcintosh, in the "Proceedings of the Royal
Society of Edinburgh," volume v, 1862-65,* gave a paper on "the Fishes
of North Uist," and in 1874, in a work on "the Marine Invertebrates and
Fishes of St. Andrews," describes the latter (pp. 171-185). Dr. Lowe, in the
"Transactions of the Norfolk and Norwich Naturalist's Society,"- 1873-74,
published an account of the " Fishes of Norfolk." In 1875, Mr. E. Parfitt,
in the " Transactions of the Devonshire Association for the Advancement of
Science and Literature," gave an account of the " Fishes of Devonshire."
In 1876, the investigations of. Edward in Banffshire were published in "the
Life of a Scotch Naturalist," and a list in the appendix (pp. 417-429).
Mr. G. Sim includes the observations made by the late Dr. Dyce, in a
" Catalogue of fish found in the vicinity of Aberdeen " in the Transactions
of the local Society in 1878. Mr. Dunn, in the " Journal of the Royal
Institution of Cornwall," no. xxii, gave " Remarks upon some Cornish
Fishes." Mr. Franh BucMand, in 1873, published a "Familiar History
of British Fishes," enlarged in 1880, and termed a " Natural History

* Subsequent to the publication of part viii of this work and the completion of the addenda,
Dr. Mcintosh kindly forwarded to me a specimen of Lwmpemts lampetrwformis, which Blennoid
had been trawled fifteen miles off St. Abb's head, and the first recorded British specimen (see
" Proceedings of Zoological Society for June," 1884, with a figure).

a *

IV PREFACE.

of British Fishes," with woodcuts. In 1879, F. Day, in the ''Proceedings
of the Zoological Society" (p. 742), gave an acount of the "Fishes of
Weston-super-Mare." In the same year, the Reverend Mr. Houghton
published an account of the " British Freshwater Fishes," with coloured
illustrations. In 1881, Mr. Eagle Clarke and Mr. D. Roebuck brought out
the "Yorkshire Vertebrata," in which pp. 99-133 are devoted to fish. . In
1882, Mr. F. Sawyer gave a paper to the " Brighton and Sussex Natural
History Society " on " Sussex Fish and Fisheries " and Mr. Orellin has
compiled a list of the " Fishes of the Isle of Man."

In Ireland, Br. Rutty (1772) published an "Essay towards a natural
history of the county of Dublin," and in volume i, from page 345 to 369 is
devoted to fish; also Harris, in the "History of County Down," 1744;
Sampson's "History of Londonderry," 1802; McSkimmins "History of
Carrickfergus ;" Dubordieu's " History of County Down," 1802; all have local
lists of fish. Templeton's " List of Fishes of Belfast " was published in the
" Magazine of Natural History," in 1837. In 1856, Thompson's "Natural
History of Ireland " was brought out, and in volume iv, pp. 69-268, are
collected the various ichthyolo'gical papers written by that author. More,
who also published a list of " the Fishes of the Isle of Wight," gave in the
"Journal of the Boyal Dublin Society," volume v, 1866-70, a paper on the
" Fishes of the South-Western Coast of- Ireland." In 1869, Andrews likewise
published a paper on the same subject.

It now becomes my pleasing duty to offer my sincere thanks to those
who have assisted me by obtaining information and specimens, or have
helped my work through the press. Among the former I must particularly
allude to Mr. Matthias Dunn, of Mevagissey, whose intimate knowledge of
fishes and unwearied search after information and specimens, which he has
always been most ready to communicate, have proved of invaluable service.
The late Professor Peters, Director of the Berlin Museum ; Professor. Hubrecht,
of Utrecht ; and Professor Giglioli, Director of the Vertebrate Museum at
Florence, have likewise given me much assistance. Mr. Sim, of Aberdeen ;
Mr. Kermode, of the Isle of Man ; Mr. T. Carrington, f.l.s., late of the West-
minster Royal Aquarium ; Dr. Murie, f.l.s., and .Mr. G. Brooks, f.l.s., have all
assisted me with specimens of marine and fresh-water fishes. Sir J. Ramsay
Gibson-Maitland, Bart., f.l.s., has also afforded me invaluable information and
opportunities of investigation at his justly celebrated Howietoun Fisheries.

I have also to offer my best thanks to A. G. Brisbane Neill, Esq., of the
Madras Medical Service (retired) for his invaluable assistance in carrying
this work through the press, and thus enabling me to bring out the various
numbers at the periods specified in the original prospectus.

INTRODUCTION.

When commencing to investigate fish and fisheries, it naturally first occurs
to the inquirer to ask what is a fish ? at what geological epoch of time did it
first leave a trace of its existence on the surface of the globe we inhabit ?
how does it live, move, and continue its kind ?

In a work like the present, a small space only can be given to some of
these various questions, and I have deemed it best to abbreviate remarks
upon embryology, comparative anatomy and physiology, as well as the
numerous and diversified systems of classification (referring the reader to the
various treatises on these subjects) in order to dwell more particularly upon
facts that come especially to the notice of the field-naturalist, fish-culturist
and fisherman.

For practical purposes it is highly desirable to endeavour to ascertain what
are the geographical limits within which the various forms of fish life are
found, should the species be migratory, the causes of their migrations, and
how such are dependent on ocean circulation, currents, seasons, temperature,
food, or the necessity for the continuation of their kind. Why is it that
some forms flourish and increase while others dwindle away and decrease ;
what are the effects of light or darkness, depths or the varied physical con-
ditions of the waters in which they reside ? Likewise how fish are affected
by storms and electrical disturbances, or in short what are their enemies or
their friends, and conditions tending towards the perpetuation or extermina-
tion of their race ?

When inquiring into what is their favourite food, we have to remember
that in selecting such they must be guided by the faculties of sight, taste, or
smell, perhaps assisted by touch, and possibly by sound, and this leads on
to the consideration of respiration and digestion. Fishes likewise possess
emotions and instincts, sensibility to pain or the reverse, modifications of
form sometimes due to age or sex, and alterations of colour consequent upon
the nuptial season, external relationship or disease.

Some residing at great depths or in dark caverns have their eyes deficient,
others in the abysses of the ocean possess them enormously developed in
order to utilize every ray of light, while a few likewise living in apparently

VI EXTERNAL CHARACTERS.

similar conditions emit light. Again we find forms seeking refuge in other
animals,, or else as commensals using them as vehicles for conveying them
from one place to another, or fastening on their neighbours for their own
carnivorous purposes.- Then there is the breeding of fishes whether natural
or artificial, hybridism and its effects, sterility and its causes; diseases and
the mode of destruction of fish ; and lastly, fisheries, and how they are worked.
Fish are the lowest class of the vertebrate division of the animal kingdom,
destined to pass their lives in a watery element, and having their bodies
very diversely modified in order to accommodate them to varied con-
ditions of existence. Some are fitted for salt waters, others for those that
are fresh, some for residing at great depths, others for shallows, some are
mere surface swimmers pursuing their finny food, while others, although
similarly surface swimmers, live on minute organisms, and are themselves
pursued by their more powerful neighbours. Some like clear water, others
prefer that which is muddy, the rapid stream, the whirling eddy, the placid
lake or pond, or the mountain torrent, each possess their fish life, modified
according- to circumstances and frequently changing with the age of the
animal.

EXTERNAL CHARACTERS.

Remarking generally on the external form of fishes we see a comparatively
large head attached directly to the trunk without the intervention of a neck,
while the body tapers off towards tho posterior extremity. The regions
into which they are externally divided are those of the head, the body or
trunk, the tail and the fins. In such forms as the perch or carp and' the
majority of species the head is separated from the body or trunk by the
gill-openings ; while the body and the tail have the vent as a division
between them. While external similarity in form is occasionally more
symptomatic of an agreement in the diet on which they feed than on their
zoological relationship.

In this class of animals modifications of form from what are seen in the
more typical perches or carps are exceedingly numerous. The body may
bo laterally flattened, as in the sole (plate cvi) strongly depressed as in the
skate (plate clxvi), shortened as in the sun-fish (plate cxlviii), elongated and
rounded as in the eel (plate cxlii), elongated and compressed as in the
scabbard-fish (plate li), shortened and rounded as in the globe fish (plate
cxlvii), or encased in square armour as in the box-fish Ostracion, or the pipe
fishes (plate cxliv). The head may, when compared with tho size of the body, be
enormously developed as in the frog-fish (plate xxix), or produced laterally
as in tho hammer-headed shark (plate cliv), or the snout may be leugthened

HEAD, MOUTH AND GILL-COVERS.

vu

into a weapon of offence as in the sword-fish (plate xlix), or the gar-fish
(plate cxxvi), while the tail-fin may be elongated for a similar purpose as
seen in the fox-shark (plate clvii), or the tail may be capable of prehension
as in horse-fishes (plate cxliv, fig. 7) . Some are possessed of organs for
attachment as seen on the top of the head in the sucking-fish (plate xxxix),
on the chest as in the lump-sucker (plate lv) and Liparis (plate lvi), or the
mouth may be formed for. this purpose as in the lampreys (plate clxxviii).
In Asia we see a few carps have an adhesive organ behind the lower jaw, as
in Discognathus, while some sheat-fishes as Pseudecheneis have them on the
chest, thus enabling them to reside in mountain torrents or rapid streams.

Fig. 1. Red Mullet.
h, maxilla ; c, mandible ; o, barbel ; h, pectoral fin ; i, ventral fin ; It, first dorsal fin ;
Z, second dorsal fin ; m, anal fin ; n, caudal fin ; q, lateral-line ; p, lateral-traneverse line.

The head is as a rule divided from the body by the gill-openings, while the
eye sub-divides it into two parts, that in front of this organ being known as
the ante-orbital and that behind it as the post-orbital region : in the former
is the snout wherein are placed the nostrils and generally the mouth. The
space between the orbits is known as the inter-orbital region, while that
below the orbit is the infra- or sub-orbital.

The mouth is subject to great diversity in its external direction, being
either horizontal, oblique, or almost vertical. In some it is' semi-circular or
even circular in the lampreys, and inferior in most of the sharks. It may
be very or only slightly protractile, and possess or be deficient in lips : and
sometimes provided with accessory tactile organs in the form of barbels
(fig. l,o).

The gill-covers or opercles in most bony fishes, consist of four pieces, the
posterior and upper of which is theopercle or operculum (page xv, fig. 3, 0),
in front of it the preopercle (fig. 3, p. 0), while of the two lower pieces
the posterior is known as the sub-opercle (fig. 3, s. 0), and the anterior,
situated below the preopercle (and sometimes rudimentary or absent), as the
inter-opercle (fig. 3, i. 0). Although in telcosteans, ganoids and holocephala

viii EXTERNAL CHARACTERS.

among the elasmobranchs we perceive as a rule a single external gill opening
on either side, or even on the lower surface of the head, a different distribu-
tion is generally seen in the plagiostonies which possess from five to seven,
and among the cyclqstomes, which usually have seven as in lampreys,
although it may be single as in the hag ; in these latter, gill-covers as observed
in teleosteans, are. absent.

The body or trunk commences behind the head, and amongst most bony
fishes is somewhat wedge-shaped, passing by imperceptible degrees into the
tail or -caudal portion, the vent generally dividing the' two regions, but to
this rule there are many exceptions, for in certain genera the intestine opens
under the throat or near the caudal fin. In some slow-moving or bottom
fishes, the head as in the frog-fish, is depressed, while the -entire body 'may
be compressed into a flattened disc as among the flat-fishes or ple'uronectoids
which progress swimming on their sides. Or there may be lateral compression
conjoined to a short body and slow movements as in the dory or the sun-fish ;
or there may be lateral compression with a lengthening of the body as in the
band-fishes. The body is divisible into the back, the sides or lateral surfaces,
and the abdomen or the belly.

The tail or that portion which is continuous with the trunk, is similai'ly
divisible into the back, the sides and abdominal surfaces, while should a free
finless portion exist between'the hind fin of the back and the tail fin this is
termed the peduncle or free portion of the tail. Among the'Chondropterygii
the tail of some rays and skates appears as a slender appendage from the
body, while in some ground forms it seems to act mostly as a rudder.

The sldn may be scaled or scaleless, or enclosed in armoured plates, while
should a row of pierced scales pass along the sides they are known as the
lateral-line (fig. 1, q), the number of scales on which are generally important
as assisting in discriminating the species ; while the lateral transverse-row
(fig. 1, p) is of similar use.

The number of fins, as well as their relative positions on the body, are
subject to great diversity; the presence or absence of some, their situation,
and even their component parts furnishing characters often useful in classifi-
cation. If we examine the composition of the fins, we perceive among the bony
or teleostean fishes that they consist of two distinct characters of rays, the
first being spinate or having spines destitute of any tranverse articulations, and
each ending in a hard or sharp point ; the second being softer, more especially
termed rays, and being simple or composed of numerous pieces articulated
one to another by transverse joints, and which rays may have their outer
extremities branched or else simple and undivided. But irrespective of the
foregoing three forms, modifications are seen as in the outer ray of the
pectoral of many siluroids, or in the anterior dorsal rays as in the barbel
(plate cxxxi), where one or more may take on a bony character, but still

FINS. IX

during some period of their existence may be found to have the outer
end articulated. Long and delicate filaments are sometimes developed in
connection with fin-rays, and often indicate that the example is young,
as in a horse mackerel, Caranx gallus, wherein their length diminishes
with- age, similarly in the dory; still they are occasionally continued
through life, as in an Indian barbel, Barbus jilamentosus, and have likewise
been found existing' in fishes taken from the deep and nearly still abysses
of the ocean. Acanthopterygians are forms which, as a rule, possess
in their fins some true spines, which are absent in the soft-rayed or
malacopterygians.

The fins are divisible into such as are single and unpaired, hence termed
"azygous," as those along the median line of the back or dorsal, which
when present may be variously subdivided or modified ; the tail or caudal fin
as a rule is placed vertically at the posterior extremity of the caudal portion
of -the body, where it is seen in two very distinct types, in the generality of
fishes the two lobes being equal, when it is termed " homocercal," as in the
perch; whereas in the sharks and some other allied classes the vertebral
column is prolonged into the upper half of the caudal fin, rendering it
unequally-lobed .or. " heterocercal." The anal commonly commences behind
the vent, and passes along, the median line of the lower surface; it may be
as variously modified as the dorsal. These median or unpaired fins are
considered by some to be appendages to the skin, but believed by Balfour
to be the specialized and highly-developed remnants of a once continuous
lateral fin along either side.

But most fishes likewise possess two pairs of horizontal or paired fins, one
on . the breast or pectorals corresponding with the anterior extremities of
higher vertebrata; while the second or ventral pair, the homologues of the
legs or hind pairs of limbs, when present are variously placed, as under the
throat when they are termed jugular, as in the cod (plate lxxviii), below
the pectoral fins or.thoi-acic, as in the perch (plate i), or abdominal when
near the hind end- of the body, as in the carp (plate cxxix).

Fins may likewise alter with age, thus their proportionate lengths and
development in the young of abyssal or deep-sea fishes, as well as in pelagic
forms or those whose sphere of existence is usually restricted to the upper
waters of the open sea, would seem to be frequently very different to what
obtains in the adult, having caused the immature to be classed in a separate
genus from the same fish when it has attained to its full size. Thus the voung
of the abyssal Luvarus Ouvieri (plate xliii and vol. i, page 120), has been
described as Diana seviilunata. The pelagic sword-fishes (plate xlix and vol. i,
page 14.8) have in their earlier stages single, elongated, many-rayed dorsal and
anal -fins, but the anterior portions of both become atrophied' with age, while
the central rays disappear, thus leaving two fins in either position. In the pilot

X . EXTERNAL CHARACTERS.

fish (plate xlv) the anterior dorsal fin of the fry becomes converted into
free spines in the adult. The black pomfret, Stromateus niger, when young
has ventral fins present, causing it to have been placed in a distinct genus,
Apolectus stromateus. "While in the paired fins Ave find in the pelagic
tunny (plate xxxvi) that the pectorals become elongated with age, and
Gill observes that in the apodal or forms without ventral fins the body is
eel-like or elongated. I have remarked that a variety of form exists in our
ten-spined stickleback (vol. i, page 245, plate lxviii, fig. 4), in which these
latter fins are entirely wanting.

Another mode in which fins change with age is owing to the spines, as of
the dorsal fin, not augmenting in length so rapidly as the soft rays, conse-
quently they may be comparatively shorter in the adult than in the young.
Even the soft rays in mature fish are commonly less in their proportionate
height to the entire length of the specimen than they are in the immature.
The same thing occurs in respect to anal spines, the second being sometimes
the longest in the immature, but becoming -shorter than the third in the
mature, which appears most frequently to take place when the second spine
is the strongest, augmenting in thickness while the third increases in length.
Occasionally there is an excess of a spine and a deficiency of a ray in the
dorsal fin, the anterior one_ of the latter having assumed a spinous character,
a not infrequent occurrence among the Sparidee : or several articulated rays
may be similarly changed. In some forms 'the number of rays, as in
the Cottidas, would seem occasionally to decrease as the species is found
further south. Spiny-rayed fish, preying upon their weaker neighbours,
appear to be more numerous in seas than in fresh waters, while in our inland
waters members of the carp and salmon families usurp their place, these
hitter being provided with articulated fin rays.

Fin rays when broken may again unite, if lost they may likewise be
occasionally reproduced, but often in an incomplete manner. Injuries to
the caudal portion of the body sometimes cause remarkable changes in the
form of the fin, thus in a sole (vol. ii, p. 40) will be found the description of a
specimen in which the caudal fin in being reproduced has become continuous
above and below with the vertical fins. In an elongated Coilia of the
Indian seas I have several . times seen that a forked caudal fin has replaced
the last fourth or fifth of the caudal portion of the body, which probably
had been lost by accident.

Not only do the component portions of a fin become greatly altered, but
the fin itself may be very dissimilar to what we find in a typical perch or
carp. Thus the dorsal fin is entirely absent in the electric eel, Gymnotu*,
of South America : it may be a long single fin, the front portion be spiny,
as in the sea-perch (plate v), or with only soft rays, as in the sole (plate cvi) ;
or the fin may be in two portions, the first being composed of spines, and

FINS. XI

the second almost entirely of rays as in the red mullet (plate viii), or con-
sisting of soft rays only as in the rock -ling (plate lxxxix) ; or the fin may
be divided into three parts as in the cod-fish (plate lxxviii) and many other
gadoids. The anterior portion of the dorsal fin may be in the form of free
spines as in some of the sticklebacks (plate lxviii), or the free spines may
be modified into tentacles as in the angler (plate xxix), or into an adhesive
apparatus as in the sucking-fish (plate xxxix) . Or the posterior portion of
the dorsal fin may be present in the form of free rays as in the tunny
(plate xxxv), or it may be simply a fold of skin containing fat as in the
salmon (plate ex), which in some conditions of embryonic or early life may
be observed to contain fin rays as in certaiu salmonoids and siluroids. When
spines are present in the dorsal fin they are usually in its anterior, and rarely
in its posterior portion ; but in one British form, the viviparous blenny, a
few are present with articulated rays anterior and posterior to them (plate
lxi). This fin may likewise unite with the caudal, the latter being continuous
with the anal, as observed in eels (plate cxlii). The spines and rays of
which fins arc composed can bo erected or depressed at will, while some
osseous and frequently posteriorly serrated rays or spines have a peculiar
joint at their base, which prevents their being depressed in a direct line, as
in the trigger fish (plate cxlvi).

The pectoral or breast fin may be absent as in some pipe-fishes, marine-
eels, &c, but when present is subject to many modifications and assists in the
performance of functions which at first sight would hardly appear to be
among its duties. Its position is behind the gill-openings, but its form
differs ; thus among the Pediculati, as the angler, it possesses a sort of arm
due to prolongation of the carpal bones, enabling its possessor to employ
the organ as a foot or arm, and thus adapting it for moving about at the
bottom of the sea ; similarly some of the goby family in tropical countries
are enabled to use this fin for progression over the moist mud. Or the
pectoral fin may be considerably elongated as in the flying-fish (plate exxviii),
by which it can be used as a parachute in order to pass through the air.
Portions of the fin may likewise be modified, thus some free rays may exist
at or near the base of the pectoral fin, and subserve the function of feelers
as in the mango-fish and other polynemi, or these free rays may be shorter and
thicker as in the gurnards (plate xxii), when they become not only useful
as a tactile organ but also for progression. In some forms this difference in
the character of the rays also exists when forming an undivided fin, thus in
the pectorals of blennies, as in the common shanny (plate lx, fig. 2), there are
thirteen rays, the upper seven of which are shorter and more elastic than the
lower six. Under certain circumstances these upper- rays are useful in
respiration, as in cases wherein a deficiency of air exists in the water, when
they are constantly in motion, sending a current towards the gills.. In very

Xll EXTERNAL CHARACTERS.

young fish, as salmonoids prior to the absorption of the umbilical vesicle,
the gills remain more or less uncovered by the opercles, and these fins are
constantly employed in assisting respiration. The six thicker lower rays of
the shanny are thus enlarged and stiff, as they are constantly employed
resting upon or against rocks during progression.. In rays and skates this
fin is very largely developed.

The ventral .fins are those which are most frequently absent, not only
are they wanting in the large eel-like or apodal class, but occasionally their
absence may not even indicate the specimen being distinct from the form which
possesses them, as remarked upon respecting the ten-spined stickleback,
while their position when present is frequently found to be in widely
different localities on the body (see page ix ante). It is usually a narrow
fin consisting of but few rays, while these may be of most diverse appearance.
It may be restricted to a single spine useful for protective or aggressive
purposes as in the little sticklebacks (plate lxviii), or in the more developed
unicorn-fish, Triacanthus , of the Eastern seas ; or it may be a simple bony
ray having a broad extremity as in Bank's oar-fish (plate lxiv). Or its first
divided ray may be elongated into a tactile organ as in the- burbolt
(plate lxxxvii), or the two fins may be conjoined forming an adhesive sucker
as in the gobies (plate Hi), or reduced to stiff rays for progression as in the
blennies (plate lx).

The anal fin. may be absent, or if present subdivided as the dorsal, it
likewise when possessing spinous rays has them in the anterior portion of
the fin, while its last few rays may be in the form of finlets as observed
of the dorsal fin.

The caudal fin may be absent as in Bank's oar-fish (plate lxiv), indistinct
and often wanting as in some pipe-fishes (plate cxliv), single and with a
rounded posterior extremity, as in some gobies (plate lii), or with the central
rays rather elongated, giving it a lanceolate form as in some tropical gobies,
lunated or emarginate as in the grey mullet (plate lxvii), cut square at its
extremity as in the wrass (plate lxx). In most bony fishes the tail consists
of an upper and lower portion -which although rarely of exactly the same
size are still nearly so: it may be lobed as in the mackerel (plate xxxii),
while one or more of its rays may be prolonged : in one form of visitor to our
seas the fin is placed somewhat vertically at the end of the tail, as in the
vaagmaer (plate lxiii). In forms as Chondropterygians wherein the tail is
heterocercal the spine is continued into the prolonged upper lobe.

Locomotion is doubtless the main use to which the. fins of fishes are put,
but even in locomotion other forces are frequently or rather generally brought
into play to assist the fins, whether such is for the purpose of swimming, as
in the generality of this class, walking as in the angler or frog-fish, leaping
as the salmon while ascending rapids when the muscles of the tail are of

LOCOMOTION. X1U

great assistance, flying as in the flying-fish, floating as in the globe-fish
aided by the air sac, creeping under nets as the bass, springing over them
as in the grey mullet, retrograde wriggling as in congers or in some of the
pipe-fishes and which is carried " out solely by means of the muscular
system.

Animals having such diverse forms of bodies and such variously con-
structed fins as exist in fishes have as a consequence their powers of locomotion
modified. In such as are enclosed in bony cases as the box-fish or Ostracion
voluntary progress can only be made by means of the fins, whereas in almost
finless forms, as in some eels, movements of the body itself must be the
motive power. During rapid progression the paired fins are pressed closely
against the body, as may be observed in a mullet when pursued, or a
gurnard, but which latter widely expands its pectorals when swimming
leisurely along. Swimming forwards is principally effected in fishes by means
of lateral or right and left strokes of the caudal portion of the body aided
by the caudal fin, while gentle progression in the same direction may be
effected by slight undulations of the caudal fin-rays.. Flat fishes, as soles,
produce a forward motion by vertical or up-and-down strokes of the caudal
portion of the body. The flexible bodies of sharks may bend in more than
one curve when moving rapidly, which is mainly effected by powerful
lateral strokes. Among rays and skates the broad pectoral fins by means
of an undulating movement effect this ; while the angel-fish (plate clxiii),
has a sort of mixed motion. In some forms, as the horse-fishes or hippo-
campus, the dorsal fin rapidly undulated from end to end after the manner of
an archimedean screw, is the chief motive power. In eels, wherein fins
are very deficient, forward motion is effected by snake-like curves of the
body.

The pectoral fins are largely employed in keeping the body properly
balanced, or raising the head, and when one of these fins is removed, the
body falls over to that" side, or should both be thus treated, the head sinks :
it being largely developed in most sharks and rays, often compensating for
the absence of an air-bladder. It can assist in a forward movement by rapid
strokes towards its body, and likewise in a backward movement by means of
reversed or forward strokes. Also, as already observed, it may be enormously
developed as in the flying-fish and form a parachute enabling it to pass
through the air in order to escape from its enemies. The vertical fins likewise
assist the pectorals in maintaining the proper balance of the body/and.incline
it to one side when only one fin acts, or they are able to depress it by their
joint action.

The dorsal and anal fins are mostly restricted in their functions to increase
or diminish the extent of the lateral surface of the fish by means of their
being elevated or depressed, and so prevent violent lateral oscillations, or the

XIV

EXTERNAL CHARACTERS.

body being turned upside down. There is one exception however to this, us
the sun-fish, wherein the dorsal and anal fins by means of rapid undulations
assist the'fish in locomotion ; while a similar action has been observed upon
as seen in the dorsal fin df pipe-fishes.

Experiments made upon ordinary shaped osseous fishes have demonstrated
that should the dorsal and anal fins be removed they roll from side to side ;
if one pectoral is cut off they fall over to the side from which it has been
removed; if both, the head sinks : should the pectoral and ventral of one
side be gone, equilibrium is lost ; while removal of the tail fin interferes
with progression.

SKELETON.

The skeleton or endoskcleton of fishes differs widely in the various
orders, the bones being less dense in their structure than arc those of the
higher vertebrates. In some the skeleton is cartilaginous, in others fibrous,
or osseous, while two or more varieties of structure may co-exist in one
fish. Among those obtained from great depths in the ocean some at least
have their bony and muscular systems but feebly developed, and but loosely
connected together by ligaments.

Fig. 2. Common Perch.
a, premaxillary ; b, maxillary ; c, dentary ; d, orbit ; e, cranium ; /, interoperclc ; g, g,* vertebral
column; h, pectoral fin; i, ventral fin; k, first dorsal fin ; I, second dorsal fin; m, anal fin;
n, n,' caudal fin.

If we examine the skeleton of a teleostcan fish, as a perch, we see a
framework consisting of a vertebral or spinal column, a skull and fins. The
vertebral column consists of a varying number of bones or vertebra), the
bodies of which are excavated at each end, rendering them biconcave or
amphiccelous.* The cavity thus - produced by the apposition of two

* The vertebra; of the exotic bony pike are ' opisthocailous," or concave posteriorly and
convex anteriorly.

SKELETON.

XV

concave bones is covered in by connecting' ligaments, and filled with a
gelatinous substance, the remains of the notocord : consequently, clastic
balls of semi-fluid consistence exist between each vertebra, enabling them
to move very freely one upon another.

' The abdominal vertebra?, or those belonging to the trunk, have two
superior or dorsal processes, which pass upwards and coalesce, forming an
arch, the neural arch, which contains the spinal cord. At the summit of
this arch is a spinous elongation, the neural spine. Two transverse processes
generally pass outwards from the body of each vertebra, and to them ribs
are commonly articulated.

The caudal vertebrae, or those of the tail, are furnished with neural arches,
and spines as in the abdominal region, but well-developed transverse pro-
cesses are deficient, while along the inferior surface of the bodies of each
vertebra is an arch, similar to the neural arch on its upper edge, and this

Fig. 3. Skull of the Cod, Gadus morhua.
s, p, -Supra occipital ; /, Frontal; n, nasal; p, s, Para sphenoid; p,m, pre-maxillary ; m, max-
illary; d, Bentary; I, p're-orbital ; q, Quadrate; 7i,m, Hyo-mandibular; p,o, Pre-opercle; o 3 Opcrcle;
s,o, Sub-opercle; i,o, Inter-opercle; c,h, Cerato-hyal; b, Branchiostegous rays.

lower or haemal arch serves to convey blood-vessels, while from it springs
inferiorly a haemal spine.

Between the neural spines and the -haemal spines certain dagger-shaped
bones are inserted along the median lines of the body, and which arc
externally for the purpose of attaching the bases of the dorsal and anal fins.
The hindmost caudal vertebra, usually of small size, articulates posteriorly
with a fan-shaped bone, the hypu-ral, which along with the last neural and
haemal processes support the caudal fin. Among the plagiostomes the

Xvi SKELETON.

processes of the vertebrae are more soldered to the bodies, and not so well
developed.

The skull, or' that portion of the skeleton which is situated at the front
end of the body articulating posteriorly with the first vertebra, is destined
to enclose the brain as well as form the face. It varies much in form in
different families of fish, and contains too many component parts to be fully
discussed here, but a few remarks are necessary respecting such as more- or
less enter into the orbits, mouth and respiratory apparatus.

The suborbital ring of bones, or those which pass round the lower edge of
the eye, consist of several pieces, the anterior of which is generally the largest,
and termed the pre-orbital or lachrymal (fig. 3, I).

The mouth is formed on several plans. At the front edge of the upper
jaw in the middle line is a tooth-bearing bone, the premaxillary (fig. 3, p. m),
also termed the intermaxillary, which is continued backwards in the form
of a" flat process, which in some forms even extends so far as the middle of
the orbit. The premaxillary rests against the toothless maxillary (fig. 3, m),
with which it is- in opposition, and the two move together. There are many
modifications of this form of osseous structure of the upper jaw. Thus in
the salmon the dental portion of the premaxillaries is comparatively decreased
in size, and the maxillary likewise bears teeth.

The lower jaw or mandible consists of two branches or rami, one on
either side connected together anterioi-ly in the middle line by a ligament,
this portion being termed the symphysis. Each ramus consists of several
pieces, the largest which bears teeth being termed the dentary (fig. 3, d),
while a small one at the hind end of each is termed the articular and
articulates with the quadrate bone (fig. 3, q).

The hyoid arch is attached to the temporal bones by two slender styliform
ones termed stylo-hyoids; this hyoid arch being composed of a central and
two lateral portions. The bones'along the two branches commencing from
behind forwards are the " epihyal " to which the stylo-hyoids are attached :
the ceratohyal to which the branch'iostegal rays are attached at their inner
end, then two small bones termed basihyals, between which the small glos-
sohyal or os Unguis extends forwards to the tongue, while a single bone,
the urohyal, passes backwards. This last bone in some fishes extends some
way even to the union of the coracoid bones, thus constituting an isthmus,
separating the two branchial openings.

The five branchial arches, four of which bear gills (see page xlyii) and
one is destitute of them, are externally bounded by the hyoid arch ; while
inferiorly and along the median line they are attached to a chain of bones,
the basibranchials, which are situated above the urohyal and are anteriorly
connected with the body of the hyoid. These branchial arches pass
upwards, and are attached by ligaments to the under surface of the skull.

SCAPULAR ARCH VERTEBRA. XV11

The three anterior branchial arches are each composed of four pieces of
bone, which commencing from their inferior attachment are known as the'
hypobranchial, ceratobranchial, the epibranchial. In the fourth arch the
epibranchial is wanting, and superiorly the more expanded upper piece
which generally bears teeth, is known as the superior pharyngeal bone:
while the fifth arch is composed of the cerato-branchial only, and termed
the inferior pharyngeal.

The opercular pieces or gill-covers have already been referred to, the
most anterior or innermost articulating with the tympano-mandibular arch
of the skull. In some fishes as sharks, rays, and cyclostomes, no gill-
covers are present, as will be subsequently remarked upon.

The scapular arch which supports the pectoral fin is mostly joined to
the occipital bone, and according to Owen and Kitchen Parker, contains
the following bones commencing from above : the supra- scapular (post-
temporal), articulating with which is the scapular (supra-clavicular), and
attached to which is the coracoid (clavicular), while it is united below either
by suture or by ligament to the same bone on the opposite side. To this
last bone are attached two others, the radius and ulna (coracoid and
scapular), and two rows of small bones placed between the forearms and the
fin, or the carpals and metacarpals. Attached to the clavicular is a two-
jointed bone, the post-clavicular (epicoracoid).

The ventral fins are attached to a pair of triangular dagger-shaped bones,
the pubic.

Among the teleosteans there are numerous deviations from the percoid
and gadoid forms to which I have principally adverted, many of which will
be referred to in the following pages.

Among the elasmobranchs are to.be found examples in which the noto-
cord may be observed without any trace of transverse segmentation up to those
in which there are distinctly ossified vertebras. As examples of persistent
notocords may. be mentioned among the plagiostomes the six-gilled shark
(vol. ii, page 308), and the spinous shark (vol. ii, page 323) ; while among
the Holocephala the arctic chimosra (vol. . ii, page 286) commences to
develop rings in the sheath of the notocord. In the majority of sharks, as
the blue shark (vol. ii, page 389), the vertebras have become completely
divided one from another, the individual bones being amphiccelous, and a
cavity existing .through the centre of the body of each thus permitting an
unbroken continuity of the remains of the notocord. In some forms many
of the anterior vertebras coalesce together, while the cranium is more or
less in one piece.

Still further modifications occur in the cyclostomes (vol. ii, page 356),
wherein the notocord is not segmentated, but neural arches are represented
. by cartilages along either side of the spinal cord. In the lowest form or
Leptocardii (vol. ii, page 360) the type is exceedingly primitive.

b

XV111

MUSCULAR AND NERVOUS SYSTEMS.

MUSCULAR SYSTEM.

The chief masses of muscular structure in this class of animals are seen
the great lateral muscles of the body, generally four in number in teleosteans,
and which are arranged longitudinally, but divided by oblique tendinous
bands (fig. 5) of a gelatinous character (and which dissolve on boiling) into

Wz?

Fig. 4. Internal Organs or Carp.
br, branchiae or gills ; c, heart ; /, liver ; vn, vn', swimming bladder ; ci, intestinal tract ;
o, ovaries ; u, urethra ; ,vent; o, oviduct.

numerous flakes or semi-conical masses termed myocommas. These four
longitudinal layers of muscles have the tendinous bands directed much as
follows : the upper series passing downwards and backwards, the succeeding
layer downwards and forwards, the third downwards and backwards, and
the lowest downwards and forwards. These flakes are arched backwards,
being convex anteriorly. The number of tendinous intersecting bands
correspond with the vertebras into which they are inserted. The various
modifications observed in these muscles, and the systems employed for the
movement of the fins, the jaws, eyes, breathing, &c, it is unnecessary to
enumerate in this place.

NERVOUS SYSTEM.

This is subject to very great variation, and the brain, which does hot fill
the cranial cavity in adults, is comparatively small in proportion to that of
the general mass of the body.

SLEEP. XIX

Does sleep or a periodical season of repose for the organs of the senses,
ever visit fish, or can it be that balmy slumber is to them unknown, is
a question we occasionally see broached. Hybernation during the winter
' months in cold latitudes, and aestivation during hot months in tropical
climates, is generally admitted, but not so simple sleep. Some authors
appear to hold to the view that, possessing no eyelids, fish are unable to
sufficiently shut out external influences, and cannot therefore bo supposed
to sleep. Mammals and birds, in short, are sometimes asserted to be the
only animals which are periodically visited by refreshing slumbers, while
such as are in a lower grade merely rest from time to time in their labours,
and withdraw themselves to some quiet nook where they may remain
undisturbed. If all fishes sleep it may be asked how do sharks, dolphins,
black fishes and pilot fishes follow ships long distances during many days
and nights ? On the other hand, if not sleeping, what are the basking
sharks and sun-fishes about, which permit the fishermen to get so close as to
drive harpoons into their bodies before they attempt to get away, or the pike
in fresh water that allows a noose to be slipped around its head?

Some years since Mr. Hughes gave an interesting account of how
he visited a rock pool at Tenby by candle-light, and noticed several small
fishes at the bottom, among them being the active and artful blennies and
rocklings. They lay perfectly still, not attempting to dart away to a quiet
corner, and permitted the hand to be introduced, when one by one all were
caught. These fish seemed either temporarily paralyzed by the light or so
sound asleep that their capture was effected with ease.

In rapid waters it has been suggested whether if fish sleep they use their
fins in order to keep their position while in a state of somnolence. In the
tanks of an aquarium I was able to observe a small ' ' golden tench " lying-
in a peculiar and apparently uncomfortable position ; its tail half was sup-
ported by a piece of raised rockwork, while its head was resting on the floor
of the tank, and the slightest amount possible of motion only conveyed to
the mind of an observer that he was gazing at anything but a dead
specimen. The succeeding evening I revisited the tench, and perceived the
little golden one as vigorous as its companions, all of which, with a single
exception, appeared to be leisurely enjoying their existence, either by
feeding or in the contemplation of the varied scenes which were constantly
passing in front of their glass enclosure. The solitary exception was
reclining on its back and scarcely moved, but on a closer scrutiny its mouth
could be seen to open every now and then, and the fish gave a short gasp ;
the next evening it was swimming about with its fellow-captives and busy
wallowing in the soft sand, some of which it took into its mouth and then
discharged again, and a third tench was now in a somnolent state.

In another tank in the same Institution wrasses could be seen sleeping in

6*

XX NERVOUS AND TEGUMENTARY SYSTEMS.

all sorts of curious positions, mostly at night-time, but likewise- occasionally
during tbe day, especially soon after they had taken a meal. These after-
dinner naps, as well as such as were indulged in at. night-time, appear to
be often passed in the same portions of the tank day after day, while the
positions assumed by the three-spotted wrasse are by no means less uncom-
fortable than such as are seen occurring among the tench. Blennies have
been observed to occupy the same bed-rooms night after night, while I can
only suppose that the little suckers, Liparis, sleep during the day-time when
they hide themselves in order to be able to move about during the night,
which appears to be their period of activity, as they then search for food.

Among the fishes of India which inhabit the fresh waters perhaps the air-
breathing snake-headed species gives us the best example of sleeping fish.
In the month of December a few years since, while investigating the
fisheries of Assam, I was with a party engaged in exploring the Sissera
River. We entered a canoe and cautiously ascended the stream. When about
three miles from camp all of a sudden our boatmen ceased pulling, and
pointed to an object lying in the water under the bank, whispering that it
was a large fish fast asleep. We stealthily approached and got within two
yards of the spot, when we easily saw a snake-headed morrul, Opliiocephahis,
about four feet in length, lying perfectly still and apparently fast asleep,
just on the surface of a deep pool in the stream. Our repeating carbine was
silently passed to our crack shot, he steadily raised it to his shoulder, took a
deliberate aim, fired, but we saw the fish no more. Since then I have
frequently seen these fishes in an apparently sleeping condition.

THIRST.

Living as these animals do in a watery medium it would appear that the
sense of thirst must bo unknown, or else that it is quenched by means of
endosmosis through the skin. Were this not the case it is difficult to
conceive how the salt water forms could satisfy such a longing.

TEGUMENTARY SYSTEM.

The skin or tegumentary system may be entirely or partially scaleless, or
should scales be present they may be partially imbedded in the skin, the
posterior or external portions of one not overlapping its neighbour, and
termed non-imbricated ; or they may overlap each other like tiles, when they
are termed imbricate. The powers of resistance against external violence is
augmented when hard substances enter into its composition, consequently
those fishes which are most liable to injury are defended by scales or plates,

SCALES.

XXI

Fig. 5. 1, Ctenoid scale from
perch ; 2, Cycloid scale from lateral
line of gold carp ; .3, Ganoid scales
from amblypterus ; 4, Placoid scales
from small-spotted dog-fish.

which latter may even constitute a dermal skeleton ; while it appears to be
commonly the case that siluroids are provided with spines for offensive
purposes, and fishes with electric organs are scaleless. . Scales as a rule have
their free edges directed backwards, to prevent their forming any impediment
in the water when swimming, and the different forms have been divided
into cycloid, ctenoid, ganoid, and placoid.

Scales on their surface may have fine con-
centric striations, passing parallel with their
outer edge, and others more strongly marked
radiate from- near their centres towards their
attached or front border.

Cycloid scales (fig 5, no. 2) are those desti-
tute of any coating of enamel, and with a
smooth or non-denticulated free edge. Cte-
noid scales (fig. 5, no. 1) differ in possessing
denticulations or teeth, often covering a tri-
angular space at their free extremity or being
merely restricted to the edge of the scale ;
these last if spiny, have been termed sparoid
scales, while the foregoing forms pass more
or less gradually one into the other; both forms may be present on
one species of fish. Ganoid scales (fig. 5, no. 3) are furnished with a
coating of enamel, mostly of a tessellated form, and often articulated
one to another. While placoid scales (fig. 5, no. 4) can be considered as
dermal growths or osseous scales, as seen in sturgeons, rays, and some
other forms of fish.

Scales of fishes increase in size or grow along with the body of the fish on
which they are placed : thus in the salmon or trout the adult has the same
number as the young, while they are imbricate to the same extent. The
skin consists of the outer layer or epidermis, below which is the true skin,
termed dermis or cutis. The epidermis is originally formed by cells, which
increase in numbers and constitute an outer and a deeper layer. The cells
in the outer layer gradually flatten, and become partially cornified ; while
the deeper or malpighian layer is in a more active state of existence, new
cells are constantly being formed, which push the older ones towards the
surface. The cutis or true skin is well supplied with lymphatics and blood
vessels, and has a more active vitality than the more superficial epidermis,
and it gradually protrudes into slight elevations, which are the rudiments of
scales ; these increase in size, and passing backwards carry with them their
covering of epidermis. At this time calcareous deposits are laid down in
the dermis, while the superimposed malpighian stratum on its lower side
secretes a hard enamel-like substance. Thus both a portion of the epidermis

XX11 TEGUMENTARY SYSTEM TOUCH.

and likewise of the dermis enters into the primary elements in the formation
of a scale. In some cases in which the scales are large they push through
the epidermal layer, becoming partly free, as seen in many ctenoid forms, as
perches and sparoids.

TOUCH.

Special organs of touch are developed in fishes in several different manners.
Some, as carps, have highly sensitive barbels arranged around their mouths;
they are likewise well seen in siluroids or sheat-fishes, which as a rule live in
muddy waters, and have mostly to obtain food .by means of the delicacy of
their power of sensation, while their organs of vision are but little developed
(page xxviii). Or these organs may possess more solid bases, but have still a
similar function, as in the sub-mandibular or hyoid barbels of the red mullet
(plate viii), or the modified maxilla of some sheat-fishes, or even the fin-
rays themselves, which for this purpose have occasionally long filamentous
terminations, as seen in the John Doree (plate xlviii), or be modified into
organs, not only for progression but likewise for sensation, as in the free
pectoral rays of gurnards (plates xxii to xxviii). Or these tactile organs may
be more essentially cutaneous, as the filaments on the snout of the sole
(plate cvi), or perhaps more, distinctly visible on the lemon sole (plate cvii) ;
while somewhat similar but larger filaments are found on the bodies of some
fish, as the angler (plate xxix). Even papillaa as round the mouths or on the
lips are highly sensitive, and as has been shown by Leydig and others they
are abundantly supplied with nerves.

The. lateral-line* consists of a series of tubes along either side of the bodies
of fish (page vii, fig. 1) and is often known as the muciferous system ; but
although from it mucous is excreted, it is essentially an organ for sensation,
and as such is variously modified. It is continued on to the head, where the
tubes are largely developed in many families, as the sciaanoid and cod-fishes ;
or may form several canals, as seen in the Arctic chimaara (plate cli). In
osseous fishes the inside of the canal of the lateral-line is lined with epithelial
cells, often differing in form in different families. Into this canal nerves
ramify, and either terminate in an expansion or anastomose with each other,
as in Plagiostomes. The simple tubes of Lorenzini are restricted to Plagio-
stomes, where their presence, due to their black colour, render them so
apparent in the skate (vol. ii, p. 337, pi. clxvi), they open at the surface of
the skin, do not anastomose one with another, are supplied with nerves, and
filled with a thick gelatinous substance, and may be tactile organs.

* Dcrcuni proposes to term it "the lateral sensory apparatus.

COLOURS. XX ill

COLOURS.

Intimately related to the tegumentary system and the composition of scales
is the subject of colour. Among the finny tribes we may perceive external
colours of the most varied description, some of which are permanent, many
transient, and others again of periodical occurrence. Some of these colours
are due to the influence of light, while they may vary in the same species,
owing to the character of the water which they inhabit; for should the latter
be opaque and muddy, they as a rule are darker than those obtained from
localities where it is clear, those in running streams are generally lighter
and brighter than when from stagnant pools, or from shallow pieces of water,
than from such as are deep, while fish captured- in dark caverns are often
destitute of both colour and vision.

Age and season likewise exercise an influence in this respect, as do also
the state of the health and temporary local emotions. In the very young
one sees but few markings or colours, but these rapidly develop themselves,
more or less distinctly, by the time/ or even before, the first breeding season
has been reached, when the brilliancy of the individual has often attained to
its maximum. This nuptial adornment is generally acquired a short time
prior to the breeding season, subsequent to which it usually disappears.
Some see in the colours of these creatures grounds for assuming the proba-
bility of the descent of many forms from some common ancestral progenitor ;
thus vertical bands are almost invariable in the young of the various trout,
salmon, and char. However, they are likewise present in many other
families, as Scombresocidcv , in which they are usually a diagnostic sign of
the immaturity of the individual. Large spots or blotches, especially when
surrounded by a light margin, are likewise a good reason for suspecting that
the individual has not attained its full size. We also see in some forms
longitudinal bands modified, two narrow ones taking the place of a single
wide one, or they may be broken up into blotches. Some fish which are of a
silvery colour in one district are spotted in another, and others which have
no marks on their bodies throughout their lives frequently have the colour
of their fins varying with age.

Pouchet and others have pointed out that the changeable tegumentary
colours of fish depend more especially upon two conditions. First, we have
iridescence effected by an interference with the rays of light, owing to the
presence in the scales of thin plates or ridges, and in these forms the tints
change with great rapidity in accordance with the angle at which they are
viewed : such lamellar colouring is common among insects, Crustacea, and
some fishes it is beautifully seen in the Dolphin, Conjphcena, and the scale
of a common herring furnishes a good example. Secondly, a distinct anato-
mical element, as chromatophores or colour-sacs, which are often highl

XXIV TEGUMENTAEY SYSTEM.

coloured, may be present and capable of changing their form under special
influences, which are apparently directly connected with impressions of
colour received by the eye and brought about by the reflex action of the
nervous system. Under the heading of Pleuronectida3 (vol. ii, p. 1) remarks
will be found how these flat-fishes rapidly change their colour on differently
coloured bottoms, thus obtaining the protection of concealment by adaptation
of colour.

The chromatophores or pigment cells are seen in the early stages of the
eggs of fishes, but as observed by Agassiz, in some we have even two colour
elements in the older stages, immediately before the young fish is hatched,
viz. the black and yellow ; still in the majority of cases the black alone is
present, the yellow element appearing subsequently, and last of all the red.
Pouchet considered the blue pigment merely a dimorphic condition of the
red pigment ; the same may also be said of the green. And with the
growth of the fish the capacity of the chromatophores for expansion rapidly
augments.

In addition to the chromatophores another set of bodies termed
iridocytes, and more or less analogous to excessively thin laniiuas, have been
observed situated near the surface. By simple combinations of the action of
the red, yellow, and black chromatophores with the iridocytes are obtainable
all the colours producible in fish. These result mainly from expansion
near the surface, or retraction into an inferior layer of the chromatophores,
which thus mixed with the yellow and red, or with the iridocytes at greater
or less depth suffice to produce the variations of colour.

These pigment cells are likewise said to involuntarily expand owing to
external irritation, as from the muscles of a fish convulsively contracting a
short time prior to death, thus accounting for the rapidly changing tints in
some which are shown subsequent to the period of capture ; and the satiny-
red skin of the red mullet is in some places thus produced by fishermen
who scale their fish soon after their being captured.

Its appears evident that the influence of light is mostly felt through the
eye. Pouchet found- that turbots if blinded did not change colour, but those
not deprived of sight did: and young -hybrid salmonidse raised at Howietoun
.in which vision was more or less deficient, were observed to be generally lighter
in colour than their fellows, and their fins to become red as they grew older.
Whether the degeneration of the eye perceived in cave fishes and those of
the deep sea is due to dimness of this organ or an effect of hereditary trans-
mission has yet to be shown. A not infrequent change in some fresh-water
forms is a yellow colour taking the place of the original tint : thus the
normally dull greenish tench may be seen of a brilliant orange yellow,
termed leuccethiopism or' xanthochroism. So may likewise the gold carp,
although this latter when in a wild state in China is' of a dull green. The

LUMINOSITY. - XXV

temperature of the water, and mixing" iron, tan, or gall nuts has also been
found to induce this change of colour (see vol. ii, p. 167). The yellow
colour is due to incipient albinism, for the chromatophores which normally
contain dark ingredients are here filled with yellow pigment, or the first
step towards an entire loss of colouring matter when they become albinos.

Dr. Stark observed that if fish are kept in glass vessels of various colours
such occasions a tendency to their assuming the colour of the vessel in
which they reside, which would aid them in concealment. Mr. Nesbit
concluded that light merely modifies an existing pigment which is absent in
pink or albino fish, but which it is powerless to manufacture.

The colour of the flesh may be influenced, as in other groups of animals,
by the food consumed, minute crustaceans, as gammari are reputed to colour
that of the salmonidae : while white flesh is occasionally the result of
insufficient food. Ill-health similarly has an etiolating effect.

LUMINOSITY.

Another subject closely connected with the tegumentary system is the
existence of certain metameric organs. There are some pelagic or deep-sea
fishes, as Argyropelecus (plate cix, fig. 1), Stemoptyx, Icldhyococcus, Maura-
licus, Gonostoma, Ohauliodus, Stomias, &c, which possess luminous organs
of a circular form, some being as impressions, others as slight prominences
of the skin. A British form exists in the " pearl-sides" of Yarrell, Maurolicus
Pennantii (plate cix, fig. 2), which is Pennant's Argentine. These brilliant
spots may be present along the entire length of the abdominal surface or
even be seen on the head, but their uses have been subject to much
speculation. M'Culloch remarked that, considering at 800 or 1000 feet
depth the light of the sun ceases to be transmitted in the ocean, can animal
luminousness be a substitute for that light ? May it not be the means of
enabling its possessor to discover its prey or for its fellows to find one
another ? Perhaps a partial confirmation of this view exists in the fact that
fishes living at great depths or dark places^ as in the Mammoth Caves of
Kentucky or the recently discovered caverns in Algeria, are found to be
destitute of eyes; but they have no luminous organs, while the deep-sea
forms which possess them have large eyes. This difference would seem
to lend strength to the view that these organs may be for the use of
the individuals which are furnished with them, for where no eyes exist these
organs are absent.

A few years ago it was advanced that these spots were accessory eyes,
possessing a species of lens posterior to the cornea, and a chamber behind
the lens containing fluid and having a dark lining, which may serve as a
retina : the second form shows a simple glandular structure from which light

XXVI TEGUMENTARY SYSTEM.

may be emitted. In the second form it is evident that this organ could not
be employed for vision, being simply glandular, and possibly used to give
light, acting as a sort of lantern, the function being probably under the
control of the will.

Professor Bernhardt, in 1853, observed on the Astronethes jieldii, Val.
common in the Atlantic Ocean, between 23 deg. and 6 deg. N. latitude
a fish which possess lenses in these organs. It was only after sunset
that he discovered this fish in a drag-net. It is solely at that time
that the surface of the ocean begins to be crowded by vast swarms
of Pteropoda and numerous Crustacea, and possibly the fish searches
for food among them, following them into greater depths during the day-
time. " In two instances I was so fortunate as to catch the fish alive, when
I saw that it sent forth two strong and vivid greenish lights, which inter-
mitted momentarily and ceased altogether when the fish died. As the two
individuals only lived a few minutes after being taken out of the net, and as
the luminous appearance only showed itself distinctly in the dark, it was not
until I procured a second specimen, a number of days after the first was
obtained, that I ascertained with certainty, that the light radiated -from a
spot in the forehead, a little before the eyes, starting, as it were, from thence
along the back as far as the first dorsal fin : all the rest of the body remained
perfectly dark. ' On examining the whitish speck in the specimen preserved
in spirits, from whence the light radiated, a cellular tissue is found underneath,
or rather within the skin, consisting of longish cells or meshes, filled with
an apparently fatty substance. No doubt this is the source of the phosphoric
light, although I have not been able to trace the substance, at least not in
an aggregate form, beyond the eyes, so as to account for the extent back-
wards of- the phosphorescence."

There is likewise connected with the question of sight in fishes the subject
of the luminosity of other animals residing at great depths, and affording
what is known as abyssal light. Along our coasts luminosity of the surface
of the sea may be seen during our warm autumn months, among the exhibitors
of which are numerous small jelly-like animals more especially the Noctlluca.
In the account of the voyage of the " Porcupine/' Thompson states, that
towards the north of Ireland in. some places nearly everything brought up
seemed to emit light, and the mud itself was full of luminous sparks (p. 98).
Star-fishes and the larger invertebrates all exhibited this marvellous property
in the Faroes (p. 148). Nordenskiold found during the polar nights in
Spitsbergen in the snow-sledge a number of almost microscopic Crustacea
giving evidence of their existence by an intense bluish-white light which
was emitted as soon as the sledge was touched, causing at every step a
bluish-white flame to burst forth.

Few or none who have made voyages to the tropics but must have been

LUMINOSITY. XXV11

struck with admiration at tlic luminous radiata and mollusca, while it has
been observed that an increase in brilliancy occurs when these animals are
in motion. Dr. Guppy has commented upon a small shrimp in the South
Atlantic which constantly emits a light from its eyes, while long fila-
mentous organs are likewise to be met with showing apparently a brilliant
type of phosphorescence. Among the many curious forms of development
of these tactile organs one is seen on a fish found at the depth of 2700
metres in the Mediterranean Eustomias obscurus, Vaillant, in which the
tactile organ takes the appearance of a long filament, which is placed
underneath the lower jaw, and ends in an inflated and rayed knob-like
phosphorescent mass. Some marine invertebrates emit a mucous fluid
possessing luminous properties which are not immediately lost when mixed
with water or other fluids. It is not long since I heard of a gentleman
having purchased a lobster, which he took with him wrapped in paper,
when going by train from Southampton to his house, which was some hours
distant. On arrival his lobster was found to have been kept quite long
enough, and having been removed from its paper wrapper was consigned to
the cook. Some hours after, on going into the dark room wherein the
paper wrapper had been left, he was startled at seeing a dull blue light
coming from the table. Cautiously advancing, he gave the uncanny object
a poke with a stick, and then found- it was the piece of paper which had
inclosed the lobster, and doubtless had become covered with its mucous
secretion.

Irrespective of this locally-circumscribed luminosity the luminosity of
animal substances must be slightly touched upon. General luminosity
in fishes may be seen at two distinct periods (1) during life, (2) after
death. The shark is one of the former which has the reputation of
being luminous, the light being believed to come from its abdominal,
surface. Shoals of fish are said to frequently emit flashes of light
which are visible even at great depths. The sand-launce in some locali-
ties is said to be sought for by moonlight, as at night-time their
silvery brilliancy is more striking than it is by day. M'Culloch also
enumerates mackerel, pollack, whiting, pilchards, sardines and gar-fish as
being sometimes accompanied by these lights. Collett speaking of the
Aphia pellucida remarks that in the males in full breeding almost every
part of the body has a faint brownish light, although this is nowhere col-
lected into larger dots, but is more distinct along the transverse impressions
of the muscles. Secondly, we find this general luminosity often exists for
some time in dead fish, commencing a short time subsequent to death and
continuing until decomposition sets in. In the forms which most rapidly
decompose luminosity is most quickly developed. This is well seen in the
cod family, and the basket containing these fish kept for feeding the

XXV111 THE EYE.

seals at the Westminster Aquarium might have been frequently observed in
a dark corner of the building emitting a very suspicious-looking blue light.
This luminous appearance emanates from every part of the animal, whether
at the edges of the scales or on its internal surface when cut open, which,
if closely examined, is found to emit a slight moisture that can be scraped
off, diffused in water, and still remain luminous as observed among inver-
tebrates.

VISION.

Fishes, as a rule, possess two eyes, symmetrically placed one on either
side of the head, while they are undoubtedly large as compared with what
obtains in other vertebrates, or with the extent of surface in their own
bodies. Their size, however, is modified in accordance with local surround-
ings and their habits. Some frequent muddy waters, where vision would
be of less service than tactile organs ; in such cases appendages for feeling,
as barbels, are more developed than eyes. Others again are restricted to
living in dark caves where rays of light can hardly enter. Irrespective of
the foregoing cause of atrophy there are many forms residing in the dismal
abysses of the ocean where light is unable to penetrate, for solar i*ays are
computed to be lost at a depth of 200 fathoms or less, while in the fresh
waters of the Lake of Geneva, Professor Forel ascertained that at 30
fathoms photographic paper was entirely unacted upon. Another modifying
influence is whether the habits of the fish are nocturnal or diurnal, the
former, unless residing in dark places, requiring the larger organs of vision.

Eyes likewise may be only rudimentally developed,' as in the Amphioxua
or the Myxine, wherein they appear as mere dark specks, but still have a
nerve distributed to them. Or they may have retrograded to so considerable
'an extent- as to be entirely absent in some forms which have taken up their
abodes in dark caverns, but even here the lens and other constituent
portions of the eye may usually be detected, whereas examples of the same
species living outside are provided with fully-formed eyes. The optic nerve
may degenerate, or disuse may occasion degeneration, but loss of light does
not necessarily end thus.

The eyes of fishes are mostly situated in orbital cavities, where they rest
upon a cushion of adipose or gelatinous substance. Their direction is
subject to considerable variation, for although usually placed laterally, as
in the perch, salmon, or carp, they are not invariably so. The star-gazer,
Uranoscopus, has them on the upper surface of its head, where they are
situated somewhat close together. Many East Indian siluroids or sheat-
fishes, as Pseudeutropius or Ailia, have them even placed almost under-
neath and directed obliquely downwards and outwards. The sides of the
head may be laterally elongated, having these organs situated at their outer

VISION. . XXIX.

extremities, as in the hammer-headed shark, Zygccna malleus. They may
be on elongated peduncles capable of retraction, as in some of the mud-
hunting gobies, Periophthalmus, Boleophthalmm , and their allies, which in
tropical countries pursue insects and other objects suitable for food over the
soft mud, iuto which they themselves eveu disappear when chased by birds
or other enemies. While we have instances on our own shores in the
blennies, which appear to observe objects as well with their heads out
of the water as when submerged in the sea, and they move their eyes
independently one of the other. In the sunfishes (Orthagoriscus) there exists
a circular palpebral fold provided with a sphincter, while some sharks have a
nictitating membrane. Among the flat-fishes (Pleuronectidce) are remarkable
modifications.- In the very young as they emerge from the egg the fry
swims on edge similarly to other fishes, but after a longer or shorter period
the eyes are both found on the coloured side of the body. These two eyes,
even in the adult, can be moved independently of each other. That the
eyes in their earliest state are situated similarly to what obtains in the
remainder of the class of fishes is very interesting, as tending to show how
they have in course of time changed their position a view still further
confirmed when we observe how it is not invariable for the two eyes to be on the
right and left side of all members of the same species. (See vol. ii, page 1-4.)
Among the most perfectly constructed eyes in bony fishes the eyeball is
rarely quite spherical in shape, but presents the appearance of a flattened
bulb and a short axis. Among the semi-osseous forms, as the elasmo-
branchs, it is supported by, as well as moves upon, a cartilaginous peduncle
passing from the walls of the orbit.

The optic nerve may perforate the eyeball in its axis or obliquely to one
side ; for, should the eye be protrusible to ever so small an extent, it neces-
sarily follows that the optic nerve must either be situated in a position where
protrusion of the eyeball would not stretch its delicate structure, or it must
be slightly bent or curved, in order to permit extension ; compressed as it
penetrates the sclerotic and choroid coats, subsequently it expands, ending
in the retina which lines about two-thirds of the inner chamber, leaving,
however, a margin, where its free borders meet, and through which passes a
fold of the choroid, sometimes having a dark pigmental layer. This portion
of the choroid, termed the falciform process, pushes before it a fold of the
hyaloid membrane or tunic of the vitreous humour. The falciform process
generally extends to the capsule of the lens, to which it is firmly attached
by a substance termed campanula Halleri.

The outermost covering of the eye, or sclerotic capsule, is of varying
thickness, fibrous or bony in osseous, and cartilaginous in semi-osseous or
chondropterygian forms, as well as in sturgeons. Owing to the considerable
interspace existing between the sclerotic and choroid membranes, and which

.XXX THE EYE.

is filled up with adipose or areolar tissue, the eye is, as already observed,
rarely quite spherical. The sclerotic may even be bony in some well-ossified
forms of fishes, the bony portion usually consisting of 'two hollow half
spheres, having a hole posteriorly in the centre, for the entrance of the
vessels and nerves proceeding to the eye, while its anterior or outer emargi-
nation supports the cornea. In the swordfish Xiphias, and in the Dipnoid
Geratodns, these two bony half spheres are confluent into one, having the
central foramen patent for the entrance of the vessels and nerves.

The cornea, which is as a rule nearly flat, is a modified portion of the
corium, in some forms of fishes, at least in their earliest stage, as the shanny
Blennius pholis, at 1^- inches in length, the protrusion of the cornea equals
one-fifth of its diameter, and in a little rock goby (Gobiiis paganellus) at
0*9 inches in length, the convexity to the diameter is as one to four. The
choroid tunics are three the outer, or membrana argentea, said to be
occasionally absent, and which is composed of acicular crystals, reflecting a
brilliant lustre, and often giving great brilliancy to the outer edge of the
iris ; the middle tunic, or membrana vasculosa, and also termed Haller's
membrane, is ramified with blood-vessels, while it supports the ciliary
nerve ; the inner tunic, or membrana picta, also termed uvea, is made up of
hexagonal and usually dark-coloured pigment cells. The ciliary processes
are rarely developed, but the ciliary ligament is always present.

The iris is formed by a prolongation of the choroid membranes, having a
ciliary ligament at its base which overlies the convex border of the sclerotic.
It is a thin, contractile curtain, situated behind the cornea, and suspended
in the aqueous humour. Its muscular structure is but feebly developed in
most fishes, consequently its capacity for dilating and contracting is not very
great. Its centre is perforated by the pupil for transmission of light to the
interior of the eye. This pupil is mostly large and circular, but in some forms
is vertically or horizontally elliptical, as in the majority of sharks,' or it
may even be quadrangular, as in Galeus. Occasionally a veil or flap descends
from the edge of the iris at the upper portion of the pupil, as may be seen
in some pleuronectoids as the turbot, the viper weever fish of our coast,
or the more tropical crocodile fish, Platycephalus, or in a few rays as
the Homelyn (vol. ii, page 324). All these forms live more or less in the
sand, or at the bottom of the sea, and to them a large amount of light is
evidently unsuited, consequently they are provided with an extensible and
retractile veil, which can regulate or entirely obstruct raj^s entering from
above. In the tropical Anableps the cornea, or window of the eye, is crossed
by an opaque horizontal band, and the iris appears to possess two pupils, a
subject I shall again have to advert to. On dissection, however, it is found
that in reality the pupil has a lateral flap of the iris on either side, which,
although they cross each other, are not conjoined.

VISION. XXXI

The retina is the delicate nerve structure upon which the image of
external objects is received. Its posterior or external stratum consists of a
cellular base supporting on its external or concave surface a layer of nerve
cells, the filaments from which pierce the several superimposed granular
layers, the innermost of which consists, as stated by Owen, of interblended
twin -fusiform corpuscles . . . each of which is surrounded by a circle of
cylindricules. Over this latter the nerve fibres radiate without anastomosing,
and terminate in free ends at the base of the ciliary zone. A well-defined
raised rim or bead runs along the anterior margin of the retina, and also
the edge of the falciform slit.

The aqueous humour in the anterior chamber is very small in amount,
owing to the constricted extent of the cavity occasioned by the projection
into it of the crystalline lens. But little fluid is necessary to float the free
border of the iris, while, due to the watery localities fishes inhabit, no
refractive aid is required to be placed anterior to the lens in the globe of the
eye. The vitreous body which fills up the greater portion of the cavity of
the ball of the eye is of firmer consistence than observed in other vertebrate
animals.

The choroid gland is a vascular ganglion of a deep red colour, resembling
in form a bent magnet ; it is placed between the outer and middle coats of
the choroid, and close to the optic nerve where it pierces those structures.
It is composed of parallel and closely placed arteries and veins, the supply
of arterial blood for which is received from the pseudobranchiaa, and it
consequently is wanting in osseous fishes in which pseudobranchioe are
absent, as sheat fish, carps, eels, &c. But in the chondropterygians and
ganoids there is no choroid, whereas pseudobranchia? are present.

The crystaline lens is nearly or quite spherical, very firm, having a dense
nucleus, and steadied in its position by the falciform process. It projects
into the anterior . chamber of the eye which it almost fills, while it nearly
pressess against the flat cornea leaving but little room for any aqueous
humour. The refractive power of the lens is maximized by its spherical
form, to compensate for the deviation from the spherical form of the eyeball
produced by the flattening of its front portion. The fibres of the lens con-
verge at its two opposite ends, each having marginal teeth like those seen in
a cog-wheel, and by which they interlock with one another. In the Anableps
previously referred to, a slight bulging or excrescence of the -lens occurs
opposite to what appears like the lower pupil of the eye. Inhabiting as fish
do a watery medium, the heed of a lachrymal gland is scarcely obvious ; still an
instance of its existence in one of these creatures has been recorded. Situated
below the anterior corner of the eye is a foramen, through which is a
communication with the rudiments of one in the' form of a blind sac placed
between the maxillary bone and the muscles of the cheek.

XXXU THE EYE.

In inost teleostean or bony fishes, and likewise in the sturgeon or
Acirpenser, a fibrous ligament attaches the sclerotic to the walls of the orbit.
As a rule the external muscles of the eyeball are similar to what exist among
the higher vertebrates, consisting of four straight and two oblique pairs. .

Fishes eyes present a great variety as well as extent of outer coverings,
some portions of which are transparent while others are opaque. Skin, in
accordance with where it is situated, may have different offices to fulfil, for
which purpose it may be necessary to be either opaque or transparent, thick
or of a very thin structure, and that which covers the eyes of fishes may be' in a
single or double layer, either or both of which maybe extensively modified.
The skin which covers the eye is commonly thin in substance and transparent in
character, being modified in order to suit altered conditions as it passes across
and covers the front of the ball of the eye, and its glass window known as
the cornea, through which all rays of light must necessarily pass to obtain
access through the pupil to the retina. This skin is essentially a continuation
of that which covers the contiguous parts of the head being reflected from
off the walls of the orbit on to the front of the eye, where it is more or less
firmly adherent to the cornea. But as it is necessary for the ball of the eye
to be capable of being turned in various directions it is obvious that some
means must be found to prevent the skin arresting its movements, which it
would do were it to pass by the shortest cut from the bony orbital walls
to the front of the eye to be there adherent to its surface. This is provided
for by its being loose as it passes this gap on to the eye, and being so it does
not impede any movements of the globe. This loose or baggy portion which
surrounds the eye from the orbital edge to that of the transparent cornea is
the portion which after death appears white and opaque, for it is modified
skin that takes on this appearance, and often due to its being sodden. The
foregoing descriptions briefly refer to such forms as we commonly meet with,
and which possess but a single layer of skin across the front of the globe of
eye, but in this skin during life no sufficient amount of colouring matter
exists to occasion opacity, neither are scales present.

In the next class of fishes to which I shall refer, there still exists but a
single layer of skin passing across the front of the globe of the eye, but
this is modified, as shown in the mackerel, 8comber scomber, wherein what
have been termed " adipose lids " are present on either side of the eye, and
covering a portion of its ball. If these adipose lids are examined it is found
that the one which covers the anterior portion of the eye is attached
inferiorly to or is a continuation of the skin on the front of the preorbital bone,
and is consequently situated anterior to or overlapping the base of the
posterior lid, which is attached to the posterior edge of the preorbital. The
use of this will be readily understood, because in this manner any current
of water would pass backwards over a smooth surface, which would not be

VISION. XXX111

the case were the posterior lid overlapping the anterior one. These adipose
lids are formed by a single layer of skin having been continued from the
contiguous parts of the head, over the front of the eye, but bulging anteriorly
and posteriorly; these bulging -or loose portions become a double fold,
between the layers of which fat may be found. Sars, who paid particular
attention to the character of these lids, as seen in the living fish, remarked
that in the earlier part of the year off Norway they are much more opaque
than they are later on, due to the fish in these earlier months beiug fatter,
and that it is not until after they have spawned that the fat becomes absorbed,
and as a consequence the lids are transparent.

There are also certain classes wherein a double layer of the skin may
partially or entirely cross the front surface of the eye, among which I propose
to allude to the well-known " blind " or " bib," Gad us licscus. In this fish,
belonging to the cod family, the orbital layer of skin may be popularly
described as splitting into two layers, the innermost passing on to the eye
and becoming attached to its front surface, as I have already described ; but,
due to the skin being in two layers, a sort of hollow bag is present, covering
the front of the eye, and^ this the fish appears to be able to distend under
certain conditions. One of these conditions is on its being drawn up
from great depths in the sea, at which time {due to the decreased pressure
of the water) its gases expand and this cavity becomes " baloon-shaped,"
or, should fluid be inside it, like a "bleb" or blister. The' same
appearance now sets in as described in the loose and baggy portion of
the single layer around the globe of the eye, with this addition that in the
"bib" the entire structure of the bag in front of the eye becomes of an opaque
or white sodden character, and this may be seen either in the living fish
or after its death. The mangoe-fish and other Polynemi of the tropical
seas have a thick layer of transparent skin passing entirely across the
eye, while in the common mullet (Mugil) a vertical and elliptical opening
is present.

Not only have we a transparent skin covering the eye -as described,
but also we may have it only partially thus modified, or largely covered with
opaque substances. Thus in the snipe- fish, Centriscus, which has been
captured on the British coast, some minute scales are present on the outer
fourth of the skin covering the globe-of the eye, except in its anterior portion ;
here they would mostly serve for protection from direct injuries. Some
forms have a species of almost fixed eyelid along the upper portion of the
eye, consisting of thickened and coloured skin, which may or may not be
furnished with rudimentary scales. This is commonly perceived in such as
reside on or near the sand, and are mostly bottom-feeders, and is very
probably protective ; in these forms of fish the iris or pupil is sometimes
unlike the round or oval shape whicn is generally seen. As an example, the

c

XXXIV THE EYE.

weever or sting-fish, Trachinws, has this modification of the upper eyelid,
and so also has the tropical crocodile-fish, Platycephalus, in the last of which,
however, very rudimentary scales are also perceived, and the iris has two
tongue-like excrescences.

This opaque upper lid, evidently used as a protection, is found in the
flat-fishes, Pleuroilectidce, while another modification may likewise be present.
If the eye of a turbot, Rhombus maximus, is examined it will be seen, that
not only does thick opaque and coloured skin cover its upper and lateral
portions, but, being insufficient to protect the eye from the irritation of the
sand wherewith it covers itself, it is able to raise a thick lower eyelid, or else
to depress the transparent portion of the globe of the eye below this fold of
the skin. In the sun-fish, Orthagoriscus, as previously observed, we find a
circular palpebral fold, provided with a sphincter muscle.

Passing on to the rays and skates, which are sand-loving forms, we still
see immovable and opaque skin covering the upper portion of the eyeball ;
but, irrespective of this protective modification, there are other means which
can be used in order to prevent too much light obtaining entrance through
the pupil. This is effected by certain veils or processes, of different forms,
which can be employed to cut off any excess of light. I have already
alluded to the teleos.tean crocodile-fish, Platycephalus, which lives in the
tropics, and resides at considerable depths, but often has to. ascend to near
the. surface in order to obtain its food. Here we find two processes of the
iris which can be employed as curtains the upper and larger exists along
the upper margin of the pupil, and the smaller along the lower. So far as
I have observed, it is in these ground-feeders which occasionally ascend
towards the surface, from a dull into a bright light, that the upper veil or flap
of the iris is developed, while in some a lower veil may likewise co-exist. The
same modification is perceived in many of the Elasmobranchs ; thus in the
homelyn-ray, Rata maculata, we see on looking through the transparent
cornea that the pupil is not circular, but possesses a veil that has been aptly
compared to a vine-leaf (vol. ii, p. 334), provided with twelve digitations, that
can be let down and thus cut off some or all the rays of light.' Muscular
fibres, which anastomose with each other, pass downwards along this flap,
and into each of the digitations which descend from it.

The lens itself may likewise be modified, as in the Anableps, the eye of
which is divided externally into two unequal portions by a sort of band of
opaque skin, which crosses its transparent cornea from one side to the other.
This fish, which usually swims with its head partially out of the water, thus
shows an anomaly that at first seems very puzzling, for why should it be
furnished with an opaque band precluding any rays of light entering the
orbit along a central horizontal line ? On looking through the cornea it
appears as if this opaque band divided two pupils, preventing any rays

TASTE. XXXV

passing into the space between which these two pupils are impervious, and
where they might stimulate the iris. But on removing the cornea it is seen
that, as already described, two lateral flaps of the iris appear like two small
tongues, which start one from the anterior border of the circle of the pupil,
and the other from its posterior border ; the two approach each other and
touch or even overlap, and here the one lies over the other. These tongues
overlapping, it follows that the circular pupil is subdivided into two openings,
the upper of which is the larger. It is across where the two tongues overlap
one another that the opaque band of skin crosses the cornea. The crystalline
lens is placed behind this singularly subdivided pupil, and is not perfectly
round, as seen in the lenses of most fishes, but a little convex projection
bulges out on its lower edge, which corresponds to the inferior orifice of the
pupil. It would seem as if this fish, possessing a sort of double eye, has to
keep a watch on the waters below through the lower pupil, and in the air
above through the upper; while the band of skin which crosses the eye
does so where the head of the fish is on a level with the upper edge of the
water.

Doubtless the foregoing account of fishes' eyes might be largely
increased, and many more illustrations given did space permit, but the fore-
going are sufficient for the purpose of pointing out that the skin of fishes'
eyes may be used as a protection,- when it is scaled, coloured, or even
transparent.

TASTE.

The sense of taste in fishes is generally considered to be but slightly
developed, a conclusion to a great extent arrived at because most fish bolt
their food, and but few have molar-formed teeth capable of mastication. On '
the other hand, the angler, line-fisherman, and pisciculturist perceive that
they will ravenously devour one kind of food, rejecting another, that they
have their likes and dislikes, which must have some connection with the
density of the object or else with its taste.

The glosso-hyal bone does not as a rule support' a tongue or organiza-
tion of soft parts specially devoted to the development of the special
sense of taste; as, when present, it is not infrequently found to be furnished
with teeth, and deficient of the muscles and soft parts so conspicuous in the
tongues of the higher vertebrates. In the sturgeon, irrespective of papillae
for taste on the tongue, branches from the glosso-pharyngeal nerve have
been traced to the branchial arches and palate where possibly the sense
of taste resides. In carps on the roof of the palate is a thick, soft, vascular,
and highly sensitive mass, which becomes thinner anteriorly while it is

c *

XXXVI OLFACTORY .ORGANS.

supplied by branches from the glossopharyngeal nerves. Schulze (1862 and
1867) assigned to the cyathiform corpuscles of fishes, functions identical with
those of the gustatory bodies of the mammalian tongue. Jourdan (Comptes
Rendus, 1881, p. 743) confirmed the foregoing, and in gurnards found these
bodies upon the tongue, and suggested they might be present in the buccal
mucous membrane of most fishes. Also that among the nervous terminations,
described by M. Joubert as organs of touch, we must distinguish those
which possess cyathiform bodies from those which are destitute of them, and
that these bodies are gustatory papilla?.

SMELL.

That fishes possess the sense of smell has long been known, and in olden
times anglers employed certain essential oils to add zest to their baits. Some
years since when at Roorkee, in Upper India, I was told of some fine barbels,
Mahaseer, attempts to tempt which with bait had proved ineffectual, when a
native suggested adding a little 'camphor, subsequent to which no difficulty
was experienced in obtaining a bite. A pike in clear water has been seen
to approach and then turn away from a stale gudgeon, and this may have
been due to smell.

Eyeless forms or those blind must depend on the sense of' smell as Well
as of that of touch. Some fish, due to accident, disease, hereditary malfor-
mation or want of development, are found totally devoid of vision, yet to
be in good condition and well-nourished, are daily taken by fishermen, and
the question forces itself on us how did they obtain food if belonging to forms
not furnished with barbels. Sir H. Davy considered it probable that trout
might have similar relations to the water it breathes that an animal with
delicate nasal organs has to the air, and fancied that there might be nerves
in the gills, which afforded it this sense of the qualities of the surrounding
fluid.

Fish are provided with organs of smell to enable them to receive impres-
sions from the surrounding medium, directing them to their food or warning
them against impurities in the water. These organs are situated much as
we perceive them in the higher animals, but, exceping in Cyclostomata, with
this essential difference, that they do not communicate with the mouth, nor
are they related to the function of breathing, for were their delicate lining
membrane subject to incessant contact with currents of water, such would
doubtless have a deteriorating effect, owing to the density of the respired
element. The nostrils are essentially depressions or cavities, lined with a
large extent of a highly vascular pituitary membrane, packed into as small a
compass as possible, while we generally perceive one or two external openings
situated on the anterior portion of the snout. The capsule which lines these

SMELL. XXXV11

depressions is formed of a fibrous membrane, which in its turn lies upon a
cartilaginous- or more frequently an osseous basis, termed the turbinal bones.

The appearance of these openings or nostrils in bony or teleostean fishes
is various. There are generally two apertures on the upper surface, side, or
front edge of the snout leading to each olfactory sac, the one often tubular,
the other oval and patulous, while between them a bridge of integument or
even a wide interspace exists, and attached to their edge is often a valve which
protects one or both of the orifices. The anterior nostril is most frequently
tabular and contractile, the posterior open, while internally the two com-
municate one with the other. In a few forms only one opening is present
for each sac. In some eels and a few other Bony fishes we find a nasal orifice
on the inner side of the upper lip.

In the Plagiostomes the nasal depressions are very large, and a mem-
branous or cartilaginous opercle is present, by which they may be closed :
they open on the under surface of the face.' The membrane lining them is
exceedingly vascular, and provided with crypts which secrete mucus ; the
membrane is sometimes folded, and on these folds are occasionally stellated
ridges, in order to increase the extent of the surface. As the nasal cartilages
have their proper muscles, it has been concluded/' that these fishes scent as
well as smell, i.e. actively search for odoriferous impressions by rapidly
changing the current of water through the olfactory sac" (Owen, i, p. 329).

In the Cyclostomata we find an unpaired or single nasal aperture, situated
on the upper surface of the head. In one species, " the Myxine," a com-
munication with the palate exists in the form of a naso-palatine canal, which
opens backwards on the palate, where it is furnished with a valve ; whereas
in the Petromyzon the nasal duct terminates in a blind pouch,, without per-
forating the palate. In Amphioxus the organ of smell is likewise single, in
the form of a simple depression, placed rather on the left side, and which
ends in a small, dilated, blind pouch, resting upon the central axis of the
nervous system.

For the supply of these organs we have the olfactory nerve, which arises
alone from the rudimentary hemisphere of the brain, and having dilated,
perforates the anterior portion of the skull, where it corresponds with the
cribriform plate of the ethmoid bone, and immediately divides and subdivides
upon the radiating laminas here covered with the pituitary nasal membrane.
A branch of the fifth pair or one for sensation likewise goes as an accessory
nerve to the organs of smell.

That odour may exist in water is evident, and I have been informed by
a gentleman who kept tame . otters in India, that he has seen them hunt
along the bottom of a narrow and clear stream, following the trail of a' fish
as unerringly as. a hound works on land. Whether this odour is from the
fish itself or due to its excretions may be questioned.

XXXVU1 HEARING.

HEARING.

Hearing is developed in all fishes (except perhaps in the Amphioxus),
and it is very remarkable how any diversity of opinion can exist asto their
possessing this sense. Mr. Bradley instances how at Rotterdam, seeing
some carps fed which were kept in a moat of considerable extent, and having
kept qniet some time in order to be convinced that the fish would not come
spontaneously, the owner called in the manner he usually did at feeding
time, when they immediately gathered from all parts of the moat in such
numbers that there was hardly room for them to lie by one another. The
same gentleman alludes to a pond full of tame pike at Sir J. Bowyer's, near
Uxbridge, which could be called together at pleasure. Lacepede relates
how some fish, which had been kept in the basin of the Tuileries for
upwards of a century, would come when they were called by their names ;
while in many parts of Germany, trout, carp, and tench were summoned to
their food by the ringing of a bell. At many temples in India fishes are
called to receive food by means of ringing bells or by musical sounds.
Lieutenant Conolly remarks upon seeing numerous fishes coming to the
ghaut at Sidhnath to be fed when called. Carew, in Cornwall, is said to
have called his grey mullet together by making a noise like chopping with
a cleaver, and Sir Joseph Banks collected his fish by means of sounding a
bell. Mr. Dunn remarks that he has known pilchards start out of the water
by tens of thousands on the Plymouth nine o'clock gun being fired, fully
thirty miles away.

Irrespective of the fact of hearing comes the inquiry, why, if fish cannot
hear, do they possess a complicated internal auditory apparatus ? It is
generally asserted that in this class of animals there exists no vestige of an
external ear, but an auditory canal has been observed in some of the
Chondropterygians, as rays, opening on the surface of the head, near the
spiracle in dog-fishes, but in sharks it is generally covered by the skin.

The internal auditory apparatus of fishes are, as a rule, placed outside
the cavity which contains the brain, as seen in sharks, or more or less
within the cranial cavity, as in teleosteans. Its chief constituent parts
are the labyrinth, which is composed of three semi-circular canals and a
vestibule, which latter expands into one or more sacs, where the ear-bones
or otoliths are lodged. A tympanum and tympanic cavity are absent.

Many teleostean fishes possess fontanelles between the bones forming
the roof of the skull, and which, being closed by very thin bone or skin,
sounds from the surrounding water may be readily transmitted to the
contiguous internal ear. But the chief mode in which hearing exists must
be due to the surface of the fish being affected by vibrations of the water,

VOICE. XXXIX

caused by sounds transmitted directly to the internal ear, or else by means
of the air-bladder acting as a sounding-board (see page xliii).

Prior to observing upon the air-bladder arises the question, whether fish
can or cannot communicate- by means of sound one with another. Mr.
Symonds tells us how, introducing a brass minnow as a bait he killed a
large number of perch in four days in a certain piece of water, but that
subsequently they entirely refused this bait, although, on the pond being
drained, thousands of these fish were found to be present. Also that he
has seen the same result follow in another piece of water, whereas in
neither could one in a hundred fish have been pricked by the hook.

*

VOICE.

Voluntary and -involuntary sounds, due to emotions, ai'e emitted in
different manners by many fishes, and in some rare instances solely at
certain seasons. Very dissimilar organs may originate somewhat similar
sounds, while sounds apparently identical may not always be expressive of
the same feeling. But as the human voice can be modified into tones of
command, love," terror, &c, so in fishes one sound may denote fear, danger,
or anger, and perhaps even terms of conjugal endearment.

M. Dufosse conducted with great care experiments on these subjects
upon some of the fishes of the Mediterranean, and reduced his results to a
system, in which the various sounds and modes of their production are
most elaborately classified. Thus some occur on their being removed from
hooks and thrown into a bucket ; these may be temporary and mostly
involuntary, and often convulsive and unintentional : their production may
be due to unusual movements of the jaws, opercles, or other bony elements;
or else induced in thick-lipped forms, as the. tench and carp, when com-
pelled to suddenly open their mouths ; the tench repeats the noise from its
lips so frequently that it has been compared to the croaking of a frog.

There are voluntary sounds as constant ones always produced by the
same organ which are evidently intentional, and can even serve to characterize
a species. Thus we find expressive sounds as of a harsh grating nature, as
stridulation caused by the friction of the dental organ, or of some bones as
the pharyngeals which guard the entrance into the gullet, or the densely
hard pi'ominences of the jaws as observed in the sun-fish. Musical sounds
may be occasioned by the contraction of muscles which are contiguous to
the air-bladder, or are attached to the air-bladder itself as in the " mailed
gurnard."

Many fishes when captured emit sounds which appear to be due to terror,
as a scad or horse-mackerel (0 'ar una; hippos) ; a globe-fish (Tetrodon), and
others grunt like a pig. A Siluroid found in the Rio Parana, and called the

xl AIR-BLADDER.

Armado, is remarkable for a harsh grating noise which it emits when caught
by hook and line : this can be distinctly heard while it is still beneath the
water. The cuckoo-gurnard (Trigla pini) and the maigre (Scicena aquila)
utter sounds, not only while being removed from the water, but the latter
likewise, when swimming in shoals, emits, grunting or purring noises that
may be heard from a depth of 20 fathoms. The Corvina nigra, a fish in the
Tagus, emits sounds resembling the vibrations of a deep-toned bell, gong,
or pedal-pipe of an organ. Herrings (Clupea liarengus), when the net has
been drawn over them, have been observed to do the same. The fresh-water
bullhead (Cottns gobio) emits similar sounds. At Madras I obtained several
live sheat-fishes, Macrones vittatus, locally termed " fiddler fish/' and on
touching one which was lying on some wet grass, it erected its armed spines,
emitting a sound resembling the buzzing of a bee, and apparently in anger
or fear. Canon Tristram when in Palestine obtained some .amphibious siluroid
fish, Clarias macracanthus, which on being taken in the hand " squealed and
shrieked with a hissing sound like a cat at bay, and rapidly floundered
back to the streamlet, working their way- rapidly among grass and over
gravel."

AIR-BLADDER.

Prior to noticing the functions of respiration, some remarks will be
necessary on the air-bladders of fishes, also termed the swim-bladder, and the
air-sac or air-vessel (fig. 4, page xviii, vn, vn'). It is a single or variously
sub-divided sac; or it may be two sacs, partially or completely separated one
from the other. Situated above the centre of gravity,* it lies beneath the
vertebral column or backbone, from which it is more or less divided by the
kidneys, while inferiorly the peritoneum is between it and the intestines. As
this organ isentirely absent, or ceases to be developed in many fishes, and may
be present or wanting in species belonging to the same genus, it would appear
that it is not indispensable to the existence of these animals, its functions
being under certain conditions accessory or supplemental, to those of other
organs of the body ; while it is generally observed that the urinary bladder is
largest in those forms where the air-bladder is absent. In the embryo it
originates as a bud or offshoot from the upper portion of the alimentary
canal, or even from the stomach ; this offshoot next elongates into a blind

tube, which enlarges at its terminal extremity into what will eventually form
the air-bladder. Consequently at some period of a fish's existence there
must of necessity be a tube connecting the air-bladder (should one exist)

* Were the air-bladder below the centre of gravity, or its contents evacuated into the abdominal
cavity, the fish (unless its fins were very greatly developed) would roll over on its back, as we see
occurs in Tetrodons and Diodnns, wlien-they inflate their (esophageal sac.

RESPIRATORY, HYDROSTATIC, AND ACOUSTIC USES OF. xli

with the alimentary canal, into which latter it opens usually on its superior
or dorsal, rarely on its lateral, but occasionally on its inferior or ventral wall.

The air-bladder is present in the sub-classes Dipnoids, all the members
of which are fresh-water; also in the Ganoids, which are entirely or partially
fresh-water fishes. It is absent in the Chondropterygii, except in a rudi-
mentary form, as a diverticulum opening on the dorsal wall of the pharynx,
and then only in some genera. While in the lowly developed Cyclostomata
(Mar.npobranchii) and the Leptocardii (Pharyngobrancliii) it is entirely
wanting.

In the large sub-class Teleostei it is present in the Orders Acanthopterygii,
Lopliobranchii, and Plectognathi as a closed sac (PJtysoclisti), the majority of
these fishes are marine. Whereas in the Physostomi it generally exists as a
sac, having a connecting tube opening from it into the alimentary canal ;
the largest proportion of which fishes live in fresh water. As a general rule
the air-bladder exists more constantly in the fresh-water than in the marine
classes.

Among the Dipnoids it is distinctly or indistinctly double, lung-like, and
communicating throughout life, by means of a duct and glottis, with the
oesophagus or pharynx. It is thus in the Lepidosiren of. the Brazils, in
South America ; Protopterus of tropical Africa; and Geratodus of Queens-
land, South Australia. All these fishes have been observed to ascend to
the surface of the water for the purposes of respiration, and take in atmos-
heric air direct ; a mode of breathing, however, not confined solely to these
forms.*

The Acipenser or sturgeon is provided with an air-bladder, but not
similarly cellular to those already remarked upon ; it does not appear to be
employed in respiration, but its functions seem to be restricted to acting as-
a float. The opening from the air-bladder into the alimentary canal is that
of a lower type, being on the dorsal surface, and it is not guarded by a glottis.

Thus among the Dipnoids.the air-bladder has a lung-like function, opening
on the ventral wall of the pharynx, and protected by a glottis. But among
the Ganoids there is a divergence from the Dipnoid organization. Although
Amia has a respiratory air-sac, opening into the pharynx by a glottis, the
communicating orifice is on the upper or dorsal, and not on the lower or
ventral aspect, as occurring in the higher forms. Polypterus it is true opens
on the ventral wall, but in Acipenser the respiratory function, has not been
developed, and the pneumatic opening is upon the dorsal wall of the
pharynx.

Air-bladders in fishes as might be. expected in organs appearing in the
lowest class of vertebrates, are of diverse forms and sizes, as well as
differently protected. Existing in the abdominal cavity, as already described,

* See Day, Cotteswold Naturalists' Field Chub, vol. vi, pp. 229-242.

xlii AIR-BLADDER.

they have usually two coats an external, fibrous, tough, and glistening, and
an internal, vascular, and mucous one. Between these two coats is often
seen (especially in the Physoclisti) a red glandular body, most frequently in
its inferior region, and compared by some anatomists to the thymus. This
gland seems to have the character of a rete mirabile, consisting of a double
plexus of arteries and veins.

It has long been known that the gas contained in the air-bladder is
a mixture of oxygen, azote, and carbonic acid, in variable proportions,
in accordance with species, and even with individuals. M. Moreau has
proved that among the fishes in which the air-bladder is closed (Physoclisti)
this organ always contains a greater part of the oxygen whenever the animal
is in a normal condition, that the oxygen disappears little by little if the
animal cannot any longer derive it from its surroundings, and that finally
it perishes asphyxiated.

The air-bladder, excluding those forms which respire air, is generally
found after death tightly distended with gas, and this consists chiefly
of nitrogen in the fresh-water forms, and oxygen in marine,, genera, this
latter substance augmenting in sea fishes in accordance with the depth
at which the fish is captured. It has formed a subject of considerable
discussion as to how this gas is generated, but, as in those classes in which
the air-bladder is a closed sac (Physoclisti), it is as well seen as in others
possessing a pneumatic tube (Physostomi), one cannot resist believing that
the gas must be eliminated from the blood-vessels lining the interior of the
organ. Probably the gland serves the special purpose of removing super-
fluous gas or any deleterious substance, while the pneumatic tube is not
employed to admit the ingress of air, but acts as safety-valve when the organ
is too tightly distended.

The air-bladder is homologous with the lung in its position and function
in some of the higher orders ; and as a gradation can be traced, it becomes no
less clear that this homology (whatever its functions may be) exists throughout
every variety and condition of air-bladder in the pisciue tribes. The arteries
which supply the air-bladder in teleosteans are offshoots direct from the
abdominal aorta, cceliac artery, or last branchial vein ; the blood is returned
to the portal, hepatic, or great cardiac vein. In the highest class of fishes
we find this organ differently supplied, as it is not only the homologue but
likewise the analogue of the lung, thus in Lepidosiren* venous blood is
distributed to the organ and arterial conveyed away, the two efferent veins
having coalesced, pierce the large post-caval, then pass forwards and through
the sinus and auricle, and thus discharge the blood into the ventricle.
Consequently we find that in this organ there are two distinct modes of

* Quekett, who injected a small portion of the air-bladder of this fish, found the arrangement
of the vessels was precisely similar to that existing in the lungs of reptiles.

HYDROSTATIC AND ACOUSTIC USES OF. xliii'

sanguification, in the lower division arterial blood goes to it and venous is
returned from it; whereas in the higher forms venous is carried to it,
oxygenated at it, and returned as arterial blood into the heart.

In teleostean fishes the air-bladder exists in the form of a closed
sac (Physoclisti), as in the spiny-rayed Acantliopterygians, the spineless
Anacanthini, the tufted-gilled Lophobranchii, and the hard-jawed Plectog-
nathi. While ' in the remaining orders a connecting duct remains
pervious, as in the Physostomi, excluding the family Scombresocidce.

The air-bladder, however, is not only absent in many families, but it
may be present or deficient among species of the same genus. One form of
British mackerel, Scomber colias, possesses this organ, while the S. scomber
has none. This is by no means peculiar to European genera.

In such forms as swim near the surface the air-bladder is generally of a
comparatively small size ; while in those which live near the bottom, as the
flat fishes, Pleuronectidce, it is as a rule absent. In species possessing this
organ, should it become ruptured from any cause, permitting the contained
gas to escape, the fish has by some authors been observed to sink to the bottom,
and to be unable to re-ascend, a conclusion some experiments have failed
to establish. On the other hand some forms which have been hooked or
netted at great depths and suddenly brought to the surface, without having
time to compress or partially empty their air-bladders, the contained gas
being no longer weighted down by a mass of superimposed water, expands
rapidly, causing the organ to burst, or else forcing the stomach and upper
portion of the alimentary canal into the fishes mouth.*

The chief use of this organ (excluding respiration and the production of
sound) in teleostean fishes are two (1) A hydrostatic, or for . flotation,
which serves by contracting or distending its capacity, to condense or
rarify the contained gases, giving it the mechanical function of enabling its
possessor to maintain a desired level in the water, and which is accompanied
with the power of renewing, expelling, and compressing, or dilating its gaseous
contents, so that it can rise or fall as necessity occurs. (2) The second
use is acoustic, it being partially or entirely employed for hearing, by
means of various modes of connection with the internal ear, mostly by
tubular prolongations of the air-bladder, or a connecting chain of auditory
ossicles.

Among the Physoclisti, the majority of which are marine, we find the
air-bladder as a closed sac, having a single cavity, as observed in many of
the Percidas, wherein its greatest length is in its longitudinal axis. In
some forms, as " Holocentrum and Sargns ccecal processes of the air-bladder
diverge to attach themselves to the membrane, closing the part of the

* " A fish may remain at the bottom of the water due to the very fact of the pressure of the
column of water on the air contained in the bladder," Mullek.

xliv AIR-BLADDER

octocrane containing the sac of the great otolite" (Owen). It has likewise
been remarked that in the scad or horse-mackerel, Caranx traehnrus, a
canal passes from the air-bladder to the bronchial cavity, permitting the
escape of air, although it does not serve to admit it.* Knert observed that
in several fishes provided with pectoral pores, the thymus gland is absent,
and the air-bladder communicates with the oesophagus by an open duct in
some Acanthopterygians, as Holocentrwm, Priacanthus, Gcesio, &c. The
air-bladder may have lateral attachments, as in Scicena, or blind appendages,
as in Polynemus. The interior of the air-bladder of Physoclisti, as the cod,
is lined with a thin membrane of silvery whiteness, composed of a series
of fibres, covered with a basement membrane, provided with scales of
epithelium ; beneath this is a layer of vessels, while inside is situated a
highly vascular body, receiving blood direct from the aorta : capillaries
exist, and^ here veins commence. In the perch the glandular body is not
in one compact mass, but scattered about its interior. J

If we examine the Pliysostomi, or those families in which a pervious
pneumatic duct exists throughout life, we find the majority of such are
fresh-water forms, situated between the Physoclisti on one hand and the
Dipnoids and Ganoids on the other. This pneumatic tube possesses the
same coats as the air-bladder, is of various lengths, and is said to be
occasionally tortuous. As a rule it opens upon the dorsal surface of the
alimentary canal, but in some of the herring family directly into the
stomach. The glandular body observed upon as existing inside the air-
bladders of the Physoclisti, is not so well developed, as a rule || in the
Physostomi. As this pneumatic tube has no muscular coat its diameter
can hardly vary, except when acted upon by other forces, it would therefore
be useless for inspiration. If we examine a carp we find its air-bladder is
generally a simple sac, with a constriction between its anterior third and
posterior two-thirds, but not sufficient to close the communication. From
the posterior portion of the air-bladder^f springs the pneumatic tube, as
already described; or else this organ may be in the form of two rounded
portions placed side by side beneath the bodies of some of the anterior -
vertebras, and not communicating with each other; but the two pneumatic

* A. Moreau, Compt. Rend., Ixxx, pp. 1247-1250.

t Sitz. Ak. Wiss. Wien. 1864, xlix, May, pp. 455-459.

% Quekett, Trans. Microp. Soc, i, 1844, p. 100.

The majority of marine Physostomi are littoral, or surface swimmers, often weak forms,
which have to escape pursuit of enemies while rapidly rising' to the surface.

| In the eel there are two, placed one on each side of the duct communicating between its two
portions: the distribution of its vessels in the upper cpmpartment of its air-bladder Quekett
likened to the cellular lung of reptiles.

^1 In carps the anterior portion, of the air-bladder is very elastic, the posterior hut slightly so.
Miller observed that "in proportion as the fish rises in the water the anterior bladder, which is
the most elastic, ninsL considerably increase in volume, and thus keep ibe head of the animal up,
while the contrary must be the case when the fish descends."

ACCOUSTIC AND HYDROSTATIC USES OF. xlv

tubes coalesce previous to entering the dorsal wall of the alimentary canal.
Not only in the Cyprinidce but also in the Gharacinidte and Siluridce a
chain of auditory ossicles connects the air-bladder with the internal ear,
instead of a tube filled with gas, as remarked upon in the Physoclisti.
Three ossicles on either side pass forwards along the under surface of the
body of the first vertebra, connecting the outer wall of the air-bladder with
the atria of the vestibule. These ossicles were first pointed out by Weber;
and since his time it has been shown that they belong, like the capsules of
the special organs of sense, to the splanchnoskeleton.

In the same family, or that of carps, we find a curious form of
loach, Botia, in the East Indies, that can scarcely be said to be
entirely aground-feeder, but seems intermediate "in habits between the true
carps and the grovelling loaches. It has the anterior portion of its air-
bladder, or what may be termed the acoustic part, more or less enclosed in
bone, this being formed from the parapophyses of some of the anterior
cervical vertebra. All fish with the air-vessel enclosed in bone are bottom
feeders, and very few are destitute of barbels. In the true ground-feeding
loaches, as the Nemacheilus and Cobitis, it almost appears as if the posterior
two-thirds- of the air-bladder, or its hydrostatic portion, were deficient ; the
organ being in the form of two round lobes, placed side by side, below the
bodies of some of the anterior vertebras, where they are almost entirely
enclosed in bone. The pneumatic tube, however, is still found to exist. In
another exclusively ground-feeding form of carp, Honialoptera, in the East
Indies, and in which the lower surface of its body appears flat, and its
general conformation refers to its habit of .clinging close to stones at the
bottom of streams, we find the air-bladder entirely wanting.

Another fresh-water family of Physostomi, the Gharacinidw , residents
of tropical Africa and America, are exceedingly interesting, as regards how
this organ is modified in respect to hearing ; a chain of auditory ossicles
extending from it to the internal ear,- as observed in the Cyprinidre. While
in Erijthrinus we perceive a most interesting link between the Pbysostomous
Teleosteans on one hand and the air-breathing Ganoids on the . other, for
in this genus, although the air-bladder is above the alimentary canal, the
pneumatic tube pierces the left side of the throat. The air-bladder is
likewise sub-divided by fibrous partitions, but whether such are exceedingly
vascular or not, whether this organ is used for respiration or simply for
flotation, there does not appear at present to be evidence upon which to
decide.

The extensive fresh-water Physostomous family (which has likewise
some marine representatives) of Siluridce,- or' sheat-fishes, is very abundant
in the tropics. Among them the air-bladder is remarkably modified, in the
majority of instances being apparently more useful for auditory that for

xlvi AIR-BLADDER.

hydrostatic functions, and as a general rule being smaller in fresh-water
than in marine species. The Siluridce of Asia live the life of ground-feeders,
and the power of employing their air-bladder as a float appears to be
subservient to that of hearing. In the marine forms it has thickened walls,
and the parapophyses of the first vertebras (ex. Ar.ius subrostratus) form
expanded plates, to the under surface of which this organ is attached. As
we go inland, especially towards the Himalayas, this organ becomes more
and more enveloped in bone until it is as we find it in the loaches, while,
like the Cyprinidas, a chain of ossicles passes forwards to the iuternal ear.
In the marine forms the broad plate on its upper surface and bony stays
to its partitions would appear to exist for the purpose of counteracting
superincumbent pressure ; while in the fresh-water forms this bony covering,
being greatly increased, would seem to be due to some fresh-water physical
cause, not to a tropical climate, as I have observed the same phenomena
is seen in European loaches. As all are ground-feeders, one reason at
least must be to prevent undue pressure on that organ when at great
depths, and to preclude any abnormal interference with the function of
hearing.

Among the marine Physostomous forms all that have been examined,
I believe, and in which communications exist between the air-bladder and
internal ear, have such by means of ccecal prolongations from the air-bladder,
and not by a chain of auditory ossicles, which appear to be absent in marine
fishes. This leads one to inquire whether there are any fresh-water fishes
that have this connection, as observed in sea forms. The perch has no
auditory ossicles, and I should think its origin may be given as marine ;
and the same conclusion may be come to of the trout and anadromous
salmon.

In short, the air-bladder in fishes is the homologue of the lungs of the
superior vertebrate foi'ms ; in some of the higher sub-classes it serves as a
lung, depurating the blood; but in the majority of true or teleostean fishes
it is employed for one or both of the following purposes : as a float, enabling
its possessor, by compressing or dilating it, to sink or rise to any desired
level in the water ; or, secondly, that it assists hearing by communicating
with the internal ear : that in those forms in which it has an auditory
function, we perceive two very distinct modifications, for among marine
Physoclisti a prolongation of the air-bladder passes forwards to the interior
of the skull, while in fresh-water Physostomi, although a similar connection
exists, it is by means of a chain of auditory ossicles ; while in such fishes
as live the life of ground-feeders a still further change may take place, in
the air-bladder itself being more or less completely surrounded by osseous
walls, formed by the growth of the parapophyses of some of the anterior
vertebras.

RESPIRATION. xlvii

RESPIRATION.

Respiration in fishes, excluding the amphibious forms, is fundamentally
the same as in the higher vertebrates, the blood being decarbonized at the
gills, where any circulating carbon unites with the oxygen of the atmos-
pheric air (which is nominally contained in the water), and is thus excreted
as carbonic acid gas. Some foetal sharks and rays have deciduous gills,*
which are only present in the embryo (plate clxv).

The first circumstance which attracts attention is that generally the wider
the gill-openings the sooner the fish expires after removal from its native
element as observed in the mackerel or herring. On the other hand, those
with narrow gill-openings frequently live some time after their removal
from the water as in the common eel. For as the delicate fringes of the
gills become dry they adhere one to another, thus mechanically preventing
them from acting, and consequently the blood cannot be decarbonized.
Irrespective, however, of the foregoing cause a larger amount of oxygen is
necessary for respiration in some fishes (as herrings) in comparison with
their size than in others as the common carp, which has a much lower
vitality. Suffocation may also be produced, due to the gills being choked
with mud. Likewise consequent upon heat the air which should be in the
Water may become diminished or driven out, and when this occurs the fishes,
to avoid suffocation, may be seen ascending to the surface to obtain that
which they have not a sufficiency of lower down.

For the purpose of breathing a fish takes or gulphs in water by its
mouth, which passes backwards to the gills,. and is then discharged outwards
by the gill-openings, which are of varying size, while as to numbers, there
may be one on either side of or behind the head as generally seen in bony
fishes, or a single opening below the throat as in the anguilliform
Symbranchus, or several as in most of the Chondropterygii, and likewise in
the Cyclostomata.

Among the bony fishes the gills supported by bony gill-arches are placed
in a cavity behind and below the pharynx, while between these bony arches
are clefts. or slits permitting water to pass from the pharynx to the gills,
subsequent to which it is discharged externally through the gill-openings.
The branchial or gill-arches (see page xvi) are five in number, but are
variously provided with gills on their outer surfaces, the majority having
four complete gills, but occasionally the fourth has merely a single or
uniserial gill, sometimes none at all. In our British frog-fish (vol. i,

* In young teleosteans, as the alevin stage of the trout, the gill-covers do not extend to oyqr
the gills, which are consequently bathed in the surrounding waters. Under certain conditions the
pectoral fin assists in the breathing process (see page xi).

xlviii RESPIRATION.

page 72) there are three gills, in the curious tropical Malthe belonging
to the same family the Pediculati, two and a half, while the eel-like
and amphibious Cuchia of Asia has merely one small gill belonging
to the secoud branchial arch. The pharyngeal or inner side of these
gill-arches may be simply covered with integument or possess projections
of varying forms which have been designated gill-rakers, and whose numbers
sometimes assist in ascertaining the distinction between two nearly
allied species as in our two common shads (vol. ii, pp. 234, 236).
These gill-rakers may be very fine, long, placed close together, and per-
forming the function of a sieve by arresting, the progress of anything but
water from the pharynx to the gills. Or they may be placed somewhat
wider asunder, be shorter in length, and then would be only efficacious in
stopping large particles. In some forms they may be teeth-bearing
tubercles, or simply, rough. Irrespective of this sieve-like apparatus pre-
venting foreign bodies passing from the pharynx through the clefts or
slits existing between the branchial or gill-arches to the gills, their inter-
branchial slits may be decreased in size, or even obliterated ; for in some
forms, as in Oottus, no opening or slit is to be found behind the fourth
branchial arch, and when this is the case merely a single or uniserial gill is
present on it.

The gills or branchiae of fishes may be destitute of support as among the
Plagiostomata (vol. ii, page 287), or be supported by horny or cartilaginous
processes placed along the outer convex edge of the branchial or gill-
arches and fixed in the integment. Normally or in complete gills there are
two rows of these rods, one along either edge, whereas in the uniserial or
half-gills there only exists one row. Although all gills are essentially the
same as to their formation, their appearance differs, thus among the Lopho-
branchiate forms (vol. ii, page 256) each gill expands towai'ds its free
extremity, whereas they generally become attenuated and compressed, while
numerous varieties are observable.

The pseudobranchias, or false gills, which often exist, are situated more
along the inner side of the gill-covers iii teleosteans, or within the spiracles
in Chondropterygians, or. concealed under the integument so as to appear
like a glandular body on the remains of an anterior gill which in the
embryonic life of the fish performed respiratory functions, but which in the
adult fish receives arterial blood.

Accessory respiratory organs exist in some fishes, especially tropical
forms, as in the climbing perch among the Labyrinthici, the walking fishes
among the Ophiocephalidce, and the scorpion-fish Saccubranchus and the
Clarias among siluroids or sheat-fishes. Joubert remarks that respiration
may be carried on in Gailichthys by air passing through the intestines ; in
Boras, Erytlirinas, and Sardis gigas, the air-bladder performs this function.

TEMPERATURE. CIRCULATION. xllX

TEMPERATURE OF FISHES.

The temperature of the blood of fishes is much the same as that of ' the
fluid in which they reside, but in some forms wherein there is great muscular
activity, as in the tunnies, the respiratory process is so energetic that it
raises it to a much greater heat. Davy when making investigations upon
the heat of a tunny fish, Thynnus (vol. i, page 100), observed that the
temperature would appear to be about 12 deg. above the medium in which
they swim, and at least 9 deg. above that of the surface of the water.

ORGANS OF CIRCULATION.

Fishes are provided with an arterial and venous circulation similar to what
obtains in the higher classes of vertebrates, and possess one for general
nutrition, one for respiration, and also a portal system. But of these only
the respiratory circulation possesses any muscular contractile system at its
commencement, while it corresponds to the right or venous side of the
heart of birds and mammals. The heart, which is absent in the Amphioxus,
in other fishes is small compared with the size of their bodies and lodged
in a cardiac chamber or pericardiac cavity which is closed in osseous fishes,
but communicates with the peritoneal cavity in the sturgeon and among the
plagiostomes, while in the myxine this cavity is simply a continuation of the
peritoneum. Although the heart is usually placed a short distance behind
the lower jaw and between the branchial and abdominal cavities, variations in
its position are found to exist. In the true Apodes it is placed far back
and behind the scapular arch. It is mostly free in the cavity it occupies,
but sometimes, as in the sturgeon or eel, it has ligamentous attach-
ments to the walls of the pericardium. It consists of an auricle or atrium,
having thin walls, and into which a large venous sinus empties itself, having
brought the blood from the veins of the body : a thick walled and
muscular ventricle, and an arterial bulb. The venous sinus is situated out-
side the pericardiac cavity in teleosteans, but within it in plagiostomes.
The arterial bulb or enlargement at the base of the arterial system in teleos-
teans, termed the bulbus arteriosus, is a pear-shaped dilatation of the artery,
elastic, but destitute of any contractility, while internally it may contain
many trabeculas and irregular pouches but no valves, but has at its base one,
two, or three valves, or even four in the sunfish.' Among the Chondrop-
terygii this swelling differs in size, while internally its valvular system has
been found useful in classification. Externally this bulb is but little
developed among the Chimeras, is mostly conical among the sturgeons and

d

CIRCULATION. TEETH.

plagiostomes and a continuation of the ventricle having striated muscular
fibres, internally it possesses no valves at its base, but is lined by several
rows, while it regularly contracts, alternating with the contractions of the
ventricle. Internally it is provided with transverse rows of longitudinally
shaped valves, varying in number with the forms to which they pertain :
among the Chondropterygii it has been termed conus arteriosus to dis-
tinguish it from what is seen in teleosteans and cyclostomes. From the
arterial bulb, or rather a continuation of it, is the branchial artery, which
sends off branches from either side to the gills, where the blood having
been purified, is returned to the dorsal vessel or aorta which distributes it
throughout the body. It will be unnecessary in this place to remark any
further on the arterial, venous, or lymphatic systems in fishes.

If we except the aberrant form of Amphioxus, all fishes possess blood
corpuscles, varying considerably in size, being largest in the lepidosiren, of
rather less size in the plagiostomes, while among the bony fishes those of
the Salmonidas appear to be of the greatest diameter, but are inferior
in size to those of the Chondropterygians. It contains red and colourless
globules, the former being as a rule elliptical, but are round in lampreys ;
circular globules are not unfrequently perceptible in the blood of fishes.

TEETH.

The teeth of fishes are more generally concerned in capturing than in
masticating their prey, and are vained in their form, sometimes differing with
the age or sex of the individual, and found in various situations inside the
mouth and contiguous parts, thereby furnishing an important aid in
classification, assisted likewise by their external characters. Some forms
are destitute of teeth, or possess them solely in the pharyngeal bones, but
from the lips to all the bones entering more or less into the composition of
the buccal cavity, there is a tendency of the mucous membrane in almost
any of these parts to develop teeth, especially among teleosteans. This
is also seen iu some plagiostomes. Among osseous fishes teeth are
most commonly observed springing from or more or less attached to
bone. Teeth as a rule are simple, and may be isolated one from
another, as in the porbeagle shark (plate clvi), or they may be com-
pound and form a large plate with pavement-like subdivisions, as seen in
Myliobatis (plate clxxvi) . Among teleosteans they may appear as a bony
continuation of the jaws, as in Tetrodons (vol. ii, plate cxlvii). In some, as
carps, teeth are absent from the jaws, or they may be isolated, as in the
anterior portion of the jaws in the wolf- fish (plate lviii), or in a single row,
as in the blennies, a double row, as in the holibut (plate xciv), a treble row,

TEETH. INTESTINAL TRACT. ll

as in some of the Pagelli, in many rows, as in the eel (plate cxlii), or be
deciduous with age, as in the body of the vomer among the Salmonidas. Some
teeth have broad and rounded molariform crowns, as in Pagrus (plate xi), or
they may be laterally compressed, as in blennies, or of a lancet-shaped form,
as in Trichiurus ; while their cutting edge may have one, two, or three cusps,
and be smooth or serrated. In some fish the teeth are like bristles or
setiform ; or arranged so close together as to appear like pile upon velvet or
villiform ; or mixed with rather larger ones, cardiform ; recurved, barbed
at their extremities ; canine like ; or compressed and cutting ; of equal or
unequal sizes ; and more than one form may be present in a single fish.
Some species have the teeth resting on a sort of basal joint or a hinge, which
enables them on pressure being made to be reclined towards the inside of
the mouth, but reverting to their original direction upon the pressure being
removed. The principle is not identical in all these hinged teeth, thus m
the angler (plate xxix) and the hake (plate lxxxv) elasticity is present solely
in the substances constituting the hinge ; whereas in the pike (plate cxxvi)
this is not the case, but the bundles of fibres proceediug from the interior
of the dentine cap are elastic (C. Tomes). Fishes' teeth- are constantly
shed and generally as constantly renewed by a second appearing from
beneath or else to one side. This renewal of teeth is well seen in the
shark, wherein a row from behind constantly fills up the one which is in
use.

The composition of the teeth shows many variations, but principally
consists of vaso dentiue, which may be said to be dentinal tissue, into which
vascular medullary canals are prolonged, sometimes externally covered by
dentine which is not vascular.

THE INTESTINAL TRACT.

The commencement of the intestinal canal or the mouth is the common
receptacle of water passing to the gills for respiration, and of food transmitted
to the stomach for nutrition, while, as might be anticipated, its capacity is
large and variously formed. But it is not my purpose to enter at present
on the several purposes for which the mouth is employed, or the means by
which these are effected, except to remark on the absence of the salivary
glands, which in some forms seem to be represented by mucous follicles
that open into the mouth below the side of the tongue, much saliva doubtless
being unnecessary, owing to the moist condition of their food.' Also that
among the carp-like fish the palate is very sensitive, exceedingly vascular,
while from numerous small pores mucus of a solvent character exudes,
apparently to assist the digestion of food which the pharyngeal teeth
masticate. The gastric portion consists of an oesophagus and a stomach,

d *

Ill INTESTINAL TRACT.

between which a cardiac constriction is not so frequently observable as a
change in the structure of the lining mucous membrane. In some forms there
hardly exists any definite line of demarcation between the lower end of the
stomach and the commencement of the small intestines, but in many a
constriction occurs in this situation, termed the pylorus, although it must
be observed that the orifices at the ends of the stomach are usually more or
less approximated, in order that the food may be retained as in a ccecum.
Occasionally the stomach occurs not in the direct course of, but to one side as
it were, of the intestinal canal. A second constriction, marked internally by
a more or less well-defined internal valve, shows where the small intestines
terminate and the large ones begin.

Generally among teleosteans the various portions of the intestinal tract
are sufficiently distinct to be distinguished simply by an external inspection :
'sometimes the differences between each part are so slight that the situation
where the ducts enter give the best clue to the various parts.

If the intestinal canal is slit up and its inner surface examined, the
commencement of the stomach is generally observed to be defined by
increased vascularity and a more delicate lining membrane than that existing
in the oesophagus. Its upper or cardiac orifice is usually larger than its
lower or pyloric one, while the form of the entire organ is subject to
considerable modification, being usually found in one of the two following
divisions : the siphoned, which somewhat resembles a bent tube, as seen in
the lumpsucker, flounder, salmon, carp, sturgeon, and most of the plagios-
tomes ; and the ccecal, in which it ends in a blind sac, and the pyloric portion
is continued from its right side, as observed in the perch, gurnard, weevers,
John Dory, whiting, &c. An intermediate or transitional form sometimes
exists, as in the sea scorpion or the turbot, irrespective of which certain
deviations occur which it is not my purpose to enlarge upon-. The Indian
Scicena, eironeously termed " whiting" (Johniiis), has the pyloric portion of
its stomach muscular, but this augmented thickness of the muscular coats
may be best perceived in the mullets (Mugil), in which the cardiac portion is
continued downwards into a blind sac, while the pyloric portion is thickened
like the gizzard of a bird, appearing as a rounded or conical projection
externally, and which when cut into is found to consist of thick muscular walls,
the small cavity remaining internally being lined with a thick and horny
epithelium. This gizzard-like stomach is evidently employed for grinding
up hard food, audit is curious to observe how, when some fresh-water forms
select hard substances for their diet, the coats of their stomachs may likewise
become thickened. Thus in the gillaroo trout we find the ascending or
pyloric portion of the stomach thickened. In the cyclostomes and
leptocardii the intestinal tract is straight, but in the lampreys longitudinal
folds are present in the oesophagus, and a single one along the intestinal tube.

STOMACH AND PYLORIC APPENDAGES. liii

Through the pyloric orifice, partially digested food reaches the com-
mencement of the small intestines, and as a rule we observe that the distance
from the pylorus to the vent is shorter in fishes than in most of the higher
vertebrata. But of course the length of the intestinal ti*act differs in various
classes, while its lining membrane is by no means of the same description in
all. In the salmon or herring we find the length of the intestines shorter
than that of the body, but in the former the intestinal lining membrane is
raised into transverse folds, thus increasing the extent of their secreting and
absorbing surface, which is also further augmented by the secretions of
numerous ccecal appendages. In the herring, again, the ccecal appendages
are numei'ous. In other forms we find the intestines themselves convoluted,
thus increasing their length, and this is well seen among the carps. In the
shad Cuvier observed that valvules conniventes existed in the intestines,
while in the salmon the folds of the internal lining of the intestines increase
in size, decrease in number, and become less oblique as they approach the
rectum, or the commencement of the large intestine is marked by a large
circular valve, which is succeeded by several others which are completely or
incompletely transverse. This large intestine may be straight, as seen
in the sturgeon or ch-imasra, &c, where the transverse folds may become
continuous, and there is formed an uninterrupted spiral valve, also present
in the sharks, the rays, and their allies, but which may be modified into
transverse coils.

It is thus that in fishes economy of space is effected by an increase of the
secreting and absorbing surface of the vasculo-mucous membrane lining the
intestinal tract, whether such be merely raised into puckers, or these puckers
be continued into transverse folds, or even forming a circular uninterrupted
spiral valve or coil to the large intestine.

An examination into the ccecal appendages, also termed pyloric cceca,
and pyloric appendages what forms possess and what are deficient in them
under what circumstances they vary and, lastly, what are their functions,
show them to be questions respecting which much still remains to be
ascertained. In different fishes they may be useful for different purposes
either as an absorbing or secreting surface, or both. Thus as observed by
Krukenberg, in the perch they are lined by simply mucous glands, whereas in
the herring theyrepresent the pancreas, and contain a " tryptic" ferment. In
some species these appendages are a modified pancreas, in addition to the very
rudimentary form of this organ which has been detected as a minute glandular
body, terminating in a duct, which opens by from one to three orifices into the
intestines, close to the bile duct, but occasionally so closely attached to the
latter as to be easily overlooked. The latter is seen both in fishes which possess
pyloric appendages, as perch, cod, salmon, sturgeon ; and in such as are
deficient in them, as brama, gar-pike, and pike, while the sharks and rays are

liv INTESTINAL TRACT.

furnished with a reddish-yellow and tabulated gland, which is more similar
to what is perceived in the higher forms of vertebrate animals.

As to the common appearances of coecal appendages,* if we commence
our investigations among the osseous fishes, we see in some one or more
small ducts, each ending externally in a blind extremity ; these either
surround the commencement of the intestine just beyond the pyloric or
lower end of the stomach, or else spring from one of the sides of the first
part of the small intestine, along which they may be continued for some
little distance. We find in a single fish from one to upwards of a hundred
of these ccecal appendages, each of which may open by a separate orifice
into the intestinal canal, or two or more conjoining form a common duct,
and thus diminish the number of openings, while in the bogue-fish (Boops),
two ccecal appendages are seen at the termination of the intestinal tract. In
the sword-fish (Xiphias), all the various appendages conjoin with the common
tubes which empty their contents into the intestines. Passing from the
osseous upwards to the cartilaginous or semi- cartilaginous fishes of the
ganoid sub-class, we still find this gland present. Thus in the sturgeon
(Acipenser), a mass of areolar tissue binds the various coeca together,
forming it into a parenchymatous conglomerate gland.

The general appearance of the ccecal appendages consists of ducts of
varying length and numbers, attached externally to the small intestines,
into which they empty themselves. If these cceca are opened, they are mostly
seen to possess a glandular lining membrane, where a glairy fluid is secreted,
similar in appearance to the secretion from the internal surface of the
intestinal canal. Chyme has likewise been said to have been found
inside them. It seems probable that in the interior of these tubes a
large amount of nutritive substances are present, for the tape-worms
(Bothriocephali) so common in some fishes, as the salmon, are almost
constantly found with their heads up these cceca, and from which they must
obtain their subsistence. For it is reasonable to suppose that in choosing
this locality they have been influenced by one of the following considera-
tions : Absence from the main intestinal tract, which is constantly being
employed in conveying nutriment and excreta ; or else in selecting some
situation where the nutriment is more abundant.

If we take a general survey of these two classes, we observe that coecal
appendages are far more common among marine than fresh-water fishes ;

* It may be as well before proceeding further to explain my plan for examining these appendages,
for I employ, as a rule, one of the following processes. The easiest mode is to tie the oesophagus
and inflate the intestines, appendages, and stomach by means of a blowpipe, tube, or quill, from
an opening made in the intestines, or to tie the intestines and inflate from the oesophagus, while
the use of a solution of chromic acid hardens the preparation. Should the fish not be sufficiently
fresh for this purpose, it must be examined under water, when occasionally it can be injected with
spirit.

URINARY ORGANS. lv

also that in the highly-organized sharks and rays, instead of these appendages
we find a spiral valve existing in the intestines, as already described.

URINARY ORGANS.

The urinary organs are composed of the kidneys as a secreting or
excreting apparatus, the ureters, the bladder, and the urethra, the two last
being absent in some fishes. The kidneys, according to Vogt and some
others, appear to be composed of the Wolfian bodies, structures persistent
among fishes, but which are not permanent among other vertebrate animals,
whereas' other authors deny this. Whatever they may be considered, still
two kidneys, generally well-developed, are always present among fishes,
except, perhaps, in the amphioxus. These organs, as a rule, are distinctly
separated anteriorly one from the other, but sometimes more or less
united posteriorly : they are placed close to the vertebral column, but
separated from the abdominal cavity and the intestines by the peritoneum.
To this rule there are exceptions, as among teleosteans, which possess an air-
bladder where it likewise is outside the peritoneum, and is often more or less
adherent to the under surface of the kidneys.

The size as well as the form of the kidneys is subject to great variation :
in some teleosteans they are compact and restricted to the forepart of the
abdominal cavity, but in others they extend far forward to the base of the
skull and posteriorly, as seen in the eel, &c, to between the muscles of the
caudal region, while their surface may be smooth or lobulated. The ureters,
which receive the urine from the urinary tubes, are generally two in number,
rarely three, while as many as five from either kidney, each of which
separately opens into the urinary bladder, have been found in sticklebacks.
These ureters are usually placed along the inner edge of the kidneys, and
may be continued to their outlet, or they may unite in an urinary bladder
which opens behind the vent by a short urethra sometimes confluent with,
sometimes distinct from (and is then behind) the genital opening, while
occasionally it is situated on a papilla. Among the Plagiostomes the ureters
are short, and each forms a dilatation which anastomosing with its fellow,
ends in a single urethra, and having received the vasa deferentia in the
male opens into the cloaca behind the end of the rectum. Variations in the
positions of the various parts are seen among the Ganoids and Dipnoids.
Among the Cyclostomes, as the lampreys, the kidneys are in the form of an
elongated gland, with detached portions, the ureters coalescing prior to
terminating in the urogenital papilla. In the hag a long duct extends
through the abdominal cavity, sending off short transverse branches, each
of which ends in a blind sac, where a ganglion that secretes the urine is

lvi INTESTINAL TRACT.

placed. In the amphioxus the isolated bodies which are seen near the
abdominal pore have been considered as the kidneys.

LARGE ABDOMINAL GLANDS.

The liver generally occupies a large portion of the abdominal cavity,
being separated from the cardiac chamber by a species of membranous
diaphragm. It is most developed among the plagiostornes, and as a rule
contains a large amount of oil. Its form is subject to considerable variation,
but it is generally tabulated, the most simple being found in the amphioxus as
a diverticulum from the stomachic dilatation of the intestinal tract. As a
rule a gall-bladder exists, and although it is generally seen at its lower
surface, it -may be lodged inside the liver near its centre, attached to the
r ight lobe, or even be distinct from this organ, being merely connected to it
by the cystic duct. Bile is removed from the liver by one or more ducts,
which converge into and join the cystic duct, thus forming the ductus
choledochus or common duct of the liver and gall-bladder, which empties
itself into the intestinal canal, posterior to the pyloric end of the stomach,
while in the plagiostomes it opens in the duodenum.

A pancreas, as already observed, is found in many teleosteans, in the
sturgeon, and among the plagiostomes.

The spleen among fishes is found, except in the amphioxus, as a dull
reddish body of a rounded form, usually placed near the stomach or
commeucement of the intestines. It is subject to considerable modifications.

BREEDING.

Fishes are dioecious, and although hermaphrodites have been observed
in a few teleostean forms,* the sexes are as a rule normally present in
different ' individuals. Some are monogamous, as the snake-headed- and
tropical Ophiocejjhalus, perhaps also our common pike, and many others.
The majority, however, are polygamous, or perhaps mixogamous, in which
latter the males and females congregate for breeding purposes, those of the
former sex being in excess, and several attending on one female, or even
changing about to another.

Among most of the cartilaginous fishes, Gliondropterygii, of the order
Elasmobranchs, as sharks, rays, and skates, a congress takes place between
the two sexes, the arrangement of the sexual organs being somewhat similar
to what obtains among the higher vertebrates. The male organs are mostly

* Hermaphrodites have been recorded among the following British fishes : Perca fluviatilis,
S^rranus cabrilla, Scomber scomber, Labrus mixtus, Solea vulgaris, Gadus morhua, 0. merlangus,
Lota vulgaris, Esox lucius, Cyprinus carpio, Clupiea liarengus, Acipenser sturio.

BREEDING. lvii

compact, of a circumscribed form, and placed far forwards in the abdominal
cavity. The vasa deferentia communicate with the ureters and terminate
upon a cloacal generative organ, external to which on either side, and mostly
attached to the anal fins, are the claspers.' The female organs are (as in the
male) situated far forwards, and remarkable by the modification of the two
oviducts, which are not merely distinct from one another, but also from the
ureters, which latter terminate upon a prominent urethral clitoris between the
outlet of the oviducts. The ova are few, and the ovaries are comparatively
smaller than in osseous fishes. Different parts of the oviduct may be
functionally modified, being divided by a circular valve, which separates the
upper or narrow portion where the gland is placed which secretes the egg
purse, while the lower or uterine part is where the embryos' are formed
in the viviparous species. The ova are fertilized while still contained within
the oviduct, where the ova are delayed, and the young may be either
occluded in horny cases or even produced alive. Among cartilaginous
fishes of the ganoid order oviducts are present with small ova.

During the breeding season certain additional developments may occur
in some teleostean or bony forms : glands, as in some carps, may appear oh
the heads of fishes of either sex, while among the Salruonidas a knob shows
itself in the male sex on the extremity of the lower jaw in the salmon
and some trout. Likewise in a carp, Rhodeus amarus, found on the continent
of Europe, a long oviferous tube appears during the nuptial season, but as
in the case of the knob on the jaw of the salmon is subsequently absoi-bed,
while as a rule the female fish is larger than the male.

Considerable differences in the form of the male generative organs are
observable among the bony fishes, but at the breeding season, all that are
not sterile have a great augmentation in size. This organ, when arrived
at seasonable maturity, is commonly known as the " soft roe " or
" milt." It is not necessary for fishes to have attained adult size in
order to be capable of the reproductive process or the milt to be fully
developed, as this may be seen in the par or young of the salmon.
Without detailing the different forms in which these organs exist, it will
suffice to remark that when vasa deferentia are absent in the males, oviducts
are similarly wanting in the females, the parallelism between these organs
in the two sexes being, as a rule, very close. When the testis is single so
is the ovary. But in some cases, as in the Salmonidce, although vasa
deferentia are present in the male there are no ducts in the female. In most
osseous fishes the ovaries form two elongated sacs, closed anteriorly, but
posteriorly continued into a short and wide oviduct, which terminates behind
the vent and mostly before the urethra. The inside of these sacs is more or
less lined with the stroma, or a peculiar tissue within which the ova are
developed. In those forms in which the ova are hatched before extrusion,

lviii BREEDING.

the stroma does not extend to the hind portion of these sacs, for this locality
serves as a sort of uterus, and is furnished with a large albuminous secretion,
while internal incubation is going on. The products of the reproductive
organs may be set free in the peritoneal cavity, finding their exit at the
abdominal pore or pores : or these products may be taken up by the open
mouths of the fallopian tubes, or distinct tubes conduct them all the way to
their outlet.

The various modifications of the generative organs in true fishes are a
simple testis or ovary, but no excretory duct ; a partial oviduct united to the
ureter, but not continuous with the ovary ; or a testis having a long and
complex duct distinct from the ureter. Among teleostean fishes breeding
occurs in one of the following ways: 1. The eggs are hatched within the
female organs, as seen in the oviparous blenny, Zoarces viviparus (vol. i,
p. 211). 2. As in the majority of these fishes, the eggs having been
excluded, are subsequently fertilized by the male, the milt or spermatozoa of
the latter being brought into contact in the water with the ova or eggs of
the female, when this microscopic body (the spermatozoon) obtains access by
a minute orifice, termed the micropyle, into the interior of the ovum. In
short, during the breeding of osseous fishes the generative organs perform
the following functions : " Semination/' " ovulation/' " fecundation," and
" exclusion," to which in some forms is added that of " fcetation."

Simple as this process would seem to be, there are many interesting
questions about it which are still unsolved and require attention. If all
fishes' eggs were of one size, the micropyle and spermatozoids identical in
all forms, the specific gravity of all ova without variation, and all kinds of fish
propagated their species at the same period and took the same time in the
incubating process, we should soon arrive at a state of inextricable
confusion. There might be hybrids between salmon and minnows, perches
and bullheads, sticklebacks and carps : and were these hybrids to prove
fertile, in a comparatively very short space of time all land-marks would be
obliterated ; families, genera, and species would be things of the past. And
if this did occur, the result could be readily foretold ; now small forms obtain
sustenance in little as well as in large pieces of water ; but were these small
forms to merge into the larger, our brooks, our lesser streams and ponds
would no longer be stocked with fish ; for the size of the stream and the
amount of the food would be insufficient to maintain them in health, even
were it sufficient to sustain life. And could we hope for a hardy race from
young raised under such conditions? Or even were our fishes entirely
restricted to our larger rivers, what would occur ? Predaceous forms of
destroyers, perhaps man himself, would soon diminish, and possibly
annihilate them. Irrespective of which, deterioration in the size of parent
fish may be equivalent to diminution in the size of the offspring, such being

MIGRATIONS AND SEASONS. lix

one of Nature's methods of preventing the extermination of the race. For
decreasing their size will cause them to be less sought after, and it will only
be when the larger fish are left for breeders that larger offspring result. In
short, when man or other causes afford to fish sufficient protection, then
Nature assists in improving the race ; when man or other destructive factors
greedily kill all they can, then the breed dwarfs, and so possibly prevents its
extermination.

To which ever division fish belong, they are generally perceived at the
commencement of their breeding season migrating to localities most suitable
for the reception of their eggs and the bringing forth of their young. The
majority of marine forms seek banks, or are found nearer in shore or in
shallower waters than such as they inhabit at other times. This arrival of
gregarious kinds of mature fish occurs when they are ready for breeding,
while their eggs are deposited prior to their leaving, so whether they come
to perpetuate their race or seek food for preventing death in each individual
of the species, it eventuates that at these periods breeding usually occurs, as
may be observed in the herring or in the mackerel. Anadromous forms pass
up rivers, sometimes for long distances, and then deposit their ova : among
the most widely distributed of such is the shad, of which we possess two
species in the British Isles, both found in the Severn, but up which they
now rarely ascend in numbers to any considerable extent, due to weirs across
the river, deficiency of water, or else its poisonous condition. The salmon
similarly ascends from the sea to deposit its ova in rivers and streams, and
this instinct of migration or necessity for exchanging its locality to a suitable
breeding spot may be more or less observed among a large number of
members of the family.

The season at which breeding occurs varies with the family of fish and
the locality. This again is susceptible of further modification in accordance
with the temperature and perhaps composition of the water, the amount of
food procurable, and many other local circumstances. Likewise there is some
condition in the fish itself respecting which we know but little, but which
plays its part. It is easy to understand that during very cold winters
breeding is usually late, which may be partly occasioned by the ova taking
longer to hatch, as well as by the parent fish being later depositing its eggs.
The period at which the Sahnonidce in these isles breed may be roughly
estimated (unless under exceptional circumstances) at from the commence-
ment of September until the middle of January or February. In 1865
some brook trout eggs were despatched from Hampshire and Buckingham-
shire to Tasmania, and the first young reared in the Antipodes formed their
redds in July, 1869, or during the coldest season of the year (see vol. ii,
p. 60). But easy as this theory would be in order to explain the different
months fishes select for breeding purposes, there exist many exceptions

]x BREEDING.

which are still open to discussion. Some rivers are stated to have early and
others late breeds of salmon.

The same thing occurs in marine fishes ; thus there is not a month that
herrings cannot be found breeding around the coasts of Great Britain and
Ireland. In the United States the Fishery Department has ascertained
that the codfish Oadus morhua breeds during nine months of the year,
namely, from September until May.

Some fishes merely breed once a year, while others do so inoi'e frequently.
During the breeding-season a few forms, "as the salmon and the shad in our
fresh waters, and the herrings of our seas, appear to decrease the amount
of food they consume or even entirely cease feeding ; this may be necessary
in some gregarious marine forms for the following reason : Unless they
congi*egate together at this period there would be great danger in the
deposited ova not being fertilized by the milt, for we know that should such
Tiot take place in a short time in fresh water they do not become vivified.
Should, therefore, fish in this c ndition have to be roving about in search
of food there would be the possibility that large quantities of eggs would
be spoiled, while the forms which produce the greatest number of ova are
often those which live in large communities.

Whether breeding occasions any deleterious effects upon fish is capable
of more than one answer. Fresh-water forms that produce a moderate
number of eggs, or do so gradually, or at more than one period in the year,
do not appear to be so much affected as those which deposit large numbers
of ova, and complete this process in a short space. As a rule, the result of
breeding is that the parent fish goes out of condition, and continues so for
a longer or shorter period of time. Herrings, as soon as they are u spent,"
fall off in condition ; the salmon kelt becomes absolutely unwholesome, or
else so lean and flabby as to be unsuitable for the table.

Fishes' eggs are of various sizes, and this size is not in relationship
to the magnitude of the species thus a codfish has much smaller
eggs than a trout; and a common carp than a char. While some forms
deposit their ova in the sea, others do so in fresh-water, which may be
stagnant, semi-stagnant, or running. Some eggs are so light that
under certain conditions they may float, as of the cod in the sea.,
while those of the white-fish Goregonus are semi-buoyant, and those
of the herring sink : those of the gar-fish and its allies are attached by
filaments or tendrils to foreign substances, while others are likewise
adherent, due to a secreted mucus, as in the lump sucker (Liparis), which
deposits its ova on the inside of the valves of dead shells, as a butterfly does
on a leaf ; while the fresh-water bitterling, Bhodeus amarus, of Continental
Europe is furnished during the breeding season with a long oviferous tube
enabling it to insert its eggs within the valves of the fresh-water mussel.

EGGS AND NESTS. lxi

Among the curious pipe-fishes the eggs are transferred from the female
to the male, and in most of the species the duty of hatching them devolves
on the latter sex, for which purpose they are deposited up to the period
of the evolution of the young in ovigerous sacs variously placed (vol. ii,
page 256). In the horse-fishes {Hippocampus) in pouches under the tail ;
in our ocean pipe-fishes (Nerophu) in rows along the breast and belly.
Whether this phenomenon of carrying about the eggs is to protect them
from danger or in order to change the water in which they are kept may be
questionable, but as these fishes have several times been hatched in aquaria,
it would seem to be for the purpose of protection against foes. Similarly
we perceive siluroids, Artifice, of the Eastern and other seas in which
the males carry about the ova in their mouths, either continuously or
temporarily, and the young may be observed emerging from the ovum while
it is still in the maw of the male fish. Teleosteans, which have no oviduct,
as the Salmonidce, deposit their eggs detached one from the other ; but
such as possess oviducts often have them surrounded by a viscid secretion
formed from the lining membrane of the oviduct and agglutinating them
in lumps or cords.

The sticklebacks or pricklebacks of this country (vol. i, page 236),
whether marine or fresh-water species, form a nest for the reception of their
eggs, which has an entrance on one side and an exit on the other, so that
either parent can readily pass through. When the eggs have been safely
deposited in the nest, and the_ necessary fertilization accomplished, the male
takes charge, driving his help-mate off to a safe distance in order to prevent
her making a meal of the ova. Mr. Warrington ascertained that in a few
days in the fresh-water species the nest was more and more opened by
the male, evidently owing to the necessity for oxygenation, and he hovered
over it, causing a current of water to be propelled across its surface by
fanning it with his fins, and after about ten days the. nest was destroyed
and minute fry appeared, over which the male kept guard. Some of our
marine wrasses of the genus Crenilabrus have been observed to construct
nests, in which occupation both sexes assist. The river bullhead, Gottus
yobio, forms a hole in the gravel at the bottom of a stream, and here it
keeps guard over its eggs as well as over the infant progeny. - While in
tropical countries there exist many forms of nest-constructing fishes, and
the parents, more especially the male, protect the young until old enough
to shift for themselves.

In investigating single families of fish, or genera, it is interesting to
see how even closely related forms differ in the places where they deposit
their ova, or the period when they breed. Among the herrings we find
that the common herring is breeding in some one or other spot around our
coast almost every month in the year ; that it deposits from ten to thirty

lxii BREEDING.

thousand eggs, which are agglutinated together in a mass, and subsiding
to the bottom, attach themselves 'to sea-weeds or other suitable substances ;
let this nidus for the eggs be trawled away or otherwise destroyed, and
the herrings may permanently, or at least for an indefinite number of years,
migrate to a more suitable spot. The sprat gives eggs of about 0*04 in.
in diameter, and these likewise sink to the bottom, but not in a mass or
covered with adhering substance, as in the herring. The shad of our
waters has not yet had this question investigated, but in the United States
the Fish Commission find that in the species which is most prized there,
Clupea sapidissima, the eggs sink, but that they require to be kept in
constant motion. Those eggs which normally float are more susceptible to
atmospheric changes, and possibly this may occasion much loss. Thus in
one genus are forms in which the eggs are agglutinated into a mass, sink,
and become attached to suitable fixed objects : in another they simply sink :
whereas in a third, although they sink, they require to be kept in constant
motion.

If we take another family for investigation, as that of the salmon, trout,
and their allies, we find interesting variations. The common smelt, Osmerus
eperlanus, covers stones, planks, and suitable objects with its adherent
ova, and which are placed near the level of high water. These eggs
are furnished with fine filaments on their outer surface, which filaments
expand at their distal extremities into the form of a sucker for attach-
ment. The grayling deposits its ova about April or May, or even
earlier, on the gravel at the bottom of a suitable stream; they are not
placed in a nest and appear to be very delicate; their size is rather less
than seen in the trout. But the salmon, trout, and char fan up the gravel,
thus forming a trough wherein the ova are deposited, and subsequently
the nest, redd or rid, is covered over with the gravel, and here the eggs are
left to come to maturity. In all these forms the eggs are heavier than the
water in which they are deposited, still they are treated either by being laid
on the bed of the stream or below the gravel, but the fish culturist has
ascertained that this placing them within a bed or nest is not essential to
their hatching.

Before passing on from the eggs and how deposited, I must draw atten-
tion to a rather curious phenomenon, but too often seen, and which in its
most fatal form is known as fish being egg-bound dying, in fact, unable
to void their ova, similarly to fowls unable to lay their eggs, or higher ver-
tebrates which cannot bring forth their young. Some fish, as the herrings,
which exude their ova in the open sea, can scarcely be subjected to any
extraneous force in order to assist this process, but that such does take
place in some fishes has been ascertained. The gold carp, Carassius
auratus, is one of these forms, and the male (or rather relays of them) have

NUMBER OF EGGS AND IP PROTECTION IS NECESSARY. lxiii

been observed in an aquarium to roll the gravid female like a cask along
the bottom of the tank, and to continue this operation without relaxation
for a day or two until the wearied female has extruded her ova. The
female river lamprey is said to be assisted by the male twisting himself
around her, and so expressing the ova and milt, the suctorial mouths of
both parents being at this time attached to a stone or other suitable
stationary object. While it does not appear unlikely that the female salmon
or trout when forming the redd or nest by lateral strokes of the side and
tail portion of the body is by such active exertion assisting in ridding
herself of her eggs. It has been asserted that among these latter fish
when the eggs are ripe there is no power to prevent their escape, but at
Howietoun it is found that if the parents are placed in a wooden tank,
having smooth sides and bottom, and through which a stream flows, ovula-
tion may be deferred days, and even weeks.

The number of eggs deposited by teleostean fish is, as already remarked,
exceedingly vained ; thus, a perch of 1^ lb. contained 280,000 ova, one of
3 lb. 2 oz., 155,620; a ruff, of 4| oz., 205,000; an angler, of. 1 lb. 13 oz.,
1,427,344; a mackerel, 18 oz., 546,681; lump-sucker, 6^ lb. weight,
207,700, at 9 lb. 8 oz., 155,000 ; cod, at 11| lb., 1,800,000, but upwards of
3,000,000 have been taken from one; haddock, 21 lb., 169,050, at 9 T 9 ^ lb.,
1,839,581; coal-fish, at 21 lb., 8,260,000; pollack, 12 lb., 4,200,000;
hake, the roe of which weighed 15| oz., 1,500,000 ; ling, 20 lb., 19,985,400,
one of 100 lb., 160,000,000; burbolt, 128,000; halibut, 3,500,000; turbot,
5 lb. 9 oz., 14,311,200; plaice, 4 lb. 15 oz., 144,600; flounder, 24* oz.,
1,357,400, at 6| oz., 351,026, at 3 oz., 225,568, at 21 oz., 133,407; sole,
1 lb., 134,000 ; salmon, about 900 to every 1 lb. weight, but may exceed
this, one of 20 lb. contained 27,850 ; trout, about 800 to every 1 lb. weight;
charr, | lb., 1,230; pollan, llf oz., 6,156; smelt, 2 oz., 28,278, and in a
second the same size, 36,652 ; pike, 35 lb., 43,000, 32 lb., 595,200, 28 lb.,
292,320, a second 700,000, 24 lb., 224,640; carp, at 9 lb., 600,000,
16| lb., 2,059,750, 21| lb., 1,310,750; barbel, 7,000 to 8,000 ova; roach,
28 oz., 480 ; tench, 4 lb., 297,000 ; bream, 130,000 ; white bream, 108,000 ;
herring, 10,000 to 30,000 ; pilchard, 60,000 ; conger, 15| lb., 6,336,512 ;
the small numbers of the cartilaginous fishes have been already referred to.

One reason adduced for sea fishes not requiring protection at any period
of their lives is that they deposit so many eggs, and that these will suffice
to meet all and every device man may employ to effect their capture. Here
the zoologist may well inquire whether breeding in fishes differs from what
obtains in the remainder of the animal kingdom, wherein the powers of
increase have been apportioned to the needs of the individual, for where
man has interfered, as in birds, ground game, seals, &c, protection has had
to be afforded in order to prevent annihilation of the species. It would

lxiv BREEDING AND STERILITY.

seem that the various sizes, modes of deposit, and numbers of fish eggs, must
be on some definite plan, not a chance medley, destitute of any order and
deficient of any scheme. We observe, as in many other forms of life, that
the more voracious class, as sharks and rays, have fewer yonng than the
herring and the mackerel, that fish which give the most eggs take the least
care of their offspring, and, until the contrary is proved, we are justified
in assuming that where the most numerous eggs or young are produced by
a species, there the greatest destruction occurs, and' finally that fish have
only sufficient ova for the purpose of compensating for normal loss.*

But even when fishes' eggs have been deposited in order that they
should hatch it does not follow that it is only necessary to place them in a
hatching box, and then turn salt-water over marine ones and fresh-water over
those of our streams and lakes. The precautions to be taken by the fish culturist
I do not propose alluding to here, but certain physical phenomena are-very
important.

Some fishes are sterile from various causes. Thus the common eel, a
catadromous form, or one which breeds in the sea but passes, its life in fresh-
waters, is believed only to deposit ova once during its lifetime, and then
either dies or returns to the rivers, and is sterile for the remainder of its
life. It has been observed that among the Salmonidce sterile forms are seen,
but which are believed to be only temporarily so, as for one or two seasons.

Fish may also be sterile consequent on disease. Thus I have seen in a
mackerel the oviduct occluded due to disease having set up inflammation,
and occlusion of the outlet of the oviduct, and thus the preceding year's
eggs have been retained and formed a large tumour.

Eggs themselves, of course, may fail in hatching, due to sterility or
deficiency of fecundation, injurious surroundings, as by being carried by floods
and currents into unsuitable places, or consequent upon the effects of disease,
while shocks given to them during incubation produce monstrosities and if
severe., death. While fishes' eggs are more or less circular or oval, and of
varying- colours, being pea-green in some sheat-fishes or siluroids, and among
the Salmonidce they may be coral-red, yellow, or pure white, the herrings
usually have a slight pink tinge; those of the sprat are colourless.

I have already' remarked that fishes' eggs before they are fertilized have
a small orifice or micropyle into which the spermatazoon enters, but it is
evident in sea fishes that if the egg floats at the surface and the milt is
beneath, the chances of fertilization must be diminished, unless some means
are - taken to obviate this. Also that there must exist some mechanical
reason why fish eggs float in some forms, and sink in others. Of course, the

* As a rule fish hatched from small ova are feebler than those from large ova, and Ryder
remarks " some species leave the egg with the throat perforated and other forms do not." The shad
cannot swallow at the time of hatching.

EGGS. lxv

principal cause which makes eggs subside to the bottom is that their specific
gravity is greater than that of the fluid in which they are floating, unless
due to some, mechanical arrangement (as the presence of filaments) they
are attached to foreign substances, when they would sink or swim in accord-
ance with the condition of the body to which they were attached, as the
eggs of the marine gar (Belone) ; or a fish (as a perch) may have its ova in a
band-like state, when it selects rushes, reeds, or grass growing in the water
or a piece of wood or other hard substance, against which it (the female)
presses itself until one end of the band has become attached, then swim-
ming slowly away the eggs are voided. But sometimes eggs, as of the cod,
float in normally saline water, and questions have arisen as to the position of
the micropyle. Dr. Ransom in 1854 found that in the trout, salmon, and
grayling it corresponded to the centre of the germinal pole. Here the
formative yelk or germ collects, and having attached to it some oil drops,
always floats uppermost. In the Spanish mackerel and some other American
forms a single large oil sphere keeps them buoyant, situated at a point
immediately opposite the germinal disk, which is constantly inverted or
carried on the lower face of the vitellus, thus acting exactly the reverse to
what is observed among the Salmonidce. In the cod no oil drop exists, but
the egg is so light that it behaves like the foregoing. It is seen in the cod
fisheries that at the period of breeding the egg floats with the micropyle
directed downwards, and as a consequence the milters are found to swim
lower than the spawners, the milt must consequently ascend.

It will now be necessary to briefly observe upon the physical changes
which fishes' eggs have to undergo prior to their being rendered in a suitable
condition to continue the species. If we examine under the microscope the
ova of an osseous fish, as a stickleback, as remarked upon by Dr. Ransom,
we may perceive around the eggs before they are deposited and holding the
mass together is a viscid layer or secretion from the oviduct of the female.
This secretion will for some time resist the imbibition of water in the unim-
pregnated ova, so that they have been observed to remain flaccid at least
two and a half hours after immersion. Subsequently it seems to set round
the eggs, making them cohere firmly together. The egg itself may be said
externally to have a double cortical layer, the two being divided by an
interspace ; the outer of these, which is rather thick, may be termed
the yelk sac, and is in immediate contact with the second internal or
vitelline membrane which surrounds the yelk ball within the yelk sac.
The outer membrane of the egg is distinguished in one spot by a number
of cup-shaped or mushroom-like processes, which cover about one-fourth
of its surface and mark the .germinal pole. In the centre of these small
elevations is the micropyle, consisting of a funnel-shaped pit directed
towards the centre 'of the eu\ and continued 'inwards as a narrow tube with

lxvi BREEDING.

the inner end opened. This outer covering of the egg is changed by the
imbibition of water from an easily torn membrane into a firm elastic one.
The yelk-ball, or that portion surrounded by the vitelline or inner membrane,
contains those essential portions of the egg which are subsequently directly
transformed into the germ, and into which the micropyle opens. Between
the two layers is a space, small in the unimpregnated egg prior to the imbi-
bition of water, but which becomes filled, forming what has been termed the
breathing chamber, a space increased probably also in size by a contraction
of the yelk. In the stickleback this absorption of water from the outside
commences near the micropyle, and gradually extends throughout the
chamber ; but in most osseous fishes, Ransom observes, water enters freely
through the yelk sac, and the breathing chamber may commence simul-
taneously at all parts of the surface. It is only during this period when
absorption is going on that fertilization can take place, and the sper-
matozoon obtain access by the micropyle to the germinal spot. When the
air-chamber has been filled with water the outer covering of the egg hardens
and become elastic ; it is no longer soft and adhesive, and it " frees " itself
from what it is attached to.

In this place it is unnecessary to go further into the embryology of
osseous fishes, neither will it be required to prove that the elements for
resph'ation must be received through the outer coat from the surrounding-
water. Here, however, it becomes needful to point out that as oxygen
has to be imbibed through the outer covering of the egg certain mechanical
influences may be at work to prevent this absorption, and so to decrease
or altogether cut off the necessary aeration. In some fishes the breathing
chamber is very large, swelling the egg to as much as double its
original size, and it is evident that were these eggs fixed close together
prior to distension, one of two things must occur, either their due expan-
sion would be checked by one pressing against another, or some must
give way. .

I have already mentioned the eggs of the common smelt which possess
filaments that adhere to contiguous objects : if these filaments are torn off
the egg dies. Should many be placed together prior to imbibition they give
the appearance under the microscope after the air chamber has become
filled that they are honeycombed, which is due to the number of facets the
eggs show owing to pressure one against another. Irrespective of injury
from pressure, it is obvious that due aeration of the yelk will be stopped,
and as a result death will most probably ensue.

Fish ova, as of the Sahnonidce and of some other forms, have been trans-
ported long distances, as from Europe to the Australian Colonies, Canada,
and the United States. The first experiment of employing ice for the
purpose of conveying trout and salmon eggs through the tropics is recorded

CARRIAGE AND VIVIPICATION OP EGGS. lxvii

in volume ii (page 77). Davy ascertained many years since that ova in moist
air retain vitality several days, and tliey may safely be sent in damp moss.
In 1880 Max von dem Borne experimented on whether salmon eggs which
had been fertilized by the dry process (or such as had not been brought in
contact with water) could be transmitted long distances without the addition
of any fluid. This year 34,000 trout ova were despatched to New Zealand
in a modified refrigerating chamber. Moistened air passing in a current
through the chamber was kept down to a temperatui^e never below 32 deg.
or above 34 deg. fahr. The eggs were arranged in trays lightly covered
with moss, and the dead ones were daily removed. Nearly the whole number
reached their destination in perfect safety.

It has been suggested that such fish ova as are deposited at the bottom
of ponds might be transported long distances with safety enclosed in mud,
a subject worthy of trial, but great care would have to be exercised as to
the character of the water in which the experiment is tried. Fish which
deposit their ova on bushes are placed in boxes thus lined, but with movable
sides, so that they with the bushes and adherent ova can be transported in
carrying boxes to the desired localities.

The milt of fish has been successfully employed some time after being
taken from the parent; thus Sir J. Gibson-Maitland on November 25, 1879,
successfully fertilized some trout spawn with salmon milt obtained the night
before and corked up in a bottle. Likewise, as was long since pointed out by.
Bloch, ova or milt may be used obtained from fish which have been some
time dead. On November 29, 1883, 1000 eggs of the common brook trout
were thus treated at Howietoun with the milt of a par which had not been
dead many hours, but the result has been that there was insufficient vitality
in the milt to fructify a single eg;g. It has been remarked at Howietoun
that eggs from yOung mothers give a larger percentage of deaths than those
of older fish, this it appears probable affects the fertilizing property of
the milt.

The period which fish eggs take incubating is not only exceedingly varied
among those of closely allied species, but it is likewise affected by many
extraneous causes. Those of sea fishes, as a rule, would appear to hatch
in a shorter period than those of fresh water ones. The eggs of the herring
normally incubate in about three or four weeks, but the escape of the young
can be considerably delayed by keeping the water very cold, while its
saltness or the reverse exercises no appreciable difference. In the Baltic the
German Fish Commissioners found that with the water at 53 degrees the
eggs hatched in a week, whereas with the temperature of the water at
38 degrees they took six weeks. In the eggs of the cod fish the American
Fish Commissioners observed that hatching took place between the
thirteenth and fiftieth days, according to the temperature of the water, while

* '

Lxviii BREEDING.

Sars in Norway found some to hatch on the eighteenth day. The eggs of
the haddock in the United States required an average of nine days, and the
shortest period observed was eight days, while those of the coal fish, Gadus
pollachius, hatch in four or five days in water of modei^ate temperature.

But if we can find such a difference in the cod family as to the time-
required for incubation to be from four or five days to six weeks, still greater
variations are perceptible among those of the' salmon family. At Howietoun
the eggs of the smelt, Osmerus eperlanus, kept in the trout hatching house,
took about forty-two days, but on the water being a little warmer they came
out by the thirty-fourth day. In the same establishment, with the water
kept at about 44*1 degrees, the brook and other trout took from seventy-one
to seventy-two days ; the American char, Salmo fontinalis, seventy-three ;
and the salmon seventy-seven. But the foregoing are subject to wide
variations of time (by decreasing the temperature of the water), as of the
trcut up to 114 days, and the hatching of the salmon has been delayed to
the' 145th day, or even more, and acting upon this knowledge the eggs of
members of the Salmonidce have been transmitted in safety to the Antipodes.

Here I would draw attention to the various attempts which have been
made to prove that salmon can breed in salt water, a proposition advanced
by some estuary and shore fishermen, apparently in order to show that there
is no necessity to have any restrictive legislation on salmon fisheries, but
that everyone should be permitted to fish as he pleases, while the fish ought
to continue their species in the sea and their young to ascend rivers to be cap-
tured- a view long since shown to be entirely erroneous, and which is referred
to in vol. ii (p. 63). In fact, with the exception of catadromus forms,
as the eel, we do not possess any fresh-water fishes that breed in salt water.

At the Fisheries Exhibition of 1883, the Commissioner from Canada,
Mr. Wilmot, informed us that salmon can be detained in salt water until
ready to be stripped of their ova and milt, which can then be raised in fresh
water. But several experiments have all ended in one result, the eggs
having died in salt water, as have also all the young; consequently, if salmon
from any cause are prevented ascending rivers, and have to drop their eggs
in saline or brackish water, no young will be hatched, while eggs or young
placed in brackish or salt water will die.

I remarked in 1882 that at Sir James Gibson-Maitland's fish-ponds
at Howietoun, the Lochleven variety of trout produced eggs' of different
sizes in accordance with the parents' age. Thus fish hatched in 1876, or
six-year-olds, gave ova, thirty-two of which filled the length of a glass grill,
whereas those females which had been hatched in 1875, or seven-yeai'-olds,
furnished eggs twenty-seven or twenty-eight of which occupied the same
space. Not only does this occur in the Lochleven variety, but also in the
brook trout and the American char ; and Dr. John Davy found among

EGGS OF ONE SPECIES VARY IN SIZE. lxix

those, of our common char which he examined a variation in diameter
from 016 to 0'20 of an inch. Even in the common stickleback Ransom has
observed that all. the eggs of the same batch have not exactly the same
dimensions when ripe, and still less have those of different individual
parents. A similar variation in the size of the eggs corresponding to that
of the parent has likewise been noted from trout at Otago.

The same phenomenon has been observed in the United States, where
the Fish Commissioner on the M'Cloud River in 1878 remarked that the
parent salmon were unusually small, their average weight being under eight
pounds. This small size was stated to be undoubtedly caused in whole or
in part by the fishing at the cannaries of the Sacramento, where the 8 in.
meshes of the innumerable drift nets stopped all the larger salmon, but let
all the small ones through. The eggs when taken proved to be at least a
third smaller than those of most previous years, and the average number of
eggs to the fish .was about 3,500, against 4,200 in the previous year. In
this instance the smaller salmon produced the smaller eggs, but whether'
the decreased number was not due to the decreased size of the spawners
is not evident. Livingston Stone adduces another instance, asserting that
American trout or char living in spring water (which means deficient food)
develop smaller eggs than such as reside in brooks. Or poverty in food
has the same effect as younger and smaller fish in diminishing the size of
ova. This of itself would lead one to suspect that small eggs which may
be caused by deficient sustenance in the parent will not produce the largest
fry. This difference in the size of fish eggs, which among Salmonidce
increase in bulk up to a certain age, must have very important bearings
upon their artificial breeding. For the size of the micropyle must be in a
certain ratio to the size of the eggs, consequently larger eggs of the same
species will admit larger spermatozoa than smaller ones. It has been
maintained by some fish culturists that very great difficulties, sometimes
even amounting to impossibilities, occur in crossing trout with salmon, or
rather fecundating the eggs of trout with the milt of the salmon. As this
was not found difficult at Howietoun when the eggs were taken from fish
that had been some years in the ponds, whose eggs were approaching in
size those of the salmon, it appears to me that the difficulty is merely a
mechanical one, due to the size of the micropyle.* This, I believe, is a com-
plete solution of how to obtain crosses between the salmon and the trout.

This brings us to the consideration of whether larger eggs, the produce
of older or better fed fishes, will eventuate in an augmented size of the
offspring, irrespective of the question of changing the locality they inhabit,
or increasing the space or amount of water they reside in. Two sets of

.* Mr. Arthur tells us, that in 1880, one trout at Otago yielded about thirty eggs double the size
of all the other ova she passed, and they hatched out just the same as the rest.

]xx BREEDING.

Loclileven trout were stripped on the same day in November, 1882, the
parents of one being- sis-year-olds, and of the other seven-year-olds. The
eggs were similarly treated, hatched in the same room during January and
February, 1883, and turned into two ponds of similar size, each 100
feet long, and fed by the same stream. In the upper pond were the
progeny of the six-year-old ; in the lower, which received the stream after
passing through the upper pond, those from the seven-year- old. On
November 29, 1883, the fry in the upper appeared to average about
2| in. in length, and in the lower about 3 in., showing that the offspring
from the older parents had developed the most satisfactory results. I
selected three of the finest fish from each pond ; those from the upper
averaged a little over 3 in., while from the lower they were nearly 4 in.,
or at nine months of age those which were the progeny of seven-year-old
parents were nearly a quarter longer than those which were descended
from six-year-old parents. In March, 1884, I again visited these ponds,
and found the foregoing results were being still continued. The ponds
were subsequently cleaned out and restocked with young trout, the offspring
of parents of the same age, and in August, 1884, there was no perceptible
difference in the size of those in the two ponds. If the eggs of older fish
(up to a certain age) give larger and quicker growing offspring than do
those from younger ones, it shows us that fisheries in which only small
parents are left as stock may not improbably suffer a deterioration in
the race, and this, irrespective of food, may be one cause of how fisheries
fall off.

Finally arises the consideration of what benefit to mankind in general
are investigations into the breeding of fishes ? Here I shall merely enter
upon a few, some being now carried out successfully, some experimentally,
and, lastly, some theoretically suggested. In a state of nature salmon and
trout eggs are subject to destruction from many foes, and it has been
computed that although each female is provided with many hundreds of
ova, only about one in nineteen of such as are left in the natural redds
ever hatches, and only four or five of these out of 30,000 eggs arrive at
maturity and are fit for the table ; whereas, taking Howietoun as an
instance, it is found that from 90 to 95 per cent, hatch in a well-constructed
fish cultural establishment, while the loss among the fry is inconsiderable.
Irrespective of this the young can be turned into the rivers at times when
they would be more able to shift for themselves than if they resided there
from their earliest days. Without entering into the reasons, still it is
patent to the most casual observer that the interests of the upper riparian
proprietors of salmon rivers are not always in agreement with those of the
estuaries and lower waters. The former consider the fish are reared in
their territory, but that the produce is almost exclusively captured at or

SELECTION OP FORMS AND LAND-LOCKED SALMON.

lxxi

near the mouths of the rivers. The lower proprietors in some places
believing that the upper proprietors are helpless do not always listen to
their complaints in an amicable manner, considering themselves masters
of the situation. But as a knowledge of fish culture extends it will be
fouud that, did they know it, exactly the reverse is the case. The upper
proprietors might obtain such splendid breeds of trout for their rivers
that they would not care to continue preserving the salmon. Or they
might introduce a land-locked salmon, or one which does not descend
to the sea but passes all its life in fresh water. Or hybrids between
the salmon and trout might be sterile and not take on migratory
propensities.

I have shown how by selection of parents larger and more rapidly
growing trout can be raised, and these fish, provided they can obtain
sufficient food, attain to a size now but seldom seen, but when observed being
termed iSahno ferox. Thus eggs sent from small brook trout in Hampshire
and Buckinghamshire to New Zealand have developed into 20 lb. and 30 lb.
fish. But to obtain these fine breeds great care must be taken- in keeping
the parent fish in suitable ponds ; if breeders of different years can intermix
then the benefits of age may be lost. Thus it is the finest forms come from
seven or eight year old parents, as has been ascertained at Howietoun, where
the young the progeny of such are now being kept to be breeders in their
turn, and it does not seem an unreasonable expectation to see in a few years
such a semi-domesticated breed as these islands have never witnessed, and
all this due to the enterprise of a single energetic individual.

Then there are the so-termed land-locked-salmon, which might prove
invaluable to upper riparian proprietors, or those who possess large inland
lakes, containing sufficient food for their sustenance, or where descent to the'
sea is rendered impossible from any cause. In Maine, in the United States,
there is found a variety of the salmon which has taken on a lake-life and is
said never descends to the sea ; many of the eggs were sent over last year to
this country, and the young reared from them were exhibited in the Fisheries
Exhibition. The Canadian Commissioner observed that in some of the rivers
of the Dominion of Canada the same variety obtains. From Lake Wenern,
in Sweden, a few of these land-locked forms were received at the Fisheries
Exhibition, some of which weighed as much as 151b.

It has been asserted that no salmon in our country has ever developed
ova without first descending to the sea. Here, again, facts at Howietoun
entirely disprove this assertion. Some young salmon were hatched in March,
1881, and in. December, 1883, while still in the ponds some females were
found with ova, and one on being removed in August, 1884, had numerous
large eggs. These, being bred from, may form the nucleus, after one or
two generations, of a land-locked race.

XXII BREEDING.

HYBRIDS.

It has been conclusively shown that hybrids are found both among marine
and fresh-water fishes, whether raised artificially or existing in a wild
condition, as might be anticipated when we remember that the milt of a male
might readily in water attain a proximity to the egg of one of another species
or genus. This has been more especially recorded among the carps
(vol. ii, page 157,- &c.) and the Salmonidce (vol. ii, page 80, &c.) "In
1869/' says Livingston Stone, " I crossed the yellow perch, Perca flavescens,
with the glass-eyed pike, Lucioperca, both percoids, using perch eggs arid
perch-pike milt. The' result was an embryo which continued to develop
till the seventh day, when the development suddenly stopped entirely,
although the embryo did not die. At this point it resembled the embryo of
the same age of the yellow perch proper." Fraisse asserts that he has been
able to effect by artificial fecundation a hybrid offspring between the trout
and theburbolt. Leuchart remarks upon having reared hybrids between the
female salmon and male trout, and from these he procured in due time milt and.
ova which were fertile. Other observers again have asserted that fertile
hybrids are only of occasional occurrence, and that eggs, produced from
them may be incapable of fertilization. The hybrids between the salmon and
trout instituted at Howietoun in 1879, have, so far as has been examined,
given sterile offspring.

Some experiments were made by Sir James Gibson-Maitland, Bart., at
his fish-hatching establishment at Howietoun. On December 24, 1881,
20,000 eggs of the Lochleven trout were fertilized by salmon milt and
hatched on March 9, 1882. On March 13, 1884, there were 212 successfully
transferred to Craigend. Among these were six above 10 in. in length, but
some were as short as 2\ in., showing the great range of variation as to size
which maybe found in a single batch of young from the same parents and
kept under exactly similar conditions of existence. One examined in
August, 1884, was found to be a sterile female.

On November 29, 1883, .4,500 eggs of the Lochleven variety of trout (of
the season of 1875) were milted from a par of the salmon raised at
Howietoun, and the mortality among the eggs was 1 in 46. But although this
was so, the curious fact remains that the milt of the par in this instance was
insufficient to impregnate the trout eggs, so as to produce young in a strong
and healthy condition, while weakly alevins either die or are next to useless
for stocking purposes. Although some thousands of the young emerged from
the eggs, all were at once seen to be suffering from what has been termed
dropsy or blue swelling of the yelk sac, which proved fatal before long to the
majority, only about 100 remaining in August.

HYBRIDS. lxxiii

On November 29, 1883, 3,695 eggs of the American char were milted
from a par. The following is the monthly record of the number of dead
eggs which were .removed. In December 144, in January 1,527, and in
February 401, or a total of 3,372 dead eggs. On March 12, 1884, 7 were
alive, but' in an unsatisfactory condition. The amount of fertilization
received by American char eggs from young pars is evidently less than that
afforded to ova of the Lochleven trout, the relationship being perhaps more
distant between a char and a salmon than between a salmon and a trout.

On November 15, 1882, 2,000 ova from a Lochleven trout were milted
from an American char (Salmo fontinalis), and on November 29, 1883,
about 250 were living. On March 13, 1884, 211 were alive. When' first
hatched these hybrids were much malformed, monstrosities being numerous,
while blindness in one or both eyes and bull-dog deformities of the snout
were common. Some semi-albinos were nearly blind. In August, 1884, all
were doing well, and a male having been examined was found to be full
of milt.

This experiment was repeated on November 29, 1883, when 3,000 ova
were taken from a Lochleven trout and milted from an American char.
The deaths were in about the proportion of 1 in 17 eggs. The young
were looking healthy in August, 1884.

On November 15, 1882, 8,000 ova of an American char were fertilized
from a Lochleven trout, and on November 29, 1883, only 16 were alive,
and on March 12, 1884, 8. Their state was unsatisfactory, the largest
being a little over two inches in length. In this experiment when first
hatched the young fry were greatly deformed ; many had crooked spines,
atrophy of the posterior portion of their bodies, with a general deficiency of
fins, especially of the caudal. In August, 1884, the last 7 were doing well.

November 15, 1882, about 9,000 eggs of an American char were milted
from a Scotch variety of char, and no monstrosities (as seen in the other
two crosses) resulted, and 91 lively young fry were present at Howietoun
on March 13, 1884, while in August, on one being examined, it was found
to be a male nearly ready for breeding. On November 12, 1883, the
experiment was repeated, and the eggs hatched on January 26, 1884.
On March 13, 1884, there were at least 500 young alevins alive and doing
well. On December 1, 1883, a third experiment was carried out. These
hatched February 22, 1884, and upwards of 100 young were present on
March 13, 1884.

' Different species of Salmonidce may be crossed, as the Lochleven trout
and char, or various forms of char, and the young would seem to be fertile.
If crosses between salmon and trout are sterile, and no longer migratory in
their instincts, the question arises, will they be in season all the year round ?
Could the fish culturist raise a non-migratory sterile form, what an addition

lxxiv BREEDING. INSTINCTS AND EMOTIONS.

it would be to the lake fisheries, also to the upper waters of our rivers, with,
of course, the drawback that the numbers would have to be occasionally
replenished.

INSTINCTS AND EMOTIONS.*

The instincts of brutes have received more attention from biologists than
those of fishes. Some naturalists have asserted that the lives of the finny
tribes are destitute of the joys and sorrows generally appertaining to verte-
brate animals, attributing to them an almost vegetative existence. But
fishermen are well aware that they are as eager to escape from danger or
avoid capture as are the inhabitants of the earth or the frequenters of the
air, which compels us to question whether their lives are as joyless as have
been represented, if anger or affection are really unknown passions to them.

Fishes have certain means of demonstrating their emotions, as they are
capable of erecting their dermal appendages, as scales or fin-rays, under the
influence of anger or terror, similarly as feathers or hairs are erected in birds
and mammals. But special expressions, as of joy, pain, astonishment, &c,
we can hardly expect to find so well-marked in fishes as in some of the
higher grades of animals, in which the play of the features often affords an
insight into their internal emotions. Eyes without movable eyelids, cheeks
encased with bony plates or covered with hard scales are scarcely suitable
for smiling, while external ears are wanting. Still we perceive among fishes
a distinct expression or change of colour, which is but slightly developed or
even absent in many of the higher vertebrates. When one sickens its
brilliant tints become less and less, or even entirely fade away, while the
same result may follow being vanquished by a foe. But when in good
health and residing in suitable localities, especially during the breeding
season, their colours become vivid, and even a temporary accession of anger
may cause a similar result.

When investigating, if fish are or are not destitute of affections, it is
necessary to ascertain whether they show such to their companions or to
human beings, irrespective of what they may exhibit to their partners or
their offspring.. Mr. Arderon found that on separating two ruffs, Acerina
cernua, the one he kept pined away, declining food until its companion was
restored, when both became contented (vol. i, p. 12), and the same observer
gave an account (Phil. Trans. Eoyal Society, 1727) of how he tamed a dace,
Leuciscus vulgaris, which would lie close to the glass watching its master.
Marital affection I have alluded to when referring to the breeding of fishes
(page lxi).

* See "Instincts and Emotions in Fish," by F. Day. Linn. Soc. Journal, xv, p. 31.

AFFECTION AND ANGER. lxXV

Manifestations of anger have been well described in the accounts we
possess of the Fighting Fishes of. Siain. . After remarking on the cock-
fights of that country, Sir J. Browning adds that there is a little bellicose
fish which attacks its fellows with great ferocity, bristling its fins, and
exhibiting the most intense excitement. One of these, seeing its reflection
in a glass, will violently advance head foremost against the shadow. Dr.
Cantor observed that when this fish, Macropodus pugnax, is in a quiescent
state, with its fins at rest the dull colours present nothing remarkable.
But should two be brought within sight of each other, the little creatures
become suddenly excited, the raised fins and the whole body shine with
metallic colours of dazzling beauty, while the projecting gill-membranes,
waving like a black frill round the throat, add something grotesque to the
general appearance. In this state it makes repeated darts at its antagonist,
but both when taken out of each others' sight instantly become quiet. Even
the little sticklebacks, Gasterosteus aculeatus, of our own fresh waters show
great combative propensities (vol. i, p. 241), and after a fight between two
examples a strange alteration takes place almost immediately in the
defeated party ; his gallant bearing forsakes him, his gay colours fade away,
he becomes again speckled and ugly, and. hides his disgrace among his
peaceable companions, who occupy together that part of the tub which
their tyrants have not taken possession of. He is, moreover, for some time
the constant object of his conqueror's persecution. Here we perceive how
the disgrace of defeat affects the spirit of the vanquished, which, reacting
on his health, causes his brilliant hues to fade away. The victor, on the
other hand, exulting in his victory, becomes more resplendent; he does not
forget his triumph, and considers it no disgrace to occasionally it lord over
his fallen foe. .

Everyone who possesses an aquarium is aware how spiny-rayed fishes on
being angry or frightened at once elevate their fins. The globe-fish,
Tetrodon (vol. ii, page 271), are able to inflate their bodies when the spinate
dermal scutes become erected; also the file-fish, Balistes (vol. ii, page
267), has been observed by Mr. Whitmee to swim rapidly past its antago-
nist and graze its side with its file-like lateral spines. In the Ohio a sheat
fish or siluroid is found in which its first dorsal ray is strong and bony,
and employed to kill others of a smaller size, for which purpose it swims
beneath the fish it intends to attack, then suddenly rises and wounds it
repeatedly in the belly. I have personally observed an Indian siluroid,
Macrones vittatus, lying on the wet grass, which on being touched erected
its dorsal and pectoral spines, and also emitted a sound resembling the
buzzing of a bee, which was evidently a sign of anger or terror. Couch
observed of our sticklebacks, Gasterosteus, that the bite of these little furies
is so severe that he had frequently known it, when inflicted on the tail, to

lxxvi INSTINCTS AND EMOTIONS.

produce mortification and death. These fish also use their lateral spines
(ventral fins) with most fatal effect, and he had seen one during a battle
absolutely rip his antagonist quite open, so that it. sank to the bottom
and died.

Certain fishes are endowed with specific modes of showing their being
affected with anger or terror, although these same means may also be
employed for the purpose of obtaining food ; among these is the electric
eel, Gymiiotus electrlcans, of South America, which is furnished with
electric organs of such power as to be capable of causing death even to
large animals. Humbolt and others have recorded how the Indians, when
they desire to capture this fish, drive horses and mules into waters which
they inhabit, when, as soon, as disturbed, these eels attack the intruders'.
They first glide under the horses' bellies and prostrate them by repeated
electric shocks, which by degrees diminish in intensity, for long rest and
nourishment are required to repair the galvanic force which they have
expended. It has been held that the possession of this power affords them
means of protection against alligators, while it is certainly employed
against other fish which it requires as food, but its onslaught on intruding
horses may be due to anger or terror. Even in British seas we find the
torpedo, or cramp ray (vol. ii, page 330) endowed with this electric power.
The electric shock which it occasions is thus described by Kempfer. In
some cases the nerves are so affected that the person struck imagines all the
bone's of his body, and particularly those of the limb that received the blow,
are driven out of joint. This is accompanied with a universal tremor,
a sickness at the stomach, a general convulsion, and a total suspension of
the mind. Quick-swimming fish have been found inside these torpedoes,
and would appear to have been captured by means of electric shocks.
Whether we are to consider the attacks made by sword-fishes, Xiphiidce
(see vol. i, page 143), upon passing vessels are due to anger at being
disturbed, or under the impression that they are attacking their enemies,
the. whales, is questionable; but it is a well-ascertained fact that the planks
of numerous ships, especially in the Indian seas, have been pierced by the
strong rostral apparatus with which these fishes are provided either for
offence or defence.

Fear is frequently observable. Thus some small forms were kept in an
aquarium along with an Antennarius, and were evidently in great dread of
their carnivorous neighbour, whom they continually tormented. But when
attacking it they always took care to strike at its posterior part, although
this was protected by a sort of coral. Many forms when hooked or netted
will empty their stomachs, either through fear or else to facilitate their escape,
by lightening their load. Along the sides of the pools and some of the
rivers of India, gulls and terns may occasionally be seen congregating and

FEAR, NUPTIAL SEASON, AND INHERITED INSTINCT. lxxvii

beating the water with their wings, so as to scare the fish, when they fall an
easy prey. Sars has observed how pollack succeed in alarming a school of
sand-eels, Ammodytes (vol. i, p. 329), and driving them towards the surface,
when they become a prey to gulls from above and these fish from below.
Similarly, porpoises have been observed to swim round masses of gregarious
fishes, and when they were alarmed, feasting on them with impunity : the
gar-fish, Belone, of the British seas (vol. ii, p. 146)' may then be observed to
mount to the surface and crowd on each other as they press forward. When
still more closely pursued, they spring out of the water to the height of
several feet, leaping over one another in singular confusion, and again sink
beneath. The flying fish, Exoccetus, similarly springs out of the water to
escape its rapacious pursuers (vol. ii, p. 155.) Members of the herring
family, Olupeidce, would seem to be those in which more predacious forms
appear to induce .terror. Thus the gar-pike, in the eastern seas, may
frequently be seen pursuing anchovies along the surface of the water.
Every angler is aware of the natural timidity of fishes, and keepers know
how easily poachers are able to deter salmon from ascending fish-passes.

During the nuptial season, teleostean fishes (page lvii) have more
resplendent tints than at any other period of the year, and this may be
for the purpose of mutual attraction, as seen in the salmon, stickleback,
&c. While in the United States a male of the John Darters, Etheostoma
blennoides, kept in an aquarium, underwent, almost in an instant, an entire
change of pattern in the colours on its body, upon the introduction of a
female fish of the same species. Even after two weeks the novelty had not
worn off, though its body-colours varied much from hour to hour, but had
not reverted to it's original dress.

Inherited instinct is a subject in fishes worth attention. Due to it the
young of many sorts return from the sea to the localities where they were
originally reared, and in their turn produce offspring inheriting the same
tendency. Similarly, we may perceive inherited fear; a young fish just
hatched will hide itself from the gaze of other animals.

Some fishes have the curious instinct of obtaining assistance from other
forms in their search after food or their migrations from place to place; this
latter being done in order to. profit by the greater powers of locomotion in
, their host, from whose body, however; they draw no sustenance, but are
commensals, merely partaking of such food as comes within their reach.
Among these latter we have the sucking-fish, Echeneis, as an occasional
wanderer to our shores (vol. i, p. 106). The Fierasfer (vol. i, p. 328),
which is another rare visitant off our coast, is often known, to seek its
fortune inside the sea-cucumber or Holothnria, upon which it may be said
to be a " free messmate." It works its way into its host tail foremost,
while many of the young of our commoner forms seek refuge in Medusas,

lxxviii

INSTINCTS AND EMOTIONS.

and similar forms (vol. ii, pp. 281, 285, 297), phenomena very commonly
observed in the Eastern seas.

Without entering- more fully into details, it seems possible to claim for
this class of animals the possession of attachments, whether as conjugal
feelings, paternal or maternal affections, or even platonic friendships.

Salmon Pass.

CLASSIFICATION. lxxix

CLASSIFICATION.

As to the system followed in this work I have simply accepted, so far as
I possibly could, that employed in the British Museum Catalogue, as
specimens are arranged in the National Collection in accordauce with it. At
the present time Ichthyologists may be considered as engaged in sto ring-up
facts from which after a longer or shorter interval a general system will have
to be evolved. Whether therefore one commences with the spiny-rayed
teleostean perches, or begins from the higher and more specialized groups
of sharks and their allies, seems to be a matter of trivial importance.

The following is the classification adopted :

Sub-class, I Teleostei -<

'Order 1. Acanthopterygii, vol. i, p. 1.

2. Anacanthini, i, p. 271.

3. Physostomi, ii, p. 46.

4. Lophobranchii, ii, p. 256.

5. Plectognathi, ii, p. 267.

, . TT _, r Order 1. Ganoidei, n,'p. 278.

feub-class, 11 Uhondropterygii ! _ _,. . ..... or

C ,, 2. Elasmobranchn, n, p. 285.

Snb-class, III Cyclostomata, ii, p. 355.

Sub-class, IV Leptocardii, ii, p. 366.

Although it is easy to refer to Families as groups of Genera and the
latter as an assemblage of species, this merely brings us to the real question
at issue, which is, what is a species ? For determining this two lines of
investigation may be followed : (1) the morphological or that which relates to
structure and development, or wherein individuals agree one with another
but differ from other fishes ; and (2) the 'physiological or such as pertain to
function, as whether the forms under consideration are normally capable of
fertile union one with another (but not so with those of other groups) , being all
descendants of a primitive race of ancestors. A variety is one which differs
in some characters from the type of the species, but between which a distinct
intermediate gradation has been observed. While a local race may be also a
variety but wherein no such connecting chain has yet been discovered. What
some consider a variety others would deem a local race or sub-species; thus
a permanence of variation has been held to constitute a species, but its
instability a variety.

Irrespective of the foregoing there are other forms of variation ; thus
larval fish as the Leptocephalus (vol. ii, page 239), or young of the conger
and some other fishes, may have their development arrested, in which
condition they may still live for a longer or shorter period. Monstrosities are
generally the result of some abnormal condition of the embryo, sometimes

IxXX CLASSIFICATION.

occasioned by shocks or injuries when fission may ensue occasioning double-
headed monsters ; or crossing two distinct species would seem to set up
various- abnormal structural results. Analogous variation, or where an
animal varies towards some allied form, has not, I believe, been observed in
fish. There is also atavism, or the reversion towards the original type.

In addition to zoological classification, fishes are likewise divisible in
accordance with their distribution and habits ; thus some may be termed sea
or marine forms, while others are fresh-water residents. Also there are
species which observe no such undeviating peculiarities, as they are observed
to roam from one of these localities to the other, especially such as are
generally found in brackish water.

Marine forms are likewise subdivided in accordance with the areas
they principally frequent ; thus inhabitants of the open sea are known as
pelagic : such as enter fresh waters for breeding purposes as anadromous :
while the along-shore forms which are restricted within a tract up to 80 or
100 fathoms, rarely entering fresh waters or being found in mid-ocean, as
littoral.*

Fresh-water forms are those which pass their entire lives in fresh waters ;
while such as live in fresh waters, but descend to the salt water to breed, are
termed catadromous.

If we now attempt further divisions, commencing with marine forms, a
difficulty meets us so soon as we try to classify the various sea-fishes into
residents of certain zones of depth, the majority changing their feeding-
ground at different periods of their existence. They may also be influenced
directly by heat and cold, sunshine and darkness, storms and calms; or
indirectly by how these influences affect the products on which they feed.
Thus occasionally pelagic forms are observed in vast numbers at the surface,
where as a rule they are generally absent. The young also of many pelagic
forms pass their infantile life in the littoral zone, but when adult retire into
deeper waters. The Antennarius is found in some portions of the globe,
living near the surface in its early age, revelling in the pleasures of light and
warmth ; but as time creeps on, some have been observed to sink to the
bottom, where they can indulge at their ease in a sluggish existence, if it can
be a pleasure to them to live where seasons are absent, aud day and night
unknown. The deep sea forms of animal life are observed to be mainly
composed of more or less modern shallow-water genera, and their allies, which
have extended their range into the deep sea zone.

In spite of the foregoing difficulties further subdivisions of fish have been
instituted, thus in marine forms we have such as inhabit regions through

* A. Agassiz considers the littoral zone as up to 100 or 150 fathoms, or an extension of the coast-
line to a depth at which the direct action of the sun's rays is limited : that from it in a slope up to
450 or 500 fathoms is a continental zone where the diminution of temperature is rapid ; beyond this
is the abyssal, where there is a low temperature varying little from freezing-point.

GEOLOGICAL APPEARANCE. lxxxi

which light penetrates more or less as in the littoral zone, where sea- weeds,
corals and shells are found and which may be termed the fauna of light :
whereas beyond this zone a region of darkness obtains. Pelagic species are
normally observed to be more or less restricted to certain zones of depth or
bathymetrical regions and are known as surface, median or abyssal forms.
While fishes of the fresh-waters are found frequenting rivers or fluviatile
forms, or else passing their lives in lakes or ponds or lacustrine species :
such as reside in large pieces of water may likewise select the shores and
surface waters or the deeper portions of the lake.

GEOLOGICAL APPEARANCE.

Among the many interesting questions relating to fish, assuredly not the
least so is when did they first appear in the waters of the globe which we
inhabit ? And for an answer we have to ask the Geologists, who assert
that the lowest type of vertebrate life first occurred near the close of the
Silurian epochs at the base of the Ludlow rocks, where certain spines, jaws,
teeth and a cephalic buckler of probably a Pteraspis, as well as coprolite bodies
containing crinoids and molluscs, have been obtained, but no other portions
of true piscine skeleton. In the " Devonian " or " Old Eed Sandstone,"
remains of fish in a more perfect state and in larger numbers are found, so
much so that this strata has been termed the "age of fish." Some of the
Silurian forms seem to have continued into the Devonian, and at this period
ganoids and sharks became predominant but no trace of segmentation of the
vertebra has been observed ; ganoids and sharks are very abundant in the
Carboniferous and Permian rocks which show the end of the Pakeozoic epoch.

Up to the Mesozoic epoch fishes possessing heterocercal tails (page ix)
were the ordinary type, but now they commenced to diminish, and the
homocercal (page ix) form began to obtain predominance ; in short, in the
earliest times the posterior termination of the vertebral column was very
similar to what we now find as an embryonic condition of teleosteans,
persistent formerly, transitory now. The fishes in the Lias besides developing
homocercal tails commence to show ossification and segmentation of the
vertebra3, and Leptolepis a teleostean form, has been supposed to have
been discovered. Among the fishes of the Oolitic strata a further advance
towards the fauna of this period occurs, while rays become more numerous.
In the chalk or cretaceous era, although Chondropterygians are found, it is the
Teleosteans or bony forms, as already observed, that obtain predominance,
and so on through the Tertiary period to our times.

It has been pointed out that had such fish as Cyclostomata or Lepto-
cardii existed in Silurian or Mesozoic epochs it would hardly be expected that

/

lxxxii DIFFUSION OF FISHES.

they would have left any trace unless it were their horny teeth. Indeed
specimens of such teeth, or those of molluscs or annelids have been discovered
in the Lower Silurian and Devonian strata.

Considerable difficulty has arisen as to whether the ancestral forms* of
fish were fresh-water or marine, and if the latter, whether they were first
littoral, subsequently pelagic, or originally pelagic. At the present time,
investigations tend to show that although marine species not infrequently
enter, breed, and even take up their permanent abode in fresh waters, such
is not the case with strictly fresh-water forms, which do not voluntarily
enter the sea, or if there would succumb. True, a flood from a river or
inundation along a coast may temporarily so alter the composition of the
sea- water that a fresh-water form may reside in it or travel by it for some
distance along a coast-line, but they die when the water becomes normally
saline.

M. Agassiz, when giving some interesting observations on this question,
remarked that although at present it is not plain that fluviatile types on the
whole are superior to the marine ones, still among the higher forms of
Chondropterygii as in ganoids, the bony pike, Lepidosteus, of America, the
Polypterus of tropical Africa^ the Lepidosiren or Protopterus of the west
coast of Africa, and the Geratodus of Queensland, are restricted to fresh
waters. While even in groups considered to be marine the fresh-water forms
possess characters generally denoting their superiority over their marine
representatives.

DIFFUSION OF FISHES.

Fishes may have been dispersed over the surface of the globe in several
ways, as marine ones through the ocean, and fresh-water species along rivers
and watersheds, and in exceptional instances along coasts. For similarly to
other forms of life they possess a natural tendency to increase as well as
disperse when not checked by climatic or physical difficulties, or other
external causes. As assisting in this diffusion there are uncertain agencies
which can only act occasionally, but by means of which fresh-water forms
may be dispersed, such as floods carrying them from one watershed into
another, which although contiguous at their sources may lead in entirely
different directions. In some species it has been shown that if fecundated
eggs, as of trout, are kept moist and cold they can be conveyed in safety for
long distances (page lxvii), while salmonoid eggs removed from the maw of
a trout have been hatched. This renders it not improbable that should a

* In embryo-fish the developmental changes when correctly ascertained are a guide to the
classification of the species.

DISPERSION AND DISTRIBUTION. ]xxxiii

hawk or eagle have secured such a fish and carried it away to the mountains
in order to feed its young or consume it at its leisure, should the eggs fall
into water they might similarly hatch and the breed spread. Geese and
ducks (or even flying insects, as some beetles) might likewise spread fishes
or convey the ova partially frozen attached to their bills or feet, while it has
been suggested that they might likewise be conveyed among the wet feathers
of birds or the fur of otters.* Among such forms as the perch, wherein we
see stringy ova, such might be carried long distances attached to sticks or.
grass or even to the feet of herons, grebes, &c. McCleay (Proc. Linn.
Soc. N. S. W., iii, p. 15) notices how a marine fish, Therapon unicolor, had
been found in a dam near Warialda, to which place the ova was supposed to
have been conveyed by birds : Davy also suggests that glaciers may have
assisted in the dissemination of ova.f

DISPERSION AND DISTRIBUTION OF FISHES. .

That marine fishes may become temporary or permanent occupants of
fresh waters and so change their condition of life has been observed by fish
culturists for centuries. Anadromous forms as the salmon ascend into fresh
waters to breed, there its eggs are hatched and the young reside until suffi-
ciently mature to follow their parents' mode of life. Should the return of
marine species to the sea be prevented, this is not necessarily fatal, for the
form may take on a fresh-water life. In the tropics it is common to find true
marine fishes in pieces of fresh water not far removed from tidal influence,
due to their having entered these places while the monsoon rains were at their
height, the rivers and swamps full, when .they had become carried, perhaps
by a high spring-tide, over a bank, but as the waters fell they became
imprisoned in their new situation and unable to return to the sea. Similarly
sea-fishes rove into our fresh waters after food, conclusively proving that such
change does not necessarily occasion their death, while here they may remain
and continue their race as observed in the northern portion of the Baltic
(i, page 54).

In India, marine fishes are frequently observed ascending rivers for
predaceous purposes as far as the tide extends or even further. Therapous
are not uncommon in the Hooghly near Calcutta, while I have taken a sea-
perch, the " cock-up," Lates calcarifer, as far inland as in the river at Pegu

* Pontoppidan (Natural History of Norway, ii, p. 139) remarked that at the top of Varne-set
and many other high places in Haranger, fish are taken in ponds which have no communication with
other ponds or rivers. He suggests whether they have been there since the flood; or 'if birds of
prey have carried the spawn or young fry up there.

f Dr/Stoliczka found fishes living in Tibet in fresh water 16,000 feet abpve the level of the sea, '

.

lxxxiv DIFFUSION AND DISTRIBUTION.

in Burma, and a species of saw-fish, Pristis Perrotteti, upwards of four feet
long, in the Mahanuddi river in Orissa, in fresh water and at least forty
miles from the sea. M. de La Gironniere found a saw-fish inhabiting fresh
waters in the Laguna de Baij, Luzon, and which was identical with those in
the Gulf of Manilla. Gill has observed upon a saw-fish and a shark being
taken in Lake Nicaragua. Advantage has been taken of the knowledge of how
marine forms will live in fresh water, and the Romans turned it to a practical
account by forming fresh-water vivaria wherein some marine fishes were
kept. Mr. Arnold has been similarly successful in Guernsey (vol. i, page 229),
and Colonel Meynell in Yoi'kshire (vol. ii, page 123).

The intolerance of fresh-water fishes to sea-water* is greater than of
marine ones to fresh. Such forms as perches or sticklebacks, whose ancestors
were probably marine, are more tolerant of saline water than the more strictly
fresh-water species as carps. This question, of course, is most important
as regards the dispersion of these forms, for should they not be able to live
in anything but fresh Water, for them to extend from one point to another
practically requires a land connection. Lubbock tells us that on sea-floods
occurring in the Norfolk Broads, the first fish to suffer are the tench, pike,
bream, and roach ; perch bear a strong admixture, but catadromous eels are
unaffected. If, as is the case in Oceanic Islands, as the Anclamans of the
Indian seas, we find fresh-water fishes similar to those on the mainland and
at Ceylon, it seems reasonable to suppose that although the two localities
may be hundreds of miles distant, a land connection must have existed
between them at some antecedent period of the world's history. If volcanic
islands are searched true fresh-water fishes are absent, unless they have
obtained access by accident, or been placed there by man. Respecting the
northern limits of fresh-water fishes it has been ascertained that they are
absent from regions where ice is nearly or quite continuous.

Abyssal forms (see page lxxxi) are found in the deep abysses of the ocean,
where there is an entire absence of light obtained from the surface, but
whether there are not present means for the production of luminosity I have
already touched upon (page xxv). Deep-sea fishes have either very large
eyes, similar to nocturnal land animals, or else they are quite blind, and as
regards these organs they show a considerable resemblance to what is
observed in such as inhabit waters in dark caverns. Recent investigations
would seem to show that from eighty or a hundred fathoms in depth up to
two hundred fathoms the size of this organ increases, in order to collect any
rays of light, but beyond this last depth both large and small eyes are found ;
the latter forms have also usually tentacles, for the purpose of feeling,

* As bearing on this point, marine Medusa are very intolerant of fresh water, but a fresh-water
iorm having been discovered, it was found to be even more intolerant of sea-water than the marine
ones are of fresh (Nature, June 24th, 1880).

ABYSSAL AND PELAGIC FORMS. lxXXV

whereas at the most profound depths both eyes and tactile organs are
absent. Deep-sea forms are either pale, colourless, or of a single tint;
and as already remarked (page xiv), the tissues which connect their
hard structures together are weak ; while such as are . brought up from
great depths have their bodies expanded, and even burst, due to the
removal of the pressure of superincumbent water, as has been observed
(page xliii) .

The temperature of the sea at 500 fathoms is as low as 40 F., even
under the equator in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans ; below 2000 fathoms
it is not more than a few degrees above freezing-point, except in peculiar
instances of land-locked seas. Almost everywhere at 500 fathoms, and
everywhere at 1000, there is nearly an absence of currents, and move-
ments must be very slow and probably quite imperceptible to the resident
animals ; as a consequence of this similar condition of life the deep-sea fauna
show no zones of distribution in depths below 500 fathoms.

M. Regnard has made experiments with water respecting the amount of
pressure a fish will sustain : one destitute of an air-bladder, or in which it
had been evacuated, he found might be submitted to a pressure of 100
atmospheres, equivalent to a depth of 650 fathoms, without injurious effects;
at 200 atmospheres it became torpid, but soon recovered on being removed;
at 300 atmospheres, equivalent to about 2000 fathoms, it died. But among
other reasons for failure in this last experiment, the pressure was more
rapidly induced than would occur in nature, were a fish to change its
habitat.

Some abyssal forms are dwarfed, perhaps from cold or deficiency of food ;
others, perhaps due to absence of foes, are almost gigantic.

Many deep-sea forms have an enormous development of the mouth and
stomach, thus enabling them to swallow fishes even larger than themselves,
probably in order to retain a stock of food sufficient for some time, all being
carnivorous, for at certain depths Pteropods dissolve, at greater distances the
Globegerina are similarly lost, possibly the sea-water itself assisting, as
when alkaline it can absorb an additional amount of carbonate of lime.
Doubtless oxygen decreases with depth of water, but some is present even
in the deepest.

The number of animals in the sea decrease as the depth increases, and in
the deep abysses a varied repast sinks from the surface ; while as no plants,
unless parasitic, are found, all food must descend from above, assisted by
shore debris and vegetable matter carried down by rivers and which reach
the sea-bed.

Pelagic fishes (see page lxxx) are more numerous in tropical regions than
in our own, and not a few are cosmopolitan, while they often follow their
food into the littoral zone. Some are rapid swimmers and pursue their

lxxxvi GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION

prey, while others, as the Antennarius, drift about on sticks or seaweed in
accordance with the action of winds and currents. Among them are some
which ascend to the surface during the night-time, and may be possessed of
luminous organs (page xxv), common to them, and likewise to some of the
deeper abyssal species.

Littoral forms (see page lxxx), although constantly migrating within the
limits of their own zone, or even extending their range to within the localities
frequented by pelagic species, will often decline to pass deep-sea ravines to
opposite banks, or cross over ledges of rock.

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF BRITISH FORMS.

Among the nineteen genera of fresh -water fishes which inhabit the British
Isles, the following are, (I) common to the Palaearctic and Nearctic regions :
1. Gasterosteus, 2. Perca, 3. Gottus, 4. Lota, 5. Salmo, 6. Thymallus,
7. Coregonus, 8. Esox, 9. Leuciscus, 10. Abramis, 11. Sturio; (II) forms
restricted to the Palaearctic region : 12. Acerina, 13. Gobio, 14. Tinea,
15. Abramis, 16. Alburnus ; (III) genera present in the Palaearctic and
Oriental regions : 17. Gyprinus, 18. Gar as silts-, 19. Nemacheilus ; (IV) found
in the Palaearctic, Oriental, and Ethiopian regions : 20. Barbus.

Among the foregoing, eleven, or more than half of the British fresh- water

genera of fishes, are common to both. Arctic regions, while those numbered 1,

3, 5, and 7 have marine representatives. Nos. 2 and 11 are frequently found

in salt water, the former being closely connected with the marine perches,

and Lota, possibly the remnant of a glacial ocean, is closely related to marine

forms ; but Leuciscus, Abramis, and Esox are distinctly restricted to fresh

waters, yet are found in both regions, whereas the sea as at present existing

would form an insuperable barrier against their normal extension from one

point to the other. It has been advanced that all evidence points to a

continued mild climate in the Arctic regions through Cretaceous, Eocene,

and Miocene times, whereas had the North Atlantic between Europe and

North America been closed, although such might have raised the temperature

of these isles, it must have increased the cold in the Arctic regions by cutting

off the gulf stream. Appearances, as regards the distribution of mammals,

seem to point to there having been probably on more than one occasion, but

for brief periods during the tertiary period, a land connection between

N.W.Europe and N.E. America, and to this the distribution of the strictly

fresh-water genera of fish would seem to lend countenance.

Gyprinus and Garassius appear to have been forms introduced into our
isles, while the little loach Nemacheilus is found in a continuous chain of
many species throughout the Palaearctic and Oriental regions.

OF BRITISH FORMS. lxxxvii

We have now to consider whether fresh-water fishes in their distribution
lend any countenance to the theory that Ireland was formerly united to
continental Europe; also that a great portion of Great Britain became
submerged, but a re-elevation of land occurred ; and finally that Ireland was
separated from Great Britain, and subsequently the Straits of Dover opened.

Among the nineteen British genera thirteen are present in Ireland : Lota,
Barbus, and Albumus, local in England and unknown in Scotland, are
absent from Ireland; so likewise are the local races of Thymallus, introduced
north of the Tweed during recent years, while the only recorded Acerina in
Scotland, is one specimen said to have been obtained off Troup Head in Banff-
shire, possibly an error. Leaving our common bull-head, Coitus, as anabsentee
from Ireland, where, however, Yarrell believed it to be found : Wallace's
contention that the distribution of the species of our Salmonidaa confirms
the view that the races of fresh-water fish in Ireland differ from those in
Britain, is founded on two mistakes : first, he considers varieties as species;
secondly, even were they species, he mis-states where they are found. If,
however, we turn to the Lencisci, we do find the roach, L. rutilus, the chub,
L. cephalus, and the dace, L. vulgaris, to be absent from Ireland, and also
more or less from Scotland unless introduced. Fresh-water fishes, while they
do not refute the disseverance of Ireland from Great Britain previous to the
division of the latter from continental Europe, do not add any material
confirmation to the' statement.

Respecting the geographical distribution* of our marine forms, I have
alluded to it when describing the families and genera, and consequently
shall limit my remarks first as to whether similar species exist in distant
regions of the globe, and secondly, how they disperse. M. Valenciennes,
in 1824 ("Mem. du Mus.," xi, p. 265), drew attention to the great
resemblance that existed between the fishes inhabiting the Mediterranean
and those of the seas of South Africa ; while Dr. Keller has ascertained

* Errors in the geographical distribution of species are not infrequently due to insufficient care
having been exercised in testing the accuracy of statements as to from whence the specimen had
been obtaiued. An example of sucking-fish (Echeneis) was sent me in a bottle of spirits as having
been trawled at the Nore in May, 1880, which was so far correct that it had been thus taken, bottle
and all. It is easy to perceive how accidents might occur trawling such examples as the one I now
record. Had the bottle been broken and a sucking-fish found in a trawl at the mouth of the
Thames, it might have obtained access into a local collection, and when the species became
recognized it would most truly have been asserted to have been captured at Southend. Turton has
assured us respecting the North American bony pike (Lepidosteus osseus}, that " it is rarely found
on the Sussex coast," probably because Berkenhout, in his " Outlines of Natural History," records
one two feet long : also Stewart (" Elements," i, page 374) has remarked upon its occurrence in
the Frith of Forth. If these specimens were received they may have come from a wreck, or were
perhaps thrown overboard by a passenger or sailor. Even in 1880 the tropical Holacanthus tricolor
was erroneously asserted by Dr. Giinther to have been obtained at the Islaud of Lewes (vol. i, p. 41).

lxxxvih MIGRATIONS AND FOOD.

that eleven species of fishes from the Mediterranean have penetrated via the
Suez Canal into the Red Sea, and twenty-five have reached at least half-way
from the Bed Sea through the same canal.

The following species identical with British forms have been taken in the
seas of Australia, but not in the intermediate intertropical region : Oaranx
trachurus, Zeus faber, Scicena aquila, Argentina sphyrcena, Engraulis
encrasicholus (variety), Clupea sprattus, Conger vulgaris, Orthagoriscus
mola, Galeus canis, Acanthias vulgaris (variety), Echinorhinus spinosus,
Rhina squatina.

It has been abundantly shown that fishes of colder climes do not unfre-
quently migrate towards warmer regions, but when doing so keep further
out from shore in deeper waters and colder areas. Although it seems
difficult to admit that fishes with a physoclistous form of air-bladder could
migrate in the cold water under the tropical sea, and thus, as it were,
reappear in the southern temperate ocean, still in nature we do see identical
forms in these two widely separated places. But in their younger stage
all fishes with air-bladders must have the connecting tube with the
alimentary canal pervious, and it is not so difficult to consider that in some
it might abnormally remain patent through life, giving them the same facility
of evacuating it as seen in physostomous forms, while M. Regnard's experi-
ments already alluded to (p. lxxxv) show what a large amount of pressure
fishes will bear without fatal effect, while in nature they would gradually
accommodate themselves to such changes.

MIGKATIONS AND FOOD.

Most fishes are subject to migrations, which are either seasonal, which is
consequent upon climatic changes, or for the purpose of reaching a suitable
spot for the continuation of their race (page lix), or diurnal or nocturnal, to
obtain food for the nourishment of each individual. This latter is mostly
dependent on temperature, certain conditions of the water, and the supply
of sustenance. An irregular appearance of migratory shoals of marine
forms, as the mackerel, anchovy, herring, pilchard, or sprat, may be
consequent upon their pursuing some peculiarly abundant and desirable
food, or else be caused by their having been alarmed by some undesirable
enemy, for fear may cause shoals to vary their direction ; while I have
observed that in the Indian seas, when from any reason the sardines have
remained away, voracious forms which prey upon them were likewise
absent.

Temperature evidently exercises a considerable influence, and Baird

pood. lxxxix

observes of the anadromous salmon, herring, and shad, of the United States
of America, that their journeys are simply from the mouths of rivers
by the nearest deep gully or trough to the outer sea, and that the appear-
ance of the fish in the mouths of the rivers along the coast at successive
intervals from early spring in the south to near midsummer in the north, is
mostly due to their taking up their line of march at successive epochs from
the open sea to the rivers they had left during a previous season, induced
by the stimulus of a definite temperature, which, of course, would be
successively obtained at later and later dates, as the distance north-
wards increased.

Having ascertained what minute forms or descriptions of life are sought
out by migratory fish as food, it next becomes necessary to ascertain what it
is that governs or controls their migrations, as currents, soils, temperature,
atmospheric changes, or the existence of some still more minute food on
which they themselves subsist ; also what are their enemies or their friends,
and the conditions which favour the presence or absence of either class.
The surface of the ocean everywhere teems to a greater or less extent with
animal life, but this cannot subsist without a vegetable basis, both being
very susceptible to atmospheric vicissitudes.

When desirous of investigating what constitutes the food of fishes,* it
soon becomes evident that the inquiry branches off in many directions as to
whether the fishes are marine or fresh-water, and what districts (page lxxx)
they chiefly frequent : and as researches are extended, the nutriment
consumed by the young in their different stages until maturity is attained.
While the fish culturistf and observer will have to find out and ascertain
what are the influences which assist in developing the food or act injuriously
upon its growth or distribution. Augmenting the numbers of fish in pieces
of water is often undesirable without having previously ascertained whether
a sufficient amount of food would be present for their wants.

Among fishes, although we have predaceous, herbivorous, and omnivorous
species, there are few which will not prey upon any animal less powerful
than themselves, while marine forms are said to be able to withstand hunger
longer than those of the fresh waters. The majority of forms feed during the
day-time, although some prefer the earlier morning or the evening hours ;
others again, as the Liparis, would seem to forage about at night-time. The
sucking-fish, Echeneis (page lxxvii), uses its host as a means of conveyance
from place to place, so that it can change its locality : while the myxine
consumes its host ; and the electric ray (lxxvi) takes its prey by means

* See " Food of Fishes," Fishery Conference Papers, F. Day, 1883.
t See " Fish Culture," F. Day, 1883.

XC MIGRATION AND FOOD.

of shocks. Under the head of each species I have endeavoured to give an
account of the food each is most partial to. While in captivity some fish eat
what they reject or are unaccustomed to when in a state of natui'e :
some forms in aquaria will consume, if they can obtain it, more than is
wholesome for them.

If .we look at a newly-hatched fish we see a large sac or the yelk or
umbilical-sac dependent from its throat, in it noui'ishment is contained on
which it has to subsist for a longer or shorter period, and when absorbed it
must seek food for itself, and this in the period when the fish culturist finds
it so difficult to procure suitable diet for his small charges.

Around our coasts are distributed various kinds of sea-weeds, thus
where the bottom is rocky we find brown algEe (Fuci), and further out the
red form (Floridi). But, as already observed, with increasing depth
vegetation becomes less, or should sea-weeds drift to sea, they subside and
constitute soft black mud, wherein worms, molluscs, crustaceans and other
marine animals have their home and find their subsistence, while they in
turn form food for fish. Professor Mobius (Die Nahrung der Seetiere) at
90 to 95 fathoms in the Baltic, where the bottom consisted of plastic clay,
found very few worms : in the Mediterranean, south-east of Sicily, at
1700 fathoms, where the bottom consists of yellowish clay, the British
exploring expedition found no traces of animal life. But in the southern
parts of the North Sea, at 20 to 25 fathoms, and with a muddy bottom, such
is found to be alive with small crustaceans, worms, snails, molluscs,
and echinoderms, and as a result with fish which live there and prey
upon them. Irrespective of the foregoing vegetable substances, floating
sea alga?, which form food to marine animals, and sometimes micro-
scopic forms are so numerous as to render the surface almost turbid.
Diatoms live in every sea, and are consumed by pelagic animals, as Salpaa and
Pteropods. Likewise all rivers carry organic matter into the ocean, rendering
the bottom rich and a resort for the invertebrate animals, as well as the fish
which prey upon them ; while currents which carry plants and small marine
creatures from place to place must likewise influence the migration of fishes.
In short, the temperature, saltness, purity of the water, currents and depth
of the sea must each and all exercise a great influence upon animal and
vegetable life, also the character of the neighbouring shore, as regards its
geological formation and whether fertile or barren, rocky or sandy, and the
amount of surface drainage which flows into it.

The food consumed by fresh-water forms has been more closely inves-
tigated than among marine species, and it is only by knowledge of what
is required, combined with care and constant attention in carrying such out,
that private fish-pond culture can be made profitable. Leaving them

GROWTH AND SECONDARY SEXUAL CHARACTERS. XC1

to nature and withdrawing control is almost as ruinous as if arable lands
were to be left to be self-sown : while want of food may be occasioned
by too large a population of small and inferior sorts which starve the
remainder.

During cold months, also during the breeding season, a cessation in
taking food may occur in some forms (page lx), but during such periods as
they are on the feed they may obtain it from the bottom or soil over which
the water flows or is placed, from mid- water as substances which are washed
down or subside from the surface, &c, or from the surface itself as flies or
vegetable food.

Although the growth of fish is often irregular, as a general rule they do
not alter their form to any very great extent from what they are when
young to what obtains during mature life; still the comparative increase of
certain parts to that of the entire animal may not continue the same. Thus,
the relative size of the eye to that of the head decreases, the armature about
the head may diminish or disappear, the form of the snout as seen in saw-
fishes may change (plate lxix) as well as the character of the fins (page ix) .
While in - some pelagic forms Hemimetamorphosis may occur, or very
considerable alterations in their growth and development which have not
infrequently occasioned misunderstanding as to the genus or even family
to which the young individual belongs. More complete metamorphosis is
observable in the lampern (vol. ii, p. 362), while the deciduous external
gills of foetal sharks, rays (plate clxv), and a few other fish, may almost be
deemed to belong to this group.

Secondary sexual characters likewise induce changes. Thus, although
the male salmon has a knob-like tubercle on the lower jaw, the young has
none, but is similar to the female (page lvii). The skin may change,
becoming more rough in one sex, and spines appear most developed during
the breeding-season, as in the rays (vol. ii, p. 329). The teeth likewise
may be different in adults, of the two sexes. Other instances are alluded to
in the following pages.

The size of some fish may increase more rapidly under certain conditions
than it does in others ; a few seem to bear confinement easily, and grow
large when well fed in an aquarium. In the Southport Aquarium turbot
received, 3 inches across in size, became in two years 10 lb. each in weight,
and after two years more they further augmented to 20 lb. Many forms
will live when in a contracted space of water without increasing in size.
While degeneration in size may be owing to local causes, as want of
sufficient nourishment, but be entirely distinct from degeneration in
structure or function. In short, growth may greatly depend on the food
which is obtainable, and which fish have usually to disperse and follow after,

sen

MIGRATION AND FOOD.

in their turn becoming a prey to the larger species. As the eggs of
marine invertebrates are deposited at the same time as those of many fishes,
the fry of the latter find minute food (the young of the former) ready for
their wants, so fine, indeed, that they are only obtained by straining the water
through gill-rakers.

EEL-TRAPS.

BRITISH FISHERIES. XC111

BRITISH FISHERIES.

Our fisheries afford employment to various manufacturers, traders,
and fishermen, but their immediate uses are variously regarded by different
classes, the fishermen chiefly concerning themselves with what they can
obtain at the present time, regardless of future years' supply. The public
mainly interest themselves in the cost of the article when brought to
market, while the Economist bases his conclusions respecting their value in
accordance with their reputed produce, or should the supply be unable to
meet the demand, he unhesitatingly advocates the use of more destructive
agencies under the belief that the sea is inexhaustible, and augmented
captures are equivalent to increased productiveness ! But it may be asked,
is the sea, if the stock is not artificially replenished, inexhaustible ; is it a fact
that what man removes from the ocean is but an infinitesimal quantity to what
is consumed by birds and the numerous other enemies of the finny tribes ?

In order to ascertain if fish are increasing in numbers, decreasing, or
whether the supply is stationary, investigations ought to be continuously,
systematically and impartially made into the size of those captured (omitting
such as pertain to migratory shoals), and if such is augmenting or lessening, also
is their condition better or worse than it was ? Should investigations lead to
the belief that fisheries are being unduly depleted, it ought to be noted in
what families of fish this is occurring, as well as the reputed cause, while
in marine forms it is necessary to investigate whether the fishermen have to
go further out to sea to obtain their captures than was foi'inerly the case,
if the killing power of the nets has been increased, and whether more men
are now required to obtain the same amount of fish than was the case a few
years previously. If we refer to former times, we find the inshore fisheries
were very productive, similar to those of every other country sparsely
inhabited by man, but as years went on and the population augmented, an
increased supply of fish became a necessity. Man brought into use
more killing methods, and in every part of the globe this has been
followed by a diminished inshore supply. Almost everywhere we hear
of the decline of our inshore fisheries, and the consequent imperative
increase in size of our trawlers, and, although the price of fish has largely
advanced, they are compelled to go further out to sea to obtain
remunerative captures. It appears, unless we disbelieve the evidence from
most localities around our coast, that inshore fishing is becoming com-
paratively unremunerative, and many assert that this commenced at the
same period that trawling became more common, and the regulations for
sea-fisheries were abolished.

XC1V BRITISH FISHERIES.

t

For the purpose of arriving at conclusions respecting the condition of the
sea-fisheries, it would be well to briefly cousider of what do the more
important classes of fish used as food consist ? It must be evident that what
would benefit sharks and dog-fishes might be inimical to herrings ; cod-fishes
might be deleteriously affected by what would be harmless to sprats and
mackerel : while our soles and flat-fishes might be entirely destroyed
without such doing any damage to the wrasses. Although it seems
improbable that any species of sea-fish could be exterminated by man, it is
certainly a fact that he is able to annihilate a fishery or ' drive the fish
away from where he can capture thern, which has the same effect on the
cost of the article.

Our markets are largely supplied with sea-fish from three principal classes :
(1) such as come in large assemblages or shoals, as the mackerel, herring,
pilchard, and sprat, and which may be considered, as a rule, to be surface
swimmers; (2) mid- water and bottom-feeders in the littoral zone, as the
cod, haddock, and their allies, which are predaceous in their habits ;
(3) ground-fish, as soles, turbot, and other flat-fishes. One of these classes
being in a satisfactory state does not necessarily prove that all the
others are. If the cod-fishes were exterminated, this would remove
one more of the enemies from the herrings, and might in fact be conducive
to their increase.

Herrings may be scared away from a district by several causes,* and
have been known to absent themselves for years, perhaps the surface food
which they consume may have been deficient in quantity, or even absent ; or
they may be driven further out to sea, and breed there', resulting in the young
taking on deep-sea proclivities, and probably forming a deep-sea race. If
these shoals no longer frequent the shores, the amount of excrementitious
deposit which would fall from them would be lost to the invertebrate forms
which subsist in such places. Irrespective of this, herrings off the east
coast of Scotland being now further out to sea than was the case a few
years since, larger, boats have to be employed by fishermen, while there is
no harbour accommodation for them ; consequently storms are more fatal
than formerly. It is to be regretted that our Fishery Inspectors do
not yearly collect general fishery statistics for the United Kingdom ;
there are no means of finding out whether coarser kinds are, or are not,
taking the place of the better sorts in our markets ; soles may be as abundant,
in regard to numbers in 1883 as in 1882, but it would be desirable to know
if their size has augmented or diminished.

It has been said that doing away with fishery laws has been purposely
effected in order that sea-fisheries should be left to man, to work them

* Star-fishes have increased enormously along the American shores, due to herrings and other
fishes, which feed on their spawn, having deserted the inshore ground.

FISHERY .LEGISLATION. XCV

according to his individual caprice, untrammelled by any restrictive
enactments, as such only tend to upset the " balance of Nature." While
protection, it is asserted, is only necessary when the habits of any fish
compel it to live throughout the year in a confined area to .which man has
access, or to pass once or more in auy year into some narrow space
commanded or capable of being commanded by man. But it seems to have
been . overlooked that man, left to fish as he likes, when he likes and where
he likes, does not act impartially in fisheries. He' does not destroy every
form indiscriminately, thus maintaining " a balance," but merely such classes
as he desires for food. The mackerel and the herring are taken in millions,
but the shark, the dog-fish and the porpoise are practically left unmolested,
and in this way any balance would not be "maintained" but "upset." The
haddock and cod are being destroyed to an enormous extent, and appear
as a consequence to be decreasing, both in size and quantity : this again
may tend to deprive gregarious fishes of one of their natural enemies. The
mussels, crabs, and Other invertebrates, which form the food of the inshore
fish, being unprotected, are diminishing around our coasts, and this due to
the action of man, for when protection has been afforded, as off the coast of
Norfolk, a great increase almost immediately took place.

Our markets are supplied from two distinct economic divisions of fisheries ;
the first, such as crabs, lobsters, and eels, wherein a foreign supply keeps
the price down, and consequently the fishermen would have to preserve these
fisheries in a tolerably fair condition, or else, with prices restricted to a
certain maximum amount, they would be unable to supply the markets.
The second class, or mainly fresh fish, cannot as a rule be furnished from
abroad, consequently the price will rise or fall with the supply. If the
supply is small the fisherman receives a commensurate augmentation in
money he is no loser, it does not signify to him if the market has an
insufficient amount. Or if quantity is required, still that the better class of
fisheries are impoverished is of as little concern he can fill up with inferior
sorts, such as a few years since were rarely seen in our markets. The
importance of fresh-water fisheries is not solely in a ratio as regards the
amount of their productiveness, but also in accordance with the character of
the contiguous people, as to whether they are fish-consumers or reject such
an article of diet : the sparseness or the reverse of the population, and
facilities for transport to distant places. Where no regulations exist for the
protection of inland fisheries, and should other circumstances be equal, that
country or district which is most densely populated by man will be least so
by fish. Individuals would rather live by fishing than by agriculture, because
the trouble of capturing the finny tribes is less than that of tilling the soil.
It becomes simply a matter of catching food without a thought of future
supply. As, however, the human inhabitants augment, watery wastes

XCV1 MODES OF PISHING.

(wherein fishes were previously protected by grass, reeds, or trees) become
drained and cultivated, and predaceous man increases his modes of
destruction.

Respecting our present fresh- water fisheries, that of the salmon is the most
valuable (vol. ii, page 70), but it almost seems as if our legislators are being
misled, and therefore ignore the axiom that the good of the fish and fisheries
should be of greater consideration than the interests of private individuals..
A free passage for the fish* to their breeding-grounds and an unpolluted
river are certainly necessities for an abundant supply, and although poaching
does injury, such is a mere fraction in the element of destruction compared
with the battle for life in the lower waters, which is a far more efficient
reason for the paucity of fish, whether such is owing to legalized fixed
engines, or an excess of netting in the lower reaches or along the tidal
shores.

MODES OF FISHING.

Possibly the most primitive mode of tidal fishing was the construction of
pounds or enclosures into which fish entered with, the flood, but were left
impounded at the ebb. Here they would be removed by hand, spears, or by
a small net. In some places it may have been found necessary to erect a
rough wall across the outlet which would permit water to escape but detain
the large fish, or a trap might be inserted at this spot. Advancing still
further are wicker-work labyrinths, and next stake-nets, made on various
plans. In the late " Great International Fisheries Exhibition," these various
modes of fishing from India were shown in a consecutive series : f dip-nets
were seen in frames, or used as purse or lave-nets, so that they can be
dragged or pushed up narrow pieces of water, or a row of fishermen can
employ them along the coast. If these purse-nets are taken from their
frames, and have their free extremities weighted by sinkers, we obtain the
cast-net ; or connect several of these cast-nets together, when it is desired
to drag a piece of water with them, and we have a sort of ground-seine.
Then we have set-nets or trammels, seines employed in bays, and finally drift-
nets for outside fishing in order to capture surface forms. It is not my
purpose to follow out the various descriptions of nets, traps, and appliances
that have been used for the capture of fish, but merely to briefly allude to
the principal modes of fishing as now carried on in the British Isles for
commercial purposes, and they may be classed under nets, fixed engines,
and hooks-and-lines.

* The abolition of night netting in rivers, a longer weekly close time, and the prohibition of all
fishing within 150 yards of fish passes, would be highly desirable for the above object,
f See " Catalogue of the Exhibits in the Indian Section." by Francis Day, page 6.

BEAM-TRAWL.

XCV11

The Beam -Trawl is in very considerable and still increasing use around
the British coasts for the purpose of obtaining ground-fish of prime
commercial importance, as turbot, soles, and brill, as well as for capturing
inferior sorts,' as gurnards, haddock, whiting, plaice, skates, and rays.
Sailing boats can be employed when a sufficiency o*f wind exists, for it is
necessary to go rather faster than the tide, but steam-trawlers have the
advantage of being independent of the necessity for wind in working their
vessels. The rapid advance in beam-trawling during the last fifty years
has been greatly assisted by the introduction of steam, ice, and railways,
thus not only enabling more of the finny tribes to be captured, but likewise

BKAM-TRAWIJNG.

XCvill MODES OP FISHING.

their being conveyed more rapidly to the shore, kept fresh for a long period,
as well as being readily distributed through a wide expanse of country.

We possess two classes of trawlers,* the beam-trawlers that fish the sea
either singly or more commonly in fleets (at least for the last 25 or 30
years) ; and the inshore-trawlers which are employed in bays and shallow
waters where they rarely work in companies.

The beam-trawlf is a purse-shaped net of a triangular shape, sometimes
as much as 100 feet long, along the upper edge of the mouth of which is
fastened a horizontal beam, from about 25 to 50 feet in length ; this beam
is kept off the ground 'by means of two iron heads, so. that merely the under
portion of the net and the ground rope touch the bottom of the sea when it
is being towed along by the trawler : it is usually employed over a muddy
or sandy bottom : but lately steam ones have used them over rough ground
along our south coast.

The under portion of the net which touches the ground is subject to
friction, and so much so, that various kinds of chafing-pieces have to be
added to prevent its giving way, while the amount of pressure inside the
net when being towed is so great as to cause a resistance sufficient to reduce
the speed of the trawlers from perhaps eight to one knot. The consequence
is that fish inside this bag-net become more or less bruised from violence.
We are told, by theorists that the trawl by pressure can do no injury to
young fish, but one would imagine that a net that requires a hide along
its under surface, and containing some ton or more of contents, must do
injury if scraped along over young and delicate flat-fishes as well as tear up
and destroy sea- weeds where the eggs of herrings and invertebrates are
deposited (page xcii).

Mr. Ansell asserts that when the "silver pits" in the North Sea were
first worked (1878-79), a trawler got a ton to a ton and a half of soles in one
night, of from 12 to 24 value. Now, although the wholesale price has
increased, the take has so diminished that trawlers have to seek fresh ground.
While Mr. Sim remarks that although in his opinion there are as many
soles caught now as fifty years since, they are about one-fiftieth part of their
weight. At Yarmouth beach you can see the men picking out small
immature fish soles half as long as a finger, and turbot, so to speak, not
larger than a thumb-nail. It was no use throwing them overboard, because,
after they once got into the net, they died.

Our inshore bays and banks at sea are the chief nurseries of our flat-
fishes, and of many other forms which are taken by trawls ; in fact most, if not

* I omit otter-trawls as they are not largely used by the fishing trade : also the complaints
of line and drift fishermen that much damage is done to their industry by beam-trawlers.

t The Scotch herring trawl is the English seine (see page c) : the American trawl is a long
line with baited hooks.

BEAM-TRAWL AND STOW-NET.

XC1X

all, forms of sea-fishes pass a portion of their infantine existence where the
waters are shallow. If. the bays and tidal harbours of our south coast are
searched in May and June, millions of these small fry may be found. Mr.
Ansell considers that although by trawling much harm has been done by
destroying young fry, greater damage has been effected by the small
boats which trawl for shrimps in our bays and estuaries. The mesh of the
nets of these trawls is so fine that nothing escapes, and thousands of bushels
of fry are annually slaughtered by these craft.

If, as we are assured is the case> fish, as the sole, has not augmented in
price more than other articles of consumption since the abolition of fishery
regulations, surely market returns would form a good basis on which to
argue. Her Majesty's Commissioners gave us the daily cost at Manchester
of soles during ten years ending 1865, restricting their figures to the month
of January, and showing the retail cost per pound. I have similarly treated
figures from Birmingham, and find if these periods are divided into five
years each, that prior to the abrogation of sea-fishery regulations soles
cost per lb. :

5 years ending 1860 lowest cost 3d, highest cost 8d, mean under 6d lb.
1865 6d, lOd, 8d lb.

Subsequent to the abrogation of sea-fishery regulations soles per lb.
at Birmingham cost :

5 years ending 1878 lowe'st cost 3jd, highest cost 18^d, mean under 13d lb.
1883 6K 30d \8d\h.

We are told that unless a close time for all fishes is imposed generally
no good will ensue. This is an erroneous statement : certain well-known

STOW-NET.

C MODES OF FISHING.

breeding banks or bays might be selected by local authorities and closed
during specified seasons from trawlers. Also it is very questionable if
trawling within the three-miles limit might not be prohibited with advantage.

The stow-net is' employed in various plaees, as the mouth of the Thames,
and is useful in taking sprats and whitebait (see vol. ii, p. 232). Moored in
a suitable locality at the commencement of a tide, the shoals are carried in
by the current, but as the tide slackens the net is lifted.

The lave-net as used in the Severn and contiguous pieces of tidal water
is very destructive to salmon. A line of boats is anchored across a'certain
spot, and a large lave-net resembling an enormous landing-net with a
triangular mouth and a long handle is let over the side of each boat with
its entrance towards the incoming tide. The bag of the net is of sufficient
length to be brought under the boat and is loosely held in this position
by the fisherman on the up river-side. On a salmon striking this lave-net
in his course, the bag end is at once let go, and the lave-net side facing the
incoming tide is elevated, the gunnel of the boat acting as a rest for the
handle to be worked like a lever.

Seine or sean nets,* also known as " sweep- or draught-nets/' or in
Scotland as " circle-nets " or " trawls/' are of varying length and meshes,
but their essential use is to enclose a space by either their two ends being
dragged on shore, or brought close together if fishing at sea. These nets
are formed of two "wings" or "sleeves," one On either side, while the
centre portion, known as the " bunt " or bag, is much the deepest part, and
consequently forms a bag into which the fish are received. The upper edge
or back of the net is kept in a perpendicular position by cork floats, while
the foot rope is weighted with leads.

The ground seine, "foot-seine," or " scringe-net " is employed where
the sea-bottom is smooth, and an eligible place exists where it can be
dragged on shore. Generally similar to the common seine, it has a pole
fixed perpendicularly at the outer end of each wing, and to this a long drag-
rope is attached by a short bridle. One rope being left on the beach, the
net is taken in a boat and passed out round the space it is intended to
encircle, and the second drag-rope being landed, the net is evenly hauled on
shore by the fishermen.

Common sein.es or stop -seines are such as are lifted at once with the
enclosed fishes into the boat, and should an inner or smaller boat not be
employed for the purpose of removing the enclosed fish, it is termed a tuck-
seine (vol. ii, page 227) ; while a modification of the seine is employed in the
United States, and has been so off Cornwall, in which the. materials used are

* For modes of sea-fishing see " The Sea Fisherman," by J. Wilcocks. and " Deep Sea
Fishing," by E..IIoldsworth.

SEINE-NETS.

CI

SEINE-NET BEING LANDED ON SHORE.

light, and there are no leads along the foot-rope, but instead there is as an
addition a draw-rope or purse-string along the whole length of the bottom
of the seine, for closing the net below the fish, and, in place of leads, the
small iron blocks through which the rope is rove answer the purpose of sinkers.
When the seine surrounds the fish, the bottom rope is at once tightened, so
as to prevent the fish from escaping downwards, which gives the seine
the appearance of a purse. In Cornwall a centre weight is used to slip
along the draw-string, which quickly and effectually closes it.

Peter-nets have floats along the upper rope and weights along the foot-
line, one end is attached on shore, and the other anchored out at sea on a
right line with the coast.

Drift-nets are mainly employed for the capture of gregarious fishes, or
such as swim in shoals, as the mackerel, herring, pilchard, and in some
places the sprat, while the Norwegians use them for taking cod. These
drift-nets are the only way in which some forms that are found far from
land can be netted. They may be likened to a wall of net suspended above
any depth of water in the ocean, and permitted to drift with the tide in any
direction, in the hope of meeting a shoal of fish. The size of the mesh must
be in accordance with that of the fish which it is desired to capture, for
the intention is to mesh the fish or permit them to push their heads and gill-

en

MODES OP PISHING.

covers into the net, but being too small for tne body -to go through, while
the gill-covers prevent their withdrawing themselves. These nets are
generally set at night, and are as a rule more successful in dark weather.
Drift-nets usually have no sinkers, but are worked on a single line, often
many hundred yards long, supported along their upper edge by corks or
floats, and sunk to the desired distance below the surface. A number
connected together are termed a train, drift, or fleet of nets; the most
important are those used for the herring (see vol. ii, page 221).

SHOOTING A HERRING NET.

Moored nets are employed in sheltered places for the capture of herrings
(vol. ii, page 215), as along the coast of Devonshire and in some Scotch
lochs. One form is termed a " bratt-net " and is used in the north for the
capture of turbot, hake, skate, &c.

The trammel is a set or fixed net which is said to derive its name from
the Latin " tres inaculps," or the French "trots mottles;" "three meshes,"
evidently thus named with reference to the three descriptions of meshes
of which it is composed (vol i, page 23). It is shot with the tide generally

WEIRS AND FIXED ENGINES.

cm

of an evening", and to prevent its captures being- injured by crabs or other
vermin it should be examined every three or four hours (vol. i, page 23).

Weirs* and fixed engines were in 1861 declared by the Legislature to be
a public nuisance, and abolished by law in England and Wales ; but so
many exemptions have been permitted, that it almost seems as if they were
again being introduced along our sea-coasts, or rendered more destructive
by the shortening of weekly close times at the mouths of some of our larger

KETTLE-NET.

rivers. But few things do more injury to fisheries, as they destroy fishes
of all sizes, and in many places irrespective of their condition. If the
interests of the fisheries and fish consumers alone were considered, not
only every fixed engine should be utterly done away with, leaving the
question of compensation to be settled by some competent court, but also
semi-fixed engines as lave-nets, and likewise the immoderate use of seines
should be jealously watched and regulated. Perhaps the most simple is
the kettle-net for mackerel, used along the south coast, or the stop -nets
and weirs of Swansea Bay ; but they, and the various fixed engines
employed in fresh waters, are so numerous and so diversified that space
will not permit even their enumeration in this place.

* The old Saxon word " weir," says Seebohm (" English Village Life "), meant anything used
for catching fish, whether fixed or movable. The word " putcher " indicated a weir made of puts.

f On the Thames the law enacted that no fish-weir was allowed to exist to the danger of the
broods of young swans,, but it might be dismantled at the discretion of their guardians.

CIV DISEASES AND CAUSES OF DESTRUCTION.

Line -fishing * in the sea, as employed for the capture of commercial
fish; may be divided into two kinds, hand-lining and long-lining, while
angling does not call for any remarks. It may be observed that fish are
very insensible to pain (vol. i, p. 5).

DISEASES AND CAUSES OF DESTRUCTION. .

The diseases and causes of the destruction of fish may be divided into
(1), those due to the condition of the water in which they reside; (2),
atmospheric disturbances and accidental causes ; (3) diseases by which they
are affected, including those of the ova and of infancy ; (4) misplaced energy
in fishermen and poachers; (5), injuries occasioned by the lower animals.

1. Waters may be virulently and directly poisonous, at once affecting
the life of the contained fish and even that of cattle or man ; or else they
may be rendered mechanically unfit for fish to live in, as when the
presence of mud chokes their gills and prevents respiration. Or the water
may be indirectly affected owing to some deleterious agency having destroyed
the living food which was previously present, or occasioned disease in the
resident fish. When a river in India becomes unduly full of mud the crabs
retire to the banks, and even the eels leave the stream for the wet grass in
the vicinity. This attempt to escape from water loaded with ingredients
inimical to life has likewise been observed among the invertebrate forms of
Europe, as was some years since pointed out by M. Gerardin, in France. A
series of experiments and investigations showed that colour, taste, odour, or
chemical composition cannot invariably be accepted as criteria of whether
water is wholesome or the reverse, but that such must be looked for in its
effect upon the animals and plants which reside in it. When fish died from
river pollution, it was observed that molluscs sometimes saved themselves
by hiding under leaves and waiting there until the danger had passed away;
thus, in July, 1869, Limnaaa remained five days out of the water.

Among, plants one of the most delicate was found to be the watercress,
and it was remarked that when some deleterious substance from a starch
factory obtained access to the Croult above the cress-beds of. Gonesse, all
these plants died within a few hours ; the pollution removed, the cress-beds
again flourished. Pond weeds and veronicas only live in water of good
quality; mints, rushes, and water-lilies, accommodate themselves to
mediocre water ; Carex is still less sensitive ; and lastly, the most robust of
aquatic plants is a species of reed, the Arundo phragmites, which resists the
most infected water. Among molluscs, the Physa fontinalis lives only in
very pure water, the Valvata piscinalis in that which is healthy, while others

* The reader is referred, for a full account of the various modes and manners, to the '* Sea
Fisherman," by J. Wilcocks.

WATERS AND ATMOSPHERIC DISTURBANCES. CV

can reside in that which is of mediocre quality ; no mollusc will live in what
is thoroughly polluted. The phanerogamous plants thus sketch in distinct
traits, the characters of different streams ; but infusoria and cryptogams, and
particularly algas, may also enable one to judge in the matter .by the
modifications to which they are subject from alteration of the water. These
lower organisms survive after the disappearance of fish, of molluscs, and
of green herbs. As the alteration of the water progresses the river loses its
limpidity, it becomes opaline, and this gray colour resists filtration. The
surface is covered with froth, and the water deposits a dark, fetid slime,
whence bubbles of gas are liberated. Presently there appear sulphurets,
especially sulphuretted hydrogen, and the emanations of the river blacken
silver and cooking utensils that may be exposed to them. M. Gerardin
observed that when water contains the normal proportion of dissolved
oxygen it may support the life of fish and herbs. As the oxygen diminishes
the animals having active respiration disappear first, then those whose
respiration is lower. And he gives as. an example the black leech, which
will exist in water wherein the shrimp at once dies.

"Waters have been directly poisoned due to the refuse from a gas tank
having obtained access to the river ; by mine water, chloride of lime, caustic
potash, the refuse from manufactories, paper mills, .bleaching grounds,
tanneries, or sewers; artificial root manure, sheep dipping; beer unfit for
consumption having been emptied into fish ponds; the overflow of peat
bogs, and other destructive agencies. The more rapid the current the more
quickly are poisons entering the stream diluted, and the less chance of their
being immediately destructive to the fish. Fish themselves appear to dread
foul water, and some of our rivers which used to afford salmon, shad, &c, are
no longer frequented by them. The wash occasioned by steam launches in a
river may destroy or cast on the banks eggs or broods of young fish, as
may likewise a very high tide. Water which is sufficiently pure for some
species, as members of the carp family and notably the gudgeon, to reside in,
may not be sufficiently so for those of the salmon family. Widespread
destruction is occasionally observed in the sea owing to some cause inimical
to the lives of fish, and this has been attributed to deleterious agencies from
the shore, poisons carried down by rivers, the eruption of some noxious
volcanic gases from the sea-bottom or sulphuretted hydrogen generated from
animal or vegetable decomposition acting on the sulphates of soda and
magnesia contained in the sea-water.

2. Atmospheric disturbances and accidental causes may also be destruc-
tive : thus a frost or low temperature has been known to affect the sand
smelt, ballan wrasses, pilchards, conger, eels and other fishes ; but it is
remarkable how fish apparently frozen may occasionally be resuscitated.
Electric disturbances may be a cause of the death of fishes. Thus during

CV1 DISEASES AND CAUSES OP* DESTRUCTION.

1879 the occupants of a small fish-pond at Seek, in the Duchy of Nassau,
were destroyed by a flash of lightning. The following morning the whole of
the fish were discovered dead on the surface,, having all the appearance
of having been half-boiled, while they crumbled to pieces on being touched.
No injury could be seen, but the water in the pond was still muddy
and dull the morning after the storm. At 3 p.m. on July 7, 1865, a
flash of lightning, observed Mr. Lloyd, struck a house in Hamburg, and
about 200 feet away in a shady spot in the garden, and in the open
air, was a large fresh-water aquarium containing forty-three fish, consisting
of tench, carp, dace, roach, gold-fish, and eels, two species of loach, etc.
At the moment of the flash of lightning every one of these fish became
suspended perpendicularly downwards in the water, with their tails at the
surface, feebly and vainly trying to swim towards the bottom of the tank,
with all their fins strangely attenuated, as transparent as fine tissue-
paper, and densely covered on both sides with myriads of fine air-
bubbles ; their heads and bodies were not so covered. In less than half-
an-hour forty-one were dead, strongly curved, almost in the form of
semi-circles, and already fast decomposing ; but two gradually recovered by
being placed in running water.

Hail and thunderstorms united will sometimes depopulate rivers in
tropical countries (Dobrizhoffer) . On July 3, 1866, several salmon in
Scotland were killed by lightning during the intensely hot weather that
prevailed. Gales, likewise, are occasionally destructive to fish. Thus, on
April 13, 1874, one at Scilly was so violent that large fish, as conger,
hake, ling, &c, were tossed about in their watery homes, and at last flung
by hundreds on the rocks. Some had their scales knocked off, others their
heads stove in, while even those which live at the rocky bottoms fared no
better than their neighbours. It is well known that a high temperature
is injurious to fishes: thus about June 10, 1882, a great destruction of
trout occurred in Harry Loch, in Orkney. The weather reduced the water
in the Loch, and the trout gathered in great shoals around the burn-mouths,
where they were landed in hundred-weights by the neighbouring farmers,
who are mostly small proprietors. One fisherman-farmer landed a thousand
trout in one haul ; while on another occasion five cartloads were caught in a
single sweep.

Waterworks may suck in young fry by hundreds. The action of dynamite
is very destructive, and when blowing up the ruins of the Tay bridge, fish
as much as two miles away were destroyed: those killed. sunk, those only
stunned mostly floated.

3. Diseases by which they are directly affected, including those in the
ova state and infancy, as developmental or monstrosities, malformations or
consequent upon accidents. Space will not permit me to enter upon the

DISEASES AND CAUSES OP DESTRUCTION. Cvii

many affections from which fishes suffer, from the fungus of the young to
the numerous diseases of a contagious or non-contagious character.

There are certain animal parasites which affect fish, and which may be
briefly divided into such as are (a) internal or entozoa* and (b) external or
epizoa,) irrespective of which are infusoria and parasitic fungi.

Entozoa are very common, and it has been computed that each fish may
probably have, as an average, not less than' four distinct species of guests
able to occupy its body. Tapeworms would seem to be very numerous,
but most of their entozoa appear to undergo transformation after changing
their abode, the final host being often a water-bird.

Epizoa are seen as small crustaceans, many having the mouth modified
into a suctorial tube or beak, within which are lancet-shaped mandibles
employed for piercing. Of these epizoa we have two large subdivisions :
first, such as are essentially surface forms, as fish lice, which can move from
place to place by means of their hooked and prehensile antennas, or even leave
the fish and swim freely in the water ; secondly, the more sedentary forms,
as Lernea, having their heads frequently embedded in the bodies of their
victims, and without powers of locomotion. Often the whole of their external
organs are rudimentary, and they may be found in fishes' eyes, gills, mouth,
vent, nostrils, and fins.

Infusoria are everywhere, in fresh or saline water, and some forms are
endoparasitic in the alimentary canals of fishes, as well as other parts of
their bodies.

Parasitic fungi may also occur : thus one of a highly contagious character
has been of late years very destructive among fresh-water fishes. This
fungus, Saprolegnia ferax (see vol. ii, page 81), has probably been always
present, but requires a soil suitable for its germination and growth, and
although some of the following may be the predisposing cause to the disease,
still it has been observed where none such could have existed. The fish,
particularly salmon, may be rendered susceptible from many causes, as
debility, and especially after injuries occasioning abrasions, as male kelts
after the breeding season, and also unspent kelts, but young fish may
likewise be affected. Frosts, droughts, and polluted waters favour its
development, and possibly were there fewer kelts preserved, and the waters
of our rivers purer, we should find less of this disease, especially where the
currents are rapid. Overfeeding appears to predispose to it in some pieces
of water. The use of rock-salt is believed to be the best mode of
treatment in our fish-ponds and aquaria, while migrating to the sea would
seem to arrest the fungus, although it is not certain that it will not reappear
on the fishes' return to the river.

* See Cobbold on the Entozoa : he most correctly observes that cooking fish infested with
worms destroys their vitality, while these forms are not capable of existing in the human body.

CV111 ARTIFICIAL CULTIVATION OF FISH.

4. The effects of misplaced energy' in fishermen and poachers is a
subject too vast to do more than allude to in this place, but the especial
attention of legislators ought to be drawn to the fact that increased present
productiveness may be carried on at the expense of future years' supply, and
multiplying modes of destruction does not invariably tend to the benefit of
the fisherman or of the consumer.

5. Injuries occasioned by the lower animals are numerous, and differ
somewhat in the adult stage from what they do among the ova and young.
Adult fish suffer greatly from porpoises and their allies, otters, birds and
various species of their own kind ; whilst the ova and fry may be destroyed
by rats, birds (even robins), watersnakes, newts, frogs, leeches, and a variety
of other agencies.

ARTIFICIAL CULTIVATION OF FISH.

The cultivation of fish has for its chief object an increase in the number
or size, and likewise an improvement in the breed of those in fresh waters,
or even of the sea, not only by direct cultivation of the finny tribes, but also
of the food on which they subsist, and an eradication of what may be
detrimental to their prosperity. This would include whatever assists them
in their ascent or descent of rivers, when doing so to continue their
kind or maintain the life of each individual (see figure of fish-pass,
page lxxviii). When inland fisheries are impoverished the aid of
legislation has generally to be invoked, in order to protect what is left,
permit nature to play her part in their recovery, and, if necessary, to have
desirable forms artificially propagated.

Our inland waters consist of such as streams or rivers, broads, canals,
lakes, and ponds : while some rivers are rapid and clear, others are sluggish
and more or less muddy. Different classes of fish inhabit these various
localities ; those most esteemed and generally looked upon as game-species
are the Salmonidse, while the coarse fish consist of perch, pike, and members
of the carp family. As a general rule the first are found in running
water and lakes, whereas the latter prefer more sluggish streams, broads,
and ponds.

The artificial cultivation of salmon and trout has been found necessary
in these islands, for reasons already stated (page lxx), and a great gain
would have accrued were it not for the over-fishing which is now permitted
in the lower reaches of the rivers (page ciii). The ova of the Salmoriidas
can be obtained from fish captured in the waters they frequent, or their
redds in the rivers and streams may be plundered, or the parents may be
purposely kept in breeding-ponds.

ARTIFICIAL CULTIVATION OF PISH. C1X

The mode of spawning- or stripping- fish, as salmon or trout, requires
practice, and the experienced fish-culturist will obtain a larger supply of
eggs from a ripe fish than will an inexperienced or careless manipulator.
Having obtained what appears to be a fish in a suitable condition, gentle
pressure along the abdomen must be exercised, when ova from the female or
milt from the male should be forthcoming ; occasionally the former sex will
require a little coaxing, as she will not. always yield at the first attempt.
If the eggs are not quite ready the distended abdomen feels hard and
somewhat unyielding ; whereas in ripe fish it is soft, and the ova can be
felt moving under pressure of the hand. It may be necessary to detain
these fish in suitable receptacles for a few days, either because the eggs or
milt are not quite ripe, or else consequent upon only fishes of one sex
having been taken.

The necessary apparatus for spawning fish consists of a shallow tin or
earthenware pan, for receiving the eggs and milt, and which is furnished
with a spout for the purpose of pouring them into the tin carrying-can, this
latter having a perforated lid; also a jug for clean water, and a dry cloth
is useful for assisting in holding the fish. The fish is held with its body
somewhat sideways, and its tail directed downwards, while the pan to
receive the eggs is placed below its vent, when by means of simple pressure,
commencing from the ventral fins and passing downwards along the belly
towards the vent, the eggs or milt are extruded.

There are two processes which may be adopted, the moist or water plan,
and the dry. In the first some water is first placed in the pan which
receives the eggs as pressed from the fish. In the dry process, on the
contrary, the eggs are directly received into a dry pan, over them the milt
is distributed, and the pan is gently agitated from side to side ; after giving
the eggs and milt time to mix, water is . poured in to the depth of a few
inches, stirred with the hand, and allowed to stand until they have hardened
and freed (see page lxvi), a period of from one quarter to three quarters of.
an hour, according to the temperature, taking longest in cold water. The
eggs must be properly cleansed by gently pouring clean water over them,
and when this is no longer discoloured, the eggs may be transferred from
the receiving to the carrying-can, which transference should not take place
too soon. Any milt left on the eggs will cause injury in the hatching
troughs, so should be thoroughly washed off. The most prolific milt seems
to be of medium consistence. The eggs are now removed to the incubation
house.* Irrespective of the foregoing, plans have been successfully adopted
in some fish establishments in the United States to permit breeding-fish to

* For directions as to hatchiug and rearing young fish, the carriage of eggs and young, and
the stocking of pieces of water, the reader is referred to the various existing works on fish-culture.

CX ARTIFICIAL CULTIVATION OF FISH.

ascend the stream which feeds the pond, but having wire trays so fitted
that the eggs when deposited drop through into a receptacle for their
collection. Some observers, however, appear to think that, due to the
rapidity of the current, the milt is often washed away before it has
performed its function, and consequently a number of ova escape
impregnation. Rough fish may likewise be artificially cultivated, as has
been remarked upou (page lxvii).

In stocking pieces of water with eggs or young of Salmonidas it would
seem desirable that great attention should be paid to the age and condition
of the parent fish, as I have observed (page lxix). I assume that care will
be taken that the water is appropriate, for although new stock may tend to
improve local breeds in suitable places, such will not be the case should the
food be insufficient or inappropriate. Perhaps the Lochleven race of trout
grows as fast as any other in these islands, especially when the eggs are
from seven or eight year old parents, while in the warmer south they increase
more rapidly in size than in the colder north.

The introduction of exotic forms of fish into our fresh waters has been
advocated, a proceeding which, although it may be beneficial, on the other
hand may be the reverse. It should first be considered whether the stranger
subsists upon a vegetable or animal diet, and secondly whether sufficient
exists for his consumption where it is proposed to acclimatize him.
Anadromous forms may be beneficial, due to the small amount of food they
generally require when ascending the rivers to breed. Carnivorous forms
may be useful, in order to diminish too large a number of coarse fish in a
river, where they are in excess of its capabilities for supplying them with
sufficient nourishment ; but when they have thinned down the primitive
stock they may continue to deplete the fishery to too great an extent, and
be a nuisance in their turn.

It is not surprising that the cultivation of fish-ponds for coarse fish has
decreased or almost disappeared from this country, because increased
facilities of carriage of fish from the sea-coast has rendered their produce
of but little value; and as such has become' less and less esteemed the care
bestowed on ponds has been diminished until at last they may be said to
produce fish of an earthy or muddy quality*. If left unattended to they
must deteriorate : they should not stand full more than two or three years
unless the proprietor revels in the contemplation of miserable half-starved
forms. The best treatment appears to be rotating crops of vegetables with
crops of fish, for which purpose at least three ponds are requisite, although
more are undoubtedly advantageous.

The aspect of the ponds, nature of the soil and character of the water
are all factors to be taken into account, hard clays and gravel being generally
unfavourable, and a marly soil mostly to be preferred. In constructing' a

FISH-PONDS. CXI

pond it should not be too deep, shallows being necessary for the fry which
rarely go into deep water, which being colder in the summer than the shallows
is less frequented by insects. Trees in their vicinity are detrimental, because
the leaves falling into the water occasion the formation of a black mud, and
the escape of foetid gases, which in winter, especially when the water is
covered with ice, become very injurious to the fish. Rank vegetation along
the banks is often injurious, although some weeds when present afford
shelter and assist in clearing the water.

There should always be facilities for running a fish-pond dry, and the
same depth of water should be maintained throughout the year. The inflow
of water should never be direct from a brook but conducted from one side,
and the sluices should be strong enough to render overflow impossible, while
there should be a grating to keep out strange fish. The centre of the pond
should be deeper than the rest, while near the outlet should be a spot still
deeper than any other part of the pond.

The number and sorts of fish suitable for stocking ponds depends on
many circumstances, especially as regards the food which is present, whether
the water comes from a stream or from springs, and many other conditions.
Boccius recommends the following as suitable for an acre of water : 200
brood carp, 20 brood tench, and 20 brood pike. North cautions the fish-
culturist against over-stocking and recommends that after the first year they
should be diminished because the food will decrease. When a pond is dried
the contained fish should be examined as to whether they are in good or bad
condition, from which it must be judged whether the water has been
under- or over-stocked.

In 1 754, Mr. Tull communicated a paper to the Royal Society respecting
how he had castrated certain carps, and asserting that their flavour had
become much improved consequent upon the operation.

Salt-water vivaria have been tried with varying success, and one would
imagine that with care and attention they might be made suitable for the
reception of some marine forms as bass, mullet, &c, so that a constant supply
to the market would be available even at the periods when gales hinder the
sea-fisherman's occupation. These vivaria may be placed on the coast and
either be entirely supplied with salt-water by means of tidal influence, or may
be lakes wherein the lower portion consists of salt or brackish water and the
upper of fresh, where it may be fed by a stream. The locality selected,
irrespective of all advantage of situation, should be where the necessary
food could be obtained at a cheap rate, whether such is the refuse of fish,
meat offal, shell-fish, or manufactured substances. Also, should the local
demand for fish be insufficient there ought to be the means of inexpensive
and easy carriage to a suitable market. Several such vivaria have been formed
at different places around these islands at various times ; Parnell mentions

Cxii ARTIFICIAL HATCHING OF MARINE FISHES.

one near Queensferry ; Buckland one at Port Logan in Wigtonshire,
&c. Mr. Bland of Derriquin Castle, Kenrnare Bay, had in an inlet
of Sneem harbour, protected by reefs of rocks, a strong barrier of stones
formed across the entrance but through which every tide flowed and
ebbed, but leaving a sufficiency of water within. Here mullet, whiting, sea
bream, soles and plaice succeeded best, haddock also did well, but gurnards
became pale in colour. Whiting became so tame as to feed out of the hand,
and all assembled at the feeding-time on the appearance of the tray. While
marine fishes have been acclimatized to fresh water (page lxxxiii, and vol. i,
page 229, and vol. ii, page 123).

ARTIFICIAL HATCHING OF MARINE FISHES.

I have already remarked how depeopled fresh-water fisheries have
been restocked by artificial means, and must now briefly record how in the
United States this procedure has also been turned to practical account with
salt-water fisheries. The Government Fishery Commissioners finding a
difficulty in regulating the modes of capture in the sea*, but observing that
the fisheries were becoming impoverished from over-fishing, conceived the
idea of propagating marine forms, as they considered that it would be useless
to expect fishermen to stock public waters at their own expense, especially
as everyone would subsequently be at liberty to catch the fish. Acting
upon this principle the United States Fishery Department have wisely
investigated their seas, repopulating their waters where the necessity exists,
and thus counteracting the waste which is being occasioned wherever man
has liberty or licence to capture the finny tribes however he pleases,
irrespective of season and regardless of their condition.

FISHES OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.

Class. PISCES.

Vertebrate animals which, as a rule, are exclusively adapted for an aquatic
life, and have their extremities modified into fins. Respiring, almost invariably,
solely by means of gills :* possessing a heart with only two cavities, and being
cold-blooded. They are scaleless, partially, or wholly scaled, the scales being
sometimes in the form of osseous plates.

Sub-class I. TELEOSTEI.

Skeleton osseous. Brain distinct. Skull possessing cranial bones. Vertebrae
completely separated, and the posterior extremity of the vertebral column
bony, or having bony plates. Branckia3 free, and the water discharged through
a single aperture, protected by a bony gill -cover, or opercle : branchiostegal
rays present. A non-contractile bulbus arteriosus, having a pair of valves at
its commencement. Optic nerves decussating. Intestines without any spiral valve.

Order I. ACANTHOPTERYGII.

A portion of the dorsal, anal, and ventral fins unarticulated, forming spines.f
Air-bladder, when present, completely closed, not possessing a pneumatic duct.

Geographical distribution. The spiny-rayed or Acanthopterygian order of fishes
appear to be most numerous in the ocean, preying upon their weaker neighbours.
Whereas, if we examine inland fresh waters, we observe the Malacopterygii as
the Salmonidce and Gyprinidce usurping their place ; these latter having solely
articulated, but no spinous, rays.

First group Perciformes.

Body elevated or oblong not elevated. No superbranchial organ. Spinous
dorsal fin well developed : anal similar to soft dorsal ; ventrals thoracic, usually
1/4 or 1/5. Vent remote from caudal fin and posterior to the ventral.

Family, I PERCID^E.

Percoidei, pt., Scicenoidei, pt., et Mcenides, pt., Cuv. ; Percidce, pt., Theraponidce,
pt., Hcemidonidce, pt., Richardson ; Percidce, pt., et Pristipomatidce, pt., G-unther ;
Ambassoidei, pt., Bleeker.

Branchiostegals from five to seven : pseudobranchisB present. Form of body
generally oblong. Muciferous system of head rudimentary or but slightly
developed. Eyes lateral. No superbranchial organ. Preopercle entire or
serrated : cheeks not cuirassed. Mouth in front of snout, having a lateral cleft,
occasionally on the lower side, moderately or rarely very protractile. Teeth
in the jaws villiform, with or without canines, present or absent on the

* Certain fishes, mostly residents within or near the tropics, as the Labyrinthici and Ophiocepha-
lidce, even when a bandage is fastened round their gill-covers, entirely precluding their
employment for respiratory purposes, are still able to live in water, provided they can obtain direct
access to atmospheric air. In the majority of fishes such a proceeding would be rapidly fatal.

f There are some genera in which the fins can hardly be said to have any true spines, as among
the Trachinidce, Aulostomatidcc, Ophiocephalidui, $c.

I

2 ACANTHOPTERYGII.

vomer and palatines. Anterior portion of the dorsal fin spinous: ventrals
thoracic 1/5 or sometimes 1/4. Scales ctenoid or cycloid. Lateral line when
present continuous (except in some species of Ambassis). Air-vessel usually
present and more or less simple. Pyloric appendages in varying numbers.

Genus I. Perca, Artedi.

Branchiostegals seven : pseudobranchice present. Body oblong and someivhat
compressed. Preopercle serrated, with denticulations on its lower limb directed
forwards. Opercle spinate. Teeth villiform in jaws, on vomer and palatine bones:
tongue smooth. Two dorsal fins separated at their bases, the first with 13 or 14
spines : the anal with 2 spines. Scales rather small, ctenoid, not extended on to
the upper surface of the head. Pyloric appendages few.

Cuvier selected the Perch as an appropriate type for the first Genus into
which he subdivided the Percoides.

Geographical distribution. Fresh waters of both the Arctic regions, rarely
descending to salt water.

1. Perca flaviatilis, Plate I.

Uspicr], Aristotle, Hist. Anim. lib. vi, c. 14 ; vElian, xiv. c. 23, 26.
Perca, Pliny, xxxii, c. 9, 10; Ausonius, a.d. 400, v, 115; Jonston, De Pise.
1649, lib. iii, tit. iii, c. i, p. 156, t. xxiv, f. 3. Tine Perche de riviere, Belonius,
1553, p. 291. Perca major, Schonevelde, 1624, p. 55 ; Artedi, Genera Piscium, 1738,
Gen. 39, Syn. 66, species, 74. Perca fluviatilis major, Aldrovandus, 1638, v, cap. 53,
p. 622.

Perca fluviatilis, Rondeletius, 1554, ii, pp. 196, 197; Salviani, 1554, f. 2446,
226 ; Gesner, 1558, p. 698, f. 168&, and Edit. 1598, fol. 168 and 172, c. fig ;
Willughby, De Historia Piscium, 1686, iv, c. 14, p. 291, t. S, 13. f . 1 ; Ray,
Synopsis Methodica Avium et Piscium, 1713, Pise. p. 97, No. 23 ; Gronovius,
Zoophyl. 1763, p. 91, No. 301 and Mus. i, No. 36 ; Linnaeus, Syst. Naturae, Ed.
12, 1766, p. 481 ; Rutty, Natural History of the County of Dublin, 1772, i, p. 368;
Pennant, British Zoology (Edition 1), 1776, iii, p. 254, pi. xlviii, (Edition 2),
1812, iii, p. 345, pi. lix; 0. F. Miiller, Zoologies Danicae Prodomus, 1776, p. 46;
Linnaeus, Systema Naturae, Gmelin, 1788, p. 1306 ; Marsigli, iv, t. xxiii, f. 1 ; Bloch,
Fische Deutschlands, 1782-84, t. Hi ; Bonnaterre, Encyclopaedia Ichthyologia, 1788,
p. 126, pi. liii, f . 204 ; Lacepede, Histoire cles Poissons, 1798-1803, iv, p. 399 ;
Donovan, Natural History of British Fishes, 1802-8, iii, pi. Iii ; Shaw, General
Zoology, 1803, iv, p. 545, pi. lxxix ; Turton, British Fauna, 1807, p. 100 ; Jurine,
Poissons du Lac Leman, 1825, p. 1 ; Cuvier and Valenciennes, Histoire Naturelle
des Poissons, 1828, ii, p. 20, t. i-viii ; Flemrning, History of British Animals,
1828, p. 213; Nilsson, Ichthyologiae Scandinavicae, 1832, p. 81; Bonaparte,
Icones, Fauna Italica, 1832-41, iii, p. 79, f. 1 ; Fries och Ekstrom, Skandinaviens
Fiskar, 1836, pi. i ; Jenyns, Manual of British Vertebrate Animals, 1835, p. 330 ;
Yarrell, British Fishes (Ed. 1), 1836, i, p. 1, c. fig. (Eel. 2), 1841, i, p. 1 (Ed. 3),
ii, p. 112 ; Cuvier, Regne Animal, Poissons, pi. vi, f . 1 ; Templeton, Magazine of
Natural History (Series 2), 1837, i, p. 409; Parnell, Fishes of the Frith of Forth,
1838, p. 8 ; Swainson, Natural History of Fish, 1839, ii, p. 198 ; Demidoff',
Voyage dans la Russie Meridionale, 1840-42, iii, p. 355 ; White, Catalogue of
British Fish, 1851, p. 9 ; Thompson, Natural History of Ireland, 1856, iv, p. 61) ;
Gunther, Catalogue of the Fishes in the British Museum, i, 1859, p. 58 ; Schlegel,
De Dieren van Nederland, 1862, p. 32, pi. 3, f . 2 ; Blanchard, Les Poissons des
eaux douces de la France, 1866, p. 130, fig. 8 ; Collett, Norges Fiske, 1875, p. 15 ;
Steindachrier, Ak. Wien, SB, lxxviii, Abth. i, 1878, p. 399 ; Houghton, British
Fresh-water Fishes, 1879, p. 1, pi. i.

Perca vulgaris and P. helvetica, Gronovius, Catalogue of Fish by Gray, 1854,
pp.113, 114.

Perca Italica, Cuv. and Val. ii, p. 45 (variety destitute of bands.)
Perch, Couch, History of the Fishes of the British Islands, 1862, i, p. 185, pi.
xx xiv.

FAMILY, I PERCIM}. 3

Synonymy of American examples.*

Bodianus jiavescens, Mitchill, Phil. Trans. New York, i, p. 421.

Perca Jiavescens, Cuv. Regne Anim. ; Cuv. and Val. ii,.p. 46; Agassiz, Lake
Superior, p. 291 ; Giinther, Catal. i, p. 59.

Perca granulata and P. serrato-granulata, Cuv. and Val. ii, pp. 47, 48, pi. ix.

Perca acuta and P. gracilis, Cuv. and Val. ii, pp. 49, 50 ; Giinther, Catal. i,
p. 60.

B. vii, D. 14-15 | t^, P. 14, V. 1/5, A. &, C. 18, L.l. 55-60, L. tr. 7-9/19 ;
Ccec. Pyl. 3, Vert. 21/20-21.

Length of head 3f to 4, of caudal fin 5f to 6|, height of body 3| to 4 in the
total length. Eye diameter 41 to 5| in the length of the head, according to the
size of the specimen, 1 to \\ diameters from the end of the snout, and also apart.
Interorbital space slightly convex. The maxilla reaches to beneath the middle of
the eye. Opercle with a rather strong and flattened spine, the lower edge of
which, also of sub- and inter-opercles and shoulder bones very finely serrated,
sometimes the serrations on the opercle are more or less blunted. A few
minute serrations sometimes present on the lower edge of preorbital. Preopercle
serrated along its posterior border, most strongly so at the angle, while several
denticulatious, pointing forward, exist along its lower edge. Teeth villiform in
the jaws, on the vomer and palatine bones, but absent from the tongue. Fins
dorsal spines rather strong, increasing in length to the third which slightly
exceeds half that of the head, they decrease in height from the fifth to the last :
second dorsal fin lower than the first. Pectoral two-fifths the length of the head,
but not so long as the ventral. Second anal spine slightly longer than the first and
rather above half the length of the rays. Caudal with rounded lobes. Scales
ctenoid, 15 or 16 rows between the lateral-line and base of the ventral fin : 75
rows descend from the back to the lateral-line. Gcecal appendages three : they
are rather wide and of moderate extent. The length of the intestinal tract
equals that of the entire fish excluding the tail or caudal fin. Air-bladder
destitute of any bones connecting it with the internal ear : it is large, simple,
having thin walls, while its superior half is closely adherent to the under surface
of the ribs and bodies of the vertebras ; inferiorly it is covered by the peritoneum.
Colours bright olive-green along the back becoming lighter beneath, where it is
often yellow or dark yellowish-white, occasionally tinged with pink. About 5
transverse black bands descend from the back down the sides, the first from just
in front of and below the two first dorsal spines : the second from the fourth to the
ninth : the third from the base of the last two and commencement of the soft
dorsal : the fourth below the middle of the soft dorsal : the fifth below its end,
while a sixth often exists at the base of the caudal fin. Sometimes these bands
arise from two roots, or are Y-shaped. First dorsal fin gray, with two black
spots, one anteriorly, the other over its last spines.

In the United States and Canada we find the Bodianus Jiavescens, Mitchill,
likewise termed Perca granulata and P. serrato- granulata, C. V. : also a variety
from Lake Ontario which is deficient in the spot on the dorsal fin, P. acuta,
Richardson : and an elongated form from Canada termed P. gracilis, C. V. These
fishes have been distinguished from P. jluviatilis for the following reasons :
locality : also, exclusive of colour, due to the head being slightly longer, the
snout more pointed, the skull smoother, and the preopercular denticulations
finer : the formula also being D. 13 | T 2 -g, A. f . The P. serrato-granulata, C.V. is
said to be thicker, skull and opercle more striated, the latter being denticulated
along the lower border, while the number of denticulations along the lower edge of
the preopercle are more numerous and finer than in the European species^ D.
14 | T 2 3-, A. yHg- : also the scales are somewhat smoother. P. granulata has the
vomerine teeth stronger than in the other forms, the denticulations on the
preopercle very fine especially along its lower edge : the surface of the parietal
covered with granulated and raised lines : opercle feebly striated and destitute of

* All the references to works treating on these fishes in foreign countries cannot he included,
due to the amount of space such would require.

4 ACANTHOPTERYGII.

denticnlations. Professor L. Agassiz having most kindly supplied me with
examples from the Cambridge, Mass. Museum, from which Professor Garman has
selected five of the form P. flavcscens with very great discrimination ; they
afford the following results, D. 13-14, | T |:f T , A. 2 y , L. 1. 55, 60, 65, 70 ; L. tr.
6-8/15-18. Length of the head 3y to 3|, height of body varies from 3 to 4 in the
total excluding the caudal fin. The radiating stria? on the summit of the head
are entirely absent in some but very distinct in others, and the same remark applies
to those on the opercle. In one the opercular spine is blunted, while the lower
edge of that bone is roughly crenulated : 1, 2, or 3, small spines are directed
backwards in three of these five examples ; in the last this edge is quite smooth.
Along the lower limb of the preopercle are from 6 to 11 forwardly directed
denticulations. Thus the radiating stria? on the head as well as the denticulations
are so subject to variety in the American forms that no specific value can be
attached to them. The height and strength of the dorsal spines and rays vary,
the weakest being the most elongated : while, as a rule, the more elongated the
form the more pointed, is the snout. Colour again is evidently of no specific
value, two of these five examples have no transverse bands : two have 8 bands,
and one has 7, irrespective of which they are either wide or narrow, well defined,
or else between them are numerous spots or blotches. The spot on the dorsal fin
likewise varies, and may be entirely absent. The form of the snout is 'similar to
that of P. fluviatilis, or else more pointed. Holbrook long since pointed out that
P. gracilis was a variety of P. flavescens, while Steindachner in 1878 remarked
upon its specific identity with the European perch.

Varieties. As to form, Linnaeus refers to a distorted perch having a hunched
back, found at Fahlun, in Sweden, where it is termed "Rudaborre:" Pennant
observes that similarly malformed ones exist in Llyn Rhaithlyn, in Merionethshire.
Pennell has likewise recorded similar fish in Cheshire, and they have been taken
in other localities. As to colour Cuvier has described examples in which the
dark transverse bands were absent : some have been observed almost white : and
others of a slatey-gray having a silvery tint. These variations in colour are
perhaps due to the soil in which the waters exist where these fish were bred, but
may remain even if transported elsewhere. One example, 18 inches long, and
weighing 4>\ lb., was captured in 1866 near Great Yarmouth, in Ormesby Broad,
with the transverse bands scarcely distinguishable, and the succeeding year
one of 2 lb. weight in Virginia Water, which was quite destitute of any bands.
(Zoologist).

The name of this fish is of Greek origin, signifying " dark colour," which
probably refers to its bands, while this nomenclature has been introduced with
but little change into almost every European country. It is the perca of the
Romans, the perch of the British Isles, perc, Welsh : the old Anglican, bears,
Dutch, baars, German, barsch, or the "banded fish," bors or pertsh. La perche,
French. The word perch formerly was spelt pearch. This fish possesses certain
local or provincial names, as barse in Westmoreland, or if young hurling : base,
Cumberland : trasling, Cheshire ; crutchet, Warwickshire. Likewise those of one
season are termed tranling, of two seasons egling, if of three stichlivg.

It has been very truly observed that in referring to the local names of plants
as given by old authors, one should not lose sight of the fact that strict exactitude
will not always be found, so it is also in fishes, for as in this day some persons
term all small fresh-water forms "minnows" or "gudgeons," and all minute
marine ones " sprats ;" so our ancestors were not more particular than many
authors belonging to the present generation, and who are neither fishermen
nor naturalists. Thus the same name became applied to quite different species of
fish while the same fish might have twenty distinct designations. The Saxons
have represented one of their gods standing on the back of a perch with naked
feet, as an emblem of patience in adversity and constancy under trial.

Habits. Perch as a rule are gregarious fresh-water forms, which inhabit
lakes, ponds, and rivers, more especially frequenting deep holes or where there is
a gentle current, preferring the sides to the more rapid parts of streams.
' >< vasionally they descend to salt water, and when found in such localities or

PERCIDiE. 5

where it is brackish, their flavour for the table has been considered improved. In
Norfolk they have been observed to associate with one another according to size,
the larger ones keeping in select societies by themselves, and the smaller ones in
similar companies.* Sluggish during the cold months, they become more active
in spring, when they frequent the more rapid parts of rivers and the shallower
waters. Mr. Manley, in his work on fishing, observes that he has found January
and February the best months for perch fishing. In confinement they become
very bold, and are easily tamed. In one of the tanks at the Westminster Aquarium
they might be seen lying on the leaves of the larger water plants, which are two
or three feet below the surface. They are very tenacious of life if the weather is
not very hot or thundery, and may be conveyed alive to long distances after
removal from the water, especially if surrounded by wet moss. In some parts of
the Continent, as Germany, these fish are taken alive to market, when, if unsold,
they are returned to stock ponds to await another opportunity. They are
injuriously affected by thunder, and also by frosts.

The strong spines of their dorsal fins render large ones very formidable as food
for pike, still the young constitute a tempting bait. Anglers who employ them,
as such usually first remove their back fin : while aquatic birds appear to relish
their flavour. When very hungry perch are said to make a meal of even the
spined-loach, Cobitis tcenia, but usually avoid such as food. Lacepede states that
they eat young water rats, and have been known to devour small snakes.

Means of capture. Being very fearless, the perch readily takes a bait,
and even a moderately skilful angler, using worms, coming across an
assemblage of small ones while feeding, is pretty sure of numerous captures,
as they gorge the hook. In some localities they are taken with night-lines,
spinning bait or even netted ; while they have been known to take the fly.
Anglers now find that due to constant fishing, perch in some localities are more
wary than was formerly the case, and the use of fine tackle is necessary while
any tendency to quickness in striking is to be avoided.

Baits. Worms, shrimps, small Crustacea, the larvae of insects and live-bait,
as young frogs, newts, and small fishes, whether gudgeon, roach, dace, chub, or
minnow : even an artificial fly has been found successful. Isaac Walton observes
" that should you rove for a perch with a minnow, then it is best to be alive, you
sticking your hook through his back fin : or a minnow with the hook in the upper
lip, and letting him swim up and down about mid- water, or a little lower, and
you still keeping him to about that depth by a cork, which ought not to be a
very little one : and the like way you are to fish for the pike with a small frog,
your hook being fastened through the skin of his leg, towards the upper part
of it : and lastly I will give you this advice that you give the perch time enough
when he bites, for there was scarce any angler that has given him too much."
Jesse remarks that these fish may be attracted to a given locality by placing
a number of live minnows in a glass bottle, from which their exit is prevented by
a piece of perforated zinc. When the astonished perch are looking in vain at the
tempting strangers, another minnow used as a bait is at once seized. Most anglers
are aware that should you happen to hook one of these fish and it is not
taken, your chances of obtaining more bites from members of that community
become diminished : often they instantly cease from patronizing the bait, as if
the one which had escaped capture had informed its fellows. But frequently
instances bearing the other way have been recorded " in removing the hook from
the jaws of a fish, one eye was accidentally displaced and remained adhering to it.
Knowing the reparative capabilities of piscine organization, I returned the
maimed perch, which was too small for the basket, to the lake, and being
somewhat scant of minnows threw the line in again with the eye attached to it as a
bait, there being no other of any description on the hook. The float disappeared
almost instantly : and on landing the new comer, it turned out to be the fish I
had the moment before thrown in, and which had actually been caught with
his own eye."f

* Fisherman's Magazine, i, p. 107. .

f Cholrnondelev Pennell, Angler's Naturalist, p. 51.

6 ACANTHOPTERYGII.

Breeding. In some ponds perch increase in numbers very rapidly : spawning
commences about the third year of the fish's life, when they have attained about
inches in length. The breeding season is from March to the commencement
of May, occurring even earlier in shallow water, while it is frequently continued
until June. They have been known to breed in aquaria, and Bloch describes
how they deposited their ova in long strings, in a glass vessel in which they
were kept in his room. Near Paris the number of females to males has been
given as 5 to 1, but stich has not been generally recorded elsewhere. Mr. Manley
however, in his " Notes on Pishing," states that 9 out of every 10 which an angler
takes are females : in fact the proportion between the two sexes appears to
vary in different localities. A fish of 1| lb. weight was found to contain 280,000
ova, but Lacepede, on the authority of Picot, gives nearly 1,000,000, however the
size of the example is not stated. Buckland recorded 127,240 in one 2 lb. 11 oz.
in weight, and 155,620 in one 31b. 2oz. The size of the parent is one factor to
be considered in computing the number of ova which seem to increase with the
age of the fish : the weight of the eggs has been known to equal one-fourth
of that of the entire fish. The eggs are about tbe size of poppy seeds, glued
together by mucus, into stringy bands or mesh-work, having much resemblance
to frog- spawn. The female selects a spot where rushes, reeds, or grass grow in
the water, or else seeks a piece of wood or some hard substance, against which she
rubs herself or presses, until one end of the glutinous band of ova has become
attached : then gently swimming away the eggs become voided. These ova being
readily observed are constantly being devoured by aquatic birds and other
enemies. In the Thames swans destroy fish spawn to a great extent.

Their growth is slow, attaining to 2J inches in length at the end of the first
year, and about 5 inches at 2 years of age : but the rapidity of their growth
frequently depends upon local circumstances, especially as regards the purity or
otherwise of the water, the abundance or the reverse of suitable food, and whether
the locality is overstocked or not so. An example is recorded in which a perch
having lived five years in an aquarium only attained 8 inches in length and
then spawned.

Hermaphrodite examples have been recorded by Yarrell.*

Diseases. These fishes are occasionally subject to epidemics. Thus in 1867
a perch plague destroyed hundreds of thousands in the Lake of Geneva, caused
according to Dr. Forel and Dr. Du Plesis by the presence of certain minute fungi
in the blood. It has been stated in Yorkshire that " after a certain age they
become blind : a hard, thick, yellow fibre covers the whole surface of the eye, and
renders the sight totally obscured. When this is the case, the fish generally
are exceedingly black : and although from the more extreme toughness and
consistency of the membrane, it is evident that some have been much longer in
this state than others, yet there appears no difference either in their flavour or
condition. f Yarrell suggested that this opacity may be the effect of local inflam-
mation, produced by some of the numerous leech-like minute animals, which are
found to frequently occur in the aqueous humours of the eyes of fishes.

Uses. The Laplanders, according to Linnaeus, employed the skin of this fish as
a strong glue for the purpose of joining together the two pieces of different sorts of
wood of which their bows were made. These skins were first dried, then soaked
in a little cold water in order that the scales might be easily rubbed off : several
of these skins were then enclosed in a bladder or piece of birch bark so that they
might not become moist : they were then placed in a pot of water to boil, a stone
being placed over the vessel in order to keep in the heat. Small perch are
frequently employed as bait for pike and trout.

As food. This fish, especially when from rivers, has been held in great esteem
from the time of the Romans to the present day : in Ausonius's writings, when
recording delicacies for the table, he observes that the perch must not be omitted,
while among the fishes of the rivers, it is a worthy compeer to those of the sea,
and may even compete with the sea-mullet. Ray remarks that owing to its

* British Fishes (Ed. 1), 1845, i, p. 91.

f Thomas Huxley, Fish of Maltham Water, Craven, Yorkshire.

PERCID^E. 5

excellent flavour it was termed Perdu aquarum. It has white flesh, which is
firm in texture, delicate of taste, and easy of digestion. " In Ireland," says
Thompson, "it is in little esteem as food." The Dutch are said to be partial to
it when made into a dish termed " water souchey."

Those from various localities have had their praises recorded by different
authors : in England they are reputed to attain their largest size and highest
condition in Norfolk and Suffolk in the Yare and Waveney, where the water is
slightly brackish ; the improved flavour may be due to the presence of shrimps,
which ascend so high in the autumn months. On the Continent those of the
Moselle, the Danube, the Po, the Rhine, and the Swiss Lakes hold the highest
place. Their flavour is considered best when they are in roe.

Perch may be boiled or grilled with or without the removal of their scales,
while small ones are generally fried. On the Continent they are stewed in
vinegar, or fresh grape- or orange-juice, or some sour sauce. Another plan is to
spit them with their scales on, and baste with an acid juice while roasting; and
Mr. Manley mentions that the best he has ever had served to him were skinned
and broiled very delicately in buttered paper.

Habitat. Generally throughout the fresh waters of Europe, also in the
Siberian territories of Asiatic Russia. While in the Western Hemisphere it is
found on the North American continent from the fresh waters which find their
way into Hudson's Bay as far south as those which empty themselves into the
Gulf of Mexico. In Scandinavia it is present, according to Nilsson, as far as the
sixty-ninth parallel.

In Great Britain it is rare north of the Forth, unless it has been introduced
within the present century, now it is present in the Deveron, in Banffshire
(Edward), is common in the Forth and its tributaries, as well as in Scottish
waters to the south of this river. It does not appear to exist in the Orkneys and
Shetland Isles. It is almost universally distributed through England and Wales ;
but Borlase, in 1758, stated it to be unknown in Cornwall, where, however, Couch
remarks that it has been introduced this century. It is absent from the Isle of
Wight : while in Wales it is said to be chiefly confined to stagnant waters.

In Ireland it is pretty general though not universal. I have personally
captured it near Longford, while the lakes of Mayo abound with it. Some
naturalists believe it to be an introduced species, but Thompson observes that he
is disposed to doubt this as it is so widely distributed. Kanahan, remarking upon
the fishes of the River Dodder (1852), observes that there is good proof that it
has existed there twenty years.

As to the size it attains, one of 3 lb. weight is considered a prize by the
angler of the present day ; Pennant mentions one of 9 lb. as having been captured
in the Serpentine in Hyde Park, which a well known Norfolk angler (Land and
Water, 1879) does not hesitate to express his disbelief in, observing that the
largest he had personally captured was 5f lb., though he missed landing one that
he estimated weighed half a pound more. Mr. G. Browne* records one from
Bradgate Park, Leicestershire, which was found in a decomposed state on a
night-line, it then weighed 5j lb., and in adddition to its putrid state, which
doubtless reduced its weight, there was a large piece bitten out of its shoulder,
most likely by eels : he concluded that when alive it would have been at least
6 lb. Montagu mentions one of 8 lb. from the Avon, in Wiltshire, captured on a
night-line baited with a roach : and Hawkins, in the " Complete Angler," an
example twenty -nine inches in length. Hunt one of 6 lb. from the Birmingham
Canal : Donovan one of 5 lb. from the Bala Lake, while some of 4 lb. have been
taken from Richmond Park and elsewhere. They appear to attain to their finest
size in the largest pieces of water. The head, nearly 12 inches in length, of a
perch, was stated by Bloch and others to have been preserved in the church of
Luehlah, in Lapland, but which it has been surmised, with great probability,
originally belonged to an example of Sebastes Norwegicus, known as a "sea-
perch."

* Angler's Note Book, p. 29.

8 ACANTHOPTERYGII.

Genus II. Labrax, Cuvier.

B/icentrarclms, Gill : Poccus and Morone, Mitchell.

Branchiostegals seven : pseudobranchice present. Body oblong or rather elongated.
Preopercle serrated : opercle spinate. Teeth villiform in both jaws, on the vomer,
palatine bones and the tongue. Two dorsal fins separated at their bases the first with
9 spines : the anal generally with 3 {occasionally with 1 or 2) spines. Scales ctenoid :
of a small or moderate size. Pyloric appendages few.

Geographical distribution. This marine and river genus of perches is found
on the shores of the Arctic regions extending in Europe to the Mediterranean
and Egypt : while it also exists along the coasts and rivers of North America.
Professor Peters has likewise described one species, Labrax Schoenleinii, from the
Celebes, proving that it may be present in the vicinity of the tropics.

The two European forms are distinguished by the teething on the vomer :
which in the Labrax lupus form a simple, almost crescentic, band : while the
spotted species, L. punctatus, has them in a triangular spot anteriorly, extending
backwards in a straight line like the shaft of an arrow.

Gill and others have subdivided this genus more especially in accordance with
the lingual dentition, the character of the serrations along the lower margin of
the preopercle and the spines on the opercle. The number of anal spines has been
observed to be inconstant.

1. Labrax lupus, Plate II.

Aa/3pa, Aristot. iv, c. 8, v, c. 9, 10.

Lupus, Plin. ix, cap. 17, 54, xxxii, cap. 2; Belonius, de Aquatilibus, 1553, i,
p. 113; Rondel. Pise. Mar. ix, c. 7, p. 268, c. fig; Salv. Aqu. 1554, xxviii, p. 108,
f . 30 ; Gesner, iv, p. 506 ; Aldrov. Pise, iv, cap. 2, p. 490, c. fig ; Jonston, 1649,
lib. ii, cap. 2, p. 103, t. xxiii, f. 3; Willughby, iv, cap. 1, p. 271, t. R. 1 ; Ray,
Pise. p. 83 and 132 ; Rutty, N. H. Co. Dublin, i, p. 367. Perca, Artedi, Gen.
Pise. No. 7, p. 41 ; Borlase, Natural History of Cornwall, 1755, p. 270, pi. xxvi, f. 19 ;
Basse, Pennant, Brit. Zool. (Ed. 1) iii, p. 257, pi. xlix (Ed. 2) iii, p. 348, pi. Ix.

Perca labrax, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 482 ; Gronov. Zooph. No. 300, p. 91 ; Bloch
Schn. p. 84 ; Bonnaterre, Ency. p. 127 ; Donovan, Brit. Fish, ii, pi. xliii ; Turton,
Brit. Fauna, p. 100 ; Risso, Ich. Nice, p. 299 and Hist. Nat. iii, p. 406 ; Flemming,
Brit. An. p. 213 ; Schagerstrom, R. Vet. Acad. Hand. 1829, St, i, p. 90, t. 3, f. 5-7 ;
Nilss. Scand. p. 82 ; Johnston, Fishes of Berwickshire, Mag. Nat. History, 1833,
Vol. vi, p. 15 ; Martens, Reise nach Venedig, ii, p. 428 ; Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 331 ;
Gronov. ed. Gray, p. 115.

Scimna labrax and S. diacantha, Bloch. iii, t. 301, 302 ; Shaw, Zool. iv,
pp. 534, 535.

Gentropomus lupus, Lacepede, iv, p. 267.

Perca diacantha, Lacepede, iv, p. 418; Bl. Schn. p. 85.

Perca elongata and P. sinuosa, Geoff. Desc. Egypte, Poiss. pi. xix, f. 1 and
xx, f. 3.

Labrax lupus, Cuv. Regne Anim. pi. vii, f . 1 ; Cuv. and Val. ii, p. 56, pi. xi ;
Tarrell, Brit. Fish. (Ed. 1) i, p. 6, c. fig. (Ed. 2) i, p. 8 (Ed. 3) ii, p. 118 ;
Bonaparte, Faun. Ital. p. 79, c. fig; Val. in Webb and Berthelot's Ichthyologie
des lies Canaries, 1836, p. 5 ; Parnell, Fishes of the Frith of Forth, 1838, p. 170 ;
Guichenot, Poissons dans l'Exploration Scientifique de lAlgeria, 1850, p. 31 ;
White, Catal. Brit. Fish. p. 10 ; Giinther, Catal. i, p. 64 (part) and Annals and
Magazine Nat. Hist. (3) 1863, xii, p. 175 ; Thompson, Nat. Hist. Ireland, iv,
p. 69 ; Steindachner, Ich. Spain and Port. Akad. Wien, 1867, p. 4 ; Collett,
Norges Fiske, p. 15.

Bass, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, i, p. 189, pi. xl.

B. vii, D. 8-9 | .j-J^, P. 16, V. 1/5, A. T5 ^ TTl C. 17, L. 1. 72, L. tr. 10/20,
Ccec. pyl. 5, Vert. 12/13.

Length of head 3f to 4, of caudal fin 5f , height of body 4j to 4f in the total
length. Eye diameter 4| to 5 (or even proportionately larger in very small

percim:. 9

examples), in the length of the head, 1^ to 1} diameters from the end of the snout,
and 1 apart. Posterior edge of the preopercle strongly serrated, the largest
toobh being at its rounded angle, and three more forwardly-directed along its
lower limb. Two opei'cular spines, the rest of the bones of the head unarmed.
Jaws of about the same length anteriorly : the maxilla reaches to beneath the first
third or middle of the orbit. Nostrils patent. Teeth villiform in the jaws, the
outer row in the upper somewhat larger than the rest : in an almost crescentic
spot on the vomer, in a band on the palatines, and also at the base of the tongue.
Fins occasionally the first spine in the anterior dorsal fin is absent, the first two
are short, the third 2/3 the length of the fourth, which is equal to the two
succeeding which are the highest, and slightly exceed the length of the rays of
the second dorsal. Third anal spine slightly longer than the second. Caudal
forked. Scales ctenoid. Lateral-line nearly straight, passing from the upper
edge of the opercle to the centre of the base of the caudal fin. Intestines 5 short
ccecal appendages. Colours gray on the back, becoming silvery on the sides and
beneath. A dark spot at the upper half or two-thirds of the opercle, darkest
posteriorly. Dorsal, anal, and caudal fins stained with gray externally : pectorals
and ventrals yellowish-white. The young have usually some fine dark spots
scattered over the body.

Names. This fish, the Labrax or "sea wolf" of the Greeks, and the Luptcs or
" wolf " of the Romans, probably received its names due to its voracity and
likewise to its cunning when hunting in shoals.

It is the Anglo-Saxon beers, now commonly known as bass or basse, which in
old works may be spelt bace : sea-dace of Kent : white salmon of Heme Bay.
Draenog and gannog, Welsh. Gapemouth, Scotland. White-mullet and king of
the mullets, Belfast. Le bars, or loup, French. Zeeharpel, or Zee-bars, Dutch.

Habits. A strong, active, and voracious fish, generally living in shoals ; and
although essentially marine, occasionally ascending rivers above tidal influence.
They mostly arrive from the deep sea about May, returning there in October or
November, and are very rarely seen throughout the winter months. They
consume almost every form of animal substance, preferring such when living,
they prey principally on small fishes and Crustacea, and have also been recorded
as eating sea- weeds. Couch states that they are very partial to Onisci, after which
they venture among rocks during tempests, when their prey become washed out
of their abodes : and it is during such stormy weather that they hunt along the
shore, even in shallow water, although at other times they take their station
under some sheltering rock, from which they dart out on passing prey. On
August 10th, 1878, Lord Ducie, when yachting off the south-west coast of
Ireland, observed that "the bass were hunting the sprats to the surface, the gulls
assisting. This went on all day along the strand up to the embouchure of the
Jung River." Bass prefer the vicinity of wooden piers to those constructed of
stone, evidently due to the greater abundance of food at the former to what
obtains in the latter locality. In Portsmouth Harbour, observes Mr. Barron,
in its various branches, large ones are frequently obtained, while numbers of
the young frequent Haslar Lake, where they appeared to feed on the Actiniae
which abound.

The Romans, aware of their habits, kept them in fresh-water aquaria, where
they are asserted to have bred : the same experiment has been tried by Mr. Arnold,
in Guernsey, with success, and their flavour was asserted by Dr. M'Culloch to be
much improved by the change.

Means of capture. The trawl : by deep sea lines or hand lining, also with
small seine nets. In Belfast Bay they are said to be most frequently captured
along with salmon, sea-trout, and mullets. At Mevagissey, in Cornwall, Mr. Dunn
informed me that they found it impossible to net them unless the seines could be
dragged on to a sandy beach : this however cannot be accomplished, owing to the
nature of the ground, so they must be hauled into boats : stones are therefore
thrown into the water, or other means employed to frighten the encircled fish, so
that they do not take the opportunity to escape under the foot-rope. But bass
are not to be thus alarmed, and as soon as the foot-rope is raised, so surely do

10 ACANTHOPTERYGII.

they swim away. These fish have even been credited with forming a depression
in the sand by the use of their tails where they esconce themselves while the net
passes over them. They take a bait freely at times, although occasionally nothing
will tempt them : while they are very dexterous in getting off fish-hooks, and
often manage to divide the lines. Anglers employ a long and strong rod, and,
with suitable lines, try their luck from pier heads and projecting rocks, while the
flood tide is much more likely to prove successful than the ebb : and the water
must not be so clear that the bottom is discernible. Gorlestone Pier and the
Britannia Pier at Yarmouth have been noted as suitable localities for angling for
these fishes.

Baits. The lug-worm or trolling with a sand-eel : while an artificial india-
rubber bait has been found very killing. Also a soft crab, slip of a cuttle-fish or
slice from a mackerel's tail. Neill found the fry of the sand-launce, and two
young father-lashers in the stomach of one, Thompson detected young whiting.

Breeding. Summer months, generally depositing their spawn near the mouths
of rivers. About the end of March a 12 lb. fish in the Belfast market contained
a vast mass of ova, smaller than the smallest clover seed (Thompson). Couch
considered July and August to be the most frequent months for breeding in
Cornwall, while on the Continent this fish has been said to deposit its ova twice in
the year. The young frequent harbours and the sandy mouths of large rivers,
but adults often lead a more solitary existence.

As food. Its flesh is white and good for the table when the fish is from 12 to
18 inches in length, and quite fresh, but on being kept even to a second day it is
said to often become oily and have a strong taste. However it is largely disposed
of in Cheltenham as a second-rate fish, while it has usually been two days or more
from the sea. The Romans considered this as among their prime forms for the
table, holding those from the Tiber as superior to all others, while the small-sized
spotted ones were preferred : the very best being captured between the two
bridges of the city, a locality into which the main drains discharged their contents.
The Greeks likewise esteemed this fish as highly as did the Romans.

Habitat. A native of temperate Europe, extending from Norway and the
British coasts to the Mediterranean : " it is very abundant," observes Steindachner,
" along the north and west shores of the Iberian peninsula, especially where
rivers debouch into the sea, but is rare on the eastern side of Spain."

In Britain it is most common in the summer months, along the southern
coast, while towards the north it decreases in numbers. In Scotland it is rare to
the north of the Frith of Forth : Edward records a single example found dead
in the River Deveron, in Banffshire, in 1839 : while it has not been recorded from
the Orkneys and Shetland Isles.

In Ireland it was first noticed by Dr. Brown ; it is well known but not
numerous along its southern shores, but decreases in numbers towards the north,
where it becomes rare : an example has been recorded from Portrash, in the
county of Antrim.

A 101b. fish is considered a fine example, but Pennant records one of 151b.
One 22 lb. has been netted close to Heme Bay Pier, and Yarrell alludes to one
of 281b.

PERCID^E. 11

Genus III. Acerina, Cuvier.

Gymnocephalus, Bl. Schn. : Cemua, Flemming.

Branchiostegals seven : pseudobranchice present. Opercle and preopercle spinate.
Distinct muciferous channels on the liead. Teeth in jaws villiform : absent from the
palatine bones and tongue. A single dorsal fin with many spines (13 to 19) : anal
with two. Scales ctenoid, and of moderate size, none on the head. Pyloric appen-
dages few. Air-bladder simple.

Geographical distribution. The fishes of this genus are found in the rivers of
the Palasarctic region, extending from Siberia and Russia as far south as Northern
Italy. It has been remarked that their distribution is limited to rivers or waters
which have their outlet in the Arctic Ocean or into European seas, similarly to
the distribution of Perca fluviatilis. Irrespective of the Acerina cemua there are
two other European species, the long-snouted A. Schrcztzer, with distinctly
longitudinal bands, and a variety, A. rossica, in which these bands are indistinct
or even absent, this fish is found in rivers flowing to the Black Sea : also the
A. czelcanowshii from the River Angera.

1. Acerina vulgaris, Plate III.

Cemua fluviatilis, Belon. Aqu. p. 291 ; Gesner, pp. 191, 192, 226 ;
Willughby, p. 334 t. X 14, f. 2 ; Ray, p. 144. Perca fluviatilis minor, Gesner,
pp. 29, 701, 825 f. 160 a and 161; Schonev. p. 56 ; Aldrov. v, c. 34; Jonston, De
Pise. lib. iii. t. 3, c. 2, t. xxviii ; Ray, p. 144, Perca, Artedi, No. 3,
Spec. p. 80 and No. 4, Genera, p. 40 ; Klein, Hist. Pise. No. 1, v, p. 40 ;
Duhamel, Peches iv, p. 39, t. viii, f. 1 ; Marsigli, iv, p. 67, t. xxiii, f. 2. Buffe,
Pennant, Brit. Zool. (Ed. 1) iii, p. 259, (Ed. 2) iii, p. 350.

Perca cemua, Linn. Sys. i, p. 487 ; Gronov. Zooph. p. 86, No. 288 ; Schceffer,
Pise. Bavar. Ratis. Pentas ; Bloch, t. liii, f. 2 ; Gmel. Linn. p. 1320 ; Donovan,
Brit. Fish, ii, pi. xxxix ; Shaw, Zool. iv, p. 548, pi. 79 ; Turton, Brit. Fauna,
p. 100; Jenyns, Man. Brit. Zool. p. 334; Miiller, Zool. Dan. Prod. p. 392;
Gronov. ed. Gray. p. 112.

Gymnocephalus cemua, Bl. Schn. p. 345 ; White, Catal. Brit. Fish, p. 12.

Perca acerina, Bonnaterre, Ency. Ich. p. 134, pi. liii, f. 205.

Holocentrus post, Lacep. iv, p. 357.

Cemua fluviatilis, Flemm. Brit. An. p. 212.

Acerina vulgaris, Cuv. and Val. iii, p. 4, pi. xli, vii, p. 448 ; Fries och Ekstrom,
Skand. Fish. p. 9, t. i, f . 2 ; Yarrell, Brit. Fish. (Ed. 1) i, p. 18 c. fig. (Ed. 2) i,
p. 17, (Ed. 3) ii, p. 122 ; Cuv. Reg. Anim. 111. Poiss, pi. ix. f. 2. ; Nordm. in
Demid. Voy. Russ. Merid. iii, p. 368 ; Gunther Catal. i, p. 72 ; Houghton, Brit.
F. W. Fishes, p. 5, c. fig.

Acerina cemua, Gunther, Wiegm. Archiv. 1855, p. 199, pi. x, f. 1, 2 ; Collett,
Norges Fiske, p. 16.

Buff, Couch, Fishes of the British Isles, i, p. 193, pi. xli.

B. vii, D ^Jhr, P. 13-14, V. 1/5, A. T %, C. 18, L. 1. 40, L. t. 6/14. Ccec. pyl.
3, Vert. 15/20-22.

Length of head 3f to 3, of caudal fin 5J to 6|, height of body 3| to 3f in
the total length. Eye diameter 3% to 4 in the length of the head, 1 to If
diameters from the end of the snout, and f of a diameter apart. Body compressed,
a concavity on the dorsal profile above the eye and occiput causing the snout to
appear swollen. Upper jaw slightly the longer : the posterior extremity of the
maxilla reaches to beneath the front edge of the eye. Opercle with a well

12 ACANTHOPTERYGII.

developed spine : the posterior edge of the preopercle with 3 or 4 sharp teeth, the
lowest wbich is at the angle and turned downwards and forwards, occasionally the
superior ones are double : lower edge of opercle with two forwardly directed
spines. Lower edge of preorbital festooned. The openings of large pores,
situated in depressions, extend in 2 rows along either side of the head, the
superior being below the lower edge of the sub-orbital ring, and the inferior
passing along the lower jaw and round the opercular margin. Anterior nostril
the smaller and provided with a valve, the posterior oval and patent. Shoulder
scale and one at angle of pectoral fin spinate. Teeth in numerous villiform
rows in jaws, none on vomer, palatines, or tongue. Fins dorsal spines rather
strong, the third and fourth the highest and equalling the length of the head
behind the middle or even front edge of the eye, they decrease perceptibly in
length from the 7th or 8th, while the last is slightly higher than the preceding
one : rays lower than the spines. Pectoral as long as the head excluding the
snout. Ventral does not reach the anal. First anal spine equals half the length of
the head, and is usually slightly longer and stronger than the second, caudal
emarginate. Scales ctenoid, none on the head or fins : about 15 rows between
the lateral-line and base of the ventral fin : 62 to 64 rows passing from the back
to the lateral- line. Tubes along the lateral-line double. Intestines with a fold :
its length from the pylorus to the vent equals that of the entire fish excluding the
caudal fin. Colours grayish, or olive-brown, spotted with black or brown,
becoming lighter on the sides and almost white on the abdomen. Dorsal, caudal,
pectoral, and anal fins with spots which may coalesce on the pectoral fins so as to
form bands. Ventral, reddish-yellow.

Varieties. Examples of a rather elongated form obtained from Russia exist in
the Leyden Museum.

Names. Buffe, ruff, or Jack-ruffe are terms probably derived from the rough-
ness of the edges of the scales : pope is said to be a term of contempt, a contemp-
tuous phrase still in use in Dorsetshire being " what a pope of a thing." A cruel
custom obtains near Windsor on the Thames, of pressing a cork tightly down
on to the spines of the dorsal fin, and siibsequently the fish is returned to the
river. This is termed " plugging a pope," the origin of which is unknown.
Tommy-bars is likewise a provincial term for this fish. Y garwberc, Welsh. Pos,
Dutch. La gremille commune, French.

Habits. A gregarious fresh-water fish, living in large companies, and keeping
to the tolerably deep water, where it prefers cold and shady places to warm
situations : thriving best in ponds through which a stream flows, canals, and
sometimes selecting those portions that are rocky or strewed with stones and sand.
It is lively in its movements and feeds on food similar to that which has been
ascribed to the common perch. In confinement it becomes rapidly tame. Mr.
Arderon (Phil. Trans. Royal Soc. 1747) tells us how he kept two in an aquarium
where they became much attached to one another. He gave one away, when the
other became so miserable that it declined all food, and this continued for nearly
three weeks. Fearing his remaining fish might die, he sent for its former
companion, and on the two meeting they again became quite contented.

Means of capture. Similar to such as are employed for the perch. They
are often taken by young anglers fishing for gudgeons and sticklebacks.

Baits. Identical with those used for the perch or gudgeons, especially a red
woi'm, while it is an equally fearless biter and a bottom feeder.

Breeding. In the months of March or April its straw-coloured ova are
deposited among the roots and stems of flags and rushes at the sides of streams.
In the example figured, which weighed 4| oz. I found 205,000 well-developed
ova, while more were present in a less advanced stage.

Uses. This fish is frequently employed as a bait when trolling for pike or
trout.

As food. Its flesh is esteemed, especially during the spring and autumn, but
is scarcely equal to that of the perch.

Habitat. Fresh waters of Siberia and Russia, while it is common in the
northern and central parts of Scandinavia, but rare in the southern districts. It

PERCID^E. 13

is found in Switzerland, Germany, France, and England, but said to be absent
from Spain, Portugal, Italy aud Greece.

Tn the British Isles it is common in the Severn, Cam, Thames, and the rivers
and canals of the midland counties of England, especially where the bottom is of
fine sand or gravel. It is not found in Devonshire, Cornwall, or the Isle of
Wight. It is generally considered to be absent from Scotland, but Edward in
1877 observed " one is said to have been obtained off Troup Head, about forty-
two years ago." It is absent from Ireland.

This fish was first noticed by Belonius who named and figured it : next
Dr. John Caius took it in the River Yare near Norwich and sent a drawing to
Gesner, termed Aspredo, "rough," which was published.

It rarely exceeds 7 inches in length. I am indebted for the example figured,
natural size, to Professor Smidt of Archangel.

14 ACANTHOPTERYGII.

Genus IV. Serranus, Cuvier.

Epinephelus, sp. Bloch : Cephalopholis, sp. Bl. Schn. : Paraserramis and
Serranichthys, Bleeker : Labroperca, Mycteroperca, Bodianus, Enneacentrus, Petro-
metopon, Promicrops, Schistoras, and Menephorus, Gill : Prospinus, Poey : Priacan-
thichthys {young), Day: Paralabrax, Paranthias, and Itaiara, Vaillant and
Bocourt.

Branchiostegals seven : pseudobranchiai present. Eyes lateral, of moderate size.

Preopercle with its vertical limb more or less serrated, its horizontal one generally

entire : opercle with two or three flat spines. Teeth villiform in the jaws, vomer and
palate: canines usually present : tongue smooth. Dorsal fin single, having from 8 to

12 spines : anal with 3 : caudal cut square or obliquely, emarginate or rounded.

Scales small, ctenoid or cycloid. Pyloric appendages many, in moderate numbers, or
few.

These fishes, as might be expected in a genus which is so widely distributed,
show many individual differences. The colour varies extensively and cannot even
be accepted as a trustworthy guide for dividing Serrani into groups. The form of
the preopercle is not invariably identical in every specimen of a species, or even
on the opposite sides of the head in the same fish : while a spine is occasionally
present at its angle in the immature, becoming more or less absorbed in the adult.
The sub- and inter-opercles may be serrated or smooth in the same species, as is
well exemplified in the Indian Serranus bcenack. The fins also alter with age,
owing to the spines not increasing in length so rapidly as the rays, consequently
they may be comparatively shorter in the adult than in the young. Even the soft
rays in the mature fish are of less proportionate height to the entire length of the
specimen than they are in the immature. The same thing occurs in respect to the
anal spines, the second being sometimes the longest in the immature, but shorter
than the third in the mature : this appears usually due to the second spine
augmenting in thickness while the third is increasing in length. Occasionally
there is an excess of one spine and a deficiency of one soft ray in the dorsal fin,
the first of the latter having taken on a spinous character, a phase which is seen
more commonly in some of the Sparidce. The number of the rows of scales is
very important among these fishes, as so ably pointed out by the late Dr. Bleeker,
who invariably counted the number of transverse rows going to the lateral-line
from above and below. Hybrids have been recorded.

Geographical distribution. Seas of temperate and tropical regions, sometimes
ascending rivers for predaceous purposes. In the British Isles two species have
been recorded, one a resident, the other an occasional or accidental visitor.

1. Serranus cabrilla, Plate IV.

Xai'j], Salviani.

Perca, Rondel, vi, c. 8, p. 182, c. fig. ; Gesner, Ed. 1598, f. 16, c. fig. Perca
marina, var. B. Brunnich ; Jonston, De Pise. lib. i, t. ii, c. i, art. viii, p. 47, t. xiv,
f. 10, 11, 12 ; Ray, p. 140.

Perca cabrilla, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 488 ; Gmel. Linn. p. 1322 ; Jenyns, Man.
Brit. Vert. p. 352.

Holocentrus virescens, Bloch, t. ccxxxiii ; Bl. Schn. p. 313 ; Lacep. iv, p. 357.
marinus, Lacep. iv, p. 376.

Lutjanus serranus, Lacep. iv, p. 205.

Serranus marinus, &ndflavus, Risso. Ich. Nice, pp. 291, 293.
cabrilla, Cuv. and Val. ii, p. 223, pi. xxix ; Yarrell, Brit. Fish. (Ed. I)
i, p. 9, c. fig. (Ed. 2) i, p. 11 (Ed. 3), ii, p. 129; Swainson, Pishes ii, p. 201 ;
White, Catal. Brit. Pish. p. 11 ; Nordman, in Demid. Voy. Russ. Merid. iii,
p. 367 ; Guichen. Expl. Sc. Alger. Poiss. p. 33, pi. 1 ; Giinther, Catal. i, p. 106 ;
Steind. Ich. Spanien u. Port. 1867, p. 9.

Perca channus, Couch, Loud. Mag. Nat. Hist, v, p. 19, f. 6.

Serranus novemcinctus, Kner, Novara Fishes, p. 17, t. ii, f. 1.

Comber, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, i, p. 195, pi. xlii.

PERCIM3. 15

B. vii, D. {J, P. 15, V. 1/5, A. T 2 , C. 15, L. I. 80-90, L. tr. 9/25.

Length of head 3 to 3j, of caudal fin 6 to 7, height of body 3^ in the total
length. Eye diameter 4^ in the length of the head, 1| diameters from the end
of the snout, and 1 diameter apart. Posterior border of the preopercle serrated,
most coarsely so at its rounded angle. Nostrils patent, the posterior the larger.
Lower jaw the longer : the posterior extremity of the maxilla reaches to beneath
the hind edge of the eye. Teeth of moderate size, the outer row enlarged :
villiform ones present on vomer and palatines. Fins dorsal spines lower than
the rays, increasing in length to the fifth, which equals 2^ in the height of the
body below it. Pectoral as long as the head excluding the snout. Caudal slightly
emarginate. Scales ctenoid, 10 rows between the lateral-line and the commence-
ment of the soft dorsal fin. Golotors orange-yellow, lightest about the head, 4 or
5 stone-gray longitudinal narrow bands commence below the eye, two of which
become lost on the head ; while three going backwards become of a gray-blue
colour, the middle one passing above the pectoral fin, reaches the middle of
the side of the base of the tail, to which the two others likewise extend.
Fins yellowish, the dorsal with numerous blue spots, which however become
smaller posteriorly, and have a narrow black edge : similar spots on the caudal
fin : while there are some larger but less distinct ones on the anal. Frequently
transverse bands descend from the back ; these may be unnaturally dark, which
would give the appearance figured in Serranus novemcinctus, Kner. Some
confusion has occurred respecting this species, due to Linnaeus having described
the Sebastes Norivegicus, under the head of this fish : while Bonnaterre, pi. 54,
f. 210, reproduced Pennant's figure of the Bergylt as that of Ferca marina,
p. 128, probably a slip of the pen, it being evidently intended for the succeeding
Ferca Norvegica, the very reference to this figure under Ferca marina being to
pi. 56 whereas it is on pi. 54.

Names and their origin. It is sometimes termed " The gaper," because when
in its death agony it erects its fins and opens its mouth, and thus stiffens, as is
commonly seen in many of the spiny-rayed or acanthopterygian fishes. Bulls,
Mevagissey in Cornwall. Smooth serranus.

Habits. Mr. Dunn observed in Cornwall that this fish is "plentiful in deep
rocky gullies, and the very rough ground off our coast. It is most common in
summer. Its food appears to be small fishes and crustaceous Ophiuraa (slender
snake star-fishes) and encrusting corallines (Lepraliaa)."

Means of capture. Frequently taken in wicker crab-pots, which it probably
enters to eat the baits.

Breeding. End of the summer or in the autumn months of August and
September.

Hermaphrodites. Cavolini and Cuvier have, after repeated examinations,
described this fish as a true hermaphrodite, one portion of each lobe of roe being
stated to consist of true ova, the other part having all the appearance of perfect
milt, and both advancing simultaneously to maturity. Yarrell, however, having
obtained some roe, examined it in conjunction with Professor Owen, and they
observed nothing equivocal either in its structure or appearance.

Uses. Albertus Magnus advises that its tongue and a small portion of its heart
should be removed and then infused in water, and assures us that the mixture will
cause a multitude of fishes to collect together. Likewise should you have a law
suit, it should be placed under your arm and the judge will become your friend.

As food. Seldom even brought to market, but usually cut up into baits.
Still it is good eating, and said to be delicate, but too small to be of much value.

Habitat. From the south and south-west coasts of England, also of
France and Portugal and throughout to the Mediterranean. It has likewise been
taken at Madeira, Teneriffe, as far south as the Cape of Grood Hope, and the
Island of St. Paul in the Southern Indian Ocean.

Although this fish is common at Plymouth, also at Mevagissey, in Cornwall,
and was first observed by Couch at the intermediate locality of Polperro, it
becomes rare at Penzance. Mr. Cornish observed in 1866, having obtained
a specimen there, that it was only the second he ever saw from Mount's Bay

10 ACANTHOPTERYGII.

(Zoologist 1866, p. 348). It does not appear to extend to the Straits of Dover on
the east, nor so high as the Bristol Channel on the west. It has not been recorded
from Ireland.

It attains to at least a foot in length. The example figured, which is 10 inches
long, was obtained at Mevagissey by Mr. Dunn.

2. Serranus gigas, Plate V.

Perca gigas, Briinnich. Pise. Mass. p. 65, No. 81 ; Gmel. Linn. p. 1315.

Holocentrus gigas, Bl. Schn. p. 322 ; Rafin. Indice, p. 17 ; De la Roche, Ann.
Mus. xiii, p. 318.

Holocentrus merovo, Lacep. iv, p. 377 ; Risso. Ich. Nice, p. 289.

Serranus gigas, Cuv. and Val. ii, p. 270, pi. xxxiii ; Tarrell, Brit. Fish. (Ed. 1)
i, p. 15, c. fig. (Ed. 2) i, p. 14 (Ed. 3) ii, p. 132 ; Exp. Scient. Moree, Zool.
Geoff. St. Hilaire, &c. 1832, pi. xvi, f. 1 ; Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 333 ; Guichen.
Explor. Sc. Alger, 1850, Poiss. p. 35; White, Catal. of Brit. Fish. p. 11;
Giinther, Catal. i, p. 132; Steind. Ich. Span. & Port. 1867, p. 11, and SB. Ak.
Wien, lxxiv, p. 175.

Perca robusta, Conch, Mag. Nat. Hist, v, p. 21, f. 7.

Serranus marginatus, Lowe, Pro. Zool. Soc. 1833, p. 142.

Serranus fimbriatus, Lowe, Trans. Cambr. Phil. Soc. 1836, p. 195, pi. 1 ; Val.
in Webb and Berth. Ich. p. 8.

Serranus caninus, Val. 1. c. p. 10.

Serranus cernioides, Brito Capello, Journ. d. sc. Math. &c. No. ii, p. 156 and
No. iii, p. 12, Est. iv, f. 1.

Pushy Perch, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, i, p. 198, pi. xliii.

B. vii, D. T^Vg-, P- 16-17, V. 1/5, A. ^, C. 17, Ccec. pyl. 12 (19 to 20 C. V.)
L. 1. 120-130.

Length of head 3j to 3|, of caudal fin 6%, height of body 3| to 4 in the total
length. Eye diameter 6 to 7 in the length of the head, 1^ to 1| diameter from
the end of the snout, and 1 to 1| apart. Lower jaw the longer. The maxilla
reaches to beneath the hind edge of the eye. Preopercle serrated, most coarsely
so at its angle. Sub- and inter-opercles entire. Teeth villiform in jaws, on vomer
and palatines. Fins dorsal spines of moderate strength increasing in length
to the third, which equals nearly 1/2 the length of the head. Soft portions
of dorsal and caudal rounded. Scales ctenoid, about 12 rows between the base
of the first dorsal ray and the lateral-line. Coders reddish-brown on the back
becoming lighter on the sides and beneath : two oblique lines on the gill-covers
passing backwards and downwards.

Modes of capture.- Takes a bait : Couch's example, which was 3 feet long and
weighed 19 lb., was thus obtained.

Preeding. In warmer climates it deposits its ova in shallow water during the
months of April and May.

As food. It is held in some estimation in the countries to which it resorts.

Habitat. This fish, of which occasional wanderers have been captured along
the south coast of England, is found in the Mediterranean, also Madeira and as
far south as the Cape of Good Hope, as well as on the eastern shores of North
America, being plentiful and of large size at Rio de Janiero. Risso observes that
it only visits Nice during the summer and autumn.

In the British Isles its captures have been almost confined to the south coast.
It was first observed by Couch, one example having been taken at Polperro : two
are recorded by Cock from Falmouth, one of which was sent to the British
Museum : while Mr. R. Couch (Zool. 1846, p. 1401) remarked that the late
Mr. E. Chirgwin informed him that two specimens had been caught in Mount's
Bay, and observes that one if not more have been obtained at Penzance.

This fish attains to a large size, as up to 3 feet in length, and 60 lb. in weight,
while a figure drawn natural size of the head of one captured at Penzance still
exists, it is 16 inches long, which would make the example at least 52 inches in
its entire length. I have to thank Professor Peters, Director of the Zoological
Museum at Berlin, for the example which is figured.

percim:. 17

Genus V. Polyprion, Cuvier.

Branchiostegals seven : pseudobranchice present. Body oblong. Opercles denti-
culated, a serrated longitudinal ridge across the opercle, and others on the upper
surface of the head and occiput. Teeth villiform in the jaws and on the vomer,
palatine bones and tongue. A single dorsal fin with 11 strong spines, anal with 3.
Scales ctenoid, small. Pyloric appendages numerous.

In appearance these fishes have a general resemblance to Serrani with the
head like a Scorpama.

Geographical distribution. From the coasts of Norway to Britain, France and
the Mediterranean : also Madeira and the Cape of Good Hope, while a large dried
example was brought to Europe by the " Novara" from the Island of St. Paul in the
Southern Indian Ocean. Forster recorded it from Queen Charlotte's Island, on
the western shores of North America ; and a few years since Steindachner described
a new species, as Polyprion Knerii, from the island of Juan Fernandez, on the
western coast of South America.

1. Polyprion cernium, Plate VI.

Amphibrion Americanus, Bl. Schn. p. 205, and A. Australe, t. xlvii.

Plpinephelus oxygeneios, Bl. Schn. p. 301.

Scorpama Massiliensis, Risso, Ich. Nice, p. 184 (not Lacep.).

Holocentrus gulo, Risso, Eur. Merid. iii, p. 367.

Scimna aquila, Rosenthal, Ich. Taf. xvi, f. 1.

Polyprion cernium, Val. Mem. du Mus. xi, p. 265, pi. xvii ; Cuv. and Val. iii,
p. 21, pi. xlii and viii, p. 475 ; Yarrell, Brit. Fish (Ed. 2) i, p. 19, c. fig. (Ed. 3)
ii, p. 124 ; Swainson, Fishes, ii, p. 203 ; Cuv. Regne Anim. 111. Poiss. pi. ix, f. 1 ;
White, Catal. p. 12 ; Giinther, Catal. i, p. 169 ; Collett, Norges Fiske, p. 16 ;
Kner, Voy. No vara Fische, p. 28 ; Steind. Ich. Span. u. Port. 1867, p. 15 ;
Sauvage, Arch, de Zool. 1879-80, p. 12.

Serranus Gouchii, Yarrell, Brit. Fish. (Ed. 1) i, p. 12, c. fig ; Jenyns, Man.
Brit. Vert. p. 334.

Perca scriba, Comide, Peces de Galicia, p. 57.

Stone-basse, Couch, Linn. Trans, xiv, p. 81, and Fish. Brit. Isles, i, p. 200,
pi. xliv.

B. vii, D. ^J^, P. 16-17, V. 1/5, A. 2 T , C. 17, L. 1. ca. 120, Vert. 13/13,
Ccec. pyl. numerous.

Length of head from 3 to 3|, of caudal fin 7 to 8f , height of body 3 to 3 in
the total length. Eye comparatively much larger in the young than in the adult,
4i\ to 5f diameters in the length of the head, 1| to 1| diameters from the end of
the snout. The maxilla extends to beneath the middle or (in large examples)
hind edge of the orbit : lower jaw projecting beyond the upper. Nostrils patent,
placed close together. A rough bony ridge ending in a spine, crosses the opercle.
The posterior limb of the preopercle strongly serrated, with a cluster of several
strong and irregularly placed spines at its angle, and some denticulations along its
lower limb. Inter- and sub-opercles denticulated at their approximating angles.
Preorbital denticulated. Supraorbital margin roughened, a ridge passes to the
shoulder, while a short convex median one exists on the occiput. Teeth -villiform
on the jaws, tongue, vomer, and palatine bones. Fins all the spines and fin rays
comparatively longer in the young than in the adult : dorsal spines strong,
increasing in length to the 5th, the next 3 being almost equally long, from
the 8th they decrease, bat the 11th is slightly longer than the 10th : dorsal
rays half higher than the spines. Ventral spine roughened externally. Third
anal spine somewhat the longest, the two first rough anteriorly, while the rays are
half longer than the spines. Caudal rounded. Gill-rakers most developed in
the anterior branchial arch, the outer limb of which contains about twelve, the
longest nearly one diameter of the orbit in length. Scales small, strongly
ctenoid, some are extended over a portion of the soft dorsal and anal fins, also on

18 ACANTHOPTERYGII.

the base of the caudal and between the rays. Ccecal appendages in the example
figured they were numerous, three or more springing from one root and soon
dividing ; Valenciennes states that there are only two, one of which is very short
and the other very long, but I found upwards of seventy in the single example I
dissected. Colours of a grayish-brown or stone colour, irregularly marbled or
with large light blotches, which become less visible in the adult. Fins dark,
almost black, while the caudal in the adult has a light outer edge.

Names and their origin. Schneider gave Americanus as the specific name of this
fish, which was described and figured from a drawing sent him by Dr. Latham,
who stated the native habitat was America. It is called in Devonshire, Wreck fish,
because it follows floating timbers. The term Stone-bass employed by Couch
was originally given by Sloane to a Pagrus from Jamaica adverted to by Ray
(p. 132) : Lowe states it to be called Jew-fish by the English in Madeira, where
the natives term it chernotte if small, cherne when large.

Habits. This appears, as a rule, to be a fish living in deep waters, and Couch
observes that when a piece of timber covered with barnacles, Lepades, is brought
by the currents from the more southern regions which these fish inhabit,
considerable numbers of them sometimes accompany it. In the Mediterranean it
is found to be solitary, frequenting deep waters having a rocky bottom. Mr.
Holdsworth observed " the crew of the ' Providence' smack found a large log of
mahogany in Start Bay, covered with long barnacles and surrounded by a shoal
of these fish. They jigged (i.e., caught with a pole having a barbed hook at the
end) 4 or 5." Ships having foul bottoms in water where they abound and
covered with barnacles, are followed by shoals of these fishes when becalmed. It
feeds on molluscs and small fishes. Valenciennes found sardines in the stomach
of one he dissected.

Means of capture. Couch says that when a mass of wreck floats in sight of a
ship in the northern part of the Atlantic, and the weather is favourable, a boat is
often despatched to obtain some of these fish, which is effected by piercing them
with a spear known as grayns. As many as 35 have been secured at one time by
a single boat on our own coast.

Breeding. In the summer in the Mediterranean according to Risso.

Hermaphroditism. Professor Rolleston showed me at Oxford an example which
had the roe white in its superior two-thirds, while in its lower third it was of a
brown colour and distinct from the upper. The appearance externally was such
as might be anticipated in a hermaphrodite, but the microscope failed to prove it
to be one.

Diseases. Risso states that this fish is tormented with numerous filiform
parasites of a reddish colour, which inhabit its intestines, causing it to possess
an insatiable appetite.

As food. Reputed to be excellent, the flesh being white, tender, and of a good
flavour.

Habitat. From the seas of Norway to the British Isles, and the coasts of
France and Portugal to the Mediterranean, where it remains through the whole
year. It is common at Madeira, extending to the Cape of Good Hope, and the
Island of St. Paul's, in the Southern Indian Ocean. It has also been recorded by
Forster as Perca prognathus, locally termed patb-terci, from Queen Charlotte's Isle
on the western shores of North America.

It was first obtained in British waters by Couch, who observes that on the south
and west coasts of England it is well known to the fishermen. It is occasionally
found in deep water oil* Cornwall : is not uncommon in the Bristol Channel (Baker
of Bridgewater) or on the Devonshire coast (Holdsworth). In the year 1845 it was
reported as common between the Scilly Isles and Land's End. It has been taken
at Dingle Bay in Ireland where it was captured August 2nd, 1847, in a floating
meal-barrel (Moore).

This fish attains to over 6 feet in length. Mr. Cornish (Zool. p 424) obtained
one at Penzance, August 24th, 1878 more than 20 inches long. The largest seen
by Couch weighed 20 lb. The specimen figured is 1\ inches long, and I am
indebted for it to Professor Hubrecht of Ley den.

PERCIBvE. 19

Genus VI. Dentex,* Guvier.

Gymnocranius, pt. Klunzinger : Paradentex, pt. Bleeker and Synagris (Klein)
Bleeker.

Branchiostegals six or seven : pseudobranchioB present. Body oblong, rather
elongated, and a little elevated. Eyes of medium or rather large size. Mouth
moderately protractile, its cleft more or less horizontal : jaws of about equal length.
Preopercle entire or feebly serrated : opercle without any or ivith a not very prominent
spine: the distance between the eye and the angle of the mouth considerable.
Generally strong canines, from 4 to 6 in number, in the front part of both jaws,
almost invariably in the upper : a conical outer lateral row in either jaw: vomer,
palatines, and tongue edentulous. One scaleless dorsal fin, having from 10 to 13
spines : anal with 3 and from nine to eleven rays : spines generally weak and more
or less receivable into a scaly groove: caudal forked. Scales ctenoid, of moderate
size : more than 3 rows between the eye and the angle of the preopercle : none on the
front of the snout, jaws, or preorbital. Air-bladder simple, not constricted but
notched posteriorly. Pyloric appendages few.

This genus has been divided into those with more than 3 rows of scales across
the preopercle Dentex, and such as only have 3 rows, Synagris. Even thus
restricted it has been further subdivided into Gymnocranius or Paradentex, being
those forms wherein the scales do not extend forwards on to the upper surface of
the head so far as the eye, the upper jaw is more protractile and the canines are
weaker.

These fishes were included among the Sparoids by Cuvier, with which their
habits have perhaps more analogy than with the true sea Perches.

Geographical distribution. Occasional wanderers have been taken on the south
coast of England, while they are found through the Mediterranean, the Atlantic,
Indian and North Pacific Oceans, also the Red Sea.

1. Dentex vulgaris, Plate VII.

Dentex, Colum. viii, c. 16 ; Jonston, lib. i, t. iii, c. 1, art. vi, p. 69, t. xviii ;
Gesner, 1598, f. 26, c. fig. ; Willughby, lib. iv, c. xiii, p. 312, t. V. 3 ; Ray,
p. 132.

Synagris, Belon. p. 181 ; Salv. p. Ill; Rondel, v. c. 19, p. 150 c. fig. ; Aldrov.
lib. iv, t. 166.

Cynaidus, Gronov. Zooph. p. 60, No. 214.

Sparus Jonsoni, Walb. Artedi, 1792, iv, p. 302.

Sparus dentex, Gmel. Linn. p. 1278 ; Bonnaterre, Ency. Ich. p. 102, pi. 1,
f. 190 ; Bloch, t. eclxviii ; Shaw, Zool. iv, pt. 2, f. 408 ; Donovan, Brit. Fish, iv,
pi. lxxiii ; Lacep. iv, p. 121 ; Turton, p. 98 ; Risso, Ich. Nice, p. 253 ; De la
Roche, Ann. Mus. xiii, p. 317 ; Duhamel, Peches, ii, c. 2, p. 251.

Cichla dentex, Bl. Schn. p. 337.

Sparus gibbosus, Rafin. Caratteri, 1810, p. 47, No. 126 (adult).

Sparus cetti, Risso, Ich. Nice, p. 256.

Dentex cetti. Risso, Europ. Merid. iii, p. 256.

,, vulgaris, Cuv. and Val. vi, p. 220, pi. cliii ; Flem. Brit. Anim. p. 212 ;
Jenyns, Man. p. 357 ; Yarrell, Brit. Fish. (Ed. 1) i, p. Ill, c. fig. (Ed. 2) i,
p. 127 (Ed. 3) ii, p. 153 ; Guichen. Explor. Alger. Poiss. p. 51 ; Val. in Webb
and Berthel. lies Canar. Poiss. p. 36 ; Giinther, Catal. i, p. 366 ; Steind. Ich.
Spanien u. Port. 1867, p. 22.

Dentex gibbiceps, Reuss, Isis, 1832, p. 626 (adult).

Dentex Johnsoni, White, Catal. Brit. Fish. p. 19.

* Huro nigricans or the Black Bass from the Delaware river, America, has been extensively
introduced by the Marquis of Exeter into the waters of his estate at Stamford, where they may be
acclimatized and widely spread. About 965 appear to have been landed alive, and their average
weight is now (Oct. 1880) about half a pound each. Land and Water, Oct. 16th, 1880.

2 *

20 ACANTHOPTERYGII.

Dentex, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, i, p. 203, pi. xlv.

B. vi, D. ifi-H P. 15, V. 1/5, A. f, c. 17, L, 1, 60-65, L, tr. 8/17, Coec. pyl. 5,
Vert. 10/14.

Length of head 3f to 3, of caudal fin 5 to 5|, height of hody 3i to 3| in
the total length. Eye comparatively much larger in the young than in the
adult, 4| to 5|- diameters in the length of the head, 1^ to 2\ diameters from the
end of the snout, and 1 to \\ diameters apart. Jaws of about the same length
anteriorly, the maxilla reaches to beneath the front edge of the eye. Nostrils
patent, the posterior the larger. Preorbital large, its height in the young
equalling about 1 diameter of the orbit, but in the adult from If to even
2 diameters : it is about 1/4 longer than high. Bones of the head entire.
Teeth 4 large curved canines in either jaw, the outer pairs much the strongest,
while there is an inner row of small teeth : laterally a row of pointed ones :
none on the tongue, vomer, or palatine bones. Ems spines of dorsal weak,
increasing in length to the 4th or 5th which equals half the length of the head
and rather exceeds that of the longest ray. Pectoral nearly as long as the head.
Third anal spine rather longer than the second. Caudal forked. Scales finely
ctenoid, 8 rows between the eye and the angle of the preopercle, which likewise
has a few scales, irregularly placed, along its limb. Colours it may be beautifully
varied, being silvery interchanged with light blue on the back and some blue
spots on the sides. On the front of the head wavy lines of gold, silver, and
purple : eyes blue with a golden iris. Dorsal fin bluish-yellow, pectoral and
caudal reddish. One form of colour, which may be due to age, is the existence of
a large yellow spot at the base of the opercle, and extending over the interopercle.
The variety, D. cetti, was examined by M. Laurillard at Nice, and he found the
spot well marked in the adult, but absent from the immature.

Names and their origin. Cynodon or " dogs' teeth " refers to its large canines,
the term four-toothed gilt head has a similar origin.

Habits. Exceedingly voracious and a rapid swimmer. During the winter it
retires to the deeper water, but about June seeks the shallower places, approaching
the mouths of rivers where it deposits its ova between the crevices of stones and
rocks.

Means of capture. Large fisheries of the Dentex are carried on in the warmer
European climes.

As food. Palatable and wholesome when fresh, while it salts well. It is
prepared by cutting in slices and packing in barrels with vinegar and spices :
thus treated it keeps for months.

Habitat. From the south coast of England to the Mediterranean and the
Canary Isles.

Edward has mentioned an example from Troup Head in Banffshire. The first
example obtained in this country was received by Pennant from Billingsgate, it
had been captured at Hastings, April 9th, 1805, and weighed 16 lb. Mr. Cocks
recorded two more in Couch's work, one of which was 32 inches in length, which
he purchased in the fish-market at Falmouth in November, 1846 : the second was
obtained from the same place in August, 1851, and measured 56 inches.

This fish attains a large size. Duhamel observes that it may weigh 70 lb.
For the example figured, life-size, I am indebted to Professor Peters, Director of
the Berlin Zoological Museum.

MULLIDjE. 21

Family II. MULLIDiE, Swainson.

Branchiostegals four: pseudobranchiaB present. Body rather elongated.
Profile of head more or less parabolic. Eyes lateral, and of moderate size.
Mouth rather small, having a lateral cleft. Two stiff barbels below the chin
belonging to the hyal apparatus. Teeth feeble and variously placed in the jaws
and mouth. Two dorsal fins, situated at some distance asunder : the anal
similar to tbe second dorsal : ventral with one spine and five rays. Scales large,
feebly ctenoid, and rather deciduous. Air-bladder, when present, simple.
Pyloric appendages few or in moderate numbers.

Geographical distribution. Seas of the temperate portions of Europe as well
as in most of those of the tropics : more numerous in the eastern than in the
western hemisphere. Many young and some adults of exotic species have been
captured in rivers.

Genus I. Mullus, Linnceus.

Definition as given for the Family. Teeth in the lower but none in the upper jaw :
present on the vomer and palatine bones.

Geographical distribution. From Scandinavia through the seas and coasts of
temperate Europe, the Mediterranean, the Adriatic, and the Black Sea : also at
least as far south in the North Atlantic Ocean as Madeira and the Canary Isles.

Termed Trigle by the Greeks, from ancient times until the present, under the
supposition of their breeding three times yearly or else according to Athenasus
that they only breed three times throughout their entire existence, their internal
organs being subsequently destroyed by parasitic worms. It was dedicated by
the Greeks to the triple-eyed goddess Hecate or Diana. The designation by the
Romans is said to have been changed to Mullus, framed, it has been supposed,
on their colour, which resembled that of the sandals worn by the Alban kings, and
subsequently by the Roman consuls, and which were afterwards adopted by their
emperors under the designation of Mullens.

In the time of the Caesars the Mullets seem almost to have divided with them
the allegiance of the Roman people, all of whom sought to obtain the fish for
their repasts as a luxury of no common order and the ruling fashion of the time.
When Rome could no longer supply them in sufficient quantity they were
imported from elsewhere, especially Corsica and Sicily. Salt water vivaria were
constructed at enormous expense wherein they were kept, but Columella observes
that scarcely one in several thousand survived the transfer, which mortality he
ascribed to their nobility spurning confinement. Kept in the salt water ponds
they were carefully tended and taught to know their owner and come to be fed
when their respective names were called out. Here care was taken that by
judicious feeding they did not become emaciated, but it was observed that they
never increased in size. Seneca states that when the time had arrived for
presenting them at their owners' feast they were most valued if they expired in
the presence of the guests. Introduced in glass globes they were drowned in
piquant sauces or slowly boiled on the banqueting table before the company who
were thus able to view in comfort the varied and beautiful changing hues of the
expiring fish. Did it appear likely to burst during the process of cooking, skilful
cooks are said to have hindered this catastrophe by kissing the mullet's mouth !

These fishes realized high prices in Rome, due to the estimation in which they
were held, or the notoriety gained by the purchaser who paid the most excessive
sum: while the larger they were the more they were valued as being obtained
with greater difficulty. It is said that about the time of Horace they had attained
to the maximum of their glory. Martial informs us that the price of a 4| lb. fish
was ruinous : one of 6 lb. produced a sum equivalent to 48 ; and Asinius Celer,
an official who had attained consular dignity, paid 64. lis 8d for one still larger:
while even 240 was realized for an example of unusual size procured on the day
of a grand feast. A Roman is reputed to have disposed of a valuable slave in
order that with the proceeds he might for once indulge in eating a mullet : as

22 ACANTHOPTERYGII.

Juvenal remarks, the fisherman could have been purchased for less than his fish.
But as time went on the abnormal value of the mullet declined, until in the fourth
century, Macrobius assures us that it was not excessive.

1. Mullus barbatus, Plate VIII, fig. 1.

TplyXt) Arist. ii, c. 17, iv, c. 11, v, c. 9, vi, c. 17, viii, c. 2 and 13, ix, c. 2
and 37 ; iElian, ii, c. 41 ; Athen. vii, pp. 324, 325.

Mullus, Ovid, v. 123; Pliny, ix, c. 17, 18, 51; Martial, x, ep. 30, 31, xi, ep.
50; Colum. viii, c. 17; Belon. 170. Triglia, Salv. fol. 235. Mullus minor,
Jonston, lib. i, t. iii, c. 1, art. 1, p. 61, t. xvii, f. 5. Mullus Belonii, Willughby,
p. 285, t. S. 7, f. 2 ; Ray, p. 90. Mullus barbatus, Rondel, ix, c. 4, p. 290, c. fig. ;
Gesner, Aquat. p. 565. Mullus, Gronov. Zooph. p. 85, No. 286. Trigla, No. 1,
Artedi, Genera, p. 43, Synon. 71.

Surmullet, Pennant, Brit. Zool. (Ed. 1) iii, p. 271 (Ed. 2) iii, p. 265.

Mullus barbatus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 495 ; Bonnaterre, Ich. p. 143, pi. lix,
f . 232 ; Bloch, t, 348, f . 2 ; Gmel. Linn. p. 1338 ; Bl. Scbn. p. 79 ; Shaw, Zool.
iv, p. 611; Mart. Reise nach Venedig. ii, p. 426; Turton, p. 101; Cuv. and
Val. hi, p. 442, pi. lxx ; Yarrell, Brit. Pish. (Ed. 1) i, p. 32, c. fig. (Ed. 2) i,
p. 36 (Ed. 3) ii, p. 102 ; Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 338 ; Swainson, Fishes ii, p. 234 ;
Johnston, Berwick. Nat. Club, 1838, i, p. 170 ; Nord. in Demid. Voy. Poiss.
p. 373 ; White, Catal. Brit. Fish, p. 14 ; Giinther, Catal. i, p. 401 ; Steindach.
Sitz. Ak. Wiss. Wien. 1867, lvi, p. 635 or Ich. Spanien u. Port. 1867, p. 33.

Bed Mullet, Couch, Fishes Brit. Isles, i, p. 217, pi. xlvii.

Variety Mullus surmuletus, Plate VIII, fig. 2.

Mullus. Pliny, Hist. Mund. ix, c. 17; Belon. Aq. p. 176. Mullus major, Salv.
fol. 236 ; Aldrov. Pise. p. 123 ; Jonston, De Pise. lib. i, t. iii, c. 1, art. 1, p. 61,
t. xvii, f. 6 ; Willugh. p. 285, t. S. 7, f . 1 ; Ray, p. 91. Trigla, No. 2, Artedi
Genera 43, Syn. 72. Mullus barbatus, Klein, Mss. 5, p. 22. Striped surmullet,
Pennant, Brit. Zool. (Ed. 1) iii, p. 274, pi. liii (Ed. 2) iii, p. 368, pi. lxiv.

Mullus surmuletus, Linn. Syst. i, p. 496 ; Bonnaterre, Ich. p. 144, pi. lix, f. 233;
Bloch, t. lvii ; Shaw, Brit. Zool. iv, p. 613, pi. lxxxviii ; Briinn. Pise. Mass. p. 71 ;
Gmel. Linn. p. 1339 ; Lacep. iii, p. 394 ; Bl. Schn. p. 77 ; Donovan, Brit. Fish, i,
pi. xii ; Martens, Reise nach Venedig. ii, p. 427 ; Turton, p. 102 ; Cuv. and Val.
iii, p. 433 ; Cuv. Regne Anim. 111. Poissons, pi. xix, f. 2 ; Yarrell, Brit. Fishes
(Ed. 1) i, p. 27, c. fig. (Ed. 2) i, p. 31 (Ed. 3) ii, p. 97 ; Mem. Brit. An. p. 216 ;
Jenyns, Manual Brit. Vert. p. 337 ; Guichen. Explor. Sc. Alger. Poiss. p. 38 ;
White, Catal. Brit. Fish. p. 14 ; Thompson, Nat. Hist. Ireland, iv, p. 70 ; Giinther,
Catal. i, p. 401 ; Collett, Norges Fiske, p. 17.

Mullus barbatus, De la Roche, An. Mus. xiii, p. 316 ; Gronov. ed. Gray, p. 108.

Surmullet, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, i, p. 208, pi. xlvii.

B. iv, D. 7-8 | |, P. 16-18, V. 1/5, A. f , C. 15, L. 1. 38-40, L. tr. ^' Ccec.

pyl. 18-22, Vert. 10/14.

Length of head 4 to 4|, height of body 3| to 4|, length of caudal fin 4-| to 5
in the total length. Eye high up, 1^ to 2 diameters from the end of the
snout, 1^ diameters in the postorbital portion of the head, and 1 to 1^ diameters
apart. Profile of forehead more or less steep, in some examples descending
almost vertically. Preorbital much higher than broad sometimes nearly twice as
much. The posterior extremity of the maxilla reaches to beneath the anterior
edge of the orbit : snout, preorbital and cheeks covered with open pores.
Barbels well developed, and reaching to beneath the hind edge of the preopercle.
Teeth in about 2 rather obtuse rows in the lower jaw, none in the upper. Rounded
teeth on vomer and palatine bones. Tongue toothless. Fins spines of first
dorsal flattened and weak at their extremities, the first spine very short (apt to be
overlooked), the second, third and fourth of about the same length and equalling
2/3 the length of the head : subsequently the spines decrease in length. An
interspace of about four scales between the two dorsal fins. Second anal spine
much the longer. Intestines the length of the intestinal tract from the pylorus

MULLIM!. 23

to the vent equals half that of the entire fish excluding the caudal fin. The
pyloric appendages consist of some short and other long ones. Scales when at
Mevagissey, in August this year, Mr. Dunn procured for me some splendid
examples of this fish, and although the majority had 2-|- rows of scales between
the lateral-line and the back, others had 3i. Lateral-line the tubes are much
branched. Colours these vary considerably : in the M. barbatus the fish being of
a plain red colour, whereas the M. surmuletus is more or less longitudinally striped,
which stripes may be sometimes concealed, whde the rich satin-red colour becomes
most vivid after the removal of the scales.

Varieties. Gronovius considered the Mullus barbatus as the male and
M. surmuletus as the female of a single species : but most subsequent authors
considered them as specifically distinct. During the last few years it has been
advanced that the two are varieties of one form. The distinctions given, and
which still pertain to some examples, are as follows :

M. barbatus. The profile of the snout almost vertical, more so than in the
M. surmuletus. It is red without any longitudinal stripes, and Tarrell considered
the position of the fins differed a little, the first dorsal being said to be more in
advance of the pectoral fin and the ventral further behind than in the surmullet :
he gives one yellow band along the side below the lateral-line. This form is reputed
never to attain the size of the surmullet, and it has been conjectured that they
become more striped with age.

M. surmuletus. Has generally an oblique profile of the snout. It is of a pale
pink becoming yellowish on the sides and along the abdomen : while from three
to five bright yellow bands pass from the head along the sides, the two central
ones reaching the base of the caudal fin, one above, the other below the lateral-
line. First dorsal fin with two longitudinal dark bands, the upper being nearly
black and placed on a milk-white ground. Second dorsal with two or more
oblique dark bands, and occasionally the caudal fin is also obliquely banded.
The outer edges of the scales are often darker than their bases.

Professor Steindachner observes that he had examined not less than 75
examples and found so many variations in the form of their rostral profiles that
he felt compelled to consider the M. barbatus and M. surmuletus as the extreme
limits of variation of a single species.

Names. The M. barbatus is known as the red surmullet, the plain red mullet,
or in Welsh Hyrddyn coch. The M. surmuletus is termed surmullet or striped red
mullet. Be honing van de poon, Dutch. Rouget-barbet, French.

Habits. These fishes along the southern coast are found in Cornwall at about
20 miles out to sea in March, and from 5 to 10 in May, when they come in with
the mackerel, and are said to be of a roving disposition, About the end of June
they arrive close in shore on sandy spots which are near to rocks, and as soon as
startled they dash in among them or under the sea weed. The best and finest
coloured ones are in the west portion of the channel dividing England from France.

But as might be anticipated, we find occasional visitors on our coasts when
least expected, thus on December 24th, 1878, Mr. Cornish obtained one 16 inches
long and in good condition at Penzance : and in June 1866 one was captured in a
drift net 15 leagues south-west of Scilly in about 60 fathoms water : and Couch
alludes to a trawl vessel of Plymouth which one winter took so many of these
fishes that they realized 20. As to the food they eat, opinions vary : the ancients
considered them very foul feeders, delighting mostly on corpses, the more putrid
they become the larger the assemblies of these fish : the ocean after a sea battle
was said to abound with them. It is more probably they devour small Crustacea,
crabs, molluscs, &c. In an aquarium they eat pieces of mussel.

Means of capture. Ground seines, trammels, trawls and mullet nets.
Dr. Bullmore observes that at Penzance, on their first appearance, they are mostly
captured in trawls, at the next spring-tides they become more abundant and are
taken in ground seines, sometimes as many as 50 or 60 in a night. At Mevagissey
the trammel is formed of three parts fastened by a common head-line and footline.
The meshes of the middle piece will only receive the head and shoulders of the
fish, while the outermost pieces will allow the entrance of the mullet's body so

24 ACANTHOPTERYGII.

far as its middle. These are set in accordance with certain inshore marks known
to the fisherman. The foot rope must touch the bottom or the fish will pass
under it. The reason they are occasionally taken in drift nets is assumed to be
that when changing their locality they swim near the surface even if the water
is very deep. Occasionally they take a bait.

Immediately one is captured, or as soon as landed, the scales are stripped off
by the thumb nail, which occasions a contraction of the pigment cells, for were
this not done the brilliant red colour observed in the fishmongers' shops would
be less apparent and the fish of less value for the table. Irrespective of this,
were the scales not so removed, and the fish to dry, as it would, while in transit
to the market, they (the scales) become very adherent, and are with some difficulty
removed without breaking the skin, which would occasion disfigurement. Those
caught in a trammel being less bruised than such as are taken in a trawl keep
longer and are more valued.

Breeding. In Britain the striped surmullets, both male and female, are met
with spawning along the south coast from July to September. Mr. Dunn observes
that " they shed only a little at a time, continuing their spawning probably over
a month, and different from all other fish I know. They get very fat at this
time." By October there are young, about 2 inches in length, and from one
eighth to one quarter of an ounce in weight.

As food. This fish is held in high estimation throughout most of Continental
Europe as well as in this country. In France the plain red mullets of Provence
and Toulon are most valued, while in Britain the finest examples of Simmdlets
are obtained from the English Channel. Its flesh is of good flavour, white, firm,
flaky, destitute of fat and easy of digestion. It attains its highest perfection
during the summer months, but is seen throughout the year in London
fishmongers' shops. Its liver is usually deemed its most savoury morsel, to which
its head was formerly considered next in delicacy.

This fish when cooked is usually not opened, only its gills being removed, on
which account it is termed the " woodcock of the sea," it is closely wrapped up in a
sheet of buttered paper securely tied with packthread. It is then roasted in a
Dutch oven, or gently broiled over a clear fire, or baked for 20 or 25 minutes. For
sauce the liqiior which exudes is added to melted butter, some essence of anchovy
and a little lemon juice. A glass of port- wine or claret may be used as an
addition. In Venice it is eaten soused : the fish is kept soaking some time in a
pickle of capsicum vinegar before being eaten.

Habitat. From Scandinavia through the seas and coasts of temperate Europe.
While in the North Atlantic it extends as far south as Madeira and the Canary
Isles. It also abounds in the Mediterranean, Adriatic, and is found in the
Black Sea. The most abundant form in the Mediterranean appears to be the
M. barbahis, while the larger striped variety, M. surmuletus, is common in the
North Atlantic.

In England the surmullet is most numerous along the south and west coasts,
rapidly decreasing in numbers as we go northwards, still in some seasons they are
abundant off the county of Norfolk ; thus in 1831 during one week in May 10,000
were despatched from Yarmouth to London (Paget).

In Scotland Pennant stated he had heard of its capture but did not see the
fish : it has been recorded from the Moray Frith (Gordon), and both it and the
plain red mullet from Banffshire (Edward).

The plain red mullet has been taken in Berwickshire (Johnson) and at
Falmouth (Cock). Mr. Dunn at Mevagissey tells me that he has never seen an
example during the many years he has been engaged on fish and fishing.

In Ireland the surmullet was included among the indigenous fish by Brown in
1774: it has also been taken in Ventry Harbour (Andrews); Dublin Bay
(Warren) ; Ballinskelligs Bay (Earl of Ducie).

The usual size of this fish is from 1 to 2 lb., and about 14 inches in length ;
but an example has been recorded from Penzance taken in a trammel in October,
1875, and which was 16f inches long, and weighed 2 lb. 6 oz. (Cornish), while
Yarrell records one of 3 lb. 6 oz. taken at Weymouth. At Mevagissey it has
likewise been captured 17 inches in length.

SPARID^E. 25

Family, III SPARIDiE, Garner

Branchiostegals from five to seven : pseudobranchiaB well-developed. Body
oblong and compressed. Eyes of moderate size, lateral. Mouth in front of snout,
having a lateral cleft. Bones of the head with a rudimentary muciferous system.
No teeth on the palate (except in the Genus Pimelepterus) : more or less broad
and cutting or conical teeth in front of the jaws, or a lateral series of molars, or
both conjoined. A single dorsal fin formed by a spinous and soft portion, their
bases being of nearly equal extent : anal with three spines : lower pectoral rays
branched in most of the genera : ventrals thoracic, with one spine and five rays.
Lateral-line continuous, not extending on to the caudal fin. Scales cycloid, or
feebly ctenoid.

Geographical distribution. Seas of temperate and tropical regions. Some
enter fresh waters.

SYNOPSIS OF BRITISH GENERA.

First group Cantharina.

Broad and cutting teeth in front of the jaws : no molars : palate edentulous.
Lower pectoral rays branched.

1. Cantharus. Cardiform teeth, with the outer row slightly compressed and
lanceolate. Cheeks scaly : vertical fins scaleless.

2. Box. A single row of notched and trenchant teeth in both jaws. Cheeks
scaly : vertical fins scaleless.

Second group Pagrina.

Cutting teeth in front of the jaws ; and molars along the sides.

3. Pagrus. Scales on cheeks. Canine teeth: two rows of molars in the
upper jaw.

4. Pagellus. Scales on cheeks. No canine teeth.

First group Cantharina.

Broad and cutting teeth in front of the jaws : no molars : palate edentulous.
Lower pectoral rays branched.

Genus I. Cantharus, Cuvier and Valenciennes.

Branchiostegals six : pseudobranchice present. Villiform or cardiform teeth in
the jaws, those forming the outer row being compressed and lanceolate. Cheeks
scaled. Dorsal fin tvith 10 or 11 spines, which can be received into a scaly sheath.
Scales of moderate size. Pyloric appendages few. Air-bladder divided posteriorly
into two horns.

Geographical distribution. rom Scandinavia and the British Isles, through
the Atlantic Ocean to the Cape of Good Hope and the Seychelles. Also extended
thi-ouo-hout the Mediterranean.

26 ACANTHOPTERYGII.

1. Cantharus lineatus, Plate IX.

Cantharus, Rondel, lib. v, c. iv, p. 120, c. fig. ; Gesner, 1598, fol. 22, c. fig. ;
Aldrovand. 2, c. 20, p. 185 ; Jonston, lib. i, t. iii, c. 5, art. 11, p. 72, t. xix, f. 5 ;
Willugh. lib. iv, c. viii, p. 309, t. v. f . 2 ; Ray, p. 130 ; Rutty, Dublin, i, p. 368.
Breme de Mer, Dubamel, pt. 2, sect, iv, pi. iv, f. 1.

Sparus cantharus, Gmel. Linn. p. 1274 ; Bl. Schn. p. 17 ; Duhamel, Peches, ii,
Sect, iv, pi. vii, f. 1 ; Swainson, Fishes, ii, p. 223.

Spams brama, Bloch, v, p. 77.

Sparus lineatus, Montagu, Mem. Wern. Soc. ii, 1815, p. 451, pi. xxiii.

Sparus vetula, Couch, Trans. Linn. Soc. 1822, xiv, p. 79.

Sparus sciandra, Rosenth. Ich. Taf. t. xiv, f. 1.

Pagrus lineatus, Flem. Brit. Anim. p. 211.

Cantharus vulgaris and brama, Cuv. and Val. vi, pp. 319, 328, pi. clx ; Guichen.
Explor. Sc. Alger. Poiss. p. 53, and Ex. Sc. Moree, Zool. pi. xvii, f. 1, a. b.

Gantharus griseus, Cuv. and Val. vi, p. 333 ; Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 358 ;
Yarrell, Brit. Fish. (Ed. 1) i, p. 114, c. fig. (Ed. 2) i, p. 130, (Ed. 3) ii, p. 156 ;
Lowe, Trans. Zool. Soc. ii, p. 178.

Gantharus lineatus, Thompson, Ann. and Mag. (2), 1846, p. 313, and Nat. Hist.
Ireland, iv, p. 91 ; White, Catal. Brit. Fish. p. 16 ; Giinther, Cat. i, p. 414
Steind. Ich. Spanien u. Port. 1867, p. 47; Collett, Norges, Fiske, p. 17.

Old wife, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, i, p. 222, pi. xlix.

B. vi, D. \\, P. 14, V. 1/5, A. T V, C. 17, L. 1. 72, L. tr. 9/19, Ccec. pyl. 4,

Vert. 10/14.

Length of head 4^ to 4>\, of candal fin 5 to 6, height of body 2\ to
3 in the total length. Eye 3 to 3^ or in some large examples even 4
diameters in the length of the head, 3/4 to 1 diameter from end of snout, and 1
apart. Body compressed. The posterior extremity of the maxilla reaches to
beneath the front edge of the orbit. Posterior edge of preopercle finely roughened.
Opercular spine distinct. Lower edge of preorbital usually notched by the
maxilla, but sometimes entire. Teeth cardiform in both jaws, with the outer
row somewhat the largest and slightly compressed ; none on the vomer, palatines,
nor on the tongue. Fins dorsal spines of moderate strength, increasing in length
to the fourth and fifth. Pectoral as long as or slightly longer than the head.
Anal spines shorter than the rays. Caudal forked. Scales ctenoid, about 8 rows
below the eye over the cheek ; 16 rows between the lateral-line and base of ventral
fin. Ccecal appendages four, rather large. Air-bladder ending posteriorly in two
horns, which are separated one from the other by the interhsemal spines. Colours
gray, becoming lighter and dashed with gold on the sides and beneath : forehead
and cheeks purplish. Below the lateral-line are 3 or 4 parallel, or sometimes
irregularly horizontal golden bands, along the body. Dorsal fin dark, with 2 or 3
nearly black bands composed of spots. Pectoral, caudal, and anal straw-coloured.
Caudal gray-edged, margined externally with white : some bands of spots along
the anal. Ventrals slate-colour along the centre, with light or even white edges.
The colours in these fish are liable to considerable variation.

Names. Black sea-bream : old wife. Rutty observes that in the county of
Dublin it was "vulgarly but improperly termed sea tench" but it is questionable
whether he referred to this fish.

Habits. Prefers rocky ground, feeding on the finer kinds of sea weeds. It is
found in bays and harbours, and frequently captured by anglers fishing from the
shore, rocks or piers. Cuv. and Val. observe that the remains of Fuci
were detected in it. It is most abundant about July and August, after whi^h it
appears to retire to deeper water. Couch records an example captured as late in
the year as Christmas, after a cold season, and a second in February with the roe
well developed. In aqiiaria they are fond of shrimps.

How captured. Generally in summer and autumn by baits, as lob worms or
pieces of mussel, or nets.

sparim:. 27

As food. Its flesh is usually soft and little esteemed, but those taken in
August and September at Boulogne and Calais are said to have firmer flesh and a
moderately good taste.

Habitat. Rare off the coasts of southern Norway, Ireland and Scotland, but
becoming more common along the west and south coast of England and in the
North Atlantic Ocean to Madeira and the Canary Islands : while it also abounds
throughout the Mediterranean.

This fish was first recorded in Britain by Colonel Montagu in 1815, as Sparus
lineatus, it is distributed along the entire south and up a portion of the west
coasts of England ; rarely in companies, but usually more solitary in its habits.
In the Westminster Aquarium, however, I observe that they constantly swim
together in companies. In Banffshire " a few of them are generally procured
every autumn or about the beginning of winter" (Edward).

Ireland. May, 1846, the first example recorded of late years,was captured by
a hand-line baited with a lug-worm in Belfast Bay. Thompson says it had
D. 10/11, A. 1/11, and the upper caudal lobe the longer. Another was taken in
November at Kilmore, in the County of Wexford. While Rutty remarks
"found about the rocks of Bullock, Dunleary, and Killeny Bay."

As to the size it attains, Couch mentions one of 16 inches in length : and
Yarrell one of 17 inches, while it has been taken up to 20 inches. Mr. Cornish
states that one 7| inches in length was taken at Penzance, May 24th, 1880, and
adds that he had not seen so small an example since May 26th, 1859.

28 ACANTHOPTERYGII.

Genus II. Box, Cuvier and Valenciennes.

Boops, Cuvier.

Branchiostegals six : pseudobranchiaz present. Body elongated and someiohat
rounded. A front row of incisors, having notched margins, in either jaw : no m,olars.
Spines of dorsal fin (11 to 15) can be received into a scaly sheath. Scales of moderate
size, extended over the cheeks. Intestinal tract convoluted and rather long : pyloric
appendages few. Air-bladder divided posteriorly into two horns.

Geographical distribution. From the southern coast of the British Isles south-
wards to Madeira and the Cape of Good Hope, also throughout the Mediterranean.
Found in the Caribbean Sea in the West Indies.

1. Box vulgaris, Plate X.

Box, Plin. xxii, c. 11 ; Belon. de Aquat. p. 230. Boops, Rondel, v, c. 11, p. 136,
c. fig. ; Gesner, p. 147 ; Aldrov. ii. c. 41, p. 231 ; Jonst. De Pise. lib. i, t. iii, c. 1,
art. 23, p. 84, t. xx, f. 6 ; Willugh. p. 317, t. U. S. f. 1 ; Ray, p. 135. Sparus, No. 6,
Artedi, Gen. p. 36.

Sparus boops, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 469 ; Gmel. Linn. p. 1274 ; Briinn. Pise.
Mass. p. 44 ; Lacep. iv, pp. 97, 99 ; Bl. Schn. p. 273 ; Risso, Ich. Nice, p. 242 ;
Martens, Reise nach Venedig, ii, p. 424.

Box vulgaris, Cuv. and Val. vi, p. 348, pi. clxi ; Cuv. Reg. Anim. III. Poissons,
pi. xxxvi, f. 1; Guichenot, Explor. Sc. Alger. Poissons, p. 54; Yarrell, Zool. 1843,
p. 85, and Brit. Fishes, Second Supplement, 1860, p. 6, e. fig. and (Ed. 3) ii,
p. 159 ; Giinther, Catal. i. p. 418 ; Steind. Ich. Spanien u. Port 1867, p. 49.

Boops Canariensis, Val. in Webb and Berth. Hist. Nat. lies Canar. Poiss. p. 36,
pi. x, f. 1.

Sparus boops, Swainson, Fishes, ii, p. 223.

Boops boops, White, Catal. Brit. Fish. p. 20.

Bogue, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, i, p. 225, pi. 1.

B. vi, D. T ^ T , P. 21, V. 1/5, A. r \, C. 17, L. 1. 75, L. tr. 6/13, Ccec. pyl. 5,
Vert. 10-11/13.

Length of head 4|, of caudal fin 5J, height of body 4| to 5 in the total
length. Eye 3 to 3| diameters in the length of the head, 2/3 to 1 diameter
from the end of the snout, and the same distance apart. Interorbital space
flattened and rather convex. The maxilla does not quite reach to below the front
edge of the eye in adults, but does in the young. Preorbital rather narrow,
and longer than deep. Teeth the anterior row in both jaws flattened and notched
at their cutting edge into a trefoil shape : fine ones on the vomer, palatines, and on
the tongue. Fins dorsal spines weak. Pectoral as long as the head. Last
dorsal and anal ray thickened. Caudal deeply forked. Scales cycloid, arranged
in regular lines on the body : 3 or 4 rows across the cheeks, also present on the
opercular pieces, but none along the preopercular limb. A few over the caudal fin.
Intestinal tract the stomach is small, with thin and transparent walls : its
ascending portion is narrow at its commencement, but subsequently dilates into
double its original width. There are five ccecal appendages at the pylorus, four
on the lower side of the duodenum, and one on its upper surface. The intestines
are much convoluted, while at the commencement of the rectum it suddenly
dilates and gives off a sort of little ccecum, which has been likened to a true
concal appendage, subsequent to which the intestine again contracts. Colours
yellowish-olive on the back, becoming silvery on the abdomen: three or four
golden lines pass along the sides below the lateral-line. A brown spot in the
axil of the pectoral fin.

Names. Bog a, French.

SPARID^E. 29

Habits. It feeds on sea-weeds and occasionally devours small marine animals,
but appears to subsist chiefly on a vegetable diet.

Means of capture. In Provence and Nice peculiar kinds of nets, termed
bughiera, are said to be employed for taking these fishes, while for good luck tho
boats are adorned with silver figures of the bogue.

Breeding. It is stated to spawn twice a year near the shore.

As 7 food. It is good and digestible according to Rondel, but on the
Atlantic coast of Spain, Cornide described them as disagreeable in taste, and only
eaten by the poor : while on the coast of Provence it is especially esteemed when
full of spawn, according to Valenciennes.

Habitat. From the southern shores of the British isles as far south as
Madeira and the Canaries, while an example, said to have been obtained from
St. Vincent's, in the West Indies, is in the British Museum. It is also common
throughout the Mediterranean.

The first example observed in this country was at Falmouth, in October, 1843,
when one was taken in a ground seine along with some mullets : several examples
have since been captured at the same place. June 26th, 1872, one was caught
near Plymouth ; and March 15th, 1873, a specimen, 12 inches long, was obtained
in a herring-net at Helford Harbour.

It attains at least 16 inches in length, as seen in a specimen from Lisbon in
the British Museum. For the example figured, life-size, I am indebted to
Professor Peters, Director of the Zoological Museum at Berlin.*

* Msena vulgaris, Cuvier and Valenciennes.

Mendole, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, i, p. 206, pi. xlvi.

This fish may be an occasional wanderer into the British seas. I think,
however, that the single example recorded, which was not kept, must from the
description have been Box vulgaris, the only difference given, being that it was
said to have pointed teeth.

30 ACANTHOPTERYGII.

Second group Pagrina.
Cutting teeth in front of jaws : and molars along the sides.

Genus III. Pagrds, Cuvier.

Chrysophrys, Cuvier: Argyrops and Chrysoblephus, Swainson : Sp arus, Bleeker,
1877.

Branchiostegals six t pseudobranchiai present. Jaivs with an anterior row of
conical or compressed canines, and laterally two, three or even four rows of rounded
molars. A single dorsal fin with from 11 to lS'sometimes elongated, spines, receivable
into a groove at their base : anal with three. Scales of moderate size, extending on
to the cheeks. Air-bladder usually simple, but sometimes notched or ivith short
appendages. Pyloric appendages, when present, in small numbers.

The Genus Pagrus Cuvier is divided from Chrysophrys Cuvier, owing to the
first merely possessing 2 rows of rounded molars laterally, which in the last may
be augmented to 3 or even 4. But even in Pagrus vulgaris, a rudimentary internal
third row may be observed, and in species of Chrysophrys, a considerable latitude
in the mode of dentition is perceptible. Thus in Chrysophrys Cuvieri * Day, the
anterior teeth are conical, while the size of the molars is far less than seen in
typical species of Chrysophrys. I have for these and other reasons adopted
Steindachners views in considering the two as portions of the same genus.

Geographical distribution. From the southern shores of the British Isles,
Atlantic and Indian Oceans : Mediterranean and Red Sea to Australia.

1. Pagrus vulgaris, Plate XL

Ilaypoe, Aristot. viii, c. 13, 17.

Pagrus, Rondel, v. c. 15, p. 142 ; Artedi, Genera, p. 36. Orplms, Gesner, 1598,
f. 27, c. fig. ; Jonston, lib. i, t. iii, c. i, art. v, p. 68, t. xviii, f. 8. Sparus, No. 4,
Artedi, Genera, p. 36 ; Duhamel, iv, c. 2, p. 29.

Sparus pagrus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 460 ; Brunn. Pise. Mass. p. 94 ; Shaw,
Zool. iv, p. 408; Risso, Ich. Nice, p. 241; De la Roche, Ann. Mus. xiii, p. 317 ;
Martens, Reise nach Venedig. ii, p 425.

Sparus argenteus, Bl. Schn. p. 271.

Aurata orphus, Risso, Eur. Merid. iii, p. 356.

Pagrus pagrus, Risso, Eur. Merid. iii, p. 360.

Pagrus vulgaris, Cuv. and Val. vi, p. 142, pi. cxlviii ; Yarrell, Brit. Fish. (Ed. 1,
2 and 3 figure not description) ; Yal. in Webb and Berthel. Hist. Nat. Isles Canar.
Poiss. p. 32 ; Guichen. Explr. Sc. Alger. Poiss. p. 49 ; Giinther, Catal. i, p. 466 ;
Steindach. Ich. Span. u. Port. 1867, p. 53.

Pagrus orphus, Cuv. and Val. vi, p. 150, pi. cxlix; White, Catal. Brit. Fish.
p. 17; Val. in Webb and Berth. Hist. Nat. Isles Canar. Poiss. p. 32 ; Giinther,
Catal. i. p. 467; Yarrell, Brit. Fishes (Ed. 3) ii, p. 142, c. fig. and vignette of
teeth.

Couctis sea-Bream, Couch, Zool. 1843, i, p. 81, c. fig. and Fish. Brit. Isles, i,
p. 231, pi. Hi.

Pagellus Pondeletii, Couch, Zool. 1846, p. 1406 ; Yarrell's, Brit. Fish. 2nd
Supp. p. 4.

B. vi, D. \%, P. 15, V. 1/5, A. f, C 17, L. 1. 5358, L. tr. 7/17, Ccec. pyl. 5.

Length of head 3| to 4j, of caudal fin 4| to 5, height of body 2| to 3| in the
total length. Eye diameter 3i to 4 in the length of the head, 1 to 2 diameters
from the end of the snout, and 2 apart. Interorbital space convex. Upper profile
from the dorsal fin to the eye parabolic, from thence it abruptly descends to the
mouth, which descent is usually most vertical in old examples. The maxilla

* Day, Fishes of India, i, p. 141, pi. xxxiy, f. 3.

SPARID^E. 31

readies to beneath the middle of the eye : lower jaw slightly the longer. Pre-
opercle twice as high as broad. Preorbital large, being as high or higher than
broad, its depth exceeding the width of the eye. Teeth an onter conical row in
the upper jaw, the 4 front rows of which are enlarged : while posteriorly in both
jaws exist 2 or 3 rows of rounded molars. Two large canines anteriorly on either
side of the mandible. Fins dorsal spines of moderate strength, increasing in
length to the third, from whence they equal the height of the rays and about
1/3 of that of the body. Pectoral pointed, rather longer than the head, and
reaching to above the anal spines. Ventral does not extend so far as the vent.
Second anal spine stronger, but not quite so long as the third. Caudal forked.
Scales extend forwards to above the eyes : 6 rows across the cheeks and 8 across
the opercles, those on the head being much smaller than those on the body.
Colours the front and top of the head brownish-red : back and fins, except
the anal, as if formed by a mixture of lake and vermillion : occasionally the back
has broad reddish bands descending to the abdomen : anal pale yellow : sides pale
red : under surface dull white : iris yellow. The young are plain silvery, with
reddish bands. In some examples a blue band passes from one eye to the other,
but which is said to be absent in others. Rondel observed that during'
winter it becomes of a bluish tint, which remark, however, still needs confir-
mation.

Varieties. This fish has occasioned considerable trouble to Ichthyologists from
the time of Bloch until the present, as owing to errors of identification its
occurrence on our southern shores is every now and then being recorded. Bloch's
figure of Sparus pagrus, with its black shoulder spot, is perhaps Pagellus centro-
dontus, as the illustration of its teeth does not coincide what exists in Pagrus, the
difference however between the head of Bloch's fish and what obtains in Pagellus
centrodontus will be referred to at page 37. While the figure of Pagrus in
Aldrovandus also represents the Pagellus centrodontus.

Basso seems to have described this fish in his Sparus pagrus, but he considered
it to be identical with Bloch's figure. Subsequently in his larger work he named
another fish Aurata orphus, retaining his Pagrus pagrus, identical as he still con-
sidered it, with Bloch's species.

Valenciennes held that Bloch's figure represented Pagellus centrodontus and
Risso's description Pagrus vulgaris, but he considered that Aurata orphus Risso
with a blue interorbital band and a more abrupt profile of the snout was a distinct
species : which, however, Steindachner has, it appears to me, with much justice
dissented from.

Yarrell in his Fishes of the British Isles gave a figure of Pagrus vulgaris taken
from Cuvier and Valenciennes' grand work : this he identified with the Braize or
Beclcer of the south coast of England, taking his description from a British example,
to this he added a vignette of the dentition as he found it, but the dentition and his
specimens which are still preserved in the national collection belong to Pagellus
erythrinus. Couch likewise terms the Braize or Becker, Pagrus vulgaris, and it is
more difficult to understand to what fish he refers (vol. i, p. 228, pi. li), the fin
rays are thus briefly described "dorsal nine, anal three." He states it to be
" common on the south and west of England, but it does not appear to be of
frequent occurrence in the north of England or Scotland. . . Its habits are
migratory, and its visits are confined to the summer and autumn, leaving us, on
the approach of colder weather, in the beginning of the winter. It is a solitary
fish." As Couch appears to have obtained only a single example of Pagrus, and
which he considered to be an unknown species, or Couch's sea bream, we are
justified in believing that he made some error in his diagnosis of the species,
having in reality described a Pagellus as Pagrus vidgaris, and published a figure
of an unknown fish as a representation, so far as I have been able to ascertain.

Habits. Risso observes that it approaches the shore in summer. While
Valenciennes, who examined the intestines of one (P. orphus), remarks that the
stomach and abdominal cavity were filled with the remains of small shell fish
having horny opercles, consuming such as have a less hard shell than Turbo
or Trochus.

32 ACANTHOPTERYGII.

Breeding. Risso found that his Aurata orphus deposited its eggs on the
shingly shore in summer.

Habitat. From the Canary Islands in the north Atlantic as far as the British
coast, where a straggler has been obtained : through the Mediterranean, including
the Gulf of Genoa.

The single undoubted British example hitherto recorded -was one weighing 6 lb.
20 inches in length, and captured by bait, November 8th, 1842, at a rocky ledge
termed the Edges, about two miles south of Polperro in Cornwall, and was at once
taken to Mr. Couch. Its form is of the variety orphus, but its colours were those
of the Pagrus vulgaris.

This species is said to attain to 11 lb. or more.

The figure is from Couch's stuffed example : the teeth after Steindachner's
figure, I.e., and taken from another specimen, as Yarrell has figured this apparatus
from Couch's specimen in which they are injured or worn from age.

2 Pagrus auratus, Plate XII.

XpvaocppvQ, Arist. i, c. 5, ii, c. 17, iv, c. 10, v, c. 10, vi, c. 17, viii, c. 2, 13, 15,
19 ; Athen. vii, p. 328 ; iElian, xiii, c. 28, xvi, c. 12 ; Oppian, i. p. 7.

Aurata, Columella, viii, c. 16 ; Plin. ix, c. 16 ; Belon. pp. 192, 193 ; Rondel,
v, c. 2, p. 115, c. fig.; Salvian. fol. 174&, 175; Gesner, pp. 110, 128; Jonston,
De Pise. lib. i, t. 3, c. i, art, 8, p. 70, t. xix, f . 2 ; Willughby, p. 307, t. V, f . 5 ;
Ray, p. 131. Aurata vulgaris, Aldrov. ii, c. 15, p. 171. Sparus, No. 1, Artedi
Genera, 25, Syn. 63 ; Gronov. Mus. Ich. p. 38, No. 90 ; Duhamel, Peches, ii, Sect.
4, pi. xi, f. i. Mochar, Osbeck, Nov. Act. Nat. Cur. iv, p. 100. Lunulated gilt
head, Pennant, Brit. Zool. (Ed. 1) iii, p. 240, not pi. xlii (Ed. 2) iii, p. 327, not
pi. xlvi.

Spams aurata, Linn. Mus. Ad. Fr. 2, p. 62, and Syst. Nat. i, p. 467 ; Hasselquist,
Iter. Palest, p. 337; Briinn. Pise. Mass. p. 36; Gmel. Linn. p. 1270
Bloch, t. 266 ; Bl. Schn.p. 270 ; Lacepede, iv, p. 57 ; Risso, Ich. Nice, p. 234
Martens, Reise nach Venedig. ii, p. 424; Flem. Brit. Anim. p. 211
Johnston, Fish. Berwick. Mag. Nat. Hist, vi, 1833, p. 15 ; Jenyns, Man.
Brit. Vert. p. 353.

Sparus scriptus, Bl. Schn. p. 279.

Chrysophrys aurata, Cuv. and Val. vi, p. 85, pi. cxlv ; Guichen. Expl. Sc.
Alger. Poiss. p. 48 ; Yarrell, Brit. Fish. (Ed. 1), i, p. 97, c. fig. (Ed. 2), i,
p. Ill, (Ed. 3), ii, p. 135; Swainson, Fishes, ii, p. 221; White, Catal. Brit.
Fish. p. 17; Gunther, Catal. i, p. 484; Steind. Sitz. Ak. Wiss. Wien, 1867, lvi,
p. 658.

Chrysophrys crassirostris, Cuv. and Val. vi, p. 98, pi. cxlvi ; Gunther, Catal. i,
p. 484.

The gilt head, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, i, p. 243, pi. lvii.

Pagrus auratus, Steind. Ich. Spanien u. Port. 1867, p. 56.

B. vi, D. f^ P- 16, V. 1/5, A. rT s TJ , C. 17, L. 1. 75-86, L. tr. 8-9/19, Ccec.
pyl. 3-4, Vert. 10/14.

Length of head 4 to 4^, of caudal fin 5j to 5|, height of body 3| to 3| in
the total length. Eye 3| to 5| diameters in the length of the head, 1|-
to 2| diameters from the end of the snout and also apart. Interorbital space
rather convex in adults. Preorbital 2/3 as high as long. The lower jaw
not quite so long anteriorly as the upper : the maxilla reaches to beneath
the front edge or even (in the young) the first third of the eye. Teeth
an anterior row of about 6 conical teeth in either jaws : laterally rounded molars
increasing in size posteriorly and forming 2 rows in the lower and 3 in the upper
jaw, the posterior and internal ones of which are the largest, increasing in
size with age. None on the vomer, palatines, or tongue. Fins dorsal spines of
moderate strength, the 3rd and 4th being somewhat the longest. Pectoral longer
than the head. The second and third anal spines of nearly the same length
and strength. Caudal forked. Scales with slightly irregular edges and straight
parallel lines, 7 rows cross the cheek between the eye and the angle of the

SPARID^E. 33

preopercle. Intestines in an example 5| inches long the distance from the pylorus
to the vent was 3 inches : there were only 3 ccecal appendages. Colours silvery,
becoming lighter on the sides and almost white on the abdomen : traces of
longitudinal lines have been observed along the body and a dark spot at the
base of the pectoral fin. A crescentic golden band, the concavity of which
is directed backwards, passes between the eyes : top of the head iridescent green.
A dark spot at the upper end of the opercle.

Although Pennant has the lunulated gilt-head in his work, such is composed of
two species, the figure distinctly representing Pagellus centrodontus, whereas the
description is partially that of Pagrus auratus, which error has been repeated in
several more recent woi'ks.

Names and their origin. Gilt-head and gilt-poll from its predominant colours,
and hmulated gilt-head from the form of its interorbital golden band. It was
consecrated to Venus by the Romans under the name of Aurata sargon (Halliwell).
In Rome during the time of Belonius these fishes had different designations accord-
ing to their lengths ; those a palm long were named sauguene, if a cubit in length
daurades, while the intermediate sizes were termed meiane. Very large ones were
known as subredaurades. Thunor-bodu, Anglo-Saxon ; Mr. Skeat considers the
term to apply to this fish, it means " thunder-boder," or the precursor of thunder,
which would seem to be an example of folklore. Peneuryn or Eurben, Welsh.
La Baurade vulgaire, French.

Habits. These fish appear to frequent the sea on bold and rocky coasts,
where they feed on crabs and shell fish, which their powerful molar teeth would be
well adapted to crush and grind up. Duhamel states that they stir up the sand
with their tails to obtain small shell-fish. They assemble in shoals at the mouths
of rivers, but are said to be very sensible to impressions of cold when they retire
to deeper waters : and Duhamel observed that fishes of this genus died in numbers
during the severe winter of 1766.

Means of capture. Nets and lines. Off the coast of Languedoc, the hooks are
baited with pieces of mussel or other shell fish, as Venus decussata, or if these are
unobtainable with shrimps or pieces of tunny.

B reeding. Said to spawn in summer.

As food. Coarse, but much valued by the Romans, who kept them in
vivaria on an oyster diet, which improved their appearance and heightened their
flavour. In some places on the continent of Europe they are still esteemed,
although considered to be rather dry : those which have entered brackish waters
being preferred.

Habitat. From the British coast as far south in the Atlantic as the Cape of
Good Hope (? variety P. globiceps C. and V.). Also through the Mediterranean to
the Adriatic.

This fish is a wanderer to the British shores, and has been recorded from
Devonshire. Fleming had "seen it once caught in the estuary of the Tayin August,"
but perhaps owing to his considering Sparus auratus (Pennant and Donovan) to be
this species but which really is Pagellus centrodontus, he appears to have added to
his otherwise correct description, " a black spot at the origin of the lateral-line."
Edward (Life, p. 419) records two from Banffshire, one brought on shore at
Portsoy in 1839 : the other captured off Buckie in 1841.

That the gilt-head is very rare on our shores is evident. It was first
alluded to by Colonel Montagu, who in 1802 examined two examples from Torcross,
while another 15 inches long is mentioned by Yarrell as having been obtained in
the London fish-market, and one 8 inches long from the mouth of the Tweed.
July 23rd, 1846, Mr. Cocks purchased one in the Falmouth market, and a few
days subsequently a second. March 1st, 1870, Mr. Cornish (Zoologist, 1870,
p. 2108) recorded one 18^ inches in length from Penzance, where it had been
taken in a grey mullet net, in shallow water off a sandy beach.

Ireland. Considerable doubts exist respecting the visits of this fish to

3

34 ACANTHOPTERYGIL

the Irish coast. Rutty (Nat. Hist. Dublin, i, 368) observes " Aurata Sahiani.
The gilt-head or gilt-poll here called the Sea Bream, which is very frequent about
the rocks of Du?ileary." The fish here mentioned was probably a Pagellus.
Thompson (Nat. Hist. Ireland, iv, p. 91) considers that Templeton's Sparus
auratus referred to (Ann. Nat. Hist. (2) i, p. 409) as "often taken during
the summer and autumnal months, principally when currents sweep along
the rocky shore," must be Pagellus centrodontus, doubting the existence of
this fish in Ireland.

For the example figured (life-size) I am indebted to Professor Hubrecht of
Leyden. The fish grows in British waters to at least 18^ inches in length, but
becomes larger in the Mediterranean.

SPAR1M2. 35

Genus XI Pagellus, Cuvier and Valenciennes.

Branchiostegals six : pseudobranchice present. Operates unarmed. The teeth in
the anterior part of either jaw cardlilce without canines, the outer series being some-
what enlarged ; posteriorly two or more rows of rounded molars in either jaw. The
spines of the dorsal Jin (11 to 13) are receivable into a basal groove : three anal spines.
Scales of moderate size, some present on the cheeks. Air-bladder simple. Pyloric
appendages few.

The molar teeth in the genus Pagellus are much smaller than what arc seen
in those which belong to Pagrus, C. V., including Ghrysophrys, C. V.

Geographical distribution. From the seas of Scandinavia, along the British
shores to the Canaries, the Cape of Good Hope, as well as the Atlantic coast of
Tropical America. Also throughout the Mediterranean and Black Sea.

These fishes are commonly known as sea-breams. One form termed silver eyes
is said to pursue small fishes in Cardigan Bay, and Mr. Dunn, of Mevagissey,
informs me that sea-breams frequently come in shoals at night-time to feed on the
pilchards entangled in the fishermen's nets, and which they often rapidly clear :
this seems to be most common on moonlight nights, as at other times they are
ground feeders.

In Cornwall when two-thirds grown they are known as grobman, if younger
as chads. Mr. Dunn has observed at Mevagissey that "sea-breams" leave the
coast in November when they have no spawn, returning in April, whereas at
Land's End they arrive in March : on their arrival they seem to have concluded
spawning. The chads appear the first week in July.

In considering the number of species recorded from the seas of Great Britain,

1 observe that Yarrell (Ed. 3) mentions three, irrespective of his braize or
becker, which is in reality a Pagellus. Couch also has the becker, three Pagelli,
and one variety. The number of species from these shores which I have obtained
or examined and figured is five, one being that of a skin existing in the British
Museum from Parnell's Frith of Forth collection as P. acarne, other examples
of which from Yarrell's collection have also been seen.

Couch mentions a tale of the common sea-bream showing how superstitious
the fishermen of Cornwall were at the commencement of this century. An old
woman whose appearance and language were similar to what those of witches
were supposed to be, came to a seine boat and requested the gift of a few pilchards,
but received a curt refusal. With expressions of anger and wishes for their ill-
luck she left the beach. When the fishermen returned to their nets for the purpose
of obtaining the remainder of their capture they found only chads instead of
pilchards and likewise a drowned toad, the last being considered as unmistakably
a proof of the witch's power, which was further shown by transforming their
pilchards into worthless chads. One of the fishermen took the toad to the
supposed witch's house into which he flung it, uttering exclamations the reverse
of friendly to the agent of the evil one. The war with France was then going on,
and among the prisoners captured was this very fisherman who in attempting
to escape fell before the bullets of his guard, he being the only one who was
shot.

The following is a synopsis of the British sea-breams as at present
recognized :

1. Pagellus centrodontns, D. if, A. r \, L. 1. 75. Length of head 3| to 4 in
the total. Normally 2 rows of rounded molars in both jaws or 3 in the upper.
Last 2 dorsal and anal rays not scaled. A black shoulder spot at commencement
of lateral-line. 7 rows of scales across the cheeks.

2. Pagellus bogaraveo, D. Jflif, A. tt s tt, L. 1. 71. Length of head 3f to 4
in the total. 2 or 3 rows of rounded molars in upper, and 2 in lower jaw. Last

2 dorsal and anal rays not scaled. A dark axillary spot, 6 or 7 rows of scales
aci'oss the cheeks.

3. Pagellus Owenii, D. Tl Uhr, A. T %, L. 1. 68-70. Length of head 3 to 3f in
the total. 3 or 4 rows of rounded molars in the upper, and 2 or 3 in the lower

3 *

36 ACANTHOPTERYGII.

jaw. Last two dorsal and anal rays united by being invested in a common scaly
sheath, 5 rows of scales across the cheeks.

4. Pagellus acarne, D. xx-W -A-. y\,, L. 1. 70-72. Length of head 3| to 3| in
the total. Two rows of rounded molars in both jaws. Last 2 dorsal and anal rays
united by being invested in a common membrane. Five rows of scales across the
cheeks.

5. Pagellus erytlirinus, D. \%, A. -g?^-, L. 1. 56-60. Length of head 3f to 4 in
the total. Two rows of rounded molars in either jaw. Last 2 dorsal and anal
rays not scaled. Six rows of scales across the cheeks.

1. Pagellus centrodontus, Plate XIII.

Orphus, Rondel, v. c. 25, p. 157, c. fig; Aldrov. ii, c. 2, p. 158. Pagrus,
Aldrov. p. 151 ; Willughby, p. 312, t. V. i, f. 5. Lunulated gilt-head, Pennant,
Brit, Zool. (Ed. 1), iii, p. 240, pi. xlii, not descr. (Ed. 2), iii, p. 327, pi. xlvi, not
description.

Sparus orphus, Lacep. iv, p. 146.

Sparus pagrus, Bloch, t. cclxvii ; Lace'p, iii, p. 87; Bl. Schn. p. 271 ; Turton,
Brit. Fauna, p. 98.

Sparus aurata, Donovan, Brit. Fish, iv, pi. lxxxix ; Turton, 1. c. p. 97 ;
Duhamel, Peches, ii, Sect. 4, c. 2, p. 30 (not Lin.).

Sparus centrodontus, De la Roche, Ann. Mus. xiii, p. 345, pi. xxiii, f. 2 ; Jenyns,
Manual, p. 356 ; Johnston, Berwick. Nat. Field Club, 1838, i, p. 171.

Sparus Massiliensis, Risso, Ich. Nice, p. 247.

Aurata Massiliensis, Risso, Eur. Merid. iii, p. 357.

Pagrus vulgaris, Flem. Brit. Anim. p. 211.

Pagellus centrodontus, Cuv. and Val. vi, p. 180 ; Parnell, Fish. Frith of Forth,
p. 46, pi. xxvii ; Yarrell, Brit. Fish. (Ed. 1), i, p. 107, c. fig. (Ed. 2) i, p. 123
(Ed. 3), ii, p. 149 : Val. in Webb and Berth. Hist. Nat. lies. Canar. Poiss. p. 34,
pi. vii, fief. 3 ; Guichen. Explor. Sc. Alger. Poiss. p. 50 ; White, Catal. Brit. Fish.
p. 18 ; Thompson, Nat. Hist. Ireland, iv, p. 90 ; Schlegel, De Dieren v. Ned.
1862, p. 23, pi. ii, f . 4 ; Gunther, Cat. i, p. 476 ; Steind. Ich. Spain and Port.
1867, p. 61 ; Collett, Norges Fiske, p. 18 ; Mcintosh, Fish. St. Andrews,
p. 172.

Pagellus curtus, Couch, Zool. 1843, p. 393, c. fig. and short sea-bream, Fish.
Brit. Isles, i, p. 241, pi. lvi {deformed).

Common sea-bream, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, i, p. 237, pi. Iv.

B. vi, D. |f, P. 17, V. 1/5, A. T \, C. 19, L. 1. 75, L. tr. 7/16, Ccec.pyl. 4, Vert.
10/14.

Length of head 3| to 4, of caudal fin 5 to h\, height of body 3j to 3f in the
total length. Eye 3| to 3|- diameters in the length of the head, 1 diameter from
the end of the snout, and also apart. Interorbital space flattened. Preorbital
wider anteriorly than it is posteriorly, its greatest depth being scarcely equal to
half its length ; it is unnotched over the posterior end of the maxilla, Opercle
about twice as high as wide. Jaws of equal length in front ; the maxilla reaches to
beneath the front edge or even anterior third of the eye. Posterior nostril the
largest and obliquely oval. Teeth 3 or 4 irregularly placed rows of rounded
teeth of different sizes laterally and posteriorly in either jaw, none on vomer,
palatine bones or tongue. Fins dorsal spines rather strong, the 4th and 5th
the longest, from whence they decrease in length ; rays shorter than the spines,
the last two somewhat thickened but not scaled, nor adherent together : Donovan
observes that in his example there were 13 spines and 11 soft rays in the dorsal
fin, the same number being shown by the artist. Pectoral as long as the head.
Ventral not extending so far as the vent. Third anal spine somewhat longer than
the second. Caudal deeply forked. Scales finely ctenoid, 7 rows between the
eye and the angle of the preopercle. Colours orange-scarlet becoming lighter
beneath. A large black spot on the shoulder intersected by the lateral-line, but
which is absent in the young : Couch believed that it docs not appear until they
are twelve months old.

sparim:. 37

Varieties. Couch on September 2nd, 1843, obtained one of a shortened form,
13 inches long and 5| high, probably due to spinal disease with which these fish
are not infrequently affected. Yarrell also figures an adult example in which the
premaxillaiy bones were absent. Although Sparus pagrus, Bloch, is probably
intended for this fish, the eye is too small and the preorbital too deep.

Names. Common sea bream, sharp-toothed sea bream. lied gilt head: Chad
(if young, Cornwall) : Boger (Cornw. half grown).

In Ireland Murranroe and Barwin (county of Antrim) : Gunner ont he north-
west coast : carf, carp, and sea bream on the north-east : and Brazier on the
north. Brom y Mor, Welsh. Be zee-brasem, Dutch. Le Rousseau, French.

Habits. Prefers the vicinity of rocks and sea weeds, is very sensible to cold, con-
sequently in severe winters most of them retire to the deep sea beyond the reach of
fishermen, but return as the weather becomes warmer. Sometimes they congre-
gate in large numbers, frequently about the end of summer, when they have been
observed to rise to the surface and may be mistaken for pilchards. Couch records
how on one occasion 20,000 and on another 60,000 were caught in a season at one
time. Those of various sizes appear to keep together. They feed upon small fish,
Crustacea, and sea- weed. Mr. Dunn observes that in 1874 a vessel was wrecked
in Cornwall laden with wheat, the whole of which was lost in the sea. On fishing-
soon after he found the stomachs of these fish full of wheat. They were plump
and in good condition.

Means of capture. Frequently taken with the haddock in Ireland, the bait being
the lug-worm, shell-fish (mussels, &c), and herring-fry, or a slice of mackerel.

Breeding. Towards the end of the year or in the winter months, as in January
the young are about 1 inch in length, but they do not come towards land until
earlv in the summer, when, and also through autumn, they abound.

As food. Not esteemed in England as they soon become stale and tainted : but
large numbers are disposed of throughout the midland counties : they salt badly.
Hardly esteemed in Belfast. Highly prized in the county of Down.

Yarrell suggested the following mode of cooking these fish. When thoroughly
cleaned they should be wiped dry, but none of the scales removed. Then broiled,
frequently turning, and if the skin cracks flouring them to keep the outer case
entire. On the table the skin and scales turn off without difficulty, and the
muscle beneath, saturated with its own juices, will be found of good flavour.

Habitat. From the coasts of Scandinavia through the North Sea and North
Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean.

In Great Britain this fish has a range from one extremity to the other,
abounding especially along the southern and western coasts, but decreasing
in numbers as we go north. In the Frith of Forth, Parnell only recorded
(1838) two specimens, and Smith (Ann. Nat. Hist. 1852, ix, p. 154)
remarks on a single example considering it very uncommon. But Mcintosh
observes that they are not rare in St. Andrew's Bay, and Edward, that
numbers appear annually off the coast of Banffshire, more abundant in some
seasons than in others, while in the Moray Frith, Harris (Zool. ix, 1851) says
" they are common and have vastly increased during the last 3 years ;" while in
1852 their numbers again augmented when, according to Gordon, they were
termed the siller-fish (Zool. 1852, p. 3458). In the Orkneys one specimen was
obtained by Dr. Duguid in Scalpa near Kirkwall (Baikie, Zool. 1853, xi, p. 3952).

In Ireland, observes Thompson, they are common all round the coast.

The example figured was received from Mr. Dunn of Mevagissey, it is 15
inches in length. They are taken up to 3 or 5 lb. weight.

2. Pagellus bogaraveo, Plate XIV.

Sparus bogaraveo, Brunn. Pise. Mass. p. 49 ; Lacep. iv, pp. Ill, 112 ; Risso,
Ich. Nice, p. 249.

Bagrus bogaraveo, Risso, Eur. Merid. p. 359 ; Duhamel, Peches, Sect. 4, pi. i,f. 1.
Baqellus bogaraveo, Cuv. and Val. vi, p. 196 ; Gunther, Catal. i, p. 480.
Spanish Bream, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, i, p. 235, pi. liii.

38 ACANTHOPTERYGII.

B. vi, D. |f:jf, P. 17, V. 1/5, A. TT 3 T ^, C. 17, L. 1. 71, L. fcr. 7/15. Coec. pyl.
5, Vert. 22.

Length of head 3f to 4, of caudal fin 5J, height of body 3^ to 3 in the total
length. Eye 3 to 3j diameters in the length of the head, of a diameter from
the end of the snout, and about 1 diameter apart, Preorbital much narrower
posteriorly than it is anteriorly, its greatest height being rather less than half its
length : it is without any notch. Snout obtuse. Posterior nostril oval and
placed obliqiiely. Jaws even in front : the maxilla extends posteriorly to beneath
the front fourth of the eye. Teeth fine, the anterior ones in the oiiter row in
the upper jaw rather larger than the others : posteriorly 2 or 3 rows of rounded
molars in the upper and 2 in the lower jaw. Fins dorsal spines of moderate
strength, increasing in length to the 4th or 5th, then decreasing to the last : one
example had 13 spines and 11 rays. Pectoral reaches to opposite the first third of
the anal fin. Caudal forked. Scales 6 or 7 rows between the eye and the angle of
the preopercle. Ccecal appendages five. Colows pinkish, with a dark base to the
pectoral fin, and a dark spot in the axilla. During life numerous small blue spots
are seen over the body, most distinct above and below the lateral-line along which
about 52 were present in the example which is figured.

Name. Couch first employs the name Spanish bream in Mag. Nat. Hist, v,
1832, for Pagellus erythrinus, subsequently to this fish.

Habitat. British coast to the Mediterranean. This species, Couch observes,
is the best known to Cornish fishermen of all the species of sea breams that wander
to our shores only on unusual occasions ; and with them it bears the name of
Spanish, bream, and only single examples are met with, which are usually caught
with a baited hook, in the summer and autumn.

The example figured I received from Mr. Dunn of Mevagissey, where it does
not appear to be rare.

Couch says this fish attains to scarcely more than two-thirds the size of the
P. centrodontus.

3. Pagellus Owenii, Plate XV.

? Red gilt-head, Pennant, Brit. Zool. (Ed. 1) iii, p. 242, (Ed. 2) iii, p. 329.

Pagellus acarne, Parnell, Fish. Frith of Forth, p. 24, pi. xxvii, and Mem. Wern.
Society, vii, p. 204, pi. xxvii (not C. V.) ; Yarrell Brit. Fish. (Ed. 2) i, p. 122*
(Ed. 3) ii, p. 147 ; White, Catal. Brit. Fish. p. 19.

Pagellus erythrinus, Yarrell (Ed. 1) i, p. 104, desc. and vignettes, exclude
figure: (Ed. 2) i, p. 120, (Ed. 3) ii, p. 144 (not fig. or synon.)

Pagellus Oivenii, Giinther, Catal. i, p. 478.

B. vi, D. T ^, P. 17, V. 1/5, A. t V, C. 21, L. 1. 68-70, L. tr. 6/13.

Length of head 3| to 3|, of caudal fin 6, height of body 3 in the total length.
Eye diameter 4| in the length of the head, 1^ diameters from the end of the
snout, and about the same apart. Interorbital space convex. The anterior
profile from the front edge of the dorsal fin to the snout forms a steep and almost
semi-circular curve. Preorbital high, its highest portion equalling the diameter
of the orbit, it is one-half longer than wide, being narrowest posteriorly, while its
lower edge is not notched. Opercle rather more than twice as high as wide.
Jaws of equal length in front : posteriorly the maxilla reaches nearly or quite to
beneath the front edge of the eye. Teeth anteriorly villiform with the outer row
somewhat enlarged : the lateral rounded teeth are sometimes irregular, more
especially in the upper jaw, where there are posteriorly 3 or even 4 rows, and 2 or
3 in the mandibles. Fins dorsal spines of moderate strength increasing in
length to the fourth, the height of which is about 2| in the length of the head ;
they decrease from the 5th : rays of about equal height to that of the last spine, the
last two being invested together in a scaly sheath. Pectoral 2/3 as long as the head.
Ventral 3/4 as long as the pectoral. Anal with the third spine the longest, and
its last 2 rays similar to those of the soft dorsal. Caudal deeply forked. Scales
5 rows between the eye and the angle of the preopercle. Colours back carmine,

SPARTD^E. 39

becoming of a rose-red on the sides and nearly silvery- white beneath. Fins rose-
colour, paler than the body. Parnell states it to have a dark violet spot at the
base of the upper part of the pectoral fin, which is not visible in his specimen from
which I took my figure. Yarrell observes that this mark is most conspicuous in
the larger and older specimens.

Yarrell appears to have rather confused these species, doubtless from the
difficulty in those days of obtaining examples for comparison ; and though he
figures Pagellus erythrinus, from Cuv. and Val.'s work, his description of the species
was drawn up from British specimens subsequently received, and they pertained
to this form as seen in his vignette of the teething, where the molars in the upper
jaw are given in 3 regular rows, whereas when 3 rows exist in P. erythrinus they
are irregular ; also the the last two dorsal and anal rays being enveloped in a
scaled covering certainly cannot refer to P. erythrinus. He subsequently figured
and again described this fish as P. acartie. Four of his specimens are in the
British Museum. Couch likewise give P. acarne, which, however, refers to
P. bogaraveo, and he does not describe the P. Oivenii at all.

This appears to be the fish described by Pennant, who omits all allusion to it
possessing a black shoulder spot, as seen in Pagellus centrodontus, and expressly
notices the existence of a ferruginous spot at the base of the pectoral fin. He
also states that " what is peculiar to his species is that the skin at the end of the
dorsal and anal fins is gathered up and hides the last rays," which appearance
does not exist in P. centrodontus, with which Pennant's fish has been classed, but
does in the rarer British forms of P. Owenii and P. acarne. Couch's Spanish bream
would appear to be P. bogaraveo and not P. acarne, with which he has identified
it, if we are to judge by his figure of the length and size of the head and the form
of the preorbital bone.

In Cuv. and Val. a Pagellus breviceps, vi, p. 199, is briefly described from the
Mediterranean, with an obtuse snout and the profile of the back more rounded
than in the other forms : it may be this species.

Names. Axillary bream.

Habits. This fish does not appear to have met with much attention, having
probably been mixed up with other better known forms of Pagellus : the only
examples I have seen have been those in the National Collection.

Parnell observes that his description is taken from a specimen captured in the
Frith of Forth in a salmon-net near Musselburgh in the early part of July. A
second example was taken a few days subsequently.

Habitat. As far as has been recorded this species has merely been captured
off the British coast, in the Frith of Forth, Devonshire, and Cornwall. The
example figured was a stuffed specimen, 13^ inches in length, from Dr. Parnell 's
collection. This fish attains at least 14 inches in length.

4. Pagellus acarne, Plate XVI.

Acamane, Rondel, v, c. 20, p. 151, c. fig. ; Duhamel, Peehes, ii, Sect, iv, c. 2,
p. 32.

Sparus berda, Risso, Ich. Nice, p. 252.

Pagrus acarne, Risso, Eur. Merid. iii, p. 361.

Pagellus acarne, Cuv. and Val. vi, p. 191 ; Cuv. Regne Anim. 111. Poiss. pi.
xxxv, f. i. ; Guichen. Ex. Sc. Alger. Poiss. p. 51 ; Giinther, Catal. i, p. 480 ;
Steind. Ich. Spanien und Port. 1867, p. 60.

B. vi, D. ^Jhr, P- 17, V. 1/5, A. T \, C. 17, L. 1. 70-72, L. tr. 5/13, Vert. 22.

Length of head 3} to 3f, of caudal fin 5-f, height of body 3| in the total length.
Eye 4 diameters in the length of the head, 1^ diameters from the end of the
snout and nearly 1 apart. Preorbital narrowest posterior]}^ destitute of any notch,
while its greatest height equals 1^ in its length. Opercle rather more than twice
as high as wide. Jaws of equal length anteriorly, the maxilla reaches posteriorly
to nearly beneath the front edge of the eye. Teeth anteriorly villiform, with the
outer row somewhat enlarged, the lateral rounded teeth form two rows in either

40 ACANTHOPTERYG11.

jaw. Fins dorsal spines rather strong, the third somewhat the longest : rays not
so high as the highest spines, the last two enveloped in a common scaled membrane.
Pectoral reaches to above the third anal spine. Third anal spine the longest : the
last two rays of the fin similar to those of the soft dorsal. Candal forked. Scales
5 rows between the eye and the angle of the preopercle. Colours red with
golden reflections ; a dark spot in the axilla.

Habits. This is likewise one of the forms which visit Britain, of which bnt
ittle is known.

Habitat. Southern coasts of great Britain to the Canary Islands and also the
Mediterranean .

The British Museum possesses a small specimen in a good state of preservation,
from Leach's Collection. It was obtained according to the label from Headslow,
Cornwall. The example figured is 13|- inches in length and in the British Museum,
it was brought from Lanzarote by the Rev. R. T. Lowe.

5. Pagellus erythrinus, Plate XVII.

Erythrinus, Belon. p. 185 ; Rondel, v, c. 16, p. 144, c. fig ; Salv. f. 239 5
Aldrov. ii, c. 9, p. 154 ; Gesner, p. 365, and ed. 1598, f. 25, c. fig ; Jonston, lib. i,
t. iii, c. i, art. 4, p. 67, t. xviii, f. 6 ; Willugh. c. 10, p. 311, t. V. f. 6 ; Ray p. 132.
Sparus, No. 3, Artedi, Genera. 36 Syn. 59. Gyncedus, Gronov. Zooph. p. 61,
No. 215.

Sparus erythrinus Linn. Syst. i, p. 469 ; Gmel. Linn. p. 1272 ; Bloch, pi.
cclxxiv; Bl. Schn. p. 275 ; Shaw, Nat. Misc. xx, pi. 834 ; Risso, Ich. Nice, p. 240;
Martens, Reise nach Yenedig. ii, p. 425 ; Duhamel, Peches, iv, c. 2. p. 29 ; Couch,
Mag. Nat. Hist. v. 1832, p. 17, f. 3; Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 355.

Sparus pagellus, Lacep. iii, p. 86.

Pagrus erythrinus, Risso, Eur. Me rid. iii, p. 361.

Pagellus erythrinus, Cuv. and Yal. vi, p. 170, pi. cl ; Yarrell, Brit. Eish. (Ed. 1)
i, p. 104, c. fig. exc. description and vignette of teeth, (Ed. 2) i, p. 120, (Ed. 3)
ii, p. 144 ; Nordm. in Demid. Yoy. Russ. Merid. p. 388 ; Guichen. Exp. sc. Alger.
Poissons, p. 50 ; Parnell, Fish. Frith of Forth, p. 43, pi. xxvii ; White, Catal. Brit.
Fish, p. 18 ; Thompson, Nat. Hist. Ireland, iv, p. 9(3 ; Giinther, Catal. i, p. 473 ;
Steind. Ich. Span. Port. 1867, p. 58.

Pagellus rostratus, Lowe, Trans. Zool. Soc. ii, p. 177.

Sparus pagrus, or Becker, Couch, Linn. Trans, xiv, p. 79.

Pagrus vulgaris, Yarrell, Brit. Fish. (Ed. 1) i, p. 102 (excl. synon. and figure),
(Ed. 2) i, p. 116 (Ed. 3), ii, p. 138 ; Jenyns, Brit. Yert. p. 354; White, Catal.
Brit. Fish, p. 17 (excl. synon.)

Sparus pagrus, Jenyns, Brit. Yert. p. 354 (part.)

Pagellus Ganarensis, Val. in Webb and Berth. Hist. Nat. lies Canar. Poiss.
p. 35, pi. x, f. 2.

Pagellus Guntheri, Capello, Journ. Math. Phys. Nat. Lisbon, iii, p. 253, pi. iv,
f. 3 (var. with 3 rows of molars in Cat. Fish. B. Mus. i, p. 474).

Erythrimis, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles i, p. 233, pi. liii.

B. vi, D. Af,P. 15. V. 1/5. A. g 3 , C. 17. L.l. 56-60, L.tr. \'{, Ccec. pylori 4,
Vert. 10/14.

Length of head 3f to 4, of caudal fin 4-- to 5, height of body 3^- to 3| in the
total length. Eye 3f to 4i diameters in the length of the head, from 1-*- to 2
diameters from the end of the snout, and the same apart. Interorbital space
convex. Profile from shoulder to snout oblique, and the head somewhat compressed.
Preorbital high, its height being 2/3 to 3/5 of its length : its lower edge scarcely
emarginate. Jaws even in front : the maxilla reaches to almost beneath the front
edge of the orbit. Teeth anteriorly cardiform, with two rows of molars posteriorly
in either jaw, but it is by no means rare to find 3 irregular rows of molars in the
upper jaw, especially in large examples, but no other discernible differences : none
on vomer, palatine bones or tongue. Fins dorsal spines of moderate strength, the
third somewhat longest from whence they decrease : rays shorter than the

SPARINE. 41

spines, the last two not enlarged or scaled, but in some instances their bases approxi-
mate. Pectoral as long or even longer than the head, Ventral reaching the vent.
Second and third anal spines of abont the same length and strength. Caudal
deeply forked. Scales 6 rows between the eye and the angle of the preopercle.
Ccecal appendages four, of which one is much larger than the remaining three.
Colours of an orange-scarlet having purple and silvery reflections, becoming light
underneath : fins coloured as is the body : ventrals colourless, anal with a tinge of
grey. In a large example, just captured, I observed blue spots over the body, like-
wise in some chads of this species, which abounded at Mevagissey when I was
there in August, 1880, the usual length of which were about 8 inches.

Varieties. I conclude Couch's Becker may be a deformed or mutilated
example of this fish.

Names. Pandora, king of the breams. Le Pagel commun, French.

Habits. It is a migratory species, by no means uncommon, and most usually
found during the summer and autumn, leaving as the cold weather sets in. Its
habits seem to be somewhat solitary, and it is mostly taken at a depth of several
fathoms. Off Nice it appears to be found throughout the year.

Baits. Mussels are the favourite bait, but small fishes, crustacean animals
and even sea vegetables are readily eaten.

As food. Not esteemed in Britain.

Habitat. This fish extends from the British shores to the Mediterranean
wher/e it abounds, and is found even in the Black Sea. Also in the Atlantic Ocean
to the Canaries, while it has been imported from the Cape.

It is common in the British seas, on the south and west coasts of England, but
becomes more rare to the north and in Scotland The Spanish bream recorded
from Norfolk by Gurney as having been taken November 13th, 1846 (Zoologist,
p. 1555), would appear from the description to be this species.

In Ireland Andrews has recorded it from the S.W. coast.

* Holacanthus tricolok, Bloch. At the Zoological Society, January 20th, 1880, Dr. Giinther
exhibited a drawing of this tropical fish, " obtained on the coast of the Island of Lewes, and
communicated to him by the lieverend George Gordon, who examined the specimen whilst in a
fresh state. Dr. Giinther stated that this was the first instance of this fish having reached the
British coast." (P. Z. S. 1880, p. 23). This fish "was brought from Stornoway to Lossiemouth,
it had been carried to Stornoway by the master of a small ship that had come from Glasgow, and
the fish had not been caught at Stornoway by a herring-net or otherwise." (P. Z. S. 1880, p. 356).
How it reached Lossiemouth in Morayshire in a fresh state is not recorded.

42 ACANTHOPTERYGII.

Family IV SCORPjENIDjE.

Sclerogenidm, pt. Owen.

Branchiostegals five to seven : pseudobranchise present. Body oblong-, com-
pressed, or subcylindrical. Eyes lateral. Cleft of mouth lateral. Some of the
bones of the head armed : suborbital ring 1 articulated with the preopercle.
Teeth in villiform bands. A single dorsal fin in two distinct portions : the anal
usually similar to the soft dorsal : ventrals thoracic. Body scaled or scaleless.
Air-bladder generally present. Pyloric appendages, when present, few or in
moderate numbers.

Geographical distribution, Almost cosmopolitan.

Genus I. Sebastes, Cuvier and Valenciennes.

Pseudosebastes, Sauvage.

Branchiostegals seven : pseudobranchiai present. Head and. body somewhat com-
pressed. No groove on the occiput, but usually a few small spnnes : preopercle armed.
Villiform teeth on the jaws, vomer and mostly on the palatine bones. Fins not
elongated : a single dorsal having the spinotts more or less separated from the soft by
a notch : spines 12 to 14: anal not elongated having 3 spines; no free rays to the
pectoral fin. Articulated fin-rays, excepting the lower ones of the pectoral, branched.
No pectoral appendages. Scales present and of moderate or small size, extending as
far forwards as the orbit or even beyond: no shinny appendages. Air-bladder
generally present. Pyloric appendages few or in moderate numbers.

Geographical distribution. Marine fishes, extending from the Arctic regions
throughout most seas, but rare or absent from the tropical portions of the Atlantic
Ocean.

Sebastes Norwegicus, Plate XVIII.

Perca marina, pt. Linn. Syst. i, p. 483 ; Pennant, Brit. Zool. (Ed. 1) iii, p. 258,
pi. xlviii, (Ed. 2) iii, p. 349, pi. lix.

Gyprinus pelagicus, Linn. Faun. Suec. p. 320.

Karfe, Olafsen, Island, i, p. 191, ii, p. 208, t. xxix.

Perca Norwegica, Ascan. Icon, ii, t. xvi ; Mull. Zool. Dan. p. 46; Fabric. Faun.
Groenl. p. 167. "

Ilolocentrus Norwegicus, Lacep. iv, p. 390.

Holocentrus sanguineus, Faber, Fische Islands, p. 126.

Serranus Norwegicus, Flem. Brit. An. p. 212 ; Johns. Fish, of Berwickshire,
Mag. Nat. Hist. 1833, vi, p. 15.

Sebastes Norwegicus, Cuv. and Val. iv, p. 327, pi. Ixxxvii ; Yarrell, Brit. Fish.
(Ed. 1) i, p. 73, c. fig., (Ed. 2) i, p. 87, (Ed. 3) ii, p. 72 ; Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 347;
Richards. Faun. Bor. Amer. Fish. p. 52 ; Storer, Rep. Mass. p. 26 ; Dekay, New
York Fauna, p. 60, pi. iv, f. 2 ; Kroyer, Damn. Fish. Nat. Tids. 1844-45, i,
p. 270; Thompson, N. H. Ireland, iv, p. 82; Giinther, Catal. ii, p. 95; Malm.
CRfv. Sven. Vet.-Akad. Forh. 1865, p. 508 ; Collett, Norges Fiske, p. 19 ; Liitken,
Vid. Medd. 1876. p. 358.

Sebastes marinus, White, Catal. Brit. Fish. p. 8.

Scorpama Norwegica, Richardson, Faun. Bor. Amer. p. 52 ; Jenyns, Brit. Vert,
p. 347; Johns. Berw. Nat. Club. 1838, i, p. 170.

? Sebastes viviparus, Kroyer, Nat. Tyds. 1844-45, i, p. 275 ; Gaim. Voy. Scand.
Zool. Poiss. pi. vi; Giinther, Catal. ii, p. 96; Gray, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. (4)
1868, i, p. 312.

Sebastes septentrionalis, Gaim. Voy. Isl. and Groenl. Poiss. pi. ix.

Bergylt, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, ii, p. 3, pi. lviii.

B. vii, D. f|, P. 20, V. 1/5, A. - s -2 y -, C. 13, L. I. ca. 75, Coac. pyl. 9, Vert. 12/19.

SCORP^NLLLE. 43

Length of head 3 to 3|, of caudal fin 5f, height of body 3} to 3f in the total
length. Eye situated high up in the head, diameter 3^ in the length of the
head, 1 diameter from the end of the snout, and 1 apart. Interorbital space flat.
A supraorbital spine. Five spines along the posterior and lower edges of the
preoperele : two well developed opercular spines, one also at its lower angle and one
at the shoulder. The maxilla reaches at least to beneath the middle of the eye.
Lower jaw very prominent. Teeth villiform ones on jaws, vomer, palatine bones
but not on the tongue. Fins dorsal spines strong and sharp, increasing in
length to the 4th or 5th, but they are not so high as the rays, which are branched.
Pectoral nearly as long as the head, its lower lU or 11 rays simple and unbranched.
Second anal spine the strongest, but the 3rd a little the longest. Caudal slightly
emarginate. Scales ctenoid and in irregular rows : there are about 15 between
the lateral-line and the base of the first dorsal soft ray over the commencement
of which fin so rue fine ones are continued. On the head they cover the cheeks
and even the jaws. Air-bladder oval, simple, and destitute of any appendages,
occupying nearly the superior 2/3 of the abdominal cavity. Colours vermilion
or carmine-red, becoming lightest beneath : fins likewise red.

Collett, I.e. considers Sebastes vivijparus, Kroyer, which has a large dark
opercular spot, and is spotted with or entirely brown, as identical with this species.
Lutken (Yid. Med. 1876, p. 358), after examining 20 of each variety, believes
them, to be distinct, S. viviparus being more littoral and less arctic in its range
than S. Norivegicus. Gray, I.e. remarks on an example taken off Jutland.

I have already referred (p. 7) to this fish being the Perch, the head of which
used to be shown in a church in Lapland, and has been erroneously considered as
belonging to a gigantic Perca fluviatilis.

Names. Norivay haddock and Norwegian carp, which have reference to the
locality where it abounds : Bergylt.

Habits. Active, voracious, and apparently of a pugnacious disposition, it is
said to feed on custacea and small flat fishes. As it is usually captured at
profound depths, it is believed to usually reside there, especially in rocky bays,
where the distance to the bottom is very great.

Means of capture. Long lines baited as for cod or ling.

Breeding. The young are said to be first observed about June, and it has been
asserted that they come forth alive, and accompany their parent for a con-
siderable time.

Diseases. Nilsson observes that not uncommonly large numbers are found
floating dying or dead on the sea, with their eyes protruding and their stomachs
thrust out from their mouths. This is ascribed to some sudden whirlpool or
other marine disturbance, having suddenly carried them into a higher stratum of
water, when due to the superincumbent weight being removed, their air-bladder
has expanded and occasioned the foregoing phenomena.

Uses. In times, now probably gone by, the Greenlanders used the spines from
the fins of this fish as needles.

As food. Pennant says it was held in some esteem at the table : and Fabricius
that, although lean, it is of an agreeable taste, and eaten either cooked fresh or
after having been dried.

Habitat. This fish is an inhabitant of the Northern Ocean. In Greenland it
is stated not to be common (Saxby, Zool. 1871, p. 2553), occurring on the south-
west coast of Spitzbergen (Malmgren, CEfv. Sven. Vet. Ak. Forh. 1865, p. 508),
Avhile in the Faroe Islands it is said to be frequently captured by the cod-fishers,
and is termed hongafisshur, and red-perch, while it is not uncommon off Norway.
It is likewise found in Greenland, where Saxby (Zool. 1871, p. 2553) states it is
not common ; it extends certainly as far south along the American coast as New
York.

Pennant first recorded this fish as British: Fleming, who had also observed
it in Zetland, remarked upon one seen by Dr. Skene on the coast of Aberdeenshire :

44 ACANTHOPTERYGII.

Coucli, on the authority of Mr. McGregor, alludes to one caught near Macduff
and another on the Morayshire coast : Gordon (Zool. p. 3458) speaks of an example
8 inches long from Lossiemouth in December, 1850, which was presented to the
Elgin Museum : Edward (Life, p. 427) of a specimen taken in Banffshire in 1859.
Dr. G. Johnson observed this fish near Berwick : and Mr. Tristram (Zool. 1867,
p. 638) alludes to one about 13 inches long taken on January 27th, 1867, near
Hartlepool, Durham, just after some severe weather. Yarrell records one 7 inches
in length captured in Swansea Bay, October 26th, 1851.

Ireland. In March, 1843, one was taken on a long line set for ling off Wild-
bank, Dingle Bay, where several more have since been captured (Andrews), and
in 1850 two were secured on an 81-fathom line set for cod off Blasket Island, on
the coast of Kerry.

This fish attains to 4 feet in length.

For the example figured, and which is 13 inches in length, I am indebted to
Professor Hubrecht, of Leyden.

COTTIBvE. 45

Second Group Cotto-Scombriformes.

Dorsal fins placed close together or continuous, having fewer spines than rays :
or the spinous portion may be modified into tentacles, detached spines, or a
suctorial disk : anal similar to the soft dorsal, sometimes both fins are posteriorly
modified into finlets: ventrals, when present, jugular or thoracic, never forming
a sucker. No prominent anal papilla.

Family, V COTTIOE.

Branchiostegals from five to seven : pseudobranchiae present. Body oblong or
subcylindrical. Eyes lateral or directed upwards. Cleft of mouth lateral, some-
times extending on to the sides of the snout. Some of the bones of the head
armed : suborbital ring articulated with the preopercle. Teeth in villiform bands.
One or two dorsal fins, the spinous portion of which is less developed than the
soft portion or than the anal : ventrals thoracic. Body scaled, scaleless, or with
a few plates. Air-bladder present or absent. Pyloric appendages, when present,
few or in moderate numbers.

Geographical distribution. Cosmopolitan, and found in fresh or saline waters.

Genus I. Cottus.

Phobetor, Kroyer. Boreocottus, Porocotfus and Ceratocottus, Gill. Aspicottus,
Acanthocottus, Leiocottus, TIranidea, Tauridea, Potamocottus and Triglopsis, Girard.
Ptyonotus, Giinther. Elaphocottus, Sauvage.

Branchiostegals six : pseudobranchim present. Body subcylindrical anteriorly,
compressed posteriorly. Head broad, depressed and rounded in front. Angle of
preopercle with a single spine (having an antler-like process in some exotic species).
Villiform teeth in the jaws, usually (but not invariably) present on the vomer, absent
from the palatine bones. Two dorsal fins : pectorals rounded, some or all the rays
unbranched. Ventrals thoracic. Head and body covered with a soft shin. Lateral-
line present. Air-bladder absent. Pyloric appendages in moderate numbers.

Habits. These fishes, whether inhabiting the fresh or the salt waters, conceal
themselves under stones or among weeds. They are ground feeders, living on
small Crustacea or any animal substance, including fish-eggs. Some of the marine
forms appear to keep close to the lowest ebb of the tide. When captured they
distend their heads, causing the spines with which they are armed to protrude.
They live some time after their removal from the water. The largest variety
(G. Grmnlandicus) is reputed to attain to 6 feet in length, pursues its pvey wiih
rapidity, killing blennies, herrings, codfish, and even salmon. Dufosse, 1872,
p. oGO, has mentioned the sounds emitted by G. scorpius and G. bubalis.

Means of capture. They readily take a bait or are captured with small nets.
Marine forms are frequently taken in crab-pots. The Greenland variety is said
to be fished for in that country with long lines baited with a white bone, glass
bead, or a piece of red rag. Aristotle alludes to the occurrence of little fish in
certain rivers where they are found under stones, they are termed by some people
Gotti. Owing to their lying under stones persons catch them by striking these
stones with pieces of rock, when the fish, being stunned, fall out.

As food. Those obtained in Great Britain are considered too small to be
worth cooking, but the larger forms are of economic value in Greenland, where we
are informed the bull-heads are used for making soup, but the more artistic cooks
of France reject them for this purpose.

Varieties. The number of fin rays, the proportion which are divided at their

46 ACANTHOPTERYGII.

extremities or not so, the length of the ventral fin, situation of the lateral-line
and position of the vent, appear to be snbject to considerable variations in this
genus, even in the same locality, yet they have been accepted by some ichthyo-
logists as reasons for according specific rank, whereas others have only deemed
them to be varieties or sub-species. As in examples of this genus these variations
are not always permanent ones, I have considered them to be varieties, as only in
permanence of variation can species be admitted.

Geographical distribution. Arctic regions of Europe, Asia and America, also
North Atlantic Oceans of both hemispheres descending into temperate zones :
found both in salt and fresh waters. One or two species have been recorded from
Japan.

Cottus gobio, Plate XIX, fig. 2.
Botroc, Arist. iv, c. 8.

Chabot, Belon. p. 213. Cottus, Rondel, ii, p. 202. Cottus fluviatilis, Gesner,
f . 162 a ; Aldrov. v, c. 28, p. 613 ; Willughby, p. 137, t. H. 3^ f . 3 ; Ray, p. 76.
Gobio capitato, Jonston, De Pise. lib. iii, t. i, c. 10, Art. xi. Koppe, Gronov. Zooph.
No. 270 ; Cottus, sp. 1 , Artedi, Gen. p. 48, spec. p. 82, synon. p. 76. Cottus Icevis,
Marsigli, Danub. iv, t. xxiv, f. 2. Percis, sp. Klein, Mss. v, p. 43, No. 17. River
bullhead, Pennant, Brit. Zool. (Ed. 1) iii, p. 216, pi. xxxix, (Ed. 2) iii, p. 291,
pi. xliii ; Bowdich, Brit. P. W. Fish. No. 24.

Cottus gobio, Linn. Syst. i, p. 452 ; Fabr. Fauna Groenl. p. 159 ; Gmel. Linn,
p. 1211 ; Gronov. Mus. Icli. ii, p. 14 ; Bloch, t. xxxix, f. 1, 2 ; Bl. Schn. p. 61 ;
Lacep. iii, p. 252 ; Donovan, Brit. Fish, iv, pi. lxxx ; Turton, p. 94 ; Shaw,
Zool. iv, p. 254, pi. xxxv ; J urine, Poiss. Lac Leman, pi. ii ; Cuv. and
Val. iv, p. 145 ; Fleming, Brit. An. p. 216 ; Ekstrom, Fiske Morko, p. 167 ;
Fries och Ekstrom, p. 34^ t. vii, f. 2 ; Yarrell, Brit. Fish. (Ed. 1) i, p. 56 c, fig.
(Ed. 2) i, p. 71, (Ed. 3) ii, p. 48 ; Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 343 ; Swainson, Fishes,
ii, p. 271 ; Thompson, Nat. Hist. Ireland, iv, p. 80 ; Giinther, Neckarfische, p. 17
and Catal. ii, p. 156 ; Gronov. ed. Gray, p. 103 ; Nordm. in Demid. Voy. Russ.
Merid. iii, p. 376 ; White, Catal. Brit. Fish. p. 6 ; Schlegel, De Dieren van
Nederl. p. 46, pi. v, f . 3 ; H. Malm, Weigm. Arch. 1864, p. 272; Blanchard,
Poiss. France, p. 161, c. fig. ; Houghton, British F. W. Fish. p. 7, c. fig.

Cottus minutus and ventralis, Cuv. and Val. iv, pp. 152, 194.

,, tricusjns, Reinh. sen. Kgl. D. Vid. Selsk. Nat. Math. Afhand. B. 5,
p. Iii, 1829-30. '

Cottus p cecil opus, Heckel, Ann. Wien. Mus. ii, 1839, t. viii, f . 1, 2 ; Nordm. in
Demid. Voy. Russ. Merid. iii, p. 377 ; Gunther, Catal. ii, p. 157.

Cottus ajfinis, Heckel, Ann. Wien. Mus. ii, p. 145, t. viii.

,, microstomus, Heckel, 1. c. ; Nord. 1. c. iii, p. 377 ; Heckel and Kner,
Susswasserf. p. 32.

Cottus ferrugineus, Heckel and Kner, 1. c. p. 34.

Millers thu7>ib, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, ii, p. 6, pi. lix.

Phobetor ventralis, Collet, Norges Fiske, p. 30.

B. vi, D. 6(-8) | 16-17 (18), P. 14, V. 1/4, A. 12 (-14), C. 11. Ccec. pyl. 4,
Vert. 10/23.

Length of head 4 to 4>\, of caudal fin 6\, height of body 5^- in the total
length. Eyes supero-lateral, placed just anterior to the middle of the length of
the head and 1 diameter apart. Head broad and depressed, wdiile the gill-covers
are generally found distended, showing this still more clearly after death : behind
the head the body gradually decreases in size and becomes laterally compressed.
Cleft of mouth shallow, its gape wide : the posterior extremity of the maxilla
reaches to beneath the middle of the eye. Upper surface of the head covered
with a soft moveable skin, which has numerous minute elevations encircling the
opening of pores, the same being continued to over the first third of the body.
A rather strong, backwardly-directed spine exists at the angle of the preopercle
and occasionally another at its base : a strong forwardly-directed spine at the
anterior-inferior angle of the subopercle : no other spines on the head. Anterior

COTTIBvE. 47

nostril tubular: the posterior patent: no barbels. Teeth fine in the jaws and in
a horse-shoe shaped band on the vomer : none on the palatine bones or on the
tongue. Fins first dorsal spines weak and about half as high as the rays of the
second dorsal: the two fins are usually slightly connected at their bases.
Ventral rays unbranched, the fin does not normally in British examples reach the
vent. Pectoral rays unbranched. Vent situated about midway between the
snout and the base of the caudal fin. Intestines the length of the intestinal
tract almost equals that of the entire fish excluding the caudal fin. Four ccecal
appendages. Scales absent : but in some examples the skin of the upper half of
the body studded with little rough points. Lateral-line about the middle of the
depth of the body or slightly nearer the back : it consists of about 33 tubes.
Ovi-sac black. Colours greenish-yellow, lightest beneath. Banded, striped, or
irregularly spotted with black: a light band, often of a V-shape across the
occiput. Fins orange : a dark band along the middle of the first dorsal fin : the
others with dark bands of spots.

Varieties. The different varieties generally admitted to belong to this species
are divisible into :

A. Pectoral fin, with 7 or 8 branched rays. France.

B. Pectoral fin, without branched rays.

a. Ventral rays branched. Scandinavia.

b. Ventral rays simple. England, Germany, Austria.

Cottns fozcilo'pus is stated to have D. 8-9 | 16-18, A. 13-14, the lateral-line
running above the middle of the height of the body and ceasing prior to reaching
the base of the caudal : ventral fin inserted midway between the snout and the
base of the caudal fin, while it reaches the vent, I have a beautiful example,
4^ inches in length, sent me by Professor Giglioli of the Florence Museum ; it has
D. 8/17, V. 1/4, all simple: 5 upper pectoral rays branched. A. 12. Vent midway
between the snout and the base of the caudal fin : lateral-line median and just
reaching the base of the caudal fin. Ventral fin nearly reaches the vent, at any
rate as closely as is seen in the examples of G. poecilojjus in the British Museum.
In Cuv. and Val. it is stated that the French G. gobio has from 6 to 8 or even 9
dorsal spines; the second dorsal 17 to 18 rays; and the anal 13. Blanchard, 1. c.
says of the French form it sometimes has 7 or 8 dorsal spines, that the second
dorsal fin has usually 17 rays : that in some examples all the pectoral rays are
simple, in others the upper 7 or 8 are branched ; while the anal has up to 13 or 14
rays. Unless my fish from the Florence Museum is considered a new species, it
must be admitted to be a link between 0. pozcilopus and G. gobio. Irrespective of
this, Girard in his elaborate monograph on the North American Cottoids, remarks
having seen "a mutilated specimen of an English miller's-thumb, with evidently
branched pectoral rays," thus showing, not that two species exist in Britain, but
that whether the pectoral rays are branched or unbranched, may occur in fishes
from the same locality, and must be regarded as a variable and inconstant sign of
no specific value.

Respecting the situation of the vent, Richardson observed that in C. cognatus
" the anus situated precisely as in G. gobio, is rather nearer the snout than the
insertion of the caudal." One author states the vent in G. gobio to be rather
nearer the snout than to the tip of the caudal. Examining eight Gloucestershire
examples from 2 - 50 to 2 - 90 inches in length, captured the same morning, I found
their average entire lengths were 2'69 inches : and the average distance from the
snout to the vent 1*19, while the average length of the caudal fin was 043. The
vent in some was equidistant between the snout and the base of the caudal fin :
in others, between the snout and the first fourth of the caudal fin. Much the
same proportions are likewise present in the British Museum examples, whether
British, Swedish, Austrian, or from Dalmatia. In the example of G. gracilis in
the National Collection, 2 - 30 inches in length, the vent is 1T0 inches from the
snout, being very little different from what is seen in some similarly-sized
Gloucestershire specimens of G. gobio.

As to the position of the lateral-line. In Leach's example, 2 - 90 inches long,
from Devonshire, the distance from the vent to the lateral-line is 0'45 inches,

48 ACANTH0PTERYG1I.

while from it to the back is 034 inches, showing that it is placed nearer to the
back than to the inferior surface of the body. In C. pcecilopus, 3"80 inches
long, and in the British Museum, the distance from the lateral-line to the vent is
O50 inches, while from the back it is 025 inches.

The species of fresh water Gottus appear to have been very unduly multiplied,
while if every variation is to be looked upon as the type of a distinct species,
many more will have to be admitted.

Names. Miller' s-thumb, due to its fancied resemblance to that digit in a miller.
" The thumb," says Yarrell, " by a peculiar movement spreads the sample over
the fingers, and employed with tact becomes the gauge of the value of the meal
produced. Hence the saying, ' worth a miller's thumb.' " By constant use the
miller's thumb is reputed to acquire a form resembling the shape of this fish :
bull-knob or bull-jub, Derbyshire : cull, Gloucestershire and in some other
counties : cob, according to Florio (see Clupea harengus) : cod-pole, Buckingham-
shire and Berkshire : noggle-head, South Hampshire : Jwrbeau, Kent, also tom-cull
and tommy -logge. Pentamv and bawd y melinydd, Welsh. Ghabots and chaboisseaux,
French. Be rivier-donderpad, Dutch.

Habits. It usually lurks on the gravel at the bottom of clear streams or
under a stone. Here it feeds on insects and their larvte, worms, small Crustacea
and fish eggs, or conceals itself if pursued by enemies. Although it can dart for a
short distance rapidly through the water, it has no power of maintaining
swimming for any long distance, and never suspends itself in mid-water. It is a
voracious feeder, delighting on fish eggs or the young fry. It is most tenacious
of life even after removal from the water. Although it inflicts wounds with its
spines, these do not occasion the poisonous symptoms occasioned by the marine
weever, Trachinus, and that the cause of this difference is that it is a fresh-water
species cannot be sustained, as the scorpion fish, Saccobranchus fossilis, of Asia, is
always an inhabitant of fresh water.

Newman* observed upon one which he kept, that it is curious to perceive how
readily the tints change, as may be seen in an aquarium, irrespective of changes
in accordance w T ith the colour of the ground, the swallowing a worm, the effect
of a swimming adventure, and on one occasion the extrusion of ova. In short,
the fish could not have been recognized under its altered aspect.

Means of capture. Searching under stones in streams and capturing them by
small nets or by the hand ; in the latter process they are found difficult to
grasp owing to the slippery character of their skins. They will take a small
hook baited with a red worm. In Switzerland children are said to spear these
fishes in the streams as they dart from one stone to another. Cuvier considered
this fish as a good bait for an eel.

Breeding. It deposits its ova in March or April under stones or in a hole it
forms in the gravel, and from which it is difficult to drive it. Whether both
sexes protect the eggs, or if only one, which it is does so, has been subject to
discussion. Marsigli asserts that the female rests for the space of a month on
the eggs, which are comparatively large and of a pinkish colour, the whole
constituting a mass covering about \\ inches of ground, and invested by an
adherent mucus. Jonston and Willughby followed him, and stated that the
female collects the spawn into lumps on her breast, where it is covered with a
thick secretion, and here they remain until the young come forth. Fleming
affirms that it deposits its spawn in a hole in the gravel ; and Blumenbach that it
keeps watch over its nest. Newman tells us that one which he kept in an
aquarium deposited its ova on the night of Good Friday, that the mass was
nearly as large as a sparrow's egg, closely adherent, and somewhat resembling
frog's spawn.

As food. It has been asserted that this fish is good eating, and is employed
for food in Italy. In some localities its flesh becomes pink when boiled, but not
so in others.

* Zoologist, 1856, xiv., p. 5124.

COTTIDvE. 49

Owls have been observed to eat bull-heads and also to give them to their
young. In the Angler's Note Book (1880, p. 177) is an account of a dead
grebe which was found in the Isis having one of these fishes in its throat : it had
been swallowed head first, and its opercular spines had stopped its further
progress.

Pallas observes that in Russia this fish is employed as a charm against fevers.

Habitat. Fresh waters generally, streams of Europe from Greenland and
Scandinavia to Italy, and perhaps Northern Asia. In Scandinavia it is reputed
to descend into the Baltic. It is said not to be found south of the Pyrenees nor
in Greece. In America it extends from near the Arctic circle as far as North
Carolina.

In Great Britain it is common in most of our clear brooks. Although Yarrell
observes that it is found in Belfast and Londonderry, Thompson considers he was
mistaken, and that it is entirely absent from Ireland. In Sampson's Derry,
p. 337, he alludes to the existence of this fish, which is also in Brown's list.

It grows to about 5 inches or more in length; but "in Siberia it sometimes
attains," according to Donovan, " to the length of half a foot or even seven
inches." The example figured was from the Churn at Colesbourne on the
Cotswold Hills.

1. Cottus scorpius, Plate XIX, fig. 1, and XX, fig. 1.

Cottus, sp. 3. Artedi, Gen. p. 49, sp. 86 ; Gronovius, Zooph. p. 78, no. 268.
Gorystion, Klein, Mss. iv, p. 47, no. 11, t. xiii, f. 2, 3.

Cottus scorpius (pt.) Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 452 ; Bloch, t. xl ; Gmel. Linn.
p. 1210 ; Lacep. iii, p. 236 ; Bl. Sch. p. 61 ; Shaw, Zool. iv, p. 257, pi. 36 ;
Donovan, Brit. Fish, ii, pi. xxxv ; Turton, p. 95 ; Cuv. and Val. iv, p. 160 ;
Flem. Brit. An. p. 216; Jenyns, Manual, p. 344; Thompson, P. Z. Soc. 1835,
p. 80, and Nat. His. Ireland, iv, p. 80 ; Ekstrom, p. 171 ; Fries och Ekstr. p. 23,
pi. v, f. 1, 2 ; Hogg, Nat. Hist. Stockton, p. 26 ; Templeton, Mag. Nat. His. 1837,
(2) i, p. 409 ; Yarrell, Brit. Fish. (Ed. 1) i, p. 60, c. fig. (Ed. 2) i, p. 75; Johnston,
Berwick. Nat. Hist. Club, 1838, i, p. 170 ; Parnell, Fish. Frith of Forth, p. 23 ;
Swainson, Fishes, ii, p. 271 ; White, Catal. p. 6 ; Gronov. ed. Gray, p. 102 ;
Giinther, Catal. ii, p. 159 ; Malm, ffifv. Sven. Vet. Akad. Fork. 1865, p. 495 ;
Fabric. Faun. Groenl. p. 156 ; Faber, Fisc. Isl. p. 120 ; Collett, Norges Fiske,
p. 24 ; Mcintosh, Fish. St. Andrew's, p. 172 ; Liitken, Vidd. Medd. 1876, p. 370.

Cottus Grmilandicus, Cuv. and Val. iv, p. 185 ; Richards. Faun. Bor. Amer. iii,
pp. 46, 297, pi. 95, f . 2 ; Storer, Rep. Mass. p. 16 ; Dekay, N.Y. Fauna, Fish, p. 54,
pi. iv, f. 10 ; Thompson, N. H. Ireland, iv, p. 81 ; Giinther, Catal. ii, p. 161 ; Gill,
Pro. Phil. Soc. 1872, p. 213.

Cottus porosus, Cuv. and Val. viii, p. 498 ; Richardson, Fau. Bor. Amer. Fish,
p. 47.

Cottus glacialis, Richardson, 1. c.

Cottus variabilis, Ayres, Pro. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist. 1842, p. 68, and Boston
Journal, iv, 1843, p. 259.

Acanthocottus Labradoricus and A. variabilis, Girard, Boston, J. N. Hist, vi,
1850, p. 247, pi. vii, f . 3, and p. 248.

Acanthocottus ocellatus, Storer, Boston J. N. Hist, vi, p. 253.

Acanthocottus scorpius and Qroenlandicus, Yarrell, Brit. Fish. (Ed. 3) ii, pp.
54, 56, c. fig.

Father-lasher and Greenland Bull-head, Couch, Fishes Brit. Isles, ii, pp. 8, 12,
pi. lx, lxii.

B. vi, D. 9-10 | 13-14 (16-17), P. 16-17, V. 2, A. 9-13 (14), C. 11, Ccec. pyl.
9-11, Vert. 12-13/22.

Length of head 2f to 31, of caudal fin h\ to 6, height of body 4i to 4, in
the total length. Eye 4 to 4| diameters in the length of the head, 1 diameter
from the end of the snout, and 2/3 of a diameter apart ; the orbits being 1/3 more
distant asunder opposite their hind margins than they are opposite the _ middle of
the eyes. Head wide and depressed, covered with a soft skin, which is studded

4

50 ACANTHOPTERYGI1.

with minute elevations or fine open pores. Interorbital space concave. The
maxilla reaches to beneath the middle or last third of the orbit. A pair of small
turbinal spines, sitnated internally to the nostrils ; an obtuse one at the posterior
superior angle of the orbit ; supra-scapular with a larger and sharper spine and
another on the scapular. Preopercle with two spines on its posterior edge, the
upper of which is the longer : a small one directed forwards exists at its anterior-
inferior angle. Opercular spine well developed, also another at the angle of the
subopercle. Interopercle with a small spine. Teeth small ones in the jaws, and
on a V-shaped patch on the vomer, none on the palatines or on the tongue.
Fins spines of the first dorsal weak and flexible, the longest not quite twice the
length of the eye ; rays of the second dorsal and of the anal undivided. Pectoral
reaches to above the vent. The ventral in the young reaches the vent but not so
far in adults. Caudal cut square with its eight middle rays divided at their
extremities. Scales skin smooth, but in some individuals with several granu-
lated plates. Lateral-line smooth. Intestines vent much nearer the base of
the caudal fin in some examples, in others nearer to the snout, while all
intermediate gradations may be observed. Colours grayish superiorly, mottled
and banded with black : lower surface of a dull white dashed with yellow. The
males with white spots on the abdomen, sometimes edged with red. or yellow.
Fins yellow with oblique dark bands, bars and spots, which are often of a dull
red.

Varieties. Form the spines at the angle of the preopercle are occasionally
only 2 (instead of 3) in number, while they may differ on the two sides of the
head in the same example. Thompson obtained a female with 4 spines on one
preopercle, 3 on the other. In all my specimens from Southend the anal fin has
from 9 to 11 rays. The number of dorsal spines may be as few as 8 (Cuv. & Val.),
but I have not found less than 9 in British examples ; while the anal rays vary
from 9 to 13. That a decrease in the numbers occurs as the fish is further from
the north is very significant. Malmgren has pointed out that Scandinavian
examples have generally two more rays in the dorsal fin than those from the more
temperate west coasts of Europe. With a species however which shows so many
variations in the number of its fin rays, and with an evident tendency to
degenerate the further it is from the Arctic region, this cannot be a subject for
wonder, and as no other differences have been observed, we may fairly conclude
that the southern is merely a variety of the northern species. It has been
remarked that the inner portions of the pectoral and ventral fins are rongh
in C. Groenlandicus, but not so in C. scorpius : this however is an error, as they
are equally rough in large examples of G. scorpius. The number of coecal
appendages varies between 9 and 11. Colour Gill first drew attention to those
with white spots being males.

Names. Sting -fish : Sea Scorpion: Short-spined Cottus. Gundie, Scotch.
Sutor, in Moray Frith (Gordon, Zool. p. 3458). A correspondent in the
Angler's Note Book, p. 119, mentions that an old work in Cornwall alludes to the
poison-pate (poisson) which he thinks might be this fish (J Trachinus). Sarph
y m6r, Welsh. Le Chaboisseau de mer commun, French.

Habits. Residing along the coasts, keeping just within the influence of the
waves, or in pools left by a receding tide, concealing itself under stones or sea-
weed, from which it emerges when in pursuit of prey, or changing its locality.
It is not uncommon in bays where much fucus abound. It is very wary,
permitting the hand to approach to within a couple of inches before it quits
its post, but then darting away with great rapidity. Mcintosh observes that it
lives on small sucking fishes (Liparis, &c.) shrimps, and Terebellce, while fragments
of green Algce occur in its stomach ; in short it is very voracious, swallowing
any animal not too large. When captured it closes its gill-covers and distends its
head and branchiostegal membranes to much above their ordinary width, while at
this time according to Couch " there may be felt such a trembling at the throat,
as might suggest the opinion that it proceeds from an effort to produce some sort
of sound that would be perceived in its natural element." It lives some time after
removal from the water, especially if its skin is kept moist ; but although fresh

cottim:. 51

water is said to be fatal to its existence, such cannot always be the case. Mr.
Gurgon states (Zool. 1844, p. 121G) that in the summer of 1843 he took several,
which are locally termed " rock dolphins," with a hand-line from off the Brighton
chain-pier. One was kept half-an-hour out of water, and subsequently seven
hours in fresh water, it was then while apparently quite well transferred to sea
water and took no notice of the change. It died during the night. Adult forms
of G. Grainlandicus are found to be active and swift when pursuing their prey,
following them even to the surface, devouring blennies, herring, cod, and even
salmon, but it must be remarked that these fishes in the Arctic Ocean are said to
attain to six feet in length. Donovan observes that they will follow sharks and
other voracious fishes with the greatest temerity, lashing and wounding them with
their spines, and effectually driving them from those places where they are
accustomed to hunt themselves : to the blennies it is a desperate enemy.

Breeding. In Greenland it has been observed to deposit its eggs on the sea-
weed in December and January. Its eggs are very small, and in this country
are extruded during the spring in the sand or pools in rocks. The male is said
to make a nest of sea-weeds and pebbles for the reception of the spawn, while
he is also believed to watch over as well as to protect the young when hatched.

Baits. I found in the stomach of the one figured (natural size on plate xx)
a crab one inch across the carapace. It readily takes a bait : according to
Crantz, in Greenland it resorts to the deeper waters of the bays and is fished for
with long lines, the bait used being a white bone, glass bead, or piece of red
cloth : four hooks are used placed cross-wise. They are occasionally speared.

As food. Not used in this country, but appears to be approved of in
Greenland. The males, however, are said in Shandinaviens FisJcar to be con-
sidered poisonous, while the females are eaten by the poor.

A fisherman, annoyed at finding one of these fish among his shrimps, attempted
to bite off its head, when it struggled, escaped into his throat, became fixed in his
larynx and occasioned suffocation. (Angler's Note Book, 1880, p. 177.)

Habitat. Prom the Arctic Ocean and North Atlantic in both hemispheres,
the North Sea and the Baltic, round the British Isles. In Newfoundland G.
Grcenlandicus is abundant (Saxby, Zool. 1871, p. 2553). The British form must
be considered a degenerated variety of the Greenland bull-head.

Common round the British coast, and very numerous in the Orkneys and
Shetland Isles. The variety, G. Groenlandicus, was taken in 1858 in a salmon-net,
at Montrose (J. Richardson, Zoologist, 1860, p. 6993) : while in 1880 large
numbers of the British variety were received at the Westminster Aquarium from
Brighton, and which had the brilliant Greenland livery.

Found in Ireland all around the coast throughout the year, especially in .small
bays where much Fucus abounds. G. Groenlandicus has been taken on south-west
coast of Ireland in Dingle Harbour, in February, 1850.

In Greenland, as already observed, this fish is said to attain to 6 feet in length,
the largest recorded example in Great Britain being 15 inches.

2. Cottus bubalis, Plate XX, fig. 2.

Gottus, Artedi, Gen. p. 49, sp. p. 86 ; Gronovius, Zoo ph. no. 268 ; Sea Scorpion,
Edward, 284 ; Tonning inTrondhj, Selsk. Skr. ii, p. 345, t. xiii, xiv; The Father-
lasher, Low, Faun. Oread, p. 206.

La scorpene, Belon. p. 242. Scorpius marinus, Schonevelde, Ich. p. 67,
t. vi ; Jonston, De Pise. t. xlvii, fig. 4. Scorpcena Belonii similis, Wil. Ich. p.
138, t. H. 4, f. 3 ; Ray, Pise. p. 145.

Gottus scorpitis, pt. Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 452, and Fauna Suec. No. 323 ;
Pennant, British Zool. (Ed. 1), iii, p. 218, pi. xl (Ed. 2), iii, p. 294, pi. xliv ;
Gronov. ed. Gray, p. 102.

Gottus bubalis, Euphrasen, N. Schwed. Abhandl. vii, 1786, p. 64, t. iii, f. 2, 3 ;
Bloch, Schn. p. 62 ; Cuv. and Val. iv, p. 165, pi. lxxviii ; Yarrell, Zool. Journ. iv,
pp. 470, 508, Brit. Fish. (Ed. 1), i, p. 63, c. fig. (Ed. 2), i, p. 78 (Ed. 3), ii, p. 58 ;
Jenyns, B. Vert. p. 345 ; Ekstrom, Fische Morko, p. 182 ; Fries och Ekstr. p. 27,
t. vi, f. 1, 2; Thompson, Pro. Z. S. 1835, p. 80; Nat. Hist. Ireland, iv, p. 81 ;

4 *

52 ACANTHOPTERYGII.

Johnston, Berwick. K F. Club, 1838, i, p. 170 ; Parnell, Fish. Frith of Forth,
p. 25 ; White, Catal. p. 7 ; Giinther, Catal. ii, p. 164 ; Steind. Meeresfische Span,
und Port. p. 92 ; Collett, Norges Fish. p. 29 ; Mcintosh, Fish. St. Andrew's, p. 172.

Aspicottus facialis and bison, Girard, Pro. Acad. Nat. Sc. Phil. 1854, p. 130.

JBubalis, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, ii, p. 11, pi. lxi.

B. vi, D. 8 J 1112, P. 16, V. 1/3, A. 9, C. 10, Coec. pyl. 7-8, Vert. 12/17.

Length of head 3^, of caudal fin 5 to 5|-, height of body 3f to 4 in the
total length. Eyes diameter about 1/4 of the length of the head, being
superiorly merely separated by a narrow and furrowed interspace. Head wide
and depressed, covered with a soft skin, opening on which are many small
mucous pores. The maxilla reaches to beneath the middle or last third of the
orbit. Turbinal spines well developed. Preopercle with four spines, the superior
being the longest and exceeding the length of the diameter of the eye, the inferior
one pointing downwards and forwards : a ridge from the orbit ends in a spine at
the occiput, another at the supra-scapular and scapular. Opercle with a spine,
the base of which is granulated : two subopercular spines, the lowest pointing
downwards and forwards. A few small tentacles about the head and above the
eyes, and usually one at the end of the maxilla. Teeth moderately sized
villiform ones in the jaws and on the vomer, none on the palatines or on the
tongue. Fins the first dorsal not so high as the second, its spines rather weak :
all the rays of the second dorsal simple. Pectoral reaches the origin of the anal,
its rays undivided. Ventral not extending to the vent. Anal rays simple.
Caudal cut square, its eight central rays divided at their extremities. Shin
smooth. Lateral-line with some bony plates, most distinct in its anterior portion.
Vent rather nearer the base of the caudal fin than the snout. Colours on March
8th, 1880, I received a beautiful male specimen, 6 inches in length, from Mr. Dunn
of Mevagissey. All the dark markings were of a brilliant carmine, while it had
some large and irregularly shaped white spots along the sides and white vermi-
cnlations on the under side of the head. As a rule the fish is of a light brown,
with darker and irregular blotches and bands : likewise oblique dark bands on
the dorsal and anal fins, and vertical ones on the pectorals and caudal.

Varieties. Form. The American species has been stated to have the ridges
on the head tubercular and not covered by skin, but I find this also in some
British examples. The variety of Coitus scorpius mentioned by Couch as having
" a row of tendrils, hanging from the skin above the eyes," seems to agree with
this species. In colour we likewise find variations. A beautiful example 4<\
inches in length was captured at Southend early in April, 1879. The under
surface was brilliantly yellow, and on it were some large white marks ; while the
under surface of the pectoral fin was spotted with pure white and brown (P. 15).
Another 7 inches long was without these white spots, but it and the last-mentioned
had well developed filaments at the end of the upper maxilla.

Names. Father-lasher: Long-spined cottus. Lucky proach, Scotch.

Habits. Lurks under stones, pieces of rocks, or in similar situations, watching
for small fish and Crustacea : and Couch considered that it preferred deeper water
to that selected by C. scorpius. Mr. Gurney placed one which was 2\ inches in
length in a vessel of sea water, which contained some sand launces that were
about 3 inches long. It was observed to seize one and swallow it head first,
deglutition lasting \\ hours (Zool. p. 2954.) Low observes, " I once saw a trial of
skill between a large one of this kind and a cormorant. The latter got the head and
part of the body of the fish swallowed, but being wounded by the spines, I suppose,
attempted to bring it up again : however, this was not practicable, for these being
placed the contrary way, hindered its return, and acted the same part as the barb
of a hook, in fixing it firmer in the throat of the cormorant, which, after many
attempts and much struggling, was killed by it." The fish was 12|- inches long,
its spines were fastened in the bird's throat.

Mr. Dunn, writing of the carmine coloured example of this fish which he sent
me, observes : "it was brought to me about 9 a.m. alive in a bucket of water :
then being removed from the water it was put on a table and left there seven

cottim:. . 53

hours, subsequently it was found alive and well, recovering on being placed
in water."

Means of capture. Frequently taken in crab pots, which have been set where
sand and low rocks are intermingled.

Breeding. In December and January, the ova being large and of an orange
colour.

As food. It is common in the seas of Newfoundland, where, says Pennant,
it is called scolping ; it is also frequent in deep waters along the coasts of
Greenland and is the principal food of the natives, and soup made of it is declared
to be both wholesome and agi*eeable. Low observes that " it is reckoned delicate
eating, and those who can put up with its horrid appearance, prefer it to others,
which are more beautiful to the eye."

Habitat. From the Arctic regions in both hemispheres, the Baltic, North Sea,
British Isles, and coasts of France and Spain.

In the Orkneys it is found in every pool into which the sea flows regularly
(Low). According to Baikie it is not so common in the Orkneys and Zetland as
C. scorpius. It is found all round the British coasts. Edward observes that in
Banffshire it is abundant in pools left by the tide or beneath stones at low
water.

Ireland, G. bubalis is more common, according to Thompson, than G. scorpius ;
it has been reported from Antrim, Down, Kerry, etc.

It attains to 12 or 13 inches in length.

3. Cottus quadricornis, Plate XXI.

Cottus, Sp. 2, Artedi, Genera, p. 48 and spec. p. 84 ; Gronov. Zoophyl. p. 79,
No. 272.

Cottus quadricornis, Linn. Syst. i, p. 451 ; Pallas, Spic. Zool. viii, p. 25 ; Bloch,
t. cviii ; Gmel. Linn. p. 1208 ; Bl. Schn. p. 62 ; Bonaterre, Ency. p. 67, pi.
xxxvii, f. 146; Shaw, Zool. iv, p. 259, pi. 36 ; Lacep. iii, p. 241 ; Cuv. andVal.
iv, p. 168 ; Ekstrom, Fische Morko, p. 178 ; Fries och Ekstr. p. 30, t. vii, f. 1 ;
Yarrell, Brit. Fish. (Ed. 1), i, p. 68, c. fig. (Ed. 2), i, p. 83 (Ed. 3), ii, p. 64;
Jenyns, p. 345 ; White, Catal. Brit. Fish. p. 7 ; Gronov. ed. Gray, p. 102 ;
Gunther, Catal. ii, p. 166 and Proc. Zool. Soc. 1877, p. 293 ; Malm. Wieg. Arch.
1864, p. 275 ; Liitken, Vidd. Medd. 1876, p. 375.

Cottus hexacornis, Richards. Franklin Journal, p. 726, and Faun. Bor. Amer.
Fishes, p. 44 ; Gunther, Catal. ii, p. 166.

Four-homed cottus, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, ii, p. 15, pi. lxiii.

B. vi, D. 9/14, P. 17, V. 1/3, A. 13-15, C. 13, Ccec. pyl. 6 or 7. Vert. 40.

Length of head 3f , of caudal fin 6f , height of body 4f in the total length.
Eye 4 diameters in the length of the head, 1^ diameter from the end of the
snout and also apart. Two pairs of large and rough tubercles on the upper surface
of the head, one over the posterior superior angle of each orbit, the other on the
nape, the space enclosed by these four points being longer than wide. Three or
four preopercular spines, the superior being the longest and equalling the
diameter of the orbit. A pair of turbinal spines. The maxilla extends
posteriorly to beneath the middle of the orbit. Teeth villiform in the jaws and
vomer. Fins first dorsal low, the third or fourth spines being the longest and
less than half the height of the body below them, and only two-thirds the height of
the second dorsal. Pectoral reaches to above the vent. Ventral reaches scarcely
half-way to the anal. Caudal rounded. All the rays, except the central ones of
the caudal fin, unbranched. Scales absent, a row of rather large granular
tubercles between the lateral-line and the back, and sometimes a second of smaller
ones : below the lateral line one or two similar rows, while occassionally others
are scattered over the sides. Colours grayish-brown, tinged with red over the
gill-covers and becoming yellow on the sides and dull white beneath. Fins
gray, obliquely banded with darker.

Varieties. Liitken confirms Peters' determination that examples from the
east coast of Greenland are identical with those from the Baltic. Sir John

54 ACANTHOPTERYGII.

Richardson in the third edition of Yarrell, considered his G. hexacornis a variety
of this species. Malmgren has observed that certain marine fishes as Gottus
quadricornis, Liparis barbatus and a variety of the common herring, are fonnd in
the northern portion of the Baltic where that sea is least saline, whereas they
appear to be entirely absent from its southern extremity where their presence
might be anticipated had they obtained access from the North Sea. They are
leaner and smaller in the Baltic than in the Arctic Ocean, and it is supposed that
they are the remnants of the fauna of the Glacial Ocean. During the later
portion of the glacial period most of Finland and the middle of Sweden were
submerged, and the Baltic a gulf of the Glacial Ocean, being then closed in at
the south. As the Scandinavian continent has become elevated, the Baltic has
been cut off by land from the Arctic Ocean, whereas to the south it has obtained
access into the North Sea, leaving it containing representatives of the former
marine glacial fauna, not the products of immigration through the Sound.
Thus inherited instinct induces these fish to seek a passage in the north, while,
due to the alteration in the physical condition of the water in the Baltic, they are
becoming a smaller and more miserable race than their relatives now living in the
Arctic Ocean.

Habits. Said to be active, a rapid swimmer, and eager after prey, to obtain
which it conceals itself among stones or under sea- weed, from whence it darts on
its victims. Lacepede states that it enters rivers.

Edward observes that he " never found this species but in the stomachs of
fish ; which led him to the conclusion that they generally inhabit deep water, or
at least that they do not come so near the surface as the preceding species," Gottus
bubalis.

Means of capture. Yarrell observes that it is taken on the north-east coast by
fishermen in winter when working nets with small meshes for sprats.

Breeding. In winter. The ova are white.

Habitat. This fish has been captured in latitude 82 30'^ north or within the
limits of the Arctic Ocean, it is found in the Northern Ocean as far as Greenland,
the west coast of Norway (absent, however, according to Collett), also in the
northern portion of the Baltic and in the North Sea, as far south as the British
Isles. Sir John Richardson found it very abundant at the mouth of the
Coppermine River in British North America. In Britain it is said to be
occasionally taken on the north-east coast. W. Thompson, February 7th, 1834,
obtained one alive at Weymouth, which he transmitted to the Zoological
Gardens. In Scotland, Edward observes its occurrence in Banffshire, but
only from the stomachs of other fishes.

It has not been recorded from Ireland.

The example figured is from one in the British Museum, probably the same
that has previously been employed by Yarrell and Couch. This fish attains to
12 or 13 inches in length.

COTTID^E. 55

Genus II. Trigla, Artedi.
Hoplonotus, Guichenot.

Branchiostegals seven : pseudobranchice present. Head parallelopiped : with its
superior and lateral surfaces bony. Villiform teeth in both jaws and, usually on the
vomer, but none on the palatines. Two dorsal fins, the first being of less extent than
the second ; three free filaments at the base of the pectoral fin. Air-bladder ivell
developed, usually provided with [lateral muscles, and sometimes partially divided
internally by partitions. Pyloric appendages few or in moderate numbers.

Trigla was the Greek term for the Mullets, Mullidai ; Artedi united the two
genera, and when they were again separated this name was appropriated to the
gurnards.

These fishes are commonly known as gurnards or gurnets derived from an
ancient British word signifying a firm or rugged structure, and as such applicable to
their heads. Cnudan, cnodan, or crudan, Gaelic, McAlpine. In France they have
the epithet Les Milans de tner. Many species are able to produce sounds when
beneath the water, from which has originated their Italian name organo, and
their French designation grondin. The Romans termed them lyres, either due
to their emitting sounds or else because their shapes bore a resemblance to the
ancient " lyre."

The air-bladder in the British forms are exceedingly useful as a means of
diagnosing species, as they vary exceedingly. Their structure is interesting, as
they possess strong lateral muscles for the purpose of compression, thus
diminishing their size, and assisting the fish to sink when desired. The
thickness of the walls in some species, it has been suggested, may be for the
purpose of resisting pressure when suddenly rising to the surface from great
depths. M. Dufosse considers this organ as a generator of sound completely
independent of the other organisms in the fish. If a gurnard is placed on its
back and a long incision made in the abdominal walls and any viscera which
obstruct view are drawn to one side, it is directed that the tip of the finger
shonld be placed in contact with the air bladder and vibrations synchronous with
and having the same intensity as the sound produced by the fish will be felt.
Having isolated the organ as much as possible by delicate and rapid manipulation
from the rest of the body, with the exception of the vessels and nerves with
which it is supplied, a stethoscope provided at its mouth with a diaphragm of
gold-beater's skin should be applied to its anterior part ; then the nerves are to
be severed first on one side then on the other, when the sounds will be found to
decrease in intensity and finally entirely cease. He concluded that the intrinsic
mnscles by their vibration aided and intensified by the rest of the organs are
the agents of the sounds produced ; while other muscles can by their contraction
alter the shape of the organ and thus modify the quality of the sounds emitted.

The rough granulations along the front edge of the first two dorsal spines
are liable to vary in examples of the same species, in some being present and
well developed, whereas in others they may be entirely wanting.

Habits. Gurnards are rather voracious, mostly swimming near the bottom
of the sea where they feed on Crustacea or other small prey.

Their free pectoral filaments, which have a certain similarity to elongated
fingers, are employed as feelers, used as a means of progression, or even for the
purpose of drawing prey towards their mouth. Their large pectoral fins,
although employed when balancing themselves in mid-water, are insufficient for
the purpose of sustaining them in the air. They live for some time after their
removal from the sea, and on being touched erect their dorsal spines, and at the
same time emit certain sounds from which many local names have had their origin.
These fishes, more especially T. obscura, have been reputed to emit light from the
head, occasioning, according to Lacepede, their passage through the air to
resemble the course of a shooting star. Couch observes that Risso believed this

56 ACANTHOPTERYGII.

faculty to be inherent in all the species of the Genus : Cuvier however denied
that this power was possessed by all, and it has been surmised that such may be
due to their conveying after them certain invertebrata that have luminous
properties, and which occasion what the fishermen term " briming." They are
said by some observers to swim in large companies, and when pursued by an
enemy to spring out of the water.

Means of capture. Gurnards, generally swimming near the bottom, a