SMOLTS 25 



University are two examples, 23*5 and 28*0 cm., 

 which Professor Collete informed him had been 

 found in Christiania fish market amongst some 

 young mackerel. 



In 1904 there came into my hands a young sal- 

 monid, 14 inches long and 15 J ounces in weight, 

 which had been captured by Mr. Milne, salmon 

 tacksman, at the mouth of the Galway river, in 

 Ireland, and who was kind enough to send the 

 specimen for my inspection. I submitted the fish 

 to Mr. Boulenger, of the British Museum, who, along 

 with his colleague, Mr. Regan, agreed that it was a 

 specimen of salmo solar. I described and figured 

 the fish as such,* but pointed out the rather notice- 

 able depth of the caudal peduncle, and that in this 

 particular the fish resembled the condition commonly 

 found in sea trout. In the total length the small of 

 the tail (caudal peduncle) was contained llf times, 

 instead of from 15 to 15*9 times as in the smallest 

 grilse I have been able to collect in recent years. In 

 other respects the characteristics of the fish are 

 clearly those of salmon. In the way of hearsay 

 evidence one might mention a few similar occur- 

 rences of apparently stray specimens linking the 

 smolt and grilse. I may mention only one, which 

 the late Mr. Anderson, salmon tacksman in the Firth 

 of Forth and fishmonger in Edinburgh, communi- 

 cated to me, In his father's time, he informed me, 

 a fixed net used to be worked at Queensferry, and 

 while he was present, in June 1863, two small grilse 

 were caught each weighing f Ib. Instances like 



* Proc. Boy. Soc., Edin., xxv. p. 395. 



