FISHES OF THE FIRTH OF FORTH AND ITS TRIBUTARIES 205 



scarce in the estuary, and the few examples which have been 

 obtained were all immature fish. 



One was captured in the trawl of the " Garland," within the 

 Forth, in February 1893 ; and another, 8 inches long, was taken 

 at Station 6 on the 28th of July in the same year. 



On the 3oth of November 1894, an example, 12 inches in length, 

 was again captured by the " Garland " at Station 6. 



I think it is probable that the Ray recorded by Mr. W. S. Young 

 ("Proc.Roy.Phys. Soc. Edin.," vol.ii. pp.4i7-4i9) as"fiaia M'Coyii" 

 (a name I cannot find in the synonomy of any of the Raiidse) is 

 referable to the Sandy Ray. M'Coy, in 1841, described ("Ann. 

 Mag. Nat. Hist.," vol. vi. p. 405), without giving it a name, a Ray from 

 the coast of Ireland, which afterwards proved to belong to this 

 species ; and it is possible that Mr. Young considered his Forth 

 specimen was referable to this form, and adopted for it the specific 

 name of M i Coyii. Mr. Young's example was 12 inches long and 

 6.25 broad, and was captured in the " Fluke Hole," off Pittenweem, 

 in May 1860. 



II. ADDITIONAL RECORDS OF RARE SPECIES. 



The following records supplement the information given 

 either in Dr. Parnell's " Essay " or in my own previous con.tri- 

 bution, as the case may be. 



PAGELLUS CENTRODONTUS, Delaroche. 



PARNELL, pp. 206-209. "I" tne Firth of Forth very little is 

 known regarding this fish, as its appearance there is of rare 

 occurrence. Two specimens, however, have been noticed in 

 the Firth" (p. 208). 



We are not able to add much to the statements made by Dr. 

 Parnell more than half a century ago. The common Sea-Bream 

 must still be regarded as an infrequent visitor to, or rare in, the 

 estuary, though, according to Professor M'Intosh (" Marine Fauna 

 of St. Andrews," p. 172), it is "not uncommon" in St. Andrews 

 Bay. 



The following are the only additional occurrences known to 

 me : 



Dr. John Alexander Smith records ("Ann. Nat. Hist.," 1852, vol. 

 ix. p. 154) the capture of an example, 18.5 inches in length, 

 in a trawl-net off the Isle of May, near the mouth of the Firth, 

 on the 29th of November 1851. Dr. Smith remarks that it 

 appears to be a very rare fish, or at least to be very rarely caught 

 in our neighbouring seas, as far as he has been able to ascertain. 



