138 PHYSOSTOMI. 



Cuvier considered the fish he described in the Memoirs of the Museum as being 

 the same with that of Linnaaus, but Valenciennes changed the name from Argentina 

 sphyrcena to A. Cuvieri. Yarrell has described his Osmerus Hebridicus from a Scotch 

 example, and Valenciennes, while pointing out that it was an Argentina, termed it 

 A. Yarrellii, which Nilsson brought back to A. hebridica. But the question arises 

 are these two forms, A. sphyrcena and A. hebridica, distinct ? It is evident that 

 no criterion can be drawn from the number of fin rays and scales, while although 

 Nilsson found 14 to 20 ccecal appendages in A. hebridica and merely 12 have been 

 recorded in A. sphyrcena, I only found 5 in the example figured, clearly showing 

 how variable these numbers are. Lastly, it has been stated that the comparative 

 height of the body to that of the total length differs in the different species, but 

 here Collett remarks that this changes with age, the example being comparatively 

 more slim in the young. In an example nearly 6 in. long I found the height of 

 the body to be i, in one 8% in. long it was i, and in one 9|- in. long 6^- in the 

 total length (see Jouimal Linn. Soc, I.e., where more instances are recorded). 



Habits. Of these but little is known, but it is probable that these fish occa- 

 sionally reside at considerable depths, and the species is generally considered rather 

 a deep sea form. The stomach of Edward's example contained the remains of a 

 few of the smaller crustaceans as Darwinia compressa, Protopedata, &c, also frag- 

 ments of Sertularia filicula, Antennidaria antennaria, &c, showing it probably 

 resided among corallines. 



Breeding. In Edward's fish taken in September the milt was said to have 

 been of a chalky whiteness, 1^ in. in length, but scarcely full. Whether the fish 

 was a partly spent one, or the milt not half developed, could not be ascertained. 

 One of Yarrell's examples taken in June had the roe well developed. Risso 

 states that in the Mediterranean it breeds in spring. 



Habitat. This fish frequents the shores of Norway to both sides of Scotland, 

 the coasts of Yorkshire, and through the Mediterranean to the Balearic Isles, and 

 along the southern shores of Europe, being taken, we are informed, all the year 

 round in the sea off Rome, where it is of moderate frequency. 



Mr. Clarke, I.e., has described and figured as new under the name of Argentina 

 decagon, a fish which scarcely appears to differ from European examples except 

 that the fine teeth are said to be wanting. The number of fin rays and scales, 

 as well as the proportions of the body, are identical, while it must be remembered 

 that several European fish have been discovered off the shores of New Zealand. 

 The unique specimen of A. decagon was taken off the west coast of New 

 Zealand. 



Yarrell * observes that one 8 in. long was taken in June, 1836, full of roe in the 

 Bay of Rothsay, Isle of Bute, and a second 6^ in. in length in November, 1837, 

 near the same spot, on a hand-line baited with a piece of mussel, in about 12 

 fathoms water and about 200 yards from the shore ; this is probably one of 

 the two specimens now in the Hunterian Museum of the Glasgow University, and 

 is recorded in the Proceedings of the Natural History Society of Glasgow 

 (i, 1867, p. 187). One taken at Kilcreggan, November 26, 1867, the second being 

 probably Mr. Ewing's specimen captured in 1837, and sent to Mr. Yarrell for 

 identification. Yarrell likewise records one taken at Redcar in May, 1852. The 

 one here figured was captured in October, 1879, in Loch Alsh, off the Skye shore, 

 on a hook baited with mussel ; it was sent to the late Mr. Frank Buckland. 

 Edward has recorded a male full of milt taken near Banff in October, 1879. 



The example here figured is 9*5 in. in length, and the fisherman who captured 

 it stated it was only the second he had ever seen. 



* Dr. Giinther, Catal. 1866, vi, p. 203, quoted Low, Fauna Oread, p. 225, to show that it ha8 

 been obtained in the Orkneys, but as he gives the identical reference under Maurolicus borealis, 

 vol. v, p. 389, for Low's single specimen, evidently some error has occurred. Low says his example 

 was not above an inch in length, and gives as synonymous Pisciculus Romce Argentina dictus, Will. 

 Ich. 229 ; Raii, Syn. Pise. 10S ; Argentina sphyrcena, Linn. Syst. 518 ; the Argentine, Brit. Zool. 

 5J76 ; Brit. Zool. Illust. 42, t. 48." In short, Low accepted Pennant's figure, which is Maurolicus 

 borealis (see page 49 ante) as identical with his Argentine. 



