ZOOLOGICAL NOTES 127 



quite a shoal of them had entered the estuary at low water. The 

 following year, about the same time, July-August, they were again 

 frequenting the same place, when I obtained a number of them 

 without difficulty. I have no doubt, if suitable nets were in use 

 throughout the west, we should hear of this fish far oftener. Mr. 

 M'Lean of Carsaig informs me that they are plentiful to the west of 

 Mull. They have also been obtained from Loch Linnhe. The 

 term " Argyleshire " is so general that it is of little value as a 

 locality. The specimen in the Edinburgh Museum is, I believe, 

 labelled Argyle, as this locality is also given by Messrs. Anderson 

 for their supply received in February last. Now, as this term 

 includes the Clyde area to some extent, it is very misleading. I am 

 disposed to conclude that it was from this area that the parcel 

 referred to came, as they were said to be taken by Sparling fishers, 

 and no such fishers, to my knowledge, work north of the Clyde. 

 Indeed I have no reliable record of the true Smelt (Osmerus 

 eperlanus) being ever taken north of the Mull of Cantyre, in the 

 Hebrides. The Hebridal Smelt (Argentina spliyrcena} here takes 

 its place. It is necessary to bear this in mind when dealing with 

 these several species, and to make certain that they are not mistaken 

 the one for the other. The Hebridal Smelt is apparently a deep- 

 water species, taken by Dr. Murray in the Clyde and by me in 

 some quantity around Skye. They are much larger than the 

 Atherine, and can scarcely be mistaken by a trained observer, but 

 would undoubtedly be termed Smelts by an ordinary fisherman. A 

 full-grown true smelt is also larger than the Atherine, and a more 

 delicate fish ; besides lacking the peculiar cucumber smell. While 

 most common in the English Channel, the little Atherine can- 

 not be considered a Scottish fish. W. ANDERSON SMITH, 

 Ledaig. 



Electric Ray on the East Coast of Scotland. A female 

 specimen of the Electric Ray (Torpedo nolriliana) was caught by 

 trawl sixteen miles off ^'ick, on the 2yth December 1894, and 

 brought into Aberdeen market. The fish measured 3 feet 9 inches 

 long, and 2 feet 8 inches broad. So far as I can ascertain, this 

 is the first undoubted specimen for our East Coast. In the " Life 

 of a Scottish Naturalist," p. 426, Thomas Edward says: "A 

 specimen of this fish is said to have been taken about six miles off 

 Loggie Head, near Cullen, in 1817. Others are stated as having 

 been caught." In Day's "Fishes of Great Britain and Ireland," 

 vol. ii. p. 332, Edwards's "said to hare been taken' 1 '' is turned into 

 "was taken" which is rather unfortunate. In Dr. Howden's 

 "Report on the Fishes of the North-East of Scotland," p. 62, this 

 form is marked as one of the "species observed in the district"; 

 but no information is given as to who saw it, or when it was taken. 

 G. SIM, Aberdeen. 



