124 POMPTLUS. 



characteristic; but the colour described by Jago differs so 

 widely from what is ascribed by other authors to the fish now 

 known to be the same species, and the error committed by 

 Borlase in regard to the proportions of its measurement, arising, 

 as we judge, by copying the writing of Jago wrongly, is so 

 great, that naturalists remained long at a loss to decide which 

 was the true species. No doubt could be felt that the examples 

 described were different from every other known as English 

 fish, and therefore Pennant did not hesitate to include it in 

 his work on British natural history, where he called it the 

 Black Ruffe, a name which is changed into Black Perch in 

 the last edition. Turton copies this (or is copied by it) when 

 he names it Perca nigra in his translation of the "System of 

 Nature" of Linnaeus. Fleming ventures to guess that it resembles 

 the Ruffe in form, and Stewart, in his "Introduction to the 

 Study of Natural History," goes so far as to suppose it a 

 variety of the last-named species; forgetting that it is not 

 probable the Ruffe should be taken in the open sea, and that, 

 even in fresh water, it has never been found in Cornwall. 



It is probable, however, that the difference of colour was the 

 chief cause of the mistakes committed by British authors in 

 regard to this fish, and in which Lacepede was prevailed on to 

 follow them; for it was not then so well known as it is now, 

 that fishes which wander to our seas from warmer or brighter 

 climates are liable to suffer this change in a remarkable degree. 

 Linnaeus, who, in regard to fishes, is usually led by the 

 authority of former writers, defines the specific character of 

 Coryphcena pompilus by the colours only; the back being 

 painted with small bands above the arched lateral line, which, 

 as a mark of distinction, would scarcely point out a sj^ecies 

 that, when found in our waters, was as black all over as if it 

 had been dipped in ink. Nor would the little note he adds 

 at the end be of great service in further identifying the 

 species. The circumstance which had the effect of dispelling 

 the obscurity which had so long rested on the history of this 

 fish, may be termed an accident. I had been examining the 

 figure given of it by Borlase, as compared with one by Gesner 

 of the Pompilus of ancient writers, when an example was 

 brought to me of a fish that was unknown to the fisherman 

 who had caught it; and its resemblance to these figures in 



