NOTES 2I 



Rare Pishes in the Kelvingrove Museum, Glasgow. 



The following paragraphs (sent us by Mr Chas. Kirk) from the 

 Glasgow Herald oi ioth May and 12th June respectively may be 

 of interest to readers of the Scottish Naturalist : 



"Through the kindness of Messrs Sawers (Limited) another 

 valuable addition to the British fish collection at Kelvingrove 

 Museum was made yesterday. The specimen is a fine example of 

 the deal fish, so called because of its thin form. In Iceland it is 

 known as the vaagmaer. Its scientific name is Trachypterus 

 arcticus. The fish, which was caught some 10 miles to the north- 

 east of Rockall, in some 75 fathoms of water, has a geographical dis- 

 tribution extending from Iceland to the Orkneys and shores of the 

 British Isles. A remarkable feature of the fish is its long dorsal fin, 

 which contains over 150 rays. The anal fin is absent, but the 

 pectoral, ventral, and caudal fins are represented. The caudal fin 

 is elevated above the central axis of the body, and on its inferior 

 edge there is a short spine with three or four smaller ones behind it. 

 The lateral line, which is almost straight, consists of a row of oval 

 bony plates, which increase in size towards the tail. The fish has a 

 silvery colour on the body, the dorsal and caudal fins being orange- 

 red. They move something like a flat fish, with one side turned 

 obliquely upwards, the other being towards the ground. In Iceland 

 these fishes are considered to be venomous, but in Orkney they are 

 occasionally used as food by the natives. The specimen is now 

 being prepared, and when finished it will be shown in the Museum." 

 (The specimen was a male.) 



"The recent valuable additions to the British fish collection at 

 Kelvingrove Museum made by Messrs Sawers (Limited) has been 

 further enriched by a specimen of Alepocepliahts Bairdii, a fish, so 

 far as we are at present aware, new to British waters. . . . 

 Alepocephalus Bairdii measures 35 in. in length by 6 in. in depth. 

 It is a deep-sea fish, and has a structure similar to the herring and 

 salmon. It has no adipose dorsal fin, and the rayed dorsal fin 

 is situated far back on the body and opposite to the anal fin. The 

 body of the fish is covered with large scales of oblong triangular 

 format the free ends, 65 of these lying along the position of the 

 lateral line. The teeth are but feebly developed, the eye is large 

 and the bones are thin. The colour is of a uniform indigo blue 

 which extends into the inside of the mouth and the gill membranes. 

 The fin and opercula are black. The type of this species was 

 obtained off the Grand Banks at a depth of 200 fathoms. All the 

 fishes of this class live in the deep sea and have an almost cosmo- 



