Mr. Thompson on Fishes new to Ireland. 23 



frequently it was brought up twisted round the line in its en- 

 deavours to become extricated from the hook. 



During the summer months the A. latirostris is brought in 

 by the tide as it flows over the banks of Belfast bay, and is 

 taken by eel-spearers. A specimen 4^ inches long that I ex- 

 amined, and which was procured off the coast of the county 

 Antrim at mid -winter, had in proportion to its size every cha- 

 racter as strongly marked as the largest of its species : the 

 fleshy prominence on each side of the head and terminating 

 at the nape was very conspicuous. 



Ammodytes Tobianus, Bloch. Wide-mouthed Sand-eel. 

 — This species is rare on the shores of Ireland as elsewhere 

 compared with A. Lancea. Of the latter, were specimens of 

 Ammodytes favoured me by Mr. R. Ball from the coast of 

 Cork, and with one exception, all that I have taken from the 

 stomachs of the cod and other fishes. Such likewise, judging 

 from their size, (" four to nine inches in length") are those de- 

 scribed in the e Wild Sports of the West ' as sought for on 

 the coast of Mayo, and also those taken on the sands adjoining 

 the village of Bushfoot near the Giants^ Causeway. In this last 

 locality I speak on the authority of a gentleman who has often 

 been present at the sand-eel fishing, and who, on being shown 

 my specimens of A. Tobianus, remarked that he had never 

 seen any of those taken there at all approaching them in size. 

 In a paper by Dr. J. D. Marshall on the Statistics and Natural 

 History of the island of Rathlin, published in a late part of 

 the Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, the A. Tobianus 

 is enumerated among the fishes of the island ; but I have the 

 authority of the author for stating, that it is the common spe- 

 cies now distinguished by the name of A. Lancea*, to which 

 he there alluded. 



August 23, 1836. — On inquiring at Dundrum on the coast 

 of Down about sand-eels, I ascertained that two species are 

 procured in the extensive sands here ; the larger of which is 

 called e£ Snedden," and the smaller " Sand-eel," and that they 

 are throughout the district considered as distinct as any two 

 species of fish. This information induced me to attend the 

 sand-eel fishing today, when at the extreme of low water I had 



* Both species were until the last few years considered as one, which was 

 designated A. Tobianus. 



