of the Fishes of Cornwall. 315 



edge of the vessel. I hope to be able to pursue this enquiry 

 during the winter and following spring. 



The true Sprat very rare in Cornwall. — In reference to some 

 observations by Mr. Yarrell, in the Zoological Journal^ vol. iv. 

 p. 466., relative to the distinction between the sprat and the 

 young of the pilchard and herring, I can state that Cornish 

 fishermen term the young of both the latter fishes sprats ; but, 

 how far this should go in determining the judgment of a natu- 

 ralist will appear, when I add that I have never seen above 

 one specimen of the genuine sprat in Cornwall, and that was 

 brought me by a fisherman, to be informed what fish it was. 

 In taking fish out of his net by night, he felt it to be neither 

 a pilchard nor a herring, and supposed it something rare. 



The BlacJc Fish of Jago, and its Synonymes. — I have only 

 further to add that I can now clear up a doubt in British 

 ichthyology that has existed for a hundred years. I have at 

 last ascertained what is the black fish of Jago, the Perca nigra 

 of Turton and other authors. 1 believe it to be the Pom- 

 pilus of Gesner and Ray. Two specimens were taken here in 

 1830 and 1831 : one of which I minutely examined, and pre- 

 served a drawing of; of the other I received a figure and 

 description. An error in Borlase's original description, of three 

 fourths of an inch instead of three or four inches, has chiefly 

 led to the continued mistake respecting this fish. 



J. Couch. 



Some critical remarks on the want of proportion in some of our figures 

 illustrative of Mr. Couch's first paper (p. 15 — 24.), will be found under 

 Retrospective Criticism, in the present Number (p. 393.). 



The Short Sunfish {Orthagoriscus Mala Fleming). — The present will not 

 be an unfit place to notice a somewhat recent capture, in the neighbour-., 

 hood of Plymouth, of a species of fish of comparative rarity on our shores : 

 the Tetrodon Mola of the older authors, the Orthagoriscus Mola of Dr. 

 Fleming's British Atiimals. The following is a descriptive paragraph respect- 

 ing it, which appeared in the Mirror of Sept. 10. 1831 : — 



" Curious Fish. — A most singular fish was brought to Plymouth, a 

 short time since, by some fishermen, who secured it while driving for pil-» 

 chards off the Mewstone. It was of an unknown species, not unlike a 

 huge bream in shape, weighing 60 lbs.; and was 2 ft. 9 in. in length, 22 in, 

 in depth, and about 8 in. in thickness. The dorsal and ventral fins were 

 placed near the tail, stood off from the body, and measured each of them 

 1 ft. 3 in. long, both of them tapering to a point. The tail itself was 5 in, 

 long and 16 in. in breadth, crescent-like in shape, and seemingly attached 

 to the body by a kind of hinge. The fish had no nostrils ; and its mouth 

 was barely 1^ in. wide. Instead of teeth, it was supplied with two solid 

 sharp bones, in the form of gums. Behind the pectoral fins, which were 

 very small, were the oval openings to the gills, and they had something 

 of the figure of the human ear. Its skin was perfectly invulnerable, 

 of a silvery hue, inclining to blackness towards the ridge of the back. 

 The total absence of gills gave the head a most awkward appearance. — ■ 

 W.G.C." 



