350 Mr. Thompson on Fishes new to Ireland. 



presents but one species ; that Mr. Yarrell's T. Blochii, ex- 

 cepting what is borrowed from Risso, is also identical, and, 

 judging from Mr. Couch's description, that his Trigla is a dif- 

 ferent species. 



Mugil Chelo, Cuv., Thick-lipped Gray Mullet. — On en- 

 deavouring, in the spring of 1835, to identify the common 

 mullet of Ireland with Cuvier's species in the f Regne Ani- 

 mal/ I perceived its agreement with the few characters there 

 attributed to M. Chelo, but before recording it as this spe- 

 cies, awaited a comparison with a more detailed description. 

 This has since been afforded me in the e Histoire des Pois- 

 sons' of the same illustrious author; and, together with the 

 accompanying figure illustrative of the head of M. Chelo, con- 

 firms, beyond a doubt, the identity of the species. 



In the justly valued works of Yarrell* and Jenynsfj Mr. 

 Couch is mentioned as the only naturalist who has noticed 

 the appearance of the M. Chelo on the British coast ; but in a 

 review of the ' British Fishes' in the Magazine of Zoology and 

 Botany, it is remarked, e( The thick-lipped grey mullet, reck- 

 oned so rare by Mr. Yarrell, as to have been seen only once 

 by Mr. Couch, is the common species on the eastern shores 

 of Scotland, where we believe his grey mullet is not known at 

 all, or is at least far from common. At the mouths of rivers 

 the former is taken in considerable numbers in autumn." Vol. 

 i. p. 390. Every mullet that I have had the means of exa- 

 mining at Belfast, since first giving attention to them in March 

 1835, was of this species, as were likewise the only two indi- 

 viduals that I have seen from the southern coast of Ireland. 

 These are in the collection of Mr. R.xBall, of Dublin, and 

 were taken at Youghal in the county of Cork. 



As information on the history of this species, at least as di- 

 stinguished from others, is very scanty in all the British and 

 continental works I have had the opportunity of consulting, 

 I have thought proper to enter into the following detail. 



Notwithstanding the great increase of shipping of late years 

 at Belfast, the mullet is as plentiful in the bay as it was ever 

 known to be by the few persons engaged in its capture. By 



smooth." Bloch again describes the caudal fin as forked, and figures it very 

 much so ; Pennant states that it is "almost even at the end," which it is in 

 the individuals under consideration. 



* History of British Fishes. f Manual of British Vertebrate Animals. 



