THE MAGAZINE 



OF 



NATURAL HISTORY 



OCTOBER, 1837. 



Art. I. Letter from Dr. Clarke of Ipswich to William Yarrell, 

 Esq., Secretary of the Zoological Society, noticing the recent Oc- 

 currence of the Fry of a Species of Hemirdmphus on the Coast 

 of Suffolk ; ivith some additional Observations by Mr. Yarrell. 



Ipswich, August 18. 1837. 



My dear Sir, As I find in your valuable work on the British 

 fishes, at the termination of the Esocidae, you have given as 

 a vignette the head of a fish (a species of Hemiramphus) 

 which has been considered a doubtful visitant of our shores, 

 and which hitherto appears only to have been observed by 

 Mr. Couch, I have great pleasure in forwarding to you a 

 couple of specimens of this interesting genus, which were cap- 

 tured upon the Suffolk coast. 



The circumstances attending the discovery of these fish 

 are as follows, viz.: — My brother (Mr. Edward Clarke of 

 Ipswich), who is particularly interested in the study of British 

 fishes, was examining the sea shore in the vicinity of 

 Felixtow*, a few days ago (on August 7. 1837), when he 

 observed a shoal consisting of myriads of small fish, which, 

 upon a nearer examination, he supposed to be the young of 

 the garfish. As he had previously not found any so small, 

 he secured a few specimens ; and, upon bringing them home 

 and examining them, they were found not to be the young 

 of the garfish, but those of a species of Hemiramphus. 

 From their being so very young, it probably may be difficult to 

 determine whether they belong to a described species ; but, 

 from the circumstance of their having been seen in great 

 abundance in a small pool left by the retiring tide, it is, I 

 think, pretty evident that the ova must have been deposited 

 and vivified in the neighbourhood of our shores. I send you 

 the fish, thinking that an examination of the specimens them- 

 selves will be far more satisfactory than any figures or de- 



* A village in Suffolk, between Harwich and Orford. — Ed. 

 Vol. I. — No. 10. n. s. pp 



