44 Mr. Thompson on Gob. minutus and Cycl. minutus 



tion was directed to it as an extraordinary production ; its 

 semi-transparent dull grey colour, much diversified, or appa- 

 rently begrimed with black, certainly gave it somewhat of a 

 hideous aspect. No purchaser being found here, it was taken 

 this morning to the town of Lisburn, about seven miles di- 

 stant, and was displayed as on the preceding day, but with 

 more success, as it was here disposed of. This I learned in the 

 afternoon, by the taxidermist to whom it was sent, calling to 

 show it to me as a strange fish just received from the inland 

 town of Lisburn, a locality considered to enhance its rarity. 



April 8, 1836. To the middle of April, 1835, when I left 

 home, but the one lump-fish had been brought to Belfast 

 market, and the first for the present season was brought hi- 

 ther today. It was taken in the bay along with mullet [Mu- 

 gil Chelo), and was alive when I saw it, although several hours 

 out of the water. As in the specimen of last year, no bright 

 colours were displayed, the general hue being blackish, inter- 

 mixed with dirty white ; the under surface of the latter colour ; 

 on close examination a little dull red was visible at the extreme 

 tips of the caudal fin, and the pectorals presented an extremely 

 faint orange tinge. On dissection it proved to be a female, 

 and contained a vast quantity of ova, of a delicate rose colour. 

 The ova alone weighed 25 oz.; of this I had a drachm weighed 

 and carefully reckoned the number of particles, each nearly 

 a line in diameter, that it contained, and found the whole mass, 

 if considered accordingly, would consist of the amazing num- 

 ber of 101,935 ova — the produce of a fish about 15 inches in 

 length. With such prolific powers we can readily imagine 

 that this species should abound, as it is reported to do, in the 

 northern seas of both hemispheres, its chief abode. The sto- 

 mach did not contain any food. 



On the 13th of this month another female specimen, of si- 

 milar size and colour and taken in the bay, was brought to 

 me. On the 20th of this same month two more were, like 

 that of the 8th, captured in the mullet nets at Garmoyle, a 

 deep part of the bay, about three miles from town. One of 

 these, in size and of a blackish colour like those hitherto no- 

 ticed, proved to be a female ; but the other, a much smaller 

 specimen, was of a beautiful deep rose colour on the lower 



