120 DUBLIN NATUEAL HI8T0ET SOCIETY. 



temporal plates and with hard cheeks, as the significations of their anatomical 

 characteristics are intended to convey, and selecting for those remarks the ge- 

 nus Trigla, or gurnard family, with peculiarities of their characters, habits, and 

 distribution, on the south-west coast of this country. I, however, beg to state 

 that that communication, as well as the present, offered for this evening, are 

 merely intended to submit to your consideration the outline of some of the inte- 

 resting facts regarding the ichthyology of this country, which the very nume- 

 rous objects in that branch of natural history science present. Among the many 

 striking investigations that can be made into the zoology or botany of a coun- 

 try are the geographical ranges of the animals and plants, and the records thus 

 afforded of the associations of those of widely different climes. Thus we have, 

 in allusion to Irish ichthyology, genera and species of opposite temperatures, 

 natives of the Mediterranean and of the northern latitudes, which have already 

 been the theme of our evening papers. I have now the pleasure of submitting 

 an addition to the Fauna of Britain ; and, as far as reference can be obtained to 

 continental authors, to that of Europe. The species, whose characteristics I 

 shall briefly state, belongs to the same family of the Acanthopterygii and to the 

 genus Cottus, or bull-heads, of which the miller's-thumb of English fresh- water 

 rivers is a familiar example. The most striking appearances of the species arei 

 — the head large, depressed, and armed with spines, the latter character more 

 marked in the marine species, the body attenuated, without scales, and the ven- 

 trals imperfect, and with few rays. The markings of many are varied, and, at 

 certain seasons, are vividly beautiful in the male sex, but in none more so than 

 in the species to be submitted to the meeting this night. It is unnecessary to 

 enter into description of the characters of those of the British seas (so admira- 

 bly given in "Yarrell's British Fishes"), but merely to state that the species 

 Scorpius and Bubalis are very common in the Harbour and in the Bay of Dingle, 

 coast of Kerry. Scorpius I have seen taken in the trawls off Ventry. Bubalis 

 is frequently captured in Dingle Harbour, both in seine and dredge, and the 

 extremely vivid tints of red, yellow, and brown it presents cannot but be ad- 

 mired, however repulsive the appearance of the fish ; yet the markings, as also 

 that of the other species, are less varied and far less brilliant than the beautiful 

 object captured in that Harbour with Scorpius; and it is to the kind attention 

 of my friend James Edward Stopford, Esq., who was present at the time, that 

 we owe the introduction of this novelty to our Fauna of the Cottus Grsenlan- 

 dicus.* On reference to the volumes of the " Annals and Magazine of Natural 

 History" (which I presumed would form the surest guide as to the records of 

 additions to British Ichthyology subsequent to the publication of Yarrell), I 

 found a notice of this rare fish given by Mr. M'Coy in the number of that jour- 

 nal for February, 1841, recording no less than the capture of four of those fish, 

 within a short time, in the Bay of Dublin, and at the mouth of the River Liffey, 

 and referring to a fine specimen in the collection of the Royal Dublin Society. 

 A few days since, on examining that collection, I could observe none other than 

 forms of C. bubalis and C. scorpius; their colouring had been completely de- 

 stroyed by the spirit preparation, yet their characters were sufficiently identi- 

 fiable to show their distinctness from that of C. Graenlandicus. Mr. Thompson, 

 of Belfast, informs me that he has not had the opportunity of having his doubts 

 removed as to the admission, at that time, of that rare fish into our Fauna ; but 

 Mr. M'Coy, to whom I have written, will, I am in hopes, clear this difficulty. 

 In the meantime I shall consider this to be the first authenticated record of its 

 introduction into British Ichthyology. With the specimen of C. Gra;nlandicus 

 I received also a large specimen of C. scorpius ; both were females; the latter 

 appeared to have but recently spawned, and was in bad condition ; the Grajn- 

 landicus contained ova of a reddish and scarlet tinge. They were both taken 

 in a small seine when drawing for sand-smelts. Both seemed to have fed much 

 on several species of Crustacea, as the sac or stomach of each contained a quan- 



* For flgare and further description, vide vol. ii. of Proceedings of Society, page 61. 



