Thomson. — Portobello Marine Fish- hatchery. 545 



were transferred to one of the ponds. A dead specimen ex- 

 amined at the same time was found to have the stomach quite 

 full of seaweed. But in the pond they were regularly fed on 

 cut-up fish, cockles, &c, and they fed freely, becoming so tame 

 that they came about the edge of the pond whenever visitors 

 went to see them, and they would take food out of the hand, and 

 allow themselves to be stroked. About a month after the}^ were 

 confined some of them became affected by a whitish film which 

 grew over one or both eyes, and it looked as if they would become 

 blind. But by the end of summer this had quite disappeared, 

 and the fish were in very fine plump condition. A few of them 

 also showed greyish patches, apparently of diseased tissue, on 

 the back, but this condition did not affect many, and was not 

 closely examined into. 



During May of this year, when the weather was rather cold, 

 the fish almost ceased to feed, and did not move about freely. 

 Even cockles, of which they were extremely fond, had no tempta- 

 tions for them. On the 2nd June there was a little snow at 

 intervals, and the pond-water was very much chilled. On the 

 3rd there were snow-showers during the day, and the pond- 

 temperature registered T4° C. Heavy snow came on during 

 the night, and on the morning of the 4th it lay 3 in. or 4 in. 

 deep on the ground, while the temperature of the pond went 

 down to - 8° C. One of the cod was found dead, and five or six 

 more were lying on their sides in a nearly dead condition. Dur- 

 ing the night the temperature fell still lower, that of the pond 

 standing at 0° C, and on the morning of the 5th the rest of the 

 fish were lying on their sides, all dead but five. An attempt 

 was made to resuscitate these by keeping them in somewhat 

 warmer water, but they all succumbed on the 6th. 



It is worthy of note that while blue-cod are obtainable in 

 Otago Harbour during the summer months, they appear to 

 migrate out to deeper water on the approach of winter, and, 

 further, that they do not take bait during cold weather. 



■ This experience is of value as showing, among other things, 

 the limitations to which experimental work is liable in shallow- 

 water ponds. 



Congiopodus leucopcecilus, Richardson. 



This fish is popularly known as " pig-fish," on account of 

 the grunting noise it makes when taken out of the water and 

 left to gasp for air. It is sometimes called " leather -jacket," 

 a name which, however, is more correctly applied to Mona- 

 canthus scaber, another very common fish in Otago Harbour. 



On the 17th September of last year Mr. Anderton secured 

 male and female mature specimens, and from these he obtained 



18— Trans. 



