118 



THOMPSON'S MIDGE. 



Coryphcena. 



It must have been this fish which ]Mr. Thomjison has 

 described in the fourth volume of his "Natural History of 

 Ireland," and which he supjioscd to be our Avell-known 

 Mackarel Midge, but on comparison with which, when authentic 

 specimens of the last-named species were supplied to him, he 

 felt himself in a state of uncertainty. We copy his lengthened 

 account, as it supplies us with information regarding some of 

 its habits and motions, which differ decidedly from those which 

 have been noticed in the true Mackarel Midge, as they frisk 

 on the surface of the ocean. 



"Descrii^tions of a minute fish allied to the Ciliata glauca, 

 Couch, and Gaclus argenteolus, Montagu. Plate 1(3, f. 1, 2, 3, 

 of Annals of Nat. History, vol. ii. 



""WTien dredging in Strangford Lough, County Down, on 

 the 2nd. of July last, at from one to three quarters of a 

 mile off the shore, and the water from ten to twenty fathoms 

 in depth, I for ujiwards of an hour remarked some very 

 minute fishes coming singly to the surface. They ascended in 

 a somewhat vertical direction, remained but momentarily there, 

 and again, generally in a similar manner, descended until lost 

 to view. Their back ajipeared to be of a dark colour, but 

 their sides presented the brilliancy of the brightest silver. 

 Their size was rather under an inch; their motion, though 

 somewhat wriggling, surprisingly rajjid, so much so, that although 

 the boat was scarcely moving, and the sea quite calm, their 

 continuance at the surface was so short, that the greatest 

 activity had to be exerted to secure them. For this purpose 

 a small canvas net, otherwise used in the capture of minute 

 medusa, was available. When brought into the boat, they at 



