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Gadus Esmarkii, Nilsson, the Norway Pout, an addition 

 to the Fish Fauna of the English South-Western 



District. 



By 

 Matthias Dunn, of Mevagissey, and Ernest W. L. Holt. 



In the summer months, for some years prior to 1887, very large 

 quantities of Hake (Mcrluccius vulgaris) had been caught by trawlers 

 beyond the entrance of the Bristol Channel, and landed at Plymouth. 

 Knowing that such masses of hungry creatures would not be found 

 continuously in any given locality without a heavy balance of smaller 

 fish being in their neighbourhood as food for these hakes, I became 

 anxious to know what these smaller fish were, and throughout the 

 summer of 1888 I tried more than once to get at them through 

 our fishermen, but failed. 



In July, 1889, I desired my son Howard to visit the Plymouth 

 Barbican, and notice the gutting of the hakes there and tell me the result. 

 His report was that they had been feeding on small whiting {Gadus 

 merlangus), and that single hakes had as many as ten whiting in their 

 stomachs. I told him that I doubted if these small fish were whiting, 

 and asked him to send the specimens at once, as I expected them to be the 

 poutassou {Cfadus 'poutassou) of Couch. I had recently had specimens of 

 this fish brought me from thirty miles west of the Scilly Isles. 



About a week afterwards my son sent me seven of these little ones 

 taken from the stomach of a pollack {Gadus iMachius) which had been 

 caught in a trawl forty miles north-west of St. Ives. On giving them 

 my attention, I was surprised to find they were not the poutassou nor 

 any other Gadus I was acquainted with. 



Hence I forwarded these two specimens to the Plymouth Biological 

 Laboratory for further enquiry and research concerning this new species. 



M. D. 



