578 



SCANDINAVIAN FISHES. 



b\- Mr. A. SvENSsoN, witli a Saiid-Eel nrt from llal- 

 laiid, ii quantity (several huiulreds, if not thousands) 

 of Sand-Launces about 7 ciii. hmg were taken and ob- 

 served at lionnklippa off ituumarO. LiNDSTRii.M found 

 the species off (rothland. In the north and east of the 

 Baltic, however, it is considered at least rarer than the 

 Snnd-l-^el, the ran^iic (if wliicli extends, according to 

 Mela, in tlie (iulf of IJothiiia to tlie neiglibourhood of 

 BJ5rneborg and in the (iulf of Finland to Cronstadt. 

 In the Atlantic, on the other hand, the Sand-Eel does 

 not go so far north, for it is unknown, according to 

 CoLLETT, north of Trondlijem Fjord. On the English 

 coast it is common at certain spots, though here and 

 still more in the Channel on the coast of France the 

 Sand-Launce is the commoner species. Bonaparte in- 

 cludes the Sand-Eel among the fishes of Italy, and ac- 

 cording to Day it occurs, though extremel}' rarely, in 

 the Mediterranean; but neither Steindaciiner, Moreau, 

 nor GiGLiOLi assigns it to this locality. 



These two species, the most common Scandinavian 

 forms of the genus, seem to liave exactly the same 

 habits, and in most places are found together. In ge- 

 neral the smaller species, the Sand-Launce, seems to 

 be the more plentiful. This is evidently tlie case in 

 Scania, where Sundevali, found the Sand-Eel to form 

 hardly a tenth of the catch. Off the Danish islands 

 Krdyei; considered the two species to l)e more evenly 

 distributed, but on the coast of Jutland tlie Sand-Launce 

 ■was said to be the more common. In the Great Belt 

 and Samsa; Belt Wintheu found the catch to consist al- 

 most entirely of Sand-Eels. Among some hundred Sand- 

 Launces forwarded to the Royal Museum from Halinstad 

 in the month of August, there was only one specimen 

 of the Sand-Eel. On the coast of Bohuslan, too, ac- 

 cording to ^Ialji, the Sand-Eel is rarer than the Sand- 

 Launce, which at suitable spots is common. 



The Sand-Eel" generally haunts a sandy bottom, in 

 which it can Ijury itself. It works itself with wonder- 

 ful skill and I'apidity into the sand, where it seems to 

 lie liid, at a depth of 1 \' ., dm. or more, the greater part 

 of the day, coming up only at intervals. In winter it 

 lives in deeper water; but in spring, when the water 

 begins to grow somewhat warmer, both species ascend 

 together to sandy, shelving spots along the shore and 

 stay there all the summer. In Scania this takes place 

 at the end of May, and the fisherj- begins immediately 



afterwards. l)uring the course of ()ct(jl)er they again 

 i-eturn to deep water. 



The most productive Sand-Eel fishery in tlie whole 

 of Sweden is carried on in tlic little inlet just north of 

 Simrishamii. So much fish is taken here, according to 

 Nii.ssoN, that the Rector of Gladsax receives as his tithe 

 of the fishery G barrels (989 litres) of dried Sand-Eels. 

 The town jirobably owes its origin to this fishery. 

 During the whole summer and until October the fishery 

 is pursued there daily, when not interi'upted l^y storms, 

 with fine-meshed seines, which are shot at a depth of 

 3 fathoms and hauled U]! on shore. The fishing begins 

 soon after noon and continues until nearly sunset. 

 Sand-Eels are also especially jilentiful at the following 

 places: south of Ahus, at the fishing-villages of Vik 

 and Baskemolla (north of Simrishanni) — where in 1880, 

 i according to Mr. Luni)Bicr(;, Inspector of Fisheries, the 

 catch was about 50 hectolitres, of a value of 302 crowns 

 (£16 10s.) — at KS,seberga (between Simrishamn and 

 Ystad), off' Ystad, just east of the town and down to 

 the mouth of Kopinge River, and at the fishing-village 

 of Abekas (west of Ystad). At these spots some (juantity 

 sometimes comes into the market, but in the rest of 

 Scania, as well as in Halland, Sand-Eels seem to be used 

 almost exclusively as bait for Cod. At the south-west 

 corner of Scania (Trelleborg, Skanor) these fi.shes are 

 quite unknown to the fishermen, according to Sunde- 

 vall; and in the Sound according to Schagerstrom, 

 both species are rare, though large quantities were taken 

 at the fishing-village of Raa in September, 1837. Further 

 up the Baltic, as even LiXNiEUS tells us, some Sand- 

 Eels are caught oft' Ottenby, on the south point of 

 C)land, and used as bait for Cod. This fishery is carried 

 on with seines the cod-end (sac) of which is composed 

 of a sheet which is turned towards the sun and thus 

 attracts the Sand-Eels by its brightness. A similar 

 seine is used in Ilalland. — • At Simrishamn, it is said, 

 the fisher}- is carried on in the afternoon. At Ahus 

 and Ystad the fishermen are out both in the morning 

 and in the evening, and in dull weather in the middle 

 of the day as well. It is only at these times that the 

 Sand-Eels move aliout in the water. In the island-belt 

 of Stockholm, in summer, Sundevai.l pretty often met 

 with small Sand-Eels, between 74 'I'^f^ 1 ^^^^- long, 

 s^\'imming about freely here and there among the is- 

 lands where there was no sand at the liottom, and also 



" From Ibis point to tlic eud of the description Sand-Eel is nsed as a general term for both species, except where otlierwise stated. Tr. 



