326 ICHTHYOLOGICAL CONTUIBUTIONS. 



Council of the Royal Dublin Society for 1891, and also in tlie Pro- 

 ceedings of that Society, vol. vii, pt. 4. 



It was the inspection of this Irish specimen which led me to 

 identify my own, and I have to thank Mr. Holt for kindly supplying 

 me with references to the literature of the subject. I have now 

 given all the recorded occurrences of this species on British coasts, 

 and it will be seen that it appears to be occasionally fairly common 

 in the Firth of Clyde and off Plymouth Sound, while only single 

 specimens have been taken in the Bristol Channel, Donegal Bay, 

 and off the Shetland Isles. 



The species was originally described by Scandinavian zoologists, 

 but first correctly distinguished by Giinther. Couches description 

 and figure are fairly good, but not so satisfactory as those given by 

 Giinther in his report on Mr. Murray's collection from the west of 

 Scotland. Day unfortunately failed to recognise the validity of 

 Couch's description of this species, and placed the name used by 

 that author as a synonym of Zeugopterus unimaculatus ; and as I 

 generally use Day's work, this was the reason that I at first con- 

 fused the species with Z. punctatus. I prefer to use the generic 

 name Zeugopterus for this form, rather than Rhombus, with which 

 Giinther unites it, on account of its evident affinities with Z. punc- 

 tatus, and the difference between these forms and the tui*bot or 

 brill. One important character, which unites the so-called topknots, 

 namely, unimaculatus, punctatus, and the present species, is that the 

 dorsal and post-anal fins are prolonged posteriorly on to the lower 

 side at the base of the tail, towards the middle line of that side. 

 The following is a list of the passages relating to Zeugopterus nor- 

 vegicus cited in the preceding remarks : 



J. Couch, Fishes of British Islands, 1864, vol. iii, p. 175, pi. 

 clxvii. 



Albert Giinther, Brit. Mus. Catalogue, vol. iv, p. 412. 



Idem, Report on Fishes obtained by Mr. J. Murray, 8fc., Proc. Roy. 

 Soc. Edinburgh, No. 127, Session 1887-8, p. 217, pi. iv. 



E. W. L. Holt, Report on the Results of Fishing Operations, Sur- 

 vey of Fishing -grounds of West Coast of Ireland, Proc. Roy. Dubl. 

 Soc, vol. vii, pt. 4. 



Idem, Preliminary Note on the Fish obtained during the Cruise of 

 the s.s. '^Harlequin,'' 1891, Proc. Roy. Dubl, Soc, vol. vii, pt. 3, 

 p. 218. 



Zeugopterus punctatus is by no means uncommon in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Plymouth. It is frequently taken by shrimp trawlers 

 in the Sound, and brought in alive to our aquarium. I have four 

 specimens, 11 "4 to 15 cm. (4| to 5|^ inches) in length; and also a young 

 specimen 5 cm. long, taken in the Sound on October 21st, 1889. 



