British Species of fresh-water Fishes. 7 



Several streams in the townships of Burton Wood and Sankey, which flow 

 into the Mersey below Warrington, and others in or near the township of 

 Knowsley, which also form the Alt, produce the Graining in considerable 

 numbers. In its habits and food it resembles the Trout, frequenting both the 

 rapid and still parts of the rivers, but is not known to exist in ponds. It is 

 fished for with artificial flies like the Dace or Trout ; and Mr. Bainbridge, an 

 enthusiastic fisherman, in his excellent Fly-fisher's Guide, published at Liver- 

 pool, says, " that as they rise freely, they afford good sport to the angler, and 

 when in the humour, it is not difficult to fill a pannier with them. They 

 sometimes, though not commonly, exceed half a pound in weight, and are 

 much better eating than the Dace." 



The largest specimen sent up to me on the present occasion measured nine 

 inches in length. 



A short description of the Graining in Mr. Bainbridge's work is thus given. 

 " Rather more slender than the Dace ; the body almost straight ; colour of 

 the scales silvery, with a blueish cast ; the eyes, the ventral and the anal fins, 

 are of a pale colour." 



Following the systematic arrangement of Baron Cuvier in the 2nd volume 

 of the R^gne Animal, this species will now range under the first division of 

 the genus Leuciscus of Klein, distinguished by the position of the dorsal fin, 

 which is placed in a vertical line immediately over the ventral, and of which 

 division our well-known Roach and Dace are examples. 



As the specific character of the Graining given by Dr. Shaw does not 

 precisely agree with that fish as described by Mr. Bainbridge and myself, I 

 propose to substitute the following, but still retaining the trivial name applied 

 to the species by that naturalist. 



Leuciscus Lancastriensis. Pennant's Graining. 



L. elongatus, pinna dorsali supra pinnas ventrales posita, caudali profundi 

 biloba, capitis lateribus supr^ subparallelis ; ore parvo ; dorso lateri- 

 busque supernfe subrufescenti-isabellinis, infern^ ventreque argenteis. 



With specimens of the Graining, for which I acknowledge my great obli- 

 gations to Lord Stanley, another species of the same genus was sent, which is 

 also new to our British catalogue, and which, like the Graining, is not de- 



