FISHES 



•80. Bream. Abramii brama, Linn. 

 Common. 



•81. White Bream. Abramis blicca, Bloch. 

 Probably occurs. 



•82. Loach. NemachUus barbatula, Linn. 

 Probably occurs. 



MALACOPTERYGII 



•*83. Salmon. Salmo salar, Linn. 



The salmon does not seem to occur in the 

 Suffolk rivers, although in Sir T. Browne's time 

 it was said to be taken in the Waveney. It is 

 recorded that a specimen weighing 25 lb. was 

 captured off Lowestoft in a trawl net in May 

 1879, and that this was only the second instance 

 since 1849.* A specimen of I3jlb. weight is 

 recorded in Lowe's fourth list as taken in a draw- 

 net at Gorleston, 17 May 1898. 



**84. Salmon Trout. Salmo trutta, Linn. 



Lubbock states that the salmon-trout is taken 

 in the Waveney. Considerable numbers are 

 taken in the mackerel nets off Lowestoft in Octo- 

 ber. One which I examined in 1895 was I4|-in. 

 long. Although great variation occurs in the 

 proportions of the head, in the shape of the preoper- 

 culum, and in the number of the coecal appen- 

 dages, these differences are not constant enough 

 to distinguish permanent varieties. 



*85. Trout. Sa/mo fario, Linn. 



According to Lubbock there are no trout in 

 the Waveney and they are not mentioned as 

 occurring in the rivers of Suffolk. 



**86. Smelt. Osmerus eperlanus, Linn. 



Common in all the estuaries, at Lowestoft, in 

 the Aide, the Deben, the Orwell, and the Stour. 

 Hele in Notes and Jottings about Aldeburgh 

 mentions an indenture of 1608 in the town-hall 

 of that town, agreeing that a reduced payment 

 should be made to the Priory, of Our Lady of 

 Snape for every boat fishing for Sperling in Sperling 

 time. These fish never leave the estuaries 

 entirely, but they ascend almost to the limits of 

 the tide to spawn, and deposit their eggs in fresh 

 water. The ova are adhesive and attach them- 

 selves by a flexible membrane to piles and piers 

 or other objects in the water ; but many of them 

 become detached and move to and fro with the 

 tide at the bottom of the channel. 



87. Anchovy. Engraulis encrasicholus, Linn. 



Paget records a specimen found on the beach 

 at Yarmouth in 1830, and Lowe states that they 



Colman, Land and Water, 10 May 1879. 



are frequently caught in the Ouse at Lynn in 

 Norfolk. Although there are no actual records 

 for Suffolk they probably occur in the sea off the 

 coast in autumn, as they are abundant in the 

 Zuyder Zee in Holland in summer and migrate 

 southwards through the English Channel in the 

 autumn. 



88. Herring. Clupea harengus, Linn. 



Immense shoals of herrings arrive off the coasts 

 of Suffolk and Norfolk at the beginning of Oc- 

 tober, and from that time to the end of November 

 a great fishery is carried on at Lowestoft and 

 Yarmouth, in which not only hundreds of local 

 boats take part, but large numbers of Scotch 

 boats. The herrings spawn in November, and 

 soon after spawning all depart again. Her- 

 rings are also on the Suffolk coast from March 

 to July, and in all probability another spawning 

 takes place some time within that period. No 

 special study however has been made of these 

 spring herrings, but there is evidence from other 

 parts of the coast that herrings spawn at the 

 beginning of the year as well as in autumn. 

 There is reason to believe that the fish of the 

 two seasons are not the same, but perfectly dis- 

 tinct, and that they form separate races. The 

 autumn herrings are larger and come from the 

 deep sea, while the spring herrings spawn nearer 

 shore and do not migrate to so great a distance. 



89. Sprat. Clupea sprattus, Linn. 



Caught off the coast with small-meshed drift- 

 nets from the beginning of November to the 

 middle of January. This fishery is carried on 

 at Lowestoft, Southwold, Thorpe, and Aldeburgh, 

 while at Harwich sprats are caught with stow- 

 nets in the. estuary. In Lowe's Fishes of Norfolk 

 Mr. Dowell is quoted as stating that though he 

 had seen vast quantities of sprats caught, he never 

 saw one with roe. This fact can now be ex- 

 plained, for it has been proved that sprats spawn 

 at some distance from the coast in summer, and 

 that during the sprat fishery in autumn and win- 

 ter, when they are in the estuaries or near the 

 coast, their roes, although of course present, are 

 not developed. Ripe specimens with large roes have 

 been obtained occasionally in the trawl, and the 

 eggs, which are buoyant, are found in the sea from 

 February to May or June. The young, soon 

 after hatching, approach the shore and enter the 

 estuaries, where they are caught as whitebait. 



90. Pilchard. Clupea pilchardus, Walb. Artedi. 



According to Paget a few specimens are taken 

 every year in the herring-nets at Yarmouth, but 

 usually they are rare. In some years at the end 

 of the 1 8th century, according to the same 

 authority, these fish were abundant. They have 

 also been recorded at Harwich. 



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