110 The Fishes of Cambridgeshire 



Anglian rivers to poison the water with pollutions, and along 

 the waterways there is no extensive traffic. The two enemies 

 are the angler and the otter. With regard to the fish them- 

 selves their history has been very uniform. The drainage of 

 the great meres of Ramsey and Whittlesea has been responsible 

 for the disappearance of many birds and insects the large 

 Copper (Polyommatus dispar) amongst them. But the fish 

 have remained unaltered according to all records, unless the 

 Barbel (Barbus vulgaris) ever existed in the waters of the 

 old Fens. It certainly does not exist now so far as I am 

 aware. An abortive attempt was once made to introduce 

 them into the Great Ouse, but they were never heard of or 

 seen again. 



There is extant to my knowledge no list of fishes belonging 

 to the county. There is, however, a list of Fenland fishes in 

 Messrs Miller and Skertchly's Fenland, to which I am much 

 indebted, and I derived much assistance from the collection of 

 fish in the Museum at Wisbech. In all there are, including 

 the Lamprey and reckoning the denizens of fresh as well as 

 salt water, forty-two species of Cambridgeshire fishes. When- 

 ever a mention is made in the list of an isolated instance, 

 the reference is to some specimen preserved in the Wisbech 

 Museum. 



TELEOSTOML 



ACANTHOPTERYGII. 



1. Perch, Perca fluviatilis (Linn.). Large perch are taken 



in the Great Ouse. 



2. Ruffe, Acerina cernua (Linn.). An interesting Cambridge 



fish, as according to a story (I believe erroneous) it was 

 discovered by Dr John Caius. 



3. Sea Bream, Pagellus centrodontus (Cuv. et Valence). 



Doubtful. One specimen taken in Pauper's Cut. 



4. Horse Mackerel, Caranx trachurus (Cuv. et Valence). 



One specimen taken in the Wisbech River, 1854. 



