JULY, 1882. 199 



and the contents at once show the difference between 

 them and ordinary vertebrate fishes. The fry in the 

 stomachs of sea trout are nearly whole, and but little 

 bruised, showing enough to satisfy us that they consist 

 at present of small herring fry and sandlaunces ; while 

 those in the cuttle are so finely comminuted with their 

 parrot beaks that only the crushed bones and scales are 

 evidence of their fishy character. Here, then, are 

 Nature's paths crossing. The low-class mollusc (for, 

 although highly developed, the cuttles are mollusca) eats 

 the vertebrate fishes on the one hand, while the larger 

 vertebrates, in the shape of the sea trout, are eating the 

 smaller cuttles alongside. 



We recently procured a lot of small fishes that are 

 rarely caught on the Scottish coast, simply because they 

 do not take the ordinary baits employed, or come within 

 the ordinary engines of destruction. We refer to the 

 Wrass family, which frequent rocky coasts or algae-covered 

 boulders, and have very small mouths, that no usual 

 haddock hook could enter. It is very rarely that any 

 one fishes them with fine hooks, as they are of little value 

 for the table, and give little sport to the angler unless he 

 uses extremely fine tackle, and in consequence, they are 

 little known among us. The common Wrass, or Ballan 

 Wrass (Labrus macttlatus), is a very brilliantly marked 

 fish, red and blue streaks and marking covering him all 

 over, more especially vivid about the head. The soft 

 lips, which are a special characteristic of the family, no 

 doubt enable them to feel their food among the dark 

 fronds of the laminaria, where little light can penetrate 

 at times. Among the more brilliant specimens, an 

 example of the Green Wrass (Labrus lineatus), came 

 ashore. This fish is scarcely acknowledged as a species 



