Dimensions of Gwyniads 33 



feed upon " nothing except the green slime growing upon 

 stones at the bottom of the water " ; but this is, I believe, 

 entirely based upon the fact that none have ever been known 

 to take a bait of any kind, and that some of this green 

 stuff may have been found in the mouths of dead specimens 

 picked up on the shore. The fish are believed to spawn 

 in early spring, and it is supposed that it is when they are 

 engaged in this operation that they are sometimes caught in 

 a storm and driven ashore. This my own observations 

 would tend to support, as after gales from the West, in 

 March, each year, I picked up specimens floated ashore, 

 all of which had either recently spawned, or were ripe for 

 that event. A female, 10 inches long, found on loth May, 

 and which had only just parted with her ova, may have 

 been an exceptionally late breeder. From March 5th to 

 2yth in one year, I carefully examined five fresh specimens, 

 all of which had died practically at the time of spawning. 



A male, about 9 inches in length, on 2yth March, 

 contained milt nearly ripe for extrusion : another male, 

 on 8th March, had very recently shed his milt ; two 

 females on the same day having also spawned shortly before 

 their death. On 5th March, the female, from which 

 the accompanying photograph was taken, was found, her 

 ovary still contained a dozen eggs, the size of No. 3 shot ; 

 she measured exactly 10 inches in extreme length to end of 

 caudal fin, so that the relative proportions as well as the 

 position of the fins can be taken from the picture. The 

 dark patches represent spaces from which the scales had 

 been rubbed, and some of the fins are a little frayed. All 

 the fish seen at this season of the year ran between 9 and 

 to inches in length, and agreed very closely with one 

 another, the ray formula in each being as follows : Pectoral 

 17 ; dorsal 13 ; anal 13 (15 in the case of one male) ; 

 ventral 1 1 ; and caudal 20. The outer rays of the tail 

 were reinforced by four short spines at top and bottom, 

 making, if these are included as rays, 28 in all. The 

 anterior ray of the dorsal fin is similarly strengthened by 

 two such additional spines. The fins are very ample, and 

 give the impression of a powerful fish in the water. In two 



3 



