3 i8 WILD LIFE ON A NORFOLK ESTUARY 



takes are made than fishes. Exaggeration of size and 

 weight is not a failing confined to those who angle, and who 

 make gross mistakes, undoubtedly, more through ignorance 

 than by design ; but many persons who meet with curious 

 sea monsters seem utterly without a sense of proportion, 

 and many guess the weight of a specimen far above or 

 below what it actually is. Instances of this occur in reports 

 received by Dr. Day in his British Fishes, and in the Field 

 as above. The reader may compare a sunfish, recorded by 

 Dr. Day, measuring 4 ft. from snout to tail and 8 ft. 

 across the fins, which weighed between 300 and 400 lb., 

 with the measurement and weight given of the fish taken 

 in 1865. 



JAGO'S GOLDSINNY 



On June 5th, 1906, one of my shrimper friends brought 

 me an example of the Jago's goldsinny (Ctenolabrus rupes- 

 tris), which had hitherto been unrecorded for Norfolk. It 

 measured about 3 in. in length, and at first sight greatly resem- 

 bled those white and almost colourless examples sometimes 

 seen amongst goldfish. The black spot stood out boldly 

 and well defined on the upper part of the caudal fin, at its 

 juncture with the body, and at once attracted attention. 

 Details regarding its habits seem to be bare and meagre ; 

 living in deep water, it does not appear to be taken except 

 by the merest accident in some crab-pot, although occasion- 

 ally indulging in nibbling at the fishers' baits. Dr. Day 

 gives it a bad report from a gastronomic point of view, 

 stating that it has "flesh bad, soft, insipid, foul smelling, 

 of a greenish colour " ; but its reputation in this respect 

 matters but little owing to its diminutive size. According 

 to Day, it generally comes under notice through being 

 stranded after heavy gales upon various parts of the coast. 

 The above-mentioned example is now in the Tolhouse 

 Museum. 



