SOME FISH NOTES 323 



does not run larger than fifteen inches in length according 

 to Day, who gives that as the length of the longest known 

 British example. But in January, 1891, I obtained one six- 

 teen inches long. All these fishes are on my East Norfolk 

 list. . . ." 



There is very little doubt that many unscrupulous fish- 

 mongers occasionally mix odd examples of " witches " with 

 the true soles, for there is not much dissimilarity in shape to 

 an inexperienced eye, although any one well acquainted with 

 the flavour of the latter would quickly detect a difference. 



A friend of mine, a local fish-merchant, when on a visit to 

 London, saw a big spread of these coarser fish behind 

 which the fishmonger had raised a huge ticket marked 

 " WITCHES." On my friend laughingly remarking to the 

 seller that he didn't know a " witch " when he saw one, the 

 man promptly replied : 



" Oh, well, it don't much matter, for a fine name suited 

 them as didn't know what they was ! " 



THE MEGRIM 



The first megrim (Arnoglossus laternd] I ever saw was 

 given to me in 1903 by a fish-hawker ; it had been taken, so 

 far as I could ascertain, in a trawl net, and in all probability 

 was captured many miles away from my particular domain. 

 I was fortunate in having one brought me on April 3Oth, 

 1906, which had been taken in a shrimp net within hail of 

 Yarmouth sands. In the same bottle of formalin, two 

 Montagu's suckers (Liparis montagm} bore it company. 

 The fish was exceedingly sole-like in appearance and pro- 

 portions, but was of a light sandy hue above, a fact which 

 did not escape my observant friend. It had the appearance 

 of having been dipped into hot water, and the remarkably 

 tender skin had been broken and abraded. It is so difficult 

 to preserve it intact that it has gained the suggestive sobri- 

 quet of the " scald-fish." The length of this example was 

 4^ in. A second specimen, slightly smaller, came to hand 

 from the same source on July 3Oth, thus furnishing me with 

 two examples, in one season, of a fish hitherto unrecorded 

 for Norfolk. 



