324 WILD LIFE ON A NORFOLK ESTUARY 

 ABNORMAL FISHES 



From time to time curious and deformed fishes come to 

 hand, and are always worthy of being recorded. The 

 following examples have recently come under my notice : 



Stunted tubfish. On May 23rd, 1905, my attention was 

 called to a curiously stunted example of the tubfish or 

 "latchett" (Trigla hirundo). Its extreme length was 11 in., 

 of which the head measured 3f in. Viewed from above 

 there was a distinct half-circular curve in the lateral portion 

 of the fish, the tail assuming the normal position. The 

 anterior half of the fish was abnormally thick. 



Deformed haddock. A haddock 13 in. in length had a 

 most singularly curved hump on the back, below the first 

 dorsal fin, immediately at the commencement of the 

 second dorsal fin the back suddenly becoming depressed in 

 a V-shaped manner, the third dorsal being situated on the 

 top of the anterior portion, between the right part of the V 

 depression and the caudal fin. The lateral line ran exactly 

 on the curves followed by the backbone. On dissection I 

 discovered two bony-like knobs formed by a coalescence 

 of the vertebrae. In the following October I obtained a 

 codling with an almost similar curved body, with the 

 angles slightly less sharp. 



Queer herring. A full-grown herring was brought to me 

 on November 28th, 1905, on the left side of which was a 

 tumour the size of a two-shilling piece. The fish looked 

 sickly and exhaled an unpleasant smell. I quickly made a 

 rough sketch of it, and then cremated it. 



Stunted codling. On the same date I have a record of a 

 2 ft. codling, normal in shape save in the head, which was 

 exceedingly foreshortened on the upper part, the lower jaw 

 protruding some distance beyond the upper. When closed 

 the fish had a singularly weever-like, sinister appearance. 



Curious plaice. A 12-in. plaice on a slab, among others, 

 attracted my attention in December, 1905, by a strange 

 deformity of the tail fin, which grew at nearly half a right 

 angle to the fish. What was more curious was the fact of 

 one side of this appendage being tubular, as if the edge of 

 the tail had been turned over and grown to it. I ran a 

 pencil quite easily up this hollow. 



