SOME FISH NOTES 325 



White " roker." At the end of 1905 a friend reported to me 

 having seen a perfectly white thornback ray (local " roker ") 

 on Lowestoft pier, his statement being corroborated by two 

 or three other persons, who, like himself, had gone over to 

 purchase fish for their Yarmouth customers. 



Under-coloured plaice. I saw a 2-lb. plaice on January i8th, 

 1906, with both sides dark, save at the under side of the 

 head, and with red spots on each side. On March ist I 

 examined another specimen, the under side of 'which was of 

 a curious bluish colour, but no suggestion of spots could be 

 traced upon it. 



White turbot. A 3-lb. turbot was on sale in a local shop 

 on June I9th, 1906. The upper side was wholly white, with 

 the exception of a thin brown ring around each eye, and a 

 faint splashing of brown on the edges of the surrounding 

 fins. There were no tubercles or spiny processes on the 

 upper surface, which are so characteristic of the normal fish. 

 It was as smooth and glossy as a china dinner plate. 



Strange salmon. The queerest salmon I ever saw arrived 

 in July, 1906, from Scotland, It was a 6-lb. fish with an 

 extraordinary head. The upper part was as round, at the 

 foreshortened end, as a cricket ball, the " nose " being turned 

 under and flattened to the palate, the under jaw being of the 

 normal shape, and standing out beyond the other consider- 

 ably. The tongue, of the usual length, lay in the hollow of 

 the lower jaw, but the distorted mouth shut to quite close and 

 compactly. 



Red codling. On Christmas Eve, 1890, 1 saw lying on a fish 

 stall a codling of a curiously red colour, which answered in 

 general appearance to Couch's dorse (Gadus callarias^ Linn.). 

 On August 3Oth, 1906, I met with another of a rich yellow- 

 red colour. It measured 20 in. It looked as if it had been 

 carved out of rosewood. 



White flounder. A small flounder, white on both sides, 

 was taken on Breydon, October I4th, 1906. 



Short-lipped gurnard. A very ugly red gurnard was pre- 

 served for me by a fish vendor on November 7th, 1906. The 

 upper part of the head was normal in shape, but the lower lip 

 was remarkably shortened, extending but a few lines in front 

 of the eye, and when turned over there was a peculiarly 

 shark-like appearance. I do not think that this deformity 



