GREAT BRITAIN. 235 



Means of capture. Trawling. 



Uses. Sometimes taken in large numbers in the trawl- 

 nets ; but as they are of no use for the market they are 

 thrown again into the sea ; they are likewise taken by 

 shrimpers. 



Habitat. From the shores of Great Britain and Ireland 

 to those of France and through the Mediterranean. Off 

 Banffshire it is more common than the " lemon sole ; " also 

 common at St. Andrews. Reputed to have been taken at 

 Whitby ; common at Weymouth, and Mr. Cornish records 

 capturing a star-fish in August, holding one of these 



hes, 3 inches in length, in its feelers. An example was 



tured in November, 1880, ten miles at sea off Mevagissey. 



In Ireland it is taken on the north-east, east, south, and 

 t coasts. Ball obtained it in Dublin ; McCoy observed 



,t he found it tolerably abundant in the bay between the 

 lightship and the harbour. McCalla took it in county 

 Down, and Thompson mentions three dredged off Dun- 

 drum in the same county. 



The largest specimen I have obtained is 4^- inches in 

 length, but it is said to reach to 5 inches. 



ORDER III. PHYSOSTOMI. 

 FAMILY I. Scombresocidce. 



Among the fishes belonging to this family some are 

 oviparous, others viviparous. The eggs of many have 

 filaments springing from their outer covering, and which 

 enable numerous ova to adhere together in a mass, or 

 attach themselves to contiguous objects, preventing their 

 subsiding into the mud. It has been suggested that they 

 are thus suspended so that by the ebb and flow of the tide 

 they may be constantly bathed by different water. Pro- 



