FISHES 



No complete list of the fishes of Hertfordshire has ever been pub- 

 lished. The present compilation is mainly prepared from notes supplied 

 by Mr. John Hopkinson, who has kindly furnished references to all the 

 publications known to him, and also a list of the species occurring in the 

 Tring reservoirs. 



The earliest list, a very incomplete one, appeared just two centuries 

 ago in Sir Henry Chauncy's Historical Antiquities of Hertfordshire (1700). 

 Nearly half a century earlier than this Izaak Walton, in one of our most 

 cherished English classics, the Compleat Angler (1653), had alluded to 

 nearly all the species now known from his favourite river the Lea, with- 

 out however in every case specifying that all these occur in it ; but he 

 mentions some other fishes as inhabiting other rivers which he names, so 

 that it is not unreasonable to assume his observations on the fishes to 

 which he assigns no locality to have been made on those of the Lea. 



Of recent publications the following are the most important : J. E. 

 Littleboy, ' The Bulbourne and Gade, with Notes on the Fish of the 

 Two Rivers,' 'Trans. Watford Nat. Hist. Soc., ii. (1879) pp. 113128; 

 R. B. Croft, ' Izaak Walton and the River Lea,' Trans. Herts Nat. Hist. 

 Soc., ii. (1882) pp. 9-16 ; M. Davies, ' Random Notes by an Old Angler 

 on the Lea and its Fishes,' Essex Naturalist, xi. (1899) pp. 133-135. 



TELEOSTEANS 



ACANTHOPTERYGII 



1. Perch. Perca fluvia tilis, Linn. 



Occurs in all the rivers and in Tring reser- 

 voir. 



2. Ruffe or Pope. Acerina cernua, Linn. 

 Not uncommon in the Lea and on record 



from the Bulbourne ; also found in Tring 

 reservoir. 



3. Miller's Thumb. Cottus gobio, Linn. 

 Prefers gravelly streams. 



HEMIBRANCHII 



4. Three-spined Stickleback. Gastrosteus 



acu/eatus, Linn. 

 Abundant almost everywhere. 



5- Ten-spined Stickleback. Gastrosteus pun- 

 gitius, Linn. 



On record from the Lea. 



HAPLOMI 



6. Pike. Eiox lucius, Linn. 



OSTARIOPHYSI 



7. Carp. Cyprtnus carpia, Linn. 



In still waters. Sometimes taken in the 

 Lea. 



8. Barbel. Barbus vulgaris, Flem. 



Occurs in the Lea, but not in the Bul- 

 bourne or Gade. Both this and the preceding 

 species do not appear on the list of Tring 

 fishes. 



9. Gudgeon. Gobio fluviatilis, Flem. 



In all the rivers and in Tring reservoir. 



10. Chub. Leuciscus cephalus, Linn. 



On record from all the rivers, but not from 

 Tring reservoir. 



189 



