A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE 



was presented to Queen Victoria. A cast of 

 it is to be seen in the Great Western Hotel 

 at Reading. It is owing doubtless to a very 

 plentiful fish diet, consisting largely of bleak, 

 that the Thames trout attains such a large 

 size. Every year fish of from 8 to 12 Ib. 

 are caught, and now and again some such 

 monster as that already mentioned. In the 

 Kennet it is interesting to notice how, as 

 we pass up stream, we find the coarse fish 

 gradually decreasing in numbers, while the 

 trout become the more numerous but fall off 

 in size. It is a reasonable inference that to 

 obtain large trout it is desirable to have coarse 

 fish in the river. Unfortunately when these 

 big trout once become cannibals they are not 

 often taken with the fly, except perhaps in the 

 May-fly season, and where the fly is abun- 

 dant. They are therefore of no great value 

 to the fly-fisher. Many strains of trout 

 have been placed in the Thames : fish for 

 instance which had the trout of Loch Leven 

 for ancestors, the excellent trout from the 

 Wick, and many from the Surrey trout farm 

 and other fish culture establishments. This 

 intermixture of strains has been regretted by 

 some, as it was feared that the quality of the 

 Thames trout might be lowered by the intro- 

 duction of this fresh but inferior blood. As 

 a matter of fact however, ichthyologists and 

 fish culturists now know that the size and 

 condition of the trout depend more largely on 

 the abundance of its food, and the extent and 

 temperature of the water in which it dwells, 

 than on ancestry. There is no doubt that, 

 thanks to the restocking operations of the 

 various fishery associations, trout are generally 

 increasing in the Berkshire reaches of the 

 Thames. The fish are not likely to increase 

 naturally to any extent owing to the scarcity 

 of suitable breeding grounds. 



1 8. Rainbow Trout. Salmo irideus. Gib- 

 bons. 



This is a comparatively new introduction 

 to the Thames, and is still on its trial. It 

 has however proved a great success in several 

 ponds and larger enclosed pieces of water. 

 In such places however it cannot breed, and 

 therefore the stock has to be renewed from 

 time to time. 



19. Grayling. Thymallus vu/garis, Nilss. 

 The grayling, as already stated in our intro- 

 ductory remarks, does not appear to breed in 

 the Thames, and only an occasional example 

 is found which has strayed into it from the 

 Pang or Kennet, or has been turned in by one 

 of the fishery associations. Of late years the 

 fish has been introduced into the Pang and has 

 thriven wonderfully in this little trout stream. 

 In the Kennet it thrives and increases still 

 better, and at Hungerford a great many of 

 these fish have been netted out from time to 

 time to reduce their numbers. Within the 

 last ten years grayling have been found in the 

 lower reaches of the Lambourn, where pre- 

 sumably they have been turned in. The 

 finest in the county are found in the Kennet. 



APODES 



20. Eel. Anguilla vu/garis, Turt. 



This is a catadromous fish, i.e. one which 

 descends the river to breed in the sea. The 

 common eel is one of the most numerous of 

 Berkshire fishes, and when we say common 

 eel it should be understood that there is only 

 one British freshwater eel known to ichthyolo- 

 gists. The various specimens which slightly 

 differ in colour or in the shape of the nose are 

 all or the same species, the differences being 

 owing to sex, age and so forth. Those with 

 pointed noses, commonly called silver eels, are 

 the males, those with broad flat noses are the 

 females. Eels are found descending the river 

 from spring to winter, but their descent is 

 greatest during the autumn floods. They 

 are not found in the Thames and its tribu- 

 taries in the same numbers as in former years, 

 owing possibly to the pollution of the estuary. 

 If the modern belief that they breed at great 

 depths in the sea is correct, it is not obvious 

 how the pollution of the estuary would inter- 

 fere with them, unless it destroys the elvers on 

 their ascent in the spring. Numbers of eels 

 are caught in the Thames, Kennet and the 

 Loddon by means of traps and baskets, and 

 few on eel lines. The eels of the Kennet 

 are justly celebrated and have been for cen- 

 turies, in fact the fish of this remarkable 

 stream are very much superior to those of the 

 Thames and Loddon so far as condition and 

 edible qualities go. 



CYCLOSTOMES 



21. Lampern. Petromyzon fluviatilis, Linn. 



Lamperns used to be very numerous in the 

 river, but have now become scarce above 

 Teddington. Of late years very few lamperns 

 have been recorded in the Thames on the 



borders of Berkshire, but Day mentions the 

 capture of several in an eel basket near Surley 

 Hall. Enormous quantities used to be cap- 

 tured in the Thames between Battersea and 

 Taplow, over a million having been caught 



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