A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



my friend Mr. Andrew Scott. C. maculatus is 

 smaller than C. lyra, and differs principally in 

 the pigmentation of the anterior dorsal fin. 



26. The Lumpsucker or Hen Fish. Cydopterus 



lumpus, Linn. 



Quite common on the Lancashire coast. The 

 female lays her eggs in rock pools in a large 

 mass the size of a man's head, and the male 

 stands by and aerates them by movements of his 

 tail. Fishermen often mistake these eggs for 

 those of the salmon, which they resemble only in 

 colour, being, however, much less in diameter. 



27. Sea-snail or Sucker. Liparis montagui (Don.) 

 Commonly taken in the shrimp nets in the 



estuaries. It has been found in the Mersey as 

 far south as Garston (A. Scott). 



28. Sucker. Liparis vulgaris, Flem. 



Not so common as L. montagui, but with much 

 the same distribution. 



29. Double-spotted sucker. Lepadogaster blma- 



culatus, Don. 

 Frequent in shallow water. 



30. Cat-fish or wolf-fish. Anarrhichas lupus, 



Linn. 



Very uncommon. A specimen in the Liver- 

 pool Public Museum and another in the Zoology 

 Museum at the University of Liverpool are pro- 

 bably local. 



31. Butterfly Blenny. Blennius ocellarius, Linn. 

 A single specimen was dredged by Capt. A. 



Wignall near Morecambe Bay light vessel, and 

 was identified by A. Scott. 



32. Shanny. Blennius pholis, Linn. 



Very common in shore pools between tide 

 marks on the Lancashire coast. 



33. Butterfish. Pholis gunnellus (Linn.) 



Day, Centronotus gunnellus. 

 Very common in shore pools and beneath 

 stones. This pretty little fish lives well in small 

 marine aquaria. The female may often be 

 found in the spring coiled round a mass of her 

 own eggs. 



34. Ballan Wrasse. Labrus maculatus, Bl. 

 This species has been found in the Barrow 



Channel. The Fisheries steamer has trawled 

 it from the offshore grounds between Lancashire 

 and Isle of Man. 



35. Gold Sinny. Ctenolabrus rupestris, Linn. 

 Herdman and Dawson record this fish from 



Liverpool Bay. 



ANACANTHINI 



36. Cod. Gadus callarias, Linn. (Gadus morrhua 



of most authors.) 



The cod is of course very common in Lan- 

 cashire waters, though in the inshore waters it is 



mostly small ' codling ' that are caught. The 

 cod spawns in deep water, and the eggs may be 

 found about March. In June young cod about 

 an inch long may be seen on the shore waters. 

 In Lancashire waters these little fishes often 

 have a peculiar chess-board arrangement of pig- 

 ment on their sides. They occur mostly among 

 seaweeds or on rocky ground. Towards the 

 autumn they disappear. Codling are common 

 all along Lancashire inshore waters, and are 

 caught both by line and trawl, but chiefly by the 

 latter. 



37. Haddock. Gadus /eglefinus, Linn. 



The haddock is abundant in Lancashire waters, 

 but it is rather a capricious fish and occasionally 

 seems to shun our inshore waters. Some years 

 ago it was very abundant. It is caught both by 

 line and trawl. 



38. Whiting. Gadus merlangus, Linn. 

 Whiting are perhaps more abundant in Lan- 

 cashire waters than either cod or haddock. This 

 is particularly the case with small fish (5 to 7 in. 

 long) in the winter, several thousands being 

 sometimes taken in one haul of a shrimp trawl. 

 The brain of whiting caught in Lancashire 

 waters is very often infested with the Trematode, 

 Gasterostomum gradlescens, and the cranial cartilage 

 with the Myxosporidian, Sphaerospora platessa. 



39. Coal-fish or Bluffin. Gadus virens, Linn. 

 Not so common as the above species of 



Gadidae. It is sometimes very abundant in the 

 Barrow Channel off Roa Island. 



40. Bib. Gadus luscus (Will.) 



Not at all abundant. I have seen it in 

 Barrow Channel. 



41. Poor-cod or 'Power' Cod. Gadus minutus, 



Linn. 



More common than the bib. It is very often 

 taken in the trawl in Lancashire inshore waters, 

 but never in quantity. 



42. Pollack. Gadus pollachius, Linn. 



This fish is less abundant than any of the 

 above gadoids. It has been taken in the trawl off 

 Blackpool. 



43. Hake. Merluccius vulgaris, Cuv. 

 Scarce in Lancashire waters. 



44. Fork-beard. Phycis blennoides (Brun.) 



Mr. Andrew Scott records a specimen which 

 came ashore on Roa Island in the Barrow 

 Channel and was killed by some boys It is very 

 uncommon in the Irish Sea. 



45. Ling. Moha vulgaris, Flem. 



Rare in Lancashire, but occasionally taken in 

 the trawl. 



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