FISHES 



the Loch Leven trout (Salmo trutta, var. levenensis) and the rainbow trout 

 of America (S. irideus) into our principal streams. It is perhaps too early 

 to speak as to the results of these experiments, but it may be said that 

 they have at any rate proved partly successful. 



The number of species treated of in the following list amounts to 

 thirty-one. Of these however the crucian carp and the variety known 

 as the goldfish can hardly be said to exist in a natural state, and, as well 

 as the common carp, owe their position to artificial means, and have but 

 little more right to a place than the Loch Leven and rainbow trout 

 spoken of above. The sturgeon (Acipenser sturio) has not been definitely 

 recorded from Derbyshire waters since 1838, and the latest occurrence 

 of the sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) dates back to 1863. Further 

 evidence as to the presence of the rudd (Leuciscus erythrophthalmus] in the 

 Trent is desirable, and the exact range of the flounder (Pleuronectes flesus) 

 and white bream (Abramis blicca] need careful definition. 



The literature on the subject of Derbyshire fish and fishing is some- 

 what scanty. One can hardly pass over the references to the river Dove 

 in the great classic of the fishing world, Izaak Walton's Compleat Angler. 

 Charles Cotton, himself a Derbyshire man, makes numerous allusions to 

 his native streams in his poems. In 1829 Glover published his History 

 of the County of Derby, and in vol. i. pp. 16671 gives a very full and 

 on the whole good account of the fishes of the county. R. Garner's 

 Natural History of the County of Stafford (184460) contains brief notes 

 on the fish of the Trent and Dove. In 1863 was published The Natural 

 History of Tutbury, by Sir Oswald Mosley. In this work the author 

 gives, on pp. 6482, a sketch of the fish of south Derbyshire, and 

 Mr. Edwin Brown contributes a carefully drawn up list of the fishes of 

 Burton-on-Trent (pp. 114-8 and 229). Mr. J. R. B. Masefield con- 

 tributed ' A Sketch of our Local Freshwater Fish ' to the Transactions of 

 the North Staffordshire Naturalists' Field Club (1894), which contains many 

 references to the Dove and Trent. The zoological reports in the same 

 publication may also be consulted, as well as the Transactions of the 

 Burton-on-Trent Natural History Society, which contain some papers on 

 the subject by Mr. G. M. Day, the Zoologist, Field, Fishing Gazette, etc. 

 In this connection may be mentioned two local works which contain 

 much of interest, Messrs. Shipley and Fitzgibbon's True Treatise on the 

 Art of Fly-fishing, Trolling, etc., as practised on the Dove, etc. (1838), and 

 The Scientific Angler, by David Foster (1882). The latter has now 

 reached its ninth edition. 



In the present paper an attempt has been made to define the range 

 of each species. Of course like all first attempts the result is imperfect, 

 but it is hoped that it may prove a useful contribution towards a more 

 complete knowledge of our aquatic fauna. 



In this connection I have to thank many contributors who have 

 assisted me with useful information, including Messrs. G. H. Storer, 

 J. R. B. Masefield, O. B. Murphy, W. H. Foster, R. Hall, G. M. 



Bond, T. Hampton, G. Eaton and others. 



in 



