FISHES. 287 



Family STERNOPTYCHIDJB. 

 Maurolicus pennantii (Wall.). Argentine. 



Low obtained a single specimen, which was given him by a boy, 

 who found it amongst the ware at the edge of the water. Since 

 then it has been found by Mr. Moodie-Heddle and Dr. Duguid, 

 and, in 1863, Harvie-Brown, in company with J. Dunn, 

 obtained a specimen by dredging, in slack water in the Sound 

 of Hoy. 



Family SALMONID.E. 

 Salmo salar, L. Salmon. 



Fea, writing in 1775, speaking of Salmon in Loch Stenness, says 

 that " in all probability there would be a good Salmon Fishery 

 here, were it not that the mouth of the loch is so much choked 

 up with sea-weed that the fish cannot get into it. What 

 confirms this opinion is, that in some charters belonging to 

 the gentlemen in the neighbourhood, the Salmon-fishing in this 

 loch is expressly reserved to the King as his exclusive right " 

 (vide State of Orkney and Shetland, p. 39). 



Low says that, if present, the Salmon must be very rare in 

 Orkney, and he only knew of three or four instances of their 

 occurrence there, adding, in brackets, "if they were all salmon." 



All our correspondents agree as to the rarity of the Salmon 

 in Orkney, though one of them qualifies the statement by say- 

 ing that they are said to be rare because they are not fished 

 for. They certainly do not breed there. A fish of 27 Ibs. 

 weight was killed at Orphir in 1843, but how is not stated. 



Mr. Cowan says that he has only once caught a true Salmon 

 in Orkney, and that a grilse. 



Salmo trutta, Flem. Sea-trout. 

 Salmo fario, L. Common Trout. 



The notes we have received from several of our correspondents 

 on these two species are so intermingled that in many instances 

 it would be impossible to separate them without taking away 

 their meaning. We have therefore given them in extenso, and 



