160 THE BRITISH NATURE BOOK 



6. The Soles. The Common Sole (Solea vulgaris) is the largest of the British 

 species, sometimes reaching 2 feet in length. The colour is a yellowish brown 

 covered with black blotches. It has well-developed pectoral fins, and sensi- 

 tive filaments on the snout. It appears to find its food (crustaceans and worms) 

 by means of smell, moving over the sea bottom, tapping with its head. It 

 is a night fish, hiding in the sand by day. It haunts river estuaries. 



The Lemon Sole, or SAND SOLE (S. lascaris) has specks instead of blotches 

 on its coloured side, and the nostril on the under side larger than that on the 

 upper. It is very scarce. 



THE EELS. 



We have already dealt with the COMMON EEL, which lives in rivers 

 and fresh-water lakes, and only returns to the sea to spawn. 



1. The Conger Eel (Conger vulgaris) is entirely a salt-water fish, common 

 off our coasts, especially Cornwall. It is a very powerful and voracious 

 species, feeding on large prey, such as lobsters and cuttle-fish, and has been 

 known to attain to 10 feet in length. Much smaller specimens are ugly crea- 

 tures to deal with on board a small boat at night, as I discovered when fishing 

 for them. Apart from their biting powers, which are not small, they are so 

 muscular that they can move with extraordinary rapidity, and they have a 

 habit of grasping with their tails, and using the leverage thus obtained for 

 aiming a blow at their prey. Little is known of the life-history of this species, 

 but the eggs, of which enormous numbers are laid (one female has been known 

 to contain eight million eggs), hatch out into larvae much resembling those of 

 the fresh-water eel, but with a longer snout. 



2. The Sand Eel, known as the LAUNCE (Ammodytes tobianus), belongs to 

 an entirely different family, and is only so called from its long thin shape. 

 It is really allied to the Cod. This fish, often caught in enormous shoals 

 in bays and harbours, where it is preyed upon by mackerel and other fishes, 

 as well as by gulls, can bury itself almost instantaneously in the sand. It 

 has a protruding lower jaw, which is a useful instrument for piercing the soft 

 sand when seeking refuge from its pursuers. 



THE HERRING. 



The Herring (Clupea harengus) belongs to a family which includes the Sprat, 

 Pilchard, Shad, and others. The so-called " whitebait " is chiefly composed 

 of the fry of the Herring. The species is a surface-feeder, living on small 

 crustaceans and other organisms, and approaches the shore in summer in 

 enormous shoals for the purpose of spawning. The eggs are heavy and adhe- 

 sive, and stick to the stones, rock, etc., at the sea bottom, in this respect differ- 

 ing from those of the Sprat and Pilchard, which float on the surface. The 

 Herring has large thin scales and a keeled body, with no lateral line ; and is 

 thus distinguished from the Shad and Pilchard, which have much larger scales 

 and radiating ridges on the gill covers. 



