THE POLLAN 119 



base to the pelvics. The coloration is silvery, with 

 the back bluish, and the fins more or less blackish. 



The Pollan is not very different from an arctic 

 marine species, which enters the rivers of Siberia ; 

 but there are no European Whitefish at all closely 

 related to it. The Pollan usually average 9 or 10 

 inches in length, and specimens of this size weigh 

 about 6 ounces. The Irish naturalist, Thompson, 

 mentioned one of 2 J Ibs., the largest he had heard of. 



The staple food of the Pollan appears to be a minute 

 Entomostracan (Mysis relicta), but examination of 

 their stomachs has shown that they also appreciate 

 insect larvae, shrimps, small bivalves, and the fry of 

 other fishes ; they have sometimes been taken with 

 the artificial fly. 



The Pollan spawn in November and December, 

 choosing a place where the bottom of the lake is 

 hard or rocky ; during the spring, summer, and 

 autumn they approach the shore in large shoals, 

 and are netted in considerable numbers. Thompson 

 records that in the first week of September, 1834, 

 more than seventeen thousand were taken on one 

 day by three or four draughts of the net, and were 

 all sold on the spot at the rate of 35. 4d. a hundred 

 (123 fishes). At the present day they are exported 

 to England, and are esteemed a well -flavoured fish 

 when fresh, but they do not keep well. It may be 

 mentioned that Lough Neagh is the largest lake in 

 the British Isles, and that Lough Erne, which also 

 contains Pollan, almost rivals it in size. 



THE LOUGH ERNE POLLAN (Coregonus altior) 

 differs from the Pollan of Lough Neagh chiefly in 

 that it is usually a deeper fish, and often has the 

 9 



