746 MR. F. DAY ON THE FISHES [Dec. 2, 



There appear to have heen less Gurnards taken in the 21 days' 

 trawling in 1879 than in the 19 days in 1878 ; more Dory (9 in- 

 stead of 5); no Mackerel (in place of 18 in 1878); but a very 

 much larger number of Pleuronectoids, 1614 in place of 860 in 1878. 

 Still one must not attribute the increase of Soles caught entirely to 

 a local augmentation in the number of fish in the sea, as, in the 

 first place, the " sweep " of the trawl was as 5 to 4, being 50 feet 

 " spread " in 1 879 instead of 40 feet in 1878. The bridles, i, e. the 

 ropes to the " Otter heads," or weighted wooden kites, which run 

 along the bottom, were rather better adjusted in 1879 ; while the 

 weather for working the trawl was more propitious, consequently it 

 was more frequently employed. A depth of about 5 fathoms was 

 found to be most favourable in 1879, whereas in warmer seasons 

 3 to 2>\ fathoms have been found to yield the best captures. The 

 facilities for the different kinds of fishing varied with the weather : 

 thus the takes of Whiting show fine weather, when line-fishing 

 could be attempted outside the Bay. 



Although many deductions might be drawn from Lord Ducie's 

 notes, I propose deferring them for the present, in the hope of ob- 

 taining the general returns of the sea-fisheries of the United King- 

 dom. It would, however, appear that among the Soles and flat fishes 

 generally, striking anomalies in distribution have occurred during the 

 past season. They would seem to have more or less forsaken (for 

 a time, at least) the North Sea, and to have appeared in augmented 

 numbers on the S.W. coast of Ireland and the Bristol Channel. 

 Whether the temperature of the sea in certain localities has been so 

 low as to cause the migration of the food of these fishes, or the fishes 

 themselves have been acted on by cold, through the medium of the 

 water, or both causes have combined, are questions worth investi- 

 gating, but which I propose to defer for the present. 



Passing on to the fishes themselves, I have added remarks to many 

 species, frequently made, as will be observed, in other localities than 

 at Weston. 



Labrax lupus, Lacep. The Bass. 



I obtained several small examples, none of which exceeded a pound 

 in weight. All were from the stationary shrimp-nets. It is ob- 

 served, in Lord Ducie's diary, on August 10, 1878, that "in the 

 North Bay the Bass were hunting the Sprats to the surface, the 

 Gulls assisting. This went on all day, along the strand up to the 

 embouchure of the Jung River." 



Polyprion cernium, Val. Stone-Bass. 

 Somersetshire (Baker). 



Mullus surmuletus, Linn. 



M. barbatus, De La Roche. 



Somersetshire (Baker). 



Lord Ducie took two examples on August 2nd this year in a 

 trammel set in Ballinskellig Bay ; while one was likewise similarly 

 captured July 26, 1878. 



