58 



ICHTHYOLOGICAL NOTES FROM 

 THE SCARBOROUGH DISTRICT, 1915-1916. 



W. J. CLARKE, F.Z.S. 



Owing to the restrictions upon the movements of fishing 

 vessels, due to the war, and also to the greatly reduced number 

 of boats now engaged, there has not been during the past two 

 years so many opportunities for seeing uncommon fishes, 

 which have been caught in the trawls or upon the fishermen's 

 lines. In Marine fishes, the following species, however, have 

 been noted : — 



Three-bearded Rockling (Motella mustela). — Although 

 resident, this species is not very often seen at Scarborough, 

 and is sufficiently scarce to be an object of curiosity to the 

 fishermen when caught. A specimen, 16 inches in length, was 

 picked up dead, but perfectly fresh, in Burniston Bay, a 

 couple of miles north of Scarborough, on November 28th, 1915. 



Pilchard (Clupea pilchardus). — The Pilchard is said to be 

 a casual visitor in summer, sometimes in numbers, to the 

 Yorkshire coast, but for many years I have sought for it in 

 vain. Enquiries amongst the fishermen and others engaged 

 in the fish trade, led me to the conclusion that the occurrence 

 of this species at Scarborough, is very uncommon. Only one 

 man professed to have ever seen one, and on asking him how 

 he distinguished the fish from a Herring, he replied that it 

 was quite easy, as the Pilchard has its scales the ' wrong way 

 on,' i.e., pointing from the tail to the head, which, of course, 

 is absurd. Hence I was very pleased on finding amongst 

 half-a-dozen herrings, purchased from a street hawker on 

 August 9th, 1916, a fine full-grown Pilchard. Enquiries from 

 the man showed that the fish had come from a boat fishing 

 out of Scarborough, and had been landed that morning. As 

 at that time the boats were restricted to fishing within a very 

 small area from port, there is no doubt that this specimen 

 was caught very near to Scarborough. An examination of 

 the man's stock-in-trade did not reveal further specimens, 

 and it remains the only Yorkshire example I have seen. 



Short Sunfish (Orthagoriscus mold). — It is seldom that a 

 summer passes without a specimen of this singular fish being 

 captured somewhere in Yorkshire waters, and it is, during the 

 warm months, probably of more common occurrence than is, 

 generally supposed. An example, weighing 20 lbs., was 

 captured by Mr. M. Jenkinson, two miles from shore off the 

 South Bay, Scarborough, on October 2nd, 1916. These 

 wanderers are generally either cast ashore in rough water, or 

 entangled in the herring nets, but I have a note of one captured 

 near the East Pier, Scarborough, on August 17th, 1901, which 

 took the piece of squid used as bait upon a mackerel line. 



Naturalist, 



