ON THE FAUNA OF SOUTH DEVON. 51 



near Plymouth. It was 9 feet long ; the tail, from tip to tip, was 2 feet 

 11 inches wide; the girth 5 feet 11 inches: it weighed 800 lbs. This is, 

 I believe, only the fourth example mentioned as having occurred in Great 

 Britain. 



On the 6th of September last I had brought to me a small fish (living) 

 about three quarters of an inch long, of a purple-black colour, with the 

 exception of the caudal, posterior dorsal, and postanal fins ; these were so 

 transparent as not to be visible without extreme care while the animal was 

 in the water. The head was large, with the upper jaw slightly protruding 

 over the lower. The head was elevated between the eyes, and three sharp 

 spines were present on the postero-lateral margin, just above the gUl-cdvers ; 

 a row of small spines were visible on each side of the posterior half of 

 the body, and three large spines are implanted at the lower base of each 

 lateral fin ; but the most striking peculiaritj- of the animal exists in the large 

 size of the fins themselves, particularly the laterals. There are four, two 

 upon each side ; they are narrow at the base, where they are connected 

 with the animal, from which point they gradually, but rapidly, increase in 

 width and length, until the latter is about one third of the length of the 

 animal, and the former more than equal to its depth. 



An examination of its details with that of known species has led me to 

 the conclusion that it is a young specimen of the Grey Gurnard {Tricjla 

 gumardus). 



Cbitstacea. 



Among the Crustacea I have as yet but little to report, some observations 

 on the earlier development of the Homarus having been interfered with by 

 the loss or robbery of some specimens that 1 had retained in special crab- 

 pots some fathoms under water. This has deferred the opportunity until 

 another season. 



There are, however, two subjects of interest that might be here alluded to. 

 The first is the decrease that is perceptible in the numbers of the edible 

 species of Crustacea. This is the more apparent in the Httoral than in the 

 deep-sea forms, and is likely to be more felt with the rapidly increasing 

 prices of articles of consumption. The circumstance no doubt arises fi-om 

 the custom of destroying the females as well as the males at all seasons of 

 the year, and of the preference given for culinary purposes to the female 

 lobster {Homarus marinus) when heavy with spawn. The increased value 

 of the animal makes it eagerly sought after by fishermen. 



But there is not even this excuse for the capture of the female crah (Cancer 

 pagurus). The marketable value, as compared with the male, is at least one 

 fifth ; this arises from the smaller size of the animal as a whole, and of their 

 claws in particular. But they are captured in greater numbers, and are con- 

 sequently wantonly destroyed, being frequently hawked about the streets for 

 a very few pence apiece. It appears to me that there could scarcely be any 

 hardship inflicted, even temporarily, upon " shell-fishermen " if they were in- 

 terdicted from taking the female lobster during the spawning-season, that is, 

 from February until May, and that of the common crab at all. 



I am aware that this suggestion is open to the remark that the lobster and 

 the crab are so prolific that the number of ova that each hatch in a season 

 is in the former several hundred thousand, and in the latter more than a 

 million at a time, and that these very large numbers would within a short 

 period soon stock all the bays of our coast. To this I would reply, that in 

 all those forms of life where the ova are most abundant, the development of 



