Holt — Survey of Fishing Grounds, West Coast of Ireland. 457 



"but small examples were constantly seen to escape and swim away, apparently unin- 

 jured, whilst the trawl was being boarded. John Dory were usually rather injured, 

 the fins being broken, and young examples did not survive for long, even when placed 

 in water. Small Gurnard often escaped out of the net and swam away. Haddock 

 and Whiting were iisually nearly dead, and would certainly not survive if returned. 

 Of course in cases in which the net got full of weeds and mud, fish of all sorts were 

 much injured, even Eays being almost cut to pieces by pressure against the meshes. ^ 



(iv.)— ON THE FOOD OF FISHES ON THE WEST COAST. 



These notes have been compiled from the records kept on board the " Fingal" and 

 •"Harlequin." They are of necessity inconclusive, ^since the amount of material is 

 ■ small, and scattered over a considerable area of ground ; and, moreover, the period of 

 observation is confined to the months of March to August inclusive. The most satis- 

 factory arrangement would be to divide the coast into different districts (as is done by 

 the officials of the Scotch Fishery Board on their own coast), and to treat of each district 

 separately. Such a course, however, if pursued with our available material, would 

 render the observations in each district so meagre as to be hardly worth recording. I 

 have therefore treated the whole coast as a single district. The records will remain, 

 and if, as is sincerely to be hoped, this and other branches of Fishery inquiries are 

 carried on in future years, they will presumably be at the service of future workers. 



In comparing my results I have confined my attention almost entirely to the work 

 ■of recent observers, especially the papers of Mr. W. Eamsay Smith, in the Eighth 

 Annual Report of the Scotch Fishery Board, 1890,- and the observations of Mr. J. T. 

 Cunningham, in his Monograph of the Common Sole. 



Examination of the structure, and especially that of the jaws and teeth, of different 

 fishes usually furnishes us with a clue to the feeding habit. Such clues, however, 

 prove not infrequently misleading. Thus amongst the flat fish one is apt to suppose 

 that those forms with large mouths and jaws more or less equally developed on either 

 side are especially fitted for the capture of such active prey as fish, but we find that 

 the Long Eough Dab preys almost exclusively on small Crustaceans and Echinoderms, 

 whilst, according to Day and others, even the mighty Halibut exhibits a great par- 

 tiality for Crustaceans, though apparently more than any other flat fish it is fitted for 

 the pursuit of an active prey. Examination of the food pretty well bears out the 

 conclusions formed upon the structure of the Plaice, Floimder, &c., in which the teeth 

 are much reduced on the upper side of the jaw, as also in the case of the Sole, where 

 the highest degree of specialization on this line is found, the upper sides of the jaws 

 being destitute of teeth, and the lower side of the head covered with sensory processes. 

 'This fish, however, seems to be able to capture the evasive Sand-eel, and is altogether 

 more agile than its appearance would lead one to suppose. Turning to the Cod family, 

 amongst Eound fishes, we find a number of them with overhanging upper jaws, and 

 barbels on the chin, suggesting a bottom-feeding habit, with a diet of somewhat 

 sluggish invertebrates. This is borne out well enough in the case of the Haddock and 

 -Cod, but seems to fail in the case of the Ling, which, although the best provided in 



1 Dr. Fulton has recently published a most valuable report upon " the Ketention of 

 Vitality of Trawl-caught Fish" (9th Ann. Eep. S. F. B., 1891, p. 202). 



- Pressure of time does not permit me to refer to Mr. Smith's most recent contribu- 

 tion to this subject (9th Ann. Eep. S.F. B., 1891, p. 222), which has appeared since 

 this went to press. 



