117 



the British Fauna, but could not determine what it really was. The 

 specimen being a good deal mutilated about the head and abdomen, 

 and in a state of partial decomposition, I did not attempt to preserve 

 it, but drew up as correct a description of it as its condition admitted 

 of, which I sent to Dr. Fleming, along with all the information about 

 it which I could obtain from Mr. Strang, and also a somewhat rough 

 drawing. Dr. Fleming wrote, of date 8th May, 1829, at once deter- 

 mining the fish to be the Gymnogaster arcticus of Brunnich, or 

 Vaagmaer, as described by Cuvier in his 'Regne Animal,' ii. 246, a 

 native of the seas of Iceland ; — at the same time mentioning some 

 slight discrepancies, which more perfect specimens, since procured, 

 have completely removed. With my consent, he drew up a notice of 

 it, which was inserted in the 4th volume of ' Loudon's Magazine of 

 Nat. Hist.,' along vdth a plate from the drawing sent. This article 

 I have not met with, having merely seen Yarrell's quotations from it. 

 Since 1829 I have met with seven or eight specimens, some of which 

 were mutilated by birds, and some quite entire, and from the latter 

 I have ascertained the existence of ventral fins, which are exceedingly 

 minute and rudimental, and easily overlooked, more especially if the 

 specimen be not quite fresh and perfect. I am now therefore enabled 

 to say with certainty that there can be no doubt of the identity of 

 the fish occurring in these islands vrith the Vaagmaer, as described 

 and figured in Yarrell's Supplement to the 1st edition of his 'British 

 Fishes,' from information supplied by Professor Reinhardt of Copen- 

 hagen, and there named Trachypterus vogmarus. In the first figure, 

 given at page 1 4, the ventral fins are much too long and conspicuous, 

 but they are quite correctly represented in the vignette at page 18. 

 The late Dr. John Reid, of St. Andrews, published an article in the 

 Annals of Nat. Hist., June 1849, describing a specimen of the Tra- 

 chypterus Bogmarus thrown ashore on the coast of Fifeshire, in which 

 he says, ' No unquestionably genuine specimen of this rare fish has, 

 as far as I am aware, been hitherto found in the British seas ; for 

 the description and figure of the fishes thrown ashore in Orkney, 

 supposed to be specimens of the Deal-fish or Vaagmaer, given by 

 Dr. Fleming on the authority of Dr. Duguid, differ in so many im- 

 portant points from the Vaagmaer as must excite doubts as to their 

 identity.' Now Dr. Reid has not stated what the important points 

 of difference are between my description and that of Prof. Reinhardt. 

 It is true there is one important point — important as determining 

 the proper classification of the fish — the existence or non-existence of 

 ventral fins. These I did not detect ; but it is not surprising, con- 

 sidering their minuteness, and the mutilated condition of the only 

 specimen I had then seen. We have at this moment three dried 

 ones in the Orkney Musexim, not so perfect as could be desired, but 

 sufficiently so to determine this point, as well as the identity of the 

 fish with the Icelandic Vaagmaer. It is strange also that Dr. Reid 

 never mentions the existence of ventral fins in his specimen at all, 

 and that also, while he denies that the fishes thrown ashore in Ork- 

 ney are the Deal-fish or Vaagmaer, he should forget that the popular 

 name Dea/-fish is strictly of Orcadian origin." 



