70 ACANTHOPTERYGII. 



3Iarch 21th, ISol. 



I saw a Basse, of 14 lbs. weight, in Belfast market, that was taken with- 

 in a mile of the town. It was in very fine condition, and a female, con- 

 taining a vast mass of ova, smaller than the smallest clover-seed. The 

 fishmonger remarked that he had never seen such a quantity in any fish. 



The number of fin rays in several specimens examined were — 1st D, 8 

 or 9; 2nd D. 1-|-11 to 13; P. 16 to 18; V. l-J-i; A. 3-^-10 or 11; C. 

 16 or 17. 



The Lesser Weever or Sting-Fish,* Trachinus Vqiera, Cuv., 



Is found from North to South, but appears to be chiefly known along the 

 eastern and southern shores. Dr. Ball informs me that, at Youghal, 

 where this species is abundant, it is often taken in sjjrat nets ; sometimes 

 it is caught by boys, fishing Avith small hooks at the quays. He has not 

 seen any so large as those mentioned by Fleming — 10 to 12 inches in 

 length. In reference to the alleged venomous quality of the dorsal spines 

 of this fish. Dr. Ball made the following observations in a public lecture 

 on " The Fishes of Ireland," delivered by him before the Royal Zoologi- 

 cal Society of Ireland, in Dublin, in May, 1849, from which occasional 

 extracts will be found in the following pages : — 



"The Trachinus Vipera is mucli dreaded by fishermen, who attribute poison- 

 ous injury to the sting from the spines of its first dorsal fin, which certainly has 

 an unpleasant threatening aspect ; nevertheless, 1 am induced to think that the 

 difficulties in healing wounds from this and other spines of fislies are not the re- 

 sults of virus, but rather of the unfavourable circumstances under which such 

 lacerated punctures are inflicted." 



An interesting memoir on the stinging property of this species was pub- 

 lished by Professor AUman, in the Ann. Nat. Hist, for November, 1840 ; 

 and there is an excellent account of the stinging apparatus, &c., in the 

 5th vol. (1849) of the Proceedings of the Literary and Philosophical So- 

 ciety of Liverpool. 



The Greater Weever, Trachinus Draco, Linn., 

 Has not yet been discovered on our shores. 



The Striped Red Mullet, or Striped Surmullet, Ilullus 

 Surmuletits, Linn. 



Several specimens of this fish have been obtained by Mr. W. Andrews, 

 off Ventry Harbour, two of which were presented by that gentleman to 

 the Dublin Nat. Hist. Society, in 1849. In the Summer of 1850, Robert 

 Warren, Esq., of Killiney, procured a fish of this species in Dublin Bay, 

 and sent it to Dr. Ball. It is now in the Dublin University Museum. 



Previous to the capture of the specimens above mentioned, I thought 

 it singular that there should not be any positive knowledge of the occur- 

 rence of this species in Ireland, more especially on our southern coasts. 

 Dr. Patrick Browne included it in his list of Irish fishes (1774) ; but I 

 am not aware of any other record of it as a native fish. 



* Called the Stony Cobbler at Youghal.— £>?-. Ball. 



