92 ACAXTnOPTEllYGII. 



" J), fin, almost black in colour, rises from a deep groove in the back. 



" Whole fish of a dark leaden hue ; lateral line very conspicuous, black, 

 broad, and of similar breadth throughout — less than one-third the depth 

 of the fish from the back ; upper lobe of C. fin longer than the lower ; 

 eyes large, yellowish, irides dark brown ; scales large, firmly imbedded in 

 the skin, transparent ; the colour of the black lines is in the skin itself, 

 and is seen through the transparent scale. 



" Cneca wide, about 1} inch long, their walls very thin, as were those of 

 the stomach ; both nearly transparent ; swimming-bladder large and silvery. 



" Intestine, except at lower end, very thin, rather long, very wide, and 

 containing large masses of vegetable matter, which, in the microscope, 

 seemed to be chiefly Ce.raniiimi ruhruni and RliodoineJa suhfiisca deprived 

 of their parenchyma, but their walls remaining entire and transparent. 

 In the lower part of the intestine w'as the operculum apparently of a whelk 

 (Bifccii)ian nndafum), with the firm muscvdar white part of the animal 

 firmly attached to it, and unaffected by the digestive process, showing 

 probably that vegetable food is that natural to the fish. The specimen 

 was a male, the milt very solid, presenting no appearance of spermatozoa 

 when broken doMU and magnified." 



Mr. Couch says of this species that — • 



" It takes the common baits which fisliermen employ for other fish, but feeds 

 much on marine vegetables, upon which it becomes exceedingly fat." — Yarr. 

 B. F. vol. i. p. 131. 



This single specimen, as will be seen from the preceding notes, attests 

 the correctness of the remarks respecting both bait and food. 



All the British localities for this species, named in the work just cited, 

 are on the extreme southern line of the English coast. 



After I had contributed the foregoing particulars to the Annals Nat. 

 Hist. (vol. xviii. p. 313), I received a letter from Major Walker, of the 

 Lodge, Enniscorthy, dated loth November, 1846, in which he says — " I 

 this year met with a black bream at Ivilmore (County Wexford). It was 

 of a dark steel-blue when fresh, but soon faded to black ; it was of good 

 size, about 18 inches long, and much firmer than the common red-bream " 

 {Fagellus centrudontui:). 



Familij Squamifixnati. 

 Ray's Sea-Bkeam, Bmma Rail, Cuv. and Val. 



To Dr. R. J. Burkitt, of Waterford, we are indebted for the positive 

 addition of this species to our fauna, this gentleman having lately contri- 

 buted a native specimen to Dr. Ball, for the Museum of Trinity College, 

 Dublin. The fish (of which a large and correct drawing has been sent 

 me) was taken at Tramore, in the month of October, 1843. This is the 

 first certain instance known to me of its occurrence on our coast. Mr. 

 Yarrell (British Fish. vol. i. p. 134) gives it from M'Skimmin's List of 

 the Fishes of Carrickfergus ; but, as remarked in my Report of the Ver- 

 tebrata of Ireland, " the propriety of the application of the name to this 

 species is doubtful." All that is said of it by M'Skimmin is, " Spams 

 Rati ; hen-fish, a choice fish, rare." The term hen-fish is applied by our 

 fishermen to one or two other species of somewhat rare occurrence. 



Famihj SC0MBEID_E. 



The Mackerel, Scomber Scomber, Linn., 

 Is common around the coast, Belfast Bay, Strangford, Dublin, and 

 Youghal. On 20th April, 1846, I saw several dozen of mackerel, about 



