106 ACANTHOPTERYGII. 



Belfast market, I found, as I had done before, that the space exposed or 

 otherwise between the inferior edges of the inter-opercula varied exceed- 

 ingly. All the fish I looked to were 31. Clwlo, and I found when the in- 

 ter-opercula were brought together so as to touch, that generally a larger 

 portion of the space under the tongue was seen then in Yan-.'s "fig. of M. 

 Capita, p. 240, 2nd ed. None of the specimens that I examined displayed 

 the appearance of 31. Chelo with the inter-opercula touching throughout 

 their base so as to conceal the s])ace below the tongue. 



I suspect that some of the fish called 31. Capito, said to have been taken 

 on the Irish coast, were judged by this fallacious character, as it seems to 

 me. My 31. Chelo from N. and S. of Ireland is unquestionably that of 

 CuA% and Val. as figured and described. 



Mr. James Radcliff', after perusing my notes on this fish published in 

 the Annals of Nat. Hist., wrote to inform me that the mullet of New 

 Zealand appeared to him to be of the same species, and that its habits 

 are precisely similar to those which I had described. 



The Grey Mullet, 3Lwjil Capito, Cuv., 

 Is said to be taken on the East and South coasts. 



Col. Portlock informs me that he submitted drawings of a mullet taken 

 on the coast of Down or Antrim, to Mr. Yarrell, who considered them to 

 represent 31. Capito, but all the specimens which have come under my 

 own examination were 31. Chelo, which is our common mullet of the 

 North. 



In the Cork Fauna (1845), Dr. Harvey has given 31. Capito as certain, 

 and M. Chelo is noted with doubt. 



The Atherine or Sand-Smelt,* Atherina Fresbi/ter, Cuv., 

 Is found at certain localities, from the coast of Down, southward to that 

 of Cork. 



It "is taken plentifully on the coast of Down, especially in Strangford Lough. 

 Of about 40 speciiiieus from this locality, which I examined in January last 

 (1835), the average length was 6^ inches ; f a few were 7, and one was 7;j 

 inches long. Dr. Ball informs me that the atherine is not unfrequently taken 

 along with sprats at Youglial, and that, on the 14th of September last, lie saw a 

 shoal of them at Portmarnock, County Dublin, in a pool in the sand below high- 

 water mark."— IF. T. in Zool. Proc.for 1835. 



It appears to be a very local species. Belfast market is supplied from 

 a limited portion of Strangford Lough, near Portaferry, only a few being 

 taken in any other part of the Lough ; and I am not aware of another 

 locality for the species on the coast of Down or Antrim, save that I have 

 heard of their having been taken at Newcastle, and that the stomach of a 

 red-breasted merganser [3Ier(jus Scrrator), shot in Belfast Bay, in Janu- 

 ary, 1851 , contained three young atherines, each about 3 inches long. Speci- 

 mens were once sent to me which were stated to have been captured near 

 Donaghadee, but I do not feel certain of this being correct. The atherine 

 is said to be common on the coast of Wexford. — 3Iajor Walker. 



In Rutty's Dublin, and Smith's Cork, " The smelt {Eperlanus) " is 

 mentioned, but from the circumstances of the atherine being called 

 smelt, and its occurrence on these coasts where the E2)crlanns is not 

 known, and also from the silence of both authors about a second species, 



* Also called the " Smelt" and " Portaferry Chicken " in the North, 

 t In Dec, 1847, I received from Strangford Lough a specimen 7| inches in 

 Icnstli. 



