13G MALACOPTERYGII. 



about Killaloe (The Rev. C. Mayne and Mr. Marshall) ; streams about 

 Tuam and Headfort (Mr. M'Calla). 



" These fish first appeared in the river Lagan in 1801, having ascended the 

 canal from L. Neagh, where they have been inhabitants perhaps for centuries." 

 — Temple f on' s Cafalogtce. 



Mr. John Russell, jun., of Newforge, tells me that a bitch kept chain- 

 ed near the "tail race" at NcAvforge bleach-green near the river Lagan, 

 was in the habit when the water was low (about 9 ins. deep), the moment 

 she was let loose, to go in search of gudgeons, which she caught and ate 

 in quantities : he has often seen her do so — he thinks she may not have 

 been very well fed. 



Three small fishes of equal size, being 1 inch 2 lines in length, taken 

 by Mr. Hyndman and myself, on the Sth and 9th May, 1826, in the Lagan, 

 appear to be of this species, as described in detail by Jenyns, but with 

 the highest power of my lens I cannot distinguish any tentacula about 

 the mouth of any of the three. 



These specimens were found resting on the bottom of shallows in the 

 Lagan at NcAvforge ; their colour so assimilated to the bottom that even 

 in bright sunshine, and the water clear and less than a foot deej), they 

 could hardly be seen except when in motion. 



I have met with small specimens, each having a series of blackish spots 

 along the middle of the sides, just as represented in the fig. in Cuv. and 

 Val., vol. xvi. pi. 481. 



The figures in the works of Donovan, Yarrell, &c., do not exhibit any 

 spots, nor, indeed, do full-grown S2)ecimens of the fish in my collection. 



The Tench, Tinea vulgaris, Cuv., 



Is probably, like the carp, a fish introduced to the British Islands. I 

 have notes of its existence at the following localities : — Ponds at Purdys- 

 burn and Montalto, County Down (Mr. J. Sinclaire) ; Counties of Dublin 

 and Cork (Dr. Ball) ; Lakes of Westmeath (Newenham) ; Lough Derg, 

 near Portumna (Mr. John J. Marshall). 



" Tench, Clip. Tinea. Many were caught in the river Lagan, after the 

 breaking of the bank of a pond in the demesne of Lord Dungannon at 

 Belvoir." — Templeton 3IS. [No date.] 



The Bream, Abramis Braina, Cuv., 

 Inhabits many of the Irish lakes and slow rivers. 



Dubourdien mentions this species, and Templeton remarks that in L. 

 Erne breams are particularly abundant. I have been informed by Lord 

 Enniskillen that they attain a great size in the lakes of that quarter. 



March 12, 1835. — James Ward, of Lagan Cottage, mentioned to me 

 that the way in Avhich the bream is taken Avith the greatest success is by 

 balls of grains from distilleries, seeds (cast oflF from fiummery) or boiled 

 oats being mixed up with potatoes in the form of balls, and thrown into 

 the river at night. Bream, being partial to such food, collect from all 

 quarters to partake of it, which the fishers take advantage of by the break 

 of day on the following morning, and, baiting their hooks with worms, 

 catch in great numbers the fish thus collected together. This method 

 was, he says, introduced in his neighbourhood by persons who had been 

 in the habit of thus fishing in the County Fermanagh, about L. Erne. 



Ward says there were no breams in the Lagan twenty years ago, which 

 I have before heard stated on good authority. 



The same informant told me in August, 1 843, that the quantity of breams 



