174 MALACOPTERYGII. 



Of a female pollan, 11| inches in length, procured from Lough Neagh on the 

 28th of November last, the entire weight was 9 oz., that of the ova subsequently 

 extracted 2 oz. 3 drachms ; of this, which was just ready for exclusion, 1 had a 

 drachm weighed, and reckoned the number of ova it contained; taking for 

 granted that this would be alike in each drachm throughout the whole, (and 

 from the uniform size of the ova, each a line in diameter, there can be very 

 little difference,) the number of ova altogether would be 6156. This too I 

 should consider about the average, as the specimen was of ordhiary size, ' 

 and contained a similar quantity of ova with several others dissected at the 

 same time. Of the stomachs, &c. of twelve pollans examined on this occasion, 

 the g^reater number were empty, but two or three contained minute Entomos- 

 traca, two Pisidia, and a Limneus pereger — this last was three lines in length. 



Jan. 1, 1839. I received from the Rev. C. Mayne a full-grown specimen of 

 the Cor. Pollan, taken near Killaloe, either on the river Shannon or its expan- 

 sion. Lough Derg. — Annals Nat. History, vol. ii. 



" Examinations of more specimens of the fish described as Coregonus clupe- 

 oides, Nilss. ? has proved its identity with C. Pollan. Different as the figures 

 and descriptions of these Coregoni may appear, I have now seen individuals (so 

 liable are they to variation) exhibiting all the intermediate characters." — A7inals 

 Nat. History, vol. iv. p. 70. 



July 2'2nd, 1847. — On examining the contents of an adult pollan to-day, 

 from Lough Neagh, I found the stomach filled with minute Entomostraca. 

 The ova were the size of clover-seed, or l-30th of an inch in diameter. 



Juhi V2th, 1851. — Yesterday and to-day hundreds of very large pollan 

 from Lough Neagh were in Belfast market. One, a male, which has been 

 preserved, weighed 13 ounces ; and others, not fit to be preserved, 

 weighed 15 ounces. The large ones were sold at lOd. per dozen; those 

 of herring-size at 4f/. per dozen. The contents of the stomach of one pre- 

 served and brought to me, proved to be wholly of the genus Mi/sis* 

 excepting a Limnetis pereger with its animal (both perfect). 



" About Lough Tron and Lough Direvragh there is found, in the month of 

 May only, a small fish, without spot, of almost the same shape as a herring — a 

 fish very pleasant and delightful, but not taken in great quantities ; the natives 

 call it Goaske. I know not by any name to English it." 



From a Description of the County of Westmeath, written a.d. 1682, by 

 Sir Henry Piers, Bart. See No. I. of a work entitled Collectanea de Rebus 

 Hibernicis, printed in Dublin, 1774. 



In the contents appears — 



" Goaske, a species of fish peculiar to Loughs Tron and Direvragh, found in 

 the month of May only." 



" A fish peculiar to this lake (Lough Erne), about the size of a herring, and 

 called Goaske, is taken only in May." — Daniel's Rural Sports, vol. ii. 208. 



March, 1850. Lord Enniskillen agrees with me that ihepoUdn must be 

 meant, but he never heard the term Goaske applied to it at Lough Erne. 



have found to be as 1 to 5, as well as " 1 to 3^," and the vertebrae 60. The 

 two following characters were before unnoticed : axillary scale of ventral fins 

 about one-third their length — about 84 scales on the llateral line : this is the 

 number attributed by Dr. Parnell to both of the Loch Lomond Coregotii ; in a 

 specimen of one of these, C. microcephalus, under 10 inches in length (much 

 less than the size they attain), with which I have been favoured by its describer, 

 there are but 76 ? scales on this line. This induced me to examine various-sized 

 pollans, to see whether there might be any difference in this respect, when none 

 appeared in the individuals inspected, which were from 9| to 13 inches in 

 length. 



* Not less than one hundred of these. 



