192 MALACOPTERYGII. 



Specific characters. — Couchia argenteola. Upper jaw the longer, 5 cirri, four on 

 the upper, one on the lower, jaw ; ventrals moderate (from j- to | the length of 

 the head), and of a whitish colour ; sides silvery. 



At a meeting of the Dublin Natural History Society, March, 1851, Mr. 

 Andrews made the following remarks on this species : — 



" Among the few specimens presented to your notice this evening is one that 

 appears to be extremely rare, and, as far as I am at present aware, the tirst record 

 of its capture on the Irish coast — the Motella glauca, or, as it is provincially termed 

 on the Cornish coast, ' the Mackerel Mid2;e.' I obtained this beautiful little 

 fish in July last, off Ventry Harbour, Dingle Bay. Several specimens were 

 brought up in 2" fathoms water, adhering to the trawl-net, the soundings very 

 fine soft sand. With it I collected five specimens of Gobins minutus and Gobius 

 bipunctatxis, showing the depth of water that these fish frequent, as well as the 

 shoaler grounds of a harbour. The mackerel midge, as the name implies, is 

 exceedingly minute in size, being scarcely 1^ inch in length, yet perfect in its 

 proportions, and characteristic of the true Motella or rockling. It possesses four 

 poiiited barbules in the upper jaw, one in the lower, its anterior dorsal fin im- 

 perfectly defined, in other details similar to the rockling. The most striking 

 feature is the extreme beauty of its colouring when captured alive, the shades of 

 the sides and back being ultramarine and purplish-green, the belly silvery. 

 It quickly dies, and these colours soon fade to a dull bluish-green, or a leaden 

 hue. It has been noted of a very pretty little species peculiar to the Mediter- 

 ranean, the Motella fiisca, that in the living state its appearance is of a fine 

 chesnut colour, but after death changes to a dull yellow. The account given in 

 the most recent work on British Ichthyology, Yarrell, of the Motella glartca, is 

 from the MS. of Mr. Couch, who observes that it has been found abundantly 

 on the Cornish coast, yet that some summers it does not appear." 



Ciliata glmica, or Couchia minor. — It is identical in species with the 

 specimens obtained by me in Strangford Lough in the summer of 1838, 

 and described under the name of Couchia minor in the 2nd vol. of the 

 Ann. N. H.* 



Couchia minor. Thomp. Ann. vol. ii. p. 408. — I leave for further observ- 

 ation to throw additional light upon. Greater experience leads me to 

 believe that the individuals described may have been too young to 

 present the character of the adult fish ; still the notes may be worth re- 

 printing. 



3fote/la glanca. — My fish is marked in a London note as identical with 

 Yarrell's specimen of Ciliata (jlauca. April, 1846, Mr. Yarrell gave me a 

 specimen of Couch's C. glauca, with Avhich at a superficial view (i. e. 

 without resorting to a lens) my fish from Strangford is identical. The 

 greater comparative length of its P. fins I consider only marks its juve- 

 nility, t 



In June 22nd, 1844, Mr. Hyndman took, floating on the surface in the 

 Kyles of Bute, a fish identical with my C. minor, in P. fins, size, &c. 



The Plaice, Platessa vulgaris, Cuv., 



Is abundant around the coast; — in the North it is by far the most com- 

 mon species of flat-fish, and consequently the cheapest, but it is neverthe- 

 less in general estimation for the table. 



* See my Report, p. 400. 



t As the last number of the Annals completed a volume, it is now too late to 

 notice in its ordinary place a typographical error there committed. I take the 

 opportunity of correcting it. At p. 424, under references to pi. 16, '^ ioi Couchia 

 glauca, read Fig. .3, Motella quinquecirrata." — Ann. N. 11. vol. iii. 



