200 MALACOPTEI!Y(iII. 



It is generally taken on cod lines, and with the buckie (Bticc. vndntiim) 

 as bait. {Temj)lcf(t}t too has noticed this.) The fishermen tell me that it 

 is a simple fish and easily killed, and that they never lose one in conse- 

 quence of its weight. 



From the stomach of a holibut I once took ten full-grown sprats, the 

 two largest 5^ inches long, and a fragment of Blillepora polymoiyha. 

 Another, of about 120 lbs. weight, exhibited the remains of a ray (or 

 skate), the tail alone of which was about a foot in length. The position 

 of the victim showed that it had been swallowed head-foremost. Another 

 Avas filled with crabs, and contained a valve of Venus Cassina. On all the 

 hoHbuts I have seen recent, were specimens of the parasite Ilirudo 

 liipjXHjIossi, MuUer. 



Mdii 1, 1846. — One of 90 lbs. weight in Belfast market contained only 

 three of our edible crab, C. pagurus. They were each about 4 inches across 

 the shell. 



Nov. 19, 1847. — The stomach of one (a small one 2^ feet long) was 

 filled with the remains of Avell-sized Portuni [P. depurnta was distin- 

 guishable) and Ophiura rosula, of which last there was a large quantity. 



The Turbot, Pleuronectes maxinius, Linn., 

 RJiombus — Cuv., 



Is taken around the coast, and is the most highly valued of all our flat- 

 fishes. 



lintty says — " It is a delicious fish, and for its excellent taste is called 

 the Pheasant of the water." Vol. i. p. 350. 

 Mr. Bernard Meenan informs me that — 



' he once got at Magilligan 22| dozen of turbots, which were taken in one 

 day, average 18 lbs., or 7 to 30 lbs. Above three times that number were taken 

 by five boats on the same day, and all on long lines. Fresh herrings he considers 

 the best bait for them or for any other fish. He states that in 1814 one 26 lbs. 

 weight was taken in Belfast Bay, within [\ mile of the town." 



Average price in Belfast market 6(/. to Id. per lb. 



Some years ago one was taken near Springvale, Co. Down, by the late 

 (leo. Matthews, Esq., that weighed 441 H^s. My informant saw it weighed. 

 It was captured in a trammel-net in 4-fathom water. 



I'lth March, 1835. — I purchased a turbot in Belfast market of which 

 the following are particulars : — 



liCngth, 13 inches. 



D. 07 ; P. 12 ; V. 6 ; A. 47 ; C. 15 ; B. 6. 



Iridi's as in Brill bought same day. 



Upper jaw the longer when the mouth is closed. 



Tahercles very prominent on upper side ; under side entirely free from 

 them. 



This specimen agrees well with Donovan's figure. 



On dissection this fish exhibited roe which was not well developed. In 

 its stomach was a very long intestinal worm alive, strongly resembling 

 the human tapeworm. 



"No place is better supplied than Londonderry with this fish. I have bought 

 a large one for 2s. 8|c?." — Sampsoii's Derry. [2s. Hd. present currency. — Ed.] 



Newcastle, Co. Dmvn, Sept. 16th, 1851. — To-day, and for several days 

 ])ast, the weather has been so calm and the sun so bright, that large 

 (|uantities, chiefly of flat-fish, have been taken with spears off XcMcastle. 

 These spears are 32 or 33 feet long, with an iron barb at the end, and the 

 fishermen, seeing their prey at the bottom, even several feet deeper than 

 he length of the s])ear, drive it at them, and the fish when struck rises 



