SOME FISH-NOTES FROM QBE AT YARMOUTH. 445 



(the head, "dock," or body, and tail having been removed) 

 spread on the slab among some Norfolk Thornbacks. Its 

 unusual colour — a decided drab — at once reminded me of Couch's 

 Sandy Bay {Raia circularis). On comparing these sides with 

 Couch's figure I found it an exact replica, the distinguishing 

 ** ocellated spots, the size of the section of a large pea, the 

 centre yellow, the border a deeper impression of the colour of 

 the ground," were identical. In all other particulars there was a 

 correspondence. Day ('British Fishes '), however, does not give 

 this fish specific distinction, but for some reason places it under 

 the heading of Cuckoo Bay, a species I am familiar with. In 

 the * Vertebrate Fauna of Yorkshire ' (Clarke and Eoebuck), the 

 Sandy Bay as circularis is given, and referred to as " abundant 

 in Bridlington Bay, frequently met at Scarborough, and once at 

 Whitby." Matthias Dunn, of Mevagissey, considered the Sandy 

 and Cuckoo Bays as quite distinct,* a decision with which I am in 

 agreement. As the fish, with others, was undoubtedly taken off 

 the Norfolk coast, I feel safe in placing it on the county list. 



Saw a whole blue-backed Mackerel, 16 in. in length, on 

 May 24th. The first dorsal fin numbered ten rays, the second 

 eleven rays. Day describes it as Scomber concolor, a mere variety 

 of the type. I find examples taken yearly by the Mackerel-boats, 

 their length averaging 15|- in. ; and to me the body appears 

 more slender for the length when compared with S. scomber. Is 

 it possible that it may be a distinct species ? 



Some large Herrings were taken in June, some of them 14 in. 

 in length ; this is unusual for the spring fishing, and in local 



* He writes : — " Since 1884 I have given the Skate family more than 

 my usual attention. ... In Mr. F. Day's works the Cuckoo and the 

 Sandy Eays are given as belonging to one species. . . . The full-grown 

 Cuckoo Eay is seldom found above four pounds weight, while the perfect 

 male of the Sandy Eay is from fifteen to eighteen pounds weight. . . . 

 Looking into the anatomy of the two, it was seen that in the spinal columns 

 between the skull and the ventral fin the Cuckoo Eay has twenty-nine 

 vertebrge, while the Sandy Eay, under like conditions, has thirty-six vertebrae. 

 Moreover, the males of the Cuckoo Eay are in the proportion of about one 

 to three females; while, in the Sandy Eay, I have only met with four 

 males in ten years, and in the same time I could not have seen less 

 than one hundred females " (' Notes on the Skates and Eays of Cornwall,' 

 1888). I am surprised he has referred to neither markings or coloration 

 (A. H. P.). 



