302 PLAGIOSTOMATA. 



say, was " ganged " with flexible brass wire twisted regularly and firmly round it. 

 Mr. Gatcombe records how one, 5 feet 6 inche.s long, was taken at Mevagissey 

 with a common whiting hook, baited with a piece of pilchard, and at the depth of 

 35 fathoms (Zool. p. 3697). 



Breeding. — Its egg case is similar to that of the dog-fish (Buckland). 



As food. — The Greek fishermen are said to have sought it for this purpose. 

 Dr. Caius, in 1569, compared its flesh to that of the salmon, but admitted that it 

 was not quite so agreeable to the palate. 



Habitat. — The Atlantic Ocean, on both shores, but does not appear to extend 

 far towards the north: an example was taken, in 1868, off Bergen, in Norway, and 

 it has been received in Paris, from the Cape of Good Hope. It is also found in 

 the Mediterranean, and it has been obtained from San Francisco Bay, California, 

 and New Zealand. 



It is not common in the Orkneys and Shetlands (W. Baikie, Zool. 1853, 

 p. 3840) : very rare ofl: Banff' (Edward) : one was taken off Fortrose, in the 

 Moray Fii-th, in 1846 (Masters) ; and in July the same year, one 11 feet 1 inch 

 long, got entangled in the herring nets, and was killed off Berwick-on-Tweed (Proc. 

 Berwick. Nat. Hist. Club) . It is somewhat rare off Yorkshire : in September, 

 1854, one was seen off Scarborough (Briggs, Zool. p. 4513). On October 15th, 

 1868, one 12 feet long was captared off Bridlington, and is now in the Leeds 

 Museum (Stephenson) ; and Nelson records a third, which was 5 feet long, washed 

 ashore in October off Redcar (Yorkshire Vertebrata). On October 20th, 1881, 

 one 12 feet long was taken off Lowestoft (T. Southwell). Mr. Gunn reported one 

 14 feet 6 inches in length, captured by the crew of a lugger engaged mackerel 

 fishing, July 4th, 1867 (Lowe) : October 24th, 1882, one nearly 12 feet long was 

 secured by some Walmer fishermen : one, 13| feet long, was captured off Folke- 

 stone in October, 1867, a second, 14 feet 10 inches long, off the same place in 

 October, 1867, and a third, 5 feet 1 inch long, in August, off Hastings (Buck- 

 land) : in 1864 a male, 15 feet 4 inches long, became entangled in the rope of a 

 mackerel net, having become twisted around its tail, nine miles from Ventnor (Zool. 

 p. 9630, G. Gwyon). July 16th, 1881, one about lOi feet long was taken in 

 a mackerel net oil' Christchurch (Land and Water) : and on June 30th, 1882, one 

 over 10 feet in length, in a mackerel seine off Poole, where it is not uncommon 

 during July and August (L. and W.) ; in 1870, one, 10 feet 3 inches long, was 

 taken in West Bay, Portland, on September 13th (Cornish, Zool. p. 2348) : it is 

 occasionally taken in Devonshire : November, 1876, one, 7 feet in length was 

 entangled in the herring nets two miles west of Teignmouth : in 1869, on August 

 20th, one, 4 feet 7 inches long, was captured at Torbay (Hugel, Zoologist) : on 

 July 29th, 1879, one, 12 feet in length, was taken in a herring net off the Start 

 (Gatcombe, Zool. p. 383) : on September 13th, 1883, one, 14 feet long, was taken 

 off Dawlish, in a drift net ; and another of about equal size was captured and 

 exhibited at Plymouth (Gatcombe) : it is not uncommon 'off Cornwall, and a few 

 are taken every year by the mackerel and pilchard drivers (Cornish Fauna) • in 

 June, 1874, one, 13 feet long, was captured off Scilly (Cornish, Zool. p. 4080). 



In Irelatid. — Mr. J. Blake- Knox observes that it is often very common in 

 Dublin Bay (Zool. 1866, p. 609). On June 16th, 1876, one, 57 inches long, was 

 captured at Portrush, county of Antiim, in a salmon net (J. Ogilby, Zool., p. 3049). 



As to the size this fish attains : — Lacepede refers to one taken at Dieppe, 

 which measured 15 feet in length ; it does not appear to have been captured quite 

 so large off our shores ; but one, 14 feet 10 inches long, has been recorded above. 

 My figure is fi-om the large stuffed specimen in the Westminster Aquarium. 



