ME. F. DAT ON THE HEBRIDAI, ARGENTINE, 83 



Grimther, in the ' Catalogue of the Eishes of the British Museum,' 

 vi. p. 203, quotes " The Argentine, Low, Fauna Orcadeusis, p. 225," 

 as a synonym of Argentina hebridica, which reference, were it cor- 

 rect, would show that both Tarrell, Couch, and other antecedent 

 authors had been in error in believing that this fish had not, pre- 

 viously to the capture of the Bute example in 1836, been recorded 

 from the British seas. On referring, however, to Low, it will be 

 seen that he terms his single example of an Orkney fish (which 

 was not above an inch in length) "the Argentine" and refers to 

 Pennant, who applied this name of Argentine to the Maurolicus 

 borealis, pertaining to the family of Sternoptychidae ; and Low's 

 references to Willughby, Bay, and Linnaeus may have been 

 copied from Pennant's ' British Zoology.' Irrespective of this, 

 in vol. v. p. 389 of the British-Museum catalogue, Low's single 

 specimen is also referred to Maurolicus borealis, while it is mani- 

 festly impossible that one fish can pertain to two distinct families. 



The example I have to record is one of 9"5 inches in length, in 

 a good state of preservation, having been placed in whiskey imme- 

 diately after it had been captured. It was taken in October 1879, 

 near Lochalsh, off the Skye shore, by a fisherman using a hand- 

 line, the hook being baited with a piece of mussel ; its captor con- 

 sidered it very rare, stating that he had only once previously 

 taken an example. Not only is the specimen an interesting one, 

 but likewise the locality from which it was received, the N.W. 

 coast of Scotland, showing that it is by no means improbable 

 that it may exist all round that country. 



The Argentine is found extending from the shores of Norway 

 to those of the west coast of Scotland and the Grerman Ocean 

 on the east coast of Yorkshire ; thence through the Mediter- 

 ranean to the Balearic Isles and along the southern shores of 

 Europe, being taken, we are informed, all the year round in the 

 sea off Borne ; while most authors state it to be a deep-sea fish. 



Mr. Clarke has described and figured Argentina decagon from 

 New Zealand, where a unique example was procured, and which 

 does not differ from my specimen, except that it is stated to have 

 four rows of scales between the lateral line and base of the dorsal 

 fin, whereas I only count three. At first sight it would seem 

 strange that this species could stray from the North Atlantic to 

 the South Pacific ocean, even if we accepted Mr. Clarke's sug- 

 gestion that " it would be of excessive interest to have more proof 

 than mere imagination that our antipodean species had gradually 

 worked its way ' sub inari ' in those cold lower strata of water to 



