PETROMYZONTIML 361 



"who constantly stirs them np or the centre ones are suffocated. A good many are 

 taken in Norfolk and sold to the eel-fishers as bait (Lubbock, p. 181), " for 

 which purpose it is first-rate ; cut into pieces of about an inch in length, it is so 

 tough upon the hook, as generally to baffle any attempt in the eel to suck or 

 nibble it off. This bait will also last good for two or three nights' trial, whilst 

 a roach or other small fish is water-sopped" (p. 184). 



Diseases, Sfr.. — Are much destroyed by rats which prefer their gill-sacs to any 

 other part of the body. 



Breeding. — From April to June and has been known to do so as late as July, 

 at Tewkesbury. At this season they collect in small communities as of 10 or 12. 

 A correspondent of Loudon's " Magazine of Natural History " (vol. v) observed 

 that one twists its tail around another, during which the sand and gravel are 

 stirred up by their movements, and that this occurs when they are depositing milt 

 and ova, as the two fish are invariably of opposite sexes. Muller discovered the 

 larval or ammocnetus-form of this fish in Prussia about thirty years since. Yarrell 

 examined some of these fish from the Thames every week from March to the 

 middle of May, and found that up to April 19th, the females exceeded the males 

 in number, subsequently the females were nearly ready to deposit their ova, 

 and then the proportions were two males to one female. By April 26th, the ova 

 were ripe and the milt fluid, while by May 10th, nearly all were shotten. Some- 

 times they go in pairs, sometimes in numbers to the breeding-ground, while they 

 act together in removing the stones in order to prepare the spot. 



As food — Milder than the sea lamprey, P. marinus, and are excellent stewed. 

 During the last few years they have been for sale in the Cheltenham fish shops 

 on and off from September, but usually from the middle of October until the 

 middle of April. In Norfolk "a prejudice prevents their being eaten, unless by a 

 few of the initiated. These delicacies, when taken, are sometimes beaten to 

 death, kicked about, and cut in pieces, as if, in lieu of causing an epicure's heart 

 to beat within him, they were altogether nauseous and disgusting " (Lubbock, 

 p. 183) " whereas in former days people were better acquainted with their real 

 merits. Sir T. Browne mentions them as " plentiful and highly prized, whether 

 collared or in pyes." 



Pennant (1776) observes on the cost being £2 per 1000 for them from the 

 Thames. At Tewkesbury they are chiefly employed for two purposes, as bait for 

 cod for which purpose they realize 50s a 1000, or else for potting (6s per 100 

 January, 1884). They have to be very carefully cleaned for potting, and the 

 vertebral column ought to be removed. A correspondent in the Field (January 

 28th, 1882) observes that the price at Worcester is about £4 per 1000, or Id 

 each. Kept in rivers in wicker baskets or creels : they only cross weirs when the 

 water is so high as to leave the erection unseen. 



Habitat. — This fish has an extensive range, having been found on the coasts 

 and fresh waters of Europe, North America, and Japan. 



Abounds in many rivers in England, Scotland, and Ireland, particularly the 

 Thames, Severn, and Dee ; also in the Tw r eed and several Scottish rivers. Rare 

 at Banff (Edward) : common in Spey, Lossie, and in Moray Firth, Aberdeen 

 (Sim) : larger rivers entering Firth of Forth and also in the Firth (Parnell). 

 Found two or three specimens in the Tweed (Johnston). A freshwater resident, 

 and the Dutch fishermen have for more than a century visited the Ouse for the 

 purpose of purchasing these fish for bait (Yorkshire Vertebrata). In Norfolk 

 they are ofteil caught at low water in stow-nets opposite Lynn (Lubbock). In 

 the Exe, i'lym, and Axe, in Devonshire, they are sometimes abundant (Parfitt) : 

 in the eastern part of Cornwall they are common in spring (Cornish Fauna) : 

 Swansea ( Dillwyn). Ireland, found from north to south of the island, sometimes 

 adhering to other fishes and devouring them (Thompson). One taken in Lough 

 Neagh adhering to trout (Thompson). Butty (1772) remarked, found in rivers 

 as i lie Liffey, Finglass, and at Dundrum. Templeton says that it is not plentiful 

 in Irish rivers. 



The specimen figured from Tewkesbury is twelve inches long, but this fish 

 attains to as much as fifteen inches in our waters. 



