TRACHINID^. 81 



scribed, and though it may be left uncovered by an ebbing tide, it is highly 

 retentive of life. It lives on the fry of other fishes or small animals, and remains 

 on our coasts throughout the year. Coach states that he has known the greater 

 weever taken in a net floating over 35 fathoms of water, and when several have 

 been thus caught, it has always been of an early morning east of the nets, as if 

 they thus mounted aloft only in the darkness of the night. From the inside of 

 one example, two gobies and a sand launce were taken, from another a squid, Loligo 

 media, 5 inches in length. In the Westminster Aquarium these fishes do not 

 show any propensity to conceal themselves under the sand, a proceeding said 

 to be more in vogue with Trachinus vlpera. 



Means of capture. — Sometimes taken by the trawl, in sprat or shrimp nets, 

 or else by a baited hook attached to a deep sea line. It is most commonly 

 captured during summer and autumn. 



Breeding. — On the continent of Europe these fish approach the shore in 

 large numbers in the month of June for the purpose of depositing their ova. 

 They doubtless choose the same time in this country, and Couch mentions an 

 example 3/4 of an inch long having been captured in August by a drift net. 



As food. — This form, not T. vipera, are sold in Whitechapel as food, and are 

 said to be known as Spitalfield weavers : they are esteemed in France not only 

 because they can be conveyed long distances alive, bat likewise owing to the 

 considerable time they remain fresh after death. A police regulation existed at 

 Boulogne that they might not be disposed of until their back fin had been 

 removed, in order to prevent persons being injured by it. 



Habitat. — From Scandinavia and Western Eui'ope through the Mediterranean, 

 and it has been recorded from Madeira, New Guinea, and on the Western 

 coast of Africa as far as the Cape of Good Hope, also from Peru. 



In Britain it is by no means uncommon along the coasts, especially on the 

 w r est, decreasing in numbers towards the north. At St. Andrew's it is frequent 

 on the west sands after storms (McAndrew) : it is occasionally found in 

 Banffshire according to Edward, however in the Zoologist for 1857, p. 5834, 

 one is recorded as captured there the first week in October, and the writer states 

 that the last taken previously was in 1810. 



In Ireland Andrews records it from Ventry Bay, but it has not been found 

 in the north, in fact Thompson did not believe in its occurrence there. 



The example figured is 12 inches long, and was sent alive from Brighton to 

 the Westminster Aquarium. It attains to at least 17 inches in length. 



2. Trachinus vipera, Plate XXXI. 



Otterpilce, Willughby, i, p. 289. Araneus minor, Ray, p. 92 ; Duhamel, 

 Peches, ii, p. 135, pi. 1. fig. 2. Trachinus, var. Gronov. Mus. Ich. i, p. 42. Draco 

 minor, Jonston, Pise. t. iii, c. 3, punct. 2, p. 92, t. xxi, f. 3. Draco marinus, 

 Borlase, Nat. Hist. Cornwall, p. 270, pi. xxvi, f. 3. Common weever, Pennant, 

 Brit. Zool. (Ed. 1) iii, p. 169, pi. xxviii (Ed. 2) iii, p. 226, pi. xxxii. 



Trachinus draco, Bloch, t. lxi ; Bonaterre, Ency. Ich. p. 45, pi. xxviii, f. 98 ; 

 Bl. Schn. p. 55 ; Donovan, Brit. Fish, i, pi. xxiii ; Turton, Brit. Fauna, p. 89 ; 

 Risso, Ich. Nice, p. 108, and Eur. Merid. iii, p. 260; Flem. Brit. An. p. 213. 



Trachinus vividns, Lacep. Hist. Nat. Poiss. ii, p. 354. 



Trachinus vipera, Cuv. and Val. iii, p. 254; Parnell, Fish. Firth of Forth, p. 

 12 ; Yarrell, Brit. Fish. (Ed. 1) i, p. 25, c. fig. (Ed. 2) i, p. 29 (Ed. 3) ii, p. 7 

 Jenyns, Manual Brit. Vert. p. 336 ; Johnston, Berwick. Nat. Club, 1838. i, p 

 170; White, Catal. Brit. Fish, p. 13; Cuv. Regne Anim. 111. Poiss. pi. xv 

 Guichen. Explor. Sc Alger. Poiss. p. 36 ; Schlegel, De Dieren Neder. p. 40, pi 

 v, f. 6 ; Thompson, Nat. Hist. Ireland, iv, p. 70 ; Giinther, Catal ii, p. 236 

 Steind. Ich. Span. u. Port. 1867, p. 95; Mcintosh, Fish. St. Andrews, p. 173. 



Trachinus horridus, Gronov. ed. Gray, p. 46. 



Viper weever, Couch, Fishes of Brit. Isles, ii, p. 48, pi. Ixxiv. 



B. vi, D. 6/21-24, P. 14, V. 1/5, A. 25-26, C. 12, L. 1. 65, Ccec. pyl. 6, Vert 

 10/25. 



6 ' 



