86 ACANTHOPTERYGII. 



easterly direction, while the largest proportion go np the English Channel along 

 the sonth coast of Britain. Mr. Dunn observes that they are seldom seen farther 

 np the English Channel than the Lizard off the British coast and Brittany off the 

 French shores. The shoals which pass np the St. George's Channel rarely 

 extending beyond Cork. Couch stated that in the early movement the sexes are 

 often much divided, the males usually preceding the females in their migrations. 

 But besides these large assemblages of breeding fishes there are shoals of mostly 

 smaller ones which appear off the south coast according to the character of the 

 season, increasing or lessening their distance from the shore as the temperature 

 falls or rises. In mild seasons they are mostly caught first at Portsmouth, as in 

 January or February, but Plymouth on an average is considered the earliest place 

 to which they resort, and where they are taken from ten to thirty miles from land. 

 On the Hampshire and Sussex coasts they are first taken in March, or sometimes 

 even in February, while off Norfolk the greatest fisheries are in May and June. 

 They also arrive in the Isle of Man in June. In the Moray Firth they appear 

 in immense shoals about August (Gordon) and in the Orkneys during the last 

 week in July (Low.) On January 28th, 1880, they appeared off Penzance, 

 whereas the end of February is usually the time at which they may be expected : 

 they extend their stay into June. The same phenomenon occurred further to 

 the north, thus at Christiania some very fine ones were taken in April, although 

 their usual time of arrival off the northern coast of Norway is not before the 

 advent of warmer weather. 



As already remarked, they may arrive long prior to their usual period, thus 

 Couch observes that in 1818, 15,000 were taken at Mevagissey between 

 February 1st and 12th : in 1842, two boats brought 18,000 into Plymouth, while in 

 1843, in the first week in February, from 20,000 to 30,000 were captured each 

 night. 



The period at which the arrival of these fish may be expected at any particular 

 locality may be somewhat accurately computed, by ascertaining at what time they 

 normally appear off certain points, and how long an interval generally occurs 

 between their arrival at one place and their subsequent appearance at a more 

 distant locality. The number of days they take in migrating from place to place 

 is generally the same in different years. 



The character of the season or the weather does not appear to be the only 

 agent by which these fishes early migrations are ruled. But it has been 

 remarked that a particular temperature or direction of wind has some connection 

 with their swimming nearer to the surface or deeper in the water. Mr. Cornish 

 (Zoologist, 1876, p. 4767) has remarked that about once in every eight or ten 

 years thej swarm into Mount's Bay : thus in August and September, 1875, at 

 high water, they could be bailed out in buckets at the pier head. 



In the spring the average size captured is smaller than it becomes during the 

 autumnal and winter months, owing to some of the shoals being partly or entirely 

 composed of young fish. Their course seems to be very erratic, rising to the 

 surface and approaching the shore, or remaining at the bottom in deep water. 

 But as the summer advances and their food enters sandy bays, then these fish 

 follow and appear to have become exceedingly acti\ e. By the end of September 

 or October, having spawned, the old ones retire to the Atlantic, in which • 

 migration they appear to be often accompanied by those which were hatched 

 early in the season. Sometimes the half-grown fish retiring into deep water at 

 the end of the year seem to be interrupted in their course, which causes them 

 to remain off the coast during the winter months. 



Their food is still a subject in which much remains to be investigated. 

 Doubtless they prey upon members of the herring family and the fry of such 

 forms as come in their way. Thus when the mackerel midge, which is the 

 young of the Rockling, Motella, becomes abundant about the middle of May, • 

 these fishes congregate to feed upon them. At Mevagissey, Mr. Dunn has 

 remarked that some small jelly-fishes (Medusas ?) about the size of a split pea, 

 and of a dark green colour, appear after heavy rains, at night they are luminous. 

 Mackerel prey upon them. Occasionally quantities of young of the dwarf 



