1972 Fishes. 



Notes on the Fishes in the District of the Land's End. 

 By R. Q. Couch, Esq., M.R.C.S.L., &c. 



(Concluded from page 183 J). 



Great Lant, Sand Eel, Ammodytes Tobianns. Common on all parts 

 of the district from St. Ives to Gunwalloe. I have seen a speci- 

 men fourteen inches long. 



Lant, Launce, A. lancea. Abundant in sand near low-water mark. 

 This is a more gregarious species than the last. In July and August 

 they frequent our bays in small companies, and are eagerly pur- 

 sued by the pollack. It burrows in the sand, and like all fish of our 

 shores with similar habits, it has a pulsating sanguineous sac at the 

 base of the caudal fin. Marsupial. 



Great Sea- Adder, Syngnathus acus. Common in deep water and 

 rocky ground. I have taken it commonly in a trawl and trammel net, 

 in crab-pots, and have found it washed on shore after a summer's 

 storm. It frequents marshy and weedy bottoms, and the borders 

 of rough ground. Marsupial. 



Sea-Adder, S. Typhle. Not uncommon in different parts of 

 Mount's Bay, St. Ives' Bay, and Whitsand Bay, Land's End. Habits 

 similar to the last. 



Painted Sea-Adder, S. cequoreus. Abundant in fifteen or twenty 

 fathoms water, and very common in fifty fathoms, and at mid-channel. 

 This species is said to be rare ; but its scarcity depends on its 

 inhabiting deep water, where it is rarely seen by the naturalists. In 

 May and June, and frequently in July, and occasionally in August, 

 these fish rise to the surface of the water however it may be, and bask 

 themselves in the sun. They retain their position at the surface by 

 clasping with their tails the cords and buoys of the crab-pots, sticks, 

 or any other substance they may find floating at the surface. The 

 whole of the caudal portion of the body is coiled round the stick or 

 cord, and the heads lie either horizontally or at right angles to 

 the surface. In some seasons, the buoy -ropes of the crab-pots are 

 literally obscured by them from the surface of the water down as far 

 as the eye can penetrate. 



Stiff Sea- Adder, Straight-nosed Pipe Fish, S. ophideon. Not un- 

 common in moderately deep water ; with similar habits to the S. 

 a^quoreus. 



Small Sea-Adder, S. anguineus, Jenyns. Occasionally in company 

 with S. acquorcus. 



