4218 Dublin Natural History Society. 



of examining the different stages of growth confirmed me in the opinion that the 

 Hemiramphus Europaeus was no other than the young of the garfish, and that the 

 young state of Esox belone presented an undeveloped form of the upper jaw, but which 

 gradually extended in growth until maturity perfected its equal development with the 

 lower jaw. In July immense numbers enter the harbours of Dingle and Ventry, 

 seeking the fry of other fish, and to spawn, and they are taken in numbers in the sean, 

 little cared for as food, but eagerly bought up by the fishermen for bait. In 

 October and November the young appear. A specimen of the Saury pike (Scom- 

 beresox Sauras), is in the collection of the Society, which was taken at Ballina, on the 

 coast of Sligo. There are multitudes of others I shall pass over, and some, although 

 taken in the harbours, continue much longer in the fresh water, as the Salmonide, and 

 which merely frequent at periods the salt-water estuaries. The several species of 

 Motella, the third, fourth, and fifth bearded rocklings, are frequent in Dingle and 

 Ventry harbours, and I have taken in a boat-trawl in Ventry the mackerel midge, the 

 beautiful little Motella glauca. Of the Pleuronectida? many in the young state are 

 to be met with in the harbours. In the summer months the French or lemon sole 

 (Solea pegusa), and the variegated sole (Monochirus variegatus), are not uncommon in 

 Ventry harbour. The Cyclopteridae, or suckers, are many of them very frequent ; the 

 Cyclopterus lumpus has been taken of large size in Castlemaine harbour, sometimes 

 frequenting the salmon weirs. In some specimens the belly is of a rich azure. The 

 Cornish sucker (Lepidogaster cornubiensis), has been taken at low water, attached to 

 the stones in Smerwick harbour, its light tinge of carmine hue attracting attention. 

 All the known British species of the pipe fishes {Syngnaihidce), I have obtained on the 

 south-west coast ; some are beautifully and vividly marked in the living state, and 

 their singular marsupial habits would render observance of their movements and 

 peculiarities interesting. The deep-nosed pipe fish (Syngnathus typhle), I met rather 

 abundantly in the spring months in Dingle harbour, and the sequoreal pipe fish 

 (Acestra cequorea), more frequent during summer. The former may be seen of an 

 emerald green, beautifully barred, and the latter with rich tints of yellowish orange, 

 barred with white lines. The Hippocampus brevirostris, or short-nosed sea-horse, has 

 been taken at low water in Smerwick, adhering in its peculiar manner to the rigid 

 stems of Cistoseira. Fish, like the gay plumage of our birds, assume their gaudiest 

 tints in the bridal season, and this is remarkably seen in the Syngnathidae, in the 

 Cottidae, and in the gobies. Skates and rays and the singular horny pouches con- 

 taining the young, are met in all the harbours ; but sufficient has been said of the 

 interest that exists to the naturalist, and which a dredge and a small boat-sean can 

 always command the capture of. To follow out more closely such investigations, how 

 interesting would be the experiments resulting from daily examination of the habits 

 of these different fish placed in those large tanks, with shingly and sandy beds, rock, 

 and with sea plants and Conferva), to please their habits and tastes. Thus, beautiful 

 fields of interest are laid open to the astonishment of the admirers of Nature's works, 

 and the hidden mysteries of the tenants of the deep, unveiled and unravelled to phy- 

 siological science. In the large cisterns of the vivaria, at the Zoological Gardens, I 

 have watched with interest the perfect lifelessness of the pike and the perch — they 

 appeared like beautifully varnished specimens suspended in the fluid — motionless and 

 inanimate, and no perceptible pulsation of the opcrculi or gill-covers. Living in an 

 element heavier than air, and suspended in a liquid of nearly the same specific gravity 

 as their own bodies, their forms are beautifully proportioned to oiler the least resistable 



