FISHES 



The list of Devonshire fishes is rather a long one, a number of southern 

 species, many of which have their headquarters in the Mediterranean, 

 occurring either as regular or occasional visitors. A number of species 

 recently added to the British fauna have been found off the Devonshire 

 coasts in the course of the collecting work of the Plymouth Laboratory, 

 and many of the records given in the list below are taken from the 'Journal 

 of the Marine Biological Association, to which the Laboratory belongs. 

 The writer was a member of the staff of the Laboratory from 1887 to 



These recent discoveries include Zeugopterus norvegicus, Arnoglossus 

 grohmanni, Callionymus maculatus, Syngnathus rostellatus, and Gadus esmarkii. 



Among the characteristic southern forms which are plentiful are the 

 red mullet, the tub or latchet among the gurnards, the sole, turbot and 

 brill, the pilchard and the mackerel. There is an extensive pilchard 

 fishery at Plymouth, but few are taken east of that district. The question 

 whether the pilchard is the same as the sardine is often asked and seldom 

 answered correctly. The French sardine of commerce is prepared on the 

 west coast of France between Brest and Bordeaux, and the fish are caught 

 in summer and autumn. They are small fish from 5 to 7 inches in length, 

 and are the young of the same species as the pilchard. Pilchards of the 

 same size occur off the coast of Devon and Cornwall, but only in com- 

 paratively small numbers, or at irregular intervals, while on the other 

 hand the larger pilchards, or sardines, 7 to 10 inches long, are caught 

 on the coast of France in winter, as well as on the coasts of Devon and 

 Cornwall. Both in Devon and in France the larger fish are caught with 

 ordinary drift nets, but in French waters the small summer fish are caught 

 by a somewhat different method, a single net being shot at a time and 

 bait, consisting of salted cod's roe, being thrown into the water to attract 

 the fish. Sardines also occur in the Mediterranean, but there they are a 

 smaller race, though of the same species, and do not exceed 7 or 8 inches 

 in length when mature. 



Many northern species are either scarce or absent from Devon 

 waters, or, if present, do not reach so large a size or such fine condition 

 for the table. The plaice are smaller than those of the northern part of 

 the North Sea, cod are not plentiful and not so fine, the haddock is 

 rare. The whiting, on the other hand, is abundant and well developed. 



An asterisk prefixed to a name denotes a freshwater species ; two 

 asterisks indicate occurrence in both fresh and salt water. 



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