A HISTORY OF DEVONSHIRE 



TELEOSTEANS 



ACANTHOPTERYGII 

 *i. Perch. Perca ffuviatilis, Linn. 

 Common. 



**2. Sea Bass. Morone labrax, Linn. 



(Lahrax lupuSy Day). 

 Fairly common, and grows to a large size. 

 It enters the estuary of the Tamar, and 

 ascends a considerable distance from the sea. 

 Fine specimens are usually to be seen in the 

 Plymouth Aquarium. It is mostly taken by 

 seine, or by hook and line. 



3. Comber. Serranus cabrilla, Linn. 

 According to Day it is common at Ply- 

 mouth. There are specimens from that port 

 in the British Museum (Natural History). 



4. Stone Bass. Polyprion amertcanus, Bl. Schn. 



(P. cerntum. Day) 

 According to Holdsworth, not uncommon. 

 A specimen, 20J inches long, was taken by 

 hook and line off Plymouth in 1892 {Journ. 

 M.B.A. vol. ii.). It is sometimes called 

 wreck-fish from its habit of following floating 

 wreckage, especially timbers covered with 

 barnacles, which appear to be the attraction 

 to the fish. 



5. Shade-fish. Sciana aquila, Lac6p. 

 Occasional specimens; one over 100 lb. 



weight, was taken in 1850 at Brixham ; 

 others have been captured at Teignmouth, at 

 Beer, at Dartmouth, etc. (Day). 



6. Black Sea Bream. Cantharus lineatus, 



Montagu. 

 One of the occasional visitors. A young 

 specimen only 6^ inches long was taken by 

 Mr. Holt in July 1897 at the mouth of the 

 Lynher in the Hamoaze. 



7. Bogue. Box vulgaris, Cuv. and Val. 



A rare visitor. One was taken near Ply- 

 mouth in 1872 (Day). 



8. Common Sea Bream. Pagellus centrodontus, 



De la Roche. 

 Very common, taken both in trawls and on 

 hooks. The young are called chad, and 

 abound in summer and autumn. In these the 

 black shoulder spot is not developed, and many 

 suppose them to be of a distinct species. 



9. Spanish Bream. Pagellus bogaraveo, Brtlnn. 

 As it is not uncommon off the Cornish 



coast, it probably occurs in Devon waters 

 occasionally. 



1 0. Axillary Bream. Pagellus owenii, GUnther. 

 Has been recorded (Day). 



1 1 . Pandora. Pagellus erythrinus, Linn. 

 Common in summer and autumn. 



12. Gilt-head. Pagrus auratus, Linn. 

 Another rare visitor. Two specimens 



obtained by Montagu, in 1802, at Torcross. 



13. Red Mullet. Mullus barbatus, Linn., 



var. surmuletus, Linn. 

 Fairly common, taken in seines and trawls. 

 The striped variety is the one which occurs. 

 The writer does not recollect seeing the plain 

 form {barbatus) at Plymouth, though it is said 

 to have been taken in Berwickshire and in 

 Cornwall. The evidence seems to prove that 

 the plain variety is the Mediterranean form, the 

 striped that of the Atlantic. It is interesting 

 to watch these fish in the Plymouth Aquarium 

 using their two stiff barbels to probe the gravel 

 in search of shrimps or other prey. 



14. Ballan Wrasse. Labrus maculatus,'B\oda, 

 Very common on weedy ground. It is 



very variable in colour, one variety, called the 

 comber, having a white band along the side 

 from the eye to the tail, while the Labrus 

 lineatus of Donovan is green with yellow 

 streaks. Mr. Holt (Journ. M.B.A. v. 193) 

 has shown that the colour of the same in- 

 dividual is highly variable. A specimen taken 

 in Zostera was uniformly green, then changed 

 to olive grey, with dark transverse bars, and 

 afterwards showed a pale round spot on several 

 of the scales. The most frequent coloration 

 is brown or green with a bright spot on every 

 scale. 



15. Cook or Cuckoo Wrasse. Labrus mixtus, 



Linn. 

 Fairly common. The colours of the male 

 are very brilliant, red with blue stripes. The 

 female is yellow with three black spots on the 

 hinder part of the back. 



16. Conner. Crenilabrus melops, Linn. 

 Very common. 



17. Jago's Goldsinny. Ctenolabrus rupestris, 



Linn. 

 Common. 



18. Rock Cook. Centrolabrus exoletus, Linn. 

 Not uncommon. In Salcombe estuary. 



19. Rainbow Wrasse. Coris julis, Linn. 



A Mediterranean species. Specimens 

 obtained by Leach from south Devon are in 

 the British Museum. 



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