SOME FISH-NOTES FROM GREAT YARMOUTH. 455 



my identification, assuring me it was the Pelamid, which is 

 known also as the Belted Bonito, or the Short-finned Tunny. 

 So far as I can trace, it is new to the East Anglian coast. 



It is more than probable that Day's illustration (■' British 

 Fishes,' vol. i. pi. 38) is, so far as markings go, a correct repre- 

 sentation of the species. It is, however, to my mind, a trifle too 

 slender when compared with my example, as is Couch's figure, the 

 markings of which do not correspond with Day's drawing. Yar- 

 rell's drawings of the Bonitos are to me confused and unsatis- 

 factory. I regret the condition of my specimen, which, although 

 so knocked about, could not have been dead more than three or 

 four days. The Hooded Crows that had forestalled me in the 

 discovery had already started disembowelling it, evidently de- 

 ciding that it was not too far gone for their liking. 



Elated by my "find" of October 30th, I was tempted to 

 renew my visit to the harbour-mouth on November 12th, when, 

 to my great surprise, lying among a few starfishes, weeds, and 

 crabs drawn up at the tide-mark, I observed a large Mackerel- 

 like head with pronounced teeth, and immediately recognized it 

 as that of Pelamys sarda. In this case the body had been either 

 cut or broken off, probably the latter, and it was in such a 

 condition of decay as to warrant my belief that it had been 

 netted a very short time after, or more likely contemporary with, 

 my first example. The eye-sockets contained only the eye- 

 casings, and the smell was rancid, my fingers retaining this 

 pungent odour after a good washing. My opinion is that a 

 small party of these Bonitos had attached themselves to the 

 Mackerel shoals, and had come to grief in the meshes of the 

 nets ; their more acutely angled heads and stouter bodies, with 

 their greater weight, had no doubt caused them to fall out and 

 sink to the bottom. I do not think any fisherman, who could 

 hardly help noticing some slight difference in them from their 

 commoner brethren, would throw overboard such distinguished- 

 looking fishes. In size and appearance, excepting advanced 

 decay, both heads were exactly akin. 



There have been considerable numbers of the Scad (Tra- 

 rhurus trachurus), or Horse-Mackerel, of a size not exceeding 

 the Herrings themselves, taken in the herring-nets during the 

 months of October and November. Their presence has been 



