AN ANNOTATED LIST OF CORNISH FISHES. 423 



been obtained near the Eddystone. A mature female of Gobius 

 scorpioides, Collet, one of the smallest fishes known, was dredged 

 by Holt in eighteen fathoms in Falmouth Harbour in July, 1897. 

 The Transparent Goby (Aphia pellucida, Nardo) is abundant in 

 Cawsand Bay in July, and has been taken in the Lynher above 

 Waterlake in April (M. B. A.). Enormous numbers appear at 

 times off Mevagissey followed by a shoal of Herrings, for which 

 they constitute an attractive food supply. Great swarms have 

 also appeared in Mount's Bay (Dunn/.). In June, 1906, several 

 were taken in a hand-net at King Harry Passage on the Fal. The 

 Crystal Goby {Crystallogobius nilssonii, Diib. et Kor.) is common in 

 the deeper parts of Falmouth Bay and, to judge from the specimens 

 sent in, plentiful around Mevagissey and locally in Mount's Bay. 

 The John Dory {Zeus faber, L.) is common all round the 

 coast. During the winter the majority evidently prefer deep 

 water, but throughout the summer it delights in shallow inshore 

 water where weeds and small fishes abound. It may often be 

 seen in great numbers following up shoals of Sprats and other 

 small fry, and, though usually slow and sluggish in its move- 

 ments, shows remarkable activity as it jerks backwards and 

 forwards with its mouth open among the smaller fish that serve 

 as food. Large specimens are often taken with bait, the most 

 successful being a live young Chad fastened by the tail. When 

 swallowed head first the spines of the Chad act as so many 

 hooks. The finest fish are generally obtained by trawling in 

 deep water, but good catches are often made in ground-seines 

 both near the shore and two or three miles out at sea. The 

 largest Cornish specimen that has passed through the writer's 

 hands weighed 11 lb. The Boar-fish (Capros aper, L.) up till 

 1843 was regarded as one of the rarest of British fishes, but that 

 year it appeared in large numbers from Plymouth westwards. 

 Always very local, it vanished altogether in 1846, and was repre- 

 sented by an occasional solitary specimen up to 1870, when it 

 became remarkably plentiful along the south coast of the county, 

 and for nine years was so abundant locally as every now and then 

 to fill the trawls. As it is not a marketable fish, it became in 

 places a veritable pest. In 1879, after a violent east wind, 

 it entirely died out, and, though occasionally taken on deep 

 trawling-grounds, was not again seen in shallow water till 1894 



