MARINE BIOLOGICAL STATION AT POUT ERIN, 



127 



dorsal fin, and the tope are occasionally to ■ be seen 

 therein. The first named is abundant almost every- 

 where around our coasts, and it is a great pest to line 

 fishermen. The two latter are very destructive to herring 

 and mackerel nets, in which they get entangled in their 

 eager pursuit of these fish. The dog-fishes are not 

 generally esteemed as food, but the spotted one is eaten 

 in the Isle of Man, and the tope is sold in certain 



Flounder 



Plaice 



Halibut. 



Fig. XXVIII., Eggs of various fishes, all natural size. The egg-case 

 of the Dogfish has been opened to show the little fish inside. 



Lancashire towns under the name of " Darwen salmon." 

 Although skates and dog-fishes are so abundant in our 

 seas, each individual produces a very small number of 

 young, generally only from two to half-a-dozen or so at 

 a time. The egg is very large, has abundance of food- 

 yoke, and is enclosed in a horny case (see fig. XXVIII. ). 

 In these respects the cartilaginous fishes differ very 

 greatly from most of our common bony fishes, where the 



