CHANNEL ISLANDS FISHES. 59 



VipeP. Little Weever. Trachinus vipera, Cuv., Yar., Gun. 



Less c )mmoa than the preceding. Have taken it at Guernsey and at 

 Herm. Not recorded for Jersey. 



Selena. Maigre. ScieiHi aquila, Yar., Gun. Sciena umbrayJjhi., Guy. Sciena 

 umbra, Lacepede. 



This magnificent fish is only an occasional visitor to our shores. I have 

 seen but three examples in Jersey, the largest of which weighed seventy- 

 five pounds. It is known to the fishermen by the name of " isturgeon " atjd 

 also " Surgeon,"— names which may lead to much error in determiiiing our 

 fishes, as both these are the names of actual species; the former belongs to 

 northern, and tbe latter to antipodal seas. The Jersey fishermen also know 

 it as " le Maigre." 



*Maekerel. Scomber scomber, Lin. Scomber vulgaris, Yar., Gun., &c. 



The Channel Islands are off the track of the great shoals, but this species 

 is fairly abundant off the northernmost islands. Less common at Jersey. 



*John Dory. Zeusfaber, Lin., Yar., Gun. 



Tolerably common on all our coasts, but less frequent at Jersey than at 

 Guernsey. 



Sead. Horse Mackerel. Trachurus vulgaris, Yar. Trachurus trachurus, Gunther. 

 Scomber trachurus, Lm. 



Erratic in occurrence. Sometimes abundant, then suddenly disappears. 

 More constant at Guernsey than at Jersey. 



*BoaP Fish. Capros apcr, Cuv. Zeus aper, Lin. Capros sanglier, Lacep. 



This beautiful little ruse-red fish is an occasional spring visitor, some- 

 times abundant, but not regular. On its visits it frequents our sandy 

 bays, and has the peculiar and suicidal habit of detexminately running itself 

 ashore with a receding tide. At Vermerette, in Herm. I have been busy for 

 an hour picking up wuuld-be suicides, and returning them to the sea,— but 

 all in vain, they icoulcl rush to land again. 



Blaek Goby. Gobius niger, Lin., Yar., Gun. Gobie boulerot, Lacep. 



There seems to be some contusion in the determination of these very 

 common fishes. The Black Goby proper, a fish about nine inches long, 

 and of a deep brown black, occurs in all the islands, but is not abundant. 

 A Goby, also termed Rock Goby and Black Gobij, is exceedingly abundant 

 on all our rocky coasts, lurking under stones. But this species is invariably 

 of an olive green, with a darker mottling of bottle green or brown black. 

 It does not exceed five inches in length, and specimens are sexually mature 

 when four inches long or less. The eggs, which are spindle-shaped (and 

 through tbe thin walls of which the embryo is distinctly visible), are 

 attached by one end, in an even layer, to the under sides of stones, during 

 May and June. The local (Jersey) name of this little fish, which may be a 

 variety of the Black Goby, is "■ 3Ianchuette." 



Little Goby. Gobius minutus, Cuv., Gun. 



Common in sandy pools in all the islands. 



Two-spotted Goby. GoIAhs Ruthensparii, Cuv., Gun. Gobius bipimctatus, 

 Yar. 



Very common in all the islands in sandy, rocky, and Zostera-bordered 

 pools. 



Slender Goby. Gobius gracilis, Cuv. 



Not common. Occurs with the last. 



BPOad-finned Goby. Gobius biocellatus, Cuv, 



I have not seen this species alive, but specimens in the Museum of the 

 Jesuits' College, Jersey, were taken at St. Clement's Bay, Jersey. 



*YellOW Seulpin. Gemmous Bragonet. Galliomjmus hjra, Lin., Yar., Gun. 



The male, a gorgeous yellow and blue marbled fish, about nine inches 

 long, with prolonged scimitar-shaped dorsal fins, is only taken in deep 

 water, and not very frequently. But tbe female (and possibly the immature 

 male) occurs abundantly on shell-gravel bottom, at the lowest tide zone. 

 These, — the females and perhaps the immature males, — have hitherto been 

 described as a distinct species, under the name of the Dusky Seulpin 

 {Callionynms sordida), as 1 mentioned in the opening lines of this paper. 



