62 CHANNEL ISLANDS FISHES. 



Ling"* Lota molvn, Jen., Yar. Gudm molva, Lin. 



This also is a northern species, hut it occurs occasionally on our shores. 

 I have seen two or three l^rg'^ examples taken off Corbiere Point, Jersey. 

 TOPSk. Bosmiis vulgaris, Flem., Jen., Yar. Gaclus brasnic, Lacepede. 



Tue Only tvvo specnnens I have seen were taken at Guernaey. 

 *ThPe8-bearded Roekling*. Motdla tridrrata, Jen. Motella vulgaris, Yar., 

 Gun. Local name : "" Loche.'''' 



Very conitnon in all the islands. 

 Five-bearded Roekling. Motellaquiuquedrrata^Xox.^QiViW. Local name: 

 " Fetiie Loche.''' 



Very abundant on our rocky coasts, lurking under stones at all tide zones. 

 *LeSSer Sand-eel. Ammodytes tohianus, Cuv. Ammodytes kmcea, Yar., Gun. 

 Local name : " Red Sand-eel.'''' 



Urfually abundant on all our shores. 

 *Gpeater Sand-eel. Ammodytes toManus, Cuv., Yar., Jen. Ammodytes 

 lanceolatas, Gunther. Local name: " Green Sand-eel.''^ 



Usually abundant on all our shores. This fish, which attains a length 

 of about fourteen inches, is sometimes abundant, but like the preceding, is 

 not residential. Those that usually arrive here are detachments of the vast 

 shoals that pass up and down the (Channel. In Jersey there is legislation 

 for its protection, a measure quite useless, and springing from a total ignor- 

 ance of its habits. The shoals generally consist of individuals of the same 

 age, but are sometimes joined by individuals straying from other shoals. 



A third species of Sand-eel is described in the standard books, and the 

 fishermen speak of one which they term the " Touche " ; but the distinctive 

 characters are not obvious. 

 *Turbot. Hhomhus tnaximus, Cuv., Yar., Jen 



Constant, but not abundant, on all our shores. 

 *Brill. Rhombus vulgaris, Cuv., Yar. Rhombus Ice cis, Gun. 

 Constant, but not abundant, on all our shores. 



*Topknot. Rhombus jmnctatus, Cuv., Gun. Rhombus hirtus, Yar. Zeitgopterus 

 maculatus, Jen. Local names : Rock Sole, Cat Fish. 



This species is constant, occurring sparingly on all our rocky shores. 

 At low spring tides individuals may sometimes be seen attached to the 

 vertical sides of the rocks from which the tide has receded. This fish forms 

 a sucking disc of the whole of one side of its body, assisted by the dorsal and 

 ventral fins. 



There is another species of Topknot {Zeugopte.rus himacidatus) which may 

 occur with us, and possibly does, but the distinguishing characters are not 

 very clear, and the two species may have been confounded. 



*Plaiee. Platessa vulgaris, Flem., Yar., Jen. Pleuronectes platessa, Lin., Gun, 



This species, forming an important part of our local fishery, calls for a 

 somewhat more lengthy notice than I have accorded to any of the foregoing. 

 The more so as it is the subject of local legislation, and its life-history and 

 habits have evidently not been fully considered by those who have framed 

 the laws for its protection. 



The Plaice is sexually mature when it has reached a length of about 

 eight inches ; and it is then three years old. Spawning does not take place 

 immediately on our shores ; this being effected as a rule in deep water. The 

 only instance I have been able to trace of its spawning in comparatively 

 shallow water, was last year when a fisherman brought me one in the act of 

 spawning, takci in three fathoms of water, in St. Aubin's Bay. 



Thee^gson liberation float on the sea surface; they float singly, each 

 being buoyed up by little oil gloi)ules. Hatching takes place at the sea sur- 

 face. The young emerge in a larval condition ; that is, they come from the 

 egg in a less advanced stage of development than do the young of most other 

 fishes. Aa devel'>pment pr 'ceeds they assume a form hardly distinguishable 

 from the young of ordinary fishes, being bilaterally symmetrical. At this 

 stage, as well as in the earlier ones, they are wafted by winds and currents 

 on to our shores. 



On reaching the shallow water (right up to tide margin) the young 

 Plaice rapidly take to the habit of lying on one side, — the left. The bonea 



