﻿FISHES. 
  

  

  241 
  

  

  suspected, 
  must 
  Couchia 
  thompsoni 
  and 
  Couchia 
  edivardii 
  be 
  

   placed, 
  both 
  of 
  which 
  are 
  described 
  as 
  distinct 
  species 
  by 
  

   Couch, 
  from 
  specimens 
  sent 
  to 
  him 
  from 
  Banff 
  by 
  Edward 
  ; 
  

   only 
  that 
  C. 
  edivardii 
  appears 
  to 
  be 
  the 
  young 
  of 
  Motella 
  

   cimbria. 
  

  

  In 
  this 
  connection, 
  the 
  Seven-bearded 
  Rockling 
  found 
  by 
  

   me 
  must 
  of 
  necessity 
  be 
  looked 
  upon 
  as 
  a 
  mere 
  accidental 
  

   variety 
  of 
  the 
  Five-bearded 
  Rockling. 
  In 
  the 
  notice 
  of 
  Motella 
  

   tricirrata 
  it 
  is 
  mentioned 
  that 
  the 
  barbels 
  have 
  been 
  observed 
  

   to 
  be 
  bifid. 
  This 
  bifurcation, 
  by 
  being 
  extended 
  to 
  the 
  base 
  of 
  

   the 
  barbels 
  next 
  to 
  the 
  eye, 
  would 
  give 
  the 
  exact 
  appearance 
  

   of 
  the 
  seven-bearded 
  form 
  referred 
  to, 
  and 
  indeed 
  some 
  affirm 
  

   that 
  the 
  three, 
  four, 
  and 
  five 
  -bearded 
  Rocklings 
  are 
  merely 
  

   varieties 
  of 
  one 
  form. 
  

  

  Dr. 
  Howden, 
  in 
  his 
  list 
  of 
  fishes, 
  in 
  referring 
  to 
  the 
  

   seven 
  -barbeled 
  form 
  alluded 
  to 
  above, 
  gives 
  it 
  the 
  name 
  of 
  

   M. 
  septemciviata. 
  It 
  is 
  surely 
  a 
  mistake 
  to 
  multiply 
  names 
  

   in 
  this 
  way, 
  and 
  with 
  so 
  little 
  ground 
  for 
  doing 
  so. 
  

  

  Motella 
  cimbria, 
  Nilss. 
  Four-bearded 
  Rockling. 
  

  

  In 
  describing 
  this 
  form 
  from 
  a 
  specimen 
  fourteen 
  inches 
  

   long, 
  Parnell 
  says 
  : 
  "I 
  am 
  not 
  aware 
  of 
  the 
  Motella 
  cimbria 
  

   having 
  previously 
  been 
  noticed 
  as 
  a 
  British 
  fish." 
  Although 
  

   mostly 
  all 
  previous 
  writers 
  have 
  mentioned 
  this 
  fish, 
  all 
  agree 
  

   in 
  accounting 
  it 
  " 
  rare." 
  I 
  have 
  found 
  it 
  at 
  Aberdeen. 
  

  

  Motella 
  tricirrata, 
  Miss. 
  Three-bearded 
  Rockling. 
  

   " 
  Miller's 
  Thumb." 
  

  

  Under 
  the 
  name 
  Motella 
  vulgaris, 
  Parnell 
  says 
  : 
  " 
  It 
  is 
  rare 
  

   in 
  the 
  Firth 
  of 
  Forth 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  along 
  the 
  whole 
  of 
  the 
  

   eastern 
  shores 
  of 
  Scotland." 
  

  

  This 
  species 
  is 
  not 
  mentioned 
  by 
  Edward 
  in 
  his 
  " 
  Fishes 
  of 
  

   Banffshire," 
  as 
  given 
  in 
  the 
  Naturalist 
  for 
  1855, 
  nor 
  in 
  the 
  

   list 
  at 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  his 
  " 
  Life," 
  as 
  given 
  by 
  Smiles, 
  1876. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  recorded 
  from 
  the 
  Moray 
  Firth 
  by 
  Harris 
  in 
  Zoologist, 
  

   ix., 
  for 
  1851. 
  M'Intosh 
  does 
  not 
  mention 
  it 
  in 
  his 
  " 
  Fishes 
  of 
  

   St. 
  Andrews." 
  

  

  This 
  species 
  is 
  frequently 
  brought 
  into 
  Aberdeen 
  by 
  trawl 
  

  

  