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  THE 
  VEETEBRATE 
  FAUNA 
  OF 
  "DEE." 
  

  

  This 
  species 
  is 
  occasionally 
  caught 
  by 
  trawl 
  off 
  Aberdeen, 
  

   but 
  it 
  is 
  far 
  more 
  plentiful 
  in 
  deep 
  water 
  off 
  Wick, 
  from 
  

   which 
  locality 
  sometimes 
  a 
  hundredweight 
  of 
  them 
  is 
  brought 
  

   to 
  Aberdeen 
  Market. 
  

  

  As 
  in 
  many 
  other 
  cases, 
  the 
  number 
  of 
  caecal 
  appendages 
  

   found 
  in 
  this 
  fish 
  has 
  been 
  taken 
  to 
  demonstrate 
  a 
  dis- 
  

   tinction 
  of 
  species. 
  Nilsson 
  found 
  fourteen 
  to 
  twenty 
  such 
  in 
  

   A. 
  hebridica, 
  and 
  twelve 
  has 
  been 
  recorded 
  for 
  A. 
  sphyrana, 
  

   and 
  Dr. 
  Day 
  says 
  he 
  " 
  only 
  found 
  five 
  in 
  the 
  example 
  figured." 
  

  

  I, 
  however, 
  on 
  April 
  3rd, 
  1895, 
  found 
  in 
  one 
  that 
  was 
  16 
  

   inches 
  long, 
  twenty-five 
  caecal 
  appendages. 
  The 
  roe 
  in 
  this 
  

   example 
  was 
  four 
  inches 
  long 
  and 
  well 
  nigh 
  maturity. 
  This 
  

   organ 
  was 
  of 
  a 
  peculiar 
  form, 
  being 
  made 
  up 
  of 
  a 
  number 
  

   of 
  semicircular 
  plates 
  that 
  are 
  fastened 
  by 
  one 
  edge 
  to 
  a 
  

   ligamentous 
  membrane, 
  each 
  disk 
  being 
  quite 
  free 
  from 
  

   its 
  neighbours. 
  Subsequently 
  I 
  examined 
  two, 
  both 
  

   13J 
  inches 
  long 
  ; 
  the 
  one, 
  a 
  male, 
  had 
  eleven 
  caecal 
  appen- 
  

   dages, 
  and 
  the 
  other, 
  a 
  female, 
  twenty-three 
  of 
  the 
  same 
  

   organs. 
  Another 
  female, 
  14 
  inches 
  long, 
  had 
  twenty-three 
  

   caeca, 
  and 
  one 
  10 
  inches 
  long 
  had 
  only 
  four. 
  It 
  is 
  therefore 
  

   apparent 
  that 
  the 
  number 
  of 
  caeca 
  is 
  in 
  this, 
  as 
  in 
  other 
  

   members 
  of 
  the 
  fish 
  tribe, 
  of 
  no 
  value 
  in 
  the 
  determination 
  

   of 
  species. 
  

  

  Family 
  ESOCIMJ. 
  

   Genus 
  ESOX, 
  Cuvier. 
  

   Esox 
  lucius, 
  Linn. 
  Pike. 
  "Gade." 
  

  

  Common 
  in 
  the 
  Dee, 
  Don, 
  Ury, 
  Ythan, 
  but 
  is 
  not 
  known 
  

   to 
  exist 
  in 
  the 
  Deveron. 
  Plentiful 
  in 
  the 
  Lochs 
  of 
  Kinord, 
  

   Davan, 
  Callater, 
  Park, 
  Skene, 
  Slains, 
  Strathbeg, 
  and 
  Bishop's 
  

   Loch. 
  Has 
  been 
  introduced 
  into 
  many 
  of 
  the 
  lochs 
  and 
  

   streams 
  in 
  the 
  counties 
  of 
  Banff, 
  Moray, 
  Nairn, 
  Inverness, 
  

   Ross, 
  and 
  Sutherland. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  held 
  that 
  the 
  Pike 
  is 
  not 
  a 
  native 
  of 
  Britain, 
  but 
  

   when 
  introduced 
  and 
  by 
  whom 
  is 
  not 
  known. 
  In 
  Pennant's 
  

   British 
  Zoology, 
  vol. 
  iii., 
  p. 
  424, 
  is 
  the 
  following 
  : 
  " 
  According 
  

   to 
  the 
  common 
  saying, 
  these 
  fish 
  were 
  introduced 
  into 
  

  

  