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CELTIC PROVINCE. 



racteristic Celtic species. The sea-perches are few, 

 and the dolphins absent. 



Among the Blenny family we have in this region 

 the southern limits of the Gunnels, the viviparous 

 Blennies, and the Cat-fishes, and the whole tribe of 

 Cottoids attains its equatorial limit, so far as the 

 northern hemisphere is concerned. 



Within the British section of this province we 

 find distinct indications of a transition, as it were, 

 from a northern to a southern type. Several cha- 

 racteristic boreal forms find their southern limit 

 within the northern half of the British area, and 

 there some of the most striking and abundant 

 kinds are chiefly developed in numbers, such as the 

 cat-fish (Anarhicas lupus), the seythe (Merlangus 

 carbonarius), the ling (Lota molva), the cod (Gadus 

 morrhua), the lump-sucker (Cydopterus lumpus), 

 and even the herring (Clupea herengus). On the 

 other hand, along the southern shores of England 

 we find fishes becoming frequent that are distinctly 

 of a southern type, such as the red mullet (Mullus 

 barbatus), the sea-bream (species of Pagellus), and 

 far more plentifully, the John Dory (Zeus aper), 

 and the pilchard {Clupea pilchardus). 



But although the Celtic province cannot boast 

 overmuch of the beauty of its ichthyological sub- 

 jects, when as yet unboiled and swimming free in 

 the briny waters, it can challenge the world to 

 match, if it can, its favourite and abundant fishes 

 when they have undergone the gastronomic ordeal. 



