98 



The In'sh Naturalist 



with which our Irish fish agrees in the most essential 

 characters. In fact, Mr. Regan expressed the opinion, with 

 which I concur, that Brama princcps and Brania longipinnis 

 cannot be readily separated from one another, and that 

 the latter term ought to be applied to the Irish specimen. 

 Miss Stephens' original identification of the Valencia fish 

 should, therefore, be taken as correct. 



As will be noticed from the accompanying photograph, 

 which was kindly taken for me by Mr. A. McGoogan, this 

 bream is especially characterised by its elongated dorsal 

 and anal fins. The dorsal fin arises behind the direct line 

 above the insertion of the pectoral. The front of the anal 

 fin lies about the middle of the body. The body is com- 

 pressed from side to side, the cleft of the mouth being 

 oblique, with the lower jaw slightly projecting. The scales 

 near the forked tail are provided with a tiny hook. When 

 the fish was caught it was brilliantly coloured, according 

 to the fisherma-n's description. At the time of its arrival 

 on the island it had already lost that brilhancy of tint, as so 

 many fishes do. It was almost uniformly grey. 



Our specimen measures 20 inches (50 centimetres) in 

 length from the snout to the fork of the tail. The height of 

 the body in a vertical line from the anterior base of the 

 dorsal fin amounts to 9-^- inches (23.2 cm.). The fish 

 weighed seven and a quarter pounds. 



The genus Brama, to which the Long -finned Bream 

 belongs, occurs in the i\tlantic. Pacific, and Indian Oceans, 

 and two species are now known from the Irish marine area. 

 Ray's Bream (Brama Rait) was first recorded in the year 

 1888, and still remains one of our great rarities. The Long- 

 finned Bream, as already stated, was first obtained near 

 Madeira, and this record is the first for the Britannic marine 

 area. One specimen has since been captured off the north 

 coast of Norway, while another was washed ashore on 

 Iceland. 



National Museum, Dublin, 



