UPPER NIDDERDALE AND ITS FAUNA. 



205 



Slow-worm. Anguis fragilis. Local name: 'sleerworm.' Common 



in hedge-bottoms and woods. 

 Smooth Newt. Triton tseniatus. Local names: ' watter-askerd,' 



* watter-asker,' ' watter-aask.' Common in stagnant waters. 

 Toad. Bufo vulgaris. Local name : 'te-ad.' Common. 

 Frog. Rana temporaria. Common. 



FISHES. 



The ichthyology of Nidderdale is not very rich. The physical 

 character of the district precludes the occurrence of many kinds of 

 fish, and consequently we have but seven to record. Fish have been 

 introduced into the Nidd at various times. Mr. Yorke, some six or 

 seven years ago, introduced some thousands of the Neuchatel trout, 

 both above and below Ramsgill. None appear to have been taken 

 by anglers since, so that the introduction appears not to have in- 

 creased the fish found in the river. Storey has never met with any 

 fish but trout in the river or streams above Lofthouse, and it becomes 

 a question for consideration whether the two-mile subterranean course 

 of the river is a bar to the ascent of fish. 



River Bullhead. Cottus gobio. Local name: 'bullhead.' Very 



numerous in the Nidd, somewhat less so in the streamlets. 

 Minnow. Leuciscus phoxinus. Local name: 'minnerd.' Occurs 



in little shoals, common in the Nidd below Lofthouse, but not 



so in the tributaries. 

 Loach. Nemachilus barbatulus. Local name: 'pottle.' Common 

 .in places where the lampern is found; very numerous in the 



Nidd, somewhat less so in the streamlets. 

 Trout. Salmo fario. Very numerous, particularly near the source 



of the river. They are, however, here much smaller and much 



darker in colour than in the lower and more open parts of the 



stream. In some of the deeper chasms of How Stean Beck, 



into which the sun's rays never penetrate, the trout are extremely 



dark, almost black. 

 Grayling. Thymallus vulgaris. By no means numerous, and 



occurs almost entirely in the Nidd itself, being more frequently 



met with near Pateley than elsewhere. 

 Eel. Anguilla vulgaris. Comparatively numerous, especially where 



there are sandbanks or congenial mud. Seldom found in any 



of the tributaries. 



Lampern. Petromyzon fluviatilis. Local name : 1 little lamp eel.' 

 Met with very commonly in shallow places, where considerable 

 deposits of sand and shingle have been left by the river. 



July 1886. 



