284 



Part III. — Twenty-second Annual Report 



the torpedo described in the Nineteenth Annual Report* was caught near 

 the same place. On this specimen Dr. Scott found some new and 

 interesting parasites [see p. 275.) 



This fish is said by Day to be not uncommon off the mouth of the 

 Thames and along the south coast, and Dr. Murie states that on the coast 

 of Kent and at Burnham specimens from \ \ to 2 feet are not uncommon, 

 while in the estuary of the Thames it is not abundant and only small 

 specimens are found. t Holt refers to two small specimens trawled off 

 Plymouth, and several taken on the trawling grounds off Salcombe ; and 

 he says the fish is well known to the local fishermen and hardly deserves 

 special mention as a rare fish in that district. % 



It is, however, a very rare fish in Scottish waters. Parnell met with 

 only one example, which was caught in a salmon-net in the Firth of 

 Forth, § and Mr Eagle Clarke, who has brought together all the descrip- 

 tions of rare species of the Firth of Forth since the time of Parnell, met 

 with only one specimen which he examined in 1897. and which was 

 caught off the Isle of May, and it is the only instance he knows of since 

 Parnell's record.|| It does not appear, either, that the indefatigable 

 Edwards of Banff ever came across a specimen. 



It is noteworthy that this species, like the torpedo, usually has the 

 skin smooth and soft ; though Day mentions that there are occasionally 

 some tubercles along the middle line of the back in the scapular region. 

 The one is protected by its electric organ and the other by the 

 formidable serrated spine with which its tail is provided, and which is 

 capable of causing dangerous wounds ; they thus differ from the ordinary 

 rays in this respect. 



The Pilchard (Clupea pilchardus). 



On the 20th June last year a pilchard was taken in a drift-net 

 employed in catching herrings, about 15 miles off Buckie, in the Moray 

 Firth, where it was landed. I am indebted to Mr. Alexander Suther- 

 land, the Fishery Officer of the district, for the record. It measured 

 8| inches in length. 



In Scottish waters the pilchard is a very rare fish. Parnell, writing 

 in 1837, says that it was then very rare, although some thirty years 

 before it was common, and in certain localities found in equal abundance 

 with the herring ; as no authority is quoted the statement may be based 

 on Parnell's own observations. He says that a few were occasionally 

 ta,ken in the summer months on the Berwick and Dunbar coasts, but 

 that since 1816 no pilchard had been observed in the Firth of Forth. 

 Day also states that pilchards were more than usually abundant at 

 Yarmouth in 1780, 1790, and 1799, but he does not mention his 

 authority. 



They are, however, occasionally taken at long intervals. Thus Eagle 

 Clarke states that Mr. Logan records in the " Proceedings of the Koyal 

 Physical Society of Edinburgh" (vol. ii., p. 289) that in March, 1861, 

 considerable numbers of young pilchards were brought to the Edinburgh 

 market along with herrings and sprats ; they were only caught in large 

 quantities for a few days in March, but they had occurred sparingly 

 with herring during the previous winter months. Dr. Murie^T says that 



* Part III., p. 290. 



f " Report on the Sea Fisheries and Fishing Industries of the Thames Estuary," p. 169, 

 Kent and Essex Sea Fisheries Committee, London, 1903. 

 £ Joum. Marine Biol. Assoc. v., p. 198, 1898. 

 § " Fishes of the Firth of Forth," p. 440, 1838. 

 II Annals of Scottish Natural History, Oct. 1900, p. 215. 

 H Op. cit., p. 104. 



