of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



273 



and more or less generally distributed, especially in the deep-water 

 area. The same may be said of the Argentine, Argentina sphyrcena. 

 This fish, which used to be considered a rare species in the Clyde, 

 is really not very uncommon when sought for with suitable appliances. 

 It may be pointed out further that if anyone were to look through 

 the lists of Clyde fishes captured by the "Garland," he would fail 

 to find a single record of a Halibut, which is only occasionally taken 

 by a trawl. Moreover, the halibut is not mentioned for the Clyde in 

 Dr. Giinther's paper, nor in the work published by Harvey-Brown 

 and T. E. Buckley already cited, yet the Fishery Officer at Girvan 

 informs me that halibut are not very rare in the seaward part of the 

 Clyde estuary, and that they are sometimes caught in the deep water 

 ofi' Ayr ; while in a letter, dated the 28th December last, he states that 

 he had seen, a few days before, a young halibut landed at Girvan, which 

 had been caught between that place and Ailsa Craig, and which weighed 

 about a stone. 



In looking through the statistics of the steamer "Garland," it will 

 also have been observed that Turbot and Brill are not very frequently 

 mentioned in the lists of fishes captured by the steamer in the Clyde 

 estuary, yet there is a more or less regular turbot fishery carried on off 

 Girvan, and sometimes a considerable number of these fishes, captured in 

 the Clyde by gill-nets, are brought to market. It is obvious from facts 

 such as these that, though one mode of fishing may yield negative results 

 in respect of certain species, it does not necessarily follow that these 

 species are absent or even rare. The results obtained by the use of the 

 ordinary beam or otter trawl are usually very different from those 

 obtained by the use of special nets or lines, therefore a kind of fish that 

 may be seldom or never captured by one set of appliances, may by the 

 use of a different set be found comparatively frequent. 



The present enumeration comprises 113 species of Clyde fishes, but the 

 occurrence of one or two of these appears to be somewhat doubtful; and it is 

 also very desirable in the case of one or two others which, though their 

 presence in the Clyde seems to be fairly well attested, further information 

 should be obtained concerning them. I have indicated such species by 

 enclosing their names within square brackets, and also by the notes referring 

 to them. 



There are several kinds of fishes which appear to be equally at home 

 in the sea and in brackish water, and in some cases even in water that is 

 fresh or nearly so ; and there is a considerable divergence of opinion as to 

 which, and how many, of these should be included in lists of marine 

 species, and of those which should more properly be regarded as fresh- 

 water forms. One has only to compare Professor H. G. Seeley's interest- 

 ing work on The Fresh-Water Fishes of Europe with that of The British 

 Marine Food-Fishes, by Professor M'Intosh and Mr. A. T. Masterman, to 

 find examples of this difference of opinion. In the present list there will 

 probably be found species which, in the opinion of some people, should 

 have been excluded as belonging more proDerlv to the fresh-water group; 

 but when we find distinguished writers failing to agree on sucn a point as 

 this, I may be excused if unable to prepare a list perfect in this respect. 

 The basis of this list is the enumeration of Loch Fyne fishes, already 

 referred to, prepared by the late George Brook, Esq., and published in 

 1886. 



I have followed as far as possible the nomenclature used by Professor 

 M'Intosh and Masterman in their British Marine Food-Fishes, while the 

 arrangement of the species is in accordance with that of the History of 

 British Fishes by Dr. Francis Day. 



