222 



Appendices to Fourth Annual Report 



the reach of food, and exposed to the bufietings of the waves, "seldom 

 grow to a useful size. 



The cultivation of the mussel for sale is carried on in the estuary of 

 the Eden, bringing a revenue to St Andrews on an average of £500 per 

 annum. The beds (' scalps ' or ' scaups ') are mostly formed on muddy flats, 

 uncovered at low water. They are cropped in rotation. The 'seed,' consist^ 

 ing of young mussels from half an inch to one inch or thereabout in length, 

 are dredged from parts where they have been deposited naturally. These 

 parts have in many cases previously carried a crop of mussels. The ' seed ' 

 may, however, be grown on places unadapted for rearing saleable mussels. 

 The rate of growth is very rapid, an inch to an inch and a half in a year 

 being no uncommon addition to the length. The rate depends on con- 

 ditions, which may be regulated to some extent. Other things being 

 equal, it seems to be the case that the longer the mussels are dry between 

 tides the slower is their growth. The quickest growth is made by those 

 lying in the bed of the stream, when they are never uncovered. Hence 

 the opinion that, broadly speaking, the higher the beds are above the sea- 

 level the less chance of success. The level of the ' scaups ' is gradually 

 being raised by the detention of silt amongst the mussels, and no attempt 

 is made on an extensive scale to lower it. The mussels grown in the Eden 

 are used for bait only. Professor M'Intosh recently had a few hurdles 

 erected there for the purpose of investigating the suitability of the site 

 for the cultivation of mussels for human food. They have become densely 

 covered with young mussels, but it remains to be seen whether, with care- 

 ful thinning and cleaning, the project may be profitably carried out. 



ir .ibjiij ami ir^fUi. 



APPENDIX F.— No. XV. 



ICHTHYOLOGICAL NOTES. By Geoege Brook, F.L.S. 

 (Plate IX.) 



1. Sehastes Norwegicus (Ascam.) Norway haddock or Norwegian carp, 

 — This is a northern form, and is only occasionally met with on our 

 coasts. A specimen was forwarded by the Fishery officer at Berwick on 

 the 19th of May 1885. It measured 8 inches in length, and was of a 

 bright red colour when received. The specimen from Shetland, recorded 

 in the 'Fishery Board Report' for 1883 as Serranus cahrilla, should have 

 been described as Sehastes Norivegiciis. 



2. Garelophus ascanii (Walb.). — A specimen of this pretty blenny was 

 captured in May last, between tide marks, in front of the Fishery Board 

 Laboratory at Tarbert, Lochfyne. So far as I am aware, the only other 

 record of this species as occurring on the West Coast of Scotland is that 

 given by Fleming, who found it in Loch Broom. In the cojDy of Yarrell's 

 British Fishes in the Edinburgh University Library, there is a note in pencil 

 to the following effect : — ' Twice taken on the shores of Rothesay Bay. 

 * J. M.' There is no date given, and I do not know by whom the record 

 was made. The Tarbert specimen was kept alive in the laboratory for two 

 months. During this time it was very sluggish, and often hid itself under 

 stones. I have frequently observed this fish to rest with its tail curved 

 round towards the head in the manner described by Peach. The fish did 

 not feed well in confinement, and probably this was the cause of its death, 



