174 
MALACOPTERYGII. 
Of a female pollan, Ilf inches in length, procured from Lough Neagh on the 
28th of November last, the entire weight was 9 oz., that of the ova subsequently 
extracted 2 oz. 3 drachms ; of this, which was just ready for exclusion, 1 had a 
drachm weighed, and reckoned the number of ova it contained; taking for 
granted that this would be alike in each drachm throughout the whole, (and 
from the uniform size of the ova, each a line in diameter, there can be very 
little difference,) the number of ova altogether would be 6156. This too I 
should consider about the average, as the specimen was of ordinary size, 
and contained a similar quantity of ova with several others dissected at the 
same time. Of the stomachs, &c. of twelve pollans examined on this occasion, 
the greater number were empty, but two or three contained minute Entomos- 
traca , two Pisidia, and a Limneus pereget — this last was three lines in length. 
Jan. 1, 1839. I received from the Rev. C. Mayne a full-grown specimen of 
the Cor. Pollan , taken near Killaloe, either on the river Shannon or its expan- 
sion, Lough Derg. — Annals Nat, History, vol. ii. 
“ Examinations of more specimens of the fish described as Coregonus clupe- 
oides, Nilss. ? has proved its identity with C. Pollan. Different as the figures 
and descriptions of these Coregoni may appear, I have now seen individuals (so 
liable are they to variation) exhibiting all the intermediate characters.” — Annals 
Nat. History, vol. iv. p. 70. 
July 22nd, 1847. — On examining the contents of an adult pollan to-day, 
from Lough Neagh, I found the stomach filled with minute Entomostraca. 
The ova were the size of clover-seed, or l-30th of an inch in diameter. 
July 12 th, 1851. — Yesterday and to-day hundreds of very large pollan 
from Lough Neagh were in Belfast market. One, a male, which has been 
preserved, weighed 13 ounces ; and others, not fit to be preserved, 
weighed 15 ounces. The large ones were sold at 10 d. per dozen ; those 
of herring-size at 4c?. per dozen. The contents of the stomach of one pre- 
served and brought to me, proved to be wholly of the genus My sis* 
excepting a Limneus per eg er with its animal (both perfect). 
“ About Lough Tron and Lough Direvragh there is found, in the month of 
May only, a small fish, without spot, of almost the same shape as a herring— a 
fish very pleasant and delightful, but not taken in great quantities ; the natives 
call it Goaske. I know not by any name to English it.” 
From a Description of the County of Westmeath, written a.d. 1682, by 
Sir Henry Piers, Bart. See No. I. of a work entitled Collectanea de Rebus 
Hibernicis, printed in Dublin, 1774. 
In the contents appears — 
“ Goaske, a species of fish peculiar to Loughs Tron and Direvragh, found in 
the month of May only.” 
“ A fish peculiar to this lake (Lough Erne), about the size of a herring, and 
called Goaske, is taken only in May.” — Daniel’s Rural Sports , vol. ii. 208. 
March, 1850. Lord Enniskillen agrees with me that the pollan must be 
meant, but he never heard the term Goaske applied to it at Lough Erne. 
have found to be as 1 to 5, as well as “ 1 to 3|,” and the vertebrae 60. The 
two following characters were before unnoticed : axillary scale of ventral fins 
about one-third their length — about 84 scales on the Hateral line : this is the 
number attributed by Dr. Parnell to both of the Loch Lomond Coregoni ; in a 
specimen of one of these, C. microcephalus, under 10 inches in length (much 
less than the size they attain), with which I have been favoured by its describer, 
there are but 76 ? scales on this line. This induced me to examine various-sized 
pollans, to see whether there might be any difference in this respect, when none 
appeared in the individuals inspected, which were from 9| to 13 inches in 
length. 
* Not less than one hundred of these. 
