PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 
27 
this statement, I shall as briefly as possible remark on some of the peculiarities and 
habits of those fish that are easily obtainable in our harbours throughout the seasons, 
for the object not at the present of treating on their economical uses, but of creating 
an interest in a physiological point of view, by observing, in those large glass cis¬ 
terns or tanks, which may be termed u piscinae,” the habits, the modes of progres¬ 
sion, and the seeking of food which influence marine animals. Most are aware of 
the great pleasure generally afforded to the visitors during the last year at the 
Zoological Gardens, London, in the examination of the numerous marine and fresh 
water fishes, and of the Chelonia, or Tortoises, which were seen in the full beauty 
and spirit of life in the large crystal cisterns and troughs. In the following, I shall 
allude principally to the smaller kinds, chiefly marine, that would form objects of 
interest in their investigation : and in many instances, may lead to views entirely 
new, as the absence hitherto of such facilities have led to decisions, and put 
forward in ichthyological works, too, at variance with physiological facts. Mr. 
Andrews then went through the classifications of the several genera of our marine 
fish, and said that, among the Percidm, or family of perches, the greater and lesser, 
weevers, (Trachinus draco, and T. vipera), were singular in their habits. The latter 
is most frequently met in sandy inlets and I have, in several cases, witnessed the 
severe effects of its wound. It is well known in Kerry as the sting- fish ; and it is 
surprising, that some works on ichthyology still represent the injury to be caused by 
the dorsal spine; but my friend, Dr. Allman, has clearly proved the action to be from 
the strong opercular spine. It is a pretty fish, streaked with brown and yellow, 
and with silvery abdomen ; having its eyes fixed upwards, like the gobies, it settles 
in the sand watching the approach of its prey. A few specimens of T. draco have 
been met in Yentry Harbour. Of the same family, the striped red mullet (Mullus 
sarmuletus) is of most remarkable beauty in its living state, its scales being of a 
brilliant red, passing into a silvery pink on the belly. In confinement, it timidly 
moves about, waving its barbels to and fro, as organs of touch. It is frequently 
taken in the herring-nets, at the entrance of Yentry harbour, and is probably by 
no means uncommon there ; and, when taken from the nets, exhibits great bril¬ 
liancy of colouring. Its scales are easily rubbed from the body, so that those seen 
in the fish shops of London are rarely good specimens, the scales being all detached 
by the working of the trawl-net they are taken in. The Basse, or sea perch 
(Labrax lupus), is beautiful at seasons in Brandon Creek, and, like several of our 
marine fish, thrives well, kept permanently in fresh water. Under the head of 
the mailed cheeks, or Gurnard family, are the several species of bull-heads, such as 
Cottus scorpius, and C. bubalis, which are most amusing when captured. Some 
give a slight hissing sound, and make their formidable spines very prominent by the 
inflation of the head. Nothing can equal the extreme beauty of the Cottus Green- 
landiseus, or Greenland bull-heads, fine specimens of which were taken in Dingle 
harbour—the richest tints of carmine and deep morone, with spots and barrings of 
most vivid brilliancy, characterise these beautiful fish in the state of life. The ova, 
or roe, is different from that of the other species, being of a fine scarlet, and which 
was remarkable in the species I dissected. The natives of Greenland are fond 
of this fish, and even eat the roe in a raw state. Of the sticklebacks, the ten-spined 
and fifteen-spined frequent the harbours, particularly the latter (Gasterostens spina- 
chia) in great numbers in Dingle harbour. They are taken in the sean: and I 
have admired their playfulness and extreme beauty when placed in a tub of water. 
Except in anger or alarm, they do not exhibit their spines, but which lie closely 
adpressed to the dorsal ridge, in a sulcated groove. They are interesting in their 
movements in seeking and attacking their prey; and the tangled masses of Fucus 
serratus and confervas, among which they form their nests and deposit their 
eggs, it unshyingly, almost immediately after capture, seizes the food offered. 
Passing over many species and families, which are altogether deep-water fish, the 
next presents the riband-shaped form (the Tsenioidse), in which is the beautiful 
cepola rubesceas, red-band fish, which assumes the richest carmine to a pale rose- 
tint. It has frequently been taken on the West Coast, and sometimes cast ashore 
among sea-weeds after a gale of wind. It is met at low spring-tides among the 
stems of laminaria and the stronger fuci. It would form a beautiful object in one 
of the crystal cisterns, and to observe its sinuously-gliding motions between the 
