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Show 342 MR. F. DAY ON SCORP.ENA SCROFA. [^Pr> ^j tried to catch him again, I have (unfortunately for me) been unsuccessful.- S. C O W P E R . ' " Mr. J. H . Leech, F.Z.S., exhibited specimens of some new Butterflies from Japan and Corea, which he was intending to describe at a future meeting of the Society, and gave some account of his expedition to those countries in quest of Lepidoptera. A communication was read from Prof. J. H . Scott and Prof. T. J. Parker, containing a description of a Whale of the genus Ziphius, of which a specimen had been recently obtained near Dunedin, New Zealand. This paper will he printed entire in the Society's ' Transactions.' The following papers were read :- 1. O n the Occurrence of Scorpeena scrofa off the South Coast of England. By F R A N C I S D A Y , C.I.E., F.Z.S. [Received March 26, 1887.] On March 21st I was fortunatae enough to secure in Cheltenham a recently stuffed specimen of Scorpana scrofa, 11*2 inches in length, which had been obtained under the following circumstances. It had been captured by a trawler at Brixham at the beginning of the month, and forwarded next day to Mr. Woore, fishmonger in this town, as being a fish quite new to the local fishermen. Owing to m y being away and to obviate its being spoiled, Mr. Woore had it stuffed, and in this condition I first saw it. So far as I know, this fish has not previously been obtained along our shores, and I think its occurrence ought to be recorded. B. vii. D. 11/rV P. 19- V. i. A. f. C. 13. L. r. 46. The specimen agrees so thoroughly with the description in Cuvier and Valenciennes's ' Histoire Naturelle des Poissons,' vol. iv. p. 288, that further remarks upon this subject appear to be unnecessary. Although in the ' Catalogue of the Fishes of the British Museum ' this species is described as having " the head entirely scaleless and smooth," and no mention of spines exists in the description, still in the definition of the genus it is remarked that " the head is armed with spines." Valenciennes refers to "les nombreuses epines de sa tete," and Moreau, in his ' Poissons de la France,' very accurately describes the fish. llab. The Mediterranean and along the Atlantic shores of France as high as the Gironde and Rochelle. Moreau observed that he had never seen it from the coast of La Vendee. Common also at Madeira. It does not appear remarkable that a straggler should occur along our southern shores, but its occurrence during a very cold March would hardly have been anticipated. |