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Show 746 MR. p. DAY ON THE FISHES [DeC. 2, There appear to have been less Gurnards taken in the 21 days' trawling in 1879 than in the 19 days in 1878 ; more Dory (9 instead of 5); no Mackerel (in place of 18 in 1878); but a very much larger number of Pleuronectoids, 1614 in place of 860 in 1878. Still one must not attribute tbe increase of Soles caught entirely to a local augmentation in the number of fish in the sea, as, in the first place, the " sweep " of the trawl was as 5 to 4, being 50 feet " spread " in 1879 instead of 40 feet in 1878. The bridles, i. e. the ropes to the " Otter heads," or weighted wooden kites, which run along the bottom, were rather better adjusted in 1879 ; while the weather for working the trawl was more propitious, consequently it was more frequently employed. A depth of about 5 fathoms was found to be most favourable in 1879, whereas in warmer seasons 3 to 3\ fathoms have been found to yield tbe best captures. The facilities for the different kinds of fishing varied with the weather: thus the takes of Whiting show fine weather, when line-fishing could be attempted outside the Bay. Although many deductions might be drawn from Lord Ducie's notes, I propose deferring them for the present, in the hope of obtaining the general returns of the sea-fisheries of the United Kingdom. It would, however, appear that among the Soles and flat fishes generally, striking anomalies in distribution have occurred during the past season. They would seem to have more or less forsaken (for a time, at least) the North Sea, and to have appeared in augmented numbers on the S.W. coast of Ireland and the Bristol Channel. Whether the temperature of the sea in certain localities has been so low as to cause the migration of the food of these fishes, or the fishes themselves have been acted on by cold, through the medium of the water, or both causes have combined, are questions worth investigating, but which I propose to defer for the present. Passing on to tbe fishes themselves, I have added remarks to many species, frequently made, as will be observed, in other localities than at Weston. LABRAX LUPUS, Lacep. The Bass. I obtained several small examples, none of which exceeded a pound in weight. All were from the stationary shrimp-nets. It is observed, in Lord Ducie's diary, on August 10, 1878, that "in the North Bay the Bass were hunting the Sprats to the surface, the Gulls assisting. This went on all day, along the strand up to the embouchure of the Jung River." POLYPRION CERNIUM, Val. Stone-Bass. Somersetshire (Baker). MULLUS SURMULETUS, Linn. M. barbatus, De La Roche. Somersetshire (Baker). Lord Ducie took two examples on August 2nd this year in a trammel set in Ballinskellig Bay ; while one was likewise similarly captured July 26, 1878. |