Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 1 (1897).djvu/589

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
THE FISHES OF GREAT YARMOUTH.
555

example at Great Yarmouth" (Couch's 'Fishes,' vol. iii. p. 123). A second, and the first, to my knowledge, of what Yarrell terms "one of the rarest of British species" ('Fishes,' vol. ii. p. 293), was brought me alive by a Shrimp-lad on April 11th, 1891; length, 2¾ in. Another on May 6th.

Ammodytes tobianus. Lesser Sand Launce. C.—"Not uncommon; sometimes found in the sand off Winterton" (Pagets). Taken both by Shrimp and draw-netters. [I am strongly of opinion that the Short-nosed Launce, A. cicerelus, occurs rarely off this coast.]

*A. lanceolatus. Larger Sand Launce. C.—More often left stranded by the draw-netters than taken in Shrimp-nets. Is undoubtedly, with "Herring syle," a favourite prey of the Terns.

Hippoglossus vulgaris. Holibut. F.—Occasionally taken on long-lines. One captured on June 1st, 1867, measured 72 in. in length; breadth, 30 in.; weight, 161 lb. Two recorded for March, 1868; weight, respectively, 140 1b. and 198 1b. Very large specimens come to our fishmongers from Grimsby; one, on April 1st, 1897, measured 7 ft. in length.

Rhombus maximus. Turbot. C.—Small examples taken in wolders, Shrimp and draw nets. Some very large specimens occasionally brought in from the North Sea. Two on the wharf on Feb. 1st, 1896, when gutted, weighed 29 lb. and 30 lb. "Double" Turbots not unfrequently occur, when both sides are found dark coloured, and spiny processes adorn the under surface as well as the upper. Occasionally a notch in the head holds one eye, which can see either way. If partially blotched underneath, the spines correspond thereon to the upper surface. I met with a fourteen-inch albino Turbot on March 1st, 1894; a narrow orange ring encircled each eye; and a fifteen-inch example, also white on the upper surface, on May 24th, 1897 (Zool. ante, p. 339).

R. lævis. Brill. C.—Small examples common enough inshore. I examined an albino, 15 in. in length, on Feb. 13th, 1892. Irregular orange-red lines ringed the eyes; the fins were margined by a yellowish grey hue. A malformed Brill occurred on Oct. 19th, 1891, with the dorsal and anal fins rounded off under the tail as in the Müller's Topknot. [Very rarely a curious sport (is it an undescribed species?) comes to hand. On Feb. 26th, 1897, I saw a specimen of what might be termed a

2 q 2