FISHES In compiling the following list recently introduced species, such as the American brook trout (Salmo fontinalis, Mitch.), the rainbow trout (S. irideus, Giinther), etc., have not been mentioned, the indigenous and long-resident species only being included. I must here acknowledge my indebtedness to the lists of the late Robert Garner and Edwin Brown, the names of these authorities being mentioned whenever their observations have been quoted. A paper on ' North Staffordshire Fresh- water Fish,' by Mr. John R. B. Masefield, M.A., in the Annual Report and 'Transactions of the North Staffordshire Naturalists' Field Club and Archaeological Society, vol. xxviii., is especially useful from containing lists of localities which show the distribution of the several species in the district of which he treats. TELEOSTEANS ACANTHOPTERYGII 1. Perch. Perca fluvlatUis, Linn. Common throughout the county. Perch have been taken in the Trent up to 4^ Ib. in weight. 2. Ruffe or Daddy Ruffe. Acerina cernua, Linn. Common in rivers and canals. 3. Bullhead or Miller's Thumb. Coitus gobio, Linn. Plentiful in streams and in rivers where gravel and stones are found. ANACANTHINI 4. Burbot or Burbolt. Lota vulgaris, Cuv. Locally, Eel Pout. This curious and interesting fish is occa- sionally taken in the Trent and its larger tributaries up to 4 Ib. in weight. It has long been known as a Staffordshire fish, having been very quaintly described and figured by Plot in his Natural History of Staffordshire (1686). Plot's figure is a re- duced copy of a picture drawn for Colonel Comberford of a specimen ' taken in the Tame, near Faseley Bridge, by Goody er Holt, a Free Mason, as he was repairing it, August nth, 1654.' Plot recorded three other instances of the occurrence of the burbot in Staffordshire. HEMIBRANCHII Gastrosteus 5. Three - spined Stickleback. aculeatus, Linn. This little fish is common in rivers, streams and ponds throughout the county, and the forms, originally described as distinct species and now considered only varieties, known as the rough-tailed (G. trachurus, Cuv.), half- armed (G. semiarmatus, Cuv.) and smooth- tailed sticklebacks (G. leuirus, Cuv.), are all found in the Trent and its tributaries. The brilliant colours assumed by the males during the breeding season, their pugnacity and especi- ally their nest-building, have rendered these little fish famous, but the nest, according to my own observations, is often a very flimsy affair, being at times merely a little heap of Conferva or other weed through which the body of the male has made a tunnel and which he jealously guards. The best example however of a stickleback's nest which I have ever seen I found in a pond in the neighbour- ing county of Leicester. This was a well- built, roughly cylindrical structure of roots and small twigs, so well placed together that the whole did not collapse when taken from the water. In this case the materials of the nest were not glued or cemented together in any way, and I have never been able to see the male engaged in strengthening the walls of his house by means of the sticky mucus he 133
