N A T U R A L H I S T ! O R Y
détf) repidbnted fouaA ion ike fhore o f
Mount’s. Bay, Auguft 9, ! § | § g
roundlthe head e f t o i ^ 4 1. ^ ot
Mr. Tagd, but arilyori the' tail part, iriterfperfed at the.fides from
the. beginning of the dorfal-fin to within two inches of the, in&rti«
of the tail,; they wefothree quartersöf an irioblöng;> k had more
c a p i l lam e h t s arid aculei than Mr. Jago’s, and a lckger rounder body
than that, of Rondeletius; it had fpines' at the ehd of the pecftoral
fins an inch and.three quarters long; fpines affo at the extremity of
the tad three quarters of an inch long: the head in general more
bony, rough, and aculeated than in either of thofe* authors..
The Turbot, alias Brett, Rhombus muximus offer non fquamofus,
(Ray, page 313)' is an excellent fifh, eoiries in the fumrrier and
autumn months* and in fuch plenty fometimes in Mount’s Bay, that
two boys haye taken thirty of them in an evening with hook
and line. . . . ,
We have alio the Rhombus non aculeatus^fquamojlts, called at
London the Pearl, ih Cornwall the Luga-leaf. Ray, ibid, . - f l
Befides others found here by Mr. Ray, as the plaile, dab, flounder,
Mr. Jago (Ray, page 163;) mentions the kitt, the Rhombus
herds Gomtdhenfis maculis nigris creberrimis rêfperfus pukhrionbws
quibufdam interlucentibus; the flelh nearly as good hs that o f the
turbot. ' •- - '---y--- '
We have alfo the whifF, the Pajfer Cornubienfis afpèr of Jago,
ibid, o f which the flefh is good fot nothirig.
We have abb the holibuV &c.Hippogloffus o f authors; this larg -
eft of the flat kind is rare: there was one taken in Mount’s Bay in
February 1 7 5 6 ; the colour dark green, feales fihall, body longer,-
larger, left fquare than that of the turbot. *
The foie is frequently catched on our Tandy fhores, but rather
larger on the lands o f Scilly than in Cornwall. Finding the prints
in general of this fifh defedive or redundant in fome particulars " .
I have given an icon of it Plate xxvi. Fig. n. with its fpines numbered,
from a fair fperfmen o f Mount’s Bay.
We have alfo the Solea lads-, tie! arnogloffm, called the Lantern
by the Comilh (fays Mr, Ray, page 34) from its tranfparency.
s e c t . v. : O f fea-filh round, long, and o f the eel-form, in Cornwall the
Fife, round, conger or conger-eel may be reckoned firft: We have alfo, the free-
” In Rondeletius the mouth is neither rightly
ftaped nor placed ; the branchial fin Is too large,
and not fpotted black at the end; the fide line is
too large, and continued to the upper eye; whereas
it is indeed .-a ftraight flender line from the middle
of the tail to the under or left eye, and ends at
the cheek-bone, and the mouth winds round clofe
under the right or upper eye j and in him fee tail-
fin is perpendicular; whereas it is really circular,
as in this drawing. Thie fife had fixty-eight
femes on the mouth-ficle, and eighty-eight on
the oppofite.
eel.
eel, the Angtfifh libera ƒ oil »Jago (Ray^ page 166) which has a
milder tafte, and fewer littl%bpues than the conger.
tlQur.{lauriqe^ orAfaqd-eel^,-. are exttenpel^ gdod; they lye about
.fixLinffrps, deefiy in? the^ fan^ ’when thg tide is out, but this feems
only their pjac&of retirement. tB wait 0le nCxt/fide; when'that tide
returns anc( them, thq^* expatiate again in the waters: they
are fometimes;$aj:en. among thgpilchards, ^as Mr. Jago informs us,
Raywjqiage i 65j0 ) . giving jhe icon of one fifteen inches and a half
longH with onto belly-fin, which Mr. Ray’s wanted °. This fifh is
alfo found Jn Jthe fromaqh|i of porpeffes, bud whether from theft
rooting them.. up opt^of the land,, as Mr.'Ray (Great, page 1405
obfcrves, ai.nmant^ t^^Jcar^e be determined. ;
^ We;havq>a kind ,gf feaTadder which Tifindi not at prefect well de-
feribed : It feems a fpecies of^the^acus^or rieedle-fifh* but1 very different
from the-^fa-adder (as, tfre^Gpfnifh called it) brqhgnt to Mr.
Ray p; his was like a> worm (Qpbidion Ithnhrkifortmef no more
than five’inches and a ^ d f Jfong,jto f ifie frignefs of a .goofe-quill,
ending in aifiarp finlefs point: this was fixteeri inches and one eighth
long, had a back and tail-fin, the proportions as in this figure^ Plate
xxvi. Fig. xn. the fcales fhaped like tbofc of a land-adder: its paunch,
being opened, fome hundreds o f young fry. (like little eels) put into
water, foon moved to and frofj it had a femicfterilar fulatsxixt the back.
Plate xxvi. Fig. vi. is the mri-fim takeri' at Penmnce ift May
1743 r. It was three inches thick at the back, at tbe .belfporily
three quarters of an inch j, the tail cartilaginous, pdllucid; the colour
dapple, fpotted darker on the back3 tbe belly .filver, pearl-coloured,
with ftreaks or fillets half an inch wide, confifting o f ;two lifts o f
dark, ^etween which the middle, lift Was pearl .fpotted with black’:
thefe -ftreaks begin under the eye, and continue at equal distances
to the qiedtoral-fin j fmooth without fcales. This fifh was. but
fmall, as may be obferved try the fcale annexed; but they are fometimes
extremely larger. In the year 1734 *, there wris orie taken
at Plymouth of above' five hundred pounds weight; and in Ireland
they are fometimes’token twenty-five feet long, and proportionably
thick'. There is a fhorter fort of this fifh (Willughby, Tab. m
page 29) which is deferibed by Ray, { Syriopf. page .51) .who met
with it at Penzance: I have added the icon o f it from Jago, adapted
to the general fcale, Plate Sxxvi. Fig. v i. It,i^ $s@.rthrago~
rificos five Luna Rondeletii^ page 424, the Mola Salviani M Raii,
page 51, and the 0fir acton quartus of Artedi, page 83. This fifh
• See ibidi jjtge 38, t,s, f feugo^ccyporfe figgiqp yank ranato of N5.
‘'""'» Ibid, page 47. 5 -■ V ' ............ . ■. 23, page 86.
. 1 Qu. an Agus aJ* fpedea Rondel. Willughby, 3 PKilof. T ran t 1742. p#
Tab. 1. ^ t ' ' Hift. ofWater&id,
' This is the Oftracion oblongus, glaber, capite;.