Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 1 (1897).djvu/580

546 species. In the immediate neighbourhood it is by no means common. Great numbers are, however, at times brought in by trawlers. As an article of food it is held in high esteem by the poorer classes. Exceedingly abundant in May, 1897 ('Zoologist,' ante, pp. 275, 339). A twenty-inch example ashore alive, Dec. 21st, 1890. Local, "Latchet."

T. gurnardus. Grey Gurnard. C.—Was once abundant, forty or fifty in the course of an hour being sometimes taken by sea-anglers from the piers. At intervals some smart takes are landed even now. Was unusually numerous offshore in September, 1894. Draw-netters occasionally secure a "trunk"-ful in a night.

†T. lineata. Streaked Gurnard. K.—The late Rev. C.J. Lucas, in 1895, met with a specimen in a fish-shop, forwarding it to me for identification. It is now in Yarmouth Museum; length, 9½ in. I met with a second on Nov. 22nd, 1895; length, 12½ in. And a third, taken off Lowestoft on March 9th, 1896, came into my hands a few hours later. I have met with one or two others since.

Agonus cataphractus. Pogge. C.—A most abundant species, taken in great numbers by shrimpers. Local, "Hardhead."

Trachinus draco. Greater Weever. F.—Abundant in fishshops during the summer months, mostly brought in by trawlers. Occasionally entangled in the Herring-nets. It is excellent in the fry-pan, although only eaten by the poorer classes. Its dorsal fins appear to possess exceedingly venomous properties, with which fishermen righteously dread contact. A pricked finger produces intense pain, and often acute inflammation follows. It was no unusual thing to meet a fisherman with his arm in a sling from poisoned finger, when the local trawling industry was in a healthier condition than it is at present.

T. vipera. Viper Weever. C.—Taken in numbers offshore in the summer months. In as bad repute as the previous species, fishermen "heeling" it in the sand on sight. The fish knows well, even when lying on the sand, how to direct its dorsal spines at any near object, and has a deft way of pricking the fingers of those who carelessly handle it. An example was taken from a salt-water pipe on the quay on May 15th, 1897, after having been pumped in at the jetty, and traversing a system of pipes into a tank, and thence out