Volume 9 - Electric Scotland

FISHES OF THE FIRTH OF FORTH AND ITS TRIBUTARIES 13
TRACHYPTERUS ARCTICUS (BrunnicK).
REID, "Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist." (2), vol. iii.
pp. 456-477,
pi. xvi. (1849).
A specimen of this deep-sea form, known as the Deal-fish or
Vaagmaer, was cast ashore dead, but in a perfectly fresh condition,
at Elie, early in April 1848. It was received on the 7th of that
month by Professor Reid of St. Andrews, to whom it was sent by
Dr. John Berwick of Elie. The specimen measured 5 ft. 4 ins. ' from
the point of nose to termination of the vertebral column,' extreme
height of body 1 1 inches. This appears to be the only specimen that
has ever been obtained in or near the Firth of Forth, and it afforded
Professor Reid material for a long and exhaustive account of a very
remarkable fish. He was wrong, however, in his surmise that this
example was the first that had been found in the British seas, for it
had previously been recorded from Orkney several times, first in
1817, and from the Moray Firth in 1847.
REGALECUS BANKSII (Cuv. and Val.}.
Mr. James Marr, harbour-master, North Berwick, informs me
that, some fifty-five or sixty years ago, a specimen of Banks's Oar-fish
was found by his brother, awash among the waves, on the east shore
at that town. Mr. Marr remembers the occurrence well, and
described the fish and its
long-produced first dorsal rays with
accuracy. The specimen, which was about 15 feet in length,
was, Mr. Marr informs me, sold by his brother for ,5 to Mr.
Muirhead, fishmonger, Edinburgh.
No account of the occurrence of this rare and interesting
abyssal form on the shores of the Firth appears to have been
contributed to the scientific press of the period, at least I have as
yet been unable to find such a reference. As the fish was exhibited
to the public, however, some account of it
may have found its way
into the newspapers. I should be glad to learn of any such
references if known to any
of our readers.
GADUS MINUTUS, Linntzus.
REP. MARINE ZOOL. COMM., " Proc. Roy. Phys. Soc. Edin.," vol. ii.
p. 443 (1863); EWART, ibid. vol. viii. p. 273 (1885); FULTON,
"Rep. Fish. Board Scot.," 1890, part
iii.
p. 92 (1891);
EAGLE CLARKE, "Ann. Scot. Nat. Hist.," 1895, p. 26.
The Power Cod was added to the fauna of the Firth of Forth
through the investigations of the Marine Zoology Committee of the
Royal Physical Society in 1863, but without detailed particulars.
On the igth of March 1884 Professor Ewart (I.e.] exhibited a