A HISTORY OF NORFOLK April 19th, 1893, was 17 inches long and weighed 4J Ih.'—J. P. A previous capture of a smaller one on Breydon is recorded in the Transactions (vol. V. p. 324). APODES
- II7. Eel. Anguil/a vulgaris, TuTton.
Very common. Mr. Lubbock says that one was caught near Norwich which weighed upwards of 20 lb. ' One taken in the Ouse at Denver Sluice, October 22nd, 1867, was recorded in Land and Water of the 28th of that month, by E. A. Austin, Esq., Sydney Sussex College, Cambridge. Its dimensions were — length, 5 feet 8 inches; girth, 17^ inches; weight, 36 lb.' {Fauna of Norfolk). An albino, with body of a creamy white, the lips pink, the dorsal and anal fins tinted with the same, coloured eyes, was taken in the river Bure, June 6th, 1895. Since the last report on the fishes Professor Grassi has read his most interesting account of the ' Re- production and Metamorphosis of the Eel ' at the Royal Society, 1896. In his paper he has proved that eels of all kinds breed only in the sea at great depths, and he has shown that leptocephalus in its various forms are larval conditions of muroenoids, conger, an- guilla, etc. 118. Conger. Conger vulgaris, Cuv. Norfolk Estuary. Not uncommon. Yarmouth . — P. ' One weighing nearly 50 lb. caught in 1808.'— Cromer, J. H. G. GANOIDS
- ii9. Sturgeon. Jcipenser sturio, hinn.
Frequently caught in the rivers and along the coast, and chiefly, as Mr. Southwell has remarked, in the winter and spring months. Sir T. Browne, with his usual accuracy, notes the variation in form which occurs in this species : ' Some have been taken at Yar- mouth, and more in the Great Ouse, but their heads are not so sharp as represented in the icons of Rondeletius and Johnstonus.' Couch, speaking of the supposed two kinds of sturgeon, says : ' The broad-headed and narrow-snouted varieties in their extreme di- vergence differ greatly, and the latter appears to be the more numerous of the two ; but there has been found every gradation of form amongst them ' (vol. i. p. 159). The lord of the manor of Hunstanton claims as a royalty all sturgeons caught in Lynn waters, but this claim is not recognized by the Lynn authorities. The largest speci- mens of which I have any note are — one caught off Yarmouth, October loth, 1871, of which Mr. Southwell gives the following measurements : length, 7 feet 10 inches ; girth, 46 inches ; weight, 392 lb. ; and one recorded by Mr. Gunn, in the Zoologist, 1866, taken in Holkham Bay, was 8 feet 6 inches long, and weighed 210 lb. The capture of a sturgeon on a hook is a sufficiently rare event to be worth recording. 'On December 7th, 1894 [Zoologist, Dec. loth, 1894), a beach fisherman caught one 6 feet 6 inches in length, having baited his hook with a herring.' — yi. P. CHONDROPTERYGIANS 120. Rough Hound or Small-spotted Dog- fish. Scyllium canicula, Linn. Norfolk Estuary. Specimen in Lynn Museum. Lowestoft. — y. H. G. 121. Nurse Hound or Large-spotted Dog- fish. Scyllium stellare, Linn. Norfolk Estuary. Yarmouth. — P. Sherringham. — f. H. G. This specimen is in the Norwich Museum. 122. Basking Shark. Selache maxima, Linn. Yarmouth. — P. The figure in Yarrell's work was taken from drawings of this speci- men, sent to Mr. Yarrell by Mr. J. H. Gurney. Sir T. Browne says: 'This year (1662) one was taken, entangled in the herring-nets, about 9 feet in length, answering to the last figure of Johnstonus (lib. vii.), under the name of Carcharius alter, and was by the teeth and five gills one kind of shark, particularly remarkable in the vastness of the optic nerves and three conical hard pillars which supported the extraordinary elevated nose, which we have reserved with the skull. The seamen call this a scrape.' — Bohn's edition, vol. iii. p. 326. Dr. Gilnther thinks this is probably the same fish as that figured by Couch (vol. i. pi. 15), 214
