Miller’s Thumb, Cottus gobio, is to be met with in most of our little rivulets, lurking under stones.
The Rough-tailed three-spined Stickleback, Gasterosteus trachurus; ubiquitous. The males in the breeding season are resplendent in scarlet and green, and fight for supremacy. It is remarkable with what ease individuals accommodate themselves to sea water. The Smooth-tailed Stickleback, G. leiurus; the Short-spined Stickleback, G. brachycentus; the Four-spined Stickleback, G. spinulosus and the Ten-spined Stickleback, G. pungitius; although not so common as G. trachurus, are all found in ditches communicating with the river Anker, at Tamworth.
Abdominal Malacopterygii.
Carp, Cyprinus carpio. The writer has had one of large size from Plants Brook Reservoir, 7½ lbs., and has seen a larger one in the pool. The largest recorded was from Sandwell Pool, 12 lbs.
Crucian Carp, C. carassius, is not uncommon; the writer has seen numbers of them taken from small cattle pits on a farm in Warwickshire. It is a pretty and hardy species in an aquarium.
Gold Carp, C. auratus, the well known “gold-fish,” used to breed in a pool at West Bromwich, into which warm water from an engine flowed, but it is not found there now.
Barbel, Barbus vulgaris, is found in abundance in the River Trent, but in general size not to be compared with those taken in the Thames. River Trent, 7½ lbs. and 8 lbs.
Gudgeon, Gobio fluviatilis, in streams fairly common, also in canals, but rare in pools. Earlswood Reservoir.
Tench, Tinca vulgaris, not uncommon; of large size at Handsworth, Sutton Coldfield, and near Barnt Green, in pools; plentiful at the latter place, rivers Tame, Anker, &c.; 3 lbs. Edgbaston Pool. It is one of the easiest fishes to keep in confinement. A golden variety of this species is bred in the private pools of gentlemen in this country, it is said to have been introduced from Germany. Fine specimens were to be seen at the recent Fisheries Exhibition in London.