Abstract
IN the Sbuthend Standard of August 24, Mr. A. Laurence Wells writes a very interesting article based on further notes from Dr. Murie's work on the Leigh fisheries. This includes a list of all fishes recorded from the Thames estuary with remarks on each species. Considerable changes have occurred in the fish fauna during the last few centuries. Long ago salmon were abundant, coming up the river to breed; after 1833 none were seen, the pollution of the river cutting them off from their favourite haunts. Now they are returning since the conditions have been much improved. The salmon trout w;as far commoner in Elizabethan days than at the present time although -a few may still be taken. The smelt fishery used to be much more important than it is now. The Thames sturgeon was celebrated in former years and is still fairly common in the estuary. Some fishes come for breeding purposes, others occur only as fry, many are permanent inhabitants or regular seasonal visitors. The herring in late summer forms 80 per cent of the whitebait; there are no less than fifteen species of the flat-fish family, eleven of the cod family and six of the herring family, whilst almost every group of fishes is represented. Rarities include specimens of the sword-fish, the pilot-fish and the flying-fish.
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Fishes of the Thames Estuary. Nature 132, 543 (1933). https://doi.org/10.1038/132543b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/132543b0