Victorian articles about fish and marine life tend to fall into one of two categories. One, of course, is the basic natural history article, exploring the characteristics and habitat of various types of marine life. The second is the angling article: what fish are available in what season, a bit about their habits and history, and how to catch them. This second type of feature is a reminder of how much fishing was a part of Victorian life. For some, fishing was purely a sport, and sporting anglers looked forward to the "season." For others it was a means of supplementing the food supply. Since many fish (or fishing waters) were reserved for the sportsmen, this meant that poaching was also a popular Victorian pastime!

Freshwater Fish In Their Season (Illustrated London Almanack, 1864)

An angler's guide to the freshwater fish of Britain, by season (bimonthly).

Mode of Catching Jellyfishes (Atlantic Monthly, 1865)

Life Under the Ocean Wave (Harper's Monthly, 1873A)

A Gossip About the Salmon, by Andrew Wilson (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1878)

The Ammonite, by Mary St. Maur (Demorest, 1879)

Common Sea-Weeds, by Mrs. Lizzie Lewis (Demorest, 1879)

What Is a Nautilus? by Dr. Andrew Wilson (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1879)

The Herring, by Greville Fennell (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1880)

Our Aquarium at the Seaside (Girl's Own Paper, 1880)

How to set up an indoor aquarium to observe specimens from the sea-shore.

Shell-Collecting (Girl's Own Paper, 1880)

A Mole, a Lamprey and a Fairy, by John Burroughs (Century Magazine, 1883A)

At Sea, by John Burroughs (Century Magazine, 1883A)

Wonderful Fish, by Frederick Whymper (Girl's Own Paper, 1884)

Exotic specimens of the deep.

The Cruise of the Spindrift (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1886)

A look at the curious cuttlefish.

The Zoological Station at Naples, by Emily Nunn Whitman (Century Magazine, 1886B)

A research aquarium in Italy.

About Sponges (Pictorial Museum of Sport & Adventure, ca. 1890)

Footless Fishes (Pictorial Museum of Sport & Adventure, ca. 1890)

"Footless fishes" are so-called because they have no ventral fins; eels are the principle family of these.

The Mackerel Family (Pictorial Museum of Sport & Adventure, ca. 1890)

The Octopus or Cuttle-Fish (Pictorial Museum of Sport & Adventure, ca. 1890)

Oysters and Oyster-Beds (Pictorial Museum of Sport & Adventure, ca. 1890)

The Perch Family (Pictorial Museum of Sport & Adventure, ca. 1890)

[The Pike] The Tyrant of the Lake (Pictorial Museum of Sport & Adventure, ca. 1890)

Sharks and Their Pilots (Pictorial Museum of Sport & Adventure, ca. 1890)

Skates and Lampreys (Pictorial Museum of Sport & Adventure, ca. 1890)

The Sword-Fish (Pictorial Museum of Sport & Adventure, ca. 1890)

Thoughts on a Crab (Pictorial Museum of Sport & Adventure, ca. 1890)

The Trout and the Char (Pictorial Museum of Sport & Adventure, ca. 1890)

Game-Fishes of the Florida Reef, by C.F. Holder (Century Magazine, 1891B)

Trout (Stories of History, 1891)

The Great Unknown, by J.B. Holder (Century Magazine, 1892B)

On the supposed sighting of a sea-serpent off the East Coast, and information about sea serpents in general.

What I Found in a Rock Pool, by Henry Scherren (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1892)

Zig-Zags at the Zoo 18: Zig-Zag Piscine, by Arthur Morrison and J.A. Shepherd (The Strand, 1893)

See ZigZags at the Zoo for the complete series.

Trawling for Scientific Purposes, by Alexander Meek (Windsor Magazine, 1899B)

The use of scientific trawling to study the populations and life cycles of fish and fisheries.

Hunting the Anemone, by Edward Step (Windsor Magazine, 1898A)

In Nature's Workshop: Animal and Vegetable Hedgehogs (The Strand, 1899A)

Besides prickly mammals such as hedgehogs and armadillos, this article covers some prickly fish, insects, and cacti.

The Angler-Fish, by Edward Step (Windsor Magazine, 1899B)

Sea-Spiders [crabs], by Edward Step (Windsor Magazine, 1899B)

Sociable Fish, by Frank T. Bullen (The Strand, 1900B)

Aquatic Wonders (Strand, 1901A)

An 8-foot tiger shark with two heads and two tails; a serpent-like oar-fish.

Pneumatic Fishes, by Edward Step (Windsor Magazine, 1903A)

A look at "sucking" or "sucker" fishes that attach themselves to other fish or (in the case of remoras) ships.