134 THE SEA-SCORPION FAMILY. 



Another example measuring about 11 '5 mm. was procured 

 on the 20th June. A considerable amount of black pigment 

 occurs on the head and cheeks, and a dark area exists at the 

 first dorsal fin, and two behind, as in the common form (short- 

 spined Cottas). The breast-fins are large, reaching behind the 

 middle of the body. The ventral fins are still comparatively 

 short. Four prominent spines exist on the front gill-cover 

 (pre-operculum). The four tubercles on the top of the head are 

 well marked, besides a supra-orbital and a turbinal spine. On 

 each side of the dorsal fins anteriorly is the series of elevated 

 scales which are continued backward to the termination of the 

 second dorsal. A somewhat smaller example (10 mm.) is care- 

 fully described by Mr Holt 1 . 



THE RED GURNARD. (Trig la cuculus, L.) 



This species, which is not common on the North-East 

 coast, though frequent on the southern shores, both east and 

 west, spawns about the same period as the grey gurnard. 

 Its eggs have been described both by Mr Cunningham 2 and 

 Mr Holt 3 , and have probably been occasionally procured in the 

 tow-nets off the Forth and the neighbourhood. The eggs 

 (Plate I, fig. 10) measure from T47 mm. to T61 mm. a 

 considerable variation, while the oil-globule ranges from "30 to 

 %33 mm., and is copper-coloured. In the earlier stages, several 

 oil-globules are present, but by-and-by they coalesce, so that, 

 on the escape of the larva, only a single globule remains, and 

 its colour gradually fades. Cunningham was successful in 

 hatching the eggs, and found the larva to be 37 mm. long. 

 It bears a general resemblance to that of the grey gurnard, 

 though the oil-globule is not thrust so close to the posterior 

 border of the yolk as in the latter species. The pigment (black 

 and orange or yellowish orange) appears to correspond very 

 closely in the two species. 



1 Tram. E. D. S. v. 2, p. 119. 



- Jour. Mar. liiol. Assoc. No. 1, p. 12, 1889. 



3 Sc. Trans. Roy. Dub. Soc. v. 2, p. 31, 1893. 



