128 THE SEA-SCORPION-FAMILY. 



inferior (hypural) elements alone are conspicuous in the form of 

 a large inferior and two upper cartilages. The permanent 

 caudal rays are developed only inferiorly, while the whole dorsal 

 half, and the region extending to the last ray of the dorsal fin, 

 have embryonic rays. 



At 11 mm. many are still pelagic (17th May), and show the 

 three anterior gill-spines, the occipital, superciliary, and nasal 

 spines (Plate V, fig. 10). The ventral fins are minute. The pig- 

 ment approaches that of the adult stage, only it is not so largely 

 developed. The larval tail is at the upper edge of the organ, 

 and the marginal fin is continuous and has only embryonic rays. 



When from 14 to 18 mm. they .still occur as pelagic fishes 

 in the tow-nets. The head and body are now larger and more 

 deeply pigmented, the former being entirely covered and con- 

 tinuous with the dorsal pigment, which passes downwards to the 

 cheeks and chin. A bold bar in many exists at the base of the 

 breast-fins, another across the region of the first dorsal fin, and 

 one at the second dorsal, the latter, moreover, extending down- 

 ward on each side to the ventral edge. The pigment of the 

 two latter bars in some is specially dense, though in others the 

 tint is more uniform dorsally. The head is cottoid in appear- 

 ance, the superciliary ridge and the occipital tubercles with 

 their spines being conspicuous. Three of the spines on the 

 gill-cover are large, the fourth at the inferior edge being small. 

 The boldness in the demarcation of the pigment gives the fishes 

 a piebald aspect in spirit (Plate V, fig. 8). The larval tail is 

 represented in the smaller forms by the upturned central axis 

 (notochord). True rays now occur in all the fins. The voracity 

 of these young forms is remarkable. One of 16 mm., for 

 instance, in captivity swallowed a young flounder not much 

 shorter than itself, just as the larger examples cleared the 

 young gunnels out of the tanks. 



At 22 mm. (27th May, estuary of the Eden), the bar of 

 pigment behind the vent has sent a process backward to the 

 tail, but it goes no further than the basal region. Symmetrical 

 white spots one dorsal and two ventral occur in this pro- 

 longation. The occipital and supra-orbital tubercles are less 

 prominent, but the supra-nasal are distinct. A large spine 



