DISCUSSION OF SPECIES AND THEIE DISTRIBUTION. 4*>.'i 



short; soft dorsal similar to the anal, which is without spines; caudal uarrow, few rayed. 

 Pectorals large, with broad base, sometimes divided, with the three lowermost rays 

 detached. Air-bladder present; pyloric coca usually present, few iu number. Jordan and 

 Gilbert 



KEY in THE AMERICAN GENERA 



(After Jordan and Gilbert.) 



I. Pectoral tin with two or three detached appendages below; centrals t, ."., wide apart. 



T. Bod; scaly; teeth present; pectoral appendages 3 Triylituv 



A. 1 Palatines toothless Tiugla 



I!. 2 Palatines with teeth PmoN'oi US 



TRIGLA, Artedi. 



Trigla, Artedi, Genera Piscium, 1788, 42.— Ccvier, Regne Animal, ed. i, 1817. n, 301 ; ed. 2, 1829, n, 158.— 

 Ctvii i: and Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss., iv, 9, — GiInther, Cat. Fish. Brit, \liis.. ii, 198. — Jordan 

 and Gilbert, Ball, xvi, I*. S. Nat. Mas., 733. 



Head angular, with bony upper surface and sides. Two dorsals, the first much the 

 shorter. Three tree filaments at base of pectoral. Villiforni teeth on jaws and usually on 

 vomer. Palatines toothless. Pectoral tins moderate; a series of bony, spinous plates 

 along baseof dorsal tins, a pair to each ray, forming a shallow groove, in which the fins are 

 received. Caudal usually emarginate. Scales minute. Lateral line usually forking at 

 base of caudal, with branches running to its tip. Branchiostegals, 7. Pseudobranchise 

 present. 



Three European species of Trigla were fouad by the French explorers below 100 

 fathoms. 



(1.) Trigla euculus, Linn. (=Triglapini 7 Bloch), taken in the Gulf of Gascony in 306 

 meters ( Travailleur station xvn). It is a well-known inshore form, from the British Islands 

 to the Mediterranean, where, however, it is not especially abundant. There is no satisfac 

 tory evidence that it has ever been found in the western Atlantic. 



(2.) Trigla lyra, Linn., found iu the Gulf of Gascony in 411 fathoms (Trarailleur sta 

 tion vin). 



(3.) Trigla cavillone, Lacepede [=Lepidotrigla aspera (C. & V.) Giinther], taken off 

 Soudan, in 130-355 meters; on the Banc d'Arguin, in 140-175; off Morocco, in 1-0; off 

 Spain, in 99, and near the Cape Verdes, in 90. For notes on these three species see Vail 

 hint, p. 350. 



The Challenger took Trigla leptacantha, Giinther, and Trigla spiloptera, Giinther, off 

 the Ki Islands, in 140 fathoms (station 192). 



Trigla hemisticta, Schlegel, has been found below the hundred fathom line in the Bay 

 of Bengal, about 40 individuals, many of them females with mature ovaries, having been 

 taken at Investigator station No. 00. (Alcock, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., 1SS9, n, 207.) 



PRIONOTUS, Lacepede. 



Privnotu8, Lacepede, Hist. Nat. Poiss., in, 337, 1802 (type, Trigla evolans, L.). 



Body subfusiforin ; profile of head descending to the broad, depressed snout, which is 

 much longer than the small eye; eyes close together, high up; surface of head entirely 



1 y, the bmies rough with ridges and granulations; scales on head few or none; pre- 



opercle with one or two sharp spines at its angle; opercle with a sharp spine; nape with 

 two strong spines; a spine on shoulder girdle. Mouth rather broad; bands of small, almost 

 granular, teeth on jaws, vomer, and palatines; gill-membranes nearly separate, free from 

 isthmus; gill takers rather long. Body covered with small, rough scales, which are not 

 keeled; lateral line continuous: scales of breast very small. Dorsal tins distinct, the firsl 

 of 8 to 10 rather stout spines; anal hn similar to soft dorsal; pectoral fin with the three 



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