Trigla Cuculus with T. Gurnardus. 417 



and Val. c Hist, des Pois./ t. xii. p. 9, and that it was at the 

 same time distinct from the G. niger of Montagu e Yarr. Brit. 

 Fish./ v. i. p. 252, and Jenyns, and probably from that of 

 Yarrell. Of the former species I had then seen but the one 

 native specimen — captured by myself in the bay of Galway — 

 and therefore it was considered injudicious to draw up the 

 specific characters. Having now obtained from Mr. R. Ball 

 of Dublin two other specimens for examination — from the 

 coasts of Galway and Cork — I can do so with more confidence. 

 Although an easy task to point out the relative differences, it is 

 not so with the absolute characters ; these may be described as 



G. niger, Cuv. and Val. ? 

 Teeth on the outer rows of both 

 jaws very much larger than the 

 others, and curving inwards. 



Scales small, with long cilia on 

 their free margins. 



G. Britannicus. 



Teeth of the outer rows not very 

 much larger than the others, 

 and, like them, straight and 

 truncated at the summits. 



Scales rather large. 



D. 6—14 ; P. 18 ; V. 1 +5 each ; 



D. 6— 16; P. 20; V. 5 each ; j A. 12; C. 15, and some short*. 



A. 13 ; C. 14, and some short. | 



On comparison, the largest G. niger, Cuv. and Val., 3 

 inches 2 lines long, and the G. Britannicus,^ inches in length, 

 present the following appearances : — 



Viewed from above, the head is more equable in breadth in G. Bri- 

 tannicus ; in the other it approaches more to a conical form. When 

 placed on the side, the G. niger is rather the deeper, carrying greater 

 breadth to the base of the caudal fin ; the scales are much smaller 

 in G. niger, yet the cilia on their margins are longer than in the 

 other : from some of the scales being wanting, their number cannot 

 be accurately given ; but reckoned from the opercle in a straight line 

 along the middle of the body — for the lateral line is inconspicuous 

 in both species — to the base of the caudal fin, there are about 10 

 more in G. niger than in G. Britannicus ; about 45 in the one, and 

 55 in the other maybe mentioned as an approximation : pecten-like 

 striae f on the scales of both species. In G. niger, the outer row of 



* The examination of more specimens has shown that there is but little 

 disparity between these species in the dorsal sulcus and the comparative 

 length of jaws, although a difference did, in these respects, appear in the in- 

 dividuals first compared (See Zool. Proa). The jaws may in both be called 

 equal. Of four specimens of G. niger, one had a more depressed line from 

 the head to the first dorsal, another a broad groove, and the remaining two 

 displayed neither appearance. 



f See Cuv. and Val., t. xii. p. 12. 



Ann. Nat. Hist. Vol. 2. No. 12. Feb. 1839. 2 f 



