214 Notes on the Red Band- Fish. 



has the spur of Vocliyacece, a structure apparently connected 

 here with the disappearance of a carpel, and indicating in Vo- 

 chyace<e, a departure by suppression from a quaternary state 

 of the germen. 



Art. VII. Notes on the Red Band-Fish, Cepola rubescens, Linn. — 

 By Wm. Thompson, Esq. Vice President of the Natural History 

 Society, of Belfast. 



A remarkably fine specimen of this fish, which, as British, 

 was, until last year,* known only to the southern shores of 

 England, was found on the beach near Ballantrae, on the 

 coast of Ayrshire, on the 29th of November, 1837, after a se- 

 vere storm. 



It was taken to Dr. Wylie, of the village, who, on learning 

 from the fishermen that the species was unknown to them, 

 most liberally transmitted it to me.f In consequence of its 

 size, and its being received in a perfectly recent state, I here 

 transcribe some of my notes, made on comparing the speci- 

 men with the descriptions of various authors, before it was 

 transferred to spirits. 



The largest English Cepola on record, is described by Mr. 

 Couch in the Linnean Transactions, (vol. xiv. p. 76), to have 

 been 15 inches in length. Cuvier and Valenciennes observe, 

 (Hist, des Poiss. t. x. p. 398), that their specimens were a foot 

 long ; but add, that the species has been found a foot and a 

 half in length. The present specimen, although broken off* 

 near the tail, is 19 J inches long ; and as the body, when per- 

 fect, tapers to a point, and that of the individual under con- 

 sideration is 2 lines deep at the fracture, I should consider, 

 judging from the gradual diminution of its depth before this 

 part, that it must have been from about 2 to 3 inches longer. 

 The depth of the head is 1 inch and J a line ; the greatest 

 depth of the body, (just behind the gill covers), is 11 lines, or 



* When the above was written I had overlooked the following note, which 

 appeared in the Magazine of Zoology and Botany, for June, 1837, (vol. ii. 

 p. 93). — "Cepola rubescens ', Linn. — Mr. P. W. Maclagan informs us, that 

 he has lately procured a specimen of this fish, which was caught off Dun- 

 ure, seven miles south of Ayr, on a whiting-line, baited with a mussell. Its 

 length is 15£ inches. The fisherman who brought it had seen another about 

 six weeks ago. — March 20th, 1837." 



f This specimen afforded an illustration of the correct application of Tce- 

 nioidea, or ' Poissons en ruban,' to the family in which it ranks, in a point 

 of view that, in all probability, was overlooked by Cuvier. Although 19£ 

 inches long, it was folded up like a riband, and forwarded through the post 

 office, under cover of a franked letter, of ordinary size and legal weight. 



