DISCUSSION OF SPECIES AND THEIR DISTRIBUTION. 463 



short; soft dorsal similar to the aual, which is without spiues; caudal narrow, few-rayed. 

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

 detached. Aii-bhiddcr ineseut; pyloric cu:;ca usually jneseiit, few iu numbev. Jordan aud 

 Gilbert. 



KEY TO THE AMERICAN GENERA 



(After Jordan and Gilbert.) 



I. Pectoral fin with two or three detached appendages below ; veutrals I, 5, wide apart. 



T. Body scaly ; teeth present; pectoral appendages 3 Triglin(e 



A. 1 Palatines toothless Trigla 



B. 2 Palatines with teeth Prionotus 



TRIGLA, Artedi. 



Trigla, Artebi, Genera Piscium, 178S, 42.— Cuvier, Regne Animal, ed. i, 1817, ir, 301; ed. 2, 1829, ii, 158.— 

 CuviKi: and Vai.kncienxes, Hist. Nat. Poiss., iv, 9, — Gunther, Cat. Fish. Brit. Mns., n, 198. — Jordan 

 and Gilbert, Bull, xvi, U. S. Nat. Mus., 733. 



Head angular, with bouy upper surface aud sides. Two dorsals, the first much tbe 

 shorter. Three free filameuts at base of pectoral. Villiforiu teeth on jaws and usually on 

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

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

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

 base of caudal, with branches running to its tip. Brauchiostegals, 7. Pseudobranchiaj 

 present. 



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

 fathoms. 



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

 meters (Travnillcur station xvii). 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., fouud in the Gulf of Gascony in 411 fathoms {Travailleur sta- 

 tion VIII). 



(.3.) Trigla carillone, Lacepede [=Lepi(lotrigla aspera (C. & V.) Giinther], taken off 

 Soudan, in 130-35.5 meters; on the Banc d'Arguin, in 140-175; otf Morocco, in lUO; off 

 Spain, in 99, and near the Cai)e Verdes, in 90. For notes on these three species see Vail- 

 lant, p. 359. 



The GhuUengcr took Trigla lrj>(acanfha, Giinther, and Trigla spiloptera, Giinther, off 

 the Ki Islands, in 1-tO fathoms (station 192). 



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

 of Bengal, about 10 individuals, many of them females with mature ovaries, having been 

 taken at Incentigator station No. 90. (Alcock, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., 18S9, ii, 207.) 



PRIONOTUS, Lacepede. 



Prionotus, Lac^^p^de, Hist. Nat. Poiss., iii, 337, 1802 (type, Trigla evolans, L.). 



Body subfusiform; profile of head desceuding to the broad, depressed snout, which is 

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

 bony, the bones rough with ridges and granulations; scales on head few or none; pre- 

 opercle with one or two sharp sjjines at its angle; operde 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-rakers rather long. Body covered with small, rougli scales, which are not 

 keeled; lateral line continuous; scales of breast very small. Dorsal fins distinct, the first 

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



