682 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



spines are developed on e^ach side of the snout. In very young 

 individuals the spine at the base of the preopercular spine is 

 much larger than the latter." De Kay obtains his description 

 of this fish from Cuvier and Valenciennes, but he saw very small 

 individuals which he at first confounded with the young of the 

 red-winged sea robin. Cuvier states that he received numerous 

 specimens of the species from New York. De Kay mentions 

 among the characteristics of the fish the long pectoral which 

 reaches the end of the anal fin and acute spines of the head 

 which are flattened like sword blades. As for colors he gives 

 the following: ''The first dorsal fin has a black spot between 

 the fourth and sixth ray. The second with two black spots 

 along its base; one from the fifth to the seventh, the other 

 between the fourth and sixth rays; pectorals blackish, more spe- 

 cially on the interior where the upper border is whitish. Body 

 brownish above, lightish beneath." Specimens 8 inches long are 



recorded. 



Genus trigla (Artedi) Linnaeus 



This genus differs from Chelidonichthys, with which 



it agrees in the absence of palatine teeth, in having the sides of 



the body armed with transverse bony plates, crossing the lateral 



line. Species numerous; very abundant in the Mediterranean. 



Genus chelidonichthys Kaup 

 This genus differs from Prionotus chiefly in the absence 

 of palatine teeth. The scales are much smaller, and the pec- 

 toral fins less developed; a series of bony, spinous plates ex- 

 tends along the base of the dorsal fin, a pair of them to each ray, 

 the fin thus running in a shallow groove; there are no plates 

 along the lateral line; caudal fin usually emarginate; lateral 

 line usually forked at base of caudal, the branches running to 

 tip of fin. The numerous species abound on the coasts of Eu- 

 rope, Africa and India, ranging north to Japan. 



337 Trigla cuculus Linnaeus 

 Red Gurnard 



Trigla cuculus Linnaeus, Syst. Nat. ed. X, I, 301, 1758; Cuvier & Valen- 

 ciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss. IV, 26, 1829; De Kay, N. Y. Fauna, Fishes, 

 43, pi. 70, fig. 225, 1842; Jordan & Evermann, Bull. 47, U. S. Nat. 

 Mus. II, 2177, 1898. 



