238 MALACOP. SUB-BRACH. FLAT FISH. 



the body. The upper or coloured surface alone is 

 rough ; the ventral and anal fins have no interval 

 between them ; the profile is not notched before the 

 eyes, and the first ray of the dorsal, or that imme- 

 diately over the upper lip, is not longer than the 

 succeeding ones. These marks will prevent any 

 other being hereafter mistaken for this species, 

 which Mr. Yarrell has named after the individual 

 by whom they were first clearly pointed out. 



This appears to be a rare fish, but this may in 

 part be owing to it having but little, compared with 

 most of the other Rhombi, to recommend it to the 

 notice of fishermen, the size being small and the 

 flesh soft and insipid. It seldom, moreover, takes 

 a bait, and frequents deep waters. In the Edin- 

 burgh market it receives the name of the Little 

 Black Hairy Fluke^ and is very rarely seen except 

 during stormy weather. Sometimes it is taken in 

 crab-cages, as far up the Firth as Inchkeith.* 

 Various places on the east and west of England 

 have produced it ; and it has likewise been taken 

 on the coast of the county of Down, in Ireland. 



(Sp. 179.) R. punctatus. Bloch's Topknot. 

 Rather less than the preceding, to which in other 

 respects it bears a very close resemblance. The 

 body is rough on both sides ; the fin rays are sharp, 

 prominent, and spotted ; a division is observable be- 

 tween the ventral and anal fins ; the first ray of the 

 dorsal much elongated, about three times the length 



t Parnell's Essay on the Fishes of the Firth of Forth, 

 p. 378. 



