t5lV[00TH SERRANUS. 11 



faint below : two irregular whitisli lines pass along the side 

 from head to tail ; a third, more imperfect, on the belly- 

 On the gill-plates are several faintish blue stripes, running 

 obliquely downward. The fins are striped longitudinally with 

 red and yellow ; pectorals wholly yellow." The description is 

 from Mr. Couch ; the figure, from the work of Cuvier. 



One peculiarity of the Serrani must not be passed over. 

 Cavolini and Cuvier have, after repeated examinations, de- 

 scribed the Smooth Serranus, and some other species of this 

 genus, as true hermaphrodites, one portion of each lobe of roe 

 consisting of true ova, the other part having all the appearance 

 of a perfect milt, and both advancing to maturity simultane- 

 ously. A structure of a different kind, which must be con- 

 sidered as accidental, has been observed by others in the perch, 

 mackerel, carp, cod, whiting, and sole. This occasional mal- 

 formation, to speak in a popular phrase, consists of a lobe of 

 hard female roe on one side, and of soft male roe on the other 

 side, of the same fish. Observations are still wanting to 

 prove whether sui^h fishes have the power of impregnating 

 their own ova. 



Cavolini believed that the Serrani had this power ; and the 

 probability is that in the other cases the fish are also prolific, 

 since the two sides are observed to be of equal growth. 



