SORDID DRAGONET. 



267 



C. lyra examined by liiin were all males, while those con- 

 sidered as C. dracuncuhis Averc all females. Dr. George 

 Johnston, of Berwick, has, on the other hand, recorded in the 

 third volmne of the Zoological Journal, page 336, (note,) 

 that he had found a Sordid Dragonet with a milt, or soft roe. 

 The diiferences between the two fishes are on some points so 

 great and so obvious, that I have considered them distinct. 

 Mr. Couch has observed a certain difference in their habits : 

 " The Yellow Skulpin prefers deeper water ; whereas the 

 other will often approach the margin of the tide, where I 

 have watched its actions with great interest. They keep at 

 the bottom, among sand or stones, and never rise but to pass 

 from one station to another, which is done with great sud- 

 denness and rapidity. They possess great quickness of 

 sight, and dart with swiftness when alarmed, though not to a 

 great distance ; and I have seen the Sordid Skulpin repeat- 

 edly mount after prey, and invariably return to the same 

 spot again. This motion is chiefly performed by the ven- 

 tral fins ; and the eye is well adapted to the habit, the mus- 

 cles of that organ being fitted to direct the sight upward, but 

 not downward. They sometimes take the hook, though 

 rarely ; and they are much devoured by the larger fish, in 

 the stomachs of which they are often found. They feed on 

 shell-fish, worms, and molluscous animals."'"' 



The whole length of the specimen described was nine 

 inches ; the length of the head compared to the whole length 

 of the fish as one to five ; the head triangular, as wide as it 

 is long ; both head and body much more depressed than those 

 of C. lyra ; the eyes removed only one diameter of the orbit 

 from the nose ; the mouth measured but half an inch from 

 the angle of the gape to the point of the upper jaw ; the pre- 

 operculum armed with three spines ; the fins similar to those 

 of C. lyra in situation and in the number of fin-rays, but the 

 rays of the first dorsal fin are shorter than those of the second 



