SYNOPSIS OF THE FISHES OF MADEIRA. 15 



Merlucius ambiguus.— " Morc<!go do mar." 



Having only obtained a single individual, I forbear attempting a specific character of 

 this little Hake, which, in the production into a filament of the second ray of the ven- 

 tral fins and grooved nape, resembles a Motella ; wanting, on the other hand, the 

 beards, and having no trace of any fin within the nuchal groove. From Merlucms Ma- 

 raldi Risso, Hist. iii. 220. it differs in the colouring ; and though the upper jaw closes 

 over the under, it scarcely can be called " longer." In Risso's fish the nape is grooved 

 (sillonne'e), but he says nothing of any peculiarity about the ventral fins. 



The Maderan Hake, or " Pescada," Merlucius vulgaris of my Synopsis, p. 189, proves, 

 upon better acquaintance, distinct from the common British Hake, M. vulgaris, Cuv., 

 Yarr &c. [Gadus Merlucius, L.) . Instead of being even, the dorsal and anal fins are each 

 produced at their hinder end into a rounded lobe ; the jaws are nearly equal in length ; 

 the teeth are large and numerous ; the scales small. I do not name it, for I believe it 

 has already been caUed by Mr. Swainson M. sinuatus; and I am doubtful whether it 

 may not also be the M. escidentus of Risso, iii. 220, though in his synonyms he has 

 confounded it with the true Northern Hake. I believe it to be the fish imperfectly 

 figured long ago by Salviana, p. 73, copied by Willughby, t. L. membr. 2. n. \, 

 which has usually been referred to also for the Northern Hake. 



Fam. Gadid/e. 

 Macrourusatlanticus.-" Prag-a" or " Lagartixa do mar."-M. fusco-cinereus, 

 dorso vinoso, gutturis umUlico pinnisque ventralibus atris : squamis areolato-scaber- 

 simis, echinalatis, ecarinatis, inermibus . ocuUs maximis. 

 M. rupestris, nob. in Synops. Mad. Fish. p. 190, nee Bl. nee Cuv. et omiss. syn. 

 Lepidoleprus ccelorhynchus, Risso. 



On further examination, this most singular fish appears to be quite distinct from M. 

 rupestris, Bl. t. 177; and therefore, according to Cuvier (R. Auim. 2nd Ed. n. 337, 

 note) from Lepidoleprus cmlorhynchus, Risso, through which indeed alone I had referred 

 it to the northern fish described by Bloch. But besides the points included in the spe- 

 cific character, the first ray of the first dorsal tin is neither serrate nor stronger than 

 the rest. The diameter of the eye is one twelfth or one thirteenth part of the whole 

 length, which scarcely exceeds one foot. 



Fam. Pleuronectid/E. 

 Rhombus cristatus. B. corpore oblongo-elUptico : oculis approximatis : dentibus tenui- 

 bus pectinatis; inmaxilht superiore uniseriatis ; in inferiore anguste scobinahs: pinna: 

 dorsalis dinudii anterioris radiis apice liheris ; primordialibus {2^"-6^".) product,^, 

 elongatis: latere (sinistra) fusco, inmaculato : squamis {haud decidms) magn,,, mar- 

 gine scabris. 



