178 



DUSKY SKULPIN. 



SORDID DRAGONET. COMMON SKULPIN. FOX, perhaps 



from the colour it sometimes assumes, as represented in Bloch's 



unsatisfactory figure. But this fox-like tinge is only seen in 



particular situations. 



Callionymus dracuncuhis, Linnaeus. Cuvier. 



CalUonyme dragonneau, Lacepede. Risso. 



" " Donovan, pi. 84. 



Callion'jynus dracuncuhis, Jenyns; Manual, p. 389. 



" " Yarrell; Br. Fishes, vol. i, p. 302. 



" " GuNTHER; Cat. Br. M., vol. iii, p. 139. 



This species, if it be a species, and not merely the female 

 or undeveloped male of the fish last mentioned, is perhaps 

 more abundant than the Yellow Skulpin, as indeed would 

 necessarily be the case if it includes a large portion of the 

 two sexes; but this circumstance may also be explained by its 

 being more frequently found in sandy bays and shallow water, 

 where its presence and motions can be more readily observed. 

 It may there be seen at rest on the ground, where, however, 

 its mottled colours serve in a great degree to conceal it, although 

 not with such certainty as to prevent it from being often the 

 prey of the larger and more voracious fishes, to escape from 

 which it would appear from an observation of Dr. Ball, in 

 Ireland, that it is capable of burying itself in the sand. But 

 it is also common in deep water, where we know it chiefly 

 from its capture in trawls, or from the stomachs of fishes which 

 take their food from the bottom. Its own food is Avorms, small 

 shellfish, and other sorts of molluscous animals. 



We can believe the assertion of Lacepede, that both these 



