22() FISHES OF THE FIRTH OF FORTH. 



This fish, on the authority of Dr Neill, is occasionally 

 found in the Firth of Forth, as recorded in the Wernerian 

 Transactions, vol. i. p. 544., under the name of Mugil ce- 

 phalus, which is now supposed to be the M. cap'ito of Cu- 

 \'ier. 



The following is from the work of Mr Yarrell : — ^' Baron 

 Cuvier, in the last edition of his Regne Animal, states, in 

 a note at the foot of page 231, that Linnaeus and several of 

 his successors have confounded all the European Grey 

 Mullets under one common name, that of Mugil cephalus. 

 He has, however, distinguished among them several species, 

 and, according to him, the description of the cephalus of 

 Willoughby and the figure of the cephalus of Pennant both 

 appear to belong to the M. capita of the Regne Animal. 



*' Mugil cephalus oi Cuvier is distinguished by having it& 

 eyes partly covered with a semi-transparent membrane, ad- 

 hering to the anterior and posterior edges of the orbit, and 

 also by a larger elongated triangular scale pointing back- 

 wards, placed just over the origin of the pectoral fin on 

 each side. {See Plate XXVIII.) 



" Our most common Grey Mullet may, therefore, be 

 considered as the M. capita of Cuvier, an inhabitant not 

 only of the Mediterranean, but also of all the western shores 

 of the more temperate part of Europe. In Ireland this 

 fish occurs on the coast of the northern counties of London- 

 derry and Antrim ; in the south, on those of Cork and 

 Waterford, and, probably, at many intermediate points. 

 It is found plentifully in Cornwall and Devonshire, and 

 along the whole line of our south coast. It occurs con- 

 stantly on the Kentish and Essex coast, is taken at Yar- 

 mouth, and it has been traced to the Baltic and the west 

 coast of Norway." 



It is a singular fact, although common as this fish appears^ 



