.1 A GO'S GOLDSINNY. 265 



head ; anal fin commencing in a line under the fourteenth ray of the 

 dorsal, and terminating immediately under the last ray but one of 

 the same fin ; all the rays nearly of equal length, except the three 

 first, which are stout and spiny, and somewhat shorter, the rest soft 

 and flexible, the longest rays being as long as the base of the first six 

 dorsal spines, and equalling the length of the middle flexible rays of 

 the same fin ; head in front of the ascending margin of the pre- 

 operculum somewhat of a triangular form; snout pointed; mouth 

 small ; jaws of equal length. Teeth, on the anterior part of each 

 jaw, long and sharp, with their points bending slightly inwards ; 

 those behind much smaller and more numerous ; eyes moderate, 

 placed high on the head and half-way between the point of the upper 

 jaw and the posterior margin of the operculum ; cheeks, gill-covers, 

 and body, covered with scales, as well as the intervening membranes 

 of the caudal fin, those on the sides being much larger than else- 

 where. Preoperculum angular, the posterior margin finely serrated, 

 the lower border entire ; operculum terminating over the base of the 

 pectoral in a small flattened point, the lower margin somewhat sinu- 

 ous ; lateral line placed high up, commencing at the upper part of 

 the operculum, running parallel with the dorsal line as far as in a 

 line under the last ray of the dorsal fin where it takes a sudden bend, 

 thence passing straight to the base of the middle caudal ray ; four 

 scales in an oblique row between the middle of the dorsal fin and 

 lateral line ; along the course of the lateral line, as far as the base of 

 the caudal fin, thirty-seven scales. Number of fin rays — 

 D. 25 ; P. 15 ; V. 6 ; A. 11 ; C. 14. 



This species, which was first observed by Mr Jago, on 

 the Cornish coast, has been obtained by Mr Couch from 

 the same quarter, and a specimen of three inches in length 

 is figured in Mr YarrelFs work on the British Fish, vol. i. 

 page 301, under the name of the Scale- rayed Wrasse. 

 Several examples have since been observed on the Northum- 

 berland and Berwickshire coasts, and specimens are occa- 

 sionally found in the Firth of Forth, washed ashore after 

 strong easterly gales. It is a fish of little value for the 

 table, its flesh, like most of the species in this genus, being 

 soft and insipid. 



