( 146 ) 



yj, Account of a New Species of British Bream, and of an Undescrihed Sjyecies of 

 Skate : To which is added a List of the Fishes of the Frith of Forth, and its 

 Tributary Streams, with Observations. By Richard Parnell, M.D., F. R.S. E., 

 &c. 



Read 17th April 1837. 



In the beginning of July last, I obtained, from the Frith of Forth, a species 

 of bream, which has not been mentioned by natm'ahsts as inhabiting the British 

 seas. A few days after, I procm^ed, from the same quarter, a second specunen of 

 the same species, each exhibiting a conspicuous dark violet-coloured spot at the 

 base of the upper part of the pectoral fins. (See Plate VI.) 



On consulting the continental Avorks on Ichthyology, I find this bream to 

 agree best with the description Baron Cuviee has given of the Pagellus acarne, 

 an inhabitant of the Mediten-anean ; but, as no figure of the fish accompanies his 

 description, the discrimination of the species is rendered somewhat uncertain. 



From the great similarity the breams bear to each other in their externa] 

 form, it is not to be wondered at if naturalists have occasionally noticed two spe- 

 cies under one sjmonym, for without accurate figures, or the specimens them- 

 selves before us, the closely allied species are with difficulty discriminated. 



I think it not improbable, judging from the description Mr Yarrell has 

 given of the Pagrus vulgaris, that a specimen of the acarne has fallen under his 

 ol)servation, and been mistaken for a variety of the Pagrus rulgnris, which it 

 greatly resembles ; for, in his description of that fish (vol. i. page 103), he says. 

 •' the pectoral fins have occasionally a violet-coloured spot at their origin ;" a cha- 

 racter which is constant in the arjirne, and which has not been noticed by any 

 other author as occurring in the Pagrus vulgaris. 



Generic Characters. — Pagellus. — Front teeth conical, sharp, and numerous. 

 Molars rounded. 



Specific Character. — (3n the base of the pectoral fins, a large dark spot. 



Description. — Length 13 inches ; depth, in the region of the pectorals, 4 

 inches. Head one-third the length of the body, exclusive of the caudal rays. Eye 

 placed half way between the tip of the upper jaw and the posterior mrn-gin of 

 the operculum ; its diameter one-fourth the length of the head. Pectorals reach- 

 ing as far as the first ray of the anal fin. Dorsal fin commencing over the poste- 



