298 ACANTHOPT. FAMILY OF WRASSES. 



without scales, and the lateral line being uninter- 

 rupted. Its numbers are very numerous in the 

 Mediterranean, and scarcer further north. The 

 present amount of species is about thirty ; and four 

 are known as British. 



(Sp. 86.) C. melops. The Gilt-head. Connor. 

 Golden Maid. — This fish is very abundant in the 

 Mediterranean, and extends northwards as far as the 

 coast of Norway : it is by no means scarce in the 

 British and Irish seas, and is common in the Firth 

 of Forth. It is readily known by having invariably 

 sixteen spinous rays in the dorsal fin, and a black 

 spot behind the eye : its size ranges from four to 

 eight inches. The colour of the head is blue, spot- 

 ted on the cheeks and gill-covers with reddish 

 orange; of the body, red, varied with green; all 

 the fins are greenish blue, and the membranes of 

 the dorsal and anal fins have one or two longitudi- 

 nal stripes of darker blue. The Gilt- head spawns 

 in April. It is usually captured on the rocky parts 

 of our coasts, in crab and lobster-pots, into which it 

 is attracted by the baits for the Crustacea, and for 

 which it is usually in turn very generally cut up 

 into bait. 



(Sp. 87 ) C. Norvegicus. The Corkwing. The 

 classical name of this species, assumed by Cuvier 

 and Valenciennes from Bloch, will now be generally 

 adopted, and supersede the appellation of Cornu- 

 bicus and Goldsinny, employed by older authors. 

 This fish is common in the Northern Ocean, where 

 Nilsson has seen it attain the length of ten inches ; 



