241 



SPINY-FINNED FISHES. 



The remainini? fishes belong to Cuvier's first Order (Acan- 

 thopterygii) . They have the skeleton of bone, and the dorsal 

 fins, as already mentioned (p. 222), supported in part by rays 

 which are spinous and undivided. In all of them the gills are 

 arches, presenting the pectinated or Comb-like structure so well 

 known in our most common and valuable fishes. 



Labridce. — Tlie first family we shall mention is that of the 

 Wrasse, of which there are many species possessing briUiant 

 colours — blue, green, orange, and red — and one, a Mediter- 

 ranean species, which has been taken on the English coast, 

 has so many bright tints intermingled in his costume, that he 

 is appropriately termed the "Rainbow Wrasse." The Ballan 

 Wrasse (Labrus maculatus) is sometimes taken off the rocky 

 parts of the coast of Down and Antrim, measuring about eigh- 

 teen inches in length. We have heard it called in the Belfast 

 market the " Old Wife." In Plymouth market, the females 

 of the Blue or Grey Skate {Raia batis) are called " maids" and 

 " good wives.'' We have aheady mentioned the Fishing Frog 

 {Lophiits piscatorius, p. 210), a species which belongs to another 

 family (Lophiadce), and stated that it is also called the Angler. 

 But these are not its only names, for it has as many aliases as 

 other persons of equivocal character, being known as the Sea 

 Devil, and in Scotland by the expressive though not very eu- 

 phonious, appellation of "Wide Gab.'' 



Gobioidce. — Among the Gobies and Blennies of this family, 

 there is one species which brings forth its young alive, and is 

 hence called the "viviparous Blenny.'' Some are remarkable 

 for their tenacity of hfe. 



Mvgxlidcc. — In connexion with the family of the Mullet, an 

 interesting fixct has been established — that the Mugil chelo, or 

 thick-lipped Grey Mullet of Cuvier — a species of extreme rarity 

 on the southern coast of England — is that which is most abun- 

 dant on the eastern shores of Scotland, and also along the 

 eastern coast of Ireland. In the Bay of Belfast they are very 

 plentiful, especially where the waters of the river Lagan mingle 

 with those of the sea. Mr. Thompson states that, on 1st of 



