GEN. CALLIONYMUS. GEMMOUS DRAGONET. 277 



rally smooth, and adorned with rich and varied 

 colours. Their flesh is white and light, but with- 

 out much taste. Only two species are known in 

 the British seas; which by some are considered 

 nothing more than the different sexes of the same 

 species. 



(Sp. 78.) C. lyra. (PL XX.) The Gemmous 

 Dragonet is one of the most beautiful of the spe- 

 cies, being characterized by having the first ray of 

 the first dorsal very much elongated; sometimes, 

 it is stated, in the shape of a lyre, and hence its 

 classical name. As the fish becomes older, the ray is 

 usually much worn away. The name Gemmous is 

 derived from the brilliancy of its colouring when first 

 taken out of the water, which of course can never 

 be adequately expressed by any verbal description. 

 The ground- work is a beautiful orange, with white 

 on the under part of the body : the back and cheeks 

 are adorned with irregular and sometimes confluent 

 spots of a bright lilac, bordered with violet ; a con- 

 tinuous longitudinal band separates the orange of 

 the upper parts from the white of the abdomen. 

 The dorsal fins are orange, beautifully striped, and 

 spotted with lilac, violet, and black. Its Scottish 

 name, Gowdie, it derives from the prevalence of 

 this yellow or golden hue, as also its Cornwall 

 name, Yellow Skulpin. This fish, to adopt Dr. 

 Fleming's expression, seems not uncommon on our 

 shores. Dr. Neill reported it as common in the 

 Firth of Forth, where it attains to the length of a 

 foot; and is often found on the haddock-lines; 



