GEN. RHOMBUS. MULLER*S TOPKNOT. 237 



lar, but more oval, the upper surface of the body 

 perfectly smooth, without any osseous tubercles, 

 and sprinkled over with white pearly specks. Com- 

 pared with the Turbot the qualities of the flesh are 

 inferior, but they are equal, if not superior, to those 

 of all the other flat fish, with the exception perhaps 

 of the Sole. Great quantities are disposed of in the 

 London markets. In the Firth of Forth, according 

 to Dr. Parnell, it is taken with the hook principally 

 about Aberlady Bay, but scarcely ever found as 

 high up the Firth as Queensferry ; and is of much 

 less frequent occurrence than the Turbot. Besides 

 the names given above, it is called the Kite on the 

 Devonshire and Cornish coasts, and also on the lat- 

 ter the Brill, a name derived from a provincial word 

 meaning speckled. 



(Sp. 178.) R. hirtus. Muller's Topknot. By 

 the generality of ichthyologists, including those of 

 greatest name, such as Cuvier, Nilsson, &c. this 

 species has been confounded with the R. punctatus 

 of Bloch, who in his turn confounded the latter 

 with R. megastoma. Muller was the first to point 

 out the distinction in his Zool. Dan. "*, and the dif- 

 ferences intimated by him have been fully confirmed 

 and illustrated by Mr. Jenyns and Mr. Yarrell. The 

 R. hirtus is a fish scarcely exceeding six or seven 

 inches in length, of a reddish brown colour, mottled 

 and spotted with very dark brown or black, the 

 general form rounded-oval, the rays of the dorsal 

 and anal fins longest over the posterior third part of 



* Vol. iii. p. ob'. 



