376 PISCES (OSSEI) ACANTHOPT. [MUGIL. 



of the mouth, not connected with any membrane : nostrils close together, 

 and while the fish is alive, moveable on each contraction of the mouth : 

 a prominent superior maxillary bone, minutely notched at its lower or 

 posterior edge : upper lip protuberant and fleshy, with a thin margin 

 minutely notched or ciliated ; the lip appears behind as projecting under 

 the maxillary : carina of the under jaw prominent and square ; edge of 

 the lower lip fine and simple : body solid, round over the back : pectoral 

 fins high on the side, pointed, rounded below, the first rays short : the 

 first dorsal fin five inches and three-eighths from the snout, the origin of 

 the first three rays approximate, the first ray the longest : the first two 

 rays of the anal fin short : tail broad, concave : scales large." (Colours.) 

 " Head and back greenish ; all besides silvery, with six or seven parallel 

 lines along the sides of the same colour as the back." COUCH, as quoted 

 by YARR. 



This species would seem, from Mr. Couch's MSS. communicated to 

 Mr. Yarrell, to be not uncommon on the coast of Cornwall. Said to be 

 " gregarious, frequenting harbours and the mouths of rivers in the winter 

 months in large numbers." It does not appear, hitherto, to have been 

 observed by any other of our own naturalists. 



51. M. curtus, Yarr. (Short Gray Mullet.) 

 M. curtus, Yarr. Brit. Fish. vol. i. p. 210. 



DESCRIPT. *' Length of the head compared with that of the body and 

 tail as one to three, the proportion in the Common Gray Mullet being 

 as one to four : the body deeper in proportion than in M. Capito, being 

 equal to the length of the head : head wider, the form of it more tri- 

 angular, and also more pointed anteriorly : eye larger in proportion : fin- 

 rays longer, particularly those of the tail : the ventral fins placed nearer 

 the pectorals ; also a difference in the number of some of the fin-rays : 



D. 41/8; A. 3/8; C. 14; P. 11; V. 1/5. 



The colours of the two species are nearly alike ; and in other respects, 

 except those named, they do not differ materially." YARR. 



A new species described by Mr. Yarrell, of which only one specimen 

 has hitherto been obtained. This, which is probably quite young, mea- 

 suring but little more than two inches in length, was taken, in company 

 with the fry of the Common Gray Mullet, between Brownsey Island and 

 South Haven, at the mouth of Poole Harbour. 



(8.) M. Cephalus, Cuv. Reg. An. torn. 11. p. 231. 



Whether the true M. Cephalus of Cuvier be found in the British seas, 

 must be left doubtful, until naturalists shall have more closely examined 

 and compared our native species. It may, perhaps, assist in determining 

 this point, just to point out its distinguishing characters. These consist 

 (according to Cuvier) in the eyes being partly covered by a fatty mem- 

 brane adhering to the anterior and posterior margins of the orbit ; in the 

 maxillary being entirely concealed beneath the infra- orbital, when the 

 mouth is closed ; and in the base of the pectoral fin being surmounted by 

 a long carinated scale* ; the orifices of the nostril are also separate from 

 each other, and the teeth are tolerably well developed. 



* Sec a representation of this s>calc in the vignette at the foot of page 20] of Yarrcll's British 

 Fishes. 



