470 FISHES. ACANTHOPTERYGII. 



fins and first rays of the pectorals red. 6 inches long. Inhabits 

 Mediterranean sea. B. Shaw, iv. pi. 36. 



C. Scorpius, Lin. The Father-Lasher. Head large, with a small 

 spine before each eye ; two strong ones at the operculi, and two on 

 the shoulder ; body brown, marbled with gray and white ; fins and 

 tail transparent, clouded with brown, and the rays banded regu- 

 larly with deep brown. 8 to 10 inches long. Inhabits European 

 seas. B Petm. Brit. Zool. iii. pi. 44. 



Gen 94. ASPIDOPHORUS, Lacep. Agonus, Schn. Phalan- 



gites. Pall. Coitus, Lin. 



Body octagonal, completely covered with scaly plates ; two dor- 

 sal fins ; head thicker than the body, with points and depres- 

 sions above, flattened below. 



A. cataphractus , Cuv. Armed Bullhead. Head large, bony, and 

 very rugged ; nose armed with four upright short spines, and on 

 the throat a number of cirri ; body octagonal ; first dorsal fin of 

 six spinous rays ; colour brown above, with three or four trans- 

 verse blackish bands, whitish beneath. 5 inches long. Inhabits 

 European seas. B. Penn. Brit. Zool. iii. pi. 43. 



A. Japonicus, Lacep. Body yellowish-brown ; plates disposed in- 

 to eight prominent lines ; no cirri on the throat. 12 inches long. 

 Inhabits sea about the Kurile Islands. Shaw, iv. 264. 



A. monopterygius, Cuv. (Aspidopkoroides, Lacep.) Body narrow, 

 elongated, octagonal, brown on the back, gray on the sides, with 

 brown spots and bands j belly spotted with white ; only one dor- 

 sal fin. Inhabits Indian seas. Block, pi. 178, fig. 1, 2. 



Gen. 95. PLATYCEPHALUS, Bloch. Cottus, Lin. 



Head flattened; suborbitaries spinous, large and broad; body flat- 

 tened, and ventral fins situate behind the pectorals and much 

 separated. 



P. spatula, Bloch. Body depressed, grayish, with dusky clouds and 

 spots ; head marked above by sharp lines, and on each side by two 

 spines. 12 inches long. Arabian seas. Block, pi. 424. 



P. scaber, Bloch. Back bluish ; sides and belly silvery, with six red- 

 dish brown transverse bands ; head with four rows of small spines ; 

 lateral line spinous. 12 inches long. Indian seas Bloch, pi. 180. 



Gen. 96. BATTIACHUS, Scbn. 



Head flattened horizontally, broader than the body; mouth 

 large ; operculi spinous ; first dorsal fin short, with three spi- 

 nous rays ; the second soft and long, as well as the anal ; lips 

 often furnished with cirri. 



This group conceal themselves in the sand to watch their prey, and make dange- 

 rous wounds by their spines. 



* With cirri. 



B, tan, Cuv. (Gadus iau, Lin.) Body yellowish brown, paler be- 



