262 ORDER It. JUGULARES. DRAGONET. WEEVER. 



ORDER II JUGULARES. 



THE general character of this order consists in the ven- 

 tral fins being placed before the pectoral ones. It con- 

 tains five genera, and about thirty-five species. 



THE DRAGONET. 



The common dragonet (for there are three species) is 

 sometimes found a foot long. The body is slender, round, 

 and smooth ; the head large, and depressed at the top ; 

 and in the hind part are two orifices through which it 

 breathes, and ejects the water received by its mouth in 

 the manner of cetaceous fishes. The apertures of the 

 gills are closed; and on the extremity of each of the 

 bones which covers them is a very singular trifurcated 

 spine. The upper jaw projects much farther than the 

 lower ; and the teeth are very minute, though the mouth 

 is extremely large. 



The colours of this fish exhibit a delightful variety of 

 yellow, blue, and white ; the blue, in particular, is incon- 

 ceivably beautiful, and glows with a lustre little inferior to 

 that of the diamond. Some writers call this species the 

 flying fish ; but whether it makes use of its fins as the 

 means of elevating itself out of the water is a circum- 

 stance, which has not yet been satisfactorily ascertained. 

 The dragonet is found in different latitudes, as far north 

 as Spitzbergen, and as far south as the Mediterranean. 

 It is frequently caught on the Yorkshire coast. 



THE COMMON WEEVER, OR SEA-DRAGON* 



This fish grows to the length of twelve inches. The 

 under jaw is much longer than the upper; the back is 

 straight, the sides are flat, and the belly prominent. The 

 covers of the gills are armed with a very strong spine ; the 

 first dorsal fin consists of five very strong spines, and the 

 second of several soft rays. 



The weever seems to have been well known to the an- 



