78 GENERA AND SPECIES. 



hinder half being narrow and joined on abruptly as if it did not 

 belong to it. In colour it is silvery yellow, and along the lower 

 edge are straight lines of eye-like spots, one under the gills, one 

 where the hinder part joins on, and one on the tail itself. It appears 

 in the list owing to a single specimen having been dredged up 

 between the Shetlands and the Faeroes. 



Arnoglossus. Plate xx. PLEURONECTID&. 



156. Internet, SCALD FISH. Mouth small, scales spiny on upper side. 



There are from 87 to 101 rays in the dorsal fin, from 64 to 68 

 in the anal, and 15 in the caudal ; in the pectorals there are 10 or 

 n, and there are 6 in the ventrals. The first rays of the dorsal fin 

 are occasionally separate, and are longer in the male than in the 

 female. The eyes are on the left side, but the teeth and jaws are 

 equal on both sides. The lateral line has 48 scales, and forms a 

 half-circle over the pectoral ; the scales generally are rather large 

 and deciduous, and the skin is thin and tears off as easily as if it 

 had been scalded, whence the fish's popular name. The small 

 mouth is at the end of the snout, the lower jaw is the longer, and 

 the teeth are small and in one row. In colour the Scaldfish, or 

 Scaldback, as it is often called, is light brown above and white 

 below. It is found in rather deep water where the bottom is sandy, 

 but is of no importance, and not used for food. 



Atherina. Plate x. ATHERINID&. 



83, presbyter, ATHERINE. Dorsals farther apart than the base of the 



second dorsal is long. 



84. boyeri, BOYER'S ATHERINE. Dorsals as far apart as the base 



of the first dorsal is long. 



Of the two dorsals of the Atherine, the first has from 7 to 9 

 spines, and the second a spine and from n to 13 rays, the anal has 

 a spine and from 14 to 18 rays, and the caudal has 17 rays; in the 

 pectorals there are from 13 to 15 rays, and the ventrals have a spine 

 and 5 rays. In the first dorsal the second and third spines are the 

 longest. The lateral line has from 57 to 62 scales. The fish is 

 translucent, with a silvery band from the eye to the base of the tail ; 

 on the back it is brownish, and there is a purple tinge on the sides. 

 It is from 7 to 8 inches long, and appears in small shoals in harbours 

 and inlets, returning to deeper water in the winter. It seldom 

 comes near the surface. 



Boyer's Atherine appeared at Polperro on Trafalgar Day, 1846. 

 11 They were aH near the surface," says Couch, " not more than 

 three or four within a foot or two of each other, but the whole 

 scattered loosely over the water to the number of several thousands. 

 Their heads were in one direction, as if passing inward, and they 

 were constantly raising dimples on the surface, like scattered drops 

 of rain, by apparently examining or seizing some floating object ; 

 but however earnestly engaged their vigilance was never remitted, 

 and it became scarcely possible to approach them, as in an instant 

 they were off in another direction at the sight of a moving object." 



