GENERA AND SPECIES. 87 



same height, the rays, which are also all of the same height, standing 

 rather higher. In the lateral line are from 32 to 35 scales. The 

 mouth is small and reaches only halfway to the eye. The lips are 

 fleshy and the jaws equal. The Rock Cook, otherwise the Small- 

 mouthed Wrasse, is the most graceful of the wrasses, and is brown 

 above, yellowish on the sides, with yellow stripes along the rows of 

 scales, blue stripes on the head below the eye, and dark bands 

 along the fins. It is 5 inches long, and lives in deep water where 

 the ground is rocky and weeds are plentiful. 



Centrolophus. Plates iv. and v. STROMATEID^E. 



30. britanmcus, CORNISH CENTROLOPHUS. Pectorals short. 



31. pompilus, BLACK-FISH. Pectorals long. 



The Cornish Centrolophus has a long dorsal fin higher behind 

 than in front, with 46 rays; the anal, which is somewhat similar in 

 shape, has 30 rays and the caudal 17 ; the short pectorals have 17 

 rays, and the ventrals a spine and 5 rays. The dorsal and anal 

 are sheathed with scales ; the scales are small, and the lateral line 

 begins with a short curve over the pectorals, and then continues 

 straight along the middle of the long body. There is only one on 

 record, and that was washed ashore at Looe. It is brownish pink 

 above and paler below, and is 19 inches long. 



The Black-fish is fuller in the body. Its dorsal, which is highest 

 in the middle, has from 38 to 41 rays ; its anal has from 23 to 25, 

 and its caudal 17 ; in the pectorals are 21 rays, and in its ventrals a 

 spine and 5 rays. The pectorals are long, and the lateral line 

 becomes straight beyond their tips. The eye is large, and the 

 mouth extends to its front edge. This is a Mediterranean fish, 

 occasionally straggling into British waters, following vessels in the 

 same way as the pilot-fish. It attains a yard in length, but none 

 of that length has been caught off our coasts. In colour it is 

 blackish, with irregular markings. 



Centronotus. Plate x. BLENNIIDJE. 

 81. gunnellus, BUTTER-FISH. Dorsal even, long and spotted. 



The Butter-fish is of much the same shape as an eel. The dorsal 

 is long and low, with from 75 to 82 rays ; the anal starts from the 

 middle of the abdomen, has 2 spines and from 39 to 45 rays, and, 

 like the dorsal, is connected by a membrane with the caudal, which 

 has 15 rays ; the pectorals have n or 12 rays, and the ventrals have 

 a spine and i or 2 rays, and are very small and placed immedi- 

 ately below the base of the pectorals. The mouth reaches to the 

 fore-edge of the eye, and has a single row of teeth in its jaws. The 

 body varies in colour, but is generally yellow ; there is a dark stripe 

 from the eye to the mouth, and along the base of the dorsal is a row 

 of round black spots with a white edging. It is a very slimy fish 

 hence its popular name found between the tide marks under the 

 seaweed, and is occasionally left dry by the tide. In length it is about 

 ii inches. 



