88 GENERA AND SPECIES. 



Cepnaloptera. Plate xxxiii. MYLIOBATIDJE. 

 2 5 X ' giorna, Ox RAY. Head with horn-like projections. 



In general outline this curious fish is not unlike a butterfly. The 

 disk is nearly twice as broad as it is long. The upper and lower 

 halves are doubly curved, and join in a point like a bird's beak. 

 The top of the head, between the horns, is perfectly straight, and 

 the tail is long with a spine at the base and a small triangular dorsal 

 just in front of it. The skin is smooth, the colour greenish-blue 

 above, white below. A straggler from the Mediterranean was once 

 caught off the coast of Ireland, which was 45 inches long, but full- 

 grown specimens are much larger. 



Cepola. Plate ix. CEPOLIDJE. 



74. rubescens, RED BAND-FISH. Body long; tail pointed. 



The vertical fins are practically continuous ; the dorsal has from 

 67 to 74 rays, the anal 60 to 70, and the caudal 12 ; the 

 pectorals have from 12 to 15 rays, and the ventrals a spine and 

 5 rays. The dorsal and anal are of much the same height through- 

 out ; the caudal, instead of having two lobes, ends in a long, central 

 point. The scales are small and oval, and become larger towards 

 the tail. The mouth is oblique, and extends to the middle of the eye ; 

 the eye is large. In colour this long, thin fish is orange, with tints of 

 yellow and rose. It measures about 22 inches in length, and swims 

 like a snake at moderate depths over rocky ground, where it feeds 

 mainly on crustaceans. 



Chimsera. Plate xxvii CHIM^ERIDJE. 

 221. monstrosa, CHIM/ERA. Tail finless and filamentary. 



This is the King-of-the-herrings, so called from the spiny knob on 

 the head, or the Rabbit-fish (from the rodent-like teeth), and is un- 

 mistakable though not easily described. The girth is greatest at 

 the gills, the body tapering gradually. There are three dorsals, the 

 first high and triangular, with a strong, serrated spine in front, the 

 second long and low, extending to the last quarter of the body, where 

 it is separated by a mere notch from the third of equal height, which 

 soon dies out along the whip-like tail. The pectorals are very large 

 and almost reach the ventrals, which, in the male, have claspers. 

 There are two anals, about equal in length, and divided from each 

 other by a similar notch as that which separates the second and 

 third dorsals, and is immediately above it. The so-called "crown " 

 on the head is like a hook with a rounded end. The Chimasra is 

 about 48 inches long, and in colour is blue above and white below, 

 with metallic reflections. 



Clupea. Plate xxiv. CLUPEIDJE. 



190. harengus, HERRING. Dorsal halfway between snout and base 

 of tail; ventrals behind commencement of dorsal. 



192. sprattus, SPRAT. Dorsal nearer tail than head ; ventrals before 

 commencement of dorsal. 



