GREA T BRIT A IN. 209 



Length of head, 6^ to 6^ ; height of body, 24- to 3 in the 

 total length. Eyes. The lower slightly in advance of the 

 upper, placed close together, and not half a diameter from 

 the end of the snout. Jaws of equal length in front, the 

 maxilla not reaching to beneath the front eye. Teeth 

 Conical, rather compressed and blunted; from 11 to 13 in 

 either jaw on the blind side. Fins. Dorsal commences 

 above the centre of the upper eye ; its rays are longest in 

 the posterior half of the body, where they equal about half 

 the length of the head. Ventrals free. No spine before 

 the anal fin, which latter is similar to the dorsal. Caudal 

 rounded. Scales. Cycloid covering the head (except the 

 snout), body, and minute ones on the coloured surface of 

 the vertical fin rays. Lateral-line. On both sides ; at first 

 makes a slight curve, more pronounced in some examples 

 than in others, the convexity of which is above, and is 

 then continued almost direct to the centre of the base of 

 the caudal fin. Colours. Dull yellowish, blotched, and 

 with dark spots, more especially over the chest and along 

 the base of the anal fin. Dark blotches and spots likewise 

 on the anal, caudal, and ventral fins. A dark base to 

 pectoral, which has also some cloudy markings. On the 

 under surface Pennant observed that it was sometimes 

 marked with fine large dusky spots, but that such were not 

 persistent. 



Varieties. Thompson took an example similar to 

 Donovan's, March 3rd, 1835, free from spots, obscurely 

 marked on the upper side and vertical fins with many 

 shades of brown, gray and dull yellow, the orange stripe 

 round the base of the operculum being very conspicuous ; 

 it and another had a lemon mark about an inch behind the 

 base of the pectoral on the coloured side. 



Habits. In the Firth of Forth it appears during the 



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