266 



GOBIOIDJE. 



ACANTHOPTERYGIL 



GOBIOIDIE. 



THE SORDID DRAGONET. 

 FOX. Kentish Coast. SKULPIN. Cornwall. 



Callionymus dracunculus, LINN:US. 



,, ,, CUVIER, Regne An. t. ii. p. 247. 



,, ,, Sordid Dragonet, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. iii. p. 224, 



pi. 32. 

 DON. Brit. Fish. pi. 84. 



THE SORDID DRAGONET, so called probably from the 

 dingy hue of its colours as compared with those of its generic 

 companion, is the most common species of the two on vari- 

 ous parts of the coast, but generally occurs of small size. It 

 is frequently taken at the mouth of the Thames, where, on 

 account of its reddish appearance, it is called the Fox. 



The general accordance in the situation of the fins and 

 the number of fin- rays in the two British examples of Dra- 

 gonets, has induced a suspicion, first entertained by Gmelin, 

 that the two fishes are but males and females of the same 

 species. Mr. Neill, in the Wernerian Memoirs, vol. i. p. 529, 

 supports this opinion ; having found that the specimens of 



