Trigla Cuculus with T. Guruardus. 417 



and Val. * Hist, des Pois,/ t. xii. p. 9, and that it was at the 

 same time distinct from the G. niger of Montagu ' Yarr. Brit. 

 Fish./ V. i. p. 252, and Jenyns, and probably from that of 

 Yarrell. Of the former species I had then seen but the one 

 native specimen — captured by myself in the bay of Galway — 

 and therefore it was considered injudicious to draw up the 

 specific characters. Having now obtained from Mr. R. Ball 

 of Dublin two other specimens for examination — from the 

 coasts of Galway and Cork — I can do so with more confidence. 

 Although an easy task to point out the relative differences, it is 

 not so with the absolute characters ; these may be described as 



G. niger, Cuv. and Val. ? ' G. Britannicus. 



Teeth on the outer rows of both , Teeth of the outer rows not very 



jaws very much larger than the I much larger than the others, 



others, and curving inwards. I and, like them, straight and 



I truncated at the summits. 

 Scales small, with long cilia on Scales rather large. 



their free margins. D. 6_14 ; P. 18 ; V. H-5 each ; 



D. 6— 16; P. 20: V. 5 each ; | A, 12; C, 15, and some short*. 



A. 13 ; C. 14, and some short, \ 



On comparison, the largest G. niger, Cuv. and Val., 3 

 inches 2 lines long, and the G. Britannicus, 3 inches in length, 

 present the following appearances : — 



Viewed from above, the head is more equable in breadth in G. Bri' 

 tannicus; in the other it approaches more to a conical form. When 

 placed on the side, the G. niger is rather the deeper, carrying greater 

 breadth to the base of the caudal fin ; the scales are much smaller 

 in G. niger, yet the cilia on their margins are longer than in the 

 other : from some of the scales being wanting, their number cannot 

 be accurately given ; but reckoned from the opercle in a straight line 

 along the middle of the body — for the lateral line is inconspicuous 

 in both species — to the base of the caudal fin, there are about 10 

 more in G. niger than in G. Britannicus ; about 45 in the one, and 

 55 in the other may be mentioned as an approximation : pecteu-like 

 striae t on the scales of both species. In G. niger, the outer row of 



* The examination of more specimens has shown that there is but little 

 disparity between these species in the dorsal sulcus and the comparative 

 length of jaws, although a difference did, in these respects, appear in the in- 

 dividuals first compared (See Zool. Proc). The jaws may in both be called 

 equal. Of four specimens of G. niger, one had a more depressed line from 

 the head to the first dorsal, another a broad groove, and the remaining two 

 displayed neither appearance. 



f See Cuv. and Val., t. xii. p. 12. 



Ann. Nat. Hist. Vol.2. No. 12. Feb.lSSO. 2 F 



