ICHTHYOLOGY. 



695 



alluded, has ascertained th.it the Linna?an Cal. 

 Dracunculus is merely the female of the Cal. Lyra. 

 'In the course," says he, " of dissecting and preser- 

 ving some of each, (viz. the sordid and gemmeous dra- 

 gonet), it struck me. as remarkable, that the gemme- 

 ous dragonets were all males, and the sordid dragonets 

 all females. I now considered it as a fortunate circum- 

 stance that numbers were brought to me, presuming 

 that if I should find the gemmeous dragonets to be 

 uniformly mitten, and the sordid dragonets to be uni- 

 formly tpawntrt, I might be permitted to conclude that 

 they are only male and female of one and the same spe- 

 cies. I accordingly opened every specimen which I re- 

 ceived to the amount of some dozens, and the result 

 entirely supported that opinion. Both sorts were 

 brought to me nearly in equal numbers ; and from the 

 fishermen I learned that they were taken promiscuous- 

 ly on the same lines." Memoir* of the Henttria* Na- 

 tural History Society, vol. i. p. 530. 



GENUS XLV1II. CALUOMORUS. 



Gill-openings on the sides ; head larger than the bo- 

 dy ; ventral fins distant ; scales minute. 



The Callionymus Indicus of Gmelin is the only 

 known species of the genus. It is a native of Asia. 



GENUS XLIX. URANOSCOPUS. Slar-Gazer. 



Head depressed ; eyes on the head contiguous ; 

 edges of the gill-lid ciliated. 



The position of the eyes in the fishes of this genus is 

 very remarkable, and has procured for them the generic 

 name* which are prefixed. There are two species. The 

 first species, U. mut of La Cepede, the U. tcaber of Gme- 

 lin, is an inhabitant of the Mediterranean. It lives near 

 the shore, and, concealing itself in the mud, moves the 

 filaments of the beard, so as to imitate the motions of a 

 worm, and in this manner entices the small fish to their 

 destruction. Its flesh is white, but dry and disagreeable. 

 Its bile was considered by the ancients as useful to heal 

 wounds. The U. Japomcus, first described by Hont- 

 tujn, U found in the seas near Japan. 



GENUS L. TBAOUNUS. Weevtr. 



Head comprsssed and spinous ; gill covers spinous ; 

 anus near the breast. 



This genus contains three species, two of which are 

 found in the British seas. The spines of the dorsal fin 

 of the common weever are supposed by our fishermen 

 to contain a vcnemous fluid, as the wounds occasioned 

 by them are exceedingly painful, and attended with a 

 considerable degree of inflammation. 



GENUS LI. GADUS. Cod. 



Head smooth, com proud ; gill lid, of many pieces, 

 Margined with a smooth border ; ventral fins slender, 

 and ending in a point. 



i is the most important genus, in an economical 

 point of view, in the whole system. All the species are 

 esculent and palatable, and furnish to the human race 

 a valuable supply of nourishment. Besides the flesh, 

 the liver is used to extract the oil which it contains ; the 

 roes are salted as a kind of caviar ; and the air-bladder 

 yields isinglass. They are gregarious, and are chiefly 

 to be met with in the temperate and cold climates. 

 The species exceed twenty in number, and exhibit such 

 remarkable differences in the number and form of their 

 organs of motion, that we are surprised at still finding 

 them included in the SUM category. 



GENUS LII. BATRACHOIDES. 



Head depressed and large ; opening of the mouth 

 wide ; around and below the under jnw, a beard. 



This genus was formed by Lacepede, for the recep- 

 tion of two species from the genera Gadus and Blen- 

 nius. The first is the Gadus tau of Gmelin. It is 

 found in the Atlantic ocean, and was first accurately 

 described by Bloch. The second is the Blennius rani- 

 nus of Gmelin, the Gadus raninus of Muller. 



GENUS LIII. BLENNIUS. Blenny. 



Body and tail lengthened and compressed ; head Blenny. 

 blunt and steep : ventral fins consisting of from two to 

 four united rays. 



This genus contains, according to La Cepede, twenty- 

 three species. Some of the species at least are ovovivi- 

 parous, or hatch the eggs internally, and exclude them 

 along with the young fish, while others appear to be sim- 

 ply oviparous. The genus formed by Artedi was named 

 from B>i, mucus, to indicate the slimy nature of their 

 skin. La Cepede distributes them into sections, accord- 

 ing to the number of the dorsal fins and the condition 

 of the head. Into his last section, or those with one 

 dorsal fin and no tentacula, he has inserted the Gadus 

 brorme under the title Blennius Torsk, although he had 

 previously given the species under the cod genus. 



GENUS LIV. OLIGOPODUS. Spotted Blenny. 



One dorsal fin extending from the head to the tail ; Spotted 

 one ray in each ventral fin. Bknny. 



This genus contains the Coryphccna velifera of Gme- 

 lin, a fish first described by 1'allas. It is a native of 

 the Indian seas. 



GENUS LV. KUUTTS. 



Body greatly compressed, and carinated above and 

 below ; back arched. 



We are indebted to Bloch for the formation of this 

 genus, which contains only one species, termed by him 

 A*, milieus. La Cepede has changed the trivial name 

 into Blocltianut. It is a native of the Indian seas, and 

 feeds on crustaceous and testaceous animals. 



GENUS LVI. CIIRYSOSTROMUS. 



Body and tail arched ; compressed ; one dorsal fin. 

 Rondeletius described the only species of this genus 

 known to naturalists, under the name Fiatola. 



OBDER XIX. THORACIC. 



GENUS LVII. LEPIDOPUS. 



Body lengthened, blade- shaped ; ventral and anal 

 fins consisting of one ray. 



Gouan of Montpellier, formed this genus, and de- 

 scribed for the first time the only known species. L. 

 argenteus. Shaw in his General Zoology, without be- 

 ing aware of the previous labours of Gouan, formed 

 his genus Vandelliu* for the reception of a species dif- 

 fering in some respects from the fish of Gouan, but of 

 the same genus. Montagu, inattentive equally to the 

 labours of Gouan and Shaw, formed his genus Zipho- 

 theca for the reception of a species of Lepedopus, simi- 

 lar to the one which Shaw describes. He had consi- 

 dered his fish as belonging to the apodal order, not 

 supposing that the pair of ventral scales, though desti- 

 tute of motion, were regarded as the rudiments of ven- 



