628 



THE OCEAN WORLD. 



which Nature has gifted them is their misfortune ; it betrays them to 

 their enemies, which are found in the air as well as in the water ; and, 

 without their prodigious fecundity, many species would long since 

 have disappeared. 



Many species of the genus Tr'igla are kno\\Ti. In the British 

 seas the commonest species is the Grey Gurnard {Trig/a gurfiardus). 

 a silvery-grey fish, more or less clouded with brown and speckled 

 with black. A rare species with us, but very common in the Medi- 

 terranean, is the Red Gurnard, Trigla pitii (Fig. 396). It is of a 



Fig. 397.— The Flying Gurnard (Dactylopterus volitans). 



fine bright rose-red colour, paler beneath and more vivid about the 

 fins, of which there are two dorsal and one ventral. Beneath the 

 pectorals are three detached rays ; both jaws and front of the lower 

 palate are armed with fine velvety teeth. The Perlon, or Sapphirine 

 Gurnard {T. hirundo), is a large and handsome fish, remarkable for 

 the lively green and blue hues of the inner surface of its large 

 pectoral fins. 



The Flying Gurnard {Dactylopterus volitans) somewhat resembles 

 the Grey Gurnard, but difters in having the fin-rays of the pectorals con- 

 nected by membranes, by which it is enabled to support itself some 

 time iii the air, hke the flying-fish ; the pectorals, when extended. 



