102 FISHES. 



Tr. cuculus, Bl., 59*. (The Cuckoo Gurnard). A neighbour- 

 ing species which is always red with a black spot on the first dorsaL 



Tr. lucerna, Brun.; Rondel. 287 f. Scales on the lateral line 

 higher than they are wide ; the second dorsal spine prolonged into a 

 filament. 



Tr. aspera; Viviani; Rondel., 296. Short muzzle, rough scales, 

 velvet head; sharp crests along the dorsals; temple emarginate. 

 These two last species are small, and peculiar to the Mediterranean £.. 

 M. de Lacepede has separated three genera from Trigla: 



Prionotus, Lacep. 



American fishes resembling the Tr. hirundo. Their pectorals, how- 

 ever, are longer, and can support them in the air; their distinguishing 

 character, however, consists in a band of teeth, dense as the pile on velvet, 

 on each palatine §. 



Peristedion, Lacep. 



This genus has been separated from Trigla with still more propriety. 

 The whole body is mailed with large hexagonal scales, forming longitudi- 

 nal ridges; the muzzle is divided into two points, under which are branch- 

 ed cirri: no teeth. 



P. cataphracla; Trigla cataphracta, L. ; Rondel., 299. Red; 

 a foot long; from the Mediterranean; the only species well known |[. 

 The best of these divisions is 



Dactyloptertjs, Lacep. 



The Flying Gurnards, so celebrated under the name of Flying Fishes; 

 the subpectoral rays are much more numerous and longer; and instead of 

 being free, as in the preceding ones, they are united by a membrane so as 

 to form a supernumerary fin, longer than the fish, which supports it in 

 the air for some time. Thus they are seen flying above the surface of the 

 water, in order to escape from Dolphins and other voracious fishes; they 

 fall into it again, however, in a few seconds. 



Their extremely short snout has the appearance of a hare-lip; the 

 mouth is beneath, and the jaws are only furnished with rounded teeth, in 

 small patches, like paved compartments ; the helmet is flattened, rectan- 

 gular, and rough; the preoperculum terminates in a long and stout spine,, 

 which forms a powerful weapon ; all their scales are carinated. 



* It is the Tr. hirundo of Brunuich; but it is neither the cuculus nor the hirundo 

 of Lin. 



f It is not the Tr. lucerna of Lin., but his Tr. obscura, described Mus. Ad. Fred, 

 part II, and subsequently forgotten. The Tr lucerna, L., is a factitious species. 



X Add the neighbouring species: Tr. papilio, Cuv. ; — -Tr. phalcena; — Tr. sphbtx; 

 described in our fourth volume of Icthyology. 



§ Jr. punctata, Bl. 353 and 354; — Tr. strigata, Cuv., evolans, L., or lineatus, Mit- 

 chill, New York Trans., I, pi. iv, 4; — Tr. Carolina, L., or palmipes, Mitchill, I, cit. 

 Tr. tribulus, Cuv. 



|| The fig. of Bloch, 349, is incorrect, and gives too many rays to the second dor- 

 sal. Several other species are found in the East Indies. 



