61 



face of the abdomen, anterior to the vent," as mentioned in the 

 ' Manual of the British Vertebrata,' p. 489. 



I cannot conclude without acknowledging the benefit I have re- 

 ceived, not onlj'^ on this, but on all previous occasions, when visiting 

 London, from Mr. YarreU's liberality, in affording me the unlimited 

 use both of lus library and of his extensive collection of British 

 fishes. 



* Trigla pacilopfera, Cuv. and Val. Little Gurnard. 



Amongst a number of fishes submitted to my examination by 

 Mr. Ball, is a Gurnard, apparently of this species, which was taken 

 at Youghal, I believe, along with sjjrats, (Cliipea SpraUus,) early in 

 the summer of 183.5. Inform, it agrees in eveiy character by which 

 the T. pcsciloptcra is said to be distinguished, (Cuv. and Val. Hist, 

 de Pots., t. iv. p. 447.) Judging from its present appearance, I have 

 little doubt that when recent it would in colour also have corresponded. 

 Its length is 2 inches, D. 10, (last extremely short) — 15. P. 10 — 3, 

 free. V. + 5. A. 15. C. 15. 



Second dorsal ray longest ; 25 dorsal spines ; caudal fin a little 

 forked ; lateral line spinous. Thence to D. fin, and to about an 

 equal distance below the line, rough with spinous scales ; (tliis is 

 not mentioned by Cuv. and Val.) lower portion of sides smooth. 



With the T. aspera, Viviana, as described in the last-quoted 

 work, t. iv. p. 77, and which in length is stated like the Tri. pceci- 

 loptera to be about 4 inches, the present specimen agrees in many 

 respects, but chiefly differs in the profile being less vertical, in the 

 anterior lobes of the snout, and in the negative character of wanting 

 " une echancrure transversale et profonde," behind the posterior or- 

 bital spine ; nor with the highest power of a lens can any of the an- 

 terior dorsal spines be distinguished as " dentel^e," nor the first and 

 second rays of the D. fin as serrated, both of which characters are 

 attributed to T. aspera*. 



In the course of this examination specimens of T. cuculus, Bl., T. 

 linenta, T. hirundo, T. pini, Bl., and T. Gitrnardus were before me, 

 T. lyra was not available, but the remarkable development of the an- 

 terior lobes of the snout in tliis species would have rendered its com- 

 parison with the specimen under consideration unnecessary. 



The T. pmciloptera has previously been obtained only at Dieppe, 

 where it was discovered by M. Valenciennes. 



* Gohius Britannicus. British Black Goby. 



When at Galway-bay, on the western coast of Ireland, accom- 

 panied by Mr. Ball, in June 1834, I captured a species of Goby, 

 whose thicker and more clumsy form at once led me to consider it 

 different from a G. niger talien at Youghal, with which I had been 



• Since the above was written I have had an opportunity of comparing 

 the Trigla here treated of with two specimens of T. aspera, — one 3^, the 

 other 4^ inches long, which are part of a collection of fishes, sent last year 

 from Corfu, to the Belfast Natural History Society, by Robert Templeton, 

 Esq., Roy. Art. This comparison served strongly to confirm every thing 

 above stated. The T. aspera is admirably described by Cuv. and Val. 



