ME. J. COUCH ON A NEWLY DISCOVERED BKITISH FISH. 39 



the discovery of this fish as a separate species, an account had 

 been given by Colonel Montagu of a kindred fish, which he sup- 

 posed to be common to the coast of Devonshire, and which he de- 

 scribed as being distinguished by the possession of a pair only of 

 these frontal barbs ; and yet for more than half a century this 

 species of Montagu had remained in obscurity, until it was again 

 brought to light by the diligent and acute observation of Mr. 

 Thomas Edward of Banff, who found it in some abundance in the 

 Moray Firth, and kindly supplied the writer with examples, which 

 enabled him to give an account of it, with a figure, in the con- 

 cluding portion of the fourth volume of his ' History of the Fishes 

 of the British Islands.' The five-bearded species had been already 

 represented in a coloured figiire in the third volume of the same 

 book, as also in Mr. Tarrell's well-known volumes. But a vacancy 

 still existed in the analogy between the species of the nearly 

 allied genera Motella and Couchia ; and it is this, again, we are able 

 to supply through the persevering diligence of Mr. Edward, whose 

 intelligence enabled him to detect the existence of another species, 

 and whose kindness has, with an example, communicated materials 

 which, enable the writer to produce, with a satisfactory likeness, a 

 somewhat extended notice of its actions, the latter of which will be 

 described, as far as can be, in this attentive observer's own words. 

 The length of the example from which, my notes were taken is an 

 inch and five-eighths ; and as half a dozen others were about the 

 same size, it may be judged to be their usual magnitude, as it does 

 not differ much also from that of C. glauca and O. Montagui. Com- 

 pared with the latter, its shape is more slender, the pectoral fin 

 rather more lengthened and pointed, the ventral fins longer and 

 slender, the cilia on the back, along the edge of the membrane, 

 more extended, apparently more numerous, and very ,fine ; barb 

 on the lower jaw long ; but what especially marks this little fish 

 as distinct from the other species is, that, besides the pair of barbs 

 in front of the head, there is a single one of much larger size in 

 front of the upper lip, and which points directly forward with a 

 slight inclination downward, thus analogically answering to the 

 middle barb that projects from the snout of the four-bearded 

 Eockling {Motella cimhria). It is probable that there are teeth 

 in the jaws ; but they can scarcely be seen ; and there is a row of 

 pores along each border of the superior maxillary bone. Some 

 further particulars of this fish I prefer to give in the words of its 

 discoverer, who describes its colour as a beautiful deep green 

 along the back when caught, the sides brilliantly white ; but 



