34 



WITH HARD CHEEKS. 



ACANTHOPTERYGII. 



WITH HARD CHEEKS. 



THE RED GURNARD, CUCKOO GURNARD. 



Trigla ciiculus, Linn^us. 



,, Cuv. et Valenc. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. iv. p. 26. 

 pini, Bi.ocH, pt. xi. pi. 355. 



Imeata, Montagt, Mem. Wern. Soc. vol. ii. pt. ii. p. 460. 

 „ Flem. Brit. An. p. 215, sp. 153. 



Generic Characters.-^liea.d nearly square, covered with bony plates ; gill- 

 cover and shoulder-plate ending in a spine directed backwards ; body elongated, 

 nearly round ; two dorsal fins, the rays of the first spinous, those of the second 

 flexible ; teeth in both jaws and on the front of the vomer, pointed small and 

 numerous ; branchiostegous rays 7 ; gill- opening large ; three detached rays at 

 the base of each pectoral fin. 



Cuviek's second family of the Acanthopterygii contains 

 those genera, the species of which have their cheeks defended 

 by indurated plates, which are sometimes spinous. Of the first 

 genus of this family, Trigla^ the Gurnards, the British coast 

 produces six species, three of which are common, the others 

 are of rarer occurrence. They are chiefly caught by the trawl- 

 net used in deep water; as the Gurnards mostly swim near 

 the bottom, and are tenacious of life after they have been 



