GEMMEOUS DRAGONET. 263 



The Gemmeous Dragonet is not a common fish on our 

 coast, and, according to my own observation, is much more 

 rare than the Sordid Dragonet. It has been taken on the 

 coast of Cumberland and at Belfast. Mr. Couch has met 

 with it occasionally in Cornwall, where it frequents deep 

 water, generally keeping close to the bottom. Colonel 

 Montagu considered it rare, and only obtained one speci- 

 men, about nine inches long, which v/as taken off the bar 

 at Salcombe in Devonshire, in the autumn of 1809 : it has 

 also been obtained at Weymouth and Hastings. On the 

 eastern coast, it has been noticed at Harwich, Yarmouth, 

 and Scarborough. Mr. Neill records it among the fishes of 

 the Forth ; and Mr. Low, in his Fauna Orcadensis. It is 

 included by Nilsson among the fishes of the coast of Nor- 

 way, and is mentioned by most of the Northern Ichthyolo- 

 gists. Brunnich, M. Risso, and the Prince of Musignano, 

 also record this species as belonging to the Mediterranean. 



The Gemmeous Dragonet occasionally takes a bait, but is 

 more frequently caught in a net, — sometimes, when of small 

 size, by the shrimpers in sandy bays. Young specimens only 

 six inches in length possess the elongated dorsal filament. 

 Its food is testaceous animals, which are swallowed whole, 

 molluscous animals, and worms. The flesh is said to be 

 white, firm, and of good flavour. It is very frequently the 

 prey of other fishes. 



The length of the specimen described was ten inches ; the 

 length of the head, compared to the whole length of the 

 fish, as one to four : the form of the head oblong, ovate, 

 measuring two and a half inches in length, and but one inch 

 and a half in breadth ; the anterior half of the length is before 

 the eyes, the orbits occupy one-third, while the space behind 

 is equal to the breadth of the orbits. The branchial aper- 

 tures are small orifices, one on each side the nape of the neck, 



