TAKEN OFF THE COAST OF NORTHUMBERLAND. 291 
skin, and near the top of the head above the eye a crescentic 
mark of a dark iridescent blue colour ; besides these there are 
on the side of the body several narrow, dusky black, slightly 
waved lines considerably apart from each other and obliquely 
inclined from before backwards ; of these eight or nine are above 
the lateral line and of unequal length ; below the same line they 
are more numerous, diminishing in size on the whole till they 
end in mere spots at some distance behind the anus. The lower 
series seems to correspond in some measure with the upper. In- 
terspersed among the lines are a few irregular spots of the same 
hue towards the head. The dorsal and ventral ridges are also 
dusky. The lateral line was at first smooth and very distinct, 
but after the fish had been a few days in Goadby’s fluid, elon- 
gated flat scales became apparent on the line ; it can be traced 
from the back part of the head above and behind the eye, sweep- 
ing down gradually to within 34 in. of the ventral margin at 
18in. from the snout ; at the anus it is 2 in. from the margin ; it 
thence runs backwards, still approaching the margin, to the 
caudal extremity. 
Four longitudinal flattened ridges, each rather more than | 
in. broad, extend from the head to the tail immediately above 
the lateral line, which cuts them off very obliquely in front ; 
the uppermost, which is the longest, running forwards almost to 
the eye. 
The surface of the skin of the body is studded with very nu- 
merous distinct and separate tubercles of bone ; the smallest and 
most depressed lie between the ridges and towards the ventral 
and dorsal margins, the largest, and most elevated upon the 
ridges, some of these last being =; in. in diameter. On the ven- 
tral ridge are numerous, irregular, and prominent tubercles 
slightly hooked backwards. The tubercles present no regular 
arrangement, they are imbedded in the skin, and it is difficult to 
say whether or not they had been covered by the silvery matter 
of the skin ; when we examined them, their apices were uncover- 
ed by it. Some were observed to have a perforation at the apex 
which was occupied by a soft papilla. The tubercles are replaced 
