THE RED BAND-FISH. 99 



loured line, sloping downwards for a short distance from its origin, and thence 

 extending in a straight direction towards the tail, about equidistant from the 

 dorsal and ventral profile. From the upper point of the •pre-operculian, a row of 

 bone-like processes slopes upwards to the base of the dorsal fin, and thence con- 

 tinues throughout the entire length of the fish, giving it a carinated appearance ; 

 along the base of the anal fin a similar carination extends. 



" In the dorsal fin the three first rays only are inarticulated and simple, but 

 they are as flexible as the rest ; the fourth ray, and those which follow, are both 

 articulated and branched. All the rays of the anal fin are articulated : the first 

 is simple ; the second and succeeding ones are branched. The fin-rays are in 

 number — D. 71 ; A. 63; P. 17; V. l-|-5.* — Branch, mem. 6 rays. 



" The upper portion of the head and body is a deep rose colour, shading gra- 

 dually do^vnwards to a paler hue ; posterior part of the body of a uniform deep 

 rose colour ; base of the lower jaw carmine ; space before and above the ven- 

 trals and x)re-operculum bright silver ; irides silvery, tinged with rose colour, 

 pupils bluish black ; membrane uniting the outer extremity of the inter-maxil- 

 lary with the maxillary, dusky, or clouded with black, which latter colour it is 

 described to be by Cuv. and Val. The extreme anterior portion of the dorsal 

 and anal fins dark and pale rose colour, irregularly disposed, and bordered with 

 a narrow line of reddish lilac, which gradually increases in breadth posteriorly, 

 forming a beautiful termination to the greater portion of these fins ; in both the 

 anal and dorsal, the rays are of a deep carmine hue, the coimecting membrane is 

 either generally of an orange yellow, or reddish lilac, at the base, the centre 

 carmine, and the border reddish lilac, which colour is separated from the orange 

 yellow by a narrow line of deep carmine. The pectorals have a slight tinge of 

 deep rose colour ; the ventrals are pure white. There is not the least indica- 

 tion of any transverse bands, as are figured by Montagu f (Linn. Trans, vol. vii. 

 pi. 17) and described by Risso. The latter author mentions a reddish spot at 

 the origin of the dorsal fin. At 1| inch from the commencement of this fin in the 

 present specimen, a somewhat oval spot, of a deeper red than the surrounding 

 parts, originates, and extends for the space of half an inch. 



"The term 'Riband Fish' applies equally well to the colour as to the form of 

 this Cepola; as the much darker hue imparted by the carmine-coloured rays of 

 the dorsal and anal fins, when lying close to the rose-coloured body — through- 

 out the entire length of Avhich they are continued — gives it strikingly the appear- 

 ance of a bordered riband ; and may, indeed, when so viewed, have suggested 

 the trivial name of marginata, to what was considered a distinct species : vide 

 Cuv. and Val. t. x. p. 392. 



" The C. tfpnia, as described by Bloch, chiefly differs from the C. rubescens in 

 the carination at the base of the dorsal and anal fins ; in having two rows of teeth 

 in the lower jaw, instead of one ; in having the tongue rough, rather than 

 smooth ; in wanting the silvery bands of C. rubescens ; and in having many red 

 spots on the sides. Of these characters, two are present, and three wanting, in 

 this specimen. It has the double row of teeth, and a single inner tooth in ad- 

 dition, suggesting the idea of a third row ; and likewise the carination on either 

 side the base of the dorsal and anal fins. Not only the transverse bands, but 

 the spots also, are absent. The difference between the smootluiess and rough- 

 ness of the tongue might, I conceive, arise from the mode of preservation, for, if 



* The ordinary number of rays thus appearing in the D. and A. fins (70 being 

 commonly attributed to the former, and from 60 to 63 to the latter — Donovan 

 describing 69 in the A. fin of his specimen, which was 1 1 inches in length) may 

 seem against the presumption that the specimen was from two to three inches 

 longer than at present, as the depth of the broken extremity denotes ; but in 

 the fins of fishes generally, having many rays, I have found the number to differ 

 very much in individuals of the same species. 



t The two coloured figures of English specimens (Montagu's and Donovan's), 

 in which these fins are expanded, give no idea of this marginated appearance, 

 nor, indeed, from the same reason, do any figures I have seen. 



II 2 



