THE DRAGONET FAMILY. 177 



those of a honeycombs The septa bounding the reticulations 

 stand out very distinctly and their edges show minute striae.' 

 The cause and raison d'etre of these peculiar ridges covering 

 the whole of the exterior of the egg are unknown. They are 

 doubtless part of the egg-membrane thus modified whilst still in 

 the early soft condition. It is curious that in an allied species 

 of dragonet (C.festivus) the egg-capsule is smooth, as specimens 

 (•55 to "57 mm. in diameter) forwarded by Mr H. C. Williamson 

 prove ; and this led the able Italian observer Raffaele to conclude 

 that the original description of one of us was erroneous. 

 Cunningham^, however, showed that such was not the case. 

 This peculiar reticulate capsule is said to occur in Uranoscopus 

 and Saurus lacerta. The appearance of the capsule of the large 

 egg of the former' ("star-gazer") is almost identical with that 

 of the skulpin. A coarsely reticulate appearance is also present 

 in the large thick-shelled egg of Macrurus sent from Naples by 

 Mr Williamson. There is no oil-globule. The development of 

 the embryonic dragonet, within the egg, has been observed by 

 Prof Prince* and Mr Holt° in the same year, the former 

 in February, the latter in the autumn. Prof Prince gives the 

 earlier stages, from the second or third day onward, while Mr 

 Holt commences with the larva. The former found that the 

 cortex of the yolk was vesicular or reticulated externally, so that 

 it appeared to be irregularly segmented. Pigment of a rich 

 yellow colour, deeper than canary yellow, and approaching 

 orange, early appears in the embryo. "It occurred as small 

 grains upon the head, before and behind the eyes, and dispersed 

 in this anterior region beyond the embryonic trunk proper 

 over the yolk, but to a very limited extent. A girdle of 

 amorphous yellow spots occurted just in front of Kupffer's 

 vesicle, and others were grouped at the caudal end of the fish. 

 In a more advanced form black pigment-spots had made their 

 appearance." Mr Holt states that the marginal fins are of 

 moderate size, and that the ventral sends forward a narrow 



1 W. C. M. Ann. Nat. Hist. 1885, p. 480. 



' Jojir. Mar. Biol. Assoc. I (N. S.) pp. 21 and 37. 



' Kindly sent by Mr H. C. Williamson from Naples. 



* 9th Ann. Sep. S. F. B. p. 349. = op. eit. p. 442. 



M, P. 12 



