SOME RARE OR UNCOMMON FISHES 275 



any regularity, and is generally caught in rivers, though a few 

 are taken in the cold months by trawlers in both the North 

 Sea and the Plymouth district. 



The eggs of the sturgeon are small and enclosed in a viscid 

 envelope that adheres to anything with which it comes in 

 contact. They have but little yolk, and the young hatch out 

 within a week. In many respects the larval sturgeon resembles 

 the larval shark, but these anatomical affinities need not be given 

 here in detail. 



The remaining fishes, rather more than fifty in number, are 

 all teleosteans, or bony fishes. They are given in an order that 

 approximately corresponds with that of their nearer allies in 

 earlier pages, but reference should be made to the chart for a 

 more exact understanding of their place in the list. A large 

 number of them will be found to be related to the horse- 

 mackerels, while several are allied to the cod. 



The Smooth Serranus {Serranus cabrilla), or Bulls, is a great 

 percoid fish from the Mediterranean, a more exclusively'marine 

 form than the bass, since it does not travel up rivers. In 

 colour it is yellow, having dark bands along the sides. The 

 tail is not forked, as in the bass, but ends squarely. It lives 

 on rocky ground, and feeds on small fishes and Crustacea. 

 Unlike the bass, it has no teeth at the base of the tongue. 

 Occasionally this fish is hooked in our seas, but more often 

 it is taken in the crab-pots. 



The allied Dusky Perch {S. gigas), a wanderer from the 

 Mediterranean and South Atlantic, grows to a weight of 60 lb. 

 Not many more than half a dozen British examples are on 

 record. In colour this fish Is reddish above and light beneath. 

 The lower jaw protrudes, as in S. cabrilla, and the tail fin is 

 rounded, as in many of the wrasses. 



The Wreck-fish {Poly prion cernium), or Stone-basse, 

 which grows to a length of 5 or 6 ft. and a weight of 

 60 or 80 lb., but has not apparently been captured in British 



