Fishes. 2997 



to go to decay upon the beach, unexamined and even unnoticed, how- 

 ever rare in themselves, and however wonderful in their structure or 

 brilliant in their colour. On this account I feel persuaded that the 

 following communication from the Rev. George Harris, of whom men- 

 tion has already been made in the 6 Zoologist ' will be deemed of 

 interest and of value, both by yourself, and by those of your readers, 

 to whom the above-mentioned divisions of the animal kingdom 

 afford a particular and a favourite study. I embrace the present 

 opportunity of correcting an error in regard to the Ophiocoma parmu- 

 laria (Zool. 2936) . The depth of water at which it was obtained should 

 have been fifteen fathoms and not five. — James Smith ; Manse of 

 Monquitter). 



I beg to transmit the following notices of the more rare fishes, 

 which have been taken, within the last eighteen months, in the Moray 

 Firth, off the fishing stations of Pennan, Aberdeenshire, and Garden- 

 ston, Banffshire. 



The first, which I shall mention, is the Motella vulgaris, the three- 

 bearded rockling, or whistle fish. This fish was brought to me in the 

 beginning of the summer of 1849, and the specimen measured twenty 

 and a half inches in length. As neither Mr. Yarrell in his ' British 

 Fishes,' nor Dr. Parnell in his 6 Fishes of the Firth of Forth,' takes 

 notice of any specimen as above sixteen inches long, the size now 

 mentioned, may, perhaps, be admitted as rather unusual. Both of 

 these gentlemen agree in describing the colour of the head, back and 

 sides as yellowish brown, with chestnut-brown or dusky spots ; the 

 pectoral, dorsal and caudal fins as a rich chestnut-brown ; and the 

 ventral and anal fins as a pale yellow-brown. In the specimen in 

 my possession, when fresh from the sea, the colour of the upper por- 

 tion of the body was reddish brown ; that of the lower, or ventral, 

 yellowish brown ; while the spots were of a dusky purplish hue. The 

 fins were all of a reddish brown, with the exception of the ventral, 

 which is brownish yellow. There is considerable disparity in the 

 numbers of the fin-rays of this species of fish as given by naturalists. 

 According to Yarrell, they are 



2nd. D. 55— P. 20— V. 7— A. 49— C. 18. 



In the specimen described by Parnell, they are 



1st. D. 76.— 2nd. D. 57— P. 23— V. 7— A. 50— C. 20. 



In the specimen examined by myself, they are 



1st. D. 80.— 2nd. D. 60— P. 20— V. 7— A. 50— C. 30. 



These rays are also different, with the exception of the ventral, as 



