FISHES. 83 



scales : fins all covered with the common skin ; dorsal 

 and anal generally more than one, the rays unarmed : 

 ventral-fins slender, ending in a point, 6 or 7 rayed. 



11. Blennius. Head sloping: gill-membrane 6- rayed : 

 body lanceolate, a little compressed, lubricous : ventral 

 fins 2, 3, or 4-rayed, unarmed. 



ORDER III. THORACICI. 



Bony fishes, with the ventral fins placed directly under the 

 pectoral. 



12. Cepola. Head short, roundish, compressed: teeth 

 curved, sharp, in a single row : gill-membrane 4-6 

 rayed : body very long, compressed, naked : belly ex- 

 tremely short. 



13. Echineis. Head furnished at top with a flat oval 

 transversely grooved shield : gill-membrane 9 or 10- 

 rayed : body without scales. 



14. Gbnius. Head small : eyes approximate, with 2 pu 

 nctures between them: gill -membrane 4-rayed: body 

 compressed, clothed with small scales, with a tubercle 

 behind the vent : dorsal fins 2 : ventral-fins united 

 into a funnel-like oval. 



15. Cottus. Head broader than the body, spinous : eyes 

 vertical, furnished with a nictitant membrane: gill- 

 membrane 6-rayed : body round, generally without 

 scales, tapering to the tail: dorsal-fins often 2. 



16. Zeus. Head compressed, sloping down; upper-lip 

 arched by a transverse membrane : tongue mostly su- 

 bulate : gill-membrane with 7 perpendicular rays, the 

 lowest transverse : body compressed, thin, broad, 

 somewhat rhombic : first dorsal-fin generally furnished 

 with projecting filamentous rays. 



17. PiiEURONECTEs. Head small: eyes both on the same 



side of the head, and near each other : mouth arched: 

 jaws unequal, toothed: gill-membrane 4-7-rayed: 

 body flattened, one side a little convex and coloured, 

 representing the back; the other flat and paler, re- 

 presenting the belly : vent near the head, 



18. Sparus. Teeth strong, disposed in one or more rows: 

 grinders convex, smooth, disposed in ranges, and 

 forming a kind of pavement in the mouth -. gill-mem* 

 brane 4-6-rayed; the covers smooth, unarmed* scaly : 

 lips thick: body compressed; pectoral fins pointed: 

 tail forked. 



19. Labrus, Teeth strong, rather sharp: lips thicks 

 gill-membrane 4-6-rayed ; the covers unarmed and 

 scaly : pectoral-fins and tail rounded. 



