96 ACCOUNT OF FIVE RARE SPECIES 



rays : dorsal about seventy-seven : anal forty-four 2 

 caudal eighteen or twenty. The head is very 

 obtuse, and rounded in front : eyes large, placed 

 forward, and lateral ; irides dark, with a circle 

 of silver round the pupil : mouth, when closed, 

 inclines obliquely upwards ; the lips are margina- 

 ted : the gill-membranes inflated beneath. The 

 body is ensiform, considerably compressed towards 

 the tail, and in shape is not unlike Cepola rubescens : 

 the lateral line is nearly in the middle, originating 

 at the angle of the operculum to the gills, but rather 

 obscure : vent nearly in the middle : the pectoral 

 fin is rounded : the dorsal fin commences imme- 

 diately above the base of the pectoral, and is at 

 first not so broad, and usually not so erect, as the 

 other part, which accounts for the defect of the fi- 

 gure given in the "British Zoology," in not having 

 that fin continued to the head : the anal fin com- 

 mences at the vent, and, together with the dorsal, 

 unites with the caudal fin, which is cuneiform, but 

 obtusely pointed. The colour is purplish-brown, 

 disposed in minute speckles ; and along the base 

 of the anal fin are about ten small bluish- white 

 spots regularly placed, but scarcely discernible 

 without a lens, and possibly peculiar to younger 

 fishes : all the fins are like in colour to the body, 

 except the pectoral and caudal ; the first is pale, 

 the last is yellowish. 



It died with its mouth shut, the pectoral fins 

 thrown forwards, and the body curved a little near 

 the vent, throwing the head upwards. 



