BEARDED STAR-GAZER. 



125 



is wide, opens in an almost vertical direction : the 

 tongue is thick, short, and roughened with nume- 

 rous small teeth : near the interior tip of the lower 

 jaw is a membranaceous process which terminates in 

 a long cirrus or beard extending to some distance 

 beyond the lips, which are themselves edged with 

 smaller ones : the eyes are situated very near each 

 other on the top of the head: the body is of a 

 somewhat squarish form as far as the vent, and from 

 thence becomes cylindric : it is covered with small 

 scales, and marked near the back by a lateral line 

 composed of small pores or points bending from 

 the neck to the pectoral fins on each side, and from 

 thence in a strait line to the tail ; on the back are 

 two fins, of which the first is much shorter than 

 the latter and furnished with stronger spines : the 

 pectoral fins are large, with soft rays : the ventral 

 fins are small ; the tail of moderate size and rounded 

 at the end. The colour of the body is brown, with 

 a whitish or silvery cast towards the abdomen ; the 

 head, pectoral fms, and tail having a strong ferru- 

 ginous cast, and the first dorsal fin being marked 

 towards its hind part by a large black spot. 



The Star-gazer is an inhabitant of the Mediter- 

 ranean and Northern seas, chiefly frequenting the- 

 shallow parts near the shores, where it lies concealed 

 in the mud, with the tip of the head alone exposed : 

 in this situation it waves the beards of the lips, and 

 particularly the long cirrus of the mouth, in various 

 directions, thus alluring the smaller fishes and 

 marine insects which happen to be swimming 

 near, and which mistaking these organs for worms 



