190 



RUBESCENT BAND-FISH. 



Cepola Rubescens. C. rubescens, pinna caudce attenuata, maxittis 

 acutis. 



Reddish Band- fish, with attenuated tail, and pointed jaws. 

 Myrus alter > site Serpens rubescens Kondeletii. Aldr. pise. p. 367. 

 Ophidium macropthalmum. Lin. Syst* Nat. ed. X. p. 



This species, which seems to be far rarer than 

 the preceding, and which is not very distinctly 

 described by those authors who have seen it, is 

 said to have a pointed rather than a rounded head, 

 and to be not so thin in the body : to be of a pale 

 red colour throughout, marked transversely by nu- 

 merous, narrow, and somewhat undulated streaks : 

 lateral line as in the preceding species : back and 

 vent fin placed as in the former, but shallower, and 

 with more disjoined or separated rays : indeed from 

 the expression of Rondeletius one might doubt 

 whether he meant that the rays were connected by 

 any membrane or not ; (" In dorso a capite ad 

 caudam velut capillamenta tenuia a sese disjuneta ; 

 in ventre similia.") It is questioned, and not with- 

 out reason, by Willughby whether the fish be any 

 thing more than some variety of the former kind ; 

 and so far as can be judged from the rude figures 

 of Rondeletius and Aldrovandus, it can scarcely 

 be considered as a distinct species. It is said to be 

 a native of the Mediterranean. 



