£87 



OPAH DORY. 



Zeus Opah. Z. cauda sublunari, corpore nunc rubente, nuw 

 viridi, nunc purpureo, albo-guttato. Vivarium Natures. 4. t. 

 140. 



Dory with somewhat lunated tail ; the body generally either 

 reel, green, or purple, with oval white spots. 



Zeus Luna. Z. cauda sublunari, corpore rubente albo- guttata. 

 Lin. Syst. Nat. Gmel. p. 1225. 



Opah. Phil. Trans, abr. 11. p. 879. *• 5- Brit. Zool. 3. t. 42. 

 Nat. Misc. 4. pi. 140. 



This superb species is sometimes found in the 

 Mediterranean and Northern seas, into which it 

 seems to wander as an occasional visitant ; being 

 probably a more regular inhabitant of the warmer 

 regions. In size it exceeds every other species 

 hitherto discovered, measuring between four and 

 five feet in length : in colour it appears to vary, 

 the ground being sometimes a brilliant silvery green, 

 and sometimes a bright gold-colour ; but in either 

 case the body is variegated on the sides with pretty 

 numerous, and moderately large, oval white spots, 

 while the fins and tail are bright scarlet : the skin 

 is apparently destitute of scales, and perfectly 

 smooth. 



Specimens of this fish have been occasionally 

 thrown on the British coasts, instances of which 

 are recorded in the British Zoology and in the Phi- 

 losophical Transactions. The first regular descrip- 

 tion seems to have been drawn up by Dr. Morti- 

 mer, in the year 1 7£0, from a specimen shewn to 

 the Royal Society, and taken on the coast of Leith 



