LESSER DRAGONET. 
281 
distinguish between them. The male which Fries and 
y. Wright obtained in Bohuslan, and which they kept- 
alive for some time under their own observation, is thus 
described by the former: 
“Above greenish yellow, and below a very pale 
flame-yellow. The whole of the back and the upper 
part of the head thickly strewn with small, irregular, 
ferruginous spots of different size and shape. Along 
the sides of the body a few irregular rows of round 
spots, partly light blue and partly blackish brown, most- 
of them being surrounded by a greenish ring. Lips 
and the sides of the gill-cover with a few short, light 
blue bands and large spots. Iris greenish, with a light 
flame-yellow ring, darker in the middle, next the pupil, 
which is tinged with blue. First dorsal fin of a very 
light, grayish colour, with somewhat darker rays, each 
ending in a snow-white tip. On the membrane between 
the first three rays three, dark green spots, one above 
another, and between them two others, which are snow- 
white; two more spots of a snow-white colour surround 
the hind margin of the middle dark green spot; be- 
tween each pair of rays in the rest of the fin two dark 
green spots, the upper oblong and elongated into a 
point, and two, very small, round, snow-white spots; 
behind the fourth ray only one spot of each colour. 
Second dorsal fin very light and transparent, changing 
colour according to the background on which it appears. 
On this fin four transverse rows of round, green spots, 
containing a darker centre; the lowest row the darkest, 
the others becoming gradually lighter as they approach 
the upper margin of the fin; these spots are so ar- 
ranged that one spot in each row lies between each 
pair of rays. But besides these fairly distinct, ocellated 
spots we find five rows of more indistinct, snow-white 
spots, each encircled by a yellow ring, the lowest four 
rows being in a line with the green spots, there being 
a white spot in front of each of the latter. The fifth 
row lies close to the upper margin of the fin, and con- 
tains the most distinct rings, but only a slight trace 
of the green, ocellated spots. Anal fin without spots, 
whitish at the base and shading into violet towards 
the margin. Caudal fin whitish, with scattered, ferru- 
ginous spots at the base, yellowish, longitudinal spots 
in the middle, and light blue spots along the tip. Pec- 
toral fins whitish, shading into yellow, with yellow 
rays, marked with russet spots, which form broken 
“ Bonaparte, ]. c.; Steindachner, 1. c. Giglioli, Espoz. Ii 
b Gthp., Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ]. c. 
transverse bands across the fins. At the base of these 
fins a few, blackish brown, round spots and light blue 
streaks. Ventral fins flame-yellow at the base, a hand- 
some light green towards the tip, and blue at the mar- 
gin. At the base of these fins some small, round, 
scattered, snow-white, ocellated spots.” 
The coloration of the female, according to Bona- 
parte, is essentially the same; but in the females of 
this species, as in those of the preceding one, the hind 
part, at least, of the membrane of the first dorsal fin 
is black. 
The Lesser Dragonet is one of the rarest Scandi- 
navian species. In the Mediterranean, which is pro- 
bably its true home, it is all the commoner". In re- 
cent times (1867) a specimen was taken by Gwyn 
Jeffreys 6 off the Hebrides, at a depth of 80 or 90 
fathoms. Up to that time it was a notable peculiarity 
that this Mediterranean species should also belong to 
the Scandinavian fauna: About 1830 it was found in 
the Sound, off Landskrona, by Dr. Schagerstrom, and 
in Gullmar Fjord, off Fiskebackskil, by Professor Fries. 
The three specimens from the neighbourhood of Bergen 
which have been presented by Governor Christie to 
Bergen Museum, probably date from the same period. 
All these specimens were males. There is no sub- 
sequent record of its occurrence in Norway, though it 
has several times been found in the Skager Rack. Pro- 
fessor Malm obtained two male specimens in Bohuslan, 
the one 95 mm. in length, and taken at the entrance 
of Gullmar Fjord (3rd Aug., 1863), and the second 
125 mm. in length, and taken at a depth of 16 fathoms, 
off Vinga near Gothenburg (2nd June, 1873). During 
the voyage of the gunboat Gunhild, in July, 1878, Dr. 
Theel and Dr. Trybom took three specimens, two males 
and one female, between 60 and 70 mm. long, on a 
clayey bottom at a depth of from 17 to 30 fathoms, 
between the Skaw and the Nidingen Islands. Mr. C. A. 
Hansson has forwarded to the Royal Museum a- male 
1 1 1 mm. long, from Stromstad Fjord, where it was 
taken at a depth of 30 fathoms, on the 23rd of Au- 
gust, 1880; and in 1882 Dr. A. H. Malm forwarded 
from Bohuslan the largest example of this species yet 
discovered, a male 146 mm. in length. A female 99 
mm. long, the largest on record, and described by 
Professor Lilljeborg as having “fairly large, though 
not ripe, eggs”, was taken in July, 1883, by Professor 
n. di Pesca in Berlino 1880 , Sez. Ital., Cat., p. 90; Moreau, 1. c. 
Scandinavian Fishes. 
30 
