ACANTHOPTERYGII. 
305 
I they swallow entire]. There are several species found in the European seas, of which the flesh is 
much esteemed. 
M. cephalus, the Grey Mullet, has the eyes half covered by two adipose membranes, adhering' to the anterior 
and posterior margins of the orbit; when the mouth is closed the maxillary is completely hidden under the 
suborbital ; the base of the pectoral has a long crest with a keel ; the nostrils are separated by a considerable 
space, and the teeth are a little prominent. It is the largest and best of the Mediterranean species. [It occurs 
also on the British shore, though, perhaps, not so frequently as another species, the Thick-lipped Grey Mullet, 
M. chelo. The two are, however, sometimes confounded with each other. In addition to these, there is another 
Grey Mullet, first described by Mr. Yarrell, and which, from its shortness in proportion to the length, he has 
called M. curtus. With the exception of its form, its small size, and some difference in the rays of the pectoral, 
anal, and caudal fins, it bears considerable resemblance to M. cephalus^ 
M. capita, the Ramando of Nice, has the maxillary visible behind the commissure of the jaws, even when the 
month is shut ; its teeth are much weaker r its nasal openings nearer to each other ; and the membrane of the eye 
does not cover any part of the ball. The scale before the pectoral is short and blunt, and there is a black spot at 
I the base of that fin. 
Two much smaller species {M. aureus and M. saltator of Risso) resemble M. capita. The first has the maxillaries 
under the suborbitals, like Cephalus, but the nostrils are near each other, as in Capito. The second, with the cha- 
racters of Capito, have the suborbital notched, showing the maxillary. 
M. chelo, is common in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. It is easily distinguished by its thick fleshy lips, 
by their ciliated edges, and by the teeth which penetrate their substance like hairs. The maxillary is curved, and 
appears behind the commissure. M. labia, a small American species, has proportionally larger lips, with their 
margins curved. There are also some thick-lipped species in the Indian seas. [There seems little doubt that 
Chelo is the Grey Mullet, which is so frequently taken in the bays and estuaries on the Channel coast, although 
! not the one generally described as such], j 
j Tetragonurus, is so named from the projecting keels or ridges on each side, near the base of the caudal. It is j 
also one of those insulated genera which indicate particular families, [rather than belong to any of those esta- j 
blished ones]. They in part resemble the Mullets, and in part the Mackerels. Their body is elongated ; their 
spine is dorsal, long, but very low ; their soft dorsal, which approaches the other, higher and shorter ; their anal 
is opposite the soft dorsal, and their ventrals a little behind the pectorals; the sides of the lower jaw are raised 
vertically, and furnished with a single row of trenchant teeth like a saw, and inclosed, when the mouth is shut, by 
the upper teeth ; there is also a small range of teeth upon each parietal bone, and two on the vomer ; the gullet is 
furnished internally with hard and pointed papillae ; their stomach is fleshy, and doubled ; their coeca numerous, 
and their intestinal canal long. Only one species is known, an inhabitant of the Mediterranean, about a foot long, 
and black : its flesh is believed to be poisonous. 
Atherina, is a genus which does not completely harmonize with any other, and therefore it is arranged between 
the Mullets and the Gobies. It has a lengthened body, two dorsals far apart, ventrals behind the pectorals, the 
mouth protractile, and furnished with very small teeth. All the known species have a broad silvery band along 
each flank. They have six gill-rays ; their stomach is a cul-de-sac, and no ccecular appendages. The last trans- 
verse process of the dorsal vertebrae are bent, forming a sort of conical receptacle for the end of the air-bladder. 
They are small Ashes, much esteemed for the delicacy of their flesh ; and the fry remain a long time in shoals 
along the shores, and are consumed in great numbers. Four species are found in the Mediterranean, and there 
are a good many foreign ones. [A, presbyter, is found on the south coast of England, and also on the east coast 
as far as Lincolnshire, and in the Firth of Forth, but not abundantly. On the coasts of Hampshire and Sussex it 
is plentiful ; and on the Cornish coast it is taken at all seasons. It is a handsome little fish, about six inches long, 
known as the Sand Smelt, but inferior in flavour to the true Smelt.] 
THE TWELFTH FAMILY OF THE ACANTHOPTERYGII, 
Gobiod^ (the Goby Family). 
The fishes of this family are known by the thinness and flexibility of their dorsal spines. They all 
have the same kind of viscera, — namely, a long, j 
uniform, intestinal canal, without coeca, and : 
no air-bladder. [The family contains several 
genera, some of which admit of subdivision], 
Blennius. The Blennies have one well-marked 
character in their ventral fins, inserted before 
the pectorals, and having only two rays each. 
The stomach is slender, with no cul-de-sac ; the 
intestine large, without coeca, and there is no 
air-bladder. The form is elongated and com- 
pressed, and there is but one dorsal, composed 
almost entirely of jointless but flexible ravs. 
X 
