THE RED BAND-FISH. 
99 
loured line, sloping downwards for a short distance from its origin, and thence 
extending in a straight direction towards the tail, about equidistant from the 
dorsal and ventral profile. From the upper point of the pre-operculum , a row of 
bone-like processes slopes upwards to the base of the dorsal fin, and thence con- 
tinues throughout the entire length of the fish, giving it a carinated appearance ; 
along the base of the anal fin a similar carination extends. 
“ In the dorsal fin the three first rays only are inarticulated and simple, but 
they are as flexible as the rest ; the fourth ray, and those which follow, are both 
articulated and branched. All the rays of the anal fin are articulated : the first 
is simple ; the second and succeeding ones are branched. The fin-rays are in 
number — D. 71; A. 63; P. 17; Y. 1+5.* — Branch, mem. 6 rays. 
“ The upper portion of the head and body is a deep rose colour, shading gra- 
dually downwards to a paler hue ; posterior part of the body of a uniform deep 
rose colour ; base of the lower jaw carmine ; space before and above the ven- 
trals and pre-operculum bright silver ; irides silvery, tinged with rose colour, 
pupils bluish black ; membrane uniting the outer extremity of the inter-maxil- 
lary with the maxillary, dusky, or clouded with black, which latter colour it is 
described to be by Cuv. and Yal. The extreme anterior portion of the dorsal 
and anal fins dark and pale rose colour, irregularly disposed, and bordered with 
a narrow line of reddish lilac, which gradually increases in breadth posteriorly, 
forming a beautiful termination to the greater portion of these fins ; in both the 
anal and dorsal, the rays are of a deep carmine hue, the connecting membrane is 
either generally of an orange yellow, or reddish lilac, at the base, the centre 
carmine, and the border reddish lilac, which colour is separated from the orange 
yellow by a narrow line of deep carmine. The pectorals have a slight tinge of 
deep rose colour ; the ventrals are pure white. There is not the least indica- 
tion of any transverse bands, as are figured by Montagu f (Linn. Trans, vol. vii. 
pi. 17) and described by Risso. The latter author mentions a reddish spot at 
the origin of the dorsal fin. At If inch from the commencement of this fin in the 
present specimen, a somewhat oval spot, of a deeper red than the surrounding 
parts, originates, and extends for the space of half an inch. 
“The term ‘Riband Fish’ applies equally well to the colour as to the form of 
this Cepola ; as the much darker hue imparted by the carmine-coloured rays of 
the dorsal and anal fins, when lying close to the rose-coloured body — through- 
out the entire length of which they are continued — gives it strikingly the appear- 
ance of a bordered riband ; and may, indeed, when so viewed, have suggested 
the trivial name of marginata , to what was considered a distinct species : vide 
Cuv. and Yal. t. x. p. 392. 
“ The C. lamia, as described by Bloch, chiefly differs from the C. rubescens in 
the carination at the base of the dorsal and anal fins ; in having two rows of teeth 
in the lower jaw, instead of one ; in having the tongue rough, rather than 
smooth; in wanting the silvery bands of C. rubescens ; and in having many red 
spots on the sides. Of these characters, two are present, and three wanting, in 
this specimen. It has the double row of teeth, and a single inner tooth in ad- 
dition, suggesting the idea of a third row ; and likewise the carination on either 
side the base of the dorsal and anal fins. Not only the transverse bands, but 
the spots also, are absent. The difference between the smoothness and rough- 
ness of the tongue might, I conceive, arise from the mode of preservation, for, if 
* The ordinary number of rays thus appearing in the D. and A. fins (70 being 
commonly attributed to the former, and from 60 to 63 to the latter — Donovan 
describing 69 in the A. fin of his specimen, which was 1 1 inches in length) may 
seem against the presumption that the specimen was from two to three inches 
longer than at present, as the depth of the broken extremity denotes ; but in 
the fins of fishes generally, having many rays, I have found the number to differ 
very much in individuals of the same species. 
t The two coloured figures of English specimens (Montagu’s and Donovan’s), 
in which these fins are expanded, give no idea of this marginated appearance, 
nor, indeed, from the same reason, do any figures I have seen. 
h 2 
