8 
SEXUAL SELECTION. 
Pact II. 
“ from its brilliant gem-like colours.” When freshly 
taken from the sea the body is yellow of various shades, 
striped and spotted with vivid blue on the head ; the 
dorsal fins are pale brown with dark longitudinal bands ; 
the ventral, caudal and anal fins being bluish-black. 
The female, or sordid dragonet, was considered by Lin- 
naeus and by many subsequent naturalists as a distinct 
Fig. 28. Calllonymus lyra. Upper figure, male; lower figure, female. 
N.B. I he lower figure is more reduced than the upper. 
species ; it is ot a dingy reddish-brown, with the dorsal 
fin brown and the other fins white. The sexes differ also 
in the proportional size of the head aud mouth, and in 
the position of the eyes ; 11 but the most striking differ- 
rence is the extraordinary elongation in the male (fig. 28) 
11 I have drawn up this description from Yarrell’s ‘ British Fishes ’ 
vol. i. 1836, p. 261 and 266. 
