PLATE XLVII. 
Last winter a small fish of this curious kind presented itself by 
accident to our observation, amongst a parcel of sprats brought for 
sale to the fish-market at Billingsgate. Notwithstanding the extreme 
singularity of its appearance, we were led in the first instance to 
consider it only as a firongly marked variety of Cyclopterus liparis, 
and this opinion we are inciined to retain after comparing it accu- 
rately with other specimens, that are indisputably of the liparis 
species. 
When perfectly fresh, the head and body of this fish were strongly 
marked with longitudinal streaks and waves of white, edged with 
blue, and disposed on a ground of testaceous or rather chesnut colour. 
It seemed, therefore, to accord pretty exactly with the Cyciopterus 
lineatus of Gmelin, a species described by that author on the autho- 
rity of a paper written by Iwan Lepechin, and inserted in the 18th 
volume of the Transactions of the Royal Society of Petersburgh. 
Our conjectures in this respect were confirmed on adverting to that 
paper, for there cannot remain a doubt of the Cyclopterus lineatus 
of Lepechin, being in reality of the same kind as our fish. This 
point decided, it only rests with us to examine in what particulars 
the lineatus differs specifically from liparis, before we presume to 
announce the discovery of a new British species, however gratifying 
such discovery would be to our assiduous perseverance, in endea- 
vouring to ascertain the native products of our country. 
Cyclopterus liparis, it should be premised, differs in no respect in 
the general figure, from Cyclopterus lineatus. The body being 
naked, and the dorsal, anal, and caudal fin being united, constitutes 
the character of this species ; or in the language of Artedi and 
Gmelin, “ corpore nudo, pinnis dorsali anali caudalique unitis.” 
