28 
GURNARD. 
times, indeed, they appear as if asleep, so that they do not 
display any sign of animation until an attempt is made to 
lav hold of them. But their usual place is at the bottom, 
where they devour shell-fish, crabs, and small fishes, like the 
other Gurnards, and they take a bait so freely that multitudes 
of them are sometimes taken together. They are perhaps as 
excellent for the table as the Tubfish or Piper, but their 
smaller size renders them less valued; and when other fish 
are abundant I have known them sold for two shillings and 
sixpence the hundredweight, and thirty for a penny. A 
more usual price is three or four a penny, but, as conveyance 
becomes more easy, a ready sale may be anticipated for what 
forms a wholesome and palatable article of food. The roe 
is deposited through the spring, at some moderate distance 
from land. 
In its general form this species resembles the others of its 
genus, but more nearly the Elleck than the Tubfish or Piper, 
being less elevated than the latter on the head and before 
the dorsal fin. It does not often exceed a foot in length; 
the snout projecting in a slope from the eyes, bifid toothed. 
The mouth beneath, with a bed of teeth in the palate; teeth 
also in the jaws. Gill-covers with radiated lines. Three 
flattened triangular spines, as in the other species, but that 
one above the pectoral fin usually less extended than the spine 
of the gill-cover. A rough ridge along the back, enclosing 
the dorsal fins, and another (not very conspicuous) along the 
lateral line. In some examples the first rays of the first dorsal 
fin are rough also, a circumstance which appears to have been 
the cause of mistake, as if it were the mark of a separate 
species. In colour this fish varies much, but always with a 
tendency to grey, the ground of the back being a yellowish 
green, with bright yellow spots, with the sides below the 
lateral line pink or yellow; dorsal, pectoral, and caudal fins 
dusky. The pectoral fins scarcely reach to the vent. The 
skin is usually smeared with slime, which continues to be 
poured from the pores long after death. 
