The Hifiory ^ ANIMALS. 2 83 
This fpecies is frequent in the American Ocean, and we meet with preferved fpe- 
cimens of it in fome of our collectors cabinets. Lifter calls it Guaperva lata cauda 
forcipata, pinna dorft maculis quibufdam diftinCta. 
Balifles limis Jlriatis cauda bifurca . 
The forked-tailed Balifles , with Jlriated lines . 
This is broad, in proportion to it’s length, but lefs fo than the preceding fpecies: 
the head is comprefted, and narrow at the bottom, but it has fomething of a flatnefs 
on the top: the eyes are fmall; the noftrils have each a double aperture, but not very 
confpicuous, placed at about the midway between the eyes and the extremity of the 
roftrum ; the teeth are large, and are like the dentes incifores of the human fpecies, 
and are protended a little forward : the body alfo is comprefted, and odly marked on 
the anterior part, but toward the tail it is regularly ftriated in a longitudinal direction, 
with a number of fine fmall lines: on the back there ftands a fingle fpine, and that 
but a fmall one 5 it is ferrated or denticulated on the anterior part, and it’s edge is fmooth 
behind: the belly fin is large, and the tail is deeply forked. 
This fpecies is a native alfo of the American Ocean, and is preferved dry in fome 
of our mufasums. Lifter call it Guaperva lata corpore ad caudam ftriata. 
Balifles aculeis quinque in utroque latere . 
The Balifles , with five prickles on each fide . 
%l}t 1B02Ct?p%C 
C>uaperM. 
This is a fpecies confiderably different from all the others: it is of a comprefted 
form, and is confiderably broad, in proportion to it’s length, but it is thicker than 
mo ft of the others: the head is comprefted ; the eyes are moderately large ; the nof- 
trils are fcarce at all confpicuous: the mouth is moderately wide, and is furnifhed with 
broad and large teeth, protended a little forwards: the belly is narrow and rounded; 
the fides are but little prominent, in proportion to the thicknefs of the fifh j there are, 
on each, five robuft and firm fpines, and toward the tail there is a remarkable 
hairinefs. 
This fpecies is alfo caught in the American Seas, and is preferved in fome of our col¬ 
lections. Lifter calls it Guaperva Hiftrix. 
4 
Balifles aculeis bints loco pinnce ventrails, folitario infra uno . 
The Balifles , with two fpines in place of the belly fin , and a 
fingle one below them. 
%l)t 5 >co- 
This is, in fome degree, like the former, but differs in many of the eften- 
tial characters, as a fpecies: it grows to about four inches in length, very rarely to any 
thing more : the body is comprefted and very thin, and it’s breadth is not more than 
a fourth of it’s length : the fcales are fmall, but they are very rough ; the head alfo is 
comprefted, and the roftrum is bony, very long and flender, and ftraighti the mouth 
is fmall, and is at the extremity of the roftrum, and has a kind of operculum formed 
for the clofing it: the eyes are large, and their iris is of a grey ifh-white, with fome 
faint tinge of the filvery hue : but the noftrils are not very confpicuous, but each has a 
double aperture, and they are fituated at a fmall diftance below the eyes: the peCto- 
ral fins in this fpecies have each fourteen rays, all undivided at the ends, and in the 
place of the belly fins there are only two fmall fpines like teeth, and, at a fmall diftance 
behind thefe, there ftands another fmall one near the anus : the pinna ani has eighteen 
rays 5 there are two hack fins, and both of them ftand near the tail: the anterior one 
has five prickles, of which the fecond is longeft, and has an articulation j the others 
are very fhort; the other has twelve rays: the tail is but little forked, and the belly is 
very acute on the anterior part. 
This fpecies is frequent in the Mediterranean, and is brought to market at Rome* 
Many of the writers on fifties have defcribed it. Rondelet, Aldrovand, Willughby, 
and Ray, all call it Scolopax; Gefner calls it by the fame name, but he alfo believes 
it to be the Serra of Pliny. The Genoefe call it the Trumlutta, and the Italians, 
Softietta. 
OSTRACIOR 
