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Show 116 PISCES. on the operculum; four rays in the bnnchire; a natatory bladder. They are all from hot latitudes.( 1) FAMILY II, BUCC£ LORICAT .£, Or the Mailed-Cheeks, contains a numerous suite of fishes to which the singular appearance of their head, variously mailed and protected, gives a peculiar aspect that has always caused them to be arranged in special genera, although they have many close affinities with the Perches. Their common character consists in the sub-orbital being more or less ex· tended over the cheek and articulated behind with the preoperculum. The Uranoscopus is the only one of the preceding family which has any thing like it, but the sub-orbital of the latter, although very broad, is connected behind with the. temporal bones, and not with the preoperculum. Linnreus divided them into three genera, TRIGLA, CoTTus, and ScoRPJENA; it has been found necessary, however, to subdivide them, and to add some of his GASTEROSTEI. TRIGLA, Lin.(2) The above character strongly marked; an enormous sub-orbital completely covering the cheek, and even articulated by an immovable suture with the preoperculum, so as to allow of no separate motion; sides of the head nearly vertical, giving it a form approaching that of a cube, or parallelopiped, the bones hard and rough. There are two distinct dorsals, and three ft·ee rays under the pectoral. They have about twelve creca, and a broad and bilobate airbladder. Several species, when caught, utter sounds which have procured for them in France their vulgar name of Grondins; in England they are called Gurnards. (1) Mullusvittatus, Gm., Lacep., III, xiv, 1; Russel, II, 158;-.M. Russelii, Cuv., Russel, II, 157;-M. bifasciatus, Lacep., III, xiv, 2;-M. trifasciatus, Id., III, xv, 1, or M. multibande, Quoy et Gaym., Voy. Freycin., pl. 59, f. 1, and several other species described in the third Vol. of our Hist. des Poissons . . (2) T~I'Y"'"• the Greek name of the Mullet; Artedi united these two genera, and smce they have been separated, this name has been assigned to the Gurnards. ACANTHOPTERYGIIo 117 TRIGLA, Cuv. The Triglre, properly so called, have small crowded teeth in the the jaws and before the vomer. The pectorals are large, but not sufficiently so to raise them above the water. Numerous species are found on the coast of Europe. Tr. pini, BI., 355; Trig. cuculus, L.? Numerous vertical and parallel lines along each side of the body, intersecting the lateral line, and formed by folds of the skin, in each of which is a cartilaginous lamina; muzzle oblique. A good fish of a fine red colour. Tr. lineata, L.; Tr. adriatica, Gm.; Bl. 35; Rond. 295; Martens, Voy. to Venice, II, pl. ii. The muzzle much more vertical, and the pectorals longer; the lines on the flanks encircle the body like rings. Tr. hirundo, L.; Bl., 60.(1) Neither spines nor furrows on the sides; back brownish, sometimes reddish; pectorals one fourth of its length, the inner side edged with blue. It is the largest species taken on the coast of Europe, sometimes exceeding two feet in length. Neighbouring species are found in Jndia.(2) Tr. lyra, L.; Bl., 350; Rond. 298. The muzzle divided into two dentated lobes; a stout spine on the operculum, super-scapular, and particularly on the humeral; spines along the dorsals; lateral line smooth; pectorals one third of its length; a beautiful fish, bright red above and a silvery white beneath. Tr. gurnardus, L.; Bl. 58. A pointed spine on the shoulder and operculum; scales on the lateral line slightly carinate; generally grey-brown above, spotted with white, and white beneath; some of them, however, are reddish or red. Common in the markets in France. Tr. cuculus, Bl., 59.(3) A neighbouring species which is always red with a black spot on the first dorsal. Tr. lucerna, BrUn.; Ronde!. 287.( 4) Scales on the lateral line higher than they are wide; the second dorsal spine pt·olonged into a filament. (1) It is the Tr. cuculus, of Brtinnich. (2) They are new; we describe them in the fourth volume of our Ichthyology. (3) It is the Tr. hirundo of Brunnich; but it is neither the cuculu.t nor the hirondo, Lin. (4) It is not the Tr. lucerna, Lin., but his Tr. obscura, described Mus. Ad. Fred. part 11, and subsequently forgotten. The Tr. lucerna, L., is a factitious species. \ |