Page:Natural History, Fishes.djvu/103

Rh bone of the shoulder. Besides which, the whole surface of the head is roughened, like a rasp, with minute knobs running in various fantastic lines and curves.

The ground colour of the upper parts is a dull olive; that of the under parts silvery white, the whole tinged with pale red; this latter hue is also distributed about in irregular mottlings, especially along the sides, on the mouth and chin, and on the finger-like pectoral rays. The eyes are large, and golden-yellow. This species attains the length of two feet or more.

The scales are very minute, more or less

angular in their outline, free from prickles: the concentric lines (striæ) are fine, close-set and numerous, and are interrupted by lines of clear