86. SERRANID^E SERRANUS. 533 



as well as along the front ; teeth mostly fixed. Preopercle serrate be- 

 hind ; opercle ending in 2 flat spines. Cheeks and opercles scaly. Gill- 

 rakers shortish, stout. Fins little scaly. Dorsal fin continuous or 

 emarginate, with 10 strong spines and 11-15 soft rays. Anal spines 

 well developed. Caudal fin lunate or truncate. Occipital crests little 

 developed. Pyloric coeca few. Vertebrae 10 + 14. Species very nu- 

 merous in warm seas. Several modern genera are here included, some 

 of which may perhaps merit restoration. 



The typical species of Centropristis differs from Serranm scriba and 

 its relatives in numerous respects, notably in the scarcely differentiated 

 canines, the broader bands of teeth, the broader head, the stronger 

 serra? on the opercle, the rudimentary dorsal groove and nearly naked 

 spiuous dorsal (in Serramis proper, of which we have no typical species, 

 there is no trace of a groove and the dorsal is more scaly), the larger 

 scales, and the shorter soft dorsal. Each of these characters is shared 

 with some of the species now referred to Serranus, and any line of divi- 

 sion of the two groups is simply arbitrary, at least until the species are 

 better known. 



(Serran or serrano, a vernacular name; from the Latin semi, a saw.) 



* Canflal trilobate or trifnrcate. 

 t Dorsal spines simple. (Centropristis* Cnvier.) 



36. S. atrarims (L.) J. & G. Black Fish; Black Sea Bass. 



Dusky brown or black ; more or less mottled, with traces of pale longi- 

 tudinal streaks along the rows of scales ; young greenish, often with a 

 dark lateral band, sometimes broken up, forming cross-bars ; dorsal fin 

 with several series of elongate, whitish spots, forming interrupted lines ; 

 other fins dusky, mottled. Body ovate, robust, the back somewhat ele- 

 vated ; axis of body below the middle of the depth. Head large, thick, 

 little compressed, somewhat pointed ; top of head naked ; cheeks and 

 opercles scaly ; scales on cheeks in about 11 rows. Mouth oblique, low, 

 rather large, the premaxillary below the level of the eye ; lower jaw 

 prominent; maxillary broad, its upper edge anteriorly slipping under 

 the edge of the broad preorbital, which is nearly as wide as the eye. 

 Eye large, wider than interorbital space, less than snout, 4 in head. 

 Gill-rakers long. Canines very small, scarcely differentiated. Teeth 



all fixed, the bands rather broader than usual. Dorsal spines rather 



I , 



*Cuvier, Regne Aiiim. eel. 2. 1829: type Centropristis nujricans Cu.v.=Perca atraria 

 L. (xevTpov, spine ; Ttpiorrj 1 ?, saw.) 



