88. SPARID^E SPARUS. 555 



frout'of which is a row of larger conical teeth directed backward; no 

 teeth on vomer or palatines; preorbital narrower than eye; preopercle 

 strongly serrate. Branchiostegals 6. Dorsal fin continuous, with 12 

 spines which may be depressed in a shallow groove; soft rays of dor- 

 sal and anal fins elevated; anal spines graduated; bases of soft dorsal 

 and anal thickened and scaly; caudal rounded. Air-bladder present. 

 Pyloric co3ca 3; vertebrae 13 + 11. (A/9rs?, lobed ; the soft parts of 

 dorsal, anal, and caudal said to resemble one three-lobed fin.) 



/ J 



76. It. SBiFinamensis (Bloch) Cuvier. Piaster. - A- 



Blackish above, becoming silvery-gray on the sides; often blotched 

 and tinged with yellow; fins dusky gray, sometimes with yellow. 

 Head small. Profile from dorsal to occiput strongly convex, from occi- 

 put to snout concave; maxillary reaching beyond middle of orbit. 

 Scales around eye very small, those on opercle large. Eye small, 

 much shorter than snout. Pectorals shorter than ventrals, which do 

 not reach vent; soft dorsal higher than the spinous portion. Head 3; 

 depth 2i. D. XII, 10; A. Ill, 11; L. lat. 47. A large fish, reaching a 

 length of from 2 to 3 feet, and found in all warm seas; north on our 

 coast to Cape Cod. 



(Holoccntrus sitrinamensifi Bloch & Schneider, 1801, 316: Lobotes auctorum Giiuther, 

 i, 338; Holbrook, Ich. S. C. 1880, 169.) 



26. SPARUS Linnaeus. 



(Pagdlus, Cltrysoplirys and Pagrus Cuvier; Calamus Swainsou.) 

 (Linnaeus, Syst. Nat.: type Sparus auratus L.) 



Body oblong or ovate, compressed, covered with moderate-sized 

 scales. Head moderate. Opercles not armed. Cheeks scaly. Mouth 

 rather small, terminal, low. Anterior teeth in the jaws cardiform, the 

 outer series of teeth generally enlarged, sometimes canine-like, not com- 

 pressed. Both jaws with two or more series of rounded molar teeth, 

 which are sometimes irregularly mixed with slender teeth; no teeth on 

 vomer or palatines. Dorsal rather low, the spines, 11-13 in number, 

 depressible in a groove; anal spines moderate, the second not greatly 

 developed. Caudal fin forked. Air-bladder simple. Gill-rakers short. 

 Branchiostegals 6. Intestinal canal short. Pyloric cceca few. Carniv- 

 orous fishes, mostly of the Atlantic, (a-dpos, Spams, the ancient name; 

 from G-aipu>, to struggle.) 



a. Anterior teeth not canine-like. (Pagellus* C. & V.) 



* Cuvier & Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss. vi, 169, 1830: type Sparus erythrinus L. 

 (From pagcl, a French name of Spams erylhrinus.) 



