134 ACANTH0PTERYG1I. 



Genus V. Capros, Lacepede. 



Branchiostegals five : pseudobranchio? tvell developed. Body elevated and 

 compressed. Mouth very protractile. Small teeth in the jaws and vomer, but absent 

 from the palatine bones and tongue. Two dorsal fins placed close together, the first, 

 with nine strong spines : the second many rayed (23-25): anal with three spines, 

 and the rays similar to those of the second dorsal. Ventral with one spi7ie and 

 five rays. Scales small and very rough : a scaly, but no bony, ridge along the 

 bases of the soft dorsal and anal fins. Air-bladder large. Pyloric appendages few. 



Lowe instituted in 1843 Family Caproid^; for the reception of this genus, and 

 the allied oue of Antigonia, Lowe, which latter is identical with Caprop>honus, 

 Miiller and Troschel, and has been obtained from Madeira as well as Barbadoes. 

 Hypsinotus rubescens, Tern, and Schlegel, Fauna Japonica, plate xlii, f. 2, 

 appears very similar to, if not identical with, Capros, but having a smaller eye 

 than the European species ; should this be the case, it is another instance of fishes 

 extending from European into Japanese waters. The Capros is not very distantly 

 allied to the Dorees, Zeus. 



Geographical distribution. From the shores of the British Isles to Madeira, 

 also through the Mediterranean. 



a 



1. Capros aper, Plate XL VII, fig. 2. 



Aper, Rondel, v, c. 27, p. 161, c. fig. ; Aldrov. iii, c. 12, p. 297 ; Jonston, i, 

 tit. i, c. 1, Art. 4, t. i, f. 8 ; Willughby, p. 296, t. 1 4, fig. 4; Ray, p. 99 ; Artedi, 

 Genera, p. 50 ; Gesner, 1598, f. 30, c. fig. 



Zeus aper, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 455 ; Gmel. Linn. p. 1225 ; Bl. Schn. p. 96 ; 

 Bonnaterre, Ency. Ich. p. 73 ; Jenyns, Manual, p. 368. 



Perca pusilla, Briinn. Ich. Mass. p 62 ; Gmel. Linn. p. 1311 ; Bl. Schn. p. 88 ; 

 Shaw, Zool. iv, p. 550. 



Perca brunnich, Lacep. ix, p. 412. 



Capros aper, Lacep. iv, p. 591 ; Risso, Ich. Nice, p. 305, Eur. Merid. iii, p. 380 ; 

 Boase, Pro. Zool. Soc. 1833, p. 114; Harvey, P. Z. S. 1836, p. 54; Yarrell, Brit. 

 Fishes (Ed. 1) i, p. 169, c. fig. (Ed. 2), i, p. 190 (Ed. 3), ii, p. 258 ; Swainson, 

 Fishes, ii, p. 252 ; Kidd, Zoologist, 1843, p. 91, c. fig. ; Cuv. and Val. x. p. 30, 

 pi. cclxxxi ; Guichen. Explor. Alger. Sc. Poiss. p. 65 ; Cuv. Regne Anim. 111. 

 Poiss. pi. Ix, f. 2 ; Lowe, Trans. Zool. Soc. ii, p. 183 ; Andrews, Nat. Hist. Rev. 

 1858, p. 188 ; Gray, Ann. and Mag. Nat, Hist. (3), 1866, xvii, p. 237 ; White, 

 Catal. Brit. Fish, p. 41; Gunther, Catal. ii, p. 495 ; Canest. Faun. Ital. p. Ill; 

 Giglioli, Catal. Pesc. Ital. p. 28; Steindachner, Ich. Span. u. Port. 1868, p. 45 ; 

 Moieau, Poiss. France, ii, p. 475, c. fig. 



Zeus Childrenii, Bowd. Excur. Madeira, p. 124. 



Boar-fish, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, ii, p. 142, pi. xcvi. 



B. v, D. 9/23-25, P. 13, V. 1/5, A. 3/23-24, Coec. pyl. 2-3. Vert. 10/12-13. 



Length of head 3} to 3^, of caudal fin 4| to 5, height of body 2| to 2| in the 

 total length. Eye In the upper half of the depth of the head, diameter 2 to 2| 

 in the length of the head, 4/5 to 1 diameter from the end of the snout, and 2/3 

 to 3/4 of a diameter apart. Body strongly compressed, both the upper and lower 

 profiles of the snout concave. The bones of the head roughened, the posterior 

 limb of the premaxillaries extends backwards to opposite the middle of the eyes. 

 Jaws equal m length anteriorly, the posterior extremity of the maxilla does not 

 extend so far as to beneath the front edge of the eye. Preopercle serrated in 

 its whole extent, likewise, but not so coarsely, the suborbital ring. Posterior 

 nostril oval and much larger than the anterior, which is nearly circular. Teeth 

 minute in the jaws and on the vomer, none on the palatines or on the tongue. 

 Fins spines of first dorsal strong, the third and fourth the longest, twice as high 

 as the longest rays, and equalling about half the height of the body below 



