ACANTHOPTERYGII. 319 



four or six pointed incisors, often crooked, and behind them a 

 narrow band of small and crowded teeth ; but on the sides of 

 the mouth towards the back, the teeth are in general tuber- 

 culous and rounded, and as they are always on a single range, 

 the fishes of this genus cannot be confounded with other 

 sparo'ides with round molars and a scaly preoperculum. 



All the species of this genus feed on shell-fish, which they 

 can easily break with their rounded teeth. Only one species 

 is found in the Atlantic ; all the rest come from the Indian 

 Seas. 



The Canthari compose a tribe of the sparoides, charac- 

 terized by their teeth, which are described in the text. 

 Their mouth is but little cleft, and is by no means protractile, 

 by which they are distinguished from the menides. 



There are four species in the European seas, one of which 

 is indicated in the Sy sterna Naturae. Their food is in general 

 animal, though the remains of fucus have been found in their 

 stomach. They are very voracious, and are easily caught 

 with a line. Risso, in describing the colours of the com- 

 mon cantharus, adds, that at spawning time this fish becomes 

 less brilliant, and that the female is always paler than the 

 other sex. 



The cantharus is very common in the Mediterranean, and 

 is found in almost all parts of that sea ; but it does not ap- 

 pear to frequent the coasts of the Atlantic, nor is mention of 

 it made by any of the writers who have described the fishes of 

 that sea, and no northern ichthyologist takes notice of it. 



According to Risso, the cantharus lives isolatedly ; its 

 flesh is soft, and in no great estimation as food. In the latter 

 point he agrees with Rondelet ; but as to the former, Rondelet 

 states that the canthari go in shoals, and that they seek places 

 where the water is in motion, and that when taken in such 

 localities, their flesh has a better flavour if they have con- 

 tinued there any time. 



