130 ACANTHOPTERYGII. PERCH FAMILY. 



lake in Guernsey; and Dr. M'CuIloeh vouches 

 for the improvement in favour obtained by the 

 cliange. 



Gen. III. SERRANU3. — The name Serranus has 

 been given to this genus from its marked serrated 

 opei'cle. The dorsal fin is single, and the jaws 

 are furnished with elongated sharp teeth amidst 

 the smaller ones. Of the vast number of species 

 of which this genus is known to consist, two only 

 have been ascertained to be British, and these by 

 the successful labours of Mr. Couch of Polperro, 

 a gentleman whose name will be frequently and 

 honourably mentioned in the following pages. He 

 described them as Perches, — the Smooth and Dusky, 

 names which Mr. Yarrell has very proj^erly applied 

 as trivial ones to these species. 



(Sp. 3.) S. Cahrilla, The Smooth Serranus. The 

 size which Mr. Couch assigns to this species, as 

 found on the coast of Cornwall, is about ten inches 

 in length. The under jaw is longest, teeth being on 

 both, as well as on the palate, numerous, irregular, 

 sharp, and incurved ; the tongue is small and loose ; 

 the eye large, and near the top of the head ; the 

 lateral line near the dorsal ridge. He adds, — it is a 

 common fish, and keeps in the neighbourhood of 

 rocks, not far from land. From not having been yet 

 detected in any other part of the British coast, we 

 must esteem it rather a rare visitor, while it is 

 abundant in the Mediterranean, and passes thence 

 south as far as Tenerifie and Madeira. The an- 

 cients, as stated by Cuvier, had a notion that this 



