SARGUS OVIS. 53 



thick at its root, and terminates pointedly behind ; it has sixteen rays. The ven- 

 tral fin is large ; it begins nearly opposite the origin of the fourth dorsal spine, 

 and has five soft rays, with one spine about three fourths their length ; in the 

 axilla above there is a long, narrow, bony plate, nearly half as long as the fin, and 

 covered with scales. The anal arises in a line behind the origin of the soft portion 

 of the dorsal, and has three spines ; the anterior is very small, the second long, 

 broad, strong, and the third as long as the second, but more slender ; there are 

 eleven soft rays, the anterior of which, as well as the spines, is received in a 

 groove when the fin is closed ; but the others have their roots only protected by 

 scales, for one fifth their distance, making an imperfect groove. The caudal is 

 strong, forked, covered with adherent scales for some distance, and has seventeen 

 rays. 



The scales are sub-quadrilateral, rounded behind, with a soft, ciliated margin, 

 and slightly concave before ; they are large, tolerably adherent, and are so imbri- 

 cated as to have a" sub-rhomboid appearance. The lateral line is concurrent with 

 the outline of the back, and runs along the upper third of the body, to the origin 

 of the last dorsal ray, when it descends to the median plane ; its scale is smaller 

 than those of the body in general, and has its tube beginning with several branches 

 behind, and ending in a large duct in front. 



Colour. The head is rather dusky above, and often with a bronzed or greenish 

 tint ; the body is silver-grey above, more or less dark, and shining silvery-white at 

 the sides, and marked with seven transverse, bluish-black bars ; the first runs from 

 the shoulders to the gill-openings ; the second, from the anterior part of the 

 spinous dorsal to behind the root of the pectoral fin ; the third, from the sixth 

 dorsal spine to the middle of the pectoral ; the fourth, from the ninth spine of the 

 dorsal to the posterior extremity of the pectoral ; the fifth passes from the three or 

 four first rays of the dorsal to corresponding rays of the anal fin ; the sixth, from 

 the extremity of the dorsal to the extremity of the anal ; and the seventh is placed 

 at the root of the caudal fin ; all these bands are directed a little backward, except 

 the last two, which are vertical. The old animal becomes more dusky, the head is 



