CORVINA OCELLATA. 149 



pointed, equal teeth," does not exist in the only species that I have examined, the 

 Corvina ocellata ; for the teeth of this row are always largest in front, and decrease 

 gradually in size towards the commissure of the mouth. This genus contains more 

 than thirty-five known species, which are widely extended in both hemispheres, 

 and are mostly inhabitants of salt water, though some few are found in fresh. 



COEVINA OCELLATA. — imw<p/<s. 



Plate XXI. Fig. 2. 



Specific Characters. Head large, snout round and projectmg beyond the 

 mouth ; body elongated, slightly arched above, nearly straight below ; silvery white, 

 with a bluish tint along the back, and an oval or sub-round black spot, bordered 

 with white, near the superior margin of the base of the caudal fin. D. 10 - 1 - 25. 

 P. 17. V. 1-5. A. 2-7. C. 17. 



Synonymes. Perca ocellata, Lin., Syst. Nat., torn. i. p. 483. 



Perca ocellata, Gmel., Ed. Syst. Nat., torn. i. pars iii. p. 1313. 



Centropome ceille, Lacep., Hist. Nat. Poiss., torn. iv. p. 156. 



Lutjan triangle, Lacep., Hist. Nat. Poiss., torn. iv. p. 121. 



Perca ocellata, Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. iv. p. 550. 



Sciaena imberbis, Mitch., Trans. Lit. and Phil. Soc. N. Y., vol. i. p. 411. 



Corvina ocellata, Cuv. et Val., Hist. Nat. Poiss., torn. v. p. 134, pi. 108. 



Corvina ocellata, DeKay, Zool. N. Y., part iv. p. 75, pi. 21, fig. 61. 



Corvina ocellata, Storer, Synops., p. 67. 



Bass, or Spotted Bass, Vulgo. 



Description. The form of this fish is elongated, sub-round, slightly arched 

 above, straight below, thicker along the back, and thinner at the belly. The head 

 is large, and flattened above ; the snout is rounded, full, and with a dependent 

 fold of skin, partially subdivided into four lobes. The eyes are large, longest hori- 

 zontally, and placed two diameters of the orbit from the snout, and nearly four 

 diameters from the posterior angle of the opercle, with their lower margin above 



