PAGRUS ARGYROPS. 177 



The pharyngeal bones are thickly studded with slender, conical, pointed, and 

 recurved, card-like teeth. The pre-opercle is round at its angle, and crenated, or 

 with radiating depressions and elevations, but is not serrated. The opercle is 

 elevated, but narrow in the longitudinal direction, and terminates behind in an 

 obtuse angle. The sub-opercle is oblong, and narrow. The inter-opercle is 

 rounded below, and very broad. The whole head is naked above ; but the cheeks 

 nearly to the commissure of the mouth, and the sides of the head, are covered with 

 scales. 



There is a single dorsal fin, placed in a groove of scales, and preceded by a short, 

 recumbent spine ; it begins nearly with the origin of the pectoral, and has thirteen 

 spines and twelve branched rays ; of the spines the anterior is short, the second 

 and third are very long, and are still further prolonged by filaments, which are, 

 however, so fragile, as to be seldom seen except in fish recently caught. The pec- 

 toral is narrow, long, terminates behind the beginning of the anal, and has sixteen 

 rays, with a supplementary scale above, which is half as long as the fin. The ven- 

 tral begins behind the origin of the pectoral, and terminates at the root of the anal ; 

 it has one spine and five soft rays, the first and second slightly prolonged. The anal 

 arises rather behind the root of the first dorsal soft ray, and has three spines received 

 in a groove of scales ; the first spine is short, the second and third are long ; it 

 has twelve soft rays. The caudal is rather large, forked, and has seventeen rays. 



The lateral line follows nearly the dorsal outline, and is above the middle third 

 of the body ; its scale is longest vertically, and has a short, large tube near its 

 middle. 



Colour. See Specific Characters for colour. 



Dimensions. The length, from the opercle to the tip of the caudal fin, is equal 

 to three heads ; the greatest elevation without the dorsal fin, to one head and a 

 half; total length, fourteen inches. 

 23 



