1362 B^dlctin 47, Lhiited States National Museiim. 



graphical variety or southern representative of the common sheepshead. 

 {Aries, the ram.) 



Sargus arles, Cuvier cfe Valenciennes, Hist. ISTat. Poiss., vi, 58, 1830, Rio Janeiro; Mara- 



caibo; Gunther, Cat. Fishes, I, 449; Gunthee, Fishes Cent. America, 386, 1804. 

 Arehosargxts prohatocephalus aries, Eigenmann & Hughes, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. 1887, 69. 

 Archosargus aries, Jordan & Fesleh, I. c. 522, 1893. 



556. DIPLODUS, Ra(iiiesf|ue. 



Diplodus, Rapinesque, Indice (I'lttiologia Siciliana, 54, 1810 (annularis). 



Sargus, Cuvier, Regne Auimal, Ed. 1, 272, 1817 (sargus) ; name preoccupied in Insects. 



Body ohlong or ovate, more or less compressed, the back elevated; 

 mouth rather small, terminal, low. Incisors broad, truncate, entire; a 

 series of smaller teeth behind them. Molar teeth mostly in 2 or 3 rows. 

 No teeth on vomer or palatines. Scales moderate. Dorsal spines usually 

 12, strong, depressible in a groove; anal spines rather strong. Caudal fin 

 forked; interha-mals unmodified; first spine-bearing interneural without 

 antrorse spine above; sknll essentially as in Archosari/ns, the frontal bone 

 more cavernous. Gill rakers short and slender. Bianchiostegals 6. 

 Intestinal canal short; pyloric coeca few. Coloration usually silvery, with 

 a black blotch on the back of the tail; young with black crossbars. Car- 

 nivorous species, chiefly European; valued as food. The genus Diplodus 

 differs from Archosnrdus chiefly in the absence of a iirocumbent dorsal 

 spine. The skull in DiploiJns resembles that of Arcliosargns, but the 

 cavernous or honeycombed structure of the interorbital area is still more 

 prominent. {8i7ti\-6o<^, double; o5oi's, tooth, from the two formsof teeth.) 



a. Scales liirge, about .'56 in lateral line. holbrookii, 1738. 

 aa. Scales smaller, 62 to 65 iu lateral line. 



6. Eye large, 3A in head, 1 in snout. aroenteus, 1739. 



bh. Eye smaller, 4J in head, U in snout. sargus, 1740. 



1738. DIPLODUS HOLBROOKII (Bean). 



Head3|; depth in adult 2^; eye 4| in head, li iu snout, or If in pre- 

 orbital. D. XII, 14 or 15 ; A. Ill, 13 ; scales 7-56-14. Body regularly ellip- 

 tical, moderately compressed ; profile regularly rounded, not as steep as in 

 Diplodus arr/entetis; mouth large, almost horizontal; maxillary not reach- 

 ing front of eye, 3]^ in head; incisors }, inserted obliquely; molars in 

 3 series above and 2 below; gill rakers i diameter of pupil, about 7+14; 

 longest dorsal spine 2^ to 2| in head; caudnl deeply forked ; second anal 

 spine little larger than third, 3A in head; ventrals reaching half way to 

 anal fin; pectorals not reaching to first anal spine, 3;V in body; cheeks 

 with 4 rows of scales; steel-blue above, paler below, a broad black l)order 

 on the operculum; a black spot on the upper part of base of pectoral; a 

 broad black bar extending across caudal peduncle above. South Atlantic 

 and Gulf coasts of the United States; Cape Hatteras to Cedar Keys; 

 rather common as far north as Beaufort, where the young swarm about 

 the wharves. (Named for .lohn Edwards Ho I brook, the distinguished 

 author of the Ichthyology of South Carolina.) 



