56 



.SCANDINAVIAN FISHIiS. 



Genus SPARUS. 



The front-tectlt of the Jairs form a card of pointed or somewhat obtuse, curved or straight {conicaT) teeth, largest 

 ill the outer roir: hack-teeth obtuse, rounded molars in tiro or more roirs. Cheeks scali/. 



By this definition, as in Bi.eeker" and most re- 

 cently in -loRDAN and Gilbert'', the genus Spams of 

 Artedi is more nearly restored to its original signi- 

 fication, as it is made to include Guvier's and Va- 

 lenciennes' genera Chrysophrys, Pagrus and Pagellus. 

 Steindachner' pi'oved that the generic distinction 

 l)etween Chrysophrys and Pagrus was untenable, but 

 lie did not restore the generic name of Artedi and 

 LiNNiEUS, and herein he is followed by Day''. But 

 Bleeker followed up this train of thought, Avhich may, 

 however, be held to have originated with Valenciennes, 

 who cited'" the intermediate forms which unite these 

 three genera. 



Obs. One of the clearest proofs of tlic correctness of this 

 combination of Pai/elliis and Pagrus as well, seems to me to re- 

 sult from a closer examination of the characters of Sparits mor- 

 mynis. the species that LlNNa:us has described under the name of 

 .S'/). Iiurta', as is shown by the type-specimen from Museum Adolphi 

 Friilerici, which still exists in the Royal Museum. This specimen — 



US' . 3 „ _ ..1 



with R. br. 6; D. 



L. hit. GO 1. 62: 



1'2 

 L. tv 





p. 2 -hi 4; V. 



5' 



C. .V + 16 + x; 



— -f I '' — has cardiform, but firm and ob- 

 tuse front-teeth, in the anterior part of the jaws somewhat pointed 

 in the outer row only, where they are larger and comparatively far 

 apart, almost like the lateral teeth in iSpai'us pai/ms, but in the 

 ))Osterior part of the jaws obtuse. In the lower jaw, too, all the 

 teeth are niolar-like, except the two first, which are pointed and 

 project Blightly forward (exserti: LiN.). In the upper jaw the 

 four or five front-teeth in the outer row are more pointed than the 

 others and separated from them by an interval (superiores 4, quasi 

 canini': LiN.). Day's assertion (1. c, p. 35) as to the relation be- 

 tween Pagrus and Pagellus, that the latter has much smaller molars 

 than the former, entirely falls to the ground in the case of this spe- 

 cimen, as the posterior inner molar teeth in the upper jaw are com- 

 paratively large and remarkably broad. That this specimen, the hnrta 

 of LiNN^us, is not of the same species as Risso's Aurata liurta-', 



need scarcely be remarked, in spite of the fact that such a conclu- 

 sion apparently finds some support in Linn^eus's incorrect statement 

 of the number of raj'S in the anal fin '. Still wo must notice that 

 the name hurta, which otherwise seems to be unknown, may well 

 have arisen through a slip of LlNN^.Us's pen (instead of aurata), for 

 together with the above-mentioned specimen of Sparus mormyrus 

 there was in the jar signed by himself, a specimen of iSp. aurata 

 210 mm. in length. Perhaps LiNNiEUS found both of them in Mu- 

 seum Adolphi Friderici sent in with the name Aurata illegibly writ- 

 ten; and his description, too, seems to point to a confusion of notes 

 on the characters of both specimens, though the description of the co- 

 louring (transverse bands on the body) clearly refers to Up. mormyrus. 



The genus Sparus of Artedi, which from Cu- 

 vier's time up to Bleeker's had been erased from the 

 system, may thus be restored with complete justice, the 

 more so, as the case in this family is remarkably like 

 that which we have seen in the Labridce, where it has 

 also been proposed, on account of the jaw-teeth being set 

 ill one or .several rows to split u\> the old genus Labriis. 



The genus Sparus, to Avhich we may refer 37 

 species, adopted and desci'ibed hy GOnther in his Cata- 

 logue, is spread over the whole geographical range ot 

 the family. Off the coast of Scandinavia only two 

 species have been met Avith, both belonging to the group 

 which has borne the name Pagellus., i. e., with cardi- 

 form teeth and no canines in the front of the jaws. 

 In both species the pectoral fins are longer than the 

 distance from the insertion of the ventrals to the be- 

 ginning of the anal, and the horizontal diameter of the 

 eye greater than the breadth of the snout across the 

 'articulation-knobs' of the maxillaries; but in the one 

 {Sjiarus erythrinus) this breadth is more than ^'g of 

 the base of the anal fin, while in the other {Sparus 

 centrodontus) it is less. 



" Atl. Irhth.. Tonic VIII, p. 100. 



' Syn. Fish. N. Amer., Hull. U. S. Nat. Mus., N:o 16, p. 555. 

 ' Stzber. Akad. Wiss. Wien, LVI, i (1867), p. 657. 

 '' Fish. G:t Brit., IreL, I, p. 30. 

 ' Cuv., Val., Hist. Nat. Poiss., vol. VI, p. 141. 



/ Syst. Nat., ed. X, toni. I, p. 279; Mus. Ad. Fr., torn. 11 prodr., p. 73. 



" The third and fourth spinous rays in the dorsal fin are the longest and are equal in length (tertio longo, LiN.). Their length 

 ' 3 °f ^'"'' Rreatesl depth of the body and is about e(|ual to the height of the anterior preorbital bone. 

 '' Vertically from the insertion of the ventral fins. 



' Perhaps, however, LlNN^;us's description of the teeth is taken, at least in part, from a specimen of tiparus aurata (see below). 

 J Hist. Nat. Eur. Me'r., Tome III, p. ,358. 



*■ •'''(,, i. c. 6 soft rays instead of 10. 



