60 



SCANDINAVIAN FISHES. 



\\'licii full-iirowii, the Sea-Bream is the largest 

 species Avithin the group PafjeUus. The specimen taken 

 at Helsingborg and described 1)\- Schagerstrom (1. c), 

 was 458 mm. long and weighed about IV4 kg'"! '"'^i 

 Steindachnek asserts that he has sevei-al times seen in the 

 fish-markets of Spain specimens 630 mm. and upwards 

 in length. The deep form of tlie body, the depth being 

 about one-third of the length (exc-luding the caudal tin) 

 is about cqualK- curved on the back and the belly, 

 except at the head, whei-e the do^vnward slope is gener- 

 ally more abrupt than the upwai'd curve of the inferior 

 margin. The greatest thickness of the body is aliout 

 V7 of the length to the end of the middle caudal rays, 

 is situated near the articulation of the preoperculum 

 and is equal to the height of this bone measured from 

 the articulation to the point in the hind margin where 

 the suture bet^veen the suboperculum and interoper- 

 culum meets it. The length of the head is 28 or 29 

 % of the length of the body. The eyes a,re large, their 

 diametei- being greater than the distance between them 

 and the corners of the mouth, but in adult specimens 

 it is equal to or a little less than the breadth of the 

 forehead. Of the two nostrils on each side of the snout 

 the anterior is round and situated at about the middle 

 point in the length of the snout or a little behind it, 

 tlie posterior oblong and vei'tical, situated almost on a 

 level willi tlie corner of the mouth. The incisors on 

 the ja\vs are j)ointed, and larger on the intermaxillaries 

 tiiaii on the mandible (fig. 16, a); they form a fairly 

 croAvded card, Avhich is continued posteriorly by the 

 two or three (on the intermaxillaries sometimes several) 

 rows of comparatively small, round molars. The oper- 

 culum is high, but its breadth is less than the dia- 

 meter of the eye. Of the two occipital branches of 

 the lateral line the posterior is sharply marked as 

 a scaleless, transverse gi-oove, Avhile the anterior forms 

 tlie Iioundary between the occiput and the scaly cover- 

 ing of the body. Between them is a patch, generally 

 crescent-shaped, of three or four rows of scales. The 

 lateral line runs fairly parallel to the dorsal edge. In its 

 scales, as in the Black Sea-Bream, appear one or (seldom) 

 two lateral jjores above and below the middle pore. 

 The scales of the body are mostly slightly denticulated 

 at the margin, but finely and beautifully granulated 

 on the surface. The length of the pectoral fins is about 

 equal to the length of the head or twice the length of 



" Fisli. lifil. Id., vol. 1, p. 238. 



* Froiii tliis Ktateiiieiit of Coli.ett's it wonlil appear thai tliis 



the ventral fins. The base of the dorsal fin, which 

 lies in a well developed fin-groove, occujjies about half 

 the length of the body or a little less (excluding the 

 flaps of the caudal fin). The base of the anal fin is 

 about "/, of that of the dorsal. The last ray, like that 

 of the dorsal, is covered by a scaly dermal flap, the 

 extreme continuation of the fin-yroove. The longest 

 (third) spinous ray is about Vs (61 or 62 %) as long- 

 as the longest (fourth or fifth) spinous ra}' in the dorsal. 

 The caudal fin is deeply forked; the length of its middle 

 rays is in older specimens about "V? of the length of 

 the upper fin-flap, which is abvays greater than that 

 of the loAver. 



The colouring is red, dashed with gray and, on 

 the back, with brown. The sides have a golden and 

 silver lustre, \\\i\\ dark, longitudinal lines along the 

 middle of the rows of scales. The belly is nearly white. 

 The fins are bright red, the ventral being palest, the 

 soft-rayed part of the dorsal with a lighter margin. 

 The black spot on the shoulder at the beginning of the 

 lateral line is absent, according to Couch" and Stein- 

 dachnek (1. c.) in young specimens for the first year, 

 until they reach a length of from 7 to 9 inches. 



These small specimens without the spot, which are 

 very common on the rocky coasts and in the harbours 

 of Great Britain and are known by a special name 

 (Chads), have never been found on the coasts of Sweden, 

 and thus it is highly improbable that there is any pro- 

 pagation of the species in our fauna. Adult specimens, 

 however, from 35 to 46 cms. long, can scarcely be con- 

 sidered as rare any longer. Since ScHAGERSTiiOjr de- 

 scribed the specimen caught in March 1833, in the 

 Sound off Helsingborg, Malm has recorded the taking 

 of 6 specimens in Bohuslan, and the Royal Museum be- 

 sides has recently received four specimens from the 

 neighbourhood of StrOmstad and Gullmaren. A similar 

 number have been sent to the same museum, which 

 were caught at a depth of from 100 to 250 fathoms 

 in the deep-water channel off the south of Norway. To 

 the last-named district it had alread}^ been assigned by 

 Sthom (1. c.) on the authority of the fishermen, who 

 even had a, separate name, Bkmkc-Sfeen (Bright-stone), 

 for this species. It has subsequently been met \vith on 

 several occasions, especiallj' often oft' Bergen, "both young 

 and adult specimens"'', and along the south coast from 

 Christiania Fjord as far as north as Trondhjem Fjord. 



fish propagates its species off the coast of Norway. 



