BRAMOIDS. 



77 



RAY'S SEA-BREAM. 

 BRAMA IIAII. 



Plate VI, lig. 1. 



LeufjtJi of the loicer Jaw Jess tluni "/s of the length of the anal Jin. irhirh is Dinre than "/- of the length of the 

 hody. Greatest height of the dorsal fin less than ^/r, of its length or than "4 oj' the length of the head. 



, 3 1. 4 , 2 1. 3 



^•^"■^^ ^•30l-.32''^- 28=30' 



P. 2 + 17 1. 20; V. 



C. ,i'+15 + .r". 



^yii. Braiiiii niarinn caiida forcipata, Ray, S>/?i. Pise, pag. 115. 



Spaftis liaii, Bl., Ausl. Fisc/i., part. 5, p. 95, tab. 273; Id. 

 (Brama), iSyst. ed. Schneider, p. 99; SchagebstkOm, Vet.- 

 Akad. Handl. 1827, p. 207, tab. VII; Cuv., Val., Hist. Aat. 

 Poiss., vol. VII, p. 281, tab. 190; NiLSS., Prodr. Ichth. 

 iScaiuL, p. 71; Kroy., Damn. Fiske, vol. 1, p.211; Nilss., 

 Skaiid. Fii., Fi.sk-., p. 121; Gtbr, Brit. Mus. Cat., Fish. vol. 

 II, p. 408; LuNRL, Mem. Soc. Phys. Hist. Nat. Geneve, vol. 

 XVIII, p. 170, Rev. Castagn., tab. I; Steind., Stzber. Math. 

 Natimv. CI. Akad. Wiss. AVien, 67 (1868), I, p. 374; Coll., 

 Vid. Selsk. Forli. Christ. 1874, Tilla^gsh., p. 46; ibid. 1879, 

 p. 30; Malm, Gbgs, Boh. Fn., p. 420; 'Wimii., Zool. Dan., 

 Fiske, p. 18, tab. IV, fig. 8; Id. Naturh. Tidskr. Kbhvn., 

 ser. 3, vol. XII, p. 14; LuTK., Spot. Atl., Vid. Selsk. Skr., 

 Kbhvn, ser. 5, vol. XII, p. 491, tab. IV, fig. 1; Dat, Fish. 

 G:t Brit., IreL, vol. 1, p. 114, tab. XLI; "LiiAj., Sv., Norg. 

 Fiskav, part. I, p. 300; Jord. et Gilb., Syn. N. Amer. 

 Fish., Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., No. 16, p. 915. 



Brama chilensis, Gat et Br. aiistralis, Val. (Cuv. R. Anim. 

 illustr., tab. 44, fig. 1): — vide Lunel, 1. c., p. 179. 



Brama japonica, Hilgend. — vide tamen LtJTKEN, 1. c, p. 494. 



The foi'm of the body is high, and in this, as in 

 the other species of the genus, assumes with age almost 

 equal curves of the dorsal and ventral profiles. In 

 youth, however, the curve of the ventral profile is 

 much the sharper, especially in front, and the eye is 

 . near tlie profile of the forehead, but in the adult state 

 the forehead and occiput are elevated as in Coryphaina., 

 so that the ej-e is apparently removed lower down, 

 though it really retains its original position, its centre 

 being about on a level with the tip of the snout. 



Another character which may ]:ie employed, though 

 none the less with caution, to distinguish Ray's Bream, 



is the straight ])ase of the anal fin with a distinct 

 angle in its break to-wards the anterior ventral profile. 

 Caution is necessary as in youth tlie base is more 

 curved, though less than that of tlie dorsal, and the 

 curve of the ventral profile is then continued along the 

 anterior ])art of the l)ase of the anal fin. The peduncle 

 of the caudal fin is narrow and its lateral compre.s.sion 

 much stronger in young specimens than in old, which 

 in this respect approach nearer and nearer the Macke- 



Fig. 23. Young speoiruen of Ray's Sea-Eream labelled "Brazilia" 

 from the older collections in the Royal Museum. Natural size. 



rel-type. The form of the l)ody becomes on the whole 

 lower* and thicker'' with age. The height of the point- 

 ed anterior part of the dorsal and anal fins increases 

 with age, up to a certain degi'ee at least, while the re- 

 mainder of the fin becomes compai'atively lower. But, 

 as the length of the fins increases with age still more 

 rapidly, their height in proportion to their length di- 

 minishes as the fish grows older''. Increasing age 

 has an exactlv op]5osite effect on the pectoral and 

 ventral fins: it lengthens the former and shortens the 



<• In a specimen from the Mediterranean we find C. j. + 16 + .r. 



' In a specimen 56 mm. in length the greatest depth = 48 % of the length, while in a specimen 472 mm. long it is only 41 •^. 



<" In the smaller specimen just mentioned the greatest thickness of the head is 26 Y' <>f the greatest depth of the body, in the larger 

 it has been presumably about 29 '/» (the specimen is stuffed), and according to Lilljeborg it may rise as high as 35 %. The statement of 

 Cdvier, Lunel etc. that in adnlt specimens the thickness of the body may be as low as 25 K of the greatest depth, presumably refers to 

 the thickness behind the head. 



' In the smaller specimen mentioned above, the height of the dorsal fin is almost 36 ", of its length, in the larger specimen only 30 

 °'„; and that a diminution in the height of the dorsal fin, even in proportion to that of the body, may occur after a certain age, seems pro- 

 ved by Lilljeborg's observation of a specimen 210 mm. in length from the Mediterranean with '"the greatest height of the dorsal fiu slightly 

 less than ', of that of the body," while the height of the dorsal fin in the specimen 472 mm. in length which belongs to the Royal Museum, 

 is only about - j of the greatest height of the body. 



