FISHES PERCIDAE — PARALABRAX NEBULIFER. .55 



PARALABRAX, Girard. 



Gen. Char. — General physiognomy that of Labrax, but the first dorsal fin is contiguous to the second, .is in Serranus. 

 The profile of body is sub-fusiform ; the caudal fin sub-trunated or slightly emarginated posteriorly. The head is sub- 

 cjnieal ; the lower jaw alittle longer than the upper. Mouth rather 1 irge ; card-lil%e teeth on the pre maxillaries, dentarics, 

 vomer and palatines, with a row of small canine teeth along the edge of the jaws. Tongue, smooth. Small and homo- 

 genous spines upon the outer curve of the preoperde Two small and inconspicuous spines upon the edge of the opcrcle. 

 Edge of sub-orbitar entire ; humerus denticulated. Opercular apparatus and cheeks covered with scales, smaller on the 

 cheeks than on the opercles. Gill openings continuous under the head ; branchiostegal rays six in number. Scabs 

 minutely serrated posteriorly. 



SYti.—Paralairax, Gun. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sc. Philad. VIU, 1856, 131. 



The diminutive size of the canine teeth has been the cause of the misunderstanding, on a 

 former occasion, of the true generic affinities of this genus. Its relationships, indeed, are more 

 ■with Serranus than with Lahrax, and it is in the vicinities of the former that it ought to he 

 placed in the ichthyic method. From Serranus it may be distinguished by the outline of the 

 spinous dorsal fin and the relative development of the canine teeth. 



1. PARALABRAX NEBULIFER, Grd. 

 Plate XII, Figs. 1—4. 



Spec. Char. — Snout sub-conical ; extremity of maxillary reaching the anterior edge of the pupil. Eyes moderate. Base 

 of pectorals a little in advance of that of the ventrals. Irregular dark blotches distributed over the dorsal region. 



Sys.— Labrax nebulifer, Grd. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sc. Philad. VII, 1851, 142. 



Faralabrax nebulifer, Grd. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sc. Philad. VIII, 1856, 132. 



The general form is stoutish, and the profile sub-fusiform. The greatest depth of the body, 

 which corresponds to the origin of the anterior dorsal, is contained about four times in the total 

 length. The greatest thickness, measured in the same region as the depth, is somewhat more 

 than the half of the latter. The body therefore is, as usual, compressed from head to tail. 



The head, which is contained three times and a half in the total length, has a sub-conical 

 appearance, since its upper surface is rounded or sub-convex and gradually sloping towards the 

 snout. The posterior extremity of the maxillary extends backwards to a line intersecting the 

 anterior rim of the pupil. The eye is sub-circular ; its horizontal diameter being contained 

 about six times in the length of the side of the head. The nostrils are nearer to the eye than 

 the extremity of the snout. The preopercular spines are very uniform in size and shape, being 

 small, sub-conical, and acute. The edge of the opercle exhibits two flattened and inconspicuous 

 spines, especially the uppermost, which is scarcely perceptible. Seven branchiostegals may be 

 observed within the gill membrane. 



The spinous portion of the dorsal is not quite as long as the soft ; its origin is somewhat behind 

 the base of the pectorals and composed of nine rays, the third of which being the highest, 

 whilst the second and first are the smallest; the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth, 

 diminish gradually in the order enumerated, so as to give the upper margin of that fin a con- 

 cave outline. A tenth spine, higher than the ninth, may be observed at the anterior 

 margin of the soft portion of that fin which is composed of fourteen articulated and subdivided 

 rays. The caudal is sub-crescentic or else sub-truncated. Three well developed spines 

 may be observed at the anterior margin of the anal fin, the origin of which may be 

 said to be opposite the second articulated ray of the dorsal. There are seven (or eight if 

 the last, which is double, counts two) articulated and bifurcated rays, deepest upon the 

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