/Cf^f^ 



CANTIIAraiS. 



TuK bod)- elevated and thick; muzzle short. Jaws not protractile; 

 teeth fine, short, and dense, the outward row strongest. 



OLD WIFE. 



BLACK SEA BREAM. 



Cantharus, Willougiiby ; p. 309, tab. v. 1, 



Sparus cantharus, Linn.eus. 



Cantharus griseus, C. vulgaris, Cuvier. 



Yakeell; Br. Fishes, vol. i, p. 130. 



Jenyns; Manual, p. 358. 

 Pagrus lineatus, Fleming; Br. Animals, p. 211. 



Cantharus lineaius, Gunther; Cat. Br. Museum, p. 413. 



This is a common species on the west and south coasts of 

 England and Ireland, but as it is a solitary fish it can 

 scarcely be called abundant. It is with us in summer and 

 autumn, at which time it is caught, in common with the 

 other species of this family, with the common baits used by 

 fishermen, but of which the mussel is perhaps the most suc- 

 cessful. It also feeds on the finer kinds of sea-weeds, upon 

 which it becomes exceedingly fat. I have known it caught so 

 late in the year as Christmas, and in one instance, after a 

 cold season, an example came to hand in the middle of Feb- 

 ruary, with the roe well developed. In this instance at least 

 it would have bred on our own coasts, which is not usually 

 the case, so that it is not often met with of less size than the 

 usual full growth. It seems to prefer rocky ground, and is 

 sometimes taken in harbours, by fishing from the shore. 



With us it is scarcely admitted to genteel tables, but in 



