SPAROIDS. 91 



Gurnards {TriglcB Lyra and Gurnardus), and the Bullhead, (Coitus 

 Gobio) the maxillary, vomerine and branchial teeth are of the same 

 kind ] the tongue and palatine bones are edentulous. In the Cottus 

 scorpius, or Father-lasher, the teeth are a little more strongly developed. 

 In the Cottus grunniens these larger teeth are continued from the vomer 

 upon the palatine arches ; while those of the jaws are villiform. In 

 the Stickle-backs (Gasterosteus), similar teeth are arranged in a narrow 

 band along the intermaxillary and premandibular bones ; but the 

 palatines, vomer, and tongue are edentulous. In the Flying Gurnard, 

 [Dactylopterus] , the teeth are likewise limited to the jaws, but they are 

 obtuse and form a little pavement of four or five rows, which grow 

 narrower towards the angles of the mouth : the pharyngeal bones 

 preserve their typical character ; and in the mailed Gurnards, (Periste- 

 dion), they are the only bones of the buccal cavity which support teeth. 



SPAROIDS. 



36. In the Bream-tribe of Fishes, the teeth are restricted to the 

 intermaxillary, premandibular and pharyngeal bones, but are re- 

 markable for their variety of form, and frequently for their large size. 



Dentex. — Few fishes are armed with a more formidable apparatus, 

 or one better adapted for the seizure and destruction of a living prey, 

 than are those which belong to the genus of Sea-bream(l) called Dentex 

 by Cuvier. This name was, in fact, applied to a Mediterranean spe- 

 cies of bream by the Latins, on account of its large pointed teeth, 

 which project from the fore-part of the mouth. 



With the exception of a pavement of minute rounded teeth, which 

 defends the inner side of the alveolar wall of the jaws, all the teeth of 

 the Dentices are conical, sharp-pointed, and slightly recurved, corres- 

 ponding in shape with the laniaries or canine teeth in the mammalia. 

 They are limited to the intermaxillary and premandibular bones, and 

 form a single row on each side of each jaw. In some species, as the 

 Dentex multidens, the laniary teeth are large and of nearly equal size 

 all round the mouth ; but in most species, as in the one figured, 

 {Dentex argyrozona, PI. 41), four of these teeth in the upper, and 

 four in the lower jaw are produced, at the anterior part of the mouth, 



(]) The River-Bre3.m (Cyprinus Brama, L.) belongs to a different family, characterized by 



toothless jaws ; see Cyprinoids. 



