96 SPAROIDS. 



The number of these incisors is sometimes eight in the upper 

 and six in the lower jaw, as in the Sargus Rondeletii and Sar. Sal- 

 viani; sometimes it is eight in both jaws, as in the Sargus annularis, 

 Sargus Vetula, and in the well known Sheep's-head fish of the coasts 

 of New York {Sargus Ovis). In another species (Sargus rufescens, O.) 

 there are six incisors in the upper and eight in the lower jaw. In the 

 Sargus unimaculatus,{l) in which the incisors present the same number, 

 their cutting margin is notched, as in the teeth of the Glyphisodons. 



The incisors are arranged in close and compact order ; in some 

 species they are placed nearly vertically ; in others, more obliquely 

 in the jaws ; but they always form an instrument well adapted for 

 cropping the sea-weed and other marine plants, which constitute the 

 food of the fishes of the present genus. 



In the common Mediterranean species (Sargus Rondeletii) , the whole 

 of the broad alveolar margin of the intermaxillary bones is paved with 

 rounded molars, similar to each other in form, but becoming larger as 

 they are placed further back in the mouth : they are arranged in 

 three rows ; those of the innermost row are the largest, those of the 

 middle row the smallest. 



The premandibular pieces of the lower jaw are similarly paved 

 wdth two rows of hemispherical molars, those of the inner row being 

 the largest. In the Sargus unimaculatus there are two rows of molars 

 in each jaw. In the Sargus Noct, (Ehrenb.), the molars form four rows 

 in the upper and three in the lower jaw. In the Sheep's-head fish, 

 and in the Sargus rufescens, in which the molars are similar in number 

 to those of the Sargus Rondeletii, the external row present a some- 

 what more conical form than the others. In the Puntazzp bream 

 they are reduced to a single row in each jaw, and are of very small size. 



There is a free and constant succession of teeth in the phytipha- 

 gous Sargues, as in the rest of the Sparoid tribe. At whatever age 

 the fish may be, foramina will be seen on the outer side of the bases 

 of the incisors, and external grinders, and on the inner side of the 

 internal grinders ; and the foramina lead to cavities which contain the 

 crowns of new teeth in different stages of development. The old 

 teeth and the alveolar surfaces to which they are anchylosed are dis- 

 ci ) PI. 1, fig. 9. 



