GEN. CHRYSOPHRYS. THE GILT-HEAD. 173 



paratus. One sub-family has its jaws planted with 

 blunt teeth, resembling pavement ; in a second they 

 are conical and hooked ; in a third like the piles of 

 uncut velvet, en velours ; and in a fourth there is a 

 row of incisor teeth in each jaw. 



Gen. XVI. CHRYSOPHRYS. Gilt-heads. In this 

 genus the incisor teeth, to the number of four or six, 

 are conical, and exist in each jaw, and there are 

 several rows of molars, mostly rounded ; hence the 

 muzzle is particularly large and broad : the branchial 

 membrane has six rays. The species of this genus 

 are numerous, and widely spread over the ocean ; 

 the Mediterranean possesses two, and one only is 

 known to visit Britain. Fish of this genus were 

 reared in their Yivaria by the Romans. 



(Sp. 35.) C. aurata. The Gilt-head. (Pi. VIII.) 

 This fish is readily distinguished by its crescent - 

 shaped band of a golden hue, extending between the 

 eyes. It has five rows of molar teeth on the upper 

 jaw, and three on the lower. (Cuv. & Val., vi. 67). 

 It has long been known in the Mediterranean, and 

 in the Atlantic, North and South, but is a rare visitor 

 upon our shores. It is sometimes brought to the 

 London market, and has been taken on the coast of 

 Devonshire, and at the mouths of the Tweed and 

 Tay. The size to which it attains is about fifteen 

 inches. Its colours, as supplied by Risso from a 

 newly caught specimen, are as follows : the back is 

 deep blackish blue, the sides yellowish with golden 

 tints ; the abdomen bluish : along the flanks there 

 ^re lighter longitudinal bands upon the dark ground : 



