132 



LETTERED SERRANUS. 



Serranus scriba Cuv. et VAL. 



PLATE XVII. 



Perca scriba, Linnaeus Le Serran ecriture, Cuv. et 

 Valen. Hist. Nat. des Poissons, ii. p. *2lo. 



D. 10.14; A 3.7; C. 17; P. '13; V. 1.5. 



THIS beautifully marked fish is found on the 

 coast of Provence, Malta, and Naples, besides 

 other parts of the Mediterranean. The general 

 ground tint of the skin is a reddish orange, some- 

 times inclining to olive, and shading to a pale 

 tint on the lower parts. The back is banded as 

 in the perch, with dull brown bands which gra- 

 dually lose themselves after passing the middle of 

 the fish ; but the most showy marks are the 

 narrow irregular lines of rich blue which run on 

 the nose below the eyes, and on the cheeks, 

 which assume the form of some written charac- 

 ter, and which have given occasion to the name 

 of scriba being applied to it. The ground 

 colour of the fins, except the pectoral, is gray, 

 spotted sometimes with reddish orange, and 

 sometimes with purple. On the spiny part of the 

 dorsal fin these marks take the form of a blotch 

 or large spot, near the tip of each spine ; but in 

 the others they are disposed in transverse rows 



