2714 THE BONY FISHES AND GANOIDS 



THE SEA BREAMS Family 



The sixth family of the present section is especially characterized by the pecul- 

 iarity of the dentition, the palate being generally devoid of teeth, while either 

 cutting or conical incisor-like teeth are developed in the front of the jaws, or crush- 

 ing molars on their sides; in some cases both these types being coexistent. In the sea 

 breams, as these fish are commonly called, the oblong body is markedly compressed; 

 and the investing scales are either but very slightly serrated, or smooth. The ter- 

 minal mouth has a distinct lateral cleft; and the eyes, which are of medium size, are 

 likewise lateral. The single dorsal fin is composed in about equal moieties of a 

 spinous and a soft portion; the anal is three spined; as a rule the lower rays of 

 the pectorals are branched; and the pel vies, which are ventral in position, are 

 furnished with one spine and five rays. The number of branchiostegal rays 

 varies from five to seven. Sea breams are coast fishes, distributed over all tem- 

 perate and tropical seas, and sometimes entering brackish, and even fresh waters; 

 they include a large number of genera, and are of sombre coloration and me- 

 dium size; the flesh of the majority being used for food. In a fossil state the 

 family is first known by the extinct Pagellus from the Chalk of the Lebanon; while 

 they are numerous in Tertiary formations, where both the living and extinct genera 

 are met with, the existing Sargus dating from the Miocene of the Continent. 



The black sea bream ( Cantharus lineatus) of the British seas may 

 be cited as a well-known example of the typical genus of the first sub- 

 family, in which the extremities of the jaws are furnished with broad, cutting, and 

 occasionally lobate incisor-like teeth; while there are no vomerine or molariform 

 teeth, and the lower rays of the pectoral fins are branched. Other well-known gen- 

 era are Box and Scatharus from the Mediterranean and Eastern Atlantic, and Cren- 

 idens from the Indian seas. The black sea bream, which not unfrequently grows to 

 a length of fifteen inches, is common on the British coasts, where it will take both 

 vegetable and animal baits. 



The second group is represented by Haplodactylus from the temper- 

 Haplodactylus ate g^^ p ac ig c j n w hich both jaws are furnished with flat and gen- 

 erally tricuspid teeth; vomerine teeth being present, but molars wanting; while the 

 lower pectoral rays are simple. These fish are vegetable feeders. 



Better known than the last is the third group, containing only the 

 single genus Sargus, with some twenty species from the Mediterranean, 

 Atlantic, and Indian seas, among which the common sargo (S. annularis}, represented 

 in the upper figures of our illustration on p. 2715, is a familiar fish on the Conti- 

 nent. The essential features of the group are the single series of cutting teeth in the 

 front of the jaws, the presence of several rows of molars on the sides of the same, 

 the toothless palate, and the simple lower pectoral rays. The figured species is a 

 uniformly-colored fish; but in the larger "sheep's-head" (S. ovis} from the At- 

 lantic coasts of the United States, which attains a weight of fifteen pounds, and is 

 highly esteemed for the table, the body and tail are marked by a number of broad 

 vertical bands. The strong molars of these fish indicate that their food consists of 



