33'2 PISCES (OSSEI) ACANTHOPT. [PERCA 



beneath about the middle of the first dorsal, then passing off straight to 

 the caudal: first dorsal commencing a little behind the ventrals: the 

 fourth and fifth rays equal and longest, those on each side gradually de- 

 creasing: second dorsal immediately after the first; first ray spinous, 

 not half the length of the succeeding ones ; third longest ; the others 

 gradually decreasing : space between the second dorsal and the base of 

 the caudal equal to that occupied by the former fin : anal similar to the 

 second dorsal, but placed a little more backward, with the three first rays 

 spinous, gradually increasing in length : caudal a little forked : pectorals 

 somewhat less than half the length of the head, covered at their base 

 with small scales ; the first ray simple, and shorter than the others : 

 ventrals a little behind the pectorals, equal to them in length ; the first 

 ray spinous: number of rays in the respective fins, 



D. 9 1/12; A. 3/11; C. 17; P. 17; V. 1/5. 



Number of vertebrae twenty-six. (Colours.) Back and sides dusky gray, 

 with a paler spot in the middle of each scale ; lower portion of the sides, 

 and abdomen, white, slightly silvery ; cheeks and gill-covers with a 

 faint yellowish tinge ; posterior portion of the opercle almost black, form- 

 ing a dark patch on that part : dorsal and caudal fins deep lead- gray ; 

 anal the same, tipped with whitish ; pectorals pale gray ; ventrals nearly 

 white. 



Met with occasionally on different parts of the coast, particularly south- 

 ward, and likewise in the estuaries of rivers, but seldom in any great 

 plenty. Common in the Mediterranean, where it attains a much larger 

 size than in the British seas. Said to be very voracious. Obs. Pennant 

 states that in the young of this species the space above the side-line 

 is marked with small black spots : the same remark is made by Cuvier 

 and others; but certainly in the larger number of British specimens 

 there is no indication of these spots whatever. 



(3. SERRANUS, Cuv.) 



3. P. Cabrilla, Linn. (Smooth Serranus.) Jaws 

 without scales : cheeks and gill-covers marked with three 

 or four oblique bands ; sides with a few longitudinal 

 bands. 



P. Cabrilla, Linn. Syst. Nat. torn. i. p. 488. P. Channus, Couch 

 in Loud. Mag. of Nat. Hist. vol. v. p. 19. fig. 6. Serranus 

 Cabrilla, Cuv. et Vol. Poiss. torn. n. p. 166. pi. 29. Smooth Ser- 

 ranus, Yarr. Brit. Fish. vol. i. p. 9. Smooth Perch, Couch, I. c. 

 Serran commun, Cuv. Reg. An. torn. n. p. 139, 



LENGTH. About ten inches. COUCH. 



DESCRIPT. (Form.) " Under jaw longest : teeth in both and in the 

 palate, numerous, irregular, sharp, incurved : tongue small, loose : eyes 

 large, near the top of the head : first plate of the gill-covers serrate ; the 

 second with two (in the female one) obscure spines, scarcely to be distin- 

 guished, except in form, from the scales with which the gill-covers and 

 body are thickly and firmly covered, and which are also ciliated : seven 

 rays in the gill-tnembrane, curved ; the superior broad : body compressed, 

 deep : dorsal fin commencing opposite the ventrals : pectorals pointed : 

 caudal slightly curved : number of fin-rays, 



D. 10/14; A. 2/7; C. 17; P. 15; V. 6: 



