PERCA.] PISCES (OSSEI) ACANTHOPT. 333 



lateral line nearer the back." COUCH. According to Cuvier and Valen- 

 ciennes, this species is distinguished from the Serranus Scriba, Cuv. (a 

 closely allied one found in the Mediterranean) by its shorter snout and 

 rather more convex forehead*; larger eye; and rather less rounded pre- 

 opercle, with the denticulations towards the angle a little stronger : the 

 lower jaw has the under surface of its branches chagrined and vermicu- 

 lated by little marks in the skin. (Colours.) * Colour of the back brown, 

 having, in some specimens, distinct bars running round to the belly : 

 sides yellow, reddish, or saffron-coloured, more faint below : two irregu- 

 lar parallel whitish lines pass along the side from head to tail ; a third, 

 more imperfect, on the belly : gill-plates with several faintish blue stripes, 

 running obliquely downward: fins striped longitudinally with red and 

 yellow; pectorals wholly yellow." COUCH. 



An abundant species in the Mediterranean. In the British seas it has 

 hitherto been observed only by Mr. Couch, who represents it as common 

 on the coast of Cornwall, " keeping in the neighbourhood of rocks, not far 

 from land." 



4. P. Gigas, Gmel. (Dusky Serranus.) Lower jaw 

 covered with very small scales. 



P. Gigas, Gmel. Linn. torn. i. part iii. p. 1315. P. robusta, Couch 

 in Loud. Mag. of Nat. Hist. vol. v. p. 21. fig. 7. Serranus Gigas, 

 Cuv. et Vol. Poiss. torn. n. p. 201. pi. 33. Dusky Serranus, 

 Yarr. Brit. Fish. vol. i. p. 15. Dusky Perch, Couch, I. c. 

 Merou brun, Cuv. Reg. An. torn. n. p. 140. 



LENGTH. Three feet. COUCH. 



DESCRIPT. (Form.) "Depth, .exclusive of the fins (in a specimen 

 measuring three feet in length), seven inches: body thick and solid: 

 under jaw longest; both jaws, as well as the palate, with numerous 

 slender incurved teeth ; in front of the under one a bed of them : lips 

 like those of the Cod-Fish: two large open nasal orifices, and a large 

 hole under the projection of the nasal bone : first plate of the gill-covers 

 serrate, the second with a broad flat spine projecting through the skin, 

 and pointing backward ; the fleshy covering of the gill-cover elongated 

 posteriorly; seven rays in the gill-membrane: body and head covered 

 with large scales : lateral line gently curved : dorsal fin single, long, 

 expanding towards its termination, with eleven spinous rays, the first 

 short, and seventeen soft rays, the last two from one origin: pectorals 

 round, with nineteen rays : ventrals fastened down by a membrane 

 through part of their course, with six rays: vent an inch and a half 

 from the origin of the anal fin, which last has two spinous and nine 

 soft rays, the last two from one origin: caudal roundish, with sixteen 

 rays." COUCH. According to Cuvier and Valenciennes, the number of 

 fin-rays stands thus : 



D. 11/15 or 16 ; A. 3/8 ; C. 15 ; P. 1J ; V. 1/5. 



(Colours.) "Back reddish brown, lighter on the belly: two slightly 

 marked lines on the gill-covers running obliquely downward, one on 

 each plate." COUCH. 



* Or rather that part of the face between the forehead and the nostrils termed by the French 

 chanfrein, for which we have no adequate term in the English language. 



