352 PISCES (OSSEI) ACANTHOPT. [SCI*NA. 



in number, of equal length, the last excepted, which is longer and more 

 hooked than the others ; space occupied by these spines equalling nearly 

 one-fourth of the whole length : soft fin immediately behind the last spine, 

 of a triangular form ; its greatest height equalling the depth of the body ; 

 all the rays branched : anal exactly answering to it in form, situation, and 

 number of rays ; before the first ray a short hooked spine : portion of the 

 tail beyond these fins very much depressed, sharp at the sides, and equal- 

 ling one-third of the whole length : caudal square at the end ; all the rays 

 branched: pectorals rounded, one- ninth of the entire length; the rays 

 simple: ventral spines short and slightly curved, each accompanied by 

 two small soft rays: 



D. 156 or 7 ; A. 1/6 ; C. 12 ; P. 11 ; V. 1/2 : 



about forty- two scales in the lateral line, all sharply keeled and slightly 

 granulated; those on the sides of the tail forming the sharpest edge: rest 

 of the skin smooth. Number of vertebrae forty-one. (Colours.) Greenish 

 brown ; silvery beneath : dorsal and anal fins, each with a round black 

 spot. 



Found only in the sea, never ascending rivers. Not uncommon on 

 some parts of the coast. Feeds on worms and small Crustacea, as well as 

 on the eggs and fry of other fish. Spawns in Spring. Is stated by Cuvier 

 to be the only known species belonging to this sub-genus. 



GEN. 9. SCIJSNA, Cuv. 



(1. SCI^ENA, CUV.) 



26. S. Aquila, Cuv. (Maigre.) 



S. Aquila, Cuv. et Vol. Poiss. torn. v. p. 21. pi. 100. Neill in 

 Edinb. New Phil. Journ. Apr. 1826. p. 135. Flem. Brit. An. p. 213. 

 S. Umbra, Cuv. Reg. An. torn. n. p. 172. The Maigre, Yarr. 

 Brit. Fish. vol. i. p. 90. 



LENGTH. From three to five, sometimes six feet. 



DESCRIPT. (Form.) General appearance resembling that of the Basse 

 (Perca Labraoc) : head one-fourth of the entire length ; greatest depth 

 rather more than one-fifth: profile descending obliquely, inclining to 

 convex at the nape, concave at the forehead : snout blunt and slightly 

 protuberant: each jaw with a row of sharp, somewhat hooked teeth, 

 separate from each other, with several smaller ones amongst them in 

 the lower, behind them in the upper jaw : none on the tongue, vomer, or 

 palatines : preopercle with the posterior margin denticulated when young, 

 but not afterwards : opercle terminating in two flat, but rather sharp 

 points, with an emargination between : first dorsal with the third spine 

 longest, equalling half the depth of the body : second dorsal more than 

 twice the length of the first, immediately behind it, the membrane of 

 the latter continuous with that of the former: pectorals and ventrals 

 nearly one-sixth of the entire length : anal very small in proportion to 

 the second dorsal, with only one slender spinous ray almost concealed in 

 the edge of the fin, and eight soft ones : caudal with seventeen branched 

 -rays : number of rays altogether, 



D. 9 1/27 or 28 ; A. 1/8; C. 17; P. 16; V. 1/5: 



lateral line nearly parallel to the back : the whole head and body covered 

 with scales ; those on the back and sides large, deeply imbricated, and 



