SPARUS.] PISCES (OSSEI) ACANTHOPT. 353 



set obliquely to the axis of the body. Number of vertebrae twenty-four. 

 (Colours.) Of a uniform silvery gray, inclining to brownish on the back, 

 and to white on the belly : first dorsal, pectorals, and ventrals, red ; the 

 other fins reddish brown. Cuv. 



Common in the Mediterranean, where it attains a large size. Has 

 not occurred in the British seas in more than four or five instances. One 

 specimen recorded by Mr. Neill as having occurred off the Shetland 

 coasts in November 1819. A second taken in the seine, at Start Bay, on 

 the south coast of Devon, in August 1825*. A third, taken on the coast 

 of Northumberland, is in the possession of Mr. J. Hancock of Newcastle. 

 A fourth is mentioned by Mr. Yarrell as having occurred on the Kentish 

 coast in November 1834. Said to swim in shoals, and when taken, to 

 make a low grumbling noise like the Gurnards. Air-bladder, according 

 to Cuvier, very large, extending the whole length of the abdomen, and 

 remarkable for its branched lateral appendages. Obs. This species has 

 been much misunderstood, and confounded with others by many authors, 

 especially by Willughby, Artedi, and Linnaeus, whose descriptions in 

 consequence are rendered of no value. It is the only Europsean species 

 belonging to this sub-genus. 



( UMBRINA, Cuv.) 



(3.) 5. cirrhosa, Linn. Syst. Nat. torn. i. p. 481. Bloch,- Ichth. 

 pi. 300. Umbrina vulgaris, Cuv. et Val. Poiss. torn. v. p. 127. 

 Bearded Umbrina, Yarr. Brit. Fish. vol. i. p. 95. 



According to an extract from the Minute-Book of the Linnaean Society, 

 (Linn. Trans, vol. xvi. p. 751.) dated Nov. 20, 1827, a specimen of this 

 fish, weighing one hundred weight, has been taken in the river Exe. As, 

 however, there has been much confusion with respect to the species of this 

 family, it is possible that this British individual may not have been different 

 from the Sci&na Aquila described above. According to Cuvier, the 

 Umbrina is never found so large as this last species, though it often 

 exceeds two feet in length. It is common on the coasts of Prance, Spain, 

 and Italy, and is easily distinguished by a short barbule attached to the 

 symphysis of the lower jaw. 



GEN. 10. SPARUS, Cuv. 

 (1. CHRYSOPHRYS, Cuv.) 



27. S. Aurata, Linn. {Gilt-head.) Molars in four 

 or five rows above, and three below : a golden spot on the 

 preopercle, and a dark one on the opercle. 



S. Aurata, Block, Ichth. pi. 266. Flem. Brit. An. p. 211. Chry- 

 sophrys Aurata, Cuv. et Val. Poiss. torn. vi. p. 62. pi. 145. 

 Cuv. Reg. An. torn. 11. p. 182. Gilt-head, Will. Hist. Pise. 

 p. 307. tab. V. 5. Yarr. Brit. Fish. vol. i. p. 97. Lunulated Gilt- 

 head, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. HI. p. 240. but not pi. 42. Id. (Edit, 

 1812.) vol. in. p. 327. but not pi. 46. 



* Proceedings of Comm. of Zool. Soc. 1831. p< 112. 



z 



