SPARUS.] PISCES (OSSEI) ACANTHOPT 355 



series, another row of five or six teeth all round : pharyngeans strong- 

 and card-like : lateral line more strongly marked than in the Gilt-head : 

 scales on the upper part of the head and on the gill-covers smaller; 

 those on the body larger in proportion : number in a longitudinal line 

 nearly sixty ; in the depth twenty : dorsal when laid back almost entirely 

 concealed -in a deep groove ; the spinous rays compressed, and somewhat 

 flexible ; the longest not one-third the depth of the body : anal answering 

 to the soft portion of the dorsal ; the three spinous rays sensibly stronger 

 than those of that fin; along its base a slight scaly projection partly 

 concealing it : pectorals pointed, contained three times and a half in the 

 entire length, and reaching when laid back to the third spinous ray in 

 the anal fin : ventrals only half the length of the pectorals ; the spinous 

 ray one-sixth shorter than the first soft one : 



B. 6; D. 12/10; A. 3/8; C. 17; P. 15; V. 1/5. 



Number of vertebrae twenty-four. (Colours.) Silvery, tinged with red : 

 no semilunar mark between the eyes, as in the last species, and no dark 

 patch on the shoulder, as in the S. centrodontus. Cuv. 



So much confusion and misunderstanding prevails with respect to the 

 species of this family, that it is not easy to attach to each correctly its 

 proper synonyms. The present one appears to be the Becker of Mr. 

 Couch, which is stated by that gentleman to approach the Cornish coasts 

 during the Summer and Autumn. There is very little respecting it, at 

 least on which any dependence can be placed, in other British writers. 

 The Pagrus vulgaris of Fleming (the Red Gilt-head of Pennant) is pro- 

 bably only the Pagellus centrodontus of Cuvier and of this work. Ac- 

 cording to Cuvier, the present species is found in the Mediterranean, 

 along with two others belonging to the same sub-genus. 



(3. PAGELLUS, Cuv.) 



29. S. Erythrinus, Linn. (Spanish Sea Bream.) 



Rose-colour, with silvery reflections: a golden crescent 

 between the eyes, but no lateral spot. 



S. Erythrinus, Bloch, Ichth. pi. 274. Shaw, Nat. Misc. vol. xx. 

 pi. 834. Pagellus Erythrinus, Cuv. et Vol. Poiss. torn. vi. p. 126. 

 pi. 150. Erythrinus Rondeletii, Witt. Hist. Pise. p. 311. tab. V. 6. 

 Le Pagel commun, Cuv. Reg. An. torn. n. p. 183. Spanish 

 Bream, Couch in Loud. Mag. of Nat. Hist. vol. v. p. 17. Yarr. 

 Brit. Fish. vol. i. p. 104. 



LENGTH ? 



DESCRIPT. (Form.) Body oval, elongated, moderately compressed, a 

 little contracted towards the tail : depth to the right of the pectorals one- 

 third of the length : nape elevated ; profile descending in a straight line, 

 a little obliquely, towards the snout : eyes large and round, placed half- 

 way between the end of the snout and the shoulder : infra-orbitals large : 

 preopercle also large, covering nearly the whole cheek ; the ascending 

 margin rectilineal and nearly vertical : mouth scarcely protractile : lower 

 jaw a little the longest : both jaws with fine card-like teeth at their ex- 

 tremities, the outer row rather the strongest ; nine or ten on each side ; 

 molars behind small, in two or more rows, more numerous in the adult 

 than in the young : pharyngeans strong and hooked : lateral line strongly 

 marked ; its course straight to the end of the dorsal, then turning in and 

 terminating at the caudal, passing a little above the middle of the tail : 



z2 



