356 PISCES (OSSEI) ACANTHOPT. [SPARUS, 



number of scales in a longitudinal line nearly sixty ; in the depth twenty- 

 one: dorsal with the fourth spinous ray longest, equalling nearly one- 

 third of the depth beneath; the succeeding ones gradually decreasing; 

 soft rays a little longer than the last of the spinous : anal answering to 

 the soft portion of the dorsal ; the spinous rays stronger than those in 

 that fin: caudal deeply forked; the two lobes equal, covered for half 

 their length with small scales : pectorals narrow, contained three times 

 and a half in the length of the body : ventrals triangular, rather large, a 

 little behind the pectorals : 



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



Number of vertebrae twenty -four. (Colours.) Fine carmine-red, passing 

 into rose-red on the sides ; belly with silvery reflections : fins rose-red ; 

 the anal and ventrals palest. Cuv. 



Observed by Mr. Couch in two or three instances off the coast of 

 Cornwall, and said to be known to the fishermen there by the name 

 of Spanish Bream. Not mentioned by any other writer on British 

 Zoology ; though, according to Mr. Yarrell, it appears to have been 

 met with at Teignmouth by the late Mr. Walcott. Common in the 

 Mediterranean. Stated by'Cuvier to keep in small shoals, and to 

 feed on fish and conchiferous mollusca. Is always smaller than the 

 next species. 



30. S. centrodontus^ Laroche. (Common Sea Bream.) 

 Flesh-red, with golden-yellow reflections : a crescent- 

 shaped mark above the eyes ; a large black spot on the 

 shoulder. 



S. centrodontus, Laroche, Ann. du Mus. torn. xm. p. 345. pi. 23. f. 1 1. 



S. Pagrus, Block, Ichth, pi. 267. S. Aurata, Don. Brit. Fish. 



vol. iv. pi. 89. Pagellus centrodontus, Cuv . et Vol. Poiss. torn. vi. 



p. 133. Pagrus vulgaris, Flem. Brit. An. p. 211. Sea Bream, 



Will. Hist. Pise. p. 312. tab. V. 1. f. 5. Yarr. Brit. Fish. vol. i. 



p. 107. Red Gilt-head, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. HI. p. 242. Lunu- 



lated Gilt-head, Id. pi. 42. no. 112. Le Rousseau, Cuv. Reg. An. 



torn. n. p. 183. 



LENGTH. From fifteen to twenty inches, or more. 

 DESCRIPT. (Form.) Distinguished from the last species by its larger 

 size, more obtuse snout, larger eye, and finer as well as more numerous 

 teeth : body a little thicker, and more regularly oval : head rather more 

 than one-fourth of the entire length ; profile descending obliquely from 

 the forehead, and still more rapidly from the nostrils to the lips, giving 

 the snout a remarkably blunt and convex appearance : diameter of the 

 eye one-third the length of the head; the distance between the eyes 

 equal to this diameter: jaws nearly equal: anterior teeth finer than in 

 the S. Erythrinus; molars smaller in proportion, disposed in three or 

 more rows above, and in two or three below : pharyngean tubercles 

 larger: infra-orbitals and preopercle very narrow from the great size 

 of the eyes: lateral line strongly marked; its course parallel to the 

 curvature of the back at one- fourth of the depth: number of scales 

 in a longitudinal line nearly eighty; in the depth more than twenty: 

 dorsal rising from a shallow groove, and commencing just above the 

 insertion of the pectorals ; its length half the entire length ; fourth, fifth, 

 and sixth spinous rays longest, equalling nearly one-third of the depth ; 

 soft portion of the fin half the length of the spinous, the rays much of a 



