464 FISHES. ACANTHOPTERYGII. 



P. labrax, Lin. (Scicena diacantha, Bloch.) The Basse Perch. 

 Body silvery ; with the fins reddish, first dorsal fin the same length 

 as the second ; two spines at the operculum ; tail slightly lunat- 

 ed. 12 inches long. Inhabits the Mediterranean sea. B Penn. 

 Brit. Zool. iii. pi. 60. 



P. punctata, Cuv. (Sciana, Bloch.) Back bluish ; belly and sides 

 silvery ; ventral and pectoral fins brown red, those of the anus 

 and tail reddish at the base and blue at the margin, body mark- 

 ed with black spots or points from the back to the lateral line. 

 12 inches long. Inhabits Mediterranean sea. Block., pi. 305. 



P. lineata, Cuv. (Scicena"Bloch.) Back violet ; sides and belly sil- 

 very, with longitudinal yellow lines along the body ; first dor- 

 sal fin with eight spinous rays. 12 inches long. Inhabits Me- 

 diterranean sea Bloch, pi. 304. 



Gen. 72. CENTROPOMUS, Lacepede. 



Snout without scales ; teeth crowded ; pre-operculi dentated ; 

 operculi without spines, or with the points flattened ; the 

 suborbitary bone generally dentated. 



C. Niloticus, Cuv. (Perca Nilotica, Gmel.) Body brown, with 

 eight spinous rays in the first dorsal fin j one spinous and eight 

 articulated ones in the second. Inhabits the Nile and Caspian 

 sea. Geojf. Pois. du Nil. pi. 9, fig. 1. 

 This fish is conceived by Geoffrey to be the Lotus of the ancients, the name by 



which it is still known in tipper Egypt. 



C. undecimalis, Cuv. (Scicena, Bloch.) Body red, with silvery 

 abdomen ; fins of the tail and back yellow at their base, and blue 

 towards the extremity ; eight spinous rays in the first dorsal fin, 

 and one spinous and ten articulated ones in the second. 12 in- 

 ches long. Inhabits American seas Bloch, pi. 303. 



Gen. 73. ENOPLOSUS, Lacep. 



Teeth flexible and small; body and tail much compressed; 

 dorsal fins high vertically and prolonged ; suborbitaries den- 

 tated ; pre-operculi dentated and spinous towards the base. 



E. armatus, Cuv. (Chcetodon armaius, Shaw.) Body silvery white, 

 darker, and with a bluish tinge on the back, with seven trans- 

 verse black bands j tail slightly lunated. 4 inches long. Inha- 

 bits Indian seas. Shaw, iv. 373. 



Gen. 74. PROCHILUS, Cuv. Sciasna, Bloch. 

 Body oblong ; scales pretty large ; head short ; teeth crowded ; 

 no dentations on the preoperculi ; snout without scales. 



P. macrolepidotus, Cuv. Body yellow, with transverse brownish 

 violet bands ; scales large ; dorsal, anal, and caudal fins spotted 

 with brown ; pectoral fins yellow ; ventrals brick-red. 12 inch- 

 es long. From India Block, pi. 398. 



P. maculatus, Cuv. Body deep yellow, spotted with brown ; fins 

 bluish at the base, the other parts yellowish, marked with black 



