SALT WATER FISH AND FISHING. 279 



THE SHEEPSHEAD. 

 Sargis ovis : Mitchil. 



Form: Body compressed; back arched, rising abruptly 

 from the snout ; nearly straight on the belly from the lower 

 jaw to the first spine of the anal, thence rounding to the last 

 ray of that fin, where the body is small to the caudal. Color : 

 dark gray on the back ; sides silvery ; belly white ; six or 

 seven dusky bars, reaching from the top of the back nearly 

 to the bottom of the belly. Teeth : four or six incisors in 

 front of both upper and lower jaw, with obtuse crushing 

 conical molars in the roof of the mouth and inside of lower 

 jaw. Fins: there is only one dorsal, which has twelve 

 formidable spines and twelve rays, all of which close, at the 

 will of the fish, in a groove on the back ; the anal has three 

 stout spines and eleven rays, which close also (but not entirely) 

 in a groove ; the pectorals are very long, and have sixteen 

 rays ; ventrals have one spine and five rays ; and the caudal, 

 which is forked, has seventeen. 



These fish arrive in the bays and inlets on the coast of New 



