THE SPINED SERRANUS. 137 



jaw only covered with very small scales, to which 

 Cuvier has given the name of Merous. One of 

 the largest of this division, the Perca gigas of 

 Brunich, by the older ichthyologists was scarcely 

 if at all known ; and by those of the present day 

 comparatively little, except that the form has been 

 ascertained. It is a fish which attains to a weight 

 of sixty pounds, and is sometimes taken when 

 approaching the coasts in spawning time. It 

 occurs in the Mediterranean, and is esteemed in 

 some places for the table. The general colour is 

 brownish, varying to a deeper shade, or tinted 

 with more yellow according to age, and the body 

 is clouded or marbled over with deep blotches of 

 gray. Another species, reaching nearly an equal 

 size with the above, was discovered by Geoffrey 

 St Hilaire on the coast of Egypt ; but it differs in 

 the beautiful colouring with which it is adorned, 

 being of a deep green, shading to white on the 

 lower parts, and upon the back, sides, and fins, 

 varied with markings of a clear and fresh tint of 

 the same colour. It has been named Serranus 

 cemus, Geoffroy. Some species from the Indian 

 Seas are very remarkable for the diversity and 

 beauty of their tints. But the most remarkable 

 fish which Cuvier has placed in this division is 

 the 



