Series 1. Order 1. ACANTHOPTERYGIT. 285 



THE FOURTH FAMILY OF THE ACANTHOPTERYGH. 



Sparid^ (the Sea-bream Family). 

 These have no teeth in the palate ; their general figure resembles that of the preceding family; their 

 bodies have scales larger or smaller, but they have none on the fins ; their muzzle is not thickened, nor 

 the bones of the head cavernous ; they have no notches in their preoperculum, nor spines on the oper- 

 culum; their pyrolus has ccecal appendages; they have six gill-rays, which are arranged according to 

 the form of the teeth. The first tribe, of which there are five genera, have the sides of the jaws set 

 with round, flat teeth, resembling a pavement. The genera are as follow : — 



Sargus, with cutting' teeth in the front, like those of Man ; but in some species the teeth vary. 



Chrtjsophru, Gilt-heads, with round grinders in the sides of the jaw, and a few blunt conical teeth in front. 

 There are two European species : C. auratus, a large and beautiful fish, with a golden eyebrow ; and C. microdon, 

 with the teeth smaller, and the profile fuller. The first species is occasionally found on the south coast of England. 

 Tliey have very strong teeth, and are able to break the hardest shells of the Mollusca. 



Pagrus, has only two rows of grinders. 



P. vulgaris, silvery, glossed with red, inhabits the Mediterranean, and is occasionally met with on the English 

 shores. There are others in the Atlantic and the Indian Ocean, and one of Southern Africa, which has the jaws 

 as hard as stone. 



Pagehis, has the teeth smaller, and the muzzle more elongated. P. erythrinus, the Spanish Bream, is silvery, 

 glossed with rose-colour: it is a very beautiful fish. There are numerous others found in the Mediterranean 

 and other seas ; but the species named is the only one that occurs on the English coast, excepting the Sea Bream, 

 P. centrodentus, which is of the same colour as the former, but has a large dark patch on the shoulder. 



Dentex, has all the teeth conical, and the front ones hooked. One species, D. vulgaris, occasionally occurs in 

 the south of England, and there are various others. 



Some have the mouth less cleft, the body lower, and the caudal scaly to the end ; and others have 

 no scales on the cheek, but a pointed scale between the ventrals, and one above each of them. These 

 form a second tribe of the family ; and a third tribe also consists of a single genus, — 



Cantharus, which has crowded teeth, hooked, and placed cardwise round the jaws. One species, C. griseus, of 

 a silvery grey colour, with brown longitudinal stripes, is found on the English shores, and known as the Black 

 Bream. 



The fourth and last tribe consists of two genera : — 



Boops, with the mouth small, and the external teeth trenchant. There are several species in the Mediterranean, 

 silvery or steel-coloured, with longitudinal golden stripes. Oblada, with small crowded teeth behind the trenchant 

 ones ; silvery, with blackish stripes, and a broad black spot on each side of the tail. 



THE FIFTH FAMILY OF THE ACANTHOPTERYGH. 



Menid^. 

 These differ from the last in the great extensibility of the upper jaw, which is advanced or withdrawn 

 by means of long intermaxillary pedicles. It contains only the following four genera : — 



Mana, with fine narrow teeth in the jaws, and a band of the same on the vomer ; body shaped like that of a 

 Herring, lead-coloured on the back, silvery on the belly. Smaris, want the teeth on the vomer, and the body is 

 less elevated. Casio, has the dorsal somewhat higher. Geres, mouth protractile, jaw descends in advancing, 

 and teeth in the jaws only : much esteemed for food. The first two genera inhabit the Mediterranean, the third 

 the Indian Ocean, and the fourth the Atlantic, whence a stray individual sometimes reaches the coast of England. 



THE SIXTH FAMILY OF THE ACANTHOPTERYGH. 



SauAMiPENNES (Scaly-finncd). 



These fishes are so designated because the soft, and often the spinous parts, of their dorsal fins are 

 so covered with scales as not to be easily distinguished from the rest of their bodies. This is the most 

 distinguishing character ; but they also have, in general, the body much compressed, and the intestines 

 long, and with numerous cceca. Linnieus included all those known in his time in the genus Chcetodon, 

 or bristle-teeth, from the thinness and close array of these parts ; but this genus admits of subdivision, 

 and there are some others. 



The Chcetodons have their teeth like a brush, their mouth small, their dorsal and anal fins scaly like 

 the body, so that it is difficult to say where the fin commences. They abound in the seas of warm 



