112 



CLASS-? I S C E S. 



ORDER ACAN TH OPT E RY G I A. 



PRIOXONOTUS. Closelv allied to the genus Trigla. 



PTEROIS. Natives of India ; slightly distinguished from the Scorpsena?. 



ScORi'.KXA. The great size and roughness of the head, and the soft 

 s]>ongv skin which they are generally enveloped, give to the Scorpcence a 

 frightful and disgusting appearance, whilst their prickles render them formid- 

 able ; hence the names of Sea Scorpion, Toad, and Devil have been freely 

 applied to them. They are found in the Mediterranean, Atlantic, Indian, 

 and South Seas. 



SEBASTES. They have great resemblance to the Scarpcenee, except that 

 the head is less armed with tubercles, whilst, on the contrary, it is com- 

 pletely covered with scales. 



SYNANCEIA. Their external form connects them with the Uranoscopi, 

 and is extremely hideous, and their filthiness has led the Indian fishers to 

 suppose them venomous. 



Afaigre. This genus, which includes a large number of species, 

 is divided into three sections Maigres, Otolithes, and Corbs. 



The species S. Aqvila (Umbra) belongs to the first subgenus. It varies 

 in length from three and a half to six or seven feet. Its colour is silvery- 

 grey, with a brownish tinge towards the back, and whitish on the belly ; 

 the first dorsal, the pectoral, and ventral fins are bright red, and the other 

 fins are reddish-brown. This fish is a native of the Mediterranean, and 

 occasionally, though rarely, taken in the British Channel. According to 

 Duliamel, the fishermen of Royan consider the appearance of the Maigre as 

 indicative of the approach of the Sardines, whilst at Dieppe it is held to 

 usher in the Herring ; a circumstance only explained by the predatory 

 habits of the fish inducing it to hover about the approaching shoals of its 

 finny prey. When moving together in great numbers they are said to 

 utter a very loud grunting noise, which may be heard from the depth of 

 twenty fathoms. Cuvier considers it certain that, according to the descrip- 

 tion left by Salvian, it is the same as the fish in his time called in the 

 Roman markets Umbrina, which name Salvian attaches to it, and believes it 

 the same as the famous Umbra of the ancients. It was then highly valued 

 as a table dainty, but by some chance has of late years been so scarce, 

 probably from shifting its ground, that Cuvier with the greatest difficulty 

 succeeded in obtaining a few specimens from the coast, the Parisian market 

 being unable to furnish any ; though in the sixteenth century so common 

 as to give rise to the proverb, 11 vient de la Rochelk, U est cliarge de 

 Maigre. 



AMPHIPRIOX. The members of this genus, especially the species Ephip- 

 pium (Plate 1), are very closely allied to the Chsetodons, which see p. 113. 



Other genera of this family : 



PR'EMXAS. Nearly resembling the Amphipriones. 



PRISTIMOMA, SCOLOPISIDES, and UMBRINA. All closely related to the 

 Sciaena. 



ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES. 



PLATE 2. 



Family BREAM ; Sparoida. 



The figure of the family Sparoida resembles the Maigres ; they are 

 destitute of teeth in the palate, of scales on the fins, of notches in the pre- 

 orculum, and of spines in operculum. Their gill-rays are six, arranged in 

 the form of teeth. 



tp-m-r;i. 



SpeeiM. 



Common Name. 



Sargu .... Annularis - ... Ringed Sparus. 

 Deatez - ... Vulgaris ..... Sea Rorgh. 



Family 



The Msenoidae differ from the Sparoida in the great extensibility of the 

 upper jaw, which is advanced or withdrawn by means of long inter- 

 maxillary pedicles. 



Ma-na 



ML. in- - 



- - Vulgaris 

 Vulgaria 



Cockerell. 

 Fickarell. 



Family SCALY FINS; Squammipennata. 



The fins of the family Squammipennata are so covered with scales as 

 not to be easily distinguished from the rest of their bodies. 



Genus. Specie*. Common Name. 



Chactodon - - - Striatus ----- Streaked Chetodon. 

 Brama - ... Atropiu. 



CHARACTERS OF THE GENERA. 



1. SARGUS. Jaws slightly extensible; molar teeth disposed like a 

 pavement, in front incisive teeth similar to tlios<> of man ; dorsal fin single 

 and extended ; opercules neither spined nor denticulated ; height of the 

 body nearly equal to its length. 



2. DENTEX (Lat. dens, a tooth). Jaws furnished in front with large 

 long-hooked teeth, on the sides with conical teeth; behind the front teeth 

 are small teeth arranged in tufts. 



1. M^ENA. Five narrow teeth in jaws, and a row on the vomer ; great 

 extensibility of the upper jaw, under the control of intermaxillary pedicles. 



2. SMARIS. Both jaws furnished with a narrow row of very fine teeth, 

 but none in the vomer; mouth protractile ; body spindle-shajici!. 



1 . CHETODON. Teeth resembling hairs in length and fineness, and set 

 in rows ; body compressed, and very deep vertically ; dorsal and anal fins 

 covered with scales similar to those of the back. 



2. BRAMA. Forehead very perpendicular ; tail forked and rigid. 



SPAUOIDA ; M.ENOIDA ; SQUAMMIPENNATA. DESCRIPTION OF THE SPECIES. 



SARGUS Star-fish. The Sars are shore fish ; are common on the 

 southern coasts of France and elsewhere, but are not found in the British 

 Channel. They feed generally on small shell-fish and crustaceous animals. 

 There are about eighteen species. 



The Annular or Ringed Spams (S. Annularis) is of slender proportions ; 

 the head a fourth of the total length of the body, which is seven inches ; 

 muzzle rather pointed ; the profile, being a continuation of the curve of the 

 back, gives to the body an oval form ; the protuberance between the eyes 

 slight; upper lip thick and not plaited, lower thin and without a tubercle; 

 incisive teeth vertical, wider, cut more square than in any other species, 

 and more closely resembling the incisive teeth of man ; molar teeth \vrv 

 numerous and closely set in three rows in the upper jaw, and in two or 

 three in the lower ; caudal fin cleft, and its two lobes rounded on their 

 inner edges. The back of this species is yellow, inclining to golden, and 

 each scale above the lateral line edged with greyish-brown ; the belly 

 silvery-grey ; the spot on the tail deep black ; dorsal and caudal fins grey 

 tinged with yellowish ; pectorals grey ; ventrals bright orange-yellow ; anal 

 fin orange. They are found in great numbers in the Mediterranean, as well 

 on the rocky coast of France, Tuscany, and Italy, as on the muddy shores 

 of Lower Egypt ; and they are also taken off the Canaries. 



DENTEX. This genus has been separated by Cuvier from the Span, on 

 account of the difference in the form of the teeth ; he enumerates five 

 certain species, one of which, the Sea Rough (D. Vulgaris), is figured on 

 Plate 2. They are for the most part natives of the seas of hot climates. 



Other genera of this family : 



BOOPS. The eyes of the fish belonging to this genus are very large, 

 whence the generic name from the Greek /&>iic, an Ox, and <Jv//, an eye. 

 They are natives of the Italian seas, and are herbivorous. One species, the 

 Boga of the Italians, was believed by Gessner to have the power of utter- 

 ing a cry, whence it got the name of Box, a corruption of /3oa, from the 

 Greek fioaui, 1 cry ; but no one believes this story now. 



CHEILODACTYLUS. Upper lip thick ; rays of pectoral fins like fingers ; 

 scales large. 



ScATHARUS. Seven inches long ; oval ; scales small ; pectoral fins long. 



M.ENA. Thfs genus is found in the Mediterranean : their body is shaped 

 like a herring, which is lead-coloured on the back and silvery on the belly. 



SMARIS Picarel. The Picarels are distinguished from the genus Mcena, 

 to which they are, in almost every respect, similar, by the absence of teeth 



