1356 Bulletin 4.7, United States National Museum. 



1730. CALAMUS MEDIUS (Poey). 



Head 3*; depth 2$; scales ?-46-l D. XII, 12; A. Ill, 10. Body sub- 

 eliptical, rather elongate, deepest at front of dorsal, the anterior profile 

 rather strongly convex, the curve continuous from snout to middle of 

 dorsal. Preorbital not deep, its depth 2^ in head; pectoral short, 1 in 

 head; canines f, moderate, equal. Color olivaceous, with darker cross 

 bands; preorbital plain; ventrals dark; a dark axillary spot; a blue 

 subocular band. West Indies, here described from a specimen from Havana 

 (21838, M. Z. C.), 15 inches long. The species is allied to C. penna, differ- 

 ing in the more elongate form, (medius, medium.) 



Grammateus medius, POEY, Ann. Lye. Nat. Hist. N. Y. 1872, 183, pi. 7, fig. 4, Havana; 



POEY, Enumeratio, 56, 1875. 

 Calamus medius, JORDAN & FESLER, I.e., 514. 



553. PAGRUS, Cuvier. 

 (EUROPEAN PORGIES.) 



Pagrus, CUVIER, Regne Animal, Ed. I, 272, 1817 (argenteus pagrus) . 



Body oblong, compressed, covered with large scales. Head large ; pre- 

 opercle entire; opercle not armed. Mouth rather small, terminal, low, the 

 anterior teeth in the jaws cardiform, the outer series of teeth generally 

 enlarged, canine-like, not compressed, the teeth behind the canines slender 

 and acute. Both jaws with 2 or 3 series of rounded molar teeth, which 

 are sometimes irregularly mixed with slender teeth ; no teeth on vomer or 

 palatines. Posterior nostril oblong, not slit-like, much larger than ante- 

 rior. Dorsal rather low, the spines about 12 in number, depressible in a 

 groove; anal spines moderate, the second not greatly developed; second 

 interhsernal spine not pen-shaped ; no antrorse dorsal spine ; supraoccipital 

 crest coalescent with temporal crests. Caudal fin forked; air bladder 

 simple; gill rakers short; brauchiostegalsG; intestinal canal short; pyloric 

 ccecafew. Carnivorous fishes, mostly of Europe and Africa. This genus 

 is close to the European genus Sparus (Sparus aurata L.= Aurata Risso = 

 Chrysoblephus Cuvier), with which it agrees in the skeletal characters, 

 differing chiefly in the larger scales, slenderer body, and narrower bands 

 of teeth. The genera are probably distinct, butthe characters of division 

 have not yet been fully indicated.* (Ttdypos, porgy, the ancient name. ) 



1731. PAGRUS PAGRUS (Linnaeus). 

 (RED PORGY ; BESUGO; PARGO COLORADO.) 



D. XI, 12, or XII, 11 or 10; A. Ill, 8; scales 6 (9) -53 to 56-13. Body 

 oblong, the back moderately elevated, the profile parabolic; preorbital 



* Cuvier recognized 2 genera: Pagrus with the molar teeth in 2 series, and Sparus 

 (Chrysophrys) with the molars in 3 or more. This character has not much importance, 

 and Steindachner lias proposed to substitute for it the following: 



Sparus: Teeth behind the canines with the apex rounded, granulated, or globose; 

 molars in 2 or more series. 



Pagrus : Teeth behind the canines acute, subulate, or setaceous ; molars in 2 or more 

 series. 



Although in general appearance Sparus aurata and Pagrus pagrus differ considerably, 

 and also considerably from other aberrant species, as Chrysoblephus gibbiceps and Argyrops 

 tpinifer, there is no important difference in the skull or skeleton, and all may perhaps be 

 referable to a single genus, Sparus. 



