108 SPARIDiE. 



It is included by S. Nilsson in his Prodomus Ichthyologiee 

 Scadinavic(E ; and Professor Reinhardt has ascertained its 

 most northern locality on the coast of Denmark : but it is 

 not included by Linnaeus in his Fauna Suecica, nor is it 

 mentioned by Muller or Fabricius. 



" Common as this fish is," says Mr. Couch, " I have 

 found a difficulty in assigning to it its proper synonymes. 

 I suppose it, however, to be the Lunulated Gilt-head of 

 Pennant, with his figvire of which it agrees, though not with 

 his description. He represents it as of a dusky green on the 

 back, where our Sea Bream is red, with a tint of yellow. On 

 the upper part of the gills, according to Pennant, is a black 

 spot, and a purplish one beneath :" but our fish has only a 

 broad dark brown spot at the origin of the lateral line. Dr. 

 Fleming's description agrees with Pennants ; and Ray says 

 it weighs ten pounds ; but our fish would be thought enor- 

 mous if of half that size. 



The young fish, which are commonly known by the name 

 of Chads, are without the lateral spot until their first autumn, 

 when they are about half-grown. 



The Sea Bream is found on the west coast of England 

 throughout the year, but is most abundant in summer 

 and autumn ; and it retreats altogether in severely cold 

 weather. The spawn is shed in the beginning of winter in 

 deep water ; and in January the Chads, about an inch in 

 length, are found in the stomachs of large fishes, taken at 

 two or three leagues from land : in summer, when from four 

 to six inches long, they abound in innumerable multitudes, 

 and are taken by anglers in harbours, and from the rocks ; 

 for they bite with great eagerness at any bait, even of the 

 flesh of their own species. The food, both of the young and 

 adult fish, is not, however, confined to animal substance ; 

 for they devour the green species of sea-weeds, which they 



