448 



SERRANID.E. 



length of head three to three and three-fourths times. Snout once and a half to twice 

 the diameter of the eye, which is five to seven times in the length of the head in the 

 adult ; interorbital space wide, covered with cycloid scales ; lower jaw slightly 

 projecting ; maxillary bone extending to below the anterior third or the centre of the 

 eye, the width of its distal extremity three-fifths to three-fourths the diameter of 

 the eye; preeorbital entire; 4 to 6 strong antrorse spines on the lower border of the 

 praeoperculum ; lower opercular spine stronger than the upper. Vomerine teeth 

 forming a crescentic group ; a patch of teeth along the middle of the tongue and 

 others on the borders. Gill-rakers longer than the gill-fringes, 16 to 18 on lower 



■,■■:■..■■■. ........: 



1 * ' ', 



Morone labrcuv, from Lake Menzaleh. ± natural size. 



part of anterior arch. First dorsal fin with 8 or 9 strong spines, fourth and fifth 

 longest, two-fifths to three-fifths the length of the head ; second dorsal fin with 1 

 or 2 spines and 12 or .13 soft rays. Pectoral fin two-fifths to half the length of the 

 head. Anal fin with 3 spines and 10 to 12 soft rays ; third spine longest, one-fourth 

 to one-third the length of the head. Caudal fin emarginate, the middle rays about 

 two-thirds the length of the outer. 65 to 80 scales in a longitudinal series, corre- 

 sponding to the lateral line, j^tj in a transverse series. 



Silvery, back grey or olive, without spots in the adult, sometimes black-spotted in 

 the young and half-grown ; a blackish spot at the end of the gill-cover. 



Attains a length of 800 millimetres. 



The Sea-Bass inhabits the Mediterranean and the coasts of Europe, as far north as 

 Finmark. It is mostly found at the mouths of rivers, which it may ascend for a short 

 distance. Mr. Loat obtained three specimens in Lake Menzaleh on May 16th, 1899, 

 and the British Museum has received from Capt. S. Flower a specimen caught at the 

 barrage a few miles north of Cairo, on March 2nd, 1904. 



