344 The Bass and their Relatives 
Very similar to the porgy is the famous red tai or akadai 
of Japan (Pagrus major), a fish so highly esteemed as to be, 
with the rising sun and the chrysanthemum, a sort of national 
emblem. In all prints and images the fish-god Ebisu (Fig. 280), 
beloved of the Japanese people, appears with a red tai under his 
arm. This species, everywhere abundant, is crimson in color, and 
the flesh is always tender and excellent. A similar species is 
any 
Fic. 281.—Scup, Stenotomus chrysops (Linnzus). Wood’s Hole, Mass. 
the well-known and abundant “‘schnapper”’ of Australia, Pagrus 
umcolor. Another but smaller tai or porgy, crimson, sprinkled 
with blue spots, Pagrus cardinalis, occurs in Japan in great 
abundance, as also two species similar in character but without 
red, known as Kurodai or black tai. These are Sparius latus 
and Sparius berda. The gilt-head of the Mediterranean, Sparus 
aurata, is very similar to these Japanese species. Sparus sarba 
in Australia is the tarwhine, and Sparus australis the black 
bream. The numerous species of Pagellus abound in the Medi- 
terranean. These are smaller in size than the species of Pagrus, 
red in color and with feebler teeth. Monotaxis grandoculis, 
known as the “mu,” is a widely diffused and valuable food-fish 
of the Pacific islands, greenish in color, with pale cross-bands. 
Very closely related is also the American scup or fair maid 
(Stenotomus chrysops), one of our commonest pan fishes. In 
