28 ACANTHOPTERYGII. 



Genus II. — Box, Guvier and Valenciennes. 



Boops, Cuvier. 



Branchiostegals six : pseudobranchios present. Body elongated and somewhat 

 rounded. A front row of incisors, having notched 'margins, in either jaiv : no molars. 

 Spines of dorsal fin (11 to 15) can be received into a scaly sheath. Scales of moderate 

 size, extended over the cheeks. Intestinal tract convoluted and rather long : pyloric 

 appendages few. Air-bladder divided posteriorly into two horns. 



Geographical distribution. — From the southern coast of the British Isles south- 

 wards to Madeira and the Cape of Good Hope, also throughout the Mediterranean. 

 Found in the Caribbean Sea in the West Indies. 



1. Box vulgaris, Plate X. 



Box, Plin. xxii, c. 11 ; Belon. de Aquat. p. 230. Boops, Rondel, v, c. 11, p. 136, 

 c. fig. ; Gesner, p. 147 ; Aldrov. ii. c. 41, p. 231 ; Jonst. De Pise. lib. i, t. iii, c. 1, 

 art. 23, p. 84, t. xx, f. 6 ; Willugh. p. 317, t. U. S. f. 1 ; Ray, p. 135. Sparus, No. 6, 

 Artedi, Gen. p. 36. 



Sparus boops, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 469 ; Gmel. Linn. p. 1274 ; Briinn. Pise. 

 Mass. p. 44 ; Lacep. iv, pp. 97, 99 ; Bl. Schn. p. 273 ; Risso, Ich. Nice, p. 242 ; 

 Martens, Reise nach Venedig, ii, p. 424. 



Box vulgaris, Cuv. and Val. vi, p. 348, pi. clxi ; Cuv. Reg. Anim. 111. Poissons, 

 pi. xxxvi, f. 1; Guichenot, Explor. Sc. Alger. Poissons, p. 54; Yarrell, Zool. 1843, 

 p. 85, and Brit. Fishes, Second Supplement, 1860, p. 6, c. fig. and (Ed. 3) ii, 

 p. 159 ; Giinther, Catal. i. p. 418 ; Steind. Ich. Spanien u. Port. 1867, p. 49. 



Boops Ganariensis, Val. in Webb and Berth. Hist. Nat. lies Canar. Poiss. p. 36, 

 pi. x, f. 1. 



Sparus boops, Swainson, Fishes, ii, p. 223. 



Boops boops, White, Catal. Brit. Fish. p. 20. 



Bogue, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, i, p. 225, pi. 1. 



B. vi, D. T ^\ T , P. 21, V. 1/5, A. f V, C. 17, L. 1. 75, L. tr. 6/13, Cose. pyl. 5, 

 Vert. 10-11/13. 



Length of head 4|, of caudal fin 5f, height of body 4| to 5 in the total 

 length. Eye— 3 to 3| diameters in the length of the head, 2/3 to 1 diameter 

 from the end of the snout, and the same distance apart. Interorbital space 

 flattened and rather convex. The maxilla does not quite reach to below the front 

 edge of the eye in adults, but does in the young. Preorbital rather narrow, 

 and longer than deep. Teeth— the anterior row in both jaws flattened and notched 

 at their cutting edge into a trefoil shape : fine ones on the vomer, palatines, and on 

 the tongue. Fins — dorsal spines weak. Pectoral as long as the head. Latt 

 dorsal and anal ray thickened. Caudal deeply forked. Scales — cycloid, arranged 

 in regular lines on the body : 3 or 4 rows across the cheeks, also present on the 

 opercular pieces, but none along the preopercular limb. A few over the caudal fin. 

 Intestinal tract — the stomach is small, with thin and transparent walls : its 

 ascending portion is narrow at its commencement, but subsequently dilates into 

 double its original width. There are five coecal appendages at the pylorus, four 

 on the lower side of the duodenum, and one on its upper surface. The intestines 

 are much convoluted, while at the commencement of the rectum it suddenly 

 dilates and gives off a sort of little ccecum, which has been likened to a true 

 coecal appendage, subsequent to which the intestine again contracts. Colours — 

 yellowish-olive on the back, becoming silvery on the abdomen : three or four 

 golden lines pass along the sides below the lateral-line. A brown spot in the 

 axil of the pectoral fin. 



Names. — Boga, French. 



