206 



CLASSIFICATION OF FISHES^ ETC. 



AsTKiAS Antiq. (fig. 46.) Ventral fin exceeding long; cau- 

 dal very lunate^ and ending in filaments ; body ovate ; 

 head obtuse; eyes large ; 

 mouth wide^ sub-ver- 

 tical^ the lower jaw long- 

 est ; each jaw with a 

 single row of small and 

 sharp teeth, those in the 

 upper jaw being curved 

 upwards ; these are in- 

 termixed with larger 

 ones in both jaws, curving different ways ; vomer with 

 numerous others^ small and curved ; lateral line ab- 

 ruptly bent near both extremities ; jaws, head, and 

 body covered with small rough scales ; gill membrane 

 six-rayed. 



A. sacer. Bloch, pi. 315.* 



HoLocEXTRUM. Dorsal fins ; scales hard, imbricate, 

 regular. 



Holocentrum Artedi. Anal spines exceedingly strong ; 

 body ovate, fusiform ; head and back arched ; scales 

 large, hard, and crenated; spines on the operculum 

 and preopercule very long and sharp, the edges of 

 all these bones being strongly toothed ; sub-orbital 

 plate crenated ; dorsal fin cleft almost into two, with 

 the spines and those of the anal very strong ; caudal 

 deeply lobed or forked ; ventral fin of many rays ; 

 lower jaw longest. 



H. hastatum. Cuv, pi. 59. 

 spinifer. Rupp.ii. pi. 25. 1. 

 ruber. lb. i. pi. 22. fig. 1. 



Corniger Spix. Anal spines small, those of the sub- 

 orbital bone excessively large ; pectoral fin rounded ; 



* If the figure at pi. 31. (where this fish is unaccountably placed with 

 Serranus), in Cuvier and Valencienne's work, is correct, it must be a differ- 

 ent species to the A. sacer of Sicily ; it represents the lower part of the 

 operculum and sub-operculura>s crenated similar to the edge of the pre- 

 operculum, and the superior teeth as not bent upwards. In the Sicilian 

 species (of which specimens [are fortunately in the Zoological Museum) 

 there are no serratures on the. operculum or sub-operculum, and the ven- 

 tral fin is pointed, not rounded. I can hardly think that these important 

 differences originate in error, because such carelessness would throw a 

 doubt on the general correctness of those otherwise well-executed plates. 



diadema. Riipp. i. pi. 22. 2. 

 samara. lb. i.pl. 22. fig. 3. 

 ruber. Benn. Cey. pi. 4. " 



