392 MITCHILL ON THE FISHES OF NEW-YORK. 



Tall angular ; that is, the middle ray makes almost a rectangle with 

 the side rays, it is so much longer. 



Belly white, with a mixture of the watery appearance ; and a tinge of 

 the ruddy, especially in the region of the anal fin. The dorsal fin begins 

 in front of the upper eye. No spine or prickle any where about him. 

 V whitish spot about the origin of the pectoral fin. 



Rays, Br. 6. P. 11. V. 6. D. 73. A. 59. C. 17. 



SPARUS. 



Generic character. 



Teeth strong. Front teeth, in some species, disposed in a single 

 row. In others in a double, treble, or quadruple row. Grinders, in 

 most species, convex, smooth, and disposed in ranges, forming a kind of 

 pavement in the mouth. Lips thick. Gill-covers unarmed, smooth, 

 scaly. 



Sheep's Head. (Spams ovis.) With smutty face, banded sides, pale 

 complexion, prominent eyebrow, and grooved spinous dorsal fin. 



Grows big enough to weigh fourteen or fifteen pounds. One that 

 weighed four pounds and a half measured twenty inches in length, eight 

 in depth, and three in thickness. Sheep's head is the most esteemed of 

 the New-York fishes, and fetches a higher price than any, excepting, 

 perhaps, fresh salmon and trout. The price varies from a dollar 

 to one hundred and fifty cents for a fish of middle size ; that is, from 

 four to seven pounds. Nothing, in the opinion of a New-Yorker, can 

 exceed boiled sheep's head served up at a sumptuous dinner. 



The form of the mouth, and a certain smuttiness of the face, have a 

 distant resemblance to the physiognomy of the sheep. Thence comes 

 the name by which he is usually distinguished. 



Teeth covered by the lips, which are large and distinct. Four inci- 



