HISTORY OF THE FISHES OF MASSACHUSETTS. 49 



Pectorals verj much elongated ; the rays of first lialf are siinplcg the others branched. 



Ventrals stout, subtriangular ; at their base a strong spinous process^ corered with 

 scales, connected along its edge by several membranous attachments. The iirst raj 

 is spinous. 



The anal shuts anteriorly into a deep groove, as does also the dorsal. Its jfirst three 

 rays are spinous ; the second is much the largest. 



Caudal slightly truncated ; the interspaces between its rays are well scaled at first. 



D. 12 - 12. P. 16. V. 1 - 6. A. 3 - 2. C. 22, Length twenty inches. 



Remarks. This delicious fish, which has been so minutely described and so highly 

 eulogized by Mitchill, in his "History of the Fishes of New York,^^ is occasionally taken 

 in the waters of Massachusetts south of Cape Cod. Thomas A. Greene, Esq. of New 

 Bedford, informs me it is sometimes sold in that market from the above-noticed locality. 

 Dr. Mitchill speaks of it '* as the most esteemed of the New York fishes, and fetching 

 a higher price than any, excepting, perhaps, fresh salmon and trout''; and Dekay re- 

 marks, "The sheep's-head holds the same rank with American gastronomes that the 

 turbot holds in Europe. I have frequently eaten of both, under equally favorable 

 conditions, that is to say, within an hour after having been taken from the water, and 

 can assert that the sheep's-head is the more delicate and savory fish." 



Massachusetts, Stoker. Connecticut^ Ayres. New York, Mitchill, Citvier, De- 

 kay. Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana, Lesueur. 



GENUS IL PAGRUS, Cw. 

 But two rows of small, rounded molar teeth in each jaw. 



Pagrus argyrops, C%v. 

 The Scapaug. 



(Plate X. Fig. 4-)] 



Sparus argyrops, LiK., S3'st. Nat., Gmel-, p. 1277. 



" '* Silver-e^/ed Sparus^ Shaw, Gen. Zool., iv. p. 426. 



Lahrus versicolor, Big Porfjee of New York^ Mitchill, Trans. Lit. and Phil. Soc. of N, T., i- p. 404, pi 3, fig. 7. 

 Le Pagre ceil-tT argent, Pagrm argyrops^ Cuv. et Yal., vi. p. 164. 



Big Porgm, Scapmg, Scup, Storee, Report, p. S8. 

 '* Dekat, Report, p. 95, pi. 9, %. 25. 



IjIk-slet, Cat of Fislies of Conn. 



Porge&) Ayres, Bost Joum. Nat. Hist., iv. p. 260. 



SroKEK, Mem. Amer. Acad., New SerieSj ii. p. 334. 



Storee, Synopsis, p. 82. 



Color. When just caught, this fish is of a beautiful pinkish tinge or jBlesh-color upon 

 the upper portion of the sides ; abdomen sikerj. The naked portion of the head, be- 





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