222 
CANTHAETJS. 
The body elevated and tbict; muzzle short. Jaws not protractile; 
teeih fine, short, and dense, the outward row strongest. 
OLD WIFE. 
BLACK SEA BREAM. 
Canfha/nis, 
Spams cantJiarus, 
Cantharus griseus, O. vulgaris, 
It ti It 
It II ti 
Pagrus lineatus, 
Cantharus lineatus, 
■WlLLOnGHBY; p. 309, tab. V. 1. 
LrNijj®ns. 
Cuvier. 
Yarrell ; Br. Fishes, vol. i, p. 130. 
Jenyns; Manual, p. 358. 
Fleming; Br. Animals, p. 211. 
Guniher; Oat. Br. Museum, p. 413, 
This is a common species on the west and south coasts of 
England and Ireland, hut as it is a solitary fish it can 
scarcely be called abundant. It is with us in summer and 
autumn, at which time it is caught, in common with the 
other species of this family, with the common baits used by 
fishermen, hut of which the mussel is perhaps the most suc- 
cessful. It also feeds on the finer kinds of sea-weeds, upon 
which it becomes exceedingly fat. I have known it caught so 
late in the year as Christmas, and in one instance, after a 
cold season, an example came to hand in the middle of Feb- 
ruary, with the roc well developed. In this instance at least 
it would have bred on our own coasts, which is not usually 
the case, so that it is not often met with of less size than the 
usual full growth. It seems to prefer rocky ground, and is 
sometimes taken in harbours, by fishing from the shore. 
With us it is scarcely admitted to genteel tables, but in 
