456 
SPARUS. 
14. Spartium scoparium, or common broom.—Leaves 
ternate and solitary; branches unarmed, angular; flowers 
axillary, solitary; legumes ciliate. The common broom 
grows from three to six feet high or more, very much 
branched; the branches upright, rushy, evergreen, angular, 
flexible, leafy, smooth except the very young ones which 
are downy. Leaves ternate, small, ovate, acute, downy and 
edged with soft hairs bending inwards; the leaf-stalks are 
also slightly hairy, and flattened. Flowers axillary, solitary 
or two together, rarely three, nodding, on round smooth 
peduncles, furnished on each side with a very minute stipule. 
—Native of Europe, in dry sandy soils: flowering in May 
and June.—The remaining species are Spartium umbellatum, 
ferox, horridum, patens, arboreum, biflorum, linifolium, 
sericeum, cytisoides, nubigenum, radiatum, spinosum, and 
villosum. 
Propagation and Culture. —They may all be propagated 
by sowing the seed; those from the warm climates require the 
protection of a green-house. 
SPARUS, in Ichthyology, a genus of fishes of the order 
Thoracici, of which the Generic Character is—teeth gene¬ 
rally strong; the grinders somewhat obtuse and crowded; 
the lips are doubled ; gill-membrane five-rayed ; the cover 
scaly; the body compressed ; the lateral line curved on the 
hind part; the pectoral fins are rounded. 
The name Sparus is of Greek origin, being derived from 
the verb unaigeiv, to palpitate or tremble; and was given to 
this fish from its remarkable quality of trembling or pal¬ 
pitating all over the body, as soon as taken out of the 
water. 
There are, according to Gmelin, about forty species, 
separated into divisions, and classed according to their co¬ 
lours ; but Dr. Shaw has enumerated nearly four times that 
number. 
I.—Marked with a black spot. 
1. Sparus auratus, or lunated gilt-head.—The Specific 
Character of this is,—that between the eyes there is a semi¬ 
lunar spot. The general length of the fish is about fifteen 
inches; but occasionally it is found of a larger size: the 
body is broad and thin: the back rising into a carina. 
Dr. Shaw gives the Specific Character as silvery-blueish, 
with gold-coloured brows, and a purple spot beyond each 
side the head; but sometimes, he says, with the addition of 
several brownish longitudinal stripes.—It is a native of the 
Mediterranean, Atlantic and Indian seas, and held in con¬ 
siderable estimation as food. It was much admired by the 
ancient Greeks and Romans; by the former it was conse¬ 
crated to Venus. It feeds on shell-fish, which it grinds with 
its strong teeth before it swallows. It is sometimes found 
of the weight of eight or even ten pounds. 
2. Sparus annularis.—Yellowish, with a black ocellate 
spot near the fail.—This is found chiefly in the Adriatic. 
The colour of this species resembles that of the common 
perch : at a certain distance from the base of the tail a round 
black spot is situated at the bottom of the last dusky bar of 
the body; the pectoral fins and tail are red, the rest blackish. 
—Native of the Mediterranean. Not at all in esteem for 
the table. 
3. Sparus sargus.—The body of this is marked with 
black bands, and a black ocellate spot near the tail.—It 
inhabits the southern coasts of Europe. The body is oval, 
broad; the teeth are equal, obtuse; and the tail forked. 
It is nearly of the size of the auratus, and the shape very like 
that, but deeper in proportion. It is much esteemed as food. 
4. Sparus melanurus.—Body with longitudinal lines and 
a black ocellate spot near the tail.—This species is found in 
the southern European seas. It is described by Shaw as 
silvery, with a blue back; the sides have a stripe, spotted 
longitudinally with brown, and a black spot at the base of 
the tail. 
5. Sparus maris.—A black ocellate spot on each side; 
pectoral fins and tail red.—It inhabits the Mediterranean. 
6. Sparus mcena.—Body variegated; a blackish spot on 
each side.—This is found in the Mediterranean. 
7. Sparus saxatilis.—Body whitish ; a black ocellate spot 
at the base of the tail.—This is found on the coasts of Suri¬ 
nam. The snout is depressed; and the tail rounded. 
8. Sparus orphus.—A black ocellate spot at the tail; the 
head is reddish; the tail is entire. 
9. Sparus punctata.—Mouth cuspidate; the tail entire: 
in colour it is partly black.—It inhabits the shores of Sar¬ 
dinia. In size and colour it is nearly allied to the Sparus 
sargus. 
10. Sparus argentatus.—This has a black spot behind the 
gills.—It isfqund on the coasts of Japan; is six inches long; 
the body is covered with silvery scales; before the eyes are 
two nostrils. 
11. Sparus notatus.—Dorsal fin divided; the gill-covers 
and tail spotted with black.—It is found at Japan. The 
head is coated with silvery scales, nearly as long as the 
fingers. 
II.—Body mostly red. 
12. Sparus erythrinus.—The tail of this fish is nearly en¬ 
tire; the body red.—It inhabits the European, American, 
and Japan seas. It is often eaten, but is not held in any 
great estimation; and it has sometimes proved poisonous: 
the iris is silvery. 
13. Sparus insidiator.—Body red, yellowish at the sides ; 
tail a little forked.—It inhabits the Indian ocean; is about 
ten inches long; catches aquatic insects, like the Chsetodon 
rostratus, with its snout, which it can lengthen out into a 
tube; the body is rather broad, flat, coated with large scales 
of a metallic-green colour at the edge; when dead it be¬ 
comes brown; the flesh is eatable. It is described as 
having a compressed head, and scaly; the eyes are lateral ■ 
jaws divided, each with two large straight conic teeth in the 
middle; gill-covers very entire; first lateral line nearer the 
back, beginning at the end of the dorsal fin, the other 
straight; the vent is nearly in the middle; the fins are yel¬ 
lowish ; the dorsal and anal fins are marked with green 
bands; the last ray but one of this anal is very long. 
14. Sparus formosus.—Red; longitudinal marks on the 
body and tip of the tail blue. This fish is figured in Dr. 
Shaw's Naturalist’s Miscellany, and he suspected that it 
was a Bristish fish. The fore part of the dorsal, and edge 
of the anal fins, are blue. 
15. Sparus pagrus, or the red gilt-head.—This is reddish ; 
the skin, at the end of the dorsal and anal fins, gathered up, 
and hiding the last rays.—It is found in the European seas. 
In shape, teeth and size, it resembles Sparus auratus. The 
iris is silvery; insides of the gill-covers, mouth and tongue, 
are of a fine red; at the base of the pectoral fins is a ferru¬ 
ginous spot; the scales are large; and the tail is forked. 
] 6. Sparus spinifer.—Dorsal spines recumbent; the five 
middle ones filiform and longer.—-This inhabits the muddy 
deeps of the Red sea; is about a span and a half long. 
The body is silvery, but with a reddish hue; the back is 
marked with darker lines; the scales are broad, very entire, 
obscurely streaked, and the flesh is reckoned excellent. 
17. Sparus palpebratus.—This is of a chesnut-red; the 
eyes are of a pale yellow, covered with a loose yellowish 
membrane.—This is found on the coasts of Amboina. It 
resembles a perch; but the head is more obtuse. 
III.—.Body marked with lines. 
IS. Sparus boops.—Longitudinal lines dusky; the four 
lower ones are gold and silvery.—It inhabits the sea round 
Japan. 
19. Sparus cantharus.—The tail is without spots; the 
body is marked with longitudinal lines.—It inhabits the 
coast of Tuscany. The iris is silvery. 
20. Sparus chromis.—The tail is bifid; the second ray of 
the ventral fin is setaceous.—It inhabits southern Europe. 
21. Sparus salpa.—Tail bifid; the body is marked with 
eleven tawny longitudinal lines.—It is found in the Mediter¬ 
ranean. 
22. Sparus sarba.—This is of an oblong oval shape, sil¬ 
very, with numerous obsolete stripes; the ventral fins are 
yellow. 
