miu. m
10 PISCES TH O RA C IC I. SPARUS.
stiU paler, with a fai.it greenish cast on the back; the sides, in younger subjects, powdered with very small
black dots. The belly a dull pearl. The firs, dorsal fin light colour, the second of the colour of the body ;
both have regular rows of black spots on the anterior edges of the spines. The pectoral, ventral, anal, and
caudal fins have a very slight yellowish cast.
T h e r e ; « r in o ld e r su b je c ts is l ig h t e r ; th e b o d y b e com e s le s s t r a n s p a r a i t , a n d th e sp o ts o n th e fin s a re
often absent.
T h e lengtb, fourteen inches.
REMARKS.
This, known to the English under the name of Whiting, is rather a more delicate fish, and certainly a difierent
genus. ’ It is placed doubtfully under the present genus; and, as well as some of the following subjects, may
jtethaps belong more properly to the genus Sciasna.
They arc caught chiefly near the month of the river. The most common size is under that of the fish
described ; but they are sometimes brought of twenty inches.
Ill figure it has some resemblance to the Perea Zingel. •
N o . C X IV .
Sp a ru s ? cauda lunula; spinis quinqué dorsalihus; corpore sub-dolahriforme, pinnis squa-
mosis.
T h e S parus with a lunate t a i l ; five dorsal s p in e s ; the b od y somewhat o f a hatchet form ;
the fins squamous.
Called b y the Natives M a n g u la K u t t i .
_S_ — JB
. v ii. D . 15. P. IS . V. 6, A. 4 2 . C. 19.
T h e body. The scales rising so high on the dorsal and ana! fins, contribute to give the fish an unusual form.
The scales long, close, imbricate, above the line ciliate.
The bead short, compressed, rostrum obtuse. Mouth large, oblique, without lips. Jaws extractile, equal,
the upper emarginate. Teeth very small, numerous, linear, sharp. Tongue awl-shape. Palate wide, smooth.
Eyes enormously large, orbicular. Nostrils double, small, middle between the orbit and rostrum.
The first lamina of the opercula squamous, the second striate and acuminate; the branchial membrane half
exposed when the mouth is shut; the aperture large, lateral, and gular.
The trunh. The back at first slightly arched, afterwards straight; the breast and belly carinate, but prominent;
the sides gradually compressed, the posterior part of the trunk spreads in a singular manner, forming
an irregular angle, the lower side carinate. The branchite consist of four leaves, the exterior pectinate, the
other tuberculate. T he lateral line supreme, conspicuous, rises in a low arch, from the edge of the opercula,
then runs straight from the pectoral fin. parallel to the back. Anus nearer the head than the tail.
T h e > s . The dorsal on the middle of the back, small, assurgent in front, behind somewhat crescent-form;
the pectoral nearly middle, acuminate at top; the ventral of the same form, but very small; anal long, rising
a little behind the anus, occupies the whole inferior side of the tail, assurgent (like the dorsal) m front, then
declining, but not falcate; the caudal lunulate fin remains extended after death.
•Bloch, Tab. io6.
The colour generally reddish, with an obscure mixture of gold. The fins of a yellowish red.
The lengtb six inches and a half.
REMARKS.
In White's Journal,* there is the figure of a fish reckoned a Sparus, that bears a strong resemblance to the
present subject.
The situation of the dorsal fin is a remarkable character, and suggested an idea of the new genus Kurtus,f
from which however, besides being a thoracic, not a jugular fish, it differs in other essential characters.
L A B R U S .
GENERIC CHARACTER.
Caput: denies acuti. Labia Simplicia. Membrana
branchiostega radiis sex. Opercula
squamosa.
Corpus: pinna dorsalis radii postice ramenio
Jiliformi aucti ; pectorales acuminata.
Linea lateralis recta.
T h e h e ad : the teeth sharp ; lips simple;
six rays in the branchial mem brane;
the opercula squamous.
T h e body : the rays o f the dorsal fin
furnished on the posterior edge, with
membranous filaments. Pectoral fins
acuminate ; lateral line straight.
N o . C X V .
L abrus cauda pentagona ; corpore ovato-lanceolato, cinereo-ohscuro; pinna dorsah interrupta.
T h e L a u r u s with a pentagonal tail ; an ovate-lanceolate body, ol a dark cineritious
colour ; and the dorsal fin interrupted.
Called b y tlie Natives N a l l a K a t c h e l e e .
B . v ii. n . 35. P. IS . V. 6. A . I . C. IS .
T h e body ovate-lanccolaK, compressed; scales large, romrdish, edge membranous, base striate, imbricate,
tenacious; smaller above the line tlian on otlier parts.
The bead small, ovate, compressed, declivous, squamous, checks b.rre. The mouth large, a little oblique ;
li,,s thick, covering the teeth. Jaws extmctile, tl.e upper somewhat longer than the under. Teeth In a regular
row, distant, recurve, short. The to.iguc large, oblong, subtriangular, obtuse, sheathed, smooth, free. The
•Joutn.l o l . Vo,,sc ioN™ South W.lo., Loitd. .790. * Bloch, Port V. p. 9*-