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No. XC.
S p a r u s cauda f e r ì integra; corpore et pinnis rubris.
T h e S p a r u s w ith a tail n e a rly en tire ; the b o d y an d fins red.
Sparus Erythrinus Linn. S . M. p . 4 69 ?
C a l le d b y th e N a t i v e s J a h n g a r a h .
II i . _2 _
B . v ii. D . 25. P . n . V. 6. A . 12. C. 18.
s large, roundish, a little ciliate at the T he oblong-ovate, compressed, red; scales 1 edge, the base striate.
imbricate, firm, extended on the fins.
T h e bend large, compressed, declivous, front aud face smooth, without .scales, fleshy. Mouth low, nearly
horizontal, large; lips thick, soft. Jaws o f equal length, extractile. Teeth numerous, partly small, straight,
p.artly large, recurve. Tongue large, sub-ovate, smooth, moveable. The palate rough. Eyes high, remote
from the rostrum, large, orbicular, prominent. Nostrils double, near the rostrum, one oval, large, the anterior
one oblong, divided.
T h e opercula squamous, the posterior lamina acuminate. T h e branchial membrane exposed; the aperture
large, lateral and gular.
T h e tnnk. T h e back carinate, and rising in an arch from the vertex to the middle of the dorsal fin, slopes
gradually to the tail; the sides compressed, convex; the breast and belly rounded, not prominent; the tail
broad and compressed. T h e lateral line high, arched, at first runs parallel to the back, then straight along the
middle o f the tail to the fin. T h e anus nearer the tail than the head.
T h e fin s. T h e spinous rays of the dorsal arched, the others assurgent to the ninth, and then gradually
shorten; the pectoral very long, acuminate in the middle, setaceous ; the ventral, in like manner, acuminate,
and setaceous; the anal ascendent, but rounded at the end. and all the rays, as in the dorsal, exceeding the
membrane. T h e anal broad, and sub-lunate.
T h e colour o f the whole fish, the fins included, a beautiful red, but the head and back, deepest; and beneath
the lateral line, part o f the white scales appearing gives it more o f a pink colour.
Length, one foot eight inches.
R EM A R K S .
About the beginning o f March, this fish is caught in abundance with hook and line, from katamarans on
the outside o f the surf. T h e y are strung as caught, and dragged astern o f the katamaran to the beach, where
they are sold at s dubs a piece.* It is an excellent fish for the table. T h e y are caught also in nets.
No. XCI.
S p a r u s cauda bilabala; spinis pinnae dorsalis undecem; corpore talo, sub (male, lineis longiliuh-
nalibus, parallelis, eneréis argenteisque, alternatim.
T h e S p a r u s w ith a d iv id ed tail o f two unequal lobes, eleven spines in th e dorsal fin,
a broad sub-oval body, with lo n g itu d in a l, parallel lines altern ately gold and silv er.
Called b y the Natives C h i t c h i l l e e .
B . y ' i . 1 5 . V . T A . f i . C. 18.
T he breast and belly being here more convex than usual in this genus, gives the fish more of an oval form.
The head is short, almost truncate; but the mouth, teeth, tongue, palate, eyes, nostrils, and scaly, acuminate
opercula, are nearly as in the fish last described. T iie branchial membrane consists of six rays, half
concealed.
T he dorsal spines form an arch; the soft rays of the dorsal and anal fins nearly of equal length, and the ends
fibrous; the pectoral and ventral sharp pointed; the caudal divided; the upper lobe a little longer than
the lower.
T he colour, varies in subjects of different size; in the one now described, the front was o f a dark, shining
green, the rest of the head silvery. T iie back and sides were striped lon^tudinally with narrow fillets gold
and silver alternately, curve above the lateral line but straight below it. T lie dorsal fin ash colour with a black
border, the ossicles s ilv ery: the other fins pale yellow with orange margins.
In smaller subjects the fillets instead of goid were red above the line, and o f a dusky yellow below it, in
which case, there was a mixture of red on the fin.
T he length, thirteen inches, and seldom exceeds sixteen.
T h e fish is not in much esteem for the table.
No. XCII.
S p a r u .s cauda sub-bifida ; corpore vario, cinereo et n igro; spina ventralis, et secunda p inna
analis robustissima.
T h e S p a r u s with a somewhat bifid tail ; the b ody variegated black and gray, the v en tra l
spine, and the second anal sp in e , remarkably large and strong.
Called b y the Natives C a l a m a r a .
i i 1 3
B . V. D . 23 . P. 15. V. 6 . A . 13. C. IS.
T h i s species agrees in the essential generic characters. The head is sharper,the mouth higher,and the hinder
part of the body fuller and rounder, than in tlie last species.
The spinous rays of the fins, particularly the ventral, and second anal, remarkably large. T h e pectoral fin
long, broad and pointed. The ventral situated between two long, sharp, scale-like laminae, are likewise large.