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Show 102 PISCES. They are small Fresh-water fishes of the East I~dies, which swarm in the pools and rivulets; several of them are transpa. rent.( 1) . . One of them is common in a pond m the 1sland of Bourbon, where they are prepared as anchovies, .llmbassis Commersonii, Cuv. and Val., II, xxv.(2) To this division belongs the LuciO-PERCA, Cuv. Called by the French Brochets-Perches, or Perch-Pike, because, in addition to the characters of a Perch, they are possessed of teeth somewhat resembling those of the Pike. The edge of their preoperculum has but one simple emargination; their dorsals are separate; some of the maxillary and palatine teeth are long and pointed. Luc. sandra, Cuv.; Perea Iucio-perea, L.; Sandre d'Europe; Bl. pl. li; Cuv. and Val. II, pl. xv. Longer than the Perch; greenish, with vertical brown bands; from three to four feet in length; an excellent fish, found in the lakes and rivers of Germany, and of Eastern Europe.(3) A second division comprises the Percoides with seven branchial rays and one dorsal. They are subdivided in nearly the same way as the preceding ones, as by their teeth which are either hooked or all small and crowded; notches and spines on the opercula, &c. In the subdivision, furnished with hooked teeth, we find, SERRANus, Cuv. Preoperculum dentate; the bony operculum terminating in one or several points. This genus contains a vast number of species, and may be subdivided as follows: SERRANus, properly so called, Or the Sea-Perch. No apparent scales on eithet• of the jaws. Se· veral beautiful species inhabit the Mediterranean, such as, (1) Several of them are comprised by M. Ham. Duchanan among his Chand~. (2) It is the Centropome ambasse, Lacep., IV, 273, and his Lutjan gymnocephale, IV, 216 and III, pl. :xxiii, f. 3. For the other species see Cuv. and Val., II, 181, etseq. (3) Add the Berscltilc, or Sandre batard (Perea volgensia, Gm.);-the Lucio· perca americana, Cuv. and Val., II, pl. xvi, p. 122. ACANTIIOPTERYGII. 103 Perea scriba, L.; Cuv. and Val. II, xxviii, so named from having some irregular blue lines on the head. (I) Perea cabrilla, L.; Cuv. and Val. II, xxix. Three oblique bands on the cheek.(2) It is also foun1 in the ocean. This species, and perhaps the preceding one, were known to the Greeks by the name of .;tctv,, and were thought to consist exclusively of females. Cavolini assures us, that in every specimen he examined, he found ovaries, at the lower end of which was a whitish part which might be considered as the milt. He believes them to be hermaphroditical. The ANTHIAs, Bl., par tim, Are Serrani, in which both jaws and the end of the muzzle are armed with very apparent scales.(3) The most remarkable spe-cies is, ' JJ.nth. sacer, Bl.( 4) pl. cccxv; Barbier de la Mediterranee; Cuv. and Val. II, xxxi. A most beautiful fish, of a fine ruby red, changing to gold and silver, with yellow bands on the cheek. The third dorsal ray is more than double the height of the others; the ventrals are very long, and the lobes of the caudal terminate in filaments, the lower of which is the longest.( 5) MERRA. Serrani, whose maxillary is destitute of scales, but whose lower jaw is covered with small ones. There is one of them found in the Mediterranean; the (1) It is also the Perea marina, Brunnich, the Holocent1-us marinus, Laroche; the Hol. argus of Spinola, and the Hot. maroccanus of Bloch. The Hol. fasciatua, 111. 240, appears to us nothing more than the same species somewhat changed. (2) It is also the Hol. virescens, Bl.; the Serranus .flavus and cabrilla of Hip.; the Lahrus chanus of Gmel. or Holocentre chani, Lacep.; the Bodian Matule, Id. &c. Add the Saccltetto, Labrus hepatus, L.; and Lab. adriaticus, Gm., or llolocentrua tiagonotus, Laroche, &c. ;-Serranus vitta, Quoy et Gaym., Voy. de Freycin., Zooi.,LVIll, 2;-Hol. argentinua, Bl. 235;-Serr. radialis, Q. et G., 316;-Serr. faacicularis, Cuv. ct Val., II, xxx, and the other species described, Id. II, p. 239-249. (3) Most of our Merrre are placed by Bloch among his Anthias, but we restrict this genus to the species answering to our definition of the same. So little regard has Bloch had to exactness, that his .llnthias sacer does not even possess the character attributed to the genus Anthias, of a spineless operculum. (4) This term Sacer was applied by the ancients to their .llnthias, a large Fish very different from the one here described. See Cuv. et Val., II, p. 255 et seq. (5) Add Serranua oculatua, Cuv. et Val., 11, xxxii, ;md the other species de· scribed, lb. p. 262-270. \ |