SPARUS, the GILTHEAD; a genus of fishes belonging to the order of thoracici. The fore-teeth and dog-teeth are very strong; the grinders are obtuse and thick set; the lips are folded over; there are five rays in the gill membrane; and the opercula are scaly: the body is compressed; the lateral line is crooked behind; and the pectoral fins are roundish.
There are 26 species, three of which are natives of the British seas. The lunulated gilthead grows to the weight of ten pounds, and takes its name from the predominant colour; that of the fore-head and sides being as if gilt; but the latter are tinged with brown. It is one of the pisces saxatiles, or fish that haunts deep waters on bold rocky shores. They feed chiefly on shell-fish, which they comminute with their teeth before they swallow; the teeth of this genus in particular being adapted for that purpose: the grinders are flat and strong, like those of certain quadrupeds; besides which, there are certain bones in the lower part of the mouth that assist in grinding their food. They are but a coarse fish: they were known to the Romans, who did not esteem them unless they were fed with Lucrine oysters, as Martial informs us,
Non omnis laudem prestantur AURATA merces
Sed cui folus erit concha Lucræa edox. Lib. xiii. Ep. 90.
In the account of captain Cook's voyage published
4th G 2 by
by Mr Forster, we are informed, that the gilthead are sometimes poisonous, owing to their feeding on certain species of the raja, which have an extremely acrid and stimulating property.