Volume 37, Plate X / Ichthyology (Fish)

Four-Toothed Sparus

Dentax vulgaris

Named for the four strong hooked canine teeth in each jaw, this obtuse-headed fish is brownish red mottled with darker spots above, paler yellowish sides, and an almost white belly, becoming purple with age and paler in winter. Only one British specimen is recorded, two feet six inches and sixteen pounds, taken off Hastings in 1805; usually three to seventy-six pounds in southern seas, it is a swift, exceedingly voracious swimmer that mangles netted fishes.