Volume 7, Plate XVIII / Ichthyology (Fish)

Spined Serranus

Serranus anthias

Found everywhere and abundant in the Mediterranean, this beautiful fish of generally five to seven inches and never a foot long is brilliant red, golden on the sides and pale below, with three golden yellow head bands, green spots along the back, and very strong dorsal spines whose third, likened to a razor, exceeds the rest by nearly a half. The long ventral rays reach the anal, and the ancients held it sacred, believing no dangerous fish would approach it.