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SHEEPSHEAD

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Originally appearing in Volume V24, Page 822 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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SHEEPSHEAD , the name of one of the largest See also:

species of the genus Sargus, marine fishes known on the coasts of S. See also:Europe as " sargo " or " saragu." These fishes possess two kinds of See also:teeth:—one, broad and See also:flat, like incisors, occupying in a single. See also:series the front of the jaws; the other, semiglobular and molar-like, arranged in several series on the sides of the jaws. The genus belongs to the Acanthopterygian See also:family Sparidae which includes the See also:Sea-breams. The sheepshead, Sargus ovis, occurs in abundance on the See also:Atlantic coasts of the See also:United States, from Cape See also:Cod to See also:Florida, and is one of the most valued See also:food-fishes of ,Sheepshead. See also:North See also:America. It is said to attain to a length of 30 in. and a See also:weight of 15 lb. Its food consists of shellfish, which it detaches with its incisors from the See also:base to which they are fixed, crushing them with its powerful molars. It may be distinguished from other allied species by seven or eight dark See also:cross-bands traversing the See also:body, by a recumbent spine in front of the dorsal fin, by twelve spines and as many rays of the dorsal and ten rays of the anal fin, and by See also:forty-six scales along the lateral See also:line. The See also:term " sheepshead " is also given in some parts of North America to a See also:freshwater Sciaenoid, Corvina oscula, which is much less esteemed for the table.

End of Article: SHEEPSHEAD

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