SHEEPSHEAD  , the name of one of the largest

species of the genus Sargus, marine fishes known on the coasts of S . Europe as " sargo " or " saragu." These fishes possess two kinds of teeth:—one, broad and flat, like incisors, occupying in a single. 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 family Sparidae which includes the Sea-breams . The sheepshead, Sargus ovis, occurs in abundance on the Atlantic coasts of the United States, from Cape Cod to Florida, and is one of the most valued food-fishes of ,Sheepshead . North America . It is said to attain to a length of 30 in. and a weight of 15 lb . Its food consists of shellfish, which it detaches with its incisors from the 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 cross-bands traversing the 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 forty-six scales along the lateral line . The term " sheepshead " is also given in some parts of North America to a freshwater Sciaenoid, Corvina oscula, which is much less esteemed for the table .