3 88 



Chromides and Pharyngognathi 



taine or hogfish, Lachnolaimus maximus, a great fish, crimson 

 in color, with its fin spines ending in long streamers; Bodianus 

 rufus, the Spanish -lady-fish or pudiano, half crimson, half 

 golden. Halich&res radiatus, the pudding-wife (a mysterious 

 word derived from "oldwife" and the Portuguese name, pudi- 

 ano), a blue fish handsomely mottled and streaked. Of the 

 smaller species, Clepticus parra, the janissary, with very small 

 teeth, Halichceres bivittatus, the slippery-dick, ranging north- 

 ward to Cape Hatteras, and Doratonotus megalepis, of an intense 

 grass-green color, are among the most notable. The razor- 

 fish, Xyrichthys psittacus, red, with the forehead compressed 

 to a sharp edge, is found in the Mediterranean as well as through- 

 out the West Indies, where several other species of razor-fish 

 also occur. 



Scarcely less numerous are the species of the Pacific Coast 

 of America. Pimelometopon pulcher, the redfish or fathead of 



FIG. 320. Razor-fish, Xyrichthys psittacus (Linnaeus). Tortugas, Fla. 



southern California, reaches a length of two feet or more. It 

 abounds in the broad band of giant kelp which lines the Cali- 

 fornia coast and is a food-fish of much importance The 

 female is dull crimson. In the male the head and tail are black 

 and on the top of the head is developed with age a great adipose 

 hump. A similar hump is found on the adult of several other 

 large labroids. Similar species on the coast of South America, 

 differing in color and size of scales, are Pimelometopon darwini, 

 Trochocopus opercularis, and Bodianus diplotania. The seno- 

 rita, Oxyjulis californica, is a dainty cream-colored little fish 



