270 ACANTHOPTEItYGIL 



hind nostril. Opercular bones entire. Teeth the fonr anterior ones in either jaw 

 elongated : there are about nine in the outer row along either ramus of the 

 upper jaw, and ten in the lower : a posterior canine at the angle of the mouth. 

 Fins the dorsal commences above the hincl edge of the bony opercle, the three 

 first spines in the male being as a rule somewhat elevated and nearly equalling 

 half the height of the body below ; the soft rays are simply divided at their outer 

 end and somewhat longer than the spines of the fin. Pectoral as long as the 

 head excluding the snout. Ventral a little shorter than the pectoral. Third 

 anal spine the longest : soft portion similar to rayed part of the dorsal : caudal 

 rounded. Scales M. Moreau thought the number of scales were more numerous 

 in the female than in the male, but I do not find this to be the case in 

 a large series of specimens. Lateral-line curves downwards opposite the 

 ninth or tenth dorsal ray. Colours these are very various : those of the male 

 being purplish or bluish-brown along the upper half of the body, and silvery- 

 white below ; along this upper half runs a broad yellowish-white, and generally 

 indented line which commences behind the eye and is continued to the base of the 

 caudal fin. A small round black spot on the end of the opercle. Dorsal fin 

 yellowish with a purple or orange outer edge, while a purplish or greenish-yellow 

 spot with a curved upper edge is present between each ray. A black spot in the 

 axil of the pectoral fin. A large oval black or bluish spot exists on the anterior 

 portion of the dorsal fin, between the first and fourth spines : the anal is similar 

 to the soft dorsal but lighter. Female upper third of the body purplish, with a 

 light yellow band passing from the eye to the base of the caudal fin : lower two- 

 thirds of the body silvery with one or more yellow longitudinal bands. A dark 

 spot in the axil of the pectoral fin, and another behind the opercle as in the male. 

 Fins reddish. 



Varieties. Those of colour are exceedingly numerous : in some the indented 

 light lateral band is wanting, being broken up by numerous vertical blotches; 

 while the dorsal fin is of a light colour, Coris speciosa : or the dorsal fin may be 

 nearly black G. melanura. Pennant most correctly observed that this fish is 

 remarkable for the elegant distribution of its colours, green, yellow, and purple, 

 which are changeable in various directions of light. 



Names, origin of. Rainbow wrasse, due to its various tints, and indented 

 striped wrasse (male), owing to the character of the light lateral band. Le girelle, 

 French. 



Habits. Of these but little appears to have been recorded. Its food 

 appears to be small Crustacea, molluscs, and similar articles which it searches for 

 among coral rocks. 



In an aquarium " their usual habit is to hide in a bed of shingle preferring 

 such to sand from which they can only be dislodged by violence. When one of 

 them is disturbed, it darts out of its stony bed, and vanishes like a flash of 

 lightning" (H. Birchell, Zool. 1876, p. 5159). It "is greedy for small Crustacea. 

 1 have seen it chase a Cook's wrasse, Labrus mixtus, ten times its own size, which 

 was swimming about with a crab in its mouth, round and round a long tank, 

 tearing off the legs of the unfortunate crab as it dangled from the mouth, of its 

 captor" (1. c). Its bite in olden times was considered poisonous by the 

 fishermen in the Mediterranean, but Rondelet tells us how several attacked him 

 while bathing near Antipolis, biting his legs and his heels, but which was not 

 followed by any poisonous results. 



As food. It does not appear to be held in any estimation, but Galen and 

 Bloch stated it to be wholesome, while ^Elian says its flesh is poisonous. 



II a hi tat. From the south coast of England to the Azoi'es and Canary 

 Islands : likewise extending through the Mediterranean, where it is very common. 

 A male, a little over 7 inches in length, was taken in Mount's Bay in 1802, 

 and came into the possession of Donovan : Leach obtained examples of the 

 young and half-grown from Plymouth Sound and South Devonshire, which are 

 still in the British Museum. 



The largest recorded British specimen w T as 7 inches in length. 



