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The Cltironectes histrio derives its epithet from the prompt 

 and rapid movements which it gives to its fins and filaments, 

 and which have been compared to scenic gesticulation. Pro- 

 bably it may have also been thus named because it can rapidly 

 swell out its abdomen, and changes its figure as it were at will. 



The histrio comes to the length of about nine or ten inches. 

 It is met with in the seas of Brazil and China ; in Ceylon, 

 according to Thunberg, it is seldom larger than one's finger. 

 Formerly it was attempted to transport some living indi- 

 viduals to Holland, where they sold as high as twelve ducats 

 a-piece. It conceals itself in marine plants and between 

 stones, to watch and surprise its prey, and it feeds more espe- 

 cially on small Crustacea. Its flesh is not eatable. 



The genus Labrus, very numerous in species, forms the 

 type of the family Labroides. In the Linnaean system 

 it was the receptacle of a crowd of ill-determined species, and 

 even in its present restricted form it contains a multitude of 

 fishes disseminated over the whole globe, to the north, and 

 the south, in sea, in lakes, and in rivers ; near the burning 

 shores of Surinam or of the East Indies, and in the neighbour- 

 hood of the islands of ice accumulated on the coasts of Nor- 

 way or of Greenland ; not far from Carolina ; and in the waters 

 which bathe the shores of China and Japan, and also on the 

 coasts of Scotland. 



" Nature," says Count Lacepede, " has granted to the 

 labri neither size, nor strength, nor power, but they have 

 received as their share of her favours, agreeable properties, 

 agile movements, rapid oars, and they are adorned with all 

 the colours of the rainbow. The most varied shades and the 

 most lively hues have been lavished on them ; sometimes dis- 

 persed, sometimes united in troops more or less numerous, 

 these elegant and brilliant fishes feed on mollnsca and Crus- 

 tacea, and appear to prefer the neighbourhood of rocks not 

 subjected to the dashing of the waves. 



