236 THE LIVING ANIMALS OF THE WORLD 



Photo h kfinh-'i rh,'h a- C. "1 



[chancery Lane^ W. 



On , 



unt of their 



SPOTTED WRASSE 



-eatly thickened itpi lurasses are aha kno'zvn as Lip-Joshes 



of Stinging-darts whicli proceed 

 therefrom as a result of the 

 shock, and, rendered insensible, 

 becomes the spoil of both. 

 Thus the active fish plays the 

 part of a lure, and in return 

 is aftbrded shelter. 



The \Vr.\.sses proper may 

 be distinguished, amongst other 

 things, b_\- their thickened lips 

 — hence the name Lip-fishes 

 g i \' e n the m by German 

 naturalists — b)' the greatly ex- 

 tended back-fin, the greater 

 part of which is spinous, and 

 the arrangement of the teeth, 

 which need not be discussed here. They are shore-fishes, living in the neighbourhood of weed- 

 covered rocks, or in tropical seas, where they are most abundant, amid coral-reefs. Most are 

 brilliantly, man)' gaudily coloured, iridescent hues frequently adding to the beauty formed 

 by the permanent deposit of coloured pigments in the scales. Some grow to a large size, 

 specimens not seldom exceeding a weight of 50 lbs., and these are the most esteemed as 

 food-fishes, the smaller species, as a rule, being regarded as of inferior quality. 



A well-known British species is the STRIPED or Red VV'r.\S.SE, the sexes of which exhibit 

 a remarkable \ariation in colour, the male having the body marked with blue streaks or 

 a blackish band, whilst the female has two or three large black blotches across the tail. A 

 second British species, the Ball.w \\'r.\s.se, is bluish green in colour, with the scales and 

 fin-rays reddish orange. It may be found hiding in the deep gullies among rocks, sheltering 

 in the dense clusters of seaweed, and feeding on crabs and shrimps. It takes a bait freely, 

 and fishermen ha\-e remarked that at first they catch few but large fish ; some days later a 

 great number ma)- be caught, but all will be of small size, indicating that the larger fish 

 assume the dominion of a district and keep the smaller at ba)-. 



Amongst the most brilliantly colored of the wrasses are the P.\RROT-FIsii. Mr. Saville- 

 Kent, writing of the species which inhabit the waters of the Great 15arrier Reef of Australia, 

 remarks that to stand up to )'our knees or higher in water, with such a shoal of magnificent 

 fishes swimming round you, is an experience well worth a journey to the tropics. The coloration 

 of these fishes, which i-^ extremely transient, fading almost immediately after death, nearly 

 defies description. One of 

 the most beautiful is perhaps 



the GOLD-FINXED CoRAL- 



FISH, in which the body is of 

 an intense ultramarine, whilst 

 the fins are bright golden. 

 Others have the most amaz- 

 ing combinations of green, 

 vermilion, blue, and yellow, 

 in endless variety. It was one 

 of the parrot-fishes which 

 found such fa\our with the 

 ancients. " In the time of 

 Pliny," writes Dr. Gunther, 

 " it was considered to be the 

 first of fishes . . . and the ex- 



Phti,b\ «'. hiivdU-Kiftl, f.Z.S.] 



SATIN PARROT-FISH 



\_Milftird.i,n-Sta 



The Parrot-fishes^ or Parrof-'zcrasses, are so caHed on account of the peculiar structure of the 

 teeth in the front of the jaivsy luhich form a sharp-edged heak 



