1590 BiiUetin 47, United Staics National Museuvi. 



1995. IRIDIO RADIATUS (Linuaeus). 



(PdDDING-WIFE;* DONCELLA; PudIANO VerDE.) 



Head 31 to 4; depth about 2t. D. IX (rarely VIII), 11; A. Ill, 12; scales 

 2-28-10; eye 6 J iu head; snout 3; pectoral 1^; highest dorsal spine 3A. 

 Caudal fin very slightly concave, truncate when spread open, the outer 

 rays longer than the middle ones; hody deep and compressed; ventral 

 fins filamentous, the outer ray produced, more thantAvice as long as inner 

 rays; scales before dorsal not crossing the middle line, iu about 5 series. 

 Lower pharyngeal T-shaped, not much broader than long. Male fish 

 largely olive, the lower parts deep bluish green ; a bright orange olive 

 area behind opercle, then a blue cross band with indefinite edges at vent, 

 the rest of the body tinged with golden, the part above axis of body 

 more or less orange brown; the whole upjier half of T)ody shows more or 

 less orange shading; breast blue green; blue spots on scales less pro- 

 nounced than in the female; head livid blue green, more or less striped 

 and spotted with clear blue, the spots arranged as in the females, but less 

 sharply defined ; orange stripes and areas on top and front of head as in 

 female, but the blue areas larger and more encroaching; dorsal and cau- 

 dal alike in both sexes, the bine more pronounced in male; anal alike in 

 both, but in the male the median stripe is of a rich grass green; pectoral 

 in male with Idue rays and bright grass-green membranes; ventrals simi- 

 lar, but the inner rays green; blue spot at base of pectoral above very 

 intense; oblique bands from pectoral downward and backward similar in 

 both sexes. In life the female of the "Pudding-wife" is of a rich trans- 

 lucent bronze olive, the belly becoming a livid pearly blue, tinged with 

 creamy orange ; a quadrate area before dorsal yellowish green, with 

 abrupt edges and bounded by blue lines; 3 whitish saddle-like blotches 

 below dorsal fin ; a yellowish area on back of tail; top of head o^ang(^ 

 olive, with 3 rows of clear blue spots; a blue stripe from nape through 

 upper part of eye to snout ; a wavy stripe of blue j ust below eye ; tem- 

 poral region with curved streaks of bright blue; lips mostly blue; checks 

 nearly plain; opercle light orange, Avith dashes of blue and violet, but 

 without well-defined spots; middle of lower jaw light blue; a longitudinal 

 streak on lower part of cheek; lower jaw light orange, with 2 blue cross 

 bands; interopercle with a blue stripe; axil green; a yellowish-green 

 shade from pectoral to caudal ; a deep-blue spot at upper base of pectoral ; 

 2 broad orange bars downward and backward from pectoral, the inter- 

 spaces blue; each scale on body with vertical sj)ot of vivid blue; on cau- 

 dal peduncle these sjiots are brighter, becoming round below and horizon- 

 tally oblong above ; some of them on base of anal confluent in lines ; 

 mouth and gill cavity within white (livid blue in male); dorsal orange; 

 a broad blue marginal stripe ; a blue stripe at its base, interrupted behind ; 

 besides these a mesial stripe, breaking up posteriorly into about 3 rows 

 of irregular curved spots; caudal orange, broadly tipped with yellow, its 

 outer rays blue, its basal part with many irregular spots of light blue ; 

 anal with a basal row of blue spots, then an orange band, then a nar- 



*The formation of the name "Pudding-wife," from Pudiano and Old-wife, is an inter- 

 esting freak of popular etymology. 



