172 LABRIDJB. 



spirits, pearl-coloured) blotch on each side of the belly, below the 

 pectoral ; narrow lines of the same colour descend from the blotch, 

 crossing the beUy and ascending to the blotch of the other side. 

 Caribbean Sea. 



a, h. Four and five inches long. 



8, Novacula mundiceps. 



Xirichthys mundiceps, Gill in Proc. Acad. Nat. Sc. Philad. 1862, p. 143. 

 D. ^. A. :^. L. lat. 24. L. transv. 2/9. 



The dorsal fin commences nearly over the middle of the operculum ; 

 its first spine is the shortest. " The profile in front of the eye de- 

 scends downwards in a nearly straight and oblique line at an angle 

 of about 43° to the longitudinal axis of the body, and is nearly par- 

 allel with the praeoperculum." (?) Uniform flesh-coloured, tinged 

 A;\dth brown; beUy sUvery. (Gill.) 



Coasts of Lower California. 



a~c. Young. Cape St. Lucas. Presented by the Smithsonian Insti- 

 tution. 



b. Upper edge of the head rather obtuse. 

 9. Novacula taeniurus. 



Labrus fuscus, Lacep. iii. p. 437. 



Spams hemisphserium, Lacep. iv. -pp. 53, 160. 



. brachio, Lacep. iv. pp. 54, 160. 



Labrus taeniurus, Lacep. ni. pp. 448, 518. pi. 29. fig. 1. 

 Xyrichthys taeniurus, Cuv. df Vol. xiv. p. 54. pi. 393 (not Bleek.). 



D. 1. A. ^. L. lat. 25. L. transv. 3/9. 



A few rudimentary scales below the orbit. The two anterior 

 dorsal spines are flexible and not produced. Ventral rather short. 

 Brown, each scale with light centre ; belly reddish ; head immacu- 

 late. Dorsal and anal fins with oblique brown spots and stripes ; a 

 deep-black spot between the three anterior dorsal spines ; caudal 

 brown, with a broad yeUow band across the base ; ventral and axU 

 of the pectoral blackish. 



Mauritius. 



a. Adult. Mam-itius. From the Collection of the Zoological Society. 



10. Novacula vanicolensis. 



Julis vanicorensis, Q!<o?/ ^ Crfljw. Vot/.Astrol. Poiss. p. 704. pi. 20. fig.l- 

 Xyrichthys vanicolensis, Ctw. ^- Val. xiv. p. 57. 

 Novacula cephalotaenia, Bleek. Flaris, p. 333. 



. taeniurus, Bleek. Act. Soc. Sc. Indo-Nederl. i. Manado en 3Iakass. 



p. 62; (not Cuv. Sf Val). 

 Novaculichthys taeniiunis, Bleek. Atl. Ichth. p. . tab. 31. fig. 5. 



D. ^. A. ^. L. lat. 26. L. transv. 3/10. 



A few rudimentaiy scales below the orbit; the two first dorsal 



