HATVBOW WRASSK. 



291 



AC A NTHOPTER YGll. 



labrida:. 



THE RAINBOW WRASSE. 



INDENTED STRIPED WRASSE. 



Julis Mediten-anea, Risso, Hist. t. iii. p. 309, sp. 209. 



Labrns Jnlis, Linn^ius. Bloch, pt. viii. pi. 287, fig. 1. 



Julis, La Girelle, Cuvieh, Regne An. t. ii. p. 257. 



Labrus Julis, Indented Su-iped Wrasse, Don. Brit. Fish.pl. 96. 



,, ,, Rainbow Wrasse, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. iii. p. 343. 



Julis vulgaris, Flem. Brit. An. p. 210, sp. 134. 



Generic Characters. — Head smooth ; cheeks and gill-covers without scales ; 

 the lateral line bent suddenly downwards when opposite the end of the dorsal 

 fin; in other respects the generic characters are similar to those of the genus 

 I^ahrus. 



This very beautiful species, which appears to have been 

 known to the oldest ichthyologists as an inhabitant of the 

 Mediterranean, was first made known as a British fish by 

 Mr. Donovan, in his Natural History of British Fishes, in 

 which he figured and described a specimen taken on the 

 coast of Cornwall in the summer of 1802. 



" This specimen," Mr. Donovan observes, " rather ex- 

 ceeded the length of seven inches ; it was of a slender, or 

 elongated form, and remarkable for the elegant distribution 

 of its colours, which were changeable in various directions of 



u 2 



