1. LABRtra. 69 



Head nearly entirely naked ; scales small 44. Coridodax, p. 243. 



Head entirely naked; scales of moderate size... 45. Olistherops, p. 243. 



Upper jaw terminating in a pointed appendage 46. Siphonognathus, p. 243. 



First Group. LABRINA. 

 1. LABRUS*. 



Labrus, sp., Artedi, Genera, p. 33. 



Labrus, Cuv. M^gne Anini. ; Cuv, 8f Val. xiii. p. 16 ; Bleek, Pmr Zool. 

 Soc. 1861, p. 417. 



Body compressed, oblong, covered with scales of moderate size, in 

 more than forty transverse series ; snout more or less pointed ; im- 

 bricate scales on the cheeks and opercles, none or only a few on the 

 interopercnlum. Teeth m the jaws conical, in a single series. Dorsal 

 spines numerous, thirteen to twenty-one, none of which are pro- 

 longed ; anal spines three. Lateral line not interrupted. 



Coasts of the temperate parts of Europe and Africa. 



Skeleton of Labrus mixtus. — When we compare the skeleton of one 

 of the typical Labroids with that of a true Acanthopterygian similar 

 in external appearance, as for instancy with that of Dentex vulgaris 

 or Sargus vulgaris, we do not find greater differences in the structure 

 of the skull than we may expect between two closely allied genera. 

 Besides the pharyngeal bones, it is only the basioccipital which 

 shows some peculiarity, in ha\'ing on each side a large, flattish 

 condyle, fitting into a concavity of the upper pharyngeals ; or, in 

 other words, there is a joint between the bones mentioned, whilst in 

 those Acanthopterygians the pharyngeals are fixed to the basioccipital 

 by a very loose cellular tissue. 



The bones of the upper jaw are very similar to those of Sargus, but 

 more elongate. Both fishes require strong jaws for crushing the 

 hard substances which form a part of the animals on which they 

 feed ; the front part of the intermaxillary is dilated, not only to 

 form a base for the strong teeth in function, but also to afford space 

 for the germs of teeth which are developed in the interior of the 

 bone ; the latter teeth enter the series from the outer surface of 

 the bone. The maxillary is strongly curved, a shape by which the 

 protraction of the mouth is essentially facilitated; the process of 



* I. Labrus luscils, L. Mm. Ad. Fred. ii. p. 80, and S^st Nat. i. p. 478 ; Bl. 

 Schn. p. 253 ; Risso, Ichth. Nice, p. 217 ; Cuv. ff Val. xiii. p. 69.— Me- 

 diterranean. 



2. lineolatus, Cuv. ^ Val. xiii. p. 90. — Mediterranean. 



3. saxorum, Cuv. Hf Val. xiii. p. 91. — Mediterranean. 



4. jagonensia, Bowd. Excurs. Mad.^ Porto Santo, p. 234. fig. 47 (fig. and 



description very bad) ; Cuv. ^ Val. xiii. p. 100. — Porto Praya. Perhaps 

 identical witli L. mixtus. 



5. microlcpidotus, Bl. taf. 292 ; Bl. Schn. p. 250. — Cossyphus micro- 



Ippidoius, Cuv. cf- J V/. xiii. p. 140. Hah. ? 



