WRASSES. 



the Acanthopterygian series, thoufrli th('\- nvo not of 

 course in every respect qualified for this ])ositioii. 



As is the case with organic life generally in the 

 warmer i-egions of tlie earth, so in the tropical seas the 

 Phai'yngoguates attain to their full (levelo])nient of form. 

 «Anyone,» says Fries, »who is out fishing on our western 

 coast and for the first time sees a, wrasse taken (jn the 

 hook, may huic)- himself transported, as if l)y a stroke 

 of magic, to tro])ical sliores, and, watching in intense 

 excitement, expect at the next bite to see one of the 

 paradoxical creatures which so abound in those waters. 



But the ilhision is soon past, vnnishing as the line is 

 pulled in, and is followed by nothing but an ordinary 

 cod or floundei'.» 



In their real native waters the Pharyngognates are 

 very numerous in genera and species. As early as 1862 

 GuNTHER described no less than 647 species, distributed 

 among 4 families and 74 genera, and mentioned in 

 addition a great many of which he liad no j^Tsonal 

 knoAvledge. Vei-y few of th(!m, however, belong to the 

 Scandinavian Fauna; and fill the Scandinavian species 

 fall under one family. 



Fam. LABRID^. 



The form of the body perch-like, the scales cycloid, the soft-rayed part of the anal fin like that of the dorsal; 



the ventral fins thoracic ivith one spinous and 5 soft rays^ the hranchiostegal rays 5 or 6', the foarth roir of 



branchial laminae simple, with no slit behind it, the pseudobranchice and air-hladder normal, the palate iritlnnit trrth, 



the jaw teeth strong. The pyloric appendages and the blind sac of the stomach are a-antiug. 



There is nuicli in the form of the wrasses that 

 reminds one of the genus Serranus among the perches, 

 but the cycloid, edentulous, and comparativelv thin scales 

 and the toothless |ialate of the former separate them 

 distinctly from the latter. Their teeth are strong, those 

 of the jaws being pointed or sometimes rather obtuse; 

 the pharyngeal teeth are blunt and often flat and crowd- 

 ed like the stones of a pavement; the upper and lo^ver 

 sets work well against each other, as the upper pha- 

 ryngeals articulate with the basilar jjart of the occipital 

 bone. Thus the jaw-teeth seize the prey, while those 

 of the |)haryngeals are used in grinding it. The dental 

 equipment of the wrasses is indeed characteristic of their 

 manner of life, as they live upon the crayfish and 

 mollusks of the rocks and sea-weed, which they usually 

 crush, though sometimes the shells are to be found 

 intact in the digestive canal. The protractile jaws with 

 the thick swollen lips M'hich have given rise to the 

 name 'labroid' or 'lip-fish' are also characteristic of their 

 habits. That Avhich enables us in most cases immediately 

 to distinguish a wrasse, as well as other Pharyngognate 

 Acanthopterygians, from a perch, is the prolongation of 

 the fin-membrane into a flap behind the point of each 

 spinous ray, the pinna ram,entacea of Linnaeus. How- 

 ever, this flap is said to be wanting in some species 

 belonging to this family, while, on the contrary, it 

 exists in several of the Serrani. The ventral fins are 

 thoracic, i. e. they lie a little fartlier back than the 

 base of the pectoral fins; but the pelvic bones with 

 which they articulate are long and project to the lower 



point of the clavicles, or the front end (jf the pectoral 

 girdle. The fourth pair of branchial arches carries onlv 

 one row of branchial laminae, and the slit, which otlier- 

 wise separates this pair of arches from the lower pha- 

 ryngeals and the back wall of the gill-orifice, is closed. 

 The digestivfe canal is peculiarly simjjle: the stomach 

 which in many forms is scarcely perceptible as a special 

 enlargement of the canal, has no blind sac, and the 

 pyloric appendages are wanting. 



The wrasses inhabit the seas of the hot and tem- 

 perate regions and are not to be found •within either 

 the Arctic or Antai-ctic cii'cle. They are among the 

 chief ornaments of the coral reefs and the algaj which 

 fringe the solid rocks. Some species however are also 

 to be found among weed and stones where the Ijottom 

 is of a looser nature. They are neither pelagic nor 

 deep-sea fish, and are not often to be met with in more 

 than .30 fathoms. In disposition the A\Tasses are lively 

 and sociable, though they congi-egate in small bodies 

 only and not in real shoals. The male and female 

 often differ very much in colour, and during the spawn- 

 ing season the former are especially gay and showy. 

 Their colouring is however very fugitive: their brilli- 

 ancy, which in life is varial)le, entirely vanishes soon 

 after death. A number of observations have been 

 made which suggest that the monogaraic principle is, 

 to a certain extent, practised among these fish; each 

 male is said to select and associate A\'ith his own fe- 

 male, at least during the spawning season; and some 

 species are said to build nests of seaweed for their 



