POST-LARVAL. TELEOSTEANS COLLECTED NEAR PLYMOUTH. 223. 
post-anal black chromatophore on the body at the hinder end of the 
anal fin, and one or two chromatophores at the root of the caudal fin. 
I see no reason to question Ehrenbaum’s identification, which is also 
accepted by Clark. 
The third form, of which I give an illustration in Fig. 1, kindly made 
for me by Mr. E. Ford, has occurred not infrequently in the 1914 material. 
The distribution of the chromatophores is very constant and characteristic. 
On the dorsal edge of the body, at the base of the dorsal fin, there are on 
each side five large black chromatophores which remain in specimens 
preserved in formalin. One of these, the smallest, lies beneath the 
anterior end of the dorsal fin, followed by two large ones near the middle 
of the fin, and finally a pair close together near its hinder end. On the 
post-anal, ventral edge of the body there is a large chromatophore a 
little way behind the anus, and two more near the posterior end of the 
anal fin. A single black chromatophore can generally be seen at the 
Fie. 1.—Labrus mixtus L. Length 10mm. July 2nd, 1914. 
base of the caudal fin. In the anterior part of the fish there are two or 
three large chromatophores on the top of the head, a row of small ones 
on the mandible, two or three on the ventral edge of the abdomen, and 
one fairly large one immediately in front of the anus. A line of pigment 
extends along the dorsal side of the abdominal cavity, extending nearly 
to the anus. The number of vertebra is 38 or 39, rays of dorsal fin 30 
or 31, of anal fin 14 or 15. These numerical characters agree completely 
with those given by Day for Labrus mixtus, and amongst the British 
Labridee the only other species in which the number of vertebree is so 
high is Labrus bergylia, the young stage of which seems to be satisfactorily 
known. I have little hesitation therefore in regarding Labrus mixtus as 
the proper name to give to the form we are considering. If that be so 
the larva described by Hefford (1910) is probably L. bergylta and not L. 
mixtus as he was inclined to think. 
Post-larval stages of Labrus bergylta ave most numerous in June 
and July, a few were taken in May and August, whilst in September they 
practically disappear from the young-fish trawl material. Ctenolabrus 
rupestris was most abundant in July. In 1914, the only vear for which 
the species is recorded, Labrus mixtus was distinctly earlier in appearance 
than C. rupestris and was most abundant in June. 
