DR. RICHARDSON'S DESCRIPTION OF AUSTRALIAN FISH. 139 



1st Spec. 

 In. Lin. 



Length from intermaxillary symphysis to edge of gill-cover . . 4 



Length of soft dorsal 3 6 



Length of spinous dorsal 3 6 



Length of anal fin 3 



Length of pectorals 2 5 



Length of ventrals 2 



Length of caudal rays GO 



Length of scaleless part of caudal 19 



Length of naked space between dorsal and caudal 14 



Length of naked space between anal and caudal 18 



Height of soft part of dorsal 16 



Height of soft part of anal 1 4| 



Greatest depth of body 4 8 



Greatest thickness of body 2 3 



Greatest thickness of head at preoperculum 2 9 



Height of tail 2 3 



Diameter of orbit 7 



Labrus laticlavius (Nob.), Patrician Wrasse. — Labrus laticlavius, Richardson, Zool. 

 Proceed., June 25, 1833, and March 10, 1840. 



L. smaragdinus, fasciis hinis lateralibus puniceis purpurea marginatis, postice in unam 

 coalescentibus inque pinna caudcB productis ; pinnd dorsi basi viridd ; in medid late 

 purpured : superne aurantiacd, purpurea guttata, inque margine extrema cceruled ; 

 pinnd ani basi aurantiacd, dein primulaceo-jlavd utrinque cceruleo cinctd, exinde 

 purpured cceruleo guttatd, denique in margine extrema caeruled. 

 Radii.— Br. 5-5; P. 12; V. 1|5 ; D. Qjll ; A3il0; C. 14. 

 This very handsome Wrasse seldom exceeds a foot in length. It has a more slender 

 and elegant form than either of the preceding Tasmanian Wrasses. The head is neat 

 and small, forming less than one-fourth of the total length, caudal included. The mem- 

 branous edge of the gill-cover is produced into a rounded lobe, which extends nearly its 

 own breadth further backwards than the superior attachment of the operculum. In 

 Labrus tetricus and fucicola, the operculum is joined to the shoulder by a membranous 

 production, which is even with the posterior edge of the gill-cover, rendering the gill- 

 opening a vertical slit, not a curved one, as in the present species. 



The scales which cover the operculum are few, thin, large, and not uniform. A con- 

 siderable portion of the suboperculum is naked, and there are no scales on the other 

 bones of the gill-cover. A vertical row of about six scales descends midway between the 

 orbit and upper Umb of the preoperculum, but does not reach so low as the curve of the 

 latter. The rest of the cheek is quite naked. The branchiostegous membrane is much 



