LABROIDS. 109 



Plesiops, and Malacanthus, the pharyngeal teeth are small, conical, 

 and arranged like the teeth of a comb. In Chromis proper and 

 Malacanthus, the anterior teeth of the intermaxillary and preman- 

 dibular bones are conical and of larger size ; behind these teeth, 

 which form a single row, are others of smaller size which resemble 

 those on the pharyngeal bones. In the Cychla there is a broad band 

 of villous teeth in each jaw. 



In the genus Labrus (Cuvier), and most of its sub-genera, 

 the intermaxillary and premandibular teeth are arranged in one 

 or two rows, the outer ones presenting a conical form, slightly 

 recurved, with a few at the anterior and sometimes at the 

 posterior part of the dental series much longer than the rest. In 

 the genus Anampses, however, there are only two flat and somewhat 

 recurved teeth in each jaw, which project from the mouth ; while 

 in the Cossyphus there are several minute granular teeth behind the 

 normal conical teeth of the jaws (figs. 1 and 2, PI. 45) ; and in 

 Ctenilabrus a band of villous teeth occurs behind the long anterior 

 conical maxillary teeth. In all these fishes the pharyngeal bones are 

 paved with hemispherical molars more or less flattened at the crown. 

 In the genus Lachnolaimus these teeth are confined to the posterior part 

 of the pharyngeals, the rest of the bones, as the name of the genus 

 implies, (1) being covered with a soft villous and vascular membrane. 

 In the more typical Labroids {Labrus, Cossyphus, and Julis), the 

 whole of the unattached surface of the pharyngeals is covered with 

 the molar teeth. (2) They vary in size and shape in diflferent parts of 

 the pharyngeal bones ; some are angular instead of round, and the 

 smaller ones at the external angles sometimes present a conical form. 

 Each tooth is attached by the circumference of a slightly contracted 

 base to the margin of a shallow alveolus ; this margin is traversed by 

 fine vertical grooves, which are morticed into corresponding grooves 

 in the osseous margin of the base of the tooth. The floor of the 

 alveolus is a thin plate, perforated by numerous foramina, and does 

 not become anchylosed to the base of the tooth ; nor, indeed, does it 

 sustain any of the superincumbent pressure. The pharyngeal tooth, 

 when first in place, has its base excavated by a wide but shallow 



(1) Xaxvij lanugo, Xaijioc, guttur. (2) R. 45, figs. 3 and 4. 



