321 



LABRID^E. 



LACERTIAD^E. 



The speciea of the genus Anampscs of Cuvier differ from those of 

 the genus Julie in having two flat teeth in each jaw, which project 

 and curve outwards. 



The genus Crenilabrus of Cuvier has the general characters of 

 Labrus proper, but the margin of the pre-operculum is dentated. 



Crenilabrus Tinea, Flem., called the Gilt-Head, Connor, &c., is 

 found on many parts of our coast, and indeed is one of the commonest 

 species of the family Labridce we possess ; it is from 8 to 10 inches 

 in length ; the upper parts are marked with alternate red and bluish 

 longitudinal lines ; below the lateral line the colour is bluish-green, 

 spotted with dull red ; head brownish-red, with undulating linea of 

 an azure-blue colour ; dorsal, caudal, and ventral fins bluish-green, 

 spotted, and lined with red ; pectorals pale and immaculate; greatest 

 depth of the body very nearly one-third of the entire length. 



Gilt-Head (Crmilatrvt Tinea}. 



The works on British fishes contain three other species of the present 

 genus. The Qoldsinny (G. cornubicta, Risso), the Gibbous Wrasse 

 (C. ffibbus, Flem.), and the Scale-Rayed Wrasse (C. luscus, Yarrell). 

 [CRENILADBOS.] 



In the genus Coricui, Cuvier, we find the same characters as in 

 Crenilabrua ; but the mouth is protractile, though not quite in so 

 great a degree as in the next genus, Epibulas (Cuvier), where the 

 species have the power of extending the mouth to a great degree : 

 in the fishes of the last-mentioned genus the head and body are 

 covered with large scales, which extend both on the caudal and anal 

 fins ; the lateral line is interrupted, and there are two long conical 

 teeth in each jaw, behind which the teeth are comparatively small 

 and blunt. The only species known (Epibulta insidiator) inhabits the 

 Indian Ocean. Clfpticus (Cuvier), which is the next genus in suc- 

 cession, has for its distinguishing characters the snout small and 

 cylindrical, which may be suddenly protruded like that of EpHtulus, 

 but which U not so long as the head : the teeth are minute, the body 

 oblong, and the head obtuse ; the lateral line is continuous, and the 

 dorsal and anal fins are almost entirely enveloped by scales. But 

 one species is known (the C. genizara, Cuvier), and this is from the 

 Antilles. 



In the genus Gomphosus (Lacdpede) the muzzle is remarkably long 

 and slender, owing to the prolongation of the maxillary bones ; the 

 head is smooth, as in Julit. The speciea inhabit the Indian Ocean. 



Clomp/tolas viridit, Bennett (' Fishes of Ceylon'), is found off the coast 

 of Ceylon, and is of a dark green colour : the pectoral fin is marked 

 with a black streak. 



tiridia. 



Xyrichthtji (Cuvier). The fishes of this genua are of a compressed 

 form, and have the profile of the head high and nearly vertical : the 

 body is covered with large scales ; the lateral line is interrupted ; the 

 jaws are furnished with a range of conical teeth, of which those in 

 the centre are the longest ; the pharynx is beset with hemispherical 

 teeth. The compressed form and almost vertical profile of the head 

 caused the older authors to arrange these fishes with the Coryphcence. 

 The Xyrichthys noracula (C'uryphcma navacula, Linn.), or Razor-Fish 

 of the Mediterranean, affords an example of this genus : it is of a red 

 colour, irregularly striped with blue. 



Chromis, Cuvier. With the thick lips, protractile intennaxillaries, 

 pharyngea 1 bones, filaments to the dorsal spines, and the general 

 appearance of a Lnlmu, these fishes have the teeth in both jaws and 

 on the pharyngeals slender and thickly set, or, as Cuvier describes 

 them, ' en carde,' but in front of these there is a range of conical 

 teeth. The vertical fins are filamentous. The ventral fins are often 

 prolonged into long filaments. The lateral Hue is interrupted. A 

 small species of this genii", which is of a chestnut-brown colour, is 



it AT. HIST. DI v. vou in. 



common in the Mediterranean ; it is the Sparias chromis, Linn. Another 

 species is found in the Nile, the Labrus Nilolicus, Hassela, &c. The 

 genua Cyclda (Bloch, Schn.) differs from Chromis in having the body 

 more elongated, and in having the whole of the teeth very slender 

 and thickly set, like the pile on velvet, and forming a broad band : 

 it contains numerous speciea. The genus Pseliops (Cuvier) differs 

 from Chromis in having the head compressed, the eyes placed near 

 to each other, and the ventral fins much elongated. 



MalacmMus, Cuvier. -In this genus there are the general characters 

 of Labrus ; the maxillary teeth are nearly the same, but the pharyngeal 

 teeth are 'en carde,' as in Chromis. The body is elongated, the 

 lateral line continuous, the operculum is produced posteriorly into 

 a little spine, and the long dorsal fin has but a small number of 

 slender and flexible spinea in front. One speciea is found in the 

 Antilles, which is of a yellowish colour with irregular transverse 

 violet stripes, and has a crescent-shaped tail : it is the Coryphcena 

 Plumicri of Lace'pede. 



Scarus, Linn. The species of this genus, commonly known by the 

 name of Parrot-Fishes, are remarkable for the convex and rounded 

 form of the jaws, which are beset with several series of scale-like 

 teeth, which are so soldered together, that they usually appear to form 

 solid masses of enamel : these teeth aucceed each other from behind 

 forwards ; those at the, base, being the moat recent in formation, in 

 time replace thoae above, and themselves form the cutting edge. 

 When alive, the fleshy lips nearly cover the teeth. In general form 

 and in the large acales with which the body is covered the Parrot- 

 Fishes resemble the true Labri ; their pharyngeals, like them, are 

 furnished with teeth, but they consist of transverse lamincc. 



Head of a Parrot-Flh (Scana), and the jaw, natural size. 



These fishes are chiefly confined to the seas of hot climates, and 

 are of very brilliant colours, which last circumstance, combined with 

 a fancied resemblance between the mouth and the beak of a parrot, 

 has given rise to the name of Parrot-Fishes. Some of them have a 

 crescent-shaped tail, and of these there are a few in which the forehead 

 ia very gibbous ; in others, the tail is truncated. Cuvier has separated 

 from the Parrot-Fishes, under the generic name Calliodon, those 

 species in which the lateral teeth of the upper jaw are square and 

 pointed, and in which there is an interior range of much smaller teeth 

 in the same jaw ; and lastly, M. Cuvier has established the genus 

 Odax for the reception of those Labroid Fishes which approach the 

 genus Labrua in having the lips thick and fleshy, and the lateral line 

 continuous, and the jaws composed like those of Scarut, but which 

 are however flat and not gibbous, and are covered by the lips ; the 

 pharyngeal teeth are as in Labrua. The Scams pullus of Bloch 

 (Schneider) belongs to this genua ; the fish is found off the coast 

 of New Zealand, is of a blackish brown colour, and furnished with 

 small scales. 



LABROIDES. [LABRID.E.] 



LABRUS. [LABMD&] 



LABURNUM, the common name of the European trees named by 

 botanists Cylisut alpinua and C. Laburnum. It is a native of the Alps 

 of Europe, and is well known in gardens for the beauty of its pendu- 

 lous racemes of beautiful yellow flowers. The seeds of Laburnum 

 contain a poisonous substance called Cytisine ; and the wood, which 

 is olive-green, hard, and compact, is occasionally used by the turner 

 for ornamental purposes. [CYTisns.] 



LABYRI'N THODON, a genus of Fossil Reptiles from the New Red- 

 Sandstone strata. (Owen.) [AMPHIBIA.] 



LAC. [CocciD*.] 



LACE-BARK TREE, [DAPHNE.] 



LACERTA. [SAUBIA ; LACKRTIAD.F,.] 



LACE'RTIAD^E, or LACERTIANS. Under the family name 

 Lacertiaua Cuvier arranged 



1st The Monitors and their subdivisions, namely, the Monitors 

 properly so called, including the Ouarans of the Arabs ( Varanus), &c. ; 

 the Dragona (Crocodilurus of Spix, Ada, of Gray), and the Sauvegardes 

 (Monitor of Fitzinger and Ameiva). 



2nd. The Lizards properly so called. 



This second group comprises, according to Cuvier, the genera 

 Lacerta, Algyra, and Tachydromus. 



Messrs. Dumrfril and Bibron make the Varauinns, or Sauriens Platy- 



