LABRUS.] PISCES (OSSEI) ACANTHOPT. 393 



which falls a little anterior to a vertical line from the posterior part 

 of the orbit, very obtuse, and remarkably characterized by a few minute 

 denticulations, which further on become obsolete, and in some specimens 

 are scarcely anywhere obvious : lateral line a little below one-fourth of 

 the depth ; nearly straight till opposite the end of the dorsal, then bend- 

 ing rather suddenly downwards, and again passing off straight to the 

 caudal : number of scales in the lateral line about forty-five : dorsal com- 

 mencing at one-third of the length, excluding, caudal ; spinous portion 

 nearly three-fourths of the whole fin, the spines very slightly increasing 

 in length from the first to the last, which last is not quite one-third 

 of the depth of the body ; soft portion a little higher than the spinous, 

 of a somewhat rounded form, the middle rays equalling nearly half the 

 depth : anal commencing a little anterior to the soft portion of the dorsal, 

 and terminating a little before it ; the first three rays spinous, the third 

 being the longest, but the second the stoutest spine; soft rays resembling 

 those of the dorsal : caudal nearly even, with rows of scales between the 

 rays for nearly half their length : pectorals rounded, about two-thirds 

 the length of the head, immediately beneath the commencement of the 

 dorsal; all the rays soft and articulated, and, except the first, branched : 

 ventrals a little shorter ; the first ray spinous, shorter than the second 

 and third, which are longest; all the soft rays branched; the last ray 

 united to the abdomen by a membrane for half its length : 



B. 5; D. 20/10 or 11; A. 3/9; C. 13; P. 14; V. 1/5. 



(Colours of specimens in spirits.) Yellowish brown, with irregular 

 transverse fuscous bands : dorsal irregularly spotted with fuscous ; anal 

 light brown; the other fins pale. 



This species, which is the smallest in the genus, is possibly the Turdus 

 minor or Corkling of Mr. Jago*. It is apparently quite distinct from 

 any of those described by other authors. Though belonging to the pre- 

 sent section, which it is convenient to retain, it would seem to form the 

 transition to the Crenilabri, to which its near affinity is indicated by the 

 rudimentary denticulations on the margin of the preopercle. The only 

 specimens I have seen, amounting to four or five, were obtained at 

 Weymouth by Professor Henslow, and are now in the Museum of the 

 Cambridge Philosophical Society. One of these is very minute, and quite 

 young, but the two largest, measuring four inches, have all the appear- 

 ance of being full-grown fish. 



(11.) Comber, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. in. p. 252. pi. 47. Id. (Edit. 

 1812.) vol. in. p. 342. pi. 58. Comber Wrasse, Yarr. Brit. Fish, 

 vol. i. p. 289. Labrus Comber, Gmel. Linn. torn. i. part iii. 

 p. 1297. Turt. Brit. Faun. p. 99. Flem. Brit. An. p. 209. 



An obscure and doubtful species. Pennant's fish, which was obtained 

 from Cornwall, is thus characterized. " Of a slender form: dorsal fin 

 with twenty spinous, and eleven soft, rays : pectoral with fourteen : ventral 

 with five : anal with three spinous and seven soft : tail round. Colour of 

 the back, fins, and tail, red : belly yellow : beneath the lateral line ran 

 parallel a smooth even stripe from gills to tail, of a silvery colour." 



Mr. Couch is recorded to have met with a single individual of this 

 species several years since, but his account of it, as given in the " British 

 Fishes" of Mr. Yarrell, is scarcely more explicit. He observes that 

 " compared with the Common Wrasse, the Comber is smaller, more slender, 

 and has its jaws more elongated : the two upper front teeth are very long : 

 a white line passes along the side from head to tail, unconnected with the 

 lateral line : it has distinct blunt teeth in the jaws and palate : the ventral 

 fins are somewhat shorter than in others of the genus." 



* Ray, Syn. Pise. p. 165. 



