260 NATURAL HISTORY OF OUR SHORES 



The female, named the " Corkwing," is of a yellowish 

 buff, with faint, irregular dark mottling ; a round black 

 spot is constant on each side of the tail. 



These colours, of male and female, apply to the breeding 

 time, May to August. As winter advances the male loses 

 his brilliant tints, and in some specimens a faint trace of the 

 spot on the tail appears, while the female shows traces of 

 the diamond markings of the male, the tail spot becoming 

 fainter. These are from observations on captive specimens, 

 as well as observation in the " field." 



The coloured figure of Acantholabrus in Crouch's " British 

 Fishes " is evidently taken from a specimen in the transi- 

 tion colouring, the summer splendour being lost. I have 

 within the last hour (on September 20th) examined speci- 

 mens in the fish-market which corroborate the foregoing. 



The young, male and female, are alike : a compromise 

 between the male and female colourings (see Fig. 47). 



The same confusion applies to another member of the 

 LabridcB, the blue-striped wrasse (Labrus mixtus). The 

 female of this is described as another species, under the 

 name of Labrus trimaculatus. But this is not a " shore " 

 fish, and its description is not needed here ; however, I 

 shall refer to it in the chapter on " Coloration," etc. 



As regards this last I note that Dr Giinther has expressed 

 his suspicion that the two species are one. 1 



The genus Acantholabrus (and " Crenilabrus ") is easily 

 distinguished from the young of the larger wrasses by their 

 having the edge of the outer gill covers or " cheeks " 

 (pre-operculum) finely toothed. 



The wrasses breed inshore, constructing nests, which 

 consist of soft sea-weeds, chiefly Rhodosperms, tightly 

 packed in the crevices of rocks. Sometimes more than 

 a peck of weed is used in the construction of one nest. 

 The large, amber- coloured eggs are loosely scattered all 



1 It is given correctly in Day's " British and Irish Fishes." 



