THIRTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT 107 



No two ])li()lnora])hs of the IjiimU'il ]iliase arc (|iiitc alike, tlie 

 niarking^s beinj^' apparently dependent u]jon the dejj^ree of haml- 

 ling to which the fish has been subjected. 



Red HiXD, (EpiiicphLiiis s^itttatiis). Many plia>e>. In this spe- 

 cies the extremes of coloration are represented by a uniform and 

 conspicuous redness, usually evident when the fish is in motion, 

 but sometimes observable in the photo£2;raphic tank, and a pale, 

 red and white mottling when it is at rest. P.etween these there 

 are manv gradations of color and marking. In the first, or 

 bright red phase, the spots are uniformly red on a dark red back- 

 ground. This is well shown in the plate opposite page 386 in 

 A}iicricaii Food and Gaiiw Fishes. In the second, the ground 

 color turns pale in places, giving a mottling of white, sharply 

 spotted with red on both dark and light areas. This is a common 

 resting or hiding color. In this phase the fins become pale. 

 Another phase shows a pale ground color evenly spotted with red, 

 the dark ground color entirely disappearing. This color is also 

 developed when the fish is at rest or hiding, and dark fringes may 

 appear on the tips of caudal, soft dorsal and anal fins. 



Two phases are shown on plate 3. 



Red Parrot-fish, (Sparisoina abildi^aardi). To visitors this 

 is the most interesting among the species subject to sudden 

 changes in color. The changes occur frequently when the fishes 

 are in motion and are decidedly marked in character. 



In the brightest and most conspicuous phase (fig. 2. plate 4) 

 there is a brilliant and nearly uniform red on the under surface 

 and lower fins; the color comes like a sudden blush, reaching its 

 intensity in two or three seconds. The sides and upper surface 

 at the same time quickly turn very dark brown, especially on the 

 margins of the scales, with the result that each scale is sharply 

 outlined. In the second, fourth and sixth rows of scales, count- 

 ing from the dorsal, each third, fourth, or fifth scale in the row 

 remains pure white, giving the fish about sixteen regularly dis- 

 tributed white spots, which arc very distinct in the dark phase, 

 although not distinguishable in the pale phase. The head and 

 the dorsal fin quickly become darker, the pale pink of the tail 

 turns crimson red, its pale band becoming pure white. 



In its palest phase the fish is almost colorless and nearly with- 

 out markings, resembling a dead fish from which color has dis- 

 appeared. A fairly pale phase is shown in (fig. i, plate 4). 



Sometimes when in the dark phase the swimming fish, espe- 



