COMBER WRASSE. 289 



ACANTHOPTERYGIL LABRIDJE. 





THE COMBER WRASSE. 



La brn s com her, GMF.I.IN. LINN. 



,, Comber Wrasse, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. iii. p. 342, pi. 58. 



Comber, I i T M. Brit. An. p. 209, sp. 131. 



PENNANT says he received this species from Cornwall, and 

 supposed it to be the Comber of Mr. Jago. 



It was of a slender form : the colour of the back, fins, and 

 tail, red ; the belly yellow ; beneath and parallel to the 

 lateral line ran a smooth even stripe from gill to tail, of a 

 silvery colour. The number of fin-rays were 



D. 20 + 11 : P. 14 : V. 5 : A. 3 + 7 : C. number not given. 



Mr. Couch has also met with this species, and the account 

 in his MS. is as follows : " 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." " Such is the note 

 I made," says Mr. Couch, " on inspecting one of this 



VOL. i. u 



