Fishes taken at Madeira. 163 



and March), shall now be given. The synonymy, if my conclu- 

 sions are correct, will be — 



Centrolabrus trutta (Lowe), GUnther. 



Crenilabrus trutta, Lowe. 

 Acantholabrus viridis, Val. 

 Acantholabrus romeritus, Val. 

 Acantholabrus romerus, Val. 



D. 16-17 + 8-9. A. 4-5 + 8-9. V. 1+5. P. 13-15. 

 C. IV. + 13 + IV. M.B. 5. 



Back and head blackish brown ; sides of the same colour, 

 dappled with bluish green, the middle portion of the scales being 

 brown with greenish margins, the green dapplings sometimes so 

 arranged as to form a reticulated pattern ; belly whitish, with a 

 greenish tinge, the middle of each scale being pale brown ; a 

 dark spot at each side of the tail near the base of the caudal fin ; 

 the dorsal and anal fins bluish green, with red or orange spots, 

 and occasionally with some obscure fuscous blotches ; pectoral 

 fins yellow, immaculate ; caudal fin yellow, with red or orange 

 spots or streaks; a blue line under the eye; sometimes blue 

 lines across the opercular pieces, and occasionally small patches 

 of pale red in front of the eyes and on the under jaw. 



Body oblong, compressed, clothed with rather small scales 

 having even margins. The height between the ventral fins and 

 the vent is about equal to the length of the head, and, compared 

 with the total length, as 1 to 3^. 



The lateral line on the anterior part of the body follows the 

 curve of the back; but there is a rapid descent under the end of 

 the dorsal fin, and it is then straight along the tail. The scales 

 of the lateral line are 35, and in the height of the body about 

 14 (4 + 10) may be counted. 



The head between and in front of the eyes is scaleless, whilst 

 the opercle and preopercle are scaly, the former having its mem- 

 branous border emarginate above the base of the pectoral fin, 

 and the latter having its vertical edge set with fine teeth and its 

 horizontal edge serrate. The longer axis of the slightly oval eye 

 is contained about 5f times in the head. The iris is bright 

 green, surrounded by a ring of gold. The mouth is small, 

 furnished with fleshy lips and a protractile upper jaw. Each 

 jaw is set with a single row of small canine teeth, which are 

 larger in front than at the sides. In the upper jaw the number 

 varies from 7 to 10, and in the lower jaw from 12 to 19. The 

 palatines and vomer are unarmed. 



The long dorsal fin rises out of a groove, and commences a 

 little in front of the pectoral fins. It is low in front, the spinous 

 portion being not so high as the soft-rayed portion. The com- 



12* 



