BLUE-STUll'ED WRASSE. 



283 



The general colour of the body and head varies in tint from 

 orange yellow to orange red, darkest on the back, lightest on 

 the belly ; sides of the head and body striped with fine blue ; 

 the irides of two colours, orange and blue ; the membrane 

 connecting the first twelve rays of the dorsal fin blue, the 

 upper edge orange, the remaining portion orange with blue 

 spots ; pectoral, ventral, anal, and caudal fins, orange tipped 

 with blue. The number of fin-rays are 



D. 17+13 : P. 15 : V. 1+5 : A. 3 + 10 : C. 11. 



Pennant's specimen of this fish was taken off the Skerry 

 Isles, on the coast of Anglesey ; and Cuvier, in his Regne 

 Animal, torn. ii. page 56, (note,) has borne testimony to the 

 excellence of Pennant's representation of this species, by 

 stating that he did not know any good figure of this fish 

 except that in the British Zoology. Some specimens are 

 darker on the upper part of the back than others ; and the 

 sides of Pennant's fish are described as having been marked 

 with four parallel lines of greenish olive, and the same num- 

 ber of most elegant blue. 



