T.ESSELATED PARROT-FISH. Scarus harid. 



SEVERAL other British species of the same genus are known, such as the GEEEN 

 STREAKED- WRASSE, or GEEEN-FISH (Labrus Donovani), a rather rare but very beautifully 

 coloured fish, almost wholly green and slightly streaked. Some naturalists think that this 

 is only the young of the preceding species. The most curiously decorated British species 

 is, however, the THEEE-SPOTTED WEASSE (Labrus trimaculatus). This fish is decorated 

 with a rich ruddy orange over the greater part of its body, becoming slightly paler on the 

 sides, and changing to golden yellow on the abdomen, with the slightest possible dash of 

 red. On the upper part of the back, and occupying portions of the dorsal fin, are three 

 large spots of deep rich purple, between which are placed four similarly shaped spots of 

 pale rose. These spots, however, are rather variable in number. 



IN the course of the preceding pages our notice has been drawn to many remarkable 

 forms of fishes, some terrible in their fearful armatures of spines and teeth, some repulsive 

 from their slimy exterior and coldly malignant aspect, and others almost bordering on the 

 grotesque from the odd and eccentric manner in which various parts of their structure are 

 modified. The TESSELATED PARROT-FISH of the Ceylonese seas, though not strikingly 

 unique, in its external appearance, as many of the species already described, is, when closely 

 examined, one of the most wonderfully coloured fish in the world. As may be seen by the 

 engraving, the whole body is covered with a beautifully drawn pattern of elongated 

 hexagons, as perfect and regular as those of a honeycomb. 



The colours of this remarkable fish are as follow : The general hue of the Tesselated 

 Parrot-fish is azure-blue, covered with a hexagonal network of golden yellow. The oddly 

 shaped head is bright yellow, streaked and spotted with blue. The dorsal and anal fins 

 are brown edged with green, and the pectorals and ventrals are brown with the front rays 

 green. The tail fin is wholly green. The natives call this fish by the name of Laboo 

 Girawah, the former term being the name of a certain gourd or pumpkin which is marked 

 in a somewhat similar fashion. 



The species belonging to this genus are very numerous, and have received their rather 

 appropriate title of Parrot-fishes ficm the rich beauty of their colours and the peculiar 



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