THE WRASSE-LIKE FISHES 



237 



i bj W. Savilli-Kinl, F.Z.S.] 



BLACK-SPOTTED PARROT-FISH 



The flesh of some of the Parrot-wrasses is of great delicacy 



pense incurred by Elipentius 



was justified, in the opinion 



of the Roman gourmands, by 



the extreme delicacy of the 



flesh. It was a fish, said the 



poet, whose very excrement 



the gods themselves were 



unwilling to reject. Its flesh 



was tender, agreeable, sweet, 



easy of digestion, and quickly 



assimilated ; yet, if it happened 



to have eaten an aplysia, it 



produced violent diarrhoea." 



To this day the Greeks hold 



it in high regard, and eat it 



with sauce made of its liver 



and intestines. It feeds on seaweed, and from its habit of thoroughly chewing its food, and 



moving it backwards and forwards in the mouth, it was at one time believed that this fish 



chewed the cud after the fashion of the ruminating mammals ! 



One of the most interesting of all the wrasses is a small species from King George's 



Sound, which, while retaining the principal characters common to the group, has assumed 



the general shape and proportions of the pipe-fish. 



The third family of the wrasses are remarkable chiefly on account of the fact that they 



produce their young alive. These fishes are confined to the temperate regions of the North Pacific. 

 The CHROMIDS constitute the last family of the wrasse-like group. Numerous in species, 



they are all dwellers in fresh-water. One species occurs in amazing numbers in the Lake of 



Galilee, shoals over an acre in extent, and so closely packed that movement seemed almost 



impossible, having been recorded. They are taken in such enormous numbers that the nets 



in which they are caught often break. Occasionally shoals are carried down the Jordan into 



the Dead Sea ; but the fish never get farther than a few yards, becoming stupefied almost 



at once, and, turning over on their backs, fall an easy prey to flocks of cormorants and 



kingfishers. Heaps of putrefying carcases are washed ashore, poisoning the atmosphere, in spite 



of the presence of flocks of ravens and vultures which have gathered to the feast. 



Another species is remarkable for its peculiar method of protecting the eggs and young. 



The female deposits the eggs, over 200 in number, in a small hole worked out among the 



roots of reeds and rushes. There they are taken into the mouth of the male one by 



one, and retained till hatched 

 a few days later. The young 

 fry remain in this nursery 

 for some considerable time, 

 increasing rapidly in size, so 

 that the father-nurse is unable 

 to close his mouth. Some of 

 the young develop among 

 the gills ; others lie, closely 

 packed, with their heads 

 turned towards the mouth of 

 the parent, remaining in this 

 position till nearly 4 inches 

 long, when they are ejected 

 or wriggle out to forage for 



themselves. 





AWRASSE 



The majority of the Wrasses are brilliantly coloured 



l6 



