THE CHECKERED SWINE-FISH 221 



various marine ci-eatnres that swarm about such localities. In Madeira it is called Cherne 

 when full grown, and Cheknotte when young. 



Barnacle-laden timber seems to have great attractions for the Stone Bass, and it is 

 mentioned by Mr. Yarrell that a becalmed vessel was surrounded for a fortnight with these 

 fish, probably on account of the trailing barnacles with which her planking was covered. 

 Their presence was most valuable, as they were caught in great numbers, and the men fed 

 almost wholly upon them for twelve or fourteen days. 



From examination of the stomach, the Stone Bass seems to feed mostly on small fish of 

 various kinds, sardines having been found in its interior in lai'ge quantities. Mollusks also 

 form part of its food. It lives mostly in the deeper waters, preferring a rocky bottom, and 

 generally remaining deeply immersed, unless attracted to the surface by the presence of its 

 food. 



When following floating timbers, it is a remarkably bold fish. Mr. Couch remarks thus 

 upon its habits : " When a piece of tim])er, covered with barnacles, is brought by the currents 

 from the more southern i-egions which these fishes inhabit, considerable numbers of them 

 sometimes accompany it. In the alacrity of their exertions, they pass over the wreck in pur- 

 suit of each other, and sometimes for a short space are left dry on the top, until a succeeding 

 wave bears them ofi' again. From the circumstance of theii' being usually found near floating 

 wood covered with barnacles, it might be supposed that this shell-fish forms their food ; but 

 this does not appear to be the case, since, in many that were opened, nothing was found but 

 smaU fishes. Perhaps the young fishes follow the floating ^^•ood for the sake of the insects 

 that accompany it, and thus draw the Stone Bass after them." 



The color of the Stone Bass is dark purple-brown above, and silvery-white below. The 

 fin-membranes are brown, and the tail is tipjjed with white. When young, it is mottled with 

 darker and lighter brown. The lower jaw is larger than the upper, and over the operculum 

 runs horizontally a bold, bony ridge, ending in a sharj) point directed backwards. There is 

 also a row of short, sharp spines over the eye, and the first ray of the ventral fins and the first 

 three rays of the anal fin are furnished with strong, thoniy spines, so that the fish is armed at 

 all points, and when struggling violently is likely to inflict rather severe wounds on the hand 

 that grasps it incautiously. 



The great and important family of the Labrida?, or Lip-fishes, so called in allusion to the 

 tliick and fleshy lip with which their mouths are furnished, are spread over the greater portion 

 of the globe, few coasts being Avithout several representatives of the group. 



These fishes are not only remarkable for the full fleshiness of their evidently sensitive lips, 

 but for the endless variety of rich and vivid tints with which their bodies are decorated ; hues 

 pure as the bright patterns of cathedral windows, and often arranged with a symmetrical 

 regularity of outline and a daring harmony of contrasting colors that, when seen on the healthy 

 and living fish, appear as if flung on its scales direct from the kaleidoscope. Of the three 

 primary colors, red seems to retain its purity of tone more perfectly than either the blue or 

 the yellow, the former usually teing mingled with yellow, and fonning greens of varying 

 qualities, while the latter frequently takes a slight tinge of red, and becomes warm orange. 

 These tints are extremely variable, ranging through every tone of the secondary colors, and 

 even in different individuals of the same sjiecies the color is so imcertain that no dependence 

 can be placed upon it as a means of determining the particular species. 



The Labridse are most lovely creatures, but it is in the tropical and warmer seas of the 

 world that they are to be seen in their full brilliancy. T^o artist can transfer to j^aper the 

 radiant hues that glow on these favored members of the finny race, and no pen can do justice 

 to their wondrous splendor, as they dart through the crystalline water like living meteors, or 

 leisurely traverse the forests of moving algae, balancing themselves among the submarine foliage 

 like humming-birds of the sea. 



The Checkered Swine-fish is one of the singular species which are so frequent in the 

 hotter seas, and which exhibit a surface at once colored with the brightest hues, and decorated 



