COMBER WRASSE. 289 



ACANTHOPTERYGII. LABRID^. 



THE COMBER WRASSE. 



Labrus comber, Gmelin. Linn. 



,, ,, Comber Wrasse, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. iii. p. 342, pi. 58. 



,, ,, Comber, Flem. Brit. An. p. 209, sp, 131. 



Pennant says he received this species from Cornwall, and 

 supposed it to be the Comber of Mr. Jago. 



It was of a slender form : the colour of the bach, fins, and 

 tail, red ; the belly yellow ; beneath and parallel to the 

 lateral line ran a smooth even stripe from gill to tail, of a 

 silvery colour. The number of fin-rays were — 



D. 20 -|- 11 : P. 14 : V. 5 : A. 3 + 7 : C. number not given. 



Mr. Couch has also met Avith this species, and the account 

 in his MS. is as follows : — " Compared with the Common 

 Wrasse, the Comber is smaller, more slender, and has its 

 jaws more elongated. The two upper front teeth are very 

 long : a white line passes along the side from head to tail, 

 unconnected with the lateral line. It has distinct blunt 

 teeth in the jaws and palate : the ventral fins are somewhat 

 shorter than in others of the genus." " Such is the note 

 I made," says Mr. Couch, " on inspecting one of this 



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