RAINBOW WRASSE. 



ACANTHOPTERYGII. LABRIDM. 







THE RAINBOW WRASSE. 



INDENTED STRIPED WRASSE. 



Jidis Mediterranea, Risso, Hist. t. iii. p. 309, sp. 209. 



Lahrus Julis, Linn«;us. Block, pt. viii. pi. 287, fig. 1. 



Julis, La Girelle, Cuvier, Regne An. t. ii. p. 257. 



Labrus Julis, Indented Striped Wrasse, Don. Brit. Fish. pi. 96. 



,, ,, Rainbotv Wrasse, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. iii. p. 343. 



Julis vulgaris , Flem. Brit. An. p. 210, sp. 134. 



Generic Characters. — Head smooth ; cheeks and gill-covers without scales ; 

 the lateral line bent suddenly downwards when opposite the end of the dorsal 

 fin ; in other respects the generic characters are similar to those of the genus 

 Labrus, 



This very beautiful species, which appears to have been 

 known to the oldest ichthyologists as an inhabitant of the 

 Mediterranean, was first made known as a British fish by 

 Mr. Donovan, in his Natural History of British Fishes, in 

 which he figured and described a specimen taken on the 

 coast of Cornwall in the summer of 1802. 



" This specimen," Mr. Donovan observes, " rather ex- 

 ceeded the length of seven inches ; it was of a slender, or 

 elongated form, and remarkable for the elegant distribution 

 of its colours, which were changeable in various directions of 



u 2 ■ 



