164 



FISH GALLERY. 



Parrot- 



occasionally found on the south coast of England; it has been 

 stated that (hey are respectively the male and female of the same 

 species of fish. Lachnolaimus falcatus (677), with the first three 

 spines of the dorsal fin produced into streamers, is the Hog-fish of 

 the West Indies. Epibulus (680) and Gomphosus (691) are 

 remarkable for their long snout, with terminal mouth. 



The Scaridse or Parrot-fishes (693-701, and fig. 77) are allied 

 to the Wrasses, but have the teeth of the jaws so coalesced as to 

 form beaks (see skeleton of Pseudoscarus, 1028, Table-case 32), 

 These beaks are extremely hard and are used by the fish to bite 

 off pieces of coral, which together with molluscs and sea-weed 

 make up the sum of their food. The right and left lower 



Fig. 77. — Parrot-fish, Pseudoscarus troschelli. 



pharyngeal bones are completely fused and are armed with flat- 

 topped teeth which bite against similar teeth borne by the upper 

 pharyngeal bones, and are used to grind up the pieces of coral and 

 the shells of the molluscs. 



The Parrot-fishes are brilliantly, some gaudily, coloured, and 

 the largest species grow to three or four feet. Some are valued as 

 food, others are reputed to be poisonous. Scarus cretensis (694), 

 a Mediterranean form, was much esteemed as food by the ancients. 

 It feeds almost entirely on sea-weed, but sometimes on molluscs ; 

 if the fish has been feeding on the mollusc known as the Sea-hare 



