Fishes. 



looked upon as distinct species. The Wrasses occurring on our 

 coasts are referred to two genera — Labrus, with three spines 

 m the anal fin, and Centrolahrus, with four or five. The largest 

 of our Wrasses is the Ballan Wrasse [Labrus maculatus), 

 growing to nearly two feet, a A'ery handsomely coloured fish 

 when adult. The young are uniform green or olive, sometimes 

 j^ellow on the belly, but larger specimens are ornamented 

 with whitish or orange spots on the body, separated by a net- 

 work of the olive ground colour, and orange streaks on the 

 head ; some are orange or brick-red above. The Striped 

 Wrasse (L. mixiiis) is also a handsome fish, but does not exceed 

 a length of nine inches ; the male is blue and yellow or orange 

 with interrupted pale blue streaks, while the female lacks 

 the blue colour, but has two to four black or blackish spots 

 on the back, at the base of the dorsal fin and on the caudal 

 peduncle (Fig. 2). The Goldsinny (L. nielops) is distinguished by 

 a dark, red or blue spot on the side of the head behind the eye, 

 a black spot on the caudal peduncle, and the reddish or green 

 body is ornamented with vermicular red, purplish or dark 

 brown stripes or longitudinal series of spots. It is impossible 

 to convey in a few words an idea of the extraordinary range 

 of colour-variation which obtains in these fishes, even on the 

 same individual according to its surroundings. The Rock-cod 

 [Centrolabrus exoletns) is a rarer and smaller fish, onh? four or 

 five inches long, reddish brown or orange in colour, with pale 

 blue fines on the sides of the head. The habit Wrasses have 

 of sleeping, Ijdng down on one side, is well known, and has 

 often been witnessed in aquariums, especially at night. These 

 fishes brfild nests for the protection of their eggs and the 

 minute fry that issue from them ; the nests are made of sea- 

 weeds, zoophytes, corals, broken shells, etc., and are found in 

 sprmg and early summer in crevices of rock, both the male and 

 the female taking part in their construction and later in watching 

 over their progeny. The food of Wrasses consists chiefly of 

 crustaceans and molluscs, fragments of the shells of which are 

 often found in their stomachs. 



The Fifteen-spined Stickleback (Gastrosteus spinachia) is 

 also in the habit of making nests, which are, in this case, the 

 work of the male alone. The nest, six to ten inches in length, 

 is elegantly constructed of seaweed interwoven by threads 

 secreted by the kidneys, and hangs suspended, usually from the 

 frond of a wrack or fucus, in a sheltered rock-pool between 

 tide-marks. When the nest is finished, in May or June, the 

 male entices the female to enter it to deposit her eggs, which 



