112 THE ANCIENT WEASSE. 



since that time the species has become increasingly 

 common. 



The fishermen call this, as well as other species of 

 the same genus, by the name of Conner. They take 

 it chiefly with hook and line on rocky ground, and as 

 the hook often catches the fish by its thick fleshy lips, 

 no material injury is suffered by it. Hence I get spe- 

 cimens of remarkable beauty brought to me alive and 

 in health, notwithstanding the small dimensions of 

 the vessel in which they are held, perhaps a slop- 

 basin, or some three or four in a little mess-kid, barely 

 wide enough to allow them to turn. But this genus 

 is very hardy, and one of the most easily kept in an 

 Aquarium ; a fortunate circumstance, seeing that the 

 splendour of several of our species is such as can 

 scarcely be exceeded by the most richly-tinted deni- 

 zens of the tropical seas. 



Great variety in the hues, and in their arrangement 

 or pattern, is displayed by the Ancient Wrasse. Two 

 specimens can scarcely be found exactly alike. Eed 

 and green are the ordinary hues, sometimes pretty 

 equally balanced, at others the one hue predominating 

 almost to the exclusion of the other. The colours too 

 run through various gradations ; the red from orange 

 to scarlet, blood-red, and crimson ; the green from 

 blue to sea-green, grass-green, olive and brown. One 

 of the most beautiful varieties that I have seen, and 

 one not uncommon, is that in which the green is 

 almost obliterated, appearing only on the head and 

 shoulders ; while the body, brown above, softening to 

 silver-white on the sides and belly, is covered by 

 a net-work pattern of deep vermilion, the meshes 



