252 ACANTHOPTERTGII. 



esteemed in southern Europe, where they form the chief ornament of the fish- 

 markets : Goris julis is known at Naples as Gazzillo di re. The Greeks asserted 

 that it is not easy to do justice to its flesh, to sufl5.ciently praise its trail is 

 impossible, and to throw away even its excrement a sin. 



Aristotle observed that like quadrupeds the wrasses ruminated during the day 

 and slept at night time. In some genera if one were hooked its friends bit 

 through the fisher's line, and were it enclosed in a net they introduced their tails 

 in order to assist escape. The male was supposed to keep watch over several 

 females whom he only left to their own devices for a few hours every evening 

 when he went to search for food for himself. The term wrass, by which these 

 fishes are generally known in Great Britain, is pronounced wrath or rath by the 

 fishermen of the west of England. Near the Lizard, Mr. Johns observes they 

 are termed raagh, which, as Couch rem.arks, m.ay be an ancient British word, 

 approaching to the Welsh gwrach, signifying an " old woman." 



The British genera of this family may be recognized as follows : — 



Dorsal spines 13 or more. 



1. Teeth in a single row : imbricate scales on cheeks and opercles. Anal 

 spines 3. Lateral-line exceeding 40 — Lahrus. 



2. Similar to Labrus, but the scales along the lateral-line are less than 40 — 

 Crenilabrus. 



3. Teeth in the jaws in a band : imbricate scales on cheeks and opercles. 

 Anal spines 3 — Gtenolabrus. 



4. Teeth in the jaws in a band . imbricate scales on cheeks and opercles. 

 Anal spines more than 3 — Acantholabrus. 



5. Teeth in the jaws in a single row : imbricate scales on cheeks and opercles. 

 Anal spines more than 3 — Gentrolabrus. 



B. Dorsal spines 9. 



6. Scales small : none on the head — Goris. 



Genus 1.— Labrus, Artedi. 



Branchiostegals five or six: pseiidobranchim present. Body oblong, compressed. 

 Snout more or less pointed. Preopercle entire in ad'ults, serrated in the young. 

 Teeth in a single row of conical ones in the jaws, without any posterior canine. A 

 single dorsal fin consisting of many rays, of loliieh 13 to 21 at least are spinous and 

 none are elongated. Anal ivitJi three spines and an equal number or less soft rays 

 than in the dorsal. Scales of moderate size, more than forty rows, those on the 

 cheehs and opercles being imbricate : bases of vertical fins scaled : no enlarged row 

 at the base of the caudal fin. Lateral-line continuous. 



Geographical distribution. — Along the shores of Europe, least in numbers to 

 the north. Pound at Madeira and adjacent coast of Africa, but most numerous 

 in the Mediterranean. 



1. Labrus maculatus, Plate LXX and LXXI. 



Labrus bergylta, Ascan. Ic. t. i ; Bonn. Atl. Ich. p. 115 ; Shaw, Zool. iv, 

 p. 521 ; Lacep. iii, pp. 444, 513 ; Guv. and Val. xiii, p. 20 ; Yarrell, Brit. 

 Fish. (Ed. 1) i, p. 275, c. fig. (Ed. 2) i, p. 311 (Ed. 3) i, p. 482 ; Miss. 

 Skan. Fauna, iv, p. 261 ; Kroyer, Dan Fiske, i, p. 476, c. fig. ; White 

 Catal. Brit. Fish. p. 20 ; Collett, Norges Fiske, p. 91, and Christ. Vid. 

 Selsb. Forh. 1879, p. 61 ; Winther, Ich. Dan. Mar. p. 25 ; Moreau, Pois. 

 France, iii, p. 81. 



Ballan wrasse, Pennant, Brit. Zool. (Ed. 1776) iii, p. 246, pi. xliv (Ed. 1812) 

 iii, p. 334, pi. Iv. The Wrasse, Low, Faun. Oread, p. 215. 



Labrus maculatus, Bl. vi, p. 17, t. ccxciv ; Bl. Schn. p. 250 ; Fries och Ekstr. 

 Skand. Fisk. p. 43, t. ii ; Jenyns, Manual, p. 391 ; Pamell, Wern. Mem. vii, 

 p. 266, and Fish. Firth of Forth, p. 96 ; Nilsson, Prod. p. 74 ; Cariisle, Pro. Zool. 



