608 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [10] 



dd. [Coloration brown, reticulated with chestnut, each scale with a pale cen- 

 ter; dark spots before and behind eye; fins spotted or plain; a silvery 

 lateral band sometimes present.] (Giinther.) Otherwise as in preced- 

 ing, of which it is probably a variety, though its coloration is more like 



that of L. viridis Nubilus, 7. 



<cc. Body rather elongate, the depth less than the length of the head ; depth 3§ in 

 length; head about 3£, snout rather long, about 2f in head; eye small, 

 6 in head, not so broad as scaly part of cheek ; interorbital width about 

 half snout ; dorsal spines not much lower than the soft rays ; ground color 

 chiefly green, of varying shade; a silvery or paler longitudinal band 

 always present, but sometimes interrupted or obscured; sides usually 

 spotted with blue ; blue or pearl colored ocelli sometimes present on the 

 vertical fins ( var. festivus), or on body and fins (prasostictus), or reduced 



to blue spots (viridis) „ Viridis, 8. 



aa. Scales comparatively small, 50 to 55 in the lateral line ; dorsal rays XVII to XVIII, 

 11 to 13; anterior canines |, the lateral canines somewhat smaller; body 

 elongate, the depth considerably less than length nf head; depth 4; head 

 3; snout very long and sharp, 2£ in head, about twice the interorbital 

 space; eye large, 4| in head, considerably wider than scaly part of 

 cheek; maxillary long, 2* in head, the mouth longer than in the other 

 species; dorsal spines slender, little lower than the soft rays. Colora- 

 tion extremely various, the sexes unlike; a large dark blue blotch on 

 front of spinous dorsal in both sexes, this largest in the males; 

 caudal and anal with blue margins ; males usually with a broad dusky 

 lateral band or else with blue longitudinal streaks; females nearly plain, 

 reddish, with three or four large blackish blotches along base of soft 

 dorsal and back of caudal peduncle, these very obscure in the male; 

 sometimes a dark shade at base of caudal Bimaculatus, 9. 



4. LABRUS BERGGYLTA. 

 (Bergle ; Ballan- Wrasse ; Old- Wife.) 



Labrus berggylta Ascanius, "Icones, t. 1, 1772;" Collett, Norges Fiske, 1775, 91, and 

 of numerous writers. 



Labrus berg-galt Miiller, " Zool. Danica Prodromus, 46, 1776." 



Labrus maculatus Bloch, Ichthyol., vi, 17, t. 294, 1792; Giinther, iv, 70; Steindachner, 

 Ichth. Berichte, 1868, 27; Day, British Fishes, 252, and of numerous authors. 



Labrus ballan Walbaum, Artedi Pise, 259, 1792 (after the Ballan-wrasse of Pen- 

 nant). 



Labrus tinea Lacdpede, Hist. Nat. Poiss, iii, 439, 1802 (not of Linnaeus). 



Labrus neustria; Lac^pede, 1. c, 501 (Rouen). 



Labrus lineatus Turton, ''British Fauna, 99, 1807." 



Lab) 'us cornubiensis Couch, "Trans. Linn. Soc, xiv, 80," 1832. 



Labrus pusillus Jenyns, "Man. Brit. Vert., 1835, 392" (Young). 



Crenilabrus multidentatus Thompson, "Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1837, 56" (Young). 



Labrus variabilis Thompson, "Proc. Zool. Soc, London, 1837, 58." 



Habitat. — Coasts of Europe, from Norway to the Mediterranean, most 

 abundant northward. 



Etymology : The Norwegian name of the fish, from berg, cliff. 



This species is abundant on the rocky coasts of northern Europe. It 

 is excessively variable iu color, like most of the members of the family. 

 We have examined specimens in the fish market of Bergen. The syn- 

 onymy above given is chiefly on the authority of Giinther and Day. 



