6 
SCANDINAVIAN FISHES. 
group Julimna, while in others it is naked". Again, 
the covering of scales at the bases of the dorsal and 
anal tins, which is connected with the development of 
the tin-sheath that appears in certain genera of the 
wrasses and conceals the fins to a greater or less ex- 
tent, displays the same want of uniformity in the dif- 
ferent species of the tropical genus Callgodon b . The 
structure of the caudal tin might perhaps supply us 
with a more distinct generic character; but we shall 
find below, in the Rainbow Wrasse, a variation in this 
respect also. Such a diversity of form within the limits 
of the other genera confirms, with regard to this species 
also, the opinion of Fries, Sundevall and Lillje- 
borg that all the Scandinavian wrasses may be included 
in one genus. 
In other respects, both in the number of scales in 
the lateral line and of spinous rays in the dorsal fin, 
the Scale-rayed Wrasse most closely resembles the follow- 
ing species ( Labrus berggylta). But even in outward 
appearance it differs from this species, as well as from 
the Blue-striped Wrasse (Labrus mixtus ), as it has only 
4 rows of scales above the lateral line and the scales 
on the cheeks are larger. The body is noticeably 
elongate, and its greatest depth, about 7 4 of the length', 
is a little less than is the case with the Ballan Wrasse, 
so that in this respect it more closely resembles Labrus 
mixtus or Labrus rupestris. The least depth of the 
body is about 2 / 17 of the total length d , which in the 
Royal Museum’s specimen from Hittero in Norway is 
264 mm. Its greatest thickness of the body is about 
V, of the greatest depth. The relative length of the 
head is about the same as in the Ballan Wrasse, being 
about 2 / 7 of the total length'. The relative length of 
the snout is also nearly the same as in the Ballan 
Wrasse; but the eyes are considerably larger, as is 
natural in a fish that apparently lives in deep water. 
The horizontal diameter of the eye, which in older 
specimens is about 2 * / 3 of the least breadth of the inter- 
orbital space 7 , is about 5 * / 28 of the length of the head 7 . 
The relative length of the dorsal fin is only slightly 
greater than in the Ballan Wrasse, and the length of 
its base is about 8 / 17 of the total length h ; but the anal 
fin is comparatively much longer and more nearly 
corresponds to that of Labrus mixtus , its base being 
about 5 / 28 of the total length* and about half as much 
again as the least depth of the tail'. These fins are 
also fairly deep: the length of the longest spinous rays 
in the dorsal fin is ab* out 1 / 3 of the length of the head 
or 3 / 4 of the least depth of the tail*. That which de- 
serves special attention, however, is the shortness of the 
first ray of the dorsal fin. This peculiarity, as well as 
the somewhat high position of the lateral line on the 
back and its sudden downward sweep at the termination 
of the dorsal fin, the arrangement of the jaw-teeth, and 
the crenulated edge of the preoperculum, may all be 
observed in our figure'. The lips are fleshy and thickly 
covered with papillae, which also fringe the sides of 
the longitudinal folds beneath the lateral parts of the 
upper-lip. The tongue is flat with sharp sides. 
The colouring of the Scale-rayed Wrasse seems to 
be highly variable, to judge by the descriptions and 
figures of Risso m and Couch". Oberg describes it as 
follows: — «The colour of the body olive-brown on 
the back, on the belly lighter and yellowish without 
spots or stripes. The fins yellowish; a blackish-brown 
spot at the meeting of the soft and spinous parts of 
the dorsal fin, and a similar spot on the upper margin 
of the base of the caudal fin; the upper part of the 
spinous rays of the dorsal fin blackish-brown. » These 
spots, as well as the blackish-brown colour of the mem- 
branous flaps behind the spinous rays of the dorsal and 
ventral fins, are still distinct in the specimen preserved 
a Cf. Bleeker, Atlas Iclithyologique , I, Labr., p. 158. 
6 Cf. Bleeker, 1. c. p. 12. 
c Obs. Hereafter in this work, where nothing else is remarked, the »length of the body» always means the distance from the tip 
of the nose to the extremity of the middle caudal rays. In the Hittero specimen the depth is 24.2 % of the length. 
d In the Hittero specimen 11.7 %. 
e » » » 27.7 %. 
f » » » 65 /. 
j In the Hittero specimen 151.6 %. 
g In the Hittero specimeu 17.8 /. 
h » » » 47 °/o. * » » » 77.4 %. 
1 » » » 17.8 %. 
1 The figure also shows how the most superior and the most inferior of the caudal rays that extend to the extremity of this fin, are 
branched. The difference between the Scale-rayed Wrasse and the other Scandinavian species in this respect is expressed in the fin-formula 
given above. In the formula for the caudal fin (C) x stands for the number (very seldom uniform and almost impossible to fix without 
dissection) of supporting rays at the superior and inferior edges of the caudal fin, as well as for the two undivided rays, one at the superior 
and one at the inferior edge, which are really supporting rays, but usually extend to the extremity of the fin. 
m L. c. Cf. also Valenciennes, 1. c. 
n Hist. Fish. Brit. Isl., III, p. 38, tab. CXXIX. 
