WRASSES. 
19 
Labrus melops , with one old manuscript label and another printed 
one, »Labrus melops», still exists in the Royal Museum of Stockholm, 
where it has been brought together with the rest of the old Drott- 
ningholm collections described by Linn^sus in Mus. Regis et Regince. 
He states further that it exactly corresponds to the northern Labrus 
norvegicus and Labrus rone, and has, like them, only 5 branchiostegal 
rays, though LinNjEUS has given 6 in his description of the species in 
Mus. Ad. Fr., as well as in the generic characters in Syst. Nat. 
(following Artedi). 
Adult specimens of this fish are about 210 mm. 
in length. The body is deeper than in the other Scan- 
dinavian wrasses. The greatest depth, which is the line 
from the base of the ventral to the beginning of the 
dorsal fin, is a little less than 1 / 3 of the length of the 
body — in the adult it is 1 / 3 of the distance from the 
tip of the snout to a point in the caudal fin 1 / 3 of the 
distance along it. The length of the head is from 3 /io 
to 4 /i 3 °f the length of the body, in younger specimens 
a little greater in proportion. It is deep and short, 
the superior and inferior profiles being almost perpen- 
dicular to each other, when the mouth is closed. The 
mouth, when closed, is obliquely rounded and turned 
slightly upwards, as the inferior profile of the head 
rises more sharply than the superior profile slopes. The 
eye is small, and, as in the Ballan Wrasse, its inferior 
margin is considerably above the median line of the 
body. Its distance from the tip of the snout, when the 
5 5 
mouth is closed, is from ^ to g of its diameter. The 
nostrils are placed as in the other wrasses. As we have 
just mentioned, the mouth is placed high up, and it is 
smaller than in the rest of the Scandinavian Avrasses, 
except the Small-mouthed Wrasse, for it does not extend 
to the middle point between the eye and the snout. 
The lips are thick but comparatively short, and the 
jaAvs equal in length. The teeth are conical, obtuse, 
strong and set close together; there are 5 or 6 on each 
side in the upper jaAv and about 8 in the lower. As 
usual the teeth diminish in size as they recede; the 
middle pair, Avhich in the upper jaw are a little apart, 
are in both jaAvs the largest. The preopercular margin 
is more sharply denticulated than in the other Scandi- 
navian Avrasses, and has about 50 small serrations. 
The scales are large and square or almost penta- 
gonal, Avith rounded corners. When they are pentagonal, 
the fifth side is formed by the free posterior edge, which 
is sharply rounded. The lateral line, which is parallel 
to the dorsal line and bends sharply at the end of the 
dorsal fin, contains about 34 scales (36 or 37 if Ave 
include the scales above the gill-cover). Above the 
lateral line there are 4 rows of scales, beloAv it 10 or 
II. The vent is about half-way between the tip of 
the snout and the end of the tail, i. e., a little in 
front of or behind the middle point, under the 12th or 
13th dorsal spine. 
The fins are of the same structure as in the spe- 
cies already described. The dorsal fin commences right 
over the posterior edge of the gill-cover, 'and its length 
is equal to 1 / 2 the length of the body minus the. caudal 
fin. It has 25 rays, 16 of Avhich are hard and somewhat 
15 16 
pungent, and 9 branched, seldom y or y; the first 
soft ray is sometimes undivided. The first spinous ray 
is, as a rule, hardly 2 / 3 of the third or fourth in length, 
Avhile the second is only a little shorter than they. The 
anal fin is a little deeper posteriorly than the cor- 
responding part of the dorsal fin. It contains 3 spinous 
rays, the first of which is a little more than half as 
long as the third, and 10 or sometimes 9 soft rays, 
the first of Avhich is generally (the second sometimes) 
undivided or at any rate branched only at the extreme 
tip. The caudal fin is rounded, short, not quite 1 / 6 of 
the total length, and scaly at the base. It admits of 
only slight expansion, as is the case throughout the 
genus. There are 11 perfect rays Avhich are branched 
several times, 6 above the lateral line and 5 beloAv it; 
and also, at the upper and lower margins, one simple 
and somewhat shorter ray, and 3 or 4 small, rudimen- 
tary (supporting) rays. The pectoral fin is inserted 
beloAv the second ray of the dorsal fin; it is flatly 
rounded, is a little more than 1 / G of the total length, and 
contains 15 (sometimes 14) rays, the first of Avhich is 
very short (at most x / g , generally less than Vs °f the 
length of the fin) and simple, but soft and closely unit- 
ed to the second, which is also unbranched; the 4th, 
5th, and 6th are the longest. The ventral fin is oblong, 
commences just behind the base of the pectoral fin, and 
is 3 / 4 of that fin in length. It contains, as usual, 6 
rays, the 3d and 4th of Avhich are the longest, the 1st 
being spinous and not quite 2 / 3 of the 3rd in length. 
The colouring, as in all the species of the genus, 
is handsome but variable. The body of the Gilt-head, 
immediately after its capture, is greenish, blue on the 
back and Avith the edges of the scales throughout yelloAv- 
ish. The head is yelloAvish with crooked, green lines, 
and betAveen the latter, at the posterior orbital margin, 
is an almost black spot. The fins are spotted Avith 
yellow, green and blue, but are Avithout any distinct 
