20 
SCANDINAVIAN FISHES. 
black spots. On the sides, below the lateral line, are 
several large, dark spots, transversely situated, the last 
of which lies near the caudal tin and is generally the 
darkest. — These markings disappear very soon after 
death, if the dish be preserved in weak alcohol, the 
whole body assuming an almost uniform grayish colour. 
But the blackish spot behind the eye always remains 
and becomes more distinct and even apparently larger 
than in living specimens. As a rule too, but not al- 
ways, a slight trace remains of the dark spot by the 
caudal fin. 
In Bohuslan the Gilt-head is not so common as the 
preceding species, though, according to Malm, more so 
than the Ballan Wrasse. To judge by the fact that it 
occurs more frequently on the Danish coast, this fish, 
as Avell as the Goldsinny, seems to thrive equally well 
off shores where the bottom is loose and rocky coasts, 
provided that the algae are not too scanty. Retzius 
says that the Gilt-head is found off the North of Scania. 
According to Nilsson, Kkoyer, and Winther it is 
common in the southern part of the Cattegat and in 
the Sound, as far as Ivjoge. Tkybom" states that it is 
caught together with the Goldsinny in the northern part 
of Oresund, where it is used as bait, chiefly for cod- 
fishing. According to Mobius and Heincke it occurs, 
though seldom, at Kiel. Farther up the Baltic it has 
not been observed. Off Norway it goes, according to 
Collett and Storm, at least as far as the Fjord of 
Trondhjem. It also occurs along the whole west coast 
of Europe, off the shores of England and Ireland, and 
also in the Mediterranean. No Icelandic species of 
Labrus is known to us. 
The food of the Gilt-head consists of crayfish, mol- 
lusks, etc. In its stomach Lilljeborg has found frag- 
ments of Carcinus mcenas , Littorina, and Mytilus. 
The spawning season, according to Kroyer, occurs 
in July. This same author relates, as observed by him, 
a circumstance which seems to show that a true pairing 
occurs in this species and that during that season the 
fish keep in pairs. He says that two specimens had 
been seen repeatedly, during an observation of some 
length, darting out of the seaweed by a jetty, pursuing 
each other, then suddenly turning the ventral sides 
towards each other and remaining for a while in this 
position. They then separated and again hid themselves 
in the seaweed, but only to reappear again after a short 
time and repeat these actions. A blackish papilla just 
behind the vent, which is perforated at the point and 
several times larger in the female than in the male, is 
thought to have served on this occasion as the organ 
of copulation, and a true penetration is supposed thus 
to have occurred. (Sundevall, Smitt.) 
Subfamily JULIDIME 
To the brief diagnosis given above (p. 4) after 
Gunther * 6 , we may here add that the Julidince are by 
no means inferior to the true wrasses in brilliancy of 
colouring, but rather surpass them, and are also far 
richer in variety of form. In the Atlantic, however, 
they are comparatively rare, though some species are 
represented in the West Indies and also occur in the 
Mediterranean. One of these Mediterranean fishes, Coris 
julis , has also spread into the Atlantic, but is rare 
even off the coasts of France and England. On two 
occasions, however, it has wandered into Scandinavian 
waters. 
a Grt. Internat. Fisheries Exhib., London 1883, Special Catalogue for Sweden, p. 132. 
6 Brit. Mus. Cat., Fish., IV, pag. 66. 
