THE WRASSE-LIKE FISHES 
237 
Photo by W, Saville- Kent^ F,Z.S.~\ 
BLACK-SPOTTED PARROT-FISH 
The flesh of some of the Parrot-’zvrasses is of great delicacy 
pense incurred by Elipentius 
was justified, in the opinion 
of the Roman gourmands, by 
the extreme delicacy of the 
flesh. It was a fish, said the 
poet, whose very excrement 
the gods themselves were 
unwilling to reject. Its flesh 
was tender, agreeable, sweet, 
easy of digestion, and quickly 
assimilated ; yet, if it happened 
to have eaten an aplysia, it 
produced violent diarrhoea.” ekutoby w.saviiu-Kent^f.z.s.'] iMU/ord-onSia 
To this day the Greeks hold 
it in high regard, and eat it 
with sauce made of its liver 
and intestines. It feeds on seaweed, and from its habit of thoroughly chewing its food, and 
moving it backwards and forwards in the mouth, it was at one time believed that this fish 
chewed the cud after the fashion of the ruminating mammals ! 
One of the most interesting of all the wrasses is a small species from King George’s 
Sound, which, while retaining the principal characters common to the group, has assumed 
the general shape and proportions of the pipe-fish. 
The third family of the wrasses are remarkable chiefly on account of the fact that they 
produce their young alive. These fishes are confined to the temperate regions of the North Pacific. 
The Chromids constitute the last family of the wrasse-like group. Numerous in species, 
they are all dwellers in fresh-water. One species occurs in amazing numbers in the Lake of 
Galilee, shoals over an acre in extent, and so closely packed that movement seemed almost 
impossible, having been recorded. They are taken in such enormous numbers that the nets 
in which they are caught often break. Occasionally shoals are carried down the Jordan into 
the Dead Sea ; but the fish never get farther than a few yards, becoming stupefied almost 
at once, and, turning over on their backs, fall an easy prey to flocks of cormorants and 
kingfishers. Heaps of putrefying carcases are washed. ashore, poisoning the atmosphere, in spite 
of the presence of flocks of ravens and vultures which have gathered to the feast. 
Another species is remarkable for its peculiar method of protecting the eggs and young. 
The female deposits the eggs, over 200 in number, in a small hole worked out among the 
roots of reeds and rushes. There they are taken into the mouth of the male one by 
one, and retained till hatched 
a few days later. The young 
fry remain in this nursery 
for some considerable time, 
increasing rapidly in size, so 
that the father-nurse is unable 
to close his mouth. Some of 
the young develop among 
the gills ; others lie, closely 
packed, with their heads 
turned towards the mouth of 
the parent, remaining in this 
position till nearly 4 inches 
Phot) by H. y. Leiimanni iNew ro^i, loiig, wlieu they are ejected 
A WRASSE or wriggle out to forage for 
The majoritf of the Wrasses are brilliantly coloured themselveS. 
16 
