14 
PISCES THORACICI. LABRUS, 
No. CXIX. 
Labrus pinna caudali medio sub-truncata; maxillis apice bipartatis; linea lateralis ramosa, 
interrupta; pinnis vittis cceruleis. 
The Labrus with the tail somewhat truncate in the middle; the maxillae divided at the 
point; the lateral line ramous, and interrupted; pale blue fillets on the dorsal, anal, 
and caudal fins. 
Called by the Natives Sahnee Moia. 
IO 2 
B. v. 2). ST. P. 15. V. 6. A. n. G. 16. 
The body oblong, compressed, most beautifully coloured; scales remarkably large, somewhat triangular, 
tenacious, the posterior edge rounded and striate. 
The bead large, rounded, compressed, and mostly naked; the front convex, smooth. The mouth middle, 
not large, transverse; lips thickish, blue. Jaws not extractile, equal, divided in the middle, as in the Tetraodon, 
rough in the inside, the margin somewhat serrate, and the outside tuberculate. Tongue ovate, fleshy, immove¬ 
able. Palate smooth. Eyes high, backward, small, orbicular, beautifully coloured, not prominent. Nostrils 
nearer the orbit than the rostrum, very small, oval. 
Opercula squamous, the posterior bluntly pointed, ciliate. Branchial membrane concealed; aperture large, 
arched, lateral, and gular. 
The trunk. The back and belly convex; the sides and tail compressed. Lateral line, at its origin from the 
upper part of the opercula, a very little arched, afterwards descends obliquely to near its termination at the 
middle of the caudal fin. Anus nearly middle, somewhat prominent. 
The fins. The dorsal long, not broad, occupies the whole of the back from the shoulder to within an inch of 
the caudal fin. It consists of 19 or 21 rays, of which nine resemble spines, but are soft and club-pointed; the 
others ramous : all are assurgent. The pectoral fins low, short, broad, acuminate at top. The ventral shorter, 
without any distinct spine; the anal assurgent, like the dorsal, with two or three similar club-pointed spines; the 
caudal is of an uncommon form, being a little convex in the middle, with a short inverted horn at each end. 
The colour. The beautiful colours of this fish, though more permanent than those of the dolphin, yet fade 
too quickly for the painter to sketch accurately, and it is next to impossible to describe them in words. 
The face greenish, the edges of the lips light blue, the throat and opercula have a faint reddish tint, the eye 
changeable blue, red, and white. The scales are greenish with yellow margins, but the back and posterior part 
of the tail are darkened by a purplish tint, while the sides towards the belly brighten and slide insensibly into 
a pale red; the breast is of a pale green. The lateral line is smooth and singularly ramous, consisting of a 
series of small obverted fusi-form roots, from which issue minute uniform branches. The edge and root of 
the dorsal fin are of a light blue, the membrane faint green and yellow; the pectoral fin a dark reddish; the 
ventral a yellowish red: the first ray in both blue; the anal faintly reddish, striped the whole length by three 
blue fillets; the sides of the caudal fin blue, the horns yellow, the membrane yellowish red, with cross, 
waving, blue, fillets. 
The length, including the caudal fin, one foot eight inches. 
REMARKS. 
The fishermen asserted that this fish very rarely appeared, which I was inclined to believe, from its having 
been brought to me once only. 
