FISHES—LABRIDAE—JULIS MODESTUS. 
163 
JULIS MODESTUS, Grd. 
Spec. Char.— Body slender, elongated, and much compressed. Head sub-conical. Eye large and sub-circular. Angle of the 
mouth not reaching the anterior rim of the orbit. Isthmus very narrow. Origin of dorsal fin situated opposite the base of the 
pectorals. Insertion of ventrals placed under the postero-inferior edge of the base of the pectorals. Caudal posteriorly sub¬ 
truncated. Rufous brown above, yellowish upon the sides, and dull white or yellow beneath. Anterior seven dorsal spiny rays 
provided with a basal black spot. A black blotch at the base of the caudal fin. 
Syn. —Julis modestus, Grd. ni Proc. Acad. Nat. Sc. Philad. VII, 1854, 151. 
The body is elongated, slender, very much compressed, sub-fusiform in its profile, and 
tapering away from the origin of the anal fin. The largest specimen which we have examined 
measured seven inches in total length, and in which the greatest depth, taken upo^i the middle 
of the abdomen, enters between five and six times. The head is sub-conical, constituting nearly 
the fifth of the entire length of the fish. The eye is rather well developed, circular in shape, 
its diameter entering about four times and a half in the length of the side of the head. The 
mouth is moderate sized, its cleft nearly horizontal, the jaws being equal, and the posterior 
extremity of the maxillary extending to a vertical line drawn about midway between the 
extremity of the snout and the centre of the pupil. The teeth are sub-conical, slender, and 
tapering, the anterior ones considerably more developed than the rest, and behind which a 
second row may be observed, short and tuberculiform. The edge of the opercular bones is 
thin and entire, the preopercle exhibiting a membranous expansion extending superiorly beyond 
the insertion of the pectorals, whilst the sub and inter-opercle cover entirely the branchiostegals, 
of which there are four on either side. The branchial apertures themselves are wide and sub- 
continuous under the throat. A perpendicular line dropped from the origin of the dorsal fin 
would intersect the base of the pectorals. The rays of the dorsal fin itself are slender, 
especially the spinous ones, which increase gradually in height, whilst the others are almost 
equal, with a tendency in the posterior ones of being more elevated. The origin of the anal is 
situated opposite the eleventh or twelfth dorsal ray, and extends a little further back, although 
the tip of its posterior rays do not reach the base of the caudal fin. Its depth is nearly equal 
to the height of the soft portion of the dorsal. The caudal, which is posteriorly sub-truncated, 
enters about six times and a half in the total length. The insertion of the ventral fins 
corresponds to a vertical line drawn immediately behind the base of the pectorals ; they are 
rather small and slender, and composed exclusively of soft and articulated rays. The pectorals 
are much larger than the ventrals, extending considerably more backwards than the latter, 
neither of which reaching the vent, placed at the anterior margin of the anal fin. 
Br. IY: IY ; D IX, 13 ; A 15 ; C 3, 1, 6, 6, 1, 3 ; Y 6 ; P 12. 
The scales are very large, longer than deep, with radiating grooves upon their anterior and 
posterior sections, which are more developed than the lateral sections. The lateral line follows 
the third rows of scales from the supra-scapular region to near the terminus of the dorsal fin, 
where it falls to the middle of the peduncle of the tail, which it follows to the caudal fin. 
The color is dark rufous brown above, of a lighter hue upon the sides, and dull whitish 
yellow beneath. A black spot may be observed at the base of the seven anterior dorsal spiny 
rays, and a similar blotch at the base of the caudal fin. The pectorals, ventrals, and anal fin are 
yellowish olive, the dorsal and caudal being olivaceous. 
