14 
L A B 
eiteemed and' fought after by the earlieft civilized people 
of Europe ; it is found alfo in the Mediterranean, Sicily, 
and all the Grecian ifles. Its colour is vvhitifli, or livid 
mixed with red ; grows eight or ten inches long. The 
fcales are large, and very tranfparent; teeth blunt, fit 
for grinding the plants and weeds it tears from the rocks ; 
and this food it prefers to all other; a remarkable circum- 
ltance, which made ancient writers compare it to the ru¬ 
minating animals among quadrupeds; and home have gone 
fo far as to fay that it really chews the cud, and hence, 
according to Ariftotle, the Greeks called it fxr^vxav, the 
ruminating fifli. They go in fhoals. The Greek poet 
Oppian has lung their mutual affeftion, faying, that, 
when one is caught by a hook, one of his companions 
cuts the line for him to efcape; he adds, that if one of 
them is enclofed in a net, and endeavours to efcape tail 
foremoil, feVeral of them will aflift him by taking hold of 
his tail in their mouths; and particularly, that, when a 
female is caught, the males will expofe themfelves to the 
greateft dangers to effefl her liberation. In the earlielt 
times of our vulgar era, this fifii was known in the Ar¬ 
chipelago and lea then called the Carpathian, as far as the 
fir ft promontory of the Troacl ; from this place, in the 
time of Tiberius Claudius, a Roman admiral, called Op- 
tatus Elipertius, brought feveral of them alive, and put 
them in the lea along the fhores of Oltia and Campania. 
In five years, by adhering to the fimple precaution of al¬ 
ways throwing them back into the water when caught 
among other fifii, they became very plentiful along the 
Italian coails, where before they had never been feen. 
This fact is not uninterefting, inafmuch as it may ferve 
as a hint for the breeding, preferving, and multiplying, 
of fcarce fpecies of filh. Philoponus, the commentator of 
Ariftotle towards the end of the fixth or beginning of the 
feventh century, remarked, that this fifii produced a cer¬ 
tain found or noife, when, its head being above the fur- 
face, it fpouted the water brifkly out of its mouth. 
The Trigla and fome other fifin have been obferved to 
make a ruffling noife in certain fituations, and doubtlefs 
from the fame caufe, the aflion of the air. In the days of 
Roman luxury, this fifii was in great requeft. Martial 
tells us, that it was reckoned a delicacy at the moll fump- 
tuous tables ; that the liver was moll efteemed ; but that 
they ate the inteftines without cleaning them ; at which we 
need not fo much wonder (fince this animal feeds only 
on vegetables) as at modern gluttons who eat without 
cleaning fome forts of birds, called game, which are known 
to feed upon animal fubftances liable to real corruption. 
In the time of Rondeletius, this fifii, and its inteftines 
alfo, were ftill much relifhed ; he writes that it may be 
confidered as the firft among rock-fifh ; that the flefli is 
light, friable, eafy of digeftion, and pleafant to the tafte ; 
and that the bowels, which finould by no means be thrown 
away, fmell like violets. But the price paid for it at that 
time was much below what was given at ancient Rome 
in the time of Pliny ; it made a part of a dilh in which 
the rareft delicacies were combined, ferved up to the em¬ 
peror Viteliius in a veil'd, which from its fize was called 
Minerva’s fliield ; here the inteftines of the fcarus were 
mingled with the brains of pheafants and peacocks, the 
tongues of flamingos, and the roes of the muraena. This 
fifii will feed alfo upon land-plants, or vegetables; it is of¬ 
ten caught with a bait of a bean or pea leaf, &c. 
17. Labrus Cretenfis, the Grecian wrafle: the dorfal fin 
without fpiny rays, body greenifli, teeth 4. There are 
four rays in the membrane of the gills, 16 in the pectoral 
fin, 6 in the ventral, 11 in the anal, 18 in the tail, and 
20 in the dorfal. The head is large, Hoping, and covered 
with fcales; the lips are thick, the jaws ferrated; near the 
corner of the mouth there are three recurved fpines, by 
means of which the fifii when hooked becomes more lately 
fecured. The noftrils are round, fmall, fingle, and near 
the eyes. The gills have a very wide aperture, and the 
membrane is partly concealed. The fcales are very large, 
and imbricated or furrowed. The lateral line originates 
R U S. 
from the upper part of the operculum, keeps near the 
back, and marks every fcale it pafies over with from three 
to fix Itreaks of dark brown. The anus is in the middle 
of the body. The back and head are dark green, the 
fides lighter, the belly yellow. The fins are yellow, but 
green at the extremities. The pupil of the eye is black ; 
the irides are double, white and green. The fins have 
ftrong rays, but not fpiny, and are ramified ; the ventral 
fins are farther from the head than the pefilorals. The 
idea that this filh is found in the waters of Greece has no 
other foundation than the name of Cretenfis given it by 
Aldrovandus; it is placed among the fifties of India by 
Renard, Bloch, See. 
18. Labrus anthias, the gruntling wrafle : the fecond 
fpine of the dorfal fin is long; body reddilh. There are 
five rays in the membrane of the gills, 40 in the pectoral 
fin, i in the ventral, | in the anal, 13 in the tail, in 
the dorfal. The head is fliort, comprefled, and covered 
with fcales. The mouth opens upwards ; the under jaw 
is fomewhat longer than the upper, each armed with a 
row of fharp teeth, bent back, and Handing apart, the in¬ 
tervals filled with fliort teeth very clofe like pins. The 
tongue is fmooth ; but the throat is exafperated by two 
bones rough like a file. The noftrils are fingle, and near 
the eyes ; the pupil of the eye is black, the iris gold-co¬ 
lour. The bones of the lips are broad, and iurniflied 
with fmall fcales : the front operculum is ferrated, and 
the branchial membrance is partly loole. The body is 
narrow ; the lateral line runs near the back, but is inter¬ 
rupted at the end of the dorfal fin; and the anus is nearer 
the tail than the head. The fins are in general long, ef- 
pecially thofe of the anus and tail, and all end in a point, 
but the tail is bifurcated; the foft rays are ramified. The 
long fpine in”the dorfal fin has fome faint refemblance to 
a razor, and has gained this filh the name, among others, 
of the barber. A pale red tint {hades the hard filvery 
fcales. From fome peculiarities in conformation, Gme- 
lin fuppofes this may belong to the Perea genus ; but 
Bloch has placed it at the head of a genus of his own for¬ 
mation, Anthias, the gruntling. Cepede derives anthias 
from avGo?, a flower, on account of its beauty; with this 
the names given it by the ancients agree. It was called 
alfo the facred jijh ; and it was faid that no noxious animal 
would be found in the fame w'aters; therefore bathers and 
divers might fafely defeend to the bottom of the fea 
wherever this privileged animal reforled. This fifii 
haunts the Mediterranean ; as the Greek/writers have given 
deferiptions of it in detail, it mull be common in the wa¬ 
ters of Greece. According to Ariftotle and Pliny, it is 
of the gregarious kind. Oppian fays it keeps in the fea 
between rocks, and only comes out to feek for its food, 
which conlifis of young fifii, particularly fliell-fifli; this 
writer alfo gives a long account of the manner of catch¬ 
ing them ; wolf’s flefli is a good bait ; from his deferip- 
tion of the fifliery, and the comparifon which Elian 
makes of it with the tunny, it mull attain to a confidera- 
ble fize. It is faid to be very voracious. From its not 
being able to bite the line in two, Oppian was led to con¬ 
clude it bad no teeth ; but the want of llrength in the 
teeth was the only reafon; they are like a fmall file. 
19. Labrus hepatus, the hepatus: lower jaw the longeft, 
tranfverfe black lines on each fide the body. The dorfal 
fin has rays, pedtorals 13, ventrals 6, anal 9. The 
fnout is pointed, teeth fmall ; a triangular fpace in the 
palate is rough with fmall afperities. There is a black 
ipot on the dorfal fin behind the fpinous rays. It inha¬ 
bits the Mediterranean, and fome rivers which run into 
the Adriatic. 
20. Labrus grifeus, the grey wrafle: tail femilunar, but 
very little hollowed out; body pale grey. Inhabits North 
America ; Catelby has figured it without pefloral fins. 
21. Labrus catenula, the beaded wrafle : lower jaw 
longeft, eight rows of little round fpots like beads on each 
fide the body; two ftripes acrofs the hind head; the back 
raifed ; ^ rays in the dorfal fin; fix large teeth in the 
1 upper ' 
