LAB 
upper jaw. Tills and the following were firft made known 
by Commerfcn, and are defcribed from his MSS. for he 
left toothers the care ofpublilhinghis valuable difcoveries. 
They are found in the great Indian Gulf, and the feas 
communicating therewith. 
22. Labrus longiroftris, the long-nofed wrafle : fnout 
very long ; operculum double, not fcaly. There are ~ 9 
rays in the dorfal fin, yL in the anal. There are four or 
five longitudinal (tripes, and three or four rows of very 
fmall lpots, diltant from each other, on each fide the body ; 
in this refpeCt refembling the preceding. 
23. Labrus Thunberg, Thunberg’s wrafle : the rays 
of the dorfal fin reaching beyond the membrane; the 
lower jaw rather the longelt; the bending of the back and 
belly leflens at the end of the dorfal and anal fins. There 
are 6 rays in the membrance of the gills ; the dorfal fin 
has 12 fpines and 11 flexible rays, peCtoral fins 15, ven- 
trals 6, anal 11, tail 19. Four teeth in each jaw larger 
than the reft ; fcales brown edged with white. Found at 
Japan by Thunberg, who called it a Scisena, on account 
of the dorfal rays reaching beyond the membrane; but, 
not having fcales on the head, it cannot belong to that 
genus. It is a doubtful fpecies. Cepede has placed it here. 
24. Labrus gallus, the poifonous wrafle : tail-fin fork¬ 
ed, but truncate in the middle; violet lines at the bafe of 
the dorfal and anal; lower lip with a doubling on each 
fide. The membrane of the gills has 5 rays, the dorfal -/y, 
peCtorals 14, ventrals 6, anal 3 fpines, 14 or 15 rays in all, 
the caudal 15 rays. Eyes remote, iris green, the edge of 
the pupil red ; teeth in one row, the middle ones larger 
and remote, the reft contiguous ; lateral line a little 
branched, bent downwards near the end of the dorfal fin; 
peCtoral fins oval, blue, the middle violet; ventral blue, 
the fecond ray ending in a long thread ; dorfal and anal 
blue at the outer edge ; tail yellow in the middle, violet 
towards the fides, and edged with blue. Inhabits Arabia, 
and is accounted poifonous; body dulky-green with vio¬ 
let lines all over the body ; belly with two blue ftripes, 
and a green one in the middle ; fcales lax, ftriate, mem¬ 
branaceous at the edge, and marked with a tranl’verfe pur¬ 
ple band. Forfkal firft obferved this fifh, and placed it, 
and the three following, in the Scarus genus; Cepede 
has it in a genus of his own creating, Ofphronemus, of 
which the character is, the firft ray of the ventral fin .fpi¬ 
nous, the i’econd a long filament. 
25. Labrus purpureus, the purple wrafle: caudal fin 
truncate in the middle; dorfal and anal with a longitudi¬ 
nal purple reflected ftripe at the bafe. The dorfal fin has 
rays, peCtorais 15, ventrals 6, anal 14, tail 12. Crown 
convex, naked, brown, with a purple triangle each fide 
before the eyes; eyes fmall, remote, iris purple; lips ob- 
tufe, equal, the upper protractile ; teeth ftrong, in one 
row', the tw’o middle ones larger, remote; before the 
tranfverfe noftriis a round foramen with a cirrhus ; gill- 
coverts naked, with a fquare purple lpot at the hinder edge 
of the pofterior; peCloral and dorfal fins green, the tip of 
the former with a large lunar black lpot; anal and ventrals 
blue ; tail green, with purple fpots; lateral line branched. 
Inhabits Arabia; one foot and a half long; body lance- 
truncate, duiky-green with three purple ftripes each fide, 
beneath blue ; fcales broad rhombic, ftriate, loofely im¬ 
bricate ; fle(h good. 
26. Labrus plittacus, the green-and-purple wrafle : tail 
truncate in the middle ; edge of the fins, abdominal 
ftripe, and marks on the head, blue. The membrane 
of the gills has 5 rays, dorfal fin 20, pectorals 13, 
ventrals 6, anal 10, tail 12 ; no fpinous rays in the fins of 
this and the following. Inhabits Arabia ; body green- 
i(h, with yellowifh lines ; fcales ftriate. Eyes fmall, re¬ 
mote; jaws of tw’o bones, the lower with one tooth each 
fide, upper three ; gill-covert with loofe fcales; lateral line 
(lightly branched, double, the firft near the back, the 
other in the middle ; fins purple. 
27. Labrus niger, the black wrafle: tail truncate in the 
middle; a dulky-green longitudinal ltripe down the chin. 
R U S. 13 
Five rays in the membrane of the gills, 20 in the dorfal 
fin, 14 in each peCtoral, 6 in each ventral, 12 in the anal, 
and 13 iii the tail. Inhabits Arabia. Body dark brown; 
head with greenilh-browm lines ; jaws, which are bifid, 
blotches on the head, and outer edge of the fins, blue- 
green ; lips edged with red, then greeni(h brown ; teeth 
in the upper jaw two, canine, white, and many (mailer 
within. Fins violet-brown; peCtoraisobfcure, ferruginous,-, 
brown at the bafe ; tail greenifli, the angles lanceolate. 
Lateral line double, ramentaceous; opercula fcaly,. as in 
the Sciasna. 
28. Labrus chanus, the ruffed wrafle : head with three 
bluifh rivulets on each fide, a fquare blue fpot under each 
eye. Ten fpinous, 25 in all, rays in the dorfal fin, 15 in 
each peCtoral, 6 in each ventral, -j% in the anal, amt 17 
in the caudal. Found by Foriical at Conftantinople. 
Above brown ; beneath white. Lower jaw longer than 
the upper; between the eyes are two furrows, diverging 
behind ; anteriorgill-coverts ferrate behind, pofterior three¬ 
toothed. PeCtoral, ventral, and anal, fins yellow; dorfal 
and caudal fpotted with red. 
29. Labrus operculatus, the brown-patch wi;affe : 10 
brown bands round the body ; a brown fpot or patch on 
each operculum. The dorfal fin has rays, each peCto¬ 
ral 16, ventrals 6, the anal caudal 16. Inhabits Alia, 
efpecially the great Indian Gulf. It has feveral little 
black fpots on the back part of the head. 
30. Labrus auritus, the eared wrafle : the gill-coverts 
lengthened out into the ftiape of fins, by means of a long 
obtufe black membrane. The rays are, in the dorfal 
fin; 15 in the peCtorais, 6 in the ventrals, in the 
anal, 17 in the caudal. This and the following are 
found both in the frefti and fait waters of North Ame¬ 
rica. Iris yellow ; tail bilobated. Defcribed by Dr. 
Garden. 
31. Labrus falcatus, the fickle-finned labrus: dorfal 
and anal fins falcate; the five firft rays unarmed. The 
dorfal fin has rays, the peCtorais have 17 each, the ven¬ 
trals five, the anal and the caudal 20. Teeth lharp 5 
colour filvery; ventral fins fmall. 
32. Labrus oyena, the oyena: body filvery like the pre¬ 
ceding; from two to five of the firft rays of the dorfal fin 
nearly unarmed. The dorfal fin has rays, the peCto¬ 
rais 15, the ventrals the anal the tail 16. In¬ 
habits the fandy (bores of Arabia; above fix inches 
long. Body oblong ; belly ftraight; fometimes painted 
with red interrupted ftripes. Lips equal, the upper pro¬ 
tractile ; teeth numerous, very fliort; lateral line nearer 
the back, and nearly parallel; tail two-lobed, the lobes lan¬ 
ceolate ; fins glaucous. 
33. Labrus gomphofus, the nail-fnouted labrus : fnout 
lengthened out like a nail or pin ; colour entirely blue. 
There are fix rays in the membrane of the gills, in the 
dorfal fin, 14 in the peCtorais, fix in each ventral, (the 
fecond ray lengthened into a filament,) —■ in the anal, 
and 14 in the tail, which is deeply lunated. Com- 
merfon has defcribed this fifh in his manufcripts under 
the name of Elops, which, being already appropriated to 
a genus of abdominal fifties, Cepede has changed to Gom- 
phofis, each of them (yop c; and exprefling the ftiape 
of the fnout. It is ot the fize of a tench ; its whole fur- 
face is blue without any fpot, fomewdiat darker on the 
peCtoral fins, but very light on the reft. The eye has 
different (hades of blue; the pupil is enclofed in a white 
circle, round which runs the iris, which is of a bright 
emerald or aqua marina. The back is fomewhat arched ; 
the belly more fo. The muzzle is about a feventh part 
of the total length ; it is fomewhat like a hog’s fnout at 
the end; the upper jaw is moveable, and fometimes rather 
the iongeft ; but (till the orifice of the mouth, which is 
fmall, forms a kind of tube. Each jaw- confifts of one 
bone, furnifhed with a (ingle row of teeth very fmall and 
clofe together ; the two front teeth of the upper jaw are 
longer than the reft; the palate, &c. are fmooth, and the 
infide of the mouth is. of a bluiflt colour. The eyes are 
* very 
