38 LAB 
belly are round ; the anus is nearer to the head than to 
the tail-fin. The lateral line is clofe to the back, and has 
'a conliderable curve near the end ; it appears ferrated all 
the way. The fcales are firmly fixed in the ikin ; they 
are final!, thin, and ferrated; hence the fifh is rough to 
the touch when the hand is puffed upwards. The loft 
rays of the fins are in general double, but even the fpiny 
rays are not ftiff. The female is black on the back, the 
male green. The flripe mentioned as part of the lpecific 
character begins at the hind-head, and runs irregularly 
quite to the tail-fin; a dark violet flripe runs juft below 
it; the reft of. the Tides, and the belly, are white, with 
faint ftripes of violet. The dorfal fin is bright orange at 
the upper and fore part, and pale violet at the bafe, which 
lalt is moftly the colour of the other fins. Colours fo va¬ 
rious and bright have gained this fifh the name of maid, 
damjel, young-jijh, rainbow, &c. Belon declares it to be 
the molt beautiful inhabitant of the fea ; but, fince fo 
many beautiful fpecies have been found in the Ball In¬ 
dies, Linnaius is content with placing it in the firft rank for 
beauty in the Teas of Europe. Cetti, on the other hand, 
tlifputes even this preference ; he fays, that, except the 
violet and yellow ltripes, there is nothing but ordinary 
white, and fome red and yellow badly fhaded on the fins; 
and thefe obfervations he made on the fifh while yet alive, 
and juft taken out of the water. But Salvian, Rondele- 
tius, Willughby, and more recently Brunniche and Cepede, 
join with Belon in praifing the beauty of its colours; and 
there is no doubt but this fifh, like many others we have 
fpoken of, may be very different in appearance from the 
influence of age, food, feafon, climate, &c. It is proba¬ 
ble alfo that Cetti might have feen females only, whofe 
colours are not fo bright as thofe of the males. There is 
a variety, which is red on the upper furface, white be¬ 
neath, tail-fin green, opercula blue. 
This fpecies is found in feveral parts of the Mediterra¬ 
nean. It muft have been plentiful in the Grecian Seas, 
fince Ariftotle places it among fifh which go in flioals ; 
but Salvian fays they are always feen fingly in the envi¬ 
rons of Rome. Rondeletius found them in plenty at An¬ 
tibes, in France, and in the gulf of Genoa ; he avers that 
they bit his feet while he was bathing, which Bloch does 
not credit. Haffelquift met with it in the Nile, Cavolini 
in Sardinia, Forfkal at Malta, and Brunniche at Marfeil- 
les. Rondeletius defcribes it only as the length of a fin¬ 
ger,- but Bloch pofieffed a fpecimen which was near eight 
inches long. Elian and Oppian reckon this fifh fo veno¬ 
mous as to make any fifh it only touches very hurtful to 
man ; however, it is daily eaten without prejudice, and 
Galen reckons it wholefome and eafy of digeftion. Its 
food is ihell and other fifh; it depofits its fpavvn in ftony 
places in fpring. It is caught with a net, but more eafily 
■with a line, as it bites freely. 
71. Labrus paroticus, the blue-eared wrafle: lateral line 
curved, fins rufous, gill-coverts fky-blue. The dorfal fin 
has -gE rays, the pedtoral fins n, ventrals 6, anal and tail 
14. each. Inhabits India. The front teeth the largeft ; 
the back is grey, the belly whitifh. 
72. Labrus fuillus, the fwinifh wrafle : dorfal fin fila¬ 
mentous, with rays; a black fpot above the tail. The 
pedtoral fins have 1 3 rays, ventrals -J-, anal and caudal 
14. Inhabits the European Seas, or Northern Atlantic 
Ocean. The prevailing colour in this fpecies is violet; 
the lower jaw and pedtoral fins fometimes bright yellow. 
73. Labrus guaza, the guaza: body brown; tail round¬ 
ed, the rays extending beyond the membrane. Inhabits 
the main ocean. 
74. Labrus ofphronemus, the goramy : 6 rays in each 
ventral fin, the firft fpinous, the lecond filamentous reach¬ 
ing to the tip of the tail-fin; hind part of the back much 
railed ; lateral line ftraight; tail rounded. The membrane 
of the gills has 6 rays, in the dorlal, -|§ in the anal, 
14 foft raysin each pedtoral, and 16 in the caudal. Ofphro- 
ne.-nus is the generic name given to this fifh by Commer- 
ion. It is large, and extremely good food, it grows to the 
R U S, 
length of fix feet,and, being high in proportion, it furnifli.es 
a confiderable quantity of good and wholefome aliment. 
Commerfon obferved it at the Mauritius in February 1770. 
It had been brought from China, where it is indigenous, 
and from Batavia, where it inhabitsalfo. It is not common 
at Bengal, but might be eafily bred there. It was firft 
bred in ponds ; and thence fpread into the rivers, where 
it multiplied confidefably, and prefcrved all its good qua¬ 
lities, fo as to be one of the belt frefh-water fifh about 
Mauritius. It would be well worth the trouble and ex¬ 
pence of bringing fome alive, and fit for breeding, into 
England or France. The body is compreffed, but very 
broad or high ; the under part of the belly and tail, and 
the hinder part of the back, carinated; the height of the 
fiih diminifhes fuddenly at a fmall diftance from the tail- 
fin. Broad fcales cover the body, tail, opercula, and 
head ; while fmaller ones extend over a conliderable por¬ 
tion of the dorfal and anal fins. On the top of the head 
there are two flight furrows inclining towards the muz¬ 
zle; the upper jaw is moveable, the lower the longefl ; 
each is furnifhed with a double row of teeth, the outer 
row fliort, and bent inwards, the inner row fmaller and. 
clofer. There is a hard flefhy fubftance in the palate ; 
the tongue is whitifh, drawn back as it were into the gul¬ 
let, and fixed there; the noftrils double ; the operculum 
in two pieces, the firft piece excavated at bottom, the fe- 
cond has a point towards the pectorals, and is bordered 
by a membrane. Within the mouth, and above the gills, 
there is an ethmoid bone, (called by Commerfon labyrin- 
thiform ,) lying in a particular cavity ; the ufe of which, 
he fays, deferves to be inquired into. The dorfal fin be¬ 
gins rather backward, and increafes in height as it ap¬ 
proaches the tail, where it takes a rounded form. The 
anus is very forward towards the throat, as is always the 
cafe where the anal fin is very extenfive ; in this fpecies, 
it is longer even than the dorfal, which is very rare. 
The general colour of this fifh is brown, with fome red- 
difh tints which are lighter on the fins than on the back, 
fcales on the fides and belly filvery, edged with brown. 
It muft be obferved, that goramy is a name fometimes 
given to the following fpecies. 
75. Labrus trichopodus, the chinned labrus: mouth in 
the upper part of the head ; the lower jaw formed like a 
chin ; ventral fins long and briltly, each confifting pro¬ 
perly but of one long filamentous ray ; the dorfal and anal 
fins have each 18 rays. This fpecies refembles the L. 
trichopterus in the form of the ventral fin, which is as 
long as the whole fifh ; it is from Commerfon’s MSS. and 
Cepede has placed it firft in his genus Trichopodus, or 
briltly feet. The conformation of the head is very remark- 
ble ; the lower jaw is protruded, rounded, raifed, and 
bent, fo as to referable the human chin; the pofition and 
dimenfions of the mouth, the fliape of the lips, the place 
and fize of the eyes, the double opercula like cheeks, the 
convexity of the forehead—all bring to mind a grofs re- 
femblance of a man’s face ; there are no fcales on the 
head and face; the broad laminae which occupy their 
place look like a fkin. The body and tail are compreffed, 
but high in the middle of the total length. The dorlal. 
and anal fins are low, and nearly alike ; the pectorals 
fliort, broad, and round; caudal ftraight. 
76. Labrus bimaculatus, the bimaculated wraffe : dor¬ 
fal fin filamentous; a brown fpot on the middle of the 
body and at the bafe of the tail. The two firft rays of 
the ventral fins are filamentous ; the anal lanceolated, the 
extremity of the dorfal falcated. The body is of a pale 
colour; inhabits the Mediterranean and Britifh feas. 
77. Labrus pundtatus, the pundtated wrafle: dorfal fin 
filamentous, body with longitudinal lines fpotted with 
brown. The membrane of the gills has 5 rays, the pec¬ 
toral fins 15, the ventrals the anal the tail 16, and 
the dorfal *-|. The head is fmall, and Hoping ; the nof¬ 
trils are midway between the eyes and mouth ; the eyes 
have a nidtating membrane, a black pupil, and yellow 
iris. The fcales on the pafterior operculum are as. large 
as 
