Acantholabrus.—A Wrasse with five or six anal spines, and with the teeth in a band.
From the Mediterranean and British coasts (A. palloni).
Centrolabrus.—Wrasses with four or five anal spines, and with the teeth in a single series.
Two species are known from Madeira and the Canary Islands, and one from northern Europe and Greenland. The latter is scarce on the British coasts, but bears a distinct name on the south coast, where it is called “Rock-cook.”
Lachnolaemus from the West Indies, and Malacopterus from Juan Fernandez, are Labroids, closely allied to the preceding North Atlantic genera.
Cossyphus.—Body compressed, oblong, with scales of moderate size; snout more or less pointed; imbricate scales on the cheeks and opercles; basal portion of the vertical fins scaly. Lateral line not interrupted. Teeth in the jaws in a single series; four canine teeth in each jaw anteriorly; a posterior canine tooth. Formula of the fins: D. 12/9–11, A. 3/12.
Twenty species are known from the tropical zone and coasts adjoining it; some, like G. gouldii from Tasmania, attain a length of three or four feet.
Chilinus.—Body compressed, oblong, covered with large scales; lateral line interrupted; cheeks with two series of scales; præoperculum entire; teeth in a single series, two canines in each jaw; no posterior canine tooth; lower jaw not produced backwards. Dorsal spines subequal in length; formula of the fins: D. 9–10/10–9, A. 3/8.
Common in the tropical Indo-Pacific, whence more than twenty species are known. Hybrids between the different species of this genus are not uncommon.
Epibulus.—Closely allied to the preceding genus, but with a very protractile mouth, the ascending branches of the intermaxillaries, the mandibles, and the tympanic being much prolonged.