_Scarus_ is the great central genus of parrot-fishes. Its members are especially abundant in Polynesia and the East Indies, the center of distribution of the group, although some extend their range to western Mexico, Japan, the Red Sea, and Australia, and a large number are found in the West Indies. Most of them are fishes of large size, but a few, as the West Indian _Scarus croicensis_, reach the length of less than a foot, and other still smaller species (_Scarus evermanni_, _Scarus bollmani_) are found only in water of considerable depth (200 fathoms). [Illustration: FIG. 329.—Upper pharyngeals of an Indian Parrot-fish, _Scarus strongylocephalus_. ] [Illustration: FIG. 330.—Lower pharyngeals of a Parrot-fish, _Scarus strongylocephalus_ (Bleeker). ] [Illustration: FIG. 331.—_Scarus emblematicus_ Jordan & Rutter. Jamaica. ] [Illustration: FIG. 332.—_Scarus cœruleus_ (Bloch). Blue Parrot-fish. Loro, Azul. Family _Scaridæ_. ] The genus _Scarus_ is characterized by not only the almost complete fusion of its teeth, but by numerous other characters. Its lower pharyngeals are oblong and spoon-shaped, the teeth appearing as a mosaic on the concave surface. The gill-membranes are scarcely united to the narrow isthmus, the lateral line is interrupted, the dorsal spines are flexible, and there are but few scales on the head. These, as well as the scales of the body, are always large. The most highly specialized of its species have the teeth deep blue in color, a character which marks the genus or subgenus _Pseudoscarus_. Of the species of this type, the loro, _Pseudoscarus cœlestinus_, and the more abundant guacamaia, _Pseudoscarus guacamaia_ (fig. 215 vol. I) of the West Indies, are characteristic forms. The perrico, _Pseudoscarus perrico_ of the west coast of Mexico, and the great blue parrot-fish, or galo, of Hawaii and Samoa, _Pseudoscarus jordani_, belong to this type. _Pseudoscarus jordani_ was formerly tabu to the king in Hawaii, and its brilliant colors and toothsome flesh (when eaten raw) made it the most highly valued fish at the royal banquets of old Hawaii. It still sells readily at a dollar or more per pound. To this type belong also the blue parrot-fish, _Pseudoscarus ovifrons_, of Japan. In the restricted genus _Scarus_ proper the teeth are pale. The great blue parrot-fish, of the West Indies, _Scarus cœruleus_, belongs to this group. This species, deep blue in color, reaches a large size, and the adult has a large fleshy hump on the forehead. Lesser parrot-fish with pale teeth and with showy coloration are the West Indian species _Scarus tæniopterus_, _Scarus vetula_, _Scarus croicensis_, etc. [Illustration: FIG. 333.—_Scarus vetula_ Bloch & Schneider, Parrot-fish. Family _Scaridæ_. ] [Illustration: FIG. 334.—Slippery-dick or Doncella, _Halichœres bivittatus_ (Bloch), a fish of the coral reefs. Key West. Family _Labridæ_. ]