The Blennies : Blenniidas 



5*3 



flexible, only the posterior ones being short and stiff. The 

 snake-blennies (Lumpenus), numerous in the far North, are 

 extremely slender, with well-developed pectorals and ventrals. 

 Lumpenus lampetrczformis is found on both shores of the Atlantic. 

 In Stich&us a lateral line is present. There is none in Lumpe- 

 nus, and in Ernogrammus and Ozorthe there are three. All 

 these are elongate fishes, of some value as food and especially 

 characteristic of the Northern seas. Fossil blennies are almost 

 unknown. Pterygocephalus paradoxus of the Eocene resembles 



FIG. 459. Ozorthe dictyogramma (Hertzenstein) , a Japanese blenny from Hakodate: 

 showing increased number of lateral lines, a trait characteristic of many fishes 

 of the north Pacific. 



the living Cristiceps, a genus which differs from Clinus in having 

 the first few dorsal spines detached, inserted on the head. The 

 first spine alone in Pterygocephalus is detached and is very 

 strong. A species called Clinus gracilis is described from the 

 Miocene near Vienna, Blennius fossilis from the Miocene of Cro- 



FIG. 460. Slich(Bus punctatus Fabricius St. Michael, Alaska. 



atia, and an uncertain Oncolepis isseli from Monte Bolca. The 

 family is certainly one of the most recent in geologic times. 

 The family of BlenniidcB, as here recognized, includes a very 

 great variety of forms and should perhaps be subdivided into 

 several families, as Dr. Gill has suggested. At present there 

 is, however, no satisfactory basis of division known. 



The Quillfishes: Ptilichthyidae. The Ptilichthyida , or quill- 

 fishes, are small and slender blennies of the North Pacific, with 



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