BLENNIIM]. 199 



Blennius gattorugine, Blocli, t. clxvii, fig. 2 ; Bl. Schn. p. 168 ; Briinn. Pise. 

 Mass. p. 27 ; Shaw, Brit. Zool. iv, p. 168 ; Bonn. Atl. Ich. p. 54, t. xxxi, f. 114; 

 Donovan, Brit. Fish, iv, pi. lxxxvi ; Turton, p. 92 ; Lacep. ii, p. 468 ; Martens, 

 Reise nach Venedig. ii, p. 418 ; Risso, Ich. Nice, p. 127 and Eur. Merid. iii, p. 230 ; 

 Cuv. and Val. xi, p. 200 ; Yarrell, Brit. Fish. (Ed. 1) i, p. 226, c. fig. (Ed. 2) i, 

 p. 256 (Ed. 3) ii, p. 362 ; Fleming, Brit. An. p. 206 ; Jenyns, Man. p. 379 ; 

 Templeton, Mag. Nat. Hist. 1837 (2) i, p. 409 ; Guichen. Explor. Alger. Poiss. 

 p. 69 ; Lowe, Trans. Zool. Soc. iii, p. 9 ; Thompson, Nat. Hist. Ireland, iv, p. 108 ; 

 White, Catal. Brit. Fish. p. 47 ; Giinther, Catal. iii, p. 212 ; Canestrini, Arch. 

 Zool. 1862, ii, p. 90, t. ii, f. 1 ; Steind. Ich. Span. u. Port. 1868, p. 1 ; Vinciguerra, 

 Blenn. Genova, Annal. Mus. Civ. Genova, xv, 1880, p. 433 ; Giglioli, Pesc. 

 Ital. p. 30 ; Moreau, Poiss. France, ii, p. 121. 



Blennius varus, Pall. Zoogr. Russ. iii, p. 170; Nord. in Demid. Voy. Russ. 

 Merid. iii, p. 402 (not Risso). 



Gattorugine, Conch, Fish. Brit. Isles, ii, p. 219, pi. cxi. 



B. vi, D. AA P. 14, V. 1/2-3, A. 21-22, C 12-13, Vert. 12/27. 



Length of head 4| to 4|, of caudal fin 6 to Q\, height of body 4 to 5 in the 

 total length. Eye situated high up, either in or rather before, or a little behind, 

 the middle of the length of the head ; from lj to lj diameters from the end of the 

 snout, and 1/2 to 3/4 of a diameter apart. Interorbital space concave. Snout 

 obtuse, with a very steep profile. Head compressed, a little longer than high. A 

 well-developed fringed tentacle above the orbit, sometimes equalling in length the 

 diameter of the eye, or even more :* valve at anterior nostril likewise fringed. 

 The maxilla reaches to beneath the front edge of the eye : lips rather thick. 

 Teeth 34 to 44 in the upper jaw, and a few less in the lower ; the last on either 

 side of the mandible curved backwards and inwards, but not enlarged. Fins the 

 dorsal commences above the base of the opercle, a slight notch exists between 

 its spinous and soft portions, while posteriorly the last ray of the fin has a 

 membraneous continuation to the base of the caudal : none of its rays are divided. 

 Ventral short, its rays undivided. Anal with undivided rays, and not united with 

 the caudal, the latter fin being nearly square at its extremity : its nine central 

 rays divided. Lateral-line curves to above the commencement of the anal fin. 

 Colours olive-gray or brown with blotches and wide vertical bands : a black spot 

 beneath the eye ; lower margins of the caudal and anal fins edged with white, and 

 lower rays of pectoral and ventral stained with orange. A black spot frequently 

 exists between the third and fourth dorsal spines. 



Varieties. In colours are very common, and in accordance with the locality 

 which it resides in. 



Names. Tom-pot Cornwall, said to be probably derived from its being 

 frequently taken in crab-pots. Gattorugine has been asserted by some to be a 

 derivation from gatto rusalo its common name at Venice, alluding to the 

 thickness of its throat, which frequently abbreviated to gatto, signifying " a cat," 

 has given rise to the idea that the whole term might mean, rusty or red cat. 

 lie perce-pierre, French. 



Habits. Inhabits deep water, and prefers rocky ground. It is very voracious, 

 principally feeding on small crustaceans, bivalves, corallines : while even brown 

 sea- weed has been found in its stomach. This species is rarely left on rocks by a 

 receding tide, its residence being in the deeper water ; but Couch remarks upon 

 having procured two examples (plate cxiii, fig. 1), both of reddish colour, left by 

 an ebbing tide, and concealed under a stone. 



Means of capture. Usually in a crab-pot, which has had some fine net placed 

 along its floor : these fish which enter from the top or sides in order to eat the 

 bait, appear always to leave by descending through the bottom. In Ireland it is 

 said to be taken in lobster traps laid in 12 to 14 fathoms of water. 



Bait. In some localities it appears to be used as a bait for lobster and crab- 



* Blennius ruber, Cuv. and Val. xi, p. 211, is said to differ from this species, in that its 

 supraorbital tentacle is shorter, and its colour of a bright red. The same variation in colour has 

 been observed in Cornwall. 



