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2. The Blcnniidce of South Afr/m By J. D. F. GILCHRIST, M.A., 

 D.Sc., PH.D.; and W. WAKDLAW THOMPSON. 



THE Blenniidae (Blennies, or Klipfish) of South Africa, though 

 comparatively abundant and easily procured, are very imperfectly 

 known. Those that have been described are often so insufficiently 

 characterised that they cannot with certainty be identified, due also 

 in a large measure to the procuring of isolated specimens and the 

 description of unimportant characters. 



The following review of this family of fish in South African waters 

 is based on collections made at Walwich Bay by Mr. Scully, at East 

 London by Mr. Brooking and Mr. J. Wood, at Natal by Mr. Bomer 

 Eobinson, and at various places by the authors. 



The most prominent feature is the presence of numerous species 

 of the genus Clinus, there being 22 species as contrasted with 16 of 

 all the other genera of the Blenniidse represented here. Of the nine 

 known species we have been able to identify eight with a fair amount 

 of certainty, and to draw up a revised description of these from an 

 examination of numerous specimens. The one species of which 

 we have not yet found a specimen is C. heterodon, and Valenciennes, 

 original description of this is merely abstracted. Twelve new species 

 and one new variety are now described ; most of them are well 

 characterised, but in the case of two (Clinus supcrciliosus var. 

 arborescens, and Clinus ornatus) it was only after an examination 

 of many specimens that we found it necessary to separate them 

 from Clinus superciliosus. 



The distribution of this genus (Clinus) is also of interest, the 

 species representing it being much more abundant in the colder 

 waters of the Cape Peninsula and West Coast. Only one species 

 has been found, by Mr. Eobinson, in Natal, though he readily 

 procured specimens of Blennius, Salarias, &c. From personal 

 examination of such localities as the Cape Peninsula and Durban 

 we have found that this is a most striking feature of the marine 

 fauna, various species of Clinus occurring in almost every rock-pool 



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