CLASS PISCES. 229 



They live in small troops among the rocks on the 

 coast, leaping and playing, and are capable of living 

 without water for some time. A slimy mucus is 

 smeared over their skin, to which they owe their 

 Greek name of Blennius. Several are viviparous, and 

 there is a tubercle near the anus of all of them, and 

 in both sexes, which appears destined for the purposes 

 of coition. We divide them as follows : 



Blennius (proper), Cuv. 



Long, equal, and closely set teeth, forming but a 

 single and regular range in each jaw, terminated be- 

 hind in some species by a longer and hooked tooth. 

 The head is obtuse, the muzzle short, and the fore- 

 head vertical ; the intestines broad and short. Most 

 of them have a tentacular appendage on each brow, 

 finished in many cases by a plume or tuft, and several 

 have another on each temple. Several species of 

 this subdivision are taken along the coast of France. 

 One of the most remarkable is the 



Bl. ocellaris, Bl. 167. 1. The dorsal bilobate. Its 

 anterior lobe elevated, and marked with a round and 

 black spot, surrounded with a white circle and a 

 black one. 



Bl. tentacularis, Brunn., Bl. 167. 2., under the 

 name Bl. gattorugine. The dorsal entire, four fila- 

 ments on the brows ; a black spot between the fourth 

 and fifth rays. 



Bl. gattorugine, L., Will. ii. 2. and Bl. 162. 1, 2., 



