239 



ZOARCHUS 



The body lengthened, smooth; dorsal and anal fins running to the 

 end of the body, where they unite to form the tail; ventrals short, 

 with three or four rays, placed as in the Blennies. 



VIVIPAROUS BLENNY. 



GREENBONE. 



Mustela marina vivi para, Jonston; Table 46, f. 8. 



" " " WiLLOUGHBY; p. 122. BlOCH ; pi. 72. 



Blennius viviparus, Linn^us. Donovan ; pi. 34. 



Zoarces vivipariis, Cuviee. 



Gunnellus viviparus, Fleming; Br. Animals, p. 207. 



Zoarces vivipuvus, Jenyns; Manual, p. 384. 



" " Yarrell; Br. Fishes, vol. i, p. 273. 



" GuNTHER; Cat. B. M., vol. iii, p. 295. 



This is a fish of the North Sea, and is common on the 

 coast of Scotland, as also on that of Norway and Sweden, 

 with the Baltic Sea along its length. As we come southward 

 it becomes more rare, and west of the Straits of Dover we 

 are informed of only a single specimen, Avhich was obtained 

 by Colonel Montagu in Devonshire. 



Its usual haunts are not far from the shore, where it seeks 

 concealment and safety under a stone. Its food is generally 

 those objects which are sought for by the other species of the 

 family of Blennies. But what has particularly attracted the 

 attention and excited the wonder of observers, is that remarkable 

 variation of nature as compared with its congeners, of hatching 

 its young within the body of the parent and producing them 

 alive; a portion of which process and development is thus 

 described by Willoughby, with the addition of a few remarks 

 derived from the work of Professor Nilsson. 



