Vol. XXVI, pp. 89-92 May 3, 1913 



PROCEEDINGS 



OF THE 



BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON 



THE SCALES OF THE BLENNIOID FISHES. 

 BY T. D. A. COCKERELL. 



In the Annals and Magazine of Natural History, September, 

 1912, Mr. C. Tate Regan has a valuable revision of the classifi- 

 cation of the Blennioid fishes, which are included in a suborder 

 Blennoidea, with three divisions known as Blenniiformes, 

 Cliniformes, and Ophidiiformes. Having found the scales of 

 the Ophidiiformes extremely interesting, I was anxious to add 

 to my very scanty knowledge of the lepidology of the other 

 groups. Mr. Regan has kindly sent me from the British 

 Museum the scales of three species, representing two families of 

 Cliniformes. Two other Cliniform genera are represented in 

 material from the Woods Hole collection, one of them adding 

 another family. The Blenniiformes include four families, of 

 which I have one, the Anarrhichadidse. The Blenniidse have 

 no scales. 



Blenniiformes. 

 Anarrhichadidic. 



Anarrhichas Ivpus. Woods Hole. The minute circular scales have a 

 practically central nucleus, from which radii extend in every direction 

 except apically, cutting the well-defined and coarse circular fibrillar. 



Cliniformes. 

 Clinidn . 



Clinus ( Labrisomus) nuchipinnis. Caribbean Sea (British Museum). 

 Scales oblong, relatively large, being about ?>% mm. long and 2% broad. 

 Nucleus less than a third of total length from apex; about 20 strong basal 

 radii, others rudimentary; no lateral radii; basal margin shallowly 

 crenulate; circuli strong, those in the basal field very minutely but dis- 

 tinctly denticulate on the inner (apicad) side; in the lateral field, where 

 the circuli run longitudinally and are not cut by radii, the minute beading 



22— Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., Vol. XXVI, 1913. (89) 



