262 ACAI^THOPTERYGII. FAMILY OF GOBIES. 



peared, and taken refuge under some sea-weed a 

 foot and a half distant from the pool. By means of 

 their strong ventral fins, they are enabled to crawl 

 several feet on dry land, and will remain six hours 

 under stones or sea- weed, waiting the return of the 

 tide. The Shanny has been known to live out of 

 water for many days, in a damp situation ; but if 

 put into fresh-water, it soon expires." Mr. Couch 

 remarks, that it takes up its residence on a rock or 

 stone, from which it rarely wanders far, and be- 

 neath which it seeks shelter from ravenous fishes 

 and birds ; for Cormorants, with their long and 

 sharp beaks, drag multitudes of them from their 

 retreats, and devour them. When the tide is re- 

 ceding, the larger ones quit the water, and, by the 

 use of their pectoral fins, creep into convenient 

 holes, rarely more than one in each; and there, 

 with the head outwards, they wait for a few hours, 

 until the return of the water restores them to liberty. 

 If alarmed in these chambers, they retire by a back- 

 ward motion to the bottom of the cavity. " I have 

 known," he adds, " a Shanny to continue living, 

 after a confinement of thirty hours in a dry box. 



Gen. XLI. Gunnellus. Passing over several 

 extensive genera which are not represented in Bri- 

 tain, we come to the Gunnellus, characterised by a 

 dorsal composed wholly of spinous rajs, and ven- 

 trals excessively small, frequently reduced to a 

 single spine. Their body is prolonged and much 

 compressed ; the head oblong ; the muzzle but little 

 projecting, and the teeth very minute. The term 



