232 THE LIVING ANIMALS OF THE WORLD 



The Blenxies are fishes whose skins are soft, slimy, and quite scaleless, or at most 

 covered with very tiny and degenerate scales. The general form of the body may be seen in 

 the photograph below. They arc shore-fishes, lurking about in the crevices of rocks, among 

 seaweed, or under stones, and occurring generally along the coasts of temperate and tropical 

 regions. The species known as the Sea-C.\T or VVOLF-FISH is, however, a deep-water form. 



As a rule the eggs are deposited in hollow places between stones or rocks; but in the 

 Bl"ITER-fjsh, or Gunnel, the eggs are adhesive, and the parents roll them into a ball by 

 coiling their bodies round them. Furthermore, since the parents are frequently found, under 

 natural conditions, coiled round these masses of spawn, it appears that they adopt this method 

 of guarding their treasures. Some species bring forth their young alive. 



The largest of the family is the WoLF-Flsn, whose jaws are armed with verj' powerful 

 teeth, able to crush the hardest shells, such as those of the whelk. Sea-urchins and crabs are 

 also eaten. 



We pass on to a group comprising three families — the B.\rr.\cud.\s, S.\.nL)-S.MELTs, and 

 Grev Mullets. 



It should be mentioned that two very distinct fishes are known as Barracudas, one of 



which we have already described 

 untler the name of Snoek. The 

 forms described here as barracudas 

 are large, voracious fishes living 

 in tropical and sub-tropical seas, 

 and evincing a preference for the 

 coast rather than the open sea. 

 -Attaining a length of 8 feet and 

 a weight of 40 lbs., the}- are a 

 source of danger to bathers. They 

 are very frequently used as food, 

 though in the West Indies such 

 food is attended with some danger, 

 as the flesh is often poisonous, 

 from the fish having fed on smaller 

 poisonous fishes. 



The Sand-smelts are small 

 carnivorous species inhabiting the 

 seas of temperate and tropical 

 regions. Many enter fresh-water, 

 and some have become entirely acclimatised there. Some species bear a very close resemblance 

 to the true smelt, from which, however, they may be readily distinguished b\' their small, 

 spinous, first back-fin. The young of at least one small group or genus of this family are 

 remarkable for their habit of clinging together for some time after they are hatched in dense 

 masses and almost incredible numbers. 



The Grev Mullets are brackish-water fishes, feeding on vegetable growths and minute 

 shell-fish. They also suck up large quantities of sand into the mouth for the sake of the 

 minute organisms contained therein ; much of this is passed on into the stomach, which is 

 thick and muscular, like that of man\' birds. Altogether some seventy species of grey mullets 

 are known, the majority of which attain a weight of about 4 lbs., but there are many which grow 

 to 10 or 12 lbs. All are eaten, and some highly esteemed. 



The Flute-mouths, Sticklebacks, and Tort()Isf>fishes are three closely allied and 

 extremely interesting families. The first are really gigantic marine sticklebacks, in which the 

 jaws are produced into a long tube. They are shore-fishes, entering brackish water, and 

 confined to sub-tropical and tropical parts of the Atlantic and Indo-Pacific. 



Of the Sticklebacks there are several species, some of which are entirely salt-water fishes 



W«:o ky R.mhdd Thill, &• O.] 



BLENNY 



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