THE CAPE KLIP-FISHES. 



By Prof. John Dow Fisher Gilchrist, M.A., D.Sc, Ph.D., 

 F.L. S., and William Wardlaw Thompson, F.Z.S. 



The Blenniidae, to which the " Khp-fish " group belongs, 

 are a widely distributed family of fishes occurring most abundantly 

 in tropical and temperate seas, though some forms inhabit the 

 colder waters ; they are mostly coast fishes, but some lead a 

 pelagic life hiding under floating seaweed, others have become 

 specialized in fresh-water lakes. Their size as a rule is small, 

 ranging between the extremes of the six-foot Sea-wolf {Anarrhicus 

 lupus), esteemed as food by the natives of Iceland and Greenland, 

 to the tiny Blenny of one or two inches in length. 



The genus Clinus, or Klip-fish, appears to have its headquar- 

 ters in the Southern Hemisphere, and the many species that 

 occur on our coasts are very characteristic of South African 

 shore life over a fairly wide area extending from the tidal margin 

 as far out as rocky banks on the 20-fathoms line. The several 

 species are admirably adapted to the diversified environments of 

 the littoral ; some frequent open pools, others twist their eel-like 

 bodies in and out of crevices of the rocks, others live amongst 

 the sea-weed and all seem to be more or less protected or con- 

 cealed by their similarity to the surroundings, whether rock, weed 

 or sand. 



At least 22 species of Clinus are known in South African 

 waters, as contrasted with 16 species of all the other genera of 

 Blenniidae represented, and it is a peculiarity of their distribu- 

 tion that they appear far more numerous on the West Coast, 

 from Walfish Bay round the Cape Peninsula, occurring again at 

 intervals on the South and East Coasts as far as East London, 

 where an allied genus, Cristiceps, is also found ; on the Natal 

 coast only one species, C. luurentn, has so far been noted, the 

 place of Clinus being taken by two other genera of the Blenniidae 

 — Salarias and Blennius. The genus Clinus therefore seems to 

 be an essentiallv cold water fish, and of the 22 species recorded 

 at least 20 are found in Cape Peninsula waters. 



The smallest species known is C. dorsalis, which does not 

 seem to exceed 3 inches in length ; the largest is C. superciliosus, 

 which sometimes reaches 18 inches. A natural division of the 

 various species may be made into those in which the anterior 

 dorsal spines form a distinct but not separated crest and those 

 without crest ; these again may be sub-divided according to the 

 presence or otherwise of tentacles over the orbits. 



Generically, we may define the body as more or less elongate 

 and tapering, in some species produced into a cylindrical, eel- 

 like form ; the dorsal fin, composed of many spines and one or 

 more soft rays, is continuous and extends from behind the nape 

 almost to the tail, in some cases being connected with the latter 

 by a membrane. In one species, C. superciliosus, the length of 

 the crest formed by the first three spines of the dorsal fin has a 

 distinct sexual significance, being decidedly larger in the male. 



