THE CAPE KLIP-FISHES. 221 



its side almost motionless and in this position it closely resembles 

 a detached frond of sea-weed, the transparent or yellowish mark- 

 ings appearing- like decayed portions of the weed and the broad 

 tail slightly curling up on its slender stalk lends force to the 

 deception. A very striking mark — an almost circular patch of 

 white, like burnished silver — occurs in the males, but is either 

 altogether absent or very small in the females ; it is situated about 

 the middle of the body just behind the pectoral fin, by a movement 

 of which it can be concealed or exposed ; its raison d'etre is un- 

 known, but it may have some sexual significance. This fish seems 

 rather sluggish in disposition ; in the Aquarium when it did swim 

 it was with slow and rather clumsy undulaBons of the whole 

 body. 



An easily recognizable species of Clinus is a bearded Klip-fish 

 (C. capensis), which has eight filaments or barbels in a cluster 

 on the chin and three on the slightly concave snout ; the body is 

 long and slender and the dorsal fin reaches to the root of the tail. 

 In colour the fish is generally of a marbled brown or yellow or 

 green, frequently with a row of dark blotches along the base of 

 the dorsal fin and with irregular cross bars or blotches on the 

 body, which is often speckled with white or other shades ; usually 

 there is a dark spot enclosed in an irregular white or red border 

 or ring behind the head. 



A very common species in the Cape Peninsula is C. cottoidcs, 

 the adult form of which often closely resembles immature speci- 

 mens of the Bull-klip (C. taiirus). It does not seem to exceed 

 5 or 6 inches in length ; the head is rounded, with a transverse 

 depression behind the orbits. The eyes seem specially well 

 adapted for turning in all directions so as to command a wide 

 range of vision, and above each there is a bunch of five or six 

 filaments on a broad base ; the dorsal fin is low, with moderately 

 strong spines but without any anterior crest. The colouring has 

 a wide range of hues, but is generally one of the numerous shades 

 of brow-n or green with a yellowish or greyish flush on the body 

 and mottled with brown or yellow or speckled with white ; there 

 is usually a row^ of irregular dark spots or blotches along the base 

 of the dorsal fin and a dark irregularly shaped spot on the gill- 

 cover (operculum). 



Another denizen of the rock-pools on the foreshore is 

 C. acuminatus, a well-shaped but rather shy little fish, with a 

 sub-conical snout and having a short tentacle with from three to 

 five filaments on the end of it over each eye. The dorsal fin is 

 comparatively low anteriorly, gradually increasing in height until 

 the softrayed rayed portion reaches about twice the length of the 

 first spine ; the erect, moderate strong spines have their points 

 exposed and generally with a short lobe branching off. The usual 

 colouring is green of various shades, grey, yello"^'ish or reddish 

 brown ; it is speckled with minute white spots, and there are 

 from four to six irregular dark transverse bands on the body and 

 often irregular clusters of white specks along the base of the 

 dorsal fin. 



A species less frequently met with is the " Grass Klip-fish " 

 (C. gratninis), which is occasionally to be found in weedy tidal 



