THE CAPE KLIP-FJSHES. 223 



^expansion on the lip. There is no dorsal crest ; the first two 

 spines, which are weak, are close together, the first or sometimes 

 both of them being the shortest in the fin ; the connecting mem- 

 branes of the soft rays are transparent. The colour scheme is 

 rich and pleasingly blended ; the olive-green, brown, or reddish 

 ground being prettily variegated with markings of red, white, 

 yellow and bright blue — the last named shade seems to be a spe- 

 ciality of this species, as it is a colour not hitherto noticed in 

 •others of the Clinidae. This little fish often has bright orange 

 blotches on the body, or longitudinal bands of colour. 



In the small, weedy, sun-heated pools of the St. James and 

 Kalk Bay littoral a diminutive species, C. dorsalis. may often be 

 ^obtained at low-water, seemingly quite indifferent to the com- 

 paratively high temperature. It is characterised by a sharp 

 pointed head, a long slender body of the same depth for the 

 greater part of its length, and a low dorsal fin extending to the 

 base of the caudal and formed of numerous spines and only one 

 soft ray. The uniform ground colour of green, yellow, brown, 

 -etc., in various shades, is often variegated with streaks or dots 

 •darker in hue. In some specimens there is a white streak from 

 the snout passing upwards between the eyes to the origin of the 

 •dorsal fin, an oval black patch over the opercular openings with 

 "dark streaks radiating from the eyes and a row of bla'Ck spots 

 on the body along the base of the dorsal fin. 



Another species, C. hiporosus, is not often met with. It is 

 .-an eel-like fish closelv resembling the " Slangetjc " (C angiiil- 

 ]aris) ; it is, howe\ er, without scales and gets its name from the 

 double row of pores on the body, one on each side of the lateral 

 line, ending in a single pore between the last ray of the dorsal 

 -and renal fins. The anterior spines of the dorsal are lower and 

 not as strong as the remainder, which gradually lengthen until 

 the height of the last spine equals half the length of the head. 

 The colour is a uniform deep crimson, yellowish brown, etc. 



Another less common species is C. hrachycephahis, which has 

 :a short, blunt head, and the profile from snout to nape w^ell 

 rounded. There are no tentacles over the orbits, but there is a 

 well-developed one, divided and fringed, over each anterior nos- 

 tril. The first three spines of the dorsal fin are a little removed 

 from the fourth, to which they are joined by a transparent mem- 

 brane ; the second spine is closer to the first than to the third ; 

 a deep notch is formed between the spinous and soft-rayed por- 

 tions of the fin by the shortening of the last three spines. A dis- 

 tinctive mark is an eye-like spot, generally green in the centre, 

 Avith a red border, which occurs on the base of the pectoral fin. 

 1 he colour of this fish is mottled orange, or red, olive green, 

 brown, etc. ; there is often a band of white along the sides from 

 -the preoperculum to the posterior third of the body, with white 

 spots above and below and at intervals on the dorsal fin ; the 

 pectoral, ventral and anal fins are strikingly marked with bril- 

 liant patches and spots of red, and the anal has white patches on 

 its margin. There is a row of pores along each side of the 

 tcurved portion of the lateral line. 



