73 



ander den (i I860) opstillede Slægl Leptoblennius,' hvilken 

 han senere i 1864 chaxacteriserede væsentlig i Overens- 

 stemmelse med Reinhardt. 



Paa det sidstnævnte Sted opfører han ved Siden ai 

 Leptoblennius ydefligere en ny Slægt, Centroblennius, for 

 hvilken Richai dson's Lumpenus nubilus (Last Aret. Voy. 

 vol. 2, 1855) udgjorde Typen. Men Forskjellen mellem 

 disse 2 Slægter, som væsentlig er grundet paa en ringe 

 Ulighed i Straaleantallet, er af ganske specifik Natur, og 

 Leptoblennius bør derfor neppe engang anerkjendes som 

 Underslægt. 



Yed Undersøgelsen og Beskrivelsen ai' Individer fra 

 de forskjellige vidt adskilte Localiteter, som denne Art 

 bebor, er der jevnlig bleven lagt speciel Vægt paa Charac- 

 terer. tier ere hentede fra Hovedets og Legemshøjdens 

 Forhold til Totallængden, et Forhold, der hos denne Art 

 er særdeles betydelige Forandringer underkastede under 

 Individernes Væxt. L. lampetraeformis, der har været kjendt 

 i næsten et Aarhundrede. har derfor hyppig været mis- 

 kjendt, og modtaget et stort Anta! forskjellige Navne, idet 

 de for den oprindelige L. lampetraeformis opgivne diame- 

 terer blot passe ind paalndividerne af et bestemt Alders- 

 trin ('nemlig det noget over halvt udvoxede). Jeg har alle- 

 rede ved en tidligere Lejlighed berørt dette Forhold i 

 „Norges Fiske- (Tillægshefte til Forh. Vid. Selsk. Ohra. 

 1874. p. 72). 



I 177() blev Arten første Gang kjendeligt beskrevet 

 og afbildet af Mohr i hans „Islandske Naturhistorie" (p. 84) 

 fra Island, dog uden paa dette Sted at erholde noget Arts. 

 navn. At Mohr har havt denne Art for Øje. og ikke nogen 

 anden af de grønlandske Former, synes bl. a. at fremgaa 

 af hans Angivelse af Straaleantallet. Et Artsnavn (Blen- 

 nius lampetraeformis) erholdt den først i 1792 afWalbaum 

 i den nye Udgave af Artedi's Genera Piscium (tom. 3. p. 

 184), hvor Mohr's Beskrivelse og Tegning gjengives. 



I 1801 erholdt samme Mohr's Art yderligere et nyt 

 Navn af Schneider, i lians Udgave af Bloch's Systema 

 Ickthyologiae, og under dette Navn har Dr. Gunther op- 

 taget Arten i sin Cat. Fish. Brit. Mus. (Stichaeus islandicus). 



Den islandske Form blev fremdeles i 1837 gjort til 

 Gjenstand for Behandling, nemlig af Kroyer, der (Nat. 

 Tidsskr. 1 R. 1 B.) beskriver et fra Island nedsendt Individ 

 under Navnet BLennius lam/petraeformis, men foreslaar til 

 Slutning som en mere passende Benævnelse Cl inn* mohrii 

 (et Navn. som dog Kroyer selv ikke senere har adopteret). 



I den Beskrivelse af „Elennius lumpenus", Lin., sum 

 Faber giver i 1822 i sin ..Naturgesch. Fische Islands- (p. 79), 

 sammenblandes saavel i Beskrivelsen, som i Synonymien 

 Mohr's Art med Fabricius" Elennius lumpenus fra Grøn- 

 land (= Lumpenus fabricii, Reinh.); dog kan det sees. 

 at Faber neppe kau have kjendt nogen af Arterne af 

 Autopsi. 



At Walbaum's BL lampetraeformis fra Island er iden- 

 tisk med Stuwitz's Blennius gracilis fra Norges Vestkyst 



Opstillet for Storer's Blennius terpentinns. 

 Deu uorske Nordbavsexpedition. Collett: Fiske. 



Fishes occurring on the north-eastern coast of North Ame- 

 rica under the genus Leptoblennius (established I860 1 ), 

 which he afterwards (1864) characterized much the same as 

 Reinhardt. 



Along with Leptoblennius, Prof. Gill introduced into 

 his Catalogue a new allied genus, Centroblennius, Richard- 



son's Lumpenus nubilus (Last. Arct. Voy. 



L855) 



furnishing the type. The characteristic distinction between 

 these two genera, founded principally on a slight inequality 

 in the number of the tin -rays, is however strictly specific; 

 and hence Leptoblennius can hardly he entitled to rank 

 even as a sub-genus. 



Now. when examining and describing individuals from 

 the numerous and widely distant localities inhabited by tin's 

 species, particular importance lias usually been attached to 

 characters resting on the proportion which the head and 

 deptli of the body bear to the total length; and this pro- 

 portion in the present species is found to vary very con- 

 siderably with the growth of the fish. Hence L. lampetræ- 

 formis, known to ichthyologists for the space of a century 

 almost, has frequently been misapprehended, and lias been 

 given a large number of synonyms, the characters originally 

 believed to belong to L. lampetræformis being those of 

 individuals arrived at a particular stage of growth (a little 

 more than half-grown). On a former occasion I called 

 attention to this fact. viz. in -Norges Fiske" (Tillægshefte 

 til Forh. Vid. Selsk. Chra. 1874. p. 72). . 



In 1776, the species was first described and figured 

 with comparative accuracy, by Mohr, in -'Islandske Na- 

 turhistorie" (p. 84). but without bis assigning a specific 

 name. That it was this species Mohr had before him. and not 

 one of the other Greenland forms, seems evident from the 

 fin-formula given. A specific name (Blennius lampetræfor- 

 mis) was first suggested, in 1792, by Walbaum, in his edi- 

 tion of Artedi's Genera Pisciwm (torn. o. p. 184), accom- 

 panied by Mohr's diagnosis and representation. 



In 1801, Mohr's species bad a new synonym given 

 it, by Schneider, in bis edition of Bloch's Systema Ichthyolo- 

 giw; and this name Dr. Gunther has adopted in his Cata- 

 logue Fish. Brit. Mus. (Stichæus islandicus). 



This Icelandic form was made the subject of further 

 treatment by Kroyer, who (Nat. Tidsskr. 1 R. 1 B.) de- 

 scribes an example sent from Iceland by the name of Blennius 

 lampetræformis, proposing, however, at the close of his paper, 

 as a more appropriate designation. Clinus mdhrii; but the 

 latter synonym was' not afterwards adopted by Kroyer himself. 

 . In the description of Blennius lumpenus, Lin., given 

 by Faber (1822) in his "Naturgesch. Fische Islands" (p. 

 79). Mohr's species and Fabrieius's Blennius lumpenus from 

 Greenland (i. e. Lumpenus fabricii, Reinh.) are confounded 

 throughout, both as regards the description and the synon- 

 ymy; it is evident, however, that Faber can have known 

 nothing of either species from autopsy. 



That Walbaum's BI. lampetræformis, from Iceland, is 

 identical with Stuwitz's El. gracilis, from the west coast of 



For Storer's Blennius serpentinus. 



10 



