IN THE SOUTH-WESTERN DISTEICT. 123 



under consideration. The total length is 18 mm. The conformation 

 approaches that of tlie adult, and the fin-ray formula agrees with 

 that of B. occllaris ; while local considerations seem to eliminate 

 from the list of probable parents such other blennies as exhibit a 

 practically identical formula. The pectorals, 5 mm. in length, are 

 olive-green, finely dotted with black — a character of B. occllaris. 

 The head and anterior part of the body are pale yellow ; several 

 olive -green bands radiate from the large blue eye. There is a 

 patch of olive -green on the top of the head, a band along the middle 

 of the side, and another along the base of the anterior part of the 

 anal. Anteriorly a series of short bars descend from the dorsum. 

 The dorsal and anal fins are colourless, and there is no pigment 

 whatever on the hinder half of the post-anal region. There are 

 no well-developed cephalic tentacles, and the dorsal, though deeply 

 notched, is not conspicuously elevated in front. The little fish, 

 when first observed, was swimming at the surface, the pigmented 

 parts being alone visible. The resemblance to a butterfly was very 

 much more apparent than in the adult condition. 



The relatively enormous pectorals of the larva, though vigorously 

 employed, cannot be regarded as very effective organs of locomotion, 

 since the result achieved is by no means remarkable either for pace 

 or staying power. Their significance is, perhaps, ancestral rather than 

 adaptive. The resemblance, not only in the pectoral development but 

 also in the contour of the head, to- Dactylopterus, may be, so to speak, 

 accidental. The young blenny is entirely devoid of cephalic armature. 

 Both of the larval stages described above are figured in the Annalcs 

 du Mus^e de Marseille. 



Blennius pholis. Linn. Shanny. 



M'Intosh and Masterman, Life-Histories Brit. Food-Fish., 1897, p. 206. Late 



larval stages. 

 Holt, E. W. L., A7in. Mus. Mars., 1898, v., Fasc. II. Pelagic larval stage, with 



figure. 



The early development of the shanny seems never to have been 

 the object of exact observation. The later larval stages have been 

 dealt with by M'Intosh and Masterman. 



On the 15th July, 1897, a larva of 15-5 mm. was found by Mr. 

 Beaumont and myself in a dahlia flower which was floating under 

 St. Anthony lighthouse, Falmouth. The fin-ray formula is that of 

 the adult ; in other respects the specimen is very similar to the young 

 B. occllaris of 18 mm., but the colours are different. The dorsal 

 and anal fins and the hinder half of the post-anal region are entirely 

 devoid of pigment. The ground colour of the anterior parts is canary- 



NEW SEKIES. — VOL V. NO. 2. 1 



