212 



SCANDINAVIAN FISHES. 



from that in Anarrliiclias, and the di])hycercal form of 

 the tail, one of the points most characteristic of the 

 lowest (and earliest) stages of development, and among 

 the Physoclysts most often retained Ijy the Anacanthini, 

 are still more powerful advocates of Gill's procedure 

 in referring the genus to these last tishes. 



Cuvier" united these fishes with the following 

 series into one fiunily, Gobio'ides'' , of which Bonaparte' 



regarded them as a subfamily, Blennihri, -which was 

 set apart by Muller'' as a distinct family, Blennioidei. 

 Since that time so many forms have been discovered 

 that it has become necessary to distribute them among 

 sevei-al families, of which the Scandinavian fauna in- 

 cludes two. 



Fam. BLENNIID^. 



ExtciiHtl hoi/cs of the head lo/aniied. No osseous connexion behveen the sithorhitnl ring and the preoperculum. 

 Jair-tf'ctli (like the palatine teeth, n-liere tlieij exist) of ordinary shape, couical or curved, of uniform size or in- 

 terspersed with canines. Scales of the body r/enerally small with smooth margins, and imbedded' in the slimy 

 skin: or even wantiny. One, tn-o or three dorsal fins extend along the n-hole length of tlte hack behind the occi- 

 put, or at least the greater part thereof. Anal fin also long. Ventral fins generally jugular, tvith reduced num- 

 ber of rays: in some genera n-anfing. PseudobranchicB generally distinct. Air-hladder and pyloric appendages 



generally wanting. 



Tlie Greek (iMvpog [slimy or silly) was a small 

 Mediterranean fish that lived among the seaweed; but 

 its species can scarcely be fixed at the present time, 

 as the old writers liave given no description of it. 

 It \v;is, however, the Butterfly Blenny {Blennus in Be- 

 L(»\ and ijEs:sE}i,Blennius ocellaris in LinnjEUs), a 

 species common in the Mediterranean, that Artedi 

 chose as the type for the genus Blennius, which was 

 the first genus among his Acanthopterygians, and which 

 lie defined with about the same characters as are now 

 applied to the Blennomorph series. Most of these fishes 

 belong to the Blennioid family, which, even within the 

 limits given above, offers considerable vai-iety of form. 

 About 250 species, distributed among from 30 to 40 

 genera, have been described. The majority of the 

 l)leiinioids and their most typical representatives are 

 small shore-fishes, common in the tropic and temperate 

 seas, and some of them extraordinarily small. They 

 ;ire generally of sluggish temperament, but momentarily 

 their movements are extremely quick. At their homes 

 on rocky shores, where they are left dry b}- the re- 



tiring tide, these fishes, so tenacious of life are they, 

 lead an almost amphibious life. An East-Indi;in spe- 

 cies, Salarias tridactylus, has indeed been called am- 

 p)hihius; and Comm.erson, Forster and Ehrenberg'', all 

 three have watched \vith interest and described its swift, 

 leaping motions even on dry land, where it is said to 

 hunt insects. During their life on land and also at 

 the bottom of the sea, the ventral fins in particular, 

 and the pectoral as well, are said to serve as admirable 

 organs of motion. The eyes too, the lirilliancy of ^vhich 

 reminds us of those of the snakes, continue to perform 

 their functions out of the water-^. The family is not 

 destitute, either, of the beauty of bright and vai'ying 

 colours; many of tlie Blennioids are, in splendour of 

 colour, the rivals of the Wrasses, while the form of 

 the bod-s' sometimes calls to mind the Julidince, a like- 

 ness enhanced by the general thickness of the lips and 

 the frequent occui-rence of canine teeth in the back part 

 of the jaws. 



The genera -wliich belong to the Scandinavian fauna, 

 may be distinguished by the help of the appended table: 



" Regne Animal, ed. 2, tome II, p. 23G. 



' Called Blennioidei by NilssOiN {.Shnnd. Fn., Fiskanie, p. 180). 



' Isis, I83,B, p. II!)9. 



'' Abb. Acad. Wiss. Berlin 1844, ]>. 199. 



' See Cuv., Val., Hist. Nat. Poi.s.i.. XI, p. .340. 



■'' Cf. Day. Fish. G:t Brit, fret., vol. 1, ji. 198. 



