216 



SCANDINAVIAN FISHES. 



the light ti])s of the ravs. In older specimens there 

 is a more irregular arrangement of dark bro\vn spots 

 on the dark greenish body. The colours are also duller 

 during winter. 



The Shanny prefers to live above low-water mark, 

 and seems, like other members of the genus, to lind 

 pleasure in being left dry at ebb-tide. It then creeps 

 about, or hides under stones or in crevices of the rocks, 

 ])utting out its head and keeping a watchful eye for 

 the approach of any danger, whereupon it hurriedly 

 disappears. Day gives an observation made by Ross, 

 according to which the Shanny can turn its head, while 

 resting in its usual position, on the ventral and pec- 

 toral fins; and Couch" who has given the minutest 

 details as to the habits of this fish, says that, like the 

 chameleon, it has the power of turning its ej'es in 

 different directions, and thus seeing what is behind and 

 before it at the same time. Even in the water it is 

 of timid habits, and not without reason, for it is keenly 

 pursued by waterfowl, especially cormorants, Avhose 

 narrow beak, with its bent tip, seems especially adapted 

 to drag the Shanny from its retreat. Couch kept a 

 specimen in captivity for six months. The fish would 

 often change colour, without any visible cause. In the 

 aquarium lay a stone which projected out of the water, 

 and in warm weather the fish crept up on the stone 

 to bask in the sun. During the summer it passed half 

 its time in this way, high and dry: but in cold weather 

 it sank down into the water and hid itself. Ross 

 l)Ositively asserted that, even in captivity, these mi- 

 grations between dry land and water coincided with 

 the ebb and flow of the tide; but Couch is equally 

 positive in his denial of this circumstance. 



When the tide rises, according to Couch, the 

 Shanny goes in quest of food. It lives on all kinds 

 of small creatures belonging to the classes of worms, 

 mollusks or crustaceans. It seems to be especially fond 

 of small shell-fish and Balanids which ai-e attached to 

 the rocks. Its bite is powerful, owing to its sharp in- 

 cisor teeth. It is highly impatient of any trespass by 

 a comrade upon its hunting-ground, and speedily attacks 

 the trespasser. On account of its pugnacity children 

 amuse themselves by ])itting two Shannies against each 

 other and watching thein fight. The combatants long 

 I'efuse to relinquish their hold in their struggles. The 



Shanny also retains its gripe fiercely, if it has seized 

 a person's finger; but its teeth are not strong enough 

 to pierce the skin. \Yith this vindictive temper the 

 Shanny leads a solitary life, and does not wander 

 far, unfitted as it is for long journies by its heavy 

 body, the front part of which is somewhat unwieldy, 

 and hx the absence of the air-bladder. 



The Shanny deposits its eggs in spring or during 

 summer, and, according to Couch, the female displavs 

 a high degi'ee of discrimination in her choice of a nest. 

 She selects a small hole with a narrow entrance, just 

 above low-Avater mark, and attaches her bright, amber 

 eggs, wiiich are 2' ., mm. in diameter, to the roof of 

 the hole, which is thus adorned with mosaic. The 

 breeding of the Shanny, as it took place in the Man- 

 chester Aquarium, is thus described by Saville-Kent': 

 "In a tank containing some forty or fifty examples of 

 this Blennv, a pair had selected a uaiTow ledge, high 

 up on one side, for the purpose of a nursery. The 

 eggs were deposited in a single layer upon the ledge, 

 first by one and subsequently by a second female, the 

 species being thus shown to be polygamous. The male 

 had meanwhile undergone a Avonderful colour trans- 

 formation, much after the manner of the male of the 

 Black Bream {Cantliarus liueatiis), previously described. 

 All the gay mottlings of yellow and brown that usu- 

 ally characterise the species, had given way to a uni- 

 form tint of deep sooty black, the large, prominent 

 lips alone remaining nearly white, his appearance under 

 such circumstances being particularly ferocious and 

 forbidding. Thus attired he now mounted guard over 

 the female fish and eggs, his self-appointed task, as 

 presently seen, proving no sinecure. The discovery 

 Avas soon made, in fact, by the other members of the 

 communitv, that Blennies' eggs were a choice gastro- 

 nomic delicacy, and thenceforward our little friend was 

 scarcely allowed an interval of peace. While one fish 

 was being repulsed in front, another descended upon 

 and made off with the coveted booty in the rear; or, 

 as fi'equently happened, there was a concerted attack 

 along his lines of more than half a dozen fish. Thus 

 overpowered by numbers, there was but little chance 

 of a young family descending from the rocky fortress, 

 and, indeed, several times within the course of an en- 

 tire month spent by the little Blenny in the arduous 



" Hist. Fish. Brit. /.«/., vol. II, p. 220. 



' Brit. Mar., Freshw. Fish., Handb. Gt. Intern. Fish. Exhib., London 1883. 



