308 



ICHTHYOLOGY. 



Classifica- 

 tion — 



Acanthop- 

 terous 

 Fishes. 



it is interrupted, and resumed a littlo lower down, terminating at 

 the caudal. It is protected througliout by small scabrous shields, 

 and there are a few scattered shields on the sides, the rest of the 

 skin being smooth. Second dorsal long, sustained by simple taper- 

 in;;, jointed rays : anal similar in extent, its rays divided at the tips, 

 which project like those of Trarhinus ; caudal rounded ; all the 

 rays of the pectoral branched. Stomach CKcal, ovoid ; pancreatic 

 ca?ca two ; urinary bladder forked ; ovaries in a sac, with an ovi- 

 duct ; a genital papilla, small in the female. No air-bladder. One 

 species. 



Gknis XXVn. PaT-ECTS, Rich. Very much compressed. Profile 

 of the whole fish semi-parabolic; the forehead greatly overhang- 

 ing, and the facial line descending obliquely backwards. Mouth 

 small, almost horizontal. Slandible porous, with minute barbels. 

 Teeth e.\tremely minute, granular ; none on the palate, vomer, 

 or tongue. Eyes lateral, high up. Preorbitar a sculptured trian- 

 gular disk with an ascending process. Suborbitar chain tubular, 

 slender, running to the temples, not connected with the preoper- 

 culum. Cheek naked. No scales. Kays of all the fins simple ; no 

 ventrals ; pectorals of eight rays, attached very low to the cora- 

 coids. Dorsal, like that of Agriopns, commencing before the eyes, 

 and running backwards to the caudal, to which it is connected by 

 membrane. Spines in dorsal and anal numerous, flexible, scarcely 

 to be distinguished from the jointed rays by the naked eye ; rays 

 of the caudal ten only, not joined to the anal. Lateral line run- 

 ning high on the back ; vertebra* thirty-five ; bones of the bead 

 and shoulder showing through the skin, striated, fibrous. One 

 species. Yide fig. 8. 



BLENNIOIDS. 



fish, but as a description will convey but an imperfect idea Classifica- 



of tlieir peculiar structure, the reader is referred to the ''"" — 



Acanthop- 



terous 



Fishes. 



Fig. 128. 

 Petroscirtes BankierL 



Mr Yarrell describes four species of tlie genus Bleimius 

 as having been detected on the IJritish shores. The Eng- 

 lish seas also produce a species of Pliolis. Salarias pre- 

 sents a singularity in its dentition, which distinguishes it 

 from other fishes ; its jaw teeth are implanted in the lips, 

 and are very fine and slender, and so connected with mus- 

 cular fibres that each can be raised or lowered independently 

 of the others, or they can be moved in a mass by the mo- 

 tion which the fish imparts to its lips, as in some Sharks. 

 Clintis is the modern Greek name for the Gobies, and has 

 been applied by Cuvier to designate a Blennioid group, 

 whicli is distinguished from most of the other Blennies by 

 the large number of its dorsal spines, and other characters 

 luentioned in the table. It is a viviparous genus, and the 

 male possesses a pointed tubercle, with an aperture at its 

 tip, and a bulbous dilatation within the abdomen behind the 

 rectum, into which a very slender deferent canal from the 

 milts is seen to enter together with the urethra from the 

 urinary bladder. This structure has a similarity to a penis, 

 but it is remarked in the Hisloire des Poissons, tliat it 

 ought rather to be considered as a modified cloaca than as 

 an organ homologous with that of the viviparous Vertebrata. 

 The Tripteri/gions are found both in the Jlediterranean 

 and in New Zealand, and have the same habit of hopping 

 over the wet sands which is attributed in a preceding 

 page to some of the Gobioids. 



Bregmaieros is a very interesting fish, whose affinities 

 seem to be with this family. It was first described by 

 Dr Thompson in the Annals of Natural History under 

 that generic name, from a drawing made in the China 

 seas by Dr Cantor, and again, under a new generic name, 

 by Sir John Richardson, from two examples of a different 

 species brought home by Sir Edward Belcher from the 

 same seas. In its ventrals it differs from all other known 



Fij. 129. 

 Bi-CQljlaceros m irus. 



ichthyology of the Yoijage of the Sulphur, where he 

 will find a magnified representation of these fins. Hud' 

 cates and Phucoctetes are two very nearly allied genera, 

 described by Mr Jenyns in his account of the ichthyology 

 of the Voi/age of the Beagle. They were discovered at 

 Cape Horn, and specimens have been since procured at the 

 same locality by Sir James Ross. Gunnellus, owing to its 

 compressed body, and the parallelism of its dorsal and ven- 

 tral profiles, resembles a Ribbon-fish, and its name has a 

 similar origin to that of Deal-fish, being fi-om gun-icale, 

 contracted into gunnel, the narrow board tliat forms the 

 upper streak of a boat. In some species there is merely a 

 minute, blunt spinous point to represent both ventrals. One 

 species occurs on the British coasts abundantly, and there 

 are others in all parts of the Arctic seas. There is much 

 resemblance in form between some Gunnelli and the Ophi- 

 dia. and perhaps a relationship. 



The viviparous Blenny {Zoai-ces ririparus) is a well- 

 known species, and has been long celebrated for a peculi- 

 arity which is chiefly observable among cartilaginous fishes, 

 that, namely, of producing its young alive. These are so 

 matured at the time of their birth, that on their first exclu- 

 sion they swim about with the utmost agility. No fewer 

 than 200 or .300 young are sometimes produced by an in- 

 dividual, and the abdomen of the mother is so distended 

 before parturition, that it is impossible to toucli it without 

 causing them to be extruded. Full-grown individuals sel- 

 dom exceed 12 inches in length ; the body is slender and 

 smooth ; the colour yellowish olive, pale beneath, and 

 marked on the upper parts with dusky spots. It is a lit- 

 toral fish, and of frequent occurrence under stones. When 

 boiled, the back-bone acquires a green colour. America 

 produces a much larger species, which sometimes exceeds 

 the length of 3 feet. It has been described under the name 

 of Blennius lahrosus. 



Fig. 130. 

 Lycodes mucosus. 



The arctic genus Lt/codes, instituted by Professor Rein- 

 liardt of Copenhagen, and of which the Greenland seas con- 

 tain several species, has much general resemblance to Zo- 



