ICHTHYOLOGY. 



309 



ClossiBca- 

 tion — 



Acanthop- 

 terous 

 Fishes. 



(irces. Sir Edward Belcher obtained some good specimens 

 in Northumberland Sound to the north of Wellington Strait. 



Notwithstanding the size of Anarrhichas, its thickness, 

 the total absence of ventrals, and the extraordinary nature of 

 its dentition, it is impossible, says M. Valenciennes, to over- 

 look the affinity that exists between the genus and Blennius. 

 The proportions of the several parts, the forms of the head, 

 the disposition of the fins, the delicacy of the scales, im- 

 bedded in the thickness of a slippery mucoid skin, are the 

 same in both genera. The internal anatomy is also alike : 

 a short intestine, no pancreatic cEcca, no air-bladder, and a 

 similarity in the skeletons, ally them closely to each other, 

 especially if we take for comparison the large American 

 Zoarces. The most common species {Anarrhiclias lupus) 

 is of frequent occurrence in most of the northern seas, and is 

 well known along the coasts of Britain by the names of Sea- 

 wolf ami Sea-cat. Its ordinary length is fiom 3 to 4 feet, hut 

 examples sometimes occur of nearly double that size. The 

 colour is obscure livid brown, with several transverse strijies 

 or bands of a darker hue. The dorsal fin, as already men- 

 tioned, extends along the whole length of the back, and is 

 composed of seventy-three rays. The fore teeth project 

 considerably, and diverge a little from each other, forming 

 a powerful kind of armature, moved by jaws of such strength 

 that the animal has been known to imprint the marks of its 

 teeth on a bar of iron. The uninviting aspect of this fish 

 has probably not been without influence in producing a pre- 

 judice against it as an article of food. Its flesh, however, 

 is far from being unsavoury, and bears considerable resem- 

 blance to that of the Eel. It is in great request among the 

 Icelanders, who eat it dry and salted ; while the other parts 

 of the fish are likewise converted to useful purposes, the 

 skin forming shagreen, and the gall being used as soap. 

 The vascular tubes of the teeth are very large in the Wolf- 

 fish, and were early recognised as such by anatomists. 



Opisllioffnatktcs is a genus of which one species has been 

 foimd in the Indian Ocean, and another in the Gulf of 

 Mexico. 



Family XXIII.— BLENNIID/E, Mull. 

 Pars Gobii^idarrtm, Cuv. With much of the struct»ire of Gohiex. 

 the Blfnuivlm have a character common to most of the cjenera in the 

 jugular ventrals composed of two flexible rays, sometimes with a 

 spine, but more generally without. Stomach thin, without a caecal 

 dilatation ; no air-bladder. Body elongated, compressed. One dor- 

 sal, composed almost entirely of simple but gencr.ally fle.tible ra)S. 

 Skin very muciparous, scaly or naked. A genital papilla. 



ANALYTICAL TABLE OF THE BLENNIID^ (Dum.) 



Body scaUhss. 

 Head crested. 



Gill'Openinfjs larg^. 



Teeth numerous, firm Blennius 1. 



Teeth labial, moveable Salarias 6. 



GiU-opevtinffS narrow. 



Teeth regular Chasmodes 5. 



Teeth irregular Petroscirtes 3. 



Head destitute of crests or tentacula. 



Dorsal spinons C LIN US 8. 



Dorsal soft, withoiU opines PnOLIS 2. 



Body scaly. 



Dorsal solitary and 



United to tkc other tivo vertical Jins. 



Continuous without a depression Lycodes 



Sudilenly depressed near the end of 



the tail ZoABCES 



Isolated. 



Ventrals distinct. 



T>arbels, four of them mandibular CinniiiBATinis 1. 



No barbels ,* mantilla prolontjed Ol'lsToGNATirug 



No barbels; maxilla not prolonged ...Myxodes 

 Ventrals none or rudimentary. 



Replaced by a spine OuNNEI,LU.=i 



Apodal; crKsliing teeth ANARiuiicnAS 



Genus I. Blennius, Linn. Body elongated. Skin soft, muci- 



parous, scalel ess. Gill-openings large. Branchiostegals six. Vcn- Classifica- 

 trals attached to the throat consisting of two rays externally, but tion — 

 the last of the two often divided under the skin ; the flexible rays, Acanthop- 

 termed spinous, differ little in their structure from the others, being terous 

 many of them obscurely jointed, though simple and tapering ; dor- Fishes, 

 sal single, extending along the whole back. Filaments over the eyes, y ^ . 



Nostrils or nape of various forms. Mouth small ; cleft of the jaws ^ 



a semicircle. Teeth uniserial, strong, simple, crowded, the row 

 often terminated on each side by a canine. Intestinal canal simple ; 

 no pancreatic ca'oa ; no air-bladder. Aperture of the ovary be- 

 tween the anus and urinary canal ; and without a papilla in 

 the female. A tuft of papillae round the opening of the seminal 

 duot in the male. Thirty-five species. 



Genus II. Pholis, Flem. Jllennies destitute of supraorbitar 

 cirrhi, or fleshy crests. Four species. 



Genus III. PETROSCiaTES, liiipp. (Blennechis, Valenc. ; Omo- 

 branchus, Ehren.) Blennioids, with the gill-openings closed beneath, 

 and consisting merely of a small chink above the base of the pec- 

 toral ; their dentition is a modification of that of Blennius. The 

 inferior incisorial teeth, attached to the front only of the mandible 

 in a transverse row, are terminated on each side by a canine, some- 

 times enormously large, strongly curved, and fitting into holes in 

 the roof of the mouth when the jaws are shut. Dorsal undivided ; 

 cirrhi generally present. Fifteen species. 



Gentts IV". Bltcnnophis, Valenc. Near Petroscirtes. Body com- 

 pressed, scaleless. Head obtuse. Mouth small. Four recurved, 

 honked teeth in each jaw near the symphysis. Dorsal single, 

 notched ; anal like the dorsal, but shorter ; caudal distinct ; pecto- 

 rals ovate, broad ; jugular ventrals two-rayed. 



Genus V. Chasmodes, Valen. Gill-openings above the pec- 

 torals, as in Petroscirtes. A mouth deeply cleft, armed with teeth 

 in front only, uniserial, firm, and regular ; an even dorsal, extend- 

 ing from the top of the head to be united to the base of the caudal ; 

 anal similar, but only half as long, and not connected with the 

 caudal. Body oval, oblong, destitute of scales. Branchiostegals 

 six. No cirrhi on the head. Three species. 



Genus VI. Salarias, Cuv. Blermies, with uniserial, almost 

 innumerable, extremely slender, contiguous teeth, moveable to- 

 gether by the impulse lif the lips, like the keys of a piano or harp- 

 sichord. Head strongly compressed above, wide transversely below. 

 Intestine rolled on itself in a spiral, and longer than that of the 

 Blennies ; no air-bladder. Thirty-five species. 



Genus VII. Pseuooblennius, Schleg. vel Fseudoclinus. Dis- 

 tinguished from the true Blennii by their general aspect and their 

 card-like teeth. 



Genus VIII. Clinus, Cuv. Blenniidw, with elongated, com- 

 pressed, scaly bodies. Exterior teeth conical, pointed, with a 

 villiform band behind ; teeth on the vomer, and occasionally on 

 the palatines also. Spinous rays of the dorsal numerous. Snout 

 less blunt than in Blennius. Stomach larger, and intestine short- 

 er. First rays of the dorsal sometimes separated from the others 

 by a notch, sometimes detached to the head, where they form an 

 elevated plume ; in others, the dorsal is continuous and even. 

 Two spines in the anal. Branchiostegals six. Twenty-five spe- 

 cies, some of which have Labroid lips. 



Genus IX. Acanthoclinus, Jen. Distinguished from C/inwj 

 by the larger number of spines in the anal — upwards of twenty ; 

 a longitudinal band of small teeth on the tongue ; the position 

 of the ventrals under the pectorals ; and by the existence of three 

 lateral lines. Branchiostegals six. Three species. 



Genus X. Myxodes, Cuv. Scaly fishes intermediate between 

 Clinus and Gunnellus. Head elongated. Snout pointed, projecting 

 beyond the mouth. Teeth uniserial, as in Blennius, but without the 

 canines; the larger teeth nearer the symphyses. Resemble Clinus in 

 the great number of spinous rays in the dorsal ; and dilTer from 

 Gunnellus in having some soft rays in that fin. Three species. 



Genus XI. Cristicei>s. Valenc. Blennioids, with the first three 

 dorsal rays standing on the occiput, connected by membrane and 

 forming a separate fin from the long dorsal which begins over the 

 gill-opening and reaches to near the caudal, the eight posterior 

 rays being articulated ; anal shorter than the dorsal, and having 

 only two spinous rays. Two species. 



Genus XII. Cirriiibareis, Cuv. Myo.rodes, with still more 

 numerous spines in the dorsal, a few more soft rays ; tentacles 

 numerous on the snout, mandible, maxillary, and over the orbit. 

 Teeth villiform as in Clinus, One species. 



Genus XIII. Tripterygion, Uiss(t. Distinguished from Clinus 

 by the dorsal being divided into three portions. Ccmical teeth in an 

 exterior row on the jaws, and villiform teeth behind ; a small trans- 

 verse band of short ones on the front of the vomer. Branchioste- 

 gals generally six ; in one species only five. No anal spines. Six 

 species. 



Genus XIV. Bregmaceuos, Thomp. (Ann. N. H.) ; Calloptilum, 

 Xi.\e.\\. {Voy, of Sulphur). Body fusiform. Head short, obtuse. Mouth 



