260 ACANTHOPTERYGII. FAMILY OF GOBIES. 



anterior part of the body, as well as the ventral and 

 pectoral fins, are darker than the other parts. 



Gen. XL. Piiolis. — Dr. Fleming, many years 

 ago, proposed the separation of this section from 

 the Blennies, on the ground that its members have 

 no tentacular filaments about the head, nor any of 

 the fleshy crests which are so characteristic of the 

 preceding genus, although they resemble it in other 

 particulars ; and when we consider the numerous 

 species of the Blennies, this division seems all the 

 more desirable. Baron Cuvier adopted it (Hist. 

 Nat. ties Poissons, xi. 198), and M. Valenciennes, 

 in the great work here quoted. Perceiving no suf- 

 ficient grounds for Mr. Yarrell's abandoning this 

 arrangement, we follow, in preference, the authori- 

 ties just named. The genus has but four ascertained 

 species, and one only belongs to the British seas. 



(Sp. 68.) P. lavis. (PL XYIII.) The Shan, or 

 Shanny, is more frequently met with in the northern 

 seas than in the M editerranean, and it very gene- 

 rally abounds in the British waters. Pennant and 

 Donovan found it in plenty on the rocky coast of 

 Anglesey ; Messrs. Jago and Couch, in Cornwall ; 

 Dr. Johnston, in Berwick Bay ; and, according to 

 Dr. Parnell, it visits nowhere more abundantly than 

 in the Firth of Forth ; Mr. Thompson also states 

 that he has found it in the north-east, west, and 

 south of Ireland. It is very readily known, from 

 the characters already detailed. It rarely exceeds 

 five inches ; the dorsal fin is somewhat shortened in 

 the middle, and the last tooth in each jaw is longer 





