BLENNIOIDS. 157 



elongated maxillary teeth is greater than in the true Blennies. In 

 the Chasmodes, the teeth of the maxillary row, which extends along 

 onl)'- the anterior part of the jaws, are of equal size. The maxillary 

 teeth of the Salarias, with the exception of the single canine which 

 terminates each end of the dental series of the lower jaw, are extremely 

 thin and slender, and are hooked at the extremity ; but they are 

 chiefly remarkable in being attached, like the teeth of the Squaloids, 

 to the gum only, or membrane covering the intermaxillary and pre- 

 mandibular bones, so that they readily yield to pressure ; there are 

 about two hundred of these teeth in each jaw. The palatine and 

 lingual bones are edentulous. In the genus Clinus there are always 

 teeth on either the vomer or palatine bones, in addition to those 

 supported by the jaws ; the latter are of two kinds, an outer close-set 

 row of longer pointed teeth, and behind these a band of villiform 

 teeth. The Myxodes are devoid of palatal teeth ; and have only a 

 single row of teeth on the jaws, the largest being in the middle, and 

 not at the ends of the row, as in the true Blennies. The butter-fish, 

 {Gonellus vulgaris), has a row of conical, but rather blunt teeth on 

 each jaw, and behind the middle of that of the upper jaw there is a 

 second short row. There are some very small teeth in front of the 

 vomer ; the membrane covering the tongue and palatine bones is 

 beset with firm papillae, but the calcifying process has not converted 

 them into teeth. 



The viviparous Blenny, (Zoarces), has conical teeth arranged in 

 two or three rows at the middle of the upper and lower jaws, and in 

 a single row at their sides : the vomer, palatine, lingual and branchial 

 bones are edentulous. 



In the Opistognathus, the teeth are villiform and arranged on a 

 narrow band in each jaw ; the exterior ones are a little stronger and 

 more separated than the rest. Of the other bones of the mouth, 

 the pharyngeals alone have teeth, which are ' en cardes.' 



But the chief subject of interest to the anatomist in the 

 present family of fishes is the singular and powerfully developed 

 dental system of the Wolf-fish (Anarrhichas Lupus.) The general cha- 

 racter and physiological relations of the teeth in this species had not 

 escaped the attention of Hunter. In his paper on the Gillaroo trout 



