2764 THE BONY FISHES AND GANOIDS 



doubtful cases the presence of the pseudobranchise (which are absent in gadoids) 

 may be of assistance. In many blennies the ventral fins have ceased to have any 

 function, and become rudimentary, or even entirely absent. In others, the ventral 

 fins, although reduced to cylindrical stylets, possess a distinct function, and are used 

 as organs of locomotion, by the aid of which the fish moves over the bottom." The 

 family is not definitely known in a fossil state, although it may be represented by 

 an extinct genus in the Monte Bolca Eocene. 



The blennies of the typical genus Blennius, of which there are some forty spe- 

 cies, are found in the northern seas, the tropical Atlantic, the coasts of Tasmania, 

 and the Red Sea. They are characterized by the moderate elongation of the naked 

 body, the short snout, the single continuous dorsal fin, and the presence of one spine 

 and two rays in the pel vies. The cleft of the mouth is narrow, the jaws contain a 

 single series of fixed teeth, behind which there is generally one larger curved tooth, 

 at least in the lower jaw. Above each eye is the longer or shorter tentacle, and the 

 gill opening is relatively wide. Among British species we have the eyed blenny 

 (B. ocellatus) distinguished by the dark spot on the elevated spinous portion of the 

 dorsal, the smooth blenny or shanny B. pholis, and the large B. gattorugine, which 

 may grow to a foot in length; while as an example of a species living in inland lakes 

 we may cite the fresh-water blenny (B. vulgaris) of Southern Europe. Most can 

 be readily accustomed to a fresh-water life, and many of the marine species attach 

 themselves to floating objects, while some are found far out at sea among the 

 patches of drifted seaweed. In the Indian seas the blennies are repesented by seven 

 more or less closely- allied genera, in one of which {Xiphasia} the body is band-like, 

 and the caudal fin continuous with the dorsal and anal. 



The fish (Zoarces viviparus) of which two examples are represented 

 M g* r( in the lower part of the illustration on p. 2757, is one of two species 



of a genus remarkable for producing living young. With an elongate 

 body, rudimental scales, and conical teeth in the jaws, these fish have an extremely- 

 elongated dorsal fin, separated from the caudal merely by a depression formed by a 

 series of spines much shorter than the rays; these spines being the only ones through- 

 out the fins. The pelvic fins are composed of three or four rays; and the long anal 

 fin is continuous posteriorly with the caudal. The gill openings are wide. While 

 the figured European species, which is not uncommon on the British coasts, does not 

 exceed a foot in length, its Transatlantic cousin (Z. anguillaris) may measure two 

 or three times as much. The fry, which at birth are perfectly transparent, and form 

 beautiful objects for the microscope, are so fully developed as to be able at once to 

 swim freely on leaving the body of the female parent. Before their birth the female 

 becomes so distended, that at the slightest pressure the young are extruded; these 

 frequently being from two to three hundred in number, and always making 

 their appearance in the world head first. The general color of the adult fish is pale 

 brown, with the dorsal fin and the upper parts mottled and barred with darker 

 brown. 



Easily recognized by the powerful tuberculated and molar-like teeth 



with which their mouths are armed, the wolf fishes (Anarrhichas} 

 may be regarded merely as gigantic and somewhat specialized blennies. In this 



