THE BLENNIES AND THEIR ALLIES 



2765 



genus, which is represented by a small number of species from the northern seas of 

 both the Eastern and Western Hemispheres, the elongate body is covered with rud- 

 imental scales; the muzzle is rather short and the cleft of the mouth wide; and the 

 jaws are armed with strong conical teeth, those of the latteral series carrying several 

 pointed cusps, while a double row of large molar-like teeth runs down the middle 

 of the palate. The long dorsal fin has flexible spines, and there is a distinct cau- 

 dal, but the pelvic pair are quite wanting. The gill opening is wide. The common 

 wolf fish {A. lupus] often known as the sea wolf or sea cat, like two allied species, 

 ranges as far north as Norway and Greenland; in both of which countries its flesh 

 forms a staple article of food. 



The fifth family (^Acanthodinidce} of the section under consideration 

 is represented only by the New Zealand oblique-spined blenny (Acan- 

 thoclinus littoreus), shown in the annexed illustration, and is charac- 

 terized by the elongate, low, compressed, and scaly body, the single dorsal fin 



OBUQUE-SPINED BLENNY. 

 (Natural size.) 



chiefly composed of spines occupying nearly the whole length of the back, and 

 the comparatively-long and many-spined anal; the pelvic fins being jugular in posi- 

 tion, and consisting solely of a few soft rays. On the coasts of New Zealand this 

 blenny is stated to be a very common fish; its habits being probably similar to those 

 of its European cousins. 



The so-called spiny eels of the Oriental region and West Africa form 

 a family {Rhynchobdellid#} affording an interesting example of paral- 

 lelism in development, since these spiny-finned eels are an exact analogue of the 

 true soft-finned eels. They are characterized by the elongate eel-like form of 

 the body; the long dorsal fin, of which the anterior portion consists of short isolated 

 spines; and the absence both of pelvic fins and of a papilla in the neighborhood of 

 the vent. The gill opening forms a slit on the side of the head; four gills are con- 

 tained in the gill chamber, and there are no false gills. An elongated movable 



Spiny Eels 



