FISHES AND SEA-SQUIRTS. 307 



being generally greenish, marked and blotched with black, 

 but the tints are so arranged as to correspond generally to 

 the lights and shadows of a rock pool, and show a very 

 considerable range of variation in harmony with changes in 

 the surroundings. Specimens may be found of six or more 

 inches in length, but a common size is three or four inches. 

 Scales are absent as in most shore fishes, and the mouth is 

 furnished with strong sharp teeth, quite capable of giving an 

 incautious finger a sharp pinch ; their function is to nip off 

 the shell-fish, acorn-shells, and so forth on which the 

 shanny feeds. In the related wolf-fish (AnarrMchas lupus), 

 which is an inhabitant of deeper water, but is often cast 

 ashore during storms, the teeth are exceedingly strong, and 

 can inflict an ugly wound, but the little blenny can cause no 

 apprehension in the case of a discreet person. 



There is little difficulty in recognising so common a fish 

 as the shanny, but the following points may be noticed. 

 The body is compressed and somewhat elongated, and slimy 

 to the touch ; the cleft of the mouth is narrow and strongly 

 toothed, and the anterior of the two nasal pits at each side 

 is furnished with four or five small filaments. The fins are 

 especially characteristic, for instead of two dorsals there is 

 one long fin with a very distinct notch near its middle. 

 The pectorals are large and expanded, while the ventrals 

 are represented by two rays only; there is a long anal 

 which, like the dorsal, does not meet the caudal. Nearly 

 all these points are shown in the figure. A cunning and 

 comical little fish, the shanny is well worth careful study. 

 It has a habit of poking its head out of the water or the 

 crevice in which it is lying, and as the lips are thick and 

 well marked, it has then a ludicrous resemblance to a 

 sulky, pouting schoolboy. The pectoral fins are extensively 

 used in clambering about the rocks, the small ventrals also 

 assisting in this process. It lives well in confinement if 

 kept in shallow water and allowed an opportunity of 

 leaving the water at times, and is a very favourable subject 

 for the demonstration of colour change, as the tints vary 

 with those of the surroundings. 



Another very common fish belonging to the same family as 

 the shanny is the gunnel, or butter-fish (Gentronotus gunnellus), 

 which is, however, in regard to habits at least, a less interesting 



