270 BY THE DEEP SEA. 



much of which are exaggerations ; there is sufficient solid 

 basis, however, to make Weevers undesirable acquisitions, 

 unless we require them for museum specimens. 



There is a glorious, or perhaps I should say a glorified,, 

 Blenny to be obtained sometimes at low spring- tides. It is 

 vulgarly known as the Tompot, but it has also a literary 

 name (by which I mean a term used only in books) borrowed 

 from the Italian, namely, Gattorugine ; and its scientific 

 pseudonym is Blennius gattorugine. Its colouring is very 

 similar to that of the Rocklings, except that it is more finely 

 mottled and dotted. It has the general build and facial ex- 

 pression of the Shanny, with the crest of Montagu's Blenny. 

 Its cheeks are full, its lips thick, eyes large and prominent. 

 The dorsal fin begins immediately behind the head and 

 continues right along the back to the rounded tail. The anal 

 fin is continuous from the vent to the tail; the pectorals 

 rounded, with fleshy rays, and the ventral reduced each to 

 two fleshy processes with which it feels its way, as do other 

 species of Blennius. It is frequently caught in crab-pots, 

 whither it has gone for the bait, but it is in turn skewered up 

 as bait when the crabber hauls and resets his pots. It grows 

 to about nine inches in length. Being scaleless, like most of 

 the rock-fishes, it is exceedingly difficult to catch with the 

 hands. 



The last of the rock-fishes to which we propose' to call 

 attention are the Suckers (Lifiaris), which must be looked for 

 under stones at low- water. One of these is the pretty little 

 fish represented in our illustration, and known as the Two- 

 spotted Sucker (Lepadogaster bimaculatus), a species that 

 rarely exceeds a couple of inches in length. Its head is 

 broad and flat, the snout sharp, and the tail rounded. The 

 lower jaw is shorter and narrower than the upper; and the 

 dorsal and anal fins are both remarkably short, each con- 

 sisting only of a few rays (five to seven) with the connecting 

 membrane. They are placed very far back, though widely 



