566 ACANTHOPTERYGII. 



recommend them. They are soft to the touch, being invested 

 with a mucous slime; hence the generic name, Blenna. (Gr. 

 mucus.) 



The WoLF-Fisii, or Sea-Cat, AnarrMcas lupus, is much larger 

 than others of this family, being a formidable, voracious fish, 

 from three to eight feet in length, with a broad cat-like face, and 

 a grinning mouth, bristling with stout, sharp teeth, so strong as 

 to crush the hardest shells, and even stone. 



The genus Zoarces, (with three American species,) has the 

 dorsal, anal, and caudal fins united. 



The Butter-fish, Gunnellus mucronatus, (pointed,) has a long 

 compressed body, and the ventral fins rudimentary. 



The GERMAN DRAGONET, Callionymus lyra, is an exception to 

 others of the family, in having beautiful colors. It has no visi- 

 ble scales. 



In Italy, Blennies are fried in numbers, like Sprats in Eng- 

 land, and eaten by the poorer classes. Some species of the 

 genus, Zoarces, and probably others, produce their young alive 

 by dozens. The SHANNY, Pholis, (Gr. a scale,) deposits its 

 eggs on the roofs or sides of cavities in rocks, near the low water 

 mucks, and being of a bright amber color, with a polished sur- 

 face, it appears as if paved with round stones. The Physis, of 

 the Mediterranean, forms a nest of sea- weed in which to deposit 

 its spawn, and attends upon the young. 



(14) Lophida, (Gr. lophos, a crest.) 



These are distinguished by the lengthening of the carpal 

 bone, by which, as on an arm, the pectoral fin is supported. 

 The family includes some of the most singular looking fishes in 

 the entire class, such as Frog, or Toad Fishes, &c., grotesque 

 and reptile-like; without scales ; hiding themselves in the mud, 

 and attracting their prey by agitating the filamentary processes 

 on the head. The feet-like pectoral fins assist them to crawl on 

 the bottom of the sea, and also upon land. These, on account of 

 the soft and yielding nature of the skeleton, were formerly classed 

 with other Cartilaginous or Soft-rayed Fishes, (see Lophius 

 Americanus, Squalidce, on the Chart;) but Cuvier demonstrated 

 its fibrous structure, and fixed its position among the bony 

 fishes. 



The Antennarius, (Lat. from antenna,) is found in tropical 

 seas. It is said to crawl about the fields for two or three days 

 at a time. So tenacious of life are the fishes of this genus, that 

 they have been transported alive from tropical seas to Holland, 

 and sold " for twelve ducats a piece." Their voracity is great, 

 in fact, they seem to be mostly mouth and stomach. On the 



