558 THE SEA WOLF AND THE EYED BLENNY. 



situation in the zoological scale. Moreover, their geographical range is 

 exceedingly wide, some species ranging over the Atlantic and Indian 

 Oceans ; and the learned ichthyologist above mentioned is of opinion 

 that many specimens which he has at present been compelled to admit 

 into the list of separate species will ultimately be found to be mere 

 casual varieties. 



The color of this species is yellow diversified with many spots and 

 streaks of brown, some of the streaks radiating from the eye, and 

 others extending over the dorsal fin. It is a native of the Indian 

 seas. 



The important family of the Blennies comes next in order. They 

 are all carnivorous fishes, many being extremely voracious, and are 

 spread over the shores of every sea on the globe. They mostly reside 

 on or near the bottom. 



The Sea Wolf, Sea Cat, or Swine-fish, is one of the fiercest and 

 most formidable of the finny tribes that are found on our coast, and 

 has well earned the popular names by which it is known. 



The Sea Wolf possesses a terrible armature of teeth, not only in the 

 jaws, but arranged in a double band on the palate, and by means of 

 these powerful weapons it can crush with ease the hard-shelled mol- 

 luscs and crustaceans on which it feeds. As may be imagined, the 

 aspect of the Sea Wolf is far from prepossessing, its fierce head, with 

 the armed jaws, strong and cruel as those of the tiger or hysena, and 

 the smooth, slime-covered skin, giving it a most repulsive aspect. 



The Sea Wolf is sometimes taken with the hook, but is mostly found 

 entangled in the nets together with other fish, and in either case it strug- 

 gles violently as soon as it perceives the loss of its liberty. It will tear 

 the nets to pieces with its teeth, and when hauled out of the water it still 

 flounces about with such vigor, and bites at every object with such 

 ferocity, that the boatmen usually stun it by a blow on the head before 

 lifting it into the vessel, a very heavy stroke being required for the pur- 

 pose. 



The general color of the Sea Wolf is brownish gray, with a series of 

 brown vertical stripes and spots over the upper parts ; the under parts 

 are white. On our shores it attains a length of six or seven feet, but in 

 the northern seas, where it thrives best, it greatly exceeds those dimen- 

 sions. There is an American variety where the vertical streaks are 

 modified into round spots of blackish brown. 



The typical g^nus of this family is represented by several British 

 specimens, of which the Eyed Blenny is one of the most conspicuous. 

 This pretty fish is not very common, but has been taken on the south- 

 ern coasts of England. From the elevated dorsal fin, and the bold dark- 

 brown spot that decorates it, this Blenny has sometimes been called the 

 Butterfly Fish. In the Mediterranean it is tolerably common, and lives 



