4 THE SEA-SHORE 



PLATE II 



THE SMOOTH BLENNY (i) 



This fish, which is sometimes known as the 

 Shanny, is also very common in the rock-pools. 

 But you are not likely to see it unless you bale 

 out all the water from a pool, for it always hides 

 during the daytime in the crannies among the 

 rocks, or underneath sea-weeds. Or it will even 

 burrow down into the sandy mud beneath a big 

 stone, so that you will not find it at all unless you 

 dig for it. 



When it is fully grown this fish is about five 

 inches long, and it is quite a remarkable creature 

 in several different ways. 



In the first place, it varies a great deal in colour. 

 Sometimes it is partly green and partly yellow, 

 sometimes it is olive brown nearly all over, and 

 sometimes it is almost black. But you can 

 always tell it by the ring of bright crimson which 

 surrounds each eye. 



In the second place, it can remain for quite a 

 long time out of the water. Some fishes die 

 almost at once if they are taken out of the sea. 

 But a blenny can live on dry land for twenty-four 

 hours at least. The reason is that its gills are 

 made in such a way that they remain damp for a 

 long while after the fish leaves the water ; and as 

 long as the gills are moist it is able to breathe. 



