239 



ZOARCHUS. 



The bodj' lengthened, smooth; dorsal und anal fins running to the 

 end of tlie body, -where tliey unite to form the tail; ventrals short, 

 with three or four rays, placed as in the Blennies. 



VIVIPAROUS BLENNY. 



GREENBONE. 



Miistela marina vivipara, JoxsTON ; Table 46, f. 8. 



" " " WiLLOUGiiBY ; p. 122. Block; pi. 72. 



Blennius vivi-parus, Linn.s;us. Donovan ; pi. 34. 



Zoarces viviparus, Cuvier. 



GunneUus viviparus, Fleming; Br. Animals, p. 207. 



Zoarces viviparus, Jenyns; Manual, p. 384. 



" " Yaurell; Br. Fishes, vol. i, ]). 273. 



" Gunther; Cat. B. M., vol. iii, p. 29.5. 



This is a fish of the Xorth Sea, and is common on flic 

 coast of Scotland, as also on that of Norway and Sweden, 

 with the Baltic Sea along its length. As avc come southward 

 it becomes more rare, and west of the Straits of Dover we 

 are informed of only a single specimen, which was obtained 

 by Colonel Montagu in Devonshire. 



Its usual haunts are not f\u- from the shore, where it seeks 

 concealment and safety under a stone. Its food is generally 

 those objects which are sought for by the other species of the 

 family of Blennies. But what has particularly attracted the 

 attention and excited the wonder of observers, is that remarkable 

 variation of nature as compared with its congeners, of hatching 

 its young within the body of the parent and producing them 

 alive; a portion of which process and development is thus 

 described by Willoughby, with the addition of a few remarks 

 derived from the work of Professor Nilsson. 



