290 THE JUMPER-FISH. 



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 purpose. 



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 dimensions. There is an American variety where the vertical 

 streaks are modified into round spots of blackish brown. 



THE typical genus 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 southern 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 mostly among the seaweed, where it finds abundance of 

 the smaller Crustacea and molluscs. 



The dorsal fin of this fish is very large, being greatly elevated and extending from 

 the back of the head almost to the tail. The dark spot is placed between the sixth and 

 eighth rays. The color of the Eyed Blenny is pale brown, patched here and there with 

 a darker tint. The dark spot on the fin is mostly edged with white or very pale yellow. 

 The length of this fish is seldom more than three inches. 



SEVERAL other British species of blenny are acknowledged, and some are very well 

 known upon our coasts. 



The SHANNY, or SHAN (Btinniiis pholis), is a tolerably common species, and its habits 

 have been thus recorded by Mr. Couch : " Destitute of a swimming-bladder, this fish is 

 confined to the bottom, where it takes up its residence on a rock or stone, from which it 

 rarely wanders far, and beneath which it seeks shelter from ravenous fishes and birds ; for 

 cormorants, with their long and sharp beaks, drag multitudes of them from their retreats, 

 and devour them. When the tide is receding, many of these fishes hide beneath the 

 stones or in pools, but the larger individuals quit the water, and by the use of the 

 pectoral fins creep into convenient holes, rarely more than one in each, and there, with the 

 head outward, they wait for a few hours, until the return of the water restores them to 

 liberty. If discovered or alarmed in their chambers, they retire by a backward motion 

 to the bottom of the cavity. These circumstances show that the Shanny is retentive of 

 life, in confirmation of which I have known it continue lively after a confinement of 

 thirty hours in a dry box ; notwithstanding which, it soon expires in fresh water." 



This species is extremely variable in color, some specimens being mottled with 

 different shades of brown, and others of a uniform dusky tint. It may be recognized 

 by the deep notch or slit in the middle of the dorsal fin, and the absence of appendages 

 on the head. The length of this Shanny is about five inches. 



PASSING by the remaining blennies, all of which are very similar in habits and general 

 appearance, we must pause for a short space to examine a very curious species be- 

 longing to the same family, called the JUMPER-FISH (Saldrias tridactylus). 



This odd little fish offers no remarkable beauties of color or form, being of a simple 

 dark brown, and without any salient points of external structure ; but it is possessed 

 of a wonderful power of suddenly leaping out of the water, darting over the wet stones 

 and rocks, and snapping up flies and other insects with the nimble agility of the 

 lizard. It can scramble up a nearly perpendicular face of rock, and is so wary and 

 agile, that on the least attempt to seize it, the little creature darts towards the sea and is 

 nearly certain to make its escape. While engaged in this pursuit, the Jumper-fish 

 adheres so tightly to the rock that it is not detached even by the shock of repeated 

 waves. It is quite a little fish, not more than four inches in length. Its residence is 

 in the seas of the East Indian Archipelago. At least fifty species of the Salarias are 

 known to zoologists. 



