56 



MARKETABLE BRITISH MARINE FISHES 



of orange and blue, is allied to the gobies. There is another 

 family of small sucker fishes, in which the sucker is not formed 

 from the ventral fins, but lies between them ; they have a single 

 dorsal fin without spines. 



The blennies are shore fishes, mostly of small size, distin- 

 guished by their usually scalelcss skin, and long dorsal and 



Fig, 23, — The Dragonel, male. 



ventral fins ; the body is long and the head blunt. The cat-fish 

 (Fig. 24) is a gigantic blenny of northern seas living in deeper 

 water. 



Two other families it is necessary to mention are the atherines 

 and grey mullets (Fig. 25), which are somewhat similar to one 

 another. They are remarkable for having the second pair of 



Fig. 24. — The Cat-fish. 



side fins somewhat behind the breast fins. There are two dorsal 

 fins, both short. The teeth are feeble in the atherines, absent in 

 the grey mullets. The atherine or sand-smelt of the south shores 

 of England resembles the true smelt in appearance and habits, 

 and has a bright silvery band down the side. 



In the stickleback family also the second pair of side fins 



