230 ZOOLOGY. 



deposii, even in the presence of man, or other fish. The young, when 

 hatched, fasten themselves to the back and sides of the parent, who thus 

 transports them to safer localities than the shallow water in which the eggs 

 were deposited. The genus Liparis, found in the seas of Arctic America, 

 with somewhat the same structure of the sucking-disk as lumpus, is 

 without the fleshy ridge on the back, and has a more elongated and 

 smooth body. There is a single, rather lengthened, dorsal fin. Echeneis 

 is by some included in this family. The genus Callionymus has the ven- 

 trals separated and broader than the pectorals. The gill-openings are 

 reduced to a small hole on each side of the nape. There are no species in 

 American waters. 



The first genus of the family Blenniid^. is constituted by Blennius, 

 with a single elongated dorsal, the ventrals before the pectorals, and dis- 

 tinct, consisting of two rays, united at the base. Teeth slender, in a single 

 row. The species of this genus are small, lively fish, living among sea- 

 weeds, and possessing, some of them at least, curious crests or cirri over 

 the eyes. They derive their name from the shining mucus with which 

 their skin is clothed. They are numerous in species on the coast of the 

 United States, and form several subdivisions of the old Linnaan genus 

 Blennius proper, P/iolis, Chasmodes, &c. One genus, Zoarces, with the 

 dorsal, anal, and caudal united, is ovo-viviparous, a peculiarity in all pi'oba- 

 bility shared with it by others. Of this latter genus there are three 

 American species. The genus Gunnellus, or butter-fish, has an elongated 

 compressed body, and the ventrals rudimentary. The most conspicuous 

 fish of this family, however, is the wolf-fish, or sea-cat, Anarrhichas lupus, 

 armed more formidably with teeth than any other known species of equal 

 size. The dorsal fin is composed of simple rays, and extends from the 

 nape to the tail ; the anal likewise reaches to the tail. The body is smooth 

 and shining. The palatines, vomer, and mandibles, are armed with stout, 

 prismatic, grinding teeth, the interior being longer and conical. The wolf- 

 fish is exceedingly voracious, and is the pest of the Arctic seas, where it 

 sometimes attains a length of eight feet. It is likewise quite abundant as 

 far south as Massachusetts, on the one continent, and England, on the 

 other. The flesh is highly esteemed by some, although from its exceed- 

 ingly repulsive appearance, it is not often eaten, except by the inhabitants 

 of Iceland and Greenland. 



The conclusion of Miiller's order Acanthopteri is furnished by the family 

 LoPHHDiE, characterized by the elongation of the carpal bones, upon which 

 the pectoral fin is supported, as on an arm. The branchial apertures 

 are small, in the I'orm either of a circular aperture or a vertical slit. 



This family includes genera which are among the most repulsive in 

 appearance of all fishes. Conspicuous in this respect is Lophius, known 

 by the very large broad head, slender body, broad and thick pectorals, and 

 other characters. Lophius piscatorius, or the fishing-frog, angler, wide-gap 

 {pi. 81, fg. 23), found in European waters, and L. aynericanus, are fishes 

 which attain to a considerable size, and are objects of interest to fisher- 

 men ; not so much on their own account, as for the other fishes which 

 434 



