VIVIPAROUS BLENNY. 



243 



ACANTHOPTER YGII. 



GOBJOIDM. 



THE VIVIPAROUS BLENNY. 



EELPOUT, GUFFEE, AND GllEENBONE. Scotlaild. 



Zoarcus viviparus, Cuvier, Regne An. t. ii. p. 240. 

 Blennius ,, Bloch, pt. ii. pi. 72. 



,, >, Viviparous Blenny, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. iii. p. 283, 



pi. 61. 

 Don. Brit. Fish. pi. 34. 

 Gunnellus „ ,, Gunnel, Flem. Brit. An. p. 207, sp. 125. 



Generic Characters. — Body elongated, covered with a mucous secretion ; head 

 smooth, muzzle blunt ; ventral fins situated before the pectorals ; dorsal, anal, 

 and caudal fins united ; all the fins very thick ; vent anterior to the middle of the 

 body, its situation marked by a tubercle ; teeth conical, placed in a single row ; 

 branchiostegous rays 6. 



The Viviparous Blenny differs from the other Bri- 

 tish Blennies in the circumstance to which its name refers — 

 that of bringing forth its young alive, which seem per- 

 fectly able to provide for themselves from the moment they 

 are excluded. Mr. Low, in his Fauna Orcadensis, says, 

 when he first observed this, he put a number of the small fishes 

 into a tumbler-glass of sea-water, and kept them alive for 

 many days, changing the water every tide. They grew 

 a good deal bigger, and continued very lively, till in a hot 



R 2 



