296 



MR. H. A. BAYLIS ON THE 



The tentacles are capable of a certain amount of motion, but are not 

 supplied with special muscles, and move, I think, only in correspondence 

 with the movements o£ the eyes. If an object, such as a glass rod, is made 

 to approach the head of a normal Blenny, the tentach' on the side nearest 

 to it may sometimes be seen to move slightly away from it, but at the same time 

 the eye is turned upwards to examine the intruding object, and the motion 

 of the tentacle does not appear to take place in specimens which have been 



^'.T. 



A.N. 



Pect. F 



Pelv. F 



Head of Blennius gattorugine. X 2. 



A.N., anterior nostril. N.T., nasal tentacle. Pect. F., pectoral fin. Pelv. F., pelvic fin. 



P.N., posterior nostril. S.T., supraorbital tentacle. 



blinded by cutting the optic nerves. The significance of this fact will be 

 seen later, in inquiring into the possible function of the tentacles. 



When cut off, the tentacles appear to be readily regenerated. In this 

 species the regenerated parts show signs of branching while still very small; 

 the pigment is at first very scanty. This is in curious contrast to the 

 process in B. ocellaris, in which the regenerated parts remain unbranched 

 for a long time, though attaining a considerable size, and being quite 

 deeply pigmented. 



