FISHES OF FAMILY BLENNHDAE 47 



The ascending processes of the premaxillaries (described in detail 

 by Thiele, 1963, for Blennius ocellaris, B. sanguinolentus and B. 

 gattorugine) usually are based weakly on the body of the premaxillary 

 in the Blenniini, but in Blennius ocellaris and B. normani they are 

 based strongly. The latter two species are unique in the genus Blennius 

 in that the distal ends of the ascending processes abut against the 

 ventral end of the median ethmoid. In the other species of Blennius 

 the processes ride over or in front of the median ethmoid. Blennius 

 ocellaris and B. normani are also the only two species of Blenniini 

 in which the dentaries are joined together by a suturing joint. It is 

 for these reasons that I believe the genus Blennius should be restricted 

 to B. ocellaris, type-species, and to B. normani. To restrict them, 

 however, would be to leave a number of species presently assigned to 

 Blennius without a generic name. Until a revision of the genus is 

 made, I recommend maintaining the status quo. Norman (1943), 

 without giving reasons, restricted his subgenus Blennius to B. ocellaris; 

 B. normani was not described at that time. The tips of the premax- 

 illary ascending processes in Hypleurochilus and, to a lesser degree, 

 Hypsoblennius also abut agaiust the median ethmoid. 



Chasmodes hosguianus is unique in the Blenniini (and Blenniidae) 

 in having a greatly elongated maxillary and, consequently, a very 

 large gape. Its near relative, G. sahurrae, is normal m these respects. 



In the Omobranchini there is always a canine on each premaxiUary 

 and dentary, infrequently two. (Immature females of Omobranchus 

 herklotsi (Herre) have normal omobranchinine canines in both jaws, 

 but adult females of this species have no canines. This loss of canines 

 is accompanied by a marked increase in the size of the gape and an 

 anterior, broad rounding of the lower jaw, a type of sexual dimor- 

 phism that is unique in the Blenniidae.) The upper canines are much 

 smaller than the greatly enlarged, recurved lower canines in Omo- 

 branchus (pi. 3) and Cruantus, slightly smaller in Enchelyurus and 

 Laijphognathus, and are separated by a diastema from the comblike 

 teeth. Depending on the species, the comblike teeth number from 14 

 to 30 for each pair of premaxillaries and dentaries. The number of 

 teeth in the upper and lower jaws is about equal for any specimen, 

 with a slight tendency for the lower jaw to have more teeth in some 

 species. The small amount of data I have available indicates that the 

 number of comblike teeth increases with standard length, but I haz- 

 ard the guess that only rarely would the number ever reach 40 in 

 either jaw. The teeth are attached rather firmly to the jaw bone but 

 are slightly movable. The capsule-Hke nature of the jaws and the 

 development and appearance of the replacement teeth are similar 

 to that described for the Blenniini. The ascending process of each 

 premaxillary is based rather strongly on the body of the premaxillary 



