108 BLENNIID-E. 



Fam. 20. BLENNIID.E. 



Mouth more or less protractile, often bordered to a considerable 

 extent by the maxillaries. Lower pharyngeal bones separate. 1\vo 

 nostrils on each side. Suborbitals often forming a more or less distinct 

 subocular shelf. Gill-membranes usually attached to isthmus. Scapula 

 and coracoid more or less developed, sometimes much reduced, the 

 former pierced by a foramen ; 4 or 5 hourglass-shaped pterygials, one 

 or two of which are in contact with the coracoid. Ventral fins, if 

 present, jugular, with not more than 4 rays. Dorsal and anal fins 

 elongate, the former constituted entirely of spines, or anteriorly of 

 spines or non-articulated rays, and posteriorly of soft rays. Body naked 

 or with small scales. Most of the praecaudal vertebrae with strong 

 transverse processes supporting the ribs. 



Cosmopolitan. Mostly marine. 



Two genera have representatives in the fresh waters of Africa : — 



All the teeth immovable I. Blennius, L., p. 108. 



Movable teeth implanted in the gum 2. Salarias, Guv., p. 110. 



1. BLENNIUS. 



Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 411 (17GG), part. ; Cuv. & Val. Hist. Poiss. xi. p. 197 (1836) ; 



Giinth. Cat. Fish. iii. p. 211 (18G1). 

 L-hlhi/ocoris, Bonap. Icon. Faun. Ital., Pesci (1840). 



A series of immovable teeth in the jaws, often with one or two curved 

 canines on each side; palate toothless. Gill-openings wide, gill- 

 membrane extending across the throat. Dorsal fin elongate, all the 

 rays simple, flexible, or the last branched; anal similar to dorsal, 

 but shorter. Ventral fins with a small spine and 2 or 3 rays. Body 

 naked. 



Coasts of the Northern Hemisphere, Brazil, and the South Pacific. 

 Fiesh waters of the Mediterranean basin. One species in Alo-eria. 



1. BLENNIUS FRATER. 



Blennius, Asso y del Rio, Introd. Oryctogr. et Zool. Aragon. p. 95, pi. vi fi<r. 2 

 (1784). 



Blennius frater, Bloch, Schneid. Syst. Ichthyol. p. 171 (1801) ; Cuv. & Val. Hist. 



Poiss. xi. p. 252 (1836). 

 Blnudus sujefianus (non Lacep.), Risso, Ichtliyol. Nice, p. 131 (1810); Blanch. 



Poiss. France, p. 255, fig. (1866). 



