BLENNIID^l. 199 



Blennius gattorugine, Blocli, t. clxvii, fig. 2 ; Bl. Schn. p. 168 ; Briinn. Pise. 

 Mass. p. 27 ; Shaw, Brit. Zool. iv, p. 168 ; Bonn. Atl. Ich. p. 54, t. xxxi, f. 114; 

 Donovan, Brit. Fish, iv, pi. lxxxvi ; Turton, p. 92 ; Lacep. ii, p. 468 ; Martens, 

 Reise nach Venedig. ii, p. 418 ; Risso, Ich. Nice, p. 127 and Eur. Merid. iii, p. 230 ; 

 Cuv. and Val. xi, p. 200 ; Yarrell, Brit. Fish. (Ed. 1) i, p. 226, c. fig. (Ed. 2) i, 

 p. 256 (Ed. 3) ii, p. 362 ; Fleming, Brit. An. p. 206 ; Jenyns, Man. p. 379 ; 

 Templeton, Mag. Nat. Hist. 1837 (2) i, p. 409 ; Guichen. Explor. Alger. Poiss. 

 p. 69 ; Lowe, Trans. Zool. Soc. iii, p. 9 ; Thompson, Nat. Hist. Ireland, iv, p. 108 ; 

 White, Catal. Brit. Fish. p. 47 ; Gimther, Catal. iii, p. 212 ; Canestrini, Arch. 

 Zool. 1862, ii, p. 90, t. ii, f. 1 ; Steind. Ich. Span. u. Port. 1868, p. 1 ; Vinciguerra, 

 Blenn. Genova, Annal. Mus. Civ. Genova, xv, 1880, p. 433; Giglioli, Peso. 

 Ital. p. 30 ; Moreau, Poiss. France, ii, p. 121. 



Blennius varus, Pall. Zoogr. Russ. iii, p. 170; Nord. in Demid. Voy. Russ. 

 Merid. iii, p. 402 (not Risso). 



Qattorugine, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, ii, p. 219, pi. cxi. 



B. vi, D. ifliA, p. 14, V. 1/2-3, A. 21-22, C. 12-13, Vert. 12/27. 



Length of head 4| to 4|, of caudal fin 6 to 6|, height of body 4|- to 5 in the 

 total length. Eye— situated high up, either in or rather before, or a little behind, 

 the middle of the length of the head ; from 1| to 1| diameters from the end of the 

 snout, and 1/2 to 3/4 of a diameter apart. Interorbital space concave. Snout 

 obtuse, with a very steep profile. Head compressed, a little longer than high. A 

 well-developed fringed tentacle above the orbit, sometimes equalling in length the 

 diameter of the eye, or even more :* valve at anterior nostril likewise fringed. 

 The maxilla reaches to beneath the front edge of the eye : lips rather thick. 

 Teeth — 34 to 44 in the upper jaw, and a few less in the lower ; the last on either 

 side of the mandible curved backwards and inwards, but not enlarged. Fins — the 

 dorsal commences above the base of the opercle, a slight notch exists between 

 its spinous and soft portions, while posteriorly the last ray of the fin has a 

 membraneous continuation to the base of the caudal : none of its rays are divided. 

 Ventral short, its rays undivided. Anal with undivided rays, and not united with 

 the caudal, the latter fin being nearly square at its extremity : its nine central 

 rays divided. Lateral-line — curves to above the commencement of the anal fin. 

 Colours — olive-gray or brown with blotches and wide vertical bands : a black spot 

 beneath the eye ; lower margins of the caudal and anal fins edged with white, and 

 lower rays of pectoral and ventral stained with orange. A black spot frequently 

 exists between the third and fourth dorsal spines. 



Varieties. — In colours are very common, and in accordance with the locality 

 which it resides in. 



Names. — Tompot Cornwall, said to be probably derived from its being 

 frequently taken in crab-pots. Qattorugine has been asserted by some to be a 

 derivation from gatto rusalo its common name at Venice, alluding to the 

 thickness of its throat, which frequently abbreviated to gatto, signifying " a cat," 

 has given rise to the idea that the whole term might mean, rusty or red cat. 

 Le perce-pierre, French. 



Habits. — Inhabits deep water, and prefers rocky ground. It is very voracious, 

 principally feeding on small crustaceans, bivalves, corallines : while even brown 

 sea-weed has been found iu its stomach. This species is rarely left on rocks by a 

 receding tide, its residence being in the deeper water; but Couch remarks upon 

 having procured two examples (plate cxiii, fig. 1), both of reddish colour, left by 

 an ebbing tide, and concealed under a stone. 



Means of capture. — Usually in a crab-pot, which has had some fine net placed 

 along its floor : these fish which enter from the top or sides in order to eat the 

 bait, appear always to leave by descending through the bottom. In Ireland it is- 

 said to be taken in lobster traps laid in 12 to 14 fathoms of water. 



Bait. — In some localities it appears to be used as a bait for lobster and crab- 



* Blennius ruber, Cuv. and Val. xi, p. 211, is said to differ from this species, in that its. 

 supraorbital tentacle is shorter, aud its colour of a bright red. The same variation in colour has 

 been observed in Cornwall. 



