BLENNIID^E. " 201 



to above the commencement of the anal, its 6th to 8th rays the longest. Anal 

 is not continuous with the caudal. Colours — of a light brownish or yellowish 

 gray, with six to nine vertical bands, not so wide as the ground colour, descending 

 from the back two-thirds down the body : the whole of the body and the head 

 are studded with bluish-white spots, and a line of large milk-white blotches 

 runs from opposite the lower edge of the pectoral to the lower third of the 

 caudal fin. Pectoral with a black band at its base, some dark spots and two 

 rows of white blotches. Fins yellowish : dorsal with irregular and oblique rows 

 of black spots : anal, and sometimes the soft dorsal, with a black outer edge ; 

 caudal with thi^ee to five dark vertical bands, and two light blotches near its base. 

 Tentacle on head red or orange. 



Varieties. — Shows great variation in colour, being very much darker in some 

 localities than it is in others. 



Names. — There can be but little doubt that this is the species alluded to by 

 Artedi as Blennius crista capitis transversa, cutacea, but he erroneously refers to 

 Rondelet whose blenny termed galerita, or " crested lark," was the B. pavo of 

 Risso. This fish is evidently the species alluded to by Solander, which he 

 observed near Plymouth and thus recorded: "Blennius comatus, crista capitis 

 interoculari, lanceolata, ciliata," &c. 



Habits. — It prefers small rock pools in which sea-weed exist, or crevices, 

 or under ledges of stone where it can retire into : here it remains sometimes 

 dry for sevei'al hours during the day, crawling about, or if frightened jumping. 

 It is very active, and may be seen peeping out of its crevices, but is rather 

 solitary or seen only in pairs. I obtained many live ones from the rock pools 

 at Penzance (August, 1881), and particularly noticed whether the crest on the 

 head was erectile or not so. Out of the first ten, eight died with it erected, in 

 the other two it was laid flat : I then took one without injury by means of a 

 hand-net and transferred it to a vase of sea -water. At first its crest was 

 flat, but after three or four hours it was constantly erect. Two shannies and 

 one Montagu blenny were placed in a larger aquarium with a whistler (Motella) ; 

 they at once flew at it, seized it by the throat, and killed it. It is difficult 

 to retain in water, requiring a net cover, but I could not perceive that its activity 

 was greatest in accordance with the tides (see page 204). 



Means of capture. — These little creatures are captured in rock pools in a similar 

 way to the shanny, and they are about equally active and able to secrete them- 

 selves. 



Breeding. — August, on the under surface of a stone beneath which it shelters 

 itself. 



As food. — It is too insignificant to be of any use except to birds and larger 

 fish. 



Habitat. — In the Atlantic from the British Isles to the Canaries, also locally 

 distributed throughout the Mediterranean and Adriatic to the Black Sea. 



Banffshire (?) it has been recorded as having been obtained from the stomach 

 of a haddock (Edward). At Weymouth an example was dredged in 1851 

 (P. Gosse, Zoologist) ; Devonshire (Montagu), near Plymouth (Solander), while 

 it is very numerous at Penzance, in Cornwall. Mr. Cornish observes (Cornish 

 Fauna, p. 40), that it is not uncommon in Mount's Bay. 



It docs not appear to often exceed 2 or 3 inches in length in the British 

 Isles, but attains to rather a larger size in the Mediterranean. 



3. Blennius ocellaris, Plate LIX, fig. 2. 



Scorpioides, Rondel, vi, c. 20, p. 204 ; Gesner, p. 847 ; Aldrov. p. 110. Blennius, 

 Salv. Aq. p. 217; Belon. p. 221; Gesner, p. 130; Aldrov. p. 203; Jonston, i, 

 tit. 3, c 1, Art. 15, t. xix, f. 5 ; Willugh. p. 131, t. H 3, f. 2 ; Ray, p. 72. Blennius, 

 No. 1, Artedi, Gen. p. 20 ; Klein, Pise. Miss, v, p. 31, No. 1. 



Blennius ocellaris, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 442 ; Briinn. Pise. Mass. p. 25; Bl. 

 t. clxvii, f. 1 ; Bl. Schn. p. 108; Shav.', Brit. Zool. iv, p. 165, pi. xxiv ; Bonn. Atl. 



