BLENNIID^}. 203 



Toroross, in Devonshire, by Montagu, who dredged three examples. It is not 

 uncommon at Falmouth (Cocks) : it has been captured at Dawlish (D'Urban). 

 In Dorsetshire it has been found to be frequent in the autumn. 



A single specimen taken by a trawl in 1845, Mount's Bay, " but the spot on 

 the first dorsal fin was so obscure as scarcely to be noticed" (R. Couch). It 

 is not rare in the Channel Islands and extends through the Mediterranean. I 

 have to thank Mr. Carrington, f.l.s., for two examples from Guernsey, captured 

 in 1880, the largest being 4j inches in length. 



This fish attains to at least 7 inches in length. 



4. Blennius pholis, Plate LX, fig. 2. 



Pholis, Aldrovandus, i, c. 25, p. 116 ; Gesner, p. 714 ; Jonston, i, tit. 2, cap. 2, 

 Art. 1, t. xvii, f. 4 ; Willughby, p. 135, t. H 6, f . 4 ; Ray, pp. 73 and 74 ; Artedi, 

 Synon. p. 110. Blennius, sp. Gronov. Zooph. No. 259 and Mus. Ichth. ii, p. 22, 

 No. 175. Cataphractus Ixvis, Jago in Ray's Pise. p. 164, f. 10. Smooth blenny, 

 Pennant, Brit. Zool. (Ed. 1) iii, p. 208, pi.- xxxvi (Ed. 2) iii, p. 280, pi. xl. 



Blennius pholis, Linn. Syst. i, p. 443 ; Bloch, Fis. Deut. ii, p. 184, t. lxxi, 

 f. 2; Bl. Schn. p. 170; Shaw, Brit. Zool. iv, p. 177, pi. xxiv ; Bonn. Atl. Ich. 

 p. 54, t. xxxii, f. 118 ; Lacep. ii, p. 489 ; Donovan, Brit. Fish, iv, pi. lxxix ; 

 Turton, p. 93 ; Jenyns, Man. p. 382 ; Parnell, Fish. Firth of Forth, p. 73, and 

 Wern. Mem. vii> p. 233 ; Yarrell, Brit. Fish. (Ed. 1) i, p. 230, c. fig. (Eel. 2) i, 

 p. 260 (Ed. 3) ii, p. 366 ; Couch, Trans. Linn. Soc. xiv, pp. 74, 75 ; Martens, 

 Reise nach Venedig, ii, p. 419 ; Thompson, Pro. Zool. Soc. 1835, p. 80, and Nat. 

 Hist. Ireland, iv, p. 110 ; Templeton, Mag. Nat. Hist. (2) 1837, i, p. 409 ; Johnston, 

 Berwick. Nat. Hist. Club, 1838, i, p. 171; Giinther, Catal. iii, p. 226; Mcintosh, 

 Fish. N. Uist, Pro. Roy. Soc. Edin. v, 1862-1866, p. 614, and Fish. St. Andrew's, 

 p. 175, pi. vi, f. 4 ; Steind. Ich. Span. u. Port. 1868, p.. 8 ; Collett, Norges Fiske, 

 p. 72 ; Giglioli, Pesc. Ital. p. 31 ; Vinciguerra, Itto. Col. Mus. Civ. Genova, p. 451, 

 c. fig. ; Moreau, Poiss. France, ii, p. 143. 



Pholis laivis, Flem. Brit. Anim. p. 207 ; Cuv. and Val. xi, p. 269 ; Cuv. Regne 

 Anim. Illus. Poiss. pi. Ixxvii, f. 2 ; Nilss. Skan. Faun. Fiske, p. 182. 



Adonis pholis, Gronov. ed. Gray, p. 96. 



Shanny, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, ii, p. 226, pi. cxiii, f . 2. 



B. vi, D. ii:iA, P. 13, V. 2, A. 18-20, C. 13. 



Length of head 4| to 4|, of caudal fin 6 to 7, height of body 4\ to 5 in the 

 total length. Eye — diameter 4£ to 5 in the length of the head, 1^ diameters 

 from the end of the snout. Interorbital space nearly flat. No orbital tentacle. 

 Anterior nostril with a short tentacle divided at its extremity into four or five 

 filaments. Teeth — a curved tooth exists at the angle of moderate size in both 

 jaws, that in the mandible being a little the largest, the number of teeth slightly 

 vary with age, thus in examples under 3 inches I found 14 in the upper and 

 12 in the lower jaw, at 3^- inches from 16 to 18 in the upper and 13 to 14 in 

 the lower jaw : from 4 to 4^ inches, 19 to 20 in the upper and 16 in the 

 lower jaw. Fins — the dorsal commences slightly before the vertical from the 

 hind edge of the opercle : its spines are flexible : it is notched between its two 

 portions, while posteriorly it is not continuous with the caudal. Scales — absent. 

 Colours — greenish-olive or yellowish : banded, blotched, or spotted with black. 

 Fins yellowish, also black spotted, while the anal has a black, white-margined, 

 outer edge. Their colours are very various and while in the water are least 

 marked. In most examples from the coasts of Cornwall and Devonshire I 

 observed during life a large blue spot on the cheek, behind and below the eye, 

 and a light band along the lower part of the side, much as seen in B. galerita. 



Varieties. — Mr. Dunn has obtained two scarlet examples from crab-pots. Mr. 

 Greatwood (Zool. p. 2029) observed respecting the changes of colour in this fish, 

 that it is of a pale yellowish-brown while in water, but after inhaling atmospheric 

 air freely for some time, its hue changes to a deeper brown, and a series of white 

 spots on the lateral line become conspicuous. 



Names. — Shanny or shan : said to have been formerly known in Cornwall as 



