462 REPORT OF THE 



Group BLENTSnOIDEI. 

 Family BLENNIIDiE. Blennies. 



234. Rockweed Blenny {Blenniits fncoriim C. & V.). 



The Rockweed Blenny inhabits the open ocean in floating seaweed. The type 

 specimen was taken near the Azores. The fish is recorded by DeKay from the 

 open sea off New York. In the voyage from Constantinople in 1831, he met this 

 Blenny swimming about seaweed, and made notes of it at the time, considering 

 it as either a young individual of some larger species or as undescribed. His 

 example was i^ inches long. He found that it agreed with the figure and 

 description of a Blenny taken and described by Cuvier and Valenciennes, from 

 the Atlantic south of the Azores. The largest example recorded is 2^ inches 

 long. 



205. Striped Blenny [Chasniodcs bosquianiis Lacepede). 



The Striped Blenny, a small species seldom exceeding 3 inches in length, is 

 found on the east coast from New York to Florida. It is common only off 

 Cape Hatteras. DeKay calls it the Six Banded Chasmodes. He refers to a 

 description of the fish by Mitchill, under the name Blcnniiis pholis. He says this is 

 a rare species. Mitchill found a specimen in an oyster. Another specimen was 

 sent to Cuvier from New York. A specimen in the cabinet of the Lyceum in New 

 York was obtained from the harbor. 



Family XIPHIDIID^. Rock Eels. 



206. Rock Eel ; Butterfish {PJiolis guiiucllns Linn.). 



The Rock Eel, or Butterfish, inhabits the North Atlantic from Labrador south to 

 Woods Hole, and from Norway to France. It grows to the length of 12 inches. 

 It abounds on rocks among algae in America and Europe. Mitchill describes and 

 figures the fish under the name Ophidimn imicronatuin. DeKay styles it the 

 American Butterfish. He says " it is frequently found among rocks along the sea 

 shore and in the mud. It swims with great rapidity, although its usual habit is 

 that of creeping slowly among rocks, in which it is probably assisted by its spiny 

 ventrals It abounds in Robyn's Reef, in the harbor of New York." Specimens 

 were taken in an oyster dredge at Eaton's Neck, in the fall of i8g6. It has also 

 been collected in the ocean near Water Island, in June, but was not observed in 

 Great South Bay. 



