82 CLASSIFICATION OF FISHES. 



tribe represents : but then tbe skeleton is truly osseous^ 

 and the relation is obviously one only of analogy. 



(80.) Of the three aberrant divisions, or famiLieSj of 

 this tribe^ namely^ the BatrachidcE, the Chiridce and 

 the ZoarcliidcE; the examples are very few. Comopho- 

 rus, by its broad and depressed muzzle^ seems to con- 

 nect the gobies with the Batrachid(T j but these latter 

 are so little understood^ that^ perhaps_, the less we say 

 about them the better. The fact seems to be^ that M. 

 Cuvier, like all his predecessors^ by mistaking analogy 

 for affinity^ has mixed up the Lophid<s, or such as- 

 have a sub-cartilaginous skeleton and peduncidated pec- 

 torals, with such of the true BatracJiidce as have an 

 osseous skeleton and sessile pectorals, that is, pectoral 

 fins, formed, as in all the osseous tribes, in the ordinary 

 manner. 



(86.) The ZoarcMdce comprise a very few blennies, 

 having eel-shaped bodies, buf destitute of ventral fins. 

 The type is a well knov/n fish, common to our northern 

 seas, and known by the name of the cat, or wolf-fish 

 {^Anarrhichas lupus L.*); it exceeds all the other blen- 

 nies in magnitude, being sometimes found above seven 

 feet long. It is common in Scotland, where it is gene- 

 rally known by the name of cat-fish ; the flesh is much 

 esteemed, but, as the skin is unusually tough, it is always 

 taken off, as in eels, before cooking. It is, in every 

 respect, the shark of this tribe, for its habits are fierce 

 and ravenous, and its mouth is beset with numerous and 

 formidable cutting and grinding teeth ; it lives, how- 

 ever, chieny on crabs and shell-fish, and is not known 

 to attack men. Lastly, as connecting these fishes to the 

 tiTie blennies, Avith which we began our survey, there is 

 the genus Zourchus, having the dorsal, anal, and caudal 

 fins blended into one, with the vestiges of ventrals. The 

 American species grow to nearly the size of the cat-fish; 

 but that found on our own coasts {^Zoarchus viviparus) 

 is generally not longer than fifteen inches. The close 



» Yarrell, i. 247. 



