MARINE BIOLOGICAL STATION AT PORT ERIN. 133 



The Wrasse or Bollan (Fig. XXX., B). 

 Probably no fish is better known to the numerous 

 visitors to Port Erin who find pleasure in hand-line 

 fishing than the bollan. It is abundant along the rocky 

 shores of the Isle of Man during the summer and autumn 

 months, and its varied and often brilliant colouring excites 

 general admiration. It is a hardy fish, and bears confine- 

 ment well. Local fishermen distinguish two colour 

 varieties as the " lady " and " doctor " bollan respectively. 



Shore Fishes (Fig. XXVL). 



We now come to a number of small, shore-haunting 

 fishes which, though of no economic value, are of consider- 

 able interest to naturalists. These are the Gobies, the 

 Suckers, the Blennies and the Sticklebacks, of each of 

 which families one or more representatives are generally 

 to be seen in our tanks. The Gobies, several species of 

 which are known to inhabit the Irish Sea, are all quite 

 small fishes which frequent rock-pools and sandy shores. 

 The Pock or Black Goby is probably the commonest local 

 species. The Cornish Sucker is common under stones and 

 weed at low tide, and the rarer Connemara Sucker is 

 occasionally found in the same habitat. The Double- 

 spotted Sucker inhabits deeper water beyond low-tide 

 mark, and is almost invariably found adhering to the 

 inner surface of an old bivalve shell. The Blenny family 

 is represented by the Shanny (fig. XXVL, 2), which lurks 

 amongst the weed and coralline in every rock-pool, and by 

 two much rarer species, the Gattoruginous Blenny and 

 Yarrell's Blenny, both of which are occasionally found 

 under stones when an exceptionally low tide occurs. 

 Another representative of this family is the Butter-fish, 

 so called in reference to the great difficulty experienced 



