GOBIOIDEiE. 91 



[42.] 1. Blennius (Centronotus) gunnellus. (Linn.) Spotted 



Gunnelle. 



Family, Gobioidese, Cuvier. Genus, Blennius, Linn. Sub-genus, Centronotus, Sohneideij. 

 B. gunnellus. Linn. Syst. Nat., ed. xiii., i. p. 442. Fabr. Faun. Green., p. 149. 

 Spotted Blenny. Penn., Br. Zool., iii., p. 282. 

 Kurksaunak. Greenlanders. 



Centronotus, the sixth sub-genus of the Blennies, has still smaller ventrals than 

 the rest, these fins being scarcely perceptible, and often consisting of only a single 

 ray. The head is small, the body elongated like the blade of a sword, and the 

 dorsal, which extends the whole length of the back, is sustained throughout by 

 simple rays. The dentition is similar to that of Clinus. The Spotted Gunnelle 

 abounds in the European seas, is common in the gulfs and bays of Greenland, and 

 probably frequents the whole American coast down to Newfoundland. Fabricius 

 informs us, that in Greenland it dwells among the sea-weeds which grow near the 

 shore, and that though it swims swiftly, after the manner of an eel, it often becomes 

 a prey to the Bull-heads, Motellse, and other littoral fish, as well as to various sea- 

 birds. It feeds upon marine insects and small crustacese. The only American 

 specimen that we have seen was brought from the Labrador coast by Mr. Audubon, 

 and is now in the possession of Mr. Yarrell. From long immersion in rum, in the 

 same jar with some echini, it has become totally black, so that a comparison of its 

 markings with those of the European fish cannot be made, and we are also ignorant 

 of its internal structure. In external form, however, it bears a very close resem- 

 blance to a number of British specimens belonging to Mr. Yarrell, except that its 

 head is proportionably somewhat longer, and its gill-cover rather more pointed. 

 Fabricius mentions that large specimens taken on the Greenland coast are nine 

 inches long, and that he saw one which measured a foot ; but his description agrees 

 so well with the English gunnelle, that there is no ground for believing it to be a 

 distinct species, although the latter does not usually exceed six inches in length. 



DESCRIPTION 

 Of a Labrador specimen preserved in rum. 



Form — elongated, much compressed, particularly posteriorly : profile almost linear, the 

 head rather obtuse, the tail slightly lanceolate, its tip, to which the caudal is attached, being 

 rounded. The depth of the body, at any point between the nape and midway between the 

 anus and caudal, is about one-eleventh of the total length, excluding the caudal. The anus 

 is situated under the thirty-third or thirty-fourth dorsal spine. The head forms one-seventh 



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