COLLECTION OF FISH. 44 1 



blennies and the gobies : we have seventy-six spe- 

 cies of the first genus and forty-six of the second. 

 The fish of this family are generally small, and 

 live in shoals on rocky shores. They exist a 

 long time out of the water. Some species of 

 the blennies from the Indian seas, remarkable 

 for the number and smallness of their teeth, 

 which are moveable as the keys of a pianoforte, 

 are distinguished from the others by the name of 

 s alar las. 



The genus anarrhichas (wolf-fish) is nearly 

 allied to the blennies ; those which are named sea- 

 wolf or sea-cat are a great resource to the Irish, 

 who eat them dry, make shagreen of the skin, and 

 use the liver as soap. A large specimen is suspended 

 from the ceiling. The periophthalmi, of which 

 we have five species, are akin to the gobies. 

 Their eyes are furnished with moveable eyelids, 

 which meet at the top of the head. These fish 

 can live a long time out of the water, and by 

 the help of their pectoral fms can run upon the 

 mud. The specimen from Senegal was given 

 to the cabinet by M. Delcambre, who took it for 

 a lizard, and shot it. The other species are from 

 the Moluccas. The sillagones belong to the same 

 family ; the s. acuta, Cuv. , and the s. domina, Cuv. , 

 are the best fish of the Indian seas. The callio- 

 njmi, Lin. , the last of the family of the gobies, are 



