Dec, 1890.] THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



221 



capture, being excessively slimy, and thereby able to crawl through 

 one's fingers and flop among the stones in a highly bewildering 

 manner. The natives call them " Catlugs." The other well-known 

 member of the same genus, B. pholis, the " Galliaporn " of the fisher, 

 men, otherwise the Shanny or Blenny, is abundant in rock pools, one 

 large female being readily induced to explore a jam pot, and, in con- 

 sequence, to accompany us to the mother Isle. Unlike the Gunnell, 

 the Blenny is a very hardy fish, and will thrive well in the aquarium, 

 though its voracity renders it a formidable enemy to all small fry. 

 They have a habit of leaving the water for hours at a time, and lying 

 high and dry on the artificial rock work of the tank. Several speci. 

 mens of a small Pipe Fish, Syngnathus lumbriciformis w T ere bottled, a 

 species remarkable as having but one fin, occupying a dorsal position 

 The males carry the ova attached to the under-side of the body, 

 thereby relieving their mates of the burden of their immature 

 offspring. An occasional Sucking Fish. Lepadogaster bimaculatus was 

 found in the same locality, attached to stones and by no means easy 

 to detach. 



All day long the wind blew a gale, but this did not discourage us 

 from journeying in the afternoon as far as Fleshwick Bay, where we 

 imagined it not unlikely that some additions might be made to our 

 collections. The full fury "of the storm burst upon us as we traversed 

 the bend in the road before coming in view of the bay, and though 

 we still had some distance to go, the salt spray fell like rain upon our 

 faces as we struggled against the keen blast. Our voices were 

 drowned in the howling of the wind and the roar of the angry waves, 

 as they rose, tottered, and broke in a seething, boiling mass of foam 

 upon the shingly shore. Collecting is precarious, not to say dangerous, 

 but notwithstanding the difficulties we find a large and flourishing 

 Sponge colony, Ascandra botryoides, with their creeping stolens, giving 

 off Sycandra-like sponges. An abnormally large and highly corrugated 

 specimen of Leucandra nivea likewise fell to our share. A large Pipe 

 Fish, Syngnathus acus, lurking in a pool, complete our captures, so we 

 pack away bottles and nets, and skurry homeward in the hope of 

 reaching Port Erin before the tide flows, knowing that the discomfort 

 of walking in a searching wind will there be obviated, the projecting 

 spur of Brada affording protection from the elements, Then a few 

 quiet hours to sort out our wealth of animal life, to preserve the 



