212 
SCANDINAVIAN FISHES. 
from that in Anarrhiclias, and the diphycercal form of 
the tail, one of the points most characteristic of the 
lowest (and earliest) stages of development, and among 
the Physoclysts most often retained by the Anacanthini, 
are still more powerful advocates of Gill’s procedure 
in referring the genus to these last fishes. 
Cuvier" united these fishes with the following 
series into one family, Gobioides b , of which Bonaparte c 
regarded them as a subfamily, Blenniini, which was 
set apart by Muller' 2 as a distinct family, Blennioidei. 
Since that time so many forms have been discovered 
that it has become necessaiy to distribute them among 
several families, of which the Scandinavian fauna in- 
cludes two. 
Fam. blenniid je. 
External hones of the head unarmed. No osseous connexion between the suborbital ring and the preoperculum. 
Jaw-teeth ( like the palatine teeth, where they exist) of ordinary shape , conical or curved , of uniform size or in- 
terspersed ivith canines. Scales of the body generally small with smooth margins, and imbedded in the slimy 
shin; or even wanting. One, two or three dorsal fins extend along the whole length of the bach behind the occi- 
put, or at least the greater part thereof. Anal fin also long. Ventral fins generally jugular, with reduced num- 
ber of rays; in some genera wanting. Pseudobranchice generally distinct. Air-bladder arid pyloric appendages 
generally 
The Greek ft Mr nog ( slimy or silly) was a small 
Mediterranean fish that lived among the seaweed; but 
its species can scarcely lie fixed at the present time, 
as the old writers have given no description of it. 
It was, however, the Butterfly Blenny ( Blennus in Be- 
lon and Gesner, Blennius ocellaris in Linnaeus), a 
species common in the Mediterranean, that Artedi 
chose as *. the type for the genus Blennius, which was 
the first genus among his Acanthopterygians, and which 
he defined with about the same characters as are now 
applied to the Blennomorph series. Most of these fishes 
belong to the Blennioid family, which, even within the 
limits given above, offers considerable variety of form. 
About 250 species, distributed among from 30 to 40 
genera, have been described. The majority of the 
Blennioids and their most typical representatives are 
small shore-fishes, common in the tropic and temperate 
seas, and some of them extraordinarily small. They 
are generally of sluggish temperament, but momentarily 
their movements are extremely quick. At their homes 
on rocky shores, where they are left dry by the re- 
iv anting. 
tiring tide, these fishes, so tenacious of life are they, 
lead an almost amphibious life. An East-Indian spe- 
cies, Salaries tridactylus, has indeed been called am- 
phibius; and Commerson, Forster and Ehrenberg", all 
three have watched with interest and described its swift, 
leaping motions even on dry land, where it is said to 
hunt insects. During their life on land and also at 
the bottom of the sea, the ventral fins in particular, 
and the pectoral as well, are said to serve as admirable 
organs of motion. The eyes too, the brilliancy of which 
reminds us of those of the snakes, continue to perform 
their functions out of the water * 6 7 . The family is not 
destitute, either, of the beauty of bright and varying 
colours; many of the Blennioids are, in splendour of 
colour, the rivals of the Wrasses, while the form of 
the body sometimes calls to mind the Julidince, a like- 
ness enhanced by the general thickness of the lips and 
the frequent occurrence of canine teeth in the back part 
of the jaws. 
The genera which belong to the Scandinavian fauna, 
may be distinguished by the help of the appended table; 
“ R'egne Animal , ed. 2, tome II, p. 236. 
6 Called Blennioidei by Nilsson (Slcand. Fn ., Fiskarne, p. 180). 
c Isis, 1833, p. 1199. 
d Abli. Acad. Wiss. Berlin 1844, p. 199. 
e See Cuv., Val., Hist. Nat. Poiss., XI, p. 340. 
f Cf. Day, Fish. G:t Brit. Irel., vol. I, p. 198. 
