SHANNY. 
217 
endeavour to guard his embryo brood, the little aerie 
was mercilessly stripped of every egg. At the end of 
that period an untimely end befel our little hero; wea- 
ried out with his exertion he was at length unable 
to cope with the odds arrayed against him, and was 
found one morning literally torn to pieces at the foot 
of the ledge he had so long defended, a huge fellow, 
nearly twice his size, and who had doubtless been 
chiefly instrumental in bringing about his overthrow, 
now occupying the post of honour. One other little 
episode concerning the object of this notice remains to 
be chronicled. While the female was depositing her 
spawn, an operation which extended over several days, 
her brave little partner was seen on several occasions 
to descend to the bottom of the tank, and hurriedly 
snatching up a fragment of the food supplied for the 
general meal, to return with it aloft and place it at 
the disposal of his ladylove.” 
Except as bait, this fish can be of no economical 
value to man. 
The Shanny is by no means rare on the south- 
west coast of Norway, at least in the neighbourhood 
of Bergen, where Reinhardt (Maanedskr. f. Litter., 
1833, p. 231) made the observations on which he based 
the first statement as to its geographical extension 
northwards; but in Sweden it has never been observed. 
Its true home is on the coasts of Great Britain and 
Ireland, extending southwards at least as far as Gi- 
braltar (Steindaciiner) and into the Mediterranean at 
least as far as Barcelona (Steindachner). In the Me- 
diterranean, however, it is not so common as in the 
Atlantic (Valenciennes), and its occurrence east of 
Spain has been denied (Moreau, 1. c. and Giglioli, 
Espoz. intern, di Pesca in Berlino 1880, Cat. Sez. 
Ital, p. 91). 
Genus CHIROLOPHIS. 
Hind part of the body ribbon-shaped and covered with very small scales. Head naked ( without scales), but with 
dermal fringes on the top. Jaws furnished, almost throughout their margin, with an arcuate , unbroken row of 
conical teeth, somewhat compressed and pointed at the apex {partly, however, especially in the front part of the 
jaws , alternating, every other tooth being set farther in than the next to it): no canines at the ends of the rows. 
Head, especially the snout, short; mouth broad, obliquely ascending. Gill-openings large , but vertical; bran- 
chiostegal membranes joined to each other under the isthmus , to which they are united. One continuous dorsal fin, 
containing only spinous rays , along the whole of the back behind the head. Anal fin long and with a small spi- 
nous ray at the beginning ; the rest of the rays articulated and branched. Ventral fins short, jugular and con- 
taining one spinous and three branched rays. Pays of the pectoral fins repeatedly branched. Branched rays of 
the caudal fin few {under 14). Only the anterior part of the lateral line distinct. Branchiostegal rays G a . 
Pseudobranchice present. Air-bladder wanting. Pyloric appendages present, but small 1 ’. 
Of this genus only one species is known with 
any certainty', and even this has borne six different 
generic names. The best and fullest descriptions of 
it have been given by Kroner, who gave it the name 
of Carelophus d , and Nilsson, by whom it was called 
Blenniops e ; but both these writers were anticipated 
by Swainson, who established the genus Chiro- 
lophis'. 
“ Sometimes 5, according to Nilsson and Couch. 
6 According to Keoyeb and Nilsson. 
c Pallas’s ( Zoogr . Ross. As., Ill, p. 179) Blennius polyactocephalus from Kamchatka probably belongs to this genus (cf. .Joed., Gilb., 
Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., No. 16, p. 765), and is possibly even the same species as Oliirolopliis galerita; but it is described from a dried spe- 
cimen and not further known. 
d Naturh. Tidskr., Kblivn, 2:den Raekkes l:ste Bind (1844 — 1845), pp. 227 and 236; Kefir], head, and loqog, crest. 
e Skand. Fn., Fisk., p. 185 (1855). 
f Nat. Hist., Class. Fish., Ampli., Rept., (Lardn. Cab. Encycl.) vol. II, p. 275. (1839); Xeio , hand. 
Scandinavian Fishes. 
28 
