CRESTED BLENNY. 
219 
pholis, here also, as Nilsson has remarked, demands the retention o£ 
the Lin mean name. Pholis was a Mediterranean fish, and in Ronde- 
let (Artedi’s and Linnaeus’s, as well as Willughby’s, chief authority 
with regard to this species), certainly did not mean the more Atlantic 
species which occurs in Scandinavia, and which now bears the name. 
But Linn^us also quoted Gronovius’s Mus. Ichth., vol. II, no. 175, 
a passage which leaves no room for any doubt as to his application 
of Blennius pholis. Here too, where Linnaeus has quoted Stroem, 
the case is the same; and with regard to galerita we now have the 
further advantage that hardly anyone at the present day will refer 
the species here in question to the same genus as the species with 
which it has been confounded by Linnaeus. There is thus no danger 
of confusion, even if we retain the Linmean specific name in both 
genera, in Blennius from the 10th and in Chirolophis from the 12th 
edition of Systema Naturae. 
The form of body of the Crested Blenny is, so to 
speak, on the point of transition to the ribbon shape; 
it is fairly thick anteriorly, but the caudal part, which 
is the longer, is perfectly ribbon -shaped. Among the 
characters given above we find a peculiarity, of 1 x 111011 
there is only a slight trace in Blennius pholis, but 
which is all the more developed in other forms within 
the family. This consists in the circumstance that on 
the posterior margin of the gill-opening we find, in 
the first place, at the top, by the upper corner, a 
dermal flap — evidently a continuation of the branchio- 
stegal membrane, which here advances above the slit, 
and in other species, e. g. Clinus super ciliosus", is con- 
tinued down to the base of the pectoral fin, where, in 
Blennius ocellaris for example, it projects in a dermal 
flap over the upper corner of the axil — and in the 
second place, farther downwards and inwards, on a level 
with the upper half of the base of the pectoral fin, a 
bony ridge, covered with skin, and here of uniform 
height, but in Clinus superciliosus at the lower end 
produced into a hook. The upper supporting rays of the 
caudal fin (in the specimens belonging to the Royal 
Museum) are remarkable for the circumstance that the 
tAvo anterior ones are real spinous rays, with a mem- 
brane betAveen them, as well as in continuation Avith 
the dorsal fin. The membrane of the anal fin also 
advances over the margin of the caudal fin. Of the 
lateral line of the body Ave can only find a roAV of 6 
pores at the beginning, but the head is furnished with 
the ordinary roAvs of distinct pores, both in the margin 
of the preoperculum, Avith a continuation under the 
loAver jaw, and in the suborbital ring Avith a continua- 
tion on the snout. 
The Crested Blenny is a northern form, Avhich, 
at depths varying from some I'cav to 180 fathoms, ex- 
tends from the extreme north of Norway to the south 
coasts of Great Britain and Ireland. As early as 1762, 
Strom described it as occurring in the south of Nonvay. 
During GaVimard’s expedition Kroyer obtained speci- 
mens at Bosekop in Finmark. In Christiania Fjord, 
according to Collett, it is taken almost yearly; but 
on the coast of SAveden it is extremely rare. In July, 
1861, Malm took three small specimens, the smallest 
someAvhat under 27 mm., the largest 34 mm. in length, 
at the entrance of Gullmar Fjord; and C. A. Haxsson 
has procured for the Royal Museum a specimen 21 cm. 
long, a male, which Avas taken in December, 1879, in 
an oyster- dredge, at a depth of 12 fathoms, in Dynekil 
near Stromstad. Day gives several instances of its 
occurrence on the coasts of Great Britain and Ireland. 
Farther south it has not been found. 
The habits of the Crested Blenny are but little 
knoAvn. According to Couch, it is hoav and then taken 
in crab-pots, into Avhich it is probably enticed by the 
bait. In its stomach haA T e been found mollusks, Avorms, 
Hydroids, Spongite and seaAveed. Its food thus seems 
to be the same as that of the true Blennies; and in 
captivity it lives in the same Avay as the Shanny, ready 
in a moment to hide under a stone or some similar 
object. When resting at the bottom of the aquarium, 
it curls its tail up to its head, and depresses the anal 
fin laterally, as if to support itself more securely. It 
is fiir too rare, and its size far too small, for it to 
possess any economical importance. 
“ = Blennius mustelaris, Mus. Ad. Frid. Linnaeus’s two original specimens are still to be found in the Royal Museum; and they 
show that the character, “caput absque cristis”, is due to an oversight. Linnaeus’s var. ft may perhaps be explained by the fact that in the 
3 + 34 (31) 2 
one specimen the membrane is tom behind the third ray in the dorsal fin. The fin-formula is: D. ; A. 
1 3 8 (7) 28 (26) 
