7o 
Smooth Blenny. — A hand net swiftly passed among the bunches 
of sea-weed on the edges of rock-pools usually secures a few 
specimens of the smaller shore-loving fishes. In this manner smooth 
blennies may often be obtained in plenty. Sometimes they are dis- 
covered under rocks left high and dry by the tide and there they 
remain quite contentedly until the water returns. In colour these 
fish vary considerably. Some being almost mustard-yellow blotched 
with light brown, while others are nearly black and devoid of 
markings. If, however, these dark varieties be placed in a light- 
coloured vessel of water their shades will quickly become much 
lighter. These creatures by some means are able to change their 
general colouration to more or less harmonise with that of their 
environment. The eyes of blennies, which are outlined by a deep 
red ring, can be moved quite independently of one another like those 
of a chamaeleon. Often there are tentacles on the head which 
enable them to anchor themselves to any object and by means of the 
under fins these fish can cling to pieces of sea- weed or rocks or stones. 
Sea Grass. — This is the popular name for the bright green mossy 
looking sea-weed which densely covers all the permanent hard 
substances which are regularly washed by the tides. It is composed 
of multitudes of single rootless filaments, each with a fixing base, 
which derive their nutriment, like almost all sea-weed, by absorption 
from the water thiough the green ribbon-like structures. 
Tangle Sea-Weed is usually restricted to the deep water just 
beyond low tide mark, but often after storms a great deal is thrown 
up on to the beach. The deep brown plants frequently measure six 
or more feet and consist of a broadened fixing base and a cylindrical 
tough stem which at the apex flattens out into a number of ribbon- 
like strands. This rough resemblance it bears to bovine extremities 
has given it the name ol cow's tail sea-weed in some districts. 
Bladder Wrack, Notched Wrack, Knobbed Wrack, and Channelled 
Wrack are all found growing in company with one another on rocks, 
piles, etc. For their reproduction they require to be left exposed 
to the air for some hours at regular intervals, so that they are never 
found beyond the tide marks. All except Knobbed Wrack are deep 
brown in colour and much branched, absorbing their food supply 
direct from the water as already explained Bladder Wrack is 
easily distinguished by the presence of a mid-rib and a number of 
swellings or vesicles which help to buoy up the plant when sub- 
merged ; Notched Wrack, by the serrated or notched edges of 
its fronds; Knobbed Wrack, by the yellowish colour and absence 
of any trace of a mid-rib; and Channelled Wrack, by its par- 
ticularly narrow, much-branched fronds. 
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