334 
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
14S. Genus HYPSOBLENNIUS Gill. Blennies 
Body elongate, compressed; head short, its profile steep; snout blunt; mouth small, horizontal; 
maxillary extending about to middle of eye; teeth slender, in a single series in each jaw, no canines; 
gill openings reduced, restricted to the sides; skin naked; a tentacle on upper margin of eye; 
dorsal fin long, the anterior part with slender, pungent spines; caudal round; anal somewhat 
similar to soft part of dorsal; ventrals inserted under the throat, with I, 3 rays; pectorals rather 
large. One species is known from Chesapeake Bay. 
186. Hypsoblennius hentz (LeSueur). Blenny; Spotted seaweed fish. 
Blennius hentz LeSueur, Journ., Ac. Nat. Sci., Phila., IV, 1825, p. 363; Charleston, S. C. 
Hypsoblennius punctatus Bean, 1891, p. 85. 
Hypsoblennius hentz Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p 2390, PI. CCCXXXIX, fig. 823; Evermann and Hildebrand, 
1910, p. 163. 
Head 3.35 to 3.75; depth 2.95 to 3.3; D. XII, 13 to 15 (usually 15); A. 17 to 19 (usually 18). 
Body compressed, deepest over pectorals, tapering gradually from there to the tail; head short 
and deep, its anterior profile very steep; snout short, not much in advance of forehead, 2.8 to 3.25 
in head; eye placed high, lateral, 3.15 to 3.8; interorbital deeply concave, the bone 7.8 to 10.4; 
mouth broad, terminal, horizontal; maxillary reaching below middle of eye, 2.5 to 3.05 in head; 
teeth in jaws only, in a single close-set series, slightly flattened and curved inward; each nostril 
with a simple, short, fleshy tentacle; a branched tentacle on upper margin of eye, this tentacle 
sometimes shorter than eye and sometimes more than twice the length of eye (it seems probable 
that this tentacle is longer in males than in females, yet a very large variation in its length exists 
among individuals of the same sex); gill openings restricted to the sides, about twice as long as 
eye; dorsal fin long, continuous, the spines slender but pungent, not quite as high as the soft part 
of fin, slightly attached to base of caudal; caudal fin round; anal fin lower than soft dorsal, free 
from caudal, its origin under posterior spines of dorsal; ventral fins well developed, inserted in 
advance of pectorals; pectorals rather large, about as long as head. 
Color in alcohol brownish, some specimens darker than others (this difference in color appar- 
ently bearing no relationship to sex); sides and head with dark spots, these largest on lower part 
of sides and smallest dorsally on head; some individuals less profusely spotted but with indefinite 
cross bars extending on dorsal fin; chin nearly always with two and occasionally with three dark 
bars; ventral fins nearly black; the other fins paler than the body, variously spotted; the caudal 
usually cross-barred; anal fin with the free tips of rays pale. 
This blenny is represented in the present collection by 15 specimens, ranging in length from 
43 to 93 millimeters (1% to 3 z /i inches). This species is readily distinguished from other blennies 
of Chesapeake Bay by the very steep, almost vertical forehead, and by the deeply concave inter- 
orbit.al. The branched tentacle over the eye also helps to identify it. 
The food of this blenny, as shown by the contents of five stomachs, consists of small crusta- 
ceans, mollusks, and ascidians. The comparatively large quantity of plant fragments present 
suggests that it may also feed on vegetable matter. 
