FISHES OF CHESAPEAKE BAY 335 
Ripe or nearly ripe fish were taken in May, July, and September, indicating that spawning 
may take place throughout the summer. 
The maximum length given for this fish in published accounts is 4 inches, which slightly 
exceeds the length of the largest specimen at hand. It was infrequently taken in nets in shallow 
water, the latest date along shore being November 23, at Cape Charles, and somewhat more fre- 
quently during the winter with the beam trawl operated from the Fish Hawk in water ranging 
from 13 to 25 fathoms in depth. This blenny may not be as rare as indicated by the collection, 
for it may live, like some of the other blennies, where it is inaccessible to nets. 
Habitat . — Chesapeake Bay to Florida. 
Chesapeake localities. — (a) Previous records: Cape Charles city, Old Point Comfort, and 
Ocean View, Va. ( b ) Specimens in collection: From off Bloody Point, off Cove Point, off Barren 
Island, off Cedar Point, off Hooper Island, off Point No Point, and Crisfield, Md., and off Smith 
Point, Cape Charles, lower York River, off Old Point Comfort, Ocean View, and Lynnhaven 
Roads, Va. 
146. Genus BLENNIUS Linnasus. Blennies 
Body oblong, compressed; head short, its upper profile usually bluntly rounded; mouth small, 
horizontal; teeth in a single series in each jaw, long and slender, curved inward; lower jaw in addi- 
tion -with a stout fanglike tooth on each side; premaxillaries not protractile; gill openings wide, 
the membranes free from the isthmus, or at least forming a broad fold across it; scales -wanting; 
dorsal fin entire or more or less notched, the spines slender; ventrals well developed, I, 3 rays; 
pectorals moderately developed. 
187. Blennius fucorum Cuvier and Valenciennes. Seaweed blenny. 
Blennius fucorum Cuvier and Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss., XI, 1836, p. 263; open seas south of the Azores. Uhler and 
Lugger, 1876, ed. I, p. 97; ed. II, p. 81; Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 2379. 
This blenny was recorded from Chesapeake Bay by Uhler and Lugger (1876), whose descrip- 
tion we quote in full. It has not been seen there by other investigators. 
“Body small, cylindrical, and scaleless; head large, deeper than long; the large and very 
prominent eyes project beyond the face; a thread-shaped cirrus, bifid at tip, and nearly as long as 
the head, projects from the upper part of each orbit. Soiled greenish, brownish above, with nu- 
merous brown spots on the cheeks and sides of the body; throat and belly faintly rosaceous. Length, 
1 to 2 inches. Fin rays, D. 11, 17; P. 14; V. 3; A. 18; C. 14.” 
It is rather remarkable that this blenny, usually found among seaweed in the open seas, should 
have been taken well up Chesapeake Bay. 
Habitat . — Atlantic Ocean, in floating seaweed, and from Chesapeake Bay. 
Chesapeake localities. — (a) Previous record: Oyster region south of Tangier Sound (Uhler 
and Lugger, 1876). (5) Specimens in collection: None. 
Family LXXXIV.-OPHIDIIDtE. The cask eels 
Body elongate, compressed, more or less eel-shaped; head large; lower jaw included; both jaws 
and usually vomer and palatines with villiform or blunt teeth; premaxillaries protractile; gill open- 
ings wide, the membranes separate, anteriorly narrowly joined to the isthmus behind ventrals; 
pseudobran chise small; gills 4, a slit behind the fourth; scales small, covering body and occasionally 
the head; air bladder and pyloric cseca present; vertical fins low, without spines, confluent around 
the tail; tail isocercal; ventral fins at the throat, each developed as a long, forked barbel. 
A single genus and species comes within the scope of the present work. 
147. Genus RISSOLA Jordan and Evermann. Cusk eels 
Body moderately elongate; lower jaws included; teeth in jaw pointed, those on vomer and 
palatines blunt; vent posterior, at origin of anal; no spines on opercles; scales present on body, 
wanting on head, elongate in shape and somewhat imbedded; air bladder placed just back of the 
cranium, very short, described as having a foramen posteriorly. This, however, appears to be a 
mistake, for the posterior end of the bladder really is closed by a small, solid, conical, nearly trans- 
parent body connected with the wall of the bladder by a very thin membrane. Two fresh specimens 
