BLENNIES AND THEIR ALLIES 
39i 
„ Concerning the precise systematic position of the beautifully 
Dragonets. , 0 1 . / 
coloured fashes commonly known as dragonets ( Callionymus ), there is 
some difference of opinion; Dr. Gunther placing them with the gobies, whereas 
Day, on account of the wide separation of the pelvic fins (which in the latter and 
their near allies either form a disc or are very close together), refers them to a 
separate family. Be this as it may, these fishes, in addition to the feature already 
mentioned, are characterised by the head and anterior portion of the naked body 
being depressed, while the remainder is cylindrical. The pointed mouth has a 
narrow horizontal cleft, and a very protractile upper jaw; the large eyes have a 
more or less upward direction ; small teeth are present on the jaws, but none on the 
palate; and there is a strong spine at the angle of the preopercular. Of the two 
dorsal fins, the foremost has from three to four flexible spines; the pelvics are five- 
rayed ; and the gill-opening is very narrow, and generally reduced to a perforation 
on the upper border of the gill-cover. There is a large amount of sexual difference 
among the dragonets, the adult males having the fin-rays produced into filaments 
and the intervening membranes brightly coloured, whereas the females wear a 
much more sombre liverv; and it is due to this variation that there were long 
supposed to be two British representatives of the genus, namely, the gemmeous, 
and the sordid dragonet; the former being the male and the latter the female. In 
the adult male of the common dragonet ( C. lyra ) the first dorsal spine is greatly 
elongated; the general colour of the smooth skin being yellowish, beautifully 
banded and spotted with lilac; the first dorsal fin bearing several lilac spots, and 
the second having lilac bands. I 11 length, the male measures about 10 inches. The 
yellow scalpin, as the male is called in some parts of Britain, is generally found 
in comparatively deep water, whereas the female often approaches the margin of 
the tide. Both sexes feed on molluscs and other hard-shelled creatures, as well as 
on worms. Out of some thirty representatives, the majority are inhabitants of the 
coast-regions of the temperate zone of the Old World, although a few are found in 
the Tropical Pacific. 
The Blennies and their Allies, —Families Cepolidae, Blenniieae, etc. 
The well-known blennies, together with five less important families, constitute 
a sectional group of spine-finned fishes, all of which may be treated under one 
heading. As a group, these fishes are characterised by the body being in general 
more or less nearly cylindrical in form; the dorsal fin is elongated, and its spinous 
portion, if distinct, is also long, being equal to or even exceeding the soft part in 
length, while occasionally the whole fin may be spiny; the anal is also more or less 
elongate; the pelvics, when present, are thoracic or jugular in position; and the 
caudal fin, which may be absent, is rounded or somewhat truncated. 
‘The first family of the group (Cepolidce) is represented by the 
small marine band-fishes, of which one species ( Cepola rubescens) is a 
casual visitor to the British coasts. The essential characters of these fishes are to 
be found in the elongate and band-like form of the body ; the presence of one spine 
and five soft rays in the thoracically-placed pelvic fins; and the absence of spines 
in the single dorsal and anal fins. The eyes are rather large and lateral, the teeth. 
