. Cuvier's animal kingdom : arranged according to its organization. Animals. 306 PISCES. They live in small troops, among rocks near the coast, swimming and leaping, and can exist for some time without water. Their skin is covered with a mucous secretion, whence they have their common name Blennies. Many of them are viviparous, or bring forth their young alive, fully formed, and capable of subsisting by themselves. They are divided as follows :— Blennies, properly so called, have the teeth equal and closely set, fbrmino: only a single and regular row in each jaw, but terminating- behind, in so
. Cuvier's animal kingdom : arranged according to its organization. Animals. 306 PISCES. They live in small troops, among rocks near the coast, swimming and leaping, and can exist for some time without water. Their skin is covered with a mucous secretion, whence they have their common name Blennies. Many of them are viviparous, or bring forth their young alive, fully formed, and capable of subsisting by themselves. They are divided as follows :— Blennies, properly so called, have the teeth equal and closely set, fbrmino: only a single and regular row in each jaw, but terminating- behind, in some of the species, by a longer and crooked tooth ; their head is blunt, their profile vertical, and their muzzle short. Most of them have a fringed appendage over each eye, and some have another on each temple. Their intestines are wide and short. The following are some of the more remarkable species -.—B. ocellaris, Ocellated Blenny, or Butterfly-fish. This has two lobes in the dorsal, the first marked with around black spot surrounded by a white ring, and then a black one. It is a native of the Mediterranean, [but is occasionally found in the South of England by dredging. It lives among the rocks and sea-weed, and is under- stood to feed on minute Crustacea and Mollusca. It spawns in spring. It is a very small fish.] B. tentacularis has four filaments on the head, the dorsal fin even, and a black spot on the fourth and fifth rays. [It is not named among the English Blennies.] B. gattorugine, has the dorsal nearly even, and only two fillets on the head. [It is found on the Cornish shores, varying in length from one inch to five. The general colour is reddish-brown, paler on the belly.] B. palmicornis, has the appendage over the eye fringed, and the dorsal almost quite even, the anal long, and the caudal rounded: [it is found on various parts of the British shores, and even as far north as Norway. It is usually of small size, and pale brown, mottled with dark dull brown]. I
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