Form and appearance of the mouth similar to that o f the M . labeo of the Mediterranean. Lips
fleshy, and very much developed, with the borders fringed; the lower one partially reflexed.
Apparently no trace of teeth anywhere. Suborhital with a shallow notch on its anterior margin,
obliquely truncated at its posterior angle, and obsoletely denticulated. M axillary slender
and slightly bent, nearly concealed beneath the suborhital, but showing a little beneath it, from
its being a trifle longer. The head is a little less than one-fifth of the entire length : the snout
short, and rather obtuse. Longitudinal diameter of the eye contained three and a-half times in
the length of the head ; no appearance of any adipose veil. Orifices of the nostril approximating.
The depth of the body cannot be acourately ascertained, but it appears to have been about
one-flfth of the entire length. The commencement o f the anal is but very little in advance of that
of the second dorsal; both fins appear to have been covered with small scales. Pectorals not
quite so long as the head ; apparently no elongated scale above them : one, however, above the
ventrals, half the length of those fins. The fin-ray formula is as follows
D. 4—1/8; A. 3/9; C. 14; P. 16; V. 1/5.
The length of this fish is eight inches.
D a ja u s D ie m e n s i s . Rickards.
Dajaus Diemensis, Richards, in Proceed, of Zool. Soc. 1840, p. 25.
This genus, which was established by Cuvier and Valenciennes, differs from
3lugil principally in having vomerine and palatine teeth : the snout also is rather
more produced, and the mouth less chevron-formed. There is but one species
described in the “ Histoire des Poisssons,” which is found in freshwater in the
Caribbee Islands. Dr. Richardson has briefly noticed a second from Van
Diemen’s Land, in his recent description of a collection of fishes from that
country, in the “ Proceedings of the Zoological Society.” Mr. Darwin’s collection
contains a specimen of this genus from King George’s Sound, which, having
reason to think it might be the same as that described by Dr. Richardson, I sent
to this latter gentleman, requesting him to compare them. This he obligingly
did, and informed me in his answer that he could detect no differences between
them, beyond what might be the result of the different manner in whii h they
were preserved, his own specimens being in spirits, and Mr. Darwin’s dried. .
I forbear giving a detailed description of this species, as one by Dr. Richardson
will appear shortly in the Transactions of the Zoological Society; and Mr.
Darwin’s specimen is in such a bad state of preservation, as hardly to admit of an
accurate description of it being taken. I may ju st allude, however, to some of its
more striking peculiarities.
It appears to differ from the D . montícola of Cuvier and Valenciennes in having the teeth in the
lower jaw , if they really exist, so minute and thinly scattered as to be scarcely perceptible
those in the upper jaw , however, are very distinct; so likewise are the vomerine and palatine bands.
There are also some very obvious teeth on the tip, and a t the sides of the tongue, though few m
the m iddle: this part is said to be without any asperities in the D . montícola. The suborbital
is more rounded off a t the lower angle anteriorly, and the denticulations thereon rather more
numerous and better developed. The scales on the body, those especially above the lateral
line, have a few minute teeth on their free edges, communicating a roughness to the touch ; a
character not alluded to in the description of the D . montícola, and which therefore m ay be
presumed absent. There are also three more rays in the anal, and one in the second dorsal.
The depth o f the body in this specimen, from its bad state of preservation, cannot be ascertained
; but the head is contained about four and a-half times in the entire length. The
diameter of the orbit is one-fourth the length of the h e a d ; and there is nearly one diameter
between it and the end of the snout. The jaw s are nearly equal, but when the mouth is closed,
the upper one projects a trifle ; this last is also moderately protractile. The maxillary retires
beneath the suborbital. The fin-ray formula is as follows:—
D . 4—1/9; A. 3/12; C. 14, & c.; P . 15; V. 1/5.
There is but one individual of this species in the collection, which measures
seven inches in length. The colours do not appear to have been noticed.
F a m i l y .— B L E N N ID ® .
B l e n n i u s p a l m i c o r n i s . C u v , et Val.
Blennius palmicornis, Cuv. et Val. Hist, des Poiss. tom. xi. p. 159.
The Blenny, M'hich I have referred above to the JB. palmicornis of Cuvier and
Valenciennes, seems somewhat intermediate in its characters between that species
and the B . parvicornis of the same authors. This inclines me to suspect that the
two species are not really distinct, as those authors themselves seem to have
thought possible, tliough they state that they never received the B . palmicornis,
except from the Mediterranean.*
In this specimen the head is one-fifth o f the entire length, and the ventrals one-eighth, which is
worth noticing, because it is stated that in the B . palmicornis the head is contained nearly five
and a-half times, and sometimes nearly six times in the total length; and the ventrals neai^y ten
times in the same. The filaments above the eyes, however, are similar to those of the species
ju st mentioned ; quite as much developed, and each divided nearly to the base into five or six
flattened bristles. There are about forty teeth in the upper jaw , and twenty-eight or thirty in
the lower : the canine below is very distinct, but above it is almost, if not quite wanting. The
fin-ray formula is as follows :—
D. 11/21 ; A. 21 ; C. 11, & c.; P . 13; V. 2.
The length of the specimen is nearly five inches. The anal is marked and
coloured exactly as described to be the case in the B . palmicornis.
This species was obtained by Mr. Darwin at the Cape Verde Islands,
* According to Jlr. Lowe, however, tlio B . palmicornis is common at Madeira, (see Proc. of Zool. Soc. 1829,
p. 83), and a specimen received from him, undoubtedly belonging to that species, is in the Museum of the
Cambridge Philosophical Society.