as the Suckers and Remoras, which Cuvier places among his Malacopterygii. The number of species contained in the group, if we exclude these three Families, are given by the Italian zoologist as four hundred and eight, a vast increase upon the number recognised in 1831, when, according to the same authority, the Family contained one hundred and seventy three species.
The bodies of these fishes are generally soft to the touch, and invested with a mucous slime; hence the name applied to one of the great subdivisions, the term Blenny being derived from the Greek Βλεννα, signifying mucus; and the provincial appellations of some of the species, as Butter-fishes, &c., allude to the same peculiarity.
The Gobiadæ have either one lengthened dorsal or two: the rays which are spinous are so in a less degree than in any other tribe of this Order, being remarkable for slenderness and flexibility. Few, if any, of this species have robust rigid rays in any of the fins. The ventrals manifest peculiarities of structure: they either consist of two or three small rays, or are enveloped in a thick skin, or are so united as to make a funnel-shaped cup, or are totally wanting. In general these fins are situated in front of the line of the pectorals. All the species have a long uniform, intestinal canal, destitute of cæca; the air-bladder is generally wanting.
The genera are widely scattered; they are found in all the seas of both hemispheres, from the polar oceans to the equator; one genus is confined to the Indian coast, another to the Molucca Isles, and another to the Sea of Kamschatka:
