97 ) 2. The Blcnniidce of South Afr/m By J. D. F. GILCHRIST, M.A., D.Sc., PH.D.; and W. WAKDLAW THOMPSON. THE Blenniidae (Blennies, or Klipfish) of South Africa, though comparatively abundant and easily procured, are very imperfectly known. Those that have been described are often so insufficiently characterised that they cannot with certainty be identified, due also in a large measure to the procuring of isolated specimens and the description of unimportant characters. The following review of this family of fish in South African waters is based on collections made at Walwich Bay by Mr. Scully, at East London by Mr. Brooking and Mr. J. Wood, at Natal by Mr. Bomer Eobinson, and at various places by the authors. The most prominent feature is the presence of numerous species of the genus Clinus, there being 22 species as contrasted with 16 of all the other genera of the Blenniidse represented here. Of the nine known species we have been able to identify eight with a fair amount of certainty, and to draw up a revised description of these from an examination of numerous specimens. The one species of which we have not yet found a specimen is C. heterodon, and Valenciennes, original description of this is merely abstracted. Twelve new species and one new variety are now described ; most of them are well characterised, but in the case of two (Clinus supcrciliosus var. arborescens, and Clinus ornatus) it was only after an examination of many specimens that we found it necessary to separate them from Clinus superciliosus. The distribution of this genus (Clinus) is also of interest, the species representing it being much more abundant in the colder waters of the Cape Peninsula and West Coast. Only one species has been found, by Mr. Eobinson, in Natal, though he readily procured specimens of Blennius, Salarias, &c. From personal examination of such localities as the Cape Peninsula and Durban we have found that this is a most striking feature of the marine fauna, various species of Clinus occurring in almost every rock-pool 7
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