Origin and history of blenny

type of small fish, 1774, from Latin blennius (in Pliny), from Greek blennos, from blenna "slime, snot, mucous discharge," so called for the coating on its scales (from PIE *mled-sno-, suffixed form of root *mel- (1) "soft"). "The Blennies (B. gattorugine and allied species) are little fishes common in the rock pools, often called Butterfishes from the slime or mucus which they exude. Hence their name" [Thompson, "A Glossary of Greek Fishes"].