101. GOBIID.E. G29 



upper ray spotted ; ventrals white. Width of pectorals less than half 

 length of head, their length a little less than that of head; ventrals 

 reaching three-fifths distance to vent. Scales small, evident, in very 

 oblique series. T-shaped bone on top of head conspicuous, on each 

 side of it a broad naked area, said to be the seat of electric powers. 

 A ridge of skin along middle line of belly from ventrals to vent. 

 Head 3; depth 3. D. IV-I, 13; A. 12. L. 12 inches. West Indies, 

 occasional on our South Atlantic coast. 



( Uranoscopus y-grcscum Cuv. & Val. iii, 308, 1829: TJranoscopus y-gra'cinn Giinther, ii, 

 229: Upseloiiphorus y-grcecum Gill, Proc. Acacl. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1861, 113; Bean, Proc. 

 U. S. Nat. Mis. 1879, 56.) 



A. asaoplaas (Cuv. & Val.) Brevoort. 



Brownish, everywhere covered with fine white spots; a dark lateral 

 band on the caudal peduncle, near which the spots are larger; caudal 

 with lengthwise stripes of black and pale. Form and armature essen- 

 tially as in A. y-grcecum. Pectoral a little longer than ventral, one- 

 fourth shorter than the head. Scales on back evident, but small, the 

 belly and lower part of the sides naked. Head 2i; depth 3^. D. IV- 

 13; A. 12; Lat. 1. 113. Atlantic coast of United States; rare. 



( Uranoscopns anoplos Cuv. & Val. viii, 493 (young, said, to be naked): Af/ntis anoplns 

 Guuther, ii, 229: Astroscopes gtittatiis Abboit, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1860, 365; 

 Beau, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. 1879, 60.) 



FAMILY CIV. GOBIID^E. 



(The Gobies.} 



Body oblong or elongate, naked or covered with ctenoid or cycloid 

 scales. Dentition various, the teeth generally small; premaxillaries 

 protractile; suborbital without bony stay. Skin of head continuous 

 with covering of eyes. Opercles generally unarmed. Pseudobranchio? 

 present. Gills 4, a slit behind the fourth; gill-membranes united to the 

 isthmus, the gill-openings thus restricted to the sides. No lateral line. 

 Dorsal fins separate or connected, the spiuous dorsal least developed, 

 of 2-8 flexible spines, rarely wanting; anal usually without spine, sim- 

 ilar to the soft dorsal; ventral fins close together, separate or fully united, 

 each composed of a short spine and 5 soft rays, the" inner rays longest; 

 the ventral fins, when united, form a sucking-disk, a cross-fold of skin 

 at their base forming a cup; caudal fin convex; anal papilla prominent. 

 No pyloric coeca ; usually no air-bladder. Carnivorous fishes, mostly of 

 small size, living on the bottoms near the shores in warm regions. Some 



