GOBIID^E. 169 



Genus II. Aphia, Risso. 



Brachyochirus, Nardo ; Latrunculus, Gunther (preoccupied among Molluslcs) ; 

 Boreogobius, Gill. 



Branchiostegals five : pseudobranchice present. Body elongated and compressed, 

 qill openings wide. Cleft of mouth deep. Teeth in jaws, those in the immature and 

 females minute, in the male long and pointed, with strong and curved canines in each 

 'jaw. Two dorsal fins, the first having five spines: ventrals united to form a disc 

 and not attached to the abdomen. Body transparent, covered with large and thin 

 deciduous scales. Air-bladder present. 



Great difficulties have occurred in the discrimination of the genus, thus when 

 Dr. Gunther (Catal. iii, p. 80) instituted that of Latrunculus for the female and 

 young, he placed the male in Genus Gobiosoma, and likewise, though doubtfully, 

 Atherina minuta, Risso, as the immature of Atherina hepsetus. To Professor Collett 

 is due the credit of having found the spawning places of this fish in 1875, and 

 elucidated its true characters (Pro. Zool. Soc. 1878, p. 319).* 



This fish has been considered by Professor Collett as an example of an 

 annual vertebrate, but the fact must not be lost sight of that some fishes are 

 believed to die after breeding, as the common stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus, 

 whereas if it does not breed, it certainly will live several years in an aquarium. 

 It would be interesting to experimentalize with Aphia pellucida in an aquarium 

 and ascertain if the same rule appertains to it. 



2i 

 1. Aphia pellucida, Plate LIII, fig. 3, (size -r-') 



? Aphya cobitis, Rondel, p. 210. 



Gobius pellucidus, Nardo, Giorn. Fis. Pavia, obser. &c. iii, 1824, p. 7 ; Kessl. 

 Bull. Soc. Nat. Mosc. 1859, t. xxxii, No. 2, p. 260 ; Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, ii, 

 p. 171, pi. cii, f. 2. 



Atherina minuta, Risso, Ich. Nice, p. 340 ; Cuv. and Val. x, p. 437. 



Aphia meridionalis, Risso, Enr. Merid. iii, p. 287. 



Gobius albus, Parnell, Trans. Roy. Soc. Edin. xiv, 1837, p. 137 ; Yarrell, Supp. 

 Hist. Brit. Fishes, p. 27, and Brit, Fishes (Ed. 2) i, p. 295 (Ed. 3) ii, p. 33 ; 

 Canestr. Arch. Zool. i, p. 152, t. viii, f. 3. 



Atherina hepsetus, Gunther, Catal. iii, p. 393 (? young). 



Atherina Stuwitzii, Dub. and Kor. Kgl. Vet. Akad, Forhandl. 1844, p. 51, 

 t. ii, f. 4 ; Nilss. Skand. Faun. p. 229, Forh. Skand. Nat. July, 1863. 



Latrunculus albus, Gunther, Catal. iii, pp. 80, 556. 



Latrunculus pellucidus, Gunther, Catal. iii, p. 556; Collett, Pro. Zoo. Soc. 1878, 

 p. 319 ; Giglioli, Pes. Ital. 1880, p. 30. 



Gobiosoma stuvitzii, Gunther, Catal. iii, p. 86. 



Boreogobius stuvitzii, Gill, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sc. Phil. 1863, p. 269 (no 

 description) . 



Latrunculus stuvitzii, Collett, Forh. Vid. Selsk. Christ. 1872, p. 9, and Proc. 

 Zool. Soc. 1878, p. 319. 



Gobius gracilis or slender goby, Couch, 1. c. p. 172, pi. cii, fig. 3 (young), also 

 Transparent goby, G. pellucidus, 1. c. p. 171, pi. cii, fig. 2. 



Aphya pelhicida, Moreau, Poiss. France, ii, p. 238. 



B. v, D. 5/^1x3, P. 16, V. 1/5, A. ^ C. 17, L. 1. 26, L. tr. 5, Vert. 27. 



* Professor Collett remarks, p. 322, as one reason for doubting what species Aphia, Eisso 

 applies to, that " the number of the rays in the first dorsal fin is also omitted, which is a point of 

 great importance." But iu Ich. Nice, p. 341, it is observed by Risso, " la premiere nageoire dorsale 

 contient cinq rayons," This was the nomiat, doubtless the form here referred to. 



