161 



LITTLE GOBY. 



Little Gohy, Donovan; pi. 38. 



Gobius minutus, Guntiiek; Cat. Br. M., vol. iii, p. 58. 



I JUDGE that the species now to be described is the same 

 which is termed Gobius minutus by the generality of naturalists, 

 and the small size of the one or two that have come under 

 my notice, scarcely reaching two inches in length, will go far 

 to support the propriety of the name. But, on the other 

 hand, there are so many species of this family which are little, 

 if at all of greater bulk, and one or two which are usually 

 found smaller, that the species bearing this name can scarcely 

 be thought well distinguished by the appellation; the more 

 especially as the figure of it given by Donovan, which we 

 may suppose to be of the actual size of the example from 

 which it was drawn, is a little more than three inches in 

 length. 



From the accounts I have received it appears to prefer soft, 

 sandy, or oozy ground; and the specimen from which our 

 figure and description are derived was from the bay of Weston, 

 on the Bristol Channel. In shape it comes nearest to that 

 which I have termed the Yellow Goby, but compared with 

 that fish the eyes were a little smaller, and scarcely so near 

 each other. Dorsal fins still closer together; middle rays of 

 the tail more lengthened. The ground colour had a tendency 

 to yellow, but freckled over, and the body was encompassed 

 with seven dark bands, between each pair of which, across the 

 lateral line, a shorter line. A dark line also descends from 

 the eye; and there are spots on the first dorsal, and a dark 

 patch at the root of the tail. Ventral and anal fins dark. 



VOL. II. 



