2184 Btdletin 47, United States National Museum. 



Class PISCES— Concluded. 

 Subclass TELEOSTOMI— (onchided. 



Order BB. ACANTHOPTERI— Concluded. 

 Group GOBIOIDEA. 



(The Gobies.) 



Body elongate, variously scaled or naked ; head usually large, armed 

 or not, the suborbital ring without a bony stay for the preopercle; gill 

 openings reduced, the membranes attached to the isthmus. Gills 4, a slit 

 behind the last; pseudobranchia- present. Ventral rays I, 4 or I, 5, 

 inserted below pectoral, the fins close together or united or widely sepa- 

 rated or otherwise peculiar; dorsal fins separate or uuited, the first of a 

 iew weak spines, sometimes wanting; anal rather long, usually with a 

 single weak spine, similar to soft dorsal; caudal rounded. Usually no 

 air bladder nor pyloric ca>ca. Vertebra' 24 to 35. Carnivorous bottom 

 fishes, mostly of small size in warm regions, some marine, others of the 

 fresh waters. Two families. 



a. Ventral fins widely separated; preopercle strongly armed; lateral line present. 



Callionymid.-e, CLXxxvn. 



aa. Ventral fins close togetlicr, usually united; preopercle with a weak s])iiie or none; 



no lateral line. Gobud.^, CLXxxvni. 



Family CLXXXVII. CALLIONYMID^. 

 (The Draooxets.) 



liody elongate, naked; head usually broad and dejiressed; the mouth 

 narrow, the upper jaw very protractile; teeth very small, in jaws only; 

 preopercle armed with a strong spine, which is usually branched. Eyes 

 moderate, usually directed upward. Lateral line present, often dupli- 

 cated. Dorsal fins 2, the anterior with 3 or 4 flexible spines; soft dorsal 

 and anal short, the latter without distinct spine; ventrals I, 5, widely 

 separated from each other; pectoral fins large. Gill openings small, the 

 membranes broadly attached to the isthmus; gills 4, a slit behind the 

 fourth; pseudobranchia' present; no air bladder. Vertebra? usually 

 8 -f 13 = 21. Small fishes of the shores of warm seas, chiefly of the old 

 world. Allied to the Gobies, but often resembling the Cottidw in form. 

 Genera 4, species about 30. {GoMidiv CaUionymina, Giinther, Cat. Fishes, 

 III, 138-152.) 



a. Ventrals entire, the outer ray not detached ; head depressed ; gill opening reduced to 

 a very small foramen on upper surface of head ; lateral line single. 



Callionymus, 799. 



