488 REVIEW OF NORTH AMERICAN GOBIID^T 



structure of the cranium is the same in all, the only differences being 

 very minor ones in the height of certain crests. Gohius oceanieus is the 

 most aberrant of these species, but tliat agrees wholly with the common 

 gobies in the structure of the skull, and the greater elongation of the 

 body is due to the elongation of individual vertebrae, not to any increase 

 in their number. Of the European species examined, certainly opiiio- 

 cephalus, jozo, paganellus, quadrimaculatus, and mertensi ought not to be 

 generically separated from Gobius niger. Gohius ( Pomatoschistus) minutus 

 differs notably in the narrowness of its isthmus, and its very small 

 scales are scarcely ctenoid. It is however evidently very closely related 

 to Gobius {Deltentosteus) quadrimaculatus, which, in turn, approaches 

 Gobius paganellus and the true gobies. The American forms mostly 

 have a somewhat less depressed form of the head than the European 

 ones, and in many of them the scales do not extend so far forward be- 

 hind the eyes. IsTo generic distinction can however be made out by us, 

 and as before stated, an almost unbroken series leads from G. soporator, 

 the species most like the European ones, to G. oceanieus, the most aber- 

 rant. 



We have placed in the synonomy above a considerable number of the 

 generic names of Dr. Bleeker. In most cases the types of these nomi- 

 nal genera have not been examined by us, but the characters assigned 

 by Bleeker are mostly of specific value only. We feel reasonably cer- 

 tain that the natural boundaries of the genus Gobius are broader than 

 given in this paper, rather than narrower. No serious violence would 

 be done in merging Lophogobius, Chonophorus, Lepidogobius, and Microgo- 

 bius also in Gobius, and the relations of Gobiosoma with the same group 

 are very close. 



ANALYSIS OF NORTH AMERICAN SPECIES OF GOBIUS.* 



a. Anterior half of trunk scaled ; head naked. 



h. Upper rays of pectoral fin silk-like; i. e., short and very slender and flexible, 



free for nearly their whole length. 

 0. Body robust, compressed posteriorly ; depth 5 to 5^ in length ; head broad, low, 



rounded in profile, its length 3J in body. Eye 4 to 

 5 in head ; mouth large, little oblique ; lips thick ; 

 teeth in both jaws in bands, the outer series a little 

 enlarged; scales large, strongly ctenoid, smaller on 

 nape and belly; dorsal spines short, none filamen- 

 tous ; color olivaceous, light or dark, varying from 

 sand-color to greenish black, everywhere mottled 

 and marbled with dark and paler; fins speckled; 

 a faint dusky spot behind eye. Dorsal VI-10. 



Anal 8 or 9. Scales 36 to 41 Soporator, 19. 



bh. Upper rays of pectoral normal, not silk-like. 

 d. Scales large (25 to 42). 

 e. Scales 25 to 35. 



* GoMus fasciatus (No. 25) is omitted from the following analysis, the published de- 

 scriptions being insufficient to separate it from Gobius holtosoma. 



