524 BULLETIN 188, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Remarks. — The little fish is not rare in a certain area of a canal in 

 the city of Bangkok but has not been taken elsewhere, probably be- 

 cause it was not sought in suitable places. The specimens in hand 

 were found in association with a goby of similar size, a new species of 

 Vairtiosa described on p. 538, and were kept in good condition in a small 

 aquarium at the Siamese Bureau of Fisheries for a period of 7 months, 

 fed on mosquito larvae and entomostracans. 



This species may be recognized at once by its broad, depressed head 

 and broad, rounded snout, combined with the greatly extended maxil- 

 lary, which may reach to the opercle. 



Named for the writer's daughter, Alice Hanf ord Cowdry. 



Genus MAHIDOLIA H. M. Smith 



ilahidolia H. M. Smith, Journ. Siam Soc, Nat. Hist. Suppl., vol. 8, p. 255, 

 1932. (Type, Mahidolia normani Smith and Koumans.) 



MAHIDOLIA MYSTACINA (Cavier and Valenciennes) 



OoMus mystacinus Cuvier and Valenciennes, 1S37, vol. 12, p. 124 (Java). 



Waited mystacina Jordan and Seale, 1906, p. 407, fig. 94 (Samoa, Java) (not 

 Gobius mystacinus Cuvier and Valenciennes). — Koumans, 1935, p. 133, fig. 

 2 (Java, Amboyna, Siam, east coast of Africa, Philippines) (Gobius mysta- 

 cinus Cuvier and Valenciennes in part). 



Mahidolia normani Smith and Koumans, in Smith, 1932a, p. 256, pi. 23, fig. 

 1 (Chantabun Estuary). 



Mahidolia mystacina Smith, 1941b, p. 413 (Siam). 



Described by Cuvier and Valenciennes in 1837 from a specimen 2 

 inches long sent from Java by Kuhl and van Hasselt and called by 

 them fulverulentus in manuscript {-fide Cuvier and Valenciennes), 

 this fish was apparently completely lost sight of for many years, turn- 

 ing up in Southeastern Thailand in 1926. It is common in the 

 estuary of the Chantabun River, and specimens were taken on various 

 occasions in 1926 and 1931. 



A maximum length of 6.5 cm. is attained by the fishes examined. 



A peculiar feature is disclosed by a specimen, 6.4 cm. long, as 

 taken from a fine-mesh bag net in the Chantabim Estuary in June 

 1931. An anchovy {Stolephorus) 3.2 cm. long had its head in the 

 anterior part of the goby's mouth and the posterior part of its 

 body and caudal fin projecting from the left branchial opening, hav- 

 ing evidently reached this position during the struggles of the goby 

 among the congested small fish contents of the net. The violent 

 gasping efforts of the goby also resulted in the turning of each project- 

 ing maxillary into the mouth. 



An examination by Dr. Koumans in 1934 of the type specimen of 

 Gobius mystacinus in the Paris Museum disclosed agreement of that 

 species with the Thai form described by Smith and Koumans (in Smith, 

 1932) under the name Mahidolia normani, but the contention of 



