8. LEPADOGASTEK. 51!^ 



abdominal and twenty caudal vcrtehrce, the length of the former por- 

 tion of the vertebral column being to that of tlic latter as 1 : 0-7. 

 The structm-e of the humeral arch, the ribs, &c., are the same as in 

 the other Gobiesockhe. 



2. Lepadogaster candollii. 



Lepadogaster candollii, Hisso, Iclith. Nice, p. 76, and Eur. Merid. iii. 



p. 275 ; Cuv. likpic Anim. ; liris. de Banwv. Itev. Zool. 1846, p. 281. 

 Lepadogaster cli upasangue. 



olivaceus, Itisso, Ichth. Nice, p. 75, and Eur, Merid. iii. p. 274. 



jussieui, Risso, Eur. Merid, iii. p. 273. 



cephalus, Thomps. Aim. ^ Mag. Nat. Hist. iii. p. 34, and Nat. 



Hist. Irel. iii. p. 214; Yarr. Brit. Fishes, 3rd edit. ii. p. 341. 



D. 14-16. A. 8-11, V. 1/4. 



Caudal fin free from dorsal and anal. Anterior nostril with an 

 exceedingly small tentacle. Head broad and flat behind the eyes ; 

 snout broad, depressed, of moderate length. 



Mediterranean, northwards to the Britisli coasts. 



a, b, c. Adult and half-grown. MediteiTanean. 



d. Half-grown. Falmouth, Presented by W, C, Cocks, Esq. 



This species has a comparatively smaller head than L. gouanii, 

 and its snout is not so narrow at its base, and less distinct from the 

 head. The length of the head is one-third of the total, and its 

 greatest width two-thirds of its length ; its entire ujiper surface is 

 quite flat, the posterior portion being very depressed, and nearly on 

 the same level with the snout. The snout is as broad at its base as 

 it is long, and its length is one-third of that of the head. The width 

 of the interorbital space is at least twice the diameter of the eye, 

 which is one-sixth of the length of the head ; but in immatixre speci- 

 mens the eye is much larger, and equals the width of the interorbital 

 space. The cleft of the mouth is straight, and extends to below the 

 anterior portion of the orbit, its posterior angle being situated on the 

 lower side of the head. The jaws are nearly equal in length, and 

 armed Avith a small patch of teeth anteriorly and with a single series 

 laterally. The tongue is long, narrow, and free. The nostrils are 

 small, close together, situated opposite the upper angle of the orbit ; 

 the anterior has a very small tentacle. The branchial apparatus is 

 the same as in L. gouanii, except that the lower angle of the giU-covers 

 is not produced posteriorly, but trancated. The pectoral and ventral 

 fins are connected with each other by a broad membrane. The cora- 

 coids are rather small, extending upwards to half the height of the 

 pectoral : the disk between them is subquadrangular, narrower 

 anteriorly than posteriorly. The dorsal fin commences before the 

 vertical from the vent, and the distance of its origin from the caudal 

 is more than one-half of its distance from the snout ; it terminates 

 immediately before the caudal. The caudal fin is rounded and of 

 moderate length. The anal commences in the vertical from the fifth 

 dorsal ray and extends as far backwards as the dorsal. The vent is 



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