101. GOBIIDiE. 029 



upper raj- spotted ; ventrals -wliite. AVidtli of pectorals less than half 

 length of head, their length a ittle less than that of head; ventrals 

 reaching three-lifths distance to vent. Scales small, evident, in very 

 oblique series. T-shaped bone on top of head conspicuous, on each 

 side of it a broad naked area, said to be the seat of electric powers. 

 A ridge of skin along middle line of belly from ventrals to vent. 

 Head 3; depth 3. D. IV-I, 13; A. 12. L. 12 inches. West Indies, 

 occasional on our South Atlantic coast. 



( Uranoscoptis tj-(jra;cnm Ciiv. &. Val. iiL, 308, 1829: UrnnoscopuH jj-grwcnm Giiuther, ii, 

 22'J: Upwlotiphorns y-c/rwoiim Gill, Proc. Acad. Nut. Sci. Pliila. Idtil, 113; Bean, Proc. 

 U. S. Nat. Mus. 1879, 58.) 



»77. A. aiJOg>lBis (Cuv. ct Val.) Brt'vot.rt. 



Brownish, everywhere covered with fine white spots; a dark lateral 

 band on the caudal peduncle, near which the spots are larger; caudal 

 with lengthwise stripes of black and pale. Form and armature essen- 

 tially as in A. y-grwcum. Pectoral a little longer than ventral, one- 

 fourth shorter than the head. Scales on back evident, but small, the 

 belly and lower part of the sides naked. Head 2i; depth 3^. D. lY- 

 13; A. 12; Lat. 1. 113. Atlantic coast of United States; rare. 



( Uranoscoptis anoplos Ciiv. & Val. viii, 493 (young, said to be naked): Agtius ano2}h>fi 

 Giinther, ii, 229: Astroscopus gittfatus Abboit, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1860, 365; 

 Beau, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mns. 1879, 60.) 



Family CIV.— GOBIID.E. 



{The Gobies.) 



Body oblong or elongate, naked or covered with ctenoid or cycloid 

 scales. Dentition various, the teeth generally small ; premaxillaries 

 ])rotractile; suborbital without bony stay. Skin of head continuous 

 with covering of eyes. Opercles generally unarmed. Pseudobranchia' 

 ])resent. Gills 4, a slit behind the fourth; gill-mend)ranes united to the 

 isthmus, the gill-opeuings thus restricted to the sides. No lateral line. 

 Dorsal fins se])arate or connected, the spinous dorsal least develo]»cd, 

 of 2-8 flexible S])ines, rarely wanting^ anal usually without si)ine, sim- 

 ilar to the soft dorsal ; ventral fins close together, separate or fully united, 

 each composed of a short spine and 5 soft rays, the inner rays longest; 

 the A'ential fins, Avhen united, form a sucking-disk, a cross-fold of skin 

 at their base forming a cup; caudal fin convex; anal papilla prominent. 

 ifo pyloric coeca; usually no air-bladder. Carnivorous fishes, mostly of 

 small size, living on the bottoms near the shores in warm regions. Some 



