AUS'l'K'AI.IAN (iniUIH.i; — McCri.MK'll AM' (m;||J;k 2( ))} 



Accord iiig to Dussuiiiioi', tlic natives of Siirat coiisuine lai'ge quantities 

 uf these tishes iu a salted oi- dried state, mixing them with boiled rice. 



Loc^. — Deception Bay and Burnett River Heads; coll. I)i-. 'I', li. 

 Bancroft. Other specimens are in the Queensland Museum from the 

 estuaries of the Brisbane River, Pioneer River, Barron River, and tlie 

 Ross River at Townsville. The co-types of Gubiosmiui (jHtluldtniii, 

 Macleay, were secured at Port Darwin, which is also the locality of 

 Apocnjptes iiiacruphthalnius, Castelnau. Waite recorded the species from 

 Broome and the Lennard River, North-Western Australia. 



Distribiitinii. — From the West Coast of India to the Malay Peninsula 

 and the China Sea ; New Guinea, North and North-Eastern Australia. 



Subfamily (loniiXAK. 



The subfamilies Gobiina3 and Eleotriuae have been regarded as well 

 defined families by some authors, they being separated on the structiire of 

 their ventral fins. In the Gobiinae, the ventrals are juxtaposed and usually 

 united into a complete disc, which is generally supplemented by an anterior 

 membrane connecting the spines; fui'ther, the fifth rays are generally as 

 long as the fourth. In the Eleotrina^ the ventrals are se[)arate ; there is 

 no anterior membrane, and the fifth ray is shorter than the fourth. Were 

 these characters constant, the subdivision of the two groups would present 

 no difficulties, but in some species the ventral structures are more or less 

 intermediate between the two types. 



The highly specialised Callogobius srJateri, wliich has hitherto been 

 regarded as an Eleotrid, is very similar in all its major characters to the 

 other species of the genus, but has eleotrid ventrals as defined above 

 though there is a membrane connecting the bases of the inner rays ; in C. 

 kasseUii tlie fourth ray is distinctly longer than the fifth, but the ventrals 

 are otherwise of gobioid form. Jn Zonogohins the ventrals are completely 

 united, but the fifth ray is shorter than the fourth ; in the typical form 

 Z. seiiiidoliatus, there is no trace of an anterior membrane between the 

 spines, but this structure is well developed in Z. nuc/n'/wiciatus. The 

 ventrals of QalnqiiiUuH engcuius are similar to those of Z. semidvliatas, but 

 it has been regarded as an Eleotrid by Jordan and his colleagues though 

 Weber associaties it with the Gobies. 



These intermediate forms are few in numbei', however, and the 

 greater mass of species of both groups are readily separable into one or 

 the other section. Under these circumstances, it seems unnecessary to 

 maintain separate families for the Eleotrids and (Jobies, though they can 

 be conveniently classified as subfamilies, distinguished by the complete or 

 partial junction (Gobiinae), or the complete separation of their ventral 

 fins (Eleotrinae). 



Provisional key to the Australian genera and species known to the 

 authors. 



a. Soft dorsal and anal long, partly united with the caudal ; D. vi/38-t8. Body 

 anguilliform, naked. Eyes minute, teeth long and curved. 



b. Head with prominent raised papillose ridges Lemc, spp. 



