THE GOBIES, SUCKERS, AND BLENNIES 159 



brown sides. It clings to the rocks in much the same fashion 

 as that observed in the suckers. 



The Spotted Goby (G. minutus) is also known as the 

 Polewig, and in the Lancashire district, where it is the 

 most abundant of all gobies, as the One-spotted Goby. To 

 which of its many spots this may refer, unless to the dark one 

 on the dorsal fin, it is not easy to say. It has been observed 

 in Colwyn Bay by Mr. A. O. Walker, one of the closest 

 observers of these fishes, guarding its eggs in an empty Mya 

 shell, which it half buried in the sand. Shrimps appear to be 

 among the worst enemies of the gobies' eggs, and against them 

 the male parent has to be unremittingly on the watch, besides 

 keeping a continuous current of water circulating about the 

 eggs, and providing them with the fresh layers of oxygenated 

 water so essential to their healthy development. 



The Paganellus (G. paganellus) is chiefly interesting on 

 account of the attractive garb that the male assumes in the 

 breeding-time. Less brilliant in this respect than the dragonet, 

 it nevertheless displays a bright purple coat with orange yellow 

 on the dorsal fin. 



The Two-spotted Goby (G. flavescens) has a conspicuous 

 black spot above the pectoral fin and a second on the tail. 

 According to Harvie-Brown and Buckley, it deposits its eggs 

 in mussel shells. 



Parnell's Goby (G. parnelli) is a small goby with light 

 bands on the back fin. 



The Painted Goby (G. pictus) is another of the small fishes 

 with strong secondary sexual characters, its dorsal fin dis- 

 playing in the breeding-season bright blue and green metallic 

 reflections. Mr. A. O. Walker has been a most successful 

 collector of this handsome goby. It was he who sent Day his 

 single specimen described in British Fishes, and he again 

 secured the species at Colwyn Bay in 1894, and described it as 

 not uncommon there as recently as 1901.* 

 * Herdman and Dawson, Fishes and Fisheries of the Irish Sea, 1902, p. 40. 



