WIin'K (inliV. 



2fi7 



in Nouiii:' spcciiiiciis 11 di- 12 % of tlie Iciiii'tli di' tiic 

 body, ill ;m1uIi iniilcs ;il)()iit lo'/„ % niid in liivixid fe- 

 males, according' to Lii.i..iKi?()]i(i, as uiucli as lis %. 

 The Ipast depth of the Ixxlv in young sperimeiis, as 

 well as in ,i;ra\id I'cnialcs, is he! ween fi and fi'\, % of 

 the lengtli of the body, being thus iiearh' the same as 

 in old speeiniens of Gohius minKfns, wliile in a(bdt 

 males it is about 7 ?6 of the lengtii of the IkmU, or 

 al)out the same as in (rohiiis JeffieijsU. The length <d' 

 the head, which is excii i-elali\('l\ less in young speci- 

 mens thai: in old, especial)} in ihe males, varies be- 

 tween 18 and 'll % of that of the body, and its greatest 

 thickness in the former is less than 50 % of its length, 

 in the latter at least 90 % thereof. The length of the 

 snout in the former is about etpial to the longitudinal 

 diameter of the eye, which varies between 26 % and 

 28 % of the length of the head; while in the males it 

 is greater than the diameter of the eve, which in their 

 ease is about 24 % of tlie length of the head. The 

 adult females occujiv an intermediate position in this 

 respect, as in se\eral others. In young specimens and 

 adult females the length of the lower jaw measures 10 

 or 11 % of the length of the bodv, in adult males 

 13 %. Ill young specimens, according to v. DCben 

 and KoKEN, the distance between the beginning of the 

 first dorsal tin and the ti]) of the snout is 28 or 28 '/a 

 % of the length of the bodw In older specimens, espe- 

 cially in the males, this distance is even relatively 

 greater, measuring 30 or 31 % of the length of the 

 body. In young specimens the base of this tin is less 

 than '/.,, in gravid females exactly V3, and in adult 

 males nearly \'o, of the distance between the lirst ray 

 of the first dorsal fin and that of the second, this di- 

 stance being, however, less in the males than in the 

 females, measuring about 13 % of the length of the 

 body in the former and about 1.5 % in tlie latter. The 

 base of the second dfirsal tin is also longest in the 

 adult males, its length varying between 19 and 22 % 

 of that of the body. The relative length of the anal 

 fin. on the other hand, diminishes with increasina' age 

 and the development of the sexual characters, being 20 

 or 21 ^> of the lengtli of the body in young specimens, 

 16 or 17 % in adult. We have already remarked the 

 male character common in the Gobies, Avhicli in this 

 species too, is expres.sed \f\ the elongation of the pos- 

 terior raAS in the two fins last mentioned. The be- 



ginning of the anal tin lies jusi in front of the middle 

 of the body, its distance from the tip of the snout in 



the females being about 49 % of the length of the 

 body, in the males about 47 %. The length of the 

 caudal fin increases e\-eii relatively with age, and is 

 greatest in the adult males, varying between 13 and 

 22 % of the length of the body. 



The distribution of the scales on the body is shown 

 in the figures we have; taken from ("ullett's woi'k, .-ind 

 the coloration, as far as its transparent nature could 

 be reproduced, in the two figures which we have bor- 

 rower! of Malm. 



^^r?^" 





Fig. 71. Aplii/a minnta: a. adult male, in the spawning-season: 

 b, young male in winter; f, gravid female. Magu. 2 diam. d, a scale 

 from the middle of the side, more powerfully magnified. After Collett. 



In Scandinavia the White Goby has not yet been 

 utilised as an article of food. The large numbers in 

 Avhich it occurs, occasionally at lea.st, in Christiania 

 Fjord, where Collett" at the end of November, 1880, 

 for example, took about 40,000 at a single haul of 

 the seine, among the Herring-fry, give us good reason 

 to expect that here in Scandinavia, on the Norwegian 

 coast and perhai)S in Gullmar Fjord, where the species 

 also occurs, with suitable tackle we may be able to 

 establish a fishery similar to that of more southern 

 countries. There, according to Risso and ]\Ioreau. 



" N. Mag. Naturv., 1. c, p. 6,^. 



