DllUBLE SUCKERS. 



301 



of these fishes to the Dragonets. The Gobiesocidce are 

 thus distinguished t'roui the latter chiefly by the highest 

 development of one organ, the adhesive disk, and the 

 total lack of anotliei', the first dorsal tin, the reduction 

 of whicli, ho\ve\er, was alr(;ad\' foresliadowed in the 

 Gobioid family. Thus, the gain of the ventral part 

 is tlie loss of the dorsal. 



The jaw-teeth are usually small, but comparatively 

 strong, conical and set in one or a few rows, though 

 in the front of the jaws they are sometimes cardiform, 

 or some of them are developed into sharp and strong, 

 compressed incisors. The intestinal canal is short and 

 simple, but internally furnished with broad and nu- 

 merous folds of the mucous membrane. The liver is 



large and bilobate. The gall-bladder large. 



Among 



the anatomical cliaracteristics Guntiieu has remarked a 



well-developed omentum" in some species, and lacrymal 

 sacs, as he terms them'", at the eyes of one of the spe- 

 cies. With regard to the external characteristics we 

 may remark that the predominant colour in most of 

 the species is red. 



The family contains about 20 species, distributed 

 by (jUXTHER among 9 genei-a', and occurring in the 

 Temperate Zones of both the Southern and Northern 

 Hemispheres, but rare within tlie Tropics. Its members, 

 most of which are small fishes, usually lie very still, Avith 

 their adhesive disk fast to the bottom, sometimes so 

 close to shore that they are left dry l)y tlie ebb. The 

 larger species, it is true, live in deeper water, and even 

 the small ones may have their usual haunt at a depth 

 of as much as 30 fatlioms; but no true deep-sea spe- 

 cies is known. 



Genus LEPADOGASTER. 



]'ostcIaviei(I(ir jiaif of tlie adhesive disk completejji separated, even external} ij, from the pelvic part, the dermal rim 

 of the former lieiufi traiisverseJi/ jiendenf, even in front, at the houndary hefa-een if and the latter. Xo special 

 deniiiil fold on the front of tlie base of the pectoral fins, or only a sliyht trace thereof. Xo preopercular spine. 

 Gill-opening perpendicidar, the hranchiostegal niemhrane heing coalescenf irith the broad isthmus, without any derniid 

 fold across the throat. Fourth ttranchial arch a-ith a simpjle roir of lamelhc. Six hrancMostegal rays on each side. 

 Snout depressed and more or less elongated. Jau--teeth set laterally in a simpAe row, and anteriorly cardiform. 

 Xo incisors. Dorsal and anal fins without spinous rays, but with the rays distinctly articulated. Anal papilla 



present both in the female and in tJie male''. 



This genus, which was established in 1770 by 

 (tOUan', really belongs to the Mediterranean, to which 

 liK'ality Caxestrini' ascribes 6 species, half of which, 

 Iiowever, he refers to a distinct genus, Mirhelia, dis- 

 tinguished by the marked separation of the vertical fins 

 from each other, whereas, in the other species, they are 

 more or less closely united. The insignificance of this 

 generic character, however, we have already seen in 

 the species of the genus Cgclogaster. Three species 

 occur on the coasts of Great Britain and Ireland, and 

 one of these also belongs to the Scandinavian fauna. 

 '"They are peaceable and gregarious," says Risso'' of 

 these fishes, "and generally collect in small companies 



which live together. Their scaleless, slippery body 

 glides through the sand and pebbles where they make 

 their home. Their food is composed of worms (Xereidee) 

 and other small creatures." That they live on other 

 food as well, is apparently shown, however, by the 

 method of catching them Avhich he describes. "In order 

 to procure these fishes," he says, "a hole may be scraped 

 in the sand, and a dead fish laid there. \Yhen the 

 Suckers (Lepadogaster) scent the fish, they attach them- 

 selves to it, and begin their meal on the flesh." All the 

 species are to be reckoned among the small fishes, the 

 largest of them scarcely attaining a length of more than 

 1 dm. The Scandinavian species is one of the smallest. 



<oi. 



" Vat. Brit. Mus., Fis/i., vol. Ill, p. 



'■- L. c, p. 492. 



•' According to Jordan and Gilbert 10 genera. 



•' This last character is given on the authority of MOller and Tboschel, Hora- Ichthyologkw, Heft. Ill, p. 20. 



•' Hist. d. Foiss., pp. 100 and 177. 



■' Arch, per la Zoologia, LWnatoniia e la Fisiologia, Vol. Ill, Fasc. I, p. 177. 



Eur. Jh'r., Ill, p. 278. 



