306 I C H T H Y 



Classifica- several families. Allied to Eleotris and Phitypnus, by 



Acanlir ^'""■'y aspect, is Noiothenia, of which numeious species in- 



terous^ haljit the higher hititudes ol" the southern seas — the Falk- 



Fishes. liwds, Cape Horn, South Shetland, &c. Gadns Magel- 



^^...^j,.,^ lanictis of Forster, of wliich tliere is a drawing in tiie British 



Museum, is a member of this genus. 



In Wiegman's Archweii (ix., p. 29.5), M tiller has assigned 

 his reasons for uniting Cuvier's Cyclopferi to the Gobioids. 

 Two species of Lipadogaster, a Ci/clopterris, and two of 

 Liparis, are described by Mr Yarreli as British fish. The 

 Ci/doplerus lumpiis, or " Cock-paidie" of tlie fishermen of 

 the Frith of Forth, is mentioned with respect for its good 

 qualities by Sir Walter Scott in his novel of the A/itiqiiar//, 

 and it appears frequently in the Edinburgh fisii-niarket. 

 It is not very rare on the English shores, but its qualities 

 are less appreciated there. Tiie appearance of the dorsal 

 fin, resembling the crest of a cock, is the evident origin of 

 the first part of its Scottish name, and its mode of swimming 

 or paddling of the second. 



Callioni/mits is a genus of many species, some of them 

 very gaily and handsomely coloured, with large dorsal fins, 

 and bearing a considerable resemblance to the Scleroge- 

 jiida;, from the armature of the preoperculum. They are 

 considered by M. Valenciennes to possess characters suf- 

 ficient to erect them into a separate tamily; but he has ab- 

 stained from doing so until he has studied the peculiari- 

 ties of their structure by the examination of a greater 

 number of species than he had collected at the date of the 

 publication of the 12th volume of the Histoire des Pois- 

 sons in 1837. One species is common enough on our 

 sandy shores, and the female, which has smaller fins and 

 duller tints of colour, is often described as a distinct species. 

 Harpagifer differs from Callioni/mus in having wider gill- 

 openings. Comephorm is an apodal fish of Lake Baikal, 

 of very rare occurrence, since it inhabits the greatest depths 

 of the lake. It is destitute of scales, has a small stomach, 

 no pancreatic cseca, and no air-bladder. Its bones are soft 

 and fibrous. It is obtained only when violent north winds 

 cast it ashore in the spring time. So oily is its flesh that it 

 cannot be eaten, and even tiie carrion crows refuse to touch it. 

 ChcEnichthys is a southern fish, being an inhabitant of the 

 grovesof kelp which skirt the slioresof Kerguelen's Land. It 

 is a voracious fish that takes the hook readily, and has some- 

 what of the aspect of a Gurnard, but its cheek is not mailed. 

 In the structure of its bones it comes nearer to the Lophiidce. 



L O G Y. 



Family XXIF.- 



-GOBIID^, Cuv. 



Fig. I'.'T. 

 Chmnichtkys rhinoceratiis. 



Pat(eciis is another singular form, havini^ somewhat of the 

 aspect of an Agriopi(s^ but differing in the development of 

 its suborbitar bones, which do not cuirass the cheeks, and in 

 the total want of anything like spines or serratures on the 

 bones of the head and shoulder, from all the Percoid and 

 ScifEnoid groups, as well as from the Sclerogenids. Its in- 

 ternal anatomy is unknown, but, as far as can be seen from 

 the dried specimen, the bones have little solidity. Its closest 

 affinities seem to be Gobioids or Blennioids; perhaps it 

 should stand next Anarrhichas, with which it agrees in be- 

 ing apodal. Fig. 8 represents this fish. 



Spinous rays of the dorsal slender and flexible. An intestinal 

 canal of simple structure, having only slight dilatations, and no caecal 

 expansion of the stomach ; no pancreatic caeca. 



The family thus characterized was divided by Cuvier into two 

 subordinate groups, the Gobies and Blennies, which are considered 

 merely as sub-families by M. Valenciennes, but as distinct by Miiller 

 and others. The males of both have a small papilla at the opening 

 of the seminal efferent tube, and many members of the family are 

 viviparous, which implies internal impregnation in some way or 

 other, though no intromittent organ has as yet been described. 



The first subdivision or family of Gobiida: have only five branchio- 

 stegais, and the more typical genera have the ventrals united into 

 a hollow disk or funnel-shaped fin, more or less oblique, situated 

 under, or a little behind, the base of the pectorals. 



TABLE OF THE GOBUDyE. 



Ventrals united, infundibuliform. 

 Body sword-shaped. 



A cavity on each side of the nape TrypaucHEN 4. 



No nuchal cavities Amblyopus 5, 



Body more or less cylindrical. 

 Dorsal solitary, and 



Notched in the middle Apocryptes 3. 



Not notched GoBloiDES 2. 



Dorsals txvo. 



Eyes near one another. 



Teeth equal Boleophthalmus 8. 



Teeth xmequal Periophthalmus 7. 



Eyes farther apart Gobics 1. 



Ventrals united in a shallow basin SiCYDiUM 6. 



Ventrals separated by 



A ventral disk, behind the pectorals Platypterus 23. 



The ordinary scaly thoracic integument. 



Vomerine teeth Philypnus 10. 



Ko vomerine teeth. 



Lateral line continuous Eleotris 9. 



Lateral line broken Notothenia 11. 



Genus I. Gobius, Linn. Ventrals united a little posterior to 

 the pectorals, forming a hollow disk ; two dorsals, spines of the 

 first one flexible, the second one pretty long. Body elongated. 

 Head of moderate size, rounded. Cheeks convex. Eyes approxi- 

 mated. No air-bladder. Villiform or card-like teeth, often with 

 a stronger exterior row, approaching to canines. Scaly fishes with 

 or without filaments on the head. One hundred species. 



Genus XL Gobioides, Lacep. Differ from Gobius in the spinous 

 rays and articulated ones on the back being united into one long 

 low fin, which reaches nearly to the caudal. One species. 



Genus TIL Apocryptes, Valenc. (Scartelaos, Swains.) Teeth 

 on the jaws untserial, the mandibular ones almost horizontal, with 

 two canines standing more interiorly and close together ; in other 

 respects Gobii with two dorsals. Elongated bodies. A long 

 pointed caudal. Generally small scales. Five species. 



Genus IV. Trypauchen, Valenc. A deep hole on each side of 

 the nape not communicating with the branchiae ; in general form 

 like Amblyopu.^, having a single long dorsal and an anal united to 

 a caudal with longer rays. One species. 



Genus V. Ambla'opus, Valenc. Elongated fishes, with the 

 ventrals of Gobius. Afouth vertical, armed with strong curved 

 teeth, not covered by the lips. Eyes extremely small. The long 

 low dorsals united to the caudal. Scales small. Six species. 



Genus VI. SiCYniuM, Valenc. Gobies, with the ventrals form- 

 ing a shallow round basin adhering almost equally throughout its 

 circumference. Teeth on the jaws flexible in a close row, with 

 some strong interior ones on the mandible. Four species. 



Genus Vn. Periophthalmus, Sohneid. Head wholly scaly. 

 Eyes close together, having an inferior eye-lid which can cover 

 them, Pectorals scaly for more than half their length, giving them 

 the appearance of having an arm like Lophius, Ventrals united as 

 in Goi-ius. Teeth uniserial, more or less vertical. Narrow gill- 

 openings. Profile descending rapidly, forming with the nape an 

 angle, on which the pretty large prominent eyes are placed. Scaly 

 fishes, with the four vertical fins distinct ; in some the ventrals are 

 deeply divided. Eight species. 



Genus VIII. Boleophthalmus, Valenc. Periophthalmi, with 

 teeth analogous to those of Apocryptei> ; those of the upper jaw- 

 being straight and pretty strong, especially towards the symphysis, 

 while the mandibular ones are very fine, and disposed horizontally, 

 with two more interior taller pointed ones. Head more oblong, 

 and the profile less vertical than in Periophthalmus. Scales small, 

 in some almost imperceptible. Five rays in the first dorsal. Pec- 



