152 



GOBIUS. 



The head short before the eyes; cheeks full; eyes high on the head. 

 The body moderately compressed. Dorsal fins two, the first with un- 

 branched but flexible rays; tail round. The ventral fins thoracic, and 

 united together, more or less in the form of a funnel at the root. 



Some species of this family are to be met with in almost every part 

 of the world, aud so numerous are they in the warmer portions of 

 the ocean, that in Dr. Gunther's, "Catalogue of the fishes Preserved 

 in the British Museum," chiefly procured in these regions, upwards of 

 a hundred and fifty kinds are specified, which may prove at last to 

 be no more than a moderate portion of the whole race. But tho 

 whole of this numerous family are of small size, and many of them 

 bear a near resemblance to each other; and, as the species are also 

 subject to variation in colour, and, in a less degree, even of form, it 

 happens that a considerable amount of uncertainty attends the attempt 

 to distinguish the species, even in those which have been recognised 

 as natives of our own seas; a circumstance which renders it still more 

 difBcult to decide upon the correctness of the synonymes applied by 

 other observers; and the difficulty is scarcely lessened, if at all, by a 

 reference to the figures of them that are contained in books, or by the 

 descriptive names which have been arbitrarily applied. 



An attempt thus to assign the species has been made with much care, 

 but with little satisfaction to myself: it has therefore been thought 

 more advisable to avoid the further perpetration of error, by confining 

 myself to the description and figures of such as have fallen in my 

 way after a rather extensive and diligent search; and that the reference 

 to the synonymes of other writers should only extend so far as I feel 

 confidence in their accuracy, with the expression of a doubt in cases 

 where our figures aud descriptions do not closely agree. In one or 

 two cases only is a species described as diff'erent from any one generally 

 recognised; and this is ui,ixe with no other intention than to place 

 on record fishes which seem to be so far removed from those hitherto 

 known, as at least to demand further research. There is a limit to 

 variation even in the most variable; and there are instances where 

 creatures which had long been regarded as only varieties of known 

 kinds, have, on further inquiry, been admitted as true species, — an 

 observation that may be applied to these fishes as well as to others. 



