J 59 



YELLOW GOBY. 



Gobius atiratus, Ersso; p. 11, pi. 11, f. 42. 



Elotris auratus, Cuvier. 



" " GuNTHER; Cat. Br. M., vol. iii, p. 11. 



This fish -was first mentioned as a separate species by Risso, 

 and hitherto it has been supposed to be confined to the Medi- 

 terranean. But although its range in our own country may be 

 limited, there is reason to believe that within certain districts it 

 exists in moderate numbers^, for I have received a few examples 

 that closely resemble Risso's figure, and answer to his description, 

 from the neighbourhood of Weston-super-Mare, in Somersetshire, 

 through the kindness of Edmund Thomas Higgins, Esq., by 

 whom these and a few others presently to be described, were 

 procured from the shrimp-nets and crab-pots employed in that 

 neighbourhood. The shores there are lined with sand or soil, 

 to which it is probable these fishes shew a preference: a cir- 

 cumstance which may explain why this and some kindred 

 species have not been seen on shores with which I am best 

 acquainted, where the sea is bounded only by rocks, except 

 where an harbour opens to the ocean. But the individual 

 habits of these fishes are yet to be inquired into. 



The length of the largest example was nearly three inches; 

 the fore part of the body stout, more compressed along the 

 sides, slightly tapering near the tail. The head broad, but 

 not nearly so as in the two last-named species, short before 

 the eyes, and blunt. Under jaw a little projecting; angle of 

 the mouth descending. Eyes close to the top of the head, 

 and near each other. Cheeks fall. The first dorsal begins 

 at half the length of the pectoral; the rays even with the 

 membrane. The second dorsal only a little separate from the 

 first. Anal beginning opposite the first ray of the second 



