a 
"a 
XXIII ACANTHOPTERYGIT 707 
with sessile ribs and no transverse processes, fifth to seventh 
with ribs inserted on short transverse processes; no epipleurals, 
Post-temporal forked, but completely adnate to the skull; scapula 
separated from the coracoid by a fenestra; pectoral rays attached 
to the scapula and to three broad pterygials, all three in contact 
with the coracoid. Ventral fins jugular, widely separated from 
each other, with 5 soft rays in addition to a short spine.  Gill- 
openings very narrow, generally reduced to a foramen on the 
upper side of the operculum; 6 branchiostegal rays; gills 4, a 
shit behind the fourth; pseudobranchiae well developed. Body 
naked. ‘Two dorsal fins, the first composed of a few flexible 
spines ; second dorsal and anal rather short (7-10 rays). 
Small marine fishes, referable to 2 genera: Callionymus, with 
about 45 species, nearly cosmopolitan, and Vulsus, with a single 
species from Amboyna and Celebes. In the common British species, 
the Dragonet (Callionymus lyra), the male acquires very marked 
secondary characters, the snout becoming more elongate, the second 
dorsal fin much produced, and the body ornamented with yellow 
and blue bands. The courtship and pairing have been described 
by E. W. L. Holt,’ who observes that this curious fish offers 
the only instance of a definite sexual intercourse among Tele- 
osteans propagating by pelagic ova. In the Indian C. carebares 
it is the female that is the more brightly coloured. 
Fam. 8. Gobiesocidae.—Suborbital arch absent; entoptery- 
goid absent; basis cranii simple; mouth moderate, protractile. 
Vertebrae numerous, 27-31 (14-16+411-21), the first, if 
present, rudimentary,” the third and following  praecaudals 
with long parapophyses® bearing the ribs at their extremity ; 
no epipleurals. Post-temporal simple, articulated to the skull; 
scapula with a foramen, coracoid much reduced; pectoral rays 
inserted on the scapula and on four large pterygials, two of 
which are in contact with the scapula; an adhesive ventral disk, 
simple or double, supported in front by the clavicles, in the 
1 P.Z.S. 1898, p. 281. 
2 The vertebral column in this family shows that the first segment has been lost 
in Callionymus, as could be deduced from the fact that, in that genus, the first rib 
is on the second vertebra instead of on the third as is usual in Teleosteans. In the 
Gobiesocidae, as in Callionymus, there are three occipital condyles on a straight 
transverse line, the outer, formed by the exoccipitals, invariably articulating with 
the second vertebra. 
3 Which have been described as ribs by Giinther and by Guitel. 
