BY J. DOUGLi^S OGILBY. 25 



with alternate darker and lighter bars, sometimes absent 

 in the anal ; caudal with a dark basal band. (Named for 

 Mr. R. W. Leftwich, Junr., of Maryborough, to whom I 

 am indebted for many kindnesses). 



Described from 6 specimens in the A.F.A.Q. Museum, 

 collected in Great Sandy Strait, and measuring from 58 

 to 75 millimeters ; Cat. No. 1132. 



This pretty little goby abounds in the pools left by 

 the receding tide on the oyster banks in the Great Sandy 

 Strait, and I have also seen specimens obtained in the 

 vicinity of Woody Point, Moreton Bay. Along the edges of 

 these pools when undisturbed they lie motionless, basking 

 in the shallow water, but if alarmed by the approach of 

 an enemy they dart away with great rapidity, and seek 

 refuge in the deeper water below or within the bunches 

 of oysters, adjusting their bodies with great nicety to the 

 inequalities of the surface on which they have found a 

 haven. Here their colors assimilate so closely with their 

 surroundings that it requires a keen eye to locate their 

 position even though one may have been but a few feet 

 from them when they sought concealment ; they aie very 

 quick in their movements, and even with a hand net it is 

 most difficult to catch them. I have never observed one 

 of these fishes to take refuge in a hole as is the usual habit 

 of Amhlygobius gohioides, which is equally common on the 

 oyster beds. The stomach of the example dissected was 

 packed with green weed regularly cut into lengths of about 

 an inch, with which also was a shrimp-like crustacean of 

 about the same size. 



Amblygobius GOBioiDES (Ogilby). 



D. vi 13 ; A. 12 ; P. 16. Depth of body 6-25, of caudal 

 peduncle 9, length of head 4, of caudal fin 3*8 in length 

 of body. Diameter of eye 5*5, length of pectora,l 1'3 in 

 length of head. 



Depth of head 1-65, width of head 1'35 in its length. 

 Diameter of eye 1*4 in the length of the snout ; width of 

 inter orbital region less than half the eye- diameter ; cleft of 

 mouth reaching to below the anterior border of the eye. 



Third dorsal spine longest about one fourth longer 

 than the head, and as long as the distance between its 

 base and the anterior border of the eye ; second dorsal 

 and anal fins low, their longest rays 2 in the 3rd spine. 



