GOBIES. 



93 



usually oblong, and it is only wlieu alarmed that the 

 fish has recourse to this admirable mode of self-defence. 



GLOBE-FISH {TctrodoR steUatus). 



I hear that in the warm seas, where these fish are 

 found, the local boys, ever up to mischief, make these 

 fellows blow themselves up, and when they are quite 

 tight, they hit them smartly with a stick, and the poor 

 fish explodes with a crack. This may be said to be the 

 pouter pigeon among fish. 



GOBIES. 



Acanthopteri. GoMoidcp. 



Couch figures eleven kinds of gobies : the Paganellus, 

 the yellow goby, the little goby, the two-spotted goby, 

 the broad-finned goby, the spotted goby, the one-spotted 

 goby, the speckled goby, the transparent goby, the 

 slender goby. I would refer my reader to his admirable 

 figm-es and descriptions. 



The Gobies proper, or Sea Gudgeons (German : Meer- 

 ^rundel), are apparently of little value, beyond sup^Dly- 

 ing food for other fishes. They are easily recognised by 

 the peculiar form of the ventral fins, which are united on 

 each side, so as to form a circular funnel-shaped cavity. 



