Holt and Caldeewood — Report on the Rarer Fishes. 



421 



Gohius pellucidus, . 



Latrunculus pellucidus, 



J) ■>■) 



Aphia pelhicida, 



Atherina minuia, 

 Aphia meridionalis , 

 Gohius albus^ 

 ,, Stuwitsii, 



Slender Gohy, 

 Transparent Gohy, . 



Genus Aphia, Risso. 

 ApMa pellucida, Nardo. (Littoral.) 



. . . Nardo, "Giorn. Fis. Chirn. Stor. Nat. Pavia," 



1824, iii., p. 7. 

 . GuNTHER, ''Cat. Fish. Brit. Mus.," iii., p. 556. 

 . CoLLETT, "Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond.," 1878, p. 319. 

 . Day, " Fish. Gt. Brit.," i., p. 169. 

 . Holt, " Sci. Proc. Roy. Dub. Soc," vii., pp. 169 



and 432. 

 . Risso, " Iclith. Nice.," p. 340. 

 . Risso, " Fauna Eur. Merid.," iii., p. 287. 

 . Paenell, " Trans. Roy. Soc," Ediub., xiv., p. 137. 

 . DiJBEN and KoREN, " Kgl. Vet. Akad. Forhundl.," 



1844, p. 51. 

 . Couch, " Brit. Fish.," ii., p. 172. 

 . Couch, "Brit. Fish.," p. 171. 



To CoUett belongs the credit of clearing up the synonomy of this remarkable 

 form in showing that the Gohius alhus of Parnell, and the Gohius Stmvitzii of 

 Duben and Koren were but male and female of the same species ; and further, in 

 showing that the original Gohius 2}ellucidus of Nardo was identical with Gohius 

 Stuwitzii. 



The Scandinavian author was further able {loc. cit.), by his exhaustive obser- 

 vations of the life-history, to give a most detailed description of the fish at all 

 stages, and to reconcile the discrepancies in the descriptions of previous authors by 

 demonstrating that such are due, especially as regards the teeth, to developmental 

 changes and sexual dimorphism. In the nearly mature males we find, for instance, 

 that " besides the minute teeth, there is become visible an outer row of cylindrical 

 teeth, yet not full-grown, but having reached a greater length than the others," 

 whereas in fully mature fish of the same sex we are told that, the minute teeth 

 having disappeared, those that remain are " of only one kind, few in number, but 

 long and cylindrical." The females retain throughout life the dentition character- 

 istic of the younger stages of either sex, or, in other words, exhibit the features of 

 G. Stuwitsii. 



The largest male observed by CoUett measured 43 mm., while no female 

 exceeded a length of 46 mm., and the author is inclined to believe that the species 

 is an annual vertebrate, dying at the end of the first spawning period. The survey 



