34 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vol.xxiv. 
the skull, the dividers compressed tightl}' between the ej'es; diameter 
of orbit, long'itudinally; length of caudal tin from end of last vertebra 
to tip of longest rays. Only fully developed fin rays are counted; the 
rudimentary rays of dorsal and anal when closely adnate to the first 
branched ray, are counted with it as one ray ; when the soft dorsal contains 
a spine, it is einunerated as a ray. When last ray of dorsal or anal is 
double it is counted as one. Scales in the lateral series are counted to 
base of caudal fin; transverse series from insertion of ventrals or anal, 
whichever is nearer middle of body, upward and forward; above or 
below lateral line as indicated in the description. 
Family GOBIID.E. 
THE GOBIES. 
Body oblong or elongate, naked or covered with ctenoid or cycloid 
scales. Dentition various, the teeth generallv small )»ut sometimes 
developed into great canines; premaxillaries protractile; suborbital 
without bony stay. Skin of head continuous with covering of (\ves. 
Eyes usually moderate, sometimes concealed. Opercle unarmed; pre- 
opercle unarmed, or with a short spine; pseudobranchia' present or 
absent. Gills 4, a slit behind the fourth; gill meml)rancs more or less 
united to the isthmus, the gill openings thus restricted to the .sides. 
No lateral line. Dorsal fins separate or connected, the spinous dorsal 
short, of !2 to S flexible spines, oi" sometimes wanting; anal usually 
with a single weak spine, the fin similar to soft dorsal; ventral fins 
close together, separate or united, each composed of a short spine and 
3 or 4 soft rays, the inner rays usually longest; the ventral fins when 
united form a sucking disk, a cross fold of skin at their base complet- 
ing the cup; caudal fin convex: anal papilla prominent. No pyloric 
CKca; usually no air bladder. Carnivorovis fishes, mostly t)f small 
size, living on the bottoms near the shores in warm regions. Some 
inhabit fresh waters and others live indiscriminately in either fresh or 
salt water; man}" of them Imi'v in the nuid of estuaries. Few of them 
are large enough to be of nmch value as food. The species are for 
the most part easily recognized, l)ut their arrangement in genera is 
a matter of extreme difiiculty. ITntil the multitude of Asiatic forms 
are critically studied, an}^ definition of the Japanese genera must be 
tentative only. 
ANALY.SI.S OF CiENKKA OF JAPANESE GOBIID.K. 
I. Soft dorsal ami anal fruc from the caudal; body olilonij ov moderati'ly elontiate; 
eyes distinct; no deep pit above the opercle. 
(I. Spinous dorsal well developed, of 6 or more rays; ventral lins well develo])ed; 
body well scaled in all Japanese species. 
h. Oxymi'iopvntiyix. Ventral rays I, 4, the two lins wholly sei>arate; tongue 
pointed; mouth oblique, 
c. Body elongate, compressed; scales small, cycloid; chin with a thick barbel 
followed by 3 smaller ones. Dorsal rays about VI-25; isthmus narrow; 
caudal with filaments Vireosa. 1 
