FISHES GOBiDAE GOBIUS LEPIDUS. 



127 



described may require the foundation of several other genera, with which the present one will 

 have to harmonize. 



1. GOBIUS LEPIDUS, Grd. 

 PLATE XXVa, FIGS. 56. 



SPEC. CHAR. Body elongated, slender, and very compressed. Head sub-conical ; jaws equal ; gape of mouth oblique; pos 

 terior extremity of maxillary extending to a vertical line drawn back of the pupil. Interocular space narrow. Reddish brown ; 

 fins blackish. 



SYN. Gobius gracilis, GRD. in Proc. Acad. Nat. Sc. Philad. VII, 1854, 134. 



The specific name of gracilis heing preoccupied in the genus Golius, for a British species, we 

 propose the above as a substitute. 



About three inches and a quarter in total length body, head, and caudal fin, included. The 

 body is slender, of an elongated aspect, very much compressed, and gradually diminishing in 

 depth from the nape to the peduncle of the tail. The greatest depth taken beneath the first 

 dorsal fin enters seven times and a half in the total length, whilst the least depth on the 

 peduncle of the tail is about two-thirds of the greatest. 



The head is elongated and sub-conical, constituting about the fifth, or a little more, of the 

 total length. The jaws are even, and the gape of the mouth is oblique ; the posterior extremity 

 of the maxillary reaches a vertical line passing immediately behind the pupil. The eye is large, 

 sub-elliptical ; its longitudinal diameter entering about four times in the length of the side of the 

 head. The interocular space is very narrow, measuring but one fifteenth of an inch. The 

 branchial fissures are separated under the throat by a wide isthmus. 



The first dorsal fin is a little lower than the second, and separated from the latter by a con 

 siderable space. The caudal, which is contained five times and a half in the total length, is 

 rounded upon its posterior margin. The anal is not quite so long as the second dorsal, but as 

 deep as the latter is high, if not deeper. The vent, placed immediately in advance of the anal, 

 is opposite the anterior margin of the second dorsal. The origin of the ventral corresponds to 

 a line drawn immediately behind the base of the pectorals ; their posterior extremity is far 

 from reaching the vent ; they are elongated, sub-lanceolated. The pectorals are broad and short, 

 since their posterior extremity does not extend as far as the tip of the ventrals. Both, the base 

 of the pectorals and the origin of the ventrals, are situated in advance of the anterior margin 

 of the first dorsal fin. 



D VII, 20 ; A 17 ; C 5, 1, 6, 5, 1, 4 ; V 5 ; P 20. 



The scales are very small, extending over the cheeks and opercular apparatus. We could 

 detect no lateral line, but many scales had fallen owing to their deciduous character. 



The color of the head and body is reddish brown, minutely and inconspicuously dotted with 

 grey or black, apparent under the magnifying glass. The throat and fins are blackish, or greyish 

 black, the latter occasionally margined or tipped with white. 



List of specimens. 



