386 PISCES (OSSEI) ACANTHOPT. [GOBIUS. 



vent exactly in the middle ; immediately behind it a little conical papilla. 

 (Colours.) Deep olive-brown, variegated with dusky spots and streaks : 

 dorsals dusky brown, variegated with whitish. 



Found on many parts of the coast, but not in any abundance. Some- 

 times called Rock-Fish, from the power which they are said to possess 

 of affixing themselves to the rocks by means of their united ventrals, 

 though, according to Fleming, these fins are not capable of acting as 

 a sucker. It is probable that under the name of Gobius niger several 

 species have been confounded. That figured by Bloch is evidently dis- 

 tinct from our British one, differing from it in having sixteen rays in the 

 second dorsal, and the jaws of equal length. The G. niger of Donovan 

 and Fleming refers to the next species. 



62. G. bipunctatus, Yarr. (Two-spotted Goby.) 

 Dorsals nearly contiguous: lower jaw considerably the 

 longest : distance between the eyes more than equal to 

 their diameter. 



G. bipunctatus, Yarr. Brit. Fish. vol. i. p. 255. G. niger, Don. 

 Brit. Fish. vol. v. pi. 104 Flem. Brit. An. p. 206. 



LENGTH. From two to four inches. 



DESCRIPT. (Form.) General form resembling that of the last spe- 

 cies, but rather more elongated in proportion to the depth : eyes fur- 

 ther asunder, and placed more laterally; the distance between them 

 rather more than equal to their diameter : head moderately depressed : 

 lower jaw considerably more projecting: dorsals not approximating quite 

 so nearly ; the first with a ray more ; the second with three (in Donovan's 

 two) less ; posterior rays of this last rather the longest. In other respects 

 the forms of the two species are similar. 



D. 711 ; A. 11 ; C. 12, and 2 short; P. 18; V. 12. 



(Colours.) Testaceous, or yellowish white, all the scales on the back and 

 upper part of the sides edged with brown ; towards the top of the back 

 this last colour prevails almost entirely : on the lateral line, beneath the 

 commencement of the first dorsal, a conspicuous black spot; a similar 

 one on each side of the base of the caudal fin : fins grayish white, with 

 obsolete dusky bars. 



Perhaps more common than the last species, with which it has, until 

 lately, been confounded. The above description is taken from a speci- 

 men in the collection of Mr. Yarrell. Donovan's was from the coast of 

 Devonshire. 



63. G. minutus, Pall. (Spotted Goby.) Dorsals 

 remote; the second with the fourth and succeeding rays 

 gradually decreasing: eyes closely approximating. 



G. minutus, Gmel. Linn. torn. i. part iii. p. 1199. Don. Brit. Fish. 

 vol. n. pi. 38. Flem. Brit. An. p. 206. Spotted Goby, Penn. 

 Brit. Zool. vol. in. p. 215. pi. 37. Yarr. Brit. Fish. vol. i. p. 258. 

 Le Boulereau blanc, Cuv. Reg. An. torn. n. p. 243. 



LENGTH. From two to three inches. 



DESCRIPT. (Form.) More elongated and tapering than the G. niger, 

 and not so much compressed : greatest depth, in the region of the pec- 



