The Gobies, Pali/wigs of F id w mien. 135 



Goby and Dragonet Families (Gobi-M'UB.nd Calli<>nymi<hv). 

 Gobies. These fish though insignificant in dimensions yet pl;iy 

 a certain role, if a minor one, in our fisheries. Their utility lies 

 in becoming human food, as they get passed on among white- 

 bait (to which reference has already been made) ; as nutriment 

 to quite a host of marketable fishes ; and, like small crabs, 

 they are among the best of littoral scavengers. A few species 

 haunt the District's shores all round ; bat it is in estuaries, 

 creeks, swatchways, "guts," runlets and clay-pool flats where 

 they revel in myriads. 



The two species of the genus Gobius which are most 

 commonly met with in our waters are : (1) The Freckled, 

 Yellow, or ONE-SPOTTED GOBY (G. minutus)-, and (2) The DOUBLE- 

 SPOTTED GOBY (G. Ruthensparri) . The local name for them among 

 the Thames fishermen, irrespective of sort, is " Polywigs," or 

 " Whitethroats," whereas in the Blackwater they are known as 

 " Gobble-guts." The first form is the most prevalent in the 

 Thames estuary. Its maximum size is 3| inches, but adults 

 run between 2 and 3 inches. The second form is not quite so 

 large, ordinarily about 2 inches long, though 2| inches is 

 recorded.* 



During the warm summer weather the fry or post-larval 

 gobies at low tide hover in small batches at the drain mouths, 

 eagerly devouring the minute particles of waste material. 

 Others, again, left in shallow pools, where sea drift or algje 

 have collected, jerk about picking up microscopic creatures, 

 such as foraminifera, ostracods, larval copepods, and molluscs. 

 When disturbed they dart among and stir up the muddy 

 sand, and in a second are lost to sight. Somewhat older ours 

 gather in squadrons at the margins of the " guts " as ebb 

 proceeds, and revel in the material floating off. As the water 

 retires they follow to low-water mark, returning to the shallows 

 as the tide flows. The adults are scattered about in the deeper 

 water, some joining the whitebait brood as they approach 



* Fitch, "Trip on Blackwater," 15 Sept., 1888, Essex Nat. II. 



