Miscellaneous. 407 



'^' Ettpodosaunis lotiffohardicKS." 



The specimen noticed and fi<?iired under the above name in the 

 last number of the ' Annals ' (p. 292) turns out to belong to 

 LariosnurKS Biilmmi, and has been tigured bj- Curioni (Mem. 1st. 

 Lomb. ix. 18t53, pi, vii. fig. 1). I am indebted to the inquiries 

 made at the Milan Museum by my friend Dr. .J. de Bedriaga for 

 this identification. Although I had examined the foot on the plaster 

 cast of the entire //ro-iosfntr«s 7^^f/ivn/?j in the British Museum, the 

 appearance, especially of the distal phalanges, differed so greatly 

 from the College of Surgeons specimen that the identification of the 

 two never occurred to me. G. A. Boulexger. 



Oct. 13, 1891. 



Oil the Habits of Gobius minutus *. By FPvf d£ric Guitel. 



Gobius mimitiis is found in abundance in the pools of water left by 

 the ebbing sea on the sandy beaches of lloscoif. The habits of this 

 little fish at the time of reproduction are extremely curious ; they 

 have been observed with the greatest accuracy, owing to the ex- 

 tremely favourable conditions afforded by the great aquarium of the 

 station at lloscoif for this kind of observation. The water flowing 

 in abundance through the tanks, the animals live in them as in the 

 natural state. 



The sexes are distinguished by constant diffisrences in the colora- 

 tion of the dorsal and anal fins. In the female the two dorsals are 

 transparent and only marked with some small black dots situated 

 upon their rays ; the anal is perfectly transparent. In the male, on 

 the contrary, the two dorsals bear three or four almost horizontal 

 white bands, separated by two or three black bands. Moreover the 

 first dorsal, which, as in the female, has six rays, presents two spots 

 of a fine blue, each limited towards the base by a black crescent 

 which is outlined by a white crescent. One of these spots is situated 

 between the fourth and fifth rays, the other between the fifth and 

 sixth ; sometimes the second is wanting. Finally the anal is largely 

 bordered with black. 



If a female ready to lay, a male in the reproductive state, and a 

 shell of Cardium or of Tapes are placed in an aquarium with its 

 bottom covered with sand, the male is not long in introducing him- 

 self beneath the shell, only letting his head protrude beneath its 

 rim. From time to time he enters his little mansion, drives out a 

 large part of the sand which it contains by a rapid agitation of his 

 tail, and even brings in his mouth small stones, shell debris, or small 

 quantities of sand which he shoots out over the threshold of his 

 domicile. Then he sets to work to conceal his shell completely. 

 For this purpose he leaves it, places himseK above, and, steering 

 in a straight line, moves over the sand with a rapid agitation 

 of his pectorals and his tail, so as to project behind him a wave 

 of sand which accumulates on the shell. The track of his passage 

 in the sand is marked by a deep furrow. 



After he has scooped out the first furrow he reenters his house, 



* The observations which form the subject of this note were made in 

 the aquarium of the Laboratory at Roscoff (Finistere). 



