FKECKLED GOBY. 217 



I catch at the same time, and at the same place, but 

 under different conditions, a tiny fish of the same 

 family, possessing remarkable delicacy of appearance. 

 It is the Freckled Goby of Yarrell, Spotted Goby of 

 Pennant, le Boulereau blanc of the French, the Polewig, 

 and the Pollybait of the Thames fisherman. 1 Yarrell 

 tells us that it is most plentiful in the Thames, doubt- 

 less coming up with the tide, for I do not think it would 

 live with the admixture of any great quantity of fresh 

 water. It is used for the baiting of the hook in the 

 line-fishing, like most other minute fishes that can be 

 taken in sufficient numbers, and with sufficient cer- 

 tainty, by means of the net. 



Here I find it in the wide pools that lie in the hol- 

 lows of the ledges, with a bottom of sand, and not more 

 than an inch or two of water. Under an August sun 

 this becomes, during the three or four hours that the 

 receding sea of spring-tides leaves it, quite tepid ; often 

 standing at blood-heat, or even higher. In these shal- 

 lows the Freckled Goby lies, companion of the Sand- 

 shrimp, which in size, translucency, and colouring, it 

 closely resembles. It remains quite still, as if conscious 

 of its safety-point, for it is with difficulty visible, even 

 if your eye is resting on the very spot ; what little of 



1 Gobius minutus of zoologists, represented in the centre of Plate xxiv., 

 partly overshadowed by the Butterfly Blenny. 



