132 MARINE AND FRESHWATER FISHES 



than 194,112 eggs. These, after deposition, are jealously 

 guarded by the male, who will not hesitate even to attack 

 so formidable an antagonist as the Wolf-fish (Anarrhicas 

 lupus} in defence of his prospective progeny. The remaining 

 British representatives of the family Discoboli are the two 

 small smooth-skinned fishes, the Sea-Snail or Unctuous- 

 Sucker (Liparis vulgaris\ No. 69, and the Montagu's or 

 Network- Sucker (Liparis Montagui), No. 70. Examples 

 of these varieties, which rarely attain to a greater length 

 than from three to six inches, will be found among the 

 spirit series forming the Day Collection. 



FAMILY XX. FLATHEADED SUCKERS (Gobiesocidce). 



Body elongate, depressed anteriorly, devoid of scales ; 

 teeth conical or compressed ; a single spineless dorsal fin, 

 developed towards the caudal region of the body ; ventral 

 fins widely separated, having developed between them an 

 adhesive apparatus whose periphery is limited anteriorly 

 by these fins but posteriorly by a cartilaginous ex- 

 pansion of the coracoid bones ; branchiostegal rays five 

 or six in number. 



The family of the Gobiesocida is represented in British 

 waters by three or four species only, belonging to the 

 genus Lepidogaster. All are of small size, rarely 

 exceeding two or three inches in length, and are for the 

 most part inhabitants of the literal zone, being abundantly 

 met with under stones in the rock-pools left by the 

 receding tide. All of them are noted for their brilliant 

 colouring, which often varies considerably among individuals 

 of the same species, though even here there are certain 

 distinctive markings generally to be found. Thus in 

 the Cornish Sucker (Lepidogaster gouanii\ No. 71, two 



