BLENNIID^I. LXXXIII. 157 



No pyloric caeca or air-bladder. Yertebrse about 25. Small, car- 

 nivorous fishes, creeping about on sea-bottoms after the fashion of 

 the Darters, a group which the Gobies much resemble. Genera 70 ; 

 species about 400, chiefly of tropical seas and ponds. South of 

 Cape Hatteras a multitude of species are found, but only one is at 

 all common N. of that point. 



a. Ventral fins united; dorsals separate, free from caudal. (Gobiince.) 



b. Ventral disk not adnate to belly; teeth simple; shoulder girdle without 

 fleshy processes. 



c. Body with ctenoid scales ; dorsal spines 6 GOBIUS, 203. 



cc. Body with small, cycloid scales ; dorsal spines 7 or 8. 



MICROGOBIUS, 204. 

 ccc. Body entirely naked GOBIOSOMA, 205. 



203. GOBIUS (Artedi) Linnaeus. (The old name, from Kco/Sio's, 

 gudgeon.) 



434. G. soporator Cuv. & Val. Olivaceous, dotted. C. short. 

 Head 3; depth 4f. D. VI- 1, 9. A. I, 8. Scales 35-13. L. 6. 

 Tropics ; N. to Carolina. (Lat., sleeper.) 



204. MICROGOBIUS Poey. (piK P 6s, small; Gobius.) 



435. M. eulepis Eigenmann & Eigenmann. Yellowish, dotted; 

 1st D. with black spot. Head 4; depth 5. D. VII -15. A. 16. 

 Scales 50-14. L. 2. Fortress Monroe. (5, well ; \erris, scale.) 



205. GOBISOMA Girard. (Gobius; tr^a, body.) 



436. G. bosci (Lacepede). Body moderately chubby; cheeks 

 tumid. Olive with darker cross-shades. Head 3^ ; depth 5 to 6. 

 D. VII- 14. A. 10. L. 2. Cape Cod to S. C. (To M. Bosc, 

 French consul at Charleston.) 



FAMILY LXXXIII. BLENNIID^EJ. (THE BLENNIES.) 



Body oblong or variously elongate, naked, or covered with smooth 

 scales ; teeth well developed ; suborbital ring without " stay " ; D. 

 long, continuous, or divided ; the anterior portion, and sometimes 

 the whole fin of spines, either stiff or flexible; anal long; V. jugu- 

 lar, few rayed or wanting; C. present; tail not isocercal; pseudo- 

 branchiae present; air-bladder usually wanting. Vert. 30 to 100. 

 Genera 50 ; species nearly 300, a varied group mostly inhabiting 

 shallow sea-bottoms and rock-pools. A few are ovoviviparous. 

 (Blennius, ancient name, from /3Xei/i/a, slime.) 



a. Teeth long, slender, curved, like comb-teeth, in front of jaws only ; body 

 naked ; soft rays forming about half of D. ; V. well developed. Vertebrae 

 30 to 40. Carnivorous, oviparous, tropical. (Blenniince.) 

 b. Gill membranes broadly united to the isthmus. 



d. Mouth large; head pointed; no canines. . . . CHASMODKS, 206. 

 dd. Mouth small, the head blunt in profile. 



