THE GOBIES 3 



You would think that the walls of this chamber 

 would very soon fall in, wouldn't you? But the 

 fish smears them all over with a kind of slime, 

 which very soon sets and becomes quite hard, just 

 like cement. It then makes a tunnel leading into 

 the chamber by means of which it can >go in and 

 out ; and last of all it covers the cockle-shell all 

 over with loose sand. So unless you look very 

 carefully at the bottom of the pool you will not see 

 the nest at all. But if you notice a kind of lump 

 in the sand, and find that half a cockle-shell is 

 buried underneath it, you may be pretty well sure 

 that you have discovered the home of a spotted 

 goby. 



This nest is always made by the male fish, and 

 when it is quite finished his mate comes and lays 

 her eggs in it. Then for eight or nine days he 

 remains on guard outside the entrance, so as to 

 prevent any hungry creature from finding its way 

 in and devouring them. At the end of that time 

 the eggs hatch, and a number of baby gobies make 

 their appearance ; and although they are so small 

 that one can hardly see them, the father-fish 

 seems to think that they are quite able to take 

 care of themselves. So he swims away, and leaves 

 them to their fate. 



If you catch these little fishes with your fingers 

 you must be careful how you handle them, for 

 they have rather long and sharp teeth, and can 

 give quite a smart bite. 



