OPPIAN 



TTOvXvTTOS epTTvarrjp -^ arjirirj, dXXa Kal avrols 455 

 ivTpe(f>eTaL jSaio? /xev drap jSAaTrrrypto? Ix^P- 

 K€vrpa 8e TTCVKi^evTa p.er* IxBvaiv (LTrXiaaavro 

 KOi^ios, OS ifjajJbddoLaL, Kal os TrerprjaL yeyrjde 

 aKopTTLOs, oiKeZai re yeXihoves r)^€ SpdKovres 

 Kal Kvves ot Kevrpoiaiv eTrcovu/xot dpyaXloiai, 460 



TTOvres draprrjpoLs vtto vvypbaaiv lov levres. 



" Ael. I.e. exet 5^ drj-y/xa t) a-qirla IwSes Kai roiis oSoitoj 

 l<rxvp<^i VTroXavdcLvovras. 



* M.G. Kw^Los (7a)/3t6s) is generic for the various species 

 of Goby, of which Gobius niger is the commonest in Greek 

 waters (Apost. p. 10). A. 598 a 11, 610 b 4-, etc. The 

 identification rests mainly on the use of (cco^ios in M.G. 

 Cuvier, xii. 4 ff., argues against the identification on two 

 grounds : 1. A. 308 b 15 o'l 5' Ixdves {dwo(pvddas exovcriv, have 

 caeca) dvudev irepi ttju KoiKiav, Kal ivioi TroXXdj, olov ku^los, 

 7a\€6j. . . . Now the Goby has no caeca. But the reading 

 is suspect as the 7a\e6s also is without caeca. 2. Whereas 

 Oppian and Aeiian speak of the formidable spines of the 

 K0}(ii6i, " the simple rays of the Gobies are flexible and cannot 

 wound." Cuvier, basing on Athen. 309 c, where we read 

 that the /cw/Stos was also called kQ0o^, or kw6wv, identifies the 

 *cw/3t6s with Coitus gobio L., the Bull-head or Miller s Thumb. 

 It is possible that ku^ios was also applied to the fresh-water 

 Gudgeon, Gobio fluviatilis, which may be the fish referred to 

 Athen. 309 e TroTa/niuv di ku^iQv fivr]/jiovevei Aupiwi' iv rip irfpl 

 IxOviJv, although the Goby also enters rivers and lakes, A. 

 601b 21 ylvovrai de Kal ol kw^loI wiopes iv rots irora/xois, as in 

 Latin writers certainly gobio or gobiiis sometimes means 

 Goby, Plin. xxxii. 146 cobio (i.e. gobio) among " peculiares 

 maris," sometimes Gudgeon, Auson. Mosell. 131 Tu quoque 

 flumineas inter meraorande cohortes, Gobio, non geminis 

 maior sine poUice palmis, Praepinguis (an epithet which 

 suggests that even A. 601 b 21 may refer to the Gudgeon). 

 S22 



