2184 Bulletin 47, United States National Museum. 



Class PISCES Concluded. 

 Subclass TELEOSTOMI Concluded. 



Order BB. ACANTHOPTERI Concluded. 



Group GOBIOIDEA. 



(THE GOBIES.) 



Body elongate, variously scaled or naked; head usually large, armed 

 or not, the suborbital ring without a bony stay for the preopercle ; gill 

 openings reduced, the membranes attached to the isthmus. Gills 4, a slit 

 behind the last; pseudobranchia? present. Ventral rays I, 4 or I, 5, 

 inserted below pectoral, the fins close together or united or widely sepa- 

 rated or otherwise peculiar; dorsal fins separate or united, the first of a 

 few weak spines, sometimes wanting; anal rathor long, usually with a 

 single weak spine, similar to soft dorsal; caudal rounded. Usually no 

 air bladder nor pyloric cca. Vertebra? 24 to 35. Carnivorous bottom 

 fishes, mostly of small size in warm regions, some marine, others of the 

 fresh waters. Two families. 



a. Ventral fins widely separated ; preopercle strongly armed ; lateral line present. 



CALLIONYMIDJE, CLXXXVII. 



aa. Ventral fins close together, usually united; preopercle Avith a weak spine or none; 

 no lateral line. GOBIID^E, CLXXXVIII. 



Family CLXXXVII. CALLIONYMID.E. 

 (THE DRAGONETS.) 



Body elongate, naked; head usually broad and depressed; the mouth 

 narrow, the upper jaw very protractile; teeth very small, in jaws only; 

 preopercle armed with a strong spine, which is usually branched. Eyes 

 moderate, usually directed upward. Lateral line present, often dupli- 

 cated. Dorsal fins 2, the anterior with 3 or 4 flexible spines; soft dorsal 

 and anal short, the latter without distinct spine ; ventrals I, 5, widely 

 separated from each other; pectoral fins large. Gill openings small, the 

 membranes broadly attached to the isthmus; gills 4, a slit behind the 

 fourth; pseudobranchia? present; no air bladder. Vertebra? usually 

 8 + 13 = 21. Small fishes of the shores of warm seas, chiefly of the old 

 world. Allied to the Gobies, but often resembling the Cottida; in form. 

 Genera 4, species about 30. (GoUidw CalUonymina, Giinther, Cat. Fishes, 

 ill, 138-152.) 



a. Ventrals entire, the outer ray not detached; head depressed ; sill opening reduced to 

 a very small foramen on upper surface of head; lateral line single. 



CALLIONYMUS, 799. 



