34 GOBIES OF THE PHILIPPINES 



from the first to the last third; the very small sharp teeth 

 nearly uniform in size, only those of outer row in upper jaw 

 larger and more widely spaced than the others. 



The whole body except snout, lips, chin, and subopercles cov- 

 ered with scales, as in E. fused; on lower half of preopercles 

 the scales are minute or sometimes partially absent. The in- 

 terorbital furrow absent or inconspicuous but the furrow from 

 eye to pectoral is broad; the lines of warts below eye mostly 

 absent and those on cheeks and snout usually less developed than 

 in E. fusca, though they are prominent in the specimens from 

 Cagiguran. There is a sharp spine, curving downward and for- 

 ward, at lower angle of preopercle. 



In life the color is very dark, blackish or greenish black. In 

 alcohol it varies from yellowish brown to blackish, the abdomen 

 paler. The top of head and back in front of dorsal darkest, 

 the sides of trunk much paler. Usually a small pale spot on 

 each scale along the side gives narrow longitudinal stripes of 

 dark and light, especially behind the pectorals and toward the 

 back. All the fins more or less regularly crossbarred with al- 

 ternate rows of dark and pale spots or lines, the markings 

 mostly disappearing in preserved specimens. 



I have examined one hundred thirty-five specimens, ranging 

 in length from 21 to 86 millimeters, from Laoag River in Ilocos 

 Norte Province, and from Abra River in Ilocos Sur and Abra 

 Provinces; one from Agno River, Dagupan, Pangasinan Prov- 

 ince; one from Buguey, Cagayan Province; three from Kabulig 

 River, Casiguran, on the east coast of northern Luzon; one 

 from Malabon, Rizal Province; eight from Puerto Galera, Min- 

 doro ; ten from Naganahan River, near Puerto Galera, Mindoro ; 

 one from Iloilo, Panay ; one from Navalas, Guimaras Island ; and 

 one from Hongkong. 



I also have a large number of specimens, from 18 to 36 mil- 

 limeters in length, part of a lot of ipon caught at Bangar, La 

 Union Province. 



The Eleotris fusca recorded from Aparri by Jordan and 

 Richardson probably belongs to this species. 



This little eleotrid is an important fish in the Ilocano streams 

 and furnishes a considerable quantity of ipon. Those from La- 

 oag River seem to feed almost exclusively on river snails and 

 frequently it is found that their stomachs contain several shells 

 or a shell of astonishingly disproportionate size. Apparently 

 the shells ultimately disintegrate or are greatly reduced in size 



