72 GOBIES OF THE PHILIPPINES 



Samar by Peters, from the "Philippine Islands" by Gunther, 

 and from Zamboanga by Scale and Bean. Elsewhere it occurs 

 throughout the East Indies, westward in the Indian Ocean to 

 the Seychelles, and eastward in the Pacific to New Ireland and 

 the Fiji and Caroline Islands. 



Genus 15. EVIOTA Jenkins 



Eviota JENKINS, Bull. U. S. Fish Comm. 22 (1902) 501. 



Very small eleotrids, 30 millimeters or less in length, with elon- 

 gate and laterally compressed body; the scales are ctenoid, 22 

 to 28 in longitudinal series, the head and body naked as far back 

 as the first dorsal, and not compressed into a keel; the mouth 

 oblique, with several rows of teeth in each jaw, those of outer 

 row larger and fewer in number; the large eyes much longer 

 than snout, dorsolateral in position, very close together ; the pre- 

 opercles entire; the ventrals long, narrow, more or less sickle- 

 shaped, their rays and the lower rays of pectoral fringed. Dor- 

 sal VI, 1-8 to 10 ; anal I, 7 to 9. 



Some of the species of Eviota are among the smallest living 

 vertebrates. The members of this genus are abundant in the 

 coral reefs of the South Sea Islands, ranging northward to the 

 Philippines and southern Japan. They are difficult to collect 

 except by diving for coral masses, which are then broken up over 

 a cloth or the deck of a boat. Owing to their minute size they 

 are able to live in the intricate passages and crevices of coral, 

 where it is impossible to catch them by other means. Further 

 study is needed before their generic characters and position can 

 be more thoroughly defined. It is believed that careful collect- 

 ing will show the presence of a number of additional species of 

 this genus in the Philippines. 



Key to the Philippine species of Eviota. 



a 1 . Scales 25; eight dark spots along the side E. gymnocephalus. 



a 2 . Scales 22; eight dark bands on dorsal and ventral surfaces.... E. sealei. 



25. EVIOTA GYMNOCEPHALUS Weber 



Eviota gymnocephalus WEBER, Fische der Siboga Exp. (1913) 452, 

 fig. 87. 



Dorsal VI, 1-9 ; anal I, 8 ; there are 25 scales in a longitudinal 

 series and 7 in a transverse series. 



The body compressed, its depth 5.5 in the length; the head 

 bluntly conical, hardly wider than high, its length 4.75 times in 

 the total length ; the large eyes, touch one another, their diam- 

 eter i or more of the length of head and twice as long as snout ; 



