116 GOBIES OF THE PHILIPPINES 



47. BATHYGOBIUS MEARNSI (Evermann and Scale) 



Mapo mearnsi EVERMANN and SEALE, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. 31 (1907) 

 510, fig. 2. 



Head 3.30 in length; depth 5; width of head much greater than its 

 depth, which is 1.80 in its length; cheeks prominent; D. VI, 10; A. 9; 

 scales 38, about 10 in vertical series; head without scales except on the 

 crown; eye 4 in head; snout 4; interorbital about equal to pupil; about 

 14 of the upper pectoral rays detached and silky; tongue emarginate, free 

 anteriorly; teeth small, in several rows. 



Color in spirits, greenish or grayish; some very indistinct dusky mark- 

 ings on middle line of side; no white dots; dorsal blotched with dusky; a 

 dusky blotch on posterior part of spinous dorsal. 



Two specimens, the type, Cat. No. 55624, U. S. N. M., a specimen 2.5 

 inches long, from Zamboanga, Mindanao, and a cotype, No. 1495, Bureau 

 of Fisheries, a specimen 1.55 inches long, from same place. 



We take pleasure in naming this interesting species for Dr. Edgar A. 

 Mearns, U. S. Army, who collected the type. [Evermann and Seale.] 



The above account is Evermann and Seale's original de- 

 scription, and no additional specimens have been collected. I 

 have seen the types and they appear distinct from Gobius fuscus. 



Since the above was written I collected a fine plump specimen. 

 48 millimeters long, from a coral reef at Bungau, Sulu Province. 

 The color is greenish gray, everywhere densely punctulate with 

 dark specks, the head brown, with three transverse dark brown 

 bands across the back, these divided into two each on the sides; 

 the second dorsal and the upper three-fourths of the caudal 

 are crossbarred by numerous rows of small brown spots; the 

 pectorals and ventrals are finely punctulate with dark specks; 

 the eyes are large, prominent, about 3.6 times in the head; the 

 pores on the head are conspicuous; the posterior angle of the 

 maxillary extends to a point beneath the posterior margin of 

 the pupil; there are about thirteen rows of very small scales 

 before the first dorsal, extending as far forward as above the 

 posterior margin of the preopercle ; the large rounded caudal is 

 shorter than the head; the pectoral is longer than the caudal, 

 almost equal to the head, and reaches as far back as above the 

 origin of the anal. 



48. BATHYGOBIUS NOX (Bleeker) 



Gobius nox SLEEKER, Nat. Tijd. Ned. Ind. 1 (1851) 248; GUNTHER, 

 Cat. Fishes Brit. Mus. 3 (1861) 28. 



Dorsal VI, 1-9 ; anal 1-8 ; there are about 35 scales in a longi- 

 tudinal series, 16 in a transverse series, and 18 before the first 

 dorsal. 



