PARAGOBIODON 175 



Parago biodon melanosomus has been recorded from Mada- 

 gascar to New Guinea; it is very close to P. echinocephalus. 



78. PARAGOBIODON XANTHOSOMUS (Bleeker) 



Gobius xanthosoma BLEEKER, Nat. Tijd. Ned. Ind. 3 (1852) 703. 

 Paragobiodon xanthosoma BLEEKER, Arch. Neerl. Sci. Nat. 13 (1878) 



54. 

 Paragobiodon xanthosomus JORDAN and SEALE, Fishes of Samoa, Bull. 



Bur. Fisheries 25 (1906) 397. 



Tnpug, name on Samal Island, Davao Gulf. 



Dorsal VI, 1-9-10; anal I, 8-9; pectoral 19; there are 23 

 scales in a longitudinal series. 



The body of this fish is slenderer than is that of its congeners, 

 the body being narrower and the head smaller, though the 

 depth is about the same, 3 to 3^ in the length; the head more 

 pointed than in the other species, 3.375 to 3.5 in length; the 

 depth of head a little less than its length and the breadth still 

 less, 1.2 to H times in its length; the snout 3.2 times in head 

 and equal to eye, which is high up; the interorbital space little 

 elevated and a little more than an eye diameter in breadth ; the 

 mouth small, nearly vertical; there are two rows of very small 

 teeth in each jaw, the outer one the larger, with a pair of post- 

 symphysial canines in lower jaw ; the lower margin of preopercle 

 and chin usually with a row of short tubercles; the vertical 

 fins small, their shape an'd height as in P. melanosomus; the 

 base of first dorsal continuous with second dorsal; the caudal 

 about f the length of head; the scales less firmly attached in 

 this species than in the others. 



The color of alcoholic specimens uniform yellow, the fins all 

 clear. 



A Samal Island specimen, sketched from life by T. S. Espi- 

 nosa, was uniform yellow, the fins and head pale yellow, with 

 pinkish buff on belly. Another one from the same locality was 

 grass green all over, with light yellow fins. 



The Bureau of Science collection contains six specimens, 20 

 to 27 millimeters in length, from the following localities: 

 From Dumaguete, Oriental Negros, 1 ; from Samal Island, Davao 

 Gulf, 3; and from Sitankai, 2. 



This species occurs in the Moluccas, New Guinea, and Samoa. 

 It is very close to P. melanocephalus, but differs in the number 

 of pectoral and anal rays, and in the shape and size of the head. 



In his treatment of the fishes of the Siboga Expedition Weber 

 unites the three species under Gobius echinocephalus; this ap- 

 pears to me to be unwarranted, although the three species are 

 all very close. 



