THE GOBY FAMILY 



231 



distinguished by their smaller size, elongated bodies, hard skeleton, and the disposition and 

 structure of the fins, characters which need not be discussed further. 



One species, the SPOTTED GOBY, or POLE-WING, found in the Thames, is noteworthy 

 on account of its nest-building habits. The male chooses the empty shell of a cockle or 

 mussel, selecting one with its concave surface downwards. Beneath this the sand is cleared 

 away and cemented by a special glue-like secretion formed by the skin of the fish. A cylindrical 

 tunnel is then built to give access to the nest, and the whole is covered over with loose 

 stones. In the nest-chamber formed by the shell the eggs are laid, the male immediately 

 after mounting guard over them till they hatch, which they do in about nine days. 



Another species, the PELLUCID GOBY, is remarkable in that its whole life's course is run 



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LUMP-SUCKER 



Known a/so as the Cock and Hen Paddle 



in a single year. In June and July the eggs are laid; they are hatched in August; by the 

 time winter has arrived the fish have reached maturity, and die off in the following July and 

 August, so that in September only the fry are to be met with. 



One of the strangest of all fishes is a member of the Goby Family. This is the 

 WALKING-FISH, so called from its habit of spending most of its time on the mud-banks of 

 rivers, or on the roots of trees growing in the neighbourhood. The late Surgeon-General Day, 

 describing these fishes as he saw them along the side of the Burmese rivers, writes that at 

 first sight they look like large tadpoles. When suddenly startled by something, away they go 

 with a hop, skip, and a jump inland among the trees, or on the water like a flat stone or 

 piece of slate sent skimming by a schoolboy. When climbing, the breast-fins are used, as if 

 they were arms, to grasp the boughs. If placed in deep water, these fishes are speedily 

 drowned ! 



