18/8.] MR. R. COLLETT ON CERTAIN GOBIOID FISHES. 321 



success. Iu the winter months the fjord is covered with ice ; and in 

 the spring and summer I had no opportunity of tracing them. In 

 August 1874 I certainly found a couple of breeding females, together 

 with some others which had already spawned ; but none of these 

 differed in any point from the typical L. stutvitzii ; and in September 

 again the young of the year solely were seen. Therefore I could 

 add nothing of importance to my previous researches published in 

 the ' Norges Fiske' in 1874. 



It was almost accidentally that, in June 1875, I found one of 

 the spawning-places ; and during a couple of excursions I succeeded 

 in collecting a considerable number of fully developed specimens of 

 both sexes. It then became quite evident that L. stuwitzii was based 

 on the female and the immature males of the same species, the mature 

 males of which were L. albus. On several occasions examples of 

 typical L. albus, which all, without exception, proved to be old males, 

 were taken from the same shoal as L. stuwitzii, all of which were 

 females ready for spawning. Another lot consisted of somewhat 

 younger specimens in various stages of transformation between both 

 "forms, all full-grown, but with the eggs and milt not yet perfectly 

 ripe. 



Von Duben and Koren described their species from four specimens 

 taken in winter (in the month of December), and consequently out of 

 their spawning-season ; but Parnell, on the contrary, had for the 

 description of his Gobius albus 50 specimens caught in June in 

 Sol way Frith, thus just during their breeding-time. From Parnell's 

 description we may conclude that he had only mature males at his 

 disposal ; nor does Dr. Giinther, in compiling his catalogue (1861), 

 seem to have had at his disposal any females, — as may be seen 

 from the fact that both these authors speak only of individuals 

 with long teeth. By the kindness of Dr. Giinther I have received 

 three specimens of the Scottish form, collected by Parnell himself; 

 and one of these, curiously enough, proves to be a female with the 

 minute teeth and the sloping fins, in other words, a typical L. 

 stuwitzii. Thus Parnell had overlooked female individuals, perhaps 

 few in number, and had drawn his description solely from the 

 males. 



Having endeavoured to identify the two species of Western 

 Europe, it remains to discuss the third and fourth species of this 

 genus, the L. pellucidus of Southern Europe. 



In 1824, according to Dr. Giinther, a description was given by 

 Nardo of a Mediterranean form under the name of Gobius pellucidus. 

 I have not had an opportunity of seeing the periodical in which 

 Nardo gave his original description (Giorn. Fis. Chim. di Stor. 

 Nat. d. Pavia) ; but from the title of the paper (" Osservazioni ed 

 aggiunte all' Adriatica Ittiologia") it seems that his specimens were 

 taken in the Adriatic. The species since Nardo's time has often 

 been mentioned by those naturalists who have treated upon the fauna 

 of the Mediterranean, and, as it appears, under somewhat different 

 names. In Hist. Nat. Eur. Me'rid. torn. hi. p. 287 (1826), Risso 

 mentions a species under the nameAphia meridionalis, n. gen. et sp., 



Proc. Zool. Soc— 1878, No. XXI. 21 



