G O B I U S. 



A native of the Indian fcas, in common about fix inches 

 in length, and never exceeding eleven or twelve inches. The 

 head thick, blunt, and fomeu-hat convex, with fpots of brown 

 and white ; crown convex, and gradually Hoping down ; 

 iaws of nearly equal length ; lips thick and flefliy ; eyes ver- 

 tical and oblong ; gill-membrane livid. The body is rather 

 convex, tapering (lightly towards the tail, and covered with 

 fmall and foft fcales ; the colour blueifli brown above, be- 

 neath pale yellow, inclining to whitith ; the back marked with 

 a longitudinal leries of ieven brown fpots, beiieath which, on 

 the fides, are fvven other fpots of the fame colour, but thefe 

 latter are fpeckled with white ; the vent, which is iituated 

 rather nearer the head, is furrounded by a black circle, be- 

 hind which is a conic peduncle. The dorfal fins are blueifh 

 black, the tirll including five rays, has the membrane fpotted 

 with white ; the membrane of the fecond is remarkable in 

 having fix white lines between each ray, thefe rays are feta- 

 ceous, and amount to twenty-five in number ; the pcdoral 

 fin is roundilTi, and includes twenty-one rays; ventral, thirty- 

 four ; anal, twenty-five ; and the tail, which is bhieilh white, 

 eighteen rays. 



LAGOCEi'HAl.rs Upper jaw hemifpherical ; no tongue 

 and lateral line. Pallas. 



The native place of this fpecies is uncertain ; it was firft 

 defcribed by K»lreuter, in the Tranfaftions of the Royal 

 Academy of Peterfburgh,. and afterwards by Pallas in his 

 " Spicilegia Zoologica.'' The head is (hort, thick, and 

 deftitute of fcales, the mouth tranfverfc ; eyes diftant, fmall, 

 and covered with a common ikin ; upper jaw very thick, 

 the lower with a few larger teeth, which are a little hooked ; 

 the lips cleft in the middle, doubled, the upper flediy and 

 very tliick, and alfo reaching much beyond the jaw ; palate 

 with numerous crowded teeth of fmall fize on the margin. 

 The body round, comprefTed towards the tail, of a grey or 

 brown colour, and covered with minute fcales ; vent in the 

 xniddle of the body. The firft dorfal fin contains fix rays of 

 a fipaple form, the rays in the fecond fin, like thofe of the tail, 

 are branched, and amount in number to eleven ; the peftoral 

 hn lanceolate oval, with fifteen rays ; ventral, with eight {hort 

 crowded rays ; anal, ten rays ; and caudal, twelve. The total 

 length of this filh about three or four inches. 



Cypkinoides. Body covered with large fub-ciliated 

 fcales ; tail rounded ; the membrane conneftmg the rays tef- 

 fellate with brown, Pallas. 



About the fize of a finger, the body of a comprefTed form, 

 thickiih, convex, grey brown above, beneath whitifli ; fkin 

 foft and cancellated with fine lines ; teeth minute and nearly 

 equal; tongue flat, foft, and obtufe ; eyes lateral and be- 

 tween them a blackifh femi-lanceolate crelt ; rays of the fins 

 moftly branched ; lateral line obfolete. The fpecies inhabits 

 Amboina. 



Lanceolatus. Tail very long and acutely pointed. 

 Bloch. Gobhis oceamcu!, Pallas. 



Inhabits the brooks and rivers of Martinico, where Phi- 

 mier favv it in great abundance. The body is oblong, and 

 covered with roiuid imbricated fcales, which are larger on the 

 pofterior part. The head is long and truncated ; the eyes 

 vertical with black pupil, and golden iris ; jaws equal ; tongue 

 loofe and acute ; cheeks blucilh edged with red ; lateral line 

 in the middle of the body, and the vent nearer the head ; 

 dorfal and auid fins with fimple, foft, dillant rays, connefted 

 by a thin membrane ; rays of the firll dorfal nu-mbrane ex- 

 tended far beyond the membrane ; between the dorfal fins on 

 each fjde a brown fpot ; peftoral fin yellow edged uith blue ; 

 «ail at the bafe greenilh yellow, the edge violet. The flefh 

 excellent. 



MiNVTU.s. Whitifli, fpoUed with ferrugiuoii.; ; rarys of 

 the dori'al and caudal fins obfcurcly Itreaked with the latter. 

 Donov. Cob'iiis mhuitus ; albicans fcrrugireo-macvlnlus, raiHis 

 dorjaltbus, el caudiilibus fdrnig'ineo olj'oldcjlriatis, Pallas. Mi- 

 nute or fpotted goby. Pennant. 



" The minute or fpotted goby is a pretty, delicate, little 

 creature, whofe ufual length very rarely exceeds two inches- 

 and a half, or at the utmoll three inches. Pallas, who de- 

 fcribes this fpecies, defines its charafter with much preci- 

 fion; he fpeaks efpecially of the obfolete ftreaks acrofs the 

 rays of the two dorfal i'.im .nim iaii, Which are fufficientJy 

 diltinft, except when the fins happen to be confiderably ex- 

 panded, at which time they indeed appear as fo many feries 

 of unconnected dots. Thefe ftreaks or dots are uniformly 

 conilant in all the fpecim.ens of the fifti that have fallen 

 under our obfervation, varying a trifle only in the tint or 

 denfity of colour. 



" Bloch docs not include this fpecies in either of his works 

 on fifties. Pennant confiders it as the Gobius aphya of 

 I>inna:us, in v.hich particular later writers are miilakcn ; 

 it muft however be confefled, that there ftill remains fome 

 little doubt as to the precife diflercnce between the aphya 

 and minutus; Liiinccus tells us the former has the body and 

 fins barred with brown, and this will, in a certain degree, 

 apply to the charafters of minutus. That the fpotted goby 

 is the minutus of Pallas cannot admit of doubt. 



" It has been imagined, on the authority of Mr. Pennant, 

 that the fpotted goby appeared on our coafts only during 

 the fummer months, and was befides extremely local. This 

 idea is certainly unfounded, for we have received them from 

 vprious parts of the fea-coaft in all feafons of the year In 

 the wide fweep of fands, called Traeth Levan, which extends 

 along the fouth-fide of Beaumaris bay; upon the fhores of 

 the Severn ; and alfo many other of our fandy coafts, this 

 diminutive fifli has attracted our remark fwimming or lurk- 

 ing among the flirimps in the fliallow pools left by the fea at 

 ebb-tide. The fame fpecies is likewife not unfrequcntly 

 captured with the fprats, at a fhort diftance from the ftiore. 



" In the firft dorfal fin are fix rays, in the fecond eleven ; 

 the peftoral fin contains twenty rays; the ventral, ninetctn; 

 anal, eleven; and tail fixteen." 



We have been the more explicit in detailing the charafter 

 and hiftory of the fpotted goby, in order to enable the 

 reader to comprehend the precife difFei-er.ce between this and 

 the following fpecies. 



Aphya. Body and fins barred with brown. I..inn. Muf. 

 Ad. Fr. Coblus iincialis, pimia dorfi fccunda ojjuulorum 17, 

 Art 



Defcribed as a very fmall fpecies found in the Nile and 

 fome parts of the Mediterranean ; the length about an inch. 

 The firft dorfal fin, as in minutus, contains fix rays, the 

 fecond fixteen or feventeen ; peftoral, according to Linnaeus, 

 eighteen, or one lefs, as Artedi mentions. Linnxus ftates 

 the number of rays in the ventral fin at twelve, Artedi at 

 only fix, and in dcfcrlbing thofe of the anal fm they differ 

 again, thefe being, as Artedi informs us, no more than eleven, 

 though LinncEus fays they amount in number to no lefs than 

 fourteen. 



Jozo. Rays of the dorfal fin fetaceous, and extending 

 above the membrane. I^lnn. Ju'zo, Salv. Gobius a/bus, Ron- 

 del. Gobius tertius. Will. 



This is an inhabitant of the European and Mediterranean 

 feas ; its length is from four to fix inches; the body above 

 brown, beneath whltKh, and the whole cowrcd with fcales. 

 The head is eompreftcd; puj>il of the eye black with the ^ 

 iris white; the back (lightly arched; jaws of equal length, 

 and armed with numerous fmall teeth; the lateral hue 



ilraigh^ 



