GOBIID^E. 167 



5. Gobius Parnelli, Plate LII, fig. 5. 



? Gobius gracilis, Parnell, Fishes Firfch of Forth, 'p. 85, pi. xxix, and "Wern. 

 Mem. vii, p. 245, pi. xxis (not Jenyns nor Fries, &c). 



? Gobius unipunctatus, Yarrell, Brit. Fish. (Ed. 3) ii, p. 327. 



Gobius aurahos, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, ii, p. 159, pi. c. f. i (not Risso) female. 



Gobius minutus, Couch, 1. c. ii, p. 161, pi. c. f. 2 (not Gmel. Linn.). 



Little and speckled goby, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, ii, pp. 161, 170, pi. c. fig. 2 

 and cii, f. 1. 



B. v, D. 6 | ¥ _Vo, P- 19, V- 1/5, A. T _\& C 13, L. 1. 40, L. tr. 11. 



Length of head 4y to 4^, of caudal fin h\ to 6, height of body 6 to 7 in the 

 total length. Eye — diameter 3^ to 4 in the length of the head, 3/4 to 1 diameter 

 from the end of the snout, and nearly 1/4 of a diameter apart. Interorbital 

 space scaleless, and slightly concave from side to side. Snout somewhat obtuse. 

 Cleft of mouth commencing opposite the upper edge of the eye. Lower jaw the 

 longer, the posterior extremity of the maxilla reaches to beneath the front third 

 of the eye. Head rather broader than high. Cheeks swollen : neither warts 

 nor barbels on the head. Teeth — those in the outer row in the lower jaw much 

 larger than the rest : none on vomer, palatines, or tongue. Fins — spines of 

 first dorsal flexible and but little prolonged beyond the membrane, the two dorsals 

 of about equal height, and in the male equalling that of the body, but less in the 

 female, the interspace between the two fins is equal to two-thirds of the length 

 of the base of the first dorsal. Ventral fin reaches to the vent, while the pectoral 

 is somewhat shorter, and none of its upper rays are silk-like. Anal commences 

 beneath the second or third dorsal ray, and terminates opposite the end of that 

 fin. Caudal somewhat square. Scales — ctenoid, commencing anteriorly just 

 behind the occiput : beneath the middle of the second dorsal their size almost 

 suddenly augments, and are thus continued to the end of the body in the last 15 

 rows. Colours — of a leaden gray, with several vertical black bands on the body : 

 fins black, the dorsals with narrow white horizontal bands : caudal with dark 

 vertical bands. 



Whether this is Parnell's fish may be questioned, his type at Edinburgh 

 having been mislaid. That this fish is not G. minutus is very evident, as the 

 scales widely differ in number as well as in character. 



Habitat. — The coasts of Great Britain. 



Parnell observes G. gracilis is occasionally found in the Firth of Forth, the 

 Solway Firth, and in much greater plenty on the south coast of England. Lowe 

 observed G. rlwclopterus, Giinther, on the Norfolk estuary, July, 1868, but which 

 may be this species. 



It attains to at least 2j inches in length. The example, figured life-size, is 

 from Weston-super-Mare. 



6. Gobius pictus, Plate LIII, fig. 1. 



Gobius pictus, Malm, Forh. ',Skand. Nat. 1863, p. 410 ; Collett, Norges Fiske, 

 p. 56; Winther, Ich. Dan. Mar. p. 17. 



Gobius minutus, (part) Giinther, Catal. iii, p. 58. 

 Gobius laticeps, Moreau, Poiss. France, ii, p. 215, c. fig. 



B. v, D. 6/10, P. 20, V. 1/5, A. 9, C. 13, L. 1. 35-40, L. tr. 10-11. 



Length of head 3f to 4£, of caudal fin 4| to 4|, height of body 5| to 5f in 

 the total length. Eye — diameter 3j to 4 in the length of the head, 3/4 of a 

 diameter from the end of the snout and nearly close together superiorly. Greatest 

 width of the head slightly less than its height, it may appear much more if the 

 fish dies in a spasm (G. laticeps) ; posteriorly the body becomes much compressed. 

 Lower jaw slightly the longer, the posterior extremity of the maxilla reaches 

 to beneath the front edge of the orbit. Teeth — fine, the outer row in either jaw 

 being enlarged. Fins — The interspace between the two dorsals slight, the length 

 of the longest spines in the first dorsal nearly equal to the longest rays in the 



