GOBIID^E. 169 



Genus II. — Aphia, Risso. 



Brackyochirus, Nardo ; Latrunculus, Giinther (preoccupied among Molluslcs) ; 

 Boreogobius, Gill. 



Branchiostegals five : pseudobranchim present. Body elongated and compressed, 

 gill openings ivide. Cleft of mouth deep. Teeth in jaws, those in the immature and 

 females minute, in the malp long and pointed, with strong and curved canines in each 

 jatv. Two dorsal fins, the first having five spines: ventrals united to form a disc 

 and not attached to the abdomen. Body transparent,' covered with large and thin 

 deciduous scales. Air-bladder present. 



Great difficulties have occurred in the discrimination of the genus, thus when 

 Dr. Giinther (Catal. iii, p. 80) instituted that of Latrunculus for the female and 

 young, he placed the male in Genus Gobiosoma, and likewise, though doubtfully, 

 Atherina minuta, Risso, as the immature of At henna hepsetus. To Professor Collett 

 is due the credit of having found the spawning places of this fish in 1875, and 

 elucidated its true characters (Pro. Zool. Soc. 1878, p. 319).* 



This fish has been considered by Professor Collett as an example of an 

 annual vertebrate, but the fact must not be lost sight of that some fishes are 

 believed to die after breeding, as the common stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus, 

 whereas if it does not breed, it certainly will live several years in an aquarium. 

 It would be interesting to experimentalize with Aphia pellucida in an aquarium 

 and ascertain if the same rule appertains to it. 



1. Aphia pellucida, Plate LIII, fig. 3, (size -y-') 



? Aphya colitis, Rondel, p. 210. 



Gobius pelhicidus, Nardo, Giorn. Fis. Pavia, obser. &c. iii, 1824, p. 7 ; Kessl. 

 Bull. Soc. Nat. Mosc. 1859, t. xxxii, No. 2, p. 260 ; Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, ii, 

 p. 171, pi. cii, f. 2. 



Atherina minuta, Risso, Ich. Nice, p. 340 ; Cuv. and Val. x, p. 437. 



Aphia meridional/is, Risso, Enr. Merid. iii, p. 287. 



Gobius albus, Parnell, Trans. Roy. Soc. Edin. xiv, 1837, p. 137 ; Yarrell, Supp. 

 Hist. Brit. Fishes, p. 27, and Brit. Fishes (Ed. 2) i, p. 295 (Ed. 3) ii, p. 33 ; 

 Canestr. Arch. Zool. i, p. 152, t. viii, f. 3. 



Atherina hepsehis, Giinther, Catal. iii, p. 393 (? young). 



Atherina Stuwitzii, Dub. and Kor. Kgl. Vet. Akad, Forhandl. 1844, p. 51, 

 t. ii, f. 4; Nilss. Skand. Faun. p. 229, Forh. Skand. Nat. July, 1863. 



Latruncidus albus, Giinther, Catal. iii, pp. 80, 556. 



Latrunculus pellucidus, Giinther, Catal. iii, p. 556; Collett, Pro. Zoo. Soc. 1878, 

 p. 319 ; Giglioli, Pes. Ital. 1880, p. 30. . 



(lubidSiniiti s/nrilzii, Giinther, Catal. iii, p. 86*. 



Boreogobius stuvitzii, Gill, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sc. Phil. 1863, p. 269 (no 

 description). 



LaitrtmcuJ/us stuvitzii, Collett, Forh. .Vid. Selsk. Christ. 1872, p. 9, and Proc. 

 Zool. Soc. 1878, p. 319. 



Gobi a* <jr ii lis oy slender goby, Couch, 1. c. p. 172, pi. cii, fig. 3 (young), also 

 Transparent goby, G. /lelluridns, 1. c. p. 171, pi. cii, fig. 2. 



Aphya pellucida, Moreau, Poiss. France, ii, p. 238. 



B. v, D. 5/^1x3, P. 16, V. 1/5, A. ^V^ 0. 17, L. I. 26, L. tr. 5, Vert. 27. 



* Professor Collett remarks, p. 322, as one reason for doubting what species Aphia, Risso 

 applies to, that " the number of the rays in the first dorsal fin is also omitted, which is a point of 

 •;n>at importance." But in Ich. Nice, p. 341, it is observed by Risso, " la premiere nageoire dorsale 

 conticet cinq rayons.'' This was the noiwiat, doubtless the form here referred to. 



