122 



" Mediterranean ; open seas between or near the 

 tropics." 



The Sword Fish (Ilistiopliorus Glaclius) is stated to occur at 

 Port Jackson, but has not, to iny knowledge, been seen in the 

 southern seas of Australia. 



GOBIIDiE. 



" Body elongate, low, naked, or scaly. Teeth 

 generally small, sometimes with canines. The in- 

 fraorbital ring does not articulate with the prseoper- 

 culum. The two dorsal fins separated, or more or 

 less united, the spinous portion being always the 

 less developed, and composed of flexible spines; the 

 anal similarly developed as the soft dorsal ; ventrals 

 with one spine and five rays ; sometimes both ven- 

 trals united into a disk. Gill-opening more or less 

 narrow, the gill -membranes being attached to the 

 isthmus ; four gills ; pseudobranchise. A. promi- 

 nent papilla near the vent. Air-bladder generally 

 absent. Pyloric appendages. 



" Carnivorous fishes, living at the bottom of the 

 shores and of the fresh waters of the temperate and 

 tropical regions. This family offers numerous in- 

 stances of the fact that a part of the individuals of 

 one and the same are entirely confined to fresh 

 waters, whilst others live in the sea." 



The principal genus of this group is Gobius, formed by Artedi ; 

 it comprises numerous species, generally of small size, and 

 inhabiting all the temperate and tropical seas of the world. 



