460 REPORT OF THE 



stomachs on account of its oily nature. He mentions the names used in Scotland 

 for this fish as the Cock Paddle and Hen Paddle, also the English names, Lump- 

 sucker, Lumpfish, and Sea Owl. 



It is found in Gravesend Bay in May. 



At Woods Hole, Mass., adults are common in April, when spawning occurs, 

 and few are there in May. The young are taken throughout the summer in 

 Vineyard Sound among driftweed. 



Group GOBIOIDEI. 

 Family GOBIIDiE. Gobies. 



201. Naked Goby {Gobiosoma bosci Lacepede). 



The Naked Goby, or Mud Creeper, is the Variegated Goby of Dr. Mitchill and 

 DeKay. Mitchill had specimens 2^ inches long from the Bay of New York, and 

 illustrates one of them in figure 8, plate i, of his Memoir on the Fishes of that State. 

 The ventral fins of this little fish form a sucking disk of comparatively great power. 

 Says Dr. Mitchill: " One of the individuals now lying before me adhered so firmly 

 to a stone that he was lifted out of the water by an oysterman." 



This Goby does not exceed 2^/2 inches in length and is now known from Buz- 

 zards Bay southward, its southern limit being undetermined. 



Specimens were taken in the oyster dredge at Eaton's Neck, L. L, in the fall of 

 1896. It Vv'as very abundant in 1898 in brackish and salt water. ' Specimens were 

 collected in Mecox Bay, and almost everywhere in Great South Bay as far west 

 as Great River. This fish often enters the eel pots and is frequently taken in oyster 

 rakes, as it inhabits the empty valves of dead oysters and clings to them. Many 

 individuals were thus caught in 1901. The young, measuring from 3^ to i^/^ inches, 

 v/ere taken in Swan River, August 8, 1901. The largest ones captured were 2^ 

 inches long. 



Group TRACHINOIDEI. 



Family URANOSCOPID^. Stargazers. 



202. Spotted StdS^diX^v {Astroscopus guttatiis Abbott). 



The Spotted Stargazer is apparently a rare species, found on the Atlantic 

 coast only from Long Island to Virginia. It has been recorded from Norfolk, Va., 

 Cape May, N. J., Somers Point, N. J., Tompkinsville, N. Y., and a single example 

 is known from Gravesend Bay, L. I. It reaches the length of 12 inches. The 

 individual taken in Gravesend Bay was small. It was caught October 24, 1894. 



