138 DR PARNELL'S ACCOUNT OF 



and very slightly carinated ; all the rest in that row are of an oval form. The 

 snout is wide and depressed, much broader than the diameter of the mouth. On 

 the under surface, placed nearer to the tip of the snout than to the mouth, are 

 four cirri arranged in an irregular line. The summit of the head is rough, with 

 the central plates beautifully radiated and of a fibrous appearance. The position 

 of the fins is the same as in other sturgeons. 



This fish differs from the common sturgeon {Acipenser sturio) in having the 

 tip of the snout much broader than the mouth, in the keel of the dorsal plates 

 being but slightly elevated, and having the cirri placed nearer to the tip of the 

 snout than to the mouth. 



The sturgeons are all much allied to each other ; and not being able as yet to 

 find the right synonym for the present one, I have proposed, in the mean time, the 

 name latirostris, as characteristic of the species. 



The genus Gobius is recognised by having the ventral fins united together so 

 as to form a disk, incapable of adhering to surfaces. 



The species of this genus have received but little attention, perhaps on ac- 

 count of their small size, and the great facility with which they may be over- 

 looked while inhabiting their natural element. 



Before the appearance of Mr Yarrell's excellent work on the British Fishes, 

 great confusion prevailed as to the discriminating characters of the species of 

 Gobius found inhabiting the British coast. 



By Pennant, Donovan, and Fleming, these fish were all confounded under 

 two species, the Gobius niger and the Gobius minutus. Jenyns, in his Ma- 

 nual of the British Vertebrate Animals, makes three species ; and Yarrell, in 

 his work before mentioned, has added another, making the number up to four 

 British species, viz. Gobius niger, G. minutus, G. gracilis, and G. bipunctatus. I 

 hope T shall not be considered as multiplying the species beyond their due limits 

 by adding two more to the list of the British Gobies. 



Gobius unipunctatus, Parnell. — One-spotted Goby. (See Plate V.) 



The species for which I have proposed the name of unipunctatus, is perhaps 

 more nearly allied to the Gobius minutus than to any other, differing from it in 

 having the intervening membrane of the fifth and sixth ray of the first dorsal 

 fin marked by a large conspicuous black spot, and in having the tail even at the 

 end ; whereas the minutus has no black spot at this place, and the tail is rounded 

 at the end. The unipunctatus grows to a much larger size, and is seldom found 

 associating with the minutus. The largest specimen measures three and a half 

 inches in length ; the back is of a light reddish-brown, slightly tinged with yel- 

 low, and marked with a few dark lines of a deeper colour. The first dorsal fin 



