FAMILY, XXVII— GOBIID^E. 315 



behind the eye. Upper surface of head nearly flat. Snout slightly elevated. Lower jaw the longer. Cleft of 

 mouth rather oblique, commencing opposite the upper edge of the eye. The maxilla reaches to below the 

 middle of the eye. No serrated ridge on the head or preopercular spine. Anterior nostril tubular. Teeth — 

 in numerous closely set villiform rows in both jaws, the inner of which is slightly the larger. Fins — spines of 

 first dorsal weak, extending slightly beyond the membrane, two-thirds as high as the body and equal to the 

 posterior rays of the second dorsal. Pectoral as long as the head behind the middle of the eyes, ventral a little 

 shorter, but reaching more than half-way to the base of the anal. Caudal wedge-shaped. Scales — ctenoid on 

 the body, those on the upper surface of the head extend forwards to the snout, there are 30 rows before the 

 dorsal fin not much smaller than those on the body, seven rows between the orbits, eleven between the origins 

 of second dorsal and anal fins, and eight between their posterior extremities. Large scales on the cheeks and 

 opercles. Colours — brownish, marbled with darker, fins very dark due to fine black dots, and three or four 

 bars of spots on the dorsal spines and rays. Caudal blackish. Anal with a black band along its centre 

 and an external white edge. 



Habitat. — One specimen, a little over 3 inches in length, from the Andaman islands. 



14. Eleotris caperata. 



Eleotris caperatus, Cantor, Catal. p. 197. 



Eleotris koilomatodon, Bleeker, Blen. en Gob. p. 21. 



Eleotris caperata, Giinther, Catal. hi, p. 117; Day, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1870, p. 694. 



Prionobutis koilomatodon, Bleeker, Eleotriformes, 1874, p. 5. 



Oo-suf-foo, Mugh. 



B. v, D. 6 | i P. 21, V. 1/5, A. fc C. 15, L. 1. 30, L. tr. 9. 



Length of head 4, of caudal 4|, height of body 5J in the total length. Eyes — diameter 1/4 of length of 

 head, 1 diameter from end of snout, and 1/2 a diameter apart. Greatest width of the head equals its height or 

 its length behind the middle of the eyes. Snout rather elevated, with a slight transverse depression 

 posterior to it : the maxilla reaches to below the first third of the eye. Supraorbital margin rather strongly 

 serrated, likewise a serrated ridge along either side of the posterior limb of the premaxillary. Teeth — in 

 villiform rows in both jaws, with the outer enlarged. Fins — first dorsal spines weak, and 3/4 the height of the 

 body : the last rays of the second dorsal equal to the height of the body. Caudal rounded. Scales — ctenoid, 

 about 12 -rows anterior to the dorsal fin, none on the interorbital space. No rudimentary scales as a rule 

 at the base of those on the body. Colours — leaden brown, fins blackish, especially the first dorsal : a deep black 

 blotch, edged with scarlet, at the base of the pectoral fin : the second dorsal, caudal, and anal more 

 or less spotted. 



Habitat. — Coasts of India, the Andamans, to the Malay Archipelago, China, and beyond. 



15, Eleotris butis, Plate LXVII, fig. 3. 



Gheilodipterus* butis, Ham. Buch. Pish. Ganges, pp. 57, 367 ; Gray and Hard. HI. Ind. Zool. ii, pi. 93, 

 f. 3 (from H. B. MSS.). 



Eleotris humeralis, Cuv. and Val. xii, p. 246 ; Bleeker, Blen. en Gob. pp. 5, 22. 



Eleotris butis, Cantor, Catal. p. 196; Giinther, Catal. hi, p. 116 ; Day, Fish. Malabar, p. 114. 



? Eleotris melanopterus, Bleeker, Ceram. p. 707. 



Eleotris prismatica, Bleeker, Madura, p. 23. 



Butis butis, Bleeker, Eleotriformes, 1874, p. 16. 



Kullahray, Mai. 



B. v, D. 6 | i P. 21, V. 1/5, A. i C. 13, L. 1. 28, L. tr. 9-10. 



Length of head 3 to 3-L, of caudal 6, height of body 5£ to 5^ in the total length. Eyes — diameter 5 to 

 6 in length of head, If diameters from end of snout, and also apart. Head broad and anteriorly depressed, the 

 dorsal profile rather concave from the occiput to the snout. The greatest width of head equals a little more 

 than half its length, and its height is slightly less. Lower jaw the longer. Cleft of mouth commences 

 opposite the upper edge of the eye. The maxilla reaches to below the middle of the eye. A finely serrated 

 ridge passes, along the posterior and superior edges of the orbit, from which it is divided by two rows of fine 

 scales : serrated ridges also exist on either side of the snout, but all these serrations appear liable to 

 variation, being usually mostly distinct in the young. Teeth — in numerous fine villiform rows, none of 

 which are enlarged. Fins — first dorsal 2/3 of the height of the body, not so high as the second, the posterior 

 rays of which equal 3/4 of the height of the body. Pectoral as long as the head without the snout : 

 ventral reaches rather above half-way to the anal. Caudal cut rather square. Scales — ctenoid on the bodv, 

 in large specimens there are generally about five or even more rudimentary ones at the base of each large one. 

 They cover the head except the front of the snout and its under surface, there are about 25 rows between the 

 base of the first dorsal fin and the hind edge of the eye. Interorbital space nearly flat and covered 

 with small scales, those on the preorbital and below the eyes are usually smaller than those on the preopercle. 



* I overlooked the fact (see p. 264, ante) that Clieihdipterus ptmijus, Ham. Buch. pp. 57,367, belongs to an entirely different 

 family, and is Sillago domina, C. V., or perhaps should be termed Sillago panijus. Ham. Bucb. The figure had been abstracted from 

 Ham. Buch. original collection in Calcutta, but a duplicate of it, with the name omitted, is present amongst the copies of the missing ones. 



