MITCHILL ON THE FISHES OF NEW-YORK. 379 



rectly figured by their engravers, and so frequent in collections of 

 natural history, that I forbear to give a circumstantial account of him. 



OOBIUS. GOBF. 



Generic character. 



Eyes approximated. Gill membrane four rayed. Ventral fins united 

 into the form of a funnel, or circular hollow. 



Variegated Goby. (Gobius viridi-pallidus.) With pouched cheeks, 

 rounded tail, and pale bars to the number of seven or eight, diversifying 

 the greenish brown hue of the sides. 



Is about two inches and a half long, and inhabits the bay of New- 

 York. The eyes are approximated, and look upward. There is a 

 groove along the middle of the back, in front of the dorsal fin. The 

 gill-opening is rather small, its lower part being shut. The body is 

 destitute of scales. The skin is smooth and greenish brown, with seven 

 or eight perpendicular whitish streaks. The cheeks are plump, as if 

 inflated, and give the head a turgid appearance. 



There are two dorsal fins, the foremost of which has six rays, and the 

 hindmost fourteen. The ventral fins are united into a sort of canal, or 

 funnel, and enable the fish to fasten himself to rocks and stones. One of 

 the individuals, now lying before me, adhered so firmly to a stone, that 

 he was lifted out of water by an oysterman. The tail is convex, and 

 composed of seventeen rays. That, and all the fins, dark brown, with 

 a bluish shade in the dorsals, caudal, and anal. 



Rays, Br. 4. P. 16. V. 12. A. 12. 



