GOBIES. 
257 
GOBI US PICT US. 
(sw. bergstubben). 
Plate XIII, fig. 6. 
Characters essentially the same as those of the preceding species , hut the longitudinal diameter of the eyes, which 
approach more or less closely to each other on the forehead , from about 28 to 31 % of the length of the head , 
and more than 40 % of the distance between the first ray of the first dorsal fin and that of the second; the an- 
terior boundary of the scales on the dorsal side running downwards and forwards from the middle , or from a 
point nearer the beginning of the first dorsal fin, which 
more variegated, with the lateral spots on the body 
R. hr. 5; D. 6|~; A. P. 17 1. 18“ V. 1 / 5 ; C, *+11 (13) + *. 
Syn. Gobius pictus , Malm, Forh. Skand. Naturf. Mote, Sthlm 1863, 
p. 410; Gbgs , Boh. Fa., p. 429, tab. V, fig. 3; Winth., 
Naturh. Tidskr. Kbhvn, ser. 3, vol. IX, p. 199 et 218; 
vol. XI, p. 41; vol. XII, p. 18; Coll., Forh. Vid. Selsk. 
Christ., 1874, p. 163; ibid., Tillaegsh., p. 56; Hansson, 
Ofvers. Vet.-Akad. Forh., 1880, No. 4, p. 20; Day, Fish. 
G:t Brit., Irel., vol. I, p. 167, tab. L1II, fig. 1; Lillj., 
Sv., Norcj. Fisk., vol. I, p. 595; Hansen, Zool. Dan., Fiske , 
p. 35, tab. VI, fig. 3 et 4. 
The last two species, Gobius microps and Gobius 
pictus, in their typical form at least, never attain the 
maximum size of the Doubly-Spotted Goby. Their length 
seems never to exceed 50 mm. Furthermore, in relation 
to the latter species, they respectively range themselves in 
such a position that they represent its juvenile stages, 
Gobius microps in the anterior boundary of the scales, 
Gobius pictus in the relatively large size of the eyes, and 
both in the smaller number of rays which they generally 
possess in the dorsal and anal tins. Their Swedish names, 
Lerstubb (“Clay Goby”) and Bergstubb (“Rock Goby”), 
which were happily chosen by Malm, and are derived 
from the nature of the spots they most frequent, give 
us the clue to the explanation of their chromatic char- 
acters, if we bear in mind the variations of colour 
given above, which Heincke observed in Gobius flave- 
scens as being evidently due to changes in the colour 
of the surroundings of the fish. But they are distin- 
contains 6 rays; and' the colour of the body brighter and 
and the selliform dorsal spots more sharply defined. 
guished from Gobius fiavescens and approximated to 
Gobius minutus by a black spot, with azure lustre, be- 
tween the 5th and 6th rays of the first dorsal fin, and 
sometimes behind the latter ray as well * 6 . This spot 
occurs in the males and sometimes in the females, 
though there it is never so prominent or so lustrous. 
Another transition to Gobius minutus appears in the 
form of the body, the least depth of the tail sometimes 
sinking as low as 6 % of the length of the body; and 
specimens in which this is the case, can be distin- 
guished from Gobius minutus only by the number of 
the scales along and across the sides of the body, a 
distinction which is often delusive, and by the usually 
smaller number of rays in the second dorsal and anal 
fins. Again, Heincke regards both Gobius microps and 
Gobius pictus as forming a variety of Gobius minutus. 
In Bohuslan both these species are common at 
suitable spots. In Denmark, where, we need hardly 
say, the bottom of the sea consists chiefly of loose soil, 
sand, gravel and clay, Gobius microps, according to 
Wjnther, is the commonest species of the genus. “It 
lives in shallow water, from shore out to a depth of 
5 or 6 fathoms, and is by no means averse to brackish 
water.” In Norway, where the bottom of the sea for 
the most part is rocky, “ Gobius microps ,” says Collett, 
“is of only sporadic occurrence and is met with far 
more seldom than Gobius pictus.” At suitable spots, 
however, where the shore is shelving and clayey, in 
a Sometimes 20, according to Day. 
6 The supposed difference in the position of the spots on the dorsal fin, that in Gobius microps they belong to the rays and in 
Gobius pictus to the fin-metnbrane, has not proved constant. The first dorsal fin, too, seems generally to be shorter in Gobius pictus, and 
the distance between the first ray of the first dorsal fin and that of the second less (less than 14 % of the length of the body); but there 
are also exceptions to this rule. 
Scandinavian Fishes. 
33 
