FRECKLED GOBY. 
263 
form of the body with the shallow tail, the least 
depth of which varies between 5 and 6 % of the 
length of the body, or seldom and only slightly ex- 
ceeds this size, and also measures about 1 / 3 of either 
the distance between the first ray of the first dorsal 
tin and that of the second, the base of the latter fin, 
or the length of the peduncle of the tail, which three 
measurements, in this species too, are almost alike". 
The length of the head varies between 21 and 24 % of 
that of the body, being greater in the young specimens 
and in those from the Baltic, and the distance between 
the first dorsal fin and the tip of the snout varies be- 
tween 28 and 31 % of the length of the body. The 
longitudinal diameter of the eyes, which are fairly 
closely approximating, but well separated, at the upper 
surface, is in young specimens about 1 / i of the length 
of the head, in old about f/ 5 , and only during youth 
greater than the least depth of the tail, in older speci- 
mens less than it. The length of the caudal fin is 
from 15 to 18 % of that of the body. The distance be- 
tween the anal fin and the tip of the snout varies be- 
tween 47 and 50 % of the length of the body (we have 
found this distance greater in the female than in the 
male); and the base of the anal fin is generally slightly 
shorter than that of the second dorsal, measuring be- 
tween 15 and 17 % of the length of the body. The 
scales, which are comparatively small, in adult speci- 
mens usually number 13 or 14 in an oblique trans- 
verse row in a posterior direction from the beginning of 
the anal fin, and about 60 in a, longitudinal row along 
the middle of the sides. In young specimens, however, 
even in those 40 mm. long, there are sometimes only 
45 scales in the latter row, in which case the difference 
between Gobius minutus and Gob. microps is confined to 
the deeper tail of the latter. Heinckf, also regarded 
these Gobies as varieties of one and the same species. 
The coloration of the Freckled Goby, with all its 
variations, is principally the same as that of Gobius 
microps , and reproduces, though in fainter tints, the 
handsome markings possessed, according to Steindacii- 
ner * * 6 , by Gob. quadrivittatus. The ground-colour is 
whitish or grayish yellow, somewhat darker on the 
back, and dotted with dark brown chromatophores, which 
are most closely set in the hind margin of the dorsal 
scales. Light, selliform spots appear on the dorsal side 
in this species too, as well as a row of dark spots along 
the middle of the sides, or small, transverse bands, 
among which the caudal spot, at the base of the caudal 
fin, should also be included. There sometimes appear 
too, in this species as in the preceding ones, two dark 
bands at each eye, one running from the lower part 
of the anterior orbital margin in an oblique, forward 
direction along the snout, and the other perpendicularly 
downwards from the middle of the inferior orbital mar- 
gin. “The belly is white, with a brassy lustre” (Ek- 
strom), this being due to the circumstance that the 
mother-of-pearl lustre of the peritoneum shines through. 
The dorsal and caudal fins are marked in the same 
way as in the preceding species. “The pectoral fins are 
grayish yellow, with dark rays, and strewn with fine, 
ferruginous dots' (Ekstr.). The ventral and anal fins 
in the female are generally white, in the males more 
or less thickly punctated with black. Sometimes, how- 
ever, all these colours and markings are faded. “The 
whole fish is transparent,” says Ekstrom, “and there- 
fore, when it is put in water tvhile still alive, and ex- 
amined from above, the intestinal tract appears as a 
large, oval, black spot.” 
The geographical range of this fish extends from 
the Mediterranean, at least as far in as the Adriatic 
Sea, along the west coast of Europe to the north of 
Norway, where it has been found by Kroyer off Dyro, 
in Eat. 69° N., and into the Baltic as far as the Gulf 
of Finland (Mela), the island-belt of Stockholm (Sunde- 
vall), and probably the Gulf of Bothnia as well. It 
lives in water of a depth as great as 12 or even 20 
fathoms (Collett), deepest in winter; but in summer 
comes up near shore into water only a few feet deep 
(Malm). It prefers a level, sandy bottom, overgrown 
with seaweed (Ekstr.). The spawning-season occurs in 
summer from the end of May (Ekstr.) to August (Malm). 
Its food is generally composed of small crustaceans; 
and the following statement of Winther with regard 
to Gobius microps , also applies to the Freckled Goby. 
“The mouth is surrounded by fairly well-developed lips; 
and on the palate, within the intermaxillary bones, we 
find a narrow, crescent-shaped, transverse, membranous 
fold (velum). A similar fold lies immediately below it 
in the lower jaw. The function of these folds is easily 
understood; they operate in the same way as the valves 
a This is true, in particular, of the specimens from Bohuslan which we have been able to examine. In young specimens and those 
from the Baltic, the peduncle of the tail seems generally to be somewhat shorter, but also shallower. 
6 L. c., p. 399, plate II, figs. 3 and 4. 
