548 
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
takes place at a rather advanced stage, that is, after virtually all the adult characters 
are developed. 
It is evident from the foregoing discussion that both American and European gobies 
generally have rather small eggs, which are variable in shape and somewhat in size 
among the species, and are equipped with an adhesive organ by which they become 
attached to submerged objects. The larvae as a rule are slender, quite transparent, 
and have at least a few pigment spots. Interesting phases in their development are 
the changes in the position of the mouth and in the shape of the caudal fin. In 
separating the species the myomere and vertebra counts sometimes are useful (although 
not in the American species discussed in this paper), the fin ray counts, as soon as they 
can be made, are extremely helpful, and the pigment spots are always important for 
identification purposes. 
GOBIOSOMA BOSCI (LACEPEDE) AND GOBSOSOMA GINSBURGI, HILDEBRAND AND 
SCHROEOER. NAKED GOBIES 
Two species of Gobiosoma, namely bosci and ginsburgi, occur in the waters at 
Beaufort. The last-mentioned species was described recently from Chesapeake Bay 
(Hildebrand and Schroeder, 1928, p. 324), Ginsburg (1933 p. 40) made a thorough 
study of the genus Gobiosoma, and found specimens of G. ginsburgi in collections 
from as far north as Cape Cod and southward to South Carolina, and of G. bosci from 
Long Island to Tampico, Mexico. 
Specimens of adult G. bosci are much more numerous in the collection from 
Beaufort than those of G. ginsburgi. However, the reverse is true with respect to the 
young. In Chesapeake Bay (Hildebrand and Schroeder, 1928, p. 325) bosci was taken 
in shallow water only, whereas ginsburgi was taken principally in rather deep water 
and rarely in shallow water. A similar vertical distribution of the species is indicated 
for Beaufort, since all adult bosci from this vicinity were taken in very shallow water 
along the shores, whereas all specimens of adult ginsburgi, except one, were taken in 
water from a few to several fathoms in depth. The young that are recognizable as 
to species (10 mm and upward in length) have a vertical distribution identical with 
that of the adults. 
KEY TO THE ADULTS OF THE LOCAL SPECIES 
a. Body rather robust, its depth 3.95 to 4.8 in its length without caudal fin; second dorsal normally 
with 13 rays, infrequently with 12 or 14; ventral disk short, reaching about half the distance 
from its base to the vent; no scales on base of caudal bosci. 
aa. Body more slender, its depth 6 to 7.15 in its length without caudal fin; second dorsal normally 
with 12 rays, infrequently with 11 or 13; ventral disk long, reaching two-thirds the distance 
from its base to the vent; two large scales on base of caudal, situated respectively on the base 
of the upper and lower rays of the fin ginsburgi. 
Although the characters mentioned in the foregoing key readily separate the 
adults when two or more of the characters are taken into consideration, they cannot 
be used successfully in separating the young under about 10 mm in length, because 
the characters either are entirely undeveloped at that size or so imperfectly developed 
that they are useless. Neither have we succeeded in finding other distinguishing 
characters. Therefore, the young (under about 10 mm in length) cannot be dis- 
cussed separately with respect to distribution, habitat, growth, etc. (figs. 30 and 31). 
Young Gobiosoma are rather generally distributed throughout the local waters 
and are very abundant, as shown elsewhere (p. 558). Their relative abundance, 
in fact, suggests that the adults are more common than indicated by the number 
