THE FISHES OF PORTO RICO. 
295 
upper jaw in a broad band, those of outer series enlarged, the inner ones small; teeth of lower jaw 
similar but smaller. Entire body covered with large, ctenoid scales, smaller on nape and belly; head 
naked. Fins rather large; origin of spinous dorsal slightly nearer snout than base of last soft ray; 
space separating dorsals about 2 in eye; dorsal and anal rays not reaching caudal when depressed; 
pectoral broad, upper rays partially detached and silk-like; ventral disk rather free from belly, not 
reaching vent; caudal short, rounded. 
Color, mottled or marbled-gray above and on sides and head, under parts white; back with 
about 4 dark areas extending down on sides; sides with irregular series of small white specks; dorsals 
and caudal barred with white and dark; anal light, with dark edge; other fins pale. Some specimens 
are considerably darker and have the fins darker, but the color pattern is essentially the same in all. 
Found in the tropical seas; widely distributed and almost everywhere common, lurking among 
stones or on sand in shallow water, or in rock pools, moving very quickly when disturbed; north on 
on our coasts to Carolina and Gulf of California. The commonest of all shore-fishes in tropical 
America. Length 3 to 5 inches. Among our species this seems to be the most nearly related to the 
European Gobius niger, and may, therefore, be held to represent the subgenus Gobius, if our other species 
be placed in different subgenera. Perhaps all the others will ultimately be removed from Gobius. 
This is apparently the most abundant and generally distributed goby in Porto Rico, the collec- 
tion containing numerous specimens from San Antonio Bridge, San Geronimo, Palo Seco, San Juan, 
Mayaguez, Puerto I^eal, Guanica, Ponce, Fajardo, Hucares, Isabel Segunda, and Culebra Island. 
Gobius soporator Cuvier & Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss., XII, 56, 1837, Martinique; Jordan & Evermann, 1. c., 2216, 1898. 
Gobius lineatus Jenyns, Zool. Voy. Beagle, 95, pi. 19, fig. 2, 1842, Galapagos Archipelago. 
Gobius eatulus Girard, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1858, 169, St. Joseph Island, Texas. 
Gobius mapo Poey, Memorias, II, 277, 1861, Cuba. 
Gobius lacertus Poey, Memorias, II, 278, 1861, Cuba. 
Gobius anclrei, Sauvage, Bull. Soc. Philom., ser. 7, IV, 44, 1880, Rio Guayas, Ecuador. 
Gobius carolinensis Gill, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1863, 268, Charleston, S. C. 
Gobius brunneus Poey, Synopsis, 393, 1868, Havana. 
Gobius arundelii Garman, Proc. N. E. Zool. Club, I, June 9, 1899, Clipperton Island. 
248. Gobius lyricus Girard. 
Description of male: Head 4; depth 4.5 to 5; eye 4 to 5; snout 3.6; maxillary 2.3; mandible 2.3; 
interorbital 4 to 5; preorbital 5 to 6; scales 29,-9; D. vi-11, the longest spine about 3 in head, the 
longest ray about 1; A. i, 10, the longest ray 1.2; pectoral about equal to head; ventrals 1.1; caudal 
about twice length of head. Body elongate, tapering; head heavy, body somewhat compressed; head 
short, broad; snout short, abruptly decurved; mouth rather small, somewhat oblique, maxillary reach- 
ing vertical of pupil; lower jaw included; eye small, high; isthmus broad, gill-openings not extending 
forward under opercles; teeth rather strong, in one series in each jaw; lower jaw with about 4 short 
canine-like teeth behind the other teeth; teeth of upper jaw larger than those of lower. Fins rather large; 
first dorsal with 2 or 3 filamentous spines reaching, when depressed, beyond base of second dorsal, or 
even to caudal; space separating dorsals very short, distance from snout to origin of first dorsal 3 in 
body; anal rays reaching caudal; caudal long and pointed; pectoral rather long, reaching origin of anal; 
ventrals rather short, disk not reaching vent. Scales large, cycloid, somewhat crowded anteriorly; 
nape scaled, head and breast naked. 
Color, olivaceous or dark, with 6 or 7 somewhat regular dark crossbars, the 2 or 3 posterior ones 
broadest, body with other dark blotchings and irregular markings; head marbled with darker, jaws, 
opercles, and branchiostegals black; a black bar across isthmus; first dorsal mostly dusky translucent, 
somewhat barred; second dorsal and anal plain dusky; caudal dark-blue with 2 longitudinal stripes of 
bright red changing to rose or orange in alcohol; pectoral finely barred with blackish and pale; lower 
parts yellowish. 
Female examples may be described as follows: Head 3.8; depth 4.9; eye 3.6 to 4; snout 4 to 4.5; 
maxillary 2.5; mandible about 3; interorbital 5; preorbital 5; scales 29-9. D. vi-11, the longest ray 
about 1.5 in head; A. i, 10, longest ray 1.7; pectoral 1; ventral 1.3; caudal 0.8. Form not markedly 
differing from that of male, caudal peduncle less slender. Color darker, head and body blotched with 
dark ; about 4 large dark blotches across back, more distinct than in male ; black blotch at base of caudal 
large; fins all barred with light and dark; no reddish bands on caudal; dorsal spines less filamentous. 
Found in the Gulf of Mexico and along the South Atlantic coast from Galveston and Indian River, 
