300 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
253. Microgobius meeki Evermann & Marsh. 
Head 3.75; depth6; eye 3.5; snout5.5; interorbital?; preorbital 7; maxillary2; mandible 1.5; scales 
55,-12; D. vii— 1 7 ; A. 16. Body slender, greatly compressed, tapering reglilarly from pectorals to caudal; 
head moderately heavy, interorbital space very narrow; eye large, high; mouth large, oblique; max- 
illary reaching posterior border of orbit; lower jaw projecting; teeth in bands in each jaw, outer series 
greatly enlarged and strongly recurved, those of lower jaw largest; isthmus rather narrow, gill-openings 
continuing forward; body densely scaled, scales strongly ctenoid, those anteriorly somewhat reduced; 
nape, breast, and entire head naked; origin of spinous dorsal from snout 3.5 in length; dorsals very 
close together; spines of first dorsal filamentous, exceeding head in length; soft dorsal and anal long, 
their basesabout equal, about 2. 5 in body, their last rays reaching past base of caudal when depressed; 
caudal pointed, its longest rays about equal to head; pectoral about equal to head, reaching origin of 
anal; ventrals united, almost reaching origin of anal. 
Color, light-olivaceous, dusted over uniformly with fine dark punctulations; large dark shoulder- 
spot between base of pectoral and origin of spinous dorsal ; a few indistinct dark areas on side of head ; 
lower jaw dark at tip; an obscure dark blotch at base of caudal; fins all rather pale except ventrals, 
which are dark, perhaps bluish in life; caudal somewhat dusky; anal dark-edged. 
This species seems related to M. eulepis Eigenmann & Eigenmann, described from Fortress Monroe, 
Va., but differs in the smaller and strongly ctenoid scales, greatly compressed body, and in coloration. 
It is described from a single specimen, 1.5 inches in length (No. 49367, IT. S. N. M.), collected at Fish 
Hawk station 6087, in 15.25 fathoms, between Culebra and Vieques islands. 
Microgobius meeki Evermann & Marsh, Rept. U. S. F. C. 1899 (Dec. 19) , 356, between Vieques and Culebra islands, east of 
Porto Rico. 
Genus 142. GOBIOIDES Lacepede. Barretos. 
Body greatly elongate, compressed behind, scales very minute; head small; eyes very small; 
mouth large, oblique, lower jaw projecting; gill-openings moderate. Teeth in a band, those in outer 
series being very strong. Dorsal rays v to vii, 16 to 23; anal rays 17 to 23. Dorsal fin low, continuous, 
spines similar to soft rays, but more widely separated; soft dorsal and anal joined to base of caudal; 
ventrals 45, united in a disk which is formed much as in Gobius. No air-bladder; no pseudobranchise. 
From Txnioides ( =Amblyopus ) the genus Gobioides is distinguished by the absence of barbels, the 
presence of scales, and by the much smaller number of rays in its vertical fins. 
Found in the brackish waters of the Tropics, reaching a considerable size. 
254. Gobioides broussonnetii Lacepede. Barreto. 
Head 5.25 (young) to 7 (adult) ; caudal 3.5 to 5; eye small but evident, 7 to 10 in head; inter- 
orbital space 1 to 1.66 diameter of eye; D. vii, 16; A. i, 16. Body elongate, mouth oblique, maxillary 
extending beyond eye; teeth in bands, outer series enlarged, shorter, and closer set than in Gobioides 
peruanus; scales twice as large as in G. peruanus, those on anterior part of body not imbricated, much 
