159 
YELLOW GOBY. 
Gohius auratus, 
Elotris awatus, 
« “ 
Eisso; p. 11. pi- 11. f- ■12. 
OUVIEB,. 
GnsTHEB; Cat. Br. M.. vol. iii. p. 11. 
This fish was first mentioned as a separate species by Risso, 
and hitherto it has been supposed to be confined to the Medi- 
terranean. But although its range in our own country may be 
limited, there is reason to believe that within certain distiicts it 
exists in moderate numbers, for I have received a few examples 
that closely resemble Risso’s figure, and answer to his description, 
from the neighbourhood of Weston-super-Mare, in Somersetshire, 
through the kindness of Edmund Thomas Higgins, Esq., by 
whom these and a few others presently to be described, were 
procured from the shrimp-nets and crab-pots employed in that 
neighbourhood. The shores there are lined with sand or soil, 
to which it is probable these fishes shew a preference: a cir- 
cumstance which may explain why this and some kindred 
species have not been seen on shores with which I am best 
acquainted, where the sea is bounded only by rocks, except 
where an harbour opens to the ocean. But the individual 
habits of these fishes are yet to be inquired into. 
The length of the largest example ivas nearly three inches; 
the fore part of the body stout, more compressed along the 
sides, slightly tapering near the tail. The head broad, but 
not nearly so as in the two last-named species, short before 
the eyes, and blunt. Under jaw a little projecting; angle of 
the mouth descending. Eyes close to the top of the head, 
and near each other. Cheeks full. The first dorsal begins 
at half the length of the pectoral; the rays even with the 
membrane. The second dorsal only a little separate from the 
first. Anal beginning opposite the first ray of the second 
