THE GOBY FAMILY 
2 3 I' 
distinguished by their smaller size, elongated bodies, hard skeleton, and the disposition and 
structure of the fins, characters which need not be discussed further. 
One species, the SPOTTED GOBV, or POLE-wiNG, found in the Thames, is noteworthy 
on account of its nest-building habits. The male chooses the empty shell of a cockle or 
mussel, selecting one with its concave surface downwards. Beneath this the sand is cleared 
away and cemented by a special glue-like secretion formed by the skin of the fish. A cylindrical 
tunnel is then built to give access to the nest, and the whole is covered over with loose 
stones. In the nest-chamber formed by the shell the eggs are laid, the male immediately 
after mounting guard over them till they hatch, which they do in about nine days. 
Another species, the PELLUCID GOBV, is remarkable in that its whole life’s course is run 
r 
Photo by Reinhold Thiele Co ] \^Uiuneerjf T ane^ IP'.C. 
LUMP-SUCKER 
Known also as the Cock and Hen Paddle 
in a single year. In June and July the eggs are laid; they are hatched in August; by the 
time winter has arrived the fish have reached maturity, and die off in the following July and 
August, so that in September only the fry are to be met with. 
One of the strangest of all fishes is a member of the Goby Family. This is the 
Walking-fish, so called from its habit of spending most of its time on the mud-banks of 
rivers, or on the roots of trees growing in the neighbourhood. The late Surgeon-General Day, 
describing these fishes as he saw them along the side of the Burmese rivers, writes that at 
first sight they look like large tadpoles. When suddenly startled by something, away they go 
with a hop, skip, and a jump inland among the trees, or on the water like a flat stone or 
piece of slate sent skimming by a schoolboy. When climbing, the breast-fins are used, as if 
they were arms, to grasp the boughs. If placed in deep water, these fishes are speedily 
drowned ! 
