Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

GOBY

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V12, Page 169 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

GOBY . The gobies (Gobius) are small fishes readily recognized by their ventrals (the fins on the See also:

lower See also:surface of the See also:chest) being See also:united into one fin, forming a suctorial disk, by which these fishes are enabled to attach themselves in every possible position to a See also:rock or other See also:firm substances. They are essentially See also:coast-fishes,-inhabiting nearly all seas, but disappearing towards the See also:Arctic and See also:Antarctic Oceans. Many enter, or live exclusively in, such fresh See also:waters as are at no See also:great distance from the See also:sea. Nearly 500 different kinds are known. The largest See also:British See also:species, Gobius See also:capito, occurring in the rock-pools of See also:Cornwall, See also:measures 10 in. Gobius, alcocki, from brackish and fresh waters of Lower See also:Bengal, is one of the very smallest of fishes, not measuring overx6 millimetres (= 7 lines). The See also:males are usually more brilliantly coloured than the See also:females, and guard the eggs, which are often placed in a sort of See also:nest made of the See also:shell of some bivalve or of the See also:carapace of a crab, with the convexity turned upwards and covered with See also:sand, the eggs being See also:stuck to the inner surface of this roof. See also:Close See also:allies of the gobies are the walking See also:fish or See also:jumping fish (Periophthalmus), of which various species are found in great See also:numbers on the mud flats at the mouths of See also:rivers in the tropics, skipping about by means of the See also:muscular, scaly See also:base of their See also:pectoral fins, with the See also:head raised and bearing a pair of strongly projecting versatile eyes close together.

End of Article: GOBY

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
GOBLET, RENE (1828-1905) 		[next]
GOCH

Site © 2006 - Net Industries