goby
(ˈgəʊbɪ)
[ad. L. gōbius, cōbius (also gōbio, cōbio), a. Gr. κωβιός some small fish (usually rendered by its etymological equivalent gudgeon). As modern scientific terms, the forms Gobius and Gobio denote quite unrelated fishes; for the latter see gudgeon.]
One of a genus (Gobius) of small acanthopterygian fishes having the ventral fins joined into a disk or sucker. Also more widely, a member of the family Gobiidæ.
| 1769 Pennant Zool. III. 175 (heading), The Black Goby. 1770 Phil. Trans. LX. p. xiv, The spotted Goby. 1803 Shaw Zool. IV. 242 Arabian Goby. 1838 Johnston in Proc. Berw. Nat. Club I. No. 6. 172 The Doubly-spotted Goby. 1854 Badham Halieut. 249 The gobies..possess a singular disk, formed by the union of the two thoracic ventrals. 1876 Smiles Sc. Natur. xiv. (ed. 4) 290 She sent home a specimen of the Black Goby or Rock-fish (Gobius niger). 1884 Longm. Mag. Mar. 523 There are several species of tropical gobies found very abundantly on the Indo-Pacific coasts. |