1. The blind goby Typhologobius californiensis lives commensally in the burrows of the shrimp Callianassa affinis. These burrows are intertidal along the coast of California and Lower California, and there are one pair of shrimps and one pair of blind fish in each burrow. The burrows are found only where the boulders of the rocky region are sufficiently large to allow the deposition and holding of sand between and beneath them. 2. A probable evolutional sequence resulting in the lack of pigment and eyes of Typhlogobius is given. 3. The blind gobies are entirely dependent upon the activities of the shrimps for their persistence as a species. 4. The food of the gobies consists of either animal or plant detritus which find their way into the burrows with the currents created by the hosts. An excellent source of food in the laboratory is the gut of the sea urchin. 5. Chemotropic and thigmotropic senses are fairly well developed; the others are decidedly degenerate. 6. The eyes and pigmentation are normal in the newly hatched Typhlogobius, but both begin to disappear after the fish take up their abode in the burrow of a pair of shrimps. 7. When once established underground the fish have no enemies. The fish and their hosts have a life span of at least 10 or 12 years. 8. These blind fish pair early and remain paired throughout life. Their spawning season is from May until July, mainly during June. 9. The gobies are very sensitive to the invasion of other blind gobies of their own sex, i.e., a male will at once engage in mortal combat with an invading male, and a female will do likewise with an invading female. One of a pair will accept a new mate at any time. 10. The recognition of the sex of the invader is entirely chemotropic. 11. The spawning activities consist of cleaning a space for the deposition of the eggs, the laying of the eggs by the female and their fertilization by the male. This is followed by the concerted efforts of the pair to guard the eggs and to keep them clean until they hatch about 10 days later. 12. It seems fairly certain that the injection of a pair of blind gobies with the hypophysis from a marine bony fish induces spawning out of season. The estimated number of eggs in spawning in the laboratory ranged between 2500 and 15,000. 13. Embryological development follows the normal course exhibited by other members of the family.
The American Midland Naturalist has been published for 90 years by the University of Notre Dame. The connotations of Midland and Naturalist have broadened and its geographic coverage now includes North America with occasional articles from other continents. The old image of naturalist has changed and the journal publishes what Charles Elton aptly termed "scientific natural history" including field and experimental biology. Its significance and breadth of coverage are evident in that the American Midland Naturalist is among the most frequently cited journals in publications on ecology, mammalogy, herpetology, ornithology, ichthyology, parasitology, aquatic and invertebrate biology and other biological disciplines.
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The American Midland Naturalist
© 1939 The University of Notre Dame
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